"Get him to come out to you," a voice from the headset he was wearing told Jack.
"Are you out of your ever-loving mind?!" Jack swore into the microphone. "My son's dying request was that I protect him and the others with him, and you want me to get him out in the open? So you can do what? Shoot him?"
"Crichton! Do as you're told!" Jasper snarled at Jack through the headset.
"Fuck you, Jasper!" Jack snarled back as he stood and walked towards the craft. "I don't work for IASA anymore." Before they could protest more or get someone out there to stop him, Jack grabbed hold of the rail along the stairs that had extended from the craft and pulled himself inside. Jack paused letting his eyes adjust to the dimmer light inside the craft. As he stood there, he let his gaze wander around the craft taking in as many details as he could though he knew the camera on the headset was recording everything. After a few seconds his attention zeroed in on the large alien seated in what was obviously the pilot's seat. He still held the baby in his arms while the older children were sitting cross-legged at his feet. Two dark haired girls sat beside him on the left. Jack guessed their ages to be somewhere around six and four. On the other side of the chair sat identical toddlers that looked just like their father when he was their age. The twin on the right had his thumb in his mouth.
"Hello," Jack greeted them all. His eyes met the alien D'argo's as he asked, "I don't suppose you speak English?"
One of the girls giggled. "You're silly," she said. "Daddy speaks English. D'Argo don't talk like Daddy. He's a Luxan! He speaks Luxan."
"What's your name?" Jack asked suddenly desperate to connect with these children whose names he didn't even know yet but were nevertheless his grandchildren. He held out his arms and the baby was handed to him without protest.
"I'm Xallax Jacqueline Crichton, but Daddy calls me Jackie," his little spokeswoman informed him. She pointed a small finger to the older girl sitting beside her. "She's Zhaan Margaret Crichton, but everybody calls her Zhee'em."
Before she could continue her introductions one of the boys spoke up. "Johnny B!" he said pointing to his chest. Not to be outdone, his twin removed his thumb from his mouth long enough to introduce himself. The thumb was immediately returned as soon as the name Bobby T had left his lips.
"Their names are really John Bilar Crichton and Robert Tauvo Crichton," Xallax corrected glaring seriously at her little brothers. Johnny, the twin whose mouth wasn't already occupied with his thumb, stuck his tongue out at her in retaliation.
"What's the baby's name?" Jack asked looking down at the child in his arms. The baby rewarded his attention with a wide toothless grin.
"Tha's Deke," Johnny B informed him.
Jack smiled at the toddler before turning his attention back to Deke. He wondered if John had named his youngest child for his friend DK or for Jack's own friend, Deke Slayton. Either way, he wondered what each man would think of having a half-alien child for his namesake. He smiled at the baby before turning his attention back to the older children. "Well my name's Jack," he said. "Do you know who I am?"
"Are you..." the older girl said hesitantly. When she broke off she turned to look at the alien in the chair. D'Argo smiled at her gently as he nodded encouragement. "Are you our grandpa?"
"Yes, I am" Jack confirmed. "And I'm very very happy to meet you."
Whatever he'd thought her reaction would be, he never could have imagined her bursting into tears and throwing herself into the arms of her alien guardian. It seemed incongruous to Jack to see this walking mountain of an alien comforting such a small child. He had no idea what the Luxan was saying to Zhee'em as she continued to sob, but he could understand the one word she sobbed repeatedly in reply. "Daddy," Zhee'em choked. Her tears subsided slowly as she allowed D'Argo to comfort her.
D'Argo said something Jack couldn't understand as he grabbed a pen-like instrument from where it had been sitting on the console. Xallax pointed to the instrument in D'Argo's hand. "That's translator microbes," the girl said. "They'll make it so you can understand D'Argo. They're safe."
Jack stared at D'Argo for what seemed like forever then nodded as he presented his arm to the alien.
"Colonel Crichton, this is Director Carson," a new voice told him through the headset. "I have the President for you."
Those words were guaranteed to make any American give pause. "Colonel Crichton," the voice of President Devlin said. Jack stopped as he recognized the voice from television. "Are you sure you want to do this, Colonel?"
Jack paused to consider the question. Politics wasn't a game he enjoyed, but his years at NASA and then IASA had by necessity taught him how to play it. The President could have ordered him to stop. He could have asked him to reconsider, but Devlin hadn't done either. Instead, he'd asked if Jack was sure implying that he agreed with Jack's intentions. However, he also knew the President couldn't say this aloud. "Yes, sir" Jack replied. "I need to know what happened to my son, and Earth needs to know about this threat he spoke of."
Jack felt the sting of the pen-like instrument as D'Argo pressed it to the bare flesh of his inner elbow.
"Are you alright, Colonel?" Devlin asked through the headset.
"Yeah," Jack replied. "Bit of a head rush, but that's it."
"It will pass in a few microts," D'Argo said startling Jack.
"I understood that!" Jack whispered. "He says it'll pass in a few microts, however long that is."
"Daddy taught me to tell how long a microt was by saying 'one mississippi, two mississippi, three mississippi'" Zhee'em whispered shyly.
"So a microt's about a second," Jack translated. He cocked his head to the side. "He's right. I already feel better."
"Then let's hear about these peacekeepers shall we?" Devlin suggested.
"What can you tell me about the people John spoke of in the message? The peacekeepers?" Jack asked.
"John often called them Nahzees on pesepee," D'Argo told him.
"Nazis on PCP," Jack corrected absently.
"I hate the Peacekeepers!" Zhee'em suddenly screamed. "I hate them! I hate them!" She flew across the small space between them and pounded her small fists against Jack's chest. With baby Deke in his arms, Jack was unable to defend himself from the unexpected attack.
"Crichton!" Jasper yelled from the headset Jack wore. "Crichton what's going on? Crichton!"
Before Jack could make the demand himself, he heard President Devlin's voice say, "Someone shut that idiot up!" At the same time, Zhee'em was pulled away from him by D'Argo who held the small girl gently but securely in his arms once again whispering to her soothingly.
Jack felt another small body pressed close to his side and looked down to see his other granddaughter looking at him with an expression too solemn and sad for one so young. "The Peacekeepers killed Momma and Daddy," she whispered. "They hurt Zhee'em, too."
"Perhaps we should save discussion of the Peacekeepers until some time when the children are not present," D'Argo suggested. "We must return to Moya soon."
"But..." Jack objected.
"If we left this ship, would they be safe?" D'Argo demanded.
Jack thought about it. His initial feelings were that President Devlin would protect the children, but he had no guarantee of that as of yet. Then he thought of Jasper and the gaggle of others outside this ship and knew what the answer to D'Argo's question was. "No," he admitted.
D'Argo nodded He reached behind him to grab a bag from beneath a console. It was obvious he couldn't get out of the chair in which he sat with the now exhausted body of Zhee'em draped across his chest. The little girl occasionally chuffed out a sob even in her sleep. D'Argo dragged the bag in front of himself then pushed it with his foot over to Jack. "Those are John's journals," he told Jack. "They will tell you most of what you wish to know. I will return tomorrow leaving the children aboard Moya to answer your questions."
As soon as Jack had relayed this information to those listening a cacophony of voices tried to make their opinions known at once.
"Everyone shut up!" the voice of the commander-in-chief shouted bringing blessed silence. "Tell him we look forward to his return, Colonel."
"Mr. President!" a voice Jack didn't recognize protested.
"You know why politicians kiss babies, general?" Devlin's voice asked. "It's because we know that its an easy way to establish trust and report with the parents. It's pretty obvious the alien, D'Argo, is acting as guardian for the children. He cares deeply for them, and they for him. If we force Colonel Crichton to push for information now to the detriment of the children, we'll damage the trust he's placed in us just by landing on this planet."
"Mr. President," the same hard voice protested again.
"John Crichton's message said it would take these Peacekeepers sixty years to reach us," Devlin reminded the unnamed general. "We have time on our side for now. Let's not screw this up by rushing things. If we want their trust and cooperation, we're going to have to give some of our own."