Moya, Scorpius' cell
He had done it! He had been able to directly control Moya and initiate a starburst. He smiled to himself and nodded without realizing it. "That should deal with the current problem of Officer Sun's and the Nebari girl's persistence. Being the cautious man that he was, he glanced again at the monitoring device he had integrated into Moya. He wanted to make sure neither of them had escaped from the Starburst Chamber.
Pilot's frantic voice came over the comms. "Starburst has been initiated! Chiana and Officer Sun are still in the Starburst Chamber!"
Scorpius smirked while listening to the comms traffic. Apparently Pilot's announcement had stunned the rest of Moya's crew, since there were no communicated responses or even the sound of their movement down the tiers towards the Starburst Chamber. Scorpius heard the energy build up and there still was no indication that either of the two women had escaped the chamber. Now the energy was dissipating again. Scorpius knew that there would be no actual starburst because of the damage to the generator and that the resulting enormous outflows of energy would build up in the chamber itself causing anything not biomechanical to be burned severely. There would be nothing left of the women but small piles of ash.
Now he heard through his monitor both Commander Crichton and Ka D'Argo calling for the two women and there was only silence where they expected some sort of reply. Scorpius confirmed their continued absense. He was feeling more and more convinced that his experiment with manipulating Moya's energies had worked. He could now see the two men racing toward the Starburst Chamber. He heard and saw their anguished beating on the Chamber's door until their fists were bruised and bloodied. Then, when the safety doors opened, only their appalled silence at the tableau in front of them.
"Pilot, there's a fire in the Starburst Chamber! No sign of Aeryn or Chiana and they're not responding to their comms!" Crichton was audibly aghast. "Please tell me you saw them?" he pleaded.
Pilot gave a negative response. Scorpius smiled to himself with satisfaction. He loved when a plan solved more than one problem at a time. Such elegance gave him an almost physical pleasure. In one well-planned tactic Officer Sun was removed as a potential problem. He did think that the death of the Nebari girl was an unfortunate coincidence, a casualty of war, but so be it. The same plan also made sure that the remainder of the crew would pay less attention to him since they would be mourning their friends and working to restore Moya to full capabilities. Lastly, Pilot would now have visible proof of how much control he really had of the Leviathan. Yes, a very satisfactory morning, indeed.
Space Station Gammak Base
John was tired and hungry. He had been working on Scorpy's puzzle for two arns and had been unable to solve it. He was seriously considering sending Scorpy a message stating that he needed food as his hunger was interfering with his concentration. Just then the door of his room slid open and Scorpius entered with a tray filled with food. Not food cubes, but real food.
"John, I hope you have successfully completed the equations I gave you," the Scarran half-breed said.
John stared benignly up at the half breed, hiding his discomfort at this proof that he was trapped in this untenable situation, "What's your rush, Grasshopper? I would think that you would be using more of that amazing level of patience you are always nattering on to me about. I'm working as fast as I can, given the situation that my ribs are rubbing against my spine here. And just as I was get'n ready to phone for room service, here you come. I didn't know that you cared. What's your usual tip, 20 percent, right?"
"Yes John, I do care about maintaining your energy levels and health," Scorpius responded, ignoring John's nonsense and sarcasm as if it had not been spoken. "If you die, I lose any hope of defeating the Scarrans. Now, you have been working for many arns and I'm sure you have progressed satisfactorily given this incentive. Show me what you have accomplished so far." He walked toward the data terminal and stood behind John, peering over his shoulder. "Hmm, not yet completed I see, but you seem to have done well. Please do continue after you are finished eating because you will not get a Second Meal until it is completely finished."
John was just too hungry to even respond to Scorpy's threat and grabbed the tray instead. The food smelled great and tasted even better. A definite improvement over the food cubes he was expecting to receive.
Scorpius watched the Human consume the rich food, nodding sagely. John's reaction was exactly what he expected of the emotional and undisciplined man. The man had no subtlety at all. Scorpius left the room confidant that rewarding Crichton with meals and other living standards would be an excellent motivation and would result in the human fully divulging his wormhole secrets.
Scorpy absentmindedly hummed a tune as he reviewed his plans for the captive human scientist. Actual meals weren't physically necessary as the human was getting proper nutrition to stay alive, but since John was not aware of his real situation, maintaining motivation through personal interactions (the threats) and the sensual food (the rewards) would work perfectly. The elegance of the plan gave Scorpius much pleasure. He had covered all contingencies, creating puzzles within puzzles for the scientist to solve, and all the while Scorpius knew he held the controls. He understood John Crichton and would use the human's need for interaction and action.
Inside the room, John was still enjoying his meal. It also gave him some time to think about his situation again. John chewed a piece of grolack and pondered the new facts at his disposal. First, it appeared Scorpius was not able to directly monitor his progress on the terminal, as he seemed actually surprised that John had not completed the equations.
So, either that terminal was not linked with anything as an additional safety precaution to keep him here, or Scorpius was confident John was in no way able to escape. Either way, he could try to use the terminal to obtain information about where he was exactly.
He figured his best shot was to complete the current puzzle as quickly as possible and see if he could obtain some more data on his situation. He quickly finished his meal and returned to the terminal to look at the equations again. The sooner he got these finished, the sooner he could start his own private project.
Moya, Pilot's Den
The crew was gathered in Pilot's Den less than an arn after the unexpected starburst. Both Crichton and D'Argo looked devastated. The fire in the starburst chamber had been dealt with quickly. While putting out the flames both men had searched the entire chamber and adjacent ducts but did not find either of the two women.
In addition, the two men had asked Pilot to lend hundreds of DRDs to search Moya's vast spaces in the hope that the women may have gotten out in time but were unable to communicate their safety due to faulty comms, After arns of listening to DRD chatter and Pilot's reports, the search ended in failure. There in Pilot's chamber, both D'Argo and Crichton had come to the awful conclusion that the girls were gone. There, on Pilot's console was the proof—the melted and charred comms badges that had been discovered among the ashes of the starburst chamber, near the door connecting it to the corridor outside.
It appeared both girls had tried to escape but failed only a short distance away from safety. The starburst energy had probably burned them to the same ashes of what once was an auxiliary wall.
"My apologies, Commander, Ka D'Argo," Pilot started, "but Moya and I do not understand why the starburst generator powered up."
Pilot did have his suspicion of who had initiated the starburst, but he could not tell the men as Scorpius would certainly be listening in on this conversation.
Crichton and D'Argo just kept gazing at nothing, not really listening to anything or anyone.
"Pilot, could Aeryn or Chiana have accidentally initiated starburst themselves?" Rygel asked.
"Not likely, Captain Rygel," Pilot answered, "Due to the damage in that area, none of the controls available in the actual chamber would have worked. Moya should have been the only one capable of initiating and controlling a starburst. Not even I could do that from my console."
"So we have no idea why a starburst was initiated or by whom." It was a statement from Rygel and not a question. "We lost two crew members because of this."
Nobody reacted to this remark, all lost in thought of what had happened and their two missing friends.
Moya, Scorpius' cell
Scorpius was very pleased. His plan had worked perfectly. Officer Sun would not try to get him off Moya, Pilot and Moya were aware of his level of control and the crew would not bother him for a while.
Now he could focus on his mission: keep the crew away from the real Scorpius and John. He reached for his communication device again. His other self would also enjoy the news, he was sure of it.
While contacting his counterpart on the Gammak Base, he turned his thoughts to the mystery of the Kalish female. When he saw her the first time, he noticed her energy signature was not completely biological. He could come to only one conclusion, she was a bioloid too; and probably part of the Kalish resistance. She could come in vary handy in the near future.
Space Station Gammak Base
John had completed the equations and did not record the results but kept them in his memory. He still was startled at his mental capabilities when it came to wormholes. He figured that whatever then Ancients had done when they stored the wormhole technology knowledge in his brain had ramped up his short and long term recall abilities, because he could now easily remember all of the long and difficult equations easily.
He knew he had to be careful what he did record on the terminal and not slip and divulge too much, but just enough to convince the ghoul that he was giving up the goods. This was a tricky process, since the equations seemed to sometimes flow from his fingers without his conscious enabling. He would be dully careful just in case he wasn't able to destroy the data before he left.
'Speaking of which,' John thought, 'let's see what I can find out about my current location.'
He started his search by finding out what his data terminal could do. After some trial and error he found a way to have the terminal bring up something besides wormhole equations. The first item he encountered was generic information regarding his current location. It appeared he was aboard an orbiting Gammak Base. Good to know; if he wanted to escape he had to make sure he would have some transportation first.
More searching revealed a roster of the docking bay. Apparently the Gammak Base was heavily visited by various cargo ships and, to some degree, Marauders. In any case, there would be a possible escape vehicle waiting for him, no matter what time of day or night he might try to escape.
John switched back to the wormhole equations he was supposed to be working on to add one of the two dozen equations he already had figured out. If Scorpius was checking his progress on the project in real time, he would see a new equation every so often if he kept going back and forth during his search.
John thought for a moment after he added the equation. Scorpius had said something about the door. Seeing that the half breed had apparently no trouble touching the door, there must be an on/off switch.
John searched again through the data and found what he was looking for. There was indeed a paralysis-inducing device attached to the door mechanism, but the door could be opened from his terminal as well. Now that was interesting.
Adding a new equation again, he was already trying to figure out what else he needed to know. A layout of the place seemed a good idea, as would be a general indication of how many personal he would have to deal with and more importantly what the best time would be to get out of dodge.
His first search gave him a map of the place. His room appeared to be on the same level as the docking bay, with a fairly direct route to it using a small number of maintenance ducts. The entrance to the first maintenance duct was exactly outside his room.
The second search gave him a duty roster. Just before sleep cycle appeared to be the best time to make a run for it. Checking with the docking bay roster, various ships would be available to him to hide on and get the hell out of here.
Returning back to his equation screen, he absent mindedly added another one. Something was wrong. He got the information way to easily and his escape route seemed also way too convenient. The old adage "if something seems to be too good to be true, it usually is" popped into his head. Was it possible Scorpy wanted to give him the opportunity of escape just to see if he would go for it? Or did he just get really lucky? Either way, he would try to escape tonight and go from there.
John continued his work on the equations. He had to complete this set or he wouldn't get lunch or supper. He could probably skip lunch without getting too hungry, but missing two meals would not be a good way to start one's escape.
Moya, Data Stores
Sikozu had rummaged through Moya's data stores as she had done many days before when she had first arrived on this misfit ship. She prided herself on her knowledge of Leviathans, but after actually being on two different Leviathans she realized her knowledge was still severely lacking, though she would never say that to anyone. She just figured she would take the opportunity to further her research and increase her abilities.
Her reason for going to the data stores today, however, was different. Ever since Pilot had said that only Moya could have initiated a starburst but was not responsible, she couldn't help thinking on the puzzle and the more she pondered the conundrum, the more bits and pieces of information about an alternative way to initiate a starburst seemed to fit together. She was certain there was a way to initiate a starburst when both ship and navigator couldn't or wouldn't.
She had not mentioned this to anyone, mostly because she was unsure and didn't want the others to know her knowledge was lacking in anyway. She hadn't even told Scorpius, knowing she would be even more ashamed if he thought she wasn't as intelligent as she wanted everyone to think she was.
Silently, she continued her search and stumbled on a recent recording in Pilot's Den that someone had tried to hide. That was odd. Why would Moya or Pilot try to hide some recording? Thinking about it she realized neither of them had tried to hide it, someone else had, someone with not enough knowledge to do it adequately.
Not able to ignore it, she played the recording. What played out on the holoscreen was the arrival of Scorpius aboard Moya… nothing out of the ordinary, and certainly no reason for hiding it. Things changed when Scorpius entered the second time. This time he managed to subdue Pilot and used some sort of neural device to obtain information. Scorpius would most certainly have tried to hide this; if the crew found out, they would force him off of Moya.
The recording continued and Scorpius entered for the third time. This is where things became interesting. It appeared both Scorpius and the human were bioloids, just as she was. Sikozu did have a problem with this information. The Kalish resistance had perfected bioloid technology and she should be able to "live" for at least a hundred cycles, but the bioloids manufactured by the Peacekeepers would barely last a cycle.
Scorpius was her best chance of defeating the Scarran oppressors but the copy aboard Moya would not suffice. She would need to find out where the real Scorpius was located and make sure the Leviathan would go that way. She knew she could convince the crew easily.
From what the bioloid Scorpius had said, it was clear he had obtained some level of control over the Leviathan, so he probably was responsible for initiating that starburst. Additionally, the real Crichton was captured by the real Scorpius. That would be more than enough incentive for the crew members to try and track the real Scorpius.
With her knowledge of bioloids she should be able to reprogram both the human as well as the Scorpius bioloid or at least obtain the location of the real duo.
Thinking about her plan, she found it would be best to start reprogramming Scorpius now. She would not be able to tell the others without him knowing and she didn't want to risk him damaging or blowing the Leviathan up with her still aboard.
Confidently Sikozu walked out of Moya's Data Stores and made her way to Scorpius' cell.
Starburst Chamber
John and D'Argo had decided to finish the work on the starburst generator, though both were not very happy to be there or work at all. Because of the incident this morning, nobody would be entering the Starburst Chamber unless another crew member was waiting outside to maintain contact with Pilot and the rest of the crew.
John was currently working on the last conduit which would once again make Moya capable of performing starburst.
"D?" John attracted the attention of his large friend. "You think this was an accident?"
"I don't know, my friend," D'Argo answered from outside the chamber, "but I do not believe either Pilot or Moya would have deliberately initiated a starburst knowing two people were in the Starburst Chamber."
"You think Scorpy's behind this?"
"Possibly. I do not trust him, but he was locked in his cell at that time and I believe he does not have enough knowledge of Leviathans to be able to initiate a starburst."
"Really? I mean, come one D, you know that bastard as well as I do. He's capable of a lot of things and I wouldn't put it past him. Besides, there's someone aboard Moya that does have that knowledge and is real cozy with the creep."
"John, do not forget that Aeryn was the only reason he was even allowed to stay aboard. He would not murder his only means of staying here."
John sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right. All right, all done here." John grabbed his tools and walked towards the exit. "Do we have any reason for keeping Grasshopper aboard Moya?" he asked the Luxan warrior.
"No. I think we never had a reason of letting him aboard Moya at all," the reply came. "I vote for forcing him off the ship at the next Commerce Planet."
"Couldn't agree more," John said. "Pilot," he said into his comms, "we have repaired the starburst generator and have left the chamber. You and Moya can try out starburst whenever you are ready."
"Yes, Commander Crichton. We will test immediately. Initiating Starburst... now!"
D'Argo and John heard the energy building up in the chamber and felt the jump into hyperspace.
"Good, we got it working again," John said. "Listen, I'm beat. I woke up this morning tired and it did not get any easier today. I'm gonna hit the sack and see y' all in the morning."
"I understand, John. I will probably go to sleep soon as well," D'Argo replied to his friend as they both made there way to their quarters.
Space Station Gammak Base
John lay on his bed and in spite of his best efforts, had nearly fallen asleep. He glanced at the terminal where it indicated the ship's time. He ran his hands over his head trying to pull himself together. It was time to set his escape plan in motion. He went to the data terminal and turned it on. He navigated to the page with the door controls and gave the command that would open his door.
The door slid open on his command. He quickly made his way to the door and peered into the corridor. He didn't hear or see anyone so he started to search the entrance to his escape duct.
Once he spotted it, he checked again if the corridor was empty and stepped out of his room to run to the duct. As soon as he left the room he found himself coming out of his refreshing chamber.
"What the hell?" John wondered out loud. The door was still open and he could clearly see the corridor wall. He ran to the door and peeked out again. Stepping slowly out of his room and again as soon as he had completely stepped out, he found himself just outside his own refreshing chamber.
"Ah, I see you have attempted your escape," Scorpius voice said, just before he appeared out of thin air in front of him. "How unfortunate the room you are in is not real."
"No! No, no, no! I do not want more crap in my head. So what, you're Harvey 2.0?" John asked his nemesis.
"Not quite, John," Scorpius replied, "although I did update the neural clone. After I realized you had been lying to me without showing so in your energy signature, I knew the neural clone had helped you and I had to take steps to avoid this reoccurring next time."
"So where the hell are we? No, don't tell me, we're in your head now?"
"Of course not John! I once tried to place you into my brain and you managed to remove quite a bit of information from my memory in very little time."
"Care to 'splain that, Grasshopper?" John asked. As far as he knew he had never been in the creature's head.
"The neural chip, John. We were not able to get all wormhole data from it through the interface. I decided to put that chip in my head and just as the chip had created a neural copy of my personality in your brain, it had obtained your personality which surfaced in my brain."
"But he didn't play game and stole the wormhole knowledge from your brain. God, I wish I had witnessed that!"
"I am sure you would have enjoyed it, John, but you can understand why I did not want you linked to my brain again. Instead, we have connected you to a computer which projects this room into your mind for you to interact with. Don't worry, your body is perfectly safe, although we've had to immobilize it so you would not accidentally move and harm yourself. You are being cared for and should last in this state a very, very long time."
"I s'pose I should be grateful you haven't heard of Quake or Unreal," John muttered. "So how come you're here now? You linked up as well?" John asked Scorpius.
"Yes, but only temporarily. The computer warned me the microt you opened your door. I hope you liked the escape scenario I had left you."
Yep, when something seems too good to be true, it certainly is, John thought morosely. "I knew it was all just too convenient, but I still had to try it."
"Of course, John. I would have been very disappointed if you had not tried to escape. Well, now that you are aware of your predicament, you can once again focus on the wormhole technology. Oh, I almost forgot. My copy contacted me earlier. It seems there has been a small incident aboard Moya. Officer Sun and the Nebari girl were making repairs in the Starburst Chamber. At some point a starburst was initiated. Unfortunately neither Officer Sun nor the Nebari could be warned in time and have perished." At that Scorpius vanished.
John was stunned. If Scorpy had told him the truth, which was debatable, Aeryn and Chiana were now dead. This could not be happening. This was not fair. He screamed out his anguish. As the tears ran down his face he bashed his head against the wall repeatedly causing the blood to flow down his face. The pain was real, both physically and in the sharp jagged glass that had been his heart. Aeryn was gone. He now had no chance to reconcile. He wouldn't get the chance to show her that he and his twin were one and the same. He wouldn't ever see again her brilliant smile or run his hands through her hair as he again smelled its alluring scent of flowers. Here he was, stuck in deep freeze; part of a frelling computer game with no visible way out, no reprieve. He shook the blood out of his eyes and wrapped his arms around his suddenly aching chest. There was no justice in this universe. Pip, gone too. No more teasing his gray-skinned sister about her snurching and loose ways. He wished he had the chance to tell her how proud he was of her. Now he would never be able to feel her hugs or hair tugging again. He felt her loss almost as keenly as he had the loss of his mother all those years ago. He sighed and shuddered as he curled up, fetal position on his bed, lost in his despair. He didn't notice when the blood on his forehead disappeared or when the marks on the walls repaired themselves. Scorpius grinned as he watched John Crichton loose touch with reality as he lost his hope. All was as it was and would be.
Moya, Scorpius' cell
Sikozu activated her bioloid link before she was anywhere near his cell. She would have to quickly halt his program before he would notice anything and while she was certain she could do it, she did not know the exact frequency of Scorpius' bioloid processing core.
Determining that frequency may take one or two microns and she was well aware of he knew about her origins. She was told about the Scarran-Sebacean hybrid and his special vision. He would have seen her energy signatures and deduced she was a bioloid. So she could not just walk up to his cell and stand there for one or two microns to find the frequency and then take another two microns to shutdown his core.
She had gone to her quarters first and left her comms there so he would not detect her coming. From a close enough distance she could then scan for his frequency and shutdown the core, without risking him detecting her and making rash decisions.
She shifted her gravity to walk on the ceiling and stayed as close to the wall as possible so he could never see her. When she thought she was close enough, she began to scan for bioloid frequencies. She found only one nearby, so the Crichton bioloid was not here.
Carefully, she scanned the bioloid a little deeper to determine which type she was dealing with. There were various types of bioloids and all required different approaches to deactivation. Good, it was a type she was familiar with. She had been right, these types would last no longer than 8 or 9 monens, depending on the required power to simulate the original life form. She sent the deactivation sequence to the bioloid and let herself into his cell after assuring that the bioloid was completely deactivated. Neither her link, nor her eyes saw any signs of an active bioloid.
"Well Scorpius," Sikozu said out loud to nobody, "it appears you had not anticipated someone would be able to deactivate your copy so easily. Peacekeepers are so far behind on this technology, even farther than Scarrans."
She wondered why she had said that out loud. Nobody was there to hear it and she really didn't want anyone to know anyway. She focused her link on the programming of the bioloid. The first thing to do was to remove the code that would destroy Moya if certain conditions were met. While she was aboard she really didn't want the Leviathan to be blown up.
After that was done, she focused on the clone's memory banks and tried to ascertain the location of the real Scorpius. She was so focused on that job she paid no attention to her surroundings.
"Hey Sputnik!" Sikozu heard from behind her. That was very stupid of her. She had completely forgotten the bioloid John would be making his way to Scorpius' cell around this time.
"What've you done with Scorpy?" John asked. "Hey, Scorp, you OK?" he continued without waiting for the girl to give an answer. John realized Scorpius did not answer and seemed dead.
Sikozu was trying very hard to realign her bioloid link to scan for John's frequency. Unfortunately she had trouble disconnecting from the Scorpius bioloid and she started to panic when she noticed John realized something was wrong.
"What the hell have you done to him!" John shouted as he stepped into the cell.
"She's obviously helping us," came a voice from behind him.
John turned around and was immediately knocked down by a pantak jab.
"Nice one, Aeryn!" Chiana said.
"Thank you Chiana," the former Peacekeeper replied. "Now go and get the DRD from the duct," she continued while she pointed to the opened grating on the wall, while I secure this frelling copy."
Chiana walked over to the wall to retrieve 1812 while Aeryn used some fasteners to bind Crichton's hands.
Sikozu was still stunned to see the two of them here. "You escaped," was the only thing she could say.
"Of course we did, otherwise we would not be here right now," Aeryn replied.
"But how... where did you... why did you...?" It was unusual for her to not be able to form complete intelligent questions but she was still too stunned to think clearly.
"Aeryn removed both of our comms before we ran out of the chamber," Chiana started to explain. "She figured that Scorpy tried to kill her because she wanted to kick his eema off of Moya and if he couldn't detect our comms he would think we were dead."
"You knew about his surveillance, then?" Sikozu asked, finally having found her equilibrium. She had also finally disconnected from the Scorpius bioloid and started a linkage with the Crichton bioloid.
"Yes," Aeryn said, "this DRD recorded one of Scorpius' communications and had proceeded to gain more information and relayed it all to me early this morning in the Starburst Chamber. John caught me, but his programming executed the sequence to switch from his night time personality to his day time personality and he did not have the time to carry out his programming to kill me."
"Crichton has indeed two distinct programming sections." Sikozu said. Seeing their puzzled looks she realized she had said too much. Now she would have to explain her origins. "I am a bioloid from the Kalish resistance. I am an advanced model and have the ability to link with other bioloids directly. That's how I deactivated the Scorpius bioloid."
"Can you alter his programming?" Aeryn asked.
Sikozu nodded. "I already did so with Scorpius and was busy scanning his memory to find the location where the real Scorpius and Crichton are before this bioloid surprised me. I am changing Crichton's programming now."
"Did you find out where they are?" Aeryn asked again.
Sikozu nodded. "Yes, I found it just when Crichton arrived. I could not sever the link with Scorpius fast enough, otherwise I would have deactivated Crichton as well."
"Hey Aeryn, maybe-maybe we should inform the rest of the crew now?" Chiana really needed to assure D'Argo. She had seen his reaction when he and Crichton had arrived at the Starburst Chamber and from his posture during the day, Chiana had deduced he was really upset.
"I agree." Aeryn said as she grabbed Crichton's comms. She was about to use it when she realized this might be too much of a shock for the rest of the crew. "Perhaps it's better if you wake them and ask to come here." She gave the comms to Sikozu.
Sikozu accepted the comms. "Captain Rygel, Ka D'Argo, and Noranti, could you please come to Scorpius holding cell. Crichton is already here."
Sikozou looked towards Aeryn after making her announcement. "I have the exact coordinates of the Space Station Gammak Base where the real Scorpius and Crichton are located."
"Good," Aeryn replied. "As soon as the crew arrives, inform Pilot. We are going to rescue John and make sure Scorpius will not harm anyone ever again."
Sikozu nodded again, although she would not let anyone harm Scorpius. She needed him to defeat the Scarrans and nobody would come between them. But as long as they were heading in the same direction she would work with them.
"What is happening here?" D'Argo's voice came from around the corner.
Aeryn and Chiana spun around and grinned widely as D'Argo came around the corner and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw them both.
"Chiana! Aeryn!" he exclaimed. He quickly covered the last distance and grabbed them both in a bear hug. "It is so good to see you alive!"
"Hey, ah, D'Argo, I-I am really happy to see you to, but could-could you apply a little less pressure?" Chiana asked.
D'Argo released them both and looked at them. "Where the frell have you two been?" As his eyes went to the cell and noticed both John and Scorpius he continued, "And what the frell is wrong with those two?"
"We will explain once every one has arrived." Aeryn said. "Perhaps we should then proceed toward Pilot's Den so he will know we survived as well."
Just then the rest of the crew arrived at the cell. Though Rygel was very happy to seem them both alive and well he grumbled, "Oh yotz! I suppose you will want your possession back?"
"It's good to see you too Ryge!" Chiana said.
"Fine, now that everyone is here, perhaps we should move to Pilot's Den so we will not have to tell the whole story again and again." Aeryn said. The crew nodded their agreement.
"D'Argo could you take Scorpius with you? I will carry John."
D'Argo moved into the cell and grabbed Scorpius. He threw him over his shoulder. Aeryn nodded her thanks to the tall Luxan and then carefully picked John, shouldering him, set a rapid pace up to the Den.
She was looking forward to seeing the gentle symbiote again and to assure him they were all right. Tonight they would tell the entire frelling story and bring the rest of the crew up to date. Then it would be time to make plans and go and rescue John.
She hoped he was all right. He had to be. The first thing she would tell him after rescuing him would be that she was pregnant. She would make amends for her total selfishness in forsaking him in her grief over the death of the other. She would let him know that she felt there was no difference between the two of them. She loved John Crichton. She had learned from her mistake with this copy. This copy had reacted the way the real John would have, that she knew for certain. That would not happen again. She guessed that there was a second chance at everything in life if she was willing to grasp it.
They arrived at Pilot's Den and Aeryn and Chiana stepped inside first. "Hello Pilot," Aeryn said.
The large creature looked up in surprise. "Officer Sun, Chiana! You are alive!"
Aeryn smiled. "Pilot, we were never dead. Everything is okay now. You and Moya did nothing wrong. It was that frelling Scorpius. You are safe now." Aeryn felt a great need to comfort the gentle being who served as their caregiver. Pilot reached out with a tentative claw and Aeryn grasped it with both her hands and placed it against her cheek.
"Aeryn Sun, Moya and I are grateful that you are safe. I could not warn you about Scorpius because of the threats he made against Moya. I feel ashamed of my actions."
"Pilot, put it behind you now. We are in this together. We will save John together."
Aeryn looked back to the entrance where D'Argo, Noranti, Sikozou, and Rygel stood. They had waited to give Aeryn and Chiana the privacy they needed to reconcile with Pilot. When they all had gathered in front of Pilot's console and had placed the bioloids against one of Moya's walls, Aeryn and Chiana proceeded to tell them the whole story up to the point where they had rescued Sikozu from John in Scorpius' cell. Sikozu informed them of her bioloid origins as well, knowing full well that if she wouldn't, Aeryn or Chiana would.
Aeryn had a plan to rescue Crichton. It would take all their ingenuity and guile. Sikozou gave Pilot the coordinates to the Gammak Base while Aeryn filled the others in on her idea. It would take at least 16 arns to get there, 16 long arns. They would sleep, eat and each would be able to loose themselves in their thoughts for awhile.
Tomorrow would be a day of action, of that the crew was certain.
He had done it! He had been able to directly control Moya and initiate a starburst. He smiled to himself and nodded without realizing it. "That should deal with the current problem of Officer Sun's and the Nebari girl's persistence. Being the cautious man that he was, he glanced again at the monitoring device he had integrated into Moya. He wanted to make sure neither of them had escaped from the Starburst Chamber.
Pilot's frantic voice came over the comms. "Starburst has been initiated! Chiana and Officer Sun are still in the Starburst Chamber!"
Scorpius smirked while listening to the comms traffic. Apparently Pilot's announcement had stunned the rest of Moya's crew, since there were no communicated responses or even the sound of their movement down the tiers towards the Starburst Chamber. Scorpius heard the energy build up and there still was no indication that either of the two women had escaped the chamber. Now the energy was dissipating again. Scorpius knew that there would be no actual starburst because of the damage to the generator and that the resulting enormous outflows of energy would build up in the chamber itself causing anything not biomechanical to be burned severely. There would be nothing left of the women but small piles of ash.
Now he heard through his monitor both Commander Crichton and Ka D'Argo calling for the two women and there was only silence where they expected some sort of reply. Scorpius confirmed their continued absense. He was feeling more and more convinced that his experiment with manipulating Moya's energies had worked. He could now see the two men racing toward the Starburst Chamber. He heard and saw their anguished beating on the Chamber's door until their fists were bruised and bloodied. Then, when the safety doors opened, only their appalled silence at the tableau in front of them.
"Pilot, there's a fire in the Starburst Chamber! No sign of Aeryn or Chiana and they're not responding to their comms!" Crichton was audibly aghast. "Please tell me you saw them?" he pleaded.
Pilot gave a negative response. Scorpius smiled to himself with satisfaction. He loved when a plan solved more than one problem at a time. Such elegance gave him an almost physical pleasure. In one well-planned tactic Officer Sun was removed as a potential problem. He did think that the death of the Nebari girl was an unfortunate coincidence, a casualty of war, but so be it. The same plan also made sure that the remainder of the crew would pay less attention to him since they would be mourning their friends and working to restore Moya to full capabilities. Lastly, Pilot would now have visible proof of how much control he really had of the Leviathan. Yes, a very satisfactory morning, indeed.
Space Station Gammak Base
John was tired and hungry. He had been working on Scorpy's puzzle for two arns and had been unable to solve it. He was seriously considering sending Scorpy a message stating that he needed food as his hunger was interfering with his concentration. Just then the door of his room slid open and Scorpius entered with a tray filled with food. Not food cubes, but real food.
"John, I hope you have successfully completed the equations I gave you," the Scarran half-breed said.
John stared benignly up at the half breed, hiding his discomfort at this proof that he was trapped in this untenable situation, "What's your rush, Grasshopper? I would think that you would be using more of that amazing level of patience you are always nattering on to me about. I'm working as fast as I can, given the situation that my ribs are rubbing against my spine here. And just as I was get'n ready to phone for room service, here you come. I didn't know that you cared. What's your usual tip, 20 percent, right?"
"Yes John, I do care about maintaining your energy levels and health," Scorpius responded, ignoring John's nonsense and sarcasm as if it had not been spoken. "If you die, I lose any hope of defeating the Scarrans. Now, you have been working for many arns and I'm sure you have progressed satisfactorily given this incentive. Show me what you have accomplished so far." He walked toward the data terminal and stood behind John, peering over his shoulder. "Hmm, not yet completed I see, but you seem to have done well. Please do continue after you are finished eating because you will not get a Second Meal until it is completely finished."
John was just too hungry to even respond to Scorpy's threat and grabbed the tray instead. The food smelled great and tasted even better. A definite improvement over the food cubes he was expecting to receive.
Scorpius watched the Human consume the rich food, nodding sagely. John's reaction was exactly what he expected of the emotional and undisciplined man. The man had no subtlety at all. Scorpius left the room confidant that rewarding Crichton with meals and other living standards would be an excellent motivation and would result in the human fully divulging his wormhole secrets.
Scorpy absentmindedly hummed a tune as he reviewed his plans for the captive human scientist. Actual meals weren't physically necessary as the human was getting proper nutrition to stay alive, but since John was not aware of his real situation, maintaining motivation through personal interactions (the threats) and the sensual food (the rewards) would work perfectly. The elegance of the plan gave Scorpius much pleasure. He had covered all contingencies, creating puzzles within puzzles for the scientist to solve, and all the while Scorpius knew he held the controls. He understood John Crichton and would use the human's need for interaction and action.
Inside the room, John was still enjoying his meal. It also gave him some time to think about his situation again. John chewed a piece of grolack and pondered the new facts at his disposal. First, it appeared Scorpius was not able to directly monitor his progress on the terminal, as he seemed actually surprised that John had not completed the equations.
So, either that terminal was not linked with anything as an additional safety precaution to keep him here, or Scorpius was confident John was in no way able to escape. Either way, he could try to use the terminal to obtain information about where he was exactly.
He figured his best shot was to complete the current puzzle as quickly as possible and see if he could obtain some more data on his situation. He quickly finished his meal and returned to the terminal to look at the equations again. The sooner he got these finished, the sooner he could start his own private project.
Moya, Pilot's Den
The crew was gathered in Pilot's Den less than an arn after the unexpected starburst. Both Crichton and D'Argo looked devastated. The fire in the starburst chamber had been dealt with quickly. While putting out the flames both men had searched the entire chamber and adjacent ducts but did not find either of the two women.
In addition, the two men had asked Pilot to lend hundreds of DRDs to search Moya's vast spaces in the hope that the women may have gotten out in time but were unable to communicate their safety due to faulty comms, After arns of listening to DRD chatter and Pilot's reports, the search ended in failure. There in Pilot's chamber, both D'Argo and Crichton had come to the awful conclusion that the girls were gone. There, on Pilot's console was the proof—the melted and charred comms badges that had been discovered among the ashes of the starburst chamber, near the door connecting it to the corridor outside.
It appeared both girls had tried to escape but failed only a short distance away from safety. The starburst energy had probably burned them to the same ashes of what once was an auxiliary wall.
"My apologies, Commander, Ka D'Argo," Pilot started, "but Moya and I do not understand why the starburst generator powered up."
Pilot did have his suspicion of who had initiated the starburst, but he could not tell the men as Scorpius would certainly be listening in on this conversation.
Crichton and D'Argo just kept gazing at nothing, not really listening to anything or anyone.
"Pilot, could Aeryn or Chiana have accidentally initiated starburst themselves?" Rygel asked.
"Not likely, Captain Rygel," Pilot answered, "Due to the damage in that area, none of the controls available in the actual chamber would have worked. Moya should have been the only one capable of initiating and controlling a starburst. Not even I could do that from my console."
"So we have no idea why a starburst was initiated or by whom." It was a statement from Rygel and not a question. "We lost two crew members because of this."
Nobody reacted to this remark, all lost in thought of what had happened and their two missing friends.
Moya, Scorpius' cell
Scorpius was very pleased. His plan had worked perfectly. Officer Sun would not try to get him off Moya, Pilot and Moya were aware of his level of control and the crew would not bother him for a while.
Now he could focus on his mission: keep the crew away from the real Scorpius and John. He reached for his communication device again. His other self would also enjoy the news, he was sure of it.
While contacting his counterpart on the Gammak Base, he turned his thoughts to the mystery of the Kalish female. When he saw her the first time, he noticed her energy signature was not completely biological. He could come to only one conclusion, she was a bioloid too; and probably part of the Kalish resistance. She could come in vary handy in the near future.
Space Station Gammak Base
John had completed the equations and did not record the results but kept them in his memory. He still was startled at his mental capabilities when it came to wormholes. He figured that whatever then Ancients had done when they stored the wormhole technology knowledge in his brain had ramped up his short and long term recall abilities, because he could now easily remember all of the long and difficult equations easily.
He knew he had to be careful what he did record on the terminal and not slip and divulge too much, but just enough to convince the ghoul that he was giving up the goods. This was a tricky process, since the equations seemed to sometimes flow from his fingers without his conscious enabling. He would be dully careful just in case he wasn't able to destroy the data before he left.
'Speaking of which,' John thought, 'let's see what I can find out about my current location.'
He started his search by finding out what his data terminal could do. After some trial and error he found a way to have the terminal bring up something besides wormhole equations. The first item he encountered was generic information regarding his current location. It appeared he was aboard an orbiting Gammak Base. Good to know; if he wanted to escape he had to make sure he would have some transportation first.
More searching revealed a roster of the docking bay. Apparently the Gammak Base was heavily visited by various cargo ships and, to some degree, Marauders. In any case, there would be a possible escape vehicle waiting for him, no matter what time of day or night he might try to escape.
John switched back to the wormhole equations he was supposed to be working on to add one of the two dozen equations he already had figured out. If Scorpius was checking his progress on the project in real time, he would see a new equation every so often if he kept going back and forth during his search.
John thought for a moment after he added the equation. Scorpius had said something about the door. Seeing that the half breed had apparently no trouble touching the door, there must be an on/off switch.
John searched again through the data and found what he was looking for. There was indeed a paralysis-inducing device attached to the door mechanism, but the door could be opened from his terminal as well. Now that was interesting.
Adding a new equation again, he was already trying to figure out what else he needed to know. A layout of the place seemed a good idea, as would be a general indication of how many personal he would have to deal with and more importantly what the best time would be to get out of dodge.
His first search gave him a map of the place. His room appeared to be on the same level as the docking bay, with a fairly direct route to it using a small number of maintenance ducts. The entrance to the first maintenance duct was exactly outside his room.
The second search gave him a duty roster. Just before sleep cycle appeared to be the best time to make a run for it. Checking with the docking bay roster, various ships would be available to him to hide on and get the hell out of here.
Returning back to his equation screen, he absent mindedly added another one. Something was wrong. He got the information way to easily and his escape route seemed also way too convenient. The old adage "if something seems to be too good to be true, it usually is" popped into his head. Was it possible Scorpy wanted to give him the opportunity of escape just to see if he would go for it? Or did he just get really lucky? Either way, he would try to escape tonight and go from there.
John continued his work on the equations. He had to complete this set or he wouldn't get lunch or supper. He could probably skip lunch without getting too hungry, but missing two meals would not be a good way to start one's escape.
Moya, Data Stores
Sikozu had rummaged through Moya's data stores as she had done many days before when she had first arrived on this misfit ship. She prided herself on her knowledge of Leviathans, but after actually being on two different Leviathans she realized her knowledge was still severely lacking, though she would never say that to anyone. She just figured she would take the opportunity to further her research and increase her abilities.
Her reason for going to the data stores today, however, was different. Ever since Pilot had said that only Moya could have initiated a starburst but was not responsible, she couldn't help thinking on the puzzle and the more she pondered the conundrum, the more bits and pieces of information about an alternative way to initiate a starburst seemed to fit together. She was certain there was a way to initiate a starburst when both ship and navigator couldn't or wouldn't.
She had not mentioned this to anyone, mostly because she was unsure and didn't want the others to know her knowledge was lacking in anyway. She hadn't even told Scorpius, knowing she would be even more ashamed if he thought she wasn't as intelligent as she wanted everyone to think she was.
Silently, she continued her search and stumbled on a recent recording in Pilot's Den that someone had tried to hide. That was odd. Why would Moya or Pilot try to hide some recording? Thinking about it she realized neither of them had tried to hide it, someone else had, someone with not enough knowledge to do it adequately.
Not able to ignore it, she played the recording. What played out on the holoscreen was the arrival of Scorpius aboard Moya… nothing out of the ordinary, and certainly no reason for hiding it. Things changed when Scorpius entered the second time. This time he managed to subdue Pilot and used some sort of neural device to obtain information. Scorpius would most certainly have tried to hide this; if the crew found out, they would force him off of Moya.
The recording continued and Scorpius entered for the third time. This is where things became interesting. It appeared both Scorpius and the human were bioloids, just as she was. Sikozu did have a problem with this information. The Kalish resistance had perfected bioloid technology and she should be able to "live" for at least a hundred cycles, but the bioloids manufactured by the Peacekeepers would barely last a cycle.
Scorpius was her best chance of defeating the Scarran oppressors but the copy aboard Moya would not suffice. She would need to find out where the real Scorpius was located and make sure the Leviathan would go that way. She knew she could convince the crew easily.
From what the bioloid Scorpius had said, it was clear he had obtained some level of control over the Leviathan, so he probably was responsible for initiating that starburst. Additionally, the real Crichton was captured by the real Scorpius. That would be more than enough incentive for the crew members to try and track the real Scorpius.
With her knowledge of bioloids she should be able to reprogram both the human as well as the Scorpius bioloid or at least obtain the location of the real duo.
Thinking about her plan, she found it would be best to start reprogramming Scorpius now. She would not be able to tell the others without him knowing and she didn't want to risk him damaging or blowing the Leviathan up with her still aboard.
Confidently Sikozu walked out of Moya's Data Stores and made her way to Scorpius' cell.
Starburst Chamber
John and D'Argo had decided to finish the work on the starburst generator, though both were not very happy to be there or work at all. Because of the incident this morning, nobody would be entering the Starburst Chamber unless another crew member was waiting outside to maintain contact with Pilot and the rest of the crew.
John was currently working on the last conduit which would once again make Moya capable of performing starburst.
"D?" John attracted the attention of his large friend. "You think this was an accident?"
"I don't know, my friend," D'Argo answered from outside the chamber, "but I do not believe either Pilot or Moya would have deliberately initiated a starburst knowing two people were in the Starburst Chamber."
"You think Scorpy's behind this?"
"Possibly. I do not trust him, but he was locked in his cell at that time and I believe he does not have enough knowledge of Leviathans to be able to initiate a starburst."
"Really? I mean, come one D, you know that bastard as well as I do. He's capable of a lot of things and I wouldn't put it past him. Besides, there's someone aboard Moya that does have that knowledge and is real cozy with the creep."
"John, do not forget that Aeryn was the only reason he was even allowed to stay aboard. He would not murder his only means of staying here."
John sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right. All right, all done here." John grabbed his tools and walked towards the exit. "Do we have any reason for keeping Grasshopper aboard Moya?" he asked the Luxan warrior.
"No. I think we never had a reason of letting him aboard Moya at all," the reply came. "I vote for forcing him off the ship at the next Commerce Planet."
"Couldn't agree more," John said. "Pilot," he said into his comms, "we have repaired the starburst generator and have left the chamber. You and Moya can try out starburst whenever you are ready."
"Yes, Commander Crichton. We will test immediately. Initiating Starburst... now!"
D'Argo and John heard the energy building up in the chamber and felt the jump into hyperspace.
"Good, we got it working again," John said. "Listen, I'm beat. I woke up this morning tired and it did not get any easier today. I'm gonna hit the sack and see y' all in the morning."
"I understand, John. I will probably go to sleep soon as well," D'Argo replied to his friend as they both made there way to their quarters.
Space Station Gammak Base
John lay on his bed and in spite of his best efforts, had nearly fallen asleep. He glanced at the terminal where it indicated the ship's time. He ran his hands over his head trying to pull himself together. It was time to set his escape plan in motion. He went to the data terminal and turned it on. He navigated to the page with the door controls and gave the command that would open his door.
The door slid open on his command. He quickly made his way to the door and peered into the corridor. He didn't hear or see anyone so he started to search the entrance to his escape duct.
Once he spotted it, he checked again if the corridor was empty and stepped out of his room to run to the duct. As soon as he left the room he found himself coming out of his refreshing chamber.
"What the hell?" John wondered out loud. The door was still open and he could clearly see the corridor wall. He ran to the door and peeked out again. Stepping slowly out of his room and again as soon as he had completely stepped out, he found himself just outside his own refreshing chamber.
"Ah, I see you have attempted your escape," Scorpius voice said, just before he appeared out of thin air in front of him. "How unfortunate the room you are in is not real."
"No! No, no, no! I do not want more crap in my head. So what, you're Harvey 2.0?" John asked his nemesis.
"Not quite, John," Scorpius replied, "although I did update the neural clone. After I realized you had been lying to me without showing so in your energy signature, I knew the neural clone had helped you and I had to take steps to avoid this reoccurring next time."
"So where the hell are we? No, don't tell me, we're in your head now?"
"Of course not John! I once tried to place you into my brain and you managed to remove quite a bit of information from my memory in very little time."
"Care to 'splain that, Grasshopper?" John asked. As far as he knew he had never been in the creature's head.
"The neural chip, John. We were not able to get all wormhole data from it through the interface. I decided to put that chip in my head and just as the chip had created a neural copy of my personality in your brain, it had obtained your personality which surfaced in my brain."
"But he didn't play game and stole the wormhole knowledge from your brain. God, I wish I had witnessed that!"
"I am sure you would have enjoyed it, John, but you can understand why I did not want you linked to my brain again. Instead, we have connected you to a computer which projects this room into your mind for you to interact with. Don't worry, your body is perfectly safe, although we've had to immobilize it so you would not accidentally move and harm yourself. You are being cared for and should last in this state a very, very long time."
"I s'pose I should be grateful you haven't heard of Quake or Unreal," John muttered. "So how come you're here now? You linked up as well?" John asked Scorpius.
"Yes, but only temporarily. The computer warned me the microt you opened your door. I hope you liked the escape scenario I had left you."
Yep, when something seems too good to be true, it certainly is, John thought morosely. "I knew it was all just too convenient, but I still had to try it."
"Of course, John. I would have been very disappointed if you had not tried to escape. Well, now that you are aware of your predicament, you can once again focus on the wormhole technology. Oh, I almost forgot. My copy contacted me earlier. It seems there has been a small incident aboard Moya. Officer Sun and the Nebari girl were making repairs in the Starburst Chamber. At some point a starburst was initiated. Unfortunately neither Officer Sun nor the Nebari could be warned in time and have perished." At that Scorpius vanished.
John was stunned. If Scorpy had told him the truth, which was debatable, Aeryn and Chiana were now dead. This could not be happening. This was not fair. He screamed out his anguish. As the tears ran down his face he bashed his head against the wall repeatedly causing the blood to flow down his face. The pain was real, both physically and in the sharp jagged glass that had been his heart. Aeryn was gone. He now had no chance to reconcile. He wouldn't get the chance to show her that he and his twin were one and the same. He wouldn't ever see again her brilliant smile or run his hands through her hair as he again smelled its alluring scent of flowers. Here he was, stuck in deep freeze; part of a frelling computer game with no visible way out, no reprieve. He shook the blood out of his eyes and wrapped his arms around his suddenly aching chest. There was no justice in this universe. Pip, gone too. No more teasing his gray-skinned sister about her snurching and loose ways. He wished he had the chance to tell her how proud he was of her. Now he would never be able to feel her hugs or hair tugging again. He felt her loss almost as keenly as he had the loss of his mother all those years ago. He sighed and shuddered as he curled up, fetal position on his bed, lost in his despair. He didn't notice when the blood on his forehead disappeared or when the marks on the walls repaired themselves. Scorpius grinned as he watched John Crichton loose touch with reality as he lost his hope. All was as it was and would be.
Moya, Scorpius' cell
Sikozu activated her bioloid link before she was anywhere near his cell. She would have to quickly halt his program before he would notice anything and while she was certain she could do it, she did not know the exact frequency of Scorpius' bioloid processing core.
Determining that frequency may take one or two microns and she was well aware of he knew about her origins. She was told about the Scarran-Sebacean hybrid and his special vision. He would have seen her energy signatures and deduced she was a bioloid. So she could not just walk up to his cell and stand there for one or two microns to find the frequency and then take another two microns to shutdown his core.
She had gone to her quarters first and left her comms there so he would not detect her coming. From a close enough distance she could then scan for his frequency and shutdown the core, without risking him detecting her and making rash decisions.
She shifted her gravity to walk on the ceiling and stayed as close to the wall as possible so he could never see her. When she thought she was close enough, she began to scan for bioloid frequencies. She found only one nearby, so the Crichton bioloid was not here.
Carefully, she scanned the bioloid a little deeper to determine which type she was dealing with. There were various types of bioloids and all required different approaches to deactivation. Good, it was a type she was familiar with. She had been right, these types would last no longer than 8 or 9 monens, depending on the required power to simulate the original life form. She sent the deactivation sequence to the bioloid and let herself into his cell after assuring that the bioloid was completely deactivated. Neither her link, nor her eyes saw any signs of an active bioloid.
"Well Scorpius," Sikozu said out loud to nobody, "it appears you had not anticipated someone would be able to deactivate your copy so easily. Peacekeepers are so far behind on this technology, even farther than Scarrans."
She wondered why she had said that out loud. Nobody was there to hear it and she really didn't want anyone to know anyway. She focused her link on the programming of the bioloid. The first thing to do was to remove the code that would destroy Moya if certain conditions were met. While she was aboard she really didn't want the Leviathan to be blown up.
After that was done, she focused on the clone's memory banks and tried to ascertain the location of the real Scorpius. She was so focused on that job she paid no attention to her surroundings.
"Hey Sputnik!" Sikozu heard from behind her. That was very stupid of her. She had completely forgotten the bioloid John would be making his way to Scorpius' cell around this time.
"What've you done with Scorpy?" John asked. "Hey, Scorp, you OK?" he continued without waiting for the girl to give an answer. John realized Scorpius did not answer and seemed dead.
Sikozu was trying very hard to realign her bioloid link to scan for John's frequency. Unfortunately she had trouble disconnecting from the Scorpius bioloid and she started to panic when she noticed John realized something was wrong.
"What the hell have you done to him!" John shouted as he stepped into the cell.
"She's obviously helping us," came a voice from behind him.
John turned around and was immediately knocked down by a pantak jab.
"Nice one, Aeryn!" Chiana said.
"Thank you Chiana," the former Peacekeeper replied. "Now go and get the DRD from the duct," she continued while she pointed to the opened grating on the wall, while I secure this frelling copy."
Chiana walked over to the wall to retrieve 1812 while Aeryn used some fasteners to bind Crichton's hands.
Sikozu was still stunned to see the two of them here. "You escaped," was the only thing she could say.
"Of course we did, otherwise we would not be here right now," Aeryn replied.
"But how... where did you... why did you...?" It was unusual for her to not be able to form complete intelligent questions but she was still too stunned to think clearly.
"Aeryn removed both of our comms before we ran out of the chamber," Chiana started to explain. "She figured that Scorpy tried to kill her because she wanted to kick his eema off of Moya and if he couldn't detect our comms he would think we were dead."
"You knew about his surveillance, then?" Sikozu asked, finally having found her equilibrium. She had also finally disconnected from the Scorpius bioloid and started a linkage with the Crichton bioloid.
"Yes," Aeryn said, "this DRD recorded one of Scorpius' communications and had proceeded to gain more information and relayed it all to me early this morning in the Starburst Chamber. John caught me, but his programming executed the sequence to switch from his night time personality to his day time personality and he did not have the time to carry out his programming to kill me."
"Crichton has indeed two distinct programming sections." Sikozu said. Seeing their puzzled looks she realized she had said too much. Now she would have to explain her origins. "I am a bioloid from the Kalish resistance. I am an advanced model and have the ability to link with other bioloids directly. That's how I deactivated the Scorpius bioloid."
"Can you alter his programming?" Aeryn asked.
Sikozu nodded. "I already did so with Scorpius and was busy scanning his memory to find the location where the real Scorpius and Crichton are before this bioloid surprised me. I am changing Crichton's programming now."
"Did you find out where they are?" Aeryn asked again.
Sikozu nodded. "Yes, I found it just when Crichton arrived. I could not sever the link with Scorpius fast enough, otherwise I would have deactivated Crichton as well."
"Hey Aeryn, maybe-maybe we should inform the rest of the crew now?" Chiana really needed to assure D'Argo. She had seen his reaction when he and Crichton had arrived at the Starburst Chamber and from his posture during the day, Chiana had deduced he was really upset.
"I agree." Aeryn said as she grabbed Crichton's comms. She was about to use it when she realized this might be too much of a shock for the rest of the crew. "Perhaps it's better if you wake them and ask to come here." She gave the comms to Sikozu.
Sikozu accepted the comms. "Captain Rygel, Ka D'Argo, and Noranti, could you please come to Scorpius holding cell. Crichton is already here."
Sikozou looked towards Aeryn after making her announcement. "I have the exact coordinates of the Space Station Gammak Base where the real Scorpius and Crichton are located."
"Good," Aeryn replied. "As soon as the crew arrives, inform Pilot. We are going to rescue John and make sure Scorpius will not harm anyone ever again."
Sikozu nodded again, although she would not let anyone harm Scorpius. She needed him to defeat the Scarrans and nobody would come between them. But as long as they were heading in the same direction she would work with them.
"What is happening here?" D'Argo's voice came from around the corner.
Aeryn and Chiana spun around and grinned widely as D'Argo came around the corner and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw them both.
"Chiana! Aeryn!" he exclaimed. He quickly covered the last distance and grabbed them both in a bear hug. "It is so good to see you alive!"
"Hey, ah, D'Argo, I-I am really happy to see you to, but could-could you apply a little less pressure?" Chiana asked.
D'Argo released them both and looked at them. "Where the frell have you two been?" As his eyes went to the cell and noticed both John and Scorpius he continued, "And what the frell is wrong with those two?"
"We will explain once every one has arrived." Aeryn said. "Perhaps we should then proceed toward Pilot's Den so he will know we survived as well."
Just then the rest of the crew arrived at the cell. Though Rygel was very happy to seem them both alive and well he grumbled, "Oh yotz! I suppose you will want your possession back?"
"It's good to see you too Ryge!" Chiana said.
"Fine, now that everyone is here, perhaps we should move to Pilot's Den so we will not have to tell the whole story again and again." Aeryn said. The crew nodded their agreement.
"D'Argo could you take Scorpius with you? I will carry John."
D'Argo moved into the cell and grabbed Scorpius. He threw him over his shoulder. Aeryn nodded her thanks to the tall Luxan and then carefully picked John, shouldering him, set a rapid pace up to the Den.
She was looking forward to seeing the gentle symbiote again and to assure him they were all right. Tonight they would tell the entire frelling story and bring the rest of the crew up to date. Then it would be time to make plans and go and rescue John.
She hoped he was all right. He had to be. The first thing she would tell him after rescuing him would be that she was pregnant. She would make amends for her total selfishness in forsaking him in her grief over the death of the other. She would let him know that she felt there was no difference between the two of them. She loved John Crichton. She had learned from her mistake with this copy. This copy had reacted the way the real John would have, that she knew for certain. That would not happen again. She guessed that there was a second chance at everything in life if she was willing to grasp it.
They arrived at Pilot's Den and Aeryn and Chiana stepped inside first. "Hello Pilot," Aeryn said.
The large creature looked up in surprise. "Officer Sun, Chiana! You are alive!"
Aeryn smiled. "Pilot, we were never dead. Everything is okay now. You and Moya did nothing wrong. It was that frelling Scorpius. You are safe now." Aeryn felt a great need to comfort the gentle being who served as their caregiver. Pilot reached out with a tentative claw and Aeryn grasped it with both her hands and placed it against her cheek.
"Aeryn Sun, Moya and I are grateful that you are safe. I could not warn you about Scorpius because of the threats he made against Moya. I feel ashamed of my actions."
"Pilot, put it behind you now. We are in this together. We will save John together."
Aeryn looked back to the entrance where D'Argo, Noranti, Sikozou, and Rygel stood. They had waited to give Aeryn and Chiana the privacy they needed to reconcile with Pilot. When they all had gathered in front of Pilot's console and had placed the bioloids against one of Moya's walls, Aeryn and Chiana proceeded to tell them the whole story up to the point where they had rescued Sikozu from John in Scorpius' cell. Sikozu informed them of her bioloid origins as well, knowing full well that if she wouldn't, Aeryn or Chiana would.
Aeryn had a plan to rescue Crichton. It would take all their ingenuity and guile. Sikozou gave Pilot the coordinates to the Gammak Base while Aeryn filled the others in on her idea. It would take at least 16 arns to get there, 16 long arns. They would sleep, eat and each would be able to loose themselves in their thoughts for awhile.
Tomorrow would be a day of action, of that the crew was certain.