Part One: Bonnie and Clyde

"Let me see if I have this straight," John said, looking at Chiana and Rygel in turn. "You want to rip off a casino?"

"No," Chiana said promptly. "That would be wrong. We wouldn't do that, would we, Ryge?"

Rygel glared at her. "I told you we shouldn't bring him." He turned to look at John in disgust. "He's so frelling---honorable."

Chiana hit him upside the head to quiet him, then turned back to John. "We don't, ah, we don't want to rip them off. But we need money, right? And I can...well, my frelling future powers should be good for something, right?"

"The problem is," Rygel said. "Everyone will believe she is cheating."

"Well, she kind of would be," John said wryly.

"I would just be playing," Chiana said with a nod. "If I get flashes of what's going to happen before hand, well, what's a girl to do?"

"You're using Earth expressions again," John said with a grin, then he winced. "Though it's a bit embarrassing I've at some point said that one."

Chiana laughed. "I'm using it right too," she said smugly.

John sighed. "So what's my role in this little scheme?"

"You're my loyal slave," Chiana said with a sly grin.

John raised his eyebrows, and Rygel gave a long-suffering sigh. "You would be her body guard," he said. "Act like a Peacekeeper, you have enough practice. Our hope is they won't want to provoke a Peacekeeper over a few million currency pledges."

"Millions?" John asked in surprise. "How much do we need?"

"It's not a matter of need," Chiana said wryly. "It's a matter of want, but I'm willing to settle for a couple million in the interests of discretion."

"How very humble of you," John said.

"So will you do it?" Chiana asked.

"Are the casino owners corrupt?" he asked. "Are they evil and ripping them off will be doing the universe a favor?"

"Oh absolutely. They're horrible. Murderers, cheats, liars. They deserve whatever they get," Chiana said easily.

"Okay. Alright. We'll do it. What's Rygel going to be doing? Hiding safely in the transport?" John threw a scathing look over at the small Dominar.

He sniffed haughtily. "I will be meeting with a contact to see if I can find any more information on Hyneria or Chiana's brother."

John was surprised. "You have contacts?"

"Ryge found out about the guy on the command carrier," Chiana said, purposely neglecting to mention who had told him where to find him. "Ex-Peacekeeper. Lives at the casino dealing tresralas."

John narrowed his eyes. "How long have you guys had this planned?" he demanded.

Chiana and Rygel shared an innocent look. "Not planned. This is a spontaneous kind of thing."

John sighed. "I knew this wouldn't be boring."

"How do I look?" Chiana asked with a grin as John put on his long leather jacket.

He looked up and laughed. "Like a Princess, what's with the get up?"

Chiana grinned. "I stole some jewelry from Rygel's stash and I...procured this jacket on Rirm, that commerce planet we visited awhile back. Figured I had to look important to have Peacekeeper protection." She toyed with the necklaces and bracelets, the dark blue and regal jacket swaying along with the jewelry. "They're a bit much, though, huh?"

He stepped up to her, and carefully unclasped the large golden amulet hanging down to her waist. He placed it in her palm. "That one was a bit much," he said with a grin. "The rest look fine."

She smiled at him. "Well then, my body guard, we should be off. Rygel says we only have two arns before he'll be back from his meeting, and knowing him, if we're not here, he'll leave without us."

John smiled wryly. "Be a bit hard to do with the connections I...well, unconnected. He's not going anywhere without us."

She laughed delightedly. "When did you get so devious?"

"All that time spent hanging around you," he said lightly, before giving her a push towards the door. He tried to affect a serious look once they stepped out into the casino floor--he had to be intimidating, after all.

Chiana stayed a pace in front of him, relishing getting to be the one with the power for once, instead of a lackey or server girl. John could just tell she was enjoying it far too much. She paused abruptly and leaned back to whisper in his ear. "Mercury droplet...it bounces of an ion stream. Chances are a thousand to one--why don't we see if I can improve those odds?" With a sly grin she sauntered towards the table.

John quickly followed after her, glad that Winona had not been taken away. Apparently weapons were allowed--though really, that made him just as nervous. If you were allowed to have a weapon, they must have some means of keeping you from using it.

"Ah," the man behind the table grinned at her. Behind him was a tall glass case, an ion stream flashing like lightning along the bottom and a dropper filled with mercury suspended upside down at the top. "A Nebari. Don't get many Nebaris here," he said. "At least none that want to play."

"I'm not...like most Nebaris," Chiana said with a crooked little grin.

John held back an amused snort. Chiana wasn't like most anyone.

"Care to take your chances?"

Chiana stared up at the glass case, her fingers tightening their grip on the table as a flash overtook her. She tried to remain inconspicuous, even as she felt herself being pulled forward and back. John's hand reached out discreetly to the small of her back, steadying her, and as she was pulled back to the present she cast him a grateful glance before turning back to the dealer. "Oh, I think I might."

Rygel flew into the small casino bar. Smoke from the faulty ventilation system had gathered in a halo around the ceiling, and all the light fixtures but one had flickered out. It was the perfect place for a meeting, Rygel decided with no small amount of admiration. You could kill the person if they betrayed you, and if you did it before they could make a sound, it would be arns before the body was found.

That also made it dangerous, he admitted to himself. As sure of his abilities as he was, Peacekeepers were dangerous, and ones that had defected usually the most dangerous of them all.

And Airviel Manes was most certainly dangerous. Rygel had learned of him from the gossip of the commandos onboard Scorpius's command carrier, all of them had spoken of him with and odd mix of disdain and awe. Rygel had immediately decided that if he could be found, he would be of some use.

He had never expected to find him, however. He'd been lucky. Aeryn had known where he was from her own contacts among the Peacekeeper rebels, and she had passed the information to him, albeit with reluctance. Whether she had been worried the ex-Peacekeeper would betray him since he was not directly allied with the rebels, or if she was worried Rygel would betray Manes, Rygel was not sure and did not particularly care.

He saw a Sebecean in the back corner table, and knew it was Manes from the way he held himself. Pure Peacekeeper arrogance radiated from him even at this distance. He flew his thronesled to the back, but hovered a foot away with no intention of taking a seat. "Manes?"

Manes did not immediately turn to look at him, as he stirred the last dregs of his Fellip nectar with a small silver stick. "You must be the Dominar. Funny," he said. "You don't look like much."

Rygel narrowed his eyes. "I am here for the information. You said in your communiqués that you had Intel on the situation at Hyneria, as well as the Nebari resistance."

Manes snapped his fingers and Rygel was instantly surrounded by five armed Sebeceans. "I lied." He pulled out a knife and, before Rygel could blink, it was held against his throat. "I want John Crichton."

The dealer was sweating.

Three times in a row was unheard of. Technically speaking, it was impossible. And the Nebari just kept on winning.

John looked around them nervously, waiting for security to show up as he knew they would. He was still hoping they could bluff their way out of it, but it would become harder with each new win. And despite the multiple times he had hissed "let's go" in her ear, Chiana did not seem inclined to stop.

"One more," she kept saying, though it was never just once more. John rolled his eyes. He wondered if the Uncharteds had a Gambler's Anonymous.

So she won again, then again, six times and then seven. They had 7 million currency pledges in less than an arn. More than enough, John decided, grabbing Chiana's arm and pulling her back up against him. "Time to cash in, Pip, don't you think?" he whispered.

She tilted her head towards him slyly. "But I'm having fun."

"Ask the nice man for your money and let's go."

Chiana pouted a bit but did as he asked. "Rygel was right. We should have left you in the transport."

The dealer seemed reluctant to hand the money over, but when John oh-so-discreetly flipped his jacket back to reveal the pulse pistol on his thigh, he could not have been more helpful. He handed over a ticket and John immediately started leading them away. "Where do we cash out?" he asked. "I've got a bad feeling we're about a microt from getting tackled."

Chiana pointed across the floor. "Down there. And quit your worrying. We got away with it, didn't we?"

"You seeing that, Pip?" John demanded. "Because it seems to me we still have a ways to go before we're in the clear."

Chiana looked behind them, and noticed two men--dressed in tight black uniforms that she allowed herself to admire for a moment--were following them. "Okay. You're right," she said. "We're not out of it yet."

"What did you see?" John demanded, surprised she'd had a flash without his noticing.

"Them," Chiana said simply, pointing across the floor.

John spun around, and when the guards realized they'd been spotted they sped up. "Frell," John snapped. "This ticket alone is useless, isn't it?"

"Yep," she said, sounding rather unnecessarily upbeat considering their situation. "We need to get it exchanged here or this has all been for nothing."

"Yeah, well, I get the feeling the guards aren't going to wait for us to take their money." John looked around the casino, noticing three more guards approaching from the opposite direction. "Alright, Chi--make a break for it. Find Sparky and get to the transport. You should be able to fix the transport on your own." "Are you fahrbot, Crichton?" Chiana hissed. "I'm not leaving you here."

"I miss the good ole' days," he said with an exaggerated sigh. "It used to be I had to beg and plead for you to stick around during a crisis."

She smacked him on the arm but allowed herself a grin. "We're about to die. Don't make me smile."

"We're not going to die," John said. "I'm John Crichton. Don't you listen to the stories? There ain't no situation I can't get myself out of, darlin'."

Chiana cast him a sideways glance. "I thought we all agreed those stories were dren."

John flashed her his most charming grin. "Well, mostly. But you gotta admit, I'm damn lucky."

"Odd kind of luck," she said as he grabbed her wrist to tug her behind him.

"We don't want trouble, Peacekeeper," one of the guards said as he reached them. "We just want the Nebari."

"Oh, I don't think so." John reached for Winona at the same time he pushed Chiana behind one of the tables.

They all started firing at the same time.

Manes looked up as pulse fire broke out in the casino. Rygel took advantage of his lapse and bit into his hand viciously, tearing the flesh and catching the knife when it was released from the Peacekeeper's flagging grip.

Manes' men started firing but Rygel could force his thronesled fast if he needed to, and he disappeared into the darkness of the bar before they got a clear shot.

"Frell!" Manes yelled. "What the hezmana is going on out there?"

One of the Peacekeepers ran to the door. "Guards are in a fire fight with a Peacekeeper."

Manes' eyes lit up. "A Peacekeeper? No." He started for the door. "It's gotta be Crichton."

Chiana grabbed John's jacket and yanked him down beside her as he quickly refilled the chakkan oil cartridge. "Doesn't look good, Bonnie," he said. "They've got us pinned down."

"So shoot 'em, Clyde!" she hissed.

He cast her an appreciative glance at her memory for Earth culture, before quickly taking her advice and shooting. "They've got some kind of armor," he snapped. "None of my shots are getting through. Frell--no wonder they don't care if you carry a weapon."

"Are you sure you're hitting them at all?" Chiana demanded.

"Yes, I'm sure I'm hitting them. You want to try?" he snapped as he stood again and fired at two more of the guards. The shots slid off their suits like water. He kneeled behind the table again. "Plan B," he said.

Chiana groaned. "I hate Plan B. It's always worse than Plan A. Which is usually saying something."

"We surrender," John said. "And wait for Rygel to break us out."

"Yep. That's worse," she said. "Are you fahrbot? Rygel is not going to break us out."

"He is if he wants to go anywhere," John said with an evil smirk. "That transport isn't leaving without us."

Chiana shook her head. "He's more resourceful than that. He'll find a way off, and it certainly won't involve risking his toady-little neck for us."

"I think you're underestimating him," John said, wincing as a pulse blast finally broke through the table surface, glancing just to the left of his head. "He's developed some loyalty over the years."

"Situational loyalty," Chiana groused. "And this situation certainly doesn't apply."

"Okay," John said. "Plan C. We go down fighting like Butch and Sundance."

Chiana promptly stood up with her hands in the air. "We surrender!"

"Plan C--makes Plan B look sane every time," John mumbled, before holstering Winona and standing up beside her. He noticed a group of Peacekeepers rushing at them from the other direction, before returning his attention to the guards.

The guards glared at them, obviously less than thrilled at having pulse-fire damage all over their casino, and then the one in charge lifted his weapon and fired.

They both froze--then they hit the ground.

End Part One.

Next Up: Part Two: Rygel to the Rescue