Chapter Four
"Pilot!" John Crichton roared as he burst into Pilot's den without warning, dragging a blonde creature behind him. "Seal off this room now!"
When Pilot didn't react immediately, Crichton slammed his hand against the controls of the door he had just come through. There was a thud as a body hit the door only a microt after it closed, making Chiana jump even more than she had when Crichton's shouting had startled her out of her troubled thoughts.
Crichton vaulted onto the console. "Pilot, man, you gotta wake up!" The pounding had started in again on the doors, or at least on the one which Crichton had just locked behind him. "If they get in here...ain't no way we'll be able to take 'em out." He grabbed Pilot by both sides of his head. "Tell us which controls to operate, Pilot." His voice was softer, almost gentle compared to the urgency he had used at first. "Chi and I can handle it if you just give us a little guidance."
"Uh, yeah, Pilot," she shook her head to clear it of the fog her brain seemed to be shrouded in. "Tell us what to do." She glanced sideways at the blonde girl – barely Sebacean anymore, more like a frightened animal – standing nervously in front of the console.
"I—" Pilot visibly pulled himself together and began again. "I will...illuminate the controls in the proper order. As they light, depress them."
"No levers, Pilot?" Chiana asked. "Just the...the...the buttons?" The console was covered with buttons, large and small, as well as the odd lever or switch. All were contained within separate panels, which she supposed indicated some sort of separation between tasks. Good thing there were relatively large spaces between the panels or she and Crichton could've been setting off all sorts of unwanted actions just by sitting on or tripping over the controls.
"No, Chiana, only a few of the...buttons...are necessary to seal the passageways to this room and to open the outer doors to space."
She looked at Crichton. "Are you sure we want to...to space 'em all?" The Nebari girl was extremely uncomfortable with the thought of killing so many people and she couldn't believe that Crichton wanted to do this, either. The look on his face surprised her, though. She had never seen him look so hard or so determined.
"Trust me, Pip. We want to do this." His voice was grim. Something had brought him to this...murderous...decision in the arns he had been out in the rest of the ship. Chi decided she didn't really want to know what he had seen.
That frelling pounding was now coming from what sounded like all of the entrances to the den, as though all the other Xarai on board had been awakened by the ones that had chased Crichton and his...his pet between Command and here.
Chiana's attention was caught by a large red button by her gun hand that had begun to glow. She pushed it and there was an audible click that reverberated around the cavernous room, echoing back to them from all of the doors simultaneously. The pseudo-Sebacean girl whimpered and sidled closer to where Crichton was still crouched on the opposite side of the console from Chi.
"That's it, Chiana," Pilot said, encouragingly, "you have sealed off this room."
"That's...that's it? Just the one button? Why couldn't we have just done that before?" she complained, watching in distaste as the little tralk moved closer to Crichton, clinging to his leg.
"Kaarvok changed the settings on the control collar. His modifications prevented Rohvu or myself – or the Peacekeepers, in the beginning, before they...deteriorated – from doing anything to protect ourselves or the other inhabitants."
"Friggin' headcase..." Crichton muttered as he freed his leg from the girl's clutches. Chiana wasn't sure if he was talking about Kaarvok or the leech. "All right, Pilot. If we're sealed in, as in airtight, then I think we're ready to vent the rest of the ship."
***
It felt like waking from a too-deep sleep. Rohvu had blotted out his own awareness for so many cycles that he was experiencing something very like physical pain as his systems slowly came back to life – his many internal wounds had been with him for so long that he no longer felt that pain. He experienced the now-alien sensation of commands coming from his Pilot, following circuitry to reach his own awareness. He felt the oh-so- welcome pain of the control collar breaking away from his outer skin.
And now... Now he was receiving a command to seal his Pilot's chamber and then open his outer hull doors. Although these commands did not include Pilot's voice, but were merely electronic impulses, Rohvu knew what the commend to vent his atmosphere meant. The poor creatures that would be sucked out of his body would be better off in the vacuum of space – their existence was as pointless and wretched as his own.
Perhaps it would be better for himself and Pilot as well, if he simply reopened the doors to Pilot's chamber and allowed the vacuum in – or rather allowed the atmosphere in the chamber to escape. Then they could both just sleep. The pain would go away...
But no. There were new voices – one male, one female – voices that spoke real language. He was sure he hadn't imagined them, echoing through his communications systems. If he had imagined those voices, if there was no one new within his bulkheads, then how had he come to be free of the control collar?
The aborted attempt at starburst, many arns ago now, had been Rohvu's first inkling that something in his tortured existence had changed. That attempt had awakened all of these old/new sensations and, he realized, a particular emotion that he had forgotten: hope.
It was with a sense of hope that Rohvu accepted and acted on his Pilot's commands, first to seal the chamber that housed his old friend, and then to open his outer hull doors to the cleansing cold of space.
For the first time in more cycles than he could count, even as he opened his interior to vacuum, Rohvu flexed his mental voice and contacted his friend. *Are you there?* he asked. Even such a simple task hurt, but it was worth it when Pilot's response reached him.
*Rohvu! Rohvu! We are saved!* His friend's voice was ecstatic and Rohvu's despair of a few microts ago was crushed by the resurgence of hope.
*What has happened? How have things changed?* Rohvu asked.
*We must thank the Creators, who sent Crichton and Chiana to us,* Pilot replied. *I do not yet know where they came from, Rohvu, but they have rescued us. Even if they are not as they seem, they have saved us from Kaarvok and his Xarai. For that alone, we owe them everything.*
***
Pilot deliberately dampened his visual sensors, both interior and exterior. For all that they had put Rohvu and himself through, still he didn't want to watch the Xarai being torn out of the Leviathan to tumble through space as they died.
His orange eyes connected with the surprisingly green eyes of the Xarai girl that Crichton had brought with him. Eyes that were swimming with tears as she held herself perfectly still. Pilot knew without a doubt that she was aware of what fate she had been spared.
"Pilot!" John Crichton roared as he burst into Pilot's den without warning, dragging a blonde creature behind him. "Seal off this room now!"
When Pilot didn't react immediately, Crichton slammed his hand against the controls of the door he had just come through. There was a thud as a body hit the door only a microt after it closed, making Chiana jump even more than she had when Crichton's shouting had startled her out of her troubled thoughts.
Crichton vaulted onto the console. "Pilot, man, you gotta wake up!" The pounding had started in again on the doors, or at least on the one which Crichton had just locked behind him. "If they get in here...ain't no way we'll be able to take 'em out." He grabbed Pilot by both sides of his head. "Tell us which controls to operate, Pilot." His voice was softer, almost gentle compared to the urgency he had used at first. "Chi and I can handle it if you just give us a little guidance."
"Uh, yeah, Pilot," she shook her head to clear it of the fog her brain seemed to be shrouded in. "Tell us what to do." She glanced sideways at the blonde girl – barely Sebacean anymore, more like a frightened animal – standing nervously in front of the console.
"I—" Pilot visibly pulled himself together and began again. "I will...illuminate the controls in the proper order. As they light, depress them."
"No levers, Pilot?" Chiana asked. "Just the...the...the buttons?" The console was covered with buttons, large and small, as well as the odd lever or switch. All were contained within separate panels, which she supposed indicated some sort of separation between tasks. Good thing there were relatively large spaces between the panels or she and Crichton could've been setting off all sorts of unwanted actions just by sitting on or tripping over the controls.
"No, Chiana, only a few of the...buttons...are necessary to seal the passageways to this room and to open the outer doors to space."
She looked at Crichton. "Are you sure we want to...to space 'em all?" The Nebari girl was extremely uncomfortable with the thought of killing so many people and she couldn't believe that Crichton wanted to do this, either. The look on his face surprised her, though. She had never seen him look so hard or so determined.
"Trust me, Pip. We want to do this." His voice was grim. Something had brought him to this...murderous...decision in the arns he had been out in the rest of the ship. Chi decided she didn't really want to know what he had seen.
That frelling pounding was now coming from what sounded like all of the entrances to the den, as though all the other Xarai on board had been awakened by the ones that had chased Crichton and his...his pet between Command and here.
Chiana's attention was caught by a large red button by her gun hand that had begun to glow. She pushed it and there was an audible click that reverberated around the cavernous room, echoing back to them from all of the doors simultaneously. The pseudo-Sebacean girl whimpered and sidled closer to where Crichton was still crouched on the opposite side of the console from Chi.
"That's it, Chiana," Pilot said, encouragingly, "you have sealed off this room."
"That's...that's it? Just the one button? Why couldn't we have just done that before?" she complained, watching in distaste as the little tralk moved closer to Crichton, clinging to his leg.
"Kaarvok changed the settings on the control collar. His modifications prevented Rohvu or myself – or the Peacekeepers, in the beginning, before they...deteriorated – from doing anything to protect ourselves or the other inhabitants."
"Friggin' headcase..." Crichton muttered as he freed his leg from the girl's clutches. Chiana wasn't sure if he was talking about Kaarvok or the leech. "All right, Pilot. If we're sealed in, as in airtight, then I think we're ready to vent the rest of the ship."
***
It felt like waking from a too-deep sleep. Rohvu had blotted out his own awareness for so many cycles that he was experiencing something very like physical pain as his systems slowly came back to life – his many internal wounds had been with him for so long that he no longer felt that pain. He experienced the now-alien sensation of commands coming from his Pilot, following circuitry to reach his own awareness. He felt the oh-so- welcome pain of the control collar breaking away from his outer skin.
And now... Now he was receiving a command to seal his Pilot's chamber and then open his outer hull doors. Although these commands did not include Pilot's voice, but were merely electronic impulses, Rohvu knew what the commend to vent his atmosphere meant. The poor creatures that would be sucked out of his body would be better off in the vacuum of space – their existence was as pointless and wretched as his own.
Perhaps it would be better for himself and Pilot as well, if he simply reopened the doors to Pilot's chamber and allowed the vacuum in – or rather allowed the atmosphere in the chamber to escape. Then they could both just sleep. The pain would go away...
But no. There were new voices – one male, one female – voices that spoke real language. He was sure he hadn't imagined them, echoing through his communications systems. If he had imagined those voices, if there was no one new within his bulkheads, then how had he come to be free of the control collar?
The aborted attempt at starburst, many arns ago now, had been Rohvu's first inkling that something in his tortured existence had changed. That attempt had awakened all of these old/new sensations and, he realized, a particular emotion that he had forgotten: hope.
It was with a sense of hope that Rohvu accepted and acted on his Pilot's commands, first to seal the chamber that housed his old friend, and then to open his outer hull doors to the cleansing cold of space.
For the first time in more cycles than he could count, even as he opened his interior to vacuum, Rohvu flexed his mental voice and contacted his friend. *Are you there?* he asked. Even such a simple task hurt, but it was worth it when Pilot's response reached him.
*Rohvu! Rohvu! We are saved!* His friend's voice was ecstatic and Rohvu's despair of a few microts ago was crushed by the resurgence of hope.
*What has happened? How have things changed?* Rohvu asked.
*We must thank the Creators, who sent Crichton and Chiana to us,* Pilot replied. *I do not yet know where they came from, Rohvu, but they have rescued us. Even if they are not as they seem, they have saved us from Kaarvok and his Xarai. For that alone, we owe them everything.*
***
Pilot deliberately dampened his visual sensors, both interior and exterior. For all that they had put Rohvu and himself through, still he didn't want to watch the Xarai being torn out of the Leviathan to tumble through space as they died.
His orange eyes connected with the surprisingly green eyes of the Xarai girl that Crichton had brought with him. Eyes that were swimming with tears as she held herself perfectly still. Pilot knew without a doubt that she was aware of what fate she had been spared.