Chapter Four

Tinkerbell hovered close to the ceiling and hoped the Nebari intruders wouldn't notice her. She thought she could probably outfly them, if she really had to, but she didn't want to put it to the test.

After her unsuccessful attempt at reaching Tikrel – his chamber had been empty when she had gotten there, with evidence of a struggle – she had gone first to Rygel and then to Stark. Rygel had understood what she was talking about right away, but she wasn't sure about Stark. He had seemed so confused, even though she had repeated three times that he should join up with Crichton and Chiana in the lon-der-ree room. She hoped that Stark would be all right, but her real concern now was Diagnosan Tikrel.

If there had been a struggle, there was no way of knowing whether the Diagnosan had been able to retain his breathing apparatus or whether the Nebari knew or even cared that he needed it to survive. Tinkerbell had seen no evidence that it had been taken from him, but neither had she seen anything to indicate that the old Diagnosan was safe or in good health.

Not knowing what else to do, she made the decision to find Crichton and Chiana and spun around, intending to slip out of the corridor without being spotted. As she did this, she spotted a DRD weaving its way between three Nebari at the other end of the corridor. One of the Nebari trained her weapon on the little mechanical for a microt, but then relaxed and returned to her search, apparently deciding it was no threat. While Nebari attention was on the DRD, Tinkerbell flitted around the corner and into a new corridor, remaining near the ceiling to avoid unwanted attention.

Continuing on her course, hoping to come across either some sign that Tikrel was all right or to find Noranti – the only one save Diagnosan Tikrel and Captain D'Argo who had not yet been told of the meeting's change in venue – Tinkerbell was surprised to discover the DRD was keeping up with her.

She came to an abrupt stop, hovering. The DRD stopped just below her. A little opening formed and an arm came out of it, something glinting at its end, reflecting the low lighting in the corridor. Descending a bit for a closer look, she heard footsteps coming from somewhere up ahead, in the direction toward which she had been flying. Simultaneously, Tinkerbell and the DRD backed up into the shadows, the Paakrit again near the ceiling, the drone melting into the shadow created by one of Moya's ribs.

Tinkerbell held her breath, but released it in a sigh of relief as Noranti came into view, moving cautiously and pausing to check behind her for followers.

-

Gurvis had a tight hold on the Diagnosan when his comms buzzed. "What is it?" he growled.

"We've searched everywhere on the crew decks, Gurvis," a female voice – he thought it was Noren's second, but he couldn't recall her name – reported, "but we haven't been able to locate anyone."

Wonderful. Just what I need, Gurvis groused to himself. It wasn't only the Luxan who was not where he was supposed to be, but the entire crew, it seemed. How could they possibly have known Gurvis and his team were coming?

"What do we do now?" the woman asked. The Diagnosan trilled something at the same time, but Gurvis had no clue what he said.

"What now?" the Nebari leader repeated, incredulous. "Search the rest of the ship!" He started to suggest where to look – the center chamber or command deck, for starters – when the Diagnosan tried to pull away from him and surprised him utterly by saying, in a high-pitched and halting voice, "I must…attend to D'Argo. His…blood is be…coming toxic."

Gurvis looked up at the alien's face, but could see little behind the mask. "Toxic?"

"I must…force his blood to…flow clear." Perhaps sensing that Gurvis was listening, the Diagnosan seemed to relax a bit in the Nebari's hold.

"Is that why you hit him?"

"Yes."

"Verisa. Noren." Glancing at his subordinates, one of whom was frozen at the diagnostic terminal while the other still held his weapon trained on the no-longer-struggling prisoner, Gurvis asked, "Do either of you know anything about Luxan physiology?"

They both shook their heads. He looked back up at the Diagnosan. "What's your name?"

"I am…Tikrel."

"All right, Tikrel. I'm going to let you loose. Do not attempt to escape. The only thing I want you to do is fix the Luxan. Is that clear?"

"Yes."

Hoping he wasn't making a mistake, Gurvis released the tall, frail-seeming creature, who immediately returned to the Luxan's side.

-

"You understand that you're totally fahrbot, right?" Chiana couldn't keep the frustration from her voice. "Crichton, if you get yourself…if you get yourself killed, Aeryn's going to have my head!" She and Crichton had been in the laundry room for about a quarter arn. They had spoken to Pilot about their ideas for a secure comms system on their way there, about which Pilot had been hopeful that he and Moya could come up with something, and now Crichton was getting restless. So was she, for that matter.

She couldn't see the Human, but she could hear him as he ran a circuit of the laundry room, checking all of the access points, large and small. She also heard the faint whirring sound as a DRD entered through one of the small access points near to the back of the room – an entrance that happened to be nearest to the direction of Pilot's den, if anyone cared to wriggle their way through it from here.

"I'm not going to get myself killed, Pip." She knew Crichton had that frelling grin on his face.

"I can't believe you promised Aeryn… Never mind. Yes, I can." He would've promised her anything to keep her from worrying about him. "So, you're just going to abandon me here? W- W- What do you think you can do to help D'Argo and Aeryn, anyway?"

"I don't know what I can do to help, but I can't just sit here, staring at the walls. Hel-lo!" She knew that last wasn't directed at her; he sounded startled.

"What's up?" Chi cocked her head, listening more intently, but all she heard was the creak of leather as Crichton crouched down closer to the floor.

Crichton didn't answer her right away. "Crichton?"

"Hang on, Pip. Damn, Pilot, that was fast."

Pilot? Frell, she wished that she could just see! "Crichton? What's going on? Does Pilot have the new…the new comms set up already?"

After another few microts, Crichton's distracted voice drifted to her from closer to floor level, confirming her suspicion that he was crouching to look at something. "Yeah, Chi, Pilot and Moya have things all set up." She heard more creaking of leather as he stood and came toward where she was sitting, back against a wall. He crouched down beside her – she inhaled the scent that belonged to Crichton alone – and lightly touched the back of her head, just under her hair.

"Moya grew some communications crystals for us," Crichton said, as she felt a small electrical shock go through her skull from behind her left ear. "I just put it—"

"Behind my ear, yeah, Crichton, I figured that one out." She reached up to touch the spot where the electricity had originated. The crystal felt warm to her fingertip. Leather creaked again as he stood, but she grabbed for him, gripping what turned out to be a wrist, so that he ended up hauling her to her feet. "You're not going anywhere without me, Old Man. No way are you gonna have all the fun."

"Chiana—"

She cut him off. "Don't 'Chiana' me, Crichton. You're not going to listen to Aeryn; I'm not going to listen to you. If you insist on…on…on being stupid, I'm going to be stupid right along with you."

"Chiana." Pilot's voice seemed to vibrate in her head, felt more than heard. She shook her head to clear the odd sensation as he continued, "You should stay hidden. It seems that it is you that the Nebari are looking for."

"I knew it!" She abruptly let go of Crichton's wrist and spun away from him. "This is all my frelling fault! I shoulda just left a long time ago, then you wouldn't all be in this position, and Moya wouldn't be—"

Now it was her turn to be cut off. "Moya says she is fine, Chiana. She is much more worried about all of—" Abruptly, Pilot's voice was gone.

For a handful of microts, she heard nothing else. She waited, pounding a fist against her thigh, her pulse racing through her veins, then, "Tikrel's with him?" Crichton sounded like he was responding to something Pilot had said to him. "Are they all right? Are they in Nebari custody?" Chi couldn't hear Pilot's reply, but he must have said something Crichton didn't like.

"Shit," Crichton said. There was no heat in his voice, so whatever it was must not be too bad. "But Aeryn and Tink both have the crystals…?" There was a pause, then, "Okay, Grandma's wired, too. That's good."

"Hey, Pilot!" Chiana said to the room at large, still frightened but more angry at the situation they currently found themselves in.

"—es, Chiana?"

"Is there any way Crichton and I can both hear what you're saying?"

"If you stand close together, I can have the DRD widen the spread of the laser a bit. It might be enough, if you are close enough, that you would both be able to hear me."

"Give it a shot, Pilot," she said, turning back toward Crichton. She knew he hadn't moved away from his previous spot – his leathers would've given him away.

Taking a couple of steps toward where Crichton had been standing before she had pulled away from him, Chi grabbed for his arm again. Her aim true, she connected with his left elbow, so, maintaining the connection, she dropped her hand down to his and pulled him up against her. Felt kind of good, actually, when his other arm came around her waist to steady himself. It surprised the hezmana out of her, though, when she felt the baby kick out against her loomas from Crichton's rounded midsection. Brazening it out, she smiled and ran a finger along his jaw and then back up to the base of his skull through the soft, short hair until she reached the warm spot that was his communications crystal. "Pilot says if we're close enough to each other, he can maybe…maybe make himself heard by both of us."

"Down, girl." Crichton's breath was soft against her cheek and she knew he was looking down at her. "Well, Pilot? Are we close enough?"

"You tell me, Commander… Chiana… Can both of you hear me?"

Simultaneously, Chiana said, "Yeah, Pilot," while Crichton responded, "Clear as a bell."

"That will make communications a bit easier," Pilot admitted.

Crichton snorted, a brief puff of air against her cheek. "Just so long as I don't have to stand this close to Rygel or Grandma."

"Pilot, did I hear Crichton say Tikrel is with D'Argo…? Is D'Argo…? Is he okay, Pilot?" Nice though it felt to have Crichton so close, she had to know. She was pretty sure Pilot wasn't going to tell her D'Argo was dead. All the same, she needed to actually hear it for herself that he hadn't gotten himself killed.

"From what Aeryn has told me, Chiana, he is still unconscious, but the Nebari are allowing Tikrel to treat him."

"Can any of the DRDs get close enough to D'Argo or the doc to get a crystal in place?" Crichton asked.

"Wouldn't that be too much of a risk, Crichton?" Chiana asked. Sure, it'd be hard for the intruders to intercept a transmission, she thought, but they'd know something was happening if D'Argo or Tikrel was too startled to contain it, either when the crystal was attached or when Pilot began speaking.

"It'd be a risk, yeah, but if Aeryn's right there and can communicate with them through the DRDs, it might help to get 'em out."

"I will confer with Aeryn," Pilot interjected, "as she is the one best able to assess their current circumstance."

-

By the yotz. The psychotic bugger managed to keep up after all, Rygel thought to himself as he heard Stark running after him, his footsteps much closer now than they had been a quarter arn ago.

He hadn't really intended to leave him behind. Hoped, maybe, but not intended. So it was just as well that Stark had followed him from the intersection where Rygel had found the confused Bannik, wallowing in self-doubt. The man would probably have never figured out what Tinkerbell's "lon-der-ee" room was, left to his own devices.

It shouldn't have taken this long to reach his destination, but he had kept having to dodge the Nebari. How the hezmana had they gotten on board Moya, anyway? Luckily, Rygel knew every nook and cranny aboard the Leviathan – nooks and crannys that Moya herself probably wasn't aware of. He had no problem avoiding the Nebari.

Rygel was still trying to figure out how Stark had avoided capture – there was absolutely nothing subtle about the man – when he waved the door open and entered the "laundry" room, Stark close behind.

"What have you done now, Crichton?" the Dominar asked as he glided into the room. However this whole situation had happened, he was certain the Human had something to do with it. "Do the frelling Nebari want wormholes now, too?"

"Shhhh," Crichton replied, waving Rygel off.

The Hynerian stopped his throne-sled, eyes widening in surprise at the sight of Crichton and Chiana in what looked like the kind of embrace these body-breeders seemed to be obsessed with. "Does Aeryn know about this?" he asked.

The Human and the Nebari ignored him. Rygel shook his head, used to the lack of respect, and made his way around the room, checking that his possible routes of escape were clear, should it become necessary. Seeing the door was still open, he ordered, "Stark, close that frelling door!"

The Bannik jumped, startled, but then complied, hitting the control. "Sorry, Rygel," he said. "I wasn't thinking."

"That's apparent."

"Thanks, Pilot. Keep us posted," Crichton said.

Pilot? He had thought the comms were turned off… What exactly was going on? "What are you yammering on about now, Crichton?"

"Moya's made us some communication crystals, Ryg," Chiana began.

"Hey, Sparky, it's nice to see you, too." Rygel snorted his disbelief, which only caused the Human's grin to widen.

Crichton abruptly broke away from Chiana and headed toward the door. "No, really, Rygel. Now that you and Stark are here, I can go check up on D'Argo and Aeryn." He popped his head out the door, checking for intruders, drawing his pulse pistol from its holster. "Noranti and Tink should be here any microt. You two," he said, looking at Rygel and Stark in turn, "are the last ones to be wired in."

"Well, that makes about as much sense as anything else you've ever said to me," Rygel replied.

"Crichton, you really should stay here. Let me go instead," Chiana said.

"Chiana, you can't see to help D'Argo and you're the one they're looking for, anyway. We're not going to let them have you. I'll move slowly enough the vertigo shouldn't bother me and I'll stay out of sight. I just can't let Aeryn fight off the invasion of the personality snatchers all by herself." With that he stepped through the door, closing it behind him.

"All right, Chiana, talk," Rygel growled. "What the yotz is going on?"