Even before the Scarran ship was out of the wormhole, Talyn was maneuvered into position for a strafing run. Crais could feel Talyn's disorientation and sense of panic as his higher functions came back on line. Talyn, remain calm. The crew is taking care of you.
As Talyn tried to interpret the sensor information, he became more confused by the sheer volume of information. What's going on? Where are we? Who are we attacking?
Crais could feel the sense of panic rising. This was not a good time for Talyn's higher functions to come back on line. There is a Scarran threat that must be destroyed. There is no time to explain. Watch and learn. Once we have dealt with the Scarrans I will have time to explain. He could feel Talyn beginning to probe his mind. Talyn, no. You must wait. All our lives depend on it. He did his best to exude cool confidence to the gunship, let Talyn know he was in control of the situation.
I…will watch, Talyn replied hesitantly.
Crais then turned his attention back to the battle. They were close enough for the first shot. "Fire! Launch all fighters when we turn." He watched as first Talyn's forward cannons and then rear cannons fired on the Scarran ship. As they were turning for a second run he ordered, "Damage report."
"Captain, they have sustained a fifty percent loss of propulsion. One of their main guns is down. Several small hull breeches. They are launching fighters and turning to put their strong side towards us."
It was a good start, but it might not be good enough. "Begin the second run, have the fighters follow us in." As the battle raged, Crais could feel himself becoming one with Talyn. His sense of the battle came directly from the gunship's sensors. He directed the actions of the fighters and Talyn's movements with his eyes closed. He could see his crew performing exactly as they were trained. There was no lost motion. Damage control efforts were quick and efficient. Sebacean worked alongside DRD in perfect harmony.
Without warning the Scarran ship ceased firing. Crais pulled his forces back and opened his eyes. He moved forward to the sensor console and began checking readings. They didn't make any sense. He reached back for his transponder.
"Captain, sensors show all life readings on the Scarran ship are gone. But…there's no hull breach. Not one big enough to take out the entire crew," reported a very confused Lt. Teeg.
"Man a Marauder. I want a security team over there to confirm readings."
"Aye, sir."
"Get Commander Crichton up here." He could see one of the techs run out of command to carry out his order.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Once battle stations sounded, Aeryn tried to get out of bed.
Velorek held her down, "Where do you think you are going?"
"To protect Talyn. They're going to need all the pilots they can get."
"You're in no condition to fly. Talyn will be fine without you."
She was too weak to fight against him. "Why have you chosen to be my protector?"
He smiled warmly at her, "Because I know how hard headed you can be."
"I am not hard headed. I don't even belong here. Actually, you don't belong here." She could see the hurt in his eyes. "Velorek, we come from different realities. I'm not the person that you knew and you're not the person I knew."
"I know that. But don't you think that there might be a chance for the two of us?"
She placed a hand on his cheek. "You need to go back to your reality and I need to stay here."
He held her hand to his cheek. He was trying to think of what to say next when a young cadet entered. When the cadet saw her, he ran up to her and jumped on the bed and hugged her.
Aeryn responded very stiffly.
Velorek gently pulled the cadet off her. "Easy Kareth. She's been injured."
Kareth sat back in Velorek's lap. His eyes locked with Aeryn's. They were the same smoky gray as hers. She knew who he was.
"Where have you been?" Kareth asked.
"Not now, son. Let her rest. She's been through a lot."
Kareth turned to look at his father. "She's going to be all right, isn't she?"
"Just fine," Velorek reassured.
Kareth looked back at Aeryn. "I'm glad you're back. I missed you, mother."
Aeryn choked back the emotions she felt. Her own pregnancy was still in stasis.
"Why don't you get back to your lesson? I'm sure your instructor is expecting your return. I'll see you at evening meal."
"Yes, father." Kareth leaned over and kissed Aeryn before he left.
Aeyrn watched him go. "Crais allows this?"
"I'm allowed special privileges because of what I did for the gunship project. Because it's Crais, no one says anything. I spend most of my time on Talyn and Kareth is part of the cadet class here. He's done very well on his aptitude testing. It looks like he will be accepted into the pilot program. He wants to fly the new combat pods." Just like his mother, he added silently.
Aeryn was about to ask about the combat pod when Talyn began the first attack run. Velorek squeezed her hand gently. "I need to go. Remain here. I'll be back."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
John was nearing a breakthrough when a tech came running in. "Sir, you are needed in command."
He waved his hand. "In a microt."
"No, sir, now."
"Quiet. I said in a microt. I'm almost there."
The tech was growing nervous. This was taking too long. "Commander, the captain has ordered you to command. I would not make him wait. He was quite insistent."
John could tell that he wasn't going to be able to get anything else down. He had lost his train of thought. He slammed his palms on the console in frustration and stood up. "Okay, fine, I'm coming." He followed the tech back up to command.
When they arrived he saw Crais staring at a sensor panel. "Okay, Crais, what's so important that you pulled me away from the research you want me to do?"
Crais bristled at the familiarity. "You will address me as Captain. And the reason you are here is because in the middle of the battle, the Scarrans stopped fighting and there are now no lifesigns coming from their ship."
"Great, you won. For this you called me up here?"
"I do not know that we won. Their ship did not sustain enough damage to kill all those onboard. I have sent a Marauder team to investigate. That is why you are here. I need you to interpret their sensor readings."
"The Marauder's landing now, sir," reported Teeg. She activated the screen and placed the video from the lead soldier on it.
Everyone in command watched in silence, waiting to see what would be found. The security team swept the hangar. There were no bodies and no sign of life. The team moved out into the corridor. There was still no sign of life, but the ship seemed to be functioning normally.
"Move towards command," Crais ordered. He didn't like this. There should be some sign of the Scarrans. As the commandos continued through the ship, they did see an occasional body, but the corridors were empty.
When the door to command opened, there were puddles of goo everywhere, but only two bodies. "Where are the Scarrans?" Crais asked.
John was staring at the goo. He knew what had happened to the Scarrans. "The goo," he said quietly.
Crais turned to face him. "What?"
"The goo. They all turned to goo. It's a side effect of the wormhole."
Crais quickly closed the distance between the two of them until they were nose to nose. "What do you mean side effect? Is that the fate that awaits us?"
John was trying to watch the video. "No. If you were going to turn to goo it would have happened by now. Think about it, you've been here a lot longer than they have."
"Explain," Crais ordered.
"Tell you what, I'll give you a great explanation, but I need to get over there and view their sensor logs. They may have some information that could be useful. The sooner I get that information the better."
Crais gritted his teeth at the level of insubordination John was showing. "You may accompany the tech team when they go over to gather intelligence. Escort him to the hangar. Once the all clear is given the tech team may begin."
"Aye, sir," replied Teeg.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
D'Argo, Chiana, Rygel and Stark were in command when the third wormhole opened. "Pilot, what's coming through this one?" asked D'Argo.
"Unknown, though it is much larger than the last ship."
"We need to get out of here. Starburst," said Chiana.
"We will not abandon John and Aeryn," said D'Argo as he turned to leave.
Chiana grabbed him. "You're not going out there again."
"I have to help. That's John and Aeryn over there."
She pointed out the front viewscreen. "Look, Talyn's weapons are working again. He can handle it."
He turned to watch as Talyn strafed the Scarran cruiser exiting the wormhole.
Stark gripped the console he was standing closest to. "Not good. Scarrans coming. Shouldn't be here. Dead. We'll all be dead."
"What are you mumbling about?" Rygel asked.
Stark grabbed Rygel. "The Scarrans. It's bad. They could destroy us all."
Rygel slapped Stark's hands away. "You aren't making any sense, yet again."
Stark pointed at the viewscreen. "They aren't supposed to be here. None of them. Scarrans. Talyn. They don't belong. They are upsetting the balance. Especially the Scarrans. I need to talk to Crichton. He knows. He understands."
"Not likely," quipped Rygel.
Stark ran over and grabbed D'Argo. "You need to take me over there. I need to see Crichton."
D'Argo shoved Stark away. They had all thought this madness had stopped since Stark's return, but he was back to his normal flaky self. "You're not going anywhere while the battle is raging. It will have to wait."
Stark whined nervously, but he was unwilling to risk the Luxan's rage.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
John stared at the goo. He had seen the results from Scorpius' wormhole tests. This was the same thing that had happened to those pilots without the benefit of shielding. It seemed that there was something in the physiology of Leviathans that protected the inhabitants. Of course, they had traveled through a wormhole in Lo'la and not been liquefied, so it wasn't an entirely sound theory.
The tech team was combing through the Scarran ship to get as much information on the technology as possible, especially shielding and weapons. He got the impression that Peacekeepers had never been able to study a Scarran ship in this much detail. He moved to one of the unused consoles and tapped into the Scarran sensor logs. One of the techs had given him a recording device that would save all the information he needed.
He lost track of time as he dug through the memory banks of the ship. He stumbled upon something interesting and jumped out of his seat and ran out of command.
"Commander!" shouted the lead tech. "Frell." He turned to one of the guards, "Follow him."
The guard complied without question.
John ran along the corridors, following the map in his mind. He reached a door and tried to activate the door. When it didn't open he beat that the control panel.
The guard caught up to him, "Sir, is something wrong?"
John saw the pulse rifle the guard was holding. "Shoot the door," he ordered.
The guard was confused. This was not the type of order he expected. It was even more unexpected when John grabbed at his rifle. The guard pulled it clear.
"Shoot the frelling door. I need to see what's on the other side," John insisted.
The guard leveled his rifle and John stood back. It took four shots to bring the door down to the point where John could squeeze through. He could hear the guard telling him to get out of the way. "There's no one alive but us," he mumbled.
He looked around the lab for the main console. When he found it, he sat down and went to work extracting information. After nearly an arn, he was able to get into the system. He was barely aware of the presence of the guard. What he saw before him scared him. These Scarrans were working to harness wormholes and they were close. He felt the ship lurch around him. "What's going on?" he asked.
His guard replied, "Main propulsion has been reactivated. We are moving the ship away from the area of the anomaly for further study."
"Right." He grabbed his recorder and headed out the door. "I need to get back to Talyn." He needed to compare the information on the wormhole from the Scarran ship with what Talyn had recorded. He didn't like this whole situation.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Crais was in his quarters reviewing the damage reports when Talyn informed him the transport was returning, but with only two passengers. It's Crichton, Talyn informed him.
Crais wondered if the scientist had an answer. "Lt. Teeg, have Commander Crichton escorted to my quarters when he returns."
"Yes, sir," she replied.
John stormed into Crais quarters ahead of his escort. "They have wormholes! Well, not quite, but they're getting close."
"What do you mean?" Crais wanted clarification.
"Your Scarrans are really damn close to unlocking wormhole technology. They haven't figured the shielding out, but it's only a matter of time. Hopefully their best scientists were destroyed on that ship. If not, your reality is in trouble."
"Do you have a proposal?"
"What do you mean?" John asked.
"You claim to be the expert on wormholes. They are some things that we know nothing about."
"Hey, I've got my own wars to fight. I don't need to fight yours."
Crais stood and paced around John. "From what you have said about wormholes, my fight may become yours. What is to keep them from becoming your problem?"
John was about to argue when he realized that Crais was right. "Damn it. I hate it when you're right." He rubbed his lip with his thumb as he thought. "I have to think about this. Let me look at the data I confiscated and see how much they lost. Just keep in mind that knowledge is hard to destroy."
"Not if you kill the person with the knowledge."
"So what, you want to infiltrate Scarran space and kill them. You must be insane." John had lost track of the number of times he had thought that about Crais.
Crais leaned in close to John. "I want you to use your wormhole knowledge to put us in the heart of Scarran territory so we can destroy their research."
"Now I know you're insane," John replied quietly.
Crais smiled slyly, "On the contrary, it's brilliant. They will never expect it."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
John returned to Moya in a daze. He couldn't believe he was actually contemplating going along with Crais' plan. The others met him in the maintenance bay.
"How's Aeryn?" Chiana asked.
Before John could answer Stark rushed up and grabbed him by the collar. "You have to send Talyn back. Destroy the wormhole or we'll all be dead," he raved.
"Stark, get off me. What are you ranting about now?"
"The Scarrans. They never should have been here. It's bad. Very bad. You have to stop them. You're the only one who can."
"Is this something you've seen or are you just being paranoid?" John asked.
"He's being fahrbot as usual," replied Rygel.
Stark turned to Rygel. "You don't know anything. You don't understand. You never did." He spun back to face John, his voice calmer, but still filled with a sense of urgency. "I've seen it. Through the wormhole I glimpsed the future. Our future, their future, the combined future if the Scarrans aren't stopped."
"I thought the Peacekeepers had used the gunships to gain the advantage?" asked D'Argo.
"They did," replied John. "Unfortunately it looks like the Scarrans are on the verge of mastering wormholes. That's what I learned on the Scarran ship. They don't have the shielding, but they are getting close. Stark's right we need to stop them."
"It's not our war," said Chiana.
"Yes, it is. Wormhole technology must be protected at all cost. If the Scarrans, in any reality, master it, none of us will be safe. They made it here once, they can make it here again."
"So we're going to help the Peacekeepers?" growled D'Argo.
"There isn't a better option," said John.
"So, how's Aeryn?" Chiana asked.
John threw his hands up, "Oh, frell! Crais wouldn't let me see her when I first got there. He assured me that she was going to be fine. I came back here to start on the plan to destroy the Scarrans."
"Destroy the Scarrans? Are you fahrbot? We couldn't even do that here," said Rygel.
"We may not have destroyed them, but we destroyed Katratzi and that's weakened them. What I found in their databanks indicates that their research base is on Katratzi."
"Need I remind you that we almost didn't survive being on Katratzi?" added Rygel.
"Yeah, but we didn't have an entire Peacekeeper fleet with us. The only reason the Peacekeepers haven't destroyed it is because they don't know where it is. We can give them that information. I can take them there through a wormhole. We'd destroy it before they had a chance to respond."
"So you're talking about going with them?" asked Chiana.
"I have to. No one else can get them there."
"What about their ships? What about them turning into goo?" she asked.
"It'll just have to be the gunships. Something in a Leviathan protects it inhabitants. I won't give them the shielding, but there are enough gunships that we should have no problem succeeding."
"And what if they want you to give them wormholes? What if they won't let you go?" D'Argo asked.
"Don't worry, I won't give it to them."
"They are Peacekeepers. They cannot be trusted," shouted D'Argo.
"Well what am I supposed to do? Einstein and the Ancients trusted me to protect this secret. That's what I have to do."
"You are not protecting it if you give it to the Peacekeepers,' D'Argo argued.
"They can't get it from me. I've proven that."
"What about Aeryn?" Chiana asked.
"She'll understand. She knows that this information must be protected."
"Are you going to go back and get her?" Chiana asked.
"Not right now. We need to find a wormhole." He walked past everyone and towards command.
Stark whispered, "He will save us."
"What's wrong with him? Why doesn't he go back for Aeryn?" Chiana asked.
"I intend to find out," replied D'Argo as he followed after John.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Aeryn was feeling stronger and was eager to return to Moya. She saw a uniform sitting on the chair next to her bed and changed into it. She was getting ready to walk out of med bay when she heard a voice behind her. "Would you like me to give you a tour of Talyn now that you are feeling better?"
She turned to see Velorek standing in the door. "I need to get back to Moya. My place is over there."
He tried not to sound too disappointed. "I just thought that you might like to see a fully grown Talyn. The gunships are truly magnificent creatures."
"I know they are." She remembered her few brief hours when she was joined with Talyn. "This isn't my place. I don't belong here and we both know that."
He had moved closer and now stroked her arm with his hand. "It could be your place. You could have a life here, one where you don't have to run and hide like a criminal, one where you belong."
"I belong here. I have a life here, a purpose." A family, she thought.
He whispered as he caressed her cheek, "We had something special. Don't you want to experience that again?" He knew she had felt guilty over her betrayal.
She turned away from him. He was her past. John was her present, her future. "I can't. I moved on. I have John now." She turned back to face him. "You are my past. I'm not proud of what I did, but I did what I had to as a Peacekeeper. And do you know what the worst part of it is? I hear from you how much of a success the gunship project has been. How it has helped the Peacekeepers gain the upper hand over the Scarrans, how things are better for Sebaceans. How do you think I feel knowing that prevented that from happening in my reality?"
He reached out to touch her, "Aeryn…"
She slapped his hand away. "Don't tell me it's not my fault. I know that. I know I had no idea what Crais' project was. It doesn't matter. Here I see how things might have been. I'm going home now." She brushed past him on her way out of med bay. She barked at the first soldier she saw, "Have a transport ready to go to the Leviathan."
"Yes, ma'am," the soldier replied smartly before sprinting down the passageway.
Velorek jogged after her, "Aeryn, that's it? Just like that you're going to leave? What about your son?"
She stopped and faced him. "He's not my son. I'm not your Aeryn. I have a life here. I'm happy."
"You're happy running from the Peacekeepers, the Scarrans and who ever else? We're on the verge of victory against the Scarrans. You would have a better life."
"You don't get it. I told you that I have John. I love John. I'm carrying his baby. I need you to understand that I'm not your Aeryn and I can't replace her."
The truth finally seemed to sink in. Disappointment filled Velorek's eyes. "I didn't know."
"You wouldn't listen. You didn't want to listen. You wanted everything to be the way it was." She placed her hand on his cheek. "I'm not her and I can't be her. Remember her and forget me." She walked towards the hangar.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
John was in command at the table working on the plan to destroy the Scarran base. Pilot interrupted him, "Commander, a transport from Talyn is arriving. Aeryn is on it."
Aeryn, how could he have forgotten? "Thanks, Pilot." He ran towards the maintenance bay to meet her. He was relieved that she appeared to be all right. He smiled warmly at her. "Aeryn, I'm glad you're back." He wrapped her in his arms. "How do you feel?"
She nuzzled into his chest. "Fine." It felt good to be in his arms. She was beginning to wish that she had never been over on Talyn. Too many memories were surfacing. She thought that she had gotten over the guilt of Velorek's death, but she had never known how different things might have been. "It feels good to be back on Moya. Is she okay?"
"Yeah, she's fine. The Scarrans never touched her." He paused trying to decide how to continue. "We need to go after the Scarrans, stop them from their wormhole research."
She pulled back. "What are you saying?"
"I'm going back with Talyn. I'm going to help Crais destroy Katratzi."
"Are you insane? We barely survived that the first time."
"I saw the research on the Scarran cruiser. They're getting close. They haven't perfected the shields, but it's only a matter of time. No one can be allowed to have the secret of wormholes."
She sighed. "I know. What do the others think?"
"That I'm fahrbot. I won't make them come. I'll take my module over to Talyn so I can return when I'm done."
As much as she didn't want to be around Velorek because of the memories he provoked, she wouldn't let John face the Peacekeepers alone. "I'm coming with you."
A/N: I hope that everyone is enjoying this AU look at how things might have been if John had never arrived in the UT and if Aeryn had never sold out Velorek. This was my first really big AU fic. :)