Crais turned his back to the Ancient.
"You can´t be serious." he said.
The look in Jack´s eyes told them exactly the opposite.
"We cannot take on a Command Carrier! This would be suicide!"
"Then it is suicide." Jack calmly replied.
"You are willing to die for this knowledge?" Crais asked.
"It is my task to keep this knowledge out of the wrong hands. If I should have to sacrifice my own life to see my goal fulfilled, then so be it."
"You are insane."
"Another maniac in search of this wormhole-technology." he thought.
"You did not listen to my words." Jack said.
This was the second time Jack replied to something Crais was thinking.
"Can he read minds?" Crais asked himself.
"I already possess the knowledge to control the wormholes. The knowledge my father passed down upon me, the knowledge I passed down unto Crichton..."
"You gave Crichton the knowledge?" Aeryn suddenly said.
"Yes, I did." Jack replied calmly.
"Then YOU are the reason why we were hunted for an entire year. That John was tortured, tormented and driven to the edge of insanity. Then YOU are the reason that John is dead!"
Swiftly she grabbed her pulse pistol and pointed it at Jack's head.
But the Ancient never moved. He never showed any sign of fear.
"I should kill you..." Aeryn said.
Crais stood beside her, hesitating whether he should or should not throw the gun out of her hands.
"Maybe you should." Jack said. "Maybe you should avenge John's death...
But before you do I want you to ask yourself this question:"
Jack looked straight into her burning eyes.
Her long black hair laid asleep on her shoulders.
"Would John have wanted you to spill blood in his name?"
Aeryn's hand began to shake.
Slowly she put her pistol down.
"No." she said. "He wouldn't have wanted that."
Talyn whispered things in Crais´s ear.
The adolescent Leviathan was smarter then he seemed, and was more observant then Crais.
A quality he had inherited from his mother.
"So you are some kind of Guardian?" Crais asked.
"My primary task is to keep the wormhole-knowledge out of the hands of evil-doers. So in that perspective I am a Guardian."
"The guardian of the wormhole-knowledge." Crais mockingly said.
And now this "guardian" wanted them to help him kill Scorpius.
To help him destroy a Command Carrier.

"No," Crais said.
"Talyn and I will not help you destroy the Carrier, even if we could stand a chance against it´s massive weaponry. I refuse to force Talyn into using violence again."
Blowing up the Shadow Depository was something neither Crais or Talyn was proud of.
"I do not want to encourage Talyn´s aggressive nature even further."
"You do not perceive the true intensity of the situation.."
"No!" Crais said.
Jack understood.
He was a peaceful creature, and also did not like to resort to violent measures.
But if he were to protect his species, to protect this galaxy, then he had no choice.
He had to blow up the Carrier with wormhole-weaponry, to kill Scorpius.
But without Talyn, he was powerless to do so.
Persuasion was needed.

As Jack closed his eyes, both Aeryn and Crais could feel Talyn shake.
As they turned and faced the window, they saw the wormhole increasing in size, swallowing the entire Leviathan, before disappearing into thin air.

John opened his eyes slowly. Gently.
It almost felt like his eyes had been glued shut for a long time.
He groaned as he got up.
The bright sun shined in his face.
Warm rays of light heated his body.
Sand flew through his fingers.
"I know this place..." John whispered.
Sydney, Australia.
Earth.
Dozens of people gathered to the sea in search of a refreshing dive into the cold water.
As he turned around he saw several hotels and apartments, looking out over the water.
And he also saw something else.
He smiled.
She smiled back.
Aeryn Sun lay on her back in the sand, smiling at her lover.
John recognised the place from his time in Australia, and from a dream he had on Moya once.
He dreamt of him and Aeryn, together, on the beach.
John told her he loved her, Aeryn laughed at him.
It was kind of an embarrassing dream.
But as John looked at Aeryn, he knew this time would be different.
This time something has changed.
As he crawled towards her in the sand, she stretched out her hand.
"Hello, John." the Aeryn inside John's head said.
John grabbed her hand and touched it gently.
"I love Earp." Aeryn said. "It's so peaceful here."
"Yeah," John said. "I know exactly what you mean."
Aeryn smiled.
"You didn't correct me." she said.
"What?"
"You didn't correct me when I said 'Earp'."
"So?" John said as he stroked the palm of her hand.
"I know it's pronounced 'Earth'." Aeryn said, who was clearly enjoying the attention she got from John.
"I don't care if you pronounce Earth ´Earp." John said. "You could call it 'Earl', and I wouldn't care less about it. The only thing that matters is that yóu are the one saying it.
That those words come from your precious lips. Every word that you say is as valuable as gold to me...you know why? Because I love you..."
The words seemed to come so easy this time.
"I love you too, John Crichton." Aeryn said.
But it wasn't her voice that Crichton heard.
It was somebody else.
A woman.

At precisely that moment three Peacekeeper Command Carriers appeared in the sky.
Dozens of Marauders came swooping down.
A hundred Peacekeepers stepped out, killing everyone in search for Crichton.
Crichton turned around, but Aeryn had disappeared.
She was dead.
He remembered it now.
The soldiers surrounded him, and came closer and closer as they drove Crichton to the sea.
As he felt the cold waves of the ocean touch his feet, he knew that he had no way to run.
He thought about his surrender, his resistance, his future and his past, but before he know it, it was all over.
A hand suddenly touched him on the shoulder.
John felt his hot breathe down in his neck.
"Don't worry, Crichton." the man said. "They won't get to you..."
Crichton knew it would be him.
He knew it was Scorpius who stood behind him.
Scorpius has frequently haunted his dreams, turning them into nightmares.
He was the monster in his dreams.
The demon in his quest...
"They won't get to you, Crichton..." he said again.
Crichton turned his head towards Scorpius...
"...BECAUSE I WILL KILL YOU, BEFORE THEY EVER GET THE CHANCE TO DO SO!" Stark shouted, as he removed his mask and set Crichton's mind on fire.

John Crichton woke up with a blast.
He woke up from a nightmare, only to step into another one.
Scorpius stared into his sleepy eyes, scientists stood everywhere and Peacekeeper soldiers guarded every door.
John immediately felt the cuffs around his arms and legs burning into his skin, and he also noticed the contraption in which he was sitting.
The one thing on which all of his nightmares were based...
The Aurora Chair.
He wanted to scream his lungs out. He wanted to shout, cry, scream, beg, kill, hurt, die...
But he couldn't, and wouldn't do that.
Because...what's the point?

"Welcome back, Crichton." Scorpius said as he approached the weak human in the Aurora Chair.
"We meet again." Crichton said.
John's eyes were itching. He thought he was going crazy. He was seeing Scorpius twice!
The first Scorpius looked him straight in the eye, but the second Scorpius stood in the background, almost unnoticeable.
"And we will meet again." Scorpius said. "Take him back to his cell."
The scientists and doctors did as he asked and brought John back to his cell, accompanied by several Peacekeeper soldiers.
"Lieutenant Bracca." Scorpius said, and the lieutenant appeared.
Scorpius had gambled and won, just like he predicted.
Crichton has been revived, and now the wormhole-equations were almost within his grasp...
"Inform the Command Carrier that we will return in approximately one hour." Scorpius said to Bracca.
"Yes, sir." he answered.

Commander Moxan heard everything.
He was pleased with Crichton's recovery.
Perhaps Scorpius will leave now...
And then Moxan wouldn't have to resort to violent measures to máke him go away...