Crais looked into Aeryn's eyes, only guessing what she must've been thinking at that exact point.

Crichton.

He died, but yet he stood in front her once more.

He smiled at her like he always did.

He looked at her like he always had.

But things were not the same as they once were.

No-one was the same as they used to be.

But Crichton...

"Where had Jack taken them?" Aeryn thought to herself.

"This weird place..."

This place where Crichton worked for the Peacekeepers!

He even commanded them

But in his eyes, Aeryn could see that in his heart, Crichton would never truly be one of them.

The same eyes Crichton always had, but the innocent light that used to shine there was gone.

"Hello Aeryn." Crichton said.

His voice was different.

Grittier.

Tougher.

"How long's it been?" he asked her.

She stood there like a statue, staring at John, experiencing emotions she had never felt before.

"This must be another universe. A different universe." Aeryn thought.

She remembered overhearing one of Stark's conversations with Zhaan, about parallel realities and different universes.

A place which is created by choice.

When someone's path leads them down a fork in the road, reality splits into different realities.

One of those paths will be the real path.

But the others will be unrealised.

Something which could happen, but didn't.

Aeryn began considering this theory as she looked upon Crichton.

Everything pointed into this direction.

This man was Crichton, but different.

A Crichton which could have been, but never was.

She now realised where she was.

Talyn had been sent into an unrealised reality.

A reality where Crichton had not died.

"Probably the last time I saw you was at the Gammak Base." Crichton went on.

"The Gammak Base." Aeryn asked surprised, recognising the name.

A reality where instead of being hunted by the Peacekeepers, Crichton joined them.

"Do you remember now?" Crichton asked.

A reality where Peacekeepers had wormhole-weapons.

Aeryn suddenly realised something.

"Was that why Jack had sent them here?" she thought to herself.

"Was-was that the last time we-we saw each other?"

Her body was trembling, but she took deep breaths as she forced herself to act normally.

"It was." Crichton said.

The Peacekeeper uniform Crichton wore was slimming and looked like it was meant for him since the day he was born.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again." Crichton continued.

"Neither did I." Aeryn honestly answered.

"And especially not like this..." Crichton said.

"What do you mean?" Aeryn asked.

The Peacekeeper soldiers who stood in the corner, waited anxiously for an order.

"What is HE doing here?" Crichton asked.

"Wh-"

"CRAIS..." Crichton clearly said.

"This ship is Leviathan right? Moya's son? I recognised it immediately as I saw it. But I never...NEVER...expected to see CRAIS as his captain..."

Guns were pointed at Crais.

"No!" Aeryn said. "Don't kill him!"

Crichton turned her head to Aeryn.

"You're actually protecting this bastard?" Crichton spoke.

"Yes, I am." Aeryn replied.

"Much has changed since I left Moya..." Crichton said.

"Perhaps they have." Aeryn replied.

"Crichton..." Crais spoke. "I know you have your reasons to hate me, but consider this..."

He began to understand, just like Aeryn, that things were different here.

In this reality, Crichton never got the chance either to reconcile, or to have his revenge upon Crais.

His feelings towards Crais just gathered inside of Crichton and eventually piled dust, until today, when Crais entered his life once more.

With Crichton's love at his side, pleading to him not to kill Crais.

"Talyn chose ME to be his captain." Crais said. "And he did it by his own volition, not by force."

"I bet he did." Crichton replied.

"Crichton." a voice suddenly spoke through a comms-device.

It was Scorpius.

"Crichton here."

"What's the status on the Leviathan gun-ship?" Scorpius asked.

Aeryn approached John.

"John." Aeryn said to him.

Crichton looked right into her eyes.

"Please." she said.

The words Crichton was about to say would determine what would happen to Talyn, Crais and Aeryn.

He looked on final time at Crais before responding to Scorpius.

"Everything seems to be fine here, besides some damage to their engines. I'm assigning some techs to help them."

"Help them if you must." Scorpius replied. "But don't stay there too long. I need you to run some more tests on the weapon."

"I'll come as soon as I'm ready." Crichton spoke as he ended the conversation.

"Damage?" Aeryn asked.

"Yes. Our sensors saw it as we landed here on board. Probably done by the asteroids as you flew in. Nothing serious."

Aeryn looked at Crais.

"He is right. Talyn senses that his engines are malfunctioning."

"See?" Crichton said. "I told you."

"But you don't have to send in techs to help us..." Aeryn said.

"I want to. I want to help. I want to talk. Of course, if that's all right with you..."

Aeryn looked into his blue eyes, wanting to touch him. Wanting to kiss him.

But knowing that it wasn't him.

Not the real Crichton...

"Is it all right?" Crichton asked.

Crais closed his eyes, but the image of Aeryn and Crichton staring into each other's eyes kept on haunting him in his mind.

"No, Talyn..." he whispered, so that no-one heard it. "No..."


"Begin interrogating the prisoners." Ahkna said. "Starting with the Nebari."

Chiana screamed and swore as she was torn away from Jothee's side.

Jothee tried to aid her, but the cell-doors were pushed in his face, keeping him imprisoned in the hot, dark cell.

Chiana was taken by two brute Scarran guards who followed Ahkna into the interrogation room.

She was bound and strapped to a large metal construction, and she found herself looking up at the face of a Scarran female.

"You ARE one of Crichton's shipmates." Ahkna said. "Tell me...where is he?"

Chiana spit in her face and laughed at her.

"It is unwise to mock me, child." Ahkna said as she gave a little nod to one of the Scarrans.

A large light above her was activated, and it sent painful shocks throughout her body, electrocuting every cell of her body.

As the light was deactivated, Ahkna asked the same question.

"Where is John Crichton?"


Jothee jumped up as he heard his father wake up with a scream.

"Dad!"

D'Argo woke up from his long sleep. The last thing he remembered was ice.

Lots of ice.

"Finally." Rygel said. "That took you long enough."

"He fell into a frelling lake!" Jothee said.

"He's had worse." Rygel replied.

"I probably have." D'Argo said.

"How do you feel?" Jothee asked.

"I feel like I can burst into flames any minute now." D'Argo said.

It was frelling hot throughout the vessel.

"Where am I?" he asked as he looked around.

"In a cell." Rygel answered. "Aboard a comfy Scarran Dreadnought."

"A Dreadnought?" D'Argo said. "If I ever get my hands on that frelling Grunschlk..."

"You might want to rethink about ending that sentence." Grunschlk said.

He sat in the shadows, next to his close friend, the Diagnosian.

Both were also imprisoned by the Scarrans.

"...then I'll rip his frelling head off!" D'Argo said.

"Whoa now, whoa now..." Grunchlk said as he stood up. "I'm in the same boat as you are! I'm a prisoner, just like you!"

"You sold us out to the Scarrans, didn't you?" D'Argo said.

"I had to!" Grunschlk said. "Or they were going to kill me!"

"Well, that's perfectly fine by me." D'Argo continued.

"Calm down, D'Argo." Rygel said. "Calm down. There's no point in slaughtering each other already. The Scarrans are very well capable of doing that themselves."

"Where's Chiana?" D'Argo asked.

He looked at Rygel first, but he didn't answer him, but the look in Jothee's eyes told him enough.

"She's being interrogated right now." Rygel said. "It won't be long before they are done with her."

"What do you mean by that?" Jothee asked.

"They are going to ask her about John Crichton." Rygel said. "But the problem is, that she doesn't know where he is. No-one knows."

"Crichton's alive?" D'Argo asked.

"That's what the Scarrans believe." Rygel said.

"Crichton is dead!"

"Is he really?" Rygel replied. "Did you see him die? No! You saw his vessel being destroyed. But the Scarran survived the explosion. And that's reason for the Scarrans to believe that Crichton survived the explosion too."

"That's impossible." D'Argo said.

"Perhaps..." Rygel said.

At that moment the cell-doors were opened and a tall Scarran walked in, dragging Chiana's body in his hands, before throwing her onto the floor of the cell.

As he left, she began to moan.

"Chiana, are you all right?" D'Argo asked as he bent over her.

"I'm fine." Chiana said softly. "If they want to hurt me, they will have to come up with something better then that!"

She smiled, but D'Argo knew that she was only trying to act strong.

She couldn't even get up without help.

Chiana mumbled something.

"I'm fine." D'Argo said. "Really, I've recovered fully..."

"No..." Chiana said as she tried to say it out loud.

"STARK IS HERE..." she said.

"Stark is here?" D'Argo asked.

"Stark? Here on board?" Rygel repeated.


"You did well to contact me..." Emperor Staleek said.

"I will inform the Elders about Ahkna's plans. In the meantime, I order you to do everything in your power to sabotage Ahkna's plans."

"Yes, my Emperor." Artokh replied.

"My spies have informed me that Crichton has become a much discussed topic in the Peacekeeper High Council meetings. If we would act now, we would jeopardise our position and give our plans away. This would ruin years of preparation and careful planning.

Ahkna must be stopped, before the Scarran Empire is thrown into a war it is not ready for yet."

"Yes, your Highness." Artokh said as he ended the transmission.

Now Artokh knew what he had to do...

TO BE CONTINUED

The story continues in the third and final chapter in the 'Sacrifices'-trilogy:

"Wars and Choices".