Chapter Twenty-One: Never Enough Time
Under the protective cover of a full squadron of Prowlers, the Peacekeeper boarding vessel slowly pulled up to the designated airlock. So far, their approach was met with no resistance, but Lieutenant Taran knew everything would change when her team boarded the Scarran fortress.
For Taran, it was not hard to believe that the Scarran Empire was gripped by a civil war, considering they were on the losing side in their war against the Cylons. What was difficult to believe was that there was something out there that was stronger than the Scarrans.
That simple fact frightened her the most.
Her leaders were all telling the same story, that the Scarrans picked a battle with the wrong enemy. They attacked the Cylons first and they got what they deserved and the Peacekeepers had nothing to fear as long they kept out of the fighting. Taran hoped they were right, because she would hate to face something, a machine no less, which could beat a Scarran.
Taran felt a faint bump as their vessel mated with the station's airlock, bringing the Peacekeeper lieutenant out of her own thoughts. There was a brief hiss of air as the pressure equalized between ship and station.
"Prime weapons and be alert," she ordered her team. "Where we're going, there won't be a second chance!"
Taran's squad met her gaze with equal determination. They were ready and they were the best. She was proud of every one of them.
Inside the station, they found near darkness, save for some emergency lighting. Moving ever deeper, they still encountered no resistance. The entire place felt like a derelict. Taran left her second squad behind to guard their ship and to act as backup, if needed.
Her point man was checking the next corridor junction when he stopped, calling out, "Lieutenant." He gestured toward a dormant Scarran DRD, its sensor eye dark. "Even their robots are offline," he commented as she approached.
Good sign, Taran thought. If the Scarrans and their supposed allies were too busy killing one another, her team might be able to slip in and out without them knowing that they were here.
"Keeping moving and stay alert."
When the Peacekeepers left, the little DRD came to life, its sensor light glowing a blood red.
The Peacekeeper squad continued on for a while, slowly closing on Grayza's reported location. The corridors were still silent, devoid of life, which made Taran even more suspicious. It was too quiet!
Up ahead in the corridor, a shadow moved.
"Halt!" she called out. Her men stopped, snapping their weapons up, forming a defensive line. "Stand and identify yourself."
The figure hesitated before moving cautiously into view, holding a carrying pack.
"Commandant Grayza," Taran said in relief. "Where's Captain Braca?"
"They killed him," Grayza replied, as she approached them quickly. "We need to depart immediately."
"We have a ship waiting, Commandant," Taran said. "This way."
Stepping along side Lieutenant Taran and into the protective ring of Peacekeeper commandoes, Grayza was led away to safety. Unbeknownst to them, just around a corridor junction where Grayza had been lurking a moment before, General Rahzaro lay dead.
"Squad two, this is squad one. We have found Commandant Grayza and are returning, have the ship ready to go," Taran reported into her comm. but when she got no reply, she tried again. "Squad two, report? Squad two?"
This was bad.
"Is there something wrong, lieutenant?" Grayza questioned.
"Squad one, prime weapons!" Taran ordered. "Squad two might be in danger. Commandant Grayza, please stay to the rear until we figure out what's happening."
Grayza didn't argue and hung back as Taran hurried her squad back to their ship. They finally reached the last corridor that led to their docked ship. Squad two was nowhere in sight, but the ship was still there and intact. This was too strange and Taran hated mysteries.
"Watch yourselves," Taran ordered. "Move forward."
They got within ten motras of their ship when someone stepped out through the airlock to meet them. It wasn't one of her men.
Taran aimed her rifle at him. "Halt and identify yourself!"
The man she had in her sight looked very calmly at her, answering, "I am Captain Apollo. I mean you no harm."
The Peacekeeper lieutenant suppressed her urge to shoot him. "What have you done to my men!"
"He did nothing," Captain Braca now emerged from the airlock and stood beside Apollo. "I ordered them to stand down and to wait elsewhere."
Taran looked back at Grayza before turning her attention forward, trying to keep a level of courtesy to her voice as things continued to get more bizarre.
"Captain Braca, I was told you were dead. Please explain yourself… Now."
"Whatever you were told, you are misinformed. We have reason to believe that there are Goa'uld among you," Braca explained evenly. "Commandant Grayza might be infected with a parasite."
Before Taran could respond, she heard Grayza laughing behind her. "That's preposterous, captain! Look at yourself! You are standing next to an alien belonging to another military organization. For all we know, you have become irreversibly contaminated and now you are trying to keep us from boarding that ship." She gestured toward the entrance to the Peacekeeper ship.
"Lieutenant!" Braca addressed Taran. "I order you to place Commandant Grayza under arrest."
"Lieutenant!" Grayza shouted. "I order you to shoot them both!"
Taran hesitated, not sure what to do. Braca was her commanding officer and ship's captain. Although he wasn't the most decisive man she had served under, he was fair and open-minded. While she knew little of Commandant Grayza, she was their superior officer nevertheless. Who should she listen to or believe?
"What are you waiting for? Kill them both!" Grayza repeated her order.
"Lieutenant, I am your captain! Place her under arrest!" Braca countered.
Apollo saw that Taran was trapped and uncertain whose orders she should follow. Whatever happened, he couldn't afford to let Braca lose or they'd be forced to disarm the Peacekeepers and most likely kill several of them.
"Lieutenant," Apollo said, gaining her attention. "One or more of your superiors might have been compromised. What do your own instincts tell you to do?"
Taran watched the Colonial for a moment, before Grayza vented angrily, "What are you waiting for, Lieutenant? Shoot them now!"
"No," Taran finally answered. "By regulation 24-B-237, I'm placing both you and Captain Braca under arrest until medical examinations can prove that neither of you are infected by a Goa'uld symbiont."
While Apollo and Captain Braca were both visibly relieved by Lt. Taran's actions, Commandant Grayza was infuriated. "You? You are placing me under arrest! I could crush you like the insect you are!"
Much to her own amusement, Taran remained calm in the face of Grayza's fury. "You may file a protest, but you are under arrest." She then extended her hand. "Now, surrender your pack and any weapons you are carrying."
"You will live to regret this," Grayza said coldly as she started to hand over the pack. "This very instant!"
In a flash, Apollo saw Grayza draw a pulse pistol from under her long black cape, aiming it straight at the startled Lieutenant. The Commandant's eyes were glowing! All the surrounding Peacekeeper commandoes were equally taken by surprise.
Praying to the Lords of Kobol that the Peacekeepers didn't end up shooting him, Apollo went for the blaster that Starbuck had loaned him. Knowing how good his squad leader was with the weapon, Starbuck had decided that his captain could use it more than he. In a blink of an eye, Apollo's hand wrapped around the pistol grip of his weapon and pulled it free from the holster. The blaster became an extension of his arm as he raised the weapon, taking aim.
Even Braca gasped at the swiftness of the Colonial, just as Apollo fired.
Taran thought she was dead when Grayza drew that weapon on her. The Commandant's eyes were even glowing! She was indeed a Goa'uld and that thing inside Grayza was going to kill her in a fit of revenge.
Then Grayza was gone. The Commandant was dead on her feet, shot down by Apollo. Taran never dreamed she could be so grateful to an alien.
"Hold your fire!" Taran managed to get out when several members in her squad took aim at the Colonial. "She was a Goa'uld!"
Before another word was spoken, they all heard an electronic whining sound emanating from the carrying pack that Grayza had carried. Apollo knew that sound and the colour drained from his face.
"Everyone, listen to me! Please take one step back." He quickly spoke into a comm. unit. "Crichton! Carter! I think we found the naquadah bomb and it's counting down!"
Hurrying out of the Peacekeeper ship, Crichton and Carter quickly join Apollo that they gathered about carrying pack. Carefully reached into the leather bag, Crichton and pulled out the naquadah bomb. The device was pulsating, building up for detonation.
"Just what I was afraid of," he sighed to the people around him. "Tell me again, why did we bring this thing in here with us?"
"Because we all thought it was a good idea at the time," Carter said as she checked the pouch for its remaining contents, pulling out a pair of coppery containers. "Two loaded Goa'uld containment cylinders. We've got the last of the symbionts."
"Can we disarm the bomb?" Apollo said.
By now, the rest of their group was coming out to watch. Thankfully, Braca was keeping the Peacekeepers calm at the sight of more aliens, Scarrans and Cylons. The last thing they needed was a shootout on top of a bomb that was about to go boom.
Crichton inspected the device closely and shook his head. "No, the snake lady changed some of the components on it. If we don't do it right, we'll find out if there really is an afterlife."
Standing off to one side with the others, O'Neill asked the dreaded question. "How much time is left?"
"Unless she changed the default timer, we had two hundred microts when it was activated," Crichton answered grimly, doing the math in his head. "It took us about thirty microts to figure out what was happening and get here. Another thirty to have this conversation and come to the conclusion that we are so screwed!"
"What about our boarding vessel? We could make our escape on that before the bomb explodes," Braca suggested.
"The ship can only carry twenty-four people, it can't hold us all," Taran said.
"Even if it could, we can't abandon Katratzi," Emperor Staleek rumbled. "Think of something else!"
"We had better do it soon; we have less than fifty-five microts!" Sikozu said, her sharp mind calculating the countdown in her head.
Nearly in unison, Crichton, Carter and Apollo looked at each other, saying, "I have an idea!"
Still holding the bomb, Crichton got up and rushed to the boarding vessel, Carter and Apollo close behind.
"How long will it take to set the ship's autopilot?" Apollo asked.
"No time," Crichton said as he reached the airlock. "Someone has to fly it."
"I'll fly it," Apollo volunteered.
Shaking her head, Carter held her hand out to Crichton. "No, gave it to me and I'll fly it."
"Why do we keep doing this?" Crichton was touched by their willingness to volunteer and put their lives on the line, but he kept on moving. "You two don't know a thing about Peacekeeper ships. That means I win by default."
Carter didn't like the sound of that. Her heart froze when Crichton reached the ship's airlock first and he turned to face her. It felt like he was bidding her his final farewell. Jolinar's voice broke through, panicking.
"NO!"
The airlock shut before Jolinar, Apollo or anyone else could do a thing.
Leaving the bomb inside the boarding vessel's airlock, Crichton hurried to the cockpit, powered up the engines and undocked the ship. Within microts, he was moving away from Katratzi, at a painfully slow crawl.
"Figures I'm the one stuck with the slowest ride available," he muttered to no one in particular. He activated the ship's comm. unit. "Hey, is anyone listening?"
"John." It was D'Argo. "Listen, you don't have to do this. You can jettison it out the airlock when you reach a safe distance away."
"That's what I have in mind, D. I have no intention of killing myself," Crichton assured his friend. "How much time do I have?"
Jolinar was standing next to D'Argo, listening, when she turned, snapping her fingers at Sikozu. "You! How much time does he have left?"
"I have a name!" Sikozu declared, not appreciating the Tok'ra's demanding tone.
"How much time!" Jolinar snarled.
"Thirty microts," Sikozu finally informed her coolly. "Give or take two microts."
"John, you have less than thirty microts," D'Argo quickly told him.
Crichton checked and realized he had only travelled a mere two hundred metras from the base. This ship was definitely not built for speed.
"I'm going to dump the bomb at eight hundred metras."
It would be close. Not only did he have to get the bomb as far away from the base as possible, but he had to get himself clear of the blast as well.
"Tell the Peacekeepers to stay clear."
"Braca is already communicating with the command carrier, they won't interfere," D'Argo answered. "Can you do it, John?"
"I'm going to need a little luck," Crichton said as he pressed the ship for more speed, but he couldn't get anymore from its straining engines.
Fishing around inside his coat pocket, he pulled out his father's lucky ring, still hanging from a simple metal chain. He stared at it, Stark's words echoing in his ears.
You will be reunited with her soon.
He had to be referring to Aeryn. Who else could it be? But did it mean he'd be joining Aeryn in death? He wished he'd had more time to question Stark on what it all meant.
Regardless, as much as he missed her, he wasn't ready to face death yet. Too many people were depending on him to make it. He wrapped the chain around his left hand and clutched the ring tightly inside his fist. He pushed the ship onward, but soon detected a ship approaching. It was Talyn.
"Crais, this is no time to be a hero. Turn around!"
"We have been monitoring your situation," Crais said. "We can use our docking web to help tow you quickly to safety."
"There's no time. Stay the hell away and save yourself!" Crichton shouted.
At eight hundred metras, he opened the outside airlock and jettisoned the bomb into space.
"Bomb's gone," he radioed.
"Crichton." D'Argo's voice sounded increasingly tense. "Sikozu says you have less than seven microts."
Crichton smiled fatalistically. No easy or close escape this time. At moments like this, he'd give anything to have one of the Enterprise's transporters. From this range, the explosion would rip this tiny ship apart, but at least his friends would make it.
"Well, lets hope that Sputnik can't keep track of time," he said softly to his good friend.
A proximity warning rang out again, screaming for Crichton's attention. A huge alien ship had just appeared and was barrelling right for him. No, there were two vessels, the alien ship and a… No, it couldn't be! That alien ship was towing a battlestar behind it!
What was the Galactica doing here?
Crichton hailed them. "Stop your approach! There's a bomb about to detonate any microt! Get clear! Get clear! There's a bomb…!"
The naquadah-enhanced bomb was about to detonate. In microts everything within at least eight hundred metras would be atomized, including Crichton's ship.
-
From the bridge of Thor's ship, Aeryn's heart leapt at the sound of John Crichton's voice.
"Stop your approach! There's a bomb about to detonate any microt! Get clear! Get clear! There's a bomb…!"
His words were quickly followed by a radiant white flash that pierced through the bridge view ports. Shielding her eyes, Aeryn didn't need any sensor device to know that Crichton was in danger. She couldn't believe that she had come all this way only to watch him die.
She would not let that happen!
She spun toward the small grey form seated just behind her. "Thor, do something!"
The Asgard Supreme Commander was already in action. Thor had detected the naquadah device as it counted down its last few seconds. He quickly locked on the Human inside the tiny ship that was about to be destroyed by the shockwave.
With little time left, he released the Pegasus from his ship's tractor beam before closing in to modular transporter range.
The blast's shock wave expanded outward to crush Crichton's ship just as Thor's cruiser swooped in. Aeryn was astonished by the amazing technology that Thor's battlecruiser possessed. She hoped that it was advanced enough to save Crichton.
Thor targeted the Human and 'beamed' him cleared just before the Crichton's tiny ship was obliterated. A second later, Thor's ship was hit by the blast, but its shields barely registered the impact.
-
There was a light and Crichton felt like his body was fading from existence. His view of the cockpit winked out, leaving only darkness. This is it, he thought, this is death.
An instant later, he found himself hunched over on his hands and knees on a warm metal floor. Crichton lifted his head, confused. Was this really death or was it a dream?
"John!"
Before he knew what was happening, he was in her arms. He could see, smell and touch her. What the hell was going on?
"John, are you all right?"
Aeryn – Aeryn! – kissed him, holding his face in her hands. He stared into her beautiful face, losing himself in her sparkling eyes. This couldn't be happening.
Over her shoulder, he finally saw a grey, Roswell-looking alien sitting in a huge chair, elaborate enough that Rygel would be envious of it. Everything fell into place, becoming crystal clear.
This was a trick. Another frelling god-like alien playing cruel games on him with the woman he loved.
"You're not REAL!"
Crichton pulled from Aeryn's embrace, stood up and drew Winona all in one motion. He first aimed it at her, then at Thor and back again.
"John?" Aeryn froze before standing cautiously. "What's wrong? It's me. I am real."
Thor held his hand poised over the control panel located on the arm of his chair. He could easily take the weapon from Crichton, but instead Thor waited.
"I'm real, John." Aeryn studied him as Crichton stared back at her through the sights of his weapon. He looked frightened, confused, even angry at what he thought was a cruel hoax. Aeryn's worst fears were realized; Crichton thought she really had died.
"Let me prove it. Ask me anything," she challenged.
After a long moment, Crichton finally spoke, his voice shaking. "What were the first words we said to each other?"
"Your first words to me were, my name's John." She answered slowly, adding, "I responded by smashing you face first into the wall and throwing you across the cell. Then I pinned you to the floor with my knees and demanded your rank and regiment."
Aeryn watched the tension easing from Crichton's tired eyes as he lowered his weapon, aiming it at the floor. He smiled at her, unclenching his left hand, allowing his father's lucky ring to dangle from its chain. He wanted to believe her, but doubts still lingered.
"It's really me, John," she repeated.
"How?"
"Zhaan saved me, again."
"Big Blue sure gets around," he whispered, still staring at her warily before glancing about the bridge of Thor's ship. "Is all of this real?"
Aeryn choked back a tear, hearing the pain in his voice. "It's all real, John. I'm real."
He approached her, lifting his hand up to touch her face, afraid that she would burst like a bubble and all of this would vanish. Slowly, a tearful Aeryn helped him. She raised her own hand to place it over his and brought it the rest of the way to her face.
"I'm real," Aeryn promised as his hand cupped her cheek.
Shaking now, Crichton dropped his weapon to the floor before putting his other arm around her, pulling her in tight. They held each other as Crichton's shoulders heaved and he finally released pent-up emotions in a sob. Soon they were both crying as they collapsed to their knees on the deck, holding each other for dear life.
Thor watched them for a moment before looking away, not wanting to intrude on their intense reunion. He scanned the space surrounding his ship and detected a Peacekeeper command carrier, trying to hail him. They could wait. His interest was on a second ship, a small Leviathan, but one very different from the rest of his species. This Leviathan had been genetically modified to carry weaponry!
The Captain of the unusual Leviathan was hailing both him and the battlestar Pegasus.
Curious, Thor decided to answer.
-
Colonel Tigh could feel a change in the air.
The morale throughout the fleet was at a new high. Not only were they on course for Earth, the fleet also had six Hynerian Battlearcs providing protective escort. Although small compared to the Galactica, they mounted considerable firepower for their size. They were designed to be swift strike vessels, able to close quickly into range with the enemy and shower them with volleys of torpedoes.
Just the sight of those ships out there gave everyone throughout the refugee fleet a sense of hope and added security, knowing they were no longer alone.
Colonel Tigh invited the captains of all six ships for dinner on the Galactica and was surprised at how quickly he became comfortable being seated in a room filled with small green aliens. Tigh was not known for being the most sociable at public gatherings, but sitting and listening to the lively and quite boastful Hynerian captains was a pleasant experience. Tigh was sceptical as to whether he could believe everything they said, but in the end, he honestly felt they all meant well and were here to help.
Still, there was one thing he couldn't get his head around concerning the Hynerians - how were such small beings able to eat so much?
Dinner was soon over and he bid the captains a good night before they returned to their ships. Now, he was heading to his quarters to get some much-needed rest before the morning duty shift.
Stepping through the door to the small living space that he had called home for more than three yahrens, Tigh was about to activate the lights when he sensed a presence.
Someone else was in his room.
"Lights!"
As the computer-controlled lights clicked on, he wasn't prepared to see the man seated before him.
"Adama?"
"I'm sorry for startling you," Adama apologized, dressed in a long white robe, seated in a chair on the far side of the room. "I had to wait until you were alone."
"How?" Tigh was more than a little confused, to say the least. "This isn't possible. How did you get here? You were off on Talyn to meet the Scarrans and Peacekeepers…"
Adama allowed himself a somber smile and stood. "Things change, but the important thing is that they did it. They have forged a grand alliance with the Scarrans and Peacekeepers against the Cylons."
"That's great news," Tigh breathed in relief, but he continued to scrutinize Adama and his new appearance. "What happened to you? You can't be here."
Adama paused and looked at his friend and first officer before touching a nearby bulkhead. "I became much more, I have moved on to a higher plane of existence. One reason I came here was to see this place one last time."
"What you are describing is impossible," Tigh breathed out. "You… You're a ghost?"
Adama laughed lightly, moving to stand before him. "Far from it. Before my transformation, we prided ourselves on our technology and looked outward to find the answers we seek. Unfortunately, we failed to look within ourselves."
"You're here to say goodbye?"
"This is not goodbye, because there is no end," Adama said confidently. "But I am here to give you my last order. By all rights, the Galactica should be yours, but her destiny rests in the capable hands of my son. I need you for an equally important task and it will be difficult."
"I never disobeyed an order from you, Commander, I don't intend to now."
"Thank you, Colonel. Now, here's what I need you to do. Go to Earth…"
-
Standing next to Lt. Taran, Braca was in communication with his command carrier when he looked up and said regretfully to the waiting faces all staring at him, "He's gone…"
Chiana didn't hear anything else as she drew in a short, painful breath and felt her legs about to give in. Tears welled slowly in her eyes, but a part of her still refused to believe it.
They lost Crichton…
Everyone around her reacted about the same way, with stunned disbelief and grief. It was then that she felt a supporting arm wrap around her, holding her steady. It was Daniel. He was looking at her, wanting to say something, anything to help with the anguish she was feeling. For Chiana, he didn't have to. His comforting presence was all she needed. She allowed herself be pulled into his embrace and drawn into Daniel's warmth as the tears came.
The only ones who showed little or no emotion were the Scarrans and Cylons. Emperor Staleek cared little about the Human, even though his actions had saved the base, but Kwenn was quietly moved by the grief that Crichton's companions were showing for him.
Starbuck was in communication with Talyn when he received the incredible news. He shouted out loud and almost dropped his communicator.
"He's alive! Crichton is alive!"
Everyone stopped and O'Neill stared at the Colonial, not sure what to believe. "How?"
"Your friends, the Asgard, they just arrived," Starbuck said quickly. "Crais is talking to a Commander Thor right now and he has him onboard. That's not all, he has Aeryn and the Pegasus!"
At first, they all thought Starbuck had to be mistaken or had gone mad, but after some more rather serious convincing, there were cheers and cries of relief. Standing close by, Chiana heard O'Neill repeating the same line over and over again, "Love those guys! Love those guys!"
Not far away, a stoic Scorpius listened and permitted himself to smile. Crichton was alive and the wormhole technology he carried had survived, too.
Lieutenant Taran was still quite confused at their situation. Here she was, standing on a Scarran base, surrounded by Scarrans and Cylons, and she had even had a brief and almost lethal encounter with the Goa'uld, and now they were acting like they were all friends. She turned to address Captain Braca, "Sir, what happens now?"
"We have a lot of work to do, Lieutenant."
"And what about them?" She gestured to the Humans and their alien friends. "They're wanted for the destruction of a Gammak base and a command carrier."
"We will do nothing, Lieutenant," Scorpius said, stepping towards them. "For three important reasons. One, we have much larger problems to be concerned about, like the Cylons. Two, I doubt we can arrest them considering the strength and calibre of their allies."
He then focused his attention on Carter and approached the Tok'ra. O'Neill stood by her side and eyed the Scarran hybrid darkly.
Ignoring the Human's hostile stare, Scorpius extended his arm towards Carter as if wishing to shake her hand. Not giving it much thought and knowing she was able, with her Tok'ra strength, to defend herself, Carter placed her hand into his.
"And three," Scorpius said with great appreciation, "when you give your word to a beautiful woman, one worthy of your respect, you are honour-bond to keep it."
He bowed his head down and gently kissed the back of her hand.
Carter was too shocked to react and O'Neill suddenly felt a renewed desire to shoot Scorpius.
TBC…