Aeryn struggled. She was in deep water, murky and black. She could see a faint light, far above. She struck up towards it, but then something was clawing at her, dragging her down. She opened her mouth instinctively, either to cry out or to draw desperately needed breath - she didn't know which. Water rushed into her mouth and she was choking.
Her eyes snapped open and she gasped painfully. It was dark and something or someone was on top of her, pinning her down, hands wrapped around her throat, squeezing.
In the space between sleep and wakefulness, Aeryn was disoriented for a moment, but trained reflexes kicked in of their own accord. She rolled, using her assailants superior weight to her advantage, she twisted and ended up on top, looking down at a familiar face. Recognition dawned.
"John, wake up!" she yelled, "Wake up John, you're having a nightmare!"
Crichton's eyes were open but vacant, the whites flashing in the gloom. Aeryn held him down until the thrashing subsided. His eyes focused on her face and his entire body seemed to quiver. He took a deep, shuddering breath.
Then he tensed, his eyes widening in panic. Aeryn redoubled her grip.
"Aeryn! God no Aeryn – let me go!"
Crichton screamed, struggling.
"John - "
"He's here, Aeryn! Harvey is here! He'll bring Scorpius, we have to run!"
"John no." Aeryn kept her voice as calm as Crichton was not. "It was just a dream."
"He'll kill us all! Please Aeryn!" Crichton pleaded.
"Think, John. Remember. Scorpius is dead. Harvey is gone. It's just a dream, the same dream you have every night."
Finally the crazed look began to fade from Crichton's eyes. He blinked up at her in confusion.
"No Harvey?"
Aeryn shook her head gently. She let go of him and rolled to her side of the bed.
"He's gone. We're safe John."
Aeryn wasn't at all sure about the veracity of that statement. Safe seemed to be a distant dream for them these days, but she was at least certain that they were free from the danger that at night Crichton still feared above all others.
"I'm sorry."
She could feel him shaking, his breaths still coming sharp and desperate. Aeryn raised herself on one elbow. With one hand she raised the lights and she examined his face.
Crichton lay back rigidly, his eyes staring vacantly up at the ceiling. There were beads of sweat on his brow and his jaw was clenched.
"I just – I just every time I wake up, I hear his voice and for a few minutes I'm sure he's there. Its like he's standing behind me and I can't see him but I know he's there."
Aeryn idly ran the hand down the side of his face, tracing the contours with the fingers. It was more familiar to her than her own.
"I can't help it. I can't think of anything except that I have to get you and D'Argo away. Before he hurts you." Crichton swallowed hard and squeezed his eyes shut in frustration. "Before I..." he trailed off.
"Its ok John," Aeryn repeated again. "He can't hurt us, he cant make you hurt us."
Crichton finally met her eyes. He smiled bitterly, "You must think I'm crazy."
Aeryn shrugged one shoulder playfully, "Of course, I've known you're crazy for cycles. But I still married you."
Crichton's smile hesitantly turned warmed. His eyes flickered from her face, roving hungrily downwards over bare flesh. He froze, eyes on her neck.
Aeryn reached for her throat self-consciously. Her hand touched raised, stinging welts where his fingers had wrapped around her lung pipe.
"Aeryn i -" Crichton broke off. He scuttled away from her across the bed.
"John, it's nothing." Aeryn reached towards him. He struck her hand away.
"Nothing!" Crichton laughed wildly, "No Aeryn, it's not nothing! God no, I hurt you! I can't -"
Aeryn paused for just a fraction of a second to consider strategy. As usual, she chose attack.
She laughed scornfully. "You? Hurt me? John Crichton, I can think of at least eighteen ways that I could kill you right now, and that's only using one hand."
Crichton pulled himself out of the bed and backed away. "That doesn't matter. You can't trust me – I can't trust me. I can't stay here." he looked around wildly, as if searching for a way to escape.
"John, it was an accident. I won't let you run off on your own."
"Won't let?"
"No." Aeryn said firmly, "We deal with out problems together, remember. This one's no different."
"Aeryn, please -"
"Aeryn? Crichton? I am sorry to wake you." Pilot didn't sound particularly sorry.
"We'll finish talking about this later." Aeryn raised her voice, "Yes Pilot?"
"A Nebari patrol ship is approaching Moya's position. They are demanding to dock."
"Frell. Can we starburst?"
"Yes, but we are already within scanning distance."
"So if we starburst, they put out an alert on a levitation matching Moya's description, which royally screws our plans." Crichton concluded.
"Precisely, commander."
"Ok Pilot, tell them they're clear to land in the cargo bay. Tell Chiana and Jothee to meet us there." Crichton said.
"They are already on their way."
They scrambled to find their clothing. They rushed out of their room and hurried through Moya's winding corridors.
Aeryn and Crichton arrived at the cargo bay just as the Nebari ship was touching down. It was a small, nondescript vessel, that was not visibly heavily armed. The ship looked fragile almost, easily breakable. The ships utilitarian appearance masked the fact that one of these ships could go toe to toe with a Peacekeeper destroyer, three or four of them could take down a command carrier.
Chiana and Jothee were already awaiting the ships arrival. Jothee held his fathers qualta blade, ready. Chiana was nervously clutching a pulse rifle.
Aeryn and Crichton joined them. Aeryn readied her own weapon.
"Morning kids." Crichton said brightly.
The ship powered down, making a steady clinking sound as the engines began to cool.
"What do you think they want?" Chiana said anxiously.
"Well, either it's a routine inspection, in which case we show them our forged papers and pray." Crichton said.
"Or they have a reason to suspect we are other than what we claim, in which case we kill them all before they can report back." Aeryn concluded.
"Great."
A hairline crack appeared on the hull of the Nebari ship. It grew and a rectangular section of the hull pivoted outward, held in place by a kind of hinge at the bottom. That had been the top of the section gently touched the cargo bay floor as the gangplank finished extending itself.
A man made his way out of the ship at a leisurely pace. He drew to a stop when he saw their assembled weaponry.
The man was tall and thin, in fact the term cadaverous might have come closer to the truth. He wore a neatly pressed grey Nebari uniform and clutched a clipboard to himself like a shield. Nervous, watery eyes peered from an elderly face that was so thin it looked like an emaciated skull. The top of the man's head was completely bald, but wiry tufts of grey hair protruded from his temples like wings.
As the face of a merciless, totalitarian regime, the man looked about as threatening as a angry root vegetable. Aeryn didn't let that fact fool her, Bureaucrats usually looked harmless, right up to the point they drowned you in paperwork. Personally, Aeryn would rather face a rampaging amorous Lothian bull-elephant, unarmed and naked. Even if she had just been erroneously bathing in its pheromone rich watering holes. She winced at that inadvertently awakened memory, the first and emphatically the last time she had allowed John to choose a romantic getaway without first thoroughly researching the local flora and fauna. She hadn't been able to walk properly for days, and her temper hadn't been noticeably improved by the fact that John found the entire episode enormously funny.
The gaunt faced bureaucrat peered at them disapprovingly.
"Please, lower your weapons," he waggled his clipboard placatingly. He even had a squeaky little voice, Aeryn noticed. "They shall not be necessary."
No-one moved.
The man sighed. "Very well. I am deputy district inspector (third class) Bork. I am a dully appointed representative of the Nebari federation. I have been authorised to examine the travel permits and ships documentation of every traveller entering this sector of space." he smiled tightly, wrinkled skin stretched taut across his skull. "Now, who is in charge here?"
Weapons were lowered just slightly, grudgingly.
"That would be me." Crichton declared importantly.
A pen materialised in the deputy district inspectors hand. "Your name?"
"Captain Jack Sparrow."
"And the name of your vessel?"
"The Black Pearl."
"I see." the civil-servant wrote that down. "Your purpose in this sector?"
"We be hauling cargo." Crichton drawled. "Matey."
Aeryn closed her eyes. She knew she should have double checked the details of their false papers instead of letting John handle it.
"And the nature of you cargo?" the pen poised.
"Rum and grog." Crichton leered.
The man looked blank, but dutifully wrote that down."Very well, captain. I will need to examine your crew register and cargo manifest, and of course your travel permits."
"Yargh! I mean, yes."
Crichton gestured imperiously to Jothee. "You boy! Go and fetch those papery things for the inspector man."
Jothee looked startled and slightly irritated. He clenched his jaw, then nodded curtly and turned away.
"So, inspector," Crichton put his arm around the officials narrow shoulders. "What's up with the twenty questions?"
"It is standard procedure in this sector, I'm afraid," the man answered, disentangling himself from Crichton's grasp. "And it's deputy inspector. This backwater doesn't warrant a full inspector, I'm afraid."
"Why is that the procedure here?" Aeryn asked, sounding only mildly curious.
"I'm afraid to say that there has been heavy pirate activity as of late."
"Pirates! An here I am without my parrot!" Crichton said blithely.
"Yes." Bork said doubtfully, "There have also been attacks by groups claiming to be revolutionaries or freedom fighters or some such nonsense, but we all know what those parasites really are, don't we."
"Yes, I mean yargh!" Crichton said.
"That sort of thing still goes on?" Aeryn said quickly, "I thought the Nebari wiped out the last of the dissidents over a cycle ago?"
Jothee entered the room. Wordlessly he handed a bundle of papers to Crichton, who passed them on to Bork.
"Thank you. Sadly, that may be true in the more civilised systems, but we are a long way from there. There are those here who are not entirely appreciative of all the Nebari have done for us. These local cells of so called revolutionaries spring up form time to time." He flicked through the papers with practised speed. "Mostly they consist of nothing more that gangs of a few criminals and malcontent's. Usually the Nebari round them up and send them for behavioural-therapy before they can do any harm to themselves or others."
"That's kind of us." Chiana muttered.
Aeryn flashed her a warning glance.
"So what's different here?" Jothee asked casually.
"Well, as I said, this is a rather uncivilised backwater system – particularly the outer planets. It used to be part of the uncharted territories, did you know? Most of the people who live here were gang members, drug runners and thieves. The kind of people who instinctively oppose proper order and thrive on anarchy."
"Sounds like my kind of place." Chiana purred.
Bork looked at her as if he had only just noticed the Nebari. He looked puzzled and glanced at his paperwork.
"So, are we likely to be in any kind of danger here?" Crichton said hurriedly.
"What? On no, I should think not. The Nebari maintain an embassy here and they have close links with the local law enforcement, so things are getting much better. So long as you don't make a habit of mingling with the wrong type of people, you should be perfectly safe."
Crichton smiled at the man, who beamed back proudly. Aeryn could feel the tension beginning to drain out of her.
"Well, thanks for the heads up, deputy inspector. Are we done here?" Crichton said.
Bork blinked several times as if he was confused by the question.
"Oh, yes – I'm sorry! Thank you for your patience captain, you are of course free to go."
Bork turned and took a few steps towards his ship, then turned back.
"Oh, I almost forgot! A minor matter, there was just one small discrepancy I noticed." he turned to address Chiana, who turned ridged. "You are listed here as crew member Molly Flanders, yes?"
Chiana squirmed nervously. "I am? I mean, sure I am. Yeah, that's me. Why?"
Bork scrutinised her. "You are Nebari."
For a moment, Aeryn thought Chiana was going to try to deny it. She surreptitiously checked the safety was disabled on her pistol.
"I was last time I checked."
"I'm afraid to tell you that your travel papers are invalid."
"They are?" Chiana breathed, "Well frell."
The gaunt, neat man clucked his tongue. "Yes indeed. I'm afraid that you have erroneously completed an 11-b form, that is an offworlders application for an interim duration travel permit. What you should have filled in was an 11-a, a citizens application for a long term travel permit." Bork sighed regretfully, "I'm afraid that your papers are technically invalid."
Chiana looked at the paper the man held as if it had just turned into a two headed chicken. While the inspector had been speaking she had crossed the room so that she stood very close to him.
"Well inspector -"
Bork coughed primly, "Deputy inspector, please."
"Sure." Chiana crooned, "How about you and me go somewhere private, you can give me a full inspection."
Chiana yawned and arched her back, just so happening to brush her nipples over the mans chest. Aeryn rolled her eyes.
Bork looked down and frowned irritably. He took a step back. "No, I think not." Bork said coldly. "That would not be appropriate under the circumstances."
Aeryn let her hand close around the haft of her pistol in readiness. Why, she wondered, was it never easy?
"Hey, we're all friends here." Crichton said desperately, "Surely there's something we can do to make this right."
"I am afraid not. I am bound by Nebari regulation, and it clearly dictates that I have only one possible recourse."
There was a drawn out moment of frozen tension.
"Young lady," Bork said sternly, "Are you aware of the penalty for entering for entering port without properly completed travel papers?"
"A good hard spanking?" Chiana said hopefully.
"No. A fifty credit fine and this infraction will go on your permanent record."
Chiana looked at him in amazement. "Really, that's it?"
Bork tried to glare, but he didn't really have the face for it. "I hope you realise what a serious matter this is. Here - " he handed her some papers. "Here is the correct 11-b form, and a 4-c(ii), please fill it in and specify your crime and penalty here. Go directly to the Nebari facility when you land and hand it it to the correct authorities. Failure to do so will result in your travel permit being revoked, and quite possibly in behavioural therapy, Miss Flanders."
Chiana took the forms, looking mildly stunned. Bork looked around at the rest of them and seemed not to notice their bewildered expressions.
"Thank you for your time, good day."