WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS GRAPHIC SEXUAL VIOLENCE. I DON'T WANT TO SAY TOO MUCH TO GIVE THE STORY AWAY BUT BE FOREWARNED.
The Way We Are - Chapter 4
As soon as they had picked up the transmission from Noranti, Chiana and Rygel had asked the captain of the Hynerian cruiser to turn the boat around. Chiana knew that Crichton wouldn't be able to stay out of trouble but she hadn't expected to have to come to his rescue so soon. Noranti hadn't given them much information, only that Moya had been boarded by pirates and that Aeryn had sent her and the baby to Delca 5 for safekeeping.
"Chiana, Hyneria cannot supply much in the way of reinforcements. Do you have a plan?" Rygel asked.
"I'm thinking."
"Well, I think we should get the baby. That is what Aeryn would want."
"And just leave them to the mercy of pirates?"
"Didn't Noranti say that there were dozens of pirates? You're farhbot if you think they are even still alive. I say we save the baby."
"Frell you, I am not giving up on Cricthon, he'll find a way to survive 'til we get there."
"And what pray, do you plan on doing when we do get there? This royal cruiser only has one gun. Solid shielding, but it is more of a diplomatic vessel. And I don't even know if the gun is working. Knowing Bishan, he probably had it disarmed lest I use it against him."
"Look, I am not interested in Hynerian politics right now, our friends are out there," Chiana fumed.
"You tralk, I want to save them too, I am just saying we need to be realistic about our resources." Rygel's earbrows drooped in dismay at the bleak situation. "We must save the baby."
Suddenly, Chiana looked optimistic. "Yeah, yeah, we'll go for the narl. We'll get Jothee to go after Crichton! Yeah, it could work, it'll work," she said trying to reassure herself.
"It'll have to," Rygel agreed and ordered the captain to set a course for Delca 5.
Aeryn managed to free Pilot from the control collar that the pirates had put him in but he was still in a state of panic.
She reassured Pilot, "We are not going to let that happen. Where is he now?"
"He is in the shaft, where Ka D'Argo released the device that allowed Moya to become pregnant."
"So he knows for certain that this is the Leviathan that he installed the shield in," Aeryn clarified.
"Yeah, but I don't get it. The damage is done. Moya has already given birth. What threat does she pose now? And I told him Crais is dead. Why kill Moya?" John asked.
"Hmm," Aeryn considered John's words. "Pilot, is it possible for Moya to starburst?"
"No, Officer Sun, not with that pirate vessel so close."
"Hey, can you open the shaft that he is in to vacuum or jettison him outta there?" John asked hopefully.
"No, don't do that!" Aeryn shouted.
"Why not?" John looked at his wife perplexed. "Ahh, you don't want him to die, do you?"
Aeryn didn't answer but her silence said enough. She turned away from John but not too quickly for him to notice that her eyes had started to water.
"Well, what do you propose we do?"
Aeryn turned back to John, "It's not what you think."
John waved his hand in dismissal, "We can talk about it later, right now we have more pressing issues."
"John. . ."
"Really Aeryn, later," he said with more bite than he intended.
Aeryn half-smiled and bit her lower lip in frustration. How could she explain to John what she was feeling? She wasn't good with expressing emotion, much less talking about it.
"Pilot, can you get me a location on all of the pirates?"
"Yes, one is with Velorek and they are making their way back up the shaft as we speak. The one in the cell is still stationary. Two are in the tier seven cargo bay, they are going through crates. One is in maintenance bay three. Three are back in the docking bay and they are harnessing your module, likely for transport to their ship."
"Like hell they are! Aeryn I'll take the goons in the docking bay, you take tier seven cargo bay. Got it?"
Aeryn nodded and watched John jog out of Pilot's den but she had no intention of going to the cargo bay.
Aeryn headed down the corridor that lead to the access shaft where Velorek had been. She heard footsteps and ducked in between Moya's rib bones and peaked around the corner. Velorek was giving the pirate some kind of orders. She had a clean shot but realized that as soon as she fired, the second man would be alerted to her presence. She wondered if she could get two shots off quickly enough with this gun, it was a model she had never used before today.
As Velorek and the pirate made their way down the corridor, she decided she had better act now. The first shot hit the pirate in the gut and immobilized him instantly, he crumbled to the floor. The gun he was holding skidded down the corridor. Before Velorek could reach for his weapon, Aeryn turned the corner and had him in her sights. "Don't do it. I want to talk."
"There's nothing to say," Velorek spat and reached for his gun.
"There's plenty to say," Aeryn blasted him.
John crouched outside the docking bay. He was tempted to just space these guys but he always searched for a way to get out of a situation with a minimal loss of life. 1812 skittered up behind him. He whispered to the DRD, "you got any more of that stuff you doped Drego with?"
1812 blinked twice for no.
"Okay," John took a microt to think, "Alright, you can still provide me with a diversion. I got a plan you ready?"
1812 blinked once for yes.
Aeryn had bound and gagged the unconscious pirate with scraps of his own shirt and left him in the corridor before she dragged Velorek into a nearby room that must have served as an office for an entry-level corrections worker. It seemed out of place on Moya, so inorganic and unwelcoming. She briefly recalled going through this corridor of offices when she first arrived aboard Moya, but other than a few emergency medkits, there was little useful in them. She now thought it strange that she didn't feel at home in these offices even then. Maybe a part of her had always wanted to be more than a Peacekeeper. Aeryn surveyed the room for a strategic place to drop her cargo. A desk with the Peacekeeper symbol emblazoned proudly on it sat in the center of the room. A black leather chair with the logo on the head rest complemented the desk. Aeryn propped Velorek up against the desk. She searched his body for any hidden weapons and pulled his comm device from his jacket and crushed it under her black leather boot. Off in one corner was an area for reclining with a small table and two chairs upholstered in a soft red furry material. Aeryn guessed the material was dyed Vorlag hair, it felt soft and luxuriant against the back of her bare arms as she sat back in one of the chairs and waited for her former lover to rouse.
1812 wheeled into the docking bay. One of the pirates took notice of his odd coloring and muttered, "hmm." The other two kept working on securing the module. They hadn't been able to figure out how to start it so they were planning on towing it back to their ship. When the pirate who had noticed 1812 went back to his work, 1812 positioned himself between the pirates and John. He pulled his little arm out and started squirting lubricant on the floor, leaving a trail behind him. As he rolled out of the room, John entered with bravado, "Hello, I am Crichton, the great and powerful," he said as he extended his arms outward clearly trying to make himself a target. The pirates turned and rushed toward John. As planned, they lost their footing in the oily substance that 1812 had excreted. John grabbed a cargo net and threw it on the pirates. As they flailed in the net, one of them fired his pulse pistol, sending bolts of light ricocheting throughout the bay. John hit the floor. "Nets never work!"
The pirate fired again, this time the bolt ignited the lubricant and the pirates rolled on the floor desperately trying to extinguish the flames.
John eyed his flame-retardant IASA flight suit hanging nearby. He hurriedly grabbed it and used it to beat out the flames.
The pirates were puzzled at why he would choose to help them but held him at gunpoint, nonetheless.
"Look guys, I go no beef with you. It's your maniacal leader that bothers me, but I can't let you take my module. You take that harness off of her and I'll tell you where the goods are. That's what you're here for right. I mean Velorek, he don't care 'bout no stinkin' riches but you guys do, am I right?"
John had clearly struck a chord. The pirates eyed John with a mixture of suspicion and greed. Greed won out. One pirate motioned for the other two to help him release the module.
Great John, thought, now I just have to find some riches to give them.
The audibly perceptible change in Velorek's breathing alerted Aeryn to the fact that he was regaining consciousness. She sat up on the edge of the seat and made sure the gun she was holding was in plain sight. Velorek jerked his head in an effort to orient himself. He massaged the back of his neck and stretched it to one side. Then at once, he seemed to remember the situation. He snapped his head up and coal eyes met Aeryn's steel orbs.
"Guess you really wanted to chat," he hissed.
"Yes," Aeryn said earnestly. "What do you want with Moya?"
"Where's the offspring? Did she conceive successfully?" Velorek annoyingly answered with a question.
"She did. But he's. . .," Aeryn struggled with the words and the bittersweet memories of Moya's son, "he's gone, dead." She subtly jerked her head and gritted her teeth to will the tears away.
"Gunship?"
Aeryn nodded, "You're full of questions, yet you still haven't answered mine. What do you want with Moya?"
"Do you think that was the only shield I put in place? This Leviathan is huge, you can't have possibly covered all the shafts."
"Yes, but now that we know the shield is in place we would never. . .well. . .we would never put Moya through that again."
Velorek laughed.
"What's so frelling humorous?"
"Aeryn Sun, the ambitious Peacekeeper actually cares about this beast of burden!"
"That is what I have been trying to explain to you. I've learned a lot since you and I parted. John sh. ."
"John," Velorek interrupted, "he showed you how to love, aww, isn't that sweeeet. Well, it's rich anyway."
"Frell you."
"You keep saying that. Does he not satisfy you the way I used to? You need some real cock? Some Sebacean cock? What? Is his equipment deficient? Insufficient?"
"Oh, no, in that department, humans are superior."
"Oh, I've learned a thing or two about women since you betrayed me. I found out they don't really like the nice guy, do they Aeryn? They prefer the Bailar Craises of the world! Did you frell him hard? Did you go down on your knees for your superior officer? Was the reassignment worth it?"
"You don't know what you are talking about! I never frelled Crais!" Aeryn had half a mind to shoot Velorek, the conversation was getting her nowhere.
"Doesn't matter now. He's dead, right? Or are you just protecting him?"
"John told you he's dead, if I was Crais's tralk do you think for a microt that my husband would try to protect him?"
"Maybe they frell you together, you'd probably like that."
That did it! Aeryn was not taking this dren from anybody, even Velorek whom she felt she owed an apology and explanation. She had hoped that if they could speak alone, she could get to that part of him that had once cared. She could see that the warm, generous man she had secreted away with had been replaced by a scorned, vengeful monster.
"You know, I thought we could have a civilized conversation," Aeryn said as she rose and walked toward Velorek, "but I see you are going to be a pain in my eema." Aeryn's anger and disappointment had distracted her. She walked a footstep too close and gave Velorek his opportunity. He swung his leg hard and fast, causing Aeryn to lose her footing. Before she could regain her balance, he was on top of her. His body weight pinned her against the floor. He slammed her hand that held the gun into the floor until Aeryn lost her grip on the weapon. He tossed it across the room. He grabbed Aeryn's hands and forced them over her head. Aeryn kicked and twisted her lower body furiously trying to throw him off of her. Velorek managed to secure Aeryn's wrists with one hand. He used the other to untie the corset.
"Get the frell off of me, you bastard!"
"Oh, I'm gonna get off!"
Aeryn's squirming only aroused Velorek more. Still, all the movement made it difficult to loosen the corset. He jerked hard on the cord, causing Aeryn to yelp in pain.
"Don't do this, Velorek. You are better than this."
"What Aeryn?" He chuckled, "What, I can be more?"
"You are more," she tried desperately to reason with him.
"No, Aeryn, you're different, I'm different, we are no longer the way we were," he said as he abruptly flipped her.
Aeryn managed to free her hands long enough to claw at his face. She drew blood but he quickly regained the advantage and secured her hands again.
"Frell!" Aeryn screamed.
He laughed a deep throated laugh and started jerking on the corset. She was lying on the ties which held the corset in place. Undeterred, he pulled even harder. The rope bit into her flesh and she felt the warm wetness of blood oozing from her back. The force with which he pulled at the corset was matched by an equal pressure on her wrists. She wasn't sure if they were broken but she had lost feeling in her hands. One last tug and he managed to pull the corset free. The blood soaked strings left trails of blood all over her torso. As he tossed the corset across the room, blood spattered onto Aeryn's face and into her mouth.
She could see the flash of heightened arousal in his eyes. Those eyes that she used to think of as soft and kind, now they would only be remembered like this, punishing and burning.
Velorek licked the blood off of her face, "Ahhh," it made him even more maniacal. He thrust hard against her core.
She was thankful that she wore leather trousers. He would never be able to get them down her legs with only one hand.
Velorek rutted against her in a slow rhythm, his cock was rock hard. Aeryn puked and some vomit spilled down her face but she was forced to swallow most of it. She spat at Velorek hoping that he would get a face full of the sour chunks of food cubes.
He didn't even notice, he was getting close to climax. He reached down and undid the button and zipper to his pants. He raised himself up and tried to slide his pants down with one hand but Aeryn wasn't about to cooperate. She bucked and twisted. He lost his balance and his grip on her wrists. Even though she had no feeling in her hands, she pounded away at his face and kicked as hard as she could, all the while trying to scoot her body away from him. Velorek regained his balance but Aeryn was free. He grabbed at her retreating legs. Aeryn's instincts took over and she went for the gun. Velorek scrambled toward the gun at the same time and when Aeryn bent to retrieve the gun he kicked her hard in the ass sending her crashing into the wall. He kicked the gun across the room and grabbed Aeryn and pressed her against the wall.
Imprisoning her hands again, he growled, "Ahh, this is much better." He unsnapped her pants and slid his hand in before slipping a finger inside her pussy.
Aeryn headbutted him as he reveled in her flesh.
The headbutt stunned him, so she did it again. The second bash broke his nose and blood spewed everywhere. He grabbed his nose and howled in pain. Aeryn kneed him in the groin and pushed him into the Vorlag-hair chairs which were now spattered with an ever deeper crimson. Aeryn ran to the gun. She flipped the control from stun to pulse fire and blew Velorek away.
"Commander Crichton, I think Officer Sun may be in some trouble." Pilot called over the comm after Moya had alerted him that she sensed Aeryn in great pain.
Pilot gave John the likely location.
"She's supposed to be dealing with the pirates in the cargo bay."
"I think she had other ideas."
"She always does," Crichton cursed as he started working his way down Moya's levels.
When John found Aeryn she was staggering down the corridor half-hunched over, covered in blood and sobbing uncontrollably.
"Oh God, Aeryn!" John ran to assist her. He scooped her up causing her to wince in pain as he inadvertently brushed against the lacerations on her back.
"Velorek. . ." she shuddered and then passed out safe in his arms.