Disclaimer: All Characters other than the ones I created are owned by Farscape, Henson Co. I am just borrowing them for a little while. Please, Don't sue me! As of this writing, Aeryn's ability to withstand cold temperatures has not been discussed in the show, and I chose not to make a big deal of it. If, after this writing, it becomes canon for Aeryn to not be able to take the cold, My apologies.

Su-namun sat in the middle of the floor in her quarters. Her ankles were crossed, knees up, and she was busily carving away at a big block of Allinav Stone. She had picked it up on the last commerce planet they had stopped at, planning on carving out a set of Gonji to pass the time with. The Merchant she had bought the stone from had several Gonji sets already made, but she had told him she preferred to make her own. He had generously thrown in some carving tools and a few dyes to color the patterns in. She had realized after they left, that his generosity had been fueled more by the desire to get rid of low-quality, almost dull tools, and colors no one in their right minds would have bought. Any other time, she thought, I would have gone back and beaten the cheap bastard to a pulp. But I got the tools I needed, and a little sharpening had fixed them nicely. No one on Moya had asked where she had gotten the money to pay for the stone. They probably assumed I just took it, she thought.

She had been busy the last few weeks onboard Moya. She had been doing as much as she could to make herself useful, trying to make up for what her father had almost done to them. Mostly, she had been scenting out remnants of Peacekeeper tracking devices, a task she had told Aeryn she was more than willing to do. She had found two so far, but had told the others she knew there were more. Aeryn had seemed impressed with Su-namun's ability to find the devices with such accuracy.

The other thing Su-namun had been doing was scouting through Moya. The Leviathan was huge, and it seemed that no one had tried mapping out all of Moya's levels before. She had mentioned it to John, and he had told her that it was because it was too easy to get lost. "But I don't get lost." she had told him. As long as her sense of smell was working, that is. So she had begun in her quarters and worked outward from there. So far, she figured she had charted maybe 5% of Moya's entirety. It was, by far, the hugest ship she had ever been in, with crossing passageways, hidden tunnels, & air ducts leading in several different directions at once, but Su-namun found it a fun and entertaining challenge trying to figure out where they all led. She had already found several interesting rooms. She knew that so far, no one else, not even Chiana, had found them yet. Too bad she had no idea what the rooms were for. She wanted to get the entire ship mapped out before she showed it to anyone.

No one had brought up the subject of her father or Tomos yet, and Su-namun wondered some about that. Surely they must be curious as to why I did it, she thought. I told them some of what he had done, but they have no idea just how evil he was. But not even John, as curious as he was, has asked me anything, she thought. In fact, he has been avoiding me as much as he can. So had Chiana, though I think I know why, Su-namun mused, smiling slightly as she carved out another of the round Gonji stones. The Nebari hadn't seemed too thrilled at the prospect of a physical sharing between the Quanarian and herself. Quanarians had no problem with a physical sharing between any two warriors, regardless of race or sex, but Su-namun understood that some other species felt differently about that. She had decided she wouldn't push the issue. It's too bad, she thought, but maybe one day Chiana would change her mind.

Now Zhaan, Su-namun thought, had been very kind. The Delvian had gone out of her way to make time to talk to Su-namun, though she never asked about the Quanarian's father. They had some interesting conversations comparing Delvian and Quanarian life. They had even gotten onto the topic of sexual practices once, and Zhaan seemed quite interested in some of the Quanarian's strange habits. Su-namun had been enjoying those conversations immensely.

As Su-namun started carving symbols on the Gonji stone, her thoughts strayed to the Luxan. D'Argo fascinated her more than she could say. He had not said too much to her since the day she had saved his life, but she wasn't expecting him to come and bow down to her. She knew he had a lot to work over in his mind, especially the fact that her species and his were mortal enemies. She wanted to talk to him about it.

As she sat carving, she heard someone walk by the entrance of her room, stop, and come back to the door. She did not look up, but said "Come in if you wish." Su-namun heard the door open and shut. She turned and saw D'Argo standing by the door.

"May we talk?" he asked.

"Certainly," Su-namun replied. "I'm not busy." She continued carving. D'Argo stood by the door, not saying anything, so Su-namun turned around and smiled at him. "Come in. Sit. I won't bite you, I promise." She grinned at him, and he walked over and sat on the floor across from her.

"What are you doing?" He asked her, picking up one of the Gonji stones she had already finished, turning it around to look at the carvings she had made on its surface.

"Well, usually with Gonji, the markings are just numbers, random designs, things like that. They all have pairs, you see?" She handed him the match to the one he was already holding. "But I have been adding some symbols from things I have seen around Moya. Look, here is one I got from John's orange suit he wears sometimes. I don't know what it means," She pointed to the tiny N A S A she had carved. "but I assumed it was something to do with him being a human. I have been trying to do all kinds of symbols from things I have seen all of you wear or use." She scooped a pile of stones off the floor and handed them to D'Argo. "See any you recognize?" She asked.

D'Argo held some of them up. "Delvian, another of John's symbols, Peacekeeper, Hmmm, this is Luxan. Where did you see this?" He held up the small stone.

"Around." Su-namun said vaguely. "What does it mean?"

D'Argo looked at her. "Something." he said.

"So you won't tell me until I tell you where I saw it, right?" Su-namun stopped carving. "Ok, I have been exploring Moya, trying to map out all of the rooms on her. I saw them while I was exploring."

"Only for a microt or two." she said. "I was just looking around."

"Don't." D'Argo said. "And you got this wrong. I think it was supposed to be 'Molari' but you've written 'Mivonks'"

"What is that?" Su-namun asked.

"Balls." D'Argo put the stone down as Su-namun laughed.

She started carving again, then looked at D'Argo. "Would you like to carve one?" She asked.

"I don't ..." D'Argo began, but Su-namun handed him another blank stone, and one of the carving tools. "Just write anything Luxan on it. Please." she said.

D'Argo sighed and began carving. For a few minutes they were quiet, then Su-namun said "Did you want to talk with me?"

D'Argo glanced at her. " I just wanted to ask you about before. When you saved my life. And about your father."

"Why did I save you?"
"You could have left me there. I'm Luxan. I've killed many of your kind. I would have killed you if I could have. But you almost died trying to save me."

Su-namun stopped carving " I got you in that situation, I had to get you out. And more important, you didn't deserve to die. Besides, I ..."she stopped.

D'Argo looked up at her questioningly.

Su-namun looked down at her hands. "I know you understand about loyalty. Many of my people aren't loyal to anything but wealth. I am not like that anymore. I haven't been for a long time. I know you and the others on Moya are criminals, but you could not possibly be as bad as my father. I saw a chance to break free from him, and took it. I was hoping I could find a better life if I joined up with you and the others. I felt that anything would be better than scouring the territories for innocent people to rob and kill. I saved you and the others because I like you all better than that crew. But there are only a couple of ways to escape my society. One is to flee, and the other is to die. I don't want to die, and at least here I have a good purpose. I can protect Rygel, and I can help all of you in whatever way I can. Believe me, it is a better life than the one I had."

"I...am not ready to say." said Su-namun. D'Argo looked up again from the Gonji stone, but decided not to push it any further. He changed the subject slightly. "And your father?"

Su-namun said, "You want to know why I could kill him without remorse, is that right?"

D'Argo nodded.

Sighing, Su-namun said. "You know how patriarchal Quanarians are, yes? Well, when I was younger, my mother rebelled against his wishes, and told my father she was leaving Quanaria, and taking us with her. My father killed her for even suggesting that he was not in control of her. He kept Tomos and me close to him, putting us through special training so we could be in his crew. He did things to me and Tomos, trying to make us into versions of him. He forced me to kill children in front of their mothers, rape, maim, blind, torture people. It makes me sick to think of the things I have done for him. I never wanted to do any of it, but it was a choice between do it or die. He was a very powerful man, very high up in the government. What he did to my mother was not frowned upon by our society, but I was disgusted by him. I had to keep all of my anger towards him hidden, for fear of getting killed myself. I had the opportunity to get rid of him, and I took it. Do you blame me?"

"I do not blame you for killing him, but I would have probably done it sooner, whether it meant my own life or not." D'Argo said.

"I waited until then, because as bad as the things I have done are, I do not want to die." Su-namun said. "I'm sure you think I am a vicious, heartless monster for what I have done to others. I would take it all back if I could."

D'Argo shook his head "Vicious, yes. Heartless, at one time, I believe you were. But I do not think you are a monster." he handed her the Gonji stone.

"What does it say?" she held it up to the light.

"Beautiful." D'Argo said, looking away from her. Su-namun reached out and

D'Argo leaned forward and stroked Su-namun's cheek. "As are you."

Su-namun leaned closer to D'Argo, and was thrown into him and Moya shifted violently.

They heard Aeryn's voice over the comm. "D'Argo, you need to come up here. Pilot says there is something wrong with Moya. She has had some kind of overload. Everything's malfunctioning. We're going to have to land her, or she's going to crash into the first thing she comes to!"

D'Argo and Su-namun started running to Command.

They reached command where everything was in an uproar. Aeryn and Zhaan were busy at one of Moya's control panel, discussing with Pilot what exactly was wrong. John was standing by Aeryn, peering over her shoulder. Chiana was standing off to the side, and Rygel hovered over to face Su-namun as soon as she walked in the door.

"Where have you been?" he cried. "My room is a mess with all this rolling about this leviathan beast has done! Go clean it up at once!"

"Rygel, I am your bodyguard, not your servant. I do not clean up your things." Su-namun walked past him and followed D'Argo over to where Aeryn was. They all tried to keep their balance as Moya shifted to the left violently.

"What is going on with this ship?" D'Argo growled.

"That's what we're trying to figure out, big guy." said John.

"Moya has never done this before. I can't locate any one source of problem. It is a puzzling mystery." Pilot said, slightly nervous.

"Is it necessary to land?" asked Aeryn. "Wouldn't the gravity of any planet hurt Moya even more?"

"Under these circumstances, we really have no choice." Pilot stated gravely. "However, a scan of the surrounding area shows a small planet within Moya's ability to reach. It has a lower level of gravity that will not put an extreme amount of pressure on Moya's internal organs, for some time. The air is breathable, and there is evidence of life on the surface. But I am picking up a high amount of hydrogen and oxygen on the planet's surface."

"You mean water?" asked John.

"It is not liquid, but...it is...not dense. I have never seen a substance like this before."
"Well we don't have a choice." said Aeryn matter-of-factly. "Pilot can you land her?"

"I am working on it as we speak." said Pilot.

Moya dipped abruptly, and headed down toward the planet. She shuddered as she went.

"You may wish to brace yourselves for any impact." said Pilot and they all tried as best they could.

Moya barreled down through the planet's atmosphere, passed through the thick layer of clouds, and Pilot was barely able to pull her up to an acceptable angle for landing. She skidded a fair distance before coming to rest at the side of a small hill, mostly covered in a substance that had been kicked up by Moya's landing.

"Rygel, there IS something wrong with Moya. We could have all been killed. You should thank Pilot..." Zhaan began, but Rygel waved dismissively at her.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Thank you so much, Pilot, for dumping me on my head."

"I do not know what this triple A is, and there is no way we can contact anyone. I have managed to stabilize Moya's life support systems, but her outside communication is not working. There seems to be an atmospheric disturbance." Everyone groaned. "However," Pilot continued "I am reading a settlement of some kind to our west. If some of you were to go there you might be able to find someone who can help us fix Moya."

"And if we can't?" D'Argo folded his arms across his chest.

"Then you better prepare yourselves for quite a long stay on whatever planet this is." Pilot said.

"Who goes, then?" asked Su-namun.

"Not me!" cried Rygel. "I'm not setting one foot on this planet!"

"Rygel you never set one foot anywhere. You just float." said Su-namun.

D'Argo nodded and he headed to one of Moya's exits with the others.

When John opened the panel leading out of Moya, he, Aeryn, and D'Argo were shocked. A blast of freezing air blew in on them.

"Everything's white!" Aeryn gasped.

D'Argo jumped down and promptly sank up to his thighs in the white surface. "What is this stuff?" he growled, picking up a handful of the white stuff. "It's frelling cold!" he said.

John took a deep breath and dove spread-eagled into the surface. He yelled with delight and rolled over, the white stuff sticking to his face and hair. "It's snow!" he cried. He picked up a huge handful and threw it up in the air.

"John what are you doing? HEY!" she yelled as he pelted her with a snowball.

"Crichton, we don't have time for your stupid human antics!" D'Argo yelled. Crichton hurled another snowball at him. D'Argo ducked, and charged John, knocking him backwards into the snow. He landed on top of John, and held his arms down. "Are you done playing?" he growled.

They had been walking for about half an arn, when Aeryn spotted something moving in the distance. She shielded her eyes and looked at the moving figure.

"Can you make that out?" she asked.

John and D'Argo looked where she pointed. The figure was moving towards them at a rapid rate. D'Argo pulled out his Qualta, and Aeryn readied her Pulse rifle. As the figure drew nearer, John saw it was actually two creatures. The larger looked to John like a cross between a shaggy two-legged camel and an ostrich. It had wings and a beak, but also had a hump and oddly shaped legs with wide flat feet. Seated atop it was a tiny humanoid wrapped in layers of clothing, wearing goggles. It raised both its hands as it approached, and John saw that it had long webbed fingers.

"Hold!" it cried. "I am unarmed. Are you from the ship?"

"Yes. I was coming to see if it needed help. We get quite a few Leviathans here. Mostly they are wild, but we do get a few carrying passengers." the creature it was riding came to a stop in front of them, and made a squeaky moan, followed by a few grunts and clicking noises.

"Maybe you can help us then." said Aeryn. "something's wrong with our Leviathan, and our Pilot does not know what it is." She paused and then said, "Did you say you get a lot of Leviathans here? Wild ones?"

"Yes" the humanoid said. "There is a herd in a nearby system. They come here whenever they need help. We have crafts that can reach them above the surface if needed. But they can land here just as easily, though they don't usually stay long. Too much pressure, you know." His creature circled around them, and he called over his shoulder. "Shall we go see what your Leviathan's problem is?"

Aeryn looked at John and D'Argo. "What do you think?" she asked.

"He seems to know what he is talking about," John said.

And besides," D'Argo sheathed his Qualta. "there is only one of him. I don't think he is going to be a problem."

They started walking back to Moya, with the strange creature and his rider following along behind.

Su-namun and Zhaan sat with Pilot as they waited for D'Argo and the others to return. Zhaan stood by Pilot, scrutinizing him intently, while Su-namun sat on the steps leading up to Pilot's seat. She had her head leaned up against Moya's wall, and was gently rubbing her hand back and forth across the surface.

"Are you sure you feel fine?" Zhaan asked Pilot.

"Oddly, yes. I should be feeling whatever Moya is, but I don't. Whatever is wrong with her is having no effect on me." Pilot answered. They were quiet for a while, watching a DRD moving in a lazy circle.

"I am showing the others returning on the scan." Pilot looked at Zhaan.

"They weren't gone very long." Zhaan said. "I wonder if something happened."

"Well, let's go see, then." said Su-namun. She and Zhaan walked to the entrance panel and opened the door.

"Great Kava, it's cold!" said Su-namun.

Zhaan shaded her eyes and peered into the distance "I can see them. They look all right...there's something with them." They watched as the group approached.

"What is that thing?" Su-namun pointed to the creature following D'Argo.

"I'm not sure." said Zhaan.

John was the first to reach Su-namun and Zhaan. "Hey, we found someone!" he said.

"I can see that." stated Zhaan. "Can he help us?"

"He acts like he fixes Leviathans all the time." John said as the others came up behind him. The small figure dismounted from the creature and came inside with John, D'Argo and Aeryn.

The little humanoid began unwrapping the heavy cloth around his face. When he was done, he turned around to face them, a friendly smile on his face. He looked to John like a pug dog with huge tusks jutting out of the corners of his mouth.

"So..."Zhaan said, looking curiously at him "can you fix the Leviathan?"

"Fix? No, I don't 'fix' them. I help them. I cure them when they are sick, and heal them when they are hurt." said the little creature.

The little creature made a series of clicking and grunting noises.

"That's your name?" asked John. "Um, it's kind of hard to pronounce."

"You may call me what ever you want. I do not mind." said the little creature.

"How about Fred?" asked John, and the others looked at him.

They all began walking towards Pilot's quarters. As they rounded a corner, they ran into Chiana, who let out a little scream as she saw the little man.

"What IS that?" she cried.

"It's the leviathan vet, Chiana. Don't be rude!" said John.

"Vet? what is a vet?" She asked.

"Never mind." said John as they continued walking. "He's going to help Moya."

They reached Pilot's quarters, and the little man looked around. "Hmmmm." he said and began feeling Moya's walls. he took a little scanner out of his pouch, and ran it up one of Moya's walls slowly. The scanner made some beeping noises, and the little man looked at it, frowning.

"If this flu is some sort of virus, I guess yes, she does. I do have some medicine that will cure her." He replaced the scanner in his pouch and pulled a long gun with a huge needle on the end out of his pouch. He pulled the cap off the tip of the needle, and filled the gun with a murky, brown fluid. Turning to Moya's wall he got ready to stick the needle into one of the tubes running down the side. A hand grabbed his arm. Fred looked up into D'Argo's face.

"I do this all the time!" said Fred. "Do you not trust me?"
"I do not trust anyone." said D'Argo. "If you inject that into Moya, and it hurts her, or worse, I will make the remainder of your life short and painful. Do you understand?"

"And I will not get paid either, I suspect." said Fred. " I understand, but I assure you, I am only going to help your ship." He pulled his arm out of D'Argo's grasp, and pushed the needle into Moya. The entire ship shuddered.

"What did you do?" hissed D'Argo, hauling Fred up by his shirt front. The little man held his hands up.

"Pilot, can you tell if Moya's ok?" asked Zhaan.

"Pilot pushed several panels down, and was quiet for a minute. He looked up and said "Whatever he did seems to be working. Moya appears to be regaining control."

D'Argo set Fred back down on the floor. The little man straightened his shirt.

Fred said "What you will need to do is let her rest. At least for a few arns. After that she should go back up above the atmosphere. She can't stay here much longer after that." he leaned in towards them and whispered "Internal damage."

"I'll be right back!" Su-namun said, and darted off down the hall.

After a few minutes, they heard her running back. Su-namun slid to a stop in front of Fred and said "Will this do?" she held out her hand.

Fred reached forward, and Su-namun dropped something into his hand. The others leaned forward. They all let out a collective gasp as they stared at the small Kelvic Crystal she had given Fred.

"Where did you get that?" asked John.

"I have lots! I took them off my ship before Tomos left." Su-namun said.

"Is that how Rygel paid for all the things we got off the commerce planet?" asked Zhaan.

"Some of it, yes. I didn't think it would be wise of me to give him all of it! I got them to help us all out. I figured this being a criminal transport, that you probably didn't have much in the way of funds." Su-namun smiled at them.

They escorted Fred back to the entrance, where his steed was still waiting. Fred climbed up onto the creature's back, and took hold of the reins. He started away, calling over his shoulder "Remember, let the Leviathan rest, then you can take her back up. It was good to have met you all! I wish you good journey!" His creature started a lumbering gallop, and soon he was gone in the distance.

John looked at the others. "Well, if we have some time to kill, how about I teach you all the finer points of snowball fighting?"

Su-namun looked at Zhaan and D'Argo, then back at John. "You're on!" she cried, leaping down into the snow. She rolled around in it, and laughed. D'Argo and Zhaan looked at each other.

"Well?" D'Argo asked. Zhaan smiled and climbed down to the snow. She picked up a double handful and brought it up to her face, eyes closed. She smiled warmly. "It is cold." she said, "But nice." She ducked as John lobbed a snowball at her. "You have terrible aim." she laughed.

You just move too quick!" John said, then sputtered as Zhaan hit him dead on in the face with a big ball of snow. He started to wipe the snow from his eyes. Su-namun tackled him from behind, knocking him face first into a snow drift.

"If you're supposed to get snow on someone, that is much easier!" she laughed, jumping up off him, and dancing around. "I love this stuff!' she cried.

D'Argo watched them all, still standing in Moya's hatchway. He was intrigued by this 'snowball fight' of Crichton's, although it seemed no more than a child's game. He got distracted watching John trying to dodge all the snowballs Zhaan kept tossing at him, and did not notice Su-namun until she leaped up from directly below him. She grabbed the front of his shirt, and yanked him down into the snow. D'Argo pushed himself up onto his knees and looked down at Su-namun laying beneath him.

"What was that for?" he asked shaking himself, trying to get the snow out his clothes.

Su-namun looked up at him and laughed. Trying to pull herself out from underneath him she said "Come and play!"

"I am not a child." D'Argo said, helping Su-namun sit up.

"Neither am I, but I can still have fun!" She laughed and tossed some snow at him. He sat where he was, his arms folded.

"Don't you know how to have fun?" Su-namun laughed.

"I do not find getting cold and wet very fun." D'Argo grumbled.

Su-namun leaned over to face D'Argo. "If you're cold, I know something that will help you warm up." she whispered. Before D'Argo could say anything, Su-namun leaned in and kissed him, long and deep. D'Argo sat still for a moment, then slowly put one arm around her ,and kissed back. Su-namun broke away, and looked at him.

"Warm now?" she asked teasingly.

D'Argo opened his mouth to say something, but was completely at a loss for words. She had taken his breath away. He nodded instead, gulping.

She laughed and flipped over backwards. Landing in a crouch she said "Then come and catch me D'Argo. IF you can!" She leapt away, heading over the rise of a nearby hill. D'Argo sat where he was for a moment, entirely befuddled. Then he got up and ran after her.

He climbed to the top of the hill she had gone up and looked around for Su-namun. There was no sign of her, but he heard faint laughter off to his left.

John shook his head. D'Argo turned and headed off to the left. Ahead of him he could hear her laughing. He heard her cry out "Hey, let go! What-" Then he heard her scream. He ran towards the sounds. He stopped as he came to a spot of snow that had been kicked up by several different sets of feet. He saw something small and dark in the snow. D'Argo crouched down and touched it with his fingertip. He sniffed it.

Blood.

He jumped to his feet, drawing his Qualta. He looked around in every direction, but there was no sign of anyone. D'Argo turned and ran back to where John and Zhaan were still snowball fighting. As he came up to them they stopped, worried by his expression.

"Something happened to Su-namun! Someone took her!" D'Argo bellowed.

Su-namun woke up in darkness. Her head was throbbing. She reached up and felt her forehead. Touching stickiness, she realized she was bleeding. Whoever had grabbed her had hit her pretty hard. She closed her eyes and tried to think. She had been hiding from D'Argo, and hadn't seen whoever had come up behind her. She did remember feeling furry arms, something with a lot of strength had grabbed her before she was knocked out. But why would they want me? Su-namun thought.

She crawled around in the darkness, feeling out her new surroundings. Everything was cold to the touch. She had only crawled a few feet when she came up to a wall. She began feeling around the edge of the wall, trying to figure out the size of whatever room she was in. She came up to what felt like bars. She took a hold of one, and slowly stood, sliding her hands up the length of the bar. her head spun, but she managed to keep upright. She stretched her arms up farther, trying to see if there was any ceiling in reach. Nothing. Turning around, she stood against the bars, and began to take small measured steps across the cell. At twelve paces, she ran into the far wall. Su-namun walked to the corner, turned around and measured out another twelve steps. A tiny cell indeed. She began to feel around some more, her hands outstretched, and tripped across something laying in on the floor. Su-namun got down on her hands and knees and tried to feel what it was. She felt cloth, with something hard underneath. Feeling along its length, she touched something that made her gasp. She felt again. Sitting back, Su-namun wiped her hands on her shirt. She had stuck her fingers into some dead things mouth. Whatever is was, it was frozen, but still...ugh!, she thought.

The darkness began to get lighter, and Su-namun realized that someone was coming. She stood, and readied herself for whatever may be coming to try and make her as dead as whatever was lying on the floor. As the light approached, Su-namun looked up. And screamed.

"D'Argo, you can't go alone!" Aeryn yelled after him, as D'Argo stalked towards the Prowler. "You have no idea who or what might have her! You could be heavily outnumbered!"

"I do not have the time to wait for you. She could be dying as we speak." D'Argo turned to climb into the small ship, and found John standing in his way. "I can't let you do this alone." John said.

D'Argo narrowed his eyes. " She saved me alone."

"D'Argo, don't be stupid." Aeryn tried to lay a hand on his shoulder, but he threw it off. He tried to shove John out of the way. "I'm not moving until you promise that you'll wait for us to go with you!" John said through gritted teeth. D'Argo leaned in until his face was just inches away from John. "Get out of my way." he whispered.

"No." John countered.

D'Argo hauled John up by his collar. "Do not make me angry, Crichton. You would not like me when I'm angry." he set John aside, and climbed into the Prowler. "This is something I must do alone."

"At least signal us if you need help." John yelled.

D'Argo looked at them through the window of the ship. "IF I need help. But I won't." He started the Prowler up, and took off. He headed west, hoping he would find the Leviathan doctor. Maybe he would have some idea where Su-namun was.

Su-namun looked up. And up. Peering in through the bars at her was over 12 feet of fur, fangs and claws. It growled at her and tried to reach through the bars for her. She backed up. "Get away!" she screamed at it. It lowered its head and let out an earsplitting roar. The blast of foul breath made Su-namun gag.

"RADA! BACK!" Su-namun heard a voice bark. The huge beast snarled and backed away. A figure, all white, stepped forward. "Still alive, I see?" it said.

"More than you will be when I get out of here!" yelled Su-namun.

"Feisty! That is good! You will bring an excellent price with the slave traders." the white man said.

"Slave? Me? I think you are gravely mistaken." Su-namun huffed. "I shall never be anyone's slave! I would fight to the death before I was sold!"

"Then at least, you will provide me with entertainment." Laughed the white man.

"If you find your own death entertaining, you will be quite happy then, bakazul." Su-namun hissed.

"Bakazul?" said the white man. "What is that?"

Su-namun grinned wickedly and told him, "One who eats his own excrement."

The white man frowned. "I see we need to teach you some manners." he motioned with his hand, and several guards marched up the tunnel. One of them had a long prod which they stretched through the bars. Su-namun tried to dodge, but an arc of electricity jumped out and hit her in the back. She went down with a groan. The white man nodded his head, and four guards entered the cell. Su-namun struggled to get up as she saw one of the guards pull out a long whip. Another arc of electricity hit her again and she slid into unconsciousness.

D'Argo landed the Prowler in the midst of the settlement, as small figures scattered in all directions. He opened the hatch and stepped out.

"I'm looking for the Leviathan doctor!" he yelled.

"That could be anyone of us!" one of the small figures said.

"The one who helped my ship out today." D'Argo said. "It is important!"

One of the small men stepped forward. "So, it is the Luxan. The one who shook me around earlier. What do you need?"

"Something happened to one of my friends. She was taken. Do you know...?"

"If she was, then the slave traders probably took her." Fred sighed. "If she is not dead already, then they are probably getting ready to sell her."
"Where are these Slave traders?" growled D'Argo.

Fred pointed. "Be careful, Luxan. They are not many, but they are deadly."

D'Argo nodded. "My thanks." he climbed back into the Prowler, and headed in the direction the small doctor had pointed to. If anything has happened to Su-namun, he thought, the traders will regret the day they were born.

Su-namun hid in the darkness. When she had woken up, she was alone in her cell. She had no idea how long the guards had been gone, but her back was on fire from the beating she had received. She was furious. Su-namun had been beaten before, it was nothing new, but that had been from her own people. This was different.

She had blended in with the wall, and was waiting for the first chance to escape. She did not have to wait long. A guard walked down the tunnel towards her cell. He held his torch high as he peered into her cell. Seeing nothing inside, he quickly opened the door, and drew his sword. Stepping inside, he looked around. Stupid, Su-namun thought as she sidled around behind him. Reaching forward, she drew his dagger from its sheath. The guard did not notice her movement. Su-namun drew her arm back, and stabbed him in the ribs, shoving upwards. She stabbed him several more times before he fell. The guard never made a sound. Su-namun picked up the sword from the ground, wiped the blood on the dagger off on the guard's clothes, and silently exited the cell, closing the door behind her. Now to find a way out, she thought.

She went up and down passageways, searching. The floor was very slippery, and Su-namun realized that all the caverns and passageways had been carved out of ice. The farther she went, the colder she got. Soon, she began to shiver.

She rounded a corner and came face to face with four guards. They looked at her blood spattered body, and drew their weapons. Su-namun sighed. Getting away from her captors had just gotten a bit harder. But that was all right. She had a score to settle. She crouched down and readied herself for the attack.

D'Argo picked up movement on his sensors, and landed the Prowler. He leapt out and drew his Qualta. He climbed the rise and peered over it. D'Argo saw the entrance to a large cave, guarded by two menacing figures. He climbed over the hill, and walked forward. The two guards drew their swords as he approached.

"What do you want?" one called to D'Argo.

"In." said D'Argo, and he swung his Qualta left and right. The guards fell to the ground, cut cleanly in half, and D'Argo strode into the cave. The tunnel led downwards, and D'Argo followed the sounds of growling. The further he walked, the darker it got, and soon D'Argo could see nothing. He could smell Su-namun faintly, and followed her scent down into the darkness.

Su-namun spun the sword around in arcs, never stopping. She had the dagger in the other hand, and was holding off the guards pretty well. She sliced down with the sword, and one guard fell, cut open from his neck to his midriff. Su-namun spun around and threw the dagger. It drove straight into another guards eye. He screamed and fell back. Su-namun caught movement out of the corner of her eye, and turned to block the next guards weapon. She was not quick enough, and he cut her across the side. She grunted in pain, and lashed out with her fist, catching him square on the jaw. He fell backwards onto the other guards blade. The last guard, instead of pulling out the blade from his comrade's body, dropped it instead.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Su-namun hissed and stalked forward. Blood dripped from her wound, but she seemed not to notice. She eyed the guard and licked her lips. The guard backed away, hands up, but Su-namun did not stop. She dropped the sword and leapt at the guard. The guard heard a tiny 'ching' as he fell back. He looked up at Su-namun. She grinned widely at the guard, her sharp teeth glinting in the torchlight. She held up one hand in front of his face, and his eyes widened as he saw the claws at the tips of her fingers. Su-namun dragged her claws down the side of the guards face, cutting long deep scratches down his cheek. The guard heard her whispering something softly under her breath, and decided to try to throw her off. It was the last decision he ever made, and he was quickly shredded to ribbons.

Su-namun stood up a few minutes later. She was covered in blood. Her eyes were wide as she gazed at her hands. She stuck one finger in her mouth, and closed her eyes in rapture at the taste of blood in her mouth. She picked up two of the swords. Walking over to where her dagger stuck out of one guard's eye, she stepped on his face, bent down and pulled the dagger free. "More." she whispered, and stalked off down the tunnel.

D'Argo slowly walked toward the light ahead of him. He readied himself, and rounded the corner. He walked into a large cavern, where he saw a white figure seated at a control panel. He was speaking to someone about having a new item for sale. D'Argo strode forward, and slammed his Qualta down on the panel. Sparks flew, and the white man looked up into D'Argo's snarling face. "Not today." D'Argo hissed, and the man leaped up and scrambled backwards. D'Argo threw the chair out of his way and started forwards.

"RADA! KILL!" the white man screamed, and D'Argo turned as he heard heavy footsteps behind him. He looked up at the huge beast that ducked through the doorway as it entered.

The beast saw D'Argo and roared. It charged and D'Argo swung with all his strength as he sidestepped. His blow caught the monster on the arm and it bellowed. It swung out and flung D'Argo across the room. D'Argo slid to a stop against the far wall. He looked up as the huge creature bore down on him. D'Argo got up on one knee, and stabbed forward with the Qualta. The monster could not stop in time, and ran straight into the blade, crashing into D'Argo and bearing him to the ground. D'Argo was almost crushed by the weight of the giant dead beast. He struggled out from underneath the dead thing, and slowly stood. The white man was screaming.

"You killed my Rada!" the white man danced around in fury. He drew two swords. "You will die!" the white man snarled as he charged, and D'Argo lifted his Qualta.

Flashing blades clanged against each other. Every move D'Argo made was blocked. The white man fought furiously, his swords spinning. Several times D'Argo felt the swish of a blade extremely close to his head. As he gathered his strength for another charge, a flash of red caught his eye. He stepped back as Su-namun leapt in from the side. The white man screamed as his swords were knocked away. The Quanarian and the white man rolled over and over, coming to a rest with Su-namun on top. D'Argo lowered his Qualta at the sight of Su-namun. She was covered in blood, both hers and others, and her eyes were wild with fury. She leaned in and whispered to the white man. "For even suggesting that I be sold as a slave, you will scream. For my imprisonment, you will bleed. For my beating, you will die." She raised her hands high and extended her claws. D'Argo watched as she began to pound the white man's face into a pulp.

"Su-namun." he said. She ignored him.

"Su-namun!" he yelled, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her off the white man. "He's dead." She hissed at him and swung out with her fist. D'Argo dropped his Qualta and grabbed her other hand. She howled and he shook her. "Stop it!" he yelled in her face. She sagged against him. He loosened his grip on her, and her hands went to her side. She looked at the blood on her hands, the blood dripping down her side from the wound. She looked up at D'Argo and began to shiver. "They...they cut me." she said weakly. She sank to her knees. D'Argo looked at her blood-soaked body and shook his head. "Remind me never to cut you then, if that's what you do." he pointed to the white man's dead body.

"Oh there's worse than that." she grinned at him weakly. "Still think I'm not a vicious monster?" D'Argo didn't answer, but resheathed his Qualta and scooped her up in his arms.

"Owww..." she hissed through clenched teeth. D'Argo leaned her forward. When he saw the deep cuts criss-crossing her back, he drew in his breath.

"Let's go back to Moya." he said. She leaned her head on his chest as they walked into the darkness of the tunnel.

"Watch out for the bodies." Su-namun whispered.

When the Prowler landed back on Moya, Su-namun was barely conscious. D'Argo picked her up as gently as he could.

"Zhaan!" he yelled as he walked out of the hanger. They all came running.

"Oh my god!" John said. "What did they do to her? What happened?"

"Slave traders." D'Argo said. "She's been beaten and wounded. Zhaan?"

"Of course. Bring her to my room." Zhaan led the way.

D'Argo laid Su-namun down on her side on the table. The others crowded the doorway. Zhaan turned to them. "Some privacy please." John and the others backed up, but D'Argo stayed where he was, his hand on Su-namun's arm.

Zhaan shrugged. "Then you can help." She handed some pieces of cloth to D'Argo with a bowl of water. "Clean the blood off of her, while I prepare a salve." She looked at D'Argo. "Be gentle." Zhaan turned away, as D'Argo started wiping the blood from Su-namun's back.

"I'm not sure. But she took care of most of them before I got there." He shook his head slowly. "There is a side of her you have not seen. I don't know what happened to her in her past, but someone has made her into one of the most vicious killing machines I have ever seen. When I got to where she was, there were bodies everywhere. They...were not clean kills. She shredded those guards." He lifted one of her hands, and showed Zhaan the claws retracted in Su-namun's fingers. Zhaan touched the tip of Su-namun's finger.

"I can't even feel them." she said.

"Be sure the traders got what they deserved." D'Argo said.

Zhaan began to wrap bandages around Su-namun, as D'Argo held her up in a sitting position. When they finished, Zhaan said "She needs rest. We should leave her for now." She began to walk out. D'Argo didn't move. He looked over at Zhaan, then back to Su-namun's resting form.

"I...will stay with her." D'Argo said.

"As you wish." nodded Zhaan. She wiped her eyes and left.

D'Argo sat by Su-namun as she slept. After a while he laid his head down and slept too. He woke to Su-namun softly stroking his head. He sat up and looked at her. She smiled.

"Worse than..."he nodded towards her bandaged back. "than that?"

She tried to shrug. "Do you think I just knew how to fight and kill like that living a soft easy life? I was trained by my father to kill without mercy. I was taught to enjoy it. I hated killing innocent people for him. But those...things today?" She bared her teeth at him. "I am glad you came to get me. I would still be there, reveling in their death, if you had not come."

A thought came to D'Argo's mind "You and I...when we fought before, I had thought...I..." he did not know how to finish.

"You didn't know I could have killed you at any time?" She smiled at him and touched his face. " Why would I want to hurt you? Did you ever hurt me?"

"I would have then, if I could have." D'Argo said.

"Then you would have regretted it." she reached around D'Argo's head and pulled him closer to her. "I will not now or ever hurt you. I...care about you way too much."

Su-namun struggled to sit up. D'Argo helped her to her feet saying "Do you think you should get up?"

"I want to go to the terrace. Will you come with me?" She asked. D'Argo nodded.

They sat on the terrace. Su-namun stared up at the stars, her arms clasped around her knees. D'Argo sat beside her, thinking. He had no idea what to make of all he had learned of her. Outwardly, she gave the appearance of a playful, intelligent, and beautiful girl. But there was a blood lust within her that made even his fierce warrior self slightly nervous. He had encountered many species before, but none had ever been as malicious as she was. Even other Quanarians, those he had killed, had never fought with such savagery.

"I do not want you to fear me. I would fight for you and the others on Moya the same way." D'Argo looked at her and realized she was crying.

"I can't help being the way I am." she said. " I just do not want you to fear me. I have felt a closeness to you from the moment I saw you. But if you pull away from me because of my..." She slashed down with one hand, claws extended. " I...don't know what I'm feeling, but you..." She gazed at him. "I could never do to you what I did to them. Do you believe me?"

D'Argo was silent for a moment. Then he pulled her close to him and kissed her. She began to cry and laid her head on his shoulder. He held her and stroked her hair as she sobbed.

"I believe you." he whispered.