by Tamar Richardson
Disclaimer: Farscape is the property of Jim Henson,
Hallmark, and Nine Networks Australia and is aired by
the Scifi Channel. I make no money off of this story
what so ever. No copyright infringement intended.
Archive: Anyone who wants it, just ask first.
Summary: A young girl aides Crichton in the finding of
Moya and her crew.
*****
"What's it like to be back?" a boy from the back of
the classroom asked. John Crichton had returned to
Earth three months ago. Since then, IASA had been
shuttling him around the country and around the world
to talk about his five years experience aboard Moya.
He had heard a myriad of questions and given a myriad
of answers, but there was one question that was always
asked first. This was that question.
"It feels great," John replied, "I'm very happy to be
back."
A girl with dirty-blonde hair stood, "Do you plan on
writing a book about your experiences? Or perhaps a
movie deal?"
"I'm not much of a writer," he said, "but I have been
trying to find someone to tell my story to. As for a
movie, I might consider it."
"Who would you get to play you?" a snide boy from the
back called out.
"I'm not sure... I've been told that Ben Browder and
I are practically twins as far looks go." Seeing the
looks of mass confusion coming from the teenagers,
Crichton quickly added, "Don't worry, it's before your
time."
A brown-haired girl with deep blues eyes stood up,
"Did any romantic relationships ensue you and any of
the aliens?" A series of "whoops" and cat-calls
sounded throughout the room. John glanced behind and
wasn't surprised to see that the teacher had left.
"I admit there were some... flirtations."
"Anything serious?" she pressed.
He went silent. How could he explain Aeryn to them?
Five years with her had made his unintentional exile a
utopia. He remembered (and cherished) every moment.
From their initial, awkward meeting to their tender
goodbyes. "No," he finally responded.
The girl smiled slightly. She knew he lying. The
rest of the discussion went without incident.
Afterwards, however, was an entirely different story.
*****
"Commander?" the girl approached as the other
students were leaving.
"Please, call me John."
"Okay, John," she said, "I was just wondering... what
was her name?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," he shook
his head for emphasis.
"You're hiding something, Commander," she explained.
"There was a woman on Moya. I'm guessing you were
deeply in love with her, but something caused you to
split apart."
"Don't you have a class to go to?" John replied,
trying to change the subject.
"No, it's my free period."
John nudged her outside. They sat on the cement
steps , overlooking the brick-covered courtyard.
"Maybe we should start this from the beginning... I'm
John Crichton," he said extending his hand.
She took his hand, shaking it, replied, "Emily."
"So, Emily, how do you know so much about my personal
life?"
"I'm very intuitive," she paused. "Plus, you're very
easy to read."
"I am?"
She nodded, "Your emotions are written all over your
face."
"I'll make a note to use better soap," he muttered.
"Her name was Aeryn."
"The ex-Peacekeeper."
"Right," he paused. "How do you know about the
Peacekeepers?"
"Ever since you returned, I've been trying to find
out all I can," she replied.
"You're a Scaper," he stated. When he got home, a
fanbase calling themselves 'Scapers' developed. They
were mostly scifi fans, trying to capture the true
thing. They had set out on a mission to gather all
available (and not so available) information about
Moya and her crew.
"Somewhat," she responded. "But it's the true
romantic in me that wants to help you."
"Help me?"
"In all good time," she smiled. "What happened
between you and Aeryn?"
"A couple of years ago, an alien species set up a
fake Earth scenario for to go through. They wanted to
see how humans would react to alien visitors."
"And?"
"We failed miserably," he replied forlornly.
"Knowing that, I didn't want Aeryn, any of Moya's
crew, to come here without being able to assure
they're safety."
"You miss her?"
"Desperately."
"I assume you've been working on a way to get them
back."
He nodded.
"Such as?"
"Can't tell you; it's classified."
She snorted, "IASA red tape, how I know it well."
His head whipped around to look at her, "What?"
"Sorry, it's classified," she smirked. "You're going
to have to do this independently if you to get
anything done."
"Really? How do you suppose I do that? Hijack
Farscape?"
"No. Radio signals."
"Contact Moya..."
She nodded, "Tell them they can come to Earth; that
it's safe."
"Is it?"
"People have gotten used to the idea that there are
aliens out there," Emily responded. "They've
especially gotten used to a certain group of them."
"Alright, suppose it is safe. How do we contact
them? We don't have technology to reach that far out.
At least not without waiting over a hundred years for
a reply."
"So, you're having them wait in a specific area?" He
nodded. "Give me the where and leave the how up to
me."
"And just what can a high-school junior do?"
"You'd be surprised." A bell rang. She picked up
her backpack. "Let me know what you decide. Just
remember: it can't hurt to try." She ran up the
stairs and off to class.
*****
John watched as Emily came through the doors of the
Dunkin' Donuts. She went over and got a cup of
coffee. She sat down across from him. Crichton
started to speak, only to have her cut him off, "You
called me at 4am, it's 6am now; the least you could do
is let me drink my coffee first." She took a sip.
She looked a lot different from the previous day.
Definitely not a morning person, he mentally noted.
"Done?" he asked.
"I guess."
He put a piece of paper face down on the table,
"These are the coordinates I told Moya to wait for me
at." She made a motion to grab it. John put his hand
protectively on the paper. "Before I give it to you,
I want your promise that I will be fully involved with
what you're doing."
She slowly nodded. "Fine, I can't do anything till
Saturday anyhow. Bring the location of Moya to this
address," she handed him a business card. "Saturday,
2pm. Mention my name and they'll let you in."
There was an awkward pause. John continued to listen
to Emily sip her coffee. He was still unsure about
what she could do, but- "Um... I just wanted to-"
"You're welcome."
*****
He drove up to the address he had been given. Not
surprisingly, the building was huge. It was
completely modernized. The roof was covered with
radio antennas.
"Name?" the security guard asked.
"John Crichton."
"And who are you here to see?"
"Emily."
"She's in the west wing, 2nd floor."
After he had parked his car, entered the building,
and reached the 2nd floor; he was led to a giant room
filled with all sorts of technical equipment. There
was fast-paced music playing in the background.
"You're late," Emily's voice accused.
"I'm sorry. Traffic was horrible."
"Excuses, excuses. Did you bring the location info?"
"Yes."
John heard what sounded like wheels gliding against
the floor, only to see Emily (on roller blades) whiz
out from behind a ceiling high piece of machinery.
She stopped in front of him. "The paper," she said
holding out her hand. He took it out from his jeans'
pocket and gave it to her. "Follow me."
Dumbfounded, John followed her. This was certainly a
different Emily from the nonchalant one, or the drowsy
caffeine-addicted one, he had meant several days ago.
Oh well.
"This is Skeet and Eric," she gestured towards the
two 20-something year olds typing away at their
computers. She flew passed them and to her own work
station. "Orion's belt," she remarked, transferring
the data from the paper to the computer. "Why there?"
"Turns out there are some inhabitable planets there."
"Does IASA know?" she replied, frantically typing.
"No."
She smiled, "Good." Emily's mood, however, soon
turned for the worse. A huge frown engulfed her face,
"I may have some bad news for you, John."
"What is it?" he said, concerned.
"Satellite shows nothing out there."
He shook his head, "I told Moya to wait for me."
"Look at the readout. No anomalous objects
detected."
"Moya's biomechanoid-"
"And I factored that in." She swiveled her chair
around, "Skeet, can you confirm?"
"Confirmed," he replied.
Emily turned to John, "I'm sorry.
He nodded, although he had already given up any
ambition of seeing his beloved again.
*****
Crichton walking through the carnival grounds, eating
cotton candy. It tasted bitter. Everything seemed
darker and less jocund since he had truly lost Aeryn.
He had always had his hope that they would return,
that she would return. Nothing was left for him, but
to stumble through and attempt to go on with his life.
What life? he asked himself.
John felt a tug on his sleeve. John turned to find
Emily smiling back at him. "Hello, John."
"Emily," he replied, without feeling.
"Don't look so glum. You're really dragging down the
mood," she paused, with an evil twinkle in her eye.
"Besides, I may have found a way to contact Moya."
He looked at her in shock, "Don't tease me, Emily."
"I'm not. All it requires is being able to give me
the frequency of Moya's communication's systems. You
wouldn't happen to know it?"
"No."
"What about the communicator you brought with you?"
"Locked up in IASA HQ. Besides, it wouldn't help.
The communicator can't reach that far.
"No, but if we can get the frequency from the
communicator..."
"We can contact Moya," John finished, excitedly. "I
can get it. Well, if not the communicator, the
frequency. The IASA scientists have been poking and
prodding at everything I brought back. They had to
have at least gotten the frequency out of the
communicator."
"That's wonderful, John. Next Saturday: same time,
same place."
*****
The same fast-paced music echoed through the same
room. "Emily?" John yelled over the music.
"Congratulations, Commander Crichton, you're on
time."
"I thought I told you to call me John."
"You did." There was a long pause. "Are you coming
back here or not?"
"Yeah," he started walking, ducking behind the
computers. He handed her a piece of paper.
"Have any trouble getting it?" she asked, typing in
the frequency.
"Not really," he replied. "Being an international
hero has its perks."
"Were you this egotistical on Moya?"
"I couldn't be," he mused. "If I had, Aeryn and
D'Argo would have taken me down as many pegs as
necessary."
She laughed. Suddenly, Emily's eyes lighted up.
"Skeet, confirm."
He spun around in his chair, "Confirmed."
"What is it?" John asked.
"We've found them."
Joy washed over Crichton. Never in his life had a
feeling of such completion come over him. He would be
with Aeryn again. "What do we do now?"
"I'll open up a communication channel, she started
flipping switches, "and you get to talk."
"What do I say?"
"Whatever you want... Although, 'hello' has always
been a proven method of starting a conversation." She
paused and turned to Skeet and Eric, "Guys, leave the
room. I can't risk either of your voices possibly
being picked up by the audio. I'll join you once the
channel has been set up." John gave her a questioning
glance. "IASA has all of our voice patterns on file.
The slightest background noise from any of us-"
"They'll be IASA officials here so fast you could fry
a minute egg."
She nodded. "When I leave the room, flip this
switch. It should connect you to Moya."
Crichton watched Emily as she sauntered out of the
room. He took a deep breath and flipped the switch
that she had indicated earlier. At first there was
only static, but it eventually cleared. "This is John
Crichton to Moya."
"Crichton? I am at a lost of how-"
"It's a long story, Pilot. What happened?"
"Crais caught up with us. We had to starburst in
order to prevent imminent capture. We have been
trying to return to the coordinates you specified, but
it looks like that won't be necessary."
"I'm glad you made it out okay," John paused.
"Everyone did make it out okay, right?"
"Yes, I assure that we are all in the best of
health," he paused. "I believe Officer Sun wishes to
talk to you."
"John?"
"Aeryn..."
"Is this the signal? Is it safe to come to Earth?"
John smiled. This was his Aeryn. Forget the
pleasantries of conversation, she wanted the needed
information and that was it.
"I believe so."
"Meaning what?"
"I'm not exactly doing this through proper channels.
(pause) I've been talking to people all over the
world. I think they're getting use to the idea of
aliens."
"Really?"
"I've got the jet lag to prove it."
"Jet lag?"
"I'll explain later, when you get here."
"Right. I'll tell Pilot to set coordinates."
"Aeryn, I love you," he said.
"I love you, too." The transmission cut off.
He heard a popping sound behind him. Emily held up
an overflowing bottle of champagne. "I thought it was
about time for a celebration."
"Your parents let you drink?"
"First open communications with aliens- I think
they'll make an exception."
*****
John, stepped up to the press platform, "Thank you
for coming here on short notice. About a week ago, I
was able to make communications with Moya, the ship
that rescued me when I was sent through a wormhole.
The crew has decided to come to Earth." Murmurs
started to rise up from the crowd. "They are not
coming to harm us or take over the planet. You have
my word that they are coming in peace. Thank you for
your time."
Crichton stepped down and away from the platform.
IASA had given him explicit instructions not to answer
any questions. They had been furious with him. They
had interrogated him for hours, trying to find out how
he did it. He told them nothing; nothing of Emily,
Skeet, Eric, or the satellite. They purely had to
accept that Moya was coming to Earth.
*****
Crichton stood about 20 paces away from the
transporter pod. IASA had rolled out the red carpet
for the first contact ceremony. Hundreds of
dignitaries and thousands of civilians stood off to
the sides. However, nothing stood between John and
the doors to the transporter pod.
The doors slowly opened. John watched intently as
Aeryn stepped out. She had her pulse rifles with her,
but neither was drawn. She wasn't going to take any
chances. D'Argo, Zhaan, Rygel, Chiana, and even 2
DRDs soon followed.
John ran towards them, towards Aeryn. He embraced
her, kissed her on the cheek, and whispered, "I missed
you."
"I missed you, too." The crowd gasped at the strange
new language.
John saw the president approaching out of the corner
of his eye. "Madam President, I would like to present
my wife, Aeryn Sun." Aeryn extended her hand first.
John looked excusingly at D'Argo: it was the only
explanation. John finished introducing the rest.
"Commander Crichton, I must ask about how we are
going to communicate with them," the president asked.
John smirked. "The DRDs can inject something into
you, anyone, that act as translators."
"Does it hurt?" a small amount of laughter sounded
from the assembly.
"No."
And so it was done. The process was later replicated
and billions of humans were injected with the
microbes. The language barrier was soon broken.
Technology was not, however, the reason why Crichton
had wanted Moya to come to Earth. He had wanted Aeryn
to be by his side once more. He had also wanted to
see his friends again. D'Argo, Zhaan, Chiana, Rygel,
Pilot, and Moya, however, did not stay on Earth for
too long. They each went back searching for their
homes amongst the stars.
*****
John took a deep breath and opened the door. It was
time for Aeryn to meet Emily. She had done so much
and asked nothing in return. John wanted to give
Emily the small gift of meeting Aeryn for all her
help. She would never get the opportunity.
There was no fast-pace music, no machinery, no Skeet,
and no Emily. All that was left was a table with two
envelopes resting on it, one labeled "John" and the
other "Aeryn".
He carefully opened his,
Dear John,
I'm sorry I couldn't have stayed to meet Aeryn,
but IASA was about to find us. I hope you understand.
Never forget,
Emily
"So, Aeryn, what does your's say?" John said holding
up the photo of him and Emily at the carnival.
Aeryn's skin had gone completely white, her hand was
shaking, and tears were running down her cheek. "My
sister..."
John blinked several time in disbelief. "I don't
understand-"
"Emily was my sister. Six cycles ago, she was on her
first training mission and her ship had just
disappeared. (pause) The letter explains how IASA
found her, taught her English, and settled her into
your culture. She eventually made an attempt to split
away from them, but they found her. Emily ran away
once more and has been on the run from them ever
since."
"Are you sure? I mean, how do you know Emily is your
sister?" Aeryn placed the letter in his hand.
Slowly, he unfolded it. It was written in Sebacean.
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