by Leontien Bosch
DISCLAIMER: Farscape is owned by O'Bannon, Henson and Nine Network,
yadda, yadda, yadda. Dacaen is owned by me, and can be loaned if you
asked nicely.
SUMMARY: While on a commerce planet, John and Aeryn are attacked. (duh,
like almost every episode.)
NOTES: Uhm, well, yeah this is a sequel. I started another one, but this
one kinda popped up and I decided to put this one after Lightness, y'all
have to wait till the sequel from this one comes, if you want one. And
no, this is not the one I promised (the one where Aeryn ends up with
D'Argo and John with Chiana.) That's the next one. Also, as usual, the
title has no meaning, 'cause, well, I can't think of one. It might as
well be titled 'The Easter-bunny' or something.
NOTES2001: I made it kinda shippy for the 'shippers. And for Jill: A
little bit of death in here. Or not… argh, this is what happens when you
watch too much Angel, Buffy, Farscape and other weird shows.
FEEDBACK: Yes please… I love to know what others think. Cookies are very
welcome….
(Cookies can also be used to 'persuade' my muse and me to write more
fic)
ARCHIVING: Natalie's site, the rest: if you don't have my stuff yet and
you want it, ask me.
Copywrite 2000 (just because I like to write this, ya know. And besides,
everyone does it.)
*****
John looked around as they walked through the dense crowd. There had
been no reason for him to go down to the planet other than the fact
Aeryn was going. Zhaan smiled as she saw the couple approaching,
hand-in-hand. Ever since they had shown their true feeling towards
eachother, they hadn't been apart from eachother longer than necessary.
She walked towards them to greet them.
"Hello John, Aeryn." Aeryn simply nodded in return and John looked at
Zhaan for a microt before he answered with his own greeting.
"Did you find the stuff Rygel wanted?" Crichton said after a moment of
silence.
"Yes, I did. And I found some herbs I might be able to use in the
future. D'Argo and I are returning to Moya, will you join us or do you
wish to stay on the planet for a while?" Zhaan asked. Aeryn and Crichton
had come down in Aeryn's Prowler and Zhaan suspected that it had been
John's idea to spend time alone on the planet She didn't mind, the two
didn't have much privacy on board the ship.
"Yeah, we want to stay here for a few arns, if that's possible. We'll
come back when we're finished with the sightseeing tour." Crichton
replied, his arm around Aeryn's shoulders. Zhaan nodded and looked at
D'Argo, who had been following her while she searched for the needed
herbs.
"We shall await your return to the ship then."
"Okay, we'll contact you when something is wrong." Crichton said as he
waved a goodbye at his two friends. When they were out of sight, he
turned towards Aeryn.
"So, what do you want to do? I noticed this really quiet spot, just out
of town." He said.
Aeryn thought about this for a moment, then she smiled. "Let's go
there…"
******
"He said what!?" Rygel exclaimed when Zhaan told him that John and Aeryn
would be coming back to Moya later. "Who does he think he is? The
Dominar of this ship? Hmmm?" He said as he hovered around the two
remaining people on Moya.
"I shall not wait for them any longer, they're slowing us down." He
crossed his tiny arms to emphasize his point. Not even a growl from
D'Argo seemed to frighten him. Zhaan kneeled next to him.
"Rygel, I know you want to leave this region of space as soon as
possible, but you have to respect their wishes as well. If they wish
some time for their own, we will grant them that."
Rygel simply looked at Zhaan and then floated out of the room.
"Do we wait for them?" came the disembodied voice of Pilot.
"Of course, Pilot." D'Argo said and looked at Zhaan. "But not too long.
I wish to leave this region of space as well."
"Of course. I told John that he didn't had too much time." Zhaan
replied.
*****
"So what do you think of it?" John asked as they reached a quiet spot.
It was a clearing in a small forest. Aeryn turned to Crichton.
"It's beautiful. Thank you for bringing me here."
"I have something for you…" he said and Aeryn looked at him with
expectation. When she opened her mouth to say something, John stopped
her and asked her to close her eyes instead. After a moment she felt his
hands on the back of her neck and then they left her again.
"You can open your eyes now." He whispered and gave her a quick kiss on
her lips.
Aeryn opened her eyes and looked down. He had given her the necklace
with his father's ring. She looked back at Crichton.
"Why? Why are you giving it to me?" she asked.
"Well, it's custom on earth to give necklaces, rings and other kinds of
gifts to eachother. Since I couldn't find anything like that here… Look,
I know you'd probably want a knife or something like that…" "No, it's
alright… I like the necklace."
Crichton smiled and kissed her. She tensed for a moment, but then
responded, until she heard a faint sound in the bushes.
"What was that?" she asked, slightly pushing Crichton away.
"What?" He replied, looking around them.
"I thought I heard something." Aeryn said, starting to move in the
direction the sound had come from. She stopped as she felt John's hand
on her arm.
"What?" she asked.
"Let me…"
Aeryn turned around. "What do you mean with that?"
"On Earth, the guy always checks out the weird sounds coming from the
bushes. I know we're not really on Earth, but well… just play along will
ya?" He asked.
"Sebaceans don't have these… difficult rituals." Aeryn sighed. "Go
ahead, I'll watch your back."
She watched as he silently moved closer to the brushes and slowly
followed him, looking around the clearing, hoping to catch any other
threats.
Suddenly, she heard a scream coming from the bushes and four men ran
out, knocking John to the ground. As she reached for her gun, she felt
another pulse gun pressed in her neck.
"I'll take that gun, if you don't mind." A voice said behind her and she
felt a hand grabbing her leg, reaching for her gun. Deciding it was now
or never, she kicked behind her with full force, but was surprised when
she felt a sharp pain in her back. Unable to keep her balance, she
dropped to the ground on her knees. Still dazed from the pain, she
couldn't resist when two hands grabbed her arms and cuffed them behind
her back, increasing the level of pain, until she blacked out…
*****
John woke up with a splitting headache and was vaguely aware of the fact
his head was down and his feet up. Slowly, he opened his eyes and
noticed that the ground looked familiar and that it was moving. His
carrier obviously noticed that John was awake and dropped him. When he
turned around, he noticed D'Argo looking at him.
"What… where am I?" he asked, looking at his surroundings.
"You're on Moya." Came D'Argo's reply.
"Where's Aeryn? Someone attacked us." John said, getting up from his
spot on the floor.
"You where the only one we found when we reached you, answering your
call. " D'Argo said.
"Then we have to get back down there. We can't leave Aeryn behind, she's
one of us!" Crichton turned around and started towards the docking bay,
only to be stopped by D'Argo.
"We won't, trust me. Now, do you remember anything before you where
attacked?"
Crichton stared into space for a while, then slowly nodded. "Aeryn heard a sound, I went to check it out. That's when a group of men
knocked me to the ground. It went so fast I couldn't recognize them."
D'Argo growled and then proceeded towards Command, Crichton following
him slowly.
As they entered Command, Zhaan turned around, pausing a conversation
with Pilot.
"Anything?" D'Argo spoke as he stopped in front of Zhaan.
"No, Pilot is scanning for Sebacean lifeforms on the planet surface, but
he hasn't found anything so far." Zhaan answered.
"What about ships leaving the planet? Have you checked for that?"
Crichton remarked.
"Yes I have, Crichton." Pilot answered.
Zhaan turned towards the young human.
"We will find her, John. We won't leave her behind."
Crichton nodded and sighed. "Yes, I know. But where is she?"
*****
Hearing the footsteps fade away, Aeryn opened her eyes, only to notice
that she couldn't see anything. Slowly, she stretched out her arm, until
her hand collided with solid rock. She started shivering, noticing the
low temperature.
"Well, at least it isn't hot in here." She murmured softly.
"Not yet… wait 'till the sun has risen." A voice on the other side spoke
up.
Aeryn turned in a circle, arms stretched out in front of her to feel any
obstacles.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"A ghost… so are you. No one gets out alive. Your eyes… are you blind?"
The voice continued.
Aeryn didn't answer the question.
"Where am I? Is this a ship?"
The voice chuckled. "No, my dear. You're underground. This was an old
mining site. I was stationed here until they didn't need my services any
longer. I resisted, which is the main reason I'm imprisoned here. Why
are you here?"
"I don't know… I was attacked, then I woke up here."
"They never really say why you're here. Is there anything that happened
in your past, something that could put you in this cell?"
Aeryn hesitated before answering. "I was deemed irreversibly
contaminated, but… friends helped me escape."
"Will those friends help you again?"
Aeryn looked around again, blinking, hoping to see something, but it
didn't help.
"Who are you? Why are you asking all these questions?" She asked.
Suddenly she felt a hand on her own and she quickly pulled back her own
hand.
"It's not me you should be afraid of, it's them, your keepers… they can
do terrible things. But I should introduce me. My name is Dacaen, former
Peacekeeper Commando. It's all I can remember, I'm sorry."
Aeryn nodded, and searched for his hand again, finding it with Dacean's
help.
"I'm Aeryn Sun. And I have faith in my friends. They'll find me…"
*****
Crichton looked at Pilot as he worked on various tasks, trying to find
Aeryn. He paced the pathway in front of Pilot, until Pilot finally
looked up.
"Please, Commander Crichton, you're making the DRD's nervous. I'm doing
everything I can do to find Officer Sun." He said.
"I'm sorry Pilot… it's just. I was supposed to protect her… and now
she's gone. What if we can't find her?" He asked, and leaned against
Pilot's den, watching as Pilot worked.
"I think I might have something… a ship left orbit, one Sebacean
lifeform on board."
Crichton looked up. "Follow it, and tell the others to meet me in
Command." He said as he started to walk to the nearest exit.
"Of course, Commander…"
As Crichton walked towards Command, Zhaan met up with him.
"Pilot has found a ship, one Sebacean lifeform coming up…" Crichton said
as they walked towards their destination.
"How can you be sure that it is Aeryn?" Zhaan asked in her usual way.
"Trust me, I can feel it. Aeryn is on that ship."
"Of course…"
The rest of the short walk was made in silence. Once they reached
Command, the ship was clearly visible on the viewscreen. D'Argo was
already present, and as usual, Rygel was nowhere to be seen.
"They are not attempting to flee." D'Argo remarked and they were
promptly hailed.
"Gar'chem Transport ship to unknown Leviathan, please respond…"
When no one made an attempt to respond, Crichton looked at the others.
All eyes were on him.
"What?" he asked.
"Should we respond?" Zhaan replied in return.
The lack of motivation in the search for Aeryn angered him.
"Of course we should!" he snapped. "I'll do it myself… Pilot, let me
talk to that freighter."
The time between the command and the opening of a channel seemed to go
slowly.
In those few microts, Crichton tried to calm himself, although he had no
idea why he was nervous. 'Don't be stupid… You can do it, John, just
talk to them, demand they release Aeryn and we can all go home…' he
thought and it kept repeating in his head. When the hologram of the
freighter captain popped up, John let out a breath he didn't know was
holding.
"Why are you pursuing us?" the captain asked before John could say a
word.
"There's a Sebacean on your ship…"
"Yes, that is correct. Why are you pursuing me?" he queried again.
"The Sebacean on your ship, she's part of our crew. You abducted her!"
Crichton voiced.
It was silent for a moment, until a familiar voice came through the
comm.
"I don't think I was abducted, Crichton…"
Crichton sucked in a breath of air. The Sebacean on the ship was the one
he was trying to avoid. Crais…
"Pilot…" he started slowly. "Raise the DS…now."
Crais started laughing. "You think a pathetic DS can save you from me?
Or will you starburst again? Go ahead, run."
"Crichton, we can't starburst. The chance that we can find this place
again is…" D'Argo started, but was interrupted by Crichton's conclusion.
"Small. I know. What if we go back to the planet?"
"Moya can't bear it. Her weight will increase once we land on the
planet." Pilot remarked.
"Then starburst out of here. I'll take the Farscape I, go back to the
planet and find Aeryn. You go on without us…" John said, turning to
leave Command.
"John, wait… we'll come back for you…" Zhaan said and Crichton nodded in
return.
"I understand…" And he left Command…
Onto part 2
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