by Helen Rodgers
I've been working on this story for a couple of months. I thought it was a different solution to John's problem. Then the word got out that we would be losing one of the cast members, so I had to hurry and finish it. Until the show is aired, this is still a possible future. I haven't read anywhere else what D.K. could stand for so if anyone else has something different, sorry.
Rating G - no sex, no violence, no bad language.
Spoilers - a couple of references to A Human Reaction
*****
John Crichton walked onto the terrace, sat, and spent a few minutes gazing at the stars. It no longer mattered that the patterns were unfamiliar, their beauty always soothed his spirit. He clicked on his battered little tape recorder and began speaking.
"Hi, Dad. Time for my latest update. Well, it's been three years today since I last saw you, or as they say out here, three cycles. Funny how time flies when you're being terrified. Actually, nothing much has happened lately. We've got a lead on Zhaan's home world and the area of space we're travelling through is pretty peaceful. I find weeks going by without thinking about Earth, and that bothers me sometimes. But I have to be truthful Dad, even if I were given the opportunity, I wouldn't come back. I couldn't leave Aeryn behind, and there's no way that I'd ever bring her there. You know how the military would react if they could get their hands on a real live 'ET'. I wish you could meet Aeryn, Dad. I know you'd like her. She's so much like Mom. Not in looks, but in spirit. If I could only know how you and D.K. are, that you're both safe and happy, I could settle down here with no regrets. Well, that's all for now. I have to be careful, not much tape left, but I did want to mark the anniversary in some way. I don't think the others have remembered. That's OK, I'll remember for all of us."
John clicked off the recorder, wondering which would run out first, the tape or the batteries. He was lucky they had lasted this long, especially since it kept disappearing. It had become a running game, him finding new hiding places and Rygel stealing it again. After all this time he was pretty familiar with Rygel's hiding places. He always knew, more or less, where to look for it.
Kinda like his clothes. Whenever anything came up missing, he knew where to look - Aeryn's room. He knew most of her hiding places too, so when he really wanted the item back, he could get it. He would usually wait for her to wear it, whatever it was, and then tease her when the others were around. She was so adorable when she got flustered. Of course, he couldn't do that too often. They worked out together every morning, and if she was upset she would toss him across the room like a rag doll. Stubborn Sebacean female. Even after three years (cycles his mind whispered) she still fought the attraction between them. One of these days she would admit to him that she loved him, but he wasn't holding his breath.
Since he had made a pouch for the recorder and had started wearing it on his belt it hadn't disappeared for over three months (monthens he corrected himself automatically). Rygel had been getting chummy with him lately. He expected Rygel to try to snatch it any time now. Probably the only reason he still had it was that things were so quiet. It was hard for Rygel to appropriate items from people that weren't being distracted.
God, he loved this view. He used to feel guilty, being out here when he was officially on 'watch' in the command area, but Moya and Pilot could spot problems a lot faster than he could. John continued to sit, contentedly staring at the stars, letting his mind wander freely. Pilot's voice broke into his thoughts. "Crichton, could you please come up to command? Moya and I have spotted something that we feel you need to look at."
"I'm on my way Pilot." John hurried through the corridors. "What's the problem? Should we wake the others?"
"I think that you need to be the one to decide that." Pilot said, somewhat evasively.
Striding briskly into command John said, "Okay, what's the big deal---" his voice trailed off at the sight on the view screen. Space rolling and twisting in on itself, a tornado made of stars. "Pilot" he asked in a whisper, "Is that real?"
"It had just appeared when I called you. It is very unstable, I would advise against trying to travel through it, but the decision is yours." No sooner had Pilot finished saying this, than, just as the mouth of the portal collapsed, a vehicle erupted from it. John stared, stunned at the sight of what appeared to be a replica of his module, only much larger. "Crichton," Pilot began slowly, "That looks like your ship."
"I know. Bring us in closer, but have Moya prepare for starburst, just in case. I'll round up the others." Heading towards the docking area at a run, he called over the com system "D'Argo! Aeryn! Red alert everybody! We've got company."
John rushed into the docking area, within seconds Aeryn and D'Argo joined him. Before they could begin to speak he said, "Let's wait until the others are here so I can tell everyone at once." Aeryn tossed her head impatiently and John noticed that she was still in her favorite sleeping attire, his IASA shirt and his pair of Calvins. "Aeryn, we have a little time. Why don't you go get dressed?"
"I thought this was an emergency," she said indignantly. "If we are in trouble, it doesn't matter what I'm wearing Crichton. Just tell us what's going on."
"I don't know if it's trouble. It could be a trap, or it could be the real thing. I just think we should be prepared."
"Prepared for what John?" Zhaan asked as she serenely glided into the room, Chiana right behind her.
"Yes," grumbled Rygel as his hover throne came into view. "What the yotz is so important that you had to wake us out of a sound sleep."
Ignoring everyone John asked, "Pilot how long until the ship is close enough to bring aboard?"
"180 microts. You should be aware that the vehicle seems to be disabled; it is just drifting. There appear to be three lifeforms aboard but the signals are erratic. The vehicle is also losing atmosphere. Moya detects no signs of any type of weapons."
"A wormhole just appeared in front of us and a ship came through." John paused, drew a deep breath, then continued, "The design is similar to my ship and what markings I saw look like they were in English, the language of my country on Earth. This could be some kind of elaborate trap, we have enemies and we don't know where they all are, but it could be real. You heard Pilot; the ship is losing atmosphere. If nothing else we should offer help, but as much as I want to do this, it can't be my decision alone."
D'Argo looked around at the others, each nodding back to him as he caught their eyes. "We agree that we should offer assistance. Pilot, deploy the docking web and bring the ship aboard. We should take a few precautions. Crichton, you and Aeryn remain out of sight and observe their behavior. If this is a trap, having the two of you in hiding will give us an advantage."
Pilot's voice announced "We have reached the other ship and they are secure in the docking web. I'm pulling them in now."
John and Aeryn hurried over to the side of the area and crouched down behind some empty cargo containers. Aeryn handed him her pistol, keeping the pulse rifle for herself.
"I wish you had taken the time to get dressed." John grumbled in a whisper.
"Crichton, what is your problem? I am adequately covered. No one cares what I'm wearing except you." Aeryn whispered back heatedly.
"Aeryn you might be meeting someone from Earth, you shouldn't be wearing just my underwear."
"Well I don't see that it makes any difference, they won't know that it's your underwear." Aeryn's voice was starting to rise. "For all these people know, this is what Sebacean's wear all the time!"
"If these people are from Earth," John yelled back "they'll know!"
As the two of them stood nose to nose, glaring at each other, they heard Chiana say, mockingly, "This must be one of those human customs that I've never been able to understand. I always thought that hiding meant staying out of sight and keeping quiet. But no, it means standing in plain sight and shouting at the top of your voice." Both turned to scowl at her and saw all of the others laughing. Aeryn turned bright red and crouched back down. John, fighting back laughter, knelt down beside her. Aeryn hunched her shoulders and turned her face away from him. He leaned over and teasingly whispered, "Sorry, Sunshine."
D'Argo, Zhaan, Chiana and Rygel lined up as the welcoming committee. The ship glided into the bay and hit the floor with a thud. It was much larger than his ship, the size of a regular space shuttle. John could clearly read the markings on the side of the craft, Farscape II.
After what felt like an hour, but was really only 10 minutes, the hatch opened and a small space-suited figure stood in the doorway. A ladder unfolded from inside the craft, and the figure climbed down. The helmet was removed, revealing a petite blonde woman. Her face was pale, blood trickling from a small cut high on her forehead. "Please," she said in a frightened voice, "we need help."
*****
Amanda sat breathing heavily, hoping the ringing in her ears would stop soon. Her head was pounding and she could feel blood running down her face. She must have hit her head on the inside of the helmet. What a ride! She had been afraid the ship was being torn apart. The buffeting had seemed to go on forever. While it was happening she had heard the other's voices on the com system, but now, nothing.
"Derrick? Jack? Are you guys okay up there? Answer me! Derrick!" She frantically tried to get out of her seat, but the restraining mechanism was jammed. 'This can't be happening', she thought. "Derrick!" she called again, but there was still no answer. An alarm sounded and she looked over at the panel to see what the problem was. Cabin pressure was dropping. They must have ruptured a seal, maybe several. They were losing oxygen. She had to get loose. If only she had something to cut the belts with. Then she remembered. She had her father's old Swiss army knife. He had given it to her years ago as a good luck charm. 'Bless you, Dad' she thought, and bless the suit makers that had put a pocket low down on the leg. Strapped in the way she was she would have never been able to reach into a normal pocket. Cutting the restraints, she floated free of the seat.
Amanda entered the command area and was dismayed at the amount of debris floating around. Clipboards, tools, helmets --- HELMETS? Dammit! Those two macho idiots hadn't put their helmets on! She grabbed the one floating nearest to her; it was Jack's, and kicked over to his seat. Blood was trickling from the corner of his mouth. 'God, I hope he just cut his lip' she thought, 'I have no way of telling if he has internal injuries.' Watching for a moment, she saw the rise and fall of his chest. Good, at least he was breathing. It seemed to take forever to get the helmet fastened onto the suit. She wasn't accustomed to being in zero gravity, and the way he was belted into the seat made it hard to reach around to the back. She turned to Derrick. He was still unconscious and he was gasping for air. She somersaulted back across the cabin, retrieved his helmet, returned to his seat, and with difficulty attached it. She checked the controls on both suits; they showed that oxygen was flowing.
Looking around the cabin at the various control panels, she saw that most of the lights were out, and those that were on were flashing red. 'Just great' she thought, 'systems are down, both pilots are unconscious, we're losing all of our oxygen and I have no way of knowing where we are. What else can happen?'
As if in answer to her question a shadow fell across the front windows. Looking out, she saw a massive form in front of them. It didn't look like a spacecraft; it looked alive. 'A space whale?' she thought in amazement. Whatever it was, it was moving closer. The shape maneuvered around, so that it was facing away from her. As she watched, a hatch opened and a net shot out. The net surrounded the ship and started pulling it inside. It WAS a spaceship. What kind of technology could create something like that? "We are in DEEP trouble guys" she muttered. Turning back to the two men she said, "Derrick, Jack, please wake up. I don't want to face this alone." No response.
As they were drawn into the craft, she was pulled down by gravity. Artificial gravity, that implied an atmosphere of some kind. At least she hoped so, preferably one that they would be able to breathe. The ship settled to the floor with a thud. As they had been coming in she had seen figures walking around, but hadn't gotten a very good look. Now she couldn't see anything, the angle out of the windows was wrong.
She stood for several minutes debating whether or not she should leave the ship, but there wasn't any real choice. No power meant that they couldn't leave on their own. Even if they could have left, they didn't have enough oxygen in their suit tanks to last very long. Friendly or hostile, breathable atmosphere or not, she had to go out. Just then she heard Derrick's breath start rasping over the com system. The controls showed that the oxygen was flowing properly, that meant that he was the one with the problem.
Looking back over at Jack she saw that he still had blood coming from the corner of his mouth. Definitely no choice; she just prayed that these beings could give the other two medical attention. Walking back to the hatch, she wrestled it open and lowered the ladder. Before her courage deserted her, she climbed down. Turning, Amanda removed her helmet and said, "Please, we need help."
Standing about 15 feet in front of her were three beings. They were human-like in that they had two arms, two legs and stood upright. Two of them appeared to be female; at least they were shaped in what she felt was a feminine manner. One was blue, tall, probably close to six feet, and she was bald. The other was a pale gray, with wild white hair, and was much shorter, around her height. They were also both quite beautiful.
The third figure was really tall, seven feet or more and his very posture shouted 'MALE'. His face was the most alien of the three, it almost looked like he was wearing a mask, and instead of hair he had tentacles. He was holding something cradled in his arms that looked like a cross between a sword and a rifle. Obviously it was some kind of weapon, but since he wasn't pointing it at her she wasn't going to worry about it now. Then she notice that there was something else there, someONE else there. The little figure was about three feet above the floor; floating or hovering in some kind of chair. She had no frame of reference to compare it to; it resembled nothing she had ever seen before.
Amanda bent and put the helmet down on the floor. She removed the suit gloves and dropped them as well. Putting her hands out in what she hoped was a universal sign of peaceful intentions, she stepped forward. "We have no weapons. We are only explorers. Please, the other two are injured, can you help them?" On TV and in the movies this always looked so easy. How could she make them understand her?
The tall male put his weapon down and started toward her, growling and snarling. She automatically took a few steps back. The tall blue lady laid a hand on his arm, said something in a soft musical sounding voice, and he stopped. The little being in the hovering chair said something in a tone that sounded grumpy and sarcastic. The tall blue lady put her hands out in a gesture that mirrored Amanda's and came forward speaking soothingly. Reaching Amanda's side she laid her hand on her forehead, examining the cut.
"No, I'm alright. The others, in the ship, they're the ones that need help." She sighed in frustration. "Oh, what I wouldn't give for a universal translator right now." As if on cue, a voice off to her right said "One universal translator coming up." She spun around and stared at the source of the voice in disbelief. "John? Oh my God, John!" she said and flung herself into his arms.
*****
John and Aeryn peered out from behind the concealment of the containers. When the figure was revealed to be that of a woman, Aeryn turned to John and whispered "Do you know her?"
"No, I've never seen her before."
"Are you sure? Remember the false Earth. This could be another illusion."
"I have already thought of that Aeryn. Yes, I'm sure I don't know her. Now be quiet, we're supposed to be observing her reactions and I'm trying to hear what she's saying" John whispered in exasperation. Aeryn gave him an angry glare, but didn't reply. They turned their attention back to the scene in front of them.
John watched the woman closely. For once he was sorry that he had the translator microbes. It sounded like she was speaking English, but everyone sounded like they spoke English. He watched her assessing the others, curious but not very afraid. That didn't seem quite right, but since he didn't know her, he had no idea of how she reacted in a crisis situation. Then he noticed the blood on her face and how pale she was. Running on adrenaline no doubt. She had too much to cope with, so she was concentrating on the essentials. The others in the ship, they were her main focus. Never mind that she was injured; THEY needed help. One thought to the exclusion of all others, typical symptom of shock.
D'Argo started forward, offering his assistance. She went dead white, her eyes widened, and she took a few steps back. That settled it for him, that reaction couldn't have been faked. She hadn't understood what D'Argo said. This was real. That ship and those people were from Earth. Just then he heard her say "Oh, what I wouldn't give for a universal translator right now." He turned to Aeryn, grinned and whispered "I don't think we'll get a better entrance line than that." As they stood and stepped away from the containers he said aloud "One universal translator coming up."
The woman spun around, disbelief and joy on her face. "John? Oh my God, John!" she cried and flung herself into his arms.
He reached automatically to catch her, stunned at her response to the sight of him. He leaned his head back, trying to see her face, but she was clinging too tightly to him, mumbling incoherently into his shirt. Beside him he could feel Aeryn, rigid with anger.
"Crichton, I thought that you didn't know her!" Aeryn accused heatedly.
"Aeryn, I swear, I don't remember ever seeing this woman before in my life." John tried gently to disengage himself. "Miss-excuse me. Who are you? What's your name? Have we met?"
Amanda let go of John, laughing somewhat hysterically. "I'm sorry, grabbing you like that. I'm Amanda. No, we've never met, but I feel like I know you. Derrick and Jack talk about you all the time." She got a stricken look on her face. "Oh God, Derrick! John he's been hurt, they're both hurt. You have to help them."
"I don't understand, who's Derrick?" John broke off, then grabbed Amanda by the shoulders and demanded, "Do you mean D.K.? Is D.K. on that ship?"
"Yes, D.K. is on the ship. I called him that at first, but after we had known each other a while, he told me he wanted me to call him by his name, Derrick." She looked at him, took a deep breath and continued, "And the other person on the ship, it's your father, Jack."
John's hands dropped to his side, his face turning as pale as hers. His eyes closed and he swayed slightly. Aeryn grabbed his arm to steady him. Turning to her he said hoarsely, "My Dad. Aeryn, my Dad is on that ship."
For the first time, Amanda looked at the woman standing next to John. Her eyes went wide: "You're human! How did another human get out here?"
Aeryn glanced irritably at her. "I'm not human, I'm Sebacean." Turning by to John, she said, "John we need to get him out of there." He looked at her in a daze. She shook him, hard. "John, concentrate. He needs your help."
He blinked a few times, took a couple of deep breaths, and said, "Right. Aeryn, you and D'Argo help me get them out. Zhaan and Chiana go get the medical supplies. Rygel, stay with Amanda. Okay people, lets move it."
"Why do I have to stay with the human? It's been bad enough putting up with Crichton the last three cycles, now there are more of them." Rygel grumbled to himself as he moved over to where the woman was standing. "It's an invasion, that's what it is."
As the others scattered Amanda stood staring at the figure that was approaching on the hovering chair. She hadn't understood a word that the woman with John had said. And now he expected her to stay with this odd looking creature that was jabbering at her in another strange language. Everything she had been through in the past two hours (only two hours!) finally caught up with her. She sat down on the floor and started to cry.
Rygel landed his sled and walked awkwardly over to the crying woman. He patted her gently and said, "Don't worry. Crichton will take care of them." She just stared at him silently, the tears flowing down her face. "Oh frell, you can't understand me. Pilot, can you send a DRD down here with some translator microbes? These people are from Crichton's planet, they need to be injected."
"I have been monitoring the conversations, Your Eminence, the DRD is on its way."
Rygel continued to stand beside her, patting her shoulder. She finally drew in a shuddering breath and wiped the tears from her face. Laying her hand on top of Rygel's she said, "I know you don't understand me, but thank you." A strange little yellow machine, it looked like an oversize ladybug, rolled up to where she was sitting. It extended an arm and pushed it against her leg. She felt a sting. "Ouch! Why did it do that?"
"That was so you can understand us. The DRD injected you with translator microbes. After injection they go to your brain stem where they change everything we say into your language." Amanda looked around but didn't see any obvious source of the voice.
The little being in front of her (Rygel?) smiled widely and said, "That was Pilot. He runs this ship. You'll get to meet him soon, but in the meantime, that is his image, over there." He pointed to an object on the wall that was shaped like a giant clamshell. In it was a purple being that looked vaguely reptilian, but nice. Even through the image she could see that he had very kind eyes.
"Hello Pilot, thank you for bringing us aboard. We wouldn't have survived for much longer. My name is Amanda and I come from the same planet that John does."
"You are welcome, Amanda. Moya and I are happy to be of service."
"Who's Moya?"
"Moya is the name of this ship," explained Rygel. "Once all of the fuss is over I'm sure Crichton will introduce you to Pilot properly." Rygel paused and drew himself up to his full height. "As long as were are making introductions, I am Dominar Rygel XVI, ruler of the Hynerian Empire. I am currently in exile, as I was deposed by my bastard cousin. We are looking for my world so that I can take back my throne. You may address me as 'Your Eminence'."
"Or you can do what I do and call him Toad" said a voice from behind her. Amanda turned and saw the small gray woman lounging in the doorway. "I'm Chiana. Welcome to our happy little group."
Amanda's attention was drawn to a disturbance in the door of the shuttle. The tall alien man had climbed down and was steadying one end of a makeshift stretcher. "Derrick." She tried to get up, but a wave of dizziness forced her back to the floor.
Chiana moved instantly to her side. "You must have hit your head harder than you thought. Just sit still and we'll have Zhaan look at you when she gets here."
They all watched in silence as the two stretchers were lowered to the floor. Amanda gazed, puzzled, at the woman standing near John. She turned to Rygel. "Who is she? She looks human but her language didn't sound like anything I've ever heard on Earth."
"Her name is Aeryn Sun. She is a Sebecean. She used to be a PeaceKeeper." This last was delivered with a snarl.
"You sound as if you don't like her."
"She's not so bad, it's what she was that I hate. When I was first deposed, the PeaceKeepers tortured me and held me captive for over 100 cycles."
"That's awful! How did you survive?" Amanda leaned forward and took one of Rygels hands, pressing it comfortingly between her own.
Rygel puffed himself up importantly. "I'm a lot tougher than I look. The first captain that held me tried his best, but he never broke me. I'm sure when we find my world my cousin will be surprised to see me. You should never underestimate someone from the House of Rygel."
Zhaan entered the area and went straight over to the stretchers to begin her preliminary examinations. Watching her Amanda was again distracted by the sight of Aeryn. Turning back to Rygel she said, "I find it strange enough that people from another world look so much like people from Earth, but Aeryn's clothes look like they come from Earth too. She looks like she's wearing men's underwear." Amanda stared in bewilderment as Rygel and Chiana started laughing.
John looked over. "Care to share the joke Rygel?"
Between snorts of laughter he replied, "She wants to know why Aeryn is wearing your underwear, Crichton."
Aeryn glared as the others started laughing. John said between gasps, "I told you to change your clothes, but, oh no, you were so sure no one would know what you were wearing."
"Fine. The crisis seems to be over, I'll go change now." Aeryn turned and started to leave.
"That will have to wait." Zhaan said firmly. "Aeryn, I need you and John to take this stretcher. D'Argo and I will bring the other. We need to get them to the medical bay as quickly as possible."
Amanda rose to her feet, determined to go with them. The pounding in her head, which had lessened, returned, along with the ringing in her ears. She took one step forward and fell into swirling darkness. The last thing she heard was Rygel's voice calling "Crichton!" Chiana caught her before she hit the floor, saving her from further injury.
Zhaan hurried over to look at the wound on Amanda's head. She lifted her eyelids and checked her pupils. "I should have looked after her first. Chiana, help me with the stretcher. D'Argo, carry her to the medical bay."
John spoke up "Zhaan, maybe I should be the one to carry her. She hasn't had a chance to get to know D'Argo yet and if she came to while he was carrying her it might frighten her unnecessarily."
"Very well. Chiana, help Aeryn. We must get them to the medical bay quickly. I need to use the scanner to determine the extent of their injuries."
John picked up the unconscious woman. She looked like a child in the bulky flight suit, and didn't weigh much more, but the glint of rings on the third finger of her left hand told a different story. Married. Was she married to D.K., or was she married to his Dad? From the way she had been so concerned about D.K (Derrick - that was going to take some getting used to) it was a pretty good bet she was married to him.
It was still hard to believe that they had come after him. Talk about a leap of faith. They could have ended up anywhere. And why come after him at all? Unless they thought they had a sure way home? This was so frustrating, not being able to ask D.K. questions. He followed the others to the medical bay, his mind buzzing with all that had happened in the past hour.
As he carried her into the bay Zhaan motioned him over to one of the tables. "Place her here John." He laid her down, then turned to where his father was lying. His hair was so much grayer; there were so many more wrinkles on his face. He looked as if he had lived five years for each of the years that had passed. John laid his hand on his father's shoulder. "I'm so sorry Dad" he whispered.
Zhaan ran the scanner over Amanda, then turned to him, "John, she will be fine. The head injury is minor; she has a slight concussion. She is mainly suffering from shock and reaction to all that has happened to her today. I want you to take her to one of the empty quarters and stay with her until she wakes up."
"No, Zhaan. I need to be here with my Dad. Can't Chiana or Aeryn stay with her?"
"John, I need Chiana here to help me, and Amanda will need a familiar face when she wakes up. I don't want either of you in here while I am treating the others; you are both too emotionally involved. Aeryn, go with him and keep him occupied until I'm finished."
John briefly tightened his hand and said "You're in good hands Dad, Zhaan will take care of you. See you in a little while." Turning he picked Amanda up and headed for the door. He paused, took one look back, then resolutely walked away.
Onto part two
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