Crichton sighed as he walked into his 2-story house on Servec. He looked
Nervously around the house. The lights were on in the downstairs living
room and the staircase. He remembered turning them off before he left, but
if it was the Serpent Order again, they wouldn't leave his lights on to
ambush him. Besides he thought, death might release him from the enormous
guilt tugging at his stomach. He grabbed a metal bottle of razlak and
walked up stairs. He turned left and walked through the double door.
"Aeryn?" he asked loudly. "No", came Chiana's voice. He sighed and walked
in.
She lay cross-legged, seductively on his bed. Despite how attractive she
looked he really didn't pay attention. "What the hell are you doing here
Pip?" asked Crichton. "I heard you were gone, so I decided to checkout you
house". "Are all my possessions still here?" he asked taking off his coat.
"Yeah, I don't like guns", she said producing a micro pistol from
underneath his pillow. "I see you're a sound sleeper", she said jokingly.
"You missed the big pistol strapped to the bottom of the bed", said
Crichton. She looked under the bed.
"How's Aeryn?" she asked looking at the bottle of razlak. She playfully
patted the bed. "I'm not in the mood for this flirting shi-...dren", he
said. "Well Johnny, you can get rid of me with a shot of razlak", she said.
"Well, I was planning on drinking the whole bottle, but what the hell". He
poured her a class of the clear liquid. She quickly drank it. She blew him
a kiss and walked out.
"Be sure to turn the lights off!" he yelled down the stairs. He placed his
twin MAC-11 machine pistols on the nightstand along with his knife. He
threw his red captain's vest to the floor along with his ammo belt. He took
a drink strait from the bottle and suddenly noticed something. It was
Aeryn's jacket. He laid back and remembered the events of the past few
days.
It all began the night of Tanga's funeral. He had finished comforting Aeryn
after the small service for Talyn Sun. They reached outside Crichton's
house, where they usually split. He held her one last time. "See you
tomorrow", he said. Suddenly she kissed him hard for what seemed like a
minute. "I'm ready John", she said softly. "For what?" he asked. She
motioned towards his house with her head. "I don't want to be alone
tonight", she said. Crichton raised his eyebrows and laughed They both
raced for the house but were stopped by Anjon. "Anjon, it will half to wait
till morning, and tell everybody not to disturb me", he said. Anjon smiled.
Atop the stairs they kissed all the way to the bedroom. There, while they
still kissed, Crichton threw both his guns and knife on the floor and took
off her jacket. She threw off his coat and PK captain's vest. She slowly
stepped back and seductively removed her tank top revealing a black sports
bra. She aggressively threw him on the bed and jumped on top of him. He
desperately tried to un strap the bra. Suddenly, a room-shaking explosion
came from the west.
"Son of a bitch!" screamed Crichton, buttoning his pants before running
out. Aeryn threw on her tank top and grabbed her gun. They burst through
the front door and looked at the explosions source. It was a blazing wreck
of a prowler burning in the night. A group of fire fighters were rushing to
the scene. Crichton looked around for a fire extinguisher. A Sykarian man
ran up.
"Commander Crichton, there's a fire extinguisher in that merchant ship" he
yelled pointing. Aeryn noticed a ring on his finger; he saw her and quickly
lowered his hand. "Aeryn go check it out, I'll get the extinguisher", he
said.
Crichton followed the Sykarian's point. The man was right on his heels. The
ship was little bigger than a transport pod. As Crichton entered he thought
for a second. The only people who still called him Commander was Pilot and
Peace Keepers, he also heard a New Zealand like accent on his voice,
something Sykarian's don't have. He turned to run but was pushed into the
ship. The "Sykarian" tried to strike him with a hand tazer, but Crichton
back fisted him in the face knocking him down. He grabbed the tazer but
stopped when he heard the click of safeties going off. 3 more Peace Keeper
agents dressed as Sykarian's sat around a table pointing pistols with
scopes on them at him. He dropped the tazer and was forced to sit down.
"Well, well, the infamous Commander John Crichton", said an older Peace
Keeper across the table. "They call me Captain now", said Crichton
sarcastically. "Sorry about the timing, we were going to let you sleep with
Sun before we grabbed you, but that explosion gave us another opportunity",
he said. One of the agents handcuffed one of his wrists. "What the frell is
going on?" asked a Peace Keeper over the comm. "We have him, were leaving",
said the leader.
Suddenly, Aeryn burst in. "John!" she exclaimed shooting the agent closest
to the door.
Crichton's pursuer shot her, he couldn't see where. She fell to the ground.
"Finish her, Ryken wants her gone", said the commander. "No you moron,
Tavek wants her alive!" argued one of the other assassins. Crichton looked
down at the table. He saw a small pin like screw driver for gun maintenance
on the table. Crichton used one of humanity's advantages over Sebasceans.
Superior rage and superior adrenaline rushes. He grabbed the pin with his
free hand and jabbed it into the commander's heart. He made a small scream
and slumped over. The agent behind him drew his gun, but Crichton grabbed
his wrist and forced him to shoot the agent standing over Aeryn 3 times. He
then head butted the agent and knocked him to the floor. He kicked the
agent in the head and snapped his neck. He held the agents gun. The field
agent came up, but ran after seeing soldiers approach. Crichton lined up
the magnified scope and fired, scoring a head shot.
He sat down and held Aeryn. She was wounded in the shoulder, and barley
awake from the shock. "Help", he screamed. A group of soldiers ran up.
Aeryn looked up at Crichton from her hospital bed. "Never thought we would
be doing this again", he said jokingly. "What happened after I passed out?"
she asked. "I killed them, who were they?" he asked. "Serpent Order, there
the secret police and intelligence branch of the PeaceKeeper military, they
only take orders from the head of the agency, not Captains", she said. "How
did you know?" he asked. "One of the agents had a Serpent Order ring on,
the always where them on ships", she said. They said a guy named Tavek
wanted you alive, think it's the same Tavek that Maxis was involved with?"
he asked. She swallowed at the sound of the name. He saw she was
uncomfortable and moved on. He kissed her lightly. "Shaleena says that you
can take that regenerator off in 2 days", said Crichton. "Unfortunately I
half to go see the Teheran Grand Ambassador, and since the Defiance is
still in the shop, I have to take Talyn with Anjon", he said. "I thought
you were meeting here", she said. "Nope, they wanted it closer to their
space", he said. "When your better, I want to pick up where we left off",
he said leaving. "I love you she said". "Love you too", he said.
Crichton looked nervously at the interior of Talyn. The last time he was
here he killed Crais, but Talyn was knocked out then. Talyn perceived him
as the enemy, but since he was Anjon's friend, so he was all right.
"What caused the explosion?" asked Anjon, sharing a meal with Crichton.
"One of those techs that we captured was supposed to be doing maintenance
on a Prowler, but rigged it to explode and killed himself", said Crichton.
"I would too if my actions killed hundreds of my comrades", said Anjon.
"Anjon, I have been thinking about something, and I need your opinion",
said Crichton. "Sure Captain", he replied. "Well as stupid as this sounds,
I am thinking of asking Aeryn to marry me", he said. Water shot out of
Anjon's nose. "What!?" he yelled. "Think about it, if this deal doesn't
work out, were screwed, the Peace Keepers have probably figured out why we
can penetrate their shields by now", said Crichton. "I'm for you marrying
her, in our line of work anyone of us could be dead tomorrow, I just wish I
had the opportunity with Tanga" he said sadly. Talyn began to chirp. "Were
5 minutes out", said Anjon. Crichton combed his hair and straitened his
Captain's coat. "How do I look?' he asked. "Like a Peace Keeper", said
Anjon. "I was afraid of that, I am going to warm up the Prowler", he said
walking out.
The Prowler left Talyn at about 3 quarters speed toward a 3 bladed station.
It was about 2 times bigger than Talyn. It was an unarmed trading station
orbiting the green and blue planet of Avron.
The pair entered through an airlock and were met by Van, the Sebascean
translator. "Welcome Captain", he said. "Ambassador Caroon is waiting in
the back meeting room", he said. "Dalric Van, meet Lieutenant Anjon Verile
of Servec", he said. They shock hands. "Where's Lt. Tanga?" asked Van.
"Dead", said Crichton with little emotion. "Sorry to hear that", he
replied. They went through a door and were met by 2 Teheran soldiers with
big rifles. "Hand over your weapons please", one said. Crichton angrily
breathed hard, and handed over his 2 MAC 11's and his knife. Anjon gave his
pistol. The 3 entered the next double door.
It was dark inside. A few very bright desk laps lit up the small room.
Caroon sat at the head of a long table, along with another Teheran and 2
more soldiers. Crichton and Anjon sat at the other end. "Greetings Captain
Crichton", said Caroon. "Things have changed since we first met, I have
been in contact with Commodore Ryken, and he is offering a very lucrative
trade deal," said Naroon. Crichton's eyes almost came out of his head. "Our
leaders are already discussing the non-aggression pact he offered", he
added. Crichton grew angrier. "Your doing the exact opposite of what you
should do, ally with us against the Peace Keepers", Crichton said through
Van. "What do you think they will do when their finished with us, and its
only there ordered empire surrounding your chaotic one", he added. He
waited for Van. "Then, instead of a bunch of neighbors with different
agendas, you'll have 1 neighbor with the same agenda", he added.
"Ryken gave me his word that they will not invade", said Naroon. "We will
be great allies", he added. "Yeah, that's exactly what they told the
Hynerians, Delvians, and Sykarians," said Crichton. "Now they are all
subjugated, and the Sykarians are homeless", he added. "It's the Peace
Keeper way!" screamed Crichton. "I still don't believe that they will
betray us, I want proof", said Naroon. "Alright, then you moron, I'll get
you your damn proof!" he yelled storming out. Anjon was about to follow.
"Sorry, he's just upset because his ... wife was nearly killed yesterday
when the Serpent Order tried to capture him", he added walking out. "Don't
leave", he added.
The Prowler blasted off and headed for the planet. "Sir, why are we doing
down their?" asked Anjon. "Because I remember the record of a guy who can
help us", said Crichton.
Later, onboard Talyn, the pair sat with a small, weak-looking man with
facial ridges and blue skin. "Jeriks Naras, hacker extraordinaire", said
Crichton. "Arrested by the Peace Keepers for computer fraud, data theft,
and hacking, same charges with the Luxans," said Crichton to Anjon. They
turned to Naras. Crichton gave him a PK data crystal and an electronic pad.
"You claim to be the best hacker in the uncharted territories, so prove it,
create the best fake video of all time and kiss you legal problems goodbye,
as well as making a good profit", said Crichton. The hacker smiled.
Anjon, Crichton, Tailex, and Van all sat with around a monitor. On it was
Ryken and Talyn Sun sitting around a table.
"Captain Sun, after we destroy the insurrection, we will make nice with the
Teherans for a while", said Ryken. "Why not just progress into their space
after the war?" asked Sun. "Simple Captain, we will need more ships, the
non-aggression pact should buy us enough time to bring in another task
force, including another Command Carrier", said Ryken. "What the frell is
that?" asked Sun looking over at the camera. He pulled it out of the wall
and it went to static.
Naroon sat back in disbelief. "That can't be true", said Naroon. "Fraid so,
this was taped 3 days ago, and our agent was just able to send it an arn
ago", said Crichton. "Do you mind if we examine it?" asked Naroon. "Of
course not", said Crichton. "I will be taking my Prowler for a little
drive, so call me when you're ready", said Crichton leaving. Anjon went to
the bar.
They returned an arn later to an angry Naroon. The raised the crystal at
them. "It's a fake!" he said in an angry, quit, raspy voice. "I will take
this treachery back to my superiors and see what they think of this", he
said storming out. Crichton and Anjon walked with Van out. "Your a fool
Crichton", he said. Crichton pressed his watch and a timer began.
Onboard Talyn, Crichton and Anjon watched the shuttle head from the station
to the Teheran cruiser. "Were frelled", said Anjon. "No were not", said
Crichton. He looked at his watch, it reached zero. "Boom", said Crichton.
The small shuttle exploded in a ball of flame and hull fragments. Anjon and
Naras watched with horror. "Captain, what did you do?" asked Anjon.
"I know they wouldn't buy it, so when they were checking the crystal, I
used the Prowler get aboard to plant a Meason bomb, it's a favorite of the
Serpent Order". "When the Cruiser scans the wreckage, they will find Peace
Keeper bomb residue and the crystal, which is designed to survive
explosions, the explosion will explain all abnormalities," said Crichton.
"And they will think that its authentic!" said Anjon. "Brilliant", he
added. Suddenly they realized that Naras was still there. "I want twice my
money for keeping quiet!" said Naras. "I have a better solution", said
Crichton. He nodded to Anjon. "Talyn, intruder" said Anjon. A gun fell from
the rafters and shot Naras where he stood. "No witnesses", said Anjon.
"Better get that Cruiser on the horn, and offer assistance" said Crichton.
Suddenly, Van's voice came in. "Captain, what happened, I am on the
station?" said Van. "There's been an accident", said Crichton.
The rouse worked, Since then, the Teherans have made several devastating
attacks on the Peace Keepers.
7 people died that day for the future of freedom. It was a small price to
pay.
Insurrection Part 17: In the Pale Moon Light