Aeryn slept quietly in the infirmary of Scorpious' battle cruiser. Crichton
sat beside her going over a report. The doctor, Shaleena, motioned for him
to follow her. They quietly stepped out of the room. "I scanned her brain
just like you asked, its perfectly fine, all she needs is about a solar day
of rest", said Shaleena. "Thanks Doc.", he said. "I have to leave for Skara
in an arn to get the new ship". "Promise that you will have her call me as
soon as she is able", he added. "Sure thing boss", said Shaleena going back
to work on a computer. "D'argo is in command until I get back", he said. He
kissed Aeryn lightly on the head and left.
Crichton, Stark, and D'argo sat in Scoprious' ready room. "Engines will be
operational in 2 solar days, but weapons are a different story", said
Stark. "The auxiliary cannons can be repaired but the primary frag cannons
are gone", said Stark. "Then I will get a few particle beams and ion
torpedoes from Skara", said Crichton. "What about Aeryn?" D'argo asked.
"She will be alright in a few days", said Crichton leaving.
The Golden Eagle broke away from the battle cruiser. A freighter for Skara
was floating near the crippled cruiser. Several probes were welding the
engines and cannons. The small Bird of Prey fired its engines and flew away
at top speed. "Renaise, set a course for Skara, maximum speed", he ordered.
The beautiful Sebascean pressed a few touch buttons on the helm control.
"Course laid in", she said. He looked at the cloak button on the weapons
console. He smiled and didn't press it. No more Peace Keepers in the area.
With the destruction of Scorpious' task force, Peace Keeper garrisons were
left relatively undefended against the extreme long range of Urvidian
compressor beams. They destroyed orbital batteries from long range, in
absolute safety. 10 Peace Keeper garrisons had surrendered without a fight.
Sykarians, rebel Sebasceans (Mostly from Servec and Draconis), and Urvidian
troops took the Peace Keepers place. All in only 2 days. Many other
garrisons were overthrown by riots. This small section of the Uncharted
Territories was free. Most of the territory that Moya had traveled through
had always been independent.
Crichton looked bored around the small bridge. His was very excited about
reaching Skara. This made the hours of monotonous travel even longer. He
passed a couple of hours telling Anjon about his travels on Moya, when he
was a fugitive, not a Captain or hero. His favorite story was the time he
and D'argo set an entire planet on fire to allow the others to escape.
Anjon didn't know that Crichton was a Human; he thought he was an ex-Peace
Keeper Captain. Anjon had just been elected Mayor of Servec, the equivalent
of president. He had left the planet to act as the temporary science
officer on the Golden Eagle. 30 minutes out from Servec Anjon picked up a
signal. "Were being hailed by the freighter Roshanko", he reported.
"Putting it on screen". An old Sebascean appeared on the screen. "This is
Captain Mayoree Shakar of the free Sebascean freighter Roshanko", he said.
"This is Captain John Crichton of the Coalition ship Golden Eagle go
ahead". The Coalition was the term given to the Urvidian/Rebel forces.
"We were attacked by a ship of unknown configuration 5 minutes ago", said
Shakar. "The ship's captain demanded that we drop 2 crates of cargo into
space". "We scanned him and saw that his weapons were damaged and could
only fire at 1/4 capacity so I told him to frell himself", he added with
pride. "He tried to hit the core, but couldn't penetrate the hull, we used
our blasters to do significant damage to him and he fled". "However, he did
manage to cause a radiation leak in the cargo hold ruining a cargo load of
foodstuffs", he said. "Where was the food headed?" asked Crichton. "Sykar,
there is a food shortage there because the soil is depleted", replied
Shakar. Crichton remembered that Volme said that the Tanot root had
destroyed the soil. "Do you still have the attacker on sensors?" asked
Crichton. "Yeah, its barley moving at hetch 3", said Shakar. "Do you have
an image of it?" asked Crichton. "Transmitting now", said Shakar. "I want
you to keep him in your sensors, we will be there in 2 arns", said
Crichton. Anjon received the image. "Putting it on screen", he said. A red
ship appeared. "Talyn", said Crichton.
"Talyn?" asked Aeryn over the small visual hand held comm. "Yeah, were
about to reach Skara, I already had them install a wetox missile filled
with clorium in the new ship", he said. "That should incapacitate Talyn but
what about Crais?" she asked. "Think about it Aeryn, how could a freighter
best Talyn?" asked Crichton. "The only way it could would be if he was
injured or sick", she said. "Or Crais is sick and it's feedback", he
responded. "I will have Zhaan bring Moya to help with his recuperation", he
added. "Be careful John", she said.
The small Bird of Prey slowed as it approached Skara. Several freighters of
many different configurations orbited the red planet. "Anjon, hail the
cities ship yard", ordered Crichton. A Sebascean appeared. "Ah, Captain,
your ship is ready", he said. "Its on its way now", he added. "And the
missile with clorium is in the 2nd starboard tube" he added. "We also have
the temporary crew onboard". "Thank you sir", said Crichton cutting off.
Chiana had joined them on the bridge. He smiled as the ship arrived.
A Houston class Bird of Prey moved at a moderate speed. The name "Defiance"
was tattooed on its upper bulkhead. "Another Houston class?" asked Chiana.
"Yeah, the Defiance", he said. "Renaise, dock at the lower air lock", he
ordered. The 2 Birds of Prey docked gracefully.
Crichton wiped the oil from his hands. The oil was from when he installed
the cloaking device. Chiana and Anjon flanked him. He jumped into the
weapons chair and sighed. "Hello ship", he said softy. He laughed as he
pressed touch buttons on the console. The defiance fired up and flew at
full speed away from the planet. The ship then cloaked as soon as it
cleared the freighter traffic.
"Talyn, be quiet!" yelled Crais hitting on of the consoles. "You will obey
my orders now, we must make another pass at the Scarrens!" he howled. The
ship chirped. "What do you mean there is no Scarren vessels there, I see it
right in front of me!" The ship responded in a series of chirps. Suddenly
the chirps began in a greater frequency and sounded almost panicked. "What
do you mean a ship just appeared from nowhere? "he asked. The Defiance
appeared on the main screen. "Charge weapons and target their core!" he
ordered.
Talyn's main canon fired a green low powered blast at the Defiance. It hit
the D.S. and dissipated. The D.S. wasn't even affected. The Defiance then
turned its starboard side to the Leviathan. A hatch slip open on the wing.
On the weapons console, Crichton looked at the fire button under anti
fighter missiles go from green to a glowing pink, he pressed it. The
missile looked like a tomahawk missile leaving a sea cruiser. Crais'
weapons screen flashed as the missile approached. The missile hit Talyn in
the side, driving into his hull and began injection clorium. Inside,
systems began going down one at a time. "Talyn, what's going on?" asked
Crais. The center lights on the floor went dim and Talyn went to sleep.
Crais shook as the Defiance docked. "Come Scarren!" he yelled.
Crais grabbed his pistol and looked at the air lock passage way. A small
rectangular object hit just outside the threshold. Suddenly and blinding
light emitted from the object. Crais covered his eyes. As the light died
down Crichton rushed in. They matched pistols. Crais looked at what he saw
in front of him. A Scarren warrior with an enormous black mini-gun. "Drop
it Crais!" came Crichton's voice through the Scarren's lips. The enormous
creature melted into Crichton, and the mini-gun into the pistol. Crais
lowered his pistol. "Crichton?" he asked blankly. Crichton looked into his
face. "That's me70;Oh God!" exclaimed Crichton. 2 streams of fresh blood
ran down Crais' race. One from each eye. He was pale, and sickly. The ship
appeared almost dead inside. "What the hell happened to you Crais?" asked
Crichton genuinely concerned (for Talyn). "A few arns ago, we were attacked
by a Scarren warship near Skara", said Crais. "No, that was a free
Sebascean freighter", said Crais.
Crais wrinkled his forehead puzzled. "Are you sure?" asked Crais. "Yeah,
I'm pretty sure", responded Crichton. "The virus must be entering its final
stages", said Crais sitting on the console. "What virus?" asked Crichton.
"The Space Farer's Death", said Crais with a depressed voice. Crichton
looked puzzled. "A virus is ravaging the Peace Keeper ranks, it drives the
afflicted insane within days of infection", said Crais. "I contracted it
when I responded to a distress call, an entire ship of civilians said they
were under attack". "When I boarded the ship, I discovered that the
attackers were in fact the men of the ship, they had already killed most of
the children and women", "I saved 3 children and their mother, but70; she
killed all of them, leaving me no choice but to kill her", he said with
regret. "And the disease is now affecting Talyn, it only affects
Sebasceans, so it is only feed back". "Now Crichton, I have a favor to ask,
before I go insane, do what you have always wanted and kill me", said
Crais. "Crais, we can try to find a cure", said Crichton. "Only you can
control Talyn", he added. "Bring in a friend and say he was a close ally of
Aeryn and I". He said. "And have all of Talyn cleansed and leave him
abandoned for 3 days, also eject my body and incinerate me with your ships
weapons", said Crais.
"Crais, if I kill you Aeryn will never forgive me", said Crichton. "Then
tell her I left you only two choices, you could kill me, or I could kill
you". With that, Crais raised his pistol, and fired barley missing
Crichton's head. Crichton did the same, but didn't miss. Crais slumped down
to floor. "Rest easy Crais", said Crichton. He though: "Well as easy as one
can rest in hell".
Insurrection Part 13: An Old Weakness