Aeryn entered the bridge to find Zhaan monitoring the controls. "I can take over for a while now. Your skill as a mediator is needed. Rygel's throwing a tantrum about what trade merchandise to take down to the planet and the relative priority of items we need to purchase. He seems to believe that acquiring Zelfian perfumed body oil is an absolute necessity. D'argo is about ready to gut him."

Zhaan shook her head in exasperation at the capriciousness of the exiled Hynerian Dominar . "I'll go and see what I can do." She looked at Aeryn from the corner of her eyes. "I heard that you and John are going to participate in a mating ritual."

Aeryn turned her head so sharply that Zhaan could almost hear the bone snap. "Where did you hear such a thing?" Her eyes narrowed. "Never mind, only a certain Luxan was present. Well, he told you wrong. It isn't a mating ritual, it's a way to relax."

Zhaan grinned. "Yes, well it can be, can't it."

Aeryn raised her eyebrows in mock shock. "It isn't going to be like that, Crichton isn't even a Sebacean."

Zhaan persisted. "I hear that the physiology is similar."

Aeryn straightened her bearing. "Zhaan, I'm just teasing Cri.."

Zhaan interrupted her. "That may be what you intend but where John is involved things never seem to work out as planned. John's heart is very large and he cares for you. Be careful of his feelings and your own." Without further words she turned and left the bridge.

With a slightly troubled look, Aeryn watched her leave.

"Well, D'argo's away with the last transport pod so we are now officially off duty," John said to Aeryn as he dusted his hands off on the sides of his black pants. "Have you found a place where you would like to eat yet? Maybe a quiet little bistro with candles on the table and a wandering violinist to set the mood." He knew that she probably wouldn't understand the words but definitely hoped that the Sebacean got the gist of what he was saying.

Aeryn looked at the glint in John's eyes and his playful half smile. She clearly remembered Zhaan's warning and wondered if maybe this 'date' was a bad idea. There was a cold, little knot in her stomach and she didn't think it was from hunger. "John, I've been thinking about this date..." she began tentatively.

"Whoa," he said, his hands going to his hips. "Don't tell me you're going to give me the John-we-have-nothing-in-common-we're-not-even-the-same-species speech."

"Well, we're not and in spite of our talk in the dining area I'm just not certain..."

"It's just a date, Aeryn. I'm not looking for a life time commitment. Just a little good food that isn't trying to crawl OFF my plate and some civilized conversation. But, hey, I understand. If you don't think you can trust yourself...."

"Would you please let me finish what I am saying without interrupting me!" she exploded. "And what do you mean, not trust myself?"

"Well, you're obviously attracted to me...."

"I found you interesting once, in the very beginning. That's not the same thing as being attracted to you."

"Well, what about that kiss when we were in the Flax?"

"We both thought we were going to die. It was too much oxygen and the heat of the moment. You said so yourself," she said quickly, her stance becoming aggressive, their faces now only inches apart.

"I guess you'd know about that, since you were a big, bad Peacekeeper soldier. Probably had a lot of those heat of the moment encounters on the battlefield, right."

Aeryn's eyes narrowed. "I only kiss who I want to kiss, when I want to kiss them." She then quickly spun and snagged a passing sentient. She grabbed its face and soundly kissed it on a likely protuberance. She let go and the startled being scurried quickly away, wiping at its snout. "See!"

"So you're not attracted to me, the kiss meant nothing and you're not afraid to have a good, old fashion, date with me," Crichton enumerated sharply.

Aeryn glared at him. "That's right. Now, come on, I'm hungry." She turn and stomped off into the crowd.

John lowered his head to keep her from seeing any hint of his smile. When he looked up, his date was quickly fading from his view. "Hey, Aeryn, wait up!" he shouted as he ran after her.

It was several corners and a half dozen "excuse me's" later that Crichton finally caught up with Aeryn. She was walking slowly. When he made it to her side, she glanced covertly over at him. "That really wasn't fair."

"All's fair in ...dates and war, Sunshine." He touched her arm to stop her progress and turned so they were facing each other. "Aeryn, I just want to have a semi-normal evening and pretend that my life hasn't done a one-eighty."

"I can understand just wanting things to be normal." She turned and started walking again. John fell in at her side. "OK, if this were a normal Erp," she quickly looked at him, "Earth, date, what would we be doing now?"

"If we were walking to the restaurant, we'd be making small talk....that's talk about nothing in particular that's used to pass the time. I might put my hand on the small of your back while we're walking, just to show you that I like you." He put the words into action and gently laid his palm to the small of her back. He could feel the warmth of her through her clothing.

"Stop," Aeryn told him.

John snatched his hand away as if burned.

"This is the place. Rygel told me about it. He said a trader told him that it's the best place to eat in this end of the bazaar."

John smiled his chagrin and replaced his hand. "Let's hope we don't need reservations." He opened the door for her. They entered the darkened interior and scanned the place. John could feel Aeryn's muscles tense. He muttered quietly, "We are in deep dren."

They turned in unison to sneak out of the building.

"Halt!"

"Let's just keep moving, Aeryn. Pretend that we didn't hear him." He pushed her ahead of him. They would have made it outside except for a fundamental law of physics: two masses can not occupy the same space at the same time. The space that was the doorway was already being taken up by a rather large man who was attempting to enter the building. A large man dressed in black. A large Sebacean man, dressed in black. A Peacekeeper, just like the score or so Peacekeepers that were already in the building eating their evening meal. The score or so of Peacekeepers that were now watching them.

"Let me handle this!" Aeryn whispered urgently to John. They turned back to the voice that belonged to a man in a black suit that had walked up behind them.

"You are out of uniform and in violation of dress code 18.6." He looked more closely at them in the dim light. "You aren't from the transport. What is your name, rank, and unit?" he demanded.

Aeryn scanned his insignia. "Lieutenant, we're not enlisted, we're free-traders. We just arrived planet-side and thought we'd get a bite to eat."

"If that were true then why do you carry military-issued sidearms? They're illegal for civilians to possess. Are you deserters or just black-marketers?" His eyes narrowed and he motioned for the large man that stood behind them to come forward. "In either case, I think you should be detained until the Commander returns. Sergeant, disarm them and take them into custody."

The large man frowned unpleasantly, apparently angry that his dinner plans were to be interrupted. He moved forward and simultaneously Aeryn's hand went to her weapon.

John was only a fraction of a second faster and placed his hand on top to hers to stop her suicidal assault. "Stand down, Lieutenant. Now!" he said, affecting the accent that always reminded him of the time he spent in Australia.

"What the frell are you doing, Crichton?" Aeryn said tightly under her breath so that only John could hear.

"Play along unless you have a plan that doesn't involve a scaled down version of Custer's Last Stand," John replied urgently but in a volume designed for her ears alone. He saw Aeryn release her grip on her weapon, sighed and straightened himself. "Very good, Lieutenant, you've found us out. I'm Captain Mulder and this is Lieutenant Scully. We're with Military Intelligence, Internal Investigations Division. We were planning to formally contact your commanding officer tomorrow. Tonight we were hoping to just have a nice meal that didn't include brown food cubes."

"Let me see your identification and what is your assignment ?" the Peacekeeper said, still very suspicious.

"As I said, Lieutenant," John replied, adding a certain measure of haughtiness to the tone, "we were planning on an...intimate...dinner. We left our papers on the ship and our assignment is need to know only and, quite bluntly, you don't need to know." John walked forward a few steps. "What is your name, Lieutenant!" he barked authoritatively.

The Peacekeeper involuntarily stood at attention and answered sharply, "Lieutenant Kreel, Sir."

"Lieutenant Kreel, if I may speak to you privately," John asked.

Kreel nodded and motioned for them to step off to the side, leaving the hulking Sergeant to stand watch over Aeryn.

"Lieutenant, if I could be frank with you," John said in a low tone. "I have been stuck for several weekens on a small transport with the no-nonsense, but extremely fine looking Lieutenant Scully. Now, the Ice Queen is finally beginning to thaw a bit, if you know what I mean. So, if you don't mind, since this establishment is so crowded, I'll just take her somewhere else before my evening plans are totally ruined."

Kreel frowned disapprovingly at what Captain Mulder was suggesting. "Fraternization is against the rules of military conduct, Sir."

John smiled conspiratorially. "Lieutenant Kreel, if that were totally true then where would little Peacekeepers come from?"

Kreel stepped back and cleared his throat, "Well, yes, I suppose, Sir."

"Then we'll just be going." John started to turn but then a sudden thought occurred to him. "Lieutenant, as I said, we were planning on formally contacting your commander tomorrow. However, I believe that you indicated that he is not currently present? When would it be best to present ourselves to him?"

"Captain Holten is currently off site, Sir. He has taken the transport to meet with Captain Crais. He is expected back at anytime."

"Captain Bialar Crais?" John said frowning.

"You know Captain Crais?" Kreel asked.

"Only by reputation. Please alert your commander that we will be in touch. Now, if you'll excuse us," John turned and walked back to Aeryn. "Lieutenant Scully, if you will come with me, please." He returned his hand to the small of her back and attempted to lead her out the door. Unfortunately, the doorway was still blocked. With his haughtiest glance and most condescending voice, John commanded, "Now, Sergeant."

The Sergeant glanced over at the Lieutenant who reluctantly nodded. The Sergeant stepped out of the way. John and Aeryn proceeded out.

"Don't look back!" John whispered to her.

"Of course not. What did you say to him? Why is he just letting us go?"

"Just a little guy talk, what's more important is that I found out that Crais is nearby. We gotta get out of here and the sooner the better. We have to contact Moya."

"Not while they could still be watching us." Aeryn suddenly stopped and knelt down to adjust her boot. She glanced surreptitiously behind her. "I don't see anyone. It should be safe."

John nodded and spoke into the communicator, "D'argo, Zhaan!"

"John," Zhaan answered, "how is the date going?"

"The restaurant was a little crowded so we were forced to cut things short but we can talk about my social life later. This is important, Crais is in the area! We're headed back to the Prowler now."

"We need to leave orbit immediately," D'argo cut in.

"We'll be there as soon as we can but maybe you should go ahead and leave orbit, prepare Moya for starburst. Until we get there hide somewhere."

"Hide a Leviathan? How do you suggest that we do that?" D'argo said derisively.

"I don't know, think of something! The only advantage we have is that we know that he's out there and he doesn't know that we're here. We'll stay in contact and be there as soon as we can."

D'argo grumbled, ''We should leave them on the planet and come back for them later. How the yotz do they expect us to hide something as large as Moya?"

Zhaan tilted her head thoughtfully. "Perhaps we should ask someone who may have some experience in the area of deception." She activated her communicator, "Chiana, I would like to speak to you. Would you please come to the....."

Aeryn lead the way back toward her Prowler as she and Crichton resisted the urge to run, and perhaps attract unwanted attention. John scanned the area around them as they hurried through the streets. "Hey, Aeryn, wait up a sec, I think I saw something." A flash of black glimpsed down a sidestreet raised alarm bells. He took another look and decided that he must have been wrong. He turned back to his fellow fugitive only to find her gone. "Aeryn! Aeryn!" He started running.

When the discharge from the stasis gun hit him, he didn't even see it coming.

The door opened and John's limp body was thrown unceremoniously into the cell. The door closed. Aeryn left the corner where she had been standing and knelt by the body, checking for a pulse. She felt the tight knot in her stomach unravel a bit when she found one. She sat beside him on the cold, hard floor. Almost as an afterthought she took his head and cushioned it on her lap. Then she waited.

She had counted three-hundred and twenty microts when his body jerked and his eyes fluttered.

"Aeryn?" he said, looking up at her face from where his head lay on her lap. "Did you get the license plate number of that truck that hit me?"

Aeryn rolled his head off of her lap and stood quickly.

Crichton rolled onto his face and lay there for a few minutes before breathing deeply and turning back over. "Ohhh, god, Aeryn could you have been a little rougher? I think that there's a spot on my little toe that doesn't hurt," he said through clenched teeth. He raised his right arm for her to take his hand and help him up.

Sun took his hand and pulled him into a sitting position.

He sat there blinking his eyes. "What did they do to me?" he groaned.

"A stasis gun. It doesn't do any damage."

"Then the chills, headache, nausea, and double vision aren't a sign of damage. That's good to know."

"Those will pass, probably before Crais gets here and executes us." Aeryn went and sat on the lone bunk in the sparsely furnished cell.

Crichton slowly and cautiously stood. "Lucky me." When the room stopped spinning, he walked over to inspect the door. "I guess that our act didn't fool them after all."

"Our act? You were the one doing all the talking."

He pulled on the door in frustration then turned and went to sit beside her. "Maybe so," he sighed, "but you drawing on a room full of gun happy Peacekeepers seemed just a tad suicidal to me."

The door began to open and both stood. Aeryn balanced herself on the balls of her feet to be ready to attack if she got the opportunity. A man stepped in with his pulse rifle pointed at them. Through the still open door they could see guards in the corridor behind him. Escape frustrated, Aeryn looked at the Peacekeeper who stood in front of them.

"Erique," she said, trying hard to keep her voice steady.

"You know this guy?" Crichton asked glancing over at her.

"The prisoner will remain quiet," Erique said to Crichton. "Failure to do so will result in physical consequences." He then turned his gaze on Sun.

"I noticed you as soon as you walked into that eatery. I couldn't believe it when that nurf herding Lieutenant let you go." He walked closer. "You're surprised to see me here, I can tell. I don't really know why since it's your fault. When you turned traitor the whole unit lost honor and was demoted. I was transferred to this frellin' base in the Uncharted Territories."

"Aeryn's not a traitor!" Crichton began in her defense.

Erique reversed his pulse rifle and brought the butt up under John's chin, knocking him backward onto the bunk. He brought it back to bear on Aeryn before she could do more than glare at him. "I said that the prisoner will not to speak!"

John rubbed his chin but made no move to rise. "If you were in her unit then how could you believe that about her," he said unsteadily. "Crais never gave her a chance. She said something that he didn't like so he declared she was irreversibly contaminated."

"You will be quiet!" Erique demanded.

"He was going to have her executed because she was HONORABLE. She didn't deserve it! And then when I escaped, she didn't want to leave. She was going to stay and die for no good reason just because she thought it was her duty!"

Erique raised the rifle and took a step toward Crichton.

Aeryn placed herself between them and calmly looked into her former comrade's face. "Yes, Crichton," she said, answering John's original question to her. "I know this man and I thought he knew me. Erique was my wing-man for almost three cycles. I saved his life, he saved mine. I thought we were friends as well as comrades. If he believes what Crais says about me, nothing that you say will make a difference."

Erique met her gaze squarely. They stared at each other, neither one blinking. Finally, the black clad Peacekeeper growled and backed out the door. He slammed it behind him.

Aeryn stood and looked at the door for several microts. When she thought that her emotions were sufficiently controlled, she went to check on Crichton. She offered him her hand and for the second time in less than an arn, helped him to sit up. Seeing that he appeared as well as could be expected, she sat stiffly beside him, her face impassive. After her initial inspection of his injury, she wouldn't meet his eyes.

John sat uneasily beside her. Aeryn was trying so hard not to show any emotion that he was certain that she was hurting as much emotionally as he was physically. He wanted to make it better, hell, he wanted to take all of her pain away. He just didn't know how to do it. "Aeryn," he said softly.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said in a dead tone, "I don't want to think about it either." She turned to him. "If we were still on your date, what would we be doing now?"

"Well, let me think." If the only thing he could do to help her was to distract her, then he would do his best. "After we had eaten we would linger over our dessert and coffee. You would laugh at all of my jokes, I would be fascinated by your job, I would tell you how I was building a prototype space vehicle. You would ask questions about it that I wouldn't answer because the project was classified. You would tease me about being pretentious. The light from the candle on the table would make glossy shimmers in your hair and make me want to touch it." He tentatively reached out and lifted a strand of her hair and rubbed it gently between his fingers before bringing it to his lips. "We'd realize that we had gotten so wrapped up in each other that we'd forgotten the time and missed the show that we were going to see."

He paused and when he began talking again, his voice was lower and more intimate. "We'd decide to go for a walk instead. It would be a warm, spring evening and I'd drive us to a local park. The air would be vibrant with the sounds of crickets and frogs. The earth would be so alive that you could smell it like a perfume. I'd take your hand, cautiously at first to make sure that you wouldn't pull it away." He reached out and took her right hand in his left. He ran his thumb in a caress across its back. "You'd say something like how bright the stars looked. We'd stop walking and I would point out and name the constellations." His voice became huskier as he described their encounter. He moved his face closer to hers, their lips only inches apart. He could feel her warm breath. She leaned toward him.

The door opened abruptly, startling them both and causing them to jump apart. Aeryn leapt to her feet, taking John's hand with her and pulling him to his feet before releasing it. Unfortunately, he was hit by another episode of vertigo and immediately went down on his knees.

The nurf herding Lieutenant Kreel entered with two guards who fanned out to either side of the door. Kreel had his sidearm in its holster but the guards were armed and ready for potentially dangerous prisoners. "Stand up!" Kreel demanded of Crichton.

Crichton fought down a wave of dizziness and nausea as he carefully rose to his feet.

Kreel looked at Aeryn, his face set in angry lines. "Ex-officer Aeryn Sun, deserter of Pleisar Regiment, Icarian company, you helped three criminals escape with a Leviathan and were declared irreversibly contaminated and sentenced to execution." He transferred his gaze to Crichton. "You are not in our Indentifiles but Captain Crais seemed most interested in you when he was informed that a Sebacean male was captured with Sun. He is on his way to the base and insisted that you be placed in his custody as soon as he landed." He scrutinized the human. "What ever your crimes, impersonation of an officer has now been added to them. The penalty for that is execution."

"Well, get in line," John said mumbled.

The Lieutenant deliberately turned his back on the captives and walked back to the door to stand between the guards. "Ex-officer Sun, you could earn the mercy of the court and save yourself from official interrogation by cooperating and telling me where the three escaped convicts can be found. We have checked and the Leviathan is not currently in orbit around this commerce planet. Redeem your honor and tell me where they went."

Aeryn held herself at attention, eyes straight ahead and did not respond.

Kreel nodded and smiled in anticipation. "All right then if you won't volunteer the information then we will take it from you. Guard, take her." One of the two guards moved forward while the other continued to cover the prisoners.

"She doesn't know where they are!" Crichton intervened.

"Crichton!" Aeryn said sharply.

"She doesn't know where they are because they abandoned us here!"

"And why would they do that, abandon a comrade?" Kreel sneered.

"They had been held prisoner by Peacekeepers for cycles. Officer Sun was a Peacekeeper. They never trusted her. They dumped her the first good chance they got," Crichton explained.

"That might explain why they sent her down but why you? According to our files, you are not a Peacekeeper."

"That's not the half of it, I'm not even..."

"Important." Aeryn jumped in quickly. "He wasn't important and he wasn't useful. He was a drain on their resources so they left him."

"If they were going to leave you here then why would they give you these?" Kreel said, holding out their communication badges.

"I said they abandoned us here. I guess they didn't want us to know what they were planning. They sent us to the planet and then left us here. The communicators don't work any more, the Leviathan is out of range." Crichton said tightly, fighting down the heave in his gorge.

"Plausible story," the Lieutenant said. "However, I am certain that that is all that it is, a story." He motioned. "Guards, take them both to interrogation." Kreel gave them one more dismissive look and then left through the still open door.

One of the guards brought out a pair of hand binders and started toward Sun as the other continued to cover them. "Hands behind your back," he said gruffly. Aeryn started to comply. Crichton suddenly bent over and started to retch. Even a trained Peacekeeper was unable to stop the distracted and involuntary disgust response of stepping back to avoid getting vomit on his boots.

Aeryn exploded into action. She rushed the guard in the split second that his eyes were down and pushed him into the other. Both were knocked back, the impact knocking the rifle out of position. Not losing her momentum, she kicked out with her foot. The guard who had been going to bind her arms went down in a huff as the air was knocked out of him. He lay unconscious on the floor. The other fought to regain his stance and reposition his rifle. He and Aeryn's hands were on it as they struggled.

"Stop!" Crichton shouted. He had recovered the rifle of the downed guard and pointed it threateningly at the one with whom Aeryn battled.

The guard opened his hands and allowed Aeryn to take the weapon. She adjusted the setting quickly and shot him.

"Aeryn!" John said in belated protest.

"I didn't kill him, he's only stunned," she said hurriedly as she stepped to the door and looked both ways up the corridors to make sure that they hadn't been heard. Seeing no one, she stepped back in, pulling the door too but not closing it completely. She knelt and began stripping the guard. "That was quick thinking, Crichton, distracting the guards like that. Here, put this on and let's get out of here." She handed him the jacket.

John, now feeling much better, lay down the rifle and shrugged into the jacket. It was a passable fit. His pants and boots were already black and to the casual eye he looked like any other Peacekeeper that might be wandering the halls. He picked back up the gun. "What about you?"

"There's nothing here that will fit me, I'll just have to chance it."

John looked around the small room. "Actually, there is one thing that will fit you just fine," he said as he reached to retrieve the binders. He explained his idea while Aeryn adamantly shook her head.

Aeryn put her hands behind her back allowing John to place the binders on them. "I can't believe that I'm going along with another one of your plans."

"Yeah, well, I don't usually get into bondage on a first date either, Sunshine, but I'm guessing that there's a pretty strict dress code in this place. If this works out, all the other PeaceKeepers will just see a prisoner being escorted, besides I'm not even fastening them."

"If this works! More likely this is going to get us killed," she grumbled.

"It's not like we have a lot of time here, Aeryn. When we don't show up in that interrogation room, Lieutenant Nurf Herder is going to send someone to see what the problem is. It would be best if we weren't still here arguing about this." He finished fixing the binders and stepped back.

"I'm doing it aren't I," she snapped. "Come on," she growled as she nudged the door open with her foot and entered the corridor.

John walked behind her with his hands authoritatively placed on the pulse rifle. "I figure that we have five, maybe ten minutes before someone comes looking. Do you think we can get to an exit before that?"

Aeryn felt naked without her weapons and totally exposed. She could see other Peacekeepers walking toward them and crossing corridors in front of them. "I don't know. We need to get to transport," she became quiet as a group of three soldiers passed them. They glanced briefly at her but then put their eyes back front and center and walked on by. "Luckily, all Peacekeeper bases are laid out in the same configuration."

Suddenly, the hallway sounded with a low level hum. "What is that? Are we busted?" Crichton asked with a certain amount of dread.

"General alert to signify an escape," Aeryn said as she began to run down a vacant hallway, shrugging out of the binders. She glanced quickly behind her to see if the soldiers whom she had just passed were in pursuit as well as to make sure that Crichton was following her. The corridor ended in a wall.

"A dead end," Crichton panted as he came up beside her. He turned and watched the hallway that they had just run down, rifle at the ready. "Come on, we have to go back."

"No, it's here somewhere. It has to be!" Aeryn frantically ran her hands along the walls. "There, up there! Help me!" She pointed to a corner of the ceiling. "An interior maintenance access hatch."

Crichton looked up at the area that she indicated and noticed a round hatch recessed into the ceiling. He took a few steps over, readjusted the rifle and then knelt down and pretended to be a ladder. He grunted slightly as Aeryn climbed shakily onto his shoulder in order to reach the covering. He heard, rather than saw, her slap the center of the hatch. Then her weight seemed to increase as she used his back for a platform in order to jump and then lever herself up and through the opening. He stood and looking up saw her head framed by the now open hatch.

"Throw me the rifle," she whispered tensely. Crichton tossed the gun up and she deftly caught it. "Now come on." She reached down her hand to help him.

John stepped back as far as the space would allow and then ran. He jumped at the wall and used his momentum to give him lift. Catching Aeryn's hand, he used it to guide him to the entrance. First one hand and then the other caught the lip of the opening. He pulled himself up with Aeryn continuing to tug at him while whispering urgently for him to hurry. With a final great effort he threaded his upper body through the hatch and then pulled up his legs. Once in, Aeryn secured the hatch.

They squatted quietly beside the portal as below them they heard the sound of several boot clad pairs of feet running. Quickly the sound receded.

John looked at Aeryn and tilted his head in a cocky fashion while giving her a devil-may-care smile. She met his eyes, her relief at their narrow and perhaps temporary escape evident. Slowly John's expression changed to one of seriousness. He leaned in close to her and pitched his voice low, suggesting intimacy. "Aeryn, that was a little close." He briefly looked down as if gathering his thoughts. "I know this isn't the time or the place but I've been thinking and it's possible that we won't make it. This could be my last chance to ask you a question that I have been wanting to ask for some time."

Aeryn suddenly found her mouth dry with a different type of fear. "Yes?"

He leaned in closer, his lips practically brushing her ear. "What's a nurf?"

Aeryn wrinkled her brow and sat stunned for a few microts. Then she pushed John over causing him to sit back heavily. She stood and attempted to stalk quietly through the narrow passageway. The tension of their predicament abated for the present, John dusted himself off and followed her.

The maintenance walkway was crowded with conduits and lit with a dim red light. The two escapees didn't go very far before they were forced to climb down a short ladder. After that they were literally walking behind the walls. They moved quietly but every so often stopped and held their breaths as they heard voices. Aeryn stopped briefly at each intersection before venturing confidently forward. They passed several apparent exits but always Aeryn moved onward. John wanted to question her about their path and destination but didn't dare speak for fear they might be heard.

Time seems to move differently during a crisis. It slows down. After what seemed a very long time but actually was only a few moments, Aeryn found herself before what, she dearly hoped, was the appropriate egress. She placed her ear to the door and listened intently. Satisfied, she slapped the center of the hatch with her open palm. The door obediently moved slightly forward. Aeryn listened again and then slid a hand through the narrow slit created by the space between the door and the wall. She slid the covering silently to the side. She met Crichton's eyes and with a quick nod, slipped through. She took up a defensive stance while Crichton exited, then closed the door as quietly as she opened it.

John found himself standing in a very large garage. There were several, well, actually he didn't know what they were but supposed they were the Sebacean version of hum-vees. Aeryn tapped his shoulder to get his attention. She gestured with her head and slinked from vehicle to vehicle, using the transports for cover as she made her way toward the large, open exit and possible freedom. John heard Aeryn give an almost inaudible gasp. He looked at her and then followed her gaze and saw.....her Prowler. It can't be this easy, he thought; and it wasn't.

"Put down your weapon! Now!"

The voice came from behind them. Aeryn had no idea how she could have allowed herself to be taken by surprise. She did know that she would much rather die a quick and honorable death in battle than be executed as a traitor. Considering what Crais would do to him, she made the same choice for Crichton. She turned toward the voice but didn't relinquish her rifle. There were three of them. She was out gunned and out maneuvered. She glanced over at Crichton. "I'm sorry, John," she said as she prepared herself to die fighting, the same way that she had lived.

She was more than a little shocked when the trio suddenly fell, having been stunned from behind with a wide dispersion discharge of a pulse rifle. Her first thought was that D'argo had come to rescue them. She didn't have time for a second thought before Erique stepped out from behind a transport. She didn't lower her rifle from the ready or change her aggressive stance.

He walked forward. "You're not going to need that, Sun." Erique took a few more steps. "I've been thinking about what your friend there said. The Aeryn Sun that I know would never be a traitor; not to her unit, her company or a fellow Peacekeeper." He dropped his rifle to his side. "I decided that I couldn't either. Hurry. Crais should be here within the arn."

Aeryn hesitated.

Erique gave her a lop-sided smile that transformed his face into one of boyish good looks. "Don't worry about me. As far as anyone is going to be concerned, I never left my station."

Aeryn inclined her head by way of acknowledgment and then hurried to her Prowler.

John stood there a second longer, astonished by this turn of events. "Thanks," he said. It seemed inadequate but it was the only thing that he could think to say.

"Just guard her back," Erique replied.

John nodded sincerely, turned and ran to the Prowler.

After the last few arns, the trip off planet seemed rather anticlimactic. Once they left orbit, Crichton found himself wondering where he would hide if he were a living ship as big as a small asteroid.

"They've probably left us," Aeryn said.

"What?" John asked, hoping that the female Sebacean wasn't suddenly developing the ability to read his mind.

"Zhaan, D'argo and the others have probably left. When we didn't contact them, I'm certain that they assumed the worst and starburst away for their own safety. Who could blame them?" she explained, her voice steady. "Even if they didn't, the Peacekeepers took our communication badges and we have no way to contact them."

"Don't be so pessimistic, Aeryn. We got away from the Peacekeepers. The way I see it, we've got a good chance."

Aeryn's voice was hushed. "I don't know, John, perhaps we never did have a chance."

The cockpit seemed unnaturally quiet. Aeryn kept her same trajectory away from the planet. "We need to decide where to go," she said finally. "We have a limited amount of fuel but we can probably make it to another planet in this system. The problem is that the commerce planet is the only one habitable for anthropoid life."

John was only half paying attention to what she was saying, "Hey, Aeryn, what does this squiggly line mean?"

"What? Let me see." She looked at the console. "That squiggly line means that we are saved. There is a Leviathan transport pod buoy out there and it's transmitting a message loop on a very short frequency band, a band used by Prowler pilots to communicate between ships. It's giving us Moya's coordinates."

It didn't take long to locate Moya. She was hiding behind the sun. Apparently they had detected a coded message sent on a Peacekeeper transmission band and went in the opposite direction. Aeryn flew the Prowler into the docking bay and they both climbed out. DRD's darted around their feet. The acceleration backlash of Moya entering starburst caught them unprepared. Aeryn was flung into John and they both crashed to the floor, arms and legs intertwined. After a few microts, everything quit shaking. A few microts after that, they began sorting out whose limb belonged to whom.

Aeryn smacked at John's hand when it lingered on a limb that wasn't his.

"Hey, I was just trying to help you up," John protested.

"Well, I'm up now." She waited for him to stand and then walked toward the corridor.

John watched her hips slightly sway as she walked away.

Aeryn stopped and looked back at him. "What are you waiting for?"

"Just keeping a promise," he said coming up beside her. "You know, Aeryn, our date isn't officially over yet."

"You've got to be joking," she responded. "All right, what is left to do?"

"I've got to walk you to your door."

"Is this important?" she said as they fell into step together. Several DRD's skittered down the hall with them.

"Maybe the most important part."

"The most important part of the date is the end?"

"Can be, Sunshine." He smiled.

"How?"

"The end is sometimes the beginning," he replied cryptically.

"Just tell me what to expect, Crichton."

"Now that depends on a lot of factors, like if you had a good time and how tired you are."

"Let me think, we were captured and could have died so I really can't say that I've had a good time."

"But consider the company."

"I'm too tired to consider the company." She pulled up at the entrance to her room and opened the door. "On second thought, if I was going to be executed, I can't think of anyone else that I would want to share that with."

"I'll take that as a compliment." John moved in closer when Aeryn turned to face him. "We're here," he used his chin to indicate her open door, "I guess that just leaves the good night kiss."

"The good night kiss? That's mandatory on a date?" she said in a tone that was either exasperated or playful, John couldn't decide which.

He put his hand on the wall beside her head, so that his arm was touching her hair, and leaned forward letting his arm support some of his weight. "Absolutely....not. It's strictly voluntary."

"In that case." Aeryn's eyes softened and her lips parted invitingly.

John's head moved ever so slowly forward, his eyes hungry with anticipation. Their lips barely brushed.

"John, Aeryn!" D'argo's voice bellowed from around the corner.

The pair jumped guiltily apart. John turned toward the voice. Aeryn ducked into her room and closed the grating.

"Good night, John."

John sighed his acceptance of the inevitable. "Night, Aeryn." He started walking toward D'Argo, running his thumb lightly over his bottom lip and then offered a cocky smile to the pair of chattering DRD's that escorted him up the hall.

"All in all, I think the date went pretty well," he said to no one in particular.

End