The Elephant Ep2.14: First Strike

Meryl felt the wondrous last tugs of sleep fall away and yawned. She hadn't slept this well in quite a while. There was no noise from behind her so she assumed the room was empty. Then that odd feeling came back. Someone was watching her. "I told you not to do that." Tom snapped out of his trance and moved his eyes away. He glanced back down at the piece of paper on the table and then stuffed it with his other belongings. "When did you tell me that?" Meryl shushed him and pulled the blankets away from her body. The familiar burning sensation started in her stomach. "Go get me some food would you."

Tom shook his head and laughed. "You know, you weren't this lazy before." She scowled at him and stood up from the bed. His eyes followed her across the room. Noticing it, Meryl stopped and glared back. A moment passed with just the two of them standing like that. "Is something bothering you?" She couldn't help but think that something was wrong. The human hadn't been like this in a while. Tom shook his head slowly. "I'm fine." Having lost the ability to keep her mouth shut, Meryl pressed him. "Is this about what your mother said?" That got his attention right away.

John raced towards the hangar with his Luxan companion close behind. Holding his pistol out in front of him, he expected the worst. D'Argo caught up to him and raised his Qualta blade. "What do we do?" There was no response to that question that either of them could come up with. John looked into his eyes and frowned. "We'll figure that out when we get there." They continued on with tremendous speed.

In his den, Pilot watched their progress with growing alarm. Despite his attempts to check on the situation, he had no idea what was happening. The Regulator inside was emitting some sort of magnetic field that thwarted his sensors. "Crichton, have you arrived yet?" John responded through the comm channels. There was no other way at the moment. "We're almost there Pilot. You got anything?" The creature shook his head. "No, I'm sorry." Suddenly, sounds erupted from the enclosed area. "Crichton! I hear gunshots."

D'Argo growled angrily and smashed himself against the door. "Open you frelling piece of dren!" It wouldn't budge. John came up next to him and tried the same maneuver. "Pilot! Can you open the door?" The clamshell above their heads burst to life and revealed the creature. He shook his head. "It's been locked from the inside. Whatever is blocking my sensors will also not allow me to override it." Just as he said the words, a shout came from the other side. "John! Is that you?"

He pressed his ear up against the cool metal and smiled. "That's Aeryn." John slid to the ground and sighed with relief. She was alive for the moment. Without warning, the door slid open and pushed him back. Aeryn stood there with a pulse rifle in her hands and a bloody gash on her cheek. D'Argo stepped inside and looked around. "Where is it?" She pointed towards the brown ship. "In there." Seeing John, she walked over to him. "What's wrong with you?" The human looked up at her and shook his head. "I hate it when you do that."

His Qualta blade leading the way, D'Argo moved stealthily into the ship and looked around. A blood streak stained the wall across from the hatch. From its height and direction, he assumed the Regulator had thrown Aeryn against the wall. Looking back, the Luxan noticed that she did not appear injured. Beeping noises from the darkness beyond regained his attention. The visitor lay in a heap on the ground. His body was littered with pulse blasts. "How many did it take?" Aeryn walked up behind him and frowned. "Too many."

Chiana and Rygel had arrived in command moments after the two men had left. They now stood beside the large window. Staring nervously at the brown ships outside. "Do you think she's ok?" The Nebari looked down at her companion with worry on her face. He met her gaze and shook his head. "Aeryn can take care of herself. It'll be fine." Both of them stepped back as a Regulator vessel came very close to brushing against Moya. The ensuing tremors shook them in their places. "John, looks like the company's getting restless."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tom watched her struggle with a reply. Apparently, the woman had not given much thought to her question. "It was just that you got upset when she mentioned-." He interrupted her and raised his arms. "Hey, I didn't get upset. She caught me by surprise. That's all." Meryl didn't understand why he was acting so childish. "Exactly my point. Should I ask your mother when you told her about me? Or did someone else tell her?" Tom gritted his teeth. This was an argument he didn't want to get into.

Meryl saw the expression on his face and nodded. "I'm sorry. I don't want you to feel like you have to do that." She could feel her strong face cracking under the burden of unchecked emotion. What he did next confused her even more. Tom smiled as he shook his head. "Did you think I was going to ask you?" The ex-captain's face turned red. "I, I. It crossed my mind briefly. But only for a second." He walked over to her and pressed his hand against her cheek. It felt warm and inviting. "We'll just have to see then won't we?"

John heard Chiana's message and glanced over at his two companions. The thoughts running through his head at the moment would not please them. Aeryn noticed his troubled gaze first. "What are you thinking?" He frowned. "We killed one of theirs. What if they decide to hit back?" That same look of coldness and resolve returned to her face. It came out whenever a situation like this arose. "I killed him. No one else was involved. I will take the responsibility." There was a grunting sound from behind them.

"With all due respect Aeryn, there's no frelling way we would let you do that." D'Argo sheathed his blade and walked over to them. His own battle face had already fallen away to something warmer. "Well then what do you suggest?" Aeryn turned to face him. Their steely eyes met in an odd moment of territorial aggression. John raised his hand. They looked over at him with the usual doubt. A Crichton plan was never a good thing.

Zhaan smiled at the woman as they finished putting away all the fallen medical supplies. Despite their stark contrasts in appearance, the two of them were getting along well. Rachel returned the gesture. "Thank you for this. As strange as it may sound, cleaning up like this makes me feel better. Brings a sort of familiarity to this place." The Delvian nodded slowly. She understood what it felt like to be in a completely alien environment. "You'll get used to it. Like we all have to some degree." Her comm went off.

John tapped his comm with more force than he intended. "Zhaanie, I need a favor." Her voice came through right away. "Of course, anything. What's going on up there John?" He sighed and went into the details. The Delvian was not pleased with what she heard. Deliberately agitating an aggressive force was not exactly Pa'u practice. "That stuff we used to blow up Scorpy's base. You still have some of that?" Zhaan glanced over at the drums that lined the wall across from her. "Plenty of it. Why?" She sensed a plan coming on.

Aeryn rubbed some of the blood off her cheek and wiped it on her pants. She wasn't known for caring much about style. "Isn't that a bit extreme? We don't even know if-." The brown figure beside her began to shake violently. A light on its chest began to glow brightly. Seeing this, John grabbed for his comm again. "Chiana! What's going on outside?" The Nebari's tense chatter erupted from the device.

"They've started circling us. Really fast." Rygel followed the movement with his eyes until he felt dizzy. "I think I'm going to throw up." Chiana scowled at him and moved away. "Well do it somewhere else." She looked back to the window and frowned. The Regulators outside were increasing their speed. It was getting hard to keep track of them. "Is something wrong?" From the hangar, John sighed. "I think we made it mad."

Meryl wrapped her arms around him as he pushed her up against the table. Their lips met for a moment. Tom smacked the table with his foot and knocked the comm off of it. The shiny piece of metal hit the ground and turned on. "...made it mad." They both stopped and turned to look at the source of the sound. The ex-captain let go of him and reached for the comm. "John, Aeryn. What's going on?" There were yells from the background as the others in the hangar tried to talk over each other. "Frell this." Meryl ran out the door leaving Tom to watch in confusion.

"I hate to interject with reality John, but there are several ships out there. We can't destroy them all." Aeryn watched the look on his face turn serious. Obviously, the stubborn human was not going to let go so easily. "Fine, but if one attacks us, we might make it." That seemed like as good a time as any for Pilot to break in with the bad news. "Crichton, one of the Regulators is headed straight for us." They looked up towards the outer hanger and saw it bearing down on them. "Pilot, Starburst!"

Everyone was knocked to the ground as Moya prepared to starburst away. Sparkles of blue and white light spread across her hull and finally formed a portal. The ship passed through it and left the tense scene. "Is everyone alright?" Pilot was on the comms as soon as it ended. He had not detected any changes. In one of the tiers below, Meryl lifted herself off the ground. "Oh, I'm doing just fine Pilot." His face appeared on the screen next to her. "My apologies."

John stared up at the ceiling in a confused daze. He could hear distant voices from his place on the floor. "John! Are you alright?" Aeryn bent over him with D'Argo close behind. He shook his head and felt ringing in his ears. "Great." She pulled him up and sat him down at the workbench. "Are they still following?" She shook her head. "No, Pilot says nothing came after us." This sparked something in the scientist part of his mind. "Didn't that happen the last time?" Aeryn did not understand.

Pilot looked up to see John running into the den. The human's face was riddled with excitement. "Do you have another plan?" Crichton nodded his head. "Can you fix a signal on the Regulator ships? Starburst back to them?" The creature had no idea what he was getting at. But at times like these, why argue? "Yes, but why would we want to do that?" John smiled as he came closer to the console. "I was hoping you'd say that."

D'Argo walked into the lab and found two worried women standing there. "Is everything alright?" Rachel locked her eyes on him and waited for a reply. "We're not sure. Crichton has a plan." Zhaan groaned from behind the two of them. "What?" The Luxan and Delvian glanced at each other and smiled. "John's plans don't usually work out." D'Argo looked over at the containers. "Are they ready?" The priestess nodded. He picked one up and dragged it out of the room.

"Did I not tell you that you were insane? I think I did." Aeryn shook her head angrily as she heard the revised plan. Beside her, Pilot was not looking too happy about it either. "Even if I could initiate starburst twice in such a short span of time, it would be dangerous." John nodded his head as they spoke. He knew how crazy it sounded but to him it all made sense. Everything they had learned up until now supported his theory. "We have to at least try. Running away doesn't always work." The decision was made.

"John, there's a problem." Zhaan watched the Luxan grab the last container as she spoke into the comm. "Last time, we had the transport pod to ignite the weapon. I can't make it go off by itself without killing all of us." From the den, John was about to respond when a clicking sound made him freeze. Someone else had heard the message. "Hey, who's there?" No answer came from the third party.

Rygel grabbed Chiana's arm and pulled. "There's still time. We can get to the transport pod." She shook him off and headed for the door. The Hynerion was not giving up. "It won't work Chiana! You know that. I don't want to die." Chiana ignored his outbursts and walked out into the hallway. Up ahead she could see someone. "D'Argo, that you?" He turned around to face her. "Can I help?" He motioned towards the container. "Pick up that end." They moved quickly towards the hanger.

"Crichton! The prowler has just left through the outer hanger." Pilot's urgent warning was too late. Moments later they saw the black ship glide past the window. "If Aeryn's here.." John shook his head. "Meryl!" There was a crackling sound from the comm on Pilot's console. "I'm here John. Just launch the drums and I'll light them up." The human was not about to let her do that. He switched channels. "Tom, get up here. Your girlfriend's gone nuts."

Tom ran as fast as he could towards the den. Unfortunately, he had never been much of a runner. "Meryl, listen to me. They'll find another way. Just come back in." He knew how stubborn she could be. Talking would not get her to stop. "Don't worry about me. I wouldn't let myself get killed now." Now where had he heard that before? Tom started breathing heavily as he neared Pilot's room. "John, she's staying out there."

John Crichton ignored the wary looks on the faces of his friends and smiled reassuringly. "Trust me, this will work." That sounded better in his head. Pilot shrugged and began tapping buttons on the console. "Redirecting power now." The lights went out and then returned to a dim glow. Every DRD in the ship stopped dead. All unnecessary power was being diverted to the starburst engines. "How much longer Pilot?" Aeryn grabbed on to the wall as they waited for a reply. "Whenever you're ready commander."

Moya reinitiated starburst and headed into the shining portal again. The entire ship shook violently as they passed through it. Everyone on board held on for their lives as the tremors continued. John smiled as they came out and met the Regulator ships. Just as he had thought, all of them were caught off guard. "They didn't know?" Aeryn was beginning to understand. He tapped his comm. "Now D'Argo!" From the open hangar doors, several golden drums flew out into space and collided with the nearest brown vessel. "It's done!" The Luxan shouted back.

Meryl's prowler burst from the transportation process at an odd angle. It flew towards the scene in an endless somersault. "Docking web Pilot! I need some control." The creature acknowledged her request and soon she could feel the ship stabilizing. The metal drums were out in front of her. "Firing now!" Pulse shots erupted from the cannons below her and smashed their targets. The ensuing explosion was massive. A shockwave came back at her and threw the prowler back the way it had come. "Meryl! Did it work?"

John looked out the window and frowned. Through the blazing fireball that had formed, he couldn't tell if the ship had gone with it. "Answer me!" His comm began to crackle as a message came through. "See for yourself." He glanced up again and saw chunks of brown flying towards Moya at tremendous speeds. "Pilot, starburst" The creature behind him nodded. "I'm trying." Aeryn growled. "I knew this wouldn't work." Their view was suddenly obstructed by blue and white spirals of energy. "I love it when I'm right. Most of the time."

<<<<>>>>

Braca had done his job better than she could have hoped. Behind the two-way mirror, Helen watched the detestable hybrid rub an anxious hand against his head. "He'll need a coolant rod soon." She turned to find her assistant standing there with a box of said items. There was no rush. Apparently, the science vessel Artanis had not done as good a job as it was supposed to. Someone had survived one of the gammek base attacks. "Thank you Lt. You may go now." Braca moved a hand involuntarily to his nose. "Where, Madam High Counselor?" Helen turned to him. "I'll think of something."

Sil removed a blue rod from the box and placed it in her master's hand. Helen looked down at it and smiled. "What do you suppose he's thinking right now?" The young girl shrugged and moved a strand of hair from her eyes. "I wouldn't know. Never met the ma-, creature before." Raynor shook her head. "It doesn't matter. He's going to be dead soon anyway."

Scorpius glanced up from the table and followed the sound he had heard. The special sensors installed inside his head came in handy every once in a while. "I do not think so." He smiled and ran his fingers over the cool metal in front of him. He still had work to do. The sequence that met him every time he closed his eyes had to be utilized. If that meant seeking outside support, then so be it.

<<<<>>>>

The tired leviathan drifted aimlessly above the quiet planet. Thankfully, there had been no hostile welcomes or surprises. The crew had separated to their respective places after the tense ordeal. It was time to relax and maybe sleep a little. Tom met Meryl in the hanger and together they walked silently back to their room. She went directly for the bed and fell into it. "So tired." The human shook his head, amused. "You just got up." She shot him a look and closed her eyes. "Did I not just risk my life for you people again? Have some respect." Tom smiled and decided not to push it any further. "Scoot over."

Chiana was cleaning up her quarters for what seemed like the tenth time that day. The upheaval earlier had sent her things flying around the room. Looking beside her bed, she spotted the piece of paper that D'Argo had given her. "Yeah, I could use some soon right about now." A knock at the door made her stop. The person she had just been thinking of stood their with a smile on his face. "Can I come in?" The Nebari gave him a look that said it all. D'Argo stepped inside and sat down beside her. "Things are going to get bad soon." Chiana nodded. "I don't want to waste any more time."

Zhaan felt that strange sensation inside her again. The same one that had plagued her before John and Tom went to earth. The feeling that something difficult was coming soon. Something that none of them could escape from. Recent events showed her that the time was coming soon. "Are you alright?" Rachel stood in front of her with a container tucked under each arm. "You zoned out there for a moment." The Delvian did not understand. "Zoned?" A humming sound came from behind them. "It means you're daydreaming again." Rygel entered the room and grinned.

John jumped up and sat on the console as he patted Pilot's tired face. "How are you feeling?" The creature turned to him and smiled. "We're both alright. It will take some time to regain full power though." Crichton nodded and looked over at Aeryn. She sat silently below them with a strange look on her face. "What's wrong with you?" The ex-peacekeeper glanced up at him and forced a smile. "I'm fine too." John shook his head doubtfully. "I've heard that before. Tell me." Aeryn frowned. "This is how it always starts."

They stared into each other's eyes as the words sank in. John was the first to speak. "This is how what always starts?" Aeryn sighed and lifted herself up. She walked towards the door and turned as she neared it. "Death."