Listen up cause this is important. The direction I'm taking this season allows me to follow the sci-fi format. The last four episodes will be consist of a three parter followed by the season finale. Needless to say, those four eps will have a lot of important stuff. So the four eps that precede them are of the set-up variety. They won't be as action packed or whatever. You understand

The Elephant Ep2.18: Suicidal Gestures

Sil turned the comm off and placed it back inside her case. Looking around, she made sure once again that no one had seen the exchange. The young girl was reassured and moved to enter the interrogation chamber. Scorpius had abandoned the table while she was gone. He lay silently on the floor with an odd look on his face. "Are you alright?" The hybrid glanced up at her and smiled. "How much does it matter to you?" Sil returned the gesture and knelt down beside him with a twinkle in her eye. "More than you know."

Outside the Velorion, a single marauder flew towards the open hangar doors with incredible speed. Its passenger had business to conduct that could wait no longer. "Identify yourself." The automated voice came on just as he expected. "This is General Hallin. Let me pass." The targeting systems disappeared from his computer and he was allowed access. Watching the floating fortress from space, the man wondered if it could be defeated in battle. Such a feat had never been accomplished. Despite this model's relative newness, many like her existed that were much older.

The wall monitor flashed on as she started to help him up. "What is it?" A meek voice from the other side came through immediately. Everyone knew not to mess with the High Counselor's right hand girl. It angered her sometimes. "The general has returned, Miss." Sil smiled and nodded happily. The plan was proceeding as scheduled. "Very well. I'll be waiting." Scorpius looked up from his stupor. "Who is here?" The girl wiped a strand of hair from her face. "Don't worry about it." He raised his hand towards her and she knocked it away. "Stay."

Hallin stepped out of the ship and touched the metal ground of a peacekeeper High Command Vessel. He had been on many during his tenure but none worried him like this one. Even the frelling teks and grunts looked at him differently. "Raynor." The general shook his head in disgust as he moved to his destination. An officer was coming down the hall in front of him with a strange look on his face. "Is there a problem?" The younger man realized who he was and saluted stiffly. "We've been recording some strange activity. Not sure what it is yet" Hallin stared at the man for several seconds and then turned away. He wondered if a Scarren could be trusted.

Scorpius looked around the room with analytical eyes. He had allowed the girl to see him weak and unable to stand. This was exactly what was necessary. She turned away from him and began going through the contents of her bag. "Stupid girl." Sil glanced back at him just as he said the words. "Did you say something?" The animal in him wanted to tear her head off. Somehow the scientist always won these battles. Scorpius shook his head. She went back to her work and sighed. It was time to strike.

<<<<>>>>

Tom stared across the table and tried not to make eye contact with the woman. She never looked away from him though. Her glare burned like a laser on his face. The human could feel heat rising in his cheeks. He was turning red. "0377, the number assigned to you on the Hyperion." Helen stopped and waited for him to answer. "Sure." The gloved hand was across the table in seconds. Tom felt it smack hard against him and knock his body backwards against the wall. "Sure is not an answer, 0377. Yes or no?"

"Fine, yes." Helen nodded and continued with the interrogation. In front of her, a digital file sat with all the information they had on him. She had memorized every line. "Do you know why they gave you that number?" Tom started to shrug but decided against it. His cheek was still burning. "Prison code. Everybody gets one." Helen shook her head and grinned maliciously. "Not exactly. Yours differs from others. I think you know why." He had no idea what she was talking about. This time all he could do was shrug.

"Do you know who Scorpius is?" Tom nodded his head right away. "Nasty guy with grey skin and leather outfit." The look on Helen's face made him curious. Almost as if she was agreeing with him. The High Counselor rose from her seat and pulled a tarp off an item in the corner. A long metal object, burnt and scarred, sat there. Three numbers where still visible on its side. 377. "We recovered this from Scorpius's gammek base. You two share a common-." Helen stopped herself again. Despite the interest she held in this subject, there were more important things to take care of. "About Meryl Ray-."

The alarm went off before she could finish a sentence. Tom covered his ears and dove to the ground. Helen did the same but grabbed on to his arm. Through the blaring noise, she shouted out to him. "Do not attempt anything." He nodded. "I wasn't planning to." A knock on the door made them both turn. She stood and walked over to it. "Who's there?" There was a muffled answer from the other side but Tom couldn't hear it. "Frell." He heard that.

The grey cloud cut across space and headed directly for the big, metal ship. Teks on the command deck watched the eerie phenomenon with both fear and curiosity. "Do you have any idea what that is?" Bale, the officer who had brought Tom in, stood from his place in the back and walked over to the scanning station. One of the teks looked up at him. "Readings are coming in now." One the screen, the mass appeared with a green light shining over it. Information was pouring in. "I have no idea what it is, but I do know where it came from." Bale glanced out the window and then back to the man. "Where?" The tek's expression was grim. "One of the destroyed gammek bases. They were studying it there."

The command carrier rocked from side to side as the cloud collided with it. Instrument panels sparked and exploded around the frightened men. "Are we going to die?" Bale covered his head as pieces of shrapnel flew over him. "I have no idea." He couldn't even see the tek anymore. A window shattered nearby and suddenly neither of them could breath.

Helen pulled herself away from the door and looked over at the alarm system. She smashed it with her fist and the siren stopped. The prisoner she held stood from the ground and looked over at her. "What's going on?" Regaining her composure, she met his gaze. "Some sort of escaped lab experiment. We'll be safe in here." The room shook violently and knocked them both to the floor. Tom frowned as images of floating bodies in space filled his head. He had seen that before. "What about the people outside?" Helen didn't answer.

<<<<>>>>

Aeryn ran into Pilot's den with a hand already on her pistol. It sat in the holster just waiting to be used again. "How many of them Pilot?" The creature looked up from his work and pointed to the visual brought up on the console. A group of four prowlers had taken strategic positions around Moya. One was waiting just outside the hangar for someone to try escaping. "I would not advise you to take your ship Officer Sun." She scowled at him but nodded. There was no way she was going out there. "Thank you for the advice Pilot but-."

John came in behind them and froze when he saw the image on screen. He moved his gaze over to Aeryn. "Hey, If you're here, whose in the prowler?" The ex-peacekeeper smashed her fist down on the console. "That frelling idiot!" The human did not understand but he was not going to wait for an explanation. Aeryn pushed past him and stepped out into the hall. "Pilot, get on the line with her right now. Try to keep her from getting all the way out." John turned to the creature in confusion. Pilot shrugged. "Women."

Meryl maneuvered the black ship through the inner hangar as slowly as possible. She had registered the waiting enemy the moment she hit the air. "Let's see how good of a pilot you are." The confidence was mostly an act though. Flying wasn't exactly her speciality. "Meryl, you must turn around. They'll shoot you down." Aeryn's voice sounded quite concerned. Oddly, that made her feel a bit better about the situation. "I can take care of myself thank you."

Chiana nudged her Delvian companion out of the way to get a better look. "If you wanted room, you should've just asked for it." Zhaan was not in the best of moods right now. The Nebari knew not to get her temper going. "Sorry, just a little nervous." The older woman did not smile. Outside, the remaining three prowlers circled Moya in a continuous loop. They were looking for the right place to strike. "Isn't it time for you to say something ominous and frightening?" Zhaan narrowed her eyes at the girl. "I believe the view is more than enough."

Rachel and D'Argo rushed back into the hangar just in time to see the prowler as it moved closer to the exit. The Luxan warrior cursed and pulled out his comm. "We're not going to be able to get her back John." There was a simple grunt from the other end. Rachel looked at her companion with a confused expression. "Why exactly are we trying to stop her? Isn't that what you people do all the time?" D'Argo glanced down at her with a frown. "That girl carries another life with her. The circumstances are different." She nodded slightly and turned to leave the room. "We're going to get him back." Rachel didn't reply.

The prowler came to a screeching halt and actually nudged the hangar doors with its nose. Meryl growled and punched the comm. "Pilot! Open the doors." The sound of someone fumbling for something to say came through. Finally, the creature spoke. "Officer Sun instructed me to keep you inside. At the moment, I believe her judgement to be wiser." She shook her head angrily and started pressing buttons on the console. "If you don't open the door right now, I'm going to blast through it." No answer came back through the comm. A roaring noise filled her ears.

John stopped in his tracks when he heard the latest exchange between Pilot and Meryl. A noise in the background made him very nervous. "Aeryn, where are you?" There was no answer. He smacked the device several times before being interrupted. "Officer Sun can't hear you." Pilot's frightened voice came through. Everything came together for him in that moment. "Oh no. You've got to be kidding me.

<<<<>>>>

There were no more distractions on the way to his destination. Hallin reached the detention area uncontested and pulled out his ident chip. The guard at the door nodded obediently and stepped aside. "Thank you." The general stepped past him and moved towards the room reserved for special prisoners. He was about to push open the door when a shout came from behind. "I'm sorry sir. You need High Command clearance to enter that cell. High Counselor's orders." Before the young man could continue, Hallin reached into his belt and pulled out a syringe. "I'm sorry too." The guard fell to the ground.

Hallin threw the chamber's door aside and walked in. Before him, a small viewing area had been built around the holding cell. The two-way mirrors had been turned off. He could not see the situation inside. Continuing on in, the general knocked on the inner door. "Who's there?" The voice was unmistakable. "Scorpius, it's General Hallin." He went through and was shocked by what he saw. The girl, Sil, was slumped down on the floor. Her neck had been twisted disgustingly to the side. Scorpius sat against the wall with a smile on his face. "You have no idea how good that felt." Hallin shook his head.

<<<<>>>>

Helen stood and removed a small black box from her belt. She flipped open the cover and started pressing buttons. "Can anyone hear me? Answer now!" Tom held his breath as he watched the scene progress. His decision back at the planet kept getting worse. The High Counselor turned and saw his worried expression. "What are you so scared of? I told you we'd be fine." He shook his head and sat back down at the table. "What happens now?" The question caught her off guard. It was something she hadn't even started considering yet. Helen narrowed her eyes at him and took a chair. "We wait."

They sat like for several microts without saying a word. Both had questions bouncing around inside their heads but were too unsure of themselves to speak. Finally, Helen gritted her teeth and looked up at him. She did not fear the human, but what he had to say. "My daughter, she is alright?" Tom stumbled over his words. Telling her that Meryl was pregnant did not sound like a good idea. "She's fine." The High Counselor nodded. "Why are you doing this?" He waited for an answer. "Meryl is a peacekeeper. She has obligations." That wasn't really what he wanted to hear. "Whatever you did to her, it doesn't change things."

Tom was surprised by her words. "What I did to her? I didn't do anything." He regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. Helen smashed her fist down on the table and almost growled. "Meryl is a captain. She wouldn't abandon her post for some frivolous romance. You infected her somehow." The human stood up and reached his arms out towards her. She caught them and squeezed. Tom's fingers were inches from her face. "Look how close I am to you. Does that mean you're infected?" Helen pushed him away. "How would I know?" He tried to keep from laughing. The look on her face made his smile fade.

"Meryl didn't just leave because of me. She saw the evil in what you do, just like Aeryn did." Helen glared at him as the words met her ears. This pathetic little creature was lecturing her. She pulled the gun from her holster and held it out towards him. "Don't ever compare that traitor to my daughter. You are alive only because I haven't killed you yet." Tom swallowed involuntarily and nodded his head. "Yes ma'am." They were quite again for a while.

<<<<>>>>

Meryl felt the ship move downwards and searched the surrounding areas. Something black moved across the edge of her windshield and then disappeared again. "Aeryn, what the frell are you doing?" A pair of boots slid onto the glass and Aeryn Sun lowered herself onto it. She stood there quietly, waving for the ex-captain to turn around. The comm burst to life. "Officer Sun has asked me to relay this message. Land or she will break the glass." Meryl looked up again and saw the pistol aimed at her. They weren't screwing around this time. She rubbed her slightly bulging stomach and frowned. "I hope you're happy."

Aeryn struggled to keep her hold on the vibrating prowler as its pilot considered the situation. She didn't want to shoot the glass. These things were expensive after all. But she would if it was necessary. One against four was no way to fight. Suddenly, the engines stopped roaring and the ship floated down to the ground. Pilot had adjusted the atmosphere so she wouldn't be thrown off. They touched ground and the exit hatch popped open. Aeryn checked her stats and then removed the helmet. "The next time you try a stunt like that, I'll drag your ass into space." Meryl turned on her heels and walked back towards the maintenance bay.

Rygel floated into the hangar just as a very angry woman was stepping out of it. He nodded to her but she ignored him. "Fine then. I didn't want to talk to you anyway." Up ahead of him, another figure in black was coming up. Aeryn, with helmet in hand, walked up to him and stopped. "Is everything all right?" He grinned. "Wouldn't you like to know." She lunged forward as if to attack him. Rygel covered his head but quickly realized that she had moved back. "Ok, Pilot says that the prowlers have turned back." Aeryn didn't understand. "They just left?" He shrugged and zoomed back the way he had come.

D'Argo heard the crashing sound and came running. He had just passed Meryl's room when the sounds stopped. They were coming from there. "Leave me alone." She had beat him to the punch. The ex-captain shook her head and turned away from him. The Luxan searched for something to say. "I know exactly how you feel." Meryl glanced back at him. She was about to disagree when that thing about his son came to mind. "It doesn't change anything. I'm going after him." D'Argo had expected this. "You can't do that. They'll kill the both of you." Meryl nodded. "This is my mess. I have to clean it up." He did not understand. "Ask Aeryn."

John found her in Pilot's den with a sad expression on her face. "I've seen that look way too many times." Aeryn glanced up at him and attempted a weak smile. The creature behind her did not look any better. "She's going after him." The human was pretty sure he knew what she was talking about. "You think they're both going to die." She nodded and slid off the console. "Before you and Tom came back, something happened to us." John waited for her to continue. Aeryn didn't look very anxious to do so. "When we went after Zhaan, there was an accident. Both of us were sent somewhere."

"The flax?" John smiled despite the seriousness reflected in her words. Aeryn frowned and looked down into the abyss below. "I had a chance to change things. I didn't take it." Part of her wanted him to ask why. "Why?" 'Frell!' she thought. It was only a small part. "Because it might have changed things between you and me." Saying the words made her feel brave. But the look on John's face made her wish she had kept her mouth shut. "That's good." Neither moved towards the other. There wasn't time for that now. "You think Meryl did change something?" Aeryn nodded. "I think she saved her mother's life."

<<<<>>>>

"What did Meryl do to her father?" The question had been on his mind since they saw that message. Regret set in almost instantly after he said the words. The woman across from him did not look very amused. Helen raised her eyes to him and frowned. She had never allowed subordinates to ask personal questions. This example was worse than post. "How dare you. Mind your business." Tom backed up slightly and prepared to be smacked. The hit never came. Helen started to settle down when a thought occurred to her. The incident he spoke of had been very hurtful to Meryl. She would never have told anyone. "How did you know about that?"

Panicking, Tom spoke before he had time to think the words through. "When he warned us about you, he said something about it." The look of shock on the peacekeeper's face was enough to shatter his last bits of comfort. Helen opened up her mouth but no words came out at first. She sat there with a numb expression. "Are you ok?" Her hand lashed out and hit him hard. Tom fell out of the chair and touched ground hard. "My husband is alive. It's not possible." Tom cursed himself and tried to stand back up. Her foot came down and pinned him against the floor.

Helen pulled the gun out again and pointed it down at him. She considered shooting right there but decided against it. The human would serve her better alive right now. Killing him would have to wait. "Get up." Tom looked up at her and smiled weakly. He tried not to appear annoying in any way. She shook her head and pointed to the chair. "I'm sorry." Repeating the words made him feel better. As if she might actually forgive him. "What else do you know? I wouldn't hold anything back If I were you."

Before either of them could speak again, there was a banging at the door. Helen stood and walked over to it with her gun ready. "Who's there?" Muffled sounds came from the other side. The High Counselor turned back to her prisoner. The look of fear on his face made her smile. "They've come to our rescue." Loud crashing noises started and the metal door came down soon after. A group of soldiers, prowler pilots, came into the room. "Are you alright Madam Counselor?" Helen nodded and pointed at Tom. "Get him back in a cell."

<<<<>>>>

The room was empty except for her body on the ground. Scorpius and the general had left a short while ago. Sil opened her eyes slowly and looked around. The plan had worked just as Helen said it would. She lifted her hands towards her face. Grabbing her neck, she twisted it back into position. The crunching sound made her shiver. "That was not part of the plan." Standing up, Sil reached for the comm on the table. "Has General Hallin's ship left yet?" The response was immediate. "Just a few microts ago." She smiled and pulled a strand of hair off her face.

<<<<>>>>

Meryl tossed her pulse rifle into the prowler and prepared to board. She had purposely avoided saying goodbye to any of the crew. It would be too awkward. The sound of footsteps caught her attention. She turned to see an uncomfortable sight. Rachel walked into the room with a serious expression on her face. The ex-captain really didn't want to do this right now. "If you came to stop me from going, don't bother." The older woman shook her head. "I wasn't." This confused Meryl. Something in Rachel's eyes made her understand.

"Stepping out for us like that, it was a stupid thing to do." Rachel nodded but said nothing. Meryl's mind raced for something more to say. "Don't blame me." That finally got the human talking. Rachel stepped forward and met her questioning stare. They stood there for a moment before speaking. "My son has a very romantic view of life. You must have noticed by now." Meryl shook her head. "I'm not sure-." The older woman raised her hand. "He's seen too many movies. Believes in stuff like love at first sight." Meryl's cheeks turned red.

"He told me how you two met. I wasn't surprised." Rachel peeked into the ship and noticed the pistols and rifle. Meryl opened her mouth to say something. She couldn't think of what. "When the three of you came back, he told me he loved me. I didn't know how to respond." Rachel nodded and continued staring at her. "Tom didn't step out for us. He stepped out for you." She started to walk out of the room. "So do something for me. Bring my son back alive."

Neuroscpr

look out for Ep2.19: Sacrificial Tendencies P1,coming soon