*****

"I died. I died." John whispered incredulously to himself. The sweat had already drenched his clothing and skin by now. His mind was swimming into a downward spiral of pain, confusion, and exhaustion. Adrenalin was pumping throughout his veins; currently the only reason he could hold himself up into a sitting position. John observed with narrowed eyes through the darkness, the melting, singeing flesh of the Scarran that had somehow captured him and tortured him. The creature's remains were splattered across the foreign technology and inner walls of this "prison". Justice. Sweet, goddamn justice.

How did I get here? The thought traced through his trembling mind. Or was it his entire body that was trembling? John's senses were on overload. He breathed in heavily for a few microns, pondering his current status. John shifted his body slightly, feeling every muscle scream and spasm in response. A small whimper escaped his salted lips.

A quick flash of the heavily scaled skin of a Scarran and a laser blasted in his direction passed through his mind. John blinked, trying to process this new memory. Images of a pulse pistol with a large red X crossed over it and Scorpius grinning evilly at John flickered about his mind as well. John brought his weak arm up to his face and rubbed his eyes with his clammy hands slowly. He could barely hold a train of thought in his head. John leaned forward, nearly falling to the cold, stone floor with all his body weight pulling against him. His muscles shook as he supported himself into a crawling position. He gathered stuffy hot air into his lungs and moved forward into the darkness of the area he was in.

Don't leave me John! John nearly lost his balance at the echoing plead of a familiar female voice. The pain that accompanied this small sudden plea was more than John could bear. His arms and legs gave way to weakness and John fell face first into the hard floor with a grunt. He immediately brought his arms up to his head and moaned. His mother's frail, dying face appeared in his mind for a brief microt. The microt lasted for an eternity to John as he struggled to bury that image. Blackness interfered and John lost all awareness to the world around him.

*****

"Pilot report." Aeryn ordered as she and Zhaan stood beneath a booth in the center market of the fourth Commerce Planet they had approached in as many days. Thunder rolled deeply overhead and the pouring rain slightly began to cease all around them. Aeryn stared at the rain as it pattered in streams down through small holes of the meshed roof above them. She smiled at the memory of the rain she had experienced on the false earth she had witnessed nearly a cycle ago with John. With a disappointed frown, Aeryn glanced at Zhaan, who looked just as impatient at the moment. The comms were still not working.

The thunderstorms on this planet were known for their fierceness and ability to knock out all communications for days. The crew of Moya had not been aware of this until they were trapped planet side after a sudden storm blew in. Nearly 2 solar days had passed and the crew had been separated the entire time, unable to contact each other. D'Argo had been stuck with the complaining Hynerian and Chiana had fortunately decided to stay on Moya for a change to keep an eye out for any danger headed their way.

"Do you think Crichton and the others may have made it to the transport pod before the icefall?" Zhaan inquired. Her version of an icefall was a hailstorm in Earth terms.

"Zhaan, the icefall came too quickly. No way anyone would have survived in that." Aeryn answered simply as she gazed at the rain. As once a PeaceKeeper who had never really lived on a planet, Aeryn seemed fascinated with the storm.

"Something just doesn't feel right." Zhaan stated. Aeryn looked down from the rain to look at Zhaan and realized they both were feeling the same way. Something was definitely wrong.

"Rygel, I will most definitely see to it that you are never allowed to visit another frelling commerce planet again, understood?" D'Argo charged angrily as he held the quivering Hynerian up to his eye level. Rygel whimpered, releasing a tiny squeal of helium from behind. D'Argo growled and threw Rygel back onto his throne sled and stepped further into the alcove of the stone structure they had been stranded within.

"Zhaan, Aeryn, Crichton, Pilot…can anyone hear me?" D'Argo barked into his comms. Static crackled from the comms along with the pattering of the raindrops hitting the stone ceiling above them. D'Argo thought briefly of Jothee, realizing the longer they remained stationery, the more meager the chances grew to find him.

"You might as well give up. We've been trapped here for almost two frelling solar days now. Let the storm pass and then we can look for them. Relax! Eat! I still can't believe how many Hynerian mojules we acquired!" Rygel stated and at the last comment, laughed in delight as he scooped up another mojule from a loaded crate nearby. D'Argo snarled once again at his shipmate and stepped forward to peer out at the darkened thunderclouds above. There was a nagging sensation within that he couldn't seem to ignore. By every micron passing, the sensation of doom was growing stronger and stronger.

"Pilot! What do you mean? You said the storm was passing. All communications would be restored." Chiana charged angrily. She was situated in Pilot's den, leaning over the controls to speak. Pilot frowned upon her and continued to monitor Moya's systems.

"My sensor readings are continuously changing…most likely because of interference from the storm. I'm trying everything I can, Chiana." Pilot answered with anger creeping into his voice. His patience was being greatly tested by this Nebari.

"Try harder!" Chiana shouted a little too loud. She immediately backed off of the controls and shifted her expression from anger to a slight mix of fear and sorrow. "Do you think the PeaceKeepers got to them? Scorpius? Do you think they're all…." Chiana couldn't bring herself to finish her question. Her eyes filled with tears.

Pilot recognized the emotions portrayed on Chiana's face as they were the same emotions threatening to expose themselves from within his own self. He looked to Chiana with sincere eyes.

"I'm going to switch to a different frequency. I'm not giving up." Pilot stated. Chiana smiled briefly and rejoined Pilot at the controls. These days in the Uncharted Territories, when any of the crew was separated, the others felt the absence ten fold. Their luck had been running for so long on their side that sooner or later, fate would hand them a different platter.

***** John's eyelids sprinted open with a fierce awakening. He gathered from his senses that he was still within this cold, dark hell that had entrapped him for so long. His mind screamed with pain, wracked with dizziness and confusion. Fragmented memories were all he had left at this point. Only a glimpse here and a glimpse there of what may have happened recently to him. Keeping you safe. Scorpius' whispered promise tickled John's ears. John squeezed his eyes shut for a brief moment, praying that when he opened them, he would be back on Moya, safe and sound. He reopened his eyes. No such luck.

The pungent taste of burning flesh caressed the stuffy hot air he was forced to breathe for the time being. John pushed his body forward and stopped. Something told him he was going the wrong way. Somehow, he sensed that he must go to his left. Go to the shaft leading to the light. John turned his rugged body around and began to crawl in the opposite direction through the darkness. John knew not what drove him forward.

"…recreate a wormhole…I've found new places to take your temperature…Luxan bonding ritual…You have the right to the remains of an attorney!…keeping you safe." A disturbing swirl of whispers rushed through John's mind. Only brief flashes of memories passed by as well, too brief to identify. John shook his head as he dragged himself forward, numb to the real world around him and numb to any more emotion or pain he could be experiencing.

His breathing was short and ragged; his motion was jerky and indecisive. John moved forward at a rate so slow, he swore he would never get out of this living hell he was experiencing. The floor began to slope upwards and the cool stone beneath his hands grew damper. John passed over what resembled a steel grate and hoisted his sluggish body up into another chamber that began to narrow upwards. A rumble of thunder whispered into the chamber. John brought his head up slightly to see where he was headed. He could not make any accurate observation at the moment. He only realized that the tunnel forming ahead lead towards a source of dim light and that liquid was draining down towards his current location and spilling into the chamber below. Nausea suddenly overcame him and John flattened to the floor, releasing from his mouth precious bodily fluids from his stomach onto the stone beneath him. His chest wracked with spasms and John moaned in pain. He rolled onto his back and allowed the discomfort to overtake his mind.

Somewhere in his mind, a thought sprung up. If he didn't hurry out of this current situation, he could possibly be swept away with the cool liquid pooling around his body. Or worse, drown. John hoisted himself back into a crawling stance, though he wavered in nausea for another few microts.

The light. He had to get to that light. Where there was light there was safety, John lied to himself. He then gathered all the strength he felt he had and continued on towards that light.

***** "…aan. Officer Sun…D'Ar…" The comms crackled. Aeryn shifted her stare at the rain to Zhaan and smiled with relief. Zhaan stepped forward with Aeryn as the storm that had menaced the marketplace for days was finally receding.

"Pilot! Pilot, can you read me?" Aeryn asked into her comms with a growing smile. Zhaan laughed in delight and stepped into the damp street of the marketplace as the common alien race of the planet began to stream back out and swarm the marketplace. Aeryn still held her guard. The feeling of uneasiness had not dissipated like the storm had.

"Aeryn! Pilot. It is good to hear from both of you." D'Argo's voice carried over the comms. Zhaan approached Aeryn underneath the booth, silently questioning Aeryn's uneasy expression.

"I'm glad to hear both of your voices. Are Rygel, Zhaan, and Crichton with you?" Pilot inquired with relief in his voice.

"Zhaan is here with me." Aeryn stated, wondering why she hadn't heard from Crichton over the comms yet. Perhaps he didn't have his on at the moment. That would be a peculiar action, Aeryn thought, especially from a person who had become extremely cautious throughout the past cycle.

"Rygel unfortunately was here with me the entire time." D'Argo reported. The comms remained quiet for a moment. All of the aliens were now aware that Crichton was not responding. Where was he?

"Crichton? Crichton are you there?" Chiana asked, the uneasiness in her voice apparent. Silence followed.

"There have been no reports of PeaceKeepers in the area." Pilot informed the crew before any of them could ask.

"We'll check the marketplace." Aeryn stated. She and Zhaan marched into the fury of aliens crowding the marketplace, constantly looking around for any sign of the human.

"We'll search the common houses." D'Argo decided over the comms as he rushed off with Rygel grudgingly following close behind.

"The Commander's comms are working. He just isn't responding." Pilot alerted all on the open comms.

Frelling human always manages to find trouble. The thought passed through every single one of the crew's minds. But this time, they all somehow knew whatever he had gotten himself into this time would not be as forgiving.

***** Breathe. Breathe. John could not believe he actually had to instruct himself to breathe. He had finally trudged up through the tunnel and made it to a level surface. The light was stronger here. John had to squint his eyes to protect them. The new area he was in turned sharply to the right, stretching for several metras before leading straight out into the open streets of the planet he was on. His lungs were constricted as he struggled with the now soothing, cool rush of air flowing in from the street. Funny, can't remember arriving on a planet in the first place. The fragmented thought entered into his tiring mind. A coughing fit rose into his throat. John choked and coughed for microns before finally settling back to ragged breathing.

Maybe if I just lie here for a while, someone will see me. John thought. No, that wouldn't work. He had to keep going. Everything in his body screamed against it, yet through all the tortures this human had endured, his mind willed him to continue on. John slowly staggered back into a crawling position and headed down to his right towards the street. The wet stone beneath him smelled richly of a faint familiar smell of Earth. Almost like clay. John ushered the thought of Earth out of his mind. He needn't be distracted at the moment. All he had to concentrate on was reaching the street. The light was growing brighter. The sounds from the street were growing louder. John could feel the whoosh of cool, refreshing air envelope his sweat-drenched body.

His muscles were screaming; his mind was fading from all awareness. His breathing was rough and shallow; his eyes were bloodshot. John stumbled the last few denches onto the open street and collapsed onto the damp pebbled stone of the street. All sensory awareness faded into a numbing sensation. John closed his eyes and released a long, ragged breath.

*****

"Of the creatures I did manage to speak with, only one witnessed a 'Sebacean' headed towards the outer stretches of the marketplace. Their description fit Crichton perfectly." Zhaan informed Aeryn who was standing in front of her. She also spoke into her comms to inform the others.

"We're headed back towards the marketplace now. D'Argo has picked up on the human's scent." Rygel stated into the comms as he followed the Luxan. The diminishing storm had left the air rich with sweet smells of dampened stone and for D'Argo, occasionally unpleasant body scents.

"Give us your location." Aeryn stated as she and Zhaan rushed through the marketplace.

"We're not far from the transport pod, actually." Rygel answered. The transport pod they had arrived in was positioned among a few other alien ships in a large vast field of thick "grass", as the human had named it, outside of the marketplace and civilian city they were currently occupying.

"We'll be right there!" Aeryn said. Her stomach was swirling with uneasiness, as she feared something terrible had happened to the human.

After nearly a quarter arn, Aeryn and Zhaan finally reached the rendezvous point where Rygel said he and D'Argo would be. D'Argo was impatiently sniffing the air. Zhaan and Aeryn caught their breath and looked around to observe the marketplace behind them and the open field of ships in front of them. Fewer aliens occupied this region, but enough to throw off the scent D'Argo had been picking up.

"Can you smell him?" Rygel asked almost laughing at his statement had the situation been less serious.

"Barely. I think…no, I know he's in that direction." D'Argo replied, pointing his weapon towards their immediate right. A small cove of abandoned stone structures were concealed by a few booths covered in sheets of animal skins. The crew ran into a stream of aliens roaming the booths causing D'Argo to grow more anxious. The human's scent was stronger here. Much stronger. And another scent also began to fill his senses. Rotting flesh…somewhat smelling similar to that of a Scarran.

"Any sign of him?" Zhaan asked, circling in one spot, anxiously searching through the crowd of somewhat tall aliens, craning her neck to see over their furry heads.

A brief part in the crowd revealed the human lying sprawled out on the ground near the corner of a stone structure. He was lying on his chest with his arms laid out flat and his head turned to the side. Aeryn's eyes widened in fear and surprise when she spotted the frail human. Speechless, she motioned to the others and they raced over to their companion, watching as the aliens before them carelessly stepped over the human's body.

"Crichton! Crichton, can you hear me?" Aeryn shouted as she landed on her knees at his side. Zhaan also knelt and began looking for any visible physical wounds. D'Argo turned John's loose body onto its back. He then sat back, afraid of checking to see if the human was really dead. Rygel hovered close by, unsure whether he wanted to ask aloud what everyone feared. Unfortunately, there was no response from the human, leaving them to fear the worst.

"Let's get him onto the transport pod." Zhaan ordered.

Microns flashed by and soon, the entire crew was on the transport pod, with Crichton lying on the floor with Zhaan, Aeryn, and even Rygel at his side. D'Argo flew the pod back to Moya, avoiding with care any turbulence leftover from the storm in the planet's atmosphere.

Rygel hovered quietly nearby, hoping for the human to wake soon. Aeryn silently observed as Zhaan chanted a few words in prayer over John. She also observed that his weapon was missing and his comms was still strapped neatly to his PeaceKeeper uniform. His chest slowly raised up and down, the only sign of life from the human thus far. Twenty microns and they would all be back on Moya.

John began to stir in his current state. His eyes flashed open briefly and his breathing became more erratic. Zhaan called his name, hoping to calm him. John's eyes opened once more and they appeared to focus on Aeryn. Aeryn blinked with relief, thought tried not to show her feelings at the moment. A part of her was angry that John had separated from them and gotten himself into more trouble.

"John, you're safe. What happened?" Zhaan asked, trying to gain eye contact from the ailing human. John didn't seem to hear her though. He moaned and turned onto his side and began to cough, his body shaking from shock. Zhaan held onto the human as Aeryn looked into his now unfocused eyes. Hollowness and death danced in those dim blue eyes. The look unsettled her.

A vague fear seeped into John's eyes and his body grew still again. John felt little besides exhaustion and that old numbing sensation from earlier on. He tried to focus on his shipmates beside him, peering worriedly down on him. Their expressions frightened him, calling him back to the reality he did not yet want to face. On the other hand, the reality he had been in, he couldn't get further away from. Those memories and voices of another false Earth environment continuously tortured his mind.

After what seemed like an eternity, John was back on Moya. He did not know it until he was resting comfortably, for a change, on his own bed within his quarters. Zhaan was knelt before him, saying something to him and his shipmates were gathered around behind her, looking at him with smiles masking their fear for his life. For some reason, John gathered, Zhaan had not resigned to having him brought to the med bay immediately upon arriving back. Instead, she insisted on bringing him here, to his quarters. The only reason John could fathom was that she wanted him to rest comfortably. Maybe she knew what had happened. Before John could think much else, he was immersed in sleep once more.

*****

Moya traveled further into the Uncharted Territories in the days that followed. After the crew had gathered in Command without Crichton to discuss questions that would remain unanswered, each shipmate became scarce yet remained observant of the slowly recovering human. Crichton slept for nearly an entire solar day before finally wakening to full awareness and being able to drag himself up from bed. Pilot had two DRDs secretly observe the human at the orders of the crew. The crew had somehow sensed that giving the human space would be much better than pressing the issue of what may have happened to him.

As John stood among his clean quarters, he expected the harsh memories of his experience to taunt him once more. Nothing passed through his aching mind. Nothing save a few flashes of distant memories that had no significance to one another. John could only reason that the extreme stress and exhaustion he had been subjected to combined with the mind's natural defenses had saved him from the most recent mind frelling he had experienced. Anything that had occurred down on that planet was now a distant torture fading fast into the back of his mind to be forgotten…at least for now.

Anger began to fill his mind and body…anger that had built up from seemingly nowhere. A DRD that had been spying on him from a nearby corner nervously twitched. John turned to the DRD and kicked it clear across the room, damaging the DRD beyond repair as it smashed into the opposite wall with force. John felt satisfaction. He smiled briefly to himself and began to walk out of his quarters. Dizziness paraded his vision for a moment. John faltered and leaned heavily onto a wall nearby. The dizziness passed and John grew angrier. He rammed his fist into the wall beside him and grimaced at the pain. Despite the pain, he pounded the wall continuously, not feeling as the skin on his knuckles cracked and began to bleed. The source of the anger was hidden to John as he thrust himself away from the wall and charged out of his quarters. Adrenalin now empowered his body along with the uncontrollable rage building within.

Pilot only now became aware of the human awakening and becoming destructive. He ordered more DRDs to follow the human and proceeded to alert the rest of the crew, all of who were in their private quarters at the moment.

He was sick of the Uncharted Territories treating Mr. Unique like a pile of dren. John smashed a nearby crate into the wall as he entered into the docking bay. His rampage slowed to a stop as he came before his precious module. That thing had brought him here. That module had taken him to a place where life was very unforgiving. A place he no longer wished to exist. John glanced around, looking for anything to strike upon his module. He spied a long wrench near Aeryn's prowler.

John scooped up the wrench and walked up to his module. John raised the wrench high, poised to strike. The glistening white experimental craft seemed to almost beckon for him to stop. The carefully installed new hetch drive, the blazing pride of the United States Flag gleaming on the side, John couldn't bring himself to do it.

"You'd be doing us all a favor, wouldn't you?" Aeryn's stern voice replied from behind. John stiffened and allowed the arm holding the wrench to lower. He released his grip of the wrench and it clanged to the floor beside his feet. John let out a breath, along with some of the anger he was carrying within. Aeryn approached him as he turned to face not only her, but the rest of the crew as well, standing in the doorway looking at the human with worry and concern.

"Ever since I arrived here, all I've ever known is fear and having to always be on the run. I'm sick of it." John stated fiercely, looking at his shipmates. His shoulders were slumped, his face displaying defeat.

"What happened on the commerce planet, John?" Zhaan asked, softly pressing the issue. John avoided her gaze. He wanted to tell them, but he knew he really didn't have an answer to begin with.

"Whatever happened, the memories thankfully have been erased." John lied flatly. The crew sensed the torture tolled upon this being had been far too damaging for him to simply forget.

"We're here to help you, not harm you." D'Argo stated. John directed his gaze onto the Luxan with a smirk growing on his face.

"D'Argo, everyone in this frelling universe wants to harm me. There's no way I'll ever be safe. I don't think you can help me." John replied as the anger returned. Aeryn could see it in his eyes. She stepped no further in her advance towards him.

"John, please. You've been through a tremendous experience…." Zhaan began to soothe the human but was disrupted.

"No! Zhaan. I don't want to hear any more of your healing crap. I've heard enough. I'm sick of the memories, sick of the voices, sick of the torment. I'm not letting anyone get to this human ever again. I'd rather die." John said before his legs gave way to exhaustion. He fell to the floor, with despair flooding over his anger. Aeryn knelt down beside the human and wrapped her arms around him, rocking him back and forth in comfort. Zhaan and the others joined the two on the floor, comforting the sorrowful human as he began to shake with tears silently streaming down his face.

The crew remained so for nearly an arn before Aeryn and John were finally left alone. John relaxed eventually and rested within Aeryn's warm embrace, staring off into space. Aeryn sat back and held onto John's hands as she came to face him. His exhausted, swollen eyes gazed at her with sincerity. Something long ago this human had lost. Aeryn smiled at him, hoping to raise his spirits. He only looked to the floor and leaned up against the front landing gear of his module. Aeryn scooted herself around so she could lean against his left shoulder. She rested her head on his shoulder and they sat in silence for a long time.

"Tell me one thing." John asked, breaking another arn of silence. Aeryn lifted her head slightly, waiting for the human to continue. "Did I die?"

Puzzled, Aeryn straightened to face John and peer into his questioning gaze. What had he meant by that?

"Did I die?" He repeated softly.

"You're here with me aren't you? No, you didn't die, Crichton." Aeryn stated, believing that her response would somehow comfort John.

"Well, I think I did." John stated and there was nothing more. The silence held heavy in the air between them. Aeryn would never know the truth to his words. Not even John himself would realize the truth to his statement for the time being. He had recently died once physically, yes. But his question had been directed towards his mental being. John Crichton, astronaut somewhere in the universe, had died. In his place now was a human lost in an unforgiving new universe, wanted and hunted by the worst of enemies. Scorpius was only one of them.