The prowler flew erratically through space. It stumbled and swerved on its way towards the weak signal. The pilot struggled to remain conscious. He clutched his chest and felt the warm blood stick to his hand. He cursed himself for not staying at the clinic. Now he was close to death. Something on the radar alerted him. A large ship was very close. A leviathan. Reaching for the comm, Sargas gripped it with as much force as he could muster. "Help me, please." The transmission was sent across the short distance. Inside command, the lights were low and Chiana was close to sleep. The silent comm burst to life and a man's voice came through. "Aeryn, we're getting a distress call."

<<<<>>>>

Vince stumbled out of the bar and into the last remaining rays of sunlight. Fighting to stay standing, he walked over to the edge of town. The endless desert spread out in front of him as the sun disappeared. He burped and smelled the alcohol on his breath. The world was plunged into darkness and he had forgotten his purpose. Turning around, he found the bar much farther away than before. The noises were starting. Vince looked over at the Scarren vessel that had arrived earlier and considered asking for help. He brushed the idea from his mind. Something was moving off to his left. Footsteps could be heard from the darkness. He tried to run but fell instead. Looking up, he saw its face. That was last thing Vince ever saw.

John sat up from his makeshift bed and turned to the Scarren that lay nearby. "Did you hear something?" Kezia stirred slightly but said nothing. Ever since the Nyid had left, the ship had been quiet. The maintenance computer had warned of something crawling around in the vents. But Kezia was sure that it was just rodents. He stood and walked over to the door. The buttons were written in strange symbols that he could not understand. "Top right corner." John pressed the button and stepped out into the warm night air. Something was lying on the ground not too far from them. It looked like a man.

<<<<>>>>

Tom pulled the covers over his head. The last thing he wanted now was a visitor but apparently no one got the picture on this ship. The doors slid open and Meryl walked in quietly. She made no attempt to initiate conversation. He felt her move close to him and then back away. She had grabbed the pillow that lay beside him and placed it on the floor. A few minutes later, he heard her breathing slow. Tom turned and found her lying down next to the bed. This was even more discouraging. There was plenty of room for both of them. He sighed and went back to sleep.

D'Argo was the first to arrive at command. Chiana stood beside the comm and pointed out into space. He saw the prowler fly awkwardly past them before turning for another run. "Has it attempted to signal us?" She nodded and played the message. "Sounds like he's dying." She walked towards the window. "Why would a peacekeeper signal us?" D'Argo stepped up next to her. "I have no idea."

Pilot heard the message as well. He and Aeryn had been talking when it came through. "What should we do?" He posed the question to a distracted leader. It was her job to come up with plans now. She walked over to his console and pressed the appropriate button. "Identify yourself soldier." A low murmur came back. "Lt. Sargas, help me." She looked up at Pilot. "Let him in." Without another word, Aeryn ran out of the room. Meryl would want to hear about this.

The prowler just barely missed slamming into Moya's outer wall. It came crashing into the hanger and almost hit the group there to meet it. Meryl raced forward and pulled off the exit hatch. Sargas lay covered in blood on the pilot's seat. She dragged him from his soon-to-be coffin and put him on the floor. "Get Zhaan!" she shouted the words at Aeryn with more force than was intended. The other woman nodded and took off. Placing her attention back on the dying man, Meryl checked him over. "Who did this to you?" He could only mumble at this point. Zhaan came up next to them. "Let me help him."

<<<<>>>>

John ran up beside the body and checked for signs of life. "Kezia! Get down here!" The man was obviously dead. His insides were lying next to him on the ground. Spotting the bar, John walked over. Kezia stepped out of the ship and saw the dead man. He pulled a gun from his belt and went to investigate. Kneeling down beside the body, he noted the severity of the attack. Someone had really wanted this guy dead. "There's nothing you can do." He shouted the words to Crichton again but the stubborn human wouldn't listen.

The door to the bar slammed inward and revealed the scene. The local bar frequenters looked out but said nothing. This was not uncommon in this part of town. "Can someone help us?" John repeated the question but no one responded. He walked back outside and met Kezia. "Apparently this guy didn't have very many friends." The Scarren snorted and leaned over the body. He sniffed it a few times before looking up again. "Whatever attacked this man wasn't the same species as them." They both glanced out at the desert. A trail of blood led into the darkness. "What now?"

<<<<>>>>

Sargas lay sleeping on the cot in Zhaan's lab. She had repaired the wound and given him a reasonably good chance of surviving. Meryl watched over him with the attentiveness of a mother with her child. The feelings of guilt were strong in her. After escaping her own death, she had left him behind. Assumed he had already left. The truth was that she had forgotten about Sargas. He moaned softly in his sleep. "Is that normal?" Zhaan smiled back at the concerned woman. "Yes my child. Do not worry." That was easier said than done. Meryl sat down beside him. "You don't leave a soldier on the battlefield."

Aeryn and D'Argo watched the scene from a safe distance. They both eyed the sleeping peacekeeper with equal amounts of unease. "Do you trust them?" She gave him an odd look. "Meryl, of course. She wouldn't turn on us." He nodded. "But what about the other one?" That answer was not so easy to come by. Aeryn remembered his attitude around her and Tom. Sargas did not wish to conspire with escaped prisoners. "We will watch him closely."

Tom had chosen not to go to the lab. He sat in the kitchen now alongside Chiana and Rygel. The only three on the ship who had no current purpose. Plates of food cubes lay untouched in front of them. "Isn't there something we could be doing right now?" The other two laughed at his question. Chiana leaned over close to him. "You're still new." Rygel reached forward and shoved a cube down his throat. "The only time we're busy around here is when something terrible happens." Tom shrugged and looked down at his own plate. "Great."

<<<<>>>>

He lowered himself slowly from the vent and dropped down into the hanger. This ship was very different from the one he had been born in. The other was warm and almost inviting. This place was eery and frightening. He couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him. Spotting the door, he walked over to it. Perhaps Scorpius was outside. The warm desert air hit him hard and he staggered back. He stepped out and found that a cooler breeze ran across the open sand. The sound of footsteps caught his attention. He turned and found a woman staring back at him. She smiled and revealed rows of pointed teeth covered in blood.

John and Kezia dropped the body into the makeshift grave they had dug and then headed back towards the ship. As they passed by the bar, John stopped. "I could use a drink right about now." His companion agreed and they stepped inside. The patrons all looked up as they entered. You didn't see their types around here very often. The bartender nodded at them. "What can I get you?" Kezia smiled. "A bottle of the strongest stuff you have." A small man dressed completely in black sat beside them. "So I see you've met Zelaya." John turned towards the man. "Who?"

Zelaya leaned in close to him and smelled his skin. "You are not pure." He watched her every move. She smiled again and he almost wet himself. "I-I'm not?" She took his hand and led him away from the ship. "Come, I will show you." He followed her across the street and to the first house that didn't look abandoned. Without saying a word, she slammed in the door and pulled him inside. A man and a woman sat at a table in the house. Zelaya grabbed the man and ripped open his chest with her teeth. He fell to the ground dead. "This one is pure. Only one race." He still did not understand. She groaned. "You have more than one type of race in you." He nodded. "So you're not going to eat me?"

<<<<>>>>

Sargas opened one eye at a time and let them adjust to the light. Someone was leaning over him. Someone blue. "It's good to see you awake." He jumped out of bed and reached for a weapon. There weren't any. "How did I get here." Footsteps came up behind him. "Sargas, calm down." Meryl grabbed his shoulder and pushed him onto the bed. "You're alright. Zhaan healed you." He looked back at the blue woman. "You are the Delvian?" Zhaan nodded. He seemed only more distraught. "This is the escaped leviathan." Meryl grabbed his face and pointed towards her own. "Relax. Everything is alright now."

Zhaan left the room and walked out into the corridor. "What happened?" Aeryn and D'Argo were waiting for her there. They both seemed anxious about her new patient. "He is awake now. Meryl is watching him." She shook her head as they moved in to get a closer look. "He is in no condition to fight." They ignored her. "Why do I even bother." Zhaan turned the corner and headed down towards her cell.

"Captain, what have you done?" She frowned and turned away from him. "I'm not a captain anymore. You know that." He was angry now. Sargas walked over to the wall and leaned against it. "You're conspiring with escaped prisoners. They'll execute you for that." Meryl turned to him and met his angry gaze. "It is my decision to make." He started to say something else but she shushed him. "You must rest now. I don't want you here too long." He watched his former captain leave the room. Something had to be done.

<<<<>>>>

He watched her finish off the woman and then turn towards him. "Don't worry. I can't stomach Scarrens." She walked past him and back out the door. He followed anxiously behind her. Zelaya stalked out into the darkness for a few moments before stopping abruptly. "What are you doing?" The question caught him by surprise. "Following you." She shook her head. "You can't follow me. I kill people." He didn't move. A question suddenly occurred to him. "Do you know Scorpius?" This got her attention. "Yes, I do."

Kezia heard the screams before John did. They stood expecting the others to do the same. No one else moved. The man in black spoke up again. "Best to leave it alone. She likes big ones." John couldn't do that. "We have to go." He ran past Kezia and stormed out the door. The desert was quite again. There wasn't anything to see. Something caught his eye over to the right. One of the houses along the street had its door wide open. He walked over and looked inside. A man and a woman lay dead and disemboweled on the floor of their kitchen. "Kezia!" The Scarren ran up to meet him. "Oh dren." John moved back towards the ship. "We're leaving."

"There's nothing to eat out here but dirty drunks and peasants." She spoke the words more to herself than to him. As they entered the small cave, he could see a pile of garbage along the side. She walked over to it and found the black device. "Here." She tossed it over to him. It landed in his arms. The message played automatically. Scorpius appeared in all his glory, asking for the whereabouts of John Crichton. He looked at himself and back at the message. They looked similar to each other. "That is Scorpius?" She nodded. "Where is he?" This time she had no answer. "Beats the frell out of me." Suddenly the sound of an engine roaring to life broke the silence.

<<<<>>>>

Meryl had left a little while ago. He lay on the bed in a state of confusion. The options available to him were limited now. There was only one thing to do. Sargas slipped out of bed and ran out the door. Aeryn was standing there waiting for him. "Just where do you think you're going?" His mind raced with possible answers. "I was going to go get something to eat." She nodded and let him pass.

He heard the doors swish open. She came in slowly without making any loud noises. Meryl moved down to the floor beside the bed. Tom swore to himself and stood up. "We talk about this now." She sat up and looked at him. "Fine." She stood and sat next to him on the bed. "Why are you acting like this?" Meryl met his gaze. "Whatever earth women are like, I know that I'll never be one. I have done things. Terrible things that you couldn't even imagine. All you know is what I let you see in that cell." Tom reached out his hand and brushed her cheek. "I'm no soldier, but I'm not a saint either. How could I ask that of you?" She relaxed a little and let him get closer. He smiled and leaned forward. She stopped him. "You're not my first. The words struck him, but he didn't move back. "Yes I am."

Aeryn felt silly. This man had helped them escape from the home world. She understood his uneasiness with them to a certain degree. Not too long ago, she had felt the same way. Leaving her post outside the lab, she walked calmly back towards her cell. On the way, she found herself stopping outside the training area. The punching bag almost called to her. It was the best way to relieve all the stress she felt. Stepping inside, she spotted something discouraging. Crichton's old yellow flight suit was sitting in the corner.

"I'll check it out Pilot." Rygel floated out of the kitchen and down towards command. Everyone else was apparently asleep or somehow busy. He found that doubtful. Pilot had picked up a signal being transmitted from somewhere inside the ship. Things like that always had to be taken seriously. Rygel had no idea why he was the one doing it. He found the door to command open and leaning over the comm. "Who the frell are you?" The man raised his head and the Hynerion immediately recognized him. "Sargas, what are doing?" The peacekeeper didn't hesitate. Picking up the pistol that someone had left unguarded, he turned and fired on the defenseless dominar. Rygel took the shot in the chest and fell off his throne. "You bastard!" Those were his last words before blacking out. "Shush little one." Sargas stepped over him and locked the doors before leaving.

<<<<>>>>

"Did you hear something?" John glanced over at Kezia with an annoyed look. "You seem to be hearing a lot lately." The Scarren brushed off the comment and stood from his chair. Someone was banging on the exit hatch. John walked up behind him. "Who?" Kezia hushed him and pressed the open button. Both men raised their weapons and watched the door slide open. Zelaya stood in the doorway with her companion. She smiled. "Ahh!" John and Kezia jumped back before regaining their composure. "Stay back or I shoot." The two creatures understood and did not move.

"You're the thing from the lab?" The Scorpius look-alike nodded. John looked from him to the woman. "And you're the thing that's been eating people?" Zelaya nodded. "Are you going to eat us?" She pondered the question for a moment. "I don't like Scarrens. You look alright though." John didn't find her funny. "What do you want?" She smiled again. "The boy says he's looking for Scorpius. Said you were too. I like peacekeepers." John wasn't sure whether to laugh or run away. "We'd like to come with you." Kezia shrugged at the human's questioning gaze. "Whatever you think."

<<<<>>>>

D'Argo heard the gunshots clearly from his cell. Someone was firing in the training room. He stood quickly and ran out the door. It had been a mistake to let Sargas roam free. He cursed in Luxan and made his way there. She was still firing when he entered the room. "What the frell are you doing Aeryn?" He looked over at the punching bag. It had been ripped to shreds by pulse fire. Strips of yellow material hung on its sides. D'Argo picked one up and noticed the symbol. It read IASA. Aeryn dropped the gun and slid down to the floor. She was crying. He kneeled down next to her. "What's wrong?" She looked up at him and wiped away the tears.

"He failed me D'Argo." He did not understand. "Crichton? How?" She shook her head and looked up at the ruined flight suit. Aeryn pounded the ground with her fists. "I hate this." D'Argo put his hand on her shoulder. "He taught me to change. To become who I am now." He nodded reassuringly. "But he didn't teach me how to do it alone."

"What kind of signal?" Meryl and Tom were awakened by Pilot's worried voice. "Lt. Sargas has broadcast a message to all peacekeeper ships in the area. He's giving them our exact position." She jumped out of bed and grabbed her gun. "What are you going to do?" Tom's question went unanswered as she bolted out the door. "Where is he Pilot?" The response came back quickly. "Last sighting was by the hanger."

Sargas ran into the hanger and searched frantically for a ship. He made his way towards Aeryn's prowler. The sound of boots hitting the ground caught his attention. Meryl stormed into the room with gun drawn. He stepped back from the ship and raised his hands. "You wouldn't shoot me." Despite his brave words, the peacekeeper was obviously doubtful. Meryl kept the gun trained on him. "I've shown more compassion in these past weeks than I have in my entire life. I have no compassion left for you." She fired three times before lowering the gun. Sargas's body crumpled to the ground. She walked up and nudged it with her foot. He was dead.