Tom sat against the bed quietly and looked up at his companion. Meryl had come in only a few minutes ago and taken a place against the wall. They sat like that for quite a while without speaking. One of the matters they had discussed earlier had been talking to each other. This proved to be more difficult than it sounded. Tom took in her elegant face and finally spoke. "You look nice." She smiled and looked down at her hands. "Thank you." Silence returned to the room. Their eyes met for a moment and Meryl could see that he wanted her to say something. "You look nice too."

<<<<>>>>

Scorpius peeked out from his hiding spot behind one of the consoles. The wormhole was still there. Through its narrow passage, he could see the enormous ship beyond. It had not crossed through. As he moved, another blast came and shook the entire room with incredible force. Equipment crashed and exploded, sending sparks flying everywhere. One of the teks was sitting across from him in a crouch. An idea sprung to mind. "Shut off the power." He whispered the words but the tek did not understand. "Shut off the frelling power!" Nervously, the tek stood and pressed the large red button on the wall.

Chernov heard the shout and raced towards a small compartment under one of the consoles. It was stocked with oxygen masks. He placed one over his head and backed away. A hand reached out and gripped his shoulder. "Don't forget about the rest of us General." Scorpius leaned past him and grabbed a mask. They both looked out into space. The loss of power had done two things. The ship had stopped firing and the environmental shield had gone offline. The vacuum of space burst into the room and debris flew everywhere. Teks who had nothing to hold onto where blown out into the darkness. Scorpius growled.

<<<<>>>>

The Ingram had suffered heavy damage. Kezia looked down at the ancient ship and noted several breaches in the hull. "We've got to get her out of there." John stepped up beside him and glanced out. They both knew what a dying ship looked like and this one was getting there. The comm burst to life again. "Can you hear me?" Her voice was low and difficult to understand. "Yes, what's your situation?" They waited for a reply but nothing came. "Damn it!" John pounded the console with his fist.

Zelaya was not used to floating. She guided herself through the broken window and out into the hall. Several soldiers were still alive and saw her. Fortunately, they were having just as hard a time as she was. A few pulse fires flew past her but nothing close enough to connect. Something suddenly grabbed her from behind. Another soldier had managed to get the drop on her. With mouth open, she lunged at him. A ringing alarm bell stopped the battle in before it could start. They both fell to the floor and landed hard as gravity was restored. Regaining their composure, the soldiers opened fire. Zelaya was already down the hall and out of sight.

Sgt. Levo, apparently the one now in charge, looked down at his captain's ruined face and dropped it back on the ground. The woman had taken most of his neck and chin. He shuddered just thinking about. Stepping out of engineering, he ran into a small contingent of his men. They all appeared confused. "What happened?" Most of them had no idea what to say. One finally opened his mouth. "That thing, she killed the captain and took off down the hall." Levo shook his head. "And the explosion?" This time the subordinate could only shrug. "I heard something about a ship outside." He nodded and left them to check in on radar.

Zelaya heard the footsteps coming towards her and ducked. The peacekeeper ran past her without even noticing. She considered taking him but thought it best to remain in hiding. One of the grates along the floor was broken. She climbed in and took off down the tunnel. It was dark and she had only some of her senses to guide her. A small opening on the wall gave view to the level below. Zelaya saw cells, hundreds of them in both directions. This gave her an idea. Dropping down, she searched for some sort of manifest.

Kezia put the shield back up around his own ship. John had gone into the back and not said anything. The confused Scarren got the feeling that he was up to something. Getting up from his chair, Kezia walked into the hanger and found Crichton sitting in the module. "Where do you think you're going?" John glanced up at him momentarily before returning to his check. "You're not going down there." This got the human's attention. "And why not?" Kezia shook his head angrily. "Anything that comes toward that ship is going to get blown to bits. Don't underestimate a peacekeeper vessel." John sighed heavily. His partner was right.

<<<<>>>>

The first chance she got, Meryl made up an excuse for leaving the room. Moya had been quite the last few hours. With Rygel on sedatives and Chiana apparently asleep, there was no one to cause a commotion. D'Argo and Aeryn had been missing for a while but she did not know why. It occurred to her that Aeryn usually worked on her prowler when nothing was going on. She headed towards the hanger.

Tom watched her go with both relief and exasperation. This wasn't going as well as he had hoped. He searched for something to do that would keep his mind off the mess. Sleep seemed like an obvious choice. Just as he began to crawl into it, a knock on the door stopped him. D'Argo stuck his head in and then entered. "How is everything?" The question held more meaning than was implied in its simple delivery. Tom shrugged and motioned for the Luxan to come closer. "What do Luxans do for fun?" D'Argo grinned.

<<<<>>>>

Scorpius watched the wormhole disappear and take the alien menace with it. He stood and instructed the others to do so as well. The lights came back on and most of the machines were still functioning. He turned to the tek he had been speaking to before the incident. "Tell me you got the analysis." The tek smiled triumphantly and nodded. "Right up until the power was shut off the sir. We have the blueprint for the perfect wormhole." Scorpius returned the smile and turned to Chernov. The general was understandably shaken but did not allow it to show. "This is good news then Scorpius?" The hybrid laughed and nodded.

<<<<>>>>

It was hanging on the wall past the last cell on the right. A black tablet had been stuck to the wall with markings all over it. She read the names in earnest and found that there were only a few felons onboard. Most were murders of the lowest form. She found it amusing to be judging men for what she did herself. The thought left her as she made her way down the hall. "Who wants out?" Laughter came from several of the cells. "Come over here honey. I'll set you free." Zelaya was no longer amused. She walked over to the cell, opened it, and gave the inmate her best smile.

"We caught a Scarren ship approaching from above." The officer assigned to the radar console replayed the video for Levo. He saw the large craft hit with pulse fire and shoot back. They had been severely damaged by it. "Is it still out there?" The man nodded and pointed to the screen. A red dot stood motionless and dangerously close to their own dot. "Do we have firing capabilities?" The question was silly. He knew the answer before it was said. "We're dead in the water sir." Levo cursed to himself and left the room. His comm started beeping just as he entered the hallway. "Sir, someone is releasing the prisoners!" He was off and running before it ended.

Zelaya dropped the heavy corpse and rubbed the blood off her face with his shirt. The prisoner had not been very tasty at all. She kicked him and left. "Anyone else for rude comments?" No one said a word. Checking the manifest, two names caught her eye. "Rotonion slaves huh?" They were good muscle. Stopping in front of their cell, she peered in. The two of them sat against the wall and said nothing. "You two interested in a job opportunity?" One of them stood and walked up to her. "What's it pay?" Zelaya smiled for him. "Nothing, but you get to kill peacekeepers." He considered that for a moment before smiling back.

<<<<>>>>

Tom stood in the middle of the hallway with the remaining pieces of punching back strapped to him. "Thank you for this. I've been needing something to release the stress with." D'Argo's words only worried him more. The Luxan had positioned himself a few meters down the corridor. He was hunched over and eyeing his prize with enthusiasm. "So, this is like football right?" Tom's question went unanswered. D'Argo lunged forward and the human closed his eyes.

Aeryn hunched over in the cockpit of her prowler when Meryl came in. She was pulling at some wires and jumped back as a spark shot out. "What's wrong with it." Meryl waited for a response but got none. She walked over to her own prowler and slid her hand over its smooth surface. "What do you and John talk about?" This time Aeryn stopped working. She mulled the question over a moment before answering. "We don't really. Just about what's going on at the moment." Meryl nodded. "And if nothing's going on?" Aeryn shrugged. "I tell him to help me fix my prowler." Aeryn dropped a bag into the seat and walked out of the room. As soon as she was out of sight, Meryl pulled out her pulse rifle. She aimed it at her prowler's engine and fired.

Tom felt the blow and then everything he saw went upside down. His cheek slammed against the ground and he lay still. D'Argo laughed happily and walked over to him. "Again?" He groaned and shook his head. Meryl stepped up next to D'Argo and whispered in his ear. The Luxan nodded and waved goodbye as he left. Tom saw her lean over him with a strange expression on her face. "Come on. You're going to help me fix my prowler." She didn't wait for a reply.

<<<<>>>>

Zelaya and her two new best friends moved quickly down the hall and towards the hatch she had come through. Their names were Tolero and Norm. They weren't much to look at but she could tell that they were strong. The three of them were about to crawl into the vent when a voice cried out. "Hey! I want a job too." Zelaya let her curiosity get the best of her and turned around. According to the manifest, the man behind the bars was a mass murderer. He looked skinny and weak to her. "My name is Wesker. I can help you." She cautiously opened the door and let him out. One more couldn't hurt but they would have to watch him.

Levo burst into the prison section and found it quiet and peaceful. At first glance, everything seemed to be in order. But then he saw the doors. Two cells had been left wide open and were now empty. He was on the comm and reporting back upstairs in seconds. "We have three prisoners missing. Lock the ship down now." There was no answer. He tried again but no one responded. "Frell!"

The four of them moved easily down the corridor where Zelaya had entered in the first place. She reached over to open the hatch but stopped short. "I don't suppose you three can survive in space?" They stared back at her blankly. Grabbing her comm, she tried to reach her shipmates. "Kezia, you there?" His voice came back weakly but held. "Yes. Are you coming out?" She motioned for the other three to stand back and opened the hatch. Zelaya dove out into the darkness and closed the hatch behind her. The Scarren ship was very close and she reached it easily.

Tolero and Norm stared dumbly at each other as the pretty lady jumped out into space. Between them, there wasn't much in the brains department. Wesker, noticing this, took off down the hall and into the engineering room. They did not notice. Suddenly the walls buckled inward and something tore through them. Kezia's ship stuck its rudder as far into the Ingram as it could go. The two convicts jumped inside and yelled for the third man. Wesker ran back out and boarded. Kezia pulled away and closed the outer doors. "John and Fred met the four others in the hanger. "I see you make friends quickly." Zelaya smiled at John but said nothing. The introductions had just begun when a loud explosion rocked the ship.

There were two explosions actually. One at the far end of the Ingram where the reactor was, and another at the center. The ensuing blast engulfed the entire ship and vaporized anything within its grasp. Poor Sgt. Levo never made it back to the radar room. He was stuck between floors when his life came to an end.

<<<<>>>>

Pilot watched over his beloved ship with much welcomed calm. Through his extended eyes and ears, he could see its crew in high spirits for the first time in a while. Rygel had almost fully recovered. Zhaan and Chiana sat by his side like two attentive nurses. For once, the old Hynerion had no words of disparagement. Tom and Meryl were hard at work on her prowler in the hanger. Pilot had sensed the strange pulse blast from there earlier. He could not imagine what had happened. D'Argo was here in the den with him. They did not talk much but it was good to have company sometimes.