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The Elephant Ep15: Meeting of the Minds

John Crichton peered up into the afternoon sun and watched his ride disappear into the darkness that waited beyond. Allowing his sight to drift slowly back to the ground, he squinted at the dusty gravel beneath his feet. Zelaya and the one she had brought aboard, Wesker, stood silently beside him and paid no attention. They both seemed anxious he noticed. He couldn't imagine why. The small town they had intruded upon looked deserted and completely serene. John scolded himself. That was almost never true. "Come on. Let's get this over with." The other two nodded and followed him into what appeared to be a trading post.

Kezia stared down at the planet and remembered the conversation that had gone on earlier. "How can we have seven people and only three guns?" He cursed their lack of foresight and looked back at the new arrivals in the hanger. The two brutes that Zelaya had rescued were simple enough. They were dumb as rocks and didn't pose any threat. Their size and strength was impressive though. It occurred to him that they would make good shields. Kezia laughed and pushed the thought aside. John, Zelaya, and that other one were down on the planet right now. Bartering for weapons. You can't infiltrate a top secret peacekeeper base without weapons.

They stepped into the cool shade of the trading post and found themselves surrounded by exotic looking knickknacks and food. John picked up a strange looking fruit and bit into it. "Oh God, this is good." He licked his lips in ecstacy. Zelaya was staring at him with angry eyes. 'We're here to buy guns." He smiled sheepishly and put the fruit down. The man behind the counter noticed them immediately and called them over. He grinned cheerfully. "What can I get for you?" John leaned forward and whispered into his ear. "Oh no sir. I don't carry any sort of weapons here." John cut him off before he could continue. "Hey Z, smile for the nice man." She complied and the man's memory was suddenly jarred.

<<<<>>>>

Chernov had taken just about enough of the Nyid's foolishness. He stared the creature down while keeping a hand close to his pulse rifle at all times. "Scorpius moves ever closer to finishing his research and you tell me to wait!" The general was not known for his patience. His tactical maneuvering usually relied on the virtues of others. Bob remained calm and met Chernov's icy glare. "Crichton will be here soon. I promise you." Chernov did not accept this. "Why hasn't he arrived already?" This took a more detailed explanation. Bob pointed towards the damaged wall behind them. "You say this base was attacked by a wormhole. The Leviathan, Moya, had a similar incident." The Sebacean stared back at his Nyid associate. "But you took care of it." Bob nodded. "Yes, I did."

Scorpius had been working in a frenzy since the day of the attack. Every tek he could grab a hold of was working round the clock on his project. The forces that had been led here by his meddling had given him a gift greater than any other. The secrets of wormhole technology were finally within his grasp. As he marched down the hallway, trailed by teks of course, the hybrid managed to catch a familiar voice. Scorpius turned momentarily and caught a glimpse of someone. A person he had seen before. "What are you up to General?" He had no time to follow up conspiracies now. There was work to be done.

<<<<>>>>

The prowler engine sat in ruins between the two exhausted mechanics. Tom rubbed his forehead, spreading grease across his formerly clean face. Meryl looked over at him and almost laughed. She had enough discipline to keep her mouth shut. This had been her fault after all. It was obvious that this human had no technological abilities worth noting. "Haven't you ever operated a vehicle before?" He shook his head. "Never even got my permit." She ignored the comment and sat up. Her precious ship was now a mess of tangled wires. "You ruined my prowler." This got Tom's attention immediately. "What do you mean me? This was your idea."

Zhaan heard the shouts and came running. They seemed to be originating from the maintenance bay. As she entered, the source became all too clear. Tom and Meryl were fighting over something or other. It didn't really matter what. "You're useless!" The ferocity of the former peacekeepers cries revealed a simple fact. This girl had never been taught how to deal with a domestic fight. Some sort of curved metal tool flew past Zhaan's head and hit the wall behind her. "Is there a problem Zhaan?" Pilot's inquisitive voice came through her comm. "Just a lover's quarrel Pilot. Apparently, Tom broke Meryl's prowler."

<<<<>>>>

The clerk led through a back door and into a large storeroom. The air was dusty and smelled like it had been shut in there for weeks. Through the dim haze, John could make out rows and rows of shiny new weapons. Everything an army would ever need. "Are you militia, terrorists, or thieves?" The man seemed to know his way around an arms deal. A large shimmering panel sat alone off to the side. John tapped it lightly with his hand and the machine sprung to life. It was an x-ray weapons detector. Through it he could see the other three people in the room in profile. "What is this!" The clerk was suddenly very angry. "What?" That was all that John could say before the man rushed Wesker. Looking back at the machine, a small cylinder was visible in Wesker's skull.

Guns were suddenly drawn on both sides of the room. Luckily, only John and the clerk were carrying. He assumed that the display weapons were not armed and hoped for the best. "Your friends got pk mind frelling stuff in his head." Wesker put on a shocked face and said nothing. John lowered his gun slowly. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "He's got a neurochip?" The clerk nodded. John's gun was now trained on Wesker. "Why were you on a prison transport. Why do you have a neurochip?" The convict wasted no time. Before anyone could make a move, he burst out the door and into the sunlight.

<<<<>>>>

The control center for Scorpius's experiments had been moved to a shiny new room on the other side of the complex. Bob sat quietly in the old ruined one and surveyed the scene. Something with incredible firepower had let loose on this place. But signs of restraint were evident. He knew from personal experience that one regulator ship could have destroyed the entire base. Then again, they weren't in the mass murder business. His little side trip had been a waste of time. There was no information left in the data stores. Everything had been removed per the hybrid's orders. It was time to take this to the next level. Bob stood and left.

<<<<>>>>

John ran out into the street with gun drawn. For a moment, the few shoppers in the street stopped to glance at him. Then they continued on without a word. The locals were used to this type of thing. He walked up to a fountain in the middle of the square. The pit was full of wanted beacons. All untouched and melting in the rays of sunshine. A door slammed behind him and he turned quickly. It was only Zelaya. "What is a neurochip? Why did he run away?" He shook his head wearily. "I'll explain later. Just trust me, this guy could be unstable." This did not impress her. "I saw the manifest. He's a killer. We already knew that." This was going nowhere. "Get the guns and go back to the ship.

Wesker watched the two of them argue in the street. He had been able to hold the voice down until now. The recent incident had given the monster a chance to break through the barriers that he had set up. The familiar face appeared next to him in the alley. "In trouble again. I told you to listen to me." He tried to ignore it but it was too strong for him now. "Leave me alone Clive. The man in the white lab coat would not leave. "You know I can't do that. We're a team, you and I." A confused shopper walked by and passed right through Clive. Wesker had learned to ignore it by now.

"He's a got a voice in his head telling him what to do?" John nodded as the Ferrian woman stared back at him in shock. She had never heard of such a thing. "That's cruel." He knew only too well. Zelaya would not leave his side. "Why don't you just leave with me? We can get the frell out of here and forget about him." John shook his head purposely. "No, I have to take care of it." She did not understand. "Why you?" He would have preferred to avoid this. "Because that was me not too long ago." That shut her up.

<<<<>>>>

"You're completely useless!" She repeated the words and it stung just as hard. Tom stared at her in disbelief and fought not to shout back. That would only make things worse. But then she said something he couldn't ignore. "I would have been better off alone." Without waiting to gage his response, she turned on her heels and marched out the door. Meryl passed by Zhaan and didn't bother to say anything. "Hey Zhaan." Tom shouted the words in passing as he chased after the angry ex-captain. He raised his hand to grab her shoulder when she turned and caught it in midair. "Do you mean that? You'd be better off alone?" She considered the words for a moment before answering. "Yes."

Zhaan heard the words leave the girl's lips and knew instantly how they would affect Tom. She saw him slump down in his stance and take on a sad and pathetic look. This disturbed her greatly. With each new arrival, it was getting harder to keep the peace on this ship. In one bold move, Zhaan stepped forward and slammed the two against the wall. They fell unconscious to her feet. She laid them next to each other so that their heads were aligned.

<<<<>>>>

Zelaya had gone back into the store to finish the deal. Once again, John was left alone in the street. His thoughts of neural clones and the like automatically summoned Harvey. His own constant companion. "Did you think that you were the only one?" The Scorpius clone appeared amused by the whole situation. "Neural technology is a rapidly advancing field John. Scorpius is not the only one using it." John tried to ignore him but Harvey was more persistent than ever. "Stop distracting me. You're going to get us shot." This made Harvey smile. "You said us John."

Wesker watched the human argue with himself and the realization quickly dawned on him. This man knew his predicament. John Crichton had a neural clone in him. He didn't know whether to feel relieved or to tense up. What better way to catch a killer than to understand him. "You're right my friend. We've got to kill him." Wesker smiled. "Yes, we do indeed."

John spotted the man as he raced out of an alley down the street. He took off running after him and it was not too long before they were sprinting side by side. "Wait! I just want to talk to you!" Wesker paid no attention. He lunged at John but missed and toppled to the ground. They stared at each other now. Four men standing in the middle of an empty street. The vigilant home owners peering through their windows only saw two. "How long have you had it?" Wesker was hit hard in the face as John got around him. He looked but Clive had disappeared. "Five and a half cycles." John backed away in shock. "Frell."

"Can you see him now?" John and Wesker sat side by side on the ground. Their others had apparently abandoned them for the moment. "No, he's gone now." John shook his head and watched the man frown. "What did you know?" This made Wesker angry. As if he was remembering something too painful to mention. "Nothing. The peacekeepers, they took over my planet. Their doctors came in, looking for experiment volunteers. I refused. Apparently, they didn't hear me." The poor man cradled his head in his arms and stopped speaking. John felt pity for Wesker and relief for himself.

<<<<>>>>

Meryl opened her eyes and the looked around. The world was blurry and difficult to get a hold on. Somehow, this didn't feel right. She wasn't herself. A voice came through the haze and helped to calm her. "Just relax and take it in." Through these strange eyes she saw something astounding. She saw Meryl Raynor staring back at her. With that realization came an wave of incomprehensible images and sounds. Thoughts swirled around inside her head making it impossible to think clearly. Millions of fractured images appeared and disappeared. Meryl tried to quiet it but the force was too strong.

Tom opened his eyes and looked around. The world seemed somehow colder and distinct. There was something unfamiliar about this though he couldn't place it. A woman's voice came in from nowhere. She seemed to be humming. It was surprisingly calming. Then it happened. He saw Tom staring back at him. There was a moment of utter confusion followed by silence. Where his usual mental functions took over there was nothing. It was just him in this empty place. Something happened when he saw himself though. A feeling of warmth and confusion. It came naturally to him but felt wrong in this place.

<<<<>>>>

Zelaya walked out into the street and spotted the two men sitting quietly against a building. She had delivered the supplies to Kezia but John was taking too long. She came back to investigate. "Crichton! What are you still doing with him?" Her words seemed to hit Wesker hard. He looked from her to Crichton with an expression of fear. Wesker stood and ran down the street. "What the hell did you do that for? I had him calmed down." Zelaya ignored John's annoyed gaze and looked past him at the running man. "Weren't you going to kill him?" He nodded. "Yes, but I was waiting for the right moment. He's in a lot of pain."

Somehow Wesker heard those words. Clive appeared immediately. His own little paranoid best friend. "You see! I was right about him." He nodded and turned back towards Crichton. The human wanted him dead. "Why?" Clive considered this for a moment. "He's jealous of you. Wants to be the only one." The response didn't really make sense but Wesker's mind was beyond that. He only needed an excuse. "Quickly, there's a pulse rifle over by that house!" Clive was right. The pulse rifle glistened in the sun. Almost calling out to him. Wesker went for it.

<<<<>>>>

There was a flash of blue and they found themselves lying on the floor as they had been only moments before. Meryl was definitely herself again and it was the same for Tom. They looked up and saw Zhaan staring lovingly down at them. She smiled and touched their foreheads before standing up and walking away. Tom looked over at Meryl and gave her a look of confusion. "Did you just...?" He couldn't think of anything to describe it. She nodded and stood. "So, did you mean what you said?" Meryl pulled him up to stand alongside her. "Being better off doesn't always mean the same thing as being happy."

<<<<>>>>

John walked out into the center of the street and pulled back his coat. His pulse pistol sat in its holster waiting for him. Zelaya moved forward but he waved her off. "I'll do this." Wesker stood a ways down the street in the same position as John. His own gun had been tucked into his ragged belt. The two men stared each other down as a tumbleweed passed by in between them. No other people inhabited the street now. It was just the two of them. John moved his hand down and Wesker did the same. Their mental devils had vanished again. Simultaneously, two guns were raised and four shots were fired.

The first shot, a rather wild one actually, sailed past Wesker's head but didn't even come close to hitting him. Shot number two, slightly better aimed, came within inches of changing John's facial features. He breathed a huge sigh of relief. The third shot fired was aimed low and hit John's leg just above the knee. He tumbled to the ground in pain. The fourth and final shot hit Wesker squarely in the chest and he also fell. John lifted the gun up to his face and checked the cartridge. Only one shot had been fired.

Dragging himself over to the other wounded man, John had to struggle to keep from shouting in pain. He reached Wesker and grabbed the man's pulse rifle. It had also been fired only once. This didn't make any sense. He looked up into the bright afternoon sun and was blinded. Something stepped forward and in between him and the sun. A gun was raised and fired. Wesker didn't even have time to gasp before his head exploded. Aeryn Sun knelt down over him. "Who was he?" John managed a slight smile. "What I might've been." She helped him up. "You shot me." Aeryn smiled. "And?"

A Scarren ship with seven passengers flew off into the darkness of space to meet its destiny. One of these foolish people had been just recently replaced by someone much more capable. Kezia and Zelaya sat at the cockpit of this doomed craft and looked back at the new arrival. John and Aeryn sat together against his module. Neither of them said a word. There was nothing that needed to be said. The human smiled and she returned the gesture.

Neuroscpr

Since the end is growing ever closer, I thought I'd share a small bit of info about one of my characters before it comes. Kezia, the scarren ex-spy, is named after a shy little girl from a story in my english textbook called "the dollhouse" Don't know if anyone cares but there it is