Rating: PG

Spoilers: Yes-Season One, two, and three up through Season of Death.

Disclaimer: I did not create Farscape, the universe of Farscape, or its characters. I merely borrowed them for this story, for which I will receive no monetary compensation. No infringement of copyright intended.

Time Frame: Near future. John and Aeryn are together, but have only been so for a little while.

*

"I can assure all of you," said Rygel, "I have been in contact with their merchant's league. There is no Peacekeeper presence on the planet. It is perfectly safe for us to trade there."

Moya had arrived in orbit around a planet called Verser about one solar day ago. Since then, Rygel had been elected to make certain inquiries as to the availability of trade goods on the planet. It had been a while since their last stop to a commerce planet and they were short on many much needed items.

"Look, Sparky," replied Crichton, "how do we know we can trust this mechant's league, anyway?"

"Yes," chimed in Aeryn, "and there is still the matter of that area of the planet that Moya has not been able to get any readings from. There is some sort of magnetic field in that area blocking our scans."

"That area is far from where the merchant's league said to come and trade. And as far as your concerns, Crichton, I can tell by their demeanor that they are businessmen. Opportunists, probably, but their motives are quite clear to me: profit."

Zhaan enters into the conversation. "John, Aeryn, I understand your concerns, but the fact remains that we are in need of supplies."

"Agreed," said D'Argo. "However, I share John and Aeryn's concerns. Let us make this as fast a supply run as possible."

"Okay," said Crichton. "Lets also make the group going down there a small one. You and I can go, D'Argo, along with Rygel since he has made the trade contacts. The rest..."

"Wait," interrupted Aeryn, "you're not going without me."

"Aeryn, you don't have to go. Besides, it might be well that you stay here in case there is trouble in orbit."

"Like what, John..." Aeryn broke from what she was going to say. "John, lets talk in the corridor for a moment."

Aeryn marched into the corridor, with Crichton close behind her. When they got out of earshot of the others, Aeryn turned to face John.

"Alright, what the frell is going on?"

"What do you mean? I just think that its best that..."

"Don't give me that dren about having me up here to face a threat to Moya." A look of realization came over her face. "You're trying to protect me, aren't you?" She laughed slightly as she said it. Crichton was at a loss for words. "Admit it, John, you're trying to protect me."

"Alright, Aeryn, so maybe I am." Crichton put his arms around Aeryn's waist. She returned the jesture. "I don't know why, I mean you were a Peacekeeper, you can take care of yourself. I guess I just feel like something is wrong down there, something that may threaten us...you. I'm sorry, I guess I am being a little overprotective."

She kissed him slightly on the cheek. "I appreciate your concern for me, John. But it is not necessary. As you said, I can take care of myself." She sighed with muted frustration. "Are all human males as protective of their mates?"

"Many are, yes. I guess my human male instincts kicked in and..." He looked deeply into her eyes and took her hand in his. "I just don't want to lose you." Crichton kissed Aeryn's hand, which was followed by a long and passionate kiss exchanged between the two of them.

The two finally returned to command, where the others were waiting. "Okay," said Crichton, "looks like Aeryn goes with us."

**

The ancient beings watch the planet's populace as they had done for some time. They had come to Verser some 200 cycles ago and had by now thoroughly studied the native inhabitants. The only thing that kept them there so long was the opportunity to study other races who came to Verser to do business with the planet's trade league. Over time, they had studied many races here, but had decided to move on soon.

"It will be good to see a new planetary landscape for a change, Likan. Although we will have to start over again in the creation of a testing arena, it will be worth it I feel."

"Boredom, Lacol, is a trait of an inferior race, not unlike the ones we study. Do not give into it. The fact is that we have studied here for long enough, and the amount of specimens arriving has decreased steadily. The primitives have slowly stopped coming as others of their kind have had encounters with us here. Although they're memories are erased, they still are missing from their comrades for unexplained periods and have gaps in memory. It is time to find a new testing ground."

"There is that Leviathan ship that has arrived in orbit. It has sent a small craft down to the planet, more than likely with members of the Leviathan's crew to conduct trade. Perhaps we will find an interesting specimen among them."

The two beings brought up an image of the Leviathan transport pod as a projection on the very empty space of the room. Lacol and Likan observed the four beings emerge from the transport pod.

"I believe that to be Luxan," said Lacol. "Impressive in their warrior spirit, but unimpressive in the fact that war and violence is their only primary trait."

"The small one that has emerged behind the Luxan is not that much more interesting," said Likon. "A Hynerian. A slothingly race dedicated to greed. The main interesting thing about them is that such a race could come to dominate an empire. Both of these species have been well studied elsewhere. Not much of interest so far."

Behind the Luxan and Hynerian, the two beings observed two more figures emerge. "Sebaceans," said Lacol with surprise. "This is certainly and interesting mix of crewmates. They may be worthy some study."

"Wait, Lacol. Focus on the male. He appears Sebacean in the exterior features, but..."

"Yes, I see. He is not. His energy signature is different, as is some of his biology. His resistance to heat, for instance, is greater than that of a Sebacean. Likon, we have come across a new species. There is nothing like him in our records. We must study him."

"We might as well study the Sebacean female as well. It is a chance to gain more data on that complicated species. From what I can read of their thoughts from this distance, she is connected in some way with the other, perhaps his mate."

"Agreed. We will prepare."

***

While Rygel was busy bartering for the supplies, Aeryn and Crichton left D'Argo to guard him while they took a little look around to scout for any possible threats. They were both still nervous about this planet, and the strange looks they got from the locals when they arrived did little to assuage their anxiety.

"John, lets be sure not to get too far away from the others, just in case they need help. I hope they finish soon. This place gives me a willy."

Cricthon laughed at the last remark made by Aeryn, causing her to give him a look of consternation. "Aeryn, the term is WILLIES, not WILLY."

"What's the difference, its only a matter of the singular or the plural. Perhaps I only have one willy."

"Aeryn, the expression is willies, not willy. Simple as that."

"John, nothing is simple, it seems, when it comes to your Earth sayings."

Crichton put his arm around her. "But you love me anyway, right."

"I love a challenge, and I love you." They were looking at each other intently when a small alien got their attention.

"Excuse, please. Could it be that you might be interested in acquiring some weapons?" The alien was not much taller than Rygel. Its features were not clear due to the fact that he was wearing a hooded robe of some kind.

Aeryn was unsure about whether it was a good idea, but was interested seeing the weapons. "Let us see what you have."

"Please to come this way."

The alien led the couple into a small room. The room was empty, and no weapons were in sight. When Crichton and Aeryn entered the room, the alien was also nowhere to be found.

"Hey," called Crichton. "Where'd ya go, little guy."

Just then, a blinding light flashed in their eyes and knocked them unconscious.

************************************

Crichton awoke to find himself under a circle of light in a dark room. Lying beside him was Aeryn, who was also beginning to come to consciousness. John rolled over to her to check on her.

"Aeryn, are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Just a bit...disoriented. You?"

"The same. Where...what..."

"You are both unharmed." The voice seemed to come from all around them in the darkness.

"Who are you?" asked John. "Are you the one who knocked us out? That light. It was some kind of stun gun, wasn't it?"

"Nothing so primitive." Another voice spoke to him in reply. "It was a simple flash of bright light set at a very fast burst. It overloaded your optical perception, thus overloading your brain functions and temporarily rendering you unconscious. There is no permanent damage from the effect, John Crichton."

"How do you know my name?"

"We are currently scanning you, probing your memory."

Cricthon reacted violently. "Not again. Stay out of my head!"

"The effect is harmless, Crichton," replied one of the voices. "You do not even feel it. We are not like Scorpius and his primitive machine."

"My memories and thoughts are private. Stop it!"

"It is necessary," came a cold reply from the darkness.

Aeryn joined the conversation. "Necessary for what purpose. Are you probing me as well?"

"Yes, Aeryn Sun. We have learned much about both of you. You are of less interest to us than your mate. In all the studies conducted by our kind over the centuries, we have never encountered a Human."

"Primarily," said the other voice, "we focus our studies on space faring races, not waisting time with the extremely primitive ones. We see from your mind that your race has only recently begun to enter space, and has never left your own system. Your encounter with the wormhole has made you the first of your kind to enter interstellar space, and thus has made you qualified to be studied."

"Oh, I'm sooo glad," replied Crichton sarcastically.

"Why are you studying us?" inquired Aeryn.

"To acquire knowledge. We know much about Sebaceans already through past studies. This Human provides an interesting opportunity."

The other voice began to speak again. "I see, Crichton, that your people have a tendency towards violence. This is very interesting. You are one of the few species that wars among itself on a large scale." As the voice spoke, images began to appear all around Crichton and Aeryn. The images were of wars in Earth's past, from Ancient Roman Legions to more modern conflicts, like the World Wars. "I see that you have been well educated about your planet's violent past. Humans kill each other by the thousands over primitive religious beliefs, land usage, even such inconsequential things as differences in skin pigmentation. It seems your people look for excuses to fight. Humans invent separate national identities as another cause to fight over. Much of your scientific advancements have come from a competition with others of your kind to find better ways of killing each other." Images of atomic bomb explosions appear.

"I believe that this is the aspect of Humans that we will study," said one of the voices from the darkness. We have chosen the best conditions for such a study from your memory. We will prepare."

A bright light filled the room for several moments, and then faded to reveal a change in setting. Crichton and Aeryn found themselves in a room, what appeared to Crichton to be some sort of basement. John immediately looked for Aeryn, who he found standing next to him where she had been before the room changed.

"Aeryn, you alright?"

"Yes, but..." Aeryn gave John a strange looking over. "John, what are those clothes you are wearing?"

Crichton had not realized that his clothing had been changed. He immediately looked himself over. "What the hell? Hey, wait." He noticed Aeryn's clothes were also different. "Your clothes have changed, too."

Aeryn looked at herself, and found that she was wearing a black sweater and black pants. Nothing extraordinary, but definitely not her clothes. She was more intrigued by John's attire.

"John, that looks like some kind of uniform."

John looked at his clothes more closely, and was startled at what he saw. He was wearing brown pants and a khaki jacket. Crichton also found that he was wearing a belt of some kind with a holster and gun attached, along with some other equipment. He was also wearing a helmet, and insignia on his collar that he recognized. "It is a uniform Aeryn, and I think recognize it." He was too shocked to speak for a moment. "It's a United States Army uniform, and old one. My country's army used to wear uniforms like these 50 years...cycles...ago, during..." he hesitated. "World War II."

"What's World War II?" asked Aeryn.

"It was the largest war in the history of my planet. It lasted 6 cycles and claimed over 58 million lives." John took his helmet off, and ran his hand through his hair as he thought for a moment. "It makes sense. If these beings wanted to study war on my planet, they would probably pick the biggest. But Aeryn, how did they create this uniform." Crichton found an .45 caliber pistol in his belt and a Thompson sub machine gun on the ground beside him. "And these weapons. Frell, Aeryn, these guys, whoever these people are who are doing this, must have some incredible abilities."

"You said that you are dressed as a soldier from your nation state."

"Yeah, according to my insignia, I'm a Captain, in the Rangers. They were an elite group of soldiers, sort of the equivalent of Peacekeeper Special Ops."

"Am I dressed like a soldier as well?" asked Aeryn, noticing that she was not wearing the same uniform as John.

"No, you couldn't be. Women couldn't serve as combat soldiers."

"What? That's insane! Why not?"

"Long story, for another time. The question now is where are we?"

"You are in our testing arena." The voice from the dark room returned from out of nowhere. "A simulation has been created which places you in a country called France on your world during the cycle designated on Earth's calendar as 1944. You are Captain John Crichton of the 2nd Ranger Battalion. Aeryn Sun is part of the simulation as well. She is a member of the French resistance. You and your men have been designated to destroy a Nazi ammunition depot. All the rest of the information you need, such as the names of your men, the location of the depot, and how to use your weapons, has been included in your memory by us. We will monitor, but will not interfere from here on in. Oh, and before you ask, yes this is real. Both of you can very easily be killed. That is all."

"Hey, wait, you can't just do this, what are we..."

"They've gone, John," broke in Aeryn with frustration. "Before we leave this room, tell me more about this war we are in."

"Well, if we're in France in 1944, this must be sometime after D-Day. In this war, an alliance of countries, including my country, the United States of America, is fighting against another country called Nazi Germany. The Nazi's are a totalitarian regime bent on global conquest, sort of like Earth's own version of the Peacekeepers. France was occupied by the Germans, but the Americans and the other allies are here to liberate it."

"The voice, the one's who put us here, said I am a member of the French resistance. What's that?"

"A partisan group of people from France who are fighting to help liberate their country. They're not regular military, but rather irregular freedom fighters."

"So what now?"

"Well," said Crichton, as he put his helmet on, "for now we play along, until we find a way out of this. Agreed?"

Aeryn drew a pistol she found holstered under her arm. "Agreed."

**

"Rygel," said D'Argo as he approached the Hynerian. "There is still no sign of Aeryn and Crichton. Pilot has been unable to reach them either."

"So what are we supposed to do about it?" replied Rygel. "Where would we look for them?"

"I will begin to ask the local residents if they have seen them."

"D'Argo," said a voice from his comm, "this is Zhaan."

D'Argo activated his comm. "Yes, Zhaan, what is it? Have you found them?"

"No, but the Peacekeepers may have found us. Moya has detected a Marauder entering orbit. They have not detected Moya yet, but they will anytime. Pilot says that we may be able to hide on the dark side of Verser's farthest moon, but we do not have time to pick you up."

"Do it, Zhaan, you have no choice," replied D'Argo. "Rygel and I will find somewhere to hide."

"Goddess be with you both." Zhaan broke off communication.

"What are we goind to do, D'Argo? Where can we hide?" asked a scared Rygel.

"I do not know, but we had better find somewhere to hide before those Peacekeepers arrive." The pair made their way down the street in search of some kind of refuge.

***

Crichton crept slowly through the grass to look down the hill at their intended target, with Aeryn close behind. John found himself in charge of a group of 10 men in this little experiment.. His Sergeant, named Pierce, was behind him with another of his men, Freidman. John and Aeryn had been in the simulation only a couple of hours, but they both seemed to know all of the men. They also knew how to use their weapons and equipment. The aliens who put Crichton and Aeryn in this situation said that they would know these things, but John didn't see how until he saw the men, and knew who each of them where. It was just as if he had known them for a long time.

The supply depot was heavily guarded, but Crichton and Aeryn had come up with a plan to assault it. Crichton and Aeryn would lead 2 men up the center, while the others split up to attack the two flanks of the position. The time had arrived for the attack. As planned, Aeryn was the first to open fire.

The Rangers immediately rushed the ammo dump, firing as they went. The Germans were caught totally by surprise by the assault. Several went down quickly in the first barrage of American gunfire. The rest put up a determined resistance. Crichton, Aeryn, and the Rangers blasted away with their Thompson's and M1 Garand Rifles, while another man gave them cover with a Browning Automatic Rifle from the hillside.

Crichton was no soldier, though he had picked up a few things from Aeryn in the time he had been in the Uncharted Territories. Still, he had an uncanny knowledge of combat tactics that he normal would not have. John could only guess that it was another planted bit of knowledge put there by the aliens to make the simulation more realistic.

Aeryn also fought with tremendous skill. Even with the primitive Human weapons, she still used her Peacekeeper training to effective measure, taking out several enemy soldiers with her fire.

The Germans, though they fought fiercely, were soon overpowered. Crichton and his men were about to lay charges when they heard the sound of an engine.

To their horror, Crichton and his men looked in the direction of the noise to see a German tank roll up, followed by at least 40 German soldiers.

Sergeant Pierce yelled to the men on the flanks. "Scatter you guys! Take cover!" The Rangers found cover as the Germans advanced into the field.

Aeryn and John took cover together. She pointed her Thompson pointed in the direction of the approaching vehicle. "John, what is that?" she asked.

"It's a tank, Aeryn, an armored vehicle. Its German."

The German tank fired and an explosion ripped through ground as the round exploded near the position of Crichton and his troops. The Germans began to spread out and engage the Americans, firing as they advanced.

The Rangers continued to put up a determined resistance. A running battle ensued as the outnumbered Rangers fired and shifted their positions.

The German tank again fired, blasting away part of the nearby woods where some of the Rangers had taken cover. It became obvious to Crichton that they were outnumbered and outgunned.

"Fall back!" yelled Crichton to his men. The Rangers complied, firing as they retreated into the cover of the forest.

****

A squad of Peacekeepers marched through the marketplace on Verser, led by a very determined Lt. Braca. He had been on a Marauder in the vicinity of Verser when Scorpius called him and ordered Braca to this planet. Peacekeeper agents had reported seeing visitors to Verser that resembled the fugitives being sought by Scorpius.

Braca has spoken to some of the locals, and they informed him that they had last seen a Luxon and Hynerian in this part of the marketplace. He had his troops spread out through the area to try and find their quarry.

Meanwhile, D'Argo and Rygel watched them from the window of a nearby building. D'Argo did not like the way this situation was turning out.

"They must know we are here," said D'Argo.

"Why? How would they know we were here?" replied a nervous Rygel.

"They must have spies here on Verser. Did your 'contacts' in the trade league say anything about a Peacekeeper presence?"

"They denied there were Peacekeepers here. Those bastards assured me!" said Rygel. "Do you think they have Crichton and Aeryn?"

"I don't know," replied a worried D'Argo. "It makes no sense that we haven't heard from them. Its possible that they have been captured." The Luxon considered for a moment. "But, then why are those Peacekeepers still intent on their search? Scorpius doesn't care about capturing anyone but Crichton. If those Peacekeepers had captured Crichton...."

"Then what the frell happened to them?" asked Rygel.

"I don't know."

"Hmmph," said the little Hynerian. "Not a lot you do know, is there?"

"Shut up!" came the gruff reply from D'Argo.

*****

Likon and Lacol watched the scene being played out in their testing area. Their two subjects and the simulated characters with them were on the run, being chased by the Germans.

"Hmm, this Crichton is obviously not the best equipped warrior of his species," said Lacol.

"He does show some ingenuity, Lacol," replied Likon. "The Human is in an unfamiliar environment. He only knows about the conflict he is in from education and from a form of entertainment called movies. Perhaps we made a mistake in pitting him against opponents from his worlds past, from a time he did not live in or experience."

"So, how do you propose we rectify this?" asked Lacol.

"Behold," said Likon, as he made the image before them change with a thought. The image of the Peacekeepers in the marketplace appeared before them.

"Ah," said Lacol. "Those are Crichton's real enemies. We may have found the method to test Crichton properly. We must prepare."

******

Braca was followed by two of his men as he searched the marketplace for Crichton. "Where could they be?" he thought. "They were seen here mere arns ago."

"Excuse please," said a voice from behind the Peacekeepers.

Braca and his men turned with guns drawn to find themselves confronted with a small alien in a hooded cloak. The Peacekeeper Lieutenant approached the small creature.

"What the frell do you want?" asked Braca.

"I believe I can help you find what you are looking for," said the small alien.

"Talk fast," said Braca, raising his pistol.

"The Human is hiding in a nearby structure. I can direct you."

The small alien led Braca and his men to an abandoned building. The Lieutenant called in all of his troops and had them surround the building. On his order, they stormed into the structure, guns at the ready.

All they found was an empty room. Braca, thinking he had been deceived, turned to look for the small alien who guided them to the building.

Just then, a quick burst of bright light filled the room and rendered the Peacekeepers unconscious.

**************************************

Crichton and Aeryn led the detachment of Rangers away from the German supply depot through the woods. They didn't know where they were going, but they knew they had to get away from the Germans who were probably pursuing them.

They had lost two of their men in the battle at the supply depot, cutting the number of Rangers down from 10 to 8. Crichton, Aeryn, and those 8 men would be no match for the forty Germans and the German tank that were now tracking them.

The group came upon a clearing in the forest, and stepped into it cautiously. It was a grassy field about 200 yards wide and 100 yards long. Crichton, Aeryn, and the Rangers stayed close to the edge of the clearing just in case the Germans were waiting for them.

"What do you think, Captain?" asked Sergeant Pierce to Crichton.

"Well, it looks clear enough," said Crichton. He looked at Aeryn, who then nodded her agreement.

Just before they moved forward into the clearing, one of the men, a Private, spotted something. "Sir," he said to Crichton. "Something moving on the other side of the clearing."

Crichton retrieved his binoculars from his belt and looked through them in the direction indicated by the Private. After a few moments, he did begin to see something. Finally, the image of a group of people began to come into view.

Crichton turned to his men. "Take cover," he whispered. The Rangers expertly fanned out along the edge of the clearing, taking cover just within the tree line. They trained their weapons on the clearing, while Crichton continued to look through his binoculars to try and determine who it was out there.

The group of people across the field became clearer, and Crichton could not believe what he was seeing. He turned around to Crichton and Sergeant Pierce. "Sergeant, lend Miss Sun your binoculars, please."

"Yes, sir." The Sergeant handed the binoculars to Aeryn, who quickly figured out how to use them. Once she did, she looked in the direction Crichton indicated.

"Aeryn, do you see what I see?" he asked.

After a moment, Aeryn confirmed what he saw. "A Peacekeeper patrol," she said. "At least a full squad."

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Pierce.

"No time now," replied Crichton. "Lets just say these guys aren't friendly. Have the men prepare to ambush them."

"Take them out sir?" asked Pierce.

"No," replied Crichton. "I want to try and capture them. Get the men, ready."

"Yes, sir," replied Pierce, as he went to give the men instructions.

"What are you doing, John?" asked Aeryn.

"I want to know if those Peacekeepers are real or more funny business brought to us by caretakers of this little rat maze."

The minutes passed as the Peacekeepers got closer and closer to the Rangers' position. They gave no indication of knowing they were walking into a trap. On the contrary, they seemed confused and disoriented as Crichton watched them through his binoculars. He smiled as he recognized the man leading the Peacekeeper squad.

"Well," Crichton whispered, "this just keeps getting better and better."

"I see him," said Aeryn, as she continued to look through the binoculars. The man leading the Peacekeepers was definitely Lt. Braca, Scorpius' top henchman. Now, it was only left to determine if this was the real Braca or another re-creation.

The Peacekeepers were within a few feet of Crichton and his men and still had no idea they were about to be ambushed. Of course, it didn't hurt that the Rangers were experts at concealment, while the Peacekeepers were more direct and open in their methods.

Finally, Pierce gave the signal, and the Rangers came out of hiding, their guns trained on the Peacekeepers. Crichton spoke to the Peacekeepers.

"Halt! Your covered, don't try anything or your dead!"

The Peacekeepers were startled, caught off guard. They would normally have reacted by going down fighting, but they were in an unknown environment and disoriented. Braca hesitated in what to do.

"Braca," said Crichton. "Caught you with your pants down, didn't we?"

"What the frell is going on here, Crichton? Who are these men? Where are we?"

"Well, Braca, if that is your real name," he said with a chuckle. "We are on my world, well a simulation of my world put on by a couple of powerful alien overseers. We're in the middle of a war zone, and these men are members of the elite US Army Rangers. Gentlemen," said Crichton to the Rangers. "May I present to you the Peacekeepers, led by the beautiful Lt. Braca..."

"Crichton! What the frell do you want?!" said an irritated Braca.

"Look, Braca, the rules are a little different here. This is a maze, a simulation, but we can be killed, and we have some very bad guys on the way here."

As if on cue, the German tank came rumbling into the clearing from the left, accompanied by the platoon of 40 German soldiers. The guns of both the Rangers and Peacekeepers were trained on what they could all clearly determine was the greater threat.

Braca looked at the approaching alien soldiers, then at Crichton. "Who the frell are they?" he asked the human.

"Germans. Enemies. Look, Braca, we have to put our conflicts aside for now. Those incoming troops outnumber and outgun us both, but together we might be able to take them on."

Just then, Crichton, Aeryn, and Braca all found themselves back in the black, void filled room that Crichton and Aeryn found themselves in before being placed in the simulation. They looked around, trying to get their bearings after having their environment instantaneously transformed around them.

"This makes no sense to us," came the voice of Likon from the darkness.

"Who the frell are you?!" screamed Braca at the darkness.

"Silence!" said the voice of Lacol. "You and Aeryn Sun will both be still until we are finished."

John looked over and saw that both Aeryn and Braca were standing perfectly still. They showed no sign of movement, no sign of being alive. John walked up to Aeryn.

"Aeryn! Speak to me. Aeryn..."

"They are unharmed, Crichton," said the voice of Lacol. "Merely suspended. They will be returned to normal when we are finished."

"Now," said Likon. "We are confused. You were placed in a simulation on your own world, fighting enemies from your world's past. This does not seem to motivate you to perform, so we give you real enemies from your present life. Yet, you do not fight them, either. Instead, you side with them against the other enemy. Why?"

"Why should I answer any of your questions?" asked Crichton with growing fury. "How dare you! You take Aeryn and I out of our lives and put us in your little chamber of horrors, and then you want to know why we don't play for you! You treat us like lab rats, and when we don't do what you expect, you ask me why! Well, I have had ENOUGH! IT STOPS! NOW!. I am not answering any of your questions!"

"Then you will not leave," said Likon in a calm, monotone voice. "Your only way to leave this testing area is to answer our questions. We need information."

"So, its to be a test of wills, huh," said Crichton. "Well, I am a patient man. I have also been called a stubborn man. So, in the words of my people, kiss my ass!"

"You would test your patience against ours," said Lacol. "Oh, my little creature, you have no idea of our patience."

"But we do not need patience," said Likon. "Perhaps, we can learn something from using other motivations."

At that moment, Aeryn and Braca disappeared momentarily, and quickly reappeared in different positions. Aeryn was tied to a post, while Braca stood behind her with a whip.

"We detest violence," said Likon. "We use it when necessary, but do not commit violence ourselves. When violence is necessary, we use others as our tools. Observe, Crichton."

Braca unfurled the whip, and with one quick movement, struck Aeryn's back with it, sending a loud crack through the void filled room. Aeryn cried out in pain as the whip struck her.

"No!" screamed Crichton. He tried to get to her, but he could not move. John was frozen, and could only watch as the lashes from the whip tore into Aeryn.

"Answer our questions, Crichton, and the pain your lover feels will cease," said Likon.

"Alright!" screamed John. "I'll do whatever you want. Just stop this!"

As Braca was about to strike Aeryn yet again with the whip, he froze. Aeryn was breathing heavily, weakened but apparently not seriously injured.

"Are you alright, Aeryn?" asked Crichton.

"She can not hear you, Crichton," said Lacol. "Now, answer our question. Why did you not fight the Peacekeepers? Why did you not enthusiastically fight the Germans?"

Crichton considered for a moment. He then decided on a reply. "When you first brought Aeryn and I to this room, you mentioned all of the things Humans fight for. 'Land, religion, nationalism.' You gave me combat situations, but nothing to fight for, nothing important in my mind. You just put me in a uniform, gave me a gun, and told me 'fight'. Well, my question would have been 'why?' Why do I have to fight? Humans don't fight just for the hell of it, we have to have a cause to believe in, a reason to fight. At least, I do. Just now, I didn't answer your questions, until..."

"Until we harmed your mate," said Lacol. "I see. The Human inclination to warfare is dependant upon cause, reasons. Yes, we did indeed make a grievous error. We will remember this, next time."

"What do you mean 'next time'?"

"Normally, Crichton, we would have just waited you out when you refused to answer. Your will is not as strong as our patience. But, we were planning on leaving Verser before we encountered you. We are behind schedule, you might say, and we must hurry. That is why we resorted to giving you another motivation to ensure your compliance. We will study Humans again in the future, but we are out of time now. We must go, and you must be prepared for your return."

A bright flash of light filled the room, and rendered Crichton, Aeryn, and Braca unconscious.

*******

D'Argo and Rygel had been moving from hiding place to hiding place, all the while looking for Crichton and Aeryn. The Peacekeepers had disappeared, but they were still cautious in their movements.

Rygel floated high on his throne sled to try and get a better view of the area. As his eyes scanned the townscape, he saw what he thought was Crichton and Aeryn.

"D'Argo!" he yelled. "I think I have found them."

The pair made their way in the direction of Rygel's sighting. They came upon an open market area and saw Crichton and Aeryn standing across a street. D'Argo and Rygel rushed up to them.

"John! Aeryn! Where in hezmana have you been?" asked D'Argo.

"I...I don't...D'Argo," said Crichton. "What the hell happened? Where are we?"

"Your on Verser, Crichton," said Rygel. "Don't you remember? What the yotz has been going on? The Peacekeepers were everywhere, then gone."

"The light," said Aeryn. "We entered a room to look at some weapons, then...the light..."

"Look, we don't have time for this now," said D'Argo. "There were Peacekeepers here, but they have apparently gone. Moya is back in orbit, and a transport is waiting to take us up."

Crichton and Aeryn stood there quietly for a moment, still disoriented. Finally, Crichton snapped out of it. "Right, let's go," he said.

**********

Braca sat down in the command chair of the Marauder, and ordered the pilot to take off. He then turned to his communications officer.

"Officer Kirst, send a message to the command carrier. Reports on Verser apparently false. No sign of Crichton or Moya's crew."

*********

Lacol and Likon looked at Moya as it went into starburst away from Verser. They were ready to leave Verser, on to another planet to set up another testing area to gather more knowledge.

"Are we prepared for departure, Likon."

"Everything is prepared."

"Perhaps we will be given another opportunity to study Humans again in the future," said Lacol.

"It should not be that much trouble for us to find Earth," said Likon. "You are thinking that we could have helped Crichton get to Earth, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Oh, Lacol, so sentimental over these inferior beings. No, it is better not to interfere with the natural order of things. Crichton is where the universe has meant for him to be, for now. It would be unwise for us to interfere."

"True," said Lacol. "Let us leave now."