When Aeryn was sure that she was out of sensor range and out of sight of Johnšs module, she put the prowler in park and screamed, letting all of her rage and frustration out. It was a scream that would have rivaled one of Jool's on a good day, although nothing melted inside her prowler.

She banged around, hitting the walls and sides of the prowler with closed fists, careful not to touch the controls. "Frell, frell, FRELL!" She snarled to herself, "This is so unfair!"

"If it upsets you so much , my dear, you could turn the ship around and go back," a voice said from the back seat.

Instantly she had her pulse pistol in her hand and dove into the back, pulling the hidden Hynerian from behind her duffel bag. "What the frell are you doing here, Rygel?" she asked, shocked.

"I am stopping you from making the worst mistake of your life," he said defiantly, crossing his small hands over his stomachs. "You will thank me for this later, I am sure..well, almost sure."

She holstered her pulse pistol reluctantly. "I could have shot you," she pointed out. "This was a stupid thing to do, Rygel."

"Not as stupid as youšre being," he said bluntly. "Now why donšt we just go back to Moya and have some dinner, hmm? You seem to have packed provisions too lightly- I'm afraid there is nothing left. If we can get you and Crichton to sit down for a nice meal, I am sure we can solve all of our problems."

Aeryn sighed and sat back in her seat, "You donšt know anything , Rygel. This isnšt a problem that can be solved over a nice meal."

"I know youšre being a coward and youšre going to lose everything because of it."

She glared at him sideways. "I could still shoot you," she said, wondering what the frell she was going to do with him. Could she get him back to Moya without having to see John again? Take him with her and drop him off at the nearest available planet? Space him?

"Tell me one thing, Aeryn..would you have left him? The Crichton who was on Talyn with us?" Rygel said seriously. "For any reason?"

Aeryn stared out the window and refused to meet his eyes. "No, of course not." she paused for a second. "Except, I did. That's what I did when I left Moya and went to Talyn with my Crichton. The Crichton I was with left me, and I left the other one. I made my choice, whether I meant to or not. Now I have to live with it."

"He will forgive you."

"What?" Aeryn said, turning towards him with tears in her eyes. "Why would you say that?"

"He would forgive you anything. It's in his nature. It might not be in yours, and I know it's not in mine, but it is in his. If he cares about someone, he forgives them. . He's forgiven me for many, many sins...of course, you arenšt as cute as I am."

She almost smiled at that. "Therešs more to it than that," she said, thinking it over.

"Rygel, what were you planning to do if I *didnšt* take you back to Moya?"

Rygel put a small green hand on her shoulder. "You and me against the universe. You will help me to overthrow that upstart flimflam false Dominar of a cousin of mine and then for your reward I will make you a general in my army. Or maybe my own personal bodyguard."