Part I: Matchmaker

John had given up. He didn't think of himself as a defeatist, but he had given up. It had been almost a cycle since he had been duplicated, cloned, copied, whatever, and a third of a cycle since Talyn returned. Since then, he had tried everything to get Aeryn to view him, not as some inferior copy, but as the John she once loved. He started out by making small talk about unimportant topics, but Aeryn never took the bait. He then switched to asking her pointed questions about whatever he could think of, but she would answer in as few words as possible before finding somewhere else to go. His next tactic was simply being present when she was eating a meal, taking her shift on Command, or working on her different projects. She never told him to go away, which would have meant that she had to speak to him, but she always found a reason to find something else to do. He had pestered, yelled, cajoled, annoyed, hollered, coaxed, heckled, and anything else he could think of. The only thing left was for him to pretend, pretend it no longer mattered to him.

The other John told him that it would take time, but John was tired of waiting. It had been well over a cycle since he last kissed Aeryn and told her that he loved her. The wait while Talyn was gone had been excruciatingly long. Now, four months had gone by since Moya and Talyn were reunited, but Aeryn still wasn't his. His patience had worn thin. He couldn't let his heart break anymore. The day he realized that was the day he quit trying with Aeryn. That was 20 odd days ago, and Aeryn never even seemed to notice.

********

John was in the Maintenance Bay working on his module, installing a new power console, which would boost its thrust by 20%. The extra power would be necessary when they found Scorpius. His vow to stop the Peacekeepers from getting the wormhole technology was as strong as ever, even though they had not yet been able to locate Scorpius' base of activity. He had seen some anomalous readings, which might indicate wormhole activity, but so far nothing conclusive had been found. The elapsed time, though, was welcomed since it had given them a chance to equip themselves better for the attack. Eventually, each member of the crew, including Moya and Talyn, agreed to assist John in whatever way was needed. John had been surprised that Aeryn was the first to show her support, but he soon realized that she was only helping since this mission had been the other John's as well. Even if Aeryn weren't talking to him, she would be unstoppable in the inevitable confrontation.

As John continued to adjust the controls on the console, he absently hummed to himself. For some reason he hadn't been able to get "Yellow Rose of Texas" out of his head for the last six days, and it was beginning to drive him crazy. After a while, Jool and Chiana came into the Maintenance Bay arguing, as usual.

"I don't know what you were doing in there. I told you that I was going to help D'Argo," Chiana said caustically.

"And that means that I can't help, too?" Jool bit back. "You're not the only one D'Argo spends time with."

"Just what do you mean by that?" Chiana demanded.

"I don't have to tell you," Jool said coyly.

They continued in such manner as they attempted to locate the cabling that D'Argo had sent them to retrieve. All the while, Crichton hummed louder to drown them out. They had been impossible lately, almost as bad as he and D'Argo had been. Thankfully, that relationship was back to normal. Now, if only he could find a way to help the girls.

Suddenly, Jool yelled at him, "Could you please quit making that noise?"

"I was here first. If you don't like the tune, the juke box costs a quarter," he quipped back.

The girls had no idea what he meant, which was typical.

"Can we keep on topic? We're trying to have an argument here," Chiana interrupted.

"You guys are always arguing. Nothing new there," he countered.

"At least we're not as bad as you and D'Argo were," Chiana reminded him.

Choosing to ignore that comment he asked, "What is the problem with you two?" He knew good and well that Chiana was jealous over the amount of time D'Argo was spending with Jool and that Jool was rubbing it in at every opportunity.

They didn't answer him. Jool quickly changed the subject. She didn't mind trying to wedge herself between Chiana and D'Argo, but she was above coming out and saying so. "The song that you were humming reminds me of a song from my childhood. What's it called?"

John realized her segue and responded with a knowing grin, "It's called 'The Yellow Rose of Texas'". They girls looked confused by the name. He continued, "A rose is a sweet smelling flower, and Texas is a place not far from where I lived. It's about a guy singing for his girl who he is comparing to this flower."

"It has lyrics?" asked Jool, curious to know what the Human concept of music was.

"Yeah," he replied as he walked around his module to the other side to get a better angle at the console.

"Well, what are they?" she asked.

John spoke rather than sung the lyrics as he said, "I don't really remember, but it's something like 'There's a yellow rose in Texas I'm going there to see. I know she's waiting for me, nobody only me. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da, it da-da-da my heart. And da-da-da-da meet again we never more will part.'" He paused in thought as he remembered when he learned the song. "I'm surprised I remember any of the words after all these years. When I was like 8 or 9, we had to sing that song in a school program. The boys sang while the girls did this little dance." As he relived those memories and remembered the life he once had, a smile took over his face. Lately he was spending a lot of time in his memories; it was the only place where he smiled.

Chiana interrupted his reverie, "What kind of dance?"

"Oh, I don't remember the dance. But you can Two-Step to it easy enough." As he continued working on his ship, he was again lost in memories, but this time they were of a dance he had been forced to go to because one of his Father's buddies had a daughter that needed a date for a Sadie Hawkins Harvest dance. He had done everything he could not to go out with the SpaceDog, as the girl was called behind her back, but his Father insisted. "Son, one night of your life can make this very sweet girl happy. Is that too much to ask?" he remembered his Father telling him. He reluctantly went to the dance, thinking he would have the worst time ever. Boy, was he surprised. The SpaceDog wasn't quite the dog he remembered, and he ended up having a great time. At the dance, they played 'Yellow Rose of Texas' in keeping with the homespun theme.

"What's a two-step? A dance where you only make two steps doesn't seem like much of a dance," Jool said slightly condescendingly.

"It's kind of like..." John began trying to explain the steps and quickly realized that he wasn't Arthur Murray. "Here," he said and stretched out his arm to the girls. Chiana was the first to accept. John propelled Chiana so that he and she were facing each other. "You put your hand on my shoulder and your other hand in my hand. Like this." John showed her what he meant and then tried to show her what he hoped were the steps. He hadn't done the Two-Step in years and probably wasn't doing it right. After they stepped on each other's feet several times, Chiana finally got what he had been trying to say.

"That's easy. Anyone could do that," Jool said.

"You want to try it?" John asked as a challenge.

"Sure. Easy as a torrelian tea," she responded. Jool didn't take as long as Chiana to catch on, but she did have a few initial missteps. Finally, he was dancing around the Maintenance Bay, first with Jool and then with Chiana and back and forth again. Before long, they were all smiling and laughing while John hummed his tune.

"Too bad there's not a dance that all of us can do," Chiana said.

"Cotton-eyed Joe," he quickly responded.

"What?" the girls replied in unison.

"Cotton-eyed Joe. It's another dance. I don't really remember the steps, but since you don't know it anyway, it doesn't matter if it's right."

John attempted to remember the sequence of moves while the girls tried to follow along. Eventually, they got it. It wasn't really the Cotton-eyed Joe, but none of them seemed to care. John stood in the middle with this right hand crossed in front of him to hold the hand of Chiana, who stood to his left. His left hand also crossed in front of him so that he had Jool's hand on his right. With some imagination, it sort of looked like the Cotton-eyed Joe. All right, it took a lot of imagination for their dance to look like the Cotton-eyed Joe.

"Now, we're going to try to turn. Okay?" he said.

John slowly lifted up his hands and showed the girls how the turn would work. The first time it went smoothly.

The second time, however, was a bit more complicated. The threesome had made a circuit of the "dance" floor while John hummed, Jool laughed, and Chiana voiced the rhythm. Then they started to make the turn. Suddenly, everything went wrong, and they toppled down on one another. John was at the bottom of the pile with both Jool and Chiana draped across him. All three immediately burst into laughter. "That felt good," John said out loud, thinking it had been far too long since he had laughed.

Right before the threesome tried their failed turn, Aeryn, Crais and D'Argo were walking towards the Maintenance Bay. Aeryn and Crais were there to go over the armaments in the storage units, and D'Argo came to see what was taking the girls so long to find the cabling. They walked in silence; there was still uneasiness between Crais and D'Argo and they would often butt heads, but their relationship was getting better. Aeryn didn't have a problem with either of them; she simply talked to neither. As they approached the Maintenance Bay, they heard Chiana's rhythmic noises and Jool's laughter. D'Argo immediately quickened his step, his mind on another activity that a guy and girl do together. He turned the last corner before the entrance to the bay to hear a loud thud and John say "that felt good." D'Argo burst onto the scene and saw the three of them in hysterics in a heap on the floor.

"What is going on here?" D'Argo demanded. John with Chiana was bad enough, but did he have to have Jool too?

"We were dancing," Chiana said between laughs.

"It is a strange kind of dance where the dancers end up on the floor," D'Argo said brusquely as he went to retrieve the cabling. Just then Crais and Aeryn entered the bay. Aeryn took a quick glance and quickly went to find the storage cartons that she had come to inventory. Crais said nothing; although for a split microt he seemed a bit disturbed by the scene.

"Wait, D'Argo, watch. This is the Two-Step," Chiana said as she got up and grabbed John.

Before Chiana and John took the first step of the dance, John leaned his head toward D'Argo and said, "What? You want to cut in?"

It took D'Argo a microt to realize what John was saying. He stood there motionless with a long-suffering expression on his face. "I cannot do this dance," he said.

"D'Argo, you can't do any dance," John teased him back, remembering their time on the Pleasure Planet. "But this dance is as easy as marching. You did march as a soldier, right?"

"John, I was a warrior, not a soldier. And I do not have time for this."

"D'Argo, a guy always has time for a dance with a beautiful girl." As he said that, he turned and gave Chiana and Jool a smile. D'Argo didn't argue so John continued. "Here. Think of this as just walking to a rhythm." John stood next to D'Argo so that both of them were facing the same direction. "Take a step forward with your right foot; that is count one. Then step with your left, that is count two. Then right, left, right in quick succession for counts one, two, three." John showed D'Argo what he meant. "One, two, one, two, three. Now do the same rhythm but start with the left foot. One, two, one, two, three. After each 'three' start with the opposite foot." D'Argo reluctantly followed along to humor John but finally got what he was saying. "Now, follow me as I do it to the music." John began humming and walking to the rhythm at the same time. D'Argo quickly mimicked John and soon found the beat.

"Now, I need the assistance of a dance partner," he said as he turned to the girls. Both of them volunteered at the same time. John chose Chiana, which irritated Jool, and went about showing D'Argo where to put his hands so that they could dance. Once D'Argo and Chiana were in position, John offered his hand to Jool. "May I have this dance?" John asked in his best Rhett Butler impersonation. Jool accepted. "Now, the music begins."

John started the lyrics, but this time he quasi-sung them to the music:

There's a yellow rose in Texas I'm going there to see.
I know she's waiting for me, nobody only me.
Da-da-da-da-da-da-da, it da-da-da my heart.
And da-da-da-da meet again we never more will part

"Verse Two," John yelled before continuing:

She's the sweetest rose that ever in garden grew.
Her eyes are bright as diamonds; they sparkle like the dew.
Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, may sing of Rosalie.
But the yellow rose of Texas beats the belles of Tennessee.

All during the song, Chiana and D'Argo smiled while John twirled Jool around the floor. The four of them were having a great time. Even Crais found himself drawn to watch the scene. Just when he was beginning to understand the Human, John went and did something different, like this dancing and singing.

All the while, though, Aeryn remained detached from the others. At least, that is the way it seemed.

When the song was over, the four dancers were exhilarated. D'Argo was the first to say anything. "Thank you," he said as he smiled down at Chiana, who smiled back. "I came here to see if you had found the cabling. I really need to get it installed on my ship. Would you like to help me?"

Chiana was taken aback. It was the first time that D'Argo had personally asked for her to accompany him on anything since her affair with Jothee. "Sure," she said in a sweet tone. The two of them gathered the cabling and left the bay.

Once they were gone, Jool turned to Crichton and vehemently said, "Just what do you think you are doing?"

"What are you talking about?"

"How many times are you going to maneuver the situation so that Chiana is with D'Argo? Why do you keep interfering?"

"Jool, look. D'Argo is my friend, the best friend that I have in this part of the universe."

"He put you in a coma!"

"Okay, so I don't have that many friends, but that's not the point. The point is, the happiest I have ever seen D'Argo is when he is with Chiana."

Jool responded with a very off-colored insult directed toward Chiana.

"Can you get your mind out of the gutter, huh? I'm not talking about sex. Although...never mind. What I mean is Chiana balances out D'Argo. She unruffles his feathers."

The mental picture of D'Argo with feathers was strange but Jool continued, "But she slept with his son! What guy is going to forgive their mate for sleeping with another guy?" As soon as she said the words, the impact of whom she was talking to and whom she was speaking in front of, sunk in. Jool really wanted to leave at that point.

John didn't miss a beat, though. He quickly turned what she said from a general observation to the specific instance at hand. "D'Argo has already forgiven her. He just doesn't know it yet."

As this exchange continued, Crais cautiously focused his attention on Aeryn. After all that had occurred aboard Talyn and on the Seer planet, Crais realized that Aeryn was not meant for him. It still bothered him, though, that she was keeping herself so distant, especially from Crichton. Just over two cycles ago, he wanted to kill Crichton; now he was feeling pity for him. Crais wondered if all humans were so contradictory and confusing.

Jool calmly responded, "I never realized before that you are a nebertine."

"Do I even want to ask what a nebertine is?" John asked apprehensively.

"One definition is a person who dies a horrible death at the hands of his own convictions."

"That could be accurate."

"The other definition is a person who believes that everyone should be happy in love and have a mate who is perfect for them."

"A Romantic. That's what a nebertine would be called on Earth. Or, a shipper, depending on who you're talking to."

"A shipper?"

"Never mind."

"A nebertine never gives up on having his or her spollie, or perfect someone."

"Then I guess I'm not a nebertine," John said, the implication of his words permeating the air.

Jool could see the pain in his eyes. She reached up and kissed him lightly on the cheek and whispered in his ear so that no one else could hear, "Don't give up on her yet." She then quickly left the room.

John was surprised by Jool's sentiment. Maybe..."No," he thought to himself, "don't start thinking that way again." He then went back to work on his module. But he still couldn't get "The Yellow Rose of Texas" out of his head! He began humming it again.

During all of this, Aeryn and Crais continued sorting through the storage units. After 500 microts of listening to continuous humming, Aeryn broke the silence in a harsh voice, "Must you keep humming that same song." It was the first time in days that Aeryn had said anything to Crichton without having to be prompted.

"No, I don't have to keep humming it," he replied. Then, he started whistling the tune, which was even more annoying than the humming. John could tell that he was irritating Aeryn even though he didn't once look at her. He was being petty in a junior high kind of way, but John didn't mind being juvenile. After listening to the song being whistled three times, Aeryn slammed down what she was doing and stormed out of the bay. John shrugged his shoulders and resumed work.

"What are you doing?" asked Crais out of nowhere.

"What?"

Crais motioned toward the door through which the others had left. "What are you doing?"

John was annoyed by Crais's question. What right did he have in interfering with any of this? "Nothing," was John's controlled reply.

"Apparently," Crais said forcefully as he left the bay.

John again shrugged his shoulders and went back to work.

********

Four days later, Moya and Talyn arrived near a commerce planet. John was in the transport pod prepping it for the trip planet side. Aeryn was in the hold of the pod securing the items to be traded for the necessary supplies. The silence was thick enough to cut.

John broke the silence by tapping his comm and calling for Chiana. She eventually responded.

"Chiana, are you still going down to the planet with me?"

"Uh, well, I'm sort of, um, busy at the moment," she absently said.

"With what? You've been saying for the last three days that you needed to stop at the next planet."

"Uh, well..."

D'Argo's voice interrupted, "I'm afraid she will unavailable for the rest of the day." The comm went dead, and John broke out into a smile.

"Finally," he muttered to himself, glad that D'Argo and Chiana were back together.

"What?" Aeryn asked, even though she had heard the whole conversation.

"Nothing," he curtly replied. He next tapped his comm and called for Jool.

"What is it, Crichton?" Jool asked.

"I didn't know if you were going down to Horit Prime. Rygel said something about them having this infamous sweet concoction that you were going to try."

"I'm afraid I can't. Crais is giving me the in-depth tour of Talyn today."

John teased back in a singsong voice, "Jool and Crais sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g."

"What are you talking about?" Jool interrupted him. Even though she didn't understand the words, she got the gist of what John was saying. "You're the one who told me that Crais thought I might enjoy a detailed tour of Talyn, from a scientific perspective."

"True, but I'm also the one who told Crais that you were dying for him to give you that tour." Setting Crais up on a date would have seemed ludicrous three cycles ago. Even now, John wasn't sure that Crais would appreciate the interference. Pot calling the kettle what? But, he had seen the way Crais momentarily stopped in whatever he was doing to give Jool an extra second glance. And, even though Jool was trying to make time with D'Argo, she didn't mind the extra attention that Crais showed her. Even if John's own love life had died a painful death, he could still get a vicarious thrill in fixing up the others.

"You set me up?" asked Jool, the anger evident in her voice. "I don't need your help!"

"Jool, all you have to do is flash a smile and bat your eyes and any conscious male within 50 light cycles would come running." If John could see Jool, he would have seen her break out into a radiant smile at such a compliment. "But," he continued, "A contrived situation never hurt anyone."

"He's just giving me a tour of his ship," she said defensively.

"Yeah, right. What are you wearing?"

"What?"

"What outfit are you wearing?"

"The new one I got at the last Commerce Planet. Why?"

"The new one you got at the last Commerce Planet and said you were saving for a special occasion?" he replied with a grin.

"Good-bye, Crichton," Jool said and turned off the comm. John was very pleased with himself. Two matches, one going good, one on its way. "Humans are superior," he thought to himself with a smile.

He sat there gloating to himself for a few microts before turning his attention back to the trip planet side. In a voice that completely masked the happiness he was feeling, he asked Aeryn, who was still in the hold of the pod, "You almost done?"

"Are you going down to the planet by yourself?" she asked casually.

"You just heard what the others are doing, and Rygel is sleeping off the ridiculously large meal he just ate. There's no one left to ask," was his curt reply.

That comment struck Aeryn with as much force as a knock from a Luxan. Her first thought was, "No one left to ask? Frell him then," which was quickly followed by, "Why would I care if he didn't ask me?" Aeryn had seen that John hadn't been bothering her lately, something she greatly appreciated, but the impact of his actions, or rather lack of actions, she had missed. John's comment, though, made her realize just how much he must now dislike her. This made her feel hurt, the first emotion she had felt other than gnawing pain and raw anger since her John died. She had promised herself that no one would ever make her feel anything again, but that one comment had put a crack in the impervious shell that she would be damned if she allowed it to break. Aeryn was infuriated. "Frell him," she thought.

Aeryn's realization was soon overshadowed by the voice of the Peacekeeper in her head who reminded her, "It's not safe for only one person to go down to a planet." Aeryn was indecisive, a feeling she hated more than most others, on what to do: Let Crichton go by himself and hope he wouldn't get into any trouble that she would have to bail him out of or go with him now to avoid problems later. In the end, logic won out.

"We make it a point always to have at least two members of the crew go down to any planet. It is standard procedure," she said in an emotionless voice.

"If you're going, fine. Could you please hurry this up?" John impatiently asked.

Aeryn was rethinking her decision to go with Crichton, but the logic was sound. She finished with the cargo and took the co-pilot's seat. Crichton guided the pod effortlessly down to the planet. The trip was short, but the atmosphere in the pod made it seem like forever.

Crichton navigated the pod to the landing pad that had been designated. As they stepped out with their goods for trade, a squirrelly being in a drab grey suit, which matched his skin, approached John. "You will need to give your ident here, sir," he said in a utilitarian voice.

"My ident?" John asked.

"Some sort of identifying mark," the worker said automatically as he held out a clipboard with a pink slip of paper on it.

"Oh," John said as he scribbled "John Hancock".

"You will need this paper and to make this same mark when you return for your transport pod. The exit to the market is that way," the worker said to John as he pointed to the far end of the landing area. "Payment for parking is due at the time of departure. You have two arns before the charge for parking doubles. All visitors in a party must leave together." With that the worker left to visit the next pod that had landed, and John and Aeryn followed the way the worker indicated to the market.

Once in the market, which was filled mostly with grey-skinned men like the hangar worker, John half-turned to Aeryn and said dismissively, "I'll get the food supplies and be back in an arn and a half." He then quickly departed from Aeryn as if he didn't want to spend another microt in her company.

Aeryn just stood there, frozen in place. She thought, "What right does he have to act that way? I have done nothing to him." She dismissed her anger and went to trade for the necessary mechanical supplies the ships needed. She entered the first establishment that looked like it would have the parts she was looking for. Upon entering the store, the owner said fiercely, "We don't let your kind in here!"

"What kind would that be?" Aeryn asked as her hand imperceptibly went toward her gun and she wondered what this out of the way place knew of Peacekeepers.

"Females!" the owner yelled. "We don't allow females in here!" Aeryn wasn't sure if the owner was joking. What establishment doesn't allow females? "Out!" he yelled. Aeryn didn't want to make a scene even though in her current frame of mind a little violence would be most welcome. Instead, she left and went to find the next store that would have the items she was looking for.

The welcome at the next store was identical as at the first. The following store was the same. Aeryn's patience had been short when this excursion began and now she had none left. She was stuck on some waste-hole of a planet where she couldn't get the supplies she needed because she was a female and Crichton was gone. She tapped on her comm, but only static was heard. She then remembered Pilot telling them that their personal comms were not strong enough to work on the planet due to the planet's unusual ionosphere. With no other option and for the first time in a third of a cycle, she went to find Crichton. She returned to the place where she and John had split company and from there followed the direction he had taken. As she walked down the middle of the bazaar, she realized that all of the owners of the stalls were men and also all of the patrons were men. The only women she saw were standing to the side, their heads bent as if cowering. That did not set well with Aeryn, who was already in a rotten mood. The sooner they could leave the better.

After tracing what she believed to be John's trail, she came up empty-handed. She then backtracked through the market, hoping she had just missed him; but again, she didn't find him. She made several attempts to ask someone if they had seen him, but neither the men nor the women would answer her. She wanted to knock them down and make them answer her questions, but she knew the folly of starting a fight when so outnumbered. Annoyed, she made her way through every alley and looked in every window, but still no sign of John. Aeryn looked down at her timepiece and realized that it was time to meet John at the entrance to the landing hangar. She would let John get the mechanical supplies and she could return to Moya. The day had been an absolute disaster.

She approached the spot of their rendezvous, but John wasn't there. She waited for a quarter of an arn, her impatience looking for any chance to be released. All the while, she was thinking of how hard she wanted to slug Crichton when he finally deigned to meet her. After another quarter of an arn, Aeryn began to worry. Crichton may be acting like a drannit, but for him not to show up was unlike him. She tried her comm again to see if by some chance it would work. Again there was only static. Maybe in the transport pod, she could route enough power to the comms to ask Pilot to find John. Aeryn made her way into the hangar and to the transport pod.

"What do you think you are doing?" yelled the same grey-suited worker.

"This is my pod. What is wrong with me entering it?" Aeryn asked back.

"No females are allowed to pilot. You will have to wait until your male returns," the worker said expecting Aeryn to comply immediately.

She didn't. "Fine, I will not pilot the pod, but I need to go inside." Aeryn made to go past the grey guy.

"No! Females are not allowed without their males!"

Aeryn wanted to deck the worker, but looking around she saw that there were hundreds of these grey guys. It took all of her resolve to remain calm and not blast her way off of the planet. Frell Crichton wherever he was. Aeryn realized that this was getting nowhere, but if she couldn't find Crichton herself, she needed to contact the others. Aeryn smiled in a disarming manner and slowly said, "My male asked me to wait inside for him. He is soon to be here. Please don't make him mad at me." She wasn't very good at this and wondered how Chiana could always get a male to do whatever she wanted. She hoped it was working as she lowered her head in submission and thought, "I am going to kill Crichton for this!"

Finally, the worker agreed. "If you attempt to start the engines, your pod will be destroyed," he warned.

"Yes, sir," she said in a meek voice that belied her murderous thoughts.

She made her way to the controls inside the pod and tried to communicate with Moya. After many unsuccessful attempts and rewires, she was finally able to get a clear signal. "Pilot, are you there?" she asked.

"Yes, Officer Sun. How are you able to contact me? I thought your comms would not work," he responded.

"They don't. I'm inside the transport pod. Pilot, can you locate Crichton?"

"Is he not with you?" Pilot asked with concern in his voice.

"No. We separated as soon as we got here. He was supposed to meet me back here almost an arn ago and hasn't shown up. My search has been limited since no one will talk to me down here."

"Why is that?" he asked.

"The inhabitants of this worthless rock don't talk to women. So, I cannot leave here, and I cannot find Crichton," she said with an exasperated sigh. "Can you locate him?"

"There is too much interference in the atmosphere."

"Frell. Pilot, have D'Argo and Crais meet me down here. Maybe they can help. I'll be waiting." Aeryn turned off the comm and began to make her way out of the pod. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Crichton sauntering toward her. She was both elated and infuriated at the same time. Then, she saw that something was wrong. He wasn't walking in a straight line. Here she had been worrying about him and he was getting drunk! She bolted toward him so that she could knock him flat. As soon as she was near to him, though, she realized that he wasn't drunk but something else was wrong. He was emanating heat like a furnace and his eyes looked as though he had been back through the Aurora Chair.

"Crichton! What happened? Are you all right?" she asked with more concern than she meant to vocalize.

John only mumbled and collapsed at her feet. She lifted him up and began walking him into the pod.

"Wait there!" yelled the same worker. These trolls were really started to irritate Aeryn.

"My male is here and now we would like to leave," she said as she tried to get John into the pod.

"I need his ident and payment!" the worker yelled.

Aeryn tried to get John to regain enough coherency to make the same writing as he had done before, but he only grew more lifeless in her arms. Aeryn was close enough to the pod to make a break for it until she saw that more workers with guns of some sort had come up behind her. Aeryn looked at all of the armaments and turned back to the worker.

"We have to be careful of those who would leave without paying," the worker said. "Now, I need his ident."

"He is not feeling well and cannot give it to you. You saw us land and know that we were together and this is our pod. I will pay you and we can leave."

"Females are farhbot!" the worker said. "I've already told you that females are not allowed to pilot. If your male cannot give me his ident, then he cannot pilot. I've already wasted too much time talking to a female. Now leave!"

Aeryn knew that this wasn't getting anywhere, but she had no idea what was wrong with Crichton and needed Jool to come down with the others so that she could examine him. "Yes, sir," Aeryn said in the meek voice. "May I please get a bag from the pod before I leave?" and then quickly added, "It is for my male." That seemed to be the only way to get anywhere with these people, make it look like it was for Crichton. The worker agreed and she sat Crichton down and quickly went into the pod, explained the situation to Pilot, and exited with a bag stuffed with whatever had been extra in the pod. She gathered up Crichton, left the hangar, and found the closest hotel establishment.

As she neared the hotel, she prepared herself for the hotel clerk who was bound to refuse to give her a room. She entered the hotel, holding Crichton up as best she could, and approached the front desk. She lowered her eyes and began in a subdued voice, "My male and I would like a room."

The clerk took one look at the lovely Aeryn and the incapacitated Crichton and surprisingly responded, "Of course." The clerk filled out the necessary paperwork and gave the key to Aeryn. "He will need to pay and to fill out the ident card when you leave," the clerk said as he pointed to John.

"Yes, sir," Aeryn replied as she smiled at the clerk. He was the only one on the planet who hadn't treated her like an inferior being. "So that is what it is like to be on the receiving end of the Peacekeepers," thought Aeryn. She no longer had the disdain for other races that she had once had, but she had never put herself in the place of all those races that the Peacekeepers had viewed as inferior. Now that she had a small taste of what it was like, the entire idea was repugnant. She internally winced at the treatment she had given so many others all those cycles ago. She had definitely come a long way.

Aeryn hauled Crichton up to the room and deposited him on the oversized bed. D'Argo and the others should be there any microt. Hopefully, Jool would be able to tell what was wrong with Crichton while D'Argo and Crais could find out some information about where he had been. Aeryn put a cool cloth on his forehead and then sat there, powerless to improve the situation. So far this day she had felt hurt, indecisive, angry, inferior, and now powerless. As John would say, this day sucked. That thought bothered her more than the others. How did John get back into her thoughts? She looked down at the lifeless body next to her. For a moment, she saw in him the John that she had loved and her eyes began to tear. Before the dam could open, she heard a knock at the door.

"Aeryn? It's D'Argo."

Aeryn wiped her eyes and opened the door. D'Argo, Crais and Jool were all there. Maybe now, they could figure out what was going on. Aeryn gave them the recap of the day's events while Jool attended to the patient.

"He's burning up. We need to lower his temperature. According to Zhaan's records, his temperature cannot go above 0.8 bitres or he could suffer brain damage. Is there a tub in here?" Jool asked.

"Through there," Aeryn said as she pointed to the bathroom.

"You have no idea what is wrong with him?" D'Argo asked harshly.

"No," Aeryn replied, angered by the implication in his tone. "I've already told you. We split up as soon as we got here. I have no idea where he went or what he did. He couldn't have gotten far from the market, though. There wouldn't have been time."

"We'll see what we can find out," D'Argo said as he and Crais made to leave the room.

Crais turned back to Jool, who had reentered from the bathroom and said, "Are you all right here? Do you have what you need?"

"For now, I need to get his temperature down. I need some ice for the water. Could you get some and bring it back up?" Jool asked.

"Of course," Crais said as he left the room.

"I'll get the water ready. You take off his clothes," Jool said after the guys had left.

"You want me to what?" asked Aeryn.

"I need his circulation to be unobstructed. Take off his clothes," Jool said as she left the room.

Aeryn sat down on the bed next to John, suddenly reluctant to touch him. He looked so quiet, so still, like her John the last time she saw him. She thought back to that day...

****Aeryn had lain in the bed next to John for almost an arn after he died. Her emotions were raw and her eyes were red with streaming tears. She couldn't stop the tears anymore than she had been able to stop the unfair fate that had befallen John and her. She reached up and stroked his face, hoping beyond hope that it was all a bad dream, that he would awaken and say something glib. Then, Crais entered the room.

"Aeryn, I know that you do not want to be disturbed..."

"Then do not disturb me," she snapped back.

He continued, "Talyn's sensors show that Crichton's ship is emanating a dangerous level of radiation." Crais looked at Aeryn for any response, but she remained motionless, her eyes intently focused on John's face, as if she were studying it to remember every nuance and detail. "Talyn also shows that this room has a higher than normal radiation level. It is not safe for you to be here any longer."

"What are you suggesting?" she asked, knowing full well where Crais' comments were heading.

"Aeryn, I know this is hard but..."

"You do not know anything."

"But, John's ship and his body must be removed from Talyn."

"Just like that? Get rid of him like he was refuse?" she asked, her words like sharp swords.

"No, not like garbage. Like an honorable funeral for a Peacekeeper of rank. Does he not deserve that?"

Aeryn thought about Crais' words. She didn't know if Crais was saying this to save himself and his precious ship, or if he really meant it. There was no way to tell. She didn't want to let go of John; it was too soon. But she also did not want to endanger the lives of those that John had just saved. He would not want that. Reluctantly, she agreed.

In complete silence, Crais helped her move John's body to Talyn's Docking Bay where his module was housed. John's module was his favorite possession, and even though this ship was not the original, it was ironic that it should become his coffin. After placing him in the pod, the crew gathered to give him a funeral. Crais began and said a few words about bravery, courage, and selflessness. Rygel was next with words about friendship and respect. Then, Stark started his eulogy.

He began, "John told me that his people believe that death is merely a passing from this life to another where friends and family who have died before you await to welcome you. I believe that he has found that place. He was not afraid when I gave him my gift. He had accepted his death with the grace that comes with knowledge beyond his short cycles. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him."

They looked to Aeryn to say something. After a few microts, she said in a quite voice, "We already said our good-byes."

Crais broke the silence that followed Aeryn's comment. "Talyn would like to express his sorrow over this loss." Just then, the lights in the Docking Bay dimmed out of respect for the fallen hero.

After another long silence, Crais motioned for the four of them to exit the bay. After the door closed behind them, he ordered Talyn to depressurize the bay, which sucked the pod out into the vacuum of space. The crew watched as the module floated weightlessly away from them.

"Talyn," began Aeryn, "would you please fire on the pod." The others looked at her with nonplussed expressions. This wasn't how a Peacekeeper would be sent off. Sensing their silent questions, she continued, "Others may be near here and come across his module. No one must be able to duplicate what was done here." Once the explanation was given, Talyn primed his cannon and fired. The module blew up in a fireball; nothing was left. The crew was silent, their mourning just beginning.

That was the last time Aeryn saw her John.

****Aeryn sat there on the bed, this time with another John's lifeless form next to her. She knew that she needed to do as Jool had asked, but it was so difficult being this close to someone who was so much like her John.

"Is he naked yet?" Jool asked from the other room.

Aeryn quickly recovered herself. "Almost," she said back as she went about quickly removing his garments. As soon as he was stripped down to his last article of clothing, which covered his personal parts, Jool entered from the bathroom and helped Aeryn drag him to the tub. They positioned him in the tub so that Jool could begin to run the portable scanner over him. After examining him for almost half an arn, Jool was not any closer to knowing what was wrong with him. Finally, Crais returned with the ice.

"What took so long?" Jool asked.

"Apparently in addition to not talking to women, this planet also does not believe in ice. Have you been able to determine what is wrong with him?"

"No," Jool said in frustration. John's temperature had gotten higher and the cool water didn't seem to help. Jool had been having a fine day until this happened. "If Aeryn hadn't bolted off when they got to the planet, she would know what was wrong with him," Jool thought to herself. "Why did she have to ruin the best day I have had since I woke up in this part of the universe?" It didn't occur to Jool that John was the one who departed company. The more she tried to figure out what was wrong and the less successful she was in doing so, the more her irritation with Aeryn grew.

Aeryn stood in the doorway to the bathroom watching Crais watching Jool attempt to diagnose Crichton. Crichton had been right; Crais liked Jool. Aeryn never would have seen it.

"You sure you don't know what is wrong with him?" Jool snapped in Aeryn's direction.

"I've already told you that we weren't together in the market," Aeryn countered back.

"Of course you weren't together. Why would I expect you to be?" Jool again snapped.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" asked Aeryn, angry for whatever Jool was trying to imply.

Jool had had enough. Aeryn had been treating John disgracefully and this was the final straw. "You wouldn't care if anything happened to him or not! But the rest of us do!" she yelled at Aeryn.

"Do you think I had something to do with this?" Aeryn yelled back.

"If you had stayed with him instead of running off like you have been doing for the last third of a cycle, he wouldn't be sick now!"

Aeryn's patience had been thin and then non-existent. There was nothing left to prevent her from hitting Jool. She raised her arm to strike Jool when Crais blocked her blow.

"That is enough!" he yelled. "You," he said as he pointed to Jool, "tend to your patient. And you," he said as he pointed to Aeryn, "need to find D'Argo and see if you can help him. He was to return in a half an arn so he is probably downstairs."

Aeryn stood there with defiance in her eyes. Crais softened his command by saying, "The walk will do you some good."

Aeryn wanted to get off of this frelling planet more than anything else and the only way to do that was for Crichton to be well. Again, logic won and she obeyed Crais' command.

Once she left the room, Crais turned his attention to Jool. He was looking at her with an enigmatic expression. Jool took this to mean that he disapproved of her outburst. She still wasn't entirely sure what his relationship was with Aeryn. "I know that I shouldn't have said anything. It's none of my business. But she has treated Crichton horribly. She has no idea what he was like without her and how he has become so withdrawn since she came back. And I'm tired of pretending that no one sees it. I know that you care about her, but she has no right to treat him like she has been," she said all in one breath.

Crais carefully contemplated his words before responding. "You mistake me. While I do care for Aeryn, it is not in the way that you imagine. The fact is, I agree with your sentiments. You vocalizing them just, um, surprised me. Aeryn could have killed you for saying what you did and yet you showed no fear in telling her what you thought. I...respect that."

Jool looked up to see Crais grinning at her. His sly little grin was completely disarming. All she could do was smile back.

Jool broke the silence by saying, "Do you have any idea what John was like when you all were gone? I know that he can be infuriating at times, but did you know that he is the reason that everyone is together?"

"What do you mean?" asked Crais.

"I've heard them all tell their stories of when they first met and when you..." Jool stopped. She didn't know if talking about the past was a sensitive subject with Crais.

"When I had been pursuing them?"

"Yes. D'Argo may tell of when he saved them or Rygel may relate when he bargained and did whatever, but through all of their stories, one fact becomes apparent: If it weren't for Crichton, they would have been dead long ago."

"You sound like you have more than just admiration for him?" Crais asked.

"I do." Jool was busy with Crichton and didn't see the frown pass over Crais' face. She continued, "It's funny. When I first met him, I swore that I could never forgive him for the death of my cousin. After a while, though, you begin to realize that there is no way you can stay mad at him."

Crais could think of a few ways to stay mad. First he had taken away his brother. Then, he had taken away Aeryn, although in truth Crais admitted that she was never his. Now, John was between him and the only other person he had felt anything for in many cycles.

As Crais started to leave the bathroom, Jool glanced at him and then realized what he had *really* asked her.

"Do you know what else he did?" she asked in a teasing voice.

"I have no idea," said the disgruntled Crais.

"He told you that I said I wanted a tour of Talyn."

"You never said that?" he asked, trying not to betray what he was feeling for her.

"No," Jool said as she smiled.

Crais didn't know why Jool was telling him this. He had thought that perhaps she wanted to be with him. He was sorry for his mistake.

Jool continued, "He also told me that you wanted to give me a tour of Talyn. But you never told him that, did you?"

"No," replied Crais, the conversation suddenly taking on a whole different meaning. After a few microts, he said flatly, "He set us up," not knowing whether she was glad for the interference.

They just looked at each other, trying to tell what the other one was thinking. Crais was suddenly unsure of what to do next. Despite his fearlessness in battle and relentlessness in pursuit, Crais felt like a silly boy, worrying about what a girl was thinking about him. Cycles of Peacekeeper training of dispelling emotions and viewing feelings as worthless had left him with no strategy when it came to such situations. He was apprehensive and fearful to expose his heart. Yet, that is what Crichton had done and Aeryn as well. At that moment, Crais found a whole new reason to respect his one-time enemy. Finally, he gained mastery over his trepidation and walked the few steps toward Jool, who was still at the tub. With his eyes fixed on her hand, he placed his hand on top of hers and said, "And I'm so very glad he did." After a few microts, he dared to look up into her brilliant green eyes.

"I am too," she said in a voice barely above a whisper.

Slowly, Crais leaned toward her. Jool responded to him by moving in closer. Their lips met in a soft, sweet kiss that was filled with promise of more to come. They broke the kiss and sat there in a warm silence. Crais was uneager to take his leave, but he still needed to help the others discover what had happened to Crichton. Reluctantly, he left Jool to attend to Crichton. Both were smiling as they parted.

Crais found the others outside the hotel going over a crude map of the market that D'Argo had gotten. Aeryn glanced up as Crais approached. Although Crais was attempting to hide his good mood, Aeryn saw through the mask to the happy person underneath. Immediately, she felt a stab of longing, a longing for that same feeling. D'Argo began telling them where he had looked, which brought Aeryn's attention back to the task at hand.

They started back at the place where Aeryn and John had parted company earlier that day. D'Argo had already questioned every vendor on the first row of stalls, so they began with the second row. No one there had seen John. Once they got to the third row, they questioned a vendor selling exotic fruits. He said that he hadn't seen him. His daughter, who was listening to the questioning, wanted to interject, but knew that she wasn't allowed to speak. When the group started to leave, she sneaked away from the stall and came up to them as they rounded the corner of the market.

"I have seen your friend," she said in their direction.

They turned around. She immediately lowered her head in the same submissive stance all of the other women had taken. Aeryn approached her.

"What do you mean? Where did you see him?" she asked.

The girl responded, "Someone fitting your friend's description passed by about three arns ago. He then went to the Purple Pannock."

"What is that?" asked D'Argo in a harsh voice.

The girl quivered, her grey skin taking on a bluish hue. She shouldn't be talking to them. Aeryn sensed the girl's fear and said, "Please tell us, what is the Purple Pannock?"

"It is a restaurant down that alley. Your friend could not have picked a worse place to go."

"That sounds like John," D'Argo said.

"The owner," the girl said, "does not like Peacekeepers. He prides himself on getting rid of them."

"What do you mean?" asked Crais.

"He does something to their food to make them sick. I'm not sure what it is. But, it is very effective. That is all I know."

"Thank you. Thank you for telling us," Aeryn said.

The girl turned and ran back to her family's stall while the three of them walked toward the café.

As they approached the restaurant, D'Argo said, "Under the circumstances, I think I am the best person to question the owner. If he does not answer my questions, then I will let you know."

His comments made sense, so Crais and Aeryn waited outside while D'Argo entered the restaurant. D'Argo approached the owner.

"What'll you have?" he asked D'Argo in a jovial manner.

"I want to know what you did to my friend!"

"I've done nothing to no one. Whatcha talkin' 'bout?"

"My friend came in here about three arns ago." D'Argo went about describing John to the owner.

Once the owner realized whom D'Argo was talking about, he spit on the ground and said, "Filthy Peacekeeper! He got what he deserved!"

D'Argo, who was never long on patience, grabbed the man by the throat and lifted him off the ground. "What did you do to him?"

"Ha! Ha! He should have been as good as dead about an arn ago. When you find his body..."

"He's not dead and what did you do to him?!"

"He's not? But that's impossible." Just then Crais and Aeryn, who had seen D'Argo grab the owner, entered with their guns drawn. The owner's skin turned blue in fear as the two of them approached.

"It is not impossible. He is not a Peacekeeper, nor is he Sebacean. Now, you will tell me what you did to him, or I will gladly blow your head off," Aeryn, who had been wanting to do bodily harm all day, said. Now she was going to get her chance.

"He's not a Peacekeeper? Women lie!" That comment got a warning shot from Aeryn. She really wanted to hurt the little skakner, but refrained in order to get the information from him.

"Women do not lie anymore than men do. Now, what did you do to our friend?" D'Argo asked.

"I put a little verrillion extract in his food. It raises the body's temperature. It sends a Sebacean into the living death," he said with a gleam.

"How do you counter-act it?" asked Aeryn.

When the owner didn't immediately answer her, D'Argo tightened his hold around the owner's throat. "With...extridon...oil. I have...some...under the...counter," the owner said between gasps.

D'Argo released him so that he could retrieve the oil. The owner cautiously handed it to D'Argo. "What do we do with this?" D'Argo fiercely asked.

"Put a few drops on his tongue and the areas where he perspires. It should take effect in about two arns," the owner said, hoping those words would not be his last.

D'Argo took the oil out of his hand while Aeryn and Crais still had their pulse pistols trained on the owner.

"I do not care what you have against the Peacekeepers. But if our friend dies, I will personally hunt you down and kill you. Do you understand that?" Aeryn said.

The owner looked between Aeryn and the males. When the males did not correct her, he shook his head in understanding.

"You better pray that we are not too late," D'Argo said as the trio left the restaurant.

They rushed back to the hotel where they gave the extridon oil to Jool to apply. She dabbed it on his tongue. "Where else does it go?" she asked.

"He said on the areas where he perspires," Crais answered.

"And where is that?" she asked. If she were back on Moya, she could look up his profile in the database that Zhaan had started.

Jool looked between D'Argo and Crais for an answer, but neither one knew the answer. Aeryn piped in, "Under his arms and on the front of his chest." Jool applied the oil where Aeryn had indicated.

Once John's temperature quit rising, the foursome had nothing left to do but wait. Crais and Jool sat beside the tub, watching each other and watching Crichton. D'Argo and Aeryn sat in the room; he was silent in a chair passing the time by polishing his qualta blade, while Aeryn sat on the bed staring off into space. So many things had happened since she awoke this morning that she felt like she had been caught in a storm. D'Argo sensed that something about Aeryn had changed, although he said nothing. If she wanted to talk, she would have to be the first to say something.

After an arn, she finally said, "Do you think it is my fault that Crichton is sick?"

D'Argo replied, "Yes and no."

That didn't help Aeryn. "More yes or more no?"

"No, for you had no control over what the owner of that restaurant did. Yes, for you two should have stayed together."

"I'm not the one who left by himself in the market. Why does everyone assume that I was?"

"Aeryn, you do not need me to answer that."

Again, silence filled the room.

In the bathroom, Jool and Crais talked like any new couple would. It was strange that that morning, they were strangers, and now they were so much more. If Crichton were conscious, he would be thinking, "Humans are superior!" Their conversation turned to why Crais was no longer a Peacekeeper. Crais filled in the gaps in what Jool was told as well as corrected some things that she had been told by the biased crew.

Jool then asked, "Have you forgiven Crichton for killing your brother?"

"After a time, I realized that he had not intentionally killed Tauvo. But, I still hadn't truly forgiven him. Then, after what occurred at Dam-Ba-Da, I was finally able to. It should not have taken his death for me to realize that."

"Some things take more time than others," Jool said comfortingly, neither judging nor condemning.

Crais felt like he could tell her anything, almost. Before letting this new relationship progress any further, he knew that Jool deserved to know what type of man he had been. He cautiously began, "I have done some things in my past, things of which I am now ashamed. In fact, during my last command, I was so intent on capturing Crichton and Moya that I went so far as to murder my second-in-command." Crais stopped, worried about Jool's reaction to hearing just one of the horrible acts he committed.

"You were a Peacekeeper captain," she began. "You probably did many horrible things, things that I really don't want to know about. But, what I do know, is that you are not that same man now."

Crais was relieved by her words. He didn't know what he did to deserve such a sympathetic soul. They sat like that, talking freely, for another arn.

Finally, John began to stir. When he awoke, he was surprised to find himself practically nude and freezing. By inquisitioning him and testing his motor coordination, Jool was able to tell that there wasn't any brain damage. Once Jool was satisfied there was nothing else wrong, relatively speaking, with Crichton, Crais and D'Argo hauled him out of the tub and to the bed. He took off his soggy shorts and sank into the welcoming bed to get some rest, knowing that he would need to be able to walk through the hangar and look capable of flying. Since Jool, D'Argo, and Crais were no longer needed, they left the room to head back to the hangar and up to Moya.

After the others had gone, Aeryn sat in one of the chairs, looking at John sleep soundly. Frell, this had been a taxing day. She continued watching John sleep, unable to take her eyes off of his blissful face and all too aware of how fragile her defensive shell truly was.

After a couple of arns, John had rested enough so they could leave. In complete silence with one another, they closed their bill at the hotel, went to the hangar, and left the planet without another problem.

Aeryn had never been so glad to get back to Moya.

********

Part II: Anger Management

Ten days had passed since the ill-fated trip to the commerce planet. Since then, Aeryn had become more uncivil to the crew. She hadn't forgiven Jool for her comments about Crichton. The happiness written across the faces of Chiana and D'Argo annoyed her. The little grins and looks between Jool and Crais made her unreasonably irritated. And, it was all Crichton's fault, which made it all that much worse.

Crichton, on the other hand, was finding it amusing to watch the others. D'Argo and Chiana were back to the way they had been on the Royal Planet. The only problem was trying to get them to do anything around the ship; oftentimes they would disappear for arns and not respond to the comms. John didn't really blame them, though. In a similar situation, he would probably be doing the same.

As for Crais and Jool, it had taken John all of 100 microts in their company to know that something was going on. He had smiled to himself while thinking of how right he had been. That smile, though, had quickly faded when Crais had approached him with a fierce expression on his face.

"You interfered in my personal life," Crais had angrily said.

John hadn't been able to deny it. "Yeah," he had responded, expecting Crais to slug him.

"Never do that again!" Crais had countered fiercely. Then, in a split-microt, his face had softened and he had said, "But thank you." Then, he had walked away. As soon as Crais had turned away, John had gotten the goofiest grin and had begun chanting to himself, "Humans are superior!" Ever since then, John was noticing less and less of both Jool and Crais. He was glad for their happiness and glad that he was right, for a change, but sometimes, his own aloneness was too overwhelming.

The day was passing by in its usual fashion when Pilot broke over the comms.

"Attention: There is a ship sending out a distress call. Its sensors have picked us up, and it is moving in our direction."

John was on Command and responded, "What kind of ship?"

"It claims to be a science vessel that has run out of fuel."

"If it has run out of fuel, then how is it moving to meet us?" asked Jool who had made her way to Command.

"Unknown," Pilot responded. "They wish to speak to us."

"Put it on the screen," Aeryn responded, as she entered Command.

The screen crackled and a heavyset, black suited being appeared. The being had greenish-grey skin, no visible ears, and a small horn protruding from between its eyes. He began to speak.

"I am Scrillius from the Hatnok star system. My colleagues and I have gotten off course and require assistance."

"What kind of assistance?" asked John.

"We are looking for a planet named Retsil that is supposed to be near here. Do you know the way to it?"

"Two Commerce Planets ago, I overheard someone say that they were headed to Retsil, which was then just two days journey from there," D'Argo, who had also joined the others on Command, said.

"That is wonderful," Scrillius said. "Could you please give us directions to that Commerce Planet?"

"Transmitting them now," Pilot said.

"You said that you were out of fuel. How were you able to meet us? How do you plan on getting to Retsil?" asked John.

"Ah, we have two different types of engines. The smaller engine allows for speeds comparable to hetch one. We have fuel for this engine. It is the other engine, which allows us to go hetch two and above, that we have no fuel for. I'm afraid that that is another thing that we are in need of help with. You have been kind enough to point us in the right direction, and we do not wish to take advantage of your helpful nature, but is there any way that you could spare some tranket?" Scrillius smoothly responded.

"Tranket?" asked John as he looked around to the others. They all had the same blank look on their faces. "What is tranket?" he asked Scrillius.

"Oh, I am sorry. We call it tranket. You probably know it by the name bolium." That didn't help John any; he still didn't know what the guy was talking about.

"We do not have any bolium," Aeryn said, wondering why any vessel would use bolium as a fuel.

"Oh, my," said Scrillius, with a worried look on his face. "Do you perhaps have any uuker and cesium? The two can be mixed to make an imitation version of bolium."

"I'm afraid we do not have the quantity of uuker that you would need," Aeryn answered, becoming increasingly uneasy for some reason.

"Oh, any that you could give us would be appreciated. Every metra closer to Retsil is better than not at all, eh?" said Scrillius with a disarming smile.

John looked over at Aeryn whose uneasiness was written across her face. "Give us a minute to check our supplies," he told Scrillius. He nodded and Pilot turned off the communication with the other ship. John turned to Aeryn and said, "What's wrong?"

Knowing they had no time to discuss this, she said, "I do not believe him. Bolium is a highly volatile liquid that is unsafe as a fuel, and I do not see how mixing uuker and cesium would be even close to bolium. Something is not right here. He is lying."

Despite how she had been treating him lately, Crichton believed Aeryn without question. He told Pilot to hail the ship. Once Scrillius's face was on the screen, John said, "Sorry, but we do not have uuker to spare."

"Oh, my," Scrillius said again. "We are willing to trade for it. We have quite a few interesting items that we have gathered on our expedition that we would gladly trade for the uuker and cesium."

"In that case," began Rygel.

"Rygel!" said Crichton in a warning voice. "Aeryn knows the status of our supplies better than you. If she says that we do not have any to spare, we do not have any to spare."

Sensing his opening, Scrillius turned his attention to Rygel and said, "Any fuel that you can give us is appreciated, and the items for trade would more than afford you the opportunity to restock your supply on the next planet you encounter."

"It's settled then," Rygel said. "Let us know when you are ready to trade." After Pilot turned off the signal, John turned his attention to Rygel.

"Aeryn said there was something wrong here. Are you just trying to make trouble for us?" he asked.

"Aeryn is not a tech. She doesn't know everything about fuel. Besides, we have plenty of uuker, and it is just a science vessel. What harm can come from that?"

"What harm? Did you already forget that it was an encounter with a science vessel that brought about Zhaan's death?" D'Argo harshly asked.

"Of course I haven't. But that was different; there was a wormhole involved. This will be a nice friendly trade. Then, they can go about their happy scientific business, and I, um, we, can turn a tidy profit. What could go wrong in that?"

"Famous last words," John muttered under his breath.

"Do not say that I didn't warn you," Aeryn said as she hastily left Command.

********

An arn later, Rygel was very proud himself. Scrillius's second in command, a similar looking being named Brynner, had shown Rygel all of the items available for trade. Rygel immediately spotted a very desirable Crakron obelisk, but instead started bartering for a Grannik battle shield. He was then able to turn the negotiations so that he got both the Grannik battle shield *and* the Crakron obelisk. Inwardly, Rygel was priding himself on his superior capabilities while Brynner prepared the objects for transport.

"It is always a pleasure doing business with a man of your excellent tastes," said Rygel, smiling to himself because Brynner was completely clueless on the value of the traded items.

"Thank you, Dominar," Brynner responded. "Is someone from your ship coming to help you carry these items back and deliver our supplies?"

"Yes, of course. I just need to signal them." Rygel tapped his comm and began, "D'Argo?"

"What is it Rygel?" D'Argo responded.

"Our friends have agreed upon one lennert of uuker and two lennerts of cesium. How long will it take you to prepare this for them?"

D'Argo had been persuaded to assist Rygel once the terms of the negotiation were finalized. Still, taking orders from Rygel did not set well with D'Argo.

"I will have it ready in half an arn. I will bring it over to their ship when it is ready," D'Argo replied.

With half an arn to spare, Rygel made good use of Scrillius's hospitality. He began on some wonderfully prepared maknons, which he washed down with some verita juice. He was just beginning to make progress with some toasted mallik shanks when he felt a sharp sting in his back. Within microts, he was unconscious.

********

D'Argo had prepped the supplies and was loading them onto the transport pod when Chiana came to see if she could help.

"Would you like some company?" she asked in her silky voice.

"How could I refuse?" he asked back.

They finished loading the supplies and left Moya for the short trip to the science vessel. Once D'Argo set the pod down in the docking bay of the ship, he and Chiana emerged.

A Hatnokian greeted them. "My name is Loquet. I have been sent to help you."

"Thank you," said D'Argo as they unloaded the supplies. Once finished, D'Argo prepared to leave.

When Loquet noticed D'Argo's intent to leave, he said, "Your Dominar said that he would need your help loading the items that he traded for."

"He is NOT my Dominar," snapped D'Argo. Then, in a calmer voice, "Where is he?"

"He is in the storage bay around the corner. I will take you there if you like." D'Argo and Chiana followed him down a corridor to a big open room that was curtained in black at the far wall. As they entered the room, Brynner, the Hatnokian second-in-command, grabbed Chiana from behind as D'Argo was shot with a tranquilizing dart. Chiana was quickly subdued and dragged, along with D'Argo, to a series of cages behind the curtain. An unconscious Rygel was already present.

Once the new captives were secured, Scrillius asked the fourth member of the Hatnokian crew, a technician named Praaskrab, "Have you been able to manipulate his vocals yet?"

"Almost, sir," the tech replied. After a few microts, he said, "Done."

"Good. You may play it."

Praaskrab tapped the comm he took off of D'Argo and played the message that they had created. It began in D'Argo's voice: "Crais?"

"Yes," Crais responded from onboard Talyn where he was busy enjoying Jool's company.

"I need some help loading the items that Rygel procured. Could you please assist me?" D'Argo's voice continued.

"I am busy. See if Crichton can do it."

"He, too, is occupied. I would appreciate your assistance."

Jool smiled up at Crais from where they had been sitting in one of Talyn's porthole seats. "We can help D'Argo and be back before you know it," she said sweetly as she smiled at Crais.

Crais quickly responded, "We'll be right there."

Praaskrab tapped the comm off. "Did he say we?"

"Even better," Scrillius responded.

Crais and Jool made the trip from Talyn to the science vessel. There to meet them in the vessel's docking bay was Loquet. He cordially greeted them and led them to the same open room that D'Argo and Chiana has been captured in. Once there, the same tactic worked. Brynner grabbed Jool from behind as Praaskrab shot Crais with a tranquilizing dart. Five down and two to go. While the current captives would prove useful, the Hatnokians were mainly interested in Aeryn.

While the Hatnokians tried to come up with a plan on how to capture Crichton and Aeryn, Talyn worried about Crais. His neural signal had gone into sleep mode very quickly, which could indicate being knocked unconscious. Talyn relayed this information to Moya, who then relayed it to Pilot. Pilot immediately called for Crichton and Aeryn.

"What is it Pilot?" Crichton asked from the Terrace. He was no longer humming "Yellow Rose of Texas", but now he couldn't get "Day-O" out of his head.

"Could you please meet me in my den?"

Curious to know why Pilot didn't just tell him, Crichton quickly left for Pilot's den. Aeryn was already there when he arrived.

"What is it Pilot?" John asked.

"A number of things, I'm afraid. Rygel, D'Argo and Chiana have all left for the Hatnokian vessel and have not returned. When I have tried to reach them on their comms, I received a nearly identical vague response from each of them. Also, Talyn has informed Moya that Crais and Jool left for the ship a little while ago. Once on board, Crais's neural signal fell silent, as if in sleep mode. But when called, he still answered his comm with the same vague response."

"Why else would Crais' signal go into sleep mode?" John asked.

"Talyn says that the signal for sleep and for unconsciousness are virtually the same. He is afraid that Crais has been rendered unconscious," Pilot worriedly responded. "And since it appears that the responses on the comms are being forced or manipulated, I did not want to tell you this over our comms in case they were being monitored."

"Smart thinking," John said to Pilot. "So what do we know about the Hatnokian ship?"

"Their ship has no weapons, but neither does Moya. Can Talyn train his cannon on the Hatnokian vessel?" asked Aeryn.

After a few microts, Pilot responded, "Talyn has told Moya that he will not lock his weapons on the vessel until he knows that Crais is not on board."

Just then, John's comm crackled to life. D'Argo's voice said, "John?"

"Yeah?" John cautiously responded.

"I need some help loading the items that Rygel procured. Could you please assist me?" D'Argo's voice continued.

"Can't Crais help you?" John asked.

"He is occupied. I would appreciate your assistance." Then the comm went dead.

"Well if we were looking for a reason to go to the Hatnokian vessel, I think we just got our answer," John said.

"What are you suggesting?" Aeryn asked.

"They obviously want us on their vessel, and we need to find out what is going on. We'll just have to make sure that whatever they are trying to pull, they'll fail," John responded.

"What if they leave with all of you on board?" asked Pilot.

"You said your scans show that they are telling the truth about not being able to travel above hetch one. If they try to leave, you'll be able to follow," John answered.

"That doesn't seem like a very good plan," Pilot said.

"Do you have something better?" asked John. "Tell you what, we'll leave our comms on, that way you can tell what is being said. Get Talyn ready to fire on their ship."

"But he said..." began Pilot.

"I'm not asking him to fire on the ship. Just that he can be ready to do it. The others didn't know that they were walking into a trap. We have an advantage because we do."

"But it is still a trap," said Aeryn, questioning the validity of his plan.

"I'm open to suggestions," John snapped harshly.

Aeryn wasn't going to argue; there was no point in doing so. They didn't have a plan and were probably going to be taken captive. She knew from the beginning that negotiating with the Hatnokians was a bad idea, but, as usual, no one listened to her. "I'll be in the Docking Bay," Aeryn complaisantly said as she turned and left Pilot's den. Pilot let out one of his unintelligible growls while John sighed and followed Aeryn.

The transport pod carrying John and Aeryn boarded the Hatnokian vessel. Again, Loquet was there to greet the newcomers. He kindly greeted them and led them to the same open room where the others were being held captive. As soon as they entered the room, Brynner attempted to grab Aeryn. Aeryn was not going to be taken as quickly as the other women had been. She knocked Brynner out so that he was lying in a heap on the floor. In the meantime, Praaskrab's first shot of the tranquilizing dart at John missed. John was then able to knock the dart gun out of his hand and had Praaskrab pinned to the floor. Unfortunately, Scrillius grabbed the gun and shot John in the leg. Aeryn saw John fall and after overcoming Loquet, she turned her attention to Praaskrab. As she went to deal with him, she felt a sharp sting in her neck. Within microts, she, too, was subdued.

Since there were no more crewmen to lure to their vessel, the Hatnokians left the comms on John and Aeryn even after they were captured, which was fortunate since it enabled Pilot to listen to what was going on. Even with all the crew aboard their ship, the Hatnokians made no attempts to leave. All Pilot could do was wait to see how he, Moya, and Talyn could help.

After an arn, John awoke to find himself locked in a tall, narrow cage in a large, darkened room. The bars of the cages gave off a low orange light and intense heat. Through the dim light of the cages, John could see that he was in a corner cage by himself, with D'Argo and Crais to his left in another cage and Chiana and Jool to his right. Rygel was in a smaller cage beyond the girls. Aeryn was nowhere to be seen. John began with a start, "What the hell is going on here?"

D'Argo responded, "They haven't told us anything, yet. They keep talking amongst themselves about an experiment that they are preparing for."

"Screw the experiment. Where's Aeryn?" John asked, his voice the epitome of concern.

"She was taken to the next room over. In the process of moving her, the tech said something about never before seeing such a specimen," Crais added.

"Specimen? What the hell does that mean?" John anxiously asked.

"I don't know but we are about to find out," Crais said as Scrillius entered the room and approached the cages.

"What have you done to Aeryn?" John demanded.

"Nothing yet," responded Scrillius. "She is quite an example, though. In all of our research, we have never found another being quite like her."

"You don't need to tell me how special she is, you overgrown rhino!" yelled John.

Scrillius ignored his comment and said, "It is curiously interesting that when we encountered your ship, not one of you asked about our field of study or mission."

"We've learned that sometimes it is better not to ask," said D'Argo flatly.

"In this case, you should have," Scrillius condemningly said. "We Hatnokians have an extra sense, an empathic ability which enables us to determine a being's emotional state. We have been on our survey for nearly two cycles now. In all that time, we have sensed and studied beings that expressed all types of emotions. Your crew is actually quite a unique combination from love and lust to pain and anger. But never have we seen such an example of anger as in your shipmate Aeryn. Out of curiosity, why is that?"

John did not respond. How could he explain to a total stranger the multiple facets of Aeryn's emotional makeup? He didn't even understand half of them himself.

"Well?" asked Scrillius.

"She lost someone she cared about, someone who was very much like him," Crais said as he pointed toward John.

"Ah, I see. That could be useful."

"She's suffered enough!" yelled John as he tried to reach Scrillius through the bars of the cage. His arm touched the orange light and at once two things happened: his flesh sizzled and turned bright red and John realized that the bars were not solid but rather were pure energy, the ultimate electric fence. "Ooowww, damn!" cursed John who was very much feeling the intense pain in his arm. He backed slightly away from the bars and said, "I will not let you hurt her anymore than she already has been!"

"With that temper, you'll be next," Scrillius enigmatically said.

"If you hurt her, I swear I'll..." John began.

"Oh, I have no intention of hurting her, provided, of course, that the stimulant is successful."

"Stimulant?" John queried.

Just then, Loquet and Brynner came in and spoke quietly with Scrillius. Scrillius nodded in agreement but as the two began to leave, he said in their direction, "I have a better idea. If we really want to see the true effects, let's have her near to her source of anger."

The crew belonging to Moya and Talyn were still confused by what was going on. D'Argo and Crais were both angry for being taken captive so easily. Chiana was looking around for a way to escape. Her eyes were drawn to a control panel just outside the cage. She knew, though, that no one would be able to reach it through the scorching bars. Jool was panicked and scared. As many times as her life had been endangered since she awoke aboard Moya, she would never get used to the imminent threat of death. Rygel just watched and said nothing. It was his fault that they were here. Aeryn had tried to warn him, but once again he let the prospect of a profit cloud better judgment.

Loquet and Brynner reentered the room pushing an unconscious Aeryn in a chair. John's heart reacted when he saw her. Once they deposited her in the middle of the floor, they went to the observation booth opposite the cages where the captives were being held.

"What are you doing to her?" he demanded.

"Our work in examining various races is not for mere scientific knowledge."

"It seldom is," John muttered to himself.

"If one could harness the strength of the limbic system, one could produce a super soldier, if you will, able to withstand all manners of terrors and physical wounds. We believe we have done this."

"If you have already done it, then what do you need us for?" John asked with intensity.

"The stimulant increases the body's response to emotional stimuli. The last test subject reacted, well, less than favorably to the injection. We hope, though, that this has been resolved."

"Hope? What did it do?"

"Oh, it wasn't a pretty picture," said Scrillius as he shook his head and mumbled something about cell coagulation. "But that has been fixed now. At least we think it has."

Praaskrab approached Aeryn with a heavy looking syringe. John was powerless to stop him.

"And what if you are wrong? Can you undo the effects of your little experiment?" John desperately wanted to know.

"Besides manually increasing the stimulant's metabolism, which is often ineffective? No. Although it would be a shame to lose her, there is always a price to pay for the progress of science."

Praaskrab injected the sleeping Aeryn as John yelled "No!". Within four microts, she awoke with a start. Praaskrab did not get out of her reach fast enough, for she sent him flying through the air. He landed with a loud thud against the wall, the pool of blood coming from his head indicating the fatality of the encounter. Aeryn looked for someone else to take her anger out on, but Scrillius had used those few seconds to leave through the door and into the observation area. Although the observation booth was heavily reinforced, it still allowed the scientists to hear what was going on in the bay as well as enabled the captives to hear the comments of the Hatnokians.

"Oh, my," said Scrillius to Loquet and Brynner, who were also in the observation cage. "She is even more violent that we thought."

"Do you think the adjustment will work on a subject with such fury?" asked Loquet.

"We'll know in the next few microts. The plateau should occur in no more than forty microts if it is a success. Praaskrab better not have frelled this up."

This commentary did not go unnoticed by John and the others. They watched as Aeryn raged around the room, destroying whatever was there. If there were a Sebacean form of Luxan hyper rage, it would have paled in comparison to the way she was acting. At Scrillius's last words, John began counting. It would be forty microts to know if Aeryn would be okay. When he was up to twenty, her rage showed no signs of abating. At thirty, she was the same, and John began to panic. At forty, John knew that he had to do something or else she would die. "Think John, think," he kept mumbling to himself. The only thing that came to mind was what Scrillius said about the stimulant's metabolism. John sighed to himself, fearing what that entailed but knowing there was no other way.

John looked over to the observation booth. Scrillius was busy yelling at his subordinates who were madly going over the ingredients in the failed injection. John took this as an opportunity and with a fast and furious motion, stuck his arm, literally, through the electric bars and hit the button on the control panel on the wall. His arm sizzled and stung. But, his assumption was correct; it turned off the cage's bars and he was able to leave his cage. John was surprised, though, when it didn't shut off all the other cages.

Scrillius noticed the escape attempt and shouted from his vantage point, "There is no way to escape and you cannot release the others, either. A safeguard built into the cages. But since you are out there, your sacrifice will be most beneficial to watch."

Just then, Aeryn turned and saw John. She charged him. He loudly landed on his back, but was able to block the kick that was aimed straight for his chest. She tried to knock him down again, but this time he was able to miss her blow. He spent the next 250 microts dodging her blows, not wanting to hit in return. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. It was like five hours of tae-bo wrapped up into five minutes. So far his plan was working; Aeryn was furious. But John didn't know if it would be enough. He took a deep breath and began stage two.

"You are a liar!" he yelled at her out of nowhere.

"How dare you!" she yelled back as she hit him.

"How dare I what? Call them like I see them? You are the biggest liar in the Uncharted Territories."

"I have never lied to you!" she shouted as she charged him again.

John was able to prevent her from doing too much damage and replied, "You never meant what you said in the neural cluster!" That was so long ago, but it was one of the last intimate conversations that he had had with Aeryn so he hoped that she would remember it.

"How dare you speak of something you do not know!" she screamed liked a banshee as she knocked him solidly across his face. John took that to mean that she remembered. He grappled with her, trying to get some sort of advantage over her. Aeryn was not to be stopped, though. John was barely able to get free enough to face her.

"What happened in the neural cluster?" Jool whispered to Chiana.

"I'm not sure, but right before Aeryn died on the planet where we got you, she told John that she hoped he meant what he said there because she did."

"Something I do not know!" yelled John. "What? You think that I wasn't there? Well, I was, Aeryn!"

Aeryn knocked him in the chest with her elbow. John went down, gasping for breath. She swung at his head, but he rolled away and came up on his feet.

"I was there, Aeryn. I, me," he said as he pointed to himself, "was also there when you stood up to your maniac captain and gave up your life because of me!" Aeryn tried to sweep his legs to knock him down, but John moved out of her way just in time. "It was me, not someone else, who convinced you to come with us because 'you could be more'." Aeryn punched him in the face. John saw stars but continued. "Remember me? I'm the one you asked to kill you before the living death took you. I was the one on the false earth who was ready to give up my whole life for you. Do you remember the night we spent there together? I sure as hell do!" Aeryn was flaming. She tried every move to get John down, but he kept coming up for more. John was in excruciating pain all over, but as long as Aeryn continued, he would have to also. "I, not some inferior copy, was the one who went to the Gammak Base to save you, got my head frelled with to save you. If it hadn't been for you, I would never have run into Scorpius, I'd have my mind all to myself, and the Peacekeepers wouldn't be on the verge of taking over the universe!" John was so tired and worn out, but Aeryn was showing no signs of abating. Smack! Thud! Pow! In the recess of John's mind, he thought, "This scene could read like an old Batman episode, but I'm no caped crusader and Aeryn's no Selina Kyle, although she does look great in skin-tight black..." Thunk! "Focus, John," he muttered to himself as he tried to shake off the blow. He continued the verbal assault, "I was the one who held you when you cried over what you had done to Velorek. It was me you scented your hair for. I..." John was knocked quiet by a blow from Aeryn. "Don't give up know. Time for a change of tactic," he thought to himself.

"You think that you are the only one who has ever lost someone they love? Get in line, sister!" he yelled at her.

She went for him again. He caught her by the arms and said, "I'm sorry that the other John is dead. No, wait! I'm not sorry! I'm glad he's dead so he doesn't have to see how you are. He would turn over in his grave if he saw how you've been wallowing in your self-pity!" She flipped him over her back so that he once again landed on his back. She tried to kick him, but this time he grabbed her foot and made her topple over. "Oh, but he doesn't have a grave. He was burnt to a fiery crisp because of you!"

She was livid. She got up and grabbed his arm that had been burnt by the cage. He yelped at the sting of the intense pain, but was still able to wrangle his arm from her grasp. "Come on, John, just a little bit longer," he thought to himself.

"Everyone loses someone they care about: a father, a mother, a child, a lover. You are not special!" She slammed him against the wall. He could feel every muscle in his back writhe in pain.

He freed himself from being pinned against the wall and said, "For you to be the PK pin-up for 'the good of the unit' crap, you have been so incredibly selfish! Do you have any idea what problems your little emotional episode has caused the rest of the crew? No, you don't because you don't care!" He watched as she came after him, but her motions were slightly off. Hopefully, that was a good sign.

"Did you ever once think that John's death affected anyone else but you? Have you ever wondered how, if I ever find my way home, I am going to explain to my father that he had another son that died out here? Have you?!" Aeryn kicked him in the thigh, but her blow was not as hard as before.

"Do you have any idea how much pain you have caused me?" She tried to hit him, but her swing was noticeably slower. "You may be mourning for someone who is dead, but I have been mourning for someone who is alive right in front of me!" She tapped into the reserve store of her energy and made another attempt at him but her footing was off and he easily overcame her. He pinned her against the floor, straddling her body with his weight to keep her down. He could tell that she was rapidly losing energy so he quit the verbal onslaught. She, though, tried to break free and was almost able to release herself from his grasp. Not taking any changes, John continued the barrage. "You never meant what you said in the neural cluster," he said in a quieter voice this time. She wriggled underneath him, trying to get free. "Do you even remember that?"

"Frell you!" she tried to yell back in a weakened voice.

"I told you that I would be lost without you. That's true, Aeryn." He paused, his own pain beginning to overwhelm him. "But you told me that I would never be lost. That was a lie. Without you, I don't have anything to keep me sane; my constant is gone."

That last comment made her reel in anguish. That is what her John had told her. She continued to struggle underneath him although her attempts were futile. He continued, "Then, I told you that you had worked your way into my heart." John looked into Aeryn's eyes. She shut them tight and he could see silent tears escaping from their corners. At the sight of her crying, his eyes responded. Soon, he couldn't stop his tears from streaming down his face. "You're still there, you know, like some squatter in the gold rush. You have taken over my heart, and I can't get you out no matter how hard I try."

She began crying harder, but she wouldn't open her eyes. Maybe by shutting them, all of this would just go away. It was childish thinking, but it was all she had left.

He continued, "Then you said that I had shown you that you had a heart. At least that much was true. I just didn't know that it would break so quickly. I'm so sorry about that."

She weakly struggled with him, her stubbornness the only thing keeping her going. "Then," he said, "I told you that I loved you. I still do, Aeryn, despite everything that has happened. I've already told you that you are still in my heart. And, no matter what happens in this life, I will always love you."

It would be a contest to see whether John or Aeryn was crying more; Aeryn over her pain and grief and John over the pain he was causing as well as feeling. Finally, John said his last, "Then you told me what I never thought I would hear. You said that you loved me, too. God, how I wish that were true!"

Her energy was spent. All she could do was release the pain and let her tears wash down her cheeks. He was physically aching from the fight and emotionally drained by it as well. He got off of Aeryn and pulled her to him so that her head was buried in his right arm. He gently stroked her hair with his left arm while he rested his head on hers. She cried and sobbed and then cried some more. After a while, John moved so that his back was against the wall and he could hold her closer.

The Hatnokians had watched the entire ordeal. Once Aeryn was slightly calmed, Loquet started to leave the cage to restrain her again. John saw this motion out of the corner of his eye and mentally prepared himself for the struggle. Instead, Scrillius stopped Loquet from leaving the observation booth and said, "They aren't going anywhere. Let her recover so that we can try it again tomorrow after she rests. Brynner says he knows what Praaskrab did wrong so tomorrow should be our crowning day." The Hatnokians left the observation booth talking about their plans for the next day.

The friends of the angst-filled couple watched in shock at the entire fight. T'raltixx, the light-hungry alien who made them all paranoid, had had a negative effect on them, but that was nothing compared to what they had just witnessed. And now, despite the harsh words and actions, John and Aeryn sat cocooned in silence. Even though his arms were sore from the burn and the fight, he had a death grip around her; he was not leaving her side. She remained quietly weeping with her head still buried against John's arm.

Each of the friends watched them in silent contemplation. Rygel was sorry for putting them in this situation but was surprised that John lasted as long as he did. Jool hadn't realized that John and Aeryn had had such a relationship. The cruel things John said disturbed Chiana since that was not at all like John. Crais couldn't believe what he had heard; he had thought he knew Aeryn but realized that he didn't know her at all and was surprised that she had told Crichton about Velorek. D'Argo was stunned. Here were his two best comrades and he was powerless to help them since he himself wasn't entirely sure what had happened.

Finally, D'Argo broke into the penetrating silence. "John?" he asked in a soft voice as if he didn't want to startle him.

"Yeah, D'Argo?" John said back in a whisper as he continued to stroke Aeryn's hair. His eyes were finally dry but still very bloodshot.

"What ju...?" D'Argo couldn't find the words to ask his question.

"What just happened?" John asked for him.

"Yes," D'Argo replied.

"Scrillius said the stimulant had to be metabolized."

"So, you did what you did, and said what you said, to granik Aeryn off, didn't you?" Chiana asked, happy to know why John had acted like he did. John softly nodded.

"So what you said...did you mean it?" D'Argo asked.

"Some of it, most of it when I'm feeling sorry for myself. But right now, only the last part."

Knowing that John and Aeryn needed as much space as the room could afford, the crew in the cages turned their attention to formulating an escape plan. They knew that they could easily overpower the Hatnokians if they could escape from the cells. But, John's escape had only increased the heat of the bars so that repeating his maneuver was out of the question. They really needed John to try the switch for the cages as well as the lock on the door leading out of the room. None of them, though, wanted to ask him to move from where he was. The Hatnokians would not return until the next morning. Right now, asking John to move could wait.

Eventually, Aeryn fell asleep and John allowed himself to relax just a little. After a time, D'Argo finally spoke to John, "John, I know that you are, um..."

"Yeah?"

"They will probably be back here within an arn or two. We need you to see if you can turn off these bars."

John thought about what D'Argo said, but he didn't want to let go of Aeryn. Logically, though, the only way to free Aeryn was for them all to escape. Reluctantly, he laid her down, kissed his finger and then put it to her forehead, and walked to the control panel on the wall. He tried all of the buttons, but none of them did anything. It was as if the panel was no longer operational.

"This panel is not responding. They must have some sort of override that shuts it down if not used right," John said as he walked by the cages to the opening of the observation booth. The lock on its door was also unresponsive. There were no windows, the door to the corridor outside was sealed, and the crew couldn't be released. John looked around for something else to try.

"Crichton," Chiana said, "what about him there? See if he has some sort of key or something on him."

John went over to search Praaskrab's body. He didn't find anything that would help them with the doors, but he did find another dose of the agent that they had injected Aeryn with. That could come in handy.

Just then, from his vantage point Rygel could see the scientists entering the observation booth. He said to John, "Frell, they're back already!"

John ran back to where Aeryn was. He quickly resumed the position that he had kept all night. The Hatnokians glanced into the room, but their attention was on the experiment at hand. John tried to awaken Aeryn; he needed her to help him overtake the Hatnokians. She began to stir and was surprised to find herself in John's arms.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Shhh. Don't move. Look like you're still asleep. Drs. Namtar and Mengele are getting ready to start round two. I have a dose of what they gave you. When they come back in here, we'll jump them," John whispered.

"What do you mean 'what they gave me'?" she whispered back.

"They injected you with the World Series of steroids. Don't you remember?"

"The last thing I remember is coming on board this ship."

"You don't remember anything after that?" John asked, both hopeful and worried over her remembering their conversation.

"Nothing," she flatly replied.

The others heard this interchange. "It makes sense," Jool said to no one in particular. "I mean, if the limbic system is overloaded, the brain might not be capable of retaining any short-term memory of the occurrence."

"What are you talking about?" Aeryn asked. With her head turned like it was, she could see D'Argo and Crais. They were both looking at her strangely. And, she still wanted to know why she was asleep in John's arms. He had better explain himself when this was over. It was funny, though, that even though she didn't know what was going on, she somehow felt relieved, like a heavy weight had been lifted. She wasn't sure what it was, but it felt...good.

Without allowing her any time to enjoy her good feeling, Scrillius and Brynner entered the room from the observation booth. "Now," began Scrillius as he walked toward John and Aeryn, "we would like a repeat performance from yesterday. That was quite impressive, John Crichton. You against a heightened Peacekeeper soldier? You must have mivonks of solid stone."

Scrillius bent down to pry Aeryn away from John. As he did, John shouted "Now!" and Aeryn reared up and caught Scrillius off guard. He stumbled backwards and into Brynner. This gave John and Aeryn the opportunity to stand up and face their captors. Loquet saw the commotion from the observation booth and ran into the room with a dart gun in hand. He aimed for Aeryn, but missed. As he attempted to reload, John knocked Brynner out against the wall. With Brynner out, John turned his attention to Loquet while Aeryn struggled with the massive Scrillius. With the dart gun reloaded, Loquet fired and hit John in the arm. "Oh, crap!" said John, knowing that his temperament was soon to change. Loquet smiled as he refueled the gun and watched as John began to feel the effects of the drug. It made him feel so, so...nauseous. Without further prompting, John began to vomit all over the floor. Scrillius turned to see what was happening, which was a mistake since Aeryn used the distraction as an opportunity to flatten him. Loquet was the only Hatnokian left standing. He tried to run back into the observation booth, but Aeryn pinned him. She dragged him over to John, and took the drug dispenser from John's pocket, and then held it to Loquet's throat.

"What did you do to him?" she demanded.

"It is the same thing we used on you with a slight modification. It was formulated for a Sebacean so I don't know why it is reacting like this?" For the second time in so many days, John's likeness to Sebaceans had saved him. Or, had it? How long was he going to continue ralphing all over the floor?

"Can you...make it...stop?" John asked between upchucks.

"I...don't really know."

Hoping that John would be okay, Aeryn forced Loquet into the observation room where her threat of using the drug dispenser persuaded him into turning off the power to the bars of the cages. The five prisoners hastily left their confines. Jool and D'Argo both wanted to help John but weren't sure how to go about it since he was covered in vomit.

With everyone's focus elsewhere, no one saw Scrillius get up. Just as he started to go after them, D'Argo saw him, grabbed the dart gun that Loquet had dropped and fired on Scrillius. Scrillius began yelling in agony. Within microts, his skin began to peel off and dissolve until he was nothing more than a lifeless, gooey heap on the ground. Aeryn saw this from the observation room and stuck the dosage dispenser she still had closer to Loquet's throat.

"Please don't!" he yelled. "The stimulant for Sebaceans is toxic to Hatnokians."

"Someone make the room stop spinning" John yelled, "and find me some Pepto-Bismol!"

"First, we'll dispatch them," Crais said.

"No," John began.

"They mustn't be allowed to do this to anyone else," Aeryn said.

"I know, but I have an idea," John managed to get out.

John related enough of his plan between vomiting episodes so that the others were able to put it into action. Jool and Chiana then helped him back to Moya. Once in the infirmary, Jool gave him something to calm him down and began examining him. The effects of the stimulant appeared to be benign on humans, except for the vomiting. Jool could see nothing wrong with Crichton and continued to nurse him while the others dealt with the Hatnokians.

Crais and D'Argo moved Loquet and Brynner to one of the Hatnokian transport pods. They then set the controls with the coordinates of the last Commerce Planet they visited. Meanwhile, Rygel plundered what he could from the Hatnokian vessel. Once Loquet and Brynner were away from the vicinity of the ships, Crais, D'Argo, Aeryn and Rygel left the Hatnokian ship and went back to Moya and Talyn. Talyn then fired on the Hatnokian ship. Maybe it wouldn't do that much damage to the Hatnokians' scientific pursuits. They would probably just send another group of scientists, but at least they wouldn't have their data.

Back on Moya, John finally quit retching and Jool gave him a sleeping agent. He quickly fell asleep though all of the activities of that day and the day before were racing through his mind. When the rest of the crew boarded Moya, they went to the infirmary to check on their friend.

"How is he?" D'Argo asked.

"He'll be fine. He just won't want anything to eat for awhile," Jool said with a smile.

"After the effect it had on Aeryn, I'm glad it didn't hurt Crichton," Rygel said.

"It was your fault any of us got in this mess," said D'Argo. "Next time, perhaps, you'll listen to Aeryn."

"What effect did it have on me?" Aeryn asked, still curious about what happened.

"It made you very violent," Crais said, since no one was answering.

"What did I do?"

"After you crushed the skull of the one scientist by hurling him across the room?" Chiana asked.

"I don't remember any of this. What did Scrillius mean when he said that Crichton went after a 'heightened Peacekeeper'?" Aeryn asked.

"He had to keep the drug from killing you, so he picked a fight with you," Chiana said.

"Picked a fight?" Aeryn asked. "And what else happened?" she further queried. A simple fight wouldn't have merited all the strange looks from the crew.

"He, well, he, when you..." began Chiana.

"No, Chiana," D'Argo interrupted her. "That is for John to tell."

"He won't be telling anything for quite some time. The sleep agent I gave him should keep him out for a while yet."

With that, all of the crew, except Aeryn, left the infirmary. She had the distinct feeling that something had happened between her and Crichton, but she didn't know what it was. Also, the others acted strange when she asked about it. But, the last person in the universe that she wanted to talk to was Crichton. She looked at him for another microt and then left, wondering whether she would ask him or not.

Part III: Denouement

Five days had passed and Aeryn still hadn't talked to Crichton. Everyone on board was acting differently toward her, but she didn't know why. She had tried to ask D'Argo, but he quickly dismissed her. She still hadn't spoken to Jool since John had been sick on Horit Prime. Chiana had been avoiding her. Crais had been less than communicative. She even tried to discuss the matter with Rygel, but he blustered something about not betraying a friend. Aeryn kept telling herself that it didn't matter, whatever it was, although she was finding it increasingly difficult to lie to herself. Seeking a normal conversation with anyone, she made her way to Pilot's den. He couldn't help her, but she desperately wanted to talk to someone.

"Office Sun," he politely greeted her.

"How are you, Pilot?" she asked.

"I am well. Why do you ask?"

"No reason in particular."

"Something is bothering you?"

"Yes."

"About your time aboard the Hatnokian vessel?"

Pilot mentioning it surprised Aeryn. What had the others told him? "What did you hear about that?"

"Everything." Aeryn looked at him with both hope and confusion written across her face. Sensing her confusion, Pilot continued, "You and Commander Crichton left your comms on while you were on board."

"Yes, of course, Pilot. I had completely forgotten." She then asked cautiously, "Can you tell me what happened?"

"No. I am sorry, but I promised D'Argo that I would not say anything about it. And, I know that you would not wish me to break a promise."

Why D'Argo was suddenly in charge of who knew what irritated Aeryn, but instead she only said, "Yes, Pilot" as she dejectedly turned to leave the den. She had just been given a little hope and now she was worse off than before.

"Office Sun, did you know that Moya is capable of recording the dialogue on the comms if she so chooses or is instructed to do so?" Pilot asked, seemingly out of nowhere. Aeryn stopped in her tracks at the suggestion in Pilot's question.

She turned and said, "Now that you reminded me, yes I knew that."

"Moya will sometimes record whole conversations. Anyone can access them if they look in the correct place such as in her tertiary circuit control on Tier 17," Pilot added, his voice the quintessence of aloofness.

"Thank you, Pilot," Aeryn said as she began hurrying out of his den.

"I did nothing but remind you of a fact your already knew."

Aeryn turned and smiled in understanding. Pilot never broke his promise.

Aeryn hurried to the tertiary circuit control. She wanted to listen to what had happened where she wouldn't be disturbed so she rerouted the data to a console in an unused cell. Once satisfied that the data awaited her there, she quickly walked to the cell and sat down with her back to the wall. She then began to listen to the recording from the comms. It began with Crichton saying, "Leave our comms on, that way you can tell what is being said. Get Talyn ready to fire on their ship."

As she listened to the replay, she heard them dock, the struggle with the Hatnokians, the others seeing John put in his cell, nothing that was exceptional. As she listened longer, though, she heard Crais's comment about Crichton, Crichton trying to stop them from injecting her, and then sounds of another struggle. As she heard what must have been the fight between Crichton and her, various thoughts passed through her mind: How did he get out of his cage? That must have been where he got the burn she had seen on his arm. How long did he struggle with her? Did she give him all those bruises she had seen on his arms and neck? While these thoughts danced around in her head, she was startled to hear him say, "You are a liar!". That caught her attention and she listened intently as the conversation was recounted. Every word stabbed like a dagger. False earth. Velorek. Not special. Selfish. Before long, her eyes were moist both from pain and anger. Neural cluster. She remembered the neural cluster in impossibly clear detail, the feel of John's hands, whispered words, everything.

John's voice then said:

"Then I told you that I loved you. I still do Aeryn despite what has happened. I've already told you that you are still in my heart. And, no matter what happens in this life, I will always love you. Then you told me what I never thought I would hear. You said that you loved me too. God, how I wish that were true!"

Aeryn was crying again, as much for John's pain as for her own. She had treated John like he was of no account and yet he had again risked his life for her, suffered bodily harm because of her, and still said he loved her. She sat there in silence, alone with her tumultuous thoughts. She thought the recording had stopped, but she then heard D'Argo's voice asking for an explanation.

"So what you said...did you mean it?" D'Argo asked.

"Some of it, most of it when I'm feeling sorry for myself. But right now, only the last part."

Aeryn didn't know what to make of it all. All she knew was that she wished things could go back the way they were before, before John was duplicated, before he went insane, before... She wasn't ready to give up the memory of her John. "Her John," Aeryn thought to herself, the words quietly taking on a new meaning. Her John died fighting an evil cause. And, her John was still aboard this ship. Both of them were hers, are hers, and had been hers the whole time.

But would letting herself acknowledge John's love for her diminish her love for the other John? Would it betray his memory? Aeryn again was caught in her thoughts. Then, she remembered the recording she had seen John listening to after she first got back to Moya. John's dying words to his twin were, "She takes time." In those three words, she found her answer.

She left Tier 17 having all the answers and knowing what needed to be done. However, she didn't know how to go about doing it.

********

John walked down Moya's corridor, humming "Major Tom" by Peter Shilling. He'd been like a freaking nickelodeon lately. Yesterday it was "My Sharona". That morning it had been "Hotel California". Not only had he had a song stuck in his head for the last month or two, but also he kept remembering things that he had completely forgotten about, like the Harvest Dance with the SpaceDog. John wondered it if was his disinterest with interaction with the others that was forcing his mind to turn to other things.

John pondered this while he softly sung:

Far beneath the ship, the world is mourning.
They don't realize he's alive.
Da-da-da-da-da, but Major Tom sees
Da-da-da-da-da, this is my home.
I'm coming home.
Earth below us, drifting, falling,
Floating weightless,
Calling home

"Interesting song, John," Scorpius' voice told John.

"Go away," John said out loud.

"You know I can't do that."

"What do you want?"

"I want you to amuse me. I have grown bored with your memories. Your little episode on the science vessel was entertaining. Do you think you could do something like that again?"

"Entertaining? That isn't the word I would use," John said while rubbing his sore shoulder.

"Well, it was for me. You have been rather boring lately. You do know that, don't you?"

"I've already told you a dozen times that I am not here to 'amuse' you."

"True, but you used to be a lot more fun to be with. You have turned into a bitter old man before your time."

"Go away," John repeated, "or I'll turn you into a cartoon again."

"At least the cartoons were interesting!" Scorpy pleaded. "But, you do have certain memories that I do enjoy watching. You and Karen Shaw. The first time you met Alex. That little Tahitian girl when you were..."

"You're a pervert! If you want to get your ya-yas, get a subscription to Playboy but leave my memories alone!"

D'Argo was in a corridor that junctioned with the one John was in. He heard John speaking to no one and realized that he must be talking to himself again.

Scorpy ignored John's last comment and said, "But your most fascinating memories are of Aeryn. Do you know that..."

John turned and venomously said, "You leave her out of this!"

"Temper, temper, John. I was just going to say..."

"I don't care what you were going to say! Now leave me alone."

"Fine, but don't think that you'll quit humming any time soon. As I told you, those are the only memories that are worth putting on continuous replay." With that, the mental clone was gone. John thought back to what he had been humming lately. He met Alex at a retirement party for a mutual friend. The party had a Caribbean theme; "Day-O" was playing the first time he talked to her. "My Sharona" had been Karen Shaw's favorite song. Rosie, a friend from college told him that "Major Tom" could be his anthem one day. She was right. He had thought he was driving himself crazy with his memories; the thought never occurred to him that it was Scorpy. "Sometimes I can be really slow," he thought to himself.

John continued down the corridor. He didn't see D'Argo in the adjoining corridor. As John walked past, D'Argo's worry for his friend intensified. This was the second time in the last five days that he had caught John talking to himself, and it was getting worse.

********

The next day, Aeryn, D'Argo, and Crais were unloading the supplies that Chiana and D'Argo had just acquired from the neighboring Commerce Planet. D'Argo finished his portion of the work and left the docking bay, leaving Aeryn to help Crais with the supplies for Talyn. Ever since the revelation from the previous day, Aeryn had been recounting all of the horrid things she had said and done in the last third cycle. She had remembered in shame what she said to Crais in the hallway of the hotel on the Seer planet.

"I owe you an apology," she began.

"For what?" Crais asked curiously.

"For what I said to you on Valldon. You were there only because you were trying to help me."

Crais was surprised by her words. "You were not yourself," he said for lack of something better to say.

"I still had no right to say to you what I did. It was unfair and cruel, and I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," Crais said without betraying any feeling.

Aeryn nodded and left the bay. Crais remained motionless, watching her retreating figure and wondering what had prompted her apology.

********

That evening, John was in the dining area by himself. He was thinking of Harvey's comment about being a bitter old man. Maybe that was true, but what could he do about it? He could never love anyone else the way he loved Aeryn, and she was never going to see him as anything but inferior. Maybe after permanently stopping Scorpius from getting the wormhole knowledge he could find a science planet to settle down on, getting away from the source of his melancholy. The other John had told him that all the wormhole knowledge was locked in his brain. Maybe he could find a science planet where he could work full-bore on wormhole tech, maybe even find a way home. He was limited with what he could do on Moya. Maybe that would be a good solution. Right now, he just wanted a vacation, some time away from everything that kept him awake all night and turned each waking moment into a reason for stress. He was surprised he hadn't given himself peptic ulcers from all the worrying that he had been doing. Yeah, he would definitely think about settling down somewhere once they stopped Scorpius.

"Do you really think you are going to stop Scorpius?" Scorpy whispered in his ear.

"Don't you have a home to go to?" John asked him.

"Now John, we both know the answer to that. I am concerned, though, that you actually believe that you will stop Scorpius. I, as well as you, know that you will not live through the encounter."

"What are you so worried about? Not having free rent?"

"Yes, actually. If you die, I die with you. I really don't want that John."

"Too bad."

"You do know that I can stop you, don't you?"

"How? By driving me crazy by humming myself to death?"

"How quickly you forget. I can gain mastery over your physical movements."

"How quickly you forget. You are a shadow, a wraith. You can do squat."

"Is that a challenge?" Scorpy queried.

D'Argo wanted to talk to John about Scorpius and had purposely come to the dining room to discuss this with John. The door was opened as he approached and he heard John talking to himself. This made D'Argo's concern grow even more. Was there another neural chip that they didn't know about that was making John crazy again? Would John be prevented from carrying out his mission because the clone stopped him? If not, why was John spending so much time talking to Scorpius? D'Argo was waiting outside in the hallway, not sure how to proceed, when Aeryn came around the corner and saw him lurking by the door.

"Is something wrong?" she asked D'Argo.

"Nothing that you would be concerned with," D'Argo snapped back.

Aeryn turned her eyes to the direction that D'Argo was looking. She saw John sitting by himself yet carrying on a full conversation.

"What is wrong?" she asked with concern.

"Nothing."

"D'Argo, I am just as concerned about him as everyone else is. Now, what is wrong?"

D'Argo took in her words, unsure what she meant by them. John needed help so he slowly began, "This is the third time in the last six days that I have seen him talking to himself. It is getting worse, and I do not know how to help."

"Have you said anything to him about it?"

"Would that do any good?"

"It may."

D'Argo sighed, still wondering how to handle this.

"Do you want me to talk to him?" Aeryn asked.

D'Argo snapped his head around to stare at her. Was she volunteering to talk to Crichton after all this time? "And why would you want to do that?" he asked her.

"Frell you," Aeryn said as she walked away. She was irritated with D'Argo for not telling her about the fight with John, his cool attitude toward her since the encounter, and now his doubting her motives. She would talk to John about it later. Right now, she needed some space.

Inside the room, John continued, "Listen Scorpy, I am going to do what needs to be done. Even if you could somehow manage to incapacitate me, the others would continue. I have no doubts about that."

"Are you sure?"

"Completely sure. Now, go away."

"Since you seem so intent on this ludicrous course, have you never once wondered if I could be of some use to you in this endeavor?"

"What? You're going to help me?"

"I've already told you that I do not wish to die. Helping you is the only way to help myself, isn't it?"

"Sometimes you do make sense."

"Come, come, John, enough with the veiled put-downs. I can help you if you will trust me to."

"Trust. Now that's a big word."

"Have I not earned your trust? I did help you on the Pleasure Planet, didn't I? I did try to help you when you were in a coma. What more do you want from me?"

"I want you to be gone!"

"No such luck, Johnny. I'll talk to you again when you are in a better mood."

Scorpius vanished from John's mind again. These little conversations were really starting to annoy him. John put up his dishes and left for his quarters. "Man, I need a vacation," he muttered to himself.

********

Aeryn took the long way around to her quarters. She desperately needed to talk to Crichton, talk to him about the neural clone, his twin, herself, lots of things. She still didn't know how to put it into words. Maybe that was her problem, maybe words just got in the way. Action. She was a woman of action. But what could she do to let John know that she knew about their fight and that her opinion had changed? She slightly blushed as she thought of one particular action she could take, but that was awfully bold. Um...

As she passed the Docking Bay, she heard a noise from inside. It was a soft, low voice that she was unfamiliar with. She cautiously rounded the door opening with her pulse pistol drawn. As she entered the bay, she noticed that one of the large cartons that they had just gotten on the last Commerce Planet was moving slightly. With her senses primed, she stealthily made her way to the carton. She aimed her gun at the open top of the carton and said, "Show yourself!" Two faces appeared over the top of the carton, that of a Sebacean boy about eleven cycles old and a girl, probably his sister, who looked like she was twelve or thirteen. Aeryn was surprised at the young faces staring at her. She tapped her comm and said without urgency, "We have intruders in the Docking Bay."

John was the first to arrive in the Docking Bay. D'Argo and Chiana quickly followed. John arrived to see Aeryn's gun still aimed toward the children although she was not holding it with any intent to use it. The girl whispered something to the boy and then the boy whispered something back. In a voice barely above a whisper, the girl then said to the boy, "I *did* tell you this wouldn't work, Geddi."

"You're name's Geddi?" John asked.

"Nice going, Tani," the boy said to the girl. "Now they know our names."

"What do you want?" John asked. The boy and girl were silent. "You must want something. The sooner you tell us, the sooner we can help."

"Help," the boy scoffed. They had had too many people, both friends and strangers, try to help them these last twelve days.

"Yeah, help," John responded. Just then a third voice was heard from inside the carton. So the two children were not alone.

Geddi whispered down to the third voice, "I told you to hold it."

The third voice, that of a young child, said, "But I have been holding it. I can't hold it any longer."

As John walked toward the carton, Aeryn put her gun back in its holster. Once at the carton, John peered inside. Not only was there a third child, but also a fourth and a fifth. There was a seven-cycle-old girl, a five-cycle-old boy, and the youngest boy looked no older than three. It was the five-cycle-old boy who was tugging Geddi's tunic because he had to go. John went to reach into the carton to help the child out but Geddi pushed his arm away and yelled, "What are you doing?"

"Your brother needs to go, and I am going to show him where to do that, unless you want him to go in there with you?" John asked. Geddi allowed John to lift the small boy out of the carton.

The seven-cycle-old girl said, "I gotta go, too" and held out her arms to John. John obliged her and lifted her out as well. He turned to the youngest who then eagerly lifted his arms to get out of the cramped confines of the carton.

Geddi didn't trust the strangers and so wasn't about to let his companions go off with one of them. He turned to Tani and said, "Help me out."

Tani said, "No. Ladies first."

"Show me a lady, and I'll let her go first," Geddi said back.

Tani elbowed him in the stomach and said, "And you're no gentleman."

John turned to help Tani out. "Nice elbow you have there." Momentarily losing himself, he pointed to Aeryn and said to Tani, "She could probably show you..." he looked at Aeryn and remembered their current standing and didn't finish his sentence. When Tani looked at him to finish, he simply said, "Never mind." After helping her, he lifted Geddi so that all five children were facing the strangers.

"This way," John said as they walked down the hall. Once the children had visited the much-needed facilities, they stood in Moya's corridor waiting to be told their fate. Instead of whatever it was they were expecting, John said, "Are you hungry?"

The second youngest, the boy Ralle, immediately said "Yes" but was quickly silenced by Geddi. Geddi stood with defiance in his eyes and said, "We cannot pay you. We just want passage to the next planet." He waited to hear what the adults would say.

"I didn't ask you to pay. You are a guest and my momma always taught me to be hospitable to guests. Now, are you hungry?" John asked again.

Geddi started to say "No" but was interrupted by Tani. She said, "Yes. We would be most welcome to accept your hospitality."

John led the bedraggled group to the galley. Since it seemed that John had everything under control, D'Argo, Aeryn, and the others didn't say anything, although they were curious to know who these children were and where they were heading. Ralle, the five-cycle-old, particularly struck Chiana. He somehow reminded her of her brother Nerri, even though the two of them didn't look anything alike. Once Ralle got his plate of dinner leftovers, Chiana patted the spot next to her at the table so that he would sit beside her. As he ravenously ate his food, Chiana immediately fell in love with the little boy. Hearing of the commotion from Pilot, Rygel finally showed up in the galley. As he entered, the three-cycle-old boy named Dobny immediately jumped from his chair and ran over to him. Rygel raised his Throne Sled a little higher so that the grubby little fingers couldn't touch his magnificent machine. Immediately, the child began wailing out for "Bunny". At the child's cry, everyone turned and looked accusingly at Rygel.

"Rygel! What did you do?" Aeryn wanted to know.

"Nothing! I swear!" Rygel said indignantly.

"Well you must have done something or he wouldn't be crying!" John said.

The seven-cycle-old girl, Aldon, said, "He didn't do anything. He just looks like his doll."

"He thinks I look like a doll? A toy? Why no Dominar of the Hynerian Empire has ever been so insulted!"

Tani quickly interjected diplomatically, "Bunny, his doll, is his favorite thing. He is so proud of it that he doesn't let anyone else touch it. He often says that he wishes to grow up to look just like it."

John glanced at Tani. He was surprised that someone so young could calm the enraged Hynerian so casually. These kids were not just anyone's kids. They way they held themselves and spoke hinted that they belonged to diplomats of some kind. John didn't say anything; he knew they would get to it soon enough.

At Tani's words, Rygel lowered his Throne Sled but Dobny was now too shy to approach him. Showing an amazing gentleness, Rygel said, "Come here, child." Dobny at first acted like he wasn't going to approach, but after a few microts he ran over to Rygel and gave him the biggest hug. Rygel's eyes bugged out as the child squeezed him. The adults tried not to laugh at Rygel's predicament, but they lost that battle. Once satisfied that their kin would not be hurt, the children also allowed themselves to be amused.

Once the children were fed and the three youngest were quietly talking with Chiana and Jool who had joined them, John said, "Where are you heading?" to Tani and Geddi. Tani started to speak but Geddi kicked her under the table. Sensing the apprehension to talk to him about it, John continued, "If you don't tell us where are you going, we can't take you there."

"We are heading to Ralia Grande. We were told it is two days' journey from here," Tani finally said.

John tapped his comm. "Pilot?"

"Yes, Commander?" Pilot's voice came over the comm.

"Do you know of any planets around this neck of the woods named Ralia Grande?"

"No, Commander." A sad look passed over the face of the youngsters. At this rate they would never make it home. "However, Moya's long-range scans do indicate that if we were to follow our current vector, we would encounter a solar system in approximately 52 arns."

"How can we tell if this system is yours?" Aeryn, who was still sitting at the table with them, asked.

"There should be five large planets, the largest being red," Geddi replied.

"Pilot, can Moya tell if this system fits that description?" she asked.

"Moya believes that it does. Even though Moya does not wish to starburst, if you would like, she can increase her speed and make it there in 42 arns."

Both Tani and Geddi were trying to hide their hope and excitement in returning home. Would this odd group of strangers actually help them and not want anything in return? Probably not, so Tani said, "We cannot pay you for the travel at this time, but once we make it home, our parents will be able to give you whatever you ask."

"You can pay us now," John began. The two of them tensed, not sure what he was meaning. They had met some horrible individuals since leaving their home. As nice as this John seemed, maybe he was one of those. He quickly continued to allay their fears, "You can tell us why you are away from home."

Knowing the danger in revealing the specifics of their situation to strangers, Geddi said, "That is none of your concern. Will you take us back home or not? If not, you can drop us at the nearest inhabited planet."

John knew that he wasn't going to get anything else from the kids tonight. They were so tired they couldn't keep their eyes open. "We'll take you to your planet. Now you need to get some sleep." He rose and waited for the others to follow. Dobny was too tired to walk so John carried him while Ralle, also overcome with exhaustion, was transported in Chiana's arms. Jool escorted Aldon while the two oldest kids took the lead following Aeryn down the corridor. They came to the biggest cell on their Tier. Tani and Geddi both recognized that they were being put into a cell. Aeryn sensed their apprehension and said, "All of the personnel quarters are converted cells." They didn't believe her. She had such a hard edge that neither of them could warm to her. But, when John walked into the cell and placed Dobny on the bed, the children sensed that Aeryn was telling the truth. Before long all of the children, expect Geddi, were in bed. He remained awake to take the first watch while the other four children fell instantly asleep. The adults left the cell, but within a quarter of an arn, John came back to check on them. Geddi, too, had fallen asleep where he sat. John entered the cell, helped Geddi lie down, covered him with a blanket and then left to go to bed himself.

********

John was up early to check on the kids. They were all still sleeping soundly in the cell. The fact that they were sleeping so hard on an unfamiliar craft with strangers spoke of their exhaustion. He wondered how long they had been away from their home, whether they left because of their parents, or what their story was in general.

"You come to check on our guests?" Aeryn's voice said from behind him.

"Yes," he said, as he wondered why she was suddenly speaking to him.

"Pilot says we'll be in their system in 32 arns, less time than we thought."

John wondered, "Is she trying to make conversation?" He didn't know what her game was but whatever it was he didn't feel like playing it. He said, "That will be good" and walked off.

Aeryn stood there dumbfounded. She had thought that she and John could talk, but that seemed more and more unlikely. "Frell" she said under her breath as she left.

********

Once the children were awake, Chiana and D'Argo led them to the galley for breakfast. Although they had eaten the night before, they still appeared famished at the breakfast table.

John joined the others with two garments in his hands. He had noticed that the kids' clothes were torn, so he found two shirts that would probably fit. He handed them over. "Here. I noticed that you might want something else to wear. I don't think we have anything that will fit the others, though." John saw Tani look at the shirt unimpressed. He said, "I know it's not Benetton, but it's not *that* bad."

Tani quickly realized her appearance of ungratefulness and stammered, "No, please. I meant no offense."

"None taken. But?"

"My pants were ripped some time ago and are near to falling off. I don't mean to seem presumptuous, but would you happen to have an extra pair?"

John turned to Chiana, "Hey Pip, do you have anything that will fit Tani?" Chiana came to stand next to the girl. Although the girl was still a child, she was half a handbreadth taller than Chiana.

"I don't think so. I can't help it if I'm short, you know," Chiana said.

John turned to Tani and said, "We'll look through some old uniforms on board. I'm sure we can find something."

Aeryn interrupted, "I can take you now if you like." Aeryn had been quiet since her conversation with John that morning and the distraction would be nice right now. Tani didn't really want to go with Aeryn, but she didn't want to be ungracious. She stood up and she and Aeryn left the galley.

As the girls made their way down the corridor, Tani wondered what the story was with Aeryn. She had noticed that the rest of the crew teased and talked like friends to each other, but no one really spoke to Aeryn. John, though, acted strange toward her. He always seemed to tense a little at her presence. That must be it: she and John must be a couple. Tani might not be fourteen until the next equinox, but she could tell there was something between those two. She was dying to ask but knew that it would be considered the height of poor breeding.

Aeryn led her to the storage closet and helped her find something suitable to wear. The whole time, Tani was thinking that Aeryn was certainly not what she seemed. She seemed cold and harsh, but beneath that, she was funny and nice. Now Tani wanted even more to ask about Aeryn and John.

********

Geddi was exploring all that Command had to offer as Aeryn and Tani entered. John was examining the latest readings from Moya.

"Moya confirms that the star system matches the description you gave. We should be there in 30 arns."

"I can't actually believe we're going to make it," said Tani.

There are certain universal laws that apply no matter what part of the universe you are in. One of them is the Unspeakable Law, namely, "As soon as you mention something...if it's good, it goes away; if it's bad, it happens."

As soon as the words left Tani's mouth, a ship, with weapons primed approached them off the hammond side.

"We are locked and targeted," yelled a panicked Pilot.

"By who? Who did we piss off this time?" asked John.

"They wish to speak with us," Pilot said.

"Put them on screen," said Aeryn.

The screen crackled to life and a scruffy-looking Sebacean came into focus. "Return the Royals at once or you will be targeted!"

"The Royals?" said Crichton. He turned to Tani and Geddi and said, "You want to explain that?"

"No," Geddi replied.

"It was a rhetorical question," John said back.

"You will return the Royals now or your ship will be damaged!" the man said. "They are rightfully mine by the Treaty of Feldsen. You will be tried on the charges of treason if you do not immediately comply."

"I knew it was foolish to get our hopes up. I'll go," Tani said as if the life had just been taken out of her.

"No!" Geddi yelled. "You are not going to marry that shallick!"

"Marry?" asked John. Tani wasn't even old enough to get married in Alabama.

"I will not be the cause of any more harm," Tani said, but Geddi interrupted her.

"I promised your mother that I would protect you. Do not make my word invalid." The two of them continued like that while John contemplated possible next moves.

"What is the Treaty of Feldsen?" asked John.

"It is a binding agreement that your presence cannot nullify," the shallick said.

"It is a Treaty on Ralia that dates back for hundreds of cycles," Tani quickly explained. "Once a girl of the royal family is a certain height, she must be wed. If a suitor asks for her hand and no other suitor protests, she must marry him who asks. Gragon asked for my hand before the Ceremony, when he knew that my choice of suitors was not present. He, therefore, believes that he is the rightful owner of my hand."

"A culture that bases qualification for marriage on height?" John said out loud. "So, I take it that you don't want to go with Gragon?"

"No," she said.

"She doesn't have an option," Gragon said. "My asking before the Ceremony may be considered invalid, but the Ceremony time is now passed and I can ask for it anew. Since there are no other suitors, you have to accept!"

John looked to Geddi to say something. Geddi said desperately, "I'm her first cousin. I can't be her suitor."

All of a sudden John was having flashbacks to the Royal Planet. Here we go again... He whispered to Tani, "Am I eligible to be your suitor. Just for now, until we get back to Ralia?"

"You would do that?" she asked, trying not to get her hopes up.

"As long as it can be undone when we get to Ralia."

"Yes, you are eligible, provided you are not married."

"Gragon," John said addressing the image in the screen, "I'm afraid you've got yourself a problem. I am suitor to Tani."

Gragon would not stand to be treated in such a manner. He yelled, "Your ship is targeted and will be shot if they are not returned now! You do not have an option."

Just then Talyn, who had been trailing behind, caught up with the ships. His presence became known to Moya as well as Gragon's vessel. Gragon grew noticeably more uncomfortable. "Oh, I believe she does," John said. "Until you can prove to me that she is rightfully yours, she has safe passage on this vessel to Ralia. If you don't like that, tough. Our other ship will not allow you to hurt us."

Talyn primed his cannon and aimed for Gragon's vessel. Gragon might be a shallick, but he was no fool. "You will pay for this." With that, the image on the screen disappeared.

John turned to Tani and Geddi and asked, "What the hell was that all about?"

"Geddi, they have a right to know," Tani said.

Geddi began, "Freelin, a noble from the Scoric House has been in love with my cousin from the time he was old enough to know it. Everyone knew that they would be together."

"Apparently not everyone," Aeryn said dryly.

Taking up the explanation, Tani continued, "You see, I am seventh in the line of succession to the throne. This means I have certain privileges. Gragon is not interested in me; he just wants those privileges. The time of the Suitor Ceremony was published, but Gragon had different plans. Four days before the date of the Ceremony, when he knew that Freelin was away on family business, he came to claim my hand. My parents, of course, refused, but Gragon started spouting off about the Treaty and how it was binding."

"Is that why you ran away?" John asked.

"We didn't run," Geddi corrected. "The King and Queen sent Tani and the rest of us somewhere to be safe until the matter was worked out. They didn't know, though, that Gragon could bribe their trusted friend. We managed to escape, but he has been chasing us ever since."

"Why were all of you sent away?" Aeryn asked.

"After I receive the titles that I am set to have, by law, Geddi and the others will be my advisors. Even though that doesn't happen for several cycles, we are always together. It forms stronger bonds that way."

"So what do we do about Gragon?" John asked.

"Since you stepped in as my suitor, something for which I shall be eternally grateful, Gragon cannot lawfully do anything."

"'Lawfully'? Somehow I don't think that will stop him." John replied.

"He must. If he doesn't claim me legally, then the privileges are not his."

"What happens when we get to Ralia?" he asked.

"Since you are my current suitor, you must perform the Ritual of Rejection in front of Freelin, then he and I can be wed and you will be relieved of your obligation."

"What is the Ritual of Rejection?" John asked, sure that he wasn't going to like it.

"Well, it's not *that* bad," Tani said ominously.

********

That evening, the crew was gathered in the galley, eating their meal in light conversation. Off to one side, Chiana was playing with the youngest three children. D'Argo was pleased just to watch her. She was so childlike in so many ways, which probably accounted for her getting along with the children. But, when the children started fighting, she was quick to stop the argument and take control. John had noticed this as well.

"Hey, Pip." Chiana looked up to face John. "You are selfish, self-centered, and self-preserving."

"Yeah?" Chiana asked, curious to know why John was stating the obvious.

"But with those kids, you have put yourself out of the way."

"How could I not?" she said as she looked at their playful faces.

John got up and walked toward Chiana. He put a soft kiss on her forehead and said, "When you have children, you'll make a great mother."

Chiana smiled up at him, suddenly very aware of the moisture in her eyes. "That is one of the nicest compliments I've ever had."

John nodded his head, first to Chiana and then to D'Argo as he left the room. Everyone, except Tani, was watching the interchange. Tani, though, was focused on Aeryn. At John's words to Chiana, a brief look of hurt passed over Aeryn's face. Tani now definitely knew there was something more between them. Then a thought struck her: if John was now her suitor, then she had the right to ask about past love interests. With the excuse that she had been waiting for suddenly in her lap, she left the room and followed John.

Once John heard her, he turned as said, "You need something?"

"As my suitor, I have a right to ask you a question that I have been wondering about since we came on board."

"I'm only your suitor until we get to Ralia," John reminded her.

"True, but until then, I have rights as pledged to ask you about Aeryn."

At the mention of her name, John's back stiffened and he said without emotion, "What do you want to know?"

"What is the circumstance between you two?"

"I don't know what you mean," John said as he started walking off.

"Oh, please! I'm not blind. I know something is there. As your pledged, I have a right to know about past loves," she said with a teasing grin.

John's face was set in stone as he said, "You said it right there, "past love", emphasis on the past, okay?"

"No, it is not okay. What did you do to her?"

"Me? I've tried everything on God's green...well everything I know of to fix the situation. But I finally came to the conclusion that it didn't matter. She hates me, and she's never going to change her mind. End of story." John started to walk away.

"She doesn't hate you."

"Oh, really. And how would you know that?"

"I'm a woman, she's a woman. I can tell." John looked at her incredulously. "Well I may be only thirteen, but I know that your comment just now to Chiana hurt Aeryn."

"And how could my comment hurt Aeryn?" John wanted to know.

"Because it implied that Aeryn wouldn't make a good mother."

"What? It did no such thing."

"Yes, it did."

"No, it didn't."

"Yes, it did."

"No, it didn't."

"Look, it did, okay? If you don't believe me, ask Aeryn." Tani left John in the hallway. The last thing he ever intended to do was hurt Aeryn. Now, he might have done it again. "Frell" he said under his breath as he walked to his quarters.

********

The next day passed without incident although Gragon's ship continued to follow them at a very discreet distance. The children were growing closer to the crew and vice versa. Rygel had shown an incredible amount of caring for young Dobny. Crais had allowed Jool to show Geddi around Talyn. Chiana was the perfect babysitter. The only problem continued to be John and Aeryn. Tani first spent time with John then Aeryn and then back again. It was amazing to her that they both wanted each other so much but neither of them would do anything about it. Sometimes full-growns do the stupidest things.

They would reach Ralia in another two arns. Geddi, Tani, and John were in the Maintenance Bay looking over Farscape I since Geddi had asked to see his ship. While looking over the module, Geddi said offhandedly, "It sure doesn't look anything like the stories make it sound."

"What stories?" John asked.

"Nothing," he stammered out, suddenly aware of his faux pas.

"We have to go check on the others," Tani said embarrassedly as she and Geddi made to leave.

"Ho, ho, hold up," John said as he stopped them. "What stories?"

"You know, rumors, stuff like that," Tani said, afraid to divulge any more.

"No, I don't know. What kind of stuff?" John asked impatiently.

"The traders that come to Ralia often tell tales of where they have been," Geddi finally said.

"And?"

"You and your crew have had several tales told about them," Tani elaborated.

This was not the first time that John had heard that there were stories about them, but he had never be told just what exactly those stories were. John started to ask for the details when Pilot broke over the comms and said that a representative from Ralia was hailing them.

When the trio made it to Command, Aeryn, D'Argo and the others were already present. The representative was noticeably relieved to see that all of the children were present and accounted for.

"Your parents will be most happy to see you," the counselor said.

"Do not listen to him!" Tani yelled, a panicked look on her face.

"What?" D'Argo asked.

"He is the one who betrayed us to Gragon!" she emphatically said.

"Gragon claims your hand lawfully. You will go with him now," the counselor said.

"No!" Tani said. "Gragon has reclaimed my hand in front of another suitor. I choose the second suitor and he therefore has no valid claim."

"And who is this second suitor?" the counselor asked disbelievingly.

"I am," said John. "Therefore, by the laws of your land, I have claim to Tani. She wishes to see her parents and as her pledged, I am seeing that she gets her wish."

The counselor could not rebuttal Crichton's comment. "As you wish" was all he said as the screen went dead.

Within a quarter arn, Pilot informed the crew that Ralia was again hailing them. The screen crackled to life and a man and a woman came into view. "Mother!" Tani cried out in relief.

"I am Lord Harmet. This is my wife Lady Penille. We wish to know your demands for returning our children," the man said.

"Our demands?" John asked as he realized that these people thought they were kidnappers. "We don't have any demands. We wish to return your children to you now."

"I don't know how stupid you think I am, but I will not be fooled by you. You might as well tell us your demands now," Lord Harmet replied.

Rygel started to say something, but John interrupted him by saying, "Look, I said we don't have any demands. Your children want to go home, a wish no one on this boat could argue with. Now, do you want your kids back or not?"

"Of course we do. Now tell us your demands. We know who you are and know what you are capable of."

John thought about what the Lord said about knowing who they were. Just what kinds of stories were circulating about them? John was tired, wanted a vacation, and was in no mood to play negotiator. "Fine. You want demands, I have three of them." Geddi and Tani were hurt by the betrayal. John had promised them that he wouldn't ask for anything for taking them home, but here he was making demands. What else had he lied about? John continued sarcastically, "Let's see if we can count them together." John nodded at the Lord and Lady, and they nodded back. "One: I demand you take your children back. As good as these kids are, Geddi and Tani bicker incessantly and we're all out of mellon fruit." Lady Penille smiled at this. She could tell that the children were not hurt; in fact they were clothed and looked rested. And for this stranger to know how much they liked mellon fruit, he must have spent time with them.

John continued, "Two: I want a vacation. Does that translate?"

"Vacation?" Lord Harmet replied.

"I want seven days of no worries, no one shooting at us, no problems before I go crazy. Can you arrange that for me and my crew?"

Lady Penille said with a smile, "Yes, of course. And number three?"

"Three: I want to know what the frell kind of stories you've been hearing about us. I mean, are there any good rumors?" John asked impishly. "Apparently we have some sort of reputation that I'm dying to know about."

Lord Harmet remained silent for a minute then spoke as a smile finally appeared across his face, "Your demands are more than acceptable."

Once the "demands" were given, which pleased Tani and Geddi, Tani said, "Father, John, this man, has taken the position as my pledged."

"He what?" Lord Harmet said with indignation. "Has he hurt you?" This John was twice, no three times his daughter's age!

"He did so in order for Gragon to have no claim. He wishes to perform the Ritual of Rejection to relieve himself of this claim. How quickly can that be arranged?" she asked.

"Is this true?" the Lord asked John.

"True that I don't wish to marry your daughter, yes. True that I wish to undergo a ritual, that I'm not sure of."

"It is the only way to be released from your obligation," the Lord said.

"Fine. Whatever it is make it quick," John said resignedly.

********

Once they landed on the planet, the children met the Lord and Lady, as well as Geddi's parents, with many tears and hugs. D'Argo thought of his reunion with his son while John thought about the daughter he would never see. Aeryn noticed the sadness in John's face and thought about what it would be like to never know your child. That is what it was like for all Peacekeepers and for cycles it seemed acceptable. Now, the idea was saddening beyond measure. She walked toward Crichton in the hopes of being able to say something comforting. John didn't see her approach and left his place as the Lord called to him.

"Hear, hear," the Lord began. The crowds quieted. "This man has taken the position as the pledged of my daughter, Tani. He, though, no longer wishes to fulfill his obligation. Is there another who would take his place?"

Both Gragon, who had landed and followed the group, as well as Freelin, who couldn't be any older than sixteen, stepped forward.

The Lord continued, "There are two who would like this privilege. By the Treaty of Feldsen, Tani must decide between them."

Stepping forward and smiling at Freelin, Tani said, "I choose him," as she pointed to him.

The Lord continued, "Tani has chosen Freelin from the noble Scoric House." The people clapped. "Now, John Crichton must finish the Ritual of Rejection." All eyes turned to John.

"You gotta give me a clue here," he said out loud, not knowing what he was supposed to do.

The Lord supplied the needed steps, "You must admit before this crowd that Freelin is a better man than you and you are not deserving of my daughter's hand."

Although John had his share of male pride, the sooner he finished here, the sooner he could start his vacation. He began in a booming voice loud enough for everyone to hear, "I, John Crichton, do not know what kind of man Freelin is and therefore don't know whether he is better than I am or not. But, I do know Tani. If she says he is better, then I will believe her." He turned to Tani. She nodded an affirmation. John continued as he bowed, "Freelin is better than I and more deserving of the hand of the fair Tani."

John's friends listened to his statement, knowing full well that there was no way Freelin was better than John. Aeryn thought about what John was saying; he was effacing himself so that a near stranger could be happy. That is just what her John would do. Aeryn allowed the corners of her mouth to curl upwards just a little.

At John's words, the crowds again clapped. Tani rushed to Freelin's side and he kissed her sweetly on the cheek.

"Is that it?" John asked, sure that there must be more because that was way too easy.

"That is all," the Lady said as she turned to John, "Except, I wish to cordially invite you and your crew to the reception tonight for the return of our family. We would be most honored by your presence." She then added more quietly, "Then you can begin that vacation of yours."

John smiled and turned to the crew. They seemed agreeable to it, so he accepted for them.

********

The reception was to be a gala affair with all of the noble families present to welcome back the children. To the noble houses, it had seemed as if Gragon would gain young Tani's hand, but the mysterious stranger had swept in and set things right. John didn't really want to attend the reception, but the Lord and Lady had demanded his presence more than asked for it.

John sat in a corner of the enormous room that he, D'Argo, and Crais had been given as their preparation room. Rygel had already readied himself for the affair and was making himself known to the palace chef. John was looking out the window at the world below when Scorpy appeared. "Now this is more like it," the mental clone said.

"Happy now?" John asked without mirth.

"The beginnings of it, yes. This change of scenery is most welcome."

"Glad you approve."

"And you don't? You've always liked parties, John. Why not this one? Is it because you are stagging it?"

John didn't answer.

"What I was going to say about Aeryn the other day," the clone began, "is that..."

John cut him off with a swing of his arm and said, "I told you to leave her alone."

"No," the clone said defiantly. "What I was going to say is that of all the girls you have really cared for, she is the only one that doesn't have a song related to her. It is most curious. Why is that?"

"There aren't a lot of radio stations out here, in case you haven't noticed."

"But you have so many songs in your memory."

"Speaking of which, how come you want me to hum them? Can't you hum them to yourself?"

"No, actually. I can tell they are songs, but I can't access the tune. It's quite unusual."

"Well if you are going to make me think of them, the least you can do it make me remember whole songs. These fragments are annoying."

"True, but I noticed that you will hum the songs you can't remember more than the ones you can. That way, I get continuous music."

"You're sick, you know that?"

"Tsk, tsk, John."

"Look, you've got something new to amuse yourself with. Now leave me alone. I'm on vacation from everyone, including you!"

"As you wish, John." The mental clone disappeared.

D'Argo and Crais had seen John talking to himself. D'Argo wanted to approach John about it, but wanted to wait until they had some privacy. John, though, was getting worse, so D'Argo spoke up.

"John?"

"Yeah, D'Argo."

"I've, um, noticed that, um, lately, you seem to be, um..."

"I've started talking to myself again?" John asked with a smile. D'Argo solemnly shook his head. "It's Harvey. He's been bugging me."

"I figured as much, but it seems to be getting worse." D'Argo approached his friend with caution since he knew what John was capable of when Scorpius had control of his brain.

John sensed D'Argo's worry and was glad that at least someone cared about his mental stability. "Don't worry, D'Argo. He can't hurt me. He's just been driving me crazy with flashes of old memories." D'Argo didn't readily accept this explanation. John went on to say, "It's fine, D'Argo. He just gets bored." D'Argo could tell that John was finished with this conversation. It had made D'Argo feel slightly better, but only slightly.

********

Aeryn, Chiana and Jool were in the room given to the girls to prepare for that night's festivities. The room was a female's dream. There were dresses of all colors and shapes, perfume, things for the hair, jewelry and baubles, face coloring, everything. Chiana and Jool had already been through it all and were currently arguing over who wore what color to the reception.

"But this shade of green will look fannit with my hair," Jool protested. "If you wear that one," she said while pointing to a dark blue dress of the same design, "we'll look like we dressed to match. You'll simply have to find a different dress."

"I'm not finding a different dress. D'Argo likes this shade of blue, so that's what I am going to wear."

Aeryn had had enough of the arguing. She got up to leave the room.

"Where are you going?" Chiana wanted to know.

"Not that it is any of your business, but back to my room."

"Aren't you going to get ready for the party?"

"I have no intention of going to the party," Aeryn said flatly. She'd spent the last four days trying to find a way to talk to Crichton. It had been no use and she certainly didn't feel like "mingling" with a bunch of stuffy nobles.

"Aeryn, you have to go. You heard what the Lord said to John about going. It is considered an insult to ignore the invitation of royalty."

"Then let them be insulted," Aeryn said, not caring about the consequences of her actions.

Chiana sensed there was more to it and braved Aeryn's fury by saying, "Why don't you want to go to the party? How many times since I have known you have you had the opportunity to look like a girl?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Jool thought that Chiana was farhbot to talk to Aeryn about it, but Chiana continued. "I mean, you go around all the time looking like a soldier. When was the last time you wore a dress?"

"A dress?" she said the word with disdain.

"I remember the only time I ever saw you in a dress." Aeryn looked at her with painful memories in her eyes. The only time she had ever worn a dress was when she and John were on the false earth the Ancients had created. Chiana continued, "You looked great, Aeryn. Don't you want to look like that again?" Aeryn remembered John telling her that she looked nice in that flowered dress. Maybe...

Jool interrupted Aeryn's thoughts, "Chiana, forget about it. She obviously has no intention of going, and you're wasting your time trying to make her change her mind."

Aeryn thought about Jool's words. Not going is what the sullen, antisocial Aeryn of the last third of a cycle would have done. Dressing up, looking nice, hoping John would notice is something the reborn Aeryn should do. "You're wrong," Aeryn said to Jool. "Chiana, I would like to go to this party."

Chiana broke out into the widest smile. There was definitely more to it.

"But, I am not that familiar with these types of situations," Aeryn said with apprehension as she motioned around the room at the fineries provided for the evening. She had been taught from infancy never to reveal a weakness, but since talking to John was getting nowhere and action was the only thing she really knew, she wanted, no needed, to make this act as good as possible.

Chiana brushed aside the comment by saying, "These types of situations are something that I know lots and lots about." With that, Chiana set about preparing Aeryn for the party. Although Chiana wasn't sure what Aeryn's intentions were, the fact that Aeryn was even letting her do this was something in itself. Chiana hoped beyond hope that it had something to do with Crichton.

The first item was picking a dress for her to wear. Black was the obvious choice, and the first choice for Aeryn, but Chiana said, "You always wear black. Don't you like another color?"

"Black is what I am used to."

"Sure, but isn't there another color that," Chiana wanted to say "that John likes" but instead caught herself and said, "you might like to wear for a change?"

"What do you suggest?"

"Well, this green will look blisk with your eyes."

Aeryn thought about the girls' earlier discussion and said, "But Jool wants to wear that color. I don't want us to 'clash'," she said, hoping that was the right word.

Jool momentarily thought about Aeryn's comment. It was so unlike Aeryn. First, she would never have allowed Chiana to talk to her like she had. Second, she would never have allowed Chiana to help her pick out a dress. Third, she would never have wanted to wear a dress. Knowing that something was up, Jool responded, "I can wear a different color if that is the one you would like."

Aeryn nodded to Jool in thanks and said, "I would appreciate that."

With the color of the dress settled, Chiana went about applying some of the face coloring to Aeryn. Aeryn at first protested but Chiana managed to convince her to at least try it, telling her that if she didn't like it, she didn't have to wear it. Once Chiana was finished, she allowed Aeryn to look in the mirror. Aeryn was amazed. Chiana had transformed her face into that of a beautiful woman. Aeryn had always thought that she was attractive, what woman doesn't, but now, she was beautiful. The only thing left was Aeryn's hair. "What do you mean you don't have any suggestions?" Aeryn asked Chiana after she had tried three times, unsuccessfully, to pin it up.

"Aeryn, how many Nebari have you met?"

"A few, why?"

"Have you ever met a Nebari with long hair?"

Aeryn had to admit that she never had.

"Yeah. Fixing long hair never really came up before."

"Fine. I'll just wear it in a braid."

"In one of your severe schoolmaster braids? After all the work that I put into this?" Chiana whined.

Aeryn looked at Jool, Jool who had long hair and knew exactly how to fix it. Jool caught both of the other girls looking at her. Chiana nodded to her, out of sight of Aeryn, to suggest that Jool should help. Jool didn't respond. She still hadn't forgiven Aeryn for nearly striking her on Horit Prime. She had given up her dress for the evening, but that was as far as her generosity extended.

Aeryn looked at her and knew that Jool was not going to volunteer her help, especially after the way she had treated her. "Jool, I am sorry for getting so mad at you before. It is no excuse, but I was mad at myself for not being able to help the situation any. Your comments were...pointed. But as I said, that is still no excuse."

Jool was now positive that something was up. She didn't want to help until she knew what that something was, but she didn't want to ruin this for Crichton, whatever this was. Jool nodded and said, "I shouldn't have lost my temper with you." Both girls smiled and began discussing the best way for Aeryn to wear her hair.

After an arn of curling and pinning, Jool was finished with her masterpiece. She wanted to spray Aeryn's hair with something sweet smelling and began going through the bottles to find the perfect scent.

"What are you doing?" asked Aeryn.

"You can't go out without putting a scent on your hair," Jool responded.

Aeryn casually asked, "Is there anything that smells like Janix spice?"

"Why would you want to wear something so common as that when you can wear any of these?" Jool wanted to know.

"No reason," Aeryn said because she didn't want to explain why.

Chiana, though, wasn't one to back off of a topic. "That's what you put on your hair that day, isn't it?" she said with a knowing grin.

"What day?" Jool asked, suddenly very, very interested.

"When you scented your hair to see if Crichton would notice," Chiana responded.

Aeryn became a very pink shade under the scrutinizing eyes of the girls.

"Is that what Crichton was talking about on the Hatnokian ship when he said you scented your hair?" Jool then realized what she had said. They had all been made to swear to D'Argo that they wouldn't say anything about it to Aeryn.

Aeryn saw the looks of cold terror pass between Jool and Chiana. Instead of asking what they were talking about or getting angry for the reminder, Aeryn said, "You don't have to pretend. I know everything that happened with the Hatnokians."

"How could you know that?" Chiana desperately wanted to know. "Did Rygel tell?"

"No, it wasn't Rygel. It doesn't matter how I know, but I do. And, I hope to do something about it." Aeryn's words hung heavy in the air, their meaning speaking volumes. "Now," she continued, "Do you have anything like Janix? John liked it."

With the reason behind's Aeryn's uncharacteristic actions laid bare, the girls began anew and in earnest helping her prepare for the evening. After another arn of making sure Aeryn looked perfect, the girls declared her ready. Aeryn stood up and asked, "Are you sure about this?"

Both Jool and Chiana just looked at her in silence. Aeryn didn't know what it meant. "What? Do I look bad?"

"No," Jool said smiling. "You look great."

"Better than great," said Chiana approvingly.

At that moment, Aeryn was the most beautiful female that had ever existed. She turned to look at herself in the mirror. She had to admit it; she did look nice. She turned back to Jool and Chiana, realizing that they had run out of time to get themselves ready.

"What about you two? You've spent all your time on me," Aeryn said.

"Don't worry. If all goes well, it will be worth it," Chiana said as she smiled.

Crichton was going to be very, very pleased.

********

John was in the ballroom watching the festivities from a distance. Everyone around him was having a good time, and as much as he was trying to enjoy the atmosphere, it was annoying him. He stood to the side sipping on an unusual drink that tasted like a cross between an Amaretto Sour and Pina Colada, but as long as it had alcohol in it, John didn't care.

D'Argo spotted John and came up to him asking, "Have you seen Chiana?"

"No. She hasn't made it yet?"

"No. And I haven't seen Jool either." D'Argo didn't mention Aeryn since he didn't expect her to come anyway. "What is taking them so long to get ready? She was supposed to meet me here an arn ago."

"D'Argo, all girls take twice as long to get ready as they say they will. It's a universal constant. She just wants to look good for you."

D'Argo looked at John and realized that he had never thanked John for getting he and Chiana back together. Even though John's own personal life was in pieces, he had gone out of his way in order to make his friends happy. "Thank you," D'Argo said.

"For what?"

"For me and Chiana."

"You're welcome."

Just then, Countess Velranne, Tani's relative who had earlier shown them to their quarters, came up to them. She was a tall, beautiful blond with bright sapphire eyes. She bowed in the formal greeting. They bowed back. D'Argo excused himself to make another lap of the room in search of Chiana.

Countess Velranne began, "You don't appear to be having a good time."

"That obvious?" John asked.

"Are you waiting for someone?"

"No."

"You don't have to stay here, you know. You have made your appearance to satisfy the rules of etiquette."

John wasn't sure where her comments were leading. "What else did you have in mind?"

"Tani tells me that you are interested in stars. The view from our observatory is likely not as spectacular as that aboard your ship, but we have star charts that might interest you."

John thought about it and said, "Won't you be missed?"

"Do you mean, what about my husband?"

"Something like that?"

"I'm not married."

"I thought all Royals had to be wed when they reached a certain height."

"Royals, yes. I am a cousin so that law doesn't apply to me."

"Oh."

"Not that a trip to the observatory is a proposal anyway." She smiled at John who smiled back.

"In that case, which way to the observatory?" He lent his arm to Countess Velranne and they left for the observatory.

********

Aeryn had allowed Jool and Chiana to talk her into making a grand entrance to the party. She had wanted just to find John and see what transpired, but the other girls convinced her that if she really wanted to do this right, she needed to present herself in the customary way on Ralia Grande. The girls had made their way to the queue of ladies waiting for their turn at presentation. Chiana again said to Aeryn, "You remember what you are supposed to do, right?"

Aeryn said with exasperation, "Yes, Chiana. I go down the stairs, pause at the middle platform, continue down, and then stop at the bottom platform. From there, John will take my hand and then I bow. Then, we make a circuit of the perimeter of the dance floor."

"Good, just checking," Chiana said.

"And what if John doesn't come to take my hand?" Aeryn asked with concern.

"Of course he will," Jool said reassuringly.

"He's probably not even down there and this has all been for nothing," Aeryn said.

"Will you quit with the negatives. Look, I'll go make sure Crichton is there, okay?" Aeryn nodded at Chiana who then took off to go to the dance floor.

Once Chiana was on the main level, D'Argo caught sight of her and was very pleased by the vision even though Chiana had hurriedly gotten ready. The black dress she had on accentuated her skin, and her silver accessories made her sparkle. He approached her and said, "You look beautiful."

"Thanks, D'Argo. Have you seen Crichton?" she quickly asked, not paying full attention to the compliment.

It wasn't exactly the response that D'Argo was expecting. "Crichton?" he asked.

"Yeah, where's Crichton?"

"He left a little while ago with one of the Countesses. Why do you want to know?"

"He what!"

"Why does it concern you?"

"Look, D'Argo. I don't have time to explain, but if Crichton is not here in the next 500 microts, he will regret it for the rest of his life."

"Chiana, I'm afraid I'm not following you. And Crichton seemed to be enjoying the Countess' company."

"D'Argo, just go find him and drag him back here if you have to, okay? Tell him it's about Aeryn."

"What about her?"

"Just do it, okay?" Chiana bolted off to return to the girls. D'Argo thought about what Chiana said. What did she mean, "Tell him it's about Aeryn"? Only for Chiana would D'Argo leave the party and go find John.

D'Argo was able to track John to the observatory. When he entered he saw John and the Countess standing very close together as if in a very compromising situation. He didn't want to disturb them, but he cleared his throat to get their attention.

John looked up and D'Argo was relieved to see that they had only been looking over the same book and that they hadn't been together in an intimate way.

"Hey, D'Argo. The party boring you, too?"

"No, John. I came to find you."

"Well, here I am. What's up?"

"Chiana asked me to find you and tell you to return to the party at once."

"What?"

"All I know is that she found me, told me to find you and get you back to the party within the next 100 microts."

"Why?"

"She said it was about Aeryn." D'Argo didn't know what kind of reaction to expect from John.

"Aeryn," said the Countess. "Isn't she your special friend from your ship?" John hadn't said anything about Aeryn to the Countess and figured that Tani must have said something to her.

John ignored the words of the Countess and said, "Is she hurt? Does she need my help?"

"Chiana didn't say that."

John went back to looking at his book and said, "Then she doesn't need me there."

D'Argo was running out of time and had grown impatient. "John, Chiana said that unless you make it back to the party, you will regret it for the rest of your life."

John was tired, and had told himself for so long that he didn't care, that he was about to tell D'Argo to leave him alone. Instead, the Countess stepped in and said, "The stars will be here later. I believe you have a friend that requires your attention." With her gentle urging, John quickly changed his mind and he and D'Argo raced back to the ballroom.

In the meantime, Chiana had joined Aeryn and Jool back in the queue. The look on Chiana's face belied her words of encouragement that John would be there. "This whole idea was stupid from the beginning, and this is now a disaster. I don't know why I bothered," Aeryn said as she started to walk away.

Jool grabbed her wrist and said, "You bothered because you care about John and have treated him horribly for the last third cycle and now want to make it up to him. That's why." That morning such a comment would have merited Aeryn's pantak jab. Now, after what had transpired that afternoon, Aeryn only agreed.

Soon it was Aeryn's turn to descend the stairs. She took a deep breath and began the incredibly long thirty steps to the floor. She tried not to look at her feet, the way Jool had instructed her, but she found that between the weird shoes, the long skirt, and the stairs, a quick glance down was necessary. She scanned the room as she traversed the first five stairs. John was nowhere to be seen. "Frell," she thought to herself. "What am I going to do when I make it to the platform and he isn't there? What if he is there and doesn't take my hand?" The second question was more fearful than the first. She tried to calm herself as she continued her slow descent. By step eight, all of the available male eyes were drawn to her beauty. Soon, half of the room was staring at her, something that made her feel incredibly uncomfortable. Before she made it to the twelfth stair, the group of eligible hopefuls around the platform grew in number five-fold. Aeryn was beginning to panic. She wasn't trained to handle this situation.

As soon as Aeryn began her trip down the staircase, Jool and Chiana took the back way down to the dance floor. Crais saw them and walked in their direction. Jool was lovely in a burnt orange skin-tight mini dress that, with her hair, made her look like the sun. Crais wanted to say something nice about the way she looked, but was cut off by Jool as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Is Crichton here yet?" she asked.

"I have not seen him lately. No."

"If he doesn't get here, Aeryn is going to kill me for talking her into this," Chiana muttered to herself.

Aeryn had made it to the middle platform of the staircase. She still had fifteen stairs to go, but John still wasn't there. Aeryn wanted to bolt back up the stairs the way she came, but with all the eyes on her, she didn't want to make a spectacle. She paused on the middle platform, took a deep breath, and began the rest of the decent. She thought, "What have I gotten myself into?" As she took the first step from the platform, she saw the door open and John enter with D'Argo AND a blond female. She thought even more earnestly, "What have I gotten myself into?!"

Chiana and Jool saw them enter and along with Crais walked toward John. John still didn't know why he was being brought here. He turned to them and said, "What gives? What..." As he said this, his eyes caught sight of Aeryn on the staircase. He stopped his question in mid-sentence. The others turned to look in the direction where John was looking and saw Aeryn on the staircase. The girls were pleased by Aeryn's appearance but even more pleased by its effect on John. D'Argo and Crais couldn't believe their eyes. Was that Aeryn?

Aeryn was poised on the steps. Her hair was piled on top of her head so that teasing tendrils played along the sides of her face and down her back. The color that Chiana had applied to her eyes made them sparkle under the party lights. Her throat and bare shoulders were creamy white against the dark green of her gown. The sleeves of the dress, which began below her shoulders and were attached to the dress under the arm, tapered to a delicate cuff at her wrist. They were of a transparent material so that her soft yet well-toned arms could be seen through the sleeves. The neckline of the dress plunged dangerously low, something that Jool had talked her into, while the deep green velvet-like material fit snugly and showed off her curvaceous figure. The skirt of the dress was full but made up of alternating panels of the transparent green like the sleeves and the solid green of the bodice, so that if Aeryn were to twirl, her skirt would look like a pinwheel. John had never seen Aeryn look so lovely.

John turned to face the staircase. Aeryn's eyes were locked with his. John saw the look on her face, the same look of fear, apprehension, and vulnerability he saw on her face when she approached him with the compatibility test after leaving the Royal Planet. Aeryn saw John looking at her, but he didn't approach the staircase. Was he not going to come and offer his hand? Was he going to look past the way she had been acting? John was trying to take in this whole scene. After a brief microt, he slowly released the breath he had been holding for the last cycle. AERYN! WAS! HIS! Suddenly, months of pain, hurt, unfulfilled dreams, and unrealized hopes vanished without a trace. With all that was going on inside his mind, he was frozen in place without control over his motor functions. The rest of the world was instantly blocked out; the only thing he saw was Aeryn. He stood there for a microt, just taking in the vision that she presented. Soon, though, a look of rejection appeared on her face since he wasn't approaching, and he quickly regained his senses. He walked, no floated, the distance across the reception floor. Aeryn continued her slow decent, glad that Crichton was approaching, but since John wasn't smiling, she still was not sure if he would take her hand. She had three steps more to go when John made it to the group of men at the bottom of the staircase. Aeryn covered the distance of the last three steps, and all of the men held their hands out to her. She looked at Crichton, and he slowly held out his hand to her as a sweet smile curled the corners of his mouth. The worried look instantly vanished from her face as she bowed to Crichton, and he bowed in return as he had seen the other partygoers do earlier. Then, in silence he escorted Aeryn from the platform and along the edge of the floor.

The rest of the crew watched while their concern for their friends turned to joy. D'Argo and Crais looked at Chiana and Jool who were both beaming with pride at the part they had played in Aeryn's transformation. Once they were satisfied that John and Aeryn were going to be fine, the gents took the hands of the ladies and soon all four were immensely enjoying themselves.

Although John and Aeryn were halfway around the perimeter of the floor, they had still not spoken a word to each other. John turned Aeryn to enter the dance floor, but she broke the silence by protesting that she didn't know how to dance.

"Well then," John said as he propelled her out of the door of the main hall. He led Aeryn to a quiet dais in the Palace's courtyard under the stunning moons and intoxicatingly midnight blue heavens. Once at the dais, John turned to face Aeryn and said, "This is a much better place for a dance lesson."

"Is this the Two-Step?" Aeryn asked as she faced John.

"So you were listening?" John asked, thinking of the dance lesson in the Maintenance Bay.

Aeryn smiled but didn't speak an answer to his question. Instead, she said, "Like this?" as she put one hand in John's and the other on his shoulder.

John realized that Aeryn not only had been listening, but had been watching as well. He began to smile. He said, "Yeah, like this. But this isn't the Two-Step. This is called slow dancing." He and Aeryn began to sway back and forth to the music that was faintly coming from the main hall. They ceased talking again and instead were happy just to be with one another. After a while, John pulled Aeryn closer so that their cheeks were touching and their clasped hands were next to their bodies.

"What do you call this?" Aeryn asked, thinking that maybe they were now doing a different dance.

"Perfect," was all John replied.

They continued like that while the song continued to play. John began humming the tune along with the song.

"What are you doing?" Aeryn asked, curious to know why John was humming.

"Just trying to remember this song. That way, anytime I think of you, I'll remember this exact moment." Harvey would be pleased.

"Oh," was all Aeryn could reply.

The song ended and another began. John looked at Aeryn and brought her close so that he could lightly kiss her soft cheek. He pulled away and saw a tear in her eye. He was immediately sorry for the kiss. "Aeryn, I didn't mean to..."

"I'm sorry. It's just..." Aeryn couldn't put her feelings into words. She loved this John but would still love the other one, too. Would he understand that? "John," she paused to take a deep breath before continuing, "We need to talk."

"Not here, not right now."

"I have to tell you how I feel," she managed to say.

"No, you don't," he softly responded.

"Yes, I do," she firmly said.

"No, you don't." He smiled at her as she smiled back. They were both remembering the last time that they had had that same dialogue, but in reverse. Back then, though, John was on the verge of insanity and they were being pursued in the Shadow Depository. Now, those same terrors weren't there, although they were replaced by the fear of the future and what it held for them and those they called their friends. Right now, though, those things could wait.

There were many, many things to say and many, many things to do. "First things, first," John thought, as he pulled Aeryn to him and their lips met in the most passionate kiss the universe has ever known.