Lieutenant Talyn Rac Part Eight: Semi Charmed Life
by Sorlk Lewis
Quick Disclaimer: I don’t own anything by Third Eye Blind, I just love their music. Yes, ‘Semi Charmed Life’ is one of their songs. I’m just borrowing their awesome title for this section of my FarScape fanfic.
Talyn walked cautiously down the darkened halls of the Peace Keeper base. The base systems had gone into night mode, even though no one was permitted sleep at this time. The clock was ticking, he had only one arn left to find Aeryn or his head would replace hers. Talyn continued towards Johns cell. When he reached it, he saw John actually pacing around the cell. All that he could do previously was be curled up in the middle of the room or a corner. Talyn cleared his throat to announce his presence. John snapped around, “What the frell do you want, *Lt., Rac, Sir*!?” As never before, those words actually hurt Talyn, “I wanted to discuss something with you.” “Well discuss away your little pain in the ass!” “What is your race like? Are they all like you?” John was shocked by the question, “What!? Did you just ask me about humans?” “Yes.” “Well this is an interesting turn.”, he mumbled to himself. “Some are, some aren’t.” Talyn opened the door, “Come with me.” John started to become very worried; this was definitely a bizarre turn of events.
“Where is Lt. Rac?”, questioned the captain. “Last I knew sir, he was in his quarters. Should I wake him?” “Yes, tell him to come here immediately.” Scorpius and the captain stood in the empty cell that was once John Crichton’s. Scorpius had become so enraged at the sight of the empty cell, that he ordered the immediate execution of the guard on duty. “Do you believe the guard Scorpius?” “Yes, I do!” Captain Rac sighed, more in disgust than anything else. He thought he had trained Talyn well enough, prepared him to be the best. He was the best up until now. Now Talyn was a traitor, he was a defector; he was ‘irreversibly contaminated’.
John was now having a hard time walking once again. They had climbed several levels of the base, constantly hiding from every Peace Keeper that walked by. “Where are we going?”, croaked John. “Shh, you will soon see.” What Talyn had not been planing on was being followed. Yet, their follower was trying to accomplish the same thing. All of a sudden a red level deca alarm went off, the highest of priority. “They have found your cell empty. We don’t have much time.” All of a sudden, a shadowy figure tackled Lt. Rac. John jumped to his aid, desperately trying to pull the Peace Keeper off Talyn. “Crichton it’s me!”, yelled Aeryn. “Aeryn!? What are you doing? He’s helping me out.” John backed against the wall in shock. “Well I didn’t frelling know that! Besides, he is the one who trapped us.” John sighed again, “Look Aeryn, he is our best chance now to get off this frelling base before we are PK and Human on a stick. Got it?” “I don’t think so, right now I have a plan to leave. You said you trusted me, so trust me.” “I’m not having this argument right now, so OK. Lets go with your plan, but he comes with.” “No, he stays here. He turned us in to begin with.” “I know, but if he stays here he will be found out and killed.” “As he should be.” “You’re talking about your brother here. He’s coming.” They heard the heavy footfall of a commando team running towards them. Aeryn gave in because they didn’t have time to argue, “Fine. Now let’s get moving.”
“Sir, Lt. Rac is not in his quarters.”, reported the officer. Captain Rac scowled under his breath, “He is ‘irreversibly contaminated’.” “Find him, along with Crichton and Sun.’, Scorpius paused for a microt, “Seal this base, Crichton will not escape again.”
John, Aeryn and Talyn quickly made their way to level four. They would soon be off the base. “Hey Aeryn, what was your plan for getting me out anyway?” Aeryn turned her head slightly to face him, “I didn’t have one.” John grinned, “As usual.” “Be quite you two, more commandos are coming.” The trio ducked into a storage room of sorts. John looked around in the cold dark room. Heavy footsteps came and left, just as Aeryn and Talyn were about to leave, “Wait. Is that an access shaft?” John pointed to a grate in the ceiling. “Yes.”, stated Talyn. John grinned at Aeryn, “Ladies first.”
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“We must starburst now! If we do not, Moya will be destroyed.”, yelled Pilot as the marauder closed in. “Pilot, tell Moya to starburst then.”, said Zhaan. “Starbursting now.”
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“God it’s gettin’ hot in here. Aeryn, are you doing all right?” “I’m fine.”, she snapped back. Talyn, Aeryn, and John had been crawling through the tight duct for at least half an arn, even though it felt like an eternity. The heat was still turned up, so Aeryn and Talyn had to stop every couple of microns to cool down. The trio had climbed at least two levels since they took to the duct way. “I think you guys need to chill again. You’re kinda getting cranky from the heat.”, commented John. Talyn agreed, and Aeryn was Aeryn, never wanting to stop for anything. “Only another level or two until we reach the top.”, stated Talyn. “Frell, how will get past security?”, asked a frustrated John. “We will.” “All right, enough of this James Bond crap, tell me what’s up Aeryn.” “Told you, trust me.” “I do, it’s just a little hard to be kept in the dark, especially since my neck is on the chopping block also. If you can’t tell me everything, just tell me part of it.” Aeryn growled as she nodded towards Talyn, “Not with him listening.” “Ugh!” Talyn decided to stop this right now, “We should start moving again.” “Fine.” “Sure, whatever.”
“The whole base has been closed off sir. There are currently twelve commando teams searching the base.” “Have more start searching, you will find them before morning.” “But sir…” “You will find them before then and you will have more teams start!” “Yes Sir!” Scorpius paced around the Aurora chair. He only had half of the data he needed from John Crichton. The most crucial of the information was still locked away in the humans neural pathways.
“Hello fresh air!” “Shut up Crichton.” “Oh sorry.”, whispered John. They made it. They actually frelling made it out of the death star of a base. John was happier than words could tell. Aeryn was just glad that they were alive…for the moment. Talyn was a different story all together. He felt relief, guilt, anger, and happiness all at once. He had failed as a Peace Keeper. Seventeen cycles for nothing was what he thought. “How are we going to get back to Moya now?”, quietly asked John as they crouched in thick foliage. “I still have my communicator. Talyn, did they secure my Prowler?” Talyn struggled inside himself for a moment. This was a chance for him to redeem himself as a Peace Keeper. He started to say they hadn’t, “No… I mean yes. They have secured your Prowler and posted several of us to wait for you. Our best chance for survival at this point would to head deeper into these woods.” “Just like the boy scouts.”, mumbled John. They both gave him a funny look. “If we head away from the base in this direction, we should not come across a town.” “Wait a minute, don’t we want to get to a town?”, asked John. He saw the faces that they made and then remembered, “Never mind, I remember now.” “Good, then let’s get going.” Aeryn jumped up and took off in their planned direction. Talyn was right behind her with John behind them by a couple of yards, “Hey wait up guys.”
Three days later…
“Just try the frelling communicator again, will ya?”, begged a tired John Crichton. “You do realize that they most likely have left us here, don’t you?” “Damn it Aeryn, just give me the badge, I’ll try to hail them.” The three of them had been on the run for approximately three solar days. They were all starting to get on ‘each other nerves’ as John said. He was the optimist as always, Aeryn was giving up on their crewmates all together, and Talyn was fighting a battle within himself over his new found life and his old one. “I told you.”, Aeryn blurted out. “Just stop it Aeryn. I don’t need an ‘I told you so’ lecture right now. This is already like a bad episode of Star Trek, wait, Lost in Space would be more appropriate for my life right now.” A Prowler whizzed over their hiding spot. “Oh great! Just what we need, Darth Vader has the whole Empire searching for us.” “What the hezmana are you talking about?”, asked a slightly angry Aeryn. “Darth Vader could be Scorpius, the Empire is the Peace Keepers, see it is all in this movie Star Wars…”, John decided against trying to explain it, “Just forget it.” Another Prowler zoomed overhead. “They are getting closer. We should start moving again.”, suggested Talyn. “Wait a sec.,”, said John as he thought of a crazy plan. Suddenly his eyes lit up, “I’ve got it! What would Luke Skywalker do right now? No, don’t try to answer that. Here is what I’m thinking…”
“We have established a thirty metra perimeter sir.” Captain Rac glared at the Lieutenant, “Any word on Lt. Rac?” “No sir. He has disappeared from the base along with the human and traitor.” “Dismissed Lt..” “Aye sir!” Rac rose from his desk and as soon as the door shut, he turned it over in anger and frustration. “Frell you Talyn. I gave you everything!”
“John you have gone frelling farbot, wait, frelling magra-farbot!”, yelled Aeryn in exasperation. “I agree with Aeryn. That is the most ridiculous plan since the battle on Eltum Prime.” John sighed in frustration, “That is why it will work. The crazier the plan, the better chance it will actually work. Tell me guys, do either of you have a plan?” Aeryn and Talyn both grimaced at the fact he was right. Nevertheless, this plan could get them all killed, but so could continuing the way they had been. “I’ll take that as a yes. So, are you with me? Aeryn? Talyn?” “Fine. It will be better than waiting around to be captured.”, replied Talyn. “How ‘bout you Aeryn, are you with me?” She couldn’t stand the fact that he used those words. Aeryn had asked an almost identical question on the false Earth. “You better be right about this.” John just gave her a lopsided grin.
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All of what was left of Moya’s crew sat around the ‘mess hall’. “They’re dead.”, whispered Chiana. “No, they are not dead. I can still feel their presence.”, said Zhaan. All of the crew, even Moya and Pilot were grief stricken. They had left their shipmates to an impending doom over three solar days ago. “Excuse me everyone.”, asked Pilot, “Moya would like to return to the outer reaches of that star system we left. She wishes to wait for Crichton and Aeryn, as do I.” D’argo was the one who spoke, “Have Moya do that Pilot. We must at least give them a chance.” “We will be there in four solar days.”
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She peered through her oculars at the small group. They weren’t really hers because she had taken them off a Peace Keeper. She slowly climbed down from her precarious position in the tree. She was going to go tell her father of the Sebaceans.
Aeryn was sleeping while John kept watch, both for Peace Keepers and on Talyn. “What’s up Tal?” Talyn turned and looked at the human, “What are you talking about? Nothing is ‘up’ except for the two suns.” John cracked a grin. He had forgotten how stupid he had sounded to everyone else when they had first met him, “Not that kind of up Talyn. What I mean is what is going on, you know ‘how are you doing’. That sort of thing.” “Oh, nothing is ‘up’ then.” “Can I ask you a question?” “All right.” “How did you get the last name Rac instead of Sun?” Talyn closed his eyes while he remembered the past…
…Twelve cycles earlier…
Young Talyn walked through the Peace Keeper Base towards the Captains chamber. Keeping children with their parents in the Peace Keepers was against protocol, but Talyn and his son were an exception. Young Talyn himself was an exception. At six cycles old he was were most thirteen cycle year olds were in Peace Keeper ranks. High Command chalked it up to his father being harder on him than any other Peace Keeper. At this moment, young Talyn Sun was reporting to Lt. Rac, his fathers friend and his trainer. He passed the gen scan and then stepped into the Lt.’s quarters. “Cadet First Class Talyn Sun reporting sir.” “At ease Cadet Sun.” Talyn relaxed, “What did you want to see me about sir?” “I have something to tell you. Officer Sun has been killed.” Talyns’ eyes started to well up with tears, yet he held them back. “Yes sir.”, he barely choked out. The Lt. saw the pain that Talyn was going through. This was the reason that parents and children were separated in the Peace Keepers.
Talyn walked into the training area and started his workout. It was very vigorous for a six-cycle year old child. Lt. Rac watched Talyn take out his grief on the punching dummy. “Talyn, would you care to learn some new moves?” Talyn paused his workout, “Yes sir, I would.” Over the next few moens Talyn became like a son to Lt. Rac and vice versa.
High Command was very impressed by Talyn Sun’s progress over the years to come. After Talyn’s success, High Command tried several other similar experiments with children and their parents. All failed miserably. Once Talyn had gained rank of Officer Third Class, High Command made him an offer. He would have his last name changed to Rac if he completed an assignment. Of course, he completed it and his last name was changed to Rac. High Command never explained the name change; all they said was that it was necessary. In later years, Talyn was constantly trained and transferred from regiment to regiment. Once, he met his half sister, Aeryn Sun. It was when he was thirteen and being run through final Prowler training before being placed in Nacar Company. When he was sixteen, he finally gained enough clearance to see all of his sealed records, and that is when he found out the reason for his name change. High Command didn’t want Aeryn Sun to know of her half brother. They had planned Talyn’s training since Aeryn first became a pilot; they wanted her to train her half brother to be one also. High Commands’ experiment was a success. A rare, yet complete success.
…Present Day…
“…That is how I came to have the name of Rac.” John couldn’t believe what Talyn had just told him. He was down right shocked from the news of Talyn’s past. What the two men were not aware of was that Aeryn had heard the whole thing. She herself was in shock realizing what High Command had done. “Are you going to tell Aeryn this?”, questioned John. Talyn sighed, “Not now. Maybe someday I will tell her.” “Are you sure about that Talyn?” “To tell you the truth, no. You will not tell her, will you?” “Oh man, she would probably kill me if I did and kill me if I didn’t.” “Why would she kill you?” John groaned, “It’s just an Earth term, you don’t take it literally. After being around me for awhile, you will just start to ignore me like everyone else does.” Talyn nodded his head. “We should probably start moving again. If this plan is going to work, we have to act on it soon.” “Agreed.” John got up and walked over to where Aeryn was sleeping, “Hey Sunshine, time to wake up.”
The fourteen-cycle old girl ran into the house. “Father, I have spotted three Sebaceans in the woods.” The large man stood up, “Sound the alarm.” Every race imaginable lived on this small blue, red, and green planet. Only one race did not. Sebaceans.
A young officer raced into the room and stood at attention infront of Scorpius and Captain Rac. “Report.”, Rac ordered. “Sir, we have found their trail from the river bed. Prowlers are now scouting the area, Sir.” “Dismissed.”, Rac turned to Scorpius, “Why does Crichton constantly escape you?” Scorpius turned and stared into the captains eyes. Rac involuntarily shuddered at the sight. Scorpius then turned and left.
John slipped once again on the trail. “Frell that hurts!” “Are you all right?”, asked Aeryn with genuine concern. She was once again slipping out of PK mode. “Just dandy, that’s why I frelling yelled.”, snapped John. He was tired, in pain, cold, and just about everything else imagined. They had approximately half a solar day left until they reached their destination. John struggled to his feet. A shot whizzed by his head, singing the tip of his hair. “Hit the deck!”, he yelled as he shoved Aeryn and Talyn to the ground. Large groups of various species were firing upon them. The trio desperately searched for cover.
“Sir, we have located the position of the shots. A group of natives has found Crichton, Sun, and Rac. They are firing upon them.” The commandos eyes widened, “Dispatch three groups immediately. We need Crichton alive.”
As the three were hiding, several commando teams appeared over the ridge and began return fire on the villagers. “Shit, Aeryn. We’re stuck in the middle of a fire fight.”, half yelled John. Aeryn and Talyn checked their weapons. John knew what they were going to do, “No way guys. You aren’t charging into the O.K. Corral.” “What are we supposed to do then?” “Follow me.”, as John said this, he started crawling towards the commandos.
“Scorpius, a ‘dispute’ with the natives has occurred. Crichton is in the middle of it.”, stated Captain Rac. Scorpius slammed his fist through the nearest table and muttered a Scaren curse.
“Let’s just check to see if anyone is missing anything.”, said John as he stopped for a microt, “Nope, I’ve got my arms and legs, that should be good enough.” Aeryn and Talyn looked at him with a ‘bizarre human’ look on their faces. “Never mind. Aeryn, how many weapons do we have?” She did a quick inventory, “Four pulse pistols and two pulse rifles. I also have two knives, one of them is Talyn’s.” John rubbed his neck, “Good, that’s good. Let’s keep going. Now with this fire fight, half of the base should end up here, right?” Talyn replied, “Right and that should make it easier for us.” Aeryn was the great motivator of there little posse, “Let’s go then.”
Scorpius walked into the room holding the Aurora Chair. He still needed Crichtons’ mind to complete the wormhole technology information. He heard a thud. The Scaren half-breed slowly turned around. “Hi ya Scorpy, did ya miss me?”
To Be Continued…