Tyger! Tyger!

By Michael V. Wilson
Rated NC-17 Aeryn / John | 116KB | Archived 02.14.00
Spoilers: Nerve & Hidden Memory
Summary: This is the sequel to 'Dark Waters'.
DISCLAIMER: Farscape, the characters therein and all associated names and symbols are the exclusive property of Jim Henson and the Sci-Fi Channel, yada, yada, yada. I’m just borrowing them for a while. No harm intended.

SPECIAL THANKS: To my beta readers, Eris and Catherine.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is the sequel to 'Dark Waters'. If you haven't read that story yet, this one won't make much sense. Also, although this is definitely a Farscape story it is heavily influenced by Star Trek and Babylon 5. In particular it was influenced by two Star Trek books, THE PRICE OF THE PHOENIX and THE FATE OF THE PHOENIX. Additionally, I have never reconciled myself to the twenty year limitation on Captain Sheridan's life; it's not fair to Delenn. As an incurable romantic I've taken steps to ensure that doesn't happen here. What I've come up with may or may not be likely, but as Spock might say, "I like to think there always are . . . possibilities."

---

Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright
In the forests of the night
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

William Blake

"OH GOD, JOHN!! YES! YES! YES!!"

Aeryn's passionate scream echoed through Moya's corridors, bouncing off one wall to another until it reached the unsleeping ears of an extremely disgusted - not to mention, frustrated - Ka D'Argo.

"Aaaagh!" he growled, hurling his useless pillow across the room. "What the frell is Crichton doing to her?" John's equally passionate bellow followed hard on the heels of Aeryn's. "And what is she doing to him?" he added savagely, glaring at the ceiling as if it could give him an answer. "Don't you two ever sleep anymore?" he snarled in the direction of the fevered sounds keeping him awake.

D'Argo realized it had been over a weeken since Aeryn and John had confronted Zhaan to find out if they were soul mates and their nocturnal activities, while amusing at first, had quickly turned into a major source of tension around the ship. Under their influence everything, no matter how innocent, because of their incessant coupling and the atmosphere it created throughout Moya, invariably led to sex. Zhaan had taken to looking him straight in the eye as she slowly, seductively slid a food cube into her mouth. She was finding excuses to touch him, caress him. More than once he had found himself on the verge of simply taking her. Even if she was flora, Delvian mating habits were much the same as his. Chiana's suggestive remarks had also taken a distinctive turn for the worse, becoming blatantly lewd, making it painfully clear she was available to any and all, almost to the point of begging for it. Even Rygel, disgustingly enough, hadn't escaped her advances.

The worst of it was that Aeryn and John seemed completely oblivious to the effect they were having on those around them. It was as if they were in their own little world, ignorant of anything but each other. They were constantly touching; holding hands, sitting shoulder to shoulder in the galley, kissing, snuggling, even rubbing their heads together for the Maker's sake! Even when they weren't in the same room together - a rarity now days - it was as if they were. They would break into mysterious little smiles, suddenly go misty eyed or let out inexplicable sighs for no apparent reason. And out of nowhere they had a thousand 'pet names' for each other, as John called it; honey bunch, sweetbuns, love pookey, cupcake, babe, big hunk, tiger, flower eyes, stud muffin (!): it went on and on and on - a sickening parade of gooey, meaningless nonsense. It was bad enough having to listen to it from John, but from Aeryn? A warrior? How could she let herself go like this?

But it was at night that they really drove him mad. The unending sounds of their bodies slapping together, the exclamations, the screams of delight, the sighs of relief; the insipid giggles and laughter were enough to drive him to distraction. And no matter how tightly he stuffed his pillow against his ears, it was never enough to drown out Aeryn's high-pitched, full-throated screams when she climaxed. He had never known a woman to make as much noise as she did.

Another of John's deep cries rattled the dishes next to his bed.

Or a man either, he amended angrily.

It wasn't just once or twice a night, or even three times; it was ALL night! A continuous canopy of sound that always left him hard and aching, wishing for a woman, any woman, to release the building pressure in his own loins. It was so bad that Chiana was actually starting to look good to him.

When he'd made the mistake of mentioning it to Crichton one morning, the human just slapped him on the shoulder and said, "What can I say big guy? I'm the Energizer Bunny!" A typical, Crichton answer that was worse than no answer at all.

Two nights ago they'd been silent for so long that he'd actually started to drop off to sleep thinking they were through. Then uneasiness at their unusual silence had started to worry him and he'd gotten up, taken his Qualta Blade and padded down the hall to Aeryn's room to check on them. Just outside the door he's stopped dead in his tracks. Aeryn's wicked, almost evil giggles at John's gasping pleas for mercy had told him more than he wanted to know. By the time he got back to his room they were in full cry again.

And the scent coming from her room had been so laden with pheromones that he'd been unable to relax at all until he'd given himself a release with his own hands, something he hadn't resorted to since he was a child.

Another shrill scream split the air.

"Shut UP!" he snarled, leaping to his feet. He snatched the blanket off his bed and hurled it in a wad at the door - hitting Zhaan square the face as she came in.

"I don't have to ask what that was all about," the Delvian Priestess said, untangling herself from it.

"Zhaan!" he gasped. He struggled to regain his composure. "I apologize for my behavior. It's just that their incessant noise is driving me mad!"

She smiled sympathetically at him. "It does make sleeping difficult, doesn't it?" she asked, easing further into his room.

He started to nod, then stopped. He had never seen Zhaan in her sleeping attire before and what little there was of it left nothing to the imagination. He suddenly became uncomfortably aware that he was dressed in quite a bit less than his normal attire as well. She started toward him in a slow fashion he'd never seen, more of a glide than a walk.

"I'll have to speak to them in the morning," she purred. Her smile was widening, turning suggestive in a way that made him uneasy.

"Was there something you needed?" he managed hoarsely. He was immediately sorry he'd said it that way for her smile widened even more. She was right in front of him now, nearly pressing against him.

"Well, since I'm awake and you're . . . up too, I thought perhaps we could keep each other company for a while," she replied softly, her warm breath caressing his face.

He felt one of her hands trailing across his thigh. "Zhaan . . . " He swallowed hard.

"Yes, sweet D'Argo?"

"This is not appropriate."

She was rotating her hips against him now. "Perhaps not, but it will certainly be a most pleasant way to deal with the pheromones permeating the ship right now. Don't you think?"

Pleasant? It would be a lot more than pleasant.

"We will regret this in the morning," he said gruffly in a last, desperate attempt to contain himself.

"I never regret pleasure," she whispered in his ear.

His resistance crumbled and he pulled her into his arms.

* * * * *

It took the combined efforts of them both to separate Aeryn and John the next day. D'Argo finally managed to lure John away her from by insisting that the transport pod needed maintenance work that only the two of them could handle. Before Aeryn could offer to help, Zhaan pulled her up to Command on the pretext of checking to see if the Peacekeepers on the Gammack Base had overheard any of Moya's communications with her newborn son. Rygel, Chiana and Stark wisely found somewhere else to be; D'Argo had told them what was going to happen.

Aeryn ran the scans quickly. "I don't see any signs that they've picked up the signals, no unusual traffic or communications indicating increased activity. I think we're safe for the time being." She locked down the console and turned to leave.

"Aeryn, wait," Zhaan said quickly. "There's something else we need to discuss."

"What is it?" she asked with visible reluctance. She wanted to get this over as fast as possible so she could return to John. The need to be with him had become instinctive. She could feel him needing her too.

"I think it may be time for you and John to choose new, combined living quarters for yourselves," she replied, picking her words carefully. "Two people require more space than one. Neither your quarters or his is truly . . . appropriate any more."

Aeryn considered it for a moment, fighting the urge to simply run out of the room to John. "Maybe you're right," she conceded. The thought of having quarters that belonged to both of them instead of just one, had a certain appeal to her. "There's a larger chamber just down the corridor from mine that should work nicely."

"Perhaps one on another tier might be better," Zhaan interjected quickly. Too quickly she saw.

Aeryn's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why is that?"

"I thought you two might like some privacy," she said, trying to repair the damage.

Aeryn studied her with a hard expression on her face. "I don't believe you. What are you hiding?"

Zhaan repressed a deep sigh. "I am not hiding anything as much as simply trying to be polite. However," she held up a hand to forestall an explosion, "since that isn't working I might as well be blunt. You and John are keeping everyone awake at night. That may not affect soul mates of your level, but it is affecting the rest of us - badly."

A deep blush crept over Aeryn's face. "I . . . see. It's just that it's so hard to---"

"I understand," Zhaan said, coming around the console to stand in front of her. "And I don't blame you for wishing to enjoy the happiness you've found. But it is quite distracting for the rest of us. It creates certain - tensions."

Aeryn blushed even harder. "I'm sorry. I didn't know." She could feel John's confusion over her sudden embarrassment. She would have to tell him about this right away.

"How could you?" Zhaan laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Soul mates of your level find it all but impossible to realize what they're doing to those around them until someone tells them."

Aeryn couldn't look at her. "We'll find another room today. As far from the rest of you as possible."

"Thank you," she smiled at her. "It will quite a relief."

Aeryn nodded and started to leave when a question popped into her mind. "Just out of curiosity, what did you mean about 'soul mates of our level'? How many levels are there?"

Zhaan felt her eyebrows lift with surprise then remembered that Sebaceans didn't know about soul mates. "Many," she answered easily. "The longer the soul mates have known each other, the more lives they've shared, the deeper the bond between them. Tell me, when you and John make love, have your minds ever touched?"

Aeryn backed up in amazement. "How did you know that?"

Zhaan leaned back against the console and clasped her hands together in front of her. To her own amusement she felt herself slipping into teacher mode. "The oldest soul mates, the ones with the deepest, strongest bonds can touch minds when they are intimately joined. The results are often quite spectacular."

A dazzling smile broke out on Aeryn's face. "You're more right than you know."

She bowed her head slightly. "Yes, but that isn't exactly what I meant."

The smile was replaced with a puzzled frown. "Then what did you mean?"

"When minds touch, as John's and mine did in Unity, or yours with his when you're making love, there are lingering effects - memories from the other person become part of your own memories. Additionally, soul mates are able to strengthen each other, the stronger lending their strength to the weaker who then becomes stronger and lends their strength back. Your lives become greatly extended. It is even possible to touch without touching."

Aeryn's mind was reeling from Zhaan's catalog of side affects but the last one caused her to blush furiously. John had already discovered that he could touch her without physical contact and had found no end of new ways to use it to torment her. No sooner had she thought it than he picked up on it. She felt invisible, ghost hands sliding over her breasts. Her nipples hardened in response, aching for more. John, stop it! She felt his answering chuckle as the ghostly digits trailed fire down her body.

Zhaan, ever sensitive to those around her, picked up on it immediately. "I take it this is not news for you," she inquired politely.

Aeryn shook her head dumbly, not trusting herself to speak. A hard presence was slowly, teasingly sliding into her. She clenched her teeth to keep from gasping. Her fists tightened. John, please!

Then you admit I won the bet?

You didn't win, you cheated!

It wasn't in words, but the communication was definitely there. She saw Zhaan eyeing her curiously. The unstoppable apparition penetrating her moist center was moving gently in and out, causing her head to spin with mind-shattering sensations. It was the same as if he was actually inside her, yet . . . different - smoky, sensuous. Touching without touching? Zhaan didn't know the half of it! Her eyelids fluttered uncontrollably at the passion he was invoking in her. She couldn't do this in front of someone else. It was too embarrassing. All right! You win, you win!

He was magnanimous in victory, but she didn't get away completely free. Burning lips trailed teasingly along her neck as the hard presence inside her slowly faded to nothingness. Soft, triumphant laughter rumbled like distant thunder in her mind as he pulled away. She was unable to prevent a heart felt moan at the loss of his invisible touch.

Zhaan watched her curiously. "I'm told it's quite erotic," she said, making it more of a question than a statement.

"Erotic?" Aeryn laughed in a shaky voice. "It's so far beyond 'erotic' I wouldn't know where to begin to describe it. It's . . . it's," she waved a hand vaguely in the air, searching for the word she needed. She shook her head in defeat. "It's like nothing you've ever felt before. It's like that song John likes, 'Dream Lover'. A dream lover who's . . . perfect. More than perfect. He's there but . . . not there. You can feel him, what he does to you, but you can't touch him or stop him. All you can do is feel." A shiver ran down her spine. "It's incredible."

Zhaan suppressed a quick pang of jealousy. "I see. Perhaps you should sit down." She steered her by the arm out of Command down to the galley. "You look as though you need it." She pushed Aeryn into a chair.

"What I need is John."

"Later," she replied firmly. "What we need right now is to finish our discussion. It's obvious that neither you nor John have any idea what is happening to you. You need guidance."

Aeryn frowned. "What kind of guidance?"

Zhaan sat down and folded her hands primly in her lap. "How many times a night do you and John make love?"

"That's none of your business," she shot back with a flash of her old arrogance.

"I'm not attempting to pry," Zhaan assured her. "But it's pertinent to what I have to say. Let me put it this way; does he seem to have more endurance than a Sebacean male?"

"Yes," Aeryn allowed grudgingly.

"A lot more?"

"Yes."

"Quite a lot more?

"Look, he doesn't have to stop or rest at all!" Aeryn snapped. "OK? Humans are just like that." She started to leave, but Zhaan stopped her with a gentle hand.

"No, they're not."

"And how would you know?" Aeryn sniffed.

"When John and I shared Unity, I saw enough in his mind to assure me that Human males are no different in this area than Sebacean males, or Luxan males or any other males. What he is doing is impossible - except for soul mates of your level."

Anger and curiosity warred for a minute in Aeryn's breast before curiosity finally won out. She sat back down. "Maybe you should explain that."

Zhaan nodded. "After sex an ordinary male, of any species, needs to rest and recuperate before engaging in sex again. Sometimes the need for rest is so great they fall asleep."

"You don't have to tell me that," Aeryn snorted. Every Sebacean man she'd been with had immediately fallen asleep afterwards. At the time she'd seen nothing wrong with it; in fact she'd appreciated it because it helped keep emotional entanglements at bay. She'd been nothing short of amazed at John's limitless energy, but she's simply counted it as one more Human idiosyncrasy. Not that she was complaining.

"The ordinary female however is quite different," Zhaan continued. "We can be ready again almost instantly if our arousal level is high enough. That is what makes soul mates, particularly at your level, so special. The arousal level is extremely high, and through the joining of your souls you are giving him some of your energy. It makes him stronger. Then he gives you some of his energy, which in turn makes you stronger. It's like a dynamo, an endless, upward spiral between you."

"Endless?" Aeryn was having trouble coping with it.

"As far as we know. There are no known limits to the capacity of the soul. There's still too much we don't know about them," Zhaan shrugged. "Tell me, when was the last time you slept?"

The question caught Aeryn by surprise. "I don't know. A couple of days ago, I guess."

"Don't guess. Think about it," she urged her. "Think hard. When was the last time?"

Aeryn sighed. "OK. Let's see." It wasn't last night. It had been her turn to 'call the shots', as John put it, and she was having too much fun to worry about sleep. The night before - she blushed. John had wanted to try a new position. She'd thought only prostitutes did that kind of thing. But to enjoy it the way she had, begging for more - she blushed again. They'd been late for breakfast because she hadn't wanted to stop. All right, she thought, what about the night before that?

No.

No, that was the night they heard D'Argo outside her room listening to them. They'd been both amused and excited by the thought of his eavesdropping; so much so that they'd kept each other up all night reliving the incident. What had D'Argo thought about them anyway? She stifled a giggle and resumed her task.

Continuing her trip down memory lane soon brought her to the realization that she hadn't slept since the day she'd told John she loved him. More than a weeken? Without sleep? The best Peacekeeper training available couldn't teach someone to go that long without sleep, certainly not feeling as good as she did. She shared her startling knowledge with Zhaan.

"And what about John?" she asked. "Has he had any sleep?"

"No," Aeryn shook her head. "And during the day I've been teaching him hand-to-hand combat techniques. He's learning it a lot quicker than I thought he would," she added with a touch of pride. She might not be a Peacekeeper any more, but it was nice to know her lover could fight as well as she did if the need arose.

"Soul mates can sustain each other in this fashion for cycles at a time," Zhaan explained to her. "And the reason John is learning so quickly is because he wants to. Every time your minds touch, that desire leads his mind to seek out the knowledge, the memories in your mind that will help him achieve his goal."

"You mean he's doing it on purpose?" she asked, startled.

Zhaan shook her head with a gentle smile. "I doubt it, although he could if he wanted to. Both of you can do it consciously or unconsciously." She sat up straighter. "Haven't you ever wished you knew what John was talking about when he uses one of his strange sayings?"

"Constantly," Aeryn grumbled.

"How many of them has he had to explain to you lately?"

Her eyes widened in surprise. "None of them!" she exclaimed.

Zhaan smiled gently. "See? You've been doing it too."

Aeryn laughed delightedly like a child with a new toy. "I wonder if I could use this to pick his brain to find out how he touches me without touching me?"

Zhaan laughed with her. "Of course. Simply hold the thought in your mind when you begin making love and it will come to you." She saw a wicked gleam in Aeryn's eyes. "Revenge can be sweet, can't it?"

"Yes it can!"

* * * * *

John and Aeryn moved to their new quarters later that day after she related her conversation with Zhaan to him. "Damn," he muttered as he lugged another box up three tiers to their new room. "Now I'm gonna have to apologize to everybody."

No!

He shot her a quizzical glance. "Why not?" They'd begun using their new ability so continuously it had become an integrated part of their conversations. He'd likened it to empathy on steroids. To anyone listening to them, their talks had a jerky, disconnected feel to them.

"Just moving is apology enough. If we actually brought it up it would be embarrassing, and everyone would just deny it anyway. You've asked me to trust you on so many things-" trust me on this one, she begged him.

He shrugged. All right. "Besides, I won the bet. And that means tonight . . ." He trailed off with a lascivious grin. His eager anticipation was apparent to them both.

She gave him an arch look as they deposited their loads inside the door of their new quarters. "John, that is so-" disgusting.

"How do you know until you've tried it?" He wrapped his arms around her waist and nibbled at her ear. "Anyway, I guarantee you'll-" love it. He sent her an image of tangled bodies writhing in pleasure.

She felt a shiver run down her spine, igniting her passion. "If you don't stop it I'm going to have to rape you right here and now!" She felt his sunlit laughter dancing in her mind.

"Is that supposed to be a threat? You can't rape the willing, baby."

"Officer Sun, could you and Commander Crichton come to Command please," Pilot's voice broke in on Aeryn's communicator. "Moya has just given me some very disturbing news."

Damn!

Oh, frell it!

We're not even finished moving yet, John thought resentfully as they broke apart and headed down to Command. At least they'd had a whole weeken to enjoy their new relationship before the next big crisis.

"What is it, Pilot?" Aeryn asked, noting with a twinge of guilt that the others looked considerably less rested than she and John did.

"Moya's pregnancy continues to have unexpected consequences," he told them. "The unusual birth has been extremely stressful on her. She tells me she needs to replenish herself with large amounts of water and mineral material. If Moya is to regain enough strength to starburst again, she must find a planet with the requisite materials where she can land."

"Whoa, whoa!" John burst out. "You mean Moya can't starburst AT ALL until she finds some planet where she can get a hot lunch?"

"That appears to be it, I'm afraid," he answered calmly.

"Then why the yotz didn't you tell us this before?" Rygel sneered at him.

"I have told you this is my first experience with a Leviathan pregnancy," Pilot replied. "There are many aspects of it that I am completely unfamiliar with."

"Why didn't Moya tell you about this before we came to this system?" D'Argo rumbled angrily. "Now we are trapped."

Pilot shrugged, or seemed to. "Because Commander Crichton was in a hurry to save Officer Sun's life and she didn't think her child would be born this soon. Need I remind you, this hasn't been a normal pregnancy. She's had to starburst far too often, she's been caught in a dimensional rift and had Peacekeeper technology interfere with her child's development, not to mention the problems with the birth itself. Frankly, we're lucky to be alive at all."

D'Argo swelled up to deliver a stinging retort. Before he could utter it, John jumped in. "OK, Moya needs some take out. No problem. There's a whole planet right below us. Tell her to dig in."

"It's not that simple, Commander. For one thing, the gas giant below doesn't have the right elements in the right proportions; for another, she needs to land. She says she will need to remain on the ground for one to two weekens before she is finished assimilating the new material."

"WHAT?!"

A confused, horrified babble broke out on the command deck with everyone talking at once. D'Argo roared something unintelligible, giving every indication that he was about to go into a Luxan hyper-rage. Rygel's thronesled was spinning about the room above them, the little Dominar shouting in a voice nearly as loud as D'Argo's. Even the normally placid Zhaan was protesting in a loud voice.

John's felt his temper starting to fray as he shouted futilely for them to quite down. Aeryn! Help me!

She nodded at him. They filled their lungs then shouted together in one voice, "SHUT UP!!"

The synchronized double roar cut through the noise, shocking everyone into silence. "That's enough!" John continued in an angry voice. "We're not getting anywhere like this. Everyone just listen for a moment."

D'Argo glared at him, still hovering on the edge of a full blown hyper-rage. "I am tired of listening to you, Crichton. Your ridiculous ideas will not help us this time!" He reached for his Qualta blade. "You will not help us!"

Aeryn gasped in fear. Whatever John's other faults, cowardice was not one of them. If D'Argo challenged him, he was certain to respond in kind, regardless of the difference in their sizes and strengths.

John ground his teeth in frustrated rage when he saw the big Luxan reaching over his shoulder for the ever-present blade. If D'Argo got that thing out he was dead. The only chance to stop him was now, before the sword cleared its sheath. All this flashed through his mind in a split second. Almost instantly it appeared to those watching, his foot lashed out in a move Aeryn had taught him only the day before. It caught D'Argo squarely in the chest.

The Luxan bellowed in rage and surprise as he crashed to the floor.

Aeryn had known John's decision the moment it was made. She hurled herself across the room toward D'Argo the instant John's foot hit the big Luxan. She flung herself on D'Argo's right arm at the same time John belly flopped onto his left. In the space of a single heart beat the soul mates had D'Argo securely pinned. "Listen!" John hissed in his ear. "Fighting among ourselves isn't going to accomplish anything! We have to work together!"

D'Argo continued to struggle mightily for a moment longer until he accepted that he was caught. He subsided with an angry glare at Aeryn. "Two against one? I had thought you more honorable than that," he spat. "I might have known a Peacekeeper-"

"I'm not a Peacekeeper anymore," she interrupted him. "I'm a Sebacean freewoman, and when you threaten my lover, you threaten me. Don't ever forget that!" she added in a deadly tone.

Chiana and Rygel exchanged incredulous looks at Aeryn's uncompromising words. "Things seem to have changed more than we thought," the Hynerian whispered in an aside to her. The Nebari thief nodded absently, her attention caught by John's reiteration of Aeryn's menacing statement. Rygel stared aghast at the wistful expression on her face. "What the yotz is wrong with you?" he demanded.

"It must be nice to have someone who cares that much about you," she sighed, indicating John and Aeryn who were still arguing with D'Argo. "I've never had anyone protect me the way they do each other."

Rygel hesitated, uncertain how to deal with the unexpected, painful honesty coming from her. In the end he simply patted her on the shoulder and said nothing.

"If we don't get Moya what she needs, then we're all stuck," John was saying earnestly. "But we can't do it if we're fighting among ourselves. Will you please calm down and work with us on this?"

D'Argo stared at him for a long time.

"Very well, Crichton, but - you will not catch me by surprise again."

"Wouldn't dream of trying it, big guy." John rolled off him, followed by Aeryn. He extended a hand to him.

D'Argo glared at it for a moment before allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. His fingers dug into John's arm. "Your fighting skills are improving," he admitted grudgingly. "I will not make the mistake of underestimating you again."

John let out a shaky breath. "Right." He glanced down. "Uh, I'm gonna need that arm."

D'Argo released him. "Of course."

John headed back for the central console. Thanks.

Aeryn gave him a brilliant smile. You're welcome. "What do you have in mind?" she asked out loud for the benefit of the others.

"I'm not sure. Pilot, are there any planets in this system where Moya can replenish herself?"

Pilot shook his head decisively. "No, Commander. Her scans indicate four gas giants, including the one below and two, small, inner planets. None of them match her requirements." A screen lit up with a diagram of the system they were in. Everyone clustered around to see. "The moon where the Gammack base is located matches her requirements, but naturally we can't get there as long as the Peacekeepers are present. So I'm not sure what to do."

There was another outburst, mostly confined to mutters this time. Aeryn ignored it to focus on the sudden surge of activity she felt coming from John. He was standing absolutely motionless, staring at the map display before them. Inside, though, he was examining the possibilities, analyzing, calculating, considering the options, rejecting, then turning to the next; all at lightning speed. She was amazed. Granted, she could only see part of what was going on. It was similar to watching a vid through a dark window; only the highlights were visible as they flashed past. She remembered past difficulties, where John had come up with seemingly, insane ideas that turned out to be the only way they could get themselves out of whatever trouble they were in. Had this been what was going on in his mind on those occasions too? What would he come up with this time? And would it work, or get them all killed?

He felt her concern and turned to flash her a brief smile. She returned it uncertainly, then froze when she felt a burst of triumph from him. His mind spun at dizzying speed, leaving her blinking in confusion.

"Got it!" John exclaimed, banging his fist on the console.

"Uh-oh," Rygel muttered, echoing the sentiments on everyone's face. "What the yotz is he going to get us into this time?"

"We can do it," John insisted confidently. "It'll work! I know it will."

"What will work?" Zhaan asked carefully.

He ignored her. "Pilot, is this the position the planets are in right now?" he asked pointing at the display.

"Yes, Commander."

"And the moons around this planet?"

"Everything is accurately positioned."

"Good." He grabbed a soft tipped pen from his pocket and began sketching quickly on the display screen. He drew in a dotted line that passed on the outside of the gas giant, past the Gammack base and down to within a hairsbreadth of the sun then circled halfway around it before shooting back out into space. "We put Moya on a hyperbolic course like this," he said excitedly. "As soon as we're up to speed, we shut everything down; power, lights, life support, engines, everything, and let Moya coast until we're past the base. If anyone sees us, they'll think we're just another asteroid whizzing around in space. Once we're on the far side of the moon away from the base, we power back up and land. Nothing to it!"

A long silence followed.

His ready smile started to fade.

"It . . . might work," D'Argo conceded slowly.

Zhaan nodded cautious agreement. "If there are no power signals coming from Moya they might not even detect us." Chiana and Rygel shrugged in silent assent. Stark simply stood watching them.

Aeryn hide a smile at John's amazement. "That's it?" he asked. "No arguing, no nothing? You're just going to go along with it?"

Zhaan stood back from the console. "Many of your ideas have worked before, John, and this one is based on very sound principles. It is risky of course, but anything we try in our current situation will be risky."

"I can think of no other solution," D'Argo added.

"I never had to," Rygel noted sourly. "My admirals didn't let such things happen in the first place."

John rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Sparky."

Pilot called for their attention. "Our speed will be limited by the child's. Moya will not leave him behind. We may not be able to achieve sufficient velocity to successfully mimic an asteroid."

"I already said it would be risky," Zhaan noted dryly.

"When do we start this little adventure?" Chiana asked quietly.

John shrugged. "There's no time like the present. No, wait," he changed his mind. "When Moya shuts the life support systems down we're going to be in zero gravity for several arns. We better tie everything down first, batten the hatches, whatever you call it."

"Preparing for zero-g," Aeryn snickered.

He grinned at her. "Right. OK then, half an arn to prepare for zero-g, then we go."

"Fine," D'Argo growled as he stomped out. The rest of them followed, dispersing around the ship to make their preparations. John and Aeryn split up, John going to their new quarters to lash down the things they'd already moved; Aeryn heading to her old room to tidy up there before doing the same to John's old quarters. Stark had nothing in his quarters to worry about so he scoured for the galley for any loose objects that might pose a problem during the arns of weightlessness.

John took care of their new quarters then moved on to the flight deck to tie down Aeryn's Prowler, the Farscape I and the transport pods. He was soon joined by Aeryn and D'Argo. They pitched in wordlessly, grunting occasionally with effort as they tightened a line or tested the tension on one of the tie-downs. They were still working when Zhaan came in and began sweeping loose tools into various bins and storage containers. Before half an arn had passed they were all gathered back in Command.

"Where's Sparky?" John asked, looking around for his favorite pain-in-the-ass.

D'Argo flipped on his communicator. "Rygel, where the hezmana are you?"

"In my quarters preparing for zero-g, of course," his exasperated voice answered. "What else would I be doing?"

"The rest of us are finished," D'Argo growled. "What is taking you so long?"

"I'm a Dominar!" he protested. "My possessions are more numerous than yours."

Aeryn caught a glimpse of an image from John: Rygel hanging suspended in the air with a rope around his neck. "Fluffy," he gritted into the communicator, "you've got thirty microts to get done or we stick you in the airlock again."

"What?!" Strangled sounds issued from the communicator. Moments later Rygel's thronesled came whizzing into Command. "All right, I'm finished. What the yotz is the rush anyway? We've been sitting out here for a over a weeken while the two of you kept us up all night. The Command Carrier hasn't left the base, nothing's happened. Why the sudden hurry?"

Aeryn blushed at his reference to the problems she and John had unknowingly been causing them. "Because if something does happen and Moya can't starburst, we'll be caught," she told him in what she hoped was a reasonable tone.

"And the sooner we fix that, the better we'll all feel," John finished for her.

Zhaan handed out blankets and flashlights to everyone. "Once Moya shuts down we'll need these," she said quietly.

"Alright, Pilot," John said, taking over again. "Tell Moya and her offspring to get started. Make sure he's tucked in close, on the side away from the base."

"That shouldn't be a problem, Commander. After his starburst last weeken he seems quite content to remain at Moya's side. I believe it caused him a great deal of pain," Pilot replied.

John smiled. "Fell and bumped his nose, huh?"

Zhaan heaved a sigh as Moya started moving. "It is impossible to fall in space, John."

He shrugged. "It's just a figure of speech."

"Figure less," D'Argo growled over his shoulder. He turned his attention to monitoring the readouts on the console.

Aeryn smiled to herself. John's 'figure of speech' was quite apparent to her. She found herself amused at the other's lack of appreciation for his wit. How many of his jokes had she missed before they became lovers? John picked up on her feelings and gave her a ghostly hug from across the room.

Moya moved slowly around the gas giant, gradually picking up speed. The baby moved too, shadowing her. D'Argo began reading off the numbers on their velocity and trajectory. At the halfway point Moya was skimming the outer reaches of a nearby asteroid field, using it as cover before she accelerated into view of the base.

"Ten microts to full speed," D'Argo informed them. "The baby is keeping pace."

"Pilot, tell Moya to cut all power the moment we go hyperbolic," John said quickly.

"She is already aware of that, Commander."

D'Argo was still counting. "Five microts, four, three, two, one, now!"

They flashed around the gas giant into open space. The moon was hanging low in the sky, almost ready to circle behind its parent. Moya's lights flickered and went out. The constant hum of the fans died. The air stopped moving and John felt a sinking, elevator sensation as the artificial gravity gradually cycled down to nothing. The consoles went dark as his feet left the deck. Pilot's holographic image disappeared. His voice came over their individual communicators. "Everything is shut down," he reported. "Except for our personal comm units of course, which operate on a low band frequency. Other than that," they could hear the shrug in his voice even if they couldn't see it, "we're dead in space."

"That is not a comforting way to put it," D'Argo growled as he hung onto the edge of the now useless console, his feet floating behind him. The rest of them were hanging on to whatever they could find as well. Only Rygel, secure on his thronesled, appeared at ease in their weightless condition.

"How long will this last?" John asked. He and Aeryn were holding hands in the middle of the room, content with hanging on to each other rather than any stationary object.

"Moya estimates two and a half arns," Pilot replied. "I've never experienced zero-g on a Leviathan before," he added. "I must admit, it is quite refreshing."

John laughed. Space shuttles didn't have artificial gravity. Weightlessness was old hat to him. "Enjoy it while you can," he advised. "You'll miss it when it's gone," he said, remembering how he'd felt after coming back to Earth from a mission in space. The return to a gravity field had been somewhat depressing - literally. He frowned as something occurred to him.

Aeryn caught his sudden concern. What is it?

"Pilot, Moya doesn't have any cooling fins . . . does she?" he asked, ignoring Aeryn's question.

"Nothing that is designed for that purpose, no. Why?"

John shrugged. "Well, I just realized we've got direct sunlight shining on us. The primary is a long way from us but without any way for Moya to shed heat, it's not going to get cold in here; it's going to get hot."

Aeryn felt a stab of alarm. She twisted around to stare at the sunlight coming in through the windows. Sebacean heat delirium! Her heart started pounding.

Pilot's voice was heavy with concern. "I had not considered that, but you're right, Commander. The heat will soon climb to dangerous levels, especially for Officer Sun. All of you should retreat to the center of the ship. It will be coolest there."

Aeryn was already struggling to reach something she could use to pull herself along with. She had flirted with the Living Death once before, she had no interest in repeating it. John tightened his grip on her hand. "Calm down," he whispered. Push.

???

"Try it," he said, sending her a mental image. Push.

Floundering, uncertain, even with the images he was sending her, she struggled to do as he asked. She couldn't figure how to do what he wanted. Then, just for an instant she felt something - and they floated slowly toward the door.

Again. Harder.

She nodded, encouraged by their results. It was easier this time to find the 'push' he was talking about. Both of them connected at the same time and suddenly they were shooting through the door into the inky blackness of the hallway beyond. John flicked on his flashlight. They were headed straight for a bulkhead.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed. They both gritted their teeth as they tried to 'push' in the opposite direction they were going. They came to a halt inches from the wall. John stared at it for a moment. "We're going to have to get some control over this thing," he said in a shaky voice. "Otherwise we're going to knock ourselves out. Let's try that again, a little slower this time."

Aeryn nodded. How the frell did he know we could do that, she wondered?

He caught part of it. I didn't. "But after what Zhaan told you I was wondering if we could do anything else. I guess we can."

Aeryn shook her head in disbelief. His mind was like quicksilver! In a way it was almost terrifying. She began to realize that despite the primitive technological background he came from, he was probably the smartest person on Moya. Inventive, creative, intuitive--what else have we been missing about him? She thought back to her Peacekeeper training as they flew through the halls with ever increasing confidence. 'Never allow any resources to be wasted.' How many times had that been pounded into her head? How could she have allowed herself to ignore the potential in him? No more, she vowed, no more. John is an incredible resource - we have to start using him properly. She was proud to note that even though she was hopelessly in love with him, she was still able to look at him objectively, too.

He gave her a quizzical glance as they reached the center of the ship. "What's going on in there?" He tapped her forehead. "Want to tell me about it?"

She shook her head. "Maybe later." She glanced around the small chamber they found themselves in. She felt a wave of curiosity mingled with lust coming off him. "What?"

He floated over to close the door. "Well, I've always wondered what it would be like in zero-g. No one would be on top."

She turned her flashlight on him. His eyes were dancing with mischief. Now? She felt a tingle of delight run through her as she watched him shed his clothes. Her fears of enduring the heat of the Living Death retreated only to be replaced with a different kind of heat, one that was quickly gathering strength in her middle.

"Have you got anything better to do while we wait?" he grinned at her. She released her flashlight, letting it spin slowly in the air. She peeled out of her clothes then swam over to him. "Hmm. I'll take that as a 'no'," he laughed, reaching for her.

She shivered involuntarily at his touch. She couldn't help it. Every time was like the first, as though they'd never made love before. Her legs quivered in anticipation of having his body trapped between them. He ran his fingers lightly over her stomach. She shuddered convulsively, moaning with need and the slight motion pushed her away from him. She had to grab his arm before they drifted apart. "Get back here," she breathed huskily. She wrapped herself around him, arms and legs clasping to her, feeling his hardness rubbing against her warm center. She started a slow, grinding motion with her hips, heard his sharp intake of breath. "Gods, I can't believe how much I love you," she whispered to him. It was amazing how easily the once forbidden words came to her now.

He changed the angle of his hips then thrust upwards into her.

"Unnh!" The first, exquisite moment of penetration always took her breath away. Her nails dug into his back as he slid all the way into her. "Oh . . . god! Slow," she panted. "Slow, John. Make it last!"

"Anything for you," he answered as his hips pulled back, slowly, tantalizingly withdrawing from her until she was afraid he'd pull out altogether. Just when she was afraid she was going to lose him, he reversed direction, teasing her with a slow, excruciating return until he was buried inside her again. "Like this?" he breathed in her ear. "Is this what . . . you want, my love?" He started out again.

She clenched her teeth at the ecstasy building inside her. "Yes!" she hissed. "Oh, god like that! Yes!" Lightning was starting to flash in her brain, obliterating everything but the need for him. She ground her hips insistently against him in time with his motion. Her inner walls rippled around his length. Their slow movements tumbled them through the air, the room rotating around them in slow motion. How long could she keep up this teasing? The need was building in her, demanding more, harder, faster!

He groaned against her neck, his hot breath sent shivers down her spine to join with the sensations growing in her loins. "God, Aeryn! I don't know . . . how long . . . I can go like this!"

"Try!" she panted, fighting her own passionate urges. "It feels so . . . good!" Her hips were moving side to side in a deliberate, rolling counter-part to his measured thrusts. She threw her head and arms back, reveling in the freedom of their mid-air lovemaking. He kissed his way down to her breasts, teasing her nipples with his lips, making her cry out when his teeth bit gently into them. Heat lightning shot through her. She shook her head, thrashing in helpless passion. "I can't wait any more!" she wailed. "Now, John! Now! Pleeeease!"

He rammed into her. "I love you, Aeryn! I . . . love . . . you!"

She screamed his name as they reached their climax together. His words slammed into her brain. She clutched him with feverish strength as another peak washed over her with trip hammer blows. "Oh God! John! I love you I love you I looooo . . . oh GOD!" She screamed in mindless ecstasy as their minds touched in a sheet of fire.

* * * * *

By the light of his flashlight D'Argo glanced in disgust at the doorway across the hall. "Is that all they do anymore?" he grumbled. Even through two doors, Aeryn's screams still echoed in the room where they were gathered.

Zhaan smiled at him, her face half hidden in the shadows. "They are moving to new quarters, D'Argo. Tonight we'll all be able to get some sleep."

"About time too," Rygel harrumphed. "Hynerians are much quieter about it. We--"

Chiana clamped a hand over his mouth. "Keep it to yourself, frog boy. We don't want to hear about it."

"Mmph, ungh, mmph!"

"Or that either," she snapped, removing her hand.

Rygel's thronesled hovered to the other side of the room out of her reach. "How the yotz would you know what I was trying to say?"

"A lot of experience in a very short time," she sneered, drifting upside-down.

Rygel started to reply, but D'Argo cut him off with a growl. "Will you two, SHUT UP!"

* * * * *

Moya's calculations on how long they would have to coast without power proved accurate. Two and a half arns later they were once more standing in Command as they spiraled down to what appeared to be a suitable landing spot. "A great deal of the surface is covered with oil by-products," Pilot reported. "Once we are down, I would advise against starting any fires."

"Fine," John nodded as Moya entered the atmosphere. "Is the baby landing too?"

Pilot shook his head. "No. He would not be strong enough to achieve escape velocity if he did."

A faint moan began to make itself heard as they entered the upper atmosphere of the moon.

"But he'll stay close enough to avoid detection by the base, won't he?" Aeryn asked.

"I believe I was successful in communicating that necessity, Officer Sun."

"Good."

The deck trembled as the air began buffeting Moya about. Everyone grabbed onto something. "Hey, Pilot," John shouted above the growing noise, "try to make a little easier landing than last time would you?"

"I will attempt it, Commander Crichton, but I can offer no guarantees," he responded.

The deck titled abruptly beneath them. John tightened his hold on the console. A massive shudder racked them a moment later and Aeryn fell to the floor. He lunged at her, they clasped each other's wrist in a death grip. "Pilot!"

"I'm trying, Commander!"

The ship heaved beneath them, tilting back in the opposite direction. Out of the corner of his eye John saw Chiana sliding helplessly across the floor. D'Argo flung out an arm to catch her, but just missed. They heard a yelp as she caromed into a wall.

A heavy burst of deceleration hit them and Aeryn crashed into him, slamming his ribs against the side of the console. "OW! Son-of-a-bi--" Moya surged forward again. Suddenly he and Aeryn were sliding feet first across the floor toward Chiana. D'Argo saw them and stretched out to grab them. This time he made it, and John found himself in the middle of a tug-of-war; Aeryn dangling on one arm, D'Argo pulling on the other. "PILOT!!"

"Prepare for landing!" Pilot shouted over the earsplitting roar of their descent.

A gigantic crash threw everyone against the forward bulkhead beneath the windows. There was a second of weightlessness, then another bone-jarring crash. Another, lighter crash followed, then another. Like a stone skipping across the water, John thought disjointedly as he was repeatedly slammed into his shipmates. There was a final crash, then the sensation of planing across the water at high speeds. Moya slowed abruptly, dipping her nose into the water. John found himself at the bottom of a dog pile of bodies. Then she leveled out and everyone rolled off him.

"We have landed," Pilot informed them in a subdued voice.

D'Argo levered himself up on one elbow. "That was not a landing! That was a crash that we survived!"

John couldn't help himself. "Well, at least now we know how Dorothy felt," he giggled weakly. "We ought to check to see if the Wicked Witch is underneath us." He discovered he had an interesting view up Zhaan's robes. The concept of underwear didn't seem to have taken root in Delvian society, he noted absently. He heard Chiana's voice from somewhere behind him.

"If you don't move your hand right now, I'm going to tear it off, frog boy!"

"Quite unintentional," Rygel gasped. "I'm not even sure how it got there. Besides, it's not my hand," he snickered.

"What!?" She scrambled away. "I don't even want to know what that was!" Her face was screwed up in disgust.

"John, are you alright?" Aeryn pulled him up to a sitting position.

"I'm fine," he replied easily. He was fine, he realized. No cuts, no bruises, only a couple of sore spots, and those were fading even as he thought about it. This business of being able to strengthen each other seemed to extend to more than just staying awake all the time. He jumped to his feet. "I feel great," he said. "What about you?" Even as he said it he could sense she was unharmed.

Nothing. "I cut my arm on something but it seems be to gone now," she added, displaying her arm. There was a smear of blood but no cut.

Weird. "Did Zhaan mention this to you?" he whispered as the rest picked themselves off the floor.

She shook her head. No.

Don't tell anyone. "We'll figure it out later."

"I'm afraid I have some bad news," Pilot announced timidly. Everyone froze. "Someone seems to have tracked part, if not all, of our descent."

"Peacekeepers?" Aeryn asked quickly.

"Definitely not," Pilot answered. "It is difficult to be certain, but it appears to be Sheyangs."

"Those scavengers?" D'Argo exclaimed. "On the same moon as a Peacekeeper base? Impossible! The Peacekeepers would have killed them the moment they were discovered."

"Maybe they don't know they're here," Chiana offered.

Aeryn and D'Argo shook their heads at the same time. "They would have searched the entire moon before establishing the base," he growled. "And they would not have missed the Sheyangs!"

"Maybe the base was here first and it's the Sheyangs who are in the dark," John interjected. "If the Peacekeepers kept a low profile, the Sheyangs would never know about them, and anyone visiting here wouldn't notice anything except the Sheyangs."

Aeryn shook her head again. No. "Peacekeepers would never do that."

He shrugged. "Maybe not, but Scorpius would. That'd be his style; he uses everyone."

D'Argo didn't look convinced. "Perhaps. Pilot, whoever they are, did they track us all the way down?"

"I was very busy at the time, but it appears that they did," he answered sadly.

"Then we can expect an attack," the Luxan growled.

John exchanged glances with Aeryn. Judging from what he'd seen the last time they encountered the Sheyangs, D'Argo was probably right. "Well," he sighed heavily, "in that case the best defense is a good offense."

Everyone stared at him in surprise.

Zhaan was the first to recover. "Are you suggesting we attack? That's usually your last option, John. This isn't like you."

It certainly isn't! Aeryn was incredulous.

John sighed again. "Well, I'm not real big on the whole 'kick ass and take names' routine, but sometimes you don't have much choice. If the Sheyangs attack us, they could hurt Moya. If we attack them, we set the terms of the battle, keep them away from Moya, and maybe hurt them enough to convince them to leave us alone."

D'Argo inclined his head in appreciation. "That is the most sense you have made since we met. I agree. We should attack at once." His fists balled up in eager anticipation of a fight.

"Whoa, big guy!" John leaped to intercept him. "Let's scout around first, OK? Check out the neighborhood."

The big Luxan glared at him then subsided. "I think I've been around you too long. I actually understood that."

"That's all right," John grinned. "I grow on people."

"So does moss," D'Argo muttered.

"Pilot, open the door so we can take a look around," John said, deciding to ignore him.

"Very well. Moya is partially submerged, so you will have to exit on tier seven," Pilot answered smoothly. "You may have to wade through some shallow water before you reach solid land though. It's also quite warm outside."

"I guess that means we go with the Tarzan look then," John quipped, leading them out of Command. He and Aeryn stopped by their new quarters long enough to strip down to their underwear. They spared time for a quick kiss, then joined the rest of them in gathered by the now open door on tier seven.

Whatever had happened here had left behind a tainted legacy. An oily sheen covered everything, glinting evilly on the water. Half-submerged logs were covered with sickly green moss that crawled with insects. The brackish water, heaving in slow swells from Moya's landing, concealed vague shapes moving beneath it. Beyond the muddy shore, stunted trees and ill-formed bushes choked the inland area in a Byzantine maze of knotted limbs, tangled creepers and thorns. Everywhere there were taller trees towering over the swamp, bare and dead, their leafless branches clawing at the unhealthy sky. The air was oppressively hot, heavy with humidity and the stench of rotting vegetation. Laid over that was a stinging, diesel/gasoline smell that burned the eyes and nose. Swarms of insects filled the air along with the distant croaks and groans of unknown creatures.

"Whew!" John exclaimed, fanning the air in front of him to no avail. "What died?"

"Everything apparently," Zhaan replied with distaste.

"The smell is not important," D'Argo proclaimed. "Only our mission." He punctuated his comments by jumping into the water with a splash. It came up high on his chest. He stomped around in a circle, gradually sinking to his shoulders. "The bottom is mud and silt," he reported. "Do not stop moving or you will get stuck." He struck out for the shore fifty metras away.

John made a face. "If it's that deep on D'Argo, it'll be even deeper on us. Looks like we have to swim." He felt a sudden surge of fear coming from Aeryn. What's wrong?

"I don't have to swim," Rygel snorted, sending his thronesled skating across the water. He passed a struggling D'Argo with a cheery wave.

"I was raised on a ship," Aeryn whispered. "I don't know how to swim."

He smiled sympathetically. "I can pull you." He showed her an image from his water safety courses. Like this. He didn't bother telling her to trust him; he knew she did.

Aeryn tried to still her fear of the ugly looking water. "Alright," she agreed tremulously, "but you're going to have to teach me how to swim after this."

"Sure," he said sliding down into the brackish water. He wondered when he'd have time. Aeryn joined him in the water, her face set in grim lines. He swam around behind her. One hand slid over her shoulder, across her chest to grab her firmly under the opposite arm. "Lay your head back in the water and let yourself go limp," he instructed her. "I'll do the rest." He could feel her trembling as she obeyed him. He started kicking for the shore immediately before she could try to struggle back to the ship. I've got you. You're safe.

I believe you.

He could feel the truth in her mind as well as the fear that refused to go away. He didn't blame her. Being dependent on someone else the first time you were in the water could be a nerve-racking experience, even when you trusted the person holding you up. For someone like Aeryn, so used to being able to cope with anything, it must be especially bad. He continued stroking strongly, watching D'Argo as he gradually reached the shallows. Just a little further.

All right.

He glanced back toward the ship as Zhaan and Chiana dove gracefully into the water. They surfaced and began swimming after them with easy strokes. Zhaan in particular seemed quite comfortable in the water.

His fingertips brushed the tops of some underwater plants, and he lowered his feet. The water came to the middle of his chest. "Put your feet down."

She nodded then let out a heart felt sigh of relief when she felt the muddy bottom. She stood up in the water. Thank you. She brushed her lips across his.

Anytime. She was still looking a little pale so he decided this wasn't the time for 'Creature from the Black Lagoon' jokes. They quickly waded the rest of the way to shore, mud squishing between their toes as they emerged from the water. Zhaan and Chiana were close behind them.

They could hear D'Argo crashing around in the bushes while Rygel taunted him from above. "There is a path of sorts in here," he reported, his voice muffled by the thick growth. "It appears to be an animal trail though. We will have to crawl much of the time."

John cast a jaundiced eye on the amount of skin the rest of them were showing. Crawling through thorn infested bushes in his skivvies wasn't his idea of a good time. From their expressions, the others were entertaining the same thoughts. "I didn't volunteer to be a SEAL," he grumbled, as he began forcing his way into the tangled vegetation.

He winced as thorns and scratchy leaves tore at him. Within minutes he was sweaty and itchy. The swarming insects, demonic relatives of mosquitoes, soon decided he was exactly what they had been waiting for. A cloud of them descended on him, creating a welter of tiny bites all over his exposed skin. Behind him he heard Aeryn and Chiana cursing bitterly as they were similarly besieged. Zhaan surprisingly made no comments at all. He found himself both admiring and hating her stoicism.

"It clears once you get away from the water," D'Argo called back. "Stay on the path for about ten metras."

D'Argo was as good as his word. The bushes began to grow further apart, giving the disgruntled foursome more room to maneuver. Soon they were able to stand, crouching, and move faster. They finally emerged into a clearing that was clear only by comparison to what they had just come through.

"Doesn't anyone realize we have to go back through that when we want to return to Moya?" Chiana asked in disgust as she dabbed at myriad cuts and scrapes.

"Yes," Aeryn replied, "but you didn't have to mention it." Her own scrapes and cuts were fading even as she watched. Already she could feel herself recovering from the aches and bruises she'd acquired in the thick underbrush. She shot a quick glance at John. He nodded at her unasked question; he was healing, too. Over his shoulder she saw Zhaan eyeing them curiously. The insects seemed to have abandoned them as well.

"Pilot, which way to the Sheyang encampment?" D'Argo asked, ignoring all of them.

"According to the recordings Moya made on the way down, it should be ten degrees to your left, about three thousand metras," he answered. "There will be a small ridge four hundred metras before you reach their base of operations."

"Excellent." D'Argo pulled his Qualta blade and snapped it open.

John unholstered his captured Peacekeeper pistol. "What kind of terrain will we have to cross?" he asked as Aeryn and Zhaan also prepared their pulse rifles.

"Swamp for the most part, I'm afraid," Pilot told them.

"Probably filled with a thousand frelling snakes and spiders," Chiana muttered under her breath. "If we're lucky."

John grinned at her as he started after D'Argo. "Come on Chiana, it's not just a job, it's an adventure!"

She stared blankly at his retreating back. "Why do we put up with him?" she asked the sky. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to find Aeryn glaring daggers at her.

"I'll give you five reasons," she rasped, holding up a clenched fist.

Chiana paled. "Those are good reasons," she nodded quickly. She scooted away to put some distance between her and the volatile ex-Peacekeeper.

The six shipmates marched (flew in Rygel's case) for five arns before reaching the ridge Pilot had told them about. The swamp was far more treacherous than it appeared in Moya's scans. Quicksand abounded. Impassable thickets barred their way, forcing them to spend valuable time backtracking. They had to crawl under and over fallen trees. Thick mud sucked at their feet, bogging them down. The oily residue that covered everything contributed to their misery, making handholds and footing a risky affair.

Slipping and falling, they gradually, painfully made progress. A general sigh of relief echoed from one to another as they threw themselves to the oily ground atop the ridge overlooking the Sheyang encampment.

There was a vast, paved area, presumably a landing field for ships. It was conspicuously empty. In front of it was a small cluster of buildings. Beside them were mangled piles of junk full of rusting and rotting debris. A few figures could be seen moving about.

"What do you see?" John asked Aeryn.

She wiped mud off her oculars, then put them on. She studied it intently for a few minutes. "Well, they are definitely Sheyangs. I count ten, perhaps fifteen of them. The buildings are too small to be useful for anything except entrances to underground tunnels or chambers, except for one. It looks like a maintenance shed. I can see machinery inside it. There's a sensor array at one end of the landing field." She swung her eyes slowly back and forth. "There's a trail leading out of the camp." She followed it for several hundred metras. "There are fresh tracks in it." She slammed a fist into the ground. "Frell it! The trail leads around the far end of this ridge; it heads straight back the way we came."

John felt a stab of anxiety mirroring Aeryn's reaction. "You mean we missed them in the swamp?"

YES!

D'Argo didn't need to feel Aeryn's reaction the way John did; he could read the answer in her face. "We have to catch them before they reach Moya!" he snarled. He bounded to his feet and charged off toward the trail.

"D'Argo! Wait!" they yelled, racing after him. The big Luxan had too great a lead on them and his strides were too long. They didn't catch him until he reached the trail. John and Aeryn dropped him with a flying tackle.

"D'Argo!" John was yelling, "we have to go together! Otherwise they'll chop us into fish bait!"

"Fine," he snarled back, dumping them on the ground. "Then keep up!" He retrieved his Qualta blade and plunged down the trail.

Great! John thought as he hurried after him. Just what we need, a gung-ho Luxan. Aeryn! Hurry!

Right behind you, she answered, not wasting breath on speech. She flipped off the safety catch on her pulse rifle. D'Argo was moving so fast he was bound to run straight into the Sheyangs, sacrificing the element of surprise in his eagerness to catch them.

John threw a glance over his shoulder. "Where's Rygel?" he gasped as he pounded down the trail.

"Keeping watch on the Sheyang encampment," the little Dominar's voice answered over his comm badge. "You don't think I'm going to get involved in a firefight do you?"

"We can't split up like this, damn it! Chiana," he shouted over his shoulder, "go find Rygel! Stay with him!" For once she didn't protest and headed back the way they'd come. John turned forward again. D'Argo was pulling away from them. "D'Argo! Slow down!"

The big Luxan didn't respond, and John tried to run even faster on the slippery, muddy track. He felt Aeryn slip and fall. Keep going!, she told him before he could turn back.

Right.

He put his head down, legs pumping.

CRAAACK!

An energy bolt slammed into a tree in front of him. Startled, he lost his footing and sprawled headlong in the mud. He scrambled up, hunting frantically for cover. Forty metras ahead, D'Argo was trading fire with a party of Sheyangs. So much for scouting before fighting, he despaired. He flung himself behind a moss-covered boulder. A bolt sizzled off it just as he ducked. He stuck his head and right arm around the far side, and began returning fire.

Aeryn and Zhaan were firing as well, but most of their shots were being stopped by the thick growth. "We need to get closer!" Aeryn screamed. "I can't get a clear shot!"

"Go!" he bellowed. "I'll cover you!" He stood up and began firing over the top of the boulder.

The two women charged forward, ignoring the blazing bolts flying overhead. A dozen metras past his position they darted behind some trees and began firing. Now you!

He moved instantly, trusting her with his life. He crouched over as he ran, firing blindly in the direction of the Sheyangs. Where was D'Argo? He belly flopped behind a log.

Twenty metras!

There he was, crouched behind a tangle of fallen tree trunks and limbs, firing his Qualta blade through the gaps. I see him! Run behind me!

Aeryn didn't waste time responding. She bolted, grabbing Zhaan as she went.

Disaster struck just as they got behind him. Aeryn's foot caught an up-thrust root, sending her sprawling in the mud. Her fall gave added impetus to Zhaan's rush; she made it all the way to D'Argo's side before incoming fire forced her to duck and return fire. John craned his head over his shoulder to see if Aeryn was all right - and saw movement in the underbrush just past her.

Behind you!

Aeryn rolled, firing wildly at the Sheyangs plunging out of the thickets. Two of them were blasted back before the rest of them fell on her in a tidal wave of flesh. She was buried in an instant.

"AERYN!!"

John sprang at them like a madman, firing at point blank range, punching wildly with his other fist. For a moment he thought he might make it. Then a massive fist caught him on the side of the head with stunning force. He collapsed to his knees, fighting to retain consciousness. Something hit him from the side, and he saw his pistol spinning through the air. The impact hurled him to the ground.

Dazed, he lifted his head. He saw Zhaan and D'Argo, caught in the crossfire from two sides, being forced to retreat. He tried to pull his knees under him, and saw another massive fist looping up and up and up.

Then everything went dark.

* * * * *

A hand was caressing his head.

His first thought was that Zhaan must be getting awfully tired of nursing people back to health all the time. She had ministered to every one of them at least once since he'd come here. Now she was patching him up yet again.

He struggled to open his eyes. Zhaan wasn't there, but Aeryn was. Somehow, though, she was sitting on the wall.

No, he was lying down on his side. He sat up with a groan. "Did anyone get the number of that truck?" he asked weakly.

Aeryn mustered a faint smile. "Out of state I'm afraid."

Low laughter rumbled in his chest. "God it feels good to have someone who understands me sometimes." She was still stroking his face. His eyes widened. They were in separate cells on opposite sides of a wide hallway. "Hey! You learned it too!"

"I was going to tease you the same way you did me," she admitted. She looked around their surroundings. "Doesn't seem to be much point in it now."

They were in a long room lined with cells constructed from iron-looking bars. A wide hall ran down the center of the room. Dim lights hung from the oppressively low ceiling in the hall; shadows piled up in the corners. Each cell had a shelf with a lumpy pad on it for a bunk, a rusty sink and a badly stained hole in the floor for elimination. He tried to ignore the stench coming from them. He and Aeryn were in opposite cells near the center of the hall. Two cells down from Aeryn, was a rotting Sheyang corpse.

"Not such great housekeepers are they?" he asked, eyeing it with distaste.

She glanced at it. "No. How are you feeling?"

He rolled his head around on his shoulders. "Getting better. This soul mate stuff is better than Tylenol."

She nodded absently. "We'll be in perfect health for our execution."

"Yeah, they do that in Texas, too." His attempt at graveyard humor fell flat so he abandoned it. "Any chance of getting out of here?"

Aeryn shook her head. "Despite their appearance, the cells are well built. None of the bars are loose, and the frames are firmly attached to the floors and walls. You should check your cell to be sure though."

Right. He spent the next twenty minutes slowly testing each bar in his cell, tugging and twisting to see if any of them were loose enough to offer hope of an escape. When he was done the results were depressing. He sank down on his bunk. "Nothing."

She nodded. "I didn't think so." She was sitting cross-legged on her bunk. The dim lights cast shadows from the bars across her face in a striped, tiger-like mask. He chuckled, wondering if the lights did the same to him. She frowned. "What is there to laugh about?"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry. Its just way the shadows from the bars are falling on you; it makes you look like a tiger." He opened a memory of a trip to the zoo to her.

She smiled at what she saw there. "They're very beautiful."

"And very deadly - a lot like you," he nodded at her. "There was a man named William Blake who once wrote a poem about them." He tilted his head back. "Let me see if I can remember it." He thought for a minute. "Oh, yes. Here it is."

Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright
In the forests of the night
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder, and what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? and what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Aeryn frowned, and for a moment he was afraid she hadn't liked it. Then she smiled. "Is that what poetry is? I've never heard any before. It's beautiful." She looked at him. "Are tigers really that dangerous?"

John shrugged, trying to find a comfortable spot on the hard bunk. "Well, they're one of the few predators who still make a habit of hunting people. We've pretty much taught the rest of them not to do it."

"And you think I'm like a tiger?" she asked in soft, wondering voice.

That was an easy one. "Yeah. Sleek, beautiful, fast, deadly, powerful, wild - yeah, I think you are, especially with those shadows on you the way they are."

She glanced down at her body at the alternating dark and dim yellow stripes crossing her. The same stripe pattern the lights were throwing on him she noticed. "No one has ever told me I was beautiful before. Thank you."

He inclined his head at her. "You're welcome. Besides, I'm only saying it because it's true." He rolled his eyes at the door at the far end of the hall. "Think they'll be able to get us out of here?"

She hesitated, then shook her head. "Not possible," she said firmly in the tone of a briefing. "I wasn't knocked out like you were. I got a good look around while they were putting us in here. There are more Sheyangs than we thought, I'd say thirty to forty of them, all heavily armed."

"D'Argo is going to kill himself trying though," John predicted.

She considered what she knew about Luxans in general, and D'Argo in particular. He was probably berating himself right now for leading them into a trap. "I think you're right," she agreed.

"Count on it," he sighed heavily.

"John, these are the same Sheyangs we encountered at the Zelbinion. They know who we are." She hesitated again. "They're going to kill one us of tomorrow morning, then send the head back to Moya with a threat to do the same to the other one if they don't surrender."

He closed his eyes in despair. Oh God, he thought, don't let it be Aeryn. Anything but that. I couldn't live if they did that to her.

He forgot to hide it from her and she saw it. "No, John. It's better if it's me. I couldn't take it if you died."

His eyes snapped open. "God, Aeryn. How can you say that? I love you! It'd kill me if you died." Let them take me!

NO! "John, listen to me," she pleaded. "I don't know how deal with emotions like you do. I've never felt most of the things I've felt since I met you. I've never had any experience with them. If you died, it would tear me apart. I wouldn't know what to do. I . . . I couldn't live without you." Her voice was trembling, almost breaking. "Please!"

He gritted his teeth. "Aeryn, it's not about experience. I've never had you before. I've never felt these things either. You're, you're my other half, my heart and soul, my reason for living. What do you think it would do to me if you died?" They locked eyes, tears streaming down their faces. "I can't let you die," he whispered in agony.

"I can't let you die," she answered in the same voice.

They stared at each other.

"So what do we do?" he finally asked.

Aeryn lifted her chin. "We make sure we die together."

He shook his head sadly. "I think that's a given, no matter where or when it happens."

Her eyes widened at his words, then, slowly, she nodded. "You're right. Neither of us can live without the other anymore, can we?"

"Soul mates live together, they die together," he agreed. "It's a package deal, Aeryn."

"So what do we do?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "It doesn't look good."

She cocked her head thoughtfully, unmindful of the tears drying on her face. "You'll think of something."

There was a flash of his old, wiry humor. "I will, huh?"

"You always have before. You can do it again," she said with rising confidence.

"I'll try. But don't expect any brain . . . storms . . . " he trailed off as a bizarre, utterly improbable thought occurred to him.

Aeryn felt a surge of hope as she watched him. The wild flickering in his mind did resemble a storm of sorts, she thought. What mad scheme would he come up with this time, she wondered? She was only faintly surprised to realize she had absolute confidence in his ability to think up a way out of their situation, and their joint ability to make it work.

"Oh man, Aeryn. This is so crazy," he exclaimed. "If this works it'll be like . . . like--" Words failed him as he flapped his hands uselessly in the air. "Oh man, this is nuts."

"Perhaps if you explained it to me, I might know what you're talking about," she hinted.

"OK." He got up to stride around his cell because he couldn't sit still. "Just bear with me while I tell you though, because this is really crazy." He took a deep breath. "OK, Zhaan says we can strengthen each other, right? You give me some of your strength and it makes me stronger. Then I give you some of mine and it makes you stronger. She said it was like a dynamo, an endless upward spiral, right?"

Aeryn nodded silently, wondering where he was going with this. What did being soul mates have to do with escaping?

If he saw her nod, he didn't acknowledge it. He kept on pacing and talking, his voice growing more excited with every step. "On Earth there are martial arts masters who can knock a man down with one finger, or they can sit cross-legged with their hands in their lap and dare anyone to push them over - and they can't! I've seen demonstrations. They're for real. Now these guys claim they're using their 'Ki', their soul, to enable them to accomplish things that are physically impossible. But we're doing things that are impossible too; the way we heal so fast, and touch each other without touching, the way we make love all night and never sleep. What Zhaan told you about Human males is true. Before I met you, three times a night was my limit. Well, five one time, but I was very young," he grinned. He started pacing again without waiting for a reaction. "Why can't we deliberately strengthen each other so much that we can break out of here? If we did it on purpose, if we focused our efforts on it - who's to say what we might be able to do?"

For some reason Aeryn wasn't as startled as she thought she'd be. "But John, we strengthen each other the most when we're making love. We're in separate cells now, we can't even touch each . . . oh."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "'Oh', indeed.

"Can we do that? Is it possible?"

He pulled off his underwear. "There's only one way to find out."

Aeryn felt an unreasonable tingle of delight run down her spine as she pulled off her bra and underwear. Even if it didn't work, they could still enjoy each other until - NO! It will work, she told herself fiercely. It will!

They each sat down on their separate bunks. "Start slow," he told her. She nodded. He felt invisible lips touch his. It startled him at first and he saw her smile at his reaction. He smiled back and reached out to her as well, copying her actions. His mouth opened and her tongue slid inside. He reciprocated. Slowly, step by step, they mirrored each other, making love from forty feet apart.

His 'hands' caressed her breasts with gentle, teasing fingertips, taking his time on the undersides, circling her nipples. He felt her reaction, leaning into his touch while her own ghostly fingers left trails of fire over his body, arousing him with the unexpected sensuality of it. For a moment he forgot to breathe.

As the connection between them intensified, he focused on pouring his strength into her. Her eyes widened at the wave of power surging into her, a giving that was unlike anything they'd ever shared before. It filled her up, tiny shocks racing along her arms, down her back, tingling her moist center before heading down her legs. She felt like she was bursting with it. Shaking her head to clear it, she moved her touch down to his hardness then sent it back to him, stronger, faster, larger, more powerful.

John shuddered back as if from a physical impact when it hit him. The hairs on his arms stood on end. He groaned deep in his throat, the combination of power and her touch shaking him to his core. Aeryn stared at him in shock. His voice sounded - amplified somehow, louder than normal, stronger. The corners of his mouth turned up in a smile that was both erotic, and savage. He leaned forward, hurling it back to her.

Aeryn shook like a leaf as the power and his smoky hardness entered her at the same time. "Unnh, god!" Her voice echoed strangely in the room. He began moving inside her, the power moving with him, rocking her body. "John," she gasped. "It feels so . . ."

"I know." His voice was heavy, thick. Her wetness surrounded him, clasping and squeezing him with delicious tightness. The power was moving between them constantly now, faster and faster until it no longer belonged to one or the other, but both at the same time. He could almost see the gathering cyclone building in the air between them. His passion spiraled upwards with it, taking him to a place that was strange and new.

Aeryn tried to move, and couldn't. The sheer, erotic power of what they were doing held her paralyzed, captive to their burgeoning excitement. He was touching her everywhere! She couldn't stop shaking. In the air between them two phantoms were taking shape, bodies intertwined. "John! Do you . . . see it?"

His head was lolling on his shoulders. He nodded, barely able to speak. "Yes."

"It's . . . us!"

She was wrapping herself around him. She was covering his whole body! "I . . . know," he gasped. He looked at her and his eyes were flame. It's building, Aeryn! Their minds were touching, the barriers were dropping. His love for her was pulling her in, seduction beyond seduction, swamping her.

Aeryn couldn't stand it. Their love wasn't something they gave to each other anymore, it was something that just was. He was everywhere inside her! Moving, pulsing, driving her insane. She slammed her head back into the wall, barely feeling it. "John . . ." pleeease!

Not yet, Aeryn! Hold on!

I can't!

Yes you can! A little longer, just a little longer!

OH GOD! John! What you're doing to me!

I love you!

That word! He knew what it did to her. It touched depths in her she didn't even know she possessed when she was a Peacekeeper. It racked her body and soul, shaking the foundations of her world.

The whirlwind was making itself felt, stirring her hair. It grew stronger with each passing moment, their hearts beating together in time with the power pulsating between them. Oh god, she thought crazily, is this what our passion, our love is doing? Making itself felt in the world? Dust and debris, bits of paper were flying through the air, tossed about by the cyclone their ecstasy was creating. The phantoms in the air were clearer, more visible, joining together in ways that were impossible. She couldn't tell anymore if she was there or still in her body.

She was both. She was neither.

"JOHN! I . . . can't . . . hold it . . . anymore! PLEEEEEEEASE!!"

His eyes were twin pools of blazing light, scorching her with his heat. "Now, Aeryn! NOW!"

She screamed her release; her body arched like a bow. She convulsed around him, flooding them with her wetness. She screamed again as his seed rocketed into her womb like liquid fire. A hurricane roared in her ears as lightening crashed about the room. Her body shook against his, feeling the earthquake inside him. Her arms and legs held him tighter and tighter with an iron grip. She wanted all of him inside her!

They swayed like Titans against the firmament, shouting down the envious stars.

It couldn't last.

It didn't.

Slowly . . . ever so slowly, they came back down again, sighing with loss at the vistas that had so briefly been theirs.

John opened his eyes with an effort. He felt swollen, thick with power, his limbs heavy yet strong. He stood up carefully, not daring to move too quickly. Outside he could hear distant shouts. The Sheyangs had heard them and were coming to investigate. "AERYN?" His voice shook the room.

She stood up. She didn't lean forward or use her arms to push up off the bunk; she simply straightened her knees. "I'M HERE, JOHN." Her words rattled the bars in the cells and set the lights swinging from their cords. Shadows danced wildly around the room. She glistened, glowed with power; tiny flames seemed to dance on her skin. Lightning trailed in her wake.

We can't hold this much power for long. He walked ponderously to the front of his cell, the floor cracking and breaking beneath his feet. The steel bars felt like paper in his hand as he tore them apart. The screech of tearing metal penetrated the walls. The shouts, closer now, had the sound of panic in them.

Aeryn tore apart the door to her cell and tossed it aside with careless ease. They met in the center of the hall, lightning dripping off them as they kissed. We won't need to hold it for long. She smiled, rapacious and hungry, the smile of a predator.

They heard footsteps outside the door, the jingling of keys. It burst open and Sheyangs poured in, rifles and flame breath at the ready. But they were too late - the tigers were loose.

* * * * *

"The scar on my leg is gone," John told her. "It's been there for years, uh cycles."

Aeryn nodded absently. "I seem to be missing some scars as well."

They were standing in the middle of the devastated Sheyang encampment waiting for D'Argo to land the transport pod. He'd told them on their comm units that Moya had managed to bury her nose just deeply enough to raise the flight deck above the water level so he could launch it. The transport was visible over the ridge, dropping as it headed for the landing field the Sheyangs had constructed.

"What are we?" she wondered.

"Beats me," John shook his head. "I've never heard of anything like this before."

Aeryn was still looking herself over. "Zhaan said our lives would be greatly extended. Are we immortal?"

John stared at the death that surrounded them. "I don't know. But if we are, it's very bad news for everyone else."

"We can't do this again for a while," she pointed out.

John could feel it too. They had over-reached themselves, burned something out, gone too far too fast. It would be months, maybe years before they could attempt it again. "Quite a while," he agreed quietly. "Until then, I don't think we should mention it to the others."

Aeryn shot him an amused glance. Really? "And how will we explain this?" She waved a hand the destruction around them. Smoke billowed out of the destroyed buildings, evidence of the fires that burned out of control below. Blood stained the ground. A corpse, thirty feet in the air, was impaled ten feet onto a dead tree branch, hurled there by unimaginable force. Other, less identifiable bodies littered the camp.

"Maybe we shouldn't try." He sat down on the edge of a toppled wall, trying to ignore the foot sticking out from under it. Who'd knocked this one over, Aeryn or him? He couldn't remember. He felt drained. Physically he felt ready to run a marathon, but emotionally, mentally, he was wiped out. "We just tell them the problem is taken care of, and leave it at that."

She sat down next to him. They had retrieved their belongings and were 'dressed' again, their weapons leaning against a pile of nearby rubble. "Zhaan will be suspicious. She might even guess what happened." They put their arms around each other.

Let her. "As long as she doesn't know for sure, as long as she doesn't ask, I'll be happy," he replied.

The transport was kicking up dust as it settled to the ground. They turned their heads away. The sight of their handiwork greeted them again. "And to think," she mused, "I used to think that love made you weak."

He laughed - painfully, but he laughed. "Aeryn, right now our love may be the most dangerous force in the universe."

Fin