In Whole
Having recently gathered the money he needs in the previous episode, D'Argo makes contact with the slavers in order to buy Jo'thee's lot. However, despite having the money, someone has beaten them to the lot - Scorpius - who demands John as exchange for Jo'thee. Stark reveals that it was unwittingly his fault - Scorpius tried to traced the link to his console during the break-in, but Stark thought he stopped him (little note here - could this have happened when Stark went mental and had to be knocked out by D'Argo?).
D'Argo begins to blame John for not helping him straight away - had he they may have been in and out before Scorpius arrived on the scene. Later D'Argo confides in Chiana that he was about to march John to Scorpius.
Meanwhile, back at the depository, Scorpius and Natera are having another argument - on what to do with their new surplus slaves, even though they are a fair bit away from arrival and the slavers refuse to search through the 10,000-strong lot to find Jo'thee. Scorpius enquires as to whether there are any Stakira on board, as he wants a replacement for Stark. Regrettably for him there are none, although plenty of Bannaks. Scorpius tells Natera to do with them as she wants.
John's having a bit of a brainwave though. Since Scorpius has only just bought the slaves, Jo'thee is still in transit. Scorpius doesn't have him yet. This means they've got a bit of time to get their act together.
John begins making a list of who they need. Item 1 - the wolf-like Vokarian blood-trackers, in order to find Jo'thee wherever he's kept. Item 2 - a Sheyang to burn through reinforced metal walls and more-or-less blow stuff up. Item 3 - a Tavlek for hand-to-hand combat aid. And item 4 - the Zenetan Pirates so their Flax net will cover their escape. They plan to turn the money from the robbery into covering the costs for their services.
But suddenly Stark collapses, moaning and talking gibberish, mentioning that they're all dead. Zhaan reveals that, as a Bannak Stokari, he is attuned to the death of his people. That's right - Scorpius has killed the Bannaks that were in Jo'thee's lot. There's no doubt that Scorpius has found Jo'thee in the lot. The crew decide to act fast. John heads out to find a Tavlek, D'Argo to the Vokarian blood-trackers, and Aeryn to the Sheyangs. Rygel is to stay on Moya until they reach Zenetan airspace.
At that time, Chiana and Rygel take it upon themselves to take a bit of the money - just enough so nobody notices. However, they find that the money has turned itself into little metal-eating creatures that are, slowly but surely, devouring Moya.
In the meantime, John stumbles upon an old friend - the Tavlek warrior Bakesh. However, he has decided to have a bit of a change in heart, retiring from killing and now deciding that prayer is the answer. Having killed a priest of the writ of Turu, Bakesh took his documents and, upon reading them, found they made a lot of sense. This appears to be the John's idea of a Tavlek helping them scuppured, since Bakesh is the only one that will know John, but he doesn't give up hope.
The Vokarian blood trackers Rorf and Rowf are in trouble - again. Fortunately D'Argo turns up and takes out a pursuing Peacekeeper force. Rorf and Rowf tell him that the Peacekeepers had hired them to eliminate some deserters. But upon finding out that Rowf was pregnant they abandoned the task, took half the money and fled. Rowf is feeling sympathetic. Without D'Argo's assistance they would surely be dead and their child would not get a chance to live. For this they must help D'Argo save his son.
Aeryn, meantime, has stumbled upon what appears to be a deserted Sheyang vessel. Boarding it though, she finds the near-dead captain Teurac, who she had fought on the Zelbinian. She convinces him to their side.
Back on Moya, Scorpius sends a communication demanding to talk with D'Argo and John. Zhaan and Rygel blame Scorpius of Moya's sabotage, but Scorpius seems not to know of it. Then a bit of a shock comes for Scorpius - Stark decides to have a chat. Of course Scorpius hasn't seen Stark for a bit. Stark has a go at him for killing the Bannaks and more or less tells him to kill Jo'thee, before cutting the transmission. Chiana and Zhaan aren't too happy with his last statement, but Stark knows that Scorpius doesn't know about Moya's sabotage yet. If he knows, that means victory for him.
Meanwhile, Scorpius decides to finally ask Natera of what she put in his container. Natera does reveal that it was of the metal-eating creature variety. She had intended to kill Scorpius when he went back to his command carrier, otherwise he wouldn't respect her.
Back on Moya, Chiana manages to capture a specimen creature and bring it to Zhaan. Both Zhaan and Pilot try all sorts of things, such as blowing the creatures into space, but they're too firmly entrenched and unaffected by the vacuum. But Zhaan does manage to kill the specimen by subjecting it to immense heat. but there's a snag. The heat's too much. To do this would damage Moya, even to the extent of killing her. Nevertheless, she suggests her idea to Pilot. Although he disagrees, he says that the Builders put Zhaan in charge of their wellbeing, and Moya could survive. And so the preparations to burn Moya begin.
Back with Bakesh, John manages to find his gauntlet. Bakesh warns him that the dosage has been increased and John would die if he used it. As such, Bakesh decides to forego his holy ways and help them for the money.
Now in Zenetan airspace, Rygel leaves Moya to go out and find the Zenetan Pirates. What he finds is more than he bargained for - the Zenetan Pirates under the control of his old torturer, Durka, who decides to trap him in the Flax net before negotiations may begin. Durka doesn't seem too bothered to begin with, before doing the usual round of threats to Rygel. Rygel decides he's had enough and kills Durka with a well-concealed knife. While Durka didn't like the sound of his deal, the other Zenetan Pirates appear to have.
Meantime, Zhaan is getting worried. Moya is ready to be burned but she's still racing round trying to find another solution. However, it's too late. It's now or never. Zhaan, Chiana and Stark make their way to Pilot's chamber. Zhaan decides though to take as much of Moya's and Pilot's pain as she can, and the burning begins.
Returning to Moya with Bakesh, John radios in to ask why there are flames on Moya. Chiana answers. Zhaan is in great pain from what she took from Moya, and Pilot is nearly-unconscious. However, the burning has stopped and everyone will be alright - bar Moya.
As everyone returns to Moya the damage becomes known. Some of her chambers and corridors are severely burned and she cannot StarBurst, and she still may die. Also, without the money, there is not much chance of the people they hired working with them. It looks like they cannot get Jo'thee back from Scorpius without giving him John.
However, an approaching transport pod for some reason holds Jo'thee. Why? Because John has done the unthinkable - given himself up to Scorpius in order to get the ever-maddening chip out of his head.

What I thought
Very good as well! I really liked the return of all those faces, though I don't think Durka should have died but been temporarily desposed of again. He was the best semi-appearing baddie, the only other one at the moment being Maldis. Also, the bits on Moya were a bit boring - I really don't like storylines set entirely on Moya unless they're really strong, like The Way We Weren't and Crackers Don't Matter. Apart from that, pretty damn good. 4 out of 5.

Got anything you want to say? E-mail me at [email protected]

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws