|
 ohn Crichton sat at the
table of the mess hall in stunned silence after hearing the proposal
but the rest of the table buzzed to life.
"It seems to be
the best plan of action," said D'argo.
"It would
provide extra reassurance which, considering what happened with
Crais, would be beneficial to all of us," said Zhaan.
"It was getting
crowded around here," spoke Rygel. "And when you go...if there are
any items you no longer have use for make sure I'm the
first--'
Chiana slapped
Rygel across the nose. "Quiet, Toad-boy. I can think of one item we
already have no use for and if you don't shut up there are ways to
get rid of it!"
Pilot's head
appeared in the clam-shaped holo viewer. "Since his return Talyn has
been very confused and frightened. Moya would be grateful for
anything you do to help."
Aeryn nodded.
"Good. Then, we're all agreed. I'll begin moving my things over
first thing tomorrow."
"Is something
the matter, John?" Aeryn asked. She stood in the doorway of the mess
hall and watched as he fiddled with a plate of untouched food cubes.
Everyone else had long ago left the mess hall, and she was surprised
to see he was still there when she had happened by in the hall. He
was looking rather dark which may have been because he was wearing a
black tee shirt and pants or because his face was so
serious.
Oops, he
thought. Now she's concerned about me. She called me John. He folded
his hands and tried to look innocent. "Uh..." he hesitated as Aeryn
came to sit across the table from him. "I'm alright. How 'bout you?
Finished packing?"
Aeryn nodded.
"Almost." She reached across the table and picked one of the food
cubes from his plate. "Are you eating these or are you arranging
them into pictures?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
John continued
to stare at his plate and didn't answer.
A look of
concentration spread across Aeryn's forehead. "You did this for me
after the encounter with Namtar to make me feel better." She looked
at the disordered pattern of cubes on his plate. "Are you trying to
make yourself feel better?"
John sighed.
"No." He paused. He wasn't fooling her. "Guess I was just lost in
thought."
"About what?"
She placed the cube in her mouth and chewed it. There was no need
for unspoiled food cubes to go to waste, now was there?
"About how
different things are gonna be...you moving to Talyn." He pushed his
plate over to the middle of the table towards her for an easier
reach.
Aeryn crinkled
her brow. "How will they be different?" she asked in puzzlement. She
picked up another cube from the plate. "I'll still be able to
communicate with Moya and everyone else through the comms and
fulfill all my tasks aboard Moya. I won't shirk in my duty," she
added defensively.
"I didn't say
you would," John replied, prickling. He really didn't want to get
into an argument right now. Aeryn bit into her food
cube and chewed for a moment. She swallowed it and picked up still
another. It was the last of the shiny green kind.
It reminded
John of the first meal they had shared together on Moya while Zhaan
and D'argo interrogated them about the Peacekeepers. He remembered
how self-assured and arrogant she had been. How lost and amazed he
had been. How they had formed an instant alliance based on a
pilfered fork and escaped to the commerce planet together.
Aeryn raised
both her eyebrows then and fixed a straight-forward blue gaze on
him. She slapped her hand on the table in front of her. "Then,
what's the problem?"
"They'll be
different," John shrugged, shaking himself from his reverie. He
looked away from her. He couldn't explain himself any better. If he
blurted anything out now, as jumbled up as his thoughts were, he was
sure he'd end up sounding like an idiot. "That's all." And he was
silent again.
Aeryn chewed
another mouthful silently. She had put herself out trying to talk
with him and with no further encouragement, she didn't try to break
the silence that fell into the air between them.
John walked through the
winding corridors of Moya, swinging his arms at his sides, reaching
out every so often to balance himself whenever the living ship made
an unexpected shift. Many bumps and bruises had taught him to do
this and now he did so automatically.
Aeryn had
emptied his plate, clearly puzzled by his behavior and waiting to
see if he would break the silence. Her usual complaint was that he
talked too much but currently she was feeling exasperated because he
wasn't talking at all now. What a time for me to turn over a new
leaf, huh? John thought with a small inward smile, thinking how
confused Aeryn would have been by that expression but his momentary
mirth quickly faded away.
Aeryn was
feeling annoyed with him now. She had stood up, sighed and gone,
heading for the lab to receive a med kit Zhaan had suggested Aeryn
take with her in case of emergencies.
Take with her,
John thought. By the end of the day, Aeryn would be over on Talyn.
Only a comm link away. The girl next door. It was no big deal.
Right? This was the Uncharted Territories and now that Talyn was
traveling with them there seemed to be no question that the hybrid
was one more added reason for them to be pursued by the Peacekeepers
or other unscrupulous characters who thought they might make a
profit. Moya and Talyn had been separated once before. What
if--
John found
himself in the corridor just outside of Aeryn's quarters. He was
about to walk on by when his cluttered brain realized that the door
was open. "Pilot?" he spoke softly into his comm. He slowed to a
halt just outside her door. "Where's Aeryn right now?"
Pilot must have
been working on something extra for Aeryn's departure too for his
response was not as prompt as usual, "Officer Sun is currently in
the weapons bay."
John shook his
head and smiled outwardly now. Just like the ex-Peacekeeper to make
a side shopping trip there on the way to the pharmacy. But if Aeryn
was there and she wasn't here then who was--
John stealthily
moved into the doorway and peeked in. The occupant's back was to
him.
"WHAT ARE YOU
DOING?" he barked at the top of his lungs, stepping into the
room.
A pale blur
leapt upwards over his head, springing to a cranny near the ceiling,
then bouncing back towards the floor. With a quick twist, she
managed to land on her feet and face him.
"What am I
doing? What are you doing?" the startled Nebari girl, now recovering
from the scare, flashed back at him. Her shock of white bangs fell
over her eyes and her dark eyes looked defiant. "You shouldn't be so
sneaky," she accused, sounding a little out of breath.
But then, she
always sounded that way. John put his hands on his belt. He narrowed
his eyes and began to circle her. "Okay, whatever you took, Pip--Put
it back!"
"Look! I didn't
steal anything!" Chiana cried out, sounding offended by the very
accusation.
John kept
making a half-circle in front of her, keeping himself between her
and the door.
Chiana tilted
her head, following his skeptical movements. "Okay. Well. It's not
like I wouldn't if I could but you see," she confessed with all due
seriousness but the words streamed out of her mouth with barely a
pause between them. "Aeryn doesn't have anything worth stealing
here. She took all her valuables with her to put on her Prowler. So,
Crichton, I might have if I could have and wanted to but I don't
want to and I can't so I won't. You see?" Her lips couldn't help
curling into a smile after this brilliant argument for her
defense.
"Uh huh," John
licked his lip. Oddly enough, the young thief was actually making
sense to him. He rubbed his chin. "Then, what are you doing here,
Chi?"
"Well, you
heard Ryg, today, didn't you?" Chiana's head bobbed from left tilt
to right tilt as she watched him pace back and forth. "What's the
first thing you think he'll do when Aeryn isn't here and he thinks
he can get away with it?" Chiana reasoned.
"You have a
point." John grinned. This was beginnning to sound unbelievable. "So
you're watchin' out for Aeryn's things?"
"Well, yeah. I
mean--" Chiana looked embarrased for a moment. "I mean, sort of. Why
not? Aeryn's only going to live on Talyn temporarily, right? So, who
do you think will get blamed if she comes back and finds her place
has been trashed or something missing?"
John's eyes
glittered with mirth and his mouth twitched but he managed to stay
serious. He scratched his nose and then dropped his hands to his
sides in a Superman pose. "I see, so you're protecting yourself."
"You better
believe it," Chiana affirmed with a phrase borrowed directly from
the mouth of John Critchton.
As hard as it
was to admit, Chiana had proved invaluable in helping to save
Aeryn's life during the mission on the gammack base. She had taken
the life-giving nerve back to Moya while he had been stuck in a
Peacekeeper cell at the beck and call of Scorpius and the Aurora
Chair. For that at least, he owed Chiana the benefit of the
doubt.
"Okay," John
backed off and backed out of the room. He turned to leave as he
reached the door and wished her well in the venture. "Knock yourself
out."
Chiana kneeled
on the floor, stretching and staring at the door through which the
departing human had disappeared, with a questioning look upon her
face. She tilted her head from side to side. "Now why would I want
to do an idiotic thing like that?"
"John?" Zhaan's
soft voice called out to him as he lingered out in the hallway
outside of Zhaan's lab.
He poked his
head in the door and quickly scanned the room. Apparently, Aeryn had
already finished her errand here and left. "Yeah?" He looked at
Zhaan already guessing what he could expect. News spread around Moya
like wild fire.
"Aeryn believes
you aren't feeling well. Is there anything I can I do for
you?"
John shrugged.
His hands were in his pockets. "I don't know, Zhann. It's just
lately I've been looking at things. Wondering about them. I'll
figure it out."
"What sort of
things, John?" She sounded genuinely interested. Zhaan gestured for
him to sit down on a curve of Moya's wall that jutted out and formed
a bench. "Would you like to talk about it, my dear?"
"I guess I've
just been trying to sort out all the wild and crazy stuff that goes
on around here." John sidled into the room and sat down, resting his
elbows on his knees, and curling his hands in front of
him.
"Reflection is
good, John," Zhaan approved. "It brings balance. Harmony. Eventually
one can be at peace with the universe."
"Yeah, maybe.
Someday. But it stings like crazy at first."
"Part of life
is pain, John," Zhaan replied.
John nodded.
Pain. He'd seen and experienced enough of that sitting in Scorpius'
chair. First, he'd lost Earth. His home planet that he might never
see again. Then, he'd met strange aliens and visited stranger
planets under the strangest of circumstances. In the past
year--cycle, he corrected himself, he'd been ruthlessly pursued by
Crais, had a worm stuck in his gut, been inhabited by a killer
intellant virus, and now lost, Gilina, one of the few friends he'd
made since his slingshot journey through the wormhole. These and
other experiences like them, had changed him forever. Even if he did
find Earth now, his life would never be the same again.
And that
hurt.
"Ah, Crichton," the huge Luxan greeted him as he entered the
cargo bay. "Glad to see you're feeling better." D'argo's tentacles
swung as he lifted a box and walked towards the Prowler.
"Uh, thanks,"
John replied, scratching the back of his neck and trying not to feel
too guilty about not offering to help before this and also for not
really being sick. Talking to Zhaan had helped him clear his head a
little. "Anything I can do?"
"Almost
finished here," Aeryn said from the Prowler as she took hold of the
box that D'argo handed up to her and stowed it away.
John had a good
look around and whistled when he saw the assortment of items
scattered and stacked about the cargo bay. "Wow! It looks like
you're packing for a monen's vacation. Did you pack the kitchen
sink?"
"I'm only
bringing the essentials," Aeryn replied, stiffly. She alighted from
the Prowler. With clenched teeth, she hoisted a crate above her head
and moved it to the other side of the bay to set it on top of
another one.
John didn't
waste his breath trying to explain his phrase. "Then, what's all
this stuff?" John asked, sweeping the bay with his arm. He noticed a
bowl-like covered container nearby and helpfully picked it
up.
"All 'this
stuff'," Aeryn's tone was sharp. "Belongs to his Lowliness." She
grabbed for another but smaller crate. "He apparently wished to use
the cargo bay and my Prowler as his personal refuse deposit." She
shared a look with D'argo. "An idea that will be remedied
shortly."
John reached
out to help her with the crate but Aeryn clutched it close. "The
only thing left to load is my extra pulse rifle," she told
him.
John held up
his hands, still holding the bowl, and let her by. She had never
allowed him to forget the mishap he had once had with one of her
pulse rifles.
"Officer Sun,"
Pilot's voice came over their comms. "I would like to speak with you
before your departure. In private."
"I'll be right
there, Pilot," Aeryn replied, setting her load down. She gave John a
piercing look and exited the bay.
"Why is she so
annoyed with me?" John asked. "It's not my fault, Spanky went
and--"
D'argo cleared
his throat with significance.
John stopped
and looked at him. "What? You think it's my fault? Tell me, how is
my fault?" he challenged. He should have known better by now and not
asked but the question had already left his mouth and D'argo
proceeded to give him the answer.
"Apparently he
got the idea from something you were talking about. Jump
cleaning."
"Jump
cleaning?" John repeated in bewilderment.
"Yes.
Apparently a ritual performed on Earp where you rid yourself of
items that you no longer have use for and--"
John snapped
his fingers in comprehension. "D'argo, it's not jump. It's spring.
Spring cleaning. I stubbed my toe on something that was in his room
the other day and I shouted something about it," he explained. He
looked curiously at the bowl--one of Rygel's possessions and then
lifted the cover. He screwed up his face as a potent smell hit his
nostrils and his eyes watered. He quickly snapped down the lid. "I'm
not even going to ask what that is!"
"I'll take
that," D'argo said, smugly and took the putrid smelling stuff from
the disgusted human, slipping it into a bulging bag. D'argo put the
bag on his shoulder then watched for a moment as John stood staring
at the Prowler. He walked up beside his ally and friend. "I would
have thought you would support Aeryn's decision. She is well aware
of the risks she is taking. We need someone in control of Talyn. It
is better than having no control at all. I will rest easier knowing
she is there to warn us. It is good strategy, Crichton."
"Yeah, D'argo.
Well, I'm not thrilled about the idea. That's all." He rubbed his
temples and shook his head, putting uncalled for anger in his next
words. "Is everyone my personal therapist all of a sudden because I
didn't see any PHD's?"
D'argo stood
contemplating him, looking as if he had said something to say but
was indecisive. He turned and went back to work.
John noticed
the Luxan warrior was gathering up several other items. "Where you
goin' with that, big guy?" John asked in an apologetic tone, already
regretting his outburst.
"To find Rygel
and return his refuse to him," D'argo replied. His tone told
Crichton that D'argo wasn't holding anything against him. "It is a
task that will give me great pleasure." With a grin on his face that
would have made the Hynerion run to the deepest crevices and the
farthest reaches of Moya if he had been there to see it, D'argo
disappeared into the corridor.
John sighed and
sat down on the abandoned crate.
Several microts
later, Aeryn walked into the cargo bay, saw him, and walked on by.
"Oh, are you still here?" she said, giving him the cold shoulder
treatment. She strode past him with a tool in hand which resembled a
wrench and bent to check something in the front of her
Prowler.
"You're still
upset with me," John observed. There was a measure of surprise in
his voice.
Aeryn
straightened. "Of course, I'm upset with you! You're upset. You
don't want to tell me why. Why shouldn't I be upset?" She threw down
her tool and walked towards the exit.
She had a
point. Somehow, all the feelings he had had today swelled up inside
of him and came to a fore. Moya had become his home now just as
everyone on board, insane as they usually seemed, were people he
cared about. And for even one of them to leave Moya--even
temporarily--involved a risk. A risk of of loss. Whipped to the
surface, it came out, "You once said, when Talyn was with Crais, he
shot at you!"
His words
brought her to a halt in the middle the doorway. She pivoted, and
then leaned against the frame of the doorway, looking back at him.
Aeryn grimaced. She couldn't help but let the emotion enter her
voice at the memory. "He's only a child. First, Moya left him and
then he thought we all had. He was confused." She folded her arms
across her chest and paused, reigning in her emotion, sadness and
disappointment, over what had happened in the past. She pressed it
all back with a slight shudder.
John stood up
and moved slowly towards her. "I just can't shake this idea. If
something happens--"
Aeryn locked
her gaze with his. She had no patience for what-ifs. She spoke
vehemently. "Things happen, Crichton! We all make mistakes. We learn
from them." Aeryn's eyes traveled over his face for a moment. "We
deal with them--and we move on!" She paused and the octave of her
voice had returned to its normal level when she spoke again. "Pilot
says this a sensitive time between Moya and Talyn but Talyn has
expressed sorrow over his former actions. Forgive Talyn, John. I
have."
A choking noise
came out of John's throat and when he opened his mouth, Aeryn
realized it was a chuckle. "When life gives you lemons, make
lemonade," he quoted suddenly. "Where'd you get such a human idea,
Aeryn Sun?"
Aeryn's face
remained serious but her eyes were beaming. "I suppose it results
from spending so much time with a certain human I know. Irreversible
contamination."
John chuckled
again softly and all the stress of day seemed to exhale from him
with the apologetic sigh that followed. "I'm sorry," he said, giving
her a lopsided grin. "I guess I was just wishing, with all these
changes, there'd be one constant. That somewhere in this mixed-up,
crazy universe, something would always be the same. But I suppose
that's almost too much to ask..." he trailed off. Then, he shook
himself and moved on to a new thought. "So would you like to come
and eat lunch with this human tomorrow?"
The corners of
her mouth twitched. "On one condition," she said with mock
severity.
"Yeah?" John
prompted.
"That I won't
be the only one eating it," Aeryn said.
John took her
hand in his and squeezed it gently. "You have a deal," he
promised.
She didn't
withdraw her hand. She intertwined her fingers with his. "There is
one thing that will always be the same," she told him,
softly.
"What's
that?"
A radiant smile
lit up her features doing credit to her surname, Sun. She raised her
head to look at him. "You will always be John Crichton," she said,
fondly.
John smiled.
"And this won't be goodbye. It wasn't the last time or the time
before that."
"It's not
goodbye," Aeryn agreed.
Just before
retiring, John took a solitary trip up to the terrace. He stood
there for a moment gazing over at Talyn and began to reflect on a
grand scale. Maybe one day he would find Earth again but the
importance of that faded away for a moment as he thought about his
life on Moya with his shipmates....his friends...his family. It
wasn't so hard to make lemons into lemonade when he really thought
about it. Watching young Talyn and gazing at the distant stars, he
felt almost as if he could reach out and touch the future, whatever
it might bring.
"It's not
goodbye," John repeated softly to himself.
| 