Untitled Part Three

Author: Sorlk Lewis

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        Aeryn walked into the meeting with several primitive maps and charts in her arms.
John glanced up to acknowledge her entering; several other council members did the same.
Crichton was in an intense discussion about weapons and soldiers; "Look, I don't care about frelling security! If you want mine and Aeryn's help, you have to tell us how many of what you have. Got it?"
The older Sebacean he was talking with sighed in frustration, "Commander Crichton, we can only do that if you have received clearance. You have not received clearance."
Crichton was about to start yelling and Aeryn knew it; "Crichton, I have the maps you wanted."
John sighed and turned around to face Aeryn, "OK, thanks Aeryn."
He walked over to a second makeshift table and sat down to look at the maps.
For a microt, John let all of the surroundings soak in.
The marble like walls, the large table that seemed to be made of some type of wood, all of the Sebaceans discussing different points of this whole project, and last, Aeryn and the table before him.
"Whada ya think Aeryn? Think I can pull this off?"
"With my help…maybe." She answered, her tone of voice making it obvious she was teasing him.
John smiled and then tilted his head to the side, like he often did when he was trying to figure something out.
"What is it?" Questioned Aeryn.
"Nothing Sunshine. Now, let's have a look at those maps."

"If this is done, Naol, how will the Human not be killed or captured from this?"
"I will make sure he is no where near it. I will keep him preoccupied."
The young Sebacean she was speaking with sighed, "All right, I will leave immediately to arrange this. Should we bring The One's into this?"
"No. They would only cause more problems. You know what their beliefs are. You know how they are." Snapped Naol.
"Fine. But what will we do if they find out of this after the fact. It will most likely put even more strain on our talks of alliance."
"I know, but this must be done. Now go. I want this to happen in three weekens, no less, no more."
"Understood Naol."

John stood outside in the crisp and cool night air. It reminded him strongly of home just before a rain storm.
While he was standing outside in what he figured as the garden of Naol's mansion, he had figured out why he had wanted to help most of all; this place reminded him of Earth.
Other than the extra sun, and five moons, it was almost exactly like Earth.
It hurt to know how close this was, yet how far it was from the safety and comfort of Earth.
"Crichton?"
"Yeah Aeryn?"
Aeryn walked up next to him and looked at the sky, "Is this what Earth looks like?"
Ever since coming to this planet she had noticed the look of longing and joy and sadness whenever John wasn't planning strategies or arguing over security issues.
Crichton sighed, "Yeah, it does. Kinda like this one time I went with DK and another few buddies of ours on a summer trip to Germany. Germany is this country with a long history and it's real old, I'm not going to bore you with the details. Anyway, we went to this one city, it had a castle on the outskirts of it, kinda like Naol's mansion we are staying in. I remember thinking of how cool it was to be standing in a piece of history when we were in the castle. The air was so crisp and fresh there, kinda like here."
After a few moments of silence Aeryn decided to go ahead and speak, "Well John, if this is anything like Earth, I think it is beautiful."
John looked at her and smiled softly. He wanted to kiss her so much, but he wasn't sure if it would be all right in light of the recent ordeal and her revelations about Velorek.
He couldn't take it any longer.
John slowly leaned over and gave Aeryn a soft kiss on the lips.
It wasn't a frantic kiss as many of theirs had been in the past.
Aeryn froze.
After a microt or two more, John pulled away and turned back to looking at the sky, a soft smile still on his face.
After Aeryn came out of her daze, she realized that John had pulled away after only giving her the softest of kisses on her lips.
Aeryn sighed slightly at the fact John was no longer kissing her.
Crichton turned around and leaned against the railing on what would be known as a porch on Earth; his soft smile still playing across his facial features.
"Aeryn?" He asked quietly; a sneaking suspicion already forming in his mind of what her answer might be, or at least what he hoped for it to be.
"What?" She asked in return; an almost bewildered look on her face.
Johns smile grew; his action had the exact effect he was hoping for but thought would never occur, especially to the stoic ex-Peacekeeper.
He decided to test the waters once more, not to mention have some fun on his part; "Are you all right sweetheart?"
Aeryns mind was still reeling over the soft kiss from just microts earlier that she almost didn't register John speaking to her; "I'm fine." She replied automatically, not even taking notice of what he had called her.
John chuckled softly, realizing that how beautiful Aeryn looked at that moment.
He couldn't have planned a more romantic night than it was.
A slight breeze carried the sent of fresh fruit and flower blossoms, the combined pale glow of the planets five moons, everything.
Crichton buried his hand into one of his vest pockets; absent mindedly playing with the necklace he had bought for Aeryn those many, many monens ago. Before T'raltixx, before Scorpius, before Larraq and the Peacekeeper commando team.
He had gotten it on some backwater commerce planet a weeken or so after the ordeal with the faux Earth. So many times had John wanted to give it to her since then, yet something always came up or it was never the right moment, until now he thought.
"Um…Aeryn, I have a…a gift for you." He said loud enough for her to hear.
Aeryn gave him a puzzled look as he drew his head out of his pocket, his fist tight around the gift.
John swallowed hard, he couldn't remember the last time he was this nervous…no, he could remember. It was he was about to ask Alex to marry him.
*Get a grip John, you're only giving her a harmless gift.* He told himself.
John opened his hand and handed it to Aeryn.
The bright blue stone shimmered and danced in the soft moon light; Aeryn thought that it almost shone as bright as she thought Johns eyes did.
The small oval stone was as large as John's thumbnail. It was a silver blue and when light shone on it you could see bright blue swirls in the small stone. It hung from a silver blue chain that felt like the softest silk in the entire know Universe, Charted or Uncharted Territories.
"Do…do you like it? I mean if it isn't your style or anything then you don't…Aeryn?"
Aeryn was speechless; well almost, "It's…beautiful John, but why did you get it for me?"
Crichton ran his hand through his hair; "I…um…well…I thought you might like it. I got it for you a long time ago, I just couldn't find the right time to give it to you. We were always facing death or just coming out of a situation facing death and well…you know, it just kinda wasn't the right time, at least in my opinion. So…you like it?"
Aeryn smiled, "Yes, it is wonderful. It's just…well I have never received a gift before, especially not one like this."
John grinned, "Well, the important thing is that you like it. Do you want me to put it on you?"
"Yes, thank you John."
Crichton grinned even more and moved behind Aeryn to fasten the chain.
He brushed her hair off to the side gently and fastened the necklace.
"Perfect." He whispered closely to her ear, Aeryn could feel his breath on her neck when he spoke.
John turned Aeryn around to face him; he looked into her deep blue gray eyes, noticing more blue than gray.
"Aeryn," he whispered, "Thank you."
"Thank you for what?"
"For staying with me, backing me up, being my friend."
"You're welcome. And John," Aeryn paused for a moment, "Thank you."
"Thank you for what?" He teased.
"For staying with me, backing me up, being my friend."
Aeryn broke into a huge smile when she finished saying those things, so did Crichton.
"You know Aeryn, have I ever told you how beautiful you look?"
Johns smile widened when Aeryn blushed and he realized his comment had hit the mark once again.
John leaned forward and kissed her gently as he had earlier.
Aeryn leaned into John, pushing him up against the wall, and deepened the kiss.
After a few microts John slowly pulled away and looked up at the sky.
"What? What's wrong John?"
"Nothing, but I think it is going to rain. I just felt a few drops fall on my head, that's all."
Aeryn stood still for a few microts, a serious expression on her face.
"John?"
"Hmm?"
"Was the rain on the faux Earth…well does rain really feel like that?"
John brushed the back of his hand over her cheek, "Yeah, it really does feel like that."
Aeryn kissed John again and then pulled back.
"Maybe we should go inside." Offered Crichton.
"No John. I like the rain."
He smiled, but only for a microt before Aeryn was kissing him deeply again.
As the rain started to fall lightly on the two, one thought crossed John's mind; *Maybe this won't be so bad after all*.

To Be Continued…