Fallen Angels 3/?
by Jaime
Part 3: Kryptonite
You took for granted all the times I never let you down.
You stumbled in and bumped your head,
If not for me, then you’d be dead.
I picked you up, put you back on solid ground.
If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman?
If I’m alive and well, will you be there holding my hand?
I’ll keep you by my side with my superhuman might.
Kryptonite.
- 3 Doors Down; KryptoniteDK was still waiting in command when John and Aeryn walked in, still hand in hand. This went unknown by DK, because he was mainly focused on John’s face. It had changed, it was now joyful and it resembled the John he knew, with the exception of his hair.
Their gesture, however, did not go unnoticed by the rest of the crew, with the possible exception of Rygel. D’Argo and Chiana simply looked at each other, while a knowing smile was slowly working its way across Zhaan’s face. Their attention was diverted when John broke from Aeryn’s side and slowly started walking towards DK. It seemed as though Aeryn had succeeded.
The looks their other crewmates were giving each other did not go unnoticed by Aeryn, who was slightly uncomfortable about it at first. Then the feeling passed, and she was left with a feeling of belonging. That her crewmates were part of her life in such a way that they had noticed a change in her relationship with John, and that they seemed to be happy for them. It made her feel more at home than she had in a very long time. Her reverie was broken when she heard John choke out, “oh my God, DK, man, I can’t believe it.” And then she saw both childhood friends embrace each other, both too overcome with emotion for words. They stood there for a while, neither one believing that the other was truly there.
They separated and John slowly stepped back with a chuckle and spread out his arms, indicating those around him. “Well, DK, welcome to my world! I take it you have already been introduced to everyone so far, Rygel, Pilot, D’Argo, Chiana, Zhaan?” When DK nodded in response, John continued, “well, there is one more person you have yet to meet. Daniel Knight, meet Aeryn Sun.”
At the mention of her name, Aeryn stepped forwards and grasped DK’s hand and shook it, “Welcome aboard Moya, DK, right?” When he nodded, she smiled and turned towards John, “did I get it right?” She said, indicating her hand, which was still shaking DK’s.
John smiled in response, “yeah, Aeryn, that’s right.” His eyes then widened in realization of something. “Frell! Aeryn, we still need to get down to the planet to pick up the tools for the module!”
DK seemed shocked by this, “you mean you still have the Farscape 1?”
“Yeah, but you probably wouldn’t recognize it. Aeryn, can we take him along and show him around the commerce planet a little bit?” At her disapproving glare, he responded “come on, you’ve been down there yourself and you saw how safe it is. He’s gonna be like me you know, you’re not gonna be able to keep him on board while you go having adventures planet side.” He saw her resolve crumble and smiled in victory and turned to DK, “well, you’re going to have your first experience on another planet. Lets get to the transport hangar.”
When DK entered the transport hangar, his eyes immediately fell upon the Prowler. “Are we taking that?” He said with obvious awe in his voice.
John chuckled at his friend’s reaction to the powerful ship, mainly because he reacted much in the same way when he first saw it. “Afraid not, my man. We are not all going to fit in it, neither are the tools, which is why we came back to begin with. We needed to get a bigger ship, a transport pod. Come with me.”
On the way down to the planet, DK asked question after question. How the pod worked, what kind of tools were they getting, what has been done to the Farscape One, things like that. It was getting to the point where Aeryn was ready to give him a pentak jab just so he would be quiet. However, before things could go that far, they landed.
When John saw DK’s slack-jawed astonishment, he couldn’t help but smile. When Aeryn saw this, she turned to him and said, “I wouldn’t laugh if I were you, that is exactly what you looked like when you first got here.” With that, his smile just got bigger.
The trip to the merchant and back went by uneventfully. DK asked dozens of questions, which John was more than happy to answer, while Aeryn just tagged along, silently observing them both. She was glad to see the joyful spring in his step, along with the sparkle in his eyes return. He hadn’t been the same since his experience with Scorpius on the gammak base, and Aeryn was glad that DK’s presence had such a positive effect on John, however worried about him that he was. It was this relief that allowed Aeryn to concede to John showing DK around the commerce planet while she oversaw the loading of the tools onto the transport pod.
They had been walking for approximately half an arn, when Aeryn signaled that it was time to go back to Moya. They were just turning around when John heard a familiar hum, followed by an even more familiar voice, “I am Scorpius of the Peacekeeper command carrier delca bravo. There are criminals among you that could be worth a great deal to you.”
DK turned from the holo image when he heard John say into his com badge, “Aeryn we may have a problem, get the transport ready to leave as soon as we get there, I’ll explain later, just trust me on this.” He heard Aeryn’s murmured assent and then turned back to the recording, and was shocked to see the image of D’Argo appear. He was even more shocked by what he heard next.
“Wanted for murder, a Luxan that goes by the name of Ka D’Argo. Wanted for murder, a Delvian by the name of Pa’u Zotoh Zhaan. Wanted for treason, a Hynerian by the name of Dominar Rygel the Sixteenth. Wanted for infiltrating a Peacekeeper base as well as the murder of a ranking Peacekeeper official, a Nebari by the name of Chiana. Wanted for defection from the Peacekeepers as well as the murder of several Peacekeepers, a Sebacean by the name of former Officer Aeryn Sun. These five are wanted dead or alive.”
DK was shocked to see that the people John had been living with were wanted felons that were on the run from the Peacekeepers. However, nothing could prepare him for what he saw next, when an image his oldest friend appeared.
“Wanted for murder, treason as well as terrorism, a Human by the name of John Crichton. This man must be taken alive, that is my direct inviolate order. Any deviation from this will result in strict punishment. However, all of these criminals should be considered armed and extremely dangerous.”
DK’s shocked expression turned to John and was about to ask for an explanation, when someone in the crowd also noticed John standing there. Two words erupted a riot: “Its Him!!”
The chaos that ensued consisted of a mad dash back to the transport pod. John made sure that he kept DK in front of him at all times, to make sure he would intercept any fire that might come their way. When they got to the transport pod, John shoved DK inside while he turned to Aeryn and screamed, “get us out of here, now!!” He then turned at the door to the pod, took out his two pulse pistols, and began to open fire on the crowd gathering around the pod.
Meanwhile, DK sat in shock, obviously disturbed by the events of the past five microns. The people he was living with were wanted felons. His best friend that he had known his entire life was wanted for murder, and was currently involved in a gun fight, shooting anyone he saw without qualms. It was just too much for him to process.
Things didn’t get much better when they finally got the transport pod off the ground. Everything around DK was a blur, he vaguely heard John and Aeryn arguing and the sounds of the engines roaring to life. The whole ride back to Moya was spent, for DK, thinking about the changes in his best friend. The man he once knew, the peaceful scientist, was no more, in his place was a battle hardened criminal. Occasionally, John would try to talk to him, but his silence drove him away. He barely even moved, much less acted like he heard a word that was being spoken.
He barely even noticed when they docked with Moya, but he was jolted back into reality when both John and Aeryn grabbed him and pulled him out of the transport pod. He looked to John for an explanation of his behavior, but all he got was “not now, we have to get to command.” And so he complied, running at a mad dash to try and keep up with the other two so he wouldn’t get lost on his way to command.
When he got there, the rest of the crew was already assembled. They looked up when the final three entered and when John called out. “Pilot, I need immediate starburst, we need out of this system now.”
D’Argo turned to him and asked, “John, what happened down on the planet? Pilot detected weapons fire.”
“Yeah, Scorpy decided to leave a little present for me in the form of a wanted beacon down on the planet. When the locals saw it, they saw me as their golden opportunity. That’s why we need to get away from here as soon as possible.”
Just then, Pilot appeared over the viewer, “attention please, prepare for immediate starburst”
Everyone else turned to grab onto something, with the exception of DK, who stood in the middle of the room, looking extremely confused. Zhaan took notice of this, also noting the fact that Aeryn and John took refuge together in the alcove on the far wall. So, she grabbed DK and pulled him towards her, directing him to grab onto the control console. She made a mental note of the fact that he flinched when she touched him, something he had never done before. Judging by his behavior, she deducted that he saw the contents of the wanted beacon. However, she was brought back to reality by the lurch of Moya’s starburst, and DK’s subsequent reaction. Had she not grabbed him in time, he would have surely been thrown across the room.
When they exited starburst, John and Aeryn were the first to recover enough to ask if Pilot knew where they were. Unfortunately, he had no clue. It was then that John saw DK clinging to Zhaan, and realized what he had done, left him standing in a very dangerous position during a very violent moment on the ship. He realized that he had become so accustomed to such routines that he didn’t even remember that DK had never experienced anything like that before. He mentally kicked himself for his stupidity and, reluctantly, disentangled himself from Aeryn inside the alcove so that he could assess any harm that might have come to his friend.
The revulsion that had been in DK’s eyes previously, was now replaced by a seething anger. Anger at the man who had left him, and anger at the man that he had become. Angry because he was left mourning the death of a friend, while he was out here having incredible adventures. It was then that John knew, there were many things that DK had to overcome before he was comfortable with his new life. “Look man, I think we need to talk.”
“Talk? You want to talk? Talk about what? Talk about the fact that my best friend in the world is a wanted criminal? A murderer? Or the fact that the minute trouble arises he shoots first then asks questions later? Or the fact that he forgot about me in a time when I could have been seriously hurt, because he ditched me for his current floozy of the week?”
It was then that John had to physically restrain Aeryn from attacking DK. “Listen man, I can understand that you’re upset, but you have no right to come here and make judgments about my life and the people I live it with. You have no idea what this past cycle has been like for me, and until you’re ready to sit down and listen to me, I don’t want to hear another word about it.” John saw the anger slightly fade from DK’s face, and decided to continue. “So, are you ready to listen to me now?”
*********
John sat with DK on the terrace, looking out at the stars. DK had reluctantly given into John and decided to hear him out before he made any more judgments. John had no idea where to start, so he just dove right in, “OK, you tell me what you want me to explain first.”
DK looked a little shocked at his openness, but decided to ease his biggest concern first. “What was said on that wanted beacon, was it true?”
Deciding to go with the honest approach, he cautiously started. “Yes and no. We are Peacekeeper fugitives here on Moya, who is a stolen Peacekeeper prison transport. We freed her the day I arrived in the Uncharted Territories. As for their crimes? Some are true, some aren’t. D’Argo was arrested for murder, but he was framed by his brother in law. Zhaan really did murder someone, but it was a man who needed to be stopped for the good of her people. Chiana did infiltrate a Peacekeeper base, with me actually, to help save Aeryn’s life. It was then, also, that she murdered the Commander of the base, so that she could escape. Rygel isn’t treasonous, he was taken from his throne by his cousin who then stole it from him. Although the little guy is a big thief.” John paused before he got to the two most difficult to explain. “Aeryn did defect from the Peacekeepers because she was declared irreversibly contaminated when she spoke up for me to her captain. And she has killed other Peacekeepers, mostly to protect me or other crew members. And myself, I am wanted for murder, and in a way I am guilty. When I emerged from the wormhole that brought me here, I was placed smack dab in the middle of a Peacekeeper battle, the escape attempt of Moya. A Prowler, a Peacekeeper fighter plane, struck me while I was getting my bearings, causing it to veer off course into an asteroid. It was my unfortunate luck that it was the captain’s brother in that plane, and he decided that it was me who charged him, killing him. He swore revenge on me that day, and it is partially why he was so quick to condemn Aeryn. And I did commit Peacekeeper treason when I infiltrated a top secret base with Chiana posing as a dead Peacekeeper captain. This was a life or death situation for Aeryn, I had no choice. Later on, when we were trying to escape from the base, I piloted a transport pod on a kamikaze mission to blow up that base. It worked too. So, I guess in a way, I am guilty of the crimes I was accused of, but they all have reasons behind them. And out here in the Uncharted Territories, they have a different ethical code, and it takes a while to adjust to it.”
DK sat in stunned silence for a while, absorbing this information. “And this Scorpius, it was his brother that you hit?”
John cringed, hoping he wouldn’t have to get into the whole Scorpy situation. He decided that he would tell him the truth, but leave out the mind numbing torture part. And so they talked like this for about an arn, until John was tired of talking, and DK was just plain tired. So John decided to show DK to the cell where he would be staying, which was just down the hall from him.