From the Past Part 8

By: Aeryn Slayer (moyas_transport_pod@hotmail.com)
I LOVE FEED BACK!!!!!
Summary: Escape Part 2
Disclaimer: You know, someday I might… nah. It’s worth a try
Rating: I can never say with these things, probably M for the danger.
Archiving: Sure ya can. Just let me know, so I can gloat to all my friends when I show them.
Author’s note: Thanks for the support. I had so much typing to do for school, I had no time for typing this up. It’s done and part 9 is almost done. Thank you for your patience.

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Following Crais wasn’t as easy as it had originally sounded. Keeping Aeryn upright was one thing, but staying close enough to Crais without being caught, and not falling too far behind to lose him, was something else completely.
So far, John had kept Aeryn and himself out of Crais’ view. There had been a couple of narrow escapes, where Crais had turned and they had only just managed to stay out of sight. Earlier on, Crais had come upon another squadron of guards, supposedly on their way to the hangar. Much to John’s surprise, Crais had ordered them to search other parts of the ship. He had to be up to something, but what was it?
Just as John realised they were nearing the hangar, he heard not only Crais ordering some more guards away from the hangar in front of them, but several heavy footsteps coming from behind them.
Finding himself in a bit of a tight situation, he reached for the nearest door, and burst inside, not worrying about what they may find themselves facing.

*****

Rygel had happily stayed in the quarters provided. The only guard, who had been appointed to him personally, had been called away. Rygel wasn’t quite sure why, and didn’t care, since Crais had provided him with Hynerian Marjoules. His stomach got the better of him, and took this opportunity to devour the delicacies.
Just as he finished the last plate, the door to his room was thrown open, and much to his astonishment, John and Aeryn came tumbling in.
“What the yotz are you doing here?” the Dominar demanded, surprised by the interruption of his two ‘former’ crewmates.
“Sparky?” John asked quietly, listening carefully as the guards moved past.
“I demand that you leave now, or I will be forced to get Crais in here to do it for me.” He threatened, his diminutive, green sprout of a hand moving towards the communicator.
John saw what he was planning, and lunged towards the pot-bellied weasel of a Hynerian royal and smacked his paw away from the device.
“I don’t think you’re in a position to threaten, Buckwheat.” John warned, still keeping his voice low to not alert the nearby guards of their location. “You are the one who needs threatening. You were going to turn us all in, weren’t you?”
Rygel looked at John confidently, but cowered when he made eye contact, which he broke immediately. He looked away, and turned his attention back to the empty plate in front of him.
“Oh no you don’t Guido.” John announced as he pushed the plates well out of Rygel’s meagre reach. “You have more than enough answering to get through before you will ever see food again. I even know of a few people who will probably space you before they bother to ask questions. If you’re lucky.” The threatening tone of John’s voice rousing even Aeryn’s interest.
“John, we have to get out of here. Leave him behind. He’ll only get us caught.” Aeryn started to protest when she guessed that John intended to take Rygel with them.
“And let him miss out on what I have planned for him? I don’t think so. We’re taking him back to Moya, so he can explain exactly what he thought he was doing. I’m sure our favourite Dominar has a good answer for that. Don’t ya Sparky?” John turned to Aeryn and gave her his ‘I know what I’m doing’ grin, before facing Rygel again. “Besides, if he does stay here, and we leave, he’s dead anyway.”
Rygel faced John’s inscrutable glare, pretending to go over his options, when inside he was well aware of what he would do.
“Well, what are we waiting for? I certainly don’t want to be here any longer.” He answered as though it was his idea.
As they headed to the doorway, John stopped Rygel and whispered menacingly in his ear, “Don’t you try anything Sparky, you hear me? You try one single thing and I’ll kill you on the spot. Got it?”
“Got it.” Rygel replied simply, a little scared by the human’s tone.

*****

Crais knew what was happening. He hadn’t actually seen either of them properly, but he knew.
If they planned to follow him to get to the transport hangar, he planned to make it hard for them to make it there and survive. Aeryn Sun, perhaps, would live a while longer. He would make sure of that. However, John Crichton, he wouldn’t survive another arn if he had anything to say about it. The way things looked, he would have a lot to say about it.
Every squadron of Peacekeepers he came across was sent to different parts of the ship, as far from the hangar as Crais could manage without arousing suspicion.
Just up ahead he saw what they had all been searching for. The transport hangar door, standing no more than a metra away, open and inviting.
As Crais entered, he saw another obstacle.
“Lieutenant Bracca. I thought you were standing watch on Command. Did Scorpius send you here?” He asked as nonchalantly as he could muster. He hadn’t expected Bracca to be down here. ‘It may be a little harder to get him to leave without too many questions’ Crais thought to himself, his anger building at the inconvenience.
“I was sent here by Scorpius. Sir. I was wondering, sir, if you had seen any squadrons on their way here. I was expecting Decca, Alto, and Magus teams to report to me here, but they haven’t arrived.” Bracca answered, eyeing his former Captain guardedly.
“Hasn’t Scorpius informed you yet?” He asked, bluffing his way through his new plan. At Bracca sceptical look, Crais continued, “There has been a sighting on Deck 3 Delta. All squadrons I have seen are on their way there. You should have been sent there already.” Before Bracca could argue, Crais hurried him on. “I think it would be wise if you went there now and apprehended Crichton and the traitor yourself.”
Bracca doubts were rising and he couldn’t help but ask, “Sir, why aren’t you on your way to capture them personally?”
Crais had anticipated this question and had the perfect answer that could not be disputed by anyone. “I am afraid that if I caught up to Crichton first, I would kill him. I’m sure you wouldn’t want Scorpius’ wrath because you allowed me to catch and kill him before the information had been extracted. Do you?”
“No, sir. I’ll go and deal with this personally, sir.” He turned and faced the remaining guards. “Fall out to Deck 3 Delta. Apprehend Crichton and the traitor. Do not harm the human. The traitor is expendable.” He ordered as he headed out of the hangar in front of the.
Crais let a slight smile cover his face as everything fell into place.
He grabbed two pulse guns and aimed them straight at Crichton’s only possible entrance.
He would be ready. When Crichton and Aeryn arrived, he would be ready.

*****

Something was wrong. Very wrong.
Somehow, all signs of Peacekeeper activity had become nonexistent.
Nothing; no one; anywhere.
John Crichton had had a feeling something was happening. They stayed as close to Crais as possible. Whatever Crais’ plan was, it included sending any guards he ran into on a wild goose-chase around the ship.
John checked the weak and shaky woman leaning on him. Aeryn was going to need a while to get over this. As he relived those moments in his cell, hearing the screams and cries coming the woman he loved, remembering that Crais had taken her away from him. His anger started to build again. John Crichton, lowly human, was ready to charge into that transport hangar and face whatever Crais had planned for him. He’d even go through a firing squad if it meant a chance to get his hands on that monster.
His anger quickly vanished as he felt a hand running unsteadily down his cheek. As soon as his eyes met hers, all him anger turned straight into worry. Worry that he wasn’t going to get her out of this. Worry that none of them would get out of here. Worry that yet another of his plans had gone wrong and once again, Aeryn had almost been killed. Worry that he had failed everyone. Worry that Scorpius would get his hands on either himself or Aeryn, and destroy whatever was left of their minds.
Now though, there wasn’t time to think about what might go wrong, instead, all the things that were about to go wrong now.
Aeryn had focused his attention from some far off place, to the entrance ahead of them. It loomed so simply in front of them, and yet, was so important to their escape.
Rygel did himself a favour and stayed behind John. For everyone’s safety.
The three fugitives moved as swiftly as they could to the side of the doorway. John risked a glance through to look for any sign of trouble, Crais in particular.
It was pure luck for the only human in the Uncharted Territories, that on this day, Crais’ madness had taken over him aim. If luck hadn’t been with him, the pulse fire that sprayed on that small doorway, would have hit more than metal.
The loud metallic clangs vibrated through the tiny corridor that held the three frightened and shocked figures. Crais’ shots had just barely missed John’s head, and hit the wall on the other side of the door. The entire frame of the door was also given quite a punishing.
“Now, Crichton. It seems you are at a severe disadvantage.” Crais’ menacing voice resonated through the barren hangar.
“Yeah, well Crais, my plans never did go as I planned.” John tried to joke back.
“I have a deal for you. One I don’t think you are in a position to refuse.” Crais paused to prepare himself for the reaction he knew was coming as he voiced his own plans. “Send out Officer Sun, and we will leave this ship, on the new Leviathan, together.”
Before Crais had even finished his speech, right about when he mentioned Aeryn’s name, as he had predicted, John had started shouting out that it was never gonna happen. It was not letting Crais anywhere near her again, and that the only way to her, was through him. As far as Crais knew, Crichton had no weapons or any means of defence. He had them at his total mercy, and intended to use that power to get exactly what he wanted.
“Come now Crichton. What kind of resistance do you really think you can give me? I still have retribution to pay for my brother’s death. You didn’t think I had forgotten did you?”
“Crais. I. Didn’t. Kill. Your. Brother. I don’t know how many times or how many ways I can tell you that. It was an accident.” John’s exasperated pleas rang out.
“There is only one way to save your life, Crichton. Send out Officer Sun. Once she and I have left, there will be nothing stopping you from taking another ship and flying out of here before Scorpius recaptures you.” The amusement at seeing Crichton’s hopelessness was almost overwhelming for Crais. He was going to get exactly what he wanted, nothing would stop him.
“Why do you want to get away so badly, Crais?” Rygel asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
“Dominar Rygel. So nice of you to join us on this, momentous occasion. You should already know the answer to that. Scorpius has taken over my ship. After he left his Gammak Base, he used his ‘influence’ to persuade High Command to give him control of my Carrier to resume his search for you, Crichton.” The anger and despise that had settled between these two vicious men was evident by Crais’ words.
“You wanna leave your own ship ‘cause Scorpy took over and now you have NO power over your little Peacekeeper buddies?” John asked, half disbelieving, half amused at his loss.
He stole a glance around the doorframe to see Crais’ position and armament, and was rewarded with another round of pulse fire.
John pressed himself closely against the solid wall behind him, putting a guarding arm back across his companions.
That’s when it happened.
John was sure what was actually going on until it was too late.
When he put his arm back to keep Aeryn and Rygel against the wall, there was a large gap before his hand reached Rygel’s thronesled. The same place where Aeryn was supposed to be.
John looked around wildly, trying to find Aeryn.
While John had been distracted, Aeryn had made her way to the opposite wall. Just barely, as she stumbled and almost found herself in the line of fire coming through the door.
As soon as the weapon fire dissipated, Aeryn took the opening and headed straight for the open door. Fortunately for her plan, John was busy noticing that she wasn’t where she was supposed to be to stop her. She took the opportunity and before John knew what was happening, Aeryn was through the door.
As John turned around and saw Aeryn’s hair in the doorway, he knew exactly what was going on. ‘This can’t be good’ he thought to himself grimly.
Aeryn looked unsteadily at Crais’ huge smirk at his victory.
“You made the right choice, Aeryn. This may even spare your ‘friends’’ lives.” The cruel grin he wore grew as Aeryn faltered and leant on some nearby crates beside her as she approached him.
John started getting a little frustrated at the way things were going, and let the others know what was on his mind.
“Aeryn, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!” He asked incredulously. “Get back here right now before he gets to you. And if you even try to go near her Crais, I’ll kill you myself. I promised you once, and I don’t intend to go back on my word.” To put his point across, John stuck his head out of the safety of the doorframe again. He needed to see that Aeryn was still all right. Once again, he was only just able to pull his head back before the pulse fire sprayed his head’s previous position.
“Dammitt!” he cursed under his breath as he saw how close Aeryn was getting to that mad man.
“There’s no other choice John. I’m sorry.” Aeryn gradually started moving closer towards Crais position.
“She’s right, Crichton. You have no other choice.” He called forebodingly. He turned his attention back to Aeryn and continued, “Come with me and together we will take the young leviathan and escape this life. Or, I will see to it that Crichton dies in the slowest, most painful way I can devise. I’m sure Scorpius has many ways for him to suffer before he succumbs. If he’s lucky, I will take the vengeance that my brother deserves. You have my word as a Peacekeeper, Officer Sun.”
Aeryn looked Crais straight in the eyes, the only thing she could do without appearing weak. She tried to read them, to see if he would keep his word.
“It’s alright John. Crais won’t hurt me, will you?” She asked precariously, knowing what her former Captain had in store for her. An involuntary shiver ran down her spine as images attacked her mind. Images of what Crais had done to her. She quickly pulled the stoic visage over her and kept as much composure as her pained body would allow. “He has other plans for me.”
John cringed and did everything he could not to charge out there and defend Aeryn against this monster. He clenched his fists at his sides, squeezing until the knuckles were ice white. ‘He has other plans for me’. Aeryn’s words played repeatedly, quickly joined by the sounds of her screams. He had to get out there.
Crais snickered as he saw his victory only moments away.
Aeryn tried not to buckle at Crais’ gloating stare, and kept her mind focused on the love she felt for that crazy human close behind her, to give her the strength to do what she was about to do.
“Put down you weapons, and I will go with you.”
“Now, now, Officer Sun. Do you really think I would do that?” Crais let out a full-fledged laugh as her ‘order’.
“The only way you will get me to go anywhere with you, is if I know you will keep your word. Put down your weapons, so I know you can’t go back on your word. Or, you will have to drag my unconscious body off this ship.” Aeryn put all of her conviction behind her threat, trying desperately to keep her emotions in check.
Crais looked at Aeryn, seeing how serious she was, then he took a quick glance back at the smouldering doorway. When he looked back at Aeryn, how heavily she was relying on those crates to stay upright, he realised he would have to dispose of one weapon at some stage.
“One gun.”
Knowing she had no choice in the matter, Aeryn carefully nodded her acceptance.
Using the crates to support her, she made her way towards the outstretched hand, offered so carefully by Crais, while seeing the other one, the one with the pulse gun, aimed straight for the door. ‘Just in case John tries something’ she imagined. She also prayed to every Goddess she had heard Zhaan praying to that John didn’t try anything foolish. That would ruin everything.
This was just too much. John had managed to take a peak around the door while Aeryn was talking, only to see her now moving closer to Crais. He looked around helplessly, trying to think of something that would assist him in a rescue attempt.
“I could always throw you at him, Sparky.” He offered, sounding very serious, to a very worried Rygel.
Rygel realised how unstable John was, and moved his thronesled somewhat further out of reach of this fanatical human. “You will do no such thing you crazy yotz.”
John would have grinned at how horrified Rygel looked at his suggestion, but right now, he would do whatever it took to protect Aeryn.
“It appears that I have won Crichton.” Crais announced as he grabbed a firm hold on Aeryn’s upper arm. “I have Officer Sun, the young warship, and my freedom. You, Crichton. You will die here. I wish it were at my hands, but, I gave my word.”
Suddenly, Aeryn started to giggle. She was having a hard time breathing, but she was going to enjoy this immensely. Her giggle soon turned into a full laugh and she bent forward, thankful for Crais’ hold on her. It was the only thing keeping her upright.
“What is it you are finding so funny?” Crais demanded, not seeing anything that would be of amusement to her.
John was also curious, but worried that the chair may have had more of an effect than he thought.
“You didn’t win.” Aeryn managed between gulps for breath and laughs. “You haven’t won anything. Especially me.”
Crais tried to turn her unmanageable body around to look her in the eye, and see what she meant. He got her half way around, before he felt it.
As Crais turned Aeryn over, she used it to her advantage. She carefully removed the rod-shaped object from under her jacket, and as her body was swung around, she used all of her remaining strength to swing her arm around. The weapon hit its mark.
As soon as the rod hit his skull, Crais’ world immediately started fading to black. He had no chance to react, before the darkness consumed him and his motionless body wilted to the floor.
John waited no more than a couple of microts before making a break for it. His fear for Aeryn causing adrenalin to pump through him at such a rate, his legs were moving before it registered in his mind.
Aeryn was on the ground, half on top of Crais’. He rushed instantly to her side and lifted her into his arms. He moved her away from Crais and laid her gently down on the ground.
Rygel, after deciding enough time had gone by without any weapons fire, was satisfied there was no danger to himself, and guided his thronesled into the hangar.
“What the hell were you doin’, Sunshine? You tryin' to get yourself killed?” Anger played in his words, but it wasn’t meant for her. John was furious at himself for letting all this happen. Most of the rage was also aimed at Crais. He was accountable for a lot of things when it came to Aeryn.
Aeryn could hear John’s questions, but they were so faint that they barely broke through her trance. Her eyes were glued to Crais’ body, lying unmoving, on the cold metal floor, less than a metra in front of her.
“Aeryn? Baby, come on, talk to me.” John stroked his hand soothingly down one side of her face, gently turning her head to look at him.
The instant Aeryn looked into John’s eyes, she felt all her walls breaking down. Caring and concern flowed from those eyes, and consumed her.
“I’m fine now John. I’m safe.” Then, the walls were gone. Aeryn broke down and cried into John’s shoulder.
John tried to comfort her as well as he could, but he was alerted of their precarious situation by the soft sound of footsteps coming their way.
“Aeryn, we have to get out of here. Those Peacekeepers must have heard the weapons fire. They’ll be here in a couple of microns. We need to leave.” He didn’t want to disturb her, but there wasn’t any time for that yet.
John picked up Aeryn’s slightly shaking form, and headed to the entranceway of a ship. He didn’t really care at this point in time what ship he picked, so long as it got them out of this place.
Most abruptly, a beeping sound starts to resonate throughout the hangar. Two of the three fugitives assumed it was just the ships siren, alerting all the guards of their imminent escape, but Aeryn knew differently.
“This way.” She said, pointing towards another hatch.
John saw exactly which ship that hatch belonged to, and his mind was set.
“We are not going on Moya’s offspring Aeryn. That’s how this all started.”
“He wants to help us get back to Moya. He’s been in contact with Pilot. They’re waiting for us.” Aeryn replied, concentrating carefully to the sounds as she translated them.
“And how do you know that?” John was definitely not convinced, but curious as to how she was interpreting these beeps.
“It’s Skykaavian. The old language of Sebacean’s. He’s sorry for all that’s happened.” As Aeryn looked into John’s sceptical eyes, she added, “Trust me John. He will get us back to Moya.”
That was all John needed to hear.
“Right then.” He pushed the release and the door hissed as it slowly opened for them.
John tightens his grip on Aeryn and cautiously moves through the ship towards the command.
“Sparky, make sure the hatch is closed properly.” John called back as they entered command.
Rygel mumbled a few of his more colourful Hynerian phrases as he returned to the docking hatch. When he arrived, he pushed the button and watched the hatch close. As he made his way back to command, he didn’t notice the frail form slumped against a wall in the darkest corner of the room. No one saw the evil grin that appeared on its face. And no one hear the one sentence it uttered before it slipped back to unconsciousness.
“I have won.”

TBC

So, you all probably thought I forgot that Rygel was on the Carrier. And, well, I did. But I couldn’t forget for long. Any ideas what I can do to him when he gets back to Moya? I wanted to kill him off, but my Hynerian muse wouldn’t let me.

AS