A Path to happiness 5: A Trap
by Janne
Summary: John and Aeryn get rescued from the cabin only to be captured again.
Spoilers: This is the fifth part in my A Path to Happiness series. Obviously, reading the first, second, third and fourth installments would help, but they're not necessary. There are also references to Scorpius theories from episodes like Won't Get Fooled Again and A Clockwork Nebari.
Disclaimer: The Farscape concept, theory, characters, and overall universe is not the property of me, but rather of Fox Studios Australia, Jim Henson Co, Sci-Fi Channel, and Nine Network Australia. This story is strictly for entertainment purposes and no copyright infringement is intended. All characters (except for that of Travis Calloman of which, I made up myself) are the property of the above companies.
Author's Note: I'd love to hear what you think about it. Please e-mail me with any comments- good or bad- that you may have. Special thanks go to Travis, a friend who gave me the idea for this story (actually, he was the framework for Travis Calloman). I couldn't have done it without him!
Archiving: If you want it, I only request that you ask me first, then keep my name and e-mail address with it.
John and Aeryn had been in the cabin for almost four solar days. Aeryn's condition was not getting better, and it was all John could do to keep himself sane. Aeryn would sleep most of the time, and even then, it was a restless sleep. She tossed and turned, speaking names he had never heard. He assumed they were fellow soldiers from her regiment in the Peacekeepers, and let it slide. But today was different. She called out different names. One in particular.
"No, Scorpius! Please!" she yelled, tossing back and forth. He jolted to attention and rushed to her side.
"C'mon baby, what's wrong?" he said, but he knew that she wouldn't wake up. Nothing he did could ever wake her from her Peacekeeper sleep. She kept sleeping, kept yelling, kept tormenting herself.
"Leave him alone! Scorpius! NO!!!" she screamed louder on the last word.
"What's the matter Aeryn? Leave who alone?"
"Don't kill John! Please, I beg you! Take me instead!" Suddenly, Aeryn's body fell limply onto the bed from her slightly lifted position in terror and agony.
"Aeryn! Baby, wake up. Please wake up!" he pleaded. Suddenly, her eyelids fluttered open. She was breathing heavily and sweating profusely."The dreams are getting worse," was all she said laying her head down, knowing that he had heard every word.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Travis Calloman watched Scorpius pace back and forth. The more he paced, the larger the knot in Travis's stomach grew. He knew that if Scorpius himself was interrogating him again, he must be a great asset to the Peacekeepers. I mean, sure he was the best Special-Ops pilot and secret agent that the Peacekeepers had had in years, but he was expendable, like all soldiers.
"Where are they, Lt. Calloman?" Scorpius asked. The lieutenant was beginning to understand Crichton's annoyance with Scorpy- he just didn't seem to understand anything. His skull must be extremely thick he thought.
"For the tenth time, Scorpius, I don't know. Asking me over and over isn't going to change anything."
"Yes, but you have spent time with them," Scorpius started. You haven't got a clue just how much time I've spent, do you Scorpius? Travis thought, smiling to himself. Scorpius continued. "I figure you know their personalities, their instincts. Therefore, you must be able to tell me something about where they possibly could be or how to find them."
"What, brute force isn't working?" he asked sarcastically, getting bolder.
"Ah, you have picked up on Crichton's sense of humor," Scorpius said. He turned his back slightly, then whipped around and slapped him across the jaw. "I never did like it. Now tell me what I want to know!" he bellowed.
"You might try looking for his friends, the Delvian, Hynerian, Nebari and Luxan. They will probably come looking for him and lead you right to them," he said, hoping to the gods that it satisfied Scorpius enough.
"Thank you," Scorpius said with an evil smile and knocked him unconscious.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Zhaan did not tell her friends of her find. She simply picked it up, put it into her robes and continued down the lane. D'Argo and Chiana did not see her pick it up and did not sense anything wrong. But Zhaan knew they must find them quickly, or else, their fallen comrades may not make it out alive. Little did she know, there was another problem following them right to John and Aeryn.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Aeryn's dreams were getting more frequent and more traumatic every night. It had now been sixteen solar days. Her condition got worse every day, and there was nothing John could do. That was what drove him to leave. That was what drove him to where he was presently. He was walking along the path, safely hidden in some bushes about twenty metras from the side of the road, and then he saw them. He saw a hooded figure, and his gut reaction was to race back to the cabin, to Aeryn. But he hesitated slightly, because he thought the hood looked familiar. And then his eyes widened, as the figure under the hood was familiar as well. He jumped forth precariously.
"Zhaan!" he said. They all jumped and turned to the voice.
"John! You must not speak so loudly!" she reprimanded, but then pulled him forth and embraced him. Then D'Argo turned around.
"We must leave- now! Someone is coming. They must have followed us. Where is Aeryn?" he asked, suddenly noticing that she was not with him. He turned back up the incline to the bushes and motioned them to follow him. D'Argo turned around at the top of the embankment, and caught a glimpse of a Peacekeeper patrol. The friends continued walking, careful not to make a sound, and after the short walk to the cabin, they entered. Aeryn was sleeping. She was screaming names, mainly John's and Scorpius's. The three stared at her, all with different expressions. Zhaan's was a look of deep sadness. D'Argo had a look of warrior's fear, the fear that a fellow soldier may die with insane thoughts going through her mind. Chiana's was almost indecipherable, but John guessed it was one of compassion.
"How did you know about the soldiers?" John asked to get their minds, as well as his own, off of Aeryn's inner torment.
"I could smell them. Good thing Peacekeepers don't bathe too often," D'Argo said, and they all started laughing. Just then, Aeryn woke up. John briskly walked to her side.
"You OK sweetheart?" he asked. She nodded. Then she saw Zhaan and smiled.
"Come here Zhaan," was all she managed to say. At Aeryn's small, wavering voice, Zhaan flashed a worried glance in John's direction.
"She stopped talking a while ago. That's the first thing she's said in about three solar days. She also has been getting sick in the evenings. She throws up everything she's eaten that day, which isn't much," he said, filling in the blanks. Zhaan smiled ever so slightly and nodded. Zhaan walked to her side, and knelt next to her, putting her ear very close to Aeryn's mouth. Aeryn whispered something to Zhaan and Zhaan nodded. Aeryn sighed, smiling. She pulled Zhaan back down and whispered something again to her.
"As you wish, Aeryn," was the Priestess's reply.
"What? What did she say Zhaan?" John asked.
"Aeryn wished that you not be told until we are back on Moya," Zhaan said. D'Argo and John exchanged confused looks and shrugged it off, both returning their gaze to Aeryn. Suddenly, the lights all went out. And that's when all hezmana broke out.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"The fugitives tried to elude us, Sir, but we saw them. We also saw where they went," the patrol reported. Bracka nodded and made a hand movement, which served as their dismissal. They marched away and Bracka went to Scorpius's office area. He told Scorpius the update he had been given.
"Good. Send a brigade out and bring them in. I don't care about the others, but I want Crichton alive!" Bracka said some sort of Peacekeeper acknowledgement, and left. Scorpius sat in his chair. "We will soon meet again, Crichton."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When the lights went out, Aeryn froze. She was terrified, John could sense it. She tried to get up, but John made her stay on the bed.
"You can sit up, but don't stand, not yet," he said. She looked to Zhaan for some sort of fact that she could get up but she simply nodded, and Aeryn knew she agreed with John. So, she sat. D'Argo moved to the window and counted the number of Peacekeepers outside.
"There are about ten of them. There are four of us, and then Aeryn," he said, not sure about how to handle her situation.
"Well Aeryn's in no fighting condition," John said. That was met serious opposition from Aeryn.
"That's a load of dren! I'm perfectly able to fight!" she said, slowly getting up to ward off the dizziness. She made it up without a single problem. She held herself up pretty well, too. Even Crichton admitted that. He sighed heavily.
"All right, fight. But not a lot. Just enough to keep you out of danger, and to help, I will cover you." She could tell he wouldn't take no for an answer, so she complied. He handed her a pulse pistol and took two pistols for himself. D'Argo had his Qualta Blade and Chiana had a pulse pistol. Zhaan took up a pulse rifle. They checked the window. Two were posted out side the door and the other eight or so were scattered around the cabin. Neither John nor D'Argo could pinpoint exactly were the Peacekeepers were, but they knew they were out there, somewhere. D'Argo exited first, his Qualta Blade on his back. They wanted to keep it as simple and unsuspecting as possible. The fugitives knew that the soldiers were after Crichton and the others were simply bonuses. So, they had John come out without Aeryn so as not to have her injured further. John came out after D'Argo and immediately there was gunfire. John ducked behind a tree and Aeryn and Zhaan shot from the safety of the cabin. D'Argo had hidden himself well, and the Qualta Blade blasts seemed to be coming from nowhere. Several Peacekeepers dropped from the shots, but John was shot in the leg.
"Damn! I'm…." His voice trailed off. He didn't want to let the enemy know he was wounded and therefore vulnerable, so he attempted to tell Aeryn in code. "I'm spewing engine fluid!" he yelled, hoping to God that Aeryn understood. He looked up and she nodded to Zhaan's confused look and he knew she comprehended. He sat there, keeping an alert eye out for Peacekeepers around him. He heard shots ring out all around him and then felt the soft touch of Aeryn come from his left side.
"Are you ok?" she asked.
"What in hezmana are you doing here? I told you- no dangerous operations for you!" he said, trying to keep his voice quiet. Of course, there was no way they would hear him anyway.
"You were hurt. I couldn't let you die," she said matter-of-factly.
"How'd you get around them?"
"I 'fainted' and had Chiana drag me into the cabin, then hopped out the back, took out the three soldiers in the back, and came around behind them. If their squadron commanders found out about their performances here, these soldiers would be killed in a microt," she said, half-laughing. He smiled, and let her help him up. She took him around back and got him back into the cabin. Once D'Argo and Zhaan took out the remaining two soldiers, they came back and helped Aeryn and John out of the cabin.
"This will be the first place the Peacekeepers come when the soldiers don't check in," Aeryn said. They walked down the path until they came to a fork in the road. The left road looked like it went into the forest, but the right seemed to lead back to town.
"We have to get back to town. That's where the transport is," D'Argo said, heading to the right. John and the rest followed. John started getting rattlers in his stomach, but decided to ignore them. The feeling kept getting stronger until he just stopped in the middle of the road. Since he was second in line, the rest stopped behind him.
"Why are you stopping John?" Zhaan asked in concern. "Does your leg hurt?"
"No. This feels so strange. I mean, Aeryn, you said that the soldiers were doing a crappy job. What if they were supposed to? What if Scorpius or whoever wants us more vulnerable, like out in the open?" Aeryn's eyes suddenly got very large.
"John, I think you're right," she said.
"Thank you! Wait, why do you think that? You never agree with me," he teased.
"Because there's a squadron right behind you about ten metras away." They all turned around and an entire Peacekeeper battalion was behind them. All of a sudden, everything went black for all of them.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"We have the fugitives, Sir," Bracka said to Scorpius. He turned around and grinned.
"Thank you. Bring in Crichton." Then, he turned around. "Kill any that resist," he said, almost as an after thought. After a few moments, Crichton was brought before him. John noticed that he was in an office of sorts. It was very plainly decorated with only a desk, officer's chair, a chair opposite for captives, and some Peacekeeper writing and pictures on the walls. John was forced to sit down. His hands were in shackles and he had a tracking tag on his ankle.
"So Scorpy, what's up?" he said, doing his usual routine.
"I don't even want to know what that means, Crichton," Scorpius said, not playing the usual games.
"Oh come on Scorpy, be a sport. No one likes a party pooper." John was beginning to have fun. Just then, an alarm sounded in the compound and the lights flashed, then came on again, this time with a reddish tint to them.
"I see the emergency generators have kicked in. Someone must have switched off the power. Well John, I would just like to get down to business. You have information I want. I have people you want back alive. Now, I think that this is a more than fair arrangement," Scorpius said. John knew from the down-to-business tone that Scorpius had something up his sleeve.
"Yeah Scorpy. I'd be more than happy to give it to you, except, the Ancients don't exactly want it in your hands. They kind of put The Club for Wormhole Technology on it. Sorry." Scorpius smiled a vile smile.
"I think there's something that might make you have a… change of heart," Scorpius said, walking to his desk. John sat in his chair, his heart racing and adrenaline pumping. "As you know, we cannot perform medical tests on you. We do not know what is within normal parameters. We can, however, do tests on the others. And we found something very interesting in Officer Sun's results." He gave John the folder, and John opened it. Not exactly to John's surprise, he couldn't read any of it, as it was in Sebacean. "Oh yes, you can't read it."
"Why don't you tell me what it says then, Scorpy," John said. "If you harmed Aeryn, there's gonna be hezmana to pay. You already know she's sick, so stay away from her!" he said. Scorpius laughed maniacally.
"Sick is one way to put it," he said cryptically. Suddenly, one of his officers burst into the room. "Must I tell you again to never interrupt my interrogations?" Scorpius barked at the young officer. He wavered slightly, but quickly put on the ever-familiar Peacekeeper mask.
"I'm sorry Sir, but the prisoners have escaped."
"How did you incompetent soldiers allow that to happen?" he asked impatiently.
"Apparently the Nebari girl seduced the guards and got them to give her… um… access to the access codes and cell combinations," the young man said uncertainly.
"She has that effect on most people," John said, laughing.
"I'll be right there." Then the man left. "I will be seeing you again, John. Probably sooner than you anticipate," Scorpius said, just as cryptically as before. Then he stormed out, leaving John there in his office.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Hurry D'Argo! The guards are coming!" Chiana said, looking around the corner, keeping her pistol at the ready. They had gotten the access codes and combinations, then triggered the power outage.
"There!" D'Argo said as Zhaan's cell door opened.
"Come on," she said, rubbing her wrists after D'Argo freed them from the shackles. They raced down the corridor, but stopped suddenly at a familiar voice.
"I must go, Estreda," Aeryn said from inside the infirmary, red lights blinking in alert.
"You don't have to, Aeryn. You'll be safe," the young man said.
"Maybe. I doubt it though. And this most definitely will not," she said. She paused.
"Ah yes, your precious cargo," he said.
"Thank you for your help. It means the world to me. And John." She held his shoulder and slightly squeezed it. As she turned to leave, his voice stopped her.
"Good luck, Aeryn," he said. She smiled and left. The others moved aside and let Aeryn pass. She saw them and jumped ever so slightly, but said nothing. She motioned them to follow her, and they crawled into the garbage shaft. She crawled through until she got to where the Head Commander's office was. She recognized the building as one of the most advanced Command Carriers in the Peacekeeper regime. As soon as she got there, she made sure no one was inside. She saw only John, so she jumped out. John jumped, then laughed. She imagined she must have been quite a sight, so she laughed it off and undid his shackles. He let her lead, and they went up into the shoot. They crawled to the Docking Bay, where they saw the transport under extreme guard. The five fugitives huddled together and made a plan.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A few techs were talking and not really paying much attention as they were walking to their posts in the docking bay. Aeryn and John jumped on them and knocked them out. It was fairly easy since techs are not put through the rigorous training that soldiers are, plus the dim lighting of only the generators. They put on their clothes and entered the docking bay. They went straight to the transport and said that they needed to work on the engines. The guards were uneasy, as no work was assigned to the Leviathan transport pod, but let it pass. After all, guards were always the last ones to know anything. Aeryn and John worked o the engines. After about an arn, they said that their work was finished and left. They gave the techs back their clothes and again waited, but this time in an empty closet-type room. D'Argo, Zhaan and Chiana had decided that the garbage shaft smelled too much. Just as the got in the closet, John spied a few soldiers going into the Docking Bay, both wearing helmets. He noticed that no one can determine who each soldier is. Aeryn saw his gaze, and got the same idea. The next soldiers that passed were knocked out, this time with some difficulty, but they managed to secure two soldier's uniforms. Aeryn and john changed clothes again. They walked into the main hanger and relieved the guards of their duty. Then, a tech came in, and Aeryn about fainted. It was Tech Travis Calloman.