Survivor 4: Deadlock
By ISIS
Disclaimer and Notes: See pt 1
The next morning it was a very subdued group that met for breakfast and planning in the central chamber. John and Aeryn had abandoned their subterfuge, openly sharing quarters as did the Scorvian and the Scarran, though clearly not for the same reasons. Where the Scorvian made no pretext of her sexual attraction to the Scarran, John and Aeryn had spent the night, sharing the watch and huddling together to stay warm. Urba was particularly smug, given her gruesome victory over the Illonic Ramala the night before. John thought he detected a wariness from even the Scarran towards his Scorvian paramour.
After sharing the fruitless results of their search of the day before, the group chose the remaining sectors of the ship to search, looking for anything that might help them survive the increasingly desperate 'game'. John went with Urba, G'Maz and a very nervous Bron, while Aeryn joined with Zenya, A'Nara, and an openly hostile Hedyona. The Nebari made no attempt to hide her jealousy over John's pairing with Aeryn. She trotted along after the rest of the females, taking every opportunity to insult Aeryn. The Sebacean knew what the Nebari was doing and worked hard to hold her temper in check. Zenya glanced back at the furious Hedyona, a secret smile on her face.
The morning passed quickly but without results. Aeryn's group had moved down into the very lowest levels of the ship, hoping to find an unused escape module or cargo transport. But there was nothing but dessication and corrosion. Any possible craft had either been pillaged by looters or removed by Fulax and his crew. Finally, with a weary nod to the others, Aeryn signalled that she was giving up. The others, all very hot and grimy, agreed, even a now silent Hedyona.
The Nebari led the way up the ladder out of the lowest cargo bay, moving carefully to avoid stepping on weakened rungs. Suddenly there was a scream, followed by high-pitched squeals signalling another Phageri attack. Hedyona climbed as fast as she could followed by Zenya. Aeryn turned around to see A'Nara fighting to knock the ravenous Phageri from her while holding on to the ladder with one hand. She lifted desperate pain-filled eyes to Aeryn, begging for help as the creatures swarmed about her legs. Aeryn climbed back down as far as she dared and pulled out her pulse gun, trying to pick the creatures off as she had before with Greshak. But the angle of the ladder prevented her from removing them from the stricken Zenetan. A'Nara's screams grew louder as the Phageri tore at her flesh. Aeryn holstered her pistol and reached down to the Zenetan, trying to pull her farther up the ladder away from the opening infested with Phageri. Several of the creatures tore at Aeryn's hands and arms, as she tried to hold on to the weakening grasp of the Zenetan. Suddenly, the Sebacean was pulled away from above, her blood-slicked hands slipping from the Zenetan's, who shrieked in despairing agony before she was overcome by the voracious monstrosities, falling from the ladder to land with a sickening thud on the floor of the cargo hold two levels down.
"NO!" Aeryn cried.
"Come on! You can't help her! But you can help yourself!" Zenya's voice rasped in her ear. She pointed to the creatures that were climbing the ladder towards them with surprising agility. Above them, Aeryn heard the Nebari struggling to close and seal the hatch. "Come on! She'll lock us in here if we don't get out!"
Aeryn turned and climbed up after the Delvian, fighting to ignore the searing pain of the bleeding wounds on her hands and forearms. She felt Zenya haul her through the hatch opening by the leather of her vest. She rolled free, just avoiding the heavy hatch as Hedyona slammed it shut. The three females lay gasping for breath, listening in horror to the squealing efforts of the Phageri as they tried to tear through the reinforced hatch. There was a whirring sound and one of the vidcams appeared, impersonally recording their pain. Aeryn suddenly grabbed a broken piece of metal and hurled it blindly at the mechanical voyeur with a scream of rage. The hovering machine merely floated out of the way, then moved off down the corridor.
It was a quiet and sad trio that made their way slowly back to the relative haven that the central chamber provided. The others were already there when they arrived. John rose immediately and went to Aeryn, pulling her into his arms, uncaring of who saw. "Aeryn, are you all right? You're hurt!" he exclaimed, lifting her bloodied hands to examine them.
"What happened? Where's A'Nara?" Bron demanded.
"Lost. The Phageri got her," Zenya replied, dropping despondently into a seat at the table.
"We ... we tried, but there were too many of them. It was horrible!" Aeryn whispered, leaning against John as he used some of his precious water supply to clean her wounds.
"How hard did you really try, PeaceKeeper?" the Scorvian taunted her. The others stared at the PeaceKeeper. Zenya sat oblivious, her red eyes closed, chanting unevenly.
"Enough!" John shouted. "Leave her alone, Urba!"
The Scorvian turned away with a triumphant smile, satisfied that the seeds of doubt had been planted in the minds of the others.
John finished bandaging Aeryn's wounds with strips torn from his tee shirt. He desperately wanted to take her back to their quarters, to let her rest as she needed, but he was afraid to leave the others, knowing they would probably scheme against Aeryn, and him. Aeryn saw the indecision in his eyes and smiled wearily, understanding. She sat up, trying to project an air of strength and determination. "So what did you find?" she asked, all business.
"Nothing. We found nothing," Bron answered dejectedly.
"Yes, nothing. But I have an idea," John said. The others looked at him expectantly. "There doesn't seem to be any way off this ship, but what about using the ship itself? What if we could get it to fly?" He looked at the others hopefully.
"That's the most ridiculous idea I've ...," Urba began dismissively, only to be cut off by the Nebari.
"Wait. The Human may have an idea." Hedyona looked pointedly up at the lights and the vent from which fresh air poured. "There must be some power source working on this ship. Something is keeping the lights and life-support systems going." The Nebari gazed at the others, her dark eyes sparkling with hope. "Some sort of drive must be working as well or its orbit would have decayed long before now."
"You're right," Bron exclaimed. "If we can find the power source and reroute it to the propulsion, we may be able to drive this ship to the nearest colony and safety."
"But if we do that, we risk losing the million credits!" G'Maz snarled. His Scorvian lover moved over to stand with him, staring at the others defiantly, her three eyes glistening dangerously.
"What good is a million credits if you're dead?" Bron commented bitterly. "I'm with Crichton. I doubt that any of us will see that money, even if we survive this game!" He looked around at the others, his eyelids closing and opening rapidly, indicating his distress.
John turned to each of the other contestants. Attentive once more, Zenya nodded immediately, as did Bron. After a brief hesitation, Hedyona nodded as well. He turned to Aeryn, even though he already knew she supported him. He met her eyes with a loving smile, failing to notice the jealous gaze of the Nebari. Finally he turned to the Scarran and his Scorvian lover. G'Maz nodded. Urba hissed indignantly at his action. "Bron is right! Even if there is really a million credits to be had, what good is it if we're dead?" John listened in astonishment, surprised at the depth of feeling the Scarran seemed to be expressing for the Scorvian. He turned to Aeryn who shrugged, equally surprised.
"So it's agreed. We try to get this rattletrap moving?" John said. The others all nodded. "Fine. I propose we take a couple of arns to rest and then come at this problem fresh."
"A couple of arns? Why so long?" the Scorvian protested.
"Because some of us need to restore our strength!" John snarled. As if to prove his point, the sudden sound of Phageri streaming through the walls had the entire group growing tense. "I rest my case!" John said, ignoring the confused looks on the other's faces as he helped Aeryn limp from the room.
After too short a rest, the group met again in the central chamber. Aeryn found a piece of metal and scratched a crude map in the surface of the table. She pointed out the various levels of the ship, and the others filled in the gaps based on their explorations of the day before . Soon they had a fairly accurate picture of the freighter, the damage it had sustained and some possible locations for the power source. The contestants broke off into the same two groups as before. John led his party down to what they figured was the engineering section while Aeryn and her group headed up to the command.
John moved slowly behind the Scorvian and her Scarran lover. Beside him, Bron huffed as he waddled along. Despite his youth, he was not built for prolonged walking and the effort was beginning to take its toll. John had tried calling for a rest period, but the Scorvian had glared at the Sheyang so venomously, that he in turn growled at the Human that he didn't need to rest. John had shrugged and wisely decided to refrain from offering help in the future. It only made the aliens' already short fuses flare.
John was feeling uncomfortable with the conspiratorial whispering going on between the Scorvian and the Scarran. The night before he had tried to ask Aeryn whether the two races had any previous connection. She had merely shaken her head, as puzzled by the hold the Scorvian female had over G'Maz as he was. Given his other encounters with the ugly Scarran race, he would have thought that the control would have been the other way around. He had seen the Scarrans's ability to control their victims's minds first hand. He had asked Aeryn for more details but she had shuddered in horror. John had not pressed her. Instead he had held her tightly, sensing more than mere enmity behind her dread of the heat-radiating alien.
"You're right, John. Your little Sebacean friend has every reason to fear the Scarran." Scorpy's image appeared behind him, walking on the side opposite the puffing Sheyang. John tried hard not to react to the unwelcome hallucination. "Shall I tell you what Scarrans do to Sebacean females, John? To PeaceKeeper females especially? Hmmm?"
"Shut up," John hissed. The Sheyang turned to him, his slitted eyes questioningly wide.
"Haven't you ever wondered how I came to be?" Scorpius persisted.
"Not really," John replied. Bron turned again to him sharply, looking around to see who he was speaking to. John moved forward away from the curious Sheyang.
"Why don't you just draw your pistol and rid the universe of yet another vile Scarran?" John felt an intense compulsion flowing through him. Ahead of him, G'Maz had pulled open a hatchway and was leaning into it, looking down the corridor. He turned and signalled to the rest and they climbed through into a dark narrow passageway. John stared at the massive back of the Scarran, his eyes burning with hatred. His hand hovered over his pistol. "Do it, Crichton! Do it!" Scorpius insisted.
"No!" John growled. The rest of his party spun around at the sound of his voice. The Scorvian moved over to John, running her clawed hands over him suspiciously. "No what, Human?" she demanded.
John took several deep breaths, fighting to maintain control. "Nothing. Just talking to myself." He breathed deeply and smiled. "It's a Human thing."
Ahead of them, Bron was unlocking the next hatchway. "I think this is it," he began excitedly.
Just as he released the locking mechanism, John heard the scurrying sound. "No, don't open ...!" he cried, but was too late. Phageri poured through the open hatchway, climbing all over the hapless Sheyang. Behind him, Urba sprang into action. She grabbed G'Maz and hauled him back through the passageway towards the other hatch. John watched in horror as the carnivores quickly overcame Bron. The Human had just enough time to register the slamming shut of the hatch leading into the passageway. In front of him, the Sheyang was nothing but a writhing mass of Phageri. Through the squealing of the mindless flesh-eaters, John heard Bron's pleas. "Human! Shoot me! Don't let me die this way! Shoot me!"
John hesitated then drew his pistol. He fired once into the Sheyang's body, then dove for cover as the fire-breather exploded, incinerating his attackers. John felt the hot flames sear his back and forearms as he tried to protect his head from the conflagration. When the heat dissipated, he found himself alone in the passageway, the smell of burnt flesh assaulting his nostrils. He raised his head slowly, fully expecting to be the Phageri's next meal, but found them all dead, burned by the Sheyang's fire. The Human crawled painfully to his feet and moved towards the other hatch, but found it locked against him. He turned and made his way gingerly towards the other hatch, his gun drawn. Though it had once been full of Phageri, the heat of the explosion had obviously driven them away. John stepped through the hatchway and began the long trek back to the central chamber.
As he approached the central chamber, he heard the sounds of voices raised in anger. "Listen, Urba, you trelk, where is Crichton?" Aeryn cried.
"In the bellies of at least a thousand Phageri by now, I suspect," the Scorvian female taunted.
John heard a commotion and stepped unseen into the room. G'Maz had Aeryn pinned up against the wall, his hot breath pouring over her.The Human quickly drew his pistol and aimed it at the Scarran. "Let her go!" he demanded.
G'Maz looked at the weapon in John's hand with a sneer then pressed his face closer to Aeryn, who recoiled in disgust. "Your puny weapon is no threat to me, Human," he snarled.
John quickly shifted his aim to Urba, who gasped in fear. Behind him, he heard Hedyona snicker. " Maybe not, but it will sure make a mess of her. Your choice."
G'Maz met the hard look in John's eyes, then turned to see his lover's eyes pleading with him. He breathed once more over Aeryn who groaned, then he let her drop to the floor. John motioned the Scarran away from her before daring to holster his weapon. He lifted the stricken Sebacean from the floor and led her to a seat at the table.
"Where's Bron?" she asked, still gasping for breath.
"Dead," he replied. "The Phageri got him, but he got the Phageri in the end. He died well." Aeryn met his eyes sadly and nodded. John pulled her into his arms. She leaned into him and then noticed the burn of his forearms. "You're hurt," she exclaimed.
"I'll survive," he said without emotion. "Someone tried to lock me in with the Phageri!" he said louder, for the benefit of the others.
Urba raised her head and glared at him from where she sat with the Scarran. "What would you have had me do, Human? Let the Phageri overrun the ship?"
"Yeah, right, Urba, that's you. Always thinking of others," John taunted. The Scorvian gave him a tight smile, her mandibles clicking, then she rose and left the room, the Scarran trailing after her.
"So you didn't find the power source?" Hedyona said, more of a statement than a question.
John sighed, "No, we didn't. But that's not to say it's not there. We can try again tomorrow." He met the fearful eyes of the others.
"Whoever of us is alive tomorrow, you mean," Hedyona said quietly. She turned and moved silently out of the room. The Delvian gazed at John and Aeryn, her red eyes glowing then she too left.
John watched them go, then tightened his arms around Aeryn, leaning his forehead against hers in despair.
***************
Fulax excused himself from the meeting when his assistant motioned to him furiously through the open door of the meeting room. The tusked producer smiled ingratiatingly to his guests and moved to the anteroom where his assistant waited, sweating nervously. He bent his head to give his boss the bad news. "What?" Fulax exclaimed. Seeing the interested gazes of the potential investors he had left in the meeting room, he smiled again and shut the door on them. Then he turned back to his assistant furiously. "Two more? Who? How?"
"The Zenetan and the Sheyang. Both killed by the Phageri," the assistant explained, his snout twitching apprehensively.
"Frell! I knew we should have contained those creatures better!" Fulax cursed.
"We thought we had, but it appears that the ship is more corroded than we thought. There are too many holes in the bulkheads and the Phageri literally have free run of the ship. Only the reinforced central chamber is safe."
"Six left. That means only five potential episodes," Fulax mused. "If no more of them get killed," he added. "Frell!"
He looked at his assistant, his mind already working to save his investment. "Okay, let's play it this way. Prepare several commercials, in the form of news flashes. We interrupt regular programming as things develop, beginning with the footage of the deaths of the Zenetan and the Sheyang. Then we put together our regular programmes for as long as we can. Keep close tabs on the ratings. We make our mistakes with this one, then we sell four more potential Survivor situations -- with more contestants, say sixteen. And no more Phageri!"
***************
It was a despondent group that assembled on the Moya's Command as the Leviathan re-established orbit around Adhafera. The ship and her crew had spent the day scanning the gas giant Tri-Pallas 4, looking for the derelict freighter where their friends fought to survive. But their search had been fruitless. Even taking into consideration the fact that the freighter was cloaked, Zhaan and the others had concluded that it was not orbiting Tri-Pallas's gas giant. Checking the chronometer, the crew had decided with Pilot to return to Adhafera. Each of them was apprehensive about what the next perverse episode of Survivor would reveal about the fate of John and Aeryn. The only bright hope was the chance that further examination of the images shown would give them more clues as to the freighter's location.
When the by now too familiar theme song began, Chiana shuddered. D'Argo saw her and quietly drew her closer to him. Despite the distance that had grown up between them, she welcomed his comforting embrace. Rygel saw them and for once refrained from commenting. Instead he stared at Fulax's smiling face with a grimace. "Fapootah!"
"Well, it has certainly been an exciting day for our contestants. As you well know by now, two of our participants have met an unfortunate end. Stay tuned!"
Zhaan met the eyes of her friends in panic. D'Argo roared in frustration as the screen shifted to an insipid commercial for some sort of air freshener. Finally, the show returned. Fulax appeared, an insincere look of sadness on his face. "Please, join me in mourning the loss of two of our contestants." One of the screens behind him lit up. Moya's crew gasped as the scene showed Aeryn, her hands bloody, reaching down a ladder. "Despite PeaceKeeper Aeryn Sun's best efforts, the Zenetan A'Nara was lost in an unexpected attack from the Phageri." The camera tilted to show the doomed Zenetan, covered in ravenous Phageri. She screamed once and dropped from the ladder. The last sound was Aeryn's agonized "No!". Zhaan let her breath out in relief, whispering a prayer of thanks to the Goddess.
"The second casualty was the Sheyang Bron. He died a true hero, sacrificing himself for the good of his fellow searchers." Another screen showed the Sheyang, overcome by the shrieking Phageri. Then the camera slid to John, his gun drawn, a look of despair on his face. Finally, there was a shot and the screen lit up in flames and went blank. The studio cameras showed the audience, their heads bowed in appropriate attitudes of mourning. After the requisite microt of silence, Fulax brightened as if nothing had happened. "Our remaining contestant have gathered. Stay tuned for tonight's vote."
While the commercials showed, Chiana lifted her head out of D'Argo's chest where she had buried it in horror. "John's all right, isn't he? That last shot. The flames. They would have said if he was injured, wouldn't they?" The Nebari looked from one of her friends to the other, begging for reassurance.
Rygel flew forward and patted her shoulder. "Yes, Chiana, I'm sure both John and Aeryn are all right." Then the Dominar slammed his thronechair so hard it nearly tipped him out. "Has anyone seen anything that will give us a clue to where this frelling freighter is? Pilot?"
Pilot's image appeared on the clamshell terminal next to the viewscreen. "No, I'm sorry, Rygel."
Zhaan spoke suddenly, her brow furrowed as a thought occurred to her. "Pilot, the broadcast of the vote is live, is it not?"
"Yes, Zhaan."
She brightened, warming to her idea. "Pilot, have Moya isolate the frequency of the broadcast. Then try to isolate any incoming transmissions."
The symbiont's eyes widened in recognition of her plan. His four arms moved rapidly over his console. "On it, Zhaan."
Zhaan smiled at her friends, encouraged. Behind her, the viewscreen shifted to the scene of the central chamber, the unfortunate participants assembled for yet another deadly vote. Moya's crew saw the bloodied bandages on Aeryn's hands and arms as John helped her into the chamber. His own arms were wrapped in strips of cloth, torn from the knapsacks the contestants had been issued. He shared a meaningful look with Aeryn then grabbed his bag of marbles and moved to his place.
The studio camera showed Fulax, his eyes fixed on the screen behind him, an eager gleam in his eye as he watched the slow movements of the reluctant voters trapped on the freighter as they cast their votes. When the last player was returned to his compartment, the boxes dropped open. Fulax's eyes brightened and he exclaimed the results. "Tie! We have a tie!"
Restraints suddenly appeared, locking around their waists, imprisoning the Scorvian and the Nebari in their compartments as the two females stared in horror at the three black marbles in each of their boxes. "In the event of a tie, the loser will be chosen by our studio audience and by you, the viewers. Now is your chance to take an active part in our game. Comm the number at the bottom of your screen to select the player who will survive tonight's vote." The studio cameras showed the audience moving forward to make their choice. On the screen, both the Scorvian and the Nebari struggled against their restraints. Then the Nebari grew still. Instead, she gazed steadily at the vidcam, licking her lips and pouting prettily. One of her hands came up and traced enticingly along the low edge of her bodice. Urba saw what she was doing and tried to compete, but her physiology was not built for seduction. Her mandibles clicked nervously and she returned to futilely fighting the restraints. Fulax grinned in triumph as the results were tabulated, the numbers indicating a higher number of viewers than he had dreamed of. Finally, the counters in the studio stopped rolling. "Sorry, Urba!" he smirked and hit the release. Hedyona fell forward out of her compartment as the panel slammed down on Urba. The Phageri flooded into the compartment with the screaming Scorvian. For a time, it seemed that they could not eat through the hard outer carapace of the insectoid Scorvian. But soon their powerful jaws pierced the shell and yellowish green blood splattered on the opaque covering. The last scene broadcast was the despairing wail of the Scarran as he threw back his head and roared.
Fulax turned back to face the camera and licked his porcine lips in satisfaction. The audience cheered and clapped. "A truly memorable episode. Tune in tomorrow for more Survivor!" he exclaimed and the screen darkened.
Zhaan turned to face Pilot's image with bated breath. "Did you get it? Pilot? Pilot!"
The symbiont's face appeared, as close to a smile on his face as he would ever produce. "Yes, Zhaan. Moya's analysing it now." He paused and checked the console in front of him. "We have it! We have the location of the freighter!"
"Kahallen be praised!" Zhaan cried.