Survivor 5: Endgame

By ISIS

Disclaimer and Notes: See pt 1

---

At the Scarran's agonized wail, the others quickly fled the central chamber. John helped Aeryn down the corridor to their quarters. Once inside, he immediately locked the door, then moved into his old quarters and locked the door there as well. When he returned to Aeryn's room, he found her slumped over the bed, exhausted. Her encounters with both the Scarran and the Phageri had left her weaker than she had admitted. John laid her down on the hard bed, concerned when she didn't resist. He covered her with one of the thermal blankets, then seeing that she was still shivering uncontrollably, he slid into the bed beside her and drew her into his arms, covering them both with the second blanket. He held her in his arms until he felt her relax into sleep. John fought to stay awake, desperate to keep alert, but soon sleep overcame him as well.

John awoke with a start the next morning to the sound of screaming coming from the corridor outside. Aeryn was already awake and tense in his arms. They slipped from under the warm covers and drew their pistols. John covered Aeryn as she nodded silently to him and cautiously opened the door to their quarters.

The screams outside had dwindled into strangled sobs. Aeryn leaped out into the corridor, gun drawn. She gasped at the scene that met her eyes. Hedyona hung limply in G'Maz's grasp as he wrung the last of her life from her. His eyes were filled with insane hate and despair. He threw his head back again and howled in misery, then he flung the Nebari's lifeless body from him as if she were just a rag doll. John joined Aeryn, covering her as she knelt beside the broken body of the Nebari. He saw her shake her head, then raised his pistol again as the Scarran charged at them with a roar. He fired, but his shot had no effect on the enraged G'Maz. John hauled Aeryn to her feet and they fled down the corridor.

John felt the heat radiating from the Scarran as he pushed Aeryn roughly ahead of him. They ran blindly down one corridor after another, paying very little attention to where they were going. John turned occasionally to fire back at the Scarran, hoping to at least slow him down. Then all of a sudden, Aeryn disappeared. John paused in fear. He felt a hand grab his arm and then he too was pulled out of sight. "What the ...?" he began.

"Shhh!" a voice hissed urgently.

Outside in the corridor, the Scarran thundered past them, roaring insanely. When his roars faded, John twisted around to see where he was. He met the red eyes of the Delvian. She had pulled them into a storage compartment through a shadowed flap in the wall created by corrosion. Once they were through, the section of wall had dropped back into position like a bizarre doggy door. John looked around and met Aeryn's troubled gaze as she crouched on the floor, ready to fight the Scarran if he found them. He watched as she straightened and then turned back to face Zenya. "Thanks," he said.

"Where's Hedyona?" Zenya asked.

"G'Maz killed her," Aeryn replied, reholstering her pistol. She watched as the Delvian bowed her head in a brief prayer.

"So what do we do now?" John asked. "Do we just stay in hiding until tonight's gathering?"

"What makes you think G'Maz is going to show up at the central chamber?" Aeryn asked.

"Fulax said that if we don't vote then we all die," John replied. He met the eyes of the others and saw the direction their thoughts were taking.

"I don't think G'Max really cares any more. And if Fulax kills us all, that just makes his job easier," Aeryn said with a sigh.

"So what do we do?"

Zenya answered John's question. "We have to kill him."

***************

"Because the freighter is cloaked against regular scans, we will have to search for it visually. Moya and I have set up a search pattern, but we will need everyone's eyes," Pilot explained.

"Very well, Pilot. Show us the pattern and we will begin. We don't have much time. There are only eight arns until the next vote," Zhaan replied. The others leaned over her shoulder to check the search pattern and reacquaint themselves with the image of the freighter, then they moved to various stations to begin the tedious visual search.

After an arn, Chiana rubbed her tired eyes and turned to D'Argo. "Even if we locate the freighter, what do we do then?"

D'Argo looked over at the young Nebari. "I will take Aeryn's Prowler over to the ship and dock somehow, either in the docking bay or in through one of the hull breaches. Then I will begin searching for them."

"Won't that take too long?" Chiana asked anxiously. D'Argo turned to her sharply, annoyed at her question. She saw his anger and hastily added. "If you take the transport pod instead, more of us can help in the search."

"And what about the Phageri?"

"We'll all be safer if we search in pairs."

D'Argo sighed, then glanced over at the hovering Hynerian, who munched as he scanned for the freighter. "You're right, Chiana. It will be safer in two's. And faster with all of us looking. Who's going to tell Rygel?" His tired eyes crinkled into a sad smile, despite the desperation of their quest. Chiana reached over and grasped his hand before turning back to her screen.

***************

Aeryn moved carefully through the darkened corridor outside the ruined command, her pistol drawn. Figuring that G'Maz hated her more than the others, she had volunteered to lure the enraged Scarran to the trap they had set for him. John had objected, as usual, but she had explained to him that she had fought Scarrans before. She just hadn't told him that she had lost. Her encounter with the Scarran Ambassador Cargn on the Royal Planet would have ended badly for her if the Empress had not intervened. So, despite her bravado in front of John, Aeryn was very afraid.

The ex-PeaceKeeper moved stealthily through the debris-strewn passageways. First, she had to locate the Scarran, a job made easier by his continuing howls of loss and mourning. Aeryn's brow furrowed as she heard the distant echoes of his cries. In all her time as a PeaceKeeper, she had never heard of a Scarran mourning the loss of even one of his own, let alone an alien such as Urba. She had been taught only that the Scarrans were a brutal, sadistic race of unfeeling monsters. But that was proving to be wrong, as was so much else she had been trained to believe. G'Maz's moans grew louder, coming from down a corridor perpendicular to the one Aeryn found herself in. She moved silently to the junction and turned towards the sound. Her heart started to beat faster. G'Maz's cries bordered on insanity. The Scarran clearly felt he had nothing to lose and that made him even more dangerous.

Aeryn stepped out onto the catwalk above the two story command. Below her on the main deck was G'Maz. The Scarran was kneeling before some sort of shrine he had created out of Urba's few personal effects. He bowed his massive head and rocked back and forth as he wailed. Aeryn stood watching him for a microt, amazed and saddened by the depth of feeling the Scarran had for the dead Scorvian. Then she shook herself and called out. "G'Maz! I'm sorry that she died, but the choice was made. There was nothing you could have done to save her!"

The Scarran snarled and stood up, glaring up at her. "Yes, there was! I could have killed you all first."

"Then it would have come down to you or her! Who do you think Urba would have chosen? Or the viewers for that matter?" Aeryn stared down at the Scarran. "G'Maz, come with me. We still have time to figure out a way off this ship. But we have to work together to save ourselves."

"I will do nothing to help you!" the Scarran cried. "I will see you all dead!" With a roar, he lurched towards the stairs, intent on destroying the Sebacean. Aeryn waited until he was almost at the top of the stairs, then turned and fled. She raced through the corridors back to the crew quarters where Zenya and John waited, trying to keep a safe distance from the Scarran, but slowing enough to let him see her. He pounded after her, bellowing insanely.

Aeryn moved swiftly through the passageways of the derelict ship. She had almost reached the corridor where John and Zenya waited when she realised that G'Maz was no longer behind her. She stopped and looked back cautiously, but the Scarran was nowhere to be seen.

"Frell!" she cursed and headed back, intending to pick up his trail. Suddenly the wall of the corridor beside her erupted and the Scarran burst through the corroded metal. He deftly caught the Sebacean, pinning her up against the far wall.

"I have you now, PeaceKeeper trelk!" he snarled triumphantly. His huge hand gripped her throat as he lifted her off the floor and pressed her against the bulkhead. Aeryn gasped, fighting for breath, trying to avoid his mind-controlling gaze. G'Maz laughed insanely, enjoying his power over the ex-PeaceKeeper. He relished her struggles, letting his body's heat wash over her. Aeryn tried several times to break his hold on her, but the heat weakened her more and more until she hung helplessly in his grip. "That's it, PeaceKeeper. Feel my heat! Feel the Living Death come over you! Be thankful that when I feed your senseless body to the Phageri, you will not experience the pain my Urba suffered!" He pressed himself fully against her.

Aeryn cried out in despair as the Scarran's heat burned into her. "No! Crichton! Help me! Crichton!"

G'Maz watched in demented pleasure as the Sebacean's struggles diminished. He tightened his grip on her throat, cutting off her air. He was so intent on his prey that he didn't see the blue creature that hurled itself at him. The force of Zenya's attack drove the Scarran and the Delvian through the weakened bulkhead. G'Maz dropped Aeryn, who slid senseless to the floor. Then he turned to battle the Delvian as the two of them crashed through the wall into the dark emptiness between the walls.

John raced over to Aeryn and pulled her back from the hole in the wall. His eyes widened in horror as he heard the familiar shriek and scuttling of the Phageri as they poured into the space where Zenya and the Scarran fought. John lifted Aeryn into his arms and cradled her protectively as he listened to G'Maz's demented cries. He laid his precious bundle down at a safe distance from the Phageri then crawled over to the hole. Peering inside, he saw G'Maz and Zenya locked in a death struggle, oblivious to the Phageri that swarmed over them. The Scarran finally seemed to become aware of the creatures that were bent on devouring him. He released the Delvian and sought to escape the flesh-eaters. But he was soon overcome. The last John saw of him, his body was completely covered in the mindless carnivores who chittered in satiation as they tore the flesh from his bones.

"Zenya! Take my hand!" John cried, reaching into the opening towards the Delvian.

"No! It's too late! Save yourself, Human!" the Delvian cried in despair. John watched in horror as the blue priestess was covered in shrieking Phageri. When a few of the predators leaped out of the gap in the bulkhead and homed in on his scent, John quickly turned and lifted Aeryn into his arms, then fled down the corridor to their quarters.Once inside, he stood panting for breath, listening as the scurrying Phageri passed them by.

Satisfied that there was no immediate threat from the Phageri, John laid the unconscious Aeryn down on the hard bunk and examined her wounds. Apart from severe bruising, she appeared to be all right. John pressed his hand to her forehead, checking her temperature. It was a bit elevated, but not life-threatening. The Human gazed down into her face, letting his hand brush lightly along her cheek.

"So beautiful," Scorpius commented from over his shoulder. "It's a shame she has to die."

"Shut up, Scorpy!" John snarled. "I'm in no mood for you now. Aeryn almost died. Zenya and G'Maz are gone. It's just the two of us now."

"Yes, John, I know," the hallucination said. "By the way, congratulations on killing G'Maz. The fewer Scarrans there are in the universe the better. Though I must say, he was an unusual specimen. I would have liked to study him further." The Scarran-Sebacean halfbreed heaved an exaggerated sigh. Then his voice lowered persuasively. "There is only one thing left to do, John." The stricken Human imagined he could feel Scorpius's hot breath at his ear. "You must kill Aeryn!"

"No!" John cried, even as he felt his hands clench uncontrollably.

"Yes, John! There are only two of you left. There can be only one winner. You do the math!"

"No, I won't do it! I'll find a way ... I'll get us off this ...," John stuttered. He stared in disbelief as his own two hands slid down over Aeryn's face to encircle her bruised throat. "No! Scorpy! Stop it!"

"That's it, John. So easy. Just squeeze. Then you will survive. Only one can live and it's my job to make sure it's you!"

John's face contorted with the effort he made to regain control of his own body. Imprisoned, he watched in horror as his hands tightened around Aeryn's throat, his thumbs pressing into her windpipe. "No!" he cried and his hands relaxed somewhat.

"Yes!" Scorpius' image screamed.

John's hands tightened again. His body shook as he fought the hideous compulsion. In his mind he called out to the unconscious Sebacean. *Aeryn! Aeryn! Dear God, wake up! Stop me! Please stop me!* But she lay senseless, unaware of her danger.

"That's it, John. So simple. So humane. She will not feel a thing," Scorpius prompted.

Under his strangling grip, Aeryn started to fight to breathe. John's hands tightened even further, controlled by the Scorpius clone. Tears sprang to his eyes as he fought his body and the chip in his head. "No! No! No! No!" he screamed. Sweat broke out on his brow and he cried out in agony. With a protean effort, John broke away. He flung himself to the floor away from the bunk. He looked back at the unconscious Aeryn. She stirred and moaned softly, then lay still. "Aeryn!" he called, but she did not awaken. Feeling the compulsion grow again, he crawled from the room then stumbled away into the depths of the ship, desperate to put as much distance between himself and Aeryn as possible.

"John! Go back! You must finish it!" Scorpius urged.

John staggered on, swinging his arms about his head to drive the vision away. "No! Leave me alone!" He finally found a small cubbyhole and crawled into it, curling into a fetal position, shaking uncontrollably.

***************

Aeryn regained consciousness slowly. She opened her eyes and turned her head, groaning at the agonizing pain in her neck. "John?" she called but her voice came out in a raspy croak. She forced herself to sit up, groaning again at the aches and pains. She rubbed her abused throat and looked around. She was back in her quarters. Since the last thing she remembered was G'Maz's attack, she knew that someone had brought her here. John. She swung her legs over the edge of the bunk and stood up slowly, holding onto the bulkhead for support until the waves of nausea passed. "John?" she called hoarsely again, then drew her pistol and headed out in search of her Human companion.

Aeryn made her way cautiously back to where G'Maz had ambushed her. She found the hole in the wall and poked her head through. She shuddered as she saw what appeared to be all that was left of G'Maz, his gnawed hand still clutching a bloodied scrap of the Delvian's robes. Of Zenya, there was no trace. Aeryn's heart pounded as she found no sign of John either. Her mind refused to consider the possibility that he had been eaten by the ravenous Phageri. *No, Aeryn! He got you to your quarters! He must be all right!* She pulled her head back and leaned back momentarily on her knees, then rose and continued her desperate search.

John lay shivering on the floor of the storage compartment, his arms wrapped around his trembling body. Tears sprang to his eyes as he heard Aeryn's desperate cries. He wanted to go to her, to feel her arms around him again, keeping Scorpius at bay, but he didn't trust himself. He stared down at his hands with reddened eyes, appalled at what he had almost done. So when he heard her footsteps out in the passageway, heard her voice calling his name, he lay still, fighting the need to answer her, to be with her, until he heard her move on down the corridor towards the central chamber.

***************

"Tell me again why all of us have to go," Rygel demanded for the third time in as many arns. Once the crew had located the freighter, D'Argo had bundled them all on board the transport pod and pilotted the craft towards the derelict where their fellow crewmates struggled to survive Fulax's sadistic game. No one had complained except the Hynerian Dominar, which didn't surprise the others in the slightest.

"Because it will take all of us to search the ship and find John and Aeryn," Zhaan replied sharply, her usual patience stretched to the limit by the self-centred Dominar. "And we must search in pairs. It's too dangerous to go aboard that ship alone."

"And are we even certain that they are still alive?" Rygel asked, putting into words what the others feared but refused to say.

Pilot's voice came through the comm. "If you turn on your forward screen, I will transmit the signal from the derelict. It seems the next episode of the show has already begun."

"Kahallen preserve them," Zhaan prayed, her thoughts echoed silently by the others.

***************

John had lost all track of time when he heard Fulax's hateful voice broadcast through the ship. "John Crichton! Aeryn Sun! I know you are both still alive. If you do not report immediately to the central chamber for the final vote, I will turn off the life-support. Then if the Phageri don't get you, you will suffocate!" There was a pause. "Human! PeaceKeeper! Do you understand? This show will be the finale! I've been cheated out of too many episodes! I will have my finale!"

John hesitated for a microt then crawled out of his hiding place. A vidcam quickly picked up his movements and tailed him to the central chamber. Aeryn was already there. The smoking wreckage of two vidcams lay on the floor. She turned immediately and reached out to him, but John avoided her embrace. His heart broke at the concerned look on her face as she studied his haggard appearance. Then she noted the vidcam hovering just over his shoulder and her face hardened. She stepped back from her friend and moved to stand in front of her compartment.

"It's come down to the two of you," Fulax explained. "In a microt I will switch to the central chamber camera and broadcast the final vote to the viewers. As before, you will place yourselves in your compartments awaiting the viewers's decision. One of you will die. The other will be free to board the automated transport waiting for you now in the docking bay. Good luck," the boarish producer exclaimed insincerely. "It's been quite a run!"

John turned to Aeryn, his heart in his eyes. "Aeryn ... I ...," he began.

"No, John. Don't say anything. Please!" she pleaded, then her face hardened again as she saw the red light go on on the central camera.

"But, Aeryn, I need to tell you that I'm sorry about what I did. I would never hurt you -- not ever," John continued, ignoring the fact that his words were now being broadcast to the watching viewers. "It was Scorpi ..."

"Stay away from me, Human!" Aeryn cried, drawing her gun and aiming at John, her eyes blazing. "You have lost! All the weaker, inferior species have lost! I have proved once again that PeaceKeepers are superior!"

John looked at Aeryn as if she had lost her mind. "Aeryn? What the hezmana are you talking about?"

Aeryn turned very deliberately to the camera and smiled triumphantly. "You pathetic excuse for intelligent life! Your race invented this game and still you could not win it!"

John looked at Aeryn in hurt surprise. Then he saw the red light on the camera and realised what she was up to. "No, Aeryn! Don't do this!" He reached out towards her.

Aeryn struck his hands away from her and sneered. "Don't touch me, Human! Don't you realise that your touch contaminates me. You make my skin crawl with loathing! I endured your caresses to keep warm, but that was all." She turned and placed herself very deliberately in her compartment, laughing maliciously as the restraint snaked around her waist. "The viewers will soon confirm my superiority, even if they themselves are inferior!"

John stared at her in horror. "No, Aeryn, don't do this!" He tried to resist, but the restraint pulled him back into his own compartment. He stared at the camera in despair. "No! No! She's pretending! Choose Aeryn! Kill me! I'm the one who deserves to die!"

Back in the studio, Fulax rubbed his hands together in avaricious glee as he watched the vote numbers go through the roof.

On board the transport pod, Zhaan, D'Argo, Chiana and Rygel watched in horror as the fate of their friends was decided.

John's eyes met Aeryn's in despair, but what he saw in her blue gaze gave him pause. "Sorry, PeaceKeeper," Fulax's voice came through the speakers. "You lose!" Back in the studio, the porcine alien hit the switch.

Aeryn tensed, then twisted. In a split microt, she whipped out the metal bar she had concealed in her compartment earlier and jammed the descending panel open. She fired at the restraints, freeing herself. Then she pitched forward out of the compartment and kicked the bar, letting the panel close microts before the Phageri swarmed into the now empty compartment. Somersaulting to her feet, she fired again, this time freeing John. She reached into his compartment and hauled him out, nearly wrenching his arm out of its socket in the process. Back in the studio, Fulax cursed and hit another switch. John's compartment quickly filled with Phageri, who poured out into the central chamber through the open compartment. Aeryn grabbed John's hand and dragged him with her out of the chamber.

"Run!" she cried unnecessarily. "We've got to make it to that transport before Fulax retrieves it!"

John pounded along behind her, hearing the Phageri shrieking and snapping at his heels. The Human and the Sebacean fled down corridor after corridor microts ahead of the waves of mindless raptors. A couple of vidcams whirred as they hovered overhead. Aeryn paused long enough to take the cameras out with two well-placed shots, then she raced after John. They had nearly made it to the docking level when John heard Aeryn gasp in pain. He turned and saw that a couple of the Phageri had leaped ahead of the rest and fastened themselves on Aeryn's upper leg, trying to pull her down like a pack of hyenas on a fleeing gazelle. John quickly reset his gun and fired, knocking them from her. Then he wrapped his arm around Aeryn and dragged her along with him.

The Sebacean tried to keep up with him, but the wound on her thigh slowed her down. "John!" she gasped. "Leave me behind! Go! Get to the transport!"

"No! I won't leave you! Keep going, Aeryn! We're almost there!"

Aeryn tried to move faster but John could see she was losing a great deal of blood. The snarling Phageri were only denches behind them. John looked around desperately, searching for a defensible place to hole up and try to drive the creatures back with weapons fire. Suddenly, he felt Aeryn move out of his arms. As he turned to her to protest, he saw with relief that D'Argo had scooped her up in his arms and was carrying her along the corridor towards the docking bay. His face split into a wide grin and he raced after the Luxan. Inside the ruined docking bay, beside the automated transport, was one of Moya's pods. Its hatch was open and Chiana's anxious face appeared, with Rygel hovering behind her. Their eyes widened in horror as they saw their companions running towards the transport, followed by waves of ravenous tiny creatures that scurried along, screeching deafeningly.

John turned to fire once more, giving the runners the time they needed to climb into the transport. Then Rygel and Chiana slammed the hatch shut behind them. They listened in dread as the Phageri hurled themselves against the transport, shrieking. Even the firing of the transport's engines did not deter them. The pounding only ended when the pod lifted off and headed out of the derelict into space.

John knelt beside Aeryn on the floor of the pod, both of them gasping for breath. Zhaan quickly turned the controls over to D'Argo and joined them. She gave John a cursory examination and then concentrated on stopping Aeryn's bleeding. When she was satisfied that the Sebacean was stabilized, she sat back on her heels, gazing at her friends with relief. "Are you two all right? We saw most of what you went through, broadcast by that horrible Fulax."

John sat down wearily and took Aeryn's hand in his. "We didn't win the money, but we survived, thanks to Aeryn." He smiled down at her and lifted her hand to his lips.

Aeryn's startled eyes flew to his, then she grimaced. "If it hadn't been for me, we wouldn't have been in this predicament in the first place. I'm sorry that I placed you all in jeopardy." She closed her eyes in despair. Then she took a deep breath to control herself and smiled weakly at her friends. "Thank you for rescuing us. How did you ever find us?"

"There will be time for that later. Suffice it to say you have Pilot and Moya to thank for that," Zhaan replied gently. She reached into the storage and drew out two blankets, placing them around the wounded and exhausted former contestants. "Rest now." The Delvian watched over them until they both drifted off to sleep. Then she went to help D'Argo pilot the transport.

***************

Both John and Aeryn slept for three solar days straight. John was so exhausted that not even Scorpius disturbed his sleep. Finally, he ventured out into the passageway and to the central chamber, in search of food and Aeryn. He found the others gathered for the evening meal -- all except Aeryn. Zhaan informed him sadly that the ex-PeaceKeeper had eaten hastily and left without a word. John sat with them and shared their meal, then hastily cleared his plate and left. He did not see the concerned looks on the faces of his companions.

John's first thought was that Aeryn was avoiding him, that she remembered what he had done and was too angry to see him. His shoulders slumped despondently and he turned towards his quarters again. But his need to see her, talk to her, just be in the same room with her overcame his guilt and he headed off to the terrace in search of her.

His instinct proved to be correct. As the door of the terrace slid slowly open, John saw Aeryn silhouetted against the spectacular starscape of the Uncharted Territories. She did not acknowledge his entrance, keeping herself turned away from him. John's heart sank but he entered the terrace anyway. He moved slowly towards her, coming to stand at arm's length from her. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak.

"I'm sorry," Aeryn said softly, barely audible.

John stared at her in amazement. "What?"

Aeryn sighed and turned to face him. "I said, I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

John continued to stare at her, speechless. Aeryn sighed again and mistaking his silence for anger, turned to leave. John swiftly grabbed her arm, holding her in place. "What the frell do you have to apologise for?" he demanded harshly, his tone sharper than he had intended.

Aeryn refused to meet his eyes. "Where do you want me to start? I got you into that mess. I nearly got you killed by voting against you. I couldn't defeat the Scarran. I failed to win the money to get your medicine. And even if I had won, the medicine would have killed you! Zhaan told me that she checked the records more carefully and found out that they killed the disrupter with the Othelymon. They had to give her so much to make her lucid that they stopped her heart. But they didn't care; they got their precious information!" Aeryn's voice rose as she listed off her supposed crimes. She tried to pull her arm from John's grasp but he held on. Aeryn turned her head away in frustration and dashed the tears from her eyes angrily. "All I succeeded in doing was nearly killing you and wasting D'Argo's precious time to save his son!"

"No!" John shouted. Aeryn glared at him, her beautiful sapphire eyes glistening with angry tears. "My God, Aeryn, you couldn't be more wrong!" John reached out and cupped Aeryn's face in his hand, forcing her to look at him. "If anything, I should be the one apologising to you."

"You're out of your frelling mind, Crichton!" Aeryn snapped.

John stared at her in astonishment. "Don't you remember? Don't you know what I did -- what I nearly did -- to you? After the Scarran attacked you?" He gazed into Aeryn's confused eyes. "Oh God, Aeryn! I nearly ...!"

"Don't tell her, John," Scorpius whispered in his mind. "She doesn't need to know. It will only upset her more."

John closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to dispell the Sebacean halfbreed's voice. Aeryn saw him and gazed at him in despair, recognising the signs of yet another Scorpius episode. She reached out her hand and caressed his cheek to soothe him.

"Aeryn, I nearly... I ..." John tried to say but the words would not come out.

"It's okay, John. Shhh," Aeryn said softly. She pulled his head down to rest her forehead against his. John wrapped his arms around her waist and hung onto her for dear life. Aeryn hugged his trembling body to her, offering him what comfort she could. He turned his head slightly and then his mouth was on hers. John kissed her deeply, hungrily, knowing that only Aeryn could keep Scorpius's image away.

They stayed like that for a very long time, taking what strength they could from each other. Then together, they made their way back to the central chamber to join the others.

***************

She had just finished removing the lenses from her eyes when her second-in-command commed her. "Yes?" she replied, placing the opaque red contacts in their case.

"The Adhafera gaming commission upheld your claim. The prize money has been delivered by Fulax," her efficient officer informed her. "We will be rendezvousing with the gun-runners in two solar days."

"Excellent! Carry on," she instructed, breaking the link.

Hearing a hungry cry behind her, she moved over to the terrarium where her pets scurried excitedly back and forth, recognizing her blue silhouette as a sign that feeding time was near. She reached her hand into the glass case and drew out one of the sightless creatures, stroking it behind its powerful jaws until it purred with pleasure. Returning the Phagerum to its home, Zenya reached into the reservoir and drew out a hunk of red meat. She threw it into the terrarium, watching in fascination as the carnivores devoured the meat. The highly evolved plant smiled in triumph as she watched the meat-eaters feast. Then she headed out to join her crew of rebels to plan how they were going to get the weapons they intended to purchase with her million credits to the Delvian resistance fighters.

FIN