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Scorpius presented his case, then left Pilot’s chamber. The door closed behind him and he was steered toward the kitchen by several DRD’s. He acquiesced to them.
“Are you out of your frelling mind John? He is the person you wanted dead by your own hands, is he not? Harvey must have frelled with your mind a lot worse than we thought, which was pretty much already completely frelled!” D’Argo exclaimed on the hairy edge of a hyper rage.
“Hey, I resemble that remark.” Jane smirked. “Seriously John. His presence on Moya can only put us all in great danger. For instance, I don’t know how much he is picking up on me and how much I’m able to mask. The rest of you can’t even do that. He will know when you are lying and he will know exactly what your buttons are. I fully expect him to use that knowledge; it’s just a matter of when. I’m voting NO.”
The rest weighed in with no votes, except for Sikozu who was in favor of Scorpius’ residency.
Scorpius had made a secondary request to John knowing the probability of a unanimous vote in his favor was miniscule. He wanted transport to a rebel planet that was three days away even with Starburst. John put in this request on Scorpius’ behalf.
“Moya and I will tolerate transport. We are willing to do it if everyone else is.” Pilot was the first to respond.
“I... I don’t know John. I got a bad feeling about this.” Chiana said, shaking her head.
“Is this a vision thing again Chiana?” John asked.
“No, I’ll go with everyone else.” Chiana said.
“I’ll agree, but only if the DRD’s watch him for the duration.” D’Argo said.
The vote this time was mixed between abstentions and qualified yeses. The result was they would take Scorpius to the rebel planet.
“Okay Scorpy, here’s the scoop. You probably sense it already, but you didn’t get the vote you needed to join us. But, we will take you to Renlar if you’re willing to let some DRD’s watch you 24/7. Find another ride if that’s objectionable. If not, get your stuff and get back here ASAP.”
“You do have a unique way of expressing yourself, John Crichton.” Scorpius said. Pausing for a microt, he patted the case he brought with him and added, “I accept the DRD’s, and I have what I need with me.”
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The next morning Scorpius walked into the dining chamber last, hesitating at the entrance. “Sit down and help yourself,” John said, motioning to a stool.
A few trays of food were available for everyone. Jool put a plate and utensils down where Scorpius sat. “Help yourself to what ever you want. The cups are near the beverages.” Jool concluded.
Jane stood up and pushed the stool away from the table and said. “Chiana, I’ll be available to continue our project once you are through eating.”
Scorpius tilted his head while Jane spoke and asked, “John, is Jane speaking your language?”
Jane heard Scorpius and hesitated before leaving. John saw her hesitation and decided that the best thing to do would be to tell the unadorned truth. He said yes to Scorpius, but did not elaborate. Scorpius did not press the issue.
Jool fussed at the last few morsels of food on her plate. She took a last drink from her cup, frowned, and brought her plates to the sink. Facing the others she asked, “I’ve been taking inventory and we are low on some common medicines. Are we going to be near a commerce planet soon?”
“Ask Pilot. I think we might be, but I’m not sure.” D’Argo said, speaking for the first time since Scorpius joined them. “Can’t it wait until we drop HIM off at Renlar?” he added, nodding towards Scorpius.
“We are really low on some herbs and things we use daily.” Jool justified her request; “It would be better if we could stop first. Let me ask Pilot, and if there is a place convenient enough we’ll stop. Otherwise, it will have to wait.” She turned around and walked out to talk to Pilot.
“Why don’t all of you just comm Pilot instead of going to him?” Scorpius asked.
“Well now, Scorpy, Pilot doesn’t get out much, and he likes company. We stop by and see him when we can.” John drawled his words.
“Hmmm,” Scorpius grunted, stood, and left the central chamber.
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“Scorpius!” Jool exclaimed, closed her eyes and put her hand over her heart. She was concentrating so completely on the inventory prior to arriving at Trumpet that she did not hear Scorpius enter the medical area. “You startled me! Do you need something?”
“I have an injury that is not healing properly. Will you look at it?” Scorpius asked.
“Yes,” Jool said and prepared the examination area. “Do you need the room to be cooler?”
“No, I can tolerate the warmth.” Scorpius said walking toward Jool. “The wound is on my back.” He added, removing the top of his thermal suit to expose his back and allowing Jool to examine the injury.
Jool saw an angry wound, about five denches long. It was infected. She asked, “Why didn’t you see someone about this before?”
“I can not afford it.”Scorpius said. “Will you be able to help?”
“Yes. Is there an anesthetic you can tolerate?” Jool asked, “This can be very painful.” She showed Scorpius the anesthetics she pulled from storage. However, none of them were recommended for Scarrans, let alone a Scarran-Sebacean hybrid.
“I will withstand the pain,” he said and gripped the edge of the table.
Jool immediately started working on the wound. There was a lot of dirt and foreign matter in it, which certainly would have prevented healing. But, the infection was localized and there were no further complications. Scorpius remained perfectly still and silent throughout the entire procedure.
Jool completed dressing the wound. “Make sure you get someone to look at it in a few days.” She said and started to walk away.
“Why did you lie?” Scorpius asked. He grabbed Jool’s hand before she could back away.
There was a quaver in Jool’s voice when she responded, “Lie? What are you talking about? I’m not lying.”
“You lied about... Jane.” Scorpius said.
Jool’s hair turned bright red. In a barely audible voice she said, “No, Jane is not your mother.”
Scorpius stared at Jool, saying nothing. He could see she was hiding something, still her energy signature indicated she was not lying. He released her hand.
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D’Argo stayed with Scorpius while the rest of the crew went to Trumpet for the supplies; John and Jool searching for the needed medicines, Chiana and Jane on their own mission to find the right scent for Jane to wear.
John waived them off and said, “Hey Chiana, Jane, one arn and then we meet back here.”
“We’ll be there!” Chiana exclaimed. “Come on Jane,” she added pulling Jane away from John towards the agora. When Jane seemed reluctant to leave John’s side Chiana asked, “Are you sweet on John?”
Jane laughed. “Sweet on John? How is that possible? I’m going to be Harvey soon.”
“I don’t know,” Chiana said, staring into Jane’s eyes. “I see you more and more as Jane. What will you be after five more monens as a woman? You’re even acting like a woman now, and it’s only been a few weekens.”
Jane looked sideways at Chiana, “Regardless, I want to experience everything this body can before I decide what to do.” She swung around to face Chiana and added, “Just think how well I can pleasure a woman if I know what she wants first hand.”
Chiana thought about this last remark. It was becoming more and more difficult to ‘see’ Harvey and not Jane. “Jane, I think you are becoming a woman. You aren’t Harvey anymore, fer sure!”
They continued to the square, but before they reached the first shop, Chiana stopped walking and Jane bumped into her. Chiana called out, “Stark! Stark where are you?”
Jane grabbed Chiana by the shoulders and asked. “Do you see Stark?” Jane scanned the agora.
“Yeah, I thought I just did, there.” Chiana said, pointing between two buildings. At that moment she saw a hooded figure creeping around the shops and goods that were displayed in the open. She grabbed Jane’s hand, spinning her around and pointed, “That’s him there. I’m sure!”
“It’s very hard to tell from here, but you could be right.” Jane said, following Chiana’s lead by breaking into a slow run.
“Stark, is that you?” Chiana panted, a bit out of breath.
The hooded figure turned and looked at Chiana. It was Stark. He reached over and touched her face as if he needed reassuring that she was really there. He suddenly smiled and hugged Chiana. “Chiana! I thought I’d never see you again. Who is this with you? Where are the others? We must get out of here. The Peacekeepers, they were here, coming back, soon, . . . soon. Where’s Crichton? The torrent ending, Stark pointed at Jane and asked again, “Who is she?”
Focusing on the one important thing Stark said, as far as she was concerned, Jane said, “We didn’t see any Peacekeepers here. Moya didn’t pick any up on the scans. Are you sure?” Then, remembering how John handled meeting new people, Jane tried to shake Stark’s hand “Hello, I am Jane, I joined the others on Moya about a monen ago.”
Stark stared at Jane, not taking her hand. “I’ve been looking for Moya for the past two monens. I must go back with you,” he said.
“We’re meeting John and Jool at the pod in about a half an arn, Jane said. “Why don’t we go there now and wait for them.”
“No! Can’t wait. Peacekeepers... on their way... now!” Stark said.
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Jane greeted John and Jool before they could enter the pod. Her expression was unreadable, but her words were precise, “Stark is in the pod with Chiana. I can hardly wait for him to see Scorpius.”
John expressed a myriad of emotions but the one that remained on his face was one of confusion. He asked, “Can’t Stark wait for us to return?”
“I don’t think so.” Jane said and glanced up at the pod. “He told us he has been seeking Moya for at least two monens, and the Peacekeepers were here and are coming back soon, as far as he can tell.”
“Houston, we have a problem.”
