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BetanSurvey presents:
What She Deserves

John shook his head quickly, waving his hands in front of him in negation.  “No no no no, we are *not* gonna do that!  No frellin’ way!”

Aeryn stood firm.  “John, you agreed with me that Furlow is too dangerous to leave alive.”

“I said Furlow was too dangerous to leave *unaccounted-for*.  That is *not* the same thing, Aeryn.  And this little trip is just as dangerous as leaving her runnin’ around, so I do not see the point in it--”

Ignoring him, Aeryn walked into the transport pod.  “Are you coming or not, John?”

He quickly followed her.  “If you’re insisting on goin’, then of *course* I’m goin’ with you,” John said, dropping into the copilot’s seat.  “But I don’t think you understand just what we’re walkin’ into here.”

Aeryn sighed.  “Open the doors, please, Pilot.”

John continued to protest, and Aeryn continued to ignore him, all the way down to the planet.  Both of them had taken care to look over Moya’s data on the planet before leaving, and Aeryn already had her itinerary planned.  She parked the pod carefully in one of the designated landing areas, then they exited just as a brightly uniformed official approached.

“May I welcome you to Seh’sam, sir and madam, and inquire as to your business?” he asked politely, bowing.

“Personal,” Aeryn replied shortly.

The official bowed again.  “Begging your pardon, sir and madam, but I note that you are carrying weapons.  We require that all weapons be checked before leaving the landing field.”

“Thanks,” John said, unbuckling his holster, with Wynona, from his belt.  He shot a glance at Aeryn, but to his surprise she was removing her pistols as well.  What was she up to?

Carefully, the official assigned identities to pistols by means of thumbscans, and pointed out where weapons could be retrieved upon departure.  “Thanks you again, sir and madam, and welcome to Seh’sam.”

******

Their black coats stood out.  John couldn’t keep from looking over his shoulder.  If anyone were looking for them...  “Aeryn, are you sure about this?” he asked again.

“Yes.”

“Sure she’s here.”

“Yes.”

He didn’t give up.  “Sure you trust this... B’harnei guy who gave you the information.”

“John, look around this planet.  Do you think there’s anyone here who could lie convincingly?  They let me look at their court records.”

“Looks can be deceiving.”  John sighed.  “I can’t believe I agreed to this,” he muttered.  “We shouldn’t be doing this.”

“I heard that.”  Aeryn kept walking.  “John, you know Furlow is a risk.  She is on this planet, or was recently enough to be arrested for theft, fraud, and some bizarre charges I don’t remember.  We have already discussed this.  If you are going to keep complaining, you can go back to the transport pod.”

He stopped complaining.

******

The compound was large and cheerful, its walls decorated with murals.  It wasn’t at all what he’d expected.  John tried to go through the door first, but Aeryn insisted on the prerogative.  She stopped a few paces into the compound.  John followed, and also stopped.

In the middle of the central courtyard was a large bier, holding a coffin.  It seemed Aeryn’s informant, if that was the right word, had been telling the truth.

“Ah, friend Sun, welcome, welcome!”  B’harnei himself hurried over to them, all smiles.  “It’s so good to meet you in person at last!  And this is friend Crichton?  I’m delighted to meet you!”  Before they could stop him, he gave both of them the traditional Seh’sam’i greeting, which was apparently to seize one’s victim... er, acquaintance... by the shoulders and squeeze the breath out of them.  “Welcome to our home.”

John was struck speechless.  Aeryn was not.  “I’m pleased to make your acquaintance as well, ah... friend B’harnei.”  She nodded towards the bier.  “Is that Furlow?”

B’harnei’s large, cheerful face grew sad.  “I’m afraid so.  I’m very glad you contacted us, friends.  She had no friends or family on Seh’sam, and while of course we must bury some of our commune guests here, we always prefer that they have a ceremony with people they knew.”

John was struck by a fit of coughing.  Aeryn was also slightly taken aback, but recovered quickly.  “We’re happy to be of help.”

“Yes, yes...  I assure you, this happens very rarely in our commune.  We were all so sad when we found out.”  B’harnei brightened.  “Would you like a tour of the commune?”

“Um, no, but thank you very much,” John replied when Aeryn didn’t.  “It is very nice,” he added helplessly, looking at the bright buildings and gardens.  “Much more... friendly then your average detention facility.”

B’harnei nodded.  “Here on Seh’sam, we believe in trying to teach the misguided what they are doing wrong.  Furlow didn’t understand about sharing and helping others, which is why she did what she did before she was arrested.  We were trying to help her understand, but...”  He sighed sadly and shook his large head.

“Tough when that sorta thing happens,” John agreed.  “We... prob’ly ought to be going.”

******

Back in the transport pod -- B’harnei had courteously provided a vehicle to carry the coffin -- Aeryn opened the coffin.  It was definitely Furlow.  The mark from the rope she’d used to hang herself was not visible.  Neither John nor Aeryn was very surprised.

Aeryn flew most of the trip back to Moya in silence, then abruptly told John to pilot and went back to the coffin.  She put a single pulse blast through Furlow’s head.  John nearly fell out of his chair.

“Makin’ sure she’s dead, baby?”

“Well, given our records with Scorpius and Durka...”

“True.  Think we should see about getting Furlow dispersed?”  At her shrug, John continued to speak.  “I understand how she got herself arrested.  Almost inevitable.  But I’m tryin’ to decide why she... uh... saved you the trouble.”  John paused thoughtfully.  “I think maybe it was the communal living -- or maybe Seh’sam, period.  A planet without money can’t have been very fun for Furlow...”

Aeryn shook her head.  “It was B’harnei.”

John blinked.  “What?  He killed her?”

“Frell, no!  He couldn’t kill a sand flea.”  Aeryn shook her head.  “But I was almost ready to kill myself after only a few hundred microts.  Imprisoned in a penal commune under his direction all the time?”  She smiled.  “Furlow got what she deserved.”

***$***

Author's Note: This peculiar little thing was influenced by a couple of things -- killing Furlow in cold blood really wouldn’t be good for Aeryn; hence, killing Furlow would be on behalf of the author; but, I morally disagree with capital punishment!  So, what to do to Furlow that’s *worse* than death?

Trap her on a planet without money, and lock her in a commune run by Barney!
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The End