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Rated Pg-13
Summary: Today is the first day of the rest of your life. That's true of every day except one. The day you die.
Footsteps.
The clap of the Luxan’s boots announced his arrival down the long winding corridor. He ran through the darkness, a hand already held back to pull out his weapon.
D’Argo breathed heavily as he went. His eyes danced around the area in front of him as his long tentacles swung back and forth.
“Chiana!”
The Nebari poked her head out from the cell and caught sight of her caller. She stepped forward and barely had time to open her mouth as he passed. “What the frell is going on?”
He ignored the question and continued to run. D’Argo had heard the message. It appeared that he was the only one on Moya who knew. Besides the leviathan and pilot, of course. They knew only too well what was happening.
“D’Argo!” Chiana gave up trying to get an answer and broke into a sprint after him. “Wait up!”
The Luxan only sped up as he realized that she was following. There was no time to wait for her. Pilot needed him there. He heard the fizzle of his comm.
“Attention everyone! Please report to my den. This is an emergency.” Pilot’s voice was shrill and broken. The fear was more obvious now than it had ever been before. He was not known for keeping it together but this was way beyond that. “Hurry please!”
Jool looked up from the book she was reading with a look of annoyance. It had taken her frelling days to find the thing in the lower compartments. Hardly legible but it had been enough. What could Pilot possibly want that was so important? “Frell.”
“Do as he says.” Rygel floated up beside the perturbed Interon and nodded towards the door. “Pilot doesn’t do that unless it’s serious.” Without another word, the Hynerion royal put his throne into overdrive and sped out of the room. Jool followed him.
D’Argo reached the den and pushed with all his might against the heavy metal door. It groaned horridly but gave way without too much trouble. “Pilot! What’s happened?”
Chiana came crashing in behind him. She stopped short when she saw the look on Pilot’s face. It was quite possibly the worst thing she’d ever seen on this ship. ‘I’ve said that before.’
Pilot’s eyes were half shut but still vibrant with emotion. He took in the sight of two of his passengers and frowned. Both looked the way he must have. The creature would need their support now, as would Moya.
“What the frell is going on?” Rygel tore through the opening on his sled with Jool in tow. He passed the others but grew quiet when he saw Pilot.
“What? What?” Jool looked at everyone one by one. She didn’t understand. “Someone talk! You’re scaring me.”
Now that they were all there, Pilot nodded slightly and proceeded. His features sagged noticably as he struggled to sit upright in his place. The strain he felt was compounded by the sheer enormity of Moya’s.
“Take your time Pilot.” D’Argo shot an angry look at Jool before repeating the words.
Pilot shook his head now. As if he was trying to shake something heavy off of himself. His eyes finally seemed to regain their strength. He cleared his throat.
“Sorry Pilot. Go ahead.” Jool entered the words carefully and shrunk back as the others stared at her.
Pilot nodded one last time. “Talyn has been attacked.” He registered the shocked looks on their faces and continued. “Talyn has gone down. He’s crashed.”
<<<<>>>>
Footsteps.
He heard them coming down the corridor at an alarming pace. It was also easy to tell when something was happening on this ship. The smashing of boot against metal produces quite an annoying clatter of sound. The hybrid ignored it.
The flower sat unceremoniously on its stand in front of him. He reached forward and stroked the small plant with a gloved hand. Green slivers came with him and floated patiently to the ground. The hybrid sighed. His flower was dying.
‘What would they have thought of you?’ It was a question he had conditioned himself against. A question his mind was never allowed to ask. Scorpius lifted his hand away from the flower and shook his head.
Outside, the footsteps had stopped. A flash of green light poured in from below the door. Someone with clearance was coming in.
“What is it Lt?”
Braca blinked a few times as he stepped into the room. The sharp contrast of hallway lights against cold darkness was difficult to take. He shook the strange sensation off and nodded.
“I wasn’t to be disturbed.” Scorpius walked away from the flower stand and sat down at his captain’s chair. ‘You’re not really a captain.’ He never let his eyes fall on the peacekeeper.
Braca swallowed involuntarily. He didn’t like being in here any more than was necessary. It had gotten worse in the past few months. “We have a situation sir. Top priority level.”
This registered somewhat in the hybrid’s mind. It meant something important had happened. Something relevant to him. “Out with it.”
“May I sir?” Braca pointed towards the control panel that adorned a nearby wall.
“Proceed.”
The lieutenant stepped forward and typed a code into the display. He worked quickly and the nervousness caused him to falter several times. Finally, there was movement.
Scorpius shielded his eyes for a moment as a section of the wall began to retreat into itself. With a metallic clang, it slid to one side and revealed a most astounding view. “When did it happen?” The words were jumbled in their speedy attempt to escape his mouth.
“Approximately two arns ago. Not far from here sir.” Braca smiled proudly.
The scene they were watching would have chilled the blood of most races. Dozens, possibly hundreds of peacekeeper vessels floated ominously above what looked like a waste planet. Many were damaged but very little debris could be seen.
The giant’s atmosphere shone brown. A fierce orange light could be seen passing through it in the background. Something was falling. A leviathan was falling.
“You’ve confirmed that it is Talyn?” Scorpius rose from his chair and passed quickly by the flower that once preoccupied him so much.
Once again, Braca nodded. “There is no doubt sir. We have him.”
Scorpius lifted a gloved hand to touch the screen when something caught his attention. ‘Vigilantes.’ He remembered hearing news of the retrieval squad. This must have been there doing. “How soon can we be there?” His voice was agitated now.”
The lieutenant looked down at the data sheet he was carrying. “No more than an arn sir. The commander on sight is setting up a perimeter.”
The hybrid pondered that fact for a moment. “Is it dead yet?”
Braca shook his head. “Not yet sir. Initial forces took heavy damage getting close.” He noted the unimpressed look on his superior’s face. “It appears that John Crichton was aboard.”
<<<<>>>>
The gun ship lay in ruin. His once proud exterior now shattered and scarred by battle fire and impact craters. Every hallway was dark except for the red glare of emergency lights dangerously dwindling in power. Talyn remembered what his mother had said about gravity.
This was much much worse.
Command was a jungle of destroyed consoles and snaking wires. Power lines cris-crossed the floor and sparked constantly. The familiar neural humming was silent.
“Aeryn?”
She shut her eyes tighter in hopes that the darkness would take her back with it. Apparently, that wasn’t going to happen. Life was returning somewhere inside of her. She could feel it stirring behind her eyelids.
“Aeryn.”
Her eyes opened slowly and saw darkness again. The ex-peacekeeper wondered for a moment if perhaps she really was dead. Then a fiery white light exploded above her. She could see the forward portal, the source.
“Aeryn!”
Aeryn bolted up at the sound. It seemed to be coming from somewhere far off. She couldn’t tell exactly where. Standing upright now, she could see the situation more clearly. There was nothing left. Nothing .
“Aeryn, answer me!” Crichton touched his forehead and felt the sticky substance grab hold of his flesh. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what that was. He pushed himself up.
She was standing there in front of him. Crichton couldn’t believe that she’d made it. Her back was to him. “You’re ignoring me. Aeryn!”
She heard the noise again and turned around. Aeryn saw him standing there with a grim look on his face. Worse than usual anyways. She waited.
“Don’t ignore me! I swear Aeryn, don’t f-.”
A look of comprehension seemed to pass over her. Aeryn pointed a finger to her ear and then shook her head. “I can’t hear you, you idiot!”
He sighed and suddenly found himself back on the ground. There was blood coming from somewhere else now but he couldn’t find it. He saw her realize this. He saw her come towards him.
Aeryn leaned down in front of the dazed human and looked into his eyes. He was speaking again but all she heard were muffled sounds. “Just sit still.”
Something flashed through those eyes of his then. Those eyes suddenly looked older. Aeryn’s mouth dropped open as a spot of grey spread across his face. “John?”
John nodded to her and smiled. He stood up easily and looked over towards the forward portal. Light was still shining in from somewhere but the noises had stopped. “They’ve stopped firing.”
She stared at him with confusion. The man in front of her was dressed in his blue Earth clothes. His face looked older. “Am I dead?”
His face turned serious again. John reached a hand out and stroked a stray tear from her face. It was blood actually, but she couldn’t tell from where.
“No, baby. You’re ok.”
<<<<>>>>
He couldn’t hear it anymore.
Crais sat back against the wall and breathed heavily. The pain inside burned with every movement but he continued anyway. He was used to pain. It was something he’d learned to live with.
But this was far worse. It was an emptiness. As if part of him had just decided to vacate the premises. Talyn’s voice refused to come out of the darkness.
“Please Talyn, answer me.” He let his hand trace a path around his neck and to the transponder. It was as good as dead now. Holding on to it though, he felt something far off. The ship was keeping the pain to itself.
Bialar forced himself onto his feet and began walking. He’d started this way once the ship had begun to descend. It was part of the plan. The other part waited for him outside.
The exit hatch stood before him untouched. The ex-captain had feared momentarily that it would be blocked off.
He pushed the control button but nothing happened. “How silly of me.” Crais reached for the doors and began to pull them apart. His hands stained the metal with blood.
The doors opened easily. There was no force holding them shut any longer. Bright white light poured in as an opening appeared. Crais stepped forward and through.
Mounds of dirt surrounded Talyn’s crash site on every side. The light came from huge generators that had been set up once the main cannon stopped firing.
Crais looked up at the weapon now and sighed. It was charred beyond repair. ‘You fought bravely.’ He turned to face the masses.
Talyn was surrounded by an entire army of peacekeeper soldiers. The wave of red and black stood at attention before him with guns drawn and aimed. There was no escape from this.
Crais hobbled forward slowly until he reached the front lines. “Step aside.” It surprised him how much force was behind those words.
The soldiers directly in front of him cleared a path. Bialar Crais felt like a peacekeeper again for the last time.
<<<<>>>>
“Why am I ok?”
Aeryn felt the anger rise up inside her again but with different results. She felt tired, perhaps more than she’d ever felt before.
“Why did it have to be you?”
John shrugged casually and took a step towards her. He looked on unfazed as she stepped back. The human knew her tendencies well. “Life sucks sometimes. I don’t know why.”
The ex-peacekeeper felt her eyes well up with tears. She cursed herself angrily and fought them back. “I won’t accept that. I can’t. It was my fault. I ruined us.”
Without a word, John moved forward and took her shaking form into his arms. He felt her warmth and smiled. “You know that’s not true. Blaming yourself isn’t going to work.”
Aeryn looked up at him and wiped her face clean. She straightened herself up. “Why shouldn’t I? I’m the one who took so frelling long. What if we hadn’t waited?”
John shook his head. “You have no idea, Aeryn. It isn’t how they said it would be.”
She was confused but dared not interrupt.
“I had what I wanted most when I died. You were with me.” John caressed her cheek as he spoke. “That feeling, it doesn’t go away.” He took her hand in his. “Never.”
Aeryn blinked her eyes and he was gone. There was nothing there anymore but the ruins of Talyn’s command. The bright lights touched her eyes again and made her squint. “John?”
“What is it Aeryn?”
She jumped slightly at the sound. Her eyes searched the ground quickly until they met John’s. Not the one she had lost. The one that was there with her. Aeryn realized her hearing was back to normal.
John watched her carefully from his place on the floor. He felt himself getting woozy but his gaze never left her. “What?”
Aeryn knelt down beside him again. “I don’t think we’re going to make it.” Her hand reached out and touched his face. It felt the same.
His eyes went wide. John tried to smile despite the pain. “No, probably not.”
She summoned up her courage and spoke again. “I don’t want to die alone.”
Things were somehow different in the moments following her statement. John could feel it inside of him. “You won’t.”
<<<<>>>>
He saw the table from a few yards off and stopped. Crais reached back to touch his transponder again before continuing. ‘I’m sorry.’
The man seated before him stood up immediately. He wore the uniform of a peacekeeper general. “Hello Bialar. It’s been a long time.”
Crais didn’t remember the man very well anymore. Everything seemed to be growing hazy in his mind. “It has.”
The general nodded. “The terms you spelled out for us. I believe they are acceptable.” He pointed towards a chair but Crais shook his head. “Is there something wrong?”
Bialar looked past the man of higher rank and met the faces of soldiers around him. He saw himself in those faces. Saw the wonder of being part of something. “There is,” he almost faltered, “a problem.”
The general shook his head. “I want that ship intact Bialar.” He glanced over at the wreck and corrected himself. “Well, as much as it is now.”
He pointed towards the transponder on his neck. “I’ve it set to detonate. Don’t think I won’t do it.” Crais quickly realized that he wouldn’t.
“What is the problem?”
Crais managed a chuckle. A smile began to form on his lips. Not the kind he occasionally saw on Crichton and the others. Something bent and long broken. “Deal’s off.”
<<<<>>>>
The marauder touched down outside the perimeter with a soft thud on the landing. Its hatch burst open quickly as two passengers exited.
Scorpius took in a breath of the planet’s air and gagged. It took him a moment to adjust to the new barrage of bacteria. Looming in front of him, he could see the crash sight now bathed in brilliant white light. “Come Lt.”
Braca kept his eyes on the horde of peacekeeper soldiers on both sides of him as he followed his superior. Forces of this magnitude rarely assembled for just one ship. He wondered if there was anyone alive inside the leviathan.
“Scorpius, what are you doing here?” The General looked up from his data sheets as the hybrid and his stooge came into sight. He didn’t like having the creature at his kill. It was unlucky.
Scorpius nodded cordially. Technically, the man in front of him was a superior. “I have a right, General. My property is inside that ship.”
Braca watched the two of them spar silently and decided to get out of the way. He snuck back towards the marauder.
“If the human is inside, High Command will decide who he belongs to.” The General savored his temporary triumph over the monster in front of him.
The hybrid growled. He knew what that meant. His wormhole research wasn’t panning out and they were losing interest. “Of course.”
“It’s too bad you didn’t arrive a bit sooner. ‘Captain’ Bialar Crais was just here.” The General pointed towards a set of blood stains on the ground beside them. “Not quite what I was expecting.”
Scorpius looked down at the designated spot and then back to the uniformed man. “You let him go? Back to the ship?”
The General grinned maliciously. “Any captain has a right to die on his ship. Or, at least close to it.” He pointed off into the distance.
Scorpius followed the man’s gaze and caught sight of a crouching figure in the distance. ‘Crais.’ Before anyone could stop him, he took off running down the path.
<<<<>>>>
“Wait!”
Crais heard the familiar voice behind him and stopped. He stood now directly in front of the entrance hatch into Talyn. The metal doors stood open and ready to receive him.
The sound of what he knew were pulse blasts ripped through the air. Crais felt a burning force tear into his back and then spread. Blood trickled down into his hands. He managed to turn around and face the attackers.
His sight was beginning to blur. It looked like two figures had stepped out in front of all the rest. They were staring at him now. Crais recognized them.
“Bialar!”
He forced his eyes to clear and found himself looking at his brother. Tauvo smiled back at him and stepped forward. The younger of the two brothers knelt down and placed an arm on his shoulder.
“I missed you brother.”
Crais forced himself to believe what he was seeing. He had wanted it for so long. “I’m sorry Tauvo. I failed you.”
Tauvo shook his head. “Forget all that nonsense. It doesn’t matter.” He turned and pointed towards the other figure. “Look who’s come to see you.”
Bialar had to clear his eyes again. The darkness was creeping in from all sides. He saw his father standing in front of him. The man’s face was still as stern as the day they had parted.
“Are you ready Bialar?”
He felt like a fool as tears slid down his face. “I am now.”
His father came forward and leaned in close. “It was my mistake, not yours.”
The two images vanished from his sight as if they had been carried off by the wind. Crais saw someone else coming towards him through the line of soldiers.
Scorpius stepped up besides the dying man and frowned.
“Is this how you pictured it, Scorpius? The end?”
The hybrid shook his head. “No. For that, at least, you have my respect.”
A thin smile spread across the ex-captain’s lips. He closed his eyes. “I don’t need it.”
Scorpius watched quietly as the man in front of him stopped moving. He then turned and motioned for two of the front-line soldiers to come forward.
“What is it sir?”
He breathed a sigh of relief that they did not question his authority. “Come with me.”
<<<<>>>>
They lay there together as the last of Talyn’s energy drained from the room. Neither spoke nor tried to move as darkness enveloped them again.
Aeryn watched the human carefully from her place beside him. Their eyes were locked together in a way that she had never allowed to happen before. She felt naked.
John smiled weakly. His wounds had lowered themselves to a dull pain. As long as he didn’t move much, it would be ok. He grasped a lock of her hair in his hand.
A groaning, metallic sound broke whatever enchantment had taken the two. The doors to command were being pried open. Talyn had shut the door as a precaution before he’d gone away. Apparently, he couldn’t hold them anymore.
Two figures in black stepped into the room with pulse weapons aimed. They searched the room for a moment before settling on John and Aeryn.
“Don’t mo-.”
Two pulse blasts cut the announcement short. The soldiers slumped to the ground in a heap and gave no more orders.
Scorpius tossed his gun into the room so both of them could see. “I am unarmed John. Please don’t try to kill me just yet.”
John motioned to Aeryn and she nodded. Using all the strength they could muster, the two of them stood up and faced the arriving monstrosity.
Aeryn put herself between the two men. “You can’t have him.”
Scorpius raised his hands and smiled. “As difficult as this may be to believe, I’m here to help you.” Before Aeryn could respond, he pointed towards the two bodies on the ground.
“What? Their uniforms? You can’t possibly expect me to trust you.”
The hybrid nodded. “I’m not asking you to trust me, officer Sun.” He looked over at John. “You have something that I need. If I allow the soldiers outside to capture you, I won’t get it.”
Aeryn looked back at John. Her gaze was a questioning one.
The Human shrugged. “Why the hell not?” Resistance and suspicion sprang up inside him immediately. John was too tired to heed them.
Aeryn turned back to Scorpius. “Try anything and the three of us will die together.”
<<<<>>>>
Lt. Braca looked up from his seat in the prowler as Scorpius and two odd looking soldiers walked up the path.
“Is everything alright sir?”
Scorpius nodded curtly and motioned for his subordinate to move. “Get out of the prowler Lt..” He waited until the man was out and then nodded to the soldiers.
Aeryn steadied herself and climbed up into the prowler. Moving quickly, she reached the instrument panel and began starting the engines.
As he started for the ship, John suddenly thought of something. He stopped and pulled the heavy helmet off his head. “Where’s Crais?”
Braca’s eyes went wide but the hybrid grabbed a hold of him.
“He’s dead John.” Scorpius showed no emotion as he spoke. It was easy to cover up something that wasn’t there.
John nodded. “That’s what I figured.” Despite himself, he felt sad for the ex-peacekeeper. He started for the marauder again.
“John, one last thing.” Scorpius kept a hand on Braca as he spoke. “Circumstances forced me into this position. It will not happen next time.”
John climbed up into the ship. “Till then Scorpy.” Wincing, he pushed the hatch down and shut it.
Scorpius watched the marauder rise up into the air. Dust clouds formed around his boots and clogged the air around him. ‘Yes....’
Braca finally managed to pull away from his superior. Something was much clearer to him now than it had been. “You’re right sir. I wouldn’t understand.”
The hybrid narrowed his eyes as he turned to leave the launching area. ‘....Till then John.’
