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Time: Just after 4.22 (Bad Timing) and after 4.03 (What Was Lost, Resurrection)
Spoilers: Bits and pieces from Season 4, mostly concentrated in 4.03 and 4.05 (Promises) and a bit from 4.22 (Bad Timing).
Disclaimer: Not mine, no profit, I’m keeping my day job.
Rated: G
Acknowledgements: Thank you NeuralClone for doing Beta duty and taking time out of your extremely busy schedule to go over this fic for me. Thank you for your continued support, you have helped me with the voices immeasurably. Any “out-of-character” prose and other spelling and grammatical errors are strictly on me.
“Tell me, how did you manage to escape the grave?” Sikozu waited until she and Scorpius were alone, certain Braca was not in earshot, to ask this question. “This time, answer me, ‘foresight and preparation’ won’t do. More than that, how did you find Aeryn and Moya?” She resisted the impulse to get close; instead, taking a seat, facing him, she leaned forward in anticipation, her hands resting lightly on her knees.
Scorpius leaned back, closed his eyes, his hands making a pyramid under his chin. He drew in a deep breath, opened his eyes, and took Sikozu’s hands into his. “Yes, you deserve... the truth.” He stood, poured a G’ltian brandy for them both and began.
“As you have undoubtedly surmised, my suggestion that I not be buried had the effect that I wished. I knew I needed to be protected from the magnetic rays and relied on Grayza to do the opposite of what you suggested. Despite my injury, I knew I could last monens as I am able to slow my heart rate to one hundredth of its normal rate without suffering any ill effects. And while my injury wasn’t minor, I was confident it would heal completely during that time.” Scorpius paused to take a sip of the brandy.
“B-but, we saved Arnessk... from the magnetic rays.” Sikozu said. She had yet to drink the brandy, moistening her finger with it instead and placing it on Scorpius’ lips.
Scorpius pulled her hand from his mouth and held her lightly by the wrist. “I did not account for Crichton in the equation. It did not... go to plan.” Scorpius said. He gestured to Sikozu to sit. “The magnetic rays had the effect of making the soil light and dry. I had sufficient oxygen to breathe with my metabolism slowed as it was. Once the Darnaz triangle was restored, the conditions changed. I would have... died but for the priests and Joolushko. I did not know it at the time as I was in a trance state, prepared to emerge after four monens had elapsed. I did not know that water had seeped into my ‘grave’.” He said.
Sikozu settled into a comfortable chair in Scorpius’ quarters, curled her legs under her, and took her first sip of the brandy. She inhaled deeply, looked at Scorpius through half lidded eyes and said, “Tell me... everything.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was aware of voices as I drifted into consciousness. Instead of feeling weight pressing against my lungs, or earth, rock, and other debris scratching at my face, I felt my body stretched out on a warm soft platform and fresh cool air against my face. I opened my eyes and before I could focus I heard Joolushko say, “He’s awake!” from behind me. Several people swam into view; Joolushko was the only person whom I recognized.
It wasn’t the right time, that much I knew. I remained silent and waited.
“Scorpius” Joolushko said, looking at me with concern, “do not try to do anything just yet. You nearly died. I’m afraid you still have a long recovery.”
I could feel she was right. My upper body was bandaged and sore. There was a partially dried sticky patch from where I was still bleeding. I did not know how much blood I lost, or how long I would be able to... do without my thermal suit. But despite everything, I felt comfortable. I could feel my strength returning.
I had to know! “How long?” I asked.
“It has been six days since you were buried. ALIVE!” Jool said, shuddering at the thought. “We found you right after they left.” Jool continued. Seeing my confusion she added, “Crichton, Sikozu, Noranti, Rygel, Chiana, and D’Argo.” She got a dreamy look in her eyes at the mention of D’Argo.
I was aware that we were on a planet, and not a vessel of any kind. “Are we still... on Arnessk? How is this possible?” I asked.
Joolushko sat down and paused, “Crichton found the missing probe. We recreated the triangle and Arnessk has been restored.” She fell silent.
I heard more voices and saw a man clad in a burnt orange robe walk up to her, bend and say something that I could not make out. I tried to sit up to hear better, but Joolushko restrained me.
“We found you.” Joolushko stated.
The robed figure stood behind Joolushko and I could see his kind face. He smiled sweetly and spoke, “We were released from our stasis once the Darnaz triangle was reinstated. We had been trapped for over ten thousand cycles. I asked Joolushko to show us around, sensing many changes since. When we walked by where you were buried, Joolushko froze; her expression was one of pain and uncertainty. I asked her what was wrong.”
Joolushko interrupted, “I told Ravic what happened and that I wanted to bury you properly. I thought it would be the first official act they would perform.”
Ravic continued, “It wasn’t. After we disinterred you, we became aware of your life force, as faint as it was.”
I felt very tired and found myself drifting off to sleep. I fought to keep my eyes open, but only heard Joolushko say as I drifted off, “Rest, we will return and tell you more.” I barely heard the last.
When I awoke again, I could feel Ravic’s benevolent presence. He had placed his hand lightly over my bare hands. I tried to sit up, but he restrained me with the lightest touch. “Rest,” he said. “You need time to mend and you need sustenance.” He walked over to a shelf and returned with a tray containing a bowl filled with a thin gruel and a cup with some kind of herbal tea.
“Here, let me help you sit up.” Ravic moved some padded cushions and placed them behind my back. He maneuvered me into a sitting position; he did not allow me to contribute to the effort. “You cannot strain, Joolushko has repaired you, but any strain and you are likely to re-injure yourself.” He explained.
I could feel he was right! I was hungry, but found it took all the strength I had to lift the spoon of gruel to my lips. It was worth the effort as it was delicious and quickly calmed my hunger. I could feel my strength returning as I ate. But I’d need more than their kind ministrations if I were to heal properly and complete my now altered plans. I needed my thermal suit and said as much.
“I will get Joolushko and let her talk to you about that.” Ravic said and promptly left before I could enquire further.
I had time to finish the gruel and tea before Ravic returned with Joolushko. She whispered something to Ravic and he left while she entered the room.
“Scorpius, the suit is badly damaged.” Joolushko said as she walked up to me. “None of us knows how to fix it, and even with the damaged marauders, I’m not sure we could find the right parts.”
“What marauders?” I asked. I was stunned. Was Grayza... still here? Were other Peacekeepers here? And if so, what were the priests and Joolushko doing with them? “Who else is here?”
“You needn’t worry, Scorpius. It’s a long story, but for now, the marauders were damaged in a fight between Crichton and Grayza. Grayza left in the one intact marauder before we restored the triangle. Then Crichton and the others left looking for Moya and Aeryn.”
“Did... Braca leave with Grayza?” I asked.
“Yes,” Joolushko said, “sleep now and we’ll look at your suit in the morning. Some of the Priests are capable of working with mechanical things, but they will need your instruction to repair the suit.”
I was going to protest, but quickly realized that she was correct. I was as comfortable as I could be with my injuries, and one more night without my suit would not be a problem. I think, in part, my injuries actually aided me in that I was not producing the heat I would under more normal circumstances. I fell asleep.
I awoke the next morning to see four Priests, led by Ravic and Joolushko, standing around a large table. On it was my suit. With a quick nod, Joolushko left them and stood by me. She said, “Scorpius, eat first, and then we will begin to work on the suit.” She handed me another bowl of the gruel and tea. I was ravenously hungry, a good sign. After I was done eating, I wanted to leave my bed and stretch my legs, but I was still quite weak. One of the priests sensed my restlessness and came over to the bed holding a cloak after shooing Joolushko away. He quickly robed me and helped my to gain my footing. I felt stronger as we walked to the lavatory; I was healing rapidly. Ordinarily I would have refused any help... but they were acting only out of caring and kindness. I was... grateful for their help.
The priests repaired my suit under my supervision. I... repaired myself. However, I was running out of time, as I would soon need to replace a cooling rod. I was reasonably sure that Braca had left as instructed, a second suit, spare rods, and my machine to replenish used rods, as prior to shooting me, Braca had been able to place a new, untainted rod in place of the poisoned one. I kept up the pretense of being affected by the rod so that Grayza would not suspect... anything.
Before you ask why I did not have them simply get the spare suit, I must tell you that I did not know with absolute certainty that Braca had been able to fully carry out my orders. I could not risk raising my metabolism until I had more protection. I forced my metabolism to remain at a lowered state until such time as I could move on my own. The priests made it possible. The priests took another two days to complete the repair, for to accomplish the task they had to modify such parts as they could find on the marauders with only my descriptions of what they might use. As you can imagine, this took many rejected attempts. By the time my suit was ready, I had healed sufficiently to move around on my own. It also meant that I had to find the rods as I was beginning to produce more heat. I could no longer stay in the low metabolic state and still function.
I had described the place to Ravic where I had Braca store my goods, but he did not know where it was. I asked him to accompany me while I oriented myself and found the location where it was stored. Everything was there, to my great relief. I would have been difficult, but not impossible for me to recreate the cooling rods. Ravic helped me carry them back to my chamber and asked about the rods’ purpose. I could hardly deny him... he was... they all were very kind.
Ravic and I worked on rebuilding one of the marauders over the next weeken. Occasionally, some of the other priests and Joolushko assisted, but I could see they wanted to do other things, whereas Ravic was an enthusiastic helper and a quick learner.
I found numerous data spools on the marauders, but one in particular caught my interest. It concerned a group of assassins and named names. One of the names was that of Aeryn Sun. That surprised me greatly as I had thought that Aeryn and Crichton were close friends if not more. I sought Joolushko out.
“What happened to Officer Sun, Joolushko?” I asked. “Is she not with Crichton?”
Joolushko looked at me uncertainly as she replied to me, “I do not know, Scorpius. She was not here, and I had not seen her for monens.”
“Do you know where she went?”
“Not precisely,” Joolushko responded. “But I think... it was indicated that... oh, I don’t know, but she said something about an assassin unit.” Joolushko said and bit her lip. She added, “I cannot think of Aeryn as an assassin. She is not an assassin!”
This confirmed the data I had. Joolushko was very naïve. “She may be one, Joolushko. I am going to try to find her.”
“I will come with you,” Joolushko said.
My first impulse was to reject her offer. However, I could see it would be useful for me to have someone with me that Aeryn might consider a friend. I had to assume Aeryn would not come with me alone. I needed to improve my chances. “Very well, but what of the priests?” I asked.
“I am sure I can leave them for a short time, Scorpius. After all, they were by themselves for over ten thousand cycles and survived all that time without me.” Sikozu said.
I laughed. I had not expected Joolushko to be making light of it.
“There it is,” Joolushko exclaimed. We had headed for the coordinates in the data spool, and located it just two days from Arnessk. In that time I formulated a plan. I was wary about contacting the cell myself as I was sure word had spread that I was... dead. I wanted to keep it that way. Because this cell was working in partnership with the Peacekeepers, I thought it would be better for Joolushko to negotiate with them. After hearing my arguments, Joolushko agreed to my plan. She had seen what Grayza had done to me.
The communication system crackled on and a disembodied voice requested our authorization code. Joolushko gave the one from the same data spool. By now we were in range for visual contact and saw the Sebacean officer attached to the voice. “Permission to land,” she said. I kept out of range during the communication.
She was gone from the marauder much longer than I had calculated. I was about to risk exposure when Joolushko returned. According to what she told me, which I believe was true on her part, they first denied all knowledge of Aeryn Sun. She managed to convince them she was a friend of Aeryn’s. At this point they acknowledged they knew of her, but that no one knew where Aeryn was. She and two others had gone on a mission, but no one has returned. They were two weekens overdue.
“Have they not... tried to find them?” I asked.
“Not yet. They cannot spare anyone at the moment.” Joolushko replied. “I volunteered my services but they are unwilling to supply me with any information.”
“But we have the correct authorization code,” I protested. “Surely that is enough to obtain the coordinates of their destination.”
“Apparently not.” Joolushko tersely reply. “However, Jacobi, the person I was talking to, excused himself for a conference in the next room while I was there. I looked at the data spool he was fingering moments before, and saw that they referenced Hokothian Prime.”
“How... confident are you, Joolushko?” I said.
“Jacobi was nervously fiddling with that data spool the entire time I was there.” Joolusko said. “I think he wanted me to look at it, because he said nothing when he returned, and I was looking at it then. I think he cared what happened to the crew.”
“That is... interesting.” I said.
We followed the coordinates to Hokothian Prime and kept our sensors on the broadest scan range possible. After two days traveling, the sensors detected a small vessel at the edge of its range. We headed for it and found a lone prowler adrift in the void. I maneuvered the marauder so that we could look into the prowler to see if there was anyone in it. There was... Aeryn. She was unconscious, or at least she didn’t try to contact us or react in any way. I donned a space suit and connected the prowler to the marauder so that I could enter the prowler from the marauder. I could not open the hatch and expect Aeryn to live.
Once I had Aeryn on board, we disconnected the Prowler and returned to Arnessk as fast as we could. At optimum speed, it would take just under two days, and Aeryn Sun was in an advanced state of heat delirium. I had to do something immediately.
“Joolushko, I need to lower the temperature. Aeryn is burning up.” I said.
“For Aeryn?” Joolushko asked me, nodding approvingly.
“For me,” I replied. “I will be able to make do. I think Aeryn will need the efficiency of the suit.”
“But your suit won’t fit her!” Joolushko exclaimed. “You are bigger and her build is different.”
“Yes,” I replied. “But even as it is, it will help her a good deal more than just a cool ambient temperature.”
“Adjust the temperature for yourself and find me a blanket or something more to wear. I’ll be able to keep warm enough.” Joolushko said.
Ill fitting as it was, the thermal suit had the desired effect. Within an arn, Aeryn regained consciousness. She started violently when she saw me.
“Do not be afraid of me Aeryn Sun,” I said, “You may wear this thermal suit to cool your body down while we are returning to Arnessk.”
Joolushko nodded when Aeryn looked at her quizzically. “He means it Aeryn,” Joolushko replied to the unstated question, “Scorpius is making do with this frigid temperature. Hey, have you ever seen me with this many clothes on?”
Aeryn laughed at Joolushko’s comment. I then had reason to hope that I would be able to keep her fever under control.
“What do you want from me in exchange, Scorpius?” Aeryn asked.
“I want to find... Crichton. Will you help me?” I asked.
“And if I don’t, will you leave me to die?” Aeryn retorted.
I had considered what Aeryn’s reaction might be to my proposal, and suspected that she might challenge me. “Do you want to die?” I asked. “Your... wish is what will determine what I do, not your refusal.”
“I will help you.” Aeryn stated simply.
I still needed to find Crichton. I thought all I had to do was to find Moya, and Crichton and the others would be there. Joolushko informed me that they had not arrived on Moya. Still, she assured me that THEY were looking for Moya. My original premise was correct. I needed to find Moya.
Two factors prevented me from setting out immediately. The leviathan’s range was much greater than that of a marauder, and I had no idea where to start looking. I asked Aeryn if she knew where Moya might be, but she had parted company with Moya before Joolushko had. The only fact I possessed was Moya was not here at Arnessk when Crichton was here.
Luck was... on my side for once. While I was pondering how to get Moya to come to us, Pilot commed Joolushko. She explained the situation to Pilot and he reluctantly let me come aboard. Once he saw how ill Aeryn was, he was much more amenable to my presence. We immediately got Aeryn into the regulatory chamber. We did not stay at Arnessk very long after that, and the rest you know, Sikozu.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The command carrier was coming to life, it had taken Scorpius the better part of the shift to tell his story, he had not held back. Sikozu uncurled herself from the chair, stood up, and stretched.
“Scorpius,” she said, “do you still want Crichton?”
“Oh yes,” Scorpius replied while standing, “We are... linked.”
“Does he not still hate you?” Sikozu asked, shuddering slightly at the thought.
“He may well, nevertheless, he will... come to me.” Scorpius said, tilting his head to the left as if Crichton would appear on cue. He didn’t.
“Scorpius, are we going to Arnessk?” Sikozu asked.
“Yes,” Scorpius replied, “it is time for me to pay my debts.”
