Previously on Farscape (Voice of
Sikozu):
Scene One: from "Promises", Chiana: "What's he
doin here? What's he want?" Scorpius stands behind
Aeryn. Aeryn: "He wants asylum."
Scene Two: from "Natural Election", John and
Aeryn are in the fan room. John: "A relationship... is based on
trust." Aeryn: "I didn't want to tell you about the pregnancy until
I was sure."
Scene Three: from "Promises". John holds a
bulb in his hand. Noranti: "Distilate of Laka. One whiff and
the pain is gone."
Scene Four: from "Terra Firma", Noranti and
Aeryn are on Moya. Noranti: "It's to help him move on.
Surmount his feelings and forget." Aeryn looks at the bulb she is
holding in her hand.
And now, on Farscape...
PROLOGUE
A couple of DRDs hurry through Moya, followed
by Scorpius.
Scorpius: "Pilot. Why is that trading
vessel still aboard?"
Pilot: "The negotiation is proving...
difficult. These traders are asking exorbitant prices for their
maps. Yet we dare not traverse Tormented Space without reliable star
charts."
Scorpius comes to the doorway of the hanger
bay where the trading vessel is docked. John and Aeryn are also
back near the doorway and D'Argo stands in front of them, watching the
proceedings. A pair of armed traders stand at the foot of the steps
leading down from their ship. Two more are at a table, bargaining
with Noranti and Rygel. The DRDs that came with Scorpius join
several others that are already in the bay.
Noranti: "For five thousand crindars, I want
maps that are current and authentic."
Trader: "I said ten."
Rygel: "And she said
five."
Trader: "Buy your maps
elsewhere."
The traders are humanoid in appearance, all
male and seem to have very bad acne (or some kind of sores on their
faces.)
He turns and starts to walk
away.
Noranti: "Are you so sure another buyer will
come along?"
In the doorway to the bay, Aeryn stands
watching. She is tapping her fingers against her pulse pistol in its
holster. John stands near her, not watching the traders, but
watching her. Aeryn has her teeth clenched. She makes a tiny,
gasping sound.
John: "What?"
Aeryn: "Nothing's bothering me." She
continues to stare straight ahead, not looking at
John.
John: "Something I said?"
She continues to stare out into the hanger
bay.
John: "It must have been something I
said."
D'Argo is holding his qualta rifle and he
starts to walk closer to the trading table. The two guards by the
ship watch him closely.
Trader: "Nine thousand. No more
talk."
Noranti: "Except to say goodbye." She
turns and starts to leave, quickly.
Trader 2: "Wait!"
Trader: "No."
Trader 2: "Seven."
Trader: "Final offer."
The Trader and Noranti look at each other for
a few moments, then Noranti comes back to the table.
Noranti: "The Dominar will pay
you."
As Noranti and Rygel leave the hanger, they
pass by where Scorpius is standing.
Scorpius: "You lookd unusually smug.
Your deal, it was successful?
Rygel: "You have no idea." He
chortles.
The Trader calls after them: "One more
trade. No tricks."
He comes down the steps out of the trading
vessel leading a young woman by her hair. She walks stooped over,
holding her head where his hand is, and gasping as she walks.
Chiana, who is sitting on a conduit near John,
gets up on her feet to watch more closely.
Trader: "We enjoyed her. Plenty of good
pleasure left."
The young woman looks up and at Noranti.
Her lip quivers.
Trader: "No value to an old woman
but..."
Noranti whirls and stalks
away.
The Trader puts his hand on the woman's front,
grabbing a breast and rubbing her abdomen in an exaggerated
fashion.
Trader: "... but to
men..."
He laughs. The young woman grabs at his
hands, trying to stop him.
Chiana stands up and pulls her pulse pistol,
pointing it at him: "Touch her again, you fekik, and you die!" She
hisses.
Everyone else draws their weapons.
D'Argo had put up his qualta blade and he grunts as he struggles to redraw
it. The trader has let go of the woman and stands behind her, his
arms crossed over his chest.
John, standing beside Chiana, has Wynonna
pointed at the traders: "Calm down."
D'Argo: "Chiana, this is not our
problem."
Chiana: "What? Have you forgotten what
it's like to be a prisoner?"
D'Argo closes his eyes.
Trader: "Eight hundred crindars...
bargain." He strokes the woman's hair. "She's yours." He
pushes her forward a step.
Chiana: "We can't just leave
her."
Everyone looks away, not making eye contact
with Chiana.
Chiana: "Okay." She jumps down from the
conduit, still pointing her gun at the trader.
Chiana: "I'll buy her myself if I have
to."
Rygel: "You brought that Vorc onto Moya,
remember?"
Chiana smiles at the young woman: "What's your
name?"
Woman: "Talikaa."
Chiana: "Talikaa." She puts her gun arm
down and walks over to her. She brings the gun back up, pointed at
Talikaa's head. Talikaa's eyes get very round and her lip quivers
again.
Chiana: "Here's the deal. We take her,
or I take her head off."
Rygel: "Shoot her. She's nothing to
me."
D'Argo: "Rygel... pay
them."
Rygel: "But, uh..."
D'Argo yells: "Pay them!"
John: "Sparky! Cough it up." He
reaches over to Rygel and grabs something from him.
Rygel wimpers.
John points Wynonna into the air and walks
quickly over to the traders, carrying the money he's taken from
Rygel. He hands it to the trader, behind Talikaa's
back.
Trader: "A smart purchase. You'll have
fun with her."
Chiana shrieks at him. Scorpius looks
on, obviously concerned.
D'Argo speaks quietly to John and he walks
back past him.
D'Argo: "This is a bad
idea."
John whispers back: "Nine times out of
ten. First nice planet we find, we drop her
off."
Chiana talks to Talikaa: "This isn't... no...
I'm... I'm... I'm a friend."
Talikaa wimpers and her lip
quivers.
Chiana: "A friend."
Talikaa looks at Chiana. She looks
distorted somehow and discolored. Talikaa reaches out with a finger
and touches the bare skin on Chiana's chest.
Chiana: "Hey, it's okay." She reaches
for Talikaa's arm.
Talikaa gasps and pushes Chiana's hand
away. She spins and runs.
D'Argo yells: "Chiana! Grab
her."
Aeryn grabs Talikaa as she runs past.
Talikaa looks at Aeryn and she also looks distorted and discolored.
Aeryn lets go of her and she backs away, towards John.
He grabs her. John looks distorted to
Talikaa too.
John: "Take it easy. We're not gonna
hurt you."
Noranti watches from behind a shelving
structure.
Talikaa spins away from John and rushes past
Rygel, hitting him out of her way. Rygel cries
out.
D'Argo: "Okay, hold her. Grab
her!" He starts after her.
Scorpius reaches out a hand as she darts past
him and stops her.
Talikaa looks at a distorted Scorpius
too. She reaches up to touch the skin near his eye, but he pushes
her hand away.
D'Argo grabs the gasping woman: "Okay, take
her to your room."
He pushes her back, to Chiana. Chiana
grabs hold of her.
D'Argo: "She is
your
responsibility."
Chiana lets go with one hand and leans over to
look at Talikaa's face.
Chiana: "Hey... Talikaa. Come on.
I'll get you some food and some better clothes."
They leave the bay and Scorpius
follows.
Pilot: "The trading vessel is now leaving
Moya."
D'Argo: "Good."
Noranti turns and leaves
quickly.
John inhales through his nose. He turns
to look at Aeryn. She turns her head and looks back. He puts
his hands on his hips, hooking his thumbs in his belt and walks over to
stand face-to-face with her.
John: "So you're... angry with me?" He
drops his hands: "Let's talk."
Aeryn: "I don't want to
talk."
John: "Aeryn..."
Aeryn slams the back of her hand into the side
of John's face, as hard as she can. He staggers under the
blow. He puts his hand to the side of his face and gasps. He
half turns and watches her walk out of the bay.
END OF PROLOGUE
__________________________________________________________________________
ACT ONE
John follows Aeryn down a corridor on
Moya.
Aeryn: "There's nothing to
say."
John: "The hell there's not. You hit
me!"
Aeryn: "You lied to me."
John: "Hey, you lied to me! You said
nothing was bothering you."
She walks into a room and over to a
workbench. John follows right behind her.
John: "Okay, so I did not tell you about the
poppers. You did not tell me about the baby. Does that mean I
get to hit you now?"
Aeryn: "I would not advise
that."
John puts a foot up on the workbench and jumps
up to crouch near her: "Oh. You... do not scare me,
Missy."
Aeryn turns her face and gives him a cold,
cold look.
John: "Okay..." He backs down off the
workbench. "... you scare me a little."
Aeryn goes back to work.
John: "You want the
truth?"
She stops what she's doing and looks at
him.
John: "I was taking that crap from
Noranti... to forget you. But you gotta admit..." He
leans closer: "... it's kinda romantic. I'm just crazy about
you."
Aeryn: "So, it's my
fault."
John: "No! What?"
Aeryn: "You should have been
stronger."
John groans: "Oh, god! Aeryn,
please! G... gi... Honey, give me a break! I'm weak. I'm
human." He falls to his knees in front of the workbench: "I'm a
guy."
Aeryn slams the lid on a chest on the bench
and walks away.
John: "What is the matter?" He gets up
and follows her.
John: "Aeryn, I'm fine." He catches up
to her and grabs her arm from behind. She spins around to face him
and he immediately lets go and holds his hands up in the
air.
Aeryn glares at him.
John points at her with both hands: "We're
gonna be fine."
Aeryn: "No. We're not." She turns
and walks quickly out of the room.
John: "Aeryn... do not walk away. Much
as I love it when you walk away." He hollers after her: "Aeryn!"
He continues much softer, to himself: "We're gonna be fine!
She likes me." He nods towards where she's gone, then turns and goes
the other way.
Talikaa stands quietly.
Chiana: "Wow! That's much better."
Chiana looks closely at Talikaa, putting her hands on Talikaa's
hips. Talikaa has changed clothes and is now wearing an outfit with
a long skirt and a silver collar.
Chiana laughs: "Fits great. It looks
nice."
Talikaa makes a sound halfway between a laugh
and a wimper.
Chiana: "It looks, uh...
sexy."
Talikaa: "What is 'sexy'?"
Chiana looks at her, surprised: "Oh, a girl as
beautiful as you shouldn't... shouldn't have to ask that." She holds
onto Talikaa's hands and takes a step back, still looking at
her.
Chiana: "Sexy is, um... " Chiana drops
Talikaa's hands and takes a step to go around her. "...
sexy."
Talikaa: "You like sexy?"
Chiana circles around Talikaa, smelling her
hair. She leans her head in towards Talikaa's shoulder: "Yah.
It's my... uh... it's my favorite color." She rests her chin on
Talikaa's shoulder: "Makes you feel good... knowing men want
you."
Talikaa jerks away and looks back over her
shoulder at Chiana.
Chiana walks away and circles back around in
front: "Oh...um... Sorry. M... most men aren't... aren't like those
traders. Most men are, uh... are pretty drad."
Talikaa looks at Chiana through her distorted
vision: "You like men for sex?"
Chiana: "They're, uh... they're good for other
things. But they're great for sex."
Chiana gulps as Talikaa steps over to her,
looking her in the face.
Talikaa: "Just men?"
Chiana stares at Talikaa.
Talikaa touches Chiana's comms: "You like
this?" She reaches up and feels the side of Chiana's face.
Chiana turns her lips towards Talikaa's fingers. Talikaa strokes
down her cheek and under her jaw. Chiana gasps
quietly.
Talikaa whispers: "Is this
sex?"
Chiana puts her lips on the palm of Talikaa's
hand.
Chiana breathes: "Yah." She nods:
"It's... it's getting pretty close."
Aeryn walks up to the open doorway and sees
Chiana and Talikaa standing inside Chiana's quarters. She stops and
watches.
Chiana and Talikaa lean towards each
other. They touch upper lips, moving their faces in response to each
other. They kiss lightly and move away a bit. Talikaa touches
Chiana's lip with her tongue, Chiana leaning towards her again.
Chiana smiles. They kiss again.
From the doorway, Aeryn calls:
"Chiana."
At the sound of Aeryn's voice, the kiss
stops. Chiana turns her head towards the sound. Talikaa looks
up, keeping one hand on Chiana's breast.
Chiana follows Aeryn out into the
corridor. Aeryn stops and turns. Chiana comes up to
her.
Chiana: "Okay. What... is your
problem?"
Aeryn: "That the only reason why you brought
her aboard? So you can make her your toy now?"
Chiana: "Uh... ... ... we were just
talkin. Girl stuff." Chiana leans towards Aeryn who is
standing ramrod straight. "Oh, come on." She puts her hand on
Aeryn's waist, with a slap of leather. "I get feisty. I'm not
like you." Chiana pushes Aeryn by her waist, right up against the
wall.
Chiana brings her face in very close to
Aeryn's: "You don't need it. I do." Chiana pins Aeryn's
arms. Aeryn sweeps Chiana's hands away, but Chiana puts them right
back. "It's not a crime."
Aeryn leans as far back, away from Chiana as
she can get, while being held pinned against the wall: "This is excessive,
even for you, Chiana."
Chiana smiles and leans into her: "Well, if
you're not into it... I could always ask Crichton." She bends,
putting a finger to Aeryn's jaw and leans to kiss Aeryn's bare neck.
Aeryn moves Chiana's finger away.
Chiana: "You mind?"
Aeryn puts her hand on Chiana's jaw. She
clenches her forehead into deep furrows.
Aeryn: "Do what you want." Aeryn pushes
past Chiana and walks away. Chiana, watching her, takes a deep
breath.
John can be heard whistling. Talikaa
peers around a doorway at him. He is standing in his quarters.
He has a book in one hand and a slinky in the other. He is playing
with the slinky, throwing it out and catching it as it recoils. He
spots Talikaa.
John: "Hey! Hey, how you doin?" He
gestures with his arms: "Come on in." He gestures around at the
room: "Uh... sorry about the mess." He stoops over and starts
picking up things. "Chocolate?" He holds something out towards
her. "It's fresh from Earth."
Talikaa shakes her head "no", vigorously and
takes a step back out of the room.
John: "Don't be afraid. Come on
in. We're friends." He sits down on a
bench.
Talikaa slowly comes towards him, her hands
held shyly behind her back: "For sex?"
John laughs and talks, his mouth full of
chocolate: "No. That's a different kind of friend. That's a
special friend."
Talikaa laughs. She sits down near
John.
John grunts and nods.
Talikaa: "A special friend. Like you and
Aeryn."
John: "How did you... ? Oh!
Chiana, right?"
Talikaa: "Chiana, yes." She laughs: "But
I can see it for myself. Anyone can. You are hers and she is
yours. Or am I wrong?" To her eyes, John is both discolored
and distorted.
John grins and shakes his head: "No.
You're right. You're absolutely right."
John looks away and then back, seeing Talikaa
staring at him. He laughs and she joins him.
D'Argo is standing behind a projection of a
rotating star-chart.
D'Argo: "These maps look legitimate.
Information about the dangerous sectors is accurate, it should be easy for
us to evade them. Looks like the old witch actually did a good
job." He turns off the projection.
Rygel: "Don't I get any
credit?"
D'Argo: "What for?"
Rgyel laughs and throws a coin onto the table:
"Look closely at that."
D'Argo picks it up.
Rygel: "Read me the
amount."
D'Argo: "A hundred
crindars."
Rygel: "It's really only a twelfth of
that. I added the extra digit. Fine handiwork, don't you
think?"
D'Argo: "You cheated the
traders."
Rygel: "That's right. More for
me."
D'Argo leans over the table and yells at
Rygel: "Do you know what you've done, you selfish little tralk? The
traders control this part of Tormented Space!"
John steps into the doorway and stops,
watching.
Rygel: "The greebols won't even
notice."
D'Argo: "They
will
notice, you lying, cheating little..."
He comes around the table and grabs Rygel: "... piece of
crap!"
John runs into the room and gets between them:
"Knock it off! Knock it off! Break! Break!" He pushes
them apart. "Neutral corners. What's the
problem?"
D'Argo: "This little piece of
dren
gave
the traders counterfeit crindars."
Rygel: "Not counterfeit. Just
altered."
John: "Sparky? What'd you want to do
that for? These are not the guys we wantta piss off. We have
to be out here for a while and we need to be able to do
business."
D'Argo is several steps away, behind John:
"And now he's ruined it for us. When they find out they've been
cheated..."
Rygel: "I'm telling you, they won't.
Those forgeries would fool anyone."
John: "Ryg, you can't do stuff like
this. You're jamming us up."
D'Argo: "Crichton, can't you see the damage he
has done us? When they come for us, I'm gonna give them
you!
They can enjoy you as much as they like!"
Noranti comes into the balcony and watches
from above.
John: "D. That's not going to solve the
problem."
D'Argo puts his hands on his hips and takes a
deep breath.
John: "Relax. Have a seat. Have a
bite to eat." He puts a plate down in front of
D'Argo.
Rygel zooms over towards the dish: "Get away
from those. They're mine!"
D'Argo reaches over, picks up the dish and
hurls it across the room, screaming: "You selfish little
dren
!"
Rygel gasps and D'Argo snarls at him.
Rygel backs quickly away as D'Argo lunges for him. Again, John steps
in the way.
John: "Chill. Chill, bra.
It's under control, all right? We're gonna make it right."
Noranti slips in at the
doorway.
John: "We're gonna phone these guys.
We're gonna tell 'em we made a mistake and we're gonna make it
right."
Rygel: "Are you fahrbot?"
D'Argo: "I'm the Captain here. I'll deal
with it, and then I'll deal with
you
!"
Rygel: "Just keep your hands off my
property." Rygel starts to fly away.
D'Argo charges in the same
direction.
John: "D! Let him..." D'Argo slams
into John and goes right past him.
John: "... let him go, D!"
D'Argo snarls but rushes past Rygel, not
touching him.
John: "Pilot. Can you get that trading
ship on the phone?"
Pilot: "I'll try, Commander, but this area of
Tormented Space is making transmissions very
unreliable."
John: "You can do it, man. You're smart
enough. You're good enough. Doggone it, people like
you."
Pilot: "Are you alright,
Crichton?"
D'Argo strides down a corridor, breathing
heavily. Talikaa enters the corridor from a side.
D'Argo sees her and hollers at her: "What are
you doing here? I told you to stay in Chiana's
quarters."
Talikaa: "I don't have to listen to you.
No one else does. Nobody listens to you. They listen to
Crichton, but not to you." (Talikaa sees him as
distorted.)
D'Argo: "Get back to those quarters or I will
throw you off this ship myself."
Talikaa watches him rush away. As he
goes, he passes Noranti and Sikozu. He bumps into Sikozu hard enough
to cause her to cry out, but he just keeps going. Noranti and Sikozu
both look at Talikaa. She stares back at them then turns and walks
away.
Scorpius' cooling rod mechanism is outside his
head. It has been altered and is now made up of several rods.
They are all red and Sikozu has them spinning. This makes a rather
large noise.
Sikozu: "Noranti seems to think that everyone
is acting very strangely."
The apparatus spins to a stop and Scorpius
sighs: "And what do you think?"
Sikozu reaches in between the red rods with a
metal tool: "They are agitated." She sets it spinning again:
"Unusually emotional. Everyone except Aeryn." The cooling rods
turn blue. "She's colder than usual."
Scorpius gasps.
Sikozu reaches in between the rods again, with
the metal tool. They stop.
Scorpius: "She wills herself... against
emotions. Like any good soldier."
Sikozu presses a button. The rods
contract against their center post and then insert themselves into
Scorpius' skull.
Scorpius walks in the corridor outside John's
quarters. He looks inside.
Chiana: "You. On the table. Right
now."
Chiana straddles John and pushes him down onto
the table.
John: "Yah, wha... wha... what's gotten
into you?" John pushes on her arms to keep her off
him.
Chiana: "Nothing... yet." She laughs as
she pushes him down and leans over him. She moves her head around
his face, trying to kiss him.
John turns his face away from her: "Oh...
oh... oh... okay. I just figured out what you need. You need a
cold shower."
Chiana bends over backwards, hanging on to
John with her legs: "It's okay."
John: "Whoo!"
Chiana: "I asked Aeryn. She said she
didn't care about you anyway." She lifts herself back up and leans
back over John.
John grabs her arms again: "Yes she
does."
Chiana giggles: "No she
doesn't."
John: "We're happy. She loves
me."
Scorpius continues to watch from the
doorway.
Chiana: "Oh, come on. You know you want
it." She leans over towards his cheek.
Scorpius: "John."
John turns his head and sees Scorpy in the
doorway: "Oh, hey Scorp."
Chiana: "Hey, Scorpy. You wantta
watch?"
John: "Nuh, hey... aint nothin here to
see." He shoves her up and off him. "We're done." He
sits up and points to Chiana: "You're leaving."
Chiana slaps his hand away: "Hezmana to
you. What'd she do... cut 'em off?"
John gets up and straightens his vest as
Chiana walks to the doorway.
Chiana stops by Scorpius and moves her face
towards his. He growls, but his head moves towards her in
response. He hisses and pulls himself back and Chiana
leaves.
John: "Whoa. How bout that, kids?"
He laughs: "Man, she's in over-drive today."
Scorpius: "She's not
alone."
John gets a print and spreads it out on the
table to read.
Scorpius: "How are you
feeling?"
John: "Good! Never better. We got
a little, uh... thing going on with the traders, but, uh... that's not a
problem."
Scorpius comes into the room and walks over to
John: "We do have a problem. Your crewmates... are behaving very
oddly."
John: "Ah, that's... par for the course around
here, Grasshopper. Don't worry about it."
Scorpius: "Noranti does not think
so."
John: "Well, Noranti imagines things.
We're fine."
Scorpius: "But you are not fine, John.
Nor is Chiana, Aeryn, Rygel or D'Argo. Your behavior has changed...
since that girl came onboard."
John: "You think Talikaa... is doin a
T'raltixx? A mind frell? Right. Let's go talk to
her. Come on. She's in Chiana's quarters." John jumps up
and starts for the door.
Scorpius: "No, she isn't. She's
disappeared and we cannot find her."
Talikaa appears at the end of a corridor,
coming out of a doorway.
Aeryn: "There she is."
She and John are searching
together.
John steps forward: "Talikaa."
Talikaa stops and puts her back to the
wall.
John walks towards her: "It's all right...
it's all right. Everything's gonna be all right. We're not
gonna hurt you. Don't be afraid."
Talikaa turns and runs back into the room she
had just left.
John comms: "We got her. Tier three
maintenance bay." He walks briskly into the room, followed by
Aeryn.
John looks over a table. He sings
softly: "Come out, come out, wherever you are."
From her hiding place, Talikaa sees him with
her distorted vision.
John whispers: "Talikaa."
Aeryn walks around, looking upwards, towards
the ceiling.
John: "Talikaa." He whispers to Aeryn:
"It's all right. We know she's here."
They continue to look around the maintenance
bay when suddenly there is a loud, howling scream. It stops them in
their tracks and they both collapse onto the floor, lying on their backs,
unconscious. A gigantic spider drops from the ceiling and scuttles
over to where they are lying. It looks at them with distorted
vision. It comes up to John and puts its feelers on his
face.
END OF ACT ONE
__________________________________________________________________________
ACT TWO
Aeryn and John are lying next to each other,
on the floor.
Aeryn gags and works her jaw. John moves
one of his legs. He grunts.
Aeryn: "What the frell happened?" She
grimaces and rolls onto her side. "I heard a scream." She
gingerly sits up.
John rolls over onto his stomach and then
raises up his head: "Yah... me too." He sits up, looking
dazed. He is breathing heavily. "Then the lights went
out."
Aeryn looks at his face: "What is that?"
She leans towards him to look.
John: "What?"
Aeryn points at his face and touches one of
several bumps near his temple: "That."
John raises his hand to the bumps:
"Oww." He looks at his fingers: "I don't...'
John looks at Aeryn: "... you got something...
right there." He points to her temple.
Aeryn lightly touches the side of her
face. She groans.
D'Argo follows Chiana through a
doorway.
D'Argo: "This is all your fault. You
brought her onto the ship."
Rygel floats down the corridor in front of
them.
D'Argo: "In fact, I should have shot her
myself."
Chiana: "You're not going to hurt
her."
Rygel: "You both owe me currency.
Everybody on this ship owes me and I've been far too patient. I want it
now."
D'Argo: "Rygel... shut
up."
Rygel growls.
John comms: "D'Argo? Hey, listen up,
man. Talikaa's a lot more dangerous than she
looks."
D'Argo: "Big surprise."
Chiana slaps him on his
arm.
John: "Yah, she... she's got some kind of
scream that knocked us flat. We followed her to the tier three bay
but... I don't know... She could be anywhere by now."
D'Argo, Chiana and Rygel continue down the
corridor. Talikaa is watching from somewhere above them, with her
distorted vision. There is a loud screeching noise. Chiana
turns to look behind her.
Over the comms, John and Aeryn hear the
screech and a roaring growl.
John: "D? D'Argo?"
Aeryn struggles to her feet, followed by
John.
Sikozu comes through a junction into the
corridor. She stops short when she sees D'Argo, Chiana and Rygel
lying helpless on the floor, a gigantic spider hovering over them.
The spider is making slithery noises and touching them with its
feelers. It looks up and sees Sikozu and immediately starts towards
her. Sikozu turns and runs back the way she came, the spider right
behind her. The spider can see Sikozu running, with its distorted
vision. Sikozu runs until she comes to a dead-end. She stops
and looks behind her, breathing fast. Looking to the side, she sees
the doorway to the fan room. She slowly enters the room, carefully
avoiding the turning fan blades. As soon as she is past them, she
turns around and looks behind her. There are some soft, rustling
noises. Her eyes get large and her breath comes in short
gasps. The spider is looking down at her from above. Sikozu
opens her mouth and screams. The screeching sound comes again, over
her screaming.
While walking down a corridor, Scorpius hears
Sikozu's scream. He stops and turns towards the sound. He
starts walking towards it, growling.
The finger's of Sikozu's hand are curling,
opening and closing. From across the room, she reaches towards her
hand with her other arm. One of her legs is lying near the severed
arm, across the room from her torso. Sikozu reaches towards them
weakly. The fans continue to turn, overhead.
Scorpius comes to the door of the fan room and
looks inside. He growls softly. Noranti follows him into the
room. They walk carefully around the moving fans. Sikozu rolls back
onto her back and looks up at Scorpius as he comes and kneels beside her
head. He puts his mouth down close to her face.
Scorpius: "I will kill your
attacker."
Sikozu closes her eyes.
Scorpius: "I promise." He is gasping for
breath.
Noranti: "Save her, first. Get her
limbs!" She has come over and knelt on the other side of
Sikozu. Noranti nods towards the severed arm and leg. Scorpius
quickly crawls towards them.
Aeryn, followed by a struggling John, comes
onto Command.
Aeryn: "I don't understand why she's doing
this. I actually felt sorry for her, but she's going to kill us
all. We have to do something."
John staggers along behind her: "Just g...
just give me a minute, will ya? I feel like crap. Whatever she
did s... knocked the wind outta my sails."
Aeryn: "Listen, we won't have much time. She
could be anywhere and we have to find her."
Aeryn's forehead is a knot of
wrinkles.
John: "Damn, woman, would you give it a
rest?" He lowers himself onto a seat and puts his head down on his
hand.
Aeryn: "No. No, please don't be useless.
Don't be... useless." She hurries towards the
door.
D'Argo staggers in:
"John..."
Chiana follows him, rubbing her
neck.
John: "Oh... she got you
too?"
D'Argo: "Yah, uh, I'm... not exactly sure
how."
Chiana: "She must have snuck up from behind
us."
Aeryn looks at them from the back of the
room. Her brow is furrowed and her hands are on her hips. She
sighs.
Chiana sits down: "I don't feel so
right."
Rgyel slurrs: "Neither do I. Shall
we..."
Aeryn, quickly: "No. We can't be
weak. We have to pull ourselves together and we have to fight
back."
John: "With what? She kicked our
asses. Just give it up."
Aeryn: "No, we can't. We can't!" She
runs out.
Chiana: "What? What's with
Aeryn?"
John lays his head down on his hands and rolls
it back and forth.
D'Argo: "We just have to talk to Talikaa, find
out why she attacked us. Pilot, do you know where she
is?"
Pilot comms: "The DRDs are searching, but no
luck so far."
Chiana moans and touches the side of her
face.
John: "She can probably turn invisible.
We're never going to find her."
Pilot: "Additionally, the trading vessel has
changed course and is now heading toward Moya. We cannot establish
communication."
D'Argo: "Well, their intentions could be
hostile."
John: "Oh course they're hostile!
Rygel's screwed them, they're coming back to screw
us."
Rygel: "Then... let the traders come.
We'll... we'll give them everything they want. All the currency we
have. It's only brought us conflict anyway."
Chiana gets up and starts to walk out.
She stops and turns back: "Okay... something very... very weird is going
on. Aeryn... is falling apart. Rygel is... he's not greedy at
all and you're giving up." John waves a hand at her without looking
up. Chiana walks over to where D'Argo is
standing.
Chiana: "And you're not even
angry."
D'Argo: "Well, I have no reason to be
angry. I believe with dialogue and
compromise..."
D'Argo yells as Chiana stomps him on his foot
as hard as she can.
Rygel closes his eyes and gasps. John
lifts his head up off his arms and looks.
Chiana: "There is a reason to be
angry."
D'Argo bends down to talk to her: "I really
don't see how that is going to help."
Chiana rares back and backhands him in the
face.
Rygel gasps again. D'Argo breathes
heavily.
Chiana: "Okay? How about
that?"
D'Argo gasps and gingerly touches his face,
where she hit him. He just looks at her. Chiana knees him in
the mivonks. D'Argo yells!
Chiana: "Still not angry?"
D'Argo: "No, I'm not. I should be... but
I'm not."
Chiana: "It's... it's like she's taken our
strongest trait away."
John: "She didn't take anything away from
you."
Chiana's eyes get big. She looks up at
D'Argo.
Chiana, reaching for his hand:
"Okay..."
D'Argo breathes: "What?"
Chiana pulls on his hand: "Just... just put
'em right... right here."
She places his hands on her
breasts.
D'Argo looks away: "Oh,
oh..."
Chiana: "Okay, now just... just do
it."
D'Argo: "I uh... I really don't
want..."
Chiana: "D'Argo, come on."
D'Argo: "I can't in front of
them."
Chiana: "Just do it."
D'Argo: "I..."
Chiana reaches up with her arms and puts her
hands on his shoulders. D'Argo bends over just a bit and they
kiss.
Chiana takes a step back and shakes her head:
"No. No tingle?"
She throws her hands up in the air.
D'Argo still has his where she placed them.
Chiana: "No... no nothin?"
She steps back away from D'Argo: "That tralk
has... has taken my sex drive."
Noranti and Scorpius each hold one of Sikozu's
severed limbs. There is a squishing sound.
Noranti: "Apply pressure... (there are more
squishing noises) and her limbs should reattach."
Noranti lowers Sikozu's arm which is now next
to her body.
John comms: "Pilot, has that trading ship
responded?"
Pilot: "No. Our signal still isn't
getting through. And, the trader's vessel now appears to be...
drifting."
D'Argo: "Well, with our comms out, the trader
ship's probably powered down to signal they mean no harm. Pilot,
prepare the docking web to bring them aboard."
Chiana: "Pilot? Why haven't you located
that frelling Talikaa?"
Chiana grabs John by the arm and pulls him to
his feet.
Pilot: "Her movements are extraordinary.
The moment a DRD locates her, she's gone again."
John, D'Argo, Rygel and Chiana are standing in
the docking bay, waiting. Aeryn rushes in and hurries over to
Chiana, shoving her.
Aeryn: "You! This is all your
fault!"
John hurries over and grabs her: "Aeryn!
No, no, no. That's not helping."
D'Argo steps between Aeryn and Chiana:
"Ohh! Ohh!."
He motions downwards with his
hands.
Aeryn: "All right."
D'Argo: "Settle."
Aeryn looks past him to Chiana:
"Sorry."
The hanger door opens. The trader ship
has docked and its steps have lowered. One of the traders staggers
out of the vessel and down the steps. He gasps quietly and falls
onto the floor.
Rygel stares at him and
gasps.
D'Argo runs over to him, followed by the
others. He kneels down beside the trader.
The trader moans and stops breathing.
His face is now covered in large, blotchy sores.
From beneath the ship, Talikaa looks
on.
John: "Now we know how it
ends."
END OF ACT TWO
__________________________________________________________________________
ACT THREE
The dead trader lies at the foot of the steps
that lead down from his ship. A DRD is looking at him. D'Argo
gets up off his knees and sniffs. He starts up the steps into the
ship, followed by Chiana, Aeryn and Rygel. The sores on Chiana's
face have obviously gotten worse.
Inside the ship, they find dead traders lying
on the floor. D'Argo continues to climb, up a ladder in the middle
of the ship. Chiana goes over to one of the dead
bodies.
Chiana: "This is what we got to look forward
to?"
She touches the dead trader's face with her
gun muzzle, turning his head. The sores have eaten away at his face
and neck, making it gruesome.
Rygel: "By my reckoning we won't have to
wait that long."
Aeryn: "Don't... say that. We're gonna
be fine." The sores on her face are much darker and have grown,
sending a spiderweb down the side of her face.
Aeryn starts to climb the ladder, following
D'Argo: "We're gonna be fine. We're gonna find something, we're
gonna figure it all out and we are going to be... fine." By the time
she reaches the top of the ladder, she is breathing
heavily.
As D'Argo climbs past some equipment, a hand
reaches out and grabs his arm. He gasps and looks down. The
Head Trader is lying nearby. He lifts his head and looks at
D'Argo.
D'Argo whispers: "What happened
here?"
Aeryn glances at the trader, then turns her
head away, grimacing.
The Head Trader chokes and gasps, then goes
quiet.
Chiana has her gun out, pointing it ahead of
her, into a room where she has heard a noise. Rygel is sitting near
a holographic display, listening to it. Aeryn comes down a ladder
into the room.
The display is a hologram of a
Diagnosan. It is speaking in its language of trills and coos.
A man's voice is speaking over this, giving a translation. The sound
occasionally breaks with static.
"I now have information on the symptoms you've
described. They're caused by the Wolaxan Arachnid. This
creature's touch infects its victims and stimulates exaggerated neural
functioning."
Chiana: "That sounds like
us."
D'Argo has come into the room and listens
too.
"The creature then transforms, harvests that
energy from its host, stores it in membrane orbs and hides those orbs in
an external nest for later consumption. Finding that nest and
opening the orbs in proximity to the victims will allow reassimilation of
the energy and complete recovery."
The hologram winks out with a clash of
static.
Aeryn: "What? Wa... it... we have to get
it back! We have to know how to kill the creature. Get him
back!"
D'Argo: "Killing Talikaa isn't the
problem. Finding the energy orb is."
Aeryn: "Really? You think she's not
going to try and defend her nest?"
D'Argo sighs.
Aeryn: "What?"
D'Argo: "Relax." He walks
away.
Aeryn looks up to see Chiana watching
her.
Sikozu is lying on her back. Her eyes
are closed. There is the sound of the fans turning in the
background. A small dark object moves back and forth, under her
nostrils.
Noranti whispers: "Sikozu." She holds
the black orb under her nose again.
Sikozu shakes her head and makes some
sounds. Her eyes fly open. Noranti is kneeling over her and
Scorpius crouches nearby.
Sikozu struggles, breathlessly: "No...
no..."
Noranti looks at Scorpius: "Hold... hold her
still!"
Sikozu screams.
Scorpius crawls over and straddles her so she
can't get away. She twists back and forth.
Sikozu: "I was... I was attacked. I was
attacked."
Noranti: "We know. D'Argo commed.
It was a Wolaxian arachnid. Lie still. You're safe
now."
Sikozu chokes off a cry: "My arm and my
leg..."
Noranti: "Focus your mind on healing
yourself. Your limbs may still be saved." She is looking down
at Sikozu from behind Scorpius' shoulder.
Noranti: "The arachnid seeks to harvest neural
energy. Why did it attack you? Are you immune to its
touch?"
Sikozu: "Yes."
Scorpius' face is inches from Sikozu's.
He chokes.
Sikozu: "Yes, I must be
immune."
Scorpius gags and turns his head. He
begins to thrash around.
Sikozu: "Scorpius?"
Noranti: "Yes, he's infected but not
harvested." She pats Scorpius on his shoulder and speaks loudly:
"She's doing well, Scorpius. You may leave her now." She
pushes him so that he rolls off of Sikozu, onto the floor next to
her. He rolls again and gets up, leaving.
Noranti whispers: "The Scarran in him is
growing stronger.... over-coming his Sebacean personality. I must
stop him. Keep him from harming us."
Sikozu: "No! He will not harm us.
I know him."
Scorpius flounders around at the doorway,
growling and spitting.
Noranti: "You know only his Sebacean
side."
Scorpius grunts several times, then speaks in
a gutteral voice: "Kill it now."
Noranti starts to walk over to him.
Sikozu watches from the floor.
Noranti: "First we must find its
orbs."
Scorpius growls: "Kill it
now!"
Noranti: "Forgive me, Scorpius." She
blows a powder from her hand into his face. He chokes and
sputters. Then he glares at her and backhands her across the face,
knocking her to the floor. Noranti cries out. Scorpius starts
towards her, growling and spitting.
Sikozu: "No!"
Scorpius seems to collapse, knees giving way
first and he falls face down on the floor,
unconscious.
Aeryn and the others come back down out of the
trader ship. Aeryn walks over to where John is sitting on the floor,
waiting.
Pilot: "The DRDs last saw Talikaa in the
neural cluster but they're unable to locate her nest of energy
orbs."
John: "So, we're screwed."
Aeryn looks over at
Chiana.
Chiana: "Would'ja stop talkin like
that?"
Aeryn: "Well, we can't be like this... we
have.. we have to focus. All right, I say we team up. We start
in the neural cluster and we search every tier
ourselves."
Talikaa looks on from behind a
girder.
Chiana: "And we'll either find the orbs, or
we'll find the shot that took 'em."
D'Argo: "Or, perhaps we could persuade Talikaa
to return the energy orbs."
D'Argo walks quickly away.
Rygel: "Let's 'persuade' her with a pulse
rifle." He flys off.
Aeryn holds her hand out to John who is still
on the floor: "Come on."
John: "Whoa!" He flops back onto the
floor. "Hang on a second. I'm just...
dizzy."
Aeryn crouches down by
him.
John looks up into her face and touches her
hair: "You know what the worst part of this is? You and me. We
never could get it together." He swallows: "Now we never
will."
Aeryn: "Don't you ever talk like that!
Come on." She takes his hand and drags him to his feet. She
pulls him out of the hanger bay.
Talikaa comes out from behind the girder when
they leave. She runs over to the trader ship and hurries
inside. She climbs up throw the smoke that's inside and goes to some
overhead controls. She begins pushing buttons. As the engines
begin to rev to life, she goes to another bank of
controls.
A couple of DRDs are leading D'Argo down a
corridor. He is breathing hard.
Pilot comms: "Captain D'Argo! The
trading ship's engines are powering up."
D'Argo: "It must be
Talikaa."
Pilot frantically presses controls: "I can't
seal the outer doors in time."
D'Argo hurries along the corridor, carrying
his qualta rifle: "You gotta stop her."
Pilot: "It's too late. The vessel has
left Moya."
D'Argo hollers quickly: "Crichton, Aeryn,
Rygel, Chiana... get aboard LoLah and fast."
Aeryn is still hauling John along. He
breaks away from her and grabs onto the wall.
John: "Aeryn... I... I can't... can't keep
up. Go without me."
Aeryn looks back at him:
"What?"
She reaches out and touches the side of his
face where the sores are.
John turns his face towards her hand, then
stops and pushes it away: "No. Forget about me and go." He
pushes on her hand with his. Aeryn looks at him, backing away
slowly. Finally, she turns and runs after D'Argo. John sags
back against the wall.
D'Argo's ship flies out of Moya and extends
her wings with a whoosing sound.
Aeryn is sitting in the co-pilot's seat: "I
don't know about the rest of you, but we should probably get this done
quite quickly."
Rygel passes gas, very
loudly.
John stares at himself in a broken piece of
mirror: "Damn it, boy. Make yourself useful. Come
on."
D'Argo sighs and reaches overhead to press
some buttons. The trader ship is visible ahead of
them.
D'Argo: "We're almost within range.
Their weapons aren't charged up and they're not taking any evasive
action. Should be easy to board." He looks over and Aeryn and
Chiana.
Rygel: "We... might be walking into a
trap."
D'Argo: "Agreed. Okay... Rygel, you stay
here and watch that scanner. If it senses any movement, comm
us."
Chiana: "This is all my fault. I'm sorry
about this. I'll kill that tramp myself." She
gasps.
D'Argo, Aeryn and Chiana carefully enter the
darkened trader vessel, carrying flashlights.
D'Argo comms: "Rygel... any
movements?"
Rygel peers upwards, at the scanner: "No, just
you three."
D'Argo climbs up to the next deck. His
flashlite shines on the dead traders. Chiana goes in another chamber
to look.
Chiana: "Nothin here but corpses. Ahh...
this is klemmpt. She's gotta be here."
D'Argo: "Ahh... frell." He goes to a
control panel. It beeps. "The guidance system's been
activated. This ship's set to fly itself."
Aeryn: "She never left
Moya."
John is lying on his side, on his
bed.
D'Argo comms: "John... the trader ship is
empty. Talikaa used it as a decoy."
John: "So, she wasn't
there?"
D'Argo: "No. She must still be aboard
Moya. We're heading back now, but... we're very weak. You
have... to find... those energy orbs. We're all dead without
them."
John lies there and
listens.
END OF ACT THREE
__________________________________________________________________________
ACT FOUR
John is lying on his side, on his bed.
Noranti takes hold of his arm and pulls.
Noranti: "Get... up."
John groans and falls forward, off the
bed. He turns around and starts to crawl back on it. She stops
him by pulling back on his arm. He grunts.
Noranti: "Come on. Now, are you ready to
die? Are you ready to watch Aeryn die?"
He finally sit up, on the edge of the
bed.
Noranti: "Now, Crichton, without those
orbs..."
John: "She could've hid them anywhere.
Moya's huge. We'll never find 'em."
He slumps down towards the bed. Noranti
grabs his arm and pulls him back up.
Noranti: "That's it!" She points at John
as she thinks: "Talikaa is the only one who knows where they
are."
John: "Yah, so we're dead. She's never
gonna tell us."
Noranti: "No, no. But maybe we can get
her to show us where they are. Now... Scorpius is infected but not
yet harvested."
John: "Why not?"
Noranti: "Well, I made him unconscious.
Now... now perhaps she can't sense him, even though he is ripe and ready
for her."
John looks puzzled: "So, we.... wake him up,
use him as bait... let her harvest his mojo."
Noranti nods: "And then we follow her and we
find all the orbs."
John: "What about Sikozu?"
Noranti: "Well, she's strong enough to help,
I'm sure."
John peers into Noranti's
eyes.
John comms: "D! We may not be dead..."
(softly) "... yet."
Aeryn swallows and
grimaces.
D'Argo comms: "Well, sounds like you're almost
back to your old self. We should, uh... we should be back to you
within an arn."
Sikozu holds something to Scorpius'
lips.
Sikozu: "Here, swallow this." She puts
something between his lips. He jerks and closes them on her
finger. Sikozu gasps slightly.
Sikozu whispers: "Wake up, Scorpius. We
need you."
Sikozu gasps as Scorpius jerks and snarls as
he comes around. He is sitting propped against the wall of the fan
chamber. He reaches out with one hand and grabs Sikozu by the
throat. She gasps and cries out.
Sikozu: "You don't want to hurt me,
Scorpius. I'm... ally."
Scorpius whispers: "Si.. ko..
zu?"
Sikozu: "Yes... Scorpius."
He growls and sits up. She whimpers and
gasps for breath.
Scorpius: "Arachnid?"
Sikozu nods.
Scorpius: "Kill it."
Sikozu smiles: "Yes, Scorpius. It's time
to kill it."
He struggles to his feet and picks Sikozu up
in his arms. She cries out.
Scorpius looks at her:
"Help."
He carries her out of the fan
room.
John picks up his maching gun and stands it on
a table. He begins slowly to load it.
Noranti walks alone down a corridor.
Talikaa comes up behind her and holds out her hand. Noranti whirls,
sees the hand, and gasps: "Ahhh!"
Talikaa: "What's your hurry, old
one?"
Noranti backs away and Talikaa follows
her.
Noranti: "Keep away from
me."
Talikaa: "I don't want you. You're
old... and bitter. You know who I do want. Where is
he?"
Noranti gasps, breathlessly: "I don't know
anything."
Talikaa matches her voice to Noranti's:
"Liar! You know where he is. Scorpius. Tell me or
die."
Noranti: "If I don't tell you,
youcolor=#ffffff>
class=Comic-Sans14 die. You need his
energy when you're starving and you can't find him. Come!"
Noranti leads her down the corridor.
Talikaa stops: "I sense him.
Close."
Sikozu has gotten away from Scorpius and
watches him from down the corridor. He is standing by a wall,
snarling and spitting huge amount of spit. Talikaa comes up behind
him. Scorpius turns around and sees her. He roars. She
snarls at him and then screeches. The sound knocks him backwards and
he falls to the floor. The spider hovers over
him.
Sikozu comms: "Crichton? The arachnid is
harvesting Scorpius."
John finishes loading the gun: "Stay with 'em,
if you can."
Talikaa climbs up an incline, carrying a green
glowing blob in her hand. She comes to a cluster of blobs and hangs
the new one up with the others. Sikozu struggles to follow her,
gasping and crying out when her damaged leg gives out. She leans
against the door to the chamber where Talikaa is. She hops and
crawls a little further, until she is inside the room. In a whisper,
she comms: "Found it. Tier seven, the cargo
bay."
John: "I'm never gonna make it." He
turns and walks out of his chamber, carrying the machine
gun.
Sikozu pulls herself upright and moves
forward, into the room. Her damaged leg is
dragging.
John stumbles into the bay. He looks
around and spots where Sikozu is hiding. He goes over to a cannister
and sits down the gun. Talikaa looks underneath a
girder.
John: "I know you can see me. The bad
guys always see me. Cause my plans suck. People die.
It's always a mess."
Talikaa calls: "Crichton." She smiles
down at him from behind the girder.
John: "Yah, that's me. The dumb
ass. I help someone and they screw me."
Talikaa: "I have no remorse. You are
food and I eat."
John: "There's always an excuse,
lady."
Talikaa: "Are the others coming to ah...
attack?"
John: "Oh, I don't... I don't think so.
It's just... you and me."
Talikaa starts to climb down from the
girder.
John: "I was planning on, uh... grabbing those
'nads there, but I guess you're not gonna let me do that, are
ya?"
Talikaa gets all the way down. She
shakes her head at him.
Behind her, Sikozu slowly works her way
towards the blobs, holding her injured hand out of the
way.
John: "I'm tired. Let's... why don't we
just... end it?" He sighs and sinks to his
knees.
John: "Come on. I'm tired. I'm
tired of worrying. I'm tired of fighting. Just... bring it on,
end it now."
Sikozu has reached the orbs and tries to take
them silently.
Talikaa: "Do you want me to kill
you?"
John: "Yes, please. Fast, slow... lady's
choice."
Talikaa gets to her knees in front of him: "I
like it slow." She makes a chittering noise and John falls
backwards, onto the floor.
John: "Oh, god. I was afraid you were
gonna say that. Bring it on."
Talikaa leans over him: "I already
have." She chitters again.
From above, near the orbs, Sikozu yells:
"Crichton! Don't let her!"
Talikaa leaves John and runs for Sikozu.
Sikozu gasps and turns back to the orbs.
Talikaa screeches at Sikozu, to knock her
out. John sits up and reaches behind himself and gets the machine
gun. He brings it up and aims it at Talikaa.
She spins back towards him and screams.
He shoots and she transforms into the giant spider.
John: "Whoa. Freaky." He shoots
her again.
The spider steps towards him. The force
of the gunshot pushes her back, but she comes right back towards
him.
John yells: "Get the
orbs!"
Sikozu hurries to get
them.
John shoots again and the spider screams and
takes a swipe at him with her claw. John falls over backwards.
He rolls back to face her.
John: "Hurry it up! I can't hold her
off... much longer." The spider screams and hits him again.
Sikozu grabs an orb. The spider screams at John again. He
pushes the muzzles of the machine gun into her mouth and pulls the
trigger. The gun goes off, right inside the spider's head. The
whole creature lights up from the inside. John rolls away as the
spider flails its arms and crashes forwards, in flames. There is an
explosion. John rolls over and covers his face with his arm.
Sikozu cries out and ducks behind a girder. Bits of flesh and green
slime fall out of the air and land on John's head. Sikozu cradles
the orbs in her arms and gasps. She looks down at John. He is
covered in goo.
John: "Along came a spider... exploded beside
her." He falls over onto the floor.
END OF ACT FOUR
__________________________________________________________________________
EPILOGUE
Noranti is stirring a bubbling
pot.
Rygel: "Ahh... excellent, Noranti. Best
roasted spider soup I ever ate."
D'Argo: "It's the only spider soup I ever ate,
but it's really quite good."
Noranti: "Are you feeling like your old selves
again?"
Rygel reaches for D'Argo's bowl. D'Argo
grabs his hand.
D'Argo: "Hey."
Rygel: "Oof"
D'Argo: "Rygel obviously
is."
Rygel: "How about you? Still
affected? You don't seem very angry." He
chuckles
D'Argo leans towards him: "Would you like me
to show you how angry I am?" He smiles.
Rygel: "Huh."
Sikozu is sitting with
Scorpius.
Sikozu: "What is worse? Having us see
that you are half-Scarran, or remembering it
yourself?"
Scorpius sighs: "I know what I am,
Sikozu. This interlude was simply a fortuitous, though troubling,
reminder."
Sikozu: "If you want my help, the price is
inclusion... and honesty."
Scorpius inhales, staring straight
ahead.
Aeryn is turning a bulb of Laka distillate in
her hand, looking at it. She is sitting in a corridor with her back
to the wall. John walks up to her.
Aeryn: "Do you have any idea what you've
done?"
John: "You won the coin toss." He starts
to walk past her. Aeryn gets quickly to her
feet.
Aeryn: "But we lost... didn't
we?"
John stops and turns to her: "Aeryn... it's
over."
Aeryn: "So, your mind is now so full of this
dren that you can't even see straight, is that it?"
John: "Move on, Aeryn."
Aeryn: "You see, I did everything...
everything I could to keep us together. I did exactly what you told
me to do and the whole time you have been cheating."
John: "Yah, I'm a coward. Move on.
It's over."
Aeryn: "No, I'm gonna tell you how this is
gonna go from now.
class=Comic-Sans14 You
are
going to stop sniffing this dren..." She waves the package of Laka
at him.
John: "Shut up." He walks past
her.
Aeryn: "Don't you tell me to shut
up!"
John comms: "Pilot. My comms are a bit
buggy. Can you test the system, please?"
Pilot comms back: "Yes, Commander, but that
will take all comms offline for about thirty microts."
John: "I thought so. That'll be fine,
thank you." There is a beeping sound as the comms switch off.
John turns back to Aeryn, pointing at her. He walks over to
her.
John: "Shut up and listen to me.
Scorpius is here... looking for the key to what is inside my head.
Neural chips, aurora chair, threatening Earth... none of it works because
he does not understand me."
Aeryn has tears in her voice: "Stop using him
as an excuse."
John holds up two fingers and interrupts her:
"Please! You're the key. My Achilles. You. If he
figures that out... the world and all that's in it's nothing. He
will use you... and the baby... and I will not be able to stop
him."
Aeryn: "So you think he's been using the
comms?"
John doesn't reply.
Aeryn: "Look what it's done to you.
You're completely paranoid."
There is a crackle of static, then Scorpius'
voice comes over the comms.
Scorpius: "Pilot? Are we having a
problem with the comms?"
Pilot: "I was just checking them. Some
slight irregularities, but they appear to be functioning
normally."
Aeryn listens with her mouth open. She
turns back to John, her mouth flapping like a fish. She closes it
and bites her lip. She shakes her head a little and speaks loudly to
him.
Aeryn: "S... so, it's
over."
John looks at her, then away: "It's
over."
Aeryn: "There's nothing more between
us." She turns her eyes up, to look at his face. He smiles at
her, a lopsided grin.
John whispers: "Nothing."
Aeryn smiles and her eyes crinkle up.
There are tears in the corners that don't fall. She bites her lip
and then grins, hugely. John laughs to himself and grins. He
looks back at her and they kiss. Aeryn reaches up and puts her arm
around his neck. As they seperate, they grin at each other and touch
noses. Aeryn silently mouths: "I love you." They kiss
again.
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