Previously, on Farscape(voice of
Crichton):
Scene One: from "Promises", John
faces Scorpius, on Moya. John: "You will never get the
wormhole tech from me." Scorpius: "I merely... want to
safeguard it and hope... that when the inevitable Scarran bloodbath
begins, you make the appropriate choices." D'Argo: "Oh, so
you're here to be John's protector?" He stands behind Scorpius,
holding his qualta rifle aimed at him.
Scene Two: from "Twice Shy", Aeryn and
John square off in one of Moya's corridors. John: "Scorpius is
here... looking for the key to what is inside my head." "He
will use you... and the baby... and I will not be able to stop
him."
Scene Three: from "Mental As Anything",
Pilot, John and Aeryn are in Pilot's den. Pilot: "D'Argo,
Scorpius and Rygel are boarding LoLah." John: "I gotta
go. I gotta go look after Scorpius." Aeryn: "We should
do it together." John: "Now, you know we can't do that
together." Aeryn sighs. John: "Besides, you've got to
look after the girls." Aeryn: "That's not fun." John:
"It's more fun than Mental Arts Training Camp."
Scene Four: from "Mental As Anything",
John and Scorpius talk while on D'Argo's ship. Scorpius:
"Grayza... does not want Earth. Grayza... wants you."
John: "Why do I always attract the psychos?"
Scene Five: from "Kansas", Grayza and
Captain Braca are aboard Moya. Grayza: "Braca, prepare the
marauders. Set course for our meeting with the
Scarrans." Captain Braca: "Yes, Ma'am."
Scene Six: from "Kansas", Braca and
Scorpius talk in Moya's neural cluster. Braca: "What shall I
do?" Scorpius: "Stall her, Braca. I'm not given to
exaggeration, but... the future of Peacekeeper survival depends on
you."
And now, on
Farscape...
PROLOGUE
Moya flies peacefully through
space...
D'Argo: "Rygel... what is wrong with
you? I don't think I've ever seen you
not
eat for so
long."
D'Argo, John and Rygel are sitting at a
table. John is drinking something from a cup. Scorpius
is walking around behind them. D'Argo picks up a cup and
starts to take a drink.
Rygel: "I'm learning self-discipline
that Katoya taught me. Besides... none of you can
cook."
D'Argo leans towards Rygel: "Well, you
could cook for yourself."
John: "Yah, I really should cook
something for the girls. They're due back. They'll be
hungry when they get here." He keeps squeezing something in
one of his hands.
Scorpius: "They are overdue, I
believe."
There is a lot of debris floating in
space near a dead Leviathan. Its nose appears stuck to a chunk
of rock.
Chiana: "You brought us to a dead
Leviathan?"
Sikozu: "The carcass has been fused to
this planetoid to house a commerce settlement."
Aeryn: "It's an unimpressive
settlement. I doubt we'll find what we're looking
for."
She, Chiana, Noranti and Sikozu pick
their way between open-air stalls. There is a lot of noise and
hubub as people barter at the stalls.
Sikozu: "If we want to camouflage Moya
against long-range scans, this
is
the
place."
Noranti picks up some cloth and shows it
to a shopkeeper. She shakes her head at the price and gives
the cloth back.
Noranti: "No, no."
Chiana: "Well, it doesn't look like
it."
Sikozu: "Well, if you were selling
outlawed mods, would
you
want everybody
knowing about it? See these humble stalls? They also
sell genetic transformations, species blending and all the
appropriate documents to go with it."
Noranti goes up to the counter of
another stall. She tastes something and spits it out
vehemently.
She looks at the substance she holds in
her hand: "A hundred percent natural? My tullum. You
ought to be ashamed of yourself." She throws the rest of the
substance onto the counter.
Sikozu takes her by the arm and leads
her off.
Sikozu: "This way."
They stop when a man in a white shirt
and black vest holds out his hands: "Hey, hey,
hey."
Sikozu: "We want to speak to
Rekka."
Man: "Sure you've stumbled onto the
right... ... ... dead Leviathan?"
Sikozu: "I know you... are his
negotiator..."
The man glances at Aeryn who is watching
him closely. He looks away quickly.
Sikozu: "... and I also know that you
make your deals in this pile of dren."
Man: "Perhaps you'd like a... private
table."
He turns and walks away. The women
follow him. He gets a tray and sets drinks for all of them on
the table.
Man: "First round's on the house.
Care to hear our specials?"
Sikozu: "Not unless you have a discount
on sensor distorters."
Man: "Sensual
consortors?"
Sikozu closes her eyes and looks
away. Chiana smiles and laughs.
Man: "Is that some sort of pleasure
toy?"
Sikozu: "Look. I know you have to
check us out. That's your job. That's fine, but... now
that
you
know that
I
know what I'm
talking about, I suggest you start taking us
seriously."
Man: "I'd love to take you...
seriously."
Sikozu closes her eyes again.
Chiana giggles.
Man: "Won't your... grandmother...
object?"
Noranti chokes on her drink and sets it
down with a thud. She wipes her mouth with the back of her
hand.
Noranti: "Don't drink them.
They're drugged." She looks up at the
waiter.
Aeryn lays her pulse pistol on the
table, in plain view.
Sikozu: "A suggestability potion,
perhaps? Such an old trick."
Man: "My apologies to you. And
professional admiration for your skills."
Sikozu: "Thank you. May we see
Rekka now?"
The man steps away for a moment and a
much shorter man, with tufts of hair sticking up on both sides of
his bald head steps up to the table.
Rekka: "Tell me what you need.
What do you want?" He makes a "come on " gesture with his
hands.
The waiter comes back to the table
carrying a case which he slides open, displaying various
devices.
Sikozu: "We need a sensor distorter for
our ship, to fool long-range scans."
Rekka: "And what do you want to... look
like?"
Sikozu: "An oil
freighter."
Chiana: "A fast... pleasure yacht...
with a jacuzi."
The waiter looks at her and
smiles.
Aeryn: "What about several... choices of
energy signatures?"
Rekka snaps his fingers and gestures to
the waiter who closes the case and takes it off te
table.
Rekka: "Well, I need to check your
sensor modulator. Do you...
ladies
know what that looks
like?"
Noranti opens the bag she had been
carrying and takes out an egg shaped, gold object. She holds
it out in front of Rekka. Rekka's face
falls.
Chiana: "Gee. I guess we
do."
Aeryn smiles.
Rekka reaches out and takes the
modulator, turning it in his hands.
Rekka: "That's partly organic.
Leviathan."
Aeryn: "Very good."
Rekka glances up at the waiter, then
looks back at the modulator.
Rekka: "Distorter will only fool a
warship if your movements exactly match your new identity. Is
your pilot that good?"
Aeryn answers quickly:
"Yes."
Sikozu is only half a beat behind her:
"No."
Rekka laughs: "Your problem, not
mine. Leviathans need custom builds. I'm going to have
to take your modulator."
Chiana: "That'll leave Moya half
blind."
Rekka: "It'll take four
arns."
Aeryn: "Four?"
Waiter: "And nineteen thousand
crinders."
Sikozu: "What?"
Waiter: "And we'll give you some
complimentary tokens to the facilities of your
choice."
Chiana goes over to him and grabs him by
the vest, turning him to face her.
She leans up and kisses him, tongue
first.
Rekka watches.
Chiana finishes her kiss and pulls
back.
Chiana: "How bout... I offer
you
some complimentary choices?" She looks over at Rekka from
beneath the waiter's chin. "Would that lower your
price?"
Rekka: "Thirty
thousand."
Noranti laughs.
Rekka points at her: "And if it's
that
... forty thousand."
Noranti reaches out and takes hold of
the top of the sensor modulator: "Be nice."
Aeryn: "Sixteen thousand." She
tosses a small bag to the waiter. He catches it against his
chest.
Aeryn: "Half up
front."
The waiter reaches over and takes the
sensor modulator from Rekka and Noranti.
Waiter: "Meet us at your
pod."
Aeryn: "Do you know where it
is?"
Waiter: "Yes, we know where it
is."
Rekka smiles.
Waiter: "Be there in four
arns."
Aeryn: "That's too
long."
Waiter: "Our deal... our
rules."
Rekka raises his eyebrows and
smiles.
Waiter: "Take these tokens and enjoy
yourselves in the meantime."
Rekka walks out, followed by the waiter
carrying the case and the modulator.
Chiana: "Do we trust
them?"
Sikozu: "Of course
not."
Chiana: "What do we
do?"
Sikozu: "Just keep an eye on them,
Chi."
Chiana gets up and runs after Rekka and
the waiter.
Rekka and the waiter walk quickly out of
the bar. They turn a corner.
Chiana gets to the corner and looks
around it. There are a couple of female aliens standing
nearby, but no one else. Chiana looks them over really well then
hurries off in the direction Rekka and the waiter were
heading.
Sikozu and Aeryn walk past some
stalls.
Sikozu: "Sixteen thousand
crinders. Not bad."
Aeryn: "Not bad at all. Now
what?" She looks around. "Wait a minute. Where's
Noranti?"
Aeryn turns completely around and looks
behind her. She spots some Peacekeeper Commandos coming
through the stalls.
Aeryn: "Frell! Get down.
There's Peacekeepers."
She and Sikozu hurry to get behind a
wall so they won't be seen.
Sikozu: "What? How
many?"
Aeryn peeks up over the wall and sees
Captain Braca and Commandant Grayza walking behind the
Commandos. She gets back down behind the
wall.
Aeryn: "Grayza... Braca... four
SSD's."
Sikozu: "No. They could
not
have followed us here. That is impossible." She looks
frantically around.
Aeryn: "Unless someone tipped
them."
Sikozu slowly turns to look at
Aeryn.
Grayza and Braca stop
walking.
Braca: "You are sure they're coming,
Ma'am?"
Grayza: "Of course I'm sure. Keep
searching."
Braca turns to the Commandos: "Keep
searching."
Grayza stands and continues to look at
the crowd.
END
OF PROLOGUE
__________________________________________________________________________
ACT ONE
Much loose debris surrounds a dead
Leviathan that has been fused to a planetoid to form a commerce
settlement. Inside the settlement...
Grayza, Braca and the Peacekeeper
Commandos are searching among the commerce stalls for
someone.
Aeryn and Sikozu are hidden behind a
half-wall.
Aeryn comms quietly: "Chiana.
Chiana, can you hear me?"
There is no reply.
Aeryn: "Why are the comms
frelled?"
Sikozu: "Peacekeepers must have jammed
them, Aeryn. We need... to stick
together."
Noranti comes up behind the wall and
joins them.
Aeryn: "One weapon... I have, six of
them."
Sikozu: "And two outlaws who are on the
same side. Noranti, there are six Peacekeepers." Aeryn:
"Grayza, Braca, four SSD Commandos. Can you find Chiana?
Can you warn her?"
Sikozu: "We've got four long arns to
stay low."
Noranti: "Yes. Yes, of
course." She scurries off.
Aeryn: "As I see it, we have several
choices. We can follow Grayza, find out what she's up
to..."
Sikozu nods.
Aeryn: "... or we can stay out of
sight."
Rekka and his henchman continue to walk
through the settlement, carrying Moya's sensor modulator. When
they come to a bulkhead, they back up against it, hiding.
Chiana follows them through the Leviathan. When she comes
around past the bulkhead, she sees several aliens. One of them
has green skin and long braids hanging from several spots on her
head. She also has a gold ornament in the middle of her
forhead. Another has gray hair sticking up all over his head
and a long, pointy nose.
Chiana comes up behind the green
girl. The green girl smiles: "Say." She turns and looks
at Chiana, then walks past her.
Chiana continues down the Leviathan's
corridor, looking around for Rekka and the waiter. She comes
to a tall woman behind a desk. The woman has blonde hair piled
up on her head and is wearing makeup like a female
impersonator.
The woman stands up: "May I serve
you?"
Chiana: "Yah. I'm just lookin for,
uh, two gentlemen that just came through here."
A second blonde woman, much younger,
comes to stand behind the first and watches
Chiana.
Chiana: "One's tall, dark hair.
The other's, um... bald on top, shorter, hair out
sideways."
Woman: "I haven't seen anyone of
that
description."
Chiana: "Are you, uh... quite
sure?"
Woman: "Um hum."
Chiana: "What's in there?" She
nods towards the room the other blonde came out
of.
Woman: "Services. Expensive...
services."
Chiana: "Well, I don't mind... expensive
services." She lays some blue tokens down on the desk in front
of the woman, one at a time. "As long as they're worth paying
for." She walks around behind the desk, towards the second
woman.
Followed by two Commandos, Captain Braca
walks through the settlement, searching. Sikozu and Aeryn have
moved from behind the wall and are standing near a large storage
container, watching the Peacekeepers. There is a loud,
rumbling noise and the Leviathan shakes. Things in the various
stalls rattle.
Sikozu: "Do you hear
that?"
Aeryn: "Certainly
do."
Sikozu: "Unusual sonic
pattern."
Aeryn:
"Double-winged."
Sikozu: "Sounds like a
Stryker."
Aeryn: "I agree."
Sikozu: "Fastest ship in the Scarran
fleet." She brings a device up to her face and looks through
it to see Grayza and Braca talking.
Aeryn: "But what the frell is it doing
here?"
Sikozu: "And Grayza seems to recognize
it too."
Aeryn takes the device from Sikozu and
looks at the Peacekeepers. Braca leans towards Grayza and
appears to whisper something to her.
Braca: "...
information."
Grayza: "Yes."
Aeryn: "What are you going to do
now?" She keeps the device trained on the
Peacekeepers.
The second blonde woman pushes a button
with a long-finger-nailed hand.
Blonde: "Nebari neural
note."
A hologram appears above the device she
is controlling, showing a figure outlined in green, with lines
through it.
Chiana is lying on her stomach, on some
sort of massage table.
Chiana: "What's
that?"
The blonde pushes the button again and
the hologram disappears. She turns to
Chiana.
Blonde: "We begin the manipulation
here." She touches Chiana's back with one
finger.
Chiana: "Ooh!. Ooh, ooh,
ohh!"
Blonde: "You carry a lot of tension in
your skrillum."
Chiana: "Oh, yah. Tell me about
it. Ooh!"
The blonde rubs Chiana's back in several
places: "How does this feel?"
Chiana: "Yah! Yah! Dig
deeper. Deeper, yah."
The blonde reaches over to the device
beside the table and presses a button. She becomes dark haired
with several facial piercings. Her voice, however, remains the
same.
"Blonde": "How's
this?"
Chiana: "Sestra."
She continues to rub Chiana's
back.
Chiana: "Hey, uh... the reason why
I'm... I'm really tense is because I've been following these...
these two Sebacean males and I... uh, I... I think they came in
here. And I... i was wondering if you could help me
out."
The "blonde" reaches over and presses
another button. "She" becomes a tall, bald black man. He
reaches over and presses Chiana on the spine.
Chiana cries out! Her arms shoot
out from her sides. She sighs and her arms collapse and hang
limply off the sides of the table.
Chiana: "I can't
move."
The "blonde" becomes "herself" again:
"Well... pinch of pressure on the milla nerve paralyzes a Nebari
from the neck down."
Chiana:
"Permanently?"
Blonde: "That
depends."
Chiana speaks breathlessly: "Look... I'm
just a runaway Nebari. A crook, just like everybody
else. Just... ask... ask Rekka."
The "Blonde" releases the pressure on
Chiana's nerve: "Rekka?"
Chiana gasps and moves her arms and
back: "Ah! Frell. You know, I... I... I forgot to tell
him something and... and it would be really great if you could help
me out."
The "Blonde" leans over Chiana: "You
have any idea what else we sell here?"
Chiana: "Yah. Genetic
modification. Shape changes."
"Blonde": "That's right. And
whoever buys a tranformation kit also buys
confidentiality."
Chiana leans her forehead on her hand:
"So, he's probably just walked straight by me."
Commandant Grayza and Captain Braca,
followed by a brace of SSD Commandos march through the settlement
and past the various stalls. Sikozu and Aeryn keep close to
the piece of equipment they were hiding behind as they watch them go
past. An alien creature, probably female, wearing black
leather and a horned (feathered?) headpiece climbs up on a box and
calls out: "
Gezzah
."
At the sound of her voice, Sikozu whirls
around and sees her and a Scarran that is with
her.
Sikozu whispers: "A Scarran." She
and Aeryn move out of sight quickly.
The Scarran looks around and
hisses.
The female gets down from the box and
walks quickly ahead. There is a Scarran ahead of her and she
is followed by two Charrids in uniforms and another
Scarran.
Female: "
Nah cassa toocote. Sochon
veevach
."
Aeryn and Sikozu sit at a table in a
cafe. Aeryn has her back turned to the Scarrans while Sikozu
watches them.
The female looks around:
"
Defron veevach
." She continues on.
Aeryn glances at them as they pass: "A
Scarran delegation. One's a member of the ruling caste.
Four Charrid escorts."
Sikozu: "One Commander, one Adjutant,
four warriors."
Aeryn: "Same as the other
side."
Sikozu: "Which implies a
meeting."
Aeryn: "Why? Why would she meet
with them?"
Sikozu: "Grayza clearly isn't interested
in us, so... " Sikozu stands up and starts to walk around the
table. Aeryn follows her.
Sikozu: "... if we go and get the
modulator, this provides a perfect opportunity for us to leave
here."
Aeryn: "No, no, no, no." She stops
walking and Sikozu comes back to her.
Aeryn: "This is a perfect opportunity
for us to stay. Otherwise we learn
nothing!"
Sikozu opens her mouth to say something,
but nothing comes out.
Aeryn points after the Scarrans: "Does
this look like an official conference to you?"
Sikozu looks after them too: "On a
remote planet with no Scarran Proconsul?
No."
Aeryn: "Exactly. She's most likely
exceeding her authority."
Sikozu sighs and shakes her
head.
Aeryn: "If we could somehow make
Peacekeeper High Command privy to that..."
Sikozu: "They will relieve her of her
duty."
Aeryn: "We get her off our
backs."
Sikozu: "There's an awful lot of 'if's',
Aeryn."
Aeryn: "Have we been in a more
fortuitous position to try than now?"
Noranti hurries up to the woman at the
desk.
Woman: "How could I possibly...
serve you?"
Noranti speaks quickly: "I'm looking for
a Nebari girl, this high..." She gestures with her hand to
indicate just taller than herself. "... kind of
gray."
The woman interrupts her:
"Marella!"
The other blonde comes out from behind a
gauzy curtain.
Marella: "Another
one?"
Chiana comes out of the curtain behind
Marella.
Noranti: "Ahh. There she is.
Psst! We have to go..."
Noranti grabs Chiana by the arm and
drags her away from the two blondes.
Noranti: "...find the pod now and go to
the modulator because there are visitors here that we'd rather not
run into." She hustles Chiana away as the two blonde
women watch.
Chiana: "Are you
frelled?"
Noranti: "We're all frelled.
Grayza and Braca are here with four SSD
Commandos."
Chiana: "Grayza and
Braca?"
Noranti:"Oh, you've seen them
too?"
The woman from the desk eases closer to
Noranti and Chiana, trying to listen.
Chiana: "No, no, no." She comms:
"Aeryn?"
There is only staticy
voices.
Chiana: "Can you hear
me?"
Noranti: "Oh, no, no, no, no. She
can't."
Chiana: "What's with the comms?
They're pranked."
Noranti: "Peacekeepers... jamming.
Oh, come on. We've gotta go!" She hurries
off.
Chiana: "Peacekeepers." She gets
dragged along behind Noranti.
Both blondes watch them
go.
Noranti comes to a junction of corridors
and looks past it. She holds out her hand, palm out, stopping
Chiana.
At a booth, two Peacekeepers talk to
several people: "A Nebari female..."
Noranti:
"Commandos."
Peacekeeper: "... report immediately to
a Peacekeeper."
Chiana looks and then heads back the way
they have come, back to the blondes. Noranti follows
her.
Chiana: "Transform us. Full
genetic modificatoin. Good enough to, uh... to pass DNA
scan"
Marella steps forward: "But you have to
select a species before we can..."
Chiana and Noranti turn and look at each
other before turning back to the women.
Chiana: "Well... we're not really that
choosy."
Noranti: "No, no, not, not,
not."
Chiana: "Maybe make me a bit
bulbous." She gestures towards her
breasts.
Noranti: "Yeh, yeh, yeh,
yes."
Chiana: "Eyes? Eyes would be
great!"
Noranti: "Oh, eyes!"
Chiana: "Oh... you... you
choose."
Noranti: "Yes, you
choose."
Chiana: "Not... not... nothin too
special." Chiana walks around behind Marella, towards the
curtain.
Marella: "Well, I'll do... this
one. You... service her."
Chiana: "Come one."
She and Marella go behind the curtain,
leaving the desk blonde smiling at each other.
A Scarran is standing a little way from
the Leviathan's pilot's console, sniffing
loudly.
Captain Braca stands in front of the
console: "The site is secure."
The Scarran turns around and walks over
to Braca, past Grayza and the ruling class Scarran
female.
Scarran: "You won't mind if we confirm
that for ourselves?"
Braca: "If you feel it necessary.
My troops are continuing to patrol the area."
Scarran: "How reasurring." He
walks back to where he had been standing and sniffs
again.
Aeryn and Sikozu climb into a lookout
spot, above the den.
Aeryn: "We're too far
away."
Sikozu brings the ocular device up to
her face and focuses on the Scarran female: "This magnifies sound as
well as image."
Aeryn: "Tell what's happening, or I'll
take over."
Scarran female: "Commandant
Grayza."
Grayza: "Minister
Ahkna."
Sikozu moves the viewer away from her
face: "That is War Minister Ahkna. Third in rank in the
Scarran fleet."
Aeryn: "Wow."
Sikozu puts the viewer back up to her
eye.
Minister Ahkna: "Yo'uve abided by the
terms of this meeting?"
Commandant Grayza: "Exactly as we
agreed."
Minister Ahkna walks over to
Grayza.
Grayza: "You'll have to take my word for
it." She smiles.
Minister Ahkna: "You've been conditioned
to resist Scarran mind-probing."
The other Scarran looks at Grayza as
well.
Grayza: "We all
have."
Still looking through the viewer, Sikozu
breathes: "Oh, my."
Aeryn: "What?"
Sikozu: "Shh... shh...
shh..."
Grayza: "Will you take my word on
that? Or will you waste more time, testing
us?"
Ahkna: "I dislike wasting time.
Why are you here?"
Grayza: "As I communicated... I want
peace."
Ahkna: "Everyone wants peace. But
what price will you pay to achieve it?"
Grayza: "What if I were to offer you...
the Luxan Territories?"
Sikozu zooms in an each woman in turn.
Sikozu whispers:
"Frell!"
Aeryn: "Will you tell
me?!"
Sikozu: "Grayza says she is willing to
cede all the Luxan worlds to the Scarrans in exchange for
peace."
Aeryn: "What? She can't mean
it. The Peacekeepers and the Luxans have a mutual defense
pact. Grayza has to be bluffing. She can't fulfill that
promise. The Luxans would go to war."
Sikozu: "And how long could the Luxans
hold out against the Scarrans without the support of the
Peacekeepers?"
Aeryn: "If that really is Grayza's
intention, we can't let her go through with it."
Sikozu: "I doubt we could talk her out
of it, Aeryn."
Aeryn: "I wasn't thinking of
talking. I have a gun."
END OF ACT ONE
__________________________________________________________________________
ACT TWO
Sikozu follows Aeryn through the quiet
fan room of the dead Leviathan.
Sikozu: "You would assassinate
Grayza?"
Aeryn: "She'd do the same to
us."
Sikozu: "All right. Then
what? Do you have any plan of escape?"
Aeryn: "Run."
Sikozu: "Anything more detailed,
Aeryn?"
Aeryn: "Run quickly." She reaches
the end of the fan room and turns back. Sikozu grabs her by
her arm.
Sikozu: "And what if we run... into more
opposition than we can handle?"
Aeryn: "You have the conversation with
D'Argo about why his worlds were obliterated."
Sikozu opens her mouth to answer, then
closes it and nods slightly.
War Minister Ahkna and Commandant Grayza
are standing in the pilot's den, inside the
console.
Commandant Grayza: "In return for
dominion over the Luxan territories, the Scarrans will relinquish
all claims to the disputed sectors of the Uncharted
Territories."
Ahhna: "Disputed sectors being...
?"
Grayza: "Everywhere beyond the Kellek
Nebula."
Ahkna: "Hardly an equitable
exchange."
Grayza: "More than equitable. The
Luxan worlds are wealthy. There's little of value in the
Uncharted Territories."
Ahkna: "So, why would you make such an
exchange? Especially now. The Luxans are your
allies."
Grayza: "High Command already regrets
that decision. Luxans are warriors, not diplomats. They
are a liability to our peace efforts."
Ahkna: "So... you would just abandon
them?"
Grayza: "Yes. For the greater
good. We are also aware of how long you have coveted their
resources."
Ahkna: "In the same way you've coveted
the expansion room the Uncharted Territories would give
you."
Grayza: "Each party gains advantages...
and a costly war is averted."
Ahkna: "You would never get your Council
to support such a treaty."
Grayza: "A majority of the Counselors
already support me. They are ready for a change of
leadership."
Ahkna: "
You
... would seize
power?"
Grayza: "For the greater good. The
beneficial effects of this treaty will also, of course, speed your
ascent... through the Scarran hierarchy."
Ahkna: "I need no help in that
regard."
Grayza: "Ahh. How many cycles ago
was
your father deposed? How long since
your
last promotion?"
Ahkna: "Too long. But then I don't
resort..." She glances obviously at Grayza's open cleavage.
"... to the methods you utilize to advance."
Grayza: "Would you have a weapon in your
armory and leave it unused... out of squeamish good
taste?"
A Peacekeeper Commando walks up to the
console.
Commando: "Captain
Braca."
A Scarran starts towards the
Commando. Braca holds his hand up: "It's all right." The
Scarran stops.
Braca turns back to the Commando:
"Yes?"
Commando: "We have word of a Nebari
female somewhere in the settlement. Description matches the
escapee, Chiana."
Grayza turns to look at the
Commando. The Scarran watches him as well.
Braca: "Stay here. I'll check it
out."
He hurries out into the
settlement.
Captain Braca, followed by a Peacekeeper
Commando carrying a rifle, hurries up to an alien with tufts of
bright red hair and several tall feathers sticking out of her
head. Braca touches her shoulder and she
turns.
Braca: "You. Nebari.
Female."
Chiana and Noranti hurry through the
settlement. They look quite different. Chiana has bright
red hair and a light green suit. Her skin is light blue.
Noranti has smooth hair and skin and large ears. Her third eye
is missing. She is wearing a sparkly silver
dress.
Chiana: "You look
fine."
Noranti: "I look hideous. No
wisdom creases. No memory lines." She feels her
forehead. "My eye!"
Behind them, a chair scrapes the
floor.
Chiana stops suddenly: "Whoa." She
spots Braca as he turns away from the female he was
questioning.
Someone whistles.
Noranti: "Look, I've earned all these
things..."
Chiana: "Shut your wacket hole.
Let me do the talking, okay?" She hustles Noranti over to a
table, glancing at Braca.
Captain Brac stands at attention in the
center of the room.
Braca: "We're looking for a female
Nebari." He looks ahead, towards Chiana and
Noranti.
Braca: "You."
They keep their backs to him as he walks
towards their table.
Braca: "You. We're looking for a
Nebari. Female."
Chiana slowly turns her head to look at
him: "Well, then try Soorat's. Level Three. Any kind of
f... f... female you could care for." She winks. Her
voice is low-pitched and bored.
Braca grabs her wrist:
"Right."
Chiana: "Hands... off.
I'm
not on the market. Besides, I don't even like
men
size=4>." She turns back towards Noranti and smiles at
her. She feels a lock of Noranti's hair.
Braca hangs onto her wrist and twists
her arm behind her back.
Chiana: "What... are you
doing?"
Braca snaps his fingers and the Commando
hands him something.
Braca: "DNA scan." He presses the
instrument against Chiana's upper arm. It makes a loud
clicking noise. Chiana grunts.
Braca: "Be quiet."
Chiana: "Oh, quiet? Quiet, my
eema."
Braca: "No match."
Chiana: "What? Just because you've
got a fancy uniform, does that make you
important?"
Braca takes Noranti's arm: "Old
woman."
Noranti keeps her face against
Chiana's.
Noranti: "Ooh. What is
that?"
Chiana: "What
is
that?"
Braca presses the instrument against
Noranti's arm.
Noranti: "Drugs?"
Chiana: "Ooh!"
Noranti: "I don't need drugs. I've
got true love. You don't need drugs if you've got true
love."
She looks Chiana in the eyes.
Their noses are touching.
Braca: "You. Have you seen a
Nebari female?"
Noranti answers without looking away
from Chiana: "Well, I wouldn't know one if it bit me on the
prang. Though that could be fun."
Braca: "Gray girl. Thin.
Young."
Both Chiana and Noranti turn their heads
to look at him.
Chiana: "Good
looking?"
Braca shrugs: "Mmm."
Chiana: "We only even notice... the good
looking ones."
Noranti laughs.
Braca strides away.
Chiana whispers in Noranti's ear: "I
said
I
would do the talking."
Noranti: "Well, you didn't way
all
the talking." She moves her head to look Chiana in the face
again: "I thought we did rather well."
Chiana grabs Noranti's ear with her
teeth and holds on for a second. Noranti
gasps.
Chiana: "Come on. We've got to get
back to Aeryn before the treatment wears off."
Sikozu and Aeryn are looking down on the
pilot's den with their spying device.
Sikozu: "They're still arguing about how
to carve up the Uncharted Territories."
Aeryn: "But you still believe that Ahkna
wants the deal to go ahead?"
Sikozu nods: "Yes. I
do."
Sikozu looks through her spy
device.
Grayza: "So, you would approve a
division point at the Lanthal System."
Akhna: "In principle,
yes."
Grayza: "Then it would seem we have an
agreement."
Ahkna: "First, let's talk about
disarmament."
Grayza: "I'm not prepared to discuss
that. At present, I'll deal only with territory, not
weapons."
Ahkna: "Unsatisfactory. You claim
you have military superiority."
Grayza: "We do more than
claim!"
Ahkna: "Yet you will not even talk about
arms reduction."
Grayza: "We are prepared to coexist in
peace, but not to make ourselves vulnerable."
Ahkna: "There are some in our hierarchy
who believe you are already vulnerable. That your claims to
military superiority are exaggerated. Perhaps the loss of our
Dreadnaught was only an experiment that you haven't been able to
repeat. Or... perhaps it wasn't you who did it. If this
is so... why should we settle for peace?"
Grayza: "Because you would lose a
war."
Sikozu lowers the spy device: "Ahkna's
suspicious. She thinks the Peacekeepers might be lying about
have wormhole weapons."
Aeryn: "The fear of wormhole weapons is
the only thing stopping Scarrans from invading Peacekeeper
space. Without them thinking they've got those weapons,
everyone's frelled."
Sikozu sighs and shakes her head.
She brings the device back up to her face. She watches as
Grayza uses some kind of portable device to write
on.
Sikozu: "Grayza is making out a
document. Ahkna is looking it over." She looks back at
Aeryn.
Aeryn: "Okay. It's time to
intervene." She cocks her pistol and pulls it out of its
holster.
Peacekeeper Commando: "Maintan internal
alert."
Sikozu: "What?"
Commando: "Full search
pattern."
A Peacekeeper walks through the
Leviathan corridors, searching.
War Minister Ahkna: "The treaty appears
satisfactory."
Commandant Grayza: "It
is."
Ahkna: "Your Captain should bear
witness."
Grayza: "There is no need to wait for
him... if you're ready."
Grayza holds the writing devise out
towards Ahkna.
Ahkna: "Pennoch... bear
witness."
The Peacekeeper Commando stands in a
corridor, near a junction, looking around. Behind him, Sikozu
jumps down from the ceiling. He turns at the sound and she
kicks his legs out from under him. He starts to fall and she
wraps a vine or rope around his neck and pulls him the rest of the
way onto his back. Aeryn runs over and grabs him, snapping his
neck.
Ahkna and Grayza both hold crystalline
devices over the treaty. As the crystals lower onto the
treaty, they make a slight beeping sound.
Aeryn grabs the rifle from the dead
Commando.
Grayza's crystal glows red.
Ahkna's glows orange.
Aeryn and Sikozu return to their hiding
spot. The Peacekeeper rifle makes a small sound as it
charges. Aeryn brings the sight up to her
eye.
Aeryn: "It's too late. They've
already signed."
Sikozu: "Kill her anyway. They
will never enforce a treaty if she's dead."
The Scarran soldier, Pennoch, is
standing by Ahkna and Grayza, in Aeryn's line of
sight.
Aeryn: "I can't get a shot." She
lowers the rifle.
Captain Braca walks back into the den
and over to Commandant Grayza.
Braca: "There was no Nebari,
Ma'am."
Grayza: "No matter, Captain
Braca."
Aeryn brings the rifle up again and
tries to sight on Grayza. The gun makes a clicking
sound.
Grayza: "This... was an historic
day."
Braca smiles:
"Congratulations."
Ahkna: "Pennoch."
The Scarran soldier brings up his hand
and freezes Braca with his Scarran heat weapon. Braca groans
and chokes. Heat waves shimmer around him. Pennoch uses
a rifle in his other hand to shoot the Peacekeeper Commando who was
with Braca. Aeryn watches as he shoots two more
Commandos. Grayza turns and looks at
Ahkna.
END OF ACT TWO
__________________________________________________________________________
ACT THREE
Sikozu and Aeryn look down at what
transpires in the pilot's den in amazement.
Grayza: "Ahkna, you are a fool.
This is an act of war."
Ahkna: "I assure you, Commandant, you
won't be missed."
Aeryn cocks the rifle and attempts to
take aim. The Scarran soldier, Pennoch, paces back and forth,
blocking her shot.
Grayza: "You would not dare murder
me."
Ahkna: "We merely want to speak in much
more detailed terms about your wormhole
capabilities."
Grayza: "You already know that you'll
learn nothing."
Ahkna: "No, not here. But our
facilities are so much better on Katratse."
Aeryn continues to sight down the rifle
at Grayza.
Pennoch growls and grabs Grayza by the
shoulder, pulling her out of Aeryn's sights. Ahkna turns and
follows them.
Aeryn brings down her
rifle.
Aeryn: "They'll interrogate her
now."
Sikozu: "What happens when they learn
the truth about wormhole weapons?"
Aeryn: "They won't. We can't let
them."
Aeryn and Sikozu rush through the
settlement and find places to hide as Ahkna and her prisoners come
through. Chiana, still with her red hair, and the
young-looking Noranti spot Sikozu and hurry over to
her.
Chiana: "Sikozu."
Sikozu: "Shh, shh!"
Chiana peers around a corner and sees
the Peacekeepers and Scarrans.
Chiana whispers:
"Frell."
Ahkna walks regally past, followed by
Grayza, Braca and three armed Charrids. After they have gone,
Aeryn steps from her hiding place and gestures to Sikozu. She
mouths: "Follow them." Sikozu goes around a wall. Aeryn
crosses over to her.
Aeryn whispers: "Go." Sikozu takes
off.
Aeryn steps into Sikozu's spot.
She sees Chiana and Noranti.
Aeryn: "What the frell happened to you
two?"
Chiana: "We needed a camouflage to fool
the DNA scans."
Noranti: "It isn't
permanent."
Aeryn: "Have you got the
modulator?"
Chiana: "Not yet. What are the
Scarrans doing here?"
Aeryn: "Doesn't matter. Whatever
it takes, get the modulator and meet us back at the
pod."
Chiana: "Right." She ducks around
the wall.
Aeryn: "Go. Right. We're low
on weapons."
Noranti: "Huhh! I didn't bring any
guns. I don't have any guns."
Aeryn: "What can you do? What can
you make?"
Noranti: "Fyang powder. It's a
wonderful substance. It'll put anyone to sleep
instantly."
Aeryn: "Good."
Noranti: "Except I don't have
any."
Aeryn: "Not good."
Noranti looks in a pouch that is tied to
her dress: "However, this looks like... mayla spores. They're
very powerful.'
Aeryn: "Scarrans... Charrids... will it
work on them?"
Noranti: "I've never tried on
either."
War Minister Ahkna is standing near a
device that looks like an open sarcophagus. Grayza is standing
inside the device which has two large bars across the front.
Pennoch is watching her and Captain Braca has his hands tied
over-head, around a pipe, not far away.
Grayza: "Ahkna, this blunder will cost
you dearly."
Ahkna: "Hmm. The blunder was
yours, Commandant."
Captain Braca calls out from where he is
tied-up: "You've just guaranteed yourselves a war you cannot
win. Our wormhole technology will decimate your
planet."
Pennoch aims his heat weapon at
Braca. The waves reach his face and Braca gasps continuously
as they engulf him.
Pennoch: "You terrify me." He
releases Braca from the heat and he sags against his bonds.
Pennoch walks over to Ahkna: "Do we need this
one?"
Ahkna: "Yes, we do."
Pennoch: "When he no longer has a use,
may I be the one to dispose of him?"
Ahkna: "Yes, you may. Let us
prepare the Stryker and summon the Dreadnaught to the rendezvous
point. We won't be long."
Ahkna walks away. Pennoch looks at
the prisoners and growls, then he follows Ahkna.
Aeryn hurries over to join Noranti at a
table. Noranti is making something.
Aeryn: "How are you going,
Noranti?"
Noranti: "Preparing mayla spores takes
time." She spits into her cupped hand: "And
spit."
Aeryn: "We never have enough
time."
Noranti: "I don't have enough spit...
" She spits again. "... but I'm doing what I
can."
Sikozu runs over to
them.
Sikozu speaks breathlessly: "Alright,
they took Grayza and Braca into bay nine, but their Stryker's still
powered down."
Aeryn: "So we have enough time to...
"
Sikozu: "No. Two Charrids came
back out. They're heading this way now."
Aeryn: "Two?"
Charrid: "You heard Ahkna's
orders. If you see a Peacekeeper Commando, shoot to
kill."
When Aeryn sees the Charrids, she moves
to a low wall and ducks down behind it, drawing her pistol.
Noranti ducks down behind the table where she's been working.
As the two Charrids look around, Sikozu gasps and crouches behind a
wall. Suddenly, Noranti pops up from behind the table and
walks out into full view. One of the Charrids spots
her.
Charrid: "Identify
yourself."
Noranti: "Don't shoot. I know who
you are." She smiles at them.
As Noranti walks past the crouching
Sikozu, Sikozu whispers: "What are you doing?" Noranti just
keeps walking towards the Charrids.
Noranti: "And I know who you're looking
for. You don't have to harm me."
Sikozu looks at Aeryn. Aeryn looks
back, then aims her gun at the Charrid again.
Noranti: "I can show you where to find
the ones you're seeking."
Charrid: "Tell me where they
are."
Noranti: "Just a microt. My
nose. I... " She looks down at her hand. "I
need... I need a... ahh... ahh choo!" She sneezes into her
hand, blowing a white powder into the Charrid's
face.
The Charrid bends over and
sneezes.
Noranti: "... just a sneeze. I'm
sorry. I said I could help to find the ones you seek, and I
will... show you. Right now... there's one behind you.
Right there. A Peacekeeper."
The Charrid turns around and sees a
Peacekeeper Commando where his companion is standing. He fires
his weapon into the other Charrid's chest. The other Charrid
fires back, hitting the first. They both cry out as they
fall. Noranti gasps and looks back towards Aeryn and
Sikozu. They both come out of hiding and walk over to look at
the dead Charrids.
Noranti: "Whoa. I must remember to
get more mayla spores."
Aeryn: "Yes. That was good.
Thank you."
Sikozu disarms the Charrid and brings
his rifle back over to Aeryn. Aeryn looks at the still smoking
Charrid corpse and then at Sikozu.
Aeryn: "Now, I know it's not your color
but..." She smiles.
Sikozu smiles back: "It'll get us into
bay nine."
There is a Charrid guarding Commandant
Grayza and Captain Braca in the bay.
Noranti: "Oh please, let me go.
I... I'm not a Peacekeeper."
She backs into the bay, followed by two
more, armed Charrids.
Noranti: "I don't even know any
Peacekeepers. You've got the wrong young
female."
She hurries in and drops to the
floor. She looks up at the Charrid who is guarding the
bay.
Noranti: "Oh, please, please. I'm
being attacked by one... by two... of you."
From the doorway, Aeryn, in a Charrid's
uniform, calls: "Hey, gorgeous!"
The Charrid turns to look at her and she
shoots him. Sikozu shoots him as well. Captain Braca
looks surprised. The Charrid falls to the floor, landing on
top of Noranti.
Noranti: "Hello!"
Sikozu (still in the Charrid uniform):
"That leaves us one Charrid, two Scarrans..."
Aeryn: "And two Peacekeepers.
Commandant."
Moya's transport pod is sitting outside
the dead leviathan, on the planetoid. Chiana, still in her
disguise, hurries onboard. She looks around but doesn't see
anyone. She goes to the control console and sits down.
She starts pressing buttons and the pod makes a beeping sound.
The door closes. Chiana looks at the instruments as Rekka's
helper comes into Command, silently. He grabs Chiana's leg,
pulling up on it and then grabs her by the hair, pulling her head
back. Rekka steps up onto the platform and hits her, knocking
her unconscious.
Aeryn and Sikozu remove their Charrid
armor disguises and pile them on the floor.
Grayza: "Aeryn Sun. Exceptional
work."
Aeryn: "And congratulations on your
Luxan treaty. For that alone I shall kill you both." She
cocks her rifle and brings it up, pointing it at
Braca.
Braca: "Aeryn..."
Grayza: "Alive I can repudiate that
treaty."
Aeryn: "But you proposed it, and you
signed it."
Grayza: "And if the Scarrans had not
betrayed me, I'd have stood by it. We could have lived in
peace. Without me... how are you planning to get past the
Command Carrier that's orbiting this dead
leviathan?"
A Charrid, carrying a rifle, walks past
the door of the bay. Aeryn looks out the door and sees
him. She ducks back into the bay to where the others are
waiting.
Aeryn: "If I'm not back at the pod in
half an arn, you go without me."
Sikozu: "What?"
Areyn: "Go. I'll cover." She
ducks back out of the bay door.
Sikozu gestures forward with her
head.
Sikozu: "Move."
The Charrid turns around and sees Aeryn
and the others crossing behind her. Aeryn shoots the Charrid
in the chest and he falls to the floor. There is a Scarran
standing directly behind the Charrid. Noranti follows the
others, hurrying away. Aeryn shoots the Scarran in the
chest. Smoke rises from where he is hit, but he doesn't
move. Aeryn shoots him again and again, in the same
spot. The Scarran growls.
Sikozu holds a rifle on Grayza and
Braca, hurrying them along. They are handcuffed
together.
Sikozu: "Into the cafe! Into the
cafe!" She tries to push them into a room.
Noranti stops and points: "No. The
pod is that way."
Sikozu: "No, Noranti. We're gonna
to wait here for Aeryn."
Grayza stops and turns around: "Aeryn is
dead by now."
Sikozu comes forward, holding the rifle
with both hands: "I said keep moving!"
Braca turns around and walks backwards:
"She's right..."
Sikozu: "... to the
back!"
Braca: "... Killing Charrids is one
thing, but two Scarrans?"
Sikozu: "I said shut
up!"
Grayza sighs: "It was a great sacrifice
on her part."
Sikozu: "It isn't over. She will
survive."
Braca: "Alone? She's got no
chance."
Noranti: "Maybe you should go and help
her and I'll take these two to the pod."
Sikozu turns her head: "No,
Noranti. We have one weapon!"
Grayza: "The Scarrans will be here any
microt."
Braca: "This area is
undefendable." He steps towards her and points: "Might I
suggest..."
Sikozu: "Shut up!"
Grayza takes a step closer too: "If we
stay... we die. It would be a great pity if Aeryn's death were
for nothing."
Sikozu steps closer to Grayza: "She's
not dead!"
Braca hits Sikozu with the heel of his
hand, knocking her down, then hits Noranti in the face with
his elbow. Sikozu starts to get back up and Braca kicks her in
the face. Grayza grabs her rifle.
Braca: "This way." They both start
to run.
Grayza: "Prime the marauder. We
must leave immediately."
Chiana shakes her head to wake up.
Her arms are bound.
Chiana: "Why did you do
that?"
Rekka walks around the Command console
while his helper holds a pulse pistol.
Rekka: "We don't like
trespassers."
Chiana: "This is my pod... okay? I
got transformed." She tries to keep looking at Rekka as he
walks around behind her.
Chiana: "Look. Look at me.
It's me."
Rekka laughs: "Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho,
ho." He steps up onto the platform next to Chiana.
"Seriously, now... we do have a strict policy. Nobody steals
our client's ships."
Sikozu comes to, lying on her side in
the cafe. She gasps and looks around. She hurries over
to Noranti who is still lying unconscious
nearby.
Sikozu: "Noranti." She shakes her
by the shoulder. "Noranti?"
Noranti reaches up and feels her
jaw.
Sikozu: "You all right? Up you
get." Grunting, Sikozu lifts Noranti's head and
shoulders.
Chiana: "I swear to you... I've been
genetically transformed to fool the
Peacekeepers."
Rekka steps down, backwards, off the
platform. Chiana swivels her head to look at his
helper.
Chiana: "You gave me the frelling
tokens."
The helper bends towards Chiana and
beckons with his hand. She leans towards him and licks the
inside of his upper lip with her tongue.
He stands back up: "It's
her."
Rekka: "Are you
sure?"
Helper: "They didn't transform her
tongue."
Rekka's voice is suddenly cheerful: "In
that case... here's your modulator, with the sensor distorter
installed." He holds up the modulator. "You do still
want this?" He holds the modulator out towards Chiana.
His helper leans over her and takes it in his
hand.
Helper: "Plug it into the neela
trunk. Your pilot will feel his options." He reaches
into her pocket.
Chiana jerks towards him: "Hey! Do
I get a discount for being knocked out?"
The helper holds her money pouch up: "We
should charge you more for guarding your pod."
Chiana growls and lunges towards him
again.
Sikozu walks onto the pod: "What's going
on?"
The helper hands Sikozu the modulator
and walks out.
Rekka: "Thanks for your
patronage." He leaves too.
Sikozu: "Are you all
right?"
Chiana nods: "Yah."
Sikzou and Noranti start to untie
her.
Sikozu: "Let's get this pod
started."
Noranti: "Shouldn't we wait for
Aeryn?"
Sikozu: "We'll wait half an arn, like
she said."
Chiana: "So where is she?" She
tries to get untangled from her bonds.
Noranti: "Are you all
right?"
Chiana: "Where are the Scarrans?
What if they get here first?"
Sikozu: "If the Scarrans get here first,
then we leave immediately... "
Noranti looks at her,
wide-eyed.
Sikozu: "... because Aeryn is... as good
as dead."
Chiana stops at the door and looks
back.
END OF ACT THREE
__________________________________________________________________________
ACT FOUR
Sikozu is pacing back and forth in the
transport pod, her arms crossed across her chest. Chiana is
sitting in the pilot's seat, touching some
controls.
Sikozu: "It's almost
time."
Chiana: "No. We need to find
Aeryn."
Sikozu: "Once, Chiana, please. For
once in your life, exercise some self-control."
Chiana stands up and confronts Sikozu:
"I am exercising self-control. I'm not blasting off your
head."
Noranti: "Stop! Stop. She's
coming."
The pod door slams open and
shut.
Sikozu: "Oh, thank
Jonna."
Aeryn rushes onto the
pod.
Chiana: "Are you all
right?"
Aeryn runs across the pod and hurls
herself onto a seat.
Aeryn, breathlessly: "Yes. I'm
fine."
Sikozu stands by the controls: "All
right. Sit down and hold on."
Sikozu presses the controls and the
transport pod lifts off from the planetoid with a rushing
noise. It blasts off into space.
D'Argo sits at a table and comms:
"Pilot, any word?"
Pilot: "Yes, Ka D'Argo. As
you speak, a transport pod is approaching at high
speed."
Scorpius: "Have they signaled
distress?"
Pilot: "No."
John: "Have we signaled Rygel's
distress?"
John is sitting at the table with Rygel
and D'Argo, holding a cup.
Pilot: "Inadvisable as that would
confirm our position to the Scarran warship pursuing
them."
John puts his cup down and stands
up.
D'Argo: "Pilot, starburst as soon as
they're aboard."
Pilot: "I am already preparing,
Captain."
The transport pod flies into Moya's
hanger bay.
Pilot: "Stand by for starburst... ...
... now!"
With a whooshing sound, Moya begins to
glow blue and she starbursts out of sight. A Scarran vessel
continues to flie through space.
D'Argo sniffs loudly at
Chiana.
Chiana: "Do you really... need to do
that?"
D'Argo:
"Remarkable."
Chiana draws what looks like a syringe
out of a clear package: "Well, changing my genetics changes my
scent."
D'Argo: "Is it
permanent?"
Chiana: "Do you want it to
be?"
D'Argo comes and leans over her: "I
prefer the elegant gray."
Rygel flies after Noranti: "You paid too
much."
Noranti: "Ahh! You don't even know
if
I paid."
Rygel: "It was still too much.
I'll reimburse you double if you can cook for
me."
Noranti: "I may never cook again."
She continues down the corridor.
Rygel keeps following her: "Noranti,
please!"
John and Aeryn enter the corridor,
walking side by side.
John: "It's not your
fault."
Aeryn: "We had her. We let her
go."
John: "Well, you're here. She's
not. I'll take that trade."
Aeryn: "She tried to strike a
deal. Ahkna wouldn't go for it. The Scarrans must be
dead set on war."
John stops walking and peers down
another corridor. Aeryn waits for him to catch
up.
John comes back to her: "That's Scorpy's
line. Let someone else lose sleep over it
tonight."
Aeryn: "What should we lose sleep
over?"
John steps in closer to her:
"Careful."
Aeryn smiles and leans in to kiss
him. They are jolted by Moya suddenly dropping out of
starburst. John grabs Aeryn as they are flung against the
corridor wall.
Pilot comms: "Everyone. Despite
our starburst, the Scarran warship is still in pursuit at the
extreme edge of Moya's senses."
John and Aeryn run onto Command, joining
D'Argo and Sikozu who are already there.
D'Argo: "How'd they find us so
fast?"
John: "Try a homing
beacon."
D'Argo: "Pilot?"
Pilot: "I'm not detecting any
signals."
D'Argo: "Huh, John's right. Must
be a beacon. Chiana?"
Chiana, Rygel and a DRD are in the
transport pod. Chiana is swinging an instrument back and
forth, across the controls.
Chiana: "Nope, nothing in the pod.
Still looking."
Noranti is with Scorpius in the neural
cluster.
Scorpius: "I am certain... the sensor
distorter contains no tranmitter or homing
beacon..."
He holds the distorter out in front of a
DRD which sweeps one of its tools back and forth over
it.
Scorpius: "... of any
sort."
John: "Alright, it's not the
hardware. Try the software. Pilot?"
Pilot: "Adjusting
now."
D'Argo: "Anything from that
planet. Anything."
Sikozu looks at John who turns to look
at her. John is standing next to Aeryn, facing the main
viewscreen.
Aeryn speaks softly to John: "You know,
it could be her. We were separated."
Aeryn turns and joins John in looking at
Sikozu.
Sikozu: "I did not betray
you."
A DRD zips across the table and stops in
front of Sikozu, scanning her.
In the transport pod, a DRD scans
Chiana.
Chiana: "What? You want me to
undress?"
Pilot: "The DRD's detect nothing from
either Sikozu, Chiana or Noranti. Nothing from Aeryn,
either."
Scorpius: "A tier-by-tier search of this
vessel would be the unavoidable next step."
Pilot: "There's no time for that.
The Scarran warship is now on the edge of Moya's sense
horizon."
The Scarran warship, it's running lights
glowing dark red, moves ponderously but inexorably through
space.
Everyone looks around at each
other.
Chiana looks up from her scan of the
pod: "Have they found us again? Frell me."
Rygel: "Soon
enough."
D'Argo: "Can Moya
starburst?"
Pilot: "Not for some
time."
Sikozu: "Activate the sensor
distorter."
Scorpius: "It is not ready
yet."
Aeryn: "How long until the warship
identifies us?"
Pilot: "Perhaps two hundred
microts."
Rygel: "I hate to say it,
but..."
D'Argo: "Then
don't!"
Noranti: "No one is chasing Moya and
Pilot. It might be better just to leave
them."
John speaks quietly to Aeryn: "Are we
gonna do this? Bail?"
Aeryn stands facing him: "Safest for
Moya."
John: "What about the..." He makes
a cradle of his arms and rocks them. Aeryn watches
him.
John whispers: "... baby. What
about the baby?"
Aeryn gives a little smile and a shake
of her head: "What?"
John stares at her, trying to read her
eyes. She just looks back, confused.
They stand there, looking at each
other's faces for several microts.
John whispers to her: "Where's the
beacon... Aeryn?"
Aeryn moves her eyes from side to side
and makes a funny face: "We don't know."
John backs away from her, talking
louder: "Where's the beacon, Aeryn?" He pulls his pulse
pistol, shocking everyone.
Aeryn: "We don't...
know."
Sikozu: "Crichton,
what...?!"
Sikozu starts towards him and he points
the pistol at her.
D'Argo: "Wait!"
John turns the pistol back on
Aeryn. She stands still, opening and closing her
mouth.
John: "Where's the
beacon?"
Chiana comms from the pod: "Crichton...
what're you doing?"
John keeps his pistol pointed at Aeryn
and slowly circles her: "Where's the beacon? It's a simple
question... where's the beacon?"
Aeryn: "We don't know... where the
beacon is."
Noranti comms: "Crichton, what are you
doing?"
Scorpius tilts his head,
listening.
John: "Where's the beacon? Where's
the baby?"
Aeryn shakes her head in
confusion. She mouths: "I don't..."
John: "Where's the baby? Where's
the beacon? Beacon, baby. Beacon,
baby..."
Aeryn looks around at Sikozu. She
is watching John.
John keeps circling: "Whose
beacon? Whose baby?"
Aeryn glances towards the others then
turns back to John.
John keeps moving in a circle: "Who's
the beacon? Who's the baby? Whose baby is it?
Who's the daddy, Aeryn? Aeryn, who's the
daddy?"
Aeryn mouths: "I don't know."
again.
John: "D'Argo, tell her who the daddy
is."
From behind John, D'Argo answers: "We
don't know... who the daddy is."
John: "Right, we don't know...
who."
Sikozu is watching Aeryn now, rather
than John.
John: "Say 'baby', Aeryn. Aeryn,
say 'baby'."
John has his pistol pointed right at her
face: "Say 'baby'."
Aeryn makes movements with her mouth:
"bb..." she exhales.
John: "Spell it."
Aeryn looks towards Sikozu who is
starring back at her. She looks back at
John.
John begins to sing: "A-b-c-d-e-f-g...
h-i-j..."
Aeryn looks at him,
uncomprehendingly. Her breath comes in
sobs.
John: "Where's Aeryn...
Aeryn?"
Aeryn's hand takes hold of her pistol in
its holster and cocks it.
John stares into her
eyes.
Aeryn starts to pull her
pistol.
John grimaces and shoots her, point
blank in the face. There is a hissing sound and smoke rises
from the side of her head. D'Argo hisses and starts
forward. He stops himself and stares.
John continues to stare at Aeryn's
face. One side of it is now a mass of bubbling plastic.
Her remaining eye flutters and closes.
Sikozu: "A bioloid."
D'Argo: "What's a
bioloid?"
Sikozu: "That."
The side of Aeryn's head bubbles and
quakes. There are occasional electrical sparks from it.
Bits of it run down her side. As D'Argo takes a step towards
her, Aeryn falls straight backwards, onto the floor with a
thud.
Pilot comms: "Thirty microts, everyone,
until a Scarran warship is close enough to identify
us."
Breathlessly, Scorpius comms:
"Pilot. I have temporarily patched... the sensor distorter...
to your neural pathway."
Pilot: "I... feel it. There is a
choice of signatures."
Sikozu: "A Scarran ore freighter, and
mimic its movements."
Pilot: "Engaging
now."
D'Argo looks over at John who is still
staring at the bioloid "Aeryn" lying on the floor. The side of
her face continues to bubble and pop.
Pilot: "The Scarran warship is
signaling."
D'Argo walks towards Sikozu: "Okay,
let's hear it."
The warship comms: "Ko-nach,
Ko-nach! Frez-nee Ko-nach. Frez-nee
Ko-nach."
Scorpius listens to the comm: "The
mother-tongue."
D'Argo steps up to Sikozu:
"You."
Sikozu nods: "Nacko frey-za
kalisha."
Scarran warship: "Nak-fohlath
leh-vi-a-than."
Sikozu: "Lee! Eels dir
tahbek. Baak dou kareko o naylin tra mahden... ska brecarro
beldin."
Scarran: "As
konik."
The warship moves
away.
Pilot: "The warship is breaking off...
and accelerating away."
Sikozu closes her eyes and D'Argo heaves
a deep sigh.
John just stares at the
bioloid.
D'Argo leans over Sikozu: "What did you
say to them?"
Sikozu takes a deep breath: "I told them
that we saw... a Leviathan starburst a moment ago... that we were
afraid it was going to board us and I thanked them for scaring it
away."
D'Argo grunts and turns away.
Sikozu leans on a console and sighs.
John takes a step, holstering his
pistol. He kneels down beside the still bubbling
bioloid. There are lights flashing inside it and it makes a
burbling sound. John rocks back onto his heels,
staring.
END OF ACT FOUR
__________________________________________________________________________
EPILOGUE
Sikozu reaches into the bubbling mass
and pulls out a fragment. John watches her. She stands
up with it and he looks back at the bioloid. She takes it over
to Chiana and shows it to her.
Sikozu: "Homing device. Found in
what's left of it's neural processor. That device confining
Grayza was not meant to transport her."
Scorpius comms from the neural cluster:
"No. It replicates living flesh. We've known about it
for some time... but never encountered the
result."
Chiana comes over to the bioloid.
She gets down and peers into its head.
D'Argo: "Effective technique. No
rescue attempt, while they're at their leisure to torture
Grayza."
Chiana: "And now, her duplicate spies on
the Peacekeepers." She stands up.
Noranti: "Then, why did they take
Aeryn?"
Chiana hurries away.
Sikozu: "I got away... she... got
caught."
Noranti: "Maybe they thought this...
creature... would bring back Grayza."
Scorpius: "Or
Crichton."
D'Argo: "Sikozu."
She glances at him, then back at John
and the bioloid. Then, she turns and leaves John and D'Argo
alone on Command.
D'Argo stands with his hands on his
hips. He breathes a deep sigh: "You okay?"
John: "No."
D'Argo: "You know... it's not
Aeryn."
John: "It was never Aeryn." He
continues to stare at the corpse.
D'Argo: "We're not gonna give up on her,
John. Sikozu said the Scarrans are taking Grayza to a place
called 'Katratse'. Maybe that's where Aeryn is
now."
John looks past the bioloid, to the
stars: "She could be anywhere out there."
D'Argo: "But we're not going to let her
go. I give you my word."
John turns his head, just slightly,
towards D'Argo. D'Argo looks at him, half smiling, then
leaves. John turns back towards the body.
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