Part III - FriendS And EnemieS

        Aeryn pushed through the low foliage, swatting at the flies that seemed to enjoy annoying her by buzzing around her head as she and Crais traversed a well worn path towards the source of the Leviathan signal Talyn had picked up.  She glanced at her former Captain, still moving with a slight limp, up ahead of her, the tracker held out before him in his left hand.  "Well?"  The planet Arnessk was warm and she wiped the sweat from her forehead, gazing around the forest they were traveling through.  Sunlight peaked through the leaves of the trees above her, casting dancing rays wherever they could.  She removed the plug from her canteen, taking a quick drink of water and offering it to Crais.

          Crais pointed with his other hand as he studied the tracker before him.  "Over there.  Talyn is picking up life forms.  A small settlement."  He took a drink from the offered canteen, handing it back to Aeryn and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he looked around.  Birds and animals moved through the trees and he could hear the sound of water hitting rocks not far from them.  It was a paradise.  A paradise that could turn very dangerous very quickly.  He continued down the path, slipping the tracker onto his belt and removing his pulse pistol from its holster.  He was uneasy and it didn't help that the Peacekeeper signal Talyn had discovered had only disappeared a few arns earlier.  Considering they could not verify that the Peacekeepers were gone, Crais was playing it safe.  He held up his hand, stopping Aeryn, motioning for her to move to the right as the path split.   Their eyes met.  She had heard the voices as well.

          Aeryn nodded, drawing her own weapon as she moved along the other path, her eyes searching the forest around them, keeping Crais within the corner of her vision at all times, the way she knew he was watching her.  It scared her that she could still slip into her training so easily.  She wondered if that fact bothered Crais as well, or did he simply wrap what he knew around him like a protective cloak.  It had taken them almost a monen to find this planet, Aeryn remembering Jool mentioning it off-handedly to Chiana as they walked past her while she was loading her Prowler.  She had never thought anymore of it until Talyn found a signal.  A Leviathan signal that faded and disappeared faster than he could get to it.    The young Leviathan pushed himself as fast as he could to reach Arnessk, fear that the signal was from Moya and she was in danger.  The thought was a sobering one and Crais had let the gunship speed to Arnessk at will, knowing that the signal could have been another Leviathan. She looked over at the other path and swore silently to herself.  Aeryn had let her mind wander and had lost sight of Crais, only to find him by the piercing scream that ripped through the air.  A piercing scream she had heard one too many times not to recognize.  "Frell!" Aeryn took off at a run, shoving branches away from her face, hoping she could reach Crais before Jool could attack him in panic.

          Crais slipped towards the voices, losing sight of Aeryn in the brush as the path he was following dipped down, opening into a large clearing, the remnants of a rock wall circling half of the area.  He saw the red hair before anything else, recognized the haughtiness in the woman's voice and holstered his pulse pistol, a soft smile of recognition quirking the corner of his mouth. What was Jool doing here and were the others here as well?  A slight twinge of anticipation rolled through him.  Although his relationship with Crichton was shaky, Crais actually wanted to see the human, if only to observe the look of shock on his face when he realized Crais and Talyn survived.  He gazed over at the man that knelt next to Jool, curious as to his identity as he took in the loose red robes that swirled at his ankles.  The man was quietly explaining to her the use of an artifact in his hand.  "Greetings, Joolushko," he softly commented.

Jool froze at the voice behind her, slowly turning, her eyes meeting a pair of Peacekeeper issued boots.  She followed the leather encased legs up and her hair began to turn a brilliant shade of red as she let out scream, high pitched and deafening, falling backwards into the man beside her.

Crais took a step backwards, covering his ears and wincing at the sound.  He had forgotten how painful one of her shrieks could be and decided that approaching the young woman from the rear was not the wisest decision he had ever made.  Crais lowered his hands as Jool ran out of air, her scream cutting short, taking a deep breath in relief.  He saw Aeryn come from the opposite direction and when Jool saw her former shipmate, she screamed again.

   "Crais, what the frell did you do to her?" Aeryn yelled, approaching the young Interion woman.  Aeryn cringed at the wail, watching as Jool skittered backwards in the dirt away from the two ex-Peacekeepers in disbelief.

   "Nothing!  All I did was announce my presence," he snapped.  "Why must you always assume I did something…wrong?"  He looked at the now melted tracker at his hip, struggling to free it from his belt.  With a sigh of annoyance, he tossed it into the brush.

   Aeryn holstered her pulse pistol, propping her hands on her hips, her tongue tucked into the corner of her cheek.  "It's your nature, Crais," she retorted. 

   "You're…you're…" Jool stammered in astonishment.

   Both Sebaceans turned and looked at the redhead.  "Alive?" Crais supplied, canting his head, gazing down at her with raised eyebrows.  He offered her his hand, helping Jool to her feet.

   Without warning, Jool launched herself onto Crais, laughing in delight as she hugged him.  "You and Talyn made it!  You actually did it!  You survived!"  No matter how much she blamed Crais for Talyn destroying the hospital ship, she still recognized the fact that his and Talyn's maneuver saved the rest of them, even if her former shipmates couldn't.

   Crais carefully extricated himself from Jool, setting her back on her feet in front of him, his face blushing slightly at her unusual display.  He tugged his uniform jacket back into place as Jool hugged Aeryn, thankful no one noticed his embarrassment other than Talyn.  "Yes, although I am sure there are some others that will be less than…happy with that prospect."  He tilted his chin.  "Is Crichton and the others here?"

   Jool noticed the strained look on Aeryn's face and gazed back at Crais.  She quickly nodded to her companion and he stood up, moving up the path towards the settlement.  "No.  They left here a weeken ago," she answered softly.

   "Frell," Aeryn whispered running her fingers through her dark hair.

   "What the hezmona is going on?  I thought you were going to look for that group of ex-Peacekeepers.  You know, that assassin group?" Jool remarked in confusion.  Her eyes widened suddenly and she stared at Crais accusingly, turning back to Aeryn.  "Why are you with Crais?"

   Crais moved forward, gently taking Jool's arm.  "It is a long story.  Is it safe here?"  Jool nodded, her red hair bobbing in the fading light of Arnessk's twilight.  "Then…let us go someplace where we can talk privately."

   The Interion agreed and led the way, glancing back at the two ex-Peacekeepers and wondering why Aeryn had such a long face.

   And how Crais and Talyn survived.

   Night on Arnessk was cool and Crais and Aeryn were thankful for the brisk breeze blowing through the makeshift shelter.  The fabric above them flapped softly, the fire they sat around popping every so often, releasing a fragrant aroma from the local wood.  Jool peered at Crais in surprise at the story he had just finished relaying, amazed that he and Talyn had lost six monens of their lives in the course of an arn.  And Talyn's virus…Jool was surprised that neither she nor Crais had thought of something like that considering the biology and genetic backgrounds they both possessed.  She could no longer hold Crais responsible for Talyn's attack on the hospital ship. Jool gazed at Aeryn, getting the distinct impression they were leaving something out by the look of sadness on the ex-Peacekeeper's face.  She had so many questions to ask that she didn't know where to start, staying quiet and watching as Crais stoked the fire from where he sat across from her.  Remnants of their evening meal lay at their sides and the group Jool was with silently slipped among them, gathering the plates and glasses without a word. 

   "Who are these people?" the Sebacean woman finally asked, motioning with her hand to the red robed men and women walking around.

   Jool gazed behind her with an almost maternal pride, a look of satisfaction on her face.  "They're the priests that live here."  She peered at Crais and Aeryn, her eyes soft, her lips turned up in a comfortable smile.  "My people had an archaeological dig here, although at the time, I was unsure of what they were looking for."

   "Which was?" Crais prodded.  He had removed the queue from his hair, enjoying the feel of the breeze as it rustled it against the back of his neck.  His trips planet side over the course of the last few cycles had been infrequent, and he had forgotten what it was like to breath fresh air.  He planted his feet firmly, leaning forward on the huge log he sat on, resting his elbows on his knees as he gazed at Jool, waiting for her answer, the stick he was using to stoke the fire dangling from his long fingers.

   "The Darnaz Probes," Jool supplied.

   Aeryn looked at her in confusion.  "What are they?"

   Jool smiled, settling back against a large stone as she began her tale.  "Over 12,000 cycles ago, Arnessk was a beautiful planet, filled with wildlife and flora that would have amazed you.  The priests built a temple here that was supposed to ensure peace between the Peacekeepers and the Scarrens."

   "It didn't work, obviously," Crais pointed out, stretching his long legs out before him as he began to relax, crossing them at the ankles and leaning back on one arm.  If anything happened, Talyn would let him know.

   Jool shook her head.  "No, it didn't.  The probes were launched into the atmosphere and caused what was known as the Darnaz Triangle.  It destroyed the beauty of this world by causing the planet's magnetic field to become unstable.  Only certain times through the cycle the magnetics realigned, which allowed one to come here safely."

   "What happened during the unsafe times?" Aeryn questioned.  She sat rigid on the stone that held the shelter's pole, her body tense and ready to spring, her hands splayed on her thighs.  She wanted to find Crichton and tried very hard not to let her disappointment in missing them show.

   Jool shrugged.  "You basically melted to death from the radiation."  She shook her head.  "Anyway, when the probes were launched, it somehow set up a barrier in time, freezing the priests where they stood.  When Crichton and the others showed up, Noranti showed Crichton the Darnaz Probes, convincing him that we had to find them before the members of my people's team did."

   "Who is Noranti?" Crais asked, looking to Aeryn for explanation, his eyes narrowing slightly as he canted his head in her direction.

   "One of the survivors Moya picked up when the command carrier imploded.  She's a strange little woman with three eyes and a knack of blowing mind altering herbs into Crichton's face," Aeryn answered in irritation.  Crais licked his lips, trying to suppress the smile that was threatening to cross his face and she looked at Jool.  "Why was it so important to find the probes?"

   Jool looked down at her hands.  "If any one person or group possess the probes, they could destroy and enslave other worlds."  She smiled sadly, gazing between Aeryn and Crais into the darkness beyond their fire.  "It's funny how what demolished this world is what eventually saved it."  She looked up at her companions.  "Crichton found the probes and we realigned them based on what Noranti showed him, restoring Arnessk's magnetic field.  When we did, the priests were freed from their entrapment.  I stayed behind to help teach them what has happened," she answered contentedly.

   "Talyn found a Leviathan's signal, which led us here.  Is it gone?  Was it Moya?" Aeryn asked hopefully.

   The Interion shook her head.  "No.  An old Leviathan saved Crichton after you left and brought him here.  Unfortunately, it died helping us."

   Crais stroked his goatee in thought.  "Jool, Talyn picked up an errant Peacekeeper signal in this sector."  His eyes met hers as he sat back up.  "Is that what the Leviathan was helping you with?"

   Jool didn't answer the ex-Peacekeeper right away.  She listened to the sound of the surf hitting the rocks in the distance, trying to determine the best way to tell them what had happened.  "Yes.  The Peacekeepers were here," she quietly stated.

   Aeryn stood up, her pulse pistol in hand.  "When?  How many?  Are they still here on the planet?"  She turned slowly, trying to see into the darkness.  She couldn't determine why she was so jumpy, an uneasy feeling of urgency settling over her.  She wanted to leave the planet, continue her search for Crichton and the others.

   Crais reached up and laid a gentle hand on her wrist.  He was not happy that Peacekeepers had been there, but he was certain they were gone, even though a deep foreboding was slowly seeping into his gut.  "Aeryn, if they were still here, Talyn would have notified us."  He nodded at Jool.  "Please, continue."

   Jool waited until Aeryn sat, watching as the other woman laid the pulse pistol at her side.  She looked Crais straight in the eye.  "Commandant Grayza was here, with Braca and…"

   Aeryn looked at her, thrusting her hands out towards Jool in encouragement as she shook her head.  "And?" she prodded sharply.

   "Scorpius."

   Crais' head snapped up from where he had been studying the fire at Jool's quietly hissed word.  "Scorpius was here?  With Grayza?" he hissed vehemently, his dark eyes narrowing in the dim light.

   Jool nodded.  "Yes, but Scorpius wasn't himself.  It seems Grayza had managed to…"

   "Out with it, Jool!" Aeryn snapped loudly.

   Jool cast her an icy glare.  "This isn't easy!  We were all almost killed," she whined in defense.  "Grayza had enslaved Scorpius, she did something to his thermal unit and he was…drooling like a brindz hound on a chain that Braca was holding."

   Her statement made Crais laugh, a deep, rich sound that made both women's eyebrows shoot upwards.  His whole body shook as he laughed and it took him a few minutes to settle down, wiping the tears from his eyes as he snickered.  "I would have given…anything to have seen that," Crais finally managed to choke.  "Scorpius…on a leash."

   Jool shook her head.  "Actually, it was pretty sad."  She stared at Crais, unused to the stoic Captain's laughter.  "I don't like him any more than you do, but if you had seen him…and Braca."  Jool shook her head, her red hair brushing her bare shoulders.  "Braca is under Grayza's control and I think he was enjoying Scorpius' humiliation."

   Crais' expression immediately hardened.  "Let us not discuss humiliation," he growled.  He stood up and began to pace, finding it the only relief to his annoyance.  "Scorpius deserves everything he gets at Grayza's hands."

   "Grayza gave Crichton the chance to kill him, but John refused, so Grayza had Braca shoot him, point blank," Jool continued, looking at Aeryn. She saw Crais stop pacing, staring at her in quiet disbelief.

"Braca shot Scorpius?" he repeated quietly, his voice barely audible over the waves crashing behind them.

Jool nodded.  "In the back.  He's buried here on the planet."

   Crais' eyes grew wide and he glanced at Aeryn.  Neither one of them could believe that Braca would have the nimvoks to shoot the scientist in the first place let alone in the back.  Crais was positive his former second-in-command was completely under Grayza's control.  "Scorpius is…dead?" he hissed, his eyes narrowed and boring into Jool.

   "Yes."

   "Prove it," Aeryn responded.  "I want to see where he is buried."

   Jool looked back and forth between the two ex-Peacekeepers and shivered at the thought of going back to the site where they had all almost lost their lives.  "I will show you in the morning."

          Crais and Aeryn stared at the nondescript dirt mound before them, a fitting burial site for Scorpius in Crais' opinion.  The sky above them was dark, matching Crais' mood, a fierce wind whipping the trees above them.  He turned dark eyes to Jool.  "Are you…positive he is dead?"

          Jool propped her hands on her hips, her head tilted at a conceited angle as her hair darkened slightly.  "He took a pulse pistol blast to his back at close range.  How could he have survived without food and water and in the ground this long, let alone his wounds?  Of course he's dead!"

          Crais crossed his arms, watching Jool's hair grow redder with her annoyance.  "Scorpius has…survived much worse than being buried alive."

          "Oh, so you're saying he's still alive after being in the ground for an entire weeken?"  Jool threw her hands up in resignation, turning away.  "Well, then, dig him up if you don't believe me."

          Aeryn saw the look of contemplation cross Crais' face and walked over to him.  "You are not seriously thinking of actually digging him up, are you?" she whispered, her back to Jool.  She gazed up at him questioningly.

          Crais stared at the mound of dirt, his jaw clenched, his mind rehashing the hezmona the half-breed scientist had forced him to suffer.  His eyes met Aeryn's, dark and cold.  "Do you have a better method of proving that he will no longer hound us across the Uncharted Territories?"

          "Crais, this is insane," Aeryn answered.  She followed his eyes to the grave.

          Crais leaned forward, his breath warm on the back of her neck.  "Wouldn't you prefer to be reunited with…Crichton knowing that the only person you have to worry about is Commandant Mele-On Grayza?" he whispered.  He didn't reveal to Aeryn what Jool had confided to him the night before after the ex-Peacekeeper had fallen asleep.  The time he had spent with Aeryn on Talyn had been enough for him to determine that she was still not admitting something to him, and her wane appearance was no reassurance.  The fact that Grayza and Crichton had possibly 'recreated' was a piece of information he would let Crichton deliver to Aeryn.

          Aeryn knew Crais had a valid point.  There truly was only one way to verify Jool's story.  She looked at her former shipmate.  "Do you have shovels or do we need to return to Talyn for supplies?" she simply asked.

          Jool's eyes widened.  "You're both fahrbot, you know that?  I can't believe you want to dig him up."

          "Jool, just answer Officer Sun," Crais demanded, walking away from Aeryn to pace around the grave.  A rumble of thunder sounded overhead.

          Jool sighed in disgust.  "Yes we have shovels.  I'll be right back."  She took off down the path, mumbling to herself about how she always got into these messes and how her newly found, perfect little world was going to hezmana in a hand basket.

          Aeryn walked around the grave, chewing her thumbnail, a habit she had picked up from Crichton.  "What do you know about Grayza?" she asked, peering up at Crais.

          The Captain had settled himself on a worn tree stump, shrugging off his uniform jacket.  "Only what I picked up from conversations on the command carrier.  She is ruthless and the mastermind behind the alliance with the Scarrens."

          "Wonderful," Aeryn remarked sarcastically.  "What does she have against Scorpius?" she wondered aloud.

          Crais shook his head.  "I suspect his failure in capturing Crichton and moving forward with the wormhole project."  He rested his hands on his knees.  "Aeryn," he started uneasily, debating whether or not to tell Aeryn the other thing he heard about Grayza.  He decided it would be better for her to be forewarned and licked his lips.  "Grayza carries a heppel gland."

          "A heppel gland?  I thought only…" She paused and then sighed.  "No wonder Braca is under her control."  Her face showed her disgust in Crais' admission.  "Well, now we know that the Commandant will do anything to rise through the ranks," she spat, emphasizing the word 'Commandant'.

          Crais nodded, his lips pursed.  He stood up as Jool returned, taking the shovel from the red-haired woman.  "Now…let's see if he is truly dead."  With a forceful thrust, Crais drove the shovel into the dirt.  It didn't take long to uncover the scientist's body and Crais leaned on the shovel, a light sheen of sweat covering his bare arms and face. 

          "Satisfied?" Jool asked, tilting her head smugly.

          Aeryn knelt down, brushing dirt away from the side of Scorpius' neck and laying her fingers on it.  When she didn't feel anything, she leaned her head over his black and dirt stained lips. 

          One black-gloved hand shot upwards and grabbed Aeryn around the neck in a tight grasp.  "Help…me," Scorpius hissed.

          Aeryn clasped Scorpius' wrist, gasping as she tried to break free from Scorpius' grasp.  She stared down at him, his face more emaciated than usual as her eyes widened trying to catch a breath as she struggled to free herself. 

Crais sprang into action, his pulse pistol quickly finding it's way to the side of the half-Scarren's head.  He looked at Jool, his eyebrows raised in an  'I-told-you-so' gaze before returning his attention to Scorpius.  "Let her go, or I will shoot you," he calmly remarked, his finger depressing the trigger slightly.  Scorpius' hand loosened at the sound of Crais' voice and he turned cold eyes towards the ex-Peacekeeper.

Aeryn fell backwards, rubbing her neck as she stared in stunned shock to him.  The uneasiness she had been feeling was suddenly gone and she shot daggers at Crais, her blue-grey eyes icy.  Slowly, Scorpius sat up, favoring his right side as he gazed at the two ex-Peacekeepers and Jool.  "Shoot him!" Aeryn yelled, pointing at Scorpius.

          Dark eyes turned towards her and the scientist leered at her.  "Officer Sun," he whispered, spitting dirt and debris from his mouth.  "I would greatly appreciate it if you would not encourage Captain Crais in that course of action.  I have had enough of…being shot."

          Crais rested the muzzle of the pulse pistol against Scorpius' head.  He noticed the congealed blood and score mark on his back, finding the slightest bit of sadistic pleasure at the sight.  "You have exactly sixty microts to tell us what happened."

          Scorpius looked up at Crais and laughed.  "I managed to upset the wrong people.  You have done that a few times yourself.  I was not very pleased with your little maneuver and am surprised that you survived," he commented sarcastically, his usually cultured voice filled with Scarren menace as he wiped the dirt from his face, only managing to smear it even more.

          "Damn you Crais!" Aeryn snarled, pulling her own pulse pistol from its holster.  She drew down on Scorpius.

          Crais lunged towards Aeryn, grabbing her wrist and pushing her hand aside as she fired, the shot going wide and missing her target, bark flying from the tree the blast connected with.  "No Aeryn!"

"What?" Aeryn looked up at Crais in confusion.  "Why?" she yelled, pushing Crais away, holding the weapon level with her former superior's chest.  "Give me one good frelling reason why I shouldn't kill him?"

          Scorpius stood up slowly, cradling his arm in his hand, fascinated with the scene before him.  This was the second time someone had tried to kill him since he ran into Grayza.  It was a good thing Braca was a lousy shot.  He waited patiently, noticing that Jool backed away from all three of them, surrounded by the Arnesskan priests who came running at the pulse pistol's blast.

          Crais looked at Aeryn, laying his hand on her weapon and pushing her arm down.  The tears in her eyes didn't go unnoticed and he took a step towards her.  "Why?  I can't give you a reason why other than the fact that he is now shunned by the Peacekeepers as we are.  His command is gone and he is a fugitive like we are."

          Aeryn snorted in disbelief.  "You are taking up for Scorpius?"

          "Will wonders never cease?" the scientist commented.

          Crais and Aeryn both looked at him.  "Shut up!" they commanded together.

          "After what he has done to all of us, you want to let him live?" she asked.  "He stripped you of your command, chased all of us across the Uncharted Territories, tortured you and John and you want to let him frelling live?" she screamed.

          Crais waited, keeping his temper in check.  What good would it do to kill Scorpius?  "Yes.  Let him suffer the way we have, Aeryn.  Let him live like a fugitive, marked for execution and hunted by the very establishment that trained us," he answered, his voice hard and cold.  "Everything he has worked for is gone, just like everything we worked for," he hissed vehemently.

          Aeryn stared at Crais in confusion, shaking her head.  "No.  I want him dead.  I want John free from him!  And I'll kill him myself if I have to if you don't have the nimvoks to do it!"  She tried to push past Crais, tried to free her pulse pistol from his hand, but the Captain held fast, gripping her upper arm with his free hand.

          "Aeryn, I will not…reduce myself to what I once was.  Not now, not ever again.  We will gain nothing from his death," Crais softly stated.

          Aeryn's jaw clenched and unclenched as she turned hard eyes to her former superior.  "I will.  I will gain the satisfaction of knowing he is rotting in the ground," she answered through clenched teeth.

          "Will you?" Crais posed, his eyebrows rising in question.  "Will any of us?"  Aeryn looked at Scorpius and then back to Crais, jerking her hand free and holstering her pulse pistol.  "We have both changed, Aeryn, for what it is worth.  And…you can tell that to Crichton when we find him."

          "When I find him."  She backed away from Crais, her eyes narrowed.  "You better hope that none of us live to regret this act of mercy, Crais."  She shook her head, casting one last look over her shoulder as she moved away from them, breaking into a run and disappearing from sight. 

"That makes two of us," he murmured to himself.  Jool started to go after her, but Crais' hand on her shoulder stopped her, his expression softening.  Her only thought had been to find Crichton, her only goal reuniting with the one person she cared for, the one person she could let down her guard with.  Part of Crais was intensely jealous of the love she had found, the other part not wanting anything to do with it.  "Let her go, Jool.  She is dealing with demons none of us can…imagine."

Jool cast a sideways glance at Scorpius.  "Maybe you can't imagine them Crais," she remarked, walking away, the priests following her.

Scorpius watched as they moved away, leaving only Crais and himself standing there.  "Thank you, Captain Crais," he commented, stepping up to the Sebacean Captain.  He was amused at the turn of events, finding himself suddenly at Crais' mercy.  "I seem to be…in your debt," he finally said, his lips twitching slightly at Crais' discomfort.

"Yes, ironic isn't it that I chose to keep Aeryn from killing you."  Crais looked at the scientist in disgust.  "You owe me nothing," he snarled, moving to stand mere denches from Scorpius.  "But know this.  If you so much as come within metras of Talyn and I, I will not hesitate to shoot you out of the sky."  The Captain turned on one foot, shrugged his uniform jacket back on and strode away without another word, leaving Scorpius alone, standing beside his former earthen prison.

Scorpius smiled to himself sinisterly.  "I have no doubt that you would," he whispered, only the trees around him hearing him.

          Crais watched silently as Aeryn's Prowler flew away.  She refused to speak to him or Talyn, infuriated with the fact that he had let Scorpius live.  They had both changed and maybe she was right.  Maybe he should have killed Scorpius.  It hurt him deeply that she did not share his feeling in his reasons for letting him live.  He tilted his head, hands behind his back, feet planted apart as he opened the communications channel.  "Aeryn, I know you can…hear me.  Please…understand that by allowing Scorpius to live, I am…forcing him to suffer what we have.  I know that is no comfort to you now, but it may be in the future."  He paused, hoping she would respond.  When she didn't, he continued.  "If we do not meet again, may you be…happy in whatever you do.  Good health to you, Officer Aeryn Sun."  Crais severed the communication, staring down at Talyn's steelskin deck.

          ~ She doesn't hate you, Crais.  She's just very confused, ~ Talyn remarked, trying to soothe the pain his friend was feeling.

          "I know Talyn.  Although…we may never find out why."  He sighed.  "We need supplies.  Any…suggestions?"

          ~ No.  But I still would like to find my mother. ~

          Crais smiled, proud at the newfound maturity the gunship was displaying.  "We will reunite with Moya.  We will."  He walked over to the system's console, laying one hand on it.  "Talyn…starburst."

          Aeryn furiously wiped the tears that slipped down her face at Crais' words.  He was right, it was no comfort to her knowing that Scorpius still lived.  Had she knowledge of the future, she would have been thankful for Crais' insistence in letting the scientist go.  She looked up at a bright flash of light and watched as the gunship she had named slipped into starburst, the first time since being repaired, leaving her in the quiet of space.  "Good health to you, Captain Bialar Crais," she whispered.

Stay tuned for Episode 2 of the Lost Eps of Season 4 entitled "Luck Of The Draw."