Chapter 6.

Bay thirteen was a miniature twelve, John realized, and then wondered why he was expecting anything different. A medieval torture chamber? Hynerian heads hanging on the wall? A Scorpy family photo? But it was just a sterile, empty space, completely innocuous. Aeryn continued forward, knowing exactly where she was going and he had to run to keep up with her. She walked directly to a line of four small bins, paused, then looked around quickly before sliding out of her helmet.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked. "Leave the damn thing on."

She looked at him and chewed on her lower lip. The act was over. Her hair hung in her face, tangled, matted to her forehead with perspiration. He could see that she was fighting to keep a smile from her face, the joy of seeing her child almost too great. Her face looked younger, hopeful and he tried to contain his own smile, not sure when or if he'd ever seen her like this.

"I am not a Peacekeeper," she said finally. She flung open the cargo bin and then it seemed to him that all the breath went out of her body. He rushed to her side and stared as she picked up a sheaf of schematics with one hand. They spilled from her grasp almost immediately and she turned to him, dropping her helmet to the floor.

"He lied—Scorpius, Co-kurra. One of them. Both of them. She's not here." She picked up the schematics and pushed them into his gloved hands. "Take these and find the escape route. Then take it."

"Aeryn—"

"No, John." She forced his hands against his chest. He lost his grip and he saw some of the bundle fall to the ground. "Take them and go. Go." She kicked her helmet like a soccer ball. It went spinning and slammed up against a wall, the faceplate shattering into tiny pieces. She took her rifle in her hand and started for the doorway just as one of the guards they'd fought off stood up. She aimed the rifle without stopping and fired. The guard dropped dead.

John grabbed her arm and she spun around, her face contorted in anger and pain; he took a step back at the violence he saw in her eyes.

"You can't shoot everyone you see," he said.

"Watch me."

"Suicide by cop. No, Aeryn." He forced the rifle down and pulled her to him. Every muscle in her body was rigid.

"Youyou are leaving," she said. She pushed him away. "I don't care what I said before. You are not going to die here, John. Go. Please, go."

"No." He shook his head then saw her eyes widen in surprise. "Aeryn?" he asked. "What the hell"

"Aeryn Sun, stand fast," a male voice commanded, coming nearer. "You are under arrest by orders of Captain Braca."

"You're a Peacekeeper," she whispered to him. "Just play your part."

He turned to see a squadron jogging towards her, locked and loaded. It was too late to disguise who she was. He reached for her arm and tried to pull her away but she delivered a boot to his stomach and then an undercut to his chin. He was out before he hit the ground.

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Two peacekeeper officers dragged her into the empty landing bay twelve where another squadron awaited her. Somewhere behind her, John lay sprawled on the ground. No one had seemed particularly interested in him; he was just one more Peacekeeper who'd taken a hit from an escaping prisoner.

She struggled against her guards; her struggles were met with a fist to her mouth that left her bloody. Commandant Mele-On Grayza stood at the ready, hands behind her back, expectant.

"I would imagine this is not the reunion you were expecting," Grayza began, walking slowly around her. "Rank and regiment, soldier."

"I have no rank and regiment," Aeryn said flatly. Grayza stopped in front of her and smiled, almost kindly.

"You are a traitor then. Because your service record indicates you are Officer Aeryn Sun, Ikarian Company, Pleisar Regiment. Daughter of Xhalax Sun and Talyn Lyczac both deceased. Captain Bialar Crais deemed you irreversibly contaminated for contact with non-classified life forms. You have aided and abetted in the destruction of a Peacekeeper Gammak base and a Peacekeeper command carrier along with offenses against civilian populations." Grayza leaned forward. "Am I boring you, Officer Sun?"

"You are not telling me anything I have not already heard." She kept her eyes straight ahead.

"I know why you have come here. Co-kurra was a very compliant witness before he died but he failed to mention" Grayza paused. "Where is Crichton?"

"I have not seen Crichton for over six monans," Aeryn said. Crichtonkeep down and take the passageway. Don't be so frelling stubborn this time"He is nothing to me."

"Well, you are certainly something to him. Would Crichton risk his life for you?" She resumed her pacing. "Say, if I were to make it known that I have youand something else." She stopped again and stared at Aeryn, lavender eyes intent on Aeryn's own. "Tell me. What do you suppose your value to the Peacekeepers is now? You are no longer fit for duty. You have committed crimes worthy of execution yet you blindly and stupidly find your way back to my command carrier. What could be of such importance?"

Grayza raised her hand towards two of the squadron members and Braca stepped out from behind them, carrying a small bundle. Aeryn's eyes darted towards him and then forward again, the urge to seek out what he held almost overpowering. No, not in front of this Commandant. She would not provoke Grayza further.

"Officer Sun, I believe this is what you came to see." She nodded at Braca. He held out the child, each hand barely supporting a portion of the baby's small body. The infant looked as though she might topple from his outstretched palms. The blanket fell partially away, enough for Aeryn to see the child's small, perfectly shaped head covered with thick black hair. A'lya's eyes fluttered open as the baby stretched and yawned and then Braca quickly wrapped her up again.

Aeryn felt emotion in her throat, but she fought it off. Emotions would not appeal to Grayza or any other Peacekeeper. They had never served a purpose on a Carrier; she could now see why. How could a soldier continue on, knowing that her child was somewhere out of her grasp? It was better to just not know, to just not feel. But she was well past the point of no return.

"What the frell do you want, Grayza?" she finally spat out.

"This." Grayza turned; Aeryn's gaze followed Grayza's outstretched finger as two Peacekeeper guards dragged John towards Grayza and dumped him in front of her. They'd pulled his helmet off. Aeryn saw the blood on his chin where her fist had connected with it. She took a deep breath, steadying herself. There was nowhere to run—she'd left him too vulnerable lying there. She should have turned and run with him, dragged him to the passageway herself, remained hidden as she had told him to do—

John groaned and rolled over, then pushed up to a sitting position, his eyes blinking against the light. He looked at Aeryn—she looked away. He wiped his hand under his chin and stared at his fingertips, his mind trying to connect it all together.

"Aeryn?" He looked at her bloodied lip to his fingers then back at her. "Hell of a right hook, baby."

"John Crichton." Grayza turned her attention back to John and crouched down beside him. "We could have done this the easy way. Painless. Perhaps even pleasurable." She turned back to Aeryn. "Six monans, Officer Sun? I doubt it's been six microts." She looked at John and ran her fingers between her breasts then shook her head in disgust. "It's not even worth the effort, Crichton."

John laughed and Aeryn sucked in her breath. Why was he going to make it worse? "I hear the juices aren't quite what they used to be, Grayza. Guess you're kind of a one trick pony."

She slapped him. "You are in no position to comment." She stood up and returned to Aeryn. "He means nothing to you, Officer Sun. That was what you said, wasn't it? That would mean that this half-breed child is probably of even less importance to you than a human."

Aeryn fought against the guards but they tightened their grip. She tried to twist away, tried to move her head so that she could ram her way out of it but they were stronger than she was. Her eyes flashed back on John as he stood shakily.

"Screw you, Grayza," John muttered. "Screw you. Just give us what we came for and we'll be out of your hair."

"Oh, Crichton, that time has passed." She crossed her arms over her chest and stood in front of him, barely a hand's breadth between them. "What do you propose giving me in return? Wormhole technology? You have proven you cannot be trusted. Or perhaps you propose offering yourself." She trailed her fingers over his face.

"Grayza," John began. He looked away from Aeryn and turned back to Grayza. "I'll cooperate." He leaned in towards Grayza, eyes closed, and kissed her. Revulsion covered his face; she resisted the urge to look away. It would not come to this.

"Let Aeryn and the baby go," he said calmly. "Come on, Grayza. They're baggage. You keep them safe, you keep them free and I'm yours. Whatever it takes." His eyes met Aeryn's and there was peace in his expression. He would die for heror worse.

"You're out of time, Crichton." Grayza pushed him away and motioned to Braca. He stepped forward. She nodded to the guards holding Aeryn and they wrenched her backwards, nearly knocking her off feet.

"The survival instinct is strong, isn't it, Crichton?" Grayza said. "It's gotten you this far. The child is called A'lya Lyczac," she continued. She approached John again and motioned to Braca to follow her. The guards pulled John forward towards Braca. Aeryn could see John's face, his expression threatening as he stared at Braca and then his face softened as he looked down at the baby.

"My God," John said as he shook his head in disbelief.. His eyes closed momentarily, his face flush with emotion and then he opened them again and looked at Aeryn. "II can see youand me" His voice trailed off.

"Officer Sun." Grayza turned to her, her body blocking any hope Aeryn had of seeing A'lya again. "This is the life you chose as a traitor. A mate. A child. You were born a Peacekeeper yet you think that you should be exempt from our rules and our ways. Now you must choose again. Show me how John Crichton means nothing to you." There was another nod to the Peacekeeper guards holding John and they dragged him forward and threw him to the floor.

"No," Aeryn said. She felt desperation clawing its way out. "No. Commandant Grayza. II admit to my crimes. John did what he did because of me. He should not be punished. Nor the child." Her voice was pleading but she didn't care. All pretense was gone.

"Aeryn!" John said. "Don't." He turned to Grayza. "Listen, one Peacekeeper traitor isn't going to make a helluva of a lot of difference to you people. I've got a science you need. Just let them go." He looked at Aeryn. "Just take the baby and go," he said.

"I will not leave you, John. She'll kill you. I won't leave you." Her chest felt heavy like a hand was pushing into it, squeezing her heart. She would not make that choice. Grayza would have to kill her.

"Some fates are worse than death, Officer Sun," Grayza said.

Aeryn heard a strangled, garbled sound, a word trying to find its way out of a constricted throat. Her voice.

"No, no, no." The words forced their way out of her mouth as she struggled against the hands that still held her down. She found her bearings and stomped down hard on the guard holding her on the right but he merely increased his grip.

"Grayza. I'm the one you want," John said. "Just let them go. You've got me. That was all you wanted."

Aeryn heard a whack and then John fell to the ground, unconscious. Grayza looked at her and waited.

Aeryn saw a life flash before her—her own—what was and what could be. Emotions and memories tumbled towards her. John Crichton had saved her life so many times, had loved her, had held her in her moments of grief, had been patient with her when she had refused him. And she had stood by him even when the pain of standing next to him was so great that it almost left her breathless.

"No," she said. She felt the guard on her right relax and she concentrated her strength enough to twist away. She fell behind him and reached for the strap of his rifle, enough to topple him to the ground on top of her like a shield. She pulled the strap against his throat and fired at the other guard who shot at her through his fallen partner. The shot couldn't penetrate through his entire body but now the guard was dead weight on her. She had only winged the other guard and she couldn't see much past the man on top of her. John—where was he?

"John, get up!" she said. She tried to slide out from underneath the body but then two pairs of hands grabbed her roughly to her feet. She spun around and a rifle butt connected with her stomach, doubling her over and then a boot as she fell to the ground and another boot. She couldn't see John. She tried to scramble to her feet, looking for him, for both of them but she saw nothing as a boot connected with her head.

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The child stares up at her with blue eyes, bright like its father's. Aeryn can see the outline of her own features in their daughter's face, in the thick black hair that covers the tiny head. But the eyesthe eyes are John Crichton's. Her little body is soft, lightweight, as Aeryn cradles her. She has never had this sensation, the overwhelming joy of caring for something so beautiful and fragile. She has yet to name the child, truly. The Peacekeeper name, A'lya, will have to do for now. A'lya Crichton Sun.

She feels John over her shoulder, feels his smile without seeing it. His voice murmurs softly near her ear.

"Hey, baby," he says.

Words she's heard before, in a different context and a different tone, so much more tender now. The words are full of wonder, a wonder that he has found again after three cycles away from his home world. From Earth. It's called Earth, she reminds herself. In her mind, she sees John, the two of them together in the act of creating the being that she holds now and she cannot differentiate between that man and the one who stands behind her, his arm around her waist. It fits as though it's always been part of her.

"It's a miracle, Aeryn," his voice whispers as he bends to kiss her. She turns her head just enough so that their lips meet, briefly, and then his attention is back on the child as he gently traces A'lya's face with one finger. "It's just like I said before. We'll find a place and settle now. Not Earth. Not some outpost. A place that we can call our own."

The favored planet, she thinks, for no apparent reason, a place she thinks she's seen once. She can't remember when. They will raise their children, grow old there. She nods. "Yes, you were right, John. I'm glad you were right," she says as she pulls A'lya closer.

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Aeryn awoke with a start, her knees bent up against her chest, holding herself tightly in. Her eyes were dry and she was barely able to blink them open. The hard metal of the transport pressed against her back. She molded herself into the wall in an effort to mask the throbbing pain where a Peacekeeper boot had connected with her body. They'd thrown her down and beaten her, dropping her at the entrance of a transport, barely able to crawl inside before the door shut behind her and shot her out of the carrier into space.

Every fiber of her body ached, inside, and she felt sick, like vomiting, as if in doing so she'd expel every experience that had led her to this place, beaten and thrown away. The transport lights came on and she squinted against them, feeling one eye swell shut as she surveyed the area.

She fell over on her side, knees still pressed against her chest, her breath coming in and out raggedly but she didn't make a sound. She wouldn't dare. John and the child—A'lya—were not with her. She couldn't recall what choice she'd made. Had she made one? She only remembered weakness. Had she begged, had she fallen? She had fought, she knew that, but not hard enough and somewhere in the clamor, John and the child had disappeared from her sight.

She lay there, until she heard a voice, deep and familiar, booming over her comm. The comm, tucked away inside her vestshe'd forgotten about it.

"Aeryn? Crichton?" D'Argo's voice was panicked.

"D'Argo." Her voice was scratchy, barely more than a whisper.

"Aeryn. We've been searching for you. We are almost out of supplies. Why haven't you answered? Where have you been?"

"I lost him, D'Argo," she said. "I lost them." She had failed them, had led John to his death and had gained nothing. Her life wasn't worth the exchange that had been made. Her sobs filled the empty transport, echoing back at her as she broke down.

"Aeryn." His voice was filled with compassion. "Aeryn, just leave your comm on. I'll get a fix on it and we'll retrieve you. We're coming. Just hold tight, Aeryn. Aeryn?"

She rolled over on her back, the old bruises still feeling fresh on her body. Her bloodied fingers worked at the comm until she pried it loose from her vest and she set it on the floor. She could still hear D'Argo's voice in the distance as she closed her eyes and waited.

END