Part 3 of 3
"You are out of time."
"Yeah, yeah, I heard ya the first time. So, how far off are we exactly?"
"Impossible to determine. Your time signature indicates you have traveled backwards in time."
John sighed. "I don't get it. I remembered the exact space-time signature of our last departure, added a few arns to be on the safe side and focused on that signature the whole way through. We should be right back on Moya, approximately four arns after we departed."
Einstein looked slightly worried. "Your last departure, it was not through a natural wormhole?"
"No..." Suspicion clawed its way into John's conscious thoughts. "You used the same space-time signature in both cases. The one you used to get into Scorpy's head and then the same one when you sucked us right out of Moya's Command."
"Special signature used by my people. Unique."
John nodded, rubbing his thumb over his lower lip. "Doesn't compute. I only detected one single space-time signature, not two identical ones. Should've made it through the last one you used, because that would've overridden the first one, effectively removing the first signature from existence, right?"
"Time."
John sighed. "No, no, no! We've gone through this before, I'm not gonna play these games again." Einstein didn't seem to budge. "Time is nothing, yet all. If you don't account for time during travel, you can screw the pooch." In some part of his brain alarm bells were ringing, telling him he overlooked something.
"Tell me about traveling backwards in time."
"Look around closely. The first thing to go ape needs to be fixed... Aw, frell!" That's what the alarm bells wanted to tell him. So, what could have gone wrong here, in Scorpy's head? "Wait a minute. Neither Sputnik nor I have ever been in this place. We couldn't have screwed the pooch this time!"
"Inaccurate."
"Because it is so close to Sputnik?" Noticing that Einstein didn't respond at all, John assumed he was right and turned to Sikozu. "Alright, Sputnik, you should look carefully for anything that might be deviating from your past. To be sure, I'll be looking for differences as well."
Sikozu looked around before turning back to John. "I have never been in Scorpius' head."
John shook his head. "No, but we should pay close attention to whatever is happening outside. I'm guessing the both of you are still in the middle of sleep cycle, but soon enough you're gonna wake up. That's when you need to keep an eye out for differences."
Sikozu nodded, but looked a bit uncomfortable.
"Scorpius?"
Both Sikozu and John were startled when they heard Sikozu's voice coming in from the outside of Scorpius.
"Are you awake?"
Immediately following that, the duo received visual input as well, in the form of Sikozu's face looking directly at, seemingly, them. John turned his head to Sikozu when he noticed the expression on outside-Sikozu's face. "Should I look away for a while?"
Unexpectedly, that drew a smile from Sikozu. "Am I that unattractive to you?"
John chuckled. "Well, I see you more as the nerdy little sister, but you're not unattractive. I'm more afraid Scorpy's is gonna look at himself at some point, and I'm certainly not interested in hearing him during... you know... whatever you two are gonna do."
Scorpius chose this moment to respond to the Sikozu outside. "Yes, my dear. I have been awake for a little while now."
Outside-Sikozu straddled the Scarran half-breed. "Than perhaps we should do something to amuse ourselves."
John sighed, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. "I really should stop listening and looking now, shouldn't I?"
Sikozu looked at him, still smiling. "Might be a good idea. I let you know when we have finished our... task."
"And what did you have in mind?"
As Sikozu's face got closer, John pressed his hands to his ears and closed his eyes. He had no trouble with knowing the two were having sex, but he was in no way interested in observing it.
Sikozu did look. She wanted to learn how Scorpius viewed her, under whatever circumstances. Especially the odd energy waves that only Scorpius was able to see. She tried to remember closely what she had felt at the various moments and see if she could see the changes in the energy signature surrounding her.
John, still sitting with his hands over his ears and his eyes closed, let his mind go over the situation. There was a little problem to this whole situation. Once they'd found out what needed to be fixed and actually fixed it, they needed to get out as quickly as possible. But where to? The time signature he had was apparently not usable, since it seemed to end up here. For that matter, Einstein hadn't really been very forthcoming with an explanation. Well, that was nothing new, of course.
John let his mind wander over the new knowledge he possessed, trying to find some additional clues. Einstein had told him, the first time, that he had the right knowledge to get them out safely. That meant the way back was stored somewhere in his brain; he only had to find it.
Sikozu watched in utter fascination at the image of herself as seen through Scorpius' eyes. She had never realized what intriguing patterns her energy waves were making when in an aroused state. It certainly explained why Scorpius was always looking at her during such encounters.
With satisfaction, Sikozu realized that Scorpius himself was also thoroughly enjoying their current session, and she was pretty sure it wasn't solely because of the patterns. There were other pleasing things, more physical. He seemed to enjoy the feel of her pressed against him as she sucked in a breath in response to his slap on, and subsequent squeeze of, her eema.
Now lying down, as his arms had gotten tired by covering his ears in a sitting position, another thought struck John. How would they possibly affect anything in the outside world? Sure, they could see what was wrong, but how could they change anything? Einstein must have realized this already, yet he had once again kept his mouth shut and was not giving them any more information.
At least, so far, things seem to be completely going according to the past as Sikozu remembered. He was pretty sure she would have warned him if she had detected something wrong by now. Well, now that he thought about it, how long had the two of them been busy? He'd been sitting and later lying here with his eyes closed and ears covered for over two arns. From what he remembered, Sikozu and Scorpius had been with him in the Maintenance Bay the first time he went there, before he had said goodbye to Aer and Pip.
Sikozu waited until both of them were dressed before tapping Crichton on his shoulder.
John cracked one eye open just a little, making sure every one was safely dressed again and not touching each other. Satisfied that was indeed the case, he opened both eyes and put down his hands. He raised himself up into a sitting position again, turned to Sikozu and took in her contended expression. "I see you had a good time watching the home videos."
She just smiled. "So far everything seems as I remember."
"That's good." He watched the vision provided by Scorpius' eyes. He looked back at Sikozu worriedly. "There's not gonna be an encore today, right?"
She shook her head, without letting the smile fade. "No."
John turned back to the section that displayed whatever Scorpius saw. It appeared the two were ready to go to the Maintenance Bay, completely according to plan.
"Well, maybe when we get back."
Huh? Oh, the encore. He smiled but did not look at her. "Remind me to stay clear from your quarters when we get back."
"My dear Sikozu, something seems wrong."
John looked to Sikozu next to him. "Tell me this happened this morning."
She nodded. "Yes."
"What is it, Scorpius?"
"Scorpius had sensed something inside him."
"It seems my thought processes are... not entirely my own. It appears... someone or something has penetrated my core."
"I will volunteer to scan him but he... declines."
"Do you want me to link with your core and run a diagnosis?"
"What's up with your energy signature?" John turned to Sikozu who had a faint blush. "Never mind, don't wanna know, forget I even asked."
"This might be a wise precaution."
"Houston, we have a problem." John almost laughed at the irony. Back on Earth he had frequently pointed out to people using this quote that the actual words on the Apollo 13 mission had been 'Houston, we've had a problem' and now he was the one to quote it wrong.
"Under normal circumstances. However, it seems my thought processes are frequently interrupted with thoughts about you. I do not believe I am willing to have this... penetration removed."
They observed as Scorpius closed the distance between him and Sikozu, until he could grasp her.
"Ah, frell." John turned to Sikozu again. "Couldn't you've waited till this had happened before you signaled me?"
Sikozu shrugged. "It seems harmless to me."
They heard the outside-Sikozu gasp. "So it seems my precautions have worked. You will not look at other females without thinking of me."
"My dear Sikozu, you need not have worried about that. You know where my... loyalties lay."
The two were now on the verge of smooching again and John momentarily thought about closing his eyes and covering his ears again until outside-Sikozu responded.
"We should go to the Maintenance Bay. I want to find an alternative power source."
As the two walked towards the Maintenance Bay, John made a discovery. "I never realized Scorpy could see Moya's energy waves as well. Of course it makes sense. He can detect the energy signature of living species and Moya is of course alive as well. Just never occurred to me."
"Crichton?" Sikozu waited until John focused on her. "What are we to do when we do actually find out what deviation has occurred? We are not in a position to affect any changes to the outside."
John sighed. "Yeah, I've been wondering that, too. Doesn't seem to make any sense, does it?" John rubbed his thumb across his lower lip again. "Ya know, Einstein never really gave any indication I was right, did he? I mean, I assumed we were in trouble because we were close to the you out there, but he never responded to that assumption at all."
"But what else could have gone wrong? If neither of us has ever been here, we can not possibly have altered anything in here."
John nodded. "Exactly my conclusion as well. Still, I think our best bet is to keep watching this reality show, brought to us in SurroundSound and ScorpyVision." He turned his gaze to the, well, screen he supposed. "How long were you in the Maintenance Bay before I joined you?"
"About half an arn." Sikozu was again feeling uncomfortable. Crichton was about to witness a discussion between Scorpius and herself that she had not intended to bring forth to the Moya crew at all.
John watched in silence as the two worked in the Maintenance Bay. Or rather, Sikozu rummaging around and Scorpy just observing her, sometimes giving suggestions.
"Sikozu, when are you going to inform the crew about your situation?"
Outside-Sikozu sighed. "I am not certain I should inform them. They may not even be able to help and I should not bring them more trouble than they already have to deal with frequently."
Scorpius walked towards her and held her. "I believe you are underestimating their capabilities, as have I... as has Scorpius in the past. Furthermore, you have helped them greatly and I am sure they would be willing to help you in any way they could."
John looked to the Sikozu next to him. "He's right, you know. You've helped us a lot and I'm sure we can help you in some way."
The Sikozu next to him didn't respond, but the outside-Sikozu did. "I do not wish for them to feel obliged to help with a situation that could very well result in their deaths. We are talking about Scarrans and the oppression of my people by them. This crew is not able to deal with Scarrans and come out alive. They are too few."
"Yet, you seem to think you will be able to so, alone."
"No, I am here to locate any means that would allow the Kalish to overtake the Scarrans. That is why I was so interested in finding Scorpius. His hatred towards his Scarran heritage was a common goal. The Resistance was aware of your... his constant search for the ultimate weapon that would destroy the Scarrans. I was sent to help in any way possible."
"Sikozu, wormholes are not the answer. I agree that the Scarrans must be overpowered, but other means will have to be found. John may be able to help us get into Scarran space with a wormhole, to surprise them. The crew of Moya is very resourceful. If we can achieve even a small-scale attack that would free some Kalish, they could help us find alternatives to overpower the Scarrans."
"And what about the Kalish that remain behind? The Scarrans will punish them."
"The Scarrans will believe the crew accidentally freed the Kalish during their escape from Scarran captivity and will not harm the remaining Kalish. Of course, the crew may come up with a better plan. As I said, they are very resourceful. But you will have to ask them yourself."
John turned to the Sikozu sitting next to him. "We are so gonna talk about this when we get back. I hate to say it, but Scorpy's right; we may be able to help you out here. Not so sure 'bout the wormholes in this story but other options maybe available to us."
Sikozu quietly observed the things she and Scorpius had done this morning. Her mind was going over the things both Scorpius and Crichton had said. She was well aware wormholes were too dangerous and possibly even too unpredictable to be used successfully. What other options would be available?
How could Crichton say they'd be able to help her? From what she had understood, they had run into a handful of Scarrans before, so they must realize the difficulties in dealing with Scarrans. But staying on the Leviathan while they hid from both Peacekeepers as well as Scarrans would not be helping her cause, either. Maybe she should leave, perhaps with Scorpius, and try to find a way to deal with the Scarrans.
She barely suppressed a sigh. These past arns watching the events from this morning was starting to get boring. Nothing seemed to be deviating at all. She glanced over to where Crichton was sitting, also looking bored, as well as in deep thought. As she turned back to the viewer she realized they had come to the moment Scorpius had left to rest so she could assist Crichton.
"Frell."
Sikozu looked back to Crichton after hearing his muttered curse.
"Einstein! You get you're butt over here, now!"
Sikozu stood up and walked to him as he also got up. "Crichton, what is it? Is there something wrong?"
"Yeah, somethin's wrong alright. It's not out there, though." He pointed to the viewer. "It's right in here, inside Scorpy's nugget." He waved his arms about to indicate their current surroundings. "Or, more precisely, wherever Einstein is right now." He looked around and started shouting again. "Yo! Einstein! You lied!"
Unerringly John sensed Einstein's appearance behind them, standing in front of the screen. "There's no deviation now, is there? 'Inaccurate' my ass! Neither of us has been here, we didn't cause a deviation."
Sikozu looked from the strange man to the human and finally kept her focus on Crichton. "Crichton, why would he do that? He has no reason to keep us here."
"Yeah, he does. He's gonna leave Scorpy soon so he can prepare to haul our asses down his home-made wormhole. When he leaves, he drags us with him and that's when our trouble starts."
"What trouble?"
"He's gonna use the same space-time signature on the wormhole that's gonna drag us to the Titanic scene. Since we are already part of that signature, he's effectively exposing us to the area we last departed from, but before we were actually sucked in."
Einstein smiled faintly, seemingly content with the explanation given by Crichton. Sikozu still had a question though. "But when we ended up here, we also used that space-time signature. Shouldn't we have caused a problem then?"
"No, 'cause I used a time coordinate four arns after the wormhole had been created. The fact that the two were created at different actual time coordinates didn't matter, only the relative time between creations." In his head, John started some calculations.
Sikozu contemplated the explanation Crichton had given. It seemed plausible but it did make her wonder how they were going to get back to Moya.
"Alright, we were here for at least seven arns. So we have to leave here, find the correct space-time signature of the wormhole inside Moya, which includes checking the actual time coordinate of the exit, add twelve, maybe thirteen arns to be on the safe side and we're back on Moya." He turned to Einstein. "Whadda ya say? I figured things out right?"
Einstein gave a faint nod. "You have outlined the correct path. I will depart in five hundred microts."
John nodded and turned back to Sikozu. "Well, Sputnik, we're gonna go travelin' again. Stick close to me."
Sikozu nodded and moved closer to him so she could grab him when he would tell her the wormhole would open up.
John looked back at Einstein again. "Isn't there a problem when you meet me at the ice floe?"
Einstein barely shook his head. "You have not met me. I have been sent to catalog wormhole knowledge. As I travel back, another will be responsible to affect your death. I have not communicated this encounter. The elasticity of time..."
"...allows for unrealized realities to remain so. If events are matched closely enough to course, yadda, yadda, yadda. I've heard the speech before, no need to repeat it." John closed his eyes momentarily, focusing on the distinct signal that indicated the impending opening of the wormhole, then opened them again. "Scorpy doesn't know, does he? About us?"
"He will know of my presence once I have left him and he awakes again. He does not know about you."
John grabbed Sikozu's hand. "Wormhole in ten microts." He closed his eyes again, focusing on his sense for space-time signatures, slowly moving in the direction the wormhole would open up. A microt before the wormhole opened up he sucked in a breath and held it. Two microts later they were traveling through the wormhole tunnels.
This time he checked the space-time signature longer also letting his senses pick up the time coordinate outside the wormhole. Nope, that's the one inside Scorpy again. Continuing to whiz through the tunnels, he sensed the same space-time signature again, this time with the right time coordinate on the outside.
John looked around. At least they were back on Moya with D'Argo and Scorpy looking right back. "Hey, D. How long were we gone?"
"Almost thirteen arns." D'Argo moved to his human friend to help him get up. "What happened since our last communication? That has been eleven arns ago and you said you were attempting to get back."
"We hit a snag, ended up in the wrong part of town. Not important." John turned around. "Sikozu, you alright?"
Sikozu was being held by Scorpius, who had picked her up from the floor. "Yes, Crichton, I am fine." Her gaze never left Scorpius' face.
John turned back. "Pilot, get us to a safe spot, away from the wormholes, please."
"Very well, Commander. Moya wishes to thank you. Your new sensor seems to be working admirably."
"John?" D'Argo looked from the entrance of the Terrace to where his human friend was sitting. "You seemed distracted earlier." This had confused D'Argo a bit, since John had seemed fine the last three days, even though he was worried about Aeryn and Chiana. His current condition didn't seem to be related to the two women though.
John turned around to look at his friend, beckoning him to come closer. "Yeah, I've been thinkin' about this whole thing about wormholes, Ancients and Einstein. This stuff in my head... man, talk about bad news. Nobody should have this knowledge, it's so frelling dangerous. You could literally wipe out all existence, just because you made a tiny little mistake."
D'Argo moved closer and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder.
"And I'm not sure if it's worth it for me to keep on goin'. I mean, if the Scarrans or the Peacekeepers catch me, the whole universe could disappear because of what's inside here." He pointed at his head.
D'Argo sighed, not knowing how to help his friend. He didn't understand all of what his friend had told them, even Scorpius and Sikozu seemed to have trouble understanding it all, but he was fully aware of the fact it was extremely dangerous.
"But then there's..." No, the baby is for Aeryn and him to tell together. "I don't wanna sacrifice myself, not so soon. My understanding, my knowledge of this stuff is still growing. Maybe I'll find a way to safeguard the knowledge or myself, heck, all of us, from inquiring minds."
D'Argo hunched down. "Perhaps you should not worry about that so much now. The Peacekeepers and Scarrans will not come to this place, so your chances of being captured have decreased considerably."
John sighed and looked to his friend, a small smile forming. "Yeah, you're probably right." He turned back to the view of the stars, though he hadn't looked at them at all since he had arrived here. "So, any sign of the girls returning?"
"No, Pilot continues to scan but our current location prevents Moya's sensors from reaching beyond the border of Tormented Space, perhaps just a metra further. Pilot is confident, though, that he will detect them in time to inform them of the changed map."
John nodded. "Any idea where Sikozu is?"
"I saw her in the Maintenance Bay before I came here."
John stood up. "Thanks, I need to talk to her about something. I'll come to Command after that, okay?"
"Sure, John." D'Argo turned towards the entrance. "I will go there now. I will see you later."
John followed D'Argo out of the Terrace. "Hey, D." He waited until his friend turned back to him. "Thanks for the talk, man. I really appreciate it."
D'Argo, not knowing how to respond to that, nodded once and turned around to head for Command.
John watched him go for a few paces before he, too, turned around to head for the Maintenance Bay.
Sikozu was sitting on the workbench, toying with some component. Both Scorpius and Crichton had told her basically the same: the crew of Moya might be able to help her in her mission to release her people from Scarran oppression. It actually made her feel good, knowing that at least the human would be willing to aid her, but what about the others? Sikozu doubted they would be so willing to help her.
The Nebari girl was often hostile towards her, making it clear she didn't like her at all. Aeryn didn't appear to have much confidence in her either, though she did defend her when Crichton wasn't sure the device to expel the neural clone was actually safe. None of the others seemed to like her any better.
Sikozu realized it was her own fault. From the beginning she had presumed herself to be their superior, often criticizing them. Only the last weeken or so had made her realize this crew was her superior in many ways. She may become part of this crew, find her place where she could be most useful and one day they may find a way to deal with the Scarran oppression. One day, but not now. Not soon, either.
"Hey, Sikozu." John walked further into the Maintenance Bay after observing her for a short while near the door. "You've come to a decision yet? About asking the crew?"
She looked in his direction, putting down the component in the process. "Yes, I have. I have decided it is better for all of us if we do not discuss this matter for now. I believe it is in my best interests to remain here, on Moya. I will try not to alienate the crew further, perhaps find something that will help me in my mission and only then will I ask the crew for support, should it become necessary."
John leaned against the workbench Sikozu was still sitting on. "You sure 'bout this? Like I said, I'm sure the crew will help you in anyway possible and..."
"Help with what, Crichton? We do not have a plan, we have no weapon that may give us an advantage over any Scarran forces, but most of all we have not enough people to be effective."
John sighed. "We can always come up with a plan."
Sikozu snorted. "Though your plans do seem to work... eventually... I think I will pass on the offer for now."
John chuckled. "Yeah, my plans really do suck sometimes, don't they?"
Sikozu smiled at him. "Sometimes? I have not seen evidence of any plan that was effective without any changes at the last microt."
John chuckled again. "Alright, I admit it, my plans suck all the time." He paused, still looking at the bench before finally looking up at her. "You talked with Scorpy 'bout this? He's aware of our trip into his head?"
Sikozu nodded. "Yes. He was aware of... Einstein? But he did not know we were also present. It appears this Einstein had communicated with Scorpius to obtain information about you and wormholes."
"Well, that's a good thing, I suppose. At least we haven't influenced the timeline, far as I can tell." John looked behind him when he sensed someone else nearing them. He was still barely able to suppress a shudder whenever he saw Scorpius walking in his direction. "Hey, Scorp." He glanced back to Sikozu. "I better get back to Command. Maybe the girls'll return soon." He turned around to head for the exit.
"Crichton." Sikozu waited until he looked back at her. "Thank you for your concern and offer."
He smiled at her. "Anytime, Sputnik." He turned back and walked out of the Maintenance Bay.
John and D'Argo were waiting impatiently for the inner door to cycle open, allowing them to meet their lovers who were at this very moment setting down in the Docking Bay at the other side of the closed door. Finally they were allowed in, still hearing the engines on one of the ships before that sound died off as well.
The fact they were now actually in the Docking Bay was not a real improvement, since they still had to wait for the two women to shutdown the ships properly before they'd emerge.
Chiana emerged first, apparently impatient as well, because she jumped to the floor before the boarding ramp on the Marauder had completely descended.
John smiled as he saw her run to D'Argo and jump straight into his arms, remembering a similar welcome she had given him when he had gotten off that rock after he blew up Scorpy's Gammak Base. He quickly pulled himself back to the here-and-now and strode over to the brand-spankin'-new looking Prowler as Aeryn was about to climb out.
John waited until she had jumped down and turned around. He was about to greet her but instead she decided to kiss him senseless. It was working pretty well, too. As they released each other he could finally greet her properly. "Hey, babe, missed ya." Aeryn's response was preceded by yet another kiss.
"I missed you, too, John."
D'Argo was also thoroughly enjoying the welcome he received from Chiana, until she stopped and looked at him.
"Told ya I'd come back."
D'Argo nodded. "I am glad you did." He didn't know what else to say. He had many questions, but these could come later. Right now he only wanted to take her in his arms and carry her back to his quarters. They had a lot of catching up to do.
John was in a similar situation as D'Argo, but there was one question he wanted to ask right now. He peered again past Aeryn, making sure it was indeed a new Prowler. "So, traded in your Prowler, huh?"
Aeryn nodded and shrugged. "I wasn't given much of a choice. The Peacekeepers took mine and left this one behind."
John was so not happy with that minimalist explanation. He was aware that the chances of them finding any Peacekeeper vessels in flying condition without any actual Peacekeepers around were slim to none, but this proved they had actually come in contact with Peacekeepers. "Peacekeepers?" he prompted.
Chiana giggled. "Where did you expect we'd get a new Prowler and a Marauder from?"
"I don't know, maybe the Peacekeepers had left it behind after the unit was killed or something?"
Aeryn shook her head. "John, you know Peacekeepers would never leave any equipment behind. If a unit doesn't survive a mission, another pilot is sent to retrieve the ships."
Both John and D'Argo heard something that sounded like the boarding ramp of a ship descending, followed by a hatch opening. They both readied their weapons and pointed it in the direction of the now-opened hatch of a previously invisible ship. Much to their surprise, they saw a very familiar red-haired woman getting out, supporting an apparently injured man.
D'Argo immediately realized where Chiana had gone to, and more importantly, why.
Jool apparently noticed they were pointing their guns at her. She smiled and rolled her eyes. "You two never change, do you?" She walked further down helping Hirsch maintain his balance. "I'd love to talk to you, but first I will need to take care of Hirsch."
John holstered his pulse pistol. "Hi, Jool. Sorry 'bout the gun pointin'. I'm workin' on it. Need any help?"
Jool nodded. "I could use help with getting Hirsch to the Medical Bay."
D'Argo looked at Chiana. "You went to Arnessk? You had to take care of a problem on Arnessk?"
Chiana glanced at Aeryn briefly before turning back to D'Argo. "Yeah, I did. I took care of a problem that happened to be at Arnessk right now."
D'Argo just had to ask, had to make certain. "Your problem or someone else's problem?"
Chiana took exception to his question. "I took care of my friend's problem. You remember what a friend is, D'Argo?"
John curiously looked at his two friends and back to Aeryn. He'd noticed Pip had glanced at Aeryn briefly before she had answered D'Argo's earlier question and John had a feeling that if he wanted to get to the bottom of this, she was the woman to talk to. Aeryn looked back at him calmly.
"John, I think you better go with Jool without me. I will stay here."
John looked questioningly at D'Argo and Chiana and then back to her. He wasn't sure he wanted to leave Aeryn, or Pip for that matter, alone with an obviously unhappy Luxan. Then again, maybe he should be worried about leaving an unhappy Luxan with two angry women, especially if one was a former Peacekeeper.
"Please, John. I will explain later."
Despite his doubts, he decided to trust her and follow Jool. Maybe he could get her to answer some of his questions.
"You're kiddin', right?" John was barely able to believe what Jool told him.
Jool shook her head. "No, you, or rather the bioloid you, had found ancient human markings on the artifact. Further investigation revealed a link between our two races. And then later, after you had all left, we found evidence that implies Sebaceans are also linked."
Even though Jool had not said anything about why Aeryn and Chiana had gone to Arnessk or why D was so upset about it, he found this incredibly fascinating to hear. He needed some time to think about this all. John watched as Jool expertly treated the wounds on the male Interion who apparently went by the name of Hirsch, though John refused to believe that was his whole name.
He remembered Jool's real name was much longer and he suspected she had just picked up on this whole name-shortening thing while on Moya. Damn, they did not give him enough information! What's wrong with these people? He sighed and pushed this information at the back of his mind. "So, why did Aer and Pip go to Arnessk?"
Jool looked up at him for a brief moment. "I asked Chiana to come help take care of... a problem, and she brought Aeryn with her."
They were all avoiding the issue here. They all knew what it was about, except for him. "Jool, what problem? It's got something to do with me, doesn't it? I mean, you all seem to know about it, even D. Why's no one telling me?"
Jool sighed and looked up again. "Look, Crichton, I know you want answers, but I am not the one to give them to you. You need to ask Aeryn about that."
"He should."
John turned around at the sudden sound of Aeryn's voice. She looked unharmed so he grinned at her. "You're not letting Chiana carry D alone to the med-bay, are you?"
Aeryn snorted. "I didn't touch him."
John noticed the looks the two women exchanged and sighed again. "Could you just quit looking at each other? It's just an annoying reminder of the fact you know somethin' I don't. Somethin' I wanna know about."
Aeryn nodded. "Fine. We should go to our quarters and I will explain things to you."
"Alright, let's go to our quarters, then." He wrapped his arm around her midsection as they moved out of the Medical Bay.
Jool watched them leave with a fond smile on her face.
Upon arriving at their quarters, they had decided to lie on the bed. After some moving around to find a position that was comfortable for them both and still allowing them to look at each other they just lay still for a while, caressing each other and even kissing. After a while John decided to coax her into talking. "So, Arnessk?"
Aeryn sighed a little but then looked him in the eyes. "When the crew went there to meet up with Jool and D'Argo, the Peacekeepers arrived a little while later. Commandant Grayza was in command and seemingly had taken Scorpius' power away."
John thought a bit. "Grayza, that's Commandant Cleavage, right? The one I stupidly pointed a gun at?"
Aeryn nodded. "Mmm-hmm. This time she wanted to obtain the wormhole knowledge herself, probably to obtain more power for herself. She used Heppel Oil to interrogate you."
"Heppel Oil?"
"A substance which many believe to be a myth, but obviously it isn't. Heppel Oil affects your mind, increasing lust to such a level that you will do anything to have sex with the subject that applied it."
"So, Grayza had sex with a robot?"
Aeryn thought about that a little before a smile formed. "Hmm, I never thought about it like that."
"Well, you should've. I take it you and Pip went to Arnessk because Grayza showed up there and Jool informed you?"
Aeryn nodded. "John, the fact that it was the bioloid would not have changed our decision to go back and... deal with this thing. It could have been you."
"Did you kill her?" Hoping she hadn't. Despite what Grayza had done, it would not have been a good-enough reason to kill her, in his opinion.
"No." Aeryn shook her head. "We took out her Heppel Oil gland, effectively taking away her main source of power and, more importantly, robbing her from many chances for recreation."
John saw there was more. She was keeping something from him, something she thought he wasn't going to agree with. "You did something else, too, didn't you? Please, Aeryn, tell me. I need to know."
Aeryn sighed, and cast her eyes away from his gaze. "We chased her into a cave with a number of Grizan males."
John needed more information, though a picture was starting to form in his mind. "And?"
"Grizans have an immense amount of libido and the males will take any female they can find. Grazya was the first one they'd met in several cycles. They... used her."
John could hear the satisfaction in her voice, making him understand she still stood by their actions on Arnessk. He sighed. "And why were you not happy with D'Argo's questions? For that matter, why was D not happy you had dealt with this?"
"Apparently, you had escaped Grayza at some point, but to get you all away from the Peacekeepers, D'Argo decided they would need a diversion. One part of it was to send you back to Grayza."
"What?" John couldn't believe it. "He didn't even consider another option?"
Aeryn shook her head. "No, though he claims there was no other option. But that was not the real reason for his anger. Apparently he had promised the bioloid he would take care of Grayza himself and could now no longer keep that promise."
John understood that. His friend had a huge sense of honor and if a promise could not be fulfilled the big guy would see that as dishonoring his friend. He sighed; there wasn't anything he could do to change what had happened and he certainly didn't want to think about Grayza's fate at this point. Aeryn looked intently at him and he could see the question that was trying to get asked.
"How did you find out the map was inaccurate?"
There it was. John sighed again. "Remember the orb that came rolling out of the neural cleanser room? When I showed you the house later that night, I found the orb and touched it. It unlocked the knowledge in my head and I could suddenly sense wormholes."
"So, we could go visit Earth for real now?"
"Yeah." He sighed. "Nah. It's possible for me to go there, but I'm not gonna. Way too dangerous." He could see she didn't understand it. "Let me tell you what happened here while you were dealing with Commandant Cleavage. It started when..."