Disclaimer: I make no claim to ownership of anything related to Farscape. The show, its characters and all related material are owned by Henson, SciFi and various other people, none of whom are me.
Rating: PG13 for Violence (including torture) & Farscape profanity
Setting: Starting on Earth and a planet in the UT, 2.5 years after Aeryn's inevitable resurrection.
Archiving: Please email me first.
Spoilers: Up to the end of season 2
Feedback: Please.
Acknowledgements: Thanks to Shipscat for being a one woman audience while this thing was being written haphazardly, in fits and starts.
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Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado
As they waited for Gen. Hammond to brief them on their upcoming mission, the members of SG-1 were each occupied with their own thoughts. Teal'c sat in contemplative silence. Dr. Daniel Jackson and Major Samantha Carter were, as usual, deeply absorbed in their respective bits of arcana. Col. Jack O'Neill was bored.
The General began the briefing in his usual direct and semi-formal style.
"SG-1 will be gating to P3X892 at 0900 hours. This is a first contact situation, and the standard protocols are to be followed. The inhabitants appear to have a rough technological parity with us and are willing to consider a treaty and possible exchange of technology. Dr. Jackson has been in contact with them over the past several days. Dr. Jackson.."
Jackson addressed his teammates. "The Sarini seem to have been isolated from the rest of the Stargate network for some time. Stories of the Goa'uld are almost apocryphal, and they viewed their gate as nothing more than an archeological curiosity. Needless to say, they were a little surprised when it suddenly came to life in a museum. I've had some fascinating conversations with some of the museum staff and a few government scientist. It seems that the Sarini are a matriarchal society along the lines of certain Native American...."
He was interrupted by O'Neill. "Daniel, could we just stick to the point."
"Sorry. As the General just said, the Sarini are at about our level of technology. However, their material sciences appear to be a little ahead of ours. They are at least willing to at least entertain the idea of sharing."
"And what exactly do they want in return?" asked O'Neill.
"Basically, they want help with some reactor design issues. Sam knows the details."
"Well, sir, I've seen the reactor schematics they sent through in the last transmission, and there are a number of improvements we can suggest. They also have some problems with fuel extraction. We could do some straight trading there. We might also consider sharing the portable Naquadah reactor design, assuming relations with the Sarini stabilize over time."
Gen. Hammond ended the discussion there. "Those details will be worked out in due course. Right now, we just want a friendly first contact. Are there any other question?"
"Seems straightforward enough, sir," said O'Neill.
"Very well then. Dismissed."
No sooner had Gen. Hammond ended the meeting than the familiar sound of klaxons rang through the SGC. As quickly made their way to the control room and saw a small gray figure standing before the Stargate. The being stood motionless, oblivious to the marines who had trained their M16's on him and to the two 50 caliber machine guns permanently installed on either side of the gate. SG-1 and Gen. Hammond entered the gate room and approached the silent figure.
Col. O'Neill was the first to speak. "Thor, buddy, long time no see. I don't suppose you decided to take me up on that fishing trip?"
"No O'Neill, that is not my purpose here."
"It's something bad, isn't it?" Turning to his teammates, he added, "It's always something bad."
The General spoke. "What can we do for you, Thor?"
"I require assistance from O'Neill and his team. This is a matter of concern not only for us but for you as well."
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Somewhere in the Uncharted Territories.
"I still can't believe this frelling enormous stone wheel is a means of transport?"
"That's what our hosts seem to think, Aeryn, and I'm inclined to agree with them. Every time they feed some power to this thing, they seem to get some really weird quantum phenomena. You've seen the readouts. You can't deny that they look an awful lot like what Pilot recorded when I first got out here."
"So this thing might be your way home." She said this quietly but Crichton heard the apprehension in her voice. Aeryn no longer made any attempt to put up the Peacekeeper faOade when they were alone, but she hoped that her insecurities weren't too obvious. John wrapped his arms around Aeryn and pulled her close. She leaned into him without resistance.
"Aeryn, this may not be anything. Even if we get it working, I'm certainly not about to step through into who knows what. I'm just hoping to get some information. Maybe I can use something I learn here to figure out how to make a wormhole back to Earth. And Aeryn, whatever happens, you know I'm not going anywhere alone. Right?"
He waited for her to response, and was rewarded after a few moments with a barely perceptible nod of the head. Crichton knew that on some basic level, Aeryn still didn't believe that he could give up a chance to go home just for her. He had said it often enough, and she said she believed him, but he knew that some part of her refused to accept that she was worth the sacrifice. He just didn't know how to convince her.
They had arrived on this planet a weeken earlier, had managed a few useful trades, and had tried in vain to find some map fibers to their respective homeworlds. It was just another stop in their ongoing journey. That is until Crichton stumbled onto a conversation with a local scientist a few arns before their intended departure.
He learned that a strange artefact had recently been discovered at an archeological dig. It resembled a device mentioned in local legends, a portal that allowed instantaneous travel across the stars. Crichton was immediately interested and managed after a while to convince his new friend to give him access to the object.
For once, they were relatively safe and he felt comfortable enough to indulge his natural curiosity. The Peacekeepers, the Scarrens and the Nebari were not an immediate problem. This planet was part of a small alliance of a few dozen worlds which guarded its autonomy fiercely. The region of space was of no strategic value to any of the larger powers, and the alliance was just well enough armed to make conquest more of a nuisance than it was worth. Crichton had called them the Balkans of the Uncharted Territories, earning the usual looks from his shipmates. Aeryn had asked about it later, as she often did nowadays whenever the subject of Earth came up. Crichton hadn't failed to notice and was thrilled that she might at least be thinking of Earth as part of her future.
Moya needed some simple repairs to her amnexus system, and Pilot had informed them that the necessary resources were available on another planet within the alliance about two weekens distant by conventional Hetch drive travel. It was decided that the delay would be worth the effort given the uncertainty associated with starburst.
On returning to Moya, Crichton insisted that he wasn't needed for this trip and that they could come back and pick him up in a few weekens. He expected and got an argument but eventually won the others over, as he usually did. More precisely, he won over everyone but Aeryn, who hadn't needed much winning over in the first place. As expected, she had insisted on staying with him.
Ever since their relationship had taken the inevitable step forward, Aeryn had learned to drop her guard with Crichton, but usually only in private. When the others were around, she was sometimes as reserved as when they had first met. He knew how much he loved her and was fairly certain that she loved him just as much, but even after two cycles together, there were still cultural gaps to overcome. Crichton accepted this. He would not jeopardize the most important relationship of his life by pushing her on matters that really didn't matter anyway. There had been problems after Aeryn's "death", and they had been separated for a time when Aeryn joined Crais on Talyn. Crichton tried not to dwell on that, and he knew that Aeryn was uncomfortable discussing it with him. She had said all that she needed to say just once upon her return, and there was a silent agreement between them that the incident was best left in the past.
As he stood holding Aeryn in the chamber with the alien device, his new friend, Celas, walked in on them. Aeryn pulled back a little, and Crichton let her go. Celas was a likeable fellow. He was young and had never been off world, and as Crichton realized within the first few minutes of their first conversation, he was a brilliant. Between the two of them, they rapidly came to a set of conclusions about the portal that neither would likely have made alone in so short a time.
"John, Aeryn, we're just about ready for the first test. Let's see if your idea about the icons representing a coordinate system amounts to anything."
"Have you picked an address from the list yet?", asked Crichton, referring to the inscriptions found near the portal.
"We're just going to start with the first and work our way down until something happens."
With that, they moved into the control chamber, powered up the portal and began moving the circular device. All eyes were on the device as the last symbol in the first address was entered.
Absolutely nothing happened.
"That was absolutely thrilling," Aeryn said with more than a hint of sarcasm.
This earned her a slight smile from Crichton and a collection of very annoyed looks from everyone else.
"What now?" Crichton asked Celas.
He took a moment to look at some instrument readings. "We need to power the device down for a few arns. The energy consumption was much higher than we had expected. When we're ready, we'll try the next address and keep going."
"Aeryn and I are going to get something to eat. See you in a couple of arns."
As they left the building, Aeryn hesitantly asked Crichton if he was disappointed.
"Not really. Unlike our young friend in there, I wasn't expecting much to happen. Besides, it takes a lot to disappoint me these days, now that I've got you." With that, he pulled her into a kiss.
--------------------
Thor had accompanied Gen. Hammond and SG-1 to the conference room.
"For the past several days, the Asgard have been detecting attempts to open a wormhole from a location well outside the active gate network. We have identified the planet of origin and our records indicate that there is a Stargate present on this world. However, the race that originally used the gate has long since died out."
O'Neill spoke up. "So what's the problem. Somebody inherited the gate, and they're trying to get it to work. That's what we did."
"The problem, O'Neill, is the region of space in which this gate is located. There are several hostile species in that area. None are as technologically advanced as the Goa'uld, but what they lack in sophistication, they make up for in organization and numbers, and unlike the Goa'uld, none of them are crippled by factionalism."
"You said that there was a threat to us? Lots of nasty folks have Stargates, what's so special about these."
"Approximately four years ago, we detected another wormhole with one terminal point in this general region of space. The other terminal point was Earth."
"We've had our Stargate under constant observations for much longer than that. There hasn't been any unaccounted gate activity."
"That may be so, O'Neill, but this wormhole was not between two Stargates. It was free standing."
"Wait, that's impossible," said Carter. "Even if you could open a wormhole without a Stargate, there would be no way to control the endpoint. It could end up anywhere."
"That is not quite true, Major Carter. However, neither you nor any of the inhabitants of the region under question should have the ability to create a controlled wormhole in this fashion. The power expenditure associated with directing such a wormhole is well beyond your means and theirs."
The General spoke next. "But the coincidence is too much to ignore. First an uncontrolled wormhole where there shouldn't be one, then gate activity where it shouldn't exist, and Earth is tied in somehow. What do you want from us, Thor?"
"As you know, our resources are stretched to the limit. We also lack practical experience in this sort of exploration. SG-1 does not. We would like you to travel to this Stargate and attempt to assess the situation."
"Sounds reasonable. You give us the address and off we go," said O'Neill.
"It is not quite that simple. As I said, the planet under question is well outside the active gate network. It is within your galaxy, but you must still enter more than seven gate symbols to activate the wormhole."
"The last time we did something like that, we needed more power than we can normally generate."
"That is the case now as well, Major Carter. As such, I will supply you with a device that will both power and dial your Stargate and enable your return. It is likely that no one on the other side will be able to generate the power to send you back to Earth. The device will only dial between Earth and the other gate and you will only be supplied with one. We wish to minimize the possibility of having this technology compromised. Please keep in mind that in all likelihood, it is your only way home."
With that he handed Carter a small, crystalline device.
"You're kidding. This thing generates more power than a Naquadah reactor? What does it use as a power source."
"It is something akin to what you call zero point energy. The details are beyond your ability to understand."
"Thanks a lot," said Carted under her breath.
A few hours later SG-1 was properly equipped and ready to depart. Carter touched the single mark on the device Thor had given them and pointed it at the Stargate as instructed. The normal dialing procedure was bypassed, and the wormhole just formed spontaneously. SG-1 stepped through.
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Crichton and Aeryn were back in the portal chamber. Celas was taking readings near the device when something quite unexpected happened. What looked like a geyser shot out of disk and enveloped Celas. The geyser receded and it looked as if a standing pool of water had formed inside the ring. Nothing remained of Celas.
Before anyone had a chance to react to that shock, four figures suddenly stepped through the portal. Two pulse pistols instantly went up, one slightly before the other. Almost as fast, a pair of identical weapons and a third resembling a staff were leveled.
"O.K. everyone, let's just stay calm. My name is Col. Jack O'Neill. We are here on a peaceful mission. We are not a threat to you."
Major Carter spoke next, and what she said came as a surprise to everyone including herself.
"John? John Crichton?"
Crichton looked at the woman who had just addressed him, and recognition dawned on him.
"Samantha!?"
All eyes were now on Crichton, whose face had taken on a look of utter disbelief mixed with a trace of hope.
If anyone had bothered to look at Aeryn before she had a chance to set the mask firmly in place, they would have seen confusion, fear and intense possessiveness.
--------------------
The two small parties remained staring at each other with weapons drawn, oblivious to the local scientists running for cover and to the alarm that one of them had had the presence of mind to sound.
O'Neill broke the silence. "Carter, care to introduce us to your friend."
"Sir, it looks like John Crichton," she said, the confusion evident in her voice.
"What, the astronaut who died in that accident? Don't mean to contradict you, Carter, but he looks pretty lively for a corpse."
"We were friends, sir. I know Crichton and that looks just like him."
Aeryn glanced at Crichton and was worried by the look of shock on his face. She spoke as much to snap him out of it as to assess the situation. "Crichton, what the frell is going on? Do you know these people?"
That brought him back to his senses, and he looked back at her. "I don't know, Aeryn. They look and sound like they're from Earth, and the woman looks like someone I knew, but I've been down that road before."
"You think this is some sort of deception?"
Ignoring Aeryn, Crichton addressed the familiar looking woman. "If you're Samantha Carter, what's your father's first name, and what does he do for a living? Who taught you QFT in grad. school?"
Carter composed her thoughts for a moment before answering.
"Jacob, he was an Air Force general the last time you saw him. We took Fell's class together. He screwed up the derivation of Dirac's equation and you called him on it. He made the rest of the semester a living hell for you. John, is that really you? How can you be out here? You were killed when the Farscape mission failed."
Crichton refused to give in to hope just yet. After having more people than he cared to count frell with his mind over the past four and a half years, he knew that a disappointment of this magnitude would be dangerous.
"I'll grant you this much. If you're a fake, you're a good one."
Aeryn now addressed the group facing them. "Look, I don't know who the frell you are, but if you don't mean us any harm, prove it. Lower your weapons."
The response was four sets of blank stares.
"Uh...pardon me. What did she just say?" Jackson asked Crichton.
"You heard her."
"Yes, I heard her, but I didn't understand her. It sounds vaguely Khoisan, but it's definitely not anything I've heard before. Teal'c?"
"I too am unfamiliar with this language, Daniel Jackson."
Now that he had fallen into a skeptical stance, Crichton wouldn't budge easily. "Nice touch. Very well done. Whoever prepared you did a fine job."
O'Neill was starting to become frustrated. "Look no one prepared us for anything. We're from Earth. I don't know if you're John Crichton or not, but we are not a threat to you. So why don't we just..."
Before he could complete the thought, several heavily armed local troops stormed the portal chamber from both entrances. They quickly took up position around Crichton, Aeryn and SG-1. The soldiers were followed by someone in uniform who was evidently in charge.
"You will all lower your weapons immediately and allow my men to disarm you, or I will order them to open fire."
"Daniel?"
"I don't know what he said, Jack, but I have a couple of guesses. I think it might be a good idea to put the guns away."
"I got that much myself. O.k. people, lower your weapons slowly. Let's cooperate with the nice men with the big guns."
Two of the soldiers advanced on SG-1 and took their weapons and equipment. Another approached Crichton and Aeryn. Crichton handed over his weapon without comment, but Aeryn looked ready for a fight.
"Aeryn, don't. It won't do us any good. Please." The note of pleading in his voice was clear to everyone who heard it.
Aeryn hesitated for a moment then flipped her weapon around and let the soldier take it.
The man in charge spoke again. "I am Captain Tor Preval of the Brinisi militia. You are all under arrest pending investigation of the death of Head Researcher Ceral Kais and for unspecified threats to the Alliance of Worlds."
With that, he lead the group of six out of the building at gunpoint. They were herded into a ground vehicle and taken to some sort of military base. After what seemed to be the usual sort of bureaucratic procedures common to all sentient species, they found themselves in a sterile, gray chamber with benches attached to the floor serving as the only furniture. The six immediately segregated themselves into two groups of two and four.
Crichton had become quiet and faced the wall at one corner of the cell, refusing to look at SG-1. Aeryn stood close by, placing herself between him and the others in a blatantly defensive posture. The remaining four found themselves gathered in the opposite corner. They had learned of Ceral's death from Crichton during their trip to the base, and were quietly coming to terms with their inadvertent part in it.
--------------------
Security specialists interviewed the scientists and technicians who had witnessed Ceral's death. No one paid much attention to one fairly innocuous and heartbroken junior tech named Sa'di. Beyond the fact that she had apparently been involved with Ceral, there was nothing to distinguish her. She said she had seen nothing and was quickly dismissed so that she might grieve in private. When it came to security, Brinisa prided itself on it's paranoia, but not even their well trained experts thought anything of the quiet tech.
Later that evening, after making sure that she was unobserved, the woman who called herself Sa'di made her way to a well-scouted clearing outside the city limits. Had anyone attempted to follow her, they would have been hard pressed to keep up with the circuitous route she took. No one had any reason to try anyway.
Following a quick reconnaissance of the area, she removed the heal from her shoe and a pin from her hair. She placed the pin in the detached heal and turned it. The device emitted a hissing noise and appeared to do little else. However, she was now secure from electronic or audio surveillance. The device would ignite and destroy itself in a few microts so she had to act fast. She took a small knife, made a clean incision in her left forearm and removed a small metal cylinder. The liner implanted in her arm, in which the cylinder had been placed, released an antibiotic agent which immediately sealed and cauterized the wound, leaving a scar as if from a simple burn.
The woman touched a button at the top of the cylinder and began to speak into it.
"Serina Calis, Disruptor, 12th Directorate, filing one time special report. Mark for immediate attention: Weapons Research Division. Begin report: The Brinisi have succeeded in activating the portal device and have apparently opened a wormhole. Further, fugitive John Crichton is directly involved. He and a group of off worlders who arrived via the wormhole are under Brinisi custody. Recommendation: The presence of this working device warrants a more aggressive attitude toward the Brinisi. I maintain my cover and await further instructions."
Calis touched a second button on the cylinder, and three small rods protruded from one end, forming a tripod. She placed the device on the ground, and walked away quickly. The cylinder shot straight up and began to accelerate. It was too small and too well shielded for detection by standard Brinisi scans. After escaping from the planet's gravity well, the device would align itself and point at a small relay satellite outside the Brinisi system. The short recorded message would be relayed to the satellite by laser link, and the cylinder would then explode, leaving no trace.
She headed back to the city and tried to decide how best to proceed. If she could get to him, she had at least one powerful weapon against Crichton, her feigned grief. He was exactly the sort to let sympathy blind him. Aeryn Sun was another matter, but Serina was confident that she could deal with the former Peacekeeper.
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Detention Center, Brinisi Military Base
John's initial shock had begun to wear off soon after their incarceration, and his skepticism had started to recede as he listened to their captors' questioning of SG-1. In his capacity as their interpreter, he was present throughout. Still, he was not ready to take the necessarily leap of faith and ignored any attempts by his fellow humans to engage him in private. After Carter tried unsuccessfully to talk to him a couple of times, Aeryn put an end to any further attempts at communication. SG-1 couldn't understand her, but there was no doubt about her intent when she planted herself firmly between Crichton and the others and allowed no one to approach him.
The two small groups remained separated for the rest of the night.
"John, do you really think this is all a trick?"
"I don't know, Aeryn. I don't know what to think. Everything seems so right. It's not like what the ancients did, or that Scarren. I don't think this is all in my head this time."
"I'm not in your frelling head, Crichton," Aeryn said with mock severity.
He smiled weakly at that.
"Besides, I know Sam, and I don't know how anyone could get her so close. Scorpy couldn't have pulled that much information on her out of my head. She had no connection to what I knew about wormholes."
Crichton was a little too focused on his hold on sanity to notice Aeryn's distinct discomfort every time he mentioned Samantha Carter.
"So....how do you know this woman? I mean the real one, assuming that's not her over there."
Now it was Crichton's turn to be slightly uncomfortable.
"Well, we were at MIT together for a while." Anticipating Aeryn's question, he finished, "We did some of our scientific training together. And we were ... friends."
Aeryn noticed his slight hesitation. "Friends? Just how friendly were you?"
"Uh...we dated for a while. I explained what that means to you, right?"
"You and she were intimate?"
Crichton had decided some time ago that he would never lie to Aeryn, at least not if he could help it. Their relationship was complicated enough with adding extra layers of complexity. So he answered as simply as possible. "Yes."
Aeryn took a few moments to absorb this new information. "How long were you together?"
"We were at school together for about a year...cycle. We were .... together for maybe half that time."
"Half a cycle?" Aeryn was suddenly grateful that the other humans could not understand her, because she had said this loudly enough to draw all eyes in the room to her.
"Half a cycle." She repeated much more quietly. She knew about Alex, but was unprepared for this new revelation, especially when the woman in question was standing a few hentas away, still looking at her. Prior to Crichton, Aeryn's idea of a long term relationship had been three or four weekens, and she had only been involved in one of those.
"Aeryn, it was a long time ago, and it ended a long time before I got out here." He took her hand an pulled her a little closer. "I love you and only you Aeryn. That's never going to change."
Aeryn nodded her head but found that all the insecurities that she had spent the past two cycles burying had suddenly roared back to life. For a few microts, all she could think was, *Another frelling blonde*.
For his part, Crichton was almost grateful that he had just been given something other than his mental state to worry about. Almost.
--------------------
On the other side of the room, the members of SG-1 were engaged in quiet conversation.
"So you think that's really John Crichton," O'Neill asked Carter.
"Yes, sir. We were at MIT together when I was finishing up my doctoral work. We dated for a few months. If that's not him, it's a perfect replica."
"So assuming it's really him, we need to get him to believe who we are. Right now, he's our only way of communicating with the locals. Why is that, anyway? Any ideas?"
Daniel responded. "We know that most of the transplanted humans we encounter have self- replicating nanites in the communication centers of their brains. They allow some sort of action-at- a-distance, two-way translation, even when only one person has them. Dr. Crichton mentioned something about being injected with translator microbes when he first arrived out here. I imagine they work the same way but in only one direction."
"So how come Teal'c doesn't understand anyone either?"
"I am at a loss, O'Neill. It may be that the nanotechnology that allows me to communicate with you interacts in some unexpected way with these translator microbes. Perhaps they are incompatible."
"Jack, this brings up some interesting questions about this area of space. The nanites predate the Goa'uld and seem to be everywhere. Why not out here? Especially since it seems clear that humans have been transplanted out here too. Just look at Crichton's friend."
"She certainly seems territorial about him, doesn't she? " said Carter.
"Jack, this is a prime opportunity. We need to find out exactly how these people got out here and what connection they have to the race that used this planet's gate."
"Later, Daniel. Our first priority is to convince these people we mean no them harm. Well, aside from accidentally vaporizing one of their scientists. We need to get our equipment back and get back to the gate."
That effectively ended the conversation. The rest of the night passed quietly, but no one got much sleep.
By the following morning, the Brinisi security forces had finished their preliminary investigation and concluded that Crichton and Aeryn had played no part in the death of Ceral. They also realized that SG-1's part in his death had been unintentional. However, they were not yet ready to release any of them, partly because the sudden reality of gate travel needed further consideration and partly because they needed to better assess what threat, if any, Earth and humans posed. All six remained in custody for the time being.
With the morning came an abrupt change in John Crichton. He had gotten over his hesitation and period of dazed introspection. He walked straight up to SG-1, surprising Aeryn with the suddenness of his move, and said,
"O.k.. If you really are who you say you are, can you get me back to Earth?"
The question was addressed to them all, but Crichton was staring straight at Samantha Carter when he asked, almost daring her to end the illusion and reveal herself as a fraud. However, it was O'Neill who answered.
"Of course we can take you back, but we need your help first. We need you to convince our hosts that we aren't a threat to them. Get our equipment back for us, and we can take you home."
Aeryn listened to this exchange with a totally blank expression, but her eyes betrayed a deep sadness. For an instant, she thought that her worst fear about John had just been realized, that when it came time to choose he would abandon her for a chance to go home. He had told her otherwise countless times, and the rational part of her trusted him, but her thoughts at the moment were far from rational. Had they been, she would have been at least a little better prepared for what he said next.
"What about Aeryn? I'm not going anywhere without her."
She was grateful that everyone was focused on Crichton. It gave her the time to hide the look of utter panic that she knew was on her face. At the moment, she didn't know what to think. For someone who had spent most of her life suppressing her emotions, the sudden onslaught was nearly overwhelming. She was simultaneously overjoyed, terrified and a little resentful that Crichton had presumed to include her in this without asking first. She couldn't blame him for it. She knew that he was going through his own set of conflicting and confusing feelings and probably wasn't thinking all that clearly.
"We can take her with us. She'll be confined to the base for a little while, but I give you my word that she won't be harmed in any way."
"I don't know you, and I don't know what your word means." This was again said with an eye towards Carter.
"The colonel is telling you the truth, John. You don't need to worry about your friend. She'll be safe. Trust me."
That sounded so much like the Samantha Carter he knew, that for the first time since all this had started, Crichton was beginning to believe.
"Is that really you, Sam?"
She smiled at him. "It's me John. I can't believe I'm actually talking to you."
"You thought I was dead. Everyone thinks I'm dead." After a short pause, he continued. "Do you know how my dad is doing?"
"I called him after you were .... after we thought you were killed. He took it really hard, John. I've been in touch with DK a couple of times since then. It took him, your dad and your sisters a long time to get over it."
John shut his eyes trying to ignore the feelings of guilt. He knew that he wasn't responsible for the pain he had caused his family and friends, but that didn't help how he felt. He knew all about guilt. The period immediately after Aeryn's revival over two years earlier had been hard, and it had taken him a long time for him to forgive himself for that. At least he was certain this wouldn't be as bad.
"Well, maybe I can finally start to make it up to them." The look Carter gave him was less than reassuring. "What's wrong? Are they o.k.?"
"Your family is fine, but there's a problem." She hesitated.
O'Neill finished for her. "Crichton, the Stargate project is classified at about as high a level as it gets. The whole world saw you die. We can't just have you reappear without explaining how. There would be too many people pushing too hard for information, and sooner or later, someone would find it. I'm afraid you won't be allowed to have any contact with anyone from your past."
The disappointment Crichton was certain he would face if he started to believe what his eyes were telling him was now replaced by a completely different and unexpected sort of disappointment.
"My dad's a retired Air Force colonel. He..."
Carter cut him off. "It doesn't matter, John. The Stargate is a matter of national .... worldwide security really. We have made some very unpleasant enemies over the past few years, and we can't afford to take any risks. Your dad isn't going to get clearance. Believe me, I know from personal experience."
Crichton didn't say another word. He just walked back to the corner of the room where Aeryn was still standing. The others knew instinctively that he needed time to absorb what he had just learned and that now was not the time to approach him.
Aeryn didn't know what to do or how to comfort him. So she just sat close to him, with their shoulders touching, waiting for him to speak and letting him know that she was there for him. It was more comfort than she could have known. It always had been. They sat like that for what seemed like arns, although Aeryn knew it couldn't have been that long, when Crichton suddenly spoke.
"What do you want to do?"
"What do you mean?"
"We could go to Earth, be safe. I think that's really Sam, and I trust her. They won't hurt either of us."
"It's what you've wanted for over four cycles, John."
"I wanted to go home. Home is the people I left behind, the life I knew. They're offering me the chance to go to Earth, not the chance to go home."
Aeryn was silent. She thought she understood all this but only on an intellectual level. Home for her had always been her current assignment. There had never been permanency in her life of the type Crichton missed. Although if she had thought just a little harder, she would have realized that perhaps she understood better than she allowed herself to believe.
"So what do you want to do?"
Almost without thinking, she said, "Would you be asking me that if you could go back to your old life?"
At the look of pain Crichton shot her, Aeryn immediately regretted her words. After all, hadn't he just said that he wasn't leaving her before learning about the conditions attached to a return to Earth?
"I'm sorry, John. I just ..." She didn't know how to continue.
Crichton took her hand in his. "I told you I would never leave you, Aeryn. I meant it."
Aeryn tried to lighten the mood. "How am I supposed to know what you mean, human. I don't think even you understand half of what you say."
To Aeryn's relief, It worked. It was a great comfort to Crichton that regardless of whatever else happened, Aeryn was still Aeryn.
He smiled at her. "That's just part of my charm. Besides, I thought you liked listening to me babble."
She smiled back, grateful that they could so easily fall back into their usual pattern of give and take. They sat in silence for a while longer, each thinking of the possibilities the four people sitting across the room offered.
"So, for the third time, what do you want to do?"
"I think we should worry about our immediate problem for now. We need to get out of here. Once we're no longer confined, we can talk about our next move."
She paused for a moment, searching for the right way to express her next thought. "I won't lie to you, John. I have misgivings about trusting these people, no matter how well you know that woman. Still, I do want to see your Earth. You spend enough time talking about it. I probably already know more about it than most humans."
"Yeah, you're right. We should focus on getting out of here. So, Miss Earth Expert, what do you know about ...."
--------------------
Samantha Carter got up from her seat at the opposite end of the cell and approached Aeryn and Crichton. Aeryn immediately went into Peacekeeper intimidation mode, but Carter put up her hands as if to indicate that she meant no harm. She spoke to Crichton.
"You feel like talking?"
"Have a seat." he said, pointing to the bench opposite the one on which he and Aeryn were sitting. "I guess we have some catching up to do."
"We do at that. Aren't you going to introduce us?" Carter said, indicating Aeryn.
"Of course, where are my manners. Sam, meet Officer Aeryn Sun, formerly of the Peacekeeper military. Aeryn, Samantha Carter, United States Air Force."
He knew he was being a little obnoxious and that Sam had done nothing to deserve it, but the events of the past day and a half had taken their toll, and he wasn't about to censor himself now. Besides, there was still the nagging insecurity about whether any of this was really happening. Aeryn would pay him no mind, or so he thought, but Carter was visibly taken aback. Her memories of John Crichton were over four years old and more than a little out of synch with what events had made him since then.
Aeryn spoke to Crichton in a near whisper. "She's a soldier? I thought she was a scientist like you."
"She's both. Sam always was an overachiever." He glanced at Aeryn, and noticed that she seemed a little troubled. He had gotten good at reading her, but was at a loss this time.
Carter smiled and nodded to Aeryn, who, rather than returning the gesture, continued to glare at her.
"Don't mind Aeryn, she doesn't make friends too easily."
Carter decided to ignore the attitude from both of them and pressed on. "How did you get out here, John? IASA lost track of your ship when it went out of control during the slingshot. What happened."
"The maneuver opened a wormhole somehow and I ended up here. Where is here exactly? Any idea?"
Carter answered Crichton's question almost absent-mindedly. "We're almost exactly opposite our own spiral arm along a diameter through the galactic center." She continued. "What do you mean your slingshot maneuver opened a wormhole? Nothing on Farscape could have generated that kind of power."
"I don't know, Sam. It happened and here I am. What about you? How did you get involved with this Stargate thing?"
They spent the next quarter hour quickly summarizing for each other the very strange direction each of their lives had taken. Each of them made an effort to edit out certain items, neither completely ready to trust the other just yet. Aeryn occasionally made a quiet comment or asked a question of John, but for the most part, she remained silent.
As the conversation continued and started to venture into topics about which Aeryn knew nothing, she became increasingly ill at ease. Crichton was too absorbed in talking to the first human he had seen in four years, and a friend at that, to notice. Carter did notice.
She had taken a fairly easy liking to Aeryn Sun. Even before John gave her a brief rundown of how Aeryn came to be aboard Moya, it was evident that she was not someone to be taken lightly. Carter knew instinctively that Aeryn was capable of instant, cold-blooded violence. However, it was obvious almost from the outset that she was more than a comrade or friend to John, and Carter hadn't failed to notice how worried she seemed about him and how protective of him she was. *At least his taste is improving,* she thought.
"So, did you go to my funeral?" It was a morbid question, but Crichton was curious.
"Yeah, I did. It was a pretty big deal. Twenty-one gun salute, F16's flying the missing man formation, lots of brass, some politicians."
Aeryn had no idea what any of that meant, but she understood that it had to be fairly exceptional. "You never told me you were that important on your world."
"I'm not. There wasn't anything unusual about me, just the way I 'died'. I'll explain later."
"What did Aeryn say?"
"It doesn't matter."
That was it. She had been feeling left out and ignored, but that was her problem. She would not, however, be dismissed out of hand like this. She elbowed Crichton hard.
"Ow. What was that for?"
Carter gave Aeryn a look of sympathy and said, "Nice to know some things never change. I see he can still be a jackass sometimes."
Aeryn almost gave in to the urge to smile but managed to contain herself. She did, however, nod back at Carter. It was the first meaningful communication she had had with any human beside John Crichton. She decided then and there that this Major Carter might not be so bad after all.
"What did I do?"
"Never mind. I'm sure Aeryn will explain to you later."
"Yes. I most certainly will."
Crichton looked a little bewildered, but he continued. "So you were telling me about my funeral. Who else showed up?"
"Well, your family and DK were there of course. Some friends of yours I didn't know. Lots of people from IASA, NASA, JPL." She paused for a second. "Alex was there too."
Both Aeryn's and Crichton's heads snapped to attention at the mention of that name.
"Alex. I guess I should have expected her to show. How is she?"
"Same as always. Even at your funeral, she had to be the center of attention. She made a point of letting us all know how much more deeply she felt your loss than any of the rest of us."
"You never liked her."
"I told you as much to your face once. I remember it almost wrecked our friendship."
Crichton nodded, not wanting to pursue the topic any further. Aeryn decided that Major Carter definitely wasn't all that bad.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we need to talk," said O'Neill who had walked over from his seat on the far side of the room.
"We need to decide what to tell the ... what are they called?"
"Brinisi," three voices responded in chorus.
"Yeah, whatever. You understand them. Where do we stand?"
"I think they believe us," said Crichton. "At least I think they believe that Aeryn and I had nothing to do with Ceral. They strike me as pretty reasonable, at least by Uncharted Territories standards, so I'm guessing they'll conclude the same about you guys."
"O.k., but we need to be prepared in case things don't go our way. Daniel, Teal'c, get over here. Let's see what we know."
--------------------
After checking the cell for surveillance devices and finding nothing obvious, the next arn was spent in quickly and quietly reviewing their position, what each of them had seen of the base, any tactical advantages they might have and any weaknesses in Brinisi security or procedures they had noticed. Aeryn was impressed. Four and a half cycles with John Crichton had not prepared her for this level of military professionalism from humans. Neither had her brief experience on the false Earth. Of course, she knew that the soldiers she encountered there were drawn from John's memories and impressions of the military and didn't necessarily reflect reality.
She felt a slight sense of nostalgia. It had been a long time since she had participated in this sort of briefing. Still, this was different. There was an ease among the four humans that she had never seen in any Peacekeeper unit. She also noticed that the human in charge, Col. O'Neill, managed to command respect without the bullying she was used to from her own superiors.
Late that afternoon, they were treated to another round of interrogations, after which it seemed the Brinisi had finally satisfied themselves. They appeared to accept that the best course of action was to set the humans on their way and see to it that the Stargate was sealed up. The humans had actually suggested burying it after their departure to prevent any possible use.
Prior to any release the Brinisi insisted that the members of SG-1 undergo medical examinations, DNA cataloguing and scans for possible contaminants. This was standard procedure on this security conscious world, and Crichton and Aeryn had already gone through it upon their arrival. In the excitement and confusion following the unexpected gate activation, no one had bothered to do the same with the others until now.
SG-1 had been taken to a medical facility on the base, and Crichton and Aeryn found themselves alone for the first time in nearly two days. As they waited for the return of their four cellmates, Crichton took the opportunity afforded by their solitude to put his arm around Aeryn and draw her close. She leaned her head against his shoulder, enjoying a few moments of quiet closeness with him that hadn't been possible in front of the other humans.
John broke the silence. "It looks like the Brinisi are going to let us go without any hassle. They seem pretty satisfied with what O'Neill and his people said. Maybe we should talk about what to do next, before they get back."
He waited for Aeryn to say something, but she just kept leaning against him and remained quiet. "Aeryn?"
"You've been through a lot in two days, John. I just wish I could do something to help .... to make this easier for you."
"You're here? That's enough. Besides, this hasn't exactly been easy on you. It's a lot to take in." He looked Aeryn in the eye and said with as much confidence as he could muster, "You will fit in just fine on Earth, Aeryn, and I'll be there with you every step of the way."
"So you've decided? You want to go with them, even though you can never see your father or your sisters or anyone from your old life?"
"Well, there's always hope. Maybe they'll change their minds and at least give my dad clearance. Or maybe I can find a way to contact him or DK without them finding out. Even if I can't do any of that, at least we'll be safe. No more running. No more Scorpius. But to answer your question, no I haven't decided. It isn't my place to decide. We're in this together. I want us to go with them, but we won't if you don't want to risk it."
Aeryn wasn't sure whether to be happy or angry. "So you're putting the whole thing on me? What happens if I say no? You're going to resent me for the rest of your life."
"I know it's not fair, Aeryn, but that's the way it is, and I'm not going to resent a thing. You're not forcing anything on me. I'm the one forcing a decision on you. And I promise you that whatever you decide, I'll be fine with it. All that matters is that we're together, on Earth or out here or wherever."
Aeryn could hear the unwavering certainty in what he said, but she needed to know something else. "John, I asked you this before and I am ashamed to ask you again, but I need an answer. What if you could go back to your old life. Would you even be asking me what I want?" She had expected to see the same hurt that she had seen the last time, but instead he just smiled at her.
"I won't deny that I'd probably be pushing a little, maybe a lot, harder to convince you to go to Earth, but it wouldn't change anything else. John Crichton has his priorities straight, and you, Miss Sun, are at the head of the list. Nothing matters to me as much as you do, Aeryn."
For the first time out of the countless times he had said just that, Aeryn really believed him. Finding herself suddenly speechless but needing to express how much his words had meant to her, Aeryn leaned forward and kissed him lightly.
She broke the kiss and remained silent for a few moments before saying, "So, Earth? I say we give it a try." Then she smirked at Crichton and said, "If nothing else, the last two days have shown me that not all human are like you. How bad could it be?"
"Very funny," he said, then continued more seriously, "Are you sure, Aeryn?"
Aeryn nodded, still smiling. "Yes, John. These people are nothing like what I expected. They seem serious and competent. I had assumed that all humans were overgrown children."
"On behalf of overgrown children everywhere, I think I resent that."
Aeryn's face took on a slightly different character as she continued. "That woman...Major Carter. You said that you and she were ... close?"
"Yeah, we were. A long time ago." Crichton waited, not at all sure where this was going.
"You told me your planet has a population of 6 billion. I assume half of them are female. How the frell does the one woman to step through that portal happen to be someone you were involved with?"
"Well, it's not that unlikely if you think about it. There may be 3 billion or so women on Earth, but most of them aren't theoretical astrophysicists. Basically, the reason we met in the first place is the same reason she's on this Stargate project and I ended up out here."
Aeryn had to accept that this made sense in terms of logic, but she preferred to think that it was just the universe displaying a twisted sense of humor at her expense. * What is it with Crichton and females? Other females,* she amended. She didn't count, of course.
"She doesn't seem so bad. What happened? You told me that humans try to look for permanent relationships, lifelong mates. Why didn't it work out between you two?"
"It was never that serious, Aeryn. We were a little young for the lifelong mates deal. Both of us were pretty focused on our work, and our relationship was always more of a friendship than anything else, even when things got a little more .... serious. Also, Sam was already in the Air Force. When she finished her work at MIT, she was reassigned."
At least Aeryn understood that last part, although from a different and purely Peacekeeper perspective. "You remained friends?"
"Yeah. We kept in touch over the years. We would call each other up every once in a while .... uh that means we would talk over something like comms."
Aeryn still had some questions, but before she could pursue them, SG-1 was abruptly lead back into the cell. She pulled away from Crichton just a little, and he removed the hand that had been around her waist. Aeryn knew that this sort of reserve was unnatural for him and that he had done it solely to put her at ease. She flashed him a brief smile of gratitude before donning the neutral Peacekeeper mask.
"I hate being poked and prodded. Fraser is bad enough, now I've got alien doctors doing it."
"It wasn't all that bad, Jack. It is interesting that they keep such detailed records of off worlders. I imagine the political situation with these Peacekeepers contributes to some of that, but you have to wonder about the underlying sociological implications." Daniel Jackson looked around to find five totally blank faces. "Apparently you don't have to wonder about it that hard," he said under his breath.
"Crichton, any idea what the situation is after that last Q&A session?"
"I think they're about ready to let us, all of us, go? What do you think, Aeryn?"
Only Crichton understood the response. "She thinks so too."
"So I guess we just wait," said O'Neill.
The next few hours were spent in casual conversation. Aeryn even joined in a few times with Crichton as interpreter. Crichton had lots of questions. Once he started, he found himself out of control, his mind wandering randomly from topic to topic.
"So who won the last four Superbowls?"
Aeryn interrupted before anyone could answer. "You keep going on about that. What the frell does it mean anyway?"
"I thought I explained football to you."
"You did, but it sounded ridiculous so I stopped paying attention."
Crichton never did get his answer as the door to the cell opened and Captain Preval entered.
He addressed Crichton and Aeryn, since they were the only ones who could understand him. "I have good news for you."