Chapter 8

John stood on the sun deck and stared out at the stars as Moya moved through space. He felt calm, relieved and sad all at the same time. He rested his head against the wall as he thought about his father. It had been Jack in the end who had actually saved him by showing him what he needed to do in order to sort out what was illusion and what was reality. He had gone to sleep and woken up and everything was the way it should be.

The doors slid open behind him and Zhaan entered the deck. She studied him for a moment but John remained silent. He waited for her to speak and he knew that she would wait for him to speak. Which meant that they would spend the time saying nothing to each other. The doors behind him again slid open, this time Chiana entered and stopped as she stared at them.

"This is ridiculous," she muttered.

"Chiana?" Zhaan's voice was gentle.

"The two of you are always just with each other in silence," Chiana frowned.

"Sometimes there is no need for words," Zhaan explained.

Chiana looked at John and then at Zhaan. "This is complete dren," she pronounced. "If you want him to speak, then you should speak."

"When he is ready, he will speak," Zhaan smiled.

John listened to the exchange with interest.

"That makes no sense," Chiana shook her head.

"No, but that's because you are so young," Zhaan nodded.

Chiana shrugged and left the deck. John watched as the doors slid closed.

"I guess that answer applies to me as well," John murmured.

"Which answer?" Zhaan fixed him with a deliberate stare.

"That I'm too young," John met her gaze.

"You're concerned about Khaar," Zhaan guessed.

"Yes," John admitted.

"You know what I did John," Zhaan broke eye contact. "I was very young when it happened. Khaar was the one who was responsible for preparing my case for judgment."

"But he didn't agree with your being handed over to the Peacekeepers," John pressed.

"No, he argued against it," Zhaan sighed. "It was a decision that he frowned upon."

"He's a priest too," John surmised.

"Yes," Zhaan turned and faced him. "I studied under him for a while. It was a great sadness for him that he had to prepare my trial."

"But what happens now?" John demanded.

"Nothing," Zhaan's smile reflected her sadness. "I am guilty of my crime."

"But that was a long time ago," John frowned.

"Humans don't live very long do they?" Zhaan surmised.

"No," John confirmed. "Humans don't tend to live very long. If we do make it to old age, we may live up to 80 cycles."

"No one lives longer than that?" Zhaan questioned.
"Well," John grinned. "You do have a few who manage to make it to 100."

Zhann wrinkled her brow as she mulled over the information. "Well," she said at last. "That explains your reluctance to use my past against me."

"Huh?" John felt as though he had been left out of the loop.

"Don't worry about it," Zhaan told him.

"What I don't get is why did they have me believe that I was trapped with Chiana?" John stared at her.

Zhaan pondered the question. "Well, if you were with either D'Argo or Aeryn then you would have been working hard to escape."

"And Chiana?" John pressed.
"She's new and you are a bit protective of her," Zhaan shrugged.

John rubbed his chin. "I suppose that is true. But why didn't they make that priestess pretend to be you?"

Zhaan's eyes met his and he saw the emotion flicker within them. "Because he wanted to see how you see me."

He turned it over in his mind and realized that she was right.

"How did you figure it out finally?" Zhaan asked.

"I had a dream about my dad while they were screwing with my head," John smiled wanly. "He helped to set me straight."

"That priestess who pretended to be Aeryn was convincing?" Zhaan probed.

"Nah," John grinned. "She was soft in all the wrong places."

Zhaan smiled at him.

"Thank you," John told her.

"For what?" Zhaan appeared puzzled.

"For being willing to surrender to Khaar to save me," John nodded.

"We tend to save each other," Zhaan murmured.

"Hmm," John mused.

"This is real John," Zhaan assured him.

John straightened and sighed. "Well I think I'm going to head down the Maintenance Bay, you coming inside?"

Zhaan stared at the stars. "No, I think I'll stay here awhile."

John chuckled. "Okay," he said as he walked through the doors. He glanced back and saw that she had already removed her dress. John shook his head as he headed down the corridors to the Maintenance Bay. He saw the D.R.D. he called Blue following him. John stared at it for a moment.

"I'm all right Moya," John told the D.R.D. "You don't have to worry."

Blue moved its antennae and retreated down another corridor. John continued on his way to the Maintenance Bay.

He stopped as he entered and saw Aeryn standing over his worktable. John frowned as she turned and found him staring at her.
"Ah Crichton," Aeryn straightened her shoulders. "So, satisfied that you're actually here?"

John arched an eyebrow. "Aeryn?"

"What?" Aeryn glared at him.

He walked up to her and pulled her to him. She resisted at first but permitted him to hold her. John breathed in the scent of her skin and grinned.

"I can feel your teeth against my neck," Aeryn grumbled.

"I know this is you," John said.

"How do you know?" Aeryn pulled away from him.

John stared into her eyes for a moment. "Because I know how you move. And she didn't move the way that you do."

"Oh?" Aeryn scowled at him.

"Besides," John shrugged.
"What?" Aeryn demanded.

"This," John grasped her face and crushed her mouth to his. Aeryn struggled as though she was torn between acquiescing to his ardor and pushing him away. John took advantage of her indecision and deepened the kiss as he wrapped his arms her and pulled her close to him. His breath mingled with hers and he savored the taste of her mouth. He felt when she surrendered to him and began to reciprocate his attentions. He felt when her arms wrapped around his neck and he lowered her to the table while her legs wrapped around him.

Aeryn pushed him off her, "No," she breathed.

John stepped back and studied her flushed face as she lowered her head and refused to meet his gaze.
"Aeryn?" John whispered.
"I'm not ready to give you what you want," she refused to look at him.

"What do I want?" John asked her.
"You want more than my body," Aeryn declared. "I'm not prepared to give you more than that."

John exhaled. "It's okay. I don't think I'm going anywhere."

Aeryn's head snapped up and she glared at him.

John grinned. "Is this the part where you kick my ass for what I just did?"

"No," Aeryn told him. "I may do that later."

"What were you doing in here?" John asked.

"Nothing," Aeryn shrugged. "I was just looking for something to work on my prowler."

"Right," John nodded.

"I shall leave now," Aeryn stood and walked away from him.

John ran his fingers along his tape recorder while he listened to her retreating footsteps. His head pricked up when he realized that she hadn't left the room. He turned and looked at her quite puzzled. Aeryn crossed the room and threw him against the table while she pressed her mouth to his. John returned her kiss as he ran his fingers through her hair. They parted and she stared at him.
"Don't do that again," she warned.

"Do what?" John frowned.
"Don't think that you can just get yourself captured," she explained.

"I'll try Aeryn," he told her. "I'll try."

Aeryn nodded and released her hold on him. She walked out of the Maintenance Bay. John ran his fingers over his lips and chuckled. Things were getting both complicated and interesting with her.

He picked up the tape recorder and saw that it had been rewound. He checked the tape and saw that someone had listened to it. John grinned as he realized that Aeryn must have just returned it when he came in. He forwarded the tape to the point where he could record another entry.

"D.K. pal, I miss you," John spoke. "I've spent the last few days having my head screwed with again." He chuckled. "I know it's getting to be a regular thing out here. I miss my dad. Honestly I didn't realize how much I missed him until I saw him in that dream. Imagine that.

"This thing made think about some things and what I want is to be able to sit back have a few burgers and beers and watch the game. That's all I want this point. Just burgers and beers, hope to see soon buddy," John ended the recording.

The End.