Part V

“There, that should do it.” Gheris smoothed the bandage on Aeryn’s bicep and leaned back, wiping blood smears from her hands.

“Thank you.” Aeryn rolled her shoulder and flexed the arm, testing its limits. She glanced towards the door.

“We can’t wait much longer,” Gheris prodded.

“I know. Just a few more—”

The door burst open. Aeryn lunged to her feet, sighting her pistol, and shoving the Medtech behind her with her left hand. “Get down!”

An armed unit filed through the door, spreading out to completely block the door and cover the adjacent walls. Aeryn recognized the Officer who had fled now commanding this force. He had gone for frelling reinforcements.

“Officer Sun!” he called, rifle discovering the exact center point between her eyes. “Release your hostage and surrender!”

“Ready the Prowler,” Aeryn told Gheris.

“Come on, Sun. We have no rule to bring you back alive, but we may grant mercy if you obey.”

Aeryn opened her mouth as if to reply, then let her pistol do the talking instead. It eloquently picked off the nearest soldier and clipped another on the shoulder. As a shower of bolts of light lanced at her, Aeryn made sure Gheris had slipped away unnoticed and tucked and rolled behind a crate. The shots ricocheted off her barricade with sharp sprangs. Just a few microts and she would have a ship to retreat to. Part of her mind wished for John and Instructor Proxin to close the trap from the doorway, but she expected nothing.

The whine of a heated engine sang a victory note in her brain. *I’m sorry, John. I’ll come back for you.* With a few last blasts at her attackers, Aeryn charged towards the sound. She rolled again and came up face-to-face with a hot Prowler cannon. Her throat dried up. The pilot grinned through the canopy and reached for the trigger. An explosion threw the fighter craft aside, blocking the commandos with its downed bulk.

“Sun!” Gheris called from another Prowler across the bay. “Over here!”

Still in shock and a little heat rattled, she hopped in as Gheris yielded the front seat to her. Aeryn sealed the hatch and gunned for the hangar doors. They shot out into the eternal freedom of space and she saw the familiar arc of Moya’s spine awaiting them. The Prowler flight had been broken and was struggling to reorient as she raced through their midst.

“Pilot, open the door for one Prowler!” she called.

“We await your arrival, Officer Sun. Preparing for StarBurst.”

The blue glow began to crackle between Moya’s propulsion struts. “Pilot, no!” Aeryn called. “Crichton’s—” She hesitated, casting one final look back at the Command Carrier. Across the field of Prowlers, one wavered in the vacuum, clearing apart from the others which were aligning themselves into wedge formation as she observed. “Right behind me!” she finished, warm relief gracing her heart. “I’ll signal him to follow, then deploy the Docking Web for two Prowlers!”

She swooped back, charging straight through the enemy regiment and circling John’s beleaguered ship. She hovered beside it long enough for him to see her inside. She pointed to Moya and he stuck his thumb in the air. Aeryn shook her head and pointed forward again. *Not up, you drannit, forward!* He nodded this time and she propelled back to the ever-patient Leviathan and her less-steadfast crew.

It was a shaky and violent return, but John had mastered enough of the controls to survive the dead run through the swarm of Prowlers. The lead fighters had locked the escapees in their sights and their cannons glowed. Aeryn dodged in a gut-warping roll and fended the more aggressive PeaceKeepers off Crichton until the invisible Docking Web grabbed them and hauled them into the majesty of StarBurst. Blue light and energy raced past their hulls and jostled them behind Moya. Aeryn simply braced herself as she had when she had first been sucked from the PeaceKeepers to her destiny, but suspected the others had a rougher trip.

At long last, the blue fell away and calm white stars flickered around them. Moya completed the docking, and in a few microts, Aeryn hauled her G-force-drained body out of the cockpit, trying to shake her vision clear. Gheris was silent behind her and John made no move to evacuate his ship. Aeryn descended the ladder and stood swaying beside her ship. “Zhaan, we need you down here,” she managed to call before she slid to the floor in exhaustion.

#

*Holy… Did a semi hit me?* John dragged himself to near consciousness with a groan.

“Crichton? Are you awake yet?”

He rubbed his neck. “Must be if I feel this kind of pain. Haven’t had this kind of whiplash in years.” He hauled his eyes open. D’Argo’s massive form stood over him. “You know, heroes in movies always have beautiful nurses around when they wake up.”

“I’ll let that slide since you’ve been unconscious for three arns.”

“Where’s Aeryn?”

“With the PeaceKeeper medic. They’re seeing what can be done for the girl.”

John sat up, instantly serious. “How’s it look?” he asked softly.

D’Argo sighed. “I don’t know. I can’t make heads or mivonks of that tech chatter.”

“Thanks. I’m fine,” John assured him, getting up.

D’Argo stared at him. “Of course you are. Why--?”

“Never mind.” He saw Aeryn watching a woman in Tech dress tend the child, her face drawn. He waved Zhaan off and approached carefully.

“…just hold that there and I’ll be back in a few microts,” the Tech was saying. She began walking away, signaling Aeryn to follow. Aeryn offered a brief smile to Neesha and followed. They congregated around John. “Looks like you regained consciousness well enough,” the new woman appraised him. “Any aches? Tension?”

“My neck feels like I flipped a sprint car without a neck brace, but other than that...”

She frowned. “Your species must have a slower metabolism than ours. I may need to double the dose on your painkillers.”

“Forgive me,” Aeryn interrupted before John could gulp out a reply, “but can you do anything for her?”

The woman’s face immediately fell. “It’s the same as always. I’ve seen it before, but no cure exists in PeaceKeeper records. Unless I can get further information, there’s nothing I can do.”

“So we’ll keep looking,” John offered. “There must be some planet out here who knows how to cure this thing.”

“That is a good hope,” the Tech said. “The question is if one could be found in time.”

“I’d better inform Neesha,” Aeryn said quickly, turning to leave.

The other two looked after her.

“I don’t remember her being so sensitive when she was a PeaceKeeper.”

“Yeah, she’s something special, isn’t she?” John smiled.

“Did you cause that?”

John cocked a look at the new ex-PeaceKeeper beside him. “What? Her compassion? Nah, that was there before I met her. She just didn’t know it yet.”

“Officer Sun? Zhaan?”

“Yes, Pilot?” Zhaan answered. “What is it?”

“Moya has located a planet, Diagnosia, three arns flight from here with an advanced medical facility. The primary medic told me they study rare afflictions and try experimental treatments. It may be worth investigating.”

“It’s a wonderful idea, Pilot,” Aeryn said. “You hear that, Cadet?”

“Yes, Officer,” the girl piped up. “Does this mean that I’m not going to return to my unit?”

“I’m afraid so.” Aeryn bent to Neesha’s level. “But trust me, these people may be able to do what Zhaan cannot. When you are feeling at full health again, then you can decide what to do with your future.”

She nodded. “Are you coming too, Officer?”

Aeryn smiled sadly and shook her head. “No, Cadet. I—”

“Officer Sun’s talents are needed here,” Gheris put in, coming up behind the younger woman. “I will accompany you and aid in your treatment.”

Aeryn arched a brow at the woman. Neesha frowned, but visibly contained her emotions and faced her guardians bravely. “Thank you, Tech. May I say goodbye to Officer Sun?”

“We have three arns,” Aeryn said. “How about I show you around Moya before you go?” She sent a careful glance to Zhaan who nodded approvingly.

The girl smiled. “I’d like that.”

As Aeryn hoisted her off the table and led her off down the tier, John had a vision of her one day leading her own child around the ship, but shook it off. The odds were worse for that than they were that he would wear a dress and escort Rygel into a bar.

“I’m glad you found your place,” Zhaan was saying to Gheris.

“Thank you. Hopefully, I will be able to make a difference there.”

“Oh, before you go off to find the cure for cancer, would you mind helping with my neck?” John asked, rubbing the offending muscle.

“Of course, Crichton. Come over here.”

As Gheris prepared a new dose of anesthetic, Zhaan looked over the other bruises on John’s body. “How did you escape anyway, John?”

A proud grin took over his face. “Ah, now that’s a story to tell…”

#

Many systems away, Crais’ Command Carrier hung in space, alone and serene.

“HE GOT AWAY?!!!” The captain’s roar echoed throughout the ship and would nearly have reached the nearest planet if space had been able to conduct sound.

The young Officer before him quivered. “Sir, I—”

“All you were required to do was make sure no one came near his cell. He had no tools at his disposal. Do you have an excuse for how this happened? Did he have an accomplice?”

The man’s eyes drifted over Crais’ shoulder to where the Cadet combat Instructor stood at attention. The old man smiled knowingly and drew a finger across his throat. The Officer gulped and touched his bruised eye.

“N-No accomplices, Sir. He’s, um, craftier than we suspected.”

Crais growled and paced away.

“It’s possible the former Officer Sun helped him,” he added quickly, shooting a challenging look at the Instructor.

“So you were taken out by an inferior species and a traitorous woman?” Crais asked.

The Officer swallowed hard again, but said no more.

“Consider yourself demoted, Officer Ixol. If you wish to retain your life, you will make it so that I never notice your presence again.”

“Yes, sir,” he said miserably.

“Get out!” The captain hollered, turning his full attention to the Instructor.

Ixol left quietly, cursing everyone he knew as he walked back to his barracks. Frell Crichton, and frell Aeryn doubly so. If that Human was what she wanted, let her have him. He would see that their peace ended in ruins if it was the last thing he did. *Oh, Aeryn,* he thought with a cruel grin, *you shouldn’t have taught me so well.* His grin was interrupted as the tightening of the muscles irritated his bruised face. Cursing the Human’s right hook, he went to ice his injuries.

THE END