INVASION

Part VII 
Chapter 2, Return to Earth
Part 7: Eve of Return

Defensive Test

"Con Com, this is CSL-7. Thermal failure in Aerospike vector shield three. Shutting down engines 3, 5 and 7. This ain't working, DK." The huge space plane shuddered as it dove deeper into the upper atmosphere.

"Wait, Barry! Adjust the ascension angle. You got to hold it together." DK noticed that his faceplate was fogging and he realized he was panting like a dog. "What am I doing here? I'm a fucking physicist, not a space jockey."

Con Com screamed into their head sets. "Sagan Interferometer is detecting optical distortion 3.21 kilometers above you. 673 by 099 by126. Do you read CSL -7?"

Barry looked up through the warm glow of the super-heated canopy and saw it forming - a blue swirl with shifting stars beyond it. "Con Com, we have a visual confirmation on the Crichton anomaly."

The wormhole burst to life as the swirling blue corridor of space-time slowly descend towards the space plane."Barry! Decelerate to 17.900. See if we can reduce the aperture."

"What are you talking about? We are here to see if we can make a wormhole! Well, fuckin' look up! We have done that!" Barry shouted looking back at the instruments. "This ain't some university lab."

DK looked up from his tablet. "Just do it! If we don't slow its expansion it will overtake us before we can send the probes through."

"Decelerating to 17.900." They watched as the distortion seemed to contract from the ship.

Ray's voice echoed in their headset, "CSL-7, what are you doing? Telemetry shows you are…"

DK activated his link to the ISS. "Just adjusting the wormhole, Ray."

DK grinned at Barry. "It's okay, Ray. Launch the probes." The warning sirens filled the cabin as the test continued and the space plane reacted to the thermal attack of the upper atmosphere. "We have thermal shield failure!" Barry yelled.

DK noticed the nervous tone that had not been there before but he did not look up from his measurement data. "How long do we have?"

The space plane shuddered violently. "I don't know, she is fighting me."

The ISS fired the adapted weather satellites towards the swirling distortion, and the space plane's tracking system lost contact as they passed the event horizon."Shit!" DK had hoped that they would be able to monitor their passage through the great distortion that lead to who-knew-where…

"Were losing engines 2, 4 and 6. Thermal cut out. The Aerospike wasn't designed for this…I am going to have to pull out of the dive."

"Hold on! Just a few more seconds, Barry, please!"

The first of the satellites returned and Barry smiled as it slowly moved out of the fluctuating distortion. Barry yelled into his headset, "ISS, send pick crew. One of our little travelers has returned." He could hear the cheers from the crew at con com. A second space plane sat waiting to retrieve the satellite before mother earth pulled it home…A second probe fell from the mouth of the Crichton anomaly, then a third. The space plane protested one last time as Barry pulled from the terminal dive. "That's it lad, we can't play anymore." The space plane could no longer maintain the bow shot off the atmosphere and Barry fought against the pull of Mother Earth.

They both watched as the blue swirling aperture slowly collapsed. DK just stared at the awesome site of this great enigma that they had created."Well…" Barry exhaled as if he had held his breath for the last six minutes. "I would call that a fucking success, Con Com." Barry continued to struggle with the damaged Aerospike engine as it slowly raised them back to an orbit that would bring them back to the ISS. "OK, Ray, plotting orbital configuration for docking."

Ray's voice had an air of concern, "How's the ship "

DK linked in his com, "WE! Are fine, Ray."

"You are dispensable, the space plane is not. ISS out!"

"What's that all about?" Barry laughed. "DK you have to understand. He helped design these ships back at the turn of the century. They are like his children."

DK broke the seal of his fogged helmet. The air in the cabin smelled sweet with the smell of warm plastic and insulation. He moved to the large passenger compartment where he then spent the seven-hour flight on a private link to his wife and kids. No, he was no space jockey. The sooner he returned to earth the better.

Talyn 
Bialar woke to a pounding in his head. He looked about him and realized that in his fall he had cut his forehead. "How long was I out?" Memories of his last conversation with Talyn finally coalesced in his mind and nervousness started growing in the pit of his stomach. "Talyn, where are we?"

He tried and failed to stand. The con systems were all dark, meaning that Talyn was in complete control. Bialar's nervousness grew with the realization that once again he was alone. "Talyn, perhaps if you explained to me what you are doing, I could help."

With the help of the navigation consol Bialar got to his feet. He steadied himself and walked to the central node, his communing point with the great gunship. Through the pounding in his head he called to Talyn like a scolding father. Talyn, you will answer me.

The silence seemed to grow louder with every passing microt. Talyn, why are you being like this? A crack showed in Bialar's resolve. What are you doing? Help me to understand.

Bialar had grown used to the company of the great being that lived around him. He had thought that his training had made Talyn a formidable enemy to any that would seek to oppose him. Yet a short conversation with a half-breed child had unraveled years of teaching. "How?" he asked out loud, not expecting an answer.

Compassion!

Bialar closed his eyes as if trying to hold on to the one word Talyn spoke to his mind. Talyn, I don't understand?

No, you cannot understand. Bialar felt the sadness in the communication. You cannot undo the training of your mind; you look at everything through Peacekeeper eyes. You are limited in your vision, Bialar.

Bialar was distracted by one of the con displays coming to life. That's the proximity warning? Someone is entering firing range. Who is it?

It is Moya. We are going to offer our assistance.

Bialar stepped from the central node. He moved to the navigation console and watched in disbelief as Talyn prepared for docking with the leviathan. "What are you doing, Talyn? You cannot dock to Moya, it will put you at a tactical disadvantage…"

The silence was broken by the muffled sound of the two huge beasts touching. Bialar lost his footing as the two matched gravity. "Frell!" Bialar spat as he left central com for his quarters. He did not want a visit with the crew of Moya while unarmed.

He quickly donned his pulse gun and rifle and grabbed as many Chakan oil cartridges as he could carry. He rushed down the tier and stood at the base of the of the access way waiting for visitors. Just beyond his senses he heard them, mother and son, communicating. It was more like a noise coming through the sensory port at the base of his skull, but Bialar knew he was listening to their raw communication. For a moment he grew jealous of Talyn but his Peacekeeper spirit quickly extinguished the notion.

He wondered if they had collected any more lost souls on their unending futile quest. He remembered back to the strange slave… "Stark?" Yes what a fitting end indeed, for such an oddity. Crichton always did pick up the most unusual and useless allies. His thoughts were interrupted by the popping of his ears as the hatchway connecting the two ships opened.

John jumped through the doorway his gun drawn. "Lucy, I'm home!"

"Well, aren't you a sight!" Crichton smiled sarcastically at Bialar. He was followed by Ka D'Argo and the Nebari.

"Talyn said you called." Bialar moved his hands away from his sides with his palms tilted slightly upward and dipped his head. "Well, here we are. What can we do for you?" Bialar spoke in a subservient tone. His time would come, he knew, but for now he would play along. Aeryn entered and passed him, heading for command. She could not hide her smile, one not intended for Crais, but for Talyn.

"First things first, Uncle Bi-lar. Hand over the guns, nice and slow like. Then your transponder."

"As always, Crichton, you make no sense," he said as he slowly lowered the pulse rifle from his shoulder, then placed both weapons on the deck in front of him.

"Big guy, Chi, take our guest to his favorite holding cell." John did not look back at them as he made his way to command.

He found her sitting on the floor at the center of the large command area. She was no longer tall enough to touch the supports that were now at least three meters above the floor.

"Ya, you are a big boy…"John patted the wall gently. Talyn was already the length of Moya; how much larger he would get was unknown, but even now he could kick some serious dren.

"So, is he game?"

"What?" Aeryn did not look up at him.

"So will he help?"

"I just got here, I have even begun to ask…"

"Talyn, would you be interested in a little field trip deep into Peacekeeper territory?"

"Crichton!" She stood, the anger simmering in her eyes.

John was disappointed in her. "Why are you being like this? I am goin' home with or without your help."

Talyn answered John's question. Aeryn eyes became glossy but her expression didn't change. She closed her eyes casting a single tear down her cheek. "Talyn says he will help you." The waves of emotion that ran through her heart confused her and she couldn't tell weather it was due to the idea of losing John, of putting Talyn in such danger, or of both.

Three little travelers from Earth

Ray floated at the rear of the group that had collected in the lounge with the large windows overlooking earth as their backdrop. He had been in a foul mood since he had returned here. Ghosts from his past had been eating at him.

The large screen on the opposite wall had all the data that the three returning weather satellites had captured. Barry and DK had not stopped working since their return, twenty hours ago. DK was definitely in his element, surrounded by the floating data tablets that held different postulates and theorems on the workings of the wormhole. They were waiting for the secure link with the White House. Three days ago they had stopped assembling the Guardian. The final calculations supported DK's theory which indicated that the energy would be great enough to engulf the earth in the aperture of the wormhole.

Ray had just gotten back from his space walk. He had performed a physical inspection of the CSL-7 space plane and found that in creating the wormhole they had destroyed half of the Aerospike engines' thermal shielding. No, this ship was now useless to them. "Shit!" Ray went through the damage reports from the space plane. They were not designed for this! He pored through the data. They would have to try and fly it back to earth for repairs - there was no way of repairing the engine in orbit. Years ago they had lost the funding for the proposed hangar. His mood went form bad to worse. His ships had no chance against the Peacekeeper vessels. He had witnessed first hand their level of experienced flying.

"Ray! Ray? Hello?" Barry was floating next to him and he hadn't noticed. "Check this out." Barry handed him a large data tablet of a star field.

Ray allowed his data table float freely next to him as he took Barry's larger tablet. "What is this?

"It's the stars at the other end of the wormhole." Ray studied the star field. "Any correlation?"

"You won't believe it. Then again, I don't think you'll even trust your own eyes."

Ray looked at the star field. It looked familiar, yet different. When Barry activated an overlay of the stars as seen from Earth, he saw they were close, but not an exact match. "Close, Barry, but no cigar." He looked back at the damage reports on the space plane.

"Wait!" Barry grinned. "Watch your as bad as the Americans always in a rush. Can't wait for anything!"

Ray watched the chronometer of the overlaid stars as they slowly drifted into alignment. "What the fuck!" he whispered as the hair on the back of his neck bristled. "This can't be true?"

Barry's smile widened at Ray's stunned expression. "Yes! It's true." He stifled a laugh. "The wormhole doesn't lead anywhere but here." Barry cackled again. "Here! Approximately fourteen million years in the future." Barry had to bite his lip. He didn't understand what made him so giddy about the revelations, but he had a hard time controlling himself. "The wormhole is the passage to our future."

Ray still couldn't believe it. He just played the data over and over again. "But where's earth?"

The question deflated Barry's grittiness. "Its gone. The whole system is gone. For that matter so is Alpha, Beta and Proxima Centauri. All gone…"

"How?" Rays mind still couldn't get a handle on the concept.

"I don't know, but the sun didn't explode. All measurements show no signs of stellar matter at all. It's as if the entire system had been picked up and moved." The concept fired Barry's imagination. "But at least we now know why they look so much like us."

Ray stopped the simulations and let go of the data tablet. "Barry, I need a drink."

Barry had already had a few after he got confirmation on his findings. He passed a large aluminum cylinder to Ray. "Here. DK was not as surprised by the finds. Now he's trying to extract the principles of how this would be possible. This changes everything, Ray." Barry begin to laugh again.

Old Friends

Bialar listened to the soft sound of someone walking down the corridor, but he would not look up from the table and he continued to think of what Talyn had said. He had truly grown to love Talyn like a brother. He'd had no idea that Talyn meant so much to him until now.

"Well, what do we have here?"

Bialar recognized the voice immediately. "Uli! What the?"

He stood so quickly from his table that he knocked the stool over backwards in his haste. "It's you! For the glory of all, I never thought I would… I mean, when Talyn said he stopped you, I assumed…" Bialar broke into an hysterical laugh and stepped right up to the bars of the door to touch, to make sure he was real. Bialar's smile waned as he looked at Ulric.

"I have a question for you, Bialar. Who attacked me, you or Talyn?

"Uli, If it were up to me, we would not be here. If it were up to me, we would not have answered your request at all." Bialar stepped back from the cell door, straightening his jacket. "Talyn reacted at your request. Then, when your son contacted him, he became regretful of his actions. Guilty, I suppose." He looked slyly at Ulric. "Do you know what the others call you?"

"What others?"

"Them…the beasts!' Bialar smiled mockingly at Ulric his arms out streched to the walls of Moya. "They call you the Speaker." He laughed sarcastically. "Commander Ulric Selton, one time friend of my brother…the Speaker to the biomechs. No wonder you would not tell me the truth, Uli, I would have never believed you."

Ulric became nervous at Bialar's recognition of his secret and he had to remind himself that Bialar was no longer a fleet captain. He had nothing to fear from this old ally. "And now?"

"Well, I am here in Crichton's custody." He moved up to the bars again and sadness came to his eyes. "It is good to see you, Uli. It brings back memories of a better time."

"Bialar, you know if I could have told you, I would have." Ulric laughed, "I almost did that day in the transport hangar."

"You were smart not to. The man that I was would never have let you go."

"You have not answered my question." Ulric moved closer to the bars as if lowering his defenses.

"Now..." He spat. "I am more like you than I would wish. I have been given the bond of friendship by Talyn." Bialar erupted into laughter. "But now I fear that has been taken away from me." Bialar stepped closer to the bars. "Your son has somehow undone all the training that I have done in the past five cycles."

Ulric stepped back from the bars. "That is a good thing, Bialar," he said as he turned to leave.

"Why!" Anger flashed across Bialar's face. "Why, Uli, is that a good thing?"

Ulric did not turn back to face his old friend. "Compassion! Bialar, compassion is something that the PK has lost. Talyn recognizes this."

Lt. Sela Tyron

Scorpius stood waiting for her. He knew she would come once she had received the orders. The door parted to his office and Lt. Sela Tyron walked through almost casually. He sensed the anger under her cool gaze. She held the Ident chip with her new orders.

"Why Scorpius?" Scorpius felt through her anger a true disappointment towards him. It strengthened his position

"Ah, Lt. Tyron, it is not like Peacekeepers to question their orders." He smiled as she physically shuddered from such a comment.

She shook the Ident chip in front of him. "I am commander of the Delcar Wing. I deserve to know the reason why you have shifted command over to that tralk from High command."

"Careful, Ty, what you say could be considered treasonous."

"WHY!" She slammed the chip down on his desk. The noise was loud enough for Leam and two security guards to rush into the captain's chambers. Scorpius dismissed them with a glance but Leam stood for a moment surveying a possible future prey. A second glance by Scorpius dismissed her.

"What have I done? I have fought for the glory of all." She danced on the edge of madness. She had learned to play there game well this demotion struck her to the core. "I have proven to you my admiration for the position you have attained, and all I am asking you is why?

Scorpius moved over to the raised seating area. He delighted in the power that little throne conveyed. He sat slowly, regally and smiled warmly at the Lieutenant. It was time to play the foolish drone for all she was worth. "I have bigger plans for you, Ty, much bigger. But first I need you to keep an eye on Lt Teasa Lan. I don't trust her. I need my own eyes and ears there with her. I need someone I can trust completely. Scorpius smiled slightly at her. "Do you understand?"

The revelation that Scorpius was bringing her into his confidence disarmed her completely. She physically shuddered as her rage slipped away. When he was first assigned as captain she scoffed at the idea of being commanded by a half-breed but with time she had grown to respect him. "I will do as you ask, Scorpius, for you and the glory of all!" She stepped back and straightened. She did not know how much longer she could play this game. One way or another she would have her own vengeance.

"Thank you, Lt. Tyron, I knew you would be up for the task." He almost pitied the mindless drone but, as with most of them, he found ways to make them want to follow him. It really was what the Peacekeepers did best …Follow.

"I give you permission to do whatever is necessary if she deviates at all from her orders. Do you understand, Ty?"

A smile that surprised even Scorpius came to the ambiguous young woman's face. "Yes, Captain, and thank you."

Dismissed, Lieutenant. Scorpius smiled cooly as he watched her leave.

Ty walked from Scorpius's quarters and made her way to the core transport. When she turned the corner Leam was waiting for her."What is this?" Ty grinned at Scorpius's familiar.

Leam walked slowly towards her. "So... Scorpius has chosen to bring you into his confidence." She studied the lieutenant. "You are entering into a dangerous game." Leam smiled at the naive peacekeeper. "I hope you can handle it."

Ty grabbed Leam by the wrist, pulling her forward and off balance. She then lunged forward, slamming her full force into the bulkhead. Ty noticed the smile that came with the expression of pain that Leam was experiencing. Ty raised her forearm, pinning Leam's neck against the wall, effectively cutting off her airway. Leam fought Lt. Tyron's hold but was unable to break it. Ty leaned harder. She stopped just short of snapping Leam's neck.

Ty smiled sarcastically at Leam. "I can handle it…Don't frell with me girl… I will warn you only once. Come near me again Scorpi will find your head on the end of a Jinka Pole." She stepped back, releasing Leam.

Leam straightened, her smile widened. "Do not disappoint him."

Ty gave Leam her back and started towards the core shuttle. She hoped that Leam would retaliate, but she stood her ground. Ty reached the platform and turned back to the strange woman.

Leam stood there smiling, her voice echoing through the large chamber, "One more thing, Ty. I look forward to our next meeting."

Eve of Return

Ulric and Jack helped Chiana prepare the feast and they ate this, their last meal together. After the next sleep cycle, Talyn and Aeryn would bring John Crichton back to the place where he entered this part of the galaxy. The evening was spent in toasts and stories of their time together. As the night grew long their conversations waned. John sat at one end of the table, Aeryn at the opposite end. Picking up his sleeping son, Ulric quietly said goodnight and carried Jack to their quarters. D'Argo looked at Chiana. As if she could read his mind they said their goodnights as well.

John pushed the untouched plate of food forward and looked up into Aeryn hollow eyes. "So, do you think Talyn will listen to you?"

"I hope so. It will be a short trip if he doesn't." She smiled painfully at John. "No, he will listen, John. The smile crumpled and disappeared from her face.

John turned away from her and looked out through the transparencies. He choked slightly on the words, "You will come with me, right?"

"John, you know the answer to that." Aeryn stood up from the table in frustration and headed away from the center chamber.

"Wait, Aeryn!" He got up and blocked her from leaving. "Look, I don't know if this will even work, but I want you to come with me. Strike that!" He took a deep breath," I need you to come with me!"

"Why, John?" She didn't look up at him. "So I can end up like Rygel, lying on a slab in some lab with my innards out on display."

"That wasn't real!" He tried to plead his case but he knew deep down inside that she was right. "Please, Aeryn."

"I am sorry, John, I can't go." She always found it hard to control her emotions around this strange human. "Look we…us…It just didn't work." She thought of Enra and Ulric. How the frell did they stay together? Then she said what she promised herself she would never say to him. "You could stay here, John." A small tear rolled down her cheek as she said it.

"I don't belong here, Aeryn, Earth is my home. But you wouldn't understand that!"

"No you are right. I can't understand the urge to return to your home world. But I know what it is to leave a way of life that was like a home. To be more." She broke his stare. How ironic that the tables are now turned. Now it was time for him to choose to be more out here or return to a world that is now as alien to him as it is to us. "Are you sure you want to return?

"What?" John quickly became defensive.

"You are not the same man who arrived here two cycles ago."

"What is that supposed to mean?" He turned from her as if he was now trying to leave the central chamber.

"Look at yourself, John." She fell back into her cool PK mode. "Would the John Crichton who arrived here be wearing a pulse gun, what did you call it, 24/7?"

"That's not fair! I am doing what I need to do to survive."

"Yes. And you have done well, John." She took a deep breath and said it, "Perhaps too well. I just think you would be no more at home back on your Erp than I would." Aeryn turned and left him there to mire in his own thoughts. For once John Crichton let her have the final word. He was too busy defending doubts she had raised in his own mind. No! I want to go home!

Delcar Wing

The six Marauders hung from the ceiling in hangar bay seven of the command carrier. Teasa had made her way through each of them during her inspection. She had expected to meet with her second in command, but she was in a meeting with Scorpius. I am sure Scorpius is giving her the "shoot first ask questions later" speech. She followed the passage through the release struts to the lead ship.

Teasa Lan was ready. She had reviewed the personnel logs before she arrived and knew that they were all loyal PK; the few pure breeds were of reputable houses, especially her first. She knew the family Tyron. In fact, one of the speakers at her meeting in central command was a Tyron. Teasa knew the weight of lineage. She had always lived in the shadow of her mother. Thankfully for Teasa, her mother's ship was destroyed due to a drive system failure. She mused on that almost six cycles of freedom. Like all the others, you lived with your regiment. By the age of three cycles they were your family, and your family name was merely a record of your family's history, something to erase or surpass. If you were lucky, your family were merely foot solders or transport pilots. Teasa Lan had met her mother once, seven cycles ago.

She had graduated to Ravstar Regiment and was headed to Delvia on a special ops assignment. The Mordin was rerouted to carry her team on their mission to disarm the radical New Moon of Delvia sect. Teasa Lan spent three solar days on board. In the last arn before she left the ship her mother, Captain Ills Lan, had called her to her private quarters. Their meeting was brief. Ills looked at her daughter in disgust. "You look like your father," she spat. "So, special ops? Looks like you will outshine my career, child." She smiled at her daughter. "That is, if you survive on Delvia. Don't let their cool expressions fool you, child. They will kill you if you are not careful."

"I have one question for you, Mother. I have not had any record of my father. The data spools have no current records of him.

"You really don't know?" She looked at the young woman in front of her. She looked so much like him that she felt a pang of sadness, but her training extinguished the feeling in a microt.

"Anyone raised to High Command has all their records erased. All you need to know is that he sits on the council. Now there is something to strive for, child."

Ills turned from her daughter's stare, "Now leave me."

Teasa left with out saying goodbye. She hoped they would never meet again. As luck would have it, she would get her wish.

Sela Tyron entered the command chamber of the Marauder. Teasa did not look up at her. "It is nice that you decided to join us, Lieutenant Tyron."

Ty struggled to keep her expression from giving way to the rage she felt toward this tralk. "Delcar wing is ready for departure."

"Take us out, Lieutenant." She stood from her command seat and exited the command station. She stopped near the pressure hatch and looked back at her first. "Once you have a moment, I wish to talk to you, Lieutenant." Teasa did not wait for a response.

The six marauders dropped from the ceiling of the expansive hangar as if one vessel and flew from the carrier. Once they exited the kill zone, they activated their hetch drives in unison and headed for the system that Drathor prime had once inhabited.

Part 8

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