Adena Sun
11-08-2002, 12:58 PM
Title: Providence
Rating: PG, PG-13
Spoilers: Unrealised Realities.
Archive: Ask nicely
Disclaimers: They belong to Henson et al.
John Crichton glanced out over the stars, feeling the hackles rise instinctively at their unfamiliarity. Just another sign that he should not be here, that humans maybe weren’t meant to live with the stars. He had been back aboard for only three days, since the others came through the wormhole and found him. Yeah, he had found Earth. Right place, wrong time. He had landed in his hometown, fifteen years before he had even left. He was almost tempted to stay. The easy way out; run away from the freak in the bondage outfit who wanted only to protect him, run away from the psycho commandant with the pheromone scent, and run away from the woman he could not bear to look at because all it brought was heartache.
Aeryn....
The thought of her filled his mind with images. Fleeting kisses, stolen moments before she even understood what love was. He pulled out the bottle of lakka and tapped it against his forehead. What D’Argo didn’t know couldn’t kill him. Granny had her ways of giving him what he needed. ‘Do I need this?’, he thought, ‘or is the real thing the only answer?’. The thought of surrendering to her, the one who had hurt him, only drove him to remove the lid from the bottle and inhale deeply.
His mind at once reeled with the images. Aeryn. But not the Aeryn he knew. The one who lived, and loved, and mourned a man who looked just like him. She no longer mourned, but he could no longer trust her. Memories that were not his own, but those of a dead twin. Talking, laughing, crying, loving.... things he did not experience. A bedroom on Talyn. I never slept on Talyn. He felt the rush of love, of lust run through him as if it were happening right there, right then. How can I remember this? Or are these just my fantasies of Aeryn in technicolour?
He leaned against the wall of the terrace to steady himself against the onslaught of memories that he couldn’t remember. They were getting stronger. But his heart couldn’t take the alternative. A flash of Aeryn crying in his arms as he soothed her gently. Another of her lying on a bed, his notebook open in front, a field of stars behind. A radiant smile on her face.
That is enough!!
John shook his head to rid himself of the plague of memories that were too happy and too longed for for him to bear. He stalked out of the terrace, in search of the witch.
Noranti stood in the mess hall, another of her stews creating a foul stench that threatened to burn the insides of Moya. She kept so little company, and even the DRDs were afraid to go near her. Only John ever came and that was in private, in search of the drugs which would cure his heartache. She smiled at that as she removed the lid from her pot. The Luxan would not be amused at their dealings. And poor Aeryn would be horrified. No matter, thought Noranti, it is for her good, too. She was about to take a sip of her chfolak stew when Crichton, her favourite, walked right in and slammed the bottle of lakka on the counter.
“Finished already? It will take some time to make more, especially without the others knowing.”
“I didn’t come for more, Granny, I came to find out what the frell this stuff is!” Crichton tried to keep his voice low. Chiana had a habit of being in shadows and Sikozu reported all to Scorpius.
“It is lakka. It removes painful thoughts. I explained all of this to you in the beginning.” The old woman tasted the stew and recoiled at its bitterness.
“I know what you said. What you didn’t say was that it would create more painful memories!”
“I honestly have no idea what you are saying. Lakka does no such thing.” Her voice was quick and her pitch was high as she mashed the contents of a ceramic bowl, third eye blinking.
“You told me this would help me forget her. Instead, I’m getting flashes of memories that I don’t remember! Things that happened to him, not to me.” He moved round to the other side of the counter to stand beside her, his addled and tired brain trying to keep up with the frustrating woman and his body trying not to heave at the smell of her cooking.
“Oh. That. Well, I would have warned you about that part, but then you never would have played along, would you?” Her nonchalant attitude only angered him further. He was raised a Southern gentleman, and never wanted to hit a lady. That didn’t mean he wasn’t sorely tempted.
“I knew it!” he gasped in exasperation. “You knew this would happen! Why the frell did you let me take this crap if you knew it wasn’t going to help me?!”
She sighed. “If you knew, you wouldn’t have taken it.” She began ripping some sort of leaf, adding it to the contents of the bowl which were now nothing more than dust. “And I needed you to see. You can be so blind, for one so intelligent.”
“How is this supposed to help me get over her, when all it does is make it hurt even more?” The anger was still there, but the pain was all the more evident.
“Oh, I didn’t want you to get over her. I wanted you to want her more.” She played with the dust between her fingers, watching as it fell back to the bowl, enjoying the rough texture against aged skin. “So much depends on it.”
“What the frell are you--” Crichton was abruptly cut off when she blew the dust into his already red eyes. Not again. I’m sick of seeing the truth. He reeled around, desperate to regain his vision. Or maybe seeing nothing won’t be so bad. “Dammit, you old witch, I told you never to do that to me again!”
“You need help along your journey, Commander. Why else do you think I’m here?”
“Why are you doing this to me?” He was so tired of being used and broken.
“Because I am the only one who can show you truth.” She moved to where he crouched on the floor, still rubbing his eyes. “You wish to push Aeryn away when destiny brought you together. And destiny relies on you and Aeryn being side by side in the cycles to come.”
He sighed deeply at the thought. “Look, lady, I know I once thought it was fate, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna forgive her when she runs away and comes back expecting everything to be OK.”
“Which is exactly why I came along.” She touched his forehead gently, like a mother checking for fever. “The two of you must be together.”
“I can’t do it anymore. She’s hurt me too much, and now I’m the one pushing her away.”
“You must. For the sake of millions of lives you must. “
“What do you mean?”
“Open your eyes,” she stroked his forehead once more, “and you will see.”
The light flashed bright before him, and Moya faded away.
Part 2
The streets before him were empty, deserted. The smell of rain and oil mixed together, intoxicating and stimulating memories of winter nights running round the wet streets with his friends. He was but a ghost here, with the old woman just beside him.
“Where are we?” he asked, fearing that he knew.
“Earth. Not quite as you remember it.” She stared at a tabby alley cat, which screeched indignantly before running off.
“I-is this what’s happening on Earth now?”
“Hmm? Oh, no no no. In this world, you never left. This would be a little later than our present.” The sound of pulse pistols chilled him, and he jumped at the sight of peacekeepers marching down the street.
“Peacekeepers? On Earth? You mean - “
“Yes, just one of many alternatives. No matter the action, there is always an alternative effect. The Peacekeepers came to this Earth about three cycles ago.”
“I hardly recognize the place. How did they....what happened?”
“Surprise attack. Earth was unprepared. But this is inconsequential. Some things, however, do not change.”
“What do you mean?” He followed a prowler up above him as it patrolled from the sky.
“Well, you were taken by the Peacekeepers to work as a scientist, along with many of your old co-workers. During this time, you discovered the secrets of wormhole technology.”
“Oh, great, frelling wormholes follow me no matter where I go...”
“Our friend Scorpius desired to use this knowledge, but you escaped. You joined the underground movement. You remain the most wanted man on Earth.”
“You mean, even if I didn’t get lost in Oz, there was still a chance that I’d end up being chased by the Rocky Horror reject? “
“One of many possibilities.”
“You’re starting to sound way too much like Einstein. “ he muttered.
“What is happening to Earth is not our main priority. Look, over there.”
Across the street, at the entrance to an alley, he saw a man wearing a long coat and hidden by shadows. He leaned out into the street light for a moment, and Crichton saw that he was looking at himself. This other Crichton ducked back into the alley at the sound of the prowler over head, and was soon joined by a female Peacekeeper, who, judging by their passionate greeting, wasn’t going to arrest him.
“Aeryn...” he whispered. “Noranti, if the Peacekeepers have enslaved Earth, how did I meet Aeryn?”
“After your escape from Scorpius, you and the other rebels were attacked. She was one of the soldiers in the attack, and was injured. Despite protests from the others, you took her with you and cared for her until she was well. She fled, but you continued to run into each other. Eventually, Aeryn was working as a spy for the rebels, and the pair of you were lovers.”
I wonder if she caused me just as much pain in this reality?
He sighed. “So, no matter where I go, I meet with Aeryn?”
“Not necessarily. But the realities in which you do not meet are not pleasant.”
One last longing look at the clandestine lovers, and another flash of light....
Part 3
Crichton recognised Moya’s gentle hum immediately, but the smell was all wrong. The stench of burnt flesh permeated the air, and the walls were thoroughly damaged. There were no DRDs in sight, wiring dangled from the walls like vines, and the Leviathan’s movements were slow and shaky. Zhaan stood by the viewscreen, head bowed in prayer. Crichton could not deny the mixture of happiness and guilt at the sight of her. The Delvian’s sadness was palpable.
“What’s going on here?”
“Watch, and you will learn. Heed my warnings that it will not be pleasant.”
Zhaan raised her head, tears a contrast to her perfect blue. She reached out and touched Moya’s wall, and Crichton noticed how the ship seemed to recoil from her touch.
“Moya....I wish I could help you to ease your pain. But there is so much in all of us.”
Moya’s hum grew more miserable.
“I know you miss Pilot. We all do. But the damage was too great. He could no longer obtain the nutrients he needed from you. We tried, we all did, but nothing could be done.” She sighed sadly as more tears fell. “I only wish there had been another way.”
Moya’s tone indicated absolution, but the pain was still there.
D’Argo’s voice sounded gruff and out of place over the comms.
“Zhaan, prepare for another attack. Scarran dreadnought right behind us.”
“But we’re out of Scarran territory!”
“Yeah, but we’re in Peacekeeper territory. They think Moya’s under Peacekeeper control!”
“Surely they must know! Moya is no longer wearing a control collar! They have to listen to reason!”
Crichton heard his own voice over the comms and felt a little embarrassed, as you do when you hear your voice. Do I really sound like that? No way.
“Zhaan, since when have the Scarrans listened to anything? They don’t care if we’re Peacekeeper or not, they just want target practice!”
“Moya is incapable of starburst, we have no way of escaping them! She cannot handle anymore pain!”
“Dammit, Zhaan, we know that. This war has taken a lot out of her, I know. But we cannot get away from them this time.” Zhaan’s head fell and she sobbed loudly.
“What war?” Crichton asked Noranti.
“The Peacekeepers and the Scarrans. In this reality, you and Aeryn never met. Therefore, you never went to the Gammak base and met Scorpius. The Peacekeepers were unable to develop wormhole technology, and so the Scarrens used their already obvious advantage to start the war.” Her eyes turned to Zhaan, sobbing against Moya’s bulkhead. “Moya is an innocent bystander.”
“How do you know about the Gammak base?”
“I see many things, Commander. If you were only so observant you would realise that.”
He heard his own voice, panicked and afraid, over the comms.
“The dreadnought’s powering up!”
“Defence screen is at 10%. That will do nothing against a dreadnought!” D’Argo yelled. “John, this is it... we’re frelled.”
“Zhaan? Prepare yourself for impact.” Crichton shouted over the comms. “Moya, we are so sorry...forgive us. You have saved us so many times and we wish we could do the same for you. You watched over us when we lost Rygel, Chiana...and we did everything we could to help you when we lost Pilot.”
“Thank you, Moya.” D’Argo added. “And my friends, thank you for everything.”
Zhaan could do nothing but pray. She held her hands against Moya’s wall and communicated silently, asking her goddess to deliver them all to a better place. They had fought for so long, and lost so much.
“I don’t want to see anymore.” John begged Noranti. “Take me home.”
“Patience, Commander.” She hushed him.
Crichton fell back as the impact hit, watching in shock and horror as Moya’s tiers began to cave in, hearing his own final scream over the comms. And he could only watch as Zhaan fell victim to the void of space, screaming at the sight of her being destroyed by the pressure....
Another flash, and he was never so thankful for not being able to see....
Part 4
Crichton came back to himself in Moya’s mess hall, relieved that there was no smell of burning Leviathan, no Zhaan sobbing in the corner. He shook his head to rid himself of the awful image. Noranti was tasting her stew again, as if trips through parallel dimensions made a difference to her cooking.
“Tell me we’re back in Kansas...” he groaned.
“We are in your reality, yes. Did you enjoy the trip?”
“Oh yeah, that’s twice in one month I’ve been shown how easy it is to frell the universe.”
“I hope you have learned something.”
He sighed. He didn’t like to think about it. “Yeah, I get it. Aeryn and I are meant for each other. Despite the fact that she left me twice, won’t tell me anything and may or may not be carrying my child....”
“Is forgiveness a foreign concept to your species?” Noranti sighed, frustrated.
He snorted at that, then in thought stroked his thumb across his lips. “Tell me this: why? Why is it so important that me and Aeryn are together? What, can we change the universe or something?”
She approached him, tenderly stroking his cheek. “Look not to the past for what you seek. Look at what the two of you can achieve. Think not about hurt, about betrayal. The fate of this universe relies on what you can only do together. What you will bring into this world. The seed has already been sown...”
He stared at her for a long moment, then nodded slowly as realisation dawned on him.
“The baby...” he whispered.
Noranti bowed her head in assent. “In each reality in which you and Aeryn find each other, you bring a child into the world. That child learns from both of you, from all its family aboard Moya. Its birth marks a change. It is not what you and Aeryn do as friends, as lovers, as enemies that will change our fate. It is what you do as parents that destiny relies on.”
He was practically speechless as questions flooded into his head. “T-that’s why you’ve been giving me the lakka? Not to make me forget Aeryn, but to make me remember her?”
“I knew you were hurting. I needed you to see her, to want her, to know how happy you could be together. So I used the memories of he who died, to show you what could be. What must be.”
John had to sit on the stool by the counter to stop himself from collapsing. He couldn’t trust his legs at the moment. He rubbed his eyes, tried to clear his head, took a deep breath. “How do you know all this? Our future, our past?”
“Those who have eyes can see. But you must first know where to look. Ask no more of me, and you shall find the answers you seek. You know what you must do. And there is so little time.”
He sat there for another while, trying to grasp the knowledge she had given him. Feeling a little steadier, he rose, but before leaving he said:
“Thank you. I think.”
But Noranti was too involved in her stew to notice anything in the room. She tasted it, when John left. It was sweet now, a pleasant odour and aftertaste.
“Ah, time and patience. All is looking better.”
John found himself again on the terrace. The instinctive shudder of looking at unfamiliar stars was nothing compared to the nerves in his body.
The baby. Did that mean it was his child? Or was that completely insignificant, as long as it was raised by him and Aeryn?
Damn. Why can’t it ever be easy?
He heard the old woman’s words echo in his head.
“You know what you must do. And there is so little time.”
As he sighed, the doors behind him opened. He didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. The light step, the sweet scent.... it was all Aeryn. Taking a deep breath, he turned to her, and her tentative smile made him want to scream because she was the one who wanted to talk for once.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
She fidgeted with her belt, nervously. When was she ever nervous? “I was wondering if we could talk. There’s so much I need to say to you.”
He thought for a moment. He thought about the lovers meeting in secret, on an Earth occupied by Peacekeepers. He thought about Zhaan wailing as Moya collapsed around her, all because Aeryn was never stabbed. And he thought about the child she carried within her. Is that enough?
“I’m ready to listen.” He smiled, and she relaxed a little in his presence. Fate brought them together, and now he knew why.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hope you enjoyed. The story will be continued soon, whenever my muse returns from one of its many vacations.:)
Rating: PG, PG-13
Spoilers: Unrealised Realities.
Archive: Ask nicely
Disclaimers: They belong to Henson et al.
John Crichton glanced out over the stars, feeling the hackles rise instinctively at their unfamiliarity. Just another sign that he should not be here, that humans maybe weren’t meant to live with the stars. He had been back aboard for only three days, since the others came through the wormhole and found him. Yeah, he had found Earth. Right place, wrong time. He had landed in his hometown, fifteen years before he had even left. He was almost tempted to stay. The easy way out; run away from the freak in the bondage outfit who wanted only to protect him, run away from the psycho commandant with the pheromone scent, and run away from the woman he could not bear to look at because all it brought was heartache.
Aeryn....
The thought of her filled his mind with images. Fleeting kisses, stolen moments before she even understood what love was. He pulled out the bottle of lakka and tapped it against his forehead. What D’Argo didn’t know couldn’t kill him. Granny had her ways of giving him what he needed. ‘Do I need this?’, he thought, ‘or is the real thing the only answer?’. The thought of surrendering to her, the one who had hurt him, only drove him to remove the lid from the bottle and inhale deeply.
His mind at once reeled with the images. Aeryn. But not the Aeryn he knew. The one who lived, and loved, and mourned a man who looked just like him. She no longer mourned, but he could no longer trust her. Memories that were not his own, but those of a dead twin. Talking, laughing, crying, loving.... things he did not experience. A bedroom on Talyn. I never slept on Talyn. He felt the rush of love, of lust run through him as if it were happening right there, right then. How can I remember this? Or are these just my fantasies of Aeryn in technicolour?
He leaned against the wall of the terrace to steady himself against the onslaught of memories that he couldn’t remember. They were getting stronger. But his heart couldn’t take the alternative. A flash of Aeryn crying in his arms as he soothed her gently. Another of her lying on a bed, his notebook open in front, a field of stars behind. A radiant smile on her face.
That is enough!!
John shook his head to rid himself of the plague of memories that were too happy and too longed for for him to bear. He stalked out of the terrace, in search of the witch.
Noranti stood in the mess hall, another of her stews creating a foul stench that threatened to burn the insides of Moya. She kept so little company, and even the DRDs were afraid to go near her. Only John ever came and that was in private, in search of the drugs which would cure his heartache. She smiled at that as she removed the lid from her pot. The Luxan would not be amused at their dealings. And poor Aeryn would be horrified. No matter, thought Noranti, it is for her good, too. She was about to take a sip of her chfolak stew when Crichton, her favourite, walked right in and slammed the bottle of lakka on the counter.
“Finished already? It will take some time to make more, especially without the others knowing.”
“I didn’t come for more, Granny, I came to find out what the frell this stuff is!” Crichton tried to keep his voice low. Chiana had a habit of being in shadows and Sikozu reported all to Scorpius.
“It is lakka. It removes painful thoughts. I explained all of this to you in the beginning.” The old woman tasted the stew and recoiled at its bitterness.
“I know what you said. What you didn’t say was that it would create more painful memories!”
“I honestly have no idea what you are saying. Lakka does no such thing.” Her voice was quick and her pitch was high as she mashed the contents of a ceramic bowl, third eye blinking.
“You told me this would help me forget her. Instead, I’m getting flashes of memories that I don’t remember! Things that happened to him, not to me.” He moved round to the other side of the counter to stand beside her, his addled and tired brain trying to keep up with the frustrating woman and his body trying not to heave at the smell of her cooking.
“Oh. That. Well, I would have warned you about that part, but then you never would have played along, would you?” Her nonchalant attitude only angered him further. He was raised a Southern gentleman, and never wanted to hit a lady. That didn’t mean he wasn’t sorely tempted.
“I knew it!” he gasped in exasperation. “You knew this would happen! Why the frell did you let me take this crap if you knew it wasn’t going to help me?!”
She sighed. “If you knew, you wouldn’t have taken it.” She began ripping some sort of leaf, adding it to the contents of the bowl which were now nothing more than dust. “And I needed you to see. You can be so blind, for one so intelligent.”
“How is this supposed to help me get over her, when all it does is make it hurt even more?” The anger was still there, but the pain was all the more evident.
“Oh, I didn’t want you to get over her. I wanted you to want her more.” She played with the dust between her fingers, watching as it fell back to the bowl, enjoying the rough texture against aged skin. “So much depends on it.”
“What the frell are you--” Crichton was abruptly cut off when she blew the dust into his already red eyes. Not again. I’m sick of seeing the truth. He reeled around, desperate to regain his vision. Or maybe seeing nothing won’t be so bad. “Dammit, you old witch, I told you never to do that to me again!”
“You need help along your journey, Commander. Why else do you think I’m here?”
“Why are you doing this to me?” He was so tired of being used and broken.
“Because I am the only one who can show you truth.” She moved to where he crouched on the floor, still rubbing his eyes. “You wish to push Aeryn away when destiny brought you together. And destiny relies on you and Aeryn being side by side in the cycles to come.”
He sighed deeply at the thought. “Look, lady, I know I once thought it was fate, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna forgive her when she runs away and comes back expecting everything to be OK.”
“Which is exactly why I came along.” She touched his forehead gently, like a mother checking for fever. “The two of you must be together.”
“I can’t do it anymore. She’s hurt me too much, and now I’m the one pushing her away.”
“You must. For the sake of millions of lives you must. “
“What do you mean?”
“Open your eyes,” she stroked his forehead once more, “and you will see.”
The light flashed bright before him, and Moya faded away.
Part 2
The streets before him were empty, deserted. The smell of rain and oil mixed together, intoxicating and stimulating memories of winter nights running round the wet streets with his friends. He was but a ghost here, with the old woman just beside him.
“Where are we?” he asked, fearing that he knew.
“Earth. Not quite as you remember it.” She stared at a tabby alley cat, which screeched indignantly before running off.
“I-is this what’s happening on Earth now?”
“Hmm? Oh, no no no. In this world, you never left. This would be a little later than our present.” The sound of pulse pistols chilled him, and he jumped at the sight of peacekeepers marching down the street.
“Peacekeepers? On Earth? You mean - “
“Yes, just one of many alternatives. No matter the action, there is always an alternative effect. The Peacekeepers came to this Earth about three cycles ago.”
“I hardly recognize the place. How did they....what happened?”
“Surprise attack. Earth was unprepared. But this is inconsequential. Some things, however, do not change.”
“What do you mean?” He followed a prowler up above him as it patrolled from the sky.
“Well, you were taken by the Peacekeepers to work as a scientist, along with many of your old co-workers. During this time, you discovered the secrets of wormhole technology.”
“Oh, great, frelling wormholes follow me no matter where I go...”
“Our friend Scorpius desired to use this knowledge, but you escaped. You joined the underground movement. You remain the most wanted man on Earth.”
“You mean, even if I didn’t get lost in Oz, there was still a chance that I’d end up being chased by the Rocky Horror reject? “
“One of many possibilities.”
“You’re starting to sound way too much like Einstein. “ he muttered.
“What is happening to Earth is not our main priority. Look, over there.”
Across the street, at the entrance to an alley, he saw a man wearing a long coat and hidden by shadows. He leaned out into the street light for a moment, and Crichton saw that he was looking at himself. This other Crichton ducked back into the alley at the sound of the prowler over head, and was soon joined by a female Peacekeeper, who, judging by their passionate greeting, wasn’t going to arrest him.
“Aeryn...” he whispered. “Noranti, if the Peacekeepers have enslaved Earth, how did I meet Aeryn?”
“After your escape from Scorpius, you and the other rebels were attacked. She was one of the soldiers in the attack, and was injured. Despite protests from the others, you took her with you and cared for her until she was well. She fled, but you continued to run into each other. Eventually, Aeryn was working as a spy for the rebels, and the pair of you were lovers.”
I wonder if she caused me just as much pain in this reality?
He sighed. “So, no matter where I go, I meet with Aeryn?”
“Not necessarily. But the realities in which you do not meet are not pleasant.”
One last longing look at the clandestine lovers, and another flash of light....
Part 3
Crichton recognised Moya’s gentle hum immediately, but the smell was all wrong. The stench of burnt flesh permeated the air, and the walls were thoroughly damaged. There were no DRDs in sight, wiring dangled from the walls like vines, and the Leviathan’s movements were slow and shaky. Zhaan stood by the viewscreen, head bowed in prayer. Crichton could not deny the mixture of happiness and guilt at the sight of her. The Delvian’s sadness was palpable.
“What’s going on here?”
“Watch, and you will learn. Heed my warnings that it will not be pleasant.”
Zhaan raised her head, tears a contrast to her perfect blue. She reached out and touched Moya’s wall, and Crichton noticed how the ship seemed to recoil from her touch.
“Moya....I wish I could help you to ease your pain. But there is so much in all of us.”
Moya’s hum grew more miserable.
“I know you miss Pilot. We all do. But the damage was too great. He could no longer obtain the nutrients he needed from you. We tried, we all did, but nothing could be done.” She sighed sadly as more tears fell. “I only wish there had been another way.”
Moya’s tone indicated absolution, but the pain was still there.
D’Argo’s voice sounded gruff and out of place over the comms.
“Zhaan, prepare for another attack. Scarran dreadnought right behind us.”
“But we’re out of Scarran territory!”
“Yeah, but we’re in Peacekeeper territory. They think Moya’s under Peacekeeper control!”
“Surely they must know! Moya is no longer wearing a control collar! They have to listen to reason!”
Crichton heard his own voice over the comms and felt a little embarrassed, as you do when you hear your voice. Do I really sound like that? No way.
“Zhaan, since when have the Scarrans listened to anything? They don’t care if we’re Peacekeeper or not, they just want target practice!”
“Moya is incapable of starburst, we have no way of escaping them! She cannot handle anymore pain!”
“Dammit, Zhaan, we know that. This war has taken a lot out of her, I know. But we cannot get away from them this time.” Zhaan’s head fell and she sobbed loudly.
“What war?” Crichton asked Noranti.
“The Peacekeepers and the Scarrans. In this reality, you and Aeryn never met. Therefore, you never went to the Gammak base and met Scorpius. The Peacekeepers were unable to develop wormhole technology, and so the Scarrens used their already obvious advantage to start the war.” Her eyes turned to Zhaan, sobbing against Moya’s bulkhead. “Moya is an innocent bystander.”
“How do you know about the Gammak base?”
“I see many things, Commander. If you were only so observant you would realise that.”
He heard his own voice, panicked and afraid, over the comms.
“The dreadnought’s powering up!”
“Defence screen is at 10%. That will do nothing against a dreadnought!” D’Argo yelled. “John, this is it... we’re frelled.”
“Zhaan? Prepare yourself for impact.” Crichton shouted over the comms. “Moya, we are so sorry...forgive us. You have saved us so many times and we wish we could do the same for you. You watched over us when we lost Rygel, Chiana...and we did everything we could to help you when we lost Pilot.”
“Thank you, Moya.” D’Argo added. “And my friends, thank you for everything.”
Zhaan could do nothing but pray. She held her hands against Moya’s wall and communicated silently, asking her goddess to deliver them all to a better place. They had fought for so long, and lost so much.
“I don’t want to see anymore.” John begged Noranti. “Take me home.”
“Patience, Commander.” She hushed him.
Crichton fell back as the impact hit, watching in shock and horror as Moya’s tiers began to cave in, hearing his own final scream over the comms. And he could only watch as Zhaan fell victim to the void of space, screaming at the sight of her being destroyed by the pressure....
Another flash, and he was never so thankful for not being able to see....
Part 4
Crichton came back to himself in Moya’s mess hall, relieved that there was no smell of burning Leviathan, no Zhaan sobbing in the corner. He shook his head to rid himself of the awful image. Noranti was tasting her stew again, as if trips through parallel dimensions made a difference to her cooking.
“Tell me we’re back in Kansas...” he groaned.
“We are in your reality, yes. Did you enjoy the trip?”
“Oh yeah, that’s twice in one month I’ve been shown how easy it is to frell the universe.”
“I hope you have learned something.”
He sighed. He didn’t like to think about it. “Yeah, I get it. Aeryn and I are meant for each other. Despite the fact that she left me twice, won’t tell me anything and may or may not be carrying my child....”
“Is forgiveness a foreign concept to your species?” Noranti sighed, frustrated.
He snorted at that, then in thought stroked his thumb across his lips. “Tell me this: why? Why is it so important that me and Aeryn are together? What, can we change the universe or something?”
She approached him, tenderly stroking his cheek. “Look not to the past for what you seek. Look at what the two of you can achieve. Think not about hurt, about betrayal. The fate of this universe relies on what you can only do together. What you will bring into this world. The seed has already been sown...”
He stared at her for a long moment, then nodded slowly as realisation dawned on him.
“The baby...” he whispered.
Noranti bowed her head in assent. “In each reality in which you and Aeryn find each other, you bring a child into the world. That child learns from both of you, from all its family aboard Moya. Its birth marks a change. It is not what you and Aeryn do as friends, as lovers, as enemies that will change our fate. It is what you do as parents that destiny relies on.”
He was practically speechless as questions flooded into his head. “T-that’s why you’ve been giving me the lakka? Not to make me forget Aeryn, but to make me remember her?”
“I knew you were hurting. I needed you to see her, to want her, to know how happy you could be together. So I used the memories of he who died, to show you what could be. What must be.”
John had to sit on the stool by the counter to stop himself from collapsing. He couldn’t trust his legs at the moment. He rubbed his eyes, tried to clear his head, took a deep breath. “How do you know all this? Our future, our past?”
“Those who have eyes can see. But you must first know where to look. Ask no more of me, and you shall find the answers you seek. You know what you must do. And there is so little time.”
He sat there for another while, trying to grasp the knowledge she had given him. Feeling a little steadier, he rose, but before leaving he said:
“Thank you. I think.”
But Noranti was too involved in her stew to notice anything in the room. She tasted it, when John left. It was sweet now, a pleasant odour and aftertaste.
“Ah, time and patience. All is looking better.”
John found himself again on the terrace. The instinctive shudder of looking at unfamiliar stars was nothing compared to the nerves in his body.
The baby. Did that mean it was his child? Or was that completely insignificant, as long as it was raised by him and Aeryn?
Damn. Why can’t it ever be easy?
He heard the old woman’s words echo in his head.
“You know what you must do. And there is so little time.”
As he sighed, the doors behind him opened. He didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. The light step, the sweet scent.... it was all Aeryn. Taking a deep breath, he turned to her, and her tentative smile made him want to scream because she was the one who wanted to talk for once.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
She fidgeted with her belt, nervously. When was she ever nervous? “I was wondering if we could talk. There’s so much I need to say to you.”
He thought for a moment. He thought about the lovers meeting in secret, on an Earth occupied by Peacekeepers. He thought about Zhaan wailing as Moya collapsed around her, all because Aeryn was never stabbed. And he thought about the child she carried within her. Is that enough?
“I’m ready to listen.” He smiled, and she relaxed a little in his presence. Fate brought them together, and now he knew why.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hope you enjoyed. The story will be continued soon, whenever my muse returns from one of its many vacations.:)