Part 7

John slowed to a halt as he passed through the door into Pilot's chamber, letting out a low whistle of surprise at what he saw. Dozens of DRDs were swarming in and around Pilot's console, the occasional spark of ruptured conduits and the droids own glowing eyestalks highlighting the heavy damage. Just knowing there was this much damage so deep inside Moya brought the knot of tension in Crichton's stomach to full out fear. Glancing over the side of the walkway only confirmed that the Leviathan had been seriously damaged as he saw dozens more lights circling in and around the neural nexus below.

Forcing down his growing fear, he shook his head and hurried over to Pilot and Aeryn =both of which were concentrating on fixing a damaged panel. "Aeryn, Pilot. I'm here. What's bad news?"

Aeryn finished burning in one of the replacement conduits and slapped the plate close. "Try it now, Pilot."

Instantly the symbiont moved his clawed arms over the controls and nodded his head in satisfaction. "Yes, that has done it. I've regained control on Moya's sensors."

"I take it you've had some luck down here?" John asked, leaning over to get a better look at the console.

Aeryn wiped the sweat from her forehead and unknowingly smearing grime on her face in the process. "Barely."

"You said we've got a problem?" John prompted her, noting her business like tone.

"Moya has suffered severe damage, particularly along the hammond side. Multiple hull fractures, ten percent structural failure, primary fluid tanks are ruptured and leaking, micro-hemorrhages in the secondary neural cluster, propulsion is reduced to hetch one and she unable to starburst." Aeryn replied, sounding annoyingly calm about what sounded like serious trouble.

"What do need us to do, Pilot?" Crichton asked to the visibly shaken creature.

"I'm afraid there is little that can be done, Commander." The symbiont replied sorrowfully. "The damage is quite extensive and with the loss of the main fluid bladders..." At this Pilot paused. "Moya...may die."

"Don't give up yet, Pilot." Crichton demanded, suddenly angry. "You just tell me what needs to be done and I'll see that it gets done!"

"Moya's hull has been damaged, Commander." Pilot replied. "There is nothing we can do to stop the loss of iriscentant fluid."

"Pilot, can you divert the remaining fluid tanks away from the hammond side?” Aeryn asked.

Pilot's claws quickly danced across his console before a surprised look came to his face. "Yes. Diverting now." A pause later and pilot nodded once at the readings. "It is working. But we have still lost over half of the iriscentant fluid."

"Will Moya be able to starburst anytime soon?" Crichton asked with concern.

"I am afraid not, Commander. As long as Moya's hull is breached the tank is useless. Moya will not be able to Starburst until it is repaired as she will need al the available resources to reach a system with suitable repair facilities." Pilot replied.

Aeryn watched Crichton chewed on his thumb as he considered the large aliens words. "Can we repair the damage here, Pilot?" She asked.

"Yes, but it would require that one or more of you to repair Moya's hull." Pilot replied, uncertainly. "Repairs that can only be made externally. Unfortunately the DRDs are occupied repairing Moya's internal injuries."

"Not a problem, Pilot. An EVA is common back home." John chimed in. Seeing their puzzled expressions on Aeryn and Pilot's faces, he shrugged. "Extra-Vehicular Activity. Back home, it's the only way we have back home to get things built or fixed in orbit.”

"Have you done this EVA, before?" Aeryn asked, looking mildly curious at his words.

"No, but I was trained for it." John admitted reluctantly. "I never had the opportunity to do a space walk, but I was qualified. Is there anyone else on board that has experience working in micro-gravity?"

"I have some training in micro gravity combat from Commando training." Aeryn admitted. "It has been sometime though."

"Good enough for me." John nodded to Aeryn. "We better let the others know what's going on. Pilot you set us a schedule on what needs to be fixed."

"On it." The symbiont replied, turning his attention backed to his beloved ship.

"The others aren't going to like this, Crichton." Aeryn noted as she followed him from the Den.

*****

"Enough!" Crichton yelled, stunning his arguing shipmates into silence. "It has to be done."

"It's too dangerous, John." Zhaan protested.

"And with the Peacekeepers around..." D'Argo threw in.

"We don't even know where we are, D'Argo. How are the Peacekeepers going to know!" John cut the Luxan off.

"All the more reason we should concentrate on fixing Moya's long range sensors." Rygel noted. "What is any good fixing Moya's propulsion if we don't even know where we're going?"

Crichton closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, forcibly calming himself. He was rather surprised to see the others watching him with interest when he opened his eyes once more and released his breath in a loud sigh.

"All right, let me make this simple. Moya dies. Pilot dies. Am I making myself perfectly clear?" He asked sarcastically, noting Aeryn's amused expression.

"Then lets just take the transport pods, grab as much as we can and leave." Rygel said.

Crichton snorted and shook his head. "Well, at least you're consistent, Sparky."

"While Rygel's timing may be inappropriate we must consider the possibility of abandoning Moya, John." Zhaan noted.

"How did we get from a discussion about fixing Moya to abandoning her?" Crichton asked incredulously. "Look, Aeryn and I are going out there to see what we can do to fix the damage. We need your help in order to do that."

"I'll help you." Chiana volunteered, her bandaged and braced leg resting across the bench se sat on.

"I'm afraid you aren't in much condition to help, Chiana." Aeryn noted with a surprisingly gentle tone.

The young Nebari shrugged, cocking her head to the side. "Well, I may not be able to be out there but I can still read a console. Someone has got to help you locate the sections that need to be repaired and let you know if any changes in Moya while you're outside. Right?"

A hint of a smile flitted across Aeryn face before she nodded in agreement. "Very well."

Zhaan steeped forward. "I'm afraid I have little experience with the conditions you will be under."

"Its OK, Zhaan." John reassured her. "Could you try to come up with some anesthetic for Moya? Pilot hasn't said anything, but I'm willing to bet she's in a lot of pain right now."

"I believe I still have some chlorium sealed up in cargo bay three." Zhaan noted, hurrying from the chamber.

"So are we going to do this people?" Crichton asked, looking at the rest.

"Oh, if we must." Rygel groused as the others nodded their assent.

"Let's go." Crichton nodded towards the exit.