A 'scapering we go...

Title: The Dark
Author:   Karolyn Gray 
ScifiBB/Chat Handle: Gray3
Rating: PG-13 (language, violence)
Synopsis: Transporting aliens to a colony reveals a deadly secret.
Spoilers: None
Archiving: Yes
Disclaimers: All Farscape names, characters and other related indicia are the 
property of Jim Henson Productions, Hallmark Entertainment, Nine Networks, 
the Scifi Channel and all associated parties. No copyright infringement is 
intended.

Prologue
Zladren 3 (Sou'Kha Homeworld), Sarhan Expanse (In the Region to become known 
as the Uncharted Territories) 1165 BC (Terran) 


His blue eyes glittered coldly behind the protection of the goggles as he 
watched the dust cloud grow denser before him, obliterating the plains below. 
Unforgiving. Remorseless. Just as their enemies had been.

As the brown clouds erased his view of the plains he sighed. Gone. Just like 
his people. His family. His one love. The Hosts. Gone, and yet still there. 
Hidden within him. 

They would return. He would see to it. It would only be a matter of time. He 
and his followers had plenty of that.
 
He felt more than heard the other come stand beside him.

'She is ready?' He asked.

'Yes.' Came the response, full of an unexpected trepidation. He turned to 
take in the dark skinned female with a curious expression. Unlike himself, 
she wore nothing to protect herself against the biting dust and wind save her 
simple servant's clothes.

'You understand the risk, do you not?' The Sou'Kha known as Ter'sa Arg'ah 
asked.

'I must know that this is what must be!' He replied.

"Very well, Advarpeyn." Arg'ah spoke verbally for the first time. The Sou'Kha 
bowed her head and gestured for him to follow her into the crumbling temple.

Once inside Arg'ah quickly led him to the last undamaged chamber of the 
temple. There awaited an old woman of such age that her black skin had become 
nearly light gray and her once luminescent blue eyes were now the shade of 
sapphire. Beside her stood a young female, all of six cycles, watching 
intently with bright eyes.

"I have brought him as you directed, Zhakash." Arg'ah said.

The old woman nodded, hissing as her eyes squeezed shut as if in pain. 
Advarpeyn bowed deeply out of respect to old seeress, knowing her kind were a 
rare breed even amongst the spiritual Sou'Kha.

"Listen to this final quest I have to tell, Advarpeyn, and use it's wisdom 
well.

"I see a blue jewel in the barren sea of night, peopled by those in your 
image. From here shall come the future, awakened by the past. The avatar 
arisen once more. Though of humble lands they shall become legions unto him. 
He who once was and is again shall burn the  heavens with the truth of a 
thousand generations with the visage of one long dead. Thus begins the end 
anew."

Advarpeyn blinked once, uncertain whether the old one was finished. After a 
moments more wait in silence he nodded. He had his answer, but the meaning 
would take time to discover. Time he could no longer spend here. "Thank you."

Zhakash merely bowed her head and gestured. Advarpeyn turned to leave, 
hearing the steps of Arg'ah and the child follow him. Though he regretted it, he 
knew that the old seer would face her final moments alone. It was their way, 
the way of the Sou'Kha. They had served faithfully and would continue to do 
so.

The Treh were coming. He had to escape before he was discovered. Before their 
darkness destroyed him along with this world.

Alone, Zhakash slumped over gasping in pain. A smile came to her lips as she 
exhaled her last words. "The dark..."

_______________________________________________________________________________


Part 1

Tagget 4, Uncharted Territories. Present.

"Oh, Jeez! I'm sorry."

"Your pardon, sir. I should have watched where I was going."

John blinked, dumbfounded for a moment as the short being before him kneeled. 
By the voice the alien sounded female but John had decided long ago to never 
take anything at face value after the recent incident with Maldis. The dark 
gray cloak covering the kneeling figure revealed nothing as to gender as 
well. 

Seeing several small parcel's scattered about he quickly kneeled down to 
gather them up. "Here, let me help you get these."

After a moment he realized the being beside him had remained perfectly still 
and silent. "Hey, are you..."

"Crichton. There you are."

John looked up to find his Aeryn Sun striding towards him with a long 
suffering look to her face. Behind her D'argo and Zhaan followed. Despite 
their unreadable expressions he go the distinct impression they were annoyed 
with him as well.

"Sorry. I just had a little run in here I was taking care of." John explained 
with a quick shrug as he finished gathering the parcels and placed them in 
front of the cloaked being. He smiled slightly as he set the last package 
down. "There you go. Sorry about our accident."

"It was entirely my fault." Came the reply, spoken so softly John leaned 
forward to hear her clearly.

"Hey! What the hell..." John yanked his arm from Aeryn's grasp, surprised and 
angry that she had jerked him up like that.

"Come on." She cut him off coldly eyeing the still kneeling figure with a 
wary look. John started to appeal to D'argo and Zhaan until he noticed 
similar expressions on their faces.

"Come, John. We must go." Zhaan said softly.

John held her gaze for as long as he dared before quickly looking away from 
her and back to the alien. Curious as to the alien's subservient position he 
kneeled back down. 

When she did not move John began to worry that he had injured the alien. "Are 
you all right?"

"She'll be fine. Now come on. We don't have time to waste on this creature 
when there is barter to be done." D'argo interrupted.

"What is with you people?" John asked in exasperation.

"Crichton."

John ignored Zhaan's plea and touched the alien's shoulder to help them up. 
As soon as his fingers brushed against the rough cloth the being quickly 
gathered the packages together and turned to leave, never once looking up. He 
grabbed the alien's arm, instantly freezing her in her tracks.

He got the impression that the alien was scared of him. Slowly releasing his 
grip, he smiled reassuringly hoping this species could understand his intent. 
"Hey, I'm not going to hurt you. I just wanted to make sure you're all right."

The figure shifted slightly to face him, though he could not see it's head 
and body under the cloak. All he could see was black, frail looking hands with a
light blue vein-like patterns on the back. 

"Why? You are a Peace Keeper." The figure suddenly asked raising it's head. An 
odd, almost synthetic undertone to the words made it hard to tell a gender, 
if any, but John suddenly thought of the alien as a she.

"No." He shook his head. "My species looks like them, but we're a little 
different."

She cocked her head sideways, revealing a cobalt blue eyes that reminded John 
of a cat. John's smile grew as he saw more of the same black skin and blue 
veins that had covered her hands. Her nose twitched once before what appeared 
to be a smile crossed her face, revealing sharp teeth. "That would explain 
why you smell different."

"So I've been told." He chuckled lightly. "My name's John Crichton."

"I am called Tuzal K'ris. I am honored to be acquainted with you John 
Crichton." She bowed her head in an odd bobbing, birdlike gesture towards the 
human.

"Get away from him, Sou'Kha!" D'argo spat shocking John with the genuine 
hatred he saw in the Luxan's eyes.

Instantly K'ris backed away. "My pardon, John Crichton. I shall leave you 
now."

"Hey! Wait a minute!" He called out after her only to see her dive into a 
small stall down the way.

"Forget about her. Come on," Aeryn snapped, shooting a venomous look in the 
direction K'ris had run.

John looked at all three of them like they were insane. "What was that all 
about?"

"She is Sou'Kha. It would be best for you to stay away from them." Zhaan 
said, with a tone that was gentle and yet demanding compliance. 'Mom-mode.' 
John couldn't help but think.

"Why?" He shot back, stubbornly.

"It just simply is."

John frowned at this. Usually Zhaan didn't hesitate to answer his questions, 
even the annoying ones. What could a little girl have done to elicit such 
strong reactions? 

"That's not good enough. What's your problem with these Sou'Kha?"

"It is difficult to explain and would take too much time. They simply are 
dangerous and let us leave it at that." Zhaan replied with some annoyance.

"Why won't you tell me? I'm not some little kid that needs to be looked 
after." Crichton protested.

"Then perhaps you should stop acting like a one and take our words at face 
value." Zhaan snapped impatiently.

John's intended retort died on his lips, shocked and hurt by Zhaan's words. 
After all this time, after everything they'd been through did she really 
still see him that way? He shook his head, backing away from them. He waved 
his hands. "Fine. Fine. Whatever."

Seeing the hurt look in his eyes, she started towards him. "John, wait. I 
didn't mean it that way."

He cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Just go. Leave me alone and have 
your little barter session. OK?" With that he stalked off.

"John."

"Let him go. He will not listen to us right now." Aeryn said, a bit 
uncomfortable at having to be the one to advise the others when it came to 
Crichton. But she'd seen the look on his face at Zhaan's ill spoken words and 
knew all too well he wouldn't listen right now. He needed his 'space'.

"The others here have no reason to harm him." Aeryn pointed out at Zhaan's 
hesitant expression.

"I didn't mean to hurt his feelings like that. I was simply trying..."

"To protect him." Aeryn finished with an understanding nod. 

Somewhere along the line this human scientist from a low tech backwater 
planet had somehow come to mean a great deal to all of them. Aeryn didn't 
like to dwell to deeply on her own reasons and simply accepted it without 
much thought.

"Yes." Zhaan replied uncertainly.

"Perhaps one of us should follow him?" D'argo suggested.

"No. It would only offend him more. He is simply curious. The Sou'Kha female 
will not harm him. She seemed as curious about him as he was about her." 
Zhaan replied, sighing in resignation.

"Curiosity killed the dog." Aeryn said. She noted the other's puzzled 
expression and subtle glances at one each other and sighed.

"It's a human expression Crichton tried to explain to me." Aeryn shrugged, 
vaguely wondering when had she come to know the human so well.

"So what does it mean?" D'argo asked. "It sounds like a Luxan saying."

"I don't know. I did not see the relevance of the pack animal in relation to 
it's curiosity and impending death but I imagine it serves some sort of 
cautionary purpose." Aeryn explained quickly, feeling foolish the entire time.

"Oh." Came the Luxan's rather unimpressed reply.

--------------------------

John slowed as the stalls he passed became noticeably more dirty and ill 
kept. Much like their operators, who unlike those on the main thoroughfare, 
were silent and watched him with sharp eyed suspicion.

He had been looking for the alien he had encountered, not really sure why he 
seemed to care so much. The others hadn't. Then again, maybe it was that 
reason alone he had searched for her. They were just too jaded sometimes to 
accept anything different and new.

"I could have sworn I saw her come this way." He muttered under his breath as 
he cast a wary eye at some of the vendors. He definitely didn't like the 
looks he was receiving.

Deciding to give up his search, he turned to rejoin the others only to catch 
a flash of blue veins on a dark hand from a nearby merchant stall. Quickly 
going over to the stand, John peered into the darkened booth.

"Excuse me?"

A hooded figure approached cautiously. "Yes, Peace Keeper?"

John swallowed nervously at the hard tone. "Excuse me, I was looking for 
Tuzal K'ris."

"What has she done this time?" The cloaked figure snapped irritably, 
shrugging back their hood to reveal a hairless black face and blue cat like 
eyes. John guessed the Sou'Kha before him was male.

"Actually it was more what I did to her." John replied with a reassuring 
smile. "I accidentally bumped into her in the main square. I just wanted to 
make sure she was all right."

The Sou'Kha's face crinkled up, a look John took to mean confusion. "But you 
are a Peace Keeper?"

"Um, no. I'm not. I'm told I don't smell right." John grinned at that last 
part, earning a curling of the lip from the alien before him.

"You are not a Peace Keeper." The Sou'Kha nodded in agreement, amusement 
entering his voice. "They have no sense of humor."

"No kidding." John replied with a shrug. "Do you know Tuzal K'ris?"

"Of course. She is my granddaughter. My name is Shakna-Tuzal Kev'ran. You 
may simply call me Kev'ran if you wish." The Sou'Kha replied, bowing his 
head.

"John Crichton." John mimicked the head bow. "May I see her?"

"Be assured that she was not harmed by your encounter." Kev'ran said. "It 
will not happen again."

John did  not like the sound of those words. "You're not going to punish her, 
are you? It was my fault after all."

Kev'ran leaned forwards slightly as if sniffing the human before him. A 
curious look came onto his face. "What concern is it of yours?"

John frowned at that, but shrugged. "None, I guess. I just don't think she 
should be punished when she did nothing wrong."

Kev'ran chuckled bitterly. "But we Sou'Kha always do something wrong. We are 
to blame for everything. Is that not what everyone says?"

"I don't know. I've never met a Sou'Kha, let alone heard of you, before 
today." John admitted. "Why does everyone seem to hate you?"

Kev'ran sighed. "A tale far to long in the telling for what little time 
remains for us here."

"You're leaving the planet?" John asked.

Kev'ran nodded. "As soon as we are able to find ones willing to accept our 
kind for transport."

"You can pay?" John asked, an crazy idea entering his head.

"Of course, John Crichton." Kev'ran replied offended.

John smiled. "I *might* be able to help you there, but I'll need some more 
information, namely your destination, how many of you there are. That sort of 
thing."

"Why should I trust you?" Kev'ran asked.

"I didn't say you should. I'm just saying I might be able to help you get 
transport off world." John replied.

Kev'ran stared at Crichton for a long moment, his head tilting first one 
direction then the other. Finally he nodded. "Very well. Come. You should 
meet the others."

"And Tuzal K'ris?"

"If she is agreeable, then yes."

--------------------------

"Absolutely not!" Rygel sputtered. "They're..they're animals!"

"I must agree with Rygel on this, John. We cannot allow these people on 
Moya." Zhaan added.

"Why not?" John asked, in exasperation. "None of you have given me a straight 
answer, just insults and vague warnings. What are you afraid of?"

"It's not what we are afraid of, Crichton. It what we know about the 
Sou'Kha." D'argo grumbled.

"Then what exactly have these people done to make you guys hate them so 
much?" John asked. "Are they like contagious or something?"

"John, please. Listen to us. Forget the Sou'Kha. They are not worth your 
concern." Zhaan said.

John shook his head, "You didn't see how they live, Zhaan."

The Delvian lowered her head. "I understand your compassion for them, John. A 
part of me feels it as well." She replied sorrowfully.

"But we're just going to leave them there because they 'deserve it'?" John 
finished angrily rising from the table they sat. He shook his head in 
disgust. "I just don't get it."

"There is nothing to 'get', human. The Sou'Kha will simply have to find 
transport from someone else." D'argo replied.

John sighed in frustration. "Look, think of it as a business deal. We take a 
bunch of them to their colony world and we get a chunk of change in return. 
Simple as that."

"John..." Zhaan started to protest.

"We can confine them to the unused lower decks if you guys are so worried 
about them." John interrupted. "What do you say? Will you at least think 
about it?"

"This is very important to you?" Zhaan asked, her resolve to deny the humans 
request wavering.

"Yeah. Yeah, it is." John replied softly.

"Why?" D'argo asked suspiciously.

John turned away from them, looking up to the purplish sky. "Because maybe I 
know what it's like to be out there alone and with no way home. To be the 
outsider who gets ignored, mocked, abused and blamed for every accident 
because of where I came from. Who I am."

Zhaan, D'argo and Rygel looked at one another in alarm at his words, Acquara 
very much on everyone's minds. Even Aeryn and Chiana, who had been silently 
eating, focused their attention on the human. He turned, catching the looks 
and smiled reassuringly. "Maybe I just want to give the Sou'Kha the same 
chance I've been given."

"I think you've made your point, Crichton. We'll consider their offer." Aeryn 
Sun spoke up for the first time since the meal started. A small knowing smile 
creeping onto her face.

"That's all I'm asking."


_______________________________________________________________________________


Part 2

Moya, Two days later. Enroute to Zladren 3 (Sou'Kha), Uncharted Territories


"Crichton!"

John Crichton stepped back into the entrance of the mess hall he had just 
passed. "Yeah what's up, Aeryn?"

"Are you not going to eat?" Aeryn asked, gesturing to the others already 
gathered around the table, consuming the various delicacies they'd obtained.

John shifted, an uncomfortable look coming to his face as the others stopped 
eating to turn their attention to him. "Um. Actually the Sou'Kha invited me 
to dine with them tonight."

His words instantly brought a snort of derision from Rygel while the other's 
reaction's ranged from D'argo's concerned look to Aeryn's puzzlement to 
Chiana's indifference. Only Zhaan seemed even remotely pleased at his 
announcement.

"We really don't know much about the Sou'Kha. It might be better to avoid 
contact with them." Aeryn noted, exchanging a look with D'argo that oddly 
angered John.

"Look, I know you all have problems with these people in the past. But that 
was a long time ago. What? Some thousand years -- cycles -- ago, right?" John 
snapped.

"Yes." D'argo reluctantly answered, his voice taking on an edge.

"So, let it drop. It's not like they did anything to your people anyway." 
John retorted.

Seeing the scowl that came to D'argo's face, Zhaan quickly rose. "You are 
right, John, but I'm sure you can see that we are uncomfortable around them."

"Yeah. Yeah, I know." John replied, rubbing the back of his neck tiredly as 
he looked down. After a moment he shrugged, looking back up at them with an 
apologetic smile. "Sorry for snapping at you all like that."

Zhaan bowed her head in acceptance for all of them.

"You're sure you want to dine with them?" Aeryn asked.

"I wouldn't." Rygel muttered, earning a shove from Chiana for his trouble.

"I think it nice. They seem very interesting." Chiana piped up, earning a 
surprised look from the others. "What?" She asked defensively.

John could tell the others were thinking the young Nebari was merely 
wondering what she could steal from their guests. They didn't see the genuine 
spark of curiosity in her eyes that he did. 

"Care to join me, pip?" He asked with a grin that faded somewhat at a 
glowering look from Aeryn. 'Good job, John. Just what you need right now, a 
jealous Peace Keeper!'

The Nebari also caught the look and shook her head. "Maybe another time."

Shrugging, John turned waving his arm as he left the chamber. "Catch ya on 
the flip side."

"Flip side?" Aeryn repeated, earning equally puzzled expressions from the 
others as they turned back to their meal.

-------------

2 Arns Later.

"That was delicious. My compliments to the chef." John said with a grin, 
earning a soft chuckle from the Sou'Kha around him.

"I'm pleased that this is so, John Crichton." Kev'ran replied. "It was the 
least we could do for the one who has provided us with our way home."

John blushed in embarrassment as the other nodded and purred their assent, 
reminding him very much of cats. He shrugged. "Well the others has to agree 
to this so..."

"You are too modest, John Crichton." An old Sou'Kha named Ter'sa Arg'ah 
spoke, her voice carrying despite her soft manner. "The Sou'Kha shall 
remember you and your ship well, human."

"Thank you." John replied humbly.

John barely stifled a yawn, the days unloading of the Sou'Kha's possessions and 
the fine meal making him very much aware how tired he was. He slowly rose 
from the soft pillow he had been kneeling on bowing his head to Kev'ran and 
the other elder Sou'Kha. "I do not wish to sound rude, but I think I should 
get some rest."

The Sou'Kha as a whole rose, John marveling at the lithe grace of even the 
most elderly of their kind. "Of course, John Crichton. We should have been 
more attentive to your needs. Forgive us?" Kev'ran said apologetically.

John waved his hands. "No problem. The food was excellent, as was the 
company. That's all I could ask for."

Kev'ran smiled, obviously pleased by the human's words. "Then may your dreams 
be peaceful."

"And yours." John replied, turning to leave when he felt a gentle touch on 
his arm. Turning back he saw K'ris smiling shyly up at him.

"Yes, K'ris?" He asked, noting her pleased look at using her given name.

"Will you continue the stories tomorrow? The ones about Earth?" She asked, 
practically jumping up and down in enthusiasm.

John grinned, recalling the exchange of stories and information between 
himself and the Sou'Kha over their meal. "Of course I will. But you have to 
tell me stories in return, remember?"

"OK." She replied, using a phrase she had learned from the human, before 
running off to join a nearby cluster of children. John couldn't help but grin 
as he watched them for a moment, lost in his own thoughts.

"May I join you?"

John blinked, turning to find Ter'sa Arg'ah standing beside him. She watched 
him with an amused glint to her bright blue eyes. John noticed that her skin 
was dark gray, not like the deep black of most of the Sou'Kha, making the 
blue vein-like patterns on her face barely noticeable. Realizing he was 
staring, he quickly looked elsewhere, hoping he hadn't offended the old 
Sou'Kha. "Of course, though my quarters are a few tiers up."

"Your generous lodgings provided are on the way." Arg'ah replied, falling 
into step beside the human as he exited the chamber.

For several minutes neither spoke as they walked the winding halls of Moya. 
He knew he should be wary but John felt unusually calm around Arg'ah since 
the moment he had met her. 

He still had a hard time wrapping his mind around the fact that she was over 
three thousand years old but some how that didn't bother him. If anything it 
intrigued him. She had seen the dying days of the Sou'Kha's power. He 
couldn't even imagine what it must have been like. So many deaths. So much 
destruction. And all of it because of an evil race whose name had been 
forgotten to time itself.

"John Crichton, I believe I can trust you." Arg'ah spoke, bringing her 
companion to a halt.

"Trust me?" John asked in confusion.

Arg'ah peered at him closely, as if looking for something. After a moment she 
nodded as if satisfied. "Someone must know what happened. The truth must be 
passed on before I depart this plane."

"Wait. Are you ill? I can have Zha--"

Arg'ah gripped his arms tightly. "Listen to me, John Crichton. Listen to what 
I have to tell you with an open mind. Then you shall understand. Will you do 
this?"

John frowned in puzzlement, but nodded in spite of the reservations he felt. 
"Um Yeah. OK."

"It began with Advarpeyn."

-------------

"We should take this ship. It would be a simple thing." One hissed.

"No!" Kev'ran growled. "John Crichton has shown us a kindness we have not 
experienced for centuries. I will not return such generosity with bloodshed. 
We would be nothing more than what the others claims us to be if we followed 
that path."

"They think we are animals anyway!" The first protested.

"And yet this human convinced them to transport us, even with the protests 
the Hynerian and Luxan surely put up to sway Crichton against us." Kev'ran 
replied.

"Tuzal Kev'ran is correct. Besides, we are nearly home. Why create problems 
where none exist?" Another noted, earning murmurs of agreement.

"Then let us speak no further on this matter." Kev'ran announced.

The first one frowned but silently acknowledged the directive without further 
argument.

-------------

"Zhaan! Zhaan come quick! Something's wrong with one of the Sou'Kha. Tier 20, 
near the central chamber."

Zhaan was jolted out of her mediation by the panicked voice of John Crichton. 
In moments she was clothed and on her way. Half way to the location she was 
joined by Aeryn and D'argo, both armed.

Turning the final corner to Tier 20 revealed a pale and obviously shaken John 
Crichton cradling a frail looking elderly Sou'Kha. Frowning, Aeryn suddenly 
went the opposite direction towards the living quarters of the other Sou'Kha.

John quickly moved aside as Zhaan began her examination, shooting D'argo a 
look that actually brought some sympathy to the large Luxan's face for both 
the human and the old Sou'Kha female.

After a moment, Zhaan's shoulders slumped in defeat. She silently brought her 
hands together and gestured before looking up to John's pleading eyes. 

'Such an innocent.' She couldn't help think as she shook her head. "I'm 
sorry, John."

The look of loss on the John's face brought a wave of to Zhaan. 

"B-but she...we..we we're just talking...and..." John shook his head in 
disbelief. "S-she just... stopped."

Zhaan was about to reassure the human when Aeryn returned followed by Kev'ran 
and several other Sou'Kha, including a young Sou'Kha Zhaan recognized as 
Kev'ran's granddaughter. She rose, bowing her head regretfully to the new 
arrivals. "I'm afraid it is too late."

"She is dead?" Kev'ran asked, observing the body closely, before turning his 
attention back to the Delvian, who merely nodded in reply. Noticing John 
Crichton leaned up against the wall. "How did it happen?"

John just blinked before swallowing and shaking his head as if to wake 
himself from a bad dream. He met Kev'ran's eyes with a saddened expression. 
"We were walking. She was telling me some more stories of your people. She 
just suddenly...stopped. One minute she was fine, the next....." John held 
his arms away from him, shrugging helplessly. "I'm sorry."

Kev'ran nodded once. "It is not your fault, John Crichton. We should have 
expected this. Arg'ah was very old. I should not have allowed her to remain 
unattended despite her protestations."

The Sou'Kha looked at the others with a somewhat shame faced look. "You will 
understand that we must ask you to leave us now. Our...burial rituals...are 
not for outsiders."

"Of course." Zhaan replied. "Our condolences on your loss."

Realizing John had made no move to follow her and the others Zhaan quickly 
grasped his arm and guided him down the passageway, stopping once as the 
young Sou'Kha she noticed earlier brushed her hand against Crichton's arm as 
he passed with a sympathetic look. 

In that brief pause Zhaan stared at the child and felt something brush her 
mind for the barest of moments. Something compassionate, understanding. 
Shrugging Zhaan continued on with Crichton in tow reasoning that she was 
simply picking up on John's empathy. She had not been the only one to notice 
the growing friendship between the young Sou'Kha and human.

When they had reached the next tier, Zhaan glanced at Crichton out of the 
corner of her eye. She noted he seemed pale and withdrawn, perhaps even a 
little ill looking. Not surprising she supposed given the sudden shock of the 
night's events.

"Will you be all right, John?" Zhaan asked as she released her hold on his 
arm.

John's head snapped up, as coming out of a daze. "What?" 

Zhaan noted the exchange of concerned looks between D'argo and Aeryn, but 
drew no attention to them as she repeated her question. "Will you be all 
right?"

John nodded slowly, wincing in obvious as he rubbed his temple. "Yeah. I'm 
just tired."

"You are in pain." Zhaan stated.

"It's nothing. Just a headache." John waved her off. "A little sleep should 
take care of it."

"Well, then, I'll take you back to you quarters." Aeryn interrupted before 
Zhaan could offer to help.

"I can take care of myself, Aeryn!" John snapped, surprising even himself at the 
bitterness there. He saw the brief flare of hurt and anger in Aeryn's eyes. 
Gesturing apologetically, John sighed. "I-I'm sorry. I must be more tired 
than I thought."

Aeryn merely nodded once, her face an emotionless mask. 'Great job, John. You 
encourage her to be more compassionate and then snap at her like a rabid dog when 
she does. Now she's pissed off.' He thought as he started down the hallway to 
his quarters, Aeryn silently treading along beside him.

"Get some rest, Crichton." Aeryn said a few minutes later as they arrived at 
John's quarters. With that she turned to leave, stopping to fix a pointed 
look at John when he called her name.

He shifted from foot to the other nervously. "I'm sorry about what I said. I 
know you meant well."

Aeryn's brow furrowed in confusion. "You already apologized for that."

"Yeah, but you still seem pissed off." John replied.

"Pissed...?"

"Angry at me." John explained. "You seemed distracted on the way back. I just 
want to make sure everything's OK between us."

The edges of her lips curled up into a hint of a smile as understanding 
dawned. "I'm not angry with you. I'm just concerned about the Sou'Kha's 
death."

"Me too." John replied softly.

Aeryn noted his fatigued expression and gently pushed him into his quarters. 
"Good night, John. Try to get some rest." She said as she tapped the release 
to shut the door.

"I will." John murmured as he watched her walk down the passageway.


_______________________________________________________________________________


Part 3

Moya, Enroute to Zladren 3 (Sou'Kha), Uncharted Territories

It was dark. Dark enough that he could barely make out where he was.
He was running, breath coming in short bursts that only added to the pain in 
his side. He stumbled, skidding several feet on the smooth floor, before 
regaining his footing. Hearing his pursuers nearby, he sprinted down the 
corridor.

Glancing back once, he ran into something. Felt hands grab him and force him 
to the ground, trying to hold him still. He lashed out but it was useless. He 
couldn't move.

'Don't worry. It will all be over soon.' A voice told him. One he recognized 
and yet did not.

He saw the hypodermic and struggled harder, knowing that it would harm him. 
He managed to get an arm free, but only for a moment. He felt his head jerked 
to the side. The hypodermic descended.

'No!'

-----------

John woke up screaming, blindly struggling against whatever held his arms.

"Crichton! Crichton, wake up!"

John instantly stopped struggling as the faceless attackers of his dream 
melted away to reveal the worried face of Aeryn Sun. "Aeryn? What...?" He 
gasped out, panting as if he'd just run a marathon.

She firmly kept him pinned to his bed, watching him closely. "You were 
dreaming, Crichton."

"Dreaming?" He repeated, relaxing as the terror he had felt rapidly faded. He 
couldn't even remember what it was that had frightened him so.

Immediately noticing his tension dissipate, Aeryn let him go and stood up. 
She looked him over carefully, noting he seemed unusually pale and sweaty. 
She remembered he had felt feverish as well when she had tried to stop his 
wild thrashing. "I came to check on you when you didn't show up for the 
morning meal. When I arrived here, you were screaming."

"Nightmare." John muttered, closing his eyes. 

"I think I should call Zhaan. You do not look well." Aeryn said.

John quickly sat up, ignoring the slight dizziness the swept over him. "No. 
I'm fine. It was just a nightmare, Aeryn."

"You seem to have a fever." Aeryn pointed out.

"I said no." John replied forcefully, surprising Aeryn with the flash of 
anger she saw in his eyes.

Aeryn looked at him for a moment deciding what to do. Seeing the stubborn set 
to his jaw, she sighed in resignation. Shrugging she turned away. "Fine. But 
you had better get down to breakfast soon before the others decide to come 
here on their own." With that she departed his quarters.

-----------

"I sense there is something more to this than we've been led to believe." 
D'argo was saying.

"She was an extremely old woman, D'argo. As far as I could tell she died of 
natural causes." Zhaan replied, taking a sip of tea. "Besides, why would John 
lie about what happened?"

"From what you've all said it sounds like he was pretty shaken up by the 
whole thing." Chiana chimed in to support Zhaan.

"I'm not questioning Crichton." The Luxan grumbled.

"Yes, yes. We know." Rygel waved dismissively. "She was old. She died. Let us 
concentrate on more pressing matters like getting these creatures off Moya as 
soon as possible."

"On that I am in complete agreement." D'argo nodded.

"Complete agreement about what?" Aeryn asked as she entered the chamber. 
Though normal sounding enough, the others heard an under lying tone of anger 
there.

"Getting the Sou'Kha off Moya." Zhaan supplied, earning an agreeing humph 
from the former Peace Keeper as she sat down.

"You agree with D'argo and Rygel?" Zhaan asked in surprise. Out of all of 
them Aeryn had taken no stance one way or the other towards the Sou'Kha when 
they had discussed the issue. She had, in fact, made the deciding vote to 
allow them passage aboard Moya.

Aeryn shrugged. "It makes no difference to me so long as our normal routine 
is not disrupted."

"Too late for that." Rygel grumbled.

Zhaan shook her head in exasperation and turned her attention back to Aeryn. 
"Where's John?"

"Crichton will be here shortly." Came the clipped reply.

"Something is troubling you, Aeryn. What is it?" Zhaan prodded gently. For a 
moment she thought she had pressed too hard as the sebacean's blue eyes 
locked with her own.

"Crichton is acting strange." Was all Aeryn said as she pointedly turned her 
attention to the food before her.

"Crichton is..."

"Shut up, toad-boy." Chiana shushed the Hynerian to silence, ignoring the 
glare she got in return.

"He looked pale and it felt like he had a fever." Aeryn said, not seeing the 
small little grin that came to Chiana's face. A look from Zhaan silenced the 
Nebari before she could make some ill-timed, and quite probably rude, remark. 
"He didn't want me to say anything." Aeryn finished.

"You were right to tell us, of course. He may be having a reaction to the 
Sou'Kha's food." Zhaan noted. "I'll check on him later."

"Zhaan..." The Delvian's eyes widened in surprise at the concern she heard 
there and the look on the former Peace Keeper's face. A look that suggested 
fear. From Aeryn?

"What is it?"

"Just..." Aeryn saw Crichton's form enter the chamber out of the corner of 
her eye. "...be careful." She finished softly.

"Morning, happy campers!" John's voice boomed, overly cheerful. That alone 
caught the attention of the others after the previous night's events. 

"Good morning, John." Zhaan smiled, hiding her concern as she noted that he 
did seem unusually pale. "How was your sleep?"

"Great. Never better." The human replied as he sat down and dug into the food 
before him. 

Aeryn frowned slightly at that but remained silent on the matter. "So what's 
scheduled for today?" She asked instead.

"I figure most of the day will be taken up preparing the Sou'Kha's cargo for 
transport when we reach Zladren 3." John replied.

"Good. The quicker they debark the happier I'll be." Rygel remarked. "I don't 
know what we were thinking allowing them onboard."

"Like I really care what you think, you frelling slug." John snapped.

Rygel merely blinked, too stunned to retort. The others also froze, surprised 
at the outburst from the human. None the usual bantering, lighthearted tone 
the human often used was present.

"Excuse me, are we interrupting? We could come back later."

John quickly rose, the anger on his face instantly replaced with a welcoming 
smile for Kev'ran and K'ris. "Oh, it's nothing. Just a little spat. No biggie."

Kev'ran smiled in puzzlement, noting the odd looks the other crew members of 
Moya exchanged. "As you say, John Crichton."

"We were going to start early on loading the supplies, if that's ...OK?" 
K'ris spoke up, grinning at the human.

John smiled. "No problem. Let's go."

"But your morning meal?" Kev'ran noted.

"I believe we're finished." John replied with an unreadable expression on his 
face. "Come on."


-----------

She grinned to herself, enjoying the vibrancy as they spoke. A new rich 
harmonic that had not been there before, light, playful, optimistic  and 
innocent. Hope.

'Are you well?'

'Integration is nearly complete. Fear not, little one.'

'I can't help it. You're my friends.'

'We thank you for your kindness.'

'How will you convince the others to let us stay?'

'It will be difficult, but not impossible. They are more compassionate and 
understanding than they realize.'

A darkness nibbled at the edge of their thoughts. Angry discordance.

'They know.' She blinked in surprise.

'Go little one. Tell the others of our success.'

'But the dark...'

'Go! We will take care of them. It'll be a piece of cake'

'But...' 

'Go! Now! Tell them. We live again. The Host is safe.'


-----------

He approached the human quietly, his steps light and graceful. A sneer came 
to his face as he watched Kev'ran's only granddaughter, K'ris, laugh at 
something the pale alien had said and run off.

'Good. We are alone. Now to complete the task.'

He rushed the human, grabbing him from behind and slamming him painfully into 
the wall. Spinning the stunned human around, he quickly buried the injector 
into the alien's neck and depressed the button.

John Crichton's eyes fluttered for several moments, before snapping open with 
a harsh glare.

'Mersak Fu'rel.'

The Sou'Kha instantly released the human as he heard the voice in his mind. A 
voice he recognized. Backing away in fear he saw the human give him a feral 
grin.

'Did you think it would be so easy?'

"It can't be you. You're dead. I saw..." Fu'rel whispered hoarsely, feeling 
the darkness encroaching on him.

"You saw what we wanted you to see"/'You saw what we wanted you to see' The 
alien/Sarhan replied/thought.

"No."/'No.' 

"The Host lives."/'The Host lives.'

Fu'rel tried to scream but the human's hand clamped onto his neck cutting of 
his vocal chords. He could only watch in horror as the dark surrounded him, 
his mind clouding.

-----------

D'argo wrinkled his nose at the smell of the Sou'Kha's blood, grimacing at 
the sight before him. He had seen death before but this seemed....evil 
somehow.

"There's no sign of Crichton anywhere." Aeryn said as she trotted back from 
her quick survey of the cargo bay.

Zhaan closed her medical chest and nodded to two nearby Sou'Kha. Instantly 
they covered the body, removing the gruesome sight from view.

"What killed him?" Kev'ran asked.

"It appears something tore him apart. The greatest trauma was to the upper 
torso." Zhaan replied calmly.

"Any idea as to the weapon?" D'argo asked.

"There is no weapon I'm aware of that would do something like that." Zhaan 
admitted. "Aeryn?"

"It does not look familiar." The Peace Keeper replied coolly, glancing at 
several of the vents along the wall. "We had better find Crichton. If he's 
not here, that means he may have escaped and knows who did this."

"Or he was killed and his body disposed of before we arrived." D'argo noted 
grimly.

Aeryn stiffened at that, but nodded in agreement to the observation. "Then 
finding his body may reveal the information we need to track the killer as 
well."

"If there is anything you need from me, please ask. I do not relish the 
thought that one of my people could have done this." Kev'ran said.

"For now, keep your people contained to your assigned tier." D'argo ordered. 
"We'll find who did this one way or another."

Moya lurched suddenly, sending Kev'ran and the other Sou'Kha flying into the 
crates. The crew of Moya, used to these sudden changes since Moya's 
pregnancy, easily retained their footing.

"Pilot?" Zhaan called.

"My apologies, Zhaan. There appears to be some unusual readings from Moya's 
systems." Pilot reported.

The lights flickered and dimmed.

"Something's wrong with the flow regulators." Aeryn murmured, earning a 
confused look from D'argo.

"There appears to be an irregularity in the power flow regulators for that 
level. It is also affecting comms in and around that tier." Pilot reported. 
"I have sent the DRDs to correct the malfunction."

"Thank you, Pilot. Your efforts are appreciated." Zhaan replied, turning back 
to the others.

"Let's find the murderer before anything else goes wrong." Aeryn said.

-----------

"We must do this."

"But Kev'ran.."

"Frell Kev'ran. You know your duty."

"But the Sarhan are no more."

"Then what killed Fu'rel? You saw the marks!"

A long pause arose. "Then the human-Sarhan must be killed."

"There is a chance the darshan treatment may work for him."

"No sebacean as have survived the darshan."

"But he isn't sebacean. Perhaps he would survive."

"Very well. But irregardless of the human, the Sarhan must not continue."

"Agreed."


_______________________________________________________________________________


Part 4


"Guys? This ain't funny anymore!" John Crichton called out nervously flicking 
his eyes between the two corridors that intersected the one he had been 
walking down. 

He waited a moment, listening carefully in the hope of hearing something. But 
as before, there was nothing but the muted background hum of Moya herself.

"This can't be good." He muttered to himself softly for the hundredth time 
since he had awaken alone in the cargo bay.

'God, I feel like crap.'

He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ignore the aches he felt throughout 
his body and the head ache he had awakened with. A head ache that seemed to 
be growing worse with each passing minute. And to top it off he could feel 
the heat from his skin indicating he had a mild fever.

'Great, Just what I need.' He thought glumly as he looked downed the two 
corridors, not liking the fact that the low lighting made both choices seem 
dark and forbidding. Just looking at them raised the hairs on the back of his 
neck.

"This is just too creepy."

'Get real, John.' He berated himself, starting down the right hand corridor. 
He'd check in with Pilot first before heading to command. All these system 
failures were probably just another symptom of Moya's pregnancy.

'Yeah. Keep telling yourself that and you might  even believe it.'

Moments later he walked into Pilot's den, breathing out a sigh of relief at 
the sight of the alien's back towards the entrance.

"Yo, Pilot. What's up with the....?" His voice trailed off as he realized 
Pilot was not moving. Not even the slightest twitch of his lobster claw like 
hands. The den was dimly lit, none of the controls glowing as they normally 
did.

"Pilot?" He called softly, reaching out to touch the slightly rough textured 
skin.

Then the smell hit him. So strong and unexpected that John didn't even try to 
hold down his lunch. Once finished wiped his mouth, swallowing once to be 
sure his stomach had settled enough. 

Opening his eyes, he saw a strange purple and blue mottled object jagged at 
one end. Dark fluid spattered the floor beside the object. It took John a 
full second to realize he was looking at one of Pilot's arms.

"What the...."

A soft scraping noise drew his attention to Pilot's den. Malicious eyes 
greeted his own as he saw the others. And the blood.

John scrambled back as the familiar shadows approached. Feeling a touch on 
his arm he turned, sighing in relief. "Aeryn, we gotta get out of here. They 
killed..."

"I know." Aeryn smiled gently brandishing the weapon in her hand. Her combat 
knife covered in Pilot's blood.

"My God, Aeryn..."

"It was quite easy really." Aeryn giggled and held her open blood stained 
hand to him. "You'll see. Join us."

"No!" John backed away from her, as a pouting look came to her face.

"But you promised you'd never leave me, John."

"You're not, Aeryn." John hissed, seeing the others now stood beside her, 
their weapons stained. "You're not real. None of you are."

"You promised." Aeryn said stalking forward.

John turned to run, feeling the others shove him to the floor. He started 
screaming as darkness enveloped him.

----------------

"Zhaan, have you located Crichton yet?" Aeryn Sun asked, locking her pistol 
into her leg holster.

"No, I have not."  Zhaan informed the others. "Perhaps he has returned to his 
quarters."

Aeryn shook her head. "I checked on my way here. He's not there."

"I knew it was a bad idea to bring those Sou'Kha aboard." D'argo growled. 
"First the deaths, then the lighting and now the comms seem to be 
malfunctioning."

"D'argo, we cannot assume that they are responsible for the system 
malfunctions or Crichton's disappearance." Zhaan admonished the large 
warrior. "Kev'ran's people have been quite peaceable on this journey."

"But given the Sou'Kha's history we can not ignore the fact we have two dead 
people on the same tier Crichton has disappeared on." Aeryn pointed out. 
Hefting her pulse rifle, she headed towards the corridor. "I, for one, intend 
to find out what is going on. Coming D'argo?"

"Aeryn is right. Check on Pilot. We shall continue to look for Crichton. None 
of this can be a coincidence." D'argo stated with a certainty that surprised 
Zhaan. 

Zhaan nodded her head in acquiescence. "Very well."

----------------

It was dark and cold. So cold. He tried not to shiver. An occasional shudder 
still ripple through his frame despite his best efforts. He wouldn't let them 
catch him, hurt him, kill him. Not like before. Not again. Never again.

He remembered what they did. To Pilot. To him. To each other. The blood. So 
much blood. And the laughter that had driven him here to the dark where he 
couldn't see them. And they couldn't see him.

But he could hear them. Feel them nearby. Hunting him.

He gripped the weapon in his hands tightly, ignoring the sticky feel of 
fluids on his hand. The hunted had become the hunter. Survival depended upon 
it. It was all that mattered.

A shift in the dark. Blackness becoming gray with the light from the now 
opened door. A shadow figure loomed large at the entrance. He moved, 
tightening his grip as he stalked his prey. Another of the Treh would soon 
perish.

'The Host will continue.'

----------------


"Have you had any success in locating John Crichton?" Kev'ran asked as soon 
as Zhaan entered his quarters.

"I am afraid we have not." The Delvian replied softly. 

"Have you come to ask for assistance in your search?" Kev'ran asked. "We 
would be most pleased to help in anyway possible."

Zhaan nodded her head gracefully. "I have come here not for your help, but 
for information."

"Information?" Kev'ran asked in a far too casual tone for Zhaan's comfort.

"I believe you know who killed the man we found in the cargo bay." Zhaan 
stated simply.

Kev'ran laughed nervously. "Ridiculous. I am as unaware of the murderers 
identity as you!"

"But you have your suspicions?" Zhaan prompted.

Kev'ran frowned. "I do not appreciate your unsubstantiated accusations."

"And I can assure you that myself and my fellow crew members do not 
appreciate being lied too." Zhaan retorted. "You know something about the 
murder. Something you have not told us."

Kev'ran swallowed after a long pause. "Yes."

"You have seen this before?"

"Once, when I was young." Kev'ran admitted reluctantly. He looked at Zhaan 
carefully. "How much do you know about the Sarhan?"

Zhaan cocked her head sideways with a puzzled look. "Not much other than 
stories. They were a race that dominated much of this sector of space about 
three thousand cycles ago. They were said to be cruel beings and were hunted 
to extinction."

"Essentially correct." Kev'ran nodded.  He sighed softly. "The Sou'Kha were 
the only race that served the Sarhan to escape the exterminations. We were 
left as a warning, I suppose. A reminder of the past."

Zhaan silently acknowledged the bitter truth she heard in the alien's voice.  
A race condemned to constant hostility and threat for something so long past 
it had become mere tale used to frighten children. She was ashamed that she, 
along with so many, had continued this tradition.

"But not all the Sarhan died. Twelve hundred Hosts escaped the slaughter with 
my people. Over the centuries since they relentlessly searched for a world, a 
people from our prophecies. Searched even when it was not safe to do so."

Kev'ran's face contorted in rage. "They searched while thousands of Sou'Kha 
died with each passing cycle from the hunters, the famines, the diseases. 
Searched until on a few hundred Host remained. The Sou'Kha finally realized 
what needed to be done."

"What happened?" Zhaan asked, already dreading the answer she would here.

"We learned that the Sarhan decide to live once more by taking over the 
Sou'Kha. We were loyal and they wanted to repay us with slavery! To control 
our minds and bodies for their own petty wars." Kev'ran said. He smiled as he 
paused. "We killed them all. Hunted them down over the cycles until none 
remained. I was there for the last hunt, twenty seven cycles ago. When the 
worst of the lot was finally killed, the Sarhan who styled itself Advarpeyn."

"You slaughtered them all?" Zhaan asked, stunned the Kev'ran readily admitted 
such a thing. And seemed pleased about it.

"Every last one." Kev'ran replied smugly.

"But you now think one is aboard this vessel?" Zhaan asked.

Kev'ran's smile faltered. "Occasionally we hear rumors of one being found. 
But as I said there has been no sightings since Advarpeyn."

"Until now." Zhaan corrected.

"As you say."

"How dangerous are these Sarhan?"

"After they take over their 'hosts' they will do whatever is necessary to 
survive. They will kill anyone who gets in their way." Kev'ran warned. 
"Anyone."

"Is there a way to remove the creatures from the host without killing the 
body?" Zhaan asked.

"It depends on the species, but we've developed a serum to force the Sarhan 
out of its host body. Sometime the victim survives unscathed and unaware of 
what happened, but usually there is some residual effect from the 
possession." Kev'ran explained.

"Is there any of this serum with your people?"

"Yes." Kev'ran replied slowly.

"The please give us the serum." Zhaan ordered gently.

"It will not do any good. The Sarhan will not allow you to get close enough 
to inject its host. It will kill whoever it inhabits out of spite once it 
realizes what is happening." Kev'ran protested.

"Then there is no harm in trying, is there?" Zhaan countered.

----------------


"D'argo, ha-... ound...--thi--...tier." 

D'argo winced at the static and strange echoes from his comm, barely 
recognizing Aeryn Sun's voice. "What was that, Aeryn?"

"Mov..ent...our tier..."

D'argo hissed in frustration as the comms cut out all together. "Aeryn?"

'Movement on this tier?' He suspected as much by the light scent he had 
picked up. Definitely Crichton, but there was an under scent. One he had only 
detected amongst the Sou'Kha.

'What is one of *those* Hezmana bound people doing on this tier?'

He inhaled deeply, nodding as the scent seemed to be stronger from the 
maintenance tunnel, noting the hatch was slightly ajar. He almost called out 
until he smelled the other scent, even stronger than before. A Sou'Kha.

"Aeryn, I believe I've found Crichton." He spoke into the comm, not surprised 
in he least to receive no acknowledgment in return. D'argo drew his qualta 
blade and pushed the hatch open completely, peering carefully into the pitch 
black. 

He stepped into the darkness, internally cursing that even the emergency 
lighting was out in this section. He stopped every few steps, scenting the 
air.

He heard a soft scrape and a moan. "Crichton?" He called softly, knowing it 
was probably a foolish thing to do but seeing no alternative. If it was the 
human, Crichton would respond. If not, then he knew it was the Sou'Kha.

He heard it again to his left, softer but definitely Crichton. He turned to 
go that direction.

Suddenly a shadowy figure slammed into him. A flash of pain as something cut 
into his arm. Growling in surprise he easily pushed his attacker away. He 
swung his blade, feeling it connect with flesh accompanied by  soft gasp. The 
figure slipped to the floor remaining motionless.

"D'argo! D'argo where are you?"

The Luxan wrinkled his nose involuntarily of the Sou'Kha blood as he turned 
to see the former Peace Keepers shadowed form a few hentas away at the 
chambers opening. "Aeryn, in here. I've found Cri-..."

He heard something cutting through the air, but could do nothing as he was 
struck solidly in the back of the head with something heavy. He dropped to 
his knees, his sword clattering noisily to the floor. Another blow drew a 
growl as it drove him into a crouch.

"D'argo?" Aeryn swung her pulse rifle into the opening, it's forward mounted 
light cutting through the darkness. Catching a glimpse of movement above the 
kneeling Luxan she fired. A small explosion, then silent darkness again.

"Pilot. Can you get the emergency lighting back on!"

"Working on it."

"Pilot, now!" Aeryn demanded , sweeping her light back forth, trying to keep 
D'argo in view. She could see a trickle of black from this head easily 
enough. A moment later the lights rose to reveal a Sou'Kha brandishing a 
metal pipe behind D'argo. Without a second thought Aeryn fired again.

The Sou'Kha screamed as the blast threw him back into a bulkhead where he 
slid to the floor. Seeing no further movement, Aeryn rushed to D'argo, who 
was holding his head.

Seeing her look, he waved it off. "I'm find. Crichton..."

A almost inaudible gurgle drew their attention to the far wall. Crichton was 
half curled up, a grimace of pain on his pale, sweat sheened face. They 
rushed over to the human, D'argo turning him over only to have Crichton swing 
wildly at him, actually forcing the Luxan to back off for a moment. More out 
of surprise than anything else.

"No, no, no, no. Please...no." He begged in a whisper of a voice. The human's 
unfocused eyes were full of fear as he scooted away into the corner. "The 
dark..."

D'argo moved forward only to have Aeryn pull him to stop as the human visibly 
winced. "Wait a moment, D'argo. Let me try."

The Luxan nodded slowly, taking the pulse rifle as she slipped it from her 
shoulder and kneeled down.

"John." She called softly.

D'argo was surprised that it only took a second call to gain the human's 
attention.

"Aer...yn?"

Aeryn put on her best reassuring smile. "Yes, John. It's all right."

"Dark. Hurts."

"I know." She said soothingly as she scooted towards him. "I know, but we're 
here now."

"Killed...you." John gasped out, moaning as he seemed to start convulsing. 
"D-dark..."

"I know, but everything's will be all right now. Trust me." Aeryn reassured 
him. "No one will harm you."

The human was crying when Aeryn touched his shoulder. He tried to jerk away, 
but Aeryn was quicker grabbing him firmly and holding him as he screamed and 
struggled against her. D'argo quickly rushed in and pinned his thrashing legs 
as Aeryn spoke to him, reassuring him he was safe.

After a what seemed an eternity Crichton relaxed a little, staring at the 
ceiling as the tears kept flowing, his breath coming in gasps. "Please make 
it stop. Make the dark go away." He whispered.

"We will, John. We will." She promised, surprised at the determination in her 
 voice as she ran a soothing hand across his too hot brow. 

His eyes drooped low at that, his body relaxing further. "Promise?"

"I promise." She repeated as he fell unconscious.

"*We* promise." The Luxan amended, nodding grimly at the look Aeryn gave him.


_______________________________________________________________________________


Part 5

The light from the scanning device added an odd caste to the sleeping human's 
features. Satisfied at what she saw on a nearby screen, Zhaan nodded to 
herself.

"How is he?"

Zhaan glanced up at D'argo's words, noting the concern in his eyes. 
"Surprisingly well, considering what's happened to him." Zhaan replied, 
touching John's brow with the palm of her hand. "His fever has dissipated, 
though I am not sure why."

A sound at the door drew their attention to a tired looking Aeryn Sun. 
Alongside her stood an obviously angry Kev'ran.

"Is it still in him?" Aeryn asked grimly.

"That is what I was about to ascertain." Zhaan replied, making an adjustment 
to the scanner as she turned back to the sleeping human.

"If the Sarhan is still present, you must kill it." Kev'ran warned, earning a 
baleful look from Aeryn.

"If it is still within him, *we* will decide where to proceed." Aeryn said 
icily.

The Sou'Kha bowed his head with a smile that was anything but sincere. "Of 
course."

Zhaan eyed the Sou'Kha, her own suspicions growing about the man, before 
focusing her attention on Crichton. Carefully scanning the human from head to 
toe she kept her eyes focused on the screens.

After a few moments study she focused the image on the human's torso, barely 
suppressing a gasp as she noted the strange creature attached to the human's 
lower spine. Two large tendrils twined their way up the spine to the human's  
neck and skull, while several smaller ones seemed to attach themselves to the 
human's cardiopulmonary system and digestive tract.

"It is a Sarhan." Kev'ran stated. "We must kill it now."

Zhaan lifted the injector the Sou'Kha had given her shortly before Crichton 
had been found, the purplish viscous fluid inside sloshing. "Is there 
anything more we need to know?"

"The Sarhan react violently to the darshan. It's connection with the host's 
mind must be severed first or it will use the host's body to attack those 
that threaten it." Kev'ran replied.

"Since there doesn't seem to be much difference between our species you'll 
want to inject it here, at the jugular." Aeryn gestured to the side of her 
neck. Zhaan merely nodded and leaned over the human.

A flash of blue eyes shocked Zhaan. She stepped back with a gasp as Crichton 
grasped her wrist in a surprisingly strong grip and twisted it violently, 
actually making her drop the syringe as he pushed her away.

"Crichton."

John finished sliding off the bed turning to see Aeryn had her pistol aimed 
at him. "Don't move."

A small smile came to John's face. "Aeryn, you wouldn't shoot your only 
Erp-man, right?" The phrase brought a confused look to the Peace Keeper's face.

"You certainly sound like Crichton." She replied, her weapon never once 
wavering despite the turmoil she felt.

"That's what the Sarhan do, Sun." Kev'ran warned. "No more games, Sarhan!"

The smile was instantly gone and Zhaan backed away at the new presence she 
felt join John Crichton's own. Powerful. Old.

"Who are you?" The Delvian asked.

The human's blue eyes fixed on her, an alienness that was not Crichton's 
unique being hidden therein. "We are Advarpeyn, Host of the Tredek Prime. We 
mean you and your compliment no harm."

"Where's Crichton?" D'argo demanded.

"We are here." The human replied. "We're OK, big guy."

"There is nothing...Oh-Kay...about this. Why did you seize control of him?" 
D'argo growled. When the human merely smiled in amusement, the Luxan growled. 
"Answer or I shall kill you to free Crichton."

"We did not merge unwillingly. The fusion was consensual." Came the calm 
reply.

"Consensual? You mean John allowed you to take over his body?" Zhaan asked in 
disbelief.

The human nodded. "When we spoke with him through Arg'ah, John Crichton came 
to understand. We needed to continue the quest. He is the one prophesied so 
long ago. He..I..*We* are Advarpeyn."

"Ridiculous!" Kev'ran snapped. "The prophecies are stories..lies...told to 
keep the Sou'Kha slaves to the Sarhan."

"Perhaps not, Father."

Kev'ran turned to see his granddaughter standing there holding a strange 
device of obvious antiquity. "What are you doing here, K'ris?"

The little Sou'Kha bowed her contritely at her elders anger, but held out the 
device. "I found this amongst Arg'ah's possessions. I think you should see."

"See what?" Zhaan asked, accepting the device.

"Advarpeyn. The first Advarpeyn." K'ris replied solemnly, touching a small 
disk in the center. It slowly hovered from Zhaan's palm and a burst of light 
filled the room to reveal image and sound.

A child's laugh filled the room as a small sebacean or human appearing boy 
with brown hair and blue eyes was scooped up in to the grasp of larger male 
who began tickling the small child.

'Advar, please stop that.' Came a female's admonishing voice. The male turned 
with a bright smile and said something that was lost in the collective gasps 
of surprise throughout the chamber.

"It can't be." Aeryn murmured in disbelief.

-----------------

A hand grasped the holodevice, erasing the image of Advarpeyn to reveal the 
identical features of John Crichton. A air of sadness hung around the human 
as he stared at the device in his hands.

"Advarpeyn was a species that called itself the Sarhes. He was a kind man, 
like most of his kind. A scientist. Not unlike your John Crichton. Together 
we became Sarhan." He looked over at Kev'ran with a slight frown. "Unlike 
what the Sou'Kha would have you believe, the Sarhan were not monsters. Not 
until the Treh came."

"Invaders?" D'argo asked, knowing by the tone the human had used he was 
probably correct.

A dark look crossed the human's face. "Murderers would be more accurate, 
Luxan. They slaughtered mercilessly, eventually resorting to destroying our 
world. Only a few thousand Sarhan and Sarhes escaped the carnage."

"But the stories..." Zhaan started.

Crichton shook his head. "They are true. Do not think me to say we are 
innocent of what happened later. We are not. Understand our rage made us 
insane. Billions of us died for no reason other than we existed. And for that 
we slaughtered trillions more in revenge over the thousands of cycles that 
followed."

"When Sarhes Advarpeyn died from wounds suffered by a Treh attack, I 
transferred to another body and swore to avenge him. I and the other Sarhan 
took the names of our dying hosts and made them our own so we would never 
forget what happened."

"Over the centuries we began to forcibly take over the bodies of warrior 
races, races who could help us destroy the Treh and their allies. From 
these ill conceived fusions came the horrors your legends and stories speak 
of. In the end they destroyed us, until only a few hundred Sarhan remained."

The human sighed and gestured to Kev'ran. "We had come to rely on the Sou'Kha 
to aide us. They were loyal servants, even when the Treh came to Zladren 3. 
When the time came we transferred ourselves to a few select Sou'Kha for safe 
keeping, only to have them try to destroy us."

"You wanted to enslave us!" Kev'ran shouted.

"You knew we were searching for the prophesy." The human snapped back.

"And millions died in that search. Million of my people." Kev'ran retorted in 
fury.

"As did a number of Sarhan." The human sighed in annoyance. "The Host must 
continue. We *will* continue."

"Not if we stop you." Kev'ran lunged towards the human, only to be jerked 
back by Aeryn. A single look from her ended his struggle.

"You believe Crichton is the one foretold in your prophesies?" D'argo asked.

"Yes." A small grin came to the human's face. "We believe it is a bunch of 
BS, but Crichton listened and then gave himself to us."

"You sound like him." Aeryn noted.

"We are Crichton. Crichton is us. It is the way of the fusion."

"You mean it is the way you seize control. You learn everything about your 
victims and then supplant their personality with your own." Kev'ran snarled.

"Silence." Aeryn snapped. Kev'ran instantly obeyed. "Why didn't you discuss 
this with us first?"

Crichton's blue eyes narrowed. "It isn't your concern." He replied arrogantly.

"Anything that affects one of us affects all of us. Crichton knows that." 
Aeryn replied.

"We knew you would not understand." The human visibly tensed, closing his 
eyes as a ripple passed trough the side of his neck. "We are leaving."

Instantly Aeryn and D'argo's weapons were pointed at Crichton. A mocking grin 
came to his face as Zhaan stepped between them.

"Perhaps we can resolve this peaceably." She said.

"How?" Crichton asked.

"If you joined with Crichton once, you could remove yourself and then return 
later could you not?" Zhaan asked.

"Yes."

"Then remove yourself from him and let us speak with him. If he confirms what 
you have told us then we will help you rejoin with him." Zhaan said.

Crichton blinked rapidly, cocking his head to the side as if surprised. Zhaan 
felt the alien's presence probing her gently and allowed it to see that she 
was speaking the truth. "You would do this? All of you?"

"Yes."

Zhaan instantly felt the presence withdraw, leaving her light headed for a 
moment.

"Very well."

"I wont let this happen." They turned to see Kev'ran now flanked by two more 
Sou'Kha armed with weapons.

"Father, what are you doing?" K'ris asked in surprise.

"Doing what these fools can not." Kev'ran nodded to the guards.

A squeal of surprise froze them, as Crichton clasped K'ris close to his 
chest. A feral grin twisted his face. "You want Us, you have to kill your 
blood first."

"Crichton, what are you doing? " Aeryn demanded.

"Wait! There is no need to harm the child." Zhaan pleaded.

"Shut up!" Crichton jerked K'ris neck, causing a cry of pain from her. "Drop 
the weapon or We will snap her neck."

"Then you will die." D'argo growled.

"But not before she does."

"Kev'ran was right about you. You are a monster." Aeryn stated, resolutely 
holding her weapon steady.

"Drop them or We will kill her." Came the growled response. "We just want off 
this ship. She will be released before We leave."

"How can we trust you, when you hold an innocent hostage?" Zhaan asked.

"We have what We need. She is no importance to Us. We leave. She lives." 
Crichton snorted in amusement. "What's it to be?"

Slowly the others lowered their weapons to the floor. All save Aeryn who 
stared Crichton down with a cold look.

"Aeryn." Zhaan said softly.

The tip of the pistol wavered, then finally lowered as Aeryn placed it on the 
table next to her.

"Crichton always did think you were smart." The human grinned, jerking his 
head towards the far wall. "All of you, over there."

They quickly complied, Crichton scooping up the pistol in his free hand and 
steeped into the hall, activating the chambers doors to seal.

"We have to stop him. You two, follow me." Aeryn pointed to the two Sou'Kha 
and headed towards a large vent.

"Pilot, inform the Sou'Kha we may need their help." D'argo called out looking 
at Kev'ran, who merely nodded once in approval.

"On it."

"I shall stay here. I fear there will be casualties." Zhaan said simply. 
"What about Rygel and Chiana?"

"It is best to keep them out of the way for now." D'argo replied. "Let us 
hope they do not run afoul of Crichton."

----------------

Chiana was strolling through the passageway, bored when Crichton ran headlong 
into her knocking her to the floor.

"Watch the frell where you're...." She gulped at the very large barrel of a 
Peace Keeper pistol aimed at her. "....going." She looked up into Crichton's 
face and saw something in his eyes that frightened her. Deeply. She barely 
even registered the small girl with him.

She backed up slowly, her hands raised. "Whoa.  Look we can work this out 
right?" She swallowed as his hard expression didn't change.

A thump from the wall distracted him for a moment. Chiana dashed for the 
adjacent corridor. At the last possible second she dived, narrowly dodging 
the short burst of weapons fire.

A moment later Aeryn came around the corner with two of their alien visitors 
on board. "Where'd he go?" She panted out.

Chiana pointed down the hall and instantly the trio were gone, leaving the 
young Nebari wondering if she wouldn't have better odds of survival by going 
back to her people.

A few moments later, D'argo came down the corridor. He stopped to sniff once 
and then went the same direction Aeryn and the two aliens had gone, seemingly 
unaware of the Nebari woman's presence. 

Chiana just watched him in stunned silence before following.

----------------

Aeryn rushed into the landing bay, calling for the two Sou'Kha ahead of her 
to stop. Whirling around at the light hissing sound behind her, she caught a 
glimpse of D'argo's shocked look as the entrace sealed itself shut.

"Pilot, open the doors to the cargo bay!" She called over the comm, trying to 
ignore D'argo's bellow of rage and the loud bang of his fist on the door.

"Crichton has somehow bypassed the controls. Working on it."

Aeryn heard a cry from somewhere in the bay. She was certain it hadn't been 
Crichton. "Work faster." She muttered softly, looking at he maze of Sou'Kha 
crates stored there with trepidation. 

John had helped load these crates and what he knew the alien creature inside 
him now knew as well. Of greater concern to her was the human's knowledge of 
Moya's passageways and tunnels. Places even Pilot and Moya could not detect. 
She could almost kick herself now for not taking his ability to hide more 
seriously.

"D'argo, see if you can access the bay through one of the atmospheric 
shafts." She ordered into her comm.

"Chiana's already checked one, it was blocked by a security gate." D'argo's 
voice instantly replied. "Stop Crichton. We'll find our own way in."

Aeryn silently stared at the containers, finally choosing the easier of three 
possible routes based on Crichton's mass and that of his captive. Speed was 
of the essence now.

A few microts later she came across one of the two Sou'Kha who had preceded 
her, his neck at an odd angle. Beside him lay a shattered vial of the darshan 
solution. Shaking her head she continued on without a second glance.

A loud crash actually made her jump. She could hear the sounds of a scuffle. 
Slinging her rifle over her shoulder she climbed atop the crates, looking for 
the source of the disturbance. A moment later she was rewarded with a glimpse of 
Crichton's head for the barest of moments before another crashing sound 
followed by a cry of pain.

Using the crates as stepping stones she arrived in time to see Crichton land 
a military precise and powerful blow that sent the Sou'Kha sprawling to the 
floor. A move she had taught him, she dimly realized.

"Crichton." She called out, swinging her rifle up.

Instantly her turned the presence of a hazardous materials container 
preventing him from falling backwards in his haste. The pistol he has taken 
earlier aimed steadily at her. Blood trickled from his nose and several cut 
and scrapes that the tattered remains of his shirt did little to hide.

Several hentas to his left she could see K'ris hiding, fear obvious on her 
face.

"It's over, Advarpeyn. Let the child go."

"Aeryn, you have to listen to me."

"It won't work this time, Advarpeyn. Release the child now." She barked. She 
frowned to herself. 'It sounds so much like him.' And that thought angered 
her even more. She started to squeeze the trigger, knowing Crichton would 
understand.

He raised his other hand as if trying to calm her. "There's something you 
need to know! Something the Sou'Kha haven't told you!"

She hesitated at his tone. She knew it was the alien, but it sounded so much 
like Crichton. His movement, his voice, his eyes. The Crichton she knew.

A sudden blur and the Sou'Kha below her tackled Crichton, slamming him into 
the container. The blow elicited nothing more than a grunt of pain as 
Crichton pistol whipped the alien.

She had her opening.

John looked at her wild eyed as she fired. "Aeryn, no!"

Amazingly her shot missed as Crichton dove to the left. An instant later the 
container he had been leaning on exploded, sending Aeryn tumbling to the 
floor. A rain of fragments from the container covered her, causing her to 
cough violently for several moments.

Groping for her pulse rifle she cursed to herself as she realized she'd lost 
it in the fall. Through the haze of smoke and dust, she could see Crichton 
rising to his hands and knees, much of his lower back and legs covered in 
blood.

She quickly looked around searching for a weapon to use before realizing she 
still had the darshan injector Kev'ran had given her when she'd taken him to the
medical bay at Zhaan's request. She gripped it tightly as she realized this was 
her last chance to save Crichton's life. And maybe her own.

She quickly ran over to Crichton, grabbing his arm to give him the injection. 
She gasped in surprised as she felt her head snap back from Crichton's 
surprisingly strong blow. Staggering back a few steps, she shook her head to 
clear it only to find Crichton watching her with wary, pain filled eyes, his 
breath coming out in gasps.

"Don't. Aeryn."

She ignored the part of her that screamed to listen to him, trust him. It 
wasn't him anymore, she reminded herself. Wasn't the human she had come to 
care about.

She moved back in, slightly surprised that he was able to deflect her pantak 
jab but satisfied that her kick to his injured lower back crumpled him to 
floor in a howl of pain. Steeling herself against the unexpected rush of 
guilt and pity, she yanked his head back, readying the injector.

The look of terror in his eyes halted her for a moment.

"Aeryn, please. Please listen to me." He whispered. Begging. "Please..."

"I'm sorry." She whispered back, plunging the injector into his neck.

----------------

Aeryn wasn't sure how long she sat there, holding the human as he spasmed and 
twisted in pain. Trying to prevent him from adding to his injuries.

The convulsions seemed to be killing him, but she knew there was nothing she 
could do but be there. To watch and wait, listening to his ragged, uneven 
breathing and feeling his temperature soar to what was surely dangerous 
levels, even for a human.

The only bright spot she could find was the fact that he had fallen 
unconscious soon after the first spasms began. His early screams of pain had 
torn at her very soul.

The sudden appearance of several DRDs startled her as she realized she could 
hear D'argo and the others.

"Aeryn?" The Luxan's voice boomed.

"D'argo, over here! Hurry!" She called out.

An instant later the Luxan was there, momentarily blinking in surprise at the 
damage the explosion had done before kneeling next to the sebacean and human.

"Get him to medical." She ordered, knowing the strong Luxan was the better 
choice to get the injured human there as quickly as possible.

D'argo merely nodded, picking up Crichton in a surprising gentle way. "Zhaan, 
we've got Crichton. He's injured."

"Understood. I'll be waiting for you." Zhaan's clam voice replied.

Aeryn closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. She realized 
suddenly how tired she felt. Light coughing drew her attention to K'ris who 
had remained were she had hidden during the entire fight.

Rising the sebacean quietly walked over and picked up the young girl, noting 
she had not suffered even a scratch. K'ris and Aeryn simply stared at one 
another for a moment, as if in understanding. 

In silence they left the bay together.


_______________________________________________________________________________


Epilogue

Sou Kha Homeworld, two weekens later.


He inhaled deeply, noting the difference in the air. Salty like Earth, but a 
hint of something else. Something alien. He smiled at that as he slowly 
opened his eyes to take in the view of the green sea, swishing his foot 
through the water of the stream he sat by, feeling at peace.

He was glad he had wandered off from the others helping the Sou'Kha unload. 
Glad to be away from the reminders of what had happened.

He'd recovered, of course. Still recovering in the case of his back. Just as 
the Sou'Kha had said he would. He didn't thank them for it, though. They 
didn't understand what they had taken from him. Never would.

He sighed, feeling the pang of emptiness in him again. Of aloneness.

He'd been resentful of what they'd done. What they had allowed to happen. 
Bitterly so. Advarpeyn had been the best thing he'd ever experienced.

The myriad of knowledge, the memories, sights, sounds, images. All of it had 
been intense. And with it had come a focus, a clarity he'd never known. He 
had understood  so much.

And now...it was nearly gone. The memories fading faster and faster each day. 
The understanding, the clarity, fading even frustratingly faster. He felt 
lesser somehow. Smaller.

The Sou'Kha had said this was just part of his 'recovery'. The withdrawal 
symptoms, as it were, from his contact with Advarpeyn. That his resentment 
and loss would pass with time.

But then he couldn't give a rat's ass what the Sou'Kha thought right now. All 
he knew was what he felt.

He lay back, closing his eyes as he lazily waved his feet in the cool water. 
Trying to relax under the warming rays of the sun. Involuntarily a smile came 
to his face as he felt the gentle happy touch of another at the edges of his 
thoughts.

"Crichton?"

Instantly he withdrew from contact, slowly opening his eyes to see Aeryn 
standing beside him with an expression that had come to annoy him greatly of 
late: concern.

"Yeah, Aeryn. What's up?" He asked, not in the friendliest tone.

He saw something pass behind her eyes, before she quickly looked elsewhere, 
settling her gaze on the sea. "The others were worried when you didn't come 
back." She said neutrally.

"I can take care of myself, Aeryn. I am a big boy, y'know." He replied 
irritably, closing his eyes again.

She huffed, obviously angry. "We're leaving at sundown."

John was surprised when he didn't hear her walk off. Curiously he opened an 
eye, to see her back to him. Obviously watching the waves on the shoreline. 
He was about to close his eye again when noted the defeated slump to her 
shoulders. 

Aeryn slump? In defeat?

Despite everything that happened he still cared about her and the others. 
Perhaps even more so now. He sat up, worried. "Aeryn, what's wrong?"

"Us." She replied simply.

'Great. Pulling teeth would be easier.' John thought to himself. But he knew 
Aeryn wouldn't have even bothered answering if she hadn't wanted to discuss 
what was bothering her. 

"Us?" John repeated. "Us as in you and me or as in everyone on Moya? The 
Sou'Kha? The Galaxy?"

He felt her  stiffened slightly beside him despite the light hearted tone he 
had tried to use, certain she was about to end the conversation here and now. 
"You and me." She finally admitted.

He nodded once in understanding. Guilt, he realized. Something he knew all to 
well lately. "You did what you had to do." He said.

"That doesn't make me feel any better." She commented.

"It wasn't supposed to."

She shifted beside him, looking at him with a perplexed look. He met her gaze 
and saw the hurt look there. After a moment, she looked away. "I understand." 
She said, her tone carefully neutral to hide her feelings. But John caught 
them none the less.

"It's OK, Aeryn." He said, reaching up and grasping her limp hand. He rubbed 
her palm with his thumb hoping for some reaction and getting none.

"I almost killed you." She said quietly.

"And I could have killed you." He replied.

"But you didn't." She gave him with a questioning look.

"And neither did you." He said, rubbing his thumb across her palm again. This 
time she wrapped her fingers around it in response. "That's all that matters."

"For now." She amended reluctantly pulling her hand from his.

"For now." He agreed.

Aeryn shifted awkwardly. "I better get back to the pod."

"Stay with me awhile?" He asked, offering his hand to her. Seeing surprised 
albeit pleased look come to her face he knew she would stay, even if only for 
a few minutes. It would be enough.

'See, I told you.'

'Yes, Advarpeyn.' A pause. 'I'll miss you.'

'And I you, John.'

----------------

Her blue eyes gleamed with mirth as she watched the green ocean. A smile 
curled her lips as she glanced back at the pair noting the female had finally 
settled down next to the male. She could feel the echo of happiness the male 
tried to hide and that made her giggle as They joined her mirth.

'It is always a joy to watch a new bond between the very young.' They 
reasoned.

But They felt a twinge of sadness pass trough them. The human had been such a 
joy to find. They understood now that he had been exactly as prophesied, They 
had simply misunderstood the timing. It was no matter. They would rebuild 
here, grow in numbers again. Take what they'd learned from him to return to 
Their way of life.

In time, They would meet the Others again, the ones like John Crichton. 
Neither of them were ready for the inevitable meeting of their two species. 
Sooner or later. But not now.

They could accept that in the face of the gift they had received. One they 
had somehow forgotten. 

Hope.


Fin.