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Chapter 1
He was aware of several things at once. The silence and the voicelessness inside his head.
Not always.
Sometimes there was a thought in abstract, sometimes a thought fully formed. Occasionally a blank slate of a white screen with out sound. Then there were the humming times. Not a song just a maddening hum in his brain.
The best were the auditory phantoms during which he swore he could hear in his own thoughts- own voice making the words-it was a silent audio feed into his brain.
The Universe was cold, dark and lovely . He sat back in his pilots chair and looked outwards and lost his gaze and his soul in her beauty. He loved this force of nature. He had once loved a woman who had this essence, this natural force and beauty.
He, was truly alone.
The distant Delennian Nebula held fascination and majesty with her purples and yellows and greens and blues. He stared out towards the bright colored lights, he lost himself in her. Could a man truly love a nebula?
He smiled at the thought.
His hand slowly, gently, touched a softly lit red sensor. Things happened on the ship. It responded to his touch. It was a living ship. The Captain and his ship knew the routines. Talyn would now go into auto-nav and Crais would be relieved of the bridge in order to eat and then to grab some rest.
When he finally reclined in his bunk he was exhausted. He prepared for sleep and feared the worst. The dreams. They came with an increasing frequency. He stroked his beard and thought about how that could be. Wouldn’t time and reason put to rest the past events?
"I have made all of the necessary preparations, Aeryn Sun." He had told her.
"Then you will surely die, Bialar." She used the familiar, which was a rarity.
He remembered the sadness in her expression. For a moment he thought that it might indeed be love. He never understood what she could see in the erpling. Her attraction for the little man was beyond him. He always kept a hope that, buried with- in her, there was a potential spark-for him.
His ‘nebula’, he smiled and shifted in his cot.
“No Aeryn, I and Talyn have discussed this extensively." He had paused wondering if their calculations would actually pay off .
"There are risks, damage, death, and so forth, but the plan is executable and will put an end to their hunt." He continued and infused his next words with a great display of confidence,
" Commander Sun, Talyn and I will carry out our plans, the Peacekeepers will no longer pursue you... us, and other than a little scorching I expect that Talyn and I will return to rejoin you and the crew of Moya."
‘All because of frelling wormholes,’ he thought and he rolled over and fell sound asleep on his cot.
==================
While Captain Bialar Crais slept Talyn stood sentry. He powered down but remained vigilant. The escape from the command carrier did more than scorch Talyn a little. The young leviathan was badly wounded. It was during the moments when Crais slept that Talyn lowered his metabolic demands in order to promote healing. He rested. He maintained the life support systems with-in the ship, to allow Crais to sleep in comfort. For he carried a fondness for Crais that could pass for the Leviathan version of love.
It was Crais who nurtured and cared for Talyn after they starburst to safety from the command carrier. It had been close and both Talyn and Crais had come near to total annihilation through immolation when the peacekeeper dreadnaught imploded.
The injuries at first appeared superficial and Crais had suspected some bad thermal damage to Talyn’s outer skin. Time revealed that the damage was deeper. The proprioceptive neural networks with-in Talyn had been damaged from the shock waves, this became apparent when Talyn showed signs of convulsive symptoms.
With patience and a deep caring for the young living ship Crais used all of his knowledge and his intuitive experience to help the hybrid ship heal. Crais knew that Talyn was still growing, and soon the hormonal surges from the young male would assist in harnessing all of the anabolic resources of a growing powerful male ship.
Given time Crais felt Talyn would surely recover. And time they had plenty of, just the two of them, the maturing adolescent and the capable Captain Crais.
It was thus, that while Bialar Crais slept in his berth, the young Leviathan hybrid Talyn maintained Crais’ life by keeping the ships inner environment ideal for the Sebacean, while simultaneously resting himself, yet keeping a vigil for any signs of approaching danger. All but the essential functions of Talyn had been powered down. They floated in the inky night of space, like father and son, or perhaps more aptly, like brothers in arms
===============
Chapter 2.
It always seemed like there was an explosion and then he would reach for her. “Aeryn this way!”
She would run towards him.
“Aeryn this way, follow me!”
He would always extend his hand. He would awaken and remember the straining of his arm, in the dream, and it always seemed so real. He dreamt it as if he were actually feeling himself straining towards her. Trying to reach her hand. Just to touch it. If he could just touch her hand he could grab her and save her.
“Now Aeryn!”
And she always ran past him. Then would come the explosion
He would turn and see Talyn in flames, then the screaming and the crowds.
This was always followed by a sense of profound loss.
He had lost Aeryn and he had lost Talyn. Sometimes his own tears awoke him and he was surprised by the depth of his emotion because he knew that this had not happened in this way. Yet there it was the sense of unfathomable loss.
The dreams that came now were familiar. Even in his sleep Crais knew the sequence, the final awful explosion and Talyn burning and crying out and screaming in pain. Everything caught up in flames. Aeryn gone into the midst of chaos having run past him, and the reality of not being on Talyn. Standing there helpless. Why was he never on Talyn in the dream? This is not the way it had happened?
He came to the familiar part of his dream. In his subconscious he prepared for the explosion and the feeling of frustration and despair that would inevitably follow.
Aeryn ran past him. He hunched his shoulders- and prepared. Even in his dream he knew what would happen next. He braced himself.
Then it changed.
It was very quiet and very still. It was cool and pleasant. He was on Talyn.
They lived. There were no flames and no screams. Just he and Talyn in a
dark place. No there were stars in the distance, but none familiar.
He sensed that Talyn was unharmed. Perhaps Tayln was sleeping?
He looked out at the vast universe with out a clue as to where he was and yet he was relieved. In this dream there was tranquility. He smiled. He walked over to look out what seemed to be a very large portal. He was quiet; he did not wish to awaken the sleeping ship. Let him rest he thought. Let him have some peace in his young life.
He saw something in the distance a small thing. Floating. In the dream his ship moved closer with out his command. Now they were almost upon this thing. Small and black and flailing a helpless bit of space debris, which now seemed to turn and look upon Crais in the large portal. This thing had a face. Crais knew it. It was a man.
For a few moments the face of John Crichton stared at Bialar Crais. Crichton floating in an environmental suit. In space. Just like that. Without a ship. Crais wondered how this could be. Then John Crichton smiled and started waving like a lunatic at Crais.
And Crais woke up.
=================
Chapter 3.
‘What he knew about wormholes could fill books.
No - walls!’
Yes, in fact he had filled walls!
He knew this stuff cold!
He didn’t know how he knew- but he did.
‘So there!’
‘When did it become an art instead of science?
‘Why not painting instead.
‘Funny, John. Very funny.’
‘I miss Harvey. Yup. I do. I said it!’
‘Frell, I sound like, I think that I am Stark.’
And he floated in space.
‘Well, it is sure good to see earth.
‘Erp! Yuck, yuck.
‘That Aeryn what a hoot.’
‘Aeryn? Why was she learning to speak English?
‘How about the basics?
‘Like:
‘WHO’S THE DADDY?’
He laughed. It was getting colder.
And he floated in space.
‘Well crap, how many times am I going to be stranded in a suit , in a pod, in absolute zero?’
‘Hello Einstein I am ready! Come get me.’
‘I could just reach... out. there and touch... the .panhandle.’
He placed his hand in front of him. The hand looked big, the panhandle looked small. Florida, the Cape, they were far away.
‘OK. I have it! If there are long distance wormholes then there must be short and intermediate distance wormholes too! If I can concentrate I can find a short distance wormhole to get me down to earth!’
‘How do I do this?‘
‘How do I find them?’
‘I don’t. They find me. No really. The wormholes appear and I sense them. Yes, that sounds correct.’
“Uno.”
“Dos.”
“Tres.”
“Quattro.”
“No wormhole.”
‘What comes next? Cattorce?’
‘I am puzzled. Why didn’t I liquify? Was there a form of anti-gravity shield surrounding me? I should be Crichton pudding. John- Jell-O in a EVA suit.’
‘I went down that hole and came out intact. Nothing can do that, nothing with out a negative energy force, anti-gravity, or gravitational repulsion. Nothing but ...light! I traveled as light! I am light!!!! Give me light!!!! More light.’
He smiled. It was getting colder. ‘I am ready Einstein!’
And still he floated.
=============
D’Argo walked up to Aeryn and stopped immediately in front of her.
“I am sod about Crouton.”
“Me too.” Aeryn watched d’Argo walk away, pleased with himself. ‘He has been studying Engrish... English,’ she corrected her thought, ‘in an effort to cheer me up.’
“Aeryn?” She spun to Chiana’s voice.
“ I know.” Chiana put her hand on Aeryn’s shoulder. “ I know this is very hard to accept.”
“ He just frelling disappeared. Yes, it is very hard to accept.”
Chiana chose her words carefully; this was an open wound now. “He has a gift. You know, kinda like mine, only mine give me blinding headaches and his causes him to vanish!”
“Thank you Chiana I feel better now. “
Chiana reconsidered and tried a different tack. “Look if he can find ‘em to go poof in one direction he can find ‘em to return.”
Aeryn smiled for the first time, a small smile.
Encouraged Chiana continued. “ I think, no- I know, he will find his way back. The gift!”
“But when Chiana? I can’t expect Moya to sit here forever waiting. When he returns will he come back to emptiness?”
Chiana left Aeryn staring out at the approximate point in space where John had disappeared. If time was relative it had slowed in relation to Aeryn’s perception. It seemed like he had been gone forever.
===============
Chapter4.
The dream left Crais somber and in a grumpy mood. But he was a soldier and the discipline of that life served him well now. He resumed his routines and the familiarity of their appointed tasks was good for Talyn, as well. Neither Sebacean nor Leviathan had the opportunity to drift into despair.
Crais noted that Talyn had grown in the time since their escape in many ways. Physically he was becoming an imposing gun ship, almost more gun ship than Leviathan. Still, there was a maturity about Talyn that was unexpectedly welcome.
Orders were accepted without the resistance he had been noted for when he was younger. There was less of the rebel in the young ship. There were new powers that Crais watched in fascination. For example, Talyns memory capacity and computing skills had grown enormously. Crais began to feel that their neural dialogue was on a higher plane, and Talyn now conveyed concepts and navigational ideas, which were innovative. Crais looked about the ship in satisfaction and thought to himself, “I dare say he has grown in every way but one.” Talyn refused to discuss starburst since that fateful day.
While Crais went about his business lost in his thoughts Talyn had devised a route through a part of their flight path which was reasonably close to what they had already charted. It was new and yet safe enough because it was not far from what was known to them. Might as well let the youngster gain some confidence.
“Alright Talyn we will follow your path.” The actual sound of his spoken word had begun to sound strange to Crais, he considered this the price of their isolation and made a note to speak out loud more often in the future.
“We couldn’t be more lost than we are.” In truth since they starburst from the command carrier they had no idea which part of the uncharted territories they were roaming in. Nothing looked familiar and they saw no one. Until recently that was a blessing considering Talyn’s wounds. But as he grew stronger both Crais and Talyn had talked about returning to familiar space, perhaps both to follow their dreams. Although both knew instinctively they would never be apart for long in the future.
Crais’ approval meant much to Talyn, the steady hand of the mature leader gave the youngster a roll model, and Crais’ acquiescence to fly Talyn’s path was a morale booster for Talyn.
The path was logged and they began to chart this new region looking for a way to fly back home.
================
“I am sorry” Pilot said and emphasized the “am” in his curious way, “but we cannot stay here much longer Aeryn Sun.” He snapped the last words shut. He had made up his mind. So had the crew.
“Pilot is right,” D’Argo spoke for the crew, “ we have stayed as long as we can. We are running low on supplies, on everything.”
“ We can always come back.” Chiana said hopefully.
Aeryn looked down, she had dreaded this day.
Rygel came to her side and placed an avuncular arm on her shoulder, “There, there Aeryn, we understand. It is unfair and unsettling how these things happen. But there you have it. Crichton stared into the wormhole and was sucked into the abyss.” He said more soothing now, “ You know we have tried to wait as long as possible. It is no longer safe to remain here. We will either starve or be tracked down by a Scarren bounty hunter. We shall perish and for what? He may never return!.To this same spot I mean. Of course he will appear but perhaps somewhere else? Some where closer to food and water?”
Aeryn had no hope left, so she could give no rebuttal. She was argued out.
“All right we will prepare for departure from this place.” D’Argo said. “ I trust everyone agrees we will starburst to new co-ordinates?”
“Starburst?” Aeryn hadn’t considered this, she did not consider leaving at all. But starburst would put them so far away they would never return here. She knew it.
She went to her quarters and the remaining crew exchanged glances in pity. Their unspoken thought was, “she has changed this is not the Aeryn we knew.” They were concerned because in their hearts all loved her and ached for her two losses.
====================
“ Yes Talyn I see it.” There was something familiar in the scene but it eluded Crais.
“Yes, you may... I mean you “should” come up on it...slowly. We do not want to cause or sustain damage.”
“No you are doing splendid. You don’t need my orders. Complete this docking exercise as you see fit. I am here if you need me.” Why the sense of knowing stayed with Crais he couldn’t say, yet.
“That’s it. Gently. Move in now. Slow. Slowly. More slowly.”
Talyn glided to his destination and with a surprising gracefulness came to a stop close to the object they were using for practice. ‘A bit of space flotsam no doubt,’ Crais thought. ‘worthless debris from a field.’ He had no plans to net it on board. Crais walked to a portal to give Talyn his views on the docking maneuver. A bit of space junk seemed to float in front him. So that’s it, a bit of rock. The object floated and slowly spun, in this new angle Crais could see the thing better. The thing was a man. The man was John Crichton. Crichton looked up and into Crais’ eyes through the portal and smiled then he began to flail his arms like a lunatic!
============================
Chapter 5
The exhausted John Crichton was nearly frozen when they retrieved him. This did not mar the joy of the reunion. The sight of Crichton, a near Sebacean, warmed the depths of Crais’ heart in ways he had not expected. The sight of Crais inside Talyn was surely nothing less than a miracle from John’s point of view. For he had thought both Captain and ship long dead, and but for them, he himself would surely be dead by now. While John thawed he gave them a brief report on how he ended up floating in this particular place. He explained about the wormholes and his special gift of sensing when they were near or were about to appear. He made clear the fact that he could not summon them. “ So you came through a wormhole to this place?” “Yes.” “Then we are surely more lost then we knew.” “So it would seem.” “But we star burst here.” “I came through a wormhole, actually, quite a few of them.” Bialar and John sat in silence considering the implications of their situation.
Then Crichton spoke up, “ I have a plan.”
The preparations for departure on Moya were nearly complete. Plans for their star burst had to include navigational considerations. The discussions were rather lengthy and in truth everyone was reluctant to give up on John and leave. Aeryn argued that they should star burst in the direction of John’s wormhole, as they had come to call the time -space tunnel. In vain she hoped that it would bring them closer to his whereabouts, one in an infinite number of possibilities. She had to admit this, but still she rallied her hope, once again. Plans were made to star burst as close as they could towards the point where Crichton was last seen.
“When the time comes he will have to.”
“ I am sorry John, he says no.”
“We have no choice.”
“ I will speak to him again in a little while.”
The two comrades sat in a comfortable silence after all of the things they had been through they had become true friends. ‘How unlikely is this,’ John thought, ‘but I like the guy. After all is said and done he is honorable.’ John felt the warmth of the interior and the energy from the nourishment he had been offered take affect. He had a good feeling. In fact it was a familiar feeling.
“Pilot we are close to star burst.” D”Argo comm’ed on the open channel. The crew heard it all. “Yes, D’Argo. Moya is sad to leave. But, she is ready.”
“John?” “Crichton what are you doing?” “Prepare for star burst!”
“Are you insane? Talyn will not!”
“He must. It is our only way out. A chance anyway.”
“He is not ready!”
John spun on Crais, frustration at his own inability to explain things coming to meet his own fear of being trapped in this place-forever. “ No YOU don’t understand. This is not a remote part of space. We are in a different reality. This maybe the same universe we came from or it may not even be the same. I have seen so much. So many variations of space and time that if you and I and Talyn are real–as real as we can know- and if we want to get back to our own reality. Not space- but our own reality! He must Bialar!”
Crais said nothing, Talyn heard it all. Softer now John added, “This is our only chance.”
His look pleaded with Crais. “Talyn says he will try.”
“On my word.
“Uno
“Dos
“Tres
“Quattro, NOW! Starburst!”
“Moya is ready for starburst.” Pilot said. Her energy level pre starburst always caused a subtle vibration in the ship, akin to an idling motor. John had discussed this once. The crew now felt this sensation course through the ship and their own bodies, in turn. It added a visceral feeling to the excitement, which is always there before star burst. They were ready for the surge of power during starburst, which is indescribable to one who has not experienced it. They thought of Crichton and how he had talked about star burst-and how he had tried to describe it. They were saddened by their departure from his point of disappearance. “ She is prepared and she is ready to go-NOW!”
The simultaneous starburst of two Leviathans from different ends of the same wormhole, down the same wormhole, traveling head on had never been done. It had never been considered. ‘Hah! I wonder why?’ Scorpius considered this in his cell. “That erpling knows much. He is a treasure.” Scorpius smiled to the lovely red head, who sat at his side.
“Then why do you sit in here?”
“I cannot abide reunions. Something about all that sentiment makes my cooling rods malfunction.” He smiled kindly in a serpentine fashion.
Sikozu looked out at Talyn who had docked next to his mother. He had grown large the crew had said. Next to his mom, now, he seemed like a happy pup.
“They say that Talyn has grown up, matured.” “Yes. I think he may be a treasure too.” “They also say that we are in a new part of the universe that has never been explored before. They say that we may be, in a different universe all together.” “ Yes my dear, think of the possibilities. They are infinite.” He smiled at Sikozu and stroked her cheek. “ You too, my dear, you are a treasure, as well.” he hissed.
