Air Date: July 12, 2002
Written by Richard Manning
Directed by Geoff Bennett
Transcript by Xenajules2
Edited and put on-line by Bluey
Episode 4.05 - Promises
Previously on Farscape (voice of John Crichton):
Scene One: from "Dog With Two Bones", John sits in his module, staring straight ahead. Aeryn, in her prowler is off to the side. The prowler dissolves as John hears the Old Woman whisper: "Aeryn... is... with... child." Aeryn's face appears, with a tear running down her face. The Old Woman is whispering in John's ear.
Scene Two: from "Crichton Kicks", John is sitting with his back to a wall of the dying Leviathan. There is writing all over the wall and Rygel floats nearby. John: "Aeryn..." (inside the module, in DWTB, John says: "...why couldn't you tell me?") Rygel: "Still obsessed, I see." John turns his head and looks at Rygel: "She say anything to you before she left?"
Scene Three: from "What Was Lost, Part One: Sacrifice", Commandant Grayza stands over the seated John. Captain Braca leads Scorpius in on a leash. Grayza: "He'll never bother you again."
Scene Four: from "What Was Lost, Part Two: Resurrection", Braca shoots Scorpius in the back, from point-blank range. Spit flies out of Scorpius' mouth.
Scene Five: from "What Was Lost, Part Two: Resurrection", Commandant Grayza stands over the hole. Sikozu is on the bottom, next to the fallen Scorpius. Grayza: "Is he dead?" Sikozu: "Yes, I think so." Scorpius whispers to Sikozu: "Say skurnac. It'll save you." John looks on. Grayza: "Bury him." A soldier shovels dirt over Scorpius' face.
Scene Six: from "Lava's A Many Splendored Thing", D'Argo and John are shooting their pulse weapons at a couple of aliens. The aliens are wearing belts over their chests, with round discs on them. As John and D'Argo fire, a blue light flashes around the aliens, but they are not hurt. John: "They got body armor?" D'Argo: "They're shielded." John: "That's a hell of an invention. How come we don't have that?"
Scene Seven: from "Lava's A Many Splendored Thing", inside D'Argo's ship. The ship's computer speaks: "Ka D'Argo. A received transmission awaits your review." John: "We have an answering machine?" D'Argo reaches up and flips a switch. Pilot's voice floods the cockpit. Pilot: "Ka D'Argo. Moya and I have received your signal. Here is our location. We look forward to your return." Chiana: "Pilot." Rygel: "By the yotz, Moya's all right." John smiles and turns his head away. Rygel: "She's waiting for us."
And now, on Farscape...
PROLOGUE
D'Argo's ship is flying, towing John's module behind. John sits, leaning against a bulkhead, his eyes closed. Noranti appears to be sleeping, sitting up.
Rygel: "How much frelling longer?"
Sikozu: "If this is the right vector, where is your Leviathan?"
Chiana gets up, in the back: "Can you check the environmentals? The air stinks in here."
Noranti: "I have tofar root, if anyone's hungry."
Rygel: "Absolutely not."
John: "Fun traveling with kids, ain't it?"
D'Argo sighs and points: "There she is."
Everyone looks towards the front viewing screen. As clouds part, Moya appears, in bright sunlight.
D'Argo: "Pilot. Moya looks beautiful."
Pilot: "She thanks you, Ka D'Argo. We are eager to have you back aboard."
Rygel: "Not as eager as we are."
Chiana: "Open up the bay. We're comin in."
John: "Pilot, you and Moya okay?"
Pilot: "We are well."
Noranti whispers: "Pilot knows. Knows what happened."
Rygel: "So shut up and let him tell us."
Pilot: "Tell what?"
Chiana: "Where the prang have you been?"
Pilot: "We... stopped at Arnessk, then searched for you at the burial grounds."
John: "Back it up a sec. Moya was sucked down a wormhole and spat out again. What happened in the middle?"
Pilot looks down, even though he is on Moya and the crew is still on D'Argo's ship: "My... memory is unclear. We were not harmed, merely... examined."
John: "By who? Neeyala's Pathfinder buddies?"
Pilot: "I... couldn't... say."
Noranti: "You truly remember nothing more?"
Pilot: "Nothing of importance. We await your arrival."
The crew looks at each other.
Noranti: "How odd. He told me he remembered. Something's very wrong."
Chiana: "I mean, what if... what if the people that examined Moya're still aboard? Maybe it's a trap."
John: "One sure way to find out."
D'Argo: "Walk straight into it. Okay. Weapons are primed." He flips some overhead switches.
John: "Right. I'll take point. Everybody else stay put til I give the word."
The hangar door opens as John descends the ladder from D'Argo's ship. He pulls his pulse pistol out of its holster and points it into the hangar bay. John enters slowly, looking around. The bay is empty. Someone, dressed in black, enters from the other side. John points Winona at the figure. The figure walks slowly into the bay, wearing a shiny black suit, long hair loose and hanging down. The figure stops.
John: "Aeryn?" He looks at her, past the point of his gun.
Aeryn takes two more steps towards him and stops.
John: "You've come back."
With tears streaming down her face, Aeryn nods. John slowly lowers Winona as Aeryn fights to control her trembling lips. She lowers her head towards her shoulder.
John smiles gently: "Everything's gonna be all right."
Aeryn sobs. She shakes her head, no."
John walks towards her: "Everything is..."
Aeryn holds out one arm towards him, stiffly.
John walks closer: "... is gonna be..." He catches her as she collapses and lowers her to the floor.
Aeryn gasps as John kisses her lightly on the top of the forehead.
John: "Baby, you're burnin up."
Aeryn continues to sob.
Aeryn gasps again: "I've... (she gasps/sobs) ... I've got heat delirium. You have to promise me something."
John has his lips at her forehead, as he holds her: "Promise you what?"
Aeryn: "You have to promise that you will not kill him."
John: "Won't kill who?"
Aeryn: "He found me. He saved my life." She looks up into John's face.
John: "Who... saved your life? Who?"
From behind them, a voice...
Scorpius: "I did."
Scorpius has come into the hangar bay and stops near John and Aeryn.
John whips his pistol out of the holster and starts to get up, pointing it at Scorpius.
John: "No. No, you're dead. I saw you! You're... you're buried. You're dead." Aeryn reaches out to grab John's gun. He takes hold of her hand and pulls it away. He looks down at Aeryn, in alarm. "What did you do to her?"
Scorpius: "I have put her in this coolant suit..." He kneels down beside Aeryn, takes her other hand. "... to stabilize her fever." He looks at Aeryn: "You're weak. You must resume the full cooling treatment." Aeryn nods.
John: "You don't tell her what to do." He still has hold of Aeryn's wrist. He yells: "D! Get out here!"
Aeryn: "No, he's right. And he's not a threat."
Behind John, Chiana runs down LoLa's ladder.
John: "He's always a threat."
Aeryn sees Chiana running into the bay with a rifle and tries to pull away from John and Scorpius, reaching towards Chi: "No. Lower your weapons."
D'Argo runs in, right behind Chiana: "Scorpius! Stand aside!" He has his qualta rifle aimed at Aeryn and Scorpius.
D'Argo breathes: "Aeryn..."
Chiana: "What's he done to her?"
Aeryn: "I gave my word... that he would not be harmed. Put your weapons down."
D'Argo: "And you expect us to honor that promise?"
Aeryn: "Yes. or I leave Moya now."
Chiana: "What's he doin here? What does he want?"
Aeryn: "He wants asylum."
John shakes his head in disbelief.
END OF PROLOGUE
ACT ONE
John holds Winona in both hands, shaking his head back and forth.
John: "Asylum? What is it... with Peacekeepers?"
Aeryn straightens up her stance, guarding Scorpius, as John steps closer to them.
John: "First they hunt us, then they want to move in? What... what are we, a bed and breakfast? We have a sign outside that says "Free HBO"?"
D'Argo: "Okay, space 'im."
John: "Yes."
Aeryn: "No."
Scorpius: "Let her rest. Allow her to return to the chamber, then... we will talk." He is standing directly behind Aeryn.
John: "Chiana... Aeryn needs help."
John keeps his eyes trained on Scorpius as Chiana walks over to Aeryn. Aeryn puts an arm around Chiana's neck and looks into her eyes for a microt, then she turns back to John.
Aeryn: "You promise me... that you will not harm him."
John looks away from her and works his jaw in frustration. He groans a little.
Aeryn: "You promise me." She continues to stare into John's face. Chiana turns to look at him as well.
John, finally, softly: "I promise."
Aeryn puts her hand on Chiana's cheek and they turn and walk away.
John and D'Argo slowly circle Scorpius, their weapons still pointed at him.
John: "What... did you do to her?"
Scorpius: "I saved her. Yes. She was alone... wounded... adrift in a prowler..."
There is a flash of white light. John sees...
Scorpius, bending over an unconscious Aeryn, seated in her prowler cockpit. He reaches out with his tongue and licks upwards, on her nose.
There is another flash of white light...
Scorpius: "... in an advanced state of heat delirium. Had I not found her..."
D'Argo: "How did you find her?"
Scorpius: "I was looking... for all of you."
John: "Get it through your head, Scorpius. You will never get the wormhole tech from me."
Scorpius takes a step towards John: "I could not use it even if I..."
D'Argo growls and steps closer, raising his qualta rifle, threateningly.
Scorpius stops: "I merely... want to safeguard it and hope... that when the inevitable Scarran bloodbath begins, you make the appropriate choices."
D'Argo: "Oh, so you're here to be John's protector? How nice. I don't believe it."
John looks Scorpius in the face: "Kryptonite... Silver bullet... Buffy? What's it gonna take... to keep you in the grave?"
Scorpius rolls his eyes.
D'Argo: "Perhaps we should just take your head off. Worked for Durka."
Inside a long, cement blocklined corridor, John and Harvey stand opposite each other. They both have lit cigarettes in their mouths and are wearing dark glasses. They have on black suits and ties, with white shirts. There are guarded lightbulbs hanging down from the ceiling of the corridor, lighting it.
Harvey pulls back the action on a revolver, to cock it: "Good advice, John. So why hesitate. You know what has to be done."
John takes the cigarette out of his mouth and throws it away on the floor. He reaches out and takes the gun from Harvey, barrel first and sticks it into the waistband of his slacks: "Damnit Harvey! Guns are dangerous, man." He takes Harvey's cigarette and tosses it away as well: "Ain't no smokin in my head!"
Harvey: "It'd be foolish to let him live."
John: "I need to know what his plan is."
Harvey: "Same as always... surviving." He taps John on the forehead: "To steal what is in here. So why give him a chance?"
John: "And what would you have me do? Whack him straight away?"
Harvey: "Without hesitation." He pulls on the front of his jacket, straightening it.
A blue cooling rod smashes on the floor with a crash, spilling its liquid contents.
Rygel looks up: "Ahh, Scorpius. Your room's prepared and we've relocated your possessions..."
Scorpius enters the room, followed closely by D'Argo and John.
Rygel: "How many coolant rods do you need?" He picks a blue rod up, from a rack of them, looking at it. He chuckles and drops the rod onto the floor with a clink.
John: "Rygel... cut it out. Aeryn needs those."
D'Argo: "Perhaps we should save them all for Aeryn." He hisses loudly and gestures for Scorpius to move further into the room. He does. They go into a room with a woven bed in the middle. There is a whirring noise.
John: "Would've arranged for a fruit basket but... we didn't know you were comin."
He kneels down beside the DRD "1812" and puts his hand on it: "You play nice with the other kids, all right?"
"1812" squeaks.
John: "You know what to do."
D'Argo: "Watch him at all times."
John and D'Argo leave the room and the door slams shut behind them. Scorpius looks around, at his surroundings.
On Command...
Sikozu is standing at a console. She leaves it and walks to another: "Pilot of Moya, these consoles need repairs. Where are the DRD's?"
Pilot: "Busy elsewhere. Have... we been introduced?"
Sikozu: "I am Sikozu Shanu. Command function is our first priority. Send DRD's immediately."
Chiana has come quietly into Command, behind Sikozu: "Ignore her, Pilot."
Sikozu turns around to look at Chiana.
Chiana: "Hey. Well, that's a new record. You've been on the ship for less than an arn... and you're trying to run it. Nice."
Sikozu bustles over to another console: "Chiana.. someone has to."
Chiana laughs and walks over to stand next to Sikozu: "That someone... is not you." Chiana takes Sikozu's hair and pulls it away from her face: "You're cargo... baggage. You think we forgot you were in the grave with Scorpius? He's alive. You said... that he was dead."
Sikozu: "I thought he was."
Chiana: "Mmm."
Sikozu: "They buried him."
Chiana grabs her and twirls her around to face her: "And then what happened? What? Did you dig him up? Hmm?"
Sikozu laughs a tiny bit.
Chiana: "Did'ja tell him to come here?" Chiana grabs Sikozu's face in both her hands: "Hey! Listen to me. Are you... working with him?" She looks directly into Sikozu's eyes.
John and D'Argo are following a DRD down an interior corridor in Moya.
John: "I never should'a let Aeryn go. I should'a knocked her down and sat on her."
D'Argo: "John... it's not your fault."
Another white flash... John sees...
Scorpius hovers over Aeryn in her prowler cockpit. He has her by the throat with one hand. In the other, he holds a neural spike, poised to strike at her head.
Aeryn: "I don't know... where Crichton is."
Scorpius growls and plunges the neural spike behind Aeryn's ear. She screams as the spike vibrates in her skull.
Again, the white light flashes away.
John shakes his head to clear it of the echo of Aeryn's scream.
John: "Of course it's my fault." He starts walking again and climbs through a hatchway that opens in front of him with a whooshing sound. He pauses to look at the chamber. It has a table and a light on a stand. There is a large, circular sort of window. Aeryn is seated on the edge of the table, facing the window. She is fully encased in a shiny black coolant suit. She turns her head to look at John. There is a blue coolant rod attached to her headgear, on the outside, above her ear.
John sees a cooling mechanism eject from the side of her head, as it would from Scorpius' head.
John climbs the rest of the way into the chamber, and the hatch closes behind him. Aeryn turns back to face the window. John walks over to the end of the table and stands, the fingers of one hand resting on it. Slowly, he wants around to the front, to face Aeryn. His fingers still touch the table. She stares straight ahead.
John barely breathes: "Aeryn..."
Aeryn: "I'm really sorry."
He turns and faces the table full on, both hands on it now, but looking past her: "For what?"
Aeryn: "For everything. This is not how I pictured coming back."
John shakes his head: "It's just fate... as usual, keeping its bargain and... screwing us in the fine print."
He takes the fingers of her right hand into his: "So, how'd you catch this cold? Dancing... barefoot in the rain?"
Aeryn looks into his face and sighs: "I can't talk to you about that."
John: "Why not?"
Aeryn: "I really... want to tell you. But I can't... and we need to leave it at that."
John gives he a tiny nod and breathes: "Okay."
He crosses over to her other side and leans forward slightly onto the table. He turns his head and looks at her. She turns towards him, eyes downcast.
John: "It's cold in here." He looks up at her and nods. "What kind of room is this?" He moves his head around.
Aeryn shakes her head: "Umm... something to do with regulating Moya's temperature."
John: "How did you find it?"
Aeryn: "Scorpius did."
John: "Course he did." He sighs. "What else does he know that I don't know? Does he know how... you got the flu? Did he give it to you?"
Aeryn shakes her head again: "No. I had the symptoms before he found me."
John shakes his head: "No. You don't know that, Aeryn. This is Scorpius we're talkin about. He could have engineered the entire thing to get his ticket onto Moya."
Aeryn: "He didn't. And I need you... I want you to believe that."
John looks into her eyes: "You make it very difficult."
Pilot comms: "Everyone! There's a ship approaching fast."
Rygel is at a command console: "Well, starburst now."
Pilot: "We can't. Too much mass... too close."
Rygel presses a control: "How can one ship be too much mass? I..." He gasps as Command is lite up with a bluish light and there is a whoosing sound. Outside the front viewscreen, Rygel sees a ship that fills the whole area. He bends over and starts punching controls.
Rygel: "Reverse! Get clear of it!"
Pilot: "I'm trying, but it's moving with..." Pilot cries out as a high-pitched whine fills the ship.
Rygel: "Ohhh." He groans. "Pilot... can you hear me?"
Pilot has his eyes closed: "Outside signal... overriding comms.
A male voice comms: "I am Ullom, Chief Protector of the Prime Hokothian (from outside, the ship looks like a huge blue bladder, many times larger than Moya) addressing the Leviathan designated as Moya... and all her crew (D'Argo walks down a corridor and stops to listen) including the assassin Aeryn Sun. (John watches Aeryn's face as she listens) I know she's suffering from heat delirium (Scorpius, lying in his room, on his bed, sits up) because I induced it with a bio-engineered contagion. It's genetically encrypted making me the only one who can save her from the living death."
Aeryn stares straight ahead, her eyes big.
John: "Is he for real?"
She just turns her head and looks at him.
John: "Aeryn?"
END OF ACT ONE
ACT TWO
The alien ship looms, just ahead of Moya.
Ullom continues to comm. His face is now visible in Command, on the forward view screen. He has a narrow face with a small mouth and some type of glasses over his eyes.
Ullom: "My proposal is simple. Aeryn Sun gets this antidote..." He holds something up in his fist: "... when she gives me the names of her employers and her fellow assassins. I await your reply."
John whispers: "Alright, you have to talk to me."
Aeryn whispers back: "I can't. I gave my word."
John: "To who? Scorpius?"
Aeryn: "He has nothing to do with Ullom."
John: "You know the kind of games he plays, Aeryn."
Aeryn: "He took advantage of a situation he could not have created."
John: "All right, fine. Forget about Scorpius. Let's talk about Mr. Simple Proposal. He says you're an assassin. I call him a lying son-of-a-bitch. What do you say?"
Aeryn continues to sit, staring straight ahead, not talking.
John: "Aeryn, you have to give me something. I don't care what you did. I don't care about your promises. Just tell me this... he says he has the only cure. Do you believe him?"
Aeryn, her eyes closed, nods.
John: "So tell me... what am I supposed to say to the guy?"
Aeryn opens her eyes but continues to stare straight ahead: "If you love me, you'll say nothing."
On Command, Rygel floats in front of the viewscreen. D'Argo is standing behind a console and John sits ontop of another.
Rygel twirls around: "Plan?"
John hops down from the console and walks over to Rygel. D'Argo joins him.
John: "Yah. You're going to talk Ullom into letting us aboard under a flag of truce."
D'Argo: "Then we take that flag of truce and hit him over the head with it."
Rygel: "Mmm... feeble plan. Give me half an arn with Aeryn and a tokkar knife and I'll get those names."
D'Argo growls.
Rygel: "All right, your way first."
A Peacekeeper Command Carrier is moving through space. Inside...
A female Peacekeeper is talking: "The missile carries a pulse charge. On impact, the pulse charge will destry the biologics, killing the Leviathan."
Captain Braca: "And it doesn't affect any of hte life forms onboard?"
Female PK: "The passengers will be unaffected."
Commandant Grayza looks down at them and listens from a room up above.
Braca: "Good. Very good. Then why don't we use it?"
Another Peacekeeper, a male, in a pilot's uniform, walks over to stand near Braca and the female.
PK Pilot: "Not yet. She wants a prowler to carry it. A projectile with this much mass belongs on a marauder."
Female PK: "A marauder would be detected long before optimal targeting distance. Sir, only a prowler can fly close enough for a guidance lock."
PK Pilot: "With that aboard, no prowler can fly steady enough to get a lock, Sir."
Female PK: "My simulations indicate that a skilled pilot could manage it."
PK Pilot: "I'm the best damn pilot there is... and I say you're dead wrong."
Braca: "There's no need to take rigid positions. Why not run another round of simulations and recheck stablity?" He looks at the PK Pilot: "That should alleviate your concerns."
Captain Braca walks away, towards the end of the prowler. As he does, Commandant Grayza gestures to him with her hand. Braca hurries over to her and stands at attention.
Grayza: "What sort of leadership was that?"
Braca: "Ma'am, this weapon is an unproven prototype. It needs study."
Grayza: "I don't want studies, Captain. I want Crichton." She turns and walks away from him.
A transport pod flies out of Moya's hangar bay and goes over to the alien ship.
John and D'Argo are walking down a corridor inside the alien ship. It is all blues and greens, almost a leafy pattern of light projected on the walls. There are constant sounds and noises. John stops at an opening and turns.
John: "Knock, knock, knock. Candygram."
He and D'Argo start done a couple of steps, into a chamber.
Ullom: "Scans show no weapons on your pod nor your persons."
D'Argo: "Just as we agreed."
Ullom (He is standing on a raised platform, at the end of the chamber): "Scans also show you aren't... Sebacean."
John and D'Argo turn and look at each other.
John: "You could'a just asked."
Ullom: "Do you want to see Aeryn Sun suffer the living death? Well... if that's the case..." He touches the instrument he is holding, showing it to them.
D'Argo takes a step forward, toward Ullom, and tongues him. When his tongue hits, however, Ullom wavers and disappears. With a whooshing noise, he reappears at the opposite end of the chamber, this time, behind a barrier.
Ullom: "So... you risk your lives for this antidote."
John: "Cute. Hologram. And we wanted a face-to-face."
Ullom: "I don't care what you want. I want the names of those who hired Sun."
D'Argo: "We have no idea."
Ullom: "You played no part in her monstrous act?"
John: "Don't even know what the monstrous act was."
Ullom: "She... and two others invaded our homeworld... and shot their way into the governing chambers... and assassinated our most beloved Prime Hokothian."
John: "You know for a fact it was her?"
Ullom: "Before the killers escaped, we managed to dose them with a contagion that induces heat delirium. Her illness should be all the proof you need."
Chiana and Noranti are standing over Aeryn who is lying on the table in the cold chamber. Chiana pulls a white coolant rod off the side of Aeryn's head.
Chiana: "Something's not right. It should be blue."
Scorpius comms from his chamber: "Put it back and get a replacement."
Noranti: "Some fyang powder will deepen her sleep. Crichton won't mind. Is he still aboard the Hokothian ship?" She reaches down to get something from her waist.
Chiana: "Yah, with D'Argo. Been a long time. Maybe they're making progress."
Chiana inserts the coolant rod back into its holder on the side of Aeryn's head.
Noranti: "Or maybe they've been killed."
Chiana whispers: "You didn't have to say that." She walks out.
Noranti bends down and sniffs at something in the palm of her hand: "Hmm. I hope this fyang's still potent." She comes around the table to stand by Aeryn's head.
Aeryn, her eyes still closed, hits Noranti's hand, pushing it and the powder up into Noranti's face. Noranti grunts and does down like a stone.
Aeryn groans and sits up: "Yes, it is." She reaches behind her head. She grunts and pulls her helmet off. She drops it on the floor, next to Noranti's inert body. She jumps down off the table and walks off.
Aeryn, her hair down long and flying, strides onto Command. Sikozu is there, looking at a schematic.
Aeryn: "You... out."
Sikozu: "I'm analyzing..."
Aeryn: "Now!"
Sikozu rolls her eyes, but she gets up and leaves.
Onboard the alien ship...
Ullom: "But I must know who hired them. My people are ready to go to war over this."
John: "You need to know who paid for the hit. We don't have a problem with that." He turns to face D'Argo: "We... we have a problem with that?" D'Argo shakes his head.
Ullom: "You might tell Sun that if she'd cooperate I'd have no reason to hunt down the other assassins."
"Ullom." Aeryn's voice and then her face are transmitted into the alien vessel.
Aeryn: "I know what you're doing and you should know by now that I will not play."
D'Argo comms: "Everyone! Aeryn's up and in command, hurry..."
John, walking towards her projection: "Aeryn, get back in the cold room now."
D'Argo: "Pilot! Send the DRD's!"
Aeryn: "Deal with me. Threatening my friends is not going to help you. So, send them home... and let Moya go."
Ullom makes gasping noises. Aeryn walks out from behind the console on Command. She pulls her pulse pistol. "I am breaking this stalemate."
John looks back and forth between Ullom and Aeryn's projection. D'Argo sighs.
Aeryn brings her pulse pistol up and holds it to the side of her own head.
END OF ACT TWO
ACT THREE
Aeryn's
face, ravaged from illness, fills the view screen on the alien ship. She is holding a pulse pistol to the side of her head.
Aeryn: "Good-bye John."
Onboard the alien ship, John comms: "Pilot! Somebody stop her!""
Rygel hits Aeryn from behind, in the head. The gun falls and she sinks to her knees. After a microt, she falls over on her side, unconscious.
Ullom points a gun at John and D'Argo's backs: "You said she'd cooperate."
John runs behind the barrier, to confront Ullom: "I said... maybe."
Ullom: "After a suicide attempt? I've been too patient. My soldiers could easily board your ship." He starts to walk away.
John: "Well go ahead! Bring 'em on. You know damn well what'll happen."
D'Argo: "Aeryn will never allow you to take her alive."
John: "And I need her... more than you do. So, back off and we'll get your names."
John and D'Argo turn and walk away from Ullom, down the alien ship's corridor.
Sikozu approaches Scorpius' cell. Both DRD's whirrs over to check on her.
Sikozu: "May I talk to you?"
Scorpius: "Please do."
The DRD's chirp and wave their eyestalks at Sikozu.
Sikozu: "Flissok takea!" The DRD's go dark and quiet.
Scorpius: "Stasis command. Do you speak Pilot?"
Sikozu nods: "Should not even have worked. They're very
badly programmed."
Scorpius: "Vaklah norrok vez plokon?"
[What else can you speak?] "Krejna skarn za?"
[Scarran perhaps?]Sikozu: "Za."
[Yes]Scorpius gets up from the bed where he was sitting and walks towards Sikozu.
Sikozu: "Prejor Arnessk... vech plakato brixa skelt?"
[On Arnessk... why did you save my life?]Scorpius: "Your death would serve no purpose. but your life might."
Sikozu: "So far it has not." She laughs: "Could not even prevent your burial and yet here... they blame me for your presence. How did you survive?"
Scorpius: "Foresight and preparation."
Sikozu: "Why did you come here?"
Scorpius: "To safeguard John Crichton..." He glances down the corridor: "... amongst other things."
Sikozu: "You do realize that... this is a damaged Leviathan with a fraudulent pilot and a crew of idiots, do you not? They need help."
Scorpius: "They are more resourceful than you realize."
Aeryn is lying, strapped down to the table in the cold room. John paces nearby, infront of the circular window.
Aeryn: "Don't be so upset. Death is nothing to fear. I should know."
John looks over at her...
There is a bang and a flash of white light. John sees Aeryn sit up, despite the straps. She is still in the full coolant suit, but now her face looks more like Scorpius, complete with black lips.
ScorpyAeryn staring straight ahead: "Why won't you allow her to die?"
She turns and looks at John. He looks away.
ScorpyAeryn turns and sits on the edge of the table, facing John: "Soon enough, you'll wish you had." She hops down from the table and walks towards John.
John: "I'll get the antidote... end of story."
ScorpyAeryn walks over and stands directly in front of John: "Ahh... that's my Johnny. Still in denial."
Aeryn, lying on her back on the table, her eyes still closed: "Do you remember what I said to you once? Before the living death takes hold you have to be prepared to kill me. Promise."
Still standing in front of the window, John shakes his head: "Not a chance."
ScorpyAeryn looks up, into John's eyes: "Why won't you just let her go? She's not yours."
Aeryn swallows painfully: "Point of fact, I never was. Never will be."
ScorpyAeryn: "But you'll never be lonely. Whether I'm..." She taps him once on the forehead, hard with her finger "... here, or here... " She points to her own head. "Or in a grave on Arnessk or in a cell on Moya, you'll never be rid of me."
Aeryn: "You have no right to do this."
John and ScorpyAeryn both turn to look at her. There is a whooshing noise.
Aeryn: "It's my life."
John: "And what if other people... depend on you?"
Aeryn: "Ullom doesn't care about anyone else, he just wants me."
John: "Not as much as I do."
Aeryn: "I made a promise. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
John: "Doesn't life... mean anything to you? When did you become... an assassin?"
Aeryn: "When I found a cause that required it."
John: "So... tell me about it. Tell me the Prime Hokothian is the devil incarnate. Tell me you did the Universe a favor. Tell me why the saints you're protecting need anonymity. Tell me... it's worth you dying."
Aeryn: "It is."
Aboard the Command Carrier...
Commandant Grayza: "Marauder recon's detected a Leviathan which might be Moya. Any recommendations?"
Captain Braca and the two PK's are standing in front of her.
Captain Braca: "Ponara?"
Female PK (Ponara): "Sir."
Braca: "Is this missile operational?"
Ponara: "Absolutely, Sir."
Braca: "Then I recommend we use it. Ready the prowler. I'll fly it myself."
PK Pilot: "You, Sir?"
Braca: "You're convinced this mission will fail. You're obviously the wrong person for the job. Dismissed."
The PK Pilot makes a face.
Braca: "Dismissed!" The pilot leaves. Braca nods at Commandant Grayza and walks away.
Grayza: "Good hunting... Captain."
Harvey's voice: "No, John. John, you've gotta stay away from Scorpius.
John is walking down a corridor, in Moya.
John, dressed in black, is walking down a cement block-lined hallway: "Just gonna pick his brain."
Harvey, also dressed in a black suit and tie, runs to catch up with him: "Yah, that's what wants. A chance to lie to you. Gotta stay away!"
John slams back against the wall of Moya's corridor. He cries out: "Hey! Harvey, cut it out."
He starts back down the corridor.
John has Harvey up against the cement block wall, his finger pointing straight into his face: "Don't you ever... do that again."
He turns and walks away.
Sikozu is kneeling beside an object in Scorpius' cell. She pulls out a large, metal spike and holds it, looking at it.
Scorpius: "That's it." He sighs: "Now tell Crichton..." He takes the spike from Sikozu's hand.
John appears in the doorway and pulls his pulse pistol: "So... that's how you survived. She was on your team all along."
Scorpius: "Untrue. She has just begun to help."
John comes closer, his pistol aimed directly at Scorpius' face: "How? By sticking another chip in my head?"
Scorpius: "Quite the reverse. This device... will take the neural clone from your mind."
John: "What clone?"
Scorpius stands up: "John... Officer Sun is in danger... and so is Moya. I can help. Simply clear your mind and I will."
John hisses. He struggles with the pistol and speaks through clenched teeth: "No."
Scorpius: "Consider this... I saved Officer Sun's life while the clone killed her."
Harvey: "Don't listen to him, John!"
John cocks his revolver. He is standing behind a wooden slatted chair in an otherwise empty room. Harvey walks towards him. John spins around and points the gun at Harvey.
Harvey stops: "No, John. That's not necessary." He holds his arms out to his sides: "Now I'll get back in the dumpster." He starts to walk away.
John: "That's not good enough." Harvey stops. "Come sit." John puts his hand on the back of the slatted chair.
Harvey: "What?"
John: "This is a private... place... Harv. You don't belong here."
Harvey reaches up and takes off his dark glasses: "I've been your ally, John. And your friend."
John: "It's time for you to go."
There is a whooshing noise.
John gasps and grits his teeth. He still has the gun pointed at Scorpius.
John whispers: "Take this." He pulls the gun slightly towards Sikozu. "Please."
Sikozu reaches out and gingerly takes the pistol out of John's hand. John and Sikozu are both holding their breath.
Harvey walks towards the chair: "How could I leave... your mind is full of so many... wondrous memories. Cool jazz piano, chocolate ice cream, women's perfume. Women. Hah!" He growls. He stops and looks at John, clearing his throat: "How could you take that from me?"
John: "You're not real."
Harvey: "I'm real to you. I'm real to myself."
John: "Sit."
Harvey sighs. He walks over and sits in the chair, his back to John: "Good-bye then, John. I will miss you."
John screams out and lunges forward. Scorpius reaches out and guides him towards the bed, where he lands, face down. Sikozu cries out in alarm.
Scorpius: "Sknak provatak!"
[Stay out of it.]Sikozu looks at the pistol she is holding. She watches as Scorpius plunges the metal spike into the back of John's skull. John cries out.
There is a flash of white light...
Harvey, sitting in the chair, reaches up and puts his dark glasses back on. He holds both his arms up, over his head: "Without hesitation."
John takes a step back and puts the gun to the back of Harvey's head. A gunshot rings out and the white light flashes again.
John, lying face downwards on Scorpius' bed, blinks his eyes and slowly raises his head. He grunts and slowly gets back up, onto his knees.
Scorpius sighs and straightens his leather jacket.
John pants several times: "He's gone. Harvey's gone."
Sikozu sighs.
John, still breathless: "Now... help." He reaches towards Sikozu and she hands him back his pistol. "What can you do for us?"
Scorpius sighs and sits down on the bed, near John. He whispers: "Information. In less than three arns, the prowler will fire a missile and Moya will be killed." He holds the spike, blunt end first, out to John. "If you don't trust me now, then we're all as good as dead."
John looks at the spike and then back at Scorpius.
END OF ACT THREE
ACT FOUR
John sits on a bench, examining the metal spike while Scorpius leans back on a rib and Sikozu paces restlessly in Scorpius' cell.
John: "And there's no way for us to stop this Peacekeeper super torpedo?"
Scorpius sighs: "Once locked on, it can ride Moya's slipstream throught starburst."
Sikozu: "So we should starburst right now."
John looks at her.
Sikozu looks back at him: "Although I know we will not."
John: "No. Not while there's a chance of getting a cure for Aeryn."
Scorpius sits upright: "There may be a chance. Sikozu has a theory about the Hokothian ship."
Sikozu sits on the end of Scorpius' bed, facing John: "Anomalies in its mass reading have convinced me... it's a chameleon... a projection."
John: "I buy that. These guys are big on holograms. So how big is the actual ship?"
Sikozu: "Tiny. Crew of four or five at most."
John: "That's better odds."
Scorpius stands up: "John, I volunteer..."
John: "No! No and no. And no arguments."
Sikozu: "You have great difficulty trusting people, don't you?"
John looks up at Scorpius: "You're staying here." He turns back to Sikozu: "You're coming with me. We may need a nerd."
Scorpius looks off into the distance as John and Sikozu leave his cell. He calls after them: "John, I've learned that we have exactly one and eight tenth arns before the prowler's in range."
John: "How did you learn that?"
Scorpius: "I have a spy aboard the Command Carrier."
John: "And she wonders why I have trouble trusting people."
John walks away. Sikozu looks at Scorpius and smiles, then she follows John out. The cell door closes loudly behind her.
D'Argo: "Well, if it's any consolation, I think you've had a lot worse plans."
John: "Not by much." He is at the contols of a transport pod. "Pip? Everything okay there?"
Chiana is walking around the outside perimeter of Scorpius' cell: "Scorpius hasn't moved one flot."
Scorpius is again being watched by two DRD's inside his cell.
John: "Good. Pilot, get me Ullom on the horn."
Pilot: "Done."
John: "Ullom. Aeryn gave up. She's ready to talk."
Ullom: "About time. You should..."
John interrupts him: "Ullom... listen... she's ready to talk because the heat delirium's worse. We could lose her. We're coming in now."
The PK Pilot walks to the edge of a doorway on the Command Carrier and stops to listen.
Ponara: "Captain Braca... diagnostics verify the missile's fully operational."
Braca comms back from inside the prowler: "If it delivers on its promise, Ponara, you've got a medal."
The prowler zooms on.
D'Argo and John, helped by Sikozu, carry a stretcher down the corridor inside the Hokothian ship. Aeryn's inert form lies on the stretcher, trembling and shaking.
John: "Keep moving. She's losing consciousness."
They get near where the aliens are standing and set down the stretcher. Aeryn can be heard, groaning from fever, as she shakes.
John kneels down beside the stretcher: "All right, let's do it. Come on." He looks up at Ullom and the other aliens. They haven't moved.
John: "What are you waiting for? I can get you the names, but you gotta save her! Now!
Sikozu has uncovered Aeryn's face. She is seizuring and making noises. The coolant rod on the side of her head is red. Her heels strike the floor as she jerks and pants.
John: "Come on! Do it!"
Ullom looks over at one of the other two aliens. That one steps forward, carrying a gun like instrument. He walks over to the stretcher and kneels beside Aeryn's head. Ullom sighs. The alien fires the gun at Aeryn's cheek. There is a small yellow flash. She jerks again, then lays still. After a microt, she starts to jerk again.
John: "That's not enough. Hit her again."
Ullom: "One dose is more than sufficient. She should soon recover enough to speak."
John gets up from his knees and hits the alien that is standing over him, in the face. D'Argo begins to fight with the alien kneeling next to Aeryn. Ullom watches as D'Argo quickly subdues his opponent. John hits his a couple of times, then shoots him with his pistol. D'Argo runs up to Ullom and takes a swing at him. His fist passes through the projection.
D'Argo: "He's still faking it!" He runs off down the corridor.
John looks down at Aeryn and back towards D'Argo. Sikozu gets up and runs a ways down the corridor in the opposite direction.
Ullom comms: "What's the point? This place is sealed. You're trapped and outnumbered."
John: "Yah? You got anymore warm bodies, trot 'em on out. Or get your own ass down here if you've got the nads for it."
D'Argo: "Any luck?" He sees Sikozu coming back towards John and Aeryn.
Sikozu: "It is completely sealed off. There is no way out."
Aeryn rolls over and John helps her to stand up.
Ullom: "That's right. I control the ship. I can cut off your oxygen, or let you starve."
Aeryn staggers down the corridor and into a doorway, clutching a blanket around her.
Aeryn: "Come on, Ullom. Come out. Stop fighting your battles with contagions and holograms, and face me." She walks down into the room, looking around. "Or are you a coward, Ullom?"
There is a whooshing noise and Ullom appears behind Aeryn. She turns towards him.
Ullom: "I faced you once, murderer. You do not remember? You shot me and left me for dead. You killed so many that day."
Off to the side of the room, John slips past Ullom, unnoticed.
Aeryn laughs: "I remember. But your leader had more people slaughtered in one day than I could possibly kill in a lifetime and if asked to do what I did, I would do it again and again and I would do it for free! I wasn't hired to kill them..."
From behind her, the real Ullom fires a pulse pistol and hits Aeryn in the back. A blue light flashes and surrounds her. Aeryn turns to look behind her. From the side of the room where he has been hiding, John shoots the real Ullom who is hanging from some wires near the back.
Ullom jerks and there are several flashes and sparks.
Ullom: "My life's work..."
Sikozu runs quickly over to Ullom. John hurries to Aeryn. Aeryn pulls the blanket off her chest and looks at the metal disc that is secured there.
Aeryn: "What did you say this is?"
John: "Tarkan body shield. It's the best part part of the plan."
Aeryn: "Well, it worked."
John: "Yah, it's a first, isn't it?"
Sikozu grabs a round ball that Ullom has been holding. She turns it in her hands, looking at it.
Sikozu: "I think this is a control orb." There is a hole in one side of the ball with many wires inside. "A direct neural interface."
John: "God, I hate those."
Sikozu: "He runs the entire ship with this."
John points: "No! You run the entire ship with that."
Sikozu: "No. No, I've never..."
John: "Yes, you do."
Sikozu sighs: "I will try."
John nods.
Sikozu screws up her face and makes a fist. She sticks her fist into the hole in the side of the ball. All sorts of sceens of ships and lights flash through her head. She breathes hard and moans. Her eyes pop open: "Oh, it's... it's amazing! I... I see every... every system."
D'Argo: "You know what? I'm
really happy for you. Can you get us out?"
Sikozu: "I have to learn the ship... find the hatch controls..."
John: "Pilot? How are we doing for time?"
Pilot comms: "If Scorpius is correct, you're already too late. You won't get back before the missile is fired."
Sikozu: "Got it. Hatch open."
D'Argo: "I'll take Aeryn to the pod." He goes to get her.
John: "Right." He points at Sikozu: "You stay here."
Sikozu: "Why?"
John, to D'Argo's retreating back: "Keep the motor running."
D'Argo helps Aeryn to leave: "Okay."
John: "Pilot, patch me through to the prisoner. Scorpius? What does that missile lock on to?"
Scorpius comms from his cell: "The Leviathan bio-energy signature."
Sikozu nods and breathes: "Yes."
John looks at her questioningly.
Sikozu: "Its individual pulse if you will."
John: "Is there any way to shut down Moya's pulse?"
Pilot: "Only by a full biologic shut down."
Sikozu: "Yes."
Pilot: "Moya could survive that for no more than eight hundred microts."
John: "That might be long enough." He turns to Sikozu: "Alright, here's the deal. This is a chameleon ship. You are a Leviathan expert. Create a decoy."
Sikozu: "A Leviathan's bio-energy signature is very complicated. I will never get it bare..."
John: "Just get as close as you can."
Sikozu sighs: "All right."
Inside the prowler, Captain Braca hears Ponara comm him: "You should be coming into range any microt now."
Braca: "Missile reads armed and ready."
Some sketchy lines begin to appear from a hologram projector near where John is standing.
Sikozu: "I think it's working."
John: "Beautiful.
From where he is still hanging, suspended from wires, Ullom groans.
John: "You're still with us, Holly?"
Ullom: "Not for long. Life support destroyed. You have finished what Aeryn Sun began."
The projection of a Leviathan continues to grow, in front of Sikozu.
D'Argo comms: "John, get aboard. We're out of time. Pilot's ready."
Sikozu looks up and then back at the ball.
John: "Alright, Sputnik. Now or never."
Sikozu breathes: "Right."
Captain Braca: "Coming into targeting range. Scanning for Moya... now."
Sikozu grits her teeth, staring at the Leviathan hologram: "Come on, come on. Do it."
There is a flash and a Leviathan appears where the alien ship had been before.
Rygel looks out from Moya's command: "Ahh... they did it! Now, Pilot!"
Captain Braca: "I must have a system malfunction. I'm reading two Leviathans."
Ponara: "No.. no Captain. No malfunction. Marauder recon's reading the same thing."
Braca: "Analyze the data. Which one's Moya?"
Ponara: "Uhh... we're checking."
Commandant Grayza turns and walks away.
Pilot speaks in his own tongue: "Vaklo enpya rossok wiklo, Moya."
There is a loud whooshing noise and Moya begins to go dark.
Rygel watches from Command, as does Scorpius, from his cell.
Outside, near the alien ship's projection of a Leviathan, Moya's light blink off.
John: "That's it. Lock it off."
Sikozu gasps and staggers back, but does not drop the ball. She takes it off her hand and she and John hurry out of the chamber.
Ponara: "Captain... one of the Leviathans is dead. It has no energy readings at all. It must be a decoy."
Braca: "You sure?"
Ponara: "Positive, Sir. Transmitting proper coordinates now."
Braca: "Received. Acquiring target. Here's your rematch, Crichton."
He fires the missile and turns the path of the prowler to the side.
From inside his darkened cell, Scorpius comms: "The missile has been fired. It is now irrevocably locked... to the counterfeit signature."
Chiana: "Pilot? Resuscitate Moya now."
Pilot: "Initiating resuscitation."
Chiana rocks back and forth: "You can do it, Pilot."
The transport pod leaves the alien Leviathan and flies towards Moya.
Crichton: "Come on, damnit. Give us a heartbeat."
Pilot: "It's not working. Moya may have been dormant too long."
Chiana: "You can awaken her! You will!"
Rygel: "Come on, come on..."
Suddenly, there is a whirring sound and Moya's lights begin to come back on, one level after another.
Chiana: "I told you, you could do it, Pilot. You're the draddest."
Pilot: "You're very kind to say so."
D'Argo: "Okay, we're in. Go!"
Moya turns and flies away from the alien ship. It begins to lose its Leviathan shape just before the missile hits it. Inside, Ullom screams as the ship blows up around him with flashes of blue light and sparks flying everywhere.
Braca's face is bathed in the glow of the explosion. He smiles: "Detonation."
Moya's outside lights become visible.
Braca: "Wait. Readings have changed. The dead Leviathan's moving."
Ponara shakes her head.
Moya's tail lights up as she begins to go into starburst.
Braca leans back and shields his eyes as she disappears.
Braca: "That dead decoy just went into starburst!"
Ponara: "It... it's not possible... I... I had the correct target. I'm sure of it."
Braca: "You're relieved of duty immediately. Report to detention block three."
Commandant Grayza: "I'll handle the postmortem, Captain." She turns and looks at Ponara. "Report to the Aurora chamber."
Ponara shakes her head.
Grayza: "Just take a seat. I'll be with you shortly."
Grayza shakes her head as she watches Ponara leave.
END OF ACT FOUR
EPILOGUE
Scorpius is lying on his back, on his bed in his cell. The DRD's are zipping around on the floor, under his bed. John is outside the cell, looking in.
John: "Congratulations. You made it through the day without being shoved our the airlock. Of course... this day is not quite over. I have two questions. One... did you do anything at all to Aeryn?"
Scorpius grunts and sits up on the bed. He sighs: "No. No, I have not harmed her... in any way."
John closes his eyes and collects himself: "Two... on the Command Carrier... you said you knew where Earth was. Is that true? Do you?"
Scorpius: "I do."
John: "Anyone else?"
Scorpius stands up and walks over to the door where John is standing: "No. No one. I purged all records. The knowledge exists..." (He points to his head)"... in here. You can use it to get home. Or... you can safely eradicate it by killing me. Again the choice is yours."
John looks through the bars at Scorpius.
Chiana is in Pilot's den. She has climbed up on his console and is sitting near him, touching the top of his head with her hand.
Chiana: "It is so... so good to see you and Moya again. You know, it ah ... it kind of feels like coming home." Chiana is crying.
Pilot: "We're equally happy to see everyone... with the exception of the newest arrival." Chiana smiles.
Pilot: "I... now miss Jool more than ever."
Chiana: "Hey, listen! If Sikozu ever speaks to you... like that again... if she ever gives you any lip, you just drop her in the bat dren, okay? Nobody... nobody should talk to you like that. Nobody should tell you what to do."
Pilot: "Yet... everybody does. In fact... Moya and I have made a decision."
Chiana: "You want us gone?"
Pilot: "Ahh, not at all. But... we cannot serve so many masters at once. We ask you to choose one spokesperson."
Chiana: "You mean, just pick a captain?"
Pilot: "Yes. A single voice for us to follow."
Chiana: "I'll tell the others. We'll... we'll... we'll take a vote or something, okay?" She pats Pilot.
As Moya continues to fly through space...
John is standing alone on Command, staring out the view screen. Aeryn appears in the doorway, behind him.
Aeryn: "Hi."
John half turns his head in her direction, then turns back to the screen: "Hey."
Aeryn walks towards him: "What are you looking at?" She sits down on a bench.
John: "Nothing in particular." He turns and starts to walk out.
Aeryn, looking more herself, wearing her own clothes rather than the coolant suit: "I'd like to stay." She looks up at John.
John smiles just a little: "Well, I'm sure Moya... would be very happy with that."
Aeryn: "I need to recover."
John: "Is there any other reason?"
Aeryn: "I need to help you keep an eye on Scorpius."
John, looking down: "I'm not going to hurt him. I gave you my word."
Aeryn: "I know." She smiles, slightly: "I want to be here." When John doesn't respond, she tilts her head a bit: "Is there a problem?"
John: "Any other oaths... of silence I should know about?"
Aeryn shakes her head, no.
John nods: "So... you could tell me if... you were pregnant." He looks away.
Aeryn ponders his question. John looks back at her. She opens her mouth... then closes it again. John slaps his hand on his leg. He turns and walks out.
Aeryn sits, looking out the forward view screen, all alone.
END OF EPILOGUE
