Air Date: August 3, 2002
Written by Christopher Wheeler
Directed by Rowan Woods
Transcript by Xenajules2
Edited and put on-line by Bluey
Episode 4.08 - I Shrink Therefore I Am
Previously on Farscape (voice of Sikozu):
Scene One: Moya, her inside lights visible, flies past a planet with rings.
Scene Two: from "Crichton Kicks", John sits against a wall he has been writing equations on. "Aeryn..."
Scene Three: Aeryn, her hair long and loose, sits at a table.
Scene Four: John talks to Noranti: "She's carrying my child, well... well my DNA."
Scene
Five: from "Natural Election", D'Argo has a breathing mask on his face. D'Argo: "Aeryn isn't sure if the child is John Crichton's."
Scene Six: from "Promises", John talks to Aeryn on Command: "A relationship is based on trust." Aeryn: "I'm so sorry."
Scene Seven: from "Promises", John holds the desperately ill Aeryn on the floor of the hangar bay: "Who saved your life? Who?" Scorpius answers for her: "I did."
Scene Eight: from "Promises", in the hangar bay... Chiana: "What's he doin here?" John has his gun pointed at Scorpius, but Aeryn stands between them. Aeryn: "He wants asylum." John: "Asylum?" Aeryn: "I gave my word he would not be harmed... put your weapons down."
Scene Nine: from "Promises", Sikozu is outside Scorpius' cell door. Sikozu: "Why did you come here?" Scorpius: "To safeguard John Crichton... amongst other things."
Scene Ten: from "What Was Lost, Part 2: Resurrection", Commandant Grayza, in her quarters on the Command Carrier, addresses Captain Braca: "I will find them again, and when I do they will pay for this humiliation."
Scene Eleven: from "John Quixote", in the galley, Noranti holds out something towards John. Noranti: "Distillate of laka... one whiff and the pain is gone... for a time. It'll help you forget about Aeryn." John takes the object and examines it.
And now on Farscape.....
PROLOGUE
From onboard a transport pod, Crichton comms...
John: "Yo, Pilot! You there?"
John is sitting in the control seat. Noranti stands behind him, holding her arms out in front of her as if she were balancing or doing some kind of exercise.
John: "... "Testing, one, two, three, uno, dos, tres..."
She reaches out with her hands and holds them just barely above John's shoulders, not touching him.
John: "Pilot... I got a ton of groceries to unload. Pilot?"
There is engine noise, but nothing else.
John: "Damn. I figured they'd be in range."
Noranti: "Are you eager to see the others again?"
John: "No, it hasn't been that long."
Noranti: "Still, you miss Aeryn."
There is a flash of light and John sees...
John and Aeryn kiss while dancing at their wedding in "Dog With Two Bones"; John attempts to kiss Aeryn beside her prowler wing in "Dog With Two Bones"; John kisses the neck of a bare shouldered Aeryn; John sits in his module cockpit. Aeryn's face, in her prowler window, appears near him in "Dog With Two Bones"; Aeryn's profile as she sits on Command, in "Into The Lion's Den, Part Two: Wolf In Sheep's Clothing; John holds Aeryn's face in his hands as he kisses her, while in Moya's neural cluster, from "Die Me, Dichotomy"; Aeryn turns her face to kiss John's knuckle; John and Aeryn kiss at their wedding in "Dog With Two Bones".
There is another flash...
Noranti puts her hands on John's shoulders: "Or don't you?"
John: "Damn! It's been a few arns since I thought about her." He reaches down to his pocket.
Noranti: "Then my remedy must be working."
John brings something, cupped in his hands, up to his face and sniffs.
There is another flash and the memory sequence repeats, exactly as before.
Noranti: "Take it for as long as you need it."
John rubs his nose and eyes and sniffs again. He clears his throat: "I don't... I don't need it. It just takes the edge off."
There is some mechanical noise. The tip of one of Pilot's claws is sticking out of the end of a grey metal cylinder. There are buckles and clasps on the cylinder.
Pilot, his voice shaky, comms: "Crichton?"
John comms back: "Pilot... there you are! It's about time. Hey, look, get all the hands down to the hangar. I got a boatload of crap for you guys."
Pilot: "Unfortunately nobody is available to... assist you at the moment."
From the control seat of the transport pod, John comms: "Well, what are they doing? Watching Jeopardy?"
Noranti sits forward slightly, and laughs.
At the base of Pilot's console, Sikozu sits on the floor, both her arms held in front of her, encased in grey metal cylinders similar to the one on Pilot's claw. There is another cyclinder visible. There is a also a pair of legs, clad in black leather, standing beside her.
John: "Get 'em off their butts. Let me talk to Captain James T. D'Argo."
Chiana is lying on her side, near Sikozu. Both of her arms are inside the cyclinders as well.
Noranti laughs out loud: "Ho, ho, ho. Captain James T. D'Argo? Ha, ha, ha."
John looks over at her and smiles.
Pilot: "Ka D'Argo is currently... helping Rygel with his... laundry. And Aeryn's writing some... poetry..."
There is a loud click and some sort of spike comes out of a leatherclad creature standing by Pilot.
John: "Uh, huh. What about... ah... Chiana and Sikozu?"
Pilot: "Enjoying each other's company... preparing a meal for... everyone but Rygel. He's... not hungry."
There is a second creature, also standing by Pilot's console.
John: "Right, well tell 'em to save me a plate. I'm starving. Pod out."
John turns off the pod's communications devise and quickly gets up from the control seat.
Noranti: "Now, isn't that lovely? Everyone is getting on so well."
John: "Crickets. Something's wrong." He goes to the pilot's seat. There is a beeping noise.
John: "Maybe the game's not over with, or Scorpy's really loose on the ship." He tilts his head to look out of the pod's forward view screen. "Bingo! Moya's got gatecrashers."
As they fly close to Moya, they can see something like a large spider, attached to Moya's hull.
Noranti breathes: "Oh, my."
John begins to hum a military beat and hurries towards the rear of the pod.
On a table, inside Moya, a devise plays a small hologram announcement. It contains a small image of Commandant Grayza and broadcasts her voice. It also shows a larger photo of John.
Commandant Grayza: "... An unprecedented reward is offered for information leading to the capture of John Crichton. If he is taken alive, fifteen million currency pledges. If dead..."
There is a clunking noise as, on the floor near the table, Aeryn comes to and finds her arms caught in metallic cylinders. She jerks and turns over, trying to move. Nearby, D'Argo sits, propped up against the table, similarly imprisoned. There is a large, leatherclad creature standing near him, watching the hologram. Another creature walks in, carrying a large cylinder that has Rygel's head sticking out of it. He sets this down on the floor, near D'Argo.
One of the creatures speaks: "Bay two."
Another replies: "Acknowledged. Prepare loading bay two for landing."
Pilot comms: "Crichton. I've... prepared bay two for landing."
Inside the pod, Noranti pulls on some laces and ties something to her leg.
John checks the load in his pulse pistol: "Yah, just give me a minute to get these crates locked down."
Noranti: "My mixture is ready."
John: "You sure you're going to be okay out there?"
Noranti: "This will keep me in a vacuum coma for at least three arns. It's most relaxing. You should try it some time." She puts something in her mouth and starts to chew it. John zips up the sleeves on his striped space suit.
John: "No, thanks. I'm not a big fan of vacuum."
On Moya's command, one of the creatures, with red, glowing light bars on its shoulder, moves around the table to watch out the forward viewing screen.
Red-bar Alien: "Stand ready. He'll dock within 30 microts. Wait! His approach vector's wrong. Evacuate our boarding craft. We're coming under attack."
Aeryn manages to look up in time to see the pod fly past, just above the rim of Moya's hull.
Red-bar Alien: "Full defensive alert!"
The pod continues to fly straight at Moya and collides with the spiderlike craft that was parked on her hull. Both the pod and the alien vessel explode into flames. Inside, Moya is shaken and the Red-bar Alien cries out.
END OF PROLOGUE
ACT ONE
On Moya's Command...
Red-bar Alien: "He's destroyed our boarding craft. I'm beginning to see why his bounty's so high. Keep searching all tiers. He's aboard somewhere."
An alien with blue light bars anwers: "Nobody could have survived that explosion. Crichton must be dead."
Red-bar Alien: "Prak! Crichton's alive... and ingenious."
On the floor, Aeryn listens while surreptitiously trying to move closer to D'Argo and Rygel.
A space-suited John crawls in an access port on Moya's hull. He closes the hatch behind him, with a clang, and opens the visor on his helmet. He takes the helmet off, and sighs.
Two of the blue-barred aliens are walking along a corridor.
Blue-bar Alien: "Tier nine clear. Moving to tier ten."
The Red-bar Alien presses some buttons on a control panel on his left forearm. Aeryn, who is now sitting at a table with her cuffed arms outstretched in front of her, grimaces in pain.
Rygel: "Who the frell are you?"
Red-bar Alien: "Your captor."
Rygel sniffs: "Only temporarily."
Red-bar Alien: "Let's not prolong this." He picks up a comms badge that is sitting nearby on a table. "Tell Crichton to come to Command."
D'Argo is kneeling, with his cuffed hands on a stool: "Tell him yourself."
Red-bar Alien: "The longer it takes for me to capture Crichton, the greater the likelihood that one of you will be damaged."
Aeryn: "Well, there's no likelihood we're going to help you."
Red-bar Alien: "You're certain you won't cooperate?"
D'Argo: "Why don't you come undo these cuffs and just see how much I wanta cooperate."
The Red-bar alien presses his forearm control again, and D'Argo grimaces and flinches.
Up above, in an access shaft, John crawls towards Command. He hears talking down below.
Aeryn: "Leave him alone. You gain nothing."
Red-bar Alien: "Probably. But it costs me nothing."
John gets close enough to peer down through a grate. He sees the Red-bar alien press a button and a serrated knife blade shoots out of his right wrist. He bends over D'Argo.
Red-bar Alien: "I could improve those hideous Luxan features. That would be messier than pain cuffs, but far more entertaining." He lays the comms badge down on the table.
Red-bar Alien: "Crichton. Surrender at once. You won't be harmed. We want you alive, but if you resist... we'll take it out on your shipmates..." He presses the buttons on his left wrist again. "... like so."
There is a faint, zapping noise and Aeryn grimaces and lets out a faint cry. John pulls his pulse pistol and aims it at the alien down below.
A blue-bar alien comes onto Command.
Blue-bar Alien: "Sir. Nothing can be salvaged of our boarding craft. Shall I re-enable one of the transport pods?"
Red-bar Alien: "No. It's slow and weaponless. We'd be a target for every other bounty hunter in the sector."
John looks at his pistol and quietly puts it away.
Blue-bar Alien: "I'll send a transmission to the Command Carrier, requesting pickup."
Red-bar Alien: "It's too soon. We'll tell Grayza to come for us only when we have captured Crichton."
Blue-bar Alien: "As you wish."
John puts Noranti's laka distilate under his nose and sniffs.
There is a flash of light, and John sees...
Aeryn, her hand to her mouth, cries as she looks at the dead TalynJohn, in "Infinite Possibilities, Part Two: Icarus Abides"; Aeryn struggles against the choking hand of the Harvey Clone in "Infinite Possibilities, Part One: Daedalus Demands"; Aeryn lies in his arms, desperately ill, in "Promises"; A single tear hangs from Aeryn's eye as she points her gun at HarveyJohn's head in "Infinite Possibilites, Part One: "Daedalus Demands"; Aeryn leans her head back, against the wall of the bunker, waiting to hear if John has survived making the wormhole, in "Infinite Possibilities, Part Two: "Icarus Abides"; John holds Aeryn as she falls to the floor after being shot in "Dog With Two Bones"; Aeryn is in pain, in "Nerve"; Aeryn in "A Bugs Life".
There is another flash...
John rubs his nose and eyes and sniffs quietly. Below, the Red-bar Alien stops walking, to listen. Aeryn glances at the ceiling, then looks back at her hands. D'Argo sniffs twice... loudly.
Red-bar Alien: "Silence."
There is the faint sound of a heartbeat. The blue-bar alien stops near the door of Command and turns back.
Red-bar Alien: "You have something?"
Blue-bar Alien: "Maybe."
His breathing is very loud and augmented. A small light on his head blinks as the heartbeat continues. In the access shaft, John rolls over, onto his back, away from the grill.
D'Argo: "Aeryn... you know what? I think we should negotiate."
Aeryn looks at him and just barely shifts her eyes upwards, then looks back at D'Argo.
D'Argo: "No... I
really think we should negotiate."
Aeryn nods: "Right." She begins speaking loudly, in Sebacean. D'Argo joins her, speaking Luxan and Rygel chimes in, in Hynerian. They all talk at once.
Up in the access shaft, John shakes his head. He gets up and moves.
Red-bar Alien: "Silence!"
They all stop talking.
The blue-bar alien grunts: "It's no good. He's gone."
Red-bar Alien: "But we know he's in the ducts."
Blue-bar Alien: "We could pursue him... up there."
Red-bar Alien: "Only by making ourselves too vulnerable... no. We'll draw him out. Bring him to us. Search this tier."
The blue-bar alien nods and leaves.
The Red-bar Alien turns to Rygel: "You know your comrade. Tell me... which of you does he care for most?"
Rygel laughs: "Me of course."
The Red-bar Alien growls a bit and concentrates on Rygel.
Rygel thinks to himself: "Aeryn, of course, probably Chiana next."
Red-bar Alien: "Where will Crichton go now?"
Rygel: "Center chamber for a nice, hot raslak."
Rygel thinks: "He'll go to his quarters, gather all his weapons... that Tarkan shield belt should help the odds. Then he'll head for Pilot's den."
Rygel notices the Red-bar Alien staring at him: "What are you staring at, dranuk?"
A blue-bar alien stops in mid-corridor and listens as the Red-bar Alien comms: "Find Crichton's quarters. Search for weapons and a shielding devise."
Blue-bar Alien: "Crichton's quarters. Acknowledged."
Red-bar Alien: "He'll also try to free the Pilot. Isn't that right, Crichton?"
In the access shaft where he is hiding, John listens.
Red-bar Alien: "Secure the Pilot's den. Be ready."
The blue-bar alien in the den, guarding Pilot, Chiana and Sikozu comms: "Got it."
Chiana and Sikozu are sitting up, back-to-back, in front of Pilot's console.
Chiana: "Hey. If I can distract him, can you make a break for it? You know, that run-on-walls trick thing? You know, go hide in the neural cluster or something?"
Sikozu: "Not with these frelling cuffs, I can't."
Chiana: "These what cuffs?" She laughs. "I am
so glad we extended your vocabulary.
Sikozu: "Listen..." She mouths to Chiana: "Play along."
Chiana: "Oh, okay."
Sikozu: "I have a very compelling argument for letting us go."
Chiana: "Hey! Soldier boy. Come here." She gestures with her head.
One of the blue-bar aliens walks over to where they are sitting.
Chiana: "Hey... don't you get hot in that armor?"
The blue-bar alien's mechanical sounding breathing is very loud as he kneels down beside Chiana.
Blue-bar Alien: "Are you trying to entice me?"
Chiana: "Maybe."
Blue-bar Alien: "If I wanted you, I'd take you. Should I show you?" He has his knife by her face.
Chiana: "Yah."
Sikozu: "Leave her alone."
From his hiding place in the ducts, John looks on.
Blue-bar Alien: "Or maybe both of you."
Pilot: "No, please! Don't hurt them!"
Blue-bar Alien: "Quiet."
The alien listens, attempting to pinpoint a heartbeat, as John quietly backs away from the access shaft grate.
In a cargo bay, some dark clothing falls out of an access shaft onto some crates. John jumps down from the shaft, right after. He lands with a thud and the sound of a pulse pistol being drawn. He comes up from between the crates with his pistol in both hands and quickly looks around the bay. He yanks the things he had dropped down onto the floor. There is a DRD sitting nearby on top of a crate. John taps it with his pistol but it doesn't respond. He looks at it, then goes over to the door and swipes his hand over the control to open it. He stands to the side as it does and then steps into the opening, gun at the ready. When the way appears clear, he leaves the cargo bay and the door shuts behind him.
The Red-bar Alien tosses a comms badge down on the table on Command. Aeryn is watching him.
Red-bar Alien: "Any sign of Crichton?"
A blue-bar alien comms back: "I'm in his quarters. He hasn't come near."
John comes to Scorpius' open cell door. He enters quietly, with his pistol ready.
John whispers: "Scorp?"
He looks all around the cell, but finds no one.
John: "Scorpius, you son-of-a-bitch." He hears a whirring sound and gets behind a wall to hide. One of the blue-bar aliens comes to the door, his mechanical breathing sounding loud in the stillness. He looks into the cell but doesn't enter. John presses himself flat against the wall, and holds his breath. The alien finally leaves and John exhales. He walks over to Scorpius' bed and gets down to check on "1812" the DRD. He taps this one with his pistol, and its eyes light up and it makes some quiet, chittering noises. John: "Huh. Playing possum, huh?" 1812 squawks.
John: "You think you can get any of your brothers up and runnin?"
1812 squeaks decisively.
John: "Good boy. Be quiet though. No singing. I'm gonna go scrounge up a blunderbuss."
On Command, the Red-bar Alien growls and starts to pace.
D'Argo: "Oh, relax. You'll see Crichton sooner or later."
Aeryn: "A microt before he kills you."
Red-bar Alien: "I admire such confidence from the weak and helpless."
Aeryn turns her head and looks at him.
Somewhere inside the ship, 1812 is working on another DRD near where John is working on something. He sets down a tool with a soft clanking sound.
Scorpius puts his head around a corner: "John..."
John picks up his pistol and points it at him.
Scorpius: "... I'm not your enemy. Be calm."
John: "Oh, I'm calm. I'm just a little twitchy cause, uh, you sold us out."
Scorpius: "Nothing of the kind."
John: "What? It's just co-inky-dink that you're running on the loose?"
Scorpius: "The only reason I escaped capture is because the bounty hunters do not know I'm here. By the time they went to my cell, I was not in it."
John: "Now, how'd that happen? Oh, I know, I know. We forgot to lock the door."
Scorpius: "The cell door was wholly inadequate."
John: "What are you sayin? You opened it with your bare hands?"
Scorpius: "Gloved hands. Yes."
John: "You mean you could've got out... anytime you wanted?"
Scorpius: "I never wanted to."
John brings down his pistol and holsters it.
Scorpius: "But, by the time our attackers arrived, I had to. Whoever they are, they have managed to capture Moya's crew in a matter of microts. But they must not capture you."
John: "I don't cut and run."
Scorpius: "We could not run if we wished. They've immobilized all escape craft with magnetic locks. And disabled the DRD's, all except for that one."
John: "Yep. 1812's on a different wavelength. He's not from Moya." He goes back to work.
Scorpius: "But, if he restarts the others, we'll have more firepower."
John: "Don't have time for that." He picks up the thing he was working on. "I'm goin... wabbit hunting." He sights down the barrel of what looks like an old-style machine gun.
Scorpius: "You can't take them all at once."
John: "How dumb do you think I am? You take them down one by one, the
Die Hard way."
Scorpius: "By luring them into an ambush. You could do with some assistance."
John: "You really think our relationship... has progressed that far?"
Scorpius doesn't respond. John hands him a pulse rifle.
John: "Just remember whose side you're on."
The atmospheric fans turn slowly, with a whoosh, whoosh, whoosh sound. John and Scorpius come into the chamber.
John: "This is John Crichton, paging the head Cylon."
On Command, Aeryn picks her head up, at the sound of John's voice.
John comms: "Pick up the phone, imperious leader."
Red-bar Alien: "Crichton. How pleasant to hear from you."
John: "Let's have a little chat. First off, money. We can pay you more than the Peacekeepers will."
Red-bar Alien: "No deal. Surrender at once."
John: "And why would I do that?"
Red-bar Alien: "To reduce the suffering of your crewmates. It's the only choice you have. Don't doubt for a microt that you will be captured."
John: "You know, for a guy with no mouth, you sure talk big."
Scorpius, quietly: "Brilliant."
John: "Why don't you come down here and find me, Gort? Klaatu barada nikto."
Scorpius: "Mission accomplished, John."
John: "Screw you."
Red-bar Alien: "He's on a lower-tier. Somewhere in the atmospheric system. Check all the airflow chambers."
The fans are whoosing loudly. One of the blue-bar aliens walks into the chamber where John an Scorpius are waiting. As he walks through the room, Scorpius steps away from the wall, behind him.
Scorpius: "Are you looking for someone?" He has his rifle leveled at the alien.
The blue-bar alien growls. Scorpius' rifle makes a thready, beeping noise. Scorpius hisses. He looks behind him: "Thank you, John."
The alien shoots and hits Scorpius in the chest. He staggers backwards and falls.
John steps out into the room, holding the old-fashioned machine gun in front of him.
John: "Como estas... la cucaracha." He shoots the alien with his gun. It staggers back a step or two, but turns immediately back towards John. John fires two more quick blasts, directly into the creature' chest. It straightens back up and laughs. John sniffs loudly and fires three more times in quick succession. The alien goes down with a loud thud. This time, he doesn't get back up.
John: "You didn't expect me to give you a loaded weapon, did you?"
Scorpius: "Well, yes."
John: "Let's have a look at this guy." He walks over to the fallen alien. He shoves it with his boot. When it doesn't move, he sets down his gun. He lifts up part of the alien's armor.
John: "Damn! What the hell's this?" He pulls off the loose piece of armor, and some red, spongy flesh comes with it. "It's like... Mr. Pumpkinhead."
Scorpius: "Organic core... bioengineered armor shell..."
John: "Crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside. How are your ribs?"
Scorpius: " As if you cared. My armor worked... barely. One down."
John: "Five to go."
Scorpius: "And you have a weapon that works."
John: "Nope. This bazooka's out of ammo. You can have it."
Scorpius: "I may well have joined the wrong side." He smiles.
END OF ACT ONE
ACT TWO
On Moya's Command...
Red-bar Alien: "Dead? How?"
Inside the atmospheric chamber, a blue-bar alien stands near an alien corpse.
Blue-bar Alien: "Multiple blasts from a large yield weapon."
Red-bar Alien: "So... Crichton's more formidable than I thought."
D'Argo: "I told you, but would you listen?"
Rygel laughs: "No, they never listen."
Aeryn: "Not too late to cut your losses... and run."
Red-bar Alien: "Oh, it's still early." He comms: "Initiate the containment plan."
A couple of Moya's DRD's are moving around in a chamber, with John.
John: "Alright, I got Winona, an extra pulse pistol, two pulse rifles, two DRD's, maybe four..."
Scorpius is sitting inside some supports: "Eight, sixteen or sixty-four, it won't be enough."
John comes over to him an holds up a pulse pistol: "Well, there's always the pulse chamber overload trick."
Scorpius: "If you can lure them close enough."
John hunkers down and talks to 1812, the DRD: "I'm gonna need a volunteer for a dangerous mission."
1812 squeaks in reply.
Scorpius: "The torment continues."
John: "No one asked you." 1812 continues squeaking to him.
In Pilot's den, two of the blue-bar aliens stand, looking down at Chiana and Sikozu who both still have the large, grey metal cuffs on their arms.
Blue-bar Alien: "You, get to your feet."
Sikozu slowly stands up.
Pilot: "What are you going to do to them?"
Blue-bar Alien: "I told you to be silent."
The Blue-bar alien presses some buttons on his forearm. Chiana sees him doing this and triggers her special vision to watch. A lighted devise on an articulated arm detaches from the alien's arm and points at Sikozu. She gasps. Chiana continues to watch this, in slow-motion. The alien does something and the devise activates. It shoots a beam at Sikozu and she instantly shrinks in size, down to about mouse size.
Chiana gasps and shakes her head: "Oh! What the frell?"
On Command, the Red-bar Alien stands behind D'Argo.
Red-bar Alien: "Get up."
D'Argo slowly stands. He takes a deep breath, in and out and turns towards Red-bar: "What now? Going for a little walk, are we?"
Red-bar Alien: "Something like that."
Rygel: "Hey... hey. Frellnik. Uh... uh before you do whatever you've got in mind, let's talk. If this is about currency, I assure you that I can more than match whatever you're being paid for me."
While he talks, D'Argo and Aeryn both look at the comms badge Red-bar laid on the table. Aeryn manages to lift her heavily cuffed arms up and lunges for it. Red-bar sees her coming and hits her, knocking her down. As he does, D'Argo shoots out his tongue and snags it off the table, bringing it instantly back to his mouth. Aeryn falls back into her seat and D'Argo goes over to Red-bar and tries to hit him with his cuffs. Red-bar stops him with his arm and then backhands him onto the floor. Aeryn winches and looks away.
Red-bar Alien: "Delivering you dead would cost me, but it might just be worth it." He presses some buttons on his right forearm and an articulated arm appears. He "zaps" D'Argo into a tiny version. Aeryn keeps her face turned away from the ray. She looks down and sees what has happened to D'Argo and her eyes get big. Red-bar pushes some more buttons and then pulls a cylinder out of his armor. He lowers it over D'Argo whose metal cuffs are immediately attracted to its walls and he is held fast. Red-bar picks the cylinder up, D'Argo and all, and places it back into his armor. There is a beeping noise and the lights on the cylinder turn from blue to red.
The Red-bar Alien turns to Aeryn: "Tell Crichton what you just witnessed."
Aeryn comms: "Crichton... don't talk, just listen."
Inside the ship, Scorpius and John stop to hear what Aeryn has to say.
Aeryn: "They've somehow reduced D'Argo in size. He's alive, but he's no larger than a hand length and he's imprisoned inside the head bounty hunter."
Red-bar Alien: "And the rest of your crewmates will follow."
John taps the wall as he listens.
Red-bar Alien: "So, put away your weaponry. Killing one of us means you'll be killing one or more of your friends. Do you understand?"
Scorpius whispers: "Aeryn's right. Don't answer. Keep them guessing."
Red-bar Alien comms: "You see how hopeless it is? Face the inevitable."
Aeryn watches him...
Red-bar Alien: "Give yourself up." He presses the buttons on his arm again and there is a beeping noise.
Aeryn speaks quickly: "Crichton, the devise appears to be activated by a combination of numbers on the handset."
The ray activates and Aeryn shrinks. She lands on the floor. Red-bar retracts his ray.
Red-bar Alien: "Im told you care for her. So stop fighting and you'll save her life."
Scorpius: "You can't even consider giving up.
Grayza would not let any of you live." He pants quickly.
John is sitting on the edge of a conduit, a little ways away: "I'm not giving up. And you're the one looks like crap."
Scorpius: "Oh, don't worry about me. I'm merely overheating."
John: "So, we've gone from Die Hard to Honey, I Shrunk The Hostages unless that guy's bluffing Aeryn."
Scorpius: "I don't think so." Spit forms on his lips as he speaks: "Forgive me, my mind isn't clear, but I seem to remember a Peacekeeper file about a species called the Coreeshi."
John: "These are our pumpkin people?"
Scorpius: "Oh, yes. Capable of constructing organic shells in various forms. They also... were reputed to possess... reduction technology."
John: "Great! So now I've gotta take these guys down and I can't hurt 'em."
Scorpius: "I'm sure that point is a bluff. To keep their prisoners alive, containment must be almost impossible to damage."
John: "Can't take that chance."
Scorpius: "Hah! Is there another choice?"
Inside a containment cylinder, Sikozu sits, her arms outstretched and attached by magnetic cuffs to the walls. Rygel sits in his one cuff, soundly snoring.
Sikozu: "Wake up. Hynerian, wake up!"
Rygel's eyes open: "My name isn't Hynerian. It's Rygel the Sixteenth.
You may call me Dominar."
Sikozu: "This is scarcely the time to obsess about how you're addressed. Look around you."
Rygel: "One more prison. So what? I've seen far worse."
Sikozu: "Do you have any idea how small you are?"
Rygel: "You're not exactly a giant yourself."
Sikozu: "You have been reduced in size. You're hardly bigger than a filima bug now." She sounds like she is beginning to hyperventilate. "Except... except this can't be happening."
Rygel sighs: "Can't it?"
Sikozu: "No." She looks around: "No... reduction by... proportionally subtracting atoms would leave our brains too simple to function."
Rygel: "So... maybe they just made all our atoms smaller."
Sikozu: "But then we could'nt breathe normal-size air molecules, don't you see?"
She looks at Rygel: "No. No, this... this isn't happening because... it is not possible."
Rygel: "Your brain isn't functioning. Do you think this is all just a hallucination? Do you like that explanation better, hmm?"
Sikozu: "No. But I simply cannot comprehend how..."
Rygel: "Neither can I. Who cares? We're here, they did it and that's that. You consider yourself intelligent?"
Sikozu: "Yes... I do."
Rygel: "Then stop behaving like a child."
Sikozu: "I am not a child!"
Rygel: "Nah! You're an infant! You've studied, but you haven't experienced. You know nothing of life."
Sikozu: "And you do?"
Rygel: "I've been around long enough to know how ignorant I am. I don't assume the Universe obeys my preconceptions. Hah! But I know a frelling fact when it hits me in the face."
John walks over to where 1812 is cutting something with a torch, on a corridor wall.
John: "That's good work." He looks over at Scorpius: "You're smoking."
There is smoke coming out of Scorpius' cooling apparatus.
John: "You know that's not good for you."
Scorpius: "The replacement cooling rod Sikozu has formulated... does not function as well in times of exertion."
John: "Then don't exert. Hit the bench. Go on."
Scorpius: "How did you survive this far?" He stalks off.
John: "Charm, good looks... winning attitude." He checks his pulse pistol and checks down the corridor. "Here we go." He sets the pulse pistol down on the floor of the corridor and gives it a spin. "And batter up." He hurries over to the DRD on the wall. "1812, don't cut it loose til I give you the signal." The DRD squeaks in reply.
One of the Blue-bar Aliens comms: "I'm hearing something on tier 16, treblin side. I'll check it out."
Red-bar Alien comms back, from Command: "Negative. Hold position. Devvak, you go in first."
A third alien answers: "Acknowledged." He starts walking down the corridor.
Scorpius stands quard, holding a pulse rifle. John stands up, over him and pulls out Winona. As the blue-bar alien comes down the corridor, he sees the pulse pistol John has left on the floor, and he stops.
Blue-bar Alien: "Come out, Crichton. I have Aeryn and Chiana. If you destroy me, you destroy them. And you certainly won't destroy me with that." He engages the shrinking ray from his forearm and shrinks the pulse pistol. It explodes in a tiny puff of smoke and a quiet pop. Devvak retracts his shrinking ray: "Pulse chamber overload. Huh. Not very creative."
John hollers: "1812!"
The DRD starts shooting quickly at the corridor wall. A splinter flies out from the wall and pinions the alien through the throat. He groans.
John: "Bear trap. Ugly, but creative."
He and Scorpius come out from where they were hiding.
John: "And that... is how we survived." He goes over and looks at the alien.
Scorpius: "The containment capsule is... here." He points to a round lid sticking out of the alien's chest.
John: "1812... light it up."
The DRD scoots over and begins shooting at the alien's chest.
Inside the cylinder, they can hear the popping noise from the shots.
Chiana: "What's that? What's goin on?"
Red-bar Alien: "Contact lost on tier 16. All hands get down there now."
1812 continues shooting at the dead alien's armor.
Scorpius: "There's no more time. Take this." He hands John his pulse rifle. Scorpius grabs the top of the cylinder. He exerts as much pressure as he can and manages to turn it. He pulls it out of the alien's armor and hands it to John.
Chiana: "We're out?"
Aeryn: "Crichton's got us out."
A huge eye appears in the cylinder opening, then John's face.
John: "Aeryn... Pip... you okay?"
Chiana: "Oh, yah. Yah"
An alien's voice is heard, down the corridor: "Over here."
Scorpius: "Run for it. Save them!"
John: "1812, this way!" He starts to run down the corridor, jiggling the cylinder.
Aeryn and Chiana: Whoa!"
John: "Pick it up! Pick it up!"
One of the aliens shoots at John.
Scorpius: "Go, John. Go."
John disappears around a corner, closely followed by 1812.
Scorpius
turns and faces the aliens. He puts his hands up over his head. When one of the aliens gets next to him, he brings his arms down, striking the alien in the face. The alien puts a hand around Scorpius' throat and manhandles him up against a wall and holds him there.
Blue-bar alien: "Who is he? Do you think he's worth anything?"
The other alien answers him: "Either he's worth something... or he's dead."
END OF ACT TWO
ACT THREE
Aeryn and Chiana are attached to the walls of the containment cylinder by magnetic cuffs.
John: "You guys alright?"
Chiana: "Where are we? I can't see."
John: "You're out of the bounty hunter's body... but you're still tiny and you're stuck in a beer can."
John is sitting on the floor. 1812 is near by.
Aeryn: "And since these cuffs are magnetic, we're not going anywhere in a hurry."
John: "Our first priority, we get you guys outta there."
Aeryn: "No, first priority is rescuing the others. We can wait."
John looks away: "Right. I need a new plan." He gets Noranti's drug out of his pocket and takes a sniff.
There is a flash of light and John sees, just as before...
John and Aeryn kiss while dancing at their wedding in "Dog With Two Bones"; John attempts to kiss Aeryn beside her prowler wing in "Dog With Two Bones"; John kisses the neck of a bare shouldered Aeryn; John sits in his module cockpit. Aeryn's face, in her prowler window, appears near him in "Dog With Two Bones"; Aeryn's profile as she sits on Command, in "Into The Lion's Den, Part Two: Wolf In Sheep's Clothing; John holds Aeryn's face in his hands as he kisses her, while in Moya's neural cluster, from "Die Me, Dichotomy"; Aeryn turns her face to kiss John's knuckle; John and Aeryn kiss at their wedding in "Dog With Two Bones".
There is another flash...
John: "I'm on it."
The Red-bar alien comms: "Crichton..."
He is pacing, alone on Command: "... Congratulations on retrieving the females. I assume they're alive ..."
John is fiddling with his boot while he listens. "... and intact. Of course, you can't set them free nor restore their size, without my help. I understand you care for them?"
Chiana sits listening to the alien, still blinded from the slow-motion. "... I offer a deal. Turn yourself in and I'll restore their size and set them free."
John: "Yah, why are you suddenly feeling so generous?"
Red-bar Alien: "You're costing me bodies and time. I'll pass up the bounties I'd earn on the females in exchange... for you."
John: "What about the others?"
Red-bar Alien: "I'm not that generous."
John: "Maybe you'll feel more generous after you've lost a few pints of your own blood."
John puts his boot back on and laces it up. The Red-bar Alien growls softly.
John talks to the "beer can" captives: "You know where the others are?"
Chiana: "I saw Sikozu get shrunk but I didn't see where they put her."
Aeryn: "Same for D'Argo and Rygel."
Chiana: "I... I used my visions. Everything slowed down and I... and I know how they do the shrinking."
John sits back to listen: "How's that?"
Chiana: "The armor. Left arm is a keypad. I know the codes for shrinking and I know the codes to get the cuffs off."
John: "That's good work, Chi. It's too bad we don't have some of that armor ourselves."
Aeryn: "Mmm. What do we have?"
John: "We got you, me, a couple of DRD's and some weapons that only tickle the bad guys."
Aeryn: "What happened to the old woman?"
Outside, in open space, Noranti floats in blissful slumber.
Scorpius lies on his back on a table on Command. His arms are encased in magnetic cuffs. The Red-bar Alien and one of the blue-bars are with him. Outside the front viewscreen, Noranti floats, unnoticed.
Blue-bar Alien: "Any idea who he is?"
Red-bar Alien: "No. He was working with Crichton?"
Blue-bar Alien: "He's the only reason Crichton got away. Crichton was hit in the leg. He was leaking vital fluids in the passageway."
The Red-bar Alien walks away from Scorpius: "If you can't capture a wounded target, you'll be leaking vital fluids as well. Get moving!"
The Blue-bar Alien leaves Command and the door closes behind him.
Red-bar Alien: "Well, well. Scorpius."
John walks down a corridor. 1812 and another DRD are moving along in front of him.
John: "How's the ride?"
Aeryn, from inside the containment cylinder: "We're all right."
Chiana: "I'm still blind. Maybe... maybe it won't go away."
Aeryn: "It's okay. Your sight's always come back before."
Chiana: "Maybe this is one time too many. Wh... what if it doesn't come back?"
Aeryn: "Well, using your sight the way you did may be the only thing that saves us. Without those codes we'll never return to normal size."
Chiana: "It's just the dark. " She sniffs: "You don't know what's coming and... uh... there's nothing you can do. I hate that feeling."
Red-bar Alien: "Wake up."
On the table, on Command, Scorpius shudders and jerks. He gasps for breath.
Red-bar Alien: "Why are you here?"
Scorpius: "Because you captured me?"
The Red-bar Alien stares down at Scorpius.
Scorpius whispers: "
No rok nish acopo yasha" [
"That won't work on me."]
Red-bar Alien: "So you know."
Scorpius: "Did you think that armor would fool me? I know what you are."
Red-bar Alien: "Then you should bow down."
Scorpius: "Entropy will claim the Universe before I bow down to a Scarran."
Red-bar Alien: "Even one of the ruling order?" He removes his helmet, exposing a very ugly, but unScarran like face.
Scorpius: "Particularly the ruling order. Grafting yourself into Coreeshi exoskeleton? How ingenious."
The red-bar Alien has put his helmet back on: "Yes."
Scorpius: "How many Peacekeepers have dealt with you, not knowing you were a Scarran spy?"
Red-bar Alien: "Too many to count."
Scorpius: "You're not after Crichton for the bounty. You want to take him back to your masters."
Red-bar Alien: "We're eager to learn why both you and Commandant Grayza are so interested in him. But... capturing you is a bonus beyond measure. It shall be my honor to return you to your birthplace."
Scorpius: "It will be my honor to see you dead."
Red-bar Alien: "Not likely." He presses the buttons to extend his shrinking ray. He uses the ray on Scorpius.
Some DRD's are lined up on top of a crate. John waltzes by, making shooting sound effects.
John: "Yah, that's going to work." He holsters Winona and goes over to where the containment cylinder is sitting.
John: "All right. I got the plan. How's my breath?" He breathes into the cylinder three or four times. Chiana and Aeryn both close their eyes and Aeryn makes a face. Chiana groans.
John: "Death by laser guillotine. Four DRD's... clothesline the suckers." He draws his hand across his throat to demonstrate.
Aeryn: "And not harm their captives? Might work. Probably won't."
John takes his hand and rocks the cylinder: "Don't be small-minded. Chiana... how are the peepers?"
Chiana: "Good." She smiles. "Makin out colors and shapes."
John: "Right. Well, you two talk amongst yourselves. I got work to do." He gives the cylinder a flip and it starts to roll.
From inside the cylinder, Aeryn and Chiana both yell.
John catches the cylinder as it rolls off the edge of the crate.
John: "Whoa!" He sets the cylinder back on top of the crate.
Aeryn: "Crichton!"
Chiana: "Bastard!"
John: "Sorry about that." He hurries off.
The Red-bar Alien pats a containment cylinder into his armor.
Red-bar Alien: "Enjoy the ride, Scorpius." He walks out of Command.
Inside the cylinder...
Scorpius: "Ka D'Argo... overcome your lethargy now. Moya's crew is in danger."
D'Argo shakes his head to clear it. He spits out the comms badge he was carrying in his mouth, carefully onto his knee.
D'Argo: "Where the frell are we and what are you doing here?"
Scorpius: "You have a comms? Signal Crichton immediately."
D'Argo: "Answers first."
John is humming loudly as he pushes crates around in the cargo bay. There are DRD's on top of the crates. He bumps the last one into another and stops.
John: "All right. All the brothers down with the plan."
1812 chirps.
John pats him in passing: "Be quiet." He goes over to the crate where the containment cylinder is sitting. He picks it up and peers inside.
John: "How are my little inaction figures?"
Chiana: "I can see, but it's... it's all blurry."
He sets the cylinder up on a girder, out of the way. "Right... If I get the time, I'll do something about that." He waves his hand at them and walks away.
In Pilot's den, the Red-bar Alien stands in front of Pilot's console. Pilot's arms are still encased in the metal cuffs and stuck to each other magnetically.
Red-bar Alien: "After I release two of your arms, you'll open an encoded channel on a vector and frequency I designate. If you do anything else, I'll kill you and then this Leviathan."
Pilot: "I'll do as you say."
The Alien presses some buttons on his arm and two of Pilot's arms seperate from each other.
D'Argo: "A Scarran spy?"
Scorpius: "He intends to capture Crichton. Not for the Peacekeepers, but for the Scarrans. Crichton needs to know this. He can't fall into Scarran hands."
D'Argo: "Why should I believe you?"
The Red-bar Alien transmits: "...
Jarj kolot prant krennich salovno renka prant epni fazob nyo wekoth..."
Scorpius: "Wait. That's Scarran military code. He's signaling to a dreadnaught... to come get him and his prisoners. Bounty hunters may have spared Moya. The Scarrans won't."
D'Argo sighs and leans over his knee. He comms: "John! John, can you hear me?"
John: "Yah."
John is standing next to the crates where the DRD's are sitting.
John: "Hidey ho, D. Where are you?"
D'Argo: "Fine. I'm in some sort of cylindrical prison. Look. it doesn't matter. Can you trust Scorpius?"
John: "More today than yesterday. Why?"
D'Argo: "He thinks we might have a Scarran on our hands and that the Scarran's calling in a dreadnaught."
John: "Interesting. That could be useful. Thanks."
D'Argo: "John. The Scarran's forcing Pilot to transmit the message now."
John: "Right. Well keep me posted."
A blue-bar alien comes to the outside door of the cargo bay.
Blue-bar Alien: "Found him. Cargo bay. Tier twenty. I've got treblin side. You take hamman side. Watch for traps."
Another blue-bar alien answers him: "Almost in position. Go in ten microts."
John is hunched down behind the crates, holding a pulse rifle. He hears the cargo bay door open. A blue-bar alien walks partway into the bay. The DRD's start shooting at the alien's neck. John stands up and shoots it with his rifle as well. The alien just stands there, then starts walking towards John.
John whispers: "Aw, crap. Best laid plans." He spins around to run and sees the second alien who has come into the bay from the other side. John backs up against the crates and uses the butt of his rifle to hit the alien in the helmet. He grunts and puts all his weight behind the blow. The alien sways sideways, slightly, but keeps looking straight at John.
John: "Oh yah, this is going to hurt." He turns around again, straight into the fist of the first alien. He falls to the floor, flat on his back, out cold.
END OF ACT THREE
ACT FOUR
One of the blue-bar aliens, standing over a prone Crichton, extends his shrinking ray arm.
Blue-bar Alien comms: "We've go Crichton. Tier twenty. Cargo bay."
The Red-bar Alien replies: "Hold him there. I'll come shortly."
John feels his nose with his hand and wipes away some blood. He lifts his head to look at the aliens.
Red-bar Alien: "No acknowledgment of my signal?"
Pilot: "Not yet."
Inside the containment cylinder that John hid up on a girder...
Chiana: "What was that? They... they said they had Crichton."
Aeryn: "Maybe it's part of the trap. I hope... it's part of the trap."
John sits up, still wiping blood from his nose.
There are now three blue-bar aliens standing over him.
John: "Henchmen. Always the last to know and the first to get hurt. I have some bad news for you guys. Your, uh... boss. He's not a battlebot. He's a Scarran."
Blue-bar Alien: "Ridiculous."
John: "Yah? Well take the can opener to him. Find out for yourself. But, you'd better do it quick because he's just called for a dreadnaught to take him back to Scarranburg."
The blue-bar aliens stare at him.
John: "All right. Go check it out. He's in Pilot's den right now."
The aliens continue to stare, unmoving.
John: "Well, why don't you have Pilot play back the message and you can have your chief explain why he's talking in Scarran. Fellas... I got no axe to grind. Peacekeepers, Scarrans... I'm dead either way. You guys..." John shakes his head. "... crap man, you ought to be concerned. What's it gonna cost you to check it out? Nothin. If I'm lyin, you can take it out of my hide, but if I'm tellin the truth... yah, we're gonna smoke the peacepipe."
One blue-bar Alien speaks: "Watch him."
He leaves. The other two aliens continue to stare down at John.
The Blue-bar Alien comes into Pilot's den.
Blue-bar Alien: "Axikor."
Red-bar Alien(Axikor): "What are you doing here?"
Blue-bar Alien: "Open your armor."
Axikor: "Why?"
Blue-bar Alien: "To prove you're a Coreeshi and not a Scarran."
Axikor: "Don't be foolish."
Blue-bar Alien: "Open it. Now!"
Axikor turns his head away from the other alien and presses some buttons on his forearm. The blue-bar Alien starts to explode in spots around his armor. Flames break out on one leg. There are explosions behind both knees. He groans: "Ahh!" and falls over backwards. Dead. In the cargo bay, the other two aliens also begin to explode in various places. Their knees give way as well. One of them falls down, face first, right in front of John.
John: "Man, I hope you guys are still under warranty." There is liquid running out of the various openings in the alien's armor and some smoke comes out of its head.
John stands up: "1812... get these arms off... quick!"
Pilot: "You... killed him."
Axikor: "You can be next."
There is a noise from Pilot's console.
Axikor: "Transmission?"
Pilot: "Yes."
A Scarran's voice sounds in the den: "
Axikor. Mra zenab prant kebog..."
1812 and the other DRD's are using their lasers on the aliens' arms.
John: "That a girl." He retrieves the containment cylinder from where he had hidden it. "Alright, Chiana. Start teaching me those combinations."
Chiana: "Will do."
He sets the cylinder down on the floor, near the alien's arm.
Axikor is listening to the transmission. Inside his armor, so is Scorpius.
Scarran: "
... Jarj branek vol skarn... woxa kwal..."
Scorpius translates for D'Argo: "The dreadnaught signals it won't risk traveling to Moya. Not with a Command Carrier in the area."
D'Argo nods: "That's good."
Scorpius: "He's been ordered to make his own way off Moya, and to rendezvous with the dreadnaught elsewhere."
D'Argo shakes his head: "Well... that's bad."
In the cargo bay, John has one of the alien arms free and holds it up. He pulls a bunch of stringy flesh out of it and drops it on the floor. He inserts his own arm up into the larger alien's arm.
John: "Oh god, it's still warm! Okay." He shakes his free hand to get some of the slime off it. "Uh... Nurse, I am, uh, ready for surgery. First thing, the cuffs." He presses some buttons on the forearm of the armor.
There is an electronic noise and Chiana and Aeryn suddenly slide down the walls of the cylinder, their arms free from the walls..
Chiana: "Uhh."
Aeryn: "So far, so good."
John: "Excellent."
Chiana stumbles and struggles to her feet. The cuffs are still on her arms.
Chiana: "Ohh!"
John: "Beer cans next." He reaches over to the nearest dead alien and pulls a cylinder from its chest. He looks inside, then tosses it away.
John: "Damn. No winners there."
He goes over to the other corpse and pulls it onto its back. 1812 whirrs over to check on it.
John presses some buttons. The lights on the alien's chest cylinder turn from red to blue. John pulls the cannister out of the armor and looks inside.
John: "Hey!"
Rygel: "Crichton!"
John: "How bout that? I got a tadpole!"
Sikozu: "Crichton, get us out of here. Make us normal size."
Rygel: "Me!!"
John: "I don't know about that, Rygel. Chiana only gave me the codes for making things smaller, not bigger, and I don't want to blow you up."
Axikor strides through the ship.
D'Argo comms: "John. John, we're on the move again. I think the Scarran's trying to make a run for it. He may try and steal a transport pod. Actually, if he wants something faster, he might try and steal Aeryn's prowler."
Aeryn: "Frell."
John: "Right. I'll try to cut him off at the path. 1812, keep an eye on the little people."
John hurries out of the cargo bay, shoving his hand further up in the alien armor.
1812 whirrs in reply and motors over to the containment cylinder.
Aeryn: "He'll never beat the Scarran to the prowler." She turns around and sees the DRD sitting outside the open cylinder. She scrambles out, onto the cargo bay floor.
Chiana: "Hey! Where're ya goin?"
Aeryn: "Sit tight."
John runs down the corridor, towards the hangar bay. He has alien armor on both his hands. Axikor walks purposefully in the same direction. He has taken his helmet off and it carrying it. He has what looks like a black mohawk haircut on the top of his head. He looks at the helmet for a microt. He growls and tosses it aside, on the hangar bay floor. He goes over to the prowler and starts pressing buttons on it, to open the canopy. The lock slides back with a clank.
John comes into the hangar bay, behind Axikor.
John: "Yo!"
Aeryn rides in on the DRD. She passes between John's legs: "Crichton! I'll disable the prowler. You take care of the Scarran." 1812 stops and Aeryn hunches down: "Fire!" The DRD starts shooting at the prowler while John looks on in amazement.
Axikor turns around to see where the shots are coming from. John scoots behind a bulkhead. Axikor shoots at 1812 and Aeryn is knocked off its back. She falls to the floor and lays still.
Axikor walks back across the hangar, towards John. John notices that there is something loose on the top of the girder he is hiding behind, and he pulls it down. He tosses the tool onto the floor, away from himself, with a clang. Axikor looks in the direction of the sound. While he is looking away, John dashes out of concealment, carrying a large round cannister cover. When Axikor hears him coming and turns back, John bashes him in the face with it. After he hits him a second time, Axikor falls backwards onto the floor. John steps over to him, narrowly missing stepping on Aeryn.
John: "You should pick on somebody your own size." He presses some buttons on the armor an the lights on Axikor's cylinder turn blue. John takes it out of his armor and looks inside.
John: "Hiya, fellas."
Axikor comes to while John is looking in the cylinder. He grabs John's leg and, with a grunt, pulls it. John goes flying. He drops the cylinder and it rolls away, across the floor.
D'Argo, spinning: "John? Whoa! John!"
Axikor: "Crichton. Excellent. Scorpius will have someone to keep him company on his journey."
John quickly starts to punch buttons on the armor and, seeing this, Axikor does too. They both have a shrinking ray arm shoot out of their armor, pointed at each other. The rays go off, and they are both made tiny, simultaneously.
John: "Back to Scarranburg? I don't think so."
Axikor presses some more buttons and makes himself normal size again. He towers over John.
1812 chitters in alarm.
John: "Get back coward."
Axikor: "You're mine now." He reaches down to snag John.
John: "Crap." He bends over his armor: "I hope I can do this." He quickly presses buttons on the arm. Axikor swipes at John, who turns suddenly full-size again. Axikor tries to hit him, but misses. They lock arms and struggle. John presses some more buttons and they are both made tiny again, still locked arm to arm.
John: "So, you're an upper-class Scarran? Not like the horse-faces I'm used to." He swipes at Axikor's face and hits him. Axikor is driven to a knee, but backhands John and knocks him back.
Axikor: "You'll soon be meeting more of me."
John struggles to catch his breath: "Remind me to shave."
John presses some buttons and makes himself large. He picks up his foot and holds it over Axikor.
Axikor freezes and cries out: "Nooo!"
John brings his foot down with a terrible, squooshing sound.
John: "One small step for man..." There is red and black goo oozing out from under his boot.
John takes a breath and kneels down beside the flattened Scarran: "Es donde esta la cucaracha?"
END OF ACT FOUR
EPILOGUE
Scorpius is lying on his back on his bed, in his cell. The DRD's are whirring around, underneath him.
D'Argo: "John, what the frell are we going to do with Scorpius?"
He and John are walking through a corridor.
John: "Man, I just don't know. He could'a gone to ground, but he didn't. He put his ass on the line for us, I guess. I don't know."
D'Argo: "John."
John: "I jus..." He stops and puts his hand on the wall: "I just... don't kn... D, look. Bottom line. I don't think we have a cage that's gonna hold the son-of-a-bitch."
D'Argo: "I agree with you on all counts."
John: "Yah."
D'Argo: "We should still keep a close eye on him at all times."
John: "Twenty-four seven."
D'Argo turns to leave.
Rygel comms: "Crichton?"
John: "Yah, Ryg?"
Rygel is on Command. He has his eyebrow brush in his hand.
Rygel: "There's a wrinkled old woman floating outside the forward portal."
Noranti's dress hangs over part of the view, floating gently.
John: "Whoa, gigantic oops!" He turns to D'Argo: "Can you do me a favor? Pop outside the tier three treblin side hatch and haul Granny in?"
D'Argo: "Noranti is outside?"
John: "Yah. Don't... don't ask. She's... she's got some red play-doh in her pocket. A dose of that, and when she gets in, she should be all right."
D'Argo pats him on the shoulder: "It's taken care of."
Pilot comms: "Officer Sun?"
Aeryn is walking through a corridor: "Yes, Pilot."
Pilot: "Commander Crichton and I would like your advice before we broach a topic with Captain D'Argo."
John is in the den, beside Pilot.
Aeryn: "Go ahead."
Pilot: "In view of the continuing danger we face in Peacekeeper space and even in the Ucharted Territories, and given that the Scarrans will also be looking for us now, I'm reluctantly forced to consider traveling into Tormented Space."
Aeryn stops walking and stands, in the middle of the corridor.
John: " Aeryn, you know what that is? Aeryn?"
She walks over to a wall and slides down it to a crouch.
Aeryn: "Umm... it's a place where neither Peacekeepers nor Scarrans will travel."
John: "Right. It's a rough neighborhood."
Aeryn: "Bit hard to know. Few credible reports have made it back from there since... those who go there usually vanish."
Pilot: "Navigation there is extremely hazardous. Many ships have been lost. The area is reputed to be a nexus of wormholes."
John: "So I've been told. And Moya's cool with that?"
Pilot: "She's understandably reticent to go there, but... she sees no other choice."
Aeryn: "Nor do I, Pilot."
John: "Well, look on the bright side. Can't be as bad as some of the places we've been lately."
Aeryn: "Trust me. It can."
END OF EPILOGUE
