Air Date: January 24, 2003
Written by David Peckinpah
Directed by Kate Woods
Transcript by Xenajules2
Edited and put on-line by Bluey
Episode 4.14 - Twice Shy
Previously on Farscape (Voice of Sikozu):
Scene One: from "Promises", Chiana: "What's he doin here? What's he want?" Scorpius stands behind Aeryn. Aeryn: "He wants asylum."
Scene Two: from "Natural Election", John and Aeryn are in the fan room. John: "A relationship... is based on trust." Aeryn: "I didn't want to tell you about the pregnancy until I was sure."
Scene Three: from "Promises". John holds a bulb in his hand. Noranti: "Distilate of Laka. One whiff and the pain is gone."
Scene Four: from "Terra Firma", Noranti and Aeryn are on Moya. Noranti: "It's to help him move on. Surmount his feelings and forget." Aeryn looks at the bulb she is holding in her hand.
And now, on Farscape...
PROLOGUE
A couple of DRDs hurry through Moya, followed by Scorpius.
Scorpius: "Pilot. Why is that trading vessel still aboard?"
Pilot: "The negotiation is proving... difficult. These traders are asking exorbitant prices for their maps. Yet we dare not traverse Tormented Space without reliable star charts."
Scorpius comes to the doorway of the hanger bay where the trading vessel is docked. John and Aeryn are also back near the doorway and D'Argo stands in front of them, watching the proceedings. A pair of armed traders stand at the foot of the steps leading down from their ship. Two more are at a table, bargaining with Noranti and Rygel. The DRDs that came with Scorpius join several others that are already in the bay.
Noranti: "For five thousand crindars, I want maps that are current and authentic."
Trader: "I said ten."
Rygel: "And she said five."
Trader: "Buy your maps elsewhere."
The traders are humanoid in appearance, all male and seem to have very bad acne (or some kind of sores on their faces.)
He turns and starts to walk away.
Noranti: "Are you so sure another buyer will come along?"
In the doorway to the bay, Aeryn stands watching. She is tapping her fingers against her pulse pistol in its holster. John stands near her, not watching the traders, but watching her. Aeryn has her teeth clenched. She makes a tiny, gasping sound.
John: "What?"
Aeryn: "Nothing's bothering me." She continues to stare straight ahead, not looking at John.
John: "Something I said?"
She continues to stare out into the hanger bay.
John: "It must have been something I said."
D'Argo is holding his qualta rifle and he starts to walk closer to the trading table. The two guards by the ship watch him closely.
Trader: "Nine thousand. No more talk."
Noranti: "Except to say goodbye." She turns and starts to leave, quickly.
Trader 2: "Wait!"
Trader: "No."
Trader 2: "Seven."
Trader: "Final offer."
The Trader and Noranti look at each other for a few moments, then Noranti comes back to the table.
Noranti: "The Dominar will pay you."
As Noranti and Rygel leave the hanger, they pass by where Scorpius is standing.
Scorpius: "You lookd unusually smug. Your deal, it was successful?
Rygel: "You have no idea." He chortles.
The Trader calls after them: "One more trade. No tricks."
He comes down the steps out of the trading vessel leading a young woman by her hair. She walks stooped over, holding her head where his hand is, and gasping as she walks.
Chiana, who is sitting on a conduit near John, gets up on her feet to watch more closely.
Trader: "We enjoyed her. Plenty of good pleasure left."
The young woman looks up and at Noranti. Her lip quivers.
Trader: "No value to an old woman but..."
Noranti whirls and stalks away.
The Trader puts his hand on the woman's front, grabbing a breast and rubbing her abdomen in an exaggerated fashion.
Trader: "... but to men..."
He laughs. The young woman grabs at his hands, trying to stop him.
Chiana stands up and pulls her pulse pistol, pointing it at him: "Touch her again, you fekik, and you die!" She hisses.
Everyone else draws their weapons. D'Argo had put up his qualta blade and he grunts as he struggles to redraw it. The trader has let go of the woman and stands behind her, his arms crossed over his chest.
John, standing beside Chiana, has Wynonna pointed at the traders: "Calm down."
D'Argo: "Chiana, this is not our problem."
Chiana: "What? Have you forgotten what it's like to be a prisoner?"
D'Argo closes his eyes.
Trader: "Eight hundred crindars... bargain." He strokes the woman's hair. "She's yours." He pushes her forward a step.
Chiana: "We can't just leave her."
Everyone looks away, not making eye contact with Chiana.
Chiana: "Okay." She jumps down from the conduit, still pointing her gun at the trader.
Chiana: "I'll buy her myself if I have to."
Rygel: "You brought that Vorc onto Moya, remember?"
Chiana smiles at the young woman: "What's your name?"
Woman: "Talikaa."
Chiana: "Talikaa." She puts her gun arm down and walks over to her. She brings the gun back up, pointed at Talikaa's head. Talikaa's eyes get very round and her lip quivers again.
Chiana: "Here's the deal. We take her, or I take her head off."
Rygel: "Shoot her. She's nothing to me."
D'Argo: "Rygel... pay them."
Rygel: "But, uh..."
D'Argo yells: "Pay them!"
John: "Sparky! Cough it up." He reaches over to Rygel and grabs something from him.
Rygel wimpers.
John points Wynonna into the air and walks quickly over to the traders, carrying the money he's taken from Rygel. He hands it to the trader, behind Talikaa's back.
Trader: "A smart purchase. You'll have fun with her."
Chiana shrieks at him. Scorpius looks on, obviously concerned.
D'Argo speaks quietly to John and he walks back past him.
D'Argo: "This is a bad idea."
John whispers back: "Nine times out of ten. First nice planet we find, we drop her off."
Chiana talks to Talikaa: "This isn't... no... I'm... I'm... I'm a friend."
Talikaa wimpers and her lip quivers.
Chiana: "A friend."
Talikaa looks at Chiana. She looks distorted somehow and discolored. Talikaa reaches out with a finger and touches the bare skin on Chiana's chest.
Chiana: "Hey, it's okay." She reaches for Talikaa's arm.
Talikaa gasps and pushes Chiana's hand away. She spins and runs.
D'Argo yells: "Chiana! Grab her."
Aeryn grabs Talikaa as she runs past. Talikaa looks at Aeryn and she also looks distorted and discolored. Aeryn lets go of her and she backs away, towards John.
He grabs her. John looks distorted to Talikaa too.
John: "Take it easy. We're not gonna hurt you."
Noranti watches from behind a shelving structure.
Talikaa spins away from John and rushes past Rygel, hitting him out of her way. Rygel cries out.
D'Argo: "Okay, hold her. Grab her!" He starts after her.
Scorpius reaches out a hand as she darts past him and stops her.
Talikaa looks at a distorted Scorpius too. She reaches up to touch the skin near his eye, but he pushes her hand away.
D'Argo grabs the gasping woman: "Okay, take her to your room."
He pushes her back, to Chiana. Chiana grabs hold of her.
D'Argo: "She is
your responsibility."
Chiana lets go with one hand and leans over to look at Talikaa's face.
Chiana: "Hey... Talikaa. Come on. I'll get you some food and some better clothes."
They leave the bay and Scorpius follows.
Pilot: "The trading vessel is now leaving Moya."
D'Argo: "Good."
Noranti turns and leaves quickly.
John inhales through his nose. He turns to look at Aeryn. She turns her head and looks back. He puts his hands on his hips, hooking his thumbs in his belt and walks over to stand face-to-face with her.
John: "So you're... angry with me?" He drops his hands: "Let's talk."
Aeryn: "I don't want to talk."
John: "Aeryn..."
Aeryn slams the back of her hand into the side of John's face, as hard as she can. He staggers under the blow. He puts his hand to the side of his face and gasps. He half turns and watches her walk out of the bay.
END OF PROLOGUE
ACT ONE
John follows Aeryn down a corridor on Moya.
Aeryn: "There's nothing to say."
John: "The hell there's not. You hit me!"
Aeryn: "You lied to me."
John: "Hey, you lied to me! You said nothing was bothering you."
She walks into a room and over to a workbench. John follows right behind her.
John: "Okay, so I did not tell you about the poppers. You did not tell me about the baby. Does that mean I get to hit you now?"
Aeryn: "I would not advise that."
John puts a foot up on the workbench and jumps up to crouch near her: "Oh. You... do not scare me, Missy."
Aeryn turns her face and gives him a cold, cold look.
John: "Okay..." He backs down off the workbench. "... you scare me a little."
Aeryn goes back to work.
John: "You want the truth?"
She stops what she's doing and looks at him.
John: "I was taking that crap from Noranti... to forget you. But you gotta admit..." He leans closer: "... it's kinda romantic. I'm just crazy about you."
Aeryn: "So, it's my fault."
John: "No! What?"
Aeryn: "You should have been stronger."
John groans: "Oh, god! Aeryn, please! G... gi... Honey, give me a break! I'm weak. I'm human." He falls to his knees in front of the workbench: "I'm a guy."
Aeryn slams the lid on a chest on the bench and walks away.
John: "What is the matter?" He gets up and follows her.
John: "Aeryn, I'm fine." He catches up to her and grabs her arm from behind. She spins around to face him and he immediately lets go and holds his hands up in the air.
Aeryn glares at him.
John points at her with both hands: "We're gonna be fine."
Aeryn: "No. We're not." She turns and walks quickly out of the room.
John: "Aeryn... do not walk away. Much as I love it when you walk away." He hollers after her: "Aeryn!" He continues much softer, to himself: "We're gonna be fine! She likes me." He nods towards where she's gone, then turns and goes the other way.
Talikaa stands quietly.
Chiana: "Wow! That's much better." Chiana looks closely at Talikaa, putting her hands on Talikaa's hips. Talikaa has changed clothes and is now wearing an outfit with a long skirt and a silver collar.
Chiana laughs: "Fits great. It looks nice."
Talikaa makes a sound halfway between a laugh and a wimper.
Chiana: "It looks, uh... sexy."
Talikaa: "What is 'sexy'?"
Chiana looks at her, surprised: "Oh, a girl as beautiful as you shouldn't... shouldn't have to ask that." She holds onto Talikaa's hands and takes a step back, still looking at her.
Chiana: "Sexy is, um... " Chiana drops Talikaa's hands and takes a step to go around her. "... sexy."
Talikaa: "You like sexy?"
Chiana circles around Talikaa, smelling her hair. She leans her head in towards Talikaa's shoulder: "Yah. It's my... uh... it's my favorite color." She rests her chin on Talikaa's shoulder: "Makes you feel good... knowing men want you."
Talikaa jerks away and looks back over her shoulder at Chiana.
Chiana walks away and circles back around in front: "Oh...um... Sorry. M... most men aren't... aren't like those traders. Most men are, uh... are pretty drad."
Talikaa looks at Chiana through her distorted vision: "You like men for sex?"
Chiana: "They're, uh... they're good for other things. But they're great for sex."
Chiana gulps as Talikaa steps over to her, looking her in the face.
Talikaa: "Just men?"
Chiana stares at Talikaa.
Talikaa
touches Chiana's comms: "You like this?" She reaches up and feels the side of Chiana's face. Chiana turns her lips towards Talikaa's fingers. Talikaa strokes down her cheek and under her jaw. Chiana gasps quietly.
Talikaa whispers: "Is this sex?"
Chiana puts her lips on the palm of Talikaa's hand.
Chiana breathes: "Yah." She nods: "It's... it's getting pretty close."
Aeryn walks up to the open doorway and sees Chiana and Talikaa standing inside Chiana's quarters. She stops and watches.
Chiana and Talikaa lean towards each other. They touch upper lips, moving their faces in response to each other. They kiss lightly and move away a bit. Talikaa touches Chiana's lip with her tongue, Chiana leaning towards her again. Chiana smiles. They kiss again.
From the doorway, Aeryn calls: "Chiana."
At the sound of Aeryn's voice, the kiss stops. Chiana turns her head towards the sound. Talikaa looks up, keeping one hand on Chiana's breast.
Chiana follows Aeryn out into the corridor. Aeryn stops and turns. Chiana comes up to her.
Chiana: "Okay. What... is your problem?"
Aeryn: "That the only reason why you brought her aboard? So you can make her your toy now?"
Chiana: "Uh... ... ... we were just talkin. Girl stuff." Chiana leans towards Aeryn who is standing ramrod straight. "Oh, come on." She puts her hand on Aeryn's waist, with a slap of leather. "I get feisty. I'm not like you." Chiana pushes Aeryn by her waist, right up against the wall.
Chiana brings her face in very close to Aeryn's: "You don't need it. I do." Chiana pins Aeryn's arms. Aeryn sweeps Chiana's hands away, but Chiana puts them right back. "It's not a crime."
Aeryn leans as far back, away from Chiana as she can get, while being held pinned against the wall: "This is excessive, even for you, Chiana."
Chiana smiles and leans into her: "Well, if you're not into it... I could always ask Crichton." She bends, putting a finger to Aeryn's jaw and leans to kiss Aeryn's bare neck. Aeryn moves Chiana's finger away.
Chiana: "You mind?"
Aeryn puts her hand on Chiana's jaw. She clenches her forehead into deep furrows.
Aeryn: "Do what you want." Aeryn pushes past Chiana and walks away. Chiana, watching her, takes a deep breath.
John can be heard whistling. Talikaa peers around a doorway at him. He is standing in his quarters. He has a book in one hand and a slinky in the other. He is playing with the slinky, throwing it out and catching it as it recoils. He spots Talikaa.
John: "Hey! Hey, how you doin?" He gestures with his arms: "Come on in." He gestures around at the room: "Uh... sorry about the mess." He stoops over and starts picking up things. "Chocolate?" He holds something out towards her. "It's fresh from Earth."
Talikaa shakes her head "no", vigorously and takes a step back out of the room.
John: "Don't be afraid. Come on in. We're friends." He sits down on a bench.
Talikaa slowly comes towards him, her hands held shyly behind her back: "For sex?"
John laughs and talks, his mouth full of chocolate: "No. That's a different kind of friend. That's a special friend."
Talikaa laughs. She sits down near John.
John grunts and nods.
Talikaa: "A special friend. Like you and Aeryn."
John: "How did you... ? Oh! Chiana, right?"
Talikaa: "Chiana, yes." She laughs: "But I can see it for myself. Anyone can. You are hers and she is yours. Or am I wrong?" To her eyes, John is both discolored and distorted.
John grins and shakes his head: "No. You're right. You're absolutely right."
John looks away and then back, seeing Talikaa staring at him. He laughs and she joins him.
D'Argo is standing behind a projection of a rotating star-chart.
D'Argo: "These maps look legitimate. Information about the dangerous sectors is accurate, it should be easy for us to evade them. Looks like the old witch actually did a good job." He turns off the projection.
Rygel: "Don't I get any credit?"
D'Argo: "What for?"
Rgyel laughs and throws a coin onto the table: "Look closely at that."
D'Argo picks it up.
Rygel: "Read me the amount."
D'Argo: "A hundred crindars."
Rygel: "It's really only a twelfth of that. I added the extra digit. Fine handiwork, don't you think?"
D'Argo: "You cheated the traders."
Rygel: "That's right. More for me."
D'Argo leans over the table and yells at Rygel: "Do you know what you've done, you selfish little tralk? The traders control this part of Tormented Space!"
John steps into the doorway and stops, watching.
Rygel: "The greebols won't even notice."
D'Argo: "They
will notice, you lying, cheating little..." He comes around the table and grabs Rygel: "... piece of crap!"
John runs into the room and gets between them: "Knock it off! Knock it off! Break! Break!" He pushes them apart. "Neutral corners. What's the problem?"
D'Argo: "This little piece of
dren gave the traders counterfeit crindars."
Rygel: "Not counterfeit. Just altered."
John: "Sparky? What'd you want to do that for? These are not the guys we wantta piss off. We have to be out here for a while and we need to be able to do business."
D'Argo is several steps away, behind John: "And now he's ruined it for us. When they find out they've been cheated..."
Rygel: "I'm telling you, they won't. Those forgeries would fool anyone."
John: "Ryg, you can't do stuff like this. You're jamming us up."
D'Argo: "Crichton, can't you see the damage he has done us? When they come for us, I'm gonna give them
you! They can enjoy you as much as they like!"
Noranti comes into the balcony and watches from above.
John: "D. That's not going to solve the problem."
D'Argo puts his hands on his hips and takes a deep breath.
John: "Relax. Have a seat. Have a bite to eat." He puts a plate down in front of D'Argo.
Rygel zooms over towards the dish: "Get away from those. They're mine!"
D'Argo reaches over, picks up the dish and hurls it across the room, screaming: "You selfish little
dren!"
Rygel gasps and D'Argo snarls at him. Rygel backs quickly away as D'Argo lunges for him. Again, John steps in the way.
John: "Chill. Chill, bra. It's under control, all right? We're gonna make it right."
Noranti slips in at the doorway.
John: "We're gonna phone these guys. We're gonna tell 'em we made a mistake and we're gonna make it right."
Rygel: "Are you fahrbot?"
D'Argo: "I'm the Captain here. I'll deal with it, and then I'll deal with
you!"
Rygel: "Just keep your hands off my property." Rygel starts to fly away.
D'Argo charges in the same direction.
John: "D! Let him..." D'Argo slams into John and goes right past him.
John: "... let him go, D!"
D'Argo snarls but rushes past Rygel, not touching him.
John: "Pilot. Can you get that trading ship on the phone?"
Pilot: "I'll try, Commander, but this area of Tormented Space is making transmissions very unreliable."
John: "You can do it, man. You're smart enough. You're good enough. Doggone it, people like you."
Pilot: "Are you alright, Crichton?"
D'Argo strides down a corridor, breathing heavily. Talikaa enters the corridor from a side.
D'Argo sees her and hollers at her: "What are you doing here? I told you to stay in Chiana's quarters."
Talikaa: "I don't have to listen to you. No one else does. Nobody listens to you. They listen to Crichton, but not to you." (Talikaa sees him as distorted.)
D'Argo: "Get back to those quarters or I will throw you off this ship myself."
Talikaa watches him rush away. As he goes, he passes Noranti and Sikozu. He bumps into Sikozu hard enough to cause her to cry out, but he just keeps going. Noranti and Sikozu both look at Talikaa. She stares back at them then turns and walks away.
Scorpius' cooling rod mechanism is outside his head. It has been altered and is now made up of several rods. They are all red and Sikozu has them spinning. This makes a rather large noise.
Sikozu: "Noranti seems to think that everyone is acting very strangely."
The apparatus spins to a stop and Scorpius sighs: "And what do you think?"
Sikozu reaches in between the red rods with a metal tool: "They are agitated." She sets it spinning again: "Unusually emotional. Everyone except Aeryn." The cooling rods turn blue. "She's colder than usual."
Scorpius gasps.
Sikozu reaches in between the rods again, with the metal tool. They stop.
Scorpius: "She wills herself... against emotions. Like any good soldier."
Sikozu presses a button. The rods contract against their center post and then insert themselves into Scorpius' skull.
Scorpius walks in the corridor outside John's quarters. He looks inside.
Chiana: "You. On the table. Right now."
Chiana straddles John and pushes him down onto the table.
John: "Yah, wha... wha... what's gotten into you?" John pushes on her arms to keep her off him.
Chiana: "Nothing... yet." She laughs as she pushes him down and leans over him. She moves her head around his face, trying to kiss him.
John turns his face away from her: "Oh... oh... oh... okay. I just figured out what you need. You need a cold shower."
Chiana bends over backwards, hanging on to John with her legs: "It's okay."
John: "Whoo!"
Chiana: "I asked Aeryn. She said she didn't care about you anyway." She lifts herself back up and leans back over John.
John grabs her arms again: "Yes she does."
Chiana giggles: "No she doesn't."
John: "We're happy. She loves me."
Scorpius continues to watch from the doorway.
Chiana: "Oh, come on. You know you want it." She leans over towards his cheek.
Scorpius: "John."
John turns his head and sees Scorpy in the doorway: "Oh, hey Scorp."
Chiana: "Hey, Scorpy. You wantta watch?"
John: "Nuh, hey... aint nothin here to see." He shoves her up and off him. "We're done." He sits up and points to Chiana: "You're leaving."
Chiana slaps his hand away: "Hezmana to you. What'd she do... cut 'em off?"
John gets up and straightens his vest as Chiana walks to the doorway.
Chiana stops by Scorpius and moves her face towards his. He growls, but his head moves towards her in response. He hisses and pulls himself back and Chiana leaves.
John: "Whoa. How bout that, kids?" He laughs: "Man, she's in over-drive today."
Scorpius: "She's not alone."
John gets a print and spreads it out on the table to read.
Scorpius: "How are you feeling?"
John: "Good! Never better. We got a little, uh... thing going on with the traders, but, uh... that's not a problem."
Scorpius comes into the room and walks over to John: "We do have a problem. Your crewmates... are behaving very oddly."
John: "Ah, that's... par for the course around here, Grasshopper. Don't worry about it."
Scorpius: "Noranti does not think so."
John: "Well, Noranti imagines things. We're fine."
Scorpius: "But you are not fine, John. Nor is Chiana, Aeryn, Rygel or D'Argo. Your behavior has changed... since that girl came onboard."
John: "You think Talikaa... is doin a T'raltixx? A mind frell? Right. Let's go talk to her. Come on. She's in Chiana's quarters." John jumps up and starts for the door.
Scorpius: "No, she isn't. She's disappeared and we cannot find her."
Talikaa appears at the end of a corridor, coming out of a doorway.
Aeryn: "There she is."
She and John are searching together.
John steps forward: "Talikaa."
Talikaa stops and puts her back to the wall.
John walks towards her: "It's all right... it's all right. Everything's gonna be all right. We're not gonna hurt you. Don't be afraid."
Talikaa turns and runs back into the room she had just left.
John comms: "We got her. Tier three maintenance bay." He walks briskly into the room, followed by Aeryn.
John looks over a table. He sings softly: "Come out, come out, wherever you are."
From her hiding place, Talikaa sees him with her distorted vision.
John whispers: "Talikaa."
Aeryn walks around, looking upwards, towards the ceiling.
John: "Talikaa." He whispers to Aeryn: "It's all right. We know she's here."
They continue to look around the maintenance bay when suddenly there is a loud, howling scream. It stops them in their tracks and they both collapse onto the floor, lying on their backs, unconscious. A gigantic spider drops from the ceiling and scuttles over to where they are lying. It looks at them with distorted vision. It comes up to John and puts its feelers on his face.
END OF ACT ONE
ACT TWO
Aeryn and John are lying next to each other, on the floor.
Aeryn gags and works her jaw. John moves one of his legs. He grunts.
Aeryn: "What the frell happened?" She grimaces and rolls onto her side. "I heard a scream." She gingerly sits up.
John rolls over onto his stomach and then raises up his head: "Yah... me too." He sits up, looking dazed. He is breathing heavily. "Then the lights went out."
Aeryn looks at his face: "What is that?" She leans towards him to look.
John: "What?"
Aeryn points at his face and touches one of several bumps near his temple: "That."
John raises his hand to the bumps: "Oww." He looks at his fingers: "I don't...'
John looks at Aeryn: "... you got something... right there." He points to her temple.
Aeryn lightly touches the side of her face. She groans.
D'Argo follows Chiana through a doorway.
D'Argo: "This is all your fault. You brought her onto the ship."
Rygel floats down the corridor in front of them.
D'Argo: "In fact, I should have shot her myself."
Chiana: "You're not going to hurt her."
Rygel: "You both owe me currency. Everybody on this ship owes me and I've been far too patient. I want it now."
D'Argo: "Rygel... shut up."
Rygel growls.
John comms: "D'Argo? Hey, listen up, man. Talikaa's a lot more dangerous than she looks."
D'Argo: "Big surprise."
Chiana slaps him on his arm.
John:
"Yah, she... she's got some kind of scream that knocked us flat. We followed her to the tier three bay but... I don't know... She could be anywhere by now."
D'Argo, Chiana and Rygel continue down the corridor. Talikaa is watching from somewhere above them, with her distorted vision. There is a loud screeching noise. Chiana turns to look behind her.
Over the comms, John and Aeryn hear the screech and a roaring growl.
John: "D? D'Argo?"
Aeryn struggles to her feet, followed by John.
Sikozu comes through a junction into the corridor. She stops short when she sees D'Argo, Chiana and Rygel lying helpless on the floor, a gigantic spider hovering over them. The spider is making slithery noises and touching them with its feelers. It looks up and sees Sikozu and immediately starts towards her. Sikozu turns and runs back the way she came, the spider right behind her. The spider can see Sikozu running, with its distorted vision. Sikozu runs until she comes to a dead-end. She stops and looks behind her, breathing fast. Looking to the side, she sees the doorway to the fan room. She slowly enters the room, carefully avoiding the turning fan blades. As soon as she is past them, she turns around and looks behind her. There are some soft, rustling noises. Her eyes get large and her breath comes in short gasps. The spider is looking down at her from above. Sikozu opens her mouth and screams. The screeching sound comes again, over her screaming.
While walking down a corridor, Scorpius hears Sikozu's scream. He stops and turns towards the sound. He starts walking towards it, growling.
The finger's of Sikozu's hand are curling, opening and closing. From across the room, she reaches towards her hand with her other arm. One of her legs is lying near the severed arm, across the room from her torso. Sikozu reaches towards them weakly. The fans continue to turn, overhead.
Scorpius comes to the door of the fan room and looks inside. He growls softly. Noranti follows him into the room. They walk carefully around the moving fans. Sikozu rolls back onto her back and looks up at Scorpius as he comes and kneels beside her head. He puts his mouth down close to her face.
Scorpius: "I will kill your attacker."
Sikozu closes her eyes.
Scorpius: "I promise." He is gasping for breath.
Noranti: "Save her, first. Get her limbs!" She has come over and knelt on the other side of Sikozu. Noranti nods towards the severed arm and leg. Scorpius quickly crawls towards them.
Aeryn, followed by a struggling John, comes onto Command.
Aeryn: "I don't understand why she's doing this. I actually felt sorry for her, but she's going to kill us all. We have to do something."
John staggers along behind her: "Just g... just give me a minute, will ya? I feel like crap. Whatever she did s... knocked the wind outta my sails."
Aeryn: "Listen, we won't have much time. She could be anywhere and we have to find her."
Aeryn's forehead is a knot of wrinkles.
John: "Damn, woman, would you give it a rest?" He lowers himself onto a seat and puts his head down on his hand.
Aeryn: "No. No, please don't be useless. Don't be... useless." She hurries towards the door.
D'Argo staggers in: "John..."
Chiana follows him, rubbing her neck.
John: "Oh... she got you too?"
D'Argo: "Yah, uh, I'm... not exactly sure how."
Chiana: "She must have snuck up from behind us."
Aeryn looks at them from the back of the room. Her brow is furrowed and her hands are on her hips. She sighs.
Chiana sits down: "I don't feel so right."
Rgyel slurrs: "Neither do I. Shall we..."
Aeryn, quickly: "No. We can't be weak. We have to pull ourselves together and we have to fight back."
John: "With what? She kicked our asses. Just give it up."
Aeryn: "No, we can't. We can't!" She runs out.
Chiana: "What? What's with Aeryn?"
John lays his head down on his hands and rolls it back and forth.
D'Argo: "We just have to talk to Talikaa, find out why she attacked us. Pilot, do you know where she is?"
Pilot comms: "The DRDs are searching, but no luck so far."
Chiana moans and touches the side of her face.
John: "She can probably turn invisible. We're never going to find her."
Pilot: "Additionally, the trading vessel has changed course and is now heading toward Moya. We cannot establish communication."
D'Argo: "Well, their intentions could be hostile."
John: "Oh course they're hostile! Rygel's screwed them, they're coming back to screw us."
Rygel: "Then... let the traders come. We'll... we'll give them everything they want. All the currency we have. It's only brought us conflict anyway."
Chiana gets up and starts to walk out. She stops and turns back: "Okay... something very... very weird is going on. Aeryn... is falling apart. Rygel is... he's not greedy at all and you're giving up." John waves a hand at her without looking up. Chiana walks over to where D'Argo is standing.
Chiana: "And you're not even angry."
D'Argo: "Well, I have no reason to be angry. I believe with dialogue and compromise..."
D'Argo yells as Chiana stomps him on his foot as hard as she can.
Rygel closes his eyes and gasps. John lifts his head up off his arms and looks.
Chiana: "There is a reason to be angry."
D'Argo bends down to talk to her: "I really don't see how that is going to help."
Chiana rares back and backhands him in the face.
Rygel gasps again. D'Argo breathes heavily.
Chiana: "Okay? How about that?"
D'Argo gasps and gingerly touches his face, where she hit him. He just looks at her. Chiana knees him in the mivonks. D'Argo yells!
Chiana: "Still not angry?"
D'Argo: "No, I'm not. I should be... but I'm not."
Chiana: "It's... it's like she's taken our strongest trait away."
John: "She didn't take anything away from you."
Chiana's eyes get big. She looks up at D'Argo.
Chiana, reaching for his hand: "Okay..."
D'Argo breathes: "What?"
Chiana pulls on his hand: "Just... just put 'em right... right here."
She places his hands on her breasts.
D'Argo looks away: "Oh, oh..."
Chiana: "Okay, now just... just do it."
D'Argo: "I uh... I really don't want..."
Chiana: "D'Argo, come on."
D'Argo: "I can't in front of them."
Chiana: "Just do it."
D'Argo: "I..."
Chiana reaches up with her arms and puts her hands on his shoulders. D'Argo bends over just a bit and they kiss.
Chiana takes a step back and shakes her head: "No. No tingle?"
She throws her hands up in the air. D'Argo still has his where she placed them.
Chiana: "No... no nothin?"
She steps back away from D'Argo: "That tralk has... has taken my sex drive."
Noranti and Scorpius each hold one of Sikozu's severed limbs. There is a squishing sound.
Noranti: "Apply pressure... (there are more squishing noises) and her limbs should reattach."
Noranti lowers Sikozu's arm which is now next to her body.
John comms: "Pilot, has that trading ship responded?"
Pilot: "No. Our signal still isn't getting through. And, the trader's vessel now appears to be... drifting."
D'Argo: "Well, with our comms out, the trader ship's probably powered down to signal they mean no harm. Pilot, prepare the docking web to bring them aboard."
Chiana: "Pilot? Why haven't you located that frelling Talikaa?"
Chiana grabs John by the arm and pulls him to his feet.
Pilot: "Her movements are extraordinary. The moment a DRD locates her, she's gone again."
John, D'Argo, Rygel and Chiana are standing in the docking bay, waiting. Aeryn rushes in and hurries over to Chiana, shoving her.
Aeryn: "You! This is all your fault!"
John hurries over and grabs her: "Aeryn! No, no, no. That's not helping."
D'Argo steps between Aeryn and Chiana: "Ohh! Ohh!."
He motions downwards with his hands.
Aeryn: "All right."
D'Argo: "Settle."
Aeryn looks past him to Chiana: "Sorry."
The hanger door opens. The trader ship has docked and its steps have lowered. One of the traders staggers out of the vessel and down the steps. He gasps quietly and falls onto the floor.
Rygel stares at him and gasps.
D'Argo runs over to him, followed by the others. He kneels down beside the trader.
The trader moans and stops breathing. His face is now covered in large, blotchy sores.
From beneath the ship, Talikaa looks on.
John: "Now we know how it ends."
END OF ACT TWO
ACT THREE
The
dead trader lies at the foot of the steps that lead down from his ship. A DRD is looking at him. D'Argo gets up off his knees and sniffs. He starts up the steps into the ship, followed by Chiana, Aeryn and Rygel. The sores on Chiana's face have obviously gotten worse.
Inside the ship, they find dead traders lying on the floor. D'Argo continues to climb, up a ladder in the middle of the ship. Chiana goes over to one of the dead bodies.
Chiana: "This is what we got to look forward to?"
She touches the dead trader's face with her gun muzzle, turning his head. The sores have eaten away at his face and neck, making it gruesome.
Rygel: "By my reckoning we won't have to wait that long."
Aeryn: "Don't... say that. We're gonna be fine." The sores on her face are much darker and have grown, sending a spiderweb down the side of her face.
Aeryn starts to climb the ladder, following D'Argo: "We're gonna be fine. We're gonna find something, we're gonna figure it all out and we are going to be... fine." By the time she reaches the top of the ladder, she is breathing heavily.
As D'Argo climbs past some equipment, a hand reaches out and grabs his arm. He gasps and looks down. The Head Trader is lying nearby. He lifts his head and looks at D'Argo.
D'Argo whispers: "What happened here?"
Aeryn glances at the trader, then turns her head away, grimacing.
The Head Trader chokes and gasps, then goes quiet.
Chiana has her gun out, pointing it ahead of her, into a room where she has heard a noise. Rygel is sitting near a holographic display, listening to it. Aeryn comes down a ladder into the room.
The display is a hologram of a Diagnosan. It is speaking in its language of trills and coos. A man's voice is speaking over this, giving a translation. The sound occasionally breaks with static.
"I now have information on the symptoms you've described. They're caused by the Wolaxan Arachnid. This creature's touch infects its victims and stimulates exaggerated neural functioning."
Chiana: "That sounds like us."
D'Argo has come into the room and listens too.
"The creature then transforms, harvests that energy from its host, stores it in membrane orbs and hides those orbs in an external nest for later consumption. Finding that nest and opening the orbs in proximity to the victims will allow reassimilation of the energy and complete recovery."
The hologram winks out with a clash of static.
Aeryn: "What? Wa... it... we have to get it back! We have to know how to kill the creature. Get him back!"
D'Argo: "Killing Talikaa isn't the problem. Finding the energy orb is."
Aeryn: "Really? You think she's not going to try and defend her nest?"
D'Argo sighs.
Aeryn: "What?"
D'Argo: "Relax." He walks away.
Aeryn looks up to see Chiana watching her.
Sikozu is lying on her back. Her eyes are closed. There is the sound of the fans turning in the background. A small dark object moves back and forth, under her nostrils.
Noranti whispers: "Sikozu." She holds the black orb under her nose again.
Sikozu shakes her head and makes some sounds. Her eyes fly open. Noranti is kneeling over her and Scorpius crouches nearby.
Sikozu struggles, breathlessly: "No... no..."
Noranti looks at Scorpius: "Hold... hold her still!"
Sikozu screams.
Scorpius crawls over and straddles her so she can't get away. She twists back and forth.
Sikozu: "I was... I was attacked. I was attacked."
Noranti: "We know. D'Argo commed. It was a Wolaxian arachnid. Lie still. You're safe now."
Sikozu chokes off a cry: "My arm and my leg..."
Noranti: "Focus your mind on healing yourself. Your limbs may still be saved." She is looking down at Sikozu from behind Scorpius' shoulder.
Noranti: "The arachnid seeks to harvest neural energy. Why did it attack you? Are you immune to its touch?"
Sikozu: "Yes."
Scorpius' face is inches from Sikozu's. He chokes.
Sikozu: "Yes, I must be immune."
Scorpius gags and turns his head. He begins to thrash around.
Sikozu: "Scorpius?"
Noranti: "Yes, he's infected but not harvested." She pats Scorpius on his shoulder and speaks loudly: "She's doing well, Scorpius. You may leave her now." She pushes him so that he rolls off of Sikozu, onto the floor next to her. He rolls again and gets up, leaving.
Noranti whispers: "The Scarran in him is growing stronger.... over-coming his Sebacean personality. I must stop him. Keep him from harming us."
Sikozu: "No! He will not harm us. I know him."
Scorpius flounders around at the doorway, growling and spitting.
Noranti: "You know only his Sebacean side."
Scorpius grunts several times, then speaks in a gutteral voice: "Kill it now."
Noranti starts to walk over to him. Sikozu watches from the floor.
Noranti: "First we must find its orbs."
Scorpius growls: "Kill it now!"
Noranti: "Forgive me, Scorpius." She blows a powder from her hand into his face. He chokes and sputters. Then he glares at her and backhands her across the face, knocking her to the floor. Noranti cries out. Scorpius starts towards her, growling and spitting.
Sikozu: "No!"
Scorpius seems to collapse, knees giving way first and he falls face down on the floor, unconscious.
Aeryn and the others come back down out of the trader ship. Aeryn walks over to where John is sitting on the floor, waiting.
Pilot: "The DRDs last saw Talikaa in the neural cluster but they're unable to locate her nest of energy orbs."
John: "So, we're screwed."
Aeryn looks over at Chiana.
Chiana: "Would'ja stop talkin like that?"
Aeryn: "Well, we can't be like this... we have.. we have to focus. All right, I say we team up. We start in the neural cluster and we search every tier ourselves."
Talikaa looks on from behind a girder.
Chiana: "And we'll either find the orbs, or we'll find the shot that took 'em."
D'Argo: "Or, perhaps we could persuade Talikaa to return the energy orbs."
D'Argo walks quickly away.
Rygel: "Let's 'persuade' her with a pulse rifle." He flys off.
Aeryn holds her hand out to John who is still on the floor: "Come on."
John: "Whoa!" He flops back onto the floor. "Hang on a second. I'm just... dizzy."
Aeryn crouches down by him.
John looks up into her face and touches her hair: "You know what the worst part of this is? You and me. We never could get it together." He swallows: "Now we never will."
Aeryn: "Don't you ever talk like that! Come on." She takes his hand and drags him to his feet. She pulls him out of the hanger bay.
Talikaa comes out from behind the girder when they leave. She runs over to the trader ship and hurries inside. She climbs up throw the smoke that's inside and goes to some overhead controls. She begins pushing buttons. As the engines begin to rev to life, she goes to another bank of controls.
A couple of DRDs are leading D'Argo down a corridor. He is breathing hard.
Pilot comms: "Captain D'Argo! The trading ship's engines are powering up."
D'Argo: "It must be Talikaa."
Pilot frantically presses controls: "I can't seal the outer doors in time."
D'Argo hurries along the corridor, carrying his qualta rifle: "You gotta stop her."
Pilot: "It's too late. The vessel has left Moya."
D'Argo hollers quickly: "Crichton, Aeryn, Rygel, Chiana... get aboard LoLah and fast."
Aeryn is still hauling John along. He breaks away from her and grabs onto the wall.
John: "Aeryn... I... I can't... can't keep up. Go without me."
Aeryn looks back at him: "What?"
She reaches out and touches the side of his face where the sores are.
John turns his face towards her hand, then stops and pushes it away: "No. Forget about me and go." He pushes on her hand with his. Aeryn looks at him, backing away slowly. Finally, she turns and runs after D'Argo. John sags back against the wall.
D'Argo's ship flies out of Moya and extends her wings with a whoosing sound.
Aeryn is sitting in the co-pilot's seat: "I don't know about the rest of you, but we should probably get this done quite quickly."
Rygel passes gas, very loudly.
John stares at himself in a broken piece of mirror: "Damn it, boy. Make yourself useful. Come on."
D'Argo sighs and reaches overhead to press some buttons. The trader ship is visible ahead of them.
D'Argo: "We're almost within range. Their weapons aren't charged up and they're not taking any evasive action. Should be easy to board." He looks over and Aeryn and Chiana.
Rygel: "We... might be walking into a trap."
D'Argo: "Agreed. Okay... Rygel, you stay here and watch that scanner. If it senses any movement, comm us."
Chiana: "This is all my fault. I'm sorry about this. I'll kill that tramp myself." She gasps.
D'Argo, Aeryn and Chiana carefully enter the darkened trader vessel, carrying flashlights.
D'Argo comms: "Rygel... any movements?"
Rygel peers upwards, at the scanner: "No, just you three."
D'Argo climbs up to the next deck. His flashlite shines on the dead traders. Chiana goes in another chamber to look.
Chiana: "Nothin here but corpses. Ahh... this is klemmpt. She's gotta be here."
D'Argo: "Ahh... frell." He goes to a control panel. It beeps. "The guidance system's been activated. This ship's set to fly itself."
Aeryn: "She never left Moya."
John is lying on his side, on his bed.
D'Argo comms: "John... the trader ship is empty. Talikaa used it as a decoy."
John: "So, she wasn't there?"
D'Argo: "No. She must still be aboard Moya. We're heading back now, but... we're very weak. You have... to find... those energy orbs. We're all dead without them."
John lies there and listens.
END OF ACT THREE
ACT FOUR
John is lying on his side, on his bed. Noranti takes hold of his arm and pulls.
Noranti: "Get... up."
John groans and falls forward, off the bed. He turns around and starts to crawl back on it. She stops him by pulling back on his arm. He grunts.
Noranti: "Come on. Now, are you ready to die? Are you ready to watch Aeryn die?"
He finally sit up, on the edge of the bed.
Noranti: "Now, Crichton, without those orbs..."
John: "She could've hid them anywhere. Moya's huge. We'll never find 'em."
He slumps down towards the bed. Noranti grabs his arm and pulls him back up.
Noranti: "That's it!" She points at John as she thinks: "Talikaa is the only one who knows where they are."
John: "Yah, so we're dead. She's never gonna tell us."
Noranti: "No, no. But maybe we can get her to show us where they are. Now... Scorpius is infected but not yet harvested."
John: "Why not?"
Noranti: "Well, I made him unconscious. Now... now perhaps she can't sense him, even though he is ripe and ready for her."
John looks puzzled: "So, we.... wake him up, use him as bait... let her harvest his mojo."
Noranti nods: "And then we follow her and we find all the orbs."
John: "What about Sikozu?"
Noranti: "Well, she's strong enough to help, I'm sure."
John peers into Noranti's eyes.
John comms: "D! We may not be dead..." (softly) "... yet."
Aeryn swallows and grimaces.
D'Argo comms: "Well, sounds like you're almost back to your old self. We should, uh... we should be back to you within an arn."
Sikozu holds something to Scorpius' lips.
Sikozu: "Here, swallow this." She puts something between his lips. He jerks and closes them on her finger. Sikozu gasps slightly.
Sikozu whispers: "Wake up, Scorpius. We need you."
Sikozu gasps as Scorpius jerks and snarls as he comes around. He is sitting propped against the wall of the fan chamber. He reaches out with one hand and grabs Sikozu by the throat. She gasps and cries out.
Sikozu: "You don't want to hurt me, Scorpius. I'm... ally."
Scorpius whispers: "Si.. ko.. zu?"
Sikozu: "Yes... Scorpius."
He growls and sits up. She whimpers and gasps for breath.
Scorpius: "Arachnid?"
Sikozu nods.
Scorpius: "Kill it."
Sikozu smiles: "Yes, Scorpius. It's time to kill it."
He struggles to his feet and picks Sikozu up in his arms. She cries out.
Scorpius looks at her: "Help."
He carries her out of the fan room.
John picks up his maching gun and stands it on a table. He begins slowly to load it.
Noranti walks alone down a corridor. Talikaa comes up behind her and holds out her hand. Noranti whirls, sees the hand, and gasps: "Ahhh!"
Talikaa: "What's your hurry, old one?"
Noranti backs away and Talikaa follows her.
Noranti: "Keep away from me."
Talikaa: "I don't want you. You're old... and bitter. You know who I do want. Where is he?"
Noranti gasps, breathlessly: "I don't know anything."
Talikaa matches her voice to Noranti's: "Liar! You know where he is. Scorpius. Tell me or die."
Noranti: "If I don't tell you,
you die. You need his energy when you're starving and you can't find him. Come!" Noranti leads her down the corridor.
Talikaa stops: "I sense him. Close."
Sikozu has gotten away from Scorpius and watches him from down the corridor. He is standing by a wall, snarling and spitting huge amount of spit. Talikaa comes up behind him. Scorpius turns around and sees her. He roars. She snarls at him and then screeches. The sound knocks him backwards and he falls to the floor. The spider hovers over him.
Sikozu comms: "Crichton? The arachnid is harvesting Scorpius."
John finishes loading the gun: "Stay with 'em, if you can."
Talikaa climbs up an incline, carrying a green glowing blob in her hand. She comes to a cluster of blobs and hangs the new one up with the others. Sikozu struggles to follow her, gasping and crying out when her damaged leg gives out. She leans against the door to the chamber where Talikaa is. She hops and crawls a little further, until she is inside the room. In a whisper, she comms: "Found it. Tier seven, the cargo bay."
John: "I'm never gonna make it." He turns and walks out of his chamber, carrying the machine gun.
Sikozu pulls herself upright and moves forward, into the room. Her damaged leg is dragging.
John stumbles into the bay. He looks around and spots where Sikozu is hiding. He goes over to a cannister and sits down the gun. Talikaa looks underneath a girder.
John: "I know you can see me. The bad guys always see me. Cause my plans suck. People die. It's always a mess."
Talikaa calls: "Crichton." She smiles down at him from behind the girder.
John: "Yah, that's me. The dumb ass. I help someone and they screw me."
Talikaa: "I have no remorse. You are food and I eat."
John: "There's always an excuse, lady."
Talikaa: "Are the others coming to ah... attack?"
John: "Oh, I don't... I don't think so. It's just... you and me."
Talikaa starts to climb down from the girder.
John: "I was planning on, uh... grabbing those 'nads there, but I guess you're not gonna let me do that, are ya?"
Talikaa gets all the way down. She shakes her head at him.
Behind her, Sikozu slowly works her way towards the blobs, holding her injured hand out of the way.
John: "I'm tired. Let's... why don't we just... end it?" He sighs and sinks to his knees.
John: "Come on. I'm tired. I'm tired of worrying. I'm tired of fighting. Just... bring it on, end it now."
Sikozu has reached the orbs and tries to take them silently.
Talikaa: "Do you want me to kill you?"
John: "Yes, please. Fast, slow... lady's choice."
Talikaa gets to her knees in front of him: "I like it slow." She makes a chittering noise and John falls backwards, onto the floor.
John: "Oh, god. I was afraid you were gonna say that. Bring it on."
Talikaa leans over him: "I already have." She chitters again.
From above, near the orbs, Sikozu yells: "Crichton! Don't let her!"
Talikaa leaves John and runs for Sikozu. Sikozu gasps and turns back to the orbs.
Talikaa screeches at Sikozu, to knock her out. John sits up and reaches behind himself and gets the machine gun. He brings it up and aims it at Talikaa.
She spins back towards him and screams. He shoots and she transforms into the giant spider.
John: "Whoa. Freaky." He shoots her again.
The spider steps towards him. The force of the gunshot pushes her back, but she comes right back towards him.
John yells: "Get the orbs!"
Sikozu hurries to get them.
John shoots again and the spider screams and takes a swipe at him with her claw. John falls over backwards. He rolls back to face her.
John: "Hurry it up! I can't hold her off... much longer." The spider screams and hits him again. Sikozu grabs an orb. The spider screams at John again. He pushes the muzzles of the machine gun into her mouth and pulls the trigger. The gun goes off, right inside the spider's head. The whole creature lights up from the inside. John rolls away as the spider flails its arms and crashes forwards, in flames. There is an explosion. John rolls over and covers his face with his arm. Sikozu cries out and ducks behind a girder. Bits of flesh and green slime fall out of the air and land on John's head. Sikozu cradles the orbs in her arms and gasps. She looks down at John. He is covered in goo.
John: "Along came a spider... exploded beside her." He falls over onto the floor.
END OF ACT FOUR
EPILOGUE
Noranti is stirring a bubbling pot.
Rygel: "Ahh... excellent, Noranti. Best roasted spider soup I ever ate."
D'Argo: "It's the only spider soup I ever ate, but it's really quite good."
Noranti: "Are you feeling like your old selves again?"
Rygel reaches for D'Argo's bowl. D'Argo grabs his hand.
D'Argo: "Hey."
Rygel: "Oof"
D'Argo: "Rygel obviously is."
Rygel: "How about you? Still affected? You don't seem very angry." He chuckles
D'Argo leans towards him: "Would you like me to show you how angry I am?" He smiles.
Rygel: "Huh."
Sikozu is sitting with Scorpius.
Sikozu: "What is worse? Having us see that you are half-Scarran, or remembering it yourself?"
Scorpius sighs: "I know what I am, Sikozu. This interlude was simply a fortuitous, though troubling, reminder."
Sikozu: "If you want my help, the price is inclusion... and honesty."
Scorpius inhales, staring straight ahead.
Aeryn is turning a bulb of Laka distillate in her hand, looking at it. She is sitting in a corridor with her back to the wall. John walks up to her.
Aeryn: "Do you have any idea what you've done?"
John: "You won the coin toss." He starts to walk past her. Aeryn gets quickly to her feet.
Aeryn: "But we lost... didn't we?"
John stops and turns to her: "Aeryn... it's over."
Aeryn: "So, your mind is now so full of this dren that you can't even see straight, is that it?"
John: "Move on, Aeryn."
Aeryn: "You see, I did everything... everything I could to keep us together. I did exactly what you told me to do and the whole time you have been cheating."
John: "Yah, I'm a coward. Move on. It's over."
Aeryn: "No, I'm gonna tell you how this is gonna go from now.
You are going to stop sniffing this dren..." She waves the package of Laka at him.
John: "Shut up." He walks past her.
Aeryn: "Don't you tell me to shut up!"
John comms: "Pilot. My comms are a bit buggy. Can you test the system, please?"
Pilot comms back: "Yes, Commander, but that will take all comms offline for about thirty microts."
John: "I thought so. That'll be fine, thank you." There is a beeping sound as the comms switch off. John turns back to Aeryn, pointing at her. He walks over to her.
John: "Shut up and listen to me. Scorpius is here... looking for the key to what is inside my head. Neural chips, aurora chair, threatening Earth... none of it works because he does not understand me."
Aeryn has tears in her voice: "Stop using him as an excuse."
John holds up two fingers and interrupts her: "Please! You're the key. My Achilles. You. If he figures that out... the world and all that's in it's nothing. He will use you... and the baby... and I will not be able to stop him."
Aeryn: "So you think he's been using the comms?"
John doesn't reply.
Aeryn: "Look what it's done to you. You're completely paranoid."
There is a crackle of static, then Scorpius' voice comes over the comms.
Scorpius: "Pilot? Are we having a problem with the comms?"
Pilot: "I was just checking them. Some slight irregularities, but they appear to be functioning normally."
Aeryn listens with her mouth open. She turns back to John, her mouth flapping like a fish. She closes it and bites her lip. She shakes her head a little and speaks loudly to him.
Aeryn: "S... so, it's over."
John looks at her, then away: "It's over."
Aeryn: "There's nothing more between us." She turns her eyes up, to look at his face. He smiles at her, a lopsided grin.
John whispers: "Nothing."
Aeryn smiles and her eyes crinkle up. There are tears in the corners that don't fall. She bites her lip and then grins, hugely. John laughs to himself and grins. He looks back at her and they kiss. Aeryn reaches up and puts her arm around his neck. As they seperate, they grin at each other and touch noses. Aeryn silently mouths: "I love you." They kiss again.
THE END
