Air Date: March 14, 2003
Written by Mark Saraceni
Directed by Rowan Woods
Transcript by Xenajules2
Edited and put on-line by Bluey
Episode 4.21 - We're So Screwed: Part 3: La Bomba
Previously, on Farscape (Voice of D'Argo):
Scene One: from "We're So Screwed, Part One: Fetal Attraction", John hurries into Moya's hangar bay, carrying Aeryn in his arms. D'Argo follows him, carrying Chiana. He sets Chiana down on her feet, just inside the door.
Scene Two: from "We're So Screwed, Part One: Fetal Attraction", Sikozu is on Moya's Command. Sikozu: "What about Scorpius?" Chiana: "What about him?" Sikozu: "Well, he might've been captured."
Scene Three: from "We're So Screwed, Part One: Fetal Attraction", Captain Jenek grabs Scorpius by the back of the neck and slams him down onto a table.
Scene Four: from "We're So Screwed, Part One: Fetal Attraction", John enters a "black and white" movie with an antique coffin lit by candelabrae. John is wearing a black suit and tie. John: "Harvey!" Harvey sits up in the coffin, clicking his long fingernails together. Harvey: "You must go back for him."
Scene Five: from "We're So Screwed, Part Two: Hot To Katratzi", D'Argo's ship, Lo'Lah, flies towards a broken looking planet. There is a Scarran freighter and a Peacekeeper Command Carrier flying nearby. Aeryn: "We're going to walk into the most heavily guarded base in the Scarran empire, start a civil war and walk out with Scorpius. What part of that do you not understand?"
Scene Six: from "We're So Screwed, Part Two: Hot To Katratzi", Scarran Emperor Staleek: "Why shouldn't I have you seized, right now?" John touches the device at his waist: "Well, maybe this." Emperor Staleek: "A fission bomb." John: "My heart stops, we all go boom." Kalish Secretary Vakali: "He's crazy!" Aeryn: "Isn't it fun?" John: "What am I offered for all the powers of the Universe?"
Scene Seven: from "We're So Screwed, Part Two: Hot To Katratzi", Grayza: "Give us wormhole weapons and everyone will be safe." John and Aeryn stand across from her, on her Command Carrier.
Scene Eight: from "We're So Screwed, Part Two: Hot To Katratzi", War Minister Ahkna: "Have you got anything to offer or is all this just an elaborate bluff?" John sits on a table on Katratzi, with Aeryn standing behind him. The Emperor and War Minister stand facing them. John: "You don't believe that I can control wormholes?"
Scene Nine: from "We're So Screwed, Part Two: Hot To Katratzi", John and Aeryn walk down a flight of stairs, into a room full of flowers. Voice of Sikozu: "An entire cavern just to grow the flowers they eat? Why?"
Scene Ten: from "We're So Screwed, Part Two: Hot To Katratzi", Stark holds up his mask and the light from his face shines onto Scorpius who is imprisoned in a torture device. Scorpius is screaming. Stark: "I'm going to capture your soul."
Scene Eleven: from "We're So Screwed, Part Two: Hot To Katratzi", Noranti: "Scorpius can't possibly hold out much longer!" John comms: "Rygel?" Rygel is with the Charrids. Rygel: "The Scarrans will never make you rich."
Scene Twelve: from "We're So Screwed, Part Two: Hot To Katratzi", Sikozu asks: "How much hatred exists here, between the Charrids and the Kalish?"
Scene Thirteen: from "We're So Screwed, Part Two: Hot To Katratzi", John: "Where the hell is my riot?"
Scene Fourteen: from "We're So Screwed, Part Two: Hot To Katratzi", The Charrid Officer, Rahzaro: "I will not be humiliated by you, Vakali." He hits Secretary Vakali in the face. Kalish run up pillars and walls, firing at Charrids. The Charrids fire back.
Scene Fifteen: from "We're So Screwed, Part Two: Hot To Katratzi", The Emperor grabs Scorpius: "Will you betray me?" Scorpius gasps: "I have served you for ten cycles as a spy."
Scene Sixteen: from "We're So Screwed, Part Two: Hot To Katratzi", Aeryn and John bring Scorpius to Lo'Lah which is guarded by two Charrid soldiers. Aeryn: "Don't fire or you'll detonate the bomb." Scorpius stands up and hits Aeryn in the face with the back of his arm. He swings around and hits John in the stomach with his fist. Scorpius holds John face downwards on the floor. John: "You stupid son-of-a-bitch!"
Scorpius: "I'm sorry John."
And now, on Farscape...
PROLOGUE
Scorpius holds John face downward on the floor of the hangar bay of the secret Scarran base, Katratzi.
John screams and tries to press upwards to escape from Scorpius.
Scorpius: "You do not know what you're doing."
John: "Yah, I do and I'm gonna frickin nuke you and half this damn base!"
Aeryn's boots lie just within John's line of sight. She remains on the floor where she landed after Scorpius hit her.
War Minister Ahkna walks into the bay.
Scorpius: "Kill me later."
Ahkna: "I should kill you now. You're still my prisoner."
John: "Technically, he's my prisoner."
Scorpius: "Thank you, John."
John: "When Aeryn wakes up, she's gonna kill 'im!"
Emperor Staleek: "I'm so pleased to see you're all safe." He walks into the bay, followed by some Scarran guards.
Staleek: "Minister Ahkna's forces have done a superb job in quelling the unrest. A duty to which I'm sure she's eager to return."
Ahkna looks at the Emperor for a microt, then slowly walks out.
John still has his face pressed to the floor by Scorpius: "See ya later, sweetheart."
The Emperor takes a step closer to the two men and hits Scorpius in the face, knocking him off John. Scorpius cries out and falls over backwards. John immediately sits up, rubbing his nose.
John: "Thank you." He crawls quickly forward, bending over the still fallen Aeryn.
John: "Aeryn..."
Aeryn jerks and cries out. John holds up his finger: "Shh..."
Aeryn whispers: "Did we win?"
The Emperor kneels down next to them.
Staleek: "You'll be delighted to hear my guards were able to secure the rest of your crew as well. Coincidentally as they were also nearing exits. Like yourselves, I'm sure they were simply trying to avoid... any entanglement in violence."
John: "Where are they?"
Staleek: "There are guards placed to insure their... well-being."
John glances down at the still beeping bomb.
Staleek: "Were you planning to leave?"
John: "Temporarily. Grayza called with another offer. But you had a riot goin on... we didn't want to bother you. We decided to take our own car."
Staleek nods: "I'm glad you didn't. Base defenses have been placed on highest alert. Any non-Scarran vessels will automatically be targeted and destroyed."
John: "We're very lucky."
Staleek: "We'll transport you to the Carrier."
John: "That's very kind."
Staleek: "My pleasure... John." He stands up and leaves the bay.
Captain Jenek stands beside Lo'Lah. He comms: "Emperor. The craft is an Eradicator, Topratkin design. We've gained entry and neutralized its systems. Sentinels are now securing the starcharts and the vector logs."
Staleek comms back from his quarters: "Leave no trace when you've completed. I don't want them to know what we know."
Jenek: "Sir."
Scorpius stands in front of a table, leaning on his hands. Noranti, D'Argo, Sikozu, Chiana and Rygel are all behind him.
Scorpius: "I prevented you from leaving for your own protection."
D'Argo: "You what?"
Rygel: "You stopped us from leaving?"
John stands across the table from Scorpius and points at him: "You stuck a knife in our back!"
Scorpius: "No. Your plan would've failed."
Chiana stands up: "We could've been... on Lo'Lah by now."
Sikozu interrupts: "Hear him out. Hear him out!"
Scorpius interrupts, shouting: "It is quite likely the Scarrans had already disabled D'Argo's ship."
D'Argo: "That's impossible."
Scorpius: "And found Moya. Even if we managed to get off Katratzi, the base's weapons would have destroyed us."
Aeryn: "Stealth is no longer an option. Does Lo'Lah have enough firepower to blast us out?" She walks over to D'Argo.
D'Argo: "Maybe... probably... I dunno. It's worth a shot."
Aeryn: "How would we do it?"
D'Argo: "I'd call Lo'Lah, she'd blast a hole and we'd run through."
John: "Do it before someone else screws us."
D'Argo: "Okay." He calls: "Dushko hapeesta."
In the hangar bay, Lo'Lah sits, silent and still. There are Scarran guards by her.
D'Argo: "Duhstu hapeesta!"
No response.
Chiana: "Somebody's jammed the comms."
D'Argo: "No, no. The comms are working fine."
Sikozu: "They must have disabled Lo'Lah."
D'Argo: "That is impossible."
Chiana asks John: "Hey, what about the Command Carrier? Can we still get a free ride outta here?"
Ahkna: "Try it and find out."
John turns to look at Ahkna: "We don't know what you're talking about."
Ahkna walks the rest of the way into the room, from the doorway: "Oh, let me enlighten you. Grayza doesn't frighten me. Her Command Carrier doesn't frighten me. Your bomb doesn't frighten me..." She reaches out and runs her finger over the top of the bomb. John backs up until he is standing against the table.
Ahkna: "... and neither do you."
John: "Damn. I'm on the brink of devastation, Minnie Pearl."
Ahkna backhands John, hard and he falls backwards onto the table, with a thud. A Scarran guard steps in Aeryn's way as she tries to go to him. Ahkna climbs up onto the table and leans over John. She feels the bomb.
Ahkna: "Perhaps we should go there together."
John collapses back onto the table.
END OF PROLOGUE
ACT ONE
The Peacekeeper Command Carrier and the Scarran freighter are still orbiting the secret Scarran base.
Inside the base, the loudspeaker broadcasts an announcement. 1812, the DRD, whirls along the floor of a room. John walks up to the doorway and enters the room.
John: "1812... is this room bug free?"
The DRD squawks.
John: "Good boy."
Scorpius follows John into the room. John walks over to a table. He stands beside it and takes his gun out of the holster. He cocks it, holds it up, showing it to Scorpius and lays it gently down on the table.
John: "Okay... convince me."
Scorpius: "Crystherium Utilia."
There is a flash of light...Scorpius strokes the petals of a flower. He smiles.
John: "The flower."
Scorpius: "Yes. Very important."
John: "Ahh... they better be. That why they're grownin in in the Bat Cave?"
Scorpius: "That's right, you've been there."
John: "Listen up, Grasshopper. I finally have a plan that works. It's simple. We get in, we break bread... we see the sights, we grab you, we get out. And now you're gonna throw flowers at me?"
Scorpius: "We need to destroy the Crystherium."
John sighs and shakes his head: "Flowers trump wormholes?"
Scorpius: "At the moment, yes."
There is a flash...A "zippo" cigarette lighter is stuck and a flame begins to burn. Two hands cup a cigarette and light it. John is sitting at a desk. He is wearing dark pants and tie and a white shirt. There is a styrofoam coffee cup on the desk and he has the cigarette in his mouth. Harvey is seated across from him. Over his black leather mask, he is wearing a knitted cap. John closes the cigarette lighter and looks at the burning cigarette in his hand. He puts it down.
John: "What have I told you about smokin in my head?"
John looks up and listens.
There is a flash...John reaches across the desk and cuffs Harvey, knocking the styrofoam coffee cup he is drinking from out of his mouth.
Harvey stands up: "Hey!
John: "Sit down!"
Harvey: "Well, I ain't sayin nothin. You said the... ... the boss."
John: "Sit down!!"
John: "I'm talkin to you."
He twirls the cigarette lighter in his fingers.
John: "Flowers."
There is a "Bird of Paradise" plant on the desk.
Harvey
laughs: "The number one secret in the whole Scarran Empire. Huh! Even the Charrids and the Kalish haven't figured its real deal."
Harvey sits back, crossing his arms over his chest.
There is a flash...
John's forehead furrows as he listens.
Scorpius: "Stark used to live here on Katratzi, assisting the leadership caste with their death rituals."
Flash...Stark stands up in his cell on the Gammak base, moving back and forth.
Stark: " My side, your side. My side, your side!"
Stark is in the Aurora Chair. He screams: "Frell me again!"
Scorpius watches as the chair slowly begins to turn.
John: "That why you were torturing him when I met you?"
Scorpius: "That's right. Crystherium growth requires very specific and rare conditions. The Scarrans... can only propel their power forward from these very few locations."
John: "And destroying a bunch of flowers is supposed to set 'em back?"
Scorpius: "For hundreds of cycles."
Flash...John: "Why?"
Harvey has another cup of coffee. He takes it away from his mouth: "Cause they need 'em... Scarrans... simplistic, brutish creatures."
John fiddles with the cigarette lighter.
Harvey: "Shoulda died out generations ago."
John: "What happens if they eat the flower?"
Harvey: "Big brains... evolutionarily competitive. Eh... you know. Staleek, Ahkna."
John: "And if they don't eat 'em?"
Harvey leans forward: "Yer dog could beat 'em at checkers! Huh!" He takes a drink of coffee.
John reaches over and knocks the cup out of Harvey's hand. It lands on the floor beside the first cup.
Harvey: "Hey!"
Flash...
Scorpius: "Though Stark provided many details, I was unable to learn of Katratzi's location.
You... rescued him... prior to that breakthrough."
John: "Sorry to stitch ya up."
Scorpius: "No you're not. You were taking too long with the wormholes, John. Reality... provides opportunity. I needed some way to hurt the Scarrans... now."
Flash...John: "You know, you're not... you... you... you're not..." He taps himself on the forehead. "... makin any sense. You... you... you take the knowledge from my head and then you tell me that you give it to him... what, s...so I'm gonna rescue him?"
Scorpius: "I have no wormhole knowledge, John."
John: "But Harvey said..."
Flash...The black and white Harvey sits up in the coffin: "Scorpius knows everything you know."
John holds onto the coffin lid.
Flash...
br>
Sitting at the desk across from John, still wearing a knit cap...
Harvey: "So what? I lied."
Scorpius: "Harvey? Oh, that is clever." Scorpius smiles slightly, then his face changes. "We had a deal. I help you rescue Aeryn Sun from the Scarrans, you give me wormholes."
John closes his eyes and looks down, pursing his lips.
John spins the "zippo" on the desk.Harvey: "The Boss says... 'lay low. Don't go near 'im anymore. Give him some peace."
Scorpius: "But obviously you betrayed our contract, yes?"
Harvey leans towards John: "But you know what? You went and left him behind to die."Scorpius: "You had no intention of returning for my rescue, did you?"
Harvey: "Fail-safe. You screw the boss... I find a way to get you re-interested."
John: "You tryin to lay this off on me?"
Scorpius: "You see, if my neural clone has returned, it is only because... you have betrayed me."
John: "You tryin to say Harvey's back because of me?"
Scorpius: "You should honor your contracts, John."
John: "No... no contract. You betrayed us."
Harvey: "We had a deal."John: "NO!" He slams his hand down on the desk. "He screwed us!"
Harvey: "And now you get on your highhorse. We had a deal! Hey! Ya took a bribe. Ya banked the cut, but when the heat's on... you're just another dumb copper doin his job. Unbelievable!"
Harvey slurps his coffee noisily.
Harvey: "Hey... look at these little beauties!" He reaches into a box of jelly donuts that is now sitting on the desk and digs his gloved fingers into one. He holds it up in front of his face, admiring it. John stands up and knocks the donut out of Harvey's hand.
Scorpius: "Would you have left me to perish with the Scarrans?"
John works his jaw: "Under the circumstances... yah."
Harvey: "Hey, he's right you know." He stands up and leans over the desk towards John. "We're brothers from different sides of an imaginary line. Good, bad, bad good. Your side, my side, my side..."John screams: "Sitdown!"
John: "So... here we are, Cadaver and Hutch. A team."
Scorpius snorts.
John: "What now?"
Scorpius: "We... must destroy the flowers."
John: "And if I say no?"
Scorpius: "I will attempt to accomplish the task myself. However, rest assured... mine is now the only path off Katratzi."
Harvey: "Hey! Hey, you better listen to him, screw. He's smarter than you."
John: "You used me."
Scorpius: "We use each other."
John: "You're better at it."
Scorpius: "Oh, you're learning. The bomb... clever."
John picks up the pistol from the table and uncocks it. He starts to walk away.
John: "When it goes off... " He holsters the gun. "... plan on being nearby."
John leaves.
A small vessels flies from the planet to the Peacekeeper Command Carrier.
Captain Braca: "Four hundred Scarran Scrambler Cannons were trained on us the microt that you entered here."
He paces in front of some benches. Commandant Grayza sits on one. John and Aeryn sit on another.
Braca: "Minister Ahkna informed us that, unless you were returned to them safely, they'd fire."
Aeryn: "Well, they can't do that. To honor the truce, they have to let you go wherever you want."
Grayza: "They'll let us go. They just won't let you leave with us."
Braca: "They feel it violates the terms of the agreement."
Grayza stands up and walks towards the other bench.
Grayza: "Braca. Officer Sun. Could we have a moment alone please?"
John turns towards Aeryn and whispers: "Stay on comms."
Aeryn gets up and walks out. Braca turns and follows her when Grayza walks towards him.
Captain Braca walks quickly along beside Aeryn inside the Command Carrier.
Braca: "There's nothing that I can do to help. Even the enhanced marauder wouldn't get you clear."
Aeryn looks around the Carrier as they walk along.
Braca: "The Scarrans are on full alert, weapons primed... you'll never get out of here."
Aeryn heads in a different direction: "I'll see you later."
Braca stops and turns back: "Where are you going? That's a medical area."
Aeryn stops and turns to face him: "I have something I need to take care of."
Braca walks over to her: "Personal problem?"
Aeryn nods.
Braca: "Let's go."
Aeryn stays where she is: "So you need to watch?"
Braca turns to a guard standing at the door: "Wait for her here." He turns and walks away. Aeryn turns back and walks into the medical area.
Grayza: "All that astonishing wormhole knowledge and still you will not share it with us. You came in here big and bold, dancing on tabletops. And look at you now... begging for scraps."
John: "I may be jammed... possibly dead... but I am not begging. You can get that fantasy out of your head." He turns his head and looks at her. He immediately looks away.
Grayza: "In my hands, you can have peace. I... can... have... peace!"
John: "I have been in your hands! There's no peace there... just power."
Grayza: "You are so self-righteous! I have used all my skills... all my resources... for one perfect chance at peace. And because of you... it is gone... and I am... " She bites her lip.
John: "Frelled? Screwed?" He looks at her: "Raped?"
Grayza takes a breath and raises her head.
John: "Welcome to the Universe, Commandant."
John stands up and walks out.
On Katratzi...
Lo'Lah is in a hangar bay. There are Scarran soldiers guarding her. The base loudspeaker broadcasts and announcement.
Chiana: "I can't believe they're allowing us inside. Everything's working, right?"
D'Argo: "Yah, it seems to be."
Chiana: " All right. Well, let's get the others. Blast our way outta here." She runs an instrument over the ceiling by walking on the control console.
D'Argo sniffs: "No, no. Someone's been in here. I can smell it."
Chiana: "Well, the defenses were up, right?" She continues to work on the ceiling. Lo'Lah makes low beeping noises.
D'Argo: "No. I don't know what they've done. Maybe frelled with the weapons. Planted a homing beacon... or a bomb."
Chiana climbs down off the console, over top of D'Argo.
D'Argo: "Frell it! I have to shut the ship down and run a full systems diagnostic check."
He reaches up and presses a switch. Lo'Lah responds with several low beeps.
Chiana: "How long will that take?"
D'Argo: "Three arns."
Chiana: "Well, what if it finds something that we can't fix?"
D'Argo: "Then we go with Scorpius' plan. Frelling elevators."
A Scarran soldier walks down some stairs in a storage chamber.
Rygel: "Lock ourselves in an elevator while it tunnels through the solid rock?"
Noranti: "Sounds reasonable."
She and Rygel are with Scorpius, near a bunch of equipment. They talk quietly.
Rygel: "Sounds fahrbot."
Scorpius: "Sikozu may not be able to provide elevator access, therefore we need to locate someone who can. Stark."
Rygel: "What?"
Noranti: "Who's Stark?"
Rygel: "Another lunatic with the wrong number of eyes."
Noranti: "Oh."
Stark comes into the chamber.
Rygel: "And there he is." Rygel turns his thronesled around to watch Stark.
Scorpius: "He's not. That is a bioloid replica."
Rygel: "And how do you know that?"
Scorpius: "Stark would never torture me. Emperor Staleek replaced the real Stark with a bioloid... to fool Ahkna into believing he was real."
Rygel: "But you're actually working for Staleek."
Scorpius: "So he believes."
Noranti: "Oh, I do admire your compartmentalization of duplicity."
Rygel: "How do we find the real Stark?"
Scorpius: "Find the bioloid duplicator. Stark is undoubtedly imprisoned within it."
John and Aeryn walk down a corridor on Katratzi. A Scarran soldier passes by them.
John: "Where'd you disappear to on the Command Carrier?"
Aeryn: "Some unfinished business."
John: "Want to tell me about it?"
Aeryn: "Later.
War Minister Ahkna watches them from behind a screen, in a darkened room.
John: "D'Argo's still workin on his ship and Sikozu's tryin to scan the codes."
Aeryn: "Any other alternatives?"
John: "Well, we could always give the Scarrans what they want."
Aeryn: "Dead in a few microts."
They step in the doorway to their room and see that Ahkna is there, waiting for them.
John steps into the room and talks loudly: "Or we could try the banzai approach." He walks past Ahkna into the room. "Or we could just follow Scorpy's plan." He turns around and sees Ahkna. He swings his legs over a table to get away from her.
John: "Damn! You cannot stop following me around, can ya?"
Ahkna: "And you just can't leave. Wouldn't Grayza help you?"
John: "Actually, she's the high bidder."
Ahkna: "Perhaps now is the time for you to hear my offer. You'll go free... now."
Aeryn: "What's the price?"
Ahkna: "You leave Scorpius behind, for me."
John: "What's in it for you?"
Ahkna walks towards John, but Aeryn steps in between them.
Ahkna: "I will make sure the hierarchy blames Staleek for your escape."
John: "You understand I know nothing about Scarran politics. But I'm... guessing that that means that they fire him and you get his job."
Ahkna sighs and looks down. Aeryn smiles.
John: "Ambition. Well, 'if it were done when 'tis done, t'were best it were done quickly.'"
Ahkna looks at him and nods, just slightly.
Aeryn watches Ahkna. She walks over to her and looks straight into her face. Ahkna inclines her head and smiles. She walks around Aeryn and leaves. She chuckles as she goes.
John jumps off the table and stands right behind Aeryn.
John: "Thanks. She scares the crap outta me."
Aeryn looks at the exiting Ahkna: "It's the hat."
Captain Jenek enters the Emperor's chamber, followed by a Kalish male.
Jenek: "Emperor... about Crichton's bomb. In under a quarter of an arn we will have computed the final code. With it, this will disarm the detonator."
Kalish: "Sir." He hands a small device to the Emperor.
Staleek holds it up: "Satisfactory."
Sikozu walks quickly through a corridor towards the elevator, with the other Kalish bioloid.
Bioloid: "Security's been heightened since the riots. All the codes have been changed."
Sikozu: "What can be done?"
The elevator doors open and a Charrid soldier gets out. Sikozu and the bioloid turn their backs towards the elevator until the Charrid has gone past them.
Bioloid: "There's a master keychip that overrides all codes. It'll run the elevator and give you complete access to the system's schematics."
Sikozu: "Can you get it?"
Bioloid: "Not very easily."
Sikozu sighs.
Bioloid: "And if I get caught, that..."
Sikozu: "Could expose the entire Kalish underground."
Bioloid: "Just tell me this... will it help defeat the Scarrans?"
Sikozu nods: "Yes. Yes, it will."
The bioloid leaves. Sikozu looks after him, her mouth open.
John has the bomb in his hands. On the side of it, he has written "Hi There." He appears to be writing on the other side.
Aeryn: "So, what do you think?"
John: "I think Lady MacBeth is gonna find a way to screw us, but Staleek is probably way ahead of her..."
Aeryn: "Mmm."
John: "Which leaves us with Plan... "
Aeryn: "E?"
John is completing the word "there" on the second side of the bomb.
John: "E for elevator."
Aeryn says it with him: "elevator."
John: "Mmm hmm. And I'm gonna tap dance for the Emperor."
Aeryn: "Be careful. He's not an idiot."
John: "I know, but he can't do jack to me as long as this bomb's ticking."
John stops writing and looks at Aeryn. The bomb ticks away, like a wind-up clock. Suddenly, the bomb whirrs and stops.
Aeryn and John look at the bomb.
END OF ACT ONE
ACT TWO
John and Aeryn hurry down a corridor on Katratzi. John is carrying the bomb in his hand.
Aeryn: "You can't reactivate the bomb in any way?"
John: "Not in any useful manner."
Chiana answers him: "So, what're we supposed to do then?"
John: "D. Can you get Lo'Lah reactivated?"
D'Argo: "Well, it should be another arn at least." He and Chiana are walking in a different corridor.
Rygel and Noranti are still in the storage area: "He'll find us in half that."
John: "Sparky, where are ya?"
Rygel looks at the Charrids going up and down the nearby stairs: "Stuck. Guards all round."
Noranti: "Can't go anywhere at this point."
John: "Well, get to the elevator if you can."
Noranti: "Right." She turns to Rygel: "Where is the elevator?"
Emperor Staleek: "Where is Crichton?" He is in his chambers.
War Minister Ahkna answers him from a corridor: "He won't get far. The station is sealed."
Staleek: "Minister Ahkna... that may well be your epitaph."
Scorpius stands beside Sikozu as she works at the elevator control console. Sparks shoot out of it. John and Aeryn run up to them. The station loudspeaker broadcasts short commands.
Scorpius: "Sikozu has managed to summon the Rabrokator."
John: "What the hell is that? Some kind of massage tool?"
Sikozu: "It's a drilling elevator, but it won't do us any good without the keychip."
The elevator doors open and it's occupants look surprised. John hits the Kalish male, Aeryn hits the Charrid." They immediately start to drag them out of the elevator.
D'Argo: "What's he doing here?" He comes up an guards the elevator while they work.
John: "Scorpius? He's giving us the shaft, as usual. Everybody in. Mind the gap. Safer in than out."
Sikozu gets on the elevator, followed by Scorpius.
Scorpius: "Try and crosswire the drilling controls." He looks at the controls over Sikozu.
Chiana hurries on last.
Sikozu: "Yes, we can try, but it will not work without..."
The Kalish bioloid runs up to the elevator. D'Argo points his qualta rifle at him.
Bioloid: "Wait!"
Three weapons are cocked and aimed at him.
The bioloid holds up his hand: "W... wait!"
Sikozu hurries over from the controls: "Wait, wait, wait!"
They slowly lower their weapons.
Bioloid: "I've got it." He hands Sikozu a chip.
Sikozu sighs: "Thank you."
Rapid gunfire rings out. Shots hit the bioloid in the back. He cries out and falls. The crew returns fire. Sikozu screams. Several Scarrans begin firing into the elevator. The doors close and the firing stops.
Aeryn: "Get us moving."
Sikozu turns to the control console. A hologram appears above it, showing a diagram. The controls make a trilling noise.
Sikozu: "We have navigational control."
John: "Then go!"
Sikozu presses a control and the hologram flashes, jerking the elevator and its contents.
Sikozu cries out.
Chiana: "You drive like dren." She is holding on to the railing, leaning sideways.
John: "Get the drills working."
Sikozu lurches back to the controls: "I'm trying, but it's gonna take a little bit of time."
Scorpius: "Take us to the bottom of the Chrystherium cavern." He turns to look at John: "The shaft ends there. It means they will not be able to reach us in another car. It also means... Sikozu has time to activate the drill."
Sikozu nods.
A round elevator car descends the shaft.
Rygel whispers: "Crichton? Crichton! Ah, frell him! Let's find Stark."
Noranti: "Good idea. Why?"
Rygel: "Cause Scorpius claims Stark knows this base. Maybe he knows a way out." He zooms away.
Noranti: "Oh."
A Scarran guard watches a Kalish working on the elevator controls Ahkna stands close by. It crackles and shoots out sparks.
Ahkna: "They're in the Rabrokator. We're trying to override."
Staleek strides up. He growls.
On board the Command Carrier, Grayza looks out a viewing port at Katratzi. Captain Braca comes into the room.
Braca: "Ma'am..."
Grayza turns and Braca walks over to her: "... sensors detect weapons fire within the base... and communication intercepts indicate... Scarran forces are in pursuit of Crichton with orders to kill."
Grayza: "They must have deactivated the bomb."
Braca nods: "Then he's lost."
Grayza: "As are we." She starts to walk away. "Go to battle stations."
Braca: "Ma'am?"
Grayza stops: "Are you questioning me?"
The elevator continues to descend the shaft.
It stops with a crashing sound and the doors start to open.
Sikozu: "I cannot get the drills activated."
John: "Sputnik, stay on it."
He, Aeryn and D'Argo exit the doors with their weapons out and pointed. Scorpius walks by Chiana and follows them. Chiana starts to follow them too.
Sikzou: "Chiana! The doors!"
The elevator doors begin to close.
Chiana: "Frell!" She hops back into the doorway and the doors stop closing.
Chiana: "Got it!"
Scorpius heads away from the group.
John: "Aeryn, stay with him. Be careful."
Aeryn takes off after Scorpius.
Sikozu: "That was not me." She sticks her head in the door and hollers: "They're trying to override the override!"
John: "Dueling overrides. Don't you hate that?"
D'Argo takes a few steps closer to the elevator: "Okay, Lo'Lah should be functional by now. Start the drills. Get us to the surface. I'll signal Lo'Lah and then we go!"
Scorpius walks to the top of the stairs and then starts down into the room full of flowers. Across the chamber is the giant, "Matriarch Crystherium" plant. A beam of light falls on it. Scorpius stares at it: "We must destroy them."
Aeryn stands at the top of the stairway: "Why?"
John walks up behind her.
Scorpius: "The mother plant is the key. It fertilizes the others. Kill it, and no new Crystherium can grow here." He hurries down into the plants. Aeryn follows more slowly, as does John. Scorpius picks the blossom off one of the plants. He looks at it, then drops it. He brings up his "Charrid style" rifle, aiming it at the Matriarch across the chamber. He fires, but a force-field around the Matriarch deflects the shot. He fires again and again, with the same results.
Aeryn: "Shielded."
A Kalish is working on the ripped up controls to the elevator. The Emperor walks by him.
Kalish: "The Rabrokator is stopped at the Crystherium Cavern."
Staleek: "I want it recalled... now!"
The Kalish nods and goes back to work.
Sikozu uses both her hands to press controls in the elevator. She breathes: "Come on."
Chiana has both arms and legs involved in keeping the elevator door open.
Chiana: "Hurry up."
Sikozu: "Come on."
Chiana: "This door's getting pushier." The door closes slightly and she pushes it back.
Sikozu continues to press controls.
Scorpius fires several more shots at the Crystherium Matriarch. Each shot is deflected by the plant's shielding.
Scorpius: "Stark didn't know about it. Stark didn't know about it! This must be a new addition by the Scarrans." He voice takes on an "out-of-control" quality and he stalks through the plants towards the Matriarch.
John, Aeryn and D'Argo watch from the stairs.
John: "He doesn't like to lose, does he?"
The elevator makes a clanking sound, then something starts to whir.
Sikozu: "Got it. The drills are enabled. We can core our way to anywhere on the planet."
Chiana is barely keeping the doors open.
Kalish: "I've regained control of the drilling elevator."
Staleek: "Now get it back up to this level." He walks over to War Minister Ahkna.
The elevator door squeezes Chiana and she screams: "D'Argo!"
D'Argo: "I'll handle it."
John looks around: "Yeah."
D'Argo hurries off.
John looks back at Scorpius who is now climbing onto the platform where the Crystherium Matriarch stands.
Chiana presses the elevator door open as hard as she can.
Chiana: "Get it open! Frell!"
D'Argo comes up behind her and starts to push. He grunts with the effort.
John and Aeryn both turn their heads, listening to Chiana and D'Argo scream and grunt, fighting with the door.
Chiana: "D'Argo, hurry up!"
Scorpius gains the platform and advances towards the giant plant, one hand held out in front of him.
D'Argo presses the door open, beneath Chiana. She manages to jump free, into the elevator. She drops to the floor with a groan and a thud. D'Argo grunts again and puts his feet on either side of the door, blocking it open.
D'Argo: Go, go, go, go, go!"
Chiana scrambles out of the elevator, between D'Argo's legs. Sikozu crawls after her.
Sikozu: "W... w... wait!"
She turns back and grabs the chip out of the control panel.
Sikozu: "Keychip."
D'Argo screams: "Doooh!"
Sikzou falls backwards out of the elevator, between his legs. D'Argo removes his hands from the doors and jumps backwards as the door slams shut.
John comms: "What the hell's goin on up there?"
D'Argo: "We couldn't override their override of our override."
John: "Great. They stole our getaway car."
He walks down into the cavern to join Aeryn.
Aeryn stands there, staring at Scorpius: "That's our only way out."
Sikozu and Chiana lean on the elevator doors, listening. They fall away and start running.
John: "And their way in."
Aeryn turns her face towards John.
END OF ACT TWO
ACT THREE
The elevator doors close on a group of Scarran soldiers.
Emperor Staleek: "Your father would be proud, Ahkna."
Minister Ahkna turns to look at him.
Staleek: "Security under him was riddled with top-down incompetence as well."
He turns his back on her.
Captain Jenek comms: "Emperor... the Command Carrier is showing increasing signs of battle readiness."
Staleek growls.
Sikozu and Chiana listen at the elevator doors.
Chiana: "Any other exits?"
D'Argo: "No... it's nothing but rock and hay-fever."
There is a rumbling noise from the elevator shaft.
Chiana: "Company's coming."
Sikozu: "Frell."
D'Argo: "Time to go."
Scorpius stands on the platform by the Crystherium Matriarch. He touches the force field that surrounds the plant and it glows red and crackles. Scorpius pulls his hand back.
Aeryn and John run into the field of flowers.
John: "Grasshopper?"
D'Argo comes to the top of the stairs: "Hide!"
John and Aeryn duck down into the plants. D'Argo comes down the stairs. Chiana and Sikozu follow him.
There are four Scarran soldiers riding on the elevator. John's bomb is on the floor near them.
Chiana and Sikozu run into the flowers.
Aeryn: "Get down."
Chiana scurries closer to John.
John: "Hey, did you get my bomb?"
Chiana: "What?"
Aeryn looks startled.
John puts his hand to his forehead: "Wh... I can't believe it. I left a nuclear bomb in an elevator." He holds the bridge of his nose.
Chiana: "That's all right. You've done worse."
She crouches back down among the plants.
Aeryn: "These weapons will be useless if they're Scarrans."
John: "It's gonna be Scarrans."
The Scarrans continue to ride the elevator.
Scorpius stands by John, among the plants.
Scorpius: "She cannot be taken alive, John."
John reaches up and drags Scorpius down into the plants.
John: "Be quiet."
Chiana: "Am I wrong, or are we frelled?"
Sikozu: "No. There is a way. I am not like normal Kalish. There are others like me. We are part of a resistance movement dedicated to overthrowing Scarran domination."
On the elevator, the front Scarran sniffs twice. He turns and looks at the soldier in the corner. The other two Scarrans look at him too.
Sikozu: "We are... genetically engineered to kill Scarrans by emitting an intense radiation that specifically destroys their heat-producing gland."
John: "Did anyone else know about this, or is it just me?"
Aeryn makes a face and shakes her head. She mouths: "B... uh. "
John drops his head and sighs.
D'Argo: "Okay Sikozu, go ahead."
Sikozu: "Not without a promise first."
The elevator continues to carry the Scarran soldiers.
Sikozu: "If the Scarrans were to learn there are others engineered like myself, they would kill millions of innocents to root us out."
D'Argo: "Sikozu... we're a team. Your promise is safe."
The elevator stops with a rumbling sound.
Scarran Leader: "Guards."
The Scarran all prime their weapons and face towards the door. The doors open and the Scarran Leader walks from the back of the elevator and gets out first. John's bomb is still laying on the floor of the elevator where he left it.
Sikozu: "D'Argo..." She sighs: "... the Scarrans are very good at retrieving the truth."
John: "We're not gonna be tortured again."
Aeryn: "Agreed."
D'Argo: "Agreed. Go."
The last of the Scarran soldiers exits the elevator.
Sikozu hands the elevator keychip to D'Argo. She stands up.
Sikozu: "Do not look upon me."
Scorpius stands up too.
Sikozu: "Especially you."
John pulls Scorpius back down among the plants.
Sikozu turns and faces towards the stairway. The Scarran soldiers come to the top of the stairs.
Scarran Leader: "Hold fire. Kalish... present yourself and surrender."
The Scarrans start down the stairs, slowly.
Sikozu holds her arms out to her sides. She begins to rise in the air and gives off a rose colored glow. It shimmers out from her in waves. The Scarran Leader hisses and points his weapon at her. The glow becomes more intense and shoots out from her body. The Scarrans gag and cry out. John turns his face and covers his eyes. Scorpius puts his head down. The Scarran soldiers start collapsing. One falls face first off the stairs. Sikozu continues to hang in the air, emitting radiation for several microts after the last Scarran has fallen. Finally, she collapses as well.
D'Argo looks up: "Okay... Chiana, grab the weapons!"
Chiana: "Got it." She heads towards the fallen Scarrans.
John: "Come on Scorp, let's go."
Aeryn: "Let's go."
D'Argo kneels by Sikozu. Chiana stops with him.
D"Argo: "She'll be fine. Get those weapons."
Chiana nods and hurries off.
Sikozu lies on the floor, her eyes closed.
John looks around to see Scorpius still standing in the flowers, looking at the Matriarch.
John: "Grasshopper... it's time."
Scorpius turns to him and growls: "No!"
John: "We gotta go."
Scorpius swipes at the flowers with the Charrid rifle he is carrying, like he is using a scythe.
John: "Do the math... it's over."
Scorpius turns to look at John. He brings the rifle up, pointing it at him: "I... do not lose!" He lowers the gun slightly, still looking at John.
John: "Be happy to give you lessons. Now... you in or out?"
Scorpius sighs and lowers the gun the rest of the way. He turns towards the Crystherium Matriarch and hisses.
D'Argo runs up to the elevator.
D'Argo: "Come on... let's go."
He bends over the control panel and presses some of them. The elevator doors open.
D'Argo: "Come on!"
He hurries inside: "Hurry up!"
Scorpius turns off the Charrid rifle and trudges towards John and Aeryn, his head down.
Noranti stands up slowly. Rygel floats up beside her.
Noranti looks down: "Is that him?"
What appears to be a sleeping Stark is lying in a case below them.
Rygel: "Yes. Yes, it is. Open it up."
Noranti: "Oh..." She fiddles with something on the case.
Another Stark walks down some stairs behind them.
Rygel grunts. Together, he and Noranti raise the lid on the case. It opens with a whooshing noise. Stark lies with his eyes closed.
Rygel: "Stark... Stark! Are you alive?"
Stark opens his eye: "Rygel?"
Rygel: "Oh, you lunatic."
Stark looks up and sees Noranti: "You... you're green."
Noranti smiles down at him: "How lovely of you to notice."
From the stairs, the bioloid Stark calls out: "Is nothing sacred?"
Noranti: "Ohhh..." She lowers the case lid with a bang, and she and Rygel duck down.
The Bioloid Stark walks over to them: "You wantta deal with Stark? You're gonna have to deal with me." He bends down and grabs Rygel by the throat, lifting him up and choking him.
Rygel: "Oh! Let go!"
Bioloid Stark: "You pompous little Dominar of Nothing... I'm gonna rip your tiny little heart out."
Noranti pulls a knife out of her skirts. She draws her arm back and throws the knife. It hits the Bioloid Stark in the eyesocket of his mask. His head swivels instantly towards Noranti. It slowly turns back. The knife is stuck in the eyesocket and plastic goo dribbles from its mouth.
Rygel gasps: "Thanks Witch."
Noranti: "My pleasure."
Emperor Staleek walks into his chambers, followed by Captain Jenek.
Staleek comms: "Commandant Grayza... see reason."
Aboard the Command Carrier, Grayza is pacing inside the control room. Captain Braca is working some controls.
Grayza: "Reason indicates that you have subverted this conference and with it, any chance of peace."
Staleek: "Ridiculous. Your vessel arms itself for battle, while we continue to operate under a banner of truce."
Grayza: "Reason dictates that I not believe a single word you say."
Grayza stands at her observation window, looking out into the Command Carrier.
Staleek comms: "Reconsider, Peacekeeper. Adhere to the name you have chosen for your kind."
Staleek turns to Captain Jenek: "Monitor their every move and transmission. Should they attack, annihilate them without mercy."
Braca walks over to stand beside Grayza at the window: "Ma'am, what are you doing?"
Grayza: "Pursuing honor, Captain."
Braca: "We're at peace... under truce... and vastly outnumbered."
Grayza: "And about to rewrite the course of history." She whirls around to face him: "Prepare to launch simultaneous salvos on every weapons system... now!"
Braca backs away from her. He turns: "Sergeant." A Peacekeeper soldier comes over to him. The Sergeant bends down and Braca whispers something to him.
John follows Aeryn and Scorpius to the elevator. The elevator controls beep.
John: "Have we solved the override problem yet?"
D'Argo sighs: "Not yet."
John: "Did you put the key in?"
D'Argo: "Yes, I used the frelling key."
John: "Why do we even bother?" He pulls out his pistol and shoots the exterior control panel several times. Sparks shoot out of it.
Sparks fly out of the control console the male Kalish is working on. He pats at the controls, which do not respond.
D'Argo: "What are you doing?"
John: "Sending a message." He gets into the elevator and the door closes behind him.
Kalish: "The connection has been severed."
Ahkna: "Fix it."
D'Argo: "Drill's on."
John: "Hey... you know how to drive this Wonkavator?"
D'Argo: "Do you?"
John: "No."
D'Argo: "Then why ask?"
The elevator jerks, tossing everyone around.
Chiana: "Frell!" She grabs the side and holds on.
D'Argo exhales loudly.
The elevator continues to ascend, spitting chunks of rock out as it goes. It burrows off at right angles to the old shaft.
A male Scarran walks up to Ahkna.
Scarran: "Kalish sensors report an unusual energy discharge in the cavern."
Ahkna: "The status of the Crystherium?"
Scarran: "Unknown. We've lost contact with the Strike Team."
Ahkna: "And Crichton?"
Scarran: "He has activated the drill and is coring through solid rock. Impossible to predict his destination, my love."
Ahkna stares at him: "I'll tell you your destination, my love. A frelling torture station if you don't stop him!"
The elevator continues to drill through the interior of the planet.
John: "Fine, well you at least know how to get where we're goin, right?"
D'Argo: "No."
John: "Oh, then go faster."
The elevator jerks them off their feet again.
D'Argo: "Here's faster."
They get flung around again. The elevator throws rock and debris behind it.
John: "It's a hell of a ride!"
Chiana laughs. Aeryn smiles. They hold on to the sides of the elevator as they are spun around.
John: "Kinda fun, huh?"
The elevator makes a crashing noise and more rock falls away.
John: "Okay, it's no longer a joke."
END OF ACT THREE
ACT FOUR
Kalish Secretary Vakali and Charrid General Rahzaro are both seated at a table. The Emperor walks behind them.
Staleek: "Protection of the Crystherium was your number one priority."
Rahzaro: "Yes, my Lord, but it was not I who gave permission for the access codes."
Vakali: "What are you implying, Rahzaro? We had nothing..."
The Emperor shouts over them: "Do not give me your excuses!
Captain Jenek comes into the room: "Sire... Commandant Grayza refuses to acknowledge on all frequencies."
Staleek: "I credit her choice of suicide over failure. How are you positioned?"
Jenek: "Well, they will be accorded every opportunity to cease fire. Peacekeeper Command will find no fault with our self-defense."
Staleek: "Captain Jenek here epitomizes the competence I demand. Perhaps you can next assist Minister Ahkna in her follies." Jenek nods.
Staleek: "Capture Crichton, and her job will be yours."
Jenek: "Sire." He bows and leaves quickly.
Staleek: "Fools."
Vakali and Rahzaro look away.
Grayza looks over the Command Carrier. Red warning lights give a glow to the scene.
Grayza: "Tell me when target acquistions are complete."
Braca: "Ma'am... " He carries his clipboard over to the window. "... there is no battle here, Ma'am." He keeps his voice low.
Grayza replies quietly: "Why are you so averse to conflict, Captain?"
Braca: "And why are you so adverse... !" He stops.
Grayza: "How dare you? Who do you think you are?"
The other Peacekeepers in the room turn their heads to look at them.
Braca straightens his spine: "Captain Miklo Braca, Officer of the Fleet, Peacekeeper Interplanetary Service."
Grayza: "Oh. Nobody."
She walks away from him. Braca follows her, gesticulating.
Braca: "Ma'am, you'll start a war."
Grayza: "A war is inevitable."
The Sergeant watches them closely.
Braca: "We sail under a flag of truce. Let us leave beneath its protection."
Grayza: "Didn't Scorpius tell you? A truce with the Scarrans is suicide."
Braca: "Ahh. So, the men and women of this vessel must pay for your miscalculation with their lives?"
Grayza: "It's for the greater good, Captain... and we shall all be remembered as heroes."
Braca glances over her head, at the Sergeant. He steps back and walks away, finally turning. The other Peacekeepers all watch him. He stands at attention.
Braca: "Commandant Grayza... Under Article Six Rulu, Uniform Code of Admiralty Conduct, Section Nineteen, due to a state of incapacitation of judgement displayed in multiple encounters under stress, I hereby invoke the Transfer of Command and relieve you of duty immediately."
Grayza chuckles. She turns: "Officer of the Deck!"
The Sergeant steps forward.
Grayza: "Weapon! Za! Would you be so kind as to shoot this mutinous Captain dead where he stands."
She folds her arms and turns her back on them.
The Sergeant cocks his weapon and points it at Grayza: "Sorry, Ma'am. Captain Braca has already relieved you of command."
Braca: "Now, let's get this ship out of here."
The Rabrokator continues to spin, throwing off rock and debris.
Inside the spinning car...
John: "Never did... like Disneyland." He hangs onto the side rails with both hands.
John and Aeryn both cry out as the elevator stops and they are jerked again. John sinks to his knees.
John: "Oh... Dad... are we there yet?"
Aeryn shakes her head: "My head hurts."
Scorpius sits on the floor next to the limp Sikozu, supporting her.
Chiana laughs: "Let's go again."
The Rabrokator makes a loud noise and starts to move. John cries out. The elevator car begins to spin. John stands near Aeryn. Everyone holds on.
Staleek: "From this moment on, you will disregard her status as Ruling Class Scarran and ignore Minister Ahkna's orders. Am I clear?!"
Rahzaro is standing behind the conference table with Vakali. He whispers: "Sire."
Staleek: "Besides myself, John Crichton is the single most important person on this base." He whirls around and screams: "AM I CLEAR?!"
The elevator continues to drill upwards.
Staleek: "Apprehend him and bring him before me... now."
Still, the elevator climbs.
Emperor Staleek cries out and stumbles against the conference table as the room is rocked from below. The others in the room are also jolted.
General Rahzaro reaches out and grabs Staleek by the elbow: "Your Excellency, you must leave now. It's the elevator."
He drags Staleek away from the table. The nose of the drilling elevator breaks through into the room, tossing the conference table aside. Inside, the crew is thrown on top of each other. In the conference room, Vakali is thrown across the room as the drill explodes upwards through the floor. There is a loud crash and debris flies into the air, then falls back, landing around the elevator car.
Aeryn has fallen against John. She pushes herself up, gasping: "Did we hit the surface?"
John: "I don't know. Let's find out. D... the doors."
In the corridor, General Rahzaro points to some guards: "Secure the Emperor's safety. You, you and you, with me!"
He heads back into the conference room, followed by the other Charrids.
Staleek yells after them: "Alive! Keep Crichton alive!"
Rahzaro: "Sire!"
Staleek hurries away. The Charrids enter the conference room and stand behind pieces of debris, aiming their guns at the elevator.
Charrid guard: "General Rahzaro... it's Crichton and the others."
Rahzaro: "Be ready."
John: "Why is it not working?"
D'Argo: "Nothing's working."
John grabs some wires that are hanging down and starts to climb: "Let's find out where we are."
He pushes upwards on the elevator hatch. As it cracks open, the Charrids all start to fire their weapons at it.
Rahzaro: "Fire!"
John drops the hatch back and climbs down.
John: "Hey! That's no good."
Chiana yells.
Aeryn: "Where are we?"
John thinks: "Umm... conference room."
Aeryn: "What?"
General Rahzaro can be heard yelling: "Come out now! Or die!"
Chiana: "Are we cursed?" She looks at Aeryn. "Could we be cursed?"
Aeryn looks around: "Well, that depends on whether this will hold."
General Rahzaro: "Fire again!"
The Charrids all shoot at the elevator.
Sikozu is awake, still next to Scorpius.
Scorpius: "The Rabrokator is quite strong."
D'Argo is standing with his back to the wall, holding onto the rail with both hands: "We can't stay here forever. What about that hatch?"
Sikozu: "No." She shakes her head: "No, it'll be a drop of at least a metra."
John comms: "Sparky? Grandma?"
Scorpius crawls across the floor of the elevator, past John.
In the storage chamber, Rygel pops up. He comms: "Where have you been? We're at D'Argo's ship and it's crawling with Scarrans."
He is behind some barrels, near Lo'Lah. A Scarran soldier walks past.
D'Argo: "Here's our chance to see if Lo'Lah's reactivated."
Scorpius lifts off the lower hatch and sets it on the floor beside him, with a clunk.
D'Argo: "Rygel, are you standing near the ship."
Rygel: "Well clear. Why?"
D'Argo: "Rooshtooth havish toodock."
Rygel ducks down behind the barrels.
A forcefield forms around Lo'Lah.
Rygel yells: "Hey! Roshvater!"
The Scarran soldier turns and walks back towards the barrels. As he encounters the force field, it hits him and knocks him down.
Rygel pops up and looks: "That did it! The guards are down. We did it!"
The elevator doors open and Scarran Captain Jenek steps out, followed by some soldiers.
Jenek comms: "We've reached the Crystherium Chamber."
He walks over to one of the Scarran corpses and pushes on its head with his foot.
Jenek: "All dead." He growls softly.
Jenek walks to the head of the stairs and looks across the chamber to the Crystherium Matriarch.
In the conference room, General Rahzaro has his men guarding the Rabrokator.
Rahzaro: "Hold your positions until reinforcements arrive. I will check on the Emperor!" He points at the Rabrokator: "They are not to leave here!"
Rahzaro leaves and the other Charrids cock their weapons, pointing them at the Rabrokator.
Inside...
John: "Grasshopper..."
Scorpius looks over at him.
John: "... how important is that mother plant?"
Scorpius: "I would trade my life... for its destruction."
John: "What about my wormhole debt?"
Scorpius laughs: "Of course." He nods.
John stands up and comms: "Ryge? Are you in Lo'Lah?"
He is holding his bomb. He turns it and presses something on it.
Rygel, Noranti and Stark are sitting in D'Argo's ship.
Rygel comms: "Yes Crichton. We're safe."
John's bomb is lit up. He drops it in the elevator shaft where it falls rapidly out of sight.
Scorpius: "What have you done, John?"
John: "Just fixed your little flower problem."
Aeryn: "You reactivated it, didn't you?"
John nods: "Yah. It should go off in about... sixty microts."
Chiana: "And then it explodes?"
John: "Yah."
Chiana: "A big explosion?"
John: "Mm."
The bomb continues to fall down the shaft. It is beeping slowly.
John: "Oh... God, we should have voted. All in favor, show of hands." He holds up his right arm. Aeryn looks at him, then Scorpius. She raises her hand a little, as does Scorpy.
Chiana stands up.
John: "All opposed."
Chiana raises both her hands. D'Argo raises his.
John: "Three to two. Sikozu abstains."
John leans forward on his hands, gazing down into the shaft.
Sikozu: "The concussive pressure must exit through the elevator system."
D'Argo: "And this shaft."
Scorpius: "At this distance, the compartment should protect us."
He puts the hatch back over the opening.
Aeryn: "It might work."
Sikozu: "We'll find out in fifteen microts."
General Rahzaro runs back into the ruined conference room, followed by another Charrid soldier. He goes to the leading guard and stands looking at the Rabrokator.
Rahzaro yells at the elevator car: "This is you last chance. Come out now!"
D'Argo crosses the back of the car and stands by Chiana. He puts his arms out and she ducks under his armpit. Sikozu has climbed into Scorpius' lap and is holding him. Chiana pets D'Argo's hair and he sighs.
Aeryn is on the floor of the car, leaning, next to John.
John: "Love you."
Aeryn: "Love you too."
The elevator car in the Crystherium Chamber opens its doors. Jenek and his guards enter.
Jenek comms: "Emperor. The Crystheriums are intact. The Matriarch plant has not been harmed. Our fears were completely groundless."
Sikozu: "Three..."
The glass on the top of the elevator car breaks, shattering shards down onto Jenek and his guards. They all tilt their heads, looking upwards.
Sikozu: "Two..."
The bomb falls into the elevator car. Jenek catches it.
John and Aeryn kiss.
Jenek looks down at the bomb, which reads: "Hi there."
The bomb explodes, turning the entire chamber bright blue. A shock wave travels rapidly upwards, accompanied by a loud rumbling sound. John and Aeryn kiss harder, pressing close to each other. Chiana hangs onto D'Argo as Sikozu holds to Scorpius.
In the conference room, the Charrids feel the rumbling and look around.
Aboard Lo'Lah, the shaking is also apparent.
The wave of the concussion continues upwards with a roar.
Rahzaro: "What is that?"
The Charrids look around, listening to the roar. The explosion bursts out around the Rabrokator and destroys the room and everything in it. The Charrids are blasted to bits.
Inside the Rabrokator, John increases his hold on Aeryn.
The sound of the explosion can be heard from the ships orbiting nearby. Small burst of light and sound escape from different points on the base.
As the shaking stops, John lifts his face away from Aeryn's.
From Lo'Lah, Rygel comms: "Crichton! What the hezmana just happened? Where are you, you fahrbots? Did you blow up the bomb? How could you blow up the bomb?!"
John: "You missed the vote."
END OF ACT FOUR
EPILOGUE
Onboard Moya...
Noranti, Rygel and Stark are with Pilot, in his chamber.
Pilot: "I... never thought I'd see you again, Stark."
Stark: "And I always believed I would."
Pilot: "It is a pleasure to have you aboard."
Noranti grins.
Rygel: "Time for another starburst, Pilot?"
Pilot: "Moya and I believe four is enough. She's tired and there's no evidence that anyone is pursuing us."
Stark: "The Scarrans must still be too busy on Katratzi."
Rygel: "They got off easy."
Noranti grins and Stark smiles back at her.
Noranti: "And, to celebrate the victory, I shall cook a voluptuous Caspitian haunch stew."
Rygel: "Ahhh!"
Chiana lies next to D'Argo, covered by the same fur blanket. Her naked arms and legs protrude from beneath it. She gently rubs her cheek with a piece of his hair. She rolls onto her back and stretches. They both sigh. She moves her leg under the covers and D'Argo begins to laugh. She laughs and he laughs louder. Chiana moves her other leg outside the fur and wraps it over D'Argo's.
Chiana: "More."
D'Argo: "More."
Chiana rubs her legs up and down: "More."
D'Argo: "More."
Sikozu stands on one side of his chamber, looking at Scorpius.
Scorpius: "How long does it take... for you to recover?"
Sikozu: "I don't know. I've never done this before."
She slowly walks across the chamber to Scorpius. She puts her finger on the side of his chin and turns his face towards her. She reaches up with her face and kisses him. Scorpius leans slightly forward, allowing the kiss. Sikozu moves around to the other side of his face and kisses him again. Scorpius turns his face away, but she turns it back with her hand. She kisses him and this time, he kisses back.
John sits leaning against a his bed, a flask beside him and a cup by his hand. Aeryn lays back with her head propped up. Her arms are crossed on her stomach. They are both in black t-shirts and leathers.
John: "Huh... Stark." He picks up the cup.
Aeryn: "Hmm."
John gestures with the cup: "Everything old is new again. Except the old thing's gettin really old." He takes a drink. He swallows and sets down the cup.
John: "Hi... Honey." He laughs: "Huh. Guess what I did at work today? I wore a bomb. A nuclear bomb in a field of flowers." He closes his eyes and sighs. Aeryn turns her head to look at him.
John: "I could get lucky. Tomorrow I could have a bigger bomb."
Aeryn gets up onto her elbows. She turns towards him.
John: "I could kill... more people. Maybe they'll be innocent people. Children... maybe."
Aeryn watches him. He swallows.
John turns his eyes to look at Aeryn. She reaches out with her hand and gently touches his hair. He closes his eyes as she runs her fingers along beside his face, feeling back up to his hair. John turns his head towards her hand and her fingers rub along his forehead. He lowers his face into the crook of his elbow. Her hand moves to the crown of his head. John moves his hand and wraps his fingers around hers, holding on while he quietly cries into his arm.
END OF EPILOGUE
