Air Date: March 21, 2003
Written by David Kemper
Directed by Andrew Prowse
Transcript by Xenajules2
Edited and put on-line by Bluey
Episode 4.22 - Bad Timing
Previously, on Farscape (voice of John Crichton):
Scenes from each episode flash by in rapid succession. To view a collage of all 170 screencaps, click on the link above. It is a very large file and may load slowly, so it will appear in a seperate window. Also, the theme music that played was a variation, not the standard FS theme.
And finally, on Farscape...
PROLOGUE
Only Scorpius' nose, mouth and part of his mask is showing.
Scorpius: "Your infantile obsession with betrayal is misplaced, John."
Flash...
Aeryn: "Scorpius actually said that?"
John: "Can you believe, the son-of-a-bitch did actually say that!"
Flash...
Scorpius: "Look past my actions, towards my goal... our common goal."
Flash...
John: "He leads Braca and a damn Command Carrier here and no, I have an infantile obsession with betrayal!"
John and Aeryn are on Moya's Command, looking out the main viewscreen at the Peacekeeper vessel.
Flash...
Captain Braca comms from the Command Carrier.
Braca: "If you do initiate starburst, your ship will be crippled."
The Command Carrier's cannons swing into position.
Braca: "If Scorpius is harmed in any way... the Leviathan will be destroyed."
Flash...
John: "We have Braca sitting on our front doorstep... issuing threats with one hand and Scarran messages with the other but... no, no, no, I'm sorry, it's not a betrayal."
Aeryn: "Do you believe them?"
John: "Yes... no... I... maybe. I don't know." He puts his hand on the bridge of his nose.
Aeryn: "Look, I can understand if you... if you didn't want to, but it is possible that they're telling the truth, crazy as it sounds, that the message was..."
Flash...
Captain Braca: "... intercepted from the decimated Scarran base on Katratzi."
A Scarran soldier speaks on a video transmission...
Scarran: "Our course is set for the wormhole that leads to Crichton's home planet."
Scarran Emperor Staleek: "Upon arrival, begin the process of subduing their defensive forces."
Flash...
John walks over to stand next to Aeryn, who is sitting on the edge of a table.
John: "Just tell me the Scarrans don't know where Earth is."
Aeryn: "They'll go..."
Flash...
Emperor Staleek offers a piece of a flower to John. Aeryn looks on.
Staleek: "Crystherium Utilia. An acquired taste."
John pulls a piece of the plant out of his mouth: "Hummingbird feeder."
War Minister Ahkna: "You know of our delicacy?"
Scorpius pets the petals of a Bird of Paradise.
John: "Bird of Paradise. Yah, Mom's garden. Dime a dozen."
Flash...
John: "Now they're gonna go. They're gonna go because I told them their flowers were there."
Aeryn: "That being the case, perhaps you should set aside how we feel about Scorpius and listen to what he's proposing."
John: "No. Absolutely not. No. He... he's manipulated us, Aeryn. He manipulates everything." John paces and gesticulates as he is talking. "This... us... from the first moment we met, the man has done nothing but lie to us."
Aeryn: "I know, but..." She gets down off the table and walks over to John. "... what if the Scarrans are heading to Earth? What if they really are? What else did he say to you?"
Flash...
Scorpius: "I assure you, I had nothing to do with this John. That said, reality..."
Flash...
John continues Scorpius' words: "... reality presents opportunity, John. That if I align myself with the Peacekeepers, he will see to it..."
Flash...
Scorpius: "... see to it that our entire might is thrown into defending your world!"
Flash...
Aeryn: "Well, that's something you have to consider."
John: "No, I don't."
Aeryn shakes her head and gasps. She is speechless.
John: "I can destroy the wormhole. Seal up Earth."
Aeryn: "You can do that?"
John bites his lip: "Yes... no... maybe again. The knowledge is there. It's just not in the correct order."
Aeryn: "Alright, but what if they... make it there before you? What if they beat you there?" She shakes her head: "What happens to your family? Everyone?"
Flash...
Scorpius: "Make a decision, John. You have nothing to fear from this commitment."
Flash...
John closes his eyes, then looks away: "It's a big commitment. Either one."
Aeryn: "So you're... ..." She shakes her head.
John: "What?"
Aeryn: "... afraid... Of commitment."
Flash...
D'Argo follows John down a corridor on Moya. John is wearing his spacesuit, unzipped.
D'Argo puts his hand on John's shoulder: "Hey, wait a minute. Did she hesitate like that, or was that just you doing that now?"
John stops and turns to face him: "What does it matter?"
D'Argo: "Well, it matters because, if she hesitated like that, she knows you were talking about her."
Chiana and Aeryn are looking out a porthole.
Chiana: "You said what?"
Aeryn: "What I said."
Chiana: "Like you said?"
Aeryn: "What does it matter?"
Chiana: "Well, if you said it to him like you said it when you said it to me, then it means that he knows that you know." Chiana looks at Aeryn. Aeryn looks away from the porthole and looks at Chiana.
Flash...
John: "Now is not a good time... to be... talking... commitment... with Peacekeepers."
Aeryn raises her chin. Her eyes are shining.
John: "Earth is not ready."
Aeryn, her voice breaking just a bit: "Will they ever be?"
John tilts his head and smiles a tiny smile at her: "One day." His smile gets bigger.
Aeryn smiles and nods.
John: "Maybe."
Flash...
D'Argo: "So you got out of it."
John: "Ohh! Please." He walks away, down the corridor.
D'Argo hurries after him: "No, really, because, uh... if she paused like that..."
John: "I don't wanta talk about it.
Flash...
Aeryn: "So, what do we do?"
John: "We hope. We hope that I can figure out how to destroy the wormhole. Otherwise, all the bad things happen. And it'll be my fault."
Aeryn: "Well, I'm with you."
Flash...
Chiana: "Good job. Always position yourself so they have to come to you."
Aeryn: "Chiana, this isn't about us."
Chiana: "Sure."
John and D'Argo come up behind them.
Aeryn turns: "Ready?"
John: "Yah."
Aeryn nods and she and Chiana step away from the porthole. It opens, revealing Scorpius and Sikozu inside the airlock. They are in spacesuits, without helmets. John climbs into the airlock with them.
Scorpius: "We're natural allies, John. The Scarrans will ravage your planet, and I can prevent it."
John pulls on his gloves.
John: "Miss Britannica... what kind of Scarran ship is following us?"
Sikozu: "A Stryker, John. Swift attack."
John: "It's gonna beat us to the wormhole?"
Sikozu: "Utilizing starburst? ... possibly."
John: "What about... Braca and the Queen Mary?"
Sikozu shakes her head: "No."
Chiana hands John a device. John fiddles with it while talking.
John: "Grasshopper... tell me your plan for saving Earth."
Scorpius: "By a simple declaration of alliance, even infuriated, Emperor Staleek will be forced to stay his attack or, by its inception, incur a war that he is still afraid of losing."
John shakes his head: "Your timing is terrible. It's too late." He holds up the device he has been fiddling with. On the bottom of it he has printed "Dear John". John walks over to Scorpius and attaches the device to the front of his spacesuit. He presses a couple of buttons and the device beeps and lights up.
John: "Welcome... to the nuclear age."
Scorpius: "John... see reason."
John goes to the hatch and gets his helmet: "No. I am no longer a chess piece."
Sikozu walks over to John: "Crichton... he is not wrong. You must
trust him."
John: "Goldilocks... it's a bad choice. When you figure that out, call our one-eight-hundred number for counseling."
Sikozu walks back over to Scorpius.
D'Argo: "Okay Chiana. Lock down the maintenance bay."
Chiana: "Good riddance." She gets up and leaves.
D'Argo: "You two better grab your helmets."
Scorpius puts his helmet on. Sikozu follows suit.
D'Argo and Aeryn stand at the open hatch, looking in.
D'Argo comms: "Captain Braca... here's the deal. We've attached a bomb to Scorpius and we're leaving. Follow us, and the bomb explodes. Once we've gone, the bomb will shut down. Couldn't be simpler. Don't bother responding. We're not listening."
John attaches a safety clip to his suit.
Scorpius: "Explain to me the logic of resisting the Scarrans without allies!"
John looks back at Aeryn. She makes a face, but gets up. The bomb is beeping away. The inner hatch closes.
John closes his visor. D'Argo walks away. Aeryn stays by the inner hatch.
Scorpius: "I see. Reason has fled them all."
Sikozu lowers her visor, as does Scorpius.
Scorpius: "So much you misunderstand about me, John. Your actions... put your world at risk."
John: "I did this. I'll fix it... and live with it, either way."
Scorpius closes his eyes. Sikozu sighs. John turns and nods to Aeryn. The outer hatch opens. Scorpius and Sikozu are sucked out, towards the Command Carrier. John grabs hold of the edge of the hatchway and pulls himself back inside.
Sikozu: "Weak species!"
Scorpius: "John... reconsider. Otherwise you doom Earth... to destruction!"
John salutes. The outer hatch closes and Moya begins to starburst. The fiery blue light travels from her tails to her nose and she disappears in a blast of white light.
END OF PROLOGUE
ACT ONE
Inside the ruined Scarran base on Katratzi...
War Minister Ahkna walks into the Emperor's chamber.
Ahkna: "Why send a Stryker force to Earth? For impotent revenge against Crichton? Or to seperate me from my lover?"
Emperor Staleek turns around and looks at her: "We are political enemies, you and I, but Scarrans both. Do you have the fortitude to ally yourself for a greater good... than your own advancement?"
Ahkna: "You destroyed my father. Your political office, the bounty of your rank, was stolen."
Staleek: "Just as he took from his predecessor. You must put that aside."
Ahkna: "What does it matter? The hierarchy shall judge us both... harshly."
Staleek reaches down and picks up a flower from a nearby table.
Ahkna: "The Crystherium Matriarch is gone. This region of the galaxy... denied to us."
Staleek holds the flower out towards Ahkna: "A partnership. Your lover, Pennoch, travels to Earth Ahkna, because these grow there."
John is sitting on the floor of the maintenance bay, twirling a pen. He is sitting on a long piece of paper that has figures and symbols written all over it. There is a pot of ink sitting next to the paper.
D'Argo comes into the bay, followed by Chiana.
D'Argo: "John, at this range, Pilot could still contact Scorpius, but after one more starburst he, uh..."
John: "No turning back."
There is more paper with writing on it draped over containers nearby. There are more hanging from things around the room.
D'Argo: "I think you should concentrate on your training with Katoya."
John: "Katoya was a frelling frootloop."
Chiana walks further into the bay, looking at the papers. Stark sits huddled in a corner, watching.
D'Argo: "Focus on your inner strength."
John: "It's here. I just can't find the Rosetta Stone."
Chiana walks over and looks down at the paper John is writing on.
D'Argo: "Katoya."
John: "Frootloop."
Chiana crouches down beside the paper: "Sex."
D'Argo: "Chiana!"
Chiana: "Sex does it."
D'Argo: "For you."
Chiana: "For everyone. Sex."
John: "With you, or with him?" He nods towards D'Argo.
Chiana: "Well, whatever."
D'Argo motions her to leave, with his head. Chiana gets up. She jumps over John's outstretched legs and the paper and walks out past D'Argo and Stark.
As she passes D'Argo, Chiana says: "Sex."
D'Argo sighs. He walks over to the paper and hunkers down beside it, clasping his hands together.
D'Argo: "John." He bows his head: "This is hard to say, but, uh... not all of the Peacekeepers are represented by Grayza's betrayal. If you make a pact with Scorpius, I believe they'll honor it. And then they will enslave your planet." He touches John on the shoulder.
John nods: "Thanks."
D'Argo sighs and gives John's shoulder a shake. He stands up and leaves the bay.
John stares at the top of the paper he's working on. He gets up into a crouch, staring, and begins to draw in the air. He looks at one of the papers that are hanging around the room. He tilts his head and looks at the paper again.
John: "It's not twelve." He stands up. Stark stands up as John hurries over to a bench and picks up a rifle.
John: "It's not... twelve!"
Stark puts both his hands up in the air, in surrender.
John holds up the rifle and turns past Stark, as Stark scurries from the bay. John points the rifle at the hanging paper and shoots it. The paper bursts into flames.
Rygel pops up from behind some containers, watching.
John comms: "Pilot... how come we haven't starburst? We need starburst!"
The paper continues to burn.
Pilot comms: "Scarran Stryker craft have a unique propulsion system that allows them to cover great distances..."
John: "And...?"
The burning paper has fallen to the floor of the bay.
Pilot: "We required three additional starbursts to reach the destination. At our current rate, they will arrive before us. Moya and I have discussed the options... and elect to employ an extended starburst technique."
John: "
Extended starburst..."
Blue light builds in Moya's starburst chamber. It explodes upwards, traveling from the tips of her tails, rapidly along the length of her body. When is reaches her nose, there is a jolt and everyone inside is tossed around.
John cries out as he staggers to keep his balance. Chiana stumbles against a wall as Moya disappears into a flash of white light.
John walks into his quarters and immediately goes to a workbench. He appears to ripple as he moves, due to the extended starburst.
Noranti is in his quarters.
Noranti: "You look awful."
John: "Can't think."
John takes something over to his bed and sits down.
Noranti: "Ohh, this extended starburst is much worse than Pilot expected." She has her hands in her pockets and paces around behind John.
Noranti: "Rygel is vomiting continuously, though perhaps that's not so unusual."
John reaches down and takes off his boots. He places them on the bed, on either side of his body.
Noranti: "On the other hand, Stark has passed out... " She sits down on John's bed, next to him. He starts to shine one of his boots.
Noranti: "... which is just as well cause now he can't vomit at all."
John glances at her: "Would you leave me alone for a while?"
Noranti: "Momentarily." She holds something out towards John. "Chew."
Aeryn walks up to John's doorway and looks in.
John: "No, thank you."
Aeryn leans against the doorframe and crosses her arms on her chest.
Noranti: "It decreases the symptoms."
John continues to scrub away on his boot.
Noranti: "How fares the wormhole? Can you close one down?"
Aeryn speaks quietly: "Noranti, would you leave us, please?" She gestures 'out' with her head.
Noranti: "I know of one sure curative for..."
Aeryn straightens up and starts to walk towards John's bed.
Noranti: "... brain lock. Natural..."
Aeryn holds out her hand and Noranti stands up.
Aeryn: "Come on."
Noranti: "... organic... drugs."
Aeryn pulls her towards the door."
Noranti tosses the 'chew' onto John's lap.
Aeryn pushes her towards the door.
Noranti: "How is your nausea dear?"
Aeryn: "Better, thank you."
Noranti: "Good." She walks out the door: "I can take a hint."
Aeryn leans back against the wall and crosses her arms. She smiles at John when he glances up at her.
Aeryn: "I was looking for you in the maintenance bay. I liked your solution."
Flash...
John points the rifle and shoots the piece of paper that is hanging in front of him. It bursts into flames.
Flash...
John: "Liked that, did'ja?" He continues to work on the boot.
Aeryn grins: "Uh huh."
John: "You have any home remedies for writer's block?"
Aeryn looks at him and hesitates, then walks into the room: "I know you better than that."
She sits down in chair and leans back, stretching her legs out in front of her and crossing her arms across her chest again. She smiles at John.
John: "I'm gonna fail. It's a sin, really. I'm close. There's just not enough time." He looks down, concentrating on his boot.
Aeryn gives her head a little shake: "It's always about time."
John looks up at her: "Yah. Time."
Aeryn smiles.
John gazes into space: "Timing." His face changes. He sets down the boot and gets up: "Timing." He hurries over to Aeryn, carrying his boots in his hands. He bends over her: "Love you." He kisses her a quick peck on the mouth. "Don't ever change." He hurries out. Aeryn smiles and bites her lower lip.
John hurriedly places 1812, the DRD, on Pilot's console, then climbs up on it, himself.
John: "Pilot... proof me on this."
Pilot: "If I can. Remember, I'm a bit woozy myself from extended starburst."
John: "I'll have Grandma whip ya up somethin. A wormhole is a disturbance in space-time." He gestures with his hands. "Immediately before it opens, a pressure bubble forms. You can't see it, but it's there."
Pilot: "I can see it."
John: "You can see the bubble?"
Pilot: "Yes, can't you?"
John rolls his eyes: "I kinda smell it."
Pilot sighs.
John: "Anyway... anyway, you know what I'm talkin about. The bubble starts tiny, and it expands outward."
1812 projects a display showing a concave bubble in the air.
John: "When the bubble bursts, the wormhole opens."
The projection shows a wormhole forming from the bubble.
Pilot: "Correct."
John: "Alright... here's my theory. Stop me if you've heard it before. I travel down the wormhole in my module. The wormhole closes behind me. I wait. Before the wormhole opens, I dive in..."
The projection shows the bubble again, with a ship flying towards it.
John: "... at the last moment, piercing the bubble. That collapses the wormhole in around me, over and over and over again, all the way back to here."
The projection shows the wormhole collapsing around the vessel.
John: "The wormhole is sealed up forever. Closed. Finito. Road gone."
Pilot: "That... is... brilliant, Commander."
John: "It'll work."
Pilot: "The math is impecible."
John smiles and nods.
Pilot: "The quantical relationships line up perfectly. Ahhh." Pilot lowers his head.
John: "Am I sensing a problem? The Scarrans are on their way, Pilot."
Pilot: "The timing required to puncture the bubble at its maximum radius, thereby beginning the chain-reaction you describe, is in the mili-microts."
John: "So I can't do it."
Pilot: "Even if you could see the bubble, your eye-limb coordination is lacking." Pilot shakes his head.
John: "I'm not going to ask you another favor." John shakes his head: "So I'm just gonna beg."
Pilot sighs deeply: "Commander... I'm... sorry. There's nothing I can do."
Moya comes out of starburst. Inside, everyone is tossed about again.
D'Argo and Chiana are on Command. They both grab hold of their consoles, to keep their feet. Outside the main viewscreen, the wormhole is visible.
D'Argo: "Outstanding, Pilot. My congratulations to you and to Moya."
Chiana: "No sign of the Scarrans."
D'Argo joins her in looking at her console.
Chiana: "We beat 'em."
END OF ACT ONE
ACT TWO
In the maintenance bay, John is working on his module. Aeryn walks up to him. John walks past her and sets his instrument on a rack.
Aeryn: "I'm coming with you."
John turns around to face her: "Aeryn, we got one shot at the wormhole before the Scarrans arrive."
Aeryn: "Pilot's explained this manuver to me. He's not very optimistic."
John: "If it doesn't work... we could be stuck on Earth."
Aeryn continues to stare at John: "There are worse places."
John: "Not if the Scarrans get there."
Aeryn: "Then we'll have to do the best we can."
John slowly walks over to stand next to her. He looks past her, and puts his hand on the side of the module.
John: "What did you imagine... for your life?" He turns his head to look at her.
Aeryn takes a deep breath: "Service, promotion, retirement, death. You?"
John: "This is exactly what I imagined."
A tiny smile starts on Aeryn's face.
John: "And a coupla kids." He turns and walks away, scratching his head. He picks up a tool off the rack and starts back.
Rygel struggles to get his thronesled up beside Pilot, behind his console.
Pilot turns his head to look at him: "Ahh. Dominar."
Rygel: "You should do it."
Pilot: "Would you?"
Rygel: "No. But I'm... not you."
Pilot closes his eyes, briefly.
Onboard the Peacekeeper Command Carrier...
Braca: "Allow me to take this opportunity to say how pleased I am to have you back on board, Sir."
Scorpius walks across a rather large room and joins Sikozu within a red floored area. She is sitting in a chair. Braca stands behind a second one which Scorpius walks over to and sits down in.
Scorpius: "Delightful to be here, Captain. Is Commandant Grayza not joining us?"
Braca: "No... no, she's having... a little difficulty adjusting to her confinement. Apparently she's under sedation."
Scorpius: "Pity."
Braca laughs.
Scorpius: "Next time we encounter Crichton, see to it that the older cook is brought aboard... unharmed."
Sikozu licks the inside of a red spoon, lingeringly. She has her eyes locked on Scorpius.
Braca: "Do you wish me to continue to track his movements and pursue him?"
Scorpius: "Unnecessary."
Sikzou takes another bite of the food she is eating, watching Scorpius all the while.
Scorpius smiles at Sikozu: "I believe that our reluctant human may soon return, of his own volition."
There is a loud 'click' as John turns on a tape recorder in his chambers. He holds it in his hand and speaks into it: "My name is John Crichton... an astronaut. Four years ago, I got... shot through a wormhole to a distant part of the galaxy. I ended up on this ship... this living ship, populated by escaping prisoners... who became my friends."
Flash...
Harvey: "Curious holiday, Easter."
John is wearing a white bunny suit. A bright pink egg drops by one of his feet.
Harvey: "Religious leader dies... comes back from the dead, and you end up celebrating like this!"
Harvey is wearing a pink bunny suit and has a basket full of colored eggs. John picks up the pink one and looks at it.
Flash...
John talks to the recorder: "I made enemies..."
Harvey's voice interrupts him.
Harvey: "John..." John waves his hand over his head, to knock Harvey away.
John: "Not now, you son-of-a-bitch!"
Flash...
John, in white bunny suit, wrestles with Harvey, in a pink bunny suit.
John: "This... is... not... time... to be... messing... with... me!"
John pounds on Harvey's furry back. Harvey hits John in the face and John head-butts Harvey, knocking him over backwards on the grass. He puts a large, furry white foot on Harvey's chest.
John: "You want me to fail, don't ya?"
Harvey: "Quite the contrary, John. Should your planet fall victim... I would not wish to reside in the head that blames itself. Huh!"
John: "You're lying."
Harvey: "I've examined this thoroughly from my... unique perspective, and I believe... your fears are correct. I believe... you will fail."
John is out of breath: "After all that's happened, how do you expect me to trust you?"
Harvey: "Well... I think that... like religion... it's an individual choice. Either you believe and, therefore, bunnies are unnecessary or... you don't, in which case... chocolate?"
Harvey holds up a half-unwrapped chocolate Easter bunny.
Flash...
John walks quickly onto Command, past Chiana who is standing at a console.
Chiana: "Hey."
He hurries over to another console and looks down at it.
Chiana: "Crichton? What're ya doin?"
John: "Contacting Scorpius. Change of plan."
D'Argo: "John... "
Chiana: "What?"
John: "Gonna see if I can cut a deal before the Scarrans get here and avert a massacre."
Chiana laughs and comes out from behind her console. She walks over to John.
D'Argo: "Are you really sure this is what you wanta do?"
John: "I can't risk Earth. What the hell's the matter with these consoles?"
He goes to another console. Chiana follows him.
Chiana: "Why are you doin this? Why would you sell your own people out?"
John presses buttons on the console: "Because I am proud to bring Peackeeper protection to my backward ass little planet."
Chiana slugs him in the stomach. John turns to face her.
D'Argo watches them and sighs.
Chiana: "Then don't do it! Pop the frelling bubble. Make the wormhole collapse."
John: "Pip, I can't do it."
Chiana interrupts him: "Yes you can."
John: "I'm not smart enough..."
Chiana: "Yes you can."
John: "I'm not fast enough... I am not alien enough and you know what? There are people in the Universe who don't like me! I'm only human." He turns away.
Chiana grabs him and turns him back towards her.
Chiana: "Frell you!" She sighs and lets go of him. She walks away.
John turns back to the console.
Sikozu walks over to Scorpius, swinging a leather chain she has in her hand. She backs onto his lap, sitting down provocatively.
Sikozu: "To... victory over Scarran domination."
Captain Braca looks on from outside the room.
Scorpius: "To you... for your bravery."
Sikozu licks her finger and smiles: "For resisting the enemy?"
Scorpius: "For not resisting... your friends." He pulls her finger into his mouth and sucks on it. Sikozu lays her head back on his shoulder and laughs.
Scorpius takes the chain and suddenly pulls it tight against her throat. Sikozu gasps.
Captain Braca jerks as he watches them.
Pilot's arms are shaking. He is making moaning noises.
Aeryn puts a hand on one of his claws.
Aeryn: "Calm down, Pilot."
He continues to shake and moan. Aeryn puts her hands on either side of his face.
Aeryn: "Breathe."
Pilot's breathing slows a little bit.
Aeryn: "That's it. Now, tell me what the matter is."
Pilot gasps: "Moya... and I have never been at greater odds. We've never disagreed so fiercely."
Aeryn: "Over what, Pilot?"
Pilot: "I... haven't been entirely honest about not being able to help Crichton."
John runs out a doorway, pointing: "You!"
Rygel is floating down the corridor and John runs and grabs him by the head. He hurries along beside Rygel's sled, keeping a hand on his head.
John: "Sparky... you selfish, egotistical, self-centered little Dominar. Pilot said it was you that turned him around."
Rygel: "Do you want to pay me back?"
John: "We'll see how it turns out." John squeezes his ear and hurries off.
Rygel: "Ow! Ohh!" He shakes his head.
John hollers back at him: "I love your scaly green ass no matter what!"
Moya floats silently in space.
Pilot: "Moya is enormously distressed by what we are about to do."
Stark sits beside Pilot, perched on his console. Noranti and John stand in front of him.
Noranti: "Tell her she must be brave. It's for the good of the family."
John: "Pilot... how's this gonna work?"
Pilot: "Because the transport pods are built of Moya's own elements, I will be able to live in one for up to an arn. But... if we're not rejoined by then, both wounds will scab over and our... neurological connections will have no chance of regenerating."
John: "We're gonna be quick. We go... wormhole closes... we wait... before it opens again we pop the bubble and we're back home."
Pilot: "If not... my... death is assured. And... without Moya... I shall... die alone."
Stark: "You won't be alone, Moya. He shall return. And, I'm here. We're all here."
Noranti squirts some mist onto Pilot: "This will help you to relax."
Pilot closes his eyes.
John turns away from Pilot and comms: "Aeryn?"
Aeryn comms back: "Most life-sustaining systems are on manual bypass. Ready as can be."
Rygel comms: "Then do it, if you're going to do it."
John: "Cap'n? Pip?"
D'Argo and Chiana are beneath Pilot's console, where he and Moya are joined.
D'Argo sighs: "Okay, Pilot..." He takes a deep breath: "I really need to hear this from you."
Pilot: "Captain D'Argo, I remand the ship to your control. You may now cut me free of Moya."
D'Argo exhales. Chiana begins severing connections. Blue vapor shoots out into the area. Aeryn hurries away from her console.
Lights flash from underneath his console onto Pilot. He screams. Stark, who is still next to him, also screams. Noranti continues to spray her soothing mist at Pilot as he screams. In the corridors, Aeryn and Rygel both stop a moment, at the sound. Pilot's screams echo down the corridors. Blue mist continues to escape from the severed connections. Pilot continues to scream.
END OF ACT TWO
ACT THREE
Noranti climbs down to join Chiana and D'Argo. She waves her arms around.
Noranti: "It's not working! Stop! It's not working! Stop!" She touches Chiana: "Stop!"
Chiana: "What?"
D'Argo turns: "What's wrong?"
Noranti: "He can't take anymore. He's getting delirious."
Chiana: "Well, what do you expect? We're cutting him in half."
Noranti: "Oh, no. Not Pilot. The other one. Listen." She points upwards to where Stark is babbling.
Stark: "It's too much... too fast... it makes no sense... I can't remember..."
Chiana leaves her tools: "Fine." She climbs up the ladder to the console.
Stark: "There's too much... impossible pattern... too much... helpless... help me..."
Chiana yells: "Stark!"
Stark: "Yahh."
She hits him on his mask, with a clank.
Stark: "Ohh!" He grabs his mask.
Chiana: "What... is the matter?"
Stark: "It's too much... too fast."
Chiana pats him: "Okay. Fine."
Pilot: "Chiana... these command sequences must be performed while I am seperated from Moya. Without them, most regulatory systems will fail."
Chiana turns back to Stark: "Okay... you said... you said you flew Talyn."
Stark: "Ohh... I did. There. Sat there... flew Talyn... controled Talyn... was Talyn."
Chiana: "S... so?"
Stark: "This is way more complicated. Four arms... it's too fast... to much."
Chiana turns back to Pilot: "Okay, Pilot. Can you slow it down for'em?" She climbs up on Pilot's console, across his body.
Pilot: "There is no time."
Chiana: "Alright. Show me and I'll slow it down."
Chiana watches Pilot's arms with her "vision" as he performs the sequences. As he finishes, Chiana's eyes change and become tiny dots.
Stark looks on in amazement.
Stark: "Your eyes... what did you do?"
Chiana: "Your job." She moves her head around: "I'm blind. Tell Crichton we're ready."
Pilot: "Thank you... Chiana."
Down below the console, Noranti rubs the severed ends of Moya's connections. Rygel flies over to her.
Rygel: "They're putting Pilot inside the transport pod. He doesn't look well."
Noranti: "I have fortified him... with anti-infectious ointment and pain relief." She sighs: "Though I fear both to be wholly inadequate in this case." She continues rubbing the connections.
Rygel: "What is this dren?"
Noranti: "Keeps the neural circuits moist... til Moya and Pilot are rejoined."
Rygel: "Don't hold your breath. This isn't even one you could get odds on."
A transport pod flies quickly out of Moya's hangar bay.
Aeryn: "This moisturizing agent won't work for long. The ganglia is already drying out."
She is standing next to Pilot, rubbing a moisturizer on him.
John: "The wormhole cycle's going to start in about thirty microts. You might want to grab onto somethin."
Aeryn gets down quickly.
A Scarran Dreadnaught flies through space.
From Moya, D'Argo comms: "John... Aeryn... the Scarrans are less than an arn away. Good luck."
Aeryn comes over to John's console and listens with him.
John: "Dear God... don't let me screw this up."
Aeryn looks over at him.
The wormhole opens in front of them and John pilots the transport pod into it.
John (quietly): "Yee hah."
From Moya's Command, D'Argo watches the pod enter the wormhole. It winks closed and is gone. D'Argo continues to stare after it.
John's breathing inside his spacesuit helmet is the only sound. He half-walks, half-bounces across Earth's moon's surface towards a giant American flag the is standing, unmoving, in front of him. Earth is visible behind him. John gets to the flag and reaches out to it. Attached to the bottom of the flag is a photograh of Jack Crichton surrounded by his wife and three children, one of whom is John. John unclips the photo from the flag and holds it up.
John: "Aaa, Dad. Huh. You sentimental son-of-a-bitch."
Aeryn watches John from inside the transport pod.
Aeryn: "Pilot? We're gonna to need you to wake up now. We need your help."
She rubs Pilot's shoulder. Pilot moans in his sleep.
Aeryn: "Come on, John."
She leaves Pilot's side and returns to the front viewing screen, watching John.
At "The Cape", a rocket stands ready to lift off, carrying a space shuttle on its back. The moon looms large behind it.
Jack Crichton talks on a cell phone as he approaches his front door.
Jack: "There is no way that five hundred egghead scientists are strappin on a handgun as part of their uniform." Jack gets something from his car and slams the door. "So, help me out here, Winters. Make all this crap go away."
Jack's cell phone beeps as he disconnects. He starts to unlock the front door when the phone inside starts to ring.
Jack: "I'm comin."
The phone continues to ring. Jack opens the door and hurries inside. He answers the phone: "Hello."
John: "Hey, Dad."
Jack: "John... where are you?"
John: "Serenity Base."
Jack: "Serenity Base?"
John: "Yah, the moon."
Jack walks outside, looking up towards the moon: "Why didn't you make Earth orbit?"
John: "Murphy... Dad. We've got a little problem."
Jack: "Worse than a three-hundred dollar clipboard that you can put paper in when its upside down?"
John: "Yes. The Scarrans have located Earth. And, they're on their way." John is standing near the flag.
Jack: "What can we do?"
John: "Nothing. I gotta do it."
Jack: "What the hell does that mean? Why do you have to do it? You've already done enough, Son."
John: "I'm going to seal up the wormhole. That'll isolate Earth, but it should protect it."
Jack looks upwards: "Then how do we get into deep space?"
John: "The old-fashioned way. You build a rocket. I've left you... technology and navigation information... here at your flagpole." John's tape recorder sits in the moon dust, near some footprints.
Jack: "How long do we have?"
John: "Not long."
Jack: "Then take me with you. Take us all... we're ready. Five hundred of the World's best. We can help."
John: "There's no time."
Jack: "What do you mean, there's no time? For Moya to get from the Moon to the Earth, what's it take? A blink of the eye? Two seconds? Come on, Son."
John: "We're down to minutes... Dad. How do you want to spend 'em?"
Jack's breath comes in gasps.
Jack: "Son... listen... th... the Secretary General of the UN is... he speaks for the planet on all space matters now. We're startin to come together, just like you wanted."
John: "That's good. Keep that up." He looks at the old photograph.
Jack sits down on the front stoop: "I was lookin forward to coming with you, boy."
John: "Well... sometimes things don't happen quite the way you imagine 'em."
From inside the transport pod, Aeryn is still watching through the viewscreen: "Come on."
John: "Tell Susan and Liv that... I love 'em."
Jack nods.
John: "And, I'll contact ya if I can. Tell everyone."
Jack: "I will, Son. You tell my grandkids about me."
John laughs: "Hah. That's a no-brainer. They gotta know who my hero is."
Jack's voice breaks a bit as he talks: "You're gonna find..." He stands back up. "... when you have your own, you want 'em to pass you. Be better, climb higher. I guess if that's the measure, I'm... the greatest dad on Earth."
John: "I love you, Dad."
Jack exhales loudly, tries not to cry, unsucessfully: "You're the heart and soul of my life, Son. I love you."
John pauses a moment: "Good-bye."
Jack nods and disconnects the phone. He stands, staring up at the moon.
END OF ACT THREE
ACT FOUR
The Scarran Dreadnaught continues to advance.
D'Argo: "Stark... can we move the ship?"
Stark: "Moya seems too dazed to respond to anyone but Pilot for navigation."
Chiana: "D'Argo..."
D'Argo: "The Scarrans will be here momentarily."
Stark: "No, no. Scarrans..." He pulls part of his tunic up over his face: "Scarrans torture! Scarrans kill! Torture, kill! Torture, kill!"
Chiana screams: "Stark!"
Stark pulls his shirt off his face: "I think I'm okay now."
The wormhole opens in front of Moya. A Scarran Stryker appears, heading directly towards it.
Pennoch comms: "Emperor Staleek... the wormhole has reappeared as we approach. Scans show Crichton's Leviathan sits nearby, though it makes no attempt to flee or defend itself."
Staleek: "Ignore them. Continue on to Earth. Fulfill your mission."
D'Argo: "They're here. Everyone brace!" He runs across Command.
The Scarran stryker flies towards Moya and shoots her several times before veering off into the wormhole. Inside, everyone is flung about from the impacts. Noranti ends up on the floor, her head against the wall.
Pennoch comms: "I have crippled their ship."
The transport pod heads away from the moon.
Aeryn: "Up, Pilot. Now."
John shakes his shoulder: "Come on, Pilot. Up and at 'em. You've got billions of lives to save."
Pilot: "Did I... did I miss it?"
John: "No."
Pilot: "Did I let you down?"
John: "No, you did not." He puts Pilot's claws on the controls. "All right, listen up. Right there..."
Pilot: "Where?"
John points out the viewscreen: "Right there. It's gonna be a wormhole back to Moya and just pop the bubble when it's... when it's time."
Pilot: "At its apex. Yes, Commander."
John goes to the front control and stands next to Aeryn.
John: "You know what scares the hell outta me?"
There is a rumbling sound.
John: "From the first moment I laid eyes on you... I could never see the end."
Aeryn: "What scares me... is I always could."
John glances at Aeryn. She watches straight ahead, but she smiles.
John: "Alright, Pilot. Time it right."
Pilot: "I see it, Commander. The bubble preceding your wormhole is forming now. Beginning acceleration sequence." He presses a control and the transport pod begins to speed up.
John: "Wormhole in quatro... tres... dos... please... work."
Pilot: "Now!"
The transport pod crashes into something that becomes a wormhole. They fly through it very rapidly. Everything inside the pod turns blue. The light is very bright blue. John and Aeryn continue to stare forward out the viewscreen.
John: "I think this is gonna work."
Aeryn: "Scarrans!"
The Scarran Stryker comes down the wormhole directly towards the pod.
Inside the Stryker, Pennoch sees the pod hurtling towards them.
Pennoch: "Disengage! Disengage!"
The two ships collide, passing through each other. Moya's pod is the smaller of the two craft and goes completely through the Stryker. John and Aeryn seem to pass through the Scarrans. As the two ships seperate, there is a crashing sound and John and Aeryn are jolted against the control panel.
John: "Uh... son-of-a-bitch!"
Pennoch looks out and sees the wormhole exploding in front of his ship.
Pennoch comms: "Emperor... Crichton has turned the wormhole against us. We will not..."
The transmission cuts off as the Stryker dissolves into the wormhole.
The Emperor and Minister Ahkna listen stoicly.
The transport pod flies out of the wormhole as it collapses in a flash of white light. John and Aeryn stay at the controls as the pod slows. They both turn and look at Pilot who has fallen back to sleep. John puts his elbows on the console and sinks to his knees: "Damn baby, you're alive."
Moya is floating in a large sea or ocean. There is a smaller "dot" on the water nearby.
Inside...
Stark strokes one of Pilot's claws.
Stark: "You did a good thing today, Pilot, for which the goddess always rewards. Float on memories, and time will heal your wounds."
Pilot appears woozy: "... empty..."
Stark continues to stroke Pilot's claw: "... and should you ever need to leave again, don't hesitate in calling on me."
Pilot: "... discharge..."
Stark: "I was your worthy successor. I was! You ask Moya. When the Scarran shot her, I seized control and saved the ship! I know you're proud..."
Noranti pops up on the other side of Pilot. She has an atomizer in her hand and shoots it in Stark's face. His eyes close and he stops talking.
Noranti pats his shoulder: "Troubled Stykera... float on memories and, perhaps time will heal
your wounds."
Pilot: "Discharge... pumps..."
Noranti: "Head down." She guides Stark into a sitting position, with his head on the console.
Pilot: "Discharge..."
Noranti turns to him: "Yes, yes Pilot. D'Argo has switched on the discharge pumps. Any water seepage will be expelled."
Pilot: "Thank... you."
Noranti: "Now... allow the minerals in Qujaga's sea to soothe Moya, and you rest... and regenerate your connection to her."
Pilot makes a soft, grunting noise.
Rygel is with Chiana.
Rygel: "How many fingers? Hmm?" He holds up his hand.
Chiana leans over towards his hand, looking. Suddenly, she bites his fingers.
Rygel screams!
D'Argo runs over to intervene: "Hey! Whoa! Hoy!"
Chiana lets go of Rygel's fingers.
Rygel: "Ahh! Ohh! Tralk!"
D'Argo puts his hand on Chiana's shoulder.
Chiana: "It's not gonna go away."
Rygel gasps in pain.
Chiana: "I'm gonna be blind forever. Frell!" She groans and leans her head against D'Argo.
D'Argo: "Hey... that Diagnosan that we found near here, that is the first stop that we make when this is over. I promise."
Rygel: "Simpletons."
Chiana: "What? What's gonin on?"
Outside Moya, in front of the viewscreen, a smaller vessel is just visible, floating on the sea.
Rygel: "Crichton's got Aeryn in a boat."
Chiana: "What's he doin?"
END OF ACT FOUR
EPILOGUE
John and Aeryn are alone in a small boat, floating on the Qujagan sea. They sit facing each other.
John: "We have... some unfinished business."
Aeryn: "Yes... we have." She leans towards John.
John holds something in his hand: "A year ago, we let... a coin... make our decisions for us." He holds up the coin he's been fiddling with.
Aeryn: "Not again." She shakes her head.
John: "Call it."
Flash...
A six-sided coin floats upwards in the hangar bay. Aeryn turns her face up to watch it. John continues to stare at Aeryn. When the coin reaches its apex...
Flash...
The coin falls into the water beside the boat, with a splash.
Aeryn sighs.
John scoots forward on the boat seat, closer to her.
John: "Aeryn... I have a question."
Aeryn: "Can I go first?"
John: "Yah."
Aeryn nods, and swallows: "When I was on the Command Carrier, I went to see a surgeon. I was really worried about what the Scarrans did to me. The fetus has been released from its stasis. So, I'm having a baby."
John: "You okay?"
Aeryn shakes her head and nods.
John: "And the baby?"
Aeryn: "It's yours. I just wanted to tell you. Hope it doesn't change anything."
John looks away, his mouth working. He starts to say something and stops.
John: "Umm... well, it changes everything."
Aeryn watches his face.
John stands up in the middle of the boat and throws his arms up in the air. He shouts: "We're gonna have... a baby! Yah! Frell you!" He holds his middle finger up to the sky. "We are gonna have... a baby!"
Chiana: "Wha... what's goin on?"
D'Argo: "Now John seems very, very angry."
John leans over backwards and yells at the sky: "We're having a baby!"
Aeryn reaches for him, to pull him back down.
Aeryn laughs: "Sit down before you fall down."
John sits.
John: "Ahh. ha!"
Aern: "Are you all right?"
John: "Yah. Ohh."
Aeryn: "Are you happy?"
John: "Yah."
Aeryn: "What was your question?"
John: "Oh... god. Umm..." He gets down off the seat, onto his knees, in front of Aeryn. He reaches out and takes hold of her hands.
D'Argo: "Crichton's gone down onto his knees."
Chiana: "Why?"
Rygel: "I think he's hurt himself."
John, breathlessly: "Will you marry me?"
Aeryn's forehead is lined with wrinkles. She nods: "Yes."
John sighs a deep sigh and laughs. Aeryn starts to cry, then she reaches for John and smiles. She wraps her arm around his neck and he pulls her to him, off her seat. She lets out a tiny "Oh."
Chiana: "What's he doin?"
Rygel: "Uh... the boat's sinking."
Aeryn kneels about John. She wraps both arms around his neck and they kiss.
The kiss ends with a quiet smack. Aeryn sits back on her legs.
John: "Wait." He takes a ring box out of his pocket and opens it. He takes out his mother's ring and slips onto Aeryn's hand... third finger, left hand. John gently kisses her finger.
D'Argo: "He's... putting some sort of... looks like a ring on her finger."
Chiana: "A ring?"
D'Argo: "Ahh... a ring."
Chiana laughs: "You frellnicks! Didn't you watch any of those... those... those... those Earth movies? Crichton just proposed."
Rygel: "Hmm? Proposed what?"
Chiana: "Marriage."
Rygel: "Marriage? Idiot! Oh."
Aeryn leans forward again and they kiss again, kneeling together in the center of the boat. There is a whooshing noise and they part, turning their heads to look. Flying towards them is an alien aircraft. It buzzes by them, low overhead.
D'Argo screams: "John! Aeryn! Get inside!"
Aeryn: "D'Argo, do you know what it is?"
D'Argo: "I have no idea whatsoever. Just come back inside!"
The aircraft circles around to make another pass at them.
John: "Give me a break... we're in a boat!"
Inside the alien aircraft...
An unusual looking alien is flying the craft.
Alien: "Tracker scouts were correct. One Leviathan, partially submerged. Two invaders have exited their ship. Request orders."
Chiana: "Are they gonna make it?"
D'Argo gasps and hurries off.
Chiana: "D'Argo!"
Another alien comms: "Do you have target acquisition?"
First Alien: "Positive. I scan no armaments."
The First Aliens face appears to split apart and multiple eyes come out of his head.
Voice on Comms: "Neutralize invaders for analysis."
First Alien: "Acknowledged. Neutralization run... beginning."
D'Argo screams into the comms: "Hatch doors are open... hurry up!!"
The alien craft begins to fly towards the boat. Aeryn turns John's face towards hers with her hands. She sighs deeply: "You and your timing."
John smiles: "I love you."
Aeryn wraps herself around him and they kiss. They continue to kiss as the alien craft bears down on them. It shoots them with some sort of weapon that trails a white mist. At first, they seem to be covered with a slick coating, then they flow together and shatter into a million brilliant shards heaped up on the boat's center bench. The alien craft performs some sort of manuever in the sky above the boat, then flies off.
D'Argo screams: "No!!!!!!!!"
He sinks to his knees screaming: "No!!!!!!!!" He sobs like a wounded animal. Chiana grabs hold of his head and pats him. D'Argo continues to scream and cry.
Unmanned, the boat bobs gently on the sea. Inside, the heap of shards holds, in its center, John's mother's ring.
The music plays, quietly, until the credits roll, never changing to the now familiar theme until the final piano notes are played. Rather, the sound of water lapping against sides of the boat and the familiar sounds of Moya are heard as the names of cast, crew and creators roll by.
