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Written by: LeatherGirl
Archive: 9 July 2001
Summary: This is way too big to summarize. Read it and be entertained! And if you're familiar with my writing style, the title is more than enough to summarize this fanfic!
Rating: R for mainly strong language, a little sexual content, and some violence
Category: Drama/Action/Adventure
Spoilers: Everything up to Eat Me, S3.
Disclaimer: I wrote this fanfic purely for entertainment with no intentions of making a profit off of Farscape, Jim Henson Productions, Channel 9, and the amazing creators of this show or anybody else involved. When you have fun creating, money is no object. Ka'ru is a fictional character of my own creation. As for the many scientific impossibilities found in this fanfic, frell them because this is science FICTION after all!
Author's Note: This fanfic has to be the largest writing project I have ever challenged myself into producing. I actually felt further away from Farscape than I have been in the past when writing fan fiction, thus making it even more difficult to breathe life into the well-known characters. Real life issues also strayed me away from this fanfic, many of the issues dealing with inner struggle. I bring the final piece to you as my heart and soul. Please read it as a whole and respond with feedback. Even though completion and joy of writing is satisfying by itself, feedback is the ultimate satisfaction in order for me to truly see if my efforts paid off.
Thanks to the following beta-readers for helping me out: pkbarb, jilacosa, and johryn.
Special thanks to the creators of Farscape for a unique look into the world of a universe we may never know.
This story was somewhat inspired by Stephen King's latest novel, Dreamcatcher. If you loved The Stand, this one is even better!
His back rested against the harsh cold wall of the hospital corridor. John could hear his father arguing desperately with a doctor down the hall. He wondered when DK would be back with the coffee. He wondered who had called his sisters. The clock on the wall was ticking so loud he wanted to tear it down and smash it onto the floor. That minute hand had to be fast. Maybe the clock was wrong. Yeah, that's it. John laughed. A nurse walking past gave him a look. John turned and faced the doorway to his left. The sliver of light passing through the thin window in the door was all he could see of the interior. John inched further towards the door, gaining more and more view into the room through the window.
He saw the hospital bed within, surrounded by a ridiculous number of machines supporting the life of the woman on the bed. John slowed his progress towards the door and stopped. He could see his mother's frail face perfectly. It was framed in the window along with a section of the heart monitor and an IV stand. The fluorescent light above her was almost blinding, as it was the only light source in the room besides the display monitors of the machines.
John heard his father nearly to the point of yelling at the doctor now. He heard the ticking of the clock and imagined it in sync with the beeping of the monitor behind the door he faced. His own heart was in sync with the ticking. His palms were sweaty and his head felt light. The pale face of the dying woman who had raised him was engraved in his mind. John closed his eyes to see that face instead of darkness. He quickly opened them in panic.
She was dying. Her last hour was upon them. The rest of the family had been notified. His father was arguing with the doctor. And DK was getting the coffee. Who was with his mother? No one. John stood almost emotionless in front of that doorway. It was as if someone had poured cement around his ankles. He could not move forward. He couldn't move at all.
His mother's demise had all been so sudden. John and DK had been away in training at IASA for a mission. He had known his mother was sick but never came home. His family urged him to stay away because what he was doing was important and it was what his mother wanted. John regretted it but at the same time, felt fear from returning home to see a woman he viewed as incredibly strong and intelligent slowly waste away to cancer.
Finally, he had received the dreaded call that Leslie may not even make it to the weekend. It was Thursday. Her final hour was upon them. John wasn't ready for this. He didn't want her to die. He felt like he needed to blame her for not being healthier, for not trying harder to prevent cancer, even for being human. But it was himself who he blamed most. He hadn't been there at her side every struggling moment during the four-month battle. That had been his brave father. American hero, respected astronaut, loving father.
John did not realize he had taken a step away from the doorway. He could hear his father finishing his argument with the doctor. He even sensed DK was on his way back. That clock even seemed to slow slightly. His mother's face looked just a little bit less flush. Maybe she would get better. She still had time. John was kidding himself.
He stole another step backward. He nearly stumbled, his footing momentarily lost. John turned to see what had caused his stumbling and stepped away in shock. Hatred filled his veins as always and he spread his arms out, as if to protect the doorway behind him. Scorpius stood tall before John. He turned his head to the clock with a smile and then glanced back to John. The hideous half-breed was actually enjoying this tormenting memory of John's. Tick. Tick. Tick.
John ran. He did not know why he did or what possessed his feet to move so fast. Was it because of Scorpius? No, he had run in the original memory as well. He only knew that if he left now, he would be saved the pain. That wasn't true, however, but he tried to make himself believe. He ran past his mourning father, past the uncaring doctor...he even stumbled into DK, nearly spilling the two cups of coffee in his friend's hands. John thrust open the doorway to the stairs he had headed for and left the hospital his mother would die in as quickly as his feet could carry him.
*****
Moya, Talyn, and the large Scarran ship hovered silently in the new space they occupied. No evidence of the collapsed wormhole remained. There were no more black holes either. Were they still in the Uncharted Territories? If any of the occupants of these ships had survived, they would soon find out.
Thousands of stars twinkled amongst the ships like any other normal part of space. What made this area so unique was the large galaxy sprawled out in the horizon before them. It was a glorious galaxy boasting a magnificent swirl of gold, red, and blue hues with a mostly white overtone. Numerous stars were embedded within the two spiraling arms of the galaxy. The extremely bright bulge in the center of this galaxy lit up the exteriors of the ships. A few other masses of colorful gas clouds and star clusters hovered near the galaxy, accenting this new place even more.
Aboard Moya, the silence was deafening. The Scarran ship was even more silent. Talyn was slightly disoriented, but sent a cry to his mother, hoping to receive an answer. After several unanswered cries, Moya responded.
Pilot shook his large shell head, awaking from the maddening spiral they had finally recovered from. He checked the controls and communicated with Moya. Despite the numerous pits and tears in her exterior from the asteroid field they had passed through, Moya was relatively unscathed. Relieved, Pilot turned his attention to the crew. His image appeared on the clamshell in Command. The interior lighting began to glow once again after being temporarily lost. Pilot nearly gasped. Every member of the crew lay in a crumpled heap on the floor, unresponsive.
"Aeryn? Crichton? D'Argo? Wake up!" Pilot urged. A few moans and some motion spurred among the unconscious.
Several DRDs whirled into the room, bumping into the crewmembers to waken them. One overconfident DRD even attempted to zap Rygel with its own laser beam. Rygel grunted. His eyelids slid open and he growled at the DRD. The DRD quickly disappeared into the shadows. Rygel sat up, glancing around at his fallen shipmates. Pilot smiled at the sight of at least one of the crew finally awaking. However, his smile did not last. Rygel cared not to wake the others. He instead immediately headed in a search for his throne sled. The Hynerian scurried past D'Argo, who was the second to wake.
"D'Argo, are you all right?" Pilot asked with concern. D'Argo held up a hand to quiet Pilot. D'Argo stood with a small grunt. He proceeded to crack his back with a small popping sound. Satisfied, D'Argo turned fully to Pilot and gave him a smile.
"Fine, Pilot. Are you and Moya all right?" D'Argo asked. As Pilot nodded, Chiana began to awaken as well as Crais, Aeryn, Stark, and Jool. The silence in Command was no longer. Each groaned as they discovered bruises and cuts on their bodies.
"Where the frell are we?" Stark asked, standing up with the aid of a nearby console.
"The wormhole collapsed before we could reach the destination it was supposed to carry us to. Even with our limited data banks, Moya and I are unsure of where the wormhole has left us." Pilot stated.
Aeryn searched the room to find John lying near the doorway; she crawled over to him to wake him. Crais stood and immediately contacted Talyn on his comms to see if the gunship was anywhere nearby. He somehow knew Talyn had ventured into the wormhole after them.
Chiana cranked her neck and watched Rygel happily hop onto his throne sled. The hovering chair had been lodged in between two wall supports near the view screen. Jool brushed her hair out of her face and stared out the view screen in wonder. She joined Stark who was already gawking at the new sights.
"John? John, wake up." Aeryn requested. She slapped John's right cheek and the human began to stir. His eyes flew open and he nearly bumped his head with Aeryn's in a rushed attempt to sit up. Aeryn veered away and stared at John in bewilderment. John mirrored her expression. They shook their heads and helped each other up.
D'Argo and Chiana had joined Jool and Stark in staring out the view screen. Rygel was already making his way to see what they were all gaping at.
Aeryn and John looked each other over quickly to make sure there were no injuries. They then walked up to the rest of their comrades to see what the latest problem was. Even Pilot had begun to stare. Aeryn gasped at the amazing beauty. John stepped closer, tilting his head in wonder. This spiraling galaxy was beyond anything any of the crew had ever encountered. Such beauty and magnificence was often overlooked in their adventures through the deadly Uncharted Territories.
"What is that?" Chiana asked in awe.
"It's an organized system." Stark replied. No one's eyes left the view screen. The sight was too attractive to look anywhere else.
John narrowed his eyes. The system before them was oddly familiar. The spiraling arms, the glowing center, the billions of stars massed within. Had he seen this before?
"Pilot, can you track where we are? Do you have any way of detecting if we're near those black holes anymore?" Aeryn questioned. The crew had been so overwhelmed by the sight of the galaxy that they had completely forgotten about the former mess they had escaped from.
"No, Aeryn, not at all. Moya is just as disoriented as the rest of us." Pilot stated.
"Talyn came with us through the wormhole...and he has informed me that we are not the only ones." Crais stated in a grave voice. The crew turned to look at him in question.
"Who else is out there?" Jool asked, her voice quivering. Her green eyes glistened with tears of fright.
"Talyn says it's a Scarran ship." Crais said and glanced at John. John however, did not appear to hear him. He was still peering at the galaxy, as if he had a word at the tip of his tongue that he was desperately trying to recall.
"Do they sense us?" D'Argo asked with alarm.
"They're probably just as frelled as we are at this point." Chiana commented. The crew could actually take comfort in believing this. If anyone on that ship was awake, neither Moya nor Talyn would still be in existence.
"I don't know how we survived anything up to this microt but just be glad we did." Rygel pointed out.
"We're not in uncharted territory anymore, Toto." John suddenly stated with his jaw hanging open as he took another step forward. The others turned their attention to the awestruck human, looking at him as if he had just spoken gibberish. They did not see the tear glistening in his left eye.
"Really? Then where the frell are we?" Jool asked. She placed her hands on her hips in frustration.
"Only a starburst away from home." John simply stated. He was so captivated by the swirling galaxy before them that he did not notice their strange looks. Aeryn approached John and tried to gain eye contact.
"What are you talking about?" Aeryn demanded to know. The strong emotions playing onto the human's face struck her. Deep down, she had a feeling she didn't really want to know his answer.
John turned his head and gained eye contact with her. Aeryn could see the excitement dancing in his tearing eyes. John could see the sinking realization in her frightened eyes. Aeryn took a frightful step backward. D'Argo and Chiana instantly noticed the reaction between the two.
"What is it John?" D'Argo softly urged an answer. Chiana traveled over to John's other side and looked up at him, begging with her eyes for an answer. John glanced at both of them briefly. He looked to the galaxy and then to all of the crew, including Pilot.
"That's my home." John stated in a voice of realization. A tingle of excitement began to grow in his stomach. His lips formed into a large smile. "That's the Milky Way...Earth is in one of those spiraling arms. This can't be real."
"Its real." Pilot confirmed. "We're receiving numerous strange transmissions from within it as well. It appears the source is originating from a planet."
John whipped his head around. He then thought of the Scarran ship Crais had mentioned. He had been listening after all. He connected these points and grew fearful for his home. John began to back away. The others were completely confused by his actions by now.
"Pilot, we have to divert those signals, now!" John ordered. Crais immediately caught on.
"Are these signals on a specific wavelength?" Crais inquired.
"Radio waves, yes." John stated, stepping towards Crais with interest.
"I'll go to Talyn. Perhaps he and I can devise some sort of web to absorb these signals." Crais announced. He immediately headed for the Docking Bay to exit Moya. Aeryn threw a quick glance in his direction, feeling a part of herself wishing to go with him. She instantly remembered the chip Crais had mentioned. Aeryn made a mental note to confront him later.
"You're home is beautiful." Chiana commented.
"If you think that's impressive, wait till you see the planet itself." John stated hurriedly as he headed to the Navigation Console.
"How can you tell it's your galaxy?" Jool challenged grumpily. "It looks exactly like every other frelling mass of planets and space dren I've seen."
John looked to Jool with an offended expression.
"I just know, okay? Besides, see those two clouds of blue mist over there? That's the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. And far off you see that other tiny spiraling galaxy? That's Andromeda. They're all neighbors to the Milky Way. We may have never seen the outside of our very own galaxy but we sure as hell know what our neighbors look like." John pointed out as if he were talking to a child. He impatiently turned to Pilot's image on the clamshell.
"Pilot, does that Scarran ship know we're here yet?" John asked with a twinge of nervousness playing into his stomach. "If they detect where those signals originate, I won't have a home to return to."
"I'm well aware of this, Commander. There have been no scans from the Scarran ship. We are safe...for the time being." Pilot informed him.
"Hmph. We finally go somewhere nice in this frelling universe and we can't stay. I'm hungry. Anyone care to join me?" Rygel asked, turning his throne sled to leave. Chiana smirked, and looked at the Hynerian.
"Are you afraid to eat alone, Rygel?" Chiana teased. Rygel lifted his chin.
"No. I simply would like some company...just in case we have another accident and I choke on some food cubes." Rygel replied. He then zoomed out of the room.
The rest of the crew stood in place, looking to the wondrous galaxy before them. The thought of meeting an entire planet of beings like John scared most of them. Aeryn and D'Argo had already gotten a taste of what his home planet had been like in a false simulation provided by a race called the Ancients. John had assured them that that Earth was not what his planet was really like, but they all knew, even John, that his Earth was not so forgiving. His home was probably even more unforgiving than the daily trials of life in the Uncharted Territories.
John stared at the galaxy before them and licked his lips. He had hungered for this moment for two and a half cycles. Now, his ultimate goal was just a minuscule hair out of reach. Yet, he couldn't do a single thing. If they headed for that galaxy or sent any kind of signal, Earth would be gone in an instant. The Scarrans would discover their destination and destroy them, Earth, and the entire galaxy. John shook his head. Stuck between a rock and a hard place once again.
*****
Small rays of dim light barely lit the heated chambers of the Scarran ship. The inner walls of the battle ship boasted a bronze tint, further darkening the interiors. Several large, heavily scaled bipeds marched through the corridor, armed with large weapons similar to pulse rifles. These creatures boasted elongated lizard-like faces with manes of black hair running from the tip of their heads to the small of their backs. The ugly beings thrived on heat and even emitted heat from their bodies. They had a unique sense to detect if a damned soul brought before them was lying. They were the feared Scarrans...menaces to the Charted and Uncharted Territories. The Scarrans were a rung up the ladder of predators, above even the Nebari.
A rather large Scarran in particular, with a band of red cloth draped across his chest, lead the group. He was the Commandeer of the ship. He was a well-respected Scarran among his race...with a reputation for being unforgiving. He was the deadliest of all Scarrans, earning his title with ease.
"Commandeer Ka'ru. We have detected two Leviathans...no, one Leviathan, one PeaceKeeper...hybrid...whatever it is. They are unaware of our position." An officer announced to Ka'ru as he arrived at the control deck. The control deck was the central chamber of the ship where all commands were ordered and carried out.
Ka'ru stepped up to the central console of the room. A red flashing beacon on the console accented the scarred face of Ka'ru. The Scarran inhaled deeply and then exhaled a coarse, raspy breath. This creature had fought many battles and survived.
Ka'ru turned his head slowly, looking at his officers awaiting orders. He relished the fear that hid among their young faces. He almost laughed. But Scarrans didn't prefer to laugh.
"Do nothing. We will wait to see what these imbeciles will do. Time is at our advantage. They must not suspect a thing." Ka'ru ordered. The officers nodded in agreement, sneering in the excitement of their planned future kill. The Scarrans thrived on torture and slow death.
A lone officer arrived into the central chamber. Ka'ru needn't turn to address him. His power was so great he could simply get away with doing nothing. The officer traveled around to face him. Ka'ru sensed fear in this one's eyes. He growled.
"Commandeer Ka'ru. The prisoner would like to speak to you." The officer stated. Ka'ru tilted his head and slowly turned to see his prisoner entering into the chamber. He growled once again and charged up to the prisoner.
"Scorpius." Ka'ru hissed.
"Commandeer Ka'ru." Scorpius smiled, accenting the Scarran's title.
Scorpius was indeed a prisoner of the Scarrans. They had seized his asteroid-based Gammak Base only an arn before coming upon the wormhole that had brought them all to their present location. Ka'ru despised Scorpius; the feeling was mutual. Scorpius was a hybrid...half Scarran and half Sebacean. He constantly wore a thermal suit of his own design to regulate his violent temperature fluctuations. Scarrans thrived on heat while Sebaceans suffered from heat.
Scorpius glanced at the galaxy before them out the small view screen in the chamber. The glow from this galaxy was strong enough to accent most of the interior of the room they stood in. A note of familiarity struck Scorpius. And a part of his mind told him this new place had something to do with the human, John Crichton.
"I am not your prisoner in any way you look at it. I came voluntarily." Scorpius tilted his head with a sly expression. Ka'ru sneered. He did not like Scorpius for many reasons. His devious ways were one of the best reasons to hate this creature.
"Voluntarily? Perhaps you're trying to underhand us, then." Ka'ru stated, stepping forward to stand tall above Scorpius. The few denches that separated their heights did not threaten Scorpius any more than the status of Ka'ru in the Scarran race.
"I only wish to share some valuable information with you." Scorpius stated and took a breath before commencing to circle Ka'ru. He was already delving into his manipulative state. "As you can imagine, when I discovered that you were the ones responsible for the testing of wormholes in Deca five of the asteroid field, my interest was piqued."
"How?" Ka'ru demanded Scorpius get to the point.
"There are only two beings in this entire universe who possess such impressive knowledge." Scorpius stated, his smile diminishing. He came to a stop before Ka'ru. "I am one of them."
Ka'ru grunted. He knew where this conversation was headed.
"If we possessed any of this knowledge, we would have been successful in our attempts, wouldn't we? As you have seen, our attempts have failed." Ka'ru stated with a smirk.
"Interesting." Scorpius stated and turned away. He began to walk out of the chamber and stopped. The leather tailor of his suit wavered as he turned to face Ka'ru once again. That prize-winning smile returned to his face. "I thought maybe you knew who the second one was."
Ka'ru growled and charged towards Scorpius. Scorpius did not flinch nor blink. Ka'ru came to a halt denches from Scorpius' face. Scorpius relished in the torment of his captor.
"Is it the despised human you have endlessly and unsuccessfully hunted? Did this vile creature create the wormhole that brought us here? Is he inhabiting one of those ships before us?" Ka'ru demanded answers. Scorpius only smiled.
"Officer! Take this hideous half-breed out of my sight. Allow him to relish in the thermal bay for an arn." Ka'ru ordered. An officer stalked up to Scorpius and pushed Scorpius with the weapon in his hands. Scorpius knew not to show his enemy fright or alarm. His eyes carried a threat of death to Ka'ru. The threat was mutual. Scorpius was lead away, leaving Ka'ru with even more questions.
Ka'ru turned back to look out the view screen. The Leviathan and the hybrid ship hovered like two minuscule specks against the enormous spiral galaxy before them. Ka'ru growled and hissed, thrusting a nearby officer into a panel. The officer struck electrical wiring and began to shake and cry as sparks flew into the air behind him. The crying quickly diminished as the burned victim crumbled to Ka'ru's feet. Ka'ru grinned. He was in complete control.
*****