A Constellation of Doubt

The episode opens with a slide-show of photographs taken of the crew of Moya while they were on Earth at the government sponsored waterfront mansion. Nondescript music of the sort one might hear underscoring an infomercial, or a disreputable news magazine show, is heard as a TV journalist - R. Wilson Monroe - intones the name of the person in each slide.

Monroe: Officer Aeryn Sun. (the photo of Aeryn shows her dressed in Earth clothing. As usual, she is unsmiling and guarded) General Ka D'Argo. (his wild head is slightly bowed. He looks oddly vulnerable and a bit worried) Sikozu Svala Shanti Sugaysi Shanu. (she has a big friendly smile on her face - in other words - just the opposite of what she's really like) Dominar Rygel XVI. (he's staring directly into the camera with his mouth slightly downturned and looking uncomfortable with being a specimen) Chiana. (she has on a black halter top, her lips are slightly parted and she seems to be leaning down toward her photographer) Utu Noranti Pralatong. (her picture was taken outside by the pool. She's smiling and her third eye is fluorescing magenta as she holds a small human skull made of silver against her cheek) The Pilot. (his photo was of course taken on Moya. He's peering over his Console at the photographer and looks as if he's wincing)

The scene pulls back to reveal that the photo of Pilot is on a large screen in a television studio. The set is atmospherically done in the dark tones of space is bare except for a coup0le chairs and 2 large backdrops. One shows the curve of Earth as seen from space and the other shows a big pink nebula. Both have the words ALIEN VISITATION written across them in clock letters. Monroe, a balding man in rimless glasses and a dark suit and tie, paces across the stage as he speaks with the confident clarity of a seasoned news anchorman.

Monroe: These are the first extraterrestrials known to have visited this planet. It has now been several months since they left with Commander John Crichton - (an inset photo of John slides along the bottom of the screen in front of Monroe) - aboard their ship, Moya. (a photo of Moya slides in to butt up against John's) And besides their names - (the insets of John and Moya side away) - what else do we really know about them? Precious little - except the carefully orchestrated appearances allowed by our government. Good Evening. I'm your host - R. Wilson Monroe. (the scene pulls back again and the sound of Monroe's voice takes on a tinny quality as his image continues to speak on a television screen) And tonight - we will pierce the veil of secrecy - showing you these aliens as no one has witnessed them before. This network, has come into possession of…

(as Monroe's voice trails off into the background, the scene pulls back again to reveal the TV set he is the one in John's quarters aboard Moya that Aeryn had given him for Christmas. John is sitting and watching the program intently - Rygel is with him)

Rygel: How many times are you going to watch this? (John doesn't take his eyes off the TV as he responds almost before Rygel is done asking his question)

John: (murmuring) Until I figure it out.

Rygel: I told Pilot not to let you know he'd intercepted it! (John ignores the comment)

John: They never even gave it a chance.

Rygel: Well what do you expect?

John: It's not what you expect - it's what you hope for.

Rygel: (firmly) It's a backward planet full of superstitious, xenophobic morons. Nothing makes sense if they didn't think of it first - and even then - it's simplistic drivel. (John rises, Rygel is unrepentant) Beg pardon - how rude. Are you from there? (John's heavy hand falls on the Hynerian)

John: Out. (he propels Rygel out the door)

Rygel: Wait! You can't do that!

John: My quarters. My life. My TV.

Rygel: This won't- (but he's cut off by a shower of white puffs that John tosses after him)

John: Your popcorn.

Rygel: (finishing his sentence) -bring her back you know!

John: No but it'll keep you out of my room. (he hits the door control which lowers the rather less than privacy-ensuring grate between him and Rygel. He then comms Sikozu. The scene begins to shift between him and the Kalish, who's on the Command) Si-ko-zu! Sha-nu!

Sikozu: No.

John: Nothing?

Sikozu: A reasonable interpretation of the word 'no.'

John: (slowly, impatiently) Katratzi - it's the name of a place - the place where they took Aeryn. (on the TV, is a picture of Aeryn in PK gear standing with her hands folded uncomfortably in front of her, next to a brown-haired boy of about 14 in front of a Christmas tree)

Sikozu: (annoyed) As stupid as you must think them - the Scarrans have managed to build one of the most extensive empires in the galaxy - In part - and I shall repeat this because it does not seem to sink in - by not advertising the location of their secret bases.

John: You asking the right people?

Sikozu: And who would they be?

John: Are you asking in Scarran?

Sikozu: (offended) Of course I am you eskreeta!

John: I know what that means - and I love you too.

Sikozu: Well you've earned it. Bother me one more time - and you can come down here and do this for yourself.

(John turns up the volume of the TV and the scene cuts back to "Alien Visitation")

Monroe: When we come back, we will meet Officer Aeryn Sun - rumored within many circles to be John Crichton's lover. (he pauses by a monitor that's running a tape of Aeryn. Her words cannot be heard though. And in his quarters on Moya, John takes a drink from a silver cup he has) This alien - who looks remarkably human - will reveal a side of herself that you may find disturbing.

Aeryn: (on tape) Well - I look like your people, so- (but with that come-on - Monroe cuts in)

Monroe: Please - stay with us as "Alien Visitation" continues.

The scene jumps ahead to after the commercial break. On a beige-carpeted set, 2 chairs flank a small table upon which sits a bottle of water and a couple glasses. The backdrop is an innocuous square-paned window that looks out onto nothing. Monroe, in a sport jacket and open-necked shirt, sits opposite Aeryn, who's in her black leather spacing gear.

Aeryn: (carefully) Earth - is under - no threat - from the Peacekeepers.

Monroe: But, you said- (Aeryn cuts him off - anxious to reassure and yet compelled to be truthful)

Aeryn: Look, If... If you were to make - a pact - with an enemy - then perhaps.

Monroe: So - the possibility exists that your people one day would attack?

Aeryn: (flustered) Why are you - so determined to twist this into something it's not?

Monroe: Because - Officer Sun - you are an admitted soldier in what is to us - an alien army. You look human - indistinguishable to the naked eye. How are we to know that there aren't thousands of your people roaming our planet ? Preparing our destruction?

Aeryn: Surely John Crichton has explained this to you all already.

Monroe: Well we need to hear it from you.

Aeryn: (defensive) Hear what? That Earth is sacrosanct? That your perfect isolation can somehow be restored? Is that it? Look from what I know of the Peacekeepers - and of anyone else for that matter - they couldn't care less about this planet. You're not a threat. (with a little snort) Technologically speaking - you're not even a potential - ally! So - (she takes a deep breath) - if someone wanted to enslave you - if they wanted to destroy you - could it be done? Well - quite simply - yes. (she smiles very briefly - very uncertainly)

The show cuts back to the dark set of "Alien Visitation."

Monroe: The reason you have not seen that interview before is because it was held back - after requests from both our own government and the United Nations Secretary General. Tonight - we have our first look at over 120 hours of previously unseen videotape on the aliens. Tonight - you have he chance to see portions of this material, along with comments from various experts and leaders. But first, I'm joined by the remarkable young man who was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time with - and this is always helpful - the right connections. Bobby Coleman - John Crichton's nephew. (on Moya, John's stare is unwavering as his brown-haired, adolescent relative bops onto the set, dressed completely inappropriately for his world debut in a blue button-down shirt and khaki pants. He's brought his trusty camcorder with him. Monroe is affable) Welcome Bobby.

Bobby: Good to be here.

Monroe: Tell me - how did you and that camera manage to get all this - remarkable footage?

Bobby: Well when my Uncle got back to Earth - my Mom's Uncle John's older sister - we flew down to Florida and I got to stay on for a couple of weeks with my Aunt Olivia, my Grandpa, and the aliens.

Monroe: And the aliens didn't mind you videotaping them?

Bobby: No. It was pretty cool.

Monroe: How did you find them Bobby?

Bobby: They're normal. Just like you and me.

Monroe: Normal. (he hems for a moment) Clearly - alien.

Bobby: Yeah. Some more than others.

Monroe: You spent many days in their company - did you ever feel threatened?

Bobby: No.

Monroe: Did you ever get a sense that there was a conspiracy between them?

Bobby: No way.

Monroe: So why did you and your family wait so long to make these tapes public?

Bobby: Well - we thought about it for a long time and with all these - weird accusations starting to surface, we decided that it was best, to help everyone not be afraid.

The show cuts to a tape of D'Argo sitting outside at the mansion. Bobby speaks to him from behind the camera.

D'Argo: (gently) I've seen lots of your movies. And in every film - the aliens are always evil and Earth always is victorious.

Bobby: You mean we have to learn there are good aliens? (there's a long pause)

D'Argo: No - I mean you have to learn you won't always win.

As the tape of D'Argo plays on, the scene pulls back to reveal a blond-haired man with round-rimmed glasses sitting in front of the monitor it's playing on. A banner on the screen next to his image identifies him as Dr Garrett Hamilton - anthropologist from the University of Michigan. He seems quite excited.

Hamilton: This is a watershed moment in human history! The equivalent of a huge meteor smashing Earth during dinosaur times. Will we bend under the sudden weight of it? Or respond and flourish?

"Alien Visitation" cuts to an excerpt from another tape. In this one, the camcorder is sitting on a countertop strewn with what looks like the remains of an attempt to make lunch for 6. The camera lens is focused on Aeryn, who's at the center of the mess. Bobby has edged himself into the frame.

Aeryn: You can't even fully accept us - and we're the nice aliens. You know, what about some of the next ones that come down through the wormhole? (she picks up the fruit of her labor - a half a sandwich - and takes a bite of it)

Again, the scene pulls back from the video monitor of Aeryn and Bobby. Another man, with a voice like a New York armchair philosopher, has joined the set of "Alien Visitation." His onscreen banner identifies him as: Dr Jason Fletcher, President, International Society of Sociology.

Fletcher: My biggest fear - exacerbated in part by these tapes - is that the fabric of our society may come under an assault it is not yet prepared to withstand.

The next video clip is of Sikozu. She's sitting in the library of the mansion with a book on her lap and many more heaped around her.

Sikozu: (with her usual preachy arrogance) The political complications that may arise from a simple wormhole floating in your atmosphere will devastate a planet that is still in the throes of intraspecies chaos!

The scene pulls back to reveal another expert - Dr Edith Anderson - Psychologist & Author of "What Makes Us Tick: A Study Of Evil." She's a conservatively dressed middle-aged woman with a slightly snobbish air and a manner as arrogantly sure of herself as Sikozu's.

Anderson: I'm particularly concerned with the effects of another alien visitation on society in general. Since they've left, there's been a 700% increase in panic and anxiety attacks.

She is replaced by a clip of Rygel. He's sitting at a table and looking like the fall of the Roman Empire with food coating the tabletop and smeared all his hands and face. There's still a big piece of pie with whipped cream on it front of him.

Rygel: If Earth is remembered at all, it will most likely be for the quality - of its manual labor. (yeah well at least we eat with FORKS)

The show cuts back to Monroe in front of the backdrop of Earth on the set of "Alien Visitation."

Monroe: In culling through the staggering amount of candid material recorded on young Bobby Coleman's tapes - there was one alien visitor in particular who never failed to elicit extreme curiosity among staffers here at the network. General Ka D'Argo.

Roll footage of D'Argo being interviewed by Bobby in Lo'La. The little ship hums and lights wink in its dark cabin as it growls "Power systems, at your command Ka D'Argo."

Bobby: (deeply impressed) Your ship is so cool! (the picture rolls wildly as Bobby swings the camera around the small cockpit, trying to take it all in)

D'Argo: (softly, patiently) It's a weapon.

Bobby: (enthusiastically - he knows) Ye-ah! (D'Argo again tries to inject some reality into the boys awe)

D'Argo: It kills people.

Bobby: Whoa - like monsters and stuff?

D'Argo: (pensively) Yeah sometimes, but sometimes just ah - kills those who are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Bobby: (crass) You said you'd show me what it could do. (there's a long pause as D'Argo sighs, and then reaches for the camcorder)

D'Argo: Alright. Give me that. Come on.

Bobby: You know how to work it? (the picture swings wildly about before refocusing on Bobby)

D'Argo: Look I've flown this through a wormhole. I'm sure I'll be able to work it out. (Lo'La gruffs: "Telemetry functions - at your command." - and the targeting visor lowers. Bobby peers into it)

Bobby: So I look through this and what am I gonna... (he trails off as he watches a scene unfold through the visor)

D'Argo: It's a recording captured through my targeting array.

Bobby: Whoa... (he's unable to grasp what he's seeing) It's just that... (he grunts a little with confusion) it just - disappeared.

D'Argo: It's a rogue Leviathan. It tried to kill us and we had to destroy it. (Bobby is subdued by the horrific x-ray vaporization of the giant Leviathan. He looks at D'Argo)

Bobby: Could you - I mean - could we - stop you if you tried to attack us?

D'Argo: With your current defenses? No.

Cut to the set of "Alien Visitation" where a robust older man identified as retired Major General Stephen Walcott of the USMC, and Anderson, the psychologist, are holding forth)

Walcott: The most frightening aspect of this Pandora's box we've opened - is he may be right. (he harrumphs a bit) From what I've heard, his ship has our best and brightest utterly perplexed.

Anderson: (very stuffy) By indicating that our current defenses could not contain him - General D'Argo is performing an act of psychological terror.

Dr Andersons voice is lost in high-speed chatter as back on Moya, John hits the fast-forward button on his remote. D'Argo silently appears in the doorway behind him and looks in through the door grate while John skips to the point where the clip of Bobby and D'Argo in Lo'La picks up, in it, D'Argo is pensive and clearly troubled.

D'Argo: Yeah I think it's time. We're leaving now.

Bobby: (bluntly) You're leaving? Why?

D'Argo: Well because there are some people here - some very powerful people - who don't appreciate what we're doing.

Bobby: They're kicking you out.

D'Argo: No. But they're making it - very difficult for us to continue down here. (John hits the fast-forward button again) It might be a bit dramatic for one Luxan, but ah - I can do enough damage to your world to change it forever.

(that's it - on Moya, D'Argo opens the door of John's cell and strides over to the TV. John shuts his eyes and rests his forehead on the remote)

D'Argo: You know you really - shouldn't be watching this. Here's a tape you brought back from Earth. (he whips the "Alien Visitation" tape and inserts one of a football game. The crowd cheers wildly as the ball sails for a touchdown)

John: (bored) State wins. No big plays. Put mine back in. (he rises and begins to head for the TV)

D'Argo: Katratzi. (John stops and looks sharply back at the Luxan)

John: (hopeful) What?

D'Argo: (regretfully) We can't find it. Pilot searched every frequency, every- (John cuts him off)

John: (rubbing his forehead) No - the Scarrans have Aeryn in a box D'Argo.

D'Argo: I know.

John: (fretfully pensive) Katratzi... Katratzi - why do I know that name?

D'Argo: Sikozu heard the Scarrans say it as they were arresting Commandant Grayza- (but John cuts him off again)

John: (terse) No. From before. You know it too.

D'Argo: You're confused.

John: No - I'm not. Why do I know that name?

D'Argo: (sharply impatient) No! You're not getting enough sleep and you're watching too much of this! (there's a long pause)

John: T hey hate you guys. (there's another long pause before D'Argo responds, softly, sounding hurt, as if he doesn't understand why John said that)

D'Argo: Well I liked it there.

John: You see the show?

D'Argo: No.

John: You should. It's educational. They're not ready.

D'Argo: (his voice sounds a bit husky as he changes the subject back to the issue at hand) We should move on. Inquire at nearby planets.

John: No. Nonono. They won't know. (he waves his hands to ward off any reply D'Argo might be thinking of making) I know! No- I know! I know! I know! Just - put my tape back in.

(D'Argo resignedly complies and the scene shifts back to "Alien Visitation." John's brunette younger sister, Olivia, is on the set as a commentator)

Olivia: The change in John is - he's even more thoughtful than he was. He studies everything keenly before deciding what to do.

The show segues to one of Bobby's home interviews. He's pointing his camcorder at his own face.

Bobby: I'm here with I-IASA Commander John Crichton - the first and only human to boldly go where no man has gone before. (he turns the camera on John, who's sitting on the staircase in his fathers home and looking at a photo album. He clearly has no interest in his young relatives journalistic efforts. Wind chimes tone gently from nearby) You spent over 3 years in deepest, darkest space battling aliens and evil races. (John rubs his forehead and propping his elbow on a stair tread, rests his head on his hand) What was the worst part?

John: The worst part? Ummm... (he looks at Bobby for the first time) Was the complete and utter lack of toilet paper. (we bet they have a slug for that) Seriously? (he holds up an old photo of his Mother) Missing family. (he turns back to the photo album and carefully tucks the picture back in)

Bobby: When you got back - what was the most different about Earth?

John: Nothing Bobby. Earth's pretty much the same.

Bobby: Are you different? (on Moya, John stares intently at the TV screen, awaiting his own reply)

John: Yeah. I'm different.

Bobby: How?

John: (thoughtfully) Well - things that used to bother me don't bother me that much anymore. The world seems smaller. And, I keep waiting for something to happen and I have to remind myself when it doesn't happen - that that's normal.

"Alien Visitation" cuts back to its stuffy resident expert in psychology.

Anderson: Post-traumatic shock syndrome. It's hard to tell without examining him - but from this little snippet of tape, I'm most concerned about his constantly waiting for something to happen. This suggests he's been under enormous and continuous stress.

(cut to Moya's Command. Sikozu is sitting and tapping one foot softly. She looks very much like someone who's just waiting for something to happen... Chiana is passing by and pauses as she catches sight of the idle Kalish)

Chiana: (sharply) You're supposed to be checking for this place that they've taken Aeryn!

Sikozu: (bored) No one has heard of it.

Chiana: Well Crichton still thinks that you're checking.

Sikozu: He needs to keep believing that. I've been done for arns. Pilot has double checked - no one has heard of it - no one!

Chiana: Well they must be lying.

Sikozu: (wearily) No Chiana - they're not lying.

Chiana: How can you tell if they're not lying? (she comes striding into the room) You can't tell when I'm lying!

Sikozu: Yes we can. We all can.

Chiana: (challenging) How?

Sikozu: (tired of the Nebari) You open your mouth and words come out of it. (Chiana glares at her for a moment, and then grabs her and hustles her toward the communications console)

Chiana: Don't - you lie to Crichton.

Sikozu: (quietly resistive) All right Chiana...

Chiana: Keep checking!

Sikozu: (fed-up) Alright - I'm done! You try! (she pulls away from Chiana and stalks off, leaving the Nebari looking shaken)

(cut back to the "Alien Visitation" video playing on John's TV. Noranti is in the bright, well-appointed kitchen of the mansion. She's standing at a kitchen island with a small sink in it. There's a whole set of little crystal dishes lined up on the counter and she's in the process of concocting something. She's taking the unusual (for her) hygienic precaution of tying her grizzled mass of hair back)

Bobby: Whatchya doin'?

Noranti: Making rat poison.

Bobby: Gonna kill a few?

Noranti: On the contrary - the rats asked me to make this so that they can kill some humans.

Bobby: (sarcastically) Ha-ha. (the old woman casts him a mischievous smile)

Noranti: Every planet has its indigenous potions just waiting to be blended and discovered. I'm playing.

Bobby: What did you think of South America? (John is pacing the floor on Moya as he watches the video)

Noranti: Oh! Very verdant - green. No green people, though - now that's a shame.

Bobby: I heard a lot of people got freaked out about your third eye.

Noranti: Well er- (she stammers uncomfortably) something about uh - witchcraft. They were very fearful. (reassuring, as she hurriedly turns back to her 'playing') Rygel's going down to sort it all out.

The video cuts back to the set of "Alien Visitation" for the commentary of the anthropologist.

Hamilton: I was in South America when she came through. Many of the miracles she's credited with have yet to unravel under scrutiny.

His image is replaced by that of a man whose face is obscured by shadow. He's identified only as a "High Level Administrative Source, Intelligence Community.")

MrX: (not sounding terribly certain) We're fairly certain we know how she - cured - the - blind boy in Brazil.

Hamilton: (excitably) Why is it so hard for us to believe that someone from another planet can do things that we find extraordinary? Isn't she herself extraordinary just - by being here?

Cut back to Bobby's video.

Noranti: I like - that you're always striving to reach higher - hoping for a better tomorrow! It's the quality that first attracted me to your Uncle.

Bobby: That humans dream?

Noranti: Yes! You're so ignorant! Nut you never give up! Even in the face of insurmountable odds!

Cut to the "Alien Visitation: set for a word from the passionate sociologist.

Fletcher: Listen to what she's saying about us - Humans - never - give up. Now - for that to become impressed upon an alien mind - this simple fact that we would tend to take for granted ourselves, becomes validation that we eventually will fit in. Never - give up!

Cut back to Bobby's video.

Noranti: Ooh! If you like - I can mix you something to help your voice drop.

Bobby : No-o thanks.

Noranti: Watch out for the rats. They go for the young ones first. (she bustles off)

Cut to the "Alien Visitation" set for pithy observations from John's sister, who can't seem to stop shaking her head.

Olivia: She's actually really spiritual. You... You should hear her stories about religions of all the worlds she's visited. Really - an eye opener. So much cruelty and so much kindness.

Cut to another of Bobby's video clips with Noranti. The Traskan is sitting at a table on the patio. Arrayed in front of her are several arcane objects of Earthly religious and/or spiritual significance.

Noranti: What constitutes a good religion?

Bobby: Respect for life. (Noranti grunts noncommittally - and waits) Do unto others.

Noranti: Mm-hm. (there's a pause, Bobby seems to have exhausted his gleanings from Sunday School, so Noranti prompts him) Belief in a higher being?

Bobby: Of course.

Noranti: Hmph. Hypocrite!

Bobby: (taken aback) Me? Or - everyone?

Noranti: Well your religions justify killing and all forms of atrocious behavior. (she picks up a crucifix as evidence of this and shakes her head)

Bobby: Yeah. That's hard to deal with.

Cut briefly to the sociologist on the set of "Alien Visitation" as the clip of Noranti plays on behind him. He seems as agitated as she does.

Fletcher: Miss Noranti is not wrong that we have a history and culture of killing that we continually attempt to wallpaper with justifications and platitudes. I see nothing wrong with what she's saying.

Cut back to Bobby's video.

Noranti: (businesslike) See - killing is often a part of life. What's hypocritical is to condemn and then make allowances when the situation suits.

Bobby: (dubious) So... it's okay to kill?

Noranti: Absolutely. Sometimes you must.

Bobby: You in some kind of cult? Like a witch or something?

Noranti: Not at the moment.

Cut back to the set of "Alien Visitation" where a couple of religious stereotypes - WE MEAN EXPERTS - are at it. The first is a snowy-haired gentleman with tinted glasses who's identified as Reverend Nathan Buckley, National Religious Leader.

RBuckley: (shaking his head) If her religion justifies killing then she's not someone I want telling us what to believe.

Next is a plump, shaven-headed, saffron-robed fellow who has an Indian accent. His onscreen banner reads: Ivan Chanderpaul, Federation of American Buddhists.

Chanderpaul: There is never an occasion when murder is allowable. Life is the font of all that we hold with respect.

Then comes General Harwell Zawicki, United Nations Space Command. He's in uniform, has an American Southern accent and a stern demeanor.

Zawicki: After she's had to kill somebody, then I'll accept her pronouncements. (he must be representing secular humanism)

Cut back to Bobby's video of Noranti as the old woman reaches for a deck of Tarot cards on the table in front of her.

Bobby: Do religions hate each other where you come from?

Noranti: (archly) Oh! Good heavens, no! Religions are grand, lofty ideals. Religious followers - now that's a different story.

Bobby: Wars?

Noranti: (quietly, with a shake of her head) Unspeakable.

Bobby: So we're not so different.

Noranti: Hmph. That's nothing to be proud of.

Cut back to the "Alien Visitation: set where another new pundit has taken the stage. She's a young blonde woman whose dress is conservative to the point of being dowdy. She's Dr. Jayne O'Connor, Criminal Psychologist - Duke University and she has a thick Australian accent and has that sort of hair-trigger anxiousness about her that burnt-out cops get.

O'Connor: This is a dangerous woman! She effortlessly twists simple logic into something that is almost believable until you look deeper and it unravels. Not the kind of personality you would want running around unchecked.

The program cuts back to Monroe.

Monroe: Sometimes it's hard to remember that just a few short months ago-

He's cut off by the fast forward button of John's remote as our hero skips ahead to another clip of Monroe interviewing Aeryn.

Aeryn: Well what you have to understand is while cultures and civilizations may vary wildly from socially primitive to hyper-mechanized - there is still a uniformity in the way that people conduct their lives.

Monroe: You're saying wherever you go in the Universe - we're all the same?

Aeryn: Essentially - yes. In that way - Earth is no different from other planets.

Monroe: Other species, from different worlds - do they have relationships? Marriage? Children?

Aeryn: Most definitely. There are limits. The genetic patterns would have to support such a union.

Monroe: And could a Sebacean, such as yourself, procreate with a human male? (Aeryn hesitates at this question. She seems reluctant, and unsure of how to answer. John rewinds the tape and Monroe's repeats his question) And could a Sebacean such as yourself procreate with a human male? (John watches the image of Aeryn as she sits there, speechless, her lips parted. She seems to start to say something once or twice but lets it go each time. Monroe leans toward her, sensing vulnerability) Officer Sun?

At that moment - John experiences a fugue moment during which the image of Aeryn turns to look at him and says: "I believe Katratzi to be some sort of base. Highly guarded." John blinks, and hit the rewind button again. On the video Monroe leans toward Aeryn.

Monroe: Officer Sun? (and with a shake of her head, to clear it, Aeryn snaps out of her own fugue)

Aeryn: Ah...uh... Yes I was just thinking. Well - there's no way to be sure at this point. However our physiologies do appear to be very similar.

Monroe: Remarkably so in fact.

The show cuts back to Monroe standing alone in front of the ALIEN VISITATION backdrop.

Monroe: Was Officer Suns hesitation at my question an honest moment of introspection? (ominously) Or was it something more? These are now the issues we grapple with. How much to trust? How open do we allow ourselves to become? Do we view an alien commingling of our gene pool as a favorable step towards integration into a larger community? Or as a threat? (on Moya, John takes all this in silently and "Alien Visitation" cuts back to the commentators who weigh in the subject)

Chanderpaul: (the Buddhist is positively glowing) Well one can only hope - that a union between those of Earth and elsewhere is possible. Such marriages will foster bonds of family and generate trust between disparate peoples.

Anderson: (the psychologist is less sure) If you thought children of race-mixed parents took abuse at the hands of other children, wait until one is born with tentacles.

Olivia: Seriously now - what is the big deal? Firstly - I do not believe Aeryn's pregnant with John's baby and secondly - if she was... (she shrugs and smiles vacantly)

The show cuts to another of Bobby's tapes. This one stars John and Olivia as they talk in the maintenance bay aboard Moya. Bobby has snuck up on them and is filming them surreptitiously - his coverage picks up mid-conversation.

Bobby: (a murmured comment) Am I going to get in trouble for taping this.

John: Well not of the physical kind. No.

Olivia: You gonna be okay?

John: Yeah I'm gonna be fine. I'm just never gonna be the same.

Olivia: (knowingly) Aeryn.

John: Stop that.

Olivia: (gleeful) Remember when you tried to hide that crush on-

John: Stop it.

Olivia: Jill - what was her name?

John: (sharply) Stop it! (quieter) Steiner. Her name was Steiner. What's my tell?

Olivia: Your lips. When you see Aeryn, they soften just a bit.

John: She has a word for us- it's called 'yesterday'.

Olivia: (sarcastic) Yeah. Right.

John: She have a tell?

Olivia: Yeah.

John: What is it?

Olivia: Her eyes. She's waiting for you.

John: (very quietly) Can we talk about something else? Politics?

On Moya, John has had to get up and pace during this exchange. He's moved away from the TV - but not far enough to be out of earshot. He's leaning on the open latticework of his cell door as Chiana appears in the corridor outside and, glancing at the TV, reaches through the door and takes John's hand.

"Alien Visitation" has cut to commentary from the enthusiastic anthropologist.

Hamilton: I for one like the idea that we're not alone. So why not go all the way? Become part of the cultural fabric of the new world in which we'll live? If they're in love - they're in love!

(as he spreads his hands and shrugs, the scene cut to Moya where John takes up his present concern with Chiana)

John: You know this word - Katratzi.

Chiana: No.

John: That wasn't a question. You heard it - with me.

Chiana: Only from Sikozu.

John: No - with me.

Chiana: (denying) No.

(cut back to "Alien Visitation" where a tape of Aeryn bringing an armload of Christmas presents to the Crichton home is playing)

Olivia: That's so sweet - you didn't have to.

Aeryn: Under the tree?

Olivia: Yeah - absolutely.

Aeryn: (as she bends to put the gifts down) Hi Bobby.

Bobby: Is there one for me?

Olivia: (reproachfully) Bobby...

Aeryn: (quickly) No no - actually - um - yours is so big that it wouldn't fit under the tree.

Bobby: Cool. Cos I got you one too.

(cut back to Chiana and John on Moya as the video plays on in the background)

Chiana: (quietly) When do you give up?

John: I don't.

Chiana: Well you got to give up sometime.

John: No I don't.

(cut back to the Christmas tree scene running on "Alien Visitation")

Bobby: Hey Aunt Olivia - can you shoot me and Aeryn together? (Olivia grins and mugs for the camera as she gets up)

Olivia: Actually - I was just thinking about shooting you. (the taped image jostles about as the camcorder changes hands and refocuses on Aeryn, standing stiff and demure - next to Bobby and the Christmas tree)

Bobby: I'm like - the coolest kid in school 'cos of you guys.

Aeryn: Oh I'm sure you were pretty cool before.

Olivia: Okay I was about to make some...

(her voice is lost as the scene shifts back to Chiana and John on Moya)

Chiana: Well where do we find her?

John: We find her.

Chiana: You could go back to Earth.

John: Not without Aeryn.

(cut back to Bobby's recording. Aeryn takes a seat on the sofa, and he props up the camera on a coffee table so he can sit - very close - next to her. The camera is focused on her hands - which she uses to punctuate her words - and as she speaks, he rises to adjust it so it captures her face)

Aeryn: When you're born into military service the way I was - it's deemed best to not have any ties to anyone but your unit.

Bobby: No brothers or sisters? Aunts or Uncles

Aeryn: No.

Bobby: Didn't you miss that?

Aeryn: Only once I was exposed to it.

(cut briefly to Chiana and John as they watch the video)

Chiana: They don't like her there. They don't like any of us. (John silently tilts his head at her as Monroe talks on the video saying: "The footage you're about to see is simply intended as...")

John: (gently denying Chiana's observation) You watch too much TV. (they listlessly watch Monroe on the video as he finishes his sentence: "...fuel the discussions that will ultimately decide the direction we take as a species. I'll be back shortly. Please enjoy.") Bet this sonuvabitch wins an Emmy.

(and with that - cut back to - "Alien Visitation")

Monroe: Amidst all the readily identifiable dissimilarities between our human race and the alien visitors we've been learning about - occasionally on these startling videotapes - we come upon a moment that seemingly unites us in spirit across endless chasms of space.

The show cuts to one of Bobby's videotapes. In this one - he finds Chiana kneeling amongst the tall garden plants at the waterside mansion. She's wearing jeans, a red top and a jogging jacket and is whispering to a small brown something that she's cradling to her bosom.

Chiana: (tenderly, sorrowful) It's okay. It's okay. (she draws a shaky breath) It's okay...

Bobby: Is that a dead rat? (Chiana looks up and nods barely)

Chiana: He was my friend. (she looks back at the lifeless body of the little brown guy) W-w-we were just playin'. (her words deteriorate into a traumatized hum fro a moment before she can go on) He just stopped outside the kitchen to eat something and just... (she trails off, unable to continue. Instead, she hugs her late little friend close in a protective gesture and kisses his sweet little head as she whispers) It's okay...

The show cuts to Olivia's brilliant observations.

Olivia: The more time you spend with Chiana - and the others? The more you realize, with incredible joy and relief - that we've not that dissimilar.

The show cuts to a clip of D'Argo. He's standing at the railing of a veranda at the mansion on Earth and looking out over the waterway outside.

Bobby: What are you doing?

D'Argo: (patiently) I am - absorbing - beauty.

Bobby: You like Earth?

D'Argo: I didn't think I did at first - but I'm. uh - beginning to realize it's one of the better places I've visited. It reminds me of my own planet about 10,000 cycles ago. It was meant to be undisciplined and adventurous.

Cut to the commentary of the sociologist, who seems very pleased as he hears what he wants to hear.

Fletcher: Imagine - think of how we view ourselves. A sophisticated culture - growing, evolving. Then look how he view us - undisciplined and adventurous. As time goes on I predict we'll be forced to realign every concept by which we judge ourselves.

Cut back to Bobby's video of D'Argo on the veranda.

Bobby: They say you're a great warrior.

D'Argo: That's an accident of birth. There are better things to do with your life.

Bobby: Ever kill anyone with your tongue? (D'Argo turns and begins to pace toward Bobby, who retreats with his camera until the Luxan has backed him back into the mansion)

D'Argo: (softly, patiently, but also impatient with the boys apparent fascination with violence) Bobby - my tongue contains adaptive venom. The victim takes in only enough to lose consciousness. No one dies.

Bobby: (boldly) Can I see it?

D'Argo: No.

"Alien Visitation" segues to another expert, Dr Adrian Walker - Xenobiologist. An intense middle-aged fellow who must normally have a very boring job here on Earth, but who's so thrilled now that he can't remember the aliens name.

Walker: Look - you see only differences - tentacles, a tongue with venom - everything about him screams alien. Now - close your eyes. Listen. General Kar D'Argo could easily be you - or me.

Cut back to Bobby's video with D'Argo. They're still on the veranda and the wind is gusting.

Bobby: I thought you were great on Letterman. (D'Argo adjusts his belt uncomfortably and then leans against the railing. trying to look nonchalant)

D'Argo: Yeah thanks. Um... Yeah I thought everyone was laughing with me. So... (eh. Shoulda done Leno. The slip is cut off as the show segues back to Monroe in front of the ALIEN VISITATION backdrop)

Monroe: For every instant when we may be lulled into accepting these alien visitors as perhaps nothing more than peculiar looking versions of people we know here on Earth - there comes another moment on these startling videotapes that seemingly shatters any illusion of potential coexistence.

The show cuts to a clip of D'Argo being pursued down the corridors of Moya by the relentless young would-be cameraman/journalist - Bobby.

Bobby: Please!

D'Argo: No.

Bobby Why not?

D'Argo: For the same reasons that I've been saying to you ad nauseam. (he stops and turns to face Bobby and his camcorder) Why is it so important?

Bobby: Because I like stuff like that. It's cool. Tell me it's not cool.

D'Argo: It's cool. (muttering) Cool... (he's clearly very conflicted about this) All right. Now you promise not to tell anyone?

Bobby: I promise.

D'Argo: Okay. All right turn the camera off.

Bobby: Okay. (lying - as he tucks the camera under his arm so it's pointing up at D'Argo) It's off.

D'Argo: All right - you ready? (and with that - his whip-like tongue shoots out and stings Bobby. The boys reaction is heard as a gentle thud and seen as Moya's deck suddenly becoming perpendicular. Only D'Argo's feet are visible. He taps one toe for a moment - and then his feet are seen retreating down the corridor as he calls) Uh... Uh - Noranti! Could you get down here?

The clip replays on a monitor as the show segues back to the psychologist and the Buddhist.

Anderson: (sounding offended by the whole thing in that way that only the utterly humorless can) I would have to say that we need to prevent these sorts of encounters from happening outside a research facility.

Chanderpaul: (the laid-back exponent of social Darwinism) Every experience is a learning experience. The boy did not die - he is wiser.

Anderson: The aliens cannot have the run of our planet until we know more about their psychology.

The show cuts to the next clip. It is of Chiana. She's in one of the lavish bathrooms of the waterfront mansion, wearing nothing but a charcoal-grey bath towel and experimenting with make-up. She has dabs of it smeared all over her face and shoulders and she's perplexed. A conversation is already in progress as she holds up a lipstick for Bobby and his camera.

Chiana: What is this - for?

Bobby: Um - your lips. I ask because my Grandfather says you're a great bellwether on who we are as a species. (Chiana eats the lipstick)

Chiana: (absently) Bull-weather. (she doesn't give a rats about withers of any kind) Do males- Do males put these on their faces?

Bobby: Uh - in my family? Only a second cousin no one talks about.

Chiana: Waste. (she wipes the lipstick on her hand off on her hair)

Bobby: Make-up?

Chiana: Why...? Why are there so many colors? (Bobby pans his camcorder down on the mess of eye shadows, lipsticks and such strewn about on the vanity in front of the Nebari)

The show cuts back to its commentators, starting with the Buddhist, who don't know Chiana very well.

Chanderpaul: One must look past the physical and see the spiritual side. She condemns materialism and waste - a highly evolved outlook.

The next talking head is a tousle-haired fellow by the name of Dr. Edmund Johnston. His title banner says he's a Professor of Cognitive Behaviorism at Stanford University.

Johnston: Remembering for a moment her otherworldly origins, Chiana's perspective is consistent, well-thought-out and, in my view - correct.

Cut back to the clip of Chiana in the bathroom as she walks into the business area of the facilities.

Chiana: I've seen water rooms like this! (she laughs with triumphant glee at her own sophistication) That have- that have 2 toilets, 2 showers, a sink and a tub. A bubbling tub. Bubbling... (on Moya, Chiana and Rygel are sitting and watching the video. Chiana looks as if she regrets this whole scene as the video image of herself babbles on) How many places do you need water to come from? You can wash up in the toilet! (she proceeds to squat down by the bowl and scoop up handfuls of water from it)

Bobby: (horrified) Aww no way!

Chiana: See? It's clean. (Bobby shudders - we think Chiana's just lost her sex appeal for the kid. He groans with revulsion - and brings the camera closer to her and the loo. She pauses and looks up at him, suddenly tense, perhaps sensing her faux-pas, but not quite grasping the breadth of it) What are you looking at?

Cut to the "Alien Visitation" Set where commentary on the Great Earth Taboo Of Washing Ones Face In The Toidy is being hashed over.

Anderson: What we're seeing is a very young, disturbed alien girl.

Hamilton: Clearly a passionate, though troubled young lady.

The psychologist and anthropologist are now joined by a Catholic Bishop - Mervyn Vosko, who oddly missed the religious part of the show but got called in for the biffy discussion.

Vosko: This young woman should not be allowed near any impressionable child. She is clearly dangerous, troubled and a bad influence.

(as Dr Anderson begins to issue another gem of whizdumb, the scene shifts back to Moya where Chiana hits the OFF button on the remote)

Rygel: (very depressed) I'm sick of this popcorn. I'm sick of those humans.

Chiana: I just feel sorry for Crichton. Noranti gave me this stuffs that'll help him sleep. You think I should go find him?

Rygel: No. Give it to me.

Chiana: Okay. Ready? (she blows some of Noranti's dust into Rygel's face and the Hynerian sighs peacefully)

Rygel: Feel sorry for Aeryn. He'll get over it. (they sit there, looking glum. Chiana absently scratches the back of Rygel's neck as she stares into space)

Chiana: I don't think he will, Ryg. You know, no matter how long it takes, I don't think he'll lose hope.

Cut briefly to John. he's sitting alone somewhere on Moya, deep in thought. He flashes on the TV image of Aeryn turning to him and saying: "I believe Katratzi to be some sort of base. Highly guarded. They wouldn't have taken Grayza anywhere less secure."

(cut back to "Alien Visitation" where another of Bobby's home movies is running. This one features Rygel. He's planted in front of a TV at the waterfront mansion amid bowls and platters of junk food. A football game is on)

Bobby: Who's winning?

Rygel: Me!

Bobby: I mean the game.

Rygel: Who cares? (Bobby pans around to get a record for posterity of the Hynerians gluttony)

Bobby: You sure got yourself a lot of junk food.

Rygel: Too bad! Get your own.

Bobby: What do you like best on Earth?

Rygel: Sugar! Anything with sugar.

Bobby: Don't you have sugar where you come from?

Rygel: Yes - but it's used as a poison. Here you can get it everywhere! (he cackles gleefully)

Bobby: What else do you like?

Rygel: Ahh - grease, fat... Love these things. (Bobby's wobbly camera struggles to focus on a plate that's sitting in front the Hynerian. It has enough carbs on it to fuel the New York City Marathon)

Cut to a brief observation by the sociologist, who is amused.

Fletcher: I know you'll think I'm joking, but he seems to understand our culture better than we're willing to admit. As an outsider, his views are a prismatic tool for us to perhaps - examine ourselves.

Cut back to Bobby's film.

Bobby: So all in all, you could live here.

Rygel: As long as I get to keep my slaves.

Bobby: They're servants. They get paid. You don't own them.

Rygel: What? You're kidding - they come running when I call.

Bobby: The government wants you to feel at home.

Rygel: Then give - me - slaves! (Bobby wisely decides to let it go)

Bobby: Okay besides eating - what's your favorite thing to do?

Rygel: (with an enthusiastic grunt) Gamble! You can do it over the phone. (confidentially) You can call females, too - 1-900-SLUT GIRL.

The show cuts to another guest expert. She's a plump young woman with an unruly mass of wavy brown hair and frighteningly over-plucked eyebrows - Alana Lichtenstein, Outside Counsel, Immigration and Naturalization Service

Lichtenstein: I was privileged to have interviewed the Dominar during his visit. Despite what I'm sure many viewers are thinking, this is the ruler of over 600,000,000,000 subjects. He must be doing something right.

Cut to Monroe.

Monroe: A little known fact about this, the biggest story of the new millennium. There is at least one person who makes a credible claim that our alien visitors have been here before. In 1985 to be exact - mere months before the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster. (as he speaks, a monitor shows a photo of the hapless Sheriff of John's hometown who was last seen half-mad and hugging the Halloween pumpkin Rygel had carved to look like Scorpius during the crews little time-travel mishap) We welcome Robert Shelmacher - former Sheriff of Orlando. (the show cuts to a previously recorded "interview." Monroe and Schelmacher are sitting opposite each other on the "Alien Visitation" set)

Schelmacher: Still Sheriff. Always Sheriff. No alien's gonna run me off my job.

Monroe: Okay - Sheriff. Suppose you start by telling us what happened down in Florida back in 1985.

Schelmacher: They were here. All of 'em. (Monroe grunts thoughtfully, encouraging the poor guy to continue) Ears. Tentacles. Cher.

Monroe: Cher?

Schelmacher: Cher. And this one. (he reaches down and picks up a gourd that he's brought with him. It's grown with a pair of brushy, earbrow-like leaves and a couple dimples near its top that cause it to resemble Rygel's head - to the traumatized former Sheriff anyway) Their leader.

Monroe: (to the camera) We're all aware of the troubled among us. Attention seekers and outright criminals who have attempted to fabricate stories and cash in on this -alien visitation. In the Sheriffs defense - way back in 1985 - he filed a report with the FBI giving what we now realize are fairly accurate descriptions of General D'Argo, Noranti, Officer Sun and Dominar Rygel. The files remain sealed - and no one in government will speak of their contents on the record. (to his guest) Can you tell us what you remember of that time Sheriff?

Schelmacher: First they kidnapped our astronaut - the young Crichton. Then they sabotaged our space shuttle program. They set it back. They grounded us. Next came the truly most insidious part - and that was installing tiny microchips in each of our brains. Oh - (he produces another show-and-tell item, a baseball cap lined with tin foil) But that keeps the signals out. (Monroe looks a bit uncomfortable)

Monroe: And uh - what do you think the signals are telling us?

Schelmacher: (significantly) Eat - fatty - foods. (he indicates the Rygel-gourd on his lap. Monroe looks like he'd like to crawl under his chair) You see this puny little alien talking about fat. That's our downfall.

Monroe: (quietly) In what way Sheriff?

Schelmacher: Come on man - catch on to this! We get fat, we can't move, they defeat us. It's that easy to take over a world!

Monroe: You've spent a portion of the last 18 years in an institution, have you not?

Schelmacher: Well most of it - so what? I saw them. They were here. And I know their plan. But look at me - (he rises, and tucking his Rygel-gourd under one arm, pulls his jacket off his other shoulder to display his svelte figure) Lean! Undefeatable!

Monroe: Yes now... (he turns to the camera) Whatever you believe, there is credible evidence that we-

Schelmacher: (interjecting loudly) Vegetables!

Monroe: We have been visited by there same aliens-

Schelmacher: Fruit!

Monroe: -in the past.

Schelmacher: (a bit desperate) No saturated fat!

Monroe: The task will now be to find out why. (murmuring, aside) Thank you Sheriff. (and back to camera) There's more. We'll be back.

After the commercial break, "Alien Visitation" resumes with more of Bobby's footage. This one is also from the mansion - Chiana is wearing a sexy little black dress with a keyhole front. She's bopping happily about to a mild electronic disco beat.

Chiana: You wanna dance?

Bobby: I'm not very good.

Chiana: Oh come on! (her dancing looks more like bouncy aerobic exercise and indeed, she's panting heavily as she jumps and mimes steering a car) And drivin'. And drivin'! And reverse! Reverse! (she laughs, and continues to jump as she talks) Bobby - what do you think of sex?

Bobby: (startled) Uh - what?

Chiana: Sex!

Bobby: Why are you asking me?

Chiana: Oh just curious.

Bobby: I - haven't had it yet. (Chiana stops bouncing)

Chiana: What!? You haven't had it? Are you serious? How old are you?

Bobby: 13.

Chiana: 13. Well what are you waiting for?

Bobby: (dryly) It's ah - against the law.

Chiana: To have sex?

Bobby: At 13. (the concept blows Chiana's mind)

Chiana: Well that's frelled. Who cares when you have it?

Bobby: My Mom. (Chiana looks thoughtful as she begins slowly to dance again)

Chiana: (almost a whisper) So why are all the little girls - wearing all those clothes?

Bobby: Because they see it on the TV - and in the magazines.

Chiana: (slyly) But somebody - sold them the clothes. So somebody - wants them to have sex.

Bobby: (surprised) I never thought of it like that. (Chiana laughs and begins to jump again)

"Alien Visitation" cuts to its panel of experts.

Chanderpaul: (looking like a laughing Buddha) Oh-ho! There is an innocence about her that is wonderfully contagious! (the Catholic is less enchanted)

Vosko: Outrageous and disgusting. The boy is only 13. Is that what we want our youth exposed to?

Olivia: Oh puh-leeze! Don't make more out of that than is there. She was not coming on to Bobby. (and from denial, we move on to the apathy of the xenobiologist)

Walker: I'm not a psychologist, but that's rather innocent - hm? I mean you get more juice from "Dawson's Creek."

Cut to another of Bobby's film clips. In this one he's aboard Moya in the maintenance bay. He sets his camcorder down so it takes in a long view of the large room - and then steps in front of it.

Bobby: Okay It's working. What did you want to show me? (Sikozu is heard, but not seen)

Sikozu: Curiosity causes you to look in unexpected places and find unexpected rewards. (her hand appears for a split second out of the rafters and tosses him a comm) Have a go. (Bobby fiddles with it)

Bobby: Uh - Uncle John? Commander John Crichton?

John: (on comm) Bobby - what the hell are you doing with the comms?

Bobby: Uh - Sikozu let me try it. (as he speaks, in the background, the camera catches as she Sikozu walks down the wall and turns to smile slyly at Bobby when she's on the floor. He's focused on the comm and misses the whole thing) Where are you?

John: Australia. I'm workin' Bobby.

"Alien visitation" cuts to the xenobiologist, who hasn't got much to say.

Walker: Wow! Wow! Wow! (next is the anthropologist, who seems a bit miffed)

Hamilton: I met this young female and had no idea she could defy gravity. I am truly astounded. (and finally, the dour psychologist gets one right)

Anderson: In my opinion there is nothing about the alien Sikozu that is not infused with anger and disdain. E.T. she is not.

(cut to Moya. Sikozu is walking briskly down a corridor and talking to Pilot via comm. The scene shifts between her, and him in his Den as they speak)

Sikozu: (quietly) Pilot?

Pilot: Yes Sikozu?

Sikozu: Do you see any value in us continuing?

Pilot: Despite my strong feelings for Officer Sun, I'm afraid I do not.

Sikozu: I'll tell Crichton. (she's come to the door of his cell. He's sitting inside watching "Alien Visitation" and overhears her last statement)

John: (without taking his eyes from the TV) Tell me what?

Sikozu: We cannot find Aeryn. We cannot locate this Katratzi - no one has even heard the name.

John: I've heard it. (Sikozu sighs) You have heard it. Someone said it on this ship.

Sikozu: No -I heard it on the planet where we left Aeryn! (but John jumps up and opening the door of his cell, grabs Sikozu and drags her inside)

John: (frustrated and angry) What - are you not telling me?

Sikozu: I'm telling you everything.

John: You're lying - you're not telling me. You know the name Katratzi! (Sikozu makes to leave, but John pushes her back from the door and yells) You have been nothing but lying from the moment you got on board this ship! Sputnik!

Sikozu: I do not know!

John: AND I WILL NOT LET AERYN DIE! KATRATZI!

Sikozu: It is not my providence if she lives or dies!

John: KATRATZI!

Sikozu: IT IS NOT MY FAULT IF SHE LIVES OR DIES!

John: (bellowing over her) KA-TRA-TZI!

Sikozu: AND IT IS NOT MY WILL IF SHE LIVES OR DIES! CRICHTON! LISTEN TO YOURSELF! EVERYTHING LIVES AND EVERYTHING DIES WHETHER YOU WISH IT TO OR NOT - and YOU have to DEAL with it!

In the sudden silence that follows Sikozu's admonition - the sound of her singing on the "Alien ?Visitation" video is heard. John's eyes are drawn toward the TV screen where the Kalish is amusing herself by looking through the facets of a big crystal ashtray as she sings. She's holding it in front of her face and moving it about, till at one point it covers half her face. John glances back at the flesh and blood Sikozu before him. The he picks up his remote and rewinds the tape - stopping it on the frame where she's looking out at the camera with her left eye and the right side of her face is obscured by the ashtray.

And John flashes on a memory - a memory of an unrealized reality in which a he meets a crazed hybrid of Sikozu and Stark. He recalls grabbing the hysterical mutant and shaking her.

John: Pull yourself together!

StarkOzu: Let me go!

John stares at the paused image of Sikozu with her half-concealed face - and then flashes again on what happened in that unrealized reality.

StarkOzu: (pointing at him, and then at herself as she cries) You! You shoot me! : (John turns with his pulse gun and faces the howling mutant) Shoot now!

John: Comin' back Stark? (the mutant closes her eyes and tilts her head back, waiting for John's pulse blast)

StarkOzu: (almost prayerfully) Katratzi...

John turns away from the TV and looks at Sikozu again. She fretfully mouths the word "What?" - and he looks back at the TV and flashes first on Aeryn, speaking to him, and then the Stark/Sikozu hybrid again (Transcribers note: The recurrent flash on Aeryn speaking the following line has never been seen before this episode)

Aeryn: I believe Katratzi to be some sort of base. Highly guarded. They wouldn't have taken Grayza anywhere less secure.

StarkOzu: Katratzi...

John sits and stares at the TV, stunned. Sikozu stares at him, he glances back at her.

John: (in a quiet monotone) Sorry. That son-of-a-bitch deserves an Emmy. (and with that, he turns the TV off, rises, and exits)

(Moya slides unobtrusively through space - and the scene cuts to John as he enters Pilot's Den)

John: Pilot - do you still know the location of that wormhole to Earth?

Pilot: Yes.

John: Could you set a course please?

Pilot: I'll - have to ask the Captain. (and John catches sight of D'Argo, who's already in the Den)

John: D'Argo?

D'Argo: John.

John: Aeryn.

D'Argo: Wormholes. Earth. What?

John: Look it's complicated.

D'Argo: I understand that. Pilot- (but Pilot cuts him off)

Pilot: I need not remind you that Moya is now phobic regarding wormholes. (not only has he already told everyone this but he's also gone down wormholes at least twice since. Once to get to Earth and once to get away. Must be one of those sometime phobias)

John: (agitated and snapping) You don't have to go all the way - just get me close enough so that I can make it in my module.

D'Argo: John you are not going back to Earth.

John: No I'm not. It's complicated.

(cut back to "Alien Visitation" where Monroe paces as he delivers his wind-up)

Monroe: We need to maintain clarity of thought, healthy skepticism, and aggressive inquisitiveness. To that end - we at this network call upon the government to release all files pertaining to Officer Schelmacher's allegations of past visitation and any other related matter. When the aliens return - and they will - we also urge an aggressive quarantine until the true nature of their presence is ascertained. Recall that the same extraterrestrials we behold with wonder as they learn our language and dance to our music, also bear weapons as well as potential illness which could destroy us. (the cheesy TV news rag music starts up softly as he continues) Alien visitation is a reality. They've been here once - and we seem to have dodged the bullet. The truth is - can we be as certain the next time? (he sits down - a sure sign that it's finally over) I thank you for being with us. There will be more in the days and weeks ahead. But for now - from New York - this is R Wilson Monroe saying - good-night.

(cut to Moya where Scorpius is in his cell, laying on his back on the bare slab of Leviathan lattice-worked metal that serves as his bed. John appears at the door)

John: (quietly, but deadly) You set me up. Not that I care. (Scorpius barely acknowledges John as he opens the cell door) I don't care - about much. War. Death. Wormholes. (he paces slowly toward the half-Scarran) I don't care about the things you care about. Peacekeepers rule the Scarrans. Scarrans rule the Peacekeepers. Let them rule together. Put your ass in a cage. (Scorpius, his eyes mere slits, just listens,) I care - about one thing. One. God - have mercy on my soul. (he looks heavenward, and then sinks down to speak to Scorpius at eye-level) I think - I'm gonna to need your help - Mr Scarran half-breed - to get Aeryn back. Help me get her - and I will give you wormholes. (Scorpius' eyes move behind his eyelids) I have an idea of how to find the Scarran base. Aeryn - for wormholes. That's the deal.

John rises slowly and eases away from the half-Scarran, who sits up and unsmiling, watches him leave.

THE END