The Hidden Memory

The episode opens with Moya, she is weaving and yawing drunkenly in space, her engines power up and down crazily in an attempt to stabilize her flight. The scene shifts to her Command where Rygel and Zhaan speak with Pilot via clamshell viewer. They have noted the arrival of Crais' Command Carrier at the Gammak Base where John remains the prisoner of Scorpius.

Rygel: Why the yotz are we still here? The Prowler's on board isn't it? We should starburst away from here before Crais finds out where we are!

Pilot: (calmly, as the crew tries to keep their balance on Moya's rolling decks. He's concentrating on his readouts and barely looking at them) We can't. Starburst is not available - nor is propulsion. We will be fortunate just to maintain orbit.

Zhaan: But Pilot - I thought Moya was prepared for one more starburst.

Pilot: She was. But no longer. (his tone betrays some alarm) She has gone into what appears to be -full labor!

Rygel: (outraged) She chooses now to go into labor? It's a little inconvenient!

Pilot: She has little choice. AND she is VERY frightened! (he looks and sounds a little frightened himself)

Zhaan: (quickly, soothingly) Pilot, that is a natural reaction during the birthing cycle.

Pilot: Moya tells me this is not a natural birthing cycle. She's now certain that - there's - something wrong with her child. (he sounds weak with anxiety) It is not a normal Leviathan. (Rygel and Zhaan exchange an apprehensive look)

(soon after - cut to Aeryn's quarters. Zhaan is tending her)

Zhaan: (as she helps Aeryn sit up and take a drink) How are you feeling?

Aeryn: Better.

Zhaan: (as Chiana and D'Argo enter) Lie back down. It may be some time before your strength returns completely.

Aeryn: (to Chiana) I hear I have you to thank for my life.

Chiana: (a little prickly) Yeah. Oh, and the, uh - other one.

Aeryn: What other one?

Chiana: Gilina. Or don't you remember her?

Aeryn: We met on the Zelbinion. Where's Crichton?

Zhaan: You should rest now Aeryn.

Aeryn: Where is he?

D'Argo: (with a warriors' straightforward honesty) Crichton is still on the Gammak Base. He's been captured by the Peacekeepers. They're probing his mind using something called an Aurora Chair.

Aeryn: (she abruptly raises herself back up a bit and asks urgently-) Why didn't anyone tell me? Why haven't you gone after him?

D'Argo: (almost cutting her off) There are hundreds of Peacekeepers down there Aeryn. I could not infiltrate that base without being detected.

Aeryn: Well, I can. (and with some effort - she rolls out of her bed. A short time later she's dressed in one of the PK commando uniforms acquired during ABL and striding down Moya's corridors. D'Argo and Zhaan flank her) Don't try and stop me D'Argo.

D'Argo: I won't.

Aeryn: I'm strong enough to go alone.

D'Argo: No you're not. I'm coming with you. If you can be an idiot. I can be an idiot.

Aeryn: Well a warrior may be of some use to me down there - but Zhaan - (they all stop) why don't you stay here?

Zhaan: John might need me. If he gets damaged by The Chair then I can help him.

Aeryn: I'm hoping Crichton will be strong enough to fight The Chair. (they continue on)

(cut to the Gammak Base. John is in the Aurora Chair. Flashes from his memory play across The Chairs screen- Furlow: (from TTBRC - referring to wormhole damage on the module) ... second stage destruction... John: ( from the Premiere - talking to Canaveral from the module as he enters the wormhole) Flight recorder getting all this? Aeryn: (an interchange from TTBRC in the module as John tries to create another wormhole) What do you call the maneuver we're doing now? John: Slingshot. John: (also from TTBRC - as he sees the wormhole form) Holy mama. That's a wormhole... It's unstable!
 * FLASH*
 * FLASH*
 * FLASH*
 * FLASH*

The cycle on The Chair ends. John is gasping, hoarse, barely able to speak or swallow)

Crais: (agitated, angry) There's no use resisting, Crichton! The Chair will rip the memory from you even if you fight it!

John: (slurring and drooling) I'm not... resisting...

Niem: The chair says he is. He's holding something back.

Crais: Then increase the extraction! (Niem does so as Scorpius stands by and watches. John screams and dozens of indistinct memories explode onto the screen - passing too fast to make sense of. Crais snarls viciously-) Show us what you're blocking!

John: (between his teeth) I am not blocking - (more jumbled memory flashes as he fights to avoid betraying Gilina) - about wormholes. (he makes laughing sound that is close to a sob and Scorpius nods to Niem to push up the pots on the Aurora Chair again as John roars in agony)

(later - cut to John and Starks cell. John is laying on the floor on his side, sleeping fitfully. He is awakened by a sound of something ticking and turning - like a combination lock-)

John: (mumbling to Stark) What are you doing there?

Stark: DON'T TALK TO ME! Stay! YOU STAY WHERE YOU ARE! Don't talk to me! There's no talking to me. I do my talking in The Chair...

John: Ah. You like the chair.

Stark: (eyeing John warily) Love the chair. Love the chair. Love the chair.

John: (slowly pushing himself up and crawling towards Stark) Are you spying on me Stark? Scorpy sent you in here to spy on me?

Stark: (mildly, trying to conceal something he's doing) No. I'm no spy for Scorpy.

John: What you got there?

Stark: Nothing. Nothing.

John: (gimping closer) What is that?

Stark: NO! (he explodes into action and pins John against the wall) Stop! (quietly) If you don't stop, I'm going to have to kill you.

John: Give it a couple of days. I think Scorpy and Peacekeeper Barbie'll do it for you. (Stark snarls and with a force that belies his raggedy appearance - he shoves John back onto his side of the cell. John sits up and gazes at Stark-) You're not crazy - Are you, Stark?

Stark: No. But if they think I am, they don't bother me so much.

John: So what are you hiding there?

Stark: (giving in to the temptation to talk) My baby. (he scuttles across the cell to show John) It's a magnetic crypt encoder. I've made it from scraps of metal I've been collecting for two cycles.

John: What's it do?

Stark: If I get the sequence right, it can unlock the door. But it can only try one sequence at a time.

John: (he laughs and coughs in both appreciation and contempt) You're gonna be here forever - if you're waiting for that thing to get you out.

Stark: At least I'm trying something. (he returns to his side of the cell, then curses and turns back to John) You'll tell them about my baby won't you?

John: (sober again) No... no I've kept things from them this far. I can keep this.

Stark: (in an even, quiet tone) Everyone can block thoughts for awhile Crichton - but eventually - you'll tell The Chair. I'm the only one who can block thoughts forever. (he rises, as if to return to his work at the door lock)

John: How many times you been in it?

Stark: Over 100 sessions.

John: (with an amazed exhale) What is it? What's so important that you can keep it from The Chair?

Stark: What do you know?

John: Nothing. I'm telling them the truth. What I'm blocking - has nothing to with - (he chokes and screams) THE WORMHOLES! (he looks near tears)

(cut back to the laboring Moya as Aeryn, D'Argo and Zhaan leave in one of her pods - thus abandoning her to fend for herself during an unnatural birth with no-one but a Nebari party girl and a Hynerian curmudgeon for support. Cut to the occupants of the Gammak Base-bound pod)

Zhaan: Are you all right?

Aeryn: (tired) I'm fine. Any sign they've spotted us D'Argo?

D'Argo: Nothing's tracking. The scanning blind that Gilina created seems to be holding.

Aeryn: Let's hope so.

Zhaan: What about when we land?

Aeryn: There won't be any sensors up top. The sensors would give away that there's a Gammak Base underground. (the pod sets down on the Gammak Base roof)

(cut to John and Starks cell. Gilina’s voice is heard as she patches in to the cells' surveillance camera system again to contact John)

Gilina: (whispering) John!

Stark: (startled) Who's there?

Gilina: (a bit louder) John!! John!

Stark: Where's that voice coming from?

John: (scrambling to shush Stark) Shut up! Don't say a word! (he peers directly into the surveillance camera) Gilina?

Gilina: John - Keep your back to the camera. They can see but they can't hear.

John: (frantic and discombobulated from the torture) Right, right. I remember. (he turns away quickly) I remember. Did you get the paraphoral tissue to Aeryn?

Gilina: Chiana got it off the base, but I don't know if she made it back to Moya in time.

Stark: (whispering) Who is there? Who are you talking to?

John: A friend. She can help us get out of here. Now we both have a secret to keep. Gilina - I need some help. I need you to get them off my back for a while.

Gilina: I'll think of something. John, don't worry. I've gotta go now. I can't stay tapped in for long.

John: Thanks. (he places his hand to the camera eye. Gilina looks worried as she signs off and gathers her equipment)

(cut back to Moya, still rolling and heaving as Chiana, Pilot and Rygel try to cope...)

Pilot: (on clamshell viewer, reading from the manual...) Moya's data stores indicate it may be best to get the offspring out as fast as possible.

Rygel: How the yotz do we do that?

Pilot: (seeming ever so slightly perplexed) It says we can try blasting the tranix with coolant from Moya's thermal chamber.

Rygel: (loudly, nervously) Then do it! I want this thing over with! I want to be still-

Chiana: (interrupting him) Rygel!

Rygel: Huh?

Chiana: You've got to stay calm during birth.

Rygel: I am calm! I - I've conceived hundreds of progeny. Hmph! - and those are only the official ones with my wives.

Chiana: Oh, then you should know something about this. You should be able to help us!

Rygel: I was never present at the birth.

Chiana: Not one?

Rygel: (shocked) Well of course not! I think this is a trifle different, don't you? My progeny were tiny. Tiny and handsome - like their father! (Chiana rolls her eyes as Moya lurches violently) Oh! OH!

(cut back to the Gammak Base. Techs under Niem's supervision are performing maintenance work on the Aurora Chair)

Bixx: Okay - I'm patched in here. Try it again.

Niem: Hurry up. Scorpius wants maximum power now.

Tech: We just have to re-route the annex cable. We're onto it.

Gilina: (entering and looking under The Chair platform to where Bixx is working) Hey Bixx - you need some help?

Bixx: Oh, hi Gilina! Yeah, you're not wrong.

Gilina: (she wriggles into the workspace under The Chair next to Bixx) Uh - if you put the double cabling on-line, I can finish patching in.

Bixx: (only too glad to get out of there) Oh - Sure, all right then. You know all this better than me. (he passes his scanner to her and squeezes out)

Gilina: Thanks. (she inserts a device into a port under The Chair)

Niem: Status report. Are we back on-line?

Tech: Checking power levels now. Just a few microts.

Niem: Good. (after a pause to listen to this exchange Gilina continues her work ) Are we ready?

Tech: All levels are go. (Scorpius enters as Gilina hustles to finish what she's doing) Calibration complete!

Niem: The chair is ready Scorpius.

Scorpius: Good. (Gilina emerges from under the Chair) Follow us. (Gilina gathers up her tools and leaves too)

(shortly after - cut to Gilina back in the little access shaft she has been working from. She's trying to reach John again via the cell surveillance camera)

Gilina: (muttering to herself as she looks for John) Come on... come on... John!

John: (speech slurring badly, someone is approaching the door to the cell) Gilina! I can't talk right now. It looks like we got company.

Gilina: John - when you get in the chair, - just remember one thing-

John: What?

Gilina: Remember when we kissed on the Zelbinion.

John: No! Nonono - that's staying blocked.

Gilina: Trust me!

John: I do trust you.

Gilina: Then remember the kiss! (the cell door opens and Stark lunges for it - nattering madly to cover for John)

Stark: (falsetto) Scorpy!

Soldier: Get back Stark! (he pushes Stark back into the cell) Get inside!

Stark: (as Crais and Scorpius enter) Scorpy! Will Scorpy let me get into The Chair? (Crais seizes Stark and viciously subdues him. Stark utters a high-pitched yip and quiets down)

Scorpius: Have you finished?

Crais: Yes.

Scorpius: (pacing casually towards John) You see, Crichton... This is what I'm trying to keep you from.

John: Yeah Scorpy... You're all heart. (soldiers hoist John to his feet)

Scorpius: You show me everything that's in your brain and I won't torture you anymore.

John: I've shown you everything.

Scorpius: The Chair indicates that you're holding back.

John: Chair's wrong.

Scorpius: What won't you tell me? I already know everything else. I know you're living on a stolen Leviathan with escaped prisoners. And I know that Leviathan is pregnant.

John: You know who the daddy is? (he laughs out of exhaustion and defiance)

Scorpius: Why are you doing this to yourself? What is so important - that you're willing to go through all of this?

John: I'm not blocking anything.

Scorpius: Bring him. (he turns to go)

Crais: (getting in his dig behind Scorpius' back) I'm going to enjoy ripping the truth out of you, Crichton.

(soon after - cut to Scorpius' lab. John is in the Aurora Chair)

(as John screams in The Chair he at last allows himself to recall the kiss he shared with Gilina aboard the Zelbinion - but the memory flickers and segues into something else - a memory of something that never happened. In this faked memory - John is aboard Crais' Command Carrier, kissing a woman. Crais enters-

Crais: Commander Crichton. It's good to see you enjoying your stay with us.

John: Crais. Don't you ever knock?)

Crais: Stop! (there is a pause as The Chair powers down) What is that? (he points to the "memory" image on the Aurora Chair screen)

Scorpius: (as John pants and gasps spasmodically) My question as well Captain. (he signals Niem to power up The Chair again and with a lurch like a tape being restarted the false memory plays on. Much of it is bits and pieces cobbled together from John's encounter with Crais in TOBM-

John: What do you want?

Crais: I'm here to thank you.

John: Yeah? For what?

Crais: I've never been one of the elite. Did you know that? My parents were common farmers. I was shanghaied from their commune as a young boy. I rose through Peacekeeper ranks on my wits and my hatred. But still some doors were always closed to me.

John: Well, thanks for the family tree, Crais. But frankly, I don't give a damn.

Crais: With this wormhole information you've given me, I now have the power to rise where I should be.

The Chair is powered back and John sits, jumping slightly as if he's having hiccups or mild seizures)

Crais: (to Scorpius) You don't actually believe any of that, do you? COME ON! HE MADE IT ALL UP!

Scorpius: You can't make things up for the chair Captain. You know that. (he slowly walks up to John and peers at him) What is that, hmm?

John: (groggy, slurred) I don't know. Kinda looks like an episode of "Melrose Place."

Crais: What do you mean you don't know what it is?

John: I dunno.

Crais: (furious) Tell him! (he strikes John's face) What is it?

John: (pulling together the wits to go with what he's been given) Is that it, Crais? Is the game up?

Crais: What?

John: Crais first found out about wormholes when I came through. I gave him the information disk in exchange for my life.

Crais: THAT'S A LIE! (he viciously hits John in the face again)

John: No, it's not.

Crais: (delivers another huge blow to John and then seizes his face and screams-) HE'S LYING! DAMN YOU, CRICHTON! TELL HIM THE TRUTH!

(cut to a short time later - John is still strapped into The Chair but Crais has been pulled off him and is being coolly questioned)

Scorpius: So - nothing of what we saw was true?

Crais: No.

Scorpius: Were you born on a farming commune?

Crais: Yes.

Scorpius: Were you conscripted from it by the Peacekeepers?

Crais: Yes, but -

Scorpius: How does Crichton know this?

Crais: Well, he must have stolen it from a database!

Scorpius: While he was in security 3 containment?

Crais: (angry) LOOK I DON'T KNOW HOW HE DID IT. But what you saw on there is not true!

Scorpius: Of course it's not. But there's only one way to be sure it is a lie.

Crais: How?

Scorpius: For you to go in the chair.

Crais: (derisive laugh) Me?

Scorpius: Yes.

Crais: No Captain has ever been subjected to such an indignity.

Scorpius: There's always a first for everything. (to Niem) Get Crichton back to his cell.

Crais: You overstep yourself Scorpius. You haven't got the numbers to put me in the chair.

Scorpius: (casting a glance over his shoulder at Crais) Don't I? (to the soldiers attending) Put Crais in the chair. (when the soldiers don't move Scorpius addresses them) I commend your loyalty. It must be difficult to maintain for an officer like Crais. An officer on the edge - and out of control-

Crais: Talk - TO ME Scorpius - not to them!

Scorpius: (ignoring him) I have unconditional authority on a Gammak Base. Captain Crais - will go to The Chair. To stop that - you'll have to kill me. And all my men. Are you prepared to do that?

Crais: Do not listen to him! THAT is an order!

Scorpius: Do what you know in your hearts is the right thing. Put Crais in The Chair.

(cut to the roof of the Gammak Base, Aeryn, D'Argo and Zhaan are preparing to enter)

D'Argo: That's the last of the gear from the transport pod. (to Zhaan) What are you doing with those explosives?

Zhaan: I'm upgrading these primitive things.

Aeryn: I found an access shaft. I should be able to get down to the base and look for Crichton.

Zhaan: Are you strong enough?

Aeryn: I'd better be. (she jogs back through the ruined looking structure that forms the roof of the base and makes to open the door to the access shaft - her hand is shaking badly, she grabs it and mutters to herself-) Stop. (gets the door open and begins her descent into the base)

(cut to John and Starks cell. They sitting against the wall, John is shaking and twitching as he hugs himself)

John: I don't know how she did it. But-but she did it.

Stark: (softly) Rest Crichton.

John: (slurring and seizing slightly - he tries to get to his feet) Nonono - we gotta do something. Gotta get the door open.

But John is too weakened by his torment in the Aurora Chair and he collapses to the floor. Stark reaches out and pulls John close so his head and shoulders rest in Starks lap. Then Stark unbuckles the leather straps that secure the metal mask to the right side of his head. Beneath the mask, there is only a brilliant, shimmering white light. He turns his head so the light shines on John's face.

Stark: Here.

John: (his shuddering eases off and he relaxes) Huh - Oh - What is that? What did you just show me?

Stark: I'm able to give a few thoughts, that's all. Rest, my friend. (he strokes John's hair soothingly and replaces his mask)

John: How long have you been here?

Stark: Two cycles. Peacekeepers killed most of my people. But they kept me alive because I interest them. I'm able to hide thoughts that The Chair can't touch. It's almost ironic - what made me a slave now keeps me alive.

John: What made you a slave?

Stark: This. (he touches his mask) I am of the Banik slave race. Outsiders think that we do not feel. But it's only that our feelings don't always show. Just as this can hide our feelings, we're also able to cloud thoughts from our minds. What I know deep inside, Peacekeepers will never see.

(cut to Scorpius' lab - Crais is in the Aurora Chair. His memories flash across the screen is rapid succession. Most of the recognizable memories are scenes from TOBM - the snippets are connected only by their subject matter - Crais' brother, Tauvo, who was killed when his ship clipped the Farscape 1 just after John arrived in this part of the galaxy...

John: I did everything I could to avoid him! Crais' father: The recruiter is here to pick you up. I'm counting on you to protect him! Do you understand? He is your brother!
 * FLASH*

The Chair powers down as Crais screams)

Crais: NNNNNOOOOOO!

Scorpius: (leaning in close to the sobbing, wailing Crais) Who is that?

Crais: My - father. TURN IT OFF!

Scorpius: Don't you like your past Crais?

Crais: Turn - it - off!

Scorpius: (casually - to Niem) Can't you get to what he knows about wormholes?

Niem: No, he's fighting it. (she swoops up the pots on The Chair again and Crais cuts loose with terrible shrieking and crying and wailing)

Crais: I - DON'T - KNOW - ANYTHING!

(cut to Aeryn making her way through the corridors of the Gammak Base. She's toting a Big Gun. A couple soldiers pass her and one seems to ask her "What's up?" as he goes by. She startles and looks back at him before continuing on to her goal - Gilina’s room which Chiana would have told her the location of. The PK tech is just leaving - Aeryn pushes her back inside against the wall)

Aeryn: Is there surveillance in this cell?

Gilina: No. (Aeryn releases her and enters. Gilina watches her - then recognizes her) Aeryn!

Aeryn: (she says nothing for a long moment as she walks past Gilina and sits down to rest) Chiana's told me what you did for me. Thank you.

Gilina: What are you doing here? The paraphoral tissue takes at least ten solar days before-

Aeryn: I don't have ten days. I need to know where Crichton is.

Gilina: They have him on Level 9 Containment. (Aeryn makes to get up with some effort. Gilina stops her) There is no way of reaching him without a direct order from Scorpius. John is blocking a memory from them. Scorpius thinks that is has something to do with his precious wormholes - but it doesn't.

Aeryn: What does it have to do with?

Gilina: Me. He's protecting me. But as soon as Scorpius finds out he knows nothing about wormholes - he'll - he'll kill him.

(cut back to D'Argo and Zhaan on the roof of the Gammak Base - making preparations for a getaway)

Zhaan: (referring to the explosives) We'll need more rocks if we're going to hide the rest of these D'Argo. If the Peacekeepers come up through the level risers, this is where they're going to surface.

D'Argo: (hefting his Qualta as he rises to leave) Well, I hope those things work. Otherwise, there is not much to stand between us and them.

Zhaan: (casually) I always wanted to ask you D'Argo - that Qualta Blade - for a warrior - it seems a very unconventional weapon. (she walks away with her explosives, he follows)

D'Argo: (intensely as Zhaan stops and listens) Many cycles ago there was a race even more feared than the Peacekeepers. The Tellachs. They laid siege to my planet for over 100 solar days. When the final assault came all our warriors had were these - "unconventional" - weapons. My own great-grandfather died in that war. When the Final Days come - Luxans believe that the Qualta Blade will lead us to freedom.

Zhaan: I understand D'Argo. Please forgive my curiosity.

D'Argo: There is another thing we can do for you.

Zhaan: What?

D'Argo: (smiling) My Qualta Blade and I can cut stones for you. (he exits and Zhaan looks after him in some wonder)

(cut to John and Starks cell - they hear Aeryn and Heskon outside)

Heskon: Look I'm not gonna say this again. There is nothing in there.

Aeryn: I'm just telling you what I picked up from Crais' Carrier.

Stark: (hissing to John) What's going on?

John: Shh!

Aeryn: I picked up an unauthorized magnetic pulse coming from somewhere on this level-

Heskon: There is no - signal - coming - from in there. (Aeryn makes a skeptical sound. Heskon is exasperated) Look - I'll prove it to you. (he scans the cell) See? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. (suddenly the scanner chirps) What the frell is that?

Aeryn: Obviously nothing.

Heskon: (he opens the cell and enters - the scanners' chirping becomes very excited in Starks vicinity) Get out of it Stark! (he hauls Stark up off the floor and shoves him across the cell and finds the crypt encoder. Stark goes ballistic and John restrains him from attacking Heskon, Stark all the while fighting and yelling at John that he's betrayed him)

Heskon: (to Aeryn as she enters) Looks like you were right. I'll move him to another cell.

Aeryn: They don't need to be moved.

Heskon: Why not?

Aeryn: `Cos they're coming with me. (and with a vicious strike - she takes him out. John and Stark freeze)

Stark: Who is she?

John: (as they stare at Aeryn in all her rather unfeminine PK commando glory) That is - the radiant Aeryn Sun.

Stark: (good question - incredulous) How many Peacekeepers do you know on this base? (John makes a sound with his nose)

Aeryn: Are you all right Crichton?

John: (slurring) Yeah. How you doing?

Aeryn: I'm better now. Come on, we'd better go.

Stark: (whispering to John as they follow her) Sorry.

(cut back to Crais in the Aurora Chair. He's giving up another memory from TOBM- him and his assistant - Lt. Teeg aboard his Command Carrier- speaking of the events of TOBM-

Crais: And no one outside of this chamber knows of the Admiral's orders?

Teeg: I saw to that, sir. (Crais makes as if to caress her - but snaps her neck instead)

The Chair powers down and Crais shudders, panting and twitching like John had been, unable to speak)

Scorpius: So now I know why you tried to fight the chair. Hmph. (to Niem) Are there any more barriers?

Niem: No that's what he was fighting to hold.

Scorpius: Then what Crichton saw about wormholes-

Niem: Is not in this Captain's memory. (at that moment the computerized voice of the base security system comes on warning of a security breach)

Scorpius: (via his comm unit) This is Scorpius.

Soldier: (on comm) Sir the human prisoner has escaped.

Scorpius: How?

Soldier: He has a Peacekeeper working with him.

Scorpius: Seal the base. Everything. He must not reach the surface.

(cut to Aeryn, Gilina, John and Stark on their getaway run through the Gammak Base)

Aeryn: (scouting around a corner) It's clear - C'mon. (they run a ways and then take cover again) Go. Go. (to Gilina) You first.

Gilina: (she makes a start but ducks back, seeing soldiers afoot) Peacekeepers. C'mon. (she takes off another way, pulling John with her, Aeryn follows. They lose Stark somewhere in the chaos and he makes his way to the roof on his own. Gilina opens a grate in the floor and she, Aeryn and John pile in and crouch under it as the PKs converge on them) In here.

Niem: (standing right on top of them as she looks around and gives her orders) Keep searching! (she and the soldiers move off)

(cut back to Moya, rolling and twisting in her labor pains. Cut to Pilot, on clamshell viewer, still evidently reading the manual on Leviathan birth-giving - to Chiana and Rygel)

Pilot: (groaning) OH no!

Rygel: What do you mean "oh no"?

Pilot: To give birth - Moya must equalize with her outside environment. (one has to wonder why he didn't look this up before...)

Chiana: (alarmed) You mean with space? What, Moya has to make a vacuum into here?

Pilot: Yes! (adding quickly) I can't stop her.

Chiana: (snapping) How much time do we have?

Pilot: (helpless) I don't know - maybe - 80 microts.

Rygel: (panicky) 80 microts? Well - where do we go?

Pilot: (lamely) My Den's stable...

Rygel: (irritated) OH well that's very lucky for you isn't it probakto?

Chiana: (also irritated) We can't get to you in 80 microts!

Pilot: (scrambling) There are pressure tanks in maintenance bay 6. I suggest you go! GO NOW!

(Rygel wails as he aims his hoverchair for maintenance bay 6 and takes off as fast as it can fly, Chiana is close behind. They streak into the bay, Rygel dives into one of the 2 small tanks, Chiana tries to get into the other)

Chiana: It's locked! PILOT IT'S LOCKED!

Rygel: (leering from the hatch of his) Yes it is, my dear. Plenty of room in here.

Chiana: I'm not getting in there! (she yanks furiously at the hatch of the locked tank)

Pilot: That's all there is! Get inside! You only have 10 microts! (Chiana dives in with Rygel shoving him inside as he yells "OW! MY BACK!" and slams the hatch shut behind them as vapors escape and alarms sound to signal depressurization aboard Moya)

(cut back to the Gammak Base. Gilina has been out scouting the situation and returns to where Aeryn and John wait under the grate)

Aeryn: Right. Any other ways off the base?

Gilina: (panting) They're sealing all the access shafts. It means they're shutting down everything.

John: There's gotta be some way out of here.

Gilina: No way. Everything else, even the lock they just put on need an ident chip from a senior officer.

John: (very shaky - makes to get up) All right. Let's go bag a senior officer.

Aeryn: (stopping him - he's in worse shape than she is) No. I'll do it Crichton. (to Gilina) You stay with him. (she exits the grate)

(cut back to Moya - Chiana and Rygel squirm uncomfortably in the cramped confines of the pressure tank)

Rygel: (slithering up to come face to face with Chiana) Excuse me, I'm just making myself comfortable.

Chiana: (trying to keep her face as far as possible from him) What is that?

Rygel: Uh, what?

Chiana: (groaning as something touches her) THAT!

Rygel: It's nothing.

Chiana: Where's your hand slug-face?

Rygel: (sniggering) It-it's down there.

Chiana: (not pleased with her tank-mate) I know. Keep it in your caftan pal. (Rygel snickers some more and Chiana yells frantically-) PILOT! (Rygel does something) YOW! PILOT!

Pilot: (in his Den) I'm very busy now Chiana. You two okay?

Chiana: How's Moya?

Pilot: (sotto voce) Oh yes! (louder) The offspring's coming now. I can see it! I must go Chiana. (he signs off)

Chiana: (in a disgusted, but very high-pitched voice as a sound like air escaping a balloon is heard in the pressure tank) What - was that?

Rygel: (in a Munchkin voice) Nothing, eh? Just a little bit of helium.

Chiana: Helium.

Rygel: I-I don't like being in confined spaces. I get nervous!

Chiana: (in a chipmunk voice) You're disgusting!

The tank is rocked by a great spasm and they forget about their predicament for a moment and look around in alarm Cut to an outside view of Moya as a vent on her body opens, revealing pulsating light within.

(cut to the Gammak Base. Aeryn comes the door of Scorpius' lab and hears a sound from within. She enters - Crais is alone, everyone else having run off to search for the escapees. He's still strapped into the Aurora Chair, the image of him breaking Teeg's neck is still on the screen. He is making small, spasmodic groaning sounds)

Aeryn: (approaching him as she takes in the scene) Captain Crais. What are you doing in this Chair?

Crais: (unable to see her from his restrained position) Who is that? Who's there?

Aeryn: Well. I suppose I shouldn't expect you to recognize my voice.

Crais: Did Scorpius send you? Release - me from this Chair.

Aeryn: Why? So that you can kill me the way you killed Lieutenant Teeg?

Crais: Who are you?

Aeryn: I am "irreversibly contaminated." Now do you know who I am? (she moves into his line of vision)

Crais: Aeryn... Sun...

Aeryn: (leaning in close to him) Does this contaminate you Crais?

Crais: As a Peacekeeper, you took a blood-oath to obey your commanding officer. Till death.

Aeryn: Yes.

Crais: (the words rush out) I am still your commanding officer.

Aeryn: (loudly) But I am no longer a Peacekeeper!

Crais: (attempting to dominate her even now) You are a Peacekeeper for life. On the oath you took-

Aeryn: (cutting him off - angry, defiant) Your oath means nothing to me! You made sure of that. You destroyed everything. I lost everything because of you!

Crais: (with huge effort to control himself) Aeryn -Sun!

Aeryn: (quieter, ignoring him) Do you know what I learned when I was away from you? Everything I lost isn't worth a damn. And I don't want to go back to your past.

Crais: I - ORDER - you -

Aeryn: You order me? (she takes his ident chip) You will never order me again.

Crais: (panting with fury) I - will track you - down - and KILL you, Officer Sun! On that I give you my vow!

Aeryn: You know what I give you Crais? Your life. (she walks away from him to the Aurora Chair control console) I will make you watch - your life. (and with that she powers up The Chair and sweeps the pots up and Crais screams and screams and screams as she leaves)

(cut back to Gilina and John waiting under the grate)

John: (weak) Where's Aeryn? She should be here by now.

Gilina: (hesitating) Do you want to be with her, Crichton?

John: What?

Gilina: Do you want to be with Officer Sun?

John: (with a laugh of sick exhaustion and also avoiding the subject) Gilina - can we talk about this another time?

Gilina: No! No I don't think we can. You want me to go with you. You want me to give up everything I know - so you must answer me - Do you want to be with her? (he gazes at her for a long moment - too long, for suddenly the grate is lifted and Aeryn appears)

Aeryn: It's only me. Let's go.

John: (as he climbs out of the grate) Aeryn, did you bag yourself a senior officer?

Aeryn: Ran into an old friend. Let's go.

John: Let's get out of here. (he coughs and makes for the access shaft)

Aeryn: (to Gilina) Come on.

Gilina: (balking, upset) Do you want to be with Crichton?

Aeryn: I'm sorry?

Gilina: He won't answer my question. Will you?

Aeryn: (taken off guard) Gilina - W-whatever the two of you've been discussing - it's none of my business.

Gilina: Yes it is! He asked me to go with him! I cannot do that if he - if he loves you!

Aeryn: (forcefully) Gilina you have to come with us. If you don't come they will kill you!

Gilina: I will be OK, I -

Aeryn: Gilina you saved my life. And you know Peacekeepers! They will come and they will find you!

Gilina: I can take care of myself. You take care of John. (she leaves)

Aeryn: Gilina! Tell John! At least come and talk to him before - (but the PK tech girl continues in the opposite direction)

(cut to Scorpius' lab where he and Niem have stopped Crais' ride in The Chair. Crais is limp and catatonic)

Niem: They used a senior officer's ident chip and they're climbing the air vent towards the surface.

Scorpius: I thought as much.

Niem: Do you want me to burn them out?

Scorpius: No, we need Crichton alive. We'll take the level risers and beat them to the surface!

Soldier: LET'S GO! (they all exit in pursuit)

(cut back to Aeryn as she joins John at the access shaft)

Aeryn: Right.

John: Where's Gilina.

Aeryn: She's not coming with us.

John: What? Aeryn! What'd you say to her?

Aeryn: I didn't say anything to her. It's a decision she made on her own.

John: I gotta go get her.

Aeryn: Crichton, we don't have time for this! She has gone! It's what she wants. (she uses Crais' ident chip to unlock the entrance to the shaft) Come on. (John hesitates - looking back in the direction of the base and Gilina before turning and jogging after Aeryn)

(cut back to Moya - Chiana and Rygel are still in the pressure tank. The tanks' window is steamed up and suddenly Rygel’s little 4-fingered hand slaps against it from the inside as we hear him grunting and groaning. Chiana yells frantically - still in a helium-induced soprano-)

Chiana: PILOT! PILOT! Are we repressurized yet?

Pilot: (very calmly, as if he might have forgotten they were in there) Yes. You can get out now.

Chiana: (the hatch to the pressure tank flies open and Chiana stumbles out, coughing, amid a fetid puff of steamy atmosphere) Finally!

Rygel: (laying on his back in the tank, coughing and breathless) Chiana... I didn't mean to...

Chiana: (vehemently) SHUT - UP!

Pilot: (in his Den) Something's still not right. A portion of the offspring can't get clear of Moya's external vent. (cut to Chiana and Rygel watching Pilot on a clamshell viewer) I'm getting a closer visual now. (horrified) What is that?

Chiana: (her voice is back to normal now) What? What's wrong?

Pilot: The offspring - Look! (he brings up a scanner view of the infant Leviathan, it's shape is very different from Moya's and it seems to have a lot of parts that she doesn't)

Chiana: That's Moya's child?

Pilot: Yes. (the scan rotates to reveal the young ships body parts)

Rygel: (hushed) But it's covered in weapons.

(cut to a view of the young Leviathan, laying quietly on a bed of light just inside Moya's birthing vent)

Pilot: When D'Argo broke the contraception wall half a cycle ago, the Peacekeeper catalyst he released must have contained the DNA signature to produce weapons.

Chiana: (eyeing the image of the infant with concern) Will that grow as big as its mother?

Pilot: Possibly bigger.

Rygel: Will Moya control him? Or will the Peacekeepers?

Pilot: I don't know. There's never been a Leviathan with weapons before. But we have a more immediate problem. Look! The birthing channel was not designed for this manner of offspring. It cannot fly free. It is panicking and starting to charge its weapons-

Rygel: Oh! Oh! Well is he going to shoot his way out of Moya?

Pilot: I think so!

Rygel: Well do something!

Chiana: (urgently) Pilot, can you force an atmosphere I can breathe into that vent?

Pilot: Yes - Yes, I think so!

Chiana: Maybe - maybe I can climb down the internal shaft and cut a seam so the child can get itself free.

Pilot: You'd better hurry! (Chiana takes off at a run)

(cut to the roof of the Gammak Base as Aeryn and John emerge from the shaft. Stark is already there with D'Argo and Zhaan)

D'Argo: (as they come out) It's good to see you again.

Zhaan: (as she and D'Argo waste no time heading out) Come on - they're not far behind.

D'Argo: (taking the lead through the jumbled structures of the roof) The transport pod is this way. Let's go. Keep your weapons ready.

(as they set off PK soldiers emerge onto another part of the roof and begin to fan out. The leading officers call orders as a group of PKs spot the fugitives)

D'Argo: Aeryn! Watch out! (they dive for cover as weapons fire hits the structure around them)

Zhaan: Cover me, Aeryn! (the PKs and our heroes proceed to engage in a furious running gunfight in the close confines of the roof structures. Stark manages to get a gun and proves himself no slouch in the fighting department himself. He and John find themselves taking cover briefly together as they move towards the transport pod)

Stark: What was the secret you were keeping hidden from Scorpius, down there?

John: Ah he thought it was about his doomsday device - about wormholes. It wasn't. It was only about the time I kissed a girl.

Stark: Really?

John: Yeah. (they burst into laughter as blasts from pulse rifles explode and whiz around them)

(cut to Chiana, in the birthing chamber with the little Leviathan. It looks to be about the size of a racing yacht and seems to be growling and rocking itself)

Chiana: (anxiously, to the little ship who is making noises like an angry mechanical bulldog) Okay - uh - don't shoot me baby Moya. Just nice and calm... nice and calm... (she squeezes past the little ship and begins cutting into the wall of Moya's birth channel)

(cut back to the Gammak Base roof as the crew and Stark slowly fight their way to the pod amid heavy weapons fire. We see Aeryn, D'Argo and Zhaan firing upon the oncoming PKs. John and Stark pause a moment again for cover)

John: What were you keeping from him?

Stark: The memory of a place I saw when I was a boy.

John: Huh. Must've been one hell of a place. (they rejoin the fray)

(cut back to Moya - Chiana and the Leviathan child in the birthing chamber - she's having no luck moving the birth along)

Chiana: (via comm) I CAN'T DO IT, PILOT!

Pilot: You have to!

Chiana: IT WON'T MOVE!

Pilot: (referring to a greenly glowing protrusion Chiana is standing next to) Moya's trying to control the offspring, but that weapon's primed to fire.

Chiana: So let it fire. (in his Den Pilot gasps in horror) Tell Moya to let the gun fire at low blast level.

Pilot: What?

Chiana: (panting, struggling to keep her footing as the infant Leviathans' rocking grows more agitated) I know it's crazy, but it's the only way. If we don't get this child out, it'll destroy Moya's bulkhead!

(cut back to the raging gun battle on the roof of the Gammak Base. The crew regroups together)

Zhaan: D'ARGO! (she takes cover with him)

Aeryn: (joining them) CRICHTON!

John: (he and Stark are just behind them) We're coming!

Stark: Come on, let's give them something to remember us by! (John grins wickedly at him and shows him one of the explosives Zhaan had prepared. They both laugh appreciatively as John sets it on a structural element before they join the others and clear off. As the pursuing PKs approach the place where the crew was - the explosive goes off in a massive ball of orange flame - effectively stopping the PKs advance. There is screaming and wailing of PK soldiers)

(cut back to Moya's birthing chamber as the neonatal Leviathan ferociously powers up its weapons)

Chiana: (yelling) NOT YET! LEMME GET OUT HERE!

Pilot: (in his Den - yelling) I can't stop it! Get out now! JUST GET OUT! RUN, CHIANA! RUN! (Chiana races down the shaft, out of the birthing chamber, screaming, and throws herself between the ribs of Moya's corridor walls as the weapon fires an evil-looking shimmer of green energy)

Chiana: (shaky) That was a low level blast?

Pilot: (in his Den - relieved) That did it. The offspring's free! It's free!

Chiana: How's Moya?

Pilot: She's okay. (sounding a bit surprised) We're okay!

(cut back to the Gammak Base roof. Most of the PK pursuers have been silenced by the explosive John set. As our crew makes their final dash for the pod John brings up the rear, laying back some occasional covering fire on the few PKs who still follow. But suddenly a hand falls upon his shoulder - it is Scorpius, crept up close and now holding John back with a gun to his head)

Scorpius: No Crichton. You're not going with them.

But at that moment - Gilina steps out from cover in front of them. She is armed, her gun trained on them. There's a moment of silence - then John laughs with relief -

John: Shoot him Gilina - SHOOT HIM! (but Scorpius, who's standing behind John, suddenly swings his gun out towards Gilina and fires - she crumples to the ground. John throws Scorpius off and runs towards her as D'Argo and Stark reappear. They fire at Scorpius who is forced to retreat)

John: Gilina!

D'Argo: We must get back to the transport pod! The firewall is dissipating! (John picks up the wounded Gilina and they run. In the silence of the flaming ruins of the Gammak Base roof. Scorpius walks alone)

(later - cut to Moya. Pilot, on clamshell viewer, speaks with Aeryn, Chiana, D'Argo and Rygel)

Pilot: (slowly) Before she left the Gammak Base, Gilina scrambled the scanning data files. Even Crais' Carrier can't find us now - which is quite fortunate - because we can't starburst with the offspring. (hesitant) We - can't move very far at all.

Aeryn: Thank you Pilot. How's Gilina?

Pilot: (regretfully) Not good.

Aeryn: What about Moya's child?

Pilot: He's okay.

Chiana: He? It's a boy?

Pilot: Yes.

Rygel: (approvingly) A male. Excellent.

D'Argo: (quietly apprehensive) What kind of a beast is he? (cut to a view of the Leviathan child floating alongside Moya like a whale calf next to its mother)

(cut to elsewhere on Moya. Gilina lies on a bed. John and Zhaan attend her)

John: (very softly) Just lie still. Let Zhaan’s medicine do its work. You'll be fine in a little while.

Gilina: (breathing labored with pain) No more lies John.

John: I'm not lying. (there's a long pause while he watches her) Gilina, why'd you come back for us?

Gilina: I had to help you. Aeryn was right. If I'd stayed there, they would've found out about me. Found out that I... I love you.

John: Gilina... (she cries out with her dying pains) Zhaan - (Zhaan shakes her head gently, she can do no more)

Stark: (entering) May I help? (he walks slowly towards them) May I give you this? (he sits next to Gilina and holds the palm of his hand a few inches above her face - her eyes are drawn to it and she gasps and then exhales deeply as he speaks to her in a soft even tone) It's a place I once saw. I've been carrying it with me a very long time.

Gilina: (rapturous) It's beautiful. It's beautiful.

Stark: There now - Just hold onto it. Don't let go. (he catches Zhaan’s eye and they withdraw from the room)

Gilina: (he voice is only a whisper now) John...

John: Yeah?

Gilina: Do you think.. if things had been different... that you could've loved me?

John: Yeah.

Gilina: Kiss me one more time.

John: Shh - don't -

Gilina: (interrupting him) Kiss me.

He places his lips to hers in a slow, gentle kiss. And with a long contented sigh - she passes. John sits at her bedside and continues to watch her...

THE END