Through the Looking Glass (Farscape)

The episode opens in Moya’s galley where Aeryn, Chiana, D'Argo, John and Zhaan are eating a huge, sumptuous meal. It's like Alien Thanksgiving - it's like The Mother Of All Exotic Pu-Pu Platters... The mood is edgy as they eat and talk.

D'Argo: I will change my opinion if someone offers a better one. Till then, I am leaving Moya at the next planet with shipping traffic. (he gestures to a bowl of something) Pass those and don't help yourself.

John: We are stronger as the sum of our parts kids.

Zhaan: We are under no obligation to function as a unit John.

John: Zhaan I understand that. We all have separate goals. But - (he takes a bite of something) Ugh! Sal-a-monella! What the hell is that?

Rygel: (happily) That's kroldar! A delicacy. Even for pagans.

John: Well how long was it under your butt getting delicate?

Aeryn: Wait a minute. Whatever the rest of you decide - I will not abandon Moya.

John: Good.

D'Argo: Suit yourself. You've got nowhere to go, anyway.

Zhaan: I must confess my consternation at agreeing with D'Argo. But if Moya is no longer able to starburst - then we are all at risk.

Chiana: Can I say something?

Everyone: No!

John: Moya has been very good to us - now you want to abandon her?

D'Argo: I want to see my son. And that is not likely to happen aboard a pregnant bio-mechanoid ship.

Zhaan: Rygel, what do you think?

Rygel: (immediately assuming his pompous speechifying tone) Well. Moya has been - for as long as I can remember - our protector, our home, our companion, and our friend.

John: Amen.

Rygel: However, as relationships grow, they also change. Do you think we can trade her for a faster vessel?

Aeryn: (angrily reaches across the table to give Rygel a shake, he snarls at her) Moya is not a possession Your Lowness!

D'Argo: (referring to Rygel) If you ignore the messenger - which is effortless - the message is sound. Perhaps we have outgrown the usefulness of - (he stops and holds up a food item that looks like a large wrinkly breadstick and demands-) Look - Who made this shellack??

John: Recipe called for space chicken - all I had was space rodent. (Zhaan and Chiana yelp with revulsion and spit out what they're chewing) Moya is protecting her baby D'Argo. You blame her for that?

D'Argo: That is selfishness masquerading as a reason.

Rygel: He's right you know. We all want to leave the uncharted territories and return home. But you-

Zhaan: Yes, you would be more content to stay.

John: I want to get home as badly as anyone else and this is where the wormholes are.

Aeryn: Fine. So stay. But be honest about your motives Crichton.

John: Oh I'm sorry. You're on their side, now?

Aeryn: No.

Chiana: I know I just got here - but can I please say something?

Everyone: NO!

Pilot: (his visage flickers into life on a clamshell viewer) Excuse the intrusion. (Chiana snickers triumphantly at the others) But Moya and I would like a word about your deliberations.

Chiana: That's what I've been trying to tell you guys. The DRDs have ears. (she nods at a DRD sitting and watching them nearby) No wonder you guys have been flying around in circles.

Pilot: (carefully, sounding as if he's something between hurt and miffed and trying to keep his voice even) Moya is aware of your concerns over her condition and regrets not being more responsive to your needs.

Zhaan: Please don't misunderstand Pilot. We - we simply -

Pilot: - Do not wish to be captured because of her pregnancy.

Zhaan: (guilty) Yes.

Aeryn: We're just having a discussion Pilot.

Pilot: That includes thoughts of abandoning us.

Rygel: (rather incredulously) You want us to stay?

Pilot: (his image flickers and the light from his Console play over his face and darken. He avoids prolonged eye contact) Of course. We are most fulfilled when serving others. Your presence is gratifying and comforting.

John: Let us talk a little while longer Pilot. Your points are well taken.

Pilot: (resolute) You may talk all you want. But please prepare for immediate starburst.

Zhaan: (alarmed) Ah - I thought Moya couldn't starburst for another 15 arns!

Pilot: Her energy is low. However, she shares your concerns about being recaptured and wishes to prove to you all that she is capable.

Zhaan: Uh - no. That-that won't be necessary Pilot- (Moya’s engines can be heard powering up)

Pilot: (with satisfaction) Starburst in 5 microts.

(cut to an external view of Moya going into starburst. Cut back the galley where the crew strains in slowed motion against the force of the impromptu burst of speed - it is not normal starburst. D'Argo and Rygel seem least affected, the rest struggle as if against heavy g-forces to speak and remain upright)

D'Argo: (about some odd food item) Now - this - really - is incredible...

Rygel: My favorite on the table.

Aeryn: (straining) What? Smoked prongisan newts? Quite easy to make really...

But at that moment there is a blinding flash of light and Moya lurches violently. The crew and their dinner become airborne as Moya comes to a very abrupt stop. As the crew begin to pick themselves up off the floor, Moya continues to shudder, vapors escape from ruptured lines and an irregular staccato binking sound is heard.

John: (to Aeryn as he helps her up) You all right?

Aeryn: We must have hit something.

John: In starburst? (Zhaan moans with pain)

D'Argo: What's that noise? (referring to the binking)

Chiana: Zhaan! Zhaan! Are you okay? (she goes to Zhaan)

Zhaan: It's my arm. The fibers are torn.

Aeryn: Pilot, what's happening?

John: Pilot? Pilot!

D'Argo: Pilot!

Zhaan: I'm all right, Chiana. I'll heal. Where's Rygel?

Chiana: Rygel?

Zhaan: Where is he?

Chiana: Rygel!

John: (the crew pauses to stare as brilliant white light now streaming through the galley windows) What the hell is that?

D'Argo: I'll check Command. (to Aeryn) You look after Pilot. (to John) And you, you do damage assessment. (he strides into the corridor where he is suddenly bathed in red light. He turns back to the others and as they watch he disappears in a flash of white light)

Aeryn: D'Argo!

John: D'Argo?

Zhaan: (sounding as if she's fighting back panic) He can't just disappear like that!

Aeryn: (quietly to John) Pilot or Command?

John: Command.

Aeryn: (to Chiana) You. Fix her arm and then straight to Command.

John: Go. (Aeryn takes a step and is immediately bathed in blue light - and is sucked away into it with a little flash of white light) AERYN?

Zhaan: John! What's happening?

Chiana: (terrified) I don't want to die!

(cut to John running into the Command. Out the main viewport nothing but white light can be seen)

John: Pilot! Are you there?

Pilot: (on clamshell viewer - sounding very anxious) Crichton! Where are the others?

John: You tell me. What happened?

Pilot: (a bit panicky) I'm unsure. Still running analysis.

John: (squinting at the bright light outside Moya) Is that a star?

Pilot: (cut to him in his Den) Unknown. Attempting to close radiation filters - now! (he grunts and the light dims in the Command as shutters close against it)

John: (hurrying around the Command checking readouts) D'Argo, Aeryn and Rygel have disappeared. What happened? Did we hit something?

Pilot: (in his Den - in analysis mode) Still unknown. Quantify "disappeared."

John: Here one second gone the next. This a- oh is not the building-appeared. These readings are all over the map!

Pilot: Whatever's happened, most systems are out. Propulsion, guidance, comms. Even my DRDs aren't responding.

John: This is nuts. Nothing seems to be working. How's Moya?

Pilot: Frightened. (ruefully) And in great pain.

John: What is that out there?

Pilot: (in his Den, sounding calmer) I will labor to discover that once the DRDs re-establish internal tracking. I show Rygel on tier 8 and Officer Sun in maintenance bay 3. Still searching for D'Argo.

John: Keep looking. (he exits Command)

(cut to a corridor aboard Moya)

Zhaan: (angry) I said no Chiana!

Chiana: (frightened and angry) You can't stop me! I know how to fly a transport pod and I'm getting off this ship!

John: (entering) Not without everyone else you're not. How's the arm?

Zhaan: Well useless until the fibers regenerate.

John: Pilot's found Aeryn and Rygel.

Zhaan: Does he know what's happening?

John: Not yet. And he's still a little freaked out so he could probably use some company.

Zhaan: Okay. I'll go straight to the Den. (she exits and Chiana tries to sneak off in the other direction, John grabs her arm)

John: The comms don't work. Rygel is on tier 8. You'll have to find him on foot.

Chiana: Me?! Get frelled.

John: Listen Sunshine. You want to be part of this crew?

Chiana: On your good days.

John: This IS one of the good days. (taunting) I thought you were Junior Miss Tough Chick of the universe.

Chiana: Yeah when I can kiss or kick or cry my way out of it. This is way, way, WAY, WAY different.

John: You bet your ass it is. And Pilot can't get those outer bay doors open so you can fly that pod around on its pad. (softer) Chiana - it's going to be okay. Pilot's on the job. (uh... under the circumstances this really isn't all that comforting...)

Chiana: (pause) Tier 8.

John: Rygel. (she turns to go)

( cut to John as he enters maintenance bay 3 looking for Aeryn)

John: (calling) Aeryn! Aeryn, where are you? (no response, he mutters to himself-) Oh come on, Aeryn. Give me some kind of sign...

A workbench nearby begins to shake and the tools on top of it rattle about. The staccato binking sound first heard just after the starburst starts up again and John slowly approaches the table. Suddenly there's a flash of red and white light and although he is still in the maintenance bay - it is now filled with red light and a sort of organic bubbling sound. John seems dizzy and staggers, immediately aware that some sort of shift has taken place.

John: Pilot! Aeryn? Are you here? Ugh - what the hell is this light? (he starts to make his way back through the maintenance bay and out, he can barely stay upright and grabs onto things for support. He is nauseous as Moya seems to yaw and twist around him) Aeryn? Pilot? OOH! (he vomits in the sickening red light before continuing to make his way to Pilots Den. He ties a rag around his eyes to try and keep out the nauseating effect of the red light and breathes heavily through his nose. He enters Pilots Den - The Great Navigator is not there. John crawls up onto the Console and looks over its edge as he calls-) Pilot? Pilot? Pilot!

(cut to D'Argo, also trapped in the red-lit Moya. He staggers into the galley - still littered with the remains of their earlier feast. He is struggling mightily against sickness, breathing hard to keep his gorge down)

D'Argo: Is anybody here? Come on... Is anybody here? (he spots John groping his way along the corridor. The movements of both are affected by a sort of Doppler Effect that causes vertigo and motion sickness) Crichton... Crichton... I - I can't... Crichton... (but John doesn't hear him he sinks to the floor, unable to stand any more)

(cut to John as he staggers into the Command. He hears the staccato binking sound and peeks out from his blindfold. He sees, between two of Moya’s ribs on the ceiling - a patch of odd light)

John: (mumbling) It's the same light - It's...it's the same light as the maintenance bay... (he crawls up onto a console and is sucked into the patch of light. He abruptly finds himself laying on his back on the floor of the Command - but it is lit entirely with blue light)

The blue light is accompanied by sound. A constant alarm sound interspersed with high-pitched squeals and scratching. It's loud enough to be acutely painful and makes verbal exchange practically impossible. But at least there's no vertigo and John takes off at a trot - first to Pilots Den - where he again finds no Pilot - only the empty Console. He then continues on to the maintenance bay

John: (screaming - but his voice is barely audible) AERYN! AERYN! I CAN'T HEAR - AERYN? (he spots her - she has her back to him and he reaches out to tap her shoulder. She whirls around - pulse gun at the ready) WHOA. WHOA. WHOA! YOU ALMOST GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK. YOU OKAY? CAN YOU HEAR ME?

Aeryn: (shaking her head) NOTHING. NOTHING.

John: (pointing at her) YOU - YOU ALL RIGHT? YOU OKAY? (she assents and John gives the thumbs up)

Aeryn: D'ARGO - ANYWHERE?

John: WHAT? (Aeryn pantomimes D'Argo and points to her eyes)

John: D'ARGO! NO - (he pantomimes Rygel) RYGEL! HAVE YOU SEEN HIM? (Aeryn points at her eyes and shakes her head no. John gestures to her and yells-) FOLLOW ME - (he takes her back to the Command) THERE ARE DOORS BETWEEN THE MOYAS. THIS WAY. (he gets up onto the strategy table and tries to get out at the same point he entered at) COME ON. LOOK. UP. ( but there is no door and he drops back down to the floor, frustrated) CRAP! (Aeryn pantomimes again) WHAT? YEAH. "LOOK FOR D'ARGO." YEAH, RYGEL - YEAH.

They exit together and proceed to search Moya. Things get increasingly bizarre as John hears an ominous roar and tearing sound through the clanging and squealing of the blue light. He turns away from Aeryn and sees lines of white light, tearing through the air as if some great claws were ripping at the very fabric of space. It passes and Aeryn approaches. He pantomimes what he saw but she shakes her head and they continue on - the shredding white light rips through the air behind them. They enter Rygel’s quarters - he isn't there but John hears the staccato binking sound and spots his tape recorder sitting on a table. He reaches for the recorder and his hand disappears as if into a slash of light. He tries to pull back but is sucked in as he cries out -

John: AERYYYYN!

(his scream - which starts on Blue Moya - ends as he is pulled onto - Yellow Moya - where Rygel is sitting at a table eating, he looks up as John is spat out into existence and starts laughing uproariously)

Rygel: We-e-e-ell! Look at you!

John: Rygel! (he advances warily, looking around him and muttering-) Yellow light. Doesn't hurt. Can hear. This-this is good. (to Rygel - who continues to roar with laughter) What's so damn funny?

Rygel: You! You! You're making less sense than usual - but - in a cute way! (he goes into another paroxysm of laughter)

John: "Cute?!" I don't know what you've been smoking Buckwheat, but we've got a serious problem here.

Rygel: Nothing a good meal won't solve I'm sure! (laughs and laughs...)

John: What is up with you?

Rygel: Up? Everything's up! Everything's - UPUPUP!

John: Rygel, listen to me. Moya has a serious problem. Whatever she hit caused some kind of- (he giggles a bit) -kind of fracture. I don't know. I mean, we're all here, but we're not in the same time or place in space. (a smile is slowly creeping over his face and the sound that goes with the yellow light is heard to be like a goofy crank music box playing random notes. He shakes his head to clear the giggles that threaten to overwhelm him) Um - Have you seen D'Argo?

Rygel: D'Argo? I don't know. Nobody's here. Not even Pilot! I was quite frantic at first. Then I realized - I quite liked being on my own! (he erupts in a gale of merriment)

John: (a tiny smile fluttering on his lips) Yeah, that's the way I usually prefer you, too. But right now, we stick together. (he whips Rygel out of his seat and a cartoon whoosh is heard as Rygel whoops)

(cut to John and Rygel strolling down a corridor of Yellow Moya. Rygel's in the middle of a joke)

Rygel: ...And then the Trollian priest turns to the Kalanese cleric and says, "Doesn't bother me. You should have seen her mother!"

John: (bursts into laughter - he can barely walk and has to grab onto Rygel’s hoverchair while he roars) Nonononono! Her mother? (he struggles to regain his composure) Uh - oh - What am I doing?

Rygel: Entering into the spirit of things, I'd say.

John: (trying to be serious) Rygel, Rygel - Look at this place. Do you remember what happened?

Rygel: Yes. Nobody liked my Cholian Curd Salad. (they scream with laughter)

John: (forcing himself to stop) Nonononono! Afterwards. There was a collision.

Rygel: Yes, there was a collision. Yes. But we survived! So why worry?

John: (gasping) There's - there's something happening to Moya - and to us. You don't make jokes.

Rygel: (dead serious) No. No, I don't tell jokes. (they dissolve into helpless guffaws)

John: (forcing himself to stop being silly) And I don't LAUGH at them! It's-it's this place! It's doing something to us!

Rygel: Yes. Yes, it's doing something to us. But we'll both feel better once we've eaten!

John: Where there's a way in, there's a way out. (at that moment the terrible roaring sound and the ripping shreds of light John saw on Blue Moya are heard and seen nearby) Hey, Guido. Did you see that?

Rygel: (now REALLY serious) Yes, I did. (cut to John pacing and Rygel right behind him - neither are giggling) It was a hallucination, Crichton. Just a hallucination.

John: (sounding very much like Dorothy insisting the reality of Oz to her Auntie Em) It was real Rygel! IT WAS REAL! I mean, we both saw it!

Rygel: Hm. But it didn't come back. And it didn't hurt us. Didn't take the food. (he laughs a little)

John: We have to find a way out of here. It's hard to find. You gotta listen for a weeeird, straaange noise - something out of the ordinary.

Rygel: Hm. Weird noise. Does my stomach count? (they burst into laughter)

John: (catching himself again) No! That is not funny. That is not funny Rygel! Look I gotta get out of here before I end up like you!

Rygel: What? Handsome with a great sexual prowess? (they explode with glee)

John: (reaches out and pinches Rygel’s lips together with one hand and shakes a finger at him with the other) Shut up! Just shut up! Shh! Shh! Nope! I gotta get out of here. Either help me - help me -

Rygel: Hm? (John struggles to keep a straight face)

John: (he can't do it - he cracks up and staggers away from Rygel) Leave me alone! (he flees)

Rygel: (calling after him) I'll be in the galley with the food - and the monster! (he sails off laughing maniacally)

(cut to John walking that halls of Yellow Moya and sniggering to himself)

John: That was funny - (he hears the staccato binking sound) There's my noise. (he follows it to its source somewhere down one of Moya’s maintenance shafts) Okay Alice. Once more into the looking glass. (he swings into the shaft giggling and slides down it on his tush - disappearing with a flash of light a few yards in)

(cut to normal Moya - the Command)

Zhaan: (frustrated & angry) We can't find them Pilot. False information yet again.

Pilot: (on clamshell viewer) The DRDs still show Officer Sun on Tier 2. Rygel outside the center chamber. D'Argo in-

Chiana: -competent. You got it wrong, four-arms. They're nowhere.

Pilot: (elegantly derisive) Your inability to locate them does not negate the fact that they are there.

Chiana: Oh...

Zhaan: Then why can't we see them?

Pilot: Because -

John: (entering) Because you don't have X-ray vision. Do you?

Zhaan: (relieved) John, where have you been?

John: Right here. Pilot - what do you know about parallel realities? Temporal shifts? Two objects occupying the same space at the same time?

Pilot: (the wheels are turning) More information please.

John: There are at least three other Moya’s right here. Right now.

Pilot: Do you know the mathematical hypothesis - dimensional schism? Light and sound disjointed into base elements.

John: Red, blue, yellow...

Zhaan: Hypotheses just don't materialize Pilot. Tell us what's happened to us.

Pilot: Starburst is technically the seam between space-time dimensions. Moya’s power cells allow us access and we simply ride out the energy stream until we're pushed out. At random.

Chiana: (incredulous) Pushed out at random?

Zhaan: Not now, Chiana.

Chiana: What do you mean, "not now"? W-we go into this starlurch thing and we don't even know where we're going?

Pilot: (snidely) At the next appropriate moment - you're welcome to leave.

Chiana: (taken aback at his deadly tone and direct stare) Oh...

Zhaan: Tell us what happened Pilot.

Pilot: (carefully making sure the blame is spread on someone besides him and Moya) In her haste to accommodate so you wouldn't abandon us, Moya entered starburst without adequate thrust. At the moment, we appear to be - (his voice goes sheepishly high pitched) - stuck.

John: Wild guess here - We're still in starburst?

Pilot: (trying to cover up his faux-pas with technical jargon) Regrettably, our insertion vector was wrong and subsequent fluctuations aahh-

John: (sternly) Screw the science lesson Pilot! You should have told us that we're still in starburst. Now we are stuck into what?

Pilot: (weakly) Whatever's on the other side.

(cut to a view of Moya - surrounded by red, blue and yellow doppelgangers that fan out from her body like the petals of a flower. Streams of light in the primary colors intersect them)

(cut to a corridor aboard normal Moya, Chiana, John and Zhaan are walking)

Chiana: You say a creature? What kind of creature? The kind we eat - or the kind that eats us?

Zhaan: Is it possible that you saw a fragment from another dimension John?

John: If what Pilot says is accurate, yeah.

Zhaan: I've always wondered what could be beyond height and width, depth and time.

John: Nausea.

Zhaan: Spirituality?

John: That's a good wish.

Chiana: Pilot says we don't have enough power to pull free. What are we going to do?

John: First thing - protect ourselves in case that creature is the "eat us" kind. You two find some weapons. I'm gonna work with Pilot.

Zhaan: What did you have in mind?

John: Get the others. Bring 'em back. (he leaves them)

(cut to Pilots Den. John is standing next to him behind his Console. Pilot is explaining something to him)

Pilot: Follow the sequence exactly. When the ion backwash reaches maximum, funnel it all to reverse propulsion.

John: I'll try.

Pilot: (he doesn't look at John) Any deviation will result in failure.

John: I'll still try. (he steps across in front of Pilot, between his arms. Pilot works around him in a delicate 4-armed ballet as he goes, allowing him to pass) Look, Pilot. Why is Moya being schismed off by this deal? But not you, me, the others?

Pilot: Relative densities. The heavier the substance, the more pronounced the fissure. Even now, connected to Moya as I am, the effects are becoming noticeable and we are being drawn further in by the moment.

John: And when we get pulled apart?

Pilot: Molecular diaspora.

John: You know, Pilot - Moya did not have to go into starburst until she was ready.

Pilot: Now is hardly the time for recriminations Commander.

John: (he steps closer to Pilot and lays a hand on the great creature’s shoulder - Pilot slows the pace of his work and looks at John) It wasn't a recrimination. We should have been more up-front about our feelings. How's she doing?

Pilot: Same as us. Scared.

John: Well, we'll do what we can.

Pilot: She knows. (John pats him comfortingly)

(cut back to normal Moya’s corridors - John meets up with Chiana and Zhaan who are armed)

John: You'll be happy to know - we have a plan.

Chiana: I'll be happy to know if it works.

John: First thing - we find the others.

Chiana: "We?" We're going with you?

Zhaan: D'Argo and the others may be injured Chiana.

Chiana: Do I get a say in this?

Zhaan: No.

John: Nope. (suddenly roaring is heard and three jagged streaks of light come tearing through the air towards them) Look out! (all three of them hit the deck and the rips of light pass where their heads had been before doubling back and stopping to focus for a moment on John)

(later - cut to an unnerved Chiana and Zhaan entering the maintenance bay - the staccato binking noise is heard)

Zhaan: We stay together the whole way Chiana. No roaming.

Chiana: Yes mother.

John: (coming in behind them, also armed) No, mom. Plan has changed. (to Zhaan) You stay here with Pilot. If that creature comes back just - shoot it.

Zhaan: Even if I was still a full Pa'u I wouldn't hesitate.

John: (moving Chiana to a spot on the floor) Right here - You ready Pip?

Chiana: (nervous) Uh - Pip means...?

John: My favorite traveling companion.

Chiana: Before I got here, did they believe anything you said? (he just gives her a shove forward and she is sucked into Red Moya - John follows, immediately groaning in the nausea-inducing light. Chiana looks around) I thought you said this red light hurt your head?

John: (gagging, he claps a hand over his eyes) Augh - it does.

Chiana: (pleased) Well not to me.

John: I'm so glad. C'mon, let's get- (he peeks and sees D'Argo entering wearing a welding visor) D'Argo! You're alive!

D'Argo: Barely. This light affects thinking and motor functions.

Chiana: (smug & chortling) Not to me.

D'Argo: (ignoring her - to John) I saw you earlier on. What the hezmana happened to you?

John: That's way too much to go into right now. Suffice it to say that Moya had a little problem during starburst. She's wedged herself into another dimension and split off into at least 4 distinct parts.

D'Argo: Have you ever heard of anything like this happening before?

John: D'Argo, I haven't heard of anything like anything before. My planet doesn't even go to the moon anymore.

Chiana: (very serious) I've heard of it. My - my people’s weapons scientists once - once poked a hole through another dimension. Once it widened, they lost control.

D'Argo: Yeah. And what happened?

Chiana: No one's sure. Our whole solar system - 4 populated planets - dissolved into tiny chunks. That's why I want to get out of here.

John: We will. (peeking between his fingers at D’Argo’s visor) That thing help?

D'Argo: Barely. I only retch every once in a while now.

John: Look - we gotta get the engines started in each of Moya’s four incarnations in order to get out of here.

D'Argo: Pilot isn't here to operate them.

John: It's all right; he told me what to do. (at that moment the roaring creature of the tearing streams of light appears - it pauses and coalesces into a ball of brilliant light and seems to observe them - they shrink away from it) I was gonna tell you about that.

Chiana: (as the ball of light stops and intensifies) Look!

John: It's trying to come through from the other side.

D'Argo: Let's discourage it.

John: (to Chiana - about the gun she has) You know how to use that thing?

Chiana: I'm scared grotless - not stupid.

D'Argo: One - two - FIRE!

John: (as Chiana and D'Argo open fire) Hey, what happened to three? (but the creature disappears after a hail of little bolts of light from the weapons)

Chiana: We did it.

D'Argo: It does not feel like a victory.

John: Not - at - all.

(cut to Pilots Den aboard Red Moya. John and D'Argo are behind Pilots Console and John is trying to show him what Pilot said to do. Chiana wanders around the Den snickering with glee over the fact that she is unaffected by the red light)

John: (evidently D'Argo is slow on the uptake here. John is woozy) Nonono. Button - then lever slide. Look - I can stay. You go get Aeryn and Rygel.

D'Argo: You are in no condition.

John: Well you've been here longer.

D'Argo: You can barely stand! (to Chiana) Now you -- you say that this light doesn't affect you?

Chiana: (immediately wary) Yeah. No. No. Yes this light doesn't affect me. No, I won't stay alone. And NO - I won't - stay - alone.

D'Argo: (John speaks the words with him) Just take the girl. (D'Argo finishes alone) I'll be okay.

John: All right you know how to get out in case something goes wrong?

D'Argo: Yes, above the strategy table. Now go.

John: (as he climbs out from behind the Console) All right. Give us half an arn and then fire up everything in reverse.

D'Argo: I remember from the first seven times that you told me. (John begins to retch) Ah-ah-ah-AH! Not here! Go! Go! I do not want that here! (but John pukes energetically as D'Argo groans)

Chiana: (in a determined tone) Doesn't affect me. (she and John leave)

(cut to the portal leading to Blue Moya. John is giving Chiana a leg up to pass through)

Chiana: Are you sure about this?

John: Just go up.

Chiana: What if the creature's waiting?

John: Then piss it off.

Chiana: How?

John: Pretend it's me.

And with that he pushes Chiana through the portal and then follows her. But hubris is swift and Chiana’s smugness at being unaffected by the red light is gone. The noise of the blue light is agonizing beyond her ability to tolerate. She screams and screams and isn't able to even stand. John throws her over his shoulders and sprints through Blue Moya to Rygel’s quarters where he pushes her through the portal to Yellow Moya before going to find Aeryn on his own.

As he enters the maintenance bay - the light creature makes another appearance. But this time it's ripping shreds of light create visible damage - smoking gashes on Aeryn’s Prowler and the walls of Moya. Shots are fired and he turns to see Aeryn, shooting at the thing - it withdraws. She is wearing a headset that covers both ears and has a microphone attached - and hands another set to John. They mute the terrible din of Blue Moya and make verbal communication possible.

John: HEY MU- much better!

Aeryn: You all right?

John: Aeryn, this is genius.

Aeryn: I modified flight headsets to block out acoustic wavelengths, that's all.

John: It's not bad for a girl who hates to do homework.

Aeryn: Well, it's military tech. It's battle-tested. Why did you not shoot at that thing?

John: I don't know.

Aeryn: You don't-? Brilliant instinct Crichton. Have you seen my Prowler?

John: Oh yeah. I was here for that show. Who missed it? Look, Pilot thinks Moya's been wedged into another dimension.

Aeryn: That thing's trying to get into ours.

John: Yeah.

Aeryn: Have you found the others?

John: Well, Moya's separated off into separate environments. D'Argo's in one, Rygel's somewhere else, and we're here.

Aeryn: Clearly you've found a route to get through.

John: Yeah but it's not gonna matter if we get sucked in any farther.

Aeryn: Is there a plan?

John: Yup.

Aeryn: Well?

John: Pilot needs more power. All engines have to be on full reverse at the same time.

Aeryn: (annoyed) That should have been the first thing you told me Crichton! (she turns to head for Pilots Den)

John: (running after her) Yeah, I know! I know, but I was busy! (yeah busy making time) Aeryn! Waitwaitwait! Let me - uh - let me show you what to do.

Aeryn: I know the sequence for full reverse. Get on to the others.

John: Pilot was pretty specific about what he wanted.

Aeryn: I have some of Pilots DNA, remember?

John: Pilot was very specific.

Aeryn: (reciting) Rotate blue crystal, trim yellow disk, extinguish orange light, open copper rods, black-

John & Aeryn: -panel depressed halfway-

Aeryn: (alone) -dial tri-connector open, hot progression purple, green, orange, gold lights, green knob-

John & Aeryn: - maximum thrust.

John: It's going to be harder to - doubt you in the future.

Aeryn: Well I apologize for my strengths.

John: Give me half an arn and then fire it up.

Aeryn: Got it. (they parts ways, John pauses to gaze at the steaming, glowing gashes left by the creature)

(cut to John as he enters Yellow Moya)

John: Chiana? Sparky? SPARKY! (he sprints off to look for them - but finds some halls are now cut off by the dimensional schism) Crap!

(cut to Pilots Den on Yellow Moya. Rygel sits behind the Console and Chiana is doing a balance-beam act atop it. Both are giggling like fools)

Rygel: Careful - careful - Don'tslipandfallanddie! (Chiana bobbles but they both yell with laughter)

John: (entering wearily) I'm so glad to see you two are safe.

Chiana: Well I said you'd have that look on your face. (to Rygel gleefully) See?

John: (as he climbs behind the Console) Well I was worried about you.

Chiana: Well I found Rygel and I managed to bring him here. Then we started talking and - do you know any good jokes?

John: Not besides the one I'm living.

Rygel: Tch - all right Mr. Serious. What are you doing?

John: Putting Moya’s propulsion system into full reverse.

Rygel: Mm? OH! Reverse? No Dominar from the house of Rygel ever travels in reverse!

John: Well turn around - pretend you're going forward. (to Chiana as she and Rygel cackle madly) You stay here with Napoleon. If for any reason the engines shut down - restore the green knob.

Chiana: (unable to keep a straight face) Ignore the green slob.

John: Restore - the - green - knob. You do that and I'll let you take a transport down to the next planet, 'kay?

Rygel: Crichton that's outrageous!

Chiana: (grinning brainlessly) Green - knob. Green knob.

John: Good girl. Hang tough Sparky. Enjoy the personality. (he starts to leave)

Rygel: (begins to sing - much to Chiana’s delight) Oh, there is no expanse of the mind - the will cannot traverse - or physically the distance laid across the universe - As blessings many in the stars save one lamented curse - that 16th Rygel - glory me! Must travel in reverse! (John smiles despite himself) HAHA! There's a little dance that goes with that but I can't do them both at the same time.

(cut to John - sliding down the shaft from Yellow Moya to normal Moya - laughing. Zhaan is waiting with a gun)

John: Aaahhh! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! I wish people would stop pointing guns at me!

Zhaan: When you didn't show, I was beginning to think I was in the wrong place. (they exit the shaft) Pilot reports full reverse power - you did it John.

John: What about the creature?

Zhaan: Well I keep shooting at it but it keeps coming back.

John: Well we gotta hold it off until Pilot can get us out of here. (he notes she is wearing a blue and gold robe) Your vestments.

Zhaan: I suddenly realized I'd forsaken the priesthood in practice. But not in my soul.

John: Why'd you put them on now?

Zhaan: I - I fear we may die here soon. (they pause at a junction in the corridor that ends in blank white light before jogging off towards the Command) Whole sections are being swallowed up. Pilot! It's getting worse!

Pilot: (on clamshell viewer as John and Zhaan enter the Command) Crichton!

John: (looking intently up at glowing slashes carved into the wall by the creature) Pilot - report.

Pilot: Not good. Despite Moya’s best efforts, we are still being drawn in. There is one - very long shot.

Zhaan: Anything, Pilot.

Pilot: (heartbroken) Moya could - willingly - lose the baby.

John: No!

Zhaan: No way!

Pilot: (bleakly) It will definitely increase her power quotient - though I am not sure it is enough to get us free.

John: Pilot, no. We cannot ask Moya to make that sacrifice.

Pilot: We should not have attempted starburst when we did. Our insecurities have brought us to this place. Besides, the baby cannot survive if we don't.

John: Pilot, listen to me. Whatever happens, we go together. We keep the baby. (at that moment the light creature appears, roaring)

Zhaan: John!

Pilot: (in his Den - his claws fly up in a gesture of terror and he shouts) SHOOT IT! Moya's very scared! Please! Shoot it! (Moya's scared Big Fella?)

John: Don't fire.

Zhaan: It's coming through. John! The hole is widening!

John: (staring at the glowing scratches it tears into the wall) Prime numbers. Those scratches are grouped in prime numbers: 3, 5, 7, 11. PRIME!

Zhaan: It's trying to communicate.

John: You bet your blue ass. (Pilot gasps - presumably more at the supposition the creature may be trying to communicate than at the reference to Zhaan’s azure booty) This isn't an attack, Zhaan - it's an invitation.

Pilot: (as John approaches the creature) I urge you to shoot it!

John: It's trying to communicate. I know it. It's not attacking. (he puts aside his gun and walks towards the light in which the creature is)

Zhaan: John no! What if the hole closes up?

John: Then I'll be dead a few minutes before you. That's all. (he steps into the light and finds himself in a glaring white void. The creature is there - indistinct, amorphous. It is bright blue and red and pulsates. It most resembles a sea creature - like a coral or a sponge) Who are you?

Interdimensional Being: (in a cool feminine voice) Unimportant. Your container has breached our existence.

John: Is that where I am? In your dimension?

Interdimensional Being: There can be no overlap. This is the expanse between. Your mental organ is unable to interpret the chasm to your existence.

John: (chuckling) You got that right, pal.

Interdimensional Being: My function is to repair breaches.

John: Does this happen a lot?

Interdimensional Being: Never before with living material.

John: Bad news, pal. We are living. Can you help us get out?

Interdimensional Being: I must destroy all material. The breach is fatal.

John: W-w-w-hang on! Give us a chance. We're-we're trying to back out.

Interdimensional Being: That path will tear the rupture beyond restoration.

John: So what are you saying? There's no way?

Interdimensional Being: Forward.

John: Forward? I thought you said we can't exist in your existence.

Interdimensional Being: I will attempt to conduct you to the space where you began.

John: Starburst.

Interdimensional Being: I can guide. You must provide your own thrust - forward.

John: W-w-wait! What if we don't have enough power?

Interdimensional Being: Forward.

John: WAIT! (the creature disappears and John is thrust back through the portal into in his own dimension - aboard normal Moya) Did you hear? Did you hear it?

Zhaan: Hear what? You barely got your head inside the hole and out again before it closed.

John: (panting) The creature - I talked to it.

Pilot: (frankly disbelieving) Commander! There wasn't time.

John: There was for me. You've got to tell Moya to stop resisting. And she has to go forward. starburst forward.

Pilot: (indignant) I will not!

John: We don't have a choice. Look, you tell me what to do and I'll relay it to the others. Pilot, trust me.

Pilot: (eyeing John, but reluctantly relenting) Reverse the final four controls.

John: Right. Give me 500 microts, then go.

Zhaan: John! John, what if you're wrong?

John: You were going to pray anyway.

Pilot: (icy) 500...499...

John & Pilot: (as John takes off running) 498... (he passes through the portal to Red Moya and heads for the Den) 472...471...470....

D'Argo: (as John enters Pilots Den on Red Moya) The engines are in full reverse. Did it work? (John pukes at D’Argo’s feet) Uuuuggghhh....

John: Shut it down. Wrong direction. We have to go forward.

D'Argo: No, that is suicide.

John: Huh-uh. Nonono. It's the same control sequence, just reverse the last four commands.

D'Argo: Can you explain to me how you have arrived at this decision?

John: Oh, nonono. No time. Just wait 300 microts then - forward.

D'Argo: I have no time-keeping device.

John: (giving him one) One-Mississippi-ONE, one-Mississippi-TWO, one-Mississippi-THREE... 300! Forward.

D'Argo: (darn those translator microbes, clearly feeling as silly and tired as he sounds) One mippippippi... Two mippippippi... Three mippippippi... FOUR mippippippi...

(cut to John entering Blue Moya - but he isn't able to get to Pilots Den - the corridors are blocked by the dimensional schism. He puts on the headset and calls to Aeryn)

John: Aeryn? Aeryn, you there?

Aeryn: (responding from elsewhere on Blue Moya) Ah! Where have you been?

John: On the run. Where are you?

Aeryn: I was trying to get out of here. I didn't know if you were coming back.

John: I'd never leave you. (making time again)

Aeryn: Something the matter?

John: Yeah. We got it wrong. We have to go forward.

Aeryn: Just tell me what I have to do.

John: 150 microts from now - full maximum thrust. You know how to do that?

Aeryn: Yes, of course I do.

John: Good. Hey look, this dimension thing's chopping up the ship. You know a way I can get to quarters?

Aeryn: Well - the lower levels are gone. You might want to try tier 7 through the ion backwash chamber. I'm gonna head back to Pilots.

John: 150 microts.

Aeryn: 130 now - Good luck.

John: Back at you, baby. (with some difficulty - he manages to find a path and enters the portal to Yellow Moya where again - his way is increasingly blocked by the schism) 52... 51... 50...

Rygel: (as John finally stumbles into Pilots Den aboard Yellow Moya) Oh, there you are!

Chiana: Look at him!

Rygel: The other runners came through here arns ago!

John: Still auditioning for Star Search I see.

Rygel: No, I have a new philosophy Crichton. What used to be important, isn't - and what should be important - never will be!

John: (as he gets behind the Console with Rygel) Great - that way when this whole thing screws up and we die, you're not going to be whinging in my ear, right? (Rygel laughs as John counts) 12...11...

Chiana: (tickling John) Hey, why don't you relax. Join in the fun?

John: Give me 7 seconds, baby. We'll come and go together. 4... 3... 2...1 (he initiates max thrust and the ship begins to shudder violently) Whoa - hell we're screwed -

Rygel: (he ducks down and comes up between Johns arms) Should I disrobe so it's memorable?

Chiana: (laughing) Yes.

The scene shifts to an external shot of Moya - she and her red, blue and yellow doppelgangers begin to come together like a fan folding up. Cut back to Pilots Den and as each dimensional schism closes, the crew is pulled back onto the same plane of existence aboard normal Moya in flashes of dimensional light. Since they were all at Pilots Console in the various Moya’s, they all wind up tumbled atop one another. They begin to whoop and laugh with relief and exhaustion…

Rygel: I'm alive!

Pilot: (he's the only one not laughing and he looks haggardly at the others as they fall about laughing and hugging each other) I fail to see the source of your amusement. (he says quietly to no-one in particular)

(later - cut to Moya’s galley. The crew is once again indulging in a big meal but this time the atmosphere is more like a group of friends at happy hour after a long work week. Several lively conversations are going on at once)

John: (in a conversation with D'Argo) No, no, no! You did NOT say that!

D'Argo: I did. I was very shameless in my youth.

John: And that worked?

D'Argo: Of course not! The girl screamed and I was almost arrested. (he bursts into laughter)

Chiana: (to Zhaan) ...and when he didn't give it back, we beat the gris out of him. Should I be telling you this?

Zhaan: My dear, I've kicked more ass than you've sat on.

Rygel: ... Oh yes. I spent all evening listening to them gripe and whine about me. But of course, they didn't realize I was their Dominar.

Aeryn: I admire your openness to criticism Rygel. When did you tell them who you were?

Rygel: At their trial, of course! (there is general laughter)

D'Argo: Everyone! Is it just me or is this the best food that we've ever had?

Zhaan: Nothing like the taste of death to clear the palate.

Aeryn: Mm. I suppose there isn't a thing here that I couldn't live on for a cycle.

Chiana: Except - except maybe this - (she's holding a big roll of something - the others groan)

D'Argo: No I was assuming because of the lack of taste of that - that it was a garnish.

John: Hey those are Grandmother Crichton’s famous buttermilk biscuits!

Rygel: What's in them?

John: Self-rising flour, salt, shortening, buttermilk - touch of honey.

Zhaan: But we have none of those ingredients John.

John: Mm... maybe that's the problem... (they all laugh)

Pilot: (breaking in - once again sounding a bit miffed - at being left out perhaps?) I'm sorry to interrupt your meal - but how can you all be so jovial after our near-miss?

Aeryn: We were affected profoundly by it Pilot. How are you two handling it?

Pilot: Well enough to alleviate your concerns about our starburst problems. There's been a change in the status of Moya’s baby.

D'Argo: (after a long moment of apprehensive silence from the crew) Is she in any danger?

Pilot: Doing fine. (suddenly eager with something to share with the crew too) Actually, more than fine.

John: We're going to have a baby?

Pilot: Yes! There's no exact timetable for leviathan gestations - but Moya feels confident that the day is coming.

Rygel: Oh ho! Well in that case, tell her, if she's so inclined - when it is born she can name it after me!

Chiana: That would only work if it's a runt.

Rygel: Watch it, girlie!

John: This is one of the good days, people! (he raises his glass in a toast) To a happy, healthy baby.

Rygel: Hear! Hear!

D'Argo: (he takes Johns upraised glass and drinks) Thanks!

Zhaan: Rygel! (she leans across the table to give him a hug and kiss as he yells with protest and the scene dissolves to merry chaos)

THE END