While you've been away....

Ragan

"That I have absolutely no chance with Aeryn Sun," Crais says, frowning slightly. "She and Crichton...."

He shakes his head slightly and throws up his hands, clearly somewhat vexed about it still. But, somehow it seems more . . . good humored than angered.

Hm, what's up here?

"See the same things in her eyes--my reality's Aeryn Sun- - as I see in the other ones for 'their' Crichtons," he sighs "even IF despite all these fine and clear examples around them they're still trying to sort their relationship, as I see it whatever that relationship eventually develops into . . . it won't include me.

"Besides I've grown rather fond of . . . someone aboard this station," he finishes up. "So the matter is moot, anyway. 'My' Crichton and Aeryn want to emigrate to this reality anyway so I figure if I can, after your 'friends' are done with him, convince Talyn (and of course Moya, being that she is the gunship's mother) to travel by wormhole back here. . ."

Hm, being that Moya didn't have that disastrous encounter with the Pathfinder vessel (getting knocked into the distorted region of a wormhole and nearly buying the farm).... Yeah, I think that Crais might be able to swing it. Maybe.

With a little help from the Doctor, of course. Wormholing ain't like dusting crops back home, boy! Bounce too close to a super nova or....

No, Ragan, stop with the Star Wars impersonations. Not a really good idea right now.

Bottom line, the hope is that after this was done he was coming BACK here, hopefully. Strange, considering the frellin' hurry he's in to get GONE from here! Then again, there was that retrieval squad after him....

"Which is being headed up by none other than Aeryn's mother," I interrupt.

Feeling froggy today are we? Betty sends my way, a little wryly. On other days I might have been a bit more tact, but still and all....

"Actually....no," Crais corrects me. "Fear that Aeryn's mother died in action according to what data files I'd been able to access through Talyn's systems. No mention of what the fate of Aeryn's father, in case you're wondering.

"And before you point it out, since you . . . know me..." he continues, giving me a neutral look and then shrugging (as if just accepting the situation as it stood). "Yes, I would have eventually used it in part to win over Aeryn. No, I was . . . would have been sincere in my wishes on helping her win over her mother from the hold that the Peace Keepers have on her. Let her become more than the thug and killer she would still be. What I and Aeryn had been...."

He left off, leaving me to draw my own conclusions. Pretty much can figure that out, thanks.

"But you already know that," he cuts himself off, again looking at me. "But that said . . . it still rather amounts to the same thing for both me and Talyn in that we have a retrieval squad after us and were in need of help. Originally from Crichton and his gang, but now? Especially after of the . . . life I could have here? And it isn't like I would be betraying any secrets about Peace Keeper technology or tactics, considering what had come through to a certain gas giant's system along with any tactics garnered from disoriented station personnel."

Oh, so he KNOWS about that business we had earlier. At least in part. Probably heard it through the grapevine amongst station personnel in the month we'd been away. I advice him to not tell me or the other Champions about anymore about what he may have heard (from Crichton of Season 1 . . . surprised that Crais is still able to walk, all considering how things had left off with . . . well, you get the idea). Explain to him that with the way things work for Timelords (and others who travel through time with him in the TARDIS), once a fact from the future is revealed it becomes almost impossible to avoid. Has all to do with the means of insertion for time travel. Different means of travel have different consequences and side effects. The TARDIS method happens to be the most elegant means, as it were. Fewest problems, but that aside the bottom line is if we don't know, we have maneuvering room.

That's how we were able to rescue Jothee back when he was still a child, after all, despite the fact that D'Argo (ala Season 1) had been imprisioned for years (unaware of his son's fate). (re: 23438)

....

Hm, speaking of Jothee, I wonder how the one who got swept up in the rush of it all back on the Defiant is doing? How he's reacting to the latest that has been happening with his father and "his" Chiana, considering recent events.

Then again, why not leave that little bit of business alone. After all, it's none of my business, right? Right?! I mean, learned enough as it is about other peoples lives through the TV shows! Didn't ever really expected to have been playing Peeping Tom and....

Ah, drop Ragan! One crisis at a time . . .

Crais, meanwhile, being a tactician amongst other things can appreciate that so nods and says no more on the subjects from the future (by our clock).

Will have to pass along that advice to the Crichton (ala Season 4) about that as well.

Wonder what had happened....but then again I'd better wait until later.

Okay, so once this is done he's going to vacate the premises.

But only later to I find out that Crais' plans for the future might, the people involved, might not necessarily be in line with other people's plans.

A point that becomes glaringly obvious before we can well get into planning (loosely) our next move. Crais mentions what he plans on doing with Talyn, which he says will probably mean Moya will come along. Zhaan (who's still sort of wiped out from that session which cured that body swapping problem) protests strongly (or as strongly as one who can barely stand) that this should not be allowed. Believe that in part it has to do that sometime in the future she wants to return to her homeworld and those plans rely on Moya taking her and Stark there.

And ther was also something along the lines where she'd pretty much sworn to protect Moya. Keep her from harm and such....

Elrondir

"Wait, no need to argue here," I interrupt. "For Creator's sake, we're going to take you there by TARDIS after this Quest was done anyway, Zhaan. And we don't have any plans or ploys on tearing them apart to study them...."

"I wasn't implying that at all!" she protests. "I'm just saying that..."

"Dearie, hate to interrupt here but I feel I'd better put my two farthings worths," Walker drawls. "From what Crais tells about his Talyn, he'd BETTER get the gunship over here and quickly. Might be wrong, but I fear he's starting to show the beginnings of cyber-psychosis..."

Ah yes, she'd know about that, wouldn't she? She'd suffered from it herself before getting cured of that affliction by the Military. She might be way wrong here, considering that Talyn's not human . . . or that the source of Talyn's problems.

Then again, either way, Crais' Talyn will need some looking after that I fear that Zhaan alone won't be able to give. This is more of a job for specialists along the lines of (sorta) Walker's calling. That is the psyche boys are needed for this. Great it the kid's mother comes along. Make it easier, really. A family counseling session.

Whatever, I just want to get MOVING now instead of more bickering!

...

Well enough, the proposal is passed and all is done. What the hell, we're now finally gonna get down to some actual planning!

That in itself is a prodigy! Now, finally, we are going to get the basics of this Quest from the new Champion here, Sovay.

After all, it was she who got briefed about the Quest specifics in the first place!

But . . . of course we run into questions right off the bat during the first part of the brief. That's okay, though. It was the pre-briefing bickering that kept delaying (and delaying) this briefing that was driving me batty, thanks!

B'Elanna

"Wait, you-you're saying that the first place where to start after we pick up this Talyn is-is where I just left?" Aeryn-Pip sputters. "Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it against Cosmic policy or something, not letting all but those Champions from Terra Prime, a place which is a homebase... I mean, I can't go back home! Right?"

Not that there was much to return home to, if I remember correctly about what had happened back there on the burning Moya (courtesy of the Sheyang).

"Well, the Agent had been kind of vague but he'd said that Moya and our target was in a place that traversed both your reality and the realms of the Ancient's parent race," the demifox female says. "In it's distorted region, I'd been told. Don't know what that exactly means but perhaps one of you might?"

The means to finding MOST of the places we need to go blinks...

"Sonovabitch!" he mutters. "That Moya got sucked down a wormhole! Not only that but got smacked into the rough like what had happened to my Moya when we collided with that Pathfinder vessel! Frell!

"But . . . how the Hell did that happen?" he mutters, still a bit lethargic from the operation done on him to rid him of Flagg's meddling. It'd been a touchy situation, but we'd managed.

Creator knows how, but we did manage. Good, considering that unless we had, John would be useless to us for our Quest needs. We'd almost accidentally triggered something within the still active hex on Crichton here (what with him meeting Aeryn-Pip and going over matters that the Demon wished to remain hidden, if I don't miss my guess)....

Guess that the only reason why Aeryn-Pip didn't have the same problems lurking inside her brain (ready to tear it apart) is that it would have been well nigh stupid gesture. Her regeneration would have fixed her up right after such a deadly curse had shredded her mind, you know. Back before she'd become a Champion for Rules and Agents. Back before that, she'd had instantaneous regeneration.

Gotta give it to that tribble loving pata.... Well, Flagg might be evil, but he'd been no fool. Just left off with Crichton (Fourth Seasoning boy), covering tracks. Pretty sure that he'd planned on utilizing Aeryn-Pip well before she became a danger to his schemes!

But as for John, now?

Yeah, if you haven't guessed it John's coming along for the ride. He has this hum in his head like a whale, like sonar (boy, was interesting to hear John explain to both girls in gray what a whale is, heh).

Wonder how long it'll be before the barrage of whale jokes I and the others have coming his way will drive him up the walls.

Crichton torture if fun!

....

Anyway....

"Well," Betty laughed nervously. "God only knows what the hell happened exactly to Moya after the Sheyang ripped her apart. She had been near a wormhole because you'd tripped down into her. Way it works, I believe. Maybe she got sucked down into it and somehow flipped into that zone, you know?"

Or maybe she'd had a close, unwanted encounter with that reality's version of Pathfinders. Who knows exactly what happened.

Aeryn-Pip has know clue who we'd be retrieving. Maybe one of the Sheyang got sucked along for the ride? Safe enough wherever he (told that Sheyang raiders are almost always male, how barbaric) is hold up, he's probably safe enough but trapped.

Remains to be seen and wait it shall. First we need to get Talyn, right? Because once we board the TARDIS (which is STILL in Garabaldi's office, man wants it out of there soon) it'll blink back there first (via the Celestrials, if you must know).

From there, we really don't NEED to follow any set order of retrieval, just that Sovay says that the Rules and Agents had hinted strongly that this be the second on our journey. Mimic her trip in and out of the unrealized realities, ending up with the part of the Quest that was Crichton's first foray into it.

After Talyn, to do the "Unrealized Reality" thing, we need a wormhole. And THEN, we go onto....

And then onto something totally different! Full of running blades and stirring accounts of shaken drinks and....

No, will leave off there. It's a surprise!

Can see Inquirer rubbing her hands in anticipation over those, though!

Anyway, soon after settling on a course of action those who are going back (if only for a time) to the realm where Sigin had rescued an Aeryn Sun from a watery grave.

Will turn out later that we'd be spending more time than originally anticipated, but that's for later.

We step into the TARDIS and just as soon as the doors close, the Doctor's opening them again. Outside, we see a familiar looking face with a decidedly familiar looking expression like he (or his analog) had worn on our very first encounter (re: 22714).

"Who are you? What are you doing here!?" Pilot shouts, trying to control his panic (but failing).

But being that'd I'd been the first through the doorway of the TARDIS into the Pilot's Den, I get to greet him!

"Hi Pilot!" I nearly chirp, the elfin mischief within unable to be denied (this time). "So, how's my favorite Pilot of the Pilot race, eh? How's Moya!?"

D'Argo (ala Season 2)

What is this elf? Fahrbot?!

"Uh, calm down," I manage to say to B'Elanna, who's got that fey look in her eyes as she is grinning still at the befuddled Pilot. Think it was the sight of TWO Crichtons which did him in, here.

Know I'd been taken aback, myself, by that. He's a loyal friends and ally, but somehow the thought of there being two in one place....?!

"They're with me," I continue before Pilot can gather his wits at my and the others unexpected arrival.

"D'Argo! Aeryn! Where have you all been?" Pilot finally manages, blinking. "Talyn's going bezerk and Moya's not able to get near him without being targeted. He'd already blasted a Marauder while you'd disappeared, but...."

1. "We'll just see about that," Crais says sternly, interrupting Pilot's update, reaching for his transponder and slapping it on. He wants Talyn safe and sound, but to do that Talyn needed some talking with, shall we say!

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