XOVER: Betrayal - part 2 of 5
Dawn341@AOL.COM
Thu, 11 Jul 2002 18:37:07 EDT
Betrayal - part 2 of 5
For disclaimers and warnings, see part 1.
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"Commander," Pilot's voice broke into Crichton's thoughts.
"Yes, Pilot?"
"D'Argo's ship is returning, but he has not signaled Moya."
"Do you think there's some kind of trouble?" Crichton surged to his
feet, leaving his half-eaten dinner behind.
"I am not certain."
"Right." Crichton tapped on his communicator, as he started running down
Moya's corridors. "Aeryn, Crais, meet me in the docking bay. Pilot, have
the docking web ready."
He reached the docking bay first, but Aeryn and Crais weren't far
behind. They were both carrying pulse rifles, and Crichton pulled his
pulse pistol. While their weapons might not be needed, they had long ago
learned to be cautious.
It seemed to take forever before D'Argo's ship had landed, and the door
opened. The Luxan charged out of his ship and headed straight for
Crichton.
"That so-called friend of yours has betrayed us!" D'Argo almost shouted.
"Pilot, starburst out of here! Now!"
"What?" Crichton couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Richie wouldn't
betray us. And what about Jool?"
"She told me that Ryan had turned himself in to the first Peacekeepers
they found, and was telling them everything. She managed to get away,
and contacted me before the Peacekeepers came looking for me."
"Richie wouldn't do that," Crichton insisted. "Besides, we can't leave
Jool behind."
"She told us to. She's found some people who can help her get back home.
We have to get out of here before Scorpius sends a command carrier here.
As for Ryan, I hope Scorpius tortures him for an eternity!"
"Richie would *not* betray us! He wants to get home just as much as I
do. As we all do."
"Maybe he thinks the best way to do that is to help Scorpius get hold of
you," Crais suggested. "After all, Scorpius is further along in creating
wormholes than you are."
"No, I won't believe that," Crichton insisted again, even though a small
part of his mind couldn't help but wonder. Hadn't he done things in the
last three cycles that he would have sworn he'd never do? Maybe the
temptation to get back home was too much for Richie. "Aeryn, what do you
think?"
"I hardly know him," she said with a frown. "However, this may be the
chance we were looking for. We didn't know how to find Scorpius or his
new Gammak research base. Maybe he will come here to get Ryan. Or
they'll take Ryan to him, and we could follow."
"There is no way I am going to let Scorpy get his hands on Richie! I
don't even want to think about how he could torture someone who can't
die." Crichton shuddered as he remembered his own bouts with Scorpius.
"If he cooperates, Scorpius won't need to torture Ryan," Crais pointed
out. "And Aeryn is right. This is our chance to find out where their
Gammak base is."
Crichton had to admit that they were right, but he still didn't believe
Richie had surrendered to the Peacekeepers. "All right. We'll see if
this leads us to Scorpy, but I still think there's something wrong with
Jool's story. Maybe Richie was trying to protect her, and she
misunderstood his intentions."
"She sounded very positive about what happened," D'Argo stated firmly.
"Okay, until we find out more, we'll work on that assumption. I suppose
we still need to get supplies."
"No, they'd finished their purchases, and I had them loaded on my ship
before Jool contacted me."
"And you don't think that's a little weird?" Crichton asked. "If Richie
was going to turn himself in to the Peacekeepers, why would they have
finished their shopping first?"
"He's got a point," Aeryn agreed. "Without those supplies we would have
needed to remain here, or find another commerce planet very soon. If
Ryan was going to turn us in, I wouldn't have expected him to re-supply
us first."
"Unless he couldn't find any Peacekeepers, and didn't want to alarm
Jool," D'Argo suggested.
"Maybe. Pilot, have there been any communications from the Peacekeepers
on the planet?"
"Not yet, Commander. I will keep monitoring."
"All right. In the meantime, I suggest we unload the supplies."
*****
"Why did you kill him?" Lieutenant Corak demanded. "We wanted him alive.
He won't be much use to Scorpius this way."
"I keep telling you that he's not really dead," Jool insisted. "He can't
die! If I hadn't shot him, he would have gotten away. And then you would
have had no reason to fulfill our bargain."
"How did you find out about him? And that Scorpius is interested in
humans? And how did you get to this planet?"
"I was kidnapped by Crichton and the rest of the escaped prisoners from
Moya. I had to act like I wanted to stay with them, until they trusted
me enough to let me get off the ship alone. Even then, they sent Ryan
along to keep me in line. I was never so happy to see Peacekeepers when
I ran into your squad."
"And you have no loyalty to these fugitives?"
"Absolutely none. They were responsible for the deaths of my two
cousins. I would have killed Crichton myself, if I could have! I even
tried one time. Now, I demand that you fulfill your side of the bargain.
I want a transport to take me home."
"Not yet. We didn't bargain for a dead prisoner. And you must know where
Moya is."
"Up there somewhere." Jool waved her hand toward the sky. "I'm no pilot
or navigator. I told you where the transport had docked. It's not my
fault that they managed to take off before your troops got there."
Jool hoped they believed her even though she was lying through her
teeth. She hadn't been able to handle the thought of D'Argo being
captured by the Peacekeepers, so she had warned him before leading
Richie into the trap. But there was no way she was going to admit that.
Or that she hadn't really been a prisoner on Moya.
She just wanted to go home.
Maybe she wouldn't have done this if Crichton and Aeryn hadn't come up
with the crazy idea of going after Scorpius and his Gammak base. They
were going to get themselves killed, and she had no intention of dying
alongside of them.
And it wasn't like Richie could die. Still, she felt a little guilty at
using him to buy her passage home.
"Sir. You aren't going to believe this," one of the sub-officers said,
interrupting his superior's interrogation. "The prisoner is alive!"
*****
Richie stared at the locked door to his cell, fighting back the urge to
smash his hand into it. It had been three days since he'd been captured,
and he'd spent most of it in the cell. Other than when he'd first woken
up in some kind of medical center, he'd been here ever since.
They never opened the door. He was given food cubes and water through an
opening. He had toilet facilities in his cell, but no way of washing up.
He'd kill for a hot shower and a shave about now.
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't come up with an
escape plan. The electronic lock on his door was way beyond his
comprehension. He couldn't jump his guards because they never came into
his cell. He had nothing to bribe a guard with - unless he promised to
reveal Moya's whereabouts - and he wasn't exactly sure where that was.
Not that he would ever do that, of course.
He had to admit that he was surprised that he hadn't been tortured yet.
They hadn't even asked him any questions. From what Crichton had said,
he had not expected to be left alone. Sure, the doctors had poked and
prodded him after he had first come back to life, but then the
lieutenant in charge had stopped them, and rushed Richie off to this
cell.
Unfortunately, all this solitude gave him too much time to think. He
couldn't help but wonder what Jool had told the rest of Moya's crew
about his disappearance. For all he knew, she was back on Moya, planning
on betraying the rest of them. Or maybe she already had. Maybe they were
all locked up in cells, and he just didn't know it.
Maybe that explained why they hadn't tried to rescue him yet.
Or maybe they didn't care enough about him to try to rescue him.
He didn't want to believe that Crichton would just abandon him, but he
had to admit that his friend could have changed in the last three years.
After all, Crichton had been living with only aliens as companions. He'd
been tortured by Scorpius, and had a neural chip implanted in his brain
which had been slowly taking it over. He'd been given brain fluid from
another alien. And he'd been twinned. Any of those things might have
twisted his thinking.
Or maybe Crichton was just jealous that Aeryn had been spending so much
time with Richie, and now he had his opposition out of the way.
With a muttered oath, Richie jumped to his feet, and slammed his hand
into the wall of his cell. He heard bones breaking but didn't care. He
welcomed the pain that would be all too fleeting as a distraction from
his thoughts.
He had to stop thinking that his only friend in this universe had
betrayed him. He needed to know that there was someone out there on his
side - and that someone could only be John Crichton.
There was no one else.
*****
"I thought Talyn had ways of gathering information," Crichton fumed as
he paced around the command center. "Why can't he find out what they're
doing to Richie?"
"All of the messages to and from the planet are encoded and on a secure
channel," Crais explained, his image wavering on the view screen. "Talyn
cannot intercept them. Richie must still be on the planet because no
Peacekeeper vessel has left there. Talyn's long range scans would have
picked them up."
"It's been three days!" Crichton stared at the Sebacean's image, trying
not to let his suspicions show. For all he knew, Talyn knew exactly what
was going on, and had told Crais. The ex-Peacekeeper might be keeping
that information a secret because he had his own agenda.
He just didn't trust Crais - not one little bit.
"I say we go down and bust Richie out of there," Crichton suggested,
sending a pleading look toward Aeryn. If she would back him up, they
could easily convince D'Argo and Chiana. Crais would be outnumbered. "It
doesn't look like Scorpy is going to show up."
"Talyn's sensors have picked up five Marauders headed for the planet,"
Pilot's voice chimed in.
"Are we out of sensor range?"
"Yes. This moon will keep Moya shielded from their sensors. Talyn has
also retreated to a more secure location, although he has assured Moya
that he is quite capable of handling the Marauders on his own."
"No!" Aeryn burst out. "He mustn't give us away yet. A command carrier
may not be far behind. That's what we're waiting for."
"And if it doesn't show up?" Crichton demanded. "What if Scorpy is on
one of those Marauders? What if they take Richie and leave?"
"It would be highly doubtful that Scorpius would risk his life on a
Marauder - especially if he thought that Talyn was around," Crais
pointed out calmly. "If anything, he might have sent the Marauders ahead
to see if they make it safely, although Talyn is still no match for a
command carrier."
"Will we be able to follow the Marauders if they leave the planet?"
Aeryn asked.
"Yes, Talyn's sensors will be able to track them quite easily."
"But how will we know if Richie is on board?" Crichton asked. "And what
if they split up and go in different directions? How will we know which
to follow?" The more he thought about it, the more he regretted not
going after Richie immediately. He was still convinced that there was
something wrong with Jool's version of what had happened.
"We will just have to assume that he is," Crais replied. "And that they
will all head back in the same direction."
"Not good enough!" John snapped out. "I don't want to go on some wild
goose chase across the galaxy following a Marauder who's only delivering
supplies to some dead-end Peacekeeper outpost."
"Marauders don't deliver supplies," Aeryn pointed out. "They wouldn't
have sent that many of them to a commerce planet unless they were afraid
of being attacked."
Crichton continued to pace around the command center, trying to come up
with a plan. Suddenly he stopped in mid-stride, and spun around to face
Aeryn. "Can you fly one of those Marauders?"
"Of course. It was part of my flight training."
"And if they came from the Gammak base, their computers would still
contain its location?"
"Yes. Where are you going with this, Crichton?"
"I've got a plan! If we could grab one of those Marauders while it's
still on the planet, we would know where to find Scorpy. We could even
fly it right back there."
"And we could land on the Gammak base - they wouldn't be expecting us to
be in one of their own ships," Aeryn said, quickly picking up on
Crichton's idea.
"This is madness!" Chiana exclaimed. "How are you planning on grabbing
one of those ships?"
"Most of the crews would probably be sent to escort Ryan back to the
landing port," Aeryn pointed out. "There would only be a few remaining,
at best."
"We only need one of the ships," Crichton added. "We'll hide inside it
and surprise the rest of the crew when they return. If we get really
lucky, it will be the one they'll put Richie on. In that case, we can
come back here, and track down Scorpy later."
"It's risky, but I'm willing to try," Crais agreed.
"Crais, you'd better stay on Talyn. We may need you to track us. Chiana?
D'Argo? Will you help?"
"Don't you think we might stand out on a Gammak base?" Chiana asked.
"For that matter, how far do you think you'll get? You're frelled if you
think you're going to just stroll around without someone recognizing you
or Aeryn."
"They won't be able to recognize us if we have on armor," Aeryn pointed
out. "Even if the Marauder crew isn't wearing any, there should be some
on their ships. With the helmets on, no one will be able to tell that
we're not one of the crew."
"Okay, this is what we'll do," John said, detailing out his vision for
the rest of the crew.
*****
Richie's first indication that something was going to happen was when he
heard the sound of booted feet marching down the corridor. Lots of
booted feet. It was difficult, but he remained sitting. Let them think
he was unconcerned about what was going to happen.
The first person who came through the door almost caused him to jump up.
There was no doubt in his mind that this had to be Scorpius. He fit
Crichton's description, and yet was much worse than Richie had imagined.
It was like seeing something out of a horror movie, except this was real
life. And there was no doubt that Scorpius was here for him in the way
that he studied the Immortal.
Richie forced his eyes away and glanced at the crowd who had followed
the Peacekeeper. Lieutenant Corak and another obvious flunky had
followed Scorpius into the room, and he could see at least six other
people crowded around the cell door. All were wearing helmets, and what
had to be armor. They were also carrying pulse rifles. No chance of
escape.
"He's not a human."
Richie's attention snapped back to Scorpius as soon as he made that
announcement. It took all his willpower to not blurt out a denial of
that statement.
"His energy signature is different from Crichton's."
"Guess that means I can go," Richie said with a broad smile as he slowly
rose to his feet. "Can't say it's been fun, but...."
"But the other woman... the Interon said he was!" Lieutenant Corak
protested as he blocked Richie's way.
"She must have been lying." Scorpius snapped back. He looked at Richie
again. "You're also not a Peacekeeper. Who are you and where are you
from?"
"Uh... Dagoba. Small planet - you've probably never heard of it. Not
many of us ever leave it. Maybe you've met a few who have? Luke
Skywalker? Han Solo? Yoda?"
The Peacekeeper's eyes narrowed to almost a slit for a moment before he
moved closer to Richie. "Still, there's something about you that does
remind me of Crichton. And you are lying about where you are from. I
wonder why that is?"
"I'm not lying," Richie replied, trying to put on his most innocent
face. He knew it would never have fooled Tessa or Duncan, but hopefully
it would fool Scorpius.
"My Aurora chair will quickly determine the truth," Scorpius pointed
out.
Richie couldn't stop the shudder that ran through his body. Crichton had
told him enough about his stint in the Aurora chair - even though it had
been difficult for him to talk about the experience - to make the young
Immortal know that he was in deep trouble. To make it even worse,
Scorpius seemed to know that he had struck a chord in his opponent. He
gave Richie a thin-lipped smile.
"So, you know about my Aurora chair. I wonder who has told you about
it." Scorpius turned back to Corak. "And you say he was dead, then came
back to life?"
"Yes, it was quite a surprise. I had him isolated right away since he is
an unclassified alien species. No one has been near him since then."
"Good. I will be sure that your superiors are made aware of your
excellent work." Scorpius turned and headed for the door. He held up one
hand to signal to the waiting soldiers. "Bring him!"
"What about the woman who turned him in?" Corak asked, stopping Scorpius
in his tracks. "Should I arrange for her to return to her home?"
"No. Kill her. It will be a lesson to all that we will not tolerate
traitors."
"No! You can't do that!" Richie protested, even as his hands were being
locked in handcuffs behind his back.
Scorpius turned around and approached the Immortal. "Why would you care?
She betrayed you."
"That doesn't give you the right to kill her!"
"Sir, we made a deal with her," Corak pointed out more calmly than
Richie. "All she wants is to return home. What harm can there be in
that? After all, she's done a great service by turning in this alien."
Scorpius glared at the lieutenant, who immediately stepped back. "Follow
your orders, Lieutenant," he snarled before stalking out of the room.
The soldiers behind Richie pushed him forward. He managed to throw a
beseeching glance at the lieutenant as he was herded out of the cell,
and down the hallway, surrounded by the troops. While he'd been betrayed
by Jool, he didn't want her to die. He could only hope that Corak
wouldn't follow orders - although he doubted that would happen.
For the first time in days, Richie was finally out of his cell. A few
moments later, they were outside, and headed for the spaceport. He could
only hope that Crichton would rescue him before they got there. This
would probably be the best time for a rescue - except for the fifteen
well-armed soldiers guarding him.
***** end of part 2