Part 3

Moya - The Next Day
Command

John Crichton rushed into command, and saw that Aeryn Sun and Ka D'Argo had already arrived. Pilot had commed them immediately after their living ship, Moya received a transmission from her offspring, Talyn. "Crais left on reconnaissance three solar days ago. Either he found Scorpius already, or there's another retrieval team after us," John said, more to himself than the others.

"We'll soon find out," D'Argo replied, then turned to the 'clamshell.' "Pilot, let's see the transmission," the Luxan said.

The image of former Peacekeeper Captain Bialar Crais was already on the screen. "Neither is the case, Commander Crichton. Two solar days ago, Talyn and I rescued what we both thought to be an injured Peacekeeper soldier. I thought he could supply information as to Scorpius' whereabouts. However, not only is he not a Peacekeeper, he isn't even Sebacean. I believe he is human. I hope Jool can better tend to his injuries than I can."

D'Argo and Aeryn turned to John. He threw up is hands in frustration and exclaimed "What? Is it my fault the Uncharted Territories are suddenly lousy with humans?"

USS Saratoga
Tun Tavern

Lieutenants Nathan West and Cooper Hawkes, the only original members of the 58th Squadron left onboard the Saratoga, entered the tavern and looked at their squadron's usual table. The Wild Cards would sit at the same table whenever they went to the Tun, whether it was to play poker, drink beer, or just bullshit with each other, it was always at the same table. The two pilots looked at each other, then again at the table. Without speaking, they headed for the bar.

The other customers, seeing the expressions on the their faces, gave the pair a wide berth. It had been only a week since they had gotten back to the ship, with three of their squadmates declared missing in action. Lt. Paul Wang was presumed dead, and Capt. Vansen and Lt. Dammphouse might as well be, as the Search and Rescue missions had been called off. To make matters worse, their commanding officer was also declared missing in action when the shuttle taking him to a hospital ship was shot down by the Chigs.

The bartender, used to the routine by now, pulled a pitcher of draft beer and placed it and two glasses on the bar. "Who's paying today?" was all he said as they sat down. Neither pilot spoke, but the tank-"no, 'invitro,'" the bartender corrected himself (he had seen too many brawls that began with insulting that particular pilot or his friends) handed over his ration card. The bartender swiped the ration card through the machine, deducting both ration points and money from Hawkes' account. Nathan West poured the first round. The two friends drank their beer in silence.

Cooper finally said "I don't know what's worse: to not ever have a family, or to finally have a family and loose them one by one." He downed half of his second beer. "They're gonna keep looking for McQueen, aren't they?" he looked

Nathan, just as despondent, merely shrugged his shoulders and said "I hope so."

Med Lab

Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" played in the background - Jool had raided the Silicate's databases for more than just data on human anatomy and surgical procedures. Jool and the corpsman -'what an odd term for a medic,' Jool thought - finished tending to their second patient of the day. "Thank you for the assistance, Joe," Jool said as they walked to the door. Jool paused to check the colonel's vital signs after the first stage of his surgery. Col. McQueen was still asleep, but his vital signs were strong.

Both Jool and Murphy took off their surgical scrubs as they walked and talked. "It's my pleasure, Jool," the young marine replied. He was getting better at speaking in complete sentences around the beautiful alien. "That was some incredible work you did - as if you'd been operating on humans for ten years instead of a few days. Lucky for the colonel and the lieutenant you're such a fast learner."

Jool smiled at the compliment - as an Interion, she thrived on recognition of her accomplishments and praise of learning. Interions valued that above all else (well, with the possible exception the accumulation of academic honors and prizes). "Thank you, Joe, but your help was really invaluable. I only learned the theory involved, you helped me put it into practice," she said as they made their way to the center chamber for the evening meal.

Center Chamber

Jool entered and immediately scanned the table for sweets. She was disappointed, again. Rygel had gotten there first. In fact, except for herself and Murphy, everyone had gotten there first. Aeryn and John sat as far away from each other as possible: the former talking quietly with Shane Vansen and Bialar Crais, while the latter was engaged in conversation with D'Argo and Rygel. Chiana and Vanessa were talking privately - probably about "anomalous intuitions" again.

The Hynerian chuckled in delight when he saw Jool's pout. "Looking for something, Jool?" he taunted as he popped the last piece of wamelon cake into his mouth.

She said nothing, but slapped the back of Rygel's head as she passed by. "Let this be a lesson to you, Joe - always get to the food before Rygel does," Jool stated as she helped herself to various dishes.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Crais shake his head, and then heard Captain Vansen say, "I don't care how long she's been operating - it's my friends she's been operating on!" Vansen shifted in her seat to face Jool. "How are Colonel McQueen and Lieutenant-"

Bialar Crais interrupted her. "She's been in the Med Lab for over ten arns - let her eat something first."

"No, it's alright," Jool said as she put her plate down. No sweets at all, not necessary to dive right in. "The Colonel is doing very well, so far. We've done the neural interface already, but I want to make sure it's fully integrated into his nervous system before we attach the leg. That should take 6-8 more arns."

No one noticed John Crichton shudder at the mention of a neural interface as he silently prayed that Jool knew what she was doing.

Chiana smiled reassuringly at Vanessa and Shane. "See? I told you he'd be ok - my feelings are never wrong. They're both going to be fine, so don't worry."

Vanessa still looked worried. "And what about Lt.-" Vanessa looked away and swallowed. She just couldn't say his name out loud. "What about the lieutenant Capt. Crais found?" she asked. Vanessa cursed at herself. If only she had been strong enough to look at him as Crais, D'Argo and Crichton wheeled the gurney from the hangar to the Med Lab, she would have known one way or the other if the latest arrival on Moya would live or die. Vanessa had turned away at the last minute, not wanting to feel the crushing pain if she found out that this man, her friend and more, was destined to die.

As if Chiana could read Vanessa's thoughts, Chiana whispered to her: "Don't let your visions make you afraid to live your life. If you want to visit him, just go! Either he'll wake up, or he won't. Either way, you should be there if you really care about him." The words may have sounded harsh, but Chiana's expression was full of compassion and understanding.

Joe and Jool, in between bites, updated everyone on the lieutenant's condition. "He was very lucky that Captain Crais found him when he did - a few more minutes, and he would have died," Murphy said.

Jool reassured: "He'd been in space without a pressure suit for almost too long by the time Bialar and Talyn came along. The lack of oxygen could cause extensive neurological damage. His lungs are badly injured, but with respiratory therapy, he should be fine within a weeken. I have the highest hopes for a full recovery-- if he wakes up soon, that is."

Shane and Vanessa looked guarded and hopeful at the same time. "So, basically, if he doesn't wake up in the next 12 hours - arns - he may never wake up. And even if he does wake up, he may have brain damage?" Shane asked.

With a start, Vanessa stood up. "I'm going to the med lab. I'm going to be there, so he can see a familiar face when he wakes up!" She tried to sound confident, but she couldn't hide the fear in her voice.

USS Saratoga
Tun Tavern

Nathan and Cooper finished their pitcher and Cooper had used all his change in the jukebox, playing old Patsy Cline songs that reminded him of Shane. He had once thought he had a romantic interest in her, but now regarded Shane as his sister. "Guess we should head back," Cooper said.

"We've been taken off the flight schedule, it's not like we need a lot of sleep for desk duty," Nathan answered. "Let's split another pitcher."

Cooper shrugged his shoulders, and nodded to the bartender. This time, Nathan paid.

"Does it ever get easier, Nathan?" Cooper asked quietly, thinking about Nathan's younger brother, Neil. Neil West had died in combat earlier in the year. Nathan had taken it very hard at first, but seemed to get better with time

"What-do you mean missing people you love? No, it doesn't, but you just have to move on-whether you wan t to or not. It just sucks even more when it happens all at the same time like this," he answered, then poured himself another beer.

Moya
Med Lab

Col. McQueen awoke slowly, listening to muffled voices that seemingly came from far away.

"C'mon, can't we see the colonel yet?" he heard someone ask. McQueen tried to place the voice. 'It can't be,' the marine thought to himself. 'Probably just the anesthesia,' he rationalized, before giving in to hope.

"Wang? Is that you? If it is you, either I'm dead or your not. Which is it?" he asked.

Lt. Paul Wang, declared missing in action and presumed dead, quickly walked to Colonel McQueen's bedside.

"Sorry, sir! Today just isn't your day to die!"

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