Moments
Author's
Notes: This story is
AU after season 4. The parts in italics are flashbacks, the moments that give
this story its title. Special thanks to the UberBeta
Goddess herself Angel. You are a lifesaver.
Spoilers: None, you lucked out.
Disclaimer: You know darn well I don't own these. If I did, we'd have a
Farscape Channel.
"Hey kiddo, come with me for an arn. I got something I want to show
you." John said poking his head into the room.
"What Daddy?" Connor asked looking up from the paper he was drawing
on.
"Just come on." He said and left the room; John soon heard tiny
footsteps running to catch up. Together they reached the maintenance bay.
"We going in the mod'ul?"
Connor asked excitedly.
"Not right now, maybe later. I wanted your help with something
first."
When John reached the workbench, he helped Connor up onto the bench. The child
picked up a long stick he found on the bench.
"What's this?"
"A stick, what does it look like?"
"Nooo, what's it for?"
"Remember how I told you about how me and your
grandpa had fun fishing when I was little?"
"Uh huh. " Connor’s
eyes began to light up. "We goin
fishin?"
"Yup, but since there are no pro-shops around here, we have to make our
own fishing pole and lures."
"What are lures?"
"Pretend food to trick the fish."
"Why we want to trick them?"
"To catch them."
"Why?"
"What do you mean 'why'? To eat of course."
"But why? We gots food cubes."
John sighed then thought, 'God save me from the fifty million questions a day.
Now I know how Dad always felt.' Then spoke to his ever questioning child,
"Do you want to go fishing or not? You can always stay here and do
schoolwork."
Connor crinkled up his nose and shook his head quickly. "Noooo, I wanna go fishin. Pleeease?"
"Alright, alright, but quit with the questions." John said
laughing.
"But it's fun to ask you questions. Momma says it serves you right."
"Oh, she does, does she?"
"What she mean by that?"
"I'll ask her after we're done. Now hand me some of those little wiggly
things."
“D’Argo, can you do me a favor?” John said as he watched Connor looking at a
couple of children playing. “Aeryn and I have to get a few things on the other
side of the market. Can you keep an eye out for Connor since we’ve got
everything on your list?”
D’Argo’s gaze followed John’s to where Connor stood, “I have no problem with
that, and it will give Connor a chance to play with some other children. It’s
been too long since he was allowed down to a planet.”
Grinning, John said. “Thanks D, I appreciate it. We won’t be gone long.”
Turning, he joined Aeryn and together they began to go over the list of
supplies they still needed to obtain.
“John, we have a problem. “ Aeryn said as she began to look through a tray of
components.
“Problem? What problem.” John asked, scanning the
area.
“I mean with Connor. I saw the way he looked at those other children playing,
he seems so lonely, I think he is beginning to realize
what he is missing.”
As John walked around the table, he smiled, “So does this mean you want to
start making more babies, that could take a ‘lot’ of
time and diligence.”
Laughing, Aeryn said, “Frell you! Fun for you maybe, but I still remember how
much that hurt. No, what do you think of finally finding a planet to settle
down on?”
“Leave Moya? Are you sure? I know eventually we will leave. Plus, I know how
much Moya and Pilot mean to you.”
“No, I’m not sure, but that’s why I wanted to talk to you about it….”
D’Argo voice came over their comm, “John…Aeryn…under attack…” Then the comms
went silent.
Dropping the parts they had been inspecting, both took off running back towards
the direction where they had left their son with D’Argo.
“Pilot…do you have D’Argo’s signal?” Aeryn yelled into her comm.
“Yes, Officer Sun, Captain D’Argo is still in the same location where you left
him and Connor.”
Both of them began scanning the area for any sign of Connor and D’Argo. “Where
the frell are they?” John said.
“Over there!” Aeryn said and ran around the fountain in the center of the
market. John saw D’Argo lying on the ground, he
started looking around for Connor.
“Aeryn! Connor’s not here!”
“What?! John, help D’Argo and get him to the transport pod. I’ll find Connor, he probably got scared and ran to one of the vendors
during the fight.” Aeryn yelled then took off running.
John began searching D’Argo for wounds; blood flowing from underneath him,
turning him over he saw where three different area of blood were soaking
through. ‘No scorch marks…must have been a knife. Sons a
bitches knifed him from behind…’ He heard D’Argo moan then begin to
cough as he tried to speak.
“Shush D, don’t talk. You’re hurt pretty good, Aeryn’s gone to find Connor and
we’re getting you back on Moya.”
“T-Took Con…” He began coughing again, as it eased he tried to speak again.
“They took Connor, tried to stop them…came…up…behind…me…”
John braced himself against the wall next to where D’Argo lay, and he began lifting
him up. As he adjusted the Luxan’s weight, he contacted Aeryn. “Aeryn, you
won’t find Connor. Someone attacked D’Argo to get him. I’m heading for the
transport pod now.”
Aeryn‘s strained voice came over his comm, “I already know, someone spotted the
attack. I’ll meet you at the pod.”
“Pilot have you been monitoring us? I need you to get a fix on Connor’s comm
signal.”
“Yes Commander, I have. I’ve already searched for his signal. It is only two
motras from your current location.”
“Right, they would have taken it off of him. Monitor any ships that are leaving
the planet. “
“Already doing so. Noranti has asked me to inform you, she will meet you and
Officer Sun in the hanger.”
John continued to struggle with D’Argo’s weight as he half carried half dragged
him to the waiting pod.
Aeryn had already arrived at the transport pod and was beginning the start up
when he arrived with D’Argo, after bringing him on board; she shut the outer
door and lifted off. She listened to the rhythmic and grunting as John tried to
stimulate D’Argo’s wounds.
“Come on dammit, “ John said behind her, “Yes! Okay,
they’re running clear now.” Turning around slightly in her seat, she saw John
leaning close to his friend. “D’Argo…Come on D, wake up. “
Slowly his eyes cracked open slightly, “Waiting…for…you…” D’Argo whispered.
“Who was?”
“Don’t…know…never…saw…” D’Argo began losing consciousness.
“Come on D’Argo, stay with me man.”
Aeryn turned back to face the front of the pod, “John, it was bounty hunters.”
“Bounty hunter, well why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“These in particular, the Varcan, work with the
Scarrans. I found someone who witnessed the attack, the description fits.”
John looked up at Aeryn and saw she had a light grasp of her control at the
moment, his own hands shaking at the idea of someone taking their son. He began
dressing D’Argo’s wounds, “We’ll find him Aeryn, I
swear we will.”
“What have you found so far Pilot?” Aeryn asked as she and John entered into
Command. They immediately went to the console.
“There were several ships leaving the planet within the time you specified. “
He responded.
John looked down at the readout from the console, “Five ships? Okay, we ‘have’
to narrow it down fast. Anyway we can do that?” John asked quickly, his body
tense.
“Does Moya have any data on Varcan fighter ships? “
Aeryn asked.
“Checking now…I have found two encounters in Moya’s data banks, but they are
almost fifteen cycles old. I have no way of knowing if they are accurate.”
“That’s fine Pilot, just compare them to the energy signatures of the ships
leaving the planet. “ Aeryn said, the urgency in her
voice apparent.
“Already doing so, three of the ships come within range,
two are leaving on a similar vector.” Pilot acknowledged.
“Follow those two ships.” Aeryn said quickly.
“Right away Officer Sun.”
“Why those two?” John asked, not even bothering to look at her. The pain
he was feeling too great, he didn’t think he could stand seeing it mirrored in
her eyes.
“Varcan’s
never hunt a bounty in small groups. It ensures capture of their prey. “ Aeryn closed her eyes to fight off the nausea that
suddenly hit her. She felt John’s arm wrap around her waist.
“We’ll find him Aeryn, I swear to you, and we’ll make those sonsabitches
pay. Pay for taking our baby and pay for hurting D’Argo.” John whispered next
to her ear.
“He must be so scared John…” It felt as if she could hear Connor crying for
them even over the vast distances, it broke her heart that she couldn’t hold
him, to comfort him.
As he held Aeryn close, John felt the slight tremor pass through her body.
Leaning his forehead against her back, all he could do was hold onto her,
feelings of helplessness washed over him.
Aeryn felt John’s arms tighten around her; she heard as he whispered, “It’s my
fault he’s scared right now, that he was taken. If I
hadn’t come up with that stupid idea to take him fishing…” He let out a harsh
laugh, “Fishing in Tormented Space…our little boy would be here, begging to be
allowed to sit up with us, and D’Argo wouldn’t be fighting for his life.”
Aeryn spun around, John jerked his head up as she did so, “Stop it, this is ‘not’ your fault. Yes, if you hadn’t wanted to
take him fishing, he would be here. There was no way to know this was going to
happen. All you attempted to do was give him something special, a childhood
free of worry. It was a gift of love, and someone else took that gift, from the
both of you. All Connor wanted…was to do something his father and grandfather
used to do. He wants to learn the same things as you…Frell, for some reason, he
wants to be you.” Aeryn smiled as she finished.
John chuckled dryly, “He’s smart that way.”
“Not frelling likely…”
“If he’s lucky, he’ll take after me.” A deep voice interrupted them.
Turning around they saw D’Argo leaning against the wall with Chiana under his
arm, looking very angry.
“Please tell this fekkik he needs to be lying down. I
can’t get him to listen as usual.”
Looking down at her upturned face, D’Argo said, “I just wanted to see what
you’ve found.”
“That’s what the comms are for.”
Ignoring the comment, he looked over to where John and Aeryn were standing,
“John, I need to feel like I’m doing something.”
John rubbed his hand through his hair, “You and me both buddy. So far we’re
chasing down the two ships that may have the Varcan’s
who jumped you. It’s a long shot, but it’s all we have.”
“Varcan
fighters? How do you know this?” D’Argo demanded, leaning against the
wall for more support.
“I found someone who saw you and Connor attacked, she described their uniforms
to me.” Aeryn replied.
“They work for the Scarrans.”
“Yes.”
“That means they still want John.” D’Argo could see the pain in John’s eyes as
he spoke. “You know I’ll be by your side to get Connor.” D’Argo added softly.
“Not if you don’t get some rest. You won’t be any good to anyone if you don’t.”
Chiana’s sharp tone interrupted.
Walking over to Chiana and D’Argo, Aeryn put her hand on his shoulder, “She’s
right, it’ll be several arns before we catch up to them, their
ships are fast and can’t risk Starburst. Pilot will comm you when we reach
them.”
“Officer Sun…Commander, we are within range of the ship. Do you want me to
contact them?” Pilot asked.
“Yes! Get em on the phone.” John said, running into
command, Aeryn following closely behind.
They had been arguing the best possible way to approach the ships, John and
Aeryn wanting to charge into each ship and take back their son. John wanted
D’Argo to dock his ship against one as Moya did the same to the other. Pilot
gently reminding them that didn’t know if these are the same people were
seeking. They were eventually convinced to see it as the suicide mission it
was, and in the process, possibly getting Connor killed.
“Patching through now.” Pilot reported, “I’m having
trouble with the visual, adjusting now.”
As the image cleared, both John and Aeryn took a step back. On the screen
appeared a very elderly and petite woman. “How can I help you?” Aeryn was the
first to regain her composure, “We are sorry to delay you, but we thought you
were a ship we are seeking. Did you have a third ship with you?”
“No bother my child; but no, we only have the two transports. Is there anything
else?” The woman asked.
“No…thank you, again we apologize.” John said.
“Safe journey. “ She answered just before the screen
went blank.
“Pilot we need to get to that ship!” Turning to Aeryn.
“I thought you said they always had large troops?” He accused.
Her back stiffened, “I have never heard of them changing their tactics before,
how in the frell was I to know.” Throwing her arms into the air, she stormed
out of the room.
“It’s not her fault John, she was only going on the
information available.” D’Argo said over the comms. John closed his eyes,
“Yeah…but we’ve lost so much time. There’s no telling where they are. “
Turning off his comms, John sat down at the strategy table, covering his face
with hands, his shoulders shaking from the sobs that racked his body.
It took Moya two solar days to track down the third ship powered down. As they
entered the ship, Aeryn saw the signs of a hasty evacuation. The four of them
taking a different level of the ship they began searching. The only sounds were
those of opening doors. As she completed the fifth level, Aeryn opened the last
door, sweeping her light and pistol in a quick motion. She had begun backing up
when she saw the object on the floor; slowly she walked back into the room.
“Aeryn, why haven’t you checked in? Aeryn? Pilot…where’s Aeryn?”
“She is currently on level five Commander.”
“Thanks. D’Argo, I’m going to find Aeryn.”
“Do you want me to meet you there?”
“No, keep looking. I’ll keep comms open.”
Running down the three levels to her location, he looked in every room. As he
neared the last, he paused outside the door for a microt before entering.
“Aeryn, why ain’t you answering…” He began as he
entered the door. He found her kneeling on the floor, rocking. Running across
the room, he yelled, “What’s wrong?”
Looking up to him, she held up an old, battered stuffed animal. It was Connor’s
favorite toy, he never went anywhere without it.
“John, are you sure I’m doing this right?”
Looking over her shoulder, he gritted his teeth to keep from laughing. “It
looks great, but one little tip, you should try and keep the stitching as small
as possible. It will keep together a lot longer.”
“I told you I couldn’t frelling sew. I don’t know why I thought I could make
this for him.” She said throwing the pile of rags across the room.
John squatted down in front of her, “Listen, it’s great that you want to do
this for him. It won’t matter what it looks like, Connor is going to love it
because his mommy made it for him. If it’s appearance
is so important to you, why don’t you ask Chiana or Noranti for help. God knows
that if I help, it really will be butchered.” He said laughing.
“Alright, I’ll see if Chiana can help me, but if I frell this, you’re
explaining it him when he’s older why he’s so scared of furry animals.”
“Come on, let’s see what we can find on their computers…Aeryn, please come with
me, there’s nothing here.”
“John, he was here! They kept our son in this dark, dren filled room. Alone. You know he doesn’t like to be alone in the dark. We
weren’t here for him…we failed him already…”
He sat heavily down on the floor beside her, “Stop it! We have not failed him,
but if we don’t focus, we ‘will’ fail him, and I do not plan on doing that any
time soon. Do you understand Aeryn? You are the strongest person Connor and I
know. If you fall apart on me, how will I find our baby?”
Crying and laughing at the same time, Aeryn said, “I’m the strongest person you
know…we are frelled. It’s a good joke.”
“Who’s joking…I’m not. Now let’s go find our boy.” He
said as he pulled Aeryn to her feet. Together they walked from the room, Aeryn
still clutching the symbol of her love for her son.
The Varcan had tried to quickly destroy the
information from their data stores, John thought as he went through their
systems, but from appearances they didn’t stick around to finish the job. From
the trace bits of information he was able to find, they had set coordinates for
the ships present location for a rendezvous. There wasn’t much information to
go on, except for the bounty on himself. He wasn’t
surprised about that, but he ‘was’ surprised at the extent of the personal
information they had on him, Aeryn and Connor. Especially Connor, since his
birth, the crew of Moya had gone to great lengths to keep him a secret from
those who would use him against his parents. The boy had only been planet side
a dozen times, and only on the last day of a peaceful excursion. John always
thought they were being extreme, but knew with their run of luck, they couldn’t
take a chance, and Connor would be seeing enough violence in his life, they
only wanted to keep him innocent of it for as long as possible.
“Poor kid, only five cycles old and already has his old man’s luck. “He mumbled
to himself.
“What have you found?” Aeryn asked.
“Well, someone has been doing their homework on us. The information is just short
of showing what direction I hang.” He said, glancing up from the screen.
Aeryn gave him ’the look’; he knew to continue with answering. “My point
being…they went to a lot of effort to find out about us, but you were right,
they’re working with the Scarrans. They ‘are’ still looking for me, as per our
usual luck…”
He scrolled down further, finding something new on the page, he stopped, “Son of a bitch…”
“What?” Aeryn asked, she could hear the panic in his
voice.
“They have a price on Connor. The don’t give any
reason except he’s a danger to the Scarran Hierarchy. How in the frell can a
kid only five years old be a threat?”
Going to where John stood, Aeryn said, “There are three possibilities, they
think he also carries the wormhole knowledge, or they want to see what a
Human/Sebacean’s weaknesses are, or bait to capture you.”
“Would they experiment on him so young?” John asked.
“Yes, he will be easier to manipulate than an adult.”
“Oh God..” John whispered as remembered images flashed
in his mind. There wasn’t much he remembered from his encounter with the
Scarran, except blood, heat and pain.
They walked in the doorway side by side, both immediately scanning the room
with their eyes. A dozen tables were scattered across the room, each one
occupied. Looking at the bar, John could see D’Argo leaning against it, nursing
a drink. They both saw their target sitting at a table on the furthest side of
the room. As they approached, the man stood up glaring at them, watching as
they both never allowed their hands stray far from the holsters on their sides.
They stopped in front of the table, each staring the other down.
“It’s been a long time…” The man said.
“That it has. “ John said in return, and then smiled at Jobin
Jenkaro.
Coming around the table, Jobin laughed and patted
John on the back, “You’ve made quite a name for yourself I hear.”
“Already had the name, others just want to spread it around. “
The smile fell from his face. “You know why we’re here. Can you help
us?”
“To find your son? After everything we went through
together…do you really have to ask?”
Aeryn looked to the men behind them sitting at the tables, John followed her
gaze.
“I brought men who have never met you as Volki, so
his memory is secure. These men have joined up since you left. When do we
leave?” Jobin asked.
“You’re just volunteering your men without question? “ Aeryn replied obviously
surprised. She remembered the Nilas’ reputation from
the two cycles that John had been missing.
“Thank you Jobin, we’ll probably need them…soon. But
for right now, we need information.” He said pulling out the flimsy with the
information they had already. He watched as Jobin
looked over the sheet.
“Fifty thousand credits for your child? What in the frell have you done John
for the Scarrans to want you ‘and’ your son?” He asked in disbelief.
“Let’s just say you ‘can’ believe some of my reputation and I think they might
be using Connor as a way to get me to come in all peaceful like.”
“Which you have no intention of doing, if I remember
correctly.”
“Nothing is going to keep us from our son. “ Aeryn
said, breaking her silence.
“That I can see. “ Jobin
said with respect in his voice. Any woman who fought along Crichton deserved
respect in his opinion. He saw the way she had stood at his side when they had
entered the building, mirroring his actions precisely.
“Tell me what you need to know.
“John, I need you to come to our quarters right away.” Aeryn’s urgent voice
came over the comm.
“What’s wrong?”
“Just hurry your eema up and get down here!”
Running through the corridors, he tried to figure out what could have happened.
Asking Pilot, he was told there was no indication of any problem on that tier.
Reaching the doorway, he heard Aeryn’s voice coming from the right side of the
room, “Stop running or you’ll scare him.”
“Wha…”
“Your son is about to take his first steps, I ‘thought’ you would like to be
here.” She said smiling as his jaw dropped.
John knelt down on the floor and crawled toward Connor, stopping a short
distance from where the raven-haired little boy stood holding onto the bed.
“Hey little man, you wanna come to daddy?” He said softly, holding out his
arms. Connor looks over to John when he heard his voice. His legs began
bouncing up and down, quickly his left knee buckled and he fell onto his bottom,
a whimper coming from his throat.
“Oopsy…” Johns said laughing. He watched as Aeryn
came forward to pick up the baby. “Don’t…he has to do it himself.” He said
still laughing. They watched as Connor pulled himself up next to the bed.
He held out his arms again as Aeryn sat on the floor next to him, “Come on
Connor, come to daddy…come on.” He kept up the encouragement as the little boy
looked from him to Aeryn, then back to the bed.
“Connor, come to momma, you can do it. “ Aeryn said
mimicking John tone.
John watched as Connor let his hand release from the bed, he stood still for a
couple of microts as if making sure he wouldn’t fall. Turning, he took a step
towards them. ‘This is it, oh my God.’ John thought,
his heart about to burst from pride. It was greater than his first successful
test flight of the Farscape module. ‘Everything was worth it.’
As Connor reached John’s outstretched arms, he was grabbed up. John quickly
stood and began jumping and spinning around the room. Aeryn laughed as she
watched the two of them.
As they stood waiting outside of the wall of the ruins, it felt as if tiny
knives were hitting their skin as the rain came down against them. The four of
them stood shoulder-to-shoulder, waiting on the signal from Jobin’s
man on the inside. He had been spying on the Varcan’s
fro six monens, but only reported to Neltol when it
affected the Nilas directly, which was why Jobin had not been informed of the bounty on the two
Crichtons. The plan was simple enough, the insider would locate Connor, signal
John and Aeryn who would enter the base. D’Argo and Chiana would remain
outside, to cover their escape once they got out.
“You ready for this? John asked, looking at Aeryn.
As she looked back at him, she saw the worry in his eyes, “We’ve been in
these situations before.”
“Yeah, but never involving our son. I just don’t want to screw up and get him
killed.”
“If we don’t do this now. He ‘will’ be killed…or
worse.”
Neither wanted to think about the ‘worse’. They could
be bringing back a child who was damaged beyond any capabilities to heal.
Pushing a strip of wet hair away from her eyes, John said. “I know, but are you
ready?”
“With you by my side, I’m ready for anything. “ She
replied, taking his hand.
“John, Aeryn, there he is. Time for you to go.” D’Argo
said
“You bring our little man home. “ Chiana said.
“Yes Ma’am.” John saluted as he said this and followed after Aeryn.
“Momma?” Connor said,
tapping on Aeryn’s shoulder as sat drinking her Telka
Tea.
“Mmm?”
“What’s a tralk?”
Aeryn started spluttering on the mouthful of tea she was swallowing. Finally
she was able to choke out, “Where did you hear that word?”
“Rygel yelt it at Chiana. I
asked him and he said ask you.”
She didn’t know whether to laugh or go kill Rygel for not watching what he said
Connor.
“What is it momma?”
“Something you are to young to know about or say. You
can ask your father when you’re older.”
“Ahh, you say that all the time.” He whined.
“That’s because it’s true. Now…how would you like some nice cremlak?”
Connor’s eyes widened, “Cremlak!” He started jumping
up and down as Aeryn went to the refrigeration unit.
The tunnel was almost completely without light as they made their way. Teelaz taking
the lead to show them the way, with Aeryn bringing up the rear. They
walked for half an arn in silence when Teelaz ushered them into a side tunnel, neither of them
questioning why. They soon heard the footsteps of several men passing by.
‘Damn, that guy’s got some serious radar going on there.’ John thought.
They waited several microts to make sure there were no stragglers behind the
main group. Soon Teelaz motioned when it was time to
continue. The tunnel began to twist and split off in different directions. John
tightened his grip on
John heard a, “We’re here.” He was still having trouble making out shapes in
the dark, but he listened as Teelaz worked on the
lock to Connor’s cell. Once they heard the final click, he and Aeryn rushed
into the cell. Aeryn reached the sleeping boy first. She put her hand over his
mouth to prevent him from crying out as she woke him.
“Don’t talk Connor, it’s momma and daddy. We’re going
to get you out of here.”
Aeryn turned on a small light and quickly began checking their son for
injuries. John heard a quiet whimper as she touched his stomach. Lifting up
Connor’s shirt, she let out a gasp. Connor’s torso was bruised, but the worst
damage was a ragged incision along his side. “John! They’ve cut him…”Aeryn
hissed through her teeth.
John quickly but gently put Connor on his lap, “Did they tell you why they did
this?”
John barely heard him whisper, “N-No, but they l-laughed a lot.”
‘Sons a bitches did it for fun…’
“Daddy, I wanna go h-home.”
“We’re going now…come on.” Aeryn said as John stood up holding him.
As they exited the cell, a shot hit the wall close to Aeryn’s head. John quickly
handed Connor to Teelaz, “Take him to D’Argo and
Chiana, we’ll hold them off!”
“But…”
“No! You can get him through the tunnels quicker than Aeryn or me. Do it now!”
John turned and began firing at the mercenaries who had appeared in front of
them as Teelaz quickly began running in the opposite
direction with Connor. As he ran, he spotted several more men running in the
direction of the firefight behind him. After about three hundred microts, he
reached the mouth of the tunnel; he quickly reached D’Argo and Chiana’s
location.
“Here take the boy! I have to get back, we were spotted and your shipmates are
pinned down.”
“Chiana take Connor to the ship, we’ll get Aeryn and John!”
“The boy has a stomach wound, you’ll need to take care
of it.” Chiana pulled up his shirt to inspect the severity of the wound. She
felt rage rush through her and wished she could shoot a few of the bastards
herself. Looking up, all she saw was D’Argo’s back as he entered the tunnel.
“Come on kiddo, let’s get you out of here.” She
whispered into the child’s neck.
The wind whipped at her hair as darkness settled over them, she heard the child
whimper. Placing her hand over the young one's mouth, she said, "Quiet,
they'll hear us. We're almost there, just a little while longer...please."
She felt the small boy nod his head. They sat underneath the bushes until she
was sure there was no one following, she heard a whisper next to her ear, any
softer and Chiana would have mistaken it for the wind itself.
“Where’s mamma?”
“Not now Connor.” Her voice quick and harsh in response.
Looking down, she could see a tear reflecting in the moonlight that filtered
through the trees. Grateful the rain had ended, the wind quickly drying the
tear as she watched. Putting her lips against the boy’s ear.
“I’m sorry sweetie, didn’t mean it like that. We’re going to see your mom and
dad real soon. D’Argo went to get them.” She saw another tear streak down the
face that had seen too much in its young life. Wiping it away, “I need you to
keep being brave for me. Okay?” Connor nodded his head.
“Aunt Chi, my belly hurts.”
Chiana lifted up Connor’s shirt and saw where the make shift bandage was
leaking through. Digging into the pack on her side, she brought out more
packing and a small vial.
“Open your mouth.”
Connor did as she said, then made a face. “I don’t like that Aunt Chi, it’s nasty.” “I know, but your stomach won’t hurt in a few
microts. Tell me when it starts working.” After a few moments, Connor nodded
his head. “Okay, I’m going to put more packing in the bandage, then we have to move…fast. Do I have to carry you?”
“Yes, the medsin is makin
my head feel funny.” She had known it would, but merely gave him a small smile
as she began to quickly pack the wound once more.
Picking up the small child, she was amazed once again at how light he felt to
her, he had lost a lot of weight in the two weekens it had taken them to find
the camp and work out a plan to infiltrate it. When they had learned of it’s location, it had taken everything the crew had not to
rush down onto the planet.
‘All of this dren because of a frelling fishing trip.’ Chiana thought as she
ran through the trees to the rendezvous point.
“John! We have to pull back, we can’t keep them held
off for much longer!” Aeryn shouted over the sounds of pulse fire echoing
against the walls.
Firing another shot into the group of Varcan in front
of them, John agreed, “I know….but we ‘have’ to give Teelaz
enough time to get Connor out of here!”
At that moment a shot ricocheted off of the door that John was standing behind.
“Aeryn! Get down, there are more behind us!” John knew
their situation just became more precarious with the addition of the troops
coming up from behind them. ‘Please let Connor make it
out of here….’ John thought as the ceiling above him and Aeryn collapsed.
The return trip through the tunnel was quiet; the only sounds were the echo of their footsteps as they ran to their destination,
reaching the open cell door, Teelaz looked inside.
Stepping over several bodies as he tried several other doors, “This is where
they held the boy. When Crichton gave him to me, they were fighting about ten
soldiers, but I saw more coming in this direction.” He panted, looking at
D’Argo.
“I was afraid of this…why don’t our plans ever frelling work? Okay, where would
they take them?”
“Follow me, it isn’t far.”
As they searched several rooms, D’Argo became increasingly fearful for his
friends. Grabbing Teelaz by the shoulder, he asked,
“Where the frell are they? “
Looking the Luxan in the eye, he answered, “Only two more interrogation rooms,
what is worrying me is the fact we haven’t seen anyone. This is too frelling
easy. This base should be covered with men right now.”
Realization dawned across D’Argo’s face, “They must be evacuating. Let’s hurry, I have a feeling they are going to take Crichton and
Aeryn with them.” They began running to the next room. They were rewarded
with a shout before they reached their destination.
“That’s Crichton!” D’Argo said gripping the handle of his Qualta Blade tighter
as he eased up to the edge of the doorway. What he saw in the room, he would
swear later made his mivonks shrivel up inside of him.
A Scarran stood over Aeryn’s unconscious body, one extended claw at the edge of
her shirt, as the material began to rip a voice interrupted him.
“Sil’Ja, is the information complete?”
Leaving Aeryn, Sil’Ja walked over to the console that
stood beside John’s unconscious form.
“Another ninety microts and we’ll have it all,” He answered.
“Ready your transport, we do not know if this Human’s friends are aware yet of
his capture. Do not lose this information.”
As Sil’Ja began to exit the room, D’Argo swung his
Qualta Blade, severing the Scarran’s head from his body before he was even
aware of D’Argo and Teelaz’ presence.
“Frell me! I didn’t know you could kill a Scarran with
that thing.”
Without saying a word, D’Argo ran across the room, using his Qualta Blade once
more, he broke the chains that bound John and Aeryn to the wall. Turning to Teelaz, “Take Aeryn, I’ll carry Crichton.” As Teelaz picked up Aeryn, he saw D’Argo go to the console and
remove the data crystal that lay in the center, then remove the apparatus that
had been attached to Crichton’s temples. He then saw what he never expected of
a Luxan; he picked up the Human gently as if he were a child.
Walking to the door, D’Argo told him, “Get us the frell out of here.”
‘They always quit talking when I come in the room, I wonder why?’ Connor didn’t
understand why they always told him to go run and play. They wouldn’t let him
see his daddy since him and momma took him from the bad place where they hurt
him. Every time he asked why, all momma would say was
maybe later. Even Aunt Chiana wouldn’t let him see daddy, and she ‘always’ let
him do what he wanted. He wanted to go fishing, like his daddy promised.
Giggling, Connor ran down the corridor. ‘She won’t find me for a long time,’ He
thought. He and Chiana were playing a game she taught him, she called it ‘hide
and go seeking.’ He thought it was funny, she was hiding and he wasn’t going to
go looking for her. He wondered how long she was stay hidden before she would
come looking for him. He was going to see his daddy while momma and Uncle
D’Argo were down on the planet, Chiana had told him
his daddy was taking a nap when he had asked again. He wondered why she always
looked sad when he asked. When Connor asked why, she shook her head and said it
was nothing. She told him to cover his eyes while she hid.
Looking behind him, Connor saw his daddy’s DRD 1812 following him. His momma
always had 1812 follow him. He stopped running when he reached his parents
quarters, reaching through the grate, he tried to push aside the privacy
curtain. He could only move it a couple of denches, but he saw daddy sitting up
in bed, he was awake.
“Daddy…let me in, I wanna play. Come on daddy, you can’t play pottum with me. Daaaddy…”
‘Why won’t daddy let me in?’ He started jumping up and down,
waving his hand in front of the door sensor, but it wouldn’t open. Connor
looked over at 1812, coming up to him. “You wanna help me?” He said bending
over with his hands on his knees. The little DRD blinked his lights twice for
‘no.’ “Cawmon…I promise I won’t dress you up no more
and make you be the bad Peacekeeper.” The DRD started spinning in a circle, suddenly it stopped and blinked only one time in
agreement. Connor giggled and clapped his hands, then watched as the DRD scaled
the side of the wall and begin working on unlocking the door for him. Soon the
door slid open, pushing aside the curtain, Connor ran into the room. “Daddy! Daddy! Why ain’t you come and played with me?!” He
jumped on the edge of the bed and bounced a couple of times before he noticed
his daddy didn’t even look at him. He only stared straight ahead, not blinking,
every few microts his right hand would jerk. Crawling forward, he moved closer
and soon Connor was climbing onto his daddy’s lap. “Daddy, why ain’t you
talking to me?” He reached up and began shaking his shoulder slightly, watching
as a tear ran down his daddy’s face. “Don’t cry daddy…we can still play
together, Chiana won’t find me for a long time…I tricked her good.” He climbed
of his father’s lap, grabbing his hand, “Come on daddy.” Tugging on the larger
hand, he eventually began backing up as John stood. Connor thought his daddy
was being silly letting him pull him down the corridor with 1812 following
close behind them.
Aeryn relaxed as the docking web
took hold of the transport pod, closing her eyes she thought back to what the
physician had told her and D’Argo an arn before. ‘No guarantee to restore
function.’ There was only a small percentage of success at restoring John back
to normal, but there was an even greater chance of destroying what was left of
his mind. It had been almost two monens since they had rescued Connor, and she
remembered the details with clarity, they had continued to plague her every
waking dream. As if on command, the images filtered through her mind
again
Waking up, she tried to sit up, but the pain
that ripped through her chest and head caused the edges of her vision to darken
and she lost her breath. As she lay on her back, she turn
her head slowly and saw Connor asleep on the bed beside her with John on the
opposite side of him. As she watched, Noranti walked in with D’Argo following
close behind. She tried to speak, but the words caught in her dry throat. Soon
she was able to whisper, “How are they?”
D’Argo turned and smiled, “I’m glad to see your
finally awake.”
“How are John and Connor?” She asked again.
“Why don’t we talk about this when you’re a little stronger?”
“No! What is wrong?” She croaked out and began coughing, wrapping her arms
around her ribs to buffer the pain, as the coughing subsided, D’Argo put a cup of water against her lips. “Drink slowly.
If you insist in talking about this now…Connor will recover. Despite the wound,
they didn’t damage him too seriously. “
“What about John?” Her eyes strayed past D’Argo to where John lay on the table
next to their son. His eyes were open, staring at the ceiling. “John…are you alright?”
No response.
D’Argo looked down at her, “Aeryn…” She met his gaze and saw the remorse
evident in his eyes. “He won’t answer you, he’s not there anymore.”
“No! I can see him breathing, he’s not dead!” Her voice cracked and she bit her
lip to keep the next words in her mind from becoming verbal. ‘I can’t lose him
again.’
“No, he’s not dead, but he ‘is’ gone. The Scarran who had you didn’t have time
for interrogation…he didn’t leave anything. He ripped everything from John’s
mind. He’s alive, but his mind is completely gone.”
“No. No…it can’t be this way, you see we were talking about finding a planet
for Connor to grow up on. We had plans…” Aeryn’s voice giving out as the sobs
forced their way to the surface. D’Argo knelt beside the bed, stroking her
head.
“You should know…I killed the Scarran and retrieved the data crystal, they
won’t ever get it.” He watched as she nodded her head in acknowledgment.
“Help me up, I want to go to him. “ Aeryn finally said after her sobs came
under control. D’Argo started to speak again, but thought better of it.
Carefully wrapping his arm around Aeryn’s shoulder, he helped her off of the
bed and walk to where John lay. As she stood next to his bed, Aeryn looked from
John to Connor, then back to John. Tears began running down her face once more,
he mind racing, all she could do was reach down and slowly trace the side of
his face with her hand. Bending forward, she whispered, “Forever…” As she stood
up straight once more, she noticed D’Argo was still holding onto her. “I want
to take Connor back to his room, I don’t want him to wake up and see his father
like this.”
D’Argo looked over to where Noranti stood by the door, she nodded. “It will be
okay, there is no sign of infection and he should sleep for a couple more
arns.” As he bent to pick up the boy, he heard Aeryn speak.
“Pilot, could you ask Moya to seal up the opening between Connor’s and my
quarters?”
“Of course Aeryn and…and we are sorry.”
“Thank you.” She whispered, noticing that Noranti had brought a chair for her.
Sitting down, she lay her head on John’s shoulder. She
sat there for several arns, trailing her fingers through his hair.
“Aeryn…what are you going to do?” D’Argo’s voice brought her back to the
present.
“Wha…” She asked as she looked at him in confusion.
“I asked what are you going to do? Are we going to
take John down to the medical facility?”
She didn’t answer him right away, she kept hearing the
doctor voice saying they could destroy what was left of his mind, his body
aided by machines to keep it alive. She knew that John would not want to go on
living like that. “I don’t know D’Argo, I really don’t.” She said softly, “How
many more facilities are there that can even attempt
to restore the contents of the data crystal back into John?”
Every time she thought of John’s condition, it sent a chill through her body.
He still responded to heat and cold, his body giving automatic responses to
hunger or thirst. To her, it was only another form of the living death…one that
they actually may have a chance of reversing, but what of the cost.
Aeryn listened as D’Argo let out a long sigh, “None in this sector. To be
honest, none anywhere except…it would mean going back to Peacekeeper controlled
space.”
Aeryn nodded, “I was afraid of that. We can’t risk anyone being caught. John
would never forgive himself and what would happen to Connor? Would they cut him
up? Or raise him as a Peacekeeper? Those are two things we never want to see
happen…”
Aeryn stopped when she saw Chiana run into the hanger, whipping her head back
and forth. “Where are you, you little prov…”
“Chiana! What are you doing?” D’Argo yelled.
Pointing at Aeryn she replied, half laughing, “Looking
for her little future Dominar, he tricked me! Wanting
to play Hide and go seeking and never looking for me, he also took off his comm
so I couldn’t track him.”
D’Argo tried not to laugh at the idea of Chiana being tricked by a child only
five cycles old. “You have DRDs looking for him?” He asked trying not to smile.
Seeing the look on D’Argo’s face only embarrassed her further. “Frell you and
yes I do. Also have his royal frogness and Noranti looking
too.”
“D’Argo, why don’t you go check on John and I’ll help look
for Connor. Looks like someone will be helping Noranti clean up after
meals.”
D’Argo wrinkled his nose, “That’s a pretty tough punishment isn’t it?”
Aeryn let out a little chuckle, “Yes it is, but he won’t be doing this again
any time soon I’ll bet.”
As they began leaving the hanger, Pilot’s voice came over the comms. “Officer Sun! I have found Connor, he is located in the
armory and he has the Commander with him!”
Aeryn’s heart sank, “How in the frell did he get in there?! Never mind! We’re
on our way!” She said as she ran, D’Argo and Chiana
close behind.
As they neared the tier, “There is pulse fire coming from the armory and
Connor is screaming!” Pilot’s urgent voiced announced.
When they arrived in the room, they found John on the floor cradling Connor
with tears running down his face. Connor continued sobbing and wailing. Aeryn
ran over to where the two rocked on the floor. She tried to pick up Connor, but
John would not release his grip on the boy.
“John, you can let go now, I have to see if he’s okay.” Aeryn said softly, it
took several microts, but soon he relinquished his grip around Connor. The
child wailed again, wildly trying to cling to his father. “Connor?
Are you hurt?” She asked as she searched over his body.
She saw him shake his head, “What in the frell were you doing in here, you know
the rules. How is your father here with you? How…”
“Aeryn, your not even letting him answer. Connor…tell us what happened.” D’Argo said, ignoring the hurt in
Aeryn’s eyes.
“Start with why you decided to trick Chiana and removed your comms.” Aeryn
said.
“No body won’t let me see daddy. I miss playing with him and we pose to go fishin’.”
“But why were you in here? You ‘know’ you are never allowed to be in this
room.”
They barely heard his voice when he spoke again. “I didn’t want the bad men to
get me no more, but daddy won’t get ‘Nona, so I climbed on the shelf. I fell an ‘Nona fell too and started shooting, but daddy caught me
and covered me up. I was scart. “
As he finished, he began crying again.
Aeryn stroked his hair, “Shussssh now…it’s okay, but
how did you get into our quarters and how did your father come to be here with
you?”
“I promised 1812 I wouldn’t dress him up no more if he unlocked the doors for
me. Daddy just came wit me when I took his hand. Momma?
Why ain’t daddy talkin to me? Why don’t
he play wit me no more?” Aeryn looked up to the rest of the crew, not knowing
what to say.
“You have to tell him Aeryn.” Rygel said.
Aeryn nodded her head then looked over to John who had leaned back against one
of the cabinets. Hearing a shuffling sound, she looked back at the door and saw
the others leave her alone while she talked to Connor.
Turning back, she met her son’s gaze, his eyes glittering in confusion. “Well,
it’s hard to explain. Your father is sick, actually…to be honest, he was hurt
when we came and took you back from those bad men. But…like I said, it’s hard
to explain…”
“Daddy’s hurt cause me?” He started crying again. “It’s my fault daddy’s hurt!”
“No, no, no, it was never your fault. Now you listen to me Connor Jaylyn Crichton, don’t you ever think that it was your fault. We both knew that we could get hurt, but we didn’t
want you hurt or killed. It was the bad men’s fault, never yours. Do you
understand?” As she spoke, she realized Connor had sucked in his breath and
held it. “What’s wrong?”
“You used all my names, daddy always said you were serus
when you do that.”
“He did? Well, he was right, I am serious. You do believe what I say, don’t
you?”
“Yes momma, I believe you. Will daddy get better?”
“We are trying to get him better, to find a doctor to help him.” She saw the
look of acceptance on his face. Standing up, she took Connor’s hand. “Now we have
to get your father back to our room.” Hitting her comms, “D’Argo…”
“No momma, watch…” Connor said walking over to where John sat, taking his hand.
“Come on daddy, we gotta go back to your room. Come
on, don’t make momma use all your names. “ Aeryn watched
in shock as John stood up at their son’s continued prompting. There was
no expression on his face except for strange kind of peace. Aeryn then followed
after her son and husband walking down the corridor.
“I have gone over the scans numerous times and what you have detailed to me is
improbable. Yes, your mate will continue to have automatic responses, but to be
able to try and protect your child from danger…” Kyrak
let his voice trail off to show his disbelief.
“I am telling you again, he ‘knew’ there was danger and caught our son as he
fell, then shielded his body.” Aeryn repeated with emphasis. She crossed her
arms, trying not to become angry at the only healer left that could help John.
“If you don’t believe me, at least watch this…please, come with me.” Turning,
Aeryn walked out of the room. She heard a loud sigh then quick footsteps
following behind her. Soon they reached the exit of the medical facility.
“Miss Sun, can you please tell me where we are going?” Kyrak
said with obvious boredom in his voice, his patience wearing thin. “I have told
you, I will do my best, but I believe with the extensive damage done…” His
voice trailed off as he spotted Connor leading John, showing him each new
discovery he made on the grounds of the facility.
Aeryn looked around, searching for D’Argo. She found him standing off to the
side, a smile beginning to play at the edges of his mouth, but never taking his
eyes off of the duo that had a penchant for attracting trouble. Out of the
corner of her eye, Aeryn saw the doctor slowly shake his head. “Please bring
him back in, I’ll re-examine him…possibly try different tests.” As he turned,
Aeryn overheard him speaking to his assistant to begin preparations.
“You have a son…” Noranti said.
“A son? I have a son? Can I hold him?” His voice in awe.
“Of course John, let me clean him first.”
Looking down into Aeryn’s half-closed eyes, he whispered, “We have a son, you
did it baby.”
Her voice weak with fatigue, “No, we did it John…”
Noranti walked over to the new parents, as she passed John the small, wiggling
bundle, she said, “He’s going to do great things in his life.”
“Of course he is…he’s the son of Aeryn Sun.” John said with reverence in his
voice. Sitting back down next to Aeryn, he placed their child on her chest, his
arm gently cradling him. “He’s beautiful Aeryn, thank you so much. You’ve given
me the second luckiest day of my life.”
Smiling, she asked, “What was the first?”
“You know it was the day I met you.” He whispered, leaning over, he gently
brushed his lips across hers. At that moment, their son decided he didn’t want
to be ignored.
Putting her arm around the infant, Aeryn said smiling, “Let me have him, I can
tell he’s going to be trouble…just like his father. “
“Aeryn you need to calm down, your driving me completely fahrbot with all of
your pacing.” Chiana said.
They had been waiting for almost ten arns for word from the doctor, no one
wanted to stay behind on Moya. Aeryn walked over to where Chiana was seated
with Connor’s head in her lap. Bending down, Aeryn gently shook his shoulder.
“Your right, I’m making myself even more nervous. I’ll take Connor to the
transport pod to eat something, he hasn’t eaten in arns.”
Chiana cocked her head, “Your really waking him up to
eat? Why don’t you wait until he wakes up on his own, he is sleeping
peacefully.”
“He ‘needs’ to eat, and I need something to keep my mind off
of this frelling waiting.” She said as she picked up the droopy-eyed
little boy.
“Momma?”
Rubbing the back of his head, “It’s okay Connor, it is just time for you to
eat, we haven’t heard anything about your father yet.”
“It’s a long time, ain’t it?”
“Yes…too long.” She said as they walked across the grounds.
“It’ll be okay momma, daddy’s real tuff. Uncle D’Argo told me.”
Opening the door to the transport pod, she thought, ‘He should know better.’ As
Connor sat in the Pilot’s seat, Aeryn began searching for the food cubes she
knew were in the cupboards.
“There is something you should know, D’Argo was telling the truth, of sorts.
Your father is tough, in his own way, he’s the
strongest person I know.” Turning around with a packet of cubes in her hand,
she sat across from him. She gave him the packet after opening it for him, “But
that does not mean he can overcome everything he faces. Your father has been
through a lot of difficult things in the cycles since he joined us here, and
that could be bad for him now. I’m not going to lie to you Connor, not anymore
when it concerns your father. The physician told me he doesn’t know if your
father will come back to us, we may have to learn to go on without him.” Aeryn
looked down at her lap, she hated herself for telling him in this way, to take
away the hope she had seen in his eyes. As she looked back up, Aeryn was
surprised to see Connor smiling back at her.
Connor jumped out of his seat, wrapping his arms around his mother’s
neck, “He’ll be okay momma, trust me.”
Looking into the eyes that could have been John’s, Aeryn
laughed, “Trust you? You sound just like your father…”
Rygel’s voice interrupted her, “Aeryn! Get your skinny butt in here, the doctor
just came out.”
“We’re on our way.” Aeryn said, looking once again at Connor.
“Race you momma. “ Connor yelled, running to the exit. Aeryn shook her head,
not understanding her son, and ran after him.
Connor reached the door to the medical facility first, but he wasn’t looking as
he ran in and hit D’Argo who was standing next to the doorway. Catching the small child by the arm before he could fall.
A warning growl in his voice, “We told you about running into rooms like that
Connor, you could have hurt someone, including yourself.” As he finished the
scolding, Aeryn ran in and almost ran down the two of them.
“Is momma in trouble too?” Connor asked with a mischievous smile.
Aeryn looked at the two of them, “What?”
“Nothing, the doctor is waiting for you.” Smiling, D’Argo turned and walked
back to the waiting room.
As Aeryn entered the room, the doctor placed his hands behind his back, “Miss
Sun, I have to apologize for the length of the procedure. There were, I’m
afraid, a few complications.” He saw the pain cross immediately on her face,
quickly he continued. “Fortunately nothing we were incapable of handling. It
required that we continue at a much slower pace.” Sighing, he looked around the
room to the group surrounding him, hanging onto his every word.
“Well, did it work?” Chiana asked standing up from the bench.
“The procedure? Yes, it worked. Better than my
expectations. The question is…will his mind keep and retain the knowledge, that is something beyond my control.”
Taking Connor by the shoulder, Aeryn asked, “When can we see him?”
“Follow me.” Turning, he began to exit the room. He heard the echo several
pairs of feet as he began to state that only Sun and the boy could accompany
him, but he remembered this unusual assortment of aliens had shown a very
familial loyalty to the Human recovering down the
hall, he knew they would not listen.
Stepping into the room, he waited until they had all entered before continuing.
As the doctor waited patiently, Aeryn walked over to John’s bedside with
Connor. Looking down, she could see the tiny areas where his hair was shaved to
allow for the attachment of the electrodes used during the procedure. ‘He looks
so peaceful.’ She thought, almost regretting to allow for him to regain the
memories that caused so many nightmares over the cycles, but she could not just
leave him an empty shell. ‘We are but the sum of all our parts, our
experiences.’ She remembered John telling her once,
she hadn’t thought about it much until now. Turning, she faced the doctor.
“When is daddy wakin’ up momma?” Connor asked, his
eyes filling with tears, she followed his gaze back to John. It was then she
saw his body slightly jerking, his eyes moving rapidly under the lids.
“What’s wrong with him?” She asked loudly, turning to the doctor. She pulled
Connor away from where he could see John.
Kyrak quickly went to his bedside, after checking the
readouts on the equipment, he smiled. “I was about to explain that you should
be watching for this…it is actually a very good sign.” He saw the look of
disbelief in her eyes. “Let me explain. From the scans we had performed on
Crichton, we found extensive amounts of damage done to his brain, more than we
had ever seen with a creature still living. To be truthful, even after the
positive signs he exhibited with your son…we didn’t think it would succeed.
What you are actually seeing is the memories reintegrating themselves with his
body. We have him heavily sedated at the moment, if we did
not, he would try and enact these memories.”
“Are you out of your mind? He’s been tortured several times!” D’Argo
roared.
“I know, it was explained to me by Miss Sun.” He said calmly, “Try and remember
this, by the time he will have reached those memories, he will be just as
prepared to deal with them as before. He will not suffer anymore than he has.”
“Why have him remember that frelling Aurora Chair at all, he’s better off never
knowing what it is.” Rygel said directing himself further into the room.
“Because it would leave him…I don’t know exactly…incomplete. He would not be
the same John Crichton without those memories.” Aeryn looked back down at John, she put her hand on Connor’s head. “I’m not sure if
he’ll even be the same, but I had to try.”
“We know it was a hard decision to make Aeryn and we’ll support you both anyway
we can.” D’Argo said.
“Thank you, I have a feeling we’ll need it.”
One Cycle Later:
As they sat in silence, the sun began to settle lower in the sky. What had been
an unseasonable heat wave was quickly broken by a strong wind coming off of the
water. Even though the temperature was above normal, it was not uncomfortable
for Aeryn as she sat beside Connor on the grass beside the water. Leaning back
on her arms, she watched as her son struggled to untie a knot in the lace of
his boot. She was beginning to find it amusing that he would not give up the
task, even after half an arn.
“Let me have that Connor, we have to go in soon.” Aeryn said holding out her
hand. Sighing in frustration, Connor gave her the boot. As she began working on
it, Connor leaned forward and began rolling up his pants leg.
As he stuck his feet into the water, “Whawt
hhave I tole you bout that Cawner? You weel
sc-care awf the fffish.”
Looking behind him, Connor saw his father walking towards the lakeside carrying
two glasses. Smiling, he said, “I forgot.”
“Fforgot, mmy butt.” The scowl on his face
quickly changing into a smile too. “Ddon werrree bout it, uze to doo the sa-ame theeng.”
“Connor, here’s is your boot.” Aeryn said.
“It’s time to go for last meal.”
John sat down next to Connor, “Awww momm…caan wwe
fish a leetle lawnger?”
Laughing, she nodded her head, “Just remember, he has his studies tomorrow.”
Holding up his hand in the symbol for okay, John smiled as Aeryn turned to the
house.
“I heard you aumos gawt in a fffight todaee.”
John said as he leaned back in the grass. Watching out the corner of his eye,
he saw Connor’s cheeks grow red in embarrassment. Connor continued to look
straight ahead.
“Uh huh. I saw R’lav and Fulik picking on one of the littler kids…” He finally
turned to face his father. “They were hurting him dad, he was
bleeding and crying on the ground.”
“Whawt deed you doo?”
“I ran over and pushed them back and told them if they didn’t leave him alone,
I was going to beat the hezmana out of them. “Connor voice fell to a whisper as
he finished speaking.
John tried not to smile at him; Aeryn had already heard the story from the
mother of the child that Connor had defended. They both wanted his version
before talking to him about it.
“Whho tawt
you that werrd?”
“I’ve heard Uncle D’Argo say it…you too.”
John was unsuccessful in stopping his laughter, but it came out as snort.
Connor started to giggle at that. Sitting up, John said, “Gawta
hhave a talk wif him bout
that…”
“I’m proud ov you deffffending
a smawler keed, but doo mmeee a ffavor,
piick yourr ffights carrffly. Ddon be llike mmme
an jum in too qeeckly. Theenk fffirst…o-okay?”
“Okay, but your not mad?” Connor said with surprise.
“Noope.” A movement near the
water caught John’s eye.
“Ggraab your pol for you loz iit, you ggot
a ffish,”
Quickly, Connor grabbed his fishing pole and began the struggle to bring the
fish ashore.
The End!
"Daddy when you coming home"
He said the first thing that came to his mind
I'm already there
Take a look around
I'm the sunshine in your hair
I'm the shadow on the ground
I'm the whisper in the wind
I'm your imaginary friend
And I know I'm in your prayers
Oh I'm already there
I'm already there
Don't make a sound
I'm the beat in your heart
I'm the moonlight shining down
I'm the whisper in the wind
And I'll be there until the end
Can you feel the love that we share
Oh I'm already there
We may be a thousand miles apart
But I'll be with you wherever you are...
- Lyrics
by LoneStar
Originally
posted on March 05, 2003