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A Transport Pod, Somewhere In the Hynerian System
Once they reached the transport pod and were safely off the planet and hopefully hidden in the Oort cloud from any searching ships, some members of the party were able to relax a tiny bit. Some people. Not Stark. There wasn’t room to pace so Stark was once again huddled in a corner, occasionally talking to himself, and twisting his hands together when he wasn’t nervously tugging at the buckle at his neck.
“Any luck getting Pilot on the phone?” Crichton asked.
“No response. Same as the last time you asked,” Jothee said, rolling his eyes. “We’re on a transport pod. You’d notice if we were getting a transmission!”
“Just making conversation,” Crichton said. “Pip, you good?”
“I’d be better if we knew where Moya was,” Chiana answered. “And Rygel. I think we all would. Well. Maybe not all of us....” She jerked her head in Stark’s direction.
“Astro’ll be ok eventually.”
“I hope so.”
“We ought to be discussing strategy,” Aeryn said. The baby cooed in response. “Even Deke agrees.”
“Strategy right now,” Jothee said, “is staying hidden until we can reach Moya.”
“And once we reach Moya?”
“Then we figure out where the frell they took Rygel,” Crichton said. “And we get him back. And then we deal with Scorpy.”
“Should have killed him,” Stark said quietly. “When we had the chance. So many chances.”
“We’ll get him next time, Astro.”
“...I think I’ve figured out why we can’t reach Moya,” Jothee said suddenly.
“Aw, crap,” Crichton said, following the other man’s gaze towards the ships that had just appeared in front of them.
“They’re powering weapons,” Jothee said.
“Of course they are,” Crichton sighed.
Weapons being powered up led inevitably to weapons being fired. Weapons being fired led to a few small fires in controls of the transport pod. Fires led to Stark yelling and backing away even further, somehow, and to Crichton and Chiana trying to put them out.
“Evasive maneuvers, Jothee!” Aeryn yelled.
“What the frell do you think I’m doing? They’re boxing us in! Oh, hold on, there’s another ship on an approach vector. It’s Peacekeeper.”
“He’s right,” Aeryn confirmed. “It’s a Farnik-class Vigilante!”
“That’s just what we need,” Jothee groaned.
“Frying pan, meet fire,” Crichton sighed.
“It’s firing on the Hynerians! Let’s get out of here while they’re distracted,” Aeryn suggested.
“Fine. But where?” Jothee asked.
“Somewhere nobody is trying to kill us,” Stark shouted. “Anywhere but here!”
“Someone’s always trying to kill us, Stark,” Chiana told him. “Someone’s always gonna be trying to kill us. You know that by now.”
“This is a short-range pod and Moya still isn’t anywhere in that short range,” Jothee continued without even turning around. “Besides. That Vigilante’s faster than us.”
“Better than sitting here waiting to be shot at again,” Stark said, quieter now. He didn’t want any of them to die. He didn’t want to die.
“Transport pod, this is Dominar Rygel the Sixteenth in command of the former Peacekeeper vessel. Let our docking web take you onboard.”
The transmission from the Vigilante was unexpected and shocked Stark back into silence. Maybe nobody was dying just yet.
“Sonuva…Fluffy, is that you?” Crichton asked.
”Of course it is you stupid yotz.”
“How’d you get command of a Peacekeeper ship?”
”Quite easily, actually. I’ll explain when you’re on board.”
Shockingly, nothing went wrong when the docking web was deployed and nothing went wrong when the pod was brought aboard and nothing went wrong when they all disembarked in the docking bay.
“Welcome aboard the flagship of the true Hynerian navy,” Rygel said once they were all off the transport pod. “Also, for the moment its only ship but that will change soon.”
“Hang on,” Chiana said, glaring at one of Rygel’s companions. “That’s the tralk I shot!” It was, indeed, one of the generals who had betrayed them at the abandoned mining colony. All of those generals were there, along with Mmyna.
“The hell’s going on here, Sparky?” Crichton demanded.
“Nothing has changed in the least, Crichton. I’m going to take my throne back.”
“Gotta hand it to you Ryg,” Chiana told him, still eyeing the other Hynerians warily. “This is quite the turnaround. Three solar days ago, you were moping in your cell. Now you’re fighting back with a PK ship and your enemies fighting next to you.”
Stark was hanging back by the transport pod. He wanted an exit if necessary. Or at least a place to hide.
“I have only one enemy on Hyneria,” Rygel corrected. “Bishan.”
“Actually, you got two,” Crichton corrected in return. “Scorpy isn’t just visiting Hyneria for the sun and surf. Your cousin’s made him his commissioner of warfare. I’ll bet currency to food cubes that Scorpy’s really the one in charge–or if not, he will be soon.”
“Your Highness,” General Ommel interrupted. “We’re receiving a response to the message you sent. As you predicted, it’s a leviathan.”
“Moya?” Chiana asked eagerly. Even Stark perked up a little at that.
“Of course,” Rygel said calmly.
“Pilot where are you?” Chiana asked.
“Chiana? Is that you?”
“Me, Rygel, Crichton, Aeryn, Deke, Jothee, and Stark. We’re all here. We’re all safe.”
“Moya, Noranti, and I are quite relieved,” Pilot answered. “We were forced to Starburst when we were surrounded by a dozen Hynerian ships.”
Crichton snorted. “How much you wanna bet the Hynerian commissioner of warfare sent’em?”
“No bet,” Chiana answered.
“Where is Moya now, Pilot?” Rygel asked, ignoring the others for the moment.
“Just at the edge of comm range. We should arrive at the outskirt’s of the palace planet’s system in twenty arns.”
“Change course,” Rygel directed. “We’ll rendezvous with Moya at a planet called Acervulus. Ommel, send the coordinates.”
“What?” Ommel asked, startled. “Acervulus is a desert wasteland on the edge of our space! Why the yotz would you want to go there?”
“Because something important awaits me on that world,” Rygel said calmly.
“You’re joking. That’s a legend, there’s no such thing as-”
“Wrong, General. What’s on Acervulus is quite real. Instead of listening to lies of former wives, I should have gone there in the first place. And it is from there that I will at last take back my throne!”
[NFB for distance. NFI for still being somewhere extremely unsafe without a phone even if the saddest alien’s life sucks marginally less at this particular moment. Adapted from “The Beginning of the End of the Beginning: Yes, That’s Our Baby.”]
“Any luck getting Pilot on the phone?” Crichton asked.
“No response. Same as the last time you asked,” Jothee said, rolling his eyes. “We’re on a transport pod. You’d notice if we were getting a transmission!”
“Just making conversation,” Crichton said. “Pip, you good?”
“I’d be better if we knew where Moya was,” Chiana answered. “And Rygel. I think we all would. Well. Maybe not all of us....” She jerked her head in Stark’s direction.
“Astro’ll be ok eventually.”
“I hope so.”
“We ought to be discussing strategy,” Aeryn said. The baby cooed in response. “Even Deke agrees.”
“Strategy right now,” Jothee said, “is staying hidden until we can reach Moya.”
“And once we reach Moya?”
“Then we figure out where the frell they took Rygel,” Crichton said. “And we get him back. And then we deal with Scorpy.”
“Should have killed him,” Stark said quietly. “When we had the chance. So many chances.”
“We’ll get him next time, Astro.”
“...I think I’ve figured out why we can’t reach Moya,” Jothee said suddenly.
“Aw, crap,” Crichton said, following the other man’s gaze towards the ships that had just appeared in front of them.
“They’re powering weapons,” Jothee said.
“Of course they are,” Crichton sighed.
Weapons being powered up led inevitably to weapons being fired. Weapons being fired led to a few small fires in controls of the transport pod. Fires led to Stark yelling and backing away even further, somehow, and to Crichton and Chiana trying to put them out.
“Evasive maneuvers, Jothee!” Aeryn yelled.
“What the frell do you think I’m doing? They’re boxing us in! Oh, hold on, there’s another ship on an approach vector. It’s Peacekeeper.”
“He’s right,” Aeryn confirmed. “It’s a Farnik-class Vigilante!”
“That’s just what we need,” Jothee groaned.
“Frying pan, meet fire,” Crichton sighed.
“It’s firing on the Hynerians! Let’s get out of here while they’re distracted,” Aeryn suggested.
“Fine. But where?” Jothee asked.
“Somewhere nobody is trying to kill us,” Stark shouted. “Anywhere but here!”
“Someone’s always trying to kill us, Stark,” Chiana told him. “Someone’s always gonna be trying to kill us. You know that by now.”
“This is a short-range pod and Moya still isn’t anywhere in that short range,” Jothee continued without even turning around. “Besides. That Vigilante’s faster than us.”
“Better than sitting here waiting to be shot at again,” Stark said, quieter now. He didn’t want any of them to die. He didn’t want to die.
“Transport pod, this is Dominar Rygel the Sixteenth in command of the former Peacekeeper vessel. Let our docking web take you onboard.”
The transmission from the Vigilante was unexpected and shocked Stark back into silence. Maybe nobody was dying just yet.
“Sonuva…Fluffy, is that you?” Crichton asked.
”Of course it is you stupid yotz.”
“How’d you get command of a Peacekeeper ship?”
”Quite easily, actually. I’ll explain when you’re on board.”
Shockingly, nothing went wrong when the docking web was deployed and nothing went wrong when the pod was brought aboard and nothing went wrong when they all disembarked in the docking bay.
“Welcome aboard the flagship of the true Hynerian navy,” Rygel said once they were all off the transport pod. “Also, for the moment its only ship but that will change soon.”
“Hang on,” Chiana said, glaring at one of Rygel’s companions. “That’s the tralk I shot!” It was, indeed, one of the generals who had betrayed them at the abandoned mining colony. All of those generals were there, along with Mmyna.
“The hell’s going on here, Sparky?” Crichton demanded.
“Nothing has changed in the least, Crichton. I’m going to take my throne back.”
“Gotta hand it to you Ryg,” Chiana told him, still eyeing the other Hynerians warily. “This is quite the turnaround. Three solar days ago, you were moping in your cell. Now you’re fighting back with a PK ship and your enemies fighting next to you.”
Stark was hanging back by the transport pod. He wanted an exit if necessary. Or at least a place to hide.
“I have only one enemy on Hyneria,” Rygel corrected. “Bishan.”
“Actually, you got two,” Crichton corrected in return. “Scorpy isn’t just visiting Hyneria for the sun and surf. Your cousin’s made him his commissioner of warfare. I’ll bet currency to food cubes that Scorpy’s really the one in charge–or if not, he will be soon.”
“Your Highness,” General Ommel interrupted. “We’re receiving a response to the message you sent. As you predicted, it’s a leviathan.”
“Moya?” Chiana asked eagerly. Even Stark perked up a little at that.
“Of course,” Rygel said calmly.
“Pilot where are you?” Chiana asked.
“Chiana? Is that you?”
“Me, Rygel, Crichton, Aeryn, Deke, Jothee, and Stark. We’re all here. We’re all safe.”
“Moya, Noranti, and I are quite relieved,” Pilot answered. “We were forced to Starburst when we were surrounded by a dozen Hynerian ships.”
Crichton snorted. “How much you wanna bet the Hynerian commissioner of warfare sent’em?”
“No bet,” Chiana answered.
“Where is Moya now, Pilot?” Rygel asked, ignoring the others for the moment.
“Just at the edge of comm range. We should arrive at the outskirt’s of the palace planet’s system in twenty arns.”
“Change course,” Rygel directed. “We’ll rendezvous with Moya at a planet called Acervulus. Ommel, send the coordinates.”
“What?” Ommel asked, startled. “Acervulus is a desert wasteland on the edge of our space! Why the yotz would you want to go there?”
“Because something important awaits me on that world,” Rygel said calmly.
“You’re joking. That’s a legend, there’s no such thing as-”
“Wrong, General. What’s on Acervulus is quite real. Instead of listening to lies of former wives, I should have gone there in the first place. And it is from there that I will at last take back my throne!”
[NFB for distance. NFI for still being somewhere extremely unsafe without a phone even if the saddest alien’s life sucks marginally less at this particular moment. Adapted from “The Beginning of the End of the Beginning: Yes, That’s Our Baby.”]