TITLE: "PAYMENT IN KIND"

AUTHOR: Alison M. DOBELL

FANDOM: "Farscape"

PAIRING: No specific pairing

RATING: PG-13

STATUS: New.

ARCHIVE: Yes. Just let me know where.

FEEDBACK: Welcomed

SERIES/SEQUEL: SEQUEL to "PROHIBITED CARGO"

The usual disclaimers apply. No infringement of copyright is intended.

"PAYMENT IN KIND"
A "Farscape" story
Written by Alison M. DOBELL


The secret gammak base at Trilon was so highly classified it did not even appear in High Command registers. The entry code was beyond triple violet and not even Black Ops and Ghosts had access. Commander Scorpius had to get a special dispensation to even be in the area. Yet here was Captain Reinar on an eliptic approach vector. His confidence over riding every atom of
common sense he had ever acquired. His second in command did not dare voice his fears. Instead he spent his off duty time down in the maximum security cell block. He wanted to take a good hard look at what was so damned important that they were all risking their lives bringing it here. What had seemed like a good idea at the time was now looking to be an act of the highest folly.

The creature was seated on the floor. A black squat beast covered in dense black fur. The look on its' face was almost intelligent. The eyes narrowed when he peered through the maddium steel bars. He did not touch the bars. Knew they were electrified. Seeing the scorch marks on the beast he knew the animal was aware of it too. Guy did not like the confinement. Hated the way his Peace Keeper captors stared at him, made disparaging remarks which he did not understand but knew were derogatory. Laughed at him then celebrated his frustration because he could not rip their heads off their shoulders in venting his rage. So he had retreated mentally and now observed them in silence. Not reacting when they mocked him or threw food scraps through the bars. They found it highly amusing when most of the food was burnt to an inedible crisp at it touched the bars in passing. Guy simply looked at them and memorised each face. But this one. This one was different. He never mocked Guy. Never threw things at him or tried to bait him. Rather he seemed confused, puzzled. As if he did not understand why he was there either.

Lt Cragg began to feel a growing sadness. His visits to the cell block becoming further apart. A kind of guilt clung to him when he looked into the creature's eyes as if it knew what he had done was wrong. It was ludicrous of course. Yet something told him the creature knew more than it was given credit for. What was it? Where had it come from? And how in hezmana had it come to be aboard a leviathan?

* * * * *

He woke slowly. Groggy and in great pain. It had become his one constant. Everything hurt him. All his senses torturing him in his extremis. Aeryn was worried. He had been unconscious for eleven arns. Zhaan tried to calm her down, tell her it was just his body's way of reducing the shock and letting him heal. Ka D'Argo stepped into the apothecary and looked down at his friend. Zhaan tilted her head as she looked at him. "How are you feeling, D'Argo?"

"I am fine Zhaan, I was simply knocked unconscious." He stepped up to the side of Crichton's bed. "How do you feel, John?"

Crichton could not process the sound in his ears. Everything mussed up. He was drowning in sounds that bled into a muffled cacophony that echoed like liquid pain in his ears. A whimper escaped his lips. Aeryn moved to touch him but Zhaan gently took her hand and shook her head. "He is not healed enough yet, Aeryn."

She had tears in her eyes. "Will he be alright?"

"Yes, but it will take time. His skin has been superheated and that is why he is in such pain. I have never seen such injuries inflicted on purpose before. Normal pulse fire does not do this."

"Then what is it?" Growled D'Argo angrily.

Zhaan shook her head. "I do not know, it is like a viscous accelerant. A version of chakan oil that clings and is highly inflamable, though I don't know why anyone would want to apply such an application to a weapon."

"You have your answer lying there."

All heads turned at the Dominar's heavy words. They had not heard him enter. Chiana was with him, her expression sorrowful. "He will be alright though, won't he Zhaan? I mean, he will recover?"

"Yes, child, but it will take time. I will keep him sedated as much as I dare so that he can withstand the worst of the pain."

"Why not just give him pain killers, Zhaan?" Asked Aeryn.

Zhaan shook her head. "Nothing I have is strong enough Aeryn, and if I could find something strong enough he might not regain consciousness. No. This way is slower, more painful, but safer."

"Sounds like frelling torture to me." Grumbled Rygel.

Watching Crichton drifting in a sea of pain not one of them was inclined to disagree with him. Just then Pilot's voice sailed over the com. "Moya asks if you can all come to command."

"What's happening, Pilot?" Asked Aeryn with a feeling of dread stirring her insides.

There was a pause before he answered. He sounded surprised. "It is Talyn!"

"What?" Said Rygel. "What the frell is Talyn doing *here*? Has Crais come to gloat?"

Pilot's voice sound severely annoyed. "Talyn picked up Moya's distress call and wants to help."

Aeryn gave Zhaan a nod and hurried out of the apothecary. "We are on our way, Pilot."

Everybody hurried out of the apothecary leaving Zhaan to watch over Crichton. Her eyes were sad and expressive. Her look gentle and loving. "Oh John," She whispered sadly. "I wish I could do more for you." She bent her head, passed her hands in front and over face in a clensing gesture, then began to pray to the Goddess Kah'leen. If anyone deserved the intercession of the Goddess it was surely John Crichton.

* * * * *

Captain Reinar could not hide his look of smug satisfaction. He was so pleased he failed to see how upset his lieutenant was. The crew however were ecstatic. After this there would be no more interminable duties stuck in the Uncharted Territories. Each man thought his Captain a hero. Each man but one. Lt Cragg could not get the ape's eyes out of his head. The growing certainty that the creature was sentient. That the creature had silently judged them and found them wanting. It made him feel more than sad. It made him feel ashamed.

A couple of marauders came out of the super secret base at Trilon to escort them down the narrow protected corridor that was the only way in or out of the gammak base. Commandant Darikos had a special detail meet them on the landing apron. Captain Reinar's smile froze a little. Suddenly nervous. So many Black Ghosts, all of them faceless assassins. Trained to kill without thought. Exterminate without compassion. Obey without question. This was a lot of security for one alien beast. He wondered who the security was for. The best or them. Then the Commandant was striding down the aisle his men had left clear for him. A guard of honour or their executioners? Captain Reinar decided to be positive. He smiled with confident satisfaction and brought himself and his men to attention. The Commandant looked towards the energy net before meeting his eyes. The subtle action was enough to establish the pecking order and the fact that Reinar and his men were at the bottom of it. Well below the ape. Darikos smiled. A wide handsome glitter of polished white teeth in a dark ebony face. A strong face, with sculpted features that were rare in a Sebacean. Without fail, all Sebaceans were predominantly white. The shock of the man's skin took a microt for Reinar to hide. But Darikos had noticed. A man in his position always did. Reinar realised why Darikos had been given the post.

"Captain Reinar! I am Commandant Darikos. Welcome to my humble base. I admit that I was startled and impressed at your decision to contact me directly." A pause. "Outside the chain of High Command."

The Captain tried to hide his sudden nervousness then the Commandant kicked into his most polished role of host. His dark handsome features easily switching between emotional impasses and smoothing out any areas of potential conflict. Despite his reservations Captain Reinar began to relax. They were taken to the oddly named *hospitality suite*. Something which Reinar had never heard of in Peace Keeper terms before. Why was he being feted? Was the creature really so valuable? He did not dare to ask. To ask was to question. To question was to put you on the wrong side of authorisation. A line that turned good men to squag. The food was excellent, the rasklak free flowing. Soon even the most nervous among them had relaxed. Commandant Darikos was pleased. He drew the Captain to one side and refilled his cup. The Captain's face was flushed, his eyes a little too bright. "I think, sir, I have had enough to drink."

The Commandant smiled at him. "For a man who has achieved such a coup, Captain, nothing is too good."

Reiner took a sip and tried not to lean too much on a balustrade. It would not look good for the Commandant to realise how poorly he held his liquor. The Commandant judged his microt to perfection. "As a special dispensation to you and your men, I wish to give you a guided tour of our most secret facilities."

Pleased, Captain Reiner beamed back at him. Such an unparallelled honour was not to be refused.

"I of course extend the invitation to you and all your crew."

The Captain nodded and accepted on behalf of them all. They were *escorted* to the maximum security level. Down so many shafts that Reinar quickly lost count. When they got to the designated floor the first thing he noticed was the noise level. The second was the smell. They were led and ushered down a long pristine corridor to a huge thick door made of solid maddium steel. The Commandant placed his palm over the special reader and as his badge and hand were scanned a needle pricked his thumb and compared his DNA. The light turned from red to green and the huge heavy door opened without a sound. Despite how much they had drunk, Reinar and his men were now almost completely sober again. The Commandant hid a smile and showed them the reason for the noise. The cells down here were larger than any he had ever seen on a Peace Keeper Command Carrier. These were special tensile cages of differing sizes not to house a single prisoner but colonies of them. What he saw made his mouth drop open in total shock and horror.

The first cage held creatures similar to the one they had captured on board Moya. Only these had red hair, much longer arms and more mobile faces. Large sorrowful eyes stared at them. Cage after cage had similar creatures with some variations. He noticed the cage with Guy in. The ape alone and distressed. He felt a brief stab of guilt though he did not know why. Then they passed on and saw creatures with less and less hair. Creatures that gradually attained the vertical upright position that typified bipedal races. The last cage stopped him dead in his tracks. The creatures almost looked Sebacean! He turned and gave the Commandant a questioning look. "I don't understand, Commandant."

Commandant Darikos smiled disingenuously and watched as his men disarmed the Captain and his crew. "Your curiosity while commendable is however a serious breach in security, Captain. I am sure you realise that?"

He began to stutter. "Forgive me, Commandant, I did not mean..."

"And all breaches in security are dealt with in a most efficient manner. I am sure you would agree that is best?"

"I suppose so but..."

Darikos gave a nod and his men stripped the Captain. His mouth dropped in alarm and sudden understanding. Fear darkened his eyes. Oh no, oh no, he couldn't? He was a Peace Keeper Captain. But the Commandant could and would. This was *his* base and security was *his* to maintain. However he saw fit. He was a Black Ghost. If anyone ever asked High Command would say they had never heard of him. He watched his men likewise stripped down and tried to reason with Darikos as they were herded down another corridor. The screams from this one were disconcerting. They were stopped by a large communal cage and a sudden silence fell. Great hairy beasts seven foot tall peeled back their lips and threw themselves at the bars. Commandant Darikos smiled again. Reinar was learning to hate that smile.

"You will be happy to hear that you and your men are going to help us with another stage in our experimentation." He nodded. A shock was delivered to the bars and the creatures sprang back, snarling and shaking their hands where they had been singed by the burst of electricity. The door
was opened and Reinar and his men were shoved inside and the door locked behind them.

Terror, naked and palpable, stared back at Darikos. The Captain not too proud to beg. "Don't do this, Commandant. Let us out, I swear I will pay any pennace for my folly but let us out of here!"

"Too late. Before I leave you I should explain that every specimen in this cage is female and they have not been allowed to mate for many cycles...."

He turned and walked out of the corridor, his men falling in behind him leaving the Captain and his men alone with beasts that wore almost Sebacean faces. As he emerged back through the security door the Commandant could hear their screams rent the air. Somehow it added a certain piquancy to the earthy scent of the fetid air. He smiled, paused, then nodded for them to be sealed in.

* * * * *

"So," Said Chiana tilting her head as Bialar Crais boarded Moya. "What are you really doing here?"

D'Argo and Rygel looked at the former Peace Keeper Captain with wary eyes. Crais knew they did not trust him but that was of no concern to him right now. He was looking cautiously around, noting how wary they were around him. "Talyn picked up Moya's distress call. I did nothing. Talyn insisted on coming. He wants to help."

"Yeah, and what do you want?" The Nebari asked suspiciously.

He stopped and looked at D'Argo then Rygel, studiously avoiding looking at Chiana. "Where are Aeryn and Crichton? And P'au Zotoh Zhaan?"

"Hey," Said Chiana, trying to get his attention again. Annoyed at being ignored. "You're lucky we came out to meet you."

He looked at her this time and her blood chilled. She did not like this. Did not like him being on Moya but Moya had been so happy to see Talyn. And the gunship was helping her, bleeding off his own leviathan nutrients to help her heal. For that she was grateful but little else. D'Argo stepped closer to Crais. "Come, we will take you to Command."

"You did not answer my question, Luxan."

"No," Said Ka D'Argo, his expression giving nothing away. "I did not."

He was allowed anywhere he wanted to go except to the crew quarters and the apothecary. Everywhere he went at least two of them went with him. He wondered what they were hiding. "What is going on, Ka D'Argo? Why can I not see Officer Sun?"

"She is no longer a Peace Keeper. The stench is offensive to her."

"And Crichton? I thought he would be here."

"Crais," Said Rygel. "Your attempts to make conversation are wearying at best. Annoying and unwanted. We accept you aboard Moya only because of Talyn. Do not make us regret that decision."

He raised his eyebrows, feigning surprise. "If I didn't know better I would say you are frightened of me."

Rygel's voice dropped to a low scrape of vowels and constanants, each word dripping in hate. "We do not fear you, Peace Keeper, we do not trust you."

"I am no longer a Peace Keeper."

D'Argo snorted. "You may have fooled Aeryn but you do not fool the rest of us."

He looked surprised to hear that. "Aeryn believes me?"

"Belief is too strong a word." Said D'Argo, regretting that he had let that slip at all. He did not like Crais.

Chiana watched the wary exchange of words for a few more microts then left them with Crais. She hurried to the apothecary, an uneasy feeling growing inside her. Aeryn looked up as she entered. Crichton was awake but tired. Zhaan was mixing some gel for his wounds. Chiana paused, not sure what to say now she was there. She had not expected Crichton to be awake. Did not want to worry him. "Hey, how you doing old man?"

He could not smile so he put the smile in his voice. "I've been better. How about you?"

"Better than you by the look of it."

Aeryn frowned at her, Crichton gave a little chuckle. "Same old Chi," He said softly, eyes closing. So weary now. Aeryn and Zhaan exchanged looks. Chiana felt a touch of panic. Zhaan smiled gently at her.

"It's alright Chiana, John is sleeping now."

The Nebari nodded but still did not want to speak in front of him. Just in case. Aeryn was getting impatient. "What is it?"

She tilted her head, still looking at Crichton. He *looked* asleep but she could not be sure. "Uh, can I speak to you for a microt Aeryn?" She paused, eyes pleading. "Outside?"

When Aeryn was about to ask why, Chiana added her own reason. "I don't want to disturb John."

Aeryn nodded and stepped out into the corridor, Zhaan checked on Crichton then joined them. Chiana stepped several metra away from the apothecary door and still lowered her voice when she spoke. "Crais is here."

"I know, Chiana. Talyn came to help Moya. This is hardly news."

"Yeah, but he's asking a lot of questions."

Aeryn frowned. "What sort of questions?"

"You know, like where are you? Where's John and Zhaan? *Those* type of questions."

"Chiana that is hardly any reason to panic. It's only natural he should wonder where everybody is."

"I know but it's the way he's asking questions."

"What do you mean?"

"Like he already knows the answer."

Their eyes locked for a few microts. "Chiana, that is ridiculous. How could he know anything?"

Chiana shrugged. She looked worried. Aeryn wondered if she might be right. After all, the Nebari sometimes *saw* things. "Was this another vision?"

The Nebari shook her head. Aeryn's frown deepened. "Do you want me to talk to Crais?"

She shook her head firmly. "No Aeryn, I want you to stay away from him. Zhaan too."

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why?"

"Because it's one thing if you, John and Zhaan don't turn up, another if it's just John. He'll just assume you're with John and don't want to be disturbed."

"And me?" Asked Zhaan.

"Well, you could come to command. Show your face then wander off again but not Aeryn."

Really irritated now, Aeryn had to force herself not to shake Chiana. Hard. "What *are* you talking about?"

"Like I said, he keeps asking questions. If he starts with you, you might let something slip."

She glared at Chiana so hard that the Nebari took an involuntary step backwards. "That didn't come out the way I meant, Aeryn. I meant Crais knows you too well, he would be able to tell if you lied to him." She paused, feeling really unsettled now. Her feelings coming thick and fast and
dragging her down to a dark place she did not want to go. "This is bad, Aeryn. Don't ask me why or how I know but I don't think Crais being here is because of Talyn searching for Moya or answering her call of help. I think he knew exactly where we were."

"Chiana, I have no idea what you are talking about so if you want me to listen you had better start explaining."

Chiana swallowed hard. Looked close to tears. It alarmed Aeryn but she waited to hear the Nebari out. "I went to see Pilot. Asked him if Moya had sent a distress signal."

Zhaan looked troubled. Aeryn found she was holding her breath. "What did Pilot say?"

"He seemed surprised. He said Moya didn't send a distress signal."

"What?"

"Whatever Crais is doing here, it has nothing to do with what happened to Moya. Nothing to do with Talyn."

* * * * *
end