Chapter 1
Part 1

The quiet hum of the living ship was oddly relaxing as John Crichton walked the passageways of the ship, trying to work out the kinks and knots in his arms and legs after several arns of cramped work in the neural cluster.

It certainly wasn't work he had asked for, let lone expected to be doing today but somehow the commerce planet Moya now orbited hadn't seemed very appealing this morning. He had noted the others questioning looks when he had begged off on going planet side, opting to remain on Moya, and was grateful when Aeryn too had announced she too would be staying on board. He doubted she really had repairs on the prowler to complete, as she had claimed, but he was pleased nonetheless to know she had chosen to stay with him.

Aeryn. Simply thinking her name brought a smile to his face. His comrade in arms, his friend, his confidante. Everything he had ever wanted in a woman and more. He chuckled softly to himself. 'Well, the more part can be confusing as all hell sometimes, but it's worth it.'

And now she was the very person he sought. She had promised to join him for the midday meal and he intended to keep her to that promise. He valued the time they share together, especially when the others were not around. He enjoyed the company of his fellow shipmates, but it wasn't the same as when he spent time with Aeryn. Without even realizing it he was humming tunelessly, unconsciously mimicking the sounds and rhythms of the great ship surrounding him, as a small smile tugged at his lips.

"Commander Crichton?"

"Yes, Pilot?" John replied, noting with some envy the contented manner in which Pilot was able to infuse in even such a simple greeting. Ever since he had begun to naturally join with Moya the symbiont had seemed so completely satisfied with the operations of the ship, little seemed to faze him. He certainly seemed calmer about potential dangers than he had once been.

"I have received a message from Zhaan. She wanted to inform us that she and the other have completed their negotiations for supplies but they will be delayed several arns while they await delivery to pod." Pilot informed him.

"OK. Thanks for the update. I'll let Aeryn know." John replied as he made the last turn to reach Maintenance Bay 2.

As he expected, Aeryn was sitting at one of the work benches hunched over her current project. Glancing over at her tools he was not surprised to see they hadn't been so much as moved, confirming his suspicion that her Prowler had not needed repairs. Grinning to himself, he sauntered over to her and slipped onto a nearby stool to watch her.

"Something I can do for you, Crichton?" Aeryn asked, never taking her gaze of the small, cylindrical device in her hands. A device the was vaguely familiar.

"Pilot just let me know it's going to be a couple of more arns before the others get back." H replied, leaning closer to her. Her eyes flicked up briefly at his movement, obviously curious as to what he was doing.

"Is that all?" She asked, her curiosity starting to slip into puzzled annoyance.

He waggled his eyebrows at her look, unable to help his silly indulgence. "You didn't forget we were meeting for lunch, did you?"

A small smile tugged at her lips, in spite of her efforts to remain aloof. "I did not forget, Crichton. Let me just finish making these adjustments and I'll join you." She replied, quickly turning her attention back to the device.

He watched with interest as she used a small needle like tool to make seemingly imperceptible changes to the device she was holding with such care. After a moment she set the tool down and began jacking for thing wires into the device. Twisting the device, instantly bringing to life a series of pulsing red light. Recognition suddenly dawned on him.

"Is that what I think it is, Aeryn?" John asked, eyeing the device warily.

"Crais' Neural Transponder for Talyn. Yes." Aeryn replied, looking over her handiwork one more time before shutting the device down. Setting it on the table she looked up, somewhat surprised at the questioning and shocked look on her human shipmates face.

John carefully picked up the device, turning it over in his hands several times as he looked it over. "What are you doing with it?" He asked quietly.

"I was trying to modify it so that we might be able to communicate with Talyn ourselves should the need arise." Aeryn replied as she quickly placed the tools away.

"Does it work?" John asked a bit unsettled at hearing Aeryn's explanation. "I mean it doesn't seem Crais is likely to let us call Talyn whenever we want. And he is a biomechanoid, after all."

"That is why I asked Pilot to assist me on the modifications." Aeryn picked up the transponder, pointing to several of her modifications and adjustments as she continued her explanation. "We both agreed that all was required was communications, so I rewired it to filter out everything but the communications link by fusing the circuits here, here and here. Since no one on board has the transponders receptacle Pilot came up with a neural interface that we could plug into and allow for communications."

John raised an eyebrow at this, looking over the device. "Uh, what interface, Aeryn?" He gestured to the table.

"Obviously I haven't built it yet, Crichton." Aeryn replied, her voice hardening ever so slightly in annoyance. John couldn't help but grin at that, which only seemed to increase her annoyance.

"DO you find something amusing?" Aeryn snapped.

"Nope." John shook his head. "Just thinking about how much you've changed. A cycle ago you would have barely tolerated doing 'tech work' and now here you are trying to figure out how the tech... works." He chuckled softly, shrugging at his unintended pun. "It's just...I don't know...reassuring, I suppose, that things can change. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you." Aeryn looked uncomfortable at the unexpected praise, but smiled softly.

"So, how about that lunch you promised me?" John asked, gesturing towards the entrance to the bay. "We can have a nice quiet meal and then you can tell me all about this communications device of yours. Maybe I can help?"

"It will be nice to have a quiet meal for once. Come on." Aeryn nodded her agreement and together they departed the bay.