Part 3



"Oh, crap. Are you sure?" Crichton asked, already scrambling from his seat to follow Aeryn out the door of the Center Chamber and headed for Command.

"Positive, Commander." Pilot replied over the comm. "There is a Peacekeeper patrol headed for this system. Moya is unsure at this distance, but it appears to be three Marauders. At their current velocity they shall reach our position in two arns."

"Great." Crichton muttered to himself as he increased his pace to keep up with Aeryn.

"Pilot, inform the others." Aeryn shouted as she rushed into command using the nearest console to bring herself to a stop. She was dimly aware of Pilot's holographic image on the nearby clamshell as she quickly ran her hands over the sensor controls.

"On it." The symbiont replied.

"This isn't good." Crichton muttered as he caught a good look at the information Moya's sensors were providing.

Aeryn shook her head, forcibly calming her breathing. "It's definitely Peacekeepers Marauders."

"So much for a nice, quiet lunch." Crichton commented. "Just hope the others get up here ASAP."

"There's no need to panic, Crichton. We'll be able to Starburst long before they..." Her voice trailed off as she glanced at the screens once more.

"What?" Crichton asked, looking over her shoulder as she her fingers expertly flew over the controls. A puzzled expression came to his face as he saw the screen change again. "Did I just see what I thought I saw?"

"If you mean that one of the Marauders just reversed course, yes." Aeryn replied. She shook her head in confusion. "But it doesn't make sense that they would do that. Not unless they needed to refuel or report in."

"Command Carrier?" John asked.

"Most likely. Maybe a destroyer or battle group." Aeryn replied. "Either way we had better starburst as far away as possible."

"Right." John nodded, crossing over to the comm station as Aeryn went to confer with Pilot. "Hey guys! You better get up here, pronto. We got Marauders coming and if what Aeryn and I just saw is what we think, hell's just two steps behind them."

"Understood. We're already on our way back to the pod. We'll be there in half an arn." D'Argo's gruff voice came over the comm.

"Absolutely not!" Rygel protested. "We just spent several arns negotiating for these supplies. We will not leave them."

"Fine, Sparky. Then you can stay and play with the Commandoes coming our way while the rest of us save our sorry butts." Crichton replied sounding so reasonable and serious that Aeryn turned from her conversation to give him a quizzical look.

At the sound of Rygel's indignant sputtering, Crichton flashed her a grin and winked. Rolling her eyes she turned her attention back to Pilot, shaking her head as Rygel's voice came over the comm once more. "Hmph. And leave you all without the benefit of my negotiating abilities? I think not. You'd all be lost without me."

"So quit your yapping and get back up here." Crichton replied and cut the link. Sighing, he looked out the front view port. "And it started out to be such a nice day." He muttered.

"What was that?" Aeryn asked from the navigation console.

"Oh, nothing." John replied, walking over to see if she needed any help. "So we're good to go?"

"Moya is building her charge up to give as much distance as possible when she starbursts." Aeryn informed him. "Pilot's shutting down power to non-essential systems in the hopes that it'll help."

"Couldn't hurt, I guess." Crichton agreed.

"Hmm. We better hope so. If these sensors are correct the Marauders have just increased to hetch 4. They'll be here in a little over an arn." Aeryn informed him, her voice taking on a detached tone he recognized all too well.

"And Moya will be ready to Starburst in..."

"A little over an arn." She finished with a grim look.

Crichton sighed and shook his head. "Great. Just frelling great."