Crichton rolled on his side and gasped to catch the breath that had been knocked out of him. He then tensed at a new kind of pain as he realized that, in her fear, Meyla was gripping tightly to his T-shirt. She had two handfuls of cloth as well as his chest.

Trying to remain as calm as possible he covered both her hands with his and rubbed her fingers with his thumbs.

"It's okay, you can let go now."

Meyla did not release her grasp so John squeezed her hands in an attempt to get them to loosen. "Come on now," he tried to coo through clenched teeth. "You’re holding on to hair and skin here."

Meyla finally loosened her grip and Crichton couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief that turned into a grunt as she wrapped her arms around his body and squeezed uncomfortably tight. His annoyance with her didn't last long as he felt her whole body trembling. Putting his arms around her he gently rubbed her back.

"You've been through an awful lot of scary stuff, haven't you?" he whispered in her ear.

She did not speak but he could feel her nod her head against his chest.

"Crichton!" came D'Argo's muffled voice from the other side of the blocked corridor. Even with a pile of wreckage in-between, John could hear the panic in his Sword Brother's voice.

"Yeah, D'Argo!" he yelled back as he tried to sit up. This proved to be difficult because Meyla refused to release her arms from around him.

Putting his hands on her shoulders he pushed her back gently but firmly. "You gotta let go of me now so we can get out of here."

Meyla released her grasp and slipped away from him so she could stand up. Trying to stand himself, Crichton realized that his left ankle was buried in rubble.

"Are you two okay?" D'Argo shouted again.

Crichton turned his leg back and forth in an attempt to free his ankle. There was no pain but it was obvious that his foot was wedged in good.

"We're both fine," he hollered back to D'Argo.

"We're going to dig you out on this side," this time it was Aeryn who was shouting. "You need to do the same!"

"I don't think I can," yelled Crichton. "My foot is stuck!"

"Your foot is what?" Aeryn's voice sounded annoyed.

"My foot is stuck!"

"Stuck?"

"Stuck! Stuck! I can't think of a shorter word for it, my foot is STUCK!"

"Don't worry, we'll get you out!" came D'Argo's voice.

A half arn later Crichton smiled as he saw D'Argo's face through the opening that had been dug out.

As the opening was made big enough D'Argo climbed through and kneeled down next to his Sword Brother. "Don't you two look comfy," he jibed.

Crichton was sitting with one arm around Meyla, who had tucked herself up next to him and wrapped her arms around him again. "Oh I'm just having a grand old time," he said sarcastically, thinking to himself how Meyla was doing her best to become one of his internal organs.

Stifling a chuckle D'Argo picked Meyla up by her shoulders and guided her to the opening where Eilynn was waiting on the other side to help her through. Then returning to Crichton, he worked to remove the wreckage that had his ankle pinned.

D'Argo was able to clear away all of the debris except for one beam of metal that appeared to be the one thing that was holding Crichton's ankle in place.

Giving it a few hard and unsuccessful yanks, D'Argo sat back and sighed. "I'll have to get a welding torch from the transport pod."

"Maybe I can help."

The two looked up to see Eilynn climbing through the opening. Moving down near the beam she inhaled with a hawking sound and spit on the beam. Instantly the fluid started to sizzle and the two men watched as it burned through the metal. As soon as it was melted through D'Argo was able to yank the beam out of the way allowing Crichton to pull his ankle free.

"That's a pretty neat trick," Crichton said rubbing his ankle, which was sore from being in one position for so long. D'Argo gave her a confused look. "I thought you had to be at least a hundred cycles before you could do that?" Eilynn chuckled softly, "You're forgetting that I was over eighty cycles the day I stepped into that suspension tube, and Pilot said that it was floating in space for at least twenty cycles." She shrugged her shoulders. "Do the math." D'Argo couldn't help smiling; "I suppose you have claws, too?"

Crichton gave them an annoyed look. "Hey, let's save it for when we're back on Moya. I don't feel like getting buried again."

"You're right, let's go," said D'Argo. Crichton's annoyed tone did not escape him.

* * * * *

An arn later everyone on Moya was seated in the dining hall. After being without food for days Eilynn, Breg and Meyla were making quick work of their food cubes.

"I never thought these things could ever taste so good," Eilynn said as she popped another cube in her mouth. D'Argo found that he couldn't take his eyes off Eilynn. It had been nearly a cycle since she had left Moya and she looked so different. Her long hair had been cropped to just above her shoulders. Her once soft features now had a hard look to them, as if she'd been living a stressful life. Her large, luminescent eyes seemed to have dimmed slightly and were sunken in, giving her a tired appearance. She was every bit as lovely as she used to be, but she seemed to look a great deal older than he remembered.

Crichton couldn't help being annoyed with the way D’Argo was looking at Eilynn. At the same time he noticed that Meyla kept looking at him and flashing him shy smiles. He was surprised at how different she looked from the others. Breg and Eilynn both had white blond hair and rosy complexions. Meyla's skin was pale and pearly and her hair was a short mop of jet-black curls. Where Breg and Eilynn's eyes were bright almost to the point of glowing, Meyla's were such a dark navy blue that he almost couldn't make out her pupils. She was also dressed much differently. Instead of the thick, dark pants, coats and boots that the others were wearing she had on a pair of moccasin-like shoes, a brightly colored baggy shirt and a tight fitting skirt. It occurred to him that it was the first mini-skirt he'd seen since he’s come to this side of the universe.

Crichton smiled widely at Meyla while thinking to himself. /Maybe if I'm extra nice to her then D'Argo will get jealous./

"You're a quiet one," he said to her.

Meyla stopped smiling and nodded sadly at him.

Crichton's smile faded as well. "Can you talk?"

"No she can't," Eilynn answered. "We've learned that within the last fifty cycles the breeding hives have instituted a standard procedure called "silencing" on all of the females. She doesn’t have any vocal cords."

"You're kidding?" Crichton was appalled.

"Nope," Eilynn said angrily. "It's just another means my people have of crushing down the female population. They're now robbed of their power of song."

Everyone in the room was silent.

"So," Aeryn said, breaking the silence. "What happened to your ship?"

"We're not quite sure," Breg answered. "All we know is that some of the engine’s cooling units failed, causing an explosion. The three of us were the only survivors out of seventeen." He threw his fork down on the table. "It couldn't have come at a worse time; our fleet is low on supplies and they were counting on us."

"Fleet?" said Aeryn.

"If you want to call it that," Eilynn sighed. "We only have seven ships…well now six."

"What about your colony?" asked D'Argo.

Eilynn and Breg looked at each other before Breg spoke. "The colony has been destroyed. We're all that's left."

"Destroyed! How?" D'Argo stammered.

"We got too bold," said Eilynn. "El-Luanne had us attacking hive ships so we could liberate the women and take them back with us. The Sumtaar leaders finally took notice and sent the Peacekeepers after us. About half a cycle ago they found our colony, we didn't stand a chance. Only a handful of us got away and we've been running ever since."

There was a long uncomfortable pause before Eilynn spoke again. "El-Luanne and most of the other leaders were killed when the Peacekeepers attacked. Since then everyone has been looking to me." She leaned forward and rested her head in her hand. "I don't know what the hezmana I'm doing anymore."

Breg leaned over and put his arm around her. "You're just tired, we all are."

Zhaan stood up and collected the three empty plates. "I have quarters set up for you."

Eilynn suddenly looked frantic; "We can't leave the I-Tone! There are supplies aboard we can't leave behind. You have to help us salvage what we can!"

Zhaan smiled in her most motherly way, "We're not going anywhere. We can discuss this after you three get some rest."

Eilynn nodded. Then the weary trio stood up and followed Zhaan out of the dinning hall.

* * * * *

Later that night D'Argo and Crichton walked slowly down the corridor to their quarters.

"Boy," said Crichton. "The odds of finding Eilynn in this asteroid field are like a billion to one. Who would've guessed."

"You did." D’Argo said flatly.

"Well yeah," John huffed. "And let me tell you, you better take cover because my head is still gonna explode over that one."

"I believe it was fate that we should find her."

"We should find her…or you should, D'Argo."

D'Argo turned to look at John, "You think that I'm still in love with her?"

"Well, are you?"

D'Argo thought about it for a moment and was surprised at his answer. "I don't know."

"Oh great! That makes me feel a whole lot better."

Crichton turned to walk away but D'Argo caught him by the arm and pulled him back. Leaning down he planted a soft but deep kiss on John's mouth. They lingered there for several moments before Crichton pulled away.

"Don't think you can just kiss me and think that everything will be okay!"

D'Argo smiled but huffed wearily. "I'm tired, let's go to sleep and talk about it tomorrow."

Crichton nodded and the two continued walking down the corridor.

"You just want to go right to sleep, big guy?" Crichton smiled

"Maybe," D'Argo smiled back.

* * * * *

Sitting alone in his quarters the following morning Crichton was tying his shoe when he suddenly had the feeling that he was being watched. Looking up he saw Meyla peeking at him from around the edge of the doorway.

"Um, hi." He said standing up. "Do you want to come in?"

Meyla smiled and walked shyly into the room.

Crichton smiled uncomfortably, not quite sure what to say. "So…um…how are you?"

With both her hands she pointed at his chest. "What? Oh, Crichton. My name is John Crichton."

Smiling, Meyla shook her head and pointed again at his chest. This time she pressed her fingers to the surface. Crichton winced slightly because she had poked him directly on the bruises left there from her gripping hands the day before.

"I'm a little sore there," he said.

Meyla nodded and made a sad face.

"Oh, I get it! You're sorry for gripping my chest like that, right?"

Meyla smiled and nodded. She then raised her arms above her head. With her hands open and fingers spread wide she made several downward motions.

Crichton looked at her, confused. "What? Down? Going down? Falling down?" he then clapped his hands together. "Yesterday! The ceiling was falling down!"

She nodded again and then crossed her wrists over her head and leaned forward.

"Um, cross over? Over? Cover?" he couldn’t help smiling as he though to himself. /One word, two syllables./ "Oh wait! I covered you when the ceiling was falling."

Meyla nodded and smiled brightly at him.

"Oh, I see now. You want to thank me for saving you when the ceiling fell. Is that right?" Her smile widened showing two rows of silvery teeth. She stood on her tiptoes and pecked a quick kiss on his cheek. "You’re welcome," he smiled.

She then turned and left the room. Crichton let his eyes fall in her rear as she walked away. /She's pretty cute,/ he thought. /In a shy, skittish rodent kind of way. I wouldn't mind…/ John cleared his throat in an effort to quell that roaming thought. /Calm down now, little Johnny. You got a boyfriend, remember, and he would kick your wandering little pink ass if he knew what you were thinking./

He couldn't help laughing out loud.

* * * * *

Crichton walked into command and was surprised to find Eilynn already there.

"Hi John," she smiled.

"Good morning. What's up?"

Eilynn tapped a few more times on the console she was at before answering. Crichton found himself staring at the silvery ends of her fingers.

"I'm just letting our ships know that we're okay and to meet us on the edge of the asteroid field when we come out."

"Do you think that's safe?" Crichton sounded concerned. "Sending an open communication, I mean."

"Don't worry, I'm sending an encrypted text message." She then turned to face him. "You haven't seen Meyla recently, have you? She wandered off earlier."

"Oh, yeah. She came down to my quarters a few minutes ago to thank me for saving her life."

"You like her, I can tell," said Eilynn.

"Well, sure, I guess," he stammered. "She's cute but a bit clingy."

"It's been a rough couple of days." Eilynn sighed.

"She looks so much different than you and Breg."

"Yes," Eilynn nodded. "She's what is called a "Dark One." They're very rare among our people. Dark One's are usually sold rather than sent to a breeding hive. They're considered very valuable. We stole her from a Sumtaar auction about three quarters of a cycle ago."

"She's an awful skittish little thing."

"She only thirty-nine cycles," Eilynn said giving him a hard look. "Just a child by our standards. I'm very protective of her."

"So what are you trying to say?" Crichton didn't like the way she was looking at him.

"Just that I've seen how you were looking at her last night," Eilynn said. "She's not ready for…for what I'm guessing was going through your mind."

Crichton raised his hands defensively. "Hold on now! Aren't you just jumping the gun a little?"

"Maybe," she nodded. "But I just want to make sure that we're clear on this."

"Well you have nothing to worry about." He was irritated at Eilynn for talking to him like this and had to fight back the urge to say: /well you just better keep your damn hands off D'Argo because he's mine now!/

* * * * *

The latter part of that morning had been spent in a heated argument over whether the crew of Moya should help Eilynn and the others to salvage what they could from the I-Tone. Aeryn argued that it was too dangerous with the ship being so unstable. Rygel and Chiana stated flatly that they weren't about to do any manual labor. D'Argo argued in Eilynn's defense as well as Zhaan. Crichton, however, remained very indifferent about the whole thing. He was concerned about collapsing ceilings and was still irritated by his earlier conversation with Eilynn.

In the end, those that opposed the idea were out-voted. With Pilot's help, Aeryn was carefully maneuvering Moya up next to the I-Tone so they could dock directly with it. The lower sections were the most stable and, luckily, were where most of the surviving cargo was located.

The docking was successful and the absence of further explosions made loading crates onto Moya much easier than expected. Eilynn had also insisted that they bring over any bodies they could find thus one corner of the cargo bay was converted into a temporary morgue.

Against D'Argo and Breg's protests, Eilynn had made a trip to her quarters on the I-Tone as well as the bridge. She had been adamant about retrieving the data spools from the ship’s computer along with some personal items she said were important and couldn't be left behind.

Although the salvage effort went without a hitch, it still took several arns to complete most of the tasks Eilynn had insisted on. Once everyone was back on board, Moya was unhitched from the I-Tone and moved off into a higher angled orbit around the asteroid. It was agreed that the crew would get a good night’s sleep and then make their way out of the asteroid field in the morning.

* * * * *

"Man, what a long day this has been." Crichton was standing in the doorway to D'Argo's quarters. D'Argo was sitting solemnly on the edge of his bed. He didn't look up at Crichton, just grunted in response. It was the beginning of the sleep cycle, and after a long day of heavy lifting everyone had thankfully retired to his or her cells.

Everyone except Crichton.

He was worried. He knew D'Argo still had feelings for Eilynn and, although they didn't make any attempts to be affectionate, Crichton had still caught several "looks" between them. When they had all finished, Crichton made a beeline for D'Argo's quarters. To talk or to yell or to interrupt Eilynn if she decided to swing by or to stop D'Argo if he should decide to go her cell.

/Engaging jealous boyfriend mode,/ he thought as he looked at D'Argo's distracted face and worried that he might be thinking of her. Crichton was not going to let that happen, not tonight anyway, even if it killed him.

"Hey!" he took a step forward and slapped D'Argo on the shoulder.

D'Argo grunted again, half heatedly, but still didn't look up.

"Hey!" Crichton slapped his shoulder again.

"Go back to your quarters so we can all get some sleep." D'Argo grumbled softly.

/My quarters! Since when did we start sleeping apart?/ He thought to himself and then slapped D'Argo again.

"Crichton, I'm in no mood."

Slap! /Come on, big guy; let's see that face./

D'Argo growled low in his throat.

Slap! /Look at me, damn you!/

D'Argo was silent.

Slap!

"If you do that again, you'd better be prepared…." D'Argo left the threat hanging as his eyes locked onto John's The two stared at each other for several tense moments.

Slap!

TO BE CONTINUED…