Pilot's home :
It seems that before I had to direct the DRDs to go and actually fix some of Moya's internal systems, we had just finished watching Chiana and Zhaan learning to let go of their inhibitions. Yes? Good.

Well, although I am capable of tracking many things at once, you, I'm afraid, are not. So, you have to keep in mind that at the same time as I was watching that spectacle in the Observation deck, over on Viewscreen 3 there was a still stranger occurrence. Let's visit that now, shall we?

Viewscreen 3 :
Aeryn's Prowler
"Look, John, I'm not going to tell you again." Aeryn looked fit to be tied. "The typical cruising power of this vessel is 83 trads - 1/3 power. That gives us maximum economy of our iriscentent fluid, and leaves us enough power to pull out of the way quickly if we have to. That gives us an acceleration rate of twelve hundred metras per micron squared. That's plenty fast. So help me, if I catch you going over that again, I'll push you out the airlock, and watch you die in the vacuum."

"And I'm telling you that I need to see what this thing can do, and learn what it feels like when it's doing it. What if it shakes when I pull into an evasive maneuver too quickly? How will I know if it's a normal reaction, or the ship coming apart? If I don't know, I might hesitate, and get us both killed. Now please, Aeryn, understand that I'm not stupid. I just learn differently from you." John Crichton blew out a sigh of anger. He saw Aeryn staring into the corner, lips pressed together so hard that all the color had drained out of them. He wanted to walk over, put his arms around her, and apologize for snapping at her, tell her that he loved her, and wait until she held him back, but he knew that this would be a most unwise course of action.

"I'm sorry," he said, truly meaning it. "I just get carried away sometimes. I want to learn, I want to be able to make this ship do all the amazing things you can do with it, but you have to remember I'm just a beginner at this. You've trained your whole life for this, I've been at this for only a year- uh, cycle. So, please, please, be gentle with me."

"Be gentle with you?", she scoffed. "When I was training to be a Peacekeeper, gentle wasn't in their vocabulary. If I had done half the things wrong that you have, they would have beaten me, unmercifully, until I got it right. I am being gentle with you."

"Then just treat me as you would if I was your boyfriend."

"Isn't that what happened last time we were out here? You treated me like I was your female. You put your arm around me, you kissed me. Is that what you want me to do to you?"

John is many things, but stupid isn't a word I'd use to describe him. He has shown that his primitive race can stand up quite admirably to just about anything that the universe can throw at him, at least so far, and this challenge from Aeryn was just reinforcement for that. He leaned over to her seat, put his hand behind her head, and pulled her lips to his. She pulled away, and threw him out of his chair.

"How dare you, John Crichton. What makes you think that I'd accept such an advance from you?" She barked out the words, a flush of red appearing on her chest and face.

Crichton began to mumble an apology, but before he could begin, Aeryn leapt atop him, straddling him her hands on his chest tearing at the buttons of his shirt, her mouth greedily devouring his lips. She pulled away from him long enough to say, "You were right", before grabbing his bottom lip between her teeth again. He moaned in delight as she sucked and nibbled his lip, her tongue caressing it. His hands began frantically working at removing her top - he was disappointed to have to disengage his lips from hers while he pulled it over her head, but, as it passed over, he found himself with a perfect shot at her neck. He licked along the path of her jugular, from her collarbone to the bottom of her ear, and began to suck on her earlobe, gently.

Aeryn gasped with pleasure as Crichton attached himself to her earlobe. She didn't remember telling him that, to a Sebacian, that was the rough equivalent of dousing her system with aphrodisiacs. With a yelp of pleasure she began writhing against him, feeling her nipples being tickled by the wispy curls of hair on his chest. She was becoming more aroused by the moment, her desire welling up inside of her, making her feel as if she were about to burst with excitement. She pulled away from his warm, wet mouth, and started sucking on his neck. Gently she kissed her way down to his chest, fascinated by the hair growing there. This was a completely alien concept to her - and then suddenly, a thought dawned on her.

"I've never been with a man before, John. I don't want you to think any less of me, I just haven't found one that I've wanted this way. At least, until now, I haven't.", she looked at the floor, and blushed.

John tried to suppress a grin. Aeryn caught this out of the corner of her eye, and began to think that he was going to laugh at her - the bastard - but then he spoke.

"In that case, Aeryn, we have to make it as special for you as possible. I don't want you to have any bad memories of your first time. And whether it's in the back of a car, or on the floor of a prowler, neither one ranks as special. So, for now, we wait. We need to head to the commerce planet, so I can get some groceries, and then I'll make it truly special for you. Is this a fair deal?"

"But I don't want to wait, Crichton! I want you now!"

"Then nurture that feeling. Make your desire grow for me, and it'll make it that much more special. OK?"

"I'll do it, but I won't like it. You have a deal."

They began to get dressed. Crichton was grinning like a madman. Aeryn's paranoia got the better of her. "You're not just saying this so you don't have to be with an inexperienced woman, are you?"

"Not at all. The fact that you're inexperienced makes you that much more enticing to me. When I told you I want it to be special for you, I meant it. I can't lie to someone I love. I- uh," realization dawned on him what he had just said. "Oh, you've blown it now, you idiot.", he thought, cursing himself. As his mind tried to find a way to cover his tracks, he watched tears form in Aeryn's eyes.

"You l-love me?", she asked, her lip quivering.

Knowing he had no way out of it, he had to admit it. "Yes, Aeryn, I've loved you since the day we met. Your inner and outer strength, your decisiveness, your toughness - none of that could hide the tenderness, the softness, and the love that shines within you."

Pilot's home :
At this point, the DRDs switched off my view screen into the prowler. I'm sure it was done with good reason, but I'd have liked to have known how she reacted to that. I guess I'll find out when they dock.

In the meantime, however, D'Argo is coming into view on yet another screen. I'm almost afraid of what is about to happen.

Viewscreen 4 :
Rygel's quarters
"What are you doing here? Can't a dominar have a moment's peace and quiet around here, or must I constantly be bothered by mindless profacto." Rygel was in his usual mood. One would think that after almost 200 cycles of being deposed, imprisoned, and away from his supposed 600 billion subjects, he would have learned that he's not everyone's boss.

"Quit yelling at me or I shall demonstrate to you some of the lesser known ways to hurt someone with a Qualta Blade. You may be Dominar of Hyneria, but here, you're nothing but a pile of foul tempered dren. I am the closest to a commander this ship has."

"I quite disagree. I'd say that Officer Aeryn Sun commands this vessel. After all, it is PK technology, and she is a Peacekeeper. Is she not? And I am her favorite."

"If she loves you so much, then let's see if she comes to get you if I shove you into Moya's propulsion system. Now, let's get down to business. I have come here for a reason, and I am asking you for your help. Do you understand?"

"I believe so. What is it you need, and what is it worth to you?"

"This should be quite simple. It's something that's been bothering me for some time. You mentioned to Zhaan once that you weren't built for sexual reproduction. I want to know how you do it."

"And if I tell you?"

"You live."

So Rygel began to explain the strange Hynerian mating rituals, the dances, the selection. He explained how over the last million cycles, the Hynerians had been reproducing surgically, taking the best parts of DNA from the ones they select, mixing with their own best parts, and raising the offspring, and that, over time, genitals had ceased to be genetically encoded into the offspring.

"So you see, Ka D'Argo, the closest thing to sexual pleasure a Hynerian has is the manipulation of one's earbrows. Does that make any sense to your primitive brain?"

"Like this?" D'Argo began to stroke Rygel's earbrows. The little Hynerian began to tremble - first from fright, then from pleasure. Lovingly, D'Argo stroked Rygel's ears, gently holding them between his thumb and index finger, making little circles with them.

"Yes, Ka D'Argo, yes!", Rygel screamed, as the Luxan continued to manipulate the furry ears. Suddenly consumed by a thought that he had no idea from whence it came, he undid D'Argo's trousers. Releasing Ka's stiffening member, he began to stroke it.

Reflexively, D'Argo drew a sharp breath. "What are you doing?", he demanded.

"Returning the favor." He put the tip of Ka's thick cock inside of his mouth, and began to suck lightly on it. Ka's head lolled back, as he instinctively began to rub Rygel's ears harder. Pulling the Hynerian down on him, he slid further and further into his mouth. He felt Rygel's tongue flicking back and forth over the big vein in the underside of his dick, spurring him onward to the heights of pleasure. He began rocking his hips back and forth, sliding in and out of Rygel's mouth.

Meanwhile, Rygel was experiencing his own inner explosions of pleasure. He'd never felt his earbrows handled with such ferocity, yet such gentleness. Ka's great strength sent him to heights of bliss unknown to him before. As he felt Ka's thick cock slide into his throat, he began to moan with pleasure.

The vibrations of Rygel's moaning were too much. Ka released stream after stream of thick, blue fluid into the mouth and stomach of the dominar. Harder and harder he pushed himself against Rygel's face, further and further into him he went. Totally spent, they both collapsed, Ka's rapidly waning dick pulling out of Rygel's throat and mouth.

"Lucky for me that I can keep breathing with my throat full, Ka. Thank you. Back on my homeworld, Luxan semen is quite the delicacy. We used to pour it over Hynerian Majols as a sauce, and it was always my favorite part."

"Thank you, little Hynerian. I've never felt anything like that before. Lo'Laan would never have considered putting it in her mouth. What you do with your tongue is - amazing. "

They lay on Rygel's bed, D'Argo holding him like a child would a teddy bear, and drifted off to sleep.

Pilot's home :
In my next installment, I shall bring you the conclusion of Aeryn's virginity, and maybe even get as far as the struggle between Crichton's love for Aeryn, and his desire for D'Argo. As usual, if you wish to reach me, you can speak with my contact on earth at mutt_one@bellsouth.net , he always loves to relay messages to me.