Originally posted 3/22/07This fic was written for the 14th Starburst Challenge at Terra Firma. The requirements were:
1. Your story must start with a vacation
2. A character will become attracted to someone
3. A character will get dressed, but the action goes terribly wrong
4. The story must also involve dust, in some way
I had a terrible time getting something to come together. Every time I thought I had all the elements covered, I'd realize I'd left something out! In the end, I got everything in here, but you'll probably find that some of them are a little weak.... (But I don't think you'll be surprised with who's attracted to whom!)
Anyway, this is set mid-season one, after "Rhapsody in Blue." It was an interesting challenge to try to hit the characterization at that point!
Rating: G
Setting: Between RIB and The Flax
Spoilers: Through RIB
Disclaimer: Not my characters, not my universe, defintely not making any money. Dang, I miss this show!
Thanks very much to the usual beta crowd: Imloco2, shipsister, and MadScientist. MadScientist wanted a more developed ending; I knew that wasn't going to happen and still get this posted during the posting period. Maybe I'll revise this one of these days.
I hope you'll enjoy this.
Sediments
The showers were cold, the refrigeration unit was hot; there were puddles of water lurking in surprising places to catch the unwary – and the smells that wafted up from the lower tiers! Yeesh! Moya was altogether an unpleasant place these days, and while they all understood that this was an unavoidable side effect of her pregnancy, it got old really fast. Even so, the members of Moya’s crew were caught off guard when Pilot gathered them all on command and suggested they leave the ship.
“What?” five voices yelped simultaneously.
“Just temporarily,” Pilot assured them. “A few solar days. Moya believes this is another critical time in her pregnancy, and she needs to concentrate all her energies on her growing child. Maintaining life support for you is taxing her strength.”
Rygel snorted. “If you can call this living! It’s disgusting in here! Even my royal dungeons were better kept than this!”
“All the more reason for us to leave,” Zhaan pointed out.
“What about you, Pilot?” Aeryn wanted to know. “How will you survive without life support?”
“Moya believes she can maintain air and heat in my chamber, as well as sufficient nutrient flow, without compromising her fetus.”
When Aeryn nodded, satisfied, D’Argo growled, “You say this planet has a settlement? Somewhere we can get food and shelter?”
“Yes, Ka D’Argo,” Pilot replied. “Although the planet is sparsely settled, there is a small spaceport with facilities for travelers. I believe that it is considered something of a tourist destination in this sector. And before you ask, there is no indication of a Peacekeeper presence.”
D’Argo muttered something under his breath, but didn’t offer any further comment.
“Well then,” Crichton said cheerfully, rubbing his palms together, “I guess it’s vacation time for us!” He looked around at the glum faces. “Come on, it’ll be fun! We can see someplace new! Broaden our horizons!” They all glared at him, and he shook his head regretfully, reminded once again that he seemed to be the only one in Moya’s not-so-happy band who had any sense of curiosity. “Fine. But we still need to go. It’s for the good of Moya’s baby.”
There wasn’t any argument with that, at least, and they all went off to pack a dentic and a change or two of clothes....
* * * * * * * *
Well, John thought, at least there was some greenery on this planet, unlike Dam-Ba-Da and the near-toxic Delvian colony planet that had been their most recent stops. From space, he had seen vegetation extending miles in every direction from the spaceport, except for the rocky plateau on the edge of town. Now, standing in the plaza in front of their hostel, he ventured, “Looks like this place is the garden spot of the sector.”
“Indeed,” Zhaan agreed. Her eyes passed over each of her companions in turn, and at last she said, “I believe I can find an appropriate place to meditate amidst all this life.”
John didn’t say so, but he thought that was a really good idea. Maybe she’d find some peace. She’d been beating herself up over what had happened with Tahleen’s people, even though from John’s perspective, she’d been the victim, not the perpetrator, of violence.
Zhaan nodded a curt farewell and walked off, pale blue fabric floating behind her.
In her wake, D’Argo shifted his qualta blade on his shoulder, and announced his intention to find somewhere to drink. He didn’t even bother with a goodbye, just strode away in the mid-morning sun.
Rygel looked at John and Aeryn and snorted. “Well, don’t think I’m going to stay with the likes of you two! There must be something worth eating in this place, or perhaps a trinket worthy to bring back to Moya with me. I’m going to the commerce center.”
As Rygel floated off in his throne sled, John mused, “Wonder how much money he’s got?”
Aeryn shrugged. “More than the rest of us, I’m sure.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
She glanced around the plaza, her eyes coming to rest on the plateau at the edge of town. “I’m going to go climbing.” John must have looked skeptical, because she explained, “It’s good to be active.” With another shrug, she added, “It’s a challenge to climb to the top.”
John couldn’t help chuckling as understanding dawned. “Ah, because it’s there.”
Aeryn frowned at him, and hesitated for a moment as if she wanted to say something. Finally, she blurted, “Do you want to come along? The innkeeper says there’s a good trail.”
He struggled to keep the surprise off his face. Aeryn generally didn’t include him, or anyone else, in something she considered a personal challenge. The part about the trail was no doubt intended as a concession to his obviously inferior physical abilities, but somehow, today, that didn’t annoy him as much as usual. Well, what the hell, it’d be nice to spend some time with her where she wasn’t trying to teach him something, and besides, he thought, squinting up at the top of the plateau, there would be the reward of a fantastic view. He turned back to Aeryn. “Sure.” She smiled at him, which made his stomach tighten, for some damn reason. To cover, he asked, “Do we need to get any gear? Climbing shoes?” He looked down at his own feet briefly before deciding that his boots would probably be fine. They were comfortable, and there was a trail, after all, even if it was probably steep and loaded with switchbacks.
Aeryn agreed. “I’ve got my pulse pistol. Our shoes should be fine, and we can get water at the start of the trail. I don’t think we need anything else.”
Now, why was he not surprised that her weapon came first in that list? “Let’s go then,” he said, starting to leave the plaza.
“Wait a microt,” Aeryn said before he got more than two steps. He turned back to see her tugging on the zipper on her black vest, intending to close it over her top. The zipper had apparently caught after a couple of inches, and as he watched, the pull came off in her hand. “Frell!” She scowled and said, “Help me take this off. I’ll fix it later.”
Thinking that she could just as easily have continued to wear it partially zipped, as she often did, he nonetheless stepped up behind her. Ignoring the goosebumps the physical proximity produced, he reached around her shoulders to help her extricate her arms, as requested. Once her arms were free, she took over and quickly pulled the vest over her head, then set off to return the offending piece of clothing to her room.
A short time later, John studied her as she walked back towards him minus the vest. She’d taken the time to pull her hair into a high pony tail, probably a concession to the hiking. Noting the matching colors of their shirts (though hers was a tank top, while his was a tee) and pants, he grinned, “Hey, we’re twins.” He gestured between them, adding, “Gray, gray, black, black.”
She gave him her patented, “You are demented, Crichton,” look and started out across the plaza.
* * * * * * * *
They took a transport to the trailhead at the base of the plateau. Pooling their meager supply of credits, they purchased a map and two full canteens of water from the information center. Aeryn commandeered the map and after a reverent moment spent staring up towards the top of the layered cliff, they started their hike.
The trail was unpaved brick-red dirt, without guiderails, lights, or other overly-civilized improvements. At the beginning, it climbed gently enough for a pack of Cub Scouts, and was wide enough for the two of them to walk side by side. Large trees that looked something like live oaks – sprawling branches covered in gray bark with dark green oval leaves – overhung large stretches of the trail, keeping the temperature cool and the walk comfortable. Before long, the trail narrowed to the point where they needed to walk single file to avoid the steep drop off on one side. Aeryn took the lead, and John followed behind her. Apparently it was the off-season, because they didn’t encounter any other hikers.
They didn’t talk much, though John did observe that the area reminded him of northern Arizona, back home, which he’d hiked during some free time after some training exercises in less hospitable areas of the Southwest. Aeryn volunteered that the only times she’d actually hiked up so much as a hill had been during planetary campaigns, when she’d done some actual rock climbing as well. Mostly, though, they just walked steadily. John enjoyed the scenery while, as far as he could tell, Aeryn enjoyed the sheer physical effort of making the climb.
As he’d expected, there were a dizzying number of switchbacks on the trail, which kept them on the same side of the plateau. When they left the shade of the trees behind, the temperature picked up. John could feel his tee-shirt getting damp, and sweat began to tickle the back of his neck, especially when a gust of hot air swirled past. Suddenly worried about Aeryn in this heat, he called, “Hey, Aeryn!” She paused and turned around, and he could see that her shirt was damp under the armpits, too. After a brief hesitation, he asked, “Are you okay with this heat?”
“I’m fine, Crichton,” she assured him, looking less annoyed that he’d expected. “But thank you for asking.” She smiled, and started up the trail again.
Surprised at getting a, well, an almost human reaction from Officer Aeryn Sun, he stood there just long enough for her to get ten feet or so ahead of him. He started off after her, watching her ponytail swing as she climbed. The trail was steeper now, and he realized that he had a
great view of her ass as she climbed.... And a very nice ass it was, too. He smiled to himself and kept on watching it, secure in the knowledge that what Aeryn didn’t know, couldn’t hurt him.
Beneath the ponytail, he could see that her tank top was wet from between her shoulder blades all the way down the center of her back. That fact led his imagination to wonder if maybe it was wet in front, too? Beneath her breasts, or maybe between them?
Crap! What was he thinking? He was going to get himself killed here.... He stopped and peered over the edge of the trail. Yup. It was a hell of a long way down.
“Crichton!”
He looked up to see Aeryn looking at him with a perplexed frown on her face, perhaps wondering if he were stupid enough to jump. Guilt, or maybe it was fear, caused him to snap, “I’m coming, I’m coming! Keep your shirt on!”
She rolled her eyes and turned around and continued on ahead of him.
He watched her stalk along for a little bit, and then got a move on. As he hiked, he thought. Aeryn really was beautiful. And damned sexy too. He’d thought that the first time he saw her, in that cell. Right before she beat the crap out of him, and even right after.... But she wasn’t anything like the girls he usually found himself attracted to, and besides that, she’d set them up with a teacher-student relationship, and he rarely let his thoughts stray beyond those boundaries, except sometimes to hope that maybe he and Aeryn could become real friends one day. He wondered uneasily about his more prurient interest today. He had a sneaking suspicion it was because of Alex. Well, because of the pretend Alex that Tahleen’s people had put in his mind. An Alex who never was, an Alex who was Mrs. John Crichton. And damn, he wanted that.
Not with Alex. No, with hindsight, as much as he’d loved her, it hadn’t been right. Wouldn’t have worked out. Alex, bless her, had known that, and had had the sense to put the entire continent between them....
He climbed on, clearing his mind for a while, and looking off into the distance. The city spread out before them, an oasis of civilization in a sea of green. The sky was a cloudless, brilliant blue. This was a nice place, like Arizona, only greener. Unfortunately, that only made him think of home again.
At a wide spot on the trail, perhaps halfway up the cliff side, Aeryn called a halt for rest. John pulled his thoughts back to the here and now and took a swig of water from his canteen. Aeryn wiped the back of her hand across her forehead and surveyed the scenery spread out in front of them, looking for all the world like she was looking for signs of enemy encampment. Watching her with amusement, John realized she had a smear of damp red dust on her cheek.
“Hey,” he said, to get her attention. When she turned, he wiped at his own cheek to give her a hint. She didn’t get it, and frowned. “Dusty,” he explained.
She swiped at it herself, but only managed to smear it around.
Without thinking, he licked his fingers and reached for her face. She leaned away just a little, and he said, “Hold still.” She did, cautiously, and he went ahead and cleaned the mud off her cheek. “There. Much better.”
She frowned at him again, this time managing to look as if his words had worried her more than his physical approach. Slightly puzzled, he said, “It screwed up your usual parade ready look.”
“Ah.” She exhaled and gave him a hint of a smile.
He grinned back, thinking how pretty she looked when she smiled. When that sparkle reached her eyes, you knew there was more to her than just the “simple soldier” she claimed to be. Okay, okay, don’t go getting too fanciful here, he told himself as she opened her canteen and took a drink. She was a soldier, born and bred, which he knew perfectly well. That was kinda sexy in itself....
Damn! He blushed deep red and turned to examine the cliff wall. Damn those Delvians for messing with his mind!
“What are you looking at?” Aeryn sounded genuinely curious.
He scrambled to recollect some basic geology and tell her about the layers of sedimentary rocks in front of them, and how deposits built up on the sea floor over time to make solid rock. She reached out and traced several colored bands with her fingers.
“This was all under water?”
“A long time ago. Millions of years – cycles – ago.”
“Huh,” was her only comment. After a moment, she leaned her head back and looked above them, judging the distance they had left. “If we’re going to make it to the top and back down again before nightfall, we’d better go.”
Following her lead, and noting that the sun had already passed its zenith, he nodded his agreement. After one last drink of water, they set out again.
The last third of the climb was the worst. The grade
felt steeper, even if it wasn’t, and John couldn’t be sure either way. He didn’t have any time for distracting thoughts about the woman on the trail ahead of him – all of his attention was on putting one foot in front of the other and continuing to move forward, and
up. Huffing and puffing, sweating like a pig, he vowed that he would make better use of the fitness facilities on Moya from then on. He groaned in relief when they reached the top of the plateau.
He staggered out onto the wooden observation deck and bent over, hands on his knees, working to catch his breath. When he finally glanced over at Aeryn, he saw she was in much the same position. Well, how about that. She turned her head, and when she saw he was looking, she gave him a grin.
“Because it’s there,” she said, taking a deep breath.
He burst out laughing and stood up straight. “Hell of a reason to climb it.”
Aeryn straightened up as well, and opened her canteen. She took a sip of water, and looked out at the view. John followed her eyes and looked for himself. There was a bit of far-off reddish haze, but the landscape that spread out in front of them stood out in almost crystal clarity in the low-angled afternoon sun. It was still green, green, green. Even the town where they were staying was more green than not. A spaceship came in for a lazy landing at the port.
“There’s another reason,” Aeryn said, nodding at the scene. Just when he thought maybe she was capable of admiring the scenery after all, she added, “They’re down there. We’re up here.” Her tone left no doubt that she considered the high ground to be superior.
John snorted, and pulled out his canteen. Yup, that was Aeryn all over. But he had to admit, he was pretty damn proud that he’d made it all the way up. He intended to enjoy the view as long as he could – because his knees were already protesting at the thought of the trek back
down....
* * * * * * * *
Epilogue:
For John, that hike was the high point, literally and figuratively, of the
vacation. He and Aeryn had made it back down the side of the plateau in companionable silence, then spent the next couple of days puttering around town either together, or with one or more of the others, back to the more practical business of finding needed supplies for the least amount of money possible. The last afternoon, after Pilot had informed them that Moya was ready for them to come back, was spent picking up fresh food to replace what had spoiled when the refrigeration units had failed.
Back on Moya, things did seem to be better for their forced absence. The smell was gone, and DRDs could be spotted attending to what damp spots remained on the decks. Hoping that the other problems had been solved as well, the returning crew members scattered, each to his or her quarters.
As John unpacked his bag, he found himself tossing his new canteen from hand to hand. He had a flash of Aeryn, examining the layered cliff side with her fingertips as if she were reading Braille. Sediments. Layers. With that shared hike, he mused, he and Aeryn had put down a new layer in their relationship. Would it be rock solid one day? Good question. For an answer, he’d need a crystal ball.
Reply hazy, ask again later....
Aw, hell. Just enjoy the sediments, and leave the future to the future. He put the canteen on the shelf, and went to make sure nothing had happened to his module while he’d been gone.
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