TITLE: The Reflecting Pool
AUTHOR: Chyro - - chyrocat@yahoo.com
RATING: PG. Mild violence.
TIMELINE: Set after "Die Me Dichotomy" and directly up to the events in "Eat Me". Also addresses references made in "Thanks for Sharing".
SUMMARY: While procuring supplies on a commerce world Crais encounters the effects of a strange pond, causing him to face memories he had tried to suppress while also dealing with Talyn's growing insubordination and strength.
DISCLAIMER: All Farscape names, characters, and terms are property of Jim Henson Productions, Hallmark Entertainment, Nine Networks, the Sci-Fi channel and their associated parties. The story premise is mine.
NOTES: I've been trying to fill in the gaps in season 2 for Crais, based on synopsis of previous episodes and my own imagination as to the direction Crais may take now.
ARCHIVE: Contact me first before archiving for approval, and so I'll know where the story is.

Talyn's corridors were an endless maze to those who had never been on board him, despite his young age and relatively small size. But to Bialar Crais they were simply a means to work off the boredom that enveloped his waking moments. He often found himself anxious to find a reason, *any* reason, to leave the command center, away from the viewscreen and the vastness of space that he saw outside. If Talyn's sensors picked up anything Crais would know right away.

Just as he thought, the DRDs had found a weakness in a conduit and were working at strengthening it. One of the plexus cables was weak, but it didn't look damaged to him. This didn't surprise Crais. Talyn was still an infant and was growing. There were bound to be weak areas that needed to be checked on. Sometimes they healed themselves as the leviathan got older, but others were still healing after the escape from the Gammak base. Too much pressure too soon after birth. And Crais also wanted to make sure that there weren't any genetic problems from what he had once considered his 'pet project'. So far, he hadn't found any, but it was still too soon to tell.

They would be coming upon a commerce planet in the next solar day. Crais hadn't wanted to make a second stop but they left the last world, Mandiba, unexpectedly. He had been able to pick up some supplies for Talyn before an alarm came from the leviathan. Apparently, a signal had been transmitted from one of the dealers to a PeaceKeeper ship. Crais quickly left the planet and discovered that it had been sent by a merchant he had just dealt with. It was important to get as far from Mandiba and this part of space before they were discovered and had to engage in battle.

He didn't feel completely safe with this second stop but it would only be for some medical supplies and fresh food. Crais was growing tired of food cubes but knew they would last if he and Talyn had to make another quick exit. And he longed for rasklak. He couldn't remember the last time he sat down with a mug of rasklak.

"Not since Tauvo was on the carrier," he thought. His brother and he would go together to different bases and sit in the bars, talking over rasklak. To an outsider, it sounded like any conversation that a prowler regiment leader relaxing with his captain might have, discussing battles and strategies, practice drills and the next orders. But this was his brother, the only person he trusted, the person he had been entrusted to care for by his father. And those moments had become precious to Crais.

He tried not to think about Tauvo. It only made him feel guilty for letting his father down and angry at John Crichton for having the misfortune of being in the way when Tauvo's prowler collided with him. But most of all, it may make him seem vulnerable to Talyn. And he had to stay in control, not let the leviathan sense any weakness on his part.

It had been easy in the beginning to get Talyn's trust shortly after his birth. He showed strength and courage at a time when Talyn needed someone to protect and guide him. But he had to lie and tell Talyn that his mother, Moya, had abandoned him when she starburst from the Gammak base. By the time Moya returned Crais had ingratiated himself to Talyn, so much so that the infant threatened his own mother with gunfire if her crew didn't return Crais. By then, the damage was done. Crais linked with Talyn and his life would never be the same.

At least his life as a PeaceKeeper had taught him control. But since Tauvo's death he felt that control unraveling. He fought hard to rise through the PeaceKeeper ranks so that he could keep an eye on his brother and protect him, as he promised his father he would. Little by little, that control slipped from him after Tauvo's death, until the rags that were left of his life rested here, a renegade, the captain of a hybrid leviathan that he had stolen, running away from the life that he had been dragged into.

Crais straightened up, shaking his head to clear his thoughts and stiffening his shoulders and his resolve. He went about the task of noting the supplies he needed in the galley and then in the medical reserves, leaving nothing to chance. Whether that was a hold-over from his PeaceKeeper training or his childhood on the farming community didn't matter. It was a fact of his life now, no chances could be taken at any time. Not if he was to survive another day, and another after that.

Trenakas was a bustling world for this area of the uncharted territories. It was far enough inside the territories to avoid both PeaceKeeper and Scarran sensors, at least for the time being. The planet was the center of this region and many species from other worlds bartered their goods here. It was close enough to traffic lanes to keep a steady stream of customers but far enough away from the other commerce worlds to have a bit of the corner on the farmer's markets. Here Crais would be able to find fresh food and some basic medical supplies for himself.

"I won't be gone long, Talyn," Crais said as he boarded the transport. He found himself more comfortable now speaking to the infant alone, knowing it was a living being but not in the same sense that he was used to. Talyn blipped his response but Crais could tell he was apprehensive. After their starburst to this region Talyn had seemed lost, then angry at not having his mother around. Crais, a highly trained PeaceKeeper captain, was now baby-sitter and teacher, neither of which he was comfortable with. And he feared Talyn sensed that.

The transport landed outside of one of the major communities. Crais felt more at ease away from the capitols, in case there was some police presence. He was worried that wanted beacons for him and Moya's crew had made it this far and he didn't want to take a chance on being caught. Despite having Talyn scan for any such beacons, he needed to be sure. As he prepared to disembark he checked his money. At Mandiba a couple of dealers had paid him for items he had managed to scavenge off a derelict he and Talyn came across. It was enough to pay for Talyn's supplies and still leave a lot left over. He would try to make it stretch as far as he could, though. There may not be many derelicts around and he didn't want to have to start bartering with his essentials. Crais was also finding it difficult at times to access the reserves in his personal hidden accounts.

Crais was grateful this planet was cooler than the last. A slight breeze greeted him as he exited the transport, gently blowing some of his hair in his eyes. He had decided to leave his hair down, not in the PeaceKeeper regulation ponytail, to cover the neural transponder on his neck. He didn't want anyone to question it. Even the coat he wore had nothing on it to denote that he was even remotely related to PeaceKeepers. He could blend in with the other shoppers, some of whom were Sebaceans from other colonies adjacent to Trenakas.

The first thing he noticed about the town was a sense of calm amid the bartering. Mandiba was filthy and loud. He was certain that most of the clientele, if not the dealers, on that planet were thieves - and worse. But here he found a community that had homes and families amid the shops. For a moment he was reminded of his own home but quickly pushed that thought aside. He had supplies to get, not reminiscing to do.

The crowds weren't too thick and Crais found himself easily navigating his way through them. He was able to get fresh fruits and vegetables for his cold storage unit, plus an ample supply of food cubes from a dealer that sold items specifically to deep-space travelers. He was pleased that for a while he would be able to have fresh food before resorting to the cubes. The prices were fair and the store owners kept to their transactions and nothing else, although they were cheerful about it.

As he dropped off the food in the transport he consulted his map, downloaded from the planet's information net prior to arriving. He noticed that the apothecary wasn't too far and decided to make one more trip to town instead of coming back a second time. The sooner they left orbit, the better. He couldn't allow himself the luxury of staying too long in one place.

As he made his way through the narrow streets he noticed a central area where people were dining outdoors. The center was a fountain and the rest of the town seemed to radiate outward from it. It piqued his curiosity. He hadn't seen such a restful area in a long time and wanted to stop by the pool at the base of the fountain, as if drawn to it by an inner thirst. Just as he felt he was going to sit down his eyes glanced up to the apothecary shop and he made a straight line for it, fighting the urge to stop even for a moment.

A bell tinkled as he entered the curious shop, which was clean and well-organized. Crais appreciated organization. The shop owner, a Sebacean-like creature, shuffled out from the back. The captain thought the man seemed too happy to see him, as if customers were a rarity.

"What ever you need, just ask." The owner waved his arm in a wide angle, proud of the items he had in stock. "I can provide you with the basics or more advanced items for your medical needs." Another wave of his arm and he added once again, "Just ask."

Crais ran through a brief list of painkillers, antiseptics, and bandages. As he said each one the owner scurried to a section of the shop and grabbed the item from a shelf or a case then back to the counter to place them in front of Crais. When he was done he went in back to get the rest of the bandages. As Crais waited his eyes wandered out the window to the pool and fountain. He didn't even notice the owner had returned to the counter.

"Beautiful, ah?" he asked.

Crais stifled his brief surprise and simply nodded his head 'yes'.

Back in control, he approached the counter to pay.

Another fair price had been reached for his supplies and Crais turned to leave when the owner called to him.

"Stop by the fountain. It's soothing to one's spirit."

Crais was going to state that he had no time for such frivolity but just nodded and went on his way. Why bother telling these people anything? Let them assume that he would do as they instructed then go about his business. He probably wouldn't be back, at least not to this community.

Eyes fixed ahead to the transport Crais tried to block out everything around him and just head back. But it seemed harder than he thought, as if his inner thirst desperately needed quenching. Before he knew it he stood at the fountain.

A strange sensation filled him. For almost a cycle now he had shared his thoughts and feelings with Talyn, but now he could barely sense the young leviathan. And yet, he wasn't scared. Crais knew Talyn was there, somewhere, but as unconcerned with his captain as he was with his ship. It was pleasant to be free of that burden, to feel himself opening the cloak of control he had kept so tightly fastened around him.

"Bialar?"

The voice was distantly recognizable to him, a memory that was locked and hidden now revealing itself. Crais knew that voice.

"Tauvo," he replied, allowing the tears to fill his eyes.

"You were too easy on me. You knew better."

Tauvo stepped towards his older brother. The PeaceKeeper combat armor still fit him, but only physically. He looked a bit uncomfortable in it, out of place.

"I know. I thought I was protecting you. I had to protect you."

Tauvo smiled and looked past Bialar, focusing on the horizon.

"Father wanted you to protect me," he said as he gazed back at Bialar. "But protection has to end somewhere."

Tauvo now stood within arm's length of his brother, looking over the man with sadness until his eyes met Bialar's.

"You never trusted me to let me make my own mistakes, to learn from them."

Bialar Crais now let the tears flow freely down his cheeks. He knew Tauvo was right. In an attempt to fulfill his promise to their father, he had taken control of both their lives, holding tightly to ensure that neither would be apart.

"It became more than that, didn't it? Your rise through the ranks wasn't just to protect me."

Bialar wanted to argue with his brother, assure him that it was all for them and the promise made. But different words sprang from him - the truth.

"It was for me, also. The power, the..the.." His voice softened as he continued, "the control."

A laugh pierced the calm as Tauvo grabbed his brother's shoulder and squeezed it.

"Now you understand. You wanted to control our destinies, our lives. You wanted to control the universe."

Bialar couldn't fight that statement. His training and discipline as a PeaceKeeper was all about control. It is one of the main things that makes a PeaceKeeper an effective soldier.

"I lost that control when we were taken."

"No, brother," Tauvo said as his hand slid down from Bialar's shoulder. "You can't lose something you didn't have."

It felt as if invisible hands were slowly tightening their grip around his neck as he tried to answer his younger brother.

"I hated the feeling, the helplessness. I hated being torn from where we were safe." He backed away slightly from Tauvo. "I didn't want to be in charge."

Tauvo looked smugly at his brother, an eyebrow raised.

"Oh? The great Captain Bialar Crais didn't want to be in charge?"

The sarcasm cut Bialar deeply as pain and anger begin rising together in him. He stepped quickly towards Tauvo then lunged at him, grabbing him by both shoulders and shaking him.

"I *NEVER* wanted to be in charge!" he screamed, spit flying out his mouth and onto his brother's face. Tauvo calmly pushed Bialar back gently and absently wiped the spit from his face.

"You've always understood that. You just never admitted it, either to others or even yourself."

Bialar slumped to the ground on his hands and knees. He was sobbing, great sobs that caused him to gulp for air as a thirsty man gulps water in the desert. He couldn't stop and didn't want to.

"I hated them for taking us. I hated father for letting them take us. I hated having to look out for you when I wanted to just leave. I hated....," he said, pausing only briefly before the next words came out, "I hated myself. My life."

Bialar didn't even notice as Tauvo sat down beside him, running his hand up and down his back to reassure his older brother.

"You did what you needed to do. Had you tried to leave they would have separated us. Had you died I wouldn't have known how to go on."

Bialar sat up slowly. He placed his hands on his lap, palms up, and stared at them. He did everything to avoid Tauvo's gaze.

"It got away from me."

Slowly he looked at Tauvo and saw his brother's face quizzing him.

"My life. Our lives. The discipline of training took them away from me."

"Ah. Now I see." Tauvo stood up, extending his hand to help Bialar up.

"You substituted PeaceKeeper discipline and control for the lack of it in our lives," he continued. "And along the way you forgot why you had to be so commanding in all parts of your life."

Bialar now stood in front of Tauvo, intent on his brother's understanding.

"No, I never forgot. But I couldn't allow it to cloud my training, to weaken me."

Tauvo put his arm around Bialar's shoulder and held him close. "But it got away."

Bialar let out a deep sigh and looked up at the sky. "I just thought I could somehow make things right by working within and up the ranks." He shook his head and a sad smile crossed his face. "But I became a monster."

There was silence as the Crais brothers stood there, and then Tauvo broke the silence.

"But a very good monster."

Bialar turned and saw his brother, eyebrows raised in mock revelation and smiling, the smile he remembered from when they were children and Tauvo would make fun of Bialar. And he laughed at the comment.

"Yes, a very good monster," he said as he looked at Tauvo. "Would you expect anything less of me?"

By now both men were laughing and Bialar realized he hadn't felt this secure for cycles.

Crais was aware of people in the town square. And the fountain. He straightened up and glanced around him. Some people were eating at the various diners, others were briskly walking from shop to shop, and a few were also at the fountain and its pond. He wasn't sure what had happened but shook it off and gathered up his supplies, focusing now on the transport and getting back to Talyn.

"Talyn," he thought. "Where's Talyn?" Before he could even touch the transponder on the back of his neck that connected the two of them he sensed the leviathan. Still in orbit and waiting for Crais to return.

He reached the transport and prepared to leave.

"I'm coming back, Talyn. Anything to report?"

The answer, though not in a language that could be easily translated except through the transponder, was negative. And Crais noticed that Talyn didn't seem concerned or scared.

"Did Talyn know?" thought Crais. "Did he see what I saw?"

Once back on board he fought to control his actions and thoughts. He went about putting the supplies away and then went to his chamber. There he changed into his PeaceKeeper uniform and combed his hair back into the regulation ponytail. It was all so second-nature to him but now it seemed out of place. He was no longer a PeaceKeeper but still hung onto the regimens of PeaceKeeper life. It was the only tether he had to reality at this point in his life. And now he was angry because of it.

The walk to the command center seemed longer than usual and Crais found himself drifting off to the town center, the fountain, the pool. He wondered what had happened and why. Was it just a dream? Was it the work of some sorcerer, maybe someone like Maldis? He had always been so focused on the task at hand, so secure that he could get out of any situation and survive, no matter who he had to harm or sacrifice along the way.

As the door to the command center opened Crais regained his focus on the leviathan and the task of continuing to avoid the PeaceKeepers. He checked the read-outs at the strategy table to make certain they were going farther into the uncharted territories. Even though he could access this information directly through Talyn he felt the need to see the charts, to distract his thoughts.

A strange sensation came through the neural transponder. Talyn was trying to grasp a single word.

"Bro-ther."

Crais looked up from the charts but focused on nothing specific.

"Bro-ther," repeated Talyn.

"What about brother?"

Talyn wanted to know what it meant.

He stiffened his shoulders and stared at the star charts again, not really reading them anymore.

"Talyn, a brother is a male sibling."

The young leviathan was still confused. Apparently he didn't understand sibling, either.

Crais closed his eyes and took a brief, deep breath. It could be so easy for him to forget that Talyn was ignorant of many things.

"If Moya has another leviathan and it's male, like you, that would be your brother. If it were female, it would be your sister."

He continued looking at the star charts and waited to see if Talyn would just forget the conversation. No luck.

"Sib-ling."

A frustrated smile crept onto Crais's face and he closed his eyes once more.

"Brothers and sisters are considered siblings. Just another way to describe them as a group."

Talyn may have been satisfied with that and Crais could sense him pulling away, going about other concerns on the ship. The captain knew Talyn must have picked up on something in his own memories of Tauvo. He found himself hoping that it was not from the dreaming he may have done at the fountain earlier that day.

And he focused more on the charts, the read-outs, the course ahead. Tightening the cloak of control around him even more.

It became easier as the day went on for Crais to maintain control over his thoughts. They were still looking for Moya while trying to avoid detection by anyone else. He knew that they would still need to find another commerce planet, one that had dealers in cesium. There was a cesium dealer on Mandiba but the price he asked was outrageous and Crais didn't have time to haggle, especially with Talyn detecting the signal to the PeaceKeepers. He knew that there were other commerce planets that were not as dangerous. His supply of cesium wasn't low but he felt safer knowing there was extra. Besides, it made a good explosive in case his cannons were damaged.

"It's been a long day, Talyn," he said. "I'm going to my chamber to get some sleep."

Talyn blipped acknowledgment and Crais left the command center. As he walked the corridor to his room he sensed Talyn once again, a curious tone.

"Tauvo."

Crais stopped, hitting an invisible wall of astonishment.

"What?"

"Tauvo," the leviathan repeated through the transponder. Not as a question but a statement.

Regaining his senses, Crais continued walking, not answering Talyn.

"Tauvo!" Talyn was now insistent. And this time Crais felt a sharp pain from his transponder through his head and neck. He groped for the wall to steady himself from hitting the ground.

"Tauvo! Tauvo!"

With each repetition of the name another wave of pain overtook Crais. He tried to answer Talyn but found only screams coming out. Finally he was able to form a few words.

"Talyn! Stop! I'll tell you! Just stop hurting me!"

Silence. Crais couldn't hear anything but the pounding of his heart and his own labored breathing. He sensed Talyn waiting and knew he feared another onslaught of pain.

"Tauvo," Crais said between breaths, "was my brother."

Crais could feel Talyn pull away a bit and he wondered if the leviathan was digesting this new information.

"Sibling."

Crais slid down the wall outside his chamber, his eyes gratefully closing.

"Yes, Talyn, Tauvo was my sibling. My brother."

Again, more silence. Crais felt he should explain.

"Tauvo is dead. Sometimes I think about him."

He waited and added, "The way you sometimes think about Moya."

With that Talyn was satisfied, at least as far as Crais could tell.

Feeling completely drained, Crais mustered up as much strength as he could to enter his chamber. Talyn's will had gotten stronger and now his tantrums had become physical. It was something that had not crossed Crais's mind and he had not been prepared for it.

He was sore and ached as he tried to remove his uniform. When he finally slid it off he noticed small bruises and cuts on his chest and shoulders. His neck was stiff but he still managed to turn his back to the mirror and cock his head enough to see the damage was there, also. He continued undressing and collapsed on his bed, not even bothering to get under the covers. He was too tired to think, let alone move any more than he had to. But he found himself fearful of sleeping, of dreaming. Talyn may pick up on his thoughts and use them against him.

His greatest fears were coming about now. Talyn was growing too fast and learning to control him. He knew how to hurt Crais now, to get what he wanted. Up to this point Talyn would just be scared and fight the captain's orders. But Crais knew how fear leads to anger and hostility and now Talyn did, too.

"Beautiful, ah?" the shopkeeper commented.

Crais was in the town square at the fountain again. He turned to the little man, curious but not angry.

"What happened? What was that earlier?"

"Your spirit is reflected in the pool from the Fountain of Relfii. You cannot hide from the truths within your soul."

Crais didn't believe in souls or spirits. That was something lower forms of life relied on to justify their inability to advance. It was this life that mattered since there was nothing else. Just this life.

"So you expect me to believe that my brother still lives within me?"

The man shuffled around to Crais's side and turned to look up at him.

"As long as you still think of him, yes. And he will tell you what you need to hear, what you refuse to believe is in you."

Crais understood and accepted this, even though all his PeaceKeeper training had taught him to question anyone not in command. It should have been a strange feeling for him but it wasn't.

The shopkeeper sat down on the edge of the pool and ran one hand over the top of the water, barely skimming the surface. The water shimmered as if being lit by the movement. Crais joined the man and just touched the top of the water. It was cool and he felt a satisfaction at this sensation that he had never known. Closing his eyes he slowly lowered his hand until it was completely submerged in the water.

"Bialar."

Crais opened his eyes and saw his father standing before him, sadness written all over his face. He tried to look away, to avoid the grief in the man's eyes and his own regret.

"Father. I failed you."

The elder Crais came forward to where his son was sitting and placed a hand on his head.

"The failure was mine. I should have hidden us better, away from the PeaceKeepers. I knew they may come for you."

He sat down beside his son and wrenched his hands in his lap, never taking his gaze off Bialar.

"And I never prepared you for the possibility of being conscripted. I kept thinking you and Tauvo would just grow up with us, become farmers, give us grandchildren." He looked down at his hands and shook his head. "I didn't want to believe that they would come."

Bialar watched his father, the man he believed to be the strongest person he had known when he was a child. This man, now defeated and weak, seemed to need his strength.

"I really thought I was doing the right thing. Now I know I was wrong." He gently cupped one hand on top of his father's hands, trying to ease the pain in any way he could. "And I don't know what I should do except survive."

"That's all you can do. Make it to another day."

They both stood up and started walking away from the fountain.

"One day you'll know what you need to do. One day you'll see the path you were meant to go down."

Bialar couldn't take his eyes off his father, drinking in the man's form and voice to replenish the faded memories he had been carrying to this point.

"But for that to happen," his father continued, "you must survive. You must keep going on. And you must be aware of any sign that will lead you to your path."

Bialar wanted to say something but didn't. There were no words for this moment. So the two of them just walked in silence, communicating without words, enjoying the presence of each other.

Crais woke earlier than usual but refreshed. He wasn't sure about the dream, if it was that, nor if Talyn had also sensed it. There were times he wished he could disconnect from the leviathan but Talyn had panicked when he had tried to remove the neural link before. And now he found himself fearing what Talyn might do. If the link was removed there were still the guns in the command center and the DRDs that were under Talyn's control. Crais would have to try to work with Talyn closer, regain trust and control. Otherwise, he would become Talyn's slave.

He showered and dressed as he had done every other day, trying hard to keep things normal. Focusing on the daily routines and tasks. He stopped briefly in the galley for some food cubes and headed to the command center.

"Focus," he thought, "focus on this day, this moment."

The viewer showed the emptiness of the path before them and he headed straight to the strategy table to pull up the course. Still on course, nothing to report.

"Good. At least that's reassuring," he thought.

Talyn had been watching Crais, as he always did. His sight was everywhere on the ship and he kept the information in his data banks, able to pull it up when needed. Crais knew this and had to wonder how far that sight went now. Was it beyond the physical?

Though he tried not to concentrate on Talyn he still could sense the leviathan watching his moves. And he worked harder at avoiding the probing senses of Talyn.

"Talyn, please make sure the DRDs have checked all the conduits, especially the plexus conduits and cables. We want to make certain that you are completely healed should we run into any trouble."

Talyn blipped and Crais could sense him elsewhere, glad to have Talyn's main attention diverted. He could relax a bit before having to fight for control again.

Crais knew that any attempt to disable Talyn might be detected. He couldn't run that risk. Talyn was learning ways to bypass Crais's commands of him, to make him bend to the will of the leviathan. It was too reminiscent of Scorpius and his take-over of the Command Carrier. He had become vulnerable then and vowed it wouldn't happen again. He had back-up plans that enabled him to escape and make it possible to still have a ship. But he had lost control because he allowed his emotions to get away from him, because his discipline had deteriorated. He wondered if that was how Talyn had managed to undermine his command now.

"If only Aeryn were here," thought Crais. "She was always able to calm Talyn."

He remembered the last time he saw Aeryn, in the cryogenic pod on the Ice Planet, having been killed by Crichton. Moya's crew, whom she considered family, were there to say good-bye as Zhaan performed the death ceremony.

"She shouldn't have gone after Crichton. He was being controlled by Scorpius. He was dangerous," he thought, absent-mindedly clenching his fists.

He had offered Aeryn Sun a place on Talyn. And he had information that would have made her happy, a PeaceKeeper recording of a visit to Aeryn by her mother when Aeryn was just a child.

Crais moved to the other side of the strategy table and removed the chip. He had convinced himself he should keep it in case he needed the information later. But he knew he kept it, along with the few logs Talyn had of Aeryn while she was on board, out of a sense of need. The need to connect with the only person he wanted to feel close to now that Tauvo was dead. The need for some kind of companionship, even if it was only a holo image. He placed the chip in the image displayer and watched it again, as he done several times before.

"She had a family, like me. If she had only known, she'd have seen how much more we had in common," Crais said aloud, forgetting for a moment that Talyn could hear.

Just then Talyn made his presence aware to Crais, blipping to catch his attention.

"Family, Talyn. A mother, father, siblings."

Talyn knew mother, he had a mother. Siblings he now understood. But the word 'father' was new.

"A mother and father are parents to the children, the siblings."

Crais didn't want this to go any further. He was growing tired of this unnecessary line of questions. Talyn should be learning battle strategies that he could use, not wasting time asking about families and parents and children.

But Talyn wanted to know about 'father'. Specifically, who his father was. And Crais feared answering him as much as not answering him, knowing the pain the leviathan could inflict on him.

Crais stood up as straight and rigid as possible, focusing out into space, using every last bit of PeaceKeeper discipline to show the greatest control he could to Talyn.

"I'm your father, Talyn. I made it possible for you to exist."

That was true, to a point. Moya had just been another leviathan in the experiments to breed a hybrid, one with gunship capability. And Crais had been in charge of the project, choosing the most likely candidates.

Talyn was silent now. Crais was curious what the infant was thinking but didn't want to push the subject anymore. His hope was that this information might cause Talyn to respect him again. His fear was that this information would enrage Talyn enough to escalate the pain he had already inflicted on Crais. So he decided to divert Talyn's attentions once more.

"Talyn," he commanded as the leviathan blipped in response, "we'll need long-range scans of the route to the next commerce planet. I want to make certain that there are no PeaceKeeper patrols in our way."

Talyn blipped and went about a continuous scan of the region, as far ahead as he could.

Crais wanted to feel relief that this was over for now. He removed the PK chip from the image viewer and slipped it into a small pocket in his trousers. The chip should not be in the command center, to avoid any future lapses like this last one. Crais decided to keep it in his chamber, where he wouldn't be tempted to view it when he should be attending to other duties of the ship.

Just as he was leaving command an alarm went off from Talyn. Crais ran back to the strategy console to verify what Talyn was picking up.

Two PeaceKeeper prowlers. Then Crais saw two more. And all four were heading for them.

Crais couldn't understand how the prowlers could be this far in the uncharted territories alone. He wanted Talyn to scan for a command carrier but there wasn't enough time. They had to escape, and quickly.

"Talyn," he said, an urgency in his voice, "prepare for starburst. NOW!"

Talyn blipped but Crais could sense the leviathan's fear and anger as the prowlers began their attack, surrounding them in classic strike and retreat tactics. Talyn armed all weapons and began firing, trying to disable the prowlers.

"We have to starburst, Talyn!" he shouted, but Talyn could not, or would not, listen now. The leviathan was focused on shooting at the prowlers, trying to disable or destroy them, too scared to concentrate on starburst.

Crais had no option but to go along with Talyn, to damage the prowlers enough that Talyn would listen to him and starburst to safety. So focused were the gunship and captain on this task that they didn't even see the ship until it was upon them.

It was too late. He recognized the vessel as a Pantak Class Vigilante.

"Starburst, Talyn! NOW! Before...," he screamed, but not before seeing the main cannon fire. An immobilizer pulse overloaded Talyn's systems.

Crais's screams blended with Talyn's. Their pain, fear, and confusion intensified and Crais found himself using whatever energy he had left to focus on only one thought, over and over, as he fought to remain conscious.

"Starburst, Talyn. Divert energy. Starburst."

Darkness overtook his mind just as he felt the last bit of energy surge through Talyn and recognized, hoped, it was the leviathan entering starburst.