TITLE: "THE STARS INTO DUST"

AUTHOR: Alison M. DOBELL

FANDOM: "Farscape"

PAIRING: JOHN/CRAIS

RATING: NC-17. M/M. *SLASH*

STATUS: New.

ARCHIVE: Yes. Just let me know where.

FEEDBACK: Welcomed

"THE STARS INTO DUST"
A "Farscape" slash story
Written by Alison M. DOBELL
* * * * *

Aeryn was pacing Pilot's chamber which was not helping his mood. He was already trying to come to terms with the shock of discovering that Crichton's current predicament was due to the actions of one of the Builders. Unheard of. Anathema. Disturbing. Distressing. It was even worse for Moya. She had retreated into that most sacrosanct of places, the one part of her being that she could deny to Pilot. He knew she was hurt, upset, confused and shaken. The level of disturbance the news had caused was something Pilot could not hope to impress upon the crew in terms they would truly understand. Except for Aeryn. Only right now Aeryn was so worried about Crichton that Pilot did not want to talk to her about it. And that was the problem.

"I don't see what your problem is, Pilot. We *have* to find Talyn, rescue John."

"We are doing the best we can, Aeryn. Moya cannot go faster and she has to recover from the last starburst before making another one. You know that."

"Yes, I know, but that is not what I meant."

Silence. Pilot's head was angled downward, his eyes on his console as his four arms performed their complex ballet over the controls. A constant care for the leviathan to which he was bound and the crew that lived aboard her. He was aware that Aeryn thought he was keeping something back. Cross that Moya did not want to talk about it. Angry that she could not go after Crichton with guns blazing. Moya was not a gunship but right now Aeryn would have given everything she possessed if she had have been. Just long enough to do the job. Her anger was understandable. Her reaction to Moya was not. So Pilot avoided her eye. Not wanting to show his displeasure at her words to Moya, but also not wanting her to know that he felt so deeply for her in case he upset Moya. It was a delicate balance when friends did not see eye to eye.

"Why won't Moya tell us about Kahaynu?"

"You already know why, Aeryn."

"Then you tell us. Or tell me."

Pilot shook his head, mouth shut firm. Aeryn was ready to explode. Only her feelings and respect for Pilot stopped her from doing so. She tried to calm down. Her anger was getting her nowhere. Then she noticed Pilot tense. "What is it?"

He checked Moya's readings and finally looked up. "I think we have more immediate worries than the Builders."

"Such as?"

"We are being followed."

Aeryn's heart missed a beat. "Followed? Who by?"

"I can't quite see.... It's a Nebari ship."

"Nebari? Oh frell!"

Aeryn opened the coms and passed the bad news to everyone. She wanted to get to Crichton as soon as possible but did not want to lead the Nebari ship to a second leviathan. No sense in both of them getting captured. Not that she had any intention of Moya succumbing to another collar.

"Aeryn if you could..."

Aeryn was already running out the door of his chamber. "I'm on it Pilot, ask Moya to change course, away from the Nebari ship and away from Talyn. We can't risk letting them know where Talyn is."

"Agreed."

Then she was gone, yelling for the others to meet her in command. She swore. Her rage turned to the more immediate concern of survival. First they would have to deal with the Nebari threat. Only then could they go and try to rescue Crichton. She hoped. She prayed. That whatever was
happening aboard Talyn, that he could hang on. They had not received any more transmissions from Moya's DRD. She tried not to worry about what that might mean. Told herself it had probably broken down but more sinister possibilities kept tormenting her. She had to shove all of that to the back of her mind now. As she skidded into command the first shot from the Nebari
vessel hit them. Moya rocked and trembled. The crew swore. Only Zhaan prayed.

* * * * *

Tahanay watched Crichton. Was pleased with his performance. Congratulated himself on his find. As he continued to have Talyn draw off the raw material he was already fashioning limitless possibilities. Around them the coloured fragments of dust stirred hardly at all in the solar winds.
Bound by other energies, gravity other than the universe could provide. He raised his head thoughtfully as Talyn expressed concern for the human. His smile became more beautific. <I will not harm him, Talyn>

Something seemed to tremble in the leviathan. <And Crais?>

<He is merely unconscious>

<Can I wake him?>

<Not until it is done>

A painful pause. <I need him>

<No> Soothed Tahanay. <Not for a while yet. Once this is done he will be restored to you. They both will>

<Then we can go?>

<Yes>

For a long while there was silence. Crichton lay shuddering gently in the pod bay. It was a lot warmer than it had been thanks to Talyn, concerned for the human's comfort and partly to assuage his feelings of guilt over what he had done. Knowing also that it had not been what Crais wanted. Yet he could not go against the wishes of the Builder. To do that would be to spit in the eye of God. Even Moya would not have done such a thing and Talyn was nothing if not her son.

Tahanay considered the human. Marvelled at the qualities of his character so unlike any other he had encountered in the Uncharted Territories. He remembered the words of Kahaynu. *Anybody can give a ship intelligence. We gave her a soul*. He looked smug. Now. With the help of this human's DNA he would be able to give the ships compassion, the power to reason and have more than rudimentary emotions. Not too much of course. Not enough to undermine their commitment to and devotion to the Builders, but enough to give them a deeper sentience. To touch and emulate the deepest emotions of the human. He would need to experiment first. Make sure that it would work. That the finished product would be stronger not weaker, more versatile and able to adapt to whatever threat or new experiences it encountered. As the human had done. He marvelled that this one sentient being had managed to survive across such a violent universe. To not only come this far but to have touched so many lives. Alien to his own genetic blueprint. Yet make connections with them that bound them in friendship. A strange exotic trait that attracted the Builder. Opened up new areas of exploration in working with biomechanoid lifeforms. Yet he would get something out of it too. As all the Builders did. Sustained and spurred on by their creations. While they could not create life they could mould the building blocks and by doing so alter the structure of the universe.

He smiled again at Crichton then became vapour, his white mist drifting across the body of the human in the throes of the deep erotic sensations being roused in him to make him produce more and more semen. He was in that surreal netherland between sleeping and waking, aware of the Builder, aware of every sensation coursing through his body. Aware of the violation. Railed against it yet submitted for the sake of others. That qualtiy of self sacrifice amused Tahanay. Then he passed through him and got to work. For his part Crichton trembled deeper, the shudders that wracked his body almost painful in their intensity. The fire in his aching loins burning him
as a steady stream was taken from him, siphoned through the alien appendage that sealed his doom. Tahanay had promised to let him go afterwards but he did not believe him. Did not trust the Builder. Knew only that he was damned. He was spinning, mind bruised and dazed, trying to escape into images that would not hurt him. That would cause no pain. Slowly he became aware of Talyn entering his consciousness. Gentle, loving, contrite.

<My God Talyn, what have you done to me?>

For the longest time the leviathan did not answer. His thoughts and emotions so tangled with new feelings, shame being uppermost though he was not sure why. <I am sorry, John>

<I trusted you>

<Yes>

<Crais trusted you>

A long pause. <I know>

<He's killing me, Talyn. You know that, don't you? Draining everything from me until all that will be left will be an empty shell>

The silence dragged on. Crichton started to drift again but not enough to sleep, to find rest. His thoughts carried on an endless sea as sensations rippled through him beyond his control. His hips still bucking gently forming new waves that rocked him as he continued to come. His jism a gentle flood now. His body boneless, his thoughts becoming formless yet not able to shut them off. Not able to simply rest in the sweet oblivion of sleep because the Builder wanted him conscious enough to follow the trail of his thoughts. To tinker on more than the molecular level. <I need to sleep Talyn or I will die>

Still no response. Crichton stretched his senses but touched nothing. If he could have wept he would have but his tear ducts were empty. He was all cried out. Then he felt his veins stir with a sluggish air. Dared to allow a whisper of hope to dance inside his brain and make its' faltering way to his heart. His last thought as the blessing of sleep engulfed him was to thank Talyn.

* * * * *

Scorpius was angry. He could see that the leviathan had no intention of making its' way to Orvigan but neither did it move out of the strangely coloured clouds. Had something happened? Something gone wrong? His assertion that he would wait two solar days was jettisoned in favour of more immediate action. The need to know was stronger than the lure of springing the trap. "Captain."

The Captain left her post to go to him. "Yes, Commander?"

"A change in strategy. I want to know what is happening with the leviathan. We will approach with care then deploy the dampening net we obtained from the Plakavians."

Her look gave her thoughts away before she could hide her displeasure. Scorpius smiled sweetly at her. "I can assure you, they will *not*
be
needing it again..." He purred.

She nodded and hurried back to her console, changing course in silence then watching with wary eyes as the Command Carrier slipped out from behind the icy moon.

* * * * *

On board the Nebari ship, Zarok was not having everything his own way. "You pleeking greebol, Moya has spotted us!"

Orla looked up from the ship's console nervously. "There is nowhere to hide."

"What about our cloaking device?"

She shook her head. "We could not use it when we went to starburst which is why we were visible when we emerged but I am recloaking now."

"I am surrounded by mindless incompetent trills!"

Orla bowed to show her subservience and said nothing. Somewhat mollified Zarok dropped the subject and concentrated on tactics. "I want you to approach in an arc, Orla. Hopefully they will assume we are moving directly towards them. It will give us a small element of surprise. It will
have to be enough."

As Orla manouevred their craft, Zarok checked the adapted collar. He wanted nothing to go wrong when he deployed it this time.

On board Moya panic was taking hold of everyone as they saw the Nebari ship vanish from Moya's sensors. Pilot looked up in alarm. "The Nebari vessel has disappeared..."

Chiana nodded, her movements even more jerky than usual. "They're using a cloaking device."

"I did not know they had those," Said D'Argo.

"Oh yeah. The Nebari have all kinds of little toys you know nothing about, D'Argo."

"What will happen to us?" Asked Jothee.

His father turned and looked at him, his features softening for a microt. "We will *not* be taken prisoner, Jothee, I can assure you of that!"

Aeryn cast a look at Chiana. The look they exchanged did not echo the Luxan's conviction. Rygel moved his thronesled closer. "If we are going to do something we must do it *now*."

D'Argo spun on him. "What do you suggest we do?"

"Starburst for one thing."

D'Argo looked at Pilot. "Pilot, can Moya starburst yet?"

"In a few more microts..."

"We may not *have* a few more microts."

Just then the leviathan shuddered, pitched violently to one side, and everyone felt the terrible heart wrenching cry of the leviathan as the collar clicked into place. Sharp rods piercing her sides as melor gas was pumped into the struggling leviathan. Her attempts to shake off the collar were to no avail. Her struggles becoming weaker, Pilot unable to stay conscious as his bond to Moya ensured he shared her fate. On one level he was happy to do so but the part of him that was also loyal to their crew knew sadness and a great overwhelming sense of regret. Aeryn tried to rouse him. He fought the drug valiantly. Struggled to speak but his mouth made no sound. Empty
little opening and closing gestures as his eyes closed. A shudder and he was out completely.

For a moment they were too stunned to speak then Rygel's voice snapped them out of their emotional stupour. "We had better do something and do it quickly. I can hear the Nebari boarding us."

Chiana had tears in her eyes. D'Argo touched her cheek gently with his hand. "I will not let them take you, Chiana."

She said nothing. Her fear and her sorrow beyond any words. Aeryn was exasperated. Wished Crichton were with them. He always came up with a plan. Even a stupid one would have sounded good to her right now. Rygel had an idea. "Zhaan! We should go to the apothecary. There must be something in there we can use."

Zhaan looked at him in surprise. "Rygel, all I have are my herbs and ointments..."

"Yes, yes, yes, I know but you also have jelifan fire paste."

Her eyes brightened. "Yes."

"And," Said Rygel trying to herd them out as quickly as possible. "Where you have fire paste you may have other things. Things we can use against the Nebari." Rygel paused and shot Chiana a look. "Present company excepted," He murmured.

Chiana nodded accepting his apology and withdrawing into her misery. What the Hynerian thought they could do in the apothecary was beyond them all but right now any plan had to better than no plan at all...

* * * * *

In the ducts aboard Talyn the little DRD sat in silence. Talyn's DRDs were exchanging information but nothing would induce Blue to join in the chatter. They seemed excited by the presence of the Builder but concerned and anxious about Talyn's reaction. Worried that something indefinable was wrong. Blue knew what was wrong. The beeps and whirs stopped for a microt then one of the DRDs bumped Blue, trying to get him to say something. To tell them what was wrong. His light stalks wavered with emotion, something he had picked up from the human. Impossibly he was worried about him. Felt bad about going along with the others. But what could he do against one of the Builders? Even Moya deferred in all things to Kahaynu. Now he could not even communicate his worries to Moya or seek her advice. All he had left was Crichton and now even he had been taken away from him. For the first time since he had been created, Blue felt the equivalent of loneliness. Here, among a glut of his own kind he was a stranger. Was this how Crichton had felt aboard Moya?

One of the DRDs got impatient, bumped him harder. A string of angry beeps and whirs made him pull back, startled but not afraid. Curious. A mournful hum of energy asked Blue what was wrong. Then slowly. As if these new things called emotions had to be dragged out of him to come into existence, he told them. They listened in complete silence and awe as Blue told them his story. Moya's story. And inevitably - Crichton's.

* * * * *
END