SCIFI.COM | Farscape: Journey Logs

I didn't expect Rygel to aid Crichton in his quest to destroy Scorpius' wormhole research. But apparently the Dominar has witnessed tragedies that he will risk his life to avoid seeing again.

Accordingly, Rygel accompanied D'Argo to a meeting with Scorpius and Lieutenant Braca. They hoped to convince Scorpius that Crichton had decided to help the Peacekeepers master wormhole travel. Their goal was to negotiate a way for Crichton to visit Scorpius' Command Carrier as a guest — then sabotage the project from within.

The rest of us feared for Rygel's and D'Argo's lives. We didn't expect to face danger and sorrow ourselves.

A hospital ship rendezvoused with us to take aboard Naj Gil, the Scarran who'd escaped to Moya from Peacekeeper captivity. But no sooner had Naj Gil departed than several Peacekeeper Prowlers converged on our position. Talyn destroyed them.

Then, panicking, Talyn blasted the hospital ship as well. Six hundred innocent beings were killed almost instantly.

After this calamity, Talyn refused to communicate, even with Moya. Still, Moya would not abandon her son.

D'Argo and Rygel, meanwhile, reached the meeting place, an isolated diner. Scorpius arrived — with a Peacekeeper execution squad. By threatening to kill D'Argo and Rygel, he established to his satisfaction that they had no hidden companions to save them. After finishing this cruel charade, he dismissed the squad.

According to Rygel, the negotiations progressed smoothly. Scorpius even possessed devices capable of ensuring Crichton's safety: I-Yensch bracelets, which synchronize the nerve impulses of their wearers. To demonstrate their effectiveness, Braca and D'Argo put on the bracelets. When Rygel struck Braca, both the Lieutenant and D'Argo felt the blow. If one wearer died, so would the other. Scorpius proposed that Crichton and Braca wear the bracelets during Crichton's visit. Rygel, however, was not convinced that Braca's life meant more to Scorpius than Crichton's death. He wanted Scorpius, not Braca, to wear the other bracelet. Scorpius refused.

That's when two armed bandits burst in. One of them shot Braca — incapacitating D'Argo as well, thanks to the I-Yensch bracelets.

On Moya, Crais sadly explained that Talyn's combined Peacekeeper and Leviathan heritage had left the young ship dangerously unstable. The former PK captain argued in favor of shutting down Talyn's mechanoid parts, keeping his biologics minimally functional with artificial support. Then Talyn would receive a full systems replacement. This procedure would erase Talyn's personality, giving him the mentality of a newborn.

Crais' suggestion grieved Moya so much that she ceased speaking even to me. Those were some of the saddest moments of my life, but Moya's pain was worse than mine. In a sense, Crais' plan meant Talyn's death: the death of the troubled but loyal personality we loved.

Moya eventually consented to listen to Aeryn Sun, trusting the woman who named Talyn after her own father. After Aeryn vowed that the crew would do everything possible to restore Talyn perfectly, Moya spoke to her son.

In response, the unthinkable happened: Talyn shot at Moya.

Chaos was also engulfing the diner. Finding both Peacekeeper officers and a Hynerian Dominar in their clutches, the would-be robbers began plotting a kidnapping-for-ransom. Rygel and Scorpius discovered they had a common goal: escaping alive. Their separate schemes began to coalesce into unified action.

The robbers, deciding to abduct only the Hynerian, ordered Rygel to shoot Braca to prove his hatred of Peacekeepers. But if Braca died, so would D'Argo. To save themselves, Scorpius and Rygel needed to think faster than they ever had before.

For us on Moya, quick thinking was of no use. It was up to Talyn to decide whether to accept our help — or destroy us....