Disclaimer: Farscape isn't mine, and I aint got any money so don't sue me.
Lelyl, Krakth, Krakizen and Railzen are mine, all mine <laughs maniacally>.
So if anyone wants to use them, just ask.
Rating: Probably PG or something.  There is a mild reference to a sexual
situation but it's nothing major.

Spoilers: The flax, A human reaction, Look at the Princess Trilogy.
Thanks: Thanks to my three beta readers, Esther, Gordon and Mia, I love ya
guys!  Esp. estie, who did most of the work and had to put up with my
godawful story...
Feedback: Yeah, I lurve feedback, even flames, cos I can release my PMT
stress upon the person who flamed my story...  email me at:
victoria@jewells.force9.co.uk  OR   aeryn_17@yahoo.co.uk   This isn't a
sequel to 'The Crichton effect' but it was nice feedback which encouraged me
to write another fic. So feedback is good if u want me to keep writing, but
if you think this is terrible then you might consider not giving feedback.
The future is in YOUR hands!!!
Summary:  Aeryn and John visit a commerce planet and Aeryn is poisoned. A
cure is available, but at what cost to John?
Authors notes: Go easy on me, this is only my second fic and probably my
last cos my muse seems to have gone on holiday and hasn't returned yet. So
if you see my muse anywhere, tell it to come back, please!!
Enough of the rambling, onto the story:


"Howdy doody campers!" Beamed. John Crichton, human space oddity and
astronaut, as he entered the mess hall.  His fellow crew members eyed him
suspiciously

"What? Can't a guy be chirpy around here?" Crichton enquired  The rest of
the crew sombrely blinked back at him.  Aeryn broke the silence "Not
everyone can be as carefree as you Crichton, Some of us have
responsibilities".

"Ooh, who put a pole up your ass" John taunted, laughing his head off.
Aeryn sighed "I think that answers your question, D'argo".  D'argo nodded
his head in agreement.

"Answer what question darlin'" John asked, puzzled, his favourite
ex-peacekeeperette was acting really strange today.

"We are low on supplies and won't last more than a weeken, but if you'd be
paying attention, you'd already know that.  Aeryn stated.  John decided to
ignore the last comment.  Aeryn continued " It seems that the nearest planet
is Itra".

So what's the deal?  Why don't we bomb down there in the Cadiliac and pick
up the groceries?  I'm sure the local k-mart will have everything we need
and......." John trailed off, noticing the bemused looks he was getting from
the rest of the crew, not to mention the extremely irritated look from
Aeryn.

"It seems that from what little I know of Itra and the scans pilot has
provided for us, the planet is ruled by women, the only function males have
is for slavery and breeding.  If this was any normal commerce planet, we'd
send Rygel down there to bargain, but as I said, they won't listen to males
at all, so it would be futile.  The next problem is that the Itranese don't
like offworlders, or those that are not of their species.  The race is
similar to sebacean in appearance and therefore our only option is to send
Aeryn down there"  Zhaan explained serenely.

"However",  Aeryn continued "It isn't possible for me to collect the
supplies on my own, therefore I need someone to act as my slave.  D'argo
would be the obvious choice normally, but I doubt that he could pass for an
Itran.  D'argo thought you might be responsible enough to accompany me, he
was obviously wrong."

"Damn, I finally get a recommendation from the big guy and I blow it" John
thought to himself.

"I would really like to accompany you to Itra, I promise I'll behave"  John
said aloud.  'I'd also love to be Aeryn's slave, he thought slyly.  I could
have a helluva lot of fun with that'.  His grin puzzled everyone.

"What the frell are you smiling about Crichton?" Snorted Aeryn.

"Nothing, really, darlin', just thinking how good I would be at playing a
slave"

"That settles it then"  Zhaan added with an inward smile.  'This could be
the push that John and Aeryn's relationship needs.  I'm sure we will reap
the benefits once they admit their true feelings towards  one another'.

Aeryn snorted her reply and grabbed John by the arm.  "Get ready and hurry
the frell up!".

****************************************************************************
******


"We will be back as soon as we can, Pilot"  Aeryn informed.  She sneaked a
glance at John beside her, and suppressed a chuckle, he was dressed in long
flowing white robes, secured by a simple brown cord, all borrowed from
Zhaan.  According to Zhaan, it would be close to the traditional dress of
the males in Itra.  Aeryn had to admit that he looked good in it, John, on
the other hand, strongly disagreed.

" I look like someone out of chariots of fire. Stupid dumb-ass roman
clothes" He grumbled to himself.  Aeryn smiled, his earth expressions could
be infuriating at times, but they did make him seem really quite cute., stop
thinking about Crichton, she told herself, and concentrated on finding a
place to land the transport pod.
****************************************************************************
*****

"Damn, Aeryn, I'm freezing my ass off in this fashionable bed sheet" John
grumbled.

"Shut the frell up, Crichton, I can't be seen conversing with my slave".
Aeryn grinned, perhaps she
was getting into the role of master-slave too much, she said to herself, but
quickly dismissed the thought.  She was having way to much fun to stop now.
With that, they walked towards the town  they saw in the distance.

****************************************************************************
******

John and Aeryn entered what appeared to be the main market square of the
town.  Aeryn grabbed John's arm and roughly frog-marched him towards the
nearest stall and began the tedious task of searching for supplies.

The day drew on and Aeryn was having little luck with finding supplies.
None of the stalls appeared to have any goods which were appetising or even
suitable for everyone on Moya to eat.
" You must have some frelling food" Aeryn yelled at a market vendor.

"I'm sorry Madam but this is all we have left.  There has been a bad harvest
and all food has been rationed.  If you want some I suggest you return early
in the morning when I will have more to sell" The vendor calmly explained.

"Well that's just frelling great, a universe of planets and we had to chose
one with a frelling bad harvest!" Aeryn looked like she was going to
explode, and with good reason, John thought, but her ranting was not going
to get them anywhere.  He calmly placed a hand on her arm to still he and he
gradually felt her rage subsiding.

"Excuse me, but I couldn't help but overhear your predicament.  My name is
Lelyl, I believe I can be of some assistance."  Aeryn lifted her head up to
see a tall, leggy blonde Itran infront of her.

 "Hot damn!" Crichton muttered under his breath, grinning profusely.  Aeryn
caught his eye abruptly slammed a package of what little food they had
obtained, along with her fist, into his stomach.  "Carry this" she hissed.
She turned to Lelyl "I seriously doubt that you could help us" Aeryn almost
growled.

"I am willing to supply you with food and pay you a handsome amount, in
exchange for your slave" Lelyl stated matter-of-factly.

Aeryn was caught off guard "You want Joh......Crichton?" She stuttered "My
slave isn't for sale"
Lelyl laughed, a musical chuckle escaped her glistening lips.  Aeryn threw
John a confused glance, John was also looking perplexed

" I don't want to buy your slave" Lelyl continued "I merely want to borrow
him.  I already have slaves but none so attractive as him.  I wish to breed
with him" Lelyl explained
Aeryn's heart started to beat faster and faster and her mouth went dry.
'Why the frell did she want Crichton.  He wasn't THAT good looking, sure he
was muscular, but he wasn't a large man.  Why the hezmana would anyone want
to procreate with him?  And why the frell should she care?  Aeryn glanced at
John, he was slightly red in the face but still held a slightly lopsided
grin.
Aeryn desperately searched for an answer, and then it came to her.  "I'm
sorry Lelyl, but my slave would not be of much use to breed with, he's umm,
he, uhhhh, he's impotent"  John spluttered  and glared at Aeryn, he was even
more red in the face " I'll get you for this" he whispered.
"I'm sorry to hear that"  Lelyl said emphatically " I should imagine he would
make an excellent lover if he could, ah, overcome his problem.  You must be
very disappointed not to have him sharing your bed"

" I can assure you it wasn't ever my intention for him to be my lover, he's
far too idiotic for me to even consider it"  Aeryn snorted as she delivered
her final crushing comment.   John managed to elicit a disgusted splutter
and muttered something about the flax.  Aeryn took it as a signal to move
on.

"I don't think I'll be needing your help Lelyl, but thank you for the offer
anyway.  Aeryn managed a small smile before she stormed with a disgruntled
John in tow.

****************************************************************************
******


"What the hell did you do that for?"  John hissed at Aeryn as they headed
down a deserted side street

"We didn't need her help" Aeryn replied simply

"Yes we did, and why did you have to embarrass me like that?"  John snapped
back.

"She was too interested in you"  Aeryn stated calmly

"Oh, you mean you were jealous of her and wanted to keep me for yourself,
now that, I understand"  John taunted.

"No, I was saving her the unnecessary boredom of having to listen to you!"
With that, Aeryn recovered his arm in her grasp and marched him off to look
for food.

****************************************************************************
******

"I'm sorry, we have no food at the moment.  I could, however, put some aside
for you tomorrow in exchange for selling your slave" The vendor said
helpfully.
"Hmmm, not a bad idea" Aeryn mused, jokingly.

"Don't you dare!" John warned. "Making a donation to the sperm bank is
entirely different to belonging to someone" he whispered in her ear, his hot
breath causing Aeryn to shiver involuntary.

"Look, I wasn't aware you wanted to father another child which you won't be
able to see grow up, it would appear that peacekeepers and humans don't have
all that dissimilar views on procreation" Aeryn knew she hadn't been fair,
John would never have left his child unless it was absolutely necessary,
still, she had meant it to hurt, she hated the fact he had even considered
procreating with Lelyl.  'I thought I meant something to him' she thought
quietly to herself.

"Hmmmph, peacekeepers and humans, hardly two comparable species" John
viciously retorted

" You didn't seem too bothered about it on the fake earth" Aeryn hissed.
Suddenly she moaned and fell to the ground, clutching at her back.

"Aeryn what's wrong,, God what's wrong?"  John immediately dropped to his
knees by her side.

"Nothing, I'm.....fine Crichton, really.  Something just bit me, an insect
maybe, that's all.  Stop fussing over me"

"Must of been a helluva insect" he muttered, observing the large angry red
area on her lower back.  His hands gently touched her flesh, Aeryn could
feel his heat course through her, she shrugged him off and stated
matter-of-factly "It's late, we need shelter".
They eventually arrived at a run-down building a local vendor had told them
rented rooms cheaply.  John opened the door and like a true gentleman,
gestured to Aeryn to enter, he noticed her furiously scratching her arms.

"Hey Aeryn, what's up? You okay?"

"Yes I'm fine, Crichton" she snapped icily and stormed into the building.
Crichton followed her to the broken down table that served  as reception,
the clerk was a large, bearded, rough-looking Itran.
Aeryn adopted her favourite 'frontal assault' stance and barked gruffly
"We'd like a room"
Suddenly she lurched forward in a coughing fit.

"Hey, come on Aeryn, you're not okay, are you? John asked worriedly

"Would you stop frelling well asking me that Aeryn snarled.
****************************************************************************
*****

John followed Aeryn along a dimly lit carpeted floor.  The lights that did
work flickered as though they were unsure whether they should be working,
Crichton decided the 'hotel' probably looked much better in the dark anyway.
He watched as Aeryn unlocked the door to the room.  Inside the room was
certainly not the ritz, hell it wasn't even the standard of a super 8. There
were deep red stains on the carpet and the room smelt like a sewer, apart
from that, it was fine, Crcihton thought to himself.
But that thought was disregarded when he saw the bed, or what could be
considered was once a bed, now it was a broken mass of timber in the centre
of the room.

"We can't sleep on that thing, Aeryn"

"Who said anything about WE, I'm sleeping on there, you can sleep wherever
you want". Aeryn replied cooly.

"Suit yourself miss bad-ass, but you're gonna be more uncomfortable than me,
and don't you expect me to share any of my body heat when you wake up
freezing in the middle of the night" John retorted
With that, John pulled some dirty blamkets from the bed and balled his
jacket up into a ball and lay down on the floor.  Aeryn snorted and tried to
position herself on the bed without breaking it anymore.  She scratched
furiously at her arms and starting shivering violently, a new coughing fit
beginning.

"Aeryn, would you shut the hell up"  John mumbled groggily.  Aeryn made a
consious effort to stop scratching and swallowed as much spittle as she
possibly could.  That helped her a little, her coughing subsided and tried
to snuggle down.

****************************************************************************
******


John awoke with a start from his sleep.  He had been dreaming about the
aroura chair again.  "Damn it John, you have to shift these Scorpy dreams"
he muttered to himself and truned to roll over from his side onto his back.
However, something warm and solid prevented him from doing so.  Carefully,
he stole a glance behind him, and amazingly Aeryn was curled up against his
back with her arms around his waist.  He noticed her arms were goosebumped
and she was shivering slightly, he carefully turned over and she tucked
herself into his embrace, snuggling closer and sighing contendly, she
muttered his name.  John smiled, he prefered Aeryn when she was asleep, she
still looked as beautiful as when she was awake, the difference being that
she wasn't trying to kick his ass or yell at him.  When she was asleep John
often learnt far more about her than whenever she was awake.  He admired her
beautiful face for a few minutes and gently kissed her brow, she shifted
against him and smiled, struggling to mould herself even closer to him.  'If
only I'd get that reaction when she's conscious' John sighed to himself, he
snuggled against her and slipped into a dreamless slumber.

****************************************************************************
******


Aeryn slowly awoke, dimly aware of the sunlight streaming through the
cracked window, the suns rays beating down on her, but that wasn't the
reason she was hot.  She suddenly realised that she was lying on the floor
wrapped in John's embrace.  'Dren' she thought to herself, how am I going to
get myself out of this one?'  She paused for a moment to look at his
handsome face in the sunlight, even asleep his face showed his emotions, she
thought as she studied the peaceful expression on his face.
Suddenly she started to feel dizzy and her coughing returned only this time
she couldn't shake it.  John woke up and immediately had his arms around her
trying to help with the coughing.  Initially he thought she was choking, but
he soon realised that it was much more serious than that.  He instinctively
felt her forehead and although he wasn't sure what temperature was best for
sebaceans, he had a pretty good idea that she was way above it.

"John, what's wrong with me?" She croaked before vomiting on the floor.

"Oh shit oh shit oh shit" John kept saying over to himself, "What the frell
do I do? I gotta get her temperature down"  Then it hit him, he ran into the
bathroom and filled the bath with cold water. He returned to her side,
carried her over to the bath and carefully placed her in the water.
Aeryn squeeled upon initial contact with the water and started shivering
violently "Ughhn graagg" She tried to speak but she was shivering so much
and becoming slightly delirious.
John activated his comm.  " Zhaan, we got problems here, Aeryn's real sick
and I don't know what to do"

"John, try not to panic" The serene priestess instructed " What are her
symptoms?"

"Uhh pretty much everything you could possibly get when you're ill.
Vomiting, coughing, scratching, dizziness, inhibition of speech and a really
high temperature" John reeled off the symptoms, hoping it was just a
sebacean cold or something, but deep down he knew it wasn't.

" For the moment John, keep her temperature down, that's the most important
part or we'll have to deal with sebacean heat delirium as well.  Did you or
her eat anything odd or suspect? Did you perhaps leave drinks unattended?"
Zhaan inquired.
John laughed, she was sounding like a damn 'don't take drugs ad' "No Zhaan,
we didn't leave our drinks, and we've hardly eaten anything since we got
here"

"Try to think John, is there anything else which could have prompted the
reaction?"

"I don't think so.... wait a minute!  She was bitten by a insect yesterday
and it left a huge mark on her back" John recalled " Think that could be
 it?"

"I believe it is most unlikely that a insect could cause the mark on her
back.  Information was sent to Moya from someone claiming to be a 'friend',
the information might be able to help us. We have been told that Itra does
not have the atmosphere to support insects, that is why their harvests are
so bad.  Peacekeepers dumped some sort of pollution on Itra and the food
chain and ecosystem has been slowly broken down ever since.  It is far more
likely that she has been mistaken for a peacekeeper and injected with some
sort of poison, check the mark on her back again".
John moved towards the bath and slowly turned the shivering Aeryn over, he
lifted up her vest slightly and checked the mark, he examined it closer and
found a tiny metal shard in the wound.

"I think I found something here, Zhaan, it looks like a little metal arrow
or pellet" John explained

"Aeryn has most likely been infected with a poison called Krakizen.  Her
symptoms match quite well to the symptoms of this poison, coughing,
projectle vomiting, scratching, dizziness and..."

"Oh shit!" John loudly interrupted Zhaan " There's blood streaming outta her
eyes, my god, what
kind of sick shit would do this to anyone?"

" Listen to me John, if it is Krakizen, you don't have much time.  You need
to find the antidote, it's called Railzen.  Try asking local vendors where
you can obtain it from. From an apothecary perhaps? Goddess be with you
 John" With that, Zhaan cut the communications

" Damn, oh damn" Crichton muttered as he pulled Aeryn out of the bath and
onto the bed. "Aeryn? Can you hear me?  You're gonna be okay, I gotta go and
get you a cold cure, I'll be back soon, I promise" John smoothed Aeryn's
hair out of her eyes and planted a quick kiss on her forehead.

"Hang on in there baby" He gathered his robes and left the building.



Unsure of his plan John wandered the street looking from stall to stall,
asking if they had and Railzen.  Most vendors refused to answer and
reprimanded him for speaking to them.  On the last vendor he lost his temper
and began ranting at her to get some Railzen.

"It would help your friend far more if you would calm down" A familiar voice
said behind him as a genle hand pulled him away from the stall.  " I know
that you aren't really a slave and I know you and your friend are
off-worlders" John turned around to face none other than Lelyl.

"My friend" John began "Has been infected by Krakizen and is really ill, I
need the antidote Railzen to cure her"

" I am well aware of what you need" Lelyl whispered " But you will not get
it.  Whoever administered the poison meant for it to be fatal, they were
following the Queen's orders"

"What the hell? Your Queen wants people to die?"

"No, she wants peacekeepers to die.  You and your friend obviously do not
fit in so well here, the Krakizen administerers are ordered to inject
peacekeepers on sight which is what they did in your friends case". Lelyl
explained  "

The only way to obtain the antidote is from the Queen's physician, and even
then it is extremely expensive. I doubt you'll have enough money for it. Of
course I would be wiling to supply you with both the money and the antidote"
. Lelyl stated slyly
John could see where she was going with this. Lelyl continued " All I want
is a few hours in order to breed with you, that is, if you could overcome
your impotence".

" I'm erm, not impotent, my friend lied so couldn't you just erm, take some
of my uuh, you know..." John spluttered, looking highly embarrassed.

"I think that the other alternative is, far more, enjoyable, wouldn't you
say.  You know my deal. Take it or leave it." Lelyl said mercilessly.

' I wasn't aware you wanted to father another child which you won't be able
to see grow up' Aeryn's words echoed in his mind.  Hell, he didn't want to
leave a kid without a father, but then again, on this planet none had
fathers as such anyway.  Then there was Aeryn, he didn't want to betray his
loyalty to her, loyalty that she had never asked for but was still present
nonetheless.  But if he didn't do this, Aeryn would die, he couldn't let
that happen, he wouldn't and he had a way to make it all better.  But was
the price to high?  And what the hell was the debate anyway? A beautiful
woman just asked for non-commital sex which would not only probably be
enjoyable, but save the woman he loved.  Still, his heart told him it was
wrong, but he had reached the end of the line.

"I'll do it" He said sotly and with that he silently followed Lelyl.




John lay in a big four-poster purplish coloured bed.  Pillowed on his arm
was a blonde, beautiful woman with whom he had just had sex.  He should have
been ecstatic, elated and thoroughly pleased with himself, but surprisingly,
he felt disgusted with his actions that day, even though he had little
choice.

" Lelyl, wake up" John said softly as he shook her shoulders.  " I need the
antidote for my friend now, she doesn't have much time"
Lelyl got dressed quickly and led John out of her house and down a small
back alley.  She then entered a dimly lit shop.

" I need some more Railzen,  Krakth" She said to the tall Itran, whom  John
presumed was named Krakth.

" More? You have to stop doing this Lelyl, don't tell me you ensnared
another off worlder with you imaginative yarns? Krakth sneered.

"What?" John felt ready to explode " You mean that this isn't organised by
the Queen?"
The same musical laugh escaped Lelyl's lips once more only this time it was
far more mocking.

" You fool, of course the Queen would never permit such a thing.  It was I
that supplied the information on Kraikzen to your friend Zhaan. I prevented
you from obtaining the supplies you needed and I also administered the
poison to your friend".
John lurched forward to grab Lelyl around the neck, but was sent sprawling
to the floor by a large metal pole which was yielded  by Krakth.

" Ah ah ah" Lelyl taunted, wagging her finger at John " If you want the
antidote you are going to have to be nice to me"

"Please" John implored " Just give it to me and I'll leave without a fight,
I promise" Something inside John was screaming to beat the shit out of them
all but he knew that he needed to get to Aeryn.
Lelyl handed the potion to John

"Before I go" John began " Why did you want to procreate with me so badly?"

" That is simple, I wanted a peacekeeper child.  I heard that peacekeeper
children are far more resilient than most.  Since many of our children die
here before they reach 5 cycles old, I wanted my child to survive.  I have
tried with many offworlders, using the same routine as I did with you,
however, there DNA did not combine well with mine, I hope yours will be
somewhat better.

"But why do you need a child" John asked, hope that perhaps he had supplied
a desperate lady with a child which was going to be much loved.

"It's cheaper than a slave" Lelyl's cold answer came.  John left then, he
didn't want to know the rest.

****************************************************************************
**


At the hotel he carefully opened the door to the room.

" It's okay Aeryn, I got the stuff, you're gonna be okay" John soothed

" I could have told you that frelling arns ago" Aeryn muttered, sitting
upright on the bed trying her best to clean up the vomit off her vest.

" Aeryn, you're okay, when I last saw you, you were crying blood and
vomiting all over the place" John said, confused.

" A few arns after you left my dizziness subsided and I stopped being sick,
gradually I began to feel better, whatever I had must have been a short term
illness". Aeryn explained.
John fubled in his pocket and pulled out the antidote, he released the cork
stopper and pulled out a piece of paper in sebacean script.  He handed it to
Aeryn.  'Railzen is the ancient Itran word for fool' She read out loud.
"What does that mean, whats' Railzen??" Aeryn continued.
John placed his hands in his head, 'he was a goddamn fool. Why did he always
listen to his heart?'

"John, what's wrong? Did this antidote cost a lot of gems or something".
Aeryn asked, worried at the desperate look that was present on his face.

"It cost me a lot more than you can ever imagine" He sighed "Let's go and
get the supplies"

"But I thought there was a shortage of food?" Aeryn said looking bemused

"It's a long story Aeryn.


****************************************************************************
*****

Back on Moya, John sat on the terrace looking up at the stars.  The trip to
the commerce planet had certainly been an eventful one, he had experienced
so many emotions.  Worry, love , anger and hatred, pure hatred towards
Lelyl.  Not just for what she had done to Aeryn and himself, but what she
was planning to do to her child, THEIR child.  Crichton had to shake the
thought, he was so disgusted and dismayed.  He had helped create a child
whose future would be doomed to slavery from the moment it took it's first
breath to the very second it died.  He silently began to weep.

Aeryn walked onto the terrace and saw John hunched over his knees sobbing
into his hands.  Zhaan had explained about the 'insect bite' and the poison.
Aeryn now understood John's despair about the false antidote, but she didn't
understand why he was so upset.  What price had he paid for her survival?

"John?" Aeryn called softly

John sniffed and loked up, his eyes were red and blotched from his crying.
He furiously tried to wipe them away, hoping that she couldn't tell he had
been crying, but he could see in her eyes that she knew.

Aeryn moved slowly towards him " Zhaan told me about the poison, thank you
for being concerned and trying to save me. Whatever you did to get the
antidote I know that you did what you thought was best"

No, I did what I knew was wrong in my heart, he thought to himself, it was
best for me maybe, but definitely not best for that child.

Aeryn studied him as he was locked deep in thought.

"Aeryn , I"

"Shhhh" She interrupted and placed her arms around his neck and puled him
into a warm embrace.

As he relaxed into her arms they sat on the terrace and stared at the stars.
John knew that sometime he'd have to tell Aeryn about Lelyl and what
happened while she was ill, but for now he held her tight and prayed to the
gods to look after his offspring. Both of them.

Finito