"What are you up to?" "Crichton?" "Yep?" "What are you doing?" "Playing a game." "Doesn't seem like much of a challenge." "Depends on how you play." "You were mumbling, again." "I was thinking." "About what?" "...to remember me by, Crichton." "Nothing." "Crichton, you've told me yourself that your species isn't accustomed to being in space for long periods of time." "Now, I have seen cases of transit madness before and if you're cracking up..." "Aeryn..." " I want to know." "I'm fine." "I don't want to talk about it." "The human doesn't want to talk." "What do mean, they aren't back yet?" "D'Argo and Chiana are busy, Rygel." "What?" "They ran out of places to defile up here, so they had to do it in a Transport Pod." "Unfortunately for them, nothing so enjoyable." "They've learnt that organic goods from this region are often contaminated by parasites." "So they're looking for a local cure in case there's an infestation on Moya." "Parasites?" "What kind?" "I don't have any details yet but I suppose that's the price you pay for trading in such a prosperous system." " Ha!" "Prosperous?" "Is that what you call three planets filled with nothing but miserable, mud grubbing farmers?" "Our parasite problems are solved." "Rygel's decided to leave us then, has he?" "Not likely." "We don't know if we even have a parasite problem." "Well, that's what this little guy will tell us." "What is that?" "It's a Vorc." "Cute, huh?" "We had some problems with our translator microbes and the local merchants, but from what we can gather, this little fellow homes in on one specific parasite and eradicates it." "Oh, look." "He's smelling something." "A vendor told us about this ship that was infested." "The parasites killed everyone on board, over 200 people." "and all they left behind were these... these cocoons or..." "Cocoons." " eggs or something." "If the parasites are that dangerous we should jettison the food and solve the problem before it starts." "When you see what this little fellow can do..." "Aw..." "Come back here!" "Yep, that's impressive." "Goodness, let the pig dog eat!" "He's a Cinderella boy." "Oh my, Bob, this is a... this is a big chance for the kid from the Uncharted Territories." "He's about two feet off the green here on the 18th, three strokes off the lead." "The question is, will he chip, or will he use the putter?" "Sparky?" "Yo Ryg, that you?" "Rygel?" "Whoa!" "My name is John Crichton, an astronaut." "A radiation wave hit and I got shot through a wormhole." "Now I'm lost in some distant part of the universe on a ship, a living ship, full of strange alien life-forms." "Help me." "Listen, please." "Is there anybody out there who can hear me?" "I'm being hunted by an insane military commander." "I'm doing everything I can." "I'm just looking for a way home." "I'm telling you, whatever it was it was going through the food." "Have you considered the possibility that you just saw Rygel?" "He's been hoarding food!" " It wasn't Rygel." "Maybe it was one of those parasites." "We never get did get a good description of them." "You said you fired at it while it was in this compartment, right?" " Yeah." "There's no other way out of there." "Where did it go?" "I don't know." " Get away from there." " That food belongs to me." "That food is for all of us." "Oh!" "What is that foul odor?" "It's Vorc urine." "Would you like a whiff?" "What's a Vorc?" "It is a predator that kills parasites!" "Chiana's with it." "It's hunting right now." "Whatever it is, it'd better stay away from my food." "Hey, maybe that's what I saw." "A Vorc." "It was about, naked, with a face like this." "No, no." "It was more like tandoori chicken." "Pilot, can you spare the DRDs for a search?" "Of course, Commander." "Zhaan?" "Zhaan?" "Did you get the cage?" "Uh, yeah." "But I don't think the Vorc likes it very much." "Well, what does he like?" "Well, so far, everything, but parasites." "Come on, little... what's his name?" "Well I couldn't just name him, Zhaan." "He's a free spirit." "I mean, you can appreciate that." "While I believe it's wrong to imprison any living creature," "there are always exceptions." "Now!" "This thing should be out hunting." "You can play with it later." "Did it look like I was playing?" "Yes." "This thing needs to earn its keep." "Ow!" "It frelling bit me." "That little..." "All right then, what about the access shafts?" "The DRDs are searching those areas, but so far there's no evidence of any creature like the one you've described." "I'm beginning to doubt whether we'll find anything at all." "Why?" "Officer Sun mentioned that you've been distracted lately." "She's believes it's possible that you broke into Rygel's food cache and fired at an imaginary enemy while playing some sort of... game." "It's golf." "Would you believe it's possible that Aeryn doesn't know what the hell it is she's talking about?" "I have never known her to exaggerate." "Have you, Crichton?" "Crichton?" "Yotz!" "Rygel!" "What the hell are you doing?" "It's a cargo bay." "I was checking my cargo." "I was told we had parasites on board." "Now, would you care to explain why you were trying to kill me?" "Look, I thought you were that thing that I saw earlier." "Sorry." "Yoo-hoo!" "Little Vorc thingy." "Little Vorc?" "D'Argo, the Vorc got away from me." "Again?" "You have to stay with it." "Oh, easy for you to say." "It hasn't stopped running around the ship since it got here." "That's how it hunts." "Well yeah, I know, but I'm starting to get a little tired of following it around." "Listen, if we do have a parasite on board, we need to know what it looks like, which means..." "Follow the Vorc." "Fine." "You follow it." ""Fine." "You follow the Vorc."" "Get... off... my bed." "Chiana?" "Chiana!" "Get off my bed." "D'Argo!" " Yes." "That filthy little creature of yours is down in my quarters and it's using them as a toilet." "Among other things." "It has to learn the environment before it can find the parasites." "The only parasite we have is right here, and if you don't come and get it," "I'm going to flush it out an airlock." "You're as bad as Chiana." "Just leave it alone and let it do its job." "D'Argo, I think it's picked up a scent or something." "Don't let it out of your sight!" "Rygel?" "Aeryn, where are you?" "Tier Seven junction." "I've lost the Vorc." "Dren!" "Where was it heading?" "What does it matter?" "This is pointless." "Do you know how dangerous these parasites are?" "They suck the life out of their prey and leave nothing but a desiccated husk." "These parasites are a fantasy." "They're stories to frighten you and Chiana into purchasing a useless animal." "Fine, fine, fine." "I will find it myself." "Good." "Yes." "Waste your own time." "Where was it heading?" "Towards the Maintenance Bay." "D'Argo!" "D'Argo!" " Not now, Chiana." " I'm looking for the Vorc." "I'm in the Maintenance Bay and, uh... there's a... there's some kind of creature right in front of me." "Chiana!" "Hurry!" " Get out of there, now!" "Yeah, I would if I could." "Crichton!" "Aeryn!" "Maintenance Bay." "Now!" "Chiana, do something." "You do something." "Hey." "Okay, easy." "We're... we're not going to hurt you, okay?" "So... so..." "Now slug him!" "We're on the way!" "Don't panic!" "I think it's a little too late for that." "Chiana!" "D'Argo!" " Chiana!" "Huh?" "Oh come on, Luxan." "Come on." "You must not die." "Chiana." "You okay?" "Yeah." "Yeah?" " Yeah, I'm fine." "D'Argo." "Rygel, what the hell are you doing?" "He wasn't breathing." "And I'm fine too, thanks for asking." "D'Argo." "The creature you saw." "The parasite." "It's real." " Yeah, I know that." "I'm delighted you've been vindicated, Crichton, but I'll be even happier when you kill the frelling thing." "Whoa, whoa, whoa, D'Argo." " D'Argo!" "D'Argo, what's wrong?" "Hold him down!" "Hold him!" " What's happening?" "I don't know!" "Hold him down!" " What's wrong?" "Get Zhaan." "Zhaan, get down here!" "D'Argo!" "Zhaan!" "I don't understand what's wrong with him." "You cleansed the wound." "You said there were no internal injuries." "I've done all I can do for now, Chiana." "But he appears to have some kind of secondary infection." "Like what?" "Like that's what I'm trying to determine." "Well, try faster." "I don't need to be a healer to see that D'Argo's getting worse." "But you do need to be a healer to make him better." "Now, shut up and let me get back to work, or leave." "Crichton?" "D'Argo's not so good." "You found the creature?" "No sign of it yet." "It's like it just disappeared." "Hey, Aeryn!" "We just found your Vorc, Chiana." " But that thing's useless." "Maybe not." "It was heading for the Maintenance Bay when you were attacked." "I think it knew what was there." "Yeah, but isn't the Vorc supposed to kill the parasite, not just point it out?" "And you think this minuscule creature could kill something that could incapacitate D'Argo?" "No." "But we could use it to flush the parasite out." "It could be our bird dog." "Whoa!" "That could be your..." "uh, you bring it." "I'll just, uh..." "I hate critters!" "You want to tell me something?" "D'Argo..." "You're in no condition for sex." "Yeah." "It might kill me, huh?" "By Khaalen!" "What's wrong?" "D'Argo's been poisoned." "There's an alien toxin in his bloodstream and it's killing him." "You can make an antidote, can't you?" "I don't know." "I can..." "I can try." "Next." "Next." "Show me another one." "I'll need a venom sample from the creature, John." "But most natural venoms decompose rapidly when the creature dies." "We can't afford to tak e that risk." "So, it's very important that you capture the creature alive, and quickly." "We're working as fast as we can, Zhaan." "Pilot, is it possible that this critter has camouflage ability?" "Have you tried switching the DRDs to heat and acoustic mode?" "Yes, and without success." "The creature seems quite adept at avoiding surveillance." "Show me Cargo Bay 3." "You'll never see it coming, John." "Yes." "What's going on?" "Get me out of here." "Pilot has modified the energy fields of Moya's neural clusters." "So, your cells will be fortified." "They'll give you strength." "Why... why is it so hard to breathe?" "The parasite's venom appears to be designed to paralyze the nerves and muscles of its prey." "Your hearts and lungs have been affected, D'Argo." "You're early, Rygel." "I'm not dead yet." "But when I do die, Chiana's going to get all of my possessions." "You always expect the worst of me." "Is it unthinkable that I might be here simply to offer the gift of my... company to a shipmate in need?" "Yes." "Are you afraid to be alone, Rygel?" "I knew you'd be here." "That didn't frighten me." "Why should blessed solitude?" "Right." "Now." "How about this way?" "This way?" "Aeryn, any luck with the Vorc yet?" "Oh, yes." "So far, he's led me to the cockpit of your module, a pool of amnexis fluid and a pile of food cube crumbs." "How's D'Argo?" "Poison's working on him." "Zhaan says it's slow but steady." "No!" "No biting." "Listen, we'll find the parasite and I'll shoot it." "Aeryn!" "No shooting!" "That's what the sleep gas is for." "I know that." "Whoa!" " You got something?" "Well, apparently, the Vorc thinks it does." "It's getting very hard to control." "Listen to me." "I'm going to let you out." "So, not too far, and not too fast." "Is that clear?" "Clear?" "What was that?" "The DRDs have located the creature." "Pilot!" " It's in the airlock above you, Zhaan." "The creature." "It's coming for us." "I'm trying to seal off the tier to keep it confined." "Pilot!" "Crichton!" "Anybody?" "It's moved out of the air shaft." "Tier Four." "I've lost contact with a DRD." "Ahh!" "No!" "Frell!" "Where did it go?" " Damn it, Chiana!" "I don't trust Aeryn to wing that thing and she's a good shot." "We have to get it into a confined space where the gas grenade can do some good." "What'd you expect me to use?" "Harsh language?" "That was a warning shot." "Yeah, well ten is more than a warning." "Pilot, we lost it." "I know what I'm doing, okay?" "I didn't ask you to come along and I don't..." "Shh!" "Chiana, go back to D'Argo and give him a reason to live." "And do what?" "What, sit by him and watch him die?" "This is the only way I know how to help him." "The creature is on Tier Three, hamman side and moving rapidly." "It's heading for Command!" "Pilot!" "Seal off the exits!" "Done." "The creature has no way out." "Do it?" "Armed." "Ready." "Pilot, open sesame." "It couldn't have gotten out." "Could it?" "Shut up and keep searching." "Not now." "Crichton." "What's the matter?" " Nothing." "I'm fine." "He's got to be around here somewhere." "Chiana." "Ah, frell." "The Vorc." "He must have chased the creature in here." "So where is it?" "Why don't you show us." "Come on." "Show us the parasite." "Grenades." "That thing was the Vorc all along?" "Wait a minute." "Are you saying the Vorc is the parasite?" "The only thing I know for certain is that you brought it on board." "How was I supposed to know?" "Girls, quit the sniping." "Zhaan needs a venom sample." "All right, what do you mean, there's no venom?" " I can't find any." "There's no trace of any toxin whatsoever in any of the samples I took from that creature." "You must have missed something then." "I checked down to its hair follicles." "I tried every technique I know." "I'm sure that didn't take long." "Shut up, Rygel." "There has to be another explanation." "Well perhaps it's only poisonous in its other form." "It attacked D'Argo in its present form." "Besides, it bit me when it was small, and I'm fine." "Then the poison had to come from somewhere." "Pilot, how long would it take us to get back to where we bought this damn thing?" "At maximum speed Moya could reach the planet in less than 32 arns." "D'Argo won't make it." "His respiration is failing." "The field in the neural cluster won't sustain him much longer." "The thing that attacked me was the Vorc." "Zhaan's getting a venom sample from it now." "You're gonna be fine." "Don't lie to me." "I brought the frelling thing on board." "This is all my fault, D'Argo." "You didn't bring him here." "We both did." "All right, riddle me this." "Because we think we may have parasites on board, we get a Vorc, cause someone tells us that Vorcs kill parasites." "And all of a sudden, this other critter shows up, this Ewok gone bad." "Bites D'Argo, poisons him, yeah?" "So we capture the parasite, and surprise, the parasite and the Vorc are the same thing, but neither one of them is poisonous." "So, for $10,000 and the Caribbean cruise, what poisoned D'Argo?" "Something else must have." " Yes." "You're suggesting there's another creature on board." "Yes, the real parasite." "What if the Vorc is working as advertised?" "It's hunting the parasite, but it's doing it in two different forms?" "Smaller, faster form for tracking, a larger, more powerful form for attack." "Exactly." "Why did it attack Chiana and D'Argo?" "I don't know." "Maybe they scared it, threatened it somehow." "You know, D'Argo has that effect on everything." "Even if this real parasite exists, which I'm still not convinced it does, we have no idea what it is." "Is it an insect, a microorganism, another creature like this?" "I don't know." "Why don't you ask it?" "Oh, that's very good, Crichton." "I know my translator microbes are working, because deranged as it always is, I do understand what you're saying." "But this creature can only grunt and growl." "It cannot talk." "No, Aeryn, this is a good idea." "Why don't we see if we can get the incredible Vorc here to understand us?" "D'Argo is dying." "You got a better idea, lay it on me." "All right, Pilot, shoot him up." "Injecting translator microbes." "Hey, over here." "Listen up." "You understand me?" "We just want to talk to you." "This is a waste of time, Crichton." "Translator microbes don't take this long to work." "Let's take it to Zhaan." "She can dissect it, see if she missed something." "Dissect it?" "Yeah, I say we kill it." "Aeryn, it understands what you're saying." "Take it back." "Take it back." "Hello." "I'm sorry." "I don't want to kill you." "That was terrible." "That was... that was... look, Lassie here is trying to communicate with us." "Yeah, and I don't understand you." "Officer Sun..." "I believe it's asking why." "Pilot, you understand him?" " Somewhat." "Because of my bond with Moya I am, accustomed to nonverbal communication." "While I don't believe this creature has language in a true sense, it seems to be expressing itself in a mixture of simple concepts, sensations and instinctual reactions." "Keep translating." ""Why... pain... me?"" "Well, we hurt you because you hurt us." "Why did you attack D'Argo?" "Our friend?" "Friend." ""Attack..."" ""Defend."" "D'Argo attacked you first?" ""Friend."" ""Friend."" "It keeps repeating "friend."" "In the Command." "It showed us it could change shapes." "It wasn't trying to hurt us." "No." "What do you want?" ""Bad... danger... here."" "There's a parasite on board?" "Are you the parasite?" "The answer to that is "no." Who's going to say yes to that?" "That is no." " Clarifying." "Can you help us find the parasite?" ""Hunt... the bad."" ""Kill the bad."" ""Free." "Kill the bad."" "Right." "So you want us to free you, so you can kill the parasite." "That's a better question." "Clarification." "And that's a "yes."" "Do you trust it?" " I don't know." "We could have it describe the parasite to us and we could find it ourselves." "Who knows how long that could take?" "D'Argo doesn't have that much time to spare." "You're right." "Hey, little fella." "We're going to roll the dice." "But you make one wrong move, I will shoot you." "You understand shoot?" "Ka-tow, ka-tow, ka-tow." "Little bolts of light." "Ouch." "Here we go again." "Pilot, can you dial down Moya's atmospheric scrubbers?" "It might enhance whatever this little guy's sniffing." "Reducing scrubbers now." "Crichton, have you taken leave of your senses?" "I don't expect much from Aeryn, but you..." "Relax, Sparky." "We're on it." "I saw what it did to D'Argo." "If it comes near me, I'll kill it, I swear." "Lock yourself in your room and do whatever the hell it is you do in there by yourself." "Crichton..." "Hey, hey!" "We had a deal!" "You were supposed to lead us to it." "Pilot, I demand that you fuel a Transport Pod and make it ready for departure this microt." "Rygel, I told you, my DRDs are occupied." "I cannot help you now." "Help!" "Anybody, help!" "Rygel?" "Rygel?" "Are you there?" "Rygel?" "!" "It's not after you, Rygel." "It's after the parasite." "Just keep moving!" "Get out of the area." "It's closing in." "I can hear it." "Crichton, you said I'd be safe." "You said..." "Rygel, don't move." "Rygel is your friend." "Rygel, tell him you're his friend." "Yotz." "Kill it." " No." "Friend." "Kill it." "Rygel, it's probably not after you." "It's just looking for a gopher lead." "Huh?" "Now slow." "Kill it!" "Kill it!" "Kill it!" "No, get off him!" " No, Rygel, get off him!" "No!" "Help me." "Can't move." "So cold." "Body... feels... broken." "Rygel, you're going into shock." "Zhaan says you have internal injuries." "Your fault." "You let that thing do this to me." "Sparky..." "Sparky, just... shut up." "Try and stay calm." "He's been poisoned." " What?" "There were massive traces of toxins in Rygel's wound, the same compounds I found in D'Argo." "Zhaan, we had the Vorc in our hands." "You said it wasn't poisonous." "I made a mistake." "If I bring it in dead, is there any possibility that you can make an anti-venom?" "Well, it's possible." "There's nothing I can do for Rygel and D'Argo without it." "Well, one way or the other." "You're getting it, okay?" "Yeah." "Can he talk?" "I don't know." "How you doing?" "Find my son." "Find my son." "We'll find him together." "You take care of him." "Blood." "I knew we hit it." "Yeah, hide from me now, friend." "When we see him, he's mine." "We'll see." "Aah!" "What the frell was that for?" "It was nothin'." "Just clearing my head." "Crichton!" "Do you see any blood?" "No." " All right..." "That way." " That way." "Aeryn!" "No, no, no." "We are not splitting up." "We're running out of time." "We don't have another choice." "Whoa!" "Whoa, whoa!" "That thing just gave us the slip." "Why would it come back for us unless it was leading us into a trap." "What else?" "Right." "As long as we both know." "Better get it back to Zhaan." "Aeryn... what is that?" "Can you say... "cocoon"?" "Chiana said the parasites leave cocoons behind." "Aeryn, it led us here to see this." "Holy body snatchers." "Start talking." "That frelling thing went through my mouth." "Could barely frelling breathe." "Strands pouring out of me." "Through my ears, nose, my pores, every frelling hole in my body." "Form... formed this cocoon around me to feed to its frelling offspring." "Imagine me, food for something else!" "It took my shape, and then it..." "How do I know you're Rygel?" "Where are you going?" "Zhaan, get out of there now!" " It's not Rygel!" " It's the parasite!" "No, Rygel!" "Help!" "Ryg?" "Cover me!" "What the frell is that?" "Sorry about the mess." "That parasite was hiding in a crate of marjools I was inspecting in the cargo bay." "A hideous experience." "It was actually feeding off my essence, my thoughts." "And it would have done the same to all of you." "I remember Rygel..." "uh, the other one... standing over me after I was wounded." "That parasite was going to use you next." "Why didn't it?" "I suspect it tried but D'Argo's reaction to the venom was so strong, it didn't have enough time to complete its task." "How could you of all been so stupid to let that thing fool you?" "It was a perfect copy of you, Rygel." "Ha!" "Perfect?" "Perhaps to undiscerning observers like yourselves." "Fortunately, that courageous Vorc was here to rescue me." "Pilot?" "He... says he's happy." "Is there anything we can do to help?" "I don't think the creature understands the concept." ""End..."" ""End..."" "He knows his time is near." "I am so... so sorry." "Crichton when we were hunting, you, uh... almost blew my head off." "That was a bad shot, even for you." "Yeah." "What's your point?" "What were you firing at, really?" "I've been ah, having these... well, I wouldn't exactly call them hallucinations." "I've been having these... flashes of Scorpius." "Flashes?" "Like memories?" "No, they're not memories." "It's more like he's talking to me." "You ever been in a crowded room, and everybody's talking all at the same time so you can't hear anybody." "And suddenly, someone says your name and then... like crystal, you hear every word they say." "No matter how far away they are it's like they're talking only to you." "What is Scorpius saying to you?" "He says he's gonna get me." "Says he already has, I just don't know it yet." "Why didn't you kill him when you had the chance?" "I tried." "I tried." "But I couldn't." "Something stopped me." "Something inside." "Crichton, if you need help..." "I'll ask." "Just like you do." "Aeryn, don't worry." "I'm not gonna lose my mind." "It's all I've got left." "All right." "You'll never see it coming, John." "When the trap closes, it will be too late." "You think?" "Checkmate." "You lose." "That, um... wasn't the trap that I meant." "Hmm..."