Author: Kernezelda
Disclaimer: Nobody here is the property of the author. No money is being made out of this story.
Rating: G
Recipient: AstroGirl
Fandoms: Blake's 7/Farscape
Characters: Cally/Zhaan
Spoilers: Vague, for B7 S3 up to Dawn of the Gods; for FS S2 after Beware of Dog.
Note: Thank to Astrogirl2 for the speedy and vastly reassuring beta.
They discovered she was alive when Rygel began rifling through her clothing. A slim hand shot out and grabbed his robes, pulled his gaping face toward hers. "I have known a thief far more skilled than you." She thrust him away hard, then blinked up at the guns aimed at her. Brown eyes narrowed. The thin mouth hardened. "You may take my life, but I will tell you nothing."
"Guys, she doesn't look like the rest of them," said John. He waved at the bodies; tattooed faces, raised scars, dark leather garments. The woman's face bore no markings, and her green tunic was tattered. He lowered his pistol slightly. Then it whipped back up as he shook his head and backed away. "Hey! That was English!"
"Who are you?" Aeryn regarded the woman from behind a pulse rifle, eyes flicking for an instant toward John. "Are you Human?" She adjusted her grip on the weapon, keeping her gaze locked on target.
There was no fear in the slender face. "If you mean to kill me, there is no point in answering your questions."
"No one intends to harm you, child." A blue-clad, blue-skinned woman stepped from behind the other two. "You are injured. Allow us to help you." Zhaan caught John's eyes. After a moment, he holstered the gun and stepped away, but remained tense and watchful. Aeryn didn't back off at Zhaan's soft cough. She relented only enough to point her weapon at the ground. The Delvian muttered something under her breath, words unclear, but exasperation plain.
She picked her way through the scattered bodies and knelt by the stranger. "I am Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan," she said in a softer tone. "A priestess, and what passes for the doctor among our crew." She directed an encouraging smile at the dark-haired woman. "If you are a victim of these pirates, as we were, then there is no need for enmity between us." Zhaan laid out her small medical bag where the other could see inside.
Dark eyes surveyed John's half-hostile expression, Aeryn's wary stance. Finally, she shrugged. "I am Cally."
"Why do you speak English?" John stepped forward while Zhaan cut away the woman's bloodied sleeve. His fingers tapped nervously against his thigh.
"I learned as a child." She glanced at him quickly before returning her attention to the Delvian's ministrations.
Zhaan frowned. "This is too severe for what I have here. But I can cleanse the wound and apply a temporary poultice." It looked like her patient had been caught by a pulse blast, the burn extending the length of the outer arm, deep into skin and muscle. Yet she bore the pain with the stoicism of a Peacekeeper. Her hands were callused as if used to bearing weapons.
Cally regarded her newly bandaged arm, flexed her shoulder and fingers. Grave eyes met Zhaan's. Thank you, Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan.
The priestess nearly dropped her bag. Then she narrowed her eyes and stared hard at the other woman. Cally shook her head. "I cannot hear your thoughts, only send mine."
"Still, it seems a most useful talent." Zhaan inclined her head, brushing her hands lightly over her skull. "It is a rare gift from the goddess."
She looked at Aeryn, noting a rapid exchange of glances between Sebacean and Human. "We should go - Rygel is probably at the pod by now."
"Don't worry, Blue, he's not going anywhere without this." John pulled a slick-looking gold oval from the pocket of his vest. Aeryn grunted, continuing to watch the stranger. His gaze followed hers, becoming wary as it fell on Cally.
"You speak English," John repeated. "Where are you from?"
She studied him in return. "I am of the Auronar."
"Never heard of 'em."
Zhaan laid a hand on his arm. "John, we must leave before reinforcements arrive."
"I am not here to harm you," Cally said. "But I would very much appreciate a way off this planet."
"Then you shall come with us."
Aeryn swung around fast at the Delvian's words. "We know nothing about this woman. It could be a trap, to lead the pirates back to Moya." John stayed quiet. His gaze never left Cally.
Raising her hand to forestall further argument, Zhaan spoke softly, but firmly. "I will not abandon anyone to the Zenetans." She turned to Cally. "We are not far from a commerce planet. You may leave at any time. There are no prisoners aboard our ship."
"What if she's another Ancient? I don't need any more godlike aliens digging around in my brain." Metal clinked on metal. "Aeryn, could you hand me some of that transfer linkage?"
"She hardly seems godlike, John. You said yourself that she could be telling the truth."
"Could be true, not the same as being true. What if she really can read minds?"
"Then you have nothing to worry about."
The voices were not particularly low. Cally took pains to step loudly as she walked into the maintenance bay. "I spoke the truth."
Aeryn whirled around and drew her weapon in one motion, sliding off the wing of John's module. His upper body rose from inside the white ship, a length of tangled cables in his hands.
"Cally." The ex-Peacekeeper smoothly holstered her pistol. She glanced up at John, then turned back to their visitor. "It seems...unlikely that you could have come from another universe though a gravitational anomaly. Nothing survives entry into a block hole." Aeryn stood before John, a casually protective stance. Her hand remained near her holster.
"Black..." John muttered. "Black hole." He grinned at Cally, but it wasn't terribly sincere. "We've, ah, had problems with aliens and wormholes," he said. "A few unwelcome callers."
"Nonetheless, it is the only explanation I have. Our pilot performed a 'slingshot orbit' that allowed us to skirt the outer edges of the black hole." Cally said. "It was a trap, which we escaped using the same maneuver. That's only a guess," she clarified. "I was unconscious both times."
She stared down at the floor, frowning. "Liberator surely survived the second attempt--"
After a moment, determined brown eyes looked up at John and Aeryn. "My intention is to return to my universe as soon as possible. I must know what happened to my friends."
"How will you get back?" Aeryn had finally relaxed her taut stance, and now hopped back up onto the wing, dark hair swinging against her shoulders. John's eyes shifted over toward her, his expression softening.
"The rift in space can't be too far from here; the pirates found my life pod drifting only a few days ago. Someone had to survive to put me in there." She hugged herself, wrapping slender hands just above her elbows. One arm was still bandaged, bulky under the loose sleeve. "They are worse than Amagons."
"Still one hell of a coincidence," John muttered. Darkened blue eyes held Cally's for a moment. He sighed. "We'll get you as close as we can to where you arrived." Then he bent back to his work.
Aeryn kept watching Cally. "You said you are fighting a war where you come from. Why go back?"
"Because I cannot stand by and do nothing while corruption spreads through the galaxy."
For such a vast ship, the crew complement was tiny. Cally saw the Luxan and the Nebari at meals, or if she peeked into the command chamber during their watch. Otherwise, the two spent most of their time together behind closed doors, oblivious to the world. On the other hand, Rygel, the thieving Hynerian, purposely avoided Cally. Not that she minded.
Aeryn seemed to accept Cally's half-guessed explanation. At least, she no longer treated her as a spy or enemy. Perhaps the Sebacean was still testing her, but Cally was grateful when Aeryn showed her a training room and invited her to spar.
They fought once or twice, careful of Cally's weak arm. The ex-Peacekeeper's honed skills tested Cally's guerilla training past its limit. She had learned to fight after a life of peace; the Sebacean had trained in war since birth. It was an excellent opportunity to gain new knowledge.
It struck her as ironic that the one she should have felt most comfortable with among this collection of aliens, the Human, avoided her still, his distrust almost palpable. Crichton's gaze sometimes tracked things that weren't there.
Instead, Zhaan caught her eye most often.
The Delvian was a delicate shade of blue from the crown of her head to the bottom of her feet. Gold tracery overlaying the blue shone gently under Moya's muted lights. She carried herself proudly, a tall, lean form with the grace of a dancer.
The serenity she projected almost made Cally homesick. If this was the presence of her goddess, then Ka'halen was a far more benevolent deity than the Thaarn had ever pretended to be.
The journey to the commerce world would last for another two weeks, or weekens, as the aliens said. Zhaan's liquid speech, the harsher clicks and wails of Aeryn's tongue, the brief snatches of gruff Luxan or warbling Nebari: they all faded as the microbes fed words into Cally's mind. She had worked in communications on Saurian Major; it was a pity she didn't have time to explore the science behind their translator microbes.
Zhaan acted as the ship's physician, yet she could only shrug when Cally asked, stopping by one late evening. "It has been this way for generations."
There was a painting leaning against the wall, a female Delvian, silver-haired, red-eyed.
"Who is she?" Cally set aside her curiosity about the microbes, but was not ready to leave the restful atmosphere in her host's quarters. The artwork was more skilled than Cally's own efforts. The woman's lifted chin, the flare of a nostril, the imperious raised hand - pride and passion in equal measure imbued the figure.
"A regret." Zhaan let her gaze rest on the portrait for a long moment. "A warning against hubris."
"I did not mean to intrude on painful memories--"
"The memory is painful, but the lesson was worth it."
She turned her head toward Cally, lips curving slightly. "You are partially telepathic. What Delvians can do is somewhat similar. It requires touch, but afterward, a piece of each resides within the other. Tahleen took a part of my soul; but it was restored."
"It is a telepathic bond?" Cally found her hands knotting in her lap, and smoothed them quickly along her thighs. The idea of touching another mind and being touched in return drew her strongly. It had been so very long since she'd met another Auron, even longer since she'd shared herself with her siblings.
Zhaan leaned forward, smile widening. "We call it Unity." The elegant head canted to one side. "Would you care to try?"
"We are alien to one another. Is it even possible?"
"I have shared Unity with other species before, Cally. If you trust me, I will guide you."
"You have given me no reason not to trust you." If it was a mistake to trust Zhaan, she would learn of it soon enough. But she had been alone for so long. Her shipmates, friends though they had become, could never be what she needed. Cally took a deep breath. "What do I do?"
"Sit here before me." Zhaan waited as Cally folded herself down, taking up a lotus position, her knees almost touching the Delvian's. "Mimic me."
Reaching forward slowly, she slid strong hands around Cally's face, thumbs coming to rest in front of her ears, fingers wrapping warmly around her skull. Cally did the same, marveling at the cool, smooth texture of Zhaan's skin.
She leaned forward as her guide did, and closed her eyes once their foreheads were resting together.
"We are nearing one another," Zhaan murmured. "Do you see?"
"I see... Is that you?" It was not so much seeing as feeling, a wash of sensation not her own. Cally tried to relax and accept the touch. It was not like that of an Auron mind.
Gentle, curious fingers flipped through pages of drawings, images of her home: the cities and forests of Auron, the face of her sister, their father's arms embracing Cally. More recent images, darker, and she shook her head. The drawings faded away.
She found herself in a sea of blue light. Lifting hands that were hers and not, Cally felt the curve of a naked skull. The light...something about the light. Images of a bright desert sun rose into her mind. She gasped at the memory, felt her body react, felt the tingle and warmth of nourishing, enriching, fulfilling light spread throughout her limbs.
"We are very different creatures," and the words were also laughter and acceptance. "We need not go too deeply. There are many levels to Unity."
Cally felt the rift begin, felt the alien thoughts withdrawing.
She opened her eyes.
Zhaan was pulling back, releasing her grip. Cally did the same. The Delvian smiled when she saw Cally watching her. "But not too different, after all?"
"No," Cally replied. "Not so different." The sense of acceptance lingered, and the connection between them, as fragile as it was, comforted her. She closed her eyes briefly, savoring the feeling, then rose smoothly to her feet.
I thank you for your gift.
Zhaan inclined her head.
She was far from home. Her friends were possibly in danger. The cause she had fought for grew more indistinct every day. Cally's own efforts seemed futile against the aggression of the Federation. But, like Zhaan, she would carry on, accepting what came and dealing with it as best she could.
There were two more weekens before her life could resume, if she could go back.
Until then, there was a voice to break the silence. And though she was a stranger, she was no longer alone.