Establishing shot of Moya. Rygel barks, "Why the yotz are we still here?" He says they should starburst away before Crais finds them, but Pilot informs him that starburst isn't available, nor is propulsion. "We will be fortunate just to maintain orbit." In other words: Shut the yotz up, Rygel. Zhaan, panicked, says she thought Moya was prepared to starburst once more, but Pilot informs her of the concept of linear time, and goes on that Moya is now in full labor, and in addition, she's very frightened. Zhaan tells him that's a natural reaction during a birthing cycle, but Pilot replies that Moya has told him that this birthing cycle is anything but natural, and she's now convinced something's wrong with her child. "It is not a normal Leviathan." Zhaan and Rygel look at each other. Have fun letting your imaginations run wild with that one, kids!
Aeryn, looking much better, comes to, and takes a silver cup from a smiling Zhaan. She claims to be feeling better as D'Argo and a back-to-normal Chiana enter. Aeryn smiles that she hears she has Chiana to thank for her life, but Chiana mentions that Gilina had a hand in the effort as well. Aeryn remembers her, and then asks where Crichton is. After some attempt at distraction from Zhaan, D'Argo lays it out: "Crichton's still on the Gammak base. He's been captured by the Peacekeepers. They're probing his mind using something called an Aurora Chair." Geez, D'Argo, way to leave out the part where Moya's losing orbit and you're probably all going to plunge into a gas giant and die. Just because Aeryn almost died is no reason to sugarcoat things! Aeryn, eyes bugging out, asks why no one's gone after Crichton, but D'Argo tells her there are hundreds of Peacekeepers down there, and he can't infiltrate the base without being detected. Aeryn: "Well, I can." She painfully rolls out of bed...
...and we cut to her suited up, walking down a corridor, as D'Argo falls into step beside her. She tells him not to try to stop her, but he says he's joining her: "If you can be an idiot, I can be an idiot." That's enough of a popular sentiment around here that they should really set it to music. Zhaan is coming too, as she thinks she can help Crichton if the chair damages him. Aeryn expresses her hope that Crichton will be strong enough to fight the chair...
...and he's presumably still doing that. Furlow. Wormhole stuff with Aeryn and Crichton. The machine flips off, and Crais yells that there's no use resisting. "The chair will rip the memories from you, even if you fight it." I'd wonder if he's speaking from theory or experience here, but that question isn't going to be relevant for very much longer. Crichton struggles to bite out that he's not resisting, but Niem informs them that the chair thinks otherwise, so Crais hisses for her to increase the extraction level. More memories, and then a bit of vomit from Crichton. Well, Crais did ask for more extraction. The memory bits continue. Crichton says he's not blocking anything "about wormholes," which is a bit of truth I'm surprised he gave up, but maybe the vomit-inducing levels of pain are starting to get to him a little. Scorpius looks pensive as we head into the credits.
Crichton's lying on the floor of his cell, shivering and barely conscious, as The Music Of Help From Unlikely Places, or Stark's Theme Music (shorter and therefore preferable) plays. We hear a metallic clicking, and Crichton opens his eyes. Seeing Stark at the door with his back to him, he asks what he's doing. I'd be wary of asking that question in this situation, but I did recap quite a few episodes of Oz. Stark gets all squirrelly about how there's no talking to him, and how he does all his talking in the Chair. We see Stark put something he was holding into an opening in the floor, an action not missed by Crichton, who crawls over and asks if Stark is there to spy on him for "Scorpy." If Crichton already feels close enough to Scorpius to call him by this diminutive nickname, I can hardly wait to hear how he's referring to him by the time Season Three rolls around. Crichton tries to grab the thing Stark was holding, but Stark tosses him away. They size each other up like two lovers who just had their first fight, and I just won't say anything more about that, and then Crichton opines, "You're not crazy." Stark drops the manic act and says that's true, but "if they think I am, they don't bother me so much." I hate to point this out, Stark, but by your own imminent admission, you've been in the chair over a hundred times. If nothing else, that seems like a "bother" inasmuch as the experience must be getting awfully humdrum. Crichton asks what he's hiding, and a tear incongruously slides down Stark's cheek as he smiles, "My baby." He rushes over to Crichton and shows him a device he calls a "magnetic crypt encoder," which he fashioned from scraps of metal he's been collecting for two cycles. Good news: If he gets the sequence right, it will unlock the door. Bad news: It can only try one sequence at a time. I have no idea how many digits or characters are in the code, but from Crichton's incredulous dismissal of the gadget, I'm guessing it's a lot. Still, as our states are fond of telling poor people about the lottery: You gotta be in it to win it. Stark is unbowed, and goes over to the door, but rushes back and asks Crichton: "You'll tell them about my baby, won't you?" Crichton says no; he's kept things from them thus far, and he can keep this. Stark informs him that everyone can block thoughts for a time, but he will eventually cave. "I'm the only one who can block thoughts forever." I suppose that's only fair, given how long it's going to take that magnetic gizmo to work. Crichton asks how many times Stark's been in the chair, and when Stark tells him the over-one-hundred number to which I alluded above, he shudders involuntarily. He asks again what Stark is hiding, but Stark turns the question around, so Crichton tells him that what he's blocking has nothing to do with wormholes. Odd place to cut out of the scene, given that we already knew that.
A transport leaves Moya. On board, Aeryn tries to steady her shaking right hand. Zhaan notices and asks if she's okay, but Aeryn brushes off her concern and asks D'Argo if there's any sign they've been spotted. D'Argo tells her that the scanning blind Gilina created seems to be holding. Since Scorpius was made aware at least of the existence of the blind at the end of the last episode, this seems off to me, but I suppose Scorpius has been a little distracted, with Crais clomping around like a great paunchy ponytailed bull. Aeryn tells Zhaan that there won't be any sensors on top, as they'd give away the existence of the base. Okay, we'll go with that. They land.
Gilina's voice cuts into Crichton's cell. Stark gets all wiggy, but Crichton tells him to shut up, and turns to the camera. Gilina has to remind him to turn around again, and his forgetfulness is certainly understandable. Gilina updates him on what she knows, which is that Chiana got off the base, and Crichton, in obvious pain, tells her he needs her to keep them "off his back" for a while. Personally, I don't think we've seen nearly enough of Crichton on his back, but Gilina surprisingly doesn't share my opinion as she says she'll think of something. She tells him not to worry, but after she signs off, she looks plenty concerned herself.
Moya. As the ship shakes, Rygel and Chiana are trying to research something, presumably pregnancy procedures, as Pilot tells them Moya thinks getting the offspring out as quickly as possible would be advisable. I keep saying this, but: If she only knew. Pilot suggests some technobabbly solution, and Rygel co-signs it, and then exposits that while he's conceived hundreds of progeny both official and illegitimate, he wasn't present at any of the births. He does note that their current situation is a little bit different: "My progeny were tiny. Tiny and handsome. Like their father." Moya's rumblings intensify, and if she heard that little speech from Rygel, I can hardly blame her.
A bunch of techs are working on the Aurora Chair as Niem snaps that Scorpius wants maximum power, now. I don't know if this little maintenance session is serendipitous or if Gilina did something to create the illusion that it was necessary, but either way, here she is, crawling into a little area underneath the chair and offering to give a male tech, already working away, a hand. She suggests he take care of something outside the tight space, and he agrees, as she's got the superior knowledge. Not that he should feel bad about that, considering she's turning out to be the interstellar version of MacGyver. Once the male tech is gone and she's judged that the coast is clear, she removes one of many cylindrical cartridges embedded in the ceiling of the small space and switches it out for one she brought with her. She hides the original one in her jumpsuit as the lead technician calls that the calibration is complete, just as Scorpius and Crais enter the room. Gilina emerges from underneath the chair at that moment, and for a second I was worried that Crais would recognize her, but I suppose it's in character that he wouldn't. Scorpius and Crais lead a party to go retrieve Crichton, and Gilina takes the opportunity to get the hell out of there...
...but her chores aren't done, as we cut to her back in the alcove from which she's been doing most of her work. Breathless, she patches back in and calls to Crichton. He tells her there's company at the door, and the scene becomes nail-biting as she instructs him, when he gets into the chair, not to block the memory of their kiss on the Zelbinion. Crichton recoils, as that's the one thing he's been hiding, but she urgently tells him to trust her. Stark runs interference at the door, buying them a couple more seconds for her to reiterate her command, but then Crais gut-punches him a couple of times and tosses him aside like a rag doll. Officially? Reprehensible. Unofficially? Re-wind. Scorpius enters and, deliciously deliberately, asks Crais, "Have you finished?" The answer is yes, and Scorpius conversationally tells Crichton, "This is what I'm trying to keep you from!" Hee. Two Peace-troopers haul Crichton to his feet, and Scorpius tells him that if he stops blocking the chair, he won't torture him anymore. Crichton denies blocking anything, though, so after some conversation that feels slightly like rather tasty filler, Scorpius instructs his minions to bring Crichton.
Chair. After a few warm-up memories, we see Crichton's whole intimate interaction with Gilina in "PK Tech Girl." We focus in on them making out, with Gilina's back to us. But then things change: Crais appears, and tells Crichton he's glad he's enjoying his stay with "[them]." Gilina turns -- but it's not her; it's a different blonde woman in a tech uniform. Crais calls a halt as Crichton sniggers and Scorpius and Niem are like, "Awkward." And when you've got the king and queen of bondage outfits saying that, it's a socially embarrassing situation indeed. Niem resumes the extraction of the false memory, and therein, Crais thanks Crichton. He explains a truckload of information we know to be true from the Maldis episode -- he was a conscript, and even though he rose through Peacekeeper ranks on "wits and hatred," some doors were always closed to him. (That speech is going by so fast I couldn't even pause to make a "half right" comment.) Crais finishes up by producing a chip and intoning, "With this wormhole information you've given me, I now have the power to rise where I should be." Aptly put -- up shit's creek is both where you're going and where you belong. Crais, starting to panic, says that Crichton made that up, but Scorpius evenly says that that's impossible. Crais tries punching Crichton, earning him another delectably contemptuous look from Scorpius, and then Crichton, his brain catching up, asks Crais if the game is up. He tells Scorpius that Crais learned of the existence of wormholes when Crichton arrived from his galaxy. "I gave him the information disk in exchange for my life." Of course, were this true, the flaw is that I don't think Crais would have stuck to the agreement and let Crichton live. He may be many things, but apart from the midsection, he's not soft. Crais chokes Crichton into the commercial break.
We return with Crais, by hook or by crook, off Crichton's neck. Crichton is still in the chair, and Crais, two of his crew, Niem, and Scorpius are standing before him as Scorpius asks if Crais is contending that nothing they saw in Crichton's mind was true. Crais claims that is the case, but is then forced to admit that the information about his background was accurate. He suggests Crichton stole it from a database, and when Scorpius points out that that would have been a neat trick to pull off from his cell, Crais snaps that he doesn't know how he did it, but the alleged conspiracy still isn't the truth. Scorpius: "Of course it's not." Crais's heart rate: dropping. "But there's only one way to be sure it is a lie." Crais's heart rate: rising. This is a new way to do interval training. Scorpius says that Crais will have to go in the chair. Crais: "No Captain has ever been subjected to such an indignity." Scorpius blithely replies that there's always a first for everything. Unfortunate for Crais that Scorpius's very existence predisposed him to believe that bit of pithy wisdom. Scorpius orders Crichton to be brought back to his cell, and then Crais tells Scorpius he hasn't "got the numbers" to put him in the chair. Scorpius goes tactical, telling Crais's minions that he commends their loyalty. "It must be difficult to maintain for an officer like Crais." Hee. He goes on that his authority on a Gammak base is unconditional, and Crais will go to the chair. Even the psycho Don Quixote of this galaxy knows that this battle is lost. I hope they at least pull his hair back in case he vomits.
Atop the base, in what looks like the ruins of a village, D'Argo returns to Zhaan and asks, "What are you doing with those explosives?" Not the first time she's heard that, I'll bet. Proving my point, she says she's "upgrading these primitive things." Aeryn appears and says she's found an access shaft, so she should be able to get down to the base and search for Crichton...
...and we cut to her reaching down to open it. Her hand shakes, and she grabs it with the other and tells it to stop. Seriously, hand. That's a good way to lose...yourself. She opens it and rushes down many, many levels to the bottom. Warily, she exits the stairs and moves down an unpopulated corridor.
Cell. Crichton is happily, if on the verge of crazily, telling Stark, who's sitting right to him, about Gilina's exploits. Stark tells him to rest. Crichton shakily says he's got to get the door open, but when he tries to move, he collapses into Stark's lap. Stark touches him tenderly, and then removes his mask to reveal a bright light shining out of the entire area that the mask covered. Crichton looks at it in wonder, and asks what Stark just showed him. Stark: "I'm able to give a few thoughts, that's all." Not to ruin the moment, but if you're a need-based donor, you've come to the right place. A tear streams down Crichton's cheek in some nice symmetry, and Stark strokes Crichton's hair in a way that just will break your heart. Crichton, calmer now, asks Stark how long he's been there, and the answer is two cycles. He goes on that the Peacekeepers killed most of his people, but they kept him alive because he interests them. "I'm able to hide thoughts that their chair can't touch. It's almost ironic -- what made me a slave now keeps me alive." Crichton asks for clarification, and Stark points to his mask as the thing that caused his slavery. "I'm of the Banik slave race. Outsiders think that we do not feel, but it's only that our feelings don't always show." So the WASPs have their own planet in this galaxy. He goes on that just as the mask can hide their feelings, they're able to cloud thoughts from their minds. "What I know deep inside, Peacekeepers will never see."
Nice cut to everything deep inside Crais being forcibly and painfully extracted. Scorpius focuses in on Crais's father, and asks who he is. Crais tells him the truth, and begs him to turn the machine off. That's not happening, as Niem reports that he's hiding something. Scorpius smiles at Crais's pain.
Aeryn makes her way into a populated hallway. A Peace-trooper salutes her deferentially, which pleases her. Not in the "Ooh, I remember that fondly" way that would squick you out, though.
Gilina packs up her case and heads out of the room she first led Crichton and Chiana to. As she walks out, though, a hand reaches out and presses her against the wall. The voice attached to the hand asks if there's surveillance in the cell, and when Gilina answers negatively, Aeryn reveals herself. She enters and takes a seat, undoubtedly exhausted from all the effort, and thanks Gilina for saving her life. Gilina, perhaps feeling strange about getting gratitude from her suspected romantic rival, asks Aeryn what she's doing there, as her recovery should have taken at least ten days. Aeryn duhs that she didn't have that time to spare, and quickly ascertains where Crichton is. She gets up to go, but Gilina sits her back down and tells her there's no way to get to him without a direct order from Scorpius. Gilina goes on to inform Aeryn about Crichton's memory games, and tells her that when Scorpius learns for sure that Crichton has no knowledge of wormholes, he'll kill him. I can only wonder how many times in the future Crichton will wish it had turned out that simply.
Zhaan and D'Argo continue their work of planting explosives and hiding them under rocks to counter the Peacekeepers potentially coming up through "the level risers." Zhaan then says she always wanted to ask him about his Qualta blade, as for a warrior, it seems a "very unconventional weapon." Perhaps, but for a lion with tentacles all over his face, it couldn't be more fitting. D'Argo tells her that many cycles ago, there was a race worse than the Peacekeepers, called the "Teloks." They laid siege to the Luxan home world for over a hundred days, and when the final assault came, all the Luxans had were Qualta blades. "My own great-grandfather died in that war. When the final days come, Luxans believe that the Qualta blade will lead us to freedom." Zhaan says she understands, and apologizes for her curiosity, which seems odd, since I didn't get any sense from D'Argo that he was offended by the question. D'Argo tells her that there's one other thing: "My Qualta blade and I can cut stones for you." Zhaan looks at him all, "I don't know that you needed to be that grand about it, but sure, knock yourselves out."
Somehow, Aeryn has duped Heskon into taking her to Crichton's cell with a story about an unauthorized magnetic pulse, which she says she detected from Crais's ship. In reality, I'm not sure if Gilina was listening when Stark told Crichton about it, or if she scanned it herself, or what. I'm not going to dwell on it, though, because thanks to that stupid paraphoral nerve, it's been far too long since Aeryn's gotten to kick some ass. Anyway, Heskon detects Stark's gizmo, he and Aeryn go inside, and Heskon tosses Stark aside to get to the thing. Stark, apparently not in on the plan, freaks shit on Crichton, but before things can get out of hand, Aeryn knocks Heskon out with her rifle. YES! Stark is befuddled, and asks, "How many Peacekeepers do you know on this base?" Hee. Crichton and Aeryn exchange a nice moment (Aeryn says she's "better now," how cute is that) and then the three of them are out of there.
Scorpius finally gets to Crais's hidden memory: his murder of Lieutenant Teeg. Scorpius languidly notes that that's why Crais was fighting so hard, but the bad news is that all barriers are now broken, meaning that the scene between Crais and Crichton was in fact a fabrication. Just then, alarms go off, and Scorpius is informed that Crichton has escaped, aided by a Peacekeeper. Scorpius orders the base to be sealed. "He must not reach the surface."
Gilina has joined Aeryn, Stark, and Crichton, and the four of them are running for the stairs to the surface. Aeryn sends Stark in, but then Gilina sees Niem and some Peacekeepers coming for them, so Aeryn tells Stark to go, and the three of them run off in another direction. It's a little confusing here, because it's not made obvious that they were actually seen, so aborting their escape wasn't clearly necessary. But let's just blame the editing and move on. Gilina leads Aeryn and Crichton to a grate in the floor, which they remove. They hide in the space below and replace the grate just ahead of Niem catching up to their position. Flummoxed, she tells her men to keep searching. She lingers for a moment, standing right on top of them, but then leaves. This doesn't say much for her species' sense of smell, because I'd wager Crichton is in dire need of a shower.
Moya. Pilot gives Rygel and Chiana the unfortunate news that in order to give birth, Moya must create a vacuum in her interior, and it's going to happen in only eighteen microts. He invites them to his den, but Chiana grits that they can't reach him in that amount of time. Pilot then points them to pressure tanks in Maintenance Bay Six. "I suggest you go. Go now!" When Pilot isn't mincing words, it's probably best to obey. Cut to Chiana making it to the bay, only to find that the first pressure tank she tries is locked. Rygel pops out from the other one with a skeevy smile and says there's plenty of room in that one. If another tiny handsome progeny is the result of this development, I really don't want to know about it. Chiana is not thrilled, to say the least, but she climbs in and shuts the door.
Gilina is just returning from doing a little recon, and she reports that the Peacekeepers are sealing all the access shafts. "It means they're shutting down everything." To move anywhere in the base, they'll need an ident chip from a senior officer. Crichton starts to move to "go bag a senior officer," but Aeryn informs him she'll be the one handling that errand. She checks to make sure the coast is clear and heads off.
In the Tank of Chiana's Discontent, the following exchange: "What is that?" "What?" "That." I'll let you figure who said what. Chiana moves to a less hands-on position vis-à-vis Rygel, and asks Pilot how Moya is. Pilot says he can see the baby coming, and signs off just as Rygel cuts one. And I get to recap another round of Happy Helium Fun Times, the highlight of which is Chiana chirping, "You're disgusting!" But hilarious. Moya lurches at that moment, and we get a look at the baby inside her. I'm sure you won't feel too spoiled if I tell you that Pilot's report of it being abnormal seems not to be wrong.
Oh, man, this is the best scene, and it's been a long time coming. Aeryn warily enters the Aurora Chamber and sees Crais still in the chair. She huskily says his name, but he can't swivel his head to look at her, and he doesn't recognize her voice. She sees the image of Crais killing Teeg still on the monitor, and when she calls him on it, he asks who she is. Aeryn: "I am irreversibly contaminated." Crais, you might not have thought it possible, but your day is about to get worse. Aeryn moves to stand in front of him, and he rumbles her name. She gets in his face, and he, appallingly, reminds her of the blood oath she took to obey her commanding officer. She emotionally tells him that the oath no longer has any meaning for her, as he destroyed everything she had. "Do you know what I learned while I was away from you? Everything I lost isn't worth a damn, and I don't want to go back to your past." "Good for her" doesn't even begin to cover it, but I'll say it anyway. She rips off his ident chip and says he will never order her again, so he threatens her: "I will track you down and kill you, Officer Sun." Because he's been doing a bang-up job with the hunting down so far this series. She tells him that she's giving him something: his life. And it did take me a second to realize her meaning, but it's clear as she heads for the control panel: "I will make you watch your life." She flips every switch on the panel, and Crais cries out in agony. We then see Aeryn outside the room, impassively making her escape, as Crais's repeated screams echo down the corridor. Awesome.
Crichton wonders what's keeping Aeryn. Unfortunately, this gives Gilina the opening to discuss the elephant in the crawlspace, and she asks Crichton if he wants to be with Aeryn. Crichton gives an inappropriate laugh and asks if they can talk about the subject another time, but Gilina tells him that if he wants her to go with him and give up everything she knows, he's got to be straight with her. Crichton doesn't say anything, and then Aeryn returns to let him off the hook. She reports that she ran into an old friend, and Crichton leads the way to head for the exit. But Gilina lingers and poses the question to Aeryn, now: Does she want to be with Crichton? Aeryn is more respectful than Crichton, saying that whatever Gilina and Crichton have been discussing is none of her business, but Gilina says that she can't go with them if Crichton is in love with Aeryn. Over Aeryn's protests and admonitions that she at least tell Crichton herself, she says she'll be fine, and takes off. I wonder what the Sebacean idiom for "holding the bag" is.
Niem and Scorpius are by Crais's side, and at least they've turned the machine off. Niem reports the escapee's use of the ident chip, and says they're climbing the air vent to the surface. She offers to burn them out, but Scorpius nixes that, as they need Crichton alive. "We'll take the level risers and beat them to the surface." Good plan -- charge!
Aeryn rejoins Crichton at the entrance to the stairs and breaks the news about Gilina. He has the gall to ask what Aeryn said to her, and maybe we'll all give him a pass here with what he went through, but if I were Aeryn, I'd make a mental note that I owe him a light slap in the face. Crichton starts to double back, but Aeryn firmly tells her that they don't have time for this, and it's what Gilina wants. She gets the door open, and they move.
Heskon leads a team of Peace-troopers down a corridor. Once they're past, Gilina appears from hiding and looks conflicted.
In the pressure tank, Rygel's hand smacks up against the fogged-up window, Titanic-style. Hee. And he paints, too! Chiana screeches Pilot's name, still in helium voice. I am so easy to please. He reports that they're repressurized, so she tumbles out. Rygel starts to apologize for something -- "I didn't mean to..." -- but she squeaks for him to shut up. God. Whatever he did, it must have been pretty bad if he's actually feeling stirrings of shame.
The two of them are back in Command as Pilot reports that a portion of the offspring can't get clear of Moya's external vent. He gets a closer visual, which he makes available to Chiana and Rygel, and they're all horrified, as the child ship is covered in weapons. It's going to be no mean feat to get this kid to eat his vegetables.
We return to another shot of the small ship. Back on Command, Pilot explains via Clamshell Cam that when D'Argo broke the contraception wall half a cycle earlier, the Peacekeeper catalyst he released must have contained a DNA signature that resulted in the production of weapons. He adds that the child may grow to be bigger than Moya, and he doesn't know who will control him -- Moya or the Peacekeepers. However, there's a more pressing problem -- Moya's birthing channel wasn't designed for this manner of offspring, so it's stuck, and panicking and starting to charge its way forward. The upshot is he may try to blast his way out of Moya. (Makes you wonder if that was the Peacekeepers' plan all along, doesn't it?) Chiana, once again stepping up, asks Pilot if he can force an atmosphere she can breathe into the vent, and the answer is yes, so she offers to climb down the internal shaft and "cut a seam" so the child can get itself free. I know we're in a hurry here, but I still think Moya would appreciate it if you stick to the old "measure twice, cut once" bit of wisdom. Chiana takes off.
Crichton and Aeryn reach the surface, and D'Argo tells Crichton it's good too see him again. Stark and Zhaan are there as well, and I can only imagine the awkward conversation that must have occurred when the Phantom of the Gammak Base arrived up top. They move, but when we shift to a quick aerial view, we hear Peacekeeper voices nearby. The two groups are engaged in a firefight soon enough. It seems kind of lucky or overly convenient that our heroes even have a weapon for Stark, but we'll overlook that. Also, the Peace-troopers have the stereotypically poor aim of anyone involved in a shoot-out with the main stars of any entertainment vehicle. We'll overlook that as well. Stark and Crichton have been thrown together, and during a pause, Stark asks what Crichton was hiding from the chair. Crichton says it was just about the time he kissed a girl. The two of them giggle into taking a few shots.
Chiana has reached the child, and tries to figure out her course of action.
The firefight continues. Crichton turns Stark's question around, and the answer is the memory of a place he saw when he was a boy. Crichton: "Must have been one hell of a place." I'd imagine, yes. D'Argo tosses a charge the Peacekeepers' way, which detonates to their disadvantage.
Chiana reports that she's unable to make the cut. Pilot tells her that Moya is trying to control the child, but his weapon is primed to fire. Chiana has an idea -- let the weapon fire on a low blast level. Pilot's unsure, but Chiana says it's the only way, as if they don't get the kid out, he'll destroy Moya's bulkhead.
Zhaan, D'Argo, and Aeryn make it to a position of relative safety. Crichton sticks an explosive on a support beam, and he and Stark move before the charge explodes.
Chiana's trying to get to safety before the weapon fires. She makes it back into one of Moya's corridors just in time to avoid getting her ass burned off. She muses, "That was a low-level blast?" Heh. Pilot reports success -- the child is free, and Moya is okay. For someone who just gave birth to the Death Star, that is.
Crichton, last of his party, backs right into Scorpius. However, Gilina appears and points a pulse rifle at him. Crichton gloatingly smiles and tells Gilina to shoot him, but she hesitates, and Scorpius plugs her right in the gut. Crichton knocks Scorpius away, but misses a very clear shot at him, so he escapes. Crichton picks up Gilina as D'Argo and Stark return to them, and the group makes its escape. Later, Scorpius slowly walks through the wreckage. His expression is inscrutable, but that could be all the makeup.
Pilot is telling the crew, minus Crichton and Zhaan, that before she left the base, Gilina scrambled the scanning data files; even Crais's carrier won't be able to find them now. The bad news is that they can't starburst with the child, and in fact won't be able to travel very far at all. Aeryn asks how Gilina is. Pilot: "Not good." He reports that Moya's child is all right, and a male. D'Argo: "What kind of a beast is he?" The kind that's covered in Peacekeeper colors and is built not to take shit from anyone, if the cut to the viewscreen is any indication.
Crichton is at Gilina's side, telling her to lie still and let Zhaan's medicine do its work, she'll be fine in a little while. She asks him to stop with the lies. Crichton: "I'm not lying." You're doing it again. She tells him that she came back because she had to help him, and that Aeryn was right -- if she'd stayed, she would have been discovered. They would have "found out that I love you." She gasps in pain, and Crichton says Zhaan's name, but she can only give a helpless grimace. Stark's voice cuts in, asking if he can help. He sits at the edge of Gilina's bed, asks if he can give her something, and stretches his hand over her face. "It's a place I once saw. I've been carrying it with me for a very long time." Ooh, is it Everwood? Maybe, as Gilina, apparently seeing it, says it's beautiful. He tells her not to let go of it, and he and Zhaan leave the room. Her voice now reduced to a whisper, Gilina asks if he thinks, if things had been different, if he could have loved her. Crichton is ready not to hesitate on this one as he manages a smile and a yes. She asks him to kiss her one more time. Crichton's barely holding back the tears, but he obliges her. No offense to Stark, but that's the thing I wouldn't let go of. By the time he breaks the contact, she's gone. Sniff. I know her story had nowhere to go, but this is still pretty sad. I mean, the love of this girl's life shows up, and she ends up saving his love interest's life and dying herself. No wonder the Peacekeepers don't believe in that love shit. Crichton looks reasonably devastated, and we're out.