Title: Back to the Uncharted Territories
Author: Paradox761
Email: Paradox761@mail.com
Website: members.tripod.com/~Paradox761
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns Buffy; SFC, Jim Henson Productions, and Rockne S. O’Bannon own Farscape; and Universal Pictures owns Back to the Future. No copyright infringement is intended, so please don’t sue. I don’t have any money anyway.
Summary: Sequel to “A Sympathetic Ear”, John Crichton finally makes it home only to discover that the life he left behind is no longer there. His father, DK, and Xander Harris are all dead. Then he meets an extraordinary man in a bar, a time traveler, with an extraordinary proposition. Will John risk it all to go back in time to save his father’s life? And what happens when the consequences are much worse than he ever could have imagined?
Author’s note: Takes place directly after the third season of Farscape, after that it’s an AU. Also, for the sake of this story, Farscape takes place in the near future (2017), and some of the modifications made to the DeLorean in the second movie, namely Mr. Fusion, came from further into the future then when the movie took place (2015). Also, some dialogue has been lifted directly from the Buffy episode “Grave”, no plagiarism intended.
Dedication: To Jordan and Jessica, my angels. May they rest in peace.
Special thanks to A. Grandt, greywizard, Wayne, Rob Clark, Danielle, Goblin, Calen, DaBear, Obi, Gareth, Troy, David, and Lafe for the feedback and support.
(Farscape/BtVS/BttF, Xander/Chiana, John/Aeryn)
Rated R for language and violence
Guest Cast:
Guy Pearce as Dr. Julian Martin Brown, PhD.
James Remar as Lakas

John stood in Command, behind Moya’s manual piloting controls. He was looking out through the forward view port, as the sun peeked out from behind the Earth. He stared at his home planet a moment longer before tapping the pin on his chest. “You guys all set down there?”

“We’re in position, John,” Xander’s voice came back. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever by,” he answered, looking down at his equations again. “Last chance to change your mind Xander. Chances are we’re not coming back.”

There was a pause. “I’ve said my goodbyes,” Xander finally answered.

“You ready to go wormhole surfing?”

“Let’s hang ten, Moondoggie.”

John smiled. “Pilot?”

“Switching to manual control, Commander,” Pilot answered.

“Thank you, Pilot. I’ll talk to you guys on the other side,” John said, taking the stick and maneuvering Moya into position for the slingshot maneuver around the sun. “Here goes everything,” he mumbled to himself.

*

Xander paced back and forth in front of Pilot. Jool was perched on the edge of Pilot’s console, and the old woman was sitting on the floor. “So, what is this going to feel like?” Xander asked. “Traveling through a wormhole, is it going to hurt?”

“For Moya it can be…unpleasant,” Pilot answered. “Navigation is nearly impossible. The loss of control can be…unsettling. But you should feel no discomfort.”

“I don’t remember it hurting, but then I don’t remember much of anything about it,” Jool said. “Except for the old crone’s teeth on my neck.”

“I don’t know how many times I can apologize for that,” the old woman commented. “I have explained, it was necessary. John Crichton had a destiny to fulfill, events had to transpire the way they did.” She looked up at Xander with an odd smile. “Isn’t that right?”

Xander crouched down to look her in the eye. “How is it that you seem to know so much about destiny?”

“The truth is there for anyone to see,” she answered cryptically. “You need only know where to look.”

“Are you a witch?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know that word.”

Xander shook his head. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter. Do you have a name, or does everyone just call you ‘old woman’?”

“Yes, and yes,” she answered. Xander smiled. “My name is Noranti.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Noranti. You’re strange looking and you speak in riddles, kind of reminds me of home.” Noranti just smiled and bowed her head slightly.

“So, what exactly are you doing here?” Jool asked. Xander stood up again to look at her. “I mean, why would you leave your home to travel halfway across the galaxy?”

“I’m here to stop a war, and save a hundred billion lives,” Xander answered bluntly.

Jool’s eyes widened a bit. “How are you going to do that?”

“I have no idea.”

Jool returned her attention to her fingernails. “Humans,” she muttered to herself.

“Moya is detecting a wormhole opening ahead,” Pilot announced. All eyes turned to him. “We’re crossing the event horizon now.”

The ship rocked slightly. Xander reached out to steady himself on the edge of Pilot’s console. He hadn’t known what to expect traveling through a wormhole would be like, but he felt no different than he had a moment before. After a few minutes of tense silence, Pilot spoke again.

“We’ve exited back into normal space.” He paused. “Moya is detecting several other Leviathans. It’s the sacred burial space.”

“He did it! Crichton did it!” Jool exclaimed.

Xander let out a breath that he didn’t realize he was holding. He reached up and tapped the comms pin on his shirt. “John, you alright up there?” But there was no answer. “John, do you copy?” Still nothing. “Shit!” Xander muttered to himself, as he started running out of Pilot’s den and toward Command. Jool and Noranti close behind him.

*

John suddenly found himself sitting in a gondola, floating through the canals of Venice. He turned quickly to see Scorpius, dressed as a gondola driver over his coolant suit, standing behind him pushing the boat through the water with a large stick.

“Damn it, Harvey! This isn’t a good time!”

“I merely wish to point out how dangerous this is. Navigating inside of a wormhole is exceedingly difficult.”

“I know what I’m doing!”

“Even the slightest error in your calculations could result in missing the target space and time coordinates by years, or light years.”

“Well, sitting here with you isn’t making it any safer!”

“I only wish to help, John.” Harvey motioned toward the front of the boat, and when John looked, he saw that they were no longer in Venice. The water remained beneath them, but around them was the interior of a wormhole. “I believe that the wormhole knowledge in your brain is more than just equations. That it includes an instinctual ability to navigate as well.”

“So what do I need to do?”

“Concentrate on where you wish to go. Picture it in your mind. Concentrate…concentrate…concentrate…”

*

John opened his eyes and found himself looking up at three faces. Xander was kneeling beside him, trying to shake him awake. Jool was on the other side, feeling for his pulse, and the old woman was rifling around in a pouch on her belt. She pulled out a handful of powder and was getting ready to blow it on John.

“I’m up, I’m up!” John insisted, slapping her hand away before she could blow it. “I don’t need any more of your magic pixie dust, Wrinkles.”

“What happened?” Xander asked.

“Harvey decided to lend a hand.”

“What?”

“I’ll explain later. Did it work? Where are we?” John asked as Xander and Jool helped him to his feet.

“Oh it worked,” Jool said, motioning toward the forward view port.

John turned and looked out. “Sacred Leviathan burial space,” he said. “We’re back. Pilot, how’s Moya?”

Pilot’s image appeared on the clamshell viewer in Command as he spoke. “She is undamaged, Commander. We both extend our thanks.”

“It was the least I could do, considering it’s my fault you got stuck out there in the first place. Think nothing of it.”

“So now what do we do?” Xander asked.

John opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by Pilot. “Commander, there is a ship approaching.”

John let out a sigh. “We haven’t even been back five microts and already it starts,” he muttered. “What is it Pilot? Peace Keeper? Scarren?”

“The ship appears to be…Luxan. It’s Lo’La.”

“D’Argo? Can you raise him on the comms?” John asked.

“No. The ship appears to have taken some damage, communications is down.”

“Pilot, open the hangar doors,” John said, already jogging out into the corridor. Xander and the others followed behind him.

*

The group got to the hangar bay in time to see the ship lightly touch down. John drew Winona from her holster and checked the power charge on the pistol. Xander eyed him nervously as he did this. “Better safe than sorry,” John said, noticing Xander’s look. Xander nodded and drew his sword, placing himself next to John between the ship and the two women.

They watched as the hatch opened and a hulking figure stepped out of the ship. Xander tensed as he stepped closer into the light. But John’s face broke out into a smile as he slipped the pulse pistol back into its holster and stepped forward. “D, you have no idea how good it is to see you man,” John said, clasping D’Argo’s forearm in a warrior handshake.

John had described to Xander what D’Argo looked like before, so it wouldn’t be too much of a shock when he first saw the Luxan. But Xander still found himself fighting his first instinct, which was to attack. He had to remind himself that he was a long way from Earth now, and that some of the instincts that had served him so well there could very well him killed here. Operating in a new environment, it was always best to learn as much as you can before acting. It was a lesson that he knew would serve him well here. But instincts are a hard thing to fight. Which was why he didn’t put his sword away right away. And why his grip on it tightened slightly, and his eyes focused as he thought. It was a stance that could easily be misconstrued by any warrior.

“It is good to see you too, John. We have much to…down!” In mid-sentence, D’Argo pushed John aside and drew his Qualta blade. John complied on instinct. Keeping low, he turned to see what D’Argo had reacted to. By the time he, or the others realized that it was Xander, it was too late. The Luxan was already charging.

Xander blocked the first two swipes with his own blade easily enough. He didn’t have time to explain that he wasn’t an enemy, he was too busy keeping himself alive. Two more swipes, deflected and dodged. The sound of their swords striking echoed throughout the hangar. Xander could vaguely hear the other yelling for D’Argo to stop as he spun away from a downward slice and took a swing himself. His instincts had taken him to the offensive now, and he chose to give into them. He knew that if D’Argo was anything like him, he couldn’t hear the others shouting. Or if he did, he wasn’t listening to the words. His entire focus was on this fight. The Luxan was at a distinct advantage here, and Xander knew it. He was bigger, stronger, and he was fighting to kill. Xander was at most fighting to disable, something he was not used to.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only about thirty seconds, a cargo container sitting a few feet from the fray exploded, and the two combatants leapt apart to escape the blast.

“D’Argo, stop!” John shouted. “He’s a friend!”

Xander glanced to his side briefly and saw John standing their with his pulse pistol out. He looked back to D’Argo who was still eyeing him suspiciously. Xander slowly slid Hero back into the scabbard on his back and raised his hands. “It’s my fault,” he said. “I should have put my sword away when I saw you holster your pistol. I was in a defensive stance, but it could easily have been seen as aggressive. I should have known better.” It was the truth, and inside Xander was kicking himself for being so foolish. Raising his sword in the presence of another warrior who doesn’t know him from Adam. He was asking for trouble.

“Who is this?” D’Argo asked angrily.

“Xander is a friend of mine from Earth. He came back with me to help us.”

“Earth? You found your planet?”

“It’s kind of a long story, D.”

“I look forward to hearing it.”

“What are you doing here, anyway?” John asked. “I thought you were off looking for Macton. Did you…find him?”

“No, I didn’t. I didn’t get very far.”

“Pilot said it looked like you had taken some damage.”

“I ran into a couple of Marauders, took some fire before I was able to escape thanks to Lo’La’s cloaking ability,” D’Argo said, returning his Qualta blade to it’s sheath on his back. He eyed Xander again warily.

Xander kept his hands up and walked toward him slowly. “I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot there.” He extended his hand slowly. “I’m Xander Harris.”

“Few men face a Luxan warrior in hand to hand combat and live to tell the tale,” D’Argo said.

“I guess I’m lucky then.” D’Argo just looked at him, like he was sizing him up. “You going to leave me hanging, big guy?” Xander asked, his hand still out.

Finally D’Argo reached out and clutched Xander’s forearm in a warrior’s handshake. It might not have been much, but Xander knew that it meant he acknowledged him as a fellow warrior.

“So D, what are you doing back here?” John asked.

D’Argo pulled a data chip from his sleeve and held it up. “I intercepted a transmission two solar days after I left Moya. I’m afraid it’s something that means a dire situation for us all.”

“Why am I not surprised,” John mumbled to himself. “Alright, let’s head back up to Command and you can give us the low down.”

D’Argo nodded and started for the corridor. Jool and Noranti followed, John and Xander followed a little further back. “Well, I’ve had better first impressions,” Xander said.

John chuckled. “It wasn’t so bad. You should have seen my introduction to this place. He tongued me.”

“He tongued you?” Xander smiled. “Why John, I had no idea.”

“You know what I meant,” John insisted. Xander just laughed harder. “Bite me, Harris,” he said, trying to hide his own smile.

“Mee-ow.”




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