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From SCIFIPEDIA
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Nerve is episode 19 of Farscape, Season 1. It was written by Richard Manning and directed by Rowan Woods . It first aired on January 7, 1999.
Spoiler Warning: Plot details and/or information about the ending follow. If you wish to enjoy the work first, stop reading here and return at another time.
Plot
Aeryn is exercising, fighting a punching bag. Crichton questions if she should be due to her recent injury. She asks him to leave her alone. He says he will when she tells him what's wrong. She coughs up some blood and falls to the floor. He tries to help and she lashes out at him before collapsing. Crichton notes that her skin is cold.
He says she should see Zhaan but she refuses saying she needs to get to her prowler. John quickly realizes Aeryn believes she's going to die. When she was stabbed by Larraq, he damaged her paraphoral nerve. The nerve will not regenerate and she will die within 50-60 arns. She needs a tissue graft from a genetically compatible donor. They have two or three days to save her life. The only Sebaceans nearby are at the Peacekeeper Gammak base, Larraq mentioned.
Crichton informs the rest of the crew. His plan to masquerade as a Peacekeeper does not sit well with the crew. Moya cannot jump away quickly as she's pregnant and proximity to the Peacekeeper base puts them all in danger. Crichton asks if they want Aeryn to die. Rygel agrees that they must do everything in their power to save her life despite the risk to themselves.
Aeryn thinks Crichton's mission is foolhardy as well but she wishes him good luck. The Gammak base is on a large moon in orbit of a gas giant. Chiana volunteers to join him on his mission but John is wary of her reasons. She gives him Larraq's Peacekeeper Ident chip with maximum security clearance. He decides to let her join him.
They use Aeryn's prowler to visit the base. The base appears to be a mining colony but on approach weapons lock on to their vessel. He calls the base and pulls rank on the responding officer to gain permission to land. They check his ident chip and grant him entrance.
Crichton introduces himself as Captain Larraq and they request his ident chip. The chip is verified. Chiana uses her seductive talents to beguile the Peacekeeper officers drawing attention away from Crichton.
They are assigned quarters. They must pass through another security check that requires John's hand to be scanned. He attempts to bypass it, pulling rank, but they will not let him pass without the check. His hands are scanned and to his surprise the machine verifies his identity.
He hears a whisper calling "Larraq" and follows the voice. It's Gilina. She is working on a weapons development project. She saw him in the officer's lounge and overrode the security program to accept his scan.
Crichton asks Gilina to help them find a tissue match for Aeryn. She agrees to help but she must go alone in case someone who knows the real Larraq recognizes him as an impostor. Chiana goes off to the lounge to find the chief superior officer Heskon she beguiled earlier. They are interrupted by Commander Tollona Javio who commands Chiana's attention.
Javio offers to buy Chiana from Crichton. He suggests that staying with him on the base is a much more civilized existence. He asks that they go to his quarters but Chiana says does not offer free samples and she must consider his offer.
Commander Javio, is asked to increase the efficiency of the Aurora Chair by a non-Sebacean superior dressed in an an odd black suit.
On Moya, Rygel visits Aeryn who is resting. D'Argo calls him to the command so Aeryn can rest. Before he leaves her she states: "If a warrior cannot die in battle, she can at least die alone." D'Argo reports to Zhaan that Aeryn's condition is worsening. Zhaan reveals the damaged nerve regulates toxin removal. Poisons are building up in Aeryn's body and Zhaan has no means to filter them out. D'Argo suggests that Moya may be able to filter them.
Zhaan hooks Aeryn up to Moya to filter the toxins from her body. Aeryn's body is experiencing mini seizures. D'Argo aks Zhaan not to reveal that it was his idea because Aeryn wanted to die alone and it's her right as a warrior.
The treatment is preventing Aeryn's further deterioration but Moya soon begins to experience contractions. Moya stops convulsing and Aeryn remains unconscious.
Gilina returns to Crichton. She says they don't need to find a match for Aeryn as their scientists are capable of synthesizing paraphoral tissue. She gives him a container with what he needs and kisses him.
Crichton says he needs to get back in order to save Aeryn on time. Gilina says they are always saying goodbye. While leaving the base, the non-Sebacean commander recognizes Crichton as an impostor and orders him seized. Crichton attempts to resist but he is taken down. He manages to hide Aeryn's medication inside a wall opening.
The commander places him in the Aurora Chair for interrogation. He introduces himself as Scorpius. Crichton notes that he does not look Sebacean. Scorpius, in turn, notes that while John looks Sebacean, his energy signature is quite different. Scorpius wants to know his species and whom he works for. Each time he refuses to answer Scorpius, he receives a jolt of pain.
The controller increases the levels on the chair and images of the past few months flash through John's mind. Scorpius reveals that it will take time to map his neural patterns in order to view his memories. John's mind reveals Moya's existence to Scorpius. More memories of Bialar Crais and Moya's crew are revealed. Scorpius recognizes Crais and demands to see more related memories.
Scorpius makes note that Crais has gone rogue. He sends a message to Crais requesting he come to the base. He offers Crichton as a lure.
Scorpius continues his painful exploration of John's memories. He has encountered many different races. Scorpius believes John is a spy. He wants to know who sent him and why. In John's memories, images of a wormhole are revealed but further exploration is halted on account of a neural block. John claims he didn't do it and Scorpius orders an increase in the extraction level to break through the block.
John's memories reveal a conversation with the Ancients regarding wormhole technology. One of the Ancients reveals that he will not remember the conversation. They will not give him wormhole technology as he must find it himself. They have given him unconscious knowledge to guide him in his own discoveries as he is already on the path. Scorpius is intrigued. He believes John came to the base for information because the base is devoted to the creation of wormhole technology.
Scorpius orders John's mind to be segmented so that he can get the information he wants from him. They permit him a short break to recuperate, locking him in a cell with another prisoner, a crazed man with half his face covered by a metal shield. He reveals that Scorpius has put him in the Aurora Chair repeatedly.
Gilina and Chiana work together and discover Chrichton's been captured. She can't discover where he's being held as they've shut down the grid believing he has had inside help.
Chiana disguises herself as a Sebacean tech to track down Crichton. She and Gilina tap into the ship's computers to track down Crichton and eventually discover his location in cell on level 9. They patch into the cell's communications and contact John. He tells her where the tissue sample for Aeryn is and orders her to get it back to Aeryn. Gilina asks if Aeryn means so much to Crichton that he would sacrifice himself but Chiana insists they're just shipmates and he's in love with Gilina.
Gilina gives Chiana the trajectory necessary to avoid the Peacekeepers and offers to provide a diversion for her escape. Chiana manages to retrieve the tissue sample. Gilina activates an evacuation warning. Chiana tries to get a look at the prowler as everyone else evacuates. Javio recognizes her and points his gun at her. They begin to fight and he fires his weapon. He accidentally blows the top off a nearby canister and it is lit on fire. Chiana points it at him, burning him to a crisp. Chiana successfully escapes and returns to Moya.
Zhaan injects Aeryn with the tissue sample. She immediately begins to recover. She asks to see Crichton and D'Argo says she will see him soon. D'Argo decides to stay and watch over Aeryn and she thanks him before falling asleep
Crichton's prisonmate is in the Aurora Chair when Crais arrives at the base demanding to see Crichton. Scorpius points out Crais' failings to return to command per Peacekeeper orders. Crais claims he received no such command. Scorpius offers to give Crais Crichton after he's done with him but Crais wants him now. Scorpius asks Crais what would persuade John to stop resisting the chair so that he can get the information from him before the device kills him.
Crais visits Crichton in his cell and offers him a chance to save Moya and her crew. They ask him to allow them to probe his mind freely. Crichton asks if his shipmates are in perfect health and Crais points out that that could change if he refuses their offer.
Crichton returns to the Aurora Chair where Scorpius continues to torture him. The chief superior officer reports that a prowler recently launched and disappeared, Crichton's accomplice. He asks who triggered the false evacuation warning but the officer is unable to discover it. Scorpius says Crichton will tell him and continues to use the chair on him.
- Previous Episode: "A Bug's Life"
- Next Episode: "The Hidden Memory"
Guest Stars
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