Copyright
1999, Lyta. All rights reserved. No part of this story may be re-posted
in part or in full without written permission from me.
Disclaimer:
Gene Roddenberry’s Earth: Final Conflict is copyright 1998, Tribune
Entertainment Co. Its characters are used without permission, no infringement
is intended.
Rating:
PG
Title:
The Kimera Chronicles: Chapter One
Author: Lyta
Summary:
The fall of the Kimera from a variety of perspectives
Author’s
Notes: First in a series of vignettes about the destruction of the Kimera.
Ancient
Taelon Homeworld
~10,000,000
BC (Before Taelons, Earth Dating System)
Mi’al, member in good standing of the
Taelon Synod, worriedly watched as his offspring Sa’eh’s shaquarava glowed
brilliantly in the dim twilight for a long moment before they flickered out.
The Taelon’s face showed concern as he turned toward his companion, whose
visage was concealed by the long shadows typical of this time of the day.
“You see?” Mi’al whispered in his whispery
native dialect, knowing that the Kimera would have no problem understanding
him.
“This was unexpected.” Ha’gel answered in
the same language with an unmistakable element of regret in his voice. “I will
see to it that the council is informed of this immediately.”
“Will that cause any changes?” The cynical
Taelon asked. “Your people continue to suffer guilt at betraying their
principle of noninterference in the affairs of other species. My other
transmissions to the council have been ignored.”
“But now we have more than the guilt to
deal with. It was never intended for the hybrid’s to inherit the shaquarava,
but it appears our precautions were insufficient. Steps must be taken to deal
with the consequences of this unfortunate occurrence.”
“Certainties
on this plane are few, my friend, aside from the inevitability of an end to our
existences. My people see the shaquarava as a weapon. Already violence as
occurred. I fear what is to come.”
Ha’gel allowed himself a small smile, and
tried to lighten the somber mood. “You always were a pessimist, my friend.”
Mi’al looked away, but this action
betrayed him to Ha’gel. For the first time the light illuminated the deathly
pallor of the Taelon’s complexion and the disrupted pathways underneath. The
Kimera instantly recognized the signs.
“The plague?” Ha’gel’s memory brought
forth vivid and unwelcome images of the plague that had been brought to the
Taelons over three centuries earlier. The virus had been created by another race
for use in biological warfare against their neighbors with whom they had a
bitter territorial conflict with , both races had perished. The Kimera
possessed a natural immunity and had attempted to destroy all traces of the
virus, but when one of the release devices crashed onto the Taelon homeworld,
the Kimeran council permitted an unprecedented level of interference in their
culture in an effort to save them. Joinings between races had occurred before,
but only under prescribed conditions and with the permission of both
governments as well as the individuals involved. The hybrid offspring were
brought into the Kimeran culture and raised no differently than children of
full Kimeran parents.
It had been painful to leave the hybrid
children born of their unions with the Taelons. Ha’gel winced as the memory of
leaving his brilliant, beloved Sai’ra behind on his beautiful world surfaced.
Though Sai’ra had since died, but he recalled her as vividly as the day he had
first encountered her.
“You know as well as I, that it would only
be a matter of time before I too, would succumb to the plague. All but for a
handful of my generation have preceded me to death. Soon I will embrace the
void and will be unable to assist my people in the coming crisis. That is one
reason why I called you now.” Mi’al paused to stare at Sa’eh. “Also, I though
you should know that Kri’ni and his mate were among those slain in the recent
violence, though their offspring, Ma’el survived.”
Ha’gel felt crushed inside. The knowledge
that Kri’ni survived and retained Sai’ra’s memories had brought him great
comfort over the years. “I want to see my grandchild.”
Mi’al nodded. “I will take you to Ma’el.
Then we will discuss other things.”