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: As Dreams Are Made On
Author:  Lyta
Lyta_1028@yahoo.com

Summary: Liam searches for a mysterious Kimera with a connection to him

Authors Notes: Sequel to "Every Waking Moment", takes place after "Crossfire"

"As Dreams Are Made On"

"Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air;
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud- capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep."

-The Tempest by William Shakespeare

    Liam Kincaid listened as Ronald Sandoval quoted Prospero's famous speech at the funeral of yet another person he had barely known, but who had been killed by desperate Resistance members trying to delay the Volunteers long enough to destroy their records. This was the fifth funeral of a Companion Agent he had attended since the crackdown, but the number of Resistance members he had eulogized was even greater.
    Da'an was still under arrest, but try as Zo'or might he had not been able to convince the Synod that Da'an must embrace the void. As the protector of a disgraced Companion, Liam had been kept occupied with a mountain of 'busy work'. He had lost count of the number of reconnaissance flights he had flown in the past month.
    Normally that was something he would not have minded, indeed he desired to return to the Kimeran ship he had discovered last month, but the current situation called for strict adherence to the rules and protocols. Especially after Lili...vanished.
    Vanished. The word left a bitter taste in Liam's mouth. It had been dangerous to inquire about someone exposed as a Liberation Agent, and all he had been able to get out of Sandoval was that Lili had taken one of the shuttles and had not been seem since. It was so out of character for Lili to just run off that Liam felt there was more to the story than what his human father was saying. Still it would not be a good idea to attract Sandoval's suspicion by digging further right now.
    Liam walked across the cemetery, he had already decided to skip the reception, which he was not required to attend. He unlocked his car and just sat in the driver's seat for a long moment before the cold forced him to put the key in the ignition and start up the heater.
    He drove to his new apartment. It was not a good idea for him to be living above the Flat Planet now and his new place had multiple entrances and exits that made it next to impossible to keep tabs on him. It was in an old building with the kind of moldings and other architectural details that both his human parents would have loved. He had furnished the place with reproductions and designs inspired by the sort of Irish antiques his mother had lived with her entire life. He had even found a kitchen table and chairs that strongly resembled the ones Sandoval had grown up with. It made him feel more connected to his parents and firmly grounded to his home planet.
    Liam stretched out on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Light came in through the blinds in slashes that played out in diagonal parallel lines on the ceiling. He set his alarm for 5:30 am and took off his coat and shoes. Liam spent an hour using a global Augur had assured him was untraceable to contact various Resistance cells. The main Phoenix cell had fallen, not unexpectedly as Liam had urged their leader to relocate, but it seemed to pound yet another nail in the Resistance's coffin.
    "Maybe Lili was right." Liam muttered angrily as he closed his global and threw it on the bed. Everything was going to hell in a hand basket. As much as he hated to even consider sabotaging the Mothership, it was starting to sound like one of the Resistance's few viable options left. They needed to strike back at the Taelons, win a victory. Badly.
    Liam took some aspirin to help with the massive tension headache he felt building behind his eyes. He was exhausted and immediately fell asleep.
    In his dream he was standing on a world he had never physically visited, or even seen outside of Ha'gel's memories. But it seemed sharper somehow, as if something were filling in the pieces to make the memory more complete. Then abruptly the image winked out and Liam found himself back in his father's quarters on the Repository, the Chia'unthor, his Kimeran memories suddenly supplied.
    Liam heard a noise behind him and even though he knew this was just a dream he whirled about to face a middle aged Kimeran male smiling sadly at him. Two realizations collided in Liam's mind: that his was the Kimera whose presence he had felt in his mind, and the recognition that this being was Ha'gel's own parent and thus his grandparent.
    "Greetings." The Kimera said in his native language.
    Liam blinked. This was the first time he had ever heard the Kimeran dialect spoken aloud.
    "Greetings." Liam answered fluently; it felt a bit odd not to be speaking in English.
    "I have many things to tell you, however the distances between us are vast. You must return to the Repository soon."
    The scene seemed to flicker for a moment before reasserting itself.
    "I will see you again, then."
    The entire Commonality felt the connection, even through the great efforts made to conceal it. Even more disturbing to the Taelons than the knowledge that at least one Kimera continued to exist was the feel of the individual on the receiving end of the psychic link. They had a decidedly Human tone to their presence.
    "It would appear that Ha'gel had an offspring after all."
    "Yes." Zo'or smirked. Suddenly the last few questions he had about certain recent events were made quite clear. Soon he would gain irrefutable proof of Da'an's guilt and a living hybrid. Both would serve his plans very well.
    Zo'or summoned Agent Sandoval after the Synod meeting. Though he had not been able to do more than gain the briefest glimpse of the hybrid's mind, it was enough.
    "Yes, Zo'or?" The attaché responded with pleasing promptness. Sometimes Zo'or almost forgot that the motivational imperative in his CVI was degraded.
    "Go down to the planet and arrest Major Kincaid."
    The Implant barely managed to restrain a smile. Unlike when he had arrested Da'an, Sandoval did not ask what the charges were.

   Liam awoke to find himself laying in his bed drenched in sweat, his heart racing. After the "conversation" with his grandparent, all he remembered was feeling like he was falling. He dressed and was about to start for the embassy when his door was forced open to by Sandoval and a heavily armed squad of Volunteers.
    "Major Kincaid, by order of the Synod I am placing you under arrest." Sandoval barked as a Volunteer roughly slid a pair of magnetic handcuffs around Liam's wrists.

To be continued…