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: Mori'as
Author:  Lyta
Lyta_1028@yahoo.com

Summary: Ha'gel is faced with his world crumbling all around him

"Mori'as"

    "The Taelons attacked Mori'as! They slaughtered all!" Lori'ah said as she burst into Ha'gel's quarters on the Kimeran research vessel.
    Ha'gel would have staggered had he been standing as the full impact of Lori'ah's words sank into his consciousness. Memories of his parents and the homeworld of his youth swam sickeningly before him in a rapidly rushing river he could not dam.
    "All?" His words contained a twinge of hope that some of his family might have escaped the devastation.
    Lori'ah went from the pale pink of stress to the soft cerulean of sympathy and compassion. No words were necessary. Ha'gel stared down at his shaquarava, but they remained still.
    Grief washed over him and he requested that Lori'ah leave him so he could begin the rites of mourning. All his family have settled on the Kimeran colony on Mori'as, now he was alone but for Lori'ah whose connection to his family was tenuous. With a mental touch of compassion, Lori'ah disappeared into a corridor and sealed the door behind her leaving Ha'gel to summon the memories of his newly deceased family members and begin the ritual.
    He was exploring the somewhat faded recollections and experiences of his great-grandparents when the Kimeran vessel was rocked by a massive explosion. Ha'gel was jolted out of his memory trance, but before he could contact the control deck for an update he heard the warning siren: destruction imminent, abandon vessel. Ha'gel ran to the nearest escape pods, where he found two children huddled in an alcove. Both were the offspring of Kar'dan, one the result of a more recent joining with the Taelons. There was no time to comfort the frightened children as he picked them up and placed then in an escape pod, the hybrid's eyes wide with fear and his sibling the brilliant scarlet of terror.
    Once the children were away, Ha'gel sealed himself in another pod. Once he was clear of his ship, he located the coordinates of the nearest planet a Kimera could survive on. The only candidate was a tiny world in a system with nine planets orbiting a single star, but to his dismay it could take many cycles to reach the blue and green world. Rescue by his people as they struggled to survive against the unprovoked Taelon onslaught seemed an impossibility. Ha'gel contacted the children's pod and walked them through the procedure before implementing his plan on his own odd. He programmed the coordinates and finally activated the stasis field. His last thought before he slipped into hibernation was a prayer for his people.

Fin