Copyright 1999,  Lyta. All rights reserved. No part of this story may be re-posted in part or in full without written permission from the author.
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: Threads of the Past
Author: Lyta
Lyta_1028@yahoo.com

Summary: Ma'el's thoughts in ancient Ireland

Author's Notes: Many historians place the Trojan War at 1250 BCE, and as the war took ten years according to Homer, Ulysses' encounter with the Lotus Eaters, would be about 1240 or 1241 BCE. The summer solstice occurs annually on or around June 20.

"Threads of the Past"

1238 BCE

    Ma'el watched as the Humans began preparations for the summer solstice. It was the time of the year when the sun rose at its highest point in the sky and the event had great significance to the local population. It still amazed him that the people of this island had accomplished their fete of building the nearby stone circle without any use of mechanical devices. Not only had the hewn and positioned the stones without a great deal of technology, but they aligned the circle so that on sunrise of the summer solstice the sun shown precisely through the opening of two of the stones to form a column of light that ran the diameter of the circle.
   It was a stunningly beautiful effect.
   The Taelon remembered his recent excursions to other parts of this planet. In particular, the land of the Pharaohs who were worshipped as gods. They built enormous pyramid shaped tombs for themselves, constructed by laborers who paid their taxes with sweat and muscle instead of gold. He had hoped to visit the Greek city-states, but had been advised against it as many of the city-states were engaged in an eight year long siege of Illiam.
    Ma'el walked back to his home and picked up a small bone with writing on it that was riddled with cracks. The people of China threw bones with such script on them into fires to study the cracks for insights into what they should do or what was to come. He replaced the bone and walked over to his most cherished artifact of another culture.
    It was taller than he was, of smoothed stone in the shape of a ring, and on its sides were inscriptions. It had a unique flow to it that Ma'el found fascinating. There were similarities to Taelon devices and the written form of eunoia, but there was also a noticeable deviation that gave it an air of alien familiarity. He ran his hands over the access panels, then turned his hands over to look at his palms. He could feel a faint tingle of energy there, but not enough to allow shaquarava to blossom on his palms like fiery flowers and activate the portal. Only Jaridians now possessed shaquarava and Ma'el had altered the portal not to respond to a Jaridian warrior.
    The portal was ancient, even by Taelon standards and they were a long lived race. It had been constructed millions of years ago by the Kimera in a last, desperate attempt to save themselves by erasing the first encounter between themselves and the race that later split into the Taelons and the Jaridians.  To his Taelon peers it was a curiosity and the very reason travel in the fourth dimension was strictly banned, in spite of the fact that the Kimera had proved that going forward or back in time more than a few days was not possible.
    To Ma'el, however, it was more than a mere curiosity it was a link to his heritage. He had been one of the few Taelons who objected to slaughtering the peaceful Kimera when they refused to allow the Taelons carte blanc access to their archives and technology. He had left the Taelon homeworld and come here under, officially to study this world and determine whether its inhabitants could be utilized in the wars with the Jaridians, in reality he had come to prepare Humanity. He did not delude himself that the Synod would listen to his recommendation to leave Humanity alone, as they would one day be at least the Taelon races' equals. He destroyed most of his research, but for a few medicines he had discovered. 
    What he had done on Earth would be sufficient to cause the Synod to order him to embrace the void if they knew. But they did not know that most of his work had been devoted to studying the psychic abilities inherent in Humans, abilities that lay dormant most of their lives only to flicker during a few instances in a lifetime. He had discovered ways to make the recessive gene that allowed the Human brain more access to psychic abilities stronger. It was still recessive, but no where near as rare as when had had arrived. The second aspect of his gift was risky, he had included in the altered gene a way that would allow the Human mind to survive the barrage of minds in the Commonality. He dared not take his plan to the next step, that would be for Humanity to do on its own now that he had given them the tools.
    He brushed his fingers against the Kimeran script. He knew his Kimeran grandparent, Ha'gel would be pleased. Now what he hoped for was that his child Da'an would be wise enough to view the larger scope of what the Taelon agenda was doing to the galaxy and work to stop it. Ma'el knew that his child had far more ability to gain respect amongst his people than he could with his record.
    "So much waste," Ma'el sighed. "So many species we have destroyed in the name of survival and yet we continue to fall back."
    He hoped against hope that Earth would be spared such a fate.