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(That includes mailing lists).
Disclaimer: Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final
Conflict is copyright 1998, Tribune Entertainment Co.
Rating: PG.
Title: When the Truth is Known
Author: Lyta
When the Truth is Known
Liam Kincaid squirmed, though not much since
the straps that bound him to the examining table were tight and strong. They bit
uncomfortably into his wrists and forced his hands palms down against the cold metal table
so he could not fire his shaqarava without hurting himself. His palms itched and he tried
to wiggle his hand enough to relieve them a bit since scratching was out of the question.,
but he was only partially successful. Liam bit his lip in frustration and stared up at the
ceiling. He had never felt, or been, so vulnerable.
Think of something positive, he coached
himself. It was something Sandoval had done to keep from going mad with fear when exposed
as an FBI agent by the terrorist group he had attempted to infiltrate. Lili is safe. Da'an
is safe. They don't know I'm the leader of the Resistance. Augur's Mountain Dew floats
with real vanilla ice cream.
The Taelons did not even suspect they were
holding the leader of the Resistance, given his actual age and the group's known
xenophobia. Liam smiled. Good, he encouraged himself, look on the bright side.
"Stay on the sunny side, always on the
sunny side, stay on the sunny side of life. You'll feel no pain as we drive you
insane..." Liam sung softly. It seemed appropriate, but where had he learned the
song? Suddenly it clicked, Sandoval.
Come to think of it, Zo'or and Sandoval's
expressions had been priceless when the initial DNA tests came back. Even better than the
shock which permeated their features when he was discovered to possess shaqarava. A simple
cross check of the human aspects of his DNA uncovered the identities of his two human
parents. Sandoval's face had turned an interesting ashen gray tone when he learned he was
as much Liam's father as Ha'gel. It had been several moments before he could drag his gaze
away from Liam or form monosybillic words.
A Taelon scientist entered the room, startling
Liam out of his reverie. The scientist eyed Liam warily before jabbing a needle into his
upper arm. Bright red, human looking blood soon filled the collection vial. Liam felt
dizzy; this was the third sample they had taken from him in an hour. If they took any more
blood he would pass out.
His facade of a good mood shattered and
forgotten, Liam waited for the room to stop spinning and stared at the ceiling again. He
wondered what was going to become of him.
Unlike Liam, Zo'or's good mood was genuine.
Da'an had been completely discredited before the Synod and was reduced to cowering among
the Liberation. Da'an's protector, former protector, Zo'or amended had been revealed as
part Kimera. The only blight upon Zo'or's pleasure was the failure of his engineers to
counter the computer virus Captain Marquette had uploaded into the security system, but he
was assured that could be taken care of within a few hours.
Liam Kincaid was an unexpected bonus in the
Synod leader's long term plans. For years the Taelons had worked to develop a stable
hybrid with functional shaqarava, even going as far as to infect Rho'ha with human DNA.
Now such an individual had fallen right into his lap, as the humans put it. Zo'or had
already ordered his scientists to find a way of controlling Liam, but it would take time
to adapt their methods to his unique brain chemistry. It did rankle Zo'or that in the
brief time Ha'gel had been on Earth, he had succeeded where the Taelons had not in four
years.
For the time being he needed information. With
Agent Sandoval shadowing his steps, Zo'or walked to the room where Liam was helplessly
bound to an examining table. Zo'or absently dismissed the implant, missing the look of
pure hatred directed his way.
For the first time in dealing with Liam, Zo'or
had the advantage of height. From his position Liam was forced to stare up at Zo'or, his
green eyes tired and suspicious. The Synod leader wasted no time. He cuffed Liam across
the head, a blow with more energy than physical force, stunning him. The Taelon then
unbound Liam's right hand, pressing their palms together and forcing his fingers through
Liam's so he could not easily pull his hand away. As soon as Liam began to rouse, the
sharing began.
It was more of an assault than a sharing. Liam
had only shared twice before, with the alternate version of Da'an in the parallel universe
and with his mother, Lt. Beckett. Both Liam and Da'an were concerned that if they shared,
such an event could reveal his true nature to the Commonality. Liam put up more of a fight
than any human possibly could, but his weakened physical state, his inexperience and his
relatively infant mind made him no match for Zo'or. His defenses soon crumbed and Zo'or
had full access.
Zo'or saw events through Liam's eyes: his
entire life up to that moment. Zo'or lived the moment Liam held a dying Siobhan Beckett in
his arms and was surprised to feel a tingle of empathy for a child, the last of his kind,
losing his parent.
"I understand now. If you ever lose your
way, my son, look to the heavens. That's where I'll be shinning a star for you."
Beckett told her son before death fell like a shadow over her.
"Guide my soul until morning." Liam
whispered, rocking his mother's limp form gently.
Zo'or quickly dampened the feeling and dug deeper into Liam's memories. He was not
surprised to learn humans considered him to be quite arrogant. Rage flowed through him as
he witnessed the depth of Da'an's betrayal of their race.
"If the Synod learns I concealed the truth
of your identity and your relationship with the Resistance, I will be held
accountable."
After what seemed like hours to Liam, Zo'or
ended the sharing. Liam immediately lost consciousness, drained physically and
emotionally. Zo'or quickly refastened the restraint, then reguarded him for a second
before walking to a nearby lab. Now he knew William Boone was a traitor as well as
Marquette. The Synod leader smirked recalling how he had removed Boone from this life.
At the lab, Zo'or initiated a sharing with
Ka'na, a scientist. When they were done Ka'na thanked Zo'or, saying what he had learned
would be very useful in the conditioning process.
"We can modify a cyber viral implant, but
should the implant or motivational imperative falter the conditioning would significantly
reduce the chances of the hybrid's reversion to his previous activities with the
Resistance." Ka'na explained in a matter of fact tone. "My colleagues and I have
been working on techniques for use on any Taelon/human hybrids that will prove quite
applicable here."
"Excellent." Zo'or said.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Zo'or and Ka'na,
Ronald Sandoval stood in the doorway of the room Liam was being held in. He stared at the
man he had so recently learned was his son. He had failed Dee-Dee, he had failed Siobhan,
he would not fail his son.
Looking at Liam, he wondered how he had failed
to notice the resemblance to Beckett, and to his own grandfather. Words and images ran
through his mind with the clarity that only a CVI could bring.
He saw Siobhan reading her runes
"You can I are destined to come together,
no matter what."
Liam, clad in Military dress uniform , at William Boone's funeral.
"Have we met?"
"Of course, the two of you would be
together."
Liam held his mother's lifeless body in this arms. He watched from above, unaware of the
true situation, a bittersweet final moment between mother and child.
His own mother, who had not called in years, telling him of her belief that "family
is everything."
Sandoval had been forced to re-evaluate his
opinion of Liam Kincaid. Now the immaturity that had so annoyed him had a clear
explanation. As did the strange feeling of familiarity when Liam used a gesture or phrase
strikingly similar to those of Siobhan, his father and himself. This was his son,
Siobhan's son as well. Somehow he knew Siobhan had loved Liam had been a good mother to
him in the brief time they had together.
After checking to see if he was alone, Sandoval
cut Liam's restraints. He then burned them with a few skrill blasts once he had lowered
Liam to the floor. Sandoval removed medical gauze from a nearby tray and stuffed it into
his suit pocket. He picked Liam up and carried him fireman style to the shuttle bay. There
he dumped him in the back, already mentally rehearsing the story he was going to tell
Zo'or.
Zo'or surveyed the room. Kincaid's restraints
had obviously not been as tight as previously thought since had been able to burn through
them with his shaqarava. The Taelon turned to face his implant, Agent Sandoval, who now
sported a slight bruise on his jaw from the incident. Sandoval had been found in an alley
near the shuttle unconscious with his hands tied behind his back with medical gauze. Zo'or
again cursed the fact that the security cameras were still not back on-line. The virus
Marquette had uploaded gave her and Da'an a window of opportunity to escape that Kincaid
had also exploited. Zo'or simmered again at the thought of Da'an, recalling Liam's
memories of how Da'an had assisted in the creation of the virus.
"Find Kincaid at once. I want him
alive."
"Of course, Zo'or." Sandoval
responded smoothly.
Augur owned four homes, some of which Liam had
never seen before. When Liam opened his eyes he recognized he was lying on a bed in a room
decorated in Augur's signature style. He must have fallen asleep again because when next
he woke it was with a worried Augur, Lili and Da'an leaning over him.
He wondered how he had come to be here. He
vaguely remembered Sandoval telling him to hit him with his shaqarava in an alley. Augur
was there, maybe, but everything since Zo'or was a blur.
"Welcome back to the land of the
living." Augur said with a huge, relieved, grin.
"What happened?" Liam asked groggily.
"It would appear Agent Sandoval saved your
life, " Da'an told him in a thoughtful tone.
"Why?"
"That," Lili said, "is the
million dollar question."
"So what happens now?" Liam wondered
aloud.
"I don't know. What are we going to do
Liam?" Augur asked.
Liam had sudden inspiration for a reply. "Same thing we do every night, Augur: try to
save the world!"
Lili groaned and muttered something under her
breathe about Augur having corrupted dear, sweet, innocent Liam. Da'an looked baffled by
her response . The Taelon was further confused when Augur hit Liam with a pillow and they
both dissolved into laughter.
Fin