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