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: What Child is This?
Author: Lyta
Lyta_1028@yahoo.com
Summary: What if Liam aged like a normal human child?
"What Child is This?"
Siobhan Beckett had just laid her three month old son
in his crib for the night and collapsed into a chair in the living room of her small
apartment when the doorbell rang. She removed a loaded gun from the top drawer of a bureau
before peering out the tiny peephole and letting out a sigh of relief at the sight of her
landlady, Myrla Shrubs. After she put the gun back, she opened the door.
Myrla stood impatiently in a sundress Siobhan could only describe
as hideous, with huge brown vinyl shoes that made her small feet seem as though they had
the shape of bricks. Siobhan was bout to apologize for the delay, but then she noticed an
unusual expression on Myrla's face.
Then Siobhan saw a man who had not been visible through the
peephole, a man she knew well: Ronald Sandoval. Even before the color had finished
draining from Siobhan's face, she skrilled her into unconsciousness. She fell back against
the wall and slid down the doorframe before coming to rest in a crumpled heap on the
floor.
Sandoval pushed Myrla out of the way and regarded Beckett
carefully. He pushed the sleeve of her shirt up to make certain that her skrill was indeed
gone, obviously removed by a medical professional, before he nodded to the group behind
him. Two of them lifted Beckett onto a gurney and proceeded to wheel her towards a Taelon
shuttle parked nearby. Just as Sandoval began to leave, a baby's cry filled the air. He
looked at Myrla, who shrugged as if to tell him that all this was his mess now, before he
began tracing the sound to a back bedroom.
In a small crib amid blankets was a tiny baby boy. Sandoval
was about to call Social Services to come take the child when he noticed the palms of the
infant's hands flicker with a strange light. Sandoval gasped and grabbed one of the boy's
hands to reveal a faint diamond shaped red discoloration. He scooped the child up along
with several of the blankets and returned to where Myrla was, not noticing particularly
that the infant ceased his crying as soon as Sandoval had entered the room.
"You never said anything about a child." Sandoval said
accusingly.
"You never asked about him, only his mother." Myrla retorted.
"How old is he?" Sandoval said looking down at the child's
face.
"Siobhan came here a bit over three months ago. She was only here
a week before Liam was born." Myrla answered.
"Liam." Sandoval whispered, then a thought struck him.
Siobhan had only been missing for five months. If Liam was only three months old, and he
certainly appeared to be that age, the Siobhan had only been pregnant for two months. He
frowned.
"Thank you Mrs. Shrubs for your time. I'll see to Ms. Beckett's
child myself."
The last thing Lili Marquette expected to see was Sandoval
entering Da'an's office carrying a baby in his arms. Then she noticed a short burst of
light emanate from the child's palm and gasped. The Taelon, who had been reclining in his
energy stream likewise saw the shaquarava activate and immediately stood up. Wordlessly
the Taelon took the child from his implant and peeled back the layers of pale blue and
white blankets to examine him. Da'an blushed as the tiny shaquarava flickered again and
looked upon expectantly at the Implant.
"This child," Da'an began, "possesses the shaquarava,
yet appears to be human. How is this possible Agent Sandoval?"
"The child belongs to Siobhan Beckett. According to her former
landlady his name is Liam." Sandoval supplied.
Lili was stunned. So they had found Beckett and her child after all.
Deciding it was best to play incredulous, and to cover her own dawning shock and horror,
Lili stammered out: "but he only looks three months old. Beckett has not been gone
long enough to have a baby his age."
Sandoval nodded, "he is only three months old, Captain."
"That's impossible." Lili said, shaking her head as she
continued her ruse.
"He was born three months ago. That has been confirmed. I have Dr.
Park running some tests on his DNA, but there appears to be little doubt that his father
was not human." Sandoval said. Then he added, "unless Humans have triple helix
DNA strands."
"His father is a Taelon?" Lili asked. She knew very little
about Ha'gel and all her attempts to find out more about the alien had been met with
evasions and silence. She knew Da'an could answer her questions, but he blushed every time
and the guilty expression on his face kept her from repeating them. Maybe Boone could get
something out of Da'an, but he was in Ireland helping with security after an unexpected
flare up from the British Resistance movement. After Beckett's 'death', there had been a
delay in finding a replacement that the Resistance had jumped on. The Synod had been most
displeased at the loss of several facilities and classified files.
Sandoval shook his head in the negative. "More likely Ha'gel is
Liam's father considering his prior attempt at such a union and the timing of Beckett's
disappearance."
Da'an nodded, "I fear you may be correct, Agent Sandoval."
Then he turned to Lili. "I must take the child to the Mothership. Please prepare the
shuttle."
Lili jumped up and all but ran to the shuttle. Hopefully she could
carve out a few minutes to warn Doors and Belman.
The infant lay on the floor in the center of a circle of the
various Synod members who stared at Liam uncertainly. Genetic testing had revealed his
Kimeran heritage beyond any shadow of doubt. Though fear of the Kimera had been ingrained
in the Taelons for generations, the child also represented a new resource that the Synod
would not fail to take advantage of.
"A joining with the Kimera saved us once before." The
Companion to India pointed out.
"And this is a child we shall control from even before its first
year is complete." Zo'or said with a satisfied gleam in his eyes.
"We are being premature." Da'an spoke up. "The child is
considerably too young for a joining now, and will not be of an age to even such a thing
for nearly two Earth decades."
"Which gives us ample opportunity to prepare him and ourselves for
the occasion. What of his mother?" Zo'or said forcefully, shifting the topic to
Beckett.
"Dr. Belman has re-implanted her. It would appear that Ha'gel was
somehow able to alter her imperative to convince her to abandon all for her unborn
offspring." A member of the scientist caste said, practically sneering the deceased
Kimera's name. "Having Beckett back in our service will make it far easier to bind
the child to us. Kimera, even hybrid Kimera, form strong familial bonds. And with such
loyal parents as Beckett and Sandoval, Liam," The scientist spoke the infant's name
for the first time during the session and was astonished that Liam turned his head at the
sound of his name to fix the Taelon with a steady green gaze. "will learn to be loyal
to us."
"And if not, we have methods that can compel him to do our
bidding." Zo'or reminded them all.