Copyright ©1999, Tracey
Harnack. All rights reserved. No part of this story may be
re-posted in part or in full without written permission from me. It's characters
are used without permission, no infringement is intended.
Disclaimer: Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final
Conflict is copyright 1998, Tribune Entertainment Co.
Rating: PG.
Title: The Path Least Traveled Part 2: Getting to know you
Author: Tracy Harnack
Getting to know you
There, before me, in radiant
glory, stood what was unmistakably a female Taelon! Now, I had studied the Taelons
as much as anyone can, and theyre very secretive of their biology and such, but one
thing had come through as pretty clear: They were neither male nor female. There was no
question in my mind as to whether this vision was a Taelon, and she was just as obviously
a "she", so what exactly had I missed?
She was very tall, taller than I was, and lean.
Her skin was pale, almost white, and she appeared to be clothed in a suit similar to that
of Daans, but in a silvery iridescent shade. She looked like a cross between a
goddess and an angel.
Daan allowed me a moment to recover (He was definitely enjoying my reaction),
and then introduced me.
"David, this is Leiail" He
pronounced it with almost an Irish lilt. "Leiail, this is David Rossi. He will
be your Protector for the entirety of your stay on Earth."
She turned from the window smoothly and
assessed me. I felt as though I was being put to a test and failing badly. My gut reaction
was to squirm like a child who was being questioned as to whether he was the one who had
broken his mothers antique vase. I repressed it, of course, but the feeling
remained. I gave the traditional Taelon salute respectfully, though shakily, but she did
not seem to care. After several seconds in which I knew that I had been judged and found
Not Worthy, she looked past me to Daan, as though I was no longer of any more
consequence than a bug.
She hissed something in Eunoia. It wasnt exactly hostile, but neither was it
friendly in the least.
Daan looked sharply at her. The message was obvious.
"I do not require a Protector." She
stated calmly, in perfect English this time. I believed her. It was utterly impossible not
to.
"The Synod seems to think otherwise."
Daan said.
"Do you agree with them?"
"Yes. You are too precious a resource to
be risked."
She blushed
lavender(?!), in apparent frustration. "I am quite
capable of protecting myself. I see no reason why I should have tolerate an invasion of my
privacy and independence just to satisfy the Synod."
Daan looked meaningfully at her. "Then you refuse."
"Yes."
"As you wish." He said. "Then
you will go back to the homeworld immediately." She stared murderously at him.
"That was the agreement." He reminded her. "If you refuse protection, you
must return home."
Their eyes locked and held for a minute. "I will stay." She said finally. It
sounded like a command.
"Very well." Daan looked
pleased. He turned to me. "David, I would speak with you alone. Leiail, you
will stay here." He guided me out the door. We went a little ways down the hallway
and stopped.
"Who is she?" I asked,
breathlessly, the moment we were out of earshot.
"She is your new assignment." He gave
me his half-smile. "I realize you must have many questions. Please, ask."
"I thought Taelons were androgynous."
I said.
"We are." Daan said, not
helping much.
"Then how
?"
Daan smiled. "We were not always as
we are now." He explained. "Before we formed the Commonality, and even for a
time after, we had two separate sexes. Eventually, through millennia of research and
manipulations we were able to very slowly change our species into only one. No male or
female has been born in 100,000 years. Leiail is
an anomaly. Even a genetic
throwback, if you will."
I wouldve argued the throwback part, but I got the message.
"Shes one in a million." I
stated.
"She is far, far more than that."
Daan answered, gravely. "She may be the savior of our race."
My eyebrows shot up. "Savior?"
"Yes. You know that no new Taelons have
entered the Commonality in nearly 10,000 years."
I nodded. "You and Zoor were among
the last generation born."
"Correct. Leiail was also in that
group. It did not, however, become apparent for some time that that would be the last
generation if something were not done. No Taelon alive today has the ability to reproduce.
Except one."
"Leiail." I breathed.
"We believe so. The fact that she is an
anomaly, from the days when we were not dependent upon laboratories to help us reproduce,
may be the very thing that saves us. She is the most precious resource we have. Without
her, we will literally have to join with the Humans or die, even if we defeat the
Jaridians."
"Wow." I said, in a brilliant display
of the English language.
"Then you see how important her safety
is."
I nodded. "Of course. But if she is so precious, why let her come here at all? Why
not keep her safe on the homeworld."
Daan sighed deeply. "Because we
quite truly could not stop her. She has much influence in the Synod, and many of my
fellows are afraid of causing her even the slightest unhappiness, for fear it might affect
her adversely. Also, she is very
persuasive, when she wants to be."
I decided I didnt want to know.
"And," Daan continued,
"The Taelon homeworld is not as safe as Zoor would have you believe. She may in
fact be safer on Earth, with a capable Protector, than she would be on the homeworld or
even one of the inner colonies."
I started to ask why, and then realized that I wouldnt get an answer. Daan had
already said more than he probably should have.
"I see." Was all I said.
"You must not let her out of your sight.
You will share a living area. Privacy is inconsequential. Use your judgement. Do not let
her participate in any activity that could be considered dangerous, and do not
leave her alone. If you need to go somewhere inside the embassy, that is permitted,
although make sure she stays in the rooms and that a Volunteer is with her while you are
gone, but outside of the embassy, she is to be within your line of sight at all times. At
the same time, try not to restrict her overly. Understood?"
I gulped hard and nodded.
"Good." He gave me what seemed like a
relieved smile and turned back the way we had come. I followed, trying to organize the
events in my mind: I have just been promoted to the highest rank a human can achieve,
been given the Protectorship of a one-of-a-kind Taelon who obviously didnt want to
be Protected, and discovered something about Taelons that no other human knows. And
its not even ten yet!
We went back in to Daans office. Leiail was waiting for us. Daan
looked at us both.
"You have been assigned a suite of rooms
at the far end of the embassy, by the gardens. You will not of course, be required to stay
there. You may go anywhere that is reasonably safe, as long as you do not leave
Davids presence." This last part was directed at Leiail. "David,
your things will be moved to your new room." Daan saluted Leiail and I,
and then left.
I stood there staring at her. I knew I was
being rude, but I literally couldnt help it. She looked down at me coldly. Well,
actually, cold wasnt the word for it. Absolute zero was more like it. It was then
that I noticed her eyes. They were not Taelon blue, but a pale shade of purple. They had
no whites and large, deep purple irises. They were endless lavender tunnels. It was
chilling in and of itself, even minus the emotion behind them.
After a minute or so of unbearable silence I had to say something.
"May I call you Leiail?" I
asked. Not exactly impressive, but it was all I could think of. Besides, I wouldnt
want to run the risk of offending her.
"That is my name." Icicles dripped
from her every word. This was not going well.
"Okay. Do you want inspect your
rooms?"
She considered for a moment. "I will see them."
"Alright." I knew which rooms
Daan was talking about, so I led the way. She refused to walk behind me, so she went
beside me. Her legs were impossibly long and thin, and she moved like a jungle cat. A dangerous
jungle cat. I didnt think she needed a Protector. The rest of the world, maybe, but
not her.
The rooms had been changed since I last saw
them. First, there was a complicated lock system on the door, involving fingerprints,
alphanumeric passcode, and retina scan. (Leiail just breezed on in without bothering
with the security, and to my amazement, the system let her. Id love to know
how that worked!). The living area was the same as it had been, but the door to the area
containing the bedrooms and bathroom had been removed. Instead of two ajoining bedrooms,
there was one large open room with a bed. Over by the small window was a chair of the sort
Daan had in his office, the same type the more distant members of the Synod appeared
in.
In living area there were two couches and a
small table. There was a very large, deep-set, bay window overlooking a small fountain.
The lighting in the room was good, although from no discernable source, and there were
empty bookshelves. I walked over to the window and looked out.
I went over and stood looking out the window.
Around the fountain, lilacs bloomed. After a minute, I felt Leiail move in behind
me. She looked out the window, and it seemed as though she was trying very hard not
to be interested.
"Pretty, isnt?" I asked softly.
A pause. "I did not notice." She said, with forced indifference. I sensed that
she was extremely curious, but didnt want me to see.
I walked away from the window and sat on one of the couches. After a long pause, I said,
"May I ask a question?"
She looked dangerously at me. "You may ask."
I swallowed. Be brave, David, be brave, I told myself. You have to establish
first contact, or youll never survive this assignment.
"Why did you come to earth?"
Her eyes met mine, and for an instant she softened. Then she froze up again.
"That is none of your
concern."
My courage wavered. "Im sorry.
Youre right. I was out of line." I sighed silently. Daan was right. I was
going to have my hands full. We stayed the rest of the day in the rooms. In the afternoon,
my belongings arrived and I was occupied for a little while with putting them away. For a
minute, I thought Leiail was interested in my books, but if she was, she hid it well
when I looked at her.
When I was done, I picked up a book at random
and settled on the couch. I didnt know which book, and I didnt much care,
since I wasnt actually reading. Mostly I was staring. I tried to hide it, but she
was breathtaking. She sat perfectly still, not looking at anything, not doing anything,
just sitting. If I had to guess, Id have said she was sulking. After about an hour
of dead silence, she spoke. It was so sudden that I almost fell off the couch.
"Why do you keep doing that?" Her
voice wasnt so cold any more, it was just curious. For the first time, I noticed
that she actually had a very pretty voice. Everything came out like she was singing. Like
a windchime.
"Doing what?" I asked.
"You look at your
" She looked
confused.
"Book?" I said, closing it and
putting on the table. As I did so, I noticed that I had been holding it upside down. Good
thing shes never seen a book before.
"Yes, your book, and then up at me, every few seconds.
Why?"
"Well
Ive never seen anyone
like you before." I realized at that moment that I said basically the same thing to
Jen when we had met. "I think youre the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
Honestly."
She fixated her alien eyes on my, and for an
instant I thought I was drowning.
"Oh." For a moment, I thought she was
going to say more, but she lapsed back into silence. The rest of the afternoon went
slowly. I ordered some food, and she watched me eat with some small interest, but did not
inquire. It was obvious that she knew little to nothing about humans, but was too proud or
angry to ask.
When night fell, I decided to go to sleep
early. I went into the bathroom to change, and when I came out, her human façade had
vanished. Only energy, in the vague shape of my charge remained. I had seen Daan do
that, many times, but her energy was lavender, not blue. Maybe its the difference
between the sexes, I thought. I watched the turbulent energy for a moment, and
then crawled into bed.
I fell asleep immediately, and again I had the
strangest alien dreams. When I woke up, it was just dawn. Leiail was standing
at the window, looking intently out over the garden. She didnt seem to notice when I
got up. As I got ready for the day, I thought that it was going to be a very long
assignment.
I was right. The next week seemed like a
century. Since I wasnt allowed to leave Leiails presence, and she
wasnt going anywhere, I was stuck in the room. All attempts at conversation failed.
Mostly, I read, but I longed to get out.
I felt honored being near her. However,
theres a limit to how much ice one can stand before one shatters. Make no mistake: I
worshipped her. But even the most devout have a breaking point and I reached mine after
eight days.
It was morning. I was reading on the couch, and
Leiail was staring out the window. I slammed my book down on the table, jumped up,
and walked over to her.
"Why are you here?" I demanded. Now,
Im not a typically bold person, but sometimes things slip out before I realize what
Im saying, and this time I was mad.
She got smoothly up out of her seat and drew herself up to her
full height.
"What did you say?" She said calmly,
without a hint of anger, although there was danger lurking in her tone.
"I said, why are you here?
"
She was incredulous. "You can not speak to me in that fashion."
Well, I could, but it wasnt a good
idea and we both knew it. A large part of me wanted to back off and apologize, beg
for forgiveness. But then I remembered all those books and their heroes that I had always
wanted to imitate. Steady, David, I told myself. If you back off now youll
be a coward, and youll never earn her respect. Not that there seemed to be much
chance of earning her respect anyway. Also, continuing could mean losing my job
but I
couldnt be a coward. Id hate myself. I gulped.
"I just did." I said defiantly. Well,
that came out better than I thought.
She was livid. And a livid Taelon is a frightening sight. She was barely holding on to her
human façade.
"I will report you for this." She
said, harshly. "Your career with the Taelons will be over."
Internally, I shuddered. Losing my place with the Taelons
that was too horrible to
think about. I hoped feverishly that the next words out of my mouth would be the right
ones.
"If I lose my job, then you will be
without a Protector."
"Good." She said pointedly.
I swallowed again. "Without a Protector, youll have to go back to the Taelon
homeworld. Do you want that?"
Leiail lifted her chin. "You are not the only Protector available."
She was right, I wasnt. But there was still one more chance. I put on a confidant
demeanor, the exact opposite of how I felt about my next move.
"Do you really think that the Synod will
give you another Protector after all the trouble youve been? Theyll more
likely order you back to the homeworld. Unless, of course, youre doing some valuable
work here on Earth that must be completed." That last bit was probably too far, but
this time I was not only lucky, I was right.
She looked defiantly at me for a long moment,
and I met her stare for stare. I forced myself not to look away, even though her eyes
still made me want to run and hide. I didnt even flinch, though I wanted to. For the
briefest moment I thought she was going to attack me. Somehow, I knew that if she did, I
was history. I wonder if she has Shaqarava.
She did not break my gaze, nor show any sign of
acquiescing, but I sensed that she knew I was right. After several seconds I asked again.
"Why are you here?"
"What do you mean?" she seemed
confused.
"I mean, why did you come to earth?"
Internally, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I wasnt going to get fired. Or shot.
"I wished to visit a planet that was still
in its natural state, not cold and dead, or completely developed. And I wished to learn
about humans, because you seem to be a very odd little race."
I was puzzled. "How do you expect to do
that?" I asked, ignoring the little race part. No answer.
"Youve been here more than a week. You havent gone outside, have
you?" No, I could see it. "You wont even talk to me. You say you want to
learn about humans, well Im a human. You treat me like dirt, so whats the
point? If you think were unworthy then why do you want to learn about us? And if you
werent going to interact with us then why didnt you just stay home and read
about us?"
As I was speaking something came over her face.
She hadnt even thought about it that way. My guess was that she was so busy trying
to be defiant over the Synods restrictions and resenting my very presence, that she
was really giving them exactly what they wanted. She stayed inside, safe and sound, and
pouted. Eventually she would get bored, make up some excuse for leaving, and go home, all
without ever putting herself in danger.
She looked away from me, and my heartbeat finally slowed down to a semi-reasonable level.
"What do you suggest?" She asked
quietly, almost softly. I reflected again that her voice was one of the most beautiful
sounds Id ever heard.
"Well, you spend so much time looking over
the Garden, how about we go out there and see it?"
She nodded. I noticed that her face was flushed lavender. She was clearly embarrassed over
her actions.
I led the way outside, leaving word with a
Volunteer as to where we were, in case Daan asked. When we reached the gardens she
looked around in wonder and sniffed the air like a deer. It was a beautiful spring day.
The sun was shining, birds were singing, and there was a slight breeze that ruffled my
hair.
Leiail stood stock still and tried to take it all in. She looked at me.
"This is very
"She searched for
words. "Different than home."
"How?" I asked.
"On my world there is no
outside. Or none that is habitable. The only places on my world are inside
buildings. And the air here smells strange.
Taelons breathe the same stuff as we do, at
least we think so, but I realized that if she had never been outside then all the air she
had ever breathed had been purified and recycled.
I grinned at her. "Thats fresh air.
It cant be replicated."
She nodded absently and drifted over to a rose
bush. I came up behind her as she was looking at the intricate flowers.
"Smell them." I said, softly.
She leaned forward and deeply breathed in the scent of the lush flowers. When she turned
back she was actually smiling. She reached toward the plant and too late I realized that
she was going to touch them.
"Leiail, wait! The flowers
have
" I started.
She yelped and jumped back.
"
thorns." I finished lamely.
She was holding her hand. "Here, let me see." Some Protector I was.
Couldnt even protect her from a plant. I took her hand and looked it over carefully.
There were no marks and she wasnt bleeding (If Taelons bled
). I really had no
idea how the nervous system of a Taelon worked, but obviously they could feel pain. At
least while wearing their human façade.
"Does it hurt?" I asked.
"It does not hurt
any longer."
Leiail was looking at the rose bush in fascination. "Why does something so
lovely cause pain?"
I smiled at her. "Thats the way things are on Earth. All the really beautiful
things can be dangerous in their own way. I think that makes them more beautiful."
"On my world," Leiail replied
after a moment. "There are flowers, of a sort, left over from
before. But they
grow in enclosures and they are all the same size and shape and color and they have no
smell. Nor do they have
thorns. I always found them dull." This last part was
barely above a whisper. After a moment of silence, I looked down and realized that I was
still holding her hand. She mustve realized it at the same moment, because she
jerked it away sharply and all of a sudden the warm spring day wasnt so warm
anymore, and the light breeze had a bite to it.
"I-Im sorry." I said sincerely.
"I didnt mean
" I trailed off. I hadnt meant to make her
uncomfortable. I hadnt even meant to hold on to her hand that long.
She didnt reply or look at me, but I
sensed her thawing a little. We walked down every path in the garden, saw every fountain,
and she had me name every flower and tree there was. She couldnt hide her excitement
and curiosity at this strange new place. It shone through even past her forced sullenness
and cold demeanor. Every time she saw something new, she forgot herself and began to ask
questions and actually relate to me. Then, once she calmed down, she remembered who
I was and why I was there and clamed up again.
After exploring the entire garden,
(which actually wasnt that big, but it was skillfully laid out so that there were
miles of path), we settled on a bench by the large fountain in the very center. She
watched the water leap up and then die back down to a trickle, time and time again.
"There are water sculptures on my
world." Leiail said absently, almost to herself. "They are very complex,
using force field and antigravs. This is so simple in comparison. But it is very
calming."
"Yes." After a space I said levelly,
"I do have a name, you know."
"Of course I know." She answered,
slightly irritated, but mostly still mesmerized by the waters movement.
"Then why do you never use it?"
She dragged her gaze away from the fountain to stare at me.
"I had not realized..." She said,
honestly.
"Its David, remember?" I said,
smiling slightly.
"David
" She said slowly, trying
it out. "Dehvid." She said again, this time putting a Taelon spin on it.
I laughed. The way she said it sounded so strange. "I guess Dehvid
will do." I told her.
"No," She said decisively. "I
will call you by your proper name. David." And that was that. This time, after that
brief moment of friendliness, she did not freeze over. She looked back at the fountain,
but didnt close up within herself as all the times before. Well, well, I
thought to myself. So she can bring herself down from that mountain for more
than a second. Maybe were getting somewhere. I leaned against the back of the
bench and watched the water flow.
Over the next several weeks we went out nearly
every day, mostly for walks around the DC area. Each day Leiail got just a little
bit more friendly, a little more approachable, though for long spaces she was still the
Ice Queen. I think she decided that making both our lives miserable wasnt going to
help anything. For that, I was immensely grateful.
One day, I was eating dinner in our room. Every
time I ate something she watched me intently, but she had never asked about it. I was
startled when she spoke.
"You are
ingesting nutrients?"
She asked hesitantly.
I quickly swallowed the bite of salad I was
chewing and wiped my mouth. "Eating, yes."
"Do you find this processes
wearisome?"
"What do you mean?" I answered.
"Is it not annoying to have to take time
out of your day to
refuel? I would think that it is a most unpleasant procedure.
Taking animal and plant matter into your body in order to produce energy. Most
inefficient." She shuddered ever so slightly at the thought.
I chuckled. "No, its not at all
annoying. Most humans find eating very enjoyable. Some people even have whole careers
devoted to the proper preparing of food. Its even considered an art form."
She wrinkled her nose in disbelief, which, being a Taelon, made her look very
strange. "I still believe it must be very unpleasant."
Taelons draw all the energy they need from the
Commonality, which gets the energy from
well no ones quite sure about that
part. However, Taelons do have internal organs while they are in their humanoid
form, so theoretically they can process food.
I picked up a cracker and some Brie and held it
out to her.
"Here." I said. "Go on. Try
it."
She stared at the food and her hand, seemingly
of its own accord, reached out just a tiny bit. But then breeding overwhelmed
curiosity, and she pulled back.
"No. I do not require sustenance."
She sounded slightly unsure of herself, but not enough for me to press the issue. Instead
I shrugged.
"Okay. Your loss." I popped the
morsel into my mouth and chewed slowly, with more than the usual relish. Leiail
looked faintly jealous for a moment, but it disappeared quickly and I decided it
mustve been my imagination.
Things continued "normally" for a
week or so, and then one day, out of the blue, Leiail announced, "I wish to see
a play."
I was sipping a glass of water at the time and
at this rather surprising news I sort of choked. You get the picture. Leiail
didnt laugh, but thats only because Taelons dont laugh. If
she had been human her sides wouldve been splitting.
I wiped at the water dribbling off my chin.
"You what?"
Leiail looked at me calmly with folded
hands. "I wish to see a play. A theater production. Preferably a
what did you
call it? A musical. Do you have some trouble understanding what I have said?"
"N-no" I stammered. "Not at all.
Its just a little surprising. Thats all."
"You have spoken most highly of this form
of human entertainment, and I am
curious to observe this for myself."
"Of course. Perfectly natural. Just what I
would expect." A state of shock had become my "normal" over the past few
weeks. My world stubbornly refused to stay the same from one day to the next.
"You can arrange this? Immediately?"
Leiail asked, not catching my sarcasm.
"Y-yes, as you wish."
"Good." She gave a little half-smile,
pleased that she had gotten her way, and went into the next room, leaving me to my
thoughts. I got a newspaper to see what was playing. I found that I had a choice, if she
wanted a musical, between HMS Pinafore and Les Miserables. I was sorely
tempted to take her to see the former, but common sense won over and I used my status as a
Protector to obtain two front row tickets to Les Mis. Besides, Gilbert and
Sullivan might make her pretty little Taelon head explode, I thought with a chuckle.
Since I figured that when Leiail said
"immediately", she probably didnt mean next Monday evening, so I
threw my weight around and managed to get in for the show that night. Daan
didnt seem too upset when I told him what we were doing, in fact he seemed rather
pleased, but he did express some concerns about the safety of taking her some place so
crowded. I convinced him that I would make sure nothing remotely bad came near her. I
feel like Im taking his daughter out on her first date! I thought. But then,
maybe I am. Who knows the relationship between them?
I broke from my reverie as I realized that it was almost time to
go. This should be interesting, I thought, as I hurried down the embassy hallways
from Daans office to get Leiail.
To be continued