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 they’re 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 Da’an’s, but in a silvery iridescent shade. She looked like a cross between a goddess and an angel.
Da’an allowed me a moment to recover (He was definitely enjoying my reaction), and then introduced me.
        "David, this is Lei’ail" He pronounced it with almost an Irish lilt. "Lei’ail, 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 mother’s 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 Da’an, as though I was no longer of any more consequence than a bug.
She hissed something in Eunoia. It wasn’t exactly hostile, but neither was it friendly in the least.
Da’an 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." Da’an 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."
Da’an 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." Da’an looked pleased. He turned to me. "David, I would speak with you alone. Lei’ail, 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." Da’an said, not helping much.
        "Then how…?"
        Da’an 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. Lei’ail is…an anomaly. Even a genetic throwback, if you will."
I would’ve argued the ‘throwback’ part, but I got the message.
        "She’s one in a million." I stated.
        "She is far, far more than that." Da’an 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 Zo’or were among the last generation born."
        "Correct. Lei’ail 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."
        "Lei’ail." 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."
        Da’an 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 didn’t want to know.
        "And," Da’an continued, "The Taelon homeworld is not as safe as Zo’or 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 wouldn’t get an answer. Da’an 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 didn’t want to be Protected, and discovered something about Taelons that no other human knows. And it’s not even ten yet!
We went back in to Da’an’s office. Lei’ail was waiting for us. Da’an 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 David’s presence." This last part was directed at Lei’ail. "David, your things will be moved to your new room." Da’an saluted Lei’ail and I, and then left.
        I stood there staring at her. I knew I was being rude, but I literally couldn’t help it. She looked down at me coldly. Well, actually, cold wasn’t 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 Lei’ail?" I asked. Not exactly impressive, but it was all I could think of. Besides, I wouldn’t 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 Da’an 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 didn’t 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. (Lei’ail just breezed on in without bothering with the security, and to my amazement, the system let her. I’d 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 Da’an 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 Lei’ail move in behind me. She looked out the window, and it seemed as though she was trying very hard not to be interested.
        "Pretty, isn’t?" I asked softly.
A pause. "I did not notice." She said, with forced indifference. I sensed that she was extremely curious, but didn’t 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 you’ll 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. "I’m sorry. You’re right. I was out of line." I sighed silently. Da’an 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 Lei’ail 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 didn’t know which book, and I didn’t much care, since I wasn’t 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, I’d 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 wasn’t 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 she’s never seen a book before.
      "Yes, your book, and then up at me, every few seconds. Why?"
        "Well…I’ve 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 you’re 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 Da’an do that, many times, but her energy was lavender, not blue. Maybe it’s 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. Lei’ail was standing at the window, looking intently out over the garden. She didn’t 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 wasn’t allowed to leave Lei’ail’s presence, and she wasn’t 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, there’s 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 Lei’ail 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, I’m not a typically bold person, but sometimes things slip out before I realize what I’m 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 wasn’t 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 you’ll be a coward, and you’ll 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 couldn’t be a coward. I’d 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, you’ll have to go back to the Taelon homeworld. Do you want that?"
Lei’ail lifted her chin. "You are not the only Protector available."
She was right, I wasn’t. 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 you’ve been? They’ll more likely order you back to the homeworld. Unless, of course, you’re 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 didn’t 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 wasn’t 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. "You’ve been here more than a week. You haven’t gone outside, have you?" No, I could see it. "You won’t even talk to me. You say you want to learn about humans, well I’m a human. You treat me like dirt, so what’s the point? If you think we’re unworthy then why do you want to learn about us? And if you weren’t going to interact with us then why didn’t you just stay home and read about us?"
        As I was speaking something came over her face. She hadn’t even thought about it that way. My guess was that she was so busy trying to be defiant over the Synod’s 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 I’d 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 Da’an 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.
Lei’ail 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. "That’s fresh air. It can’t 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.
        "Lei’ail, 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. Couldn’t even protect her from a plant. I took her hand and looked it over carefully. There were no marks and she wasn’t 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." Lei’ail was looking at the rose bush in fascination. "Why does something so lovely cause pain?"
I smiled at her. "That’s 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," Lei’ail 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 must’ve realized it at the same moment, because she jerked it away sharply and all of a sudden the warm spring day wasn’t so warm anymore, and the light breeze had a bite to it.
        "I-I’m sorry." I said sincerely. "I didn’t mean…" I trailed off. I hadn’t meant to make her uncomfortable. I hadn’t even meant to hold on to her hand that long.
        She didn’t 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 couldn’t 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 wasn’t 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." Lei’ail 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 water’s 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.
        "It’s David, remember?" I said, smiling slightly.
        "David…" She said slowly, trying it out. "Deh’vid." She said again, this time putting a Taelon spin on it.
I laughed. The way she said it sounded so strange. "I guess ‘Deh’vid’ 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 didn’t 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 we’re 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 Lei’ail 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 wasn’t 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, it’s not at all annoying. Most humans find eating very enjoyable. Some people even have whole careers devoted to the proper preparing of food. It’s 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 one’s 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 it’s 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. Lei’ail looked faintly jealous for a moment, but it disappeared quickly and I decided it must’ve been my imagination.
        Things continued "normally" for a week or so, and then one day, out of the blue, Lei’ail 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. Lei’ail didn’t laugh, but that’s only because Taelon’s don’t laugh. If she had been human her sides would’ve been splitting.
        I wiped at the water dribbling off my chin.
        "You what?"
        Lei’ail 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. It’s just a little surprising. That’s 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?" Lei’ail 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 Lei’ail said "immediately", she probably didn’t mean next Monday evening, so I threw my weight around and managed to get in for the show that night. Da’an didn’t 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 I’m 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 Da’an’s office to get Lei’ail.

To be continued…