A Conversation Between Boone And Liam

by Seven


Disclaimer:  Earth: Final Conflict and its characters are copyrighted by Tribune Entertainment Company.  All rights reserved.



Note from Author:      Around the time of "Message in a Bottle" but there are no spoilers.  



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When Liam woke up in the back of the Flat Planet, he found a tall, muscular man sitting at the table, looking at him. He had a pleasantly blunt-drawn face and eyes that, in the morning light, looked almost golden.

Liam shoved himself up into a sitting position in his chair. "Who the..."

The man smiled. "William Boone. I was coming to check on you."

"Check on..." Liam stared at Boone, incredulous. "I thought you were dead."

"I am. Or, as Taelons say, I have joined the void." Boone uttered a laugh. "Sounds so dismal. It's actually very pleasant."

Liam shook his head. "This is a dream. I'm going to wake up." He began to slap himself.

Boone sighed. "Why is it that you can accept Ha'gel and not me?"

Liam stopped slapping himself and closed his eyes. "You look better than your photo."

"Thank you."

"So, what do you mean, check up on me?"

Boone laughed again. He seemed to find it all very amusing. "You're my successor. And one thing I always prided myself on when I was a police officer was checking up on new recruits."

Liam shrugged. "I've been here for over six months. The newness has worn off."

Boone smiled. "Yeah, I guess. It took a little longer for me. Of course, I had more of an adjustment to make."

Liam looked at Boone for a few minutes. "Your wife?"

"Oh, we're together. Along with a few people I also knew before, during my short stint in the job you're doing now." Boone's eyes wandered a little. "Every heard of Katya Petrenko?"

"No..."

"Never mind, then."

A silence. Liam got out of his chair and walked over to the cooler. "Coke or Pepsi?" he asked.

"You forget, I'm dead," Boone replied.

"I take it that's a no," Liam said, taking out a Coke, popping it and taking a sip. "So you know everything about me?"

"Not EVERYTHING, but I've been observing you for about seven months now," Boone replied. Liam sat down in the chair opposite his predecessor. "In other words, ever since you were born."

Liam choked on his Coke, then sighed. "I guess it figures you would know about that."

"Don't worry, dead men tell no tales," Boone joked. "But... how is Da'an?"

"He's okay. A little worried, Zo'or keeps picking on him, but he handles it pretty well."

"And Lili?"

"Ditto, except she's working for Sandoval."

"Err," Boone grimaced sympathetically. "And Doors hates you because you opposed his views."

"Yeah."

"Good for you. Keep it up, he needs someone as a brake." Boone laughed at Liam's expression.

"I take it you weren't the best of friends?" Liam asked.

"The worst of friends, more like," Boone said. "We were on the same side, but we didn't always have the same interests. How do you find the work of a Companion protector?"

Liam shrugged. "Exhausting. On my first day I had to destroy a Jaridian replicant. What did you do on your first day?"

"I got a skrill."

Liam laughed. "But why did you ask me how Da'an and Lili were doing? Couldn't you have gone and asked them yourself?"

Boone shrugged. "I wanted to speak to you. Partially because you have a very difficult job, possibly more difficult than Da'an or Lili have."

"You mean being Resistance leader?"

"No. I mean juggling being the Resistance leader and being Da'an's protector."

Liam took a sip of Coke. "It's not easy."

"Well, I think you're doing a fine job." Boone glanced off to the side. "I'm supposed to leave now..." He got up out of his chair and looked at Liam. "Amanda says hello."

"Amanda?" Liam said, getting to his feet. "You know her?"

"Of course. She was delighted when you and Julia escaped from the Volunteers."

Liam sat back down hard. "Say hello to your wife for me," he said.

Boone smiled. "Katie will like that. She gets very maternal when she hears about you."

As Boone began to melt into thin air, his last words were, "Liam, I also came to send love from your mother."

And William Boone melted onto the air, back into the Void. Liam Kincaid was left alone, in the quiet, thoughtful, confused, and happy.