Deception

by Lyta


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





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Da'an was dead. Lili was dead. The Jaridian Vor'jek, or whatever his name was, had taken Lili's baby back to Jaridia before Lili's body was cold. Liam swished the dark amber liquid in his glass around, absently noting the way it formed a mini whirlpool in the center of the glass for a few seconds. Liam took a long drink and leaned against the wall. This was his first, the only drink he would allow himself all evening, and he was determined to make it last. Part of him wanted to throw it across the room and watch it shatter into thousands of tiny sparking pieces when it hit the wall, another wanted to curl into a ball on the couch and cry himself to sleep, a third part of him wanted to pour himself glass after glass until reality dissolved for a time. There had been so much death recently, starting with Jonathan Doors.

"Is everyone I care about condemned to die because of me?" Liam wondered aloud. It was a familiar litany. If he had not existed there would have been no need for the Resistance to tamper with his mother's CVI and her death might have been prevented. He should have been able to do something, anything, to avert Jonathan's death, and Lili's. Liam took another drink, a sip this time. If he had done a better job of convincing Lili not to try and blow up the Mothership after the election then she might be alive right now.

And Da'an as well.

Da'an hurt the worst. He had already lost Lili once by then and had not gotten over the shock of her return when she had died. But Da'an was a different story, Da'an had been a huge part of his life since day two. He had sworn an oath to protect Da'an and failed.

Liam almost wished that Zo'or would fire him. He knew that such an occurrence would be followed soon after by a most convenient "accident" but he barely cared anymore. A cynical part of Liam wondered if Zo'or only kept him around because he needed Liam to read Ma'el's work.

A bigger question was why he was not in a holding cell on the Mothership. He had caught Sandoval red handed, but after Lili died the implant had merely ordered him to collaborate his account of events. Emotionally drained and reeling from Da'an and Lili's deaths he had agreed, though he had seethed with anger as he lied to Zo'or.

His gaze shifted to his sidearm, lying on the counter by his coat. He did not have to bother with intermediaries. It would be so easy, so easy.

Liam forced his mind off that track. He could not change the past, only the now he reminded himself forcefully. The only thing he could do would be to go forwards. The Resistance needed him.

As if it were that simple.

***

Ronald Sandoval nodded at Volunteer Melissa Erikson as she handed him a global containing the latest status report. To the Taelons and the world, Da'an had been kidnapped and murdered by Resistance extremists. The use of Marquette's shuttle had been explained away as a symbolic gesture by the Resistance, as Marquette was surely seen as a martyr. It amused Sandoval to continue the charade as he knew how very different the reality of the was.

The only other individual aware that the story he had concocted was just that had entered the room quietly and stood waiting for Sandoval to acknowledge him. After the "incident" Sandoval had considered and quickly rejected exposing Major Kincaid as a traitor. After all, Zo'or would not be pleased to learn of a second Resistance agent so entrenched, the Taelon might decide to order an investigation outside of Sandoval's control the could expose his own agenda or even prompt him to reconsider an execution.

But there were other reasons as well that he realized only after the decision had been made. It could be useful to keep a lid on what he knew about the Major, for now anyway, to blackmail the man with later. Sandoval had no idea of Kincaid's true status in the organization, but suspected he was highly placed.

Sandoval at last turned toward Liam, automatically cataloging the other man's appearance with some alarm. There were dark circles under his eyes and an expression that indicated that Liam was not sleeping well these days. Most ominous, however, was the look in his eyes. Sandoval shivered involuntarily, at the haunted gaze of the younger man.

Sandoval felt a trickle of guilt as he suspected the cause of Kincaid's insomnia to be fear of his true loyalties revealed and guilt at his perceived failure with Da'an. The implant well understood how Da'an had the ability to will true allegiance even from those hardened against the Taelons, had he not experienced a similar feeling? Sandoval quelled those thoughts and clamped down on his guilt, he needed to be the true implant for now.

"Major."

"You ordered me to report to you at 0700." Liam said, his voice strangely harsh from barely concealed emotions.

How he must hate me, Sandoval thought. I wish I could tell him, but that would only make him hate me more. Kincaid cannot stand to be used and he has not forgotten or forgiven me for making him back up my account of Da'an's fate. Sandoval took a deep breath. "Yes Major, I did. With Da'an's death you are a Protector without a Companion. Of late, Zo'or has requested that I focus on duties not relating to his protection, to the degree that I can no longer provide him with adequate protection and accomplish the various tasks entrusted to me. Therefore, Zo'or has decided that I am no longer to function has his protector, though I will remain as his attaché."

"Who will Zo'or's new protector be?" Liam asked, suspecting the answer.

"You."

***

Augur had been sleeping when Liam arrived. The cyber wizard had finally fallen asleep after hours of tossing and turning, but had gained little from it. His dreams were a replay of recent events that seemed to capitalize on everything he had failed to notice and throw it back in his face. Intellectually he knew it was survivor's guilt, but his heart told another tale.

He stumbled out of bed to find Liam sitting on his couch staring into space. Vaguely he remembered Liam telling him about an appointment with Sandoval.

"I'm sorry. I forgot that I asked you to come here after your meeting."

"Its all right." Liam whispered. "You looked so tired, even in sleep, and I did not want to disturb you. My news could wait."

"What did Sandoval want?"

Liam ran a hand through his hair before answering. Augur noted that he looked exhausted and wondered exactly how long Liam had been here. "He wanted to tell me I've been promoted." Liam finally said in a flat tone.

"To what?"

"I'm now Zo'or's protector. Sandoval is remaining as his attaché. He pretty much told me point blank that he's still in charge, though."

Augur nodded and headed over to a small coffee machine. He needed something, he was too drained to even think clearly. "I'm sure your new position will provide access to good Intel for the Resistance."

"Yeah. Either that or I'm walking into a trap."

"You don't sound too concerned." Augur said, his tiredness was rapidly being replaced by growing alarm at Liam's manner.

"Of course I'm concerned about the Resistance." Liam replied indignantly.

"I meant about yourself."

Liam sighed. "To be perfectly honest Augur, I'm really not too concerned about myself."

Augur sighed. "You never asked me what I did to look so tired."

"I assumed it was recent events."

"Certainly a contributing factor, but not the whole enchilada. I hacked into Sandoval's files. The folks who set up the security measures for him made it a real challenge."

Liam perked up a little and showed signs of interest. "Did you find out anything on those Resistance members who were supposedly killed in the shuttle crash?"

"Yeah. Like Renee suspected, they had disappeared during the crackdown and were never heard from again by there families or cells."

"I wonder if the others who disappeared met similar fates."

Augur felt sick at the bare thought. "It is a possibility we have to consider," he said carefully. "But Sandoval never struck me as the type to waste resources. Its more likely they tried to get away and were killed, and he had their remains preserved for something like this. Remember that warehouse you and Renee found those prisoners in, the one where Lili had been? I'm betting he's got the rest of the prisoners stashed in such places for use in his projects."

"Experiments."

"Yeah, of the nasty variety where not all the subjects are around to see the conclusion."

"It just keeps getting better."

"At least we do have one shred of good news, though."

"Oh? What's that?"

"I was able to trace some of his recent activities. Not all of his cronies have such good security programs. Our boy has been funneling resources into black boxes while reporting loses on raids that never occurred. As far as I can piece together, one of his warehouses is in North Carolina, Camp Johnson. It was a part of the big Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune, but with the scaling back of the military it was reportedly sold to conservation group."

"Let me guess, the FBI has taken a sudden interest in preserving the habitats of endangered species."

"Well they uses a front group, but yeah. Hardly surprising considering how tight the Feds and the Corps are. They share facilities at Quantico and the FBI recruits from the Marines. That part of North Carolina is not exactly a tourist Mecca and the locals have gotten used to Camp Lejeune and the New River Air Station in their backyards. Plus with the bases so near they can easily explain away interest and stringent controls over who gets to fly in that airspace."

"What else have you uncovered?" Liam asked.

"There is a cell in that area and I had them check out Johnson. To make a long story short one of the members works in a local bar and got some folks talking after adding something special to their drinks. They also bugged his global and in the background of one of his calls you can get images of three people last seen in November."

"How many do they think are there total?"

Augur shrugged. "The working estimate is around two or three dozen."

"Any idea why they are there?"

"Only that it has something to do with NDE states, can't get more specific until we can get a complete list of who is actually there."

"Suggestions as to how we go about getting such a list?"

The cyber wizard smiled. "Doors International has a really nice satellite that will be in a good position to take pictures of that area at noon tomorrow."

***

"Old military base." Renee mused. "I should have thought of that. The question though is what Sandoval and his FBI cronies have been using our people for."

"All we know is it has something to do with NDE states."

"NDE?"

"Near death experiences."

Renee considered this for a long moment. "A little over a year ago the Taelons rounded up some of our members for a similar sounding project."

"I remember." Liam told her. "There was a drain on the Commonality and they used the mental energy from the sleepers to sustain themselves until Lili found the drain."

"I'm surprised she went to the trouble of finding it."

Liam met her gaze. "Without the Commonality the Taelons regress to a primitive state called an atavus. Ask Augur about it."

Renee made a mental note to do just that when next she met with Augur. "Well do you think that's what is going on here?'

Liam shrugged. "Without knowing exactly who is there and gathering more information, no. We only have identified three prisoners."

"Why do I have the impression that you are about to ask me for a favor?"

"Because you are a smart lady."

Renee sighed. It had not been an easy year. She was still dealing with the emotional effects Jonathan's death on a personal level and the transition of authority to Joshua on the professional level. Jonathan's death had suddenly and radically altered her life, Renee had not realized how much she depended on him until it was too late. She felt a familiar pain and tears prick at her eyes, but she managed to bottle up her feelings. Joshua was having problems coming to terms with his role in the events that killed his father and on top of that she had to deal with a devastated Augur and Liam. She could not afford to go to pieces now when so many needed her to be calm for them.

She had not known Lili Marquette very well, just enough to know that they could never be friends. They had worked together on some projects early on, before Marquette became more and more heavily involved with the shuttle program. Any chance of friendship between them had died after the Landers incident. Lili had never forgiven her for that debacle and in truth Renee had never forgiven herself. It had been such a waste…

Then Liam spoke and Renee snapped her attention back to focus on the situation at hand.

"Augur suggested that we might be able to use of Doors satellites to get images of the area and ID the prisoners."

Renee frowned. "It would invite too much suspicion and tip our hands. Sandoval has been increasing his surveillance of DI since Joshua took over. What about your local friends?"

"Neither of them have any experience in such matters. The cell leader has refined a system that has yielded a surprisingly high volume of intelligence. It seems the military can't stand the Volunteers and when they go to the local bars to unwind…"

"Tabitha and her crew give them the 'house special' and a sympathetic ear. Her cell has proved to be our best source for information on Volunteer deployments. You are right about their limitations, but there are other cells in the area. I know there is a cell in Wilmington, and one of the members is a survival expert from the area. If anyone can hike through miles of North Carolina wilderness undetected, it would be him."

"They'd still have to evade the electronic surveillance."

"I'm sure he knows a hacker or two who wouldn't mind roughing it."

"You already have someone in mind, don't you?"

"Actually, yes."

"Care to elaborate?"

Renee smiled. "Actually, no."

"Gee thanks."

"Don't concern yourself with this one Liam. I'll take care of it. This way if it backfires you'll be genuinely surprised to hear about it. Might help in convincing Ronnie that you weren't involved."

Liam turned away. "Augur called you before I showed up didn't he."

"Yes, which is why I was able to come up with the right people for this assignment. Your new position, though is a boon to the Resistance."

"To the Resistance, yes. To me personally its a nightmare."

***

"So how proceeds the investigation into Da'an's death, Agent Sandoval?" Zo'or demanded glaring at his attaché and protector.

The implant swallowed hard, a temporary betrayal of nervousness before his usual unreadable mask fell and locked into place over this features. "We have concluded that it was the Resistance group that calls itself Black Wednesday who is to blame."

A shadow crossed Zo'or's face. "The same Resistance cadre responsible for the theft and destruction of the Skrill Queen, I believe. You informed me some months ago that the group was no longer in existence."

"They were reformed and consider the original group to be martyrs. Da'an's death was in part to avenge them."

"In part?"

"Also to avenge Jonathan Doors. They have a ridiculous notion that Doors was murdered by Volunteers at your orders." Sandoval said smoothly. It was not entirely a lie, there had been questions raised after the news of Doors' death was released.

"I fail to understand the human concept of revenge. Those upon whom revenge is carried out are not necessarily deserving of it. It is a most primitive this idea of guilt by association. Mr. Doors may have died in our facility but we did nothing to orchestrate his end."

"I'm aware of that, Zo'or."

Liam spoke up for the first time. "The harder you deny involvement, the more fervent the Resistance becomes to the belief that the Taelons were involved."

"I find such reasoning incomprehensible, Major."

"It is something of a paradox, Zo'or." Sandoval said.

"How so?"

"The Resistance is inherently suspicious. I'm sure the Major can recall some of the conspiracy theories that circulated around during the nineties."

Thanks to you, Sandoval, Liam thought. "Conspiracies, whether true or not interest people. They are easy to imagine and difficult to disprove. Actually any effort to disprove them can be explained away as concealment and support the original accusation of a conspiracy. For example, the majority of Americans believe that the NSA, CIA, FBI or another alphabet organization was involved in the assassination of President Kennedy. No matter how many denials are presented, the speculation continues."

"President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX by Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22, 1963. Oswald himself was killed soon afterward by Jack Ruby." Sandoval explained.

"The original FBI investigation was slanted toward proving Oswald acted alone to reassure the American public. The original report had holes large enough to fly Air Force One though, which is why the Warren Commission which was supposed to just sign off on the FBI's report conducted their own investigation. The theory they came up with has been the official one and is known as the 'magic bullet theory'. Its actually something of a joke in pop culture." Liam continued.

Zo'or stared at him unblinkingly. "Humans continue to attempt reassignment of responsibility for an act which occurred before either of you were born."

Sandoval bowed his head slightly. "I used to be fascinated with the JFK assassination. I was quite the self proclaimed expert in school. I believe it was the mystique that attracted me."

"I am still quite perplexed as to this phenomena."

"The conspiracy the Resistance has fabricated is nothing but a weak attempt to justify a heinous crime." Sandoval said vehemently.

Zo'or nodded slowly, a gesture he had picked up from the humans. "I will consider this discussion. You are both dismissed."

***

Alex Devers readjusted the straps of her backpack to shift its weight so that it would be somewhat more comfortable. As a kid she had loved to hike and camp, but none of that had prepared her for two days alone in the woods with Nick Stanton. They only paused to sleep or to get their bearings, by compass as a global signal out there where there was only supposed to be rocks, trees and endangered woodpeckers would stand out and might be detected.

"How much father to the perimeter?" Alex asked.

"Another hour."

"Good."

They continued on in complete silence until they reached the perimeter. Alex carefully sat down her backpack and brought out her equipment. Old bases like these had a variety of electrical systems put in place over the decades with the modern ones often tied into the older and less secure but still functional systems. Alex located an outside line and almost effortlessly broke into the system.

"All the security here is focused on keeping folks in." Nick commented. "They obviously need to improve on keeping folks out."

"We'll just have to make sure and drop them a note about that." Alex quipped. "After we leave."

"Are you ready yet?"

"Yes. I'm in the system. They haven't noticed me yet, probably because I'm just lurking. I'm sending the feeds off the security cameras to our buddies in the capital."

"Good." Nick survey the facility and paused. "if necessary could you bring the system down?"

Alex smirked as she produced a small disk. "A virus of my own design."

"Charming." Nick replied absently, pulling out his binoculars and setting the equipment to record mode.

"I try."

"Whoa, this must be important." Nick suddenly muttered.

"Huh?"

"Unless he's got a twin, that was most definitely Ronald Sandoval."

"Zo'or's errand boy?"

"The one and only."

Alex shivered. Sandoval was a legend in the Resistance. It was he who had conducted many of the interrogations and orchestrated the crackdown. Entire cells had sworn themselves to eliminating him.

"Is that what I think…" Alex began pointing toward a building on the far right. "Its gone now."

"What did you see?"

"I think it was a Taelon."

"This just keeps on getting stranger and stranger."

***

"Its strange." Augur commented. "I finally got used to thinking of Lili as dead and then this happens."

"I know." Liam said.

"I tried to avoid talking about her death the first time around. I even deleted Holo-Lili so I would not be confronted with reality every day. I guess I was trying to hide from reality."

"You two are such rays of sunshine these days." Renee commented as she entered.

"Hello Renee."

"Just hello? To think when I come bearing gifts all I get is a perfunctory greeting." Renee said handing Augur a thick manila envelope. "My friends got the goods. Footage from Ronnie's security cameras."

Augur reviewed the files and compared them to the lists of detainees that had been painstakingly compiled.

"All missing since the crackdown?" Renee asked.

"Yeah, all fairly new to the Resistance, no special skills. Your friends get anything else?"

"One thought she saw a Taelon, wasn't able to confirm."

"So," Liam considered, "maybe Zo'or is involved."

"Or maybe the Taelon is going behind our dear Synod leader's back. T'Than or one of his friends for instance."

"Maybe."

"What about the prisoners?"

Renee smiled broadly. "I'm glad you asked. I need Liam and you to run interference while our local friends spring them."

***

Tabitha Crow sat on the barstool, very well aware just how much leg she exposed by sitting while wearing such a short and tight dress.

"Really? I bet that's fascinating." She said laughingly.

"Yeah, it is." The man next to her slurred.

"Hey, lady take your friend home before he conducts a detailed inspection of my floor." The bartender Rick said irritably. He nodded to Tabitha and she smiled conspiratorially.

"No problem, I live not to far from here." Tabitha helped the drunken man, Captain Felden, out the door and behind the building. She pulled a small syringe from her purse and injected it into his right arm. Moments later he was out like a light.

"Payton?"

"Right here." Two others emerge from the darkness and hauled Felden away.

"Think it will work?"

"Alex has replaced Felden's image and identifiers with mine in the system and Rick took care of the pictures after you lifted his wallet. He's new enough here that Ryan can impersonate him to the degree we need."

"Excellent. You two take his uniform off and get ready, I'll call our friends to let them know we're all set."

***

The hardest thing about doing an infiltration was pretending everything was normal. Ryan took a deep breathe and did his best to look annoyed. Tabitha had once told him that an expression of annoyance could cover a multitude of betraying emotions, like the anxiety that almost gave him away the first time, when he had posed as a Volunteer.

After what seemed like an eternity, the sentry waved him through and Ryan turned his lights from parking aback to low beam. He had studied maps of the area, it would not do to get lost even though his cover had never been to this part of the facility but it could cause unwanted attention. Finally he parked and after clearing security he went to report in. The real Felden was supposed to report in and be assigned an office, nothing too difficult. Ryan lucked out in that the higher ups who might have seen Felden's unaltered file were preoccupied and a quiet lieutenant with dark hair cut military short showed him the way.

"You know where the bathrooms are around here?" Ryan asked casually after thanking the man and nodding.

"Yes, sir. Its down the hall third door on the left."

As soon as the lieutenant has left, he studied the office. A square shaped room with a metal desk, chair and two book cases. Very spartan.

He walked down the hall to the bathroom, instead one of the stalls he pulled out the bomb from his coat pocket. It was tiny, but effective and made of a newly devised explosive that no security system was currently set up to detect. He fixed it on the back of the sink with a casual gesture, the timer already set, and armed the device. Now to find himself a cup of coffee and make busy until he could slip out.

***

"Ryan's clear." Tabitha's voice whispered in Nick's ear.

"And Felden?"

"Still napping. He'll be found tomorrow with a nasty hangover and some explaining to do. I'd say his future with Sandoval's projects is iffy."

"Good work."

Just then they saw a bright light in the distance.

"Looks like our bomb worked."

"It certainly looks like it did."

"Part two ready?"

"Part two is a go. Lets hope the folks in the capital can keep Sandoval's attention long enough for us to get our people to safety."

"Amen to that."

***

Liam pulled the bill of his hat down further to cover his face. Despite what Renee had told him about the security layout and the codes that would shut down the cameras without raising any alarms, he still felt awkward. He had come very close to being recognized before, only the fact that his position was not as public as Sandoval's had really saved him, still these were Volunteers stationed in and around Washington. Some of them had to have pulled shifts on the Mothership or at the Embassy.

"All set?" He whispered to his companion.

Augur smiled. "It is not every day I'm actually encouraged to wreck some of Renee's toys."

"I'm glad you intend on having fun."

"I've decided to take enjoyment when and where I can find it these days. My only complaint is this uniform. I think Renee is exercising her sense of humor because it feels a bit itchy."

"Its standard stuff Augur, made to survive just about anything."

"Now I know why the Volunteers are so willing to throw their lives away. Anything to stop having to feel these uniforms!"

Liam shook his head. "Get set, its almost time to move."

***

"It is working!" Tabitha hissed. "Security is being drawn away."

"Yeah, from what those cameras are showing I think they feel its a safe bet that those prisoners are not moving." Nick stated.

"Do you have the override and erase codes for the portals?'

"The program is all set." Alex affirmed. "By the time they realize what has happened, that portal and its computer will be tiny bits of ash."

"Good. Lets get going." Tabitha pulled out her weapon, she had already prepped and checked it a dozen times, but she gave it a quick once over. Her cell was far more accustomed to more subtle forms of Resistance, excelling at information retrieval and break ins, not raids though a few had occurred.

She followed Nick and Alex, grateful for the experience they brought. Strange to think of Alex as more experienced as the hacker could not be more than twenty, and that was seven years her junior.

Nick struck the Volunteer guarding the door in the side of the face as Tabitha and Alex dragged him into the cover of bushes were the quickly tied her up and removed her global and weapon.

Nick signaled that it was clear and Tabitha, Alex, Payton, Rick, Fiona, and Justin followed him down the hall to where the prisoners were being held.

Tabitha gasped as they entered the room. Each person was on a wheeled gurney, strapped in and unconscious with a strange device over their heads. Energy of some sort was emitted by the devices and captured by a globe shaped receiver suspended from the ceiling like a disco ball.

"What the hell is going on here?' Tabitha wondered aloud in a whisper. She glanced at the others, including the doctor Fiona, whom she had been told was brought in from Charlotte for this mission. Fiona did not return her gaze as she checked out the sleepers.

"Questions can wait." Alex snapped as she moved to the portal and started entering information in. "We have eight minutes before their security will check this area. We need to move."

"Can we move them without hurting them? Payton asked nervously. "For all we know we could be killing them."

"We can move them, and we had better hurry. These machines are killing them, slowly." Fiona announced.

"I've got the portal working."

"Great. Lets move our friends here back to the land of the living."

***

Agent Sandoval did not care much for dealing with Renee Palmer under ordinary circumstances. He thought the woman was arrogant with a bloated opinion of importance due to her association with the Doors end of the co-ventures and Sandoval was well aware of her Resistance ties. Unfortunately this was not an ordinary situation and he disliked an annoyed and angry Palmer even more than the usual persona the woman presented.

"I can assure you Ms. Palmer that this security breach will be taken care of."

"It had better be." Renee steamed. "You were the one who insisted that Volunteers be used to safeguard this material after the Robilard incident. Now thanks to their incompetence we may be forced to start hundreds of hours of research and testing anew."

"Ms. Palmer my computer experts say its premature to consider the data irretrievably lost."

Renee glared. "In the future I expect that Volunteers assigned to this facility will display a modicum of intelligence and competence. Zo'or will here about this travesty."

She stormed out, smirking a bit as she rounded a corner and pulled out her global.

"Renee." Liam answered. "What do you think?"

"Next time I need something destroyed, I'll definitely call you two. I assume you still have the material from the lab?"

"Its being sent to a Resistance lab near Seattle."

"Good."

She closed her global and went to her office. No sooner than she left someone else sought to use the corridor for a call.

Sandoval quickly scanned the corridor, he was alone.

"How badly was the facility damaged?"

"Superficial, but our security system is down. It was a diversion anyway. Our test subjects are gone, they used the portal. They vaporized the lab where they were through so we can't trace them using the portal"

Sandoval felt a growing dread. "What about our two prisoners?"

"They never penetrated that far into the compound. I'm moving them to the Delaware facility and arranging for more subjects."

"Good work, Captain."

***

"Any ideas on what was going on?" Liam asked.

"Definitely a revival of the sleepers, but why?'

"The sleepers?" Nick asked.

"Old project, Tabitha can fill you in." Alex answered. "What happens to the folks we rescued?'

"New identities, assignment to new cells if they are interested. The big thing is what happens to you. Sandoval is going to purge the entire state of Resistance cells after this. We expected this and have moved the others into hiding." Renee told them.

"We'll wait him out. North Carolina is our home and we won't leave it to the Taelons for use as a playground." Tabitha said firmly eliciting nods from the others with the exception of Alex. "But if you need us, just call."

"What about you Alex?"

The young woman hesitated a moment. "My cell has a high concentration of hackers, so I'm rather redundant which is why I was sent to go on this mission. I frankly don't care where I am so long as I can be part of the Resistance."

"I think I could use some help here," Augur conceded. "Even I cannot always be in two places at once."

"I think you've just got a position here." Renee said with a smile. "What do you think."

"I think I'd better start looking for a place to stay around here." Alex answered.

***

Back in North Carolina, Alex finished packing the last of her things in preparation for the move. Aside from clothes, her computer, and a new knick knacks she did not have much.

Thanks to the Taelons, Alex thought bitterly as she walked into the claustrophobically small bathroom and stared distastefully at the syringe lying on the sink in front of her.

She splashed water on her face and frowned at her reflection. She looked like her mother, she decided, especially when she was tired. They had similar mannerisms and reactions when tired.

Everything was hazy. Soon it would get worse if she did not take this month's dose. She picked it up and injected herself in the upper arm before she could think further about it.

Seconds later she felt clarity and strength return to her, all the while feeling guilty for the source. There was nothing she could do about that now.

***

The Taelon knelt beside the human woman. Tears still stained her cheeks, she had fallen asleep crying. Post- partem depression, he had been told by one of the guards who offered a vague description while clearly unsure as to whether or not it applied to this woman.

"He took her." Lili had repeated over and over again in a dead voice as she stared at him through glazed eyes. "Everything I went through and they treat me like I'm nothing once the baby is born. A lab rat that was not supposed to survive the experiment." Lili laughed bitterly.

"Your child is safe." Da'an said, knowing how less than comforting the statement was but also recognizing that Lili needed to here a response. They had isolated them in separate cells for days, only when it became clear that Lili would live did they allow them to stay together. Sandoval had formulated new plans for the Captain and knew that she would need the support of someone she cared for to cross this hurdle. Soon her sorrow and guilt would turn to anger, an emotion the implant far preferred. He could make use of anger.

"At least she's not with Sandoval." Lili said bitterly, taking small comfort in that fact. Da'an had confirmed that Baby Rachel was no longer on Earth. Lili did not understand exactly what had happened before she went intro labor, but she knew that Da'an had given part of himself to save her and the baby, and so a connection had been forged.

"Yes."

"So what happens to us now?" Lili asked.

"I cannot begin to speculate on Sandoval's intentions." Da'an replied ominously.

FIN