From a Thousand Years Long Gone

by Seven


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



Note from Author:  Takes place in late S2.



**********



The gilded silver sphere in the middle of the Taelon lab was encased in four forcefields of varying strength. Liam Kincaid brushed his fingertips over the top one and winced as it shocked his hand.

"What is it?" he asked Da'an, sensing the Taelon coming up behind him. "Who made it?"

"The Kimera," Da'an whispered.

Liam jerked, his green eyes wide. "The Kimera?" he asked softly. "Could I see it?"

"You ARE seeing it."

"I mean touch it, pick it up."

Da'an sighed and closed his eyes. "Liam, this device was hitherto unknown to us. We do no know what its purpose is, and it may be dangerous."

Liam glanced again at the innocuous-looking object and held his hand a few centimeters from the forcefield. "You think it might be a trap?" he asked slowly.

Da'an took his protector's hand and gently drew it away from the forcefield. "It very well may be," he said quietly. He turned and began to walk away. "Liam, please come."

He turned back and saw Liam still staring at the sphere, as if hypnotized. His green eyes were wide and slightly twitching, as if he were seeing something at a high speed. Da'an touched Liam's shoulder, concerned, and his protector twitched and snapped out of it.

"Uh, yeah," Liam said, shaking himself a little and walking after Da'an. But Da'an was chilled by the strange look in his protector's eyes.

****

As the two left the lab, there was a strange sparking across the forcefield as the sphere began to glow an odd golden color. A tiny whirling strand, like a miniscule wormhole, appeared between the sphere and the forcefield, beginning to drain the barriers of their power.

After only a few seconds, the forcefields fizzed out. The sphere was unprotected, and it still glowed golden.

****

Lili Marquette was mumbling to herself as she walked into the lab, scooping up a couple of dataclips. Sandoval was making more and more demands on her daily, as if testing her limits. She wasn't certain if the look of satisfaction on his face was due to her excellent results or the fact that she had to respond to every cue.

A soft whirring noise interrupted her thoughts. She turned around and saw the pulsating sphere, without its protective shielding. She gasped and pulled out her global.

****

Agent Sandoval pulled out his global and flipped it open. "Yes, Captain?"

"Sandoval," Lili said in a tense voice. "You know that artifact?"

Zo'or sharply swiveled his chair, alarmed.

"Yes?" Sandoval said slowly.

"The forcefields are down, and it's glowing... it's...." Lili's voice drifted off and her screen went blank.

****

Lili slowly approached the sphere. It was very beautiful, and she wanted to look at it more. Sandoval's voice seemed very distant as she watched the glowing golden ball...

"Captain? Captain, stay away from the sphere and seal off the lab! Captain!" Sandoval shouted over the global link.

Lili reached over to the sphere, wanting to touch it. Suddenly a pair of organic tubes sprang from the object and buried themselves in her palm, burrowing deeper into her hand like a pair of ravenous red ants. Lili screamed and started tearing at the tubes. Her entire arm felt like it was on fire, and the pain was spreading.

****

Sandoval heard Lili's wild shrieking at the other end. He slapped the global shut and ran.

****

Sandoval hammered his fists on the door. "Captain!" he shouted. Then he stepped back and pointed at the door, indicating one of the Volunteers flanking him. "Open it. Now."

The Volunteer touched a Taelon instrument to the door, and it slowly slid open. Lili was standing inside, looking woozy. Her eyelids drooped and she was swaying a little. Sandoval looked over her shoulder at the tabletop.

The sphere had vanished.

"Captain?" he asked, grasping her by the shoulders. "What happened to the artifact?"

Lili looked up at him with a pair of shimmering silvery eyes, cold eyes. Her hands came up at what seemed like lightning speed and grasped his wrists. "Not acceptable," she rumbled in a metallic voice almost two octaves lower than her usual voice. She grabbed the front of his suit, lifted him effortlessly and tossed him against the wall.

As she approached the terrified Volunteers, Sandoval felt darkness overcoming his senses. He fumbled for his global in his pocket, pressed a special code into it, and blacked out.

****

The security camera was activated on the bridge, but all Zo'or, Da'an, and Liam saw on the screen was Sandoval and the two Volunteers crumpled on the floor. Liam bit his lip, and noticed something. "May I?" he asked Zo'or.

Zo'or, looking somewhat startled, nodded. Liam entered a command, and the picture zoomed in to the tabletop where the sphere had been. Da'an's eyes went wide. "Oh my-" Liam began to say.

And the lights blinked into the minimum level. Liam dismissed the screen and waved the controls into view. "Power systems are off-line, everything except what's absolutely necessary."

"What is happening, Major?" Zo'or snapped, leaning forward.

"When I find out, I will be certain to let you know," Liam mumbled. Da'an came up next to him and watched the protector's hands dance across the controls. "What is wrong?" Da'an asked worriedly.

"Someone's locked me out," Liam announced tensely. "Zo'or?"

Zo'or touched the small panel on the arm of his chair, and looked surprised. "I have as well," he announced, startled.

"Taelons."

The voice was Lili's, but much deeper than normally and with a metallic timbre. She had silently appeared in the doorway, her face impassive.

Liam stared at his friend in horror. Her eyes were now the cold silver of the sphere, and her skin had gone deathly pale. Odd metal implants of some sort were lacing the skin of her face and left arm. She tilted her head and stared directly at him. "Human," she rumbled.

"Lili?" Liam asked cautiously, approaching her. "What happened? Did the sphere do this to you?"

Lili pondered this for a moment, then stated, "The object was absorbed into the body of Lili Marquette. She is one."

Liam took a deep breath. "What happened? What are you... Lili... whatever?"

Lili stared at him, and her eyes flashed once. "This is a biological component. To be used in carrying information and data on enemies."

"Enemies?"

"Taelons," Lili said, as if it were obvious. "Attempting to obliterate the Kimera race. It cannot be allowed."

"Listen," Liam protested. "The Kimera have been dead for millennia now. It's too late."

Lili blinked. "It is not possible. This component receives a message of greeting from its origin. The mission will be completed." She raised one arm and slapped her inplant-covered left hand against the panel. She froze in place and data began to flash by on the screen at incredible speeds.

"She's downloading the entire database," Liam said incredulously.

"Stop her," Zo'or said in a tense tone.

Liam glanced at Da'an, who was staring at Lili sadly, then began to approach his friend cautiously. She briefly broke her concentration and stared at him with cold silver eyes. As he reached for her arm, to pull her away, her other hand snapped up and grasped his throat, then threw him back.

Liam hit the floor and rolled a short way, coming right up against Zo'or's chair. He looked up at the Taelon with an apologetic air. "Sorry," he wheezed, fondling his bruised throat.

Then he shakily got to his feet and approached Lili, who was almost finished, by the speed of the data being downloaded. "Look, why would I lie to you about the Kimera?"

"You are an ally of the enemy," Lili stated coldly. "This component will not accept your assertions." She removed her hand from the panel and eyed Da'an and Zo'or. "This component will require a Taelon shuttle to go to its place of origin. Will you assist it?"

Zo'or looked ready to protest, appeared to think about it, then nodded in what Liam described as his "gracious" mode. "Of course. Major Kincaid," he looked at Liam. "Prepare a shuttle."

"You will, of course," Da'an said hesitantly, "release the command codes?"

Lili seemed to ponder this. "Acceptable," she said. Then she briskly walked over to the command dais and grabbed Da'an by the arm. Zo'or was no physical match for her; she was practically dragging him. Liam ran to them and yanked her hand off of Zo'or's arm. Not expecting it, she let go easily. "What are you doing?" Liam demanded.

Lili eyed Zo'or as someone would eye a piece of merchandise. "This component requires some form of insurance, so that it is not destroyed during the journey."

Liam knew that wherever she was going, it was big. And probably powerful. And that was the exact last place he wanted Zo'or to be if she were still receiving a signal from some Kimera outpost.

"I will go with you," Da'an announced quietly, "if you release the command codes."

Lili pondered this, and her face hardened slightly. "Insufficient. This component has also absorbed a portion of the knowledge of Lili Marquette. It has determined that Zo'or would destroy all hostages, particularly Da'an, for the furtherment of the Taelon agenda."

"Well, you have to release them somehow, or you don't get the shuttle," Liam stated.

Lili appeared to be thinking hard; her musings took almost ten seconds. "This component has the ability to transmit data through interdimensional. I will release the codes once the shuttle has reached its destination." She reached out and grabbed Da'an by the shoulder, beginning to pull him along with her.

Zo'or watched them leave the bridge. Liam glanced briefly at him and sprinted after Da'an and Lili.

****

"This component did not require your presence," Lili announced coldly, prodding Da'an into the shuttle. Da'an sank down in the seat, looking worried as Liam began to climb in as well. Lili grabbed the back of his jacket, hoisted him up, and dropped him back on the floor.

Liam took a deep breath. "Look, I'm Da'an's protector, and if you have Lili's knowledge you know that I swore an oath to protect him with my life."

Lili's silver eyes flickered. "This component does not posess all of Lili Marquette's knowledge."

"And why do you think that is?" Liam challenged. "It's because you've taken over Lili without her consent. You would have all her knowledge if you did."

Lili stared at him impassively. Then she gestured at the shuttle. Liam nodded in mock-gratefulness and climbed up into the pilot's seat.

****

Zo'or watched on the bridge as the shuttle was launched. If he looked carefully, he could see the tiny figure of Major Kincaid piloting it. For a moment it hovered, then streaked into interdimensional space. A Kimera creation, like a replicant. And it had all the data compiled in the mothership computers. The implications were terrifying.

Zo'or sat down on his command chair, and wondered briefly how long it would take for them to reach the Kimera creature's destination. Then it occurred to him that he should probably send someone to tend to Agent Sandoval...

****

They had been flying in ID for three hours, and Liam's shoulders ached from the constant, repetitive movements of Taelon steering. He was also getting a little hungry.

"Here," Lili said from the seat next to Da'an.

Liam pulled the shuttle out of ID, and found himself staring at a huge, crystalline structure on the surface of an otherwise barren planet. The structure, Liam found himself knowing, was a Kimera city. Perhaps a colony that the Taelons hadn't found.

He scanned for life-forms. For a brief moment, he hoped that there were Kimera down there, others like him, but his hopes were in vain. "Landing the shuttle," he announced, guiding the shuttle into a what appeared to be a deserted drydock near the city.

Da'an turned to Lili. "You must do as you said. Release the command codes."

Lili paused for half a moment, then stared at him impassively. "It is done." She immediately rose and climbed out of the shuttle, and began to hike toward the city. Liam looked at Da'an, shrugged, and jumped out to follow her.

****

The interior of it was more beautiful than anything Liam had ever seen. His green eyes grew wide as he and Da'an followed Lili through the city. "It's a library," he whispered. "I've never seen anything like it..."

The walls were lined with tiny forcefield containers, each with a dataclip inside. They were larger and appeared virtually unbreakable in comparison to the ones that Liam had seen on the mothership.

"Correct," Lili said coldly, coming to what appeared to be a blank silver wall. She raised her left hand, and it split down the middle, revealing what appeared to be a huge silvery-crystalline cylinder. She jogged to it and touched it. It opened, revealing a streamlined chair... and a small gray device on the seat.

Lili was looking confused for the first time. "This component... does not comprehend," she said slowly.

"It's a beacon," Liam said gently, coming up to her. "There are no Kimera here. They're either dead or escaped, and they left this library behind."

"But... the knowledge..."

"Can still be used," Liam said gently. "You can download the computer logs into a dataclip and leave them here. Perhaps another race fighting the Taelons will discover it."

Lili paused for a moment, then approached a forcefield that was darkened. She waved it away and pulled out a dataclip, pressed her hand against it for a moment, then put it back and waved the forcefield up. The container was now lit, as if by the knowledge that it contained. Da'an, Liam noticed, looked more awed than he ever had before.

Lili stood in front of them, her eyes turning a paler silver. Liam knew what that meant: deactivation due to lack of mission. "Wait," he ordered, raising his hand. His shakarava whirled into view, then vanished. Lili stared at him. "As the last of the Kimera, I order you to destroy the Kimera components in Lili's body and set her free."

Lili nodded. "This component cannot disobey." She stiffened and fell, her dead-white skin flushing pink and the implants on her skin sparking and coming loose.

Liam knelt down, picked her up, and silently walked to the shuttle, Da'an following him. Neither said anything, as if afraid.

Liam awkwardly pulled Lili up into the shuttle and dragged her into the back, behind the seats. Da'an knelt down beside her. Liam looked at Da'an briefly. "Take care of her for a moment, please," he said.

Da'an nodded as Liam as the protector climbed back out.

****

The fact that it was his second time in the library made it no less beautiful to Liam. He waved away four of the forcefields and removed the dataclips inside. He accessed each one with his global, creating a link and downloading the data on each one into the tiny computer. Then he put them back in their alcoves and left.

****

The shuttle whizzed out of ID near the mothership. Da'an craned his neck a little to see over Liam, then commented, "Are you not forgetting something?"

Liam smiled, waved the flight logs into view, downloaded it into his global, and erased them.

****

Sandoval couldn't help wincing as Liam carried Lili into the medical bay. Belman gasped and ran to the protector's side as he set his friend down on a bed. "I heard about what happened. What did you do to her?" the doctor asked.

Liam held up his hands. "Hey, I didn't do anything. Lili would be dead if I hadn't convinced the... whatever-it-was to let Lili free."

As Belman began to scan Lili's prone form, Liam wandered over to the bed on the other side of the room. Sandoval was lying on it, his eyes slitted, an organic bandage of some kind pressed against his forehead. "Hello, Major," Sandoval said slowly. "Did you find out where it wanted to go?"

Liam's green eyes became wary. "Yeah, an abandoned Kimera outpost taken over by the Jaridians."

Sandoval grimaced. "No value, then."

Liam shrugged. "Well, with the sort of things the Kimera knew, of course others would want it."

"Liam?" croaked Lili. Liam spun and ran to her. Some of the implants had been stripped from her face and arm, and Belman was severing one on her neck. She stared at him with wide eyes. "How did I get here?"

Liam smiled and squeezed her hand. "I'll tell you later."

****

Da'an found Liam in a secluded area of the mothership. The young man was staring, engrossed, at his global screen. Da'an touched him on the shoulder, and he jumped. "Oh, Da'an... just reading the data I downloaded."

"What is it?" Da'an asked, peering at the alien symbols on the screen. "I, sadly, do not read Kimera."

"One is a prose story, sort of a science fiction story," Liam said eagerly. "Another is a scientific journal, one has poetry from a Kimera named Yu'han, and the last is a autobiography of a great Kimera leader."

Da'an smiled, a little sadly. "It sounds fascinating."

"Yes, it is!" Liam said, shutting his global with an angelic smile. As Da'an began to walk away, Liam got up and walked alongside him. "Da'an... I'd like to thank you."

"For what?"

"For keeping me from touching the sphere," Liam commented. "Otherwise, I might have been the one getting implants removed from my head and arm..." He paused for a moment, then asked, "Da'an... that artifact was the only one... right?"

For a moment, Da'an said nothing. Then he stared Liam straight in the eye and said, "We do not know. We can only hope that it is..."