Interludes

by Lyta


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



Note from Author:   Sequel to "Every Waking Moment." Occurs prior to "As Dreams Are Made On." (stories not yet available)



Rating:  PG



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Da'an noticed that his protector seemed slightly distracted when Liam first arrived at the embassy. Though he preformed his duties well, he was less focused on them than was his usual. It was shortly before Liam was about to leave to take his lunch break - and to check on Resistance activities, though Da'an tried not to remind himself of that - when he made Liam aware of his observation.

"I had an unusual dream last night." Liam said when Da'an inquired about his lack of attentiveness. The Taelon was flustered, he had hoped not to have to rain questions down on the young hybrid, but he had refused to offer anything more than a mundane explanation. With anyone else, that might have been sufficient but Liam was hardly the average Taelon employee.

"What is it about your dream that disturbs you?" Da'an persisted.

Liam sighed and rubbed his palms together. The Taelon had noted he performed this action when he was nervous, irritated or excited about something. "I dreamt of the Kimera."

Da'an felt a chill run through him. Even though he knew the truth behind the slaughter of the Kimera now, fear of that long dead race was still deeply entrenched in the Taelon psyche. Da'an quickly dampened his fear lest the Commonality notice and investigate.

"I dreamed I was my father and I was on the Skrill homeworld." Liam elaborated. "Then I felt a presence, very familiar, in my mind that I could not place."

"A Taelon presence?" Da'an asked. "You do have a faint tie to the Commonality…"

"No," he shook his head firmly. "Definitely not Taelon. It felt Kimeran, but maybe it was part of my dream."

"Perhaps." Da'an agreed. He was troubled by the idea of more surviving Kimera and the distinct feeling that Liam was being less than completely forthcoming with him. It occurred to him as odd that he did not fear Liam, but then again Liam was not driven by revenge as the Taelons had assumed his parent to be. Even when Ha'gel's motives had been proven not to lie in that direction, he still endorsed his destruction.

*****

Liam also represented Da'an's hope for the future. He was living proof that a natural joining with humans was indeed possible. The Synod did allow for the creation of hybrids, but in laboratories and with DNA so tampered with that few lived until birth and those that survived long enough to be born died in infancy.

Though he had not told Liam of this, fearing his reaction, there was a Taelon program allowing for the natural blending of Human and Taelon genes, still in a lab though, that was beginning to achieve results that pleased even Zo'or. Seven hybrids had grown to maturity, the only such children whose DNA had not been tampered with except to encourage the blending. Four males and three females. Five of the children were being trained as warriors, the two had not met the criteria for warriors were being used as shuttle pilots and crewers on the mothership. Eventually Zo'or planned to use the warrior wash-outs to completely replace the Human Volunteer crew. After all, the Synod reasoned citing the incident with Julia Cook, hybrids had never been exposed to the Resistance.

Da'an sighed. That was not completely accurate.