Twins

by Seven


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



Note from Author:      hope this isn't too depressing. Someone once theorized that Zo'or had a twin who died... Please let me know if you read this!





**********



They had always been safe.

The twins shifted a little, their tiny bodies glowing in unison, their small hands flailing. One of them began to feel alarmed, then to be subdued under his sibling's comfort.

Ever since their conception, the two infants had felt only each other, and their parent, the other Taelons seeming distant and unreachable. They were absorbed in each other, wondering what the universe was like.

There were vague feelings of unease, fleeting images of horrible-looking creatures who wished to destroy the Taelons. But their parent hastened to banish these images, soothing the children as best he could.

As the twins crooned to each other, one of them felt something strange, an energy pulse   that swept over both of them...

And a hellish storm seemed to hit them.

****

The Synod had been in session for several hours, and Da'an wished that the issue of action against the the experimental Jaridian base would be resolved quickly. He was tired.

The children he was carrying were not. Da'an smiled softly at the constant flurry of   thoughts that passed between them. Even at their young age, they seemed intelligent and   inquisitive.

He also sensed deep, fierce affection for each other, entwined deeply into their psyches as   their connections to the Commonality were. He did not doubt that they would remain   close.

A pain stabbed through his abdomen, and one of the tiny minds began to flicker. Da'an   gasped as the second twin experienced fear, then blinding terror.

"Da'an?" asked the voice of J'Tan.

Da'an gasped again, one of his hands pressing against his abdomen. There was the sound of the other Taelons gathering around him, and J'Tan's voice calling out commands. The world seemed to fade away as he grasped for the children...

****

The child flailed as a strong force buffeted his tiny body, groping for his sibling. What he   felt was a burning heat, more energy than he had ever felt in his short life.

He cried out psychically to his parent, begged him to save the second child. Begged him to  stop whatever was happening...

There was a bright burst of energy, and the second child's connection to the Commonality snapped off... the remaining child was left alone, in the dark.

****

Da'an awoke with a start, wincing at the lights that flamed down at his chair. Immediately,   the light level lowered, allowing Da'an to relax. His limbs were lanced with pain, and any   sudden movement caused him to become dizzy.

The healer Sa'bal standing beside him, crading a tiny form in his arms. A pained keen emerged from the infant, as small hands flailed through the air.

"The other child?" Da'an rasped, slowly pulling himself into a seated position and holding out his hands.

Sa'bal gently deposited the child in Da'an's arms. "It did not survive," he said curtly. "I am   still uncertain as to why this tragedy occurred originally... more tests will be done later."

As Sab'al glided from the room, the baby uttered another strangled wail, arching against Da'an. He held the child close, hispain forgotten, and crooned, "Zo'or, ma'shai lamal di'ma?"

The child did not cease its cries.

Da'an never knew the pain and loneliness that Zo'or endured, mourning for the loss of a   twin who had been as dear to him as his own life....