******
The damaged shuttle was just barely under the pilot's control, as it sped through interdimensional space toward Earth. It was possible that it's occupants would never even make it, but it was a risk they were willing to take. Their mission was vital to survival, and they had to try to make contact with the right people if they were to save Earth...and Jaridia.

^^^^^

William Boone snuggled down, luxuriating in the softness of his bed, and the nearness of his Companion. Still asleep, he wrapped his arms around his mate, pulling Da'an back against himself, and contoured his body around the Taelon's. Unconsciously he grasped Da'an's hand and sighed at the mental contact it brought, then laughing in his sleep, nuzzled the Taelon's ear. Da'an opened his eyes and smiled in an indulgent manner at his sleeping human mate. He, being Taelon, was not asleep; and Taelons, between themselves, did not frequently engage in such physical expressions of closeness, preferring to establish relationships in the mind/spirit plane. But Da'an had understood his partner's need, and what began as mere indulgence on the part of the Taelon had become a mutual expression of the self, a blending of Taelon and Human intimacies. The contact of body/mind/spirit bringing to both the Protector and Companion a sense of wholeness and unity.

Da'an sent beautiful violet hued scenes of Taelon into Boone's sleeping mind, and watched as his mate smiled softly in response. Then allowing his mind to drop into his mate's subconscious, he shared Boone's dreaming thoughts. Together they traversed a world of their own making, one that expressed in it's symbolic beauty all they hoped for their world, themselves, and each other. Boone stirred, and sighing in contentment, rolled over on his back, still holding his Companion's hand. Da'an withdrew his mind to the very edge of his mate's consciousness, allowing the human to continue his subconscious journey, then engaged himself in meditative reflection.

In an hour or so, the day period on the Mothership would begin. It had been several months now, since the attempted joining with Vorjak and the Jaridian boarding party in Ma'el's regeneration chamber, and the Taelons were now safely back on board. Da'an and the others had restored the consciousness' of the Taelons in the stasis wing, and using the abundance of energy obtained during the regeneration, had revived them all. The Taelons were still a small race, compared to their previous numbers. But those who were present in this plane of existence were healthy, with the promise of long lives, and the opportunity to work out the other problems that plagued their race. Leading Taelon scientists were already breaking down the components of the Atavan energy, and decoding Ma'el's manuscript, searching for the keys to the synthesis of core energy, which would bring the restoration of their species.

What was most rewarding for Da'an was seeing the change in the Synod's concept of humanity, as a result of the efforts of Boone, Liam, and the others on the Taelons' behalf. The Taelons now saw humans as partners, and had developed a new respect for these they had previously considered beneath themselves. The Synod, to everyone's surprise, had recognized Boone and Liam as members of the Commonality, something that would have been considered heresy a few months ago, and the humans had accepted this as the honor it was intended to be. Liam, due to his Kimera heritage, had been skirting the edges of the Commonality since his birth; but Da'an had taught the young hybrid to shield his mind, and the Taelons had just become aware of his true nature. Boone, of course, had been accepted on the basis of his bond with Da'an, which, although not completely celebrated in every circle of the Commonality, was not causing any dissension.

The Mothership was back in Earth orbit, with a tentative weapons stand down agreement between the Taelons and Earth governments. Negotiations were ongoing, and Da'an was hoping for a more concrete agreement soon. Renee Palmer had proven to be very adept at playing the human political game, and had declared her intention to further the Taelon/Human alliance in any way possible. Skipping the power brokers, she had taken her story straight to the media, exposing to the world the ANA's use of nuclear weapons against a defenseless Mothership; with humans, comatose Taelons, and children on board. The outcry from the public was causing a major political backlash against the President, the ANA, and especially Hubble Urick. Genocide, of any kind, was apparently something the public as a whole, had no taste for. In response, of course, Urick and the politicians had countered by hinting at the atrocities committed by Zo'or and the Synod, but they found themselves at a disadvantage since making outright accusations would implicate many high ranking and powerful humans as well. But they were determined to block any attempt at reconciliation with the Taelons.

Through it all, Da'an had played the supreme diplomat. In the past, he had sometimes felt his own empathy for the human race to be a liability, since it had cost him much of his influence in the Synod; but now, at this crucial moment, it had become his strength. The human public was responding well to him, and his message of partnership between the species. It was a delicate and tense time, but it was Da'an's hope that strong sympathy for the Taelons, and a measure of human forgiveness, would soon allow them to return to Earth where they could begin to rebuild the alliance that Zo'or's madness had all but destroyed.

Zo'or...Da'an's energy form blushed through as he thought of his child. His consciousness had been transferred into a replicated body, much as Boone's had been; but his mind had not yet been fully restored. He had psychologically regressed to a point of plain youthful simplicity; with no hints of the mad, erratic behavior he had so recently displayed. The Taelon healers had declared him to be of no danger to anyone, and believed that the shock of the incident in the Atavan pool had caused the regression. They had no idea if he would ever completely recover. Most people found him to be very engaging now; and he even had a friend, Liam Kincaid. For the first time in his adult life, Da'an's child seemed happy, and yet there was so much potential lost....

Boone moaned in his sleep and shifted restlessly. Da'an, realizing he had transferred his own uneasy thoughts into his mate's sleep, quickly redirected his mind to the beauty of the Taelon gardens at the Embassy, where he and Boone had so often met. It was his hope that they would soon be able to walk in it's moon lit paths again. There had been gardens on the Mothership, though not as special to the Companion as the one at the Embassy. They had fallen into disrepair with the rationing of core energy, but, perhaps, with some care....

As the light levels in the room gradually rose, indicating the approach of the day period, Boone once again rolled onto his side and reached for his mate. Pulling Da'an close again, he opened sleepy eyes; and gazing at the Taelon lying in his arms, pressed a loving kiss on his partner's cheek.

"Good morning, Oh Great Leader of the Taelon Synod", Boone said, teasingly.

"Good morning, member of an inferior subspecies", Da'an slyly replied.

"Hmmm. I never know if you mean that or not", Boone laughed. With a few soft kisses to his mate's lips and a tender caress, the tall man untangled himself from his Companion, and padded into his bathroom to prepare himself for his duties.

Da'an lay motionless on the bed for a moment, ordering his thoughts and his spirit. Then, with a quiet anticipation that was so different from the despair of previous years, he rose to meet another day of living out a dream.

^^^^^

Liam Kincaid finished his third cup of coffee, and listened as William Boone attempted to present their regular morning security update. Granted, these things were never entertaining, but somehow, today, they were really falling short.

"...and if we are able to work out an arrangement with the human governments again, then Kincaid will be coordinating all matters pertaining to the security of Taelons who would once again be living or working on Earth. As you can see, we have reworked the training procedures. The protocols have been updated and are...."

Boone broke off, seeing that the Synod Leader's mind was obviously elsewhere, and shot a questioning look to Kincaid, who merely shrugged. These morning security briefings had been necessary due to the need to strengthen all security structures after the Jaridians had boarded the ship. Boone had taken over the responsibilities that had been Ronald Sandoval's, and he and Kincaid had reworked all of the security protocols; a massive job, but necessary to ensure that no breaches occurred. With the Mothership secured, they had been making preparations for the Taelon's eventual return to Earth, but Da'an was obviously not in the mood to hear about it today.

"Da'an..., if you don't want to hear the report, we can skip it..."

"I am sorry, Boone. I was just thinking about the gardens."

"The gardens? What gardens?"

"The Embassy gardens."

"You miss them..."

"Yes, I believe I do. I wonder if we could not rejuvenate the Mothership's gardens. We had specimens of so many species, from so many beautiful worlds; some which, I regret, are no more. The Taelon and meditation gardens were extremely beautiful."

"I am sure some of the scientists are working on that, Da'an."

"Yes, but they are scientists, their concern is in the salvation of the species. But a garden, to truly be a garden, requires more. It requires the proper attention and care."

"You need a gardener."

"So it would seem."

Boone, reading his mate's mood, got the feeling his Companion's thoughts were about things more philosophical than a simple home improvement project.

"Da'an, if you're looking for someone who would like to work in the gardens, I think I know just the right Taelon", Kincaid offered. "I gave Zo'or a terrarium as a gift. It's something humans do, give plants as gifts. He's fascinated with it, and cares for it painstakingly every day. I'm sure he'd be thrilled to help put the gardens back in order."

"That is an excellent idea, Major Kincaid, and one full of meaning. We will see what can be done. Now, what were you saying about the training updates?"

Da'an politely listened as Boone explained the updates. Yes, survival certainly was essential, but to truly thrive required so much more. The desperation of the previous years had caused the gardens of the Taelon race to fall into disrepair. They would need tending. He only hoped their human gardeners would be gentle.

*****

The message from Earth was urgent. Deep space observation telescopes had picked up an intermittent object travelling in deep space, that was evidently on an Earth trajectory. The UN Security Council had contacted the Mothership to see if the Taelons could shed any light on the matter. The Mothership's tracking devices had long before picked up the signature of what seemed to be a modified Taelon shuttle. The signatures could not be tracked when the vehicle was in ID space, but apparently the craft was having trouble maintaining interdimensional flight. Until more information was available, the Taelons hesitated to panic Earth's governments.

A quick consultation between the Synod, the Taelon War Council, and Da'an's human security force resulted in a combined decision to try an intercept of the shuttle in question. If the shuttle were to enter within the Mothership's range, a squadron of armed shuttles would be dispatched to bring the unidentified shuttle in--or down.

William Boone notified the UN Security Council of the Mothership's information; and requested, and received, permission for the operation. As the shuttle entered within striking distance of the Mothership and Earth, a squadron was scrambled and set into flight. The shuttle was asked for identification, but all reply communications broke up and were unintelligible. Upon visual examination, it was determined that the shuttle was damaged and would not be able to land accurately, even with escort; so the decision was made to pull the shuttle into the Mothership with a tractor beam.

"I want a full security detail down to the shuttle bay, NOW!", Boone barked at the bridge computer, as he ran off in that direction himself. Meeting Liam at the shuttle deck, he watched as the Mothership precisely guided the damaged shuttle into a hanger. The minute the docking was complete, the shuttle was surrounded with Volunteers, weapons at the ready. "Come out slowly, and with your arms up where we can see them!" Volunteer Bailey called into the shuttle.

As the virtual glass in the front faded to nothing, Boone and Liam Kincaid could see that there were three passengers in the shuttle. One was a Jaridian male, one a female; but the pilot, standing with her arms raised in surrender, was none other than their old collegue, Captain Lili Marquette.

*****

Liam motioned for Marquette and her passenger to keep their hands up and move out of the shuttle. He wasn't going to take any chances, even with Lili. Her last visit to her home planet had not been particularly benevolent, and Liam couldn't forget that it was her Jaridian husband, Vorjak, who was threatening to destroy Earth just a few months ago.

"Come on Lili, you know the drill."

"What about my daugher, she's asleep in the back", Lili hesitated.

Volunteer Tanya moved to the shuttle, and in a few quick motions returned with a still sleeping child in her arms.

Liam motioned Lili and her Jaridian companions toward the door, as the crowd of Volunteers parted to make way.

"What do you want to do with them?" Liam asked his superior.

Lili looked up, expecting to be confronted by the hated countence of Ronald Sandoval, but instead found herself looking into a pair of familiar brown eyes. Eyes whose light she thought had died a long time ago.

"Boone...." Lili whispered.

William Boone looked sternly at the ex-Marine, his mouth forming a thin line.

"Take them down and put them in holding cells. And make sure they're all wearing neutralizer cuffs. I don't want any shaqarava blasts destroying things around here."

And without a word to his ex-collegue, William Boone turned on his heel and stalked out of the room.