Disclaimers in Pt. 1.
Flashbacks in Chp. 13 are taken from the first season episode "The Joining", the second season episodes "First of Its Kind" and "A Stitch In Time", and Chp. 5.
Chapter 13
Liam ignored both Sandoval and their Volunteer escort as he stalked through the corridors of the Embassy heading for Da'an's office. He knew that he wasn't behaving like the adult he appeared to be, but right now he didn't really care.
Yes, his shoulder was hurting - and yes, he was willing to admit that he'd probably made it worse yesterday - but that was no reason for Dr. Park to put him on medical leave! After all, it wasn't as though he was actually going to be doing much in the way of physical work - but he was supposed to be taking command of the pilots next week, and he couldn't exactly do that if he was on medical leave...
And Sandoval! How could he support Dr. Park on this? He should know how much work this new position was going to involve!
Then, to make a bad situation worse, there was the little matter of his new retinue. Upon leaving the hospital, Sandoval had informed him that the escort was a permanent fixture until McKenna was caught - meaning that they were going to be with him constantly, including in the Embassy! The Embassy guards weren't going to be happy about that...
Added to that, of course, there was the fact that although he had been feeling up to a proper meal for lunch, Dr. Park had put her foot down and he'd ended up having soup - which he was rapidly coming to hate.
He walked into Da'an's office, and was halfway to his desk before he realized that Da'an was there.
"Liam," the Taelon said, standing up from his chair and walking over. "I am gratified to see that you are looking better."
For a brief second, Liam debated letting Da'an know just how angry he was about this whole medical leave thing, but after a moment's thought, he quashed the idea. Dr. Park had said that she was the one who had mentioned it to Da'an; the Taelon had probably just gone along with her. Of course, if he happened to find out otherwise...
"Thank you," he said, continuing toward his desk. "I'm certainly feeling much better than yesterday. But I thought you were up on the mothership."
"I needed to do some work from here," Da'an replied quietly, gesturing gracefully. "And... you wished to speak with me about something, I believe."
Oh, right...
"Umm..." Liam hesitated, his eyes flicking over to where Sandoval and the Volunteers were standing, talking quietly. Da'an followed the direction of his gaze, and then nodded slightly, indicating his understanding.
"Agent Sandoval, there are some things that Major Kincaid and I must discuss privately," the Taelon said.
"Of course," Sandoval replied.
Liam frowned. Sandoval had sounded calm, but there was something... he was angry.
He's been angry quite a bit lately - and for no apparent reason. What's going on?
Sandoval turned and said something quietly to the Volunteers, and then turned back to Da'an and Liam. "Two Volunteers will stay just outside; the rest will patrol the Embassy. I'll be in the office next door." With that, he walked out, followed by the Volunteers.
Looking back at Da'an, Liam was surprised to see that the Taelon apparently hadn't noticed Sandoval's anger.
"What did you wish to discuss, Liam?" Da'an asked.
Come on, Liam, you've already decided to tell him. About the shaqarava, at least, if not the scans.
Taking a deep breath, Liam leaned back against his desk. This was going to be hard, trusting Da'an again after his betrayal of the Resistance... but at the same time, it did involve his Kimera heritage, which was something that Da'an had kept secret from the very beginning, and that they'd never had any arguments about. Unlike his involvement with the Resistance...
Enough, Liam. Just tell him.
"I... Last year, after we dealt with that Jaridian probe you sent me after," Liam began hesitantly, "my shaqarava disappeared."
Da'an stared at him, the movements of his hands expressing his shock at Liam's words. "That... Liam, that is impossible," he said firmly. "Your shaqarava are a part of you; they cannot simply disappear!"
This probably wouldn't be the best time to bring up the fact that that was exactly what the Taelons had created the Commonality to do. "Well, they did," Liam replied, his tone sharp. Then he took another deep breath. "But..."
Rather than trying to explain what had happened, he carefully peeled off his right glove - trying not to jar his arm or shoulder - and showed Da'an his palm.
Da'an stared at the dark red mark on Liam's palm in surprise and shock.
"I don't know, but I think... I think something may be wrong with them," his Protector continued. His voice sounded a bit shaky, and as Da'an returned his gaze to Liam's face, he could see that the young man was scared, though he was doing a good job of hiding it. "They've been itching since Thursday, and... they're not supposed to be that dark, are they."
"I do not know, Liam," Da'an admitted reluctantly. "May I examine them?"
Liam hesitated, and Da'an blushed pale blue as he saw the uncertainty on the young hybrid's face. It was yet another sign of the damaged trust between them.
Then, abruptly, Liam pulled off his left glove, revealing a matching dark red blaze. "Here," he said, holding his hand out.
Da'an took it, and lost control of his façade as he felt the energy radiating from Liam's shaqarava. There was so much energy there that perhaps it wasn't surprising the shaqarava were so dark.
"Da'an?" Liam asked, sounding worried.
Da'an let go of his Protector's hand and re-built his façade. There is so much energy... and yet, standing here, right next to him, I cannot sense any of it. Why?
"Da'an? Something is wrong, isn't it? Da'an?"
Liam sounded scared, and Da'an hastened to reassure the young hybrid. "No, Liam, nothing appears to be wrong," he replied.
Liam relaxed in obvious relief at the reassurance. "Then why are they like this?" He gestured with his left hand. "Like I said, I don't know for sure, but I am fairly certain that they're not supposed to be this dark."
"Your shaqarava currently contain a great deal of energy, Liam," Da'an explained. "More energy than I thought possible - and that I can only sense when I touch you. I believe that if you can find some way in which to discharge this energy, they will return to normal."
"Discharge it?" Liam repeated blankly, staring down at the dark red marks of his shaqarava. "How?" And why is this happening?
Da'an's hands moved rapidly, indicating exasperation. "Perhaps you should try activating them," he replied.
Liam took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Activate them. It sounded so easy, the way Da'an said it. But...
The problem was, he had only consciously used his shaqarava three times. The first time had been when he'd rejoined Da'an to the Commonality. The second time had been when he'd thought that Zo'or and Sandoval were going to make him insane - but that time had backfired, and he'd ended up nearly killing Augur. And the third time had been in Maiya's dimension, when he'd told the alternate Da'an who he was. Every other time, it had been instinctive - even when he'd healed Augur.
Remember how you did it in Maiya's dimension, he told himself. Taking another deep breath, he concentrated.
It didn't work. His shaqarava stubbornly refused to activate; and, in fact, the itching only got worse.
"It's not working," he told Da'an.
The Taelon frowned. "Are you-"
Before Da'an could finish whatever it was he was trying to say, the door opened and one of the Volunteers from the escort - Corporal Pancyk, Sandoval had introduced him as - stepped in. "Major, there's a Lieutenant O'Neal here to see you, sir."
Lieutenant O'Neal? Liam wondered, frowning, even as he hastily grabbed his gloves from the desk. Oh, right! He'd been so pre-occupied with worry about his shaqarava and the current situation with McKenna that he'd almost forgotten about the interviews he'd scheduled for today.
"Who is this Lieutenant O'Neal, Liam?" Da'an asked, while Liam pulled the gloves on.
"He's one of the Volunteers I'm interviewing about the pilot training program," Liam explained. He nodded to the Volunteer. "Please send him in, Corporal Pancyk."
"Yes, sir!" the Volunteer replied, saluting.
Da'an waved one hand as he returned to his chair. "We will continue our discussion later, Liam," he said, sitting down just as Lt. O'Neal walked in.
Liam nodded, and then turned his attention to the Volunteer. "Thank you for coming, Lieutenant," he said, and gestured to the chair in front of his desk as he sat down in his own chair. "Please, sit down. I'm afraid this may take a while."
"That's all right, sir," Lt. O'Neal replied calmly. "My squad isn't on duty until later this afternoon, so I've got the time."
"All right," Liam said. He turned on the computer and pulled up the file of the questions he needed to ask. "Now, just to explain to you what's going on, Synod Leader Zo'or has appointed me to the position of Flight Commander, effective next week." If I can convince Da'an and Sandoval to cancel this medical leave, that is. "One of the first things I want to look at is the training program for the pilots. You went through it a year and a half ago, but didn't graduate. I was hoping that I could ask you some questions about your experience."
"Certainly, sir," O'Neal said agreeably. "What is it you want to know?"
"First of all," Liam began, "how were the training sessions structured?"
Sandoval scowled at the huge - and growing - pile of files on the desk, and wondered why he'd ever thought that working out of the Embassy for a while would let him escape his paperwork. He was supposed to be on vacation right now. He wasn't supposed to be dealing with an assassin after his second-in-command, while at the same time discovering that that self-same second-in-command was actually his son!
Sighing, he rubbed the bridge of his nose. It had only been about twenty-four hours since he'd made that little discovery, and he was still trying to deal with all its implications... not to mention the questions it raised.
First of all, there was still the matter of who Liam's other parent was. That was something he probably wouldn't be able to find out unless - until - he talked to Liam; especially since Da'an had kept this whole thing a secret from him...
Sandoval pushed that thought away firmly. Getting angry with Da'an over this, while it might be personally satisfying, wouldn't gain him anything.
Secondly, there was the mystery of how, exactly, Liam had gotten involved with the Resistance. Sandoval had fought against Jonathan Doors long enough to know that inviting a hybrid into his movement was the very last thing he would have wanted to do. Although it did, perhaps, provide an explanation for why Doors didn't like Liam...
It was the third question, however, that was weighing on his mind.
Can he ever forgive me for what I've done to him? Will he ever forgive me? And how-
The sound of his global beeping broke the silence in the office, pulling him out of his brooding thoughts.
He opened the global, and frowned as Captain Jardine's face appeared. "Captain. Any progress?" he demanded.
"Not much, I'm afraid, sir," Jardine replied, shaking his head. "Lieutenant Pearce's squad has found the hotel in Phoenix that McKenna stayed in Saturday night, but he checked out yesterday morning before the festival, and didn't leave anything behind.
"I've currently got people checking with the airlines, and two squads going through the records at the Portal Authority," he added.
Sandoval sighed. "I'm not trying to malign your efforts, Captain, much less those of the elite, but I think that it's unlikely they're going to find anything. McKenna is a professional, one who's been trained by the best. He isn't going to be that easy to find."
"Yes, sir, I'm aware of that," Jardine replied calmly. "However, even the best people in the world make mistakes. And yesterday was the fourth time in five days that he's tried to kill Major Kincaid - and failed. That's got to be eating away at him - which makes it all the more likely that he'll make a mistake, overlook something. And when he does, we'll be there, waiting for him."
Sandoval nodded slowly. Jardine had a point - not even McKenna was perfect. He was bound to make a mistake sooner or later - hopefully sooner.
But they couldn't afford to count on it. Not when Liam was in danger.
He took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. Everything seems to come back to Liam.
"Sir?" Jardine asked.
Sandoval shook his head, irritated with himself. Now was not the time to be woolgathering. "What about the Embassy surveillance teams?" he asked.
"The first shift is already there," Jardine replied. "I have the next four shifts already lined up - each shift a mix of elite and regular Volunteers." He paused for a moment, and then added, "Major Kincaid appears to be quite popular, even among the elite. There were a number of squads who wanted guard duty."
Sandoval nodded. "That's one of the reasons I've been considering bringing him in, Captain."
Jardine waited.
Leaning back in his chair, Sandoval studied his aide's face thoughtfully. "What has the reaction to your little announcement been?" he asked. He hadn't intended to reveal his plans for Liam to the general elite just yet, but since it had been done, he was interested to know the results. The fact that Jardine had overstepped his authority in revealing that information... well, he'd deal with that later, once this situation with McKenna was over and done with.
"The general feeling appears to be that if your investigation has a positive result, it would probably be a good thing. Especially with this new move of Zo'or's, appointing the Major as Flight Commander."
Sandoval nodded again. "Thank you, Captain," he said. "Please keep me apprised of the progress on the search for McKenna."
"Yes, sir," Jardine replied, and Sandoval closed his global.
Putting it down on his desk, he leaned forward and rested his head on his hands, his thoughts going automatically back to Liam.
Now what?
Sooner or later, he was going to have to talk to Liam about the fact that he knew. Personally, Sandoval preferred that it be sooner; but unless he came up with an idea of how he wanted to handle the talk, it was probably going to be later. Much later.
"Stop it, Ron!" he muttered out loud. Talking to Liam about their relationship was not his first priority at the moment, as much as he wished it could be. Keeping Liam alive - and safe - so that they could actually have that conversation was.
And to do that, he had to find and stop McKenna.
The elite were already looking for him, and Sandoval was confident that they'd do everything they could to find him. However, as he'd pointed out to Captain Jardine, McKenna was a fully trained professional assassin. And they couldn't afford to count on getting lucky.
Who do you use to trace a professional?
Another professional. Looks like I've got another job for you, Andrew.
Opening his global again, Sandoval dialed into the FBI communications net.
Andrew wasn't an assassin, of course; but his speciality was tracing people, whether through computers or - occasionally - in the field. In his own way, he was just as much a professional as McKenna - except that his profession didn't involve killing people.
A minute or two later, Andrew's face appeared on his screen. "Ron?" he mumbled blearily. "Whas up?"
Sandoval sighed. "Obviously not you," he commented.
"Gimme a break," Andrew returned, rubbing his eyes with one hand. "I just got out of bed ten minutes ago. I haven't even had my coffee yet." He was, however, sounding more alert by the second.
"I have two requests," Sandoval told him.
"O-kay..." Andrew replied slowly. "What are they?"
Sandoval took a deep breath. "First of all... I need you to put your investigation of Major Kincaid on hold." Yes, he's definitely more alert now...
"Wait a minute... what do you mean, put it on hold?" Andrew demanded. "You gave me the definite impression that this was very impor-"
"Andrew!" Sandoval interrupted him.
"What?"
"I... All you really need to know is that I've come across some information that has... changed the situation. There's something of more immediate importance I need you to look into at the moment."
Andrew frowned at him. "Changed the situation?" he repeated. "How?"
Sandoval rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It's not something I can explain to you right now, Andrew; it's too... sensitive. Let's just say that you were right when you told me that you thought he could be trusted."
Andrew's frown deepened. "Ron..." he began.
Sandoval held up one hand, silencing him. "For the moment, I'm afraid that you're just going to have to take my word for it."
Andrew studied him thoughtfully for a moment, and then Sandoval saw him nod. "All right. So, what is this other thing you want me to do?"
"Have you heard about the assassination attempt on Major Kincaid?" Sandoval asked.
"Assassination attempt?" Andrew repeated, blinking in surprise. Sandoval nodded, and Andrew responded by shaking his head. "No. I've been busy, remember? I mean, I heard about the attempt on that Taelon, but nothing about the Major..."
"Actually," Sandoval said, "the attempt on Wednesday was also aimed at Major Kincaid."
"Why?" Andrew asked. "And do you know who this guy is? Or is that what you want me to try finding out?"
Sandoval shook his head. "No, we know who he is. His name is Gary McKenna; he's a lieutenant colonel in the US Army Rangers," he explained. "I met him a few times during the S.I. War. He's a professional assassin. And as for why he's after Liam... The best guess I've been able to come up with, based on something he said yesterday, is that it has something to do with Liam's position as a Companion-Protector."
Andrew nodded slowly, a vaguely puzzled look on his face. "Okay... Makes a certain amount of sense, I guess, if you assume that he doesn't like Taelons... So, what do you want me to do?"
Sandoval leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. "We need to find McKenna, and we need to find him fast," he replied. "I've got most of the elite working on it - the rest of them are guarding Liam in shifts - but this sort of situation isn't really something that they're fully trained to handle. I'd appreciate it if you could see what you can do about locating him."
"Sure," Andrew replied.
"Thanks." Sandoval tapped the screen. "I'm sending you a copy of McKenna's file now; with any luck, it should be able to help you narrow down your search."
"Got it," Andrew said after a moment. "I'll get right on it, and I'll give you a call as soon as I've got something, okay?"
"Okay. And Andrew?" Sandoval added. "Thanks again."
"No problem," Andrew replied nonchalantly. "What would you do without me, Ron?" he added, grinning, and then closed the connection.
Closing his global, Sandoval tossed it back onto the desk, and then turned his attention to the files. Paperwork was hardly his favourite thing in the world, but he couldn't go out chasing McKenna himself, which meant that he had to do something else - besides brood or get angry - and paperwork was it.
Doors stood up from the table and smiled as he looked around the small conference room. Things had gone quite well.
"It was a pleasure doing business with you again, gentlemen," he declared.
"The pleasure was ours, I assure you," replied Saïd ibn Muhammad, snapping his briefcase closed. "This venture of yours should prove to be quite profitable."
"I certainly hope so," Doors said. Then he gestured to Renee. "If you don't mind, Ms. Palmer will show you out."
Sitting back down, he watched the three other men - ibn Muhammad, Henri Reynaud, and Alistair Tradden - follow Renee out the door.
Glancing at the clock in one corner of the room, he grimaced slightly. It was already four o'clock - it had taken a while to get all the niggling little details of the agreement ironed out. However, now that it was done... His grimace became a smile.
Five minutes later, Renee came back in.
"So, what did you think?" Doors asked.
Sitting down opposite him, Renee nodded slowly. "It went well," she replied. "But..."
Doors frowned. "But what?" he demanded.
"There are definitely some people who aren't going to like this."
Doors closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. "Renee, if you think I care what Liam thinks..."
"I'm not just talking about Liam," Renee countered. "You're going to polarize things again, Jonathan. It was bad enough after you started your run for the presidency, and then after the crackdown, but now..." She shrugged.
"This is necessary," Doors replied coldly. He was beginning to wonder if Renee might not be losing her edge. If so, that was yet another thing he could lay at Liam's door. "We need this, Renee. We've lost too much as it is."
Renee shook her head. "I just hope you know exactly what you're doing, Jonathan. After what happened on Friday, I'm starting to wonder if Liam's going to start pushing back... and what he's going to do when he does. Bringing Sandoval down on us... that wasn't like him."
Doors sighed again. "Renee..." he began, and then stopped. Reiterating the fact that Liam wasn't human - and therefore didn't react like a human would - wouldn't do any good. Instead, he said, "Yes, I do know what I'm doing. And I can handle Liam."
Renee looked at bit doubtful at that, but Doors ignored her expression. Instead, he returned to the original topic of discussion. "So, you agree that it went well."
"Very well," Renee said, nodding as she accepted the switch in topics. "Particularly with M. Reynaud."
"Henri and I go back a long way," Doors told her. He paused, and then added, "Do you think they'll have everything ready for inspection on schedule?"
"Most of it, at least. Certainly the important parts," Renee replied.
"Good. We'll see about arranging that next week." Then he looked at the clock again, and frowned. "We're going to have to leave that call to Dr. Greenbaum until tomorrow, I'm afraid. It's too late to be contacting them today without attracting undue attention."
Renee nodded in agreement. "In that case," she said, standing back up, "I'm going to head home and get some sleep."
"Of course. I'll see you tomorrow morning."
As soon as she had gone, Doors leaned back in his chair and studied the opposite wall thoughtfully.
"Yes... if need be, I can handle Liam."
Liam leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead as he watched Sergeant Valdez - one of the pilots who had been trained since Lili's death - leave the office.
It had been a long day so far, with four Volunteer interviews - and another one to go - and a number of less than pleasant surprises. He was feeling confused, scared, tired, and his shoulder was throbbing again.
And to make it worse, every time he so much as touched his desk, he could see odd flickers of light out of the corner of his eyes, almost like the one he'd seen just before his vision yesterday morning - the one that had warned him about the crossbow bolt. But when he tried to focus on the flickers, they would disappear; and the effort was giving him a headache.
What time is it? he wondered absently, glancing at his watch. Then he blinked in surprise. It was only six o'clock? It feels like today has lasted forever!
Before he could begin trying to work that out, the door opened again and Sandoval came in. Liam started to ask if Sandoval felt like getting some dinner, and then stopped, surprised, as his father glared at him.
"Sandoval?" he managed after a moment. "What... what's wrong?" His father looked so angry...
"Major, did I or did I not tell you that the only thing you were to be doing was paperwork?" Sandoval demanded.
Huh? "I haven't-" Liam started.
"It's a very simple question, Major," Sandoval interrupted coldly. "Did I or did I not tell you?"
"You did," Liam replied, starting to feel irritated all over again. "But-"
"And what have you been doing over the past five hours?" Sandoval continued, ignoring his protest.
"I've been talking to some of the Volunteers who've undergone pilot training," Liam returned.
Sandoval's glare became even colder, if that was possible. "Since when does conducting interviews qualify as 'paperwork', Major?" he demanded.
Liam took a deep breath and tried to refrain from making a snarky remark; he didn't particularly want Sandoval any angrier than he already was. "It isn't paperwork in the strictest sense of the word, no," he admitted, "but it's a non-strenuous activity..."
He trailed off when it became obvious that Sandoval wasn't listening to him. Instead, the Implant turned to face Da'an, who had shut off the datastream he'd been concentrating on for the past few hours.
"I've already made arrangements for Volunteer Roberts to take you back up to the mothership, Da'an," Sandoval said. "The Major and I will be leaving now."
"Wait a minute..." Liam protested. He still had one more interview scheduled today!
"Certainly, Agent Sandoval," Da'an replied calmly, ignoring him as well. "I will see you both tomorrow morning."
"Of course," Sandoval said, nodding, and then he turned back to Liam. "Major..."
Liam didn't move. "I've got another interview in fifteen min-"
"It's been cancelled."
Liam stared at his father in disbelief. "What? What do you mean, it's been cancelled?" he demanded.
"Exactly what I said," Sandoval replied curtly. "You are on medical leave, Major. The only reason you are here, rather than staying either at home or in the hospital, is because McKenna is after you."
Liam stared at him in disbelief. "Sandoval, I have got to get these interviews done!" he protested. "I'm supposed to take command of the pilots next week!"
Sandoval took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. Yelling at Liam wouldn't do any good.
He'd come out of the office for a break just in time to see a Volunteer leaving Da'an's office - a pilot, one that he didn't recognize. He'd asked Lt. Hartland what was going on, and the lieutenant had told him that Liam was interviewing pilots, and that he had another interview scheduled in twenty minutes.
He had immediately demanded the name of the Volunteer in question, called her, and cancelled the appointment. Liam had been in the hospital just this morning; he was in no condition to be doing interviews. And then Hartland had told him that there had been three other interviews before this last one...
He'd walked into Da'an's office, and had been horrified at how haggard Liam looked. It was obvious that he was in pain, despite his efforts to hide it.
And then Liam had to go and give him this ridiculous statement about continuing the interviews, when it was obvious that he was in no condition to do so...
Sandoval took another deep breath, and let it out in a silent sigh. Remember, he is in pain, he told himself firmly. That's undoubtedly part of the reason for his attitude. And he's right that under normal circumstances, this is exactly what he should be doing. But these aren't normal circumstances.
I'm going to have to talk to Zo'or about this. Otherwise, Liam is going to keep pushing himself too hard.
Now, all I have to do is figure out how to convince him that it is time to leave...
"Major," he said, calling on the same patience he used in dealing with Andrew, "you were in the hospital only this morning. You're very obviously in pain. It's time to go. Assuming you feel better tomorrow," he added, "and I do mean better, Liam - it might be possible for you to continue the interviews then."
Liam looked as though he wanted to argue, but as he leaned forward, his right arm brushed against his desk, and he went pale.
"That's it," Sandoval snapped, suddenly feeling furious. "Where did you put your painkillers, Major?"
Liam swallowed. "In the drawer," he managed.
"Liam?" Da'an said, his tone concerned. Sandoval berated himself for not having noticed the Taelon approaching, even as he hurried around Liam's desk and opened the top drawer. "Are you all right?" the Taelon continued.
"Just... jarred my shoulder," Liam replied.
Sandoval shot him a sharp look as he took the bottle of pills out and emptied three into his palm. There was something about Liam's tone of voice... he was lying. Or at least, not telling the whole truth. He didn't mention it, however. Instead, he simply handed Liam the pills and slipped the bottle into his pocket. "Take them," he ordered.
Liam obediently put them into his mouth and swallowed.
"Now, we are leaving," Sandoval continued firmly. He gripped Liam's left arm gently, and helped him stand up. "We will see you tomorrow, Da'an," he added, as he steered Liam toward the door.
Da'an watched as Agent Sandoval led Liam out of the office, concerned. He was worried about Liam; there was so much happening to the young hybrid at the moment. Too much, perhaps.
He hadn't been paying attention to the information he was supposed to be dealing with over the past two hours; instead, he'd been keeping a concerned eye on Liam, watching as he grew paler and paler. He'd been just about to call Agent Sandoval when the Implant had walked in.
And then, to find out that Liam had been pushing himself because of Zo'or's decision to place him in charge of the pilots...
Da'an sat down in his chair and called up his datastream, contacting Zo'or.
"Yes?" Zo'or demanded. "What is it, Da'an?"
"I must speak to you about Major Kincaid," Da'an replied.
Zo'or's expression hardened. "I have made my decision, Da'an, and it is final. Major Kincaid will be placed in command of the pilots."
"I will not attempt to convince you otherwise," Da'an promised. He still wasn't certain that he liked the idea of Liam gaining that much control over the Volunteers, but he had already decided not to argue with Zo'or about it. "However, I thought that it would be wise to advise you of the fact that Dr. Park wishes Liam to be put on medical leave for the next two weeks. There is concern that he will attempt to do too much, and perhaps injure himself permanently."
Zo'or studied him, and Da'an let him sense the concern he felt for Liam.
"Very well," Zo'or said after a moment. "I will delay the implementation date."
"Thank you, Zo'or," Da'an returned, and then dismissed the datastream.
Standing up, he started toward the Embassy entrance, where the Volunteer would be waiting to take him back to the mothership.
Sandoval sat down at his desk and leaned back in his chair.
Although his study was very different from the rest of his apartment - the walls were done in dark green, rather than light cream, and this was where he kept his art collection - both areas relaxed him, served as a sanctuary from the rest of the world.
It was only ten-thirty, not all that late - not for an Implant - but Sandoval felt very tired; exhausted, in fact.
A large part of that was, of course, due to the shocks he'd received over the past two days. Finding out that Liam was his son...
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighed.
As for Liam... well, as soon as they'd reached his apartment, Liam had gone to bed; he hadn't even been interested in eating.
Of course he wasn't interested, Sandoval thought, irritated with himself. Despite the painkillers, Liam's shoulder had obviously been hurting him a great deal. It wasn't really that much of a surprise that he had simply wanted to go to bed and go to sleep.
Liam...
Sandoval sighed again. It was time to start thinking about this, rather than just reacting - which was all he'd really been doing for the past thirty-two hours. He had a valid excuse for it, admittedly - after all, it wasn't every day that he found out that his subordinate was actually his son - but enough was enough. He couldn't afford to continue reacting; he had to start making decisions, before he made a serious mistake.
The first decision was one that he'd actually made already - he did want a relationship with his son, as a father. There had been no question about that. That particular decision had been made the moment Dr. Curzon had told him that he had a son, and finding out that his son was Liam hadn't changed that; it had just given him pause.
However, the second decision was going to be more difficult; this was the one that had been bothering him for the past day.
How was he going to talk to Liam? He didn't even know that Liam wanted this... although the fact that he had given Sandoval the pictures was a fairly good indication that he did.
Well, he'd already decided that catching McKenna was the first priority, so he didn't intend to broach the subject with Liam until after they'd dealt with McKenna.
So, how was he going to do it? It wasn't exactly a conversation that he wanted to wing by the seat of his pants...
Start off with the photos from his apartment... ask him about them, came the sudden thought.
Yes, that might do it. Sandoval nodded slowly as a plan started to form.
Then he yawned.
Well, I might as well get some sleep. I've got the beginnings of an idea... Sleep will help me focus it.
Standing up, Sandoval headed out of his study, and then hesitated. His gaze went to the door of the spare room, where Liam was. Then, unable to resist the need to make sure that his son was all right, he walked over and opened the door.
Liam was lying on his back in the middle of the bed, his eyes screwed tightly shut and his face flushed. Remembering Dr. Park's comment about Liam running a fever last night, Sandoval slipped in.
Just before he reached the bed, Liam whimpered softly, and then called out, "Va'nei, liea o'onarr!"
Starting to get worried, Sandoval placed his hand against Liam's forehead.
Liam immediately sighed and relaxed, the tension in his face easing, though he didn't wake up.
His temperature was only a degree or two above normal - nothing to be too concerned about, Sandoval knew, although he was still a bit worried. He'd check again in the morning, and if he needed to, he could always call Dr. Park.
"Good night, Liam," he said quietly, standing back up. Liam stirred, murmuring something that Sandoval couldn't quite make out, and then slipped back into a deep sleep.
Leaving Liam's room, Sandoval went straight to his own and sat down at the edge of the bed, rubbing his face with his hands.
"Va'nei, liea o'onarr..."
Leaning back against the headboard, Sandoval frowned as he stared thoughtfully up at the ceiling. The words - and they had been words, he was certain of that much - weren't from any human language that he knew of.
They also weren't Eunoia.
So... what language were they? And how did Liam know-
[A voice - his own - as he descended into darkness... "You're a complicated host, Mr. Sandoval."]
"What the hell?" he said out loud, sitting bolt upright, startled by the sudden CVI-induced intrusion of memory. What did Ha'gel have to do with Liam?
[Zo'or, standing on the bridge of the mothership, berating him. "And you haven't offered any explanation of how Agent Kincaid was able to defeat the replicant with an inadequate weapon," Zo'or was saying curtly. "And more importantly, how was Da'an able to miraculously rejoin the Commonality after he was cut off from it?...
"By rejoining the Commonality, Da'an has accomplished something only the Kimera could do... Ha'gel's race. The genetic predecessors of the Taelons."...
Then his own voice, making another suggestion. "There is another link between the two events. Liam Kincaid was with Da'an when the replicant attacked, and when Da'an rejoined the Commonality."]
[Liam, seen through the security camera installed in the Embassy to help monitor the trap for the replicant. "I'm good at games."
Da'an replying, "Not as good as you are at hiding the truth."
Liam, looking nervous and confused at the same time. "The truth?"
Da'an turning Liam's hand over. "As written in your palm."]
[Dr. Curzon, on his global. "The anomalies in your son's DNA look almost like Taelon genetic material."]
Ha'gel... the Kimera... almost like Taelon genetic material...
"Oh, my god..." Sandoval gasped, his eyes widening in shock. Liam's not a Taelon hybrid... he's Kimera. And Da'an knows...
He lay back down, staring blankly up at the ceiling again as he tried to deal with this latest revelation. It was obvious that he wouldn't be getting very much sleep tonight.
Chapter 14
Lt. Col. Gary McKenna looked around carefully as he got out of the cab. He had no doubt that the entire area was under surveillance, but he was confident that he wouldn't be spotted. Between the vaile and the plans he'd managed to acquire, no one would even have a clue that he'd been here until it was too late. And by that time, Kincaid would already be dead.
His lips pulled back in a snarl as he thought about Major Kincaid. The man was unbelievably lucky.
There had been other occasions when he'd failed to kill a target the first time, for some reason or another; it was inevitable. Nothing and no one was perfect. But he'd never needed more than two attempts to take out a target. Until now, that was.
Well, there was no way that Kincaid would be able to survive this.
He patted the duffle bag he was carrying. Ordinarily, he disdained methods such as this, because of the huge risk of civilian - innocent - casualties; but no one who would be there when the time came was an innocent.
"We'll see who has the last laugh now, Kincaid."
It was the noise from the room next door - the kitchen - that woke Liam up.
He opened his eyes, and stared up at the ceiling for a moment while he took stock of how he felt.
His arm was hurting quite a bit, his shoulder even more; and to top it all off, his shaqarava were still itchy - and still dark red, he observed in dismay, as he carefully sat up and pulled off his right glove to check his palm.
On the positive side of things, however, while he was still in pain, it was definitely less than it had been yesterday.
Another sound came from the kitchen - the soft 'clang' of an oven closing - and Liam's stomach grumbled in response. Thinking back, he realized that he hadn't had any dinner the night before - no wonder he was hungry!
Standing up, he glanced down at himself and grimaced. By the time they'd arrived at Sandoval's apartment last night, he'd been too tired to do anything but collapse in bed. As a result, he was still wearing yesterday's clothes.
Rifling through the duffle bag he'd dumped on the end of the bed, Liam pulled out a clean shirt and got changed, doing his best to avoid jarring his shoulder. He didn't entirely succeed, and by the time he was finished, he was pale, shaking, and resigned to the need to take another dose of painkillers.
Glancing around the room, Liam was momentarily puzzled at not seeing the bottle of pills anywhere; then he remembered - Sandoval had put it in his pocket just before they'd left the Embassy yesterday.
Liam grimaced again. The last thing he wanted to do right now was let Sandoval know that he was still in that much pain, but he didn't exactly have much of a choice. He only hoped that Sandoval would at least believe that he was feeling better today.
Taking a deep breath, he opened the door of his room and slipped out, heading for the kitchen.
Sandoval was standing at the stove, his attention focused on a frying pan and holding a spatula in one hand. Liam could smell the pancakes he was cooking.
"I hope I get to have some of those," Liam said, his tone pleading.
Sandoval whirled to face him, a startled expression on his face. "Liam! I didn't expect you to be up this early."
"Early?" Liam repeated. He glanced at his watch, and felt a touch of surprise; it was only six a.m. So what is Sandoval doing up at this hour? "I just got up," he said, frowning slightly as he got a good look at his father.
Admittedly, neither he nor Sandoval had gotten much sleep since this mess had started - except for his drug-induced slumber Friday night and Sunday - but right now, his father looked more as though he hadn't gotten any sleep at all last night. His eyes were bloodshot, and Liam could see the dark circles under them.
For a moment, Liam thought about mentioning this fact; but then he re-considered. He had a sneaking feeling that mentioning it might just prove detrimental to his health. Instead, he looked toward the stove. "So, do I get any?" he asked.
Sandoval sighed. "Yes," he replied, his tone one of mild exasperation. "There's already a full batch made and keeping warm in the oven. If you go sit down," he gestured toward the table, "I'll bring them over.
"And Liam, take the painkillers," he added, his tone making it more an order than a suggestion.
Sandoval had already set out two places, with plates, cutlery, and orange juice. Sitting next to one of the glasses of juice were three tablets. Liam shot a quick glance at his father, a bit puzzled by the action, then obediently sat down and swallowed the pills.
"So, how are you feeling?" Sandoval asked, as he brought over a tray stacked high with pancakes.
"Better," Liam replied, eyeing the pancakes hungrily.
"Good," Sandoval replied. He paused for a moment, and then continued, "I spoke to Zo'or a bit earlier this morning."
"Oh?" Liam asked, slipping three of the pancakes onto his plate. "What did he want?"
"There's going to be a slight delay in your promotion to Flight Commander," Sandoval said calmly.
Liam looked up at his father, startled. "A delay?" he demanded, suddenly suspicious, fearing he knew the reason. "Why?"
Sandoval looked exasperated. "You may feel better than yesterday, Major," he said pointedly, "but you are still on medical leave. Zo'or would prefer to wait until you are capable of resuming your full duties before he gives you another responsibility.
"Therefore," he continued, "I have re-scheduled the interviews you arranged for two weeks from now."
Well, at least he bothered to re-schedule them, Liam thought sourly. Then, taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself down.
If he thought about it rationally, he knew that Dr. Park, Sandoval and Da'an were perfectly right about putting him on medical leave; but he didn't really want to admit it.
"So what am I supposed to do today, then?" he demanded, trying to keep his tone as civil as possible.
"There's always paperwork," Sandoval suggested with a slight grin.
Liam slumped in his chair. "I've done all I can," he said. "Everything that's left needs my signature, and I can't sign anything until my shoulder's better."
"In that case, you can always help me with mine," Sandoval said. "I have a huge pile on my desk, and I haven't been able to even look through most of it yet."
There was something about the way Sandoval said that - maybe his tone of voice, Liam wasn't sure - that stopped his first reaction, which was to reply with a snide remark. Instead, he forced himself to keep quiet and consider his options for a minute.
Doing paperwork was boring, yes... but having nothing to do was even worse. He was going to have to be at the Embassy anyway, and since Sandoval had cancelled the interviews he'd had planned, there was nothing else for him to do; or, at least, nothing else that would keep him occupied for a full day.
As well, Sandoval really did look as though he could use a break; and this was something that Liam could do to help his father out.
"All right," he agreed.
Sandoval nodded, and then gestured at Liam's plate. "I thought you were hungry," he remarked. "Those pancakes are going to go cold if you don't eat them soon."
Liam grinned, suddenly in a much better mood, and then returned his attention to his breakfast. There was no way that he was going to waste good pancakes - not after yesterday!
It was going on for 7:30 when they arrived at the Embassy.
Liam shifted uneasily as he and Sandoval waited for Lt. Cress' squad to form up around them for the walk from the car to the Embassy. He'd found himself becoming more and more nervous the closer they got to the Embassy, a feeling that was only exacerbated by the presence of the Volunteer escort. And to make matters even worse, the flickers of light that he'd been seeing out of the corner of his eye yesterday were back, and starting to give him another headache.
As they entered the Embassy, the two Volunteers on guard in the foyer saluted, and Liam stopped to speak to them.
"Everything quiet?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," Sergeant Ramsey replied, nodding. "According to the surveillance teams, there's been no sign of McKenna anywhere around here all night."
Sandoval frowned, looking displeased at Ramsey's news and relaxed tone of voice. "That doesn't necessarily mean that he's not in the area," he snapped. "We've seen evidence of how easily he can blend into a crowd. All of you," he glared at both the Embassy guards and Liam's escort, as well as Liam, "make sure you stay alert."
Even taking into consideration Sandoval's warning, Liam let himself relax a bit. It wasn't necessarily guaranteed to stay that way, but for the moment it did appear that he was safe.
"Still, so far so good," he said to Ramsey. "That's promising, isn't it?"
His escort relaxed a bit as well. "Yes, sir," Lt. Cress said, nodding to Sgt. Ramsey.
Liam was pleased to see that there didn't seem to be any resentment on Ramsey's part over the fact that Sandoval had assigned his own people to guard Liam even while in the Embassy. He'd been worrying about that yesterday and this morning, when he hadn't been distracted by other things. The Embassy guards could quite easily have taken it as implying that Sandoval didn't believe that they were capable of dealing with McKenna. But if Ramsey didn't feel that way, then the other guards would follow his lead.
"Agent Sandoval and I will be in Da'an's office if you need us," Liam added to Ramsey, as Lt. Cress motioned for three of her people to start patrolling the grounds of the Embassy. She and Sergeant Chen stayed.
"Yes, sir," Ramsey said.
"Liam, I'll just grab some of the files from the office I've been using, and then I'll join you," Sandoval said, as they started toward Da'an's office.
"Okay," Liam said slowly. As Sandoval turned and headed over to the door of his office, Liam stared after him for a moment, confused. Why is he suddenly calling me 'Liam' constantly? he wondered, as he started walking again. As late as Saturday, he'd counted himself lucky if his father called him by name once in a day. So far this morning, Sandoval had already used his name three times!
Not that Liam objected - in fact, he rather liked the implication, that they were becoming friends - but it was... strange. And to make it stranger, Liam wasn't sure if Sandoval even realized that he was doing it.
As he started into Da'an's office, he caught sight of another flicker, brighter than the others - even brighter than Sunday's. Trying to focus on it, Liam didn't realize that he had stopped right inside the entrance.
The effort caused his head to begin pounding, making the minor headache he'd developed in the car even worse, and Liam was just about to give up when Sandoval appeared in front of him, a concerned expression on the Implant's face.
"Liam, is something wrong?" his father demanded.
"No..." Liam began, and then froze as the scene in front of him flickered out, to be replaced by a vision.
There was a bright flash of light, and Liam's desk exploded, engulfing the entire room - including the doorway where he and Sandoval were standing - in flames. The explosion was so powerful that it even destabilized the virtual glass windows that looked out on the city of Washington, and burning debris went flying everywhere.
"Liam?" Sandoval repeated, sounding worried. Liam blinked, pulling away from the vision and focusing on his father, and the concerned hand on his arm that was grounding him.
There wasn't time to do anything but react. Grabbing Sandoval's arm, Liam shoved him toward the door, yelling, "Run!"
"Liam, what-" Sandoval began, and then Liam felt everything slow down. Turning back, he stared in shock and terror as his desk exploded, just like in the vision. The ball of flame that had been his desk was expanding right towards where he and Sandoval were standing. There was no way that they would be able to get out of the way in time.
NO!
Liam wasn't certain when - or how - he'd raised his hands, but suddenly they were there, his palms - and his shaqarava - facing the explosion.
I can't - I WON'T - lose him, too!
Without thinking about what he was doing - there was no time - Liam focused his terror of losing Sandoval, his need to protect his father, his anger at McKenna, and all the confusion he'd felt over the past week, and pushed.
His shaqarava felt as though they were being pierced by a burning lance, but Liam ignored the pain, determined to make this work. He had to. There was no other way for he and Sandoval to survive.
The burning pain increased, and then, abruptly - almost as though a floodgate had been loosed - he felt energy begin draining from him and flowing out through his shaqarava. A brilliant white light burst from his palms and collided with the ever-expanding ball of flame less than a foot from his face. The force of the impact flung him backward, and Liam retained just enough awareness to realize that someone - Sandoval? - had caught him before he blacked out.
When he'd arrived at Da'an's office, Sandoval had begun to get concerned; Liam had been just standing there, staring into space, an abstracted look on his face. Sandoval had handed the files in his hands to Lt. Cress and walked in. He'd asked if anything was wrong, and Liam had started to say that there wasn't when his face had gone a ghostly white. Then he'd shoved Sandoval toward the door, shouting for him to run.
Sandoval stopped in the doorway and turned back to demand an explanation; and found himself staring in shock as Liam's desk exploded, sending flames and burning debris everywhere.
He was about to throw himself out the door when he realized that Liam was just standing there. The flames from the explosion would be reaching them at any moment. He reached out a hand, with the intention of grabbing Liam and pulling him away, and then froze as a brilliant white light burst from Liam's palms - His shaqarava? - and hit the flames.
Sandoval could only stare in mingled awe and shock as the energy from Liam's shaqarava forced the flames back.
Then, abruptly, the energy vanished, and Liam staggered backwards, propelled by the force of the impact. That broke Sandoval's paralysis, and he took a step forward just in time to catch his son as Liam collapsed.
The sudden addition of Liam's weight sent him staggering back into the corridor, and then Lt. Cress and Sgt. Chen were there, taking Liam's unconscious form from him and getting both of them a bit farther down the corridor, away from the entrance to the destroyed office.
Sandoval sank down to sit on the floor next to where the Volunteers laid Liam down. He felt dazed; he'd known since he'd figured out the truth on Sunday that Liam probably had shaqarava, but this was the first proof of it that he'd seen.
The first proof that you recognized as such, came the thought, but before he could pursue it, his global beeped.
It took him a moment to remember that he'd put it in his pocket after speaking to Zo'or this morning, and then he pulled it out and opened it.
The look of relief on Captain Jardine's face would have been rather amusing under other circumstances. "Sir, you're all right!" he exclaimed. "The mothership's sensors just picked up an explosion in the Washington Embassy, and we were worried-"
"Yes, Captain, I'm fine," Sandoval interrupted his aide, grimacing as he stood up and waved away Lt. Cress' silent offer of support. "I believe there may have been a bomb planted in Major Kincaid's desk. I want a forensics team down here..." He broke off as he heard a soft moan, and glanced over in time to see Liam open his eyes and look dazedly up at the ceiling. "I'll call you back in a few minutes, Captain," he said quickly, and closed his global before focusing on his son.
"Are you all right?" he asked, leaning down to help Liam sit up. Then he frowned as he noticed a nasty gash on Liam's forehead, just above his left eyebrow, which was bleeding freely. He must have been hit by a piece of debris.
Liam blinked up at him, looking a bit confused. "Sandoval? What happened?" he mumbled.
"There was an explosion in Da'an's office - probably a bomb," Sandoval replied. Liam's eyes widened, and Sandoval could almost see the memory returning. "How do you feel?"
Liam hesitated. Sandoval glared at him, not wanting to hear a lie, and Liam sighed. "My head hurts," he admitted after a moment.
"Not surprising - you've got a nasty cut on your forehead," Sandoval told him. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a handkerchief and gave it to Liam to press against the cut. "Here, this should help stop the bleeding." If this keeps up much longer - which I sincerely hope that it doesn't - I'm going to have to start buying handkerchiefs by the gross, he reflected, and then irritably dismissed the thought as irrelevant. Returning his attention to Liam, he added, "What about your arm and shoulder? How are they?"
Liam hesitated again, his expression becoming wary. "No worse than they were this morning," he answered carefully. "Why?"
This was not the time to discuss what he'd seen; not with Lt. Cress and Sgt. Chen standing close enough to hear anything that was said, and other Volunteers approaching - Sandoval could hear the sound of running footsteps from nearby. The elite were trustworthy, but there were still some things that they didn't need to know. Besides, he wanted his first real discussion with his son to take place in private. "The force of the explosion shoved you backward; I was afraid that it had done additional damage," he temporized. "You haven't been having that much luck with your shoulder lately."
"N-no, I'm fine," Liam managed, the wariness on his face giving way to a combination of confusion and fatigue.
"Good. Can you stand?" Sandoval added, as a group of Volunteers - the rest of Lt. Cress' squad, accompanied by some of the Embassy guards - came around the corner. Expressions of relief crossed their faces when they saw both Liam and Sandoval.
Liam nodded, and stood up slowly, carefully keeping his left hand on the wall to help support him.
Sandoval stepped away from Liam for a moment and peered around the entrance into Da'an's office.
The flames were dying down, and the room was an absolute mess. Liam's desk had been completely destroyed by the explosion; Da'an's chair looked to have been severely damaged, as did the ID portal, and the virtual glass windows were... gone.
"The media's going to have a field day with this one, sir," Corporal Payton, one of Lt. Cress' people, said. "I think most of downtown Washington saw it. I was outside, on the other side of the Embassy, and I couldn't have missed it if I'd been blind."
That was not good news.
On the other hand... Sandoval's eyes narrowed thoughtfully as his gaze went to Liam.
Yesterday, Jardine had pointed out that McKenna had failed in every attempt he'd made on Liam's life. The Captain had suggested that if they were lucky, those unusual failures - and they were unusual for McKenna - could end up making him careless.
Well, so far Sandoval hadn't seen any sign of carelessness... but he had the definite feeling that McKenna was rattled. Under ordinary circumstances, the assassin would have never resorted to using a bomb. It was too indiscriminate.
And now Liam had survived another attempt... the fifth one in a week. Bringing the media in - publicizing McKenna's failures - might just be the answer. It would definitely make him angry - and angry people, as Sandoval knew well, made mistakes.
He'd have to check the strategy with Zo'or, of course... but he suspected that the Taelon would agree to it.
First, though... Walking back to Liam, Sandoval motioned for Lt. Cress and Sgt. Ramsey, who had come with the other Volunteers, to join them. "Lieutenant, Sergeant," he ordered, "take Major Kincaid to my office. Major," he continued, turning to Liam, "you're to stay there until I come and get you. Then we'll be going up to the mothership - and you will be staying there until McKenna is caught."
He half-expected Liam to argue, and was a bit surprised when his son simply nodded and followed Sgt. Ramsey without protest.
Turning back to the rest of the Volunteers, he gestured to the entrance to Da'an's office. "Corporal Payton, I want you to stand guard here until the forensics team gets here."
"Yes, sir," the Volunteer replied, saluting.
"Sergeant Chen," Sandoval continued, "retrieve all of the surveillance records, and all Embassy security records from the past twenty-four hours. I want to see them as soon as you've got them."
"Yes, sir," Chen said, echoing the corporal, and started down the corridor toward the Embassy's main security station.
Then Sandoval turned to the others. "I want this Embassy searched from top to bottom," he ordered. "I want to know exactly how whoever planted this bomb - presumably McKenna - got in here; and if there were any more explosives planted, I want them found."
The Volunteers saluted, and then immediately hurried to carry out their assignments.
Opening his global, Sandoval contacted Captain Jardine.
"Sir, Zo'or is demanding a status report," Jardine said immediately.
"Inform him that both Major Kincaid and I are safe and relatively unharmed," Sandoval instructed. "Have you got the forensics team ready?"
"Of course, sir," Jardine replied. "And yes; they're already on the way to the Embassy."
"Good," Sandoval continued. "After you report to Zo'or, find Corporal Roberts and send him down to pick us up - I want the Major on the mothership."
Jardine nodded.
"And come down with him; I want you to supervise the forensics examination."
"Yes, sir," Jardine replied calmly.
Sandoval nodded in satisfaction and closed the connection. Then, taking another deep breath, he started toward his office - and Liam.
Liam sat down in the chair facing the desk and closed his eyes, relieved that both Cress and Ramsey had agreed to stay outside. Right now, he needed to be alone.
He felt... well, he wasn't entirely certain how he felt. Physically, his head was hurting a bit, and his shoulder and arm were throbbing; but it wasn't the physical that concerned him at the moment.
Opening his eyes again, he looked down at his hands, carefully shifting his arm in the sling so that his right palm faced upwards.
His gloves - the gift from Lili - had been destroyed by the blast from his shaqarava; there might be a few bits of fabric left on the floor of Da'an's office, if any had survived the flames, but the gloves themselves were gone.
So was the dark red colour of his shaqarava. It looked as though Da'an had been right about activating them being the answer to whatever the problem had been; they had stopped itching, and were back to the usual reddish-tinged marks that indicated quiescent shaqarava.
And that was the new problem.
He wasn't upset about having saved his father's life; if given the choice, he'd have done it again in a heartbeat. He'd done it before, when Professor Creighton had dropped that little surprise on them...
But the question was, how much had Sandoval seen?
Nothing Sandoval had said had suggested that he'd seen Liam's shaqarava - at least, not directly - but Liam didn't know how his father could have missed what had happened. That blast had been enormous!
What did Da'an say? Something about my shaqarava containing more energy than he had realized was possible?
If so, that might explain the force of the blast, as well as the strange sensation Liam had experienced, of energy draining out of him... which might, in turn, explain why he was suddenly feeling so tired.
He hesitated for a moment, glancing towards the door, and was relieved to see that it was closed. If what he was about to do did produce any results, he didn't want anyone to see.
Taking a deep breath, Liam focused his attention on his shaqarava, willing them to activate.
He felt only the faintest touch of surprise when they immediately began to glow. Admittedly, the glow wasn't very strong - but then, he was tired, after all.
Liam just sat there and studied his glowing shaqarava for a moment or two, wondering what this would mean for him. Then, willing them to stop, he watched as the glow disappeared.
Whatever had happened - and he still wasn't sure what that was - it appeared that he could now consciously control his shaqarava, although he couldn't be absolutely certain of that without doing more tests. Not exactly something he wanted to do right now.
Leaning back in the chair, Liam closed his eyes again. What he really wanted to do at the moment was to just go to sleep, but he knew that wouldn't be a good idea. Especially if Sandoval had seen the shaqarava blast. Although Liam had no idea why he'd pretend otherwise if he had...
"Liam!"
Liam jerked in surprise, opening his eyes to meet Sandoval's concerned gaze. Had he fallen asleep?
"Corporal Roberts is here," Sandoval said.
Right. To take them up to the mothership.
Liam started to stand up, and then fell back as dizziness assailed him. Maybe testing his shaqarava hadn't been that wise a thing to do after all...
Before he could say anything, Sandoval gripped his left arm and helped him up. "Are you all right?"
Liam blinked, trying to focus. "Yeah... just drained," he replied before he thought about what he was saying. Then, as his mind caught up with him, he hoped that his father would take that to mean that it was the commotion this morning that had drained him, as opposed to what he'd done about it.
Sandoval nodded slowly. "When we get up to the mothership, we'll get something to eat - that should help. And Liam," he added, letting go of Liam's arm and heading for the door, "after we've dealt with McKenna, we need to talk."
Liam stared after his father for a moment, apprehension running through him. What did he want to discuss?
Did he see?
Swallowing nervously, he took a deep breath and followed Sandoval out. At the moment, he really had no choice except to wait and see what happened.
Doors scowled at the image that formed on the screen. Having to piggyback their signal onto a myriad of others in order to avoid detection tended to result in a great deal of signal interference. As a result, the picture was staticky and the audio wasn't the best.
"Dr. Greenbaum," he said evenly.
Dr. Sylvia Greenbaum looked surprised. "Mr. Doors! What can I do for you?"
"I have one very simple question that I want answered," he replied coolly. "Why was Ms. Palmer not shown the emergency portal during her tour of the facility?"
Dr. Greenbaum blinked - or, at least, that was the impression Doors got. He disliked not being able to clearly see the faces of the people he was speaking to. "Emergency portal?" she repeated. "What emergency portal?"
Doors' expression darkened. "The emergency portal in your facility," he said, his tone going cold. "The one installed almost three years ago, at my direct orders. The outgoing only portal."
Dr. Greenbaum shook her head. "There was never a portal here, sir," she replied, looking confused. "Certainly not as long as I've been here."
Jonathan Doors tended to be a very suspicious man - he'd needed to be to survive, first in the cutthroat field of international business, and then as the leader of the Liberation. However, he found himself believing that Dr. Greenbaum was telling the truth - as she knew it, at least.
"You're certain," he said, frowning.
"Yes, Mr. Doors. We've never received a portal, emergency or otherwise," Dr. Greenbaum replied somberly.
"I'll look into this; there is supposed to be an emergency portal at each facility. I'll have one sent up by the next courier, along with the regulations governing its use," Doors declared.
"We'll be waiting, sir," Dr. Greenbaum replied.
Doors nodded to her, and then cut the signal.
Standing up, he walked into the outer office, where his assistant was working on the presentation for the latest Taelon co-venture.
"Jerry, please inform Ms. Palmer that I need to see her as soon as she's available," he said.
"Yes, sir," Jerry replied, and Doors returned to his inner office.
This was not good. At all.
Augur was just about to start eating breakfast when Holo-Lorna appeared. "Augur, there's something you should see," the hologram said.
Augur sighed. First Liam, now Holo-Lorna... this interrupting his meals bit was beginning to get on his nerves. "What is it?"
The screen came on, showing what looked to be a news report.
"...explosion at the Taelon Washington Embassy," the reporter standing in front of the camera was saying. Augur could see the Embassy in the background, and what looked like... smoke?... billowing out of it. "This is the fourth attack on Taelons and Taelon personnel in the past week."
The view changed to the front of the Embassy, where a shuttle was parked on the lawn, and Augur watched as Liam and Sandoval, surrounded by a group of Volunteers, exited the Embassy and hurried to the shuttle.
The reporter reappeared on the screen. "Neither Agent Sandoval, Zo'or's attaché, nor Major Kincaid, Da'an's Protector, both of whom were in the Embassy at the time of the explosion, had any comments for the press.
"To re-cap; over the past week, there have been four attacks on Taelons or Taelon personnel. Last Wednesday, Synod Leader Zo'or was targeted at the dedication of a new children's hospital in Seattle. Major Kincaid was injured saving him. On Thursday, Zo'or was attacked again at the Taelon Egyptian Embassy, after a meeting with Si'al, the Egyptian Companion, and the African Premier. Sunday, Major Kincaid was attacked at a Native American festival in Arizona. And just this morning, there was an explosion in the Taelon Washington Embassy."
"Turn it off," Augur ordered. "And call Liam."
Holo-Lorna nodded, and the screen shut off. A moment later, she shook her head. "I'm sorry, Augur, but Major Kincaid isn't accepting any calls at the moment."
Augur frowned. "Then call Dr. Park."
Dr. Park appeared on the screen almost immediately. "Augur," she greeted him.
"Have you seen the news?" Augur demanded.
Dr. Park nodded. "Yes," she replied. "No one's called me, though, so I suspect that Liam is all right."
"Well, they did have some footage of him getting into a shuttle with Sandoval and a group of Volunteers," Augur said, "so you're probably right. But I've tried calling him, and I can't reach him. All I get is the message that he's not accepting any calls at the moment."
"If he was getting into a shuttle, that means he's most likely up on the mothership at the moment," Dr. Park pointed out. "And considering the way Sandoval's been protecting him, I wouldn't be surprised if he's got Volunteers with him constantly right now. I'm sure he'll call when he has the chance."
Augur sighed. "I'm just worried," he admitted.
"So am I, Augur, so am I," Dr. Park responded. "But Liam is able to look after himself - and as much as I dislike Sandoval, the man's very good at his job, and very determined to keep Liam safe. This assassin's failed five times so far; I doubt that he'll get a sixth chance."
Augur glanced away, not wanting Dr. Park to see his expression. Yes, he was worried about McKenna... after all, the man was a professional assassin, and seemed to be very determined to kill Liam. But that wasn't his greatest concern.
He'd done some digging on Andrew Patterson last night, and had discovered that apparently Patterson and Sandoval had been good friends ever since they'd both joined the FBI. Which meant that there could be very little doubt that whatever Patterson had found out about both Liam and Dark Knight had been relayed directly to Sandoval. And with what Liam had been doing, giving Sandoval all those hints to the truth... Well, it wouldn't take a genius to put two and two together and eventually get four.
And what did Dr. Park mean about Sandoval being determined to keep Liam safe?
"Listen, Augur, I have to go... I've got patients I need to see to," Dr. Park said, interrupting his contemplations. "If Liam calls me, I'll let him know that you want to talk to him, okay?"
Augur nodded. "Thanks," he replied.
The screen went blank, and Augur leaned back in his chair and started eating his breakfast. He wasn't paying any attention to the taste, however; most of his attention was focused on how to handle the situation he found himself in now.
"Lorna," he said after a moment's thought, "check that monitor we have on Patterson and see what he's been up to over the past day or so. And leave a message on Liam's global that I need to talk to him as soon as possible."
"Certainly, Augur," Holo-Lorna replied, and got to work.
Zo'or dismissed the datastream and turned around as Agent Sandoval and Major Kincaid stepped onto the bridge, followed by two Volunteers who immediately took up a protective stance just behind Kincaid.
Kincaid looked much worse than he had the last time Zo'or had seen the human, three days ago, when he and Agent Sandoval had been explaining their plan to entrap this assassin. There was a cut on his forehead, and he appeared to be tired and in a certain amount of pain.
Da'an and Agent Sandoval had obviously both been quite correct to insist upon a delay in the implementation of Kincaid's promotion to Flight Commander.
"Sit down, Major," he instructed, gesturing to an unoccupied console.
The human obediently sat, an expression of gratitude momentarily crossing his face.
"Agent Sandoval, your report," Zo'or ordered, as Da'an walked over to stand next to Kincaid.
"I have a team of forensics specialists going over the site of the explosion, supervised by Captain Jardine," the Implant said. "As yet, the only thing they have determined is that the explosion was definitely caused by a device planted in Major Kincaid's desk. The device is a very powerful one; the explosion destroyed most of the room, as well as destabilizing the virtual glass. Had the Major and I been any farther in, we would have undoubtedly been killed instantly."
Out of the corner of his eye, Zo'or saw Kincaid shiver, and he turned slightly to watch as Da'an placed one hand on the human's uninjured shoulder and spoke quietly to him. Kincaid nodded in response.
"Zo'or," Agent Sandoval said, and Zo'or redirected his attention to the Implant.
"Is there any further information on how the assassin was able to accomplish this, Agent Sandoval?" he demanded. "Or any information concerning his current location?"
The Implant shook his head. "Not right now, no, Zo'or. I have my people going over the records from both the surveillance teams and the Embassy security files, but there is no guarantee that we will be able to discover anything about McKenna's present whereabouts from them.
"Also," Agent Sandoval added, his eyes flicking over to Kincaid for a moment, "I've taken the precaution of making arrangements for Major Kincaid to remain on board the mothership until McKenna has been captured."
Zo'or nodded. "Very well." He studied the Implant for a moment. "There is one other thing, Agent Sandoval," he added. Calling up the datastream again, he ordered it to replay the broadcast he had been watching just before the humans had entered.
A reporter appeared. "To re-cap; over the past week, there have been four attacks on Taelons or Taelon personnel. Last Wednesday, Synod Leader Zo'or was targeted at the dedication of a new children's hospital in Seattle. Major Kincaid was injured saving him. On Thursday, Zo'or was attacked again at the Taelon Egyptian Embassy, after a meeting with Si'al, the Egyptian Companion, and the African Premier. Sunday, Major Kincaid was attacked at a Native American festival in Arizona. And just this morning, there was an explosion in the Taelon Washington Embassy."
Zo'or dismissed the datastream again. "How did the media discover what occurred in Africa, Agent Sandoval?" he demanded. "Two days ago, they were unaware of it."
Agent Sandoval scowled. "I don't know, Zo'or... but I will find out. It is quite possible that there were witnesses to the attack in Africa."
Zo'or nodded again. "Concentrate on your search for McKenna," he ordered. "He is the first priority. You will co-ordinate the search from the Washington Embassy."
The Implant blinked, and glanced back at Major Kincaid for a moment before returning his attention to Zo'or. "Of course, Zo'or," he replied obediently.
Zo'or felt satisfied. Kincaid would be safe enough here, and it would provide him with the opportunity to discuss certain matters with the Major without Agent Sandoval present. "Once you have McKenna, you will look into this breach of security. That will be all, Agent Sandoval," he added calmly.
The Implant nodded, and Zo'or turned his chair away in dismissal.
Da'an watched as Agent Sandoval approached them. He was concerned; Liam had shown him his shaqarava, which had returned to their normal state, and quietly whispered an explanation of what had happened. The question was, what - if anything - had Agent Sandoval seen? And if he had seen, what did he intend to do about it?
Stopping next to them, Sandoval gave Da'an a tight nod and then directed his attention to Liam. "Stop by the commissary and get something to eat, and then there's some paperwork in my office that you can work on," he said.
"All right. I am a bit hungry," Liam admitted quietly, not arguing. He appeared to be tired - which, considering the amount of energy he must have channeled through his shaqarava, was not surprising.
Turning to the Volunteers that had accompanied Liam onto the bridge, Sandoval added, "Lieutenant Hartland will relieve you at one o'clock."
That seemed to catch Liam's attention. "If I'm on the mothership-" he began.
"Humour me, Liam," Sandoval said firmly.
'Liam'? Da'an thought, puzzled. It was most unlike Agent Sandoval to be so informal.
"We still don't know how McKenna found out about Zo'or's schedule change Thursday morning," Sandoval continued.
Liam nodded slowly. "All right," he replied after a moment.
"I'll let you know as soon as we have something," Sandoval added, before leaving the bridge.
Liam leaned back in the seat and sighed, closing his eyes. "I wish this was over," he murmured.
"As do I," Da'an replied, his voice equally quiet. He paused, and then added, "You mentioned that you were hungry."
"Right." Liam opened his eyes and carefully stood up. Glancing around the bridge for a moment, he sighed again. "And I guess I'll be in Sandoval's office when I finish eating."
"Very well," Da'an replied.
He watched his Protector walk out, followed by the Volunteers, and then walked over to Zo'or's command chair.
"You were right, Da'an," Zo'or said coolly, turning the chair around to look at him. "Major Kincaid does indeed require rest before taking up his new responsibilities."
"I am glad that we agree on this," Da'an replied. He hesitated a moment, not certain he wished to broach this next topic with Zo'or, but the memory of Agent Sandoval's slightly haggard expression decided him. "What of Agent Sandoval? He did not have the chance to have the vacation we arranged for him. I believe he may require a rest almost as much as Major Kincaid."
Zo'or met his eyes calmly. "I will take that under consideration, Da'an - once this human assassin has been found and dealt with," he replied, and then turned away.
Da'an kept his eyes on Zo'or for another moment or two, and then left the bridge to return to his own duties.