The
War – Chapter 5
*~*~*
Back on firm ground Liam lead Zo'or and
two of the volunteers who had accompanied them in the shuttle to the resistance
headquarters.
Zo'or darted a suspicious look at Liam.
"How did you know I was going to be
executed? I am grateful that you saved me but I do not understand why you
risked your life to do so."
Liam looked at Zo'or.
"We have a source aboard the mothership."
Zo'or's head jerked up. That could only be a Jaridian. In what hands had he
fallen?
Liam continued. „Your rescue you have to
thank..."
"Da'an!"
"Zo'or!" Beaming with joy Da'an hurried
over to his child. „They have made it!"
Zo'or's face darkened. This had to be a
trap. He still was in the hand of the enemy.
"Traitor!"
Da'an stopped dead in his tracks. An
disbelieving expression crossed his face.
"What..."
"You have extradited us to the enemy! You
have led us into doom!"
Zo'or's rage grew.
Da'an started to lose his facade.
Refusingly shaking his head he moved backwards.
"Zo'or I have not..."
"Lies!"
Lili ran over to Da'an and supported him.
"Zo'or! Da'an has not betrayed the
Taelons!"
"Marquette? Your presence proves it! He
has protected you even though you have tried to blow up the mothership."
Da'an had now completely lost his human
facade and had sunken down on a chair.
Dani and Trinity, one of Augur's
assistants exchanged a look.
"He doesn't deserve this. Zo'or really is
a bitch. We should have let him croak up there!"
Liam had watched the quarrel openmouthed.
Now he blew his top. He grabbed Zo'or's shoulder and whirled him around.
"Come off it, Zo'or! Da'an didn't know
that Lili was still alive. There Sandoval has lied to you. And only Da'an's
support has made us take the risk and get your butt out of the mothership!"
Zo'or laughed. It sounded like a bark.
"You have not rescued me. I am still in
the hands of the Jaridians. Da'an is
collaborating with the enemy. You just want to make me think I am safe to get
more information out of me!"
Liam gasped for air and set in for a new
torrent of words when Da'an interrupted him. He looked relaxed as if a heavy
burden had been taken off of his shoulders.
"Stop, Major. He will not believe you. Zo'or,
General Fa'loth would never use such subtle methods to gather information. He
would use other ways. Ways like this…"
He grabbed Zo'or's hands and forced a
sharing with him.
Zo'or tried to say something, but couldn't
get it out. With his eyes wide with shock he stared at Da'an before he lighted
up with a glaring flash and then broke down.
Dru and Seven, the two volunteers tried
to get to Zo'or to help him but were stopped by Liam.
"What's he doing?" Fear wanted to know.
"He forces Zo'or to witness what he has
gone through on Jaridia."
Lili looked sick. With horror she
remembered how she and Ter'kozz had found Da'an in Fa'loth's dungeon. How Da'an
gained the strength to go through all that again was beyond her knowledge.
After apparently endless seconds Da'an
let go of Zo'or's hands. He barely regained his human appearance. He looked
pale and haggard. Lili backed him up and nearly carried him out of the room
into an empty one.
Zo'or was sitting heavily shaking on the
floor.
"He is in shock. I will take care of him."
Dru knelt down beside him „Where can I..."
Liam helped her to get him up to his own
feet and lead the two out of the room.
A shocked silence sank down on the other
present persons like a blanket.
"Let's get to work. We can't help them
with sitting around and staring holes into the sky." Augur broke the silence
"You there, volunteer!"
"My name is Seven O'Nine."
"Okay, Seven. What can you tell us about
the situation aboard the mothership?"
*~*~*
"Da'an?"
Lili had seated the Companion on a sofa
and wrapped him into a blanket. 'If he was human I would pour him a big drink
now.' she thought. 'But what do I do with a Taelon?'
Da'an again started trembling and lost
his facade.
"Lili... help me..."
He leaned heavily against her.
Lili held him tight like a small child,
rocked him back and forth and whispered meaningless words to him. She leaned
her chin upon his head and started humming. Da'an held on to her arms as if she
were the only anchor in his life.
Lili sensed him relaxing slowly. With her
free hand she stroke his head.
'It's strange" she thought. 'He is an
energy being but when I close my eyes he feels so normal, as if he would belong
here.'
She kissed his forehead.
Surprised Da'an looked up.
"I
will stay with you, I won't allow anybody to hurt you again," she whispered.
Slowly she traced the energy paths on his
face.
"I love you, Da'an."
This time she kissed his mouth.
To her surprise Da'an kissed her back.
*I love you, too, Lili. * she heard him
in her mind.
She opened her thoughts to him and
wrapped him in her thoughts as if they were a blanket.
With a feeling of completion she sensed
their thoughts merging.
*~*~*
Dru was worried about Zo'or. He had woken
up from his paralysis and was now muttering something in Eunoia. Her attempts
to talk to him had failed. Whatever this strange sharing between him and Da'an
had been, it had confused Zo'or a lot.
But now he seemed to come to his senses
again.
"Zo'or?"
He didn't respond. Carefully Dru dared to
touch his hand.
Zo'or lifted his head and looked a long
time into her face.
Dru started feeling very uneasy. What
would come next?
"I never truly understood him."
"Whom are you talking about?"
"Da'an. His views about humanity. I
considered him to be weak, but that is not true. I have made so many mistakes.
What shall I do now?"
Dru looked at him in amazement. She had
never seen the synod leader in such a state. Zo'or was still looking at her as
if he was asking her to help him.
"Uhm, well, when I did something wrong I
went to the person concerned and apologized. After that I always felt much better."
"Da'an will never forgive me."
"Nonsense, Zo'or. Da'an wanted to go back
to the mothership to free you. He loves you. Of course he will forgive you. Now
don't you dare towallow in self-pity! We have no use for something like that
now!"
'Oops. That wasn't a good idea. Now he
will tear off my head' Dru thought and crouched down. To her surprise Zo'or
just looked at her with a hopeful expression.
"I will try."
He hesitated.
"Uhm, shall I accompany you?"
Zo'or blushed blue. "Yes, that would be…
helpful."
With an ‚oh, my, what have I gotten
myself into now?' Dru pulled up Zo'or from the floor.
Zo'or winced when suddenly the door
opened. He still held Dru's hand.
Da'an and Lili entered.
Without thinking Zo'or started to talk.
"Da'an! I want to apologize."
"Zo'or! I see you are doing better. I am
sorry. I had not had the right to do that."
Both talked at the same time.
"Da'an. Please listen to me. I don't know
if I am able to do this again. I am sorry for what I have said to you. I should
have known you would never betray our people I… I do not know if I… no. I am
sure I would not have resisted Fa'loth's questionings. I have done so many
things wrong and I want to apologize to you."
Zo'or bowed his head and stared at the
floor. Lili noticed with amusement that he still held Dru's hand. Dru had tried
to pull her hand away but Zo'or's grip had turned into something vise-like.
Blushing she squinted towards Lili.
Da'an
had calmly listened to Zo'or's word. Now he placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I am not angry at you, Zo'or. I know you
always just wanted the best for our people. How could I not forgive my child?"
Zo'or lifted his head and held his free
hand out to Da'an. Da'an took it and drew Zo'or into a hug.
Dru gasped for air when she sensed the
Taelons emotions. Zo'or had apparently totally forgotten her presence. Only
when he stepped back he noticed her again and quickly let go of her hand. He
looked at her in embarrassment and for a moment it looked like he wanted to say
something to her, then he regained his composure.
"We should go back to work and try to get
back our ship."
"I am agreeing to that Zo'or. But remember:
This fight is led by Liam, not by you. Most of these humans are resistance.
They will not listen to you."
One moment Zo'or looked at Da'an with
puzzlement. Instinctively he wanted to order these humans to be arrested before
he remembered the changed conditions.
"I will try to remember it."
The two Taelons left the room in peace
and harmony.
Lili turned around to Dru, who stood like
frozen in the middle of the room and watched her hand.
"Are you all right?"
"What... what was that?"
"Taelons are able to share her feelings
and her...'self' to another being with a touch of their hands. The sharing with
you seems to have happened unintentionally. The first time I was as puzzled as
you are now. Are you sure you are well?"
"You... too?"
"Yes, with Da'an."
"You and Da'an are close, aren't you? I
have seen his face when he heard about the Bliss-incident. And about your death…"
Lili's face turned dreamy. „Yes, we are
very close." She straightened herself.
"What have you received from Zo'or? If
you want to talk about it..:"
"He is... confused. His whole view of the
world has been shaken. It looks like he has never learned that between black
and white there are shades of gray. He won't admit it, but Da'an's opinion
means a lot to him. His duty as the synod leader is a heavy burden, sometimes
too heavy. He yearns for somebody to stand by his side. But there is so much
more, about humanity and about Da'an. I have to digest all that first."
Lili placed her hand on Dru's shoulder.
"Rest. I bet, Zo'or has a lot to think
about, too."