Disclaimer: Earth: Final Conflict belongs to Roddenberry, Kirschner and Tribune Entertainment (and possibly a few others as well). I make no money from the writing of this.


Alienation


The shuttles engines died down. The force field in front of him disappeared. Liam Kincaid removed his safety harness and turned to look at his passenger. His passenger stood looking back at him, neither said a word, but the silence was by no means an awkward one. Da'an simply looked at him through those clear blue eyes of his.

          "You are troubled Major?" Da'an asked softly. Da'an's voice was always soft.

          Liam shook his head slowly and deliberately. "Just a little surprised is all." He corrected.

          "Do Zo'or's words trouble you?" He pushed. Da'an and Liam were very close. Da'an was probably the closest thing Liam had to any kind of family, all he had ever known.

          "Yes. I'm afraid of what he's going to do next." Liam nodded.

          "I too share your concerns Liam." Admitted Da'an gravely. "Thank you, you may return home now." It was a polite dismissal, Liam nodded his head and left.

          It was dark now and the Washington Embassy was quiet, only a few security and office personnel were wandering around. Liam took the opportunity to admire the beauty of the building itself, this was something he rarely did as he took much of it for granted. Unlike his friends Liam had grown up around such beauty.

          Liam decided to take a walk in the gardens. He had never actually been in them after dark, and rarely in daylight either if truth be told. He just didn't have the time for such things.

          Soft lights glowed in the paths and the fountain which formed the main centre-piece. The fish in the water swam lazily, unconcerned by Liam's presence.

          The air was soft, just a gentle breeze stirred the plants. Liam closed his eyes and listened. He rarely did anything like this either, there always seemed to be some big emergency, he never got a break. Tomorrow things would be hectic again, but just for now, he could pretend he was just a normal person.

          He slowed his breathing, and with it his heart, he cleared his mind, it was like putting a car into neutral, it was still running, but it wasn't actually doing anything.

          He let his mind and senses wander, not concentrating on any individual sound around him. As he did the world around him came alive. He heard the movements of insects and small animals near by.

          He could hear the cars on the main road. He shouldn't have been able to hear them because of the virtual class encasing the garden in a dome, it kept the noises out so the garden was always peaceful. He became aware of movement within the embassy itself.

          Then like a bright warm light he could feel Da'an resting in his living area. At the same time he knew that Da'an was also aware of his presence.

          He pulled away. Although inwardly he felt as though he had let out a gasp, his body had not responded. Any one watching would simply have seen him open his eyes and continue to stare at the fountain in front of him. That and the soft glow emanating from the palm of his hands.

          Liam had become aware of the soft warmth in his hands when he sensed Da'an, he knew that the chaquarava had emerged once again. He could will them to do so of course, but there were times when they opened up anyway.

          In truth Liam was still trying to figure out just who and what he was. He had once told Da'an that above all else he was human, but did he really believe that, or was that just what he wanted to believe?

          The chaquarava were even more deadly than Sandoval's skrill Liam knew he had to be careful with them, and not just for that reason alone, after all they weren't exactly human

          He raised his hands, palms up and gazed at the deadly glowing balls of light nestled there. One touch of the chaquarava could kill.

          Liam turned to leave, he would go home. He would normally go to Augur's place and see what was going on there, it was still the resistance's headquarters in practice if not name.

          Then he changed his mind, he wasn't sure why, but he decided to walk home instead of getting a cab. He left the embassy grounds and started walking.

          He turned his global off, which was something that he never did. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't want anyone to be able to reach him right now. He needed time alone, to himself.

          He came to the main road which ran next to the embassy. He began walking, against the flow of traffic yet the on-coming headlights didn't seem to bother him, his eyes adjusted very well to such harsh lights. He walked for a long time thinking of nothing at all, and yet of everything at the same time. It was a strange feeling, no one knew where he was, no one could reach him. If anything happened out here, there would be no one to tell what had happened to him.

          Once he got home he just lay on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. He thought again about the strange feeling he had in the embassy garden. Somehow he had connected to Da'an. He would have to talk to Augur about it tomorrow, doubtless he would have a theory.

He might tell Dr. Parks too, maybe she could run some tests of something, just to make sure he was okay, didn't want the Taelon's messing with his head again. That was of course assuming that there were no major incidents or anything like that, surely he was allowed one uneventful week.

He didn't even realise when he fell asleep.

The insistent beeping of Liam's global woke him early the next morning. He couldn't even remember turning it back on, but then he didn't really remember much about last night either. Just that incredible feeling standing in the gardens, and the long walk where time seemed to move in a strange way, sometimes quickly, sometimes not at all.

          He reached for his global, "Kincaid." He said simply in answer.

          "Major, report to the Mother Ship immediately." Sandoval disappeared and left a blank screen in his wake.

          Great! What a way to start the day. He felt groggy, but then he always did when he'd slept in his clothes. He put it down to being simply psychological, if he was quick he would have time for a shower and a change of cloths before Sandoval called again demanding to know where he was.