The Price of Salvation
Chapter Nine
Liam carefully climbed to his feet, holding out a hand to pull up Da'an. He quickly placed a protective arm about her waist and noticed his father imitating him. "You were successful?" Liam asked, a bit perturbed by the glowing being before him.
"I was." "The wrongness is defeated." Disony shone brighter.
"Does this mean that people won't be able to do anything wrong?" Sandoval asked.
"You can never completely rid a place from the touch of wrongness, the capacity is still there, but there is no longer a drive to commit acts in it's name." "People will be able to do something wrong, and know that it is wrong, but they will not have such an inclination."
"Where will you go, now that your task is completed?" Da'an asked with a smile.
"I will still travel, overseeing the rest of the universe, perhaps I will join another dimension in it's fight." "It remains to be decided."
"When will you be leaving?" Zo'or asked curiously.
"In a matter of moments, first I have a few things to give you."
"Us?" Liam asked.
"Yes, you are the last civilizations to fight in the battle, you are the ones who helped defeat it for eternity, you will be rewarded." Disony moved to stand in front of Sandoval. "To you, I grant forgiveness." She said, placing a hand on his face. It glowed briefly and when she removed it he could no longer feel the oppressive guilt over the events of the last few years.
She moved to Zo'or, "To you I give emotion, so you may share every aspect of life with the one you love." She touched Zo'or's face also, and the Taelon could feel her mind widening to include this new perception. She was suddenly aware of feeling even more for her protector than she had previously realized.
Disony walked past the first couple to touch Liam's head, "For you, I grant understanding." Liam suddenly had access to his Kimeran father's memories. Always before Ha'gel's past had been covered in a kind mental haze, now he could see them as clearly as his, Beckett's, and Sandoval's. He smiled his thanks as Disony placed her hand on Da'an's face.
"To you, knowledge." Da'an's eyes widened as an idea surfaced in her mind, she could scarcely believe she had never thought of it before. Taelon energy, the formula in which it could be reproduced, it seemed so simple now. She could save her species. And, now that they were no longer in danger, combined with the destruction of the wrongness, surely they would be willing to take another approach to the human factor. She could scarcely wait to give the other Taelons the news.
"Thank you." Da'an said, her voice trembling with excitement.
Disony smiled once more and turned to leave. She began to walk towards the door, once more fading until just as she reached the wall she winked out of their existence.
Da'an turned to face Liam and placed a hand on his face, "Are you ready to go?"
"I don't know," he said joking, "you do realize this is most likely the last time we are going to have to be alone for the next few weeks, don't you?"
Da'an looked troubled, "I had not thought on that, perhaps we should wait."
"No, you are right, we should go, but after this we are going on vacation." Liam said, expecting an argument.
"Very well." "After all," Da'an said, leaning close to him and whispering into his ear, "we have a marriage to consummate."
With that she turned and walked to the cave leaving a completely stunned protector to follow after her. Life with Da'an was about to get infinitely more exciting. Liam glanced to Zo'or and Sandoval and found that they had already reached an understanding and were heading to the cave exit behind him. When he finally made his way through the tunnel and got through the concealing brush he found Da'an waiting for them.
They started off towards the shuttle. It appeared to have recently rained during the time they were in the cavern and the Taelons were slipping on everything in site. Liam was surprised at how uncoordinated and ungainly such a normally graceful being could be when faced with wet leaves. Finally after the third near-disastrous slip on a patch of mud Liam sighed and directed a glance at his father, with a complete lack of expression they both picked up their respective Taelons. After that they made much better time, even with the loud protests and a certain amount of useless struggling.
"Da'an, don't you think we should do our best to deliver you to the Taelons in the best condition possible, it might be embarrassing if you got back to the Mothership with gravel imbedded in your energy matrix." Liam said.
"You are enjoying this." Da'an accused.
"This is no time to quibble over semantics, Da'an," Liam said in a mock-superior tone.
Da'an sighed, pretending annoyance but more amused than anything else.
Approximately a meter ahead of them Sandoval, carrying an extremely annoyed Zo'or, was making his way through a particularly wet group of low-hanging branches. After being hit in the face by three in a row Zo'or finally felt he had suffered enough and moved the next on out of his way. He paused in his walking for a moment to glance at her, "Does this mean you've forgiven me for picking you up?"
"It means that I did not care for you to become any wetter, nothing else." When he didn't say anything she muttered under her breath, "I do not like being carried, it is weak."
"Da'an is being carried," Sandoval pointed out.
"Da'an is not head of the Taelon Synod," Zo'or said.
"Try to look at it this way, Zo'or, will it appear weaker to be carried to a shuttle or to show up covered in debris from falling in the jungle?" he asked.
She paused, "I suppose it is the better option," she admitted, then she frowned thoughtfully. "How is it that you always manage to convince me that you are correct?"
"It's a gift," he said with a smile, and gave her a quick kiss. She looked mildly surprised at his forthrightness, but not displeased. Definitely not displeased.
They made good time, and reached the shuttle in roughly thirty minutes, Da'an and Zo'or were quickly deposited and placed themselves in the passenger seats while Liam took the pilots chair and Sandoval stood behind Zo'or.
"Everybody set?" Liam asked, looking back at his passengers.
"We are prepared," Da'an said with a smile.
"All right, shall we?" Liam said as he activated the shuttle. Within moments they were on their way to the Mothership, they docked quickly and a Volunteer approached them, perhaps wondering why they had not alerted the ship to their presence. When he saw the passengers he immediately turned around and returned to his other duties, presumably reporting what had discovered to whichever superior has ordered the investigation. Liam observed this as he walked quickly out of the shuttle bay following his Taelon companions to the bridge where a meeting of the Synod would be called. Zo'or and Da'an had obviously been conversing telepathically during the silent ride because they were disinclined to speak and were walking as quickly as possible.
For a moment Liam's thoughts paused and he wondered why he was noticing this. Always before this was sub-consciously processed, but now he could see everywhere and was aware of everything. He wondered, and then suddenly he knew. This was how it was supposed to work, he, as a Kimera, was supposed think and observe this way and always before he had been doing it wrong. That's what Disony had given him, not only the memories, but the control that came with them. Finally he could be certain that what he was doing was right, he was in tune with himself in a way he had never thought possible. It was so...
"Free," a voice whispered in his mind, and he was unsurprised to see that Da'an had turned to look at him for a moment before following Zo'or onto the bridge. Somehow he wasn't bothered by the fact that he and Da'an were so closely linked that they could sense each other's thoughts, part of his new freedom was that any insecure feelings he had experienced had disappeared.
"So that was why Ha'gel had not avenged himself on the Taelons," Liam thought, comprehension coming to him at last, "he never lost that inner contentment, even when everyone else was gone." "That was the real strength of the Kimera, the thing more precious then their technology or their experiences, even their memory, was significant only if the way of thinking survived." He thought on this as the Synod meeting began, he was of course excluded, but he needed the time to review the knowledge and understanding he had been given.
After it was over Da'an came to him, she guided him to his quarters on the Mothership and stayed beside him as he slept. When he awoke she was still there, and overnight, it seemed, his mind had accepted everything. He was aware he was acting differently, thinking differently, but Da'an didn't seem to mind, and that was the important thing.
They got back to the embassy several days later. Da'an had extracted the information from her mind and the scientists, human and Taelon alike, had started on it immediately. They were expected to have the first sample ready in a few short days.
Zo'or had announced the joining of Da'an and Liam and her and Sandoval. The Synod had taken it extremely well, refusing to take any measures against the ones who had saved their species. Presumably Zo'or and Sandoval were on their "honeymoon" already, while Da'an had been required to stay behind and work. While Liam grumbled about this, Da'an knew he understood, and wasn't that serious about it.
"So, how does it feel to be back?" Liam asked as Da'an moved to the window of his audience chamber.
"It feels as if I have been gone far longer than four days." she responded promptly.
"Good then I'm not the only one." Liam said. Da'an turned around, heading for her chair. "Hey, don't get too comfortable, you promised me a vacation," Liam said jokingly.
Da'an stopped and turned around, a strange expression on his face, "I believe I was also promised something." She continued advancing on the confused Liam who was almost instinctively backing up against the wall. "Something about consummating our joining later, when we were in a more private area?" She stroked a hand along his cheek.
"You know," Liam said with a smile, "I believe I do remember that promise." He held his hands up she carefully touched hers to his. "I hope you know what you're getting yourself in for," he told her, "you don't have much experience with human emotions."
"It's a good thing you're not human then," Da'an said. And then words were unnecessary as Da'an joined with Liam and together, in a swirling flow of energy, they found that they weren't nearly as different as they had thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You realize we have to go back eventually," Zo'or said.
"Must you ruin the mood?" he asked good naturedly.
"I am enjoying the mood, Ron, I was merely stating a fact." she said primly. They were both lying under a pavilion attached to the house they had chosen. It was right on the beach front, miles away from any residents, and they had ordered the volunteers not to allow anyone access to them. Sandoval was leaning against back of the chair and Zo'or against his bare chest, they were merely resting, enjoying each other's nearness.
They stayed silent for awhile, then he asked, "Zo'or, were you happy with what you had been given?"
Zo'or thought on it, "I believe that I am much happier with an expressible range of human emotions, yes."
"But you would rather have had the information?" Ron stated more than asked.
"I do have the information, I merely was not the first to see it." "It does not bother me, though once it would have." "I am more than satisfied with my gift, it has allowed me a depth of understanding I had not had before." "Besides, with these emotions comes several physical sensations that I have grown quite fond of in a relatively short period of time." She smiled.
"I am glad that you are happy," he said, giving her a kiss.
"We certainly did not plan this," Zo'or said, "but it works."
And then their attention was turned away from talk and a more enjoyable way was found to communicate.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, this story has taken on a mind of it's own, I've got a little bit of fluffiness, a bit of emotion, I have implied sex, I have solved the problem, I even have a little bit of philosophy. Wow, I'm good at this. Hope everyone liked it, reviews are welcome, even if you just send me links to self-help chats. I can deal with that, I'm well adjusted! Who have you been talking too??!!!!??? Anyway, just one more chapter to go, I have to introduce the new conflict and thus leave it open to a sequel in case I ever get desperate for continuation. Midlife crisis' have to be planned, they don't just happen!!! (Honestly, some people will never understand, yes I am talking to myself, have you got a problem with that? Oh yeah!!! Well, the same to you!!!) ;-) *wink*
Chapter Nine
Liam carefully climbed to his feet, holding out a hand to pull up Da'an. He quickly placed a protective arm about her waist and noticed his father imitating him. "You were successful?" Liam asked, a bit perturbed by the glowing being before him.
"I was." "The wrongness is defeated." Disony shone brighter.
"Does this mean that people won't be able to do anything wrong?" Sandoval asked.
"You can never completely rid a place from the touch of wrongness, the capacity is still there, but there is no longer a drive to commit acts in it's name." "People will be able to do something wrong, and know that it is wrong, but they will not have such an inclination."
"Where will you go, now that your task is completed?" Da'an asked with a smile.
"I will still travel, overseeing the rest of the universe, perhaps I will join another dimension in it's fight." "It remains to be decided."
"When will you be leaving?" Zo'or asked curiously.
"In a matter of moments, first I have a few things to give you."
"Us?" Liam asked.
"Yes, you are the last civilizations to fight in the battle, you are the ones who helped defeat it for eternity, you will be rewarded." Disony moved to stand in front of Sandoval. "To you, I grant forgiveness." She said, placing a hand on his face. It glowed briefly and when she removed it he could no longer feel the oppressive guilt over the events of the last few years.
She moved to Zo'or, "To you I give emotion, so you may share every aspect of life with the one you love." She touched Zo'or's face also, and the Taelon could feel her mind widening to include this new perception. She was suddenly aware of feeling even more for her protector than she had previously realized.
Disony walked past the first couple to touch Liam's head, "For you, I grant understanding." Liam suddenly had access to his Kimeran father's memories. Always before Ha'gel's past had been covered in a kind mental haze, now he could see them as clearly as his, Beckett's, and Sandoval's. He smiled his thanks as Disony placed her hand on Da'an's face.
"To you, knowledge." Da'an's eyes widened as an idea surfaced in her mind, she could scarcely believe she had never thought of it before. Taelon energy, the formula in which it could be reproduced, it seemed so simple now. She could save her species. And, now that they were no longer in danger, combined with the destruction of the wrongness, surely they would be willing to take another approach to the human factor. She could scarcely wait to give the other Taelons the news.
"Thank you." Da'an said, her voice trembling with excitement.
Disony smiled once more and turned to leave. She began to walk towards the door, once more fading until just as she reached the wall she winked out of their existence.
Da'an turned to face Liam and placed a hand on his face, "Are you ready to go?"
"I don't know," he said joking, "you do realize this is most likely the last time we are going to have to be alone for the next few weeks, don't you?"
Da'an looked troubled, "I had not thought on that, perhaps we should wait."
"No, you are right, we should go, but after this we are going on vacation." Liam said, expecting an argument.
"Very well." "After all," Da'an said, leaning close to him and whispering into his ear, "we have a marriage to consummate."
With that she turned and walked to the cave leaving a completely stunned protector to follow after her. Life with Da'an was about to get infinitely more exciting. Liam glanced to Zo'or and Sandoval and found that they had already reached an understanding and were heading to the cave exit behind him. When he finally made his way through the tunnel and got through the concealing brush he found Da'an waiting for them.
They started off towards the shuttle. It appeared to have recently rained during the time they were in the cavern and the Taelons were slipping on everything in site. Liam was surprised at how uncoordinated and ungainly such a normally graceful being could be when faced with wet leaves. Finally after the third near-disastrous slip on a patch of mud Liam sighed and directed a glance at his father, with a complete lack of expression they both picked up their respective Taelons. After that they made much better time, even with the loud protests and a certain amount of useless struggling.
"Da'an, don't you think we should do our best to deliver you to the Taelons in the best condition possible, it might be embarrassing if you got back to the Mothership with gravel imbedded in your energy matrix." Liam said.
"You are enjoying this." Da'an accused.
"This is no time to quibble over semantics, Da'an," Liam said in a mock-superior tone.
Da'an sighed, pretending annoyance but more amused than anything else.
Approximately a meter ahead of them Sandoval, carrying an extremely annoyed Zo'or, was making his way through a particularly wet group of low-hanging branches. After being hit in the face by three in a row Zo'or finally felt he had suffered enough and moved the next on out of his way. He paused in his walking for a moment to glance at her, "Does this mean you've forgiven me for picking you up?"
"It means that I did not care for you to become any wetter, nothing else." When he didn't say anything she muttered under her breath, "I do not like being carried, it is weak."
"Da'an is being carried," Sandoval pointed out.
"Da'an is not head of the Taelon Synod," Zo'or said.
"Try to look at it this way, Zo'or, will it appear weaker to be carried to a shuttle or to show up covered in debris from falling in the jungle?" he asked.
She paused, "I suppose it is the better option," she admitted, then she frowned thoughtfully. "How is it that you always manage to convince me that you are correct?"
"It's a gift," he said with a smile, and gave her a quick kiss. She looked mildly surprised at his forthrightness, but not displeased. Definitely not displeased.
They made good time, and reached the shuttle in roughly thirty minutes, Da'an and Zo'or were quickly deposited and placed themselves in the passenger seats while Liam took the pilots chair and Sandoval stood behind Zo'or.
"Everybody set?" Liam asked, looking back at his passengers.
"We are prepared," Da'an said with a smile.
"All right, shall we?" Liam said as he activated the shuttle. Within moments they were on their way to the Mothership, they docked quickly and a Volunteer approached them, perhaps wondering why they had not alerted the ship to their presence. When he saw the passengers he immediately turned around and returned to his other duties, presumably reporting what had discovered to whichever superior has ordered the investigation. Liam observed this as he walked quickly out of the shuttle bay following his Taelon companions to the bridge where a meeting of the Synod would be called. Zo'or and Da'an had obviously been conversing telepathically during the silent ride because they were disinclined to speak and were walking as quickly as possible.
For a moment Liam's thoughts paused and he wondered why he was noticing this. Always before this was sub-consciously processed, but now he could see everywhere and was aware of everything. He wondered, and then suddenly he knew. This was how it was supposed to work, he, as a Kimera, was supposed think and observe this way and always before he had been doing it wrong. That's what Disony had given him, not only the memories, but the control that came with them. Finally he could be certain that what he was doing was right, he was in tune with himself in a way he had never thought possible. It was so...
"Free," a voice whispered in his mind, and he was unsurprised to see that Da'an had turned to look at him for a moment before following Zo'or onto the bridge. Somehow he wasn't bothered by the fact that he and Da'an were so closely linked that they could sense each other's thoughts, part of his new freedom was that any insecure feelings he had experienced had disappeared.
"So that was why Ha'gel had not avenged himself on the Taelons," Liam thought, comprehension coming to him at last, "he never lost that inner contentment, even when everyone else was gone." "That was the real strength of the Kimera, the thing more precious then their technology or their experiences, even their memory, was significant only if the way of thinking survived." He thought on this as the Synod meeting began, he was of course excluded, but he needed the time to review the knowledge and understanding he had been given.
After it was over Da'an came to him, she guided him to his quarters on the Mothership and stayed beside him as he slept. When he awoke she was still there, and overnight, it seemed, his mind had accepted everything. He was aware he was acting differently, thinking differently, but Da'an didn't seem to mind, and that was the important thing.
They got back to the embassy several days later. Da'an had extracted the information from her mind and the scientists, human and Taelon alike, had started on it immediately. They were expected to have the first sample ready in a few short days.
Zo'or had announced the joining of Da'an and Liam and her and Sandoval. The Synod had taken it extremely well, refusing to take any measures against the ones who had saved their species. Presumably Zo'or and Sandoval were on their "honeymoon" already, while Da'an had been required to stay behind and work. While Liam grumbled about this, Da'an knew he understood, and wasn't that serious about it.
"So, how does it feel to be back?" Liam asked as Da'an moved to the window of his audience chamber.
"It feels as if I have been gone far longer than four days." she responded promptly.
"Good then I'm not the only one." Liam said. Da'an turned around, heading for her chair. "Hey, don't get too comfortable, you promised me a vacation," Liam said jokingly.
Da'an stopped and turned around, a strange expression on his face, "I believe I was also promised something." She continued advancing on the confused Liam who was almost instinctively backing up against the wall. "Something about consummating our joining later, when we were in a more private area?" She stroked a hand along his cheek.
"You know," Liam said with a smile, "I believe I do remember that promise." He held his hands up she carefully touched hers to his. "I hope you know what you're getting yourself in for," he told her, "you don't have much experience with human emotions."
"It's a good thing you're not human then," Da'an said. And then words were unnecessary as Da'an joined with Liam and together, in a swirling flow of energy, they found that they weren't nearly as different as they had thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You realize we have to go back eventually," Zo'or said.
"Must you ruin the mood?" he asked good naturedly.
"I am enjoying the mood, Ron, I was merely stating a fact." she said primly. They were both lying under a pavilion attached to the house they had chosen. It was right on the beach front, miles away from any residents, and they had ordered the volunteers not to allow anyone access to them. Sandoval was leaning against back of the chair and Zo'or against his bare chest, they were merely resting, enjoying each other's nearness.
They stayed silent for awhile, then he asked, "Zo'or, were you happy with what you had been given?"
Zo'or thought on it, "I believe that I am much happier with an expressible range of human emotions, yes."
"But you would rather have had the information?" Ron stated more than asked.
"I do have the information, I merely was not the first to see it." "It does not bother me, though once it would have." "I am more than satisfied with my gift, it has allowed me a depth of understanding I had not had before." "Besides, with these emotions comes several physical sensations that I have grown quite fond of in a relatively short period of time." She smiled.
"I am glad that you are happy," he said, giving her a kiss.
"We certainly did not plan this," Zo'or said, "but it works."
And then their attention was turned away from talk and a more enjoyable way was found to communicate.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, this story has taken on a mind of it's own, I've got a little bit of fluffiness, a bit of emotion, I have implied sex, I have solved the problem, I even have a little bit of philosophy. Wow, I'm good at this. Hope everyone liked it, reviews are welcome, even if you just send me links to self-help chats. I can deal with that, I'm well adjusted! Who have you been talking too??!!!!??? Anyway, just one more chapter to go, I have to introduce the new conflict and thus leave it open to a sequel in case I ever get desperate for continuation. Midlife crisis' have to be planned, they don't just happen!!! (Honestly, some people will never understand, yes I am talking to myself, have you got a problem with that? Oh yeah!!! Well, the same to you!!!) ;-) *wink*