Sorry this took so long. And yes, I do intend to finish it. Hopefully, the next part will be out much quicker. I had this written also a month ago, but my beta disappeared one day. Maybe one day she'll reappear from the pile of work and classes she's buried in.
As to other comments on my other stories, yes there will be a sequel to The Definition of Abuse called The Pain of Knowledge, but I don't know when the first part of it will be out.
Thanks to my temporary beta, Much, instead.
And just for waiting so long, this post is twice as long as normal.
And now to the story.
*************
Sandoval leaned back in his chair, the picture of relaxation, as he thought over the night's actions. He had so many questions… some of which had almost made him detour to the mothership. But no, he couldn't afford any obvious breaks in routine. Since he had reported the results of the raid via global to Zo'or as he normally did, he had no reason to head to the mothership even though he wanted to. He couldn't afford to do anything suspicious. Which meant that he had a lot of data to look for tomorrow. Tonight, he should concentrate on what he could do at home.
Which wasn't much, he admitted. Absently looking at the reflections of the whiskey in his glass, he went step by step back through the raid in Atlanta looking for things he had missed.
And there in front of him was a glaring omission. He's forgotten completely that Siobhan Beckett had been listed as another parent. Did she know? he wondered. She said we were destined to come together, he remembered. Did she know we had a child? Did she know the Taelons had taken her DNA to create a child? Or did she really have a gift and somehow know a child existed? He sighed. I suppose I'll never know the answers to those questions. But knowing Siobhan is his mother, I can make some reasonable assumptions.
My son… our son can't be more than five years old as Siobhan only joined the Protectors five years ago. He could only have been freed within the last two as the Resistance had only been active for that long. Which meant his son had been at the mercy of Taelon scientists for probably a minimum of a year to a maximum of three years dependent on the length of gestation. It's no surprise after any length of time at the dubious mercy of the Taelons that he would have whole heartedly embraced the Resistance and their ideals. Sandoval was just surprised that his son had a problem with shooting him. For all he knows, I knew about him and left him to the Taelons' mercy. I doubt the Resistance would have said anything nice about me. But that didn't quite fit with his son's actions- particularly donating blood to save his life. Someone, presumably someone in the Resistance, raised him without tainting him with the Resistance's hatred of him. He wished he could thank whoever it was for not turning his son against him. There was still a chance that he and …Falcon could be father and son, or at least friends. And that in itself was almost enough to make him want to free all the Resistance prisoners as a thank you- not that he would, of course.
Skimming through the rest of the memories of the battle and its aftermath, Sandoval couldn't find anything else he had forgotten. Now I just need to decide what to tell the Volunteers tomorrow. Looking over at his clock, he was surprised to see it was after 2 am. But I'd better leave that until tomorrow… later today. I need some sleep before I can come up with a coherent story. Although his CVI reduced the need for sleep, it didn't eliminate it entirely. Getting up, he placed his glass in the sink, undressed, and fell into bed.
****************
Staring in frustration at his computer monitor, Sandoval resisted the urge to bang his head against the screen. He could find no trace of any DNA experiments resulting in actual children in the database. And there was no record of a raid on any of the Taelon facilities doing experiments with human DNA. Someone had been very thorough in wiping the database of all information.
Discarding that search as unproductive, he turned to the Resistance database and typed in Falcon. This at least brought up some information. But reading through it, he realized it didn't contain anything he didn't already know. It indicated Falcon was probably a courier, one with access to a high-quality hacker, as he'd delivered important information to cell members before- information that could only have come from Taelon databases. But there was nothing more.
Leaning back in the chair, he tried to think of another way to approach the question. He leaned forward as an idea struck him. When did Falcon first appear in the database? Maybe I can at least get an idea of his age. It was a long shot, as the Resistance had only become active in the last three years, but it might tell him something.
The first mention of the name Falcon had occurred only a few months after Qu'on's death. This indicated he probably hadn't been an active Resistance member until sometime around Qu'on's death or a little later. Probably freed in one of the early raids under Doors then. Considering Doors's rampant xenophobia, I'm surprised he would have let a hybrid live. And maybe that's why Falcon doesn't show up until after Doors ran for President- he's keeping his head down. Smart idea on his part, or on the part of whoever raised him.
Looking at the clock, he realized he had to leave now to be on time to his briefing with the Volunteer unit that had been in Atlanta with him.
*****************
Peter looked around the briefing room in puzzlement. He'd heard the rumors going around the unit about the Resistance being composed of hybrids and that Sandoval's own son had tried to kill him. He couldn't figure out where the rumors were coming from- he'd never heard such strange ones before. And now, Agent Sandoval had called their squad together for a briefing- in one of the few briefing rooms Peter knew to be unmonitored by recording devices. He'd learned where all these "special" rooms were since the meetings that went on in them were often far more interesting than meetings in the monitored rooms. He wondered if Agent Sandoval had heard the rumors and intended to quash them, or if there was something more going on. It would have to be something unusual to have his entire squad in on of the secure briefing rooms… but for the life of him, Peter couldn't figure out why.
I'll just have to wait and see. Maybe it'll be information the Resistance can use. He hadn't had anything useful in almost a month… at least not anything he could get to the Resistance in time. Like the Atlanta raid- he'd only heard about it two hours beforehand, and there'd been no way for a lowly medic to get a quick trip off the mothership in that length of time, and no way to get a warning out via global either.
He looked up, startled, when Sandoval rapped the podium at the front of the room. He hadn't even noticed Sandoval come it. You've got to be more careful! he reminded himself. Getting distracted like that could get a person killed!
"Gentlemen," Agent Sandoval said as the room quieted. "You are here because of an anomalous DNA reading Corporal Milson found in Atlanta yesterday. I am only telling you about this because I trust you to keep this among yourselves. I've already heard all sorts of rumors," and his eyes speared Corporal Milson who fidgeted and looked in any direction but at Agent Sandoval, "about what was found yesterday."
"Apparently a highly classified Taelon experiment in hybridization escaped and has been discovered to be working with the Resistance. This hybrid," the sneer on Agent Sandoval's face was clearly visible in at the back of the meeting room," is working with the Resistance to destroy the very beings that created it. The Taelons who created it would be ecstatic to have it back again. I'd like to capture it relatively unharmed so that the experiments it was created for can be quickly continued. I can't give you much of a description, except that some of you might remember it, the Resistance member with a black mask and incredible aim." An almost unseen snort. There was a murmur of conversation as people remembered the very distinctive black-clad figure. "I imagine that was bred into its genes. The only name we have for it is its codename in the Resistance- Falcon." Peter felt like someone had hit him between the eyes with a board. Falcon- Liam- was a hybrid? But there was no time for him to process this revelation.
"I'm telling you the codename of this hybrid for only one reason- to make it easier for you to catch it. All information about any Resistance operative codenamed Falcon is to be routed directly to me. I don't care if it's just a piece of paper with some scribbled words on it or a conversation you heard during a firefight. Any information regarding Falcon is to be sent directly to me. The more information we get, the greater the chances of retrieval."
"Now, I've changed the DNA scanner database so that a scan of the hybrid's DNA will bring up a classified code so the knowledge of these creatures won't spread any further." He looked over the room with a glare. "If I hear any rumors about hybrids in the Resistance, I'll know who to blame. Remember, anyone showing classified for an identity using the DNA scanner is to be brought directly to me undamaged. The DNA of our operatives within the Resistance also have their DNA classified so don't jump to the conclusion you've got your hands on the hybrid when the scanner gives you a classified reading. You probably don't. We have far more operatives than there are hybrids out there."
"I imagine Milson's already let it slip the Taelons used my DNA to create this hybrid," and again the sneer was clearly visible," but don't think I'm not dedicated to returning this thing to the Taelons. While experiments like that are useful to them, I will never consider them human beings, and neither should you. They are experiments, designed for a purpose, like monkeys in lab trials." His gaze swept over the squad, causing almost all of them to fidget nervously in their chairs. "This information is top secret and not to be revealed to anyone outside this group. Is that clear?" he barked.
A chorus of ragged "yes, sir"s answered him.
"Very well. Remember, I don't want this information getting out. There are others out there who wouldn't understand the necessity of such experimentation. Dismissed." And with that, Agent Sandoval turned and walked out the door, leaving a stunned group behind him.
Almost immediately after the door closed, conversations sprang up as the Volunteers turned to their seatmates to discuss the day's latest revelations.
Next to Peter, Michael O'Neil, one of the squad captains, turned to him and said, "Well, don't that just beat all? I never expected the rumors to have that much truth in them."
Peter shook himself out of the daze he'd fallen into with the latest piece of knowledge. He blinked a couple of times and replied, "You're right. I never would have expected Agent Sandoval to have a son."
"Didn't ya hear him? That damn hybrid ain't no son o' his. It's just an experiment, like he said. Mixin' species is like mixin' races- it just ain't right. Nobody'll ever accept the thing. It's better off with the Taelons who created it- they'll know what's right for it."
On Peter's other side, Daniel burst in with, "That isn't right. Just because the kid's part alien doesn't mean it isn't his son and shouldn't be treated that way. Sounds like he's still a person. We treat people with the IQ of vegetables as people and that boy's clearly got an IQ better than that judging from his performance in Atlanta. Sandoval shouldn't be calling him an it."
Mike replied with, "I don't know. I like the Taelons- they've done a lot of good things for us- but mixin' species like that is just wrong. It ought to be put down afore anybody gets any ideas they shouldn't been havin'."
"And just what sorts of ideas are those?" Daniel fired back. "The idea that people are people? So you're saying you wouldn't have a problem with aborting hybrids or using such embryos in research? And here I thought you were against abortion and stem-cell research. It's ok to experiment on hybrids because they're not completely human? And where do you draw the line then? What about people with extremely low IQs? Or the severely disabled? Are they human?"
"Yur twistin' my words. All I'm sayin' is I understand why Agent Sandoval wouldn't want to claim it. It'll always be different. It'd be best with those who created it- they'd understand it better. And I don't want any human scientists gettin' the idea to improve the human race by mixin' alien DNA in. I mean, look at lit, it's faster and more accurate than we are and clearly it looks enough like us to pass for human. Do ya really want to have sex with an alien and not know it? If some unscrupulous scientists got hold of it, who knows what might happen?"
"You can't even call the boy a boy, can you? Just hybrid, and it. Talk about twisting the facts. We even call dogs he and she, but you can't even admit he's male."
After listening to Mike and Daniel go on for a few more minutes, Peter slipped out from between them and headed to the door. He stopped by Captain Porter before leaving the room. "Captain, do we have anything on for this afternoon? I need to pick up a couple of things in town if I could."
Still dazed by Sandoval's revelations, Captain Porter replied, "We don't have anything planned. You can have this afternoon off. Be back by 1800."
"Yes, sir," he said before quickly leaving the room. He need somewhere to think about what he'd just heard. Looking back quickly, he noticed that the majority of the squad was still talking in the briefing room and showed no signs of leaving. The barracks would probably be fairly quiet.
*************
Slipping into his favorite chair in their rec area, Peter was happy to se that the room was virtually deserted. He needed time, and quiet to process the revelations he had heard. Liam was Sandoval's son… and he was a Taelon hybrid of some sort. Well, he thought to himself, he'd almost have to be a hybrid of some sort to be Sandoval's son and yet look only a couple of years younger. If the Resistance did rescue him from the Taelons, he shuddered at the thought of the experiments they had probably conducted on Liam, it would explain his strong Resistance ties. I wonder who raised him? Augur? I'd never even heard of him until he showed up at Boone's funeral, but then, I doubt they'd announce his existence to the Resistance at large. I'm just surprised Doors hasn't tried to kill Liam yet. If he doesn't know what Liam went through at the hands of the Taelons, he probably thinks Liam might decide he's more Taelon than human and would reveal everything he knows about the Resistance. I'm not worried about that though. I've seen enough results of Taelon experiments to know no victim of theirs would ever help them. I just wonder how he can stand being near the Taelons after all the atrocities they probably performed on him. I've had to clean up after some of their experiments. I couldn't manage working with the Taelons after what they did. I'd probably kill every Taelon I saw.
How can he work next to Sandoval everyday with the way I've heard Sandoval treats him? His own father treating him like nothing? God, that'd have to be hell, being abused by your own father. But then, maybe he doesn't see Sandoval as anything more than a sperm donor.
Sure, he thought sarcastically, and the only reason Liam told us not to kill Sandoval is because he can't afford the scrutiny of working directly for Zo'or. No, Liam almost certainly thinks of Sandoval as his father. But, he thought, the reasons people have come up with for the no kill order still apply. And, he realized in a flash, Liam actually has more reason to not want to report directly to Zo'or than I thought. Zo'or's the Taelon most likely to have authorized the experiments that created Liam. So he can't afford to be close enough to Zo'or for long enough that Zo'or might recognize any little mannerisms. And if Liam were head protector, he'd be in charge of the same type of labs that created him. The scientists in charge of those projects would be a lot more likely to recognize him than Zo'or because they'd have known him for a lot longer. No. Liam couldn't afford to come to the attention of the scientists who had created him, and there was no way for him to hide from them if he was head protector. Liam was far too smart not to have realized all that. So whether or not he wanted Sandoval alive because he was his father, he also had strong reasons to not want to be head protector, and that also meant keeping Sandoval alive.
You know, he realized with a smile, it doesn't really bother me that Liam's part alien or that Sandoval's his father. Guess it proves we're not all bigots and racists... or I guess speciests is the more correct term. Sure the thought of what Liam might be capable of worried him a bit, but nothing Liam had done had ever given him reason to doubt him, and that wasn't going to change just because of some facts about his birth that Liam couldn't control.
I wonder how Liam's going to take this. This isn't the sort of news I can just leave at a drop box. I need to tell him this in person. He can't have been expected Sandoval to welcome him with open arms, but I doubt he expected such a harsh answer. Even if I never knew my father, I'd have a hard time dealing with him basically disowning me and being willing to turn me over to people who want to torture me. And despite what Sandoval said, he knows full well those "scientists" who created Liam would be torturing him to see how he reacted. I can't imagine any man doing that to his son. Even though Liam probably wasn't expecting much from "dear old dad," I think this will devastate him.
tbc