A tunnel
Beneath the Pentagon
Liam, climbing first in the very steep, very slippery, and still somewhat hot, tunnel, instinctively braced himself against the walls, using his knees and back to keep him in place in the narrow space, as something hit him in the head from above. It didn't feel like a stone or anything like that. Besides, the walls of the tunnels was melted solid, making such an occurrence impossible. He used his hands to examine the object more closely. A rope ? He was gripping for his blaster before remembering, that he no longer carried one. But old habits die hard. And whoever was coming down could be an enemy. A harsh, white light hit him in the face as he looked up, making him protect his eyes with one of his hands. He had been in the dark for much to long.
"Hey Kid, need a hand ?" Augur grinned as he saw the surprised look on Liam's face. Being a man and all, Augur couldn't allow himself to vocally express the relief, that he felt when he looked down and saw Liam's face appearing out of the dark. But it showed in his eyes. Liam just grinned.
"Augur, I owe you a new part for your computer !"
"Everything ok down there ?"
"Yeah, but Zeke's hurt. Badly." Augur cursed silently.
"And you? As I understand it, things were kind of intense for you a while there." Augurs question made Liam flinch. Until this second he had managed to keep the memories of his torture stowed away in the back of his mind. He pulled himself together, once more slipping into the accustomed role of the strong resistance fighter.
"It's ok, I'm healed completely. Tell you about it later, OK ?" He forced a smile onto his face, trying to look strong. "Let's just get out of here. The walls are kind of closing in on me."
Augur just nodded. He had seen the pain in the kids eyes and knew, that right now, the Kid was only trying to give them what they wanted to see. Liam would have to deal with everything done to him at some point, but right now he needed to show that he was in control of the situation. And Augur let him. With the help of the rope, it didn't take that long before the entire group was standing in the ruined front hall of the Pentagon, tired, but happy to see daylight again.
A dozen or more Kimera had turned up, making sure, that they were safe. Even Sandoval had awakened, refusing to leave after Juliana had forbidden him to go down the tunnel with Augur. She sighed. Men. Sometimes they could be so God damned STUBBORN !. But she had allowed him this little victory, knowing how he felt. Juliana herself didn't want to leave before seeing, that Liam was OK and safe again.
When the relatively unscathed Liam had emerged from the tunnel, closely followed by a more than tired Anr'el and a Colonel Kincaid looking worse than anything she had seen before, her relief had been almost tangible. He was safe. Then the Full-blown Motherhen mode set in.
"Liam, if you EVER put us through ANYTHING like this again, I'm gonna kill you myself !" She looked at him sternly, poking her finger in his chest at every word, then gave him a tight embrace and whispered in his ear "Glad to see, that you are ok."
The startled Liam first went rigid with surprise, but then returned the hug in full. Things were going to be all right now. His eyes went suspiciously shiny as he looked as his adopted "family". They had come for him. Even Sandoval. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to enjoy the moment.
20 metres away
Behind a pillar.
So the freak had survived. And he had been right. There had been something weird about that energy beam. Well, the Freak wouldn't be a problem much longer. Slowly The Man raised his weapon, catching Liam's back in the crosshair. No, THAT problem would soon cease to exist. And he would have his vengeance. As the sound of a shuttle exiting ID-space was heard, his finger slowly tightened on the trigger.
The sound of the shot rang out like a bell of doom in the ruined hall. Juliana staggered backwards as Liam suddenly went first rigid, then deathly limp in her arms, his face having an expression of profound surprise on it. As she released one of her hands to get a better hold of him, she noticed something hot and sticky on it. As she raised it, to her horror, it was covered in blood.
Anr'el screamed in agony and loss. The Child's voice in her head had suddenly gone silent. She noticed a movement, not 20 meters away. A man with a gun.
"GET HIM !" Her voice was filled with an anger, a rage unlike anything Augur had ever heard before. An anger matched by every Kimera, who were here. The Man would not get away. Not this time. But the Kimera wasn't the only ones angry. Sandoval moved to his feet, injuries forgotten as he ran to the side of his son.
"He's dead," Juliana whispered shocked. "Sandoval, he's really dead this time..." A scream of utter denial made it past Sandovals lips. Not now. Please... Not now!
But the lack of a pulse in Liam's throat made it a reality. And Sandoval could only think of one thing to do: He grabbed a pulse rifle from one of the ODK people and went hunting... And every ODK soldier, as well as Augur and Street, joined him. The Bastard would not get away. He would pay. Dearly.
In the now deserted front hall of the Pentagon, two figures, one glowing with a greenish light and one cradling a dead body in her hands, were sitting together in their mutual, silent grief. They had been so close to getting him to safety.
Anr'el refused to believe it. This couldn't be true. Flashes from the war, another child, another planet, came back to her. A faint flicker, butterfly soft, in her mind, made her catch her breath. It couldn't be... It was. But how when he was dead. Then she remembered.
The plane of passage.
Sha'hariath.
It was not too late yet, but she would need help. Lots of it. She went into the deep link with the Commonality.
Cairo
Egypt
A water salesman dropped the still-precious liquid in his hands when a customer suddenly started glowing green, floating into the air until he was finally suspended 6 feet of the ground. The salesman ran away screaming.
Copenhagen
Former Taelon Embassy
The former resistance leader from region Scandinavia, Erik Nelson, could barely hold back a gasp, as the young woman he was showing around the place, suddenly lost all resemblance to a human, floating off the ground while starting to glow.
"How beautiful" he was all he could think as a ray of light shot out from her hands, connecting with other rays from all over the city like the web of a spider.
All over the world, scenes like these replayed themselves as every Kimera on the planet connected in an effort to save the Child from the Void, covering the globe with a green glowing web of immense proportions. And they weren't alone.
In the ships orbiting Earth, from the sentient ships themselves, from the planets far away and crossing time and space, the web was reinforced as every Kimera in existence joined in with everything they had, sending every ounce of energy they could into one focal point.
The focal point Anr'el.
Juliana stared in awe, as Anr'el took in the energy, floating upwards and taking Liam's limp body with her. She had no idea, what was going on, but for some reason, she wasn't as terrified as one should have believed. It was simply too beautiful.
Anr'el felt her mind slipping from the physical world of life into the half-life of the Sha'hariath. The cords of energy gave her the strength to go in, but only one could perform the miracle of bringing Liam back from the dead.
And that was Liam himself.
She began her search.
A few blocks away
Sandoval had no eyes for the beautiful spectacle in the skies. His son was gone, and this bastard would pay. Using every piece of knowledge he had learned from his many years of service both in the FBI and later as a Companion agent and undercover ODK spy, he managed to track down the Bastard in an alley.
Neither he nor the rest of the humans in the little hunting band, noticed how the Kimera suddenly stopped dead in their tracks, floating upwards. The humans wanted revenge.
The Man was hiding behind a trashcan as Sandoval and the rest caught up with him. He wanted to sell his life dearly. He started firing.
The Sha'hariath
He had been here before. First during the sleepers incident. The with the Dark Matter. Nirvana, he had once called this place. But the Kimeran word was more correct.
Sha'hariath.
The Plane of Passage. In other words, he was dead. Once again. And this time, he didn't believe, that some miracle was going to bring him back.
So peaceful here. So unlike the world of the living.
"Liam ?" He turned towards the male voice.
"Father." And there he was, the cause of all his pain, and yet also the cause of all the joy he had ever felt in life.
"It is time to go, child." Hag'el stretched out his hands towards Liam. Liam hesitated. Was this really the right thing to do? Then slowly he reached out his own hands.
As he was about to clasp his hands into those of his fathers, a voice boomed out from behind him.
"STOP!". Anr'el had arrived.
Liam froze up, his hands hovering less than an inch over Hag'els.
"Liam, please..." Anr'els voice held a slightly desperate note, mixed with something else.. Fear?
"Do not leave. Not yet." She moved closer, while she spoke, ending up standing next to him with a hand on his arm. "Please..." He had only known her for a short time, but he was fairly certain, that begging was not something she did often. He started to pull his hands back again, slowly, more uncertain now, if he was making the right choice.
Hag'el spoke up.
"Liam, what's out there for you? Pain, loneliness, a world that hates you.." Anr'el broke into the narrative. "People still to meet, multiple worlds that want you no matter what, friends, family. Pain ? Yes, but also the pleasure, joy and caring. Everything comes with a price, Liam. The question is, do you want to run or do you want to face the difficulties up front ?"
Hag'el started to look angry. He was loosing ground and he didn't like it one bit.
"I am his FATHER! I know best, what Liam needs, and he does not need any more pain!"
"Father?" Anr'el gave a small snort. "Liam, consider where you are. This is the Planes of Passage, Sha'hariath. In here, there's only you, me and the parts of your own mind, you have still to conquer. This is not Hag'el speaking, this is your fear and longings, your unresolved issues."
Liam started at the words, so similar to what he had once told Augur during the Sleepers incident. She was right. But so was "Hag'el". Now what to do ?
The Pentagon.
Juliana could only watch the two floating figures high above her head, amazed at the sight. But what good could it do, Liam was dead. She vaguely wondered if this was some sort of Kimeran burial rite. The green/gold cocoon of light surrounding the two suddenly increased dramatically in brilliance and she had to cover her eyes to avoid getting blinded.
The Alley.
They finally had him right where they wanted him. The Man had run out of charges and now had to resort to hand-to-hand combat in order to protect himself. He cursed the bad luck, which had him turn right and end up in this dead end.
Sandoval was the first to reach him, banging him up against the wall, pushing his chin up with the barrel of the pulse rifle. The rest panned out behind him in a semicircle.
"Now, you pay..." he sneered, wanting this bastard to beg for mercy, to... Sandoval couldn't put words on the pain he wanted to inflict on this man, knowing, that it would probably cost him the last speck of good in his soul, but not caring. He had nothing left in this world anyway. Liam was dead. The Man let out a cold laugh.
"What's it to you, Sandoval, hmm? What, you had some sort of weird thing going on with the Freak? Was he good in bed or something ?" He was goading Sandoval to end it quick. The Man didn't want to give Sandoval the satisfaction of being weak. Sandoval's face was a study in rage.
"The "Freak" as you call him, that young man who gave more to this world than anyone else, was MY SON !" Sandoval's finger tightened on the trigger.
"Don't !" A voice said from the mound of the alley. Sandoval blanched, the turned his head to look at the newcomer. So did the Man. Liam spoke again. "Don't allow him to taint your hands with his blood." Liam moved closer, carefully, slowly and supported by Juliana and Anr'el on both sides. His body was aching. Again. He needed rest desperately. But he had to stop this before Sandoval did something he would later pay a heavy price for. He was just grateful, that he had come to so quickly. And that no one had thought about using the Van in their hunt for The Man He had located Sandoval and the others just in the nick of time. He just hoped he didn't have to experience Dr. Belmans driving skills again anytime soon.
"You're alive!" Sandoval let go of the Bastard, hardly believing his eyes. The pulse rifle dropped unnoticed to the ground as he ran over to Liam, hugging him fiercely to make sure that he was still alive. "YOU'RE ALIVE !" Sandoval was soon joined by Augur and Street.
Zeke simply watched with a small smile on his face. He should have known, that the Kid didn't wouldn't go away without a fight. Giving the small, makeshift family some privacy, he turned to the prisoner.
"Now, what to do with you..." A cold, calculating smile grew on the Colonels' face, spreading to the rest of the ODK members behind him. They had a little bill of their own to outbalance with this one. And the Man's eyes widened in fear.
Kimeran Mastship "Justice"
Hovering above the White House.
Liam had gone to bed quickly after the healers had looked him over and released him to his quarters, saying that nothing was wrong with him, that a good night's sleep couldn't cure. He had cleaned up, then spend an hour just looking at his quarters, studying the intricate patterns of blue and purple on the walls intently or letting his fingers run along the bioslurry of the grown table, sensing the strange intelligence, the living ship harboured. So different from the Taelon mothership. And yet so similar. It was a big room, cosy, with a large virtual glass window on one side. The bed, a large platform stuffed with a multitude of pillows and blankets, was surprisingly comfortable. Lying down, he realised, that something was poking him in the back.
When he saw what it was, he blushed profoundly. Someone had placed a large teddy bear in his bed. Embarrassing. What did they think he was, a kid? Then he realised, that it was exactly what he was. A child. And with that realisation the last remnants of Liam Kincaid, Companion Protector and Leader of the Resistance, splintered like glass, leaving Liam Hag'el-Sandoval-Beckett, beloved Child of the Kimera. A single tear slowly made it's way down his face as he studied the teddy. Liam had paid a high price for his freedom, but finally, he was home. And with the soothing lullaby of the Commonality in his mind, he soon fell asleep, completely relaxed for the first time in his short life, with the stuffed bear tightly clutched in his arms.
The ship, sensing him asleep, adjusted the virtual glass to a darker tone, slowly blacking out the stars and streetlight. Neither Liam nor the Ship nor anyone else noticed the blue spectre which appeared shortly next to the bed, making a gesture of goodbye.
Da'an had found his peace too, now that he knew Liam to be safe. "Be well, child," He whispered in Eunoia, his voice lingering for a second after he disappeared. Liam stirred slightly, then sank deeper into sleep. And for the rest of the night, no one disturbed Liam's dreams any further.
The Bridge
Kimeran Mastship "Justice"
Hovering the White House.
While Liam was sleeping, Anr'el and Ca'el was in a meeting with the Ruling Council at Kimera Prime, using the Commonality. The maininstigators had all been caught or killed, the last one the Man, whose real name was Adam King, was shot by Colonel Kincaid while trying to escape during transport. No one questioned the Colonel, even though Anr'el had her suspicions about the explanation. It didn't cover the multiple lacerations and bruises the body had. But she couldn't really bring herself to care. Liam was safe.
But there was still the question of how to punish the rest of the population of Earth. They too carried their part of the blame for this incident.
"According to the old rules, they shall die for their crimes."
"I know, but they are still a young race, almost children. If the Taelons hadn't treated them the way they did, things would perhaps have been different."
"Yes. But still, they must be punished. And what's done is done."
"If we were to kill them, Liam would never forgive himself. He would feel guilty for causing so much destruction. He has a very soft heart and this could prove to strain it too much."
"We know. We too know the Child's mind. That is why we are giving you 48 earth hours to come up with an alternative punishment for this planet."
They left the link.
48 hours to come up with an alternative to mass destruction. Not a long time. Not a long time indeed.
Main conference room
Aboard "Justice"
8 hours later
This was not gonna be easy. She knew it going in. They were all there: Augur, Street, Dr. Belman, the Colonel and his men. Her Kimeran command staff. Everyone except Liam. He was still asleep. And she didn't want him in here during the meeting anyway. What they were about to discuss would only put a very not-needed strain on a psyche still only in the start of healing from all the pain he had been dealt in his short life. The room was simple: A set of chairs in a circle around a big data stream. Nothing else was needed.
She sat down, painfully aware, that every set of eyes in the room was on her. The Kimera was already aware of what she was going to say here, having been notified of the meeting with the Council had ended 8 hours earlier, but she dreaded for the reaction of the humans. It would be severe. She took a deep, unnecessary breath, and started.
"8 hours ago, Ca'el and I were in a meeting with the Ruling Council of Kimera Prime. We were discussing the proper punishment of the people, either directly or indirectly, involved in hurting Liam." She braced herself, then continued.
"After our old laws anyone.." She send Sandoval a pointed look "Who hurts one of our children, or help hurting it in some way, must die. This may sound barbaric for such an advanced civilisation such as ours, or even for one as lowly advanced as the humans, but please remember, that these laws were written during the Taelon- Kimeran war, where not one day went by without hundreds of our Children either being hunted down, killed or tortured in gruesome experiments by the Taelons." She shuddered in all to well-remembered pain. "And each one of those pains, those deaths, were felt like our own through the link." She managed to gain control of her emotions again. "We swore, that nothing like that would ever go unpunished again." Her voice grew cold. "But it did. Here."
Sandoval spoke up. "I will take any kind of punishment, the Council wishes to condemn me to. I just wish for a chance to say goodbye to my son." He meet her gaze evenly, even though his CVI drenched his brain with rather forgotten images of the pain, he himself had put Liam through. But he had decided a long time ago not to run from justice when his time came.
Anr'el forced a small smile.
"I would expect nothing else. But both the Council and I agree on one thing: It is not a wise thing to rob the Child of his last remaining parent while his mind is in such a fragile state as now. When the time comes, we will try to find an alternative. And we have a much bigger dilemma right now." She waved her hand, bringing up a picture of Earth in the data stream. "The Council have found, that the population of Earth have also broken these old laws, when they turned on Liam and made him a victim of their racism. They have also been found guilty of indirectly helping Hubble Urich and his minions in their plans for Liam's kidnapping. The sentence for this is Death. Already now, the 3 orbiting planet destroyers are powering up their weapons, ready to pay the final judgement on a scale, which will leave Earth nothing more than a smouldering ruin, a cloud of dust orbiting the Sun. " She raised a hand to stop the protests, which she knew was coming. "However, we have been granted 48 hours to come up with an alternative. I have already tried, with my command staff, to come up with an alternative solution, so far to no avail. And that is why I am now asking for your help in this."
She leaned back, carefully studying the faces of the humans. They had all gone ghostly white. Augur, for some warped reason, could help thinking about a fair, he had once been to with his mom and dad. It had been springtime and he had been maybe 8. The candyfloss...It had tasted like nothing else and he could still remember the clear, blue sky and the sounds of the fair vividly. He had hoped to one day take his own children to one of these fairs. But now it looked like it would never happen.
"You can't do that! You just can't! They didn't know!" Streets voice were choked, tear-filled. She didn't care much for the people, who had hurt Liam so badly, but to destroy an entire planet because of it? Anr'el sighed heavily.
"Street, isn't it a proverb of your planet, that "stupidity does not protect from punishment"? We do not conceive children easily. And the few, we do get, we protect with everything we got." Anr'el got up again, suddenly feeling confined in the large room. "I do not expect you to understand. Any of you." She looked at them again, pausing slightly at each face to look them straight into their eyes. "Just know this, that no matter how much I would hate to do it, unless a suitable alternative can be thought of within the time limit, I will order the destroyers to fire." Her left hand balled up tightly. "You will not speak of this to Liam. There is no need to put him under more pressure right now. If necessary, I will inform him myself." With that she swirled around, leaving the chamber and heading straight for the nearest portal. She needed to get out. Get some fresh air. Right now. Shifting into her latest human facade, that of Liam's "daughter", she headed towards the nearest park.
She really hoped, that they would come up with something, where her own people, so filled with anger over Liam's pain, had failed. She really did.
The Council chamber
"Justice"
Juliana felt like exploding, as she let out a breath, she wasn't aware that she had been holding. Anr'el had just stormed out, obviously distraught by the idea of destroying an entire planet, but also ready to do it, unless something else came up. The other Kimera got up, slowly exiting the room, leaving the humans to their own thoughts. The silence was deafening.
Zeke took spoke up as the first. "Well, that was..interesting.." His mind reeled with the thought, that the Kimera, a race he had come to associate through these trials, as a race of kind, highly evolved beings, could do something like this.
"The question is, what do we do now ?" Bettis said, refusing to give into the shock he was feeling.
"Or do we do anything at all ?" Everyone stared at Dr. Belman. That they hadn't expected to hear. She cleared her throat. "Well, think about it. It's not like humanity is innocent in this. They DID do the stuff, that the Council accused them of." She got up and went over to the window, staring out at the morning sky. "And, given the chance, I think they would do it again," She said thoughtfully, remembering the many stories from history books, about massacres in the name of religion or death camps in the name of racial purity. "Do they, do WE deserve another chance ?" She turned again, looking at the others. They had the fate of an entire planet in their hands.
"There's always hope." Augur raised his voice for the first time since this new nightmare began. "Not too long ago, a person of my skin colour could not be allowed into certain restaurants. But it changed. So can this." He sighed heavily. "But we'll never know if we allow this to happen." Zeke, feeling a little like he was watching a tennis match, spoke up. " Then we better come up with an alternative, won't we ?" With that, they dispersed, agreeing to meet up after a couple of hours of brainstorming to bounce of ideas of eachother.
