Nightmares

Chapter 4

by

Armitage374

Denmark

The Kimeran

Commonality

Liam was vaguely aware of Ca'el and the rest of the Kimera hovering nervously somewhere in the outskirts of his field of awareness. Despite the fact that he understood them, their presence for some reason annoyed him to no end. It felt like a bunch of overactive mosquitoes. And it was a distraction he couldn't afford right now. This had to be done 100% correct or neither Boone nor An'rel would survive the procedure with their minds intact. And he was the only one who could do it. So once again, Liam was forced to be the adult. Straining to be calm, when all he wanted to do was lash out in a fit of childish rage over the unfairness of it all, he contacted Ca'el.

*Ca'el, the commander will most likely appreciate everyone's concern, but you are disturbing me. Could you please move away? Liam was good at masking, an entire lifetime of hiding from the Taelon Commonality had taught him to keep his emotional involvement to a minimum to avoid making waves, but these last couple of months of peace had weakened his guards. And an experienced, Long-lived Kimera like Ca'el had no problem in sensing the underlying emotions of the direct broadcast.

*Liam, we are not only here for the commander, we are here for you as well. Never forget that.* With a last mental pat on the shoulder to reassure the young one, Ca'el ordered everyone else to move away.

A mental sigh was all Liam allowed himself before he dived into the mind of his friend, attempting to sort out the mess of twisted thoughts and false memories. The next second, he was standing in a Battlefield, the soil bathed in blood and the screaming of dying humans in his ears.

*Oh God...* Liam looked at the battlefield, utterly terrified. He had known about Boone's service record, about the battles and wars he had fought before joining the Taelons as a Protector. And of the battles after that. But nothing in the files he had read as part of his research used for his fake identity, had prepared him for this.

*It's just a memory, Liam, it's just a memory...They aren't real..* A memory filled with screams and the coppery smell of fresh blood. But still only a memory. Feverishly grabbing hold of that one thought, he broke out of his shock, desperately ignoring the rapidly changing scenes, and began searching for the link between Anr'el and the Commander, the mind link, which he knew was there somewhere. The link, which he had, by accident, called into existence when he encountered Boone in his nightmares. The link, which was An'rel's only chance of remaining sane. There. A faint string of silver in the midst of chaos, feeding An'rel's mind with images from a life, not hers and returning her memories to a man they didn't belong to. He needed to reverse the stream first and then find some way of breaking the connection. His mind made up and acting on instinct, he reached out with his mind, calling upon faint memories from his father's father's mothers something, and slowly, oh so slowly, the rivers of images started to revert. The only problem was, that an amount of feelings and memories of that magnitude needed someone to channel it. And that someone was Liam. Battered with all this information, he did the only thing he could.

He screamed. Memories aren't real, but they can still hurt as hell.

The Becketts House

Strandhill

Fiona felt a sudden pang in the heart. Something was wrong.. Eyes filled with worry, she quickly went into the living room, looking for Ambrose, believing it to be him. Finding him deeply engrossed in the latest issue of some horse race magazine, she felt a little more at ease. Nothing wrong there. And Liam was with the Kimera, so he was safe as well. It was probably just her imagination. But a sliver of worry remained as she went back to the kitchen, baking yet another batch of cookies for Liam.

The Larya

Approaching Earth

Closing in on the shuttle bay, Sandoval heard a sound, he had hoped never to hear again. Liam was screaming. Sparing only a short glance at Augur and the others, who had caught up with him, he picked up speed and race into the shuttle bay. Lily was there, dragging something out of a service tunnel. Something in a human shape and glowing an eerie green colour. Something whimpering in pain. Liam.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Coming to a screeching hold next to his semiconscious son, Sandoval knelt down, putting his hands to Liam's forehead in an attempt to examine him.

"DON'T!" Lily's warning came too late as Sandoval was slammed up against the wall by a violent outburst of pure energy. She sighed, then looked at the Kid.

"The same thing happened to me when I first tried to move him. Had to drag him out by his shirt."

"That still doesn't answer my question: What Happened ?"

"Liam sensed, that something was wrong with Anr'el, ran here like a bat out of hell, tore out the service hatch...and after finding her in the tunnels, looking like Boone, and before I knew it he...he merged with her?" Turning to one of the Kimera approaching them. "I didn't know that this could happen?"

"Neither did we. May I suggest, that we just leave him and let him finish, what he started?"

Right about now, Sandoval had had it. "So you mean that all we can do is sit back and wait it out? And what do you mean: "Finish what he started?" The Kimera looked at the enraged man nervously.

"The Commander had a small...incident...In order to help her, Liam had to go into her mind..."

"Can't we unmerge them or something?" Augur asked, not liking the prospects of Liam doing something like this. Who knew what he would encounter in there. From what he knew of An'rel's life, it had been long, and not happy.

"No. To attempt that he would surely die." The entire group looked at their fallen friend and did the only thing they could.

They waited.

The Golden Mug

Strandhill

Ireland

Earth

Abby Franklin muttered a very colourful curse under her breath, despite the cosy, rural setting of her room. She had literally spent HOURS on research and STILL had nothing to pin on Renée Palmer. Well, nothing of value. It was starting to look like Palmer had Teflon on her rear end. Nothing was sticking. During the Taelon occupation, Doors International had been involved with several shady things, but without the database of the mother ship, nothing could be proven.

And DI's own record were all squeaky clean. And unfortunately for her, her boss wouldn't go on air with something not proven. As he so blatantly put it:

"We run a clean operation here and leave the lies to the others. Besides, it won't do Liam or his grandparents any good if we get caught with our pants down." She had to agree on that one. If they went on air with something not solid, it could easily backfire. Not only would Renée Palmer sue their a**'s of, but the chance of public turning even more against Liam and his kin were too big to be ignored. However, he had agreed to run a series on various firms, who had dealt with the Taelons and drop more than a few hints on DI. Off cause nothing, which could end them up in court.

Rubbing her eyes tiredly, she decided against room service and left for the restaurant. She needed a miracle. Badly. On her way to a table, she didn't notice the dark-haired man watching her intently from a corner. But he noticed her. And he knew exactly who she was.

Dick Sanchez was feeling something unusual. A bad conscience. A REALLY bad conscience. His instincts about what Palmer was up to had been proven right. It had only taken a couple of discreet questions to find out that the inhabitants in Strandhill were rapidly changing from your average friendly neighbours to a horde of dangerous, perhaps murderous, vigilantes. And Palmer, with her innocent concern and supposedly good reputation, was pulling the strings. But maybe that reporter was his way out of a bad situation. Now if only he could find a way of opening a conversation and getting her on his side. He had to be careful in case she weren't "alien friendly". But he really hadn't anything to loose, had he? Grabbing his pint of beer, he rose from his table and approached Abby Franklin.

Sickbay

The "Larya"

Orbiting Earth.

Lilly was pacing the room, wishing she had brought her daughter with her on this trip. But Vorjak had been adamant about the child remaining with him and a nurse while Lilly went with Liam on his little trip. It was only supposed to be for a few days and Kimera Prime was more secure than Earth, especially since the latest Intel from the fifth brigade on Taelon had large parts of the Taelon war fleet coming in that direction. He didn't really care that it would be 7 years before the hostiles reached their target or the fact that the Kimeran fleet had most likely crippled the invaders before they reached past Jupiter, he didn't want any child of his anywhere near a future war zone.

She could have insisted off cause, but at that point, domestic bliss and the promise of some time without a demanding kid around sounded just fine. But right now she would have loved the distraction. They had finally managed to get Liam to sickbay, but they didn't dare using one of the blue tanks on him due to the unusual state he was in. He was still glowing a faint green, but at least, he wasn't screaming anymore. There was a faint whimper from the cot they had put him on. It caught the attention of everyone there.

Sandoval had barely moved since slumping on a chair next to his son's bed, never moving his eyes from Liam's face. Ron registered what was going on around him both Lilly's pacing and Juliana's question if he needed anything, but he took no notice, made no outward sign on having heard them. Liam looked so frail. So young. Ron had barely begun to know him and now there was a real chance, that he might loose him again. Damned it, it wasn't fair! Unknown to him, Augur was having similar thoughts.

He couldn't remember Liam ever having looked so happy as these last couple of months on Kimera Prime. He finally had the opportunity to be the kid he was meant to be. A faint moan and a slight movement caught his attention as Liam started to glow more intensely.

Suddenly Sandoval, Augur and the rest of the people in sickbay were slammed up against the wall as Liam floated up under the high, vaulted ceiling and a whirlwind of energy seemed to radiate from him.

Liam's Mind

Only moments before.

Liam was faintly aware of the commonality carefully prodding his mind in an attempt to figure out what was happening. But after a warning from him, the prodding stopped and he could concentrate completely on his task. He had reconstructed Boone's memories completely, but because of An'rel's almost frighteningly high age, it took a bit longer with her. A memory from the Taelon-Kimeran war grabbed him. It was a very strong one. And it involved a child. An'rel's child.

The Kazamatz

Copenhagen

Denmark

Jean allowed herself a breath of relief. After a short explanation of Liam's, relayed through Ca'el, Boone had passed out and for a while things had looked kind of hairy. Not only had his brain activity increased dramatically, which was only to be expected, but Boone, she was getting tired of calling him the Clone all the time, had also reacted to the remembered memories psychosomatically, reopening old wounds, which would disappear just as mysteriously as they appeared, but the convulsions he had also gone through had forced her to strap him down to the table. She never liked doing that to a patient. A frown made itself known for the 100'Th time since this entire nightmare started as she read the results of a scan.

"That's strange." She quickly turned around, picking up one of the other, more specialised scanner the Kimera had brought down after the situation had been explained.

Erik hated it when she said that. It usually meant that something was wrong. Something she didn't quite knew how to react to or treat.

"Why am I suddenly worried?" Eric looked over her shoulder.

"Boone's brainwave activity is almost normal, but his CVI is breaking down. And rapidly at that."

"The CVI is part of the connection to the Commonality." Ca'el spoke up. "We can deal with the damages done to Boone's brain, but if the connection to An'rel's mind cease to exist or weakens to a next to nothing state before Liam has finished whatever he's doing, there's a rather large chance that both the Commander and Liam will be lost to us."

"Lost?" Erik really didn't want to ask, but some perverted need to know made him ask.

"They will go insane with the constant pressure of the remnants of a strange personality and ultimately join the Void."

The Golden Mug

Strandhill

Ireland.

Abby looked up as a shadow fell across her table. It was a Hispanic-looking man, who seemed somehow misplaced in this little corner of the world.

"Ms. Franklin?"

"Yes. May I help you?" Abby did her best to keep her suspicion out of her voice. It wasn't each day she was confronted by strangers since she worked the stories but rarely anchored them. And most of the time when she DID anchor, she was working the local cable version in DC. Maybe Palmer had spotted her and was trying something funny.

"My name is Dick Sanchez, I'm a private investigator and I have some information on Renée Palmer that you may find interesting." It might be a trap. But she couldn't resist the bait.

"Please sit down, Mr. Sanchez."

Lias

Capital of the Planet Kimeria somewhere in Orion's

Belt

Some 200.000 years ago.

City Plaza was a gathering point to the Kimera. Beautifully outlined by living, growing architecture, the green glowing inhabitants of Kimera Prime met here to discuss politics, science or other subjects of more or less mundane nature. But where a gathering point for other species, which had to use verbal communications, was normally buzzing with noise, this one was almost completely silent, leaving the sounds of nature only broken by the sounds of the once and then arriving shuttles or the noises of an activating ID-Portal. Suddenly there was a commotion in one end of the Plaza, and an angry yell echoed through the Commonality loud enough to be heard by most of the present Kimera.

*Hag'el, give that back! Right this instant! * Anr'el was in close pursuit of Hag'el, projecting her irritation directly through the Commonality to her best friend.

*That's my Pad, you..* She couldn't really come up with a word bad enough to call him.

*Come on, you have been studying that thing for hours! * He wasn't for the life of him going to slow down. Not when the lady chasing him had murder in her thoughts and fire in her eyes. He wasn't tired of living just yet. Anr'el narrowly managed to avoid colliding with several other Kimera, earning her a couple of rude comments on youth and the art of slowing down, when she suddenly remembered a trick she used to do when she was younger. Smiling widely, she reduced her matter to almost nil and simply made one big jump, putting her well ahead of Hag'el´s path of flight, carefully masking her feeling of smugness so that Hag'el wouldn't notice it in the Commonality.

Hag'el glanced behind him nervously. He didn't like the sudden silence from Anr'el. When she was this silent, she was usually up to something. Of all the scientists he knew, and that was a lot, she was by far the one most likely to find some probably very painful way of getting back at him. Suddenly his premonition was made true as a hard yank and an elbow in the midsection had him bending over, not only temporary airless but also minus one pad.

"Not fair." He managed to choke out, all ability to use the Commonality lost to him for the moment.

"Ah, so we decided to use vocal language now?" Anr'el teased, jumping nearly 10 feet up in the air and landing on one of the branches of a nearby tree.

"So that's how you did it." Hag'el couldn't help grinning at the ingenuity in using one of the most overlooked aspects of Kimeran biology: The ability to control the amount of mass and thus the weight of one's body.

"What is it one of those great philosophers of yours once said:' Remembrance is the way to the future and forgetfulness only get your rear end kicked.'"

"As usual, you are warping quotes to fit your own ends. But aside from that.." Hag'el jumped up next to Anr'el and made himself comfortable. "What's on that pad that makes it so important you can't even spend 5 centrums away from it with your best friend?"

Anr'el sighed and all but fell down in a sitting position on the giant branch herself, her feet dangling over the sides and her back leaning comfortably against the main bulk.

"It's about the Taelons. And the Jaridians as well for that matter. Something we overlooked when we added our DNA to help the Jaridians and caused the evolutionary leap in part of the populous." She looked serious enough for Hag'el to stop being the friend and start being the scientist.

"Bad?"

"Bad enough. If my calculations are correct, in future generations both species are going to have problems with reproduction. I can't exactly say which problems, but I can say that it's going to escalate with time and the intermixing of the genes in the general populous. Now, with enough research over the next decades, this can be corrected as our own problems in that area was in the past, but there is another and more pressing problem. The Taelon Commonality is still not as stable as I want it to be. The honour code of the Jaridians is good enough on their level of evolution, but the Taelons it makes to rigid to securely evolve their Commonality into something self-maintaining. Their need for everything in life to fit into a certain pattern makes it stiff. You know, that our Commonality maintains itself to a certain degree thanks to the fact that it changes and evolves constantly, but as things are right now, the Taelons need to be in constant contact with it not only to maintain their evolutionary progress and prevent them from falling back into the Atavus stage but also to prevent the Commonality from collapsing. Since the Taelons don't have a subconscious connection to their Commonality like we have to ours, they have to stay awake all the time and that means...trouble."

Hag'el nodded. "I see where you are heading. If any type of creature, matter based or energy based, doesn't get enough sleep, it starts developing severe psychotic, not to mention paranoid, traits. I've seen it happen in other species. And with the level of technology the Taelons possess now, that could be dangerous not only to the Jaridians but also to us. So, what's your suggestion?"

The ghost of a smile shone on her face for a second. Hag'el always was good at reading her. Sometimes she wished he was her breeding partner. Or perhaps even life mate. But nature, or more specific instinct, had wanted it differently.

"I suggest we click in a couple of Kimera in the Taelon Commonality, just to kick-start the process of the changing matrix. With a little bit of luck, the Taelons will adapt and they will integrate the subconscious link in their minds in the process."

" Did you send this to the Council?"

"Yes. But I wanted to make sure I covered all the bases and angles."

"Don't worry about it. If I've learned anything about you over the times, it's that you always had a keen eye for details and eventualities. " Hag'el rose and brushed of foliage from his body, then stretched out his hand toward Anr'el.

"So put that pad away and let's have some fun." A roguish smile and a feeling of mischief radiated towards her. "After all, we are still young enough to get away with it."

Liam's Mind

A moment ago.

Liam managed to break away from the memory for a while. Anr'el had known his father? That explained a lot. But not everything. For instance, why did these memories seem to go past so much slower than the others? Was it because of something he was meant to see? Or was it because of the strong feelings connected to it? Maybe Anr'el could help him sort it out afterwards. Provided they survived this. And there was still the faint memory of a child somewhere in all this. Mentally steeling himself as well as he could, he once again was dragged backwards in time to the long gone home planet of the Kimera.

Lias

Kimeran Capitol

Kimeria

200.000 years ago.

A series of supersonic booms sounded above as Anr'el and Hag'el, laughing hard at a joke from a distant planet, made their way towards An'rel's abode. Looking at the sky, Hag'el couldn't help but wonder what that amount of Taelon shuttlecrafts did this far from Jaridia. Normally the diplomats would visit the Taelons at their home planet since the Taelon Commonality became weaker with distance. But as Anr'el impatiently yanked at his arm to get him through the door, he soon forgot the entire thing.

But it was only moments later, as Anr'el was beating him once again at a game of lasha when the screams began. Horrifying screams of pain and death echoed through the Commonality as through the physical world as both his and An'rel's mind links flared open to signal the death of not just one or two but thousands of Kimera, both on Kimeria but also on the other inhabited planets in the Kimeran Coalition. The sheer onslaught of images assaulted them from all over, cascading over them like a tsunami, almost, but only almost, knocked them unconscious. And left one, lasting impression on their minds: The pictures of hundreds of Taelons willingly reverting into their Atavus stages in front of the unsuspecting Kimeran Elders and brutally starting to slaughter them.

Hag'el was the first to recover from the shock, realising one and crucial thing: They had to get out of here, out of the city and preferably of the planet as soon as possible if they were to survive. He also realised one other thing: The Kimera didn't stand a chance because they no longer knew how to fight. And they hadn't for millions of years. Grabbing hold of his best friends almost unconscious body, he groggily started across the room to the door, opening it just to stare into the face of an Atavus.

Liam's mind

A moment ago

Liam felt a jolt go through his physical body as the link between him, Boone and Anr'el threatened to break.

NO!

He wouldn't let that happen. Not now. He was almost through. Reacting purely on instinct and the desire to save the one being in this universe that he trusted completely, he reached out and connected directly to her soul, linking it to his own in one last desperate attempt to keep all of them safe. And was only granted one brief moment to be amazed as it actually worked and everything that was Anr'el imprinted itself on his core forever.

Sickbay

The Larya

Orbiting Earth.

The Kimeran doctor took one look at the spectacle in front of him as he collected himself off the floor, then yelled:

"Everybody out! NOW!"

Sandoval was of a mind to object but thought differently when he saw the haste with which every Kimera in the room obeyed the order. Grabbing hold of Augur, he looked back one last time at his son as the door locked shut. The next second he grabbed the Kimeran doctor by the throat and slammed him up against the bulkhead.

"Mind telling me, why I just left my son alone in there?" The dangerous note in his voice was enough to tell everyone in the vicinity that this better be good or there was going to be bloodshed.

"If my assumptions is correct, Liam just did the one thing I never expected him to. Not at this stage in his development."

"And just what is that?" Augur joined in, leaning in next to Sandoval's face and looking just as dangerous.

"He Joined with Anr'el, didn't he?" Juliana's voice came quietly from the back of the small crowd.

"Yes."

The Kazamatz

Copenhagen

Denmark

"What the hell?" Boones voice echoed through the cave as he sat up abruptly, only to see more than a dozen assault blaster and quite a few glowing shaqarava pointed his way. Turning to the only face, he recognized, he addressed his old army pal, Liam Kincaid. "Mind telling me what in blazes is going on here?"

The ice in Kincaid's eyes was almost tangible. "That depends on what you are doing next, whoever you are." Zeke wasn't about to trust the man that looked and acted like his old friend just yet. He still remembered how the other clone had gone beserk only hours earlier and how he had to shoot it to stop it. Something that had oddly enough hurt as if it really had been Boone he had killed.

"Who I am? Liam, it's me, Boone, you know the guy who busted your sorry as out of that POW camp during the SI-Wars, you know, where you got that little souvenir on your face?"

Drawing a deep breath, Zeke slowly lowered his rifle. "That little detail never made it public. It's him. Jean?"

"Excuse me, Commander." A cute redhead dropped her handgun on a table and grabbed a scanner instead. The rest of the small group slowly relaxed as well.

"What are you doing?" He grabbed her hand as she held the strange scanning device up next to his head.

"I'm checking to see if your CVI is gone or not. We can't have you running around with one of those things in your head. Especially not if it makes you dangerous." He loosened his grip again. She had a point. And he had never liked that thing anyway. As the pretty doctor did her thing, he noticed something strange.

"Hey, this isn't Condor!"

"Condor?" One of the people with the glowing hands looked at him questioning.

"Yeah, my skrill. And just who the hell are you people anyhow?"

"What are the last things you remember, Commander?" A guy to the left, if his memory still severed him right the leader of the resistance region Scandinavia, Erik.

"The church. I was hunting Hag'el.." And then it clicked: Shaqarava was the glowing hands called, and the only ones to have them except Ro'Ha were Hag'el, which meant... The strange skrill reacted just as Condor would have and powered up to full capacity as Boone raised his arm, aiming it at the man who had asked about Condor.

"Who are you?"

The Golden Mug

Strandhill

Ireland

Abby leaned back in her chair, trying very hard not to laugh out loud, hard and long. "And you are ready to go on record with this?"

"Hell, I'm ready to testify in court if need be. And I got the evidence to support it. As long as that bitch gets what she deserves."

Abby fished out her handy, calling up her boss in Washington DC.

"Boss? About that story on Renée Palmer. You'll never guess what just fell into my lap..."

The Beckett Cottage

Strandhill

Ireland

Fiona and Ambrose exchanged a worried glance. There seemed to be a rather big rally of people a bit down the road and things were kind of noisy.

"Maybe now would be a good time to contact the Kimera?" Fiona would rather that they could fix this themselves, but as things looked, it was getting more and more dangerous by the second. And the Kimera had already said, they shouldn't hesitate if the Becketts felt like it. Ambrose thought about it.

"No. We've known these people all our lives. They are going to calm down soon." He gave Fiona's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry. They are going to see reason as soon as they give themselves time to think." At least, that was what he prayed.

Liam's Mind

Even as Liam felt himself merge with Anr'el to secure her survival, he felt another memory tug at his mind. And just as before, he was powerless against it. But at least, he could feel Anr'el becoming a singular being again and not the mixed memories and personalities of two people. He didn't even stop to think about the ramifications of what he had done. He didn't want to.

Lias

Kimeria

200.000 years ago.

Hag'el only had a second to react and an instinct he didn't even knew he had, emerged from the most primitive parts of his memories as he raised his hands and fired his shaqarava without thinking. The blast was only powerful enough to knock the Atavus temporarily out, but it had to be enough and quickly he slung Anr'el over his shoulder, heading for the nearest portal. There was only one place he could go right now. His newly acquired repository. The Larya.

He only hoped that enough of his crew had stayed onboard to make a start possible. As he spurted towards the portal, he made one last gesture towards his fallen home and send out a message to those, who was still able to hear him, thanking the Universe that the Taelons couldn't hear the Kimeran Commonality. The message was a couple of space coordinates and one single order:

*Flee. Survive.*

And as he finished programming the portal, he knew a feeling, which no Kimera had felt for more than 50.000 years: Hate.

The Kazamatz

Copenhagen

Denmark

Ca'el raised his hands slightly, trying to make a non-combative impression on the man currently aiming a skrill at him.

"Commander, I am not your enemy. My name is Ca'el. I am of the Kimera and currently assigned to the protection of Earth." Boone's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I thought the Kimera was extinct. Well, except Hag'el." His arm didn't waver one bit. Zeke chuckled.

"Bettis, you now owe me 10 bucks. Cough 'em up." Bettis sighed dramatically, then reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet as if every movement caused him pain.

"Here, you bloodsucker. Certain that you aren't related to Zo'or?"

"Now, now Bettis, just because you lost the bet doesn't mean that you should be rude." Zeke answered with a smirk. At Boone's clearly confused expression, the smirk grew into a full-fledged smile.

"We had a little bet on what you would say first when you realised that Ca'el was a Kimera. I won. The rest is a very long story that I think we should continue somewhere a little bit safer. My people have rigged this place to blow as soon as we are gone."

"May I suggest we retire to the Kimera Mast ship in orbit? I need to get up to speed on what's going on as I've been out of contact with the Commonality for most of my stay here."

Erik shrugged. "That's as good a place as any. And you have some data that we don't have access to, which the Commander might find interesting."

"What do you say Will? Sound agreeable to you?" Zeke turned back to his friend who looked more than a little bomb shelled.

"Do you trust them?"

"With my life."

Boone looked back to Ca'el, trying to size him up with what he knew. The Taelons and the Kimera had been enemies. And as the old proverb said, "The enemies enemy is my friend". Zeke also seemed to trust him. And Ca'el hadn't done anything hostile yet. He lowered his arm and mentally commanded his strange skrill to power down.

"Ok. But I reserve the right to be suspicious. "

" That is your prerogative. And I expected nothing else." Ca'el made a small movement of respect with one of his hands.

"There's a kid I want you to meet. His name is Liam. You'll like him." Zeke secured his rifle and helped Boone of the table. As Zeke started bringing Boone up to speed with the last news since his death, the rest of the small band made final preparations for their departure, not knowing what they were up for as they returned to the Kimeran Mast ship.

The Larya

Sickbay

Orbiting Earth

Sandoval kept staring at the closed door. His son was in there. And there was absolutely nothing he could do.

The Larya

200.000 years ago

The sorry remains of his crew had thankfully had the same idea he had and even as Anr'el was slowly recovering from her shock, the powerful engines of the Larya carried the few survivors, they had managed to save, away from the smouldering remains of what had once been a thriving civilisation. The Taelons would pay. But first the Kimera had to find a safe place to reorganise and develop some sort of battle plan. The Kimera had time. And time would be the downfall of the Taelons.

"Hag'el? Do you have a moment?" A young doctor called Mat'hel, the youngest member of his crew fresh out of the medical education, approached him.

"Hm?"

"It's about Anr'el. There's something I think you should know. As her friend I mean." The young one hesitated.

"Yes? She's Ok, isn't she?" Hag'el got worried.

"Yes. But...She was pregnant and the Child didn't survive." The statement fell rather bluntly. But the Doctors lack of experience and the entire ordeal they had just been through left no room for civilities.

"Pregnant?" Hag'el was shocked. He hadn't known. There had been no echo of a second being in her mental signature. Mat'hel nervously looked at his pad.

"Yes. As far as the scanner was capable of determining she wasn't that far along. It is possible that she didn't know herself. Her medical records show that she only recently went through the Ka'arpatham. It is possible that the strain all of this caused the pregnancy to be aborted."

"Have you told her?"

"No, not yet. She is still unconscious."

"Good, don't. I'll do it when she's strong enough. It is better that she hear it from me."

The doctor nodded, then returned to his duties of taking care of the many wounded amongst the survivors. Hag'el leaned back in his command chair as the new information slowly sank into his mind. Yet another death, which the Taelons had caused. When was it going to end? Unknown to him, in the other end of the galaxy, a Taelon by the name of Ma'el had the same thought. Destiny had set wheels in motion, which could either destroy or save both species.

TBC...