A/N: no A/N… A/N?… no A/N!… A/N?…. NO A/N!!!!!!! (Sorry…. That 'and then?' thing has been stuck in my head all day… If you don't know the reference, then go watch some movies! Geez!) Enjoy:

Legacy: chapter 26

Her eyes eased open ever so slowly, only far enough to get a blurry image of the surroundings. Far enough to see him, though, and confirm that: yes, she was still alive, and yes, this was all very real. Not just some bad dream that she could not wake up from.

Staying still was a challenge. The spot where Allie had fallen was covered with twigs and other sharp forest floor debris. She had to remain still, though. The headache had subsided, and, given at least another hour of rest, some of her energy would return… No… there was no reason to deny the fact. Allie knew the energy would never come back. She was dying.

Allie slowly forced her eyes closed. No movement… not even a breath. Keith could not know that she was awake! Allie knew that death stalked around the trees, she could feel it. But instinct drove her to cling to whatever hope of survival there was, even if that hope was painfully remote. A slight further exertion could spell the end of everything. Movement was the enemy, not Keith. If her life ended; the eventual demise of the whole human race would be the result. Unacceptable!

For some reason, out of everything else in the world that should be running through her mind; all the time she had wasted since her return that could have been spent with her parents, all the missed joys and sorrows of her early teen life. All the future joys that she would miss; meeting that special someone, becoming a mother… out of all these things, Keith Sheppard was the focus of her concentration.

Why? She demanded. Why was he the utmost figure in her thoughts? Why did he even matter? The man could drop off the face of the earth for all she cared!

But… that wasn't true. She did care, for some horribly irrational reason she did care.

Why? Allie almost pleaded with her own thoughts. She wanted to hate Keith, she wanted to hate him more then anything else! But something within her would not allow it. To the contrary, she was filled with compassion for the man. Was it because he was remotely related to her? Or that there was still so much information that Allie needed to know to decide just how they were related… a curiosity, then?

No. Allie knew why… she felt sorry for him. She could tell just from how he acted that he had been searching for something. 'Something' being the key, Keith did not know what he was looking for, or even that he had been looking for anything at all. But Allie knew. How else could a man so devote himself to a cause that he obviously does not understand? The money was a factor… but he was really just looking for himself. Something in this world that he could point to, as a reflection of himself, and say: 'I did that!'

An involuntary shudder moved down the length of Allie's body. Not of cold, or of fear, or revulsion. It was a sign that the precise control she exercised over her body was starting to slip. Even thought she had commanded no movement, and it had worked for a while, that extreme upper level of conditioning was struggling for sustenance just the same as her other abilities. There was no more energy to go around.

Keith noticed the movement, but did not say anything. Allie peaked her eyes back open, there was no use in expending the energy of forcing her body to lie still if Keith already knew she was awake. The wider field of vision brought another object to Allie's attention: Keith's coat lay draped over her upper body. He… gave it to me?

The signal that Keith was emitting was strong, just as strong as ever. But Allie noticed a new quality to it. A shift had occurred.

Keith sat only ten feet away, his back pressed up against a tree. The expression on his face as he twisted a small twig through his fingers mirrored the change in his bioenergy pattern. Allie could not explain how she was able to correlate pattern with expression, it was just clear to her.

Indifference, pure and simple indifference played over his face, and the pattern mimicked it. His face appeared neither kind nor cruel, and the pattern betrayed no underlying traits. He was just there.

Allie moved an arm in an attempt to pick herself up slightly. Again, Keith made note, but still remained silent.

With a better view, Allie studied him for a while longer before saying: "Thanks"

Keith nodded once slowly, but kept his attention fixed on the small twig in his hand.

"For your coat…" Allie continued, "It's cold out here."

Keith made no attempt to reply.

He's doing it again, Allie thought. He had displayed the same disconnectedness in the car on the way out here, the same, but in some very hard to explain way, it was different now. He didn't have the same threatening air about him. And that energy pattern!

How could it change so quickly? The pattern given off by all creatures is a constant. Only changing over a vast amount of time. One millionth of a step out of phase was considered normal shift for an entire average Xean's life span of 370 solar years. Human phase shift was still unknown, but no creature, not even the simplest of life forms could selectively shift energy pattern. And Keith's had just shifted by an exponent of ten, or more!

"Why did you give it to me?" Allie asked as she slid up against a tree, matching Keith's posture. She had to know, even if she would never be able to pass on the knowledge, what had caused the shift, and what result it was having on his behavior.

"I thought I was just a lab rat to you?"

"Lab rats don't work to good when they're dead." Keith replied dryly.

True…Allie thought, but I'm already dying. The realization was old news now, but still just as harsh. It was true. The cold calculation of her analytical mind would not let her forget the fact for five minutes! Allie knew she would die of the energy depletion if she was not removed from this environment soon. Very soon! And even then it would probably be too late.

"I'm afraid that you coat is not enough to stop that." Allie said, her voice taking on the first hint of weakness, "Lab rats die when they get sick too."

Keith looked over at her but said nothing.

"I have used up everything I have." Allie shrugged, "Soon, my body will begin shutting down to conserve what little is left."

"Didn't I already tell you to stop playing games? I know your just saying that."

"I am saying it, but it's no game. I wish it was…"

Keith stared at her for several seconds before returning his attention to the twig.

What was his game? Allie studied him as he just sat there, twisting that damn twig through his fingers over and over. Remorse, maybe? That was very unlikely, but still understandable. Something had to have changed his pattern… something big enough to change his whole outlook, to shock his system… Or that could just be the most interesting stick on the planet…

"What are you looking at?" Allie asked.

"Nothing."

"It looks like a stick to me," Allie said, intentionally trying to lighten his mood, and her own. Now was her last chance to get answers, to find out just how much Keith knew about himself.

Keith took one last look at the little twig before tossing it over his shoulder. "Now its nothing."

"Right…" Allie inhaled deeply. There was going to be no smooth transition into this line of questioning, and time was of the essence. So, she took the direct route: "what are your parents like?"

"What?" Keith looked at her as if she were crazy, "I told you, no games."

"No game, just a question."

Again, a long analyzing stair from Keith, then, shockingly, he started talking: "Parent, you mean. My dad died when I was twelve."

"Sorry…"

Keith chuckled, "I'm sure you have tons of pity for me… people told me about him after he died. He ran out on me and my mother. I was glad he died!"

"How did he die?"

"Some brain thing, an aneurysm or something, like I really care!"

You do care… I can see it.

"Those people also said he was a strange person. Way too insightful and always getting in trouble because of some badly timed remark… maybe that's how he died, someone got pissed and bashed his brains out."

"No, it was an aneurysm."

"Yeah…" Keith studied Allie through a sideways glance. "Why am I telling you all this?" he asked. It was more of a personal question then one directed at Allie, but she answered just the same:

"Because you need to tell someone." Allie said, and though: time to finalize my move! "You never said goodbye to your father, and you will never be able to." She started bluffing somewhere near the middle, "I think that you loved him, and wanted to tell him."

Keith had to laugh, it was just too good: "you have a lot to learn about questioning, kid."

"Do I? Or am I right, and you're just afraid to believe that you actually do feel that way about your father."

"Yes, you do! I would kill the man on sight if he walked up right now."

"You're wrong! I know how you feel… I can see it." Allie lied through her teeth; she had lost the energy for that kind of forced insight right along with the other abilities several hours ago. Just as long as it sounded convincing, though. She might be able to change his mind.

Keith nodded absently, there was still a cocked smile across his face but his eyes took on that same glazed, disconnected look again. Allie knew she had done the trick. Keith was now in turmoil on the inside, searching through his deeply buried memories and feelings to confirm what she had told him. Even though it was a guess on her part, the primal, human part of his mind would have a hunger to believe her.

This breakthrough into Keith's psyche might have come too late. Allie started to feel the first effects of the total energy depletion. She had been given two chances to rest, to save herself. A third chance could only be provided under Xean care. And Allie knew for a fact that there were no vessels anywhere nearby. Death was indeed close, a fact that she was starting to accept. Mary would take care of her mother… yes, just like she asked. And Ka'len would continue Lisa's training… There was still hope without her presence! My death will not doom humanity! It was an ironically liberating thought.

A slight constriction in her chest, breathing became more difficult. Allie could also feel her heart beat slowing. A last ditch effort was underway in her mind, as the upper and alien components of her consciousness battled the fatal fatigue. The shut down had begun. But so much still had to be done!

"My grand father was even worse then my dad." Keith said, forcing Allie to focus on him again. "He got my grandmother pregnant then just disappeared…"

There was a reason! Allie thought, John was only carrying out an experiment… he didn't mean to… Allie gasped as the constriction tightened.

"What?" Keith had been staring at the ground since he last spoke, but now that he looked at Allie, he could clearly see her growing weakness. "What's wrong?"

Allie took several deep breaths, "I told you I wasn't playing…"

"What do you mean?"

"Listen!" Allie said in a compelling voice, surprising Keith, and shocking herself. "I have to tell you this. And you have to believe me."

Keith hesitated, but nodded. Curiosity had overcome his cold exterior.

"You and I are not very different. I was born as a result of certain things that took place in 1947… you know what I'm talking about already."

Keith nodded.

"You are a result of a very similar chain of events." Allie stopped as confusion swept over Keith's features. A mix of incredulity and downright hysterics dominated in the end, and he spoke through a tight smile:

"Right… I thought you said this was no game?"

"I have no reason to play these 'games' with you!" Allie said, then sucked in a deep, labored breath. It felt like a heavy weight was pressing down on her chest, getting heavier with each passing second. "I am dying, and you deserve to know this… your grandfather, and my grandfather… are the same being. His name is John."

Even though her vision was starting to cloud, Allie could see that the doubts she had planted only minutes before had done their job. Keith was once again searching himself, grasping for anything that he could remember that would validate his own self-identity in the face of this new information.

"I know what this is," Keith growled low, "a big game! What do you take me for? Get up!"

"No!" Allie shook her head all that her exhausted and practically shut down muscles would allow. "Find it! Its there!"

"What the hell are you doing… you… no! You're just playing another mind game!"

"Look harder!"

The look of sincerity and pain on Allie's face shook Keith to his core. This is no game… she's… I'm…Keith's thoughts spiraled into an immovable knot, everything he had ever thought about himself, his father, even his grandfather had just been turned on end. His whole life felt like a lie. Like he was living in someone else's body, or that he had died and come back a zombie. He did look harder! And the deeper he went back into his memories, the clearer it all became. I've known all along! And I refused to listen! Allie spoke now in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Give this to my mother when they find you…" she held out a necklace with a small star pendant, "tell her that she did all she could, that I'm happy now."

Keith took the necklace and pocketed it as he knelt beside her. "I'm sorry… I… understand... I was…"

"I know," Allie forced a tiny smile, "understanding is all that matters now."

"What can I do? Your not really going to die, are you?"

"Yes, I am. It is to late to stop it with anything on this planet."

"I don't believe that! I can do something…"

"Alliance…" Allie barely breathed the word. Keith leaned in close. "That is what my friends are here for, to help the human race. All we want is an alliance…"

"Alliance, for what?"

"To secure the future of the species." Allie gasped after the last word. The weight had increased tenfold.

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't apologize! Just… please… hold my hand… I'm scared."

Sorry, that's where it ends for this chapter. Tune in next time! (don'tcha just love MAJOR cliffhangers? I know I do!)