i.
Da'an felt foolish for allowing the indulgence.
Ceasing a pattern of slow pacing for the moment, the Taelon stood at the peak of an organically raised incline in hir office, overlooking Washington through the subtly pulsing barrier of proxy glass.
What would the Synod say? Surely there was no call to become spiritually intimate with a human being, they will posit. And a mere pilot at that! Yet Marquette had risked more than her life for Da'an and Da'an knew it, hir thoughts having attuned to the human's and all her alliances revealed to the Taelon. A double-agent Marquette turned out to be, and the knowledge had inexplicably made Da'an blush with pleasure. Later, fhe diagnosed this to be because, despite the woman's intense loyalty to humanity, her will to secure the safety of her species no matter what, she had still aided a hunted Taelon. This because, as Marquette's mind told hir, Da'an was not the Taelon race; fhe was a single individual with whom she had become familiar and of whom, in that way humans will do with familiarity, she had become fond in some sense. As had Da'an she. Hir estimation of human nobility had suffered many a blow during the course of hir time as the North American Companion, but Marquette had done much to restore it.
Yes. Da'an was satisfied with hir actions. That should suffice, seeing as they were of a personal and not communal nature. What Marquette could possibly have gleaned from her side of the energy exchange could not be anything significant due to the primitive nature of her perceptions; shapes, colours and tastes will have emerged, but not rational messages, not schematics and coherent speech-thought. It would have been as interesting and pleasurable as hearing a foreign language; she would have been able to appreciate the rhythms but not distinguish syntax and semantics thence. Without a CVI, Marquette could have not the faintest idea of what she had touched.
ii.
"Jonathan…"
"Captain Marquette." The Resistance figurehead appeared on Lili's global.
"I've been monitoring transmissions from AcuTar, and it's safe to say their Taelon involvement was a fluke, instigated by someone with big dreams of unity. He's not in any position of power, though, so it's not a problem."
"I'll decide what isn't a problem, Captain."
"Okay… Well Peterson is keeping the office under surveillance, and so far the only Companion references have been public news broadcasts."
"So you think I've got nothing to worry about?"
"I think if I had to make a sweeping statement, then yes. I think it's a solid situation."
"Fine. But if it turns out to be volatile… let it be on your head, captain."
"Of course."
He was a dry man, Jonathan Doors. Everything about him was dry. His voice. His face. What little humour he possessed. But on this day, Lili could not become irritated by the corporate rebel's bluster and swagger as she normally would. She could not get into an argument with him about his supposed place as a leader in a company of consensus-based action. They could not quote military maxims back and forth, he denigrating her understanding of 'the real world' and she refuting his 'money equals wisdom' mentality. Not today. Because today she felt guilty as all hell.
That was why she was wasting her time running after any sniff of Taelon subterfuge, to prove to Jonathan that she wasn't a traitor to the cause. Not that he had any doubts about her loyalty. She had been one of his earliest recruits. It was Lili Marquette for whom the proof was really needed.
She felt like a filthy adulterer. And not because she had been unwillingly seduced by the exoticism of the Other, tricked into trading her humanity for profanity. No. Because she had almost died and been saved by a Taelon, which had drawn from her a temporary truce towards their species, and a tentative thankfulness and trust towards Da'an in particular. And so, in this trusting spirit she had escorted him back to the embassy and up to the Taelon-styled administrative centre. She had read his words as she would a standard human expression of thanks and gone into the Touching of their palms as she would a polite handshake. Yet that was not how it had gone. That was no handshake she had ever tasted. Da'an had literally washed a portion of himself through her being, and she felt contaminated afterward. But pleasantly. As one might be 'contaminated' by a sunset or the smell of a garden after rain. But so much more alien than those as to beggar her powers of analogy.
That was the route of her inward disgust: she had danced with the devil and found him a charming dancer. She even admitted to herself that, given the chance, she would probably dance with him again.
A persistent sound slowly crept into her awareness. The global. She slid it open impatiently, momentarily surprised that she had put herself in such an ill humour.
"Marquette."
"Lili, just the girl I wanted to see."
"What is it, Augur?"
"Ouch! You are fierce today, ma cherie! You're lucky my pride is chrome –reinforced."
"Is there a point to this, Augur? I'm working."
"Yes, digging up scraps on AcuTar, so I heard. A very little fish for Jonathan Doors to care so much about."
"Well some little fish can be very annoying if they get out of hand…"
"While others are content to remain little fish. But Lili, unless you're planning on inviting me out for sushi this evening, there are more important matters at hand."
"Such as?"
"Well it's partially conjecture at the moment, but if I'm right – and, ahem, when am I not? – we could be dealing with a bit of extraterrestrial espionage."
Lili suddenly began to take an intent interest in the call. "Meaning what? Taelon agents in key positions?"
"Well no, more like an AWOL Companion…"
Da'an! Flashed the thought in Lili's mind, sharp and lemony with anxiety, and she did not dare consider why this was.
"Who?"
"I don't know. That's the weird thing, all the Taelons registered as ambassadors check out. They're all at home watching The Waltons."
"So it's someone new from the Mothership?"
"Could be. Maybe they'll even announce it before the day is through. Maybe it's just a blended signature they're using to power some new piece of Taelon hardware and I'm only reading it as a life-force – it's typical that we'd get the only aliens that operate like Duracell Bunnies."
Lili allowed a brief smile at the image this provoked. "Thanks Augur. I'll contact Boone, and… maybe he can get some information for you…" Da'an. "Out of Da'an."
"Sure enough, I'll keep you posted. Until we meet again."
She flipped the global shut one-handed against her leg, her other hand occupied by pressing her thumb and forefinger against her eyelids. Get out of my head. But of course, he wasn't really in there. It was a simple case of human paranoia, she knew that. The more we worry about things, the more they take on unlikely proportions and blinker us to reality. Which was thus: Taelon intrigue was afoot, and Boone was the next step in identifying it. Decisive action would get her back in a healthy frame of mind. Starting with a swift shuttle ride to Boone's office.
iii.
"So let me get this straight…" Boone's gaze left his personal computer as he slowly reiterated what she had told him. "Augur thinks that a Taelon is walking around unchecked? Some kind of rogue operative?"
Lili stood behind his chair, one hand on an armrest as she bent forward to read the recent Taelon headlines that he had pulled up.
"Something like that. Which would make sense, since nothing's been in the news that fits." She straightened up and took a step back, crossing her arms. "And if that's true, we could be dealing with a whole new Taelon strategy. I mean, up until now, they've pretty much announced wherever they're going to be when they're on Earth with lots of bells and whistles. But, Boone… if they're going under the radar themselves… God, we don't really know what they're physically capable of! They're pure energy in their native form, who knows what sort of offensive powers they've got that they're not telling us about…"
Boone steeped his palms, touched the finger tips to his lips. Lili tried not to look at the pale, flaccid-looking skrill that peeked out of his rolled-up sleeve as he swivelled his chair to face her.
"What if it's not a Taelon?"
"Well Augur admitted that possibility, that it could be some sort of device that had its own energy signature."
"But on a specifically Taelon frequency… Which is tuned to the Commonality. And we've already seen that that can be isolated; what if that's what Augur's tracking?"
"What do you mean?" Lili's brows knitted as she tried to follow the Commander's logic.
"Well, you remember Katya Potrenko, right? What if someone like her managed to tap into the Commonality and somehow got tagged with a Taelon signature…"
"I don't get it, you're saying that access to the Commonality could be read as Taelon energy?"
"Hm. That's where the theory falls apart, I guess. We're dealing here with two different kinds of identification, but both intangible… What's Augur doing?"
"Keeping his eyes open. I haven't heard from him since."
"Right. Well… I guess it's time I made a date with Da'an…"
iv.
That evening found the Taelon reflective once more, yet this was not apparent to hir attaché as he outlined a minor but important change in the following day's schedule.
"…But as I told the Chairman, Da'an, you cannot be expected to indulge last minute whims."
Da'an slowly raised a hand, third finger and thumb gradually moving to touch in a Taelon gesture of gentle disagreement as hir wrist ascended towards hir collarbone. "You may assure Chairman Merryweather that, despite this amendment… I will indeed be attending the ceremony, Agent Sandoval. I do not wish that undue concern be assigned to my part in the festivities."
The Filipino implant nodded. "Of course, Da'an."
In truth, Da'an had thought very little of hir appearance at the inauguration of the Museum of Modern Art's new Taelon wing. That it was to be reshuffled a few hours was of little consequence, and deserved the appropriate amount of attention – or lack thereof. Fhe was well aware of the opinion of some members of the Synod regarding the seemingly endless string of trivial occasions dreamt up by Humanity whereby a Taelon might make a dutiful public appearance. Not least of whom being Zo'or. Fhe had recently made the comment that, if human beings were so in need of a Taelon to oversee their every social engagement, perhaps they should be provided with a flawless hologram that they could pack and unpack whenever the desire took them, thus freeing up all real Taelons for more fitting duties.
Da'an's own opinion was that these engagements did well to still human insecurity concerning their Companions, treating them as they would politicians or media celebrities, mentally aligning Taelons with the only form of hierarchy they could comfortably recognise. That this celebration occasionally developed into religious deification had been predicted and anticipated as early as their first contact with Earth. Ma'el's research on this phenomenon was well documented and of inestimable usefulness. Yet modern humans were proving much less trusting, needed constant reassurance, which Da'an believed would be a small price to pay for their faithfulness in the future.
Concluding their brief meeting, Da'an dismissed Sandoval, preparing to wave on hir seat's rejuvenation mode.
v.
Walking with his hands behind his back and his head bowed, Ronald did not immediately notice the other agent's approach and his uncompromising stare showed annoyance at being startled out of some private Sandovalian contemplation.
"Boone, what are you doing here? Da'an will be resting now."
"Well you got to see him, didn't you? Besides, it's important."
Sandoval's curiosity was piqued. "Is this something I should know about?" Although by far the smaller man in stature, Sandoval cut an imposing figure in his habitually immaculate suit and slick barnet. Like most people, it took Boone a moment to reply to his brusque questioning.
"It could be nothing. But even if it is, I think Da'an would want to be informed."
"Of what, exactly?"
"Police sensors have picked up a possibly Taelon energy signature, and I was asked to verify whether any new Companion devices had been activated recently to account for it."
"You think this is important enough to wake Da'an over?"
"I think it's my duty to keep him up to date where HumanTaelon relations are concerned."
"Very well. But be sure to brief me in full following Da'an's appearance at the Museum tomorrow morning."
"You got it."
Reluctantly, Sandoval released Boone with a terse look. Whatever reason the Commander had to stay at the Embassy later than he, it seemed unlikely that the explanation given was the total size of it. Yet Boone had proven himself an asset time and again, despite his idiosyncratic interpretation of his Motivational Imperative, and Sandoval was willing to let it go for the moment. Where another man might have relaxed his top shirt button or let his jacket hang open at this point in the workday, Sandoval took the opportunity to straighten his tie as the elevator descended.