Chapter Four: Love at First Sight
Rembrandt stopped by a twenty-four hour convenience store and bought some tea and some food. While he was gone, he showed Da'an to his living room and let her wait for him there. She was looking at some photos of what she guessed were his parents. The mother had long dark hair and looked to be Italian. She was sitting on an awkwardly shaped red couch in a dress of the same color with a wine glass in her hand. The father, in another picture, was white with dark brown hair. He was in a suit standing in front of a theater with another man in a festive mood.
When Rembrandt returned, Da'an immediately put the pictures back where she had found them.
"So do you always stay awake so late?" Da'an asked Rembrandt.
"Yeah, actually," he replied unloading two plastic bags of groceries.
"May I ask why?"
"You may. Four years of military service have made me less in need of the typical sleeping hours."
"I see. So you served in the SI War?"
"Fuck no! I didn't serve in that pussycat fight. Men came home acting like it was the end of the world, and the damn thing only lasted a year. Think they're so decorated just because they had to put up with a year living in trenches. Those pussies don't know what a real war is anymore. I served in a real war. Iraq."
"Wow. Then, how old are you exactly?"
"Thirty-three," Rembrandt replied pouring two cups of hot water that had been boiling in a coffee pot in a small kitchen. He placed a tea bag in each one and let them sit for a moment. "No, I have no qualms telling a woman my age. After what happened to me, I thank God for every day I get."
"I wasn't going to judge," Da'an said. "Personally, I would not mind being thirty-five again."
"Oh, you're not? What are you? Fifty?"
"I should be so lucky. So you served four years. Did you return home a decorated man?"
"I didn't get the Medal of Honor if that's what you're asking, but I did receive a Purple Heart for getting shot in the leg eight times and not dying. I also got promoted all the way to Colonel."
"That's pretty impressive."
"Thank you. Most people just mumble that."
"What? Are they expecting a general?"
"No, they're just wondering how someone who moved that far up the ranks ended up an insomniac private eye."
"Well, that was not my next question, so do not worry. I was wondering how a man who got shot eight times in his legs can walk without even the slightest limp. You must have made a miracle recovery."
"Not really. I just had a damn good doctor working on me," he said handing Da'an a glass of tea.
"I have to ask. I'm sorry, but why did you become a private investigator?"
"It was my dream to become a cop when I was a kid, which pissed off my parents. You see, my dad was a playwright and my mom was an artist. Who else names their kid Rembrandt Emerson? It broke their hearts when I said I had no plans of following in their footsteps."
"I am guessing they cut you off when they discovered your college major."
"You guessed right, and naturally, with no money to put me through college, I signed up. Of course, this was during the Clinton Administration, so I wasn't even thinking about war. I joined the Marines, they put me through three years, then September 11 happened. I got lucky when I didn't get called up for Enduring Freedom. I got to finish my undergraduate year and get a degree in criminal law."
"But you got called up for service during graduate school."
"Took four years outta my life, but I lived through it, went home, and got my master's. After serving in the war, police work just didn't seem like the thing for me anymore. I'd frankly had enough of working for the government, so I became a private investigator."
"Do you like it?"
"It's hard sometimes. It's like running a business. I gotta watch my funds. My loft's what I got to lose if it goes down, but I make do. What about you, Elaine? How'd you become a profiler?" He was examining her features as he asked.
"It…started when the Taelons arrived. I was working at Quantico at the time, and a Taelon came and spoke. I could see his energy aura. My co-workers thought it was strange, so I went to the doctor. When he found nothing wrong with my eyes, I went to the embassy in Washington. I had heard they were hiring protectors. I had no intention of joining. It was just a way to talk to a Taelon about what was wrong with me, but I impressed the North American Companion so much that he put in a recommendation to let me work for the VIU. I am an FBI agent, but I work as a profiler for the VIU. I see energy auras at a crime scene. When they suspect a Taelon or a Taelon weapon involved, they send me."
"Sounds…interesting," Rembrandt said.
"You are quite interesting as well. You are a surprising person, Rembrandt Dautrive."
"Call me Link. All my friends call me Link."
"All right, Link. Where did you obtain the name of Link?"
"This guy who served in the war with me was a communications officer, and his radio broke. It was one of those situations where everything went wrong at the wrong time. We were gettin' slammed and scrambling to get the damn thing fixed. Then, the guy got wounded. I started fiddling with the thing, and out of nowhere, I get a signal. The soldiers all said I had to be the luckiest son-of-a-bitch ever. They all called me Link afterwards, and the name just stuck."
"So after you returned from war, how did your parents take it?"
Link shook his head. "I stopped talking to my parents after I joined up. I haven't heard from them since."
"I am sorry. I know what it is like to be without a family."
"Your parents hate you too?"
"My parents are dead. My…mother died birthing me and my father spent the rest of his days trying to murder me. He never…approved of my gifts. He thought I was a sin against nature. However, it is not my parents that I was referring to. It is my child."
"You have a kid?"
"I used to. He and I had some disagreements. We have not spoken to each other since then."
"Sounds like we've had the same lives down the road."
"Not completely, but yes…I believe so."
Link sat closer to her and stared at her. Da'an did not understand his purpose, but she became even more confused when she found herself lost in his hazel eyes. Both seemed to be examining each other very closely as if they were looking for something invisible to the naked eye. There was something odd about Link, something that he was not telling her. She placed her hand on his shoulder trying to feel his aura. Link took it and brought it to his chest over his heart. As she felt its beating increase, she found herself trembling. Suddenly, he pulled her in and kissed her. Instinctively, Da'an tried to push him away in fear that he would discover that she was an alien, but he would not let her go. As her body relaxed and embraced him, she saw a blue light begin to illuminate his torso. They both pushed each other away and stared at each other. Da'an felt herself instinctively blush, and she rose from the sofa to try and leave.
"Hey wait!" Link cried grabbing her hand.
"I am sorry. This was a mistake."
"What mistake?"
"Please. I have to leave now."
"No, wait. You can't." Link said trying to hold on to her.
"Please let me go. This is not possible."
"What's not possible? Having a relationship with a Taelon?"
Da'an stopped immediately and looked at him. "How did you…?"
"The same way you found out about me. I felt it. I felt it the moment I saw you at the morgue. I know who you are, who you really are."
"Then, you also know why that kiss was a mistake."
"You've changed since I last saw you," Link said placing his hands on her head. He pushed her hair back into a ponytail. "But you're Da'an, aren't you? You're the North American Companion."
"Yes…I am. And who exactly are you, Rembrandt Emerson Dautrive?"
"What does it matter?"
"It matters to me! You have Taelon energy inside of you, energy that attracted me."
"And you're worried that it's my energy you're attracted to and not me."
"I am worried that it's the other way around. I have never felt this way for any human, and I doubt you care for the appearance of many Taelons."
Link sighed. "Look, I don't know why I was attracted to you in the first place, and frankly I don't care. If it's me you're worried about, and I'm telling you there's nothing to worry about, why are you so scared?"
"Because you are a human, regardless of how much Taelon energy you carry inside of you."
"Is that what you see? A Taelon and a human? Because all I see is a man and a woman."
"I do not even know you, and you do not know me."
"We can learn," Link said stepping closer to her.
"Under any other circumstances, we never would have met," Da'an said trying to back away from him. The wall kept her from getting any further, and she began to tremble again.
"And yet, we're standing right here, staring at each other, trying to analyze a relationship that hasn't even started yet."
"I am trying to prevent it from starting."
"For what purpose?"
"To keep you from getting hurt."
"From what? The kiss? Your past? Your position? Because I want to know exactly what it is about me that scares you so."
"You do not frighten me," Da'an panted trying to hold her own against him as he moved even closer to her.
"Then, why are you trembling?"
"Why are you blushing?" Da'an asked back watching his torso glow blue once again.
"Affection doesn't always follow the rules, you know," Link said putting his hand in front of her eyes.
"Affection never follows the rules, or else your people would be barren like mine," Da'an said bringing her hand to his palm.
"Then, you're afraid because you've never felt affection period."
"I have felt affection, but I have not felt it in a long time, and what little passion I shared with my mates was short."
"You're scared that this will all be just as short, and when it ends, you think I'm the one who will hurt more than you."
"In all of the knowledge I have of the universe and its laws, none of this should be even remotely possible."
Link clinched her hand. "Then, at least we can say we tried."
Da'an nervously wrapped her fingers around the hand that held her. She blushed when she found both their hands glowing blue. She honestly could not remember when or why she surrendered to her passion, but when she recovered, she found herself locked in an embrace with him showering her neck with kisses.
As he walked down the hallways looking for Malley, Liam wondered why he had not seen any Taelon technicians. Normally, he would have run into two or three by now. He found Malley undergoing a check-up in the Infirmary. Zo'or had replaced Mit'gai with another Taelon lu'yoi named Ta'lay. T'than had asked for Ta'lay to perform a check-up on Malley because apparently, Ta'lay was the best. He was even more skilled than Mit'gai, and he had worked with humans more than Mit'gai as well, especially in Britain, where he had been the Western European Companion's personal lu'yoi before Zo'or promoted him.
"How's it going, Liam?" Malley said in a purple Taelon hospital robe for the check-up.
"Well, I've been investigating the Reyes case, and we've determined that he must have been killed by an altered Taelon weapon, a weapon that only implants and volunteers have access to."
"You think I killed him?" Malley joked.
Liam scoffed. "No, you were in San Francisco with me when he got killed," he lied, placing his hands on hips.
"I've got to watch out for you," Malley said with a chuckle.
"You knew him. I was wondering if you knew anything about why he got discharged by Ku'ni."
"He didn't get discharged. He just got put on leave," Malley said. "Ow!"
"Oh, stop it," Ta'lay said in a British accent. "Not even Liam whimpered when I drew his blood, and he complains even more than you do, about nothing, might I add." He jerked the needle out of Malley and pumped the blood into a test tube.
Liam laughed.
"You gotta love him," Malley said about Ta'lay. "Anyway, I can't really say anything about it since I wasn't there, but I can tell you what I heard."
"Fill me in."
Malley looked at Ta'lay.
"I understand. I will be back with your test results," Ta'lay said leaving with the test tube.
"I think the Taelons are more paranoid about a protector with diabetes than the humans," Malley said. "I kept telling T'than I was fine."
"You know how paranoid he is. I don't think he's ready to bet his life on you skipping a check-up just because you feel fine."
"Well, about the incident, I heard it was a dispute about the priests. Reyes said he heard Ku'ni arguing with another Taelon about something called the cleansing. Reyes tried to tell the people in his unit about it, and I guess opinions conflicted, gauntlets were cast, and before you knew it, there was an all-out fistfight."
"Is there anyone who might have been so angry about it that they would have followed him to New York and killed him?" Liam asked.
"Try asking Carlos Dominguez. He's the Latin American Companion's protector, and he was allegedly there when the fight broke out. Rumor has it that it was his companion that Ku'ni was arguing with."
"Thanks for your help."
"No problem, and Liam," Malley said. "Try not to piss off anyone over there. Those Hispanic countries are fiercely loyal to the companions, and they're not as quick to tolerate resistance sympathizers as I am."
"Yeah, I've been in enough pissing contests with them to know."
"Liam, I'm serious. Something big is happening around here with the priests, and it's got all the companion workers on edge. This is the wrong time to be pinching people's nerves."
"I'll be careful, and again thanks for your help," Liam said.
On his way out, Ta'lay grabbed his shoulder.
"You always snoop around like that?" Liam asked offensively.
"Only when the topic interests me. About the argument you and Malley mentioned with Ku'ni, I can tell you all about it."
"You were there?"
"No, but Taelons are just as open to the rumor mill as humans are. I have seen it all around the Mothership. Taelon technicians and pilots have suddenly begun to fall seriously ill, and we lu'yoi have been unable to decipher the cause. Therefore, they are taken to a sealed off section of the Moonbase where the priests are. The priests say it is a virus, and only they can cure it. The argument between Ku'ni and Ma'lik was about the virus."
"What about Reyes? Where does he fall into this?"
"After he heard the argument, he did some detective work on his own and found something he should not have found. The rumor along the protector's mill is that the argument about what he found turned into an argument with his unit about his loyalties and that was why he was murdered, but the Taelon rumor is that he was assassinated by the priests because he knew something about the cleansing."
"Haven't any Taelons tried to investigate?"
"Allegedly the First Minister Xia'tan was investigating when he fell ill as well. I have not heard from him since he was taken to the Moonbase. The priests have suspended all Taelon activities there and sent all Taelons who were there to the Mothership. They say it is contaminated."
"Oh my God!" Liam whispered to himself.
"What is it?" Ta'lay asked.
"Uh, thanks for all your help. I just realized something. I've gotta go," Liam said quickly, and he rushed to the nearest portal he could find. I never should have gotten her involved.
When Da'an awoke, it was still in the wee hours of the morning. Link was in his office working on something. She picked up the mug in front of her and poured out the stale tea. In a bag she had brought with her was the thermos Dr. Curzon gave her. She replaced the tea with the green liquid and walked towards Link's office.
She found him working on a laptop computer with nothing but the bright screen as his source of light.
"Are my schematics of the Moonbase of any help?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah, come on in. Sit next to me," he said pointing to the small chair on the other side of him. Da'an pulled it up next to him. In front of her was a notepad with a list of directions and on the screen were the blueprints of the Moonbase. "You were right. They do guard this place well. It's like a damn labyrinth."
"It is a labyrinth. We designed it that way. I estimate that it is about the size of Texas."
"Yeah I figured," Link said glued to the screen. He took her hand and said, "I can feel you staring at me. Worried that we did something naughty?"
"Of course not. I am still…nervous I suppose…about all of this."
"Well don't be. It'll be all right. The library's over here, and there's a portal about sixty meters away from it. I need a badge to get in."
"If you have a recent photo of yourself, you can use mine. They never look."
"Well, I'm also gonna need the approval of someone in the higher ups."
"I could forge a Synod mandate for you."
"All right. I guess if something goes wrong, I'll need an quick exit."
"I regrettably cannot give you anything. Security is too tight. You will simply have to get to the portal as fast as you can."
"Okay, then. So can I really just walk in and walk out with a bunch of confidential papers about volunteers?"
"No, but you can walk out with copies of them, and they have a copying machine in the library," Da'an joked.
"Thank you. That's very good to know," Link said humorously.
"Be careful then. I suspect that the priests are staying in the Moonbase, and they have the authority to travel anywhere at any time. If you do come in contact with them, do not do anything to arouse their suspicions. Answer any questions they ask you with short monotone sentences. You are to bow to them and always address them as either your majesty or your holiness. Also, do not come within six feet of them and never look directly at their eyes. Always keep your head down. It is improper for a commoner to glare at his superiors."
"I'll remember that. Thanks for keeping me company tonight."
Da'an smiled. "Thank you."