Chapter Nine: And This Time, I Hope You Have Pleasant Dreams

With Liam's help, Link managed to close the investigation of Reyes's death. Link went to the family to give them the name of Reyes's killer as he had promised. The official report was that a disgruntled volunteer killed Reyes in a domestic dispute. Link didn't have the heart to tell them who the real killer was. He knew that there was no closure with the truth. The wife offered him his check for his services, but Link declined. He only asked for half. He told her to spend the rest on giving Reyes a decent burial. Then, he returned to his loft.

He was surprised to find the lights out with the alarm system off, and contemplated going outside to call the police. But he could sense who was in the room with him just as he had sensed her the day they first met. He switched on the light to find her sitting on his couch overlooking a manila folder.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked opening the folder.

"Where'd you get that?" Link asked solemnly, locking the door behind him.

"After you told me that you had participated in a Taelon experiment, I asked Mr. Urick to give me the file. Why didn't you tell me?"

Link sighed uneasily. "Because the moment I figured out who you were, I knew you'd react to it this way."

"You should have told me. You should have told me the moment you advanced on me."

"Yeah. I should've," Link said sitting next to her. "There were different groups involved in the experiment. The Taelons wanted to see how it would affect disabled people like me and fully healthy people like Johnson, and they used the military because it was easier to find volunteers and they knew the military would be more cooperative. They told us about everything they expected. They said it was likely that my body wouldn't take the changes well and that I could die. Stupid me figured I had nothing left to lose, so I signed the papers. I met Lucas for just a second. We were just about to get divided into our groups and we were trading old war stories. He was a great guy with a hell of a record. I couldn't figure out what someone like him was doing in there, but I never asked. That's the last I saw of him."

"Was it painful?"

"Excruciating. I can't even begin to describe exactly how they made me the way I am. All I remember is the pain. It took two months of therapy to get me used to the changes, and the pain didn't go away until the first month was over. From what I understand, they reconstructed my entire nervous system down there. Some of us adapted to the change, but most of us didn't. Of course I didn't find that out until after I read about your kidnapping and heard your ransom tape on the news. Then, I figured it out. I was one of the luckiest guys in that experiment. The alterations made on my legs were designed to reactivate my nerves and strengthen my muscles. As a side effect, the energy enhanced my entire body and my mind. My metabolism's as strong as it was when I was in my teens, meaning I can eat pretty much anything and not gain a pound. I'm more energetic. My senses were heightened, and my muscular system is and always will be at the prime of my age. When I went to the doctor for my last evaluation, he also said that I'm probably gonna age slower than most humans. In one simulation, he estimated that I'll probably make it to 150, and if I keep taking my energy supplements and stay active, I'll probably still look like this."

"You are more Taelon than human now, which explains why you require less sleep. Your heightened senses keep you awake."

"Actually, my heightened senses make my dreams a hell of a lot more vivid, and so far, they haven't been good ones. Therefore, if I can help it, which I can, I don't sleep."

"Lucas Johnson was my friend," Da'an said. "It was my species' fault that he deteriorated, and it was my fault that he died. I took him to our scientists in hopes that they could save him. Instead they used him as a guinea pig. I have enough trouble dealing with his loss. I cannot imagine how many others are out there whose lives have been ruined because of that experiment."

Link moved to the coffee table and sat in front of her so that she could look him directly in the eyes. "You listen to me. That experiment was the best thing that ever happened to me. I haven't spoken to my family since they disowned me for joining the marines. I got pulled into a war that I didn't even believe in, and I lost my legs to it. You think Johnson got gypped? Imagine getting screwed by your own species, your own country. After I lost the use of my legs, I spent six months in therapy learning how to get around in a goddamn wheelchair. I had to learn where the ramps were in my college and take those sympathetic looks on my classmates' and my professors' faces when I didn't get in on time. When I took the shuttle to class, it would take ten minutes just to load me on, and then I'd have to deal with the looks of those ungrateful jerks that could walk as if I was somehow inconveniencing them. They expected my lifespan to be cut by seventeen years, and to top all that off, I couldn't find a job even when I got out of grad. school because the job market sucked that badly. I was living like a deadbeat off my disability checks from the military. Then, the Taelons came, and gave me back everything I lost and more. Now, I can't vouch for Johnson or anyone else who got hurt in that experiment. I really can't, but all I do know is that if fifty men hate you for that experiment, you're always gonna have one to thank you."

"I suppose that should make it all worthwhile."

"It doesn't. I know it doesn't, but it sure as hell eases the burden, doesn't it?"

Da'an looked up to face Link. "Yes. Yes, it does."

"That's why I know this is gonna work. Even with all the odds stacked against you, there's always a little bit of good in everything. Thank you, Da'an, for giving me my life back. I am forever grateful to you, and I am willing to follow you and whatever you do until the end."

"You honestly believe that you love me so?"

"I don't know what I believe. All I do know is that what I feel with you is nothing like anything I've ever felt, and I'm willing to see this through. Please tell me you are too."

Da'an looked at the file next to Link, and then she looked back at him. She smiled. "Rembrandt, thank you."

He showered her with kisses and embraced her form. Then, he took her hand and opened himself to her. The sharing was the most intimate and emotional Da'an had ever experienced. When it was over, she found him sleeping on her chest still holding her hand.

"And this time, I hope you have pleasant dreams."

The End