Chapter Six: Investigation
Lili entered a dark laboratory, where scientists were working at three different stations. The first was a series of empty tanks of green liquid. The second was a large table full of samples inside petri dishes and test tubes. The final station was a large screen where scientists were running simulations. Vorjak and one other general were there arguing, it appeared, with a scientist in the Jaridian language.
Lili watched in the distance until Vorjak stormed off and found her.
"Hello, beloved," he said in a distressed tone.
"What's wrong?" Lili asked.
"We lost another mother," Vorjak said.
"I'm so sorry," Lili said.
"It is not your fault," Vorjak said placing his hand on her cheek. "They just can't seem to handle the embryos."
"Well have you tried growing them artificially?" Lili asked. "Remember we talked about that?"
"We did, and I suggested it," Vorjak said. "That was the brunt of our argument. We simply do not possess the technology."
"What about trying a full combination like we did with Ariel? Maybe we could try putting Taelon DNA or energy in the mix."
"That is absolutely out of the question. This must be done without them or not at all. I will burn in hell before I let our species become dependent on them."
"But I still think Ariel could be of great use. Even if she does have Taelon DNA, we could still use her. The tests indicate that she will be able to reproduce when she gets older."
"Your motherly instincts are overriding your loyalty. This must be a human-Jaridian solution. We cannot become dependent on them. That is just what they want. We will let the scientists figure it out. We are working with the best."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Lili lied. "The attack's in a few hours. The others wanted me to get you and Turok."
"This will be a great day in history," Vorjak said. "I look forward to it with great anticipation. You have done well, beloved."
"I'm sure I have," Lili said uncertainly.
The Jaridian library was in a smaller building just outside the five towers. It was a grand black structure in the shape of a warped pyramid. Inside was a force field behind a large desk where seven Jaridians were working. Behind the force field, Link and Ta'lay could see columns of shelves containing disk sets with recordings of the entire Jaridian history.
The Jaridians became alert when they saw Ta'lay with Link.
"No Taelons allowed," one of the female workers said.
"Oh please," Ta'lay scoffed. "I am one of the Taelons your beloved government asked to come, and I have Da'an's approval to be here."
"All the same, no Taelons are allowed," the same female said.
"Look, lady, we just want to see one little insignificant document," Link said. "She ain't event gonna be reading it technically. She's just translating."
"I'm sorry—"
"Do you want to take this up with Da'an? Because I can guarantee you that this conversation will be quite unpleasant if we have to bring her into this," Ta'lay demanded. "Your masters sent us here to clean up your mess, so why don't you just dismiss those age-old prejudices you claim don't attribute to your narrow-mindedness and let us in?"
"I wouldn't let you in for all the dignity in the universe, you Taelon klatak," the female said.
Link pulled out his pistol and pointed it directly to her forehead. "You got two options, bitch," he said menacingly. "Either my Taelon goes through that force field, or you do."
The female glared at them and let down the shield. "But you're on your own."
"We got all the time in the world," Link said with a wry smile.
They strode pass the glaring Jaridians and disappeared in the maze of columns.
"What a bitch," Link whispered.
"You called me a female," Ta'lay said.
"Huh?"
"'She,'" Ta'lay explained. "You said 'she' is just translating."
"Oh, sorry. Force of habit," Link said. "Kinda happens when you got a Taelon girlfriend."
"Only Da'an is not a Taelon. She is an Espelon."
"Taelon, Espelon—tomato, to-mah-to—it's all the same to me," Link said. "Now how in hell is all this organized?"
"Well, they do not use a Dewey decimal system if that's what you are asking," Ta'lay retorted.
Link shook his head humorously.
"They probably organize it by date," Ta'lay said. "That is how we used to do it."
"Seems like that'd be all the more reason not to organize it by date," Link said.
"Well, at the least, it is a good place to start," Ta'lay said.
"After you," Link said giving him the space to move.
Renee re-entered the hierarchy building where an usher was waiting to take her to the fourteenth floor. The structure was black and green and very crystal-like. The offices had slide doors, but it was hard to tell where they were. Renee finally found a large room in the center of the floor where Jaridians were working in large stations around a giant central computer.
"May I help you?" a male Jaridian asked.
"Yes, is this the old hierarchy's archive room?" Renee asked very casually.
"It is," the Jaridian replied. "What exactly were you looking for?"
"The minutes of the last hierarchy meeting," Renee said. "Commander Kincaid sent me, but he said I couldn't elaborate on it."
"Of course. Follow me," the Jaridian said leading her to a screen. He typed in a command, and a black screen of yellow Jaridian symbols appeared. "Would you like me to translate, although I should warn you there is nothing of real importance here."
"I'd just like to know the date if that's okay," Renee said.
"The date, you say?" the Jaridian asked with a suspicious look.
"Uh, yeah. Is that all right?" Renee asked innocently.
"Perhaps you would like something a little more intimate," the Jaridian said, brining his voice down to a whisper.
"Excuse me?" Renee asked, lowering her voice as well.
"You look like the type of human who questions the integrity of her masters," the Jaridian said. "You look like the type of human who does not judge things simply by the look."
"What are you asking for?" Renee asked.
"Meet me on the first floor in ten minutes," the Jaridian said. "I will give you irrefutable evidence of what you need."
A strange feeling of dread came over Renee as the Jaridian continued with his work.
"I would like to speak with Balvak," Da'an said to a Jaridian servant.
"It's late," the servant said tonelessly. "He's probably at his quarters."
"Then, take me there," Da'an demanded.
"The master usually does not like to be disturbed during his sleep."
"Well, he will simply have to make an exception because I am not leaving here without speaking to him."
The Jaridian glared at her.
"Don't you ever look at me like that," Da'an warned with a stare just as menacing. "I am not giving you an option, Jaridian scum." An orb of energy appeared over Da'an's palm. "Now if I do not see Balvak in the next sixty seconds, we are going to have a problem."
Da'an felt the Jaridian quiver as he complied and led her to Balvak's chambers. He knocked loudly.
"I do not want to be disturbed," a faint voice from inside called.
"Not even for me?" Da'an shot back.
The door opened. "Hello, Da'an. May I help you with something?"
"You can let me in and tell your servant to find another job," Da'an said.
"Done," Balvak said glaring at the servant.
The servant walked away with a bewildered look painted all over his face. Balvak showed Da'an inside and closed the door. The room was remarkably similar to hers, only the window was bigger and the bed looked more comfortable.
"You are quite ruthless when it comes to our species," Balvak said. "I expected a controlled and tranquil Da'an."
"I did not become a member of the Synod by being nice all the time," Da'an said.
"Still, I expected you to be a little compliant, not like…"
"Zo'or?" Da'an finished.
"Well…yes," Balvak said.
"It tends to happen when you have spent your life dealing with people like your high council masters," Da'an said. "If there is anything that I have learned about your species, it is never to let your guard down. After all, let's be honest. Jaridians have no respect for a tranquil and diplomatic Taelon. They consider them weak."
"That's true. The generals do tend to prefer a cold, hard Taelon to a taciturn one," Balvak admitted. "It's harder to hit the ones who talk back. They like a challenge. All right. To what do I owe the honor of this very late and abrupt visit?"
"I want to know more about the civil war," Da'an said.
"What would you like to know?" Balvak asked casually.
"What a Jaridian of your stature is doing working for the high council."
"My brother and I started the peace movement years ago," Balvak began. "It started when I was a boy. The Jaridian soldiers are so desperate that they give a gun to a Jaridian boy on his seventh birthday and wish him the best of luck. I lost my innocence at the age of eight along with my brother, who had just joined at the time. We attacked and raided a Taelon colony. You may remember it. Colony Tet'ra."
Da'an sighed. "I remember," she said tonelessly.
"A Taelon scientist had just assisted a birth when we burst in," Balvak explained. "I understand that the Taelons had long had a problem with reproduction. This must have been one of those spontaneous moments when a child was actually produced."
"I just said that I remember the campaign. Your government ordered the elimination of all nursing colonies where the few Taelons who could reproduce asexually were there. They did not want the Taelons producing any more fighters for the cause. They thought it would end the war faster."
"I know, or at least I found out after we attacked. The scientist threw himself over the parent and the child when Geris fired. He died instantly. Geris never meant to fire, but he had been so agitated by all the fighting that when he saw the scientist act, he instinctively pulled the trigger. The sight was so traumatic for the parent that he fainted. The baby started screaming. More soldiers came in and slaughtered the family. We watched them tear through the parent and the child as if they were nothing but…paper. It wasn't until later that we learned that the scientist was actually the first child of the parent. This was the parent's second child. He was willing to sacrifice his life for his parent and his sibling. It discounted everything I had learned of your species. Everyone says the Taelons are ruthless, emotionless wolves in sheep's clothing who would never help anyone but themselves. Geris and I had never expected such a noble sacrifice. We decided that we could not kill any more Taelons, and we started talking about a peace movement. When we grew, we had risen through the ranks and gained enough respect to start the movement."
"What made you decide to work for the high council?" Da'an asked.
"It was not a quick decision," Balvak said. "The civil war started a few years after we started the peace movement. We tended to the sick and the wounded no matter which side they were on. We attended debate after debate to ask for an end to the suffering. The generals finally caved in, I suppose, and said they were ready to end it. However, our forces had dwindled so rapidly that we needed your help. That was what the original peace mission was supposed to be about—the one that nearly killed Vorjak and Lili."
"Supposed to be?"
"Lili never would have gone as pregnant as she was," Balvak said. "She knew the risks. However, we were so desperate that she could not refuse when we asked her. The only reason Vorjak went was to protect her. We thought that a human would help bridge the prejudice gap we have spent thousands of years creating. Apparently it wasn't enough."
"So you waited," Da'an said.
"No, we gave up," Balvak said. "We simply started planning to do it with what little forces we had. Then, we learned about the reward the Synod had posted for you and we sent ambassadors to investigate. The Jaridian warlord Dujak told us an elaborate story of a female Da'an who had successfully managed to cut herself off from the Commonality without any repercussions. When we investigated further we learned about your little revolution against the priests."
"It's not a revolution. It is evolution," Da'an said.
"We thought you would sympathize with us since you were not a part of the Synod anymore," Balvak explained. "You always seemed more sympathetic than the others. I had expected you to completely turn us down, but Geris was more hopeful than me."
"I cannot say that I am ashamed that I let you down," Da'an said.
"You must truly hate us," Balvak said.
"I hate your leaders, not your species," Da'an said. "When did this war start? Was it after the downfall of the hierarchy?"
"Downfall?" Balvak asked bewildered. "The hierarchy is still in power."
"Then why have you shut down the topmost floors of the hierarchy's building?" Da'an asked.
"Because we have moved them to a safer location," Balvak said.
"Your workers say you are renovating the place."
"We are. The hierarchy building has needed renovations for the last fifteen years," Balvak said. "We finally found the time."
"As severely understaffed and undersupplied as you are, you choose now to renovate a building of that scale?"
"I don't question issues of that nature," Balvak said. "It was what the generals told me."
"Maybe you should," Da'an said while thinking to herself. "I learned that some of the hierarchy members belong to the resistance. Is that true?"
"It is."
"And the factions are those who support the hierarchy and those who support the high council, correct?"
"The factions are those who support the government as is and those who follow the hierarchy dissenters. It is no different than the war you are fighting with the priests," Balvak said.
"Is that from experience, or was that what you were told by the generals?"
"What are you talking about?"
"When was the loyalist hierarchy moved? Before or after the peace movement got involved?"
"Before," Balvak said trying to understand where she was leading him. "We got involved a few months before Lili arrived."
"Then, that's what—a year? Two years?"
"About two years ago, I suppose."
"So the hierarchy was moved almost two years ago and has not been seen or heard from since?"
"The generals…administer…their judgment," Balvak said.
Da'an could tell it had finally hit him. "How did this conflict even originate?"
"It started with protest movements led by the hierarchy dissenters. Then, a Jaridian high council soldier accidentally shot and killed the wife of the leader of the movement. She was two months pregnant. The incident brought more and more people on the side of the rebels, and all out war started. Our peace movement started out helping those who had fallen in battle. Then, my brother and I were brought before the high council to answer to our alleged treachery. When we explained our reasoning, we were held for a few days and released. The cycle continued until one day, Vorjak came to me and asked us to work with the high council personally. They told us the situation had gotten so desperate they had to move the hierarchy. It was not so hard to believe. Our life expectancy is getting shorter and shorter. Mothers are dying with their children in their wombs. We were losing forces to both the Taelons and the Jaridians rebels. Both of our species are dying, Da'an. How could I have refused?"
"Are you trying to defend your decision, or are you trying to justify it?"
"What's the difference?"
"Someone who defends is still supportive of their masters and will defend to the death their integrity. Someone who justifies has learned that he may have made the wrong decision and desires to atone."
"I suppose you have felt both ways once or twice to know the differences," Balvak said.
"I have."
"If that is the case, then I am trying to justify myself."
"You can justify yourself by calling for a twenty-four-hour halt of the attack effective tomorrow morning," Da'an said rising to leave.
"Where are you going?"
"I am going to hear both sides of this story," Da'an said.
After his argument with Da'an, Liam decided to get some rest, so he retired to his quarters. The rest of the men and women had already gone to sleep, so he tried to walk in quietly. He found Lili sitting in his bed.
"What's wrong?" Liam asked her.
"I never thought I'd see Da'an again," Lili said. "When we got home and I finally found some moments alone, I cried myself to sleep. Vorjak said I was crazy to cry for her. I'm starting to think I was."
"Da'an's been stubborn even to me, Lili," Liam said. "But it never lasts. She'll forgive you when she's ready to. She can't stay mad for long."
"I was only protecting my daughter. You know that. I never would have hurt you," Lili said.
"I know," Liam said, "but you never explained it to her. You just told her she had to die."
"We were so close, and now she can't stand the sight of me," Lili said. "I'd go so far as to say that she wishes I had died."
"Da'an would have given her life to save you and your child. I just think that Da'an feels like you took her and forced her to do it."
"Maybe I should have asked."
"Or at least made a better appeal than 'Da'an must be sacrificed.'"
"Don't even start."
"I'm sorry. That's not funny."
Lili sighed. "Ariel has Da'an's DNA."
"What?"
"When Da'an's energy came to me it must have filtered into Ariel's genetic structure during the final stages of her development. We noticed it about a week after we came back. Her eyes turned that same sky blue, and her hair started changing color whenever she saw a color she liked. Is it just a coincidence that they're both red-heads at the same time?"
Liam chuckled wryly. "Da'an doesn't have any room to criticize. She's betrayed her friends before too. Look what she did to me and Renee."
"She thinks she does," Lili said.
"I'll talk to her."
"No, I still want to try and reach her. We've been friends for so long. I'm not giving up on us. But…I didn't come here to talk about this. I'm worried about this whole attack tomorrow."
"What do you mean?"
"You're aware of the Jaridians' situation?"
"You mean that they're dying because of their metabolisms? Yeah, you told me."
"I came here just after the time the civil war started. They had told me that they had lost all hope, and a Jaridian hybrid with me was a last resort. I resisted about as ruthlessly as Da'an has, but I fell in love with Vorjak. He comforted me and made me less afraid. When I looked into Vorjak's eyes, I saw someone more like myself. Then, he took me. I thought everything was finally going well for me. When Ariel was born, I felt complete."
"But…"
"Then, things just started to come apart. Ariel wasn't the Jaridian solution, and Vorjak was furious. I began to feel that he had only been kind to me to knock me up. I felt used and dirty. He's obsessed now with finding a solution. He talks about it night and day. He visits the geneticists all the time. Whenever he wants me to participate in the experiments, he's kind and gentle, but all other times, he so cold and distant. He won't even look at Ariel, his own daughter."
"I'm really sorry," Liam said.
"Me too. I'm sorry that I fell for it," Lili said. "I know that the high council's not telling you guys something, but I don't know what it is yet. I tried to tell Da'an, but she wouldn't listen."
"What do you want to do?"
"Come with me to the Jaridian rebels camp," Lili said. "I've always wanted to go, but Vorjak always has people watching me like a hawk. I want to go now while his guard's down, and I want you to go with me."
"All right," Liam said. "I'll tell Renee to hold the troops here."
"Link! Come here!" Ta'lay whispered. "I have found the current events section."
"Finally," Link sighed, rushing to the very back of the library in the last section. "It would be all the way back here."
"I told you it was in chronological order, but you wouldn't listen. Typical American ego," Ta'lay said.
"Let's talk about that bland-ass food over in England while we're on the subject of nativism," Link said.
Ta'lay ignored him and began reading the labels of all the disks. He searched the entire section, and then a strange look appeared on his face.
"What is it?" Link asked.
"Uh, one moment," Ta'lay said in a confused tone. He checked the section again and again for ten minutes. "I don't believe it."
"You haven't found it yet?" Link asked in frustration.
"No, because it's not here," Ta'lay said. "There is no record of this war."
"Are you sure we're in the right section?" Link asked.
"The farthest back this goes is the positioning of Vorjak to the high council. He is the latest general to be put on the high council. This is the right section. The records of the civil war are missing."
"Give me the comm.," Link said.
Ta'lay handed it to him.
"Da'an, where are you?" Link asked.
There was no answer.
"Da'an. Can you hear me?" Link cried.
"Keep your voice down. This is a library," Ta'lay said. "They'll hear us."
"Let's get out of here," Link said. "Maybe the structure's blocking the radio waves."
They casually left the library and ignored the Jaridians' glares. When they got outside they hid in a corner outside the library away from the public's view.
"Da'an," Link said again into the communicator, "it's Link. Talk to me."
"I can…hear you," a faint voice surrounded by static said.
"What?" Link cried. "Da'an! Say again!"
"Link…I…barely h…you."
"I don't think she can hear us," Ta'lay said. "That's what it sounds like."
"But we're outside," Link said.
"Maybe we have to find a clearer area," Ta'lay suggested.
The voice suddenly grew louder, but the static still remained. "Link! Where are you?"
"Wait! Stay right where you are, babe!" Link yelled into the communicator. "Can you hear me?"
"There is a lot of static, but yes, I can," Da'an's voice said in a voice just as loud. "What is it?"
"Look, something stinks with these Jaridians," Link said. "There's no record of this civil war in the library."
"What!" Da'an cried.
Ta'lay grabbed the communicator. "The place where the civil war record should be is missing," he said.
"I think those generals are planning something big," Link said. "I think they might be using us."
"Have you heard from Renee?" Da'an asked.
"No, we haven't heard anything," Ta'lay said.
"Balvak is going to hold the attack for twenty-four hours," Da'an said. "Tell the troops, and stay put. Do not let the generals continue with the attack."
"Where the hell are you right now?" Link asked.
"I am outside the Citadel," Da'an said. "I believe they may have some kind of shield blocking the radio waves. This place is a wasteland, and I can hear the fighting in the distance."
"Where are you going?" Ta'lay asked.
"To…Jaridian…camp."
"What!" Ta'lay cried.
"To the Jaridian rebel camp!"
"Are you moving, Da'an? Stop. We can barely hear you!" Ta'lay cried.
"I cannot stop. I'm…followed."
"You're what?"
"Someone is…"
The transmission was cut off.
"Da'an?" Ta'lay panted.
There was nothing but the sound of static.
"Da'an!" Link cried.
"What the bloody hell is going on?" Ta'lay asked.
"I don't know," Link said, "but whatever it is, those damn generals have been playing us like the London Symphony Orchestra."