The Lillian Contract
Chapter One: Baby Blues
It had been a month since the events that had unfolded on Jaridia. Construction of an entire wing of barracks for Tay'jay's Espelons to stay was complete, and the ANA was keeping a sharp eye on the priests' and the Synod's activities. Hubble had just barely managed to help Liam cover for his absence from work. Liam had noticed that Zo'or and T'than had been watching him much closely ever since his return from Jaridia. Therefore, Liam had to lessen the amount of time he spent with the ANA and the resistance. For his and the resistance's safety, he gave Renee total authority over resistance activities. When Renee could not attend to her duties, command was then given to Da'an, which did not hold well for several resistance fighters. However, considering the amount of Taelons and Espelons now working for the resistance and the ANA, this chain of command was both appropriate and necessary.
Link had finished moving his business and his apartment over to Washington, DC. Ariel needed weekly check-ups to make sure that her body was adapting well to the atmosphere. The transition had been difficult for all of them. In the first three weeks, Ariel was in and out of Curzon's office due to fevers and illnesses. It got so bad that Da'an began considering returning her to Jaridia and giving her to Geris. Miraculously however, Ariel's system began to adapt. She still had to have frequent check-ups with Dr. Curzon. That was where Da'an and Link were right now.
"Oh, wow," Dr. Curzon said when Ariel's lab results came back.
"What is it?" Da'an and Link asked simultaneously.
"You two have a perfectly healthy baby," Dr. Curzon said giving them the chart.
Da'an and Link stared at each other. "What!"
"Heart-rate, EEG, EKG, blood tests—everything's normal," Dr. Curzon exclaimed.
"How is that possible?" Link asked.
"I don't know," Dr. Curzon said, thinking carefully. "As far as I'm concerned, it's a miracle."
"Well, I'd to keep it that way, if you please," Link said. "I've finally been able to concentrate when I work now."
"Maybe Ta'lay knows," Dr. Curzon said. "She seems to have more knowledge of Jaridian anatomy than I do."
"'She?'" Da'an asked.
"What?"
"You called Ta'lay a 'she,'" Da'an noted.
"Oh, well so what? Ta'lay's asexual. Who cares what I call him…or her?" Dr. Curzon said.
Link shrugged. "Whatever peels your banana, lady. Is there anything we can do to keep her like this that you know of?"
"Not that I know of. I'll call Ta'lay and ask her—him—to come here."
"You'd better not," Da'an said.
"Why?"
"Because Ta'lay has been working endlessly on developing formulas for the Espelons to help them adapt to Earth's atmosphere, and he's still doing so."
"I think he can step out of his office for just five minutes."
"Uh…all right, but do not say I didn't warn you," Da'an said looking down at Ariel.
Dr. Curzon dialed Ta'lay's number on her global. No one ever picked up the other end.
"Huh. No answer," Dr. Curzon said. She started dialing again, much to Da'an's objections.
Someone finally picked up the receiver. "What…do you want!"
"Uh…Ta'lay? Is that you?"
"No, this is Winston Churchill returned from the grave thanks to a very brilliant Taelon scientist. What is so bloody important that I had to halt my research and pick up the phone!"
"What did I tell you?" Da'an said, snickering.
"Who is that laughing! Is that Da'an!" Ta'lay yelled.
Link and Dr. Curzon joined in.
"Well, I'm sorry I interrupted your work, Ta'lay," Dr. Curzon said trying to regain her posture, "but Da'an and Link are here with Ariel and they need a second opinion on Ariel's test results."
"What's the problem?"
"Nothing. That's the problem," Link said. "We're trying to figure out why Ariel's not getting sick anymore."
Ta'lay blushed. "Da'an…I am going to come over there and strangle you if you did not tell Dr. Curzon about Ma'ri."
Da'an groaned.
"Who?" Dr. Curzon asked.
"Oh yeah," Link said. "There's this fluid the Taelon secondary parents used to use to give their children sustenance in their infant years. It's…well—Da'an I really don't want to say this."
"Breast milk, Dr. Curzon," Da'an said bluntly.
"What?"
"An Espelon name Ma'ri and I have been feeding Ariel a Taelon nourishment formula, which is the closest thing we come towards…breast milk," Da'an explained.
"Where do you think Taelon plasma comes from, dearie? It is a substitute for the formula. The nutrients cool her temperature and help her adapt to Earth's atmosphere," Ta'lay explained. "We came up with the solution when we learned how well the plasma worked. We wanted to give her something with the same benefits and without the toxic residue. Is that quite all?"
"Why didn't you tell me this?" Dr. Curzon asked Da'an.
"Because it had not been working for the past two weeks, and I thought you knew," Da'an said glaring at the picture on Dr. Curzon's global. "Ta'lay was supposed to tell you."
"Balderdash! You were supposed to tell her, Da'an!"
"I was not! Link was there. You remember, right Link?"
"Yeah, I distinctly remember us establishing that you were gonna tell Curzon, Ta'lay," Link said.
"Oh, the obvious husband bias," Ta'lay groaned.
"We're not married, Ta'lay," Link said.
"You might as well be," Ta'lay shot back. "Listen, I told you that I was buried in working on this supplement for the Espelons. I did not have time to tell her, and I certainly do not have time to go there now to check on a whining little infant. Next time you want a second opinion, read a Dr. Spock book!"
The receiver slammed on the other side and the picture went out.
"I tried to tell you," Da'an said. "Ta'lay is unusually focused on anything he does. Whenever he is working, he sends everyone out of the room he does not need, locks the doors and blinds the windows if he has to in order to rid himself of any interference. He probably would have turned off his phone if he were not concerned about the Espelons' health. Of course any unsuspecting fool who does interrupt his research is in for a very rude and abrupt awakening. He has always been that way. Ne'eg was too. He probably taught it to Ta'lay."
"Well, this has been enlightening," Dr. Curzon said. "Keep giving her the…whatever you call it. But, I think Ariel may have been getting sick from a bad reaction in her metabolism to the other foods you give her. What else have you been feeding her?"
"Usual stuff," Link said. "Baby food, canned fruits—stuff like that."
"She eats everything," Da'an said. "It seems like she never gets full."
"Yeah, we're not entirely certain what to feed her, so we give her whatever she'll take," Link said, "which has been, uh, baby food and canned fruits."
"Did you give her anything other than that like milk, sugar, candy, meats, or…ice cream?"
"We try not to give her too much sugar," Da'an said. "She does not like candy. She likes ice cream, though."
"And milk too. Soy milk, if you can believe that," Link said. "For a while, we were giving her soy milk with Taelon plasma in it, but we stopped after she took the…breast milk—God, I hate saying that!"
"Maybe she's been having an allergic reaction to some of the foods you've been giving her," Dr. Curzon said. "I want to give Ariel an allergy test."
Link's heart jumped. "Wait. Is that the thing where you poke her with a bunch of different needles?"
"Well, maybe back in the stone age," Dr. Curzon said. "We have methods we can use without giving her the needles now if pain's what you're worried about."
"Uh, is it even remotely possible that those tests are all wrong?" Link asked nervously, trying to get Ariel out of having to take an allergy test.
"I doubt it, but I can test her again if you're worried."
"How long will all of this take?" Da'an asked.
"About fifteen minutes—thirty at the most," Dr. Curzon said. "If I test her again, it could be longer."
Da'an pulled Link in. "Maybe you should go. You have to go to Boston in an hour right?" she whispered.
"Yeah, and I haven't finished packing," Link said. "You sure you're cool with this?"
"I can ask her to test again if you're worried."
"Please do. I had an allergy test when I was twelve, and I've never been the same since. I'll see you both when I get home. Hopefully." He took Ariel and bounced her a little. Then he kissed her and said goodbye to her. He kissed Da'an's cheek, told Dr. Curzon goodbye, and left Ariel cooing and squealing with delight in Da'an's arms.
"He's quite the family man," Dr. Curzon said.
"He did not even want to have children," Da'an said. "Neither of us did."
"You two will do fine," Dr. Curzon assured. "Let's get her tested."
"Uh, Dr. Curzon, I would be much more comfortable if you checked the results of your original tests again."
"Don't tell me you're afraid of allergy tests too."
"No, it is not that. I am just concerned that with conducting so many tests on Ariel at one time, it is possible that you may have missed something. I…do not want to give her anything unnecessary. She's been through quite enough these last few months."
"All right. It's your call."
Da'an sighed with relief, and she wondered if both Link and Ariel were doing the same.
Da'an returned to Link's apartment half an hour later. Link had already packed his suitcase and was ready to go.
"Iron."
"What?"
"Her Jaridian physiology has given her an iron deficiency. That was why she kept getting sick. Dr. Curzon's blood test missed it the first time."
"What did I tell you?"
Da'an chuckled.
"So what? We have to start giving her green vegetables and junk?" Link asked.
"And drinks with an iron supplement, until she is mature enough to use pills."
"Well that doesn't sound so bad, unless she hates broccoli."
"Actually if we get her started on it now, it should not be a problem."
"Well it sure beats giving her a pill. That's all I have to say."
"You have been taking all of this quite well," Da'an said.
"She's not that bad," Link said stroking the baby's cheek. "I figure as long as it's just her, we can support her."
"I wish there was more I could contribute."
"Hey, you're with her more than me, you take her to all her check-ups, and you do all the feeding and junk. I think you contribute plenty."
"Are you still coming back on Thursday?" Da'an asked him.
"Looks like it unless the company has a change of heart and settles," Link said. "I never imagined for a case this big that I'd be working for on the side of the company and not the plaintiff family. But I think I've told you all this already."
"You did. You have been working on it for over three months."
"Hmm. For some reason, it don't seem like that right now. Well, take care of little Ariel," Link said, "and take care of yourself. I hear it's getting pretty rough over there."
"More like slow," Da'an said laying Ariel on the couch and sitting beside her. "Link, I have been thinking about something for a long time."
"Tell me."
"It is about the priests. When I went to Moonbase to rescue Mi'en, one of them spoke to me."
"What'd he say?"
"It is not so much what he said as what he was thinking—feeling. He asked me questions about my ritual with Nye as if he had not been there. But I distinctly remember seeing all of the priests in my visions. I have been experiencing difficulty discerning what was reality and what was illusion during the ritual, and…as time goes by I find myself forgetting many of the details."
"Like what?"
"My recollections of the ritual are numerous. I recall all of the memories I experienced. I recall the words of the high priest. I suppose it is easier to say that I recall the events. However, that is all I recall."
"I don't get it."
"When I returned from the netherworld, or wherever I was, pieces of something were brought back with me, pieces that are not necessarily events, memories or mere voices. I feel like there is some kind of underlying puzzle that was left with me. A subliminal message, if you will."
"What makes you think that?"
"My dreams. Some of them have been strange. I do not see pictures or hear voices. What I experience in my dreams, I believe, is intangible. These pieces cannot be heard, felt, seen, or spoken. They are facts. They are information being fed to me like passing thoughts, so quick that once they pass you forget they were even there. I believe that I have been fed a piece of the divine. I do not know how, when or why I received these pieces. I do not even know who fed them to me. But I know that they mean something."
"What does all of this have to do with the priests?"
"I think I was fed a portion of the priests' minds. At first, I thought it was just the high priest. We share similar and mutual knowledge that I am afraid to discuss with the others. However, I now believe that I carry a piece of all the priests' minds."
A horn honked outside. It caused Ariel to stir, but she did not awaken.
"That's my ride," Link said kissing Da'an and Ariel. Da'an followed him to the door with his suitcase. He stopped and stared into her eyes for a moment. "I don't know how to understand everything you just told me, and I'm not sure what you're getting at exactly. However, I think that if you're searching for answers, you should start with figuring out why you seem to know so much about these pieces that you claim pass so quickly that you don't even know they're there."
Da'an opened the door and handed him his suitcase. "Take care of yourself."
"I will. Take care of Ariel," Link said. With that, he headed down the stairs to the outside and met his cab.