DISCLAIMER: Earth: Final Conflict and all of Earth: Final
characters in this story are property of Tribune Entertainment. No infringement
of rights is
intended. Danella and Ronnie are creations or my own. Please don’t
use them without my permission.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: A loved ones return brings more than happiness and joy...
All words in ** are thoughts and all words in [ ] are telepathic
communication.
RATING: PG
DREAMS
By Agent Sandy
Sandoval watched as his
family happily tried to beat each other to a pulp. He had never understood
what people saw in football, but now he was
learning. Liam, Ronnie, Dani, and even Augur seemed to be having a
blast, and Sandoval almost wished he could join them...almost. The idea
of becoming
plastered in mud didn't really appeal to him. So, he watched instead
and tried to ignore the voice in the back of his head that reminded him
that, even if he
wanted to get muddy, he still couldn't have played because he was stuck
in a wheelchair.
A half an hour more passed
and then four exhausted and muddy Resistance members walked over to the
porch where Ronald was sitting. Augur
perched on the railing, Liam and Dani sat on one side of him, and a
smiling Ronnie sat on the other side. Ronald was so happy to see his son
smiling again.
Between the long talks they had had and the drugs Dr. Belman was giving
him to control the wild emotional fluctuations the brain damage from the
CVI
had caused, Ronnie was almost back to normal.
Sandoval was about to speak
when Liam's global went off.
Liam motioned everyone into
silence and then answered, "Major Kincaid here."
A low voice came from the
other end of the global; "I have been told that you have contact with Agent
Sandoval."
"Yes I do," Liam stated.
"Da'an asked me to keep him updated on Agent Sandoval's condition."
“You no longer need to perform
that duty. Please inform Agent Sandoval that he has been released from
his position as Companion Protector to
Zo'or."
Liam glanced up at his father,
who had turned white, and then looked back at the global, "Why has Zo'or
decided this?"
"It was the decision of
the Synod and that is all you need to know," the man said as he ended the
transmission.
Liam angrily closed his
global; "I'm not letting him do this."
Sandoval sadly shook his
head; "There is nothing you can do. You know that as well as I do."
Ronnie stood up; "You sound
like you are giving up. You can't!"
Liam sighed, "Ronnie, it
isn't that simple."
Dani shivered as she was
hit with a suddenly flash of insight, [You have a price on your head now.]
"Yes," Sandoval whispered.
Ronnie touched his father's
arm, "We won't let them get near you."
"And how are we going to
do that?" Augur asked. "He's going to have the FBI and the Taelons after
him."
"Maybe I can help," a low
voice said. Everyone spun to face the voice's owner and then froze.
Finally, after a few seconds,
Dani gasped.
[Daddy?]
As William Boone approached
the safe house, he subconsciously studied each person on its porch. Two
of them he had known before his 'death,'
and one of them he had been told so much about that he felt like he
knew him. It was the two teens who really caught his attention...especially
the girl.
There was something very familiar about her.
"And how are we going to
do that?" Augur asked. "He's going to have the FBI and the Taelons after
him."
"Maybe I can help," Boone
said lowly.
Everyone turned to face
him and froze. He watched the color drain out of their faces, and then
had the color drain out of his when the teen girl
looked at him and gasped, [Daddy?]
Boone blinked in shock.
She couldn't be his daughter, but...she had to be. Aside from her having
his eye and hair color, she looked just like Kate!
The silence stretched because
no one knew what to say. Then Sandoval spoke.
"I see you are well, William."
Will looked at Sandoval
and tried to cover his surprise. Yes, he had been told that the ex-companion
agent was paralyzed, but actually seeing him in
the wheelchair was still a shock.
Sandoval tried to smile,
"It's not as bad as it looks."
Will could hear the pain
in Sandoval's voice, and was about to comment on it, when the girl caught
his attention again.
[Daddy?] She asked shyly,
as she took a step toward him.
Will looked her over. He
still couldn't believe she was his daughter. It was impossible, yet in
his heart he knew it was true. He held his hands out to
her, and she ran into them.
[Daddy! I, I can't believe
it is you. I thought you were dead. How can you be here?] Dani cried as
he held her close.
Will held her a minute more
and then pushed her back so he could look at her.
"You are so beautiful,"
he stated. "You look just like your mother."
Dani smiled and blushed
slightly.
Liam walked to her side
and placed a protective arm around her, "I'm glad someone sees that. Now,"
Liam's voice turned suspicious, "will you
answer her question?"
Will glanced at Sandoval
a moment, and then turned back to Liam.
"Well, Ronald once saved
my life. Now, I'm here to return the favor..."
"He saved your life," Liam
repeated as he leaned against the chair Dani was sitting in. “But I was
at your funeral; we all heard how you died. How
could he have saved you?"
Boone paused and looked
at the room where Sandoval was now sleeping off the back spasm that had
drove all of them inside about 45 minutes ago.
He had really wanted Ronald there when he explained everything, but
if Dani was right, that would mean waiting until the next morning when
the pain
medication and muscle relaxers Sandoval had taken to stop the spasm
wore off. Somehow, Boone didn't think Liam was going to wait that long.
"What he did was at a great
risk to himself and his position," Boone finally answered. "At that point,
his own will had already pretty much
destroyed the MI part of his CVI. He knew that Zo'or was going to kill
me, so he had me switched with a clone. Don't ask me how he pulled it off
in such
a short time, I have no clue. After that he got me to a group of Resistance
informants he had, and they got me back on my feet."
"But no one in the Resistance
knew you were alive," Liam objected.
"Actually, a few people
did know," Boone stated. "Hayley did."
Liam raised his eyebrows,
"And she didn't tell me."
"Sandoval wanted it kept
quiet. I told her not to tell you or any other high ranking Resistance
person. That way, if something happened to you,
Doors, or Lili, there would still be someone free to lead the Resistance,"
Boone explained.
"Not a bad idea," Augur
stated. "Then in a worst case scenario, there would still be a leader and
an undercover agent no one knew about."
"Exactly, Augur," Boone
said.
"So why did you decided
to come out of hiding now?" Ronnie sounded a little suspicious.
Boone looked at Ronnie,
"Your father and I may not have seen eye-to-eye, but we respect each other.
When he saved my life and I realized that he
wasn't working for the Taelons anymore than I was, that respect increased.
I knew he was in danger when the news of his back injury first made its
way to
me. Hayley actually wanted me to come out sooner, but I wanted to wait
and see if things would work themselves out without me. Once I heard that
Zo'or
had relieved him of his position, I knew I couldn't wait any longer.
We can't risk loosing him and all of the things he knows about the Taelons."
Ronnie narrowed his eyes
at Boone, "He's more important than just for information."
[Ronnie, he knows that,]
Dani cut in.
"It's all right Danella.
He has every right to mistrust me. You all do, but I hope we can get passed
that so we can work together to keep Sandoval
alive," Boone said.
"I don't know about you
Mr. Boone, but keeping him alive and away from the Taelons has always been
our goal," Ronnie almost sneered.
[Ronnie, stop it! He's my
father for Pete's sake,] Dani's thoughts were angry.
For a moment, Ronnie was
silent, and then he turned to Dani, "I know, Dani, and I am sorry. I just
don't trust him."
Dani watched Ronnie leave
the room and then sighed, [I'm sorry. He gets like that sometimes. Ever
since the CVI damaged his brain...]
Boone smiled at his daughter,
"I understand. He should never have had to go through it."
Dani nodded, and then it
was silent for a minute. Suddenly, Liam laughed.
Boone and Dani looked at
him, "What is it?"
Liam smiled, "I just realized
that what you said earlier implies that Doors doesn't know you are alive.
I can't wait to see his face."
"Yeah, we'll be lucky if
he doesn't kill me on site for pulling something like this!" Boone laughed.
The man sitting in the cafe
had, had little to be happy about lately, and the envelope lying on the
table in front of him wasn't making things any
better. It held pictures taken by one of his informants of a Resistance
safe house. The informant had jacked up the price of the pictures, but
that wasn't
what was upsetting him. What was upsetting him was who was in the pictures.
He couldn't believe that Boone was still alive and, if that wasn't bad
enough, his own people had kept it a secret from him.
Doors scowled. Boone would
make a mess of all their plans if he was allowed to remain alive. Suddenly,
a thought popped into Doors' mind, and
he realized that killing Boone was the wrong solution to this puzzle.
No, why kill Boone, when he knew someone who would be very interested in
'acquiring' the Commander for 'other' purposes?
Doors quickly paid his bill
and left the cafe. He had a meeting with Zo'or to get to and, with the
information he had just gotten, the Taelon would
certainly be happy to hear from him tonight...
"Need a hand?" Boone asked
as he walked into the room and saw Sandoval trying to grab a book that
had fallen out of his reach. Boone swept up
the book and handed it to Sandoval.
"I could have gotten it
myself," Ronald replied as he took the book from Boone.
Boone laughed, "It's good
to see some things never change. You are still as stubborn as you ever
were."
"Is there something you
need Boone?" Sandoval asked, sounding annoyed.
Boone raised an eyebrow
at his tone, "We aren't on the Mothership, Sandoval. Loose the 'I'm superior'
attitude."
"No, Boone, we aren't on
the Mothership, because if we were, I would be dead," Sandoval stated.
"But you aren't," Boone
replied. "Why do you insist on acting like you should have died when Ronnie
attacked you?"
"Because I should have!"
Sandoval snapped as he spun the wheelchair around so that his back was
to Boone. Then his voice lowered and became
sad. "I'm no good to anyone like this," he whispered.
The tears in Ronald's voice
made Boone realize that Sandoval was more depressed about his condition
that any of them had imagined. The implant
would never have shown his emotions like that...
* But he's not the implant
anymore. He's the man who was willing to die to save his wife...Oh God,
I have to tell him Deedee's alive. How am I
going to do that? * Boone shook his head. How would Ronald react to
hearing the truth? Would he be angry? * Of course he will be, * Boone thought,
*
but it might just be the thing we need to get him back on his feet.
*
Boone walked around the
wheelchair so he was facing Sandoval again.
Ronald looked up at him
and tried, unsuccessfully, to put his mask of indifference up. When he
realized he wasn't fooling anyone, he looked down
again and whispered, "William, I don't want to talk about this anymore."
Boone crouched down so he
could talk to Sandoval face to face, "I know, but there is something I
need to tell you and in good conscience, I can't
wait any longer."
"What is so important that
it can't wait until later?" Sandoval asked.
Boone looked him straight
in the eyes, "Ronald, Deedee's alive..."
Karen Rogers threw her brief
case into the back seat of her car and then walked to the front of it and
unlocked the door. It had been a long day, and
now she just wanted to go home and relax, and...
*...And what? Try not to
think about the fact that your husband is now a wanted man? That he could
be dead, and you wouldn't even know it?
Why do you even care? He doesn't even know that you are alive. You
are Karen Rogers now, not Deedee Sandoval. She's dead; you're alive. So
live
already! * Deedee leaned her head against her car and fought back tears,
* But I don't want to. Not without him. Maybe...*
Deedee's thoughts were cut
off as she was pulled away from her car. She began to scream, but before
she could, something cold was pressed against
her neck, and she knew no more...
Ronald Sandoval stared out
the window, just as he had been doing for the last few hours. He still
couldn't believe that his wife was alive. It was a
dream he'd never let himself believe in and now it had come true. Part
of him was relieved, part of him was angry with Boone, and part of him
was scared.
He was a wanted man, and that meant that Deedee was in danger—again.
Ronald took her wedding band off his finger and looked at it. He wanted
to find her and hold her. He wanted to tell her he was sorry that her life
had been
disrupted again. Mostly, he just wanted to see her and see for himself
that she was alive and safe.
[Ronald, are you okay?]
Ronald looked up and smiled sadly when he saw Dani standing in the doorway.
"Okay is a funny word,"
he replied and motioned for her to come in and sit. "Part of me is definitely
not okay. That part of me wants to rip your
father apart for the cruel trick he pulled on me, but the rest of me
knows exactly why he did it. I wish," his voice suddenly dropped to a whisper,
"I wish I
had thought of that instead of actually having Kate killed. I don't
deserve the kindness he showed me."
Dani looked at him sadly,
"[You had a MI; he didn't, but let's not go there. I know you will only
argue with me about it.]
Ronald laughed, "I think
you know me too well."
[You can never know a person
too well. What are you going to do?] Dani asked.
"I want to find her," Ronald
answered. "The Resistance doesn't know where she is, but we have a few
places to start with. We can go from there.
Boone doesn't think I should try to find her, but he doesn't understand
how badly I want to see her and make sure she is safe. I hurt her once;
I won't let it
happen again."
[I think he understands
more than you...] Dani was cut off when Ronald's global beeped.
"Who would be calling me?
Everyone..." his voice trailed off when he saw who the caller was.
[Ronald?] Dani was scared
when she saw how pale he had become.
He ignored her and answered
the call, "Zo'or."
The Taelon smirked, "Mr.
Sandoval."
"What do you want, Zo'or?
In case you have forgotten, I no longer work for you," Ronald stated trying
to keep the anger out of his voice.
"I have not forgotten, Mr.
Sandoval. It is not me who wishes to talk to you," Zo'or replied arrogantly.
"And who would it be, if
not you?" Ronald asked.
Zo'or smirked again and
then handed the global a person standing next to him. When Ronald saw who
it was, he froze.
"Why, Sandoval, if I didn't
know yah better, I'd take that look as meanin' yah weren't happy to see
me," Siobhan Beckett's heavily accented voice
stated.
Ronald took a second to
pull himself together, "Not unhappy, just...surprised. Last I knew..."
"Aye, but the Companions
decided that I was too valuable an officer to lose. They cloned me usin'
some of the same techniques they used to create
our son. Ah, doesn't that have a nice sound to it? 'Our son.' Yah wouldn't
happen to know where he is, now would yah?" She replied.
"No, of course not. Last
I heard, he was with the Resistance," Sandoval said.
'Aye, that is the rumor.
Well, since I will be lookin' for him, I would expect yah to help me in
any way yah could," Beckett stated.
"And I would, if I were
still a Companion Agent. Since I am not, I'm afraid that I am a little
confused as to what you expect from me," Ronald
replied.
Beckett smiled, "Cooperation,
Sandoval. Just because yah have been removed from yer position, doesn't
mean that we are goin' to let yer skills go
to a waste. Zo'or want yah to meet with us at the Embassy tomorrow
afternoon to discuss findin' 'our' son."
Ronald swallowed tensely,
"And if I refuse?"
"Well, if yah refuse," Beckett
smirked, "then I'll just have to get the information I need out of yer
wife..."
"Are you sure you are up
to this?" Liam asked as he and Sandoval entered the Embassy the next day.
"Whether or not I am up
to it has very little to do with anything, does it Major? I have no choice
in the matter," Sandoval said angrily.
Liam winced. The anger was
an act, of course, so the Taelons wouldn’t know that he and Liam were working
together with the Resistance, but it
sounded very real anyway.
"You brought it on yourself,"
Liam tried, unsuccessfully, to swallow the bitter taste the lie brought
to his mouth.
"Think what you will," Ronald
replied as he and Liam entered Zo'or's Audience Chamber.
When they entered the room,
Beckett and Zo'or suddenly stopped talking. Liam greeted them both and
then turned to leave. Beckett stopped him.
"Stay, Major Kincaid. We'll
be needin' yer assistance as well."
Liam was confused, but nodded
and stood next to Sandoval, who was giving Zo'or an angry look.
Silence filled the room
for a few minutes, and then Sandoval spoke, "Let's get on with it. I have
other things I could be doing."
Zo'or looked Sandoval over,
"I am sure there is so much you could be doing from that wheelchair."
"Aye, and so much of that
would be much more important than findin' our son," Beckett added.
Sandoval checked his temper.
He knew they were purposely trying to make him lose it so that he would
let something slip, "Where is my wife?"
"She is around and quite
well, I assure you," Zo'or replied, much too quickly for Ronald's liking.
"Right," Ronald stated.
"I want to see her. Now."
"Not so fast. We have a
few things to discuss first. Where are yah hidin' our son?" Beckett asked.
Ronald lost his patience,
"Why do you insist on believing that I know where Ronnie is? Only someone
with ties to the Resistance would know
that."
"Aye, and tell us Sandoval,"
Beckett pulled out some pictures and handed them to Ronald, "if yah don't
have ties to the Resistance, then why are
yah in these pictures with William Boone and at a Resistance safe house
none the less?"
Ronald looked at the pictures
and his face paled slightly. They clearly showed him with Boone, Ronnie,
Dani, and Augur. Resistance members one
and all.
Liam looked at the pictures
out of the corner of his eye. There was a knot of dread in his stomach
that grew with each picture he saw. They clearly
marked his father as a Resistance member. How had they gotten the pictures?
Almost no one knew where that particular safe house was.
Ronald slowly flipped through
the pictures trying to think of a way to defend himself. When he came to
the last picture he froze. Liam did too.
Beckett smirked when she
saw Liam get pale, "Major Kincaid, I see yah recognize that particular
picture. Care to explain why yah are in it?"
Liam swallowed nervously,
"It is obviously a forgery. Someone is trying to set me up."
"Tsk, tsk," Beckett walked
up to Liam and gently touched the side of his face, " I would think a son
of mine would be able to come up with a better
lie than that. Why don't yah try again."
Liam locked eyes with her,
"I don't know what you are talking about."
Zo'or stood up from his
chair, "Lying will gain you nothing Major. We have been given conclusive
proof of who and what you are."
"And where exactly did you
get this 'proof' from?" Liam asked.
Beckett smiled wickedly
at Liam and then walked back to Zo'or's side, "An old friend of yers. A
man by the name of Jonathan Doors."
Liam's eyes opened wide
in shock. Doors had betrayed them? He couldn't believe it; he didn't want
to, even as everything that had recently gone
wrong—from Ronnie's capture, to the pictures' origins—suddenly made
sense.
Silence again filled the
room. Liam glanced at his father, but Sandoval didn't know what to do any
more than Liam did. The plan had been that
Liam—as a Companion Protector, would make sure nothing happened to
his father. That obviously wasn't going to work now. The trap had been
set far
better and deeper than any of them had ever imagined it could have
been set.
"Don't neither of yah have
anythin' to say in yer defenses?" Beckett asked.
Sandoval took a deep breath
and looked at Beckett, "You disappoint me, Beckett."
Beckett laughed, "Yah are
disappointed with me? And why is that Mr. Sandoval?"
"I thought we were bonded,
Siobhan," Sandoval said in a soft voice.
For a moment, Beckett was
silent as her face softened, then that moment passed and her face hardened
again, "Aye, we are, that's the only reason
ye're still alive. If we weren't, ye'd be dead already, just like yer
wife."
Liam watched his father
stiffen, "What did you say."
"Yer wife's dead. I killed
her myself. I don't like competition," Beckett smirked.
Sandoval's voice tightened, "You're lying."
"Now yah know me better
than that, Sandoval. I don't lie," Beckett replied.
Sandoval shut his eyes,
fighting to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill out. When
Boone had told him that Deedee was alive, part of
him had somehow known that he was telling the truth. Now, that same
part of him was confirming Beckett's words.
"God, no," he whispered.
Zo'or looked pleased by
the pain on Sandoval's face, "I am sorry for your pain, truly I am. Being
re-implanted would help with that pain. Would
you allow us to help you in that way?"
Sandoval looked up angrily,
"Never!"
Zo'or sneered, "I figured
you would say that. No matter," the Taelon waved his arm, and the room
suddenly filled with Volunteers. "As you well
know, we have plenty of other ways to assure your cooperation."
Liam started to go for his
gun, knowing now that a shoot out might be the only why they could escape.
"I wouldn't do that, Major,"
Beckett warned as she pointed her skrill at Sandoval. "Have no doubt, I
will kill yer father."
"Are you too afraid to come
after me?" Liam asked as he slowly placed his gun on the floor.
Beckett smirked, "Nay, not
at all. Zo'or just doesn't want his prize Kimeran hybrid injured."
Liam was about to reply,
when a blast hit him form behind, and he slipped to the floor unconscious.
"Liam!" Sandoval cried.
"Relax, Mr. Sandoval," Zo'or
said calmly as he walked toward Ronald. "It was only a stun ray. He will
sleep it off." Zo'or nodded, and two
Volunteers drug Liam from the room. Zo'or then looked back at Ronald.
Ronald forced himself to
meet Zo'or's eyes, "What are you going to do with me?"
Zo'or reached out and lightly
touched Ronald's face. Ronald was barely able to keep himself from flinching
away from the touch, just as he knew
Zo'or wanted him to.
"That is simple, Mr. Sandoval,"
Zo'or's voice was low and dangerous. "You will be re-implanted, and then
you will lead us straight back to our son
and the rest of the Resistance..."
Ronald Sandoval felt himself
dying, bit by bit, as he watched the needle draw closer to him. He knew
he could shut his eyes, but he wasn't going to
let the Taelon in the next room know how much he was hurting. In a
few seconds, the game would start all over again. He mind wouldn't be his
any longer.
Ronald Sandoval the man would be gone, and Agent Sandoval the implant
would be back. The things the implant would do with the man's knowledge,
scared the man to death. As the needle pierced his jaw, tears that
had nothing to do with the physical pain, sprang into his eyes--tears he
never really felt
as his free will was again stolen from him.
*At least I can't hurt Deedee
this time... * he thought as his mind was forced back into slavery.
In the next room, Zo'or
smirked as he watched Sandoval hover near unconsciousness. As Dr. Belman
looked over at Zo'or and nodded, indicating
that the process had been a success, Zo'or's smirk widened. Soon things
would be back to the way they were suppose to be...
Dani lowered her head and
let her tears flow. She had managed to keep psychic contact with Ronald
up until the time that the MI had once again
taken over his mind. Now she felt nothing from him, nothing at all.
[He's gone,] she thought,
unable to look up at Ronnie who was standing in front of her.
Silence filled the room.
No one knew what to say or do. They had lost their leader, and their spiritual
center all at once. Not only that, but they had
also found out, through Dani's telepathic links to Ronald and Liam,
that Doors had betrayed them.
"We can't trust anyone who
isn't here," Boone finally said, giving everyone in the room a long look.
Dani, Augur, and Ronnie nodded. As much as it
hurt, Boone was right.
"You have a plan, Will?"
Augur asked.
Boone was silent. As much
as he wanted to storm the Embassy and free Sandoval and Liam, he knew that
wasn't an option. First, he had to get
Ronnie and Dani someplace where Sandoval, Liam, and the Resistance
couldn't find them. The hard part was finding where that was.
Boone crossed the room to
where Augur was sitting, "Do you happen to have any hiddy holes no one
knows about?"
Augur thought for a moment,
then replied, "Well, that depends."
"Depends on what, Augur?"
Boone sounded annoyed.
Augur held up his hands,
"Whoa, take a deep breath a minute. I just meant it depends on if you want
to be in the city or out of it."
Boone raised an eyebrow,
"I get a choice? Well, out of town, but close by would be the best."
Augur smiled, "Well, then
I got the perfect place for you, and it isn't even under my name."
"I don't want to know,"
Boone shook his head, then turned to Dani and Ronnie. "Okay, here's the
game plan. We are going to Augur's place. Once
we get there, we'll figure out a way to help Liam and Sandoval."
Ronnie turned to face him,
"Why can't we help them now? Liam hasn't been implanted yet. We can stop
them."
"And how are you planning
on doing that?" Boone asked him.
Ronnie's face went from
angry to sad. "I don't know," he admitted, "but I can't leave my father
and brother there!"
Boone gently took Ronnie's
shoulders in his hands, "I know, I don't want to either, but we have no
choice now because if we stay here, they will
come for us. We can't go to the Resistance because of Doors; they'll
most likely be looking for us. We have to get set up at a safe house of
our own,
because otherwise, they'll catch us and it'll be all over. I'll end
up like your father—re-implanted, and who knows what'll happen to you and
Dani. Do you
understand what I am saying?"
Ronnie met Boone's eyes
and just looked at him for a long time. Boone could see the struggle going
on inside of him. Finally, he nodded yes. Boone
smiled and then turned to Augur, but Augur wasn't there. He was across
the room, cradling Dani in his arms.
Boone and Ronnie crossed
the room to them.
"What is it?" Boone asked.
Augur smoothed her hair
and then looked up at Boone, "They are implanting Liam. He told her to
leave his mind before they did, but she wouldn't
leave him. Now she is feeling everything he is."
"God," Boone whispered,
having trouble imagining what she had to be feeling, even though he had
been implanted himself.
Augur nodded, and they all
watched Dani as she stared straight ahead through teary eyes that saw nothing,
but felt everything...
Liam wanted to scream. His
mind was on fire, but that didn't stop him from resisting the implant's
efforts to force his will to its own. His only
regret was that Dani was feeling the pain as well. He'd warned her
to leave, but she hadn't. Now neither of them had the strength to end the
connection.
That would only happen when the MI took over his mind, and he wasn't
going to let that happen.
Liam's body arched against
the table as another wave of pain washed over him. Somewhere in the distance
he could hear Dr. Belman begging him to
stop resisting the CVI. 'It will kill you if you don't stop,' she was
saying. He didn't care. Death was preferable to slavery. He had been forced
to watch his
father die again, he wasn't going to let himself die like that too.
The pain increased again, surprising Liam, who didn't think there was
any way for it to get worse. Suddenly, he noticed a figure drift into the
room. It took
him a minute to recognize the person because of the pain he was in.
The figure smiled sadly
at him and gently laid his hand on Liam's forehead.
"Da'an, no," Liam whispered
as he felt his will suddenly weaken.
"Rest, Liam," Da'an's voice
was gentle. "You can fight again another day."
Tears filled Liam's eyes.
He tried to speak again, but couldn't. Somewhere in the back of his mind,
he felt the MI taking hold, and, as he slipped
under its influence, he cried out to his mother for help—help that
he knew wouldn't come, not in this lifetime at least...
Siobhan Beckett watched
Liam slip toward unconsciousness. When he cried out to her, she had to
fight the urge to run to him and hold him until it
was over. 'This is for his own good,' the solider in her stated coldly.
She nodded her head in agreement with the thought, but as she did, a tear
slipped out
of the corner of her eye, as the part of her that was his mother felt
her heart break...
