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Da'an watched the sleeping children and felt a growing pride at their accomplishments. His fellow Taelons for the most part disdained humanity, but there was a grudging touch of affection for the hybrids. They were still considered expendable, but the level of contempt the Synod felt for them was no where near what was felt for humanity.
It was a start.
He was about to return to his chamber when one of the children abruptly rolled over onto her stomach and raised herself up by her elbows, fixing him with a curious stare.
"Good evening, young one." Da'an said softly so as not to disturb the other children.
"Good evening Da'an."
"You should be asleep, Katherine." The Taelon admonished gently.
"But I'm not tired! The others are because they use their shaquarava. Mine still haven't emerged so I don't expend the same level of energy as they do." Katherine stated simply, but Da'an detected a note of bitterness in the child's voice as she mentioned her lack of shaquarava, though Da'an could see the faint reddish marks in the center of her palms. Katherine's lack of shaquarava baffled Taelon scientists, but she was the youngest of the hybrids and children develop at their own pace.
"The others are your elders by some time, Katherine. Your shaquarava will emerge when the time is correct."
One of the older hybrids, Peter, who had always been especially nice to her, always chided Katherine about the same thing Katherine sighed deeply, her mop of auburn hair which was still rumpled from sleep fell about her shoulders and seemed to sigh with her.. "I know, but it is hard being the youngest and watching the others do what I cannot."
Da'an felt a stab of pain at that comment. Zo'or had expressed such a sentiment numerous times to him in the past. "You must rest."
"But I'm wide awake now."
Da'an could not dispute that statement. He considered the situation for a moment. "Perhaps you would like to come with me until you tire?"
Katherine's green eyes lit up with excitement and once again Da'an was struck by a sense of deja vu. That same excited and innocent look in her eyes had once been in those of his protector. Katherine and Liam shared the exact same eye color, hardly surprising considering that they had the same mother, Siobhan Beckett, but for the moment Da'an found the resemblance disconcerting.
As much as Katherine might now remind him of her mother's family, he could also see elements from her human father, William Boone. Da'an recalled once meeting Commander Boone's sister and decided that Katherine looked a great deal like her facially.
"Come, Katherine." Da'an said gesturing for the child to follow, which she eagerly did.
* * *
Peter sat on the edge of his bed and stared at his palms as he silently cursed the day his shaquarava had first lit up in his hands. At the time he had thought it incredibly wonderful and loved to allow the brilliant lights to blossom.
Then he had learned that he was expected to use his shaquarava to kill.
Peter swallowed hard and allowed the energy of his shaquarava to fade. The simulations would begin again tomorrow.
Simulations, his lips curled into a sneer. The Taelons had slipped a real living, breathing human into the last session to keep the group on their toes without bothering to mention that one of the targets was alive. Peter had not been the one who had ended that unfortunate woman's life but he had witnessed it and dreaded a repeat of the incident with himself as the killer instead of Aimee.
* * *
Da'an followed the child into his audience chamber and watched as she hesitantly approached the virtual glass window until she was close enough to touch it. Katherine jumped backwards and pulled her hand away in surprise as the tips of her fingers came into contact with the virtual glass. She did not move from the window, her posture straight, and her gaze fixed upon the sky above Washington.
"It's so beautiful." Katherine finally whispered after several minutes of quiet.
"Each star in the sky that you see is a sun, many of planets orbiting them, yet from here they appear as tiny pinpoints of light. A reminder of our place in the universe when we consider who it treats stars."
"What is a sun?" Katherine asked curiously. Da'an belated recalled that the girl had never left the embassy except for brief trips to the Mothership.
"A large star visible during that day that provides illumination."
Katherine nodded solemnly. She tried to picture a sun, but gave it up quickly in favor of the reality of stars spread before her.
"Could I see the sun sometime?"
"I will show it to you, Katherine."
* * *
Getting out of his room proved to be harder than he had expected, but he managed to find the right override code on the lock. Peter knew from overhearing the Volunteers talking that if he entered the wrong combination more than three times in fifteen minutes that an alarm would sound. Fortunately, Peter also had a fairly good memory and after a few tries was able to duplicate the code sequence he had once seen a Volunteer use.
He crept down the corridor, suddenly conscious of the fact that he was clad in black pants and a simple gray shirt, marking him to any passersby as a hybrid. He ducked into an alcove as two Volunteers on a repair duty walked by and he followed him until they came to a supply cabinet where the pulled fresh uniforms to replace the stained ones they were wearing. Peter watched them go before opening the cabinet. He did not know his size, so it took a few changes of clothes to find a uniform that fit him well enough not to stand out.
He put the uniform on over his original clothes, after all his instructors had taught him that he never knew when he might have need of something, and looked down at himself. Peter had seen many Volunteers in his relatively brief lifetime and knew what was considered proper for Volunteers. Certain that he now looked the part, he stepped out into the hallway and headed for the portal, careful to keep his head slightly lowered.
He paused as he passed by a view port. No matter how often he saw it, the sight of Earth from the Mothership set like a jewel in a sea of stars never failed to amaze him. To most of the others, it was not anything worth commenting about, only little Katherine shared his appreciation for the beauty in the stars. A stab of guilt hit him as he realized that he might never see Katherine again, but he forced himself to shrug it off. Da'an had always taken special interest in Katherine and would not allow her to be harmed.
* * *
Miriam Sorben waved the Volunteer through the checkpoint, then she happened to catch a glimpse of his hands as he passed. Recognition hit her a moment later, especially when she was able to use her CVI to remember seeing him with a group of Volunteers when she had been investigating a possible security breach in one of the labs.
She waited until she would have a shot that would not damage the portal before she raised her skrill and aimed at him. The hybrid, Peter, saw her at the last minute and tried to use his shaquarava, but it was too late. He only managed to deflect a portion of the energy, the rest slammed into him and he fell off the portal platform with a soft thud.
* * *
Da'an had just returned from taking Katherine back to her sleeping space when Agent Sandoval entered the chamber. Over time the North American Companion had grown apt at reading through the expressionless mask the implant used to camouflage his true feelings and noted that something had disturbed Sandoval. Da'an also marveled that Sandoval was still at the embassy, despite the lateness of the hour, and his manner indicated he thought it no different that had he come in the middle of the day. How the implant obtained enough sleep to function properly mystified Da'an. It seemed that he was omnipresent.
"Agent Sandoval?"
"There was been an incident on the Mothership involving one of the hybrids, Peter." Sandoval began. "Peter somehow obtained the lock override code to his room, stole a Volunteer uniform and tried to escape via the portal. Lieutenant Sorben intercepted him before he would use the portal, however."
"Was Peter harmed?"
"Sorben only temporarily incapacitated him."
"Thank you for informing me of this development, Agent Sandoval."
Sandoval knew a dismissal when he heard one, but there was more. "Zo'or means to use this incident to take over the hybrid project. Peter has been taken to the Moonbase."
Da'an blushed, something the Taelons seldom did these days. "Thank you, Agent Sandoval." Da'an said with a dangerous edge in his voice. Sandoval hurried from the room as fast as he could.
* * *
Katherine carefully stared at her palms and tried to will her shaquarava into being, but nothing happened. She glanced around the room at the others who could do it with ease, and felt tears prick at her eyes. Then the sound of the door opening distracted her, she hoped it was Da'an coming to show her the sun, but a few seconds more revealed that it was Peter.
Katherine rose to greet him, but something in his manner told her not to rush over and hug him as she had always done. Instead she carefully made the Taelon salute.
"Still working on your shaquarava, Katherine?" Peter asked, his voice cold.
"Yes."
"Any success?"
"Not yet."
"The Taelons cannot waste valuable resources on a useless hybrid." Peter said chillingly as he brushed past her to go to Na'ran, their Taelon instructor. Katherine stared after him in shock and went over to Na'ran after Peter left.
"What happened to Peter?" Katherine asked quietly.
"He was disobedient. The Synod decided to spare his life and implant him with a CVI rather than execute him." The Taelon explained.
Katherine stared down at her palms again, terrified of being implanted like Peter if her shaquarava refused to come.