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"The laurel is green for a season
Love is sweet for a day
But love goes cold with treason
And the laurel outlives not May."
-Hymn to Proserpine
Light was everywhere. A light so bright it amazed him that it did not burn him to the marrow. But there was no pain whatsoever, instead he felt safe, loved, and protected.
At least until the bottom of his universe dropped out from under him. He felt as though he was falling with nothing to grab onto.
Then Liam jerked awake, covered in sweat, and for a moment he wondered why he was in his bed. Somehow it did not fit. He had no memory of going to bed. He shook his head and tried to calm himself, but all he could feel was dread coming from his slight connection to the Commonality. It nibbled at his mind and enticed him to explore further, even if that risked detection by the Synod. He took a deep breathe and carefully probed the Commonality, he did not have to look long to discover what was the matter.
Da'an was dead.
He needed to return to the Mothership and appear surprised when he was finally informed. After all it would do him no good for the Synod to know that he had learned of Da'an's passing via the Commonality. He was scheduled to report to Zo'or in an hour anyway and he had to know what had happened to his friend and mentor.
Liam mustered his courage and set his face into an unreadable mask akin to one that hid Sandoval's true feelings. He was as ready to go as he would ever be.
The shuttle trip was unremarkable, but there was a pall over the Mothership. Volunteers refused to meet his gaze and whispered as he passed. Liam tried to appear confused by this. Sandoval was speaking to Zo'or when he came to the bridge. They ceased their conversations when they saw him, and Sandoval awkwardly shifted his weight from his left to right. It was a nervous habit that he had worked or years to eradicate before his implantation. It startled Liam that Sandoval allowed it to return.
Another manifestation of your restored free will or a sign of grief? You were Da'an's protector before I was even born. Or am I ascribing too much depth to you? Perhaps you are merely concerned with how Da'an's death will affect your position. Zo'or cannot be pleased by the loss of Da'an - or rather his core energy.
A cynical thought that one, but experience had stripped him of too much idealism for it not to cross his mind. Liam shook himself from his inner questions, it was time for his performance.
"You asked me to report on the status of the Aesculapius Project." Liam said.
Zo'or inclined his head and looked meaningfully at Sandoval.
The implant straightened his tie - another betrayal of nervousness - and cleared his throat. "Major." He began formally. "There has been an accident."
"What kind of accident?" Liam asked because it was expected of him.
"One of our shuttles was sabotaged. A shuttle carrying Chairman Federov... and Da'an."
Liam felt as though he was reading from a script. "Is Da'an all right?"
Again the nervous shuffle.
It was Zo'or who lowered the boom. "Da'an has embraced the void."
Liam feigned shock, though the horror in his expression was genuine. "Dead?"
"What part of dead do you not understand?" Sandoval said irritably. Ironically he reassured Liam. He was used to an angry or irritated Sandoval and knew how to deal with him. Somehow Liam's sense of reality was restored.
This is real. Da'an is really dead.
"I want you to conduct the investigation into his death." Zo'or ordered. "Bring me those responsible."
"Of course, Zo'or." Liam replied.
Zo'or didn't kill Da'an. He would have chosen Sandoval to investigate if he planned this.
* * *
Taelons did not usually leave bodies. Ma'el had been unusual, but he had expected others to search for physical remnants of his time on Earth.
Only his Kimeran senses permitted him to see the vivid blue energy like a strange blood stain on the right passenger seat. Federov's charred remains were in the left seat. The pilot seat betrayed no sign of occupancy at the time of the explosion.
"Who was assigned to pilot this shuttle?" Liam demanded of one of the Volunteers assigned to assist him.
Volunteer Raine pulled out a global. "No pilot is listed."
Liam frowned. "Check for signs that the pilot portalled away."
"There is residual energy from a portal," a technician confirmed. "The portal may have been part of the bomb."
"The energy from the portal fueling the explosion, with the bomb programmed to go off after the pilot escaped. Have Volunteer Investigations go over this with a fine tooth comb for any DNA evidence." Liam ordered.
"But this shuttle has been handled by hundreds of people." Raine protested.
Liam glared at her. It was obvious this woman had never participated on any serious investigations. He turned toward one of the V.I. personnel. "Once you have a list of people whose DNA was found on board, scratch off everyone with a rock solid alibi. Then bring everyone whose whereabouts cannot be set in concrete to the Mothership for questioning."
"At once, Major."
I just sounded exactly like Sandoval. No wonder they are jumping as I bark out orders.
While the forensics unit picked over the shuttle and Federov's body was taken away to be autopsied, Liam returned to his apartment. He made himself a cup of tea before heading off to bed. Emotionally and physically drained, he fell immediately into a deep sleep.
Sometime later he was awakened by the chirping of his global. He was mildly grateful that he had slept in his clothes so that he did not have to answer whoever it was wearing a bathrobe.
It was the Volunteer he had ordered to round up those whose DNA was found on the shuttle without an airtight alibi.
"We found the pilot's DNA." He said.
"Who?"
"Captain Marquette," the Volunteer spat out the name.
Liam reached for his shoes as he responded. His feeling of being in a bad dream deepened. "Recent DNA? She used our shuttles a great deal in the past."
"It it from within the last twenty-four hours. Definitely before the explosion."
"Good work." Liam tried to remember the man's name, but found he could not. He had never actually been introduced to him. Liam resolved to find out his name if only to praise his efficiency in his report.
Within half an hour Liam made his preliminary report to Zo'or. Lili had somehow obtained access to the embassy and shuttle, then in flight dropped out of inter-dimensional space. She portalled out and the bomb was set, trapping the two victims inside.
Liam ran a hand through his hair. Zo'or had accepted his findings with uncharacteristic graciousness and urged him to continue the investigation. Sandoval had startled at the mention of Lili's name. It had taken all Liam's control not to ask Sandoval why he was so surprised. He had sent an all but gift wrapped Lili to the Jaridians, and after the raiding party he had to know the Jaridians were using Lili just as much as he had.
Liam had accepted that it was Lili on the shuttle. After the Kira incident he had done some serious re-evaluation of how Lili had acted during her return to Earth. She was no longer pulling her own strings, that Liam was sure of.
What he was not sure of was why Da'an permitted Lili to pilot him and Federov. He had shared with Lili and would be able to penetrate any disguise.
Liam allowed himself to assume that Da'an had known Lili was the pilot. As far as he knew Fedrov had not known Lili personally. Fedrov had probably seen her face at some point splashed across the evening news, but despite the claims of many that they never forgot a face, time blurred features. Many women had similar features to Lili and it was highly likely she had taken measures to conceal her identity. Liam had a vague recollection from Sandoval of his time at the F.B.I. training academy at Quantico. When a woman simply changed her hair style and color she lowered the chances someone would recognize her dramatically.
But Lili's case was not that of the average exposed Resistance or ANA agent. Sandoval had altered her on a genetic level. During her last return to Earth, she had been feverish after only a few days on the planet. Renee had quietly taken samples of her new DNA and analysis confirmed that Lili could no longer survive on Earth for more than a day or so without regular transfusions of Jaridian blood, but even that would only keep her alive a week. The temperature on Earth was too high, the oxygen levels were too low, and the carbon dioxide levels were far too high for Jaridians. Perhaps the changes prevented Da'an from recognizing her.
He drummed his fingers against his global, mentally ruling out possibilities. He could not eliminate a suicide mission. He opened the global and contacted Zo'or.
If the Taelon had been human, Liam would have thought Zo'or was sleep deprived. He looked drained. Zo'or had assumed all of Da'an's duties, unwilling to give the dead Taelon's considerable power to another. Even Taelons could not function without rest.
"Major Kincaid." Weariness softened the edge in Zo'or's voice. Liam caught a glimmer of something else, grief perhaps, through the Commonality before he slammed the connection shut.
I'm exhausted myself. I want to go home. I want time to mourn, but I also want to get whoever killed Da'an.
Liam composed himself. "There is a possibility that Marquette may strike again. We know the pilot portalled away, therefore another attack could be imminent."
"We are already on heightened security, but we can always create new levels of watchfulness." Zo'or said. "I will have Sandoval further heighten security."
I bet he'll love that. More control.
Liam officially went off duty to get some sleep. Unofficially he went to the former Resistance headquarters to see if Lili had used any Resistance codes or resources that would enable him to track her down. He got lucky.
Only one hour before, someone had accessed an old Resistance covert ops fund using Lili Marquette's old pass code. Liam had never bothered to cut her access in case she returned to Earth and needed the money. He was a decent hacker, by no means as skilled as Augur or Street but he had picked things up from them, and was able to determine the money was withdrawn from Taelonville, Indianna.
Liam debated how to tell Zo'or and Sandoval that he had a lead without revealing how he had found it. Eventually he settled for saying that an anonymous source tipped him off.
Almost before he knew it, Liam was in a shuttle on his way with a trio of Volunteer Investigations seated behind him. More would follow soon. Sandoval and Zo'or had literally dropped everything for the chance to catch Marquette.
The black-clad trio of Volunteers had said nothing to him during the flight. Their silence continued but for three "yes sir" responses when he dished out their orders. They disappeared to search their assigned areas and lock down the town to prevent another escape by Marquette. Liam forced himself to stop thinking of her as Lili. The Lili he knew would never have murdered Da'an like that. She might have killed Da'an, but it would have been in self defense. She would never have assassinated him.
Liam checked the power level on his weapon. Lili knew too much to be allowed to be taken alive to Zo'or. Somehow he had to find the opportunity to kill her.
Now I'm the one plotting murder.
Not a comforting thought, but Lili had brought this situation on herself. Hadn't she once prepared to kill Beckett because of the threat she represented to the Resistance. If there was any shard of the old Lili left alive, Liam knew she would understand. She would not like it, but she would understand.
His global beeped. Liam opened it to see the self-satisfied face of one of the Volunteers. She had found Marquette.
"You have something to report?" Liam demanded. He sounded like Sandoval, but there was no help for that. Maybe it would even be useful. Sandoval was respected by the Volunteers whereas he was something of an enigma to the service as a whole.
"Sir, I've found her."
"Well done Captain. Contact Rayne and Sanchez and we'll rendezvous at the shuttle to take the prisoner to the Mothership." Liam paused to parcel out his words for emphasis. "Consider the prisoner a flight risk and if she tries to escape... shoot her. Make certain she is aware of this."
"Understood Major." The Volunteer would relish telling his prisoner Liam's orders. Liam closed the global, glad that he would have a few minutes before he had to see either the Volunteer or his one-time friend.
Liam would have to create an opportunity to allow Marquette to try to escape. She would take it, and either he or the Volunteers would shoot her. Hopefully her death would be quick.
He called Zo'or with the good news and as might be anticipated, the Taelon was jubilant. Sandoval met them in the shuttle bay, shooting Lili a nasty smile that promise cruelty and made Liam feel as though he had swallowed a tornado or a icicle. Had that look been directed at him, Liam probably would have jumped back in the shuttle and left immediately. He started to feel sorrow for Lili, but memories of Da'an fluttered through his mind and he stifled his sympathy.
"Good work Major." Sandoval said. Liam was surprised to realize that the implant was actually pleased with his efforts.
Liam inclined his head in acknowledgement. "I want to take the prisoner to Zo'or."
To the younger agents further surprise, Sandoval acquiesced. "Of course, Major."
Have I just portalled into the Twilight Zone?
No, Liam decided a second later. Sandoval was merely feeling magnanimous.
Liam indicated for Lili to walk ahead. She head her head high with her chin jutting forward, looking more like a French noble being escorted to the guillotine than a woman who had arranged the murder of someone she have served for years, someone she had shared with, someone who had protected her and concealed her true allegiances.
Soon they were at the bridge. Every Volunteer, drone, implant, and Taelon with the exception of Zo'or turned to watch them. The Synod leader kept his gaze fixed on the view of Earth before him until Liam and Lili were only two steps away from him. Then he turned slowly and regarded Lili as one might view a rabid animal.
"Captain Marquette." Zo'or said softly, but his voice carried like a scream in the quiet. No one dared make a sound as they might cause Zo'or to order them away and miss the excitement.
"Zo'or." Lili replied, speaking for the first time. Liam had never heard her sound so icy.
"Why did you murder Da'an?" Zo'or asked bluntly.
Lili tilted her head in a way eerily akin to the way Da'an often had done when he was perplexed by some oddity of human behavior. "You have to ask?"
"Answer the question, Captain." Sandoval said from behind. He straightened his coat as he moved to stand beside Zo'or. "It will be a great deal easier with you speak without excessive... encouragement."
"He was Taelon." Lili said. Her chin rose a bit higher.
For a moment Zo'or looked saddened. "You leave me no choice but to see to your immediate execution."
Liam opened his mouth to protest, Lili ought to be given at least the semblance of a trial, but before any sound could escape one of the drones had fired his skrill at her and she lay drone on the deck.
He turned to stare at Zo'or, but he was no longer facing Zo'or but Ha'gel. In fact he was no longer on the Mothership, but standing by the Standhill Stone circle.
"Ha'gel?" Liam sputtered. "I don't understand."
The Kimera looked different, more like the images of Kimera in the Taelon archives than the way Ha'gel had appeared to him before.
"We needed to know which path you would chose."
"Which path?"
Ha'gel nodded. "You are no longer of Earth, Liam, you are with the Kimera on another plane of existence. You facilitated the joining of Taelon and Jaridian, a noble act, but we had to see where your motivations lay."
"So you made me think Da'an was dead." Liam accused. He hated being manipulated.
"You sympathies reside with humanity. For our purposes, we needed you to sympathize with the Taelons. Da'an was the logical vehicle for this shift. Lili Marquette was quite dear to you, and yet you would not have found it too difficult to conceive of such an act on her part. Even when she killed Da'an and was given a painless death, you felt the wrongness of it and would have protested despite the troubles it would have caused had we let the situation continue."
"So I passed your test?"
"Indeed."
"What happens now?"
Ha'gel took Liam's hands into his own. For a moment all Liam saw was light, then his vision cleared and he noticed that his shaquarava were glowing like tiny stars.
"Now you rest with your ancestors. Rest and learn, to prepare for the day you must return to Earth."