Da'an reclines in his audience chamber, relishing the nourishment that the energy stream
pours and tingles into him. Through his link to them, Da'an is perfectly aware of the three
beings who saved his life, his sanity, when they bonded with him:

Boone is framed, as always, by a profusion of orchid blossoms. Da'an's pride in his
favored implant is ever tinged with remorse when he beholds the hybrid blooms, thriving
mauve under Boone's tender auburn care. The protector cherishes the hope of the
Taelons' perished world crossed with that of his perished wife. His Sky Flower, Lili, is in
her natural element, shuttling the man that he, Da'an, indirectly drove to perish Boone's
wife. The Taelon thinks to his Sky Flower, his Jha'du'ur, "Yes, I see through your eyes
that Agent Sandoval's imperative wanes. He may yet be reclaimed. He and I may yet
atone for Boone, for Liam, for all." Liam, the last, orphaned offspring of a species they
perished, sips kangaroo milk at the Flat Planet Cafe. A marsupial who is taken from his
mother's pouch too soon, he now finds ironic solace in a pocket of the Commonality - the
very legacy for which he is the last of his kind and for which his remaining parent has
striven under a distancing imperative.

Da'an lingers on Liam, who speaks with Maiya across the bar. According to the Kimera,
Maiya Plaza is an aspiring sculptor from Barcelona. A misrouted Spanish portal deposits
her in the environs of the Flat Planet, the ambiance of which captivates her before she
can utilize a transfer voucher.

"Can I get you anything else, Liam?"

"No, thank you, Maiya."

"In that case," continues the artist, "could you do something for me?"

"What is it, " asks Liam.

"Could you convince Agent Sandoval to pose for me? I want to sculpt beyond his
sculpted image."

"That's not a good idea. He's....damaged." Liam drifts.

"The best muses usually are," assures Maiya.

Da'an is suddenly distracted away from one child by another. Zo'or's intense feelings
flood through to him. The parent registers rage, sadness, shame, and exhilaration. Da'an
transmits a concerned query:

"Zo'or, are you well?"

"I am having a troubling dream, nothing more."

"Again? This concerns me."

"It should not, Da'an."

"But, it does, Zo'or, for you are my child."

Da'an sends warm tendrils of love. His offspring returns confusion. Da'an sadly shuts his
eyes, absorbing the nourishment that the energy stream pours and tingles into him.
Within the Commonality, the eternal present of the Taelons' existence stretches forth.
Now, Boone, Lili, and Liam stretch forth with it, until external indications of time remind
the four they must attend the Cloister's sharing ceremony.

Da'an shuttles with Boone and Liam. Quo'on and Zo'or shuttle with Sandoval and Lili.
Boone thinks to Lili, "Did you get a chance to talk to Renee?"

Lili thinks to Boone, "No, she is in a meditation tank when Sandoval and I arrive....I
mean she was in a meditation tank when Sandoval and I arrived, yesterday. Damn, the
link with Da'an is screwing up my tenses. It's a small price to pay, though. I'll come to
grips with it....in time." She laughs, inwardly. "I'd rather have a little temporal lapse, now
and then, than a CVI to compensate for it." Lili sends Boone images from the Palmer
mansion, where the worldwide Cloister conference is being held.

Boone receives blue gowns, flat shoes, missing waistlines, and morning sickness. He also
encounters Dr. Christine Sloyan, the resident Obstetrician. Boone sifts through Lili's
experiences, wistfully. He had so wanted to help Kate through pregnancy. Instead, he is a
surrogate father to the son of the man who had her killed. He and Liam have no choice
but to live with the memories of what Sandoval has done. Thanks to Liam's memories,
however, Boone has gotten to know the pre-implant Sandoval, a gentle, less wounded
man, who tickled Dee Dee's feet and ate raw cookie dough, as soon as he brought it home
from the market. Of course, Sandoval had often eaten that dough with Chicken Teriyaki
during late nights away from home. The seeds of his troubles were already sown before
the CVI. The lesson behind Ronald P. Sandoval, Boone realizes, is never implant a
workaholic. Boone concentrates on the eternal present, sending Liam love and pride.
Liam returns love and pride.

The two shuttles punch out of ID space, landing on the expansive lawn of  the Palmer
estate. As Humans and Taelons disembark, Sister Margarette, the founder of the Cloister,
bows toward them, her hands raised in the Taelon greeting, "Sinuai euhura."

Quo'on speaks, "Rise. Your pronunciation is excellent."

"You flatter me." Lili shudders. Sister Margarette has the same pathologically deferential
tone as Sandoval. "Allow me to introduce some of the others. This is Sister Jenna. She's
been with us since the beginning. She heads our US chapter, and this is Sister Elizabeth,
who recently became the head of our Canadian chapter. This is Sister Manuela, head of
our Latin American chapter. This is Sister Mira, head of our European chapter, and this is
Sister Avdotya, head of our Russian chapter. This is Sister Yuka, head of our Japanese
chapter. Of course, you know Sister Renee, our newest shining light."

"Jha'du'ur," volunteers Da'an.

"Our newest 'Jha'du'ur'," intones Sister Margarette, "Thank you, Da'an. Sister Renee has
graciously opened her home to us for the duration of our stay."

"We thank you for your hospitality, Sister Renee, and for your commitment to this latest
of co-ventures."  Da'an nods to the former Doors International executive.

Quo'on begins, "It is gratifying to us that your variant of our message touches new beings
across this world."

"Not quite the whole of it, though," explains Sister Margarette. "Reproductive policies in
India and China prohibit our presence. Shall we begin?" The Taelons take their places on
the porch. Sister Margarette's preamble is reverent: "Taelon energy has been with us
since the universe began...."

Boone has heard and seen much of this before in his tank-induced, half-prophetic
nightmare. He watches what comes to pass with dread. Sister Margarette and Zo'or
connect. With link and CVI enhanced vision, he detects the deadly blue aura around
Sister Margarette. Boone transmits all pertinent images from his dream to Da'an thinking,
"Watch Zo'or!"

Horrorstruck, Da'an complies. He is never far behind his offspring. Da'an witnesses his
child in the throws of what cannot be. "Zo'or, the dreams, these spasms, they are signs."

"Yes," confirms Zo'or bitterly. "They are signs that I am entering Ka'ath'am."

"But, that is not possible. You are...." Da'an shirks the word.

"I am barren. You need not refrain from stating that which every Taelon already knows. I,
the last of our species, cannot save us through the completion of birthing. Now, my
failure is being mocked by my essence, by fruitless urges. Meanwhile, these inferior
beings mock me further, seeking to imbue offspring they whimsically beget with that
same essence."

Da'an has no words. He can only touch his child's cheek, resending tendrils of love to try
to heal the void within Zo'or's soul. Da'an notes sadly that the Human mirror of that void
has been intensified by his offspring's pain....

Sister Renee is perusing a spreadsheet on her laptop when she is distracted from the
numbers by a knock upon her door. Boone, followed by Liam, greets her: "How are you?
We found this outside."

Boone hands Renee a button, and she realizes that she is missing one from the cuff of her
gown. "I'm fine," Renee states. "Sister Margarette is stepping down from the day-to-day
running of the Cloister, and I'm looking over the books for Sister Jenna, making sure
everything's in order when she takes over."

Something is wrong, here, Renee realizes. Why would two people come to hand her a
button? Suddenly, Sister Margarette, psychotic and glowing, bursts into the room. Before
Renee can react, she sees that Boone and Liam had been expecting this. Boone fires his
skrill, just so, rumpling the rug under Sister Margarette's feet. Then, the implant hurriedly
shuts the door, as Liam catches the stumbling woman. Struggling past the energy Sister
Margarette is emitting, Liam pins her to the floor. She raves:

"My doctrine has spread nearly all over the world, but I, the last of my species, can't
follow it. I can't rebuild our world within myself. Why should they be able to?"

Renee does not know which she finds more disturbing - the fact that sharing with Zo'or
left Sister Margarette with such dark energy or the fact that Liam uses lights in his palms
to absorb that energy from her. "Is there something you forgot to tell me, Liam?"

The hybrid looks at her, sheepishly, and then, at his glowing palms. After an awkward
silence, Liam takes up the unconscious Sister Margarette, while Boone opens the door to
leave. Renee decides that she needs to take a little nap.  Renee wakes from the nap, a
little while later, and decides she needs a snack. Renee shares some deviled eggs with
Lili in the shuttle, insisting to know about Liam. "Well," begins the pilot, "a few months
back...."

After an hour of questions and answers, Renee had heard the whole story. Then, Lili
wants her story in return. "What happens....happened between you and Doors? He has a
fit anytime someone mentions your name."

Lili watches, as Renee struggles through the words. She begins, haltingly, "One....One
night, I was thinking of changing the color of my hair. My little girl, Andrea....Andy said,
'Don't, Mommy. Just be yourself.' After the crash, I decided that if I couldn't be myself for
her, I didn't want to be myself for anyone, anymore. I threw myself into role-playing, as a
Doors exec and a Liberation cell leader. As I complicated my life, my husband, Philip,
lost patience and left. I convinced myself everything was fine. Then, I found out."

"Found out what," asks Lili. Renee's answer sends her reeling.

"I found out Doors had Park re-engineer the virus those bigots unleashed at Lincoln Hill,
so it would only affect Taelons...."

Lili is lost, acutely reliving the burns, boils, smells, and cries left in the wake of biological and chemical weapons. Boone echoes her inner outrage. Enveloped in his understanding, Lili pulls herself back from the SI War. "That bastard!"

"I called him worse," Renee continues. "Everything snapped back into focus for me at
that point. I didn't sign on for genocide. In fact, I realized I hadn't signed on for resistance
at all. I'd simply been using the co-ventures and the espionage to hide from the loss. I
knew Augur had his eye on my art collection, so I traded a Van Gough for his hacking
skills. He worked out the codes for Park's other secret lab, and I broke in to destroy the
virus. I never looked back. Now, all I want is to hear my own heartbeat, again, and those
of my children. I'm going to have twins."

"Congratulations," beams Lili. "Do you know the gender?"

"After all the money I've poured into the Cloister's invitro program, I should hope so.
They're fraternal. I'm going to name them after my maternal grandparents - Belle and
Steven Hartley Palmer. Hey, since I shared with Da'an, do you think he'd agree to be their
godparent?"

Lili senses Da'an blush. "I think he'd love it."
 
 

Disclaimer: Earth - Final Conflict and all characters therein are the property of the
Tribune Entertainment Company.