Date: Sat, 11 Nov 1995 13:51:48 -0800 Reply-To: Selma McCrory Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Selma McCrory Subject: Differing Varieties, part 4/6 For those of you faithfully following this story, I'm going to be posting part 5 on Monday. Differing Varieties by Selma McCrory a Highlander/Tomorrow People crossover copyright 1995 part 4 "You *can't die?*" Megabyte said. "That's amazing!" Greer shook her head sadly. "Not to me, it isn't." "How come? It would be everybody's dream to live forever!" "Not with the baggage that comes attached, they wouldn't." "What's the difference?" Adam asked. "My particular kind of Immortality - there may be other kinds that I'm not aware of - is shared with about a thousand others at the moment. The thing is, we're engaged trying to kill each other, to whittle down our numbers until only one remains." "You're kidding," Megabyte said. "Unfortunately, I'm not. And to answer your next question, I can be killed. I just won't die of disease, old age, or most wounds." Adam shook his head. "So, how old do Immortals of your kind run?" Greer put her chin on her fists and looked thoughtful. "The youngest? I'd guess about eighteen. The oldest is at least five thousand." The three teens looked at each other. *Did I hear her right? Five _thousand_?* Megabyte asked. *You heard the same I did*, Lisa replied. Out loud she said, "So, how old are you?" "As I told you, thirty-two. I only became Immortal about two years ago." "'Became' Immortal?" Adam asked. *It sounds a lot like breaking out,* he said to Lisa and Megabyte. "You see, each of us grows up normal, but at some point, we suffer a violent death which triggers our Immortality. For me, it was electrocution in a warehouse. A lot of the early times, it was through combat or other reasons involving weapons. I remember hearing one woman faked it by jumping off of a tower. She was trying to lure someone into thinking she was a new one. Sometimes, we get driven to suicide by our biology so that we change, or at least that's how the theory goes." "Is your biology anything like that?" Mr. Gardner asked. "Michael! Now you're prying," Greer said. "You started it," Michael replied. *Well, they are married,* Adam said, when Megabyte looked at him. *And I guess they were close friends before that,* Lisa added. "You could say that we're similar," Adam said to the couple. "We call it 'breaking out'. But there's nothing violent about it. Maybe feelings of being different, or strange feelings that are not your own, but nothing like what you go through." "How can you tell when you've changed? When you've broken out?" Greer asked. Adam smiled. "It's very hard to miss." "Guess it's easier to explain that than why you're not dead. I had to have the concept explained to me several times," Greer said, smiling. Adam nodded. Greer leaned back and smiled at the trio. "You're far more gifted than us. True, we can't get sick - that's one of the advantages of being Immortal that I actually like - or grow old, but what is that compared to being unable to kill?" "That's what's attractive to you?" Megabyte asked incredulously. "Not anything else?" Greer nodded, and removed something from her trenchcoat. Adam tensed momentarily, and he could tell the others did too. Greer smiled sheepishly and put a sword on the table. "I guess you wouldn't be used to this." "Wow. What is it?" Megabyte asked. "A sword. To be exact, a rapier. You see, this is what I must carry around with me for the rest of my life, if I want to survive." Megabyte was the only one of the trio to reach out and touch the rapier's handle. The other two looked at it, not daring to do anything more. To Adam, the sword on the table looked - repulsive. He suspected that most of his understanding of violence had gone away when he had broken out, but some instinctive understanding must have remained. Some of his dislike must have shown on his face, for Greer said sympathetically, "I can tell you don't like it." "It's - evil," the teen said. Megabyte and Lisa nodded. Greer replaced the sword in its scabbard. "I'm not it's first owner. I'm not even its first *Immortal* owner - the lady who taught me about Immortality gave it to me." "So it's got a blood-laden history." "It's got a very bad history." The whole room fell silent. Then Michael said, "Are we all satisfied?" The teens and Greer nodded almost simultaneously. Then Adam, looking thoughtful said, "I think you should tell General Damon about what you are." Greer looked skeptical. "I'm not sure that's a good idea." "It is," Megabyte said. *We're going to have to do better than that, you guys,* Lisa said. *Let me try,* Adam replied. "We already trust him with ours. I think if you trust him with yours, he can clear you and keep your secret." Greer traded a look with her husband. "All right, we'll try." * * * Greer leaned back in the chair in General Damon's office. Michael sat nearby, and Megabyte and Adam had joined them. The General himself was thoughtfully considering their story. Greer knew she'd probably resort to the old trick of cutting herself if the General refused to believe. Megabyte had explained to her that his little unintentional demonstration of his abilities had made his dad a believer. "All right," he finally said. "So, you can't die." "Most ways, anyway," Greer said. The General nodded. "If my son thinks you're trustworthy, then I'll assume you are not part of the bombing." "Well, other than being there...." "Other than being in the wrong place at the right time, I know," the General said. "Is there a possibility that the bombing was directed at you? To try to kill you off?" "I don't think so, General," Greer replied. "Anybody who knew what I am would know that I couldn't be killed by a bomb blast." "So no Immortals are after you," Damon said thoughtfully. "Would the - Watchers be?" Greer and Michael mutually gasped and fell silent. Finally, Greer was able to speak. "I don't know - and how do you know about the Watchers anyway?" "That tattoo that you have on your wrist. It corresponds to a secret society on file called the Watchers. Obviously, the file is correct." "The file is correct. But if you know about Watchers, how come you don't know about the Immortals they watch?" Greer asked, mystified. "Because we didn't know who they were watching, other than random targets." "Well, now you know." "Greer," Adam said, interrupting the conversation, "if Watchers watch Immortals and you're an Immortal, what are you doing in the Watchers?" "Good point, Adam, I'm not. Neither is Michael here. We're both ex-Watchers. I left when I became Immortal, Michael left a month or so ago to marry me." "So we have two ex-Watchers here. How did you get in this society, anyway?" Damon said. "Well, both my parents, all of my grandparents, and quite a few of my ancestors were Watchers. For me, it's a family tradition," Michael said. "And for me," Greer said, remembering her past, "it was quite different...." June, 1981 The teenager lightly drew her coat around her as she took a shortcut through the park. It was early evening, and she was alert to every sound around her. After all, she was quite alone. She had thought that the clanking sounds were chains rattling on doors. Another reason to be careful, she thought. She instinctively turned towards the sound, almost being pulled towards it. After all, she had a civic duty to perform. Or so her reasoning went. When she got up close, she stopped. There were two grown men, with swords. Greer had heard of dueling, but she didn't apply it to this place and time. After all, she lived in Fairbanks in 1981, not 1781 or another time like that. Of course, the two men were intent upon their swordfight and didn't see her. She was tempted to turn away. After all, if these two men were having harmless fun, it was not up to her to bug them. The swordfight suddenly came to an end. A rather spectacular end, as one opponent lopped the other's head off. Then she was too frightened to scream. And the trees were exploding around her. She cried for a while after the victor left, and then, not looking up, she mumbled, "I wasn't dreaming. I wasn't dreaming. My god, there's a dead man on the ground." "No, you weren't dreaming," a voice said. "There is a man on the ground." At first, she thought she was hearing things. Then she looked up to see a woman leaning over her. "What's your name?" Greer said it almost automatically. "Georgina. Georgina Lewis." The woman smiled gently. "Georgina. My name is Helen Pantuso, and I'm going to tell you a story." * * * The Present "...That's how I got involved in the Watchers," Greer said. "Helen hung around Fairbanks, and when I turned 18, she brought me into the Society. Watchers and Immortals go through a somewhat similar training process - both groups have mentor who tutor the young ones. Helen was the one who taught me Watcher ways - the woman who taught me about being an Immortal was named Alberta." "So, you're an ex-Watcher who happens to be Immortal, and Immortals can only die certain ways. Is there anything else extraordinary about you that I should know about?" Damon said. The woman shrugged. "I'm left-handed," she said with a smile. He found himself smiling back, amused at her statement, and nodding. "Noted." "Anyhow, I don't think it was my kind that did this. Sure, any of us could have survived the bomb, from what I can tell, but I didn't sense any of them," Greer said. "'Sense' any of them?" Damon said. He didn't want to pry too much into this woman's life - he had a feeling that she'd resent it even more than Adam and the rest of the Tomorrow People would. But some information was necessary. "Sorry," she said. "We put out a kind of a field - other Immortals can sense this field. That's how we tell when we run into each other." Damon nodded in understanding. "So, it's not an Immortal." "It could possibly be," Michael said. "No, it couldn't," Greer replied. "Oh, yes it could," Michael replied. "You *died* in the bombing." "I suppose I must have," Greer replied. "But I don't remember it." "Wait a minute - you *died*?" "Temporarily." "Immortals can die, but they don't stay dead too often," Michael explained. "They heal too fast." "I must have- I just didn't feel it," Greer said. Michael nodded at his wife. "Something told me that he might be Immortal," he said. "I couldn't put my finger on it, but I instinctively felt that he could be one." "Is there any way that you could find out if he was Immortal?" Michael leaned back thoughtfully. "I could call in a favor - I know a few people, back in the states - or I could be dutiful and find the local Watchers and see if they have anything on him." Damon nodded. "I wouldn't mind their help. I could provide details on the bombings, and the only other sighting of the bomber. You're not the first to describe him, Michael, but your description fits the other one," Damon said. "So, you do have an idea of what he looks like?" Greer said. Damon nodded. In the process, a thought occurred to him. "Do you two, personally, know of any Immortals that could be mass murderers?" The two ex-Watchers looked at each other disbelievingly, and then Greer started to laugh hysterically. Michael joined in. Damon sighed and said, "What did I say?" "Sorry, General," Michael apologized when they had both stopped laughing, "but by legal definition, most Immortals *are* mass murderers. There are very few that haven't killed at least one person." "You'd define your wife as a murderer?" Damon asked incredulously. "I wouldn't, but the law would," Michael said. "I killed another Immortal two years ago," Greer said. "It's kind of hard to explain, but in some ways, we're compelled to kill each other. That's why I carry a sword - it's my only way of defending myself." Damon thought he was beyond surprise when he'd discovered what his son was. Obviously, he wasn't. In an attempt to gain control of the situation, he said, "Okay, you're all murderers. What I wanted to know if any of you were into the mass killing of non-Immortals." "Quite a few, actually . We're just like mortals - good and evil and inbetween." "Yes, and neither of us knows all of them," Michael said. Damon nodded. He'd pried enough, and he certainly wasn't sure if he wanted to hear anything more. "Wait a moment, and I'll get you a copy of the sketch. I'd like you to confirm that this is the man you saw before you send it out." Michael nodded. Damon went out for a minute, found the copies of the sketch that they were distributing, and went back inside. * * * Greer had been looking at her husband for the last few minutes. He'd been looking at her, too, rather expectantly. "He's taking this rather well," she said. "He had to deal with us, first," Adam said. "Yeah, but you're not guilty of murder. You will *never* be guilty of murder." "That's true. Are you sure you have a compulsion to kill?" "Well, yes and no. It's very complicated. I'm not sure if I can explain." A moment later, Damon came back into the room. "Look at this sketch. Is this the man you saw?" "Yes," Michael said. "That's a sketch from Los Angeles, and I'm going to give you several copies to send on, on the condition that they get returned." Greer took the sketch from her husband's hands. While her husband was nodding, she idly took a look at it. She gasped. When all the attention in the room was turned towards her, she explained, "You're not going to have to send this out. I recognize him. He's an Immortal..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Author's note: The flashback in this episode was written before season 4 of Highlander started.] Selma McCrory "Maybe what the world needs smccrory@calweb.com are more Selmas" selmamc@aol.com -Darien Lambert, Time Trax =========================================================================