Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 02:23:43 -0400 Reply-To: GrinnyP@AOL.COM Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Carol Ann Liddiard Subject: "Origins" Chapter 3, part 2 . . . and the rest of chapter 3 --------------------- Western North America, @10,300 BCE The man once known as Sagu looked around the room in satisfaction. Now here was a place that shrieked "power". The walls were stone and 20 feet high, covered in plaster and then multitudes of paintings. He was admiring a large likeness of himself when he felt Bigarren come in. The smaller man was trying to calm his anxiety, but Sagu could feel it all the way across the room. Without turning from the image he said in a mild tone of voice, "You have a report?" Bigarren gulped audibly as he approached Sagu. "Yes, we have gathered together all the findings." "And?" "The babies survived the birth, but both brood mothers are dead." "The cause?" "Irreversible brain damage." Sagu hung his head, then turned to look at Bigarren. "Have you and the others figured out why yet?" he exploded in frustration. "And why do they wander off, can you tell me that?" Bigarren brightened and straightened up from his unconsciously servile pose. "In fact, Ospagarritasun, we have found the reason for both of the problems." "Good, Bigarren," Sagu actually smiled at his underling. "Let us take a seat and you will explain it to me." They exited to a small antechamber off of the main room. Sagu mentally called for refreshments from the house slaves as they settled at a small table. After the servants left food and wine, he said, "All right, give me your complete report." "Well, the first problem is the brood mothers themselves. I know you chose them because they carry the "difference", but they themselves do not have the "Blessing of the Mother". "Yes, yes, I know that. I chose them specifically for that reason. Any person who is completely Changed I need in training, not acting as a baby machine." Bigarren nodded. "Yes, indeed. You were quite brilliant in discovering that when mated to one of the People these women produced Changed children in about 50% of all pregnancies. However, we didn't figure into the equation the problems inherent in carrying a Changed child." Mouse took a sip of the wine and pondered. "But I thought that the specialized healing/immunity changes didn't occur until the moment of birth. Wise One designed it that way." "Exactly," Bigarren crammed several sweetmeats into his mouth at once. "But the abilities we are all born with, the mental abilities, begin to manifest themselves as soon as the child's brain forms, sometime in the third moon of gestation." He washed the food down with several gulps of wine, splashing some over his already disheveled clothing. "Women of the Herrialdaketa can handle the mental communications from the developing fetus, but the broodmares don't have those abilities. Some of them are convinced that evil spirits are residing in their bodies, some are so overwhelmed by the power of the baby that they wander mindlessly, and some just go hopelessly mad." Sagu sighed to himself as he watched his second-in-command slurp down his food and wine like an animal. It was a good thing the man was so valuable. He disliked sloppiness, in personal habits as well as thinking. He wrinkled his nose in distaste as the man gave a large belch, then turned his attention back to the food. "The solution you have come up with?" he reminded Bigarren. "Lobotomy. Destroy their higher brain functions, just leave them enough to take care of themselves. And move the breeding center to a spirit site. They seem to wander towards them more often than not." "Spirit site?" "Yes, apparently the fetuses can sense spirit sites from a long distance and are pulled towards them. Even we find these areas mentally soothing." Bigarren looked around at the empty plates and jars. "Is there any more food? I'm afraid I skipped a few meals putting this report together." *Bring more food,* Sagu signaled to the waiting servants. When the table was replenished he prodded Bigarren, "go on." "Well, we've located a big spirit site to the west of here. The location is good for relocating the breeding facility, good water and food supplies, isolated location, easily dependable. We could rotate the soldiers in training to handle the guard duty, when they're not out searching for more suitable broodmares. And we can make it even more efficient by planting some large crystals and boosting the area's energy attraction." "So all we need then is a method for them to survive the birth." Bigarren nodded, momentarily distracted from his feast. He propped his elbows on the table, a greasy bone dangling from one hand that he used to gesture with. "We have a solution for that, as well. We just need to have someone of our People mentally linked with the mother during the birth. Distasteful to be sure, but a trained Changed could shield the broodmares' brain from the inevitable energy surge during birth. This technique would ensure the survival of most of the breeding stock." "You and your committee have been resourceful, indeed." Sagu leaned back in lazy satisfaction. "I presume you have recorded the technical details?" Bigarren hastily wiped his fingers on his tunic, adding to the existing stains. He produced a palm length crystal. "It's all in here." Sagu took the shaft and looked at it with interest. It was mostly pink, shading from dark to nearly white, with a small green rind on one end, very like a slice of watermelon. "Hmm, is this one of the new crystals found near the western ocean?" "Yes, they are very efficient at storage. The only problem is that with all their inclusions they can be rather fragile, so they are useless for any type of energy amplification." Bigarren pushed himself away from the table as he rose. "Shall I begin implementation?" Still examining the lovely crystal, Sagu waved his hand negligently in Bigarren's direction. "Indeed, begin right away." He listened to the man's footsteps fade completely before he activated the storage device. The fragile crystal glowed brightly, casting ominous shadows on Sagu's face as an evil smile grew. As Bigarren's voice droned on with details he thought, --------------------- Seattle, 1995 Halfway down the hall, Duncan rethought letting Carol take care of the sniper by herself. He cursed to himself and reversed direction, but by the time he reached the kitchen it was empty. He risked a quick glimpse out the back door but couldn't see her anywhere. He was about to plunge out the door in pursuit when Richie's voice stopped him. "Mac, Joe _has_ been hit. We need an ambulance." Duncan cursed to himself again and headed back to the living room. As he crawled into the main room, he could see Richie trying to staunch a bleeding wound high on Joe's shoulder. Richie was too preoccupied with his task to notice, but Joe saw him come back in. "Don't worry, MacLeod, it's not serious." Richie finally looked up and noticed the older immortal. "Mac, do we call the police?" "No, Richie, not if we don't have to. Joe, I need to see what's going on outside." Joe grimaced as Richie continued to put pressure on the wound. "Look in the top drawer of that desk over there, MacLeod. There should be some infrared binoculars." Duncan maneuvered the drawer open without exposing himself to any fire. He whistled silently to himself as he pulled out an obviously expensive pair of latest technology, army-issue night binoculars. "Joe, really, what do you need these for?" He sent a teasing grin to the injured Watcher. "I don't do much night fighting." Joe managed a chuckle which turned into a groan. "Knock it off, MacLeod. Just see if you can find the sniper." Duncan silently watched as Richie efficiently dressed Joe's wound, then maneuvered himself to a position where he could see out the window. He could hear Richie moving into a position behind him. "Mac, why hasn't someone else called the police?" "Haven't you noticed? He's using a silencer of some kind. All we're hearing is the sound of breaking glass." He tried to fine tune the range of the binoculars as he scanned the street for some sign of Carol. A few muzzle flashes clued him in as to the position of the sniper. "Damn, Mac, I didn't even notice in all the excitement. Can you see what's going on?" "I can see where the sniper is. Now we can only hope Carol is as good as she claims to be." Richie started behind him. "You mean you let her go out there alone?" Duncan never took his eyes from the sniper's position. "I didn't have much of a choice. Besides, you saw how she took out those Hunters at your apartment." He could hear Joe laboriously making his way over to them and turned from the window. "Joe, stay still or you'll make the bleeding worse." "No way, MacLeod. I want to know what's going on." He turned back to his position at the window reluctantly. Suddenly, he saw a slight blur of motion at the edge of the binoculars' viewing area. Without warning, the sniper collapsed and Carol appeared in the nest, hauling his body back into the cover he had been using. Duncan began to relax until he heard a soft pop, pop, pop and saw Carol jerk as she was hit by yet another gunman. She looked to where the shots had come from in annoyance, and melted into the shadows again. He scanned the street in the direction of the second gunman, confident now that Carol would be able to take care of him as well. "She's taken out the first sniper, but there seems to be a second one," he reported to Richie and Joe. Both Richie and Joe tried to speak at once, the babble of their voices canceling each other out. "Knock it off," Duncan warned. "She seems to be perfectly capable of handling these guys." The lapsed into silence as they waited. he pinpointed the location of the second assassin. At the same time he spotted the man, he saw him slump into unconsciousness. Carol stepped into view as he increased the magnification of the binoculars. What he saw made his jaw drop. Hands suddenly gone numb dropped to his side, nearly losing their grip on the night glasses. He could hear Richie fidgeting behind him, could hear the murmur of Joe's voice as he talked to somebody, but he was totally paralyzed by what he had seen. "Mac, Mac, come on, what's going on?" Richie's tugging on the binoculars finally brought Duncan out of his momentary paralysis. He handed the glasses to Richie, knowing that by now Carol would no longer be within view. While Richie scanned futilely, Duncan turned his attention to Joe, who was talking into a cellular phone. "Okay, you'll be here in ten minutes? Good. Oh, and bring Robert with you." Joe paused. "Because I've been shot, that's why. All right, see you in ten." He winced as he pushed the off button on the phone, obviously in pain. "Duncan, you and Richie have to leave now. The Watchers will handle the situation from here. What happened to the snipers?" "She took them both out," he replied dazedly. Richie whirled around from the window. "Both of them?" he asked in a stunned voice. "That's right, Richie, both of them. Joe, I'm sure she'll be delivering them to you in a few minutes, so Richie and I are out of here." "Where will you go, MacLeod?" "We'll find some place to hide out." He smiled at the Watcher who had become his friend. "I'll take a cell-phone with me, so if you need anything you can reach me at this number." He handed him a card. "Will you be all right until your people get here?" Joe nodded. "Yeah, I will. You'd better go," he said reluctantly. "I don't want to explain what two supposedly dead immortals are doing here." "All right, Joe, take care." Duncan headed for the door. "Come on, Richie." "But, Mac . . . " Duncan took Richie's arm and hustled the protesting youth out the door. "Come on, Richie," he said quietly. "We need to talk." Richie stopped resisting and they quickly headed out the front door. "Okay, Mac, give." "Richie, I want you to stay here and keep an eye on things. Keep tabs on Joe but don't let the rest of them see you." "Okay, Mac. What are you going to do?" "I'm going to give Carol a ride home and get some answers. Some real answers." With that enigmatic remark, he turned away from Richie and started in the direction of the parked car. Duncan walked with uncharacteristic slowness, pondering what he had seen in that moment when Carol had rendered the second gunman unconscious. He walked into the darkness, not finding any answers. --------------------- /Notes/ The adulthood ceremony of the Herrialdaketa traditionally took place during the summer festival, the week-long festival to celebrate the summer solstice. In many paleolithic peoples, children of the tribe were considered adults when they began puberty. However, the Wise One understood when he began "Changing" his people that no-one should become immortal until puberty had ended, and the body completed its growth cycle. Young girls usually had their ceremonies between the ages of 16 and 21, and young men between the ages of 19 and 25, because puberty starts sooner and ends sooner in young women. At the ceremony, the youngster is given a function within the group (of his or her chosing, similar to an apprenticeship), a formal title, and the secret of activating his or her immortality. The so-called Adult name that the person chooses is adopted in a separate and private ceremony. It was thought that the person's chosen name carried a great deal of power, so the name was known only to hir or her closest friends and relatives, and never spoken aloud. The case of Sagu and his chosen name is a strange one in the annals of the Herrialdaketa. The name he chose for his ceremony on Berri Egoitza was Otsar (Wolf), and his new title was Ehitzari (hunter). However, once he and his group were away from the island, he instead adopted the name Ospagarritasun ("Magnificent One" is a loose translation) and insisted that his followers use it. Definitely a change from a man who had grown up with the name Sagu (mouse). (Hmmm, things are getting interesting. To be continued in chapter 4) ------------------- Well, there's chapter 3, I hope you've enjoyed it. All questions/comments/criticisms/flames to me at liddiard@bs1.prc.com or GrinnyP@aol.com Carol Ann =========================================================================