Date: Mon, 12 Dec 1994 17:41:00 +0000 Reply-To: Highlander TV show stories Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: AHILL@CCVAX.UCD.IE Subject: The Challenge: Our Today (1 of 2) Apparently the last time I posted this it got screwed up by the genie phantom... so here we go again.. Criticisms welcome as always to ahill@ccvax.ucd.ie ************************************** _The Challenge_. Part 3: Our Today. A HL story set in the ST:DS9 universe. By Amanda Hill. ************************************** *I gazed around at the temple that had for a short time housed my dreams. The people understood. I could not outstay my welcome here. But I could stay too long. I thought that the magic of this place would protect me. Hide me. But not forever. I had found something special in the three years I dwelled within these walls. Something I will always have even if I lose today. Bajor was more than another casual stopover, it was a home. A home I once fought to free...* [Flashback] I laughed as the red fireworks chased the last Cardassian ship out of orbit. I joined the chain of Bajora dancing through the wreckage left in the wake of a sixty year old war. Everything was destroyed. Except the spirit. It was the spirit of these people that kept them fighting for their world. Their spirit that inspired me to join them eight years ago. As the dance ended and the people gathered together to talk of the building of a great new life, Dean Samonn came smiling towards me. I smiled back at the one man that knew of the Human standing behind the cosmetic nose, yet chose not to cast me aside as one of those 'innocent Federation bystanders'. He stood two inches taller than me but always *seemed * smaller after a lifetime of barely staying alive. His dark eyes twinkled as they could barely contain the beauty of his soul. I held out my hand to him. "Hey Sam, where've ya been? I missed you." He pulled me towards him and wrapped his arms around me. "I've only been gone fifteen minutes!", he whispered, "but they were long away from you". He laughed and swirled me around a full 360 degrees before putting my feet back on the ground. "I was talking to Benone. He says Bajor is gonna need all the architects she can get if we've to get back on our feet." I looked around at the rubble surrounding us. "No kidding. So it looks like you now have a job to keep you away from me all day. And all night." "You mean when you're not trying to cure the ills of the world in that lab! Don't worry, it's gonna take a little more than that to get rid of me. And we've got a whole new and long life ahead of us!" We walked together back towards the crowd. Sam suddenly leapt into the air. "I can't believe they're finally gone! All my life I've been living under the threat of the Cardassians. But now to feel the freedom my parents never knew. *And* to have someone to share it with!" Again he enveloped me in his arms. "So. Whose nose to you think our children will have?" I had dreaded this moment. The question of our future never arose during the war. It was too dangerous to hope, to make plans. At the beginning of our relationship I had told him that I was not Bajoran. After the initial shock he accepted it and told me that I was full of surprises. Now it was time for me to spring another on him. "Listen, Sam. There's something you should know..." He waved distractedly at me as a tall broad shouldered man approached us. Something about the stranger's manner triggered off every warning sign I had come to recognise. As he held out his hand to me and introduced himself, I felt like I wanted to be miles from here. "Ah, you must be Nole Aleanna. I'm Cana Lor. Your work has saved the lives of quite a number of my friends and colleagues. It is truly a delight to finally have the opportunity to thank you in person." After a brief polite exchange he bowed. "It has been a pleasure to meet you but now I must ask if I can borrow Samonn from you for just a moment." Before I had a chance to reply he was walking Sam away talking a little too loudly of plans and new buildings. I watched them a while as a feeling of dread crept up on me. But there was nothing to do but rejoin the party. About half an hour later Sam returned. "Are you ready to go home?" He turned in the direction of our makeshift home, the excitement gone from his voice. "Sure," I said as I followed him. "Did something happen? Who was that guy?" He shook his head. "No one special. It's been a long day. I'm tired. I have an early start tomorrow. We're rebuilding the school." He said no more until we reached the door which he pushed aside. We walked in. "He didn't look like the typical architect type to me. And you certainly weren't this short on energy before he arrived on the scene. What's going on, Samonn? Don't tell me nothing. I can see it in your eyes." He turned and snapped, "Human intuition, is it? Five years on the planet and you're already an expert on the Bajoran psyche!" "I've been around. Talk to me, Sam. Please." His tone dropped. "Not this time, Allan. I'm going to bed." With that he left me standing alone in the dark. The next morning I watched quietly as he crept around trying not to wake me. He pulled on his clothes, checked his phaser, carefully kissed my forehead, and walked out. I dressed quickly myself, grabbed the bundle containing my sword from behind the door, and followed him outside. Eventually I spotted him in the distance. He was talking to a short fair skinned woman I did not recognise. I tried to get closer to listen to their conversation but froze when her hands moved into the sign of the Ta'kharr. My blood ran cold as he returned it. Sam had been involved with the Ta'kharr, yet another 'resistance' group, before I met him almost four years ago. So what the hell was he doing here now? The woman handed him a small grey coloured box and walked away. I pulled myself against a stone pillar and held my breath until Sam had walked past without noticing my presence. He jumped with a start when I spoke far too calmly to him. "I thought the Ta'kharr taught you to always watch your back? But then I also thought you'd finished with them." He swirled around and grabbed my arm with a surprisingly strong grip. "What in the name of the Prophets are you doing here? Have you any idea just how dangerous this is? What they'd do to you if they caught you? And that's before they discover what you really are!" He tried to lead me away but I yanked my arm from his grip. "I can take care of myself. But how about you? You said yourself that these are dangerous people. Why are you getting involved with them again?" "Okay, you win." Gently this time, he took my hand. "I'll explain everything. But not here." We must have been walking in silence for over two hours before I first saw the ruins on the horizon. The city we approached, once a monument to Bajor's greatest architects and artists, was now a cruel reminder of all that the generations had lost and never known. Sam's father, Dean Cyan, had been responsible for the building of the temple in the centre of this now razed city. It was there that we walked. People were already returning from camps across the quadrant and starting to rebuild. Yet the temple was quiet. Peaceful. It had not escaped the fate met by the rest of the city, yet it's foundations had held together better than most. When we were inside, Sam sat down by a small pool. "I haven't been here since my father died. That was over ten years ago. More. My mother and sister were killed in a Cardassian raid when I was ten. My father and I were off playing some stupid ball game. When we returned there was nothing left." I sat down beside him and rested my head on his shoulder. He continued. "I don't think we ever forgave ourselves for not being there. Or each other. Eventhough we knew that if we'd been there all we could have done was died with them. It didn't stop the pain." I wanted to tell him that I understood. I know what it's like to lose people knowing that there's not a thing to be done about it. I know what it's like to be alone. Without family. But now was not the time. I would have my turn later. "When my father died of weakness and malnutrition, here in his father's temple, I was so angry. I wanted to strike at everything and everyone. And that's how the Ta'kharr found me. The perfect new recruit. Angry, lost, and alone. They fed my angry and taught me to fight. To kill. I became trapped in a routine I couldn't get out of." "But you did. You escaped." Sam shook his head sadly. "I thought I had. I ran away -left without trace. Kept moving so they couldn't track me down. That was the idea, anyway. I didn't count on meeting you. I couldn't leave. So now you must." That came as a shock. I sat up straight. "Leave you? Why?" Yet at the back of my mind I knew that I'd tell him to do the very same if Calem found me here. I had tried to forget about Calem, but every so often his image would return to my mind. I shut it out. "Please, Allan. You've got to. It's too dangerous for you to stay. I don't want to lose you too." "You've certainly got a strange way of showing it. What's going on, Sam? I'm not going anywhere until you tell me." Sam just sighed. "Then stay here. I'll go. Don't you get it? They're not letting me leave. Not without doing one last mission. Except with the Ta'kharr there's no such thing as 'one last mission'. And if I don't do it, it's not me they'll kill. It's you." I took his hand in mine and almost felt like laughing. "Is that it? That's what has you so afraid? Sam, how many times have I told you that I can look after myself?" Sam smiled. "Roughly the same number of times as I've reminded you that you're not immortal. Only to have you smile back at me." This was it. I gulped a large breath of air. "I am." "You are what?" "I am Immortal. I cannot die. Generally." Sam closed his eyes and opened them again. "Come on, Allan. This is not the time for jokes." My expression never changed. Far from it. This is what I was trying to tell you earlier before your Ta'kharr 'friend' interrupted. I'm no more your typical Human than I am your typical Bajoran. Everything I've told you so far is true. Except that I was born in Paris 461 years ago. Not 25. And it's been the best part of a century since I was last on Earth." He tried to clear his head. "I hope you'll understand if I have a bit of difficulty believing all this. It's not everyday I have someone younger than me telling me that they were born four centuries before even my father!" I reached for the bundle beside me and drew my sword. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this." I sliced my arm from elbow to wrist rapidly with the blade of the sword and hoped that that would be enough. We both starred transfixed at the cut as blue sparks etched across the surface and I felt the tingle of the Quickening at work. The wound closed and healed. Within seconds, my arm was as bare as it was a minute ago. Sam just stared at my scarless arm, nodding occasionally, as I told him everything. _____________________________________________________________________ /| || Amanda Hill : ahill@ccvax.ucd.ie || || My sword has a heart of steel.... but to others it's just ==== painted plastic! }{ ** ____________________________________________________________________ This message was brought to you by Baj. Still the only Lefthanded Telepathic Immortal Bajoran member of the Q Continuum with a mild addiction to Chocolate..... ____________________________________________________________________ =========================================================================