Arrival
by Mithril (perretta@entelchile.net)

Present time, Earth...

In a beautiful, silent night, two kids -Johnny and Mick- stared the sky in amazement. "Johnny, look over
there," the elder one said, pointing at a sparkling shooting star.

"Wow..." the little boy whispered in awe. "Where do you think it will land?"

Mick shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe the star will continue its lonely voyage through the
Universe..." he answered, a dreamy expression in his eyes. Then, he took his brother's hand. "Come on.
Let's go inside. Mom will get mad if she sees us here."

"Okay," Johnny said reluctantly.

With a smile and a sigh, they returned to their home.

In spite of Mick's innocent thought, the shooting star -surrounded by a great ball of fire- landed in the
middle of an abandoned field. Minutes later, once the fire was over, an alien pod was revealed. It
opened. Slowly, a sparkling white-golden being -doubtless female- stepped out. Trembling, she tried to
walk, but fell to her knees. Ae'lia, the last remaining Kimera, decided to stay seated on the ground for a
while.

******

Major Liam Kincaid woke up abruptly, stiffening in his bed. Feeling something strange in his hands, he
raised them and, to his surprise, his palms were glowing. *What's going on?* he thought, slightly worried.
After a moment of concentration, his hands return to their normal state. *Maybe it's just a reaction to a
dream,* he reasoned, not fully convinced. With a sigh, he looked at his watch and shook his head. It was
5 A.M. Realizing that he would not be able to fall asleep again, he rose, grabbed his clothes and went to
the bathroom.

******

A couple of hours later, Ae'lia regained her strength and rose from the ground. With a wave of her hand,
she closed the pod and activated its cloaking device. Immediately, it turned into what appeared to be an
ordinary rock. Once finished, she looked around and smiled at the beauty of the sight. The rising sun
seemed to be greeting her. She sparkled in delight. Suddenly she raised her head and stiffened, as if
she had heard something. A wide smile appeared on her face. She could feel the fait presence of the
being she loved most. *Father?* Ae'lia whispered in her mind. She went serious and shook her head.
*No. It is not Ha'gel... but somehow it is... It does not matter. I will find who it is* she thought, forcing
herself not to feel too much hope.

She started to walk North, the presence being strongest in that direction. Ae'lia had only walked a
couple of steps, when she abruptly stopped. Another presence reached to her mind. With a mixture of
joy and fear, she recognized who it was. *Ka'lin sha!*

With a sigh, she sat on a rock, her head between her hands. *I believe the Universe is not big enough
for the Taelons. If only--*

Her thoughts were interrupted by a pleasant sound that came from behind. Curious, she turned and saw
a small winged creature standing on the ground. Carefully, she placed her hand near the little one. After
a moment of hesitation, the being stepped on her hand. Slowly, she raised it and with a delicate finger,
she kindly stroked the creature's little head. To her surprise, the animal made that pleasant sound again
and flew to her shoulder. Seconds later, it returned to her hand. An idea occurred to her. She smiled. "I
need your assistance, little one," she explained in a soft voice. "I promise you will not be harmed."

The creature tilted his head. She mimicked the movement. "May I presume that the answer is yes?"

As the being did not leave, she assumed that it had agreed to help her. "Thank you, little one," she said.
She touched the frail being with a finger. Immediately, her hand seemed to melt with the bird's body.
Seconds later a bird with startlingly intelligent, glowing eyes, flew away, leaving a small black stone
carefully laid on the floor.

******

Inside his audience chamber, Da'an watched curiously as Liam nervously paced up and down the room.
After a couple of minutes, the North American Companion decided to interrupt his protector. "Liam, what
is it that bothers you?" he asked with interest.

The hybrid did not answer.

"Liam," Da'an called him again.

Liam stopped and blinked in surprise. "Sorry, Da'an. It's just that I... I feel... I don't know," he finished with
a helpless shrug.

Da'an just tilted his head and gave the Major a puzzled look.

******

"POLICE, STOP!" young detective Sarah Bright yelled to the suspect. *Damn!* she thought annoyed, when
she saw he had hurried into a nearby alley. Not having another option, she took a deep breath and
followed him. *Where did he go?* she thought, looking around. The man was nowhere to be seen. She
sighed in frustration. Without knowing why, she raised her gaze saw a little bird staring at her with a
tilted head.

"Hello, little one. Can you tell me where the bad guy has gone?" she asked with a smile.

As an answer, the bird blinked. Suddenly, it started to warble furiously and flew away. Startled, Sarah
turned her head... to see the man pointing at her with a gun. He fired.

Fatally wounded on her stomach, Sarah fell to the floor. Barely breathing, she laid her back on the wall.
Scared and angry Sarah didn't notice the tears that started to fall from her eyes. *God... do not let... me
die... alone... with this psycho.*

An evil grin on his face, the man raised the gun to finish the job, but he never shot. Instead, he was
rudely thrown aside by a strange energy blast.

With wide opened eyes, Sarah saw a glowing white-golden being approaching... an angel. The wonderful
creature knelt by her side. "Are you an... angel?" the dying detective asked in a whisper...

******

In the shape of a little bird, Ae'lia arrived in an incredible city and soon she noticed the unmistakable
Taelon architecture. Her heart shrunk, wondering if the Taelons would destroy this world too. Feeling
extremely tired, she decided to rest in a safe, lonely place. She descended. After a moment, something
happened. One violent-looking being arrived where she was. He hid behind some strange cube
structures. A second later, another being arrived too. Ae'lia looked intently at them and realized that, as
the Kimera, they were divided in two genders. The female looked around and then raised the head and
saw her in her current body. The female asked her something, but Ae'lia did not understand the
language. She tilted her small head. Suddenly, Ae'lia saw the male leaving his hideout and threatening the
female with some kind of weapon. She tried to warn the being, but it was too late. He fired.

Horrified, Ae'lia freed the host body and went to help the hurt female. She fired her shaquaravah. Then,
she walked towards the wounded one and knelt. The being spoke again. In order to understand her
words, Ae'lia placed her hand on the female's forehead. A second later, she withdrew it. "I am not one of
your angels," she said with a smile. "I am a Kimera."

"Close... enough," Sarah whispered, trying to fight the pain.

The Kimera tried to cure her, but failed. Sadly, she held Sarah's hand. "I am sorry. I am not able to heal
you. I can only make the pain stop." She used her shaquaravah.

Sarah's face relaxed. "Thank you."

Ae'lia tilted her head. "Why? My assistance was useless."

Sarah slightly smiled. "You are wrong. Thank you... for not letting me... die... alone." she whispered her
last words. Sarah died peacefully in Ae'lia's lap.

Deeply moved, she closed the young woman's eyes. After a moment of hesitation, she gently placed her
hand over Sarah's face.

"Now we will live as one," Ae'lia said, her hand melting with Sarah's body.

Seconds later, Ae'lia stood up, tears in her eyes. Now she knew the kind of world she was in and what
was the situation with the Taelons... The ‘benevolent’ Companions.

"Thank you for the knowledge, Sarah," she said to the cocoon, "I know that you will be happy in your
heaven."

She raised a glowing hand and vaporized the cocoon.

"What was that noise?" a voice asked behind her.

Quickly, she swept her tears. Then, she turned and, due to Sarah's memories, she knew it was her
partner, detective Stan Palmer.

"I don't know," she answered innocently.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow and soon noticed the man lying unconscious on the floor. He
smiled widely. "Good job, Bright," he said and then seemed to see her for the first time. He placed a
hand on her shoulder and gave her a wink. "Tell you what. I take care of this one and you go home. I
don't want to offend you, but you look really terrible."

She tilted her head. "I am not offended. You are right. Certainly I look different. I will accept your
suggestion. Good bye, Stan," she said seriously, walking away. She had many things to do in this new
world... her home.

Stan just shrugged and grabbed the man.

******

Onboard the Mothership, no Taelon had noticed Ae'lia's arrival... no Taelon, but Zo'or.

Inside his private chamber, a sparkling Zo'or stood before the virtual glass window, his gaze fixed upon
Earth. How could it be, after so many years? He had no doubts, though. Her tender presence had clearly
reached to his mind... Just as she had done thousands of years ago. He shook his head. *No,* he
vowed, *I will not allow myself another moment of weakness. Now I am stronger. I am the Synod Leader!
If she is captured she shall embraced the void.*

He returned to his chair and activated the energy stream. He tried to relax, but to his annoyance, one
word echoed loudly in his mind... Ka'lin sha.

Fin

To be continued in "Encounter"