Hybrid Family
     Seven O'Nine
 

                             Takes place at the end of "Forge of Creation."

                             ****

                             The splitting headache that had been pounding in Lili's brain was abating as the stars spun by.
                             The shuttle was shivering as she poured every ounce of power into the engines—it wasn't
                             supposed to go so fast, but she couldn't wait another moment.

                             Ariel's shrieks were still filling the shuttle, but they were less frantic than they had been
                             before. Vor'jak hadn't said a word...

                             Lili felt her jumpsuit cling to her back as her body temperature began to go down, leaving her
                             shaking and sweating. She quickly set the controls to autopilot and slid out of her chair.

                             Ariel was whimpering as her mother knelt down beside her, her tiny face stained with tears.
                             Lili kissed the baby on the forehead and smiled. She wasn't a good judge of body
                             temperature, but her daughter wasn't burning up. She was going to be all right...

                             Then Lili looked up at the hulking figure slumped in the other seat, and quickly walked on her
                             knees toward Vor'jak. His head was lolling forward on his chest—and he wasn't moving. She
                             touched her fingertips to his mouth—he was hardly breathing.

                             "Vor'jak," she whispered, feeling tears coming to her eyes. "Vor'jak... Vor'jak, wake up!"

                             He had used all of the Taelon energy for Ariel, and kept none for himself. Lili began gently
                             slapping her mate, whispering, "Wake up, wake up..."

                             Vor'jak jerked, and something small bounced from his hand and rolled down Lili's arm. She
                             picked it up with a shaking hand, and smiled as she saw that it was an energy capsule from a
                             Taelon-engineered weapon. She had seen Liam give Vor'jak something, but over the roaring
                             of the engines, she hadn't been able to hear him.

                             Vor'jak's pale blue eyes slowly opened, and Lili felt his rough hand sliding over hers. "Lili..." he
                             whispered.

                             She smiled, relieved. "We're away from Earth."

                             "Ariel?"

                             "She's fine. Her temperature's down already."

                             Vor'jak smiled lopsidedly as he looked over at his tiny daughter, who was now trying to eat
                             her fist. Then he started forward in his chair with a grunt.

                             "You're too weak, sit back," Lili said, pushing him back into his chair. "I can pilot, I was trained
                             for this. I wasn't affected by being on Earth as much as you were."

                             Vor'jak nodded and sat back reluctantly. But as Lili started to stand up, he caught her hand.
                             He looked both uncertain and a bit embarrassed. "Lili... before you arrived on Jaridia... was
                             there... anything involving you and Kincaid? I simply desire to know..."

                             Lili blinked. "Involving... oh." She laughed—Liam had given her a farewell kiss right before the
                             shuttle had taken off. "Vor'jak, that is sweet of you. No—Liam is like... he's been kind of like a
                             brother to me in the past."

                             Vor'jak appeared to be mollified by this information, sitting back and closing his eyes. He
                             reached out one hand toward Ariel and stroked her downy head.

                             Lili watched him fondly for a moment, then stood up and began logging on a coded
                             transmission. She pointed the camera toward Ariel, and began to speak to Liam across the
                             light-years...