The Limo Lady approaches Attwood late one night to ask him to meet with a peaceful faction of the new species and negotiate an agreement for peace. Attwood agrees, and asks Tom to work with him, since Tom would be an obvious link between the two.
There's a secret faction within the government, however, that doesn't want Attwood to succeed. They've already viewed his press conferences with concern, particularly the last one, and have met several times to decide what to do about him. Just why they don't want him to succeed isn't clear .... no indication is given as to whether they're members of the new species buried deep within the government, or a faction of the government intent on wiping out the new species in a far more militaristic way than anything Ed could come up with.
They agree to monitor the situation, and take action when necessary.
In the meantime, Tom and Sloan are returning from a day spent at the lab .... it's evening, he hesitates again at the door and decides not to come in, but this time she takes action and tugs him all the way in.
"Tom", she says, her hands on her hips, a smile on her face, and a determined look in her eyes. "Do you remember how I told you I loved you? And how you said you've never leave me?"
"Yes," he responds, a wary look on his face. He can sense her determination but not her intentions, and finds himself caught between longing for her and fearing what she might say next.
"Well, don't you think it's time we did something about it?" The glint in her eyes is now unmistakable as she advances on him a step at a time.
"Sloan .... " he says warningly, backing up until he finds himself up against the back of her kitchen counter.
"Tom .... " Sloan echoes with a grin, loving the way Tom always stretches out the syllables of her name. It's taken her a long time to get up the courage to do this, to confront her feelings for Tom and be as close to him as she's dreamed of being, and now that she's finally doing it she has a heady sense of liberation and of love for him.
Taking his face in her hands and looking into those clear blue eyes, Sloan suddenly sobers. "Tom," she repeats softly, and then puts her lips to his, trying to give to him just a bit of the love he'd never had.
Tom stays completely still for a moment, caught up in a rush of emotions from her -- love, desire, longing, an ineffable tenderness for him -- and then he moves, slowly deepening the kiss, pressing her closer, his hands against her back. This is what he'd waited for all this time, and had been so afraid of .... Sloan in his arms, her soft skin against his, her breath on his. His world narrowed down to one of sensations, all rationality put aside for what seemed like moments on end.
But it can't be for long. Reluctantly, breathlessly, he finally pulls back long enough to get her attention, loving the slumberous look in her green eyes and hating himself for what he's about to do.
"Sloan," he says softly, his eyes searching hers. "Sloan, we can't do this."
It takes a moment for her to focus on his words .... her breath still coming swiftly, her arms still clinging to him as his are to her.
"Why?" she finally asks. "Why, Tom? What's wrong?"
"You *know* what's wrong, Sloan. What we saw with Kevin last week. This feeling we have between us .... we can't let it go any further than this, not now. We *know* that human birth control methods won't protect you against a pregnancy. And we don't know what kind of child might result. I can't do that to you, Sloan. I won't."
"Tom .... " Sloan begins, but before she can go further he pulls away, gently detaching her arms and shaking his head. "Tom, there has to be something we can do. Some way we can be together. We can't be sure that what happened with Kevin will happen in every case."
"But it's the not *knowing*, Sloan," Tom protests. "It's too great a risk. Things are hard enough for you as it is .... you've said yourself that you wish your life could get back to normal. With this hanging over our heads there's no chance of that happening."
"But .... " Sloan falters
She lapses into silence, her arms hugging her waist protectively as she watches Tom pace, her expression as somber as his. She had been so full of love for Tom tonight and so full of need for him that she'd let the knowledge of what Kevin was slip to the back of her mind, but he was right. Their discovery of the dangers of sex between humans and the new species had cast her relationship with Tom in a whole new light .... she just hadn't been willing to admit it.
"I've been thinking .... " Tom says quietly, his gaze fixed on the mantel before him but his senses attuned to Sloan. "About Ed's gene therapy experiment .... "
Taking a deep breath, he turns to face her. "I want to be the first one Ed tries it on."
"What?!" Sloan gasps. This is the last thing she expects him to say. "Tom, Ed's just perfected the drug .... we have no idea yet how well it will work, or even how safe it is!"
"You won't know until you find someone to try it on," Tom points out. "And that will be me. Think about it, Sloan, who else do you have who's willing? Lewis? We don't even know where he is .... we haven't seen him since that night at the lab, and we have no idea where Attwood's boss has him hidden away. I'm here, and I'm willing to take the risk."
"But I'm not!" she protests.
Tom finally moves to close the distance between them, to touch her face gently and look deeply into her eyes. "Sloan," he says softly. "What other choice do we have?"
Arguments bubble up in her throat, reasons why he shouldn't risk his life for her, but in the end she stays silent. Leaning against him, absorbing his warmth as his arms enfold her, Sloan thinks ahead to tomorrow and prays that Ed's drug will mean a future for them both and not an end to a love they've only just begun to recognize.
Tom and Sloan broach the subject with Ed the next morning at the lab, and once he gets over his initial surprise Ed is enthusiastic and ready to start at once. The gene therapy involves a series of injections, but he hopes to see results almost immediately and gives the first injection that morning, Sloan hovering protectively at Tom's side.
Once the injection is given, Tom meets with Attwood and the peaceful faction of the new species. They're both wary and encouraged to see Tom at the bargaining table .... his defection from the new species has been just as Copeland said, an occurrence that had sparked a great debate among the dominants' society. Those who want peace with the humans see him as a possible leader, but they have reservations. They've heard of his willingness to help Shane, his determination to protect him not only from the life mapped out for him by the new species' hierarchy but from the Limo Lady as well. But they've also heard of his actions against the dominants .... his revelations about the tattoo he bears, his decision to take the the humans to Oaxaca to the site of the mummy and the pillar, and his willingness to use his training to fight against his own kind.
The initial negotiations go well, and Attwood is cautiously optimistic. He had feared the worst after their experience with Kevin and seen no alternative to all-out war with the new species. But now he has hopes for peace, and in a press conference he gives at the end of the day he speaks glowingly of the peaceful dominants' willingness to continue the talks and to bring enough to the table to satisfy both sides.
His press conference doesn't go down well with the secret faction. This is not what they want to hear .... any chance at peace will ruin their plans. It's time to put their plan into motion. Attwood has to be stopped.
The key to Attwood's downfall, they decide, is Tom. They're well aware of the help he's given Attwood, and are also aware of Tom's decision to volunteer for Ed's gene therapy experiment .... their contact has planted a source inside the lab, and he's sent in a report just hours ago of Tom's first drug treatment.
Their plan should turn Attwood's greatest strength against him. If Attwood is killed, all the better. If he survives, he'll still be discredited, and any hopes he has of negotiating effectively with the peaceful faction of the new species will be dashed.
Days later, Ed is elated. Tom's been getting daily injections of the drug, and already they're seeing results in his DNA structure with none of the side-effects that Sloan had feared. The drug could be the key to their fight against the more militant factions of the new species, he exults. And with the genetic make-up and physical strength of the new species, Tom is responding much more quickly to the gene therapy drug that Ed had hoped.
Tom has more immediate concerns in mind. How much more human is he at this point? he asks Ed intently. Ed's surprised by the question, and even more surprised by what comes next .... Tom's halting admission as to just why he's volunteered to take the drug. It's not something Ed wants to think about .... he's had enough trouble accepting Tom and Sloan's relationship, and now he's being asked about things he doesn't even want to *think* about the two of them doing. But he has good news for Tom .... there's enough of a change in his DNA that if they're careful sex is no longer the danger it was.
Tom asks Ed to keep the news from Sloan, and Ed reluctantly agrees. He's still uneasy about Sloan's future with Tom, but the shine in Tom's eyes and the look of happiness on his face keeps him silent, and makes him almost envious.
As soon as Sloan opens her apartment door later that night, she knows something's happened. There's a suppressed intensity to Tom .... it's reflected in his eyes and in the passing emotions on his face.
"Sloan?" he says questioningly, a tiny smile playing across his mouth as he moves aside to let her shut the door.
"Tom?" she responds, uncertain. And finds herself backing up as he advances on her, step by step. Before she realizes it she's the one backed up against the kitchen counter, and then she knows. "The test results?" she asks with a grin. "Ed says it's okay?"
"Ed says it's okay," Tom echoes, breaking out in a full smile that makes him look years younger.
"Well, then .... " Sloan says, finding herself suddenly breathless. She's imagined this scene so many times in her mind, what she would say, how Tom would act, and now that it's finally here she finds herself uncertain, her heart beating wildly.
"Well, then .... " Tom mimics her, feeling foolish for the first time in his life and marveling at it. This must be what it's like to feel human, he muses, and then his thoughts scatter as she raises her face to his.
"Sloan," he whispers, taking her into his arms. "I just hope I can be good to you .... that I can give you what you need. This is all new to me."
"Shhh." She touches his lips with her finger, trying to ease his concerns. "This is all new to me too. I've never felt this way about anyone before. We'll learn together."
He responds by gently kissing her finger, and then her lips, pressing her closer to him, and closer still until it seems as though they've already become one.
She'd expected him to be expert in his lovemaking, to lead the way and to always anticipate her needs. That much she had guessed about him after their time in the motel. But she hadn't expected the joy he would take from the simplest of touches, the way he would absorb every kiss, every caress. How he would grow still as she begins to remove clothes, his skin flexing wherever she touches him, the look on his face fierce with concentration as if he's storing up each new sensation.
Or that he would remove her clothes as though he was unwrapping a treasure, slowly, carefully, savoring each new bit of skin that he uncovers. His lips move gently over hers as his hands skim down her arms, her back, moving across her breasts with the lightest of touches. He has her so mesmerized in his spell that she's never sure afterward just when he guides her over from the counter to the bed .... all she knows is that somewhere along the way she has lost her heart even more to him for his sweetness and his need.
But she can also sense how much he's holding back, so careful for her that he's afraid to let himself go. And so she takes the initiative at last, pulling him down over her with firm hands. "Tom", she whispers in his ear, her arms circling his back, "I won't break. Honest." And feels the sudden curve of his lips as he smiles into her shoulder and his sudden intake of breath that lets her know her point has hit home.
With that the tempo of his lovemaking changes. His heart pounding, he finally lets the depth of his need come through and Sloan is caught up in a flood of sensations. It seems as though he's everywhere at once, his breath ruffling her curls at one moment and her soft skin the next, his lips moving from one part of her body to another. His strength is overwhelming, his arms binding her to him with implacable force, his body taut and honed from years of conditioning. Yet no matter how strongly his passion surges, there's never a time when she doesn't feel cherished, and her passion surges in turn, her hands anxious to feel him everywhere and her lips to follow.
She protests wordlessly at one point when his warmth disappears, but it only lasts long enough for him to reach for the protection that will keep her safe, and then he's back to cover her completely.
At the moment of their joining they both grow absolutely still, the wonder of it making them want to do nothing so much as stop time and keep them safe in each other's arms. And then need takes over, and Tom and Sloan reach for the completion they've known they would find in each other, and the peace that would come afterward.
The night becomes timeless as they lie together, nestled in Sloan's rumpled bed, her head on his shoulder, his arms holding her close.
"Tom?" she finally says, stretching languidly against him.
"Hmm?"
"I think we forgot about dinner."
His sudden chuckle rumbles against her. She's right, he thinks, he'd been so full of anticipation that the sight of her had wiped everything else from his mind .... his plans to give her the romantic evening he knew she dreamed of, to woo her gently. One look at her, and all he'd wanted was her in his arms and in her bed.
"Tom?"
He stills at the change in her voice .... suddenly serious, a little hesitant but determined as only Sloan can be.
"What was it like for you?" she asks hesitantly. "Before, when you were still with Lewis? Was there ever a chance for you to get close to someone?"
He smiles into the darkness, knowing that she means a woman. But it's a sad smile, and when he finally answers, his tone is just as wistful.
"We don't get close to someone emotionally, Sloan. Not when it comes to sex. It's a physical need, and for some in our society it's a biological imperative, but that's all it is. Sex among us is ..... soulless. At least it was for me."
"Lewis and Lisa put so much emphasis on it when they had me in that house." She shivers as the memory comes back, and Tom's arm around her tightens in response. "They seemed so intent on knowing about you and me, and whether we'd been together. And so contemptuous."
"It's because they don't understand, Sloan," he says softly. "You heard Copeland .... they all look down on humans and see emotions as a weakness. It's the way we've been raised, what we've been taught for so long that no one thinks to question it."
"Then what happened to you?" she presses, needing to know.
"I don't know. Maybe it was because of my training. We each have our roles to play in our social structure .... there are people like Kevin's father, whose main purpose is to breed, to create as many children as possible to expand our numbers, and there are people like Copeland, who work to expand our knowledge and to subvert yours. And then there are people like me, and Lewis, and Carl. We're the soldiers .... the ones who are taken at an early age for training, and kept isolated in order to have us stay focused. There was no time for anything else, not even sex. We were kept apart from the breeding programs, and the few physical relationships we were allowed once our training was completed were either sanctioned by leaders like Lewis, or part of our undercover assignments."
"Like when you were a chamelon?"
"Yes," he says heavily. "We'd meet someone we were to follow, and sometimes we used sex as a way of getting closer. But that's all it was, and the few times it happened, it always left me empty. As though I knew there should be something more, but didn't know what.
"And the more I was out on my own, with so little contact with Lewis, the more I started to question what I was doing, and what I didn't have in my life. I was surrounded by humans, I saw what their lives were like, and I started to feel .... envy, I guess."
"And then you met me." Sloan allows herself a private little smile.
"And then I met you."
Tom turns to face her, gently adjusting her body to lie alongside his, and looks into her eyes in the reflection of the moonlight shining in.
"Sloan," he begins hesitantly. "When you told me you loved me, I told you that I'd never known love. But I was wrong. I've known it since I met you .... I've felt it in the way you look at me, the way you touch me. And I've felt it inside me, but until now it's been a feeling that I haven't been able to identify, or understand."
"And now?" She finds herself holding her breath in anticipation, afraid to hope too much.
"Now I know that what I've been feeling for you is love, almost from the start. I watched you for a long time before we actually met," he confesses. "I'd see you with Ed and Walter and Dr. Colter, and with your friends. I'd watch you reach out and touch them and I'd find myself wanting it to be me that you touched. And that you smiled at."
Taking a deep breath, he touches her cheek gently and takes that final step in making their relationship complete. "I love you, Sloan," he says gently. "I think I always have, even before I knew what love was."
Her heart swelling in response, Sloan reaches over and touches his cheek in turn. "And I love you," she says in the moment before she brings her lips to his, and starts the cycle of passion and of tenderness all over again.
It's dawn when Tom finally, reluctantly, untangles himself from the tumbled sheets on the bed and from Sloan's arms, still wrapped around him even in her sleep. He's spent most of the night awake, savoring the moments she'd slept next to him as much as the ones when she was awake and in his arms. He didn't want to miss a minute of it, or lose the sense of peace that he'd finally found here in this bed after all those years he'd spent alone.
Standing there, his clothes gathered in one hand, he watches her sleep. Her face relaxed and happy, the tensions of the last few weeks gone for the moment, her curls spread over the brightly colored cushions. He wonders if it's possible to feel *too* much for someone, so much that it hurts. But decides that the pain is as sweet as the love, and revels in the fact that he can feel at all.
Dressing swiftly, he gathers his keys and walks as quietly as he can to the door, intending to leave without disturbing the rest he knows she need so much. But before he can he hears a rustle of sheets, and the sound of her voice.
"Tom?"
Looking back, he sees her sit up in bed and smile at him with eyes still cloudy with sleep. "I'm sorry," he says softly. "I didn't mean to wake you. But I wanted to get away early .... I've got to meet Ed in the lab, and then Walter wants me for another meeting with the peace delegates."
"I'm glad you did," she responds, rising to shrug into her robe and join him at the doorway. "I couldn't let you go without this, could I?" Pulling his face toward hers, she gives him a sleepy kiss, full of love and promise.
Leaning into her, Tom savors one last smell of her perfume, and of her skin. "Sloan, last night .... "
"I know," she says softly, her body resting against his. "For me too."
Moments pass in contentment, the two of them standing at the door, wrapped in each other's arms, soaking in this rare time of peace and happiness for them both until Tom finally pulls away. "I'll see you soon," he promises, taking her hand one last time as he prepares to leave.
"Tom .... " Sloan feels a sudden sense of unease breaking through her joy, as if in fear of what might be out there waiting for them both after such a perfect night. "Tom, I love you. So much. Promise me that you'll stay safe."
Tom's mind focuses on her concern and her need for reassurance. "Sloan," he says softly, bringing her hand up with his to rest against his chest. "You're my life, you know that, don't you?"
She nods silently, feeling the warmth of his skin through his sweater and the steadying beat of his heart.
"Then know that no matter what, I'll always come back to you," he vows.
And with that, and one last gentle kiss, he leaves her standing there in the doorway.
The secret faction puts its plan into motion with Tom's next injection. Their man in place has inserted a drug of their own into Ed's carefully prepared serum, his security clearance raising no objections when he is seen in the lab early in the morning. The drug's effects should be almost immediate, their scientists have assured them, and its presence in Ed's serum should remain undetectable.
Tom arrives at the lab in a rush, made late by the moments he and Sloan spent at her apartment door. He's due to attend a negotiating session with Attwood and the peaceful faction of the dominants, and only has time for a quick smile for Ed as he rolls up his sleeve for the latest injection
When he arrives in the conference room the talks are already underway, and he slips quietly into a chair next to Attwood, letting head of the dominants continue his comments uninterrupted.
Tom's elation over the night spent in Sloan's arms makes it hard for him to focus on the continuing discussions. But soon another emotion is taking over .... an overwhelming sense of unease, fear building on fear, and even the faces of those at the table before him begin to take on an element of that dread. Tom shakes his head, hoping to pin down just what he's sensing, but it doesn't work .... the rush of sensations is building within him, and everything around him is taking on a sense of unreality. Faces are distorted, voices ring harshly, and Tom searches frantically for a reason why. And then it happens. Everything, every alarm ringing in his head, focuses in on the man seated beside him. Attwood. The man he thought he could trust with his life, and with the future of his species. But suddenly he knows that he can't. The fear and dread now emanating in waves within him are focused on Attwood. The enemy he has just now recognized. The enemy he must stop.
When it happens, no one in the room is prepared Tom leaps sideways in a sudden attack on Attwood, his hands going for the older man's throat, his face intent on the kill. It's only because there are other members of the new species in the room and close enough to act that Attwood's life is saved. Tom is pulled back, his features now twisted grotesquely as the drug injected into his bloodstream completely takes over. Invectives spill from his mouth, threats against Attwood and warnings to the others of Attwood's danger to them all .... but his words by now are so incoherent and shrill that no one takes them seriously, and few can even understand. It takes a whole group of men .... dominants and human security agents combined .... to subdue him and drag him to a nearby room in the lab where he's put in restraints, Ed racing in find out what's gone wrong.
Attwood is unconscious at first, but soon recovers enough to gasp out a few words of reassurance to those around him. An ambulance crew arrives and takes Attwood to the hospital despite his protests.
The peaceful dominants left in the room are in shock, gazing around them at the toppled chairs and stream of papers on the floor that are all that remain of the violence that had erupted moments ago. The only humans still in the room are Attwood's security agents, and the dominants aren't sure whether to leave or wait for word.
But soon there's another human walking into the room, one they know, and so they relax. It's the Limo Lady .... here, they assume, to explain what's just happened and to try to get the talks back on track.
What they hear in the next few minutes, though, leaves them stunned.
"Gentlemen," she says evenly, her cool gaze meeting their eyes one by one, "I can only apologize on behalf of our government for the disruption of the negotiations that you have just witnessed. We are just as shocked as you by this turn of events.
"But we are also forced at this point to admit to something we'd only just begun to suspect. There has been a plot to stop these negotiations and to prevent any chance of peace between us, and the plot has centered in this lab and in the work of one man .... Walter Attwood."
Her accusation causes a stir among the dominant delegates, who look at each other in bewilderment. They had sensed no malevolence from Attwood or from Tom Daniels up until this morning, and her words catch them by surprise.
"As you know," she continues, her voice turning steely, "this lab, under the direction of Walter Attwood, has been working to first identify and then to understand your species.
"But what none of us knew until this morning was that it has also been working to destroy you. One of Attwood's top scientists, Ed Tate, has been developing a new gene therapy intent on wiping out your species. It's been listed on the books as a therapy meant only to alter your DNA to ours, but sources we have planted in the lab have reported to us that the actual intent of the drug is far more insidious. Its purpose is to create violence among you, to heighten your senses to the point of bringing on psychosis and insanity.
"You've seen the results this morning. Tom Daniels, a member of your own species, was used by Attwood and Tate as a test subject and told nothing of the true intent of the drug. He believed, as we did, that it was safe and would only make him more human. But after several days the amount of the drug in his bloodstream built to the point that its psychotic effects took over. He's in restraints now, and my people tell us that the damage is too extensive to be repaired. Tom Daniels' mind is gone.
"Our intent now is to determine how deep Attwood's conspiracy against you has reached, and to stop it at its roots."
The Limo Lady pauses, her gaze sweeping those of the delegates, and a small smile comes to her lips. "We have no intention of allowing Walter Attwood's plot to destroy these talks. I will be taking over his chair as head of our government's negotiating team, and hope that we can put what he has done behind us and work for peace."
The dominants meets privately after the Limo Lady's speech, their unease growing by the minute. They have been aware of her for years and have even dealt with her at times, but they have never been convinced of her true nature .... their only reason for approaching her with their plan for peace was the knowledge that she knew and had worked with Tom Daniels. Her announcement just moments ago has deepened their concern .... the words she spoke were persuasive, but something in her tone, almost a sense of satisfaction in condemning Attwood, makes them uneasy.
The news of the drug and its effect on Tom Daniels' mind is devastating. Through the four days of talks they had increasingly come to see him as their potential leader, the one man who held the hope of bringing peace between all factions of the new species and the humans. Now he's in restraints, and the drug that has destroyed him holds the potential to wipe out their entire species.
They return to the conference room to put an end to the talks. Peace is no longer possible .... their tenuous trust in the humans is gone, their belief in coexistence at an end.
The Limo Lady takes the news with equanimity, her face impassive. As the last of the dominant delegation files out of the room, she pulls out her cell phone and dials in a number. When a voice on the other end answers, her message is brief. "It's done."
Meanwhile, Ed has given Tom a drug powerful enough to knock him out but it's not working. He still struggles occasionally against his restraints, his eyes wild, his skin flushed and clammy. Ed's in shock .... the man he'd seen just that morning in the lab, clear-eyed and content, is now out of control, incoherent most of the time and full of warnings about Attwood in his few lucid moments.
The news from the hospital is more encouraging .... Attwood's throat is badly bruised and his voice hoarse, but Tom was pulled off him in time. The hospital expects to release Attwood in a few hours, but it will be into the custody of the Limo Lady's men. An investigation into Tom's attack and into the lab itself has already been announced, and the security men who once protected Ed and the rest of Attwood's team are now shadowing Ed's every move, suspicion on their faces.
The call Ed puts through to Sloan is a difficult one to make. He has no idea what set off Tom's violent actions, but he can't ignore the suspicion that something has gone wrong with the gene therapy .... something in it or in Tom's genetic make-up has set off a cycle of psychosis that seems to be deepening by the hour. And his sense of guilt seeps through in his words to Sloan. "Sloan," he says abruptly as she answers, "you have to get down here. It's Tom. Something's gone wrong."
Her response is immediate, and she's at the lab within the hour, her face strained with worry. She's had trouble even getting admitted through the phalanx of security men, and her feeling of dread grows with Ed's grim expression.
"Where is he?" she says urgently. "Where's Tom?"
Ed takes her shoulders in his hands in an attempt to restrain her, and tries to prepare her for what's happened. "It's bad, Sloan," he says heavily. "Something .... I don't know what .... set Tom off. He attacked Attwood in front of the peace delegation .... he tried to kill him with his bare hands. Attwood's okay .... they managed to get Tom off him in time. We've got Tom in restraints, and I've given him drugs to try to calm him down, but nothing's working. He's like a wild man .... it's as if his mind has just snapped."
"This makes no sense," she says urgently. "He was fine this morning when he left .... the happiest I've ever seen him. What could have happened to change all that?"
"I don't know .... I wish I did," Ed mutters, shoving a hand through his hair and shaking his head in bewilderment. "He's had no side effects to the gene therapy .... his test results have all been promising .... and he looked good when he dropped by this morning for another shot.
"But *something* happened .... it was only a little after he left here that he attacked Attwood, and they say it took six men to get him under control. You should have seen him, Sloan, he .... " Ed's voice trails off, looking at the tears filling Sloan's eyes and realizing how hard this must be for her to hear.
"Take me to him," she insists. "I need to see him."
"Okay," he agrees, "but I'll warn you .... he's not the Tom you and I know."
Taking her arm, he guides her to the lab's library, to the same gurney they'd placed Tom on all those weeks ago when Lewis had programmed him to kill and only an electric charge hooked up to Attwood's door had stopped him. The man lying on that gurney now is a far cry from the one Sloan had kissed goodbye just a few hours ago. His eyes dart frantically around the room, the muscles in his arms bunch as he constantly pulls against the tight restraints. His head thrashes from side to side as he moves, and his words come in spurts. Just for a moment his eyes connect with Sloan's and she holds her breath .... she sees recognition there, and in a moment of lucidity he says her name on a questioning note .... but then he's gone again, staring off in another direction and shaking his head fiercely.
Gently, carefully, Sloan approaches the gurney, her hand reaching out to smooth back his sweat-dampened curls. But Tom is too far gone at that moment to realize who she is, and jerks back in a panic.
Her face crumpling, she turns back to Ed. "Can't you *do* something for him?" she begs him. "Find a way to sedate him until we can figure out what's gone wrong?"
"I've tried, Sloan." Ed shakes his head in frustration. "I've given him the strongest sedative I can think of, and it's not enough. Anything stronger, and we take the chance of killing him."
"Then we've got to find out what's gone wrong, and see what we can do to fix it," she says desperately.
"I don't know whether they'll let us," he warns her, pulling her aside into a part of the hallway clear of the milling security men. "A lot's happened here, Sloan. Walter's boss is saying that we did this on purpose to Tom, that the gene therapy was designed not to change DNA but to make the new species psychotic and self-destructive. She's got the delegates thinking that .... hell, she's got our government thinking that .... and she's implicated both Walter and us.
"Look around you, Sloan .... these men aren't here to protect us. They're here to watch us and report back, and I'm not sure what they've done with Walter, but I don't think it's good."
Sloan looks around her, suddenly realizing how the looks of the men guarding them have changed .... the friendly faces have turned cold and wary, and she knows she'll get no help from any of them. Then she looks back at Tom, still incoherent and restlessly pulling at his restraints, and firms her chin. "I don't care why they're here, Ed," she says grimly. "We've got a job to do, and Tom doesn't have a chance if we don't get to work."
Hours later, the security men are still on guard. It's late at night, Sloan is taking a quick nap on a pallet set up in her office, and Ed is hard at work in the lab, going over his test results time and time again in an effort to figure out what's gone wrong. Tom is still awake and even more agitated than before .... Ed fears that the psychosis that hit Tom so violently is actually increasing in severity rather than tapering off, and he dreads telling Sloan when she wakes just how bad things have become.
He's now inured to the constant security patrols around him, too focused on the work before him to let anything else penetrate. And so he misses the sound of a hushed conversation in the hallway, the glances thrown his way by the two men talking and the quiet, deliberate movements of even more men passing by, intent on their mission. And he misses the moment when they inject Tom with a drug so powerful that it finally does what none of Ed's have been able to, and renders him unconscious and easier to carry through the hushed hallways of the lab.
By the time Ed does surface from his work, Tom is gone, and so is the rest of the security force.
Morning has dawned, and the trail is cold. Ed and Sloan send out a frantic call to Ray the minute they discover that Tom's missing, but he can't find one witness to anything unusual happening in and around the research building, and no prints or evidence left in the lab itself.
Attwood is also gone, no one knows where. He was last scene leaving the hospital under heavy guard, and Sloan's frantic efforts to find him through his government contacts have failed. No one knows the Limo Lady's number, and at this point, even if they did, none of them trusts her enough to call.
Ed is hunched over his desk, papers strewn in front of him and his mind still desperately attempting to find the clue that would explain Tom's reaction. It can't be the drug itself .... he's sure of that much. Tom's response had been positive from the start, and the drug was potent enough that any side effect would have been swift and dramatic in its presentation. So it must be something else .... something in Tom's genetics that Ed hadn't accounted for? Or something in the serum itself?
He turns to ask Sloan a question, but stops himself and glances at Ray instead. The two men exchange troubled looks. Sloan hasn't said a word since her last phone call failed .... instead she's seemingly shut down, her gaze directed out the window, her mind off some place where they can't reach her.
Ed stares down at his papers, not knowing what to do next. And then looks back up, startled, as Sloan's head suddenly lifts and she jerks her head around. "Tom?" she says uncertainly, looking around the room. "Tom?"
"Sloan." Ed jumps up and goes over to reassure her. "What is it?"
"I heard Tom," she says in confusion, shaking her head. "I heard his voice, calling my name." She looks up to find both Ed and Ray staring at her doubtfully, concern written on their faces.
"No," she insists, her voice gaining strength. "I heard him. I know it. He's in pain, and he's calling for me."
"Sloan, you're tired .... we're all tired." Ed looks at her searchingly, his fear for her rising. He's been afraid of this since she first arrived at the lab and saw Tom in restraints. "We've been working at this for hours, and none of us are thinking straight any more."
"No." Sloan's voice is firm as she straightens up from position against the window. "I heard him, Ed. I know it. We've had a connection, Tom and I, almost since the moment we met. We've known when each other was in trouble before, and that's what's happening now. Tom's out there and he needs me."
"But what can we do?" Ray argues. "We don't know where he is, or who's taken him."
"He's alive, we know that much," Sloan says, reaching for the phone. "And we're going to find him."
"Sloan ..... Sloan!!"
The cries echo through the cavernous spaces of the Pentagon basement. Rising and falling but never ending, they raise the hairs on the back of the Limo Lady's neck as she stands before the head of the secret faction. She'd known of his ruthlessness, his determination to succeed no matter what the obstacle, but his treatment of Tom Daniels shocks even her.
"Why?" she asks simply. "Why naked, and in a cage?"
"Because," he replies, his voice steady. "He's the one man who stands in the way of our plans, and while the drugs we've given him are doing the job, we want more. He's a symbol to those dominants who want peace, and as long as they think there's a chance of saving him and putting him in place as their leader, they won't give up hope."
"Why not just kill him?"
"That would make him into a martyr, and that's just as dangerous. This way he's broken .... no sanity, no freedom, not even the dignity of having clothes .... and each time we capture another one of the ones who want peace, we'll drag him out and show him to them to make it clear just what will happen if they resist."
"Is his mind really broken?" she persists, fearful of pushing but at the same time intent on knowing.
"Not yet. He's an amazing specimen, with a stronger will than the best of our scientists predicted. The fact that he's still calling her name is proof enough that he's hanging on. But not for much longer. Everyone has their breaking point. It's just a matter of time until we find his."
The man turns away, impatient with the conversation.
"And Sloan Parker?" the Limo Lady questions.
"We're watching her. We know she and Daniels were lovers at the end .... that was the whole point of his decision to volunteer for the drug, wasn't it?" he says derisively. "She's discredited at the moment as a scientist. You've seen to that. But she may still be of use to us if Tate's drug didn't work and she's carrying Daniels' child. If that happens, we'll move on her."
He turns to give the Limo Lady one last steely look. "Either way, the two of them have been silenced long enough to put our plans in motion." Pushing a button, he directs her to the door opening behind her.
"Report back to me on the results of Attwood's .... interrogation," he instructs. "And let me know if Dr. Parker tries to contact you. We can make use of that."
Clearly dismissed, the Limo Lady leaves the darkly-lit office and walks down the corridors, those haunting cries echoing behind her. She's worked long and hard to get this far and has never let emotion stand in her way. But those cries, she knows, will stay with her long after she leaves the building. Almost, if she let herself, she could feel pity for Tom.
Instead, she focuses on her own future. She suspects, at long last, that she's chosen the wrong side. And that it's time to make a change.
Outside, out of range of prying eyes, she pulls out her cell phone and dials the one number she had never expected to call. "Dr. Parker?" she says abruptly. "We need to meet."
The End
This web graphics on this page were created by Moyra.
