Augur had no idea what Colonel Kincaid was thinking. His initial reaction of stunned surprise - hardly surprising under the circumstances - had given way to a thoughtful silence. The expected shouting, arm waving and general ranting had never materialised.
Finally Kincaid spoke, "I have some questions; actually I have a lot of questions."
A voice from behind him made him whirl round. Nobody should be able to sneak up on him like that!
"You've taken this a lot better than I expected."
"This isn't calm acceptance. This is me just numb. I'll probably have a screaming fit when I'm alone. For now I have too many unanswered questions."
Liam eased himself down to one of the seats at the table, Augur brought him something to eat. At first Liam tried to say no but Augur went into full mother hen mode and he didn't have the energy to resist. He could see the Colonel trying very hard not to laugh at them. This sign that Kincaid was relaxing in his presence reassured Liam, maybe this would work out after all.
Augur left them to talk and went to work on the data they had retrieved from the raid earlier on the Taelon facility.
Liam looked at Kincaid and then Augur and gave a smile, half resigned, half embarrassed.
"Ever since we lost Lili, he's taken looking after me to a bit of an extreme. I don't have the heart to stop his fussing."
"That brings me to some of my first questions. I realise now that you were right during our 'little talk' of a couple of months ago. I never would have believed you then."
Liam just looked at him and waited for him to continue.
"Obviously not all of your people know your true heritage. Who does? Who doesn't? Why the discrepancy?"
"Too many people know about me. It can't be helped. They people who were there when I was born have first hand proof of my 'uniqueness'. Some of the Washington cell knows too, they've seen me do things that no ordinary person can do. A select, very select, group of senior Resistance figures across the country know, they had to be told. Two other people know and so far they have kept my secret."
"Who?"
"Da'an and a reporter friend of mine."
"A fucking reporter?!!!"
"She's kept secret what she knows, she doesn't know it all. Only that I'm different."
"So why don't the rest of the Resistance know?"
"You saw what happened after the election. It was just blind luck that the Resistance members taken didn't know who I was. For a while there I felt like I was wearing a big bulls-eye on my back. Hell, they didn't even know I had taken over from Doors. I got lucky."
"Why the different doctor earlier?"
Liam sighed. "I have triple helix DNA. I only ever get treated by the two Resistance doctors who know about me. My human parents could be revealed, as well as my alien father if any other doctor got near my blood to test it. Besides, Dr. Park delivered me. If I hadn't have called her when I was hurt she'd have killed me herself."
This time, the disgruntled expression on Liam's face did cause Kincaid to laugh.
"So my friend, what exactly can you do?"
Liam sighed. That was the question. What could he do now? How did he explain this? At the beginning, he supposed.
"I'll need to tell you a little bit more about myself first. Stuff Augur didn't cover."
He began to explain how the Kimera, like the Taelons, were born with full genetic knowledge of their parents. He explained about the shaqarava and his enhanced psychic abilities.
Gaining momentum he then went on to discuss some of the uses he had put these abilities to, from meeting Ha'gel on another plane of existence to restoring Da'an to the Commonality. Colonel Kincaid sat there, not saying a word, he just listened with awe to all the other man told him.
Then Liam said a word that gave the Colonel pause; he said BUT.
"But what? Liam?"
"Not too long ago it came to the point that I had to choose, Colonel. I chose humanity."
"What does that mean?" asked a perplexed Kincaid.
"I've voluntarily renounced some of these abilities."
"What?!"
"They were pulling me too far away from humanity, Colonel; I was losing perspective. My links with humanity are what ground me and keep here on Earth. The more I used my abilities the more I felt the lure of those other planets and dimensions. As a human/Kimera hybrid I could reach them but at the price of abandoning humanity and I won't do that!"
The fervour of Liam's last statement stunned Kincaid, he couldn't deny though that he was glad to hear it. Hearing from Liam's own lips that he chose humanity over his alien heritage did more than anything else could to reassure him of Liam's loyalty to the cause of humanity's freedom.
"So what can you still do? It would be easier to be told now in a controlled environment rather than out in the field."
"I still carry the knowledge of Ha'gel, Beckett and Sandoval in my subconscious. Most of it is buried but things do still filter to the surface.
"I can still think of tactics to work around Sandoval and the Taelons based on instincts buried deep inside. My cognitive abilities and knowledge are still far superior to most humans, this comes from the CVI enhanced memories of my two human parents.
"My abilities in things like strategy, weapons, the martial arts and so on are my own but they are backed by memories from all three of my parents.
"Unfortunately I do still have shaqarava. They are an instinctive part of my psyche and manifest themselves in times of extreme stress or danger. They have always been a mixed blessing. I don't deny they've saved my life on several occasions but they are also the things most likely to betray my heritage to the Taelons.
"Basically I still have a couple of more advantages than regular humans but they are countered with some instinctive traits that I constantly have to battle to control.
"I am dedicated to freeing humanity. I've told the Resistance and I'm telling you now, I do believe our fate is now tied to the Taelons, there is no getting away from that. I'm determined to ensure that it is an equal partnership.
"As for the Jaridians, I honestly have no idea what our end relationship is going to be. I hope friends but we'll have to wait and see.
"Can you live with this? Can we still work together Colonel? Can you keep my secret?"
Liam sat and stared at the man in front of him. So much depended on how he answered.
Kincaid nodded and smiled, "Yes, Liam, we work together."