Re: Another Life IV (HL, XO, CC, MA) Part 19 3/4/10
Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 6:17 pm
Another Life IV Part 20
Joe and Methos had gone over the watchers database very carefully. It had taken them over 6 months to narrow down the possible candidates to those they thought would both want to have children and would also be thought to be able to handle it. That was of course subjective but they had also run all the candidates by the other Immortals. A few were known to some of them which helped. In the end they found out of just under 5000 Immortals (Joe was surprised at that number; he thought there were only about 4000; Methos thought about the same) there were only a certain number who appeared to be in anything like a real relationship. There was only one other Immortal couple beyond the one Duncan had already helped and Annie and Sean. They had been a couple for almost 100 years, very carefully flying under the radar in the Outback of Australia. It was a very large area that was not populated until the Antarians had come. In actuality that appeared to help the couple stay anonymous, what with modern state bureaucracy and taxes and the like. Joseph Heller, originally german; Eleanor Jenkins, originally English. They were both about 150 years old. Neither had taken more then a couple of heads, and only when challenged and unable to avoid it. It was agreed by all that they would be approached first. The other 21 couples were all Immortal and Mortal. That had been narrowed down since several couples were beyond the age where children would be considered due to the age of the Mortal. It had been agreed that only those in a narrow qualification area would be approached. In all with the Immortal couple there would be 17 that would be offered the chance. Indications were that all were unaware of Watchers. So Duncan and Grace would be the ones to approach them. Duncan was well known in the Immortal ranks as an honorable man; and Grace equally well known as a doctor and one who never fought.
Joseph and Eleanor were checking their cattle ranch in Northern New South Wales when they both felt a Buzz. They turned as one and looked at the SUV that was approaching them. Joseph got off his horse and made sure his Sword was near at hand. As Agreed Eleanor would stay mounted and back some until the situation was figured out.
The SUV stopped and a man and woman got out. Walking together they approached Joseph, who while being cautious thought that an immediate fight was not at hand.
“My name is Duncan McCleod and this is Grace. We are here to offer you a chance to have children.”
Needless to say both Joseph and Eleanor needed shovels to pick their jaws off of the ground.
Joseph recovered somewhat, and looked at Duncan. “I have heard of you, and also of Grace. All that I have ever heard is that you never challenge without cause and that Grace never fights. And that she is a renowned doctor. And also that You have connections to the Antarians. It is my guess that this ability is due to their efforts.”
“Queen Elizabeth is one of us and she was the first Immortal to have children. We have carefully searched the Immortal ranks looking for those that both deserve and possibly want children.”
Eleanor had ridden closer and gotten off her horse to Joseph’s side, and had grabbed his hand at Duncan’s words. “When I saw that you were the one to teach Queen Elizabeth, I suspected she might be immortal. It has worried me that it might get out about Immortals; when she was shot in Canada I thought the secret would come out.”
Duncan nodded. “That was a close one. It is at her invitation that Grace and I have come. You will both need to come to the Palace for this to be done. Eleanor, you will need to spend approximately 3 months in a pod unconscious and on life support for you to be able to carry a child to term. “
“Whatever I have to do I will happily do. Joseph and I have badly wanted children since we met; even with the questions about them growing older and we do not. “
Joseph squeezed her hand. “When ever you want us at the palace we will be there.”
Grace who had been silent up to now spoke up. “I will explain all the details and answer your questions. Any time you want to come to the palace we can get started.”
That was pretty much the pattern for the other couples approached. 2 chose not to have children; and unfortunately Duncan and Grace arrived to late to stop a challenge that destroyed one couple; the winner was a headhunter known to Duncan who then challenged and took his head. Grace then spent the next few days consoling the mortal woman left alone. They had been together over 10 years. Duncan was vividly reminded of Tessa.
Joe had carefully with Methos’s help kept the watchers away from finding out what was going on. It was a bit tricky but it was done. Overall it took Duncan and Grace a month to contact all of the couples.
So in the end 14 more couples came to the Palace to have children. For those couples where the Woman was mortal it was a very quick process. Only for those couples where the Immortal was a woman did it take time. There were 5 of those, counting Eleanor and Joseph.
In the meantime the medical situation with the Pods had worked its way along the bureaucratic path. Since the Antarians were considered a foreign country, the paperwork was even more of a factor in getting the FDA to go along with it. It was thought it would take another 3-4 months to get that all done before the first clinical trials would start. Needless to say there had been many applications for the 20 trials that would be the first trial. After that there would be 50 more and it those were as successful as hoped then the treatment would be approved for general use. All together it was thought it would take about 18 months, which was actually very fast for that sort of thing.
Liz had been lounging in the gym, watching Lisa work out with Eleanor, who was about to go into the pod for her 3 months after being impregnated. The other 4 Immortal Women were also working out, paired up. It had been decided to do them all at once, since there was no real reason to wait. The other couples who had Immortal men with Mortal women had already been done and all the women were pregnant. It had been decided that all would stay in the Roswell area until the children were born. Annie was two months into her podding, with a month to go and Sean wearing a trench in the floor next to it.
Suddenly something alerted Liz. She straightened up and looked around. No one else seem to have noticed. She was not sure what it was, but it seemed to be calling her. Quietly slipping out of the Gym she walked down the hall to her office. Nodding to her secretary she went into the office and stopped dead.
Next to her window was a dark gray, almost black tube of what looked like smoke or fog. It seemed to pulse and reverberate, but it seemed to Liz that only she felt that. Staring at it for a minute, she realized what it was and stiffened. Then deliberately walked over to her desk and sat down and swiveled her chair in its direction.
“OK, whatever you are. We both know what its about so if that is your way of intimidating me it won’t work. And if that is your natural form, can you speak or are you capable of telepathy. If not then I kind of doubt this meeting will mean anything.”
Liz was scared but she was damned if she would show it. Whatever it was probably could tell her every thought, but she was not going to give it any satisfaction with her physical bearing. What she had hoped/feared had finally come. Now what would come of it was another matter.
The whatever seemed to harden and lighten till it was like a column of light gray granite or marble.
“Elizabeth Parker, indeed it is as you think, I can read your mind. “
“OK, if you don’t mind I am still going to speak. So what have you to say?”
“Congratulations. Or should I say condolences? It is arguable from your point of view.”
Liz narrowed her eyes. “OK, deep six the cryptic and just spit it out.”
“Straightforward and to the point. That is good. This will make it simpler. First I will give you the history of Immortality.”
“OK. Lets have it.”
“10,000 of your years ago a higher being as you would understand it came to your planet and decided to alter a small number of humans. Its purpose was to help mankind along. It basically made me and had me take care of the whole Immortal community. It left me to make up the rules and do whatever was necessary to continue. That higher being has since ascended still higher and no longer has an interest so it is up to me what is done. The Game part was a suggestion from it, as a way to prevent Immortals from coming together and ruling Earth. The Holy Ground part of it was my invention; I thought it necessary to make sure there was one rule that all Immortals would follow. I planted the suggestion in many Immortals minds before Pompeii; Mt Vesuvius would have erupted in a few years- I merely speeded it up. It worked quite well. I don’t have to tell you that you indeed figured out as others have done the logical holes in the Game and the Prize. Those quickenings not taken by other Immortals fade away; and should there ever be only one left he or she will not have the power to rule earth. It was the Higher Beings rule that there be no mothers of Immortals; what I do is find a mother and child who face death and I save the child and then place it near someone and make sure that the child is found. Your own mother was a teenager who ran away from home and fell down a flight of stairs not far from Roswell; she was going to die and I spirited away you and left you where your parents found you, giving them a mind nudge to look in the alley. “
Liz sat back and thought hard. None of this came as a surprise; it was pretty much as she had figured. Now what was this about condolences or congratulations?
“You are now the arbiter of the Immortal way. I will leave. No more Immortal babies will appear except by the way you are doing it now. The Higher Beings only instruction to me was if Mankind ever progressed to be able to do what you have done, the one or the ones who came up with it would be given the responsibility to keep Immortality going; or let it fade away. Of course even with no more Immortal babies my way, and even if you were to stop it your way, it would take many hundreds of years, if not thousands, for Immortals to dwindle down to only a few. I will leave you with this amulet which will repeat my appearance and my words for those that would not otherwise believe you. As I said, it is now in your hands. In the words of your favorite program; Live Long and Prosper, Elizabeth Parker.”
And then it was gone. And on her desk lay a circular object, like a large coin, about 4 inches in diameter and about half an inch thick. Ruins and objects unfamiliar to Liz decorated it.
Elizabeth Parker Evans, Queen Elizabeth of Antar, sat there and took it all in. And sighed.
Joe and Methos had gone over the watchers database very carefully. It had taken them over 6 months to narrow down the possible candidates to those they thought would both want to have children and would also be thought to be able to handle it. That was of course subjective but they had also run all the candidates by the other Immortals. A few were known to some of them which helped. In the end they found out of just under 5000 Immortals (Joe was surprised at that number; he thought there were only about 4000; Methos thought about the same) there were only a certain number who appeared to be in anything like a real relationship. There was only one other Immortal couple beyond the one Duncan had already helped and Annie and Sean. They had been a couple for almost 100 years, very carefully flying under the radar in the Outback of Australia. It was a very large area that was not populated until the Antarians had come. In actuality that appeared to help the couple stay anonymous, what with modern state bureaucracy and taxes and the like. Joseph Heller, originally german; Eleanor Jenkins, originally English. They were both about 150 years old. Neither had taken more then a couple of heads, and only when challenged and unable to avoid it. It was agreed by all that they would be approached first. The other 21 couples were all Immortal and Mortal. That had been narrowed down since several couples were beyond the age where children would be considered due to the age of the Mortal. It had been agreed that only those in a narrow qualification area would be approached. In all with the Immortal couple there would be 17 that would be offered the chance. Indications were that all were unaware of Watchers. So Duncan and Grace would be the ones to approach them. Duncan was well known in the Immortal ranks as an honorable man; and Grace equally well known as a doctor and one who never fought.
Joseph and Eleanor were checking their cattle ranch in Northern New South Wales when they both felt a Buzz. They turned as one and looked at the SUV that was approaching them. Joseph got off his horse and made sure his Sword was near at hand. As Agreed Eleanor would stay mounted and back some until the situation was figured out.
The SUV stopped and a man and woman got out. Walking together they approached Joseph, who while being cautious thought that an immediate fight was not at hand.
“My name is Duncan McCleod and this is Grace. We are here to offer you a chance to have children.”
Needless to say both Joseph and Eleanor needed shovels to pick their jaws off of the ground.
Joseph recovered somewhat, and looked at Duncan. “I have heard of you, and also of Grace. All that I have ever heard is that you never challenge without cause and that Grace never fights. And that she is a renowned doctor. And also that You have connections to the Antarians. It is my guess that this ability is due to their efforts.”
“Queen Elizabeth is one of us and she was the first Immortal to have children. We have carefully searched the Immortal ranks looking for those that both deserve and possibly want children.”
Eleanor had ridden closer and gotten off her horse to Joseph’s side, and had grabbed his hand at Duncan’s words. “When I saw that you were the one to teach Queen Elizabeth, I suspected she might be immortal. It has worried me that it might get out about Immortals; when she was shot in Canada I thought the secret would come out.”
Duncan nodded. “That was a close one. It is at her invitation that Grace and I have come. You will both need to come to the Palace for this to be done. Eleanor, you will need to spend approximately 3 months in a pod unconscious and on life support for you to be able to carry a child to term. “
“Whatever I have to do I will happily do. Joseph and I have badly wanted children since we met; even with the questions about them growing older and we do not. “
Joseph squeezed her hand. “When ever you want us at the palace we will be there.”
Grace who had been silent up to now spoke up. “I will explain all the details and answer your questions. Any time you want to come to the palace we can get started.”
That was pretty much the pattern for the other couples approached. 2 chose not to have children; and unfortunately Duncan and Grace arrived to late to stop a challenge that destroyed one couple; the winner was a headhunter known to Duncan who then challenged and took his head. Grace then spent the next few days consoling the mortal woman left alone. They had been together over 10 years. Duncan was vividly reminded of Tessa.
Joe had carefully with Methos’s help kept the watchers away from finding out what was going on. It was a bit tricky but it was done. Overall it took Duncan and Grace a month to contact all of the couples.
So in the end 14 more couples came to the Palace to have children. For those couples where the Woman was mortal it was a very quick process. Only for those couples where the Immortal was a woman did it take time. There were 5 of those, counting Eleanor and Joseph.
In the meantime the medical situation with the Pods had worked its way along the bureaucratic path. Since the Antarians were considered a foreign country, the paperwork was even more of a factor in getting the FDA to go along with it. It was thought it would take another 3-4 months to get that all done before the first clinical trials would start. Needless to say there had been many applications for the 20 trials that would be the first trial. After that there would be 50 more and it those were as successful as hoped then the treatment would be approved for general use. All together it was thought it would take about 18 months, which was actually very fast for that sort of thing.
Liz had been lounging in the gym, watching Lisa work out with Eleanor, who was about to go into the pod for her 3 months after being impregnated. The other 4 Immortal Women were also working out, paired up. It had been decided to do them all at once, since there was no real reason to wait. The other couples who had Immortal men with Mortal women had already been done and all the women were pregnant. It had been decided that all would stay in the Roswell area until the children were born. Annie was two months into her podding, with a month to go and Sean wearing a trench in the floor next to it.
Suddenly something alerted Liz. She straightened up and looked around. No one else seem to have noticed. She was not sure what it was, but it seemed to be calling her. Quietly slipping out of the Gym she walked down the hall to her office. Nodding to her secretary she went into the office and stopped dead.
Next to her window was a dark gray, almost black tube of what looked like smoke or fog. It seemed to pulse and reverberate, but it seemed to Liz that only she felt that. Staring at it for a minute, she realized what it was and stiffened. Then deliberately walked over to her desk and sat down and swiveled her chair in its direction.
“OK, whatever you are. We both know what its about so if that is your way of intimidating me it won’t work. And if that is your natural form, can you speak or are you capable of telepathy. If not then I kind of doubt this meeting will mean anything.”
Liz was scared but she was damned if she would show it. Whatever it was probably could tell her every thought, but she was not going to give it any satisfaction with her physical bearing. What she had hoped/feared had finally come. Now what would come of it was another matter.
The whatever seemed to harden and lighten till it was like a column of light gray granite or marble.
“Elizabeth Parker, indeed it is as you think, I can read your mind. “
“OK, if you don’t mind I am still going to speak. So what have you to say?”
“Congratulations. Or should I say condolences? It is arguable from your point of view.”
Liz narrowed her eyes. “OK, deep six the cryptic and just spit it out.”
“Straightforward and to the point. That is good. This will make it simpler. First I will give you the history of Immortality.”
“OK. Lets have it.”
“10,000 of your years ago a higher being as you would understand it came to your planet and decided to alter a small number of humans. Its purpose was to help mankind along. It basically made me and had me take care of the whole Immortal community. It left me to make up the rules and do whatever was necessary to continue. That higher being has since ascended still higher and no longer has an interest so it is up to me what is done. The Game part was a suggestion from it, as a way to prevent Immortals from coming together and ruling Earth. The Holy Ground part of it was my invention; I thought it necessary to make sure there was one rule that all Immortals would follow. I planted the suggestion in many Immortals minds before Pompeii; Mt Vesuvius would have erupted in a few years- I merely speeded it up. It worked quite well. I don’t have to tell you that you indeed figured out as others have done the logical holes in the Game and the Prize. Those quickenings not taken by other Immortals fade away; and should there ever be only one left he or she will not have the power to rule earth. It was the Higher Beings rule that there be no mothers of Immortals; what I do is find a mother and child who face death and I save the child and then place it near someone and make sure that the child is found. Your own mother was a teenager who ran away from home and fell down a flight of stairs not far from Roswell; she was going to die and I spirited away you and left you where your parents found you, giving them a mind nudge to look in the alley. “
Liz sat back and thought hard. None of this came as a surprise; it was pretty much as she had figured. Now what was this about condolences or congratulations?
“You are now the arbiter of the Immortal way. I will leave. No more Immortal babies will appear except by the way you are doing it now. The Higher Beings only instruction to me was if Mankind ever progressed to be able to do what you have done, the one or the ones who came up with it would be given the responsibility to keep Immortality going; or let it fade away. Of course even with no more Immortal babies my way, and even if you were to stop it your way, it would take many hundreds of years, if not thousands, for Immortals to dwindle down to only a few. I will leave you with this amulet which will repeat my appearance and my words for those that would not otherwise believe you. As I said, it is now in your hands. In the words of your favorite program; Live Long and Prosper, Elizabeth Parker.”
And then it was gone. And on her desk lay a circular object, like a large coin, about 4 inches in diameter and about half an inch thick. Ruins and objects unfamiliar to Liz decorated it.
Elizabeth Parker Evans, Queen Elizabeth of Antar, sat there and took it all in. And sighed.