"Free in the Heart" was created out of a crazy chat online, or at least its premise was. So, what would happen if Liam had rescued Siobhan before her CVI failed?

It turned into one interesting story, let me say. Some of the parts are weak, I think (the plot device of Liam zapping Siobhan's CVI out of existance), and some of them ring better than others. A plotline from an RPG I was playing in back about two years ago found itself being referred to and used in an altered form. And, of course, there's poor Ben Wiley.

Ben, of course, is the token crossover character of the series. He's from the television series "Starman", which had its original run on the US' ABC, where he was the antagonist's sidekick. His last name is actually spelled two different ways on the series (Wiley/Wylie), though I've chosen the former. Between then and now, he's grown older, wiser, smarter, and into a coffee gourmet. The people he tells Siobhan about, btw, are the main series protagonists.

I realize that Liam's amazing shaquarava come early into the plot, the same amazing shaquarava that helped turn people off of Liam and season 2. For their appearance, I apologize. I needed a swift way to get Siobhan on her feet, and it didn't seem impossible to me that Liam could have fixed it without realizing. (This falls into line with my story "The Last Chance to Dance", where Ha'gel attempts to fry Siobhan's MI and ends up helping break down her CVI instead.)

Another thing that's not totally in line with the series is Liam's better remembering of his mother's memories. I realize this is inconsistient, but then, the series is somewhat inconsistient about what exactly of Sandoval's and Beckett's memories Liam can access anyway.

Several elements of this story came out of UTGG's (the RPG that I am in involved in) predecessors, USTD and UKITD. Dr. Schultz and her aide Adam were original to that game, as was the CVI virus subplot. The embarrassing date that Liam refers to was also a game post. Darla Bennington, who Siobhan mentions talking to, is also a character in what was then UKITD.

(For those interested in the original events of the virus subplot, it is pretty much as Rosemary tells it, except that the events happened after the first season episode "Through the Looking Glass" and Boone was one of the infected, instead of being before "Decision".)

Dr. Rosemary Schultz played a far more important role than she waas meant to. I needed somebody to be in charge while Dr. Belman was out on the project with her daughter. Because of that, I stuck far more references to her than I should.

For those of you who are familiar with the Schultz Family Saga, you'll notice that this story mentions the events of "Double Date", but "Tackling Lust" (and therefore Marianne, her siblings and descendants) didn't happen. I needed Rosemary to be in the way and cause a bit of trouble, and that just wouldn't have worked if she knew what Liam was, as she learned in "Tackling Lust".

And did the Taelons and Sandoval believe that the remains were Siobhan's? I don't know. As Siobhan pointed out, Sandoval isn't dumb. He may be biding his time, and so may the Taelons.