Author's Notes: I wanted to write a first-season story. I wasn't very good at it. This is awaiting a rewrite or at least an end to writer's block. To The Mystery That Is Human
by Selma McCrory (Angel Island)
copyright 2000

Mysteries made her nervous. At least some of them did, but nowadays, the mysteries all seemed to have to do with the Taelons, which made her want to just go out and demand answers out of Da'an. But that would have been suicidal. And she wasn't suicidal.

The day had started out quiet and ordinary, with the usual amount of things she needed to do to maintain her cover and keep an eye on Boone, her charge. Not that she was overly worried about Boone; despite his skepticism about their shared cause, she now knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't betray them or do anything else stupid. Or at least she thought that was what was going on with him. Who knew what was going on in that CVI of his, even with the motivational imperative supposedly removed by Dr. Belman?

It was when she'd met the guest of honor, the human guest of honor of the banquet Da'an was attending that night, that things had changed. Dr. Mauricia Alexson had shown up while Boone was at the site making the preparations. Now, most of the time when security arrangements were made, the guests of honor were either far away from the site, or being as much underfoot as they could. However, Dr. Alexson had been different. She hadn't been underfoot, and in fact while they'd been discussing the security arrangements within the doctor's earshot, the doctor hadn't reacted. She knew that Dr. Alexson could hear perfectly well, but she wasn't used to someone being there and not contributing a thing to the discussion.

She'd all but forgotten it when it came time to transport Boone, Sandoval, and Da'an to the affair. It was like one of the million times she'd transported Da'an somewhere, with the exception that she was dressed to blend in with the participants who were milling around. She hated flying while wearing a dress; the tightness of many of her skirts made her feel restrained and uncomfortable, even if she rarely moved her legs while she was flying.

It had made her cranky, although she was good at covering that up. She couldn't let her irritation show, not give Da'an or Sandoval an indication of her true feelings. That would have been as much a disaster as proclaiming her true allegiances, given Da'an's unusual perceptiveness and Sandoval's memories, and Sandoval's abilities to put things together. So, she wasn't in a good mood when she came into the hall with Boone, Sandoval, and Da'an. Which, of course, meant that she almost stumbled over Dr. Alexson, and her subsequent fast maneuvering around the doctor caused Boone to shoot her a look of concern almost unbecoming in an implant.

Fortunately, Boone remembered what he was just in time, and his bulk blocked Da'an's view of her. So nobody saw her stumble. Except for maybe Dr. Alexson, who gazed upon her the same way that she'd looked at the two of them earlier that day: a look of silent regard, as if she was pulling every bit of data out of the air that she could, and an unwillingness to give up what she'd seen.

Sometimes CVI recipients looked like that, at least partially. Not the stubborn quietness, but the silent regard. It wasn't the same as when Boone had his CVI memory flashes, she was sure of that. It was something different, something that gave her the jitters.

But, as far as anybody knew, Dr. Mauricia Alexson wasn't an implant, though she had been involved in research with the Taelons. Doors was always on the lookout for new things that the Taelons had been doing to humanity, and so Dr. Alexson's file had come out tagged just like any researcher who had worked with the Taelons was. In fact, everybody who worked with Taelons was suspect, from business leaders to lab techs. Dr. Belman kept running tabs on her people, secretly making sure none of them were starting to display the symptoms of being implanted.

And Dr. Alexson had had plenty of time to fall victim to or become a willing participant in whatever the Taelons were up to currently. Her file said she’d been working on a particular variety of adapting Taelon biophysical technology for human use, making humans that much more dependent on the mysterious motives of the Taelons.

She’d have to watch Dr. Alexson closely. Very closely.

* * *

In the meantime, there was nothing to do but watch and keep up with the security arrangements that Boone had set up for Da'an. She'd already asked the Liberation's research people to dig up more on Alexson; something about the woman had her genuinely concerned. She wasn't sure if she could share her insights with Boone, although it would have been nice to be someone who could remember everything they'd seen, and replay it in their memory. She didn't have an excuse to pull out her global here.

"Are you all right?" Boone asked, startling her. She cursed inwardly, knowing she'd let her attention wander.

"I'm fine," she said, hoping that nobody else was noticing her lack of attention. Of course, Boone was perceptive, not only because of his CVI, but because of his concern for the people working for and with him.

"What is it about Dr. Alexson that's got you so interested?" he inquired quietly. "You've been staring at her so long that Da'an's starting to get curious."

She cursed inwardly again. "Something about her's bothering me," she said. At Boone's look, she said, "I don't think it has to do with security, just something's bothering me."

Boone nodded. "Maybe someone from your past? Or somewhere else?"

She knew that Boone was referring to the Liberation. "I'm not sure," she responded, hoping he'd leave it at that. And he did, returning to his watch over Da'an.

But she also knew there would be questions later. He always had questions.

* * *

The questions came the next day, though thankfully it turned out that she was the one asking of the research department, since Boone was too busy dealing with the paperwork that came out of being Da'an's head of security. She knew Boone was probably wondering what had happened the previous night, but she could deal with it as it came up. At least their office was a fairly free place to talk, thanks to Boone's daily sweep for bugs. He didn't want to be discovered any more than she did, and in his case it would be worse.

"Captain Marquette?" Susan Short, one of the research techs called from a few feet away. "I found her research project."

She came up beside the woman, leaning over her to look at the screen. "How much do you know about medical research?" Susan said. "I got lost after the first section, but it seems to have to do with memory as a function of handedness. I mean, it was written before the Taelons ever came, and her projects all have to do with memory, but...."

"Projects?" Lili asked, realizing the short bio she'd been given before didn't point out exactly what the woman had been doing, just that she'd been doing it.

"Yeah. I ran this by one of our med specialists, and he says that her published papers and unclassified stuff having to do with the Taelons all have to do with memory. She seems to be fascinated with the combination of various memory conditions and physical traits, and the research that she's done with Taelon tech seems to have to do with strengthening memory to benefit people with physical conditions."

"She doesn't have a physical condition herself, though?" Lili asked.

"Not as far as I can tell, no. Nor any of her relatives, and she doesn't have a husband or children."

Lili shook her head, hoping she wouldn't have to go to Augur. Not that he wouldn't help her, but something about him made her slightly on-edge. Susan Short gave her a small smile. "I'll let you know if I find anything else," she said. "With Rob and Brian giving me the translations, I should be able to dig up something. And I've contacted Dr. Park and Dr. Belman about this too, just in case they catch something I've missed."

Which left Lili nowhere but with a handful of information, a mystery woman with seemingly nothing done to her, a 'boss' who was probably wanting to know what was going on, and Doors, who probably also wanted to know what was going on and why nobody had dug up Dr. Alexson's connection to the Taelons.

Somebody nudged her gently, and she looked down to see Susan Short holding up a data disc. "I almost forgot to give you this. It’s all I’ve got so far. Maybe you'll get an idea?" the woman asked in an apologetic tone with an equally apologetic expression.

"Maybe," Lili muttered.

* * *

"Has Da’an mentioned anything at all about Dr. Alexson?" she asked Boone once she arrived at the section of the building they shared.

"Other than he's greatly pleased with her research," Boone replied, almost absently. "Still bothering you, huh?"

"Anything the Taelons are sneaking into us bothers me," she retorted. "I just want to find out what the Taelons have done to her, if anything."

"It could be just the way she naturally acts," Boone offered.

"Maybe. But with the Taelons involved, we can’t let our guards down," she told him.

He nodded, and said nothing more. She knew that Boone was skeptical of the whole thing, but she had to figure out what the Taelons had done. They surely had to be doing something... and humans were as willing to be guinea pigs as to accept everything else the Taelons gave to them. Hadn't anyone seen that old miniseries, "V", and its sequels?

Of course, it could be that everybody was hoping that the Taelons wouldn't turn out like the Visitors. And nobody was really mysteriously disappearing, at least not whole towns.

Hopefully, it would never come to that. But Lili worried that the Taelons still had something up their jumpsuit sleeves. Humanity's own history of exploitation proved that a conquering people could appear benevolent at first. Not that the Taelons would take over by force of arms, they didn't seem capable of that, but it seemed like humanity was trading away themselves for what was no doubt the Taelon equivalent of trinkets.

She slipped Susan Short's data into her reader and studied the reports. The woman had thoughtfully provided a summary of the information available to her, as well as what seemed to be complete copies of all of Dr. Alexson's published papers. And, in one small file, a note:

Lili,

Here's all I could dig up. The boss says that we should aim for the doctor's medical tests, and I'm working on that now. The medical folks are having a go at her DNA, and wishing that they could look at her physically. Maybe others can give a clue as to what makes her tick? I'm trying to talk to the seer about the problem. At least maybe someone will let something slip about her involvement.

/sas

Lili sighed, recognizing the researcher's attempt to be secretive and wishing she could tell her that the Taelons would still wonder why Commander Boone's office was interested in the woman. She couldn't explain her own involvement if asked. She was sure that Boone would back her up if she had to tell Sandoval there was something suspicious and that's why Boone had her investigate, but still, better not to get into a position in the first place.

She could hear Boone talking in the background to Sandoval and realized she might not have much time to investigate, not before she would be under the Taelon's scrutiny. Sure enough, Boone ended the transmission and got up, walking to her door. She rose and met him partway. Boone looked grimly at her. "It seems that you're going to get more of a chance than you thought to investigate Dr. Alexson than you thought."

"What happened?" she found herself asking, despite a determination not to do so.

"She's dead."

Lili found herself blinking rapidly. "How?"

"They don’t know."

TBC