His decision to settle down in the booth of a small cáfe in some corner of Washington had been a spontaneous one. He had no idea what had driven him to do it. All he had intended to do was take a short walk, which had turned into a march of several hours. He remembered. Times when he had been happy, married to a wonderful woman with plans of a child of their own. Until Da'an had stepped into his life. Beautiful, enigmatic, serious Da'an, who had always seemed so sad. Who had been so curious. Da'an who had become a friend to his near death. Who had been lost when the man had been reawakened.
He remembered Agent Sandoval. Devious Sandoval, who had envied him his close relationship to the companion, had had in the end betrayed both their species. Sandoval had been a honourable man, before he had lost everything. That hateful shell of a man, with no soul left had made for a frightening chance of perspective.
He remembered Lili Marquette. A good friend, a believer in the resistance. Stolen away to another planet. A mother now. Her daughter nearly an adult now and the last member of her species.
He remembered Zo'or. An aggressive being, ruthless, cruel and without love for anyone but himself. Dead now. Killed, despite all his attempts to survive. And he had wanted to live so desperately. Da'an had always protected him Liam had told him. No wonder though, with Zo'or being Da'ans child. What would he himself have done to protect his child? The answer was easy. Everything.
Liam was still too young to understand. In his emotions the son of Ha'gel was still a child. And like any child he saw the world only in black and white. The thousands of shades of grey in-between did not yet exist for Liam. The young hybrid had recognized far too late what Da'an had told his protector from the first day. Humans and Taelons needed each other. Now it was too late, far too late. And humanity would continue to struggle along alone. There was no one there to aid their first steps into space now, no one to catch them if they stumbled. They were alone again.
So when he found the cáfe, tired from thinking, tired of the memories dancing through his head, he chose the booth farthest from the door, ordered a pot of coffee and settled down to rest.
Half-way through his first cup, he heard a group of young sounding people settle in the booth next to him. Sighing inwardly he tried to ignore them and returned to the strong taste of coffee and memories.
Later on he would not be able to tell what made him listen up and tune in on their chatter.
“... it worked?” The voice of a young woman, sounding like someone who loved their fun.
“I really hope so.” This one sounded like she was pouting. “It was tiring.”
“I'm kind of glad it's over. Although I'll miss earth. I wonder what it will look like when we return?” The first voice again. Sounding wistful this time.
“More beautiful maybe. Now that the humans don't need to rely on this planet's resources anymore.” A third voice, male this time.
“Maybe the humans will be our equals when we return. I'd hate to have to do this kind of charade again. There were too many close calls.” The second voice, sounding worried and a bit grumpy now.
“Should there be a next time, I get to play the bad guy.” Voice number one now, sounding determined. “At least then I might get an more interesting side-kick.”
“What, you didn't like Liam? I though he was cute with his determination to uncover our ploys.” Voice number two, sounding definitely amused now. “And what is that about you and Sandoval? I thought you didn't like him?”
“I don't, but at least he had layers. All Liam did was constantly whine at me, or demand something. It was like taking care of the neighbours' spoiled kid. I wanted to hit him sometimes.”
Laughter now. Drowned out by Boone's heart hammering inside his chest and his blood rushing in his ears. He was sitting stock-still, not daring to move, lest those voices behind him vanished like the hallucination they must be.
Then the male spoke up again. “I doubt we'll have to do this again. Humanity is progressing rapidly now. Soon they'll start to travel space. Wonder what they'll make of the fact that the complete data I brought them was false?”
“Did that data ever reach the news? I didn't notice anything of the sort.” Voice number two now.
“Even if it did, I doubt it matters. They'll find a universe full of worlds to explore and when they are ready we'll return.”
“Hopefully by then they'll be our equals. We need the humans.” The male now.
“We have still time. They are progressing at a fast pace. We can wait for them.” Voice number one, the sound of her voice projected the image of a hand being laid atop another's in a tender caress.
“Luckily now we can. They have shown great promise so far. Although the pyramids truly were a bit over the top.” The second woman seemed amused, impish maybe.
“What did we expect? They believed us to be gods. Wonder how they did it though.” The first female obviously shared the humour.
“No idea. Should we leave now? No time like the present. And we can return one day so don't look at me like that, both of you.” The male sounded admonishing. The sound of money being laid on the table and the three in the other booth got up. Boone, his by now stone-cold coffee still clutched in his life-less fingers, barely dared to turn his head and watch them leave. What he saw were simply three young people, two pretty, but not overly so, women and one regular looking man. Nothing about them seemed extraordinary. But the way they had spoken...
He felt a shudder run down his back.
And once again he remembered what Da'an had told him. Both their species would profit in the long run. Those words still held truth it seemed. And the universe was less lonely all of a sudden.
They were awaited.