The Paths Not Taken

In the Kingdom of the Blind part 2

(Very very alternate Scenes, heck, the whole episode is altered, but since this stuff comes next I'll keep the title. The rogues haven't found out what the Vorlons did to Lyta, or how telepaths were created. Either way, it goes out the same as the show did.)

*//Thoughts broadcast to/from (another) telepath.//*
//Private thoughts or mental argument - when one person is trying to decide something.//
~Emphasis marks~
"Words like this are translated from another language for the reader."
~~~~ Scene change - small (or POV change)
******** Scene change - large (or POV change)

(PG 13)

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Transferring.

The safe moving of an unborn life from one womb to another, brought about by a nonsentient, living symbiont which could surround an embryo or small fetus, nurturing it for minutes or hours, then when the dual life was placed in a new uterus, the symbiont would ensure the attachment to the surrogate mother's lining, before gradually thinning out to become just an extra layer of cells in the placenta. Organic technology, given to the Minbari many centuries ago by unnamed ones now lost to the rim, and given, through the Centauri (who also used wombs in reproduction), to Earthers just after their first alien contact.

Organic technology. Something of a Holy Grail for most species, the ability to ~make~ living tools.

What most species didn't realise was that they'd been using the grail as a beer mug for centuries.

Humans, for instance, had been tampering with it quite successfully for over 2000 years. But since they weren't starting from scratch, they hadn't realised it. Two familiar examples, domestic dogs and horses, had started from wild wolves and Przewalski's horses. Through adoption, genetic accident, lucky breeding mishaps, and finally trial and error until the knowledge was acquired, and the current animals that were wanted could be produced.

The rugged little prehistoric horses that she'd seen in wildlife parks bore only a passing resemblance to the powerful Clysdales, or fast Arabians, or tiny miniature horses that cavorted around earth and a few of her colony worlds. Just as a few breeds of dog looked like wolves still, but the vast majority, from basset hounds to terriers to dalmations, did not. A certain, desirable trait would appear in one animal, and if it lasted in subsequent generations, it stayed in the genetic pool.

It had been thousands of years since the wild cousins of the space-animals modified into Vorlon ships had wandered carefree around the galaxy, but their tamed kin had survived. The ones the Vorlons had taken with them into the void still lived. The ones abandoned had cried out in confusion and loss, then either flung themselves into the nearest star or died trying to follow their masters through hyperspace.

Lyta hadn't been told whether or not transfer-symbionts were a gift first created by the Vorlons, but she was almost wishing that they'd never been discovered at all. The old methods of killing unborns, or always waiting until after birth to adopt, were almost preferable to the current situation.

Her current situation included the facts that it was nearly 3 a.m. and in a few minutes the unwanted presence inside her would have company. //Please, cursed vorlon, do not harm this child. It can't hurt you, not nearly so much as it would hurt me to feel it dying.//

The Captain had left over an hour ago, glad to be rid of the life before it caused her any more hassles. Rolenn (bless her old minbari heart) had spent half the night preparing the drugs Lyta would need (this case was well outside the 'normal' range), checking the levels in the nutrient bath which surrounded the symbiont, bright blue-purple in color, an uneven sphere about 4 centimeters across. The actual embryo would fit with room to spare on her smallest fingernail, but it still was a living person.

"It is?" Lyta had asked in quiet amazement. She'd never been given detailed facts about pregnancy. She hadn't wanted to know, back in the Corps. She'd just wanted it over with.

"Yes, she is." Rolenn smiled at her. This wasn't the first time a woman had her child transferred by any means, but it was the first she'd done on humans, and Lyta's . . . past . . . made it more complicated. To use an understatement.

Usually it was a warrior, who sometimes couldn't carry a baby to term safely. All that was required was another member of her clan, and the names of both gene-parents in case of other siblings who might want to meet one day. Such foster parenting was one of the few things that kept the castes from outright war - how could you know if that other minbari was kin unless you became allies, if not friends?

But now, with this young human telepath lying down near her, Rolenn wasn't too sure this was the best . . . from the tears that trickled one by one from her eyes, to the hesitant hand moving to the holographic display, to the unmistakable aura of Vorlon energy still residing within her, all signs that this was not as it should be. But the transfer had begun, and could not be stopped now.

"A girl . . ." Lyta whispered to herself, her eyes on the holo of the embryo, waiting for the drugs to thicken her uterine lining and relax the muscles for implantation. Normal human transfers were scheduled so that the receiver's lining was at its monthly peak, but the Captain's insistence had forced Rolenn to accommodate. It could be done, but it made Lyta even more uncomfortable. In a few hours the full symbiont would be implanted. By late morning, there would be no sign that the child was not hers, no sign that earth technology could find. Two dangers still awaited: after birth, for a few minutes the extra placental layer with it's distinctive mottled colors was living and visible. The other danger would be a maternal DNA scan, something unlikely to occur.

Rolenn brought Lyta a glass with a bitter-smelling tea in it. "Drink," she commanded. "It will help your muscles relax for the implantation. And it will let you sleep afterwards." She helped Lyta sit up.

"I should be awake. I need to be awake."

"You will be. Drink! All of it. This will not allow your uninvited guest to hurt you, or her. At least for a while. If she cannot be accepted, there is no more I can do. Yet if the young one carries the genes for telepathy, it may be she'll undergo the same alterations that you have. Then she'll be sure to survive, and you must teach her how to control the . . . effects."

"But ~I~ don't know how to control this!"

"You are learning. Deal with the future when it arrives, worrying before then will help nothing. Drink!"

Lyta shuddered and made a face as she finished the glass. "Yuck." She laid down again, face screwed up in disgust. "Somewhere between lemons and the scum that grows between damp deckplates which have never been cleaned."

Rolenn laughed. "And I suppose you've tasted the second? Put this in your mouth. Don't bite into it, just tongue it." She gave Lyta a small red sphere.

Lyta rolled the sweet around in her mouth a few times, wondering what the flavor was from. It tasted great, some sort of tart fruit.

That was the last thing she remembered clearly for several hours. Vague impressions: being strapped down to keep her still, confusion when the symbiont was placed up next to her vagina, pain as it suddenly attached and pulled itself in, forcing her to accommodate it's bulk, trying to scream and trying to move *//GetitoutGetitoutno nono GetitOUT!//* the sensation of being stretched as the symbiont oozed up into her, the pain fading as it slowly completed it's journey and expanded to anchor itself in the uterine walls, fluid displacements as the internals plasmas sorted themselves, then a strange feeling of calm and pleasure as the new arrival began to adjust her hormonal levels, feeling new blood vessels spontaneously starting to grow. She lay in drugged calm for more than one additional hour while the old presence within her writhed at the disturbance but slowly, slowly, calmed down to carefully scan the new presence.

*//Acceptable.//* came the internal whisper, and Lyta came to with a gasp of fear.

She couldn't move. She'd been restrained. Something was wrong, she hurt - //Something is wrong what's wrong oh no Get it OUT!// - and the sensation of being slapped in the face, once, sharply.

// ? //

Then she remembered.

"The transfer . . . it is done?" She asked hesitantly as the straps were removed from her.

"As of now, there is no way for earth technology to tell this child is not yours, until a visual inspection of the placenta, and then only if seen within a few minutes of expellation. Rest now. Sleep." The old healer sighed, covering her with a blanket. "Sleep."

"It's a girl . . ." Lyta whispered to herself as she lost consciousness again.

********

The next day, Byron handed out his ultimatum and threatened to reveal the secrets unless given a homeworld right away. Lyta wasn't aware of any of the proceedings. She was in her quarters at the time, attempting to sleep away the soreness, when she had to wake up to throw up. After losing several meals's worth of digestive tract, she remembered what Zack had first done to calm her down . . . and Dr Hobbs had made another anonymous call.

After she gave Lyta the last injection, she asked, "Why didn't you call me before this? If you're still sick . . ."

"No, I felt fine until today . . . late last night, I didn't want to disturb anyone. Please don't roll your eyes, I know, and I did ask my own doctor but it turns out humans are the only species she knows of that get morning sickness. She didn't know what to do. Yippee."

"Then you ~have~ been to a doctor?"

Lyta nodded, "Yes . . . everything's ok. It's . . ." Lyta had to stop and smile weakly, meeting Hobb's gaze. "It's a girl."

After Hobbs had left, Lyta slumped down on her bed. //Zack, if I didn't know you were human I'd swear you were a Centauri Seer . . . If I didn't know you weren't a telepath anyway. How am I going to explain this to you? You'll know you're not the father, Byron is! I think . . . some of their broadcasts were confusing, unless Susan 'likes' women too. Ick. I just don't know anything anymore. How can I tell him? How can I tell him?//

She rolled onto her back, frustrated and upset. She did know she couldn't let the child get hurt. //No more deaths of the innocents . . . if I learned anything from the Vorlons, it was to never hurt innocents like they did. I have to protect her. I have to protect her.// Lyta placed her hand over her abdomen and tried to remember how long until she could sense the baby beginning to think, to move . . . but with her changes, it might come sooner than it had before. Assuming she didn't have a seizure and kill her by accident. She looked towards her desk, trying to remember which drawer she'd put the info crystal from 3 weeks ago in . . . //Oh yeah. I'd given it to the rogues. They'd needed solid information more than I had. I'll have to go find it. There are more of them than just the one of me, so I'll let them keep it . . . but I'll have to go read through it at least once, soon. Find the data on the computer's archives or something, maybe.//

//What do I do now?// She wondered as she curled up and tried to sleep. //Do I tell Byron? I haven't seen him in almost two days. He knows there was no physical birth control used, was he trying to get Ivanova pregnant? She's the best looking woman here, plus she's a powerful leader. And her Psi abilities have been reaching potential during the training . . . she might end up a P8, maybe a P9, if she keeps practicing. No, he wouldn't deliberately conceive, he'd know how much trouble she'd get in . . . when I started bringing them medicines, most of the other women started on contra's. They knew they'd all get their turn with Byron if they wanted it. I want it! Don't think that Lyta it'll only get you in trouble! How? It's not like he can get ME pregnant, I already am! Maybe he's strong enough to hold my own powers in check. Maybe all I need is a telepath lover, maybe 'that' happened because Zack is normal. But maybe a telepath would be killed by a seizure. Oh, no. I can't chance killing Byron. But I still want him! I have been so close to Zack, how could I make love to Byron? I couldn't do it anyway, I couldn't hurt Zack like that. You're carrying Byron's daughter! That'll hurt Zack anyway! Why couldn't I have never been born? Why couldn't I have stayed latent forever? Why couldn't I just be NORMAL!//

Lyta sat up on the edge of her bed. //Maybe I should just tell Zack now, but ~not~ let him know it's Susan's . . . just tell him it's from a rogue who couldn't handle it. That much'd be true. Maybe he'd accept that, he gave Tyler a big hug before letting him leave. And whatever he thought of while giving Tyler the sedative sure gave the boy the giggles.// She hadn't talked to him since the morning before yesterday. //Where would he be?// She walked over to her comlink and called up Zack's schedule. //Shadrak! He's busy. Argh. Officework . . . why couldn't he have been on patrol, I might have been able to find him to talk. But he's going to be unavailable for hours.//

She decided that she'd try to find Byron, ask his advice, if he'd see her. If he wasn't busy-of-a-different-sort with another woman/women.

She changed clothes, putting on a rugged outfit more suitable to passing through downbelow. Then she left for the teep's sanctuary, the door closing a mere moment before her comlink began to beep with an urgent summons.

~~~~

Ivanova was pacing in C&C, completely furious, swearing in Russian, English, and at least one Minbari language Corwin couldn't (and didn't want to) translate as he tried again to reach Lyta Alexander, but there was still no answer on her comm system.

Ivanova was totally pissed off at Byron. Corwin had ~never~ seen her this furious, it was like she had been personally attacked by the teep leader. //Like she'd ever let a telepath (except Miss Alexander, she likes her ok) near her. How did she manage to stand talking to Byron without killing him?// Corwin didn't know. //Byron sure looked wiped after his meeting with the Captain last night. Three hours . . . // After the first 30 minutes a betting pool had sprung up in C&C over how long it would take for teep blood to start oozing out from under the door. 8 officers, 10 credits each, and nobody picked up the pot since Byron had walked away looking mostly intact.

But from the current mood, he'd be torn limb from limb if the rogue got within a mile of her. She was taking this very hard. The other techs did just what he was doing: trying to hide behind consoles, deflecting any and all further annoyances before they could reach the irate captain. Corwin tried really really hard not to cringe (he failed miserably) when she threatened to pull off 'his' testicles and listen to 'him' scream while 'he' bled to death.

"Keep trying, Corwin! Find her! We need to know what Byron is doing and we need a trustworthy teep for that!"

"I ~am~ trying, Captain!"

//How long has Byron been planning to trick her? Trick us, the Alliance. Scanning the Ambassadors for 'several' days in a row . . . how much could they find out? Everything or just way too much? Iee, I'm glad I don't have to deal with the Alliance itself, just furious captains. That's enough for me to try to handle. The worst part is, the telepaths have no way to win this, they never did. No (human) telepath ever has . . . nevermind the advantage they have, it's more of a curse anyway and they have no rights, to 'protect' us from them. Well that much seems to be valid right now, at least if you're an alien ambassador. What must Ivanova be thinking? I don't want to know.//

~~~~

//I'm thinking your brain works too loudly, Corwin, just like every other person's in this room. I'm surrounding by repeating patterns and they're all ticking over at different rates, but the same pattern: "I'm glad I'm not a telepath!" Well ~I~ am! And I have no idea how I'm going to survive this - survive - oh god no! Lyta! What have I done to you?! Everyone knows you're a telepath and you've visited them - us? - them almost every day, sometimes all day, for months! I don't know if I should pray you're with Byron because it's dangerous or that you're not, that you're in your room sleeping because staying outside of the 'sanctuary' is probably even more dangerous. Stay safe wherever you are, Lyta. Protect yourself.// Out loud she asked Corwin if security had found Ms Alexander yet, but no, she hadn't been seen, and yes, that did include the guards outside the telepath's area.

//Except she could have gone past them and kept them from seeing her or she could have entered just after the transfer, it should have only taken an hour or so longer when I left, if she went there to sleep or something because it was closer than her own room, she could have gone in and not be remembered. Or she could be dead, cut into pieces again like after Coriana 6 . . . or anything. I hope she's ok . . . Why did I ever get involved with that blond twonk? Because I want to be safe from the Corps and he is - was - the only chance - because he made me forget about the wars, he made me forget about Marcus, he made me forget everything but pleasure. Because even after THIS, I still feel fabulous because he can make love to me like nothing else! Augh! I shouldn't even THINK like that anymore! I have to hate that arrogant bastard! How can I hate him? I don't ~love~ him, but if he was here, now, I'd screw him right here on this console and who cares who'd see? I'm in trouble. God, please help me!//

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