by Jariel Camen
80617.2200
Following What is Going on Down There?
Soundtrack: Your Wildest Dreams and I Know You're Out There Somewhere by the Moody Blues
---------------------------
- Alternate timeline: About one week before the events of Undone: Part 4-
80617.2200
Following What is Going on Down There?
Soundtrack: Your Wildest Dreams and I Know You're Out There Somewhere by the Moody Blues
---------------------------
- Alternate timeline: About one week before the events of Undone: Part 4-
"Wake up, my beautiful Kai." Fleur indulged herself in her favorite pastime of mussing his curly hair, as she attempted to wake him from sleep. Camen groaned and wrapped the pillow around his head.
"Do not make me resort to desperate measures, Monsieur Kai," she warned. Camen instinctively pressed his arms tight to his sides to conceal any areas potentially vulnerable to tickling. In doing so however he released his pillow, and she snatched it away.
She leaned in and pressed her lips to his. Camen wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back.
"What were you dreaming of?" She asked.
"Nothing," he said with a smile. "Good morning my love."
"Good morning indeed, any morning I can awaken in your arms is a good morning, Jariel."
"And yours as well, Fleur."
Fleur slid out of bed, retrieving her clothing and dressing hastily. "The dignitaries will be here at nine. Can I make you anything to eat first?"
"Nothing today, just help me with this robe."
Camen went to the closet, retrieving his formal trappings of the Kai. They were large untamable things with folds you could lose a small village in and Prophets help you if you needed to use the restroom. Camen could not even start on the hat. He missed the simpler orange robes from his days as a Vedek.
As always it was a two-person project to prepare Camen for his schedule for the day. More treaty talks to be hosted by Bajor and more politicians to entertain.
"There, perfect." She said, adjusting the hat just a tad to the right to square it properly on his head. She kissed him on the cheek and sent him on his way.
Advisors bustled around him on each side, shoving planners and requisition requests in his face as he walked. He applied his thumbprint to each without even taking the time to read them. He had given up on that practice long ago.
As he entered the main convention chamber, the attendees stood respectfully. He never liked that tradition. *A leader should stand for the people, not the other way around.*
His footfalls echoed off the large ornate marble walls that surrounded this room. Members of the Bajoran government on one side and Starfleet on the other were here today to discuss the status of Bajor's petition to enter the Federation.
Camen took his seat at the fore of the table rang the chime to begin the proceedings.
"Thank you all for..."
Before he could finish one of the Bajoran politicians began spouting about some planet and how the Bajorans would needed colonization rights to it as part of the treaty.
"Impossible," one of the Admirals said. "That planet is under the jurisdiction of the Vulcans, and..."
Camen sighed and leaned back in his chair. This was not exactly the life he had envisioned for himself when he entered the running for Kai. He was mostly delegated to the status of a referee amongst squabbling dignitaries.
His eyes wandered slowly from the table, across the floor, up the wall and out the windows to the blue sky outside. There his focus stayed fixed, as large clouds rolled by in the distance.
"Well done Kai." One of the men grabbed Camen's hand and shook it vigorously. Jariel's attention snapped back to the assembly to see everyone was now standing and congratulating each other on a job well done.
The room began to clear, and Camen walked slowly towards the windows. He leaned against the pillar and resumed staring up at the sky about.
As the last echoes of voiced faded from the room, they were replaced by the sound of a single set of footfalls.
"Beautiful day."
Camen turned and smiled at the Starfleet officer, and extended his hand.
"Apologies Admiral, I thought everyone had left."
"Vox, Jonas Vox." The man said.
"Admiral Vox, may I be of assistance?"
"I was wondering if I could assist you."
"Oh?" Camen said, puzzled by the Admiral's offer. As far as Camen knew, he did not need any assistance.
"You were staring out that window today like you were waiting for something to drop out of the sky."
Camen blushed and turned away. "My apologies Admiral, I have a lot on my mind with all the negotiations these days. Sometimes my attention is divided. I did not intend to offend the Federation delegation."
Vox dismissed his apology with a wave.
"I met your wife at the reception last night, she is a charming woman."
"Indeed she is."
"Zanh Liis perhaps?"
"I beg your pardon?" Camen asked, snapping his head back to Vox.
"Is that what you were waiting for, to drop out of the sky?"
Camen felt his heart speed up, realizing this Admiral had a lot more interest in Camen than he did any treaty discussion.
"That's a name I haven't heard in a long time." Camen laughed softly, casting his eyes on the floor, then slowly raising them back to meet Vox'. "Who are you?"
"Admiral Jonas Vox."
Camen reached up to his temple, and removed the form fitting hat from his head. "You know that's not what I mean, Admiral."
"She's a contemporary of mine, your name has been mentioned in that past, so I thought you might remember her."
"Right," Camen chucked again, "And that is why I'd be waiting for her to drop out of the sky."
"Be honest with me, Jariel Camen, you were thinking about her, weren't you."
Camen considered blurting out "of course not," but he never had been able to lie. He turned again to look out the window, obscuring his face as his chin quivered just slightly.
"I will answer that question under one condition Admiral. You tell me why it matters to you."
"You just answered my question Kai." Jonas Vox slung his hands behind his back, and paced slowly over a small space around the window where Camen stood.
"Do you know where she is now?" Camen asked, wishing immediately he could withdraw the question.
"She's comfortable." Was all Vox said.
"You still haven't told me why any of this matters to you."
"Your wife, a fine woman, she makes you happy?"
"Fleur, of course. She is attentive, affectionate, devoted. Any man would be lucky to call her his wife."
Vox let the statement hang. He could see in Camen's eyes that he meant what he said, however there was a "but" at the end of what he said.
"But..." Camen said softly, gazing up towards the infinite blue, "She is not Zanh Liis."
Camen paused a moment, then shook his head. "This is completely inappropriate, I don't even know who you are."
Camen fussed with his hat in an attempt to put it back in place atop his head.
"Please." Jonas said, grabbing Jariel's arm gently with his hand. "Forgive me. Like I said, your name had come up in the past, I believe you were an important person to her."
"Has she married?" Camen asked.
"Yes." Vox replied. "Almost a year ago."
Camen smiled, sincerely. "Good. Good. I hope she has found peace." Based on the date he knew Liis had been wed at some point after he was.
"May I pour my heart out to you Admiral?" Camen could not help but feel if he didn't express himself to this man here and now, he may never have the chance ever again.
Vox nodded, listening intently.
"I used to entertain fantasies that on my wedding day she would burst forth from the rear of the temple, and a demand a stop." A tear escaped Camen's eye and slid down his cheek. "That's stupid, isn't it."
"Not at all, son."
"I told myself that chapter of my life was closed after the wedding. You can live and move on, and you can find happiness but you cannot forget. I think people don't understand that forgetting and moving on are two different things."
"Some things are just not meant to be." The words stung Camen, who did not understand just what Vox was saying, nor could he even if Vox tried. "I have been curious about you for a long time Kai, I'm glad we had this chance to talk."
Camen had a million questions he wanted to ask, but words failed him. As mysteriously as Jonas Vox had entered his life, the man now left it.
-=Camen and Liis' Quarters, USS Serendipity=-
Camen sat straight up in bed, gasping for breath. Fleur? The Kai? Liis wed? None of it made any sense. The very idea terrified him. He looked around at their quarters, and realized where he was. He was not even sure how he had arrived here. The last thing he had remembered was the corridor outside the lounge.
He must have passed out and been carried here by security, and everything he had just experienced was a dream. But it felt so real. He touched the blood on his chin, which was still a bit damp. He could not have been here very long.
He thought of his experience with the Orb, where he had seen the lives of Zanh Liis. Amongst those memories were now this one new experience, which seemed to just fit in with the others, as if it had always been there. Before he could even consider what he had seen another moment, the door flew open.
*****************************
Jariel Camen
Ship's Chaplain
USS Serendipity
Jariel Camen
Ship's Chaplain
USS Serendipity