by Jariel Camen, Vol Tryst and the Sylph Healer
80626.1200
After Letting Go
-=Sickbay, USS Serendipity=-
80626.1200
After Letting Go
-=Sickbay, USS Serendipity=-
The tension in the air was palpable as everyone stood still, staring at the body of Vol Tryst as it spoke with a voice not his own. No one moved or said a word, until a voice from across the room breached the silence...
[Bridge to Captain Zanh, please respond.] The agitated voice of Dabin Reece entreated, echoing though Sickbay through Zanh's combadge, which sat untouched amidst a myriad of medical instruments on the tray beside her bed.
Still, no one moved.
[Bridge to Salvek,] Reece's disembodied voice now seemed to travel at will across Sickbay, radiating from the pin affixed to the Vulcan's chest. Salvek did not reply, still intently locking eyes with Tryst.
[Are you freaking kidding me?] Reece was heard to complain.
Finally, Dabin's voice skipped one more time and was heard hailing the Sera's Second Officer. [Reece to Blane. Would you kindly pick up the phone?] A moment passed. [Come ON guys, this is not funny anymore...] Dabin muttered as his hail remained unanswered. [They call this a Command crew? Geezus...]
Another voice spoke up now, anxious to open a dialog.
"Please do not be frightened. I assure you, we mean no harm." The healer, who had seized command of the body of Vol Tryst, held her hands out to the side in a gesture of peace.
"I'll be the judge of that, thank you." Blane said. "It appears you've already done quite a bit of harm."
"Get him out of Sickbay so the Doctor can work." Salvek ordered. "Take him to the conference room down the hall."
Blane nodded to the security detail, who flanked Vol and escorted him from the room. TC and Salvek followed the group out of Sickbay. Camen was left behind in the suddenly very empty feeling medical bay.
The medics had gathered up Keiran O'Sullivan and returned him to his bed.
Jariel looked down at Liis. The incessant beeping of the monitors on her bed told him she was alive, but seeing her so still now terrified him. He closed his eyes, fought back tears, and hoped when he opened his own eyes, hers would fly open as well and look up at him.
She should be sitting on her favorite swing in the Arboretum with him. Commanding the bridge. Sneaking Rada Dengar toffees or threatening Dabin Reece in the completely affectionate way only she could. She didn't deserve to be suffering like this. How much could one person be expected to suffer?
The thought brought his mind to O'Sullivan. Camen turned to look in his direction but the curtain had once again been pulled.
It had literally made Camen's stomach turn to see him holding Zanh Liis in his arms, but Jariel knew it was the only way. He asked himself honestly if he would have done the same if their places were reversed, and could not give any answer other than yes.
In fact if saving her life had meant Keiran would have had to take her from this life back to Earth to live as husband and wife, Jariel would have gladly accepted his own heartbreak to protect her.
"Excuse me."
Camen snapped back to Liis, as the sound of Avery Breaux's voice startled him. The Doctor stepped in front of Camen, as politely as a man under his amount of stress could, to conduct scans on Zanh Liis. Knowing Jariel was going to ask soon enough, Avery preemptively answered his question.
"I can't yet tell you what she may or may not remember. There's just no way to guess by looking at the data. We won't know until she awakens. I'm sorry."
Camen nodded slowly. Whatever Keiran had done to "take away the burden" from her seemed to have worked- because she was still alive. He wasn't quite sure yet exactly how he felt about the possibility she may not retain any memory of the past few days or the events revealed to her during them...or what he would do about it if she didn't.
"You should probably see if you can help Salvek." Breaux offered, hoping the Vedek would understand that he needed some space.
[[Yes Doctor.]] He let his fingers fall through her hair, tracing each delicate strand across her temple, down behind her ear and finally over the pillow below where they pooled.
He lay his head on her chest, long enough to hear the gentle beat of her heart, then kissed her on the bridge of the nose.
[[I'll be back soon.]] He signed, as he stepped back from the bed to allow the Doctor room to work.
Camen knew she couldn't see what he had signed, but he said it for his own sake as opposed to hers.
-=Conference room, near Sickbay=-
The doors to the conference room opened, and the Healer entered cautiously. She was here to make amends with these animals, but she still was not entirely sure they could be trusted. That, combined with the complexity of navigating this bipedal creature, made for a very slow gait.
The Sera crew fanned around her, with Salvek sitting at the head of the table, with Blane over his shoulder.
"You may speak." Salvek said, offering the floor to the Healer. It was odd, even as he looked at the Counselor, it was very much apparent that is was not the same soul inside. The eyes were held open differently, and everything about the face was not Vol's. Who was this entity?
"We only wished to help you, to heal you."
"Are we ill?" Salvek asked, seeking understanding of exactly what was meant by healing.
"You carry memories, pain. It haunts you. We came to help you free yourselves from that pain, by confronting it."
"Then you are responsible for the duress caused to the crew of this ship?"
The Healer hung her head, and extended her arms in apology. "We underestimated the effect this would have on you and your crew. You are more complex than we anticipated, and the Luminary forced the issue beyond our guidelines for these interventions."
"Please leave us." Salvek asked the guards, content that the situation was under control. After they left, he returned his attention to the Healer. "The Luminary?"
"Our leader."
"May we speak to this individual?" Blane asked.
"She is dead."
"Something we thought?" Blane said, somewhat sarcastically.
"She attempted an intervention without the proper protection. We always work in teams of three, at the very least. On her own she was overwhelmed, and she no longer lives."
Jariel Camen entered the room as the conversation continued. He circled slowly around Vol, and sat at the table beside Salvek.
"The Captain?" Salvek asked.
[[The Doctor is not sure who or what she will remember when she wakes up.]] Camen felt the panic inside him once again as he considered the possibility that when Zanh Liis awoke, she may not remember him.
"You said you wish to make amends. How?" Blane asked.
"We wish to offer some sort of restitution, for the memories we revealed that hurt your people so."
Salvek stood up out of his seat. "You did more than just reveal lost and forgotten memories. The visions some of my people have seen are of another timeline. A timeline that was never meant to be and was corrected. The damage this has caused nearly caused our Captain and Chief of Security to die, to say nothing of the emotional state it has left others in."
"We were not aware that any of your kind had ever existed or had memories from outside of your limited, linear lifetime. If we had known, we would not have tried to intervene with those subjects. I offer you our heartfelt sorrow, Commander Salvek."
Salvek glanced at Camen, and could see the sadness in his eyes. He lowered himself back into his chair.
Camen could have been angry, but he was simply too tired to be angry anymore, not after all he had seen and felt. He wanted nothing more than for Liis to be healthy again, and if that meant trusting this "person" before him, than so be it. Anger would accomplish nothing at this time.
The Healer guided Vol closer to Salvek, and laid his hand upon the First Officer's shoulder. "How can we help?"
"You can undo what you've done." Blane quickly interjected. "Set their minds back to where they are supposed to be."
The Healer looked hurt at the suggestion, "I am sorry Thomas Cassius Blane, but that is beyond our control. What is written cannot be erased. Most will cope, and some will feel a positive outcome, I assure you. But those who have lived in another time...it is simply a matter now of whether or not your female leader has the will to survive within herself. We cannot give it to her."
"Of course you can't." TC said, throwing his hands into the air in frustration.
"Perhaps a gift, as a gesture of our good faith, for what we have done to your Captain. We wish for your leader to not fear us, or loathe us for the suffering endured by her crew."
Salvek stood once again, and came face to face with the Healer. "I can think of only one gift for the Captain, but I do not know if granting it is within your power."
He looked at the Vedek, and considered that he dared not speak the request in front of the man.
"I would like to join minds with you, my species is capable of this through a meld. Are you aware of this procedure?"
A pause took place, and the body of Mr. Tryst did not move for a moment, before finally the healer spoke again.
"Your Counselor has explained your gift, and we both agree to allow you to continue."
Thankful that he could at least be sure that someone in there would be on his side, Salvek pressed his hand to Vol's face. "My thoughts, to your thoughts. My mind to your mind."
TC and Camen watched the two closely, looking for any signs that Vol or Salvek may be in danger.
*Why has your species come here?*
*To help heal your people, as we stated.*
*Why then do you work in secret? Why not reveal yourselves and simply offer your services to us?*
*Our work is complex and sacred to us. Too much for you to understand and too important to be refused.*
*Apparently too complex for your own understanding as well.*
Salvek still felt as if the Healer was hiding something, but the intentions were too closely guarded for him to sense.
Outside the meld, TC Blane looked on…and noticed suddenly that the Sera’s engines were whining down. They had dropped out of Warp.
He stepped back from the table and turned away, tapping his badge.
“Blane to Reece, why have we slowed down?”
[Oh, great. NOW you people answer your hails! I couldn’t get a hold of you, or Salvek, or the Captain…]
“Reece!" Blane wanted to cut to the chase. "Why did we drop out of Warp?”
[You won’t believe it until you see it. Get up here as soon as you can.]
“Acknowledged.”
Inside the meld, the Healer grew suddenly concerned.
*Your ship, you must return to warp. We are using the power of your engines to sustain the prism around your ship. Without that power, it will collapse.*
*Will you release us from this 'prism'?*
*That may be... complicated. The Luminary had the most knowledge of the workings of this system.*
*Are you saying you don't know how to release us?* Salvek asked. The Healer was silent, and Salvek sensed only regret.
*I am sorry, once again. You wish to discuss the gift for your Captain.*
*Yes. The one called Jariel Camen. His voice was taken from him as a punishment enacted by a race known to his people as the Prophets. I believe if the Captain could ask you herself for one thing, it would be for his voice to be returned to him.*
Salvek felt the healer withdraw, and slowly eased his way out of the meld. He felt the strong arm of TC Blane steady him, and lower him back into the chair.
Salvek tapped his combadge, and called Dabin Reece on the bridge.
"Commander, return us to Warp. Same velocity as before."
[But Salvek, there’s this ginormous bubble...thingie…] Reece protested.
"That 'bubble' will collapse and crush us if you do not do as I say. Its integrity is dependant upon our Warp drive."
As Salvek spoke, he observed Jariel's hand reach for his throat. The Vedek gasped for air, and pitched forward towards the table. Out of the corner of his vision, he also saw Vol's face harden and his eyes close, an indication that he was the sole occupant of his body once more.
"No time to explain Commander Reece, carry out my order."
"What are they doing to him?" Blane asked, his hand twitching once again for his phaser.
"It's all right Commander." Salvek gestured for him to keep his place. "Stand down."
Camen lay his head on the table before him, trying desperately to draw a breath, but unable to do so. Salvek's image blurred in his line of vision, as he began to lose consciousness. *Why aren't you stopping this?* He thought with his last breath, before his eyes closed.
*I love you, Liis. I love you, I love you, I love you.* He whispered in her ear, in his own voice, as he embraced her in the center of the Arboretum. *Until my dying day.*
The dream faded as quickly as it had begun. Camen gasped for air, as he sat bolt upright in his seat.
"Are you all right? You lost consciousness briefly." Salvek asked.
Jariel acclimated to his surroundings, realizing quickly he had been dreaming for a brief moment. Vol Tryst was coming around as well, apparently now free of the Healer's presence.
[[I am fine, Commander.]]
"Can you answer me in your own voice?" Salvek asked.
"Of course not."
Jariel froze in place, the sound of his own voice catching him completely by surprise. He hadn't heard it in so long, it was as if the words were spoken by another.
"If you’ll excuse me," Jariel stood, and bolted.
"What now?" TC asked Salvek.
"Now, Mr. Blane, we have the discussion with Commander O'Sullivan about where we go from here. If the Captain does indeed lose the memories of the other timeline, we must decide if we discuss them with her, or not."
-=Sickbay=-
He did not know how long this would last. At any moment, whatever the mysterious Healer had done to him may wear off, or the Prophets may discover what had happened and put a stop to it. If he never said another thing in his life, he needed to get one thing out right now. He had received a gift and he had no intention of wasting it, or denying her the sound of his voice that she had missed for so long.
Jariel came to her bedside. The medical staff had moved away, having done all they could for the moment, leaving her alone.
Taking the spot on her bed at the edge where Keiran had been what seemed an eternity ago, Jariel sat beside her.
He leaned down, and pressed his cheek to hers, whispering in her ear for the first time in such a very long time. Somehow, he had to believe that even if she couldn’t respond, that she could still hear him.
"Liis." He reached out and enclosed her gently in his arms. "I love you, until my dying day."
-----------------------------------
Vedek Jariel Camen
Ship's Chaplain
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
and
Ensign Vol Tryst
Ship's Counselor
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
and
The Healer
Messenger of the Sylph
Vedek Jariel Camen
Ship's Chaplain
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
and
Ensign Vol Tryst
Ship's Counselor
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
and
The Healer
Messenger of the Sylph