Journey into Madness

Posted on Mon Apr 26th, 2021 @ 1:03am by Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Chief Petty Officer Remal Kajun

Mission: Trapped in Time
Location: Ready Room

“Captain Kaylen, this is Chief Kajun, do you have a moment?”

“ Of course” Rhenora acknowledged from her Ready Room. She had received some interesting news from Aurora and was keen to share it with her husband, not to mention she was intrigued as to what he had to discuss with her. “I’m in my Ready room, care to join me for a coffee?” She invited, forgetting for an instant that he was not always a stone’s throw from her side.

“I’ve just had a rather interesting thing happen while I was staring out the portal at the wormhole. A rather vivid flash of a vision to which I can only describe as a story involving a Bajoran crew and a trip in a freighter class vessel. Care to hear about it?” He asked through the comm. Unsure of her location and who surrounded her. Visions after-all were not always meant to be shared with everyone.

“Care to join me in my Ready room?” She asked simply.

“On my way.” He responded, always the courteous one waiting for the invite. Moments later he crossed the bridge and pressed the chime.

“Come.” She commanded, allowing the doors to part allowing him entry into her private space.

She looked at him with a piqued interest, thankful that he was also prone to visions sent by the Prophets. It lessened the burden to know she was not alone in their choosing. She was itching to hear of his vision, such things were always sent at a time of the Prophets choosing and were never by ‘accident’. Remal had seen whatever he had seen for a reason.

“Coffee?” She asked, knowing it would be substandard replicated but it would do in a pinch. She always felt more comfortable with something in her hands.

“I could go for a cuppa, please.” He was still processing the images as they appeared. But it was more than just imagery. There was sound and smell and an overall substance to the images.

She replicated a coffee for both of them, tall steaming mugs that spoke of better conversations and brighter minds all in a ground bean suspension. Handing his brew over she settled onto the couch, a little self conscious but wanting to hear more of what he had seen.

He took the cup, and sat upon her couch, his eyes not really looking outward but in at the images inside his head. He took a sip and a moment to process. “It was just a flash. A moment in my time, but several minutes in theirs. I’m still processing it really, but I saw a Woman, and her daughter. Then a man, the woman’s brother I think. They were walking and just talking, yes just talking.”

He sipped again as he tried to focus. “There was a ship and maybe a Commander of the vessel, oh and someone they called Major. Real statuesque figure that one. They were preparing to launch their vessel. One of them called the ship Alla and laughed about it. There was some sort of discussion about their passengers and something about coordinates and... “ He smiled at the memory. “And the daughter was a spitfire. Sassy, like you can get sometimes.”

“Alla…. Madness - I like it already” Rhenora smirked as she sipped her coffee and listened. She nodded at him to continue.

He caught the nod, but blinked a couple of times. “That’s it, I think. It’s like they fed me a small bit of the story but left me before giving me anything I can actually use. I caught the feeling though that there was something odd about the passengers or the destination that didn’t sit well with the crew. As the one who usually has visions, what do you think this means?”

“ As always it means exactly what the Prophets intended it to mean” Kaylen sighed, resting against the back of the couch. “They never give the full picture, only enough to make you question everything” She paused and considered his words again “ If the crew were uncomfortable with the destination, that would only leave a few possibilities. One of the nearby planets that weren’t good traders...or something closer to home”

He nodded, “One of these days I look forward to getting a full story in a coherent way from the wormhole aliens. Until that day I will not hold my breath.” He took another drink of his coffee and instantly longed for his own stash of blends.

“ Do you ever think there will be a time where they tell us exactly what we need to know at exactly the right time?” Her words were somewhat rhetorical yet slightly annoyed at the same time.

He sat back and relaxed a bit, “Perhaps that is our new task as Emissaries. Not to lead Bajor, but to teach the Aliens how to better communicate.” He rolled his eyes indicating his sarcasm.

“I think I’d rather lead Bajor” Rhenora snorted as she sipped her coffee again. “ How many people did you say were on board the ship?” She asked, forcing her brain to remember the details.

“Let’s see, The Mother, the daughter, the brother, the Commander, the Major, the two passengers. That’s seven, I think.” He thought deep and hard for a moment. “Oh and they mentioned another, the cargo handler maybe, so eight.

“ So there were 8 souls on that ship, I wonder what we’ll find. Aurora mentioned she felt something.. Like an echo almost” Rhenora mused, wishing she had more pieces of the puzzle to put together in her mind.

He squinted his brow, "Are you telling me you've come across a ship similar to what I just envisioned?"

“No, I don’t think so. But there were tales from long ago about a ship that left for a nearby planet and never came back and was never found. It was a tale told to children though to stop them wandering too far from home during the occupation.” She corrected “It’s probably not related, but I guess in all old tales there is an element of truth in there somewhere” She shrugged her shoulders then rolled them to release the tension that had been accumulating.

"If you haven't found a ship then why are we stopped in the wormhole? And what are you suggesting Aurora was feeling?" He was confused. Not being on the bridge meant he was not privy to everything that had transpired.

She looked at him blankly, realising she had completely mis-interpretted his comments and her mind had wandered off somewhere else.

“I’m so sorry Remal, my mind was elsewhere, yes there is a ship, stranded for a long time with no life signs. I guess I was distracted” She cast her eyes downward. How was she going to tell him what else Aurora had mentioned in privacy?

He noticed the shoulder roll. "Mind if I help you work that out? Maybe you can tell me a little more about this ship you found and we can can see if my vision matches in any way." He stood and moved around behind her, placing his large hands upon her shoulders.

“You are truly sent by the Prophets themselves” She sighed as his hands began to work the knots in her shoulders, releasing the stored tension and loosening the tight muscles. “There’s a ship we’ve found, almost lodged in the wormhole, devoid of life or any kind of energy signatures. It’s been there a long time” She started, closing her eyes as though it would order her thoughts better.

"Bajoran? About 90 or so years perhaps?" He kneaded just below her right shoulder blade where a small bundle had knotted up.

She stretched her neck sideways to lengthen the muscle and assist his movements. “Bajoran, or its at least Bajoran design, there’s no hull markings that we can see - but then again they didn’t have hull markings back then” She recalled, sighing as he kneaded her shoulders. There was another moment of hesitation, as though she were afraid of saying something.

“No. They didn’t did they. Bajoran’s as a people seemed much more simple back then. It was a time well before the Cardassians, the Occupation. There was peace between the people of science and religion which allowed our people to begin combing the nearby systems for other cultures. It was really a time of awakening for many.” He took his elbow and worked it into her tightest muscle group, spreading them out and dulling the pain.

“ A peace we need to find once more” She echoed, eyes still closed. There was a grimace as he nailed one of the tighter knots. “Something tells me this little ship is more than a little ship just lost in time”

He stopped as he felt he could do no more without causing her harm. “You should see the Doc. about that. For now it should get you through.” He moved around the desk and recycled his now empty cup of coffee. “It’s never just a little ship and it’s always something more. But sometimes when we expect big things, we miss the little things. Maybe that’s why I received the vision, maybe.”

“ This is true. Speaking of little things - I had an interesting conversation with Aurora earlier” She stood with him and experimentally rolled her shoulders, relishing in the freer movement and the reduction in the tension that had lay there.

“Really? Is she doing well with her pregnancy and all?” He was genuinely curious about how her rapid development was coming along.

“She’s uncomfortable but coping well with the changes. “ Rhenora smiled, her motherly attitude towards her crew evident “She’ll make a wonderful mother, although I’m concerned what will happen when the baby is born.”

“Is she worried?” he questioned. “Or is it that you are doing the worrying for the two of you?” He gave her that knowing look.

“ A bit of both… no.. I lie.. The latter. Always the latter” She smiled at his astute observation. “She did have other insights though, she thinks we may be expecting.” The bombshell had been dropped, would he catch it before it hit the ground?

TBC