Friday, March 20, 2015

A Perfect Join, Part I


Yesod


You wake up realizing that those closest to you were consumed in your making – you are born an orphan.  For slightly over 90 hours, two distinct and simultaneous nebula of experience collide --  dual masses strain to coalesce into a sense of self, an ego that can pronounce “I” as more a statement than a question. Part of you finds the snug familiarity of your body  violated --  your nearly vestigial pouch ripped open and stuffed with a half meter worm. The other part of you feels trapped in an alien husk, fighting the desperate urge to claw its way out, clinging to training and a sheer faith that this process – a process that no two Trill describe quite the same -- will eventually end .  

There has to be a better way to achieve immortality. Klingons try to fight their way to it. Romulans conquer. Ferengi haggle. Terrans try to fuck their way to it -- but Terrans are not alone there.

Despite the anticipated horrors and warnings, the awakening to my fourth life has been the gentlest so far.  I lie supine in a dark, cavern on a raised dais feeling rock’s warmth oozes through the layers of padding.  The light is dim. The warm, moist air smells of sweet, delicate incense. Somewhere the burble of a fountain couples with soft music.  I slightly twist my wrists, and determine the thick leather manacles on the dais remain confined to their niches carved out of the stone. My four attendants wear white robes, hiding their alert focus behind kindly smiles and slow, deliberate movement. Two stand quietly back, hypos tucked in their sleeves.  The tricorders, sensors, even emergency medical supplies, are all discretely hidden away as an attempt to reflect the old ways as much as possible, while reducing the frequency of madness, infection and death.  

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Across the Desert

Juliette watched the heat ripple over the desert to make the sand appear the boil. Lorot sat nearby, meditating.

“I should like to cross the desert.” She said.

“You would most likely not succeed. It is dangerous.  Even for Vulcans, there is a considerable level of risk.”

Juliette considered this, hunching further into her linen shawl to avoid the scalding sun.  “Then why do Vulcans try to cross?”

“To achieve what awaits at the end, Naturally.”

Juliette’s curiosity piqued. “What awaits at the end of the desert?”

“Wisdom.”

 She considered this for a long moment before she asked, “Which end?”

Lorot arched a brow at her.

Sensor Ghosts

The USS Valkyrja encountered an ion storm that played havoc with the sensor arrays. At one point, sensors indicated the passing of a giant turtle, with four gigantic elephants standing on its back facing outward. On the backs of the elephants was a massive disk-shaped planet. Captain and crew could not help but observe the phenomena until sensors returned to normal.

Monday, March 9, 2015

A Perfect Join: Prelude

Many of those who hadn’t been on the away team who beamed over to Gul Maket’s crippled freighter found it hard to conceive this prim, fastidious Cardassian had tortured hundreds. They hadn’t seen the rooms, the tools, the logs.  They hadn’t seen what remained of his ‘patients’. Those that had were tight-lipped, pale and asked “only hundreds?”.

 “I must say, Evlyn – May I call you Evlyn? So nice to meet a colleague. You have the most lovely green eyes. What do the Terrans call it? Jade? Yes. I would mount them on black velvet. Could I somehow let you still see through them? That would be the challenge, hmm..”

“Bold talk for a prisoner, Gul Maket. Captain Yassal will do.”

He seemed to consider this a second. “Am I?”

“Lets see. I could consult the manifest of the brig of *my* ship, or I could ask any one of those security staff behind me…” She looked theatrically back to her security. Stoic. Hands on phasers. They’d been on the away team, so the Gul’s delicate, mild manner was only pissing them off. “They would be inclined to agree.”

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Investigation of Hoken III: Examining the Origin of the Biome

Attending Officers:
Captain Mio - USS Atliss
Commander Shranz - USS Barclay
Doctor Grey -- Away Team Medical Officer
Lt. Hawk, USS Eclipse
Ensign Sri, Acting Science Specialist

Stardate 92172.54

Science Officer’s Log: We are heading toward the planet Hoken III at warp five in the USS Barclay. Our escort is Lt. Hawk in the USS Eclipse. Our objective: perform in-depth scans of the planet Hoken III, to see if this desert world has any connection with the lifeform on the beta moon -- a species that has been designated as the Biome.


Thursday, March 5, 2015

Returning Home, Part Five

Juliette slept well, despite being too tired to properly conduct her evening meditation. The household was full of disciplined minds, which made her need to properly shield herself from random thoughts unnecessary.  Instead of waking to a particularly strong emotional outburst near her quarters, she awoke to the smell of pastries backing, the small pungent eggs that were soft boiled in broth, orange peel and anise. The smells that came from food being prepared, a step skipped with replication station.