Family Lines, I: The Orb, 1
Posted on 07/27/2020 @ 10:07pm by
Mission:
S2E1: The Skunil Incident
Location: USS Crazy Horse, Tahlin's Quarters; Bajor
Timeline: Day 11 at 2130
Holding a cup of tea in her hands, Tahlin stared out the viewport, studying the warp stars... And remembering.
Orb, I: Duality
The Temple grounds were dark, its high walls and thick heddrow of blooming vines shielding it from the intrusion of civilization. A little on edge, Tahlin followed her father through the main gate and towards the central building. "Are you sure we should be doing this, Father?" she asked him.
"I've run it by my superior; I would have preferred to do this during the day, but you've dedicated yourself to school, and your mother wouldn't hear of your skipping it for this." He sighed, his nose ridges crinkling in a scowl.
Not for the first time, Tahlin wondered at her parents' dynamic. It was clear that they loved one another, but they seemed to be polar opposites. While they both came from educated backgrounds, her mother was a shopkeeper, academic, and publisher, whereas her father was a priest—a Vedek, and according to his colleagues, quite accomplished. Tahlin hadn't found her calling as yet, though she was considering Starfleet. In the five years since the end of the Occupation, she'd met a few officers and their children—those helping in rebuilding efforts—and she found them fascinating.
A slight frown of her own crossed her face as she thought about one friend of hers in particular who was from a Starfleet family. T'Larin was tall, even by Vulcan standards, and wore her hair in a quite fetching style that seemed both very Vulcan, and to emulate Bajoran fashion. Idly, the teenager wondered if her father—or T'Larin, for that matter—knew of her 'crush' as one of her friends called it? She'd of course told her brother—stalwart, supportive, always there as she was for him—and she suspected her mother knew. There had been a few times where her mother had given her an odd look, and seemed on the verge of saying something.
She was broken from her thoughts by the opening of a door in the central building's outer wall. Following her father down a set of steps, Tahlin blinked in the sudden light. The illumination was coming from a stone cabinet, oddly shaped into a curved box with tiers. "A Tear of the Prophets," Tahlin's father said, reverently. "Look, and see what shall be seen. Let the wisdom of the Prophets, in their infinite wisdom, guide you to the light of the Celestial Temple, of which this is a mere mockery and shadow."
He opened the cabinet. Briefly, Tahlin saw a crystalline orb, there was a surge of light, and a flash of heat, and she was '''
Heartbeat ... Breathing. Metal deckplates beneath her feet, lighted panels ... A starship? "Just where in the name of the Prophets am I?"
Steps behind her made her turn. A Vulcan, somehow familiar, was standing there. Dressed in civilian clothes, she nonetheless gave off a presence of authority and power. She stepped up to one of the doors in the wall, and pressed the enunciator. The woman took no notice of Tahlin. 'Can she even see me' wondered the teen.
The door opened, revealing another female Vulcan. Although it was difficult to tell with non-Bajorans—particularly Vulcans—there seemed to be some hostility from the visitor to the one being visited. They seemed to be relatively the same age, and Tahlin wondered how in the Celestial Temple this was being shown to her—if it was even real—and how it related to anything to do with her or Bajor. She knew, from studying the writings of Kai Opaka and Kai Taluna that the visions of the Prophets didn't always make clear sense, but this seemed to be stretching the limits of credulity.
"Why have you come?" The woman in the doorway definitely had an edge to her voice. Tahlin crept closer, observing the two. With a start, she realized she recognized at least one of them from a Federation history PADD, though she couldn't place a name to the face. And the other ... The other looked suspiciously like T'Larin, but as though the Vulcan were older, more lined with care ... Almost as though ... T'Larin had mentioned at one point that her mother had a twin sister, but that they did not speak often.
"I come only to bring a message. I thought you would be gratified to see how your sister is doing. Seeing as you have refused to speak with her by subspace for the better part of twenty years, it seemed logical that I bring it to you, instead of her attempting to communicate directly."
The other considered her visitor a moment. "I do not have a problem with you, cousin. Pray that I do not develop one ... What would T'Erios have to say to me? She knows that I think her choices ... Ill-advised."
A PADD was offered to her, and she took it. "Living on Bajor ... Helping in the relief efforts ... T'Larin doing well enough at the learning center ..." She thrust the message back at her visitor. "Were it not for my niece, I would throw this PADD into the recycler ... Tell her that I appreciate the information given me, but if she is to use you as a courier, I request she send you for more pertinent information ... I will communicate with the child, not the mother. She has violated her way as a Vulcan."
The visitor raised one perfectly manicured eyebrow. "You will not consent to meet her, even for T'Larin's sake?"
"Tell her, Cousin T'Sehlat, that I would welcome the visit of the child if the child wishes to learn the truth of the Vulcan way. Otherwise, as it is said on Andoria, the ice covers all our speech in night's shadow ... Now go, before you are missed."
"Live long and prosper," was the almost rote response. The first Vulcan turned away from the door, and as it shut, seemed to nod in Tahlin's direction.
"You saw that, Little Tahlin?" The voice was surprisingly gentle, and Tahlin jumped.
"Er, yes ... You are?"
"Who I am is not important. I would not know you are there, but I am sensitive to these things ... You know my cousin's child, T'Larin? She has spoken of you to me."
The Bajoran nodded. "She has? Er, I mean, yes, I know her."
"Good ... Good ... I do not know why you are viewing the strife between her mother and my cousin, her mother's twin sister ''" The woman cocked her head. "How are you here, child?"
"An Orb of the Prophets," was Tahlin's simple response.
"Ah, yes, one of the more interesting sets of objects in the universe ... Treat her well, LAE'Or Tahlin."
Another flash of light, a blast of heat '''
Tahlin stood, shaking, next to the now darkened cabinet. Her father was there, hand out, palm up. "What did you see?" he asked her.
"I ... I can't tell you ... Need to think ..."
A Post, And As Recalled, By:
Lieutenant (J.G) Lae'Or Tahlin
Chief of Security/Tactical
USS Crazy Horse
