Cerulean Stars - Chapter 75

Cerulean Stars - Chapter 75

Stardate 48274.9 - April 11, 2371 - 08:07:00

“Did you sleep all right?” Raine asked somewhat nervously as she sat across from the older Vulcan woman.

“The accommodations were acceptable.” Na'Tal offered as she watched the steeping pot of tea sitting on the table between them. 

An awkward silence settled in between them, and Raine had to clamp down on her sudden urge to begin fidgeting as she was all but thrust back to the first time she had done this with the woman.

“Have you continued to practice your meditation exercises?” Na'Tal inquired as she began pouring the tea.

“Sort of.” Raine admitted with a slight wince. “I actually practice more of a kinesthetic meditation style nowadays.”

“What works for one does not necessarily work for all.” Na'Tal returned with a light smile as she offered Raine one of the cups of tea. “Given your circumstances however, I am pleased that you were able to discover one that did.”

“I had a lot of down time to work things out while pregnant.” Raine confessed as an embarrassed flush of purple graced her cheeks. 

That had been a truly mortifying period of her life, and while she had been absolutely tempted to do what a significant portion of Starfleet women did in such circumstances. Her, at the time rarely used, common sense had overruled her on it and had her relegate herself to desk duty and equipment checking for the entirety of her pregnancy.

“I discovered a number of similar opportunities during my own.” Na'Tal agreed primly as she took a sip of her drink.

“Are you ready to begin?” She asked once Raine had finished drinking her cup of admittedly calming tea.

“Still worried about things I know I have absolutely no reason to be worried about.” Raine told her, knowing the old Vulcan woman would be able to tell if she lied. “But yes.”

“Then join me on the couch and we can start.” Na'Tal ordered her, waiting patiently till Raine did as instructed before raising both her hands and placing them gently on the Asari's face.

“My mind to your mind. “She chanted as Raine lowered her mental barriers and did her best to relax into the telepathic contact. “Your thoughts to my thoughts.”

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Stardate 48275.4 - April 11, 2371 - 12:30:00

The hiss of a hypospray brought Quark back to consciousness, the lumpy feeling of the cushions under his head enough to tell him that he was neither in the station's medbay or anywhere with upholstery he had picked out.

“What?” He muttered as he pulled himself up to see a run down room with a very Klingon aesthetic and the older Klingon man who had come in with Grilka looking down at him. “What happened? Where am I?”

“You are on Qo'noS.” The older Klingon stated tiredly, something in his tone telling Quark the man couldn’t quite believe what he was involved in.

“Qo'noS?” Quark repeated, mentally trying to work out the logistics of that. “The Klingon homeworld? How long was I out?”

“A little over four days.” The older Klingon informed him with an amused smirk. “And yes, you are in the ancestral home of what used to be known as the House of Kozak.”

Quark didn’t like the sound of that for a number of reasons, the biggest of which was that they tended to put a lot of stake in the honor of their names.

“What's it called now?” He floated cautiously, really hoping he hadn’t unintentionally caused the fall of a Klingon great house.

“Kozak died without a male heir.” The older Klingon admitted with a grimace. “So the House no longer has a name.”

“Are you sure it has to be a male heir?” Quark asked hopefully. “Maybe he has a daughter that can take over for a bit?”

“Kozak had no daughters either.” The Klingon said simply.

“Must not have been a very exciting marriage.” Quark muttered with a bemused shake of his head. After all, what was the point of a marriage contract if you couldn’t at least enjoy it a little.

“It was not.” Grilka confirmed as she walked in carrying a fur lined robe of some kind. “My, husband, was more interested in running around gambling and getting drunk than he was doing his duties.”

“Well.” Quark began, turning to Grilka with what he hoped she took as a trustworth grin. “Here’s an idea. Why don’t you take over?”

“Unfortunately that is not an option.” Grilka told him with a grimace.

“Such things require special dispensation from the Council.” The Klingon man explained with a pitying shake of his head. “If Kozak had died in an accident and left no male heir, they might have allowed Grilka to become head of the family even though she's a woman. But since Kozak died in a mostly honorable fight, then no dispensation will be granted.”

“But he was drunk, and tripped, there was barely even a struggle.” Quark tried lamely, doubting it would work but feeling the need to try anyway.

“If being drunk was enough to render a combat dishonorable, Sto'Vo'Kor would be bereft of most of its population.” Grilka put forward with a light chuckle. “And as loath as I am to admit it, the truth of events still portrays the tale of my husband's death in a barely honorable light.”

“Even if it would likely have resulted in my blade resting in his gut had he succeeded.” She muttered with an angry growl as she walked over to the couch and shoved the robe at Quark.

“Put this on.” She ordered.

Quark looked at the robe, having no idea what exactly it represented to the Klingons, but heavily suspecting it represented something that he wasn’t sure he wanted to be involved with.

“Why?” He inquired cautiously as he scooted slightly away from the offered item.

“Because if you do not, I will kill you.” Grilka said simply as she dropped the robes onto his lap.

“I beg you, consider what you do here, mistress.” The male Klingon pleaded.

“The decision has been made, Tumek.”Grilka stated as she turned a glare to the other Klingon. “There is no other choice.”

“Are you sure?” Quark asked as he looked down at the heavy off-white robe in his lap, desperately hoping the color wasn’t so any blood would show up better. “Maybe I could–”

“Put. It. On.” Grilka growled out before he could finish, pulling a knife out from her belt as she did and brandishing it threateningly in his direction.

Quark got to his feet and pulled the garment on as quickly as he could, deciding the chance of potential death to Klingon ritual a good deal preferable to the certain death by stabbing threatened by Grilka.

The moment he finished Grilka grabbed his hand, and he looked down at her hand in sudden surprise before looking back to Tumek with a confused look on his face.

“Go'Eveh lu cha wabeh. Mo ka re'Chos.” Grilka said, the Klingon phrase falling untranslated to his translator implant. An oddly common occurrence that made Quark wonder if there might be some latinum in putting together a more comprehensive version of the translation matrix.

“Repeat my words.” Tumek instructed him. “Go'Eveh lu cha wabeh. To va re'Luk.”

This was starting to feel dangerously like a very specific type of ceremony that Quark did not want to be a part.

“I don’t suppose I could–” He began, only to stop dead as Grilka raised the dagger to his throat.

“Repeat the words.” She ordered.

“Go'Eveh lu cha wabeh to va re'Luk.” Quark repeated, doing his utmost to get the pronunciation right lest the Klingon woman take further offense.

“Ghos ma'lu Kah!” Tumek barked out.

With that Grilka pulled her dagger away, and Quark began to breathe a sigh of relief, which was quickly cut short as she leaned over and kissed him directly on the lips.

“It is done.” Tumek said before letting out a tired exhale.

“What’s done?” Quark asked, looking between the two Klingons as a feeling of dread began to settle in his stomach.

“The ceremony is complete.” Tumek told him as Grilka finally released his hand. “You are husband and wife.”

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Stardate 48275.6 - April 11, 2371 - 14:15:00

Returning to being herself after a mindmeld was always an experience for Raine, both similar and at the same time slightly different to her own melding. It always left her feeling slightly floaty and for at least a day or two slightly more centered then she normally was.

“Your mind was mostly your own.” Na’Tal finally stated as she leaned back into the couch.

“Mostly?” Raine inquired as she looked to the older Vulcan in concern, not liking the sound of that in the slightest.

“There were remnants of a paranoia not your own.” Na’Tal informed her with an acknowledging tilt of her head. “Directed mostly towards your station’s chief medical officer, Julian Bashir.”

Raine took a moment to process that, trying to figure out just why the Great Link would have wanted her to be paranoid about Doctor Bashir and coming up blank. At which point she slapped a palm to her crest for missing the obvious and not actually following up on the other event properly when it occurred.

“That was probably leftover influence from the telepathic archive we ran into a couple years ago” She explained with a grimace.

“You encountered a telepathic archive and did not have yourself checked afterwards?” Na’Tal put forward in a tone that was equal parts judgment and disappointment.

“Not by a telepath.” Raine confessed lamely as she mentally berated herself for trusting medical scans that she knew were only so-so when it came to detecting telepathic influence.

“I was able to remove the remnants without difficulty.” Na’Tal continued, no doubt able to tell from the look on Raine’s face, that she had realized and accepted the fact that it had been a mistake not to do so. “And at that level it should not have manifested as anything more than an occasional unprompted feeling of distrust or annoyance.”

Raine groaned, hanging her head at the realization that now she was going to have to press the rest of the formerly affected members of the bridge crew into getting themselves checked.

“You’re still open to any Starfleet officer who wants to get themselves checked out, right?” She asked, turning back to Na’Tal with a hopeful look on her face.

“Of course.” Na’Tal confirmed, seeming to consider Raine for a moment before raising a single eyebrow. “I take it you were not the only one affected by the telepathic archive?”

“It hit everyone that was in Ops at the time.” Raine explained with a grimace.

“I see.” Na'Tal returned, somehow squeezing an extraordinary amount of judgment into the two words.

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“And while you're at it.” Sisko instructed the seated pair of Kira and Jadzia as Raine walked into his office. “Have Alpha shift begin a series of battle drills with the new interceptor squadron. I know your people aren't exactly used to flying around Federation attack patterns, but it's better they get used to them now then when we're in the middle of combat.”

“You'll get no argument from me on that.” Kira agreed as she made a note on her padd.

“Brooks.” Sisko greeted as he looked over to her. “I thought you were planning to take the day off for your appointment with Specialist Na'Tal?”

“I was.” Raine admitted as she shot an apologetic look to Kira and Jadzia for interrupting. “We just finished up with it.”

“And well.” Raine continued with a grimace. “You remember that encounter we had with the Saltah’na telepathic archive?”

“Hard to forget.” Sisko confirmed with a glance over to the shelf where the clock he had built was still ticking away happily.

“When I was having Specialist Na'Tal check me over, she discovered that there were apparently some minor lingering effects from the encounter.” Raine explained as a frown made it's why across Command Sisko's face.

“What kind of effects?” He inquired as he grabbed his baseball and began to spin it around in his hands.

She let out a sigh, really wishing Jadzia wasn't equally involved in this, since the Trill woman was the type to never let her forget it.

“Minor unprompted feelings of distrust and or annoyance at Doctor Bashir.” She confessed, looking everywhere but at the Trill woman who was now biting her lip to hold back laughter.

“I suppose it could have been worse.” Sisko offered, clearly fighting back the urge to chuckle himself.

“Na'Tal was able to remove the lingering effects without issue.” Raine went on, feeling a little less guilty about having to push this now. “But as we were all under the effects of the archive, there's a very real possibility that you and the others might also have some undetected aftereffects.”

“I don't think…” Kira began, only to trail off as Raine gave the Bajoran woman a hard stare that was very much at odds with the Asari's normal easy going nature.

“I'm not saying you are for sure.” Raine added in. “But this is exactly the sort of minor effect that tends to go unrealized without having an expert check you over.”

From the look of acceptance on her face it was likely Jadzia at least wouldn't need any more convincing, Kira however had the look of someone who was resistant to the idea on general principle. 

“Specialist Na'Tal wants to look us over then?” Sisko asked as he began idly tapping his baseball on his desk.

“If asked, she would likely tell you that it would be logical for you to do so given the circumstances.” Raine cautiously answered him, having spent enough time around the Vulcan woman to know she would never out right tell someone who wasn't one of her students that they should have their minds checked.

“I've never been a part of a mind meld.” Sisko confessed, clearly not thrilled with the idea.

“Curzon was, once.” Jadzia admitted with a small smile. “There was this young Vulcan woman who… Well, I'll just say it was a memorable week.”

At this point Raine was really starting to wonder if there was a Federation member race other than her's that Curzon hadn't had sex with, which was moderately impressive for a number of different reasons.

“Don't look at me.” Kira said as Sisko’s eyes turned to her. “I wasn’t even aware telepaths were something that existed four years ago.”

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Author’s Notes: I bet you all thought Raine just liked messing with Bashir! But no! It was me! Plot!