The USS Avalon, somewhere outside Federation space stardate: the present
Or at least, they looked like children.
But they were out in space and appearances could be deceiving, he knew that quite well too. Certainly no ordinary child, even in his experience, would have the power these seemed to.
This "Light" they kept talking about. What in the name of all the dragons *was* it? And who *was* this "Prophet" the children took their orders from?
He didn't want to think that a member of his crew could be mixed up in what sounded like some sort of cult, but the so called Prophet had specifically named Kamiana.
What the Betazoid helm officer could have to do with this he didn't know. But sure as his name was Cullyn MacBreandain, he was going to find out.
He'd already sent Jen to find her--he couldn't risk using the commbadges in case the children were listening in. While he waited for them to arrive, he called up Kamiana Tyrrel's file.
The significant events of Kamiana Tyrrel's life and service record scrolled by. These included her leave of absence during her first year at Academy, and more recently, the events on board Defiant in the months following Kamiana's return from the alternate universe.
Including the several entries from Paulos.
He went over to the door to Main Sickbay and looked out into the ward. Good, Paulos was still there.
"Counsellor, could ye come in here for a minute?"
"Of course," was Paulos' reply, and a few moments later he had joined MacBreandain in the office.
Once both men had taken seats, MacBreandain began, not wanting to waste any time. "Counsellor, I need ye ta tell me whatever ye can about Lt Tyrrel. I ha'reason ta believe she's somehow connected ta what's happening on board, an' how she's likely ta react when I talk ta her--which I plan ta be doin' in tha next few minutes, or as soon as Jen can get her in here."
Paulos frowned. "I don't know how much I can tell you, ethically. I know that you need information to help the ship, but there is patient-counselor privacy. If you don't need specific details from me, I can tell you that she seems to be a lot better since we were all transferred...but there is something going on and Serrin could probably tell you as much about that as I."
He paused, trying to think of what to tell the Captain. "If it becomes necessary there is another source. I suggested that she start a dream journal and though I'm not sure if she has had time to start that yet, it may be helpful. The current situation is not an internal one, sir. Lt. Tyrrel is being influenced and affected by an outside source. We've been trying to find that source; identify it so that we could understand what was happening and why...and so that it could be stopped."
"I think that the rest of the details should be given by Kamiana though."
MacBreandain nodded. "I can o'course understand about confidentiality. An' if it were normal circumstances I wouldnae be askin' ye any o'this. Like I said I will be talkin' ta Kamiana shortly. But..." he paused for a moment to meet Paulos' eyes. "what would ye say if I were ta tell ye that I just was talkin' ta tha person seems ta be behind all this, a man these children call 'tha Prophet'--an' he told me he had ta talk ta someone else on board before he could explain ta me. *An'* when I called him on that--he said her name was Kamiana."
"I'm not sure how that would be related to her mental health. She has never mentioned anyone like this man, at least not that I can recall in this context. If he does know her, she would be the one to ask." Paulos frowned again. "Of course it might be interesting to see how much their telepathy can do to dreams."
"It would at that. I dinna know if tha children are telepathic, at least they didna say so, but tha Prophet definitely is." MacBreandain replied. "An' this 'Light' they keep talkin' about...some sort o'power, definitely, tha question is, does it control them or do they control it?"
"There was a power in the telepathic contact, but I couldn't say where the control lies. The contact was too short for anything conclusive to be drawn from it. I don't think that prolonged exposure would be a good idea at this time though...if it caused pain for a brief contact it could do more with the longer exposure. Not intentional, but as a side effect. Being cautious I would advise that psi-talented people should shield themselves from the contact if possible."
"I'll leave it ta you ta make sure they do," MacBreandain replied. "I'll na have any more o'me crew lost because o'this." Commander Goth *still* could not be found, the computer couldn't or wouldn't locate him. Nor would it allow access to his quarters--not even with emergency overrides, they'd attempted those but it seemed Goth had disabled them. The only way left would have been to cut their way in, but that was impossible without phasers.
"Of course, Captain." was Paulos' response as they waited for Kamiana to arrive.
* * *
With the Bridge still sealed off, Kamiana couldn't get to her regular duty station at helm, so she'd joined Lcdr Longshadow and the other science staff trying to figure out what sort of force field these children were using, and how to get through it.
They'd tried several theories and tested each, but so far to no avail. The general feeling now was that they could very well be dealing with some sort of psychic force. The experiences of several of the ship's psis had tended to confirm that.
It also raised another question, though. Why had she not had the same reaction? When the mind in the light had touched hers, she had gotten a sense of familiarity, as if she knew that mind but at the same time she didn't.
There had only been a feeling that she would know what it meant, soon but not yet.
For all their sakes she hoped soon was within the next few hours. She hadn't yet talked to anyone about this, Paulos had been busy with some of the other crew and besides how could she make sense of her feelings to him when she couldn't to herself?
She shook her head and resumed working on her latest attempt to find a way to get communications back without alerting the Bridge. She didn't know how much good her attempt to reach Renee had done, especially since she'd been cut off before she could finish telling her what was happening.
Jen walked into the science lab, and found Kamiana there working.
Kami didn't look up at first, though she sensed who it was. "I managed to get through to Toshi Station for a minute or two, on a civilian channel. I was talking to Renee. You remember her, don't you? But I don't know how much she got before these children you talked about cut me off." Kami paused and looked up. "I'm trying, though."
"I know," Jen managed a smile despite the seriousness of the situation. "I'm sure the Captain will be happy to hear that. Speaking of the Captain, he wants to see you."
"Me?" Kamiana wondered. "All right, but I don't understand what for."
"I think he wants to tell you that himself." said Jen as they left the lab and headed for the turbolift.
A few minutes later, the emerged on the Sickbay deck.
"It doesn't make sense, that he'd want to talk to me." Kamiana continued as she followed the changeling to the Sickbay. "I haven't even seen these children you've been talking about."
"I know," Jen gave a brief reassuring smile despite how serious the situation was, with the ship out of the crew's control and being taken who knew where. "no one thinks you've done anything wrong."
As she said this they reached Dr Serrin's office, or what would normally be Dr Serrin's office if the Captain hadn't commandeered it to use as a substitute for his now inaccessible Ready Room.
Jen smiled at Kamiana again and nodded for her to go on.
Kamiana steeled herself and rang the chime.
"Come in," came Captain MacBreandain's voice.
She stepped in and the door closed behind her. "Lt Tyrrel reporting as ordered, Sir." she kept her voice even, calm, though she wasn't sure how she managed to. She noticed Paulos sitting off to one side and wondered why. The Counsellor looked ill at ease...this couldn't have anything to do with her, could it?
"Captain," she began, wanting to report quickly. "I was able to get through to Toshi Station via a civilian channel. Only for a couple of minutes before I got cut off, and only to Midshipman Renee, but hopefully that'll be enough to let them know what's happening here."
MacBreandain nodded. "Sit down, Lt." MacBreandain indicated the empty seat in front of his temporary desk. He turned towards the viewport for a moment, thus turning his back to Kamiana, and she saw immediately something wrong.
The two swords he always wore were gone. That in itself was odd, she couldn't remember *ever* having seen him without them.
MacBreandain turned back around to face her. "Tell me, Lt. what did ye see just then?"
Kamiana faltered for a moment, she hadn't been expecting that question. "Well, you, of course. But--" she swallowed, "you don't have your swords."
"Tha's right, I dinnae. An' it's nae just me. There's nae a weapon left anywhere on this ship, thanks ta these kids an' this Light they keep talking about. Tha same Light that went through tha whole ship a wee while ago." MacBreandain replied.
Kamiana nodded. "I felt it, Captain. So did every psi on this ship, as I understand it. Only..." she swallowed. "what I felt--wasn't painful at all."
MacBreandain nodded. "Aye, that they did--an'I'm nae surprised ta hear yuir reaction was different. I've talked ta Paulos an' tha others." He took a deep breath, "Kamiana," he continued in a somewhat gentler but no less firm tone. "tha reason I asked ye up here is this. Ye've got some connection ta all this, an' we need ta be finding out what it is, it may be tha only way we've got ta get out o' this situation."
"Me?" Kamiana's eyes went wide. She remembered her dreams, the strange feelings that had plagued her...but he couldn't mean those, could he? She hadn't mentioned anything to anyone on Avalon except Paulos.
"I just got through talkin' ta some o'these kids," MacBreandain went on. "an' then this other guy pops in, th' Prophet they call him." He stared at Kamiana. "An' when I tried ta get some straight answers out o'him, all he'd say was there was someone on th'ship he had ta talk t'first. When I asked him ta name them...he said yuir name."
Kamiana's dark eyes became almost saucers. Oh, by all the Houses, she thought, the strange feeling she had had lately surging up again at his words, the feeling that something was supposed to happen soon. Was *this* it? But how was it possible? "I don't know, Captain," she said after a moment, trying to sort her thoughts. "From what Jen and the others said who've actually seen these children, they seem to have some sort of power, almost like the Q. And I don't know any Q's."
"True, I've seen yer file an' while ye haven't had experience wi'tha Q, this Prophet guy said flat out he wasn't one o'them. O'course, he could be lyin', but I'd take bets ye're not. Tha fact is though he does claim ta know ye. An'like I said, I talked ta Paulos. Ye've been havin' some odd dreams lately, he tells me."
Paulos looked down at the floor, glad that he wasn't out in the center of the room with her. The ethics of discussing a patient with another still felt violated. He waited, not saying anything as he felt the Betazoid look at him briefly.
Kamiana bit her lip, then after a long moment shook her head. "That's true. But I--I don't see how there could be any connection." Michael Landry was six years dead, and even if he hadn't been he had been a completely normal human as far as psi ability went. Certainly no human could do anything like this.
"I don't either, but that doesn't mean there isn't one. He did mention yuir name, after all." He paused for a moment, then meeting her eyes, continued. "I want ye ta think about every bit o'these dreams o'yers, just exactly what happens an'who ye see. There's got ta be some reason why this man's interested in ye an'we *have* ta find out what it is. Preferably b'fore these children finish draggin' us ta wherever they've got in mind."
Kamiana shook her head. "I'd tell you if I knew--but I don't. The dreams are just about someone I knew back at Academy. Someone who died six years ago, and I had a hard time dealing with that. Then after I got kidnapped on Defiant, and other things happened, it sort of brought it all back out again. But I'm over that now, coming here helped. If I do think of something, I'll let you know right away." She gazed up at MacBreandain, silently praying he'd accept it. That was the truth as far as she knew it.
MacBreandain stared at her for a long moment, then nodded. "All right, ye can go, Lt. But I want ta hear tha minute ye come up with anything, nae matter how unimportant it may seem."
"Of course." Kamiana nodded and hurried out.
MacBreandain waited till the door slid shut behind her, and then turned to Paulos. "Anything ye want ta add ta that?"
"She is being honest...but I wouldn't expect anything except that from Kamiana. There is some fear of course, but that is also to be expected. She doesn't know what the connection is between herself and 'the Prophet' and I think that we will either have to ask him about it or wait to see what happens to find out what that is."
* * *
Toshi Station, that same night, 0350 hours...
Capt John Hardin looked around at the faces of his senior staff.
"We've got a situation here, people. We have to find out what happened to the Avalon--but I can't risk leaving the sector unprotected while we do. Which means Defiant stays here for now. Which also means we're sending out a runabout. Cmdr Bedard, I'm placing you in charge of the mission. You can of course choose anyone to accompany you you wish."
Bedard looked around at the expectant faces. Everyone here wanted to be part of the search for the Avalon, everyone here had friends on board. But they couldn't all go, that would put the station, the whole Quadrant, at risk.
Then he noticed Midshipman Renee was still present. He glanced from her to Capt Hardin.
Capt Hardin nodded. "Midshipman Renee, you're dis-"
Renee interrupted before he could dismiss her, wanting to make sure she wasn't left out of the search. "Sir, I want to volunteer for this mission, I am Chief of docking for Toshi Station and can be easily available for searching for the Avalon. Also, I was the last to receive a transmission from them, and therefore may have a better chance of being contacted again by the party that seems to be able to get to a transceiver." She finished and waited for an answer.
Capt Hardin looked at Renee for a long moment, then glanced to Cmdr Bedard, who nodded back.
"Very well, then. And thank you, Renee." Bedard waited for anyone else to speak up.
Alexa opened her mouth to volunteer, then stifled it. There wasn't much in the way of Security staff aboard the station, so she really should stay behind.
But Kami was in trouble, and although she may not have been as close to her as Midshipman Renee, she was still a friend. As were Paulos and Jen.
She stepped forward. "I would also like to volunteer, sir. Not to disparage any of my crewmates, but I believe that if, by some chance, there is a conflict, I can take out more people than anyone in this task force." She grinned. "Phaser-wise, anyway."
"I volunteer to go, Sir," said Calara bravely. "We don't know what kind of medical state the crew will be in, or whether or not Dr. Serrin is able to attend to them. The EMH can look after sick-bay here until I return."
"I'd like to go, too," Myah added. Kamiana had tried so hard to help her after the last time she'd been injured in the holodeck: so, for that matter, had T'pril.
"All right, that's it then." Bedard replied. "And thanks, all of you. I'll want to launch as soon as possible, so get your gear together and be down in the docking bay in ten minutes."
Myah, Alexa, Calara, and Renee hurried out. The others left as well, to resume their stations.
"Bedard...just a moment." Hardin called as the Bolian was about to leave.
Bedard paused and turned. "John?"
Hardin managed a slight smile. "I know I don't have to tell you to be careful out there--but I'm going to anyway." His eyes met Bedard's. "Bring them all back, ok?"
Bedard nodded. That he would. Not only his own team but the Avalon too. If it wasn't already too late for them--but no. He couldn't let himself think that way. "I will." was all he said before he, too, turned and left.
Which left one more thing for Hardin to do. He'd put this off, probably too long already. But now it *had* to be done.
He tapped the commswitch on his desk. "Open a channel to the Defiant. Then get me Admiral Bridges *and* Capt Lebin."
"Aye, Sir." came the reply.
Within moments both men's images had appeared onscreen.
Hardin updated them quickly and all three agreed there was no need yet for a full alert, but to have the Defiant on standby alert just in case until Bedard made the rendezvous and could report back on the situation.
* * *
The USS Avalon, 0500 hours
The Avalon's crew had spent most of the night so far trying every way they could think of to break through the forcefields surrounding the Bridge, AuxCon, the transporter rooms, and Engineering.
A suggestion from Dr Serrin had led to an attempt to beam containers of anesthizine gas into the sealed areas, the idea being to incapacitate the children inside and hopefully deactivate the power they were using to maintain the fields.
That, however, had only resulted in the sudden appearance of a white robed child who zapped everyone out of the transporter room back into the adjacent corridor, followed by the sealing off of not only that transporter room but the others as well.
What was even more worrying to Capt Cullyn MacBreandain was that Cmdr Goth still had not reported in, and nothing they attempted to force access to his quarters worked.
Even an attempt to use the self destruct had failed, as the computer had somehow suddenly lost all its programming in that area. Not only that, plus all the weapons- or defense- related programming had vanished from the computers, including those in the holodeck, so they couldn't even run simulations of possible strategies.
It would seem when these children talked about Peace, they meant it.
Though the children did seem willing to talk, almost eager--MacBreandain had been able to get Tamianth to let him back on the Bridge. The resulting conversation, however, somewhat reminded Cullyn of going in circles.
"Let's start at tha beginning. Just what is this Light o'yuirs?"
Tamianth's dark eyes held his. "The Light....is the Light. It is Life, and Peace, and all that is good."
That sounded familiar. Too familiar. But maybe he could get this girl to think a little: everything she and the other children had been saying so far sounded like answers learned by rote.
"An' just who decides what's good? Tha Light?" he prodded her.
She shook her head. "It does not need to 'decide'. It *is* all those things. As you or I are flesh and blood, so is the Light all that is good."
All right, he'd give her that one. For now, anyway. Perhaps she, being merely a follower, didn't know more than that. Cullyn put that question aside to ask the Prophet later.
"OK, I'll let that pass for now." he continued. "But maybe ye can tell me something about this Prophet. Is he one o'yuir people? An' how come is it ye all look like children except him? An' does he have some name besides 'tha Prophet'?"
Tamianth shook her head. "If he does, we do not know it. I was among the first to see him when he arrived on our world. All he would say then was that his name did not matter, that he was only a servant of the Light."
She bit her lip and glanced at the other children on the Bridge. "As for your other question. I am among the oldest of us, and I am eighteen in your years." She gestured to the two boys. "They are somewhat younger, the Prophet is the only Old One we have had in a long, long time." she swallowed, clearly this was painful to her, to all of them. "The Prophet would prefer to tell you of the reason for that himself." Her eyes silently pleaded with MacBreandain to not press her on this. "Which he will when we reach our world, and that will be soon."
She gestured at the main viewscreen, and Cullyn felt sick as he recognized their position. They were well across what had once been the demilitarized zone and into Cardassian space, though luckily still on the fringes. At least with conditions the way they were in the Empire (or what was left of it) right now, they weren't likely to run into an armed patrol ship any time soon. Still it wasn't a place he wanted to be.
That made even less sense, though. Tamianth and the others weren't Cardassians...not unless they'd been surgically altered, and he didn't think that likely in this case.
"How many of ye are there?" He'd seen personally only the three on the Bridge, but Backus had mentioned four more in Engineering and there were at least two more that he knew about.
"Not many now--but that is another thing the Prophet should explain." was Tamianth's reply. "As I said, we will arrive soon...within three of your hours."
"An' he *will* talk ta me then?" Cullyn was insistent on getting *some* information.
"Once he has spoken to the other one, as he told you." she replied.
And with that the conversation was cut short as MacBreandain suddenly found himself back in Sickbay.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
But wait, there's
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