Surefoot 16: Day of the Dead

Kami was recovering, reacting instinctively until she realised who was touching her. "Esek!" Then she clutched him tightly. "He was- He was here-"

"I know," he murmured, silently mouthing prayers of thanks that nothing more had happened. "I know. Something happened. I- I don't know-"

"I do," Hannah admitted.

Both Caitians turned to see the image kneeling beside Sasha, gazing with a curious mix of emotions at the young woman, gently propping her up into a sitting position on the floor, her back against the side of the couch, drawing the hair away from her face - and then drawing herself away as the girl began to stir.

"The Former Mrs Hrelle, I presume?" Kami enquired, the tone in her voice not quite matching the lightness her words intended.

Hannah looked back. "The Current Mrs Hrelle, I presume?"

"Did you stop Samedi?" Hrelle asked.

Hannah shook her head. "Your son did."

"What?"

A wistful smile crossed the spectre's expression. "Even at such an early stage of development, he could sense his mother was in danger, and his instincts to protect her blossomed. But all he could do was give her his love. A fierce, primal, unyielding love, untainted by guilt or doubt or fear, something that could not be twisted or manipulated or corrupted.

To a creature like Samedi... that was pure poison."

Hrelle gasped, unable to fully grasp the implications, helping Kami and himself back to their feet. "Where is he now?"

Hannah looked to a corner of the quarters and nodded. "He fled back into the necklace; it's a housing to maintain his unstable anaphasic state. It's over there. You need to destroy it, completely. And now, before he regains his strength."

"How can you be helping us destroy him?" Kami asked curiously. "If he creates images like you to use against us-"

"I'm- I'm not sure," Hannah admitted, looking to Sasha again, a more familiar maternal expression eclipsing now as she stroked the girl's face. "Maybe because there's two people onboard who remember me as I was? I don't know.. and you don't have time to find out much more."

Then she drew back as Sasha opened her eyes, looking pained, confused... and on seeing the image of Hannah, a rapidly-growing realisation. "M-Mom?"

When Hrelle saw his child begin to panic, he went to her, helping her up and holding onto her. "It's okay, Sash, she's- she's on our side. She's... She's not really your mother..."

"No," Hannah confirmed, a sad longing smile lifting her features. "But I wish I was. If I were, I'd be telling you so many things right now..."

"Why don't you?" Kami suggested gently, sympathetically, looking to the girl. "Sasha, you never had a chance to say goodbye to your real mother, and I know that was always something that you regretted."

Sasha seemed to struggle to take in what was happening; Hrelle understood her confusion and conflict, having had to fight his own instincts and keep reminding himself that this was not really the woman he knew and loved, no matter what his senses told him. He set a comforting hand on her shoulder, as she finally swallowed and murmured, "Y-Yes-"

After a heartbeat, the image nodded. "Sasha, sweetheart, I am so sorry I wasn't around to be your mother after that terrible day. And I am so proud of what a remarkable young woman you've become despite my absence." She reached out, tears streaming down her face. "And I am so eager to see you go out there and have the best life you can have. And I will always love you."

Tears ran down Sasha's face now, and she drew away from Hrelle and tentatively approached, reaching out, as if Hannah were a bubble that might burst if touched.

Then, as if the floodgates opened, she embraced her tightly, fiercely, sobbing.

The quarters door opened, and Dr Ling and T'Varik entered, stopping at the scene, and saying nothing at Hrelle's silent urging.

But then Hannah tensed and looked to Hrelle. "He's pulling me back, regaining his strength-"

He understood, drawing his phaser, adjusting the setting and aiming in the corner towards the necklace.

But then he looked back at her, suddenly, unexpectedly pausing... taking her in one last time. "I- I never said goodbye to you, either."

Hannah smiled, indicating Kami. "Yes, you did, Esek. And I'm happy for you. For you both."

Hrelle forced himself to look away and fire. The necklace dissolved under the sustained orange beam.

As did Hannah, leaving Sasha standing there, arms curled about nothing. She tried to compose herself, failing, until Kami took the girl in her arms.

Hrelle lowered his phaser arm, looking to Ling and saying gently, "Take them both to Sickbay when they're ready and examine them." To T'Varik he added, "Report."

"The Square One Reset Protocol was obviously successful; I have ordered a full stop and diagnostic of the ship's systems -- once we free the rest of the crew."

"What? I thought once we regained control-"

She raised an eyebrow. "Apparently they tried to free themselves from within - and managed to damage the door mechanism." More softly she added, "I assume that you managed to discover the means of destroying Samedi?"

He nodded, handing her back the phaser. "With a little help from the Missus..."

*

"USS Surefoot-A, Captain's Log, Stardate 44376.81, Esek Hrelle Commanding: those affected by the actions of the anaphasic lifeform have made a full physical recovery, with little or no memory of their experiences with Baron Samedi. Not that they won't still have suffered emotional or psychological effects, of course. Fortunately my wife, who is the best Counselor in Starfleet -- and I will fight anyone who tries to say different, and that's no lie -- is helping them. And herself.

We've placed the body of Riga Martis and her belongings in a stasis unit, returned it to her ship and set it on autopilot to Starbase 154 for processing, with a warning to treat any other items they might find onboard very, very carefully.

My curiosity as to how an alien anaphasic lifeform could end up squatting inside a necklace on Earth 500 years ago is eclipsed with the horror of how many lives it might have pushed into suicide with its hunger for guilt and self-harm. And yet, for all the suffering it must have caused over the centuries, it still inadvertantly gave me a chance to face my own guilt again... and still rise above it. And it gave my daughter a chance to hold her mother, or at least a reasonable facsimile of her, one last time. Hannah may have only been an amalgam of other people's memories, but then maybe you can say the same thing about the rest of us?"

Hrelle entered his quarters, silently; it was late in the evening, he had been working longer than expected because of some alarming reports received from the Federation-Cardassian border, their next destination, and he knew Kami would be in bed and didn't want to disturb her. He undressed in the living room before entering the bedroom, welcoming his wife's scent in the enclosed space.

Even in the darkness, his eyes let him see her shape along the mattress, lying on her left side, facing the door. But rather than walk around to his own side, he drew closer, kneeling beside her, seeing her right arm draped over her belly, one hand on the Bump. He smiled and drew even closer, feeling her heat, taking in the scent of her furry belly... and hearing his son stir inside as the unborn cub sensed his presence, identified it... and settled down again.

Hrelle knew he shouldn't risk waking his wife, but he couldn't resist... "My little Warrior Prince," he whispered to the Bump. "I know it's late, and we should both be asleep. But if what's happened to us has taught me anything, it's that we shouldn't put off telling those we love how we feel.

So I'm telling you now, how so proud I am of you, for what you did to protect your mother. We both love you, so very much. And though it's tradition not to reveal the name chosen for a cub until they're born, you are too brave, too wonderful, just to be known as Bump."

He leaned in closer, until his muzzle almost touched his wife's skin, purring. "Your name is Misha. It's made up of the names of your big brother Mirow, and your big sister Sasha. But don't tell anyone else just yet, okay?" He smiled. "Now, go to sleep."

He rose, padded around and climbed carefully into bed, still trying not to disturb Kami -- until she reached behind her and pulled his arm over her to join his hand with hers onto their cub. "You're as soft a tribble. Did you know that?"

He smiled again as her tail flicked against his nethers. "Keep that up, and you'll find that's no longer the case..."

THE ADVENTURES OF THE SUREFOOT WILL CONTINUE IN... STAR-CROSSED