Seeking Answers
Posted on Fri Nov 1st, 2024 @ 5:42pm by Lieutenant Commander Alyssa Maren & Lieutenant Narin Valen
Edited on on Tue Nov 5th, 2024 @ 12:35am
0 words; about a 1 minute read
Mission:
Episode 16 - Silent Cries
Location: The Quarters of Lieutenant Commander Alyssa Maren - Deck 2 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD004 0500 hrs
After another night was plagued by unsettling visions, Narin knew he had to talk to someone about it. Seeing the counselor crossed his mind, but this felt different from any night terror he’d experienced before. This wasn’t the usual lingering darkness that haunted him after his family’s passing. It was as if these beings, The Silence, were reaching out, and asking for help. They had told him to find the one called Vaebn, and Narin had finally tracked down a Vaebn tr’Hwersuil, Chief Science Officer aboard the Pioneer before Alyssa. Now he knew exactly who he needed to speak with. The computer told him that Alyssa was in her quarters. Narin headed there straight away. Arriving at her door, he pressed the chime and waited patiently.
Alyssa was curled up on her sofa, scrolling through data on her PADD. Her mind kept going back to her dreams and her recent searches for information. She couldn't relax enough to read a book, so she hoped this would at least help her find something useful. Vaebn was somewhere deep in Romulan territory, and she kept running into dead ends. When her door chimed she sighed and set the PADD on the coffee table. She probably needed to take a break and this was a good excuse to do so. She stood and turned to greet whoever was at her door. "Come in."
Narin stepped inside. “Hello. I’m sorry to interrupt. I know it’s a bit unannounced.” He paused for a moment, considering his next words carefully. “I need to talk to you about something I think you might be able to help me with. It’s related to your predecessor, Vaebn tr’Hwersuil. and beings that call themselves The Silence.” He paused, watching for any sign of recognition as he mentioned each name.
She stood, looking at him intently. "You've had dreams?"
Narin nodded, surprised by her question. "You too?"
"Me, too. I don't know how many others." She shook her head and indicated the couch so they could both sit down. "What did your dream say?"
Narin recalled the words The Silence had spoken to him. “They told me I must remember. That they’re absolving us of some promise. They seemed...desperate, saying that The Silence will fall and that we have to save them. And finally, they insisted I find Vaebn.”
"One of The Silence told me the same thing. Something is killing them," Alyssa said, nodding. "Vaebn is the former chief science officer on the Pioneer. I came here after he left. All I know is that he's somewhere deep in Romulan space. I contacted a colleague of mine, a Romulan scientist, who told me how I might contact him. I haven't heard anything back, but I'm hopeful."
"So, you're getting the same message, too. Guess this isn’t just some random nightmare after all." He sighed. "Would’ve been nice if they’d chosen a less terrifying way to reach out, though.
"They chose what was best for them. I take it they are isolationists and this is the only way they can reach us. My understanding is they had contact with the Pioneer and Commander Vaebn is the only person who remembers it."
Narin nodded. “They were likely trying to convey their own pain, suffering, and fear by drawing on moments that evoked those feelings in us.” He paused, thinking about her earlier comment about others experiencing the same dreams. “I’d guess anyone with telepathic abilities on the Pioneer might be having similar nightmares.”
"That's definitely possible. I haven't reached out to anyone to ask," Alyssa admitted. "It would probably be a good idea to do so. We're going to have a hard time convincing anyone that we're not just dreaming."
Narin nodded thoughtfully. “I suspect that it’s more than just the two of us. We should start by asking those with telepathic abilities and then broaden our search from there.”
"There are quite a few telepaths of one sort or another on the Pioneer. It'll take some time."
Narin nodded. “There are, and I’m sure many are off ship for shore leave, but we’ll need others to corroborate our story. Otherwise, it’s just the two of us having strange dreams and nothing more.”
"I'll ask Zhara if anyone comes in to talk about odd dreams. That might give us a place to start." She should also talk to Jayna. The woman wasn't a telepath, but she was Vulcan. She had also gone through the data in Astrometrics to find out what happened to the Pioneer when the crew was off the ship for a time. Maybe she found some anomalies in the timeline that might help them find out where to go.
"Good idea," Narin replied. He hadn't met Zhara yet, but he knew of her and her role aboard the Pioneer. There would be those that would seek her out to discuss the disturbing dreams. “Is there anything specific you’d like me to focus on in this information gathering?”
"There are two other counselors, if you want to ask either of them. Mejia is a telepath." She stopped herself before she began listing every telepath she'd met on the ship. "Maybe not. I'm not sure asking every telepath on the ship if they've had nightmares about alien creatures is a good idea. If they haven't, they might think we're going crazy."
“You have a point. Better to keep things low-key until we’re sure we’re not the crazy ones.” Narin chuckled at the thought. I’ll check in with Lieutenant Mejia, see if she’d had similar dreams or heard anything unusual.”
Alyssa nodded. "Okay. I know I can trust Zhara and Jayna. Zhara can keep an eye out for others and Jayna can help with the research. Beyond that, I don't know. We need to take this to the commodore, but I want show him more than two scientists with bad dreams. Especially when one of them was recently sent to a pocket universe. He'd have good reason not to believe me."
“I’ll keep you updated on anything I find, and if I have any more dreams.” Narin said, hopeful that the nightmares were behind them. The Silence sounded desperate, and finding this Vaebn felt like their best chance to help them. He wanted to believe that the commodore wouldn’t push back too hard when they disclosed the information, but he understood her hesitation. The crew had been through a lot recently.
"Thank you. I'll do the same. Hopefully, it won't take long to get something tangible we can take to Commodore Malbrooke." Alyssa sighed. As much as she hoped, she knew that things seldom went that smoothly. "If I learn anything, or have more nocturnal visits, I'll let you know as well."
Narin nodded. “Here’s hoping for a breakthrough. I’ll catch up with you later,” he said, turning to head out.
Alyssa walked to the door with him. "I'm glad you stopped by. It's good to know I'm not the only one."
He paused, looking at her with a smile. “I feel the same way.” He wasn’t sure what he would have done if he was the only one having these nightmares, but now he wouldn’t have to find out. That was comforting.
If nothing else, with two of them, they now had something to begin with. Alyssa hoped there would soon be others.
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Narin Valen
Assistant Chief Science Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Commander Alyssa Maren
Chief Science Officer, USS Pioneer
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