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Re: EPISODE 03: Unconquerable Soul [Epilogue: Beyond this Place of Wrath and Tears]

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The USS Theurgy had come under attack whilst on the run from the unknown foe that had infiltrated the high levels of Starfleet.  Chief of Security, Lt Cmdr Wenn Cinn, had been doing his job; helping where he could and evacuating the damaged deck 3 when the hull had given in under the assault.  He recalled hearing his Andorian subordinate's shout as he was dragged backwards and out into the void and then nothing.

Then he was back on the Theurgy, at least it looked like the Theurgy only... fuzzier and yet brighter. He was standing on the bridge, not a completely unusual occurrence.  A hand was placed on his shoulder and Jien, the male version, smiled faintly as he walked past and sat in his chair.  Others appeared, colleagues both old and new, family, friends.  A dozen people in total all surrounding him on the bridge of the ship he worked on... no wait... he got sucked out into space.  Was this what death was like?  Surely not since so many people he knew to be alive were there still. He watched Jien but his attention was suddenly taken by the presence of another close to him. 

"Do not be alarmed," said a woman that stepped past Cinn's shoulder. It was his dead mother. "The Wenn would know this as a pagh'tem'far."

Alarm wasn't the highest emotion on his list.  Confusion most certainly was.  His mother, the woman who had died in his arms the week after he had been part of the rescue effort that released her from a Cardassian prison, stood there and was talking to him. 

"Mother?" he began before realising what it was she was telling him.  If this truly was a pagh'tem'far as she said then this was a vision sent by the Prophets themselves.  It did nothing to quell his confusion.

"The Wenn's linear existence has ceased," said Jien Ives unsmilingly where he sat in the Commanding Officer's chair. Then he switched... to her female form, and added, "Discontinued. We believe the Wenn know this as 'death'."

As Jien spoke Cinn turned to him... no her... "Dead?  If I am dead then why have I been brought here? Is this the afterlife?  Where do I go?  What do I do?" 

He was in the presence of his Gods and yet he did not feel dead nor did he feel overwhelmed.  This place seemed to have the effect of a warm blanket on a cold day, soothing and reassuring.

"The Wenn is confused," said a woman stepping past his other shoulder, just like his mother had done. It was his Deputy, Lieutenant zh'Wann. Her blue Andorian skin seemed to glow in the ethereal light. She folded her arms underneath her chest and tilted her head as she studied him, standing next to his mother. "Understandable. The Wenn is not used to this experience. To cease to exist. We do not think it a familiar concept either."

It was a strange sight, to see those he knew so well yet know they were not really who they seemed to be. "Ida," he whispered as he remembered for a moment the sound of her shouting as he was pulled from his life, the memory shook him a little before he steadied his nerve.

Stepping out from his tactical duty station on the bridge, Cinn's friend - Augarath Thenaljpar, the Naussican Chief Tactical Officer - spoke up in his almost shouting demeanour. "The Wenn ceased to exist too soon!" he said with his deep, rumbling tone, and his large hands closed as he paced the round room, "We do not approve! This was not meant to happen! The Wenn is of Theurgy!"

Cinn laughed and shook his head slowly, it was all so much to take in yet the sight and sound of his crewmates in this manner struck him as somehow amusing, "I do not approve either."

His mother spoke up, smiling in the way he remembered she might have before the Occupation. "The Wenn is of Theurgy. It is where he belongs."

"You're speaking like you are going to do something about that," he replied and reached out to place a hand on his mother's shoulder.  It might not be really her but it was as close as he was likely to come until he passed over without the interference of the Prophets.

"With each new consequence made by mortal lives, the existence that mortals occupy take shape," said his mother, the smile remaining. "We do not approve of the way the shape is turning out. We want to change the shape."

"I am your faithful servant," he smiled and gently squeezed her shoulder, "I will do whatever you wish of me."  He looked around at all of them, memories of each when he was alive coming back as his eyes passed over their faces. He wasn't done yet and if they were going to give him another shot at life then he would take it with both hands. There was so much he hadn't done yet.

"The Wenn is of Theurgy," repeated Lieutenant Commander Hendricks, the human Chief of Operations stepping past. "It is where he belongs. Any other path is dangerous. The Wenn is not of the Theurgy any more."

Someone new stepped through the sliding doors, entering the bridge. "Lest the Wenn is of Theurgy, the shape will lose its form," said the woman who had arrived. It was a Trill named Edena Rez, the prisoner in Cinn's Brig. She was the one who had claimed to be a Starfleet Intelligence Officer when she revealed herself during a Senior Staff meeting. "The path the Wenn tread must continue. The Wenn must be of the Theurgy."

The Chief Medical Officer was there too; Dr. Nicander wearing his lab coat and having his arms folded across his chest. His exotic features were unreadable. "When the Wenn is set upon his old path, the Wenn will not be of the Theurgy."

"I don't understand... What does that mean?  I was always told that the Prophets spoke in riddles but what do you mean?  I am of the Theurgy, that is right, it is the ship I belong to.  You have taken the form of the people I served with for the most part.  What does it mean that I will not be of the Theurgy if I go on the old path?" he stood, arms outstretched in a pleading motion to his deities for some kind of answer to his questions knowing that the chances were he would receive none.

Captain Ives stood up from her chair, and there was iron in her vowels now. "The Wenn must be of the Theurgy."

He closed his eyes as a flash of white light surrounded him that could be seen through his closed lids.

The shuddering gasp burned his lungs as though he was taking his first breath.  Sitting up he bumped his head, raising his hands he pressed against a solid surface.  There was no room to move, he had to get out of this.  With a grunt and strained hiss he pushed the surface away.  As it shifted and he was able to sit up he realised he was in a stasis chamber, one that had stopped working.  The room was dark, power had been shut off and only the dim emergency lighting bathed the room.  Shadows were plenty and Cinn took a moment so his eyes adjusted and he could get his bearings.  Looking around he realised he was on board a Federation starship but it wasn't his.  His first and only thought was escape without being caught. He had to get to a shuttle and get out, back to the Theurgy.

The tattered remains of his uniform clung to his body. A long, ragged slit up the left trouser leg to his knee was only slightly better than the right having lost the bottom six inches of fabric altogether.  His jacket had gone, leaving only his tattered undershirt where debris must have hit him on the way out of the Theurgy.  Cinn slipped out of the chamber and into the dark room.


[ Adjacent Area | Sickbay ]

"What the hell just happened?" cursed Dr. Chambers and raked his fine-boned fingers over his bald head. The Chief Medical Officer stepped out of his office, finding the posted nurse just as disoriented as him. "The computer is not working. Not even the intercom. Go, find someone who can explain what is going on."

The redhead nodded and left, having to use the manual release to get the door open. She left it ajar before the sounds of her running steps vanished down the corridor. Dr. Chambers turned to a control panel on the wall and banged his hand against it. A practice in futility, for sure, but what else could he do? He was a doctor, not a bloody engineer.

Cinn heard the man in the room before he saw him.  His hand reached to the table next to one of the biobeds and picked up an exoscalpel.  Stealthy movement was hard for such a big man but he slipped silently across the room to the unsuspecting officer of this ship and, placing one arm over the man's mouth and the other pressing the scalpel against his throat and growled in his rumbling tone, "One sound out of turn and you'll never speak to anyone again, understand?"

"MMPPH!" was all that Dr. Chambers managed. He first meant to struggle, but the metallic feeling of the scalpels handle stopped him. Heart racing, he nodded.

"Good, now I am going to let you speak.  You will tell me what ship this is and where we are.  You will not scream, shout or make any other sound," Cinn tapped the makeshift weapon on the exposed throat, "do I make myself clear?"

"Mph!" tried the doctor again, before deciding that nodding was better. His heart beat loudly in his ears.

Slowly Cinn released his hand from over the mouth of the doctor but kept it poised ready to clamp it back down should he do anything stupid, he didn't really want to kill this man if he could help it but he had to know a few things before he could let him go.

"This is t-the USS Archeron. Sickbay. You mean where the ship is? Acamar System. I think the course was set for Theta Eridani IV last I heard."

"Good choice.  Why is this ship heading to that planet?" Cinn kept his guard up and ready for any move the doctor might make.

"Something about the two renegade starships being there. The Theurgy and the Harbinger. Came via subspace message and the whole fleet set off at maximum Warp. Please, who are you and what do you want? How did you get aboard?"

Cinn didn't bother answering who he was, it was a complicated story he could barely understand and probably wouldn't be believed.  Jien had found an ally, that was good news, as was the fact that this ship was on its way towards it.  What wasn't so good was the idea of a fleet being sent by Starfleet.  The two 'renegade' ships needed to be warned, they needed to get out of there before this fleet arrived. Cinn needed one last string of information before he could try to reach the Theurgy, "What fleet?  How many ships?  When are they due to arrive at the planet?"

"Task Force Archeron. Twenty-four starships strong. Under the command of Admiral Sankolov." Dr. Chambers swallowed. Whoever the person that held the scalpel to him was, he surely must have known that. "The ETA was... right about now."

Cinn cursed quietly under his breath before he lifted the hand holding the scalpel and used the edge of his palm against the back of the doctor's neck to knock him out.  Keeping the makeshift weapon was the best option he had right now and he made his way to the door, he peered through the gap to check for any other personnel before heading out into the dim corridor.
 
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