Tarik looked surprised, but not shocked, by Kassia's announcement. "Are you responsible for this?" he asked.
"I could ask you the same thing," she softly smiled, running a hand through her hair. "But no, I am not responsible . . .I only see things. I have no control over them."
"And what have you been seeing lately?" Tarik asked, a bit skeptically.
The images from the nightmares hit her full force and she shuttered. "I have been seeing pain, fear, death . . . I have even smelled it and heard the terror of lives that have ended brutally . . ." She could feel her heart start racing as she tried to force the memories and the feelings away.
"Are you all right?" Tarik asked as he noticed her distress.
"I have been having very vivid nightmares for the last two weeks . . . They are filled with horrific images . . . Needless to say, I have not slept well."
Tarik looked pensive for a moment. "Tell me, what exactly did you see?"
"There seems to be two distinct portions of this dream . . ." she started, taking a slow breath and looking toward the ground as she tried to control the images, so that the emotions didn't overwhelm her. "I am walking down a corridor on a ship. I can smell burned flesh, I can hear psychic echoes of screams of those that are already dead . . . I turn a corner and suddenly I am surrounded by charred bodies," she said, not able to hold back a shudder. "I feel tremendous fear and I start to run blindly."
Tarik looked shocked. "I think I may know what you were seeing. Please continue, if you think you'll be okay."
She nodded, her green eyes gazing at him for a moment. "I can go on," she replied bravely. "When I finally stop running, I am no longer on a ship, but in the middle of some small town. It seems to be deserted, but I go into the nearest building as if I am being pulled there. It turns out to be a medical facility . . . In the back, there is this man, and he's clutching the . . . the remains of a child that's been burned alive it seems . . . " Kassia began to tremble. "He started to speak to me angrily, but I couldn't understand him . . . I could only feel his emotions and then . . . then he . . . I couldn't stop him . . . He killed himself. But I couldn't move!"
Tarik became as shocked as he had ever been in his life. "Ma'am, you've just described my experiences over the past two weeks. I was at that town on New Canada. I watched that man kill himself out of grief for his son. A few days later, I was aboard what was left of the USS Darwin, searching for survivors. We found maybe ten out of a crew of two hundred -- not including one of the sons of bitches who did in that ship . . . How did your dream end?"
She gazed at the floor once more. "There was a Son'a there. He came up to me, and I couldn't run . . . He was going kill me . . . and just as he is about to, I always wake up . . ."
"I killed two Son'a in hand-to-hand on the planet, but somehow I don't think that was it. What was it you were saying when we met the other day about your abilities?"
Gaining her composure back a bit, she smiled softly. "I'm an empath, telepath and a psychic," she replied.
"It would appear that somehow we're linked. My teachers on Vulcan told me of such things, and there are legends in Romulan lore, but I never truly believed it possible. We barely know each other! The end of your vision--does it pertain to my future, perhaps, or yours?"
She shook her head gently, as if lost. "In this instance, I can't say . . . You know, I don't know why we have this connection, but we are connected at a very deep level," she said, with amazement in her own voice. "I have never experienced anything like this before. Not even with Troy, my brother . . ."
Tarik thought for a moment. "On Vulcan, such a bond is rarely seen, even between a husband and wife. I believe my parents had such a bond, before they were killed, but it would have been inappropriate of me to ask them before I took a wife myself. Your experience in this area is probably much greater than mine. I certainly don't know how to handle this!"
With that, she laughed. "Well, I don't know if I know much more than you do about this link between us! But I do know that there is a reason for it," she said. For a moment their gazes locked and electricity filled the air around them.
Tarik held her gaze, but began to feel a bit uncomfortable and changed the subject. "I noticed this idol among your collection," Tarik said, indicating the Romulan household deity. "How did you come about it? Most Romulan houses would never part with such an item, even if they were experiencing hard times."
"This actually was bought at an estate sale. The family was assassinated by the Tal'Shiar . . . " she replied. She felt the emotions stir within him at the mention of this. The anger was returning.
"Do you happen to recall the name of the house?" Tarik asked. "My parents were assassinated by the Tal'Shiar."
"I didn't know their names . . . I'm sorry . . . I'm very sorry . . " she said. Her eyes misted for a moment, but her composure returned swiftly.
"That's quite all right. Generally a dishonored house is not mentioned to outsiders," Tarik responded. "However, there is said to be good fortune in redeeming a household idol. How much are you asking for it?"
"For you . . . name your price!" she smiled with a twinkle in her eyes.
Tarik produced a PADD he carried with him and checked his credit balance. "Five bars of latinum as a down payment, perhaps?"
"Five bars of latinum, and dinner tomorrow night, and its yours. Unless of course, you would like to add drinks together also . . ."
"Throw in dinner tonight and you've got a deal. I had planned on a roast beef sandwich, but as you can imagine somehow I've lost my appetite for that."
"Yes, I can imagine. Quite clearly. . . Well . . . I think you have yourself a Romulan Household Idol!" she smiled. "And a dinner partner!"
"Perhaps Harry's is still open. I think I could probably manage a tuna melt right now..."
"Mmmmm, that sounds interesting! Doesn't he also serve something called onion rings?"
"Are they anything like the Sacred Rings of Betazed?"
She laughed. "I certainly hope not! But here, let me do one thing, before we go . . ." she said, gently taking one of his hands in hers. "My empathic abilities are a little different than most other empaths. And what I am going to do now is not a permanent thing either, but its to help you with your emotions . . . Please don't fight me on this. It will simply give you time to try to cope with the things you have witnessed and the emotional responses it has caused."
"Ma'am--Kassia--I'm not a Vulcan; I don't have the same hang-ups. Whatever you think is necessary, I'm open."
"Good!" she smirked, "But I wasn't referring to any Vulcan hang-ups . . . Sometimes its just a guy thing! But as long as you don't have that problem, then let me work my magic," she replied with a wink. She took a deep breath in and closed her eyes to focus her energies and thoughts. She sought out the connect between them and touched his emotions.
Tarik inhaled sharply.
With her special touch, she drew the aggression and anger from him. As it left his body, she could sense him relax. She also emanated a sense of calm to him. As she finished her task, she opened her eyes and watched his response.
Tarik's face, while still hard, looked somewhat calmer. Even kindly, to a certain extent. "You're right. I feel much better!" he said. "I just hope you didn't take anything away from me that I might need later on. My particular line of work requires a certain degree of nastiness, unfortunately."
"No, it won't interfere with your work," Kassia replied, "Its specifically attached to the memories of the recent past. And as I said, its only a quick fix. But hopefully, it will give you the time you need."
"Thanks. Now, speaking of quick fixes, let's go raid some food!"
"Sounds good! I think I could actually use some dinner myself. I didn't eat much tonight either."
"All the more reason to get going!"
She tentatively took his hand. Without saying a word, she felt his hand close around hers and smiled. Together, they left her her shop and headed to the famous diner.