After her lunch with Troy, Kassia had spent most of the day in her shop with Danni. They had laughed a lot and enjoyed the many customers who had welcomed her back, buying items as they went. As Kassia found herself busy stocking a shelf that had suddenly become bare of crystals, she heard the chimes of the door and didn't bother to look up. But suddenly, she felt a presence behind her and arms slide around her shoulders in a warm embrace. She smiled and laughed gently.
"Hi, Len," she said, her green eyes dancing as she turned her face him.
"You always seem to know its me, I wonder how that is," he smirked back.
"I wonder," she replied back, with another laugh.
"Its so good to see you!" he said as he embraced her again. "You look good. Danni and I had been talking about coming up and visiting you again, but it looks like you beat us to it. And I'm glad."
She looked at him seriously and then exchanged a looked with Danni behind the counter for a brief moment. "Me too."
"Well, Danni contacted me at work and told me you would be here for rest of the day and that I had to come and spend some time with you..." His smile was tender. "In fact, its so close to dinner time, she made me pick up something to eat and I reserved some time for use at Holo Pursuits. Thought we could have a picnic dinner and catch up."
"That sounds good," Kassia replied, "So Danni, doesn't mind you whisking me away then..."
Len laughed as his eyes twinkled behind his glasses. "It was her idea!"
Kassia looked at Danni who beckoned her to go. So with a nod and a smile and agreed. "All right, let's go!"
They arrived at Holo Pursuits, where the booth, a beach program, and a picnic basket awaited them. The staff, as usual, was extremely efficient.
"This is Zelcam Atoll, on Mintaka 9. The water contains a bioluminescent fungus that glows pink," Len explained.
The setting was about half an hour from sunset, and Kassia could see the glowing pink beach foam. The sun and three crescent moons were setting on the mist-shrouded horizon.
"What do you think?" he asked as they sat down on the beach blanket and began going through the picnic basket.
"It's beautiful!" she said as she gaze out at the view, taking it all in.
He handed her a piece of fruit. She nibbled it, but she barely took her eyes off the play of the colors on the water. It was captivating and very soothing. Suddenly a creature jumped from the water and did and aerial flip and then disappeared under the waves again. Kassia laughed and turned the Len.
"Did you see that? What was it?" She smiled.
"That, Kassia, was a Mintakan merman. They're very primitive--about like the Neanderthals of Earth, only aquatic. Lots of tourists like getting their pictures made with them," Len said. "So, what do you think?"
"I think this was a very good choice, Len," she said, gazing at him with her green eyes before taking another bite of her Atalla melon slice.
"You know that's not what I meant, Kass," Len said, suddenly very serious.
"What do I think about what?" Kassia asked, wanting to hear him say what was on his mind. Slowly, she looked away.
Len suddenly became tongue-tied. "I know this is a lot for you, so soon after everything else. I want to thank you for bringing Danni and me together. I can't imagine myself with anyone else, but every so often I find myself wondering what it would have been like between us." There! I finally got it out! he thought, with relief and dread.
Kassia bowed her head and smiled, before looked at him. Her gaze locking with his. Tenderly, she reached out and caressed his face.
"You finally found your clear path... A path with me might not have been a wrong path, but it wouldn't have been a clear path like it is with Danni... I know that probably doesn't make sense right now. But one day it will... And, Len, no matter what happens, I will always carry a special place for you in my own heart. You do know that, right?" She held his hand tightly and brought it to her chest. "You are a very dear friend... You're closer than friend... " Their eyes locked again.
"I know that," he said, "and I understand that there's a difference between what's good and what's best. I'll always have a place in my heart for you too. Somehow, though, that feels wrong to me. I should be either all for one or all for the other, and I can't reconcile my conscience with my feelings.
"There's something that you might want to know, if you aren't already aware of it," Len said, taking Kassia's hand almost on impulse. "A lot of women tend to think that men are either emotionally dead or completely driven by hormones and impulses. Neither one is true. For a man with any kind of conscience, it's difficult for him to let go completely of someone whom he's had an interest in. It takes time, and it takes the right environment. A lot of women would try to rub a man's nose in the fact that he wasn't the chosen one, and I thank the Prophets you're not one of them. Even so, it still takes a lot of adjustment, and it is still a blow to a man's ego to find out that -- for whatever reason -- he's not the one."
She caressed his face again. "Fate brought us together... The Prophets... They brought you to this new path... I only helped show you the way... This is why you truly hold me in such high regard. You know this in your heart of hearts... We've talked about it before," she smiled, and sighed. She closed her eyes and Len could feel her mind touch his. "Danni is the one... She is your soulmate. She will give you a son and two daughters... You stay married and live into old age together... have grandchild and great-grandchildren... And I will - " Suddenly Kassia pulled her hand away as if she had been burned. Her eyes seemed clouded and a bit confused.
Len's attention was diverted from pondering upon Kassia's prophecy to what had just happened. "Are you okay?" he asked, reaching for his combadge to summon help.
She raised her hand to stop him. "I'm all right," she said. "Just a little dazed. Everything suddenly... I don't know... There were too many things. It was like a psychic explosion... But I'm okay..." She tried to sure him, though her face had grown a bit pale.
Len reached for a carafe of water. "Would you like something to drink?" he asked. "You really don't look well."
She nodded. "Water would be good." She took the drink he offered. She was shaking a bit. She tried some deep breathing to settle her nerves. She wasn't sure what had happened in her vision. She hadn't really seen anything... It was just this feeling that had encompassed her. She wasn't sure if it meant something bad or good. If it meant anything at all... She wasn't sure... "Thank you," she replied as she finished the drink. She desperately wished the mission was over and Tarik was back safe and sound with her. Right now she didn't know why, but she was unnerved. She wanted him here to hold her.
"Maybe you should lie down for a moment," Len said. "I know it's been rough on you, with the way the war has been going, but Tarik will make it back! That's my prophecy for you! If the entire Borg Collective were between the two of you, I'd put my money on Tarik finding his way to you somehow!"
Len helped her lay down, placing a towel under her head and holding her hand. Kassia's complexion looked utterly gray, her spots standing out in stark relief against her pale skin. "Hang in there," he said, gently stroking her cheek tenderly.
Kassia looked up at him. Even the sparkle in her green eyes was fading. But she did manage a smirk. "So are you becoming a telepath too? How did you know I was thinking about Tarik?" she asked lightly. Trying to sounds better than she felt. She felt completely exhausted.
"Who else would you be thinking about after a conversation like that?" Len said, smiling, trying to reassure her. "Take some more water. What's going through your mind right now?" Knowing Kassia's record of head injuries, he was trying to keep her conscious and coherent.
She sipped at the water and smiled. "Just random thoughts are going through my mind... I'm so tired suddenly, Len... I don't know what happened. But I feel like I could just go to sleep... " Her eyes shut for a moment and she saw flashes that caused her to open her eyes again.
Her mind began drifting. Her eyes closed. She couldn't fight the pull. She had to sleep. She just had to... "I'm sorry... I can't... stay... a... wake..."
Len remembered that he'd left his combadge in his quarters. "Computer -- emergency override!" he ordered. The program winked out of existence. Within moments of the emergency override, the Holo Pursuits staff would enter to investigate. He hoped it would be enough time....
The images in Kassia's mind were chaotic: burning buildings, people of several races dressed in rags and half-starved. She saw a Mulluran holding a child who looked very much like her, threatening the child with a weapon until his head somehow exploded. Then she saw a pitched battle behind makeshift barricades -- an explosion, the death of someone important, anger and confusion. Wallace was there, saying something about propaganda and targeting individuals. Then there was the image of a large building filled with Mullurans, and a dispute with several ranking people in the building until things went more or less smoothly. Finally, Kassia found herself in a long line, standing behind the child she'd seen at the beginning. A hatch in the ceiling opened, and a group of uniformed Mullurans dropped out. She saw images of three of them dying before the stream of consciousness ended completely. Finally, Kassia saw nothing but the child.
~You're the one I'm supposed to be looking for,~ the child said. ~This man's been touched by you.~
"Looking for me?" Kassia asked, confused. "I don't understand! Tarik! What about Tarik?"
"He's okay, he's just asleep. The bad men did something to put him to sleep, but he's fine. His energy is very strong still!"
Kassia could feel Tarik's energy. The girl spoke the truth. "Who are you?" she asked, realizing this girl was like her.
"My name's Tyianna. I was told about you, Kassia. You're one of those who was sent out a long time ago."
"What do you mean sent out?" she asked. But just as suddenly, she was hit by images. The girl transferred images of how those that were born with the special gift were sent away as quickly as it was discovered for fear that the men would come and take them. If they were discovered, the bad men, as Tyianna referred to them, would come and kill the family and take the child... It was better to try to run... Her family had tried to run... Suddenly, Kassia's own memories began to intrude. But she wasn't ready. She pushed them back.
"Sometimes people like us have to be sent away to keep us safe. That's what Mommy and Daddy told me," Tyianna said, suddenly getting very quiet. "Sometimes the ones who are sent away make it to someplace safe. Sometimes they don't."
"And your mommy and daddy? Where are they?"" Kassia asked, already knowing and dreading the answer for the pain it brought.
"The bad men killed them when we got to this planet. They were going to kill me but they made me work instead."
"Tyianna, you're coming here with Tarik when this is over... Would you want to stay with me and teach me about our people? I don't remember them... I'd like to know about them and about you too..."
"I'd love to! I want away from this horrible place! Would he take me, though?" she asked, almost pleading.
Kassia sent a smile. "He will definitely take you, Tyianna. There is no doubt in my mind about that... And you don't mind making a space station your new home?"
"I've never been on one of those before! I've heard about them, but I've never seen one!" she said. "I want to go so bad right now!" Kassia could feel the child's psychic tears.
"Just a little longer... Take care of Tarik for me and he will make sure you get to your new home. I promise... " Kassia replied. "I know you have been through so much... Just remember, now we have each other. We're not alone anymore..."
"I don't want to be alone anymore. I'll take care of him for you!" Tyianna said resolutely, with as much solemness as a six-year-old girl could manage.
"I know you will... I can't wait to meet you... Be careful, little one..."
Suddenly, she felt herself being pulled back. Her connection was being severed. Her mind was drawing back into consciousness. Slowly her eyes opened.
Tarik slowly came to his senses, groggy at first but then more sharply in focus. Evidently the Mullurans had only stunned him.
"The Mullurans have been disposed of, sir," a G'kar who had been in the soupline had informed him. "You killed three of them before they stunned you; we eliminated two others." Tarik looked around and saw the dismembered remains of all five Mulluran security guards.
He also realized that he had a splitting headache -- more so than was usual for a stun blast. The child who had been standing next to him in line was still there, looking at him intensely.
"I'm sorry, sir; I can't seem to get her to leave," the G'kar explained. She insists on staying with you."
"That's all right, uhh..." Tarik said, attempting to ascertain the G'kar's name.
"Senior Decurion O'law," O'law said. Tarik recalled that the rank was equivalent to lance corporal in the Federation Marines.
"Yes, O'law. Had it not been for her, the Mullurans would have gotten the drop on us. Not that these idiots would have gotten far with only stun blasters."
"Tyianna has been very helpful to us," O'law said as he put his hand on Tyianna's shoulders. The young girl looked up at him, smiling. "Because of her we've gotten information about the Mulluran command's intentions that we couldn't possibly have obtained otherwise. For a time she served as the commandant's personal serving girl and we were able through the household staff to get operational data from the heart of their command structure! Then the commandant found out..." O'law broke off, not willing to discuss what had happened yet. "The underground wouldn't have survived without her. She helped us get information and keep information from the Mulluran guards."
"Underground?"
"Subcommandant Mer'an has been organizing the prisoners -- other POW's such as myself, unclassified aliens such as Tyianna, and even a few Mulluran political prisoners--into an underground movement. We'd been planning an uprising for several months now when your forces arrived."
Somehow Tarik was not surprised. The G'kar were as resourceful as the Mullurans were decadent. He tapped his combadge. "Tarik to Bicardi."
[Bicardi here. Is everything all right, sir? We've heard reports of firing in the basement.]
"The situation is secured; just a few hospital security guards who decided to get frisky. Is Mer'an with you?"
[This is Mer'an.]
"Mer'an, how many effectives does your underground movement have?"
[320 as of right now, Colonel. We've weapons cached in the labor camp for 100.]
"Mobilize your best 100 effectives, and give the location of your weapons cache to Captain Bicardi. Tarik to Deveraux."
[Zhis eez Deveraux. Ze prisoners are safe.]
"Good. Put someone in charge of the refugees and get a detail together. Take the Hawke and return to the camp; Captain Bicardi will give you the coordinates. Grab all the weapons you can and report to the hospital in the city."
[Yes, sir! Eet eez good to be back in ze fighting!]
An hour later, the transport arrived at the hospital's shuttle pad. "Eezn't zhere sometheeng illegal about uzeeng a hospital as a fortification?" Deveraux asked.
"No more illegal than using slave labor, torturing POW's, and abusing children," Tarik replied dryly. "These people are going to get it back in spades, and I mean to use whatever I can to make them pay." Mer'an grinned wolfishly -- a frightening sight from a G'kar -- at the prospect. His troops were offloading Mulluran phaser rifles, knives, antitank weapons, and other accouterments of war from the transport.
Adjacent to the landing pad, the chosen hundred were assembled in parade formation -- mainly G'kar, but also a few Mullurans, Son'a, and a couple of races Tarik didn't recognize. One may or may not have been a Trayvan.
Mer'an reviewed his troops as they armed themselves. Apparently this had been in the works for a while, Tarik thought as he watched the procession.
When the troops were armed, Mer'an took a moment to speak to them:
"Ladies and gentlemen, we now have the opportunity we've been waiting for. It isn't quite what we'd planned for, but thanks to the timely intervention of our Federation friends," he said, indicating Tarik and Deveraux, "our plans have a much greater probability of success." Some of the Mullurans and Son'a looked somewhat upset.
"I know what you may be thinking," Mer'an said. "I can assure you that the Federation is not the same as the Mulluran regime. These men and women have put themselves at great risk to ensure our well-being, and would be at peace even with the Mullurans had they not been provoked. They represent the heart of what we're fighting for!"
"Fellow G'kar -- you are the dignity of your race! Honor our ancestors and the gods today! Our brethren of other races -- your own gods will honor you richly for this day! The La'kon Legion is officially in operation!"
With that, the entire formation raised their clenched left fists in the air and yelled something completely untranslatable as Mer'an turned to consult with Tarik.
"La'kon Legion?" Tarik asked.
"La'kon was the warrior who abolished indentured servitude on our world a thousand years ago, before the invaders came," Mer'an explained. "He was a prisoner of war who felt that slavery diminished the worth of a man."
Spartacus, Tarik thought. Or any of a number of people on any number of worlds. "His spirit and those of the generations after him smile upon you," Tarik replied, using an ancient Romulan blessing.
The 100 Legionnaires, backed up by thirty Federation Marines, formed a skirmish line and began moving out from the hospital. Within minutes several nearby office buildings, retail establishments, and other facilities were in flames.
[Carter to Colonel Tarik--come in please!]
"This is Tarik. What's the situation, Commander?"
[Beckett and Schmidt are down on the planet. I know you're stretched thin right now but if you can break something loose for SAR...]
"I'll send out a rescue party. I have Captain Bicardi with me right now; I'll send him out with a squad and one of the transports. Send coordinates to Bicardi. We'll get your people back!"
[Acknowledged. Coordinates to follow.]
Tarik and Mer'an monitored the action from a stereo terminal in the hospital, sending instructions to the front line as necessary. Bicardi, flying the transport, left the area with a squad of Marines and G'kar irregulars to search for the downed Banshee pilots, while Deveraux took over hospital and refugee operations. Tyianna stood in the background, smiling softly as she strengthened her connection to her two new friends.
Kassia looked up to see herself surrounded by Len, a Holo Pursuits employee, and a medtech she didn't recognize. "She was just in deep REM sleep, Toren. Nothing to worry about!" the medtech said as she folded up her tricorder and left.
"Would you like to continue the program, sir? Ma'am?" the Holo Pursuits clerk asked.
Kassia sat up looking much better than she had just a few minute prior. She looked at Len and smiled. "Sure, we can keep running the program. I have something to tell you!" she told Len excitedly.
The clerk tapped a few commands into a keypad, then left the suite as the program resumed. "Okay, Kassia -- what is this you want to tell me?"
She laughed with excitement. "Well, I found someone else of my race! Actually, Tarik did! But she's coming here! And I'll finally learn about my people!"
Len's jaw dropped. "You mean -- all that time -- you were in communication with him?"
"With the little girl actually... Tarik was stunned... Her and I were using Tarik's mind as a bit of a... Relay station... But, she's about six years old and she reminds me so much of me, only she remembers who she is, where she's from and she KNOWS who I am!! Can you believe that? She actually knew who I was from my psychic energy!" Kassia was clearly excited.
"That's incredible! I'm happy for you! Just do me one favor, though."
"What?" she asked, looking at him intently, her mind racing, making plans for Tyianna's arrival.
"I don't know what kind of arrangement you have with Tarik, but if you decide to use my mind as a booster relay, let me know first!"
Kassia laughed. "Believe me, it wasn't planned! And I don't plan on doing that again with anyone. But finding someone else like me... And I'm adopting her... She's going to be my daughter . . .I'm going to take care of her and she's going to have the childhood I didn't have..."
Len squeezed her hand. "I'm sure you're going to be an excellent mother. And if you ever need a babysitter, just let me and Danni know!"
"Thank you!" she said, leaning over and kissing his cheek tenderly. "That means so much to me! It scares me a little. I want kids so badly, and I want to give Tiyanna... That's this little girl's name, what I didn't have... But its not something I've done before..." she said. "But I guess its something you just learn as you go..."
"So I've been told."