No Picnic (Part Two of Two)

As Logan entered the holodeck, he walked into what seemed to him like a hot and humid jungle. He also got the feeling that he was being watched from somewhere, it definitely wasn't what he had expected.

*How could this be a place where Rahel feels safe ?* Logan thought to himself.

He continued to walk further into the Jungle and came upon the ruins of some kind of temple structure. Suddenly he heard a rustle in the branches above his head and immediately came to full alert, expecting another one of those Timinarian slave traders he had seen Rahel fighting the last time they had been in the holodeck together. That time, Logan had made the unfortunate mistake of coming up behind the Doctor and he had received a broken jaw as his reward.

Then suddenly a figure dropped down onto the jungle floor from above his head. The figure landed on all four appendages, rolled forward and then stood upright before turning around to face Logan.

Logan gave a round of applause as he finally saw that the figure was Rahel and asked. "So here you are ?. Just one question, why here ?"

"Because…" She replied pausing for a moment to smile. "…this was the place where I went on my first official dig with my father. It holds a lot of special memories for me."

"So exactly where are we ?" Logan asked.

"This is the planet Ferona II," Rahel replied. "This is a temple structure left behind by the people that once lived here thousands of years ago."

"Feronites." Logan said. "I remember reading something about them. Didn't they worship cats ?. I'm sure our XO would have loved to have met them ?."

She laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure she would ! They definitely worshipped cats, but they also worshiped the sun. Those were the big ones, though other animals were worshipped too, but not like the cat. I guess nothing compares to the feline species."

"So how are you feeling today ?" Logan asked.

"I'm OK, Maybe a little better than I have been . . . How's the jaw ?" Rahel enquired.

"You'll be glad to know that the jaw's fully healed." Logan replied. "Where did you learn to fight like that, not to mention how you managed to leap from up there and land on your feet ?."

"As far as my fighting abilities, I've always been able to fight well. It's been honed over the years through the academy and my personal training, but I didn't have to do anything intensive really. It was as if I already knew how . . . " Rahel explained "And the leaping ? I was born with that ability as well, it seems."

She smiled softly. "I'm glad your jaw's okay. I'm still sorry about what happened." She paused for a moment as her cheeks tinted a soft shade of pink for a moment.

"You must have been quite a handful for your parents as a child ?." Logan remarked. "You must have been tiring them out with all that energy and ability."

"Well, I'm sure I had my moments." She laughed softly. "But I grew up in a household with Tanzarans. Most of the time they should shapeshift and run me ragged !"

Logan suddenly remembered the box he had been carrying.

"Have you eaten yet ?" He asked. "Because I've brought a 'picnic'. I know it's a daft idea, but when Lana was younger, we'd pack up some food and take it into the grounds of the Academy. Lana could talk for hours about everything that was happening in her life."

"I haven't eaten anything since lunch with Ash actually." She replied. "This sounds like a fantastic idea !" Her green eyes sparkled a little bit. This was the first day since the day at Juno III where she was acting more like herself. Maybe not entirely, but better than how she had been.

They managed to find a flat spot on the ground in the hazy sunlight. They could have easily just accessed the holo-systems and created a space, but finding the spot had been half the fun. Logan took out a large blanket, which looked a little worn in places and placed the box on top of it, before sitting down. He then proceeded to pull out various boxes and tubes, which he laid out on the blanket.

"Take a seat and pick something." Logan suggested. "I wasn't sure what you'd prefer, so I spoke to your brother and I think you'll find something you like in one of these boxes. We also have Raktajino in one of these flasks, the seconds Vulcan tea and I think the third's some Bajorian concoction or other."

"Mmmmmm." Rahel replied, "Tough choices !" Finally she settled for the Raktajino. She had a feeling she was addicted to the stuff in some strange way. It was a thought that passed through her head as she smiled.

As she chose a box, she found a teriyaki chicken sandwich along with a couple pieces of fruit and even a cookie ! "This is perfect !" She laughed. "Thank you." She said seriously.

"We aim to please." Logan remarked sarcastically.

They continued to eat the picnic until they both reached for the last cookie. As Logan's hand rested on top of Rahel's he asked the question that they'd both been avoiding.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want…" He asked. "..but I'd like to heard about these nightmares you've been having."

She grew quiet and her throat grew dry. She took a sip of her Raktajino hoping to drive away the dryness. She could almost feel the anxiety come back, though she did her best to keep it at bay. Rather than look at Logan, she looked at the temple, almost trying to draw strength from the ancient structure.

"My nightmares all have the basis in truth, but that only makes them all the worse, because when they deviate, there's still that sense of reality," Rahel began. She was quiet again as she gathered her thoughts. "They always start with the smell of the dead. The smell of charred flesh. I can see dead bodies everywhere . . . I'm in sickbay on the Baltimore and lights are flickering. ODN relays are popping and sizzling around me and what's left of the staff, whilst we try to save whoever is left to save . . . I ended up watching the Chief Science Officer die in front of me, even though I tried to save him. Then one of my staff . . . a young nurse named Glenn . . . He . . ." Tears came to her eyes. "He was younger than me. I was the doctor . . . I was suppose to save him . . ."

She shook her head. "He died too. But in my dream I suddenly just panic and I will find myself alone with all the dead . . . That's been the clearest of the repeating nightmares anyway . . . After that terrible battle, because we had lost the chief science officer, I was forced to take on the role of Chief science officer as well as Chief medical officer. I was even given a field promotion to full lieutenant." Her green eyes looked haunted as she continued to stare at the temple. "But I didn't deserve it. . . . I didn't save them all."

"I can see why they've started to re-occur now." Logan commented. "I re-read your report from Juno III this morning, all that carnage and devastation must have been frightening. Then there was the death..."

Logan paused as he noticed that Rahel was not looking at him, but towards the temple.

"So tell me about this temple." Logan said, trying to change the subject. "When did you first come here ?"

Rahel could sense what he was doing and she was ready for the change. She smiled softly, but the haunted look had not yet left her eyes. "I came here with my family when I was ten years old. It took us about three years to go through several of the main structures, but we had found the temple first." She explained. "Whenever I wasn't digging and helping, I found myself here. I found a sense of calm here that I didn't find anywhere else. And I could see it the way it should be. Maybe that's just because I was ten and had that very active imagination." She smiled, as she hazarded a sideways glance at Logan. She had managed to suppress the tears that had been in her eyes. "I don't know why, but this has always been one of my favourite places . . . Maybe it's the cat thing !" She laughed softly. "I've been told I'm part feline myself."

"Part feline ?" Logan enquired. "You mean in your manner or something more ?. I can see why they would say that though, when you leaped down from the tree when I arrived, I thought I was about to be attacked by some kind of large cat."

"Well, from what I know and understand, I apparently have some feline DNA in my genetic make-up. I guess the current understanding is that I have a felinoid ancestor somewhere in the past to account for my abilities . . . I don't know . . ." She replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "I just know what happens to me and what I can do. Most of which seems pretty feline to me !" She smirked.

"So you have no idea about your true parents ?" Logan asked. "Where you came from, who you are ?…"

Rahel shook her head. "None." She replied. "I was found in a laboratory that was attached to a house. It was burning down at the time . . ."

"Do you know who owned the house and lab ?" Logan asked. "Could they have been your parents ?"

Again she shrugged. "It was owned by a Dr. Helorian Drakara. He supposedly died in the fire, but it was never proved. No real DNA sampling of him could be found . . . as a teen I did some research."

"But found nothing." Logan remarked. "Sounds like a cover-up to me, maybe you were never meant to survive the fire. If that's so, then you were very lucky that someone found you."

"It was one of the things I always suspected, but I never pursued," Rahel replied. "I, uh . . . I guess I was afraid of what I might learn about who he was to me and why he might leave me to die . . . I do know that he wasn't married and from most of the accounts I could find, he didn't have a significant other. And there are no adoption records he holds, so I don't know how I came to be with him."

Rahel had turned her back on Logan again, looking towards the temple once more. Then he noticed something on her back. He hadn't seen it before, there had been no real need to examine her back closely. But with the material of her top stretched tight, he could just make out what appeared to be a raised area of skin on her back. Rahel must have sensed his curiosity, because she turned back to face him.

"Did you get that in the fire ?" Logan asked.

She nodded. "As a child I use to have horrific nightmares about being trapped in fire . . . I was never alone though. I had a sister in my nightmares. We were always trapped through, unable to find our way out of the fire . . . I also had a fear of labs and medical centres for a long time. But I got over that." She smirked.

"Until the Baltimore." Logan suggested. "How old were you when you were rescued from the fire ?"

For a moment an imagine of the Baltimore intruded, but it wasn't overpowering. She picked a flower from the ground and looked at its delicate purple hue. "About six months." Rahel replied. "At least that's what the doctor's estimated my age was. My DNA was so mixed up, there was a possibility that I actually had an accelerated or repressed development. I could have been hours old or years, but given that the rest of my development seems to have continued in human terms, I'd say that six months was probably right."

"You said that you had a sister in your nightmares, were you the older or the younger sister ?" Logan asked.

"We were about the same age." Rahel replied without even thinking about it, as if she were talking about a real person.

"A twin sister." Logan suggested.

"But there was only one baby found in the fire." Rahel replied. "By all the accounts I've read, I was the only baby . . ."

"What happens in your nightmare ?" Logan asked. "You're both trying to escape the flames and...."

"And that's all I really remember . . . Its as if we start to get swallowed up by fire and then I would wake up crying, according to my parents and my brother." She explained. "I remember the nightmare, I just haven't had it in a very long time. But I do remember the little girl. I dreamed about her up until I was about six or seven. She had dark hair and dark eyes and her skin was darker than mine, but we were sisters . . . at least in the dreams." Rahel smiled.

"Could it be possible that you somehow get separated in the fire and were rescued separately." Logan suggested. "It could even be possible that the one reported child was in fact both of you, but somehow the reports got combined. With so many mysteries about the fire, who would believe that two children of the same age would be pulled out alive from the fire. Your nightmare could in fact be one of your earliest memories, but because of the trauma of the events, they come out when you're sleeping."

"In the nightmares her and I were never separated, but . . . I don't know . . . If it were the case that we were both rescued who knows. Maybe our rescuers had a reason for saying there was only one child found . . . I have no idea . . ."

"Another mystery to solve." Logan commented. "If you were rescued together, then why hide the fact unless you had something to hide."

"Well . . . Maybe by saying at least one child survived, its sending a message. But having two children surviving and immediately adopting them out so that they will be hard to track is almost insuring you're protecting the children, right ?" She reasoned.

"But if you wanted to protect the children, then why say either of them survived at all." Logan suggested. "Why not just say that no-one was rescued alive and hide the children." Logan noticed that Rahel tone had changed, as if she now believed that she had a sister and the nightmare was now something more.

"It's back to seeding that message . . . Maybe someone knew that Dr. Drakara wasn't dead." She replied off the top of her head.

"Maybe they wanted to see if Drakara would re-surface and come back for the children." Logan said. "If the reports stated that there was a child pulled from the fire, they could have kept a track of that child. They could just sit and wait, but it would have been harder if they had been forced to track both of you. And if that's so, then the next question we have to ask is which child was tracked and which was hidden."

"Considering I don't even know who she is, I couldn't even begin to tell you." She smiled. "It'd be nice to see her though . . ." She gazed to the temple and thought about the little girl that had grown with her in her nightmares and wondered what she looked like now.

"But she could be out there somewhere." Logan suggested. "She may not have your face or your abilities, but she could be out there wondering the same things you are."

Rahel smiled. "I think we'd have a lot in common . . . I'm not sure why I think that . . ." She replied. "But I wouldn't know how to go about finding her. It's a big galaxy, you know . . ." She smirked.

"You might have to come to terms with the fact that you may never find here." Logan remarked. "She may not want to be found. But I think you should take things one step at a time. You've just realised that you most likely have a sister, after so many years that's a big shock. You need to take time for the news to sink in."

"Yeah." She admitted. "I don't think it's sunk in yet." She laughed softly. "Ash has been my only sibling, really. This sister has just been a ghost in my dreams until now. Man, if I find her . . . that would be incredible !" Rahel thought.

"One step at a time." Logan stated. "Ash will always be there for you and he'll always be your brother, even if you're not related by blood. This sister could be someone you spend the rest of your life searching for and never find. You really need to think about this before starting a search."

"I wouldn't even know what to put down for search criteria . . ." Rahel replied.

"With so few clues, neither would I." Logan admitted. "From what we've learnt, any trail could be cold or be littered with dead ends. If someone was trying to hide the fact that you existed, they could have covered their tracks well. And we could stir up trouble for you and your sister, but we can at least try to see if we can uncover anymore facts."

"Adoptions on Kritarus ! They have to be listed, even my sister's and mine. They might be a bit dubious, but they would be listed ! I know the date I were found and approximately when we were adopted . . . She could have been adopted at roughly the same time . . ." Rahel's mind was working quickly. "If I wanted to do this. That's where I'd start." She replied adamantly, her green eyes bright with discovery and being very sure of her reasoning.

"I would be a start." Logan stated. "We could also double check all the reports on the fire, maybe there are some inconstancies that might yield a clue."

Rahel smiled. "We really could find her, couldn't we ?"

Tenderly she reached out and touched his face. As their eyes met, she said, "Thank you for everything, Logan. You're probably the only person, outside of my family that's this close to me." She withdrew her hand slowly.

Logan was shocked by Rahel's reaction. Yes he was attracted to her, but he knew that she was also very vulnerable at the moment. He was not going to take advantage of her in her present state. Suddenly, the holodeck was filled with the sound of a yellow alert, breaking the awkwardness.

"McQueen to Bridge" Logan announced. "What's the problems ?. Why are we at Yellow alert ?"

[Mister McQueen, long-range sensors have detected a Dominion vessel in orbit above Bopak III.] The voice of J'ross replied.

"Could it be rogue vessel ?" Logan enquired.

[We're not sure. We'd have to drop out of transwarp to be sure and that could give our approach away.]

"It sounds like duty calls," Rahel smiled, having sensed Logan's mixed reaction. "Just in the nick the time too," she laughed softly. "I'll do a once-over in sickbay in case it's needed."

"I'll be on the Bridge in five minutes." Logan announced. "Logan out."

Logan rose from the blanket and started to pack the box once more. The last thing to go in was the blanket, which they both helped to fold. Logan looked at Rahel and said. "We'll talk some more and maybe get that search underway next time we're both free."

He then picked up the box and announced. "Computer, arch." The arch appeared and he walked out into the corridor, looking back once before disappearing back to the Bridge.

Rahel looked at the temple once more. She was leaving with more questions than she had come with, but she was all right with that for the moment. With one more leap onto the second story of the temple wondering is her sister could so that. It would be interesting to find out just how much they had in common. Finally she jumped down and then ended the program, wondering when her and Logan would make more time to further their talk. She hoped it would be soon. With that, she walked to out of the holodeck and went to sickbay.