Am I in Heaven ?. Am I in Hell ?

Rashad did not know how, but she was standing in the middle of what looked like a beautiful sunlit forest on the planet she only saw in the holo-files: ch`Rihan ((Romulus)). Yet it was different, it was as if the entire forest, the mountains and the valley were immersed in the golden "mist". Also, it appeared to encompass all worlds she had seen, and more...

Suddenly, two faces dear to her, from her past, appeared several metres in front of her... There... stood her parents, a former Romulan diplomat on Bajor, i-Telan tr`Rashad and his wife, a Bajoran noble woman of the Baranstad House, Rashad Aranna.

"Mom ? Dad ?" Rashad's eyebrows rose in surprise. "What is this place ? Vorta Vor ((Heaven)) ? Areinnye ((Hell)) ?"

A deep feeling of happiness filled her at the sight of her parents. She longed for them, wanting to be with them once again. Slowly, she started to move forward towards them.

"i-T`Kul." Her mother's voice stopped her for a moment. "No, go back !"

"I am so happy to be reunited with you... Why should I go back ?"

"Go back, it`Kul." This time it was her father, i-Telan tr`Rashad, who spoke. "Your work is not finished. You have to continue..."

"This is the will of the Prophets." Sounded a third voice, this one appearing with a divine-looking face, out of the air. "Do not anger us, turn back before it's too late !"

The Intel Officer looked back and, to her surprise, saw Commander Harris, also going towards a group of people -his family... As if I a daze, she saw them also talk to each other. Then, Harris turned towards her, and was suddenly standing right next to the Romulan-Bajoran. She still hesitated, wanting to stay, but he suddenly took her by the arm, forcing her to turn around. "Come on, Rashad, we have to return. The crew of our ship still depends on us..." Strangely, his words appeared to her to be in Romulan...

She sighed. "I understand, Commander."

"See you in two hundred years, my daughter." Said i-Telan, as T`Kul looked back at her parents. Aranna just waved to her daughter with a Bajoran blessing.

"Come, Lieutenant, it's time to go." The Human released her shoulder and took her hand in his. Thus, they began their journey back...

Suddenly Rashad's whole body felt heavy and painful. "Arrgh." She opened her eyes with a moan, barely managing to lift the heaviness now weighing down her eyelids. With eyes still not properly focussed, she managed to make out Commander Harris laying on the next bio-bed.

A figure suddenly appeared next to her and said. "Ah, you are finally awake. Well, go back to sleep for now - you need rest to recover."

The voice... She had heard it somewhere before, but she could not make out where or of whom... here was nothing she could have done, as the person, whoever he was, quickly put a hypospray to her neck and injected her with something.

Immediately, the Romulan-Bajoran's eyelids got even heavier than they had been just a moment before, and she could not help falling asleep...