No Picnic (Part One of Two)

Rahel was having lunch with her brother in the Mess Hall. She was quiet, which wasn't her usual visage when they ate together. Each bite she took from her Chicken Caesar salad, she seemed to be a million miles away as if she were eating on autopilot.

"Care to share what's on your mind ?" Ash asked.

She looked up at him instead of down at her plate with a surprised look on her face. "Oh, Ash, I'm sorry. I just have some stuff on my mind. I guess I'm not good company today."

"So tell me what's going on." He said.

She shook her head. "There really isn't much to say."

"Are you sure ? I sensed that you had another nightmare last night after your work-out. But it was different than the other one . . ."

"That's because it was actually based on real memories." She replied quietly, grabbing her tea and taking a sip, avoiding her brother's piercing gaze.

He shook his head. "You really have a strange mix of emotions running through you today," he said. "I don't understand."

Suddenly she looked at him with seriousness, though not hostility. "Maybe you aren't meant to understand."

"Rahel, what's going on ?" He enquired.

"I'm going to try to deal with my memories . . ."

"How ?" He asked.

A smirk, upturned part of Rahel's mouth. "A surprise for me to know and you to find out."

"Brat." He replied, with a tease.

Finally she laughed. It was the first time she had laughed in the last couple of days.

"Well, if you need me, you know where I'll be." He said as he took her hand.

"I know." She replied tenderly.

Lieutenant Logan McQueen was heading for his meeting with Rahel Kahfre as they had planned the previous night. This wasn't an official meeting, more like a counselling session. Logan had been forced to reveal his deeply guarded secret from his past that few knew about and in doing so had discovered that Rahel had her own secrets, which she had been trying to keep to herself.

The incident on the holodeck the previous night and the subsequent exposure of their own feelings and fears had created a bond between the two officers, something that both had agreed to try and nurture. Logan had realised that the Doctor was under extreme stress and officially as acting first officer he should have reported his findings to Lieutenant J'ross and Starfleet.

But there was something about the Doctor that Logan felt within himself and he wanted to help. Which was now why he was heading towards holodeck two to meet her, with a picnic basket under his arm. Logan had changed out of his uniform and into some more casual attire. He wore a pair of faded denim jeans and a short-sleeved shirt, the Doctor had told him to prepare for a warm climate.

The actual holo-simulation he had left upto Rahel to program, suggesting that she pick somewhere where she felt safe. He also knew that the Doctor had been getting some help from his own sister in the programming, so whatever the Doctor could have come up with, Lana would have created a masterpiece.

Rahel was waiting in Holodeck Two. Holodeck One had been closed for routine maintenance and she figured Logan would find out where she had moved. She had been working on a program on and off all day and had even asked his sister for help with some of the more complicated aspects with the program. As she wandered around the jungle setting, she smiled. This looked exactly like Ferona II where her father had found the ruins of the Feronites. They had colonised that planet and then mysteriously disappeared. They had left incredible stone structures, like that of the many ancient civilisations on Earth that had left their stone structures behind when they had vanished into the cauldron of time.

This structure had been her favourite. Her father had revealed to her that it had been a temple. Something about it seemed to comfort her. There had been strange hieroglyphs on the walls, many with animals. The predominant images were feline, but this culture, as her father had discovered, also worshiped the sun, along with the animals . . .

Knowing she had arrived early, she decided to wander around the temple. "Computer, lantern." She commanded. Instantly, a modern lantern appeared at her feet. She grabbed it and entered the temple.

The first chamber was dark with columns. In the next, there was a shallow pit that had once been full of water. Above was a skylight, so she didn't need the lantern as much. Suddenly, it opened up into a large courtyard. It had once been a beautiful garden, now it was completely overgrown. There were trees, their branches tangled together in some kind of natural canopy, shading her. The flowers that once were in the garden now only bloomed in the small rays of light that managed to penetrate the canopy and reach the ground.

The pond had since dried up . . . It was desolate and yet Rahel could see how it had been. This also brought back feelings she experienced with her father, since this place was the first real dig of his she had participated in; Very happy feelings.

From the garden, she jumped up to the second storey of the temple. It was easier for her than taking the stairs. She wandered the little rooms, looking at what was left of the murals and glyphs. Finally, she got to the other side and saw the large tree that sat before the temple. She didn't know why, but it was as if something were tugging at her to go to it. She walked out to the balcony and then jumped onto the branch. It held her. She crawled up to another like a cat and finally, she just felt ready to stop and relax. She sat down on the branch, then a moment later, she was stretched out, just like a leopard - her feet against the truck with her arms and body balanced on the branch.

She was allowing her mind to wander a bit on the dig with her father when she saw the holodeck doors open and Logan enter. She looked down and smiled.