The Sevant Murders

Victoria Sevant, Jayne Sevant and T'Loren Sevant were all three murdered on the USS Nimitz by an agent of Admiral Doenitz as a warning to the Officers of the USS Nimitz to abandon their mission. This was one of the reasons, including the attempted Destruction of the Nimitz, that Captain Susan Rivers took her ship to Earth to consult with Admiral Robert LoDona, thus causing his investigation and the Federation Civil War.

This act drove Caladryll Sevant to madness and deep depression, which lasts to this day.

What follows is a series of posts which describes how they were murdered, why they were murdered, and what resulted. All authors are noted, though most are by J Trout. Most of these posts take place on Stardate: 2406.03.09.

Watch for Author's Notes to give needed background information.

---

The Murder

The Saboteur's Conspire

USS Nimitz - Lower Decks - Saboteur 1 & 2 - 16:00)

"You realize what you are asking me to do, yes? This is something of a switch in our tactics."

The second figure nodded in the half-light. "Oh yes, I'm well aware. Our previous tactics didn't work, and now the engineering staff is constantly looking for signs of tampering."

"Ok, but Why not higher up, the Captain has a couple brats..."

He was interrupted. "Those two are not her natural family. It wouldn't make nearly so large an impression, they can be targeted later if this message is not heeded."

The first figure scratched at his beard, "When."

"Now."

The first figure cocked his head at that, "It's the middle of the day, everyone awake and running around madly. The target is telepathic, one mental scream and it's over for me. There are enough other empaths and telepaths on this ship as it is."

The second figure smiled crookedly. "I have taken care of that. The dinner they ate not ten minutes ago was, shall we say, heavily laced in sleeping powder. Which is why it must be now, if you fail then they will alert security that something is wrong once they wake up."

Silence for many moments followed that statement. The first figure considered the position, then said "What do you want me to do."

He was handed a PADD with a simple note on it, and a second PADD with some technical codes and instructions. "You can activate the transporter system with this second PADD, from anywhere on the ship. Place the first on the body, it will serve as a warning. Get out, and beam the target to somewhere close-by the Archaeologists quarters. They should get the message quite clear. We will both have to lay low for a time after this, but it should work."

"I'm not so sure," was the firsts response. "However, I have little choice."

The second breathed in, and gave a deep nasal wheeze/chuckle. "You are absolutely correct, you don't have a choice. Do it."

He licked his lips, "You must be getting desperate."

The second figure smiled, almost gently, before turning away. "Desperation is such an, ugly word."

The Murder

(USS Nimitz - Officers Quarters - Saboteur 1 - 16:14)

After making sure the passage was clear, which it was bound to be at this time of day, the lone man stepped into the quarters of his quarry after clearing the security on the main outer door. Everything was quiet, nothing immediately appeared to be amiss. He sighed deeply, and shuddered at the thought of what he was about to do. This was not why he had come aboard, but with what his so-called partner had hanging over his head... he had no choice at all.

He walked around the couch, and cocked his head to the side. A girl, no older then 13, was laying on the floor. The saboteur chewed on his lip, and turned from the scene to look for the other two. He found them both in one of the bedrooms, a little girl was laying in her bed, holding her stomach while a woman was slumped sitting in a chair next to her. A book had fallen from the woman's hand, it appeared they had been reading.

The man blindly wiped at his mouth, though there was no spit to wipe away and hadn't been since he had first gotten these orders. His stomach did a flip, but he quelled it with thoughts of retribution should he fail. He listlessly walked out of the bedroom and back into the living room, rubbing at his forehead and muttering curses to himself as he contemplated what he was about to do. He sat looking at the girl on the floor again, apparently she had fallen off the couch. He closed his eyes, "Just. Do. It."

Slowly he walked around the couch to where she was laying, and then grabbed her under the arms and pulled her away. She wasn't heavy, exceptionally light in fact considering her apparent age. But he hardly noticed as he pulled her into the bedroom with the rest of the family. He picked her up, almost gently, and laid her out next to her younger sister.

He contemplated the scene for several moments, then pulled at the arm of the woman and managed over the course of a couple minutes to manhandle her onto the bed as well. She was VERY pregnant, he hadn't known that before. He would be taking at least four lives, not three. As large as she was however, he didn't doubt she had twins.

"I'm sorry," he said to them as if they could hear him. "It is you, or my own. I can only pray the Commander finds some solace in the fact that none of you will feel any pain." He had been looking at a family picture of all of them, in happier times, as he had been speaking. They looked to be on a Holodeck, fishing off some sort of dock. The Father of the children was in the lake, sputtering, while the wife and children looked on in laughter.

Commander Sevant would be beaming back to a very cold homecoming, after this night.

He muttered to himself some more as he took the family picture, and on impulse put it in his uniform. He would look at it later, and atone for the wrongs he was about to do. Without any other warning he took a knife from an inside pocket and bent over the three prone bodies. His had hesitated at the throat of the woman, Victoria, and a small tear fell from his cheek onto hers.

"I'm sorry."

...

Five minutes later he exited the quarters, all three of them were done, nearly bled dry onto the sheets of the youngest girls bed. The PADD which he had been instructed to leave with the corpses had been left on Vicki's chest, held in place by a hand from the oldest daughter. He had placed communicators on all three, and had imputed the communicator codes into the 2nd PADD he was holding.

He had stayed longer then he should have, but he felt detached, and had watched them take their last gasping breath, not once had they awoken from their deep drug-induced slumber.

All that was left was for the bodies to be deposited in a very visual place, so several people would get the idea they were not safe if they continued in their plans to work on this planet. He had no personal idea what was so important about some ruins, he hadn't been told why all this effort needed to be expended, and he found he didn't want to know.

He stepped into a turbolift, and pressed the button on the PADD as the doors closed. A few moments later the PADD fully erased itself, the job was done. Engineering would now be tracking that a transporter beam had just been engaged, right past the security lockouts. The origin and target would be logged, a security team would be sent to the hallway in front of the Archaeologists quarters.

What they would find, no doubt, would be a lot of Scientists hanging about a certain place in the hallway. Some might be crying, others would be cursing, yet others would be ashen and say nothing at all.

When security managed to clear the hallway and get to the center of the disturbance, they would find three dead bodies, death from loss of blood because their throats had been cut. Two children, one woman and at least one unborn child.. that of the Sevant family.

The turbolift door opened again, and he walked through it quickly, heading for his quarters. He felt the need to be violently ill, he had just committed mass-murder to convince some weakling scientists not to beam down to a planet.

(reply: Security, engineering, any) (posted by Trout)

Authors Note: The PADD on Vicki says "Do not go down to the planet, or this might happen to you. There will be others if this warning is not heeded, keep your children tight safe and snug in bed."

The Murders are Noticed

(Deck 8, Outside Archaeologists' quarters - 1653)

'Grandpa' looked onto the scene in front of him, his face the very image of aplomb. All to often he had seen gristly scenes, even his job was to dig up the bones of the long since deceased, and try to make sense of them. However, there was a distinct difference between the deaths of three human females and the bones of some long forgotten civilization.

Especially when those three carried a very obvious note directed at him, and his other companions.

"Ok, everyone, back to your stations please," announced a security officer of some sort. "There's nothing more to see here."

The Chameloid turned in his old'ish human form, and pulled at his beard as his colleges slowly broke away, most of them muttering to each other. Only a couple stood for longer, one of them was Melina Lockwood, the woman Zach hated with what appeared to be every fiber of his being. Grandpa considered her for many moments, until she turned to him with a small grin on her face.

He cocked his head as she turned around and started walking away. "Just what is so amusing." he said in a deathly low tone as they left the scene.

"Nothing is amusing, you perverted old man." she said in her husky way, "I just find these tactics to be useless. And the message, how cliché can we get?"

"Three people lost their lives Lockwood, you might do good to remember that."

She stopped, and looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. "And more will probably die before we are done, so?"

The Chameloid narrowed his eyes, "You are heartless."

She smiled at him, every so slightly. "No, I'm practical. Good day."

Grandpa watched her walk off, and shook his head. He licked his lips, a mannerism he had picked up from working around far to many humans, and shrugged.

Immediatly After the Murders

On the Planet, Sevant and Nishi Depart in search of missing Officers

Authors Note: The following Posts don't directly relate, expect to explain later why Sevant and Nishi are away from the rest of the away team. The mission we were in was 'Burial Grounds', the same mission that kicked off our Civil War. They were cut off from the Nimitz and off searching for Lieutenant Falthgood and Ensign Oynx, who had departed for a ancient Alien Crystal Tower

(Planet's surface - Base camp perimeter - Lt Cmdr Sevant - 16:11)

"We leave in two minutes, either you are a security guard hand-picked by you. Make your decision now, we have little time I fear."

The Security Chief smiled, then nodded after a few moments. He addressed a young security officer, and said "Sandersen, right?" The woman nodded. "Inform the security personal to keep treating the wounded, and to take orders from the Marines. And...tell them to be careful."

The Chief turned back to Sevant, "Alright, lets go"

Sevant turned to Lee, "Rifles."

The Marine reached back and pulled a Type III off his back, and tossed it over. Sevant caught it, just as another unnamed marine handed over their own rifle to Nakamura. The Vulcan checked the charge on the weapon, set it to the highest stun, and nodded with satisfaction.

(reply Nishi, any)

Sevant pointed off in the direction of a Crystal tower. "They were reported moving in that direction, We are going to make that tower are target, it seems logical they would move for it, our tricorders can find nothing else of note in that direction."

(reply Nishi)

Sevant nodded, and took off at a job in the direction they were going. The faster the found their two missing crewmembers, the better off they would be.

---

(Planet's surface - Woods, Unknown - Lt Cmdr Sevant - 16:20)

Sevant came to a halt, put the rifle against his shoulder and looked around. The forest was unnaturally quiet, no insects or animals were to be heard, and there was no breeze to speak of to rustle leaves and branches.

He reached up and tapped his badge, "Sevant to Rivers." He waited a few seconds, "Sevant to anyone in Base camp, respond."

Nothing.

"We are officially out of communication," he said as he reached around and pulled out his tricorder. He flicked it on and scanned the surrounding area, then quickly looked down at it. "And, I can see no reason why."

(reply Nishi)

He folded up the tricorder and gently put it back in the waistband holster. "We are ten to fifteen minutes from the Tower, keep your eyes open."

Sevant moved forward again, careful to avoid branches and bushes along with dry patches of leaves and branches that would make excessive noise in his passing. He had no grown up in a forested area, this would not be his choice terrain in combat, but there were things that just could not be changed.

(reply: Nishi) (posted by Trout)

The Murderer Uncovered, And Captured

(USS Nimitz - Science Labs - Ensign Richard Collins - 1740)

"Ensign Collins? Richard? Are you OK?" she asked.

Lost in his thoughts, remembering the slick feel of blood on his fingers from only a short time ago, he hadn't noticed that anyone else was in the labs he had just entered. His head jerked to the side, and he noticed a female face. He had seen her before, but he couldn't place the name.

"I'm fine," he said with an effort. "How are you getting on?"

He walked over, as smooth as he could, to talk to her. She made a move to type something, then looked up at him.

"Oh, I'm just running some standard tests," she said casually. "Seeing that Ensign Kalik is so overworked at the moment I thought I'd lend a hand. I used to be stationed here, you know? So I feel at home here. Are you sure you should be on duty?" Louise continued, looking closer at him. "You really don't look well. Can I get you anything?"

Rich looked at her for several moments, she was so cool... What had she just flipped from the screen? A thought chilled him, what if she knew.. What if she was secretly working on evidence that could convict him?

"Excuse me?" she said as she tried to push back on the chair.

~And now she wants to escape!~

He considered what to do for a couple seconds, weighing in possibilities. He was desperate, he couldn't be caught, not if he wanted his family to live. But, if she were looking at evidence about him, then he was already caught!

Without any warning at all, he pushed her and the chair into the desk with all of his strength, and heaved away. He broke out running for the door, only to find they were opening already. He tried skidding to a halt, but he had been moving too fast, and be barreled right into a couple armed security guards.

"No!" he bellowed as he shoved blindly, knocking one of the two surprised people down and the other aside. The yelled after him, but he kept running. He took many shallow, panicked breaths, running blindly down the corridor with people yelling after him to halt. Of course, he didn't want to halt! If he could run forever...

A blue wall suddenly appeared before him, causing him to run head first into the containment field. He fell to the ground, stunned, then immediately got back up and without any reason at all, tried to punch his way through the field.

Suddenly, he felt a painful stinging sensation in his back, and his legs just gave out from under him.

~I've failed...~

He lay on the deck, panting, just barely holding on. He heard a female voice say "Ensign Stolev, we have apprehended Ensign Collins, we had to stun him on level one, he tried running."

The Murderer Questioned

(USS Nimitz - Security Office - TAC/ASC Lt. Stolev & SciO Ens. Richard Collins - Day 7 - 2406.03.09.1757)

Mission: Burial Grounds, Day 7 Stardate 2406.03.09

Sasha looked up at the sound of the doors to the main office opening, and he walked out of his office to see two security officers escorting a bound science officer into the lobby. He glanced down at the PADD he was holding which displayed Ensign Collins's Starfleet bio.

"Where do you want him, Lieutenant?" asked one of the officers.

Sasha jerked his head towards the conference room. "In there."

Richard looked up at the speaker with sullen, hopeless eyes. ~Maybe, just maybe, he knows nothing and only suspects.~

Sasha watched as they maneuvered the prisoner into the conference room, then walked over there himself. "You two wait outside. No interruptions, got it?"

"Aye sir."

~Wonderful,~ thought Richard.

Sasha walked in, the door to the conference room closing behind him. The young officer stood near the corner, sweat already beginning to bead up on his forehead. The temperature setting was the only part of the interrogation program that was currently active, but the other components could be activated individually with a simple voice command or keystroke at the control console.

Sasha gestured towards Collins's bound hands. "You won't be needing those any more." He walked over and unlocked the manacles. "Have a seat," he said, indicating the wooden chair near one of the other corners, far enough away from the table and walls so that Collins would have nothing to lean against to make himself more comfortable. Every spot of Sasha's body language was carefully designed to clearly convey that he was in complete control of the situation and did not feel threatened in the least by being alone in the presence of a multiple homicide suspect.

Richard rubbed at his hands as they were released from the magnetic bonds, and took a moment to look around the room as he sat in the highly uncomfortable chair. Things were not looking hopeful; he had seen something like this not too long ago.

"So, Ensign Collins," began Sasha. "Richard, isn't it? Do you know why you are here, Richard?"

Rich licked his lips, and shrugged his shoulders. "You know my name as well as I do, you can drop the pretence of trying to get to know me. And yes, I know perfectly well why I am here: two of your brutes managed to manhandle me up four decks in manacles. I wouldn't have chosen to come on my own, I assure you." He shifted in his seat, "And your chair is broken, though I trust that is on purpose."

A mischevious glint appeared in Sasha's eyes. "No, the chair is not broken. I designed it especially for... certain uses." His eyes narrowed, the smile leaving them although it remained plastered artificially on his face. "So, Richard. Why did you run from the security officers? You realize that it makes you look... well, a bit guilty, doesn't it?"

Richard grinned at the Security officer, although the grin was filled with false humor. "I started, um, 'running' before Security had even entered the room. I trust you can look at the sensor logs from the Science labs to see that. I'm afraid I had to use the restroom, ate some bad chili or something." He wiggled his eyebrows. "Your security officers walked in just as I was walking out. I do hope I will have a chance to apologize to the one I barreled over. I didn't have an opportunity while running out into the hall, and they were most rude about chasing me down for the action."

He shifted in the chair again. "If this is how you interrogate officers under suspicion for assaulting two security guards, if you want to call it that as I had something of a small emergency to take care of, then I shudder to think what you would do for a suspect accused of Murder or Treason."

The grin faded from his face, to be replaced with the closest thing to an expressionless look that he could muster.

"Bad chili, huh?" Sasha leaned back against the table. "I suppose I could call up all the replicator logs and see whether or not you ordered chili in the past few hours, but that seems an awful waste of time to me." He looked Richard up and down. "You certainly seem to be feeling better now, and I can't imagine my officers let you go into a bathroom on the way here."

Richard cocked his head to the side. "Amazing the effect that being chased, cuffed and drug around the ship will do to one's priorities, isn't it? I suppose my bladder decided I had more important things to do."

Sasha chuckled, but decided that this particular tact was not one he wanted to pursue further. "Well, anyway, that's not really relevant." He picked up one of the PADDs he had brought in, the one that contained Richard's biographical information. "So, Richard. I see you've only been aboard for a few months. I also see that your family seems to have disappeared and is being searched for by Earth Security." He watched Richard closely for any reaction to this news. "Were you aware of this?"

Richard's face did melt into completely expressionless guise this time, so long had he worked at blocking that memory. Several seconds passed, then he chewed on his lip and looked down. "Yes, I'm more than aware my wife and child are missing. I've a request in my quarters that I've been fighting not to turn in, for a leave of absence so I can go search for them, as if there was anything I could do."

He looked back up, "And just what does my missing family have to do with running two security guards over, or do you simply enjoy reminding me of things I can't change?" His voice fell half an octave, only just loud enough to hear. "The thought already gives me enough pain, your efforts are unnecessary." His voice quivered with visible pain, and his form slumped into the chair as much as was possible.

Sasha was reaching for the other PADD on the table when he felt a slight jolt through the deck plates. He frowned slightly, but then picked up the PADD. He was opening his mouth to ask his next question when the door chime interrupted.

Sasha let an exasperated sigh and walked to the door and opened it to admit a worried looking officer. "I said NO interruptions! This had better be damned important."

The officer leaned in and spoke quietly into Sasha's right ear so that his lips were shielded from Collins. "The ship's been attacked. A Romulan warbird decloaked, fired a low-power disruptor beam at the secondary subspace transmitter array, then recloaked immediately. No other damage, but the array was destroyed."

Sasha stared at him as the information sunk in. "Ok... make sure someone good is manning the tactical station on the bridge. I'll be there as soon as I can to relieve him, but I've got to finish here first."

The other officer nodded and stepped back so the doors could shut. Sasha looked blankly at them before turning back to his prey. "Well, Richard. Something's come up, so I'm afraid we'll have to cut to the chase." He tossed the PADD to Richard and sat on the edge of the table closest to him, leaning forward. "You're a science officer. Do you recognize the report on this PADD?"

Rich looked closely at Sasha for several moments, then bent forward to pick up the PADD. He scanned it for a few seconds, then tossed it back onto the table. "I'm not a medical officer, but that looks a lot like a DNA workup, and I would assume it's mine from the name on the report." He looked back up with a raised eyebrow, "And...what about it?"

"You'll never guess where this DNA came from. But we'll get back to that." Sasha stood up and slowly walked away from Richard before suddenly turning around. "Do you know a woman named Vicki Sevant?"

Rich went cold, but showed nothing. "I love a mystery..." he said, followed with, "I know the name, First Officer's wife and Assistant Ops Officer."

He kept his answers short, simple, lest the tremble he felt inside betray him.

Sasha smiled. "I love a mystery too, Richard. Especially when the pieces are falling into place." He walked forward and leaned down so that his face was only a foot away from Richard's. "Tell me, did you know that Vicki Sevant and her two children were murdered this afternoon?"

Rich pulled his head back by instinct. "I would appreciate you keeping a distance, if you don't mind," he said with displeasure as he quickly gathered his wild thoughts back under his control. He decided to change tactics. "I'm going to assume from your line of questioning that you believe I commited these, uh, murders." He once again cocked his head to the side. "Since I just found out about these murders not more then twenty seconds ago, I do hope my assumption is wrong."

Sasha raised his eyebrows and leaned back. "Really? That's amazing, considering..." As he spoke, he moved over to the table and tapped a key at a console there. The lights dimmed, except for a very bright spotlight which shone on Richard's chair. "Your DNA was found on Vicki Sevant's cheek. A teardrop. One that, according to forensic evidence, was deposited there around the time of her death." He walked quickly over until he was standing directly in front of Richard, to discourage any notion of running that his captive might have. "Care to explain that?"

Rich pushed his hands together and weaved his fingers together in a very careful move that bought him a few seconds to think. He was being trapped, very well in fact. D*mn that tear he had shed, it could cost him and his family everything!

He sighed theatrically, and put up a hand to block the light. "I've had my time in the sun, thank you," he commented. "I can imagine someone would enjoy framing someone else for a murder, that's a common theme." He looked directly at Sasha. "Of course, tampering with evidence or improper retrieval procedures could also be an issue here. Just how careful were you with that 'tear' in your haste to find a culprit? It would be fairly easy to either contaminate the evidence... Or plant it." He attempted a small knowing smile, though he couldn't be sure if he pulled it off, so he quickly wiped it from his face.

Quick as a cat, Sasha grabbed Richard's arms and pulled them behind the chair, sticking the manacles back on his wrists, winding them through the supports of the chair back so that he was quite attached. "This'll be much easier for both of us if you just cooperate, eh?" he muttered as Richard struggled against his unexpected bonds. Sasha grabbed one of Richard's legs and yanked his boot off. A quick pass with a tricorder confirmed it; there were traces of blood in the soles, blood whose DNA matched all three of the murder victims.

Sasha leaned back in and showed the results of the scan to Richard. "My my, Richard, you were rather sloppy. Didn't realize all that blood would make such a mess, did you? I bet in your hurry to get out of the room, you didn't notice that you had stepped in it, did you?"

Richard ignored the security officer as he stopped his worthless effort and closed his eyes. Very gently, very methodically, he began testing every conceivable position that he could manage in trying to get out. It was menial, it was hopeless, but it managed to keep most of the images out of his mind of his recent excursions at the behest of the nameless lady that had his family in her clutches.

Sasha pulled back the tricorder. "Now, Richard. Let's be reasonable. You and I both know you did this. There's no sense denying it anymore. And while this is a horrible thing, I realize that there are other forces at work here. Now I highly doubt that you have the expertise or the knowledge of how to bypass the security mechanisms, the transporter locks, and the internal sensors. So you must be working for someone."

Sasha leaned back against the edge of the table. "You know, if you cooperate with us now, it will certainly reflect favorably on you at your court-martial. And if whoever you're working for is coercing you... maybe they have something to do with your missing family? Those could also be extenuating circumstances. So what do you say, Richard? You help me, and I'll help you." He leaned forward, a menacing look on his face. "Of course, if you don't help me, I can also make things very difficult for you."

Richard paused in his activities, and looked up at Sasha with a face of disdain. "Let me speak plainly. You think you have pieced together this whole puzzle, but your last statement made it clear to me that you are mostly guessing at whatever motivations you think I might have had if I did indeed do this act. So I will ask you this counter-question; if I'm being coerced because of my missing family and possibly what could happen to them if I failed, then just what the hell do you think you could possibly do to me to make things even more difficult then they already are?"

Sasha regarded him for a moment. "Funny you should ask that." He wandered over to the arms locker in the room, opened it, and pulled out a phaser. He casually played with the controls while he regarded Richard. "Have you ever had a phaser set to light stun discharged at the base of your skull? It's not enough to knock you unconscious, but I understand it is excruciatingly painful."

He walked around Richard's chair, casually resting the phaser against the back of the other man's neck. "Now, this is what I suggest, Richard. You help me by telling me everything you know. I help you by sending you on your way. I let it slip to a number of people that you had a plausible explanation and that you've been cleared of suspicion. You can rejoin your accomplice and continue to work towards accomplishing whatever is on his or her agenda. We'll of course be monitoring you, every step of the way. We'll eventually catch the bigger fish, the one for whom you're working, and perhaps work out a similar arrangement, until we get all the way to the top. How does that sound?"

Richard pushed against the phaser slightly, thinking as straight as he could as guilt and fear ran through his veins. He rapidly ran through his options: either being stunned or following through with the suggestion. He could always get turned loose and point out Sasha to be killed next, but he rapidly threw that thought away; he would probably be the one chosen for that and he wasn't sure he could stay sane if he pulled off another murder.

He licked dry lips, and said quietly, "You realize if that story doesn't sit right and I am not believed, that I will be the next found in a passageway, and my family will soon be found Earth-side with holes in their heads."

Sasha nodded, feeling the first actual twinge of sympathy for the man before him, as he lowered the phaser and walked back around in front of Richard. "I understand. That's why, after you tell me everything you know, you and I will work out a story that will sit right with everyone, so that there will be no discrepancies." He sat on the edge of the table and set the phaser down. "So, do we have a deal?"

Richard closed his eyes, and his whole frame crumpled slightly. He rubbed his cheek against his shoulder, and said just above a whisper, "I've never seen the face of my... boss. The voice is female, the frame small, and she is always cloaked. She always manages to get into my quarters and leave a small yellow rose on the table when she wants to meet." He suddenly chuckled, a sound just a step over a sob. "A reminder you see, I wrapped my wife's wedding ring around a yellow rose. These people know me, they know my past, they know as much or more about my life as I do. I digress however, once I have that sign I always go walking the corridors, she finds me."

He looked up. "She gave me a PADD with command codes, and executable programs, to get into Sevant's quarters and to remotely operate the transporters. The PADD was erased at use and I long since disposed of it." He face was drawn and his jaw working as he lapsed into silence. "You had better d*mned well be good at what you do, Lieutenant. I've lived very carefully for a year, requested transfer here at the appropriate time, I've lived in fear of failing or offending whatever contact I happen to have. If you kill my wife and child..." He broke off, unable to finish the sentence, not even really knowing what he wanted to say.

Sasha nodded in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. "Don't worry. I am very good at what I do." He reached around behind the chair and unfastened the restraints. "We'll monitor your quarters for a yellow rose appearing. We'll of course see if we can determine who it was that left the rose, but we'll also monitor you once you retrieve it and begin your walk through the ship, in hopes that your boss will slip up and reveal herself to us whenever she makes contact with you."

He sat in one of the more comfortable chairs at the table and tapped the buttons to return the lighting and temperature of the room to normal. "You may have a seat here if you like," he said, indicating one of the padded conference chairs. "I'm sure it's more comfortable. Now, here's our story. We brought you in here not because of a DNA test, whose results will shortly find themselves deleted from the computer, but because internal sensors recorded you in that corridor near the times of the murders. We wanted to ask you if you had seen anything. You hadn't. Having no other evidence to link you to the crime, we had to let you go."

Sasha leaned back. "If you have any suggestions that would make the story more believable to your boss, feel free to make them. This room is soundproof and immune to all forms of eavesdropping."

Richard once again closed his eyes and forced himself to think straight. "You should keep your pet security officers very quiet about me running from them, and that lab assistant as well." He leaned his head back and took a deep breath. Slowly he let it out, ragged as it was. "And be very discreet with your following of me; these people are good, whoever they are."

Sasha nodded. "Our following of you will be mostly electronic, using nothing more than the normal operations of the ship's internal sensors; we'll just be paying more attention to the ones monitoring your location. There will of course be security officers posted throughout the ship, but that's a normal response to a murder on board, so it shouldn't cause any suspicion. And don't worry, my officers are very discreet. They'll understand what's at stake, if not for you personally than at least for the investigation as a whole."

The Science officer nodded a couple times, dumbly. "Then I had better get out of here quick; if it takes too long then that will also make the wrong people wonder." He opened his eyes and looked at the Security officer, his face a mask.

Sasha nodded and stood up. "Good luck, Richard." He led the way over to the door. "You wait here. I'll talk to the officers." The door opened and Sasha had a quick word with both officers in hushed tones, then came back in. "Everything's all set here. You are dismissed, Ensign."

Richard didn't answer right away as he stepped out of the room. He looked around, squeezed his eyes tight shut and opened them again. "Well, thank you officer," he said out loud, just in case. "I do hope you find that killer, the b*stard deserves death for three murders, more if you include the unborn kids." He gave a glance at Sasha, then broke eye contact.

Sasha nodded in reply. "We will do our best. And if you'll excuse me, I am due on the bridge." Sasha ducked into his office, reassembled his uniform, and headed for the doorway. To the bridge, naturally, but with a quick detour to the science lab where, according to the computer, Louise Palmer was still doing her research.

(posted by Trout & Aaron Scifres)

Sevant & Nishi, still Searching

(Planet's surface - Woods, Unknown - Lt Cmdr Sevant & Lt Nishi Nakamura - 16:20)

Sevant came to a halt, put the rifle against his shoulder and looked around. The forest was unnaturally quiet, no insects or animals were to be heard, and there was no breeze to speak of to rustle leaves and branches.

He reached up and tapped his badge, "Sevant to Rivers." He waited a few seconds, "Sevant to anyone in Base camp, respond." Nothing. "We are officially out of communication," he said as he reached around and pulled out his tricorder. He flicked it on and scanned the surrounding area, then quickly looked down at it. "And, I can see no reason why."

"Doesn't surprise me, this whole place doesn't seem to make sense."

Nishi could still feel the breeze he noticed before, it wasn't as strong as before, but just as cold. He could feel it on his skin and moving his hair, yet the trees and plants around them were perfectly still. It was as if everything were frozen, no movement, no sound, except for that breeze - no wonder Zzt had found this place disturbing.

He folded up the tricorder and gently put it back in the waistband holster. "We are ten to fifteen minutes from the Tower, keep your eyes open."

Sevant moved forward again, careful to avoid branches and bushes along with dry patches of leaves and branches that would make excessive noise in his passing. He had no grown up in a forested area, this would not be his choice terrain in combat, but there were things that just could not be changed.

Nishi moved with Sevant, painfully aware of how much noise they were making, moving through this frozen landscape, leaves crushed underfoot, branches that brushed them sounded out of place in this next to silent landscape. He hoped it was just the fact that he was right there causing the sounds, like scratching your ear, the sound can be heard clearly, but not by those around you.

Sevant suddenly stopped again, his hand shot up in a fist and he hunched down beside a tree a moment later. He had heard a *thunk*, very instinct but far away according to his Vulcan hearing. He scanned the trees, trying to find something that looked out of place, but failed. He was just about to stand and continue when another *thunk* sounded through the trees, this time far closer. It sounded to him akin to the hollow thump that had followed Lee being thrown up against a tree by Zzt. It was defiantly an impact sound.

All Nishi could hear was the noises they were making as they moved through the trees, but Sevant suddenly came to a halt, obviously alerted by something, then dropped to the ground. Vulcan's were supposed to have keener hearing than humans, Nishi didn't want to question it, or stand there and see if he could hear anything himself (although, a part of him did consider it), he dropped himself against a nearby tree.

Sevant pulled his phaser up slowly, looking off into the direction he thought he had heard the sound. "Something tells me we are not welcome."

Nishi nodded, switching the safety off on his Phaser rifle, still hesitant, incase whatever was making the noise turned out to be the two missing members of their own crew.

Sevant continued to scan the area, then blinked as he saw a moss-covered rock suddenly lift from the ground, and fling itself against a tree. He pointed in the direction with his phaser as another picked up, and was flung with force against a tree not ten feet from his head. "Back off..." he hissed to Nishi.

Nishi scrambled around the back of the tree he was using as cover, trying to find an angle where he could see their attackers. He peered out into the trees, but nothing was moving, except for the rocks and branches that launched them selves at himself and Commander Sevant. Keeping low, Nishi retreated, putting his back against the trunk of the tree for, he called out to Sevant, "Can you see them?"

Sevant shook his head, "We go around a different way." he said, as he pointed two fingers off to the right.

(Posted by Trout & Alister)

The First Bit of Madness, Kestra Informs Caladryll

(Planet's surface - The Woods - Lt Cmdr Sevant - 1640)

Sevant suddenly stopped in his tracks, and shook his head. He took a couple deep breaths, and uselessly shook his head again. It felt as though he had had a piece of himself cut off, his bond with Vicki had just faded out suddenly. Alarm rose in the back of his mind, but he threw himself into a mind-calming exorcize. This whole planet was screwed up, it was not unconceivable that mental powers and links were being affected as well. This wasn't the first time that distance or extraneous events had cut his Vulcan meld with his wife.

Still, it wasn't a desirable effect. The sooner he was off this planet, the better.

(reply Nishi, if desired)

(Planet's surface - The Woods - Lt Cmdr Sevant - 1712)

Sevant hissed as he shot his phaser off at one of the rocks shooting for his head, vaporizing it. Something *defiantly* did not want them to pass a certain point, no matter how often or where the two tried to penetrate, it seemed the very forest itself sought to block their passage. He backed up several steps, still scanning for flying rocks. "This is getting us no-where." he said in a quiet tone, once he had put himself behind a tree.

(reply: Nishi)

He turned his head to look for an even more round-about path, then suddenly stiffened with the beginnings of a powerful telepathic message.

Kestra, Sevant, I still don't know if you can hear me, but Caladryll.... Vicki and your children are dead. The terrorists executed

them.::

Sevant did nothing, his eyes still unfocused with the pain of the transfer, not yet interpreting what was just said to him.

Cal, I'm so sorry...::

His hands clenched the phaser-rifle, tightly, as he continued staring ahead blankly.

~Dead, executed?~

~Executed?~

~DEAD!?~

Sevant's eyes slowly came into focus, his thoughts racing along many illogical paths as he considered the words. They were so monumental that he could hardly comprehend their meaning. His wife, his two children... His *four* children, two unborn. All dead? All... Executed? He frowned and looked down, heedless to the world around him, and stared at the phaser as he ran Vanessa's message through his mind a few more times.

Then, without any warning, it struck him. He screamed; heavy, long and filled with despair.

MXO Lee & Base Camp finds out

(Planet's surface - Base Camp - 1st Lt Richard Ian Lee - 1712)

"NO NO NOT them, Not the children"

Rich looked over quickly at the outburst, his phaser already coming up by reflex, before he realized they were not under attack.

"Kestra!" the Captain said, "Who're you talking to? What's happened? What children?"

"I have had contact with Vanyssa." Kestra said with tears still running down her face, "Vicki and her children.........are dead"

Lee frowned behind his faceplate.

"Dead? What happened? An accident?"

"She said the terrorists executed them," was the Doctors reply.

"Terrorists? What terrorists?"

Rich's grip on his phaser tightened. "Bastards..." he mumbled.

"Does Sevant know yet?"

(reply Kestra)

"Uh oh..." Rich said, there were few people he would rather not cross with bad news, the Commander was one of them.

"Rivers to Commander Sevant and Lt Nakamura,"

There was nothing, though the Captain tried again a couple more times.

"Captain, I have made contact with Vanyssa," Kestra was saying, her voice still sounding shocked as well it might. "She has asked what our status is and is letting the Admiral know as I speak. Do you have something you want me to relay to her for the Admiral?"

Rich turned away to look out at the woods, in the general direction that the FO and TAC/SC had last been seen heading at full speed. His eyes darted back and forth, looking for any sign of movement or life, though nothing was showing up. His simple scanners could pick up nothing, even his eyesight could see further.

"SUSAN, PAIN, MURDER, LOSS, MY FAULT, I AM SORRY"

Rich spun on his heel, suddenly sorry that he hadn't been paying attention to what was going on behind him.

"She looks like she's having an epileptic fit! Someone help me here!"

Rich dropped the phaser and fell to his knees beside the woman. The Captain placed something in Kestra's mouth as Lee drug at his memory of Basic First Aid on what to do in the event of a seizure. The only thing he could remember off the top of his head was not to hold the body still.

It became a moot point a moment later, however, she suddenly went still. The captain grabbed the Doctors medkit, and scanned her with a medical tricorder once it was dug out. Rich glanced up as the Captain closed the tricorder, and watched as Susan moved Kestras body onto her side.

"Does anyone else here have any medical knowledge?"

Rich shook his head slowly, "Nothing that would cover this." he said quietly.

(reply any)

The Captain stood, and beckoned to him. Rich looked once more at Kestra, laying prone on the ground, then grabbed his phaser and stood to join the Captain.

"Lt Zzt, Lt Lee, I think we can take it that the Nimitz has no way of contacting us save through telepaths for the time being," she said. "If they could use the comms system, they wouldn't be relaying messages through Counselor Winters. Since Lt Troi is out of it for the time being at least, that means we are on our own. So, in the absence of Commander Sevant and Lt Nakamura, you two are my seconds in command. If either of you have any constructive ideas as to how we can get some kind of communication going with either the Nimitz or our lost crewmembers, I'd like to hear it. Now."

Rich looked down and sighed audibly. "Best I can think of for the lost crewmembers is to shoot our phasers into the air once every couple of minutes. It would provide a beacon to follow." He looked up again, and he thanked the BDU cameo scheme for hiding his face. "But Sevant is telepathic as well, at least to a point. I would lay a bet that he heard the same message the good Doctor heard, which means he could be anything from out cold to a raving lunatic by this point. With his Vulcan ancestry, and his obvious predisposition to emotion, I wouldn't have the first clue as to guess the end effect."

(reply Any)

A Wind started to blow, almost as if there was a storm approaching. Rich could feel nothing, but his suit sensors registered it and the Captain turned to the source, curiously. He pulled out his scatter-gun again and followed close behind her.

A light formed, and immediately stepped in front of his Captain, fell to his knee, and pointed the Scattergun in the general direction. A body took form, and a few moments later a face he didn't recognize wearing a Starfleet uniform appeared before them.

NRPG: As tall as Rich is, he would still cover the Captain fairly well on his knee.

RPG: Rich closed an eye, and continued aiming at the being, as the Captain spoke up. "I am Captain Susan Rivers, commanding officer of the USS Nimitz. Who are you, where do you come from, and what do you want with us?"

"I am the guardian of this system, right now you see just the hologram of her because she is elsewhere. What I want from you... are answers?"

Rich blinked his eyes a couple times, and said nothing. He slowly pointed the scattergun down, there was no way he would be able to fight a hologram. This was shaping up to be interesting, if undesired.

Sevant & Nishi Depart for Base Camp

(Planet's surface - The Woods - Lt Cmdr Sevant - 17:15)

Sevant fell to his knees and leaned on the phaser, the scream that had ripped at his throat died off and he clenched his eyes tight closed. Endlessly, Vanyssa's message ran through his mind. Each time it did so, the grip on his heart tightened and the feral emotion his people had worked so hard to contain threatened to break free. The emptiness, the incredible void left in his mind with the breaking of the link, threatened to consume him as he spiraled ever further and ever faster into despair.

"Commander? Sevant, what is it?"

Sevant didn't answer, not for many moments as rocks flew around them and the howl of the wind picked up through the trees. Sevant continued leaning against the phaser rifle, mumbling the words, "dead, all dead..." very quietly, almost like a chant.

"We can't stay here. C'mon, the camp is that way"

Sevant paid scant attention, he was completely uncaring of their situation at the moment. Deeper into darkness he fell as he felt Nishi tugging at him to get him up. Blindly he stood, not bothering to hunch or dodge the natural weapons that were being flung at them. One caught his arm, slicing through the uniform and ripping into his arm.

Suddenly, his despair turned into righteous anger, and he howled as he ripped away from Nishi and turned back to face the forest. His thumb kicked the power setting on his phaser up to full 16, and he let out a long stream of fire that chopped into trees and completely neutralized many smaller items that chanced into the path. Dozens of trees fell, but still he continued firing, slicing and disintegrating anything in his field of vision without heed to anything else going on.

After a few more moments, his finger slipped from the trigger, and his scream of rage died into a choking sputter that was quickly covered by absolute silence.

(reply Nishi, if desired)

Sevant, his every move jerky, slung the phaser over his shoulder as he contemplated the large area of destruction he had just wrought. He turned away without a word, and looked back the way they had come. His family was dead, his primary reason for living was gone. But, he had to get back to the ship. He had to see them one more time, no matter what else happened. He scanned the area with his eyes, hardly paying attention but keeping track of the terrain by instinct.

In a hoarse voice, he said "Move."

Back and Base Camp

(Planet surface - The Wood - Lt Cmdr Sevant - 1758)

Sevant leaned against a tree and took a deep breath. The woods were no longer attacking them, but neither had they been able to find a way out again either. It was almost as if they were walking in circles, a giant rat-trap that they were not meant to escape, possibly. Cally found he cared very little, his only goal was to get back to the ship, and even that would be a frigid homecoming. There was nothing on the ship to welcome him back, no one whom he could now kiss goodnight...

He thumped his head hard against the tree, a last ditch effort to get his head out of the pit and back to survival. If he wanted to survive this, he was going to have to start thinking logically. The problem with that, of course, was he couldn't even begin to search for a real reason to survive, much less actually accomplish any effort to saving himself.

(reply: Nishi, if desired)

A sound caught Sevant's attention, and with a sigh he turned his head to find the source. Nothing was immediately apparent except for a very localized wind that was flowing through the trees. He licked his lips and pushed away from the tree to face in that direction, and found himself chilled by the breeze. It was his training and not conscious thought which had him pull the Phaser from his shoulder, but he kept it loosely pointed at the ground as the wind continued to blow over his face. The Vulcan scanned the trees all around him, looking in vain for the source of the breeze, and for the strange high-pitched sound that was reaching his ears. "Maybe this force will stop playing with us and just get this over with." he muttered to himself as he started walking directly into the breeze.

(reply Nishi, if desired)

The breeze, cold and fell, suddenly stopped along with the sound he had been hearing; thus leaving the forest around them in a very unnatural stillness. Sevant's eyebrow shot up, and he lazily swung his phaser around. "If you are coming," he said in a fairly steady voice, "Come now while I still give half a damn."

(reply any)

Within moments, Sevant's stomach felt like it was lurching from side to side and the sound he had heard off in the distance filled his head. It was nearly as painful as the brute force of the telepathic contact he had gone through earlier, and he dropped his phaser to hold his head. His eyes rolled up into his head in pain and he fell to his knees.

Moments after that, the buzzing disappeared and his stomach settled back into it's proper place. He fell forward, only catching himself from falling on his face by flinging his hands out in front of him. He heard other sounds now, gasps and voices. He looked up, and shook his head slightly. They were back in camp, somehow, something had brought them; albeit through painful means.

He gave up trying to keep his eyes open, and fell onto his side for a few moments of blessed relief.

Back on the Nimitz, Capturing the Puppet Master

(USS Nimitz - Corridor - Richard Collins - 1910)

Richard stood in front of the door to his quarters, just out of sensor range so it wouldn't open, and closed his eyes. He had been caught, captured, interrogated... And unless that Security Chief was damn good, he was not only going to be spending his life in the stockade, his family would be moldering in the mean time.

He had several murders on his conscience, but if his family was butchered because of this crazy little stunt, then he would probably kill Sasha and add another stain to his soul. This one would be free of cost to his other nominal employer.

His employer, that woman, he would have to see her again sooner or later.

Practically shaking with trepidation, he walked up to the door and into his quarters. He took a quick glance around, everything seemed to be just as he left it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then turned his head to look into the kitchen.

Sitting on the table, alone, was a pristine yellow rose.

Richard's face crumpled, and his arms fell limp at his side.

Without another word, and in careful control of his feelings, he turned back around for a walkabout. With every step he took, he prayed that the Security Chief really knew his business.

On the Planet, Unalloyed Loss

(Dreamland - Everywhere - Sevant - time is of no consequence)

Even in his dreams, the pain was enough to make his chest hurt.

Was he aware of his unconscious state? That matter could be up for debate, but it didn't matter to him in the slightest at that particular moment in time. The beach in front of him was awash around his legs, capped with white-tops out beyond the break point. In a show of weather that he had never before seen in what had been their home for so many years, a storm raged, battering the island with fury unmatched in Sevant's previous experience.

It didn't matter.

On the outside, Sevant was impassive, his face composed and his figure unconsciously at a loose parade rest. He had no memory of walking into the surf, he didn't even stop to wonder why he had come back to this place. All that mattered now was that on the inside, not even the storm could match the absolute tempest that raged. A mass of emotions, so overwhelmingly powerful that he couldn't even begin to show them physically, surged through his blood and mind. Crushing grief at the loss of his family, pure hatred at whomever had caused this.

Loss, unalloyed and unbuffered loss, was prominent however.

He looked out into the tempest, not seeing and not caring, daring the elements themselves to take him, for he had no other reason to stay behind. Quite illogically, quite without hope, he mind-sent into the wind for his family. He strained so hard, so he thought, that a nosebleed started not much later.

Then, ever so slowly, his awareness of the wind and the weather faded. He took a deep breath, and let himself fall...

(Planet surface, Base Camp, Sevant, 1945)

His eyes opened slowly. He felt completely numb, all over, but he could feel a slight trickle on his upper lip that said not everything he had dreamed had been an absolute fabrication, he had indeed sent so hard that he had pushed himself beyond physical limits. Pain would come later, real physical pain that was the bodies way of saying 'no more'.

All the other pain had been with him constantly, it was no different now that he was awake.

His eyes closed again, grief vied with rage for a few moments, but the grief won out.

~Vicki...~

Loss

(Planet surface, Base Camp, Sevant, 1950)

~Vicki...~

I am here Caladryll, use my strength to help you::

Caladryll felt someone make a link to him, he abolished it a moment later. Being tied to another was the last thing he wanted at this moment, the absolute last thing. He took a slow breath as his head started to pound, and opened his eyes again to look around. Kestra Troi and the Captain were there as well.

He took a breath, and sat up slowly. "Did Lt Nakamura pass out from transport as well...." he grumbled, trying to focus his mind on

• something* that wasn't emotional in origin.

Puppet Master Caught, sorta

(USS Nimitz - Corridor - Richard Collins - 2210)

Richard hummed a nameless tune as he walked the lower decks, the tune being only one of two signs that something was *far* from right. The other, for anyone who happened to be paying attention, was that his eyes kept flickering to dark corners in an endless search. In all the times he had been 'ordered' to go walking by that yellow rose, he had not once managed to spot his contact before she came up behind him. He would have suspected witchcraft if he had lived a few hundred years earlier.

He had not given the matter overmuch thought, prying too deeply into the affairs of his contact and whomever *her* masters were didn't seem to be a healthy course of action. They already had his life in the palm of their hands, along with the life of the rest of his family. He didn't know what else they could possibly do to him or his, but he didn't want to be finding out either.

The only warning he had that he wasn't quite alone was the small puff of breeze beside him, and a softly feminine voice that said, "Keep walking, Mr Collins."

His heart skipped a couple beats, but with surprise and with suppressed terror. It was anger that restarted his heart, and it was obedience that kept him in step with her as they continued through the lower decks.

"You did an admirable job, considering your specialty is subspace and not special operations." that feminine voice said several moments later, as they both turned a corner. "Perhaps you missed your calling?"

"I missed nothing," he said flatly. "I did what I did out of nothing but necessity. When will you release my wife?"

"Bye and bye, in good time." was the amused reply. "We are not quite done with you yet."

"That was not the deal." came Richard's reply, through a clenched jaw.

The woman's voice dropped several degrees, "You are not in a position to dictate to me, Mr Collins, so shut your mouth while you are ahead and listen." She stopped suddenly, and entered a door that had slid open. "Come with me."

Rich took a deep breath, and wondered just when the Calvary was going to come a' knocking. Being in an enclosed room would do them, nor him, any favors. However, it wasn't like he had much of a choice. He stepped inside the dimly lit room, and suppressed a shudder as the door slid closed behind him. The cloaked figure stepped forward into the room and threw back her hood. Rich hissed slightly, and shook his head. The face of the person that faced him was a dead-ringer for that of his wife. The woman smiled cruelly and chuckled. "Recognize someone?"

"Amazing what constructive surgery can do, no?" he said with barely contained fury, which almost matched the pang of grief that had resounded through him at the first shock. He closed his eyes, and turned his head away. "What more do you want from me?"

The amusement in the voice, which was nothing like his wife's... Thankfully, lost just a touch of it's amusement as she asked "Why were you picked up by Security today?"

Rich took a deep breath, this was the line he had been waiting for. "Someone reported me being in the area of the murder." he said flatly as he looked back at her. "Stolev wanted to know if I had seen anything suspicious. I, as I reported, was clueless." He frowned, "They didn't seem suspicious of me, and he let me go after a few questions meant to make me stumble."

He shrugged, "But they let me go without a cross word, I can only assume I am not under suspicion."

She considered him for several moments with her head slightly cocked to the side. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, she said "You know what, Mr Collins, I think you are lying."

Rich's heart skipped another beat as she moved forward gracefully, and put her hand flat on his chest. "About this, or about something else, I don't know. But, you are sweating awfully heavy to be telling the whole truth about something. I intend to find out what."

---

(USS Nimitz - Access Room - Ensign Richard Collins - 2406.03.11.2215)

"About this, or about something else, I don't know. But, you are sweating awfully heavy to be telling the whole truth about something. I intend to find out what."

Richard tapped his fingers together, in obvious indecision. She had her small hand flat on his chest, for what reason he couldn't even imagine. "Uh..." he said, not having to feign the careful phrasing of his next words as he slowly looked down at the hand. "I can't guess what you are thinking, but killing me certainly won't help either of us."

A throaty chuckle emanated from the cowl, and she pushed it back with her free hand. "It might make me feel better, however."

"oh." What else could he say, that left little room for argument. However, being human, he was like to try. "Uh, I didn't, haven't, erm.. Wouldn't ever deceive you, too much rides..."

"And I would imagine that if another way came about, a tempting offer that involved freeing your family in return for a full confession, that you would completely ignore it and place your trust in me, mmm?" Her grin was sadistic as she pushed Richard against the wall, and continued pushing. His chest started to ache from the pressure, panic started to fill his mind as he found it hard to get another breath. "Please... Stop..." he wheezed

Her response was only to chuckle and push a little harder. "But, what would be the fun of..." She broke off and turned her head to the door with a snap. For half a second she completely ignored Richard, just looking at the portal. Then, without warning, she pulled her hand away from his chest. He took a ragged breath, then held it again as suddenly her female face started to melt, and her shoulders became wider.. And...

~Impossible, I'm dreaming, this is a nightmare!~

The female before him ceased to be a female, in her place was a perfect copy of himself.

The door burst open a moment later, and she backed away suddenly, a look of panic on his/her face. "No, NO!" s/he bellowed to the entering security officers. "Its her, him... Her... IT'S A SHAPE SHIFTER!" The whole time, his/her finger was pointed at Richard.

"Like hell!" he burst out, its her.. Him!" He sputtered as he pointed back, while looking at Stolev.

Back On the Ship

Sevant Finds out Who the Murderer is

(USS Nimitz - Guest Quarters - Lt Cmdr Sevant - 0745)

Caladryll looked at the quarters, just standing inside the doorway. They were not his quarters, they were not inherently painful in and of themselves. Soon enough he would have to enter back into his own home, confront the shadows that lingered there, confront the loneliness that now presented itself for him with his family dead and cold.

He took a deep breath, still struggling to bring his emotions under control now that his mate and children were dead. He was the last of his family line, the rest having been ripped from him. No matter how strong he had been, no matter how much he had tried to protect them, they had been pulled from him. He had been utterly powerless to do anything about it, stuck on some alien world that hadn't wanted him to be there anyway.

The enunciator beeped behind him, but he ignored it, instead letting his thoughts wander down the paths they had been taking for the last several hours. The enunciator beeped again, most insistently. Sevant shook his head and turned to the door, "Open." he said quietly. Standing right before it was one of the very last people he wanted to see, though it was her job to see him.

"Counselor," he sighed, "Not today."

(reply Winters.)

Sevant let her talk as he was hardly paying attention to her. His gaze was fixed somewhere over her shoulder, at the next door across the corridor. He shook his head when he realized she had stopped talking, and looked over at her face. "I'm sorry, bu not..." he suddenly broke off as he caught the barest hint of a thought from her. He wasn't highly telepathic unless dealing with his now-dead family, but strong thoughts he could pick up easily enough, and Mrs. Winters-Dark had gone through her own pain very recently. A face drifted past his mind, and a name... Someone he didn't know, but the mental connotations of what he picked up were unmistakable. She knew the killer was locked up, she knew s/he had been caught.

It was enough.

Sevant's face melted into that of pure anger, fury personified. He shoved passed her without another word, sending her sprawling, and took off running down the corridor with a howl on his lips. The murderer, the killer... The person who had done away with him family had been caught. Sevant meant to find him, and rip him/her limb from limb.

Sevant Confronts the Murderer

NRPG: Going to make this exceptionally difficult on you, Aaron :OP

The Brig isn't on our deck plans, have to remedy that. For now, I think it would be near the security center... Deck 7. If I'm blind and it is there, or it should be somewhere else, then the deck can be changed in the compile...

RPG: (USS Nimitz - Turbolift - Lt Cmdr Sevant - 2406.03.12.0907)

Sevant growled as the turbolift slowly came to a halt. "Computer, continue to Deck 7."

[Turbolift Control has been locked down on the authority of Lieutenant Stolev, unable to comply.]

Caladryll balled his fists and ground his jaw for a moment, "Computer, override Lt Stolev's orders, authorization Sevant Seven Omega Seven. Continue to deck 7."

The turbolift was compliant, and immediately began moving again. But, if Stolev was any kind of good officer, he would find another way to do away with Sevant, perhaps by removing him from command on security concerns. He had been a Security Officer himself, there were ways to stop that from ever starting. "Computer," he growled a moment later, "Strip Lieutenant Stolev of all Security and Computer clearances. Reset him to civilian level five. Authorization Sevant Seven Omega Seven."

A couple seconds passed, then [All Security and Computer Command Codes for Lieutenant Stolev have been reset to Civilian Security Level Five.]

The Half-Vulcan's grin was pure joy at those words. It never once crossed his mind that he had woefully overstepped his authority, only that he had removed a large bolder from his path of vengeance. Lieutenant Stolev wouldn't be able to get back his computer access before Sevant himself reached the brig.

He nearly gave a whoop of victory, but the doors opened to Deck 7 before he could open his mouth. Once they had, he was all business again. Sevant bolted out of the turbolift and took off at a dead run for the Brig. He ignored every officer he passed, regardless of what they said or how they moved. He knocked over a couple in his haste to reach the brig, but didn't stop to see if they were all right. He was the epitome of Vulcan passion and rage, a figurehead of everything the Vulcans had left behind when they followed Sybok and put their feet on the path of Logic. He was anger personified, and he would NOT be stopped.

Two security guards were standing in front of the brig when he arrived, they were not part of the normal contingent.

~Someone guessed where I was going.~ he thought with something akin to glee.

"I'm sorry sir..." one of them said as he moved forward with his hand outstretched, as if to grab him. Sevant would have none of it, he grabbed the arm of the only somewhat suspicious officer and twisted it. Gracefully he moved forward, and twisted the arm behind the officer, forcing him to twist on his feet lest the arm be broken. The woman was in the act of pulling her phaser, until Sevant shoved the incapacitated man directly into her. He had trained and commanded many of the security team, he knew these two by name and had often inquired about their well being and families. That knowledge worked against them, who would think their former Department chief would simply attack them?

Sevant continued shoving until both had hit a bulkhead, completely taken by surprise and caught flatfooted. He ripped the phaser out of the mans hip holster, and turned calmly into the brig. The doors slid open easily, and the customary Brig warden was on duty. Although, instead of sitting behind a desk, he was standing in front of it with his hand on his phaser. Sevant had his own weapon up in a flash, before the Wardens phaser could make it more then halfway out of the holster.

"Leave," he growled.

"Sir, I can't do th..."

Sevant shrugged and pressed the button. The phaser was only on level one, it knocked the officer back several feet and knocked him out. But, it wouldn't keep him down for long. It didn't matter, Sevant only needed a few moments. "Comnputer, lock down the brig."

[The Brig has been locked down.]

There were several officers that would be able to open the brig doors over his command, but it would still take them a bit of time. HE only needed a few seconds...

He stepped over the fallen officer, pausing only long enough to kick away the weapon, and started looking through the containment cells. Considering the normal nature of the ship, they should all have been empty. However, this wasn't a normal day, and two of the cells were filled. One with an old man, who looked at Sevant with very keen interest...

... The other with a man in Science or medical blue, who wasn't looking at much of anything but the ceiling. Sevant's blood howled at him as he tapped the button which brought down the forcefield. The man looked up, cringed slightly as his eyes saw the phaser and then the face of the wielder, and then he deliberately laid his head back down on the pillow. "The murder of your wife and children was to keep my own alive, but now even they will die because of my actions to stop the people that ordered the death. One woman's and one child's blood, people you have never met, do not redeem the blood of your entire family. Perhaps, if you require it, my own will pay the difference." the man said flatly.

Sevant looked down at the phaser, and dropped it. When he looked back up, the prisoner was looking at him with a featureless expression. Sevant's breath came in huffs, and his heart pounded in his ears. "A phaser would be far to good." he eventually said, his voice feral.

He lunged forward, grabbed the man by the collar, and picked him up one handed. With all his Vulcan strength he tossed him into a wall several times in a row. The man screamed in pain as Sevant turned him around and laid a punch into him with all his strength. He heard a rib or two crack at the force as he pulled back again, then hit him bare-knuckle in the already bloody face.

"I WOULD, I DID, KILL FOR MY FAMILIES LIFE. BUT I DIDN'T MAKE THEM SUFFER, KILL ME ALREADY IF YOU MEAN TOO!" the man suddenly bellowed as he grabbed at Sevant's arm and started beating it.

Sevant reached forward and grabbed the mans throat, and pushed him against the bulkhead. A strangled breath erupted from his mouth, but another did not follow as Sevant increased the pressure. He looked at the killer, his FAMILIES killer, and thought about the words that he had just said.

"I would kill for my family," Sevant rasped to the blue and bloody faced man. "But you didn't give me the opportunity. You took them from me, when I couldn't defend them. You stole my only light from this world," He kept squeezing, with all the strength of his grief. "My only reason to live now, is to see you suffer..." his voice broke in a barely contained sob as the mans would-be epitaph ran through his mind again. He found those words, and Vanyssa's words informing him of the murder, mixing together. He couldn't think strait, he hadn't been able too since he had learned...

His shoulders slumped as the killer passed out from lack of air, and Sevant let him drop. His eyes never left the mans face as he backed up and bumped into the cot. He sat, eyes wet from tears and hands trembling both from adrenaline and grief. The man had killed for his families life? Was that possible? Wouldn't he have done the same?

But this man KILLED his family! He deserved to die!

But, Sevant didn't move. His hands continued to tremble as the Brig Warden and several other security guards rushed in to the cell with their phasers pointed in his direction. They warned him not to move, and Sevant almost laughed. His hands wouldn't obey his commands, they kept shaking. Maybe the guards would be merciful and shoot him dead for his lack of cooperation in such a simple matter as not moving!

He closed his eyes, and slowly covered his face with his hands, no longer caring what went on around him.

Sevant in the Brig

(USS Nimitz - Deck 21, Brig - Sevant - 0925)

"Please come with me sir. You've done what you came here to do. It's over."

~Yes, it's over.~ he thought with fatalistic certainty.

"I will be with you and Commander Sevant in a minute Lt. Stolev. I have to make sure that Collins is not going to expire on us."

"He wont." Sevant muttered, mostly to himself. Caladryll forced himself to relive the last several moments, the sound of cracking bones, just how many times had he thrown... Collins?... Against the wall? Sevant finally decided it hadn't been enough times to actually kill him. He felt a momentary heat of anger at the thought that the killer was still alive, but it disappeared quickly in light of everything else.

He rubbed his face again, trying to come to grips with what he had learned. Was it true? If it wasn't, then Collins had just managed to escape the justice he so richly deserved, Sevant was sure he would never have another opportunity. The Security Chief would see to that. Which reminded him, He looked up and muttered, "Computer, reinstate all of Lt Stolev's Security clearances."

[You do not have the authority...]

Sevant closed his eyes. Everything had already been stripped of him, he should have figured that.

"Commander Sevant, I am here to help you"

A Woman knelt before him and held his hands. He gasped as psychic signals passed through her into him, with nothing to be done about it. Vulcans were strongest when touched, and his mind was wild at the time. She must have noticed, the input suddenly cut off, leaving him alone once again in his mind.

He didn't respond for a long many moments. He continued through his broken logical process, trying to make sense of everything that had happened in such a way that he would be able to function. Everything he tried failed, however, his thoughts were circular.

Eventually, however, the enormity of what he had just done hit him. Waves of fear, regret and the certain knowledge that he had just ended his career washed through him, he had managed to sabotage the one thing he had still possessed after last night. And for what? What was it he had thought to gain... The suffering of another man was not what he had expected.

He pulled his hands away from the doctor. "Leave me," he managed to croak. "I am aware of the consequences, leave me here." He looked up at Stolev, then over at the ACMO. "Leave me, now, and tell the Captain I would speak with her when she has the time."

Rivers Meets with Sevant, Resignation Offered

(USS Nimitz - Deck 21, Brig - Sevant/Rivers - 1107)

"Sevant? I'm sorry couldn't get here earlier. D*** meetings, you know how they drag on. I was intending to come afterwards anyway, but Kestra said you asked to see me?"

Sevant didn't respond for many moments, his eyes closed and mind awhirl, stray thoughts and roaring emotions ripping him in five different directions at once. He managed to compose himself with a deep breath, at least with the outward appearance of calm, and looked up from his hands. "The timing is of no consequence," he said in his deep rumble. "I have nothing but...time."

His words seemed to Susan to echo the vast emptiness she could only guess at that lay within his very soul right now, and cut her to the core. A hundred platitudes swept through her mind in an instant, only to be as quickly dismissed. What words can you say to a man who has had everything stolen from him in one fell swoop? She settled for a gesture instead, and placed one of her hands over his and squeezed it gently.

"I've arranged to have you confined to quarters instead of staying here," she said, though she doubted in his present state of mind it would make much difference to him.

"Not necessary," he said after a moments thought. "I'm well aware of my actions."

Sevant looked back down at his feet for several moments, took another slow breath, and held it for a few seconds. He wondered momentarily why he was hesitating, he had already thrown away everything he had left. What difference did it make if he verbally acknowledged it? He interlaced his fingers, alternately squeezing and relaxing without quite realizing he was doing it, then looked back up at the Captain. "I formally tender my resignation from Starfleet, Captain. I suspect a court-martial once we reach our destination, I am prepared for such consequences."

He squeezed his hands together until the knuckles were white, "I... apologize, Captain. Obviously, I was not the correct choice for First Officer."

Susan looked at Sevant in silence for a moment. She had expected this, knowing him as well as she did. But she still wasn't completely sure how to counter it. What she did know was that there would be no court martial, since there would be no evidence. As for the rest... she hoped that she could at least get him to think it over.

"I refuse to accept your resignation, Number One," she began, having taken a short time to collect her thoughts. "And there will be no court martial, I assure you. You can't have a court martial without evidence and there will be no evidence."

~No evidence? There is plenty of evidence. Computer records, personal statements... even the records that I was arrested.~ He looked up at her blandly, and rapidly gave up the line of thought. Maybe he had already gone crazy and was simply imagining everything he had done. Or, perhaps he was imagining the Captain standing here with him, giving him what could be considered 'good news'.

He finally shook his head slightly, "Why bother." he said, not quite as a question and mostly to himself.

Susan looked at him. "There will be no evidence because under the Admiral's orders the computer and all PADDs on the ship will undergo a complete restore. Hence, no evidence. The reason is to safeguard the ship and the crew from Doenitz, but the records of what you did will be wiped also. In any case, both Counselor Winters and I believe that you were acting under severe mental distress. The question of your competence as First Officer does not, in my opinion, arise since you were on compassionate leave at the time and Lt Nakamura was acting FO."

Sevant buried his head again as the import of what she was saying went right over his head. "I tried to kill him, should have killed him..." He lifted his head again, and looked at his fingers. "I had him, in these hands. I..." he turned his hands over, then folded them together again. "But I would have done to someone else, the thing he had done to me. Maybe he lied though, perhaps... perhaps... " his voice trailed off, though he continued to look down at his hands.

Susan took both hands in his. "What you tried to do was, by the laws of the Federation and of Starfleet, wrong. But the important thing is that you didn't do it. You stopped, before you killed him. If it helps any, all records we have show that his family has indeed vanished and it is believed they may well have been abducted. That does not, can not, ever excuse what he did to your family, but for what it's worth it seems as though Collins genuinely believed his own family to be in danger if he did not follow the orders he was given. His suspected accomplice has also been arrested and will be interrogated to see if Collins' story holds up."

She looked him right in the eyes so he would understand she meant every word she said. "I know if it were me it had happened to I would want to tear the two of them apart with my bare hands, but Sevant, you must let us take all the proper steps. It may be that Collins and his accomplice can tell us more about their 'employers'; information that could save lives, not just here on this ship but all over the federation. Information that could save someone else going through what you are going through now."

Sevant didn't answer for many long, and silent moments. He just looked at his hands and continued to turn them over and look at them.

Susan was reminded suddenly of Lady Macbeth, and shivered.

"They'll be moving you soon," she said. "And Vanyssa will be visiting you too. She'll help you, Sevant, whether you can believe that now or not. And I'll be there for you too, in any way I can."

(posted by Trout & Liz Gueken)

Recovery

Stardate: 2406.03.12.

The First Meeting

(USS Nimitz - Counselor's Office - Couns Winters - 0800)

Vanyssa sat in her office going over the evaluation reports from the last mission. Something was still unresolved in her mind, and she finally placed her finger on exactly what it was. She tapped a nail idly on the desk and spoke "Computer, where is Commander Sevant?" She listened to the response and rose, going to find him.

[Commander Sevant is in his Quarters]

(Nimitz - Sevant's Quarters - Cmdr Sevant - 0815)

Sevant continued concentrating on the pieces before him. Made of crystal and etched with notches at various places, they were fundamental to a young Vulcans mental and physical control. They formed a sort of puzzle, and a logical test, all in one. While, at the same time, putting it together required only the most fine motor control. It was a technique that Sevant's father had drilled into him religiously for years, something he had perfected and had continued using as a mind calming technique in the years since.

"No structure can stand secure without a foundation..." he muttered to himself, very quietly. The words were typical, the chant taught to all young Vulcans who used this technique. His poised his hand out above the small crystalline structure that he had slowly been building up over the hours, and moved to place the piece in place.

"Logic is the foundation of reason..."

He started to place the piece down, but his fingernail lightly tapped one other piece. The result was a foregone conclusion, the entire structure came tumbling down.

Sevant's shoulders fell, and the piece dropped from his fingers as he contemplated the mass of crystal on the table. It was no use, he absolutely could not turn his mind from the grief at hand, not even over half a lifetime of Vulcan control could pull him out of his void.

Slowly, ever so slowly, put his hands in his face. The images he had seen of Vicki and the children had replaced Vanyssa's mental call in his nightmares, but if anything those images were even worse. Far, far worse.

Vanyssa felt something drawing at her from the other side of the ship and felt herself running down the hallway towards Sevant's quarters. She didn't know why she had run, or why she was so concerned. He was a Vulcan, and even with the grief that he had suffered should be ok.

Should did not make things ok.

She stood outside his door, hair coming out of pins and curling around her ears, catching her breath, and hit the door chimer.

She then realized what this feeling was. Loss. Her loss for David.

Sevant pulled his face out of his hands by the third ring of the chime. "Hold," he said in a gruff voice, very quiet, but the computer would amplify it for whomever was sitting outside. He considered the puzzle before him again, then swept it to the floor in a meaningless gesture of defeat.

Slowly he stood, his eyes half closed. He checked his Vulcan robes to make sure they were secure, and considered bringing the atmosphere back to a humanoid nominal state for whomever was visited. He quickly decided against it, whoever it was would not be staying long. The temperature in his quarters was 110 degrees, with humidity drastically lowered. Vulcan norm, in fact. Vicki had hated it when he changed the settings to feel more comfortable now and again, to her it was a sauna. To him, it was as close to home as he could get anymore.

He found a seat and sat in it gently, covering his mask of pain as best he could with an even better one, a mask of indifference. "Come." he said, finally.

Vanyssa walked in and nearly choked on the air in Sevant's cabin. ~Sevant? It's Vanyssa? Where are you?~ She asked quietly, suddenly feeling that the emotion drawing her here was gone. She shivered with cold despite the heat of the room. Something was very very wrong.

When she heard no answer in the dark she spoke aloud. "Sevant? I can sense that you are in this room." She waited for a response with baited breath.

~Winters, a telepath, of course.~ he thought with a surge of sudden anger, that he worked to suppress as he flung up his shields again even harder. There would be no more emotional leakage!

At the sound of her voice he relaxed again, and folded his fingers together as he took a deep breath. "What can I do for you, Mrs. Winters?"

Vanyssa blinked in the darkness as he didn't use her rank, her name or her position, just her civilian title. ~Goddammit!~ She thought well within her own shields, ignoring the brief surge of anger that seemed to come and go like the tide.

"As Counselor of this starship, Commander Sevant, I think that you and I need to talk about the recent events concerning your wife and child." She spoke aloud, ignoring the emotions that she hoped were hers and hers alone. If they weren't, then Sevant was worse off than even she could fix.

Vanyssa blinked for a second, trying to bring moisture to her eyes, "Commander? Where are you in this room?" Vanyssa wasn't so sure that she wanted to see him or the room. Somehow the dark was oddly comforting....

Sevant tapped his index fingers together for several moments, then closed his eyes. "There is an old saying, Counselor; Time heals that which reason cannot." He broke for a few seconds, trying to organize his thoughts into something manageable. "I would much prefer if you did not attempt to talk to me about my... family."

Vanyssa took in what Sevant had said, and replied after a few moments "You do realize that Starfleet duty prevents me from honoring that request. And..." Her voice broke a second. "I owe Vicki this..to help you with this." Vanyssa found herself stumbling for words, grasping for straws, anything that would help him see reason. "Vicki once told me that your bond was deep. She said that there were times even on earth that she could feel you. I know what it is like to lose someone with whom that kind of bond exists. I don't know much about Vulcan psychology, but I do know Betazoid. And Betazoids need help dealing with this kind of loss." She spoke softly but urgently. He would talk to her, she would help him, dammit. She had to.

If not this time then the next. She would go visit the one Vulcan on board and ask her for help if needed. T'Pal would be willing to help another Vulcan.....

Sevant continued to tap his fingers silently, trying not to cringe at any mention of his wife. Thus far, he had almost succeeded in getting around any mention of her or the children, any indication that something was dreadfully wrong. Only his quarters, with everything intact, and the thoughts in his own head were any constant reminder. His aplomb broke, though the only outward indication of it was his head fell to his chest to cover the expression on his face.

He was still conscious of Vanyssa awaiting an answer. He took an audible breath, and recovered himself as best he could, and called out "Lights to fifty percent."

The light level rose slowly, revealing Sevant in the only chair his living room supported. Everything else he had left just as it was, down to the last decoration. He knew what psychology said about such things, he honestly didn't care much anymore. Most of the standard psychology texts had not been written with a Vulcan and Betazoid joint mind-link as a focus group.

In a very low voice he said, "What will it take to convince you that I don't require counseling?"

Vanyssa looked around the room, her eyes widening. She turned back to Sevant, and spoke evenly "Nothing, Caladryll Sevant, will convince me that you do not need counseling." She tried to soften the words. "I don't need to go into all the things in this room that are glaring signs now, Sir, do I?" Vanyssa walked quickly across the floor to stop a few steps from him. She ignored the sweat, how uncomfortable the room was, and everything external.

"You know the standard procedure as well as I do, Sir. And the Captain, the Mission Commander, or even the Fleet Commander himself are not exception. The policy is there for a reason...and I thought that you might prefer me over Kestra. I knew Vicki and your children very well." Her lower lip quavered as she remembered trying to explain to Jennah exactly what had happened and why it had happened and how not only was her Daddy not coming home tonight, but her friends were not going to be at school the next morning....

"Standard procedure be damned." he muttered to himself as he closed his eyes again, he didn't need to see another person mourning the loss of his wife, he was still coming out of shock on the scope of the matter. Everywhere he turned was a reminder that he would never see his family again. Not one of them, or God forbid even two. But three, five if you counted the unborns. His whole world, neatly disposed of by some soporific and a knife.

"Just what is it you think you can do," he asked, his lips tight and hands gripping the metal sides of the chair with a death grip. "Bring them back perhaps? Find a way to smooth over the feelings, the raw edge of our bond..."

Vanyssa blinked away the tears and stared at Sevant. This was not the Sevant she knew and something was very very wrong.

"I can't bring them back, or by Goddess I would, Caladryll. I would bring them back, and bring back Jennah's parents and fix David..." She sighed and let the emotions that gripped her trickle away. "I don't know much about Vulcan mysticism, but if it has any similarities at all to Betazoid, I *can* help smooth the edges...at least so that you can leave these quarters and not feel hopeless..." She looked down at her hands. "T'Pal said something interesting to me a couple nights ago when she came to pick up her daughter, that I should come to you. I don't know why, but I will do anything in my power to help you, Caladryll Sevant." She sank to her knees, tired of standing. She was giving all the power to him, and she hoped that he would take the chance that she was offering.

Sevant cupped his forehead in one hand, and massaged his temples as he thought. T'Pol, that was the last person he needed looking into his personal life and well being. It was quite possible he was a non-emotional laughing stock of the Vulcans on the ship, most of them wouldn't even be in this situation. He was, of course, a bastard at best in the eyes of most Vulcans. Being a follower of Sybok, seeking out emotion, tended to do that.

Sure, there were ways that 'Vulcan Mysticism' could help, he had already identified part of the problem. His link to Victoria hadn't been severed slowly, controlled, as would be in a strange case of Vulcan divorce or broken engagement. It had been ripped from him, just a little piece of her was still floating around him, raw. A never ending reminder of the void that he now had to live with.

Ah, but did he dare tell her, that was the question. He didn't want anyone poking around in his head, not a full-bred Vulcan OR a Betazoid. His memories were all he really had left, she was just about all he had lived for. What difference did it make, if the memories were smoothed over?

Sevant folded his hands together again, and stared at the picture of his family on the living room table as he considered his options. "Then start talking already," he eventually said. If talking would get her to leave, then he would let her talk. All other options he could consider at a later time.

"You know as well as I do, that it doesn't work that way. I'm the one who listens, and you are the one who talks." she settled herself more comfortably on the floor, and followed his eyes to the table. There were no words forthcoming, so Vanyssa sat and waited until there were words.

The Vulcan simply stared at her, unspeaking, controlling his grief only with the anger that was slowly building at this impetuous woman sitting before him, in his own quarters, trying to dictate to him what he would and wouldn't do with his own time and emotions. Still, she was right in one sense, it was her duty and she wouldn't give up. That didn't mean she couldn't defer however, there was no helping someone who absolutely didn't want to talk at the moment.

"I think," he said after several silent minutes, "That this conversation would best be put off until another time. I'm off duty, regulations do not permit you to simply stay the night on my living room floor. I will consider what you said,"

~Later,~

(Posted by Trout & Melinda Martin)

The Second Meeting, Into the Nexus and the Past

Stardate: 2406.03.16.

(Nimitz - Counselor's Quarters - Couns Winters - 1800)

"Computer where is Commander Sevant?"

Vanyssa listened to the reply and headed off to the Holodeck.

(Nimitz - Holodeck 2 - Couns Winters/Lt Cmdr Sevant - 1815)

Vanyssa arrived, and found it locked. She over-rode the lock and walked into the deck and found..a tropical paradise.

~Sevant? Where are you?~ She sent to him, and again, not hearing an answer, she walked into the program. She saw him standing by a waterfall and made her way over to it.

Caladryll, his hands clasped behind his back and his robe's top fluttering in the breeze, made no immediate move to show that he had noticed someone's presence. Truly, he almost hadn't, so caught up in his memories as he was. This was where his children had grown up, and for ten years he had made a home with his wife. Almost all of his better memories were in this place, or rather the 'real' nexus, out there somewhere.

He had briefly entertained the thought of going to find it, but it had been short lived. Even the Nexus couldn't fill the void in his mind, and such a glowing reminder would have been the end of the fantasy before it had even begun. He had driven himself half mad the night before, instinctively reaching out to find his soul mate and finding absolutely nothing in return. He had listened all night for the laughs of either of his children, and been rewarded only with the sound of his own sobs.

Sevant half turned on his heel, putting his back to the wind and letting the robe whip around him in the breeze. He simply stood there, hands behind him, looking at the counselor.

"You realize that I could sense you a ship away, right?" she asked softly. Not hearing a reply she went on. "What is this place? Will you tell me about it? Please?" She asked, putting all the gentle love that she could into those words and resisting the urge to empathically project safeness. He would know that particular trick, and unless she missed her guess, he would be very pissed.

He considered her for many moments, then turned back to the waterfall without saying anything. Only the scrape of sand on his bare feet made a sound, and that hardly at all. He kept staring, willing his loss to be washed away as the water down the stream. Rather, he found his life still uprooted, much like the cat-tails that were washed away near the base of the falls.

Finally, in a voice just loud enough to be heard over the gentle pouring of the falls, he said "My control is not what it should be."

It was the most he was readily willing to admit for the moment.

"It's understandable that it isn't. Can I do anything to help?" She asked, coming up behind him and not touching him. If he wanted to know anything about her, all he had to do was reach out, and she was doing her best not to sense things about him. to make it fair.

"Besides the impossible?" He turned his head and looked over at the beach. "Walk with me, I will show you a place we once called home."

Without another word of explanation he turned and stepped up onto a rock outcropping that lead strait to the sea. He walked surefooted on the bare rock, comforted by the path he had taken thousands of times when he just felt like wandering. It wasn't perfect, but he had placed many hours of brain sweat into it, trying to get it as close to perfect as he could remember.

He paused where the trees surrounding them gave way to a stretch of perfect white sand, then stepped off the rock. Slowly he moved his way closer to the sea, his eyes set on a distant point of land, a small hand of the island that reached out defiantly into the crystal blue waters.

Vanyssa followed discretely behind. "Is this the place that Jayne wanted to get back to?" She asked, admiring the beautiful area that they were walking through. "I can certainly see why." She spoke softly. "How did you get here?" She asked, curiously. "Did anyone figure out why?"

Sevant hunched down, picked up a small pile of sand and let it slowly run through his fingers as his memories ran rampant. "Yess..." he said, somewhat far away as the grains slipped through his fingers. "All of us wanted to come back, we didn't really want to leave. But the children couldn't have had a life here, on chance to find others their own age, to marry and have kids themselves." He dropped the sand, and looked out at the ocean again. "This place provided everything, but others. We found it purely by accident, on our way back to the Boudicca after my soul was reattached to my body on Vulcan. I couldn't have imagined a better place to recuperate."

He snorted, "But it had it's faults. It didn't want us to leave, all thoughts of the outside world faded to what happened there. But the children, they loved it..." His face contorted as he watched a dolphin jump from the water. "Especially Jayne," he whispered.

Vanyssa watched the emotions play over the Vulcans face, and sighed softly before continuing. "Is that a dolphin?" She asked. "Jayne talked a lot about dolphins, as did T'Loren. Jennah asked me once what a dolphin was, and I didn't know..they aren't native to Betazed." Vanyssa replied.

"So how long did you spend here?"

Sevant seemed to mentally shake himself, then looked up at her for a moment. Finally he looked back down to the sand at his feet, and ran a finger through it slowly. "Ten years, give or take." he said slowly, "Ten of our best years."

He stood back up suddenly, and tossed a handful of the sand with it. "And if we had still been here, there would have been no motivation at all for my family to have been murdered." he spat with sudden hate. "I wouldn't have been in a pile of ruins, my family wouldn't have had their throats slit while they lay prone and defenseless."

His jaw clenched, as he struggled to get his temper back under control. "None of this, not a bit, would have happened." he said through clenched teeth.

"Why did you leave this paradise, Sevant? You left because your daughters needed to have a life, correct? This is not the real world, and for better or for worse, your daughters needed companionship. You left to give them a life. If you wanted them to be perfectly safe, you would have went back to Betazoid or earth. Why come back to a starship?"

He choked slightly, and his anger left, only to be replaced with the darkest depression and self recrimination. "Because I knew no other way, life on Vulcan would not have suited them. And... I... needed to be with them. All three, They are...were ... my life."

Vanyssa felt the emotions going through Sevant and wanted more than anything to reach out and fix them, but she couldn't without his permission. "Sevant? A Betazoid with that kind of bond would need help in dealing with the fragments." Vanyssa realized in horror. "Do Vulcans?"

Sevant covered his face with his hands for many silent moments, thinking, thinking. He took a breath, and finally said "If I were on Vulcan, one of the High Priests would already have severed what was left. This bond wasn't removed a layer at a time, it was sliced without warning."

Vanyssa stood back a few paces, horror etched on her face. "Are you saying that you have pieces of Vicki and your children left in your soul?" Vanyssa's thoughts spun in circles thinking about what this meant, and realized that if he had a betazoid's passion running part of his life, it was no wonder that his hard-earned Vulcan control couldn't keep up. "What can I do to help? Could T'Pol do it? Does she have the training? Do I need to go tell Aragorn that we have to have a Vulcan high priestess aboard?" Vanyssa asked, prepared to do battle with Aragorn if needed. If her suspicions were at all correct, then he needed help, and badly. And probably more help than she herself could provide.

"NO!" he suddenly bellowed, "I don't need any pure-blood Vulcan running around in my head, I have enough problems!"

He suddenly stopped, and fought the sudden panic and anger that rose. "I am a lot of things counselor, and hardly any of those principles are looked upon favorably by any of my race. Seeing my more intimate moments is one of the very last things I would ever want."

Vanyssa shook off the anger that poured over her and tried to remain calm. "Sevant? If you were on Vulcan, wouldn't a high priestess have already taken care of it? You can't go on like this." she hoped that her rational tone would break through this irrationality. "Sevant, if you can't get help, I will have no choice but to tell the Captain that you are unable to function. And she will demand that you get help. You are not in a fit state to make any kind of decisions, much less command ones." She spoke evenly. With anyone else, she would have handled this differently. The Sevant that she knew cared about his career, and would see reason. She hoped.

His eyebrow raised a precise half notch, "I'm quite aware of this fact, Counselor." he said shortly. "But quite simply, there is no single telepath on this ship trained to deal with my particular set of problems. If you want to spend a day or two of hard labor learning the very basics, feel free." He looked at her, "We are too far from Vulcan to do any good, so baring a miracle there isn't exactly a choice in how I decide to cope."

A small frown curled his lips, "If you call this coping, anyhow." His gaze returned to the sea, and its cerulean waters. "My driving will died a bloody death, at the hands of a fool." he said, almost too softly to hear.

Vanyssa stared at him then spoke softly "Could I learn? I won't ever betray you, Caladryll. Am I a good enough telepath to learn?"

His lips curled again, this time with about the most amusement he had felt in a long time. "Ah, that's a painful road to travel counselor. Not only do you have to learn about matrimonial mind links, but you have to have strength sufficient enough to deal with a Vulcans emotional state unmasked, completely unshielded by ethics or other considerations. Anger, hate, love, lust, pure unalloyed desire and the deepest sadness..." He took a breath, "Grief and loss."

He paused for many moments, then began again tentatively. " High Priests train for years, many off-worlders have simply lost themselves, when in such a deep mind meld with a lost Vulcan."

"Well, the choices seem to be either packing you off to Vulcan, which you don't want to do, or me and Kestra, and I think that I am the stronger telepath of the two... Well, I suppose Katie could do it, but it really ought to be one of the two counselors. We are bound to secrecy." She sat down on a rock and looked into the waves, feeling at peace for the first time since walking into the Holodeck. "I want you to make me a promise, though. One, that if this gets to be too difficult, or impossible, or whatever, that you get help from a Vulcan that is trained to do this. And, two..." She stared off into the waves, her red hair blowing around her shoulders. "That you won't tell anyone what you sense from me, no matter how bad." She wrapped her arms around her legs, suddenly cold.

Caladryll said nothing for several silent minutes. "I will consider it," he said finally. "Ill send you what I can for reading material, and let you decide if you wish to proceed after reading."

"What will you do in the mean time?" Vanyssa asked him. "Can you continue functioning the way you are?"

"I will live, I've naught else I can do."

Vanyssa looked up at him in puzzlement. "Would it help if I ordered a leave of absence from your duty station?" She asked, wondering if there was anything that she could do at this point in time. "I'm trusting that the Sevant that I know would never put the crew in danger."

He frowned, once again suppressing anger. "I'm already on Administrative Leave. Removing me from duty completely would do nothing, I can only be called to the bridge in an Emergency as things stand now."

She looked up at him as the anger washed over him. "Then, if I may take my leave of you, I will return once I've finished my reading with my answer." She stood up, brushing the sand off of her uniform, despising it for a second.

Sevant watched her leave, and took a deep breath as another gust of ocean breeze washed over him and pulled at his robe. He closed his eyes and turned his face into the wind, as he tried to clear his mind for just once of all the thoughts running through it.

Readying for a Spiritual Journey

Stardate: 2406.03.19.

Mission Day 18

(Nimitz - Sevant's Quarters - Cmdr Sevant/Couns Winters - 1500)

Vanyssa had spent eh last 3 days between appointments, a meeting with the Captain, talking with Katie about the children, and reading.

Though she had spent the majority of the time reading. what she found was fascinating, and she realized that Sevant was not joking when he said that this could be dangerous to both of them. She queried the computer for Sevant's location and decided to pay him a visit. There were some questions that she would like answered first.

Sevant sat on his knees, facing a small candle and looking at it with his eyes half closed. He had not moved from this spot, or shifted perceptibly, in at least ten hours. He was working to clear his mind, thus far he had failed miserably. Nightmares, visions of what could have been, various thoughts filled his mind and would absolutely not leave.

The sound of the enunciator filled the quarters, though Sevant didn't hear it at first, so deep was he into pseudo-meditation. A few beeps later, however, and he came back into wakefulness. He took a deep breath, and shook his head slowly. "Come," he said quietly.

Vanyssa walked into the room, and felt a wave of emotion pour over her, before she shielded it out. "I have done a lot of reading." She spoke simply. "And I want to help you." She stood just inside the doorway, the doors half open behind her, since she hadn't come in all the way.

"Sevant, I want to try this." She left all the other things out, about how she would be fulfilling Vicki's wish to help Caladryll if something ever happened to them, that she needed to break her bond with David and was afraid to, that she could be in his position too, if David were dead, rather than just unconscious.

She waited for his response.

Sevant folded his hands in his lap, still looking at the candle. "There is no trying, in this." he said in a very low voice. "You will either succeed, or you will fail." He leaned forward slightly, and blew out the candle, then turned his head to face Vanyssa. "Priests and Mind Lords train for years in Vulcan mind probes and other such things before they are properly prepared. Do you believe a couple days reading is all you need?"

He looked back at the smoking candle, and waited.

She thought for a few minutes about what to say. "No, I don't, but I've been trained as a telepath on Betazed, and that should count for something. And I'm a pretty strong telepath as Betazoids go. I've dealt with severely unbalanced telepaths on Betazed, and that should also help. I admit that I've never tried this before, and I'm a little scared, because I know what the consequences of my failing are."

She crossed over to Sevant. "It's either that or goto Vulcan, and you don't want that. You can't stay like this."

He signed, and closed his eyes. "Very well then," he said at a whisper. "I require five hours to begin the rites, I need to cleanse myself in the ancient manner." He looked back up and opened his eyes. "Be back here and ready in five hours, Counselor."

Vanyssa looked at him, and then spoke softly. "Is there anything special that I should do to prepare?" she asked quietly.

"Clear your mind for a spiritual journey," he said, somewhat bitterly. "Whatever you need should be in the reading."

Smoothing the Link

Stardate: 2406.03.19.

(Nimitz - Sevant's Quarters - Cmdr Sevant/Couns Winters - 2020)

Vanyssa arrived outside his quarters at the appointed time, and found that the door opened for her automatically. She walked in and saw Sevant, coming over to him slowly. ~I'm here, Caladryll~ She projected very softly, waiting for a response.

Sevant, settled on his knees with his eyes closed, gestured to a rug he had laid out on the floor beside him, then folded his hands together again in his lap. "We will begin shortly," he said quietly.

Vanyssa sat down and made herself comfortable across from Sevant. She was still centered, her mind calm and she was as ready for this as she was ever going to be. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, waiting for Sevant to begin.

Sevant took a deep breath and cleared his mind the best he was able too. This was not going to be a pleasant sensation for him, nor for her. What would have been a simple matter of detaching with the person he had connected himself too so many years before, was now going to be akin to surgery, to remove what was left of her personality from himself. Painful, in action and in thought.

~I don't want to do this.~ he thought quietly, in a very heavily shielded part of his mind.

With infinite slowness he reached out with both of his hands, and gently touched her face. The meld had begun.

Vanyssa felt Sevant's mind linking to hers, and she cleared her own, feeling the two join together. It was better than anything else that she had ever experienced, and it made her feel whole again. ~Stop that~ She thought to herself, looking around the room known as Sevant and trying to find the piece that was Vicki.

~Where is she Cal? Can you take me to her?~ She asked the other half of her softly. Her longing for David was beginning to intrude and she ruthlessly ignored it, in favor of other things.

~Cal, show me Vicki~ Vanyssa spoke louder, in a more commanding voice.

~ruta zakun~ Sevant said mournfully.

He 'looked' at the mental image of Vanyssa, and then looked around. The Meld had been achieved, they were connected now. The rite of Ruta Zakun was begun. He half closed his 'eyes', his awareness of all around him, and concentrated solely on his own mind. He projected to her, ::I don't want to go there, it's too painful. This was a mistake.::

Vanyssa felt Sevant reaching for the link that bound them together, and did something she didn't know that she could do. She stopped him. ~No.~ She spoke. She showed him the image that she had picked up from Kestra of Collins body mangled and hurt. ~Do you want to do that again?~ She asked, a little ruthlessly. ~If this doesn't get taken care of, the Captain will have no choice but to court martial you~ She showed him an image of what that would be like.

~Now, Caladryll Sevant, show me Victoria.~ Vanyssa commanded. She stood back and waited for him to answer her, in this place where there was no time.

Sevant's mental image bristled, and reared back to strike in a natural reaction to being 'attacked'. But the images made him pause, and see sense. He didn't throw her out of his mind, in the end, but simply sat sullenly as he considered everything. ::This is why a Vulcan master is usually in attendance.:: he sent after a near eternity of thought.

This will not be pleasant, for either of us.:: he said as he 'turned'

in his mind and the scene dissolved around them. What came up was an image of his quarters, but not those on the Nimitz. This was the Boudicca, his first full-time duty station. His 'lips' thinned as he looked around. There was no evidence of Vicki living here, these were his Spartan quarters, before his move to Starbase 23. This was why it wasn't going to be pleasant, he hadn't the control to 'bring' them right to where they needed to be.

The ship was at Red Alert, lights and klaxons were blinking. As if a dream, Sevant felt himself being pulled, as if he weren't where he was supposed to be. Without a word, or even a thought, to the Counselor; he walked through the doors of his quarters and started walking the corridors, letting himself be pulled to wherever he was being pulled. He forgot about his pain, about his loss, as thoughts and feelings of the time period passed through his mind. Here, he had been a Security and Tactical Chief, in charge of the weapons of a pure-bred Warship. He had belonged here, and he remembered well that belonging.

Vanyssa watched as Sevant showed her a scene - and she was a little surprised not to recognize the starship. She ran after Sevant, and followed discretely at the distance. She saw that he led her to security, and she stopped him with an outstretched hand.

~Victoria isn't here, Caladryll. Where is she?~ Vanyssa asked him, blocking his way, and waiting for him to answer. ~You direct this show.~ Vanyssa turned around and saw the Vanguard promenade - and heard an explosion. She was on the Vanguard, right before David had left.

And that explosion was terrorists bombing the restaurant that Jennah's parents were in. She turned to go help, to get the survivors out, the smoke was so thick, it almost choked her. She reached out to Sevant, begging him to grab her as she spiraled down into memory and illusion.

Sevant's hand snapped out, grabbing hold of Vanyssa's 'arm' hard and flinging her back. He looked at her hard for many moments, then around him. ::You are bleeding thoughts into mine.:: he said after an eternity that lasted but moments. ::Lock them down, or our memories will be intertwined!::

Vanyssa stood there, her chest heaving. She clung to Sevant's arm, and worked on locking down her memories. She saw the scene shift from the Vanguard to another starship and she turned with a quizzical look to Sevant.

And, don't go wandering around in my mind without me. You can die just as easily in a meld, in a vision... as you can physically. Die here, and your body would wither without consciousness to direct it.::

She shivered and saw him turn and she went with him. ~Where are we going, Sevant?~ She asked putting some distance between the two.

Sevant didn’t answer for many moments, instead taking the time to walk slowly and look around. ::I don’t quite know yet,:: he said eventually.

I'm fighting the impulse to simply relive the memory.::

He turned a corner, then suddenly stopped and shook his head. ::This is no good, this is not a physical universe.:: He frowned, turned to look at the closest door, then gave it a savage kick. The door flung wide open as if it was on hinges, and bright red sunlight filtered through and onto them. ::Better.:: he said very quietly as he moved to step through the door.

Sevant found himself in a courtyard, his old family home that had passed to him after his father had died in the line of duty with the Ambassadorial Corps. There were several silent peoples standing in the courtyard, all of them dressed formally and nearly all of them Vulcan. This was his wedding, four months or so after his fathers funeral and into his Compassionate leave from Starbase 23. The people in attendance were one priest, human, and several of his families friends to stand as witnesses. Vicki's family was also in attendance, her father was never far from Vulcan, being an Ambassador himself.

The phantom Sevant family, at the time consisting only of one VERY pregnant Vicki and Caladryll himself, stood before the priest. Vicki in a simple white dress, Sevant in traditional Vulcan robes that had been touched up by Vicki's mother to be slightly more appropriate for the occasion.

Sevant and Vanyssa looked on, off to the side and near the fountain, as the phantom family said their vows that would bind them together legally. Another ceremony would be preformed on Earth, a few months later, for the benefit of Vicki's entire family.. But it was this ceremony that had first bound them, as if anything could have been more binding then their love and the mental connection they had made on the Boudicca. The wedding had been a mere formality, but it had still been a turning point in Sevant's life. The very memory of it shook him to the core, but he couldn’t turn away as the two phantoms turned to each other, hand in hand, and began to speak to each other.

He found himself mouthing the words he had spoken, very silently, in time with his former self. He couldn’t stop himself, the memory was far too powerful. He tried to turn, he tried to stop listening, but the words floating on the gentle wind and found him anyway. "I bind myself to you, Victoria, from now until the end of existence. My joy shall be yours, and I shall only be devoted to you. This I swear, for always."

With their chaste kiss, the real Sevant found he was free to move again, and rapidly turned. "This is the place, Vanyssa. Our mental binding was many months before, but this was what meant the most to Victoria, this is where the link became the strongest. This is where my mind continues to bleed."

Vanyssa nodded and looked around noticing tiny portions of Vicki, like open wounds. She felt so clumsy, she had never done this before. She imagined herself to be water, flowing over the rocky and spiky parts of his mind, wearing down the spikes and making them blunter. She continued to do this over a couple and then felt her link with him grow fainter, and with a mental lurch she broke it. They were both tired and could continue at another time. It wasn't done, but it was a good first step. She opened her eyes and looked at him, shielding herself so that she wouldn't sense him. "Do you feel any different?" She asked. "do you think that we accomplished anything today?"

She felt herself grow limp, having to make a conscious effort to relax her body. There was this crick in the neck, that she wasn't sure was ever going to come lose.

Sevant didn't open his eyes, he already knew there were tears free-flowing. He couldn't answer if he felt any different, he was too far buried in guilt and memories, dreams of what would no longer be. He took a deep breath, ragged as it was, and opened his eyes to the dimly lit quarters. He was stiff, and his arm was cramped up horribly. Most mind-melds were of a very short duration, this one had lasted far longer then he intended.

"We did enough," he said at last.

Vanyssa looked over at him, "Are you sure?" she asked, feeling confused. She saw the look on his face, and then, since they had been so intimately joined, did the one thing that she would never have done to any other Vulcan. She got up, albeit stiffly and walked over to give him a huge hug.

Sevant screwed his eyes shut at the flashes that hit him with his shields down when she touched him. He quickly blocked out the images, and ever so slowly brought one of his arms around her.

When they had parted, he said "I will not be sure for some time to come, only time..."

He broke off and looked down. "We shall see." he finally said. "My.... thanks, Counselor."

This article relates to the Federation Civil War