Meet The In-Law

Posted on Tue Jun 9th, 2015 @ 1:00am by Captain Li Hawke & Suresh & Commander Sakkath

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Nelvana III - The Neutral Zone

* * * Nelvana III Detention Center * * *

Li was restless. She had already been in this cell for four hours and had seen no one or heard anything. She had faith in Sakkath but she knew it would take some time. Nelvana III was a little out of the way after all. She was tired of pacing and finally sat on her bunk, arms resting on her knees and her head in her hands. She was worried about the others. She also wanted to know what was happening around her and so she opened her thoughts, really reaching for the first time since the cave. The echo of the old Suresh returned and she sicked in her breath, but pushed through it, listening to the area around her. It was the usual noise of conversations and chatter, but then she heard her name and sensed people approaching.

Ambassador Sokar followed Captain Roshan into the detention facility, Uhlan Decius right on his heel. The Ambassador did not speak as they went, but rather silently took note of the conditions, satisfied that his daughter-by-law had not been mistreated. He lamented, internally, that their introduction would not be under better conditions, but his work in the Neutral Zone and throughout the Star Empire was too important to abandon for simple meetings, especially when one viewed life through the lens of a Vulcan lifespan.

Li stood and moved to the front of the cell, looking out to see who was coming. Surprise flashed through her at the sight of the tall Vulcan and increased when she saw Decius. “Oh, Sakkath, what have you managed now?” she whispered, then fell silent as they reached her cell. She recognized his face from images Sakkath had shown her and suddenly, she was a little nervous.

“Ambassador Sokar, this is an honor.”

The Ambassador’s brow arched slightly before he lifted his hand in the Vulcan salute. “Live long and prosper, Captain Hawke. The honor is mine.” He spared a glance around before giving Roshan an expectant look, as if to say she should be released. “I apologize that this meeting is not what one might have envisioned.”

Li raised her hand in the Vulcan greeting, then nodded. “I would say the same.” She paused as Sokar looked to Roshan.

“I would prefer to keep her there as a little insurance. The others will not try anything while we still hold her, but you may enter.” He pressed the panel and dropped the force field to allow Sokar in.

Unable to fault the Captain’s logic, Sokar nodded his assent. “Decius will remain outside,” he declared as he lifted his robes and stepped over the threshold. “I trust you understand some caution on my part, stepping into a cell, after all.” The Vulcan was without duplicity, and did not hesitate to speak his mind.

The Romulan guard, for his part, merely turned and stood near the panel Roshan had just deactivated. Sokar would have to commend him for his duty to the Colonel when they returned.

“Very well. I will show him the code in good faith.” Roshan did so, then departed, leaving them alone.

Li turned back to Sokar, then motioned to the bunk. “It’s not much but would you care to sit?”

Sokar folded his robes and took a seat. “It is adequate,” he said, appraising the situation. “A seat for weary legs needs not be plush. It serves its logical function.”

That got a smile from Li and for a moment, the resemblance was very clear. “I must confess that I am quite surprised. Sakkath did not mention how he intended to get the information on Suresh here, but he chose well and accomplished two things at once.” She was still a little too keyed up to sit. “He is well? I’ve been away from the station for some time now.”

“I spoke to him only briefly,” Sokar admitted, “but he appeared to be in good health. He is concerned for you, of course, though I doubt many would be able to see it.”

His words eased her somewhat and she nodded. “What others see is of no consequence,” she answered. “Though I am certain they wonder at what may appear to be an unusual match.” LI finally came to rest on the bunk at Sokar’s side.

“The circumstances that brought the two of you together were quite unusual in and of themselves from what I understand. But as you say, what others see is of little consequence. Logic does not define love - for my people, sometimes, even less so than most.” While it would not be decorous to speak overtly of the pon farr, Sokar felt comfortable enough to reference it in the presence of one mated with a Vulcan herself.

Li caught his meaning and a soft laugh escaped her. His reference brought to mind once again a certain collapsing coffee table and her laughter grew. It was partly the humour of that situation and partly stress relief she knew.

“Sorry, just a funny thing that happened once came to mind.” She looked up to Sokar as her laughter faded. “I’m glad you came, though, so I could meet you.”

Sokar sat slightly confused but silent throughout the bout of laughter, turning his head to regard her fully as she spoke. “Humor is something of a foreign concept to me, particularly in light of your incarceration,” he said, “but I too am pleased to have come, not simply to meet you, but to see this resolved.”

“Yes, there is that,” Li admitted. “Have you seen the others? Are they alright?” They’d better be, she thought. But then she was guessing that no one wanted to start an intergalactic incident without solid proof.

“Misters Darwin and Suresh seemed quite well. I have not personally laid eyes on your Commander Zeferino, but they were being taken to her so that scans of your Romulan friend could prove the claims I have made on your behalf.”

“Good. That’s good.” Li leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. She took a second or two to choose her words, then decided on the direct approach. “I need some help. Or maybe advice.”

Sokar took a look moment to wordlessly appraise Li, curious what it is she might ask as his green eyes - so much like his son’s, despite the wrinkles beginning to crease their edges - bored into her. At length, he spoke, the measure of years of diplomacy seeming to be behind his words. “As it is in my power, I shall provide what aid I can.”

Li nodded, but slowly. “The encounter on Eden with the old Suresh. He had Oz and had stabbed her. It was serious and we had to act to keep her alive. Darwin and the new Suresh jumped into the fray but he had a knife. I took steps to assist, so that they could have the upper hand. Except….” she paused, not meeting Sokar’s oddly familiar gaze. In the fight, the new Suresh killed the old one but there’s a problem. I was in his thoughts when he died.” Her voice was little more than a whisper now. “I can still feel it, still hear the echo of his scream and it won’t go away. It was all I could hear at first, so loud nothing else could get through. How do I get rid of it?”

Sokar listened intently and, at length, released a long, slow breath. “A difficult situation for an empath, to be certain,” he surmised, and paused to consider. “I believe you have two options, Captain Hawke. You must choose to retreat or to move forward. Do you confront this demon in your thoughts and conquer it? Or do you run from it, burying it in the deepest recesses of your mind?”

She looked up to meet his gaze now. “I have to get rid of this before I get home. The bond with Sakkath...it will affect him and I cannot have that. He’s suffered enough with all this. If I retreat he’ll stay in here.” She tapped her head. “But how do I get it out? Blocking my telepathy may help, but only temporarily.”

"My son has enough discipline, I think, to handle such effects, but your concern does you credit," Sokar replied. He took a moment to adjust his ornamented robes, lifting his ringed hands from beneath billowed sleeves. "If you wish it, I can assist you in facing down this spectre which haunts your thoughts."

“Please,” she said softly. “Before I go mad.” Her dark eyes held his green ones for a few moments and finally she nodded. “I apologize...there’s a lot of strangeness in my head.” It was a little nerve-wracking to consider having Sakkath’s father in her head but it was the best option. “I’m ready.”

“I am 107 years old,” Sokar replied evenly, “and have negotiated treaties over conflicts that ultimately began over an animal even less attractive than a targ. Believe me, my daughter, there is sufficient strangeness in the galaxy to leave me unsurprised.” He lifted a single hand to the side of her face, his fingers lightly brushing against her skin. “Focus your thoughts. Recall the moment, and let us face it down. Look into the face of that which haunts you, and declare that it is powerless in the face of your resolve.”

Li closed her eyes at his touch and soon, she felt the familiar sensation of another entering her mind completely. This time, however, it was far different than it was with Sakkath. There was an instant of worry that he might not like what he found, but it vanished as the meld took over. The face of Suresh, the old one, rose in her thoughts and instantly, she was back in the cave, the fight, and her link to his mind. The darkness that was that Suresh flooded into her once more and she felt fear….something that was unaccustomed for her. His obsessive words began to whisper in her mind once more, passing from her to Sokar.

And now, Sokar stood at her side, the memory altered. He stood, a pillar of strength amidst the remembrance of chaos. “Cast out fear,” his voice seemed stronger somehow, an effect of his psychic presence. “There is no room for anything else until you cast out fear.” He was quoting Surak, the founder of the Vulcan disciplines, but those words were no less true than they were centuries ago. “This does not imply rejection of fear, by pretending not to be afraid. To cast it out you must first accept it; you must admit that it is there. Say: ‘I am afraid.’ and through this be reduced to total helplessness; this point is potentially the most powerful. Just past it is the great leap to true power. The move through fear, to beyond fear.”

In the memory, she turned, looking up at Sokar, then back to Suresh and repeated the words. “I am afraid.” She wasn’t sure what was to come but the words began to shift the scene. Moments later, one Suresh slipped the knife home into the other. Li began to back away but was stopped by the solid figure of Sokar behind her.

“The outcome of our actions,” Sokar said as he steeled her, “is entirely out of our control. Only intent remains entirely within our control. Tell me, my daughter, what was your intent when you leapt into this man’s mind uninvited?”

“To stop him,” she answered. “I had to immobilize him so that they could end this or he would have killed Oz. It was the only certainty. He always responded to me and I knew he would this time too. There was no other way. I wanted him….gone or he would haunt me forever,” she admitted.

“And will you let him?” The question was pointed. “Nobility lies in action, not in name. You have assured the survival of your comrades. The needs of the many…” He did not feel the need to finish the thought to its logical conclusion.

Li’s head snapped around and she looked up at Sokar. Inexplicably, she felt anger stirring within her. “He would ruin everything. He put me in danger, as well as others, when he dragged us through that dimensional rift. He intended to…..” She stopped there and looked back at the figure of Suresh, who now screamed in agony. “If it was selfishness that motivated me, so be it.” She reached out her hand and when he touched her fingertips, he began to fade from view.

“The spear in the other’s heart is the spear in your own,” he cautioned. “Where fear walks, anger is its companion. You must cast out fear,” the Ambassador repeated, nodding with approval as the image of Suresh began to fade. “We have differences, you and I, as do you and he who is my son. Together, we shall become greater than the sum of us all.”

She continued to watch as Suresh completely vanished, taking her anger with him. “What will Sakkath say? He will sense you in my mind now, when our link is restored.”

Sokar lifted his hand from Li’s face in the material plane, their link dissolving as he hid his hands once more within the sleeves of his robe and placed them upon his lap. “Sakkath and I have shared the meld on more than one occasion, though it has been several years now,” he admitted, his voice once again soft and somehow serene in its emotionlessness. “I am quite sure he will notice, but I doubt it will offer offense. I sense that I may have been better suited to aid you than even he could have been.” So intimate was the bond shared through the meld that Sokar suspected even his son harbored deeper emotional issues were this Suresh was concerned.

Li rested her hand on Sokar’s robed arm. “I will see that he understands. This...man...Suresh...is a sore point that he has reason to welcome the man’s demise.” She sat up a little straighter,tilting her head from side to side. “It’s gone. Thank you so much!” Without a thought, she wrapped her arms around Sokar. “He’s gone.”

Sokar blinked at the sudden display of affection, but weathered it without complaint. “Thanks are not necessary,” he assured her. “It was agreeable to be of assistance.”

“It is agreeable to finally meet you.” She smiled up at him and then became aware of someone standing outside the force field. It was Suresh. Given the freshness of the meld and the vision of the old one, she jumped involuntarily. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Suresh answered, though he looked intensely curious.

Li turned back to Sokar. “Where will you go now?’

The Ambassador stood, straightening his attire as he gave a nod to Decius outside who keyed the code and dropped the force field. “I shall continue my work, building support for the reunification of the Vulcan and Romulan people. I am fortunate enough to have powerful friends in this part of the galaxy.” The elder Vulcan stepped over the threshold and into the corridor proper. “I trust that the presence of your associate means a resolution is on the horizon. You should be a free woman shortly.”

Suresh nodded. “We’re free now. I insisted that they bring me over here to get you Li.” He looked at Sokar and smiled. “It’s thanks to you. I know know how I’ll ever repay you for this, but perhaps someday.”

“There is no debt borne out of the noble desire to serve others,” Sokar dismissed the need for repayment, and lifted his hand in salute first to Suresh and then to Li, to whom he also inclined his head. “Peace and long life, daughter. May your journey be free of incident.”

“Thank you.”

She smiled once more as she watched Sokar and Decius move along the corridor. Soon they were out of sight and she turned to Suresh. “You’re really free to go?”

He nodded and gave Li a smile. “Lets get out of here before they change their minds.” He rested a hand on Li’s back, leading her away from the cell and then they departed in a rush.

********
Ambassador Sokar
Casting Out Fear

Captain Li Hawke
Really A Part Of The Family Now

Suresh
Bearer Of Good News