The Other Torres | A Star Trek Fanfiction *Book 1*

The Cloud-Chapter 19

B'Elanna has put a sample into a centrifuge in Engineering and found the results interesting, she heads to sickbay. "Computer, activate Emergency Medical Holographic Programme." she said. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency." said the doctor as he appeared. "Why do you always have to say that?" asked B'Elanna exasperated. "I can only speculate about my programmer's motives. Perhaps he thought I might be summoned for important reasons." replied the doctor. "Under the circumstances, don't you think you really ought to change your programme?" asked B'Elanna. "Now there's an interesting concept. A hologram that programs himself. What would I do with that ability? Create a family? Raise an army?" asked the doctor hypothetically. "I know a little about holographic programming, however, Mandy, my sister knows a lot more than me. She could probably reprogram you." said B'Elanna, she and Amanda had been catching up on the last eighteen years especially with them being 70'000 light years away from home. "That makes me feel particularly confident." said the doctor sarcastically. "Has anyone ever told you, you have a lousy attitude?" asked B'Elanna. "If you don't like the doctor's attitude, there's a man sitting in a console in the Jupiter Station Holoprogramming Centre you can write to. His name is Zimmerman. He looks a lot like me, actually. Now, not that I don't enjoy the repartee, but was there a reason you stopped in?" asked the doctor cutting to the chase. "I need a second opinion on this." stated B'Elanna. "Who gave you the first opinion?" asked the doctor. "I gave it to myself. It's a sample of residue we picked up in a nebula." said B'Elanna. "A nebula? What were we doing in a nebula? No, wait, don't tell me. We were investigating. That's all we do around here. Why pretend we're going home at all? All we're going to do is investigate every cubic millimetre of this quadrant, aren't we?" asked the doctor miffed. "The molecules are isolinear. No polycyclic structures, but-" said B'Elanna. "But this is what brought you to me, isn't it? The nucleogenic peptide bonds." said the doctor. "Is it some kind of phosopholipid fibre?" asked B'Elanna. "And you were doing so well. No, I suspect it's something far more interesting than that." said the doctor.

Janeway is in her ready room when her doorbell rings "come in" she said Chakotay enters, carrying a skin. "Repair crews have degaussed the hull, Captain." said Chakotay. "Good. Let's plan an oh seven hundred departure. What's this?" asked Janeway seeing the skin. "My medicine bundle. I've never showed it to anyone before. After what you said this morning, I thought it was important to let you see." replied Chakotay. "Will it help me find my animal guide?" asked Janeway curiously. "Eventually you'll have to assemble your own medicine bundle, but this will allow me to assist you in your quest for a guide." said Chakotay. "Now?" asked Janeway, Chakotay gave her look that said 'now'. "Now." said Janeway smiling. Chakotay goes up the step to the informal area by the window, puts his bundle on the low table and sits on the floor. It takes a moment for Janeway to take the hint and join him. "A blackbird's wing. A stone from the river. An akoonah." said Chakotay. "Akoonah?" asked Janeway. "My ancestors used psychoactive herbs to assist their vision quests. Now they're no longer necessary. Our scientists have found more modern ways to facilitate the search for animal guides. Place your hand on it and concentrate on the stone." said Chakotay. Janeway does so. "A-koo-chee-moy-a. We are far from the sacred places of our grandfathers. We are far from the bones of our people. But perhaps there is one powerful being who will embrace this woman and give her the answers she seeks. Allow your eyes to close. Breath to fuel the light in your belly, and let it expand until the light is everywhere. Prepare yourself to leave this room and this ship, and return to a place where you were the most content and peaceful you have ever been. You can see all around you and hear the sounds of this place." said Chakotay.

Janeway opens her eyes on a beach, a beach from her childhood perhaps. A seabird calls. "I know this place. It's-" Janeway begins when Chakotay speaks. "You must not discuss with me what you see, or you will offend your animal guide. As you continue to look around, you will become aware of other life that shares this place with you. It will be the first animal you see. That is the one you will speak to. Do you see an animal?" he asked. There is a lizard on a sandy log. "Yes." said Janeway softly. "Speak to it." said Chakotay. "What do I say?" asked Janeway. "You know what you want to ask." said Chakotay.