Silver Strand - Part I

Posted on Friday, 29 December 2023 - 11:27am by Commander Soral & Lieutenant Alex Kingsley

Mission: Operation: Lobes & Liberties
Location: Unknown
Timeline: During the Away Team Absence

ON:

On the horizon a storm was brewing, dark foreboding clouds gathering as day seemed to turn into night. Only this night sky had no stars…

Beneath her feet, ice cold water sent a chill to her very core before retreating back out to sea. Each time the coldness lingered for longer, until the tide began to come in to allow the water to reclaim the land. Washing away all trace of the golden sand which was normally bathed in sunlight, making the cove almost unrecognizable. Yet the soft glow emanating from the nearby cave system was distinctive, as was the letter S which she had once carved into the sand over and over.

For a moment there was a small break in the now complete darkness overhead and she peered up as moonlight shone down, glistening against the dark water and casting an ethereal glow on her typically pale skin. She took a step forward, the hem of the layered white chiffon gown now disappearing beneath the water.

“Poor thing…. Seems like you are not having a very good day, are you?” Lexi mused as she left a trail of footprints in the sand. Beginning to circle the younger alternate version of herself like a predator sizing up prey. So pale, so fragile…. A smile toyed at Lexi’s lips as she leaned in from behind, brushing the curls from the side of Alex’s face to be able to whisper in her ear. “Time is running out. But you can still save him…”

“Save him? I don’t understand…?”

“No?” Lexi countered, eyebrow raised as she placed a hand on Alex’s shoulder while moving to stand before her, no sincerity in the sympathetic smile she offered. She raised another hand to reveal it was stained crimson. “The blood is not mine… you are dying, Alex. It is not a matter of if, only when. Think… remember…”

Dying? No, impossible … wasn’t it? Alex glanced down, eyes widening as she watched the dress she wore shift from white to blood red. She saw her hands too, covered in blood. Her blood? Snapshots of fractured memories seemed to knock the air from her lungs and she stumbled, falling onto her hands and knees as she fought the rising panic while the waves swept in - threatening to pull her under.

No!

With every ounce of strength she could muster she forced herself up and to retreat as far up the beach as she could before she stumbled again and ended up on her back staring up at the dark starless sky. All the while, Lexi trailed in her wake, her smile one of victory which she quickly hid as she knelt in the sand, resting Alex’s head in her lap. Could she be this lucky? To be rid of her influence on Soral so soon? So cleanly?

“Rest now, don’t fight it. I can help both of you. I can give you a wonderful memory to cherish in your last moments and I can help you save Soral from so much pain. I know you love him, both sides of him. I’ve been shielding Soral from whatever you have all gotten yourself into but if you die with the bond intact it could kill him.”

With a sad sigh, Lexi shook her head. “I know it is almost unthinkable but you don’t want his death on your hands, do you, Alex?”

Alex shivered as she shook her head.


“Of course you don’t,” Lexi went on. “Because you love him. And that is why I want to help you, because I love him too.”

Lifting some sand in her hand, watching it spill between her fingers, Alex frowned. Why would Lexi be here? Helping? It made no sense and yet…. It felt real. Her gaze fell on the moon and she seemed lost on it for the longest time before shifting her gaze to study to Lexi. “What are you? My imagination punishing me for something?”

Lexi laughed, “your imagination is not that good.”

“But his is,” Alex realized with a small smile as she went back to watching the moon as it flitted between breaks in the cloud. “A part of him always trying to protect himself. And he chose you… of course he did. His fiercest ally, a ruthless defender. The first woman he ever truly loved.”

“Yes well, Evesta was hardly -”

“Evesta deserved exactly what you did to her,” Alex admitted quietly. “Even here she harmed him so much. Abandoned her children. And they are so special…”

“No!” Lexi shouted, realising Alex was on the verge of sleep and striking her across the face with enough force her hand stung. “No sleeping! Stay awake! If you can ever do one thing right, do this. I can’t protect him from this. Not completely. Unless you sever the bond.”

A long silence stretched on, broken by the sound of the waves which were edging closer by the second. Breaking a bond was… unforgivable. Hadn’t she promised to never leave him, to never abandon him like so many had done before her?

Of course, he had done that before himself. Or at least part of him had. Now the bond they shared was via another version of Soral from his failed attempt to bring back a ghost of his own. Yet both versions were one Soral. Kind of. But not.

Hadn’t they promised to speak. To decide on the fate of their marriage? She actually laughed at the irony. They had had a moment when it had felt like them again and now…

“I don’t know how,” she whispered, which wasn’t entirely true. Buried somewhere in memories of Lexi’s life, the knowledge was there. Somewhere. An ancient ceremony, rarely used. “I can’t hurt him.”

“It is a lesser of two evils,” Lexi assured her. “Painful? Yes, but he can heal from it. And beyond this moment, time is running out. Your death will absolutely sever the bond. And in all likelihood take him with you. He has no grown children around him to help him. This is his only chance. And you know, deep down, that this is where it was always heading. He is destined for a different path. One far greater than anything Starfleet can offer.”

Another long silence. Blinking away tears, unable to argue with what seemed to be thoughts Lexi was lifting from her own world of doubts and insecurities, Alex turned her gaze to get alternate and morally questionable self. “How?”


To Be Continued...