Silver Strand - Part II

Posted on Friday, 29 December 2023 - 11:54am by Commander Soral & Lieutenant Alex Kingsley

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

Previously on Silver Strand....


“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?”


And Now, The Continuation....


ON:

Soral blinked several times. He was in the ready room just reading over the information pouring in from both his Away Team and the Taligate's Away team. Captain Tergen was as quick to respond to the Light Seeker's call for help, arriving only a mere four minutes behind the Bear. The good thing was that the Taligate was big enough to tow the Light Seeker and had a big engineering crew with senior staff. He had also been impressed how the two teams had worked together, Tergen giving the Bear team the respect that they deserved.

One minute he was in the ready room and the next a familiar sight greeted him; a field that he'd visited many times with Lexi, no not he but his counterpart....that was technically him now. Soral sighed as he looked around. The beauty and tranquillity never failed to bring about a sadness and peace all at once but on the horizon he could see storm clouds rolling in. They were angry and seemed to be heading for him.

He looked into the distance as a figure sat under a tree. While he could not see her clearly he felt her through the silver thread that still connected Lexi and his Mirror verse counterpart. A thread he too had clung to because it was his link to the woman he loved. He moved quickly towards her.

A sudden unease struck him as the loss of Lexi ran through his head. There was a similar smell in the air and for a moment he had the urge to flee but he kept going.

“Soral” Lexi said as she rose gracefully and moved to greet him, a gust of wind whipping up her mass of red curls and chilling the air. Crossing the distance between them, she welcomed him with a slow lingering kiss, “I had hoped to spare you -”

Her words were interrupted as lightning struck the ground not two meters from them. And then another lightning strike and another. The small section of meadow devastated as the very ground beneath their feet seemed to tear itself apart in a fury.

Both were knocked off their feet but Soral quickly stood. He looked around confused.

“Don’t stop!” Lexi shouted behind her as she picked herself up and dusted off her clothes, trying to be heard over the rising storm. “There is no time! Save him!”

Against the wind, the rain and the sea a soft voice seemed to be carried in the air itself. The words ancient; belonging to a long dead language not known even to the Vulcan’s of this universe. And as if brought into existence by those very words it seemed as if a silver strand materialized out of thin air, winding around Soral and stretching out across the meadow and into the murky darkness beyond.

The strand grew taught as the words wrapped around him, the symbolic thread shimmering in the moonlight as it seemed to stretch, tested by the ancient ritual and beginning to fray. His body shook as understanding dawned on him. He recognised these words, for he had shown it to Lexi himself. They belonged to a ritual, powerful and with one purpose…

Soral began to run towards the voice and following the thread, his feet traveling over the broken ground without thought for himself. He followed the thread until he came to the threshold, where one mind met another. Grass giving way to sand, now what was only a small stretch of sand bathed in a small patch of moonlight where Alex lay, her eyes closed but lips moving as she carefully recited the ancient text Lexi had helped her to remember.

“Alex! Stop! You cannot break the bond!”

Before he could step onto the sand, Lexi stepped into his path. “But she can. She shares my memories, buried for the most part but they are very much there. I helped her to remember how. It is what needs to be done. To protect you. It is perhaps one of the few things we have ever agreed upon.”

There was anger in his eyes. "You cannot make that decision for her or for me!" He tried to side step her. He needed to get to Alex to stop her from completing the chant.

As he moved, Lexi moved with him, meeting his angry look with one of determination. “Why do you doubt that I only ever want what is best for you? Even when you don’t realize it yourself?”

"What in this universe would ..." But as he said the words his mind worked to back when he'd shown Lexi what to do and - more importantly - why she'd asked. His eyes widened. "No! She's going to be alright. I can help her heal, I can assist in getting her into a meditative state!"

Lexi remained steadfast, offering him a reassuring smile as she cupped his face, “trust in your friends to help if that is what is destined to be. On this we both agree, Soral. We won’t risk harming you more than we have to. You are always the one constant, the only real common ground between us. You are too important, you know this to be so.”

His hands wrapped around her shoulders and he spoke for both Soral Katras. "I have to save her, save you."

“I,” Lexi began, “am always with you. Nothing will change that. But I cannot let you stop this. It is for your own good. For once think of you! All you are destined to be when you leave for your new life. Being a father, and a leader amongst your people.”

His hand cupped her cheek and it felt solid. "Our children will have a good life. I promise you that. All of our children those of this world." He looked over at Alex. "I..."

The storm continued to rage above them while just a feet away there was a disquieting calm. At least until an agonizing scream pierced the air, reality momentarily piercing the illusion in her mind’s eye. The bond seemed to grow red hot, the pain arcing between both ‘worlds’ via that single thread even as it strained to maintain cohesion. While muted it was so very real and Lexi moved quickly to shield Soral from the inevitable agony, almost knocked off her feet in the process.

“Break it, please!” Alex screamed, for the first time seeming aware once again not just of Lexi, but her eyes now focused on Soral even as the ice cold water began lapping at her feet. Her fingernails clawed at the sand, frustration, fear, pain… all rushing to claim hold.


To Be Continued...