Remember What the Dormouse Said... (Part I)

Posted on Sunday, 21 March 2021 - 6:49pm by Captain Barret Stillwater & Lieutenant T'Lanna Vali

Mission: Operation: Trail of Tears
Location: Crew Quarter's of Lieutenant Vali

The Captain arrived just before midnight as he said he would, outside the woman's quarters dressed out of uniform with a black undershirt and denim jeans, an unbuttoned flannel shirt worn loosely over the black undershirt. With him, Stillwater carried a medicine bag, a pouch worn at his side.

He was holding a bottle with an odd liquid in his hand as he stepped forward and tapped the door chime. The contents of his bag shuffled a little. The two were about to partake in something incredibly risky and deeply sacred.

T’Lanna had managed a few brief cat naps between the voices in her head waking her up. Now the time had come for Barret to arrive she was ready and waiting for him. She was quick in opening the door given the sensitive nature of the Captain’s visit, “Please come in Captain” She offered a warm yet tired smile.

Barret Stillwater stepped into the woman's quarters, not much had changed with the exception that she had clearly taken his suggestions to heart. The quarters were calming. "I brought a few things," he said finding a table and placing the bottle down in addition to his medicine bag.

"Ayahuasca," he said gesturing to the bottle. "On Earth, shamans in the the Amazon basin have historically used it. It's an entheogen and I can't promise what will happen. I also brought peyote...I don't tend to have easy experiences connecting with my spirit guide. I have found this has helped."

“Okay” T’Lanna nodded. “I’m not sure whether to be nervous or not.” She offered a smile. “I will do my best to help you Captain.”

"My mind isn't as disciplined as a Vulcans or even a Betazoid for that matter. You're welcome to it if you want, just a forewarning this stuff can be pretty odd."

“Just hold my hand and don’t let me get lost!” T’Lanna grinned then stifled a yawn. “When all these ... voices, are out of my head I’m going to sleep like a log!”

He brought the two of them to an open area in the living section of her quarters after replicating some glasses, bringing his bottle and medicine bag with him. "We cannot get lost if we do not know where we are going," the Captain added with a small chuckle. "If you do not know where you are going, then any road will get you there."

T’Lanna inclined her head in a curious gaze. “I guess that makes perfect sense in a way.” She grinned.

The Captain uncorked the bottle and poured himself a very small glass of the Ayahuasca. "Should I pour you some, or would you prefer to do this more naturally? I have never done this before at least not accompanied by someone. I don't know how my guide will react. We do not always see eye to eye."

“I’m not ... myself at the moment Captain so I’ll take all the help I can get.” T’Lanna offered a smile. “I’m hoping this works to shut out the voices, I need the rest.”

Captain Stillwater took a glass and slung it back, the liquid hitting his throat and he swallowed. He puckered and his face pinched together as he consumed the nasty tasting liquid. "Damn that stuff is bad," he said. He poured the woman a glass and handed it to her. "Fight the urge to spit it out, but don't be worried if you start vomiting in a few minutes...that's unfortunately normal."

“It’s that bad?” T’Lanna gave Barret a cautious look before taking the glass and swallowing the liquid down in one go. She clasped her hand over her mouth as the taste came back. “Ohh my ...” she took a deep breath not wanting to throw up.

Stillwater then grabbed some dried peyote and started chewing it, handing the one a large piece of it. "This isn't much better tasting, but manageable. After this we wait a bit until we uh - purge" he added with some discomfort. I probably should have warned her earlier when I came by that vomiting would be on tonight's agenda.

“Are you serious!” T’Lanna gazed at Barret. “You want me to ...” She shook her head wishing she’d chosen to go the natural route. She took the peyote and started chewing.

"Not really a matter of want..." he said feeling a bit queasy. "It just does. It happens, at least on humans," he explained and looked at her as if to say 'as you can tell from my discomfort.' "If it works the same on you you will start to feel discomfort, your body will become sharply ill feeling and you will vomit. You may begin to sweat profusely. Then, it's just downhill from there on a wild roller coaster ride with feelings of euphoria, strong visual and auditory hallucinations that may bring bout a wide range of emotional responses. So, I suggest getting into a mind meld before you hit that point."

T’Lanna nodded and took a deep breath. “I’m going to need to touch you and remain in physical contact. I can’t do that if we’re both in the bathroom throwing up!”

Barret laughed so hard that his body shook and he let out a swift exclamation. He crawled away from her a bit a grabbed a small decorative vase that was in her living quarters. He started choking, coughing, and heaving rather violently until he sufficiently vomited right into the vase. Fun he thought to himself and looked over his shoulder back at T'Lanna. "Once we've purged we should be fine to initiate the..." his gaze wandered as the room started to spin a bit and the sound of a rainstick could be heard to him at least. "mind meld" he finished.

T’Lanna wasn’t feeling the sickness part, whether it was something to do with her Betazoid half she wasn’t sure. She felt queasy but that was it, and her head was certainly starting to spin. “I’m not ... feeling sick, queasy he’s not sick.” She raised her hands ignoring a new sound that entered her mind. She placed her fingers on Barret’s face. “My mind ... to your mind, my ... thoughts to your thoughts.”

Soon, their minds were linked. Barret Stillwater's eyes locked onto hers and he brought them somewhere deep, deep within his subconscious mind. There, he was in uniform but not the one issued presently aboard the Standing Bear. It was dated a bit from an era he lived through, served through: black slacks, and a colored tunic, with a black and grey uniform top vest-like. His uniform was torn and tattered. All around them a great big sky and a bunch of land. They were standing in a field of crop, grains growing strong.

The sun was high in the sky and his skin felt as though it was on a low sizzle. He looked around and caught sight of T'Lanna. "Lieutenant," he said calling out to her. She was not too far from him, standing near something that had caught her eye. A screeching sound from above drew his attention to the sky above. Several birds of prey were circling above: something was dead.

He looked back at the woman as he approached her. Soon, he saw what she had been looking at. He could smell it before he even saw it. A two-headed wolf lay in the field deceased. "Welcome to my mind, T'Lanna."

T’Lanna turned to look at Barret the site in-front of her wasn’t a pleasant one and neither was the smell, but she was revelling in the sheer fact that her mind was silent to all but Barret himself. “It’s so quiet ...”


"It's Praire," he said looking around. "At least my mind's approximation of it. I recognize this field. It belongs to a settlement of Klingons. Ah well, arguably. It was disputed land. The Klingons said it was theirs, but the Romulans on Praire were adamant that it belonged to them." He shrugged. "That was life on Praire for ya."

 

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