Shadows in the land of dreams

Posted on Thursday, 4 November 2021 - 6:38pm by Commander Soral & Lieutenant Alex Kingsley

Mission: Operation: Mirror of Madness
Location: Unknown
Timeline: 2394 - Just before the breifing post

ON:

Alone in the dark, minutes and hours had passed before sleep finally claimed her. Just as every night for the past few days if not more, the dreams were far from peaceful and rarely made sense. People and places she did not know and often a fight which had ended with her death. And her baby... Tonight the dream began in the same way as many of the others had, in a peaceful meadow where she sat with Soral while children played nearby. They were distant, out of focus but she could hear them clearly as she unpacked food from an old wicker basket.

Soral was quiet, unusually so. Distracted. Reaching out she took hold of his hand, the smile she wore quickly disappearing as the blue sky and beautiful vista was replaced by the cold hardness of deck plating and a world of dark greys and shadows cast by the faintest of glows from small emergency lights dotted around them.

She glanced down, still holding Soral's hand but he was no longer sitting beside her, he was lying unconscious with some kind of device small metallic device attached to the back of his neck. Little blue lights blinked off and on, seeming to dance around the small display. What shocked her more was how deathly still he seemed. Panic gripped her as she touched the side of his face, "Soral?"

Even as she said his name she knew this couldn't be real. She could feel Soral. He was on Vulcan, he was safe. And yet this felt so real...

She realised someone was standing over them and she looked up, knowing before she her eyes met his. "Soral."

"Fascinating sight, is it not," he said glad to see that she was growing stronger daily.

Alex stood, her confusion obvious. “I don’t understand…” she admitted, a million and one questions fighting for a voice.

"Fascinating sight, is it not," he said, glad to see that she was growing stronger daily.

Alex stood, her confusion obvious. “I don’t understand…” she admitted, a million and one questions fighting for a voice.

Soral held out his hand and suddenly his uniform was no longer his uniform. Now it had taken on a very Vulcan like edge to it, shimmering black robe with metallic hold Vulcan glyphs. "Walk with me Lexi."

He had called her that name before... She looked down at his outstretched hand and without thinking she grasped it. Feeling a strength and depth to their bond which almost stole the very breath from her lungs. Memories that were hers, yet not and above all a certainty that this was Soral. Her husband. A father to their children. Her love who she had fought for, killed for, died for.

Soral smiled slightly, "It will all slowly start to come back to you my Lexi. It takes time." He looked at the weaker Soral. "He is so weak, is he not?"

She followed his gaze, frowning at the unconscious form. “What happened to him? Is he dying?”

"You should not concern yourself with him. Soon we will be home, we shall be with our children, the three knights and our daughter, and Severine is very much looking forward to seeing you again as is N'vek and Soval. Focus on that."

Her three little knights... tears stung at her eyes. "Soval was older," she whispered, unable to reconcile her two different recollections in that moment of the child who was still on Risa and the man she had died trying to save. Another name left her lips, tinted with a fury which was undeniable, "T'Paris tried to kill him to hurt you."

Soral took her by the shoulders. "It's alright. Slowly, my Goddess. Slowly. You will remember."

Just as he said the words the figure moved, eyes turned up to Alex. "A...Alex..."

Hearing the voice which seemed barely louder than a whisper, Alex looked over her shoulder towards the other Soral while her Soral still stood before her, his hands still resting on her shoulders. No. That wasn't right... The man lying at her feet was her Soral too. She could feel it, although the connection between them was muted and now almost drowned out by another bond yet it was undeniable and familiar. Her eyes widened as the weakened touch of the bond momentarily strengthened as inwardly she tried to both embrace the contact and shut it off.

"I prefer Lexi," she replied after a long moment, a look of horror and surprise being replaced by a calm confidence as she turned to face mirror Soral. Her Soral.

The real Soral, weak and tired pushed his way up to his hands and knees. "Alexandra!" His voice was firmer.

His mirror counterpart turned her so that he held her gaze. "My Lexi," He turned her to face the other Soral standing behind her. "Now, close your eyes, see this … pathetic form in your mind." He paused, "Can you see him?"

Turned to face Soral she closed her eyes as instructed, a fierce ache beginning to flare up inside her head as if being torn by two interwoven bonds. “I see him,” she breathed, sounding distracted while her mind was reeling. Her Soral. Both of them. She felt the air being pushed from her lungs at the sudden certainty of it what she had done. Two Soral’s…

And her betrayal of her husband.

"Now, push him away with your mind! He is nothing to you!"

Lexi smiled, focusing on erasing the image as a scream of anger and fear clawed at her throat. Her own mind at war with itself as the dream shattered and she awoke with a start. “Soral!”

Sitting in the bed, breathing hard, Alex turned up the lights and crawled out of bed. Most of the dream was fading. The small details ebbing away but what remained made her feel ill. And afraid.

Standing in the doorway she stared into the empty living room, at the spot Soral favoured when meditating and she could almost see him sitting there just like he had been so very recently ...


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