Connections --Part III

Posted on Tuesday, 18 January 2022 - 7:32pm by Lieutenant Alex Kingsley & Commander Soral

Mission: Operation: Crimson Kaleidoscope
Location: Unknown
Timeline: 2395

Previously on Connections...

“You gave it up?” Alex breathed. Or at least tried to.

“You know, I actually heard that,” Lexi pouted in mock sympathy. “Broken hearts… after she fought so hard against them breaking the bond. It was quite entertaining.”

“Stop it,” Alex snapped at her.

Lexi laughed, delighted. She sobered as she looked at Soral, “you ask too much. But I do like her. I won’t destroy her, not completely. That’s all I can guarantee. At least until the cure is complete.”

"Ahhh but there in lies the sacrifice. If you maintain an air of distance and do not weave together the memory will fade and she will not be able to unlock the right combination. Your husband risked all to save you because of his love for you. He doesn't know that she has the cure. What are you willing to risk to save his life? Or do you not care for him as much as he for you."


And now the finale...



Lexi growled in fury and the glint of metal was the only warning as an ancient blade cut through the air, stopping dead just an inch from Soral’s chest. Lexi stared at it in disbelief as it stubbornly refused to budge.

“We’ve hurt him enough,” was all Alex said as she took the knife by the hilt and walked with it to the fire, turning it over in her hands as she stared into the flames, lost to her own dark thoughts.

“I make no promises without speaking to Soral,” Lexi finally relented.

"Indeed. I am all for you speaking with him. He will not lie to you, you know this but he will not want you to give up. He will want you at full strength even though it means his death. The question is what will you choose?" I leave you with those thoughts, If you will leave me to say goodbye to Alexandra I shall leave you to your thoughts and investigation."

Lexi scowled at him and then, as suddenly as she appeared, she was gone.

Hamura sighed and hurried out of the room to wait outside.

Soral walked to the fire. He gently took her hand. "This was necessary."

She looked down at his hand. It felt so real… “no it is exactly what I deserve. I failed you, betrayed you… I didn’t mean to but I did…”

Pulling her hand away she sank to her knees. “And now there is nothing. You are gone. And I -“. She trailed off watching the flames.

"You will find the cure, cure the other Soral, cure the Vulcans and the Romulans of their verse and then come back and cure those of ours. I know you Alexandra. You've mastered more then the knowledge of this cure, you've been keeping me alive but in order to fully commit to this and to save them and our Vulcan you must not keep me alive. I have no doubt that our ship, our friends will seek you out. When they find you will have a choice. Give them the cure and live happy with Soral and the children or go back with them but it will be your choice." He knew that she knew their bond being broken would accelerate his symptoms.

All the while he spoke she was shaking her head, all to aware of the tears that ran down her face. “Stop being so impossibly selfless!” She cried, her tone accusatory. For all her guilt, her grief, her inability to tell where she ended and Lexi began, there was plenty of anger.

One Soral had literally moved the heavens to save his dead wife, leaving their children unprotected and without even their father. He had taken her husband, taken his place, deceived almost everyone and then given her the katra of his dead wife. What was it like to die? She knew… and it was not something she could give back. And then, he had the bond with her Soral broken. Unforgivable.

And this Soral… he had kept his failing health hidden. So well that even when he lay unconscious, dying, she had not felt it. And now he supposedly lingered here, wallowing in his pity as he waited for… what? And not only him. Hamura too, trapped here waiting for him to choose. And the one choice he had made was to surrender the bond.

“You will die. And that means Hamura will die. And what of our children, Soral?! Do you really think my mother…?” Her wonderful, often wistful and frequently crazy mother. The thought of her made her pause and then sink even further into the growing well of despair clawing at her.

“The ship cannot come after us. The Borg… Lexi is right. In their place, they are relentless. There is no Federation fleet waiting to take a stand. The ship will be destroyed. You can’t let them. If this cure is so important I will find a way to get it back to you but people will get hurt and die and I am not - it’s an illogical risk. I have encrypted research notes, maybe Dr Rose and the others can use them. They aren’t complete but it’s a start.”

She looked up at him, “I don’t blame you for giving up the bond. Or being angry with me after what I did. But don’t just throw away your life, Hamura’s… god knows who else. Please.”

He took her face between his hands. "You were always a gift I didn't deserve, but I treasured thee my wife. The ship will come for you, I have made provisions for the children. I am not angry in any way after all he is I and I am him, in some ways. You are meant to do great things. We have very little time. Learn from Lexi, she had great abilities to control her gifts you and she will integrate where you will be 70 percent in control. I know you are strong. I will hold on as much as I can, we will see one another again and your decision, weather you return with me or stay with my other self will be one you make, one that your heart and soul makes. Feel no guilt my wife all is as it should be."

He was speaking in the past tense… that wasn’t lost on her. Didn’t he understand? Making provisions for his children wasn’t enough. They didn’t need possessions, they needed a father. And she needed him to shout, to be angry, to lose control. Even if it was at her and not at the thought of them being torn apart.

“I can’t do this,” she breathed. “Why fight her at all? I’m sorry…”

"You can. Your strength is unmatched and you will one day be a great XO and a great Captain. A great Scientist. You must do this Alexandra."

“Not without you,” she whispered. Even with him, she knew she had little chance. She frowned, feeling as if something was tugging at her.

"You must leave this place. Trust me." He said as he felt her being pulled away.

“I never meant to hurt you,” she insisted, clutching his hand. Yet it felt like a ghost, as if her hand was passing through him. She tried to speak, to tell him those three little words but in that instant everything around her seemed to disappear and she blinked, finding herself in bed in that same unfamiliar room with Soral standing in the doorway.

"A nightmare?" He asked concerned. He poured some water and took it to her perching on the edge of the bed. He could sense her mind was disturbed.

Sitting up she scooted back to sit at the head of the bed, taking the glass of water and drinking the cold water in slow sips, trying to calm herself as she nodded. A nightmare was the simplest explanation. “It’s… a lot,” she ventured. “Where are we?”

All she could see of outside were stars, nothing to give a clue as to where they were. The Standing Bear had been waiting for the Captain to give a speech on Vulcan. But that was however long ago.

"Almost at the First Federation Border." He took her hand. "Almost home."


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