Season 15: Vox Epilogus

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Earth - Italy - Moreno family home] (May - August)

With medical leave insisted upon for himself, in the aftermath of the Borg takeover, Rayek spent the first couple months on Earth at his wife's family home.  He'd been there a few times via holodeck vacations with Tess, but the real thing was far more beautiful to experience.  It was very... healing, more from a perspective of the loss of their unborn daughter the month prior to all Hell breaking loose.  The actual Borg takeover, and having his own crew turn on him had at first seemed not a problem to the former Tal Shiar Romulan.  Betrayal by others was to be expected.

It was only when the counselor went digging, pointing out Rayek's now more closed-off personality, that he realized just how much he had been bothered by their actions.  The counselor assured him that those feelings were normal, and that in time and with effort they would make headway in building Rayek's trust in others once more.  The Romulan however had to wonder if that was wise.

Because of all this, it took three months of counseling to get signed off as 'fit for duty' once more, during which time Rayek chafed at his inability to work.  True, it was wonderful spending time with Tess and Fvienn, boating and touring the Italian countryside; but Rayek missed the ship.  Somehow in the short time that he'd been on board, he'd begun to considered as much a home as what Katra had been.  Question was now: how did Tess feel?  Would she return with him aboard the Discovery when he was once more assigned or would she remain here on Earth or return to Ba'ku.  These were questions Rayek dreaded asking.

Thankfully, he was able to put off the question, being assigned an administrative role temporarily within Personnel until the ship was done with her repairs. The commute from Italy to San Francisco daily was as simple as using the transporter, but it did mess with his sense of time a bit.   He'd leave home at 1700hrs from Italy and arrive at his office at 0800hrs earlier that same day.  He'd work his 8 hour shift and return home to Italy arriving home at 0300 the next day.   Sleep for 5 hours and wake at 0800hrs in order to spend the day with his wife and son before having to leave at 1700hrs once more to go work across the global.   Tess would video call him during his lunch break, at some San Francisco eatery, so that he could read his son their nightly bedtime story.  Not a bad routine.  Yet Rayek missed being in a Command role.  He knew the fleet needed officers so he couldn't help but wonder why he was being held back on Earth.

(more to come later)

[Tanner Lachlyn]

[Earth - Germany - July]

Although she'd been on Earth for a week, Tanner found herself in a foreign town in a foreign country and feeling more at home than she'd experienced since her parents had passed. It hadn't been a planned trip. Instead, she'd come down to check on Theresa and Jettis after a call from Zero.  Although he'd tried to be vague, the worry for his brother came through loud and clear.  He was too busy to take time off to head down as quickly as he'd have liked.  Tanner, on the other hand, was receiving constant reminders to take time off. Having lost family members in the battle, she was on the top of the list for grief support and leave.

So she found herself at Jettis's sister's house, sitting in a room called hers for the time being. Tanner sighed and pressed the button to call Savannah.

"Well, look who finally cared enough to call," Savannah said sourly as she picked up on the other end.

"Don't be like that; you know it's been busy," Tanner said with a frown, "No need to be snarky."

Savannah merely raised her brow, "It's been two months, Tan! Two months since he died, and Tristen was wounded. You've received four family dinner invites since then, and you're telling me not to be like that as you call me from....someone else's home?"

"Sav, come on. You've got at least a dozen people at home to help. Zero needed an extra hand." She said quietly, "Jettis was struggling, and Theresa -"

"How is she?" Savannah cut in. Seemingly not interested in the context Tanner was trying to give.

Tanner looked up, "She's sleeping better. When she hugs you, it's like she's holding on for dear life, though. It's intense." She couldn't imagine what it was like as a kid to have gone through the experience. "They're just kids. How's Junior doing?"

Although he was still in the Academy, their uncle brought him to Spacedock to watch the celebrations. Thankfully, he'd escaped, but it had been a nightmare. Now, he was on hiatus from training, as were most of the cadets, but there was a worry he'd never go back.

"You'd know if you were here," Savannah said dryly, "He's barely coming out of his room, and when we do talk to him, it's one-word answers." She looked at Tanner, "He needs all of his family to get through this."

"I-" Tanner chewed her lip. It wasn't her place to talk about Jettis and what was happening. It wasn't her place to explain why she had rushed over and invaded a family she barely knew, "I'm sorry. I don't know how to explain it without sounding selfish."

"That's because it is selfish," Savannah shot back, "Which is also entirely like you, so nobody is surprised."

There was a quiet beat, and Tanner merely nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I guess it is." She wiped a tear down her cheek, "But I don't regret it, Sav. I can try to make it up to the family, but I will never regret coming here. Things have happened that I can't explain, but I promise you, it's not just been a fluffy vacation."

There was a long pause. Nobody spoke; instead, they just quietly stared off-screen.

"Is Jettis ok?"

Tanner looked up and nodded, "I think so. I'll know more in the next few hours." She wiped another tear, "I'm just giving him some time with Theresa."

"I know he means a lot to you," Savannah said quietly, "And as mad as I am, I can imagine if Tim was struggling, I'd be there at a moment's notice as well." She looked at Tanner, "But you have to get better at responding. You're just making things worse when you ignore us. I know my mom's not easy, but the rest of us - we're just figuring this out, and we only have each other."

"Sav, I know. I know." Tanner tensed her jaw, "I don't know how to come home when the memories of Dylan are so fresh. We were just all there. We just -" She shook her head, "It's not fair. Chelsea and the kids. It's not fair at all."

"You know she'd love to hear you say that in person. Bryan's losing it without his brother, Tan" Savannah pleaded, "The next family dinner is in three days. Please. You can hop over just for one day, but please."

"I'll try. I promise, I'll try," Tanner said with a resolved nod, "I'll let you know by tomorrow morning."

"I love you, cuz." Savannah said quietly, "I know in your own warped way you love this family too and it's mutual. We need you."

"You mean they need someone to pick on to keep their minds off life," Tanner laughed, "Security, incoming." She smiled, "Love you too cuz."

Tanner hung up the call and shook her head. Wiping the tears, she checked the travel schedules and groaned. What was she going to do? What indeed.

There was at least one thing she could attempt for the Jyur family. Opening up a message Tanner sent a quick on to her uncle. The Admiral was busy but for his favorite niece he'd probably carve out a little time.

[Kinley Garrison]

[Kinley's Quarters - Discovery]

"œStardate"¦ Oh gosh"¦.78272.97. That's it. Computer, Encrypt this message  and time stamp it.  I need to set this record straight. I don't know if it will be needed, but this is  what happened. This is not on any official records, or other records that I know about. I "¦ I just need to say this. Maybe my own record might be enough to explain. Or, it might have me removed for keeping vital secrets from Starfleet. I don't know. "œ

"œHow do I even start?" *sighs and picks up Steve.*    "œSo, I know I will be breaking Temporal Directive 659 with this log, but given the circumstances,  there's a good chance that I'm going to be at least investigated in some form because of all this if people look closely enough. I wouldn't blame them after"¦ All this.  People keep telling me it's not my fault, but"¦ " *Sigh.  *

"œIn 2399, I was chosen to be a part of a top-secret mission. Through whatever they do in the Temporal Integrity Commission division, I don't know, they realized that the Borg had actually sent a second cube back in time to stop Picard and the rest of the Enterprise crew. For some reason, they couldn't fix it, So they sent us. A single ship, a ragtag crew from across different points in the timeline with next to no backup, and a potential suicide mission with little chance of success and failure not an option. Not good odds, if you ask me"¦

I don't know why I took that offer. Maybe it was the chance to make a difference, maybe it was to save my home, Earth from some fate worse than death,  maybe it was the fact he called me some kind of legend in the future he's from, I don't know.  I can't exactly say what inspired me to say yes. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. One that I'll  have to live with for the rest of my life." *Sighs again*

"œSo,  I'm sure there's some secret record out there in whatever Temporal Archive or whatever of what happened, but to sum up at least on my end, shortly after we engaged the Borg, I got kidnapped off of the Valour. They didn't assimilate me, at least not immediately. I remember being injected with some kind of something though. Some kind of sedative, or maybe some kind of preparatory nanoprobes to tranquilize me enough to speak with their Queen. And in essence"¦. Become a new one."

"œTo become a Queen, in a sense, one has to be a willing subject. To willingly become assimilated and speak the language of the Collective. As the Collective grows, sometimes a new Queen is required to lead a new Cube. That's why they chose me. And that's why they were willing to reason with me."

"œI will admit, it was intriguing what she promised, the knowledge and wisdom of the entire Collective at my fingertips, and I wouldn't say I wasn't tempted,  but in the end, I knew that I needed to buy time.  So that's what I did"¦ I paid my life for the crew of the Valour and the rest of the Federation, and I took the implants she offered me. Willingly and in full faculties of my mind. I knew the cost, and if it had to be me, then so be it. "

[* Some shuffling as Steve curls up around  Kinley.*]

All this is to say, It's because of this, and the events of the Frontier Day incident that I feel like I'm at least somewhat responsible for all this destruction that happened. It wasn't as if I was in charge of my actions, but having that sway over the Collective,  there's still  that hand that I played in it all.

"After the first incursion, I elected to get my implants removed. Mostly to look like myself, I'll admit.  The surgeons were able to remove 97%  of the implants successfully, save a couple that were too dangerous to remove fully  but were supposedly rendered harmless.  Supposedly being the optimum word, I guess.  However, being assimilated changes you on a cellular level as well. Not even your cells get to be separate from the Collective."

"From what I've heard, Admiral Picard found that out the hard way with Vox- uhh, I mean his son. That and the fact that I'm still young enough to have been affected by the call from the Cube. Either way, The Borg would probably have had me. And they didn't forget me, either. That's the scariest part. They didn't forget me. They knew I was a Princess, and while I wasn't the one giving the orders, like Vox was, I still spoke them to the Collective.  It was my job to amplify them to everyone else. If the Borg had succeded, I would truly be a Queen and would have worked with Vox to"¦ To kill - annihilate- everything."

[* Pauses for a bit to collect herself. *]

"œSo, where was I? Oh yeah, Being assimilated.

I will admit. Being in the Collective as a Princess is"¦  It's hard to explain in words. It's like drinking from a fire hose but being able to do so just fine. Not going to lie, it was kind of beautiful.   Millions of voices all speaking at once, and millions of life experiences lived at once, as well as millions of perspectives seen all at once. In a weird way, you really get to be intimately connected with millions of minds. Nowadays, it's absolutely terrifying to think about, but at the time, it was honestly breathtaking.

"œI've already had several scientific breakthroughs from what memories I've been able to retain of my time in the Collective, but there's just so much to think about it all, it sends me into sensory overload just thinking about it. Of course,  when EQ and Hawke rescued me from the Collective the first time, they destroyed the Queen of that particular cube, which suddenly sent the full force of the Collective onto me, and shocked the real me out for a bit where I could fight back. I wasn't a full Queen yet, just in preparation as a Princess. I don't think I'd have been able to be rescued if I was fully a Queen. By then you're so far integrated  into the Collective that it's too late.

"œThe second time, it was different. I couldn't really break through, like I did the last time but at the same time, I was somewhat defective, for the lack of a better term in the fact that my subconscious managed to fight the assimilation process, even for brief moments. I'm not 100% sure why. Maybe the assimilation process was inferior, maybe I was incompatible, maybe I was just defective after I broke free from the Collective the first time. I don't know.  Even then, it might not have mattered all that much, given everything. "

[* She fingers a necklace  with a medallion on it, the same one she received on that fateful mission *]

"œOn Frontier Day, I killed three of my own crew, hurt my own Executive Officer, and was the instrument to thousands more deaths on Spacedock and Earth. I don't know if I am guilty of these sins because of my past actions and sacrifice.  I only hope I might find forgiveness somewhere, and that the lives I saved might outweigh the lives that were taken."

"œComputer: End log and encrypt. "œ

[Earth: Starfleet Headquarters. ]
Kinley walked out of the tribunal room, still numb from the decision. She had fully expected to go out of there disgraced and without her commission.
Instead"¦ They gave her a promotion.
It didn't make sense to her. She had kept that mission and her first assimilation, the fact that she was briefly a Queen under wraps. She was the voice that amplified Vox's commands, and if things had gone differently, would have been the heir to the dying former Queen. It was not understated how her voice had played a hand in the attack. Even after she had most of the implants removed, she still was seen as a Princess to the Collective. She had chosen that fate when she bought time for that mission to succed. Most people were absolved because their actions were not their own, but was hers, given everything? Jorgensen's, Verol's, and Keller's blood were on her hands directly. That wasn't something that could be overlooked so easily.
Either way, she had to figure out what to do afterwards.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Posted on behalf of Dem Broadshire from his Character Biography:

To Commander Rayek Tr'Lhoell

Good day to you Rayek, I am recommending an extended leave of absence be granted to Lieutenant Dem Broadshire. While of course I have had to fill out many of these recommendations for leave after the Borg incursion, physically, Dem is well. You will of course know that after his unfortunate assimilation, he took a shuttle and set a course for Tamarus V, his home planet. I have managed to contact his parents through is medical file, and I have learnt that he will be staying with his family for some time but does intend to return.

Mr Broadshires mental health has been undesirable since the Dominion mission that brought me to you. To be frank, he was not at all prepared for making decisions that effected the crew. Having developed a rapid onset of PTSD, he took stress leave up until the most recent mission. I can't imagine what he may be feeling now, after the most recent events.
I look forward to your approval of this leave.

Warm Regards

Doctor Betaika, Senior Physician.

[James Ramort]

[Babel System | Research Outpost Delta-548-B | Main Lab]

Babel was quite a backwater system, which was impressive considering how close it was to Sol. But with so many Colonies, Member Planets and even the Federations Founder Worlds so close by Babel just wasn't a place that saw a lot of traffic. It hosted large diplomatic complexes granting the Delegates some space from the Flashlights of the Galaxies newscasters. It featured a small colony of colonists who wanted to be able to fly back into civilization quickly but also needed some space from the growing Federation, hidden close by its heart. And there were some space born research stations. Tucked away in stable orbits around the Babel Systems main star the low traffic of ships meant the system was excellent for subspace related research.

All this quietness was the very Reason Ramort was here. Of course he needed to be able to quickly get back to Earth if he got reassigned, Babel had that. He had considered visiting his Family. But Cerberus was too far away and he couldn't bear Luna right now. Earth rising above the Horizon every couple hours, the same planet he nearly crashed into with Sol Station.

His Family had invited them. In their eyes he was a Hero, part of the Starfleet crews that saved the Federation from the Borg. He had tried explaining to them he nearly hadn't done a thing. It was others, most notably Picard and the Enterprise's famous crew that saved the Day. He had carried a phase, and not even in a talented way, and helped some people move their way through the day. His first day at the Job.

The Counsellors were telling him he had done a good job and he shouldn't be too hard on himself. He still valued the opportunity to be here.

He wasn't the only Science Officer that just recently had joined the Station. They all knew their assignment here was temporary. A way for Command to keep them busy, a way to keep them close to each other as to not expand to many counsellors to get them all into therapy. Medical was overworked anyway. And here at least they were useful while their ships were being rebuilt and the damned Fleed Mode ripped out and hopefully burned in Hells deepest fires.

He was sharing a Room with 3 other Officers but they nearly never were in their Rooms. They clocked enough hours in the labs to collect overtime for years. And no one had asked them to do that.

Delta 548 was pretty well equipped, the computers were fast and the sensors up to date. The labs had everything a scientist could wish for in a station of its size and Ramort was taking advantage of all of it. He had collected a lot of data of Frontier Day that was still sitting unanalysed on a Tricorder in his small box of Belongings. For now he was working on a paper on speculative subspace warping methods, apparently the Starfleet Corps of Engineers had signalled some interest in his methods for increasing the folding vector, maybe it would one day lead to something interesting. If he could contribute to some form of new warp drive or a more efficient warp coil assembly that would be pretty great, wouldn't it?

Of course he knew his stay was temporary and he would one day fly out into space again. The thought of that already started to excite him again if he was honest, but he was treasuring his time off here. Soon Discovery would be rebuilt, he had seen the Images from the Docks, but till then Babel would serve very nicely as a place for him to find his footing again and let some of the wounds heal. One thing was sure though, Babel had no Borgs and that was the most important part for now.

[Lorut Vila]

0800 Hours
Hedrickspool Province, Hedricks City, Bajor

Vila sat on her mother's porch, in an armchair, staring out at the water of the nearby nature preserve. Her mother's family's ancestral home had been lost, mostly, during the Occupation and following skirmishes. It used to be a small Springwine winery. Now? It was an imposing but shabby home, modestly decorated in a Federal style. She remembered running through the orchards at the end of her grandfather's property, barefoot, with twigs and dirt in her hair, laughing maniacally as her eldest brother chased her. Days she could barely remember but clung to desperately.
She sipped some Jumja tea-she hated the sweetness of the root tea, but it was soothing. Her mother was looking after her-her injuries from the Borg attack had been enough that the station Doctors had given her leave for a time. She had wanted to go to Casperia. However, you didn't argue with Bajoran mothers if you wanted to live to tell the tales, so here she was. The rising sun felt strange on her bare shoulders-of course, she was used to life aboard star ships-thirty years now, she'd first followed her (now deceased) ex-husband across the Universe, and then to Space station after Spacestation, and back to ships of all sorts. Now, she was doing it herself, but this time, SHE was the officer. Strange how things worked out. Someone from the Fleet-she assumed it was someone from the Diplomatic Corps, but she hadn't asked-came yesterday to inform her that Ben's ship and crew hadn't survived the invasion. She'd figured as much. What she hadn't figured was that she was still listed as his next-of-kin. They had been trying to rekindle some kind of relationship-romantic or not, time would've told, but now...tha was moot. She had been given a package that the person had said he'd wanted her to have. She hadn't opened it yet.
She snuggle deeply into the blanket wrapped loosely around her. She was meant to be recovering, but how could she when everywhere she looked, there was still memories of a past she'd rather forget?! Still, the fresh air and the constant attention from her mother and brother, who lived nearby, really did help some. She felt a bit lighter here-it was her home, for better or worse, and she loved it. So much so she'd nearly died to protect it-more than once.

Her niece bounded out, carrying a tray of Earth foods-scones and butter, and more tea.

Grammy said to bring you some breakfast. She said you need to eat. And I am not allowed to go back inside until you do.

Vila smiled, but reached out and snapped up the child into her lap. How lucky was Janice to live in Bajor, which had (mostly) been restored to its usual resplendence, much as she remembered...before.
"I will eat it soon," she said. "Sit with me. Talk to your old Auntie." She listened as Janice told her about her life now-much like any other Childs-she went to school (she was nearly in Middle School now), and that she liked a certain boy. Vila smiled, and began to eat, sharing the treats with the girl. Finally, they had finished, and she let Janice off her lap.

"Let's go inside. I want to show you something," she said. Vila and her niece entered the house, and made their way to Vila's "room." It wasn't her childhood home, but her mother kept it for her for when she visited. Vila pulled some things out of a drawer. "Sit on the bed," she said. "I want you to have these," she said. She handed her some small trinkets. "That was..do you remember Ben? My ex-husband? He got me that earring as a gift," she said. The traditional Bajoran earring had been a wedding gift. She'd never worn it-she didn't wear her own family one. The other thing was a doll-not the one that she'd lost during the Occupation. This one was tiny, and made of yarn. One of the children aboard the hospital ship that had hosted the rescued Bajoran POWs had given it to her. She smiled. "That is Cathy," she said. "I was really into human names at the time. After the war, your dad, myself, and Grammy spent some time on what is called a "hospital ship." It is basically a hospital on a Starship, like where I work now," she explained to the girl. " One of the children of the doctors gave her to me. I want you to have it now," she said. "I don't want it to get lost." She smiled. "Cathy helped me to feel better. Maybe when you're feeling lonely or sad, she'll help you, too." Though Vila had been nearly an adult when she was finally liberated, her little doll friend had been her constant companion until she was married. They chatted a bit longer, and then Ude took her back to his home.
The rest of the week continued thusly-her mother fussing over her, and her trying to fight it. Secretly, she DID love it, and had missed Bajor more than she'd thought. Still, she had to make it on her own now, so at the end of the week, she returned to DS9 for further recovery.