Life and Death

Post of the Month - December 2005

by Francine Hart

ON:

(Somewhere)

Francine continued to make her way slowly down one of the many corridors of the Pacifica. She had been exploring this deck now for sometime and so far she hadn't come across anything that sled light on her current predicament. She was starting to feel lost and confused even though she walking the familiar corridors of the Pacifica. While she couldn't explain what was going on she knew that something was wrong as nothing felt right, because as far as she was concerned she was suppose to be on Pearen IV not on the Pacifica. After about an hour searching around the deck that she was on Francine slumped up against the wall as she was overcame for a couple of seconds by the headache that she had woken up with.

Once the pain cleared away, Francine started to think about where to go next as she was starting to think that searching this deck was pointless as she was getting nowhere. Looking around the section of corridor that she was in she spotted the doors leading to one of the ships' turbolifts. She pulled herself up off of the wall and walked across to the other side of the corridor and gently pressed the call button by the side of the door. The doors opened instantly to reveal the waiting turbocart, she stepped onboard and waited for the doors to close before stating her destination to the computer.

Hart: Bridge.

She leaned up against the back wall of the lift as it started to move upwards towards deck one. While she was waiting for the lift to arrive at the bridge she spent the time going over everything that had occurred to her over the past couple of days. She was certain that everything that had happened to her and the others was real, but Francine still couldn't explain what was happening to her. After what seemed like an eternity the turbolift finally slid to a stop and with a short hiss the turbolift doors parted to reveal the Pacifica's bridge in all it's glory.

Francine took a couple of steps out of the turbolift and gazed slowly around the bridge looking for any signs of like, but like her search of one of the lower decks she found nothing at all. Once she was certain that the bridge was empty she turned her attention to the main viewscreen which was active and displaying the image of Pearen IV. She stared silently at the viewscreen for a few seconds as she became lost in her thoughts. She snapped out of it as her thoughts drifted back to her current predicament. Looking once again the bridge she spotted the main science station and made a beeline for it as she needed to find out what was going on. She sat herself down behind the workstation and regathered her composer before she accessed the ship's computer and brought up the sensor logs for the past 24 hours hopeful that the records would provide her with some of the answers that she was after.

Voice: You will not find the answers that you seek in there.

Francine almost jumped out of her skin in fright as the voice broke the calm silence of the bridge. She immediately stopped what she was doing and spun around in her chair, looking out across the bridge trying to identify the source of the voice. She bolted up out of her chair and backed uneasily up towards the rear turbolift as her eyes fell on a middle-aged man who was sitting at the operations station staring blankly at the forward viewscreen. The man was quite strange looking, as he appeared to be glowing in certain areas, she continued to back up until she hit the wall.

Voice: You need not fear me for I mean you no harm.

Francine vaguely recognised his voice from when she had found herself in the cave, back there the voice had seemed like it was in her head but this time she was hearing it through her ears or so it seemed. All she could do was stand there, as she dared not move still not trusting the man that she was now sharing the bridge with. She didn't even know what to say or to do except continue to stare at the man who was sitting at her station with his eyes still fully fixed on the forward viewscreen. After a few minutes of silence Francine took a couple of hesitant steps forward as the man spun around in his chair to look at her with his expression less face.

Hart: Who are you?

Voice: I do not have what you humans would consider a name, but you may call me Argin.

Hart: So your not human?

Argin: That is correct I am what you call non- corporeal I am appearing to you this form so we can communicate effectively.

Hart: ;;shakes her head;; I don't understand. What is going on, and why am I here.

Argin: They are important questions that are difficult to answer, but I will do my best to explain all of this. ;;questers around the bridge;; You are currently dreaming this entire ship is part of that dream, you are still unconscious down on the planet that you call Pearen IV.

Hart: But why?

Argin: My species is telepathic and this is one of the many mediums that I can communicate in.

Hart: But why are we here on the Pacifica?

Argin: Because this is where you are most comfortable and what you consider as your home. This is also the only way that I can currently communicate with you.

Hart: What do you mean?

Argin: Your physical condition is weak and it is not improving, this is the only way that I can successfully communicate with you.

Francine's shoulders slumped slightly as Argin explained her physical condition to her. She had known that she wasn't in good shape but Argin's tone of voice suggested that she was in worse condition then she had originally thought. She knew though that she couldn't be dwelling on that as this was her one chance to understand what was going on and she needed to be fully concentrating on it. She shoved the thoughts about herself to one side and looked back up at Argin as she formulated her next question.

Hart: So what do you want?

Argin: I wish to understand.

Hart: Understand? Understand what?

Argin: I wish to understand why you and your people have come here to this planet.

Francine wondered why Argin was interested in learning about the Pacifica's trip to the planet, as she didn't see it as any sort of issue. She guessed that his reasons were important to him as he had had gone to lot of trouble trying to communicate with her. But she wanted to know why he was so interested in it before she told him.

Hart: Why do you want to know?

Argin: I wish to know your intentions, as I will not allow anyone to claim this planet as their own as it is my home.

Francine finally understood why Argin was so interested in what the Pacifica was doing here in orbit around the planet as this planet was his home and he wanted to protect it from outsiders.

Hart: No that's not our intention at all, we are explorers by nature but that is not the reason why we have come here. We are searching for a group of people who are hiding somewhere on this planet they have committed acts of violence including murder against my people and we are looking to arrest them and bring them before a court of law.

Argin: I am aware of the people who you speak about, as they have invaded my home by building a structure on the surface.

Hart: You know of them?

Argin: Yes they are in the same situation as your crew.

Hart: What do you mean?

Argin: They are all asleep.

Hart: ;;confused;; Asleep how?

Argin: I put them to sleep, the same way that I put you to sleep. Much like you they are dreaming, the only difference is that they are sharing theirs.

Hart: Why?

Argin: Because it is one of only ways that I can protect my home.

Hart: That dampening field your responsible for that as well.

Argin: Correct.

Francine couldn't believe what she was hearing from Argin as she didn't think that it was possible for one being to put an entire crew to sleep. She didn't doubt it however as here she was talking to this creature in her own dream. Suddenly the predicament that was facing not only her but to the rest of the crew became clear to her as she realised that she and the crew could only go for so long without food or water. She needed to try and convince Argin that they meant him no harm.

Hart: Like I said we no intention of staying on your planet any longer then we need to, we just want catch these pirates and be on our way.

Argin: What you say may be true, but I can not take that chance.

Hart: I'm not lying to you.

She paused for a few moments as she tried to sum up her words, she needed to get her point across to him and he needed to believe her, but she wasn�t sure of how to do that. She sat herself down in the counsellor's chair as she continued to think when it suddenly came to her.

Hart: This dream you created it right?

Argin: That is correct.

Hart: How?

Argin: By probing the surface of your memories, my species has the ability to read people's minds but it has a side effect it causes pain in the people who we preform on. Surely you have felt it by now.

Hart: The headaches?

Argin: Yes that is what you call them, the further we dig into a person's mind the more pain we cause that is how come I only partially read your minds. To dig any further would cause severe pain and some cases leave lasting damage on the brain. Why do you ask?

Hart: Because I want you to look at my memories.

Argin: What good would that do?

Hart: It would prove that I am telling the truth.

Argin: You are in a bad condition and it could possibly kill you.

Hart: I know but if it is the only way for me to prove to you that I am telling the truth then I want you to do it, as my crewmates can only go for so long without food and water before they die.

Argin: You would risk your own life to save your fellow crewmembers?

Hart: In a heartbeat.

Francine couldn't believe what she was going to do, but she knew that it was the only way that she was going to be able to prove what she was saying. She knew what the risks were but it was the only chance that she had to help those still on the Pacifica, even if it meant her own life. It was the right thing to do and she knew it.

Argin: Very well if this is what you want then I will proceed.

Hart: ;;without any hesitation;; Yes.

Argin studied her for a couple of seconds and gently nodded his head before he disappeared leaving her alone on the bridge once again to mellow in her thoughts. No sooner had Argin disappeared that the bridge around her dissolved into darkness, which left her standing in a black void. She cleared her thoughts and attempted to brace herself for what was to come, but she didn't know what to expect. She closed her eyes and took a deep couple of breathes as she waited for what was to come. Suddenly as if from out of nowhere a sharp pain engulfed her nerves. She screamed out in pain as she dropped quickly to her knees. She grabbed her head as the pain became unbearable and tried to concentrate on other things but the pain was too great and all she wanted was for it to stop and go away, but it didn't as it continued on unrelenting. She fell the rest of the down and jerked about in pain wishing for nothing more then the pain to stop.

Suddenly it did as everything including the pain came to a stop, but Francine was unable to register this as she fell unconscious and her mind slipped in the darkness, the last thing she remembered her heard was Argin's voice in her head.

Argin: I was wrong to doubt you. Francine.

OFF: Tag Polaris.

Lieutenant Francine Hart
Chief Operations Officer
USS Pacifica NCC-72545
Bravo Fleet