Orb Visions IV

 Episode Name:  Orb Visions IV
   Written By:  Journey
         Cast:  Journey and Nevaren.
  Produced By:  Starfleet
  Directed By:  Journey
     Aired On:  Sat May 31 03:45:30 2003
     Stardate:  53253.5

Time: Sat May 31 03:39:21 2003

Stardate: 53253.5

Nevaren stands alone in the cargo bay that has become the temporary home for the Orb of Destiny. The young half-romulan stares silently at the Box that contains one of Bajor's most prized relics with nothing short of nervous trepidation. His entire life he has wasnted to see an orb.. to consult one.. to experience the Prophets with an intamacy he has long felt jealous of towards Bajoran's.. And now his time has come.. and he is scared beyond beleif.

From the shadows of the bulkhead, a dark shape emerges. A lone Bajoran Prylar withered with age, in the earth toned habits of his religion. The Prylar smiles as he hobbles towards Nevaren.. it is a fatherly smile, one that is easy and kind. "You must be the one from Clourr." he tells Nevaren, whom is stunned speechless. The Prylar chuckles... "We have heard of you Nevaren, Son of Adrian and Naya. And we have been expecting you."

Nevaren shoots a look towards the Orb, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. The old man grins and beckons Nev to Follow him. "Oh no, the Orbs don't tell us who is going to come to them.. It was just an educated guest that you would finally come to experience the Orb for yourself. I mean, what respecting child of the prophets would turn down such an opprotunity?"

Nev follows the Prylar, blushing a faint green of embarrasement. "A child that feels unworthy of such?" he answers in way of a question. "A child who is scared beyond beleif.."

Kresa shakes his head, still laughing. "You assume much, to assume you know whom the Prophets hold worthy or not.." Nev blushes even deeper green and that just fuels the Prylar's laughter even more, "It is an honest mistake, Nevaren, made by just about every Child."

"Even yourself?" Nevaren asks, looking up again?

Kresa nods. "Especially myself, young one." he motions to the empty space of floor before the pedestal. "Let the Prophets decide if you are worthy, Nevaren.. Do not fear them. It is /your/ time.. You have waited long enough, don't you think."

Nev takes a long, deep steadying breath and nods. He kneels down on the ground before the box and tries to relax. The Prylar steps up to the pedestal, placing a hand on one of the doors. "What you see will be your own, and you must not speak of it." He turns his gaze back on Nevaren. "Are you prepared, child, to face your Destiny?"

Nevaren swallows hard.. and nods. With that the Prylar swings the doors of the Box open to reveal the Orb Of Destiny, a blue glowing phasnatsm of energy that twilrs within it's carved receptacle. The light spills out and fills the room with a cool bluish glow. The Orb, like two teardrops falling away from each other from a common center, spins round and round. Every facet is like looking into a far away place for only a pico-second, glimpses of endless possibilities. Then, without warning, a breeze of blue light lances out and around him, encompassing Nevaren completely, swallowing him whole...

The all encompassing bluish light slowly begins to turn to a stark and sterile white. With the white comes pain.. Deep aches and stabbing pains throughout Nevaren's body. /Where am I? / he thinks, his memories becoming a jumble. /Is this the station? The last thing I remember was the orb.. Wait. That can't be right.. I must be dreaming again.. I haven't seen the station in ages. But where have I been? /

Slowly, the white light itself begins to temper and fade, gray shadows resolving from nothingness, swimming across his vision. /I remember.../ his mind tells him, /I remember now.. I am dead. I died in the cave in.. In the prison.. The Tal'Kaden killed me.. It took them days.. Or months.. Maybe even longer.. but they finally killed me.../

Nevaren can't believe this, though. He can't be dead.. If he were he'd be in the celestial temple.. He'd be at peace.. And he hurt too much to be at peace.. This much pain must men he is alive..

The albino tries to move but he can't. His arms feel like lead weights, his legs like wood. He blinks his eyes, trying to focus, to see.. beyond the terrible white... His body jerks, feebly, as he tries to get free...

A shadow passes before his eyes, a mass of dark gray.. He can make out a dark slash of a mouth, maybe two indistinct eyes. He can feel a gentle hand placed on his chest, holding him down. "It's alright.." the shadow soothes, "Don't worry. You'll be all right... I am about to give you an anti-sedative.. give it a few moments to start working."

There is a sharp his and a sting at the side of Nev's neck. He gasps as fire traces along his nerves, waking every nerve ending in his brain. The white is all but diminished now, the shadows taking on resolution liek a camera coming into focus. The closest blur becomes defined, standing next to Nevaren. A tall and gaunt Trill, his dots a dark trail against tanned flesh, dressed in a starfleet uniform.. he is somehow familiar, but also somehow not.. fragments and flashes flash behind Nevaren's eyes.

"There," the trill doctor tells him, looking like he is relaxing somewhat. He holds the silver canister of a hypo in his hand. "We had to sedate you last night. You were having nightmares and we were afraid you would hurt yourself."

Nevaren tries to talk, to say something, but his throat is too dry. All he can manage is a thick and raspy croak. "Where.. Where..."

The doctor sets the hypo down on the table next to the biobed. Nev's eyes track him, catching glimpses of the room beyond. He isn't in a sickbay but a private room. There are no windows or ports, so he can't tell if he is on a ship or on the ground. The Trill leans over him, checking Nevaren's eyes. "You are on Starbase 1, over Earth. You arrived two weeks ago. Do you remember?"

Nevaren wants to say no but suddenly those memory fragments start coming together. "Prison.." he croaks.. "I was.. in.. a prison... For a long time..." images flow in his mind. Images of darkness.. of pain and starvation.. of torture at the hands of people with faces too much like his own.. "A ship.. a ship came and found me.."

The Doctor smiles, though somewhat sadly. "Yes, Lieutenant. You were a prisoner. You were captured by the Tal'Kaden. You were found by the USS Glasnost in the Neutral Zone almost 2 months ago. You were in very bad shape. You are lucky to be alive. We thought you had died a long time ago. We are so happy to be mistaken."

Through strength seems to rush into Nev’s body, his mind becomes even more confused. "You thought.. I was dead?" he asks, a slight tone of trepidation in his voice. "How long?" he breathes.

The Doctor stands straighter, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "How long were you a prisoner? You were reported killed in action over 18 months ago, on Romulus during the attempted Coup."

Nevaren's heart almost stops. "Eighteen.. months?" he gurgles. It is a shock to him.. He thought it was longer.. or shorter.. He can't make up his mind on that point.. All the pain.. All the pain they caused.. But blurred everything together.. Why was he alive?

Nevaren's mind finally flashes into one brilliant point of focus that overrides everything. A single moment of Clarity that awakens him to the world. "Gwen.." he whispers.. "Where is Gwen."

The Doctor walks over to a replicator, ordering a glass of water and bringing it back to his patient. "You mean Lt. Commander Poole?" he asks. Nevaren is shocked to hear that she has been promoted, but also pleased... It helps him, lets him have something to grasp onto to help regain his mind. "She has been here many times, Lieutenant, though I doubt you remember. You have been undergoing continual advanced medical since they brought you onto the Glasnost. It has taken almost 2 and a half months between their doctor and my team to, quite literally, put you back together. Your injuries were more severe then any I have seen since the war. Broken bones, severe neurological damage, internal injuries..."

Nev takes a sip of the water.. It is cooler and more refreshing then anything he can remember.. It is so overpowering in it's purity that Nev coughs a few times and weakly wipes at his lips. "I want.. To see Gwen.." he tells the trill, more forcefully, his voice regaining some of it's depth.

The Doctor sighs and nods. "Yes.. Of course. Forgive me. I just came in to see if you were well or coherent enough to see anyone. lt. Comm. Poole and a few other friends are standing outside... I'll send her in first, though." The Doctor looks.. worried.. Though Nev can't say why. He just watches as the trill steps out the door halfway and beckons someone to walk in. "Please," he requests the person around the doorframe out of Nev's sight, "Don't take too long.. He is still very week and confused."

Nevaren's face lights up when the most beautiful vision he has seen in as long as he can remember steps through the door. She isn't in uniform but in loose fitting clothes with a long shawl draped over her shoulders.. Her hair is all tussled and her makeup a mess.. but to him that just adds to the beauty of his wife.. The reason he held on for so long under the Tal'Kaden's torture... The reason he lived.. Her.

Gwen Just stares at Nevaren, standing like a statue a few feet from the door. Her lower lip begins to tremble, her eyes glisten, as she fights to remain in control.. But she can't. It's too much. He lets out a sob and rushes over to her husband who lays in the bed all covered in bandages and new scars. She crushes him with her embrace, drowning her cries in his hair that has grown long enough to reach his waist.

Nev can't help it either. He begins to cry as well as all the hopelessness of the past near-two years is washed away with a new hope.. He uses all his strength to lift his arms and wrap them around her shoulders. "Prophets," he cries.. "Prophets thank you.."

After what seems an eternity the sobs lessen and the tears diminish. Gwen pulls herself up, wiping at her nose and red rimmed eyes. "My love... Oh my love.." she reaches down and caresses his face.. "We had given up all hope.. They told us you were dead.. They showed us recordings of your execution.. We never knew it was a trick.. "

It is s strange and surreal sight.. a man who was thought dead, who was on deaths door, nearly tortured to death but not broken giving solace to the young woman crying against him. Nevaren shhhhs and strokes her hair, trying to soothe her. "It is okay, Gwen.. It is okay. I am here, now. I told you I would never leave you forever... I came back and now everything will be alright..."

But something is wrong. Gwen starts to cry even harder, her breath catching in her throat in ragged sobs. "Oh Nev.. I am so sorry." She hugs him harder, but refuses to look at him.

Nev holds his wife, growing confused again. He runs his hands down her back, trying to hold onto her but can't. "Why are you sorry, Gwen?" he asks, his voice thick. He slides back into the bed, just looking at her, trying to catch her eyes but she won't let him. He looks down, at her hands, as they try to hide her stomach..

And Nevaren's world falls apart.

The cotton shawl and loose fitting shirt fail to conceal the bulge of her stomach.. something which Nevaren hadn't noticed. The slight swell of her belly beneath the fabric causes his heart to break. "You.. You're pregnant.." he whispers, the fact not quite setting in yet. His voice is hollow.

Gwen doesn't answer with words, but just raises her hands and hides her face in them, starting to sob louder. Nevaren's body, his mind, his soul all go numb as he repeats the words over and over again. "You're pregnant...you are.. pregnant.. pregnant.. you are.."

Gwen's hands drop to her sides and he can see tears staining her now pale face.. Her eyes are filled with guilt.. remorse.. "I never wanted to give up.." she chokes.. "I never wanted to believe you were dead..." She swallows hard, eyes flickering, "But they showed us the recording, Nevaren.. The Execution.. I had to move on..."

"Who?" is all Nev asks.. a thousand emotions all packed into a single word. Gwen can't bring herself to answer, but a second voice from the doorway does it for her. A familiar, masculine voice. "I am the father, Nevaren." it tells him. Nevaren turns his head, looking at the intruder in his room.. the last person he ever expected to see in his life.

Marcus Kallan stands in the doorway, his face just as pale and drawn as Gwen's. He looks, for lack of a better description, like a kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. The ex-starfleet officer slowly walks over, stepping in behind Gwen and resting his hands in a protective gesture on her shoulders.

"I am sorry, Nevaren.." Kallan whispers in guilt, "I truly am.. We didn't want you to find out this way. When you were proclaimed dead after all those months searching, Gwen almost went crazy with depression. I came back to 419 to help her and say I was sorry.. We didn't mean for this to happen.. We really didn't.. It was an accident.."

The last of Nevaren's world slips away into a cloud of blood green. He can feel his blood begin to boil in his veins as he looks between the two, his wife and her ex-lover standing so close.. His wife carrying the child of another man... Every hope that kept him sane, that kept him a /man/ for the past two years is thrown away. "You..." he hisses, stirring in his bed, trying to sit up.. "You betrayed me.... You /betrayed/ me!" The indicators on the biobed start to rise as his blood pressure spikes.

Kallan steps backwards, a primal fear in his eyes as the finally broken half-romulan begins to raise himself. Poole quickly steps forward, putting her hands on Nevaren's chest trying to get him to lay back down. "Nevaren.. please.. please don't.."

But Nev can't hear her.. The adrenaline analog is pumping through his body, fueled by anger and jealousy.. by the thought that he has been betrayed in the most gravest sense. His injured body seems to take on more dimension as he slides off the bed, pushing Gwen aside and sending her sprawling. The beast has been unleashed.. the beast cannot be sated.. the beast must attack...

Kallan gulps and quickly stabs at a comm panel beside him. "Security.. We need security here on the doub..*GAK*" He is stopped mid sentence as Nevaren lunges forward and wraps the fingers of his hand around his throat, cutting off all ability to breath. The Albino snarls, his control all but gone/ "You bastard.." Nevaren roars, squeezing even more.. "She was all that kept me alive! She was all that I had.. And /you/ took her /away/ from me."

Nevaren's muscles, though weakened by long imprisonment, coil and tense as he lifts the human off the ground by his windpipe. Gwen stirs on the ground, looking up at the two men in her life. "Please.." she cries, grabbing Nevaren's leg.. "Please Nevaren.. Don't.. Don't do it.. Forgive me.. Please.."

Nevaren is torn.. He looks at the man he hates more then anything, turning beat red and struggling as he hangs like a ragdoll in the romulan's grip.. He looks down at the woman who was his world.. who the very memory of had let him resist his captors will breaking tortures and beatings... Yes.. he is torn.. but not enough. "No." he whispers, then looks back up at Kallan.. Nevaren's bloodshot green eyes narrow on the Human whose eyes are wide with the knowledge that he is going to die. "It is to late.. for forgiveness."

Nev roars one final time like an animal and squeezes.. Fingernails dig into Kallan's Neck, drawing furrows of blood as Nevaren is about to give the final twist and end it all for him..

But the finale never comes.. Nev is blasted off his feet by a searing blast of phased energy. There is a scream as Gwen Runs at Nevaren and Kallan, trying to get between them and the Security guards who have entered the room. Kallan falls to the floor, hacking and coughing, trying to regain his breath. Nev twirls around, all composure lost. Another beam strikes him in the shoulder but he doesn't fall.. He just advances on the guards, a man no longer but an animal of pure fury. He takes a few steps, batting away two of the guards as if they were flies. The Security Chief reluctantly ups the power on his phaser and brings to bear on Nevaren just as the romulan leaps at him...

The Security chief hits Nev square in the chest. Nevaren can smell charred flesh as he is thrown one last time backwards... He staggers, looking down at his chest.. the blackened circle of skin where the beam has charbroiled tissue and fused it with his hospital smock. The anger ebbs away, replaced with shock.. and he falls over, looking at the bright white of the ceiling lights once more.

The fringes of Nevaren's eyesight darken, like cancerous shadows eating away at his vision. He can see The Security Chief standing over him, frowning at Nevaren with a profound sense of remorse. Beside the chief, Gwen leans over and cries at Nevaren, her hand smoothing his hair. "Oh Nevaren.." she sobs, tears streaming down her face, "Please.. Please don't die.. Please.. not again.. You promised.. I'm sorry.. Please.. I am sorry..."

The Darkness swallows everything, Gwen's image telescoping away from him, her voice receding into the infinite distance, until all there is in the universe is cold, dark void surround a point of white burning light.. A point of white light that slowly turns blue..

The Point of blue slowly expands.. It becomes a sphere of hazy energy.. that splits into two tear drops falling away from each other yet are always joined at the tail ends. The Prylar slowly closes the Box that holds the Orb of Destiny and turns to Face Nevaren, placing a withered hand on the Lieutenant's Shoulder, holding Nevaren up.

Nevaren is completely numb, his pale skin waxy and cold. He looks up at the Prylar, wanting to tell him everything.. but the memories that were so vivid only moments before are receding... The future history flows from his mind, only leaving remnants of the actual specific scene the Orb has cruelly given him. No words come from his pale lips, only the sound of his crying quietly spilling across the room as he buries his face in his hands.