Cleansed By Fire

Posted on 28 Jul 2019 @ 5:39pm by Captain Jonathan Reynolds & Lieutenant Commander True Keading

Mission: Mission 1 - In the pale moonlight ...
Location: True's quarters
Timeline: MD5 04:30
1476 words - 3 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Jon felt he seen a fair few things in his 35 years but he never imagined he would witness his first officer absolutely convinced that she was being sucked out of the turbolift into a vortex. But then again, he never imagined he would dream "the great fire".

Something ... was up. Something was wrong. All around him he could sense crew uneasy, frightened ....

He sent Amelia to sickbay and completely ignoring whatever time it was in the morning headed to the counselors quarters.

True came to wakefulness at the sound of the chime. She had been dreaming, or just had an uneasy feeling about her but she couldn't recall anything. She rose from bed, slipped on her robe and slippers and went to the door. "Come in," she called, her voice a bit hoarse. "Captain," she said surprised. "Can I help you?"

"Something is wrong, I just had a waking dream. A pretty frightening one. And the XO had another and hurt herself," Jon said. "Theres unease all among the crew."

"Come inside," True said gesturing for him to sit down anywhere. She went to the replicator and ordered two cups of tea, placing one in front of him after adding just a bit of honey to it. "Tell me about the dream." She said quietly, looking at him expectantly.

"Everything was on fire. The end was coming like the first time," Jon said wincing. He swore he could still smell the smoke.

"In Betazoid religion there was a great fire, cleansed our planet in the past. We didn't behave well in the past, angered the goddesses so they brought the punishment and those who survived atoned and they allowed us a second chance. A bit like Earth and its Christianity - you know … Noah the great flood." He sipped his tea for a moment noticing he had got her out of bed as she was wearing a dressing gown. A rather nice dressing gown. What time was it? He wondered concentrating back on explaining what had happened again.

"But this was different, there was black shimmering things. They were evil I knew that. Coming closer and closer. Invading the planet. The goddesses were there but they wouldn't help us. Said they had let them come, they had given up on us again. Abandoning us. Something they promised never to do again after the great fire," he finished.

He sounded like a scared little kid. Running to his counselor in what was obviously a nightmare in the middle of the night. But something was off.

It didn't take any Betazoid gifts to see that he was really rattled by this. "Well dreaming about such events isn't that uncommon, especially for people who have a lot of responsibilities but that the fact that it happened while you were supposedly awake is more concerning. Have you been to sickbay?" True asked, but making herself clear she continued. "Not that I don't believe you experienced this, just to see if there was any sort of physical reason for what you saw." She was waiting to give her opinion on the rest of the crew until he responded.

"i don't need to go to sickbay," Jon said firmly and some what frustratedly. "There's nothing physically wrong with me. I can sense the emotions of the crew. There's other people wigged out. This is too much of a coincidence. Amelia has just had the same happen to her and I witnessed it. She thought she was sucked out the turbolift into a vortex."

"Alright," True said, not taking his raised voice personally. "Aside from any physical aspects, everyone is on edge because we don't know what we are facing. That's bound to make a lot of the crew nervous. What you and Commander Fox experienced though is rare. It could be any number of things from alien contact to spatial anomaly. "Might be good to get both of you together to talk about it."

"Well I told her to come find me again once she was fixed up," Jon stated. "Suppose its not any of the above and I'm just freaked out. Would you just analyse the dream somehow?"

"I could certainly, but I think you already know what I'm going to say. Dreams about the end of the world usually mean you're in a stressful situation, big surprise there. It can also mean you are going through big changes in your life, which you are of course. But from what I know of you, you're a strong person and can usually handle such changes. You're not immune to those around you having trouble dealing with the mission though." True continued without waiting for a response. "Fire on the other hand an mean desire, passion, destruction, transformation, purification, enlightenment, but also anger. Fire in dreams is also a symbol of creative or sexual passion . . ." She couldn't help but smile at the last part. She told herself to behave however and let out a long breath. "The best thing I can do to help you is to just let you talk about what you experienced. I'm not a seer and can't reach into the future and pluck answers to give you." True reached out a hand, placed it palm up in front of her and waited to see if he would take it. "You need to center yourself and not give into the fear."

"All good points," he said slowly. The man in him fought not to smile at her mention of sexual passion and sensing her reaction to her own words. "I'm still leaning towards alien contact personally. It wasn't Betazed that planet now I reflect back.

"I never give in to fear," he stated simply. That was a fact he was clinging too.

She was holding her hand out clearly wanting him to take it. He sat down next to her and slid his over hers. "But I'm starting to feel like I have no rudder at present and don't know which direction the winds blowing in. So I guess I would be a fool to knock some centering. Lay it on me True," he said gently.

"Good, take a deep breath and close your eyes." True reached over and propped a pillow from the sofa under both of their hands. "Now I want you to picture a scene where you feel very comfortable, can be a place you know well, a beach, a forest, anywhere you feel completely at ease. I don't want you to think about anything around you except the pressure from my hand under yours. With each breath I want you to visualize the place in front of you but be mindful of my hand. Think of it as a conduit. Allow each breath to wash through you and imagine that it runs down your arm and into mine."

"I'm not sure this is the right time for ...…. or the right sort of therapy …." Jon said a tiny degree of nervousness evident in his voice.

"As nice as that idea is counselor," Jon said pulling his hand away again. "Thinking about a comfortable beach and the touch and pressure of your …… ...... well I'll be honest. Thats not going to centre me. Perhaps I need a different conduit," he suggested. It wasn't going to centre him at all. Especially when she was in a bath robe and now so close.

"I apologize," True said holding up her hand. He didn't need to explain. "The holodeck then, and yes sand or some other kind of natural ground under your feet. Just try what I suggested, I think it would really help, and of course sooner than later. Do it while the dream is still fresh in your mind." True said, feeling embarrassed that she had tried to do such a thing, though the thoughts behind it had been innocent enough.

Jon stood up. "Don't apologise True. Its not your fault. I find you an attractive woman," he said simply. "Im sorry to have bothered you in the middle of the night. And you're right, the holodeck. I will go run a program. Keep an eye on this situation and keep me informed," he said simply heading for the door.

True found herself standing in her quarters alone and felt even worse about the situation. To her knowledge she'd never made a patient uncomfortable before, except for the usual jitters when speaking to the counselor. Why did she have to go and do something so stupid? She let out a breath, told herself it was okay and headed for the bedroom to get dressed. She was going to her office. There was no more sleep to be had tonight.


●● Lieutenant True Keading
Chief Counselor
USS Andromeda


●●● Commander Jonathan Reynolds
Commanding Officer
USS Andromeda