Guardians

Posted on Sat Aug 29th, 2026 @ 3:06pm by Patin & Captain Marie Batel

3,170 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Pirates!
Location: Everywhere

With reluctance Marie and Patin left the Sunfire, not completely leaving the Badlands, just the current location.

The Bristol was acting as a tug, assisting the battered flagship out of the dangerous region of space towards the relative safety of open space and DS9.

Marie plonked herself on an orange swirl of ionic matter, musing, processing. " Dean shouldn't have been able to do what he did..." she commented as Patin joined her.

"Maybe," Patin said quietly. "Maybe he's like our Dean, special." She scratched at her jaw. "I seem to remember Dean mentioning something about augmented DNA. I won't pretend I understand it, but the dude could take a hit from a dinosaur and keep moving." She shrugged.

"I know he's an augment - but that doesn't explain it. There's something different. Maybe the DNA that they gave him from me is doing weird things. Giving him powers he wouldn't normally have." Marie continued, watching the Sunfire slowly move through the gaseous clouds.

Patin settled beside Marie on the swirling cloud of ionic matter, watching the Sunfire disappear slowly into the crimson haze. For once, she didn't make a joke. Her eyes remained fixed on the ship until the last flicker of running lights vanished into the clouds.

"It's put a hefty price on his head, particularly if our Mirror friends from the other universe saw what he did. They'll find a way to come back, and capture him like they did the other woman." Marie rested her chin on her knees, which were drawn up before her. "Why is it I feel responsible?"

Patin's eyes followed the ship until it became little more than a silhouette against the Badlands. "You're not," she said simply. "You're not responsible for what he does. Nor are you responsible for what they did to him, or for what happens next." She glanced toward Marie.

"That's on them." Patin pulled one knee toward her chest, resting an arm across it. "Whatever they did with your DNA..." She frowned, looking toward the place where Dean had disappeared. "You had no control over any of that."

Marie pondered, reflecting on the incident. "There was something else. I saw the way you reacted. You felt something. I felt something. Something... off with him. Something old, ancient even. Something I've felt only twice before."

"I did, and I've felt it before. The night Nozzie, well, when she almost died and gave birth to lil Patina. She fought with something that felt very similar." Patin suddenly felt the urge to drink something strong as she recalled that night.

Patin looked toward the distant stars, her humor fading. "My people call them Pah'Wraiths. They were Prophets once, until they were banished into the Fire Caves of Bajor. Evil bastards, hell-bent on twisting the universe in their favor." She snorted softly. "Their big goal is to stand in the Celestial Temple while every Bajoran in existence grovels at their feet as slaves." Her eyes narrowed. "Like that'll ever happen."

"We call them Vezda, or Vezda'Pah. An ancient race inhabiting others to dominate the universe. We put a stop to it, but they'll always keep trying. Sounds very much like these Pagh Wraiths' Marie commented, extrapolating the similarities between the two cultures. "They're probably deeply connected somehow."

Patin considered for a moment, her expression becoming increasingly skeptical as she looked between Marie and the distant stars. "We could do a deep dive." She counted the options off on her fingers. "Go on an adventure. Dig through ancient Bajoran records, compare legends, find out whether the Vezda and the Pah'Wraiths share some cosmic ancestor..."

She dropped her hand. "Or..." A crooked smile returned. "We could just ask them." Patin glanced upward toward the unseen Prophets. "Assuming they're in a talkative mood."

" Since when have they ever answered a direct question with a correspondingly specific direct answer?" Marie scoffed, rolling her eyes in the process. "No, I reckon we go for a bit of a wander through history - now that this lot are no longer in danger of blowing themselves up - again."

"Oh, you haven't known them very long." Patin looked at her wrist and the imaginary timepiece. "I give 'em 5 minutes, 6, tops. But that should be long enough. So... where do we start?"

A thousand different timelines appeared, all branching off in a thousand different directions. Marie perused them, meandering amung them until she found the one she was looking for. She pulled on it as though reeling in a fishing rod, drawing the time she was interested in closer.

"Now this should be interesting." She mused, stepping into the time where Bajor was in its infancy, the Vezda were part of the Prophets but in a different form, and the Prophets themselves were a different kettle of fish.

Patin watched the timeline fold around them, her expression somewhere between curiosity and resignation. Ancient Bajor stretched out before them, familiar in shape but utterly foreign in everything else. She glanced at Marie, then back at the shifting history. "Well..." She shoved her hands into her pockets. "This is your show, kid." A crooked smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "You chose the time. You picked the place. I'm just here to make sure we don't accidentally piss off anything with a grudge."

"Aren't you at least curious?" Marie retorted as Patin seemed to be content to take the back seat. "This is your planet's history; it's real history, not what has been chosen to be shared." She stood with her hands on her hips. The Prophets were corporeal beings, moving through the universe. There was an accident - one that disrupted the natural evolution of Bajor. A small contingent of these beings remained behind to look after the beleaguered planet - to guard it and protect it.

"Of course I'm curious. Does this not look like the face of someone who isn't?" Patin said, pointing jovially at her own fake smiling face.

"I'm always curious why these 'Celestial Beings' are perfectly happy to sit around watching us at our most vulnerable. Taking a bath, having a private moment, doing something embarrassing..." She waved a hand toward the ancient landscape. "But the second some Spoonhead has a boot on your neck, suddenly they're busy doing whatever it is gods do when they're up there pretending not to watch."

She broke into a hearty laugh, "I've never been much of a history nut though. I know the basics. I've picked up a few things while babysitting the gods, obviously, but ask me for dates, and I'm likely to start making shit up."

"So let's find out what happened - what made them change from beings who promised to protect, to those who don't interfere.... and then there's the whole Pah Wraith, VezdaPah thing..." Marie was positively bubbling with the thought of finding out exactly what had transpired to make these beings what they were today.

"Well let's see, Bajoran Society as I know it has been flourishing for about 25,000 years, give or take. We were artisans once, scient, mathematics, ya know, the boring stuff. Then somewhere around, I don't know, 10,000 years ago thereabouts the Prophets sent us their Tears. That seems as good a place to start as any."

Patin folded her arms, staring at the ancient landscape as though the answer might be written across it. "The Tears weren't just pretty rocks, either. They called them gifts. Religion, culture, history... all tangled up in them. They were a literal portal giving us a way to speak to them." She glanced at Marie. "Which means somewhere in here we're probably going to find the part where everything got complicated." She finished by pointing to the wide swath in the timeline of 10-15 thousand years.

"That's a pretty hefty swag of time," Marie mused as she sped up the time that passed before them, her attention focused on the Prophet beings. At first they were benevolent - giving the people skills, good seasons to grow food; they wanted to be involved in the development of these people. The 'Tears' were sent - although some were also sent into the universe in the other direction - just in case others wanted to talk to them.
Soon, benevolence became interference. Those who were worshipping them as Gods were gifted more than those who did not.

" Oh oh... I feel a big fat General Order 1 coming up soon...." Marie commented as society began to form itself to revolve completely around the religion that worshiped the Prophets.

Patin looked at Marie for a moment, then glanced back toward the unfolding civilization. "General Order One? Is that one of your Starfleet things?"

"Do not interfere with the natural evolution of a species," Marie parroted as though it had been drummed into her for years, which was pretty much accurate. "It's been proven time and time again that no matter the noble intention, it never ends well," she continued, slowing the timestream down just a tad.

Patin watched the timestream slow around them, studying the ancient Bajorans as they began arranging their lives around something they barely understood. "So you're looking for the point where they stopped giving and started grooming." She scratched at her jaw. "What if that's not where we should start?"

She glanced toward Marie. "Why not go back to the first time they gave Bajor something? The very first Tear, or even back to the beginning when they showed their first interest in us? Find out why they gave to us in the first place."

Her brow furrowed. "Because if we're trying to figure out when protecting became controlling, it seems to me we oughta know what the hell they were thinking they were doing when they started protecting us." She shrugged. "I've got plenty of questions. They're just more along the lines of 'why am I not drunk right now?'"

A glass appeared in Marie's hand, amber liquid in its base, and she extended it towards Patin. "You do have the ability to correct that," she smirked. She rewound the timestream again, going back thousands of years again, when the Prophets first encountered the Bajoran people.

Patin took the glass with a grin and knocked back a good, hearty swallow of the amber liquid. She smacked her lips thoughtfully, then handed the glass back as the timestream began to spin around them, centuries and millennia rushing past like an enormous celestial kaleidoscope, civilizations blooming and fading in the blink of an eye. Her eyes tracked the shifting images until something familiar caught her attention.

"Wait..." She snapped her fingers, and the timestream stopped.

Patin pointed excitedly toward the sprawling city frozen before them. "Ooh, that's B'hala." A wide smile spread across her face. "I remember my Fa telling me stories about that place when I was little. Some fairy tale about the legendary city, back when the First Republic was flourishing." She stared at the ancient city for a moment, almost wistful. "She was beautiful, eh?"

"B'hala?" Marie asked, following Patin's eyeline and having it come to rest on the ancient city. "Is there something significant about this particular city? Something like Rome? No wait, you wouldn't know about Rome... or Cairo..." She scratched her head to try and find a comparative.

Patin glanced at Marie, then back toward the impossible city. "Significant? Uh, yeah." Her grin widened. "B'hala wasn't just a city. She was the city. First Republic stuff. Big ideas, big buildings, people wandering around full of themselves because they'd finally figured out how civilization was supposed to work."

She waved a hand toward the sprawling metropolis. "You know, that dangerous age when everyone thinks they've invented wisdom."

She chuckled and settled back to admire the skyline. "Fa used to tell me B'hala was where Bajor learned how to dream properly. Artists, builders, philosophers, merchants... everybody throwing ideas at each other and occasionally building something ridiculous just because they could." Patin's smile softened. "He told me the city was beautiful enough that the stars would come down just to look at it." She glanced sideways at Marie. "Probably bullshit. But I was young and believed every word."

She sighed, remembering the fable. "He had this one story about it. Something about a little girl who thought she was going to grow up alone." Patin shrugged. "It's probably not historically accurate. Most of Fa's stories weren't. But I liked that one."

"But most of them were rooted in some kind of fact. This B'hala sounds like an interesting place. I haven't heard it mentioned before, though. What happened to it?" Marie was genuinely curious.

Patin shrugged. "That was like thirty thousand years ago. All I remember is the city was glorious for almost five thousand years before she fell into decline. Then one day she was just a memory." She scratched at her jaw. "It was probably fifteen thousand years after that when we received the first of the Orbs."

She paused, and everything shifted. The Badlands vanished. There was no sensation of movement, no rushing stars or folding of timelines. One moment they stood among the ancient ruins of B'hala, and the next they were standing inside a small Bajoran tent near a set of caves. Warm light filled the area. Somewhere beyond the walls, the sounds of ancient B'hala drifted through the evening air.

Patin stared at a much younger version of herself sitting cross-legged on a sleeping mat, wrapped in a blanket and looking thoroughly offended by the prospect of bedtime. Beside her sat her Fa, one hand resting on the little girl's head as he finished whatever story had preceded the one he was about to tell.

Patin's face went pale as she realized where they were and what was happening. "NO. Absolutely not."

Marie's head snapped around. "What, you're embarrassed about seeing a younger you at bedtime?" There was a wicked grin there, but the human turned her attention to the scene before them.

Patin didn't reply; her focus, her eyes never left the memory image of her Father as he started telling a story.

Her Fa smiled down at the child; when he spoke, his tone was low, though very tired. "Once, when B'hala was still young, there lived a little girl whose father was a builder."

Young Patin immediately looked suspicious.

"He built magnificent towers that touched the morning clouds, bridges that crossed the great gardens, and windows that caught the celestial light of Bajor's moons. His daughter, a mischievous little thing, loved to follow him throughout the city, though she always complained that he spent too much time working."

Young Patin's eyes narrowed. "Was she a good girl?"

Her Fa chuckled. "Oh, she was a very curious girl."

Patin folded her arms. "Oh, you bastard. You sit there and fill her head full of rubbish."

"Is what he's saying not true?" Marie asked gently, feeling the anger radiate from Patin as though someone had turned on a furnace.

Patin never looked away from the memory.

"One evening, as they watched the sun disappear behind B'hala's towers, the little girl asked, 'Fa, when I grow up, will I build things too?'"

"Her father's voice softened. 'Perhaps.'"

"'What if I don't?'"

"'Then perhaps you'll find something else worth doing.'"

Young Patin considered this with the grave seriousness only a child could manage. 

"'What if I don't find anyone to do it with?' The young girl asked her Father."

"Her Fa looked down at her.  'Then you will have to learn that being alone and being lonely are two different things.'"

"The little girl frowned. She clearly disliked that answer."

Patin's expression softened despite herself. "I remember this." 

Her Fa continued. "So every night afterward, the girl climbed the highest hill overlooking B'hala and wished upon the stars."

Young Patin pulled her blanket tighter around herself.

"'I don't want to be alone. I wish you would send someone for me to share my life with.'"

The memory shifted gently forward. "Seasons passed across the windows. The little girl grew older. She became clever and stubborn." 

Patin muttered under her breath, "and a right pain in the arse."

"And continues to be, although we will not hold that against her," Marie quipped, not taking her eyes off what was happening.

Her Fa continued, "Eventually the girl stopped climbing the hill. She had decided that wishes were for the young. Then, one morning, while out exploring, she found something beneath the old city wall. A tiny bundle. Inside was a baby, abandoned during the night and wrapped in a blanket embroidered with a single star."

Young Patin leaned forward eagerly.

"The older girl picked up the baby. The infant opened her eyes and smiled. The girl stared at her, dismayed at what she'd found. Then she looked toward the sky and asked, 'You're kidding, right?' The stars said nothing."

Patin snorted quietly. "Okay. That part sounds familiar."

"The girl carried the baby home. Her father found them sitting together on the doorstep. 'Who is this now?'"

"'I don't know.'"

"'Well, where did she come from?'"

"'I don't know that either.'"

"Her father smiled. 'Then perhaps you're not supposed to know yet.'"

'The girl frowned. 'I asked the stars for someone to keep me company.'"

"Her father laughed. 'And what did they give you?'"

"The girl looked down at the sleeping child. 'A sister, apparently.'"

Young Patin's eyes began to droop. Her Fa's voice became softer as he finished the story. "And from that day forward, the young girl was never alone."

The memory moved again. "Years passed in the span of a breath. The two sisters grew together until they were older, wiser, of course still as stubborn as ever, standing once more upon the hill overlooking B'hala."

"The younger sister looked toward the stars. 'Do you think they knew?'"

"'Knew what?'"

"'That we would find each other.'"

"The older sister only smiled. 'I don't know.' She took her sister's hand. 'I think they just knew we were destined to be together. That somehow we were supposed to balance one another.'"

The room became quiet. Patin's Fa reached down and pulled the blanket higher around his daughter's shoulders. "And that was the secret B'hala taught them. Some people arrive in your life because you were looking for them. Others arrive because the universe knew exactly what you needed even before you did."

Young Patin was already half asleep. Her father kissed her forehead. "That's why you should never be too certain about the shape of your family, little one." He smiled. "Sometimes the person you think is missing hasn't even arrived yet."

The memory faded. Patin remained completely still. For several seconds she said nothing. Then she rubbed both hands over her face. "Well..." Her voice was very small. "That's going to fuck with me for the next thousand years."

TBC

 

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