Ghost in the machine.

Posted on Sun Dec 19th, 2021 @ 12:46am by Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Commander Finchley Kerr

Mission: Gamma Quadrant
Location: Bajoran temple, Prominade, DS9
Timeline: Current

The Militia Officer stood half way down the isle in the Bajoran temple, staring at the dais in front of him. The Vedek who was there saw them and walked down to meet them, and as he drew level asked "Can I be of service to you?"

Turning, the Officer had a lost look on their face and replied "I was drawn here Vedek, I can't explain why though, it was...like a calling."

"The Prophets can call us, often we can't fathom why, prayer often helps though. What's your name child?" the Vedek asked.

The Officer gave a blank look as he said "I don't know, I...I...can't remember."

"What can you remember?" the Vedek asked calmly.

"There was fighting, lots of fighting...and smoke" the Officer replied "and a ship, a Carrier I think. I had to get some others onboard...then I was here, in this place, I was drawn to come to this place."

"It sounds like you've had a traumatic experience" the Vedek replied "If you'll excuse me for just a moment, I think there may be a way to help you remember" the Vedek replied.

The Officer half smiled as they replied "Of course."

The Vedek turned and walked away to a side room. Once there, they opened a COMM link and said "Vedek J'nar to Captain Kira, could you please come to the Bajoran temple on the Habitat ring, it's urgent."

" Of course" Kira's reply was curt and effeciency, several instructions could be heard in the background as they rallied with the carrier situation.

A few moments later the bajoran commander of the federation station strode towards the religious heart of the promenade, taking a moment to pause and gather herself before entering the sacred space.

"J'Nar?" She called as she entered the darkened chamber.

Vedek J'nar came out of the side room and approached Kira and said "Thank you for coming so swiftly Kira, we have an unusual situation here. I was coming into the temple to pray when I saw a Militia Officer standing near the dais. I approached him and asked if I could help him. He was rather vague, he said he was drawn here, but didn't know why. He doesn't appear to know his name, and all he can recall of recent times was being in some kind of fight, there being a lot of smoke, a ship and others he had to get onboard...then he was here, in the temple" he finished.

Kira frowned a little, her mind working to process the information and come up with a semi reasonable hypothesis, of which she couldn't really. " Did he say he came from the carriers? Or that he is here for another reason?" She asked carefully, looking to see if she could identify this man visually.

"He did mention something about a Carrier, yes, I can only imagine it's from what you just said" J'nar answered "may I ask what that situation is, it could shed shed some light on this situation?" he added.

Kira pondered for a moment before disclosing the publicly aware details of the situation. " The Sunfire towed two carriers back from the Gamma Quadrant, there'd been a run in with the Cardassians for some reason or other. However one of them suffered an explosion a short time ago" She explained.

"The Officer doesn't look like he's been in any kind of explosion or fire fight, his uniform's not blackened or torn that I can see" J'nar replied "could he have come from the other Carrier perhaps, it may be worth trying to speak with him, to find out?" he added.

"Most of that crew have dispersed already and returned to Bajor" Kira rubbed her nose ridges. "Am I able to talk to him?" She asked.

"Of course" J'nar replied "there's a room behind the dais, please, use that for as long as you wish."

" Thank You" Kira smiled warmly at the cleric and followed him to where this man was apparently waiting, confused as to who he was and how he got there. Not normally something she would deal with personally but J'nar had thought she could help so here she was. She looked around the room, seeing it decorated in the colours of Bajor and the style of the ancient temples. A painting of the Celestial temple hung on one wall, a portrait of Ben Sisko as the Emissary on another.

" Hello, what's your name?" She approached the man who seemed confused and was looking at the picture of the wormhole.

Joran turned at the sound of the voice, and seeing a Senior Militia Officer immediately stiffened to attention "H...hello Sir. I'm sorry, I didn't hear you approaching, I was looking at the picture on the wall. I...I'm not sure what my name is, I can't remember" he lied, feigning memory loss "...I do try, I really do" he added, now looking at Kira with slowly spreading panic on his face and fear in his eyes "but it just won't come to me, it won't come, I don't know who I am...I don't know who I am, I don't know why I'm here in this place...why am I here???" he shouted, now holding his head in his hands.

" Shh it's okay" Kira soothed, adjusting her position so she was level with him. " Why don't you come with me to the Infirmary, perhaps Dr Bashir can work out why you can't remember" She encouraged.

"No...no" he replied, slowly looking up and feigning fear in his eyes "It calm here, serene...I need, would like..to stay here, please Sir...please!" he implored, reaching out hand and laying it on Kira's arm as if to emphasise his point.

Realising what he'd done, he withdrew it immediately saying "I...I'm sorry Sir, I just want peace for w while, to try to get my thoughts together."

Kira changed tack, taking her time before she spoke again " I can understand that, there's been some frightening things happening lately. Would you like me to ask one of the counsellors down here to talk with you? They're much more equipped to help you than I am" She admitted as she tried to sooth the man with her words and body language.

"I suppose that could help Sir" Joran replied "but, would you be able to stay also, for some moral support, I'd appreciate you being there as a Bajoran" he finished.

For an instant Kira was torn, she was needed back up in Ops but she also didn't want to abandon this man who was so desperately confused and vulnerable.

" I can stay for a short while, I promise you no harm will come to you. We just want to help"

Joran looked away from Kira, almost looking ashamed "No Sir, it's alright, I'll...I'll try to speak to the Counsellor by myself, you've been more than kind enough with your time already. You have much more important duties to attend to than be here, I wholeheartedly appreciate you taking the time out of your day" he finished. Standing up and walking over to the picture of an orb...he reached out as if to touch it and whispered "Destiny"

Kira was heading towards the door when the hushed words pulled her up short.

" What did you say?" She asked cautiously, the hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up.

Joran turned back to Kira and replied "I'm sorry Sir, I didn't say anything, I just sighed...things are so confusing to me right now, I just wish I could remember."

" You said Destiny.....what is it about the wormhole that you see as your destiny?" She asked, turning around to look him squarely in the eyes. Would he meet her unyielding gaze or not?

Joran looked at Kira confusedly saying "I remember looking at the picture of the orb and sighing Sir, but I don't recall saying destiny...can I ask if this word destiny mean something to you or anyone on the station, is it a code for something?"

Kira looked unconvinced but seemed to take his words at face value, he definately needed medical and psychological evaluation but it seemed the counsellor she had asked the cleric to page was taking their sweet ass time to get there. " Destiny means different things to different people. Now why don't you tell me the last thing you remember clearly? "

Joran closed his eyes, as if in concentration. He slowed his breathing and began "My brigade were in the Chancel grove, near the government buildings, we knew the attack from Halraim's troops would come from the North. They attacked in force, many more than we'd anticipated, the fighting was fierce, and it ended up being hand to hand. Our brigade had taken heavy losses, and we slowly withdrew to the Government buildings. Word had come to us that we had to make a stand, allow those officials who could get out to make it to two Carriers that were still in our hands. We did what we could, but Halraim's people kept at us and we ended up inside the building fighting for our very lives. I managed to get to the landing area where the Carriers were, so that we could at least give them a decent chance to take off. We saw half a dozen government officials coming out and make a run for it, but they were caught in a cross fire. Three of them went down, so myself and two others ran out from our cover to try and get them onboard. I was the last of the three helping the wounded officials up the ramp and I was hit in the back. The last thing I can remember as I went down was the official being dragged up the ramp, then I passed out. I must have been taken inside the Carrier, after that, it's unclear" he finished.

Kira paused and mused over how much she should actually tell him. " Those two carriers were found in an ion cloud under attack by the Cardassians a week ago. The Sunfire towed them back here but one of them had a denotation a short while ago that we are investigating" She watched his expression carefully.

"I don't know anything about that Sir" Joran answered "However, can I ask what government officials were aboard that Carrier?" he asked.

"I didn't mention any government officials" Kira replied, her concern narrowing a little. "How do you know there were officials on there?" Her gut told her something was up.

"Sir, we were at the government buildings, helping to get the officials out to both Carriers, I saw them boarding both of them before I tried to rescue one who had been injured" Joran replied calmly "many of my militia squad gave their lives to rescue them, are you doubting me in what I saw?"

"Not at all, it appears your memory is starting to return, that's a good sign" Kira encouraged, patting Joran reassuringly on the shoulder.

Joran feigned a look of non belief in what Kira replied to him, it also had a hint of 'don't patronise me' in it as well, however he answered with "Only some of it, I don't remember much of what happened after I was shot. I'll wait on the Counsellor coming, perhaps they'll put stock in what I say to them. Excuse me please Sir"

He moved away from Kira and once again began staring at the orb picture as he waited on the Counsellor arriving.

The station counsellor arrived a few minutes later, promising to keep Kira informed as to how Joran came to be confused. Somehow Kira knew this wouldn't be the end of it.