=-=
"Be Fine"
[previous post was "Shadows of Change" by the Masterful Francois]
=-=

Setting: SPACE, In the emptiness between stars
Stardate: Not applicable

Lost in an endless universe of thoughts and images that made little sense to her, Shar'El tried to focus on something, anything that had been in the slightest way familiar to her.  The distant echo of a voice, one that seemed to belong to an entirely different reality caused the bodiless woman to turn towards a distant star, a single point of light amongst millions.  Through sheer will the woman crossed the void between her and the star in mere seconds.  Her physical form had been left behind long ago leaving her to be nothing more than a wondering consciousness traveling between stars and dimensions.

~You'll be fine,~ the voice said as if emanating from within the light.

For a moment Shar'El wondered as to what exactly she had been hearing.  Had it been the disembodied voice of an all powerful being residing within the light? Had it been a voice from her past beckoning her to step through the corridor of light leaving everything else behind? So many possibilities, yet none of them seemed 'right' as far as the black haired woman had been concerned.

Shar'El studied the light in all of its forms, shapes and variants.  Every now and then she thought that she had seen a form within the blinding glow, a creature possessing arms and legs very much like those that she once had.  Had this been a portal of sorts to another place, another time or had it been nothing more than a memory long ago forgotten?

~Rest,~ the voice said as the image changed to be that of a face, one that held very distinct features.  "I'm here for you."  There had been a definite familiarity about that voice and the ridges on the nose of the face beyond the light.  Memories of a ship and its crew came into her disembodied mind, one face after another.  There had been no doubts, she knew these faces, these people, each and everyone of them.  She had touched their memories in what felt like an eternity and yet the images had been fresh as if it had all happened yesterday.

::Seska.:: Shar'El thought, more as a memory than an revelation.  :Seska.:: She repeated as her mind gradually drew closer to the light until it came to encompass her consciousness whole.

=-=
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Sickbay
Stardate: 30150.0645

The ILO stirred drawing the immediate attention of Doctor Mizore onto her.

"Relax," Seska said as she checked some of the readings on the display above the patient's head.  "You are in sickbay, recuperating from what they did to you."

Out of natural reflex for her species, Shar'El peeked into the mind of the woman who had been there standing over her.  In a matter of seconds the ILO was made to see what had happened following her own request for help and how the Counselor and Engineer had summoned the Doctor's fullest anger against them.

"You should not be angry at them," Shar'El said, her voice having come out far weaker than she had expected it to.  "They acted as I had asked them to.  Whatever knowledge I picked up while my mind was inside that machine needed to be saved."

"Stop talking," Seska softly ordered, partially because she had wanted for Shar'El to rest and partially because the Doctor had not wanted to discuss this matter further.  "You need to rest."

"My neurotransmitters are working over time," the ILO said, indicating by this that she had still been inside the Bajoran Doctor's memories, "and you are afraid that this strain is going to cause me to 'lose my mind'."

"First," Doctor Mizore said in a very stern manner, "get out of my head.  Second, you need to rest and if I have to I will sedate you."

"Sorry," Shar'El said as she closed her eyes to indicate that she had severed her link into the Bajoran's most recent memories.  "I understand why you are angry at them, but the truth is that they did exactly what they were meant to do, just as you did.  Had I stayed in my quarters and not seek Eve's help she would not have called you to help and I would have remained alone with a head full of alien knowledge.  Sonja did what she could to comply with my request to have the information recorded because  did not want it to be lost to us forever."

"We could have lost you," Seska said as her anger towards the other two officers resurfaced and was in a small way directed to the central cause of this mess.

"What is one life compared to the knowledge that was collected?" Shar'El spoke with a wisdom that seem to originate from well beyond the confines of the ILO's own mind and life experiences.  "Had I stayed in my quarters I might have died there and the knowledge would have been lost.  Instead Eve placed me in a state that allowed for that knowledge to be recorded, be it in whole or in part, and you were there to see that I made it out in one piece."

Seska had been ready to unleash another argument when Shar'El simply reached out and took hold of the Doctor's hand.

"Things happened as they were meant to happen, and will continue to do so," the ILO said with a faint yet reassuring smile.  "This anger will serve no purpose and may interfere with your duties as Chief Medical Officer."

"I have not accepted that position yet," the Bajoran pointed out with an angered sigh, realizing that the Ullian had come to be aware of the offer thanks to her recent memory invasion.

"Things have happened and will continue to happen for a reason," Shar'El said as she eased her head back down onto the pillow of her bed.  "Your anger will not change what must come to pass, but it will make things a lot more difficult to everyone including yourself."

"They got what they wanted," Seska said referring to the information that Eve and Sonja had recorded from Shar'El's mind, "but that still leaves me with your situation, one that I honestly have no idea as to how to fix without risking lobotomizing you."

"Once we arrive at NEW ALEXANDRIA, all will be fine," the ILO said just as her readings became erratic forcing Doctor Mizore to administer a sedative to help bring the rapidly increasing rate of neurotransmitters back to a safer level. 

=-=
Tiffany Reeve

Ensign Shar'El
Intel Liaison Officer
USS ANUBIS