Setting: USS HATHOR, Mess Hall
It was around lunchtime when Susan had suddenly started feeling lonely. After her attempt to find Prav to talk to him about the Breen exercise had been unsuccessful, she had headed to the small mess hall for lunch where a small maintenance team made up of Prav's marines was busy cleaning. She was sitting watching them and wondering whether she should offer her assistance when she noticed the general lack of people around.
"Excuse me" she asked the nearest marine, "Where… is everyone?"
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Her question led her to the storage bay where she eyed the goings on with interest. Lea came over to her, smiling. "Wanna give it a go?"
Susan raised her eyebrows, "What? Me?"
"The captain is looking for volunteers."
Susan looked around suspiciously before finally declaring, "I will if you will."
The doctor nudged her friend, "I'm afraid I already have" and led Susan to the latest crystal.
Susan narrowed her eyes and glanced at the CMO who nodded encouragingly. She sighed and reached out her hand.
Stardate: 60333.1300
Setting: USS HATHOR, Storage Bay
Stardate: 60333.1310
Cathee went flying over the snowy landscape. She wasn't literally flying of course, but she wished she was. The skimpy dress she wore made running difficult and her bare feet ached with cold pain that seemed to work it's way to her very bone. She realized she could be bleeding, leaving a scarlet trail in the snow for her pursuers to follow but she didn't dare stop to look. She tripped and suddenly found herself rolling down a snowy bank. Dark horses stopped silhouetted against the white horison, the lead horse sprouted to huge, grey tusks that broke the backs of run-away slaves like Cathee on a daily basis. Fear overtaking pain, she stumbled to her feet and began the run again.
If she had sat down and calculated her chances of escaping, she would have probably been disheartened, but since her education had never included such advanced mathematics, she continued to run for her life. Literally.
Down another bank she darted like a frightened animal. Suddenly a great gray form swerved to intersect her. Before her eyes could make sense of what the shape was her resolve collapsed. Her knees also collapsed as the horse reared.
Into the snow she fell. Frown within his helmet, the familiar eyes of the lead pursuer gazed down at her, showing no mercy.
Cathee choked on tears of fear as she looked up at him with huge amber eyes. Her eyes were still rivetted to his as the other riders encircled her.
Once they were all there – all watching – he removed his helmet, a traditional acknowledgement that he believed his opponent to no longer prove a threat. This gesture, in Cathee's case, was also intended to show her the face of her persuer – and to force her to realize she had no chance of escape.
"For the child" his gruff voice said, "I will spare you your life. When he is born, however, you will receive the traditional punishment for your crime." Cathee knew that he was not refering to her rapid sprint away from the palace, but for the treasonous act of falling pregnant with the prince's child. It did not matter that she had had no choice in this, she was the slave and he was the heir to the throne. The punishment for this act, was death. She knew it now as she had known it when she had fled, taking one desperate chance at saving herself. Now she bowed her head in acknowledgement of the prince's words and let the other men bind her to take back to the castle, their hunt complete.
The make-believe world around Susan spun and she was briefly aware of who she was and where she was before another image settled itself in her mind.
Amber eyes shone out of the darkness. Large and rounded. Almost as those of the Kathga cat. "Thus began my life as a slave. My mother had the right idea when she ran, but she lacked the brains or the brawn to do what had to be done. The establishment to which my father belonged had to fall. It was the worst decision he ever made to let her live that day. The part of him, the tiny part of him that was in me, was do be his downfall."
Suddenly curtains were drawn and the richly decorated room filled with light, revealing a class of bewildered children blinking in the sudden light. The owner of the eyes stood, his rich robes falling over his body, making it look much larger than it really was. In reality he was a slender man. Age had not been kind to him and, along with many reminders of old battle wounds, it had brought many sicknesses his people new nothing of. He stood majestically. A walked slowly to the large window that had been revealed by the parting of the curtains. Below stretched miles and miles of land that eventually ended in a sparkling ocean.
"I drew on that part of me to build the land we now call JANHAN. A society where all are equal at birth and it is the decisions we make along the way that dictate what we become." Dukar turned back to the children, "I started as a slave child, my mother taken from me before she could even nurse me, working from the day I could crawl. I was "duk arre" – slave child. Now I am Dukar. I was property, now I am JANHAN. I was… born of fire, Gave way to water Rose to become air…" his voice slowed as he turned once again towards the ocean, "To fall upon the earth, For I am thrice born, And tomorrow I shall die, But for tonight, I shall live. Forever!" He gazed out towards the ocean, lost in thought for a second before his eyes returned to the sea of young, eager faces. "I have always loved that poem." He smiled, "My dream was of a land where all could enjoy such things. JANHAN is that land and you must never forget it. Many other countries exist in this world, but none are like JANHAN. In no other country can you be as free, as equal. In no other country is neighborly goodness of such high importance. If you follow your teacher, he take you to the culture museum where the horror of these other countries will be demonstrated to you."
The children rose and Susan fell.
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The deck of the storage bay hit her hard – as if she had fallen from a far greater height. The world around her spun into focus and she found Lea and Liz both kneeling at her side, concerned. She sat up groggily and shook her head. "Propaganda" she whispered.
Lea looked confused, "What?"
"I think she said coriander." Liz announced, "Can we get you something to eat?"
"No…" Susan got shakily to her feet. "I need… bed."
--------------- 2005 post #596
Setting: USS HATHOR, Storage Bay
Stardate: 60333.1325
Tallulah Habib {thabib@eject.co.za}
Ensign Susan Mei
Head Counselor
USS ANUBIS
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"Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own." - Adam Lindsay Gordon