Rebirth Saga: Prophecy Summary: While Tom Paris lies in sickbay, their new alien friend learns something about herself... Rated PG Disclaimer: All things Star Trek belong to Paramount Pictures. However the story and characters in it belong to me. The name Janaki was introduced by Subha Rajaram. Author’s Note: This is just a small segment in the series. You should prbably read the first parts (Insomia, Shados 1&2 and Connected), before you start reading this one. Dedicated to Lark, for doing a wonderful beta on this story and helping me to rewrite this in many parts. Thanks pal. Archiving: TPD, TPP & ASC only. If you want it anyway, just ask me, maybe I'll say yes. Please send me feedback to archivist@parisnights.de. It is very much appreciated. Prophecy by Elli     Teaser It was nothing and everyting at the same time. It was the crashing of the waves on the wide ocean, howling through unimagineable forces. It was the blowing of the wind hitting the mortal trees, aching in despair. It was like hearing a million voices blending in as one. Voices whispering, voices screaming, voices growling, voices whimpering. It was everyting and nothing at the same time... What was this place? The voices were talking. But were they talking to her? It was nothing and everything at the same time. It was so hard to discribe that feeling.. Nothing but a fluid liquids mass . And voices, so many voices. It just couldn’t be. How do you identify something you can’t understand? How do you explain the unknown? Why do things happen as they do? She had asked herself that very often. Why am I here? What is here? She knew it had to be a dream. It just had to be. *You’re not dreaming. But again, maybe you are,* a voice overshadowed all the others. Millions of echoes followed it. *I don’t understand,* she started to say, but then was pulled away from the voices ... ***** Gerron Tem rolled the already cold leola root stew on his plate. It had been almost two weeks since they had escaped from the Tolmaan prison ,  and things were different now. Worse. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. They had been bad before . He he just hadn’t taken any notice of it. For the last two weeks Tom Paris had been in sickbay, trapped in a coma. Nobody had visited him. No one except he himself, Janaki and the Jedi. The Crew's grudge against the pilot was now stronger then ever.  They haden't talked to the pilot fro days before the mission where this had happened.  Most seemed content that he was in sickbay, saying that he finally got what he deserved. Gerron Tem couldn’t understand that even Dalby, who had seen the state Tom was in, strengthened the hatred for the pilot. What Gerron said didn’t seem to matter. Nobody was interested in what either he or Janaki had to say about the issue. Gerron didn’t believe what the others had said about Paris.He still remembered the look on the pilot's face as G’Ruij had held his life over Paris’ head. He could have surrendered. It wasn't his life that was at stake. If he had been the kind of person that they all thought he was then he would have let Gerron die. But he hadn't. He was no traitor. Could never be. Not to the Maquis, not to Starfleet and especially not to B'Elanna." He still remembered Tom screaming B’Elanna’s name in his fever. Dalby had just shrugged it off as coincidence, but Gerron was sure that it was more than that. The only bright spot to note was the latest addition to Voyager’s crew: the Jedi. Her past had been horrible. She was the sole survivor of a race once proud and accomplished. Tortured and manipulated into submission, into giving the Tolmaan what they wanted. She hadn’t relented. There was a wisdom in her he didn’t understand. She had come to peace with herself. Fighting her inner demons, she had lifted his own fears. She had learned to shield herself from the emotions of others, which had wracked havoc on her own before. The doctor had lifted the barrier in her vocal chords and she was now able to speak like the just like anyone else. She and Janaki had begun Starfleet training. Janaki was interested in the field of security while the Jedi found psychology to be a fascinating ."  Her telepathic abilities came in handy in that respect. On top of that she was assisting the doctor in the recovery of Tom Paris. The fact that Gerron was starting to fall in love with the Jedi did only underline his opinion. "May I sit down, Gerron?" someone asked him. Too caught up in his own thoughts, he hadn’t noticed anyone coming. He bolted up suddenly, staring at the object of his musings. She didn’t look too good today, he noted worriedly. He nodded and she slid into the seat. "Hey,  is something wrong?"  Is it Tom?" he asked her. It was odd for him to to call her by name. But just like the doctor, she didn't have one. His worry washed over her in waves. Sensing the man was waiting for an answer, she said: "Tom’s fine. He’s making progress although it’s slow. I’m just worried what will happen once he wakes up." "Don’t worry, we’ll be there for him then." She just couldn’t help it, she had to smile. The Bajoran always seemed to know what to say to brighten up her mood. Sensing his feelings, she couldn’t help but return the other man’s affections. He was beginning to get under her skin. There was no use in denying that. She owed him the truth. But she also knew that she had to keep her objective. While she was interested in exploring whatever it was she felt for Gerron, she knew that she had to concentrate on Tom now. "I have not been sleeping well lately," she confessed. "Were you having nightmares? About prison? The Tolmaan? G’Ruij?" he asked quickly, almost hovering. "No, not nightmares..," she started, but paused, unable to find the words to explain it right away. "It’s so... strange. I keep hearing voices when I sleep, and it's as if they're trying to telll me something, but I can't understand them. I questioned whether or not I was dreaming, and someone said I wasn’t, but then again refuted that statement. It’s just so confusing," she said exasperated. "I told you about the Prophets, right?" Tem asked her. "Of course you did." "The Prophets never speak in a way that is easy to understand. They speak in riddles and never giver more away than they think is absolutely nessesary. Once there was a woman called Tara Morel, seeking guidance from the prophets to save her people from being destroyed by the forces of nature. Despite the urgency of her request she got only riddles from them. She was confused by this, but wisdom told her to wait instead of trying to interpret what the Prophets had said, simce they could have been many possible solutions.  Her resolution and patience paid up. The awaited catastrophe never came. Tara Morel was the first person the Prophets ever talked to regularly. She was the first Kai to ever rule on Bajor," Gerron ended his mystic tale. "So you want to suggest that I have to be patient and the answers will just come to me," The Jedi summed it up. "That’s what I was suggesting." ***** Captain Kathryn Janeway paced in the Doctor’s office. For now Voyager was safe and almost out of Tolmaan space. That aggressive race had been left behind to sort out their own mud, leaving them with yet another crewmember. The Jedi intrigued Janeway, sometimes even more so than Seven had. There was no telling the extent of the powers she possessed. It was a mystery to be solved. But not as much of a mystery as was Tom Paris. In truth, Janeway had no idea what was going on. All she knew was that Tom had surpressed memories that were coming to the surface. And that something was happening to him that the Jedi called the Awakening), but that it was in fact an age-old disease called AP- Downing syndrome. She still wondered why Tom’s memories have been supressed in the first place. And why there was nothing in his records that proved that Jacqueline Moreaux was Tom’s mother. It didn’t seem possible. Nor did the matrix crystals, which formed an energy matrix in the Jedi’s body, powering the supernatural functions, seem anything but superstitous. The doctor had found out that they consisted of stable omega particles, a highly powerful and dangerous substance in its normally-instable molecular form. Not even the Borg had ever managed to stabalize a sample. Seven had even told her that an omega particle symobolized perfection. Janeway could believe that the Jedi possessed this Matrix and, with it, telepathic abilities, but Tom Paris? She could hardly imagine that. The Jedi had told her about a connection between herself and Tom Paris. Janeway herself had seen the Matrix building, but still she could hardly believe it. What would Tom Paris do? How would he deal with what happened? The rape , the memories and the treatment he had gotten from the crew? Still caught in her musings, she didn’t notice the doctor entering. The EMH made his presense known, though. "I know what the anomalous readings are coming from now, Captain," he said excitedly. Janeway turned around sharply and she asked , "What is it?" Pulling out a padd, he told her that Tom Paris possessed a frontal lobe similar to, but finer finer than that of a Betazoid. *Tom Paris? Telepathic?* she asked herself. Although she had thought about the possibility , it was hard to imagine him having abilities in that area. "For the most part the lobe is inactive from disuse. It has only been stimulated for a short while in the Tolmaan prison. He won’t be able to read minds without training," the doctor informed her. "What about the memories?" Janeway asked. "That is most bothersome, Captain," the doctor said. Janeway raised her eybrows, fear evident in her eyes. She didn’t even want to think about what that meant. She value Tom, not only as an officer but as a friend. He didn’t deserve this. "The resurfacing memories are caused by the Awakening, or rather, the AP- Downing syndrome, but I hve no idea why the memories were repressed in the first place. Someone overshadowed the memories deliberately by using an ionic sweep. The chaos in Tom's body induced by the stressful period of three weeks ago weakened not only his body, but the overshadowment as well. That's why, when I read this reading after his collapse two weeks ago, I was not concerned.  But now I know that it was the memories returning. His experience in prison will probably bring them back completely, whatever they may be," the doctor explained. "Are you saying that someone erased or hid some of Tom's memories so that he couldn't, or wouldn't, remember something?" Janeway asked indcredulously. "Yes, Captain." " I wonder how a person deals with something like that," Janeway said more to herself than to the EMH. "Alone, probably. Such memories are a private thing.It's Tom's choice whether or not he wants to share them," the doctor said. Janeway grew solemn after that. This was above her. She didn’t know how to deal with this at all. But there was something bothering her still. "If AP- Downing has a death-rate of 100 percent, how did Tom survive?" she asked the doctor. "There is only one explanation I can think of , and it fits with the Jedi’s description of the Awakening," the doctor started to say. "Yes?" " Remember what I told you about the AP Downing syndrome when I was treating Moreaux? "The illness contantly evolved, thus rendering any treatment I could think of ineffective." And I guess that Tom is just another step in this process. The last step, that is. You could say that the cycle has ended, and Tom has Awakened, which he will soon, by the way." "Cycle. Fate maybe, "Janeway mused. "Maybe." ***** She was floating through the liquid. The voices were back and it seemed that the voices were guiding her somewhere.) Until now they had only given her little information, and none of it was valuable.But she would remember Tem’s suggestion. She’d be patient. She fell deeper and deeper, not knowing were she was or what was coming. A Table. There was a table. A round table. Light. It was empty. Someone appeared to her right. It was Janeway. *You’re back,* said the all too familiar voice. She didn’t answer. There was nothing she could say. Nothing she could think of. *The cycle has ended.* Cycle? What cycle? *You will understand soon.* Soon? When is soon? *Be patient. You and him. You will build our empire again.* What empire?! *You’re the Queen.* I don’t understand. *He’s the second one.* Why are you always talking in riddles? *You are the Suave*. The What? *Everything responds to you. Follow Ankaha.* Who? Please explain. *Be patient.* She woke up, still trying to make sense of what she had heard. Her heart was pounding. Her forhead was covered in sweat. She tried to breathe normally. She wasn’t much farther, but somehow she knew everything would be all right. She and Tom would make it right. **** She had sat by his side for a long time now, her emotions unclear to her. She loved him, that she knew. But could she forgive? Would she? Would he forgive her?Doubt was the only answer she got. She brushed away a strand of his blond hair, remembering the many times she had done so before while he had been asleep. "Oh, Tom," B’Elanna Torres whispered, Peter Mitchell far from her mind. "I love you." She kissed his brow lightly and rose up from the seat she had occupied next to the biobed. As tears started to form in her eyes, she knew it was time to leave. She had made her dicision. She had chosen Mitchell. As she turned around, she found herself staring into the hate-filled eyes of Seven of Nine. ***** Gerron Tem didn’t know what hit him as golden arms encircled him from behind suddenly. "Thank you," the Jedi said sincerely. "For what?" he asked, liking the sensation of the woman’s arms around him. she let go way too quickly. Her eyes were sparkling. "For everything. Giving me a home. Showing me that it’s not so important that I’m the only one left of my race. But, most importantly, for your suggestion." "Did it work?" Gerron asked her, grinning. "Maybe," she said. He knew she was not making fun of him. She was just ot sure if it was the case or not. "I’ve chosen a name," she said suddenly. "Yes?" "Tara Morel."   The End OK guys, that was short, wasn't it? But I hope it answered some questions. I already started on the next part, but I have no idea when it will be ready. Remember I love mail, and allways write a lot faster after receiving some. *g*