Nightmares

Posted on 12 Oct 2018 @ 6:53pm by Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm

1,447 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 17 - Crystal of Life
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 1, Saalm's Quarters
Timeline: MD -181, 2357 hrs

[ON]

The depths of black darkness encompassed her vision as Lirha Saalm's eyes slowly peeled open and began to take in the world around her. Her light green eyes naturally dilated in an attempt to penetrate through the blindness she was experiencing, but to no avail. Instinctively, she tried to orient herself and move her appendages but suddenly found herself unable to. It was as if her body wouldn't comply with her mind's instructions.

She blinked some more, several times in a row while attempting to discern what was occurring to her. She could feel a sensation of cold seeping into her skin across the back of her body and eventually realized she was laying horizontally on some sort of table or platform. She tried to wiggle her fingers and toes but couldn't feel any sensation in either. Her mind began to panic with so many unknown questions, then suddenly a faint halo of shadowy gray coloration appeared in her peripheral vision. It moved forward to her and spoke.

"...What is your name...?" asked a faint yet authoritative female voice which she couldn't recognize.

Lirha tried to speak but instead let out a weak croak. She closed her mouth then painfully swallowed a dry lump and tried again. "..Lirha...?" she hesitantly whispered in return.

The shadowy figure moved closer into view and seemingly bent down over the Orion captain's head. "..Very good...." came the voice's reply. Lirha closed her eyes to try and fight the foggy mental haze she was experiencing. "..And what is your designation..?"

She blinked and her thoughts went blank. It took her many seconds of silence to realize she didn't understand the question. "....Lirha..?" she repeated again, this time feeling a wash of anxiety tingle throughout her head and chest. Her breathing quickened as she again struggled to move but with similar fruitless results.

The blurry figure in her vision seemed to move away from one angle, then another shadow appeared from the opposite side. Lirha couldn't be sure if it was the same apparition or a new second one, but she could now hear portions of more voices and speech.

"...She is not...aking to the ...plant..."

"..Re..initialize.."

Lirha suddenly heard a soft hissing noise from the side of her ear and realized it was the sound of mechanical servos from some sort of constructed device. Then she felt a sharp needle-like pinch on the side of her neck followed by an excruciating, penetrating sensation from something slim, cold and metallic. She opened her mouth to scream but could only muster a weak wail. The pain intensified the deeper the needle sunk into her flesh while it pushed slowly and methodically all the way into her spine's C5 cervical vertebrae. Then a high-pitched shirr was accompanied by more head-splitting pain, and she tried to scream again.

****

In the darkness of her quarters, Lirha's eyes snapped wide open and she let out several sudden gasps for air as she awoke from her nightmare. Her thoughts remained hazy while dream-state slowly disassociated from reality -- until the two were finally separate and she was sure she was conscious. A wave of relief washed over her when she was able to move her arms and body. She tried to see in the dark and take in her surroundings. The last thing she remembered before her dream was being with Amaranai, and so she suddenly reached out in her bed to feel for her presence. Her hands quickly came to rest on a sleeping form next to her, on soft and smooth skin which Lirha instinctively recognized as her bedmate's.

Amaranai, surprisingly, was sound asleep. She had always had trouble sleeping, but for some reason - perhaps because she was finally able to sleep with Lirha again - she slept without worry and without waking.

Her skin felt the light touch of a hand and it registered enough to send a signal to her brain to wake her. Eyes opened and adjusted to the darkness of the room for a moment before turning over to face her lover. Amaranai could hear the loud breaths from Lirha and could sense that something wasn't right.

"Are you okay?"

The Orion's breathing was ragged and she could feel her heart racing inside her chest. She heard Amaranai speak but remained silent while she tried to digest what she'd just experienced. It seemed like a dream; some sort of REM sleep nightmare...but it felt more real and visceral than any other sleeping experience she'd ever had in the past. She forced herself to take deep breaths and closed her eyes to shake the memories from her head. "Bad dream..." she answered in a weak and shaky voice. Lirha swallowed a dry lump in her throat then slowly sat up in the bed.

bad dream?

Amaranai was curious because - at least in the time they had been together - Lirha had never had bad dreams. Or, at least, had never talked about them. The brunette felt the bed shift as Lirha sat up and continued to take deep breaths.

Feeling the need to find out what was wrong, Amaranai sat up as well and wrapped her lover in her arms.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

The feeling of Franklin's warm skin caused Lirha to slightly relax. She reached with her green hand to stroke Amaranai's forearm while she pondered whether or not to explain her nightmare to the Human woman. What seemed like several minutes of silence ensued before the Orion spoke up.

"...Do you still think about Kreanus?" Lirha asked in reply, wondering if she was the only one still experiencing lingering memories of their captivity and torture.

Amaranai shuddered visibly at the name of the planet that had been her prison for so long. Her leg, though completely healed, still felt twinges of pain all too often. Her doctor had told her the "phantom pain" was psychological and that it would always be there. Amaranai chose to ignore it.

"I try not to," she admitted. "There was a lot I couldn't do to help my crew."

She rubbed at her leg absentmindedly.

"Is that what you were dreaming about?"

Lirha kept trying to make sense of her recent memories. The voice that'd spoken to her...it didn't sound familiar. And she'd been practically blind the entire time and could only make out shadowy figures. Was it Kreanus? Or something else.

"I don't know," she said in a soft yet unsure voice. "I don't..." her words trailed off while she tried to remember the fading images.

It was hard for Amaranai to try and help Lirha if she wasn't sure what the olive-skinned woman had dreamed about, but Amaranai also wanted to be careful and not push her into a panic over the dream either. She pulled Lirha closer and softly whisper.

"It was a dream," she started. "Something in your subconscious might have been trying to tell you something. Is there anything that you can remember?"

She paused.

"And if you don't want to remember it, don't. I won't force you to remember something that didn't make you feel good."

Lirha wanted to remember, just as Amaranai had asked. She just couldn't, because as hard as she tried to focus, the quicker the memories faded into the recesses of her subconscious. "I...can't remember," she admitted with frustration, then wiped a hand down her face while letting out a deep sigh of resignation. Then she lifted her head up and forced a smile to Amaranai. "I'm fine. You're right, it was just a dream."

For Amaranai, despite Lirha not wanting to talk about it - or not being capable of recalling the dream - it still worried her. And though Lirha dismissed it, Amaranai wasn't going to let it go just yet.

"But it bothered you," she started. "What was going on? Was it a particular person or event?

The Orion shook her head. "I can't explain. I can't remember it anymore, not like my other sleeps." She was finding it difficult to articulate the feeling and put a reassuring hand on Amaranai's cheek. "If it comes back to me, I will tell you."

Amaranai felt the cool skin of her lover and pressed her cheek further into the hand. She pulled Lirha down to the pillows, still holding her, and whispered in her ear.

"It's okay, love," she said. "I'll protect you."

She kissed the woman's lips and squeezed tighter to keep Lirha close.

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin
Assistant Security Officer
USS Galileo-A

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