REPOST: EYE OF THE PROPHET 1/8

[ROBERT PORTER-COOTE]

Subject: "Eye of the Prophet" (DS9:MC- Bashir & Odo) 1/?

A DS9 STORY - "Eye of the Prophet"
by Red Skye
Copyright April 4th 1997

This story is rated W for weird, S for slash and AR for age
restricted material. If you have not reached the age where you
are considered old enough to read about things you've probably
been exposed to in spades on your television and through
easily obtainable magazines which you can pick up at just
about any newsagency anyway, I am legally obliged to tell you
to go away and find something pure and chaste to read that
won't do dreadful phycological harm to your innocent little
minds.
The following is for the benefit of those who find
stories that fall into the AR category offensive.

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< - '====o==, /_\
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< ` _\ -)
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'( )'
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|,/ \,/ b'ger

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<*>...Chapter One...<*>

He sat half pinned, caressing the phaser in his hand,
watching fire and smoke roiled behind a force-field that was
all that separated him from a fiery end. Over his head, leads
dangled, electricity crackled sometimes arching. When the
spark jumped arching, the force-field flickered and smoke
escaped in little puffs and it came near to collapse.
He hadn't been alone, when half the ceiling had
collapsed, he'd shoved another out of the path of the
collapsing panels, only to be caught under them himself. So
close to home and safety, just a few minutes more and they
would be at the wormhole. They would be able to transport off
to the safety of the station beyond the celestial gate.
He didn't have the time. He knew that, he'd hoped, prayed
his companion in the corridor had gotten out, would find
others, returning to free him, but, that wasn't to be. The
explosion in the corridor had turned the only clear path left
into a fiery inferno. Did they even know where he was, that he
was still alive? He'd never abandon them, they wouldn't
abandon him. They would try to reach him, they would get him
out. But he wasn't on the Defiant, the people here were not
the people he'd come to think of as friends. They were mostly
strangers.
Time was running out. He wasn't afraid to die, he'd faced
that fear and left it behind. Death in the line of duty was a
risk he knew well, and if that was to be his fate, then a
quick death, preferably instantaneous was his preferred
option, that's why he'd fought his entrapment, to reach the
phaser, dropped during the fall. And now as he watched the
force field flicker, saw the smoke roiling behind, then
through it, he raised the phaser, pressing it to his skull....

*As the whirling maelstrom appeared before the crippled
ship, and the celestial gate opened to draw it in...*

The flames crossed the threshold, creeping closer as his
finger closed on the trigger...

*As the crippled ship entered the vortex of power
unimaginable, and passed through a crackling stream of pure
energy...*

He fell, the phaser falling from his now limp hand,
oblivious to the fiery inferno as it swept through the
corridor leaving charred and smouldering wreckage in it's
path....

*And the electric blue maelstrom that was the wormhole
blazed shifting and changing...*

As the flames licked around his body, and where once was
a man only a pile of smouldering ash remained.

*The wormhole was aflame..*

The Bajoran's looked up into the night sky, falling to
their knee's as the fiery ball of light appeared, leaving a
trail of smoke in it's path as it's blazed through their
atmosphere and crashed to shake their world..

And Winn bolted upright, wide eyed and trembling.

---==={*}===---

As he sat half pinned caressing the phaser in his hand,
watching fire and smoke as it roiled behind a force-field that
was all that separated him from a fiery end. Over his head,
leads dangled, electricity crackled sometimes arcing. When
the spark jumped arcing, the force-field flickered and smoke
escaped in little puffs as it came near to collapse. And now
as he watched the force field flicker, saw the smoke roiling
behind, then through it, he raised the phaser, pressing it to
his skull....
Liquid spewed from the ruptured vent, the colour of
flame, to flow under the debris, then erupt upward, lifting
them as his finger closed on the trigger and his eyes widened.
The phaser fell from his hands as he rolled, and with a
desperation borne of desperate hope, of his terror of dying in
that fiery inferno he found the strength to drag himself away
even as pain erupted sweeping over his body in crashing waves,
with every move he made and then he was free. The debris fell
back with a sickening thud. Panting, coughing as the acrid
smoke filled his lungs stinging his eyes, he was lifted into a
pair of strong arms.
"I've got you.."
Consciousness fled.

---==={*}===---

Julian groaned as he came to his senses, then yelped as a
hand touched him.
"Lie still," Odo said.
Julian relaxed opening his eyes to look around.
"Wha.."
"Don't try to move."
All Julian could see around him was dark rock, all he
could smell was dank and less than fresh air.
"Where.."
"A cave..I carried you here."
"The ship.."
"You remember that..what else do you remember?"
"We were attacked...I was trapped...."
"What else do you remember?
"Fire...."
"Close enough.."
"Wha..
"I got to you before the fire..It was a near thing..You
have no idea how close I came to being unable to reach you..
Then a vent collapsed through the roof right in front of
me..And I had a path."
"How did we.."
"First the deck collapsed under my feet, dropping us into
the shuttle bay..I got you into one of them..and closed the
hatch..and there was an explosion..the shuttle was hurled out
of the wormhole..
"We made it.."
"Just barely.."
"Bajor..we're on..
"No..We're a long way from Home, Julian. I don't
recognise any of the constellations in the night sky...I
didn't have any control over where we went...The wormhole spat
us practically in the planet's biosphere..There was nothing I
could do to prevent the crash."
"Why are we..here?"
"We came down in some quagmire..The shuttle was sinking..
I had to get you out.. That's why we're here.. It's gone,
Julian. It sank completely. There's no way..we can tell anyone
escaped the ships destruction"
"We're...trapped here..aren't we..."
"Yes."
Julian slipped back into the depths of unconsciousness.

---==={*}===---

"Odo."
"You're awake..Lie still."
"I move..I can't..feel anything."
Odo's hand dropped to his shoulder.
"You were hurt..seriously..I did everything I could for
your injuries."
"My back..Is broken.."
"No."
"I can't feel anything."
"I know..There was..severe trauma to your back, but
you're spine wasn't broken. You just have to lie still..and
let it heal."
"I can't *move*..I can't feel anything.."
"I know..But.."
"Why didn't you let me die." He wailed.
Odo didn't say anything, what could he say, that he'd
fought to keep him alive, because he was afraid to be left
alone on this alien world.

---==={*}===---

"Eat this... Dammit, I didn't go to all the trouble of
catching that creature to feed you to have you turn your nose
up at it. Eat it or have it shoved down your throat. Starving
yourself to death by refusing to eat isn't going to work with
me."
*Ghahk*
"That's it.."
"It's foul."
"It's the best I could do. Now, eat it or I swear."
"The least you could do is mash it up, so I can swallow
it easy and pinch my nose, so I don't have to smell it."
"Fine.. I'll mash it..But so help me, you're eating it,
one way or another."
"Why don't you just let me die.."
"Stop being so melodramatic."
"I can't..."
"You know nothing.. You need time to heal. You're weak
from your injuries, lack of nourishments and liquids.. The
gravity is high..It just may be, you aren't strong enough to
fight it, you sleep for day's at a time.."
"Days.."
"Days."
"How would you know, you're not here all the time."
"I never go far..I'd hear you, if you woke up, and I keep
coming back to check on you."
"That's why...it's hard..to find food..you don't want to
go too far..in case I wake up..and you're not here."
"So dark in here.."
"I can't find dry wood to start a fire.."
"Smells..disgusting."
"And the food leaves a lot to be desired. I know..
here.."
*gahhag*
"You'll never get better if you keep this up."
"I'd rather eat worms."
"It could be arranged."
---==={*}===---

"How long.."
"You've been unconscious for several days now."
"Did..you get a distress call out."
"It told that wormhole threw us light years from home. I
don't recognise any of the constellations I've seen..If I'd
had the chance to send a distress call it would have taken
years to reach our people anyway..possibly decades."
"I'm thirsty."
"I'm sorry, the water I did find isn't fit to drink..I
hoped you'd remain unconscious until morning..at least then I
could get fluids for you by collecting dew off the plants
around here."
"There was someone else on the runabout.."
"No..Just us, it was pure luck the floor collapsed where
it did..No one else could reach.."
"I heard voices."
"I told you, there was no one else, just you and me.."
"I heard voices .."
"You were dreaming."
"I was awake...I heard voices."
"There's no one else here. You were dreaming."
"I was awake.."
"You were..."
"How would you know. You weren't here. I know what I
heard."
"You heard voices.."
"Yes."
"What were they saying?"
"I don't know.."

---==={*}===---

"Julian.."
"G'way.."
"It rained..I got water..Just open your mouth."
Julian parted his part lips and Odo dribbled water in
slowly till the gourds worth he collected was gone.
"More.."
"I'm sorry..There isn't any more..But I think it will
rain again soon..I'll get some more then."
"Hungry."
"I know you are.."
"Feels..funny."
"Where?"
"Head."
"Here?
"Yes."
"It would, That animal I caught and fed you was a fur
bearing animal and skinned it and stuffed its pelt full of
leaves for a pillow."
"Food."
"I don't have anything to give you. I'm keeping an eye
out for another one..They serve two purposes.. Food and
comfort..Their fur is so soft..I'll try to catch enough to
make your bed more comfortable, give you a blanket instead of
covering you in leaves.
"It's..S'ok..Smells..nice."
"Is it comfortable.."
"Don't..feel..anything.."
"Well..I tried to make you comfortable..I built up base
of dirt, covered it with leaves and found enough springy moss
to cover them.."
"Smelled..horrible..first..time..Smells nice now..Doesn't
make..me wanna throw up any more."
"I'll try keep it that way then."

---==={*}===---

"Odo.."
"I'm here.."
"I feel..strange.."
"Define strange.." The changeling said as he moved closer
to go to one knee by Bashir's side reaching out to take the
humans pulse and temperature.
"How do you feel? Are you in pain?"
"I was...but not any more...Feel..strange.."
"In what way.."
"S'hard..to..think..S'hungry."
"I caught more of those animals. Found some dry wood..I
was about to try cooking it in some water to see if would be
more palatable to you."
"Heard them again."
"Them?"
"The voices."
"How long have you been awake?"
"Don..now..feels like forever."
"What did the voices say?"
"Time..and place..."
"Time and place.."
"Hard...to understand..They
said..something..about..Time.. and place..
Didn't..understand..anything else they said."
"Were they close or far?"
"Did you say you had food..I'm so hungry.."
"Just stay awake a little longer, and you'll have Rustler
soup"
"Rustler soup???"
"Yes..Those animals always rustle the bushes."
"Thirsty."
"You're get your meat and your liquids in one fell
swoop..If I can go and prepare it now."
"S'alright."

---==={*}===---

*ghack*
"I know it tastes horrible but it's the best I can do."
"That's not horrible, it's putrid.."
"It's all I've got..Now..try to use your imagination and
pretend it's something you really like to eat and open up."
*ghack*
*sigh*

---==={*}===---

"Oh, so you're awake again..Guess what I've got?"
"Odo, I'd rather starve than have another bowl of putrid
rustler stew."
"Wrong guess. Look."
"Fruit!"
"I fed some to a rustler, it didn't drop dead, so I think
it's safe to eat. Lets start with a little mush..and if it
doesn't make you sick, I'll find more."
*mmmmhhhmmm*.
"At last, something you don't throw up."
"More."
"Later.."
"Sadist....You force me to eat bowl after bowl of that
putrid stew, and give me just a little taste of that and .."
"Fresh meat, is fresh meat, all that changes is the
taste, fruit and vegetables are different. They might be
poisonous or toxic..You'll get more when I'm sure it's safe.
Because you would'nt survive even a mild bout of toxic food
poisoning." Odo said reaching out to start taking Julian's
pulse.
"I heard you muttering about stupid sticks.." Julian said
after a pause.
"You've been awake for some time then."
"What were you doing?
"I've caught enough of those rustlers to get enough pelts
for a blanket.. If I can find the right twig to turn into a
needle..They keep snapping on me.."
"Try a bone."
"I didn't think of that.."
"What are you using to sharpen them?"
"A very sharp rock."
"How do you skin them.."
"With the rock..then I scrape the blood and guts off and
rub them all over with a handful of leaves."
"Scrape the pelts down..Rinse them, and find..a sunny
place..to lie them in the sun..to cure. Make your needle's and
leave them out there to harden in the sun."
"You've done this before."
"They took us out..and dumped us in the wilderness two by
two, with nothing but, a small kit, an emergency beacon and
the clothes on our back. Left us there..to fend for ourselves
for a month. Lucky..me..I got..partnered..with someone from a
colony world where they teach the children how to survive in
the wilderness."
"He taught you all the tricks."
"Didn't..have much choice about learning..He broke his
leg..I had to do all the work.."
"Why didn't you use the beacon?"
"He was a big, stocky fellow..Said he'd leave me in need
of some extreme dental reconstruction if even contemplated the
idea.. He wasn't going to quit.."
"So, what other useful hints do you have for me."
"Watch the animals..What they refuse to eat is probably
dangerous.."
"That I know."
"Look for tracks around vegetation..water holes..The
animals will go where there's decent food an water.. strain
the water, if you can..Always look for eggs in
food..that's..how parasites spread. Watch the animals near the
water..if they excrete or swim in it..avoid it.."
"Anything else?"
Find two long branches..Two short, but thick ones..Look
for strong vines..and..You can turn those pelts into a bed
frame..Find long enough branches..and it can be a travois..you
can use it to take me out into the fresh air.."
"I'll see what I can do."
"And..explore this cave..there might be..a system of
tunnels..maybe even..an underground water chamber..That will
be the cleanest water..Unless..the soils contaminated.."
"How do I tell?"
"Take one of the animals..if they won't touch it, it's
contaminated. If they drink..and their sick or..their stools
change, it's contaminated."

---==={*}===---
When Julian finally slipped back into a deep sleep, Odo
sent a prayer of thanks to the prophets. He'd thought he'd
been fighting a loosing battle with Julian's wish to die. But
now, the tide had turned. But how to keep it from turning
again.
Food..They said the way to a mans heart was through his
stomach, maybe if he looked harder and tried to find more
palatable foods, way's to make what he did have more
palatable, then Julian wouldn't sink back into his
---==={*}===---

"I'll make a cook out of you yet, Odo."
"I take it the soup was to your liking."
"I've tasted worse..And it usually came from the
replicators on DS9."
Odo laughed at that.
"I can understand the Captain's enjoyment of cooking
now..It's a challenge."
"How's my bed going?"
"That's another challenge..Most of the wood around here
is rotten..If it's on the ground, it's worthless for anything
but a fire pit, and precious little of it burns, most of it
just smoulders."
"S'not that bad.."
"Trust me, it is, we couldn't have been stranded in a
*worse* place."
"Could to..Try living in a desert sometimes."
"Good point."
"S'ides..Sometimes..the wood you burn smells nice.."
"Oh..Well, next time you like the smell, tell me, I'll
try to find more of the same and toss it on the fire now and
then."
"How's my blanket coming?"
"The pelts keep vanishing when I put them out to cure."
"Find some plants the animals don't like..collect the
leaves and any fruit they produce, crush it up and spread it
around the area where you leave them..that'll keep them away."

"Are you cold is that why..?"
"No..But..then..I've lost almost all sensation. I can't
tell if it's cold, unless my nose gets cold."
"Is your nose the only place you have sensation?"
"I keep getting an itch there.."
Odo moved to the bedside, and kneeled to start touching
Julian.
"Tell me when you feel something."
"I feel that..."
"This?"
"Yes.."
"This?"
"What are you touching?"
You're shoulder.
"pinch me.... Yes..I felt that."
"What about this.."
"No.."
"This?"
"No."
This?"
"No."
"This?"
"No."
Odo worked his way down to Bashir's toes, alternating
between strokes, taps, pinches and the occasional jab with a
sharp stick, avoiding Bashir's groin as he went. Julian's
response to every question was no.
"Odo..."
"Did you feel that?"
"Feel what?"
"Oh.."
"While you're at it..do you think..you could find some
cloth..to give me a bath."
"I have bathed you."
"When?"
"I do it when you're sleeping. Are you positive you can't
feel this..when I bathe you, you often..twitch when I clean
here."
"Odo..I can't feel anything from the shoulders down."
"Don't be defeatist."
"I'm being realistic."
"I've seen your toes move, and curl."
"Have you? When?"
"When I'm bathing you."
"Bathe me now."
"You always go to sleep at the right time to fetch water
from the water hole..I don't have enough to bathe you now.."
"Then wake me up later."
"If you insist."

---==={*}===---

Odo didn't wake Julian up when it was time to bathe him.
Instead, he used a balled up wad of what remained of his
uniform to gently sluice water over him and clean up after
him. He was grateful he didn't have a sense of smell. Since
Julian's diet had become steady, the course of nature took
place, and every night, Odo had to replace the bedding as well
as clean up Julian.
As he stroked the sponge gently over Julian's groin, he
looked down and, watched Julian's toes start to wiggle as they
did each night when he bathed Julian.
Now..He was curious to see whether or not he could
engender another reaction and after a few moments
consideration, he decided to hell with it, and began using the
sponge to do something he'd avoided since the first time he'd
sponged down Julian and the man had an erection.
As Odo used the sponge to deliberately stimulate him,
Julian's toes curled. Odo sat back looking at them then at
Julian's lap.
"And you wonder why I wait till you're asleep to do it,"
he muttered looking at the erection he'd aroused.

---==={*}===---

END PART ONE

*---++++=============<>{#*#}<>=============++++---*
* Eye of the Prophet is written by Red Skye *
* All subsidiary characters not belonging to *
* Paramount, are copyrighted to Red Skye *
* Copyright, March 1997. *
* Reprinting this story in whole or in part *
* is denied without the permission of Red *
* Skye - except in cases of review. *
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