Jhalib Ekal, "A better time of it."

[Deliera Jay]

((Flashback - 2451))

::Ayden stood at the sliding door, peering inwards. Every part of his being was begging him to walk in, to see her properly, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.::

oO Coward. Oo

Eislas: There's nothing more that can be done.

::He glanced over his shoulder to Caslo approaching him. Though Aagan Eislas had long since been taken by the Tholian Assembly, the Eislas line had managed to hold together under the reluctant guidance of the younger Caslo Eislas - Caslo, who had about as much interest in Betazoid politics as Ayden did. But he'd somehow managed to take everything in his stride.

::When they lost the Jorey family, and subsequently the Tenth House of Betazed, he'd *had* to adapt. That may have been one of the last straws.::

Blake: How is she?

::The Betazoid sighed.::

Eislas: Not good. She's . . . barely speaking. Mister Zhou dropped by this morning, but . . .

Blake: There's nothing left of her mind to recognize him.

::In the warm room was a woman with short greying hair and with a pair of blank emerald eyes staring out towards the window. Ayden had no empathetic or telepathic capabilities to speak of - but if he had been able to feel or hear such things those that inhabited this planet could, chances would be that he'd feel and hear nothing from this . . . husk.

::He looked down, wiping tears forming in his eyes.::

Blake: This isn't fair.

::Faith's death had been . . . a blow - his sister, lost when her transport was destroyed by Tholian forces. There'd been a debate as to who would tell Sky, and ultimately, it'd been Caslo.::

::Sky Blake didn't live past that day. This was all that was left.::

::Ayden was all that was left.::

Caslo: I know now isn't the appropriate time, Ayden. But we need to talk about your position in the Eleventh House.

::A shot of fear ran through his chest.::

Blake: The Vataixs?

Caslo: They may have been lost in the same strike that took Faith.

::His back bumped against the wall as he leaned his full weight against it, taking a deep and steadying breath. He didn't follow the politics surrounding Betazed because he *barely* understood them. There was supposed to be some kind of leadership above the nobility, that the nobility were really only here for morale. But now they were talking about lines of succession as if they were meant to be leading the people.

::The vulcanoid was not a leader by any stretch of the imagination. He could hardly *think*, not when he'd just lost his family. He was practically on the verge of being catatonic himself.::

Blake: . . . not right now.

::Caslo nodded his head.::

Caslo: I understand.

:His black eyes glancing into Sky's room. The Betazoid's hand came to rest up on his shoulder, a grounding force that Ayden didn't realize he'd needed at this moment.::

Caslo: You're not a coward, Ayden.

::That broke the vulcanoid, his throat tightening over as a breath turned into a sob. Caslo pulled him into a hug, a gentle hand running over his hair as Ayden cried into the man's shoulder.::

((End flashback))

((OOC: If King declines Nickson's offer, feel free to insert him into this scene))

::Engineering was a hive of activity - moreso than any other engine room he'd stepped foot in. Which, honestly, wasn't that many now that he thought about it.::

::His mother, however, seemed very intent on finding the source of this programming and coming up with countermeasures against it. She was thinking faster than he could manage in his current state, but he was managing to keep up.

::Barely.::

::So he was glad when Zhou hovered in to distract her somewhat, giving the tiring Jhalib a chance to breathe a little. Blake pointed at the Terran as she practically flew past him.::

Blake: You're meant to be in Sickbay.

Zhou: Response?

::The woman was behind Ekal double checking readouts, re-calibrating armory systems and saying something about the shields needing attention, and simply being overall *exhausting* to watch.

::It was a nice change. The traveler smiled to himself and kept to his console.::

Blake: Quite frankly, I'm surprised they'd allowed you to leave, let alone give you clearance to come to Engineering.

Zhou: Response?

::It felt like a reunion, really, and he couldn't help but widen his smile. His mother and pseudo-uncle lightly bickering on a starship had never been something he'd witnessed. There were no sparks igniting debates like this when he was growing up, just an ongoing agreement about certain things, and deliberate ignorance about others. He preferred this in front of him, quite frankly.::

::The terminal finally pinged - like he'd been waiting for.::

Ekal: Sorry to interrupt, but the algorithm's been completed.

::Teller had helped them get started on the search algorithm, having finished up the basics and leaving the rest to them before he went over to the Artemis.::

Zhou/King: Response?

Blake: It's meant to find programs running free through the Veritas systems intent on destroying us.

Zhou/King: Response?

::Sections of a ship layout lit up red. The shield generators, as Sky had suspected earlier, was one of those affected, as were the warp engines. It'd take a bit to box and clean up, but it was doable.

::Sky pointed at the computer core.::

Blake: The propulsion systems I get, but why the computer?

Ekal: It's not the computer that's been affected. It's the voyage data recorder.

::If the voyage data recorder was tampered with, dates could have been changed - the date of the Veritas destruction could, in theory, be different to the one recorded in history.

::They could be in more deep water than Jhalib had initially thought. But if someone hadn't triggered a catastrophic event already, then maybe they had time. This might have been the back-up plan.::

Zhou/King: Response?

Blake: Good contingency plan on their part. Chances will be, the Veritas wreckage won't be found for a few days after we're destroyed. When would the Montreal have picked up Veritas survivors?

Ekal: Not soon enough. But Starfleet put a hush order on all officers on both ships - that's why I had to interview Rahman a couple months back.

::That, and Rahman from *his* timeline went down with her ship beside a smattering of other officers. There wouldn't exactly have been time to ask her anything of short of her favourite colour before the Veritas was blown to pieces.

::When he'd joined the TIC, he'd made a point to ask Zhou about what had happened, but the Terran had been less than forthcoming once he'd worked out why Ayden was so interested in the Veritas. "Let sleeping dogs lie," had been the only relevant words he'd gotten out of him.

::He'd died a year later.

::It was at that point that Ayden had decided that he was sick of everyone dying and that he'd taken the right path. In hindsight, if he had of listened to Zhou, all of this could have been avoided, but they'd be back on the path of destruction at the hands of the Tholians.::

Zhou/King: Response?


Tbc . . .

Jhalib Ekal
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