[JP] Lt. Tahna Meru & Ens. Doz Finch - Crossing Paghs (Part III)
Tahna Meru
((Temple of Iponu, Ashalla, Bajor))
Tahna: Starfleet is great at finding those limits, um…
Finch: ::Leaning in:: Call me Doz.
Tahna: Doz. Doz, with the troublesome pagh.
Finch: Don’t suppose I can get a new one, can I?
Meru offered the old woman a gentle, dimpled grin.
Tahna: Maybe if you go up there ::she pointed at the stained-glass effigy of the wormhole:: and ask real nicely.
Or if you meditated regularly, looked after the world and people around you, were satisfied with your lot in life, listened for the wisdom of your elders and the prophets, took part in the Time of Cleansing, maybe had an orb experience to learn and follow the preordained path of your life… Bentel, was she a terrible Bajoran? Looking at all she’d done and failed to do, both here and in the Skarbek phantasmagoria, Meru really began to wonder.
Finch: Up there, eh?
She looked up hoping for a miracle—some sort of sign from Tahna’s gods that she wasn’t as callous or as miserable as her Skarbek counterpart—but of course nothing came, except the continuous stream of hushed whispers from all around them.
Finch: Something tells me they wouldn’t believe me. ::A faint smile:: Strange experience. Having a “shared dream” like that. Not something I can easily make sense of. I mean, was it me doing all those callous things, having all those horrible thoughts, or was it out of my control? Was I really there or just a spectator?
Tahna: I think you’re the only person who can answer that question. ::She grimaced, shrugged.:: Sorry. I know that’s probably not what you want to hear.
Finch: ::A wrinkled grin:: To be honest, love, it isn’t. But then I’m not sure I fancy knowing the real answer, either.
Tahna: Skarbek…seems to put folks in a position where their worst traits are brought to the surface. I am not Lark, but I could be, if I’d just been born a little earlier. She was cold, and angry, and— and a murderer, when she thought she had reason to be.
Finch: I’d find it hard to believe that you are any of that, yourself. Sitting here beside me. ::She paused, eyes narrowed in thought:: But Gramma…huh! ::She shook her head::
Meru frowned and fidgeted with the hem of her tunic, her stare fixed sternly on her own candle flickering in front of the window, though she wasn’t really seeing the flame. She was seeing Gramma, pushing a civilian into the hands of the Cardassians, and herself, doing nothing to stop it. Hearing the muffled, agonized cries of a Romulan, left for dead. Feeling in vain for a pulse on any of her cell members, all figments of her imagination, or the collective imagination.
A soft chime sounded from somewhere in the temple, marking the hour, stirring Meru out of her thoughts.
Tahna: Maybe Gramma really has nothing in common with you, I don’t know. But I had to accept that I could have been Lark, that she is a part of me, in order to move on with my life. ::She looked up, at the stained-glass stars, recalling a Bajoran proverb.:: To name your enemy is the first step towards defeating him.
Finally, Meru looked over at the older woman.
Tahna: Look… I don’t know what it’s like to have a grandmother, I never knew mine. Not even her name. So you, there…Lark and Gramma…you were the closest thing I’d ever had to a grandparent, as odd as that is. And so far, I find the real you a lot pleasanter than the Skarbek version. For whatever that’s worth.
Finch: ::Scrunching her face up:: Oh, Tahna. It’s a kindness for you to say that. And it’s worth a lot. It really is. ::She smiled:: In a way, Gramma…I…did feel connected to you in the end. As a grandmother would to a granddaughter. I suppose that’s what got me through it.
A coolness seemed to wash through her body, releasing the grip of her chest against her heart and lungs, and she could breathe again—really breathe—as if the thick smog of the burning Niu Hotel was finally lifting up and out of the confines of her lungs. As if she had held her breath ever since. Almost as if…
As if the Temple of Iponu knew all along why the old Human had really wandered inside its halls.
Tahna: I guess what I meant to say is…thank you.
Finch: ::She inhaled and exhaled with a slow nod:: Right back at ya, love. Right back at ya.
A silence hung between them for a moment, sparkling eyes meeting sparkling eyes, young and old. Then, with an exuberant wave of her waxy candle, she snapped back into her usual spirited self.
Finch: Right! Who do I need to speak to about getting myself a brand spanking new pagh!? Obviously mine is broken, so it’s only right and just that I be given a new one.
Meru chuckled, and watched the wax drip from her candle. Its flickering light bounced off the stained glass, catching on the tiny imperfections. Shimmering.
Tahna: Your pagh isn’t broken, Doz. ::She shifted from side to side, their shoulders briefly brushing.:: But if you want to strengthen it…spending time here in reflection probably isn’t a bad start.
Meru turned to look out at the nave. At the stained glass along the walls, the small carved icons of various religious figures. The gated-off doors that led deeper into the labyrinthine complex, inaccessible to the public for the preservation of artifacts and sanctity. The towheaded little boy, looking everywhere but at the candle he held precariously in his hands, completely failing to follow his mother’s example of peaceful meditation.
Maybe the Prophets had brought her here, to meet Doz. To recenter after their ordeal.
The boy’s mother snatched his candle in alarm (it was nearly sideways by the time she noticed), and her hushed, scolding whispers echoed across the ceiling, though the words were too vague to make out. Meru smiled and shook her head, turning back to Doz.
Tahna: They keep the Orb of Time here, in one of the private chambers. Appropriate, since this is possibly the oldest temple on Bajor. Parts of it date back well over fifteen thousand years, to the Second Republic, though a lot of it’s been reconstructed since…you know.
Finch: You’re having me off…Is that really how old this temple is?
Tahna: ::Grinning proudly.:: We are one of the oldest civilizations in the galaxy. ::She raised a hand to indicate the temple.:: Enough about paghs and Prophets, though. Earth still has temples, right?
Finch: It does.
Tahna: Have you been to any?
Finch: I have! I once visited the Shwedagon Pagoda, which is this great big golden thing. Beautiful. Really beautiful. But my brother Ernie visited the Mahabodhi Temple, which is supposedly the place where Buddha attained “enlightenment”. It’s in India, this gorgeous place out in the South Asia region…
Sitting together, shoulder to shoulder, hands gripped on their candles, Doz Finch and Tahna Meru shared whispered tales and stories from their homeworlds for the next few hours, until their wicks had burned to nothing but soft embers. Tourists came and went, admiring the multicolored glass murals, soaking in the imbuing rays filtered through them from outside, while a gentle noise filled the air—the echoes of steps, the hushed conversations of friends, the ruffle of a monk’s robes.
And there, in the Temple of Iponu, as if brought together by their paghs or perhaps the ineffable Prophets, a friendship blossomed.
fin
–
Science Officer
USS Gorkon (NCC-82293)
G239801TM4
&
Engineering Officer
USS Gorkon
C239809SH3