Chapter 10

Jaesa was standing back in her Sanctum, rushing there right after she’d set off the alarm, waking the crew. She was busy sifting through the data streams of the Perseus, struggling to find out what Korsa had been up to and what she was doing. It had taken her a few minutes of searching, but she’d found the relevant data streams.

After looking them over a little, Jaesa’s eyes widened at what they implied. What is Korsa doing? I need more information! she thought to herself. Digging further, she found the message that Korsa had left behind on the datapad before she went under.

“You are the boldest and bravest woman I have ever encountered,” Jaesa said to herself. She continued to isolate more data streams to give her a broader picture of what the Khontaran woman was up to. After going over everything, she arrived at one final conclusion and it wasn’t good. At the same time, it wasn’t bad, but she knew that the rest of the crew wouldn’t be pleased to hear this. Especially Natalya.

The monorail sped along the track, with everyone having been rousted out of bed by Jaesa’s alarm. The mood of the lot of them was slightly sour, but it was tempered by the apprehension that hung in the air. The shipboard AI had been very vague about what exactly had happened to Korsa. It was enough to where they needed to get there ASAP as Jaesa was still searching through the Perseus’ mainframe for answers.

Natalya was sitting on pins and needles as she waited for the cart to arrive at the Med Bay. Flustered and jittery, she burrowed back into Alex, seeking the comfort and solace his arms offered. Though worried, she was also tired and allowed herself a moment to drift off in her lover’s embrace.

Alex pulled her in close to him, having a very good idea of what she was going through. As Nats was snuggled on his right, Kasumi had attached herself to his left and was snoozing. He looked down at both women in his arms and could only sigh to himself. Alex couldn’t believe that they had both women lying next to him a quarter hour ago!

From what he understood, they were looking to make this a regular occurrence, and he was more than OK with that. He could tell that they were both bone tired as they had all only gotten to sleep less than an hour ago. Alex was still having a tough time understanding that the Commander had been burning for him and he didn’t even notice! Was he really that dense? He thought he might have been, but shook away that negative feeling, focusing only on the positive.

As he smiled down at both women, he took a gander around the cart and saw that the others were somewhat occupied. Except for Inari. She was looking at him curiously and the women he held in his arms. She raised an eyebrow at him in question and he responded by drawing both snoozing women into him more tightly. His embrace wasn’t one of possessiveness, but of tender, loving care.

Inari smirked then, seeing that his feelings for the women he held were genuine. Her look still had a measure of inquisitiveness to it, but there was also acceptance there. Alex could tell that Persian woman had questions she wanted to ask, but she moved her lips in a silent response. ‘We’ll talk later,’ she mouthed, and he nodded once in response, understanding her intent.

His eyes flicked to the other women in the cart, but he needn’t have worried. Luminia, Taal’ani and Priya were just as tired as the rest of them and lost in their own thoughts. Judging by the looks on their faces, even if they had been looking right at him, they likely wouldn’t have understood the exchange between him and Inari.

The cab suddenly slowed, jolting both Natalya and Kasumi out of their slumber. Natalya popped to her feet in an instant while everyone else was just realizing that they were stopping. Nats was standing by the door as the cab ground to a halt. Once the doors opened, she was off like a shot, racing out of the station.

“Nats, wait!” Alex called after her, but she didn’t hear him, or didn’t listen. The rest of the crew hopped to their feet and was right behind her, with Alex at the front of the pack. They were maybe a few meters behind Natalya, but she stayed ahead of the lot. They all tore into the hospital wing, seeking to find her adoptive mother.

Nats was first at the room where Shazza was being kept but found that both women were not in the space. She then went to the room where Luminia had her scans done and found that one vacant. In this bit of searching, Alex and company finally caught up to her and stopped Nats in her tracks.

“Get out of my way!” she growled at the assembled crew.

“Nats, slow down!” Alex tried soothing her.

“You don’t understand! She’s all the family I have left! Let go of me!” she shouted as she tried to squish past them but found herself being pulled into Alex. Natalya fought against him, her fists pounding his massive chest as she tried to get past him. Seconds later, she broke down crying, bawling her eyes out, as Alex clung to her.

“Nats, we’ll find her. You can’t go rushing off like that, because you don’t know where you are going. We need to find where exactly she went, and we can do that, right here,” Alexander explained.

To demonstrate, he activated a nearby wall panel; the hologram flaring to life. Entering a few sequences, the hospital wing became the primary focus. A few more entries saw the most recent activity that had happened. As of twenty minutes ago, a large amount of energy was being drawn to power something in the Psychology wing. The power levels were constant and still active, narrowing their search considerably.

“That’s likely where she is, so let’s go,” he intoned gently. Nats nodded, seeing that there was no point in rushing off like she had. Korsa had drummed many mantras into her as a girl. The most important of which was resounding in her head at the moment; Never rush into a situation without thinking first. If you don’t think before you act, you may just find yourself doing more harm than good.

Natalya couldn’t believe that she’d done exactly the opposite of what she’d been taught. But it was Korsa! Korsa had always been the immovable rock, the implacable wall, the goddess of war. Nothing could take that woman down and anything or anyone that tried wound up being destroyed. She always saw Korsa as being indestructible and now, she was worried about the implications of what had happened.

They arrived at the psychology branch several minutes later and came upon Korsa almost immediately. Seeing her adoptive mother hooked up to the machine was too much for Nats. She cried out in despair and ran to her, seeking to disconnect the Khontaran woman from the Spock.

“STOP!” Jaesa cried out in warning, as she materialized on a nearby holoprojector.

“Why? She’s hooked up to this machine and I need to get her out of it!” Natalya cried out pleadingly.

“Trying to forcefully remove her right now would be killing her!” Jaesa told the distraught woman.

“How?!? Explain!” Nats demanded.

“When Doctor Korsa hooked Shazza up to the machine, it warned her that the possibility of establishing a mind link was below the optimal conditions. By going in herself, she established a bridge point between her mind and Shazza’s mind. Because of how weak Shazza’s brainwaves were, the link drew from Korsa’s brainwaves to help stabilize the bridge,” the AI explained.

“To pull her out risks not only damaging Shazza’s mind, but Korsa’s. There is no way to do so at this moment. Not without causing irreparable damage to her mind. That is the best-case scenario if you were to disconnect her at this point,” Jaesa finished.

“What’s the worst-case scenario?” Inari asked.

“The damage done could prove fatal, in the sense that her brain would cease to function.”

“Mama! What the hell did you do?!? You can’t be taking risks like this!” she screamed at the unconscious woman, before turning into Alex again, blubbering into his chest. As he wrapped his arms around her, the other crew members of the Darkstrider closed in, enveloping Natalya in a group hug. Even Kas and Lumi comforted the beleaguered woman in her time of crisis.

“Hey, it’s not like Korsa doesn’t know what she’s doing. She’s a big girl and knows how to take care of herself,” Inari told her friend. Nats went to say something but Inari continued, cutting her off. “I’ve been around the galaxy, fought with many people at my side. Of everyone who stood with me, Korsa was the toughest being I’ve ever known. If there’s anyone who can find their way out of this, it’s her.”

“But she’s never done anything like this before! I’m worried that she won’t come back and if she does, that she’ll be hurt or crippled! Who knows what horrors lurk in the mind of a Xuul’khan?” Nats worried.

“She had every confidence she would succeed. She left a message for you to see,” Jaesa told her.

“A message?”

“Yes. I am playing it now,” the AI said. A moment later, Jaesa disappeared from the holoprojector and was replaced by a hologram Korsa.

“Hello everyone. By now, you’ve likely discovered what I’ve done and where I am. I know that you will probably chew me out Nats, so keep that under wraps until I’ve said my piece,” the recording stated. Natalya almost smirked but held her tongue and waited for it to continue.

“I went into this woman’s mind for several reasons. Though none of them outrank these two. First, my oath as a Doctor, to save those whom I can, by whatever means necessary. The Spock has given me a unique opportunity to try to save Shazza from whatever is slowly killing her. If I can stop it, then it’s my duty to try,” she said.

“My second reason is because with everything that’s happened and all the recordings I’ve seen of the woman, I don’t believe her to be evil. It could be some kind of psychological control that goes beyond what we know. This is uncharted territory, but if I can get in there and somehow reverse it, then I’m damn well going to try.”

“I know that this both dangerous and risky, but it’s something I have to do. I’m not just going to sit here and watch her die, while whatever is killing her runs rampant. Try not to be mad at me Nats but know that I will come back. I don’t know how long it will take me, but this won’t break or slow me down. Just wait for me and I will be back.”

The recording ended there and the holo of Korsa derezzed, then became Jaesa again. Natalya then turned back to Alex burying her face into his chest once more.

“Do you think she’ll come back?” she asked Alex candidly, worry lacing her tone.

“I have every faith she’ll come back Nats,” Alex said soothingly. “All we have to do is wait.”

Korsa had little trouble in falling asleep and going into her own mindscape, having reached it many times before while meditating. After checking herself to ensure that her own mind was well guarded and safe, she made steps across the bridge, to Shazza’s mind. The bridge itself was a glowing white tunnel, that led to a blackened door which radiated darkness.

Though Korsa had no idea what waited for her, she solidified her resolve and walked across the bridge. The door to Shazza’s mind lay sealed, until she placed her hand upon it. Her hand glowed white as she touched it and the door opened. It was slow as though the door had a mind of its own and was reluctant to grant her passage.

The door opened wide enough to admit her and Korsa walked on in, disallowing her fear to dictate her actions. Once she was clear of the door, it snapped shut behind her, locking itself with audible clicks. Steeling herself, Korsa knew that this was a possibility, of being locked within Shazza’s mind unless she either helped her or found a way out. Though she had been sure to seal the entryway into her own mind though so that only her consciousness could return.

She took in the landscape that was Shazza’s mind and grunted at the sight of it. Darkness lay about thickly in the area, with little to no light to show her which way was which. The only source of illumination was the clouds that roiled through the place. They were red and a grey so dark that she thought they were almost black. The land itself around her was barren and withered, with dust and cracked clay everywhere. Almost nothing was around in the immediate vicinity, but something was visible in the murk.

It was a figure of some sort that was ambling towards her, almost like it was annoyed rather than alarmed. It was cloaked in black and of a size that was almost like her own, but slightly smaller. The being approached and barked in some dialect she didn’t understand, the harsh and guttural language foreign to Korsa. Again, it spoke, but the inflection now, was more like a challenge than anything else.

Korsa tried to communicate with it, but it suddenly was no longer interested in talking, only fighting. It bared a massive greatsword beneath its cloak and swung it at Korsa in a clumsy fashion. Dodging nimbly, it smashed into the ground where Korsa stood just a moment before. In an almost comical fashion, it pulled the blade out of the ground and made to swing at her again.

Korsa was ready this time though and using her own thoughts, summoned her Thuun’tara blade to her hands. It materialized moments before the sword swung into her, neatly blocking the oafish blow. The clanging sound that rang out seemed to startle the figure as it hurried back, away from the warrior woman. Adopting a battle stance, Korsa sent it a message; that she was ready for whatever it would throw at her.

Seeing it would not have an easy time with Korsa, it pivoted and fled. It hoped to outdistance Korsa, but unfortunately for this being, that would not be the case. Several seconds later, Korsa had closed the distance to it and swung her sword, catching it in the back. It crumpled, falling to the ground with a yell, skidding for several feet before stopping.

Korsa turned it over, trying to get answers out of it, but as she did so, it crumbled and age like old parchment. In mere moments, the whole being had withered away to dust. There was nothing left of what it was, not even its sword. Puzzled by this, the Khontaran woman stood and glanced around, making sure that there nothing and no one else around. Sensing and seeing nothing, she walked across the barren landscape.

Korsa didn’t know for how long she walked, an hour, a day, a week, time flowed differently in the mind, that much she knew. As she kept going, the clouds cleared away, and light was emanating from something just ahead of her. Quickening her pace, Korsa hurried to the source, hoping to find something that would give her some answers.

The glow was coming from some kind of computer mainframe that resided within Shazza’s mind. Korsa thought it odd that this would be here and styled in such a way. As she approached, she saw that the whole thing was massive, taking up space for hundreds of meters in every direction. It appeared everything was arranged in an almost orderly fashion, which was unnatural.

Despite this, she walked on into the cluster of computers and servers, witnessing multiple screens playing various images. It was then she realized that the images in question were memories that were being played in various times. She saw memories of Shazza interacting with other Xuul’khani, other species, attacking, killing and butchering them. Some memories were on a constant loop while others seemed to be unique

Turning away from the ghastly images, Korsa went to look around for any other memories that were playing. She searched for happier ones but could find none as every memory being played was nothing but pure darkness and evil. There had to be something good of this woman, but she couldn’t it. Korsa thought maybe she was wrong, that maybe Shazza wasn’t different like she had thought.

She looked around, searching for something, anything that showed good intentions, but could find nothing. Looking up, Korsa saw that there seemed to be a central console above where she was standing. Focusing her will, Korsa floated upwards, heading straight for it. She arrived at the spot and stepped onto the floor that supported the level. Approaching the console, she stretched out her arms, to find any good or happy memories, until a male voice called out for her to halt.

Turning around almost immediately, Korsa looked upon a powerfully built Xuul’khani male. The male was looking her over in a lascivious fashion, appraising her body and features as he looked. A snide smirk appeared on his face, as though he decided that she would do nicely, for whatever sick pleasures he had in mind. Despite the fact that her vanity was stroked in that moment, Korsa kept a level head and stared him down.

This male appeared to be a warrior, judging by his musculature and his gait. His walk could only be described as a deadly grace, someone at ease with death and with bringing it to their foes. He was shorter than Korsa, by at least a good foot, but that didn’t detract from his fearsome appearance. His skin was a few shades darker than hers and had horns and hair that were blacker than ink. His yellow eyes glowed with an inner light and his disposition seemed to be both feral and ... demonic.

“Who are you and why are you here? You do not belong here. You should leave this very moment,” he intoned in a deep bass voice.

“Who I am is of no consequence to you. I’m not leaving until I help this poor girl. Why are you here? You do not belong inside this girl’s mind,” Korsa fired back.

“This girl gave herself to me. She is mine to do with as I wish!” the man scoffed at her as he circled to Korsa’s left.

“Not anymore.”

With that, Korsa took up a battle stance and brought forth her Thuun’tara blade once again. In turn, she circled him in the opposite way, keeping her blade at the ready. He looked her like she was a joke and threw back his head, laughing. This puzzled Korsa for a moment until he spoke.

“You think you can defeat me with that puny little blade? You cannot hope to win against me! It is a fool’s errand to fight! Why? Because you will lose! You cannot fight me! You will not fight me!” he commanded expecting her to obey.

For a few moments, Korsa believed him. She believed that fighting him wouldn’t make the situation better, only worse. The tendrils of doubt crept into her and nearly took hold. Before blind obedience consumed her, Korsa remembered who she was and why she was here. What she had endured in her long life, all the sacrifices she had made and the journey she had traveled to become the woman that she was.

Bringing her focus back to the Xuul’khani, she kept him in her sights as he tried to approach. A look of pure surprise replaced his leering smirk as he was shocked that she had resisted his orders. Anger etched its way onto his face moments later and he growled in annoyance.

“You are strong! Stronger than I had initially thought, but you will not stop me! You will not take from me what is rightfully mine!” he roared and with that, he brought his hands together, summoning a wicked-looking sword. It was easily as long Korsa’s own blade, but black, with a glowing red hilt and pommel. He charged at Korsa seconds later and their battle began in earnest.

Their blades met, and the titanic clang reverberated throughout the mindscape. Both of them staggered back at the impact, each one surprised at the amount of strength the other wielded. Gritting her teeth, Korsa went on the offensive, beginning with Blossoming Flower, to catch him off guard. It worked, and he danced back, frightened of the sudden game changer, but only for a moment.

With a feral grin, the male dove back into the fight, but moved with an unnatural grace and speed! He was easily fast enough to dodge or parry every strike that Korsa sent at him. Seeing him move that fast, forced Korsa to adopt a more defensive posture, bringing her blades closer into her body.

He attacked again, but this time Korsa was ready for him. She defended herself solidly as he danced around her, trying to find an opening. Back and forth they went in the dance of blades, both adversaries trying to find an opening but failing to. Korsa, with all her years of training with the Khontaran military and the Khontaran Royal Guard, held the line against her enemy.

The man, as skilled as he was, had yet to find and exploit any weakness that the red-skinned woman possessed. It was maddening, that she dared to intrude on his property, his domain and try to take it from him! It further angered him that despite his status as a great warlord, he couldn’t break this woman’s defense! He had yet to test her defenses alternatively, and he smirked as he devised how exactly to punch through.

Grounding his sword, he brought his hand up and pushed upwards, like he was pushing a weight. Suddenly, the very ground rose up around Korsa and grabbed at her, pinning her arms and sword. Struggle as she might, Korsa couldn’t move in the slightest! She looked over to the man, and he was laughing at her as he gloated in his victory.

“Try as you might, you four armed insect, you cannot defeat me here! Here, I am a god!” he laughed. “It’s almost a shame to have to kill you. Then again...” he paused as he mulled something over. “You might just serve me as Shazza does! But first, you must be broken.”

Hearing that, Korsa tried to squirm and wiggle her way out, but the floor held firm, refusing to budge. She was about to scream out in defiance, but he closed the distance between them and placed his palm on her forehead. His fingers dug into her scalp as though he was trying to burrow into her mind. She felt him try, his will battering against hers, but this, Korsa knew how to resist and pushed back.

Exclaiming in anger and pain, he yanked his arm back, as though something burned it. He breathed heavily as Korsa smiled at him, her smirk letting him know that she would not make this easy.

“Enough! There is only one place for you now. You will spend eternity languishing there and will only come out when I say you can. To the place where memories die!”

With that, he bopped her on the forehead once more and that was all Korsa remembered before it all went black.

Natalya lay curled up in a large chair right next to Korsa, snoozing fitfully. Despite everyone’s pleas, she had refused to leave her adoptive mother right now. Nats had found a chair large enough for her to lounge in and dragged it over, setting it right by the Spock. She had kept a vigil over Korsa, keeping watch over her, until she’d dozed off a few hours later.

She started awake and looked down at her mom, then up at the machine. There had been little to no change since she’d gone under. Thankfully, Korsa’s brainwaves had proven to be strong enough to keep both women at a relatively safe point. Though Natalya was still mad at her for doing this, she supposed that Korsa would have done this anyways.

Korsa was a very proud and stubborn woman, but also fiercely dedicated to saving whoever she could. It was a fire that few people truly understood, Nats being one. To Korsa, all life was both precious and sacred and if she stood a chance to save someone, she would take it.

She did have limits though and there were certain people she would not treat, such as hardened killers and sociopaths. Why she treated Shazza was a mystery. Still, she supposed that Korsa had her reasons, probably to see and determine that there was good in this Xuul’khani woman. Natalya didn’t fully see it, but she supposed that there was something else within the woman, other than a xenophobic butcher.

Taking a deep breath, Nats cleared her mind and focused back on the present. Korsa still showed no change and Natalya was debating on going back to both Kas and Alex. She remembered briefly that she had sent everyone to go on back to bed since there was nothing to be done. Both Alex and Kasumi had protested, saying that there was little she could do either.

“I can get away with a bit of sleep deprivation, but you sir, need as much rest as you can muster. You are the Captain of the Perseus and a lot rests on your shoulders,” she’d told him, reminding him of his position.

“Very well Chief. I’ll go back and get some sleep, but I fully expect you to get some rest yourself. You are needed just as much, you know,” he smirked, reminding her of who she was to him.

“Agreed. You’d better come back before the night is out. I can’t keep this massive man warm all by myself,” Kas giggled.

“Don’t worry, I will,” Natalya lied, while smiling at them both.

She had every intention of staying by Korsa’s side the whole night, but the comfort of Alex’s arms called out to her. She was still debating whether to go when Jaesa popped up on the localized holopad.

“Natalya? Are you awake?” the AI called out gently.

“Yeah. Been awake for a few minutes and debating a few things,” she confessed.

“Like staying here the whole night?” Jaesa suggested slyly. “Before you say anything, yes, I could tell that you were lying to both the Captain and the Commander. You should head on back and get some proper rest. You are doing no one any good by sitting here, pining and pouting over your mother.”

“But I need to be here for when she wakes up!” Nats implored.

“And I will tell you the moment anything changes. Being an Artificial Intelligence, affords me he ability to function without sleep. I will keep an eye on Korsa for you while you rest and inform you the minute that anything should change,” she reassured the Trini-Rus woman.

“Using my own words on me, eh?” Nats groused good-naturedly. “Fine, you win. I’ll crawl into a proper bed and get some sleep,” she conceded. “Promise me you’ll tell me if anything changes?”

Jaesa crossed her forefinger over her heart and held up two fingers, indicating Scouts Honor. Nats thought the gesture a little odd, but let it slide as she was way too tired to think about much else other than sleep. She got up and made her way to the monorail station, clambering into a cart and heading off to the Officer’s Deck.

Once she arrived, Natalya walked all the way to Alex’s quarters and made her way in. Alex woke up as she entered, blinking his eyes blearily. The moment he spotted her, he smiled and threw back the covers on his right side. Kas, who was cuddled up on his left, mumbled in her sleep a moment, but wasn’t fazed by the action.

Natalya then undressed, letting her clothes fall away from her body, before crawling in. The second she was snuggled into him, Alex threw the covers over her, letting the warmth permeate through her. Nats was asleep in seconds, letting her mind drift away from Korsa and how she was faring while in Shazza’s mindscape.

Korsa slowly blinked her eyes open and was immediately greeted by a splitting headache. Raising her hands to her head, she rubbed at her temples, not noticing a weight that grabbed at her wrists. Though not immediately aware of it physically, her ears registered a strange sound, like a clanking noise almost. Once the headache had abated some, Korsa then opened her eyes to see what exactly it was.

The sight of it horrified her, as the weights on her wrists was nothing other than thick, heavy steel manacles! A large and heavy chain, which was connected to another heavy chain connected the manacles. The second chain ran upwards and connected to a cage, in which Korsa was ensconced in. Looking down, Korsa also saw that her legs were similarly manacled and chained.

“Hello?”

She called out into the black, hoping to contact someone, but no one answered back. Looking at her surroundings, Korsa saw nothing but darkness around her and her cage. Focusing on the chains she wore, Korsa strained with her arms and legs, hoping to break them. Unfortunately, the manacles and chains held fast, refusing to break or yield.

She tried her luck on the cage itself, but the results were the same. Refusing to give up or quit, Korsa kept trying to snap the bindings that held her. She would not let herself be caged like an animal for slaughter. There was no way that she’d let herself go out like that! It was her fourteenth attempt at it when a voice called out her.

“It won’t do you any good,” the voice said to her. The voice was soft and feminine, like that of a little girl. “It doesn’t matter how much you struggle; the prison will hold you. Your strength here takes no precedence, no matter how much you wish to be free.”

“Who are you?” Korsa called out harshly. “Show yourself!”

Suddenly, a soft, bluish white light bloomed, illuminating the immediate area. The ground was suddenly made visible to her and it appeared to be solid but littered with seemed to be a great many items. They appeared to be all kinds of keepsakes and artifacts, or at least they were. Though Korsa would have loved to get a better look at these things, she focused on the being that was the source of the light.

It was a little girl who couldn’t have been any older than seven or eight years old. The girl was Xuul’khani for sure, with black skin and a full head of silver hair, but she looked familiar somehow. Korsa thought about it for a second then focused back on the task at hand.

“What do you mean, that I won’t be free, no matter how much I wish it to be so?” Korsa asked the girl.