I feel cold, trapped, afraid. Lights flash, people cry and scream, metal crashes, smoke arises. Shots are exchanged. People fall.

So much violence, so much death. I'm not even one year old, and I see it all.

My mother clings to my arm like a vice and pulls me into the beam-out room. We get on the pad, and are about to beam away when there's a sudden explosion.

I'm on the ground. Bloody. Cold. Hurt. I can feel us beaming away, so the beaming thing must not have been broken.

Suddenly I feel myself on another cold surface. People shuffle around us. Inject us with hyposprays. Pull us out of the room.

I feel myself getting drowsy, as the people carry us. I try to move my useless limbs, I try to speak, but I'm too weak. But the warmth that now surrounds my body, that cradles me as we move, makes me feel safe.

We are safe.

I fall into a deep sleep, now unaware of the chaos around us.

. . .

I find myself waking up slowly, having temporarily forgotten the carnage that had wounded me so. I heard voices, soft, reassuring voices. No screams, no pain. Just calm.

Slowly I open my eyes, expecting to see my mother and father, to see their happy faces. Instead I see a stranger. A bald man with dark eyes, and a sad expression.

"Where am I?" I ask, trying to sit up. "Where are my parents?"

"I'm sorry," the man says. "Your mother... is dead. Your father is either also dead, or has been assimilated into the Borg."

"Mum's dead?" I can't believe it. Then the memory comes back. I close my eyes, trying to shut it from my mind. But instead of it going away, it just becomes stronger. "No... no..."

I open my eyes, wishing that I was home with my family, but I'm still greeted by the same sight as before.

"I'm going to sedate you again," the man tells me.

"No!" I sit up and am about to jump off the biobed when the man injects me with that hypospray again.

I fall backwards and go back into that world of darkness again.

. . .

I find myself floating in the middle of a large lake, trying to swim to safety. But I can't. No matter how much I swim, I don't move an inch. Suddenly the sun is hidden by dark, ominous clouds. I call for help as loudly as I can, but no one comes. No one can hear me.

It starts to snow and I start sinking underneath the waves. Just as my head is under the water, the lake freezes over. I bang my hands against the ice, but I have no success in breaking it. I can feel myself suffocating, dying...

. . .

Two years later.

I wake up with a start, frozen in place on my bed. That dream again! My heart is pounding and perspiration is coating my body.

I shake my head and let out a sigh. I'm supposed to be a Security officer. Security officers shouldn't be afraid of nightmares. But it seems I'm afraid.

I get out of bed and pull on my uniform. Life is short. Especially mine. I shouldn't waste it on fear.

I walk into the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror. I have my mom's blue eyes, and the same eyebrows. Same small body frame. But the resemblance ends there. I have dark, coarse hair like my father. Dark coarse hair that I braid every morning.

I look at the folds on the tips of my ears, only to be reminded yet again that I am Ocampa. That in just six years, I'll be dead. If not sooner.

That I could die just like my mom. On a biobed. Surrounded by doctors.

I close my eyes and think of the one doctor who told me that my mom had died. Everything was a blur at the time, and I couldn't really remember his face. Probably because of my drowsiness at the time. But his eyes, his dark brown eyes, stuck in my head.

Suddenly I hear a beeping sound, interrupting my reverie.

It was time to meet the Admiral about my new assignment.

. . .

Hey, everyone! :) Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter. I certainly enjoyed writing it.

So, any ideas for the next chapter? If you have any, feel free to review.

As to this chapter, if anything was unclear or something, please let me know. I'd appreciate it. :D Speaking of this chapter, kudos to whoever guesses who that doctor is.

Anyway, see you all next time!

P. S. Yes, due to Aracane's young age at the beginning, I used simpler language for the first part of the chapter.