Here's chapter ten of Cryogenics. Please R&R!! I really want to know what everyone thinks of my story!
I don't own ST:DS9. Just Chantelle Greer.
Chantelle found herself in a place of nothingness. All there seemed to be was a white mist all about her. She turned slowly, and found herself standing only about fifteen feet away from the man who claimed to be her father.
Panic reared in her mind immediately. "Where am I?!" she demanded, trying to cover her fear with anger.
He smiled at her. "Well, right now your body is being transported to sick bay. I am talking to you in your mind, in a region that is unnaccessable to that Betazoid councilor they have you seeing, of course. You will not be harmed here, I promise you, and once I explain things to you, you will awaken once more. But I must caution you to not repeat what I am about to tell you. It is not a matter of our people's privacy... so much as it is a matter of your own safety."
She shook her head, her fear slowly leaving her as she grew perplexed. "My safety? What the hell are you talking about? Who would want to hurt me? I haven't done anything to anyone..."
He sighed and shook his head. "The Bajorans wouldn't care about that. They are the ones who would place your life in danger. And if you were to tell Sisko or even Yaoni, then word would get around and your life would be in jeapordy."
She blinked, more confused than ever. "I don't get it. Why?"
"My people... they are known as the Pah Wraiths. And the Barjons wrongfully believe that we are the sworn enemies of the Prophets... their Gods. They think us to be devils. Creatures to be feared and destroyed at any cost. Two thousand years ago, a confrontation occurred between our kinds... the Pah Wraiths and the Prophets, and most of my people were sealed away in the Fire Caves on Bajor. Only a few of us escaped. I must admit that I am ashamed by the actions of some of my kind, but we have changed. I was one of the ones who managed to escape, and I drifted through space for many, many years until I came across Earth. It was there that I came across your grandparents... copulating. Needing a place to hide, I entered your grandmother's womb and nine months later, took on the form of Paul Greer... your father. If course, I knew that I could not ever admit to anyone who or what I really was. It is human nature to fear what they don't understand, which is why you feared me when you first saw me. But I can tell even now as I tell you this, that your fear is leaving you, isn't it? Unfortunately, as time went on, and I appeared physically to age, I was forced to watch those I grew to love die, leaving me behind. Until I faked my own death and reverted to my energy form, hiding in the shadows of Earth and watching the rest of my children die... watching the world as it was thrown into chaos. Until the only one left was YOU. I searched and waited for the day that you were revived. I just received word a week ago when I was on Nrevel Prime, in the form of a merchant."
"Oh... my... God..." she breathed, total shock sinking in. Her fear was now completely gone, having heard this. "You're serious... you really ARE my father, aren't you?"
He nodded. "Yes. I wanted very badly to have my legacy live on in you... to teach you that which I dared not teach the others. The cryogenics stasis program gave me the opportunity to do so. I can teach you all our secrets... awaken all of your powers... for you have a great amount of power lying dormant within you that is easily unlocked. For YOU, Chantelle... you are the Emissary of the Pah Wraiths."
Her eyes went wide. "What?! But... Sisko is the Emissary of the Prophets, so..." She shook her head. "Nuh unh!! That makes me his ENEMY!! I don't want that!!!"
He smiled. "With any amount of luck, you won't need to perform any of the duties required. If we're lucky, peace will reign between our two people's once more and you will be free to live your life in health and happiness as you've always wanted. That's all I want for you, Chantelle... for you to be safe... and happy. That is why you must not tell anyone what I have just told you, if you can help it."
Chantelle looked at him for a long moment, suddenly feeling very queer. "What... kind of powers to I have?" she asked uneasily, not entirely sure if she really wanted to know.
His smile widened. "Well, it would overwhelm you to awaken them all at once. You may have your telekinetic abilities awakened if you promise to not use them unless you are either alone or if it is an emergency. If you adjust to having those abilites easily enough, then I will awaken the rest of them soon enough."
She nodded, quickly and he approached her, just lightly running his fingertips over her temples. "You will catch on to the abilities quickly without much coaching, have no fear of that. It is difficult to lose control of them."
She nodded. "I understand. I'll try it out when I'm alone... and I won't speak a word of this to anyone... except to tell them that you really ARE my father and that I no longer need protection. If they want to know exactly what it was that convinced me of that fact, I will simply tell them that it is a matter of your people's privacy and that by telling them, I would be betraying you and your people's trust."
He smiled and nodded. "Good girl. You make me proud." He turned and started to walk away. "I'll drop in on you later tonight, and we can talk about other matters then."
She nodded, and then suddenly found herself lying in a bio bed in sick bay.
It took nearly a half hour to convince them that she was perfectly all right, and then another hour to convince Sisko and Odo that she no longer needed the security team to follow her around because she was now fully convinced that the entity was, indeed, her father. It was incredibly difficult to do so, however, since she refused to tell them exactly why she was convinced, saying it was a matter of privacy to her father's people and that she had to honor that.
Sisko had Bashir give her a full neural exam as a precaution, and insisted that she keep the comm badge just in case she should need it, still not convinced, and she simply nodded. Then, after Bashir gave her a clean bill of health and Sisko insisted that she see Councilor Yaoni immediately, she was free to go. She went to see Yaoni who had been informed beforehand by Sisko about the situation and he very carefully questioned her, the session lasting almost two hours, into the wee hours of the morning. He was finally satisfied about something or other, and let her go on her merry way. Deciding that she definitely wanted to return to her quarters, she left him, and was surprised to see Garrak and Quark waiting for her out in the corridor.
She blinked in surprise. "Hey there. What are you guys doing here?"
"We were worried about you," Garrak said. "You seem to be awfully convinced that he is your father after showing such a huge amount of fear in the beginning. Everyone is wondering what it is that convinced you."
She smiled, not bothering to ask how they knew. Knowing Quark's hearing, she didn't need to. "I simply didn't understand how it was possible, until he explained it to me. I will not go into details, but he is a refugee of sorts who made Earth his home back in my time. He fell in love with my mom, married her, and had me and my older sister... after divorcing from his previous wife, but that's an entirely different story. He couldn't come out and tell us that he wasn't human at the time, simply because humans hadn't made first contact with an alien species yet and he knew he would be met with fear and suspicion."
"But how can you be sure that that story is true?" Quark asked, falling into pace beside her as she headed back to her quarters.
She smiled. "I wish I could explain it to you guys, but you have to understand that my father's people are a very secretive race, and telling you that would be betraying my father's trust. And I simply can't do that." She looked at Quark. "Dad also said he was sorry for hurting you, Quark," she lied, not wanting the Ferengi to harbor a grudge against her father. "He always did have a bit of a temper. It's where I get mine, and when you told him that he should just go away and leave me alone, it got to him."
Quark said nothing to this when they got to her quarters and she turned to them.
"Well, goodnight, you guys."
"Wait!" Garrak said, touching her arm hesitantly. She turned and blinked curiously. "Are you absolutely certain you will be all right on your own? You don't want someone to stay with you the night, do you?"
She smiled immediately. "Aw, that's so sweet, Garrak.." But then she shook her head. "I'm absolutely positive that I will be all right. You don't need to worry about me. I'm not in any danger."
The Cardassian and Ferengi exchanged hesitant looks, and then turned back to her and nodded as one. "Alright. As long as you're sure. But if you happen to need to talk, you call either of us up, day or night."
She smiled and nodded. "I will. But, I should definitely be getting to sleep. I don't think I've slept in over 20 hours."
They both nodded once more and she entered her quarters.
Once the door was closed and locked behind her, she looked around her quarters for a moment.
"Dad? Are you here?"
"Yes," said a voice from behind her.
She turned and he was there, only a few feet away from her. Chantelle hesitated for a long moment, when her father smiled and spread his arms wide. Then she flew into them, wrapping her arms around him, starting to sob.
"God, I missed you," she said. "I missed you so much..."
He hushed her gently, running his hands up and down her back. "I know you did, sweetie. But I'm with you now."
She looked at him and sighed. "There's so much I want to ask you..."
He smiled. "There will be time enough for that later. Would you like me to show you how to use your telekinetics?"
She nodded immediately. He was right. She could ask him about what happened to her mother and siblings any time. Besides, hearing about it right now would only result in her getting emotional. She wiped away her tears and regarded him.
He smiled and lead her to the couch where she sat. Then he picked up a book on Modern Vulcan Philosophy that Garrak had given her and set it down on the table. "Look at this book... and see if you can move it with your mind. Just imagine that it is moving."
She quickly focused on the item in question, and imagined it picking itself up off the table. When she saw it lift a few inches, she lost her concentration as shock coursed through her. It fell back onto the table with a clunk.
"I... did that?" she whispered in total shock.
He smiled and nodded. "You're a natural. Now, do it again."
She repeated the exercise a few times, moving on to other objects. After a few hours of this, her father looked at her. "Over the next week, keep working at it. Experement with the items... try to flip pages in a book or make things do complex movements. I will be observing your progress, even if I am unseen, and I will decide if you are controlled enough to possess the other abilities that my people have."
She nodded.
He smiled at her. "Now, it's getting very late. You're tired and should go to bed."
She nodded again. "Alright. I'll see you later, Dad."
His smile grew. "I'll see you later, Channey."
There was a reddish flash of light and he was gone.
Chantelle changed out of her clothes and got into her PJs. Then she climbed into bed, shut off the lights and went to sleep, feeling better than she had in ages.
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Over the next week, Chantelle had frequent visits from her father, the majority of them happening in the privacy of her quarters. Only three times had he shown up in the public areas of the station, and when he did so, he never stayed for long. Only a few moments, since it was obvious that many on the station didn't appear to have much trust in him. At her request, he gave Quark a sincere apology for his actions, which the Ferengi hesitantly accepted, and nothing more was said on the matter. Every moment she was alone, she practiced her telekinetics, even picking up larger pieces of furniture, surprised that she was able to do it with a fair amount of ease. She was approached by several members of the senior staff on a few occassions who tried to gently convince her to tell them what it was precisely that had convinced her that he truly was her father and why she refused to tell them, rightly believing that it was not ONLY because her father's people valued their privacy. Of course, she refused to tell them.
But all things must eventually come to an end... and in Chantelle's case, it was sooner rather than later.
She was on the Promenade, nine days after discovering that her father was really alive, eating with Jake and Nog. It was 1700 hours and the Promenade was filled with people, some eating, some shopping, many just walking around and talking. Chantelle was explaining to Nog how he could possibly get a girlfriend of the non Ferengi variety without getting his teeth knocked out, Jake helping on the side since he and Lunara had started going steady earlier in the week.
A loud shout and a plethora of incomprehensible words reached their ears from the second level, putting a stop to their conversation as they turned to look at what the disturbance was. Two Klingons were screaming at one another in their language, at a table not far from where the O'Brien's were eating a meal of their own. Then they climbed to their feet and it immediately got physical, each Klingon trying to overpower the other. Keiko immediately snatched up Kirayoshi, while Miles picked up Molly and they rushed to get away from the fight.
However, the two Klingons slammed into Miles and he was knocked into the guard rail, the force of the blow knocking Molly out of his arms and she went flailing, a terrified scream tearing from her throat.
Chantelle didn't even stop to think of the possible consequences. She jumped to her feet and threw an arm forward, quickly picturing Molly's descent coming to a stop. She immediately stopped in her fall and seemed to float in the air.
Everyone in the vicinity stared in confusion as Chantelle held her position and, while still holding the image of Molly floating in her mind, turned her attention to the two Klingons who were still fighting on the upper level. Lifting her other arm toward them, she imagined the two of them flying apart, and they immediately did so. Then she ignored them, and although she was now aware that all eyes were now on her, including the O'Brien's from the second level, she pushed it from her mind for now as she used her telekinetics to slowly lower the still whimpering Molly closer to the main level. When the girl was in her reach, Chantelle held out both of her arms and stopped using her newfound abilities, holding the sobbing child in her arms and rocking her gently.
As Keiko raced forward, her husband right on her trail, Chantelle saw that Jake and Nog were staring at her in total shock. And then she became aware of Dr. Bashir, Garrak, Odo, and... Captain Sisko. The way the Captain was looking at her, she knew in that instant that she could not get away with no explanations. The secret was about to come out, and she knew it. Even if she wasn't looking forward to it.
There was chapter ten for you! In the next chapter, Chantelle has spilled the beans to Sisko and the others, and word gets out on the station!! How will the Bajorans react when they learn the truth of Chantelle's parentage??? Read and find out!! And, please, please, PLEASE review!!!!