The Third Nature -Book One of the Triad

Voyager fantasies by Lt Taya 17 Janeway

room for standing trial

Seven was attempting to mediate in Astrometrics. It wasn't very effective, and the lit lamp was a combustion hazard. Yet she persevered, adhering to Tuvok's guidelines to see beyond the material presence of the fire, attempting to keep an open mind. Yet after a whole hour she hadn't seen any visions. She was ready to dismiss the technique as inefficient and that she would be better off spending her time preparing for the upcoming battle when the captain walked into the room.

Captain Janeway seemed to be in possession of a strange vibrant aura. Seven knew that she had been spending a considerable amount of time both planetside and with Kes, learning simple and intermediate spells for battle, as well as devising a few which would keep their shields enhanced during the battle. It was a fact that the Maldorian cruisers would be fortifying their shields and weapons with magic, and it seemed only appropriate that Voyager readied herself with its conjugate type of energy.

Seven had downloaded all the information about the structure of magic from Voyager's database into her implant, and she knew that each of the seven extradimensional spheres (as they'd grown to call them) possessed a characteristic type of magical energy. The Fire sphere was the furthest out, followed by Smoke, then Air, Wind, Storm, Water and finally Ice. The Fire sphere, being the most distant, contained the greatest reservoir of energy, and also required the most skill to manipulate. The energy of the Fire sphere was generally considered to be constructive. Conversely, the Ice sphere, being the closest, had the least reservoir of energy and required the least skill to manipulate. It was considered to be destructive energy, and Fire and Ice were antagonistic spheres. Likewise Water and Smoke were antagonistic spheres. The Wind sphere was considered ambivalent because it neither was constructive nor destructive, and it had no antagonist.

And then there was the ranking of each warrior's strength. Each of the seven ranks corresponded to being the strongest in one of the spheres. Scarlet Fire, Ocher Smoke, Saffron Air, Emerald Wind, Cerulean Storm, Turquoise Water and Purple Ice were the strongest combinations. The strength of a combination decreased with the distance of the rank from the optimal for that person's preferred sphere, like Ocher Fire, Scarlet Smoke and Saffron Smoke were all one step away from the strength of the top-ranking combinations.

Ashkar fought with Fire, Maldor with Ice. Customarily there was no such preference within a House, but because the Nayrn favored those who wielder Ice so much Maldor was mostly composed of wielders of that sphere, and those wielding Fire or similar were so ostracized they were the first to band together to strike out. By sheer luck, or perhaps due to their differential origins, the crew of Voyager Casted exclusively with Fire or Smoke. The captain, like herself, was a wielder of Scarlet Fire, one of the strongest on the ship. And according to Kes, she was a fairly quick study as well, unlike Seven, who'd spent the past few hours meditating with no results to show for it.

Janeway greeted her with a smile. "How's the meditation going?"

"I am uncertain as to the possible outcomes of this exercise," Seven regretfully told her. "Thus far, I have been unable to produce tangible results of any sort."

Janeway patted her on the shoulder in a friendly manner. "It's alright. All you need is time."

And suddenly Seven said, "She will face three trials."

"I beg your pardon?" Janeway's grip on Seven's shoulder tightened as she stared at her drone crewmember in concern.

"She who must fulfil her destiny will face three trials. She will be pushed to the limits of her endurance but she will return, stronger and triumphant, and claim the prize that is hers." Seven's gaze was blank, staring off into the distance in an unfocused manner. "She will come."

Janeway shook Seven's shoulder slightly. "What do you mean?"

Seven blinked, and seemed to come back to reality. "Captain?" She glanced around Astrometrics, slightly confused. "What just happened?"

"You said something about three trials…" Janeway faced her seriously. "Looks like you've made your first prediction."

Seven frowned slightly, trying to recall the sensation. "I… was in a white place. Someone placed a large book in front of me. All the words were written in a strange tongue. As I tried to read them the words changed."

"And they told you about someone who had to… face three trials to fulfil her destiny?" Janeway prodded.

"Yes."

Janeway tilted her head sideways, eyebrows raised, in a gesture of acceptance. "Well, it sounds fairly reasonable to me. Stock predictions from any fantasy tale, as a matter of fact." At Seven's puzzled glance, she laughed. "I've been reading a few novels since we've arrived. It's a very interesting genre. You should try it sometime."

"After this battle," Seven promised.

Janeway nodded, the reminder of their Herculean task ahead sobering her. "Yes… after the battle."