"Sono" Part Twelve
Disclaimers in part one.
She thinks she knows this place, yet it seems strange to her, as strange as the certainty that there is another her. She walks on paths of stone familiar to her feet. She steps over a branch, not even noting, but feeling it there.
There is sound, drips of water off branches, the air heavy with water. Fog drifts across the stones, but she doesn't stop. She knows where she must go.
She walks and then the fog is gone, along with the chill and she sees fire and someone there sitting next to it, a blanket draped over the hunched form.
She stops. She knows this person, can hear her thoughts and feel the desolation that pervades her. She is the mirror of herself, yet other, the concept of self blurred. The other is singing, words she knows, the tune melancholy, drifting. She mourns for what is gone, for what never was, for the loss of herself.
He caused this and she does not forgive him. It was not her choice to be what she is, to have this inside her, to be the womb for what has always been and always will be.
She reaches out to the fire. She has known immolation of her soul, and still there is no end.
She does not touch the fire. It is not the way that she is to go, not her time. It will come and she will have no choice but to leave.
She does not understand.
She feels the other's surprise, the jolt of awareness that arcs through her. She sees her turn her head, her eyes seeking.
She sees there recognition.
The other says, "You."
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The moment Archer left Sickbay, Malcolm demanded, "Explain, T'Pol."
"Think, Commander. There is only one logical conclusion to Hoshi's behavior. You know it as well as I. Hydroponics is not the place we should go."
Realization took a few seconds to dawn, but when it did, Malcolm muttered, "My God, why didn't I think of that?"
Malcolm whirled on his feet and took off out of Sickbay. T'Pol followed after him, barely making it into the turbolift with him. Once inside, he pressed the control for D deck.
Although the lift was too small to pace in, Malcolm made few aborted attempts before stopping and asking T'Pol, "How did you come to that conclusion?"
"Hoshi herself. I fear I have been amiss. I had noted a marked distraction in her performance at her post and before her collapse in the mess, I was in the ship's gymnasium when Ensign Sato entered. I remarked that she seemed tired. I was concerned, but she assured me she was fine. I did not press the issue. I should have."
"I'd forgotten. She said that right before..."
Malcolm slumped back against the turbolift wall, bringing up a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. A mutter came from behind his hand, "This is such a mess."
"Needless guilt is illogical. We must continue past any personal blame to assist Doctor Phlox in finding a cure."
Malcolm's hand dropped and he stared at her.
She narrowed her eyes, challenging him to argue with her observation. After a few seconds, he broke the gaze, looking at the turbolift doors. A second later, they opened and Malcolm strode out. T'Pol caught up with him, keeping an easy pace beside him. In a few short minutes they reached their destination and T'Pol waited while Malcolm keyed in the override codes to Hoshi's quarters.
Inside, a faint light glimmered from the window, the only light in the darkened room. For a moment as Malcolm stood on the threshold he felt a strange apprehension, the unfamiliar sense of intruding. The impression was broken by T'Pol's voice behind him.
"Commander, there is something else you said in sickbay..."
"What?" He asked as he groped for the panel inside the door to find the control for more light and stepped into the room. As he did so, he smelled something--sweet and strong and musty--the smell of a sealed room and felt a moment of vertigo. He almost fell against the wall, his outstretched hand bracing him up. He must have hit the control as he made contact, for light snapped on and he shut his eyes at the sudden brightness. He heard a faint sound from T'Pol, a controlled inhalation of breath.
Malcolm opened his eyes, on the verge of asking T'Pol why she'd gasped, but the words stuttered and died on seeing what the light had uncovered.
They stood, silent, taking in the sight of more than a dozen pots of kuri'ay in full bloom. They sat on every flat space there was, a riot of pale pink blossoms.
Malcolm muttered a curse under his breath that caused T'Pol to raise an eyebrow, then said, "Take one, T'Pol."
He pivoted, heading back to the entrance. T'Pol called after him, "Malcolm!" He didn't stop. T'Pol grabbed one of the plants and scurried after him.