"Sono" Part Thirteen

Disclaimers in part one.

"Do I know you?"

The other answers, "No."

She says, "But I should."

"You have been in my dreams. I have seen you. I thought you were my salvation."

"I don't know who you are. How do you know me?"

The other stands, her blanket falling to her feet. Flower petals float away, blown by the covering.

She watches this, wondering why they are red, instead of the flushed color of a maiden's blush that they should be.

The other approaches, her feet bare and cold. She reaches out, touching skin, warm. She murmurs, "I am Taiu. You are like me. A voice among voices. They will take you away from me."

"I never wanted to be here. Why am I here?"

"I have done what I will be punished for."

Against all that says she should not, she asks, already knowing the answer, "What have you done?"

"You know. Just as you know there is no end to me."

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Malcolm blinked, realizing he'd been staring at the results of a scan he'd finished ten minutes ago. He took a deep breath, trying to settle the tension that had twisted his gut for the past two hours. Trying to focus on his tasks had been difficult and he'd found himself alternating between drifting in thought and examining the others on the bridge.

He looked up, now, across to Captain Archer, catching him in the act of examining the turbolift doors and tapping a tarantella on his chair arm. So he wasn't the only one on tenterhooks. He would have found some humor in that, but for the circumstances.

Phlox should have had some answers by now. And, as soon as Malcolm thought that, the turbolift doors opened. Archer stood at the sound of the swish and turned to face both Phlox and Trip, who stepped off the turbolift. Malcolm was hard put not to stand as well.

A crease appeared between Archer's brows at the sight of Trip and he asked, "I thought you were off duty, Trip?"

"I was visiting Hoshi when Phlox finished his tests."

Archer nodded at this explanation and turned his attention to the Doctor, "So you have news?"

"I do." Phlox answered.

Malcolm watched as Archer took a look around at his top officers, noting the expressions on their faces were much like what he considered his to be--curious, expectant, afraid. Archer's gaze settled on his own, a much longer one than the others, before Archer turned his back on Phlox and Trip, and started walking to the back section of the bridge, toward the console Travis had once laughingly dubbed the 'powwow circle'. Heeding the non-verbal cue, the crew followed Archer.

They gathered around the console, Archer striding to the head, Malcolm settling to one side of him, Phlox taking up the other side, with T'Pol beside him and Travis following her. At first, it appeared to Malcolm as if Trip would take up a spot next to Travis, but his friend's hesitation only lasted a second. He came to stand beside Malcolm.

Despite this, Malcolm tensed and stepped ever so slightly away from Trip, a motion not lost on Trip. A brief expression of injury drifted across his face before it hardened into a mask of muted resentment. Malcolm, stealing a look at Trip, only caught the latter and turned away, schooling his features to a stoic mask. So Trip still didn't want to have anything to do with him. Malcolm grit his teeth, embracing the flare of anger, its burn more acceptable than the equal flare of hurt at the thought that he'd misinterpreted Trip's presence at his side as a gesture of peace. Phlox's voice filtered into his thoughts and Malcolm jerked his attention back to hear the doctor say, "I have discovered that the flowers contain a toxin that acts upon the orexin levels in the human brain, lowering them to a lesser and greater degree on certain people; I believe this is what has caused Hoshi to fall into a coma."

"What does that mean, Doctor?" Archer asked.

"It means that, at this time, I have not yet discovered what would counteract this toxin's effect."

"You're telling us that there's no hope that Hoshi will pull out of it," Trip said, beating everyone else to expressing the bleak realization all had achieved.

Phlox said, "Don't despair. Although I know of nothing that will bring her out of the coma it is possible that Regent Tolias may know of something. Since it was naturally caused it is possible a natural cure exists."

"Possible," Malcolm murmured, but said nothing else. Trip lifted his hand, but withdrew it before Malcolm could notice the gesture. On the other side of the console, Travis shared a glance with T'Pol, also lost to Malcolm.

Phlox turned to Archer.

"Captain, have you spoken with the Regent?"

"Not yet. There was no point in making what would be an accusation without something to back it up. Can you tell me, Doctor, why didn't this effect the rest of the crew?"

"It did, but to a lesser degree. Those who worked with the plant experienced some of the same symptoms Hoshi is displaying, but very little of the biotoxin it released remains in their systems. The more exposure, the greater the symptoms, thus Hoshi suffered more because of her exposure to the flowers in her room."

Travis said, "Why would she have surrounded herself with them?"

"I can't answer that. Perhaps when she awakens, she'll be able to tell us herself."

"You established they have a hallucinogenic property, isn't that right, Doctor?" Malcolm queried.

Phlox acknowledged with a raised eyebrow.

Travis picked up the thought, "Maybe she didn't realize what she was doing."

T'Pol said, "Much as we would all desire to know the reason for her action, it's useless to speculate."

Archer, who had seemed lost in thought, said, "Another thing, Doctor. Malcolm and I both had plenty of exposure to those flowers on the planet, but I don't recall having felt anything."

"You may not have recognized your symptoms, Captain. They may have been so minor you took no note. Everyone, I assure you, reacted in some way to these plants. However, I will be running tests on all those that came in contact with the plants. It's possible I can find something to obstruct the toxin, but it would take time. Time I don't think you would want to wait. I urge you to contact the Regent."

"Of course." Archer gave a decisive nod, signaling the meeting was over and motioned over Malcolm. "Come with me, Malcolm. We'll talk to the Regent."

Before they could move, Trip stopped them. "Captain," he said, "If there is any need to go back to the planet, I would like to be in the landing party."

Archer nodded. "I have no objection to that."

Trip seemed content with that, but, turning to Malcolm, he added, "And what about you, Malcolm? Any objection?"

Malcolm met his gaze and coolly responded, "Not at all."

Trip, without another word, turned and left.

Archer laid a hand on Malcolm's shoulder, turning his Armory Officer's attention back to himself. Once assured he had it, Archer asked, "Is everything all right, Malcolm?"

"Yes, sir. Why do you ask?"

Archer glanced back at T'Pol, who had stopped Trip before he entered the turbolift and was saying something to him Archer couldn't hear. He looked back to Malcolm.

"No reason." He paused and then said, "I'm sorry about all this, Malcolm. If I'd listened to your suspicions we wouldn't be in this situation. For that, I sincerely apologize."

Short, simple and to the point. Malcolm nodded, accepting it for what it was, and said, "I just wish my suspicions hadn't been confirmed."

"As do I. We'll figure it out. Tolias will know of something."

"It won't be an easy conversation, sir."

"I know. It can't be helped."

Archer turned to the officer sitting at communications, saying, "Get me Regent Tolias, patch it through to my ready room."

The ensign's affirmative faded behind them as Archer and Malcolm entered the ready room.

Archer sat at his screen and pulled up the image of Tolias, who smiled in greeting.

"Captain Archer." He nodded to acknowledge Malcolm. "I'm surprised to hear from you so soon. Is there something I can do for you?"

"I wish it were for something other than this. Regent, we believe that the plant you gave us has had an adverse effect on several of my crew members."

"Effect?"

"As near as our doctor can determine, it seems to affect certain regions of the brain, causing drowsiness and hallucinations."

"That's puzzling. Kuri'ay is nothing but a harmless herb. It has a medicinal purpose for our people, but not in the way you are describing. Has this posed a problem for your crew?"

"Most have remained relatively unaffected. One of our crew, however, is in a coma because of it."

Tolias shook his head. "That's impossible. Kuri'ay wakes the senses."

"Impossible? I disagree. Your systems and ours may be different--this is acting as a sedative on my crew. We need to know if there is anything you can think of to reverse the effects."

"The effects last as long as the exposure."

"We have discovered that. We have contained the plant so that it won't affect anyone else, but we're still at a loss to understand why Ensign Sato is still the only one who has not recovered."

"Your sey-na?"

"Yes."

For the first time, the Regent looked disturbed.

"I do not know what to say. There is no reason for this to have happened. In our experience this has never occurred."

Malcolm interrupted. "Captain, may I?"

Archer nodded.

Malcolm bent to get in view of the monitor. "Regent, you mentioned you have a use for kuri'ay. What exactly is that use?"

"It has many uses, its primary medicinal is as a stimulant. It is also used in a few of our rituals, to open the mind to other realms, to the voices of our ancestors; it is part of our ritual to choose the new sey-na."

As he said the last, Tolias' voice dropped off, as he became clearly focused on some inner realization.

"Regent?" Malcolm asked, at the same time Archer said, "What is it?"

He looked back up to Malcolm and Captain Archer, his expression no longer stunned, but determined. "It means something that should not have occurred, has. I must request that you bring her back."

"What?"

"We may have a solution for your problem, but we cannot know until we have examined her. Please trust us. We only want the best for all of you, but I cannot make promises. I hope you understand. Bring your voice to us and we will attempt to restore her to you." On the last word, Tolias' gaze shifted from Captain Archer's to Malcolm's. Tolias nodded to him, a small gesture but one Malcolm understood.

Captain Archer said, "That's all we ask. Thank you."

Tolias said, "Until we touch."