~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
After the meal of sandwiches and fruit, Meraigyn handed him a straw hat, and settled one on her own head as she stepped out the door. Lerik and Terya chattered as they walked ahead of the two adults, Kerg vanishing around the bend in the path. Cora hopped onto a rock, shifting into the form of an eagle as she did, using the momentum to get her into the air, soaring away over the valley. The path itself was a simple beaten track between the trees, shaded with shifting patterns of light and shadow from the leaves overhead.
"Do you do this everyday?" Julian walked beside Meraigyn, the woman watching the two children ahead of them.
"Meet with my students, or walk this path?" She smiled slightly, keeping her eyes on the ground ahead of her feet, as not to trip over anything.
He returned the smile, offering her a hand when they came to a set of steep stairs, where Kerg had waited a moment. "Either."
"No. They come up once a week, and I walk back with them to pick up food and visit friends who live in the village." She grabbed his hand as she stumbled on the last step, Kerg also moving to catch her. "I always have managed to miss that last step." She shook her head, a bemused smile on her face.
"How do you get news? I didn't see any communications equipment."
"Treska or her sister, Vanor, come up twice a week to take care of the laundry and refuse, and they bring me news. Any urgent messages are sent up with Cora or Kerg." She shrugged. "Not much, otherwise."
"Besides, only off-world and council messages are sent electronically." Lerik looked over his shoulder. "And that's all in the town around the space port."
"Is there anyway for me to contact Starfleet?" Silence fell after he spoke, Lerik and Terya hurrying ahead towards a gap in the trees, Meraigyn lengthening her stride. Julian caught up with her, and matched her pace, concern on his face. "Did I say something wrong?"
She remained silent for a long moment, coming out of the tree near a fenced field that contained animals resembling horses. "You asked about contacting people outside of this galaxy." Her voice was quiet. "We don't want contact with them. They're the past, and one we're none too proud of. For some, that place is even the recent past, but everyone here has adjusted to living without outside contact beyond the sporadic new arrivals like yourself."
Leaning against a fence, she looked at the horses, continuing before he could speak. "We love what we've built here, are proud of our achievements. What use would it be to have them to find us, and attempt to lay claim to those who are here? Or to condemn those who have given up the old customs that don't work here?" Meraigyn looked over at him. "We're happy without them, and don't want that to change. Is that too hard to understand?"
Julian shook his head, meeting her eyes. "My apologies, Ms. Lauriey. I didn't intend to upset any of you."
Meraigyn smiled, looking at the horses again as they came over looking for treats. "Please, call me Meraigyn." She stroked the nose of one of the beasts before turning away from the fence again. "Only my students call me Miss Lauriey. It's about four kilometers to the village, and we really shouldn't linger too long in the sun at this time of day."
When they arrived in the village, there were greetings called to Meraigyn from various people, many of them looking at Julian with curiosity for a moment before going back to what they were doing. There were members of almost all the major races from the Alpha Quadrant there, and some that he didn't recognize. The architecture was a curious, and aesthetic blend of styles that suited the people who lived in the village.
Meraigyn stopped at a house near the center of the small settlement, where Terya was hauling water from a well into a kitchen. "Terya's family provides me with bread and fruit in return for working with her on her art. Her mother is an artist herself, one of the people who was with the original settlers who designed this settlement." She kept her voice low, smiling as a Bajoran woman came out to greet them.
"Good afternoon, Meraigyn. I see you are well, as always." She looked over at Julian with a slight bit of curiosity in her expression. "Who is the guest they left you with this time?"
"Nia, this is Julian Bashir. Julian, this is Terya's mother, and my good friend Bera Nia."
Nia offered her hand, and Julian kissed the back of it, drawing a smile from her. "You are welcome on Terra Nova, Mr. Bashir."
"Please, call me Julian."
"Why don't you both come inside? Kerid returned yesterday from the city, and he was looking forward to actually meeting the man they took up to your house." Nia gestured for them to follow her, taking them inside the building, where it was slightly cooler, the room lit from sunlight coming in through large windows, and the same phosphorescent material as he'd seen in Meraigyn's house around the edges of the ceiling. A man was coming in from another room, and smiled when he saw Meraigyn and Julian.
"Ah, I see your guest has awoken! How are you...?"
"Julian Bashir." He smiled slightly, taking a seat when it was offered. "Call me Julian."
"And you can call me Kerid. Would you like something to drink? I know it's a walk from Meraigyn's house, and you must be thirsty." He went over behind a counter, pulling out a ceramic pitcher of water and a trio of wooden cups. "It's good to see a new face sometimes. Perhaps you could tell us a little about yourself, Julian?"
He accepted the cup of cool water Kerid handed him, taking a sip as the man sat down. "Where could I start?"
"Perhaps with where you've been?" Terya had come in, and now perched on the arm of her father's chair, the girl ignoring the slight frowns of her parents. "Starfleet is supposed to have gone everywhere there."
Julian chuckled. "Actually, I am stationed on Deep Space Nine. I'm the chief medical officer there. I don't travel much of the time."
"Oh." Terya looked disappointed a moment, then she piped up with another question before her parents could change the direction of the conversation. "Where is Deep Space Nine? It's a space station, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is a space station. It's actually a Bajoran station, but they asked the Federation to lend them assistance running it. The commanding officer is a Bajoran, Colonel Kira Nerys." He took another sip of the water, waiting for the next question.
"So it's near Bajor?"
"It's closer to the wormhole than to Bajor, to protect the way to the Gamma Quadrant. And to protect the Alpha Quadrant from the Dominion."
"What's the Dominion?"
"Terya, that's enough." Nia shushed her daughter, though the girl looked annoyed. "You have chores to finish, and I'm sure that Julian doesn't need to be pestered by your questions right now."
"But mama, I want to know!" Terya protested, but her mother narrowed her eyes, and raised an eyebrow.
"It's really not a bother, madame. I don't mind answering her questions."
"See, mama? Please?"
"No." Nia shook her head. "I don't mean to imply you wouldn't mind answering her questions, Julian. But she does have her chores to finish, and you will be around for her to talk to later. Perhaps not today, but there's plenty of time to talk some other day."
"I don't intend to stay long, if I can find a ship going back towards the Alpha Quadrant..." He noticed it had gone silent with disapproval, though he could see the light in Terya's eyes when he had mentioned going back.
"Terya, get the supplies for Meraigyn." Nia's voice was as quiet as Meraigyn's had been earlier. "It was good to meet you, Julian. We will see you next week, as usual, Meraigyn?"
Meraigyn nodded, standing, and handing her cup back to Kerid. "Thank you for the water, and the food, as always, Nia, Kerid. I wish I had some more time to talk, but I should get back home."
Julian stood as well, Nia taking back the cup, and he went to help Terya, who was struggling with the heavy pack that held the supplies Meraigyn had come for. He received a grateful smile from the girl, and a frown of annoyance from Meraigyn when he hoisted it onto his back.
"I'm perfectly capable of carrying it myself, Julian. You don't need to carry it for me."
"Consider it payment for letting me stay in your house." He smiled charmingly, and she shook her head, though he thought he caught a sparkle of amusement in her eyes before she turned towards the door.
"I'll see you next week, on time, Terya." She ushered him ahead of him, keeping up a smiling face as she stopped by to talk briefly with Lerik's parents, a lovely Romulan woman, and a Trill man who glanced only briefly in Julian's direction. They gave her a smaller pack, that looked insulated, and she told him they provided her with some of the meat that was butchered for the village.
She only made one more stop, to congratulate Treska, and her Cardassian husband on their new child. Kerg was up on the roof, doing some repairs, and he waved when he saw them, though he didn't come down.
Once they were a good distance from the village, Meraigyn grabbed Julian's elbow, whirling him to face her, anger clear in her hazel eyes. "What did you think you were doing? I thought I told you, we don't want contact with that place. Which means no one goes back!"
He opened his mouth to reply, and she shook her head sharply, cutting him off with a hiss.
"Don't try to tell me you won't tell anyone we're here. Don't tell me you won't lead anyone back. Even if I believe you, what's to say that no one will extract the information from you regardless?" Her eyes pleaded with him to understand what she was telling him.
He crossed his arms, looking at her in disbelief. "You would keep me prisoner here just to keep this place an absolute secret?"
"I would murder to keep this place safe from the danger that they represent. Do me a favor, Julian, and forget about going back. No one here will let that happen, not and risk losing everything we have worked for." Her eyes bored into his, dead sincere.
"I won't mention it again."
"But you won't stop thinking about it so easily." She raised an eyebrow, and he shrugged. "At least it is a start. I hope that you eventually accept that there is not going to be a way to return." She turned back to the path. "Let's get these supplies back to the house, and then I'll make dinner."
Author's Notes
Nenya Culariel -
Thank you for the review!
I cannot say if Julian will get home or stay on Terra Nova without giving away the plot, as that is the question central to the plot. *smiles* And I'm glad you liked Cora - I find her fun to work with, when she shows up in the story.
I didn't mean to mispell Bajoran. *looks embarressed* Thanks for catching that, it is fixed now.
cryogenie -
I noticed the lack of Julian fics, and was a little dissapointed myself, he's my favorite character on DS9. I hope you continue to enjoy the story, and I will update when I can, about once every week at the outside - if I can judge by my other stories....