A/N: Hooray, another chapter! I'm still trying to make up my mind how I feel about this chapter. I'll let you decide. DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except Vendra and the plot.

Chapter 3: A Voice in the Dark

When Vendra awoke next she was grateful to realize that she hadn't dreamt sleeping in an actual bed. She also realized that most of the needles and various wires from yesterday—at least she thought it was yesterday—had been removed. There were only a couple that were still connected to the monitors.

She relished the first real comfort she had felt in her life. She had never slept on something so soft before. She imagined this is what sleeping on a cloud must feel like. The other thing that she became aware of was that the memories were relatively quiet. Maybe a good rest was what she needed to help to calm her mind. Saints know when the last time she got a full night's sleep was. She knew the memories were still there though and the quite wouldn't last, but for now she would take what she could get.

At that moment a barely audible hiss could be heard as the doors opened and the man from last night entered, absorbed by something displayed on the tablet in his hand. Vendra tried to remember his name, but found that she couldn't. His brow was furrowed and he was muttering about something under his breath. He was too far away for her to hear what he was saying though.

He tapped something on the screen then looked up as if just now noticing his surroundings. His eyes scanned the room almost as if by reflex before pausing when they landed on her. He seemed surprise to see her.

"I wasn't expecting you awake this early," he said, almost as if he had read her mind. His voice was low and gruff with that peculiar, drawling accent she had vaguely noticed last night. He crossed to her bed and checked her monitors, tapping something else into the tablet. "How are you feeling this morning?"

She tried out her voice. It was almost as gruff as his. "Fine, I think. Just tired and c-confused."

He gave a short laugh. "I imagine you probably have a lot of questions." He reached down towards her wrist and she instinctively recoiled.

He paused, "It's alright Miss Gray. I'm just wanting to check your vitals, make sure everything is running fine. You were under a while." He gestured to the monitors, "These machines tell me everything I need to know, but I don't trust technology that much and I like being thorough. Computers still can't do everything these days."

Reluctantly she let him take her arm. His fingertips were warm where they gently pressed against the skin on the underside of her wrist as he checked her pulse.

Vendra relaxed slightly, but she was still wary of the man. She had plenty of memories of men terrorizing women and others in ways she would have never imagined. She was sure there were men who were the exception to the rule, but the memories were hard to push aside. This was the longest she had been able to hold them back in a while.

Dr. McCoy tapped something into the tablet before tucking it away in a pocket. "Are you hungry? You haven't had much in the way of solid food in a while."

At the mention of food Vendra could feel her hunger start trying to claw up from her stomach. She wasn't hungry, she was ravenous. "Yes," she said haltingly. "I am quite hungry."

He nodded as if he hadn't expected any other answer. "I thought so. I'll have some food sent up to you. Is there anything you'd like?"

Vendra shrugged. She had no idea what kind of food they would have on a spaceship. Of course, she hadn't been exposed to a large variety of food in her life. Her Keeper had kept her on rations of the same, often plain foods for most of her service. Hopefully this would be better than that.

"Right," the doctor said. "I'll get you some choices and you can see what you like."

"Thank you."

He nodded once more before walking away.

Leonard

McCoy had been pleased to see that Vendra had been awake and oriented when he had entered the Sick Bay this morning. It meant his treatment methods were working. Since she was from a race they had never seen before, he hadn't been sure how to proceed in giving her care at first. It also meant that that maybe they could start getting some answers about this whole strange episode. The pod they had found her in failed to yield any clues on the matter and they couldn't pinpoint any planet or moon nearby from which she might have come. The whole thing was a mystery.

He stopped by the commissary long enough to get a breakfast tray sent up the Sick Bay before continuing on to the bridge where he knew he would most likely find Kirk and Spock.

When he walked onto the bridge he found the captain, Spock, and Scotty all conferring over a large spread of plans drawn up on one of the holo-boards. As he drew closer he could see they appeared to be schematics for the pod ship they had found the girl in.

"Where'd you find those?" he asked, stepping up next to Jim.

"Hey Bones, Scotty and his crew drew them up last night. They dismantled the pod looking for any clues and in the process decided to come up with some blueprints for it."

"Did you find anything helpful in it?" Leonard asked Scotty.

The engineer shook his head. "Other than determining the she couldn't have been in that thing for long. The pod didn't give us much information to go on."

"What makes you think that she hadn't been there for very long?"

Scotty gestured to the schematics. "There wasn't a life support system on board. In fact, aside from one of the most basic propulsion systems I've ever seen, there wasn't anything on the ship. No food, no water, no air scrubber. Nothing.

Leonard digested this information feeling slightly sick. "So what you're saying is that whoever put her on the pod ship meant for her to die there?"

Spock nodded entering the conversation. "Precisely. She could not have been on that ship for no more than three days. It's quite ingenious really."

The other three men swiveled to look at him with matching incredulous stares. Seeing this Spock continued with his thought. "Sending a victim off planet to die. If she had died before we had found her there would be no waying of knowing where she had come from or who sent her into space. With no way of tracking where the ship came from, it's the perfect crime. Or it would have been had we not arrived when we did." There was a brief moment of silence.

"I'm very glad you're on our side Mr. Spock," Scotty commented. Spock merely regarded him as if he had said nothing out of the ordinary.

Jim turned to Leonard, "Right then Bones, since these plans aren't giving us much in the way of anything useful, perhaps your patient could enlighten us. Is she awake?"

Leonard nodded. "That's what I was coming to tell you. She's still a bit weak, but she's alert and oriented enough she should be fine to answer a few questions. Just take it easy on her and if I say enough, that's enough."

Jim nodded, hearing the firmness in his tone at the last part. "You coming Spock? Of course you are. Sulu you have the con."

"Aye Captain."

Jim motioned to the turbolift. "After you Bones."

When they arrived back at the sick bay, Leonard saw that Vendra was still sitting up in bed and was finishing off the last of the breakfast that had been sent for her. He saw a wary look cross her features as she watched them approach her bed. Someone had definitely given her a reason to have trust issues.

He stopped at the foot of the bed. "Vendra this is the Enterprise's captain, James Kirk, and his first officer, Lieutenant Spock. Captain, Lieutenant this is Vendra Gray." He faced her. "They're here to ask you some questions if that's alright?" He saw her hesitate for a second before she nodded.

Kirk saw it too. "You don't have to do it right this instant. I know this must be a lot for you to take in."

Vendra nodded. "It is all very strange, but I'm willing to answer what questions you may have. I'm sure there are many."

"You're English is very well-spoken. Who taught you?" Spock asked, regarding her as if she were a particularly interesting specimen sitting on the exam table.

"I remembered it." Leonard felt confused. What did she mean by saying that she remembered it? She looked at their baffled expressions and sighed.

"Perhaps I should start at the beginning?"

"Yes, I think that would be a good idea," Spock said.

McCoy checked through her vitals and other readings again as the others started in with the questions.

Vendra

Vendra had just finished eating one of the best meals of her life when the doctor returned with two other men in tow. One was human and wore the same uniform as the doctor except for his shirt was yellow. It took her a bit longer to identify where the second man was from. She reluctantly turned to the memories for assistance. They all surged forward and she retreated from them before they could swamp her. She tried again and managed to glimpse a few memories before she almost lost complete control. The man in the blue shirt was Vulcan.

Dr. McCoy introduced the newcomers. "Vendra, this is the Enterprise's captain, James Kirk, and the first officer, Lieutenant Commander Spock. Captain, Spock, this is Vendra Gray."

The two men pulled up a couple of spare chairs and took a seat near the bed. They explained they were here to ask her some questions and if she were up to answering them. She nodded. Vendra knew they must have many and she felt they deserved some answers after they had saved what life she had left. They asked her a few questions, but after more miscommunication than answers, she decided to start from the beginning.

"Can you tell us what planet you're from?" Spock started off with.

"Narend."

"Where is Narend located? We have no record of a planet by that name and there is no indication of any planet in the immediate area."

Vendra thought for a moment. Had she ever known Narend's exact location in the universe? If she had, she had forgotten it long ago. "I'm afraid I can't help you."

"Why were you chained in that pod we found you in?" the captain asked her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Dr. McCoy finish recording the readings and lean up against the wall to listen.

"That's what happens when Vessels cease being useful to their Keeper. They're placed in one of those pods and sent off planet to die. Out of sight, out of mind as you say I believe."

"What about your family? Did they have a part in this?"

Vendra shook her head. "The last time I saw my family I was five years old. That was when I was given the t-test you would call it."

"What sort of test?"

Vendra struggled to find a way to describe the Keeper test. "It's a test to find your…ability I think is the word. To see how we were to be divided."

"Divided?" This was from the doctor.

"Based on our—skill for certain things. When the results were calculated we were divided into three, sometimes four groups. The first group who showed either little or no ability were trained as caretakers of the Keeper Dome and Narend. Another group, usually the smallest, were the ones who showed a high level of ability so they were sent for training at the Keeper Dome. The last group, my group, was known as the Vessel group. We were the ones born with a special gene that allow us to act essentially as, uh, memory storage." As if they sensed that she was talking about them the memories stirred in her mind. Vendra quickly turned away, determined to ignore them. This was the most clear-headed she had felt in a while and she didn't want that to change.

"What about the fourth group?"

Vendra felt a twinge of envy for that group. "That group was the one the Keepers ignored. They were mostly natives of the planet or people who managed to slip away from the Keeper Dome. They could do as they pleased with minimal interference from the Keepers." The men all listened attentively as she gave her account.

"Who are these Keepers as you call them?" the captain asked. "We only found a few references to them in our databases and those were unhelpfully vague."

Vendra wasn't surprised. "The Keepers, or Memory Keepers by their full title are very reclusive despite how many seek out their services. I'm surprised there's a record of them at all." She paused, realizing she was more tired than she thought. A wave of exhaustion crashed over her. Her body was clearly still dealing with the aftermath of her time in the pod. Sensing her control weakening the memories surged forward. Images and sensations began flashing through her mind, a hundred voices all trying to get her attention. The three men were all saying something as machines began to sound off alarms as her body rhythms increased from the stress.

"No please," she managed before falling back against the pillow as the memories swamped over her drowning everything else out.

Leonard

McCoy could tell the questioning was beginning to take its toll on Vendra. He could see her starting to fade about half-way through the questions. He was about to mention to Jim and Spock that perhaps they should continue this inquiry at a later date when Vendra seemed to collapse in on herself. Her tanned skin went pale and a grimace of pain flickered across her face before she returned to the position she had been found in, curled in a fetal position with her eyes screwed shut and hands clamped over her ears.

The monitors all went off at once shrieking that her pulse was accelerating and her breathing becoming rapid. Jim and Spock both scrambled to their feet.

"What's happening Bones?" Jim demanded.

Leonard scanned her vital signs and the brain readouts. Everything was going haywire. Her body was under huge amounts of panic-induced stress. He need to snap her out of it. If only he knew what it was.

"Bones?" Jim prompted again.

"I'm afraid I don't have a good answer." He turned to the intercom on the wall. "Nurse Chapel I need a sedative hypo on the double."

"Right away doctor."

McCoy turned back to where Vendra was still curled in the bed. Her face was creased in pain, her whole body rigid.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and tried shaking her. "Vendra! Vendra can you hear me?" There was still no response. At the moment Nurse Chapel ran in and slapped a hypo into his waiting hand. He jabbed the needle into the medicine port on her IV drip and watched as the sedative as it flowed down the needle and into her veins. Vendra's features eased back into a resting expression. Her hands slid down to rest on the mattress and her body slowly began to uncurl. He turned to check her vitals where everything was starting to go back to normal. Leonard let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

He gazed at the woman who appeared to be peacefully sleeping now. What had she been through? She seemed to have had some kind of panic attack or flashback of some sort. He looked over at where Jim and Spock were standing.

"What's happened to her Doctor?" Spock inquired.

McCoy shrugged, "I have no idea. I can tell you anything more until I can get some more answers."

"Perhaps I can help with that," Spock offered as he examined Vendra with a speculating look.

"How so?"

Spock moved so that he was standing at the head of the bed. "By looking into her mind to see what information we can learn without putting too much stress on her."

McCoy had to admit that the thought hadn't even crossed his mind. It was a good idea and about the only option they had right now. He could tell that Jim agreed with him.

"Alright, if you're willing Mr. Spock?"

He simply nodded before placing his hands on either side of her head, palms over her temples, and sinking into his trance-like state. Leonard moved to the foot of the bed and observed as Spock's forehead creased in consternation and then transitioned into what looked like pain. He began to shake and his breathing rate increased. Leonard was about to make him stop when Spock cried out and went stumbling backwards. Jim caught him before he could crash into some of the monitoring equipment.

"Spock! Are you alright?" Jim questioned his first officer as Spock righted himself. He blinked a few times as if to orient himself to where he was.

"Her mind is like a maelstrom of thoughts," he said once he had recovered enough. "So many emotions and memories swirling around in there. It overwhelmed me. It was all I could do to hold on as long as I did."

Leonard looked the sleeping woman over again. No wonder she was so physically unstable if she was under that kind of mental duress. He just wished he could think of a way to help her besides the option of keeping her sedated around the clock. Something he did not want to do.

"Captain, there was one thing I did manage to gather," Spock continued. "From the tiny glimpses I could see I gathered that most, if not all, of the memories do not belong to Ms. Gray."

Jim and Leonard shared a confused look. "What do you mean they aren't hers?" Leonard demanded.

"The sense I got from most of the memories were that they were from someone else's perspective. They were also from many different races and planets. I suspect that this is what she was referring to when she mentioned acting as memory storage. She holds other people's memories."

Holding other people's memories? Was that even possible? How would that even work? The new information only served to bring up even more questions than the ones they already had. Leonard pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to relieve the pressure that had built up between his eyes.

"To be honest, I do not know how she can manage even brief moments of lucid consciousness in her current state," Spock finished.

Leonard looked up at the others. "She's a fighter that's for sure. Did you manage to find anything more on these Memory Keepers in the records?" This last part was directed at Jim.

His friend shook his head. "None. Starfleet has apparently only recently encountered this race and they haven't had a chance to explore further. Whoever they are though, they don't sound like someone I would get along with well just going off of what I've heard so far."

Leonard found himself nodding in agreement. "I'll let you know when she might be ready to talk again. It might be awhile."

"Thanks Bones," Jim said as he and Spock left the med bay. Leonard checked Vendra over one more time. He paused by the bed before leaving.

"Keep on fighting darling." He turned away missing the look of peace that briefly crossed her face.

Vendra

Vendra was trapped, her mind a prison she couldn't escape. The room around her had faded and the last thing she had seen was the doctor's face hovering above her.

Memories swirled and crashed through her mind. Shrieks and cries of fear and pain echoed in her ears. She curled in on herself, trying to protect herself from something that wasn't there. Vendra vaguely heard voices from the outside around her, questioning what was happening. Once someone called her name and she tried to move toward that calm voice, but the memories dragged her back under. She heard that voice one more time before she drifted into darkness, the words echoing in the sudden silence.

"Keep on fighting darling."

A/N: I'm still in love with that ending. Bones calling anyone darling in that accent of his... As always I would love to know what you thought. Leave me a note after this message.~Naomi