Ihhuein and Okhala

[Nijil tr'Korjata 0]

Ihhuein (Water)

 

“Oof!” Nijil fell flat on his back, wind knocked out of him. A throbbing pain from head to toe. He should be dead and it should be dark. Neither was true. Quite alive and sun brightened. Just after midday from the looks of it. Not a space station access shaft either. The gentle sound of the surf greeted Nijil’s ears. A hand extended into his view.

 

“You should have walked around the rock and not over.” A warm smile fell over Jylliene as she helped Nijil up. “I think you fall to make our daughter laugh and it is she who will have the last laugh if you keep this up.”

 

“You are right,” he said with a chuckle. She kept her hand in his and resumed their walk back to the shuttle Nei’rrh at the far end of the beach. Annisha darted ahead, playing between water and sand. She laughed as she jumped over the incoming waves. “She must think I’m a clumsy goof.”

 

“E’lev, she adores you.” Jylliene’s eyes glistened as the light danced off the waves. Nijil met his with hers, and drew a non-Rihan smile. She clutched his hand as she drew closer to him. “I adore you as well, goofs and all. And take no offense, I never imagined bonding with a Romulan, but then there may be none like yourself.” She smiled. “None that cried at their own bonding.”

 

Nijil poked her side in jest. “For how long are you going to have me relive that part of the ceremony?”

 

“Anniversaries, dinner parties, and moments with complete strangers.”

 

“Great...” he mused, rolling his eyes while keeping them on Annisha.

 

“I'm only teasing. Besides, half the station crew knows now already.” This was true, whether Jylliene joked or not. She looked down as she laughed. “The water is deeper here, head up the shore a bit.” She pointed and released his hand.

 

“I had not even noticed, but you are right.” He took her advice and walked where the waves met the sand, but yet this put them off course for the shuttle. Annisha walked to the Nei'rrh as her father directed, but found the water up to her waist. “Annisha,” he yelled. “Head toward the shallow.” He peered at Jylliene, whose earlier expression of happiness turned to puzzlement. Nijil reached out his hand to pull her to shore.

 

“E’lev, have you ever seen waves like this? The ebb and flow is too rapid.” Her eyes scanned the scene for an explanation. The sun hung high in the sky, only a few clouds on the horizon. A perfect day on the beach, but the ocean betrayed reality.

 

“I have visited many beaches, but this does not look right.” The unnaturalness of the water stirred deep feelings in his stomach. It reminded him of a containment breakdown on a Romulan engine core. The frequency increases to compensate for the rising energy output until...

 

Nijil swallowed hard. He knew where he had seen an occurrence like this before, a Rihan engine core going critical. “Annisha! Run to the shuttle! Get inside now!” He started to run, keeping Jylliene in tow.

 

She ran before she spoke. “What’s wrong? Why are we running?” Her voice was frantic. They ran. “Nijil!”

 

“The water will soon consume us. The entire shoreline will retreat into the ocean.” His voice shook as he ran harder. “We must get to the Nei’rrh.” He used his free hand to shade, seeing his daughter struggling ahead. The water now reached Annisha’s chest. “Swim onto the ramp and get in! Start the engines!” The water started to rise at each incoming wave.

 

Hand in hand Nijil and Jylliene ran toward the shuttlecraft. The nose dipped into the ocean as the waves crashed into the shore. Their daughter had climbed her way in, disappearing inside. “Go! Go Jylline!” he exclaimed. Running became impossible as the water greeted their midsections. They released their hold on each other to keep their arms free.

 

“It’s too deep,” Jylliene cried out.

 

“I know, we are going to have to swim like Annisha did.” They looked at each other for what felt like the last time. He nodded. She dived under. The rapidity of the waves kept her close to the shore. Once he saw her swimming toward the shuttle he took his chance. The waves slammed him on the left, then the right, then the left again. Back and forth it pounded at his sides. He swam with all his strength, hoping his effort was rewarded.

 

A minute passed and he reached the limits holding his breath. He needed air. One final stroke, one last kick and...he hit metal. He had touched a stair and searched for the railing. Something grabbed his wrist before finding the railing. Nijil popped his head out of the water. The something was Jylliene.

 

“Come on, the water is rising!” She pulled him to his feet and placed his hand on the railing. The waves crashed hard onto the Nei’rrh, splashing them both.

 

“Get in there, I’m right behind you,” the soaked engineer said. She nodded and turned to enter the shuttle. He righted himself, using all his remaining energy to get to safety. He leapt through the door, only to fall onto hard rock.

 

 

Okhala (Fire)

 

“Jylliene!”

 

His calls echoed into a never-ending void. The shuttle was no more. He turned around. No shoreline. No open spaces, no touch of her hand in his. Where she once was now lay a narrow winding cavern. Bits of light lined its walls as far as Nijil could see. A warmth crawled up his back as he looked in vain for his e’lev. As the temperature against his skin rose, he turned back around. He trod hesitantly in the only direction available. The cavern opened up to spires stretching from top to bottom far into the distance.

 

From the searing flame within the Fire Caves of Bajor emerged a familiar figure - tall, sinewy, and threatening. As the shadows dissipated, the figure took on an ominous glow and its chiseled features slowly took shape.

 

“Captain?” Nijil asked, fearful of the answer.

 

“SubCommander,” the being replied, her voice deep above the deafening roar of flames. Its taunting, haunting echo summoned every mistake he had ever made.

 

“I've been waiting for you. Areinnye has been waiting for you.” She paused in leering contempt. “Your life is mine, and the time has come to pay your debts.” Flames licked at her back, eddied around her cape, then moved to singe his body in a savage caress as she began a slow, haughty pace around him.

 

He started to reel back in horror. “What? This can't be!” Fear coursed through him. A sickening feeling started in the pit of his stomach. The searing heat across his skin. The putrid smell attacking his senses. “None,” he stuttered. ”None of this can be real.”

 

“Oh? Why not real? You reap what you sow, SubCommander. You have sown death, and the terror of impending doom. You cowered when the KraH'kHn attacked the station. Your shuttle entered Aegis space under cloak and almost took your worthless, pitiful life along with that of your future family and the helpless Romulan child you so easily gave up to slavery.”

 

“I did not know she was heading for that life. I would never send any child into that hell.” The rumble of the flames grew. He spoke louder and with greater force. “I went back for her, and would have even against the Captain’s orders. There was just cause for approaching the station under stealth. Besides, I could have avoided the stations defenses.” If fire was in his eyes, the flames around him hid them.

 

“SubCommander,” she leaned close, her sulfurous breath clogging his nostrils, “You are a weak, pathetic dog who dares to call himself a Romulan… not worthy of grief... or even remembrance. Your time has come, and no one will mourn.”

 

“No one?” he questioned. “How would you know? None from my e’lev, none from my daughter...to say nothing of my parents?” He locked eyes with hers. "It was due to my efforts that they along with my sister and unborn nephew escaped the Great Fire. It was my old shuttle they rode to safety. You can’t say they will not weep for my passing." He held his ground. "You lie when you say no one mourns for Nijil tr'Korjata."

 

"We will see about that!" With a shriek of maniacal laughter her hand shot through his chest, shaking him violently. She began separating his body from his soul.

 

“Ahhhrgahhahhaa!” Nijil cried out as if a dagger drove deep into his heart. He fought to pull away. Life, such as it had been, started to fall away. Images of those he loved filled his slowly fading mind, only to die a horrible death in front of him. Flesh from bone ripped by gamma radiation, drowned bodies floating motionlessly in the ocean, fire consuming them from head to toe as they screamed and others being blown into the empty cold void of space. Death infused itself upon his mind. Nijil’s body collapsed due to the intense weight of what he witnessed.