Bad Dreams

Posted on Sat Mar 18th, 2023 @ 9:45pm by Lieutenant Sky Jansen-Carey

Mission: Traitor amongst us?
Location: Soran’s quarters

Author's note: This post references "Cries in the Dark" Posted on Wed Jun 22nd, 2022 @ 6:50pm

{ON}

It had been what felt like a very long night, having had a few nights of bad dreams Sky finally decided to go and see Soran. The dreams, or rather nightmares, were linked to her inadvertent trip into Soran’s mind. She stifled a yawn as she arrived at Soran’s door and pressed the chime.

Soran sat in his living room, he just poured himself a drink, he awoken from a dream in Tony’s quarters. He hadn't disturbed her, the meds the doctor given her to sleep seemed to do their job. The alcohol soothed his nerves, he closed his eyes. The dreams had changed since his chat Doctrine…

He started at the sound of the chime, "Come."

He put the bottle away thinking it was Tony.

Walking in Sky offered an apologetic smile. “Sorry to have disturbed you at this hour Ren, I need to talk to you about some... bad dreams I’ve been having. I think they’re linked to when I was in your head.”

"Have seat," he said as he made his way to the replicator. "Would you like something to drink."

“A hot chocolate would be lovely, thank you” Sky smiled as she walked over to the sofa and sat down.

He brought two mugs back and sat on the sofa next to her. "Now what did you dream about?"

“It was...” Sky paused feeling pretty awkward bringing up the event that made Ren and herself friends in the first place. “The nightmare you had, the night I accidentally entered your mind. I saw you... strapped to that table...”

Soran looked at the floor, "that was my anti-psych training with Ichatha. I'm sorry you saw that. What do you want to know?"

Sky sat for a moment. “The man, Ichatha, tell me more about him. Just seeing the way he treated you, it makes my skin crawl.”

"I was a cocky youth with a chip on my shoulder," Soran shrugged. "I faced a lot of discrimination and bias because of being an orphan and my ethnic background. So a lot of the instructors gave me quite a bit of hate. He was different, he wanted to kill me."

Sky looked at Soran surprised. “Kill you? Why would Ichatha want you dead?”

"He always singled out one trainy to wash out of the program. He was going after Thatha…" There was a look of cold fury in his eyes. "I cornered the prick and put a knife to his throat and told him to leave her alone and he did. He came after me instead."

Sky nodded. “So what happened to him? Is he still alive?”

"I'm not sure," Soran said. "The psionic part of the training program was kept in secrecy, so I never heard what happened. Injuries and fatalities were fairly common in the Sentinel training program."

Sky nodded again. “You always said that due to your training I wouldn’t be able to read or sense you. Actually that’s not entirely true, ever since I was drawn into your mind, I’ve been able to sense your emotions. Not from a distance, but from close quarters I can sense what you feel. I guess that means we have a connection now.” She smiled warmly. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through in your time, what bits I saw in your mind were horrific enough, and Thatha... she meant a great deal to you.”

"It's very strange sometimes, I still dream about her. Then I wake up next to Tony." Soran sighed.

Sky gave Soran a curious look. “You’re not regretting being involved with Tony, are you? Because I think Thatha would want you to be happy.”

"Not at all," he smiled. "If anything, she'd be unhappy that I've taken so long to find another relationship."

Sky smiled. “Then it’s good the two of you have each other. Have you spoken to Tony about your dreams?”

"Yes, she been very understanding." Soran explained. "Anything else on your mind?"

“Plenty, but not necessarily all to do with you.” Sky grinned. “We do need to get back to our meditation sessions, with how busy it’s been we’ve missed some sessions.”

Soran shook his head. "It’s alright with everything that Tony as going on, I've missed few sessions too. I've been having nightmares about my time on the Talsion P.O.W. ship."

“P.O.W. ship?” Sky rested back in her seat. “Tell me about it. It might help to share it.”

Soran stood up and retrieved the whiskey of the cabinet and poured himself a glass. Alcohol wasn't the best idea, but it did insure dreamless sleep. He gave Sky weary look.

"I'll be sober by morning," he said. "I'd offer you one but…" He motioned to her pregnant belly.

Sky nodded. “Alcohol doesn’t agree with my Betazoid side, plus being a non drinker it would go straight to my head.” She smiled. “This P.O.W. Ship there were other prisoners onboard?, you could hear their screams in the dark?”

Soran choked on whiskey, put glass down and stared at Sky. "Yes, they kept me in the dark. Before they came in and branded me"

He leaned forward and pulled down the collar of his pajamas to show the brand scar. Soran wondered what else she had seen in his mind… There were things he had seen… Things he had done… He didn't make eye contact with Sky. "But I dreamed about that tonight."

Sky had been sipping her own drink, she coughed and spluttered as she saw the brand. “I... I saw that! In my dreams tonight! It’s the first time I’ve seen it, but that was definitely it!” She gave Soran a worried look. “How am I seeing what’s in your dreams now? I wasn’t in your head, I haven’t been since that night I touched you.”

"Strange, how can this be?" Soran asked.

Sky shook her head. “I don’t know Ren, maybe we should talk to Rutherford about it?”

"That's a good idea you may need to consult the science department as well. In my experience doctor's are dealing with establish scientific information. We might be new territory." He gave her a concerned look. "Are you okay? I still have a lot of unanswered questions, so I can imagine what this is like for you."

Sky shrugged her shoulders. “To be honest I don’t know. I dread to think what Rutherford will find next time he checks the readouts from this..” She motioned a monitor on her neck underneath her hair. “It can’t have rung any alarm bells or he’d have been chasing after me already.”

"What else did you see?" Soran asked in a guarded tone. With abilities to sense his emotions, he couldn't hide much. He had to know what she had seen.

“I saw... enough.” Sky sighed. “You said you had unanswered questions, what are they?”

"When my transport was captured,they knew I was Sentinel, there was no passenger manifest," So Ren explained. "We weren't in uniform for security reasons, so how did they know? I figure someone in my government wanted me out of the way. I don't know why. Now what did you see?"

Sky nodded, then took a deep breath. “I saw soldiers, dead young soldiers, floating in space. I was looking through a window in the ceiling of your cell, watching the bodies float by...”

"It was later in the war. The Talsion's supplies were low, I heard rumors but..." Soran stared at the floor. "They threw most of them out the airlock, They had already killed the other Sentinels that were captured at the same time. I don't know if were planning keepingme alivefor some reason or if they just hadn't gottenaround to killing me beforeI escaped."

Sky nodded. “I saw what you had to do to escape Ren. The lengths you had to go to for your freedom.” She paused. “For what it’s worth, I don’t blame you. You did what you needed to do.”

"I took a shuttle and there just enough fuel to get me to Federation space. I haven't been back, I was marked as KIA." Soran explained.

A tear rolled down his face, "I'm just like those bastards, accept I'm a better killer."

“You are nothing like them Ren! You have a conscience, you care. You mourn those lost whereas they don’t care!” Sky reached out her hand gently resting it on his. “I consider you a good friend Ren, anytime you need me I’ll be there.”

"There is so much blood on my hands," Soran said. "Sometimes I don't think I deserve the life I've found here."

“You deserve every bit of your life Ren” Sky gave him a sincere look. “You’ve been through hell, now you deserve your slice of heaven. To live a happy life, away from the horrors of your past. Don’t let bad dreams put doubts in your head.”

He finished the whiskey. "My past has a way cropping back up,I just want the dreams to stop."

Sky nodded. “Then we need to work on putting your past where it belongs, back in the past.” She motioned to the glass. “Do you drink often Ren?”

"I drink responsibility," Soran sighed. "I do so less with Tony around she doesn't like it."

Sky nodded. “So she doesn’t know that you drink when you feel down?”

"It's a cultural difference," Soran said quietly.

“I guess that’s one way of putting it” Sky gave Soran a look. “I’m not blaming you of anything Ren, I just want to be sure that you’re okay.”

"I'm alright," Soran sighed. Do to my unique biology doctor's have prescribing medicine for me, so I self medicate. The whiskey will stop the dream tonight. I'll see the doctor tomorrow."

Sky nodded. “Make sure you do my friend.” She stifled a yawn. “I need a good sleep myself. Am I likely to see anymore of your nightmares? What other horrors are there waiting for me to discover?”

"I can't say," he said with a shrug. "I doubt I'll dream again tonight. That was the worst nightmare I've had in a little while."

Sky smiled. “That’s probably why I picked up on it, let’s consult Rutherford on that though just incase.”

"That's a good idea," Soran said

“How’s about first thing in the morning? Right now I need to get back to sleep.” Sky smiled.

"There's no reason to wake the doctor, I should to get back to Tony." Soran said. "I hope the rest of your night is restful."

“You too Ren” Sky smiled as she stood to leave. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

"I'll be there," Soran said.

Nodding Sky headed home, hoping for a restful night’s sleep, what was left of the night that was.