port in a storm

[Nhali]

"Jason!" the doctor called for the orderly, holding his hand out for the tongue suppressor. "Hold it in her mouth, watch out she'll bite you if you're not careful"

"Yes, Doctor" the young man replied, as he brushed the woman's hair back and slid the plastic mouthpiece between her lips. She glared at him as she thrashed her legs on the bed. Her arms, bound and tied down could only struggle against the bindings.

"Got it?" demanded the doctor?

"Yes, Sir..." the younger man replied as he looked over to the doctor. He watched as the dial was turned indicating how many volts would soon shock the woman.

"Doc?"

"I daren't give her any less. Stand back"

As the jolt of electricity went through the woman's body, her muffled scream faded into a pitiful moan that sent chills through the younger man's body. Her eyes darted over to him, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. A moment's clarity, a plea, before the jolt was again administered. Her body stiffened, arching in pain before she fell back to the bed, sweating and unconscious.

"Clean her up before she wakes up," the doctor said as he headed from the room.

"Yes, Sir." came the hesitant reply. His first week on the job, and he wish he'd slung dung before taking this one. Well, sometimes it wasn't much of a difference.

He removed the clamp at the womans head, then the mouthpiece. A few moments later she was unstrapped, looking peaceful and still upon the bed. He brushed a damp strand of hair from her face.

"I'm sorry," he said, though he knew she could not hear him. How sad, he continued to think as he removed her gown, cleaning her up with a fresh gown before rolling her back to her room.

[Nhali]

Date. 08.88.42
Time.1845

It has been 7 lunar cycles since Nhali was admitted to our care. Her ravings have increased and now include hallucinations. She will sit for hours talking to someone, we have yet to determine the name of this other person.

During these fits the anger rises and she becomes not only a danger to others but to herself. We have begun a treatment of electro-shocks and restraints.

The electro-shocks were administered at .4bar, but have been increased to .8bar. I admit to some hesitancy at this range, but nothing seems to calm her down.

Today's episode was common.

She was in the recreational room when she yelled for someone to 'go away', as no one was around her, this brought the attention to the wardens on the floor. By the time they had reached her, she had torn the chair from the floor throwing it into the window. In her rage she tore at her hair, pulling handfuls out in clumps. She again attempted to flee as the wardens reached her.

Of all the children that had been infected with the Donn-rustal Virus, she seems the most heavily affected. I would like follow up done with the other patients, and another lab report from the site.

I recommend continued daily monitoring of the patient, restraints as needed, with a possibility of electro-shock treatment given every two days whether or not she exhibits symptoms of paranoia.

Signed,
Farouk, Doctor of Clinical Pyschosis

[Neri]

"Neri?"

"Mera?"

"What are you doing? Go away!"

"No. Mera please, do not do this."

"I have to, I have to protect him."

"Not this way. Sister, not this way."

"You do not understand. You have never understood."

"I do. Really, I know what it is like to ..."

"No! You do not! Neri stop!"

"No!"

Silence descended and the two women lay still in the space craft. Neri, splayed upon the metal floor her hand stretched towards Mera. Mera, lay slumped over the arms of the pilots chair.

The craft spiraled out of control as it dropped from interstellar travel and came to a rolling standstill.

[Neri]

"Neri?" Mera spoke softly as consciousness spilled over her. "Neri?" she repeated, as she slowly sat up and looked around. Was it a dream? She rose, turning to see her sister laying upon the floor.

She stood there, eying her younger sister, then resumed her seat. ~Jali?~ she searched for him, frowning as after several minutes she was unable to locate him. Anger surged in her and she strode to her sister, yanking the young woman up.

"Neri! Wake up!" she shook Neri, sitting the woman up as she shook her again.

Moaning softly, Neri opened her eyes, blinking as the lights of the ship hurt her eyes. "Mera? What are you doing? She managed to say as Mera shoved her aside.

"Why did you do this? Why are you interfering?" the woman raged at Neri. Neri, concerned, puzzled could only stare at her. "Mera? What has happened to you?" knowing this was not the loving woman who'd been her friend and confidant since she'd come to know home.

Slowly she steadied to her feet, leaning heavily against one of the metal plated walls. "Mera....what are you doing to Jali?" As a response, Mera turned, her fist contacting the side of Neri's face sending the woman to the floor again.

Neri did not move.

Mera, realizing they were unable to move...for the moment, began to check the starcharts searching for a local system. It was a miracle they'd not landed in the middle of an asteroid field. With a scornful glance she looked at her sister before she resumed her search.

"There," she said softly after a time, "found one."

[Neri]

"Wake up," Mera said as she shook Neri.

A good half hour had gone by before Mera grudgingly admitted to needing Neri's help.

Neri breathed in deeply, looking up at her sister. Sorrow etched her eyes as she spoke. "Mera, please don't do this". It was when she saw the hardened expression on Mera's face that she knew too, it was really up to her.

She thought back, River's classes. How did he tell them to catch someone off balance and get control?

As quickly as the thoughts came through her mind, she grabbed Mera's arms, lifted her knee and pushed the other woman over her head. As Mera went flying behind her, she scrambled to her knees turning to press down on the womans shoulders.

Press down?

No, she shifted around until she sat on her sisters chest.

"Mera, I am truly sorry" This said, she raised her hand, bringing it sharply down on her sisters temple, stunning Mera into silence.

As Mera lay there, Neri lay beside her whispering softly. "Tell me Mera, speak to me.." her voice soft and gentle as she probed her sisters thoughts through the mind link that bound them.

~~Neri? Sister?~~

~~Yes,....tell me Sister..~~

~~I...fight it, but it is difficult. What is wrong with me Sister?~~

Mera's hands gripped tightly Neri's arms, as the two girls looked eye to eye, feeling each others breath upon their faces.

[Neri]

The past....

The lake had grown muddy with the rain that had fallen. She slipped from beneath the surface of the water, inhaling deeply as the nights warmth surrounded her. Had she been below in the ship for two days? It hardly seemed like it. As she pondered the thoughts her gaze turned skyward falling under the spell of the night sky. So beautiful it was. She loved looking at it, knowing at times, it seemed to draw her closer.

~Sister?~ the soft voice touched her mind and she smiled. Mera was calling her.

~Yes, Sister?~ she smiled more broadly, clasping her hands together in her happiness.

~Sister, I have wonderful news...~

~...Really? You do?~~ She asked in reply, fairly bouncing with excitement.

~Mother....~

~Mother? ~~

~~Sister, she is better. She...sister, she asks to see you.~~

Neri gasped suddenly, biting her lip as the tears in her eyes welled to the surface and drifted down her cheek.

~....Neri?~~.... ~Neri?~~ Mera's soft voice called again.

~I am here, Sister. I am just happy.~~

~~So am I Sister. Our family is together again. It is my dream....~~ Mera's smile was in her voice as she spoke to her younger sister.

The present....

"Mera?" Neri sniffled, wiping the sweat from her sisters brow. "Sister?" She sniffled again, her hands trembling as she held her sister up, cradling her gently as she rocked her.

"Please....please, sister..." She continued to whisper, even as she felt her heart breaking.

[Nhali]

...'why are you doing this?'...she asked, her voice breaking in a pathetic undertone. Her eyes were closed, her skin bathed in sweat as she tossed upon the sheeted bed.

...'I'm not....' came the voice she was becoming accustomed to hearing.

....'who are you?'... she murmered softly, 'who?'.

....'I am Mera'....

...'Mera?'....

....'yes...'.....

.....'ok....'.....

Neri continued to hold Mera, frowning as she listened to the onesided conversation it seemed her sister was having. Lightly she touched her thoughts to her sisters, delving deeper, and searching for the answers that lay hidden within.

[Mera]

Mera shuddered beneath the weight of Neri. Her eyes opened, sadness filled them.

"Sister, I want to go home."

Neri's heart ached at the tone of her sisters voice. What was wrong with her? One moment she seemed fine. She seemed the sister she'd come to love so deeply. Yet, within moments she became someone no one knew.

"I can not, Mera. This you know." Neri leaned closer until she lay next to Mera. "Speak to me Sister, tell me what you have been hiding.

"I dream of a time before I journeyed home. The place I grew up. It was harsh. Fighting. A struggle. But it was good too. People died."

"From wars?" Neri asked.

"No, I do not know. I was so young. I remember people dying. A great sickness. Friends died. Friends I never saw. I do not know if they died. I only know. It was difficult." Mera gasped, her breath heaving within her. "It was ... when I remembered home, I could not get there fast enough. I knew I had missed it. It was part of me. It was."

"No, Mera. It is part of you. Of us. Please, keep talking. Tell me more."

"No, I.. I... Neri. Willow. I remember her story. Sometimes, I hear someone else in my mind but it is not there. I is almost like a dream. I feel I am in a dream. A dream I can not escape. I cannot awaken."

"What can I do?"

"I do not know. Jali. Is he...ok?" Mera looked at her sister with fear filling her eyes.

"I .. think so. I trust it is so." Neri wrapped her arms about her sister and held her tightly.

[Neri]

She'd injected Mera with a sedative. Hoping as she did that the drug would help fight the spiraling emotions of her sister. This worried her.

"Neri?"

"Yes, Sister?" Neri spoke softly as she came to rest her hand on her sisters shoulder.

"Will they get the message?"

"Yes, we only need to land. Then they will come and we can go home."

"Home?" Mera replied with a darkened look to her eyes.

"Yes, Sister, home. We will find what is wrong, we will help you." Neri knelt beside Mera grasping her hand tightly. "Mera, I would die for you."

"I know....I know." Mera said as her other hand rested lightly on Neri's hair. The proximity alarm sounded bringing their attention to the planet before them.

"Come let us go to the planet," Neri said softly as she rose to her feet. Mera glanced at the starchart as they began their preparations for landing. "Neri?"

"Yes Mera?"

"This is where I was, how odd..." Her thoughtful gaze turned up to the viewscreen. Neri glanced between it and her sister before gently pressing a kiss to her sisters head.

"Then we are not lost. It will be ok."

Mera nodded, though she really did not feel it. Neri, seating herself glanced at Mera.

"Ready?"

"Yes...", though the word was clearly forced and held the tinge of a half truth.

[Neri]

She was not as good as Jali, nor even half as good as Mera in piloting the craft, but Mera could barely function and the help given was scarce enough to keep the craft from burning up in reentry. Aiming for the largest ocean mass, she willed the vessel downward through the surface of the sea.

As water engulfed the craft, she inhaled deeply, releasing control of the vessel and letting it settle as it would deep in the sea.

"Mera?", she said softly, brushing back the hair from her sisters face. "Come, rest...", she spoke gently, tugging Mera from the seat and to the sleeping quarters.

Several minutes later, after settling Mera and seeing the sedative take her sister under, she swiftly changed and headed to the portal. The lower hatch was opened and she stared down into the water. It smelled of salt and sand. "Good," she breathed softly as she dove downward and into the water. A deep sigh of pleasure filled her as she felt the water surround her. How much had she missed it.

Bouyed by the depths of the ocean, she mentally called out. ~Beloved?~

~I am safe....~

Letting the water carry her in it's embrace she relaxed and felt life return to her.

[Neri]

Leaving Mera safe below in the ship, she emerged from the ocean on a small strip of rocky beach set below a high cliff.

Looking up and down the beach, she scanned the cliff looking for a way up. Small tufts of grass were scattered upon the face, chunks of rock and earth that had been beaten by the weather and salt spray of the ocean.

Sighing, she knew it was the only way up. She could go further down, but that would take her closer to the city she'd scanned from the ship and that just wouldn't do. As it was, she was concerned she would garner too much attention when she did arrive.

Taking a breath, she wrapped the lower part of her tunic around her waist and tied it. One hand hold, then another, she slowly made her way up the cliff face. A soft smile crossing her face as she climbed, remembering when she'd jumped from the stable loft at the Santiago house. Her handhold faltered and she gasped softly as the smile faded.

How had she forgotten? She was a Santiago too. How had she come to forgetting part of who she was?

As she hung tight to the cliff face, pressed tight against the rocky earth. She swallowed down an ache and sought to remember those she'd forgotten.

[Neri]

"Move, Neri" she muttered to herself, forcing her mind to stillness. She'd never reach the upside if she kept distracting herself. She'd think of it later. Hand by hand, hold by hold she makes her way to the cliffs edge.

Heart racing, she peered over the top, seeing nothing but tall grasses waving in the breeze. Forcing her way up and over, she edged the cliff and finally lay upon the ground. Clouds danced in the sky above her as she breathed heavily, steadying her heart rate and willing her muscles to relax.

As she rested, she listened to the sounds that surrounded her. Odd sounds. No birds, though she expected to hear them. Odd sound of mechanics, muffled then choking into silence drew her attention.

She rolled to her knees and crept through the grasses, heading towards the sound. Farmer? Industrialist?

[Neri]

"I've got it", the words spilled over her as she huddled in the grasses, peering through to the field beyond.

The workers, a group of five, were tying off a bundle. She sniffed the air, smiling as she smelled the deep grassy scent. How long had it been since she'd smelled fresh mown grass.

She watched as they loaded the blocks of grass onto a long trailer. A motorized lift grabbed each block, swinging it through the air until it rested against it's mate on the trailer. She waited silent untl the last was loaded and the crew entered the cab of the truck. As it slowly began to move across the field she ran to the trailer. Grabbing hold, she swung herself up and hid between the last set.

As she watched, she saw the sun begin to lower in the sky, knowing it would soon set. Unsure where to go, she only hoped she would somehow be guided to where she needed to be. For all their sakes.

[Neri]

They rattled down the sandy road to a cluster of buildings that rose from the surrounding fields like shelf rocks on Kaminao. Tucking herself deeper between the bales she waited until the truck rolled to a stop.

The doors opened, voices grew in ever fading tones as the workers headed indoors. Waiting until darkness had started to descend and before lights brightened the darkness, she finally moved from her hiding place.

No unauthorized admittance. Such read the sign on the door. She smiled.

[Neri]

The turning of the knob set her back against the wall and the door opened to shield her from view. She watched as the carriers passed near her and off to one of the parked vehicles.

Swiftly she made her way inside, the darkened corridor lit by dim red lights that ran the length of the hall. Muffled voices, groans and protests could be heard from behind doors as she passed. Glancing through the small window, she could see nothing but darkness.

What place was this?

Knowing she was out of place and would be easily identified as an intruder, she wondered how to fit in. What could she do? What could.......

As the thought came to her, she gave a soft chuckle as memories flashed through her mind. "I think it might work," she murmured softly to herself. Trying several doors, she paused as one opened, peering in, she gave another soft laugh and ducked inside, closing the door behind her.