Chapter 50: Revelations
July 2414
The movements of the fish in the large tank occupying one wall seemed to hold her interest more than the people in the room, on this particular evening. The small lounge cleared out quickly, following some commotion that Kirina managed to mostly ignore. It wasn’t until she drew her attention away from the glow of the tank that she noticed one other occupant remaining nearby.
“I can help you, you know,” the other figure said.
It was Divan. Kirina raised both eyebrows, unsure of what she was referring to. She glanced towards the fishtank for a final moment before fully turning to face the other Romulan woman. “Excuse me?” she replied, uncertainly.
“You’re having trouble controlling the other voices, aren’t you.” She knew. Kirina was quiet for a long moment, as she considered what Divan may or may not have found out about. “I can help you,” the woman repeated in the silence.
Kirina decided that the best course of action was retreat. This was too dangerous. She shook her head and stepped towards the exit, muttering, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Divan stepped directly into Kirina’s path, causing her to stop short with widened eyes. Divan held out her hand, revealing a bracelet of sorts. It was a band of matte metallic silver, intertwined and haphazardly connected to a darker black-green cord. “Put it on,” Divan commanded, in a tone Kirina hadn’t heard from her before. And yet, there was something unnervingly familiar about it. Something oddly compelling. Despite her better judgement, despite everything inside her screaming to run away and not look back, Kirina held out her own hand, and allowed the bracelet to be placed around her wrist.
All of a sudden, the room felt cold.
The edge of Kirina’s vision blackened.
The usual idle hum of the station, the sound of people in the nearby hallway, the bubbles of the fishtank, the previously-droning voices of her makeshift collective; all of it was gone in an instant.
Kirina’s ears buzzed with deafening silence. When she spoke, the sound of her own voice was muffled and distant. “Who are you?” she asked.
In the moment of the other woman’s response, her voice was not that of Divan, but one that was unforgettable. The words echoed inside Kirina’s mind, as if it were the only sound in the entire universe.
“You know who I am,” said D’Kera Mandukar.