In the Land of the Dead Soul

[NDak 0]

"Those who have crossed, with direct eyes, to death's other kingdom,

remember us-if at all-not as lost violent souls, but only

as the Hollow men, the Stuffed men."~T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men

 

Lt.(SG) Koshic N’Dak

Helmsman | USS Arcadia

SD 0410.13

 

>Begin<

 

On the prison planet Risa, N’Dak stood observing the Klingons in the interrogation room. They were apprehensive; he didn’t need telepathy to figure that out, not that he could blame either.

 

From the corner of his eye he caught an image of Vectra Meriva. He had met him some time ago on Betazed. Funny the two had been on this ship all this time with out crossing paths, and most likely never would have had it not been for…well his thoughts would betrau him, and he quickly flushed those thoughts into the darkness of his sub-conscious.

 

He imagined Vectra was begging to feel the effects of being near so many hostile voices, N’Dak himself could feel the surges rippling through his body. But after what he had went through the last few weeks, this was nothing. He closed his eyes, washing away the voices and walling them out. He had learned, now, how to pick and chose who got in his head.

 

But the few voices he heard, were not pleasant, they were violent—tortured souls. Hollow of existence, stuffed with rage. Visceral and primal, the feelings had a dark pleasantry to them, and occasionally N’Dak would allow the darkness to sweep him over. It made one feel alive. The ability to have full empathy of the world around one, was truly a gift—if not a gift with a crux. A N’Dak knew that now was not the time to allow himself to be overcome by his own power.

 

The temptations of course were always there. They always had been. That was, after all, why he had fallen so easily to the Coalition and so nearly to the Squids. Power fascinated him, it engrossed him—and he knew his true power. But as tempting as it was, he would have to overcome his weakness. People depended on him—and though he at times wished he could change his past—he couldn’t. He had taken the path to reach the place he was now.

 

The One had guided him this far and would continue to guide him on. He could no more easily turn back now, as he could sever a limb. No, he would take the road before him, which was not down the path of power—but he was at yet unsure whether it was not the path of Darkness that he had taken, only the One and the Great Goddess herself knew.

 

He signed, turning his attention back to the Klingons and the one Vulcan, he wondered who they were in his time, and what they were doing at this moment. Which of course made his eyes meet John’s face.

 

“The Grand Inquisitionor,” N’Dak thought to himself. A stroke of luck indeed for the Arcadian crew, something N’Dak had almost began to believe would never happen, but the question posed was just how different was the N’Dak of this Galaxy?

 

Perhaps in this Galaxy he had stayed on Elasia and married Hecua and become the co-ruler of his planet, which for all knew could be a vast imperial power. Or, his family was poor and in destitute shape, and the Elasians of this galaxy were pink like the Klingons. It was in deed an interesting prospect to imagine what his ‘self’ was like.

 

But at the moment the variations of Koshic N’Dak wasn’t why he was on the “Prison Planet” Risa.

 

They we’re here to find people from our side, and bring them back to our side—although N’Dak wasn’t exactly sure how Lo’Ami and Company were aiming to achieve this. The very thought was beginning to give him a headache, so he left it in there capable hands.

 

He looked again to the ‘pink’ Klingons about the room. While he had made it a habit not to pry to deeply into anyone’s head unless he had too, he couldn’t help but wonder what in blue…or rather pink blazes was going on up there. Apparently they were going to help the Arcadians and in return the Arcadians weren’t going to leave the lovely ladies to rot.

 

For there sake, N’Dak thought to himself, they’d better. He imagined that rotting flesh didn’t coordinate well with pink.

 

>End<

Edited October 13, 2004 by NDak