Cantrell Chronicles RESET, Part One
The Shaking of Foundations, a Cantrell Chronicles RESET, Part One_ Chapter One [With minor revisions] The call came in the dead of night. Reaching an arm out from underneath the covers, Joseph g...
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The Whirlpool Effect, Part Two a Cantrell Chronicles Reset, update-Chapter Thirty- Eight
[revised]
Brianna threw herself heavily upon her knees in front of the molten rock. Hiding her face in her hands seeking a quick way into a higher consciousness. By doing so, she hoped to put the distraction of her fears behind her, to focus her energy on the moment at hand. Her Test. It simply would not do at the moment, her concentration was fractured, serenity not to be found. Her tiny hands were clammy and cold, a telltale sign of her panic. “Why do I do this?” she sighed aloud, raising her hands in supplication.
She should know better than to make such a foolish attempt, leaving out essential calming steps as if short-cuts existed. She could hear T’Pran’s constant admonitions, “Stop pushing, T’Bree. Let it come naturally.” Brianna ripped her hands away from her face and stared into the flame set beneath the rock, drinking deeply of the incense that engulfed her.
Slowly, she began the spiral climb inward to her own place of peace, calming her mind. Tranquility rippled through her as she centered herself. She could feel her fears melt away, all of her cares drifting aloft, shrinking, disappearing altogether. At last, she was floating and all was well again.
Then rather impulsively, as if she were suddenly being called to do so, she shot her consciousness upwards. Higher and higher she allowed her essence to rise, much like smoke out of a chimney, lifting out of her body until she hovered over the chamber and the human form kneeling by the dias. Suffering a chill as she did so.
The poor little girl, she thought. The poor, poor little human girl, momentarily lamenting the rigors of a lifestyle not entirely of her choosing. Shaking herself free again of such self-absorption to continue on until she was quite beyond herself. Brianna hovered briefly over the temple, over the city, somewhat hesitantly and then finding her courage soared up through the reddish strata of Vulcan to the blackness of space.
On and on she rose, exhilarated by the complete and necessary freedom of it. Having to be so controlled all the time, holding everything in, containing her emotions against her nature was difficult. Streaking through space like this, the atmosphere breaking over her like water in a wave, she was able to shrug off the shackles and just let go. Just be. A safety valve, of sorts, that even Vulcans employed from time to time, keeping them sane in the face of such strictures, this was good.
This is what she needed at this moment in order to release her frustrations, feeling herself expanding, becoming one with God's universe. She was humbled by the vastness of His creation as she went, continuing on passed planets and stars to another part of the galaxy, sailing further and further away than she had ever gone before . . .
Until she was no longer alone!
Gasping in her surprise, this sort of mind-exercise was generally a solitary practice; Her, God and the universe. A form of meditation. A prayer, if you will, not necessarily to be shared with the masses. And yet, suddenly this other soul was just there, beckoning and forbidding all at once, sending her reeling on her own shock waves. His presence was quite overwhelming. She could feel the colors of him, the bright oranges, reds and blues of his aura, the lavenders, greens and pinks, detecting a distinctly masculine orientation about him, the warmth emanating from his very soul.
Trembling, she could not breathe. Just how far out beyond herself had she reached? How much farther could she go? To quite literally bump into another entity, another being — who or— what?
Certainly, this was a created being such as herself, one of God's own. That much she could sense, though little else. He, too, was so tightly contained. Perhaps, he was here meditating? Brianna felt a sudden grabbing, tickling sensation deep in the pit of her stomach. She shouldn't be here it was . . . wrong. She let the thought dangle. Frightened, uncertain of what she should do she tried to hold herself at bay, treading air, struggling to depart to some other plane lest she inadvertently intrude upon the other's thoughts.
She simply didn’t know what to do. T'Pran had taught her always to keep her thoughts to herself, to shield them from unintentional psychic scrutiny and to never pry her way into another person's mind. Entering the thoughts of another without express permission was a profound violation of personal boundaries and a severe breach of trust. Indeed, it was a form of assault, kae’at k’lasa, subject to strict penalty under the Law. It was of no use, however. She could not pull away, nor did he seem able to resist what could only be likened to a gravitative pull. Somehow, she had gotten too close. Her fault again, she sighed. This day was fraught with mistakes!
Immediately, both she and this other being were caught in what felt like a whirlpool, seemingly of their own creation, born not merely out of a resistance to each other but to the artificial natures thrust on them by training. Their collective thoughts and emotions, once released, had collided forming a maelstrom of sensation swirling rapidly around them.
The more they struggled to get away the faster the whirlpool rushed until, quite helplessly, the two spiraled toward one another, contact inevitable. Brianna felt a roaring, burning sensation jetting upwards from her toes throughout her body as closer and closer they drew to each other. He was quite close now, dangerously so. “I'm sorry. I'm sorry,” she whispered, certain this was of her doing. After all, she was always pushing.
Suddenly her ears burned and even the roots of her hair tingled. She was aflame, melting, losing herself as the colors of their separate beings mingled, blending into new shades. Wary and yet undeniably curious she felt herself acquiesce granting permission as, for only a brief moment, the two minds became one . . .
*~~*~~*~~*~~*
High Councilor T’Pau of the House of Talek Sen Dene, rose from her throne, as King Emeritus, Joseph the Second entered the Temple. High on Mount Seleya, the temperature was on the cool side. The wind swirled outside, whistling through the ancient chamber. He fought to keep from shuddering. “Thank you for heeding my call, your Majesty,” she said, bowing her head to him. Despite her training, she was visibly shaken, Joseph noted. “I shall get straight to the point,” she continued as he drew nearer.
She came down the short couple of steps to draw closer to this human, who had gone out of his way to acquiesce to her demands, even when it meant taking his only daughter and youngest child out of his home to live in the Temple, years ago. "There hast been an aberration during the Test. There wast to be no touching of minds, merely deflection. I have spoken with both your daughter and the Moderator who violated the Rules.”
“Is my daughter all right?’
“Yes, she is quite fine, if not still reeling from this entirely unexpected encounter, let’s call it. The male involved has apologized profusely, to his credit, however he asks that he be on the list of those who would be her Suitor.”
“Suitor?”
“Yes, many of the Noble Houses First Sons find their mates after this Test, which shows the keenest minds, “T’Pau continued. “This way they can keep their noble status, while their houses continue to grow.”
“I see,” Joseph said, nodding his head. This wasn’t something he anticipated.
“I don’t think you do, not truly. It is all about Mind Powers, Joseph,” Ambassador Sarek said, as he entered the room. “The stronger the mind, the higher the rank. A leftover, a legacy, from the Time of the Beginning. Crude, violent, we nearly tore our race apart.”
T’Pau, shot her grandson a glance and then continued. “Kroika!” she shouted at the Ambassador, turning to direct her speech to Joseph.
“Our emotions were wildly out-of-control. Drunk with power, as each House was. I would also have you know both of them described the incident as having been caught up in a whirlpool, to which neither could break away, even when their minds brushed up against each other.”
“Moth to a flame,” Joseph uttered, so quietly, he forgot for a moment just how keen the Vulcan hearing was.
“Come again?”
“Oh, sorry, just a human figurative expression, an idiom, if you will.”
“Yes, indeed, that is essentially what happened. I will tell you, though, the male did his best to resist, knowing this was against the rules for a Moderator, still he could not resist her ‘siren call’, as he described it. To your daughter’s credit, she also, fought it. And also to her credit, she spared him any further harm by giving her permission before their minds fully linked in a true mindmeld. So did he. There was no Mind Assault, of that you can be certain. I do have to sanction him, all the same.”
King Emeritus Joseph let out a sigh. “For breaking the rules.” He nodded. “We did not come here to cause pain to another. We respectfully came as you bid us when she was seventeen to sit the k’Matra, as you stated it must be. Now you tell me there is a line of suitors. This is unacceptable. She’s only seventeen, a child still.”
“Both stated deep feelings for the other. The L- word was used even by the Vulcan. I felt their thoughts, it is true. They desire to be together.”
“Brianna isn’t old enough to even know what love is, High Councilor. I cannot sanction this. I won’t sanction this.”
“Nor I” said Ambassador Sarek.
“Not even to help remove this shame from his House?”
“Just how ancient is this Vulcan?”
“He is yet a young adult. An esteemed Starfleet officer. I assure you he is as gentle as a lamb. He’s half-human, if that makes any difference to you, good sir. I do know he bears an exaggerated sense of kindness in his soul.”
“Shouldn’t he already be betrothed?”
King Emeritus Joseph caught the shock on Ambassador Sarek’s face, briefly, before he was able to conceal his surprise. “Sadly the Ambassador selected the wrong female for his son. She arrived at our House’s place of marriage at the appointed time, calling for a Challenge. He won the obligatory fight to the death, and then summarily dismissed her for having dishonored his House.”
“I will have a talk with my daughter to see how it really is with her, but I know she won’t sanction any harm be done to him. Neither do I. From what you described, this was truly something extraordinary.”
“She is free to Challenge,” T’Pau said.
“She won’t go for that, either. You just said the fight is to the death.”
“But, your Majesty, what can we do? We Vulcans also have a word for this type of phenomenon. We call it Kiftiri. Which translates to the Common tongue as destiny—”
“Kismet,” Joseph sighed again, his shoulders sagging a bit in near defeat.
“I myself experienced such an encounter when I was but a girl,” T’Pau further explained. “Deemed Kiftiri as it was, Surak and I were married soon after.” Turning next to Sarek, she said, “You will see to it, your son agrees to the solution. It’s the only way to erase the shame he had brought upon us.”
“You were married to Surak? I knew your House had prestige, but I had no idea. I’ll have to convince my dear wife, first, before I can sign any marriage contract, which is what you’re asking for.”
All for now, thanks for reading!
Glad to see how Bree is taking it. I would be with Louise there. Not liking forced marriage.
Vulcan culture is all about arranging marriages. If that's not forced, I don't know what is. But she can always call for Challenge. There is an original Star Trek episode, "Amok Time" which gives us a bird's eye view into a bit of Vulcan culture. And another way to look at this situation, is that if Bree is already in love with her Moderator, then how can marrying him be forced. She is right to ask to meet him ahead of time, but that's out of her concern, he may not be okay with the arrangement. His first arranged marriage went horribly sideways. T'Pring Challenged him on their wedding day, and the resulting fight is to the death. (Now that certainly brings finality to a divorce, no?)
Yes I know it is so in Vulcan culture 🙂 But that does not make me like it 🙂 Only said my opinion, that I am with Louise on this 😊
His first arranged marriage went horribly sideways. T'Pring Challenged him on their wedding day, and the resulting fight is to the death.
Because she wanted Stonn. Spock also congratulated her being flawlessly logical, what she liked.
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