| Author | Message | ||
     Cdr. Velorna Tal |
Focus. The clarity of one's thoughts. Strength. The power to accomplish one's goals. Unity. One's body, mind, and spririt functioning as one. Tal moved her body through the slow, rigorous motions of a Vulcan kata taught to her by the Kohlinar masters. Under ideal circumstances, the average length of the form was one Vulcan hour. She had been though the routine six times today alone, performing each series of moves in a deliberate fashion, focusing the strengths of her body, mind and spirit into a unified being. Her focus, strength, and unity would have to be perfect for tomorrow's ritual. She would allow no mistakes of herself as Guardian of the Kor symbiont. She would not allow herself the luxury of failure. She could not fail, for failure meant death for someone. Be it Tebrun Lora, one of the previous hosts of the Kor symbiont, one of the chosen "temporary hosts" in Kor's zhian'tara ritual, or the Kor symbiont itself - should Tal fail to be absolutely perfect tomorrow, someone would most likely end the day dead. She had been dead, and it was not a condition she would wish on any living being. The Admiral's list of friends and close accquaintences chosen to be vessels for Kor's former hosts was still incomplete, but Tal knew that the list would very likely include many whom she counted as friends or whom she respected as officers in the Fleet. She could not let them down. She could not let Tebrun down. He had trusted her once upon a time. She had been his first executive officer aboard Coronado, had in fact been Coronado's very frist executive officer. Four years later, she had returned to that position excited at the prospect of working near Tebrun Kor again. But time had changed them both. He was less trusting of her, and she had found that she was far more sensitive to how he viewed her. She had come to realize over the past five days of strenuous preperation that she had tried to be a harder, more disciplined first officer for Captain Daren because that was what she had felt would gain the Admiral's notice. Tal groaned inwardly as sweat poured down her face and across her body-tight workout uniform. She might be bearing Alec Reed's children, but she knew beyond a doubt that it was Tebrun Lora Kor whom she loved. She would have to purge such feelings by tomorrow if she wished to be perfect for him. Without breaking form, she ordered the computer to turn the gravity field up to three times Vulcan normal as she began her forms again. ==== Christian D. Clem '01, aka "Aggie" Cdr. Velorna Tal, Executive Officer U.S.S. Coronado NCC-97901 |