Post 257: Empty Garden Part One

Stardate:70626.1845
Title: Empty Garden Part One
Author: Zanh Liis
Scene: Arboretum
Time: After "R&R" by RJ Gilmore

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"I've been knocking, but no one answers, and I've been knocking most of the day, and I've been calling. . .can't you come out to play in your empty garden?" ~Elton John
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Zanh left Captain Gilmore in his quarters. She had no doubt that he was well on his way to recovery and would be back on the job and stronger than ever, soon.

Her own quarters were just a short walk down the hall from his, and she took a quick detour into them. She retrieved the small wooden chest from Bajor and tucked it under her arm. It contained a gift that she needed to deliver.

She returned to the arboretum, knowing that by now the reception in Seven should be taking off. She'd stopped by earlier this morning and spoken with Trick and Angus. They had taken her request to "shoot the works" to a limit beyond her wildest dreams.

She thought back to the times that she'd fallen asleep hungry so often as a child, and knew for a certainty that she had never, ever been in the same room with so much food in her life.

She would have to go and put in an appearance at the reception. Have a cup of coffee, chat with as many of the medal recipients as she could. But she also needed to get back to the bridge soon. She'd read all of the away team reports from the mission, and she needed to compile them for Gilmore to read tomorrow morning. She just had this one thing to attend to first.

The doors to the arboretum slid open. She found that everyone had left by this point, with the exception of the one person she was searching for.

She saw the Vedek kneeling before one of the reflecting pools. He had one hand up against a small sculpture that Liis didn't recognize, and the other over his heart. She knew she hadn't seen the monument before and was puzzled by it.

She approached his position and stood behind him a moment. Her breath caught at the sight of him, dressed as he was in all black, civilian clothing. After so many years of seeing him in the robe, she was still unaccustomed to the sight.

She was about to speak when she realized he wasn't simply kneeling. He was praying.

She waited silently until it seemed that he had finished. Then she took steps forward onto the stone walkway so that he would hear her boots approaching and not be startled to find he was no longer alone.

He turned in the direction of her footsteps, saw her and moved to stand. Zanh put a hand on his shoulder and instead she lowered herself to the ground beside him. She indicated the stone statue.

"This is new."

[[I found it here, just now. With all the people crowded in here before, I missed it.]]

"It's beautiful. Do you know where it came from?"

[[No, but look.]] he pointed to the back where the inscription was. [[For Bajor. Someone went to an awful lot of trouble to put it here.]] His eyes questioned her.

"It wasn't me, if that's what you're asking. If you want, I can access the security logs. Find out for you." Liis offered. His eyes were so haunted, he seemed so lost to her. She didn't know exactly how to help him, and that was something that she had a hard time living with.

[[No, thank you. If they want me to know who they are, I am sure that they will tell me when they're ready.]]

"Ah, yes. The discretion of the priesthood. Sometimes I forget."

For the first time since he'd come back to the ship from Bajor, he smiled a little. But it was fleeting. She turned away to look at the sculpture more closely and he tapped her on the shoulder.

"You rang?"

[[You didn't come back to me last night.]] he frowned, disappointment clearly evident on his face. [[You promised you would.]] He looked down at the grass, as Zanh Liis drew a breath to speak.
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Zanh Liis
Acting Commanding Officer
USS Independence NCC-90791
zanh_liis@soultreklive.com