Small Things – Star Light, Star Bright
by Alderman Yolanthe Ibalin & Commander Karen Villiers
Post Details
::ON::
Conoran Prin ambled along the promenade, a man seeming without driving purpose or urgent destination. He paused as his gaze glimmered over an area in disrepair ... that must be the *trouble* the clerk mentioned. Strong vibrations emanated from the twisted structure of what might have been a doorway. Even if its condition had been pristine it was not one that Prin would want to have stepped through.
Thank the Heart that nothing I desire lies there, he thought as he turned and walked on.
Prin's synapses flashed crimson as a man hit him full in the shoulder.
"Forgive me," Prin said as he watched the man pause, "I was not watching where I was going."
Without a word the stranger moved on.
Your fault entirely, Prin thought with a shake of his head. The stranger carried a faint vibration, he had been near to a Fragment, but did not possess it.
The Betazoid shrugged. It was as good a time as any for a rest. The bar the man had walked out of seemed like an appropriate place to take a break.
Prin glid through the crowd his lips twisting in amusement and concern as he picked through the thoughts of those who he touched in passing … he had the impression that every man and woman on the space station would come in here if her waited long enough.
It was a puzzle. How was he to reach the bar?
Prin sought another alternative. A pair of women, girls to his eyes occupied a booth. As he moved near it was a simple matter to persuade them that …
“We’re just leaving,” one said as he reached them.
“How very kind,” Prin said in acknowledgement, not commenting on the untouched drinks they were leaving behind. You’d thank me if you could see the future, he thought, that stuff would wreak havoc with your complexion.
He took their place with a smile and a nod of appreciation before moving the tall full cocktail glasses aside.
From here he could watch the world go by.
----
"Pelin, I'm taking a break." After Shorts departure, she felt disturbed, trappped even, behind the sinuous wave of the bar. A turn on the floor checking the patrons would help.
"Sure thing boss," the young bajorran nodded, and turned back to the order he was prepping.
She stepped into the crowd, moving easily through it; people naturally gave way to her six foot four height and statuesque build. She stopped to exchange words with regulars, and watch over the shoulders of punters at the game tables, before moving onto the booths at the back. Servers moved back and forth with trays of drinks and bar snacks, but one table caught her eye. A single male, human, untouched glasses pushed aside.
"Not to your taste?" she smiled and nodded at the cocktails beside Prin.
He returned her smile. "Why a gaggle of young ladies left them behind," he said pleasantly. Prin felt the vibrations coming from the woman, humming in the air. So strong. Either she had until recently possessed a Fragment, or she still did. "I'm sure its no reflection on your fine establishment," he continued.
"Happens all the time. People lose track of time in here." she leaned over to pull the glasses to the table edge so she could pick them up. "Can I get you something less pink?"
"I'd be delighted just to drink in the atmosphere, but I think that would nto be good for your profit margins if all your customers took that approach," he said noting the fleeting shifts in her colouring as he spoke.
Fascinating!
For a moment he had not been sure if the crimson was his or hers - by the Heart she had a Fragment somewhere close.
"My name is Conoran Prin," he said rising slightly, "as to a beverage, I will deliver the choice into your hands if you will then spare a moment or two with me."
She turned a lilac colour, and rose a matching eyebrow before sliding into the booth opposite Prin. She leant forward slightly, examining him, then signalled one of the serving staff. "Dirty Martini, Andorian style." she said without breaking his gaze.
Prin chuckled softly at her choice - it was one he might have made himself. "Ah, you are a good judge of your customer's wishes," he told her. The vibration that rose from her made the skin at the back of his neck tingle. Here indeed was one of the many unknowing guardians. "or perhaps a lucky guess?" he ventured.
"A bit of both," she admitted, the lilac picking up more blue tones. "You're human, but you understand profit margins, which says you've either travelled into cultures where the consumer is a little less post, or that you study economics. Either points to someone with more sophisticated aspiration than someone who ordered a Screaming Orgasm," she nodded at the untouched cocktail. "But given your age, and the fact that you are here, I'm putting you down as a traveller, so you don't mind doing things slightly differently, hence the Andorian twist. And since you have just asked me to hear whatever sales pitch you have coming, I doubt you'd want to offend me by contradicting whatever I ask for."
"A traveller, a seeker of unseen things and a philanthropist," Prin replied smoothly. He wasn't about to correct her assumption that he was human. He continued in the same even baritone, "I'll be just as direct with you as you have been with me. You have something I want, and in return I will give you whatever it is that you want."
Prin was not always this direct. He had not yet decided if he would allow her to keep the memory of this conversation. He could tweak her synapses here and there leaving her only with a sweet little mystery as to how her desires were fulfilled, or he could leave the memory intact.
"Really?" She scrutinised him. "What is it you want? I may not want to part with it."
"I really don't know," Prin said his dark eyes tracing an aura only he could see, "all I know is that you have it in your possession, and that you have had it for some time. It will be a thing of little intrinsic worth. One man possessed a Fragment that had been used to repair an ancient timepiece. A pocket-watch that stopped the hour we met. Latinum was worth more to him than a simple cog," Prin continued.
At the mention of latinum her body flushed hot pink. "I tend to travel light. All I really hang on to are my trophies, and you understand that i'm not going to give them up easily." Though if it could get Tyler Short and by extension Oded Veyr of her back, then it was worth the price.
"Perhaps I could see these trophies. If what I seek is among them, you may name your price," Prin said. Could that be why the imprint was so strong on her? Still, latinum was easily given.
An intensly pretty boy arrived with the martini, and put it down in front of Prin, smiled at Yolanthe and left again. Yolanthe nodded at the glass. "Bring that and come with me."
She led him through the door marked 'staff only', and took him to her office. Against the crisp monochromatic colours, her magenta colouring popped like a neon light. "That's my trophy wall." SHe gestured to the wall behind the desk. Mounted on it were some two score items, weapons mostly. Knives, knuckle dusters, one or two phasers or similar. But there was also the long brown braid, a small leather purse, and the gold Lamé underpants once described as budgie-smugglers. Looking over the wall, her colour changed to a medium blue, and happy memories flashed across her mind. "Is any of that what you're looking for?"
"Are you then a warrior, or a thief," Prin asked as he extended his mind around each item - they had been kept together for so long that it was difficult even for he to isolate the one he sought.
"Ive never stolen anything in my life. "
"No offence is meant and I make no judgement. I merely observe that none of these tokens were given up lightly," Prin had begun to move one hand close to each, his palm hovered over the purse - the leather skin had never been part of the Heart but the metal clasp ...
"Well, one or two were. " She nodded at the purse. "That was one of the few times I won at cards. Playing tongo with a drunk ferengi. He lost his shirt and then his change purse."
The corners of Prin's mouth twitched into a smile and for a moment his black eyes warmed, "Isn't the motto unlucky at cards and lucky in love," he said, "May I look at it?" he asked rather than simply taking the object down.
She turned a rich purple, but shades of grey flickered in and out. "Sure." She unhooked it from its peg and passed it to him. "Hope you're not squeamish. Its actual dead animal."
Prin shrugged as his long fingers grazed the leathery skin. The tips almost burned as they touched the metal clasp. He'd found a Fragment, but in its current state he had no idea which it was - he would have to wait for the gilt metal to reveal to him what it had once been.
He snapped open the purse. His gaze remained on the woman's skin ... the colour seemed to change with her thoughts. Fascinating.
"There appears to be a strip of latinum in here," he said hooking it out with one finger and holding it out to her. He kept the purse in his other hand.
"Where I'm from an empty purse is an omen of poverty. You never leave one without something in it." The bokkai nodded at the purse. "Is it what you're after?"
"It would seem to be," he replied thoughtfully, "the purse, not the latinum," he added.
"Then lets talk terms," she told him. "What are you offering?"
"The price is yours to name, with the caveat that it should be the thing that you yearn for the most at this moment in time."
She stared at him for a moment, slowly turning from the bright pink to a sapphire blue. Was it really going to be that easy? SHe just had to ask, and a brick of latinum would appear. "That's it?" she was a bit sceptical. If it was too good to be true, it usually was. "Even if I want a whole brick of latinum? By tomorrow?"
"Only one?" he asked raising an eyebrow. She didn't understand. How could she? The value of the Fragments to him once he recovered them all could not be measured in latinum. But again he found that at the root of most being's problems was currency.
"Alright. whats really going on? This isn't worth a whole brick of latinum to anyone but me." IT was too good to be true. there had to be strings attached and she wanted to know exactly what she was getting in to.
"Ah, but it is to me," Prin replied. "Are you sure that you want to know my secret? I can tell you, but you will never recall this meeting, nor how you came by your brick of gold pressed Latinum."
Yolanthe narrowed her white eyes, and bit her lip. What a price. "I have to know."
Prin lifted his glass, sipped and placed it back on the side where he had left it when he entered the room. He laid the purse beside it.
"Lets sit," he said gesturing to the plush sofa.
She poured herself a finger of kanar and sank into the deep upholstry, her bright blue colouring even brighter against the white velvet. "Once upon a time?..."
Prin nodded as he sat beside her, his elbows resting on his knees and his eyes lost in a distant memory. "You may have heard of the Holy Rings of Betazed, the Sacred Chalice of Rix? They are a treasure in the care of one particular family and their value is beyond measure. Those are not the only treasures of Betazed.
"Hundreds of years ago the Heart of Orsaya was created and blessed by the family of Ingarn. My family, though for reasons that will become clear we no longer use that name. The secret of the Heart, a machine, was that it could create a localised time distortion. My ancestors, like myself were philanthropists, but they observed that most beings are innately suspicious of unsolicited charity, the Heart was created to allow them to help others and to correct small wrongs, to give someone who has made a wrong decision or act to make their choice again.
"For centuries we operated in secret, a sacred covenant then one of my ancestors broke that covenant. Rather than helping he used the Heart to steal, he created time distortions to help himself. The Heart was seized, my ancestor arrested and the family disgraced.
"We fell into obscurity and two hundred years ago the Heart was broken up. It was not destroyed as even though it had been abused the object as a whole was held sacred. For two hundred years the true holders of the Heart have served two purposes. First to amass enough wealth to continue the work of Orsaya Ingarn in secret, and second to track down the dispersed Fragments of the Heart of Orsaya."
"Thats a longtime for stuff to be missing." She observed. "How could anyone keep track?"
"The secrets were passed from mother to daughter, father to son. Those who wed into our family became part of the secret. Now there is only me. I hold the accumulated wealth of centuries and am close to acquiring the final few Fragments of the Heart. When I have it the remainder of my life will be spent distributing that wealth as Orsaya intended when she created the Heart. When I die, her line dies with me and the Heart will be bequeathed to Betazed."
"And the purse is a fragment?"
"Yes. They each share a vibration and when someone has prolonged contact with one I can read it in them. Its a scarlet flash behind my eyes, then I can focus on them. Most Betazoids rigourously train themselves not to pry into the minds of others, my family as part of its secret has trained the opposite way. We pry, we search, we predict and where required, we alter thoughts and memories."
"And how far back can the heart send people? Do they keep their knowledge of the original past?"
"Alas I have not lived in a time when it was assembled," Prin said wistfully, "Minutes certainly. Hours, perhaps. It could not work in a crowded room, there would be too many minds to control and change but in a closed room, with a limited cast ... then perhaps it could be longer."
The bright blue became a pale grey. For a moment she had hoped... She shook her head, chasing away the thought. "No wonder you are prepared to pay so much."
"A brick of latinum is little to me and little when my goal is to restore my family's name. In some ways it is redemption I seek for the crimes of the man who turned Orsaya's gift to evil purposes."
"If you succeed in assembling the Heart. would you come back here? I can think of evil deeds that need undoing." the grey darkened.
"My dear lady, I will never be able to change the distant past. If I can heal Orsaya's Heart then I will be able to do much good, but I must be on hand to meddle in events if I wish to give someone the opportunity to consider the consequences of their action and to choose again."
"Pity. Though I can see why you'd want to keep such a thing quiet."
"You understand why I cannot allow you to retain any conscious memory of this conversation. The Heart in the wrong hands is no gift. I cannot take the risk that someone learns of my quest. You may experience fleeting memories, or dream of this conversation, but you will never again know the whole. Its the way it must be."
"If you say so." She put her glass down. "But before you do, no one knows about this do they? I won't be encountering angry violent people asking questions I can't answer?"
"There will be no questions. You need fear nothing," he told her. His consciousness was already tamperign with the edges of her awareness. He held back a little longer. These meetings always made him curious. "Allow me to ask one question of my own. I cannot promise to grant your wish, but tell me, what is the wrong that you wanted to right if the Heart could change what had gone before?"
Poor Reshi. Her skin became greyer still. For a moment she could see his beautiful delicate features, smell his soft long hair. "A boy died. If I could go back, he wouldn't have to." Probably. If they didn't go into the jungle. If she'd just done The Duty, and hadn't tried to make it special. "Men are very precious to my people, the loss of even one is a tragedy, a genocide."
"And you feel yourself responsible? Don't be alarmed, I'm a nosey Betazoid with no inhibitions about prying in people's minds."
He gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile before he continued. "I think that too much has happened to change your past and the pasts of everyone you have come into contact with since, even if it were possible. We must live with our mistakes, and our guilt. I could dim the memory if you wish, but my wilful interference goes only as far as it is necessary for my search. If you wanted me to do that, I could."
Yolanthe shook her head. "I don't feel responsible. I am responsible. And unless I can change the past, then it has to be as you say. I have to live with my mistakes." She gave him a direct look. "So you can leave the guilt and the pain and the rage. Don't touch what isn't yours."
Prin smiled thinly, "Very well. I think that concludes our business unless there is anything else you would like to talk about," he said.
"No. All I need is my latinum, and piece of relic is all yours."
He got to his feet and turned to look at her. A strange creature, but one who seemed to know her own mind. "Goodbye, dear lady," he said as he reached for the purse.
Her experience of the conversation that he had been holding in a mental bubble he pushed deep into the recesses of her mind. At the same time he activated a small transporter device. He returned in that instant to his docked ship.
Still holding on to her memory he quickly opened a safe box and extracted the latinum. He transported this back into the place where he had been sitting and released her mind.
If she recalled him at all she would think she had fallen into a dream. He'd been replaced by two bricks of latinum.
The transaction complete he sat heavily in his chair and pulled out the purse. There were few Fragments left for him to find. Then the real challenge would beging.
OFF
Yolanthe Ibalin
Proprietor, Box of Delights
Conoran Prin NPC
Philanthopist and Meddler.
by Alderman Yolanthe Ibalin & Commander Karen Villiers
Post Details
| Title | Star Light, Star Bright | |
| Mission | Small Things | |
| Author(s) | Alderman Yolanthe Ibalin & Commander Karen Villiers | |
| Posted | Thu Nov 14, 2013 @ 8:51pm | |
| Location | The Box of Delights | |
| Timeline | SD 78 |
Conoran Prin ambled along the promenade, a man seeming without driving purpose or urgent destination. He paused as his gaze glimmered over an area in disrepair ... that must be the *trouble* the clerk mentioned. Strong vibrations emanated from the twisted structure of what might have been a doorway. Even if its condition had been pristine it was not one that Prin would want to have stepped through.
Thank the Heart that nothing I desire lies there, he thought as he turned and walked on.
Prin's synapses flashed crimson as a man hit him full in the shoulder.
"Forgive me," Prin said as he watched the man pause, "I was not watching where I was going."
Without a word the stranger moved on.
Your fault entirely, Prin thought with a shake of his head. The stranger carried a faint vibration, he had been near to a Fragment, but did not possess it.
The Betazoid shrugged. It was as good a time as any for a rest. The bar the man had walked out of seemed like an appropriate place to take a break.
Prin glid through the crowd his lips twisting in amusement and concern as he picked through the thoughts of those who he touched in passing … he had the impression that every man and woman on the space station would come in here if her waited long enough.
It was a puzzle. How was he to reach the bar?
Prin sought another alternative. A pair of women, girls to his eyes occupied a booth. As he moved near it was a simple matter to persuade them that …
“We’re just leaving,” one said as he reached them.
“How very kind,” Prin said in acknowledgement, not commenting on the untouched drinks they were leaving behind. You’d thank me if you could see the future, he thought, that stuff would wreak havoc with your complexion.
He took their place with a smile and a nod of appreciation before moving the tall full cocktail glasses aside.
From here he could watch the world go by.
----
"Pelin, I'm taking a break." After Shorts departure, she felt disturbed, trappped even, behind the sinuous wave of the bar. A turn on the floor checking the patrons would help.
"Sure thing boss," the young bajorran nodded, and turned back to the order he was prepping.
She stepped into the crowd, moving easily through it; people naturally gave way to her six foot four height and statuesque build. She stopped to exchange words with regulars, and watch over the shoulders of punters at the game tables, before moving onto the booths at the back. Servers moved back and forth with trays of drinks and bar snacks, but one table caught her eye. A single male, human, untouched glasses pushed aside.
"Not to your taste?" she smiled and nodded at the cocktails beside Prin.
He returned her smile. "Why a gaggle of young ladies left them behind," he said pleasantly. Prin felt the vibrations coming from the woman, humming in the air. So strong. Either she had until recently possessed a Fragment, or she still did. "I'm sure its no reflection on your fine establishment," he continued.
"Happens all the time. People lose track of time in here." she leaned over to pull the glasses to the table edge so she could pick them up. "Can I get you something less pink?"
"I'd be delighted just to drink in the atmosphere, but I think that would nto be good for your profit margins if all your customers took that approach," he said noting the fleeting shifts in her colouring as he spoke.
Fascinating!
For a moment he had not been sure if the crimson was his or hers - by the Heart she had a Fragment somewhere close.
"My name is Conoran Prin," he said rising slightly, "as to a beverage, I will deliver the choice into your hands if you will then spare a moment or two with me."
She turned a lilac colour, and rose a matching eyebrow before sliding into the booth opposite Prin. She leant forward slightly, examining him, then signalled one of the serving staff. "Dirty Martini, Andorian style." she said without breaking his gaze.
Prin chuckled softly at her choice - it was one he might have made himself. "Ah, you are a good judge of your customer's wishes," he told her. The vibration that rose from her made the skin at the back of his neck tingle. Here indeed was one of the many unknowing guardians. "or perhaps a lucky guess?" he ventured.
"A bit of both," she admitted, the lilac picking up more blue tones. "You're human, but you understand profit margins, which says you've either travelled into cultures where the consumer is a little less post, or that you study economics. Either points to someone with more sophisticated aspiration than someone who ordered a Screaming Orgasm," she nodded at the untouched cocktail. "But given your age, and the fact that you are here, I'm putting you down as a traveller, so you don't mind doing things slightly differently, hence the Andorian twist. And since you have just asked me to hear whatever sales pitch you have coming, I doubt you'd want to offend me by contradicting whatever I ask for."
"A traveller, a seeker of unseen things and a philanthropist," Prin replied smoothly. He wasn't about to correct her assumption that he was human. He continued in the same even baritone, "I'll be just as direct with you as you have been with me. You have something I want, and in return I will give you whatever it is that you want."
Prin was not always this direct. He had not yet decided if he would allow her to keep the memory of this conversation. He could tweak her synapses here and there leaving her only with a sweet little mystery as to how her desires were fulfilled, or he could leave the memory intact.
"Really?" She scrutinised him. "What is it you want? I may not want to part with it."
"I really don't know," Prin said his dark eyes tracing an aura only he could see, "all I know is that you have it in your possession, and that you have had it for some time. It will be a thing of little intrinsic worth. One man possessed a Fragment that had been used to repair an ancient timepiece. A pocket-watch that stopped the hour we met. Latinum was worth more to him than a simple cog," Prin continued.
At the mention of latinum her body flushed hot pink. "I tend to travel light. All I really hang on to are my trophies, and you understand that i'm not going to give them up easily." Though if it could get Tyler Short and by extension Oded Veyr of her back, then it was worth the price.
"Perhaps I could see these trophies. If what I seek is among them, you may name your price," Prin said. Could that be why the imprint was so strong on her? Still, latinum was easily given.
An intensly pretty boy arrived with the martini, and put it down in front of Prin, smiled at Yolanthe and left again. Yolanthe nodded at the glass. "Bring that and come with me."
She led him through the door marked 'staff only', and took him to her office. Against the crisp monochromatic colours, her magenta colouring popped like a neon light. "That's my trophy wall." SHe gestured to the wall behind the desk. Mounted on it were some two score items, weapons mostly. Knives, knuckle dusters, one or two phasers or similar. But there was also the long brown braid, a small leather purse, and the gold Lamé underpants once described as budgie-smugglers. Looking over the wall, her colour changed to a medium blue, and happy memories flashed across her mind. "Is any of that what you're looking for?"
"Are you then a warrior, or a thief," Prin asked as he extended his mind around each item - they had been kept together for so long that it was difficult even for he to isolate the one he sought.
"Ive never stolen anything in my life. "
"No offence is meant and I make no judgement. I merely observe that none of these tokens were given up lightly," Prin had begun to move one hand close to each, his palm hovered over the purse - the leather skin had never been part of the Heart but the metal clasp ...
"Well, one or two were. " She nodded at the purse. "That was one of the few times I won at cards. Playing tongo with a drunk ferengi. He lost his shirt and then his change purse."
The corners of Prin's mouth twitched into a smile and for a moment his black eyes warmed, "Isn't the motto unlucky at cards and lucky in love," he said, "May I look at it?" he asked rather than simply taking the object down.
She turned a rich purple, but shades of grey flickered in and out. "Sure." She unhooked it from its peg and passed it to him. "Hope you're not squeamish. Its actual dead animal."
Prin shrugged as his long fingers grazed the leathery skin. The tips almost burned as they touched the metal clasp. He'd found a Fragment, but in its current state he had no idea which it was - he would have to wait for the gilt metal to reveal to him what it had once been.
He snapped open the purse. His gaze remained on the woman's skin ... the colour seemed to change with her thoughts. Fascinating.
"There appears to be a strip of latinum in here," he said hooking it out with one finger and holding it out to her. He kept the purse in his other hand.
"Where I'm from an empty purse is an omen of poverty. You never leave one without something in it." The bokkai nodded at the purse. "Is it what you're after?"
"It would seem to be," he replied thoughtfully, "the purse, not the latinum," he added.
"Then lets talk terms," she told him. "What are you offering?"
"The price is yours to name, with the caveat that it should be the thing that you yearn for the most at this moment in time."
She stared at him for a moment, slowly turning from the bright pink to a sapphire blue. Was it really going to be that easy? SHe just had to ask, and a brick of latinum would appear. "That's it?" she was a bit sceptical. If it was too good to be true, it usually was. "Even if I want a whole brick of latinum? By tomorrow?"
"Only one?" he asked raising an eyebrow. She didn't understand. How could she? The value of the Fragments to him once he recovered them all could not be measured in latinum. But again he found that at the root of most being's problems was currency.
"Alright. whats really going on? This isn't worth a whole brick of latinum to anyone but me." IT was too good to be true. there had to be strings attached and she wanted to know exactly what she was getting in to.
"Ah, but it is to me," Prin replied. "Are you sure that you want to know my secret? I can tell you, but you will never recall this meeting, nor how you came by your brick of gold pressed Latinum."
Yolanthe narrowed her white eyes, and bit her lip. What a price. "I have to know."
Prin lifted his glass, sipped and placed it back on the side where he had left it when he entered the room. He laid the purse beside it.
"Lets sit," he said gesturing to the plush sofa.
She poured herself a finger of kanar and sank into the deep upholstry, her bright blue colouring even brighter against the white velvet. "Once upon a time?..."
Prin nodded as he sat beside her, his elbows resting on his knees and his eyes lost in a distant memory. "You may have heard of the Holy Rings of Betazed, the Sacred Chalice of Rix? They are a treasure in the care of one particular family and their value is beyond measure. Those are not the only treasures of Betazed.
"Hundreds of years ago the Heart of Orsaya was created and blessed by the family of Ingarn. My family, though for reasons that will become clear we no longer use that name. The secret of the Heart, a machine, was that it could create a localised time distortion. My ancestors, like myself were philanthropists, but they observed that most beings are innately suspicious of unsolicited charity, the Heart was created to allow them to help others and to correct small wrongs, to give someone who has made a wrong decision or act to make their choice again.
"For centuries we operated in secret, a sacred covenant then one of my ancestors broke that covenant. Rather than helping he used the Heart to steal, he created time distortions to help himself. The Heart was seized, my ancestor arrested and the family disgraced.
"We fell into obscurity and two hundred years ago the Heart was broken up. It was not destroyed as even though it had been abused the object as a whole was held sacred. For two hundred years the true holders of the Heart have served two purposes. First to amass enough wealth to continue the work of Orsaya Ingarn in secret, and second to track down the dispersed Fragments of the Heart of Orsaya."
"Thats a longtime for stuff to be missing." She observed. "How could anyone keep track?"
"The secrets were passed from mother to daughter, father to son. Those who wed into our family became part of the secret. Now there is only me. I hold the accumulated wealth of centuries and am close to acquiring the final few Fragments of the Heart. When I have it the remainder of my life will be spent distributing that wealth as Orsaya intended when she created the Heart. When I die, her line dies with me and the Heart will be bequeathed to Betazed."
"And the purse is a fragment?"
"Yes. They each share a vibration and when someone has prolonged contact with one I can read it in them. Its a scarlet flash behind my eyes, then I can focus on them. Most Betazoids rigourously train themselves not to pry into the minds of others, my family as part of its secret has trained the opposite way. We pry, we search, we predict and where required, we alter thoughts and memories."
"And how far back can the heart send people? Do they keep their knowledge of the original past?"
"Alas I have not lived in a time when it was assembled," Prin said wistfully, "Minutes certainly. Hours, perhaps. It could not work in a crowded room, there would be too many minds to control and change but in a closed room, with a limited cast ... then perhaps it could be longer."
The bright blue became a pale grey. For a moment she had hoped... She shook her head, chasing away the thought. "No wonder you are prepared to pay so much."
"A brick of latinum is little to me and little when my goal is to restore my family's name. In some ways it is redemption I seek for the crimes of the man who turned Orsaya's gift to evil purposes."
"If you succeed in assembling the Heart. would you come back here? I can think of evil deeds that need undoing." the grey darkened.
"My dear lady, I will never be able to change the distant past. If I can heal Orsaya's Heart then I will be able to do much good, but I must be on hand to meddle in events if I wish to give someone the opportunity to consider the consequences of their action and to choose again."
"Pity. Though I can see why you'd want to keep such a thing quiet."
"You understand why I cannot allow you to retain any conscious memory of this conversation. The Heart in the wrong hands is no gift. I cannot take the risk that someone learns of my quest. You may experience fleeting memories, or dream of this conversation, but you will never again know the whole. Its the way it must be."
"If you say so." She put her glass down. "But before you do, no one knows about this do they? I won't be encountering angry violent people asking questions I can't answer?"
"There will be no questions. You need fear nothing," he told her. His consciousness was already tamperign with the edges of her awareness. He held back a little longer. These meetings always made him curious. "Allow me to ask one question of my own. I cannot promise to grant your wish, but tell me, what is the wrong that you wanted to right if the Heart could change what had gone before?"
Poor Reshi. Her skin became greyer still. For a moment she could see his beautiful delicate features, smell his soft long hair. "A boy died. If I could go back, he wouldn't have to." Probably. If they didn't go into the jungle. If she'd just done The Duty, and hadn't tried to make it special. "Men are very precious to my people, the loss of even one is a tragedy, a genocide."
"And you feel yourself responsible? Don't be alarmed, I'm a nosey Betazoid with no inhibitions about prying in people's minds."
He gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile before he continued. "I think that too much has happened to change your past and the pasts of everyone you have come into contact with since, even if it were possible. We must live with our mistakes, and our guilt. I could dim the memory if you wish, but my wilful interference goes only as far as it is necessary for my search. If you wanted me to do that, I could."
Yolanthe shook her head. "I don't feel responsible. I am responsible. And unless I can change the past, then it has to be as you say. I have to live with my mistakes." She gave him a direct look. "So you can leave the guilt and the pain and the rage. Don't touch what isn't yours."
Prin smiled thinly, "Very well. I think that concludes our business unless there is anything else you would like to talk about," he said.
"No. All I need is my latinum, and piece of relic is all yours."
He got to his feet and turned to look at her. A strange creature, but one who seemed to know her own mind. "Goodbye, dear lady," he said as he reached for the purse.
Her experience of the conversation that he had been holding in a mental bubble he pushed deep into the recesses of her mind. At the same time he activated a small transporter device. He returned in that instant to his docked ship.
Still holding on to her memory he quickly opened a safe box and extracted the latinum. He transported this back into the place where he had been sitting and released her mind.
If she recalled him at all she would think she had fallen into a dream. He'd been replaced by two bricks of latinum.
The transaction complete he sat heavily in his chair and pulled out the purse. There were few Fragments left for him to find. Then the real challenge would beging.
OFF
Yolanthe Ibalin
Proprietor, Box of Delights
Conoran Prin NPC
Philanthopist and Meddler.