Kubadilisha Majira

Posted on Nov 18, 2016 @ 12:16am by Lieutenant Cantor Von
Edited on on Nov 18, 2016 @ 12:16am

Mission: Aftermath

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"Kubadilisha Majira"
(cont'd from "E Pluribus Unum")

- Translation from Swahili: "Changing Seasons"

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LOCATION: Starbase 27
SD: [2.16]1117.2153
SCENE: Main Promenade

Cantor Von, with an old, worn duffel bag slung over his shoulder, stepped through the main access-way's airlock and onto Starbase 27's expansive main promenade. His scuffed boots tested the neutral-colored, low pile carpet that seem to go as far as the eye could see. Looking up, three additional levels balconied above the main level and held throngs of travelers from all directions of the galaxy. Much more than he had aboard the LEXINGTON, Cantor felt the rush of thoughts, emotions, wishes - the essence of every sentient being seemingly assault him. He took a deep breath-

---

LOCATION: Troi Medical Center, Rixx City, Betazed
SCENE: Neuroscience Wing
TIME INDEX: Thirty Four Years Ago

Five year-old Cantor Von crashed two starships together, making a loud explosion with his mouth. "No!!! We crashed!!!! Red Alert!!!" The young, dark haired boy sat on an intricately designed rug that weaved together shades of blue, violet, and red. Around him various toys starships lay discarded as the young Betazoid played.

Though the grown-ups in the other room had their minds closed to him, they had forgotten to close the door to the other office, not thinking that the boy would use his ears to eavesdrop rather than his mind.

"Mrs. Von, when did young Cantor begin to develop his telepathic ability? Early, wasn't it?" asked the First Doctor.

"Yes." Mommy sounded frighten, but her mind was closed. "About three years ago." A sniffle. Was Mommy crying? "I know development before puberty is problematic. That...that it can lead to psychological abnormalities and-"

"Mrs. Von," interrupted the Second Doctor. "Mrs. Von, early development also almost always lead to very powerful telepathic ability."

"But not in Cantor's case," finished the First Doctor.

"What do you mean?"

"Young Cantor's paracortex development is normal. He has some neurological...abnormalities in other parts of his cerebral mass, but they are extremely minor and are unrelated to telepathic ability."

The Second Doctor continued. "The only oddity is extremely high levels of psilosynine, the neurotransmitter associated with an overdeveloped paracortex and, thus, higher levels of telepathy."

"But his paracortex simply isn't build to facilitate such high levels of psilosynine."

"But it could develop-" began Mommy.

"No, Mrs. Von. Paracortex development peaks at age five. Though he's developed it early, his telepathic ability has been tested and verified at normal levels."

"But the psilosynine-"

"Yes, well, we'll continue to monitor young Cantor, but we believe the excess levels of psilosynine are just a benign abnormality."

The Second Doctor spoke. "He'll need counseling due to early development, of course, but we don't believe he will suffer like many of the telepathic savants do from early development thanks to a normal paracortex."

Cantor could hear the First Doctor get up. "No need to worry, your son will be just fine."

---

LOCATION: Starbase 27
SCENE: Main Promenade
TIME INDEX: Present

-and let it out. Like any Betazoid, long stretches in isolation with the same people often caused mental defenses to become stagnant and....sore was the best way to describe it. Slowly, brick by mental brick, Cantor Von rebuilt his mental wall and began to filter out the thousands of sentient minds that moved around him.

Cantor shouldered his duffel bag, and pushed his way through the crowd, heading toward the large storefront labelled "SFX." As he entered the Starfleet Exchange, sensors embedded in the metal and transparent aluminum archway detected his comm badge and fed the information to the display panels on the other side of the twenty meter long cobalt counter the spanned the length of the lobby. As he approached a Bolian clerk, the enlisted man looked up in greeting.

"Lt. Von, welcome to Starbase 27. Let me retrieve your package." He went to a nearby cargo transport pad built into the lavender metal wall and started making his way through the menus of a nearby console. Several other Starfleet officers approached clerks, either sending parcels, requesting equipment, or processing large quantities of data. Von was surprised to see how busy the SFX was. There apparently was a lot of personnel being shifted and transferred from location to location throughout the Federation. He had managed to make it through FedCom's thirty five page exposé on the Neo-Essentialist's "Coup D'etat" and the "Edgerton Regime." He had been stunned at the destruction of Paris and the genocide wrought on the people of Earth. Apparently, a lot had changed in six years.

The Bolian petty officer returned with a parcel in hand and entered the unlock code into the circular display on the package's exterior. Von signed the PADD the clerk handed him and then opened the parcel. Within it was Cantor Von's new Starfleet uniform, complete with two gold pips in a black case. The Betazoid ran his hands across the mustard colored quilted shoulders of the uniform. Finishing up the paperwork, the Bolian clerk smiled at the package's contents.

"New uniform? You must have been on assignment for quite some time."

Von chuckled. "Yeah, you could say that." He opened his duffel bag and began folding his new uniform into its interior.

As he did, the clerk gestured toward the side of the duffel bag with his PADD. "What does that mean?"

Von glanced at the white "swoosh" symbol on the side of the bag. "Oh, that. I'm not sure. It's some old Earth symbol, I think. At least that's what the vendor on Kane Prime told me."

"In the Kanus sector?"

Von nodded with a smile "The very one. Thank you for your help."

"Of course, sir. Have a good day."

Cantor Von stepped outside of the SFX and took in the mass chaos of the crowd, criss-crossing in every direction. His runabout for Earth left in about two hours, so he planned to get a meal and sit for a while.

Suddenly, in front of several information kiosks large holographic scrolls of text flashed into existence, moving in a circular pattern for the crowd to view it at all angles.

+++ FEDCOM BREAKING NEWS +++
+++ HUMANS NO LONGER PERMANENT COUNCIL MEMBERS +++
+++ FEDERATION GOVERNMENT MOVING TO VULCAN +++
+++ STAY TUNED FOR LATEST HEADLINES +++

Gasps rippled their way through the crowd at each level of the promenade and Von's mental shield bent as the thoughts related to the announcement exploded from every direction. Not enough to overwhelm him, but enough to gauge that the crowd's reaction varied from disbelief to indignation to agreement. And the Betazoid was very aware which thoughts came from Humans.

Von pulled his duffel bag higher onto his shoulders. It seemed pretty rash for the newly formed Federation Council to kick out one of its founding members, especially after suffering such a tragedy so recently. Granted, from what the Betazoid had read, it seemed self-inflicted and it appeared that Starfleet needed to do some pretty drastic housecleaning within its Earth-centric ranks. Still, the Council seemed to be playing fast and loose so soon after its very existence had been in question.

But what did he know? He was just a plain, simple Betazoid.

"I hope that have some fresh raktajino here," he whispered under his breath. He needed a beverage to provide him with a virtual slap in the face. He had a long journey in front of him.

---

NRPG: The Betazoid biology isn't something I made up. Thank you, Memory Beta!

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Marko J. Sertic
aka
Lt. Cantor Von