Child of Dreams

I know that you're hiding things, Using gentle words to shelter me.
Your words were like a dream.  But dreams could never fool me,
Not that easily.
                                    1000 Words by Koda Kumi

Chapter 9

The trip back to the planet took longer than he would have liked. T’Pol was an efficient pilot, but a quiet companion. It was okay though. He was worried about the children and didn’t feel much like talking either. He was also flooded with visions of the two of them in a shuttle much like this one. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to be drawn into them.

Grief was the strongest emotion, followed by irritation and gratitude. He had wanted to be alone to wallow in the loss of an old friend, and she had insisted on coming with him. His T’Pol, not willing to let him stand alone, especially in grief. The sky through the view port was filling with magical colors.

“The landing may be a bit bumpy. The winds are picking up again.”

The sound of her voice jolted him back to the present. You're never going to get anywhere without taking risks. Risks... it seemed to him that he was constantly taking risks. Studying her as she maneuvered the shuttle to the ground, he wondered more at the risks he obviously hadn’t taken. The line of her neck was long and graceful. The urge to kiss it pulled at him, but he tamped it down.

They landed the shuttle about 50 feet from the cliffs, not far from where he had been taken from. Now that he was on land, and could see it, he was even more eager to see the children. The storms were moving in again, making the afternoon sky black with clouds. Spray from the ocean waves spewed up from contact with the cliff walls and coated them in mist of salt and water.

He caught T’Pol’s hand, moving faster and faster toward the temple with each step. As they approached, the rains began, falling in a rapid downpour, soaking them in moments, and blurring their vision. The air was chilling quickly as well, so much so that their breath, what they could see of it, puffed out in front of them in faint white clouds. Archer guided her to the entrance he had used dozens of times before and pushed against the door. It seemed harder to open than before, and the texture was off, but he attributed it to the storm. The hallway was dark, and smelled of damp, musty things, but still he pushed on. The Hahn were probably too absorbed with the frightened children to light the lamps. Reality slammed into him as he entered the main chamber of the temple, a room once used for learning and worship. There was nothing now but ruins, ancient ones from the look of things. Portions of the ceiling had collapsed, allowing in both limited light and rain. Signs of fire blackened the walls, and tables and benches stood in broken disarray. Vines of green growing things covered the walls as well, in places where sunlight would give them life. The alter of Hahnala was shattered, its icons gone. The temple smelled of death and decay.

Archer stumbled to a halt as he took it all in. His hand tightened painfully around T’Pol’s but he didn’t notice. She in turn absorbed it, and the emotion rolling off him in waves. “What the hell happened here?”

“Sir?”

“I’ve only been gone a few hours. This room... how?” He stared about him in horror.

“I have been inside this temple twice. It looks as it always has.”

He blinked and turned to her, staring at her as if she had grown two heads. “It just isn’t possible... Oh God... the children.”

With a sharp tug on her hand, he dragged her down one of the hallways. His mind screamed out with disbelief at the level of decay and destruction he saw. The room he had used during his stay was equally empty and damaged, and the children’s room was nothing but crumbled mortar and stone. His body shook as he let go of her hand and dropped to his knees. It didn’t seem possible. It didn’t make sense. He gave T’Pol a look of desperation. “I don’t understand. They were here, in this very room. This temple was whole just a few hours ago.”

T’Pol knelt beside him, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I don’t know how to explain what happened to you, Jonathan, but according to the Hahnai, all the old temples were destroyed nearly 700 years ago.”

His breath stuttered in his throat and tears burned his eyes. He couldn’t comprehend it all and didn’t want to. He shook his head and if he could clear it, and his eyes locked with hers. “Where are my children?”

Her eyes were solemn as they met his. “I do not know.”

At her words, Archer wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her throat, his grief too deep to bear alone.

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