(ooc: my earlier post brought back a lot of memories, so i pulled out
some old files from the defiant rpg, where lorin and candance first
existed. this "dream sequence" includes material created by pete boulay,
scott galliand, dennis campbell and me in feb. 1994.--randye)
Candance's sleep deepened, and her dreams took her back to the days of her
service on the USS Defiant. The mission had forced her to confront and
resolve the circumstances of Mac Webster's death. It had also opened new
opportunities to her. Not one suitor, but two:
Bedru listened to the call and wondered whose jurisdiction would prevail:
the Nehnwi or the Federation. The Federation had murder charges against
Jovill and Tando as did the governments of Nehwen III.
She searched inwardly, looking for the need for vengance against those who
had caused her fiance's death. To her surprise, Candance found in its
stead a desire to put it all behind her and go on with her life.
Strange... Mac had asked that of her in her dreams. So had Hunter. But
there was some other reason, she felt it intuitively.
Parker closed the channel. "Shall we?" he asked.
Bedru was pulled back from her introspection by Dr. Parker DeGallow's
voice. "Yes, of course," she said and slid from the biobed.
Entering the Savannah, the ship's lounge, they moved to take a seat near
the viewports. Parker held a chair for Candi, then took one himself and
called a waiter over.
"Tarkaillian tea, double sweet." he ordered.
"Lemon iced tea, sweetened," Bedru said.
The waiter left to get the drinks.
They talked about inconsequential things while waiting for their drinks,
and while Bedru debated how to broach the issue that concerned her: how to
let the younger man know gently that she had no romantic interest in him.
She was growing very tired, so between keeping up her end of the
conversation and thinking, she did not notice the arrival of several of
the command crew.
The waiter returned with their drinks on a tray and set them down in
front of them on the table. Then, he said, "Commander, I was asked to
deliver this to you," and he handed her a single red rose and a card.
Startled to full alertness, Bedru replied, "Thank you." The waiter
nodded to her and Parker and left. She read the unsigned card and
looked up to see if she could locate its author. She immediately saw
Renaud, who was at the bar, and his salute to her. Their eyes met and
locked.
"Candi?" The nearby voice broke the contact. Bedru blinked and shifted
her focus back to the young man who had accompanied her there.
"I'm sorry, Parker. What were you saying?"
***
Commander James Reymond quickly dropped off in the Savannah, in his seat
by the window. It didn't take long for him to hit REM sleep.
Jim was in a huge ballroom, reminiscent of the great rooms of the big
band era of the 1930's and 1940's. A real live jazz big band played in
the background. Jim was resplendant in his dress uniform (he didn't wear
it much, thank God, but at least he looked good in when he did.) He stood
on the side watching the dance play out. A mist was present in the room,
making it a tad hazy.
From the mist stepped a beautiful woman. She had long brown hair and
brown eyes. She stood 5'10" and although she was fairly attractive on the
outside, when Jim looked at her he could tell she had an even greater
inner beauty, one that somehow began to captivate him as she approached.
She wore a full length evening gown in midnight black. When she
approached, she smiled.
"Excuse me, Commander, but I couldn't help but notice you from across
the room. I hope you don't think me forward, but I was wondering if you
would care to dance?" The young woman said this in a beautiful contralto.
"Well, miss, I'm not in the habit of dancing with total strangers. May
I at least learn your name?" Jim said with a smile.
"Deborah."
"Well, Deborah, my name's Jim. Shall we dance?" Jim led Deborah to
the center of the dance floor and they started to dance a waltz. Both of
them danced long into the night, never leaving the dance floor, and not
noticing the rest of the world.
***
Bedru was sipping her tea and talking to Parker when she heard a sound
that reminded her of someone snoring. She looked around saw Reymond at a
nearby table, dead to the world. From his expression, his dreams were
happy ones.
"Parker," she said, "I think our first officer needs a more comfortable
place to rest. Would you help me?"
He looked over and smiled at the slumped-over figure and chuckled. "It's
almost a shame to disturb him. But, he will thank us later for relieving
him of the back and neck pain he'd have if he stays like that."
Bedru carefully tucked away the flower and card, and the two rose from
their table and walked over to Reymond's. "Jim?" Bedru called, but all
she got was louder snoring. With a look to Parker, the two of them
managed to lift him, and with an arm thrown behind each of them,
half-carry and half-drag him from the lounge. Occasionally, as they went,
Reymond would wake up enough to provide some help--if one can call trying
to dance with Bedru, while still clearly asleep, helping.
Finally, they reached Reymond's quarters, and Bedru used her command
authorization to gain admission. Through the sitting room and into the
bedroom, they got him onto his bed. Bedru worked on removing his boots,
and Parker unfastened and pulled off his uniform jacket. She found a
coverlet and laid it over Reymond before the pair left him to finish his
dreams.
The work took the last of Bedru's energy, and with her own quarters so
close, she could not stiffle a dawn. "Parker, I'm so sorry, but I'm beat.
Can we do this again another time?"
Parker was obviously disappointed, but he could see her exhaustion. "I'll
hold you to it. Good night."
"Good night." Bedru entered her quarters and unfastened the top of the
fatigues she still wore from her visit to Newhen III's surface. Then,
lifting the flower to her nose to smell its fragrance and reading the card
again, she headed to her bed.
After seeing Parker and Bedru carry the unconscious, out-cold, sawing-wood
Reymond out of the Savannah, Renaud went down to his office and checked
the schedule for the evening in terms of duty shift and confirms all.
"Renaud to Bridge- I'm going off-shift to bed and will be in my quarters
if needed. Renaud out."
With that, he jogged (yes not slowly walking but jogged) happily to his
room.
Renaud couldn't sleep after about 10 minutes of trying and decided to
follow up on a certain note.
Sliding on some casual clothes, he took a turbolift to Bedru's quarters
and chimed the bell.
As Candance walked towards her bedroom, she past her work table upon which
laid the sheets of music she had been composing before she had had to run
to the Bridge to go on duty two days ago. She had never done that before,
preferring to keep those very different parts of her life separate. She
thought about gathering the sheets together and putting them away, but the
call of the bed's soft mattress was too strong. It would wait until
later.
She found a crystal bud vase and filled it with water for the flower,
which she placed on her night stand. She started to sit down, but muscles
that had quieted their earlier protests began to cry for mercy. Candance
grimaced slightly, stood again, and stripped off the rest of her fatigues.
She padded barefooted to the shower and set the controls for a heated
massage. As the hot jets of water played upon her skin, causing it to
tingle and her muscles to relax, she closed her eyes and began humming
snatches of her new music while her thoughts flowed freely.
Candance put on a cream-colored brief silk night gown and sat down on bed,
prepared, at long last, for bed. She looked at the single flower again, a
smile playing on her lips. "Computer, lights,..." she started to say when
the doorbell chimed. Surprised at the late caller, she stood and opted
for a longer thicker robe than the silk one that went with her gown.
Lorin called, "Candance? You home, sleeping beauty?"
Re-entering her sitting area, she said, "Come," and the door opened to
show Renaud standing there.
When he heard the voice he slipped another rose from his pocket and hid
it behind his back.
With the different directions her thoughts were running, all she could say
was, "Lorin, please, come in."
"Candance. Good evening."
"Lorin," Bedru replied, "what brings you here after such a hard day?"
She couldn't help but smile; Renaud looked more relaxed, and rather
handsome, in civilian clothing.
Almost stunned by the robe and the person within, he stuttered briefly
before continuing.
"As a person might get lonely being alone, so would a flower..am I right?"
At that point he brought the rose from around his back and placed it in
her hand.
Waiting for a reaction, Renaud hinted at a smile.
She was so surprised at this side of Renaud that, for a moment, all she
did was run the tips of her fingers across the petal edges of the rose
and raise it to her nose to breath in its fragrance. "Thank you,
Lorin. I didn't realize you were such a romantic."
"I hope I'm not bothering you. Wait 'til Reymond finds out who put him to
bed tonight...heh heh." Renaud chuckled at this hoping to make Bedru
laugh but found himself lost in her eyes.
"He's not a bad dancer, either," she said, her voice rich with laughter,
"even sound asleep."
They both laughed at the memory of the first officer's unusual departure
from the Savannah. Then the room became silent, and the mood changed as
the two friends discovered new facets to their relationship.
Moving closer to her, he felt the pain that she's felt over the past few
days for some odd reason...he just knew. He took her by the shoulders and
brought her into his embrace...just hugging her.
"I've been through my share of pain Candance. I've seen it in your eyes.
You did good work on the planet."
Bedru stood stiffly in Renaud's embrace, at first. But his words loosened
something in her psyche, and her whole body trembled with its release.
She moved closer, gratefully accepting his comforting warmth.
Candance did not know how long they stood there, but finally, her
trembling subsided, and she quietly enjoyed the feel of him against her.
She looked into Lorin's eyes and marvelled that only now did she see their
depths.
Yielding to the inevitability of the moment, their lips met in a tender
kiss.
Renaud took Bedru in for the kiss and held her close, not wanting to let
go. He hadn't felt this way for so long, and it was so wonderful.
When he held her, he felt her melt into him, so he reached down and picked
her up. Holding her he kissed her again and went around to nibble on her
ear slightly before continuing the kiss. He walked to the couch and sat
down with her sitting in his arms and just held her.
"Computer select any group of songs from the early 20th century
<kiss> by group called ENIGMA consisting of the first 2 albums and play
continuously. Low volume."
"I'm not going to hurt you. Flowers are for...love...not pain. Think of
the flower."
The night continued...
"Computer, lights, normal intensity, gradual."
The lights came up slowly to reveal Candance Bedru sitting with her legs
crossed on her meditation rug. She sighed as her thoughts turned outward
again, and she could feel her heart and other vital signs returning to
their normal rhythm. It had been a long time since she had been able to
meditate that deeply.
Lifting her krar from where it rested nearby, she positioned the African
lyre in its accustomed place against her body and began to play. Her
honeyed contralto voice rose in songs of her heritage, songs filled with
emotions as ancient as humankind.
Her heart and mind was clear and ready to consider new possibilities.
She thought back to the night before and smiled. Those moments in
Renaud's arms had felt right, but she was not ready to go further, yet.
There was still too much weighing on her heart, and as much as she had
wanted things to proceed to their natural conclusion, she wanted to be
certain that she was with him totally when that time came.
Candance could only hope that Lorin believed, as she did, that the wait
would be worth it.
She finished playing and cleared everything away. After taking a shower
and dressing, she ate a quiet breakfast of croissants and hot terran-blend
tea.
At the beginning of Alpha shift, Lcmd. Candance Bedru stepped from the
turbolift and greeted all present, reserving a special smile for Lorin
Renaud. She patted Ens. Sharpe on his shoulder, thus relieving him at
Ops.
It was the beginning of a brand new day....
A lifetime later, Admiral Candance Bedru smiled and slept on.
Bedru ends
-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-
. | * Randye Jones
. |) . http://www.atouchofclassics.com
. /| . [EMAIL PROTECTED]
. ( | ) .
. . | . "Hate is not a family value."
