Editing The Sevant Murders (section)

===Readying for a Spiritual Journey===


'''Stardate: 2406.03.19.'''

Mission Day 18

(Nimitz - Sevant's Quarters - Cmdr Sevant/Couns Winters - 1500)

Vanyssa had spent eh last 3 days between appointments, a meeting with the Captain, talking with Katie about the children, and reading. 

Though she had spent the majority of the time reading.  what she found was fascinating, and she realized that Sevant was not joking when he said that this could be dangerous to both of them.  She queried the computer for Sevant's location and decided to pay him a visit.  There were some questions that she would like answered first. 

Sevant sat on his knees, facing a small candle and looking at it with his eyes half closed. He had not moved from this spot, or shifted  perceptibly, in at least ten hours. He was working to clear his mind, thus far he had failed miserably. Nightmares, visions of what could  have been, various thoughts filled his mind and would absolutely not leave.

The sound of the enunciator filled the quarters, though Sevant didn't hear it at first, so deep was he into pseudo-meditation. A few beeps  later, however, and he came back into wakefulness. He took a deep breath, and shook his head slowly. "Come," he said quietly.

Vanyssa walked into the room, and felt a wave of emotion pour over her, before she shielded it out.  "I have done a lot of reading." She spoke simply. "And I want to help you."  She stood just inside the doorway, the doors half open behind her, since she hadn't come in all the way.

"Sevant,  I want to try this."  She left all the other things out, about how she would be fulfilling Vicki's wish to help Caladryll if something ever happened to them, that she needed to break her bond with David and was afraid to, that she could be in his position too, if David were dead, rather than just unconscious.

She waited for his response.

Sevant folded his hands in his lap, still looking at the candle. "There is no trying, in this." he said in a very low voice. "You will either succeed, or you will fail." He leaned forward slightly, and blew out the candle, then turned his head to face Vanyssa. "Priests and Mind Lords train for years in Vulcan mind probes and other such things before they are properly prepared. Do you believe a couple days reading is all you need?"

He looked back at the smoking candle, and waited.

She thought for a few minutes about what to say. "No, I don't, but I've been trained as a telepath on Betazed, and that should count for something.  And I'm a pretty strong telepath as Betazoids go.  I've dealt with severely unbalanced telepaths on Betazed, and that should also help.  I admit that I've never tried this before, and I'm a little scared, because I know what the consequences of my failing are."

She crossed over to Sevant. "It's either that or goto Vulcan, and you don't want that.  You can't stay like this."

He signed, and closed his eyes. "Very well then," he said at a whisper.
"I require five hours to begin the rites, I need to cleanse myself in the ancient manner." He looked back up and opened his eyes. "Be back here and ready in five hours, Counselor."

Vanyssa looked at him, and then spoke softly. "Is there anything special that I should do to prepare?"  she asked quietly.

"Clear your mind for a spiritual journey," he said, somewhat bitterly.
"Whatever you need should be in the reading."