Footprints in Our Souls

Posted on Fri 15th Dec, 2017 @ 7:06am by Lieutenant Commander Lanis Dhuro MD

499 words; about a 2 minute read

Mission: A Phaser as Deadly as a Candlestick
Location: Dhuro Lanis' Quarters, Deck 27
Timeline: Immediately after the Halloween Party

Raka-ja ut shala morala... ema bo roo kana... uranak... ralanon Scott Allen Breaux... propeh va nara ehsuk shala-kan vunek. Ahn-kay ya, ay-ya vasu. Coh-ma-ra, di-nay-ya. Ahn-kay ya, ay-ya vasu. Coh-ma-ra, di-nay-ya...

(Do not let him walk alone... Guide him on his journey... Protect... the one named Scott Allen Breaux... Take him into the gates of heaven... )

Lanis had returned to his quarters after the seance at Chlamydia Addams' home had ended with its jarring revelations of murder, mystery, and confusion. The fact that he had understood the murder victim's thoughts and then seen the Chief Counselor faint as the spirit recalled its own murder had shocked Lanis and had deepened his respect for the seance and the purpose in holding it.

He wasn't certain why Lt. Commander Breaux hadn't manifested in the crystal sphere. Perhaps he was simply too weary of the mortal world after his decade-and-longer ordeal of suffering and had simply not wanted to respond. Perhaps, Lanis thought, because he had not asked for a response, Breaux's spirit had not given one. Either were perfectly understandable explanations. He simply hoped the man was at peace somewhere, somehow.

In any case, he had not felt up to singing the death chant immediately after Breaux had died. He had wanted to lose himself in Kanar as black as his mood had been that night. Now, though, some weeks had passed since the 49-Alpha incident, and Chlamydia's idea of a party to celebrate the dead had seemed to him a suitable occasion to wish Breaux well. He'd planned to simply utter the opening phrases of the death chant at the party, as the whole thing took a good two hours. The events of the seance had caused Lanis to rethink the idea, and he'd simply taken the duranja back home.

He had decided to perform the entire death chant in his quarters. The prayer was in many ways a meditation, akin to the Terran form of prayer called a rosary. Briefly, Lanis regretted that he hadn't prayed it the night of Breaux's actual death, for the sonorous pitches and the words themselves induced a calming effect, a sense of peace, of graceful acceptance, because the chanter was thinking--or ought to be thinking--of something other than his own grief.

I could have used some inner calm and peace that night, Lanis thought as he concentrated on the flickering candle suspended by its four chains in the duranja frame. Could have used it when Irel died, too, but I was too young to really think about what the words meant, back then. I'm glad I gained the wisdom enough to learn.

You do not walk alone because we are with you, Lanis thought. Your spirits leave their footprints in our souls. You show us the way, as we in turn will walk into That Which Lies Beyond and lead others to follow. May the Prophets guide us all.

 

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