The first thing he noticed was a dull, steady ping. The blood-red planet that had filled his mind relinquished its hold. The girl, the face that looked up at him, thin and hollow cheeked, faded back and away. He felt pierced by a needle of sadness. Her mournful eyes merged with the black of space behind. He had tried to explain. He’d promised to help the Brenari, to release them from their crystalline cage. He’d seen the camps and what the Devore had done. But there was something wrong. Still, he tumbled through nothing, unable to return. Discombobulated. Alone, but for the girl who looked on, confused and with anguish. He remembered her words, spoken through faint sobs as she reached out to him, “We’re sorry. You were never meant to stay this long. With us, in this prison. You’ll be back where you belong soon. You’ll see…” 

Ping… Ping… Ping… 

“Increased neural activity in the anterior cortex.” 

“His heart rate’s increasing.” 

“.25 ccs adenosine.” 

“Captain?” 

Felrak’s wide head heaved itself up from the biobed slowly, eyes fluttering. The blurred outline of a tall Bajoran peered over him, filling his field of vision.  

“Relax, sir. Take it slow…” The man’s deep voice soothed Felrak’s head back down to the thinly cushioned material, “You’re coming out of the deepest sleep you’ve ever had.” 

“Dr. Kren?” Felrak’s voice was hoarse, unused in days, “Wh-where?” 

The blurriness began to dissipate, and his wide eyes had not deceived him. Stood before him, lab coat draped over the teal of an open collared medical uniform, was Dr. Kren Lomal. Pinched between two long, dark fingers, a cortical scanner hovered over Felrak’s temple. 

“Yes, yes, you’re back with us alright,” the doctor’s earring chain glinted gold under the pristine sickbay lights, “judging by your neural oscillations over the last month, you’ve been on quite the journey.” 

Felrak pushed himself to sit up, quickly slumping down over his knees as the blood rushed from his head, “Month?” 

“I said relax, Captain!” Lomal angled his head to yell over his shoulder, “Some water for Captain Vordenna, please!” He then crouched down to Felrak’s eye level, “Yes, sir. It’s been a month since you were first affected by the blood dilithium.” 

Felrak could feel the scales of his knees through the thin material of the medical gown, “H-how could it have been so long? It was a flash…” 

Lomal inhaled, “Your Argosian physiology. Something about it… My best efforts suggest it was something to do with your brain’s ability to organically interface with cellular structures. Something in the blood dilithium pulse resonance- it blocked everything. Your body shut down all but the most basic functions. All you had left was the subconscious.” 

“And…” Felrak peered through the mental fog, “What of the blood dilithium now?”  

“Gone. The Fourth Fleet found a way to send it back through the dimensional rifts it came from.” 

“The Devore?” 

“Back behind their borders,” Lomal smiled, “and we’ll soon be back behind ours. We’ll be docking at DS17 before too long.” 

“They spoke to me,” Felrak mumbled, then fell silent. 

Lomal left a pause. His thick eyebrows narrowed, remembering the throes of restlessness that had shaken the Argosians’s body as he voyaged through his own mind, “Who?”  

“The Brenari… The girl. They’re gone now. Free. From the anger and hate,” quickly his eyes met Lomal’s, staring directly at him, “They’re part of us all.” 

Lomal smiled, eyes flicking away for a second, noting the Captain’s rapidly increasing heart rate on the monitor behind. He nodded to the medical officer nearby. The hypospray hissed as the sedative entered Felrak’s blood. Gently they eased him down.  

“That’s enough for now,” Lomal spoke in a gentle rumble.