Dreams...Ghosts of the Past "
By: Dr. Alyssa Caitlin Northrop, Intel Officer, [PST]

Stardate: 58205.15 0400

The ruffle of sheets broke the silence in the dark bedroom. Starlight filtered in through the large windows that made up the outer wall, casting the room in a pale semi-light. There wasn't enough to call it anything else.

On the bed the body of a woman tossed and turned, her hair getting tangled as she tossed. It was jet black, like the view outside the windows above her head. Her pale skin was a stark contract to all the blackness around her. Her face fairly glowed in the starlight.

Upon closer inspection, one would note that her features appeared pained. Then a voice, her voice, split the quiet, though it was not very loud itself, "No....No...Professor Morita...."

Alyssa Northrop was dreaming. Though perhaps nightmare would more appropriate a term for it. She began to thrash, the dark red silk of her nightgown gliding against the slightly harsher material of her sheets and blanket causing more of the rustling sound heard before.

"Please....we're not Tomb Robbers.....we're archeologists!" she screamed out, "The Government allowed us to come here...to study the ruins!"

Alyssa looked from the eyes of her mentor up to the eyes of the leader of the group that had them cornered. "Please....we mean no harm. Let us go...and we'll leave the ruins."

Morita was gravely injured. He had been shot by the mob as they had fled the dig site. These people thought they were grave robbers.....Tomb Raiders. They were wrong, but no amount of stating that fact would make them believe otherwise. They had plagued the dig for weeks. Almost from the time they had arrived at the site. Despite the fact that they had permits to be there from the Pellan Government, these particular Pellans didn't want them there. It seemed that they were willing to do whatever it took to make sure no one disturbed the ruins here. "You two are the leaders of this band of theives. You are here to steal our past, our history, our heritage. This cannot be allowed."

The mob's leader's eyes buned in hatred as he pointed his weapon at Northrop and her fallen mentor. "We tried to persuade you to leave in a non-violent fashion. But you would not listen. You forced us into this."

The man came closer, lowering his gun. "And now you will pay for your crimes."

The others in the group, eight in all, fanned out around them in a circle. They kept their projectile weapons drawn and aimed at Morita and Northop as their leader drew a very nasty looking knife. Grabbing Alyssa by the hair, he yanked her up to her feet.....and held the knife to her throat. "In the name of our God...."

The man never finished the sentence. Before he could, the air filled with the sound of a transporter. The sound was next replaced with a group of armed Starfleet Officers....most of the dressed in Yellow. At the head was a red shirted man Alyssa recognized, "ROBBY! HELP ME!" she screamed.

After that, all hell broke loose. The members of the mob opened up on the Starfleet crew....who broke formation and dove for cover. They returned fire soon after.....downing foes or forcing them to dive for cover. One of the women called for her leader, "NOLAN! LEAVE HER! GET DOWN!"

Nolan hastily drew the blade across Alyssa's throat....but it didn't penetrate fully. As he dove for cover, she fell....clamping her hands to her throat hard....fearing the worst. Her eyes were huge with fear. She could feel her own blood seeping through her fingers.

Lt. Commander Robert Northop saw his baby sister go down.....and lept from his place behind the cover of a rock. He fired his phaser, downing another Pellan as the others in his team took care of the rest. In a second, Robert was at Alyssa's side. "It's ok Lys....It'll be ok."

Alyssa watched as he tapped his comm badge, everything moving in slow motion. "Northrop to Perseus, lock on to my comm signal. Three to beam directly to Sickbay. We've got two seriously wounded."

But a moment later, the transporter effect took over....removing them from the surface of Pella V and replacing them in the middle of the USS Pegasus' Sickbay. Doctors converged on them....pulling Alyssa from her brother's arms. Morita was lifted onto a table, as was the female archeologist. The full barrage of Starfleet Medical Technology was brought to bear......however, in the end, only one of the two survived. Professor Harold Morita was declared dead....not long after they beamed aboard.

Back in the darkened room, tears filled Alyssa's eyes and began to run down her face. Her eyes shot open...just as in her mind the CMO was telling her of her mentor's death. "NO! PLEASE GODS NO!"

Her hands moved to her face as she wept openly. "Sensei....," she whimpered.

The tears leaked between her fingers and fell down, staining the red silk of her nightgown. Her brother had been just in time to save her....but had been only moments too late to save her mentor. She never blamed Robby.....it wasn't his fault. He hadn't shot Morita. She blamed Nolan.....and his band of thugs.

After a few moments, Alyssa was able to get herself back under contol.....and slowly slipped out of bed. Moving over to a shelf, she lifted a cerimonial Japanese sword our of it's holder. It was her most prized possesion. Morita's wife, Kagome, had wanted her to have it. The older woman had said that the sword had been passed down through the Morita Clan for generations. But since Kagome and Harold had no children, she wanted Alyssa to have it. She had said that Harold had always thought of Alyssa as the daughter he'd never had.

As she stood there, holding the sword in her hands, Morita's words filtered though her mind, "No matter how old you get, Alyssa...there is always more to learn. You simply have to see the opportunities. Who knows what direction those opportunities will take you? Never stop growing. For a person that does so is a fool."

Apparently her path had led her here. To the Zion. Alyssa had always wondered about the afterlife. As she stood there, she thought that maybe there was something to it. Maybe Professor Morita was looking in on her....trying to point her in the direction of an opportunity that she didn't want to see. The only thing she could think of was the Chief Warrant Officer's tests. Could that be what this was all about? Her subconscious mind dredging up maybe one of the worst moments in her life to push her towards taking that test? "Never stop learning," he had said. Well, maybe it was time to learn again.