“What If…”
Let’s imagine a story within a my story.
The Star Trek Next Generation series is Tara’s future and she becomes a member of the federation. The year is 2360 and she spent the last 50 years in hiding to gain a new identity. Tara has no interest in science during this time, but she is intrigued by space exploration. Being immortal has given Tara questions of her own existence. Where does she come from? Can she find others like her in space or other planets? What is her true purpose? Of course, Tara discovers her path but the year is not 2600 yet.
With her new identity, she breezes by Starfleet Academy with honors. By the year 2365, Tara is working with Deanna Troi as an empathic assistant and confidant on the USS Enterprise. Tara’s in frequent meetings and explorations with the crew. Tara trains with Worf and has tea with Jean Luc Picard once a week. Since Tara’s an empathic immortal, she is able to handle as much if not more than Deanna. Deanna is aware of this fact and knows who Tara is. Both become fast friends and Tara is finally able to let someone into her world. Tara’s immortal family is living their separate lives on Earth and she loves her new family of explorers. So she decides to stay with the crew until Captain Picard becomes Borg.
The day Picard becomes Borg is Tara’s insight into her own power. Tara was chosen first by the Borg.
One day, while completing documentation of sessions for the week, Tara’s head began to throb. The throbbing became painful with each minute and she was not able to see her tablet anymore. Before Tara is able to rush to sickbay, her entire body began to shake and she hears 3 words “Resistance is Futile”. Tara knew immediately what to do. During Tara’s times in hiding, she’d practice this mind game called, “Silence”. The game consists of 10 hours of complete mind silence, listening to no one or nothing. The purpose is to block out noise of other people, species, or projections. Tara turned her brain completely off and never heard those 3 words again. Tara’s gifts are not so much about controlling other minds, but mostly learning to control her own.
10 hours later, Deanna is standing in front of Tara with a knowing half smile. She understood where Tara had to go to save myself. Deanna’s half smile was due to sadness; Picard was not so lucky. Tara stayed to help Picard and the crew but she realized that she had to stay close to her immortal family in order to survive. During this time, Tara learned that immortals can die too.
I love filling in the blanks of Tara’s memory and including my favorite Star Trek series on this blog. Tara receives clues of her purpose in every aspect of her life. Tara still does not figure this out until the end. Do you think her unwillingness to see derives from her immortality or humanity? Both are true in this book. With all the gifts and time Tara has, you’d think she’d figure this all out, right?
