Star Trek: The Predicament About Demons

4

  Jim winced as Leonard slammed the door shut behind him. He was standing now, still staring at the door in hopes he would come back. No matter, he knew it was pointless. His gaze then drifted to the woman who still sat on the floor. Benny had her head down, letting her hair cover her face like a curtain. His brows knit together and he clears his throat.

"I need answers right now: What was Leonard talking about? Who are you?" He demanded.

Benny raised her head and looked up with brown eyes shining in the light of the candle on the table. Her eyes bore into his with an ice cold gaze, unblinking. "You want to know the truth? I can tell you...." Breathing in she lowered her eyes again, this time to the candle. "New Zealand, it's the year two-thousand.

"Before, Leonard was a guy named Harry Ballard: he taught anthropology and worked at a museum. Handsome... Smart... Afraid of nothing.... During his free time he would expose evil cults; expose them for what they were--of course he didn't believe any of it was real; just a bunch of people who didn't have anything else to do he thought. Little did he know though he was wrong; he had no clue as to what he was getting himself into.

"Harry was born with a type of power: power that held great knowledge and danger, only given to those of good heart. He never believed in hope, yet he was given the only thing that granted everyone hope against enemies. That enemy was a preacher named Le Valliant: he led a group called the Black Lodge, and they craved to find Harry and take his power; craved for domination. He's like nothing you've ever dealt with before, Captain Kirk."

Jim opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off before a word could slip out. "I've read all about you and your ship. I heard about you breaking the directive on occasions; I've heard about Khan; how you helped save Earth from a Romulan that came from an alternate universe; I've WITNESSED the attack with Krall.... I know who you are." Benny got to her feet, and in one swift move, she pushed Jim to sit on the couch, and then sat herself down next to him with one leg up on the cushions. "Give me your hand."

"What?!" Jim thought this was absurd, what Benny was asking from him. "What does this have to do with anyth-"

"Just do it!" She rolled her eyes and took his hand without asking again (there was some resistance, but she had a much stronger grip than he). With one hand she held his wrist and positioned it so his palm was facing upward. With her other hand she ran it across Jim's palm and held his fingers, pulling them back slightly. She seemed to now be staring hard at the lines on his hand. "Har--Leonard--seems to have kept you close to his heart enough that it would be difficult to separate you both--physically, spiritually, and mentally," she observed before leaning down to sniff it.

The blond captain pulled his hand away and quickly stood up, holding the hand that she held. "What the hell are you doing?! I can-"

"Arrest me, right, I know," she sighed heavily. "It's my way of trying to read your aura."

"Well I don't want you to 'read my aura'! I still don't know who you are, and how you and Leonard know each other. So get straight to the point."

Sighing again, she continued. "I'm the one who helped Leonard when no one else could--I saved him from Le Valliant, and I helped him to get in touch with the power within him. If it wasn't for me, Leonard wouldn't still be here, and Le Valliant would have gotten what he wanted." Her voice got quieter as she spoke--something definitely was wrong.

It took a few moments for Jim to process all this information. He had a hand tucked under his armpit and raised his other hand to his lips in contemplation. His brows were still knit together and he stared hard at the floor. Obviously this woman was weird, out of all other things he's seen. But....