|
|
Rating: PG-13 no smut but a bit of violence.
Summary: With the aid of their Vulcan mating bond, Vorik tries to rescue his kidnapped wife, Raven. This is my little warped universe where Vorik bonds with Raven, a human, during his second Pon Farr. This series is not set in Voyager's present but rather in their future if they do not make it back to the alpha quadrant before the series ends.
Thanks to my beta reader. Sorry Gayle, Vorik told me to keep it in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vulcan terms: aduna: wife adun: husband.
The **********denote a change in scene.
The ^^^^^^^^^^ denote the flash back
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vorik is on duty in engineering. During a lull in his busy day, he reaches out to his family bond. He senses the delight his seven-year-old daughter, Le'Veya, has while playing with her friend and teacher Naomi. He reaches out to share this delight with his wife, Raven, but he does not sense her response. Their link of awareness is not active at this moment and he cannot touch upon her.
//It is not her sleeping period. Perhaps she is napping? I wonder what she could be dreaming about? // The Vulcan Ensign muses to himself
The last time he had listened in on his wife's dreams, he had been treated to a delicious scenario. He smolders at that memory then probes a little deeper. Still nothing. Vorik's Vulcan curiosity gets the best of him and he requests her location from the computer.
"Computer, where is Crewman Raven Zans?"
Immediately the computer's female monotone replies to his query, "Crewman Raven Zans is not on board."
Panic flashes through Vorik. <Where is she? >
Instinctively, he slaps his combadge to page her "Vorik to Zans!" Nothing
From across the room, Chief Engineer Torres notices Vorik's voice rising and his agitation. She strides over towards him.
"Vorik, what is it?"
"Raven is not on board!" Vorik gives her an apprehensive stare and slaps
his combadge "Vorik to Captain!"
*****
The Captain answers her chirping combadge, "Janeway here" She detects
the concern in the young Vulcan officer's voice.
"Captain, the computer indicates that my wi . . .Crewman Raven Zans is no longer on board Voyager. Her combadge is also deactivated. Is there some reason she has beamed over to the," The Captain cut him off in mid-sentence. "We'll get to the bottom of this, Ensign"
"Captain?"
"Janeway out." And she closes the signal. The Captain of the Federation Star Ship Voyager is not alone. Here in her ready room she is deep in negotiations with a visitor, the delegate from a people calling themselves the Kentari. It had only been few hours since Voyager had come across this lone avian shaped ship.
The tall purple robed visitor hears the exchange and gazes innocently at Janeway. Janeway looks directly in her multi-colored feathered face and asks, "Would you know anything about this disappearance?"
"No, Captain. I can assure you that we have nothing to do with your missing crewmember. Now if we can conclude this,"
"Why do not I not believe you? "Janeway interrupts. "I have the distinct impression that you have just been prolonging our conversation, these... negotiations, to buy yourself some time. And now I think I know why."
The alien gathers herself up. "I have no idea what you are talking about. I am simply trying . . . . ."
"To secure a mutual and equitable arrangement. Yes, you have mentioned
that before." An irritated Janeway interrupts the diatribe. "I don't care
about our arrangement. I will ask you one more time. Where is my crewman?"
******
Crewman Raven Zans opens her eyes to darkness. The steel, bone-chilling
floor unyielding beneath her. Her long hair had come loose from her band
and now hung in a curtain upon her face. As she brushes it back and sits
up, a tremendous ache grips her head. With a low grown, she cradles her
aching head. <<What's happened? Where am I? Vorik? >> She reaches
out to touch the mental bond she shares with her Vulcan husband, Vorik.
**********
While in the turbolift on his way to the bridge, Vorik feels a familiar
presence awaken in his consciousness.
Relieved that she is alive he asks, <<Where are you? >> In his mind he hears, <<I don't know. It's a dark in here. I think I'm on the Kentari ship. I feel the hum of engines. Ow! What a headache I have>>
***************************
<<I'm on my way to see the Captain about this. Maintain
your composure.>> Vorik reassures just as much to himself as to Raven.
The turbolift finally arrives at its destination. Vorik strides though the parted doors and onto the bridge. The captain and her guest emerge from her ready room at the same time.
"Hail your ship," she commands the visitor.
"I'm telling you, Captain, we do not have your crewman."
"Yes they do," Vorik calmly interjects from the upper deck. His voice draws the Captain's attention.
"Report Ensign," and she nods in Vorik's direction.
"Crewman Zans is currently being detained in a dark room. She believes she is in the aliens' ship." Vorik looks directly at the tall lanky feathered-faced visitor.
"Harry, scan for human life signs on that ship."
Ensign Kim initiates the scan. "Sorry ma'am. I can't get a read out on anything inside the ship. Its hull is laced with . ."
*********
"Selonite." Raven concludes, as she tastes the metal wall. Being a
metallurgist, she knows that selonite has a distinctive taste: orangy sweet
without the acidic tang. She also knows that Voyagers' scans will
never be able to detect her life signs through the element. Her fingers
graze along the rough surface of the walls, feeling for seams maybe an
opening or a way out. <<Vorik, help me>>
*****************
Vorik grips the edge of the rail on the bridge as he feels his mate's
plea for rescue. For the moment she is reassured by their link, but the
unknown is frightening them both. "I am certain she is there, Captain,"
he gestures to the avian shaped space station on the view screen.
Realizing that her plan is detected, the visitor reluctantly reveals herself. "Captain," she begins expansively. Her soft beak contorting into what resembles a smirk, "Think of your depleted photon torpedo stockpile. How will you be able to make it through space without weapons? What is the life of one crewman in comparison to the supplies we will be providing to you." Believing that this perspective would be a convincing one, the visitor lets out a soft chirp as her purple eyes stare into Janeway's.
Janeway knows that look. It raises the hair on the back of her neck. A challenge, she thinks to herself. But an outraged voice draws her out of this silent dance with the visitor.
"Captain!" is the Vulcan Ensign's sudden exclaim.
Her hand flies up to both silence and reassures her crewman. She breaks from the alien's hypnotic gaze and nods to Vorik. He relaxes his grip on the railing and approaches Lieutenant Tuvok's' station. The Captain returns her attention to her visitor and draws closer until she is toe to claw with the creature. As she peers into those large round eyes, her voice remains firm and resolute. "That is one life too many."
Her own terse phrase brings memories of a conversation with the child, Naomi Wildman. Three rules of being Captain: Keep your shirt tucked in; always go down with your ship and never leave a crewmember behind. "Signal your ship to return my crewman."
The visitor seems unruffled by this turn of events and nonchalantly replies, "I see we cannot make an arrangement. I'll call them." And the alien gingerly taps her version of a communication device and opens a channel to her ship.
**********************
Raven Zans gropes in the absolute darkness of this small room. This
is an all too familiar experience for the young women. Alone in a dark
room, uncertain of her future. But the constant presence in her mind of
her supporting Vorik keeps her instinctual panic at bay. A thud from outside
inspires her hopes and raises her fears. She turns in the direction of
the commotion, then a sliver of light slices through the black, then broadens.
Her eyes squint in response but she treads towards the light nevertheless.
The silhouette of two figures form in the entrance.
Gentle cooing accompanies their words. "Tr~oosh vahn" and the pair quickly swoop down on her.
"Where are you taking me?" Raven demands as she backs away form the bird-like aliens. Of course, Raven deduces, the universal translator is being neutralized just as her combadge signal is. The claws of the kidnappers clutch each of her upper-arms and carry her out of her confinement into the light of the hall. Raven squints in the brightness of the alien corridor. Talons release her tender flesh and for a fleeting moment, she entertains the thought of escape, until weapons are leveled at her.
<Vorik they are moving me>> Her trepidation is easily transmitted through their link.
Vorik's relief meets and merges with her fear. <<They are releasing you. It will not be long now.>>
Their quarry follows their lead, trusting that this is the end of her
confinement. It is ending quickly and without incident and for that Raven
is grateful. As she strides down the corridor, her hand caresses her slightly
swelled belly. As if trying to reassure the tiny one inside of her that
everything will be all right. Home soon.
***************************
"There. Are you satisfied captain? I hope your crewmember is worth
the sacrifice your entire ship just paid. A pity, we could have even negotiated
an agreement for our advanced transporter technology. But, no harm
done." The avian visitor smugly replies.
But the cautious Janeway is still not convinced. Her guest looks as
if she is still holding that ace up her sleeve. Perhaps it is a trait of
their species or perhaps it is Janeway's own instinct telling her that
something is not right. Until she knows that Zans is safely back on board,
this alien would stay put right here on her bridge. Humor her, Janeway
tells herself and she offers a wry smile. "Indeed, a simple misunderstanding.
No harm done."
***************************
Raven and her entourage turn the corner and halt before a grand door.
Her escorts input codes into the side panel and the door slides open. The
transporter room Raven thinks to herself and she enters without preamble.
The sight, which greets her view, strikes her dumb in appalling horror.
Lining the walls and tables are jars upon jars of floating fetuses.
A terrified Raven shakes her head in disbelief, "No," is her fearful whisper as she backs up to escape.
But sharp talons sink into her flesh, holding her in their grip. They urge her forward against her own will. These moments of terror are instantly transmitted to Vorik.
********************
"Captain, she is lying." Vorik whirls towards the visitor with rage and contempt in his eye. A rare look for one of his kind. "They are not releasing her! They ..intend on performing some kind of procedure?" Vorik hesitates as he attempts to decipher this message through the throes of his wife's terror. "Our child!" His insistence is more vehement than anything Janeway had ever seen in a Vulcan. She notices his white knuckles gripping the bridge bar.
Janeway whirls around. "What are you doing?" She demands through clenched teeth. Displaying the sort of anger her Vulcan Ensign could not and would not show.
"Captain," the alien's voice is smooth and reassuring as she tries to placate. "Your crewmember has something vital to us. We are still willing to give you what you want." Then the voice turns deadly. "But make no mistake, we will take what we need and there is nothing you can do to stop us. You are aware that our weapons and shields are more powerful. So I'd say that you are the ones at a slight disadvantage?" The visitor gives the Captain and her crew her smuggest smile as she reveals her trump card.
At this display of larceny, Vorik steps forward to take matters into his own hands.
In response to her terror and helplessness, Vorik murmurs in a calm but deadly tone. "Release.. My wife." His eyes flash in earnest as he draws closer to the avian visitor. "You will not leave this ship until she has been returned. That *I* will promise."
And Vorik grabs the visitor's delicate looking wing. He exerts more that a little force in his grasp. The visitor's large purple eyes bear into his. Meeting his stare, daring to force his hand. Calculating whether or not this being before her is bluffing or is intent on carrying out his threat. This pointy-eared arched brow bipedal creature ruffles her feathers as he again tinges his words with a slow and deadly force. "Release my wife."
The delegate notes how he begins to quiver in the great effort to retain his composure. Despite his outward appearance of control, she can see how tenuous in fact his restraint is, but his grip is iron tight upon her wing. Her slender bones begin to ache, but she remains stoically silent.
Janeway and the crew allow these potent threats for a few more moments
to make a point to this alien: we are just as formidable.
***************************
Raven struggles with her captors. Her ability to defend herself in hand to hand combat more than matches the guards'. Perhaps they have been too complacent in their safe nest and had never had to deal with one the likes of her before. In the strength her panic affords her, Raven rips her arms from their grips. With uniform tattered and shredded skin, the wiry woman waves off their talons with an urgency that she had known once before. Shrill cries and tiny white feathers fly about the air, contributing to the chaos of that attack.
Her captors attempt to grasp her once again but she worms away before their talons can sink in. In the confusion, Raven snatches up a dropped weapon.
"Halt!!!" Her sudden bellow draws their attention, as she levels the delicate blaster at them. Her attempt is to merely hold them at bay. Raven Zans hopes this is an end to it all, for she has no wish to harm them.
But holding this phaser in her hand evokes a memory. A memory of a past life, a past agony.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It was a clunky blaster, shakily thrust into the face of a Cardassian
during her rescue. Her liberators had enticed her to fire. Her heart had
been content to accept this rescue and leave her torturers to their own
demise. But it had been the sight of her dead friends. Piles of headless
bodies. Spears implanted into the ground, bearing the prize of the cobra
headed others. The heads..the rows of lifeless, sunken-eyed heads had stricken
her to her core. Inside a part of her moaned so loudly, her grief astounded
her and before she knew it, Raven Zans found herself complying with Suder's
and Seska's urgings.
Later, while on Voyager, Lon would relate to her his exact words. But in this chaotic moment, she knew what he meant, just by his compelling tone and wild gestures. "Go on! Do it!" The obsidian-eyed liberator provoked the over-wrought prisoner.
Without a translator, his language, like that of the Cardassians' and all the other fellow prisoners, was foreign to her. Confusion had been her greatest punishment. That lack of communication had isolated her near to the point of insanity. But at times..in the darkest hours. It would be the reassuring voice of one who called herself Sekonna.
Though they were situated side by side in their cramped metal confines, Raven had never seen her face nor touched her person. That was impossible when she had been in the solitary confine of the horizontal metal box. Day after day . . night after night. That was Raven's imprisonment, her penance.
The cobra headed others had nearly succeeded in breaking her spirit and she felt herself slipping into despair into madness. But when Sekonna began to sing her haunting lilting dirge, Raven's spirits would lift. Hope sprang a new. Not hope for a rescue but a hope for a brief respite from her misery and agony.
As a child, she had heard of this place. Hell, her people called it. Perhaps it was her fate to live it, as a punishment to endure, to strengthen her mettle. Quite often Raven had wonder if she was in fact dead and this was the afterlife. But then she perceived the reality of her situation.
Her people, her world had been destroyed by a technologically advanced race. She had witnessed the murder of her village. The rape and pillaging of the bodies of her sister, aunts, their children. Why had she been spared? Raven would never understand. For whatever reason, the Goddess had chosen this suffering for Raven. And just as the darkness threatened to consume this young woman, the goddess brought light and brought song in the voice of a stranger: Sekonna.
Raven mourned at the sight of all these faces upon impaled heads and yearned to know which had been Sekonna. Colors, shapes, differing contours. It did not matter what the nature of their species was, all were people to the woman from the primitive planet known as Queblanis: a small insignificant and forgotten human colony.
It was the utter horror that finally drove Raven over the edge. With impaired judgment, she succumbed to the insanity and the temptation. Her hand gripped the blaster, in imitation of her Cardassian captors and the liberators around her.
Suder enthusiastically demonstrated with his own phaser how to activate the weapon. Born after months of suppressed rage, the young woman was eager to seek her revenge on the one who had not only tortured her on countless nights but had tortured others as well. Screams and cries had been felt in one's bones through endless black nights. What she now held in her hand was his own weapon, set to kill.
With a shaky hand, her thumb depressed the small button. There was a sudden bright flash, then his face exploded in the energy discharge. An involuntary wince caught her when the hot blood and brains splattered over her face. Upon opening her eyes the sight of a headless corpse was the reward for her rage. The gray matter of the Cardassian clung to her strands of hair. Her filthy threadbare prisoner's smock now clung to her body, soaked with the sickening black odor of the even blacker blood.
The death put her in a daze. The chaos of the liberation around her descended to an eerie, insane, muted hush. The weapon slipped from her hand while she blankly stared at the falling body. As the ramification of her action began to take hold of her, the gaunt prisoner's body trembled and her mind revolted. She licked her lips, partaking of the alien's blood. Sour bile rose in her throat at this taste of death. Her lips quivered in a vow she spoke not to her liberators, nor to herself, but to that ephemeral being who had brought her to these depths. The woman whispered her vow to her goddess of fate. "I will never again harm another. Even if it means my own life."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
But here she is, once again, holding a weapon, at her captors. In this fight for her life, for the life of her child, for the life of her husband.
She waves the barrel of the weapon, gesturing for them to vacate the room. The guards back up and exit through the only door in this hellish room. Her fingers pull the trigger, fusing the panel by the door. Raven holds her head as Vorik's repressed rage reverberates through the bond. She wonders what could be happening to him. It takes all her concentration and strength to reach through to him. She glances at the jars of fetus and shivers at this revulsion of death. She surmises that this has been done to others and quickly wonders if they had survived the procedure. For the sake of her child and husband and for he own sake, she would not allow this to happen to her.
//Have to think how to get out of here.// With the weapon still in hand, she storms to the window. "//Luckily I am on a bulkhead.// She could see the white swan that is Voyager. So close but yet the expanse could have been from here to the alpha quadrant. Impossible. A signal? How? Her fist beat at the glass. <<Vorik!!! >>
**************************
Chakotay intervenes and calls Vorik's name, breaking his connection
upon the alien. Reluctantly, Vorik releases his iron grip upon the alien.
She wrenches away from his manacles, rubbing her upper wing and glaring
at the fuming Vulcan. Chakotay steps in between them and uses his sternest
voice to intimate. "You'd better tell us were she is or he might just rip
you to pieces."
The alien is aware that this might be a bluff and she is confident that the harvest has already begun upon the acquired female. With her beak held high she remains stoically silent, turning her face on both of the men. Her refusal is most adamant despite the threat of physical injury. An astounded Vorik clenches his teeth. In this moment, Vorik again feels her plea.
<<Adun, help me.>>
*********************
Raven whirls around the room looking for anything that she could use to her advantage. She spies a console, but has no idea how to work it. As her fingers run over the lights and buttons of the foreign console, Raven ruefully thinks to herself how easily Vorik could interpret the foreign symbols on this console. <<If only I knew what you knew.>>
******
Vorik's eyes fly open at the fleeting thoughts his wife transmits to
him. In a moment of clarity and inspiration, he thinks both to himself
and she who is his life. << Perhaps there is a way.>>
***************
<<Close your eyes and clear your thoughts,>> Raven hears in her
mind.
A boom at the door causes her heart to flutter in terror.
*******************
Vorik senses her fear at the happenings and attempts to reassure her.
<<We have to ignore that if we want this to work.>>
No time to explain to the others.
He steps away from the outside turmoil. To seek his place of solace, his center of peace, his anchor of serenity to summon all of his telepathic capabilities, training and strength. Vorik touches his fingertips, letting the forefingers rest upon his lips. He closes his eyes and breathes in deeply. Each breath allowing him to dive deeper into his internal disciplines and telepathic powers. Tuvok recognizes the hand placement and deduces what Vorik is initiating. He steps next to Vorik. The crew looks curiously at each other.
"What are they doing?" Paris innocently requests from the crew on the bridge.
Tuvok answers this inquiry with a whisper to his fellow Vulcan. "You are attempting Venlinahr-ankara? (The sight) Allow me to assist."
The elder Vulcan gently places his hand on Vorik's temple, contributing
his strength to Vorik's' own. Tuvok, in his preparation for Kohlinar, is
most skilled in the manipulation of a mind link. His discipline strengthens
Vorik's tether and the transfer of his knowledge to Raven. This type of
sharing is common between Vulcan bondmates after many years. For Vorik
and his mate, what is required is the impetus from a stronger carrier mind,
with the type of skill Tuvok possesses.
*********************************
Raven senses the tentacles of Vorik as if he were touching her mind and flowing into her as in a meld. It is a familiar sensation one that she has grown comfortable with but there is something else about it this time. A stronger more urgent presence propels him from behind. Suddenly, Raven feels a change. It is brief alteration in her perceptions and her thoughts. Knowledge flows through her that she had never realized she possessed before. Her mate's voice is calm and soothing as he beckons.
<<Now open your eyes and let me work through you>> she hears and complies.
Raven watches her own hand fly over the keys as if they had a mind of their own. Fingers automatically activating codes, rearranging isolinier chips and altering information pathways. The incessant banging upon the door causes Raven to continually flinch but she perseveres in hers and Vorik's course. They were nearly successful in rearranging the console to emit a beacon signal to Voyager. Their intention, to transmit her personal location directly to the communications board, overstepping the selonite barrier. But there is one more step: A significant key on the edge of the console with the alien script. What does it mean?
Vorik is unwilling to chance it and they run out of time. It could transmit the signal, or it could mean reset to original parameters, it could even open the door, for all the pair could deduce. Panic ripples through Raven as her fear climbed in this obstacle. What did it mean?
Vorik slips away from her mind. Raven is chilled by this sudden solitude at the console and back to the reality of her physical situation. Each thump at the door heightens her panic.
***********************
Vorik opens his eyes emerging for the meld. With determination the
young Vulcan grabs a PADD, setting it for manual input. With the stylus,
he quickly traces a figure onto the screen. He shoves the PADD beneath
the alien's beak demanding, "What does this mean?"
The purple feather faced alien turns away from the small hand held screen. Vorik's takes in a breath to calm his urges and repeats with a dark insistence, "What does this mean?"
Looking into these eyes and reading the determination of those around her on this alien bridge, the Kentari realizes she has been defeated. Self-preservation over takes her and she resigns to this fate. This Federation crew will never let her leave Voyager if their crewmember does not return alive and intact. She does not know by what powers this pointy-eared creature came up with this figure on the PADD before her, but he acts as if it is the key to all. The game is over and she has lost and now the feathered face envoy is just eager to get home and away from these aliens. She answers him begrudgingly, "Transmit."
With restrained satisfaction Vorik transmits two words to his mate through
their bond. "Hit it!"
************
Raven smiles at this answer as her finger taps the key.
*****************
"Captain," Harry Kim suddenly announces. No one truly knows what Vorik
has done but they trust him. "We are receiving a signal from the alien
ship."
Vorik interjects, "Lock onto that signal and transport."
****************
The Kentari finally breakthrough the door and rush towards her. Raven
shudders as she sees the bird creatures swooping towards her. She stands
fast at her console knowing that its signal is the beacon by which Voyager
will find and lock onto her. Their fleeting footsteps pound at the floor
as they near her. Raven squeezes her eyes shut as she crouches into an
instinctual protective position. Then the tingles of transportor energy
grab her. It is a welcome sensation. In her boldness she opens her
eyes to witness their surprise at her escape. "Just in the nick of time."
Raven ruefully whispers to herself.
*******************
Harry Kim's face breaks into a broad grin and he nods triumphantly
at Vorik, "We got her! Captain, Raven Zans is safely back onboard."
The Captain turns to the envoy, glaring at this deceiver. Her words, level and deadly are directed to her security officer. "Get her off my ship."
Tuvok's hand gently grips a wing. The visitor still keeping her beak high turns on her talons and actually leads the Vulcan towards the turbolift. Vorik follows in their wake summoning his control and courage. The trio exits the bridge.
After a number of decks are passed in silence, the guest flutters her wings and lets out a sigh. The lift halts then the doors of the turbo lift slide open revealing the face of the returned officer. Vorik is taken a back at her presence. Not a few moments ago, as they had been caught in that peril, he thought he would never see her again.
Tuvok offers, "I will escort our *guest* to the transporter room," then silently strides away, his quarry in tow.
Vorik emerges from the turbolift, feeling it slide closed behind him. His eyes are riveted on the form of she who is his wife. Both stare at the other in silent relief. Though alive, her appearance is a testament to her struggles on board the alien ship. Her usually neatly coifed hair is now half fallen over her shoulders and strewn with tiny white feathers. The upper sleeves hang in tattered strips, wet with her deep red blood. A smear mares her olive toned cheek. As Vorik draws his hand up to wipe it away, Raven's small hand tenderly presses to his cheek.
"You are a sight for sore eyes, Adun." Raven breaks the spell. She absorbs his dark earnest gaze as it bears into her.
The Vulcan male is impulsively moved to kiss her palm, but he reins in the impulse and merely allows her touch. Raven feels the heat rise from off his face, his agitation obvious. This tender reunion overwhelms them. Their eyes squeeze shut in solace. Vorik grips her hand, then they firmly press their palms to each other's. Relief washes over them as Raven begins to tremble from her adrenaline rush. Once the couple regains their composure, their fingertips gently caress. Between them, deep within the privacy of their bond, they share their joy, relief and fear as well the pleasurable sensation of this Vulcan fingertip kiss. The footsteps of Lieutenant Tuvok are detected and the couple draws apart.
"The Captain has notified me, that she would like you to report to sick bay."
Raven turns to Tuvok and replies, "Yes, Commander."
Vorik interjects, "Permission to escort Crewman Zans?
"Granted," was Tuvok terse reply. He knows that Vorik requires additional reassurance of his wife's safety and health. Before the couple departs, Tuvok adds "Crewman, welcome home."
There is the barest hint of a smile as Raven graciously returns, "Thank you, Commander."
Tuvok enters the turbolift to return to his duty upon the bridge. The couple watch the doors close upon Tuvok's dark, solemn face. Vorik's hand reaches out and her smaller fingers immediately grasp his. They turn to begin their long stroll to sickbay. The young Vulcan husband savors this reunion with she who is his wife.
