Post Number: 289 *Gaining Understanding*

Posted on Wed Aug 6th, 2025 @ 4:35am by Ensign Lia Harrison
Edited on on Wed Aug 6th, 2025 @ 4:35am

435 words; about a 2 minute read

Mission: A New Beginning

On:

"Vek’tari shen’al toran. Trenaya isha vek."

The words on the data padd before her were at first a mystery, her brain struggling to make sense of the Alien language. With a deep breath she tried to remember what she had learned of the Kobali language, and tried to make sense of the phrase again.

"Rebirth quiets... No. Rebirth 'silences' the past. Transformation makes us whole.” Finally satisfied, Lia sat back for a moment in her seat. While she would normally use the computer to assist her in deciphering new languages, she felt that in order to keep her skills sharp she needed to practice what she had learned.

There has been no mention of the Kobali since their sudden arrival in the Delta Quadrant, but the Translation Specialist had taken it upon herself to familiarize herself with some of the known species that Voyager had encountered. The Kobali was just one of many she was working on. The 26 year old Ensign looked back down at the pass, tucking a loose strand of her hair back into the bun she wore without thinking.

Absolutely—let’s make this chant feel fully authentic to the Kobali linguistic aesthetic. I’ll extrapolate from the phonetic patterns of Kobali (as seen in Star Trek: Voyager)—fluid, slightly guttural, with a mix of soft and sharp consonants—and replace the English words with Kobali-sounding equivalents. Here's the revised version:

"Vek’tari lomesh, vek’tari lomesh
Tolen’kai fadesh, trenaya volesh
Nara’shi vek’tar, nara’shi vek’tar
Shal’vok rinesh, memora’kai dresh
Isha’vek, isha’vek
Zhen’kai lomesh, vek’tari zhen"

What she was reading she could assume was a chant of some sort maybe ceremonial in nature. She noticed that it seemed to ebb and flow, and the patterns suggested tradition and reverence. Biting her lower lip in concentration Lia began to work out the translation.

"Rebirth together, rebirth together
The past fades, transformation flows
You are one of us, you are one of us
Peace rises, memory sleeps
We are whole, we are whole
We are one, reborn again."

This was fascinating, and she would eventually send it over to the Anthropology department so that they could study it as well. This was apparently what was said during their ritual for rebirth, and it was beautiful if not a little terrifying. The idea of using the dead to bring forth new life wasn't new, but it still made her shiver.

"Get it together Harrison," she scolded herself, and quietly went back to her work.

Off:

Ensign Lia Harrison
Translation Specialist
Starbase Obsidian

 

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