"Shootout at the Quentite Corral, Part 1"
Primary Characters:
Admiral Jurgen Hoth
Captain Daren M'Kantu
Lt. Commander Cassius Henderson
Major Saladin Bolivar
Sub-Commander Savar ir-Aihai tr'Khellian
Lt. JG Corran Rex
Secondary Characters:
Captain Fedorio Escalanté
Captain Soorvak
Commander John Zalletta
Lt. (JG) Cameron Bartlett
Ensign Rima Pennington
Second Lieutenant Angelienia
Second Lieutenant Kell Tainer
****
USS Galaxy
Deck 1
Bridge
Daren had begun snapping orders as soon as crewmen began materializing
on the Bridge, his whole demeanor changed now that the fight he hadn't
wanted was here. He'd taken the Helm himself as Savar moved to Tactical,
not willing to wait for Bartlett to locate and send a helmsman to the
Bridge, the time he'd spent learning the Galaxy's controls standing him
in good stead as his hands moved across the panels.
"Sub-Commander, I need an update on those fighters - are they pulling
back or not? What's the status on the Hood and the Pershing?"
Listening in on the encoded Tactical channel, Lieutenant' Rex responded
form Vanguard One before Savar could. ["Galaxy, Vanguard One.
Nimitz's fighters are not withdrawing. I repeat, they're not. I've got
two more pilots EV out here - they've only got fifteen more minutes before
thier suits run out of air - and that's only if they don't get hit by
some stray weapons fire. We need a rescue runabout to come pick them up."]
Savar's sour face told any onlooker what he thought of Rex's impudent
interruption. "This is not the time to launch a rescue operation,"
he snapped. "We are in the middle of a battle!"
Corran's sigh was audible over the comm. ["Look, Captain - no
disrespect intended, but we followed your orders and came out here. Now
we're surrounded by hostile forces, even if they are Starfleet, and we
can't get out on our own. We can fly fancy all we want, but we're still
outnumbered. We need your help, sir, or we're dead."] the Trill
pilot finished before returning his attention to keeping as many of his
pilots alive in that maelstrom as possible.
The Romulan tactical officer's eyes snapped to the Captain. "Vanguard
17 was just lost. Rex is correct: we *must* move in to support the fighter
wing and launch a pre-emptive strike on the capital ships."
"Ensign," M'Kantu snapped to the young man materializing near
the Engineering display. "Monitor the PPC - as soon as it burns out
we're going to separate the saucer section and I don't want any slip-ups
there."
"A-aye, sir," the startled - and nervous young man responded.
"Commander Henderson," Daren continued over the open comm to
the Battle Bridge as he worked the controls and sent the Galaxy forward
into the last battle he'd ever wanted to fight. "Be ready to assume
command of the secondary hull on separation. Your job will be to engage
Hood and Pershing if they're still a factor."
"Aye sir," Henderson nodded, "Ensign Pennington and I
are considering our tactical possibilities." He had just switched
over to the command chair, as replacement officers flitted on and off
the bridge.
"Ms. Pennington," Daren continued as he processed Henderson's
response. "What's happening with the Quentite ship and those nuclear
missiles?"
"The Quentite Warp Prototype is currently out of engagement range,
but it's weapons are hot. ETA to firing range on it's current target,
USS Nimitz, is 2.23 minutes. It's slower sublight speed is what's accounting
for that. Any vessel on the field could kill it in under .37 minutes.
They're in the process of fully arming their first missiles," Pennington
replied. ~My, that was detailed. You're getting caught up in this. Starting
to sound like Cassius. He's rubbing off, isn't he?~ she thought to herself,
noting that her usual noncommittal response had disappeared. This was
just like the nebula. Damn.
"Sir," Bartlett's voice interrupted over the comm. "Registering
an attempt at intrusion from the Nimitz's computer. They're trying to
use the command code sequence to shut us down." He paused. "Attempt
has failed, sir. The new codes stopped them."
"Keep an eye on that, Mr. Bartlett. Hoth will try it again with
a higher command prefix next time," Daren warned.
"Yes, sir."
The first flare from the shields flashed on the main screen, and Daren
found himself falling into the still-familiar rhythm of flying a ship
in combat, his fingers making the necessary adjustments without being
told. "Look sharp, people," he warned. "Sub-Commander,
we need to hit the Nimitz as hard as we can now - I need a full Alpha
strike ready to go on her at my mark. Signal the fighters to engage the
Pershing. Ms. Pennington, what's the status on those Quentite missiles?
Are they shooting or not?"
"Not yet, sir. ETA 1.51 minutes to firing range. Sir, that last
shot came from Pershing. It seems Fedorio Escalante can't wait any longer,"
Pennington replied, looking over at Cassius Henderson, who nodded, tapping
at his console to send her targeting information. "I'm warming up
the transporters. But I need your orders. When they fire, what do you
want me do with the nukes? Blow them up safely or use them?"
"Be ready for both, Ms. Pennington," Daren replied. "I'll
make that call when the moment comes."
"Captain, Pershing has ceased firing," Henderson reported,
"I'm getting a lot of communication on the other side. It seems there's
still some confusion as to what's happening."
"That seems only fair, Commander." Daren made another adjustment
to the helm. "Keep your eye on the Pershing, Escalante's no rookie.
If he joins in, then you'll have to take him out quickly, we can't afford
to ignore him for long." He frowned. "What the hell is Hoth
doing moving the Nimitz forward like that? Sub-Commander, are his weapons
hot?"
Tr'Khellian looked up from his console, with a baffled, angry expression
on his olive-skinned face. "Negative. Their shields are up, but their
weapons are cold."
****
USS Nimitz
Deck 1
Bridge
The Science officer flopped back in his chair with an exasperated sigh.
"It's no use sir. . . I can't access the GALAXY computer. It's just
like I told you, they already changed the Command Prefix Codes."
Behind him Captain Soorvak acknowledged his officers emotional display
with a barely perceptible raising of his eyebrow.
"So they have Mr. Motto." he said, "Nevertheless, prudence
demanded we consider all non-violent options in disabling our adversary.
Is that not correct Admiral?"
The Vulcan Captain half turned to view the grim faced visage of Admiral
Jurgen Hoth standing behind him, teeth clenched and lips set in a tight
grimace. "Yes, Captain... that it does."
Hoth was still reeling from this unthinkable turn of events. Still in
shock at how quickly the situation had deteriorated into the mess he now
presided over. ~~~Damnit, I'm a school-teacher!!~~~ he thought angrily,
~~What the hell was Starfleet thinking when they dragged me away from
Tactical Administration and sent me out here in charge of a fleet?~~~
"Captain?" The Science Officer asked, Do you want me to try
again at a higher prefix?"
Soorvak merely shook his head gently. "No, Mr. Motto I do not. Logic
indicated that if they have already anticipated our initial attempt they
will naturally take precautions against further variations on that theme."
"Aye sir."
"Admiral," Soorvak fully turned to face Hoth now, his hands
clasped firmly behind his back. "I must inquire as to your next intended
course of action? Obviously Captain M'Kantu does not intend to submit
himself to Lawful Starfleet Authority, and for the moment it seems a sizeable
percentage of his crew is equally complicit in his mutiny. His fighter
screen has fired the first shots. Does this not give us authority to retaliate?"
Hoth considered the calm features of Nimitz's Captain and wished not
for the first time that he could tap into some Vulcan sense of clarity.
Maybe this current assignment was not the one he would have preferred,
but he was damned if he was going to let it end in disaster. "It
does give us the right Captain. . . .but I am not yet willing to open
fire. I didn't spend the last ten years trying to rebuild Starfleet Tactical
to watch some renegade try and kill all these poor kids I have trained"
They both turned and faced the Holographic Viewscreen that dominated
the front of the NIMITZ bridge. The whirling dance of intermingled fighter
craft could be seen zipping about.
"Still no response from our Wing Commander?" Hoth inquired,
"He still has not withdrawn back to the fleet as ordered?"
Soorvak declined to reply, recognizing this as being one of those 'rhetorical
questions' humans had a habit of asking. The evidence was obvious to all
that could see that the fighters were not withdrawing.
"What about the other officers on the Galaxy?" Hoth asked.
"I know M'Kantu said von Ernst was on the surface, and Dallas was
lost with the initial Diplomatic Party, but what about rest of the Senior
Staff? Ummmm Henderson in Tactical, or the others? Shouldn't he relieve
the Captain of Command?"
Again Soorvak just stood silently and calmly
"Very well," Hoth answered himself. "Captain, I want you
to maneuver the NIMITZ and HOOD to within Tractor Beam range and attempt
to separate the fighter screens manually. If the pilots won't obey orders
to withdraw then by God we're gonna pull them apart ourselves."
Soorvak's eyes flicked over to consider the whirling craft onscreen.
"It will be a difficult task for our tractors to apprehend every
one of our fighters Admiral."
"Then its DIFFICULT!!" Hoth snapped "Do it anyway Dammit!
Those blasted pilots are tearing this situation apart, and if I have to
separate them like a bloody cat-fight, I will! Remember Tractor beams
ONLY. I want weapons cold mind you. There is no way I am escalating this
further!!"
"Aye sir," Soorvak nodded, and immediately turned to move his
ship into tractor range. He didn't mention the fact that when one attempted
to separate a cat fight, one invariably got scratched.
"Shootout at the Quentite Corral, Part 2"
Primary Characters:
Admiral Jurgen Hoth
Captain Daren M'Kantu
Lt. Commander Cassius Henderson
Major Saladin Bolivar
Sub-Commander Savar ir-Aihai tr'Khellian
Lt. JG Corran Rex
Secondary Characters:
Captain Fedorio Escalanté
Captain Soorvak
Commander John Zalletta
Lt. (JG) Cameron Bartlett
Ensign Rima Pennington
Second Lieutenant Angelienia
Second Lieutenant Kell Tainer
****
USS Galaxy
Deck 1
Bridge
"I'll give Hoth, this," Daren observed. "He's
determined to avoid a bigger shooting match." He checked the big
screen again. "Keep the firing solution on the Nimitz constantly
updated Sub-Commander, but no firing until I give the word."
"Captain, I strongly recommend not using established
Federation tactics. They will be anticipating pre-programmed Starfleet
maneuvers. We must launch unexpected strikes." The irritation that
the Captain was disregarding the considered advice he had provided in
his earlier report was creeping into his voice. Rather than hanging fire
and sitting on their hands whilst the fighter wings tore each other to
pieces, his plan could have had the Pershing crippled by now, and the
Hood well on the way to the scrap yard.
"Recommendation noted, Sub-Commander - and agreed
with. Ms. Pennington, I need an update on the Quentites." Daren's
eyes never left the big screen. "How much time do we have?"
"Less than a minute... Uhm," she said, "Recalculating...
ETA 0.41 seconds.
We're running out of time," Rima replied, sparing a glance up at
Cassius, who was deep in thought over his console.
Henderson noticed it and filed the moment for another
time. He had other worries than what one of his ensigns was thinking.
It seemed they were at an impasse... Hoth would not escalate. But neither
would he back down. He had reigned in Soorvak and Escalante, and DeSoto
was no fool. So what now. Would they dance around each other until the
fighters and the Quentites were all dead? What would be the catalyst that
would cause the moment to explode, or the soothing moment that would cause
them all to back down and go home alive?
"Captain," Savar warned, urgently, "I'm
reading movement from USS Hood. They have shifted into red alert, powering
up weapons systems." He ran his hands across the console and glanced
up. "They're coming about - their hangar bays are opening."
*****
Vanguard 1 & 2
Near-Quentin Space
Kell Tainer's curse came loudly over the speakers. "Dammit
it all!" the young pilot said, swerving his fighter around an array
of miniature torpedoes fired by White Knights Nine. "Leader, Two.
Check out the Hood." he said grimly.
Corran checked his scanners, and was dismayed by what
he saw. The Excelsior-Class starship had opened her fighter bay, and a
squadron of the small Tomcat-Class starfighters were peeling out. Small
and deadly, the fighters had a reputation among pilots for being flying
guns.
And judging by the direction their weapons and sensors
were pointing, they didn't seem to be friendly. Rex slapped the comm one
last time. ["Vanguard One to Galaxy. Reinforcement fighters coming
from the Hood. Their weapons are trained on us. If you don't - or can't
- come in and help us, we're dead, Captain."]
****
USS Nimitz
Deck 1
Bridge
"The Hood is DOING WHAT!!??!"
The USS Nimitz's Science officer, Mr. Motto shrugged helplessly
and gestured at his display, "Its like I said Admiral, She just launched
her fighters... the whole squadron"
Admiral Jurgen Hoth grimaced and squeezed a painful point
on the bridge of his nose. What in the name of Kirk's ripped Tunics was
this fleet coming to? Did he, or did he not possess full legal command
of this situation? Why the hell did everybody suddenly decide it was 'the
heck with chain of command-day?'
~~~It'll be a quick assignment.~~~ they had promised him.
~~~Take over the Nimitz Battlegroup and go and relieve Captain M'Kantu
of command for gross incompetence.~~~ ~~~Me?~~ he had asked. ~~~Why me?
I haven't commanded a fleet in 12 years. I have duties back at the Tactical
Command, and the 359 School.~~~
~~~Forget about it~~~ they had replied, ~~~You're the
closest flag-level officer in the area, and we need this taken care of
quickly. We need M'Kantu out of there.~~~
~~~Then why the HELL did you put him IN THERE to begin
with!??!~~~ Hoth had argued back. Sometimes the silliness of BuPers was
beyond belief.
"Admiral Hoth?" the calm voice of the Vulcan
Captain Soorvak broke Hoth's thoughts, and brought him back to the present.
"Sir, I calculate a 82.7% chance of the situation escalating if the
Hood's fighters enter the fray.
Should we use our own to screen them out?"
Hoth narrowed his eye studying the glowing tactical display
closely.
"Screw the fighters." he spat, "Starfleet shouldn't be
wasting credits on the silly things anyways, nothing but a bunch of quick
moving targets anyhow." Hoth moved down from the aft science console
and moved before the giant holographic viewscreen. "No, Captain,
I want you to continue to utilize our tractors in an effort to extricate
our own fighters since they are not obeying orders anyhow. Instead I want
to move Nimitz to intercept the Hood's Vector of attack, and interpose
us between the Galaxy, and DeSoto. "
Soorvak raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Fascinating
maneuver Admiral. I'm sure you have considered the possibility of what
will happen if the Hood does not back down?"
Hoth sighed, "Hell, Captain, today it seems like
everybody is going crazy. If that happens, I'll be in my cabin taking
a nap until it's all over with. If Daren is so gung-ho about taking the
Galaxy renegade against Starfleet orders, then what can we do?"
"We could destroy the Galaxy." The Vulcan said logically.
"Yes... there's always that."
****
Outside the sleek grey form of the USS Nimitz seemed to
suddenly veer off at a 90 degree angle and roll out on a new course that
brought her directly parallel to the approaching Hood.
All attempts to warn off Captain DeSoto went unanswered,
and it seemed as if Hoth's prediction of a cat-fight was soon to be in
the offering. Multiple green-tractor beams lanced out of Nimitz's belly
streaking across the vacuum to ensnare no less than eight of her recalcitrant
fighters in one fell swoop. The tiny craft were no match for the limitless
power of Starfleet's most advanced vessel.
A similar beam stabbed out from the dorsal emitter, and
attempted to slow the approaching Hood which was closely following her
own fighter screen.
This proved to be a more difficult maneuver. The Hood had already built
up a full head of steam, and her sheer mass was proving difficult for
the single beam to slow. Unfortunately it also made it difficult for the
Hood to swerve out of the way.
****
Soorvak watched the tactical display. Nimitz was now on
her side lying directly between the Galaxy, the fighters, and the Hood.
An energy web of tractor beams linked the latter three together, but it
looked as if it was not going to be enough.
~~~Fascinating. . .~~~ the Captain thought. ~~~The Admiral
has placed us in precisely the one spot that will leave no way for the
hood to slip past us.
DIRECTLY in its path.~~~ The Vulcan glanced over to his left where the
Admiral, looking rather sick, leaned against a rail. "Admiral. .
.?"
"Yes Captain... I knew one beam wouldn't slow them
- but it will force them to stop."
"By striking us instead?" Soorvak was typically
unemotional, but nevertheless shocked.
"Yup. Some days, when everybody starts disobeying
orders, you gotta jump in the pit and show them whose boss."
"Fascinating."
****
Desperately attempting to swerve, but unable to because
of the tractor holding it in place, the USS Hood struck the Nimitz just
Starboard of the saucer midline.
The force of the blow put the Nimitz into a nauseating
spin, which as a result flung the fighters it held in its ventral tractors
across space, scattering them to the four corners.
Hood's bow buckled impressively, and its aft end flipped
end for end, sending the hundred year old starship tumbling through space.
Unfortunately the Hood's left nacelle broke loose form
its mountings, and lanced forward like some 300 meter long javelin, aimed
directly at the heart of the Galaxy.
When it struck, M'Kantu would have no excuse but to enter
the fray. It seemed despite his efforts, Hoth's desperate maneuver would
fail.
"The Plot Thickens"
By
Legate Kylar Curran,
Chief Liaison Officer
USS Galaxy
As Jacen droned on, Kylar thoughts were a-flurry. So many
events had transpired to bring him to this point, the absorption of it
all was too much.
"... wait, wait, wait!" Curran waved his hands
about, pushing his forehead into them at the end, as if he could compact
the information and sort it out.
Jacen acquiesced and smiled that stupid grin of his. His
face was still in shadow, but the Kelvan's eyes had focused long ago.
"You still haven't told me who you are and why we
are here. I know all about the First Contact mission, but the planet surface
obliterated? How do you honestly expect me to believe that? And turn on
the lights!"
Jacen brought a finger up to his cloaked head. Kylar could
almost hear him thinking.
"Computer. Raise the lights 40%." Curran didn't
register the fact of being on board something familiar with that phrase,
for it was lost in the mists of his mind when the alcove was illuminated.
The walls were... squirming. Like skin pruning after being
in water too long. It revolted Kylar, causing him to draw back. He risked
a furtive glance at Jacen, and wished he hadn't.
His skin was mottled pink, scarred, and missing an eye.
Half his face was burned and wrecked beyond recognition.
Yet, the saviour grinned and tapped his beard.
"They say I should wear a faceplate to disguise this
hideousness. I find it works in my favor if I don't, as I'm sure you are
experiencing now, my dear Kelvan."
"Plasma burns. But that still does not answer who
and what you are and what you plan to do with us."
"You are correct on all counts, Mr. Curran."
Jacen limped up onto the edge of the cot. The walls had stopped moving
about, but their green leathery mosaic remained. The great brute Kevalos
could be heard grunting beyond.
"There is no need to know how I received these. I,
like Kevalos, share a history with you in regards to that, but that is
something you need not know."
"I don't know you. I've never met you. I would remember
you." Curran's eyes drew wide as Kevalos trundled by out beyond,
carrying Dallas'
hoverchair. The talons were as green as the walls, huge curved claws/nails,
and most shocking was when he turned to stare at Curran. Three eyestalks,
all dancing around, glared threateningly at him. A gaping maw, lined with
sharp teeth, clacked at him from his snout.
"And I would sure as hell remember him." Jacen
turned to see what Kylar was talking about.
"Oh, that would be Kevalos, as you've met before.
My Chief Tactical Officer. Do you recognize his species?" Kevalos
hissed and moved on, grumbling.
"He seems familiar to me..."
"Hydran."
"Hydran? Now, I'm truly confused. WHERE AM I?"
"Somehow, Mr. Curran, I think you are going to have
a tough 'time' believing it."
Curran crinkled a brow at Jacen's emphasis on the word,
Time.
"Try me. I'm already stuck in a strange ship, with
a huge lizard as a tactical officer, surrounded by living walls, being
told the planet I beamed to is dead. I think I can deal with anything."
"I'll ask again after I've related the tale to you,
Mr. Curran, then we'll see."
"NO MORE WIRE HANGERS EVER!!!"
NRPG: A little character Development.
Time for Klaus to deal with a family member with a mental illness. As
for the title, it's not in the post, I couldn't think of a name so I borrowed
from Mommy Dearest.
Erik Stiener, Shopowner (Stiener's Inventions &
Novelties)
Location: Stiener's Shop
The Galaxy was in the heat of Battle, and Stiener was
in his shop balled up on the floor. His bad arm off to the side and his
knees held in front of him by his good arm. His teeth were clenched and
his mouth open. His eyes wide, frightened.
He stood up, slouched forward. Limp, yet rigid. Erik walked out of the
shop, and out into the promenade. Straight from the Promenade into the
halls of the ship. Straight into a Turbolift.
-Within the Mind of Erik Stiener, He never actually speaks when within
the Turbolift.-
"Bridge."
"Denied. The Bridge is off limits to Civilians at
this time."
"Armory."
"Denied."
"Sickbay."
"Denied."
"Open the Doors."
The Doors open revealing a bizarre sight. Curtains, curtains often seen
on the stage of a theatrical performance. The Curtains opened, and he
could see 2 starfleet officers speaking on a stage set made to look like
a hall within the Galaxy. They spoke to each other in odd over the top
Theater voices. He could not make out the convorsation. He walked out
onto the stage, like an actor that had suddenly forgotten his part.
"Uh....This isn't happening." The other two actors looked at
Stiener with cold eyes, All they could say is "Forgotten your lines
again?"
Erik backed up in horror. He looked out into the crowd, who began to Boo.
Several more actors appeared on the stage, all in over the top voices.
"All of you! No control over your actions! JUST ACTORS ON A STAGE!
NO TRUE PURPOSE! THIS WORLD ISN'T REAL!!"
Stiener tripped slightly and fell on his ass.
Back in the real world Stiener sat staring with scared crazy eyes at several
starfleet officers and crewmen that came to his aid. He was sitting on
the floor outside of the Turbolift.
"Temporal Difficulties"
Lt. Commander Adrian An'quinsos
Acting Chief Counselor
USS Galaxy
With Ensign Tak'a Ame (NPC- Written wonderfully by Ian)
Security Officer
USS Galaxy
And Random NPC Guard
*** The Planet Quentin ***
After uttering his foreboding words, the Counselor had
sunk to his knees, as though he was entering a trance like state. Wide-eyed,
his bright, blue eyes remained fixed upon the Galaxy's hull, unblinking
as he remained still. The temporal energy aligning the hull eddies and
whorled as it moved through and around Adrian in near-fixed spurts. However,
he almost felt something else nearby, another source of energy, even more
distinct, and possibly more powerful than the source was. Finally, he
closed his eyes slowly stood up, and began to gaze around him, looking
for something unseen to the average eyes.
Carefully scanning the barren landscape, Ensign Tak'a
Ame, reflected on how much this land bore the scars of her own planet.
The likenesses were scary. Burned away vegetation, no signs of life, craters
of years past, and devastated mountainous terrain. The rocks and boulders
scattered about brought back visions of whole populated areas reduced
to rubble from rained down hellfire from the heavens. She cradled her
phase rifle, hoping not to have to use it.
The Bajoran Security Officer had been assigned to 'Commander
An'quinsos side as protection while they surveyed the wreck of the Galaxy
now resting on the planets surface. As she watched him, she saw his eyes
glaze over, and a somber expression draw over his features. "Are
you alright, sir?"
"I feel... something..." He trailed off, still
carefully gazing around. His voice carried the tone of a loud, curious
whisper. "When we first arrived, I immediately felt something...
time, distorting and contorting all around me. Then, when we found these
remains, I felt another something, that of time reflecting over things
now past. Now... now I feel something different, more distinct in form..."
She'd heard tales of El-Aurian 'powers' concerning feeling
time currents, but had never been privy to it first-hand. It was disturbing.
"What is it you feel, sir? Are there enemy forces in the area?"
She checked the power levels in her rifle. She'd barely survived the Hirogen
gaming fest two years ago. She wasn't about to die on this prophets-forsaken
world so far from home.
He looked over at her, giving her an assuring smile, as
he spoke in the clearest of voices. "You need not worry Ensign, there
are no enemy forces converging on us at this time." His smile vanished,
giving way to contemplation. "This time, I feel time, times future
and times past contained in times present... all held by someone or something."
"Do you have Prophets, 'Commander?"
He deep, flickering gaze turned slowly from the horizon
to her. "Prophets?"
"Yes. Gods. Religion. A Supreme Being or beings.
The Prophets of Bajor watch over all of my people, and come to a special
few to speak with them. Sometimes their words are delivered in different
ways. Dreams, spoken word... feeling."
*Our* religion lay centered around the concepts of Time
and the Sun. To the latter, a beautiful Temple lay in the east, in the
silver-sanded Sea of the Sun's Birth, most beautiful to hear when dawn's
first kiss touches it. A melody never repeated twice... or ever will be..."
"Sounds like when the Prophets first appeared to
us when the wormhole opened. Are your concepts more clear on what it is
you mean? Because forgive me for saying this, but they are quite stating
the obvious. We just left the ship, and here it is old and decrepit on
this hellworld. I think we all know time is involved."
He looked at her gazed at her silently for a moment, and
then issued a smile, the first shown since landing on the planet. He looked
back at the Galaxy remains, and contemplated thoughtfully. Further examinations
seen and unseen, revealed all they could. Yet, it wasn't enough, and it
certainly wasn't getting them anywhere.
"Excellent point Ensign," He said, keeping his
smile then asked. "Where has the Commander run off too?"
"On last check-in, she had gone into the wreck. Did
you want to go find her? I've no problem with it." She shivered.
"We need thermals soon. It's getting chilly out here."
"Yes, yes we will... but first, we're about to play
a game, a very serious game. Are you up for that Ensign?"
Tak'a cocked a brow, suspicious. "What do you mean...
serious?"
"Serious, as in we're about to find the source of
this distinct disturbance. I'm about to play Humanoid Tricorder Ensign,
and I ask you, to follow my lead," He looked back at her and grinned.
"Just don't press too many buttons."
"Umm... okay, sir. But if I see any danger in what
you do, I'll have to pull security prerogative and ask you to cease and
desist. Sir." She released the safety latch of the rifle, and tightened
her grip on it. "Lead the way, 'Commander."
The senior officer nodded, closing his eyes in concentration
to *reach out* to the third, defined disturbance. Feeling within the moment,
he began walking, veering sharply to the left. He carved a path around
the wreckage, directing himself as the temporal variance shifted into
the air around him. His movements were smooth, flowing as they left the
wreckage and proceeded swiftly away from it. Passing a hill, their journey
began to angle sharply to the right, back to the left, and then stayed
as in its present sate.
Clearing the area, they arrived at the coastline, where
Adrian began to slow down, until finally he stopped, and slowly shook
his head, returning from his trance-like state. Adrian stood beside a
rock formation gazing in the distance at an object that stood out like
a beacon in the blackest of nights- at least to his eyes. His higher senses
could feel the *elements* of time pulsating outward in a rhythmic fashion.
His eyes narrowed as he brought the image into focus. It was horseshoe
in design and...
His eyes widened slightly in thought.
Very familiar.
"This pile of rocks? This is nothing but a bunch
of ruins. I don't feel anything...." Then it passed through her.
A ripple, shaking her to the core. An invisible wall that shimmered in
front of her for one quick moment. So fleeting it could have been a trick
to the eye. "What was that...?"
"A field of energy projected from the Eye itself...
a temporal-" He stopped abruptly and glanced behind and above them.
His Temporal Sense had shifted into Temporal Perception, catching a glimpse
of a convergence on their position. "It's alright Ensign, we're just
expecting company. Our side and they don't look too friendly..."
She cocked her rifle. "Where? I don't see them."
Nothing on her rifle scanner either. "I'm not getting any life forms
on my scanner, sir. I think your senses are off." All this talk of
riddles. If you can't see it, how can it hurt you?
"Some things can happen right in front of your eyes
if you catch then quick enough."
"Don't move." A voice said sharply behind them.
"Hands where I can see them."
"No need for such... blatant displays of violence,"
He turned slowly around, catching the rank off his collar. "Ensign.
Now, if you would politely escort us to your leader?"
"Ensign, lower your weapon. We're on your side."
The Bajoran security officer raised her phaser rifle in the air with one
hand, the other bare and opposite.
Watching the motion, Adrian looked at him and caught a
glimpse of his eyes. Deep, blue fire connected with glassy emerald as
the El-Aurian began to speak.
"They say our lives our interconnected in some way
throughout this great journey that life has laid out before us, and of
course, time." His words grew for lucid, ominous as he continued
speaking. "Time is a stranger and a guide, walking with us form the
moment of conception, until our journey has ended. We find... so many
things vanish away soon after: young faces change, old faces vanish, and
before we've had the chance to tell them goodbye..." He peered closer
into his eyes, the Ensign almost afraid to move. "As we speak Ensign,
my time is running its course, trickling out... perhaps gone at any moment.
I trust you know what I mean?"
The Ensign's lower jaw trembled as he stared into the
endless depths of the El-Aurian's eyes. His voice held a hypnotic tone
to it, keeping him on edge as he spoke. He slowly, but nervously nodded,
lowered his rifle, and slowly nodded, leading the way towards a camp of
some sort to find the person in charge.
[Heinous Backpost]
"826 - Confrontations,
Part 1 of 4"
[Occurs immediately after the events
of "The Price You Pay"]
Principal Characters:
Victor Demonsson
Grey the Thief
Curtis the Minstrel
Erik the Thief
Klaus the Getaway Driver
8Ball the Mercenary
Cassius Henderson and Co
Friar Lysander
Kylar Curran
Secondary Characters:
Earl Jeremy Flitt
Sir Daro Cole
Leo Streely, Ducal Pig Boy and Delusional Emperor
Others TBA
****
Galaxia
Curtis Geluf's Cottage
Dawn
Curtis looked out into the field and was surprised to see the dark shadow
looming there in the faint dawn light. He watched the stranger stalk across
the grass and waited until he disappeared from sight before moving to
gather the last of the supplies. He let out a breath he didn't even know
he had been holding.
It would probably be best not to tell Poppet about the
dark stranger.
The young woman was brave but he could tell she was apprehensive about
returning to the castle. But then again, they were leaving Harper in this
valley. Poppet would want to know about any danger to her child.
He packed away their clothes while he waited for Poppet
to return from Indigo Renkert's, where she had left her baby. Curtis smiled
absently at the dress again that he had managed to find for her. It was
a shade of blue that fit her perfectly, deep, striking... mournful.
Mournful. That's how she looked, Curtis decided as he
watched her come into view. She was trying her best not to cry but he
realized how painful it had been to give her child to another woman. Poppet
stopped before him and looked at their supplies.
"Are we ready?" Grey asked.
"Yes," Curtis answered. He hesitated only slightly
before adding "I don't want to alarm you but I think there are soldiers
around. I saw one nearly two hours ago and he was the scariest man I'd
ever seen." He ducked his head slightly at her eyebrow raise. "Honestly,
Poppet. I thought at first that he must have come from the shadows."
The young woman froze. Curtis watched as the color left
her face. "A...
a dark man?" she managed.
Curtis nodded and Grey cried out. She moved to grab her
things and then ushered him quickly to take his. "Which way?"
She demanded.
"Our way." Curtis answered. He hurried to follow
Poppet as she started to run in the direction of the castle. "Poppet,"
He huffed. "Who is it?"
"My husband." She called back.
****
Meadow near the Kling Siege Lines
Galaxia
Just after dawn
The insect was beautiful, a shimmering jewel of emerald
green against the withered and dried vegetation of the once-mighty forest.
It sat insouciantly perched on the tip of a bare leaf, preening itself.
It never saw the Hunter coming for it.
With practiced grace, the Hunter's main food-catching
appendage unfurled itself and hung quivering in the air above the insect.
Stealthily, it inched closer, rapacious talons spread wide over the prey
which didn't notice the shadow falling across it. Then, in a lightning
move, the Hunter struck without mercy, without care. The main prey-gathering
appendage snatched the insect, to be deposited into the gaping maw of
the Hunter, already drooling in fiendish glee at its' succulent bounty.
Friar Lysander let out a satisfied belch and wiped his
hand on the patched and frayed grey habit he wore habitually. One blue-green
eye rolled wildly of its own accord under the thatch of unkempt grayish-white
hair, dotted liberally with matted leaves, twigs and other detritus.
"Thank you, Lord God for thy Bounty. Rather smegging
nice and all." he intoned piously, wiping his hand yet again in his
long white beard and fiddling with a twig he found entangled there, for
a moment.
"Bounty? What bounty? You got bounty and nothing
for me? That sucks!
Who's writing this thing? STRIKE! I'm still on strike! No bounty, no Leo!"
the friar's traveling companion shouted, waving a pudgy fist in the air.
"Good sir Leo, pray the be silent!" hissed the
Friar, his one good eye scrunched tight in fear as he peered around the
forest glade. "I pray thee, the Kling barbarians will hear thee and
..."
"Kling? I got your Kling right here! In my undies!
Errr.. that is..
if I wore undies. Although I think this 'thong' thing may catch on any
day now." muttered Leo Streely, as he shouldered his pack onto his
fat shoulders and wiped sweat from his bald crown.
"Jest thee not, the Kling heathens are unmerciful!
I pray they not catch us" the mad friar giggled insanely to himself,
as the left side of his face conveyed extreme terror, while the right
seemed to be giggling to itself.
"Yeah? Why? What can they do to me, take away my
Empire and make me a PIG BOY?" screamed Leo, his wheezy voice echoing
off the silent trees.
"No. They can break your bones and sup on the marrow."
was the reply.
"Big whoop, can they do this? Err.. waiddaminute...
this...dang..no wait.... this?" Leo demanded, trying to make it appear
he could remove his thumb at will. Needless to say, Leo failed.
"They can grind you beneath their boot heels into
dust, rip out your organs and devour them raw, flay you alive and make
you dance without your skin." was the reply.
"Yeah, okay, got it. Not guys to party with. Can
they pick up women?
Hot women? I tell you, I haven't seen a woman for years, since I left
Old Duke Bhrode's pigsty and set off on my own as a wandering Pig Boy
for hire." Leo nattered.
"Kling warriors would pull out your eyes and feed
them to their pet Targs." was his reply.
"Yeah, yeah, got it. You think anyone wants to hire
a Pig Boy around here? It don't look like these yokels have a lot of pigs
need tending."
Leo muttered.
"Kling warriors would slit your ears and nose and
parade virgins past you to scream at your horrid condition, until you
died of shame." the reply continued.
"Yeah right, whadda waste of virgins. That all they
got?" Leo crowed.
"No. They would cut off your fingers and feed them
to you." the reply continued.
"Fingers! Sounds sort of.. you know.... to me!"
Leo muttered, waving one pudgy hand in a foppish manner.
"And they would cut off your toes and feed those
you too and then burn you alive," the reply continued.
Leo stifled an elaborate yawn.
"And they'd un-man you." the reply added, almost
as an afterthought.
"WHAT?" screamed Leo, his voice ringing off
the trees.
"Un-man you. Emasculate you. De-sex you. Do a 'Bobbit'
on your 'Man Root.' Cut off your..." the reply continued.
"GET OUT OF HERE! They'd do that? Ewwww....!"
Leo danced around the clearing, twisting his knees to try and protect
his seldom used 'manhood.'
"Hey, how does a priest know about stuff like that
anyways? I mean, you know, you told me you'd been sent to Kling for the
last twenty years, to convert them. And all that stuff about some Princess..
but how do you know all about Kling warriors?" Leo demanded of his
companion.
"Simple. We converted the priest. I am a Kling Warrior."
was the reply.
Leo turned and stared. There, with the rusty armor and
cruelly pointed swords that were a racial trademark, stood a group of
Kling Warriors surrounding the Friar.
Visions of half naked Indians flexing mighty thews flitted
through Leo's mind, followed by visions of Leo seducing women all over
the universe.
So then, Leo did what Leo usually does when confronted with danger.
"Did he wet himself before he fainted?" one
Kling Warrior asked Friar Lysander.
Victor frowned, watching from the trees as the four Kling
surrounded the two men. The priest he recognized by his clothes and from
seeing him wander through the woods, but the second man was unknown to
him. Victor thought the priest crazy for trusting to man's mercy and carrying
no weapon - man had no mercy - but against four Kling he doubted a weapon
would have made any difference even had the priest carried it.
He briefly considered simply bypassing the priest and
letting his gods look out for him, but discarded it as he watched the
Kling kick the smaller man and laugh at his cries. No, he would not go
around. He was done hiding, done running, done dealing with the Kling
in any way other than the one he knew the best. He'd let the demon out,
and couldn't put him back... and if there would be hell to pay, then let
the Kling be the ones who got the bill.
He circled slowly, keeping the trees between the Kling
and himself, letting the darkness and his black clothing hide him as he
moved closer and closer, the smile on his face slowly widening in anticipation
of what was about to occur. The Kling would die, and he would move on
- and if the priest lived, then maybe there was more power to the gods
than Victor believed.
As the laughing circle of Kling warriors enjoyed the small
man's discomfort, Victor rose up out of the darkness behind the closest
warrior - the one with a sword to the priest - grasped the back of his
head and his chin, and jerked sideways. The Kling went limp with a soft
crack from his neck, his eyes suddenly vacant. As the warrior fell, Victor
grasped the hilt of the dead man's dagger and let the falling body unsheathe
it as the demon inside him roared in satisfaction and it's mad, killer's
smile spread across his face.
The second Kling fell as he was turning, the dagger punched
into the side of his neck with an upward angle, the light in his eyes
winking out before he fell as the first man's had. Victor let the dagger
go so the man's turn carried him around in a circle as he fell, the spray
of blood missing his killer as it painted a swath across the grass.
The last two warriors got their weapons up as Victor smiled
like death and started for them with a slow, deliberate pace that was
faster than it appeared. Victor had his hands on the first Kling before
the man could cut at him with his sword, The demon's killer's smile never
wavered as he pulled the man around in front of him to force the Kling
to take his partner's sword thrust in the chest, then caught the just-stabbed
man's arm and jammed *his* sword forward to impale the last man in an
identical manner.
With a small sound that might have been a laugh, Victor
stepped back and let the two Kling stand there for a moment, held aloft
by each other's weapons, as he turned to the friar and his companion.
He smiled at them, hands flexing slightly, the very picture of Death in
fine black leather and silk. "This is not your place, priest,"
he whispered. "There is no life here, no future - only pain and death."
Behind him, the two Kling slowly crumpled in unison and struck the ground
with a 'thud' to punctuate his statement.
[Heinous Backpost]
"826 - Confrontations,
Part 2 of 4"
[Occurs immediately after the events
of "The Price You Pay"]
Principal Characters:
Victor Demonsson
Grey the Thief
Curtis the Minstrel
Erik the Thief
Klaus the Getaway Driver
8Ball the Mercenary
Cassius Henderson and Co
Friar Lysander
Kylar Curran
Secondary Characters:
Earl Jeremy Flitt
Sir Daro Cole
Leo Streely, Ducal Pig Boy and Delusional Emperor
Others TBA
****
Galaxia
The Kling Siege lines
Two hours after dawn
Victor dropped the body of the last Kling soldier and
started forward again. There had only been three in this group, and he'd
barely had to slow down to kill them all. They were too focused on the
city, too complacent, and his approach from the direction of their own
lines had caught them by surprise. It had been the same way as he approached,
each soldier too worried about the city and the wealth he might gain in
the sacking of it to realize that Death was approaching him from behind
until it was too late and he was in its grasp.
Victor had cut a narrow swath through the Kling lines
like a bolt fired from the crossbow he'd lost to the Kling months before,
never deviating from his path, never pursuing a step more than was needed
to silence any outcry on the part of his victims. He'd stopped counting
them after the first hand; there were other things on his mind. Flitt,
and Cole, and making sure that Poppet and their child were free, that
was all that was important now. The Kling were merely flies to be brushed
aside on the way to that goal.
The walls were growing nearer now, and he paused to let
a sentry walk past before rising out of the shadows to drag him down into
a darker, eternal night. A moment's struggle, a single wrench of his hands,
and the Kling was gone to the winds as Death marched forward again. A
few hundred yards and then there was the wall to scale, a thing the Kling
had yet to accomplish, and that Victor gave no thought to. Nothing would
stand in his way today; nothing could stand in his way. If needed be,
he would tear it down with his bare hands to make a passage.
The heavy clouds moved on, spreading a shadow across the
field, and leaving a trail of bodies in their wake as he continued his
relentless march towards the mate that he knew would no longer claim him.
****
Galaxia
Just inside the city walls
Two and a half hours after dawn
The Kling had pounded the Lefederan lines throughout the
night. Heavy losses had resulted from the fierce fighting, and now the
Galaxian natives were re-grouping.
Kylar Curran trudged through the militia lines, giving
moralistic support where he could. Many were dying, and many had been
lost on the blood-let fields that he had fought alongside throughout the
hours, days, and months of the invasion. At least, it seemed that way,
after scrambling for every inch of ground without rest.
Curran himself had lost three fingers on his shield-arm,
the end result of a Kling battle mace splintering his shield and rending
them off. He was lucky to have kept his hand at all. Or so the doctors
said.
He approached the village gates, guarded by what able
sentries were left, and nodded to the exhausted guards, resilient in their
duties.
His cloak gone, his breeches in tatters, he lifted his
bandaged hands and peered through the iron portcullis, wondering when
the end would come.
Out in the fog that covered the open area between the
Kling lines and the walls three sentries moved back and forth, watchful
in case of a Lefederan sally. The Kling paused occasionally to stamp their
feet and shake spears at the mostly empty walls, and then moved on about
their rounds. As Curran watched, the two sentries turned back, retracing
their steps across the field with the tired shuffle of men at the end
of their shifts.
The former moneylender felt an ominous dread fall over
him as he watched the Kling rattle and stamp in their blood lust. All
attempts to repel them had failed at every turn. It was as if they knew
where the Galaxians were planning their attacks before they occurred.
The pain of a traitor in their midst was too much of a stretch. No one
would turn their backs on their own people to those bloodthirsty barbarians.
It was unthinkable. But how did they know? He shook his head.
The clouds overhead rumbled slowly on... and then there
was only one sentry, not three; the second having vanished as cleanly
as the first, so cleanly that had Curran not been looking at him when
he was pulled down into the fog he would have sworn it was magic. There
was not a sound, not a stir to the fog - he was just gone, as if the earth
had opened up and swallowed him.
Kylar blinked as the fog swallowed up the sentry. He peered
deeper through the grate separating them, and half-entertained the thought
of chasing him down and berating him for his stupidity.
Yet... he waited. Something pulled him back. He glanced
behind him at the rows of infirm, the remaining militia defending the
walls of the village, staring back with dirt and battle-scarred faces.
Most of them were kids, their fathers and uncles fallen in conflict. Someone
needed to lead them.
His fists curled around the iron bars separating the town
from the fate that awaited them.
The last sentry, finally, realized that something was
amiss when he turned and saw no other men standing in the mist started
to shout - and a shadow fell on him from out of the mist, pulling him
down with only a soft croak that barely reached Curran's ears, like the
morning cry of one of the ravens that had fed so well these last months.
The Kling's spear dropped silently like a felled tree, and after a second
there was only the slow-moving mist.
Something was amiss. Or that was the cry of a vulture
smelling its dinner feast coming. Something or someone had died out there.
He knew it.
Slowly, as if unwilling to move into the light, a shadow
moved up out of the mist where the last sentry had fallen and started
to advance on the gate in a steady, measured pace. As it drew closer,
it resolved itself into a dark-haired man clad entirely in black, advancing
on the gate inexorably, as if he intended to pass through it as though
it were made of nothing more substantial than the mists he'd just left.
Curran squinted against the faint light. The shape of
something was advancing on the gate, but could not tell, for it was swathed
in the same colors as the night sky and its children, the trees.
"Go back to your kind, Kling, or you will fall here
without ever seeing the face of your enemy. You will NOT pass." Curran
carefully stepped back from the miniscule window that opened itself to
the outside walls and gripped his birch bow in one hand, eying the flare
of the burning torch as he retracted an arrow swathed in fuel from the
barrel located beside the pulley lever that would lift the steel belt
that pinned the gates shut. He eyed the steel bolt of the exit door used
for quick entries by Galaxia's own. The bolt was held fast.
The dark man paused at the edge of the light, and then
moved into it, the glow from the torch picking out the lines of his face
and the expensive materials and fine work of the black clothes that he
wore. He was definitely not Kling, that much was obvious, but the way
he moved and the look on his face promised more death than just the paltry
amount he'd dealt to the sentries.
Curran grew wary of the stranger who marched with due
determination to the town gates as if his will alone could open them and
wash all aside.
This was no Kling; the savages wouldn't let pass a taunt, and their intelligence
was too dull to try and slip an agent of intelligence within. Whoever
this stranger was, the sentries who'd been stationed outside did not stop
him. Therefore he must have disposed of them.
Whatever he was, he was still an enemy.
After another step, the dark man paused an arm's reach
outside the bars of the gate, unafraid of the arrow Curran had nocked,
and looked at him for a moment. Bizarrely, he leaned forward slightly
and sniffed, as if trying to identify Kylar by scent, then grunted once
in recognition. "I thought you were wolf enough to reach the WebWitch."
Curran slitted eyes grew wide at the moment this truth
dawned on him of who stood before him. He couldn't make out the features
of this one who had intervened in his imminent capture several weeks earlier,
but the voice was unmistakable.
"What business do you have here, Demon? There is
nothing for you here, unless you have come to join the cause." He
tried to peer past him into the darkness beyond where embers danced in
the moonlight from Kling camps some distance away. Droplets fell about
him, fizzing in the oil-fed fires. The sentries had not returned.
"Your cause, not mine," the dark man replied
in an oddly calm voice.
"I somehow doubt that. You killed the sentries."
A rhetorical statement. "I need every body I can get to repel the
savages. I should kill you where you stand, and rid these lands of a made-up
legend."
"The Kling were in my way. So were the others behind
them." The simple statement conjured up an image of a trail of bodies
stretching back into the distance. The dark man regarded Curran for a
moment, and then added, "Man made the legend, not me." Something
dangerous moved in his eyes, as implacable as the end that awaited everyone
when their days ran down. "I just am what I am."
"Where is your woman? Skulking in the woods waiting
for me to open the gates to strike me down?"
"Where is your woman? Skulking in the woods waiting
for me to open the gates to strike me down?"
"No." The demon pointed a hand through the bars
of the gate at Count Brhode's castle. "There. She and our child are
there." He smiled then, and the reason for the legend was suddenly
clear as his humanity slipped away, leaving only the demon. "I am
here for them - and the one that took them."
The notion that he owed this creature something nagged
at Curran. He glanced once again to the bolted door, and felt an urge
to go release the latch to admit the demon. Damn Webwitch must've concocted
something to coerce his thoughts to allowing the enemy entrance to the
last stead of the defenders.
The dark man wrapped one hand around the bars of the gate,
the torchlight glinting on a ring that drew Curran's eye. It was expensive,
crafted by a master, and the symbol was one that tickled at the back of
his mind.
"Nice bit of jewelry. You'd best not to have stolen
it off one of my men, Demon." His lips curled as he nocked the arrow
even tighter in his grip. The wrong answer, and he'd penetrate this Demon
with as many arrows as he could notch.
"Mine." The growled word was low and definite.
"From my wife." His eyes glinted, the humanity that had started
to resurface drowning again.
"Flitt took her from me."
"Who is this Flitt? Do you speak of the Earl? You
had best be not speaking badly of him. He's supplied forces in pushing
back the Kling from our lines. If he took your woman, it was for a good
reason." He eyed him warily as rain pattered about him. It was gently
increasing in volume, and thundered rumbled in the distance. It echoed
his hunger, as the foodstuffs were running out. Each day rations grew
smaller, and he'd lost significant weight since his journey into these
grey lands to defend his home.
"Maybe he is leading you here, to make you atone
for your lack of care in lending your services in defense of the Earl
and King who has given you free reign of the Forest."
"No." Something terrible moved in the demon's
eyes. "He took her because he lusts for her - and the lands that
come with her. I know not which lust is greater, but he slew her people
to satisfy both." There was little that was human about the smile
that moved across his face. "Just as his lust for power and land
drives him to sell your lives to the Kling for power and lands after the
war."
"Do you have proof of this? You make some pretty
strong accusations."
"I saw his man Cole with the Kling in the forest,
heard him say the words Flitt had put in his mouth. I heard the Kling
say the same words in their camp before I escaped." The demon leaned
forward, his eyes clearing enough for the pain and loss buried in them
to show though.
"This is the day the Kling come for you and your city. I have to
reach her now, reach him now..."
Curran's eyes grew right wide. There was a traitor! But
he couldn't believe it was this Flitt. Yet... it had to be someone of
stature to acquire and send troop movements to the Kling with the viciousness
and methodical routing they had accomplished.
He was at odds with himself. Loyalty to his people, or
to the one who saved him to deliver him to this deathbed? He decided.
Curran dropped his arrow, and clamped his hands around
the slippery bolt that held the door in place.
"I do this because I owe you my life, Demon. I at
least have the opportunity to die in battle defending these lands than
on a dirty path far from here." He grunted as he lifted the bar out
of place and opened the door, glancing past the Demon for any invaders.
He used the man's bulk to shield himself from any snipers.
"If you are lying to me, Demon, I will come and kill
you myself. If you are telling the truth, then this Cole and Earl Flitt
will get what they deserve."
The dark man blinked once as the bolt slid open. "Only
men lie," he said quietly as the door opened just enough for him
to pass through. He paused on the other side as it was closed again, and
added, "I'm not a man." He turned and looked across the ruins
of the town at the castle, his voice emotionless and all the more terrifying
for that as he finished, "I'm a demon."
As Curran picked up his bow again, the dark man turned
and pointed through the bars. "They will come from both sides of
the sun's path, rising and setting, when they attack. I saw them massing
there as I came." He studied Curran for a moment. "If it is
to be, then die well,"
he said as he turned away and began to move into the ruined town. "Flitt
will not."
[Heinous Backpost]
"826 - Confrontations,
Part 3 of 4"
[Occurs immediately after the events
of "The Price You Pay"]
Principal Characters:
Victor Demonsson
Grey the Thief
Curtis the Minstrel
Erik the Thief
Klaus the Getaway Driver
8Ball the Mercenary
Cassius Henderson and Co
Friar Lysander
Kylar Curran
Secondary Characters:
Earl Jeremy Flitt
Sir Daro Cole
Leo Streely, Ducal Pig Boy and Delusional Emperor
Others TBA
****
Galaxia
The Kling Siege lines
Two hours after dawn
Victor dropped the body of the last Kling soldier and
started forward again. There had only been three in this group, and he'd
barely had to slow down to kill them all. They were too focused on the
city, too complacent, and his approach from the direction of their own
lines had caught them by surprise. It had been the same way as he approached,
each soldier too worried about the city and the wealth he might gain in
the sacking of it to realize that Death was approaching him from behind
until it was too late and he was in its grasp.
Victor had cut a narrow swath through the Kling lines
like a bolt fired from the crossbow he'd lost to the Kling months before,
never deviating from his path, never pursuing a step more than was needed
to silence any outcry on the part of his victims. He'd stopped counting
them after the first hand; there were other things on his mind. Flitt,
and Cole, and making sure that Poppet and their child were free, that
was all that was important now. The Kling were merely flies to be brushed
aside on the way to that goal.
The walls were growing nearer now, and he paused to let
a sentry walk past before rising out of the shadows to drag him down into
a darker, eternal night. A moment's struggle, a single wrench of his hands,
and the Kling was gone to the winds as Death marched forward again. A
few hundred yards and then there was the wall to scale, a thing the Kling
had yet to accomplish, and that Victor gave no thought to. Nothing would
stand in his way today; nothing could stand in his way. If needed be,
he would tear it down with his bare hands to make a passage.
The heavy clouds moved on, spreading a shadow across the
field, and leaving a trail of bodies in their wake as he continued his
relentless march towards the mate that he knew would no longer claim him.
****
Galaxia
Making sure Poppet stayed alive was Curtis' number one priority. The arrows
flew from one side to the other and it was becoming more and more difficult
to make forward progress.
Curtis could hear the arrows coming and so had managed
to duck them so far, but he couldn't keep it up forever.
"This doesn't look good." Curtis said, grimly.
"Figures." Grey grumbled.
Just then, from the shadows, two large men emerged bearing
weapons.
They spotted the travelers at once and without so much as a reason, they
charged.
Curtis, as if by instinct, drew his sword and stepped
in front of Poppet.
"Don't be stupid." Grey said, trying to shove
him back.
"You have to stay alive Poppet! Please let me handle
it!" Curtis shouted.
"Handle them snapping you like firewood?"
Curtis ran out of time to argue, as one of the men was
now upon him. It had been so long since Curtis had handled a weapon, but
the knowledge was still there.
The other man sneered at her so Grey lunged with her knife
in her best attempt to cut the sneer from his face.
No advantage was clear in Curtis' corner. His style depended
so much on speed and dodging that he hardly ever struck. It was a game
of stick and move.
She was doing fine until the bastard pulled a club from
out of nowhere and struck her in the arm. Grey howled and fell to the
ground, spewing curses.
Curtis glanced behind his attacker and saw Poppet, her
attacker bearing down on her. Instantly he was active again and, gathering
his strength, he leaped.
He leaped clear over the man and so distracted was the
attacker by the feat that Curtis was able to land, turn and deliver and
solid blow to the back. The man cried out and fell by Curtis' feet.
Staring for a moment, Curtis remembered Poppet and turned
to face her.
Just in time to take an arrow to the chest.
"Curtis!"
She ran into the first inn she came across. "I don't
have the money now but whoever helps me into the castle will be rewarded
when I kill Flitt."
"Well, now that's a new one," a voice said from
a crowd, the slightest of accents noticeable. Grey pinpointed a small
woman in black drinking from a glass of ale, a long scar running from
her forehead down to her jawline. "'Iring mercenaries without money.
Doesn't go over all that well. But... one can only drink stale ale for
so long before getting bored. 'Ow big is this reward?"
"As big as it needs to be."
"Hmmm. Sounds promising. Of course, getting 'ired
to 'elp storm a castle and kill Earl Flitt doesn't sound entirely promising
on it's own.
'ard to enjoy compensation six feet under." The woman in black stood
up and looked Grey up and down. "Do you promise you'll pay? Assuming
we aren't all dead, of course?"
Grey looked at the young woman and nodded. "I swear
it by my child's life."
The young woman raised her eyebrow. "I've 'heard
better oaths. Still...
sure, why not?" The woman grinned. "I could use the money. The
name's 8-ball. How do you do?"
She raised a brow. "I've been better. Let's go."
****
Galaxia
Exterior of Count Brhode's Castle
Three and a half hours after dawn
Victor paused, keeping to the shadows in a small alleyway between two
buildings as he studied the castle. He'd never considered whether it would
be difficult to enter before he'd seen it up close, and he doubted that
someone that owed him their life would conveniently be placed at one of
the closed and guarded gates. The fact that such a man had been at the
city gate was ore than he could have expected - to wish for repetition
here was folly.
But there were many ways into and out of a place besides
the doors that man carved into it - especially one as large as the structure
in front of him. And, as his watch from the shadows had shown him, he
was not the only one interested in such a thing.
From one of the towers a slender rope hung, carefully
tucked into the recessed meeting of two walls to hide it from view. In
the streets below, a small cart sat, animals hitched to it, and a man
who hid his nervousness well pretended to sleep in the driver's seat.
Victor had studied them both, the rope and the man, and
decided that this was his way in. Whoever the man waited for, whatever
they were doing within the castle, it was none of his concern. Only Poppet's
life and Flitt's death mattered now.
As clouds passed in front of the lazy morning sun he moved,
another shadow among many, across the street to the rear of the wagon.
He paused there, listened to the driver of the wagon complain in whispers
to himself about someone named 'Erik' and moved on. As his hands closed
on the rope and he started to climb, Victor reflected that whoever 'Erik'
was, he would have some explaining to do when he finally came back out
of the castle
****
Galaxia
Interior of Count Brhode's castle
Four and a half hours after dawn
Brhode's castle was larger than it appeared from the outside. Victor had
supposed that it would be like his cave, mostly rock with few rooms inside,
but only a few steps into the structure after his entry through the tower
he understood that he'd been mistaken. There were rooms and halls all
arranged in a confusing way, people moving about in different livery,
and everywhere, guards and more guards.
The guards, at least, he'd understood. No one who felt
themselves as important as the nobles staying here could have gotten there
without making enemies, and having enemies meant that you needed guards;
at least in the world of man, it did. As the second set in as many minutes
passed by, Victor decided that the nobles must be helpless. No one that
could defend himself needed so many men to keep him safe, regardless of
the number of his enemies.
The third guard that passed by the doorway wore livery
that Victor knew instantly. He'd seen it on Cole and Flitt's men in the
forest, and it was graven on his memory. He felt the demon's smile cross
his face as he opened the door silently while the man passed by and pulled
him through it like one of the spiders that built little covered pits
in the forest floor.
It took only five heartbeats for the guard to understand
what Victor wanted and only one heartbeat past that for him to understand
that giving it to him was the way to make the pain stop.
Victor left the man on the floor ten heartbeats later,
the demon smiling as he slipped out into the hall and went hunting.
****
Galaxia
Count Brhode's Castle
Five hours after Dawn
Hunting was hunting, he'd realized that now. There were no trees here,
no grass under his feet, and that didn't matter. All that mattered was
that he understood the rules again. This was a hunt, and there was no
one better at hunting than he was.
He'd left a trail of Flitt's guards behind him, broken
discarded things that had once been men tucked into whatever nook or cranny
he could find. He wouldn't have bothered with that ordinarily, but the
need to reach Flitt and Cole, the need to make sure that Poppet was free,
overrode everything else. But now he'd found one of the three people he'd
come to find, one that would answer the questions he had - once he'd stopped
screaming.
Victor realized that Cole had stopped making noises and
looked down to discover that he had the man by the throat, despite not
recalling telling his hands to do that. It came to him that Cole needed
air to scream - and to talk - and he released the knight's throat to let
him fall to the floor of the well-appointed bedroom he'd been directed
to.
"A demon," Daro Cole whispered hoarsely, his
face gone deadly pale as he sucked in greedy gulps of air. He looked at
the three dead men strewn around the room, all killed before he could
rise from his chair Victor had plucked him out of. "You're a demon."
"Flitt." It was the demon talking now, the flat tones that echoed
with the screams of the dying. "Where is he?" Poppet would be
with Flitt, or nearby. He wouldn't leave her where she might escape.
"I...d..ddon't know" Cole's teeth chattered.
The demon reached down and took Cole by the front of the
throat, fingers digging in, and lifted him off the floor that way, the
knight's hands grasping at Victor's arm and wrist, trying to free himself
or at least support some of his weight and ease the pain.
With another smile, the demon slapped Cole's hands away
and squeezed harder, feeling the tissues and cartilage of the knight's
throat start to give. "Not good enough. Where is he?"
"That way. THAT WAY!" Cole yelped, trying desperately
to point the way to the demon despite the intense pain.
The demon regarded Cole for an instant, and then released
him again, standing patiently as the man gagged and choked his way back
to life.
"Up. Show me."
"No, I... Yes! Yes!" Cole gasped as the demon
reached for him again
"Up. Show me." Victor stepped back as Cole struggled
to his feet.
"Just a minute, I can't... urrrgggg..."
Victor twisted the knight's arm until it broke with a
dry crack, Cole's hidden dagger falling to the floor with a soft clang.
"Stupid. Show me and I let you live."
Cole turned a rabbit's frightened eyes on Victor for a
moment and then nodded jerkily and started to stumble for the door. Victor
caught up with him in one step, his hand clamping on the back of Cole's
neck to jerk him upright. "Slowly," the demon warned, prodding
him with a dagger taken from the scabbard of a dead guard. "Slowly."
****
Galaxia
Outside Count Brhode's Meeting Hall
Five and a half hours after dawn
Cole was not popular with the other noble's guards. That was easy to tell
from the way they had moved out of the way as he led Victor down the hall,
their smiles at Cole's condition out in the open. Not one asked who Victor
was, or why he had treated Cole so - they seemed only glad to see it happen.
Most, he assumed in the instants that the demon was not
contemplating killing them, must think him a noble from his dress, and
they were not paid to interfere in the affairs of nobles. The one or two
that he sensed knew something was wrong also did nothing, perhaps not
being paid enough to interfere in the affairs of demons, either.
"H-here." Cole's voice wasn't getting any better.
The door he indicated was manned by two of Brhode's guards
- both of which were looking back and forth between each other and Victor
as he and Cole approached.
"My lord," one began. "Is there some problem
with this..."
Neither Victor nor the demon cared what they were about
to say. With a sharp shove, he jammed Cole into them, which gave him the
time needed to reach out and grasp them each by the side of the head,
then jerk their heads together one, twice, three times, and then release
them.
As the fell, he snatched Cole back to his feet and out
of the way, then delivered a stamping kick to each of the guards as they
hit the floor, leaving them senseless. "Open it," he growled
to Cole after the door refused top yield to his push.
"C-can't," Cole gurgled. "N-no key."
Victor smiled, paying no attention to Cole as the knight
recoiled at the expression. No key? That wasn't much of a problem at all
- not with Flitt on the other side of the door.
[Heinous Backpost]
"826 - Confrontations,
Part 4 of 4"
[Occurs immediately after the events
of "The Price You Pay"]
Principal Characters:
Victor Demonsson
Grey the Thief
Curtis the Minstrel
Erik the Thief
Klaus the Getaway Driver
8Ball the Mercenary
Cassius Henderson and Co
Friar Lysander
Kylar Curran
Secondary Characters:
Earl Jeremy Flitt
Sir Daro Cole
Leo Streely, Ducal Pig Boy and Delusional Emperor
Others TBA
****
Galaxia
Inside Count Brhode's Meeting Hall
Five and a half hours after dawn
The first booming blow on the hall's door stopped all conversation inside
the cavernous room. Heads turned, eyes widened, and nervous guards started,
one dropping his polearm with a loud clatter.
"Rima," Cassius Henderson got out, as he rose,
his sword starting to
clear -and then the second blow landed and the door buckled in it's
frame.
"What are they using, a ram?" Rima gasped as
she drew her weapon and moved to stand between the assembled nobles and
the door.
A third and final blow knocked the door into the room,
exposing the guards outside sprawled on the floor, Daro Cole lying atop
them trying to clutch an obviously freshly-broken leg, and a tall, dark
man in expensive black clothing, the wooden bench he had just used to
batter down the door still in his hands.
"One man?" Rima breathed - and then gasped as
she got a good look at him. "No, not a man..."
The dark man stepped into the room, eyes moving across
the assembled men in silence. When he spoke, it was in a voice that echoed
with the cries of the dead, a killer's voice, death's voice. "Flitt.
Give him to me and no one else has to die. "
Jeremy Flitt looked up at the interruption at first with
annoyance and then with something bordering on terror, a first for him
in many years.
"Guards! Seize him!"
"Flitt? He's just here for Flitt?" Rima asked
Cassius. "What do we do?"
'Watch," Henderson decided. "We watch and see
what happens. This shouldn't take long - he hasn't got a weapon."
As Flitt's five men moved forward, it became apparent
the dark man didn't need one - he was one. The first fell to the bench
when it was driven into his face hard enough to splinter teeth and shatter
bone, and the second went down when his mail failed to blunt the bench's
blow that turned his ribs into knives that sliced into him, sending a
spray of blood from his mouth as he fell.
The dark man smiled then, a terrible smile that sent spikes
of fear into Henderson's spine, a killer's smile that promised that still
more death was coming. 'Gods," he whispered, moving closer to Rima
without thinking. "What is he?"
The other three guards looked at one another and spread
out, starting to move in on the dark man from different sides, trying
to keep at least two of their number out of the lethal bench's reach.
The dark man looked, made a sound that might have been a laugh, and simply
threw the bench into the legs of the man approaching from his right, tripping
him.
As the guard fell, the dark man feinted towards the left
- and then moved right, one foot rising and falling in a single stamp
that crushed the throat of the fallen guard. He laughed then, a low, chill
sound that was like the hinges on the gates of hell as they swung open,
and turned on the other two guards.
One backpedaled, saving himself for last with the movement
as the second was seized by the arm and dragged around like a child, sword
flying away, to be slammed against a stone pillar and die, his spine breaking
like a rotted branch. The final guard stood with wide, panicked eyes,
trembling, as the dark man advanced on him, only raising his sword at
the last minute - too late - as a knife plucked from the last man to die's
belt was sheathed in his throat.
"Flitt," the dark man repeated, turning on the
Earl. He advanced with the inexorable pace of death itself. "I am
here for you, traitor."
"Help me!" Flitt shouted to the other lords.
"We have to stop him," Rima urged, starting
forward.
"No," Cassius said quietly, one hand on her
arm to hold her back. "Not yet."
"What?" she hissed.
"He just called the earl a traitor," Cassius
replied. "Someone has sold our plans to the Kling. We have to know
- and we cannot put him to the question.
Rima's eyes widened. "But... he..."
"Yes, he can - whatever he is." Henderson turned
back, a grim look on his face. "And the gods help the Earl if the
accusation is true."
"What do you want?" Flitt demanded of Victor,
scuttling around a table.
"Name your price and you will have it."
"Where is she, Flitt? What have you done with her?"
The dark man never slowed his advance.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
For a moment it appeared another name was about to leave
the dark man's mouth, but the one that emerged was, "Ella, Flitt.
Ella Grey."
Flitt's face softened and the fear in his eyes half faded
as it was overcome with something close to awe. "So, she still lives.
I almost killed Daro for lying when he said he had seen her again. She
is not here."
"Ella Grey?" Rima whispered to Cassius, never
looking away from the spectacle in front of them.
"The daughter of the late Earl Gray. He and his family
were killed by raiders years ago," Cassius replied, his eyes on Flitt.
"Or... we thought they were. Flitt holds Earl Gray's lands now...."
"You lie with every breath you take," the dark
man hissed, never ceasing his approach.
"I tell you," Flitt shouted, eyes wide, "she
is not here! Don't kill me!"
"Cassius..." Rima shifted position uncertainly.
The dark man reached Flitt and stopped. For a moment,
he did nothing at all - and then he smiled and the Earl's sword dropped
from trembling fingers with a metallic ring. The dark man laughed once,
the gate to the Hells swinging open in the sound, and reached for the
shaking figure of the Earl.
Cassius started to step forward, Rima at his side, as
the dark man's hands drew Flitt closer and a smile that promised screams
of death and madness crossed his face.
"Victor!" Grey yelled from the doorway, her
new guard 8ball behind her.
"No."
The dark man froze in place at the words, his terrible
presence receding palpably, as if driven away by the mere sound of her
voice. 'Poppet," he whispered so quietly that even in the silent
room it was almost lost.
"Ella." Flitt echoed softly.
Cassius stopped, waiting, one hand on Rima's arm. "Hold,"
he said quietly
Grey entered slowly and looked around her. Some of the
faces she recognized, some she didn't. She felt out of place, even in
her fine, if slightly bloodstained, blue dress. She wanted to go to her
husband but didn't. Instead she stood tall and looked evenly at Flitt
and the other lords. "He has betrayed you."
"Betrayed us... how?" Count Bhrode asked, his
voice harsh in the silence as he spoke for the first time, pushing the
guards that had surrounded him on the dark man's entrance aside.
"He's sold your plans to the Kling. My husband and
I heard him."
"This is preposterous!" Flitt yelled.
"How do you think they always overcome our armies?"
Grey continued. "He is a betrayer. He killed my parents. He is a
false earl."
The dark man looked from Flitt to Ella as accusations
flew back and forth between the two for a moment and then abruptly turned
and moved past them top the door, men-at-arms scattering in his path like
chickens.
"What's he doing?" Rima asked quietly.
"I don't know... but I hope it gives us something
to work with on Earl Flitt or this is going to be all for nothing,"
Cassius replied, eyes on the earl as he denied Lady Grey's latest round
of accusations.
A moment passed, and then an anguished howl sounded from
just outside the doorway and silenced the back and forth dialog between
Lady Grey and the Earl. All heads snapped in that direction to see the
dark man returning, Earl Flitt's man, the knight Daro Cole, stumbling
awkwardly behind him, compelled to do so by the dark man's grip on his
remaining, unbroken arm.
The dark man dragged Cole to face the assembled nobles.
"Tell them," he ordered.
Cole looked at Flitt, and then the other lords. "Help
me, please," he begged. "He's mad, he killed..."
Cole's good arm broke with a snap. "Tell them,"
the dark man repeated, his voice edged with the screams of the damned.
"No, please," Cole whispered, eyes wide. "I
can't, I..."
"Tell them the truth," the dark man whispered,
taking Cole by the front of the throat with one hand, "and I'll let
you live." He smiled again, and Cole began to nod frantically at
the sight.
"The Earl has been selling information to the Kling
for years," the knight began to babble, his voice slightly strangled
by the dark man's grip on the front of his throat. "It started just
after he had Earl Grey murdered to gain his lands, so that he would have
the money to..."
The litany went on and on, one evil piled on another as
Cole talked. One or two the nobles appeared shocked as the list of Flitt's
crimes piled up, and Count Bhrode's scribes worked like machines, taking
it all down, as their lord's scowl grew deeper and deeper. Murders, treachery,
treason, robbery, theft, evasion of taxes, there seemed to be no depth
that Flitt had not plumbed personally, or had his men plumb for him.
"He's going to burn," Cassius whispered triumphantly
to Rima. "Look at him, this is all true. Flitt knows this is the
end!"
Flitt's nervousness increased exponentially with the number
of Cole's disclosures. As the knight began to wind down, the earl's eyes
took on the look of a trapped animal, and he looked about the room for
anyone that seemed unwilling to believe what had been said.
There was no one.
The dark man turned to the assembled nobles. "You
heard?"
Count Bhrode stepped up and nodded. 'We heard. You have
our thanks for revealing the traitor to us."
"Not for you," the dark man said with a nod
towards Lady Grey's silent figure. "For her."
Bhrode looked from the young woman to the dark man, his
eyes lingering on the ring that glinted in the lamplight on the hand that
held Cole's throat. "I... see. Well then, you have it all the same."
The dark man shrugged once, as if the assembled gratitude
of all present meant as much to him as a single grain of sand to a desert.
He looked about the room slowly, and then turned his attention to the
terrified knight still gripped in his hand. "Remember what I told
you?" he said, his voice a low growl.
Cole nodded as best he could. "You said... I would
live if I... told you what I knew."
The dark man nodded slowly. "Did you touch her?"
Cole's eyes swung away fro the demon that held him and
looked towards Lady Grey.
"Did you touch her?" the dark man repeated,
his wrist flexing as his fingers tightened.
"Yes," the broken knight gurgled.
The dark man's head turned and looked towards Lady Grey,
and his features hardened.
"Damn," Cassius whispered.
"What?" Rima asked. Looking in his direction.
Before Cassius could answer, the dark man turned back
to Cole and smiled again, the screams of the souls lost in the Hells crying
out in welcome to their newest companion floating behind the next words
the demon
uttered: "I lied."
Cole's eyes widened, but before he could do anything,
before he could even scream, the dark man's hand clamped down, fingers
digging in like talons, feeling for purchase around the knight's windpipe.
Cole rose up on his toes, hands beating at the dark man futilely. With
a grunt and a powerful jerk, the dark man's fingers met and pulled free,
taking the front of Cole's throat with them in a horrid wet, tearing sound.
Spun sideways, Cole's flailing, jerking body sent a wash
of blood across the floor as he bled out in seconds, the pool of crimson
spreading across the stone rapidly. The dying knight spasmed once, his
back arched until it looked as if it would break, and then he was still.
"Gods," Cassius whispered, horrified.
The room was silent for a second, and then the dark man
dropped the bloody gobbet of flesh in his hand to the floor with a splat.
Flitt's nerve broke then as the dark man turned towards
him, and the disgraced earl ran through the shattered door and into the
hall with a single, girlish shriek.
"Jeremy." Grey called, pursuing him.
Flitt stopped dead in his tracks. Even in the long years
of his dreams, she had never called him by his first name. He turned around
slowly. "It was never personal, Ella. I... I loved you."
Ella Grey came towards him slowly, like a dream, like
she was floating.
She stopped before him and reached up to cup his face. "Jeremy,"
she said...
...and then plunged the knife in his heart.
Flitt gasped and reeled back.
"I never loved you." Grey told him before he
died. "For my parents."
A single footstep sounded behind her, and the dark man
spoke a single word. "Poppet."
Grey spun and practically leapt into his arms, tried to
hug him, plant kisses on his face, and hold back her hysterical sobs all
at the same time.
[Another Heinous Backpost]
"826 - The Truth Will
Set You Free"
[Takes place several days after the
events of "Confrontations"]
Principal Characters:
Grey the Thief
Victor Demonsson
****
Galaxia
Curtis' House
Grey and Victor's Room
They were leaving back for home tomorrow. Grey smiled slightly at the
little room that had been her home for the past few weeks. She had been
grateful that she had borne Harper in such a place. But now he would be
able to take him home.
She checked his blankets again, made sure he was warm
but not suffocated, before slipping back into bed with Victor. Grey snuggled
next to him and waited for his arms to support her. They did not. She
frowned. Their reunion had been a happy one and yet something had changed.
He seemed almost...reluctant to touch her. It was something she was going
to have to discuss with him in the morning.
Ten minutes later, she fiercely shook Victor. If she couldn't
sleep, she didn't see why he should be able to.
"Something is wrong. Tell me." Grey said.
Victor lay there for a moment without responding. He hadn't
been asleep, but there was no need to tell Poppet that, not when she wanted
to know the one thing that he had never wanted to tell her. He sighed.
"Sleep now, talk in the morning." He wanted just one last night
with her before it was over.
"You can sleep after I'm satisfied." She announced.
"Speaking of which..."
"Nothing is wrong," he said softly, knowing
that she wouldn't believe him. He'd never lied to her before and the words
tasted like ashes in his mouth.
"Then why won't you touch me?" Grey demanded.
"Something is wrong. Tell me, husband."
There it was. He had to answer, and when he did there
would be no more time, no more touches, no more warmth filling him from
the inside. No more Poppet. "I did not escape the Kling, I was released.
To be free to come for you and Harper, and to stalk Flitt and Cole, I
had to give the army's First Knife something she valued more than me."
He closed his eyes, unwilling to see the look in hers as he said the words.
"A child."
Grey blinked in the darkness. Then she blinked back tears.
"Oh." Was all she could think to say.
That one word was enough. It cut into him like a knife,
taking his voice and leaving him unable to do anything but lie there and
feel his life unravel around him.
She pushed herself out of the bed. "I... need some
air." Grey glanced at Harper silently before she left them and went
to sit outside in the moonlight.
Victor waited until he could not stand the emptiness any
more, and then rose to follow her, his feet soundless as he crossed the
room and stopped to touch his son on the face. He sighed once, and then
followed her outside, saying nothing as he draped a blanket over her shoulders
and stood there next to her.
A cloud moved across the moonlit sky from side to side
before he quietly said, "I will leave in the morning."
Her head whipped around quickly and she was on her feet
before he could even blink. Grey shoved him with all her might, what good
it did. Victor barely moved. "You will not leave us for your little
Kling whore!" she shouted at him before moving to hit him.
Victor stood there silent as she swung, accepting the
first three blows without comment, waiting until the fourth to answer,
"I do not leave you to be with her, or any other."
Grey bit back a snarl and forced herself to breathe naturally
again.
Thoughts of tracking down this First Knife and beating her senseless were
suddenly forgotten. "Then... why would you leave?"
"Because I'm not yours anymore," he explained.
It was so plain to him, why could she not see? How could he stay after
he had given to another that which should be hers and hers alone?
She tilted her head and looked at him with a slightly
confused face. "I said forever, Victor. And I meant it. Did not you?"
"Yes." He frowned, confused. Why did she not
hit him again? Why was she not still angry? Did she... did she *not* want
him to go? Did she still want to be his mate?
Grey let him reach a hesitant hand to her face and then
kissed his palm.
She moved his arm aside and hugged him tightly. "I missed you. I
missed you so much."
She still wanted him. Victor closed his eyes and let her
warmth fill him, driving out the dark emptiness that had started to creep
in. His arms closed around her tightly and he felt oddly weak, as though
he was having trouble standing. She still wanted him.
They sat back down and she draped the blanket around them.
"You enjoyed yourself." Grey commented nonchalantly. "That
is why you haven't touched me."
"I gave another that which was yours alone,"
he sighed. "I did not think you would have me." Then, perhaps
foolishly, he added, "I do not think that it can not feel good, Poppet.
I didn't want it to, but it is supposed to feel that way."
"It is the way of men." Grey shrugged. "And
you did what you had to do to come back to us. I forgive you for it."
He sighed again, and rested his head on her shoulder as
he did when he was very, very tired. "I love you," he whispered
softly. "Thank you."
Grey's eyes narrowed. "As long as you didn't enjoy
yourself too much."
Victor frowned, trying to decide what 'too much' was.
He had trouble remembering much after he'd released the demon, but from
the way he'd felt in the morning, the demon, at least had enjoyed himself.
But then, the demon wasn't him, so did that count?
"And I'm better than she was, of course." Grey
added in a steely tone that Victor, if he hadn't lost his wits while captured,
should recognize.
Perhaps it would be better to explain and let Poppet decide.
Even were she to hit him again, it was better to have no secrets. "I
don't remember," he admitted.
"Probably not the best reply." She commented,
her blue eyes glinting.
"I don't remember," he repeated slowly, "because
it wasn't me - it was the demon."
"What are you talking about?"
He sighed. "There is a demon inside me, Poppet -
a monster, a thing that lives to kill. It is why I frighten people - they
can sense it hiding there. I've never shown it to you, never let it out
where you might see because... because I was afraid that it would hurt
you. That demon was what the First Knife - V'kela - saw when she first
laid eyes on me. I'd let it out to kill the Kling, and hadn't been able
to put it away again.
She..." He stopped, trying to find the right words. "She wanted
a child, but she wanted the strongest father she could find for it. Seeing
me like that made her... want me to be the father."
Grey grimaced. "Right away?" She didn't want
to think of this First Knife being with her mate for days on end.
"No, there was the day of knives and burning splinters
first. Then she found this," he showed her the ring he still wore.
"She thought that *I* was the one Flitt was afraid of, and that you
were just a way to track me. She had me moved to a tent fit for the Earl
she thought I was, and there were no more knives, just words and tea.
We drank a lot of tea."
"Tea?" Grey asked. She did not think the Kling
would be civilized enough for that. "Are you sure it was not some
strange ale?"
"No, it smelled like the things you hang in the cave
to sweeten the air.
Like berries and herbs. Some of it was good, some not, and some..."
He frowned again. "That last day, when I realized the city would
fall and I thought Flitt had you within it, she brought a different tea
with her.
She told me later, after we'd had several cups, that it was made from
some root- the takir root. It did things to me, I couldn't think clearly,
I... I felt like I was on fire, and drowning, losing you, losing myself
in the flames. She started to kiss me and..." he stopped for a moment.
"I remember her biting me, remember being angry that she'd taken
my will from me, remember the anger getting mixed with the wanting
- and I remember thinking that if it was the demon she wanted, then she
should have it... so I let it out."
Grey inhaled sharply and tried to reason through what
he was telling her. She frowned a bit and tilted her head to the other
side. She couldn't see it. She knew of the tales of the forest demon but
she had never seen him in Victor. She could see the dark man, but for
her he had always been the lonely wolf not the rabid one. "Show me."
Grey said finally.
She didn't understand what she asked. "No."
"Show me this demon of yours."
Victor looked for the words to explain, the effort making
his head hurt.
Why were there so many words anyway, when no one used them all? "It
knows nothing but murder, Poppet," he tried. "If I let it free,
then...
then it will change what you see when you look at me."
She touched his face gently. "I cannot understand
unless I see. I cannot accept what I don't understand. Show me."
Like telling her of V'kela and her demand, he had no choice
now. "I...
yes," he acceded. Victor sighed, made sure to take one last look
into her eyes, and moved away from her into a shaft of moonlight where
she could see him clearly. "Do you have your knife?"
"Y..yes. Why?"
"Because I would rather be one with the wind than
have hurt you."
She didn't respond to that, and just looked at him.
He nodded, took a breath, and reached inside himself to
open the door he'd never wanted her to see behind. "I love you,"
he whispered one last time as it swung open and the demon howled free.
As she watched, Victor... changed. Something filled him
to overflowing and then leaked out from his pores, shrouding him in menace
like a cloud. An atavistic sense of terror beat at her like the wings
of a giant unseen bird, screaming at her to run, to flee, that death was
here for her.
"God," she whispered.
His face changed, the smile that slipped across his face
not his, but someone - something - else's. It promised pain and death
and screams to the viewer, all delivered with a mad intensity and relish
that was as frightening as the promise itself. It wasn't Victor's smile,
it wasn't a human smile - it was a demon's smile, death's smile.
She stood up slowly and walked over to her mate. Grey
was unsurprised when he grabbed her tightly by the arm. She inhaled and
then looked her husband in the eye. Victor smiled and moved his hands
to her throat, tightly but not choking. Yet. She leaned forward and kissed
him softly on the cheek. He may have been a demon but he was still her
husband.
"Come back, Victor," she managed.
The hands at her throat slowly tightened, fingers that
had made her gasp with pleasure in the moonlight many nights in the past
now making her gasp in fear as she felt the first hint of restriction
to her breathing.
The demon inside Victor smiled wider and leaned down to kiss her, as if
trying to draw the last breath from her body.
She tried not to panic. Grey had never been strangled
before but, oddly, told herself that her body knew what it felt like,
would probably go through it again, and she could deal with it. It helped
calm her somewhat and she closed her eyes and tried to hug Victor.
As her arms slipped around him, Victor's hands stopped
their constriction without loosening. He frowned, the demon within him
unable to understand what was happening as she kissed him again.
The hands at her throat twitched once, as if some internal
struggle were taking place for control of them. Slowly, with several stops
and starts, they loosened and slipped away, sliding down to draw her closer
as Victor made a quiet growling noise and began to kiss her back.
She couldn't quite help the few tears of relief and Victor
drew back in shame as he felt them on his cheek. Grey refused to let go,
smiled a bit at the thought of how history tended to repeat itself. "Want."
That single word echoed back to the first night they'd
had together, reminding him of all the ones since. "You are for me,"
he told her.
Grey hugged him tightly.
Victor tilted her face up to him after a moment, fingers
brushing her cheek, then her throat. "You see?" he whispered.
"A demon. I could not hurt you, but it can, that's why I keep it
locked away."
"I understand."
"You are all right?" His eyes searched hers.
She nodded.
"Good." He kissed her slowly, and waited until
she tried to draw him closer to pull back. "I want, too," he
whispered against her lips as the first signs of a pout appeared.
"Well what are you waiting for?" Grey smirked.
Victor smiled and drew her to him for a long kiss that
ended as they sank to the ground in the moonlight, his soft growls of
pleasure and her gasping cries filling the small clearing as they set
their spirits free to climb to the stars and fly among them like the gods.
"Movie of the Week"
By
Lt. jg Ahdjiia D'Tinya
Security Officer
Ensign Bulz'I
Science Officer (NPC written by Ian)
"Disturbing, isn't it?" Ensign Bulz'I, an Andorian scientist
assigned to the Bridge analysis crew, clamoured over the debris that had
fallen to the ceiling. The bodies, mummified by years of neglect
and sealed inside the carcass of the ship, were now lined up against the
curvature of the upper deck of the Galaxy main bridge. Above him
were the consoles he needed to get to.
He had found Lt. D'Tinya hovering over one of the bodies,
silent.
It took a moment for the ensign's words to register. "It is.",
she said simply, forcing herself to focus on work now as it was all she
had. She turned to Bulz'l. "Do you need any assistance?",
she offered.
"Well, I need to get to those consoles up there, and tap them for
sensor logs. Think you can give me a lift up there?"
"Certainly.", Ahdjiia said as she walked over
and locked her fingers together so Bulz'l could use her now meshed hands
as a stepstool of sorts. Already she had prepared herself for his slightly
higher than expected bodyweight.
"Thank you, Lieutenant." He gingerly laced
his boot into the Chrysalian's hands, and hopped up. He just barely
missed the railing above that connected with the Tactical Arch, and stumbled
down again, barely grazing one of the bodies. Dust lifted in the
air.
A second time was successful.
He cracked open the already shattered console, streaked
with dried blood.
He glanced down at the bodies below and wondered which of those lying
dead met their fate on the shattered panels.
He shook off the feeling of incompletion. Unhinging
his tricorder, he wired it into the manual download circuits.
"So, Lieutenant. What's your take on what happened
here? I'm a bit irritated myself. Having to live on this savaged
planet is depressing. No other Andorians around at all. It's
not right." He clamped the circuits in place, finally attaching
a portable power cell, since the circuits were mostly dead.
"I haven't a clue.", Ahdjiia said as she looked
up at the ensign while he worked, "It doesn't make sense for this
to be the Galaxy when we were so recently on it. But from what I've
seen, there can be no other explanation." She did understand
his mention of being the only one of his kind around. After all,
she was the only Chrysalian in Starfleet.
"There's always another explanation."
He relaxed his hold on the circuitry boards, and with a sigh, dropped
back to the ceiling plates below. "And that's what this gadget
is for." He gave the cables hanging from above a slight tug
to measure their bond, then plugged in his tricorder.
"This should take a few minutes still to download.
Then maybe we'll see exactly what happened in the last few minutes of
our former home here." The tricorder display burned bright
with a plethora of colour, which he set down beside him, careful to avoid
the corpses ritually lain up.
His antennae twitched nervously.
"Do you think Commander von Ernst is going to find
a way for us to get home?
I don't much like the idea of living out my days on this torn world."
A forlorn look at the shattered skyport gave him a sniffle.
"I'd never had the chance to get assigned to a duty
rotation up here. I was due hoping to get up here when my evaluation
came up next month. Guess this is my big chance, now."
"We can but hope.", Ahdjiia said, "Otherwise
we will have to adapt...somehow." She paused before continuing
on, "It appears this is quite a chance for us all, provided we get
off this planet."
"What do you mean?"
"Our actions here will be heavily scrutinized.",
she replied, "Temporal Investigations might be called in concidering
the Galaxy is here and aged. Those who act or do not act will reflect
on our careers. But all of that is moot if we cannot leave the planet."
"That's if they know we're here. If the ship
is as old as the analyses are saying, don't you think Temporal Investigations
would have already been here to remove it to avoid contamination?"
"It is hard to say.", she said, "With the
wormhole activity in the area, I wonder how sensitive long range sensors
could be."
The tricorder clicked, signaling its completion on downloading
the data.
"Excellent! Now we can see what the story is behind
this craziness!"
He unplugged the power coupling, mounted the tricorder
on a larger visual unit he'd retrieved from his kit-pack, and fired up
the visuals.
It started out as a cloud of static. Crackling and humming,
intermittent images coalesced and broke up on the miniature viewscreen.
Sound was degraded to nothing but shrieks, whistles, and
wails. Bulz'I keyed them off. The portable unit had no way of filtering
out interference.
Images drove past, in and out. Two starships passed over
the screen, broke away. Blips of what were likely the ships fighter squad
grew bright and disappeared. Tactical telemetry showed a massive impact,
then a glare of light. Tactical readouts showed USS Nimitz, USS Pershing,
and USS Hood as identified by registry codes on the display.
Next image that appeared was of the planet spiraling up
at the ship, its lands from orbit sparse, green, and alive. Pure contrast
to the fire that consumed it previously.
Then, the image cleared up, and the ground hurried up
to them. Impact, as the image jarred, broke up, and fizzled. Technical
readouts glared red as damage and injury reports rolled onto the screen.
Then, it jarred one last time and went dark.
"I think we'd best get Commander von Ernst to take
a look at this...." And he tapped his commbadge to report.
Backpost (just after the ‘attack’
on the Galaxy, you know when Quinten blows up!)
‘Kingdom Come Fire Crystals, continued’
By
Lieutenant (Jg) Dhanishta Eshe
With NPC Lieutenant Jiiles
“I need a flash light in here.” Dhani shouted.
Jiiles followed behind with a torch. The beam flashed round the room,
from the glimpses of what the light touched they could see that the glass
table had been shattered by a fallen support beam.
The beam had also hit an officer who lay dead in the middle
of the ‘living room’ floor. This sight was not unfamiliar.
They had had seen similar sights in almost every quarters that they had
entered. But the whimpering sound made her double take.
“Over there.” She pointed through the dimming
light. Jiiles obliged and flashed the torch in the direction she pointed.
Dhani strained her eyes so that she could focus on what exactly the light
touched. In the beam she could see the illumination from human flesh.
Blood seemed to be a big facture in every quarter that they had gone into,
and here was no exception. Jiiles turned to go assuming that the person
was dead. Dhanishta almost followed but something pulled her back.
“Wait.” She called out whilst turning and
climbing through the rubble, over beams and under others till she was
by the window. Her bare leg brushed past something cold and wet. She stooped
down to investigate.
“Flash light.” She called out.
For the past hour Jiiles and herself had been trawling
through this deck. Their main intention had been to get to Engineering,
they had both received the call for engineers to get to there, though
Dhani was officially off duty, and since then had been fighting their
way through rubble, bulkheads, fires, dead bodies of former colleagues
and more just to get to that goal. But the devastation had been vast,
epically throughout this deck, although she really had no comparison.
And the casualties had been more. Those casualties still able to move
and help out had done just that making there numbers swell as they searched
the deck. Shouts echoed all around them, the other survivors; searching
for more survivors.
As Jiiles approached the light danced around the room,
its normally piercing beam dulled by the dust and debris in the air. Finally
he was at her side and they could both see what had drawn Dhani back.
Another officer.
This one was female. Dhanishta assumed that the other
officer lying in the ‘living room’ was her husband, or partner.
The falling beam had taken both of them out and separated them.
(Click…click. Click, click,click….)
Dhanishta felt the bile rising, struggling to keep it
down she raised her hand to her mouth. But the smell of blood and the
feeling of dried blood covering her hand, cracking along her skin as she
moved only made it worse. She closed her eyes for a moment, focusing and
detaching herself from the situation. As she opened them she looked over
the body once more, drinking in the seen with glazed eyes. She wanted
to leave now, but her legs seemed to lock up, fixing her there. She fought
with her emotions, how dare they just flick themselves back on? There
was a reason that she had turned them off, and this was why! She felt
Jiiles stand up beside her but sill she couldn’t move. That same
faint sound brought her to look over the body one more time.
The woman’s dark hair lay across her shoulders shining
in the light. Her head was bleeding; a small pool had formed under the
left side of her face and streaked slightly across the deck. Her legs
were stretched out, like she had tried to move, as were her arms.
It hit so suddenly; she hadn’t died instantly, she
was, had been alive! Dhani recoiled quickly, falling on her rump. She
sat there for a few minuets, unable to look at anything except the floor.
She took several deep breaths, but they were actually shallow. Her chest
tightened, breathing became strained and the deck beneath her blurred.
And then she saw it.
In-between the legs of the dead officer was a shoe, small;
child size.
Jiiles saw it too. His flash light darted round the wreckage
finally stopping on the woman’s hand. Small fingers were intertwined
with the woman’s outstretched hand. Her hand was almost covered
by the bulkhead. Jiiles and Dhani didn’t even need to communicate
with each other as there minds seemed to be computing the data before
them and reaching the same conclusions; there was a child under the beam!
Again simultaneously they began to move, shifting the beam. Sweat pored
down Dhanis face, mingling with the dried blood. She looked up and saw
the sweat glistening in the dim light on Jiiles face, but she also saw
more than that. His determination was engraved on his face, the horror
too. He had great composer. Dhanishta was sure that without the Vulcan
training she had received as a child, she would not be able to handle
this situation as masterfully as he was, he had earned her respect.
Dhanishta knew that her strength alone would not lift
the beam, and even though Jiiles was at the other end he could not do
it alone. She focused again and simply ‘switched off’ the
part of her mind that restricted her strength, similar to the technique
of blocking out pain. The beam became easier to manoeuvre, though it was
still a strain. Together they shuffled to one side and set the beam down.
Dhani groaned with relief as she let go of the beam, even though she tried
to block out the weight the damned thing was still heavy. And there she
was…
~Feel, Dhani! Feel this. Don’t block this one! Feel
it for all its worth~ an unknown voice echoed inside her mind.
She had to be no more than ten years old. Her little hand
clung to her dead mothers, her eyes wide with terror. In the light Dhani
could not tell if it was blood that covered the little girls body or the
shadows.
Jiiles bent down shuffling closer to the child.
“I’ve got her!” Dhani almost shouted
before she even realised that she had thought the sentence.
Jiiles looked up at Dhanishta, who was still standing
as if rooted to the spot; a puzzled expression crossed his face.
“Get her to sick bay.” Dhani said gesturing
at the dead woman.
His face contorted as he tried to understand what she
meant, surely she knew that the woman was dead, after all she found her!
“Go!” Dhani said forcefully. Ignoring his
condemning look she bent down next to the girl.
“Hey,” Dhani said softly, gently stroking
the girls head. “My name is Dhani. This is Jiiles,” she said
pointing towards her superior officer, “he’s gonna take your
mom to sick bay okay?”
The girl stared blankly up at the two of them, however
her hand gripped her mothers tighter.
“I’m gonna need you to let go of your mom.”
Dhanishta told her gently, noticing the change in the girls grip; the
child began to whimper.
Dhanishtas heart felt like exploding. “Here,”
she continued, swallowing the lump forming in her throat, “take
my hand.”
Dhanishta wrapped her warm bloodied hand round the girls and the dead
woman’s. She could feel the heat of the girls hand in her own and
the coldness of her dead mothers. It was an eerie and slightly chilling
experience to feel how fiercely the child clung to its mothers, even through
death. Dhani wondered why she had never felt that way about her own mother,
was there ever a time when she didn’t ever want to let go of her
mother? If there was she couldn’t remember. It filled her with such
sadness, what had she been missing and why?
Still whimpering the girl shifted her grip on to Dhanishtas
hand, her grip was almost as fierce as it was whilst gripping her dead
mothers. Dhanishta felt a serge of happiness at this break through, however
small. Her eyes welled up. Blinking the tears away she looked up at Jiiles;
who had been watching the whole exchange,
“Now.” She said giving him a look that verged
on being a glare.
She wasn’t sure if Jiiles truly understood what
she was doing, but she couldn’t explain herself to him at this moment,
he would have to trust her.
Jiiles regarded Dhani for a moment as if her were trying to figure out
what she was up to, and without further question he swiftly picked up
the dead woman and carried her out. In that one moment Jiiles gained Dhanis
trust. She turned back to the girl.
Picking up the flash light Jiiles had left she shone the
torch over the girl, the shadows were blood! The girls leg was bleeding,
a large gash from knee to ankle. Flashing the torch round some more she
looked for anything she could use as a bandage.
Dhanis top became another inch shorter!
As she wrapped the girls leg she began to whimper again.
“Shhh” Dhani said stroking the girls hair, “It’s
okay. We’re gonna get you to sick bay too, get you fixed up, good
as new.” She said trying her best to sound upbeat.
“I want my mummy.” The girl crocked out as
tears filled her eyes.
~well it’s a breakthrough of a sort~ Dhani though
as the girl began to wail ~at least she’s talking!~
“Hey, hey, hey!” she said her maternal instincts
taking over. Pulling the girl to her she hugged her, “What’s
all the crying about?” wiping the girls tears away she pulled back
and looked at her, “I’m gonna need your help.” Dhani
began, “I have a very important job for you.”
The girls wailing turned to whimpering and then to hic-ups
as her attention caught, “What… hic…. job?” she
asked.
“Well, first things first. You take hold of this
flash light,” Dhani said handing the torch over, “we’re
gonna need that to see where we’re going.” She paused a moment,
“And are you gonna tell me your name, or do I have to guess?”
The little girl took the torch and flashed it around,
“Ermm…Guess!” She said as a grin creped across her little
face.
“You know,” Dhani said slipping her arm underneath
the girl and picking her up, “I had a feeling you would say that!”
"The Last Boy Scout Part 5"
by
Turan Trelar 19 year old Quentite boy
Time: About 3 years after the catastrophe
The way up the dune doubled by the sinking sand under
Turan's feet.
Turan turned around carefully balancing not to loose foothold. Now after
a walk of an hour beyond a warm morning sun Turan felt pretty exhausted.
Tumbling down the dune would certainly be the end of the expedition at
least for the day. Having climbed the wrong dune wouldn't be better.
Turan aimed the entrance of his cavern over the tower
of his windmill.
Both were on a row. At least this was the right dune. Turan opened his
water bottle and drank a refreshing sip. He wondered what was waiting
for him over the top. Was there really something waiting for him or did
he take the hardship for nothing? Turan closed his bottle and continued
on his way.
Almost on top the dune the young Quentinarish boy scout
finally found a hint on the sources of the reflection which drove him
to start the expedition. Just a step ahead lead two parallel lines of
oval prints toward the rocky hills. Now, Turan knew he was not alone.
There was at least one other humanoid alive on the planet. But was it
a Quentite or an alien? From the footprints, Turan wasn't able to tell.
'First Contact' or 'Peas with you!'
JP by
Turan Trelar - 19 year old Quentite boy
and a Galaxy survivor
Time: About 3 years after the catastrophe
Turan knelt down. Now after the terrain changed from deep sand to just
dust covered rocks the footprints were much clearer - as Rogan, his track
reading instructor would have said more readable. The footprints were
a little bit smaller than his. Whoever set these footprints was about
a foot smaller than a Quentite and had about half of his weight.
From the partially worn out profile Turan guessed the
shoes had already walk a rather long way. He obviously was following an
alien, more likely a survivor than a member of a rescue team.
The good shape the footprints were in told Turan that
the alien was not far away, probably five or ten minutes maximum.
Did he say five minutes? A noise gave Turan a start. A
shadow moved over the ground nearby. Carefully Turan crept behind a rock
and watched the shadow waiting for the one who was mounted to its foot
end.
The shadow grew bigger as the 'alien' circled the rock
looking for anything. For three years she had been searching, looking,
waiting. It seemed pointless but still relentlessly she continued, looking
at everything twice, and then again...
Turan was glad. All his assumptions were true. He saw
a long haired person wearing the same clothes as the crashed saucer's
crew although these clothes looked much more worn out. Turan really faced
a survivor of the saucer crash, different to the other crewmen this humanoid
had an interesting dark pattern on its forehead and shoulders. What did
it mean? Was it a kind of camouflage? A tribal tattoo? Fur markings? Turan
stared at the humanoid not knowing what to do next.
Turan got up from behind his rock slowly, really slowly.
And there they stood face to face, one of the things she
had been looking for three years. And she couldn't think of anything to
say!
She wondered for a long moment if she could speak, after all she had had
no one to talk to for years. The only thing she could think about was
his height!
~boy he was huge~
Turan was the first to break the almost unbearable silence.
Slowly, his left hand moved into his backpack, produced a Malo-fruit.
Then he stretched his arm toward the stranded astronaut and offered the
fruit to him - or was it a female? Not of importance for the moment. With
an ugly accent, Turan said his first alien words:
'Peas with you'
She looked at the offering and then at him. The words
he spoke made no sense. Was he talking Federation Standard? Or something
else? Had she been stranded here for so long that she didn't recognize
the language she had grown up with? A confused look crossed her face as
she tried to work out what 'it' had said to her, and what on earth she
was going to say back!
Turan was disappointed. Obviously, the astronaut didn't
seem to understand him. What was wrong? Did this thing he got from the
wreck teach him the wrong language? Or did he just pronounce the words
wrong? Turan took the alien gadget out of his backpack, switched it on
and tried again, this time in Quentinarish. "Peace with you"
came from the gadget in best Federation Standard.
A large smile of recognition broke out across her face
and she nodded enthusiastically. Coughing slightly to clear her throat
she tested her vocal chords.
'An' E-hum. And with you!' she managed.
"Shootout at the Quentite Corral, Part 3"
Primary Characters:
Admiral Jurgen Hoth
Captain Daren M'Kantu
Lieutenant Commander Cassius Henderson
Major Saladin Bolivar
Sub-Commander Savar ir-Aihai tr'Khellian
Lt. JG Corran Rex
Secondary Characters:
Captain Fedorio Escalanté
Captain Soorvak
Commander John Zalletta
Lt. (JG) Cameron Bartlett
Ensign Rima Pennington
Second Lieutenant Angelienia
Second Lieutenant Kell Tainer
****
USS Galaxy
Deck 1
Bridge
"Hard to starboard!"
The Romulan patrician's sharp, commanding voice rang out
across the tense bridge. There was perhaps two seconds of hesitation,
the slightest movement in M'Kantu's neck suggesting he would query the
call, before training took over from instinctual mistrust, and he rolled
the hulking starship as fast as she would turn.
Not fast enough.
The deck plates rumbled violently and the bridge lighting
went down immediately. The Galaxy was spun wildly as the Hood's severed
nacelle exploded with massive force as it caught the stardrive section
a glancing blow. For one long moment, the faces of the embattled bridge
crew were lit only by the sickly glow of the consoles and the hellish
glow of the red alert lights, before the lights came back up.
"Report!" yelled M'Kantu, struggling to regain
attitude control. The ship had been hurled across space like a child's
toy.
"The Hood collided with USS Nimitz," tr'Khellian
replied, his eyes flicking rapidly over the confusing mass of data scrolling
past on his crowded display. "It appears the Nimitz deliberately
blocked the Hood's attack run.
We were struck by resultant debris." His hands flashed across the
tactical arch. It was astounding how quickly he had acquired expertise
with this foreign technology. "The Hood's port nacelle."
"Damage report," Cassius Henderson's voice echoed
across the bridge communication system. Hull breach, deck 41 and 42, shields
down in that section. Casualty reports are still coming in. They seem
to be light, as those are crew quarters, and the crew are at stations
or in shelters." He was puzzled. DeSoto was the known element, and
his mind was racing to think why a a captain that he'd heard Admiral deMercereau
describe as an ally had been the one to snap. It didn't make sense.
"I recommend an immediate strike on the Hood before
they can recover. Their weapons and propulsion systems are still online
and their fighter squadron is rallying for another strike-run." Savar
had already pre-programmed a devastating attack pattern into his console
as Henderson had spoken. Whilst the Nimitz staggered and licked its wounds,
this was a fine opportunity to dispatch one enemy from the fray. A sustained
blast from the phaser cannon, coupled with secondary clinical strikes
on the generators from the forward phaser banks, would cripple what remained
of the aging vessel's shields, and a swift volley of photon torpedoes
would remove Hood from the equation - if not from existence entirely.
"We must act *now*, before they recover," he repeated, urging
the human Captain to react as he would. This dovish sitting on the sidelines
had to end immediately if they were to stand any chance of survival. The
odds had suddenly shifted in their advantage thanks to the folly of the
Nimitz's commander. They had to roll the dice, now.
"No, not the Hood, Sub-Commander." Daren shook
his head once, feeling the pain that the Hood's CO must be experiencing
at what he'd done to his proud old ship - and the knowledge that he was
about to do more. "We hit the Pershing. Ms. Pennington, status on
those missiles?"
"With the movement of all vessels, they're in range.
The Quentite vessel has locked onto USS Nimitz and is preparing to fire.
Estimate that they will in a little more than a minute," Pennington
said. The Nimitz'
desperate move to block the Hood had put them in range of the Quentite
missiles. "They're locking onto the Nimitz' unshielded section, where
Hood struck. Whoever is running tactical over there is no idiot. Nimitz
is rolling to make it harder, but their steering is sluggish."
Sub-Commander tr'Khellian looked up from his console.
"I have plotted an attack run on the Hood which ought to draw the
Pershing onto an attack vector to intercept us. We will divert the fighters
to add to the distraction. When the Pershing is in pursuit, we will halt
suddenly, the Pershing will continue on its course, and we will concentrate
sustained fire on its poorly-defended aft. If we can score a direct hit
with the phaser cannon, and the fighters are able to get shots in, we
ought to be able to take their shields down and destroy their bridge.
The loss of the command deck will cripple the small vessel." The
Romulan's eyes flashed wolfishly, his hands poised over the tactical controls
to initiate this deadly scheme.
"Target their propulsion systems only, Sub-Commander,"
frowned the Captain.
"Their weapons -"
"The propulsion systems," barked M'Kantu, cutting
the Romulan off as he turned back to the helm, loading in the vectors
tr'Khellian had transmitted from Tactical, and transmitting the necessary
orders to the remaining fighters. "Enough blood has been shed already,
don't you think?" On the big screen, the fighters peeled off and
started their feint against the crippled Hood.
The exchange officer barely stifled a sneer as he adjusted
his strike plan with a few taps on his vast console. As far as he was
concerned, the situation was completely insane: the very idea of ships
from the same fleet engaging each other in ballet-esque combat was frankly
absurd - the whole situation was a mockery of discipline and order. He
had signed up for this exchange program to salvage his career, not to
die in a pointless mutiny.
Survival meant grasping any opportunity to gain any edge, and dealing
mercilessly with opponents in their weakest moments. Suppose, against
all reason, the Galaxy were able to disable all three ships. What then?
More ships would come. How long would this battered, hulking, disgraced
flagship be able to hold out? Better to strike hard, to strike fast, to
strike smart
- and leave no one to tell tales.
"Ms. Pennington, I need those missiles now,"
Daren called out crisply, executing the helm maneuvers he'd loaded in.
"Use your Pattern Epsilon and bracket the Pershing on my mark. Sub-Commander,
hit them as soon as the missiles detonate. We're only going to get one
shot at this, people, so let's make it count."
"Quentite ship fired five seconds ago. I have six
missiles in suspended transporter beams. Shield overwhelm on your mark,"
Rima replied, glancing over to Henderson for reassurance. He nodded, and
she returned her eyes to the keys that would beam the missiles to their
targets.
"On my mark, Ms. Pennington." Daren checked
the main screen, waited for two heartbeats as ships shifted position.
"And.... now, Ms. Pennington."
"Firing!"
On the main viewscreen, six flashes of light overwhelmed
all sight, and the viewer darkened so as not to blind the bridge crew.
When it returned, the Pershing was limping in space, it's shields overwhelmed
by the energy of the blast. From his position across the bridge, Henderson
nodded to Pennington.
She'd played her part spectacularly, though he doubted there was a future
after this.
On the main bridge, the Romulan at Tactical was bent over
his console, his eyes narrowed, his hands, which were trembling slightly
with the combined effect of fatigue and adrenaline, moving jerkily across
the console as he picked out specific targets on the Pershing's hull.
His time studying the sensor data he'd captured from the Valiant class
vessel he had seen the day he boarded the Galaxy had not been in vain.
A small but powerful spray of photon torpedoes arced out from the fore
and ventral launchers, smashing into the Pershing's exposed hull with
a series of bright explosions that tore through the cruiser's ablative
armour. Another volley, launched seconds after the first, the torpedoes'
yields lowered for precision, penetrated to the primary hull, causing
a bright blossom of an explosion and flinging the battered vessel across
space.
"Damage report on the Pershing," Daren snapped
as his hands moved across the helm and sent the Galaxy wheeling in a tight
turn that looped them past the disabled Pershing and back towards the
Nimitz.
"Propulsion is nil, sir. We severed both of their
nacelles at the pylon, and took out approximately 88% of their impulse
engine emitters. If he tries to move, he'll blow the rest of them. Pershing
is powering down,"
Henderson said. Smart move, Escalante. Better to know when you've been
outfoxed. The smaller ship's simply couldn't take the pounding, especially
when bracketed into place by 6 nuclear missiles.
"Very good job, Sub-Commander, Ms. Pennington."
Daren took a breath and let it out slowly. Start separating those fighters,
Sub-Commander. Use the tractor beams like Admiral Hoth was if you have
to, but get them out of contact with each other. Start recovery operations
for the ejected pilots immediately - ours and theirs. We'll sort them
out after they're all safe. Mr. Henderson, see if the Quentites are willing
to be reasonable now - if not, then we're going to have to disable them
as well." He looked around the Bridge, and then added, "Mr.
Bartlett, open a channel to the Nimitz. I want to speak to Admiral Hoth."
"Aye, sir," a somewhat shaky Bartlett answered.
******
USS Galaxy
Secondary Hull
Deck 8
Battle Bridge
Turning to Pennington, Cassius Henderson got up from his
command chair and crossed the cramped battle bridge to look over her shoulder.
She was breathing hard, and he could see beads of sweat on her forehead.
She didn't say anything, just locked her eyes on the arch.
"Rima? You okay?" he asked, reaching over and
touching her shoulder. The younger woman flinched noticeably. He frowned.
At least with Hoth and M'Kantu talking, he had a moment to deal with whatever
Rima was going through.
"Yeah, sure, Cass," she replied, trying to brush
him off. Turthfully... She felt weak in her knees. The whole combat had
been draining, and she felt lightheaded. Dangerously lightheaded. "I'm
fine. It's nothing." She reached up and wiped her brow.
That proved to be a mistake, for her arms, which had been
locked on the console, had been what was supporting her body. Without
them, she collapsed under her own weight, letting out an alarmed squawk
as Henderson narrowly reacted to catch and lower her to the deck.
"Okay, so I lied?" she shrugged as he dabbed
at her brow with a cloth the he had gotten from god knows where. Rima
hated having him fuss over her. He was several years older than she was,
and her direct superior to boot. And she'd just performed exactly how
he wanted her too. Which sucked... Since that was exactly how her father
wanted her too as well.... And now she was thinking too much.
"You're dehydrated, Rima, dangerously so. Here, let
me help you down to the command chair. You can relax there, and I'll take
tactical," he said, looping his arms under her and picking her up.
"You've done a great job.
Now just take it easy."
"Gee, thanks, Cass," Rima managed to mutter
before he settled her into the command chair and handed her a water bottle
from the bridge replicator. She watched him head back up to tactical before
taking a sip of the water and closing her eyes, exhausted.
****
USS Galaxy
Deck 1
Bridge
A moment passed, and then the screen switched over to
the interior of the Nimitz's Bridge. Damage Control was going on in the
background, and Jurgen Hoth's normally perfect uniform was marked by smoke
and had a torn sleeve.
"Yes, Daren?" he asked without delay. Behind him, the Nimitz's
captain looked on coolly.
"Pershing and Hood are out of action, sir. You've
lost your shields across your starboard arc after the collision, and we've
got pilots who are running out of time after ejecting." He paused,
and then forged on, hoping Hoth would agree. "I've started rescue
operations for all the ejected pilots, sir. If you're willing to stand
your ships down, I will do likewise. Between the two of us, I think we
can get Hood and Pershing stabilized until a Fleet Tender can be sent
out."
Hoth looked at him for a moment, turned off-screen and
checked something, and then turned back. "Agreed," he nodded.
Daren felt the tension flow out of him and he nodded back.
He'd found a way to stop the tiger and get off. "Stand us down, Commander
Henderson.
Sub-Commander,
power the weapons down and stand by to commence rescue operations on Hood
and Pershing once we get those pilots aboard."
The Romulan's jaw dropped, and he gawped wordlessly at
the African, his eyes wide with disbelief.
Daren turned back to the screen. "Once we get things
under control, Admiral..."
"We'll deal with that when the time comes, Daren,"
Hoth said quietly.
"You're
not going anywhere, are you?"
"No, sir," Daren returned with a sad smile.
"Nowhere at all."
Recovering, Sub-Commander tr'Khellian severed the comm
and turned his burning eyes towards the Captain. "You cannot be serious!"
he cried.
He pressed his hand to his right temple, where a sudden sharp pain had
flared up, at the site of the wound he had suffered when Quentin had been
ravaged. His hand was cold, a result of poor circulation, and it helped
numb the pain. His eyelids flickered for a moment as the pain subsided.
He had been on duty for far too long, and under considerable stress thanks
to M'Kantu's highly questionable tactics. "We have the upper hand
here, and you want us to stand down our shields? All of those ships are
damaged, but all three still have fully functional weapons systems - they
could fire upon us at *any* time. This is merely a ploy on their part.
A volley of quantum torpedoes from the Nimitz at the site of the hull
breach could tear this ship apart!"
Daren shook his head at the paranoiac manning his tactical
station.
"It's over, Sub-Commander. Stand down our defences."
The Romulan bristled at this, lowering his hand from his
forehead and glaring at the African. Against all the odds, the Galaxy
had managed to survive a battle in which she was outgunned and outclassed,
and now M'Kantu wanted to put them all at risk again. He made a tight,
exasperated gesture with his head. "At least, Captain, withdraw us
to a position out of their firing range, so we have a fighting chance
should they attack again. I surely don't need to remind you that this
confrontation was caused by their trickery in the first place, and that
their fighters fired the first shots." He trailed off, looking down
as his console chirped. The last of the Nimitz's fighters had stood down,
and were moving off. Rex was rallying what remained of his squadron to
form a protective screen in front of the Galaxy. The rescue teams had
reported to the launch bays and were ready to be scrambled. He sighed,
looking back to the African CO with weariness in his eyes, but still with
suspicion in his voice. "We are ready to commence rescue operations."
"Rocks of Ages"
By
Commander Rebecca Von Ernst
Lieutenant Commander James Lionel Corgan
Location: Quentin, Class 1-A directive site (threat unknown)
*****************
"Hey!" Matthew Corgan tried in vain to hail
the cute redhead he saw on the streets of St. Paul. He was weaving through
the mid afternoon crowd. Finals were the furest from his mind, and though
the tactical test was going to be an unholy b*tch to conquer with Corgan's
low marks in such a field, the stress of the final tests was the furest
thing from the senior cadet's mind. It was spring, soon to be summer.
And what does a man do when he and his classmates want to hit the largest
shopping mall in the world?
Check out the girls, of course! And a particular foxy
redhead, appearing to
be a civilian and his age, was a prime target. "Hey!" He yelled
for the
girl's attention, "Hey! Wait up!" His sentence didn't get finished.
Maybe it
was the heckling of his classmates at the food court, or the fact that
it
was busy as hell in the shopping district, but senior cadet Matthew Liam
Noel Corgan couldn't see past that scrumptious head of flaming hair, or
that
shapely, curvacious ass.
It also meant he couldn't see a fist sized rock hell bent
on intercepting
the poor lad. The rock made a sickening, smacking sound as it presented
Matt
Corgan with a brilliant shiner. The force was enough to send the young,
amorous man reeling, his back to the floor, his head spinning, and his
eyesocket blazing like hellfire. "Owwww... what the f**k was that?!"
He
looked around, confused. His classmates, seeing the rock come from nowhere,
thought it was an elaborate prank from a computer genius with a mini
teleporter. Seeing the comedic and tragic way their bragadocious classmate
crashed and burned on a pick up attempt was too much. Cadet Wildman was
spewing milk out of his nose as he attempted to contain his amusement,
and
Cadets Yuri and D'nar were doubled over.
A small, delicate tap on Matt's shoulder snapped him out
of his hot,
flushing embarrasment. "Hey, what was the big idea trying to..."
Matt Corgan stopped immediately. He was staring down at
another cadet, one
he never saw before, a second year cadet whom was petite but beautiful.
The
light from the overhead lamps illuminated her face like an angel, her
olive
skin all the brighter so. Though his eye was starting to swell, he could
see
enough to tell she was amazing.
"Hello?" She spoke in an American accent. "Are
you ok?"
Matt Corgan looked up at his angel, mouth agape, and a
hand covering his
black eye. "Uhhh?" The angel extended a hand to the wounded
Cadet. As Matt
Corgan's shipmates watched in disbelief. The angel spoke down to him,
and
said, "I am Cadet Maria Ramirez. Whom might you be?"
**************
Back in the... future, the result of said rock related
engagement was looking for the indirect cause of his existence, all without
knowing a damn thing. He was more concerned about the resulting spacial
phenomenom... or portal, or magic omnipotent being from the dimension
of 'whatever' whom was toying with the universe like a disgruntled redneck
with a out of focus colour TV.
James Lionel Corgan found himself at the unknown object,
a stone archway
that was plain and unadorned. Beside the pillars and arches was a hunched
over figure of an elfish redhead, lobbing a rock as casually as if it
was
her duck pond back in Minnesota. "Hey!" James joked, "Hey!
Wait up!"
Rebecca turned to face James with a thouroghly bored expression
on her face.
There was only so much of 'Trapped on Planet-X' syndrome one could take
before it started to wear thin. "This is supposed to be a restricted
area
James." she said without much enthusiasm. "HAve yourself taken
out and
shot."
"Aye aye, sir!" James mocked a salute, "And
by the way, shouldn't you be out
of this area too? As far as I know, playing with god knows what that is
is
going to trigger armageddon."
With a sigh, Rebecca flopped back onto the flat boulder
she was perched upon
and considered the twinkling lights above her. "No nevermind. . .
.you can
execute yourself later.. . . and me while you're at it. Until then I can
use
the company."
"Hey, no problem." James plopped himself on
a rock next to Rebecca, resting
his rifle on his knees, "By the way, what are you doing here? Besides
flirting with an unknown object that could or could not endanger us all,
that is? When I detected someone here, I couldn't get a precise read on
who
it was... so naturally I had to check it out."
"Why?" Rebecca stuck out her tongue, idly sampling
the dry Quentine air. .
."Because I'm bored out of my skull. How long do you think we should
wait
her before calling it a day. I could use a shower. . . . . .and frankly
so
could you Security boy."
"Oh that?" James sniffed. He did smell body
odor. "Sure, but all we have
here is dirt. Besides, I can't call it a day. I'm staying up to stare
at the
funny rocks." James jested, "Somebody's gotta protect this thing
before some
stupid ensign walks into it. By the way, I have watches posted outside
this
area, myself included."
James pointed to the rock arch, "You mind telling
me what the hell that is
and why it's so damn dangerous? I hate being left in dark like this, and
so
do the officers I had to threaten to keep out of this area."
Rebecca prpped herself up on her elbows and studied the
glowing archway of
stones before them. "This?" she replied, "This is a genuine
Guardien of
Forever. . .or Guardien of Next week or something. . . .They were pretty
vague on details in Command school."
James shrugged, finding it ironic that she knew little
more than he did,
"You think your details are vague? The gist of what I was told at
the
academy is to trust the commanding officer when they say it's dangerous.
So... do you know what it does?"
"Beats me. . . .It makes pretty sparkles if you toss
rocks into it, but
other than that. . . .who knows? Why dont you ask it what it does? "
she
said sarcastically.
James' heart seized. ~"She threw rocks at it? A class
1-A that could kill us
all and she throws rocks at it?!?!?"~
"A QUESTION !!!!" The deep rumbling basso of
a disembodied voice literally
shook the ground around the two officers causing them to leap to their
feet
in surprise. "FOR UNTOLD EONS I HAVE WAITED FOR A QUESTION!"
"What the f**k?!" Corgan snapped up his rifle
and aimed it at the archway.
Though he saw the silliness in taking a hostile action towards a disembodied
voice, one couldn't be too careful.
"G. . . g .g.great googly-moogly!!" Rebeca stutterd
in open-mouthed
amazement. "The pile of rocks is talking to us!!"
"Yeah..." James lowered his rifle, "Kind
of figured that out when asked us
to ask a question. Say...."
"A QUESTION!!!!" The disembodied voice pounded,
"ASK ME A QUESTION!!!! YOU
SEEK KNOWLEDGE!!! I SEEK TO GIVE YOU ANSWERS!!!!"
He turned his attention to the voice in the clouds, "You
want me to ask you
a question... ok! I'll start with an easy one... did we p*ss you off by
throwing rocks into you?"
The guardian paused. Its unshakable, godlike voice faltered.
"Ummm.... I CANNOT
BE ANGERED BY THE ACTIONS OF A FOOLISH MORTAL! I CARE NOT IF THE
TIMELINE IS DISRUPTED! NOW ASK ME A QUESTION WITH SIGNIFICANCE!"
"Huh... well, what do you know." James hummed,
"Becca, you want to ask the
Guardian of Next Week something? Perhaps... why the hell we're looking
at
our own ship... why it's been destroyed for a half dozen decades? Because
i'm quite curious."
"Yes..." Her attempt to stay businesslike faltered;
the godlike diety in control of all time
was overwhelming, even for Rebecca Von Ernst. "Tell us?" She
added a peep. "Tell us
what happened to our ship and why it looks like it has been destroyed
for decades."
"THE ECOLOGICAL CHANGES OF THIS PLANET HAS CAUSED THIS
TIME DISCONTINUITY." The Guardian answered, "YOU SEE THE FUTURE,
THE PLANET'S CLIMATE HAS STABILIZED, YOUR SHIP LONG DEAD.
IT WAS DESTROYED, AS WELL AS OTHER VESSELS, DURING COMBAT."
"What other vessels?" James snapped.
"USS PERSHING, USS HOOD, USS NIMITZ, AS WELL AS THE QUENTITE
WARP VESSEL."
"Holy sh*t..." James interrupted the Guardian.
"I didn't want to believe it... but we
saw it in the sky. It was friendly fire alright. But the Galaxy?"
"IT CRASH LANDED. ALL HANDS PERISHED."
Rebecca and James allowed the answers to sink in. Rebecca stuttered, "Ummm...
Mr.Guardian? Whhaatt... about... us? How did we get here?"
"YOU WENT THROUGH THE DISCONTINUITY, AND TRAVELLED
INTO THE FUTURE. THE DISCONTINUITY SURROUNDS THE
ENTIRE PLANET."
James was satisfied with the answer, as disturbing as
it may be. He nodded his
solemn approval. "I see. Can it be prevented? Please tell me it can
be prevented."
The guardian paused. "YES. YOU DO NOT HAVE MUCH TIME.
LEAVE
THIS PLANET NOW AND RETURN TO YOUR SHIP. THERE, YOU HAVE
A CHANCE."
"That's... it?" Rebecca added.
"THAT IS ALL." The Guardian said, his booming
voice keeping the two Starfleet officers two feet tall in comparison,
"NEGOTIATIONS BREAK DOWN DUE TO MISUNDERSTANDINGS... AND A ROCK TO
THE HEAD." Once she heard about the rock, Rebecca gave a nervous
gulp. "Relax, Becks. I won't rat you out." James whispered beside
her. The Guardian started again, the two officers recoiled in shock, "BESIDES
WHICH, THIS PLANET HAS NOT MUCH TIME! QUENTITE'S TECHTONIC PLATES ARE
BECOMING MORE UNSTABLE. THE PLANET WILL BE HIT BY EARTHQUAKES, AND YOU
MUST LEAVE THIS PLANET IN ORDER TO SURVIVE."
The revelation of impending doom startled the young farmgirl.
Commander Von Ernst had one last order to give. "Oh noodles. We have
to leave..."
"Way ahead of you, Commander." James was already
turned around and ready to leave, his hand within a centimetre of his
comm-badge. "I'll give the evac order and we'll have this mess sorted
out before lights out. Well, it's been nice talking to you guardian, but
as you say, we must leave this planet. I'm glad we could... give you our
questions. But one more, please."
"YOU MAY."
"These earthquakes... does that mean you will perish?"
It was a whole moment before the Guardian answered. "MY
TIME HAS COME."
"I'm... sorry to hhhear that." Rebecca slinked, "Thanksss?"
"NO, THANK YOU FOR YOUR QUESTIONS. MY DYING MOMENTS
HAVE BEEN
MADE WORTHWHILE."
"Ummm... thanks." Chirped Rebecca, "b.bb.bb..bye!"
"YOU SEEK MORE ANSWERS!" The voice boomed.
Both officers looked to each other, confused. James was
the one to break the
awkward silence. "I have a question... but it has nothing to do with
our
current predicament. It would be useless to ask you, Guardian. It would
be
like getting the cheat codes to my entire life. And you know what? I could
care less if my life becomes predictable because of it. Call me cowardly
or
afraid, but... I don't think my heart could take any bad news you can
give
me. So forgive me if I refrain."
"I SEEK QUESTIONS. YOU SEEK ANSWERS." The voice
insisted.
Corgan blushed, "I'm tempted... but i'm not sure
if I can ask." His decision
was already made. For the sake of helping himself and a lonely diety,
he
asked, "Rebecca, this question is of a personal nature. I don't want
you to
hear it. If you insist on staying, I will leave the question. All I ask
is
that you trust me when I say I won't destroy the timeline asking what
I have
to ask."
"Ssssure." Rebecca answered, "Go ahead.
D..d..d..don't take too long."
When Rebecca was out of sight, James could only look at
the archway with a
confounded look on his face. His stomach coiled and his nerves frayed.
It
was not as if he was trying to manipulate the future, or figure out next
week's winning numbers for the Ferengi Latinum Luck Lottery (now worth
25
million bars of gold pressed latinum). There was no need for amassing
riches, and James was afraid of messing with the past much like a person
with a precarious hold on a ming vase.
"Guardian of Forever..." James solemnly asked,
his guilt mounting, "I....
must know..."
"QUESTION ME!" The guardian bellowed.
James was having second thoughts. As he predicted, his
heart was at the
breaking point, seriously questioning whether his fragile ego could take
the
answer he could not like. "Tell me... is there such a thing as people...
meant to be together?"
The guardian pondered, and answered, "YOU ARE REFERRING
TO A LIFETIME
PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN TWO SENTIENT BEINGS!"
He steeled his resolve. "Yeah, something like that.
Well... does she exist?"
The guardian paused. "DO YOU WANT TO HEAR THE ANSWER!?!"
*************
~"Just as predicted... my heart couldn't take it."~
Slouching as he left the Guardian, James' sorrow etched
face sank it's
lowest since the news of his parents death.
The answers were so close, and James couldn't stand the
fact that his will
wasn't strong enough to take it!
"Rebecca?" James called, "I'm ready to
go. Lets notify the away team. It's time to leave this planet."
Dr. Janelle Reynolds
CMO
Janelle couldn't look at another dead body especially
since
she knew a lot of them. She had time to think about things
other than her dead comrades. This whole thing made her
question her mortality. She couldn't stand the fact that there,
she had died, alone. She didn't know which shook her up
the most.
Janelle took a walk to clear the cob webs but everything
was
a reminder no matter where she looked or where she went.
She'd do anything right now to get off this god-forsaken place
and go back to her ship, her timeline, etc. She hoped that
when the others returned, they could give them some good
news like, "We're leaving now." She only dream.
(Backpost)
"Testing Dangerous Waters"
By
Lieutenant Eleanor Pharrel
Lieutenant Commander Rose Isis MacAllen
Location: Ten Forward
Ten Forward was unusually deserted. The bar was empty, save for the mandatory
late shift bartender whom has to show no matter the crowd. The lights
were dimmed in the room, save for a few bright reading lamps and the soft
glow of the neon tubes fixed in the walls and bar. The replicators were
shut off, the insides turned to dark pits.
Lieutenant Eleanor Pharrel rushed into Ten Forward as
if she was in the most dire of emergencies.
"Foodfoodfoodfoodfoodfoodfoodfoodfood...." Her
mind raced its one track metronome. The fact that she spent hours in sickbay
after the Galaxy's accident was the furthest thing on her mind. She didn't
want to repeat the memory of being trapped under a bulkhead, or being
phasered out by a stranger. Recalling the boredom of treatment or the
sting of gasses burning her lungs was not on top of her to do list. She
wanted food. She was starving. And now she wanted that annoying, nagging,
grumbling sensation in her stomach to cease it's constant bickering! She
activated the replicator. Its lights snapped on, bathing the white skinned,
brunette human in its glow.
"Salmon Wellington, with a side of string beans de
la creme, on a bed of mushrooms... a piece of pumpkin pie with whipped
cream... and a glass of zinfandel wine."
She calmly requested, keeping her excitement on edge.
She wanted to eat! The replicator couldn't replicate fast enough.
The excitement was building.
Food! Sweet, blessed food! Stomach calming, hunger fighting
food!
=/\="Request denied. Replicators on rations only."=/\=
The computer quashed any hopes of her getting a decent meal. Her face
fell, a sad, dejected look on her face. =/\="Replicating closest
ration pack match."=/\=
"No... no no... stop..." She begged. She damned
starfleet for making the replicators a little bit too good. The replicator
swirled and spat out its sorry excuse for a nutritional suppliment before
she could belay the command. "Oh no... now i'm stuck with it. I thought
rations went the way of Captain Brhode...."
She scooped up the silver packet of 'breaded fish'
with another squishy, gel like package labeled 'mush.
sauce' and a packet called, 'freeze dried stringbeans'. Then she grabbed
a canteen of water, the small tin used to mix the items together, and
searched for a table. "Sigh... why me? Get hit by a big piece of
metal, almost burned, almost choked to death on smoke, and I didn't know
who saved me... and then this. My day is terrible."
Rose was sitting with her older daughter Karyn Shinta
MacAllen while she sitting in her hovercraft, the young three year old
was getting more beautiful and outspoken by each passing year.
Karyn who was dress in an red Betazoid dress with her
dark brown hair in ponytails and red bows is making an mess with her greenbean.
The young Betazoid girl started to grid the beans into the metal dish.
"Honey don't do that, please eat for mommy."
Rose said while looking up from her PADD that she was reading about the
mission coming up.
Thank the gods of her people that Kay is watching her
newborn twins, James and Diana of course her young Asst. Chief have been
depressed since her boyfriend Klaus and herself came back to Risa.
"Que?" Lieutenant Pharrel mumbled. She didn't
notice the presence of a young woman and her child. The thought of food
must have blocked anyone else out of her thoughts. But seeing the woman
and her child, the child seating on a seemingly alien hovering device,
tugged at her heart strings.
She saw the
child fussing and playing with her food. ~"Know how you feel, kid.
I don't like the green bean rations either."~ She thought, giggling
and sympathizing with the kid, ~"She's a cutie... I wonder what's
with the hoverchair? Should I go ask? Hmmmm...
i'm sure it's harmless to ask...."~
"Ohiyo!" The brunette Lieutenant waved to the
blue suited Lieutenant, "I didn't see you there! Mind if I join?"
Both Rose and Karyn looked up from their dish of food
and looked at each other for an few seconds then looked back towards the
young woman as Rose simple replied, "Of course."
"Ahhh... happy!" She beamed. Happy, but unsure,
Lieutenant Pharrel slid a seat to their table, sitting across from the
child and the officer. While humming a happy tune, she ripped open her
ration packs, and added water to the container trays full of dried food.
As soon as the water rehydrated the questionably edible foodstuffs, she
cut a piece and took an experimental bite.
The breaded fish had an unfamiliar, bitter taste.
"Eeehhhhccc....." She grimaced, and then smiled,
"Hiya kiddo! What's your name?"
The little girl laughs, "Karyn!" she yelled
in happiness.
"Karyn... hmmmm... that's Terran. You got a middle name, sweetie?"
"Shinta"
She looked at the child, puzzled, "Shinta? Hey...
that's Bajoran! Isn't
that cool or what? You don't look Bajoran... or even half bajoran.
You're
a human, aren't ya?"
"No, my daughter is Betazoid and so am I."
Lieutenant Pharrel immediately shut her trap.
Sometimes she caught her
own overinquisitive nature. And on rare occasions, inquisitiveness was
interpreted as a type of ignorance. A common mistake among her type, but
the answer she didn't expect. ~"Betazoids?
Ohhh..."~
"Wow... talk about multicultural!" She laughed
off her initial nervousness, scratching her head as she tried to stomach
another bite of her food.
"Where
are my manners? I'm Eleanore Pharrel. But call me Elli. I like it better."
"I'm Lt. Commander Rose Isis MacAllen, Chief of Archology."
"Well I... I... ummm..." She wasn't good at
social graces, "Lieutenant Eleanor Pharrel, Computer Core Specialist."
She offered to shake hands. Rose accepted, "Charmed!"
Lieutenant Pharrel let go of the Chief Archeology Officer's
hand. There was a strange silence. Pharrel braved another bite of her
food. "I have kids at home too... well... my parents, anyways. I'm
the oldest... youngest is six. Funny, isn't it? Well, i'm from Earth...
naturally, if you can tell the accent. You're a Betazoid? Wow... that
must be so cool to read minds and whatnot. But enough about me, what about
you... whoops... I took care of that, didn't I?" She giggled nervously.
The young woman try to smile but she don't like the young
officer because there was something about her but all she can do is be
nice to her, "Yes you did Lt." Rose simple replied while looking
down at her PADDS.
"I want to visit Uncle James!" Karyn yelled
while still playing with her food.
"James?" She asked. The name seemed to trigger
something else.
The incident on deck 6 was hazy, but she remembered hearing
names. Rapid fire, like acknowledging rank and authority, the usual stuff
to come out of Starfleet mouths.
She heard a commander... a commander...
"Corgan?" She uttered. ~"Wasn't there a
security officer named James Corgan?"~
Rose's eyes started to shine when little Karyn spoke of
James's name...it was like being in love.
"Don't worry my little daughter I will take you and
your brother and sister to see your Uncle James."
"Say..." Lieutenant Pharrel asked, "Is
Uncle James...
Lieutenant Commander James Lionel Corgan?"
The young woman looked at the younger Lieutenant and simple
replied, "Yes, his my children godfather."
"Get out?!?! Really?" She whooped in surprise,
"Of all the people to save me from deck six, it's Commander Crazy
Corgan of security? Oh my god..." Lieutenant Pharrel was close to
hyperventilating, "We've been getting messages from him for months
about the glitches in the security net... he's the guy who kept bugging
us about the security net all these months? Geez... I have to be rescued
by my department's arch nemesis... great."
"Lovely."
"Yeah..." Elli hummed, "Lovely indeed..."
Her mind raced.
It was the same person she envisioned as a gung-ho, thick plated, intelligence
deficient, knuckle scraping redneck with a photonic double barreled shotgun
straddled to his hulking shoulders, highway trooper sunglasses the size
of viewscreens and rims as gold as the sun it reflected.
The chief of security wasn't a 'good-ol'-boy' like she
thought?
She remembered seeing the glasses, but they were small and understated,
just simple wire rims and two thin lenses of glass.
There was a scar, but so faded that it barely mattered. Blonde hair, but
not messed like a southern brute she saw in the movies, but neatly combed
and businesslike. And the face lacked the neanderthal features, but were
more sharply defined, clean, and devoid of brutish idiocy.
Corgan was not a gunslinger, but more of an aristocrat
in look and manner.
That was the man whom pestered her department about the
security sensors?
"Lovely..." She sighed.
Rose try to smile at the young woman thinking to herself,
~Will this woman take James away from me?~ then the Betazoid when back
towards her daughter's cup to fill it up with water.
"I want to see Uncle James NOW!"
"Sorry hon we can't he on the away team mission."
"Last I checked..." Lieutenant Pharrel answered,
"He might be going to the planet. Chief of Security... something
strange happened and all... he would be there..." She said with a
hint of worry, "Wouldn't he?"
"What do you think Lieutenant? Of course he an senior
officer it part of his job." Rose replied while starting to cut in
to her steak hard, an sure sign that his woman was pissing her off.
~"Geez..."~ Lieutenant Pharrel watched Rose
saw into her steak, hoping of all hopes that wasn't her head being envisioned
in that side of beef. ~"She's cutting into that steak pretty hard.
I better say something. Or should I shut up?"~
"Ummmm..." Her awkward silence was broken, "I...
ummm...
you really care about that guy, don't you?"
"Of course I do I care for him for years and he been
so good to me since my husband was murdered almost an year ago."
~"Uh oh... heavy stuff here."~ She nervously
glanced at her food, ~"I better tiptoe around that."~
"Oh dear..." She mumbled sourly.
"He was there when my twins was born holding my hand
when the pain came. If you have anything to say to me you can, you can't
hurt me." Rose simple replied while taking an bit of her steak while
looking at the woman with an look in her black eyes.
"Ummmm..." Elli didn't know what to say. She
was the first to admit that such heavy situations didn't suit her.
She was
a troll by nature, and wasn't adept at dealing with others.
"Well... I guess... I had no idea you care about him so much.
It's... romantic." Elli blushed. She congratulated herself. Her butt
was out of that latest fire.
"Good." Rose simples replied while started to
eat her steak once again while Karyn started to playing in her food more.
"Honey you need to eat, I know you don't like it
but it all you have."
Elli left her food to grow cold. Suddenly, she didn't
feel the need to eat anymore. Diplomatically, she got out of her seat
and calmly pushed it back in.
"Sorry to have upset you." She apologized meekly.
"Oh you haven't upset me Elli, if I can call you
that, you asked the questions and gave you the answers that all. Good
luck in your department...Elli." the young woman said with alittle
grin on her face, like an little grin fixing to do something very naughty
as the young Lieutenant Eleanor Pharrel walked out the door. 949
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