*************************************************************
Three months later….
“Good doctor, I thought you were dead,” Maron said, his small smile almost genuine.
Megan shackled her fear before she deactivated the force field. She gestured at the man with her phaser. “I need your help. No one else has died…yet.”
The Vorta stood up slowly. It was then that the purple bruise around the man’s left eye registered. “What happened to you?”
The man smiled again, but his eyes were as cold as space. “You’ve mended my wounds enough to know. Some of your colleagues expend their frustration on me, with your captain’s permission.”
The medic swallowed, her stomach tightening. She was standing before the man who had attacked their vessel, that had murdered her crewmates, including Erico, but she felt guilty. Maron had enlisted her help in creating a poison to murder his Jem’Hadar soldiers. He had run out of the ketracel-white drug that kept them in line.
Without “the white”, the genetically engineered warriors would eventually go into withdrawals and spiral into a murderous insanity until their cellular structures collapsed.
What the man had proposed went against everything Megan had been trained to do, as well as personally believed, but she had put the needs of her crew over the lives of the soldiers who had slaughtered a great deal of them. And to sweeten the poison, Maron had agreed to surrender himself if she helped him.
Kilburn had accepted it and promised that the man would be held in custody, unharmed until they returned to the Alpha Quadrant.
After the poison had completed its dark business, Megan had released the surviving crew. Though she was the highest-ranking officer left alive, she relinquished command to Silika, who was the next senior officer, in rank wise, if not experience. But Hoss had turned down even promotion to an officer’s rank, much less taking the CO or XO position on Jaeger.
Silika’s first act had been to place Maron in the brig and to allow Hoss and others periodic ‘interrogations’ of the Vorta. Kilburn had done the clean-up, barely being able to meet the man’s eyes at times.
Rushing through the darkened corridors, Megan ignored the downed crew they encountered, the images triggering old, painful memories of the Dominion attack on the Jaeger.
“What happened?” The unfazed Maron inquired.
“We thought we had come across a wormhole, one leading back to the Alpha Quadrant, to Earth itself no less,” Kilburn said. She shook her head. “We thought it was too good to be true, but our probes confirmed it.”
“And?”
“We are inside the…gullet…of some kind of massive bioplasmic organism, a creature that has some kind of telepathic abilities to manipulate us into thinking its maw was the way home.”
“If this creature held such sway…why are you awake?” The Vorta asked.
“As it drew us in, increasing its mental hold on me, and I can assume the others, it gave us more of what we wanted to see, and I saw…” she closed her eyes and tried to push away the memory.
“What is it?” Maron pressed.
“Erico,” she said quietly. “He…was waiting for me, on Earth.” She turned on the man taking him by surprise. Maron yelped as Kilburn pushed him against the wall. With one forearm against the man’s throat, Megan pushed the phaser into his midsection. She upped the setting to kill.
“Wh-what are you doing?” Maron sputtered, his face turning red and then blue.
“You killed him! You killed them all!” Megan roared. Water began to blur her vision.
Maron gasped, “I did. But…but if-if you kill me now, the rest of your friends will die.”
“Damn you,” Megan’s finger itched on the trigger.
“Do…it,” Maron goaded, through clenched teeth. His violet eyes had went from fearful to mocking, daring.
Kilburn screamed before letting go. Her rage getting the best of her, she fired at the bulkhead right beside the man. He flinched as the whine filled the quiet corridor and the bulkhead turned to slag.
Maron rubbed his throat, “Alpha Quadrant invaders tried to murder my gods.”
“That was the Romulans and Cardassians, not the Federation,” Megan rejoined.
“Yes, and you have a Romulan aboard,” the Vorta shot back, “And utilizing cloaking technology outlawed by your own Treaty of Algeron.”
Kilburn was rattled by how the man knew so much about Federation history, but she kept her expression neutral.
“And your Starfleet has encroached on Dominion space, even sending a warship, the Defiant, into our space, a daring provocation.”
“You got it all wrong,” Megan shook her head. “We meant you no harm.”
“The Founders were hunted and killed for centuries by solids, like your kind, they have every right to defend themselves and the great Dominion they have created for us.”
“We only seek peaceful coexistence with all beings,” the medic said.
“Then prove it,” Maron declared. His expression went from accusatory to sympathetic. “Together we can save your crew, but afterwards, I will no longer be a prisoner. If I had been on the bridge instead of in your brig, this misfortune might have been avoided.”
“I’m not the captain,” Kilburn said.
“You have the highest rank,” the Vorta retorted. “You have a responsibility that you can’t run away from. Your captain has led to all to the brink of oblivion. It is your duty to take the reins.”
“We-we’ll deal with that later, but now…we have to save the ship,” Megan declared. As if the creature consuming them heard her declaration, the deck plates trembled, and several wall panels sparked. “Come on, let’s go.” The two tore through the igniting corridor.
***********************************************************
Ten months later…
“Commander Vulth,” Silika stood up from the captain’s chair. She tugged down her tunic. “We only wish to travel along the outskirts of your territory. It would cut down our journey significantly. Perhaps there is something we can provide to you for your trouble?”
The alien’s hooded eyes disappeared in darkness. The hairless man’s ash-white skin was leathery. His nostrils were slits, like his eyes and mouth. Vulth’s visage sort of reminded Megan of a mix between a Terran cobra, with a hooded appendage running from the back of his head and the chalky pallor of an Earth blindsnake. “And what do you have to offer?” The medic had not challenged Silika for the captaincy, but she had accepted the Boslic’s offer to be the new first officer. Lt. Moya had graciously stepped aside. In fact, Megan thought the Bajoran was relieved to return to just overseeing the science division.
“Let us discuss it,” Silika put on a smile.
“I think we should attack now,” Maron said quietly. The man had moved with stealth to Megan’s side. She was pleased she hadn’t jumped at the Vorta’s intrusion. While Kilburn hadn’t taken the man’s advice to push for command of the Jaeger, she had pushed to ensure that he wasn’t returned to the bridge. Silika had granted her request as payment for the man’s efforts in rescuing the ship form the bioplasmic organism after Megan had tied her acceptance of the first officer position to his freedom. As a condition, Silika had made the Vorta her responsibility.
Maron had seemed to take it to heart, coming to regard her as his sole confidant aboard the ship, regardless of whether Megan reciprocated. The Vorta generally sat at an unoccupied auxiliary deactivated station and only offered his opinions when asked, which was rare.
“Attack or run,” Maron said. “This Vulth cannot be trusted.”
“You say that about everyone,” Megan whispered.
“And how many times have I been wrong?” The Vorta challenged.
“You really want me to list all of those?” Megan looked at the man.
“Lt. Kilburn, is the Vorta bothering you?” Chief Hoss asked. The large Tellarite had turned from the tactical console.
Megan looked past the Vorta. “Everything’s fine Hoss.”
“Yes, Gunner’s Mate,” Maron turned to the Tellarite, “You should attend to your station. You will need it soon.”
Hoss snorted. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“I accept your offer,” Vulth said, drawing Megan’s attention back to the main viewer.
“Excellent,” Silika said. “Please lower your shields, we will beam you aboard our vessel to discuss a trade.”
“We request that you are… ‘beamed’ to our vessel,” Vulth said. “We have certain environmental needs that cannot be met on your vessel. We have already scanned your vessel to ascertain it.”
“We can convert a room to accommodate you,” Silika offered.
Vulth’s thin-lipped smile was slight. “Or you could venture to our vessel, since you are in our space. Consider it, a gesture of…your good intentions.”
“I really don’t like this,” Maron said, loud enough that it drew a harsh glance from Silika.
“Of course,” the woman said. Megan had to wonder if the Boslic had agreed so quickly in part to spite Maron.
“We are transmitting our environmental standards,” the alien commander said.
“I’ve received them,” Moya said after a moment. “Our environmental suits should suffice, for a limited time.”
“Then we await you,” Vulth said, before disconnecting the communication. The image shifted from the man’s chalky face to his vessel. The large ship resembled a snakehead.
“Time to stuff myself in an EV suit,” Silika groaned. “Pilots remain inside ships, not outside them.” The woman had never liked zero-g training.
“Technically you’re not doing a spacewalk,” Lt. Zaloom chimed in. The Boslic frowned at him.
“From what Vulth has said, it might as well be, with the harsher conditions aboard that Krowtonan Guard ship.”
“You won’t be suffering alone,” Lt. Moya stood up. “I’m going with you.”
“Hey, Eneca, the commander only agreed to me,” Silika said.
“I’m not leaving you alone,” the Bajoran countered. “The Krowtonans have a rough reputation, and you need someone to watch your back.”
“It doesn’t hurt that this is a first contact as well, a chance to learn a lot about a new alien species,” Megan smirked. The Bajoran twisted her lips, her cheeks reddening.
“Oh, so, it’s not just about watching the captain’s back I see,” Silika grinned. “Well, come on, the more the merrier I guess. If Vulth is surprised, let him be. That might prove to him that we have far less gentler surprises in store for him if he’s not playing an honest hand of Roladan Wild Draw.”
“I think it would be wise to add a security guard to your away team,” Maron spoke up.
Silika glared at the man. “No one asked you.”
“And yet, still I spoke,” the Vorta said. He shrugged, “It was merely a suggestion.”
“Two of us might not be seen as threatening, but three, a security guard at that, might set Vulth off, and we’re here to make friends,” the Boslic said. “How about you just stick to being our unwelcome guest?”
Maron nodded in acknowledgement and took a step back. “My apologies.”
“Uh huh,” Silika said. She shifted her gaze to Megan. “Doc, you’ve got the conn until Eneca and I get back.”
Kilburn nodded. “Once we’re aboard, raise shields again, but keep our weapons systems cool unless the Krowtonans give you a reason to activate them.”
“Understood,” Megan said. She stood up and leaned in close to the captain. “Are you sure about this Silika? Maron could be right, for once, about the Krowtonan commander and his intentions.”
Silika patted her shoulder. “I don’t trust that Vorta as far as I can toss his worthless hide, and I recommend you don’t either. If you want a second opinion while I’m away, go to Hoss, Hakan, Theren, Zaloom, even T’Rithu, for Cort’s sake.” The woman smirked, “Listen, this is piece of cake. Less hot than a summer weekend on Tholia,” she winked. “We’ll be back in two shakes.” The Boslic nodded at Moya, and the two headed off the bridge.
Megan didn’t sit in the center chair until the intercom squawked. “We’re encased in our EV suits,” Silika said. “Prepare to beam us over to the Krowtonan vessel.”
“Acknowledged,” Megan said. She took the center chair. “Hail the Krowtonan Guard vessel. Tell them we are ready to transport the captain over and to lower their shields.”
Ensign Theren, at the operations console, quickly complied. “Krowtonan vessel has received our message. They are lowering shields.”
Megan stood up and moved over to the captain’s chair. “Theren, beam them over.”
“Transport initiated,” the Andorian operations officer announced. There was a hitch in his voice.
“What’s wrong?” Kilburn turned to the younger man. The Andorian’s twin antennae were twisting, a habitual nervous tic.
“Lieutenant, Krowtonan ship is hailing us,” Theren said, looking up quickly, a troubled look on his face.
Megan felt her stomach knotting. “Onscreen,” she said, reluctantly to turn around and face Vulth.
“What is the meaning of this!” Vulth’s face was pressed against the screen. His eyes burned like novae. “You sent another person, another armed being! This is not what we agreed to! This is not what your captain said she would do! What are you attempting?! Are you attempting to take over my vessel?!”
“No, no, of course not,” Kilburn said. “Our science officer accompanied the captain merely to meet your people, to observe and learn about you and your culture.”
“Observe,” the man spat, “Learn. For what purpose? To learn our weaknesses?”
“No,” Megan cleared her voice. “It was mere scientific curiosity.”
“If we can’t trust you to trust us, then there can be no basis for cooperation,” Vulth declared. “My second was certain you couldn’t be trusted, just like the last ones who wore your colors,” Vulth added.
Megan didn’t hide her confusion. She looked around the bridge and saw similar expressions. She turned back to the suspicious Krowtonan. “‘Others?’ I don’t know what you’re talking about, there are no others, we are from a different quadrant entirely.”
“More lies,” Vulth hissed. “More trickery. Ransom was the same. I was seeking to understand your kind, to get answers, to see what your intentions were, but now you’ve made them quite apparent. Ransom was the first test of your resolve, and you…you must be another scout, a harbinger before your Federation invades our space.”
“No,” Kilburn stated, waving her hand emphatically as if cleaning up a spill. “That is not the case at all. We only seek safe passage through your space.”
“Ransom said the same thing before he attacked our patrol ship,” Vulth retorted. Megan looked to the side, at Hoss.
“Ransom?” She said in sotto voce. “Who is that?”
“On it,” the Tellarite grumbled. It took him a few feverish minutes, while Kilburn did her best to stall the fuming Krowtonan. “Cross-referenced the name Ransom with other missing ships, and came up with Captain Rudolph Ransom, Starship Equinox. The ship was lost in space shortly before our mission to the Gamma Quadrant.”
“There’s another Starfleet vessel here?” Megan felt a jolting mixture of both happiness and sadness. She felt bad about not being so alone anymore, even though that meant more of her compatriots had been stranded far away from home.
“Captain Ransom, the Equinox,” she spoke to the alien commander. “What happened to them?”
“As if you don’t know,” Vulth grunted. “He probably regaled you with tales of how he escaped our clutches, but you won’t be so fortunate!”
“Get the captain back now,” Maron hissed.
“What have you done with the captain and our science officer?” Kilburn commanded.
“In our realm words mean something, actions more so,” he pulled back and the camera swung to Silika and Moya both struggling as they were held by two hulking Krowtonans. The wraithlike lizardmen wore bioorganic black armor. Vulth sauntered over to them. He wore dark-red bio-armor. A sharp protrusion, resembling a scarlet dagger grew out of the left cuff of his uniform.
Kilburn ordered, “Beam them off that ship!”
“Lieutenant,” Theren was anxious.
“Do it now!” Kilburn snapped.
“I-I can’t,” the Andorian almost cried.
Megan snarled, “Vulth, if you harm our crewmembers, you will regret it.” The man continued his slow walk.
“Mr. Hoss, fire a shot off their bow.”
“Aye,” the gruff Tellarite complied.
Vulth didn’t stop. He hovered in front of both Silika and Moya. Both women grew still. The Krowtonan turned back to the camera. “This is what happens to those who do not honor their word to a Krowtonan.” He held an arm up and drug the dagger across his palm. He spread dark blood over the face plates of both women.
“Damn it,” Kilburn yelled at the man. “Stop it! Right now!”
Vulth barked orders to his soldiers, words unintelligible to the universal translator, and they ripped the helmets from the white environmental suits.
“No!” Kilburn said. “Get them out of there!” She yelled.
“I’m trying, but they’re blocking me,” the operations officer said.
“Hit them again Mr. Hoss,” Megan said. “This time make them feel it.” The Tellarite grunted before unloosing several salvos at the curved hull of the Krowtonan ship.
“Several direct hits…but minimal damage,” the man was visibly upset.
“Damn it,” Kilburn said. “Again.” The gunner’s mate complied but the results were tragically the same.
Megan looked back to the screen. “Release them now Vulth!”
“As you wish,” the man barked more orders, and the soldiers stepped back from the women. They staggered as the infernal environs beginning their hellish work. Cauls rose up to cover the faces of the Krowtonan soldiers as the lighting grew blinding. Megan had to turn away, the intensity even hurt her eyes.
The screams of her friends forced Kilburn to look back at the screen. Through her fingers she saw that the women had fallen to the deck, and were writhing and gasping in silent agony, their lungs likely seared by the cauldron-like environs. They were clawing at their burning, peeling skin.
The executioners also bore silent witness. The medic couldn’t even tell if they could see through the hooded skin that had enveloped their faces, shielding them from the hell they had consigned Silika and Eneca to. Megan forced herself to continue looking at the demise of their friends. Their agonizing executions were interspersed with Veronica’s horrific burning death.
Once the foul deed was done, the hoods pulled back from the soldiers and Vulth looked down at the broiled corpses. He then peered at Megan. “Would you care for their remains? Do your cultures practice burial rights? Your Ransom didn’t linger around long enough for us to ask.”
“You’re about to join my friends!” Hoss roared. He unloaded on the vessel, scoring several major hits. Vulth’s expression turned from smug to enraged.
“You’ll regret that,” he promised, before smoke filled the screen. When it cleared, his face was pressed against the camera.
“Krowtonan Guard vessel is powering weapons,” Theren called.
“Good,” Hoss crowed. “I’ve been itching for a good row.”
“That would be unwise to pick a fight here,” Maron advised. “For all we know additional Krowtonan warships are on their way.”
Megan glared at the man, but she spoke to Hoss. “The quantum torpedoes,” she said, the words ripping the rest of her already torn heart, “Use however many until that ship is dust.”
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