Star Trek Hunter Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling

Continued from Episode 12: Prisoner in the Ice Castle

Star Trek Hunter​

Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling​

Bajorans reached to the stars to find their gods.

Andorians reached to the stars at the behest of their gods. ​

Klingons reached to the stars to murder their gods.​

Cardassians reached to the stars because they thought they were gods. ​

Romulans reached to the stars and lost their gods.​

Vulcans reached to the stars to prove there are no gods. ​

Humans reached to the stars and became gods.


Kai Kila Xijiana - Introduction to Legends of the Sisko, 4th edition.






New to Star Trek Hunter? You can catch up with the series at Ad Astra via this link:

Star Trek Hunter at Ad Astra

.

 

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling
Scene 1: Homecoming

13.1
Homecoming​

“It just gives me nightmares. It’s like he’s coming after me.” There was no more romulan ale. But Dr. Tali Shae had managed to score some saurian brandy. Humans tended to go for the smooth brandy that had the texture of thin honey. But Tali Shae knew what the good stuff looked like - grainy with unprocessed cavallaro eggs.

Unlike most intoxicating drinks, saurian brandy had a strong restorative effect, speeding healing, reducing pain, providing mild euphoria and a simultaneous stimulant - like powerful coffee, scotch and morphine mixed into a brew so potent it made your teeth feel like they were on fire - but after a few sips you just wouldn’t care all that much.


Justice Minerva Irons was seated in the lounge chair in her quarters. Tali was on the couch. The brandy was in a bottle on the table between them along with two tumblers. Irons took a drink of the brandy, shuddered. “Ugh. Tastes like pee smells after I’ve eaten asparagus… Sprinkled with tequila and licorice-flavored caviar with a hint of wasabi.”

“Smells and tastes like sibob’s breakfast to me. But my sibob never got up until the middle of the day,” Tali responded.

“I love watching David fight,” Irons said, answering Tali’s initial thought. “The eyes of a scholar, the mind of a dreamer, the heart of a warrior, the soul of a poet - all wrapped up in the body of a titan. Sucks for whoever is stupid enough to challenge him. Whenever he is in my dreams, he’s always a guardian.”

“I guess it’s because they were andorian. When he grabbed those two by their heads… They transmitted… I could feel their agony as their antennae were.. crunched… and that sound… ih..” Tali shuddered. Her shoulders hunched. Her antennae almost curled as well.

Irons grunted sympathetically. Took another pull of saurian brandy. Made a face. Shuddered. “Ugh… This stuff tastes like yesterday’s puke! But it feels so good… It’s almost like getting a nice, warm massage from the inside…”

“How long has it been since you had a proper massage?” Tali asked.

“Last time I saw Enlai. He was so good with his hands.”

“Your second husband? Didn’t that marriage end more than 70 years ago?”

“Yes, but I saw him about - oh - about 35 years ago? Shortly before he died. I’m not sure I’m strong enough to withstand a massage now.”

“It turns out we have a fully telepathic, Betazed-certified massage therapist on board,” Tali said. “He can feel from the inside how much pressure to use…”

“Ah, our beautiful Eli. How many of the women on this boat has he dallied with?” Irons asked.

“Only the ones who want him to. Which would be most of them… Being a telepath is a serious advantage. And he has taken full advantage of it.” Tali smiled.

“I couldn’t ask him…” Irons started.

“I didn’t have to,” Tali interrupted. “The moment I thought about it - not even him - just you needing massage therapy - he reached out to me and extended the offer. He is really sensitive.”

Irons sighed. “Tempting. But I’ll be home tomorrow. Surely there will be a therapist I can go to on Cun Ling.”

“Don’t lie to me, old woman,” Tali said, wagging an antenna at Irons. “You may have been born on Cun Ling, but this is your home. Space. And a boat to drift through it in.”


Minerva Irons smiled, lifted her glass in a silent salute, drained it, grimaced, shuddered again.


“I’m not sure for how much longer, Tali. I’m not an old woman anymore. I used to be.. A couple of years ago…” Irons sighed again. “I’m a very old woman now.”

13.1 (of 16)​

 

​

Crew of the U.S.S. Hunter: (Ship's Interactive Holographic Avatar - Hunter).
Each Crewmember’s Hometown bracketed in {Italics}

At-Large Appellate Justice, Captain Minerva Irons {Ba Sing Sa, Cun Ling}.
Chief Executive Officer - Commander David Pepper {Laikan, Andoria}.
Chief Operations Officer - Lieutenant Commander Mlady {Undisclosed}.

Medical Director - Commander Tali Shae {Laikan, Andoria}.

Assistant Medical Director - Lieutenant Jazz Sam Sinder {Ilvia, Bajor}.
Epidemiologist - Lt. Napoleon Boles {Cloddy, Bolarus IV}.

Ensign Chrissiana Trei {Horizon, Trillius Prime}.

Forensic Specialist - Midshipman Sif {Numinor, Cun Ling}.
Emergency Medical Hologram - Dr. Raj.
Tactical Medical Hologram - Dr. Kim.​

Director of Flight Operations - Lieutenant Cmdr. Kenneth Dolphin {Providence, Rhode Island, Earth}.

Assistant Flight Director - 2nd Lieutenant Gaia Gamor {Ingende, Congo, Earth}.

Navigator Johanna Imex {Mbuye, Rwanda, Earth}.
Navigator Eli Strahl {Eden, Cun Ling}.​

Ensign Ethan Phillips {Rus, Vulcan}.

Chief Flight Specialist Dewayne Guth {Wakanda, Cun Ling}.
Flight Specialist Dih Terri {Trantor, Cun Ling}.
Flight Specialist Joey Chin {Ba Sing Sa, Cun Ling}.
Flight Specialist Winnifreid Salazaar {New York City, New York, Earth}.​

Director of Ground Operations - Lieutenant Tauk {Dos, Ferenginar}.

Assistant Ground Ops Director - 2nd Lieutenant T’Lon {Kauai Island, Hawaii, Earth}.

Investigator Lynhart Shran {New York City, New York, Earth}.
Investigator Buttans Ngumbo {Hathon, Bajor}.​

Ensign Tolon Reeves {Bangalor, India, Earth}.

Tactical Specialist Jarrong {CIO 19 (Cardassian Imperial Outpost 19)}.
Tactical Specialist Belo Rys {CIO 19}.
Tactical Specialist Belo Garr {CIO 19}.
Tactical Specialist Belo Cantys {CIO 19}.​

Director of Engineering - Lieutenant Sarekson Carrera {Pichilemu, Chile, Earth}.

Assistant Engineering Director - 2nd Lieutenant Moon Sun Salek {New Eden, Mars}.

Midshipman Tammy Brazil {Trantor, Cun Ling}.

Transporter Engineer K'rok {Trantor, Cun Ling}.​

Ensign Sun Ho Hui {Hanoi, Vietnam, Earth}

Flight Engineer Yolanda Thomas {Chickasha, Oklahoma, Earth}.
Flight Engineer Thomas Hobbs {Trantor, Cun Ling}.
Flight Engineer Tomos {Sanctuary of the Waterbirds, Cophus II}.
Flight Engineer Kerry Gibbon {Bangalore, India, Earth}.​

Author's Note: The City of Trantor is the capital of the artificial planet Cun Ling.

Trantor is the largest city in known space with more than 3 billion inhabitants - a larger population in a single city than the entire population of most federation member species. And representatives of nearly all of those species can be found living in Trantor along with ex-patriots from all over the galaxy, including emancipated borg, talaxians, kazons and the descendants of other refugees from the Gamma and Delta quadrants.

Where Star Fleet Intelligence failed to prevent Dominion infiltration on Earth, the City of Trantor Police Department Intelligence Division (nicknamed the Blue Wraith) foiled a dozen attempts by changling infiltrators to destabilize Cun Ling.

 

Review 13.1 - A nice, character-driven interlude here. Good to see Irons getting to let her hair down and have a good talk with a friend. Every CO needs this outlet.

 

This is the opening beat of a major character arc for Irons. The drugs Tali gave her on Andoria have done lasting damage and she's now in continuous physical pain and stressed out all the time.

Thanks!! rbs

 

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling
Scene 2: Numinor

13.2
Numinor​

A large star – A Boo – was positioned roughly in the center of a triangle that described the spatial relationship among the three founding homestar systems of the federation – the homestars of Earth, Vulcan and Andoria. Several other species had been present at the initiation of the federation, but it was the humans, vulcans and andorians who were established military powers and formed the military core of the alliance.

In the centuries prior to the federation, the A Boo system had been a flashpoint of wars over resources between the Vulcan High Command and the Andorian Empire. But it was not until humans started flooding into the system that A Boo gained a habitable world. Cun Ling was the brainchild of planetary architect Lin Ling Liu.

Ling was so charismatic she drew thousands and eventually millions of andorians, humans, vulcans and individuals from a dozen other species to work together to build her dream. Early on, the collection of asteroids and enormous machines used to weld them together was nicknamed Cun Ling (Ling’s Village).

It took only twenty years for the collection of rocks to accrete to an Earth-sized mass and within another twenty years the surfaces were covered with the foundations of a web of interconnected cities with so much room that demographers were projecting these cities would never have sufficient population to do the enormous amount of work needed to continually adjust the various chunks of mass to keep the artificial planet from crumbling in on itself. Within 250 years, A Boo had become the second most populated star system in the federation with more than 9 billion humans and a total system-wide population nearing 14 billion. Population models suggested that within another 100 years, this population would nearly triple.


Because of Cun Ling’s bizarre construction, impossible fantasy cities became possible – groups of skyscrapers surrounding and surrounded by large bodies of water seemingly suspended hundreds of meters above yawning chasms and interconnected with similarly perched cities by bridges that were themselves half-mile-wide canals so that the main form of ground transportation from one city to the next was by water, allowing efficient, if slow, transportation of mass goods by barge.

Shuttle trains flew over these canals without need for tracks, providing rapid mass transit for tens of millions of commuters. Great machines lurked in the chasms below, constantly adjusting the balance of the collection of asteroids the planet had been constructed from – maintaining these relationships with tolerances of a few millimeters; the canals were constructed from materials that could bow and flex to avoid damage.

Ledges within the chasms supported farms, forests, jungles and savannahs with wildlife from throughout the galaxy, making Cun Ling by far the most biodiverse planet in the known galaxy - in many cases supporting larger populations of wildlife than the planets from which those species arose.

The sides of these chasms were covered with a broad variety of solar collectors, turbines and kinetic collectors that generated energy from the movement among the enormous chunks of rock out of which the planet had been constructed. These provided an abundance of energy for the millions of interconnected dynamos that maintained the magnetosphere that kept the artificial planet’s atmosphere from being blown away by solar wind.

These machines also produced, as a byproduct, abundant energy for the fabled 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling. Each city had a name from fantasy – among the 15,000 Cities were Camelot, Jumanji, Oz, Uriel, Xanadu, Pern, Hogwarts and Honali – and those were only a small sample of the earthly fantasies. A fairly large contingent of klingon ex-patriots had built Stovokor and a colony of surprisingly whimsical vulcans had founded Sha Ka Ree… Each city had its own unique architecture, generally reflective of the mythology and stories surrounding its namesake.


Lt. Commander Kenny Dolphin, 2nd Lt. T’Lon, Dr. Sarekson Carrera and Investigator Buttans Ngumbo accompanied Dr. Sif to her home city of Numinor – a city dominated by a blend of Greco-Roman and Gothic structures made of white marble and limestone. White temples and gothic spires reached up toward the clouds. While the city itself was beautiful, the Hunter’s crewmembers had ventured there for the gently sloping white sand beaches on the eastern shore. The waters were so clear that the large fish that formed a vital part of the local diet could be seen clearly at depths of more than a meter. The edge of Numinor’s eastern waters was obscured by mist. But there was sufficient water and tidal movement for good surfing. Not that surfing was a big draw in Numinor – the Hunter’s small surfing party pretty much had the beach to themselves.


“I’m not really sure I get you two.” Ngumbo was a better surfer than Kenny, but neither had either the expertise or the fascination with the sport that kept T’Lon and Carrera out on the waves for hours on end. After a few hours wearing themselves out on the waves, the investigator and the director of flight operations were resting on large beach towels and sheltering under giant beach umbrellas that were anchored in the sand. Dr. Sif, her red hair in pigtails, her spots seeming more like freckles along her neck, was also surfed out. After spending some time running in the water along the surf’s edge, she was sleeping lightly nearby under another umbrella, her slight, girlish figure curled up on another large beach towel.

“It would take both you and Shran to figure that out,” Dolphin replied. “You and Sarekson seem to be getting along.”

Buttans Ngumbo made a wry face. “It’s largely sexual. We can’t very well talk shop – I don’t think there’s more than a few hundred people in the entire federation who could keep up with him – totally off the charts genius. And he doesn’t open up much.”

“Well, I’m glad the two of you are together,” Kenny remarked. “I never got to see much of him before. And now I get to hear him serenading you with that holographic piano. I was never much into music until I heard him play. I think that might be his way of opening up emotionally.”

“Never thought of it that way,” Ngumbo replied. “So what is it with you and T’Lon? You’re thick as thieves, but you’re not together?”

Dolphin sat up, stretched, laced his fingers behind his head. “It was kind of a relief when she – I guess broke up isn’t the right term… redefined our relationship? Don’t get me wrong – I was crazy about her. Still am. But it just…” Dolphin shrugged, dropped his hands into his lap. “Didn’t feel right.” He looked over at Sif. “What’s with Sif? Doesn’t she seem kind of… glum?”

“Lonely.” Ngumbo concluded. “I think she always has been. She grew up here,” Ngumbo glanced back at the magnificent marble city behind them.

Kenny looked back as well. Beautiful, stately, but not homely. Somehow cold, almost like a mausoleum.

“Her parents both moved back to the trill homeworld with their new spouses,” Ngumbo continued. “Her half-brother is still here on Cun Ling, but he’s a planetary engineer and she’s not sure he’ll get time off to see her.”

“I wonder if a request from the Irons family to the planetary commission might shake him loose,” Kenny mused. “If I remember my mythology correctly, there should be a homely house around here somewhere that would be a great place to get her and her half-brother together – along with us and some more of the crew for a dinner. I can’t imagine people building Numinor without including a homely house…”

“A homely house? Is that a house that is… homely?” Ngumbo asked.

“I should say the Homely House,” Dolphin responded. “Sort of a meeting place for elves and heroes in J.R.R. Tolkien’s early writings. As I said – a great place to get our people together and maybe cheer Sif up a bit. I’ll put in a few calls and see if we can arrange for her half-brother to get the time off to join us.”

13.2 (of 16)​

 

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling
Scene 3: Ba Sing Se

13.3
Ba Sing Se​

Justice Minerva Irons, as the reigning matriarch of the Irons family, received what amounted to a royal welcome at the train station at the great gates of Ba Sing Se. The trains ran on electricity, but two lifelike statues of earth benders were stationed on the rear step of the last car of each passenger train, in deference to the mythology around the great Earth Kingdom city.


In every city on Cun Ling there was a statue to Lin Ling Liu. The statue of her in Numinor tried to make her appear a heroic figure. It failed. Dumpy, frumpy and slightly misshapen, the founder of Cun Ling simply could not be made to appear heroic despite her legendary charisma and charm. But the statue at the gates of the Imperial Palace in the center of Ba Sing Se captured Ling perfectly – not a hero, but a dreamer – an open book in her lap and her eyes unfocused, looking up beyond the stars. Ling had convinced millions of people to help build her dream by convincing them that they would be building their own. And they had – each city reflecting the fantasies of its founders.

Ba Sing Se had been Ling’s dream and the Irons family had played a central role in bringing that particular fantasy to life. Lin Ling Liu’s remains were buried underneath her statue in front of the Imperial Palace. Four Dai Li agents guarded this statue at all times – the only variation from the mythic uniforms of the Dai Li were the phasers at their belts. Not that they were likely to be needed. Dai Li were required to become proficient in several forms of martial arts in addition to mastering Hung Gar and they trained daily.


Minerva Irons had been born in the Imperial Palace and many of her cousins and more distant relatives as well as a few of her grandchildren, great grandchildren, great-great grandchildren, and a few great-great-great grandbabies lived in and around the palace, in the center of a massive city that only in the past 30 years had begun to fill up to half of its enormous population potential. Much of the city was still sparsely populated behind and close to the great wall, but in several areas the city had a bustle that was beginning to make it feel like its namesake.


An Irons family banquet, much larger than the one on Ocean a year previously, was underway inside the Imperial Palace. Ba Sing Se produced an enormous variety of food and culinary arts had become one of the city’s many home-based industries.

“These are all Irons?” asked Tali Shae, astonished at a family gathering that included well over 3,000 people.

“Most of them,” Minerva replied. “There are family friends and related families. Quite a few Lins - descendants of Lin Ling Liu and her family. Young, Chin, Li, Wu and Smart,” she added, looking around. Not all of the families in the room were Chinese. And several of the Irons in the room were not human at all.


“It is such a pleasure to have our esteemed magistrate and matriarch at home at last!” slurred a more that slightly inebriated woman near the other end of the table that Minerva Irons and Tali Shae were seated at. The awkward volume and squeaky pitch of her voice drew attention and caused much of the nearby conversation to pause or to be replaced with whispers.

Minerva Irons smiled and raised her glass, which contained some local iridescently green wine. “I am so pleased to see my birth home prospering. When I was a little girl this great city and even this beautiful palace were vacant, too quiet, newly built and awaiting people. More ghostly than abandoned ruins. This palace was a spooky place at night. Now, with so many people here, it has become a much more joyful place. We even have an economy now. It is wonderful to come home and find things so much better than when I was last here.”

“But Minerva,” the drunken woman stated, somewhat more coherently, “the question has come up, and not to rush things, but to make use of your wisdom while you are here, how shall we choose the nest… the next matriarch?”

Irons responded by laughing. It took her a few minutes to catch herself and she was more than a little light headed. She was the only one laughing. Everyone else was either looking expectantly at her or angrily at her interlocutor. The great ballroom grew silent.


Minerva Irons stood up.


“My dear, lively, ostentatious, occasionally and unjustly maligned Ju Di,” Minerva Irons continued, occasionally laughing as she spoke, “you do not select a matriarch. A matriarch will emerge. I was not chosen,” Irons continued. “There is no crown, no stamp, no scepter, no ointment. My grandmother did not inherit the matriarchy and I did not inherit it from her.”

Irons paused and looked around the hall at her many relatives. She took a breath and put her hand on Tali’s shoulder. Her balance was still off a bit after her long ordeal in a cold Andorian courtroom… And this was not her first glass of the rather potent, glowing green wine. She took another deep breath. “Long ago, an Englishman named Jeremy Irons had to appear in court in Hong Kong. He fell in love with his lawyer and she, Biyu Irons, became the first Irons matriarch. Her wisdom led to our prosperity.”

Irons lifted her glass. “And here we are, one great family scattered across a dozen worlds.” She drained her glass. “And this is delicious wine - made right here in Ba Sing Se. Honestly, I have no idea why I would ever drink anything else.” Irons looked at her glass, grimaced as the room around it seemed to swim a little. Almost as an afterthought she said, “Beats all hell out of saurian brandy.”


More than a few of the people around her drained their glasses - but hesitantly - in confusion - as though they were not quite certain they had heard a toast, a speech or an admonishment. Conversations were slow to start up again after Irons sat back down. It took several minutes before the great hall returned to its earlier lively buzz.

Ju Di Irons, after another glass, made her way unsteadily to the other end of the table. Minerva turned in her chair to face her cousin and the two old women briefly clasped hands. “I have, once again, drunk too deepy… too deeply and too fast,” Ju Di said. “I’m sorry to have made such a fuss.”

Minerva laughed again, a merry, if somewhat inebriated laugh. “I have had a drop or two myself… Ah, Ju Di, if only the universe were as guileless as you, there would be no more war. You asked a very stupid question, but you were wise to ask it. It is good to see you again.”

Ju Di straightened up and teetered just a bit. Minerva turned toward a young man at her table. “Iroh, lend your great aunt your strong young shoulder and make sure she finds her room.”

Iroh Irons got up and assisted Ju Di Irons in a slow and careful retreat from the great hall.

13.3 (of 16)​

Author's Note: I wanted to come up with a way to include elements from Avatar the Last Airbender, Lord of the Rings, the Marvel universe, Dragonriders of Pern and the Foundation series without allowing STH to become a crossover - so the series stays firmly rooted in the Trek universe. The artificial planet Cun Ling and its 15,000 fantastic cities are the result.
​

 

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling
Scene 4: Pern

13.4
Pern​

Chief Flight Specialist Dewayne Guth was flying one of the U.S.S. Hunter’s new long-range interceptors over a few of the cities of Cun Ling. Navigator Eli Strahl was riding second seat in the interceptor. After an extremely pleasant afternoon layover in Eli’s native Eden - an environment founded by Risans - they had taken to the skies for a rare flyover of many of the cities of Cun Ling. The city they were jointly seeking was Pern. Guth had an idea. Eli Strahl, powerfully telepathic, was aware of Guth’s idea and liked it - which was why he had asked to come along.

There was no need for conversation.


Most of the fantastic cities of Cun Ling were combinations of great buildings and water. Some involved massive waterfalls incorporated into the skyscrapers. Ba Sing Se had its great wall. Numinor had its marble-clad pillars, temples and spires. Even Eden consisted of hundreds of skyscrapers with gardens on roofs, balconies, and layers of land bridges that connected one skyscraper to another at various levels. And lots and lots of apple trees…

But Pern was different. In the place of giant buildings were mountains with large caverns - large openings - large enough for Guth to fly the new long-range interceptor into. By prearrangement, Guth parked the new interceptor inside one of these caverns.

Pern was largely home to pilots - specifically pilots of various types of ultra-light aircraft. While there were a few statues of dragons, there was only one statue of a dragon with a rider - the large statue of Lin Ling Liu. She looked ridiculous astride a dragon and the statue was a bit of a failure despite (or possibly because of) the magnificence of the dragon. So much so that a second, life-size statue had been commissioned near the center of the city’s waterpark - a large collection of various, imaginative fountains. This smaller statue depicted Ling with a baby dragon in her lap and made the planet’s founder and namesake look like a little girl cuddling a beloved pet. It was a far more successful tribute.

It was next to this statue that Dewayne Guth met with the city’s mayor, Tala Ocompo, a solidly built woman of Filipino descent.


“We are always happy to have visitors and most of our visitors are pilots,” Ocompo said. “I am far from the busiest mayor on Cun Ling. But I hope you don’t mind if we make this a breakfast meeting.”

A number of vendors were providing a variety of food from mobile booths and carts. Guth followed the mayor toward one of these. She stopped to pick a number of small red berries from a tree. “Spring berries - in season - they’re very tasty,” she said.

Guth obtained a bowl from a vendor and pulled down a number of the berries. He sat down at one of the tables near the central fountain with the mayor - both had plates full of fresh, locally grown fruits.

“I think I’ve known about this place for many, many years, but I never visited here.”

“You’re with Star Fleet?” Ocompo asked.

“Eighteen years now. I joined when I was 19,” Guth replied.

“I don’t recognize the uniform.”

“For the past three years I’ve been flying for the Star Fleet Office of Judge Advocate General – these black uniforms are JAG uniforms.”

“You grew up on Cun Ling,” said the mayor - it was a statement, not a question. “It’s not uncommon for us Trantor kids to get the spacebug. I served in Star Fleet for eight years before coming here.”

“Actually, I’m from Wakanda,” Guth replied.

“Ah, now that’s a beautiful city. I’ve been there a few times,” Mayor Ocompo rejoined. “So what brings you here instead of there?”

“As I understand it, Pern just really has never taken off as a city,” said Guth. “It’s a place people leave.”

“It sounds to me like you have something to sell me,” Ocompo said, warily. She bit into a starfruit and watched Guth’s face closely.

“More of an idea. The thing is, there are no dragons. No one is interested in having mechanical dragons flying around and brewing up a living dragon in a test tube apparently started out as a failure and ended up as a felony.”

The Mayor snorted – Guth’s summary was a bit too on the nose.

“I don’t have any dragons to sell you,” Guth continued. “But I am concerned about a particular species of large bird. They’re rather frightening to look at, but they’re very intelligent - they can speak Vulcan and I have no doubt they can learn other languages. And they’re surprisingly gentle and sweet natured - at least toward vulcans. Not so gentle toward fish…”

Ocompo looked at him with even more suspicion.

Guth brought out a reader and pulled up video he had taken from inside the Sanctuary of the Waterbirds.

Ocompo’s expression went from surprise to a quick smile as she heard Destim Ski speaking in Vulcan, then guarded as she watched video from the wagon’s internal sensors of the giant bird crawling into the wagon, then freeing itself again.


“From what I have learned, the planet these creatures live on is somewhat unstable. It would be a shame to lose them. I would like your permission to open negotiations about starting a colony of them here - probably along with their vulcan caretakers. This environment - the water - the caverns - the fish - it would be very familiar to them. If they could survive here… well… they’re just magnificent. I would feel so much better if their entire population wasn’t at the mercy of an unstable planet.”

“So what would this process look like?” the mayor asked.

“I really don’t know, Mayor,” Guth replied. “I’m a pilot, not a negotiator. I suppose I would get my flight director, Lieutenant Dolph… er, that is Lieutenant Commander Dolphin, involved. I just wanted to see if it was a possibility before I start involving other people. And all of that is assuming the waterbirds would even consider coming.”

Mayor Ocompo still appeared unconvinced. Eli Strahl walked up to the table.

“Mayor, this is Eli Strahl,” Guth said, “one of our navigators. And a betazoid. I asked him here so that he could show you something that Destim Ski showed me.”

“Destim Ski?”

“The waterbird you saw.” Guth tapped the reader. “His caretaker, a vulcan named Maa, acted as a conduit to allow me to see some of his memories. Eli can act as a conduit to show you my memories of Destim Ski, if you will allow him.”

Eli sat down next to Mayor Ocompo. She looked at him suspiciously, but Eli was a remarkably good looking man and after a moment, she nodded.

“Dewayne’s memories are somewhat faded and probably more than a little changed, but you should still get a fair picture of what he experienced. I will try to filter it as little as possible. But I’m not a vulcan. Betazoids converse using telepathy, but transferring experiences is really more of a vulcan ability.”

Ocompo smiled, put somewhat at ease by Eli’s explanation. She closed her eyes, then gasped.


“Now you see what I mean,” said Guth. “It would be a terrible thing to lose them.”

Ocompo nodded, wiped her eyes, clearly a little choked up from the experience - the emotional impact of meeting Destim Ski in Guth’s memories. “This isn’t something I can do on my own, Mr. Guth. But I think my citizens would be interested. Can I talk to a few people and get back to you?”

“Let’s not get too many people’s hopes up,” Guth rejoined. “If you can, please keep it a small circle at least until I get a ‘yes’ from the waterbirds.”

13.4 (of 16)


​

Author's Note: Anne McCaffrey had made a personal request to her fans to not publish fanfiction based on her stories. She had given the green light to a fanzine, but it never made it into publication. This chapter does not take place in the world of Anne McCaffrey's writing, but describes a city created to honor her works. I feel confident that I have not violated her wishes.

There are no actual dragons or dragonriders in the City of Pern (despite failed attempts to genetically create them - which produced lines of research that eventually ran afoul of laws against any genetic engineering that might result in new species with the potential for sentience. Or to borrow Guth's quip - it started out as a failure and ended up as a felony.)​

 

Review 13.2 - I love your world-building... literally, in this case. You've created a plethora of unique environments in the course of these stories, and this may be the most epic yet!

 

Thanks for the kind words!! The franchise stories (and most fanfic) largely take place on the fringes of the Federation. I wanted to have a look inside. Thanks!! rbs

 

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling
Scene 5: Trantor General Hospital

13.5
Trantor General Hospital​

Investigator Lynhart Shran’s hearing was undimmed by age. And while he was very happy about the noises coming from the doctor who was examining Tactical Specialist Belo Cantys, he was far less sanguine about the noises he overheard from the communicator of another patient in the doctor’s office.

While the doctor was explaining that Dr. Pali’s treatment had helped Belo Cantys develop internal egg sacks and two of them had successfully fertilized, Shran could hear half of a conversation coming from a nearby room. He couldn’t make out what the other patient was saying, but he could hear the part of the conversation coming from her communicator.


As soon as they had left the doctor’s office, Shran spotted a stairwell and drew Cantys into it with him.

“I’m not really in a mood to climb 400 flights of stairs…” Cantys teased.

“Boss, are you reading me?” Shran said, thereby activating the communicator embedded in his chest.

“Tauk here, Shran. T’Lon is on leave. I take it you got good news?”

“And bad. I caught a coded transmission from one of the other patients. She must be a ranking blue helmet. Parts of the city are being sectored off. A dead romulan, four dead humans and 37 dead andorians.”

“Trantor has a police department, Lynhart. The biggest in the known galaxy. I’m sure they can handle 42 bodies,” came Tauk’s response. “Enjoy your leave. Spread your good news. Let’s leave local problems to the local constabulary.”

“Okay, boss,” Shran replied. “But write this down somewhere so I don’t have to say it again later: This ain’t a local problem. These aren’t the first to die and they won’t be the last. Unless my instincts are way off, we’re in for a bloodbath - blue, red and green.”

Cantys could hear Tauk cough a few times through the communicator embedded in Shran’s chest. The other end of such conversations tended to be muffled and barely discernible to those nearby, but living around these internal communicators trained everyone to listen carefully.

Tauk swallowed something, then said, “I trust your instincts, Lynhart. I’ll inform Pep. Let’s not tell the others just yet. Especially not the judge. She has carried enough of the galaxy’s problems for now. Pep will know what to do about it. Keep your ears and eyes open, but don’t go snooping. Remember - you’re on leave. Conference mode, Shran, Cantys.”

Cantys’ communicator came alive, bringing her into the conversation so she didn’t have to strain her ears.

“Cantys, make sure Lynhart stays out of detective mode and has a good time,” Tauk continued. “I’ll make that an order if I have to.”

“You can take the mode out of the man…” Cantys started. “No, wait, you can take the man out of the mode… I never get these human aphorisms right…”

Tauk laughed and coughed a little more. “Just have fun and make sure he does too. Stay out of dangerous places. Tauk out.”


A moment later, Cantys called for Tauk again: “Um, Director…”

“Did you get into some place dangerous, Cantys? I thought I just gave you an order…”

“Um… well… We’re in this stairwell and it’s restricted access to get back onto this floor. And we’re on about the 400th floor… can you help us?”

Cantys and Shran could both hear Tauk sigh. “Two months’ special weapons and tactics training at Star Fleet Technical, nearly two years’ service in special assault tactics, not to mention a sniper with 30 years’ service for the Andorian Imperial Guard… Defeated by an electronic door lock. All right, give me a few minutes. Shran, don’t blow the door off its hinges…”

13.5 (of 16)​

 

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling
Scene 6: Trantor Metropolitan Museum of Art

13.6
Trantor Metropolitan Museum of Art​

On the impossibly large top floor of another skyscraper in another part of Trantor, Commander David Pepper was enthusiastic about a sculpture exhibit that had Transporter Specialist K’rok, Lt. Cmdr. Mlady, Flight Specialist Winnifreid Salazaar, Ensign Ethan Phillips and 2nd Lt. Moon Sun Salek profoundly bored. Only Dr. Napoleon Boles showed some interest in the many individual pieces in this holographic exhibit. Because the sculptures were holograms, there were no ropes or boundaries between the visitors to this exhibit and the sculptures.

People were welcome to touch these sculptures because there was no way they could permanently damage them. It was entirely possible to break the more delicate sculptures or deform them, depending on the material used in the original sculpture. As soon as the person who did this damage moved on, the hologram would simply refresh the simulated replica to its initial condition.

And Boles was touching and breaking everything, feeling how each sculpture was made, interested in the way the materials responded, if they could be broken or deformed, what the inside looked like, whether there were layers of other materials, the same material, or if the statue was hollow.

The Hunter’s crew were far from the only people on this floor - there were easily several hundred. Mlady, uncomfortable in crowds, stuck close to Pep. Boles studied each statue with interest, but kept an eye on the group and managed to stay roughly in the middle of the group. K’rok had taken to watching Boles and stayed with him. Phillips and Moon trailed the group, making fun of some of the statues and trying unsuccessfully to conceal their irreverent laughter.

Flight Specialist Winnifreid Salazaar, trailing Pep and Mlady, shook his head slowly, taking in the forest of statues. Not entirely under his breath, he said in his Puerto Rican accent, “The 15,000 statues of Lin Ling Liu. Only it’s more like 15 million…”


“EUREKA!!!” Pep exclaimed loudly, frightening several of the other visitors. “I found it!!!”


Boles, K’rok, Salazaar and even Phillips and Moon bustled over to him. “Found what?” asked Salazaar.

Pep gestured to one of the most absurd statues yet of Lin Ling Liu, made of wood, bathing in a waterfall, coyly posed, shrubbery growing from her head instead of hair. Like most statues of the planet’s founder, it was far from entirely successful. “Eureka,” Pep explained.

A label hovering next to the statue displayed the word: “EUREKA.”

Pep’s crewmates looked at him, blankly.

“Okay, the 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling…” Pep started. “There are actually only 14,767 cities in the official roster. And some cities are obviously missing - hidden cities: Eureka… th’Istel… Puk… Gondolin… Atlantis… The 233 Lost Cities of Cun Ling. And here is a clue that they might actually exist. People go to these places to disappear…”


Lt. Cmdr. Mlady was distracted and had wandered to the window nearby. Trantor was different from the other cities. While most of the 15,000 cities were, as yet, sparsely populated, nearly three billion people lived in Trantor, making it the largest city in the Alpha Quadrant. Trantor was the administrative hub of Cun Ling - home to the planetary commission that maintained the vast machines in the chasms that held the planet together. Home to the 46th (and second largest) circuit court of the Federation Tribunal. Home to a vast education system, law, engineering, medicine and far more. And home to skyscrapers so tall that the upper floors were pressurized and shielded from solar radiation. From this top floor of the Trantor Metropolitan Museum of Art (commonly referred to as TIMA), Mlady could see those giant skyscrapers carefully spaced so that downtown buildings like this one were not in perpetual shadow.

A burst of activity closer to the ground caught Mlady’s attention - a flock of Trantor police interceptors hovering around an industrial area. Dozens of interceptors swiftly became hundreds.

“Something’s wrong,” she said, interrupting Pep’s musings about lost cities.

Pep and the others joined her at the window.

“The Trantor police are shutting down a fairly large section of the city,” Mlady continued.

“Tauk,” Pep called, activating the communicator embedded in his chest. “Are you aware of something going on that would have the Trantor blue helmets shutting down part of the city?”

“I was just talking with Investigator Shran…” came Tauk’s voice.

“Hang on Tauk,” said Pep. “Conference mode, crew in six meter proximity. Okay, go ahead, Tauk”

“Lynhart was just telling me he overheard a coded message,” Tauk continued. “Apparently the Trantor police just found a dead romulan, a few dead humans and a lot of andorian corpses. Lynhart says it’s probably not the first and won’t be the last. He seems to think this is something big.”

“How does Shran know Trantor police code?” K’rok asked.

“I’d be astonished if he didn’t,” said Pep. “Lenny has a way of arming himself with the knowledge he needs for his trade. He’s not just a great shot with a phaser - he’s a remarkable sleuth.”

“Which means if he thinks this is big…” started Boles.

“He is very probably right,” Tauk concluded.

13.6 (of 16)​

 

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling
Scene 7: The Homely House, Numinor

13.7
The Homely House, Numinor​

Finrod was nothing short of astonished to have been personally given a week of leave by Planetary Commission Chairman LaDonna Wu. But it was good to have some time with his half-sister. Unlike red-headed Sif, Finrod had dark hair, but his skin, like hers, was very light and his spots unusually small, appearing more like freckles along the sides of his head and neck.

Finrod had never taken the time to have a family – planetary engineers were by far the busiest people on Cun Ling and small problems could grow very quickly to become literally earth-shattering. As a result, planetary engineers preferred to spend most of their time with other planetary engineers. Layers of independently redundant systems helped prevent catastrophic failure of the planetary structure. But the general public didn’t really need to know just how close the planet and its massive population had come, on a few occasions, to utter annihilation.


The Homely House was a relief from the marbled magnificence of Numinoran architecture. It was not one building, but an expanse of several interconnected buildings woven in and out of a vast garden in a dell on the southwest side of Numinor, tucked away so that the great marble and limestone spires of the main city were hidden behind the landscape.

While some effort had gone into attracting vulcans and vulcan hybrids to staff the Homely House, the majority of the staff were either trill or bolian. Like his half-sister, Finrod was an un-joined trill. He was pleasantly surprised at the size of the party that had commandeered one of the large dining rooms of the Homely House. A party this large merited its own dedicated cooks and servers. The kitchen was built right into the dining room. The boar meat on the spit had been replicated - but replicated raw and had been cooked slowly with fresh herbs and spices rubbed in.

The tables and walls were real wood and the ales and meads were brewed locally and served in tankards made of treated wood. Every effort had been made to create an authentic environment with fresh, locally produced foods (except for the meat, which, like most replicated meats, had started as bean curd.)


Nearly a third of the Hunter’s crew were present, including all the senior staff with the exception of Lt. Tauk, who was, at the moment, in command of the Hunter in orbit of Cun Ling. Finrod was slightly worried about his half-sister living and working among so many hybrids, but was impressed once he realized that Lt. Cmdr. Dolphin was, in fact, the notorious Dr. Kenny Dolphin, whose recent appearance on Subspace Radio Ivonovic still had the entire quadrant buzzing.

Finrod had never heard of Justice Irons, but understood that Sif held the old woman in very high esteem. He was impressed with Minerva Irons’ remarkable beauty despite her evident age. There was a power and a magnificence about her - almost like a female version of Odin.


“What I want to know is how a family of trills ended up in Numinor,” said Dr. Napoleon Boles. “There are actually a few cities on this planet that were founded by trills.” Dinner had long been consumed and small groups at various tables were enjoying savory and relaxed conversation.

“This place, actually this very room,” Sif replied. She gestured with a toasted ginger mustard cracker to a sign over the hearth that read The Homely House and in smaller letters Nargothrond.

“Finrod Felagund, King of Nargothrond,” Dolphin mused. He looked at Finrod. “So you were named after this room?”

Finrod rolled his eyes.

Sif nodded. “Our mother was a chef. She used to cook right over there - and in a few other rooms in this place. She met Finrod’s father in this room. He was a planetary engineer…”

“Who spent all his time in the chasms,” Finrod continued. “What little time he wasn’t down there seeing to the stability of the planet, he was in Trantor for training or planning meetings. Eventually he moved there, but mother wouldn’t leave this place.”

“Mother had already moved on,” Sif said, picking up the story. “My father was a server here. They moved back to T-Prime to take care of his parents.”

“My father also moved back to T-Prime with a new wife,” Finrod continued. “Another engineer. They had learned so much working in the chasms that they were able to get good engineering jobs working for the mining consortiums back home. If you’re not a candidate for a symbiont and you aren’t from a family that owns the mines, you work in them all your life unless you can find a way out. That’s why you see so many trills working here,” Finrod concluded.

The small group at Dr. Sif’s table - Finrod, Lt. Cmdr. Kenny Dolphin, 2nd. Lt. T’Lon and Lt. Napoleon Boles were fairly deep into their cups. Finrod leaned conspiratorially across the table, spoke with what he thought at the moment was a quiet voice to Kenny Dolphin. “So tell me, how do you put up working with all these hybrids?”


“Finrod!!” Dr. Sif was mortified.


T’Lon turned toward Dolphin, raised her eyebrows.

Napoleon Boles turned toward Dolphin as well. “I’d like to know that too, Dr. Kenny. How DO you manage to put up with all of us hybrids?”

Voices at the other tables got just a little too quiet and their conversations disjointed as other members of the Hunter’s crew tried (and largely failed) to eavesdrop discretely.

Dolphin laughed. “Well in your case, Napoleon, with superhuman effort…”

Dr. Boles stuck out his blue tongue, briefly made a rude blue face, then smiled.

“You know,” Dolphin continued, “I spent a decade trying to convince everyone that I have no bias against hybrids. But it really isn’t true when you get down to it. I think I was able to spot the sticking point - jealousy about enhanced abilities – an unfair advantage – because I secretly felt that way myself. Who couldn’t feel a little envious and resentful about Justice Irons? She’s only a quarter vulcan, but she’s lived forever and she’s just unbelievably beautiful.”

“Pep is stronger than any orion or human and as fast as any andorian - which considering his size shouldn’t be physically possible. Buttans and his superhuman speed.. Shran and his superior eyesight and coordination.. Dr. Carrera, only an eighth vulcan, but off the charts genius.. All of them received genetic manipulation just to be able to survive their inherent genetic incompatibilities. You can’t tell me their enormous advantages are a product of random chance.”

“Even you, Napoleon, totally off the charts in ingenuity, a tremendous graphic artist - sculpture, painting, holo-sketching…” Dolphin lost his train of thought, looked confused and then decided to take a long drink of the honey mead.

“So do you think you’re somehow more virtuous than I am because your gifts - intelligence, emotional stability, whatever it is that makes you such a risk-taker – came from, as you would put it, a natural throw of the dice?” Boles asked.

Dolphin set his flagon down and clutched both hands over his heart, wobbled dramatically (and more than a little drunkenly): “You wound me to my core. You wound me sir, you wound me…”

Laughter could be heard from nearby tables where everyone had given up the pretense of not listening in.

Boles threw back his head and laughed.

Sif giggled in spite of her embarrassment.

T’Lon’s studied look of long suffering, long absent, returned as she shook her head slowly.

Finrod was clearly lost in thought, mulling the entire conversation over.

13.7 (of 16)​

 

Review 13.3 - Aren't family reunions fun, especially with that one drunk cousin who always shows up? It's interesting to see Irons more relaxed in this environment as she struggles to cope with the emotional and physical toll of the Andorian operation.

 

Review 13.4 - I loved the implications and emotional resonance of this scene, with Guth taking steps to possibly give the waterbirds a safe haven on Cun Ling. This would most definitely be the city where they would be cherished by the population.

 

Review 13.5 - A great little scene here, and I enjoyed the throwback title to the bygone Soap Opera era. I'm just surprised Shran's evil twin that he was separated from at birth didn't make an appearance! Loved the, "seriously, you got locked out?" conversation.

 

Maybe a little too relaxed... She's not exactly as sober as a judge...

Thanks for the kind words! This is one of those long, slow-developing stories that run through the series.

I totally missed that opportunity! Yeah - I got caught in a stairwell once without access to get onto any of the floors...

Thanks again for the reviews!!! rbs

 

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling
Scene 8: The Blue Wraith

13.8
The Blue Wraith​

Investigator Lynhart Shran walked around outside, following the outside wall of the room of the Homely House in which the Hunter’s crew were still enjoying the aftermath of dinner with Dr. Sif.

Footprints under the window sill. Shran drew his phaser, walked slowly toward the edge of the building, following the footprints.


“Hello again, old man,” came a familiar voice from behind him. “I know what your coat does, which is why I am aiming at your head. I’ll have that phaser now.”

Shran froze, but did not offer his phaser. “Johnny Canada,” he said in his gravelly voice. “And just why are you following me?”

“Just doing my job, Eliminator. Or is it Investigator now? Please don’t make me ask again for your weapon.”

“That’s a very nice phase pistol,” came Tactical Specialist Belo Cantys’ voice from behind Canada. “Andorian manufacture? An antique. Please deactivate it. And the other one as well…”

“I wouldn’t screw with that little girl, Canada,” Shran said, holstering his phaser and turning around slowly. “I’ll have those phase pistols again, please.”

Canada smiled ruefully and held each pistol in his open hands. Shran took them and dropped them into the pockets of his overcoat.

“I’m going to have to get out of the habit of underestimating you,” Canada said.

“State your business, Canada. You deliberately let me see you through the window. You wanted me out here…”

“Actually, I need to speak to your captain. If you would be so kind as to make the introduction,” Canada said.

“In your capacity as a Blue Wraith?” Shran asked.

Canada spread his hands out, looked down, smiled broadly, looked up again. “I’m not surprised you figured that out. I was kind of counting on it. About my pistols…”

“After your conversation with the judge,” said Shran. He gestured toward the front of the building.


Canada walked in front as they rounded the corner to the veranda. Justice Minerva Irons and Commander David Pepper were seated in chairs near the front door, talking quietly.

“Look who willingly walked into my arms,” Shran said.

Pep and Irons both stood up.

“He’s a Blue Wraith,” Shran continued.

“Supervisory Field Agent Johnny Canada, Trantor Police, Intelligence Division,” Canada said.

“Show me,” said Irons.

Canada rolled his eyes up, opened them wide, exposing the whites underneath the iris and pupil. The tiny tattoos would only be noticeable to someone who knew what to look for.

“Tell me,” Irons continued.

“Five of your crew members have been kidnapped in Trantor,” Canada said. “Ensign Tolon Reeves, Flight Specialist Joey Chin, and Tactical Specialists, Jarrong, Belo Rys and Belo Garr. I asked for this assignment because I have had previous dealings with your associate here.” Canada gestured with his head toward Lynhart Shran.

“Lenny, you can give the man back his weapons,” said Pep. “Johnny, our director of ground operations just informed us that Reeves and his party disappeared from our sensors. It looks like they were beamed out.”

Shran removed the phase pistols from his pockets, gave them back to Canada, who holstered them.

“You do realize that my partner had us covered the entire time..” Canada said.

“The blue girl?” Shran asked.

Canada turned to look at Shran, then turned suddenly and looked to his left, where Shran’s antennae were focused.

A young bolian woman was walking toward the group, her hands raised. Investigator Buttans Ngumbo was behind her.


“What was that you said earlier about underestimating us?” Shran said.


Canada called on another of his vast repertoire of disarming grins. Put his hands in his pockets. “I seem to recall making some such remark..”

“Enough spy versus spy,” Minerva Irons said with some exasperation. “We have people in trouble. What do you know?”

“Not very much, yet, your honor. We are asking you to keep your crew here in Numinor or return to your vessel for your own protection. I strongly suspect that the crewmembers taken were not the target – you are,” said Canada.

“Those dead andorians yesterday,” said Shran. “Andoria First?”

Canada nodded. “And a Star Fleet Intelligence operative – the romulan.”

“Damn,” cursed Irons quietly. “He was one of our most valuable agents. What is the outlook for our people?”

“I don’t think they are in Trantor anymore,” Canada said. “But I will have to return there to pick up the trail. If it is Andoria First, your people are not in for a pleasant time, but I don’t think they will be killed - at least not for a day or two. Old andorian saying – live bait catches more folyprogs than dead bait. For now, I am taking lead on this investigation. Agent Anana Lynarr here will be your liaison until we have this resolved. I have been instructed to advise you not to run your own investigation…”

“You don’t want to get between us and our people,” Shran said.

“I have no intention of trying to stop you,” Canada rejoined. “As I said, I was instructed to advise you, Investigator. I learned the hard way that you are very much capable of taking care of yourself. But if you start filling my streets with bodies, we’re going to have a problem with that...”

13.8 (of 16)​

 

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling
Scene 9: An Imperial Audience

13.9
An Imperial Audience​

Sin Shav, now Emperor Sin IV, was not much for standing in court on the Imperial Dias. His preference was to be in the Imperial Command and Control Center (commonly referred to as the Ice Room). Most meetings with him were held in the hallway outside Ice Room, which tended to keep these meetings short and to the point. Of the many visitors he had to deal with, he had afforded only three the pomp of a Court meeting – Minerva Irons, Vulcan Premier Saoron, and Federation Council Leader Ushi Irons. All other visitors who had been granted an imperial audience found that if they could not conclude their business within five minutes in a cold, breezy hallway, they would be shuffled off to deal with the Chancellor, who would in turn quickly shuffle them off to one of many imperial bureaucrats.

Once word had spread about this imperial protocol, requests for imperial audiences dropped off sharply. However, today’s visitor – the only one scheduled for this day – had the emperor mildly curious.


“I am deeply honored to address the Andorian State and the People of Andoria,” said Federation Councilmember Emory Ivonovic, spreading his arms wide, hands at waist level, palms forward, fingers splayed, following the newly published protocol for informal imperial audiences. Despite the cold, Ivonovic had foregone an overcoat and had surrendered his jacket, wearing only a simple white shirt and gray pants. Simple, but highly polished black leather shoes.

For a moment, Emperor Sin IV, clad in a mixture of white and ivory robes, simply stood and blindly regarded the man. Ivonovic knew he had only five minutes, but he maintained his pose with no sign of impatience, despite the cold breeze ruffling his silver hair and the sleeves of his white shirt. Sin Shav allowed nearly two of Ivonovic’s minutes to pass, then finally said, “Speak.”

“You have a great friend, and I have a great friend,” Ivonovic said. “Our friends’ fates are tied together. And they are in distress. I know you are already aware that your friend, Justice Minerva Irons, has crewmembers who have been kidnapped by andorian traitors who act under the name Andoria First. My friend, Lieutenant Commander Kenny Dolphin, will be actively looking for them. I am certain you plan to help them. I have resources that may be able to assist you.”

“You want something in return, beyond helping a few Star Fleet officers,” Shav said. It was not a question.

“Only for another audience, after this matter is settled, to discuss politics,” Ivonovic replied.

The Emperor’s antennae focused on Ivonovic. He closed his blind eyes for a moment. “I have heard your broadcasts. I would not have thought you capable of being a man of few words.”

“I adapt.”

“Commander Oshreb Sav is coordinating our response. Travel to Cun Ling. Coordinate with him. I will consider your request.”

Ivonovic spread his hands wide, his hands again at waist level, fingers splayed. “It has been a great honor to address the Andorian State and the People of Andoria,” he said, taking a half-step back. “A very great honor,” he added.

Emperor Sin IV turned briskly and re-entered the Ice Room.

13.9 (of 16)​

 

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling
Scene 10: Thumbnail

13.10
Thumbnail​

Tactical Specialist Jarrong could barely think. It was just too cold. At least she wasn’t hanging from the wall by manacles. A few skeletons were – she guessed these were andorian. She had no idea where the others were. She had gathered rags from around the room that had once been the clothing of previous prisoners, bundled herself into them as much as possible, curled into a ball and tried to stay warm. She knew somehow that if she fell asleep, she might not wake up. She had only a brief memory of being beamed off the street near a pub in Trantor along with her group and then gassed while still on the transporter pad. Had there been an andorian there? She seemed to remember two, but she might have been seeing double.

A blood curdling scream of anguish roused her. She had nearly fallen asleep. She knew that if she could only sleep, this would all go away. Forever. The second scream had her wide awake and upright. She recognized the voice. Tolon. Her commanding officer.

Jarrong rolled into a crouched fighting stance. This had the advantage of keeping her body curled to conserve what little heat she could. She shivered, which helped build up a little more warmth under the rags. She found herself wishing she had been wearing her uniform instead of Trantor civilian fashions. Two andorians appeared at the barred door of her cell. She deliberately avoided looking at them – only their cleated ice boots.

As soon as one of them unlocked and opened the cage door, Jarrong took off like a spring, lunging toward her captors – only to be met with an andorian stunbludgeon in the center of her chest, delivering an electric shock that knocked her halfway back across the room. Her physiology did not handle cold well at all, but was good at handling electricity – instead of being burned at the point of contact as a human would have been, she was warmed as the electricity coursed through the mucous laced skin ridges. It still hurt and she could not take repeated shocks without damage to her system. Instinctively, she backed into a corner of the cell, crouched, appearing to cower. One thing Jarrong had lots of experience with was being a prisoner and being tortured – not as often as her cousins who were more obviously part bajoran. But enough to have developed prison survival skills.


“Stand up, cardassian,” said one of her captors – the one with the stunbludgeon. “Unless you want the bajoran to die.” Jarrong stood up. Her two captors stepped out of the cell. The one gestured down the hallway with his stunbludgeon. She stepped out of the cell and walked in front. About a dozen meters down the hallway was another cell that contained her cousins, Tactical Specialists Belo Rys and Belo Garr along with the pilot, Flight Specialist Joey Chin.

Jarrong paused only slightly and was rewarded with a rude and painful shock at a lower power setting in the middle of her back. Garr and Rys were huddled on either side of the human pilot – his arms around each of them – sharing his warmth with them. Humans had much better tolerance for cold than any other species she knew except for andorians – a higher body temperature. She found herself briefly envious of human adaptability to a much wider range of temperatures and atmospheric conditions than any other species she was aware of.


A few meters further was an open cell door with two more andorians standing guard. One of them ushered her inside. Ensign Tolon Reeves was tied to a chair, his head hanging. His left arm was unbound. His left thumb was bleeding profusely. This cell contained running water – icy cold, but clear. Jarrong took the cleanest rag she could find, quickly soaked it, then carefully compressed it around Tolon’s bleeding thumb – his thumbnail had been ripped out of its nailbed, shredding the top of his thumb.

Tolon cried out in agony as Jarrong pressed the rag firmly around the wound to stop his bleeding and tied it tightly. She carefully avoided looking at her captors. She raised his arm and held it as high as she could to slow the bleeding. The rag quickly turned red – soaked with his blood.

“Untie him and carry him back to your cell, cardassian,” said one of the andorians.

“Keep your arm up,” Jarrong whispered to Tolon, then laid his left hand on top of his head. With tremendous effort, Tolon kept his left arm up while Jarrong freed his right arm and body from the chair. She carefully wrapped his left arm around her shoulders and lifted him from the chair with some effort. Tolon was a short man, but built like a fireplug – all muscle.

Jarrong followed her captors back toward her cell. They stopped at the cell that contained her cousins, opened the door, ushered her in. Belo Rys, Belo Garr and Joey Chin all quickly got to their feet to help her carefully lower Tolon to the floor, his back against the wall. Jarrong gathered some rags, tied them together, tied one end to a manacle at the end of a chain on the wall, looped the other end and used this to keep Tolon’s left arm elevated. This cell also had running water and she cleaned a rag to the best of her ability and replaced the bandage on Tolon’s thumb. Tolon gasped in pain, but managed not to yell.

Belo Rys curled up next to Tolon on his left side, wrapped her arms around him.

“If this is what getting a promotion means, I don’t think I want one,” said Belo Garr.

Tolon managed a smile, then looked at each of his team members. “Oh, it was very much worth it,” he croaked in a feeble voice.

“What were they trying to get out of you?” asked Joey Chin.

“Leverage,” Tolon answered, his voice strengthening a little. “I answered all their questions. It was just who our crew is and they already had our crew roster. They will be sending my thumbnail to our captain as evidence of their intentions. And evidence they have us.”

“Where do you think we are?” asked Belo Garr. “Maybe one of the polar regions?”

“Maybe,” said Joey Chin. “But somehow it doesn’t feel like we’ve gone anywhere.”

“Certainly a lot colder than Trantor,” Jarrong remarked, shivering.

Joey Chin walked over to her and hugged her. Jarrong started to draw away. She did not like being touched. But feeling his warmth, she pulled him closer, hugged him tightly, realized that he was deliberately warming her. It was like hugging a furnace. She marveled again at how warm humans were – even warmer than andorians. Like Justice Irons, Chin had strongly Chinese features. There was a rare gentleness and kindness to the pilot’s eyes. He had long, soft, straight black hair, much like Irons. Hair so black that it had a blue shine to it.

Jarrong buried her face in Joey Chin’s hair and tried not to think too hard about the fact that aside from her cousins, she had experienced far more gentleness and kindness from humans than from cardassians or bajorans - even her own mother and father.

Chin could feel the enormous effort Jarrong was putting into trying to maintain her composure. “Let it go,” he said softly, stroking her hair. “Just let it all go…”

Jarrong hid her face in the pilot’s hair, her breathing ragged, barely managing not to howl in anguish, her body wracked by the effort, a lifetime of terror, rage, helplessness and shame pouring onto the neck and shoulder of a man she barely knew.

13.10 (of 16)​