Chapter Two
The palace was still shaking when they reached the changing room.
“Well, I must say that I’m impressed with your construction methods, Arlam-Nevu,” Huntington said while he pulled his trousers on. “Your palace has taken quite a pounding in the last few minutes.”
“It was built from Xr’Rek stone that was carved from the Volcanoes of Selrek. It is a hardy substance.” Arlam-Nexu’s voice was tinged with sadness. The attack on his palace and the death of his aide had shaken him.
Cardonez had slipped into her trousers and she was now pulling her maroon undershirt over the top of her tattered swimwear. She left it hanging open and she grabbed for her combadge, tapping it once. “Cardonez to Testudo, come in.” There was no response at first and she felt a chill slip down her spine.
On the Bridge, Kandro sighed, relieved that his Captain was alive. “Captain, this is Lieutenant Kandro. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, Valian. I’m glad to hear your voice. What’s the situation?”
Kandro rose from the command chair and walked to stand behind Tennyson, glancing over her shoulder at the Ops display. “There are three ships matching the configuration of the ship that we saw at Cassius Five in orbit. They haven’t made any aggressive moves but there are five ships attacking the planetary surface.”
“I know. We just avoided being vaporized by one.”
“Captain, I’m preparing to drop the shields and beam you back up here.”
“Belay that, Lieutenant. Hold your position until we get a better idea about whether these guys are going to attack Testudo. Have you tried hailing them?”
“There was no answer”
“There was no answer because we wished to speak with the Captain of Testudo, not her underlings,” came a third voice over the communications channel. It was a monotone, masculine voice that sounded vaguely artificial.
“Well, I’m here now. So, talk,” Cardonez said. There would be time later to worry about how they had cut into a secure Starfleet frequency.
“We have no interest in the Federation starship Testudo. We will allow it to leave orbit, unharmed, as long as it leaves now.”
“Maybe you haven’t noticed that most of my crew are down on the planet’s surface.”
“That is unfortunate,” said the Voice. “However, any attempt to use your vessel’s transporters will be met with force.”
“Okay, you’ve made your demands. Now hear mine,” said Cardonez. “Although this system is the territory of the Zelket, Sector 29004 is still predominantly Federation space and you are here illegally. Add to the fact that one of your vessels attacked my ship and murdered a member of my crew, several weeks ago. These are acts of war. Testudo will leave if you demand it but you can bet your ass that they’ll return with a Federation fleet!”
“Irrelevant. The Federation is weakened from the war. Your capitulation before the Talarian incursion demonstrated your inability to mount a successful campaign.”
“Who the hell are you?”
The Voice ignored her question. “There will be no further communication. Testudo has five minutes to leave orbit.”
“Captain?”
“I’m here.”
“We have another eight ships that are inbound. They appear to be much larger and from the sensor readings, they might be troop ships.”
“Invasion,” said Huntington solemnly over the intercom.
Cardonez nodded. “Valian, I’m giving you a direct order. Take the Testudo and go. Get word to Starfleet Command.”
“Captain, there are over a hundred crew members down on the planetary surface! We can’t just leave you.”
“You can and you will, Lieutenant. I don’t want you disobeying my orders like you did at Pacifica. Is that understood?” She winked at Huntington and Masafumi.
On the Bridge, Kandro’s brow was furrowed. He looked at Tennyson. She had been involved in the Battle of Pacifica as well and she was looking confused. He hadn’t disobeyed an order at Pacifica. “Captain, I don’t want to have to disobey your orders but I can’t just run away from a fight.”
Cardonez squeezed her eyes shut. He didn’t get it. “Lieutenant, I’ve given you an order. This channel is unsecured so whoever they are, they can hear what we’re saying. If they don’t see you leave, they’ll destroy the Testudo. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Good. Now go and tell Captain Vallon that I’m sorry. Cardonez out.”
“Captain Vallon?,” asked Kandro and Tennyson shrugged.
“Captain Vallon?,” asked Masafumi.
“I’ll tell you later. For now, I think that we should get out of this palace before it comes down around us,” the Captain said, grabbing her uniform jacket.
****
On Testudo’s Bridge, Kandro was focusing his gaze on the three ships on the viewscreen.
“What are your orders, sir?,” Kehen asked him.
Kandro looked at her and saw an expectant gleam in her eyes. He knew that he was about to dash her hopes. “Set course out of this system, maximum impulse.”
“Valian, you can’t just leave them down there,” said Tennyson.
“I have no choice. We’ve outgunned and the Captain gave me a direct order.”
“So?,” the Yulani said. “You’re not exactly a model ‘by the book’ officer. So disobey it.”
“I can’t. I have to think about the ship and what crew that’s left on it.”
“What if I refuse to set a course?”
“Then I’ll have Ensign Tilmoore take you to the Brig and I’ll set the damned course myself!,” the Betazoid snapped at her.
She looked into his dark eyes and instinctively she knew that he was deadly serious. “Okay,” she said, her to0ne implying exactly what she thought of him and began to enter a course heading into her console.
“One thing though, Lieutenant,” Kandro added.
Kehen looked over her shoulder. “Yeah?”
“Lay in the slowest route out of this system at full impulse. I want them to believe that we’re making every effort to comply but if the situation changes, I don’t want to be too far away.”
Kehen forced a smile. “Aye, sir.”
As the Testudo swung away from the planet, Kandro stood up from the command chair. “If anyone wants me, I’ll be in the Captain’s Ready Room,” he said. “I want to check on something. Liz, you have the Bridge.” He strode away, disappearing into the Ready Room.
After he had gone, Tennyson took a seat in the Captain’s chair. “Zia, how long until we can go to warp?”
“About ten hours.”
“Okay, then,” she said, nodding.
“Don’t you think we should have tried to rescue the Captain?” This question came, suddenly, out of Kehen.
“Yes,” the Chief Engineer said, succinctly,” but I also know that if the Captain had left me in command, I would be doing the exact thing that Valian is doing, right now. Following her orders.”
“But we’ve left them defenseless!”
“I wouldn’t worry,” Tilmoore said with a wry smile. “They have Commander Huntington with them after all. Personally, I would save your pity for the invaders.”
****
As Captain Cardonez and her officers followed Arlam-Nevu out of the changing area, a sudden silence enshrouded them as the building stopped shaking.
“They’ve stopped firing,” said Huntington.
Masafumi flipped open his tricorder and began scanning. “Yes, but it would appear that they’ve only done it as a prelude to a ground assault. I’m picking up multiple incoming transporter signals outside of the palace.”
“I’m glad that one of us remembered to bring a tricorder,” said Isabel.
“If you remember, Captain, I was planning on bringing a phaser until you told me not to,” said Huntington.
“It was a diplomatic away mission, Commander,” she replied with a smile. “When we get back, I’ll lend you a dictionary and you can look up the word: diplomacy.”
“Besides, Commander,” Masafumi added to the conversation,” surely like the character in that ancient film that you showed me, last week, your body is classified as a lethal weapon.”
“What is this? ‘Pick on the lowest ranking officer day’?”
“How many of them are there?,” Cardonez asked, somewhat sobering the mood. She didn’t want her people’s natural repartee making Arlem-Nevu to think that they didn’t care.
“I’m reading around forty lifesigns.”
“Can you tell who they are?,” asked Arlam-Nevu.
Masafumi hesitated for a split second. “No,” he replied. “I can’t get a clear enough lock on their vital signs.”
“Arlam-Nevu,” asked Huntington,” how many troops do you have stationed in the palace?”
Arlam-Nevu blinked at the question. “Troops? None. I have a small bodyguard of only four or five men.”
“Great,” Cardonez said. “I thought you said that you could defend yourself from anyone?”
Arlam-Nevu shifted uncomfortably on his feet and said, cryptically, “We have a defense but I’m not in a position to use it yet.”
“What is it?,” asked Huntington.
“It is a closely-guarded secret and not for outworlders,” he replied, bowing his head slightly as if he was ashamed to make eye contact with any of the Starfleet officers.
“Well, whatever it is, I doubt that it’ll do us any good at the moment,” said Masafumi. “I’m detecting several members of the invading party approaching our position.”
“How close?,” asked Cardonez.
“Very. They’re less than thirty meters in that direction.” He pointed down the corridor.
“Do you have any weapons?,” asked Huntington.
“A few ceremonial ones is all,” said Arlam-Nevu.
“Take us to them.”
“Unless they’re in that direction, of course,” Masafumi added, dryly.
“They are in here,” the Zelket leader said, leading the down the corridor to a set of blue double doors. He passed his left hand over a sensor plate beside the door and Cardonez saw that the large rudy ring on his middle finger glowed when it passed over the sensor. A moment later, the doors swung open of their own accord and the room beyond was flooded with light.
“Quickly inside. I can lock the door after us.”
Without a second thought, the group stepped inside and Arlam-Nevu closed the door behind them. The room that they were in was large and square-shaped. Along each wall were display cases that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. More display cases were arranged in the center of the room.
“The arsenal is really a museum these days, of course. If we hadn’t been interrupted, I would have given you the grand tour after the meeting.”
Huntington walked up to the nearest case. It was filled with exotic-looked bladed weapons. Some of them with two or even three blades. “I’ve never been overly fond of bladed weapons,” he said. “I don’t suppose you have any energy-based weapons?”
“Yes, yes,” the Grand Lan’Yiet replied, leading them towards the back wall. “My culture has always celebrated the sword but in recent centuries, we have begun to adapt.” When he stopped, they were standing in front of a case containing four weapons.
“Interesting progression,” noted the Security Chief.
At the bottom of the case was a simple gauntlet that appeared to be made out of a fabric of some kind. It looked long enough to reach up to a person’s elbow and along one side of it was a thin blade. The next weapon up from the previous one was identical in every way except that this time, the gauntlet was composed of a dull bronzed metal and the blade seemed to be heavier. Next up from it was a similar gauntlet. Although it appeared to be metallic, it featured a barrel of some kind that was slotted into the blade. The final weapon was identical but it appeared to be constructed out of plastic and the barrel was obviously part of some kind of laser or phaser weapon.
Arlam-Nevu swept his ring hand over another sensor and the glass in front of the case disappeared. “The Det-Det is one of our oldest type of weapons,” he said, taking the most modern-looking weapon down from the wall. “This version is used by our soldiers today.” He handed it to Cardonez who gestured towards Huntington. The Grand Lan’Yiet slotted it over the Security Chief’s right arm. “The Det-Det has a laser attached.” He watched as the Human slowly maneuvered his arm in a lazy circle, adjusting to the weight of the weapon. “It does take some training to use it correctly.”
“Learn quickly,” Masafumi told them. “There are two lifesigns outside the door.” As he spoke, the door shook like someone on the other side was trying to kick it in.
Huntington hit an activator button on top of the gauntlet and a small control panel began to glow faintly. “There’s not a lot of energy in it,” he said as the doors shook again.
“Quickly! Behind here,” Cardonez said, leading the group to cover behind one of the glass cases that stood sideways in the center of the room.
“I think I’ve got it,” Adam said as there was the sound of splintering wood and the doors were smashed open.
“Who’s in there? Come out with your hands up now!,” barked a voice. Cardonez detected that, unlike the voice that had addressed her over her combadge earlier, this voice sounded much more organic and less mechanical.
Huntington ducked around the side of the display case. Ahead of him, he saw another case with a figure standing beside it. “Nobody here but us chickens,” he quipped and as the figure began to raise a weapon, he pressed down on what he assumed was the activator inside the gauntlet. A thin beam of yellow-hued energy suddenly shot out and hit the edge of the display case, showering the figure in dust. The figure reeled from the attack but he stood his ground.
“Is that the best you’ve got?” This question came from another voice while Huntington ducked back behind the case. Suddenly, there was the staccato sound of gunfire and they heard the glass on the other side of the case shatter and bullets thudded into the fabric of the case itself.
“Projectile weapons?,” asked Masafumi in shock.
There was another burst of gunfire. “This is your last chance! Give up or die!”
“Captain, this weapon has very little energy left in it. Maybe two shots are left.”
“Perhaps we should surrender?,” asker Arlam-Nevu.
“I have a better idea,” Cardonez said. “Arlam-Nevu, are these cases fixed to the floor?”
Arlam-Nevu shook his head. “No. Why?”
Isabel smiled. “You’ll see.” She turned towards Masafum. “Ever played American football?”
The Japanese man’s face fell when he realized what she intended. “No. However, I used to enjoy sumo.”
“Excellent. Adam, I assume that there’s one on each side. I want you to lay down covering fire. Yashiro, I’ll take the left. You take the right.” Masafumi nodded. “Okay, now, go!”
Huntington leaned out and began spraying the few remaining shots across the face of the display case. The figure opposite him ducked away instinctively and the Security Chief hoped that his friend on the other side would do so as well.
At the same moment that he began to fire, Cardonez and Masafumi ducked out from cover and ran over to the other display case. Huntington’s weapons fire had kept both assailants down and by the time that they realized what was happening, it was too late. The attacker on Cardonez’s side managed to get a half-hearted burst off but the angle was too tight. The bullets ricocheted off the floor near her feet. As they reached the other case, neither Starfleet officer slowed down and kept their momentum going as they shoved as hard as they could. For a horrible second, the case stayed perfectly still but then it began to lean to one side and in moments, gravity took over and it fell on top of the two helpless attackers. They tried to scramble out of the way but to no avail as the display case came crashing down on them.
There were two blood-curdling screams and then there was silence except for the sound of Masafumi and Cardonez catching their breath while they lay on top of the now horizontal display case. Slowly they returned to their feet and they were joined by Huntington and Arlam-Nevu.
“Oh, my,” Arlam-Nevu said, turning away from the two bodies.
“Anymore on the way?,” Cardonez asked Masafumi who was looking quite pale.
He accessed his tricorder, grateful to be able to focus his mind on something else rather than the deaths that he had just been a party to. “No. There are plenty of lifesigns around but none of them appear to be close to this location.”
“Good. Let’s have a look at who we’re up against,” she added as they kneeled down by the nearest body. Everything beneath the waist of the man was buried underneath the display case. He wore a plain black jumpsuit with no distinguishing marks on it except for a single red stripe that looped diagonally around his right upper arm. He was clearly Human.
“Recognize the uniform?,” she asked Huntington.
He shook his head. “No. But that red stripe looks like it could be a rank insignia of some kind.”
“I think you might be right,” said Masafumi from the other side of the display case. “This one has no stripe.”
“Are they Human?,” asked Cardonez.
“Human?!” Suddenly Arlam-Nevu’s interest was piqued. He strode over and asked,” Are you telling me that my world has been invaded by the Federation?!”
“Even if they are Humans, that doesn’t automatically mean that they were Federation citizens. There are several Human colonies that are outside of Federation territory.”
“This one isn’t completely Human,” Masafumi said, examining the body nearest to him. The man had pale brown skin but there was a raised blue vein that ran down the center of his chin. “His DNA has some Human characteristics but it looks like he has a mixed heritage. I can’t tell you which other race is involved in his genetics. It’s nothing that the tricorder can recognize.”
“What about this guy?,” asked Cardonez.
Masafumi swept his tricorder over the second corpse. “One hundred percent Human.”
“Curiouser and curiouser,” the Captain said when she picked up the dead man’s weapon. It was a rifle of some kind that was about the same size as a Federation-issue phaser rifle. It was slightly heavier and it had three barrels standing on top of one another and arranged in a triangular shape. “Have you ever seen one of these before?”
“Actually, I have,” Huntington said, taking the weapon from her after having discarded the Det-Det. “It’s called a Riggwelter R7. A few years ago, I was undercover, trying to stop an arms dealer from supplying weapons to a pre-warp civilization. This was one of the weapons that he was shipping. Combined assault weapon. The top barrel is a phaser. The center barrel is a submachine gun firing four millimeter caseless rounds and the lower barrel is a magnetically-powered grenade launcher with a two shot magazine here.” He gestured toward a small bump under the rifle. “A weapon for every occasion.”
“It’s not Federation-issue, then?”
“I believe that Starfleet looked at it during the war but they discontinued it. At the end of the day, it isn’t as versatile as one of our phasers. You have to carry two loads of ammunition along with your rifle and the phaser only had three settings.”
“Well, at least we’re armed now. I prefer this to one of these swords,” she said, picking up the second assailant’s weapon. “No offense,” she added, looking up at Arlam-Nevu.
“What now?,” asked Masafumi. “The tricorder indicate that there are more troops entering the palace. Eventually, they’ll find us and whether they are armed or not, they still outnumber us.”
Cardonez looked over at Arlam-NEvu. “Grand Lan’Yiet, you have my word that these are non-Federation troops.” Adding a silent I hope in her mind. “Is there any other way out of the palace?”
“There is a passageway that leads down through the cliff to the city below. It was built by one of my forebears during more trying times and very few people know about it.”
“Good plan. Let’s go,” she said, leading the way out of the room followed by Arlam-Nevu and Commander Huntington.
“Hang on,” asked Masafumi as he brought up the rear,” why don’t I get a gun?”
The palace was still shaking when they reached the changing room.
“Well, I must say that I’m impressed with your construction methods, Arlam-Nevu,” Huntington said while he pulled his trousers on. “Your palace has taken quite a pounding in the last few minutes.”
“It was built from Xr’Rek stone that was carved from the Volcanoes of Selrek. It is a hardy substance.” Arlam-Nexu’s voice was tinged with sadness. The attack on his palace and the death of his aide had shaken him.
Cardonez had slipped into her trousers and she was now pulling her maroon undershirt over the top of her tattered swimwear. She left it hanging open and she grabbed for her combadge, tapping it once. “Cardonez to Testudo, come in.” There was no response at first and she felt a chill slip down her spine.
On the Bridge, Kandro sighed, relieved that his Captain was alive. “Captain, this is Lieutenant Kandro. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, Valian. I’m glad to hear your voice. What’s the situation?”
Kandro rose from the command chair and walked to stand behind Tennyson, glancing over her shoulder at the Ops display. “There are three ships matching the configuration of the ship that we saw at Cassius Five in orbit. They haven’t made any aggressive moves but there are five ships attacking the planetary surface.”
“I know. We just avoided being vaporized by one.”
“Captain, I’m preparing to drop the shields and beam you back up here.”
“Belay that, Lieutenant. Hold your position until we get a better idea about whether these guys are going to attack Testudo. Have you tried hailing them?”
“There was no answer”
“There was no answer because we wished to speak with the Captain of Testudo, not her underlings,” came a third voice over the communications channel. It was a monotone, masculine voice that sounded vaguely artificial.
“Well, I’m here now. So, talk,” Cardonez said. There would be time later to worry about how they had cut into a secure Starfleet frequency.
“We have no interest in the Federation starship Testudo. We will allow it to leave orbit, unharmed, as long as it leaves now.”
“Maybe you haven’t noticed that most of my crew are down on the planet’s surface.”
“That is unfortunate,” said the Voice. “However, any attempt to use your vessel’s transporters will be met with force.”
“Okay, you’ve made your demands. Now hear mine,” said Cardonez. “Although this system is the territory of the Zelket, Sector 29004 is still predominantly Federation space and you are here illegally. Add to the fact that one of your vessels attacked my ship and murdered a member of my crew, several weeks ago. These are acts of war. Testudo will leave if you demand it but you can bet your ass that they’ll return with a Federation fleet!”
“Irrelevant. The Federation is weakened from the war. Your capitulation before the Talarian incursion demonstrated your inability to mount a successful campaign.”
“Who the hell are you?”
The Voice ignored her question. “There will be no further communication. Testudo has five minutes to leave orbit.”
“Captain?”
“I’m here.”
“We have another eight ships that are inbound. They appear to be much larger and from the sensor readings, they might be troop ships.”
“Invasion,” said Huntington solemnly over the intercom.
Cardonez nodded. “Valian, I’m giving you a direct order. Take the Testudo and go. Get word to Starfleet Command.”
“Captain, there are over a hundred crew members down on the planetary surface! We can’t just leave you.”
“You can and you will, Lieutenant. I don’t want you disobeying my orders like you did at Pacifica. Is that understood?” She winked at Huntington and Masafumi.
On the Bridge, Kandro’s brow was furrowed. He looked at Tennyson. She had been involved in the Battle of Pacifica as well and she was looking confused. He hadn’t disobeyed an order at Pacifica. “Captain, I don’t want to have to disobey your orders but I can’t just run away from a fight.”
Cardonez squeezed her eyes shut. He didn’t get it. “Lieutenant, I’ve given you an order. This channel is unsecured so whoever they are, they can hear what we’re saying. If they don’t see you leave, they’ll destroy the Testudo. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Good. Now go and tell Captain Vallon that I’m sorry. Cardonez out.”
“Captain Vallon?,” asked Kandro and Tennyson shrugged.
“Captain Vallon?,” asked Masafumi.
“I’ll tell you later. For now, I think that we should get out of this palace before it comes down around us,” the Captain said, grabbing her uniform jacket.
****
On Testudo’s Bridge, Kandro was focusing his gaze on the three ships on the viewscreen.
“What are your orders, sir?,” Kehen asked him.
Kandro looked at her and saw an expectant gleam in her eyes. He knew that he was about to dash her hopes. “Set course out of this system, maximum impulse.”
“Valian, you can’t just leave them down there,” said Tennyson.
“I have no choice. We’ve outgunned and the Captain gave me a direct order.”
“So?,” the Yulani said. “You’re not exactly a model ‘by the book’ officer. So disobey it.”
“I can’t. I have to think about the ship and what crew that’s left on it.”
“What if I refuse to set a course?”
“Then I’ll have Ensign Tilmoore take you to the Brig and I’ll set the damned course myself!,” the Betazoid snapped at her.
She looked into his dark eyes and instinctively she knew that he was deadly serious. “Okay,” she said, her to0ne implying exactly what she thought of him and began to enter a course heading into her console.
“One thing though, Lieutenant,” Kandro added.
Kehen looked over her shoulder. “Yeah?”
“Lay in the slowest route out of this system at full impulse. I want them to believe that we’re making every effort to comply but if the situation changes, I don’t want to be too far away.”
Kehen forced a smile. “Aye, sir.”
As the Testudo swung away from the planet, Kandro stood up from the command chair. “If anyone wants me, I’ll be in the Captain’s Ready Room,” he said. “I want to check on something. Liz, you have the Bridge.” He strode away, disappearing into the Ready Room.
After he had gone, Tennyson took a seat in the Captain’s chair. “Zia, how long until we can go to warp?”
“About ten hours.”
“Okay, then,” she said, nodding.
“Don’t you think we should have tried to rescue the Captain?” This question came, suddenly, out of Kehen.
“Yes,” the Chief Engineer said, succinctly,” but I also know that if the Captain had left me in command, I would be doing the exact thing that Valian is doing, right now. Following her orders.”
“But we’ve left them defenseless!”
“I wouldn’t worry,” Tilmoore said with a wry smile. “They have Commander Huntington with them after all. Personally, I would save your pity for the invaders.”
****
As Captain Cardonez and her officers followed Arlam-Nevu out of the changing area, a sudden silence enshrouded them as the building stopped shaking.
“They’ve stopped firing,” said Huntington.
Masafumi flipped open his tricorder and began scanning. “Yes, but it would appear that they’ve only done it as a prelude to a ground assault. I’m picking up multiple incoming transporter signals outside of the palace.”
“I’m glad that one of us remembered to bring a tricorder,” said Isabel.
“If you remember, Captain, I was planning on bringing a phaser until you told me not to,” said Huntington.
“It was a diplomatic away mission, Commander,” she replied with a smile. “When we get back, I’ll lend you a dictionary and you can look up the word: diplomacy.”
“Besides, Commander,” Masafumi added to the conversation,” surely like the character in that ancient film that you showed me, last week, your body is classified as a lethal weapon.”
“What is this? ‘Pick on the lowest ranking officer day’?”
“How many of them are there?,” Cardonez asked, somewhat sobering the mood. She didn’t want her people’s natural repartee making Arlem-Nevu to think that they didn’t care.
“I’m reading around forty lifesigns.”
“Can you tell who they are?,” asked Arlam-Nevu.
Masafumi hesitated for a split second. “No,” he replied. “I can’t get a clear enough lock on their vital signs.”
“Arlam-Nevu,” asked Huntington,” how many troops do you have stationed in the palace?”
Arlam-Nevu blinked at the question. “Troops? None. I have a small bodyguard of only four or five men.”
“Great,” Cardonez said. “I thought you said that you could defend yourself from anyone?”
Arlam-Nevu shifted uncomfortably on his feet and said, cryptically, “We have a defense but I’m not in a position to use it yet.”
“What is it?,” asked Huntington.
“It is a closely-guarded secret and not for outworlders,” he replied, bowing his head slightly as if he was ashamed to make eye contact with any of the Starfleet officers.
“Well, whatever it is, I doubt that it’ll do us any good at the moment,” said Masafumi. “I’m detecting several members of the invading party approaching our position.”
“How close?,” asked Cardonez.
“Very. They’re less than thirty meters in that direction.” He pointed down the corridor.
“Do you have any weapons?,” asked Huntington.
“A few ceremonial ones is all,” said Arlam-Nevu.
“Take us to them.”
“Unless they’re in that direction, of course,” Masafumi added, dryly.
“They are in here,” the Zelket leader said, leading the down the corridor to a set of blue double doors. He passed his left hand over a sensor plate beside the door and Cardonez saw that the large rudy ring on his middle finger glowed when it passed over the sensor. A moment later, the doors swung open of their own accord and the room beyond was flooded with light.
“Quickly inside. I can lock the door after us.”
Without a second thought, the group stepped inside and Arlam-Nevu closed the door behind them. The room that they were in was large and square-shaped. Along each wall were display cases that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. More display cases were arranged in the center of the room.
“The arsenal is really a museum these days, of course. If we hadn’t been interrupted, I would have given you the grand tour after the meeting.”
Huntington walked up to the nearest case. It was filled with exotic-looked bladed weapons. Some of them with two or even three blades. “I’ve never been overly fond of bladed weapons,” he said. “I don’t suppose you have any energy-based weapons?”
“Yes, yes,” the Grand Lan’Yiet replied, leading them towards the back wall. “My culture has always celebrated the sword but in recent centuries, we have begun to adapt.” When he stopped, they were standing in front of a case containing four weapons.
“Interesting progression,” noted the Security Chief.
At the bottom of the case was a simple gauntlet that appeared to be made out of a fabric of some kind. It looked long enough to reach up to a person’s elbow and along one side of it was a thin blade. The next weapon up from the previous one was identical in every way except that this time, the gauntlet was composed of a dull bronzed metal and the blade seemed to be heavier. Next up from it was a similar gauntlet. Although it appeared to be metallic, it featured a barrel of some kind that was slotted into the blade. The final weapon was identical but it appeared to be constructed out of plastic and the barrel was obviously part of some kind of laser or phaser weapon.
Arlam-Nevu swept his ring hand over another sensor and the glass in front of the case disappeared. “The Det-Det is one of our oldest type of weapons,” he said, taking the most modern-looking weapon down from the wall. “This version is used by our soldiers today.” He handed it to Cardonez who gestured towards Huntington. The Grand Lan’Yiet slotted it over the Security Chief’s right arm. “The Det-Det has a laser attached.” He watched as the Human slowly maneuvered his arm in a lazy circle, adjusting to the weight of the weapon. “It does take some training to use it correctly.”
“Learn quickly,” Masafumi told them. “There are two lifesigns outside the door.” As he spoke, the door shook like someone on the other side was trying to kick it in.
Huntington hit an activator button on top of the gauntlet and a small control panel began to glow faintly. “There’s not a lot of energy in it,” he said as the doors shook again.
“Quickly! Behind here,” Cardonez said, leading the group to cover behind one of the glass cases that stood sideways in the center of the room.
“I think I’ve got it,” Adam said as there was the sound of splintering wood and the doors were smashed open.
“Who’s in there? Come out with your hands up now!,” barked a voice. Cardonez detected that, unlike the voice that had addressed her over her combadge earlier, this voice sounded much more organic and less mechanical.
Huntington ducked around the side of the display case. Ahead of him, he saw another case with a figure standing beside it. “Nobody here but us chickens,” he quipped and as the figure began to raise a weapon, he pressed down on what he assumed was the activator inside the gauntlet. A thin beam of yellow-hued energy suddenly shot out and hit the edge of the display case, showering the figure in dust. The figure reeled from the attack but he stood his ground.
“Is that the best you’ve got?” This question came from another voice while Huntington ducked back behind the case. Suddenly, there was the staccato sound of gunfire and they heard the glass on the other side of the case shatter and bullets thudded into the fabric of the case itself.
“Projectile weapons?,” asked Masafumi in shock.
There was another burst of gunfire. “This is your last chance! Give up or die!”
“Captain, this weapon has very little energy left in it. Maybe two shots are left.”
“Perhaps we should surrender?,” asker Arlam-Nevu.
“I have a better idea,” Cardonez said. “Arlam-Nevu, are these cases fixed to the floor?”
Arlam-Nevu shook his head. “No. Why?”
Isabel smiled. “You’ll see.” She turned towards Masafum. “Ever played American football?”
The Japanese man’s face fell when he realized what she intended. “No. However, I used to enjoy sumo.”
“Excellent. Adam, I assume that there’s one on each side. I want you to lay down covering fire. Yashiro, I’ll take the left. You take the right.” Masafumi nodded. “Okay, now, go!”
Huntington leaned out and began spraying the few remaining shots across the face of the display case. The figure opposite him ducked away instinctively and the Security Chief hoped that his friend on the other side would do so as well.
At the same moment that he began to fire, Cardonez and Masafumi ducked out from cover and ran over to the other display case. Huntington’s weapons fire had kept both assailants down and by the time that they realized what was happening, it was too late. The attacker on Cardonez’s side managed to get a half-hearted burst off but the angle was too tight. The bullets ricocheted off the floor near her feet. As they reached the other case, neither Starfleet officer slowed down and kept their momentum going as they shoved as hard as they could. For a horrible second, the case stayed perfectly still but then it began to lean to one side and in moments, gravity took over and it fell on top of the two helpless attackers. They tried to scramble out of the way but to no avail as the display case came crashing down on them.
There were two blood-curdling screams and then there was silence except for the sound of Masafumi and Cardonez catching their breath while they lay on top of the now horizontal display case. Slowly they returned to their feet and they were joined by Huntington and Arlam-Nevu.
“Oh, my,” Arlam-Nevu said, turning away from the two bodies.
“Anymore on the way?,” Cardonez asked Masafumi who was looking quite pale.
He accessed his tricorder, grateful to be able to focus his mind on something else rather than the deaths that he had just been a party to. “No. There are plenty of lifesigns around but none of them appear to be close to this location.”
“Good. Let’s have a look at who we’re up against,” she added as they kneeled down by the nearest body. Everything beneath the waist of the man was buried underneath the display case. He wore a plain black jumpsuit with no distinguishing marks on it except for a single red stripe that looped diagonally around his right upper arm. He was clearly Human.
“Recognize the uniform?,” she asked Huntington.
He shook his head. “No. But that red stripe looks like it could be a rank insignia of some kind.”
“I think you might be right,” said Masafumi from the other side of the display case. “This one has no stripe.”
“Are they Human?,” asked Cardonez.
“Human?!” Suddenly Arlam-Nevu’s interest was piqued. He strode over and asked,” Are you telling me that my world has been invaded by the Federation?!”
“Even if they are Humans, that doesn’t automatically mean that they were Federation citizens. There are several Human colonies that are outside of Federation territory.”
“This one isn’t completely Human,” Masafumi said, examining the body nearest to him. The man had pale brown skin but there was a raised blue vein that ran down the center of his chin. “His DNA has some Human characteristics but it looks like he has a mixed heritage. I can’t tell you which other race is involved in his genetics. It’s nothing that the tricorder can recognize.”
“What about this guy?,” asked Cardonez.
Masafumi swept his tricorder over the second corpse. “One hundred percent Human.”
“Curiouser and curiouser,” the Captain said when she picked up the dead man’s weapon. It was a rifle of some kind that was about the same size as a Federation-issue phaser rifle. It was slightly heavier and it had three barrels standing on top of one another and arranged in a triangular shape. “Have you ever seen one of these before?”
“Actually, I have,” Huntington said, taking the weapon from her after having discarded the Det-Det. “It’s called a Riggwelter R7. A few years ago, I was undercover, trying to stop an arms dealer from supplying weapons to a pre-warp civilization. This was one of the weapons that he was shipping. Combined assault weapon. The top barrel is a phaser. The center barrel is a submachine gun firing four millimeter caseless rounds and the lower barrel is a magnetically-powered grenade launcher with a two shot magazine here.” He gestured toward a small bump under the rifle. “A weapon for every occasion.”
“It’s not Federation-issue, then?”
“I believe that Starfleet looked at it during the war but they discontinued it. At the end of the day, it isn’t as versatile as one of our phasers. You have to carry two loads of ammunition along with your rifle and the phaser only had three settings.”
“Well, at least we’re armed now. I prefer this to one of these swords,” she said, picking up the second assailant’s weapon. “No offense,” she added, looking up at Arlam-Nevu.
“What now?,” asked Masafumi. “The tricorder indicate that there are more troops entering the palace. Eventually, they’ll find us and whether they are armed or not, they still outnumber us.”
Cardonez looked over at Arlam-NEvu. “Grand Lan’Yiet, you have my word that these are non-Federation troops.” Adding a silent I hope in her mind. “Is there any other way out of the palace?”
“There is a passageway that leads down through the cliff to the city below. It was built by one of my forebears during more trying times and very few people know about it.”
“Good plan. Let’s go,” she said, leading the way out of the room followed by Arlam-Nevu and Commander Huntington.
“Hang on,” asked Masafumi as he brought up the rear,” why don’t I get a gun?”
