CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
May 4, 2401
“Is this seat taken?”
“No, sit down. Aren’t you the gardener?”
“Yes, and you are the Romulan who planned to display the Enterprise’s broken hull in the center of the Romulan capitol as a symbol of victory and to inspire Romulan armies for generations to come.”
Tomalak looked at Boothby. He was smiling in a friendly way.
“I’ve said so many things in my youth, Mister Boothby.”
“Call me Ray, Admiral. You’re old enough to have earned that right. But you weren’t that young at the time.”
“I wasn’t even 120 then, Ray. Call me Maiell.”
“Ishmael?”
“Maiell.”
“Oh. Well, Maiell, what do you think of that fleet surrounding us without even locking weapons on us?”
“They’re waiting for something … or someone. They’re not even making a blockade; they let the Mogai go through.”
“The Mogai is back?”
“Indeed. As we speak, they’re docking at OK1, where I bet the Admiral is going to thoroughly debrief them.”
“I wonder how that little Vulcan managed. I told her to just follow her instincts, and to expect from her Romulan captain mostly what she would expect from me — except the humor of course.”
“Good description. She will survive. But I am more interested in knowing what they learned from the Qalans.”
“Yes, of course, that too.
***
A lot of things had changed on the Enterprise in those two weeks.
They had followed the echoes, which had led them back to Khitomer and a huge Jem’Hadar fleet apparently blockading the whole system. When they had finally succeeded in calling OK1, they had been told to “get the hell to Deep Space Nine!” which they had done promptly.
Before that though, they had reported the size of the Jem’Hadar fleet: 4774 ships exactly, all Dreadnoughts. Sabrina had given OK1 an exact tactical report on their position, and had added her observations. Then they had left.
During the trip, Sabrina had taken time to think about her two, so different visions.
***
"Those are very weak pieces."
"You are of Bajor."
"You are suffering a great pain, my child. It could not be avoided. You need to understand. Look at the horizon, my child. The sandstorm is coming, and with it the locusts. You must endure it alone, for alone you are now."
"It couldn't be avoided."
"It's to prepare you for your task. You have to know. You will find out soon."
"My child, your trials are far from over. What you are enduring today is nothing compared to what awaits you. But you need to understand what was."
"You need more time. Unfortunately, I cannot help you more, and your trial cannot end until you are ready. Your question has been answered."
"So that's not enough, huh? You still won't scream for mercy? You know you won't die until you do, don't you? I won't let you die until you beg for mercy!"
"Do you think I'm tired? You think I'm getting tired? You're the one who will crack! You'll crack! You'll cry and beg! You'll scream! Oh, yeah, you'll scream, you big, fat, ugly cow! You'll scream!"
"You're alone now, little girl. No one will ever come to your help, and I will do with you as I please. And I'll let you live … forever if I want to. We will never let you go, and we will never let you forget that we are your masters."
"What if I popped your eyes out, huh? Maybe you would finally forget your pride, half-breed?"
***
That’s true, the first vision had all been very brutal and very hard to understand, but she had been given time to understand and everything had become so clear …
But now, once again all seemed so strange. Was that second vision right? Had she been tortured and indoctrinated by the Pah-Wraiths? Or had they just tried to seduce her with a naked representation of Taleria?
And that was another thing.
The first time she had met Taleria, she had found her extremely nice, likable, appealing even. So naturally she had opened up a little, and had been very pleased to find out that the young Romulan was quite open to friendship too. And even if she knew that she could not just invite her to frolic naked with her in bed, she always found herself quite cheerful, titillated even, when she exchanged a few words with her.
But now, she felt upset and humiliated that whoever gave her that second vision chose the young naked female as a representation, and portrayed her naked too. Yes, she had had that vivid dream, but it didn’t authorize them to invade her privacy that way …
So now she felt embarrassed in Taleria’s presence.
But she didn’t have time to talk about that. She was now reporting to Colonel Ro, at the time in charge of the station, while Fox and Rashid visited Bajor, more precisely the Council of Ministers, to report on Shudak’s declarations, which already were creating a wedge between Bajorans.
“So the Enterprise has been reassigned to DS9. Good. Admiral Fox asked for a starship because it’s better than any of those we have here. How many people could the Enterprise carry, Commander?”
“You mean besides the crew?”
“Yes.”
“About 500, Colonel, double if they don’t mind very tight accommodations. Do you think you might have to evacuate the station?”
“I don’t know yet, but your replacement seems determined to make it happen.”
“My replacement, Colonel?”
“Nobody told you? There is a new Emissary, a new Destitute. He claims that you are the Great Imposter and that you should be stoned and thrown through an airlock, or quartered, like Kara Grem was.”
“Kara Grem?”
“Prylar Furel. The one who brought the Orb of the Emissary on your ship and had you abducted by whoever talked to you in your vision. It seems I’ll have to update you on what happened to Bajor since you left us after the Kai found you …”
***
As soon as the Mogai had been detected coming out of the fleet, before even Teroth had had time to give the order to hail the Samurai, Outpost Khitomer had ordered them to “haul their asses” to the station, where Starfleet Command was eagerly awaiting their report.
“I’m listening, Captain”, Wilkins said simply. “Have you found the Qalans?”
“The Mogai would not have returned otherwise, Admiral. Yes, we have found the Qalans. We have established contact, and they have listened to us.”
“Will they help us?”
“Not the way you expected, Sir. But they have, and they just might.”
“If I may, Admiral”, Tomalak intervened. “Teroth, say everything you have to say. Do not keep anything hidden. This is not a report to the Tal Shiar.”
“Very well, Sir. The Qalans are a very heteroclite society, at the same time divided in hundreds of small sects — which I believe are absolutely not about religious or political matters — yet united by their deep hate for the Borg and their total distrust of the Dominion. My impression is that they both have done horrible things to them, much worse than just an ancient invasion. That is what keeps them united: the fear of being somewhat infested by them, or by other civilizations.”
“You said they had helped and might help further. How?”
“They gave us weapons, which happen to be particularly efficient against the Borg and the Jem’Hadar, Sir. We had the opportunity to test them against a small fleet of fifteen Jem’Hadar attack cruisers, and we blew them — how do humans say? Oh yes! — to Kingdom come.”
“Really?”
“Yes, Sir. They also assured us that, should the Borg or the Dominion try to violate the integrity of their space, they would welcome them with weapons much more advanced and lethal than what they gave us.”
“A very good thing. I have here engineers who will want to examine those weapons.”
“They are welcome on the Mogai, Admiral.”
“Thank you. Now tell me, Teroth: how did you get through that fleet?”
“No doubt the Admiral has instructed them to let the Mogai through, Sir.”
“The Admiral?”
“Well, Admiral Dalton, Sir.”
May 4, 2401
“Is this seat taken?”
“No, sit down. Aren’t you the gardener?”
“Yes, and you are the Romulan who planned to display the Enterprise’s broken hull in the center of the Romulan capitol as a symbol of victory and to inspire Romulan armies for generations to come.”
Tomalak looked at Boothby. He was smiling in a friendly way.
“I’ve said so many things in my youth, Mister Boothby.”
“Call me Ray, Admiral. You’re old enough to have earned that right. But you weren’t that young at the time.”
“I wasn’t even 120 then, Ray. Call me Maiell.”
“Ishmael?”
“Maiell.”
“Oh. Well, Maiell, what do you think of that fleet surrounding us without even locking weapons on us?”
“They’re waiting for something … or someone. They’re not even making a blockade; they let the Mogai go through.”
“The Mogai is back?”
“Indeed. As we speak, they’re docking at OK1, where I bet the Admiral is going to thoroughly debrief them.”
“I wonder how that little Vulcan managed. I told her to just follow her instincts, and to expect from her Romulan captain mostly what she would expect from me — except the humor of course.”
“Good description. She will survive. But I am more interested in knowing what they learned from the Qalans.”
“Yes, of course, that too.
***
A lot of things had changed on the Enterprise in those two weeks.
They had followed the echoes, which had led them back to Khitomer and a huge Jem’Hadar fleet apparently blockading the whole system. When they had finally succeeded in calling OK1, they had been told to “get the hell to Deep Space Nine!” which they had done promptly.
Before that though, they had reported the size of the Jem’Hadar fleet: 4774 ships exactly, all Dreadnoughts. Sabrina had given OK1 an exact tactical report on their position, and had added her observations. Then they had left.
During the trip, Sabrina had taken time to think about her two, so different visions.
***
"Those are very weak pieces."
"You are of Bajor."
"You are suffering a great pain, my child. It could not be avoided. You need to understand. Look at the horizon, my child. The sandstorm is coming, and with it the locusts. You must endure it alone, for alone you are now."
"It couldn't be avoided."
"It's to prepare you for your task. You have to know. You will find out soon."
"My child, your trials are far from over. What you are enduring today is nothing compared to what awaits you. But you need to understand what was."
"You need more time. Unfortunately, I cannot help you more, and your trial cannot end until you are ready. Your question has been answered."
"So that's not enough, huh? You still won't scream for mercy? You know you won't die until you do, don't you? I won't let you die until you beg for mercy!"
"Do you think I'm tired? You think I'm getting tired? You're the one who will crack! You'll crack! You'll cry and beg! You'll scream! Oh, yeah, you'll scream, you big, fat, ugly cow! You'll scream!"
"You're alone now, little girl. No one will ever come to your help, and I will do with you as I please. And I'll let you live … forever if I want to. We will never let you go, and we will never let you forget that we are your masters."
"What if I popped your eyes out, huh? Maybe you would finally forget your pride, half-breed?"
***
That’s true, the first vision had all been very brutal and very hard to understand, but she had been given time to understand and everything had become so clear …
But now, once again all seemed so strange. Was that second vision right? Had she been tortured and indoctrinated by the Pah-Wraiths? Or had they just tried to seduce her with a naked representation of Taleria?
And that was another thing.
The first time she had met Taleria, she had found her extremely nice, likable, appealing even. So naturally she had opened up a little, and had been very pleased to find out that the young Romulan was quite open to friendship too. And even if she knew that she could not just invite her to frolic naked with her in bed, she always found herself quite cheerful, titillated even, when she exchanged a few words with her.
But now, she felt upset and humiliated that whoever gave her that second vision chose the young naked female as a representation, and portrayed her naked too. Yes, she had had that vivid dream, but it didn’t authorize them to invade her privacy that way …
So now she felt embarrassed in Taleria’s presence.
But she didn’t have time to talk about that. She was now reporting to Colonel Ro, at the time in charge of the station, while Fox and Rashid visited Bajor, more precisely the Council of Ministers, to report on Shudak’s declarations, which already were creating a wedge between Bajorans.
“So the Enterprise has been reassigned to DS9. Good. Admiral Fox asked for a starship because it’s better than any of those we have here. How many people could the Enterprise carry, Commander?”
“You mean besides the crew?”
“Yes.”
“About 500, Colonel, double if they don’t mind very tight accommodations. Do you think you might have to evacuate the station?”
“I don’t know yet, but your replacement seems determined to make it happen.”
“My replacement, Colonel?”
“Nobody told you? There is a new Emissary, a new Destitute. He claims that you are the Great Imposter and that you should be stoned and thrown through an airlock, or quartered, like Kara Grem was.”
“Kara Grem?”
“Prylar Furel. The one who brought the Orb of the Emissary on your ship and had you abducted by whoever talked to you in your vision. It seems I’ll have to update you on what happened to Bajor since you left us after the Kai found you …”
***
As soon as the Mogai had been detected coming out of the fleet, before even Teroth had had time to give the order to hail the Samurai, Outpost Khitomer had ordered them to “haul their asses” to the station, where Starfleet Command was eagerly awaiting their report.
“I’m listening, Captain”, Wilkins said simply. “Have you found the Qalans?”
“The Mogai would not have returned otherwise, Admiral. Yes, we have found the Qalans. We have established contact, and they have listened to us.”
“Will they help us?”
“Not the way you expected, Sir. But they have, and they just might.”
“If I may, Admiral”, Tomalak intervened. “Teroth, say everything you have to say. Do not keep anything hidden. This is not a report to the Tal Shiar.”
“Very well, Sir. The Qalans are a very heteroclite society, at the same time divided in hundreds of small sects — which I believe are absolutely not about religious or political matters — yet united by their deep hate for the Borg and their total distrust of the Dominion. My impression is that they both have done horrible things to them, much worse than just an ancient invasion. That is what keeps them united: the fear of being somewhat infested by them, or by other civilizations.”
“You said they had helped and might help further. How?”
“They gave us weapons, which happen to be particularly efficient against the Borg and the Jem’Hadar, Sir. We had the opportunity to test them against a small fleet of fifteen Jem’Hadar attack cruisers, and we blew them — how do humans say? Oh yes! — to Kingdom come.”
“Really?”
“Yes, Sir. They also assured us that, should the Borg or the Dominion try to violate the integrity of their space, they would welcome them with weapons much more advanced and lethal than what they gave us.”
“A very good thing. I have here engineers who will want to examine those weapons.”
“They are welcome on the Mogai, Admiral.”
“Thank you. Now tell me, Teroth: how did you get through that fleet?”
“No doubt the Admiral has instructed them to let the Mogai through, Sir.”
“The Admiral?”
“Well, Admiral Dalton, Sir.”
