Chapter One
"Well, I guess we're going to the Romulan Neutral Zone. There, we'll get a ride from a warbird to Romulus, where we get to negotiate an agreement with Praetor Hiren," Captain Jean-Luc Picard explained to his questioning crewmates.
Will Riker spluttered in shock and Deanna Troi simply stared at him. Beverly Crusher was suddenly very interested in her systems check on the shuttle. Geordi LaForge and Worf exchanged a worried glance. Data just observed all of their reactions.
"I do not understand," the android officer said, "Why do many life forms express surprise when hearing that they will be performing a ground-breaking action?"
"When dealing with the Romulans, many express distrust or surprise when they've been invited by the Praetor himself," Picard answered with a smile.
Now he had the full attentions of everyone.
"We were invited," Worf stated simply.
"I find that kinda hard to believe," LaForge added.
Crusher's head snapped around to the sensor panel when it beeped.
"There's a ship decloaking in front of us!" she warned. Two seconds later, they were staring at a Romulan warbird.
"In fact, there's our ride now!" Picard said with mock-cheerfulness.
The warbird tractored the small shuttle into its shuttle bay, where a small delegation waited.
"Hello, Captain Picard. It's quite a surprise to see you again," Commander Bochra greeted them, "This is my first officer, Subcommander Selta."
"Hello," Picard replied, "This is Commander Riker, Doctor Crusher, Lieutenant Commanders LaForge, Data, and Worf; and Counselor Troi."
"It's nice to meet all of you. Subcommander Selta will show you to your quarters for the duration of the trip to Romulus."
With that, Bochra left and the lithe dark-haired first officer led them silently to their rooms.
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When they arrived on Romulus, they were instantly greeted by a familiar blonde-haired scientist.
"Hello, all of you!" Doctor Talia Marcus said with a large smile that almost rivaled the Denobulans.
"Hello, Doctor," Riker said.
"Well come on then! I've got a groundcar and you've got a need for a place to stay," she said, "So get in!"
They walked quickly to a large gray groundcar. Bochra was already in the driver's seat, much to their surprise.
Talia scowled, "I thought I was going to drive."
"You took too long," Bochra replied easily, "So, I guess I'm driving."
"Fine," Talia replied, sliding into the passenger's seat. The Starfleet officers crammed into the back seat that was really only meant to fit six. Deanna ended up on Riker's lap, much to the amusement of the others. Riker just blushed and dealt with it.
The short drive to a rather modest estate was talkative and excited. Bochra and Geordi struck up a conversation almost instantly. Beverly, Deanna, Data, and Talia had a rather enlightening conversation about some medical technique or another.
Meanwhile, Will and Worf joined Picard in silence. At one point, Deanna dragged Picard into their conversation, leaving Worf and Will to a quiet conversation about bat'leth contests.
When they arrived at the estate, Talia had Bochra stop the car so she could get out and talk to someone who had just walked by.
"Well, here we are!" Bochra said as they all got out of the car, "Home sweet home."
"It's nice. Wait, is that a Vulcan rock garden?" Deanna noticed a small patch of elegantly arranged rocks hidden by some trees.
"It's Mom's. One of the many bits of Vulcan hidden around here," the Romulan soldier explained. Talia jogged back up to rejoin them as they were walking into the house.
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Later, as they were all playing poker, the sound of loud arguing nearby startled them.
Talia just sighed, "Ladies and gentlemen, here's Round Three."
Bochra snorted as he pushed a small pile of chips into the pot, "Will they ever learn to shut up?"
"No," Talia replied sardonically, "They won't. Volskiar must really want to throttle them about now. I'm pretty sure this half of the street would cheer him on."
"Who the hell is arguing over there?" Riker asked, looking up from his cards, "Oh, fold."
"Donatra and Sela. They may be siblings, but Elements, they argue too damned much," Bochra answered as he also folded.
Talia looked up when an old clock chimed.
"Okay, so there are some rules here," she said, "No one goes in or out after dark, no exceptions. During the day, carry visible weapons and travel in groups. Ladies, have a guy nearby. This goes for all of you. The reasons are simple: There have been dozens of attacks lately around here and these are mandatory safety precautions."
Beverly's eyes widened as she set her cards on the table, "Stats?"
Talia grimaced, "I'll tell you later. I don't want to upset any of you."
Bochra sighed, "There have been over 2,000 total attacks planet wide. Out of those, there are 327 rape cases, 641 people hospitalized, and 49 dead. There are also two missing people."
"Merde," Picard whispered.
A shout suddenly came from outside in the street, "Lights out!"
"Hit that switch over there," Bochra said, pointing to a switch positioned in a discreet place on the wall behind Worf, who reached back and flipped it. A shield fizzed into place around the estate and lock clicked on all the doors and windows.
"Nice system," Riker commented.
Bochra smiled, "This street is a 'military lane', meaning almost everyone here is in military service. There's a family of engineers a few doors down that rigged this system for the entire street."
Geordi suddenly noticed that there were some people missing from the table.
"Where did the ladies and Data go?"
"Probably the basement. Talia has a lab down there," Bochra explained to his friend, "I don't know how she convinced Mom and Dad to let her build it."
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Knock. Knock. Knock.
"What!?"
"Talia, General Volskiar's at the door."
Thump. Shuffle. Sounds of running.
That was Picard's wake-up call at 0430 hours as the sun was just coming up. Wonderful.
Talia stared at Volskiar. The older man looked worried.
"Have you seen my daughter, Doctor?" he asked, his impatience showing.
"No sir, not this morning. She walked by last night, but that was the last time I saw her. It was about five minutes before dark," Talia replied.
He deflated slightly, "Thank you, Doctor. Tell your father I send my greetings."
"Of course, General. I hope you find her. Jolan'tru."
"Jolan'tru," he said before he left.
As soon as he was out the door, Bochra's face went pale and Talia looked sick.
"What is it?" Deanna asked, a cup of raktajino in her hands.
"Sela's missing. I think the kidnappers might have gotten her," Talia explained.
"Why?" Beverly jumped in, a forkful of pastry halfway to her mouth.
"They only take women for some sick reason. The other two are both officers in the Fleet who use their beauty to their advantage," Talia said.
"Like Sela," Bochra cut in.
"Exactly," Talia agreed.
"Shit," Riker summed it up, "Well, I think I'll take a walk today. How about some company. I'd like to get a feel for the area."
"Wear something other than your uniforms and keep knives or distruptors in plain view. That way, you'll blend in with everyone else, so long as no one looks too closely," Bochra advised, "Oh, and Talia, you may want to do some relocating. Mom and Dad get home today. Mom's shuttle gets in at 1130 hours and Dad will probably be held up in some meeting until about 1900 hours."
"Got it. Um, since Mom will be home, the food will be mostly vegetarian. We only eat meat when she's gone," Talia explained, "Mostly because she cooks when she's home."
"Or I do," Bochra retorted.
"Do you not like to cook?" Data asked Talia.
Bochra laughed, "See that black stain on the ceiling above the counter? Talia did that about a year ago. She's banned from cooking, as is Dad. He tried to kill all of us when I was twelve."
"Yeah, that was pretty bad. Just don't bring that up in front of him. He'll blame it on rotten food that was never cleaned out," Talia whispered conspiratorially.
"Well it could have been," Geordi said.
"Um, Mom's a Vulcan. That would never happen!" Talia laughed.
Picard smiled, "I was about to say the exact same thing."
"Is there something you're not telling us?" Riker asked, confused.
"Yes!" came the chorus from almost everybody else. Riker, Worf, and Data shared very confused looks.
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When Deanna opened the bathroom door, she was expecting to see Beverly Crusher. Much to her surprise, there was a pair of Romulan teenagers standing there. They both flushed green.
"Sorry!" the shorter one squeaked, "Um, we're supposed to show your group around."
Will appeared behind them, "Sounds like a plan!"
Both jumped and spun around.
"Don't do that!" the first one snapped, then she apologized, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Will replied, "I'm not an empath and I can tell that everyone on this planet is jumpy right now."
Beverly peered out of the next room, "Good, you're all here. We're taking Data too. Thought I'd let you know. Hello, girls."
"Hi!" they chorused before the one who snapped at Will introduced them, "I'm Teya and this is Ayani. We live right next door."
"You mean," Deanna started. T'Rul nodded.
"The circumstances are kind of odd, I'll admit. Technically, he's my uncle. Ael is adopted."
"I believe that we should be going now," Data said, stepping into their conversation.
They continued a rather friendly conversation as they walked outside. Several people were out and about. A centurion carrying a repair kit was fixing someone's shield generator. A dark-haired commander chatted with what seemed t be her first officer. She looked over and smiled.
"Hey!" she greeted them, walking over.
Ayani smiled, "Hi! Um, this is Commander Riker, Lieutenant Commander LaForge, Doctor Crusher, and Counselor Troi."
"Well, welcome to Romulus. I'm Commander Donatra," she said with a smile.
"Thank you, Commander," Will said. Deanna smiled.
A decurion ran up to Donatra, "Commander! Admiral Braeg has requested a report."
Teya and Ayani snickered behind their hands as Donatra replied, "Of course he has. Thank you, Orventa."
As she walked away, Orventa looked at the teens in confusion, "What are you laughing about?"
"Nothing!" Ayani said quickly. Beverly smiled and Data cocked his head to the side a bit.
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It was dark. She couldn't see anything. Her hands and feet were tied, so she struggled. It was so cold. Hands grabbed her bare upper arms. At least the basics were covered.
"Stop struggling, hevam!" a woman's voice hissed in her ear.
"I'm not hevam!" she spat back. The blindfold was pulled off and she realized she was in a small room with two other women.
One had black hair, dark eyes, and a sullen look. The other had russet-brown hair, golden-brown eyes, and an imperious air about her. Both wore only undergarments.
Miss Imperious gave her an appraising look, "Your hair and eyes are not Romulan, but the ears and temper are. You are Commander Sela."
"Well, since you know who I am, how about an introduction?" Sela snapped.
"Fine, I'm Commander M'Rue and this is my temporary science officer, Subcommander Soleta."
"I remember you. The little Vulcan science officer on Excalibur. Calhoun's pet," Sela mused, "And here you are."
"Indeed. Here I am. To answer your unspoken question, I am half-Romulan, like you," Soleta replied. M'Rue watched the exchange with disinterest.
"As has been made abundantly clear to me my entire life," Sela retorted scathingly. Soleta lifted an eyebrow.
"I wasn't done. I was about to say that you might have a different perspective on how to get out of here. Sooner is more preferable," Soleta replied icily.
Sela frowned, "Why? What the hell is this place?"
M'Rue was the one who replied, "Soleta believes that they're testing us for something. There was another woman here, but she was killed."
Sela controlled her external show of emotions, "I see. Well, let's get to work."