The Children of Vaal (Revised)

Chapter Ten

Captain Jean Luc Picard waited anxiously as Admiral Margaret Blackwell appeared on his com link via a scrambled and secure channel in his ready room. Because this was for captain's eyes only, he had secured the door from the bridge personnel. Being that she had used a secure channel meant that this wasn't a social call, even though they had been friends for many years. He had guessed what it was about. If the counselor's night visions were true, that the planet below was a hollow ball filled with technology far in advance of anything the Federation was capable of, then the Vaalians were in very grave danger if hostile races such as the Romulans were to get wind of it. Even though the Vaalians were barely above "stone knives and bear skins" in their technical knowledge, they stood the chance of being attacked, enslaved, destroyed or even assimilated if word got out about the extraordinary nature of their world. Prior to the admiral's call, Picard had done some more research on Losira's world, the last planet that the Calandans had manufactured, and found out to his astonishment that during Kirk's era, Starfleet had reverse-engineered the technology used to create the image of the long-dead remaining "survivor" named Losira, and that from that reverse engineering, developed the holodeck. Of course, Starfleet had eliminated the dangerous defensive weapon set up by the Calandans of cellular disruption, but the basic technology of the holodeck came from that artificial world of long ago. As the admiral's image appeared on his small desktop viewing screen, Picard greeted her pleasantly.

"Hello yourself, Captain." Admiral Blackwell had a serious expression on her face. "As you have probably guessed, this is about the Romulans. Intelligence reports that they are probably in orbit around Gamma Trianguli VI right now."

"That is why you used a secure channel. Admiral, the inhabitants of this world have petitioned Starfleet Command to change the official name of their world to Vaal many times. In the interest of diplomacy, I believe we should be honoring that request."

"Yes, I know. It is just force of habit for me to call it by the original name, and since this is a secure channel, there is no harm done. I know we must ease tensions between our two peoples so that we can begin to build trust again. I am glad that you have already secured the trust of Ambassador Makora and his daughter Shavara. By the way, how is she doing?"

"She is recovering in sickbay, Admiral, as well as the ambassador, who collapsed from exhaustion soon after Shavara fell asleep last night. She will be soon well enough to be discharged from sickbay."

"Why was the ambassador so tired? Is he going to be all right?"

"Dr. Crusher reports that he hadn't eaten or slept for three days. He was very worried about his daughter."

"I see. Captain, about the Romulans: it is your job to keep the Vaalians safe from a possible invasion and to keep the Romulans from finding out about the true nature of the planet Vaal."

"Admiral, the vast majority of the Vaalians do not know the nature of their world. I have asked the ambassador to keep quiet about it for his people's safety. He has agreed to do so."

"Very well. If the Romulans are under cloak and in orbit, they must not find out what lies beneath the surface of that world. You know how such knowledge could be transmitted in a short amount of time. Have the Vaalians allowed them access to the machinery?"

"No. They don't allow non-Vaalians to even set foot near the main access point they once worshiped as a god. It is off-limits to all off-worlders."

"Good. I'm relieved about that. Make sure that the Romulans do not get wind of the extraordinary nature of the Vaalian home world and defend those people from any hostile acts the Romulans might make. Those are your orders."

"Understood, Admiral. By the way, I don't think Vaal is completely dead."

Blackwell smiled.

"Neither do I. If it were, then the planet itself would stop revolving on it's axis and everyone would die. However, I still feel that the less the Vaalians know about their home world and what lies beneath their feet, the better off they will be. It is to their advantage that the majority of them do not know the true nature of their world. Despite what some of them did, they are generally a peaceful people who were wronged when Kirk violated the Prime Directive. Since their world is in Federation space, we must find a way to secure peace with them. Good luck in defending these people, Captain. You are going to need it. Oh, one other thing: has the fugitive been found yet?"

"Not yet, but we are following up on leads in order to apprehend her. If she is in league with the Romulans, she might be found more easily. Right now, it's like trying to find a very small needle in a very large haystack. I will keep you informed."

"Very well. I wish you success in your efforts. Blackwell out."

Counselor Troi had been released from sickbay. Picard had ordered her to her quarters to avoid contact with Shalana's children. After a while, she sensed that they still had hostile feelings and intentions towards her and the rest of the crew. Apparently, they were not totally satisfied with killing fake humans in the holodeck. She began to wonder why they still hated them. The crew had been very kind and gentle towards them since their arrival on board the ship. Soon, she began to sense something else: something even more malevolent. There was a presence nearby and it was strangely familiar to Deanna. She grew increasingly certain that the Romulans were also here under cloak and that an old enemy was there as well. She soon realized that this presence she felt was none other than Toreth, the Romulan commander Troi had fooled into believing that she was a member of the Tal Shiar.* It was now coming together for Troi. It was obvious that Toreth was out for revenge for that deception. She wanted to tell the captain of her suspicions, but it was very late. It would have to wait until morning. Besides, Worf had posted a security detail outside her quarters and she sensed that the children were asleep in their guest quarters.

When Shavara awoke, she saw Dr. Selar and Counselor Troi standing on each side of her bed. She was expecting to see her father as well, but to her shock, he wasn't there. She sat up carefully. The pain in her head from her concussion was gone, but she did feel a little dizzy. Selar spoke softly.

"Did you sleep well, Shavara?"

"Yes. Where is my father?"

"He is in the bed next to you."

"What happened to him?"

"He collapsed soon after you went to sleep after the Vulcan mind meld." Troi gently answered instead.

"He was exhausted." Selar added, glancing at him with seeming concern. "He was so worried about you that he didn't eat or sleep for the last three days."

"He loves you very much, Shavara." The counselor added, not letting on about her concerns from the previous night. Shavara relaxed and settled back down on her bed.

"I know. That is so like him. He has been overprotective of me ever since he witnessed my mother's death and we thought that my sister had been murdered by Starfleet." She looked back at him and saw his chest rise and fall. "Will he be all right?""

"Yes." Troi answered with a gentle smile. "You are doing better too."

Dr. Crusher walked in as they spoke.

"Deanna, I thought you were in your quarters."

"I was. The captain gave me permission as ship's counselor to make our guests feel welcome and secure."

As she said that, the yellow alert alarm went off. A Romulan ship had just decloaked right off their starboard bow.

* "Face of the Enemy"