The Adventure Continues…. Part 10
Disguised as Bajoran pilgrims, Maj. Madia Amme, Lt. Cdr.'s Brian Starr and S'ena, Lt. John Broda and Tech Ellie Barstow climbed the steps to the main temple of the Prophets on Bajor. Nervously, they passed between the temple guards at the main entrance. Inside, they had little time to take in the wondrous beauty of the main gathering area. Columns supported arches high over head. Fantastic paintings on the ceiling showed a diorama of the Celestial Temple and the walls were covered with scenes of the various tales of the Prophets. Statues of notable Emissaries and First Ministers dotted the room, one of which appeared to be a human male. If the party of five had more time, or been there on personal business, they would have been awestruck by the beauty and serenity of the place. As it was, none of them were able to appreciate it.
Following the major's lead, the party moved down a side passage exiting the main entrance. They continued through several passages, occasionally passing watchful Temple Guards. Major Amme was apparently well known on Bajor, because she was recognized several times.
"Madia Amme," one Temple Guard said, "Have you changed your mind and decided to join us at the temple?"
"No, Bartok." Madia replied recognizing an old resistance friend. "I'm only assisting some pilgrims to cut through the usual red tape. If they had to wait for normal channels, they would still be here during the Days of Atonement."
"Ha, ha. I know what you mean. Well, after you're done, stop by the dormitory and visit. More and more of us old-timers are seeking the peaceful life of the temple. Colonel Loral came in to give his vows last month, and should now be ready to receive visitors."
"Colonel Loral? Who would have thought that old bruiser would have settled down?"
"Madia, many of us scarred by the occupation have decided to seek healing within the temple walls. You should think about joining us."
"Well, with all of the old guard turning religious, who will teach the new pups? Besides, with everyone getting out of the militia, I'm hoping it will be easier to make rank."
"Madia, you make us all proud, but," Bartok added, "You are always welcome to visit."
"Thanks, Bartok."
The party continued on. Media took side passages when she was able to, and boldly strode through the areas that she couldn't circumvent. It seemed to Brian that she was taking the long way to get to their goal, but he trusted the Bajoran major to know best.
Eventually, they came to a closed door in a hallway. It looked no different than many they had already passed. It was unguarded and plain, but Madia stopped and turned to the rest of the group. "This is the last door. Inside this room is the Orb of Time. Are you sure you want to continue?"
Brian stepped forward. "We have no choice. You heard what T'Pina said. The lives of everyone who died on Starbase 410 depend on us. We must see this through."
"Then you leave me no alternative but to place you all under arrest." Madia tapped her Bajoran communicator. "Gentlemen." Six Temple Guards appeared, three on either end of the corridor, Bajoran phaser pistols drawn. The group pulled their phasers in response.
"You traitor!" S'ena cried. "You led us right into a trap! We thought you were with us, helping us save all of those lives!"
"Believe me, I was!" Madia replied. "But after the Vedek Assembly turned us down, I knew that continuing on would be against the will of the Prophets." Madia took a step towards S'ena. "I'm sorry. I did lead you to the right door, and I asked if you still wanted to do this. You could have changed your mind. I hoped that you would. Please, surrender now. Don't make this any more difficult than it has to be. As you can see, you have no choice."
"I have a choice!" S'ena screamed. "And I choose to save Tass and the rest!" S'ena pointed her phaser at Madia and fired. Madia screamed as her body disintegrated. The rest of the Starfleet personnel dove for cover. S'ena, the only clear target for the Bajoran forces, went down in a lethal hail of fire.
Brian noted S'ena's death, but it remained outside of his thoughts. When the shooting started, Brian found himself in the "One", a meditative state the people of his home planet, Avalon, had developed after years of personal training and combat. For Brian, time had slowed to a crawl. The positions of the Temple Guards were noted, and his unconscious mind put into action motions which would pick them off, one by one, in the minimal amount of time. Still, it wasn't enough. Behind him he could hear Ellie take two hits and go down. John got off two shots, taking out two of the guards, before a third guard nailed him. Brian spun in place, drew a bead on the last guard, and fired just as the guard turned toward him.
Brian took a second to make sure here were no more targets then released the "One". He stood up and ran over to S'ena. Even set on "stun", the combined energy of several shots together had been enough to kill her. Brian cradled her dead body in his arms. Inside him, a dangerous resolve hardened his heart.
Placing her delicately back on the floor, Brian went over to Ellie. She was also beyond help. Brian noted that John was still breathing though, and he dragged him toward the door.
The door. Brian hoped Madia had told them the truth when she said that she had led them to the correct door. If she hadn't, then Brian figured there was no way he could finish his task. He looked at the door carefully. It seemed just like the other doors he had passed in the temple. On the door sill was a touch pad. Placing John down next to the door, he put his hand on to the touch pad. Nothing happened.
Brian went over to the nearest Temple Guards. Except for S'ena's, all of the Starfleet phasers had been set to "stun". They were still breathing. Brian chose the highest ranking one, Bartok, and picked him up. He then took him over to the door and placed Bartok's hand onto the touch pad. The door opened.
Dropping Bartok, Brian pulled John through the door. He could find no way to close it. Inside, the room was softly lit. At the far end stood a pedestal with a box on it. Brian slapped John on the cheek. Groggily, John tried to fend Brian off.
"Come on John, wake up. I need you."
"What happened?" John replied.
"We fought them off, but I need you to guard the door. Can you do that for me?"
"Sure pal, just let me at them."
Brian wasn't too sure John had fully recovered from the phaser blast. "Look, John, hold this door. I'm going to go over to the pedestal. If you hear anything, let me know."
"Got it. I can do that." John answered tiredly.
"John, if I don't succeed, you'll have to try."
"I just hope they give me a few minutes to clear my mind. Go on, they'll be here soon."
Brian took one last look at John, and then scanned the door for some way to close it. Seeing none, he then turned and walked to the end of the room. On the pedestal was a ornamental box. Brian looked it over carefully, then opened it. Inside was…
Brian found himself in Engineering on Starbase 410. Around him, the technicians moved in a calm manner. Everything was normal.
"Brian Starr," Lt. Commander Saryena Remora said, "We don't see you down here very often. Tell me, what graces us with your presence?"
Brian was still taking in the transformation, but replied quickly. "Oh, just tracking down some information for Captain T'Pina. You know how much she likes complete reports."
"Well, tell me what you are looking for, and maybe I can help."
"I'm not sure, really. Something out of the ordinary."
"You mean besides seeing you here?"
"Ha, ha. Yes. If you can spare a computer console, I'm sure I can track down the information."
"Well, I was about to go off shift. You can use mine."
"Is there perhaps someplace more private? I wouldn't want to have your staff nervous because I was here, and I might need some quiet."
"There is a auxiliary engineering control room this way. I'm sure you won't be disturbed there. Hardly anyone goes there anymore. I use it myself when I need to work alone." Saryena led Brian down a passage from main engineering. She paused by a large double door. "Here it is. If you need any help, I'll be around for a few more minutes. Just give me a call."
Saryena left Brian standing in the hallway in front of the door. Brian turned toward the door and said, "Open." Nothing happened.
Brian drew his phaser and said, "Computer, Security override, Brian Starr, 2B-R0-2B. Open auxiliary engineering control room door."
The doors opened to reveal the darkened room. Brian was sure someone was already there. Cautiously, he stepped into the room. The auxiliary engineering control room was round, with 12 alcoves branching off. Within each alcove was a computer terminal displaying the status of the station's various power systems. Brian embraced the "One".
In a split second Brian confirmed the presence of someone in the room. One of the displays was in interactive mode. Had it just been left that way, it would have reverted to display status within 5 minutes. Brian could see, from where he was near the door, that the codes activated were to the core controls. Whoever had been here must have heard Brian and Saryena's conversation outside the door.
The only alcoves Brian couldn't see, were the ones to his right and left. Someone was hiding in either one, or both, of them. One thing was sure, Brian thought, standing in the doorway was one sure method of getting pegged.
Brian decided to try the alcove to the left. Spinning around the wall divider, he found the alcove empty. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the computer console across the room mimicking the commands being input from another location. He pressed himself against the wall, bracing himself for a move on the last alcove.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice announced from the last alcove. "I have rigged this to go as soon as I touch this button, and I assure you, I will press it if you move on me."
"Who are you? Why are you doing this?" Brian asked to gain time.
"Who am I? No one of importance. Why am I doing this? For a lot of latinum." The voice replied.
Brian decided to try talking to him. "A lot of people will die because this. You will be hunted for the rest of your life. You'll never be able to trust any one, always afraid someone will turn you in. Do you really want to live on the run, with the deaths of thousands on your hands? Is the Latinum worth it?"
The voice was quiet for a moment, then replied. "What did those people do to help my family when Cardassia arrived to claim their planet? Where were your precious Starfleet and Klingon Empire then? The Cardassians wiped us all out. If I hadn't been off planet, I'd have been dead too." There was a pause. "I've been living on borrowed time since."
Brian could hear that he was running out of time. The voice was resigned to its fate. It almost sounded as if it wanted to die, to end its torment. "You can't bring them back by killing more innocent people. You'll just reinforce a vicious cycle of loss and revenge."
The voice became angry. "You Federation types are so typical. You are so full of yourselves, so arrogant. You have things too easy. Perhaps the destruction of your mighty new space station will take you down a notch."
Both of them were surprised when the door opened again. A new voice spoke to them. "Brian, don't do it, you'll fail."
Brian recognized T'Pina's voice. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"Your efforts to stop Technician Michael Wong from recoding the core controls will fail."
"How did you know who I am?" the voice from the other alcove asked.
"That is irrelevant. The fact that I know will mean that you will never enjoy your latinum, which I might add, the Romulans that were going to pay you never meant to let you live to see."
Brian was confused. Who was this T'Pina? Was she a current timeline T'Pina? Was she from the timeline's future? Was she a co-conspirator?
"Damn! I have half a mind to push this button anyway." Wong said.
"You will, in approximately 7.5 seconds."
"T'Pina, I need to know. How will I fail?" Brian asked.
"Because I shoot you." T'Pina replied matter-of-factly.
Brian swung out to confront T'Pina, but made sure his first shot went towards Wong. T'Pina shot him before he could get a bead on the saboteur. His body disappeared without a trace, erased from existance. Wong, on the other hand, had plenty of time to press his button, dooming the station to his prerecorded instructions.
T'Pina moved with a surprising speed for someone who was disabled. Her hands found the correct spots on the tech's face by instinct.
"My mind to your mind. My thoughts to your thoughts." T'Pina intoned in an ancient ritual from Vulcan. "Our thoughts become one." The two of them stood frozen in place for a moment which, for Michael Wong, seemed to stretch forever as his mind was first taken apart, then reassembled. T'Pina felt his grief as he returned to his home to find his family all dead. Wong learned of the pain T'Pina had endured during the tragedy at Wolf 359, when she was injured beyond medical science's ability to repair.
T'Pina released Wong and he fell to the floor. Armed with the information she needed, T'Pina began to reprogram the core control codes. Time, previously her ally, was now her enemy. She had only a few minutes to enter the corrected control codes and reverse the catastrophic destruction of the station. Behind her, Wong stirred.
T'Pina took a second to take a computer disk from her pocket and insert it into the slot on the console.
She soon finished her re-programming and input the corrected codes. "Now, Mr. Wong…" T'Pina said as she turned towards him with her phaser drawn. Wong was pointing a strange gun at her.
"What you did to me… I don't understand… It was worst than the Cardassians. You're Starfleet, how could you?" Wong cried in torment. "I had to re-live the loss of my family again."
"Your pain is inconsequential compared to the deaths you were about to cause. Soon, you will learn to live with it, where the innocent people you were going to kill would not. The needs of the many outweighed the needs of the one. With your plot to destroy Starbase 410 finished, their needs are met. Now your needs must be seen to. Allow me to help you rebuild your life."
"I don't think so." Wong said, then he shot T'Pina.
The gun made a load noise and a solid projectile tore through T'Pina's chest. She fired her phaser at Wong in response. He and his strange gun disappeared. T'Pina looked at the hole in her chest, her life blood pumping out from the pressure of her two hearts, and spreading green across the floor. She fell, no longer able to stand from loss of blood.
"Oh, Temporal Investigations never said anything about this." T'Pina said in a small childlike voice. She laid back, closed her eyes and relaxed.
Commodore Anarita Jat arrived at T'Pina's office in the morning just like she did every morning. Her going to T'Pina's office was one of the considerations Jat didn't mind making to T'Pina's injuries to keep such a good organizer and second in command. At least it got her out of her own office and into the station.
She entered T'Pina's office to find her looking confused at her computer interface. Jat had very rarely seen any Vulcan looking confused, and was curious as to what would have such a affect on her friend.
"I think you are going to want to have a look at this message, Commodore." T'Pina announced.
"Why? Who is it from?" Jat asked.
"It appears to be from myself, though I have no memory of making it. It tells a rather strange tale."
Jat quickly perused the message, then re-read it once again more slowly. "Have you been able to verify any of this?" She finally asked.
"Lt. Cdr. Q'Squa reports that there is evidence of phaser fire in the auxiliary engineering control room and Technician 3rd Class Wong is missing. He also found blood, matching mine, on the floor. He says that preliminary analysis of cell tissue found in the phaser burns appears to be from Tech Wong, Lt. Cdr. Starr. Starr has no idea how his cell tissue might have gotten there, since he's never been, but there is a record of his using his security override to enter it. The security logs also show myself and Lt. Cdr. Starr sleeping in our quarters, and at the same time as being in the control room."
"Lt. Cdr. Remora reports that there are changes to the core programming consistent with the story. Nothing she can't fix. And Lt. Morris says that one of the Ops jettison rails is bent near the outer hatch. It's significant enough to compromise the system, but something easily overlooked in an inspection. As for the message its self, it contains private personal codes that only I know."
"Well," Jat said. "This might turn out to be quite the interesting morning after all."
"Oh, there is one more thing."
"Yes?"
"I got a message from Temporal Investigations. They want to interview everyone as soon as possible."
"Oh, frak!" Jat exclaimed. "There goes a whole day. Still, I wonder. What was that tech's name?"
"Michael Wong, Technician 3rd Class."
"Skinny guy? A human of Asian descent?"
"Yes, I believe so."
"Ah, I remember him now." Jat looked at T'Pina. "I thought there was something Wong with him."
The Adventure Continues…