Renaisterre

By Lieuten Keen

Chapter 21

Starfleet Hollow

Day Seven: Night

"You have pulled something impressive out of your posterior orifice, Commander." T'Pol's dry voice was at odds with the light-hearted tone of her words. She had taken the last eighty-three minutes to draw deep breaths and think of dry, sandy deserts while she repeated over and over that she was not under the insensible dictates of her body. She had control over her emotions and she would not be led by them. It seemed to be working so far.

Tucker pulled his head out from under the console panel. "What did you just say? Are you accusing me of pulling a miracle of my ass?" he demanded.

"Was that not the objective?" she queried.

He smirked. "I guess it was." Her attempt at humor was a rather unusual occurrence. She was more likely to take a pragmatic stance. Trip hated to waste perfectly good humor, but there was something else to be said. "This seems like such a bad idea," Trip confided quickly before he lost his nerve.

T'Pol looked at him in surprise. "You agreed to its promise," she remarked uncertainly.

"Just because I agreed to it doesn't make it a good idea. Although it only takes one successful crazy idea to make people call a man a genius," Trip grinned. "The diagnostics are coming out all right, I guess. I'd really like more time to make certain of everything, but I guess we're about out of time?" He waited for her confirming nod. "Well, we've stripped her down to just about the nuts and bolts. We removed everything that wasn't strictly necessary, including the chair padding and the anti-grav plating."

"You removed anti-gravity plating?" T'Pol wanted to make certain she heard that clearly.

"Yeah, and if it weren't for Truax, we'd'a forgot to put seatbelts back in again," he acknowledged ruefully. "We've also torn out most of the atmospheric controls. Since we'll probably need the EV suits when we get to Enterprise, we'll just wear them in the pod and then we won't need the weight of a heater or humidity control. We pulled out subspace communications and the automated distress beacon. We won't be able to contact you until we reach the ship."

"Is that wise?" T'Pol inquired.

"We're trying to get this down to the lightest weight possible, T'Pol. Everything that ain't strictly necessary is going. Right now we've basically got four metal chair frames, seatbelts and basic helm control sitting on top of three high-powered explosives."

She peered into the Pod, in all of the corners, doing everything she could to avoid touching him or getting close enough to smell him. She had a few questions about function and control, but in the end there was nothing else to say. There were no other words that would keep him here safe with her without jeopardizing the entire crew. She had to let him go.

Again.

"Are you prepared to launch, Commander Tucker?" She inquired in curiously formal tones. It was a formal occasion. If anything went wrong, it would be her name on the report giving the order that ended his life.

"I am prepared, Commander T'Pol," Tucker responded in equally grave tones. The moment the words left his mouth, all his fear floated away. He lifted his head to look up at the murkiness that hid the bright dots of light. He was going home. In a very short time he would be up there. No matter which way this ended, he would be floating among the stars. If he was successful, he would see his best girl floating in the asteroid field where they left her and she would open her portals to him and he would be home.

Home is where your heart was, right?

He brought his gaze back down to earth, and saw T'Pol studying him closely. "Let's get this show on the road," he encouraged in a husky voice.

"Make it so, Commander," she directed.

The Watch Tower

Day Seven: Night

"And you keep calling me crazy," Andie muttered quietly. She was silently shushed by a dark look Malcolm.

Her silent apology of two uplifted hands allowed Malcolm to return his concentration to the task at hand. Roland watched him secure the knot on the line of flexible cable provided by Chang around the end of the projectile, then loaded the metal bolt into the crossbow he carried. Reed whispered in his ear, directing the placement of the arrow. Roland nodded and stepped back as far as he dared to take aim. Footing was precarious here. There was less than a meter of solid land at the widest spaces between the smooth rock of the Tower wall and the sheer drop that was now slick with water from the newly repaired moat. Reed would think later about how all the improvements they had made to this world had actually ended up causing them more difficulties than if they had done nothing.

The quarters last employed by Archer and Reed were directly above their heads. Its windows had offered a head-spinning view of the steep gorge, but nothing more, and Reed had counted on it not being a location of interest to the sentries posted on the Tower wall, and so far he had been correct. Once Roland fired his missile, there was a small tinkling of glass, but there was no further commotion from inside, meaning they hadn't been detected. The wide shaft of the arrow caught horizontally between the narrow window casings and delicate tugs indicated that it was holding true enough.

Reed hated himself for this next bit, but he signaled Andie forward. Of the group that waited, she was the lightest and the least likely to snap the brace that the arrow was caught on. She winked at him in the dark as he secured a noose around her waist for security before grasping the rope and drawing her body up the wall, making it look like no effort at all. All that rock climbing they had done should have assured Reed that she was strong and agile, but he still didn't breathe until she had swung a leg over the sill and disappeared into the darkened room. Soon the noose slipped out of the room and back down the wall to those that waited.

Steward Declan had fallen from this very height. He may have been poisoned first, but anyone who followed him into the gorge would be crushed by the landing. Everybody involved tried very hard not to think about it as they were hoisted up the wall, one at a time. Soon they were all standing in the bedroom that until very recently Archer and Reed had shared. Since they had been ousted from the fortress, nobody had come inside and they were now alone in the dark. Herak had posted guards at known entrances to the tunnels, but he had obviously never considered that they would scrabble up the narrow corridor between the ravine and the outpost. That didn't mean they could afford to be clumsy.

"How are we going to get into the tunnels from here?" Archer asked. He was trying not to gasp out loud, but the pain in his torso got worse with every exertion. Andie had insisted that he wear Chang's reinforced vest and had secured the garment herself, pulling the sides tight enough to act as a cast around his damaged ribs. He may be in pain, but the vest was definitely helping. He almost considered telling Reed he was right and heading back to Galen's camp. Perhaps Andie was right and it was arrogance and glory-hounding that kept him in the thick of things after all, he considered.

"Through my room," Andie tilted her head. Reed moved ahead of her, to check the corridors between the chambers for guardians. There were none and the group moved across the hall.

Once there, the humans turned their eyes to Captain Roland. "I don't know where it is," he shook his head. "My experience in the Watchtower has been limited. It has always been a sacred place."

"Split up and look for it," Reed ordered softly. The others complied.

Andie pushed a toe across the floorboard in a halfhearted attempt to look for trapdoors, but then her gaze froze on the large bed. She moved to the footboard and closed her eyes. Her hands moved through the air in front of her as though she was directing actions. Someone came to stand beside her.

"What are you thinking?" Jon's voice murmured.

"If someone stood over my bed, I would have waked," she said equally softly.

"You were very tired," he pointed out.

"I've never been so tired that I wouldn't notice a stranger looming over me," she stated firmly, opening her eyes. "The arachnidans aren't trained spiders." She lifted her gaze. "The only way someone could have gotten them onto my pillow would be to drop them from above."

They both looked up. Around the room, the search came to a halt as the others raised their eyes to the same location. Chang was the first to move, stepping up onto the bedding and using his baton to press against the wooden planks. One moved slightly under his pressure. Reed joined him on the bed. Together the two security officers pushed the trapdoor up and peered into the gloom.

Soon Reed had been hoisted into the darkness and once he determined that nobody was currently occupying the space, he signaled for Andie. Roland followed, and then Archer, who gritted his teeth to keep from gasping out loud. Chang pulled his body up lastly and closed the door, leaving the group in darkness. Malcolm pulled out a scanner and used its blue LED panel to illuminate the path he chose.

The crawlspace led to a ladder made up of iron rungs buried deep into the stone wall. The ladder led down into the earth. Periodically there were nooks and openings that indicated other passages to be followed. Reed ignored them all, except to determine that there were no hostile guards located in those places. His intention was to get deep into the earth and secure the room that held the hostile chemicals. On the off-chance that they accidentally completed the formula the entire fortress would be lost. Therefore extinguishing that threat was the first on the list.

Using his scanner to determine their location, Reed finally got off the ladder and signaled the others to be quiet. It was probably unnecessary, but he did it anyway. His next action was to seek out the doctor; he was certain she would be causing trouble but he found her standing just behind the captain, and checking his condition on her make-shift scanner without alerting her superior officer to that fact. Reed caught her eye and asked her a silent question. Her answer was an eye roll and a shrug that seemed to indicate that Archer's condition was unchanged. That didn't seem reassuring but there was nothing else to be done about it now. Reed signaled Chang and Roland to step forward. Andie put a hand on Archer's arm and detained him while the security force moved forward to clear their way.

When they returned, Reed signaled several things with his hands. Roland looked confused and Andie made a rude gesture in return. "Does it look like I speak commando?" she hissed irritably.

Reed exhaled slowly. "There are a dozen guards. That's nearly twice our number but we have the advantage of technology. Chang and I will take out what number we can with our firearms, but it will come down to a fight." He looked at Andie. "You should remain behind."

"We'll see," she grinned coolly. Her hands rested easily on the hilts of her borrowed daggers.

Archer stepped forward. "We don't have the advantage of numbers so we'll have to use every man to get this done."

Malcolm clenched his jaw in frustration but he nodded at the captain's words. He made some more hand gestures and the group got into their assigned positions. Chang and Reed stood on opposite sides of the open portal. They took careful aim and fired. Two men fell. The rest were not taken by surprise. They dove behind the barrels of chemicals and the sound of metal weapons being drawn from their resting places was nearly deafening.

"Damn, I thought we'd get more before they knew what was happening," Reed muttered. He ducked as an arrow buried itself in the wall behind his head. He remembered to use the term 'arrow' loosely, for it was truly just a length of metal with a sharp end. Fired from a crossbow it had deadly speed and pretty good aim.

Captain Roland was unaccustomed to waiting. He stood in the doorway, bellowed loudly and dashed inside. A man left his position behind his barrel to take aim at his opponent and Chang's rifle brought him down. Roland ducked to the side and took shelter behind a loose boulder that some of the guards had been using as a table.

Archer attempted the same maneuver, slipping around the MACO in the corridor and dashing inside. His body blocked Reed's attempts to fire at the enemy, and one of Herak's guards flung his body at the incoming captain, knocking them both to the floor. Archer groaned with the pain of taking the weight of the flying man's body but continued rolling, flinging him off to one side. A shape blurred over his head as Reed leaped on the man attacking the captain. Jon noted that Reed's pistol fell close by and he scrambled to acquire it.

Chang cried out as a pair of arms wrapped around his torso from behind, and he was involved in grappling with his own attacker, and could offer no more tactical support. He lifted his feet and pushed against the nearest wall and their tangled bodies were forced across the passageway, driving the weight of their stumbling bodies against the man behind him. The arms loosened around his chest and Chang drove an elbow into the attacker's chest. A firm grasp of the wrist preceded a rough twist and the attacker cried out right before Chang's fist met with his face and dropped him to the ground in a slump.

Inside the room things were beginning to look bleak. But then suddenly, they got better.

One of the guards hiding behind one of the many barrels in the room lifted the wooden lid from a supply of sulphur and bashed the man in front of him with its heavy weight. The man slumped to the floor. The traitor turned and used the side of the barrel lid to knock the man next to him to an unnatural sleep. Clearly he was not working for Herak.

More traitors popped up around the room even as the humans continued their struggle. Reed's fist guaranteed that Archer's attacker would not get up any time soon. From his knees, he scrambled across the dirt floor, throwing his arms around the knees of a man sneaking for a better advantage. The man tumbled to the floor and Reed was on him in an instant, using his legs to pin the man's arms to his side while pummeling his face with well-placed fists.

Across the room Chang kicked a smaller pony barrel into the shins of a man who was drawing his sword in the crowded room. His night stick met the metal blade in the air and while keeping the weapon at bay, he punched the attacker. Captain Roland was deep in combat with his own foe. He seemed to have the upper hand. It was resting against his foe's neck and he repeatedly slammed it forward, forcing the face to drum against the wooden barrel.

Archer gained his feet by leaning against the rock wall at his side. His hand shook as he lifted the pistol but he took careful aim. Just then, the world shook around him, tossing him to his knees. The fortress walls groaned as though they might collapse at any moment, and the battle stopped as noise filled the corridor, causing everyone's ears to ring with the sound. Men looked around, faces paling in the dancing light of the torches that illuminated the room.

One man raised a hand and called for a halt to the skirmish. "Take heart! The lady returns!" When he doffed his leather hat, it was clear that this man was Captain Merwyn, leader of the Tower defenses. About a third of the men still standing in this room lowered their weapons and nodded encouragingly. The sudden compliance confused the invaders. Chang retrieved his rifle and aimed it at the group. Archer guarded the others with his pistol.

Malcolm lifted his head from his position astride a fallen man. His eyes frantically searched for one person in particular, but he did not find her. "Damnit, Andie!" he groaned, scrambling off the horizontal man and making for the portal once he acknowledged that his companions had the matter well in hand.

Once Andie realized that the men were involved in retaking the explosives, she backtracked through the corridor to the room where she had been held before. She found Theia there, secured in the cage. She cut the bindings that secured Dagmar and the Potters, all of whom sported fresh cuts and bruises. While they rubbed their hands and ankles to get circulation going again, she begged a hair pin from the lady and began working on the lock.

Getting out of the room wasn't as easy the second time. A guard rushed in, carrying his sword. Dagmar grabbed Theia's hand and pulled her to the back of the room, pushing the young woman behind her. Andie didn't cower. She parried thrusts with the guard, using one of the daggers she'd brought. She kept moving to her left and when the guard changed position to face her, the male villager lifted a heavy silver urn and whacked the guard over the head with it. The guard sank to the floor.

A second guard appeared to block the door and there was no other escape for those inside. He was in no hurry for he felt reasonably certain of his success. "You are mine now," he told them with a dark smile.

"We belong to no man," Andie refuted. Over her shoulder she spoke to the Chosen One. "Theia? Scream for me. Scream loudly."

"What?" the lady asked confused.

"Scream!" Andie commanded.

Theia opened her mouth and a shriek echoed through the caverns built under the castle. The walls shook with the sound. Their attacker paused, slightly off-balance with the movement of the ground under his feet. Andie wasn't. She had spent enough time surfing to know how to reclaim her balance on a troubled sea. She ran toward him. He braced clumsily for an attack.

Instead of thrusting her weapon at his face, she dropped to one hip and slid across the dirt floor, pulling the fork out of her boot as she moved and driving it into his shin as she passed. His scream of pain silenced Theia's. On the other side of his frame, Andie planted her metal-toed boot into his thigh just above his knee. The muscles in his leg seized up in pain and Andie scrambled to her feet. Extending one leg to its full length, she kicked him in the head and his body slammed into the wall before sliding down into a puddle.

The sound of boots running through the corridor caught her attention and Andie reaffirmed her grip on her dagger as she braced for the incoming enemy.

Malcolm cleared the corner, convinced he would find them all slaughtered but what he found was worse than terrible. "Damnit, woman!" he raged. "You have no concept of being a team player, do you?"

Andie relaxed her aggressive stance and pasted on a cheery smile. "I found Theia," she announced brightly, extremely happy to see someone other than the expected bandit. Her statement brought forth several exclamations from Malcolm, most of which raised her eyebrows. "Potty mouth," she muttered when he was done.

"Blast it!" he seethed. Instead of ranting further, Malcolm drew in a deep breath and tried to will his arms not to strangle her. Silently he jerked his thumb over his shoulder and Andie, in turn, nodded encouragingly at the group behind her.

"Lady Andrea saved our lives," Theia announced as she passed Reed. "She moved like the wind."

"Stop it, I'm blushing," Andie smirked playfully, falling into step beside Reed.

He didn't look happy with her, but he didn't say anything further until they stood in the room with Archer and the others. Andie knelt in the corner, offering what first aid she was able without a kit to the villagers and to the cook while the men talked.

"Soak all these chemicals in water and they won't burn, no matter what Herak does to them," Reed instructed. "They'll be useless."

"You are in luck," Merwyn explained, eyeing Captain Roland warily. By defending the Watchtower against the King, he'd been working against Roland. Clearly he expected some sort of retribution. "Herak only has about two dozen men that cannot be swayed from their loyalty to him. About half of them were down here, guarding these barrels." Now they were tied up on their knees around the room.

"That leaves a little more than a dozen men on his side up there," Reed finished.

"He has many more at his side," Merwyn corrected him. "But they are Watchtower kin, and they followed him out of fear. If you can put down Herak, they will fight no longer for his cause."

"How did this man get so many on his side?" Roland growled.

"They had little left to lose," Merwyn suggested. "The world is coming to an end."

"There is no more time for talk. We must free the villagers," Theia interrupted plaintively. All eyes turned toward her and she shrunk somewhat, unaccustomed to the attention.

"She's right," Andie added, planting her body between Theia and the questioning gazes of the rough men that surrounded them. "In the event that Herak might have more barrels, we can't leave the villagers to be used as Herak's pawns."

"We can't attack Herak and the guards in front of the Hall at the same time. We don't have the manpower for that." Reed protested.

"There is a passage," Theia offered hesitantly. So many months lived in secret made the intense attentions of the soldiers hard to bear, but she carried on. "It opens up inside the Great Hall."

"So we get the villagers out through the passageway and let them out in the town," Archer suggested. "That keeps them out of harm's way."

"There are guards inside the Hall," Reed declared. "They would alert others to the exodus."

"Not if they are distracted," Andie noted.

"How do you intend to do that?" Reed demanded harshly.

Andie just smiled. "I'm very good at distracting guards," she assured him.

In spite of his hostile feelings toward her, an intrusion into the Great Hall would provide an opportunity to pin Herak's hostile forces between the intruders entering the fray behind them and the oncoming Royal forces just outside the gates. And she was very distracting, he acknowledged. And she could take care of herself; it was something she did better than almost anything else. Malcolm turned his gaze to Archer for final confirmation.

Pushing his body off the wall where he reclined carefully, Archer ground his teeth together against the dull throb of pain he was feeling and nodded his assent.

Roland leaned in closer to Reed. "Do you really think that one woman can distract an entire castle?"

Malcolm looked directly at the doctor, whose hands rested on the jeweled hilts of twin daggers sticking out of her belt. She had reacquired the tattered satchel she had carried with her and although it was nearly empty, it rested across her shoulders with easy familiarity. The bruises she suffered from her skirmishes earlier in the day were beginning to darken the skin on her face and neck. If there was one thing he could say with absolute certainty about the doctor, it was that she had a gift for distracting the people around her.

"She'll get the job done, if we can get her into a position to be distracting," Reed answered. Both Roland and Merwyn seemed skeptical of that, but Archer stood up straighter and signaled Chang to make preparations to move out.

"We're a little more than three hours until midnight," Archer announced. "Let's get this wrapped up before then. I'd like to wake up in my own bed tomorrow."

"2030 hours? That's all?" Andie snorted. "It's been a really long day."

"It's not over yet," Reed reminded her.

Merwyn left most of his men behind to damage the barrels with water, taking only two with him as he joined the growing group. Andie refused to allow the Potters to join in, and a pair of men was assigned to escort them to the outlet in the hidden shack. Theia would not be deterred and insisted on going with them.

"Theia, your continued survival is crucial to the survival of the Tower," Andie insisted in growing frustration. "You have to protect yourself!"

"My people are in danger and I will be there to lead them out of it! I will not leave them!" Theia persisted.

"Damnit, woman!" Andie hissed, running her hands through her hair in agitation.

"How does it feel to be on this side of that argument for once?" Malcolm snorted.

The doctor threw him a look like she wanted to tell him off, but he might retaliate by telling her that she would have to be the one to secure Theia elsewhere so she clamped her mouth shut with visible effort and settled for a glare.

Chang and Reed led Merwyn, who stood at Theia's side, and Dagmar followed just behind her. Archer and Dr. Andie trailed after and Roland brought up the rear with a couple of extra men.

The final assault was about to begin.

Starfleet Hollow

Day Seven: Night

Hoshi was proving herself as a future commander as she barked orders to as many of the crew as she could with the list she held in her hand, herding bystanders into a safe area, while charging others to clear debris from the edge of the launch site. She kept everyone too busy to worry about failure. Everything was coming together in a rush.

Trip's calm was holding firm. He wasn't sure where it was coming from; only that he felt like he was drifting in a very pleasant fog. He took his place in the redesigned shuttle. Romero was already settled in the rear seat, a rifle strap holding his weapon across the chest plate of his shiny gold EV suit. Trip took a moment to brush his fingers over the sparse control panel and concentrated on breathing evenly.

Travis Mayweather bounced into the Pod as though he was leaping onto the bus to head to the local Galleria Mall. "Let's kick the tires and light the fires!" he called out brightly. It took him but a few seconds to strap his body into the cold metal chair. "Do you want to take the first leg, Commander?"

I'd like to take a leg and smack Mayweather with it, Trip thought. He closed his eyes and thought of the shiny, copper cylinder resplendent with blue and violet lights that was the heart of his ship. She hummed and she whispered and she was waiting for him. "Go ahead, Ensign. I'm sure you'll need something to write home about later."

The ensign hit the power switch. The pod started jiggling. There was a lot more noise in a pod stripped of its upholstery. Without cushions there was a lot more movement too. The pod lifted off the ground, using its thrusters and Trip sighed. They were officially underway.

"Yikes! I can't believe I almost forgot! And I call myself a Cochrane fan?" Travis suddenly abdicated controls and started patting his chest and pants, ignoring the way the fragile craft dipped in response to his inattention. "No! No! No! I've jinxed the whole thing! Oh! No wait, I've got it! We're good!" He pulled a disk out of his pocket and slipped it into a slot on the side of the control panel.

The most god-awful sound that Trip had ever heard suddenly overwhelmed the frantic thudding of his heart in his ears as he clutched the arms of his chair, and the noise clanged through the small confines of the crowded room.

Travis shrugged and rolled his head around and rocked back and forth in his chair, lip-synching and pointing at Tucker to encourage him to join in. "Why don't you come with me, little girl, on a magic carpet ride."

"Steppenwolf?" Romero questioned dubiously from the back seat. "Why did it have to be Steppenwolf?"

Trip rolled his eyes. Travis offered one final rebel yell before grabbing back the helm and directing their pod further up into the atmosphere. When the blue lights had reached the peak of their ability, he hit the throttle and they began their precarious climb.

The Watchtower

Day Seven: Night

It was fairly easy to slide ten people through the narrow confines of the sliding door in the pantry. Andie insisted that Theia wait in the kitchen in order to direct the flow of people straight into the secret passage, and was relieved when the woman actually complied. Dagmar fell back with her mistress and Merwyn looked torn between two duties. In the end he left the women in the safety of the kitchen and joined the others as they slipped out into the great room and blended in with the gathering of people there.

The tables had been picked nearly clean by half-starved stomachs and now most of those villagers reclined in various sleepy poses throughout the room, their insides so full that they were aching and demanding rest in order to process the intake. Just a few were assisting their digestion by parading slowly around in circles and the invaders slipped into place beside them. Their progress was loosely monitored by four guards, loitering near the double doors that led into the inner courtyard, in the hopes of being called into more active service rather than the relatively dull work of watching prisoners who didn't mind being imprisoned.

In fact the first guard was rather surprised when one of the wandering people stopped suddenly just an arm's length away from him. He had not witnessed the progression of this particular person walk straight from the kitchen to stand in front of him. "Get back!" he growled. His partners looked up listlessly.

They were more attentive a few seconds later when a hard blow drove the first guard to his backside. Two of the guards struggled to release their weapons from their scabbards, but were overtaken by at least four men. The fourth guard felt a tap on his shoulder and spun around to face the woman who had recently been killed with great fanfare by the Imminent Queen.

"You're...you're dead," he stammered.

"I got better," Andie assured him with a cold smile. Before he could continue to object, she planted a knee between his legs and he dropped to the floor.

As the guards were being bound with various pieces of leather, a terrible boom echoed through the room. Several people were dropped to the floor, confused about what was going on. They cried out and created a hum of noise that would be soon be heard by anyone outside the Great Hall.

Malcolm could only hope that those guards outside this door were as confused by the unexpected cannon fire as the prisoners were. He wasn't confused. "That was cannon fire," he stated.

"Galen's firing on us?" Andie spat out, annoyed. "I guess peace talks broke down."

"That came from inside the Tower," Merwyn noted.

"We have to stop Galen from returning fire!" Archer joined them.

"We have to get these people to safety," Andie corrected.

"I will escort the Lady and her people through the passage," Roland announced.

"Her safety is my job," Merwyn averred, knowing that Roland spoke of Theia and not Andie.

"The safety of the Tower is your job," Roland corrected. "I do not know these halls as well as you might and your knowledge will greatly assist our benefactors to disarm this fortress before it is too late. Someone will need to explain to King Galen that the crowd appearing out of the darkness so close to his camp intend him no harm." He looked intently at Merwyn. "I would give my life to save her in your stead," he vowed. Regretfully Merwyn nodded.

"You should go with them," Andie suggested to Archer.

"I'm going with you," he told her stubbornly.

"You are in no condition to go with us," Malcolm spoke quietly from nearby. "Your condition would be detrimental to our objective." He had noticed the growing discomfort suffered by his commanding officer.

"Besides you should play to your strengths, as I will play to mine," Andie told him, surprising Reed by her assistance. "You go rescue the girl, Jon. Leave the bitch to me." The last line was barely more than a growl.

Behind him Jon could hear Roland speaking to the crowd, explaining that Sadiré had betrayed them all and had left them here to die, but that there was a way out if they would follow him.

"Don't kill her, Andie," Jon directed with utter seriousness. "We're leading a rescue; we're not a war party."

"I will do everything in my power to see that she lives," Andie promised evasively.

He would like to do more than what he had accomplished today, but his torso pained him with every breath. Had he been in better health he would never have nodded his head in agreement. Reed's shoulders relaxed slightly at the captains' acquiescence. The moment of relief disappeared as he took stock of the doctor and thought of going into battle with her. "Let's get this over with," he sighed, placing a hand at Andie's back to nudge her toward the door. The moment had come when he had to decide whether to watch the captain or the doctor and he was making his choice. He just wished that his alternatives were more appealing.

"Are you ready?" Merwyn asked as he stood at the door with the two men he had brought up from the tunnels.

In spite of his many reservations, Reed nodded. Andie drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly as she took her place at the center of the group, while Archer turned his back on his crewmen and started ushering the villagers into the kitchen and the narrow tunnel beyond.

Kicking the double doors open was pretty easy, and it knocked one of the guards outside over as it swung at him. The pair of Tower soldiers attacked the sentries, and Andie swept past them all without waiting.

Merwyn and Reed followed in her wake as she moved through the courtyard. The old guard tapped Reed on the shoulder as they neared the dividing wall and the men broke off in another direction. Andie didn't flinch when they broke off. She just climbed the narrow stairs on the dividing wall that kept the inner courtyard separate from the outer ward. The men entered a small door that opened onto a winding staircase which deposited them in a sentry's nook. It was empty. save for an old unmanned cannon. They set to work rendering it obsolete so they could move on to another.

"I hope your lady can distract Herak's attention from our work," Merwyn whispered to Reed as they moved through the chilly darkness.

From outside a shout was heard. "Hey! Patricidal whore! I've got a bone to pick with you!"

Malcolm briefly clenched his jaw. "Yeah, I think she can manage." He waved Merwyn to continue, praying softly that she wouldn't get herself killed before he could rescue her again.

Starfleet Escape Pod

Same time

It was time. They had risen as far as they could on directional thrusters alone. Tucker didn't dare risk looking at the very young ensign next to him or the battle-hardened marine behind him, for fear he'd start thinking of all the things they would lose if this plan went even just the tiniest bit wrong. There was no more time to waste. He took a deep breath and pressed the first detonator button.

The sudden gust from the explosion sent Tucker slamming back into his chair as the little pod lurched upwards. Several dials on the navigation screen just started spinning out of control, leaving no context of their gauges. The shaking grew more pronounced and Tucker barked at Travis to turn off that damned music. Travis complied, his eyes wide. His hand slipped off the button once before the music died out. It wasn't any quieter without the rock music. Metal housings rattled against one another and Tucker imagined he could feel the bolts keeping his chair on the floor plating rattling their way out of the grooves. The ride smoothed out a little, and he risked another gulp of air.

When the second light lit up on his instrument panel, Tucker hit the second detonator and prayed.

The Watchtower

Same Time

Sadiré's head was swimming with all the possibilities of her life. She would be a queen! She would hold the power! She would have everything she ever wanted! She was assured of her place in history until a voice directed her attention away from the battle field.

"Hey, patricidal whore; I've got a bone to pick with you!"

Lady Sadiré turned from her post at the head of the Tower walk with her jaw wide open and her eyes nearly bugging out of her head. "You're dead," she breathed. She inhaled then shouted. "You're dead! I saw you fall!" Her mother had seen ghosts before she had passed and that didn't bode well for the young woman's state of mind. Sadiré's mouth was suddenly dry even as her vision spun in circles around her.

That cursed woman only shouted back smugly. "Honey, I don't fall. I fly." She stretched out her arms and tilted her head to the night sky. "It's a glorious night to take wing!" Her voice carried across the audience below. With her head tilted back she saw something that the others in the Tower had not, intent as they were on the campsite near the ravine. She saw a bright white light leap up over the tops of the trees in the distance and continue in a straight line; up, up and away.

A smile lit across Andie's face.

"You're not real!" Sadiré cried out, wiping her face with her hand to get a better look. "You're a ghost!"

"I'm as real as your prophecy, Sweet pea," Andie told her. "A thousand years ago this land was beautiful and prosperous! Then the lights fell from the sky and the world was unmade! You named me the Chosen One and I stand before you tonight to recreate the event. The stars will fall at my command and I will remake the world as I see fit!" She pinned Sadiré with a look. "Do you doubt me?"

The imminent queen gathered her wits about her. "Kill her!" she commanded her army.

They took aim.

The sky was lit up by a large red ball of fire. Far away over the trees, a ball of fire flew toward the murky sky faster than anything had ever moved in this world.

"Yee haw!" Andie jumped up and down on her tower walk and let out an ululating rebel cry that echoed around the acoustics made by the mountains around them.

The crowd of rough men below dropped to their knees and covered their heads with their hands, cowering in fear of something they never thought to see with their own eyes.

"You don't know what we can find. Why don't you come with me, little girl, on a magic carpet ride?" Andie belted out a breathless and off-key tune made famous by the band Steppenwolf in the twentieth century. "Let the sound take you away!" She waved her hands in the air and danced a little jig on the castle wall, whooping and shouting with glee.

Sadiré thought nothing could be more frightening than that first red ball of flame, but just as she raised her head to take stock of her surroundings, there was a second explosion. That red ball turned into a shade of green she'd never seen, and it sped faster toward its place in the sky, growing smaller as it went, but leaving behind a trail of color in the cloud cover that perpetually covered the land.

Starfleet Escape Pod

The inside of the pod grew hot as they threesome traveled on a ball of fire toward the atmosphere and the plating on the outside of the tiny conveyance took a hit from temperatures that threatened to cook them alive. They were happy to be wearing the bronze EV suits that helped to regulate their temperatures, but all three were secretly hoping that the shiny fabric would be enough.

Travis gripped the stick in his hands, his only means of guidance and held it firm. The pod rolled around on its axis and Tucker took a moment to be grateful that Truax had demanded restraints be employed.

At a grunted command from the engineer, the three men braced themselves and gritted their teeth. The final detonator was deployed. Once more they were flung backward against the unforgiving metal of their chairs and they gasped as their speed increased, along with the rumbling and shaking inside their pod. With one final rumble they burst through the final layer of atmosphere and shot through the familiar black darkness of outer space.

The intense pressure of their positions was suddenly released as gravity ceased to matter. If it weren't for the harnesses they wore, they'd be drifting all over the gently rolling pod. Tucker took a moment to gulp a lungful of air while mentally counting his fingers and toes. His brain seemed to recognize all ten of each and he exhaled deeply. "Everybody all right?" he checked in with the others. His voice sounded tinny in his ears through the speakers.

"Which way is Enterprise?" Travis panted. He was so scared he was sweating profusely and entertained a brief mental horror story of drowning in his own perspiration inside his suit. The slick gloves nearly slipped off the joystick and another nightmarish flash sped across his vision as he considered that he might have sent them all tumbling back toward the earth.

Romero didn't say a word. It took every ounce of effort just to pry his eyes open.

Tucker wriggled around the cramped seat, fumbling the handheld scanner as he checked dials and gauges that seemed to be functioning normally. "That way, bearing 024, mark 4.6," he pointed with his gloved hand.

The navigator nodded stiffly, turning the joystick with a practiced hand as they started the final leg of their journey.

The Watchtower

The third burst of flame could barely be seen from the ground, although the cloud cover lit up across the whole valley. As the final trail of fire disappeared, Andie stopped her exuberant gyrations and smiled widely at Sadiré, making certain to show as many teeth as possible.

"A thousand years ago the world was unmade," Andie shouted out, making sure her voice carried across the courtyard and beyond. "But powerful seers spoke of a time when the world would be remade again. And this Tower was the key to that powerful remaking. A steward was selected to guard its secrets with his life. And through the years the Stewards did, passing word from father to son until Declan fell from the Tower." She took a deep breath. "'Fell' isn't the right word, though, is it Sadiré?" Andie glanced at the men who were beginning to struggle to their feet though dazed and confused. "She's a faithless whore. Do you know what she's done?"

"Those living in Galen's kingdom thought they were the only people left on the earth, but there were others," Andie went on, without waiting for answers. "They lived in the Sunderland. They heard of a great power and they set out to take it for their own. A caravan passed over the Great Dry Plain. They lost many people, but they persevered. And some survived the crossing." Andie looked back at Sadiré, whose face remained pale and clammy.

"Letizia was a woman of means in the Sunderland. She intended to marry the man who held the great power. But when she reached the Tower she found the Steward was already married and his wife was expecting a child. Being an accomplished herb woman, she poisoned the wife of the Steward, but not before the Lady delivered a healthy baby girl, called Theia."

"Shut your mouth," Sadiré wheezed, struggling to her feet.

"Letizia employed her potions to bewitch the Steward. Acting under the influence of her herbs, he set aside his grief and married her before his wife was cold. Which was fortunate for Letizia since she was already expecting a baby of her own," Andie added sarcastically. "I guess it was a very long trip because Letizia got too friendly with the body guard sent from Sunderland to protect her and nearly put an end to the whole plot by producing a bastard."

"Silence!" Sadiré shouted, standing upright with her eyes flaming.

"She taught her daughter everything she knew about herbs and poisons. I bet she told you stories every night about how great it would be to command the Watchtower. One day it occurred to you that she didn't mean that you would be in command. She intended to become the Steward one day. And so you took what you'd learned from your mother and you poisoned her; you slipped toxic leaves into her tea every day. That tea made her paranoid and crazy until she died from it."

"You cannot know such things!" Sadiré protested.

"I cannot see the future, but I can see the past," Andie countered. "One day you realized that Steward Declan intended to pass his knowledge of the Tower on to his other daughter, Theia. She would reach the age of majority before you and you would lose all hope of harnessing the power for your own. So you started plotting her demise, but the ktiryas got to her first. They attacked her and dragged her off before you could put your plan in motion, but it didn't matter because you would have killed her anyway."

"She was born of common blood!" Sadiré spit out. "I am a queen!"

"A few months later on your birthday, you planned to kill Declan after he handed over the key to his only living relative. But he stood here on this Tower wall and told you he'd already given the key to Theia. So you stabbed him with a knife dipped in Arachnidan venom and pushed him over the edge." Andie looked hard at Sadiré. "That's when you brought Herak into the Tower. He was your mother's body guard on the long caravan trip. He had been living in the forest, feeding off the ktiryas. He offered to help you look for the key."

"We are going to be married and I will rule this world as I see fit!" Sadiré burst out.

Andie snorted. "You can't marry Herak! He's your father!" The genetic test Andie had done on her hand had compared the genetic material she had gained from Sadiré and told the truth.

"That's not true!" Sadiré paled again. "We have pledged our love!"

"He was your mother's lover, the body guard from the caravan! How could you...?" Andie blanched. "Oh, you didn't. You haven't actually...He took you to his bed? Ew. Ew! EW! You may think he's just some guy, but surely he knew you were actually his offspring...EW!" Andie shuddered. "Remind me to tell you the story about Bad Touch Daddy."

"We will be married and he will allow me to rule this world!" Sadiré challenged staunchly.

"Oh, honey, he won't allow you to rule anything," Andie informed her. "He's going to kill you as soon as you hand over the key to the Tower. He's probably already slipping a familiar toxic herb into your tea."

It was Sadiré's turn to blanch. "No," she shook her head. "That's not true!"

"If you weren't half-dead already you would have noticed that you never killed Theia. She lives. She has continued to live her life safe in the village just a stone's throw from here. She proved her devotion to King Galen by gifting him with the key Declan gave her."

"That's impossible!" Sadiré shrieked.

"She goes by the name of Evany," Andie told her.

"That bitch of a cook!" Sadiré bellowed, recognizing the name. "I'll kill them both!"

"You killing days are over," Andie told her. "I've neutralized the explosive powder downstairs. I've released the villagers from your Great Hall and I'm about to kick your ass off this Tower wall. Your delusions of greatness are at an end."

"You think that stockpile is all that we had?" Sadiré countered. "Not only does Herak hold the key to my heart and the key to my Tower; he also holds the location of the only remaining explosive powder left in this fortress."

"Galen stands at the door. Your fortress is infiltrated," Andie pointed out. "Your plans are at an end."

"You can't stop me!" Sadiré continued on, raging to the skies with fever-bright eyes. "Nobody can stop me! I am a goddess!"

"That's where you are wrong," Andie smiled coolly. "I'm going to stop you right here and now. Better kiss your butt good-bye." Twin daggers flashed in the torchlight as Andie began to move.

Malcolm had bee listening. He had bolstered Merwyn's courage when the fireball had lit up the sky. He had rolled his eyes at Andie's impromptu dance. And he had noticed that all the men in the ward were on their knees, watching the women argue back and forth and left the first cannon aimed directly at Galen's campsite open to attack with their inattention.

He and Merwyn moved in the dark, knocking the sentries over the head and lowering their insensate bodies to the ground. They worked together to pull a vital metal pin from the inside of the cannon, making certain that they would not be fired again tonight. Only one cannon remained.

Of course, it was on the other side of the Tower walk, beyond the newly torn whole where a cannonball had dropped the doctor off the side of the wall. And it was on the other side of the dueling women who were preparing to tear each other apart like wild cats.

Why weren't these things ever easy?