Chapter 24
Commander Zatha ordered her ship the Ishran out of warp at the rendezvous point just inside the Vulcan system. She then retreated to her office. Once inside she turned on her computer screen and sat down at her desk. The rendezvous point had been just at the outskirts of the Vulcan system, and it was clear that the other Andorian ships had been here for some time already. If this was the jump off point for an attack on Vulcan, it was hardly hidden from view. So why here, she wondered? Moreover, she had seen two long-range scientific probes exit the lead ship the Striker, an odd sight to see on the eve of battle.
She smiled thinly as an idea occurred to her. "Computer, please list the Class M planets in this sector, with the exception of Vulcan," she said.
"Tarsis, Plaxon, Lyris, Alpha Vega, Delta Vega—"
"Halt," snapped Zatha. She sat forward, hands clasped in front of her on the desk. Delta Vega…the name was familiar to her. Perhaps, something from her childhood. "Summarize the dominant geophysical attributes of the planet Delta Vega," she said.
"Delta Vega: mountainous ice planet with a uniform frigid climate zone. Average day temperature is 23 ulas; average night temperature is 5 ulas," reported the computer.
"Just as warm and toasty as my home planet," murmured Zatha, watching the scrolling information on the screen. She pulled up the list of mineral resources present on Delta Vega, but the list was a long one. "Computer…identify any minerals and ores regularly extracted by the Andorian Empire on other planets which are also native to Delta Vega."
"Searching…" said the computer. Suddenly it beeped insistently. "Albite and Trilithium,"answered the computer. Commander Zatha's skin turned a deep blue color, and her antennae flattened on top of her head. Trilithium. Of course.
"Surprise, surprise," she said, standing up with a weary sigh. "Current mining operations on Delta Vega?"
"None," said the computer. "In 2230 the Vulcan High Council declared mining operations to be prohibited on Delta Vega. The ban has never been lifted, and generally harsh conditions on the planet have discouraged any attempts to mine illegally."
"Computer, what is the destination of the scientific probes launched from the command ship Striker a few minutes ago?"
"Classified," said the computer.
"Fine," said Zatha, walking out of the room. She had just heard all of what she needed to know for now.
"Commander," said Lt. Darva, as she stepped onto the bridge. "Reports show three Starfleet ships headed to the Vulcan sector."
Picard. "Will they intersect with us on their present course?" she asked.
"No sir," said Darva. "The ships are headed directly for Vulcan. No doubt they will attempt to dissuade us from continuing our assault against the Vulcan murderers."
"No doubt," said Zatha drily. "I will be below decks in the brig. I have a few questions to ask my former first officer," she said, before leaving the bridge.
Deanna Troi hurried through the corridor with the Vulcan children behind her. Yar barked directions to her, as she and her security force brought up the rear. They passed more and more crew members either lying on the deck unconscious, writhing in terror as though they were facing their worst fearor seemingly paralyzed in a corner . Troi could feel the growing anxiety of the officers behind her as though they were grabbing her in a frightened embrace.
Troi knew by now that Ra'Val must have wanted to disable the entire crew. Whether Ra'Val was incapable of killing them all, or he simply did not want to kill them, she could not tell. For some reason, she and Yar and her security officers had not yet been affected. She could only guess that Ra'Val had some use for the children and had no need to harm them. All this time they had been worried about protecting the children from Ra'Val and yet ironically, by being in the vicinity of the children, she and Yar had been protected. So far.
"Stop, this is it!" said Yar, slightly out of breath. She moved quickly around Counselor Troi and opened the Jeffries Tube. "Come on, it's okay, come on," she said encouraging the children. She lifted some of them into the tube and then beckoned for Deanna to follow them. "Hurry, Counselor," urged Yar. "Hurry!" Troi scrambled up and in, and it was at that moment, that she felt him coming for all of them, like a great dark wave. She struggled to turn around and reach for Yar, but it was too late. The hatch had been slammed shut behind them. She heard shouts, phaser fire, and then silence.
Lt. Yar almost did not react when she saw him turn the corner and head toward where they stood at the utility tunnel entrance. He was suspended in mid-air and flying toward them, his grey cloak trailing behind him. Something foreign seemed to slow her mind, but something else inside her resisted, and she slammed the hatch shut and unholstered her phaser. Her officers were running toward Ra'Val, but she stayed put. She didn't want him to reach the children without having to go through her first. She was the first to fire, and shot over their heads. She hit Ra'Val in the shoulder, but somehow he seemed to just absorb the energy from the phaser. She adjusted to the strongest setting and fired again. Now following her lead, all three of her shouting officers fired at him as well.
Now hit by a volley of phaser fire, Ra'Val hovered above the three security officers and seemed to gather himself, bringing his arms into his chest and lowering his head. Yar could not see his face, as it was shadowed by a hood. She waited, breath held while her phaser cooled down enough for her to fire again. Suddenly he spread his arms out wide, and let loose a bright burst of energy. He had turned the phaser fire back against them. Yar heard the screams of her officers at the same time as they were tossed through the air and then incinerated by the force of their own weapons fire.
Yar rolled to the side and came up firing. The shot appeared to pass through Ra'Val without effect, he landed lightly on the deck on his feet, and began walking swiftly toward her. Toward the children.
"What is it you want, you sonofabitch?" screamed Yar, backing up, phaser pointing at his chest.
"For you to sleep," said Ra'Val softly, and motioned with his wrist, sending her off her feet and careening into the wall. As she slid down the wall, her eyes rolled back in her head and she twitched before becoming still.
"Natasha, give them to me!" her sister screamed at her. Ishara, fourteen, was in one of her rages again.
Tasha Yar, just sixteen herself, stuffed a coat into a grimy canvas bag, and turned to regard her sister. "No," she said firmly. "We said we were going to give these up, remember?" She gripped three small tubes in her palm. She could feel them cutting into her skin, and knew that if she used just one of them, most of her troubles would dissipate for a while at least. Part of her considered pocketing at least one of them for the trip off-world. But they had promised each other they would destroy their last few vials from following through. They had made those same promises before, but something had always stopped them. Now Tasha was planning on getting out of this shithole and leaving everything that reminded her of Turkana behind, including the drugs she depended on every day to dull the pain of living.
Ishara pulled at her matted hair in irritation. "Ahh! I don't care what I fucking said before, I need them now," she snarled. "I'm in so much pain, Tasha. Give me just one, and I won't ask anymore," she pleaded, her tone suddenly changing to a little girl's voice.
Tasha sighed. She poked her index finger into her sister's chest. "This is where your pain is, Ishara. Shooting this shit is not going to help us anymore. We need to get away from here. I told you, there's a supply freighter headed for a space station tomorrow morning and I think I can get us both on board."
Ishara laughed. "You don't even know where that ship is going. Probably some penal colony."
"Is that worse than staying here on Turkana? Come on, it leaves in a few hours," prompted Tasha.
Ishara shrugged. "You think they're not going to notice a couple of hood rats stowing away? Besides, I'm with the Coalition now. I've got real protection now, and you can go your merry way, Tasha."
Tasha slammed her bag down on the floor and gritted her teeth. "Why are you being so stupid, Ish? You don't owe this place a thing, just come with me…okay?"
Ishara folded her arms over her chest to appear tough. It had the unintended effect of making her look even more like a dirty, scared little child. "What is your big plan anyway?" she demanded.
"I'm going to join Starfleet as soon as I can. I can fight and shoot, so I figure they can use me," said Yar trying to act casual. In fact, she had no realistic idea of what it would be like to join Starfleet.
Ishara snickered behind her hands. "You dummy, you have to go to Starfleet school before you go shooting up the galaxy! Even I know that. Come on Tash, they want people with brains, not dumb kids like us."
Tasha's face reddened, feeling her heart harden in the way it often did when she was told she was less than what she knew she was. She picked up the bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Fine. I'll give you 30 seconds to decide because I'm leaving." She headed for the entryway to their little shelter under the big steel bridge. Stooping down before she opened the flap, she turned back to her sister. "The Coalition is just another gang, Ishara. They won't take care of you."
"But you would?" Ishara challenged her.
"Yes," said Tasha quietly, and then dropped the vials on the floor. Before her sister could scramble over to grab them, Tasha stomped on them with her boot, smashing the containers. "Good luck," she said, and left their shelter for the last time. As she ran away into the night, she tried to shut out the screams of her little sister.
En Route to Vulcan
"Mr. Hakka, tell me what you know about the planet Delta Vega, and perhaps we can do something about the length of your prison sentence," Commander Zatha demanded. Lt. Hakka, her former first officer and helmsman sat in a prison cell on board the Ishran, looking very sullen and Zatha stood outside.
"Commander, I know nothing," said Hakka, trying to hide the disdain from his face as he regarded her.
Zatha laughed, and looked down at her feet before fixing him again with a cold stare. "Hakka, let's just come out with it. You question my loyalty to the Andorian Imperial Guard," she said.
"Yes," hissed Hakka. "I do. There is no possible way Captain Picard escaped without your assistance."
"And for what reason did we need to detain him aboard our ship?" she asked him.
"The reason does not matter, Commander. All that matters is that General Thran gave you an order and you refused it."
"You mean your uncle…General Thran is your uncle, is he not?" Asked Zatha.
"It is no secret, but yes," said Hakka.
"Yours is quite a wealthy family, Hakka," she observed, pacing around outside his cell. "A well-known mining family, in fact," she added.
Lt. Hakka blinked. "Yes. I do not follow you, however."
Instantly and without warning, the security force filed dropped, and Zatha entered the cell. As though powered by lightning, Zatha's arm shot out and grasped the top of Hakka's uniform, pushing him against the cell wall.
"If you have any information for me about any alternative reason for why we have been ordered to Vulcan, it is in your best interest to tell me…now," she said with quiet anger.
A slow, slippery smile spread over Hakka's face. "I have no information for you…."
Lt. Commander Data strode through the ship's corridors with a renewed purpose. Recently he had been interested to learn that Lt. Yar and Counselor Troi remained conscious and were traveling through the ship with the Vulcan children on foot. Minutes ago Yar's message had shown up on his tricorder: "Heading to Jeffries #16." Data reasoned that the likelihood of Ra'Val finding the children within the next few minutes was high, so he picked up his pace and began to run.
Jeffries tube number 16 was on the engineering level. He noted burn marks-signs of erratic phaser fire all over the walls, ceiling and deck. As he rounded the corner still at a run, he saw that Ra'Val was floating over what appeared to be an unconscious Deanna Troi and the group of Vulcan children. The children sat cross-legged in a circle, awake and gazing up at Ra'Val as though transfixed. Even for Data, it was a mesmerizing sight. Ra'Val seemed to be unaware of Data's presence.
Yar was crumpled against the wall, head lolling on her shoulder, clearly unconscious. He quietly walked toward her and bent down to feel her pulse. She appeared to have sustained a head injury, but her pulse was strong. He decided against moving her. Straightening, Data powered up the phaser rifle. He knew he would have only three shots before the weapon overheated. And because his goal was to capture Ra'Val with the force field, he knew accuracy would be paramount.
Ra'Val turned at the sound of the power cell turning on and rose up into the air over Data. His eyes were black and it seemed clear to Data that Ra'Val was attempting to use his power on Data's positronic brain. A look of confusion briefly passed over the Vulcan's face, and then he seemed to understand. He threw his arms out in a tossing motion, and Data was lifted off of his feet and thrown toward Yar's inert body. At that same instant, Data fired a burst from the rifle and the energy field struck Ra'Val on the side of his body, spinning him around in the air. He emitted a low grunting sound.
Data rolled toward the bulkhead and carefully avoided slamming into Yar. Before he could get to his feet, Ra'Val was standing over him. Ra'Val held his arms wide and then closed them in a clapping motion and Data was thrown upwards at an alarming speed, and was slammed into the ceiling. He heard the material of the ceiling groan with the impact, and he fell to the deck hard. He fired the phaser rifle at Ra'Val a second time, but the shot missed. Ra'Val advanced on him, and Data felt his limbs being pushed to the floor of the corridor, as Ra'Val exerted the force of his power. Nearly immobilized, Data watched as Ra'Val kicked the phaser out of the way, and then stepped full force onto Data's forehead, removing part of his artificial skin covering.
Suddenly Ra'Val let out a cry, and went hurtling over Data's head. It was T'Pel. She had come running from the opposite direction and slammed into Ra'Val's back as he stood over Data. There was a sickening snapping sound as they flew over Data's head. Data heard a scuffle, and as he rose to his feet and scrambled to gather up the abandoned phaser rifle, he turned to find T'Pel had pinned her brother down with what was left of her robotic arm. It also appeared to Data, that Ra'Val's back was broken.
"Thank you, T'Pel," said Data. "I recommend standing aside," he added. She leapt out of the way, as he fired the third shot at Ra'Val and the Vulcan was enveloped in a bluish energy field.
Beverly inhaled raggedly, and her eyes snapped open. She blinked a few times. She had been dreaming. The right side of her face was pressed against the floor of sickbay. She coughed and pushed herself up to a sitting position, moving her legs underneath her. Will Riker was stretching his arms and stiffly getting to his feet. He looked as though he was coming out of a daze. They looked at each other and exchanged weak smiles, hoping that for the moment the worst was over.