Chapter Seven

A second dawn over the castle town found Captain Jean-Luc
Picard at the window of the highest tower in the new castle. A
drunken townsperson was making his way home from the Eagles' Nest
Tavern. This however did not interest the captain. His eyes were
looking further west, past West Bridge toward the western hills.
A black line was proceeding in from the hills on the road to
the West Bridge Gate of the town, throwing up dust. As Picard
watched the line became rows and columns of men. And over it all
flew the white and green banner of the Romulan Warbird. His
enemy has once again reared its ugly head.

Later that day Picard watched as a couple hundred Romulans
set up camp just to the north of West Bridge and out of arrows
range. Commander Riker had wanted to ride out while they were
setting up camp and attack them. Picard, however, had a better
idea, but Riker would get his chance.

Captain Phillip Andrews and the Brittain sailed up the Blue.
He passed under North Bridge as it ran from out cropping to the
high bluff of the town. Then it came suddenly into the view of
the Romulan Camp. Andrews ordered the ship aligned to fire it's
cannons. And then the Brittain opened fire.

Chaos reigned supreme in the enemy camp. The leaders
attempted to bring a defense up against the unreachable Brittain
as it fired it's parting shot. The shot left no trace of the
leaders tent and the camp became even more chaos ridden.
Into the panic rode Riker's knights, slaying enemies left
and right. The Romulan's began an extremely unorganized retreat.


The castle dungeons gained another four dozen people when
the day was over. Five dozen enemy soldiers laid on the ground
dead. Almost half of the soldiers had escaped into the woods.

That was not the last of the Romulans, however. The next
morning found three hundred encamped by South Gate and another
hundred across the Green from Harbor keep by the waterfall.
Picard quickly sent reinforcements to Lieutenant Worf at
South Gate. They arrived just as the first charge began.
A battering ram moved forward with a dozen ladders for
scaling the wall. Data quickly began taking out the men carrying
the battering ram. Soldier after soldier fell to the mighty bow
of the android. The enemy archers, seeing the problems he was
causing began targeting him, but a dozen arrows in his chest did
not deter Data.
The ladders reached the walls and were laid up against them.
One of them was by Data. As a man began to climb up it Data
grabbed it and lifted it up off the ground. The man lost his
grip and fell off as Data brought the ladder over the wall. Upon
landing the poor soul cracked his head open on a rock outside the
castle walls.

Further down the wall, Worf was engaging some successful
wall scalars. One of end of his bat'leth caught the enemy sword
and sent it away from him and the other end cut deeply into the
enemy's neck. It was the thirteenth Worf had felled.

The attack failed, but not without cost to both sides.
Scores of enemy soldiers were lying on the battlefield dead. A
couple dozen were removed from the wall as well. The Federation
forces were not unharmed, Fifteen were dead and a score more
were injured bad enough to require care.

Captain Picard was mad when Q joined him in the New Castle
tower. "Pleasant day isn't it Jean-Luc,' Q greeted Jean-Luc
Picard.
Picard turned from the window to face the demigod. "It most
certainly is not," he said in a curt tone. "I just received word
that 15 of my crew members are dead. Fifteen DEAD Q, as in never
to return."
"Jean-Luc, such anger," Q replied. "May I suggest a session
with Counselor Troi?"
"That won't help my crew people who are still dead, Q,"
Picard said calming down a little.
"They would have died on this mission anyway," Q said. "If
you had been serving as Naklab system mediator instead of your
daughter, those crew members would have died in an attack and a
galaxy wide war would have erupted when you died wiping out the
human race. Instead the problem will fade and when your daughter
dies no one will be alive in the system to renew the conflict."
"You mean you are doing us a favor?" Picard asked
"Must you be so thick headed, of coarse I'm doing you a
favor," Q explained "A war will never happen and I will have
enough time to get my research done on the human race and you
done."
"I knew there had to be another motive," Picard commented.
"And thank you Q."
"Your welcome, Captain," Q said. "And by the way Captain,
is it all right for me to take your daughter out on a date?"
"Most certainly NOT!"
"Temper, temper, mon Captain," Q said. "It was just a
thought, I have no intention of doing so."
Q vanished in a flash leaving Picard to puzzle over Q's
statements.