By Felicia Ferguson
Feedback: I'd love to hear from you guys, even though I might be dodging any and all sharp objects!
NOW
5/5
"Curious," Commander T'Noth murmured as she perused the sensor logs. A complete check of the ship's computer had revealed nothing to indicate that the Titan had undergone any modifications by the Romulans once they had boarded. However, a strange communiqué had surfaced in a scan of the sensor logs.
"What's that?" Lash asked, her brow furrowing with confusion as she joined the security chief. "Or should I say, how did that get there?"
"Precisely," T'Noth replied. "It would appear that the Titan received orders from Starfleet to discontinue negotiations and attack Romulus."
Lash shook her head in disbelief. "With no support? That can't be right."
"I agree, which is why I cross-referenced the orders with other Starfleet communiqués." She pulled up another text message from Starfleet Command to compare it to the one found in the sensor logs. "There are minute, but discernable differences between the two. I would surmise that the one we received as the attack commenced was forged."
"You think whoever attacked us falsified these orders so that they could cover their butts after the attack was over."
Accustomed to human colloquialisms, the Vulcan didn't even raise an eyebrow at Lash's supposition and instead inclined her head. "That would be a logical assessment. It would also explain why the communiqué had been directed to the sensor logs rather than the communication logs. Whoever sent the message did not possess adequate routing information, something that would certainly exist if the message had been from Starfleet."
Lash shook her head in amazement. "Talk about gall," she murmured, returning her attention to the disrupter that sat on the main engineering console. "Take at look at this, T'Noth."
The Vulcan abandoned her research and moved to the console. "I assume this is the disrupter that was used to kill Captain Riker?"
The chief engineer nodded. Her brown eyes gleamed with satisfaction over her discovery. "Looks like a run-of-the-mill Romulan disrupter, right?" At T'Noth's answering nod, she continued, "However, there's an extra component here -- something I've never seen before." Using a pair of pincers, she removed a red chip from the firing mechanism and held it out for T'Noth to see. "It looks like it was added after the disrupter had been originally assembled."
The security chief peered at the object, noting the tiny filaments that ran the length of the chip. "Do you have a theory as to its use?"
Lash released the chip from the pincers, laying it on the flat surface of the console. Picking up a tricorder, she tapped a few commands and replied, "Well, according to the scans I've been able to perform, it carries in it a molecular code, almost like one of our phaser settings. With one exception: this chip is set to disrupt all of the body's life functions except for the pain sensors."
Eyebrows raised in curiosity, T'Noth asked, "That would result in an agonizing, never-ending death?"
"That's what it looks like." The engineer paused, her gaze trapped by the ominous looking chip. After a moment of thoughtful consideration, she murmured, "So if Deanna says she sensed Will, she very likely might be correct."
***
Deanna stared out the Ready Room window at the greenish planet below trying to maintain a grip on her emotions. Without thought, her mind reached out to him only to close her eyes against a wave of pain. Would it ever ease? Would she ever be able to sleep again? Or would her mind always search for him, would she always wake in the middle of the night reaching for him?
Counselor, counsel thyself. Would it were that easy. She had counseled hundreds of husbands and wives on how to deal with the loss of a loved one; had encouraged them to accept that the person had died and that he would want his spouse to continue to live. But Deanna wasn't certain she could convince herself of that. Granted, losing any loved one was difficult, however her situation was vastly different from those who she counseled in the traditional sense. They were not telepathic; they were not linked together in any sense other than emotional.
Deanna glanced at the terminal screen, knowing that somewhere in there lurked the psychological database from Betazed. It would be easy to direct the computer to the applicable files and learn for herself what the road to her recovery held. Easy, in one sense, yes, but terrifyingly difficult in another.
She hadn't lied to T'Noth when she had told her that there was little research on the Imzadi bond. That much was, indeed, true. However, the little that existed was based on the psychological profiles of those who had lost their Imzadis in an untimely fashion. She shuddered as she realized that her name could now be added to the annals. After all, there was no definitive proof that she had heard Will. It was more likely that she had heard an echo of him or merely what she wanted to hear him say. She didn't know which fate was worse, never feeling or seeing him again, or hearing him in her mind and knowing that he was gone.
Deanna jerked her thoughts from their ever-deepening dive into self pity. She pulled up all the documentation the Enterprise had gathered on Shinzon and Sela and willed her mind to focus. Know thine enemy was the first rule of counter-attack. Unfortunately, there was little to be done to counter anything that had happened thus far. And the little that could be done was waiting on the report of a certain Romulan Commander. Troi shoved aside the cooling cup of Earl Grey realizing that it had yet to infuse her with any added strength. She had done that on her own.
She had always known she had possessed the skills needed to be a bridge officer, and had fought Will for the right to prove it, but never had she guessed that they would be put to use in such a way. She had been content with her rotating night bridge duty and would have been happy to continue in that fashion. She even welcomed the occasional helm duty. Although the last two times she had been in that seat, the Enterprise had met a disastrous end. Perhaps she was better suited to command than to piloting.
But she mostly was better suited to the role of counselor. A role that she hadn't held for more than two days on the Titan before her life went straight to hell. Once again, the universe was in chaos and it was up to Deanna Troi to bring it to some sort of order. She only wished her track record for saving it had been better.
Troi felt a subtle lift in the depression that hovered just out of sight. Yes, even gallows humor helped. Her mind cleared and, glancing at the chronometer, she decided Donatra had had enough time to track down Tal'Aura.
Tabbing a few buttons on the terminal console, she opened a channel and said in a clear voice, "Troi to the Warbird Valdore."
A slight pause then, "Donatra here," echoed through the Ready Room.
Good, just who she had wanted to reach. Not bothering with niceties, Troi asked, "Were you able to locate Praetor Tal'Aura?"
"I was just about to contact you." Troi could hear the futility that tinged the commander's words. Whatever had happened, it wasn't good. "The praetor is dead. She conspired with Sela to end the peace talks and destroy your ship."
Of course, that was what she had felt at the meeting. Anger bubble up inside her and, careful to maintain some semblance of impassivity over her growing ire, she asked, "Where is Sela now?"
Donatra's frustration leached through the comm channel. She held herself responsible for Sela's disappearance. Had she but aimed first at Sela then at Tal'Aura, there would be no need to search. But Tal'Aura had betrayed the people most. No one expected Sela to ever forward the cause of the Empire. Tal'Aura had held the highest rank in the leadership. Honoring the wishes of the Rihannsu fell to her first and foremost.
"That's what I'm working on. She beamed out before I was able to apprehend her. My ships are following a warp trail to sector 561. It's our best lead thus far in the search." She paused and Deanna felt the swift change in the other woman's emotions. Disbelief and disappointment shot through her as her thoughts turned toward the praetor. "I still cannot believe that Tal'Aura authorized the attack, especially since her father specifically defected in order to ensure that peace was kept between the Empire and the Federation."
Caught off-guard by the Romulan's words, Deanna asked the first question that leapt into her mind. "M'Ret was her father?"
"No, Admiral Jarok," Donatra answered, slightly confused as to why Troi would conclude that the former Vice Proconsul had been Tal'Aura's father. No one had heard from M'Ret in years, and, in truth, he had been presumed dead by those in power.
Deanna nodded with understanding, her mind returning to the letter Will had given to the praetor at the end of the first day of negotiations, before all hell had broken loose. After a moment, she murmured, "Well, at least his last words finally reached her. Even if she had become exactly what he had feared."
***
"Alright, I am here. Make your presence known," Donatra called out into the pitch black night. Not long after she had severed the comm link with Troi, she had received an anonymous communiqué from a person who claimed to be concerned with the peace talks. Infusing the note with enough information to pique her curiosity, Donatra had succumbed to it and now stood in the appointed meeting place. The Valdore lurked in high orbit overhead awaiting her return to follow the other Warbirds in their hunt for the traitor.
A shadow just ahead shifted and moved closer. "You do not know me, child, but perhaps you know of me."
It was a man and an older one at that. She could tell at least that much without resorting to a scan of the area. Every sense on alert, she clutched her tiny disrupter in the palm of her hand, prepared for anything, and waited for him to continue.
"I, too, long for peace with the Federation and have returned to aide its occurrence." He stepped forward into the pale light of the moon that now flickered through the dense clouds above.
"M'Ret," Donatra breathed. Her father had spoken of him often and in admiring tones. He had said that if anyone could bring peace to the Rihannsu, it would be M'Ret, but the Vice Proconsul had disappeared. Defected right under the noses of the Tal Shiar.
"Yes, child, you are correct."
How had he gotten here? The question perched on her lips, but died as she saw the light twinkle in his amused eyes. Of course, there was only one way after all: the Titan. That explained Commander Troi's sudden query about Tal'Aura's paternity. Her gimlet eyes gleamed. If he had returned, then her father's dream was not dead. Unless M'Ret had other ideas. Her hand twitched on the disrupter. "What do you plan to do?" she asked, taking a step closer.
"Bring peace to the Rihannsu," he replied with firm assurance. He opened his hands wide, a gesture of friendly intent. "I knew of your father, child, and, if you agree, will require your aide in this endeavor."
Overwhelmed by the promise in his words, Donatra could do nothing but nod her head in agreement. Her hand left the disrupter and stretched out to grasp his elbow, a sign of partnership, of understanding.
M'Ret's smile lit up his face as he returned her grip. He had been right to trust Riker's opinion of her, had been right to trust what he had known of her father. Satisfaction filled him. "Good," he whispered as the cool breeze rose to kiss their skin in a benediction, a promise of its own, "but for now, tell no one that you have met me. There are those here who will not see my return as you do."
***
It was an eerie sight in Sickbay as Captain Will Riker's body was laid out on a biobed. The blackened skin of his face obliterated any recognizable feature. His charred hands lay by his sides; the gold of his wedding band had melted into bone and was covered by the ashy remains of his ring finger. The sections of skin that hadn't been burned by the disrupter fire still held the pinkish tones of life even though no pulse lurked below. Medical scans indicated no active brain wave. Yet even with all those clinically accepted signs of death, a single thread of hope remained.
Michael Harper paused near Riker's side and tapped a series of commands into the monitors. He glanced over to Crusher, who stood near the wall, confirming the read-outs. "Basing the most recent scans on T'Noth and Vaden's information about the disrupter," Harper began as he nodded his thanks to the Vulcan, "I isolated a small part of Riker's brain that controls the pain receptors. It and another section of his brain are just barely registering readings." He programmed another set of commands into the biobed and twin lights began to blink in irregular patterns on the wall console.
Beverly sighed as she turned back to the biobed and allowed her gaze to settle on Will's unmoving form. "It's not much, but it may be why the usual post-mortem scans missed it."
"I'm guessing this other part houses his Imzadi bond with Deanna."
Crusher nodded as she crossed her arms. It was as good a supposition as any, given the lack of hard data on the bond's existence. "Commander T'Noth," Beverly stated after a moment of careful consideration, "this is a long-shot, but it's the only option we have."
The Vulcan raised her eyebrows in polite questioning.
"Since Deanna is unable to move past the block her meta-conscious has placed over her link with Will, you are the only person who can reach him, if he's reachable at all."
"A mind meld, in this instance, would ascertain the captain's true mental awareness," the Vulcan offered. Her skepticism was obvious to the doctors, but this was their captain and any Starfleet officer held the captain's life in high esteem. "I will try, but there can be no promises."
Beverly nodded. "That's why we haven't said anything to Deanna about this. There's no need to get her hopes up." She picked up a small instrument and attached it to what remained of Will's forehead. "The cortical stimulator will allow us to give him a boost, if you find anything."
"Very well, then," T'Noth stated as she unclasped her hands and placed her fingertips against Riker's cheek. "My mind to your mind. My thoughts to your thoughts."
***
They hadn't found her, but Donatra's ships had located Sela's base and, based on the readings from the Levaeri V moon, more thalaron devices. Fierce satisfaction flooded Donatra as a feral smile lit her lips. Sela's days were numbered.
"Open a channel to the Titan." The bridge was silent for a moment then the warning beep of an open comm line sounded. "Commander Troi, the Valdore has reached Levaeri V. Sela's forces were hidden on the moon's dark side."
Before Deanna could reply, the Valdore rocked wildly against a surprising shockwave. Donatra grabbed the arm rests of the commander's chair and righted herself. "Tactical, report!"
"Sir, the base on the surface has just exploded," the sublieutenant reported as he rechecked the sensor readings.
"Commander! A scout ship is fleeing the base. One life sign aboard. It is half human."
"Sela!" Donatra cursed as she gripped the arm rests tighter. That traitor would not escape from her twice. "Fire phasers and launch photon torpedoes. I want that ship stopped before it gets to warp and I want Sela in my brig. Commander Troi, if you will pardon my sudden ending of our conversation?"
Troi nodded once, then her image blinked away, replaced by the glowing fireball that had erupted from the moon's surface.
A volley of phaser fire lit up the viewscreen, direct hits obvious as they sliced through the scout ships shields. The little ship bucked and careened under the heavy weapons fire.
"Shields are down, Commander," the tactical officer reported, pleased he was able to provide his leader with good news. "I have beamed the only occupant directly to the brig."
"Wonderful," Donatra breathed as she rose in one fluid motion. "Return to Ch'Rihan at top speed, but make sure the other Warbirds stay to scan the area for further life signs and destroy anything that's left on that moon." The turbolift doors opened before her as delight raced through her veins. "I'll be in the brig."
***
The blonde Romulan paced the length of the cell, furious at herself. She dug a small pill from a hidden pocket in her pants and stared at it. Poison. Fast-acting and painless, it had been used for centuries by the Senate to rid those of their enemies. More recently, her crew had taken it and their loyalty to the grave. It was an option for her. And a viable one given that Donatra would kill her without a second thought. But, was it better to take her own life as a display of her power? Or should she wait for an opening and escape?
She didn't really want to die, at least not by her own hand, especially if she would later be offered an opportunity for escape. But neither did she want to die in such a useless manner as an execution. It was wasteful and it served no other purpose but to efficiently rid the universe of a thorn in the collective Rihannsu side. And Sela had run for too much of her life. She had reached the end. Her house was in shambles, or would be as soon as word of Tal'Aura's deception leaked. Her own life was worth nothing to anyone but herself. She had little to lose and potentially everything to gain.
She dropped the pill to the floor then ground it under her boot heel. No, she would fight and even if that fight brought her death, at least the universe would know that she had attempted to thwart it.
The brig doors slid open and Sela turned.
"Well, well," Donatra said as she walked into the room, "it seems we meet again."
"If you're going to kill me, do it now."
"In such a hurry to die, Sela?" Donatra asked as she gauged the older woman's demeanor. "We'll get to that soon enough. As a matter of fact, if I had my way, I would have blown you out of the sky, but there are others to consider."
Sela ignored her and dropped to her bunk. Crossing one leg over the other, she stared up at the ceiling.
Donatra smiled at the show. "Not at all curious as to who those others are?" The silence continued from the blonde. "That's alright. I'm sure you already know."
***
The disrupter in Sela's back shoved her forward and off the transporter padd. The renegade glanced around the room with disgust. Even though the Titan was brand new, it still looked and smelled like the Enterprise. Perhaps it was consistent with the rest of the fleet. If that were so, she didn't know how her mother had lasted, breathing such smells every hour, every minute.
Of course, she was human. It was possible that humans actually liked the stench. She tossed a glare over her shoulder as Donatra shoved her once more. The doors to the transporter room opened and before Sela could be pushed through them, Deanna Troi and several security officers walked in.
Sela hadn't thought that the confrontation would begin in such an unlikely locale, but perhaps it would make her escape easier. Her lips curled in disgust at the sight of the petite commander. The woman looked like all four phases of the Rihannsu hell. Good. It was time that someone other than Sela herself felt the pain of existence.
Troi stood without comment, content to gaze at the younger woman. It was amazing, really, how much she favored her mother. Her ears and the slight crease in her brow were the only physical things that branded her as Romulan. However, even without those, Deanna would have known the reality of Sela's heritage. There, lurking in her eyes, was the cold, unrelenting hardness found in every member of her species.
Deanna had wanted to confront her. Sela, as the daughter of a Federation citizen, had the right to on her own merits, but it was more than that. In all that had happened, and despite all they had learned about the woman's traitorous acts, one question remained. And Deanna wanted to look into Sela's eyes, to be in her mind, when she gave the answer.
"Why?" the Betazoid asked, her lips barely mouthing the query. The sound, for all its whispered tone, echoed across the room.
She hadn't expected Sela's response.
"You're the empath. You tell me."
Troi didn't flinch at the prod. Instead she replied, "No, I want to hear you say it. I want to hear you justify your logic for this."
The Romulan snorted and shook her head. "You don't know. You can't know the stigma I felt as a child after my father had been forced to kill my mother. And to make matters worse, I didn't suffer it alone. He bore the brunt of it because he had been weak. He had given into his desires and taken her as his consort. When she was caught trying to escape with me, he was destroyed. She might have died physically, but it was he who suffered emotionally.
Venom dripped from Sela's words, every scathing piece of evidence lay before them as justification for her crimes. "All my life, I have been forced to live with the knowledge that my mother single-handedly destroyed our house. Our regal, centuries-old family name was shredded by her act of selfishness. By her love for the Federation. You and everyone like you ruined us. Why shouldn't you pay for the crimes you have done to me?"
Deanna shook her head unable to fully comprehend what her mind and empathy swore was true. A scared and traumatized little girl merely wanted revenge against those who she thought had ended her world.
For this two hundred and twenty-six people had died. Deanna hadn't realized she'd spoken aloud until the Romulan laughed.
"For that I would kill thousands more," Sela swore.
Without warning, Sela rushed the nearest security officer, wrenching the phaser from his grip. Before anyone could react, she raised the setting level and fired.
The universe slowed.
Donatra drew her disrupter and returned fire. Sela disappeared into floating molecules. A security officer ordered an emergency medical site-to-site transport.
But to Deanna, none of it mattered.
She didn't feel the phaser blast as it ripped through her torso. Didn't hear the cries of her friends and crewmates as they watched her fall. Didn't fear her fading grip on conscious reality. What she did feel, what she did hear, made her heart sing, her soul rejoice, and brought a smile to her dead lips: Imzadi.
***
finis