STAR TREK:
ANACRONISMS
By
T'Layna MacMathain,
Tigris Euphrates,
and
CMage
This is a crossover story is based on the Star Trek universe created by Gene Roddenberry and the Gargoyles universe created by Greg Wiseman and Michael Reeves. All vessels and characters that have appeared in Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Voyager and related movies are registered trademarks of Paramount Pictures. Gargoyles and related characters are registered trademarks of Buena Vista Pictures and Walt Disney Studios. The stories and characters not described above are original creations of T'Layna MacMathain, Tigris Euphrates, CMage, and Poison Thorns Productions. Copyright (c) 2000 All rights reserved.
Chapter Eight
Egg Hunt
Jana
sat in the command chair of the Joker's Luck II deep in thought. For the
past week, she and Aria had been training Greystone and the others in basic
spacecraft ops. Amazingly, all three of the Scottish Gargoyles proved to be
amazingly adaptable and had taken to learning the Joker's Luck II's
systems like the proverbial duck to water. Greystone in particular had taken to
engineering, while Selena and Titan focused on various other systems under the
tutelage of Jana and Aria. They were also taught how to use the LCARS system
and the three scottish gargoyles read up on the events that they had slept
through all those centuries ago.
Jana
was also deep in thought about her life as well. For one, she never expected to
ever sit in the command chair of a spacecraft, even a bucket like the Joker's
Luck II. She had entered the Academy primarily to learn computers and
information systems. Apparently fate had other ideas and decided that Jana was
more suited for wearing the burgundy of command rather than the gold of
engineering. The New Maquis certainly considered her command material after the
way she had handled herself on the Rock earlier. She fingered the over insignia
on her collar with her talons, feeling the three angled bands designating her
as Lieutenant Commander. Even the Starclan now looked on her more as a clan
leader than just another gargoyle.
She
was also thinking about Captain Janeway and all her old friends back on the USS
Voyager. It was almost like a homecoming of sorts to see her old friends
like Leta Zeedak and even Harry Kim, whom she remembered from her days at
Utopia Planitia. Part of her wanted to remain behind on Voyager, but she also
knew that was wrong. The Starclan needed her, and besides, if Captain Janeway
couldn't get USS Voyager back home, nobody could! Like it or not, she
had more-or-less become the leader of their fledgling clan. Aria came onto the
bridge and sat in the tactical chair next to Jana.
"Something
wrong, Jana?" she inquired.
"I'm
kind of missing the gang back on USS Voyager." Jana replied
wistfully, "Voyager was my first posting. Remember the Doctor? I wrote
much of his program! I was so amazed at how he had evolved from an emergency
hologram to a person. As far as I am concerned, he is no different than
us."
Aria
smiled. "You sound like a proud parent."
"I
guess I do," Jana chuckled at her lover, "I know that I only helped
to create him, but he grew and evolved with Voyager's crew. If anyone deserves
to be called the doc's mother, it would be Captain Janeway. She is probably the
only Starfleet officer I would absolutely trust other than Captain
Picard."
"I
can see why you respect her. She is the kind of Starfleet officer I hoped to
serve before all THIS craziness started." Aria smiled, remembering her
days serving under Picard.
"If
I was to be a captain, I would want to be like her."
"Perhaps
you already are, my love." Aria smiled at Jana's wistful idol worship.
"I see her qualities in you."
Jana
erupted in laughter. "I doubt very much Captain Janeway would wreck a bar
on two different worlds and deck an Admiral!" Or start a civil war that
could destroy the Federation and all I hold dear...
"That
doesn't exactly fit her image, does it?" Aria replied with a smile.
"Where are we headed, anyhow?"
"Back
to the Rock, of course."
"Back
THERE? What in the galaxy for?" Aria yelped, "We're going to get
killed there one of these days!"
"Doubtful."
Jana replied as she studied a readout on her LCARS terminal. "The Bajorans
claimed rights to the Rock seventy years before the Cardassian Occupation, and
they declared their space a safe haven for us."
"There's
another reason, Jana, I know it." Aria shot back, "We'd be safer on
DS-9 - even the Federation wouldn't dare hit DS-9. The Klingons would raise
unholy hell and probably pound a few starbases to dust in retaliation. It's an
honor thing, and you know how Klingons are about honor. They are already
talking about blockades and protecting the breakaway world, and they have the
ships and manpower to do it. Jana, I know you too well already. Something's
going on in your mind, no what is it?"
Jana
sighed heavily. "Titan told me something very disturbing back on
Wyvern." Jana muttered angrily as an alarm beeped it's doleful tone.
"That damn port stabilizer... acting up again... adjusting phase
variance... there. Anyway, he said there may be a clutch of a dozen or so eggs
back on the Rock."
"Eggs?"
Aria blurted, her eyes taking on an alarmed look, "Gargoyle eggs?"
"Yes.
According to Titan, they hid most of the eggs centuries ago when their mage and
prince turned on them and destroyed their clan. They got caught trying to hide
the last two eggs. The mage turned them to stone cast them to the winds of the
universe. Titan even told me as he was turning to stone, the prince - whom he
played with as a hatchling while the prince was still a young boy - was
smashing an egg with his mace!" Jana's eyes flared and she growled,
glancing at Aria to note her eyes had taken on a similar glow. "Titan
thinks they are still on the Rock, and believes that maybe Selena or the
Wyvernians could return the eggs to life."
"After
all these centuries?" Aria asked dubiously.
"I
doubt it myself, they're probably dead... but then again, Greystone and the
others survived. There is only one way to find out."
"Can
we get this tin can to go any faster?" Aria grumbled with anxiety thick in
her voice.
"We'll
be there in a week. I am already at maximum warp."
"A
week my EYE!" Aria shot back as she started to tap a few controls on the
engineering board, "we're going to get there sooner even if I have to
climb on the hull of this thing and flap my wings!"
The
trip back to the Rock was uneventful. The arrival was another story entirely.
When their ship entered the sector, the proximity alarm sounded, and Selena
immediately awakened Jana and Aria who had been given bridge watch. Jana and
Aria took the command and tactical seats and started tapping controls as usual.
"Four
warships." Aria reported. "Three Bajoran Resolute-class destroyers
and a Trill Defender-class light cruiser." Aria no sooner heard that when
another beep sounded. "We're being hailed."
"Weapons
status?" Jana inquired.
"Their
shields are up, but their main weapons are offline."
"Raise
shields, but do not power weapons unless they do." Jana replied as she
tapped open a channel to the Trill vessel.
The
viewscreen came alive with a handsome, raven-haired Trill male in a Trill
Defense Forces uniform. "This is Captain Hodan of the Trill Defense Force.
This system is under the protection of Trill and Bajor, and closed to all
Federation vessels. Please leave now before we are forced to open fire."
"Captain
Hodan, this is Lieutenant Commander Jana Deenax, commander of this vessel and
citizen of Trill. This is the Joker's Luck II, and we are not, repeat
NOT, a Federation vessel. We are on a peaceful mission to Rockingham's
Planet."
"The
Joker's Luck II disappeared weeks ago without a trace," Captain
Hodan stated flatly as he raised an eyebrow under the M-shaped forehead ridge
that is characteristic of native Trill hosts.
"Look
Captain, I really don't have all day to argue with you," Jana shot back,
"How many winged Trill do you know?" She then spread her wings
briefly for effect. She then noticed that Captain Hodan muted the channel and
discussed something briefly with an older female officer.
"My
apologies, Commander Deenax. You are free to enter and we promise full
protection to you and your crew. Thank you and welcome back." The four
warships redeployed their formation to form a protective cordon around the Joker's
Luck II and escort it safely to Rockingham's Planet. Less than four hours
later, they had landed the Joker's Luck II on the outskirts of Dengali
City.
, , ,
Admiral
Ross couldn't believe the reports he had just received. Starfleet Command must
be out of its mind! He reread them again and went through the unusual step of
verification. Starfleet Command's answer was as brusque as it was simple. They
had sent two task forces to Delta and Betazed as a demonstration of the
Federations's commitment to maintaining the Federation. At that moment, a young
Bolian commander entered his office to deliver some reports. He was not at all
pleased to see the look on the Admiral's face.
"Something
wrong, Admiral?"
"You're
damn right something is wrong!" Admiral Ross shot back derisively,
"Those assholes at Starfleet Command went over my head and got a bunch of
people killed over this Deenax mess, and there is absolutely no reason for
it!"
"What
happened?"
"We
got our asses kicked, that's what!" Admiral Ross fumed, We deserved it
too, I might add! I warned them that the Klingons weren't playing. I ought to
know... I fought alongside them during the Dominion War! We lost three ships in
Delta, and seven in Betazed. I tried to warn them, but those idiots would not
listen.
"How
many casualties?"
"Too
damned many! Eleven hundred killed and twice that many hospitalized in both
engagements. What are you going to do?"
Choke
the living SHIT out of Morris Falcone if I ever get my hands on that traitorous
asshole! Second on my list is the President of the Federation Council. Those
assholes are so afraid of Romulan Conspiracies, the Borg, and the Dominion that
they are willing to throw the Articles of the Federation into the recycler
tanks! One of these days I am going to tell you why I think those BIGOTS ought
to be phasered on sight!"
, , ,
"Comrades!"
Narin excitedly called out when the Joker's Luck II opened up to reveal
the Starclan. "We heard you had been lost! We heard the USS Nimbus
had destroyed you!"
"Not
hardly, laddie!" Greystone replied with a wide grin, "We're a wee bit
harder to kill than most."
"What's
been happening here?" Aria inquired, stretching her wings a bit in the
open air.
"The
Federation has shoot-to-kill warrants out for all of you, especially you
Commander Deenax. Open warfare has broken out! The Federation tried to send two
fleets to Betazed and Delta. A combined armada of Trill and Vulcan ships in the
Deltan system blasted three of them into vapor before the idiot leading the
force realized that the breakaway worlds aren't playing. Wisely, he retreated.
The taskforce that went to Betazed fared far worse. They ran into Betazoid and
Klingon warships, and the Klingons had five-to-one superiority. Don't be
surprised if you wind up encountering a few Vor'cha-class warships in the
neighborhood. Chancellor Martok is even backing up the New Maquis."
"Oh
GODDESS!" Aria cried out as she went down to her knees and buried her face
in her paws crying. "How many just died over the five of us?" At that
moment Jana spread her wings to their maximum spread, clenched both her fists,
held them partially upraised, and threw back her head, and loosed a terrifying
roar - eyes glowing with crimson flame. Titan and Selena followed suit with
roars and displays of their own. Oddly enough, Greystone seemed to be the
calmest of the gargoyles, placing his arms around Aria in a fatherly way to try
and comfort the sensitive girl. Narin and the other New Maquis people had
nearly jumped out of their skins. They had never seen an enraged gargoyle
before, much less three of them, and now understood for the first time why
gargoyles would be formidable and dangerous foes.
"Their
deaths will be avenged!" Jana roared defiantly, "Those responsible
for this will pay, I swear by the gargoyle blood in my veins they will pay
dearly!" Nobody doubted Jana's oath for even a nanosecond. Greystone
smiled like a proud father as he stroked his beard with his talons. The wee
lass may have been born a human, but she is wholly a gargoyle now. For the
first time in centuries, Greystone felt hope.
, , ,
For
the first time, Aria had the chance to see where the other members of the
Starclan first came to life in this century, and Jana had gained her current...
exotic appearance. However, what they found was just a room filled with shards
of gargoyles and stone eggs. Aria kept herself scanning the room.
"There's
nothing here, Lassie." Greystone sighed in frustration as they scoured through
the chamber.
"Over
here." Aria motioned to something she had spotted near the floor. On one
of the shards of pottery, was a little trace of dark stain - someone had
scraped their skin on the sharp egg shard. Aria held the tricorder up to the
the blood stain. "It's human. About my age. Male."
Jana
growled. "CANMORE. There's nothing more we can do now than pilot the Joker's
Luck II after the USS Nimbus."
, , ,
"It's
all propaganda! The federation would never condone either the murder of
innocents, genocide, or genetic engineering! All of those accusations are
absolutely preposterous! We learned our lessons years ago in the eugenics
wars!" the Federation President's words were quite convincing, and Aria
quietly considered them. "I beg you! Think about what you are doing! Think
about all the lives you are destroying!"
Jana
flicked the LCARS unit off. Aria glanced up at Jana, revealing the tears in
Aria's eyes. "Talk to me, Aria."
"As
a kid, I was totally into sentience rights. I wanted to save lives. Now I'm
destroying them!" Aria went on tearfully. "We're the ones who are
responsible for the attack.
"No
sis, Morris Falcone is responsible for this, as well as the President of the
Federation Council. Those are the ones who sent good people to their deaths in
the name of a cause they did not fully understand. It's best to remember
that..." Jana began, before being suddenly interrupted by Titan's voice on
the intercom.
"We're
being hailed. Jana and Aria to the bridge."
The
two were on the bridge in moments, Aria's tears momentarily forgotten -
pressing matters at hand. Titan read the readout like a cadet fresh out of the
academy.
"Uh...
looks like a Super-Dreadnought Class starship."
"Fuck."
Jana cursed. "Everybody strap in, this could get nasty if they want to
play rough."
"I
think they do." Aria replied. "They're locking phasers."
"When
did you see them?" Jana asked, hurridly. "Raise shields!"
"They
just... APPEARED off the starboard side..." Titan struggled. "Shields
shields shields..."
The
alarm in the Joker's Luck II began to sound. "INTRUDER ALERT!
INTRUDER ALERT!"
"FUCK!"
Aria echoed Jana's curse, pushing Titan aside, and activating the shields -
unfortunately too late. "It registers the USS Harry Benjamin,
NCC-30285, lost to Starfleet in a Dominion battle..."
"FREEZE!!!"
came a voice from behind them. The three gargoyles paused, eyes aglow and
growling, and turned to face...
Three
gargoyles. Holding large romulan hand phasers at them.
Paws
were raised in the air. Greystone and Selena were roused and collected, as
their captors deactivated the shields. Greystone was muttering Scottish
obscenities under his breath as Aria attempted to comfort Titan, who felt that
the entire capture was his fault. She put her arms around his shoulders to
console him that it was not his fault as a total of seven armed gargoyles
watched them. An eighth gargoyle appeared from the cockpit to the lobby that
was now the Starclan's holding area. He tapped a communicator on his
weaponsbelt. "Lt. Comm. Aquarius to Harry Benjamin - mission accomplished.
Ready to transport crew and engage tractor beam."
"We're
gargoyles... you don't need to fear us!"
"Are
you?" Lt. Comm. Aquarius asked with a raised eyebrow, a fairly stocky but
intelligent looking blue male. "We'll see."
, , ,
The
transporter room of their captor's ship looked just like Jana and Aria had
expected it to - like a Galaxy Class ship's transporter room. Back during the
Borg scare and the Dominion war, many ships had been thrown together for the
fighting, such as the USS Defiant, but the Super-Dreadnought class was
not even a new design - simply a Galaxy Class starship refitted with multiple
engine cores, a weapons array on the saucer section supporting two additional
warp nacelles. The four warp nacelles and the ship's massively overpowered
weapons systems were powered by three warp cores in the saucer, and three in
the stardrive section. Such redundancy would have been useful to the Starclan
during that episode with the USS Nimbus, Aria reasoned.
There
was a gargoyle at the transporter controls.
How
many gargoyles were on this crew? Where did these gargoyles come from? Jana's
mind was reeling. Aria was feeling confrontational. "Who are you? What
ship is this? What do you want with us?!!!"
"YOU
ARE TO BE OUR GUESTS, PROVIDED YOU BEHAVE." said a new, male voice.
The
Starclan turned to find itself facing a yellow ball of light hanging in the air
in the transporter room.
"WELCOME
TO THE USS HARRY BENJAMIN." the voice continued.
"What
do you want done with them, Captain?"
"GENTLY
NOW, MR. AQUARIUS. WE WOULDN'T WANT THEM TO FEEL UNWELCOME. SHOW THEM TO THEIR
NEW... QUARTERS."
As
Jana and Aria expected, those "quarters" turned out to be the brig.
Aria had experimented a little before with Duranium. Sometimes it was pliable
to gargoyle talons, sometimes now - usually depending on it's reinforcement.
For example the outer skin of a ship's hull, like the Joker's Luck II,
was impervious to a gargoyle's talons... the same as the walls of the brig.
Once
inside the brig, the Starclan began to talk amongst themselves. "Who are
they?"
"More
gargoyles." Aria mused. "For a race officially dead to the
federation, they sure seem to be alive to me. Us, Wyvern..."
"...and
this nasty little lot." Greystone finished. "Lass, best ye don't
mention Wyvern. We don't know who these... creatures are yet, but so far I
doubt they are gargoyles."
"They
could be some kind of clones... based on us..." Jana mused.
While
the others sat, Aria paced the floor - worried about her egg safely stowed away
on the Joker's Luck II. The other gargoyles outside the brig looked on
with their weapons in hand, listening to music from the main computer. Aria
recognized a song from her youth she had liked, The Moon Over Rigel VII[1],
and hummed along to try and calm herself.
"YOU
HAVE A LOVELY VOICE, LT." Came that voice again. "I WISH YOU WOULD
SING A LITTLE LOUDER."
Aria
paused, silent, looking around. That ball of light was there again, this time
inside the cell. Jana stuck her paw out, and it went right through the ball. A
hologram. Nothing more than a ball of photons. The sound, she deduced, was
coming from the P.A. system.
"Who
are you?" Aria asked, a little hostilely.
"TEMPER
TEMPER, MY SWEET. WHATEVER HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE SUCH A HARSH TONE?"
"Let's
see... Where shall I start? Stopped, boarded, captured, imprisoned...?"
Jana began.
"WHAT
MAKES YOU THINK I HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH THAT?"
"The
others seem to look up to you." Aria observed, referring to the enemy
gargoyles.
"THEY
CERTAINLY DO, PARTLY BECAUSE I AM THEIR CAPTAIN."
Jana
snorted. "A holographic captain? Boy, Doctor Z will love this!"
"I
AM GOING TO ASK THIS ONLY ONCE, SO I SUGGEST YOU LISTEN. I NEED TO KNOW YOU ARE
INDEED DEENAX AND THE STARCLAN, NOT SOME CLONED IMPOSTORS. RIGHT NOW ME AND MY
CREW TRUST NO ONE, SO I WILL ONLY ASK THIS ONCE."
"Ask
what?" Selena asked.
"WHO
WAS THE EVIL GARGOYLE?"
"There
have been many evil gargoyles." Selena observed.
"No."
Jana retorted. "He knows that, it's a trick question. He means THE evil
gargoyle."
"Lass,
you mean...?" Greystone began.
"Demona."
Aria finished for him.
"AH,
YOUR WISDOM IS MATCHED ONLY BY YOUR BEAUTY, MY DEAR." Aria blushed
furiously. "YOUR ANSWER IS CORRECT. ONLY A GARGOYLE WOULD BE PRIVY TO THAT
INFORMATION." At that moment, the forcefield vanished. The grunts were
standing there, weapons clipped on their belts, waving them out. "GIVE
THEM SOME REAL QUARTERS. I EXPECT THEM TO BE TREATED APPROPRIATELY. SHOW THEM
THE FILES. AND SEE THAT THE YOUNG BEAUTY HERE IS SHOWN THE LOCATION OF THE
ROOKERY."
"Yes,
Captain."
"You
have a rookery?" Aria inquired.
"OF
COURSE."
"How
many gargoyles are aboard this ship?" Jana inquired, probing.
"NINE
HUNDRED SEVENTY SEX BEFORE THE FIVE OF YOU ARRIVED." The Starclan stopped
dead, jaws agape.
"All
born gargoyles?!!!" Selena exclaimed in surprise.
"BARELY.
SECTION 113 HAS BEEN DOING THEIR DAMNDEST TO DESTROY THEM."
Greystone
and the others snorted. "THAT we understand all too well, Captain
Lad."
The
floating glowing yellow ball followed next to the grunt as they moved down the
hall, the Starclan following peacefully.
"When
can we get back to our ship?" Jana inquired a little pointedly.
"YOU
NEED US. WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU."
"GAH!"
Greystone snorted, reminding Jana heavily of a Klingon. "You are
federation!"
The
grunts, male and female, twirled and growled, eyes glowing crimson and white.
"EASY HEMINGWAY, AUSTEN." came the Captain's voice. "WE ARE MOST
CERTAIN NOT FEDERATION. YOU MIGHT CALL US... PIRATES." The two
grunts smiled slightly, continuing down the corridors to a turbolift. With the
lift full, the ball hung over their collective heads and wingtips. This is,
except the yellow female grunt the Captain had called Austen - she had underarm
wings.
"But...
this ship..."
"WAS
BUILT BY THE FEDERATION, YES. IT WAS APPROPRIATED BY SECTION 113 AFTER IT WAS
DISABLED IN A DOMINION SKIRMISH. WE TOOK IT FROM THEM. WE'VE MADE A FEW...
SPECIAL MODIFICATIONS."
"No
shit." Jana snorted. "To just appear to off our Starboard side like
that takes technology the federation doesn't have. It looks like you don't have
much against romulan technology... like cloaking devices."
"WELL
DONE, LT. THAT IS, HOWEVER, THE BAREST POTENTIAL OF WHAT THE USS HARRY
BENJAMIN HAS BEEN DEVELOPING. THERE WILL BE TIME FOR THAT LATER."
The
turbolift doors opened, and they were shown to a large double-bedroom suit with
five beds already arranged, two in one room, three in the other. Laid out were
all of their things - which were not many. Aria's case with her things was
there, with her medals, a few pads, some uniforms, a hologram crystal of her
family, and her weapons. Aria put one of Captain Picard's tetrion pulse rifles
and a tricorder on her belt. Jana and the others did the same.
"THERE,
FEELING MORE COMFORTABLE?"
"Where
is my ship?" Jana prodded.
"Follow
us." Hemingway instructed.
"YOUR
SHIP WILL BE AVAILABLE TO YOU, BUT WE ASK THAT YOU REMAIN WITH US. WHEN YOU SEE
WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED, WE BELIEVE YOU WILL WANT TO STAY WITH US. FOR NOW, TRUST
US THAT OUR INTENTIONS ARE GENUINE."
"Oh,
give me a BREAK captain!" Jana blurted out. "You don't trust US, you
really expect us to blindly trust YOU?"
"THAT
IS WHY YOU HAVE YOUR WEAPONS." Jana was clearly not happy, but did not
saying anything more until they reached their next stop.
"This
is our rookery." Austen said proudly and militarily, showing the way.
The
rookery was a converted cargo bay on Deck 6 near sickbay, which normally stored
vital supplies and emergency medical equipment and supplies. The interior was
well lit, but the lighting was indirect. There was a heavy amount of moisture
in the air, leaving a fair amount of mist in air.
"HERE
IS THE FUTURE OF GARGOYLES." boasted the captain.
Austen
gently took Aria's paw and led her to a table at the end of the room. Every
table - and there were at least twenty - contained a variety of ferns, mosses,
and grasses. Buried among their leaves were eggs - maturing gargoyle eggs. The
Starclan was once more aghast. Austen led Aria to a table with one egg on it -
one that looked suspiciously like...
"MY
egg!" Aria exclaimed, caressing it's surface. It had been laid among the
evergreens and ferns. Austen gently smiled. Aria considered taking it, but she
turned to the floating ball. "Captain... I am going to trust you for
now." Aria left the egg where it was. "My baby appears safe enough
where it is. Show us this... information."
"HEMINGWAY,
AUSTEN - TAKE OUR GUESTS TO THE BRIDGE. I WILL MEET YOU THERE."
"Aye
sir." Hemingway nodded automatically.
, , ,
The
bridge of the USS Harry Benjamin was pretty large, but still resembled
that of a Galaxy Class starship. It was nicely carpeted in blue and almond, and
the original Starfleet plaque was still on the wall, reading "USS HARRY
BENJAMIN - NCC 30285" and it's commissioning dates. There were a cluster
of new gargoyles here.
"Captain
on the bridge!" Snapped the watch officer.
"AT
EASE, LT. COMM. THOROUGH, MEET LT. MAZA." the Captain said, floating over
by Aria's head.
A
young male gargoyle stood from the engineering console and approached Aria with
trepidation. "Uh... hi! I'm Thorough - you know, like the writer?"
Austen
and Hemingway rolled their eyes. "Original." Austen put in.
Thorough
blushed. "I've been reading a lot of your theories, and I wanted to say it
sure is a pleasure to meet you at last!" he bumbled.
Aria
blinked. She... had a fan? Jana and the others could not help but smile a
little. "Uhh... thanks... Does everyone here know me?"
"If
you are who you claim to be, we're all fans of what you have been doing."
Hemingway put in gruffly.
"You
didn't think you were the only gargoyles left in existence, did you?"
Austen laughed.
Jana
made a face, looking at her companions. "There was a time when we
wondered."
"As
did we." Austen observed.
"What
is your story, lads and lassies? Dunna make our curiosity wait a moment
more!" Greystone insisted with a lighter mood. Sometimes his experience
and level-headedness was sanity saving, Jana mused silently.
Thorough
turned to the console, and motioned for Aria to sit down. The chairs had been
modified to allow a place for a gargoyle to slide their tail through
comfortably and work. The others gathered around Thorough and Aria to watch.
Thorough
began to read. "During the wild and glorious days when the famous captain
kirk was still a captain and flying the first enterprise, the federation
knew about a planet of gargoyles, populated by gargoyles flung to the winds of
the universe in much the same way as you three." Thorough referred to
Selena, Titan, and Greystone, folding his wings around his shoulders.
"They were not at that time warp capable, and the federation at that time
did not know they were from earth. They assumed them to be just another alien
race not yet warp capable, and so therefore bound by the Prime Directive as
off-limits to everyone.
"This
planet, Cirres-12, called Laicon by it's inhabitants, finally gained warp
capacity early this century, and was given the traditional invitation to join
the Federation of Planets, and it was revealed they were from earth. The
Federation Council clamped down on all knowledge of the planet, fearing
societal crisis. Human being have this thing... about fearing what they don't
understand... and if it turns out this 'frightening' thing was from earth, well
I hope I don't need to paint a picture." Thorough grumbled to himself, as
he brought up copies of top secret reports on the screen.
"What
happened, laddie?" Greystone pressured.
"Orbital
nuclear bombardment. They used primitive fusion bombs to make it looks like
Laicon had destroyed themselves. Except for a select few that escaped, the
entire population of the planet was killed in seconds."
Jana's
head went back, wings wide, and fists clenched once more, roaring furiously at
the ceiling. "BASTARDS! When will they LEARN?!!! How many MORE innocents
have they slaughtered in this genocide?"
"Too
many. One of the ships participating in the bombardment was one with a young
captain who I believe you have met."
"Let
me guess." Selena snarled. "Morris Falcone."
"Bingo."
Thorough echoed her tone. "He was promoted and given a station in Section
31, and eventually leadership of Section 113 when it was first formed to deal
with gargoyles specifically."
"Are
there any gargoyles left outside of this ship?" Jana asked, carefully
being cryptic about hiding the existence of Planet Wyvern.
"Only
Planet Wyvern, knowledge of whose existence is limited to the those on this
ship." Thorough sighed. "All the rest were hunted down by Section 31
and captured. Most were killed when they refused to comply. When they
discovered Adam, Falcone used him very carefully, not wanting to get on his bad
side. Then Aria started poking into things she... wasn't supposed to, and found
him, and well... I believe you know the story from there."
Aria's
head fell, and she began to weep. Jana's arms encircled her lover. "It's
okay, sweetheart... it's okay..."
Thorough
looked at her, heavy hearted. Austen, Hemingway, and the Captain had left them
a while ago. Thorough put a paw on Aria's. "We were all... so upset to
hear of Adam's death. Everyone here respects you and puts you on a pedestal in
their minds. Falcone has been trying to hunt us down and capture us for years
now, and few like - let alone trust - humans..." he glanced at Aria and
Jana, "To them you are not human anymore. You have proven yourself more
gargoyle than human, especially in your fight for acceptance and equality. That
is why we want to support you."
"Fat
lot of good your doing us, detaining us." Jana growled a little. "I
appreciate your information very much, but..."
"There's
more." Thorough cut her off.
Aria
was accessing some of the record Thorough had been showing them. "Since
they've had trouble getting willing volunteers as subjects for their
experiments, they were doing everything possible to manipulate me and Adam into
believing they meant well. They did not like it when Jana came along and
started mucking up their plans." Aria summarized. Jana smirked coyly.
"Without any actual willing victims to work on, they've been doing genetic
experiments to try and make a gargoyle out of a human being. It looks like most
have been failures except for..."
Aria's
monitor suddenly went blanked. She tried tapping the console controls, but it was
off. "Computer... restore power to this station."
The
power came back on, but try as Aria might to find the file she had been looking
at, she could not find it. Thorough was silent as he secretly locked it away.
, , ,
"The
captain has given you free access to the ship. We're making some... repairs to
the Joker's Luck II, it won't quite be running at the moment."
Austen told them.
Jana's
eyebrows were up. "Oh really? Anything I could do to help?"
Austen
nodded. "I imagine. You'd have to ask. You have to understand that we have
more R&D labs here on the nimbus currently functioning than you'd believe,
and what we're working on here would make many at Starfleet Intelligence green
with envy."
"The
cloaking device." Jana hypothesized.
"Among
others." Hemingway nodded.
"They
are increasing it's power output and shield capabilities." Thorough noted.
Aria
spoke up. "You hacked our files."
Austen
smiled. "Yes... captain's orders. Thorough... is our resident
hacker."
"BUT!"
Thorough put in. "Captain also said to stay out of personal logs.
"How
courteous." Jana mumbled dryly.
"One
other word from the captain." Hemingway instructed them. "Stay OUT of
Holodeck 3. No questions. Captain's orders."
The
Starclan glanced at one another dubiously.
Once
back in their assigned quarters, the Starclan was gathered around the table in
the livingroom eating dinner from the replicator. The food it replicated was
better than most starfleet food dispensaries, much to their surprise.
"Thank
god they had the wisdom to fix the replicators so they can make a decent
tasting meal." Selena smiled, setting down a plate in front of Aria, who
was still a little teary eyes, and staring out the window into the starfield as
starsystems passed by at whatever warp they were traveling at. "Please,
eat Aria."
Aria
steadfastly refused to move. Jana sighed, trying to comfort her between bites
of her replicated Bajoran Lameteses. "Eat Aria."
Aria
shook her head. "Too many deaths. If what those files say is true, then
millions of gargoyles and at least a thousand or more humans have died because
of what Section 113 is doing."
Greystone
motioned Jana aside, and sat down beside Aria on the couch. "How is your
starving yourself going to change things."
"I
need to think. There has to be some way to stop this."
"If
you could stop this, what would it accomplish? Fear, prejudice, and media
manipulation would continue, and so more deaths would follow. If we carry
through with what has started, then there is a chance."
"Only
after more people pay the price." Aria put in snidly. "A great human
once said, 'There is no avoiding war - it can only be postponed to the
advantage of others.'"
Jana
snorted. "Niccolo Machiavelli. Fifteenth century earth. Hence the word
'Machiavellian Scheme', which perfectly describes Section 113."
Aria
was silent, stood, and left the room.
Selena
leaned over to Jana. "I am worried about her. Of all the clan, she is the
most vulnerable."
"Aye,
she does vulnerable very well." Jana sighed, uncertainly. Then Aria
appeared back in the room with a replicated dish of Macaroni and Cheese, and
ate in silence. Jana shrugged. It was soft food, but it worked for the moment.
"Doesn't
anyone else find it odd that a file just suddenly disappears when I'm looking
at it, and they don't even seem concerned."
"That
was odd." Jana nodded. "I'm going to see what other information I can
pull up." she announced, sitting down with the LCARS. "...It looks
like we're going to be here for a while."
Aria
sighed. "Selena... I want to go see my baby. Would you come with me?"
Selena
nodded. It was not an unusual habit for the sorceress and her young prodigy to
take long walks together. It seemed like a prudent move to help Aria clear her
head. They never made it to their destination.
Partway
to their destination in the turbolift, the lift stopped and opened to reveal
three gargoyle officers who stepped on board, and demanded an emergency
override to Holodeck 3. Aria and Selena remained in the background as these
three officers hurried to some kind of medical emergency.
"Can
we help?" Selena inquired.
"I'm
Commander Centuarius, first officer of this ship." he introduced himself
to the two members of the Starclan. He was a small, but fairly respectably
browner tan male of older years. I'd appreciate it if you two would remain out
of this and continue on about your business."
The
car stopped at Holodeck 3, where medical teams were assembling and rushing
inside. Aria and Selena looked at each other once, and followed them slowly.
They wanted answers - no more of these half-truths and cryptic answers.
There
were gargoyles gathered all around, inside a holographic depiction of serene
forested setting. The gargoyles there were mostly medical teams and were
assisting a couple of doctors. The rest looked like command figures, who were
watching from the sidelines.
"There
are just too many bio-toxins in his system! We can't filter them out fast
enough!" one of the nurses reported.
That
was when the two gargoyles caught sight of who was laying on the table. It was
not a gargoyle - nor was it a human. The best word the describe it was
deformed. It was like a human, but with skin the color of Bolian cattle dung.
It had limp and lifeless wings that looked more like clothes than wings. It's
hands looked like someone had tried to twist human hands into a gargoyle shape.
It was quite plainly disgusting to look at, but underneath it there was someone
- a person who was obvious suffering pains unknown.
He
turned to the gargoyle known as Commander Centaurius. "Computer. Turn over
all command codes to Commander Centaurius, authorization Blade-Alpha-114."
"The
starship USS Harry Benjamin now under the command of Command
Centaurius." the computer reported.
"I
will be with you, as long as I can." Centaurius held the man's hand. It
was obvious he was dying. That was when the man on the table suddenly looked up
at the two members of the Starclan. "GET THEM OUT OF HERE!"
It
was the Captain. They could tell by his voice.
Several
security grunts turned to them, but Selena suddenly shouted. "WAIT! We can
help!"
The
grunts looked ready to pull the two members of the Starclan out of the room,
but the Captain began to laugh - a painful sound. "Sure. They can't make
things any worse."
The
grunts circled around behind Aria and Selena, supposedly ready to cut the two
women to pieces if they so much as looked at them funny. Selena took Aria's
paws. "Exactly like I taught you." was all she said. Both gargoyles
closed their eyes, and Selena began to chant.
"Am
fear a thuit
Sona
agus glic!
Tha
e 'na shlainte
Laidir!
Laidir!"
It
was not latin, Aria recognized, but Gaelic. There was something about the
natural and simple way it rolled off her tongue that the universal translator
choked on. A white glow began to form around the two women as they spread their
wings, and began to hover in the air slightly.
"We're
losing him!" the nurses continued. "Cortical stimulator! The cancer
is overrunning his nervous system, cutting off circulation!"
"There
is an increase in hyper photonic energy..." one of the nurses reported...
"...like nothing I've ever seen before!"
"LUATH!
Dràsda!" Selena continued.
"There's
a tremendous energy surge..."
The
body of the tortured captain began to glow in a similar manner, and he began to
arch his back, screaming. Aria and Selena's eyes opened, radiating a brilliant
red light. Streams of energy began to rush between the two sorceresses and the
ailing captain. Selena threw her head back. "Cha'n eil!!!" Aria
twisted in a sickly manner. "NOOO!!!!"
Centaurius
moved forward. "Something's wrong!"
The
grunts unsheathed their phasers... only they had been modified with some kind
of device. They pressed a button on the phasers, and a beam shot out, but only
about a meter long. They held these phaser-swords ready to cut Selena and Aria
to pieces.
Something
began to form in the air space between the captain's bed and the two
sorceresses. It began to coalesce and take form... some kind of half-corporeal creature,
as tall as the holodeck itself! It snarled and half-slashed at the grunts, who
began to turn towards it.
"KILL
IT!!!" Selena and Aria screamed simultaneously, as the white-hot energy
around them vanished, and the two sorceresses passed out onto the forest floor.
The demon had fully coalesced into physical form now, and picked up one of the
gargoyles, growling and roaring as it came...
...but
it was too late for the demon. The other gargoyles sounded their battle-cries
and with their phaser-swords at the ready cut the beast to pieces.
, , ,
Aria
groaned painfully as she stirred back to consciousness. She was laying on an
examination bed in sickbay, surrounded by Titan, Greystone, Jana, Thorough, and
Centaurius. She blinked her eyes, feeling a strong desire to just fall back to
sleep.
"Welcome
back to the waking world, my dear." came Centaurius's voice.
"So
tired..." Aria muttered. "What happened?"
Centaurius
leaned over. "You saved the Captain's life, that's what you and your
sister did."
"And
excised some kind of demon in the process, it seems - locked it into a physical
form, so that the other gargoyles could cut it down." Jana explained.
"The
captain... he was one of the experiments... Section 113 was trying to turn him
into a gargoyle, weren't they?"
Centaurius
nodded. "Captain Blade was in a prison colony in New Zealand when Section
113 found him. They used him for their experiments, but since they could not
emulate the magical part of a gargoyle, they could not create one, but instead
created the tortured creature you saw who had so many boils and cancerous
growths on his skin he could not get out of bed. Yet, in his name, he brought
together this crew."
"How
is he?"
"See
for yourself." Centaurius nodded to an adjacent bed, where a very built
blue male gargoyle Aria had never seen before was sitting up, looking
particularly relieved.
"A
gargoyle?" Aria asked, puzzled. "We were trying to return him to his
humanity..." The Captain walked over to Aria's bed, with a medical blanket
wrapped around his waist, and his massive wings hung at his shoulders. "I
guess we'll have to try again..." Aria began to think aloud.
"No."
the Captain said. "Like I always say, don't tempt fate. Besides, at least
I fit in with my crew."
Aria
chuckled a little, turning to Jana. "We have another mutate..." Jana
smiled a little, caressing Aria's hair and horns as she gently drifted back to
sleep.
The
Captain held a paw up to Jana. "Captain Blade, at your service." Jana
blinked, and took his paw, wrist-to-wrist in the gargoyle manner. "If
there is anything I can do to repay the service Selena and Aria have
done..."
Jana
looked at Aria and Selena, resting peacefully on the medical beds, and turned
back to the Captain.
"Imagine
something, Blade. Six gargoyle eggs." Jana began. Blade nodded. "Now
imagine them in the hands of Morris Falcone."
Blade's
smiled evaporated. "Tell me you aren't serious."
"That
was the mission you... diverted us from."
Blade's
eyes blazed white, his wings going wife, and he roared. "BLADE TO
CENTAURIUS!" he shouted. "SET A COURSE TO INTERCEPT THE USS NIMBUS,
MAXIMUM VELOCITY! ENGAGE CLOAK!"
, , ,
"The
Joker's Luck II has been refitted with cloak, new Plasma Injectors in
the warp nacelles that will allow you to get more speed out of them, and we've
repaired your Tetrion Pulse array and Phase Compression Emitters. We've also
enhanced your shield grid with metaphasic subspace shielding, which should
allow you to fly into the ionosphere of a star if you had to." Hemingway
gruffly reported to the assembled crew at the table. The Starclan was seated on
the one side, along with The USS Harry Benjamin's command crew on the
other. Captain Blade sat at the head of the table, attempting to readjust the
collar of his uniform.
"I
sure hope you fixed the chairs in there." Jana laughed. Aria was glad to
see her mood had picked up. The Clan was starting to feel more at home on this
ship, in spite of the shaky start.
Hemingway
chuckled, a deep merry sound. "I'll get some engineers on it right
away."
"Good."
Blade nodded, turning to the Starclan. "Here's the situation." He
turned to the monitor, where a starchart came up. "In this debris field is
a junkyard of discarded starships. Just about everything is in there, except
for possibly Borg and Romulan. Before we captured this ship from Section 113 in
a supply raid, we used several smaller ships. As our numbers grew, we needed
more and more ships, but the USS Harry Benjamin allowed us all to live
together in one large 'castle' as the others put it." The other gargoyles
smiled approvingly. "And it gave us the chance to put all our creative
efforts into enhancing just one ship which would go with us wherever we
traveled. However, there are plenty of other, older warships hidden in that
field, and only we know where they are hidden. There are plenty to make a
substantial contribution to the war effort, and hundreds more that just need a
little work and can be made operational again."
"So
what's the problem lad?" Greystone inquired.
"Crew."
Centaurius put in. "We are settled and at home in our present castle. We
do not have the manpower to run this ship, and a whole different fleet."
"That's
where we come in." Jana spoke up. "The New Maquis alliance consists
of Trill, Betazed, Deltan, Vulcan, Klingon, Bajoran, and a few other mixed
forces mixed in for good measure. They are even some dissenting Federating
crewmen who believe the Federation is in the wrong and have joined us."
Jana reported, going through a PADD as she spoke. "Why the entire
Federation doesn't join us is a little beyond me."
"Arrogance
will get you nowhere." Selena laughed.
Jana
smiled and continued. "What we lack are ships, but we have crewmen
aplenty. I think we can arrange a... mutual alliance."
Captain
Blade bowed formally. "I offer our services to the New Maquis
Alliance."
Jana
nodded. "Give me an encrypted channel and I can contact the necessary
people."
"Thorough
is our resident Hacker and my security officer. Usually we can cut down on
unnecessary violent confrontation through his genius." Blade nodded to
Thorough.
Jana
nodded. "I have a few ideas I was to share with you."
"I've
already been looking at some of Aria's notes." Thorough smiled. "I
think we can make a complete crack of the Nimbus's computer before they even
know we're there. I recommend running a 'shadow' program until the crack is
done, echoing their every move so that even if they do detect us, they will
think we are some kind of sensor ghost."
Blade
nodded. Aria protested. "HEY! I wrote that program!"
Thorough
blushed. "Well... I... made some improvements."
Aria
rolled her eyes and sighed. Jana chuckled. "I think we're gonna feel right
at home here."
"Captain
Blade?" came a voice from the intercom. "We're now approaching the
USS Nimbus."
, , ,
"One
minute captain. Program's still running. They've got about the usual level of
Section 113 blocks to get through but with Aria's little contributions we can
get it all done a lot faster than it would... AH HAH!" Thorough rubbed his
paws together with excitement, and made a little gun out of his right paw,
pointing at the console. "GOTCHA!!! Running the first diversion program
now, captain."
Captain
Blade turned to the Starclan and the other team leaders that had assembled on
the bridge at his command. "Okay, first priority here is search and
rescue. This mission is right up your guys's alley. Besides I won't give
Falcone the easy out - I'm gonna see to it that he rots in prison for
decades." Aria and the others nodded succinctly. "Okay, your teams
are ready? Good. Unit 1 will deploy here." He made a motion with one talon
towards a particular part of the starship on the screen. "2, here, 3...
and 4. Remember, we HAVE to get those eggs at ANY COST." He faced his crew
very seriously. "We've talked about a day possibly coming when I'd ask you
to go to your deaths. This might be that mission for some of you. That's the
way life works, but I only make that call when it's worth it."
Captain
Blade turned back to the image of the USS Nimbus. "These eggs...
the youth of gargoyles... are VERY worth it, every one."
The
other gargoyles nodded, deadly serious.
Captain
Blade turned back to them. "Pierce, Adams, King - demonstrade some of our
weapons to our newest crewmembers." he nodded at the Starclan. This time
even Jana smiled in acknowledgement. They were finally feeling at home here.
"Remember this is a gun fight. No knives." He smiled a little. The
gargoyles nodded. "Then go make me proud."
The
gargoyles marched, like out of the academy. Their movements were precise, and
they followed the Starclan without question. Hemingway was there. Heading down
a hallway towards the transporter room, he barked something, and they replied
in unison. Aria actually felt a little overwhelmed. She felt like she was
leading elite soldiers, and she was green out of the academy! She felt
misplaced - a regular fish out of water.
, , ,
"Admiral?"
At
the sound of Canmore's voice, the Admiral turned from his introspective pose
reading some important documents, and looked up at the young Lieutenant.
"Yes?"
"We're
getting some odd resonance vibrations in the warp core conduit controllers.
Engineering recommend we drop out of warp long enough to investigate the
problem." he reported.
The
admiral nodded. "But tell them to hurry but still do a good job. I don't
want serious problems later, but Section 113 is going to expect us to
deliver."
"Aye,
yessir." he snapped, typing quickly into the console.
Several
long minutes went by, in which the Admiral continued to read his documents, but
the time began to drag. After twenty, perhaps thirty minutes, he turned back to
his helmsman. "Canmore - are they done yet down there?"
"They're
having some difficulty, sir. They replaced the unit, but the new unit is having
the same problem, and the old one appears to check out, sir." Canmore
reported. "They're looking into some kind of computer glich..."
That
was when the lights went down. The running noises a starship normally made
stopped. The ship was dead silent. "What's going on...?" The admiral
insisted. The viewscreen flickered on. An image of a skull and crossbones
appeared, laughing. Then the ship was filled with the sound of a haunting, evil
laughter. "What the HELL?!!! Get more teams down there! Get this problem
fixed! I want..."
"HELLO,
ADMIRAL."
The
admiral was silent, stopping dead in his tracks. That voice...
"Oh
come now... don't insult me by pretending you don't know who I am."
"Impossible..."
Falcone muttered - half to himself - then louder, "Impossible...!"
The
image on the viewscreen changed, and Captain Blade appeared. "Hello,
Falcone. Remember me?"
"BRIDGE!"
one of the Admiral's crewmen's voice came on the speakers. "INTRUDER
ALERT!!! We've got intruders on decks five, six, seven, and twenty one! Firefights
have broken out on each of those decks! They've got WINGS sir!"
Canmore
punched futily at his console, but it remained black and unresponsive.
"The computer is DOWN, sir! Somehow it's locked everyone out."
"Computer!
Override command lockouts, authorization Falcone, Theta-Kappa-117."
"Unable
to comply. Invalid authorization code." the computer replied.
Canmore
spoke. "Computer, who is in charge of the ship, then?"
"The
USS Nimbus is current under the command of Captain Blade of the USS
Harry Benjamin."
"WHAT?!!!"
Falcone exclaimed, blood vessels in his face practically bursting with
apoplexy. He turned back to the built blue gargoyle on the monitor.
"Oh
don't look so surprised, CAPTAIN Falcone. I told you I'd be back, didn't I? And
I'm not alone. Perhaps you'd recognize their names?" Blade leaned closer
in the image. "Selena, Greystone, Titan, Aria Maza..." Canmore's
fists clenched. "...and Jana Deenax."
"IMPOSSIBLE!"
"You
seem to be using that word a lot for a man who no longer commands his own
ship."
"Whatever
it is you want, you aren't going to get it!" Falcone returned, eyes filled
with fury.
"CAPTAIN!"
came a voice on the intercom. "All our weapons have somehow deactivated!
Hand to hand combat has broken out... ACK!!!" ...and the voice was gone.
Blade
was struggling to hold a straight face. He reminded himself to promote Thorough
on this one - he sure had a sense of the melodramatic.
Falcone's
reaction was almost automatic. "All crews! Lock down the eggs!"
The
second Falcone cut off the signal, Blade turned back to his people.
"REPORT!"
"Teams
two and three encountering heavy resistance in their engineering and weapons
areas."
"MAZA
TO THOROUGH!" came Aria's voice on the comm. "I know this isn't the
time for bright ideas, but I think you need to hear this one."
"I'm
always game, sister." Thorough replied. "What is it?"
"So,
I'm punching the lights out of this security officer, right? I swear my head
has never been this clear before! I can almost see the schematics in my head!
Quadritic power couplings, Thorough! Isolytic subspace weapons use a quadritic
power coupler, right?"
Thorough
blinked, typing something into the computer. "I hardly think this is the
time..."
"I
just realized something. In order for a Quadritic power coupler to the EPS
system to work, there would have to be a physical secondary power connection to
the coupling, right? That second connection would be shunted by computer
control, right? GRRRRRR... TO YOUR LEFT! WATCH YOUR HEAD!" Something
crashed in the background, and human scream was heard. "So just reverse
the flow on one and it should short out, right? Oldest trick in the book!"
Thorough
grinned. "Shunt their full engine power through the coupler using the
computer and WHOOSH the whole system melts in it's housings! Aria, you're a
FUCKING genious!!!"
"Remind
me not to come up with good ideas when I'm not trying to -- GRAAAAGH!!! -- beat
up humans, next time!"
"Advice
noted. Thorough out."
Blade
smiled. "Inspiration strikes at the oddest times, doesn't it?"
, , ,
Jana
delivered a wicked uppercut to some grunt's upper jaw and brought the tetrion
pulse rifle hanging from her shoulder around and fired off three successive
shots in the direction of a new cluster of security rats on the hallway to her
left. The shots went right into the duranium ceiling, and began to shower the
poor fools underneath with fiberoptic cabling and isoliner circutry. Jana's
eyes were blazing with rage.
"THIS
WAY!" Aria directed, pointing at a large cargo door. She tried the
emergency release handle, but it was somehow locked tight. "BLAST
IT!"
The
Starclanners dropped to a kneeling position and fired off several successive
rounds at the cargo door while the other gargoyles stood watch, looking in all
direction, and occasionally firing off shots with modified Romulan hand
disruptors. The cargo door groaned and complained, teetering in it's housings.
Jana gave it one good kick, and it tore apart at the weakpoints the tetrion
pulse had put in it. Jana roared, wings spread... only to find an empty cargo
bay. Selena swung her tricorder around. "This way!"
As
the Starclan filed inside the cargobay in question, as the others watched the
doorway, withdrawing to the door to maintain their watch in a defensive posture
instead of offensive. Selena's scan swung to the right, stepping through the
rows and crates of equipment. Sure enough, she moved to a wall and began to
scan it thoroughly. "They sure aren't making this easy." she
commented.
Jana,
pumped full of adrenaline, shoved her claws into the duranium mesh alloy, and
ripped it aside, and was rewarded by a blast of warm wet air. Jana looked down
at the table of gargoyle eggs with a puzzled look. "This is too easy.
Something's wrong."
Selena
looked down at one of the eggs, to pick it up, and it shattered to little
peices of empty plastic. "Fake." she reported.
Jana
snarled, frustrated. "Now we're screwed."
Aria
looked around the room with a look on her face that betrayed an idea. "Not
quite yet." She moved to a panel on the far wall, and began moving her paw
across it. "Selena?"
Selena
touched the wall she was referring to. "Yes, youngling - I feel it
too."
"Shall
we?" Aria smiled to Jana, and opened fire on the wall in question... to no
effect.
"WAIT."
Selena instructed. She touched the panel again, and after a few moments it
shimmered and turned to dust.
"That
was unlike any door I've ever seen." Jana noted.
"Nor
I." Selena noted. "But it was made by science. Magic can detect
it."
The
Starclan filed in through the hole made by the open panel in the wall, and
found several a vacuum sealed recess door. Aria contacted Thorough once more,
and they hacked it open without the need for phasers, and once inside, they
finally found them.
"These
are real." Selena smiled without touching them. "Their energy is
right."
"Get
the others in here. Everyone grab one and file out." Jana ordered.
"DEENAX TO BENJAMIN... Prepare to transport...!!!"
, , ,
"We've
gained access to the computer control circuitry, captain." Canmore
reported. "Access will be restored shortly."
"Excellent!"
the Admiral smiled. So much for Blade's strategy. He sat in his chair as the
lights came back up again. "Scan for the USS Harry Benjamin, and
lock Isolytic Torpedoes on target."
"AYESIR!"
Canmore and the other bridge crew shared in his energy. They were back in
business now!
"I
want a full systems status report! What's going on with my ship?"
"Intruders
are in four groups, and are beaming out. They appear to be on the run, Admiral!"
a female officer replied with a big smile.
"Captain,
there appear to be no other ships in the area." reported another, more
sensible sounding young male.
"That
can't be! Find them!" Canmore put in.
"Open
a channel." Falcone ordered. "Perhaps we can flush him out."
The
blue gargoyle was there again, hugging what could only be Deenax and Maza.
"You wouldn't happen to mind telling me how you've survived all these
years, subject 13217?" Falcone asked.
Deenax,
Maza, and Blade turned to face the view. "So you DO remember. Wouldn't you
like to know?" Blade chuckled.
The
view changed, and the enourmous shape of the USS Harry Benjamin
flickered into view. Falcone's smiled twisted. "FIRE."
The
bridge of the USS Nimbus was suddenly filled with a rain of sparks and
the weapons officer was thrown across the room and knocked out cold.
Falcone
began to shout and cough in the smoke. "WHAT HAPPENED?!!! DAMAGE
REPORT?!!!"
"Isolytic
torpedo launch system compromised sir! Some kind of computer feedback
error!"
"Have
a nice life, Falcone. Pray you never see this face again." Blade's voice
came through the air. Falcone did not even look up at the viewscreen, but held
his head in his hands.
"They've
gone to warp, sir!"
"Track
them?" Falcone asked, a royal headache forming.
"Aye
sir!"
"SIR!!!
Deck Five reports the gargoyle eggs are missing!"
Canmore
spoke up. "Impossible! How could they crask the psyionic doorway?"
The
female officer spoke up. "Sir, receiving a message from Section 113. They
want an update on when we'll be there to deliver the eggs."
Admiral
Morris Falcone sighed. "Oh shit..."
, , ,
While
the two males of the Starclan were on duty, while the three women tried to
control seven miserable hatchlings as three nurses and the doctor of the USS
Harry Benjamin tried to give all the hatchlings medical exams. The scene
was - to say the least - chaotic. Children were screaming, some crying, and
their caregivers... well...
"Well,
based on the five of you, I can only guess that..." Doctor
"Becky" Allison had to quickly dodge a young male hatchling grabbing
for her tricorder. Even as young at they were, they probably could have easily
destroyed the medical instrument. She was a matronly young woman with a
pleasant smile, green wings, and a pleasant blue complexion. "All of them
are healthy. I would recommend you take steps to make sure they're all taken
care of, even if it means taking one or more of you off duty until further
notice, is that clear?"
"Doctor,
take all three of us off duty." Selena requested curtly. "In our
clan, all the clan mothers help until the hatchlings are taken care of. It is
not only a tradition, it is a biological necessity."
"Besides,
we need three just to watch them all and still sleep." Aria nodded,
holding her own little orange double‑winged hatchling with her father's
horns barely budding on the infant's brow.
The
doctor turned her scanner to Selena and Jana. "I see what you mean.
Somehow you are each experiencing the hormonal fluxuations that normally
accompany post-delivery. Interesting."
Selena
and Aria nodded, but Jana looked baffled. "What does that mean?"
"It
means, Deenax, that since the hatchlings have all hatched, your body considers
them YOUR responsibility, just as much as the others. As a result, your bodies
are adjusting your own hormone levels to compensate." She showed the
tricorder to the young gargoyle commander. "I bet all my training you
start feeling your breasts ache before this week is out."
"But
I can't be worrying about this - we've got a WAR to fight! We've got too many
ships to refit...!"
"Didn't
you hear me, Commander?" the doctor shook her head. "You, Selena, and
Aria are off duty until the hatchlings are AT LEAST nursed. Between your
prolactate levels, adrenaline surges, and pure estrogen, you aren't going to be
clear thinkers on the bridge, let alone with a wielding torch. You will be
perfect, however, for taking care of YOUR rookery. Don't make me suspend your
rank as well, Deenax. Take care of your new rookery, Deenax - this is a MEDICAL
order."
"We're
in the middle of a war! Greystone and Titan aren't trained to build the new
weapons arrays on all those ships!"
"I
know that. Gargoyles are not going to win this war ‑ the rest of the New
Marquis will. You've given us the ability, now it's up to us. Right now the
most important thing YOU can do is care for those HATCHLINGS! This discussion
is OVER!" The doctor paused, returning her eyes to normal. "I know
you were born human, but Selena's right - when a gargoyle clan had more hatchlings
than it can handle, the women's bodies react. It's not unique to our kind
either."
Score
one for the doctor.
Jana
slumped down on one of the beds, and one of the little male hatchlings crawled
up into her lap to play with her hair. The doctor gave each adult gargoyle
woman a specimen cup. "When the milk comes, I want a sample for hormone
tests, and for replication."
"Replication?"
Aria inquired.
"Three
women - seven babies. You do the math. That's a lot of baby bottles,
lieutenant." The doctor replied. Selena smiled. Score two for the doctor.
"Do you have names for them yet?"
Selena
blinked. "Gargoyles do not have names."
"I
am well aware of that, sister. Captain's request. For the sake of nicety."
Aria
spoke up. "Me and Jana kinda got stuck with that task. First, the
strawberry colored female by the office is Elena, the dark blue male next to
her is Daniel, the emerald green female here is Prosperina, the black male on
Jana with the arm wings is Winston, the large yellow female next to Jana is
Jennifer, and my hatchling..." Aria lovingly caressed her baby's still‑bald
baby head. "...will be Elisa."
, , ,
24 HOURS LATER
"Oh my Goddess!" Jana exclaimed, looking in the mirror. "I'm bloated! I'm lactating! My body is making MILK!"
"Doctor Becky told you so." Aria noted. "Take a sample cup and do like the rest of us." Aria and Selena smiled at each other - enjoying the moment.
Jana returned a moment later from the bathroom to the main room of their quarters. "Fine. My breasts still hurt. Now what?"
Selena scooped up little Prosperina who was squalling and sucking on her tail. "Give to the next generation."
After a little awkward instruction in how to hold the gargoyle child, Jana nursed Prosperina. Aria chuckled a little to herself. "All the vast knowledge of the trill, and you don't know how to be a mother?"
"Hey! My last host was a MAN! Jana never planned on having kids because she was never the 'motherly' type. I've never had any other hosts - my symbiont is too young!"
"Oh..." Selena nodded, understanding. "So this is your first time."
"Worst part is, the doctor examined my symbiont and it looks like it's only compatible with another gargoyle - it can't interface with a human anymore. There's only one adult gargoyle in the Starclan that I can join with if the worst happens." Jana explained, as she watched the little winged girl in her arms suck on her nipple. There was something in Jana's eyes for the first time - the feeling of motherhood filling her. She gently smiled.
"Who's that?" Selena blinked.
"Aria." Jana motioned generally in Aria's direction.
Aria sighed. "Hopefully by the time that happens, one of the hatchlings will be old enough to do it."
Jana found this reaction a little disturbing, and so confronted Aria about it later when Selena had gone off to bed to try and catch some much‑needed sleep. That was one disadvantage to the lack of a stone‑sleep cycle: they didn't get their in‑force naps and had to make time to grab small snatches of sleep between breastfeeding just like human women.
"Oh it's nothing you did, Jana." Aria replied, gently. "I sorta think of you as... a lover..."
Jana's eye dropped. "I didn't want to hurt you, or realize..."
Aria cut her off. "I'm there for you as a person, but I'm not excited to BE you... or loose you..."
Jana hugged her lover tightly.
The doorbell signal rang. "Come in!" Aria and Jana said almost simultaneously, breaking from the hug, and turning to the door.
There stood the blue skinned Captain Blade in all his masculine glory, finally outfitted in a redtop uniform he felt comfortable in. "Am I interrupting anything?"
"Unless you count entertaining squalling youngsters, no." Jana sighed, defeatedly.
"Keep it down. They're sleeping - old and the young." Aria whispered.
"Our fleet is almost ready. The ships from Quo'nos, Bajor, and Trill should be arriving inside of a few hours." He sighed, sitting down on the couch. "We'll join up with the Bajoran/Trill taskforce in section nine by next week."
"Perhaps you should drop us off someplace safe." Aria suggested.
Blade reached over and hugged the nursing mother, smiling gently. "Trust me. This is the safest place in the galaxy for you right now. We'll see to that. I swear it."

