Thanks to the folks who reviewed. I hope this next part does your hearts
good.
Turtle
I led Chakotay to the place I remembered as the security captain's office. At the time I'd been introduced to the place, the position was held by a professor of mine who had always made it quite clear that he approved of me. on a few different levels. Anyway, one night after some drinking, he ran into me in a hallway and immediately tried to romance me by giving me his resume`. I nodded politely as he droned on, wishing neither to disgrace him, nor to incur his drunken wrath. Somewhere along the line, he happened to mention a certain safe compartment in the floor.
After breaking into said office (with considerable ease amidst the chaos of the escapees, I may add), we found, in said compartment, a variety of gadgets with little blinking lights as well as five pins fitting the description of that which Janeway had once mentioned. We completed the heist with a dash to a side entrance. Our only obstacle was a smattering of guards remaining here and there, each of whom Chakotay dispatched quite handily with a sucker punch to the face.
The scene outside was delicious. A full-scale riot was already in progress: Prisoners stampeded from the compound's front door in all directions, people crowded to see what in the world was happening, and soldiers scattered like headless farm birds as they tried in vain to reclaim their authority. Chakotay and I, staying low from the compound's side exit easily slipped around the fray until we made it to the end of the alley where our scuzzlebat was parked. At the opposite end, the rest of our party was already mounted and were anxiously waiting.
"Here they come!" Torres yelled when she spotted the commander and me sprinting toward her.
"There they go!" screeched a frantic baritone soldier behind us.
Chakotay and I ran with all our might, closer and closer to the outstretched hands of our group that were just waiting to pull us up onto the scuzzlebat's back. All the while, the soldiers gained on us. It was like running downhill from a lava stream, the intensity, and the burning sensation at my heels as I sensed the boiling mad soldiers.
Almost there. almost there.
I plastered my hand around Tuvok's and as he and Torres were still pulling me up, the scuzzlebat took off at its amazing speed. When I looked over my shoulder to find Chakotay safely aboard behind Tuvok, I saw a rapidly clustering mob of infantry dashing after us. By the time we burst out of the city confines, the horns and alarms were deafening. Just how far ahead Janeway had thought, I didn't know. I had no idea where we were going or what we'd do when we got there. The thing that I found most obscene was when I noticed that we seemed to be headed for my place.
We couldn't be! I thought as we sped along, dodging artillery fire the whole way. That'd just be goofy. They know where I live. It's the first place they'll come for us! I'm sure Janeway realized that. Oh, there's the road to my place. and here we are in the outskirts. Hey look, here comes my yard!
It became more and more apparent with each step that the scuzzlebat took where we were going.
"Look out!" Chakotay yelled, half a moment before someone yanked me down over the scuzzlebat's back and held me there as energy weapon blasts began to pierce the air around us.
"Holy hells!"
"Keep going, we're almost there!" Janeway yelled.
The war cries of the hundreds of soldiers in our pursuit nearly drowned my own thoughts.
Buck up, Melai. A merry chase is a grand way to go.
The bodies shielding me suddenly lifted and the scuzzlebat came to a skidding halt. The next thing I knew, I was being yanked off of the scuzzlebat, onto the ground, to my doorstep, through my door. The momentum of my journey carried me head first into the rear wall of my house's one room, ending with a painful smack and a flash of stars. I slid slowly down the wall to the floor. As I lay dazed, I heard Janeway's voice.
"Everyone, set phasers to wide beam and fire on my mark. Now!"
That's when it happened: First a burst of shocked shrieks from the soldiers outside. Then, nothing. There was no was no sound at all outside of my house. Just when they should've been battering down my door, there was only a thick eerie silence in its place.
"Is everyone all right?" I heard Janeway pant.
"Melai?"
Suddenly, there were four very fuzzy Wildmans obstructing my view of the ceiling.
"Yeeeeeess?"
"Are you hurt? Can you tell me where you are?"
I blinked.
"I could until about 3 days ago."
The four Wildmans smiled and extended their right hands to me, and I found the real one by process of trial and error. Once they pulled me to my feet, they focused into one. I observed the scene before me: Mr. Kleed was off in a corner, passionately embracing his wife as she wept for joy into his shoulder and little Tieghy clung to his father's leg for dear life. Everyone else was crouched on the floor, 'phasers' in hand, all cautiously lifting their heads to find nothing imminently dangerous about the situation.
Staying low, Tuvok crept silently to my front window and peeked over the sell. Whatever it was that he saw, his expression remained completely untouched. Torres and Wildman followed suit, leaving Janeway on the floor, positioned on forearms and knees and trying to remain conscious. Chakotay stayed with her, reluctant to leave her unshielded from any harm that may come. As for me, curiosity finally got the better and I slid over to the window, standing on tiptoes to see over the others' heads.
There are no words that readily come to mind as I struggle to think of how to convey my unguarded astonishment over what I saw, so I'll just tell you what it was: A battalion, an entire battalion of soldiers stood frozen, a field away from my front yard. Between their front lines and my house, there was a strip of the ground measuring the length of the field by about five paces in width. In that strip, a line of soldiers lay motionless in a river of melted snow.
As the dumbstruck soldiers stared at their fallen comrades, my eyes bounced from the scene to the Feds' weapons and back. It was impossible. Those five tiny little things? That extent of force? Stopping an entire battalion in its tracks with the push of a button? Impossible!
Moments passed into minutes. Nobody on either side moved, barely breathed until the deep, cold voice from somewhere amongst the soldiers echoed across the field.
"Off-worlder Janeway. I give you one chance to come with peace."
"Chakotay, help me to the window."
Reluctantly, the big man supported her as she staggered to her destination. Once there, she took a deep breath and spoke in a steady, penetrating voice.
"Builder Shura. Be advised that with our weapons, we can easily match the firepower of your entire battalion. Any attempt to incapacitate us will be met with the deadliest force, and while these people are here they are under my protection. Go home and I won't come after you."
Gods bless you, Kathryn Janeway.
A long silence followed. No one moved, any of us inside the house, not a single soldier. All eyes were on Shura, waiting for his call.
"Come out and meet me halfway from where I stand to Melai's door. Bring two of your people, I'll bring two of mine."
Janeway seemed to think it over. Chakotay immediately disapproved.
"Captain, don't. It's got to be a trap."
"We can't keep this up for long, Chakotay. If there's any chance to stall, I'm going to take it. Tuvok, you're in charge back here. Chakotay, Melai, you're with me."
We made our way to the designated area at a slow pace set by Janeway, I think partly to keep from intensifying the situation with a rush, and partly because Janeway was determined to walk upright on her own, and this was as efficient as she could be in her deteriorating condition. Shura actually stopped a little closer to his own troops than was wise for us to proceed. Seeing this, Janeway stopped something short of the halfway point as well. Our group and Shura's (which included not two foot soldiers, but six, I noted with a scowl) stood about twenty paces apart, close enough to talk without yelling. Barely.
"Captain Janeway," Shura began, his calm cold tone betrayed by his flushed and clammy face. "How many times do I have to kill you?"
"That depends on how much time you've got," Janeway retorted evenly, though Chakotay was looking ready to break Shura in half on the spot.
Shura stiffened visibly, then smiled as he turned his attention to an easier target.
"Melai. You're getting quite the reputation, aren't you girl? Especially with that boy - What was it? Lexei? Oh, yes. I'm sure he's glad to have known you now."
Gods help me, you sonuva.
"What do you want, Shura?" Janeway broke in with a steadying hand on my trembling shoulder.
"Captain, you once asserted that the preservation of life is important to you above all else. If that is true, you should find my proposition attractive."
"Go on."
"Surrender now and there will be no loss of life in an attempt to defend yourselves, after which you would only be captured anyway. You and your crew members will then be taken to the capital for trial."
"On what charge? Passing through? Trampling the grass?" Chakotay demanded.
Janeway held up a hand to quiet him.
"I have a better idea. You leave us alone until we can contact our ship, we'll be on our way, and never bother you again. Melai and the others can decide for themselves."
"I'm afraid that I cannot allow that."
"Why? What are you afraid of? You're a fool if you think you'll benefit from killing us."
"But I will. I'll benefit for the same reason that all of these children in my armies are so ready to die for me. These are my people, Captain. Weakness is not an image that I will project to them. I hope you can see my dilemma if I let you go."
"Did it ever occur to you that your people may see it as an act of compassion rather than weakness?"
"What's the difference?"
"I am going to make my offer one more time: We will go back to our ship, or we will go down fighting. We will not go back with you."
"I see. In that case, I challenge you, Captain Kathryn Janeway of the starship Voyager to the bashahm. This spot tomorrow at dawn, or the shooting begins."
With that, Shura turned on his heel and led his lackeys briskly back from whence they came, leaving the captain and commander exchanging confused frowns and myself suddenly 86'ed into hopelessness.
"Oh, shazzbot." my tiny voice came out.
"Melai, what's he talking about?"
I craned my neck to meet the commander's eyes as he ducked under Janeway's arm, held it across his shoulders, and put his own about her waist. She sagged against him, exhausted.
"A bashahm," I said, surprised through the shock-induced daze. They'd understood every other word in my language so well. But then, few people knew that the bashahm was still in the Madditan laws as an option. I myself had heard of it once in a school lecture and never thought of the practice since. I shook my head. Chakotay sighed.
"We need to get her inside."
"I'm all right, Chakotay," Janeway stressed in exasperation.
"And I'm Arachnia, Queen of the spider people."
We made it back to the ranch and I skipped ahead to open the door for Chakotay, though the captain didn't seen to burden him at all. Immediately, her crew jumped into usefulness, the stoic one with the pointed ears supporting her on her free side while the two females hastily straightened the tangled bedclothes on my sleeping mat. Deposited there, Janeway lay back, panting through her teeth. The crew gathered around her, kneeling. I watched all that went on from there at a safe distance across the room.
"Report, Chakotay," Janeway said.
Chakotay gingerly lifted the shirt cloth away from her flank and discovered the rapidly filling pad of makeshift bandage. Everyone who looked anxiously over his shoulder made some sign of their shock evident.
"My God," the big man breathed. "You're shot?"
"Surprise. Now I want a report, Commander."
"There's not much to say, really. After you were separated, we were brought to the compound and we've been there since. They told us you'd been killed." He paused and hinted a smile. "Thank God for small favors. Anyway, it seems we've missed a little more than you have."
Janeway smiled weakly back.
"You don't know the half of it."
"Captain, Ensign Wildman must examine you now. I suggest that you continue your description as she proceeds."
Janeway nodded at Pointy's suggestion and the woman in blue nudged her way past the others to Janeway's side.
"I'll need some water, please," she announced.
I scurried outside and filled a water bucket with snow. When I came back inside and set it on the stove to melt, Janeway was speaking in a low voice.
". And when I woke up, I was here. Apparently I drifted in and out for about a day and a half."
"But how did you survive? Bleeding, out there alone?" Torres said.
Janeway looked past her crew to me.
"Commander Chakotay, Commander Tuvok, Lieutenant Torres, Ensign Wildman. I'd like you to meet Melai of the Krischta family, my lucky penny."
Everyone turned to look at me. I answered with a timid little wave.
"Thank you," Chakotay said sincerely.
"You're, um, you're not all the same race."
"Lieutenant Torres is a klingon-human hybrid. I myself am Vulcan."
"Vulcan, I see. You're even more funny looking than a hu-man."
The one called Tuvok lifted an eyebrow as the others tried to stifle their chuckles. Realizing what I'd just said, I bit my tongue and shrank.
"God's, I hope I didn't say that out loud just now."
The Vulcan's face remained etched in stone.
"I laugh nearly all the time," he said.
"Is-is she okay?" I asked.
"She's bleeding. Do you have something clean that I can use for pressure?"
I went to my linen cabinet to oblige Ensign Wildman's request.
"Melai brought me here. She took care of me and helped me break into the compound. Helping us, she's made herself an outlaw."
"Oh, they would've outlawed me anyway. It was just a question of timing," I assured as I delivered the clean rag and heated water. Wildman began by soaking the presently utilized bandage to loosen it.
"We've already had an adventure in town, not to mention a spat with Shura," Janeway continued.
"The Doctor's going to have a fit when he finds out."
"Thank you, B'Elanna. I had no idea."
"Lieutenant, you'll have to take her shoulders."
Torres went to hold Janeway steady and Wildman slowly peeled the bandage away, trying to disturb the clot as little as possible. Janeway's jaws bunched as she stifled a gasp. There was small wonder it hurt so much. Infection had set in again with a firm hold. Wildman hurriedly set to work.
"Keep talking," Chakotay encouraged. "What's this 'bashahm' that Shura mentioned?"
"You're asking me? Agh, God!"
"Sorry," Wildman said.
"The bashahm," I put in haltingly. "It's an ancient practice. Nobody's bothered with it for decades."
"Continue," Commander Tuvok said.
"Well, it's. kind of like a gauntlet at first. The challenger and the challenged assemble as many of their volunteers as they can get into two rows, and then they run between each other's rows while their opponent's friends try to beat them silly from either side. If both survive, then they try to bludgeon each other in unarmed combat."
"What?" Everyone but Janeway and Tuvok shrieked.
"I know, it's silly."
"Curious. Why would Shura go through such trouble?" Tuvok wondered aloud.
"Because he only picks battles that he knows he'll win. He knew that Janeway was wounded."
"Can she choose a champion?" Torres asked hopefully.
"I don't think so. What's a champion?"
"Then what happens if I refuse? Aigh!"
"Sorry."
I shrugged. "Chances are he'll start executing villagers until you agree."
"Then I guess that's out. Unh!"
"Sorry."
"B'Elanna, what are your chances of rigging a distress beacon to Voyager?"
"With what we've got? A little better than yours of winning the bashahm. No offense, Captain, but that's not saying much."
"None taken. Get to work."
Torres nodded and Chakotay took her place at Janeway's shoulders. Wildman looked up at him.
"We have to kill some of the bacteria and stop the bleeding before she goes into septic shock. I've never dealt with this kind of thing without the proper tools."
"I have," Janeway said grimly. "Put a poker in the fire."
My hearts froze. From the looks on everyone else, they were experiencing the same problem.
She's not going to -
"Captain, you're not going to -"
"We have no antibiotics, no sterilized tools, not even alcohol. If I'm going to have any chance of surviving a fight tomorrow, I have to do something."
"With some luck, it won't come to that!"
"Don't argue with me, Chakotay. I'm not in the mood."
"Captain, I must protest. This practice was deemed barbaric by your own people centuries ago."
"It was practiced before then for a reason: The resources of the time were limited. See any connection here?"
With great hesitation, Chakotay nodded to Wildman who grimly got up to heed her captain.
"All right, everyone. Start thinking of ways to stall. If we can just hold out long enough for the others to find us, we just might live through tomorrow."
The Feds began to speak in fluent technobabble. I turned away to watch the poker glow red in the fire, dreading the moment when it would be ready. My insides suddenly queasy with the thought, I hurried to open my door for a breath of air and nearly collided with the person standing on the stoop, fist raised to knock. After the initial moment of panic, I was composed enough to take in his face.
". Slam?"
My old friend relaxed his slender shoulders in relief that I wasn't going to kill him after one look at his uniform. He'd barely changed since the academy days, lanky and not too tall. And his eyes still held the shy kindness he always kept hidden, except from me and a select few others.
"Hello, Melai."
"Slam!"
Before I could be suspicious of his agenda, I ensnared him in a hug.
"It really is you!" he whispered in my ear. "Are you all right?"
"Better than some." I let him go and looked him over. "What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here!"
"There are posters up all over town, spreading word that you're not in the law and it's everyone's responsibility to let you know that."
"What do you think?"
"I had to come. With you, I knew there had to be a reason."
"Of course there is, and you're a good friend. But you can't be here. They'll kill you."
Slam's face softened as he read my thought.
"I heard about Lexei. I'm sorry, I know you two were friends."
"I mean it, Slam. There's no reason for you to get roped into this too."
". There is," Slam admitted quietly. "I'm here because my superiors sent me. They knew I could get close to you. and."
"Aw, Slam."
The young man had not a crooked thread in his thin body. What had possessed his folks to have him pursue a military career is way beyond me.
"So what are you going to do?"
"Melai, you didn't honestly think that you're the only one, did you? The only one who's tired of this whole damned blood bath?" Slam took my shoulders tenderly. "There are more like you, like us. All we needed was for someone to get us started."
"Enough! What in the seven hells are you rattling about?"
"Let me join you, righting wrongs and saving people and all. I'm defecting!"
"Slam, I am going to tell you one more time to get away from here. All you have to do is tell your captain that I didn't believe you."
Slam shook his head.
"Not this time. For once I'm putting my foot down. Are you going to tell me what's going on, or am I going to darken your doorstep for the rest of the day?"
I hid my smile, suddenly proud of him.
Several seconds later.
". And tomorrow she has to do the bashahm and she only has me and her crew and maybe Mr. and Mrs. Kleed and she's almost bled out already and - and - we're all probably going to be dead by tomorrow afternoon!"
I panted, realizing I'd just summed up the entire story so far in one breath.
"Wow," said Slam. "I mean, I'll tell you what: Wow."
"May I ask whom you are talking to?"
"Yikes! Seven hells, Mr. Vulcan, you scared my left heart into stopping!"
Tuvok the Vulcan quirked his eyebrow again.
"My apologies, Ms. Krischta. I was merely curious as to the wisdom of holding a conversation alone with the enemy."
"Is this the Earther?" Slam breathed in awe. "Gods above, it talks!"
I cringed. Slam had never been one of the brightest people I'd ever met, but I honestly didn't know that he could swallow his own foot. Tuvok's demeanor, however, did not change.
"No, I am not 'The Earther'. I'm Commander Tuvok of the starship Voyager and the planet Vulcan. And you are...?"
"Jarl of the Sothos family, but people've called me Slam for so long, I don't think I could answer to anything else."
"Slam, could you excuse us please?"
"Oh, sure! Take as long as you want."
I closed the door and immediately turned to Tuvok.
"I'm really sorry, it's just that sometimes he doesn't know any better -"
"Am I to understand that you're personally acquainted with Mr. Sothos?"
"Y-yes, we were friends at the academy."
"You trust him then?"
"Yes, very much."
"That is fortunate. To put it mildly, we are comparatively short- handed."
I felt my face harden.
"Don't you dare encourage him!"
"It is up to you and the captain. However, as I see that you are a reasonable person, I know that you will find logic in allowing your friend to join us. After all, every advantage is an advantage, no matter how small it may seem."
I stared up at him. That had almost sounded like a compliment. I nodded slowly and Tuvok crossed the room to break into his crewmates' discussion and inform Janeway of the opportunity. Though they kept their voices too low for me to hear, I would have to've been blind to miss the look of puzzlement, and then hope on her ashen face. She gave her answer, and Tuvok turned on his heel to walk back across the room and stop next to me.
"Captain Janeway concurs. However, we would suggest that you wait several minutes before you invite him in."
I took his meaning when I saw Wildman heading toward Janeway, red-hot poker in hand. My skin crept along my spine.
"Oh, hells."
"You do not have to be here for this," Tuvok reminded me.
"N-no, I should stay. You might need me."
Tuvok hesitated, but gave a nod.
"As you wish."
Actually, I didn't wish. I was probably looking forward to it about as much as Janeway. In fact, so was poor Ensign Wildman. She was just standing, thin wisps of smoke from the end of the poker swirling around her, looking helplessly at Janeway.
"Do it," Janeway commanded.
Wildman nodded and swallowed as Tuvok placed a soaked rag in Janeway's mouth. Wildman proceeded. Janeway bit down with all her strength as she screamed into the rag. Her back arced and her shoulders strained against Chakotay's steady hands. Sweat rolled off her face. Looking around the room, I saw just as much pain in everyone else's eyes.
Wildman brought the poker away after the longest ten seconds of my life. Tuvok took the mangled cloth from Janeway's mouth.
". See?" Janeway's ragged voice came out through her weak grin. "That wasn't so bad."
With that, her eyes rolled back and she passed out. Chakotay released a breath he's been holding and began to mop the sweat from Janeway's face with a clean rag. Wildman set to work bandaging the wound. I ran for it.
Just outside the door, I gulped the fresh air. I'd almost forgotten about Slam, but he hadn't moved a centimeter and stood looking at me hopefully. I dropped my shoulders in defeat.
"All right! You can stay."
"Oh, by my grandmother, I'm glad you said that."
"Why, Slam? Why is this so important to you?"
At his suddenly guilty look, I sighed and rolled my eyes.
"Okay, Slam. What didn't you tell me?"
Slam turned to his right.
"It's okay. Come on out," he called.
Before my eyes, three youths appeared from behind the corner of my house. Two males and one female, they were dressed in foreign combat fatigues. That alone raised my suspicions, but as they approached, I saw the real kicker: Their temple markings were not the blue-green of a Madditan, but the orange of the Palaish.
For at least a minute, all I could do was sputter.
"Seventh hell! Slam, what've you done?!"
"Look, Melai, I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do. They were captured trying to save a wounded friend behind our lines. I met them when I was on guard duty at the compound. You know as well as I do how soon they would've been dead." He put his hands on my shoulders again and bore his eyes into mine. "Please, Melai. Look at them, they're just kids. Please."
I looked at them. He was right; they were no more than kids. There was a right thing and a wrong thing to do and I knew it. My eyes fell to the frozen ground and I shook my head.
"Gods, why did you make me such a lunatic?"
Slam and his Palaish companions exchanged joyously relieved smiled.
"Bless your hearts, Melai! I knew I could count on you."
"Yeah yeah yeah, come inside before you get us killed."
My first following. Another new experience.
To be continued.
Thanks again for reading. I'll have the end up by next week if people want to see it. Regards, Turtle
I led Chakotay to the place I remembered as the security captain's office. At the time I'd been introduced to the place, the position was held by a professor of mine who had always made it quite clear that he approved of me. on a few different levels. Anyway, one night after some drinking, he ran into me in a hallway and immediately tried to romance me by giving me his resume`. I nodded politely as he droned on, wishing neither to disgrace him, nor to incur his drunken wrath. Somewhere along the line, he happened to mention a certain safe compartment in the floor.
After breaking into said office (with considerable ease amidst the chaos of the escapees, I may add), we found, in said compartment, a variety of gadgets with little blinking lights as well as five pins fitting the description of that which Janeway had once mentioned. We completed the heist with a dash to a side entrance. Our only obstacle was a smattering of guards remaining here and there, each of whom Chakotay dispatched quite handily with a sucker punch to the face.
The scene outside was delicious. A full-scale riot was already in progress: Prisoners stampeded from the compound's front door in all directions, people crowded to see what in the world was happening, and soldiers scattered like headless farm birds as they tried in vain to reclaim their authority. Chakotay and I, staying low from the compound's side exit easily slipped around the fray until we made it to the end of the alley where our scuzzlebat was parked. At the opposite end, the rest of our party was already mounted and were anxiously waiting.
"Here they come!" Torres yelled when she spotted the commander and me sprinting toward her.
"There they go!" screeched a frantic baritone soldier behind us.
Chakotay and I ran with all our might, closer and closer to the outstretched hands of our group that were just waiting to pull us up onto the scuzzlebat's back. All the while, the soldiers gained on us. It was like running downhill from a lava stream, the intensity, and the burning sensation at my heels as I sensed the boiling mad soldiers.
Almost there. almost there.
I plastered my hand around Tuvok's and as he and Torres were still pulling me up, the scuzzlebat took off at its amazing speed. When I looked over my shoulder to find Chakotay safely aboard behind Tuvok, I saw a rapidly clustering mob of infantry dashing after us. By the time we burst out of the city confines, the horns and alarms were deafening. Just how far ahead Janeway had thought, I didn't know. I had no idea where we were going or what we'd do when we got there. The thing that I found most obscene was when I noticed that we seemed to be headed for my place.
We couldn't be! I thought as we sped along, dodging artillery fire the whole way. That'd just be goofy. They know where I live. It's the first place they'll come for us! I'm sure Janeway realized that. Oh, there's the road to my place. and here we are in the outskirts. Hey look, here comes my yard!
It became more and more apparent with each step that the scuzzlebat took where we were going.
"Look out!" Chakotay yelled, half a moment before someone yanked me down over the scuzzlebat's back and held me there as energy weapon blasts began to pierce the air around us.
"Holy hells!"
"Keep going, we're almost there!" Janeway yelled.
The war cries of the hundreds of soldiers in our pursuit nearly drowned my own thoughts.
Buck up, Melai. A merry chase is a grand way to go.
The bodies shielding me suddenly lifted and the scuzzlebat came to a skidding halt. The next thing I knew, I was being yanked off of the scuzzlebat, onto the ground, to my doorstep, through my door. The momentum of my journey carried me head first into the rear wall of my house's one room, ending with a painful smack and a flash of stars. I slid slowly down the wall to the floor. As I lay dazed, I heard Janeway's voice.
"Everyone, set phasers to wide beam and fire on my mark. Now!"
That's when it happened: First a burst of shocked shrieks from the soldiers outside. Then, nothing. There was no was no sound at all outside of my house. Just when they should've been battering down my door, there was only a thick eerie silence in its place.
"Is everyone all right?" I heard Janeway pant.
"Melai?"
Suddenly, there were four very fuzzy Wildmans obstructing my view of the ceiling.
"Yeeeeeess?"
"Are you hurt? Can you tell me where you are?"
I blinked.
"I could until about 3 days ago."
The four Wildmans smiled and extended their right hands to me, and I found the real one by process of trial and error. Once they pulled me to my feet, they focused into one. I observed the scene before me: Mr. Kleed was off in a corner, passionately embracing his wife as she wept for joy into his shoulder and little Tieghy clung to his father's leg for dear life. Everyone else was crouched on the floor, 'phasers' in hand, all cautiously lifting their heads to find nothing imminently dangerous about the situation.
Staying low, Tuvok crept silently to my front window and peeked over the sell. Whatever it was that he saw, his expression remained completely untouched. Torres and Wildman followed suit, leaving Janeway on the floor, positioned on forearms and knees and trying to remain conscious. Chakotay stayed with her, reluctant to leave her unshielded from any harm that may come. As for me, curiosity finally got the better and I slid over to the window, standing on tiptoes to see over the others' heads.
There are no words that readily come to mind as I struggle to think of how to convey my unguarded astonishment over what I saw, so I'll just tell you what it was: A battalion, an entire battalion of soldiers stood frozen, a field away from my front yard. Between their front lines and my house, there was a strip of the ground measuring the length of the field by about five paces in width. In that strip, a line of soldiers lay motionless in a river of melted snow.
As the dumbstruck soldiers stared at their fallen comrades, my eyes bounced from the scene to the Feds' weapons and back. It was impossible. Those five tiny little things? That extent of force? Stopping an entire battalion in its tracks with the push of a button? Impossible!
Moments passed into minutes. Nobody on either side moved, barely breathed until the deep, cold voice from somewhere amongst the soldiers echoed across the field.
"Off-worlder Janeway. I give you one chance to come with peace."
"Chakotay, help me to the window."
Reluctantly, the big man supported her as she staggered to her destination. Once there, she took a deep breath and spoke in a steady, penetrating voice.
"Builder Shura. Be advised that with our weapons, we can easily match the firepower of your entire battalion. Any attempt to incapacitate us will be met with the deadliest force, and while these people are here they are under my protection. Go home and I won't come after you."
Gods bless you, Kathryn Janeway.
A long silence followed. No one moved, any of us inside the house, not a single soldier. All eyes were on Shura, waiting for his call.
"Come out and meet me halfway from where I stand to Melai's door. Bring two of your people, I'll bring two of mine."
Janeway seemed to think it over. Chakotay immediately disapproved.
"Captain, don't. It's got to be a trap."
"We can't keep this up for long, Chakotay. If there's any chance to stall, I'm going to take it. Tuvok, you're in charge back here. Chakotay, Melai, you're with me."
We made our way to the designated area at a slow pace set by Janeway, I think partly to keep from intensifying the situation with a rush, and partly because Janeway was determined to walk upright on her own, and this was as efficient as she could be in her deteriorating condition. Shura actually stopped a little closer to his own troops than was wise for us to proceed. Seeing this, Janeway stopped something short of the halfway point as well. Our group and Shura's (which included not two foot soldiers, but six, I noted with a scowl) stood about twenty paces apart, close enough to talk without yelling. Barely.
"Captain Janeway," Shura began, his calm cold tone betrayed by his flushed and clammy face. "How many times do I have to kill you?"
"That depends on how much time you've got," Janeway retorted evenly, though Chakotay was looking ready to break Shura in half on the spot.
Shura stiffened visibly, then smiled as he turned his attention to an easier target.
"Melai. You're getting quite the reputation, aren't you girl? Especially with that boy - What was it? Lexei? Oh, yes. I'm sure he's glad to have known you now."
Gods help me, you sonuva.
"What do you want, Shura?" Janeway broke in with a steadying hand on my trembling shoulder.
"Captain, you once asserted that the preservation of life is important to you above all else. If that is true, you should find my proposition attractive."
"Go on."
"Surrender now and there will be no loss of life in an attempt to defend yourselves, after which you would only be captured anyway. You and your crew members will then be taken to the capital for trial."
"On what charge? Passing through? Trampling the grass?" Chakotay demanded.
Janeway held up a hand to quiet him.
"I have a better idea. You leave us alone until we can contact our ship, we'll be on our way, and never bother you again. Melai and the others can decide for themselves."
"I'm afraid that I cannot allow that."
"Why? What are you afraid of? You're a fool if you think you'll benefit from killing us."
"But I will. I'll benefit for the same reason that all of these children in my armies are so ready to die for me. These are my people, Captain. Weakness is not an image that I will project to them. I hope you can see my dilemma if I let you go."
"Did it ever occur to you that your people may see it as an act of compassion rather than weakness?"
"What's the difference?"
"I am going to make my offer one more time: We will go back to our ship, or we will go down fighting. We will not go back with you."
"I see. In that case, I challenge you, Captain Kathryn Janeway of the starship Voyager to the bashahm. This spot tomorrow at dawn, or the shooting begins."
With that, Shura turned on his heel and led his lackeys briskly back from whence they came, leaving the captain and commander exchanging confused frowns and myself suddenly 86'ed into hopelessness.
"Oh, shazzbot." my tiny voice came out.
"Melai, what's he talking about?"
I craned my neck to meet the commander's eyes as he ducked under Janeway's arm, held it across his shoulders, and put his own about her waist. She sagged against him, exhausted.
"A bashahm," I said, surprised through the shock-induced daze. They'd understood every other word in my language so well. But then, few people knew that the bashahm was still in the Madditan laws as an option. I myself had heard of it once in a school lecture and never thought of the practice since. I shook my head. Chakotay sighed.
"We need to get her inside."
"I'm all right, Chakotay," Janeway stressed in exasperation.
"And I'm Arachnia, Queen of the spider people."
We made it back to the ranch and I skipped ahead to open the door for Chakotay, though the captain didn't seen to burden him at all. Immediately, her crew jumped into usefulness, the stoic one with the pointed ears supporting her on her free side while the two females hastily straightened the tangled bedclothes on my sleeping mat. Deposited there, Janeway lay back, panting through her teeth. The crew gathered around her, kneeling. I watched all that went on from there at a safe distance across the room.
"Report, Chakotay," Janeway said.
Chakotay gingerly lifted the shirt cloth away from her flank and discovered the rapidly filling pad of makeshift bandage. Everyone who looked anxiously over his shoulder made some sign of their shock evident.
"My God," the big man breathed. "You're shot?"
"Surprise. Now I want a report, Commander."
"There's not much to say, really. After you were separated, we were brought to the compound and we've been there since. They told us you'd been killed." He paused and hinted a smile. "Thank God for small favors. Anyway, it seems we've missed a little more than you have."
Janeway smiled weakly back.
"You don't know the half of it."
"Captain, Ensign Wildman must examine you now. I suggest that you continue your description as she proceeds."
Janeway nodded at Pointy's suggestion and the woman in blue nudged her way past the others to Janeway's side.
"I'll need some water, please," she announced.
I scurried outside and filled a water bucket with snow. When I came back inside and set it on the stove to melt, Janeway was speaking in a low voice.
". And when I woke up, I was here. Apparently I drifted in and out for about a day and a half."
"But how did you survive? Bleeding, out there alone?" Torres said.
Janeway looked past her crew to me.
"Commander Chakotay, Commander Tuvok, Lieutenant Torres, Ensign Wildman. I'd like you to meet Melai of the Krischta family, my lucky penny."
Everyone turned to look at me. I answered with a timid little wave.
"Thank you," Chakotay said sincerely.
"You're, um, you're not all the same race."
"Lieutenant Torres is a klingon-human hybrid. I myself am Vulcan."
"Vulcan, I see. You're even more funny looking than a hu-man."
The one called Tuvok lifted an eyebrow as the others tried to stifle their chuckles. Realizing what I'd just said, I bit my tongue and shrank.
"God's, I hope I didn't say that out loud just now."
The Vulcan's face remained etched in stone.
"I laugh nearly all the time," he said.
"Is-is she okay?" I asked.
"She's bleeding. Do you have something clean that I can use for pressure?"
I went to my linen cabinet to oblige Ensign Wildman's request.
"Melai brought me here. She took care of me and helped me break into the compound. Helping us, she's made herself an outlaw."
"Oh, they would've outlawed me anyway. It was just a question of timing," I assured as I delivered the clean rag and heated water. Wildman began by soaking the presently utilized bandage to loosen it.
"We've already had an adventure in town, not to mention a spat with Shura," Janeway continued.
"The Doctor's going to have a fit when he finds out."
"Thank you, B'Elanna. I had no idea."
"Lieutenant, you'll have to take her shoulders."
Torres went to hold Janeway steady and Wildman slowly peeled the bandage away, trying to disturb the clot as little as possible. Janeway's jaws bunched as she stifled a gasp. There was small wonder it hurt so much. Infection had set in again with a firm hold. Wildman hurriedly set to work.
"Keep talking," Chakotay encouraged. "What's this 'bashahm' that Shura mentioned?"
"You're asking me? Agh, God!"
"Sorry," Wildman said.
"The bashahm," I put in haltingly. "It's an ancient practice. Nobody's bothered with it for decades."
"Continue," Commander Tuvok said.
"Well, it's. kind of like a gauntlet at first. The challenger and the challenged assemble as many of their volunteers as they can get into two rows, and then they run between each other's rows while their opponent's friends try to beat them silly from either side. If both survive, then they try to bludgeon each other in unarmed combat."
"What?" Everyone but Janeway and Tuvok shrieked.
"I know, it's silly."
"Curious. Why would Shura go through such trouble?" Tuvok wondered aloud.
"Because he only picks battles that he knows he'll win. He knew that Janeway was wounded."
"Can she choose a champion?" Torres asked hopefully.
"I don't think so. What's a champion?"
"Then what happens if I refuse? Aigh!"
"Sorry."
I shrugged. "Chances are he'll start executing villagers until you agree."
"Then I guess that's out. Unh!"
"Sorry."
"B'Elanna, what are your chances of rigging a distress beacon to Voyager?"
"With what we've got? A little better than yours of winning the bashahm. No offense, Captain, but that's not saying much."
"None taken. Get to work."
Torres nodded and Chakotay took her place at Janeway's shoulders. Wildman looked up at him.
"We have to kill some of the bacteria and stop the bleeding before she goes into septic shock. I've never dealt with this kind of thing without the proper tools."
"I have," Janeway said grimly. "Put a poker in the fire."
My hearts froze. From the looks on everyone else, they were experiencing the same problem.
She's not going to -
"Captain, you're not going to -"
"We have no antibiotics, no sterilized tools, not even alcohol. If I'm going to have any chance of surviving a fight tomorrow, I have to do something."
"With some luck, it won't come to that!"
"Don't argue with me, Chakotay. I'm not in the mood."
"Captain, I must protest. This practice was deemed barbaric by your own people centuries ago."
"It was practiced before then for a reason: The resources of the time were limited. See any connection here?"
With great hesitation, Chakotay nodded to Wildman who grimly got up to heed her captain.
"All right, everyone. Start thinking of ways to stall. If we can just hold out long enough for the others to find us, we just might live through tomorrow."
The Feds began to speak in fluent technobabble. I turned away to watch the poker glow red in the fire, dreading the moment when it would be ready. My insides suddenly queasy with the thought, I hurried to open my door for a breath of air and nearly collided with the person standing on the stoop, fist raised to knock. After the initial moment of panic, I was composed enough to take in his face.
". Slam?"
My old friend relaxed his slender shoulders in relief that I wasn't going to kill him after one look at his uniform. He'd barely changed since the academy days, lanky and not too tall. And his eyes still held the shy kindness he always kept hidden, except from me and a select few others.
"Hello, Melai."
"Slam!"
Before I could be suspicious of his agenda, I ensnared him in a hug.
"It really is you!" he whispered in my ear. "Are you all right?"
"Better than some." I let him go and looked him over. "What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here!"
"There are posters up all over town, spreading word that you're not in the law and it's everyone's responsibility to let you know that."
"What do you think?"
"I had to come. With you, I knew there had to be a reason."
"Of course there is, and you're a good friend. But you can't be here. They'll kill you."
Slam's face softened as he read my thought.
"I heard about Lexei. I'm sorry, I know you two were friends."
"I mean it, Slam. There's no reason for you to get roped into this too."
". There is," Slam admitted quietly. "I'm here because my superiors sent me. They knew I could get close to you. and."
"Aw, Slam."
The young man had not a crooked thread in his thin body. What had possessed his folks to have him pursue a military career is way beyond me.
"So what are you going to do?"
"Melai, you didn't honestly think that you're the only one, did you? The only one who's tired of this whole damned blood bath?" Slam took my shoulders tenderly. "There are more like you, like us. All we needed was for someone to get us started."
"Enough! What in the seven hells are you rattling about?"
"Let me join you, righting wrongs and saving people and all. I'm defecting!"
"Slam, I am going to tell you one more time to get away from here. All you have to do is tell your captain that I didn't believe you."
Slam shook his head.
"Not this time. For once I'm putting my foot down. Are you going to tell me what's going on, or am I going to darken your doorstep for the rest of the day?"
I hid my smile, suddenly proud of him.
Several seconds later.
". And tomorrow she has to do the bashahm and she only has me and her crew and maybe Mr. and Mrs. Kleed and she's almost bled out already and - and - we're all probably going to be dead by tomorrow afternoon!"
I panted, realizing I'd just summed up the entire story so far in one breath.
"Wow," said Slam. "I mean, I'll tell you what: Wow."
"May I ask whom you are talking to?"
"Yikes! Seven hells, Mr. Vulcan, you scared my left heart into stopping!"
Tuvok the Vulcan quirked his eyebrow again.
"My apologies, Ms. Krischta. I was merely curious as to the wisdom of holding a conversation alone with the enemy."
"Is this the Earther?" Slam breathed in awe. "Gods above, it talks!"
I cringed. Slam had never been one of the brightest people I'd ever met, but I honestly didn't know that he could swallow his own foot. Tuvok's demeanor, however, did not change.
"No, I am not 'The Earther'. I'm Commander Tuvok of the starship Voyager and the planet Vulcan. And you are...?"
"Jarl of the Sothos family, but people've called me Slam for so long, I don't think I could answer to anything else."
"Slam, could you excuse us please?"
"Oh, sure! Take as long as you want."
I closed the door and immediately turned to Tuvok.
"I'm really sorry, it's just that sometimes he doesn't know any better -"
"Am I to understand that you're personally acquainted with Mr. Sothos?"
"Y-yes, we were friends at the academy."
"You trust him then?"
"Yes, very much."
"That is fortunate. To put it mildly, we are comparatively short- handed."
I felt my face harden.
"Don't you dare encourage him!"
"It is up to you and the captain. However, as I see that you are a reasonable person, I know that you will find logic in allowing your friend to join us. After all, every advantage is an advantage, no matter how small it may seem."
I stared up at him. That had almost sounded like a compliment. I nodded slowly and Tuvok crossed the room to break into his crewmates' discussion and inform Janeway of the opportunity. Though they kept their voices too low for me to hear, I would have to've been blind to miss the look of puzzlement, and then hope on her ashen face. She gave her answer, and Tuvok turned on his heel to walk back across the room and stop next to me.
"Captain Janeway concurs. However, we would suggest that you wait several minutes before you invite him in."
I took his meaning when I saw Wildman heading toward Janeway, red-hot poker in hand. My skin crept along my spine.
"Oh, hells."
"You do not have to be here for this," Tuvok reminded me.
"N-no, I should stay. You might need me."
Tuvok hesitated, but gave a nod.
"As you wish."
Actually, I didn't wish. I was probably looking forward to it about as much as Janeway. In fact, so was poor Ensign Wildman. She was just standing, thin wisps of smoke from the end of the poker swirling around her, looking helplessly at Janeway.
"Do it," Janeway commanded.
Wildman nodded and swallowed as Tuvok placed a soaked rag in Janeway's mouth. Wildman proceeded. Janeway bit down with all her strength as she screamed into the rag. Her back arced and her shoulders strained against Chakotay's steady hands. Sweat rolled off her face. Looking around the room, I saw just as much pain in everyone else's eyes.
Wildman brought the poker away after the longest ten seconds of my life. Tuvok took the mangled cloth from Janeway's mouth.
". See?" Janeway's ragged voice came out through her weak grin. "That wasn't so bad."
With that, her eyes rolled back and she passed out. Chakotay released a breath he's been holding and began to mop the sweat from Janeway's face with a clean rag. Wildman set to work bandaging the wound. I ran for it.
Just outside the door, I gulped the fresh air. I'd almost forgotten about Slam, but he hadn't moved a centimeter and stood looking at me hopefully. I dropped my shoulders in defeat.
"All right! You can stay."
"Oh, by my grandmother, I'm glad you said that."
"Why, Slam? Why is this so important to you?"
At his suddenly guilty look, I sighed and rolled my eyes.
"Okay, Slam. What didn't you tell me?"
Slam turned to his right.
"It's okay. Come on out," he called.
Before my eyes, three youths appeared from behind the corner of my house. Two males and one female, they were dressed in foreign combat fatigues. That alone raised my suspicions, but as they approached, I saw the real kicker: Their temple markings were not the blue-green of a Madditan, but the orange of the Palaish.
For at least a minute, all I could do was sputter.
"Seventh hell! Slam, what've you done?!"
"Look, Melai, I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do. They were captured trying to save a wounded friend behind our lines. I met them when I was on guard duty at the compound. You know as well as I do how soon they would've been dead." He put his hands on my shoulders again and bore his eyes into mine. "Please, Melai. Look at them, they're just kids. Please."
I looked at them. He was right; they were no more than kids. There was a right thing and a wrong thing to do and I knew it. My eyes fell to the frozen ground and I shook my head.
"Gods, why did you make me such a lunatic?"
Slam and his Palaish companions exchanged joyously relieved smiled.
"Bless your hearts, Melai! I knew I could count on you."
"Yeah yeah yeah, come inside before you get us killed."
My first following. Another new experience.
To be continued.
Thanks again for reading. I'll have the end up by next week if people want to see it. Regards, Turtle