Chapter 17
"Chief," Kaelha turned to the transporter operator next to her, "get them back here."
"Aye, captain," the chief, a boy of about 14, set his hands to flying over the console. Within seconds, Briyen and the security officer were back.
"Bridge, shields on full, now!" Kaelha called into the air, "Helm, get us out of here, slowly. Impulse."
Wesley concentrated on the girl standing over him trying to overcome the slight disorientation one experiences for the first few seconds after being transported doubled by the unexpected turn events had taken. What happened?
He sensed someone on the floor next to him, stirring slowly. He looked over. It was Robin. And they were not on the Enterprise. He stood slowly, blinking, then reached out to Robin. She took his hand and stood, looking just as confused as he was. Then Wesley saw Kaelha. Slowly, he was getting angry.
"What are we doing here?" he demanded.
"You wanted to come," Kaelha said with mock innocence.
"We were ordered to come," Robin corrected.
"Whatever," Kaelha waved her hand dismissively. "Regardless, our conditions were just the boy, no girl, and no Chief Engineer."
Wes stepped protectively in front of Robin, "You have no right to--"
"You gave me the right," Kaelha interrupted, suddenly angry too. "I asked you to come as delegate and you did. But you brought others with you and you attempted to leave before you performed your duties as a delegation. You violated our trust and I could not permit it to continue."
Wesley was not aware that the creature had imitated Picard or Jaan or his mother. However, he had his orders to be a delegate, she had a point there. But what happened to the rest of his team?
"Where's Jaan? And Geordi? There were two other delegates."
"The deal was you and you alone, Crusher," Kaelha smiled. "They went back to their ship and left you here with your girlfriend. Your captain and commander came over with you to try to take you back. But we're not finished yet. By all rights, I should have killed them. Violation of agreements made during a negotiation is an act of war."
"The captain beamed over?" Robin scrunched up her eyebrows. "Impossible. I saw him standing away from the transporter on the Enterprise when we..." Robin was beginning to grasp what had happened. Wes had just gotten the idea too. That wasn't their captain.
Instinctively, Wesley reached for his communicator badge, but ended up hitting himself in the chest. His insignia was gone. He glanced over at Robin, who was staring down, bewildered, at the empty space on her uniform that she had just smacked as well. Her eyes widened.
"We... removed them. Just in case you were going to leave before we reached an agreement," Kaelha volunteered.
"This is kidnapping!" Robin shouted. Wes, still half a step in front of her, gestured subtly with his hand at his side for her not to get upset. Robin fell silent. Wes must have a plan. He had almost been expecting to be kidnapped. She had not.
"All right, fine," he conceded to Kaelha. "We'll need a meeting with your highest ranking officers as soon as they can be assembled. We'll need dataclips and recording devices with no link to either your computer system or ours. Ensign Wallace and I need an open commlink to the Enterprise at all times, which means either we'll need our communicators back or free and constant use of one of your commlinks, which you are of course free to monitor as you see fit. If you wish, you can keep shields raised in order to prevent us from beaming more people over or back. Beyond that, we'll need to have a const--"
"Enough!" Kaelha silenced him. "You are in a poor position to be making demands!"
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Wes said dryly. "Those aren't demands, they're necessities for negotiations. But we're not delegates, are we? We're prisoners."
"Certainly not," Kaelha sounded insulted.
"Then we need to prepare for negotiations."
"That can wait," Kaelha turned and strode towards the far side of the room. "You are all dismissed," she called to her crew. "Dalev, take the girl to her... quarters."
"No!" Wes grabbed Robin's arm as Dalev, a large young man about Wesley's age, approached her. "I will not enter into any talks without a Second."
"That very well may be, ensign," Kaelha stared at Wes, "but you are not about to enter into talks just now. Dalev, carry out my orders. Ensign," she addressed Wesley, "you will be shown to your quarters shortly." Dalev began to bodily drag Robin from the room.
"Wes!" she was a little panicked.
Wes tried to pry Dalev's iron fingers from Robin's arms. There was no way he could allow them to be separated. They might be lost forever if that happened. He hauled back his fist to throw a powerful punch when he was suddenly pulled backward by both elbows.
Robin was dragged from the room. Wesley yanked his arms away from Kaelha and the transporter chief and ran towards the doors that had just slid shut. He had to fling out his arms to prevent himself from smashing into the doors and breaking his nose. He pushed himself away from the doors and spun around in ferociously controlled rage to confront Kaelha.
"You really must gain command of yourself, ensign, or it might be held against you in negotiations," Kaelha shook her head. "Such anger, such destructive behavior. What a horrid race you Humans are turning out to be."
"Where are you taking her?" Wes shouted.
Kaelha rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue. "To her quarters!"
"Where is that? I need to be able to find her. She's my Second. I'll need to prepare with her."
"I'm afraid that won't be allowed," Kaelha wasn't fooling anyone with her regretful look.
"What do you mean? When can I see her?"
"You can't."
Wes got a sudden feeling of dread. His fears were confirmed. This was all one great big setup. He knew it, Kaelha knew it, and now he had brought Robin into it with him. There were to be no negotiations, he knew this even though he hadn't been able to get Kaelha to divulge it yet. His voice was very small when he finally asked, "Why not?"
Kaelha smiled and looked at the floor, but did not answer.
"If you hurt her..."
Kaelha watched him for a long moment, then laughed derisively. "I was interested to see how you'd finish that statement, ensign. And now I see you can't. You cannot threaten me. You race entire is no threat to me."
Wes simmered for just a moment. He wasn't prepared to complete his previous statement, didn't expect to have been given the chance. He wanted Kaelha to become angry, to divulge her plan, to slip up. It wasn't working. She was in control of her emotions with a level of maturity unheard of in someone her age, displaying them and hiding them, true and false, at will. Wes couldn't decide whether to fight his way through or think his way out. Wesley's brain was greater than his brawn (Wesley's brain was greater than Worf's brawn), so he decided on the latter. He didn't anticipate being able to furiously tear his way through an army of children while finding Robin and safely returning both of them to their ship through two sets of shields without communicators. But he just might be able to carefully undermine the children. He just needed time to think. And he had a feeling he would get plenty of it.
"Chief," Kaelha turned to the transporter operator next to her, "get them back here."
"Aye, captain," the chief, a boy of about 14, set his hands to flying over the console. Within seconds, Briyen and the security officer were back.
"Bridge, shields on full, now!" Kaelha called into the air, "Helm, get us out of here, slowly. Impulse."
Wesley concentrated on the girl standing over him trying to overcome the slight disorientation one experiences for the first few seconds after being transported doubled by the unexpected turn events had taken. What happened?
He sensed someone on the floor next to him, stirring slowly. He looked over. It was Robin. And they were not on the Enterprise. He stood slowly, blinking, then reached out to Robin. She took his hand and stood, looking just as confused as he was. Then Wesley saw Kaelha. Slowly, he was getting angry.
"What are we doing here?" he demanded.
"You wanted to come," Kaelha said with mock innocence.
"We were ordered to come," Robin corrected.
"Whatever," Kaelha waved her hand dismissively. "Regardless, our conditions were just the boy, no girl, and no Chief Engineer."
Wes stepped protectively in front of Robin, "You have no right to--"
"You gave me the right," Kaelha interrupted, suddenly angry too. "I asked you to come as delegate and you did. But you brought others with you and you attempted to leave before you performed your duties as a delegation. You violated our trust and I could not permit it to continue."
Wesley was not aware that the creature had imitated Picard or Jaan or his mother. However, he had his orders to be a delegate, she had a point there. But what happened to the rest of his team?
"Where's Jaan? And Geordi? There were two other delegates."
"The deal was you and you alone, Crusher," Kaelha smiled. "They went back to their ship and left you here with your girlfriend. Your captain and commander came over with you to try to take you back. But we're not finished yet. By all rights, I should have killed them. Violation of agreements made during a negotiation is an act of war."
"The captain beamed over?" Robin scrunched up her eyebrows. "Impossible. I saw him standing away from the transporter on the Enterprise when we..." Robin was beginning to grasp what had happened. Wes had just gotten the idea too. That wasn't their captain.
Instinctively, Wesley reached for his communicator badge, but ended up hitting himself in the chest. His insignia was gone. He glanced over at Robin, who was staring down, bewildered, at the empty space on her uniform that she had just smacked as well. Her eyes widened.
"We... removed them. Just in case you were going to leave before we reached an agreement," Kaelha volunteered.
"This is kidnapping!" Robin shouted. Wes, still half a step in front of her, gestured subtly with his hand at his side for her not to get upset. Robin fell silent. Wes must have a plan. He had almost been expecting to be kidnapped. She had not.
"All right, fine," he conceded to Kaelha. "We'll need a meeting with your highest ranking officers as soon as they can be assembled. We'll need dataclips and recording devices with no link to either your computer system or ours. Ensign Wallace and I need an open commlink to the Enterprise at all times, which means either we'll need our communicators back or free and constant use of one of your commlinks, which you are of course free to monitor as you see fit. If you wish, you can keep shields raised in order to prevent us from beaming more people over or back. Beyond that, we'll need to have a const--"
"Enough!" Kaelha silenced him. "You are in a poor position to be making demands!"
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Wes said dryly. "Those aren't demands, they're necessities for negotiations. But we're not delegates, are we? We're prisoners."
"Certainly not," Kaelha sounded insulted.
"Then we need to prepare for negotiations."
"That can wait," Kaelha turned and strode towards the far side of the room. "You are all dismissed," she called to her crew. "Dalev, take the girl to her... quarters."
"No!" Wes grabbed Robin's arm as Dalev, a large young man about Wesley's age, approached her. "I will not enter into any talks without a Second."
"That very well may be, ensign," Kaelha stared at Wes, "but you are not about to enter into talks just now. Dalev, carry out my orders. Ensign," she addressed Wesley, "you will be shown to your quarters shortly." Dalev began to bodily drag Robin from the room.
"Wes!" she was a little panicked.
Wes tried to pry Dalev's iron fingers from Robin's arms. There was no way he could allow them to be separated. They might be lost forever if that happened. He hauled back his fist to throw a powerful punch when he was suddenly pulled backward by both elbows.
Robin was dragged from the room. Wesley yanked his arms away from Kaelha and the transporter chief and ran towards the doors that had just slid shut. He had to fling out his arms to prevent himself from smashing into the doors and breaking his nose. He pushed himself away from the doors and spun around in ferociously controlled rage to confront Kaelha.
"You really must gain command of yourself, ensign, or it might be held against you in negotiations," Kaelha shook her head. "Such anger, such destructive behavior. What a horrid race you Humans are turning out to be."
"Where are you taking her?" Wes shouted.
Kaelha rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue. "To her quarters!"
"Where is that? I need to be able to find her. She's my Second. I'll need to prepare with her."
"I'm afraid that won't be allowed," Kaelha wasn't fooling anyone with her regretful look.
"What do you mean? When can I see her?"
"You can't."
Wes got a sudden feeling of dread. His fears were confirmed. This was all one great big setup. He knew it, Kaelha knew it, and now he had brought Robin into it with him. There were to be no negotiations, he knew this even though he hadn't been able to get Kaelha to divulge it yet. His voice was very small when he finally asked, "Why not?"
Kaelha smiled and looked at the floor, but did not answer.
"If you hurt her..."
Kaelha watched him for a long moment, then laughed derisively. "I was interested to see how you'd finish that statement, ensign. And now I see you can't. You cannot threaten me. You race entire is no threat to me."
Wes simmered for just a moment. He wasn't prepared to complete his previous statement, didn't expect to have been given the chance. He wanted Kaelha to become angry, to divulge her plan, to slip up. It wasn't working. She was in control of her emotions with a level of maturity unheard of in someone her age, displaying them and hiding them, true and false, at will. Wes couldn't decide whether to fight his way through or think his way out. Wesley's brain was greater than his brawn (Wesley's brain was greater than Worf's brawn), so he decided on the latter. He didn't anticipate being able to furiously tear his way through an army of children while finding Robin and safely returning both of them to their ship through two sets of shields without communicators. But he just might be able to carefully undermine the children. He just needed time to think. And he had a feeling he would get plenty of it.