C3 FS: Deception Embodied
The shimmering around the room faded as Leila materialized on the platform. She grazed over the officers who had come to welcome her in their dress uniforms she supposed. The Ambassador and his assistant walked ahead of her to the group who were standing in a line along the wall of the room. Shivers of excitement and anxiety swam over her body as she found it difficult to even breath.
Her eyes were flared with a violet fire that consumed the room with curiosity. She became aware that the heat coming from inside her excitement had caused her skin to heat and turn a deeper violet. This reaction was from looking into Picard's eyes in person for the first time. Leila tried to control her body, but in the end just felt embarrassed and hoped they did not know why her skin darkened. Then she noticed Picard appeared to be having difficulty also as she seen the skin of his face flush a pinkish color. So they had the same effect upon each other. 'Fascinating,' she thought. 'If I kissed him right now, could I claim it was a way of greeting? What a stern and controlled persona he displays, I could mess him up a little.' She started picturing running her hands over his shoulders and biting him on the lip.
"Leila of Kapellia, I would like to introduce the Captain of the Enterprise, Jean-Luc Picard." Ambassador Sandoval was making hand jesters and speaking in that fake voice Leila hated. "Here on Galaxy Star Ships there is a chain of command that is followed…"
Leila lowered her head for a moment as she noticed he was about to go into one of his speeches again that could last over an hour. 'That man is a menace.' She had an expression on her face that said he was an idiot. "I know who he is, and I would hope his leaders already told him who I am." Leila turned to the Ambassador with a slight hint of aggravation showing in her eyes.
Picard noticed on the ends of her delicate hands that large pointed nails started emerging. She didn't even notice she was flexing her talons out like a cat would do. He debated on stepping in and trying to advert the situation, but her talons gave him pause.
'Can't I have a moment's peace without this man blustering on?' Then she remembered in her quarters of the other ship, she read the protocol of introduction from an Ambassador. She would have to play along a little for propriety sake. "I appreciate your duties, but they will not be needed here at the moment. On my planet, it is disrespectful for an outsider to step in while introductions are being made one to another. If it is all right with you, I would like to introduce myself and speak to these people directly." She stared directly into his eyes with a superior look on her face, and he only looked back and did not answer. Leila noticed his assistant, Doran, started to smile knowing he might have wished someone would shut him up.
"Of course Lady Leila, as you wish." Ambassador Sandoval bowed to her with great extravagance. Others may have enjoyed with eagerness his flourishes, but she found them exasperating.
She turned back to Picard. "Leila is my name and I except you as an equal." She held her hands out with her palms up.
Picard took her lead. "Captain Picard is my name and I except you as my equal as well." He held his hands out with palms up.
Leila lifted her hands and turned them over. She then placed her palms onto Picard's palms. "Thank you. Would you show me your officers and your craft?"
Picard smiled politely and held out his arm for her to hold. Leila paused and held her arm out. Picard tucked her hand in his arm. He introduced William Riker, Deanna Troi, Worf son of Mogh, Geordi La Forge, Doctor Beverly Crusher and Data. Then Picard took her on a tour of the Enterprise showing her everything of interest. She was especially interested in the holodecks, so he helped her create a program of a garden just for fun.
When they left, the ambassador went to his room to report, and the others went to Ten Forward lounge. As they entered, Riker could not help talking to Geordi and Worf at a separate table as Data, Deanna and Beverly sat at the bar with Guinan behind it.
"What do you suppose those three are talking about?" Beverly asked Deanna with her head tipped to see the men leaning together talking quietly.
Deanna took a glance then spoke with a voice of sarcasm, "Oh, probably the latest addition to the ship."
Data tipped his head to one side and squinted his eyes. "Are you referring to the Kapellian, Leila who just arrived?"
"Yes, Data. Hello Guinan, have you ever seen or heard about Kapellians before?" Deanna took a light green drink from Guinan.
"No, I don't think so. What did she look like?" Guinan inquired.
"Commander Troi?" Picard's voice sounded over her com badge.
"Yes, Captain." She looked slightly up over the port window.
"Would you be able to accompany Leila and myself to Holodeck 3?"
"Certainly Captain, on my way." Deanna gulped down the last of her drink, "If you all will excuse me, duty calls."
On the other side of Ten Forward about thirty minutes later, Riker was giving his take on the new alien race. "I have never seen any female as lovely as her. Her violet skin is the color of sunsets in Alaska, and her glowing catlike eyes sparkle like diamonds. What did you think Worf? I thought I heard you growl a little when she beamed aboard." Riker let out a little chuckle, and Geordi shook his head.
"I thought she seemed to be very honorable in her conduct. That black dress, talons and the manner in which she moves, puts me in mind of Daktor's dreams of the Hunting Goddess of the Night."
"What jumped out at me were her necklace and her legs peaking out from sections of her dress. I guess with a woman like that I don't have a change. I'm not complaining don't get me wrong. I'd be happy just to be in the same room as her. The dinner is tonight right?" Geordi tried to think of when Picard would be showing her Engineering, so he could conveniently show up even though the senior officers had the afternoon off.
Riker leaned forward noticing that Beverly was watching them. "Non of us have a chance it looks like. First Vash, now Leila seams to hang on his every word."
Geordi had stood up to go to Engineering, "What do you mean?" Then he sat back down.
Worf stuck his chin up a little higher. "Vash was the woman that Picard had his vacation with on Risa after Riker had him pick up a souvenir. Now, Leila called him her equal, what do you suppose that means?"
Riker had a gleam in his eye, "I just enjoyed watching her control herself not to shred the ambassador's with those large talons she has."
Worf's face looked as if he was on his way to a battle, "I have no doubt she could have slashed his neck, and he would have been dead before his limp body hit the ground. She definitely could be a predator to be reckoned with if she looses control when provoked."
Geordi laughed, "Yea, I kind of seen that in her eyes. He must have been talking non-stop on their trip over here or committed more of those disrespects. She seams to find protocol and dancing around topics to be tedious."
They continued to discuss what they thought of her for another 15 minutes, and Geordi started thinking they should be close to Engineering. Geordi turned to look at the door as Picard and Leila swept in, "Speaking of the goddess."
Picard introduced Leila to Guinan who conversed over the types of foods that Leila liked. Geordi walked by them and nodded his head with a smile.
"Oh Geordi, I have a few things I have to attend to. Would you be able to show Leila the Engineering section? After all, I was just telling her what a great Chief of Engineering you are and would probably be better at answering her questions."
Geordi could not believe his luck. "Yes, that would be lovely." He took her arm and escorted her out of the room as he flashed a glance back at Riker and Worf.
Picard walked over to Riker and asked him to go with him to his Ready Room. Once there, Picard sat down and gestured for Riker to do the same. "She is very charming, but can we trust her?" Picard acted like he did not know Riker was in the room.
Riker wondered why he had passed the beauty off to Geordi and became worried with the stern look on Picard's face. "Captain, is there something wrong?"
"Yes, I believe so. I had Troi come to the Holodecks to see if she could read Leila and see if what she was telling me was right. Leila told of a problem, and then we spoke of it in front of Troi. Apparently, the Crystalline Entity that was befriended to Lore, is planning on destroying the soon to be colony on Melona IV. And not just the colony, but it will also kill all of life on that planet. I talked to Troi in the hall after Leila made a garden program and went to explore it for a moment. Troi said she feels genuine concern for us coming from her. She said she also felt as if Leila knows a lot more about us then she is letting on to. Deanna thinks we should do as Leila has asked." Picard turned and looked around the room at his hologram fish tank and watched them swim for a few seconds.
"What exactly does she want us to do?" Riker leaned forward onto Picard's desk and looked serious.
"She said the only way to stop the entity is to put a Horta on the planet near the colony. We need to have a Vulcan mind meld with it first and tell it of the situation with the entity harming life in our quadrant. She further said that if we do not then a doctor would destroy it causing hundreds to thousands of deaths on every planet in our quadrant. And there is one catch, we can't inform Starfleet about what we plan to do until it is done." Picard leaned back in his chair and folded his hands.
"Why a Horta?" Riker still looked stunned.
"She said because it is a silicon based life form and can talk to the entity openly. Leila said the beings know each other already."
"How would people on all the planets be affected by one entity being destroyed?" Riker started to feel suspicious and wanted to talk to Leila himself.
"Leila said she could not tell us. She said the less she tells us the better it will be." Picard stood to his feet and intended to go talk to Guinan again.
"Are we keeping this information only with the officers of the Enterprise? It couldn't hurt to have a Horta next to the colony digging around. If doing this saves lives and Deanna is mostly sure of her intentions, I am all for it. I think I will have a talk with Leila after the dinner and see what else I can find out." Riker stood up as well and they both left on the turbo lift together. While on the lift alone, they talked about keeping everything from the ambassador, which would not be easy.
Once Geordi finished the tour, she headed back to the holodeck. Leila had the computer lock the door to anyone who might try to enter. "Computer, create a pond similar to the ones on Earth. I want it placed on the north side of the garden. I also want it to have a small waterfall and around the waterfall to have rocky edges with the water only as deep as my shoulders. Oh and lots of animals, plants, clouds and mist please."
The computer complied with her request and she sat on a rock with her feet in the water. "What a wonderful place Earth must be." She watched the birds that Deanna programmed as they sang and flew overhead. There was what Picard called a deer that walked up to the water and took a quick drink then ran off into the forest on the other side of the pond. Leila leaned back onto a slab of the rock that helped form the waterfall and seen a little white rabbit hop in front of some yellow flowers. It scampered right up to her and smelled her leg then jumped back into the garden.
At that moment, clouds started covering the sun to some extent and allowed sunbeams to shimmer down into the water. Mist started forming around the water. She decided since the door was locked, she could take a swim. Leila removed her clothing and set them on the rocks out of the water's reach. She stepped to the edge and seen little fish swimming around. She then untied her long black hair from a clip she was using and jumped while turning at the same time, splashing into the water.
She swam to the bottom of the pond and a feeling of euphoria over took her. The light from the sun and her necklace's gem shimmered on the plants on the bottom. Leila reached out and touched some of the plants that swayed in the current of the waterfall and the stream that flowed from the pond. She surfaced and inhaled another breath of air. She took off her necklace; afraid she might damage it, and set it on the edge of the rocks. After that, Leila went back down to her sanctuary. Feelings of tranquility seamed to be swimming with her in the crystal clear water.
This time she saw little fish peaking out from behind the plants. She tried to giggle and only little bubbles escaped her lips. Remembering Q's words to relax, she allowed her body to completely relax. She started floating to the surface feeling completely caught up in her holographic creation's peace. The freedom of the water and the calmness of nature seamed to hold her floating body. She could feel the sun shinning on her as she came to the surface. With her eyes closed to the sun, she started to do a back swim to take her under the waterfall.
"There you are my Lady Leila. Have you been enjoying yourself in the holodeck?" Ambassador Sandoval was standing at the edge of the water on the rocks that she had jumped off. He was evidently trying to look at her body under the water.
"Leave me at once. I did not let you in here. I locked the door." Leila covered her bare breasts with one arm and reached her hand to where her necklace had been. She scanned the rocks for her necklace and seen it next to Sandoval's feet.
"So that's your secret. I was walking by looking for you when I started to hear your thoughts. When you took off your necklace, I could see inside your mind that you know about us shifters and are implementing some plan against the Bringers." He picked up her necklace and let the gem dangle under his fingers. "Your charm on your necklace had stop me from reading your mind. What else can it do?" He was impervious to her demand for him to leave as he took her clothing and tossed it farther away from her.
She became enraged that he was gloating at taking her gift she got from Q and was spying on her as she swam naked. Leila immediately hid her mind from his grasp and allowed him to only feel her fear. It was a trick a friend from school had taught her a cycle ago. 'One slash from my talons should finish him off, but that would be murder. Well, I could just hurt him a little and get my clothing to get out of here.' At that moment, her eyes fixed on a dagger that was in his hand. Leila backed away to the other side of the pond.
"No, you're not going anywhere my pet. I know who you are, but you don't know who stands before you. I am not the winded Ambassador Sandoval. I am from Symtalia. I am one of the Bringers Keepers, and you don't belong here. I can only imaging what you told them about us." He walked around to the other side of the pond and put the necklace on. "Come over here to me."
"No, not until you tell me your true name and what you want. Who is the Bringer?" She stuck her chin out defiantly and started flexing her talons under the water hoping for a chance to disarm him.
"For such a slender female and a naked one at that, you act as if there was a chance you will escape me and yap questions at me. I have always admired the Kapellian spirit from afar, so I will answer you. My name is Celm. What I want is to put you on my ship, so when I follow the Bringer home you can be my entertainment. And as far as the Bringers go, they sustain life on my planet and give us what we require to live. I believe here they call them a Crystalline Entity." Celm shifted shapes into Data. "Now you will come with me to transporter room 2, and we can get underway."
Leila looked around in the woods behind the shifter then looked Clem in the eye. "Very well, I will go with you as long as you promise not to harm anyone on this ship. " At that, Leila stepped up onto a rock in the water revealing her uncovered breasts. She seductively brushed her long hair out of her face and rested her arms on the rocky edge showing her talons were not flexed outward. She continued blinking her violet eyes slowly.
In that instant, a bright red butterfly landed just above her right ear and flexed its wings. Celm had never seen a sight more fascinating as the naked Kapellian dripping with water, posed for him almost invitingly. He wondered why she would willingly offer herself in exchange for him not harming the people on the Enterprise. Then he remembered that she had asked for this ship by name and decided to take her at her word. And what succulent lips she had that spoke those words, he could not wait to get her back on his ship and kneeled down for a kiss as he held the dagger at her throat.
Clem shifted into a very light blue skinned being with long black hair hovering over an angular face. His eyes became slightly larger and his fangs showed with his smile. He spoke in her mind, "This is the true me. Don't fight against what I am about to do." He skimmed her lips with his own then let his fangs nip at her neck as he homed in on the place on her neck where the dagger was that he longed to taste. The next thing he knew was total darkness.
"Are you alright?" Picard set the tree limb down he bashed the shifter in the head with. He started inspecting Leila's neck, as there was a small trace of black fluid that he guessed was blood where the dagger had been. The bleeding had already stopped.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he lifted her out of the water. It was only then with her sitting at the edge of the water in his arms that he noticed she was completely naked and clinging to him with her face pressed against his chest. "Computer, I need a swimming robe." It appeared next to them, and Picard wrapped it over her shoulders.
Picard stood up slowly very aware of the contours of her body. When she stood up, he noticed the fact that her nipples were not circular like humans, but in what looked like a star burst. He noticed he was staring and quickly covered her up and tied the robe at the waist. He placed his com badge on Clem. "Computer beam the person wearing my badge directly to a holding cell and activate the force field. Worf acknowledge."
"Worf here." Worf was obviously not in Ten Forward, but in his quarters getting ready for the dinner.
"I have apprehended a shape shifter. I have had him beamed directly to a holding cell. I want him searched immediately and contact Star Fleet to let them know he has been assuming the identity of Ambassador Sandoval, Picard out." Picard still had his arm around Leila.
"Thank you, Captain Picard. He planned to take me back to the home of the Crystalline Entity. How did he get the door to this holodeck unlocked?" Leila was still a little shaken up and started mentally berating herself for taking off the necklace.
"Please, call me Jean-Luc. I know what he was going to do. I was listening. He used Data's ID to override the lock just as I used mine to get in when I realized the Ambassador tried to lock other people out. That distraction you caused, gave me the instance I needed to stop him. Leila, you are a very brave young woman. Are the Symtalia like Clem the danger that could kill all those people if we don't get a Horta to talk to the Entity?" Picard kept his voice low and soothing hoping to ascertain the threat of the new shape shifters.
"I should not be telling you this, but yes. In the future your ship destroys the Entity and the shifters come looking for it. When they learn it was destroyed, they start killing people on every planet even in the Br…" She stopped herself just in time. Q warned her not to let him know too much about the future, or it could alter it in a negative way. "Lets just say once the Horta is in place and communicates to the Entity, all those bad things will not happen. The shifters only attack when provoked, and then it is only when the Entity is harmed." She noticed once again she was without her necklace.
Picard seamed to read her mind and picked it up from the ground placing it on her neck. "There you go. Now, lets find your clothes?"
"I took them off in order to take a swim. I had no idea anyone could come in here once I locked it. And I did not even think to have the computer give me holographic clothing once he found me. Thank you, Jean-Luc. You are truly a gentlemen in every sense of the human word. There are not many men who would not try to take advantage of my situation here at the moment. My clothing is over there. Could you fetch it for me?" She grinned slightly and pulled the robe closer together around her neck.
"Certainly, I would be honored to assist you." He took a few steps away to where her clothing had been tossed, and he turned around to give them to her. To his astonishment she had already removed the robe and had her hand held out for her clothing. He averted his eyes, which took an immense amount of effort and held them out for her to get. She took them, and he turned around to look back at the garden and try to take his mind off of the lovely undressed woman standing dripping wet behind him.
"Jean-Luc, can you postpone the dinner until tomorrow night. I just don't feel like sitting with a bunch of people tonight. And could we have the dinner be an informal one some where else like here in the holodeck or something?" She walked up behind him.
He turned to face her thinking by now she must be clothed. It took him all of one second to see she was not. She ran her hands up his chest and started undoing his dress uniform. "I will go see if we could change it with everyone's schedules. And I will see bare, I mean I will see where we could hold it." Next thing he knew he was joining her in the pool for a swim.
Later that night, Q dropped by the ship to check on her progress. He seen Leila and Picard picnicking in a garden on a bunch of sultan pillows and blankets. "I guess she picked Picard to be the one to take back with her, good."
Then next day, Picard made arrangements to have a Horta communicated with and brought to Melona IV. Picard mused that everything was going smoothly as they were on their way to drop Clem of at the nearest Star Base to be questioned.