Chapter Eight: Questions
Author's Note: To grayangle: Thank you so much for your reviews; they make me think about the next chapter! I really value your insights on plot-holes that need filling. I will try my absolute hardest to fill everything that needs it, and your reviews are a big help. Just wanted to acknowledge that. And to Ginevra! Thank you, I never would have known that.
Oh, and on a different note: I'm so happy! This story is in a C2! This was my reaction, word for word, when I found out: "Do you hear the heavenly music?" (strikes pose) "Oh, wait, that's Phantom of the Opera…oops. Close, but no banana. I hate bananas…" This is only the second story out of my at-the-moment eight that has been accepted into one, and the funny thing is, they're both crossovers. Weird huh? Maybe I need to write more crossovers. (checks plans) No, there is way too much on my drawing board at the moment.
ON WITH THE SHOW!
"I think I speak for everyone when I say: Who the hell are you, and what is going on?"
"That is a question I would also like answered," Worf rumbled, backing up Riker's statement.
"The Lhyarri," the red-haired teen explained, nodding towards the viewscreen and the vanished fleet. "They don't like demons…actually, they don't like us specifically. I suppose they weren't expecting to actually find us, though I wonder who they thought they'd find…" He glanced over at his companion, who shook his head.
"That's not what I asked," Riker protested, rising to his feet from his chair. "What are you talking about—what do you mean, demons? Who are you, and how did you get on board?"
"That's a lot of questions, Commander. Which one would you like answered first?"
Picard had to admire his courage, irritated though the captain was. Standing completely at his ease with only one companion at his side, with the entire bridge crew radiating hostility and confusion, he still maintained at least the premise of poise.
"I think you'd better start from the beginning," the captain intervened, motioning to his Number One and security chief to stand down. "Who and what are you—both?"
A patient sigh, and another cursory round of one-sided introductions—they clearly knew the entire bridge crew. "As to what we are…do you believe in demons?"
"No," said the practical Data.
"Unfortunately for you, it doesn't matter whether you believe in us or not; here we are," Hiei told him.
"Demons?" Riker said skeptically. "What exactly do you mean by that?"
Kurama thought about it for a brief moment, evidently trying to translate a reality he took for granted into words that would make sense to the science-oriented Starfleet crew. "Life-forms with…inhuman abilities, I suppose; although that's not completely accurate, it's close enough. As to how we got on board, that was rather simple, actually, and not a story worth telling."
Yeah, sure, Riker thought warily. You don't want to tell us. It's a tactical advantage.
"Explain your influence over the Lhyarri," Picard commanded.
"They're afraid of us," the smaller demon said with a half-shrug. "We crossed paths about thirty-five years ago, and we've made a point of avoiding them for their own good."
"Thirty-five years?" Deanna asked. "I find that hard to believe."
As neither visitor looked much over twenty at the most, her confusion was easy to believe.
"We don't age at the same rate as humans, or, indeed, most other races," Kurama explained, with a sideways small grin, no doubt at Troi's indirect compliment. "Actually, it was thirty-six years ago."
His companion rolled his red eyes, but made no comment on that.
"A moment," Picard interrupted. He tapped his commbadge. "Dr. Crusher, Mr. La Forge, please report to Conference Room A immediately." A second tap closed the channel, and he gestured his senior staff towards the door opposite the back turbolift, not waiting to see if the demons would follow. "Mr. Crusher, you have the bridge."
"Aye, sir!" Wesley almost yelped, snapping to seated attention at the helm.
Dr. Crusher, being half a ship closer, arrived first, looking unsurprised when she saw the demons, who had seated themselves calmly at the far end of the table.
"I should have guessed," she said wryly, addressing Kurama directly.
"You did, though, didn't you?"
"Actually, yes."
Picard cleared his throat as a puzzled Geordi entered quietly, silence no doubt encouraged by Riker's cut-his-throat gesture as he entered, and sat down in one of the high-backed chairs. "Ahem." The quiet sound of everyone shifting in their chairs to face him was the only sound as he sat down in his chair at the head of the elongated conference table.
"Thank you. Let me recap the events of the last few minutes," Picard addressed his officers, verbally sorting everything out. "The fleet in this sector of space, reported by Starfleet Command, rendezvoused with us not ten minutes ago. They, the Lhyarri people, hailed us and commanded we surrender a 'great evil,' if I remember correctly, over to them. Before we could explain that we knew nothing of what they were talking about, these two appeared on the bridge, and frightened them off. Coincidentally enough," he added, for the benefit of those who hadn't put it together by now, "they happen to be our 'intruders' of the last week. I assume," he said in an aside, "you are responsible for the blackouts?"
"Those were for a good reason, Captain, but yes, you are essentially correct."
"Wait, wait," Geordi broke in. He pointed at Hiei. "You weren't operating on your own?"
"Clearly."
The finger swung a short distance sideways to point at Kurama. "Then where have you been all this time? Why didn't our sensors pick up on you?"
The redhead shrugged. "For the same reason you didn't spot Hiei: we deleted our bioscans from the main computer. Unless a portable scanning device such as a tricorder or surgical scanner is focused on one of us, we are for all intents and purposes invisible. In the event of that actually happening, I can project an illusion of unaffected readings, and wipe them from the database later. And, of course, we simply stayed out of sight. Incidentally, one person did get a glimpse of me, but I wiped her memory. Obviously, she's no worse for wear." Green eyes slid sideways to smirk slightly at Dr. Crusher, who sat up, startled. "I've been down in the cargo bay," he resumed, "in the form of a certain mute twelve-year-old."
"How could you have hacked into the main computer to that degree?" La Forge complained. "There's only three people on board who can do that, and I'm one of them."
Kurama smiled faintly. "Let's just say I've had a talent for working with computers for a long time. It's not all that far from the truth."
"So why are you here, anyway?" Riker broke in. "If you've gone to all that trouble, there must be a reason for it all."
"Actually, there is," Hiei told him emotionlessly. "We happen to have the same reason: Fenell and his infernium. That story goes way back, and I'm not telling it. That's the kitsune's problem. He likes dealing with people, hell knows why."
"Kitsune?" Geordi asked curiously.
Data chipped in. "The word is Japanese in origin, and refers to a mythological creature, an enchanted or demonic fox. They are tricksters and shapechangers, and—"
"Ok, enough, Data," La Forge cut him off. "That's way more than I wanted to know, but it doesn't answer my question. He means…"
"Me. That's what I am, and he's gotten into the habit of calling me that.
"It seems, as usual, Hiei's left me with all the talking. He's right, though. Explaining Fenell means explaining quite a lot more than we normally would. To begin, then," he started, evidently noticing that Picard, who took intruders, even beneficial ones, as a personal affront, was running out of patience, "the basic structure of the universe, the way we know it—and I'm not off subject, this is important.
"There are three worlds—planes of reality, perhaps. One; the human world, Ningenkai," the universal translator let this pass, "this plane, containing Mars, Tokyo, Alpha Centauri, Vulcan, Starfleet Headquarters—in essence, everywhere humans and related races can access, whether by starship or your own two feet. Two; Makai, the Demon World. We're both originally from there…sort of, in my case, but that's not relevant. Actually, in this situation, Makai is fairly irrelevant, but it's still there. Its only purpose in this event is to establish that yes, demons exist. They may go by other names, but they exist. Third; the spirit world, Reikai—the world of mythological creatures, the dead, and assorted spiritual beings. These beings are the other players in this game—the Lhyarri are from Reikai, originally." The universal translator, fickle at best, had apparently decided that the three Japanese terms were names, correctly, and wasn't translating them.
"So how did the Lhyarri get here?" Riker asked.
Another half-smile. The redhead leaned his chin on the back of one open hand, propping his elbow on the glossy table, looking, again, completely at his ease. Whether on purpose or not, he was an exact contrast with his companion, who sat on the edge of his chair warily, expressionless under the unrelenting gazes of the Enterprise crew.
"You're getting ahead of us, Commander. It is possible to travel between the three worlds, with skill or a guide. The focal point is centered on Earth, as it happens. There is a certain degree of interaction, of course. Makai and the Reikai are both fully aware of the two other worlds, but in Ningenkai, the reality of the other planes is kept under cover. Few humans ever learn of the existence of the other worlds, and many who do believe it to be a pretty story, at best. Some, of course, live abnormal lives in full awareness, and they're often involved heavily with the course of events in the other worlds."
"And the Lhyarri?" Worf rumbled.
"Not to be diverted, I see. Ah, well. Simply put, the Lhyarri are emigrants from the Spirit World. They left almost three hundred years ago, and drifted out to this sector of space. They had their own peculiar cult that took the oddest and most troublesome aspect of many human religions, and the Lhyarri began to become a problem. The ruler of Spirit World told them very bluntly to get out or stop causing trouble. They eventually left, once humankind had started traveling through space. With warp drive, they could get as far away as they liked, and amuse themselves with their rituals and requirements somewhere out of Reikai and Makai's influence. Demons, Captain, do not enjoy space travel as a rule, especially those of elemental power. The sheer emptiness repels them."
"So how are you involved in all this, if you'd rather not be in space?" Dr. Crusher asked, sitting up in her chair and leaning forward. "You mentioned infernium. Am I to understand that you also have a mission to dispose of it?"
"Hm…that sounds right, albeit a self-assigned mission. And although space might not be our preferred medium, three-hundred-odd years is enough time to acclimatize anyone to anything. But infernium, Doctor, has a far more adverse effect on demons than it does on humans. In fact, it is invariably fatal within a certain range. Luckily for us, it's only a fifteen-foot range."
"We're doing this out of self-interest."
Kurama smiled at his friend, and Deanna Troi briefly sensed something between them, perhaps telepathy. Due to her prior encounter with Hiei's power, she thought that might be so. Did they converse silently throughout all discussions? She thought that might explain Kurama's frequent usage of the term 'we' instead of 'I.'
"We really should be grateful to you for scaring off the Lhyarri," she said kindly. "Why are they afraid of you?"
"That would be the result of a mistake, pure and simple. We happened upon them, as we said, thirty-six years ago, and decided to investigate."
"We decided to investigate? You decided you were going to go stick your nose in, and dragged me along."
"You came, didn't you? Unfortunately, the Lhyarri are still spirit beings, and, as such, have long memories and a greater ability to sense a demon's presence. They are fanatics at any time, and their new leader, Nabuhari, had just issued a royal decree condemning the existence of all demons. At any other time, that would be redundant, since the demons that do exist in Ningenkai are so deeply hidden that it is near-impossible for a mortal to expose them. Nabuhari, however, has tremendous spiritual energy for a Lhyarri, which enabled him to find us."
"You fought them," Riker said with a grin.
Kurama nodded. "They've been afraid of us ever since, especially Nabuhari. Why he dared to challenge the Enterprise, knowing we were on board, is a mystery. It's possible he wasn't aware that we were accompanying you, only that a demon was present. Their fleet was definitely not prepared to challenge us."
"I am curious," Data said, the prelude to many of his sentences. "Will your powers cross a vacuum? You stated earlier that you were not adapted to life in space. How were you intending to confront them?"
"You play poker, I believe, Commander?" Again, the slight smile, this one with a hint of mirth. "We were simply bluffing. Had they not backed off, we had no plans beyond intimidation."
"You put my ship at great risk."
"A fleet of Lhyarri ships staring you down is risk," Hiei snapped bluntly at Captain Picard. "They're fools, but their ships' weapons are powerful."
"So are the hand-held weapons," Kurama muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Is Fenell and Alameda connected with the Lhyarri in any way?" Data asked.
Before Kurama could answer, the smaller demon cut in. "Of course. Fenell has been behind the Lhyarri since the moment they began. Some idiot—Nabuhari—" he rolled his eyes, "revived him."
"Revived him?" Picard asked sharply, thinking privately that his crew was beginning to sound like a set of echoes.
"Yes. In the early days of the Lhyarri, the prince of Reikai decided to have him assassinated. The effort came very close to succeeding, and would have had not his followers found his body and put him into cryostasis. They took the stasis chamber with them as a type of holy object when they shifted their base to Nizukami."
"That is, their home planet," the kitsune chipped in.
"Nabuhari kept abreast of medical technologies in the rest of the galaxy," Hiei continued, completely ignoring his partner, "and used his knowledge to restore Fenell, who now operates on his own, but has the entire fanatic force of the Lhyarri behind him if he calls on it. And after today, they will put two and two together—"
At that precise moment, the lights went out.
La Forge groaned. The counselor gasped in surprise. Picard opened his mouth to give the demons a piece of his mind. Worf growled.
"Oops," Kurama said casually. "It seems we forgot to turn the timer off. A deadman's switch is useful, but not when one gets distracted."
"Oops!" La Forge protested. "Do you have any idea how inconvenient these little blackouts of yours have been? And now we have to sit here in the dark until the power is restored, because without the computer, there's no way to turn it off!"
"Fool. We're not that clumsy." Even in the darkness, lit only by the light of the stars, which had elongated into long lines as the ship entered warp speed some time ago, the Enterprise senior staff could see Hiei rise and move over to one of the wall-mounted computer panels. Using the same sequence of keys Geordi had seen him use in Main Engineering, he proceeded to activate the computer, which was, of course, theoretically impossible. With the universal translator inoperative along with the main computer, no one except, perhaps, Data understood the brief conversation between the two demons, which was in rapid Japanese. Half of it appeared to be addressed to the ship itself.
With a buzz and then chirp, the lights and power were restored to Conference Room A, and, presumably, the rest of the affected area.
"You don't need to worry about the outages any longer," Kurama said calmly. "The program has been removed."
"I have got to get a look at that program," La Forge muttered.
"And erased."
"Oh."
Abruptly, Commander Riker yawned. "Sorry," he said quickly, covering his mouth embarrassedly. "It's just been a very long and busy day."
"Quite all right, Number One, I sympathize," said Picard in an aside to him. He rose from his chair at the head of the table, signaling the end of the meeting. "Thank you for enlightening us," he told their visitors, who had also risen, formally. "It appears I have no choice but to accept your gracious offer of assistance." He disregarded the fact that he had been very neatly maneuvered into having no other choice whatsoever.
The senior staff got up also, following their captain's lead. "Dismissed," he told them all curtly. He needed a break also. "Counselor Troi, will you relieve Mr. Crusher of command of the bridge?"
"I'd be delighted to, Captain," she said briskly, remaining as calm as ever, showing no sign of fatigue.
The crew filed out of the two doors as Picard watched, noting that Commander Riker took the time to speak a few words to Kurama and Hiei. The former nodded and replied in an undertone; the latter said nothing, preferring to leave the interaction to his partner.
A good turn of events, as it has turned out so far, Captain Picard thought ruefully as he made his way to his own quarters. We know a lot more about what and whom we're up against now. Captains have been taking on native guides for millennia—another convention. Traditions seem to haunt ships called Enterprise…
Author's Note: All right! Finally! Sorry about the wait…I could trot out all the excuses, prevalent among them being HIGH SCHOOL, but I won't. Please tell me if people start to get out of character, and, if so, I'll mooch DVDs and/or books off Kokoro to get their voices back down. I hope this chapter cleared some things up for everyone; I realize it was all talking, but events will start to kick in pretty soon. Questions…you all can ask them too. Any other confusion will probably be explained next chapter, which has a logical follow-up title to this one just for the heck of it, and then…the game is afoot! (Sherlock Holmes gets all the best lines…)
I can't read minds. Please review.