To
Fly on Waxen Wings, Chapter One:
-Cmdr. William Riker, "Peak Performance"
---
Icarus flew.
Kordath sat on the bridge, watching the starlines blur past as Tal guided the ship. Below them, the deckplates vibrated as the warp core hovered on the edge of overload, the Bajoran pilot struggling to squeeze every possible meter per second out of the old ship.
"About another twelve hours, Kordath."
The Klingon kept his gaze fixed on the stars outside, but his large hands clenched in leather gloves, forming twin fists.
There was blood on the horizon.
-----
Deep within Icarus, Nyssa T'Len sat in her sickbay, surrounded by her tools. Obsessively, she went over them again, making sure that she had what she would need to treat the Skipper when they found her.
Not if. When.
Tal's voice crackled over the speakers. "Another eleven and a half hours, Nyssa."
She stopped for a moment, staring in silence towards the speaker. Then she went over it again.
She would be ready.
-----
Maynon Tal sat in his pilot's seat, course corrections and warp mathematics running through his mind almost faster than he could recognize the thoughts. He was already pushing Icarus towards overload, the warp core running hot.
Not fast enough.
A quick glance at the chronometer verified what he already knew. Eleven hours and fifteen minutes.
Swallowing his pride, he sent a silent prayer in the general direction of the Prophets, the first prayer he had said since he had been a child. The Prophets answered with that annoying little voice in the back of his mind.
You
are so screwed.
Icarus flew, bringing her crew closer to Earth with every passing second.
-----
Selene cursed in Klingon.
It was long, complicated, profane and involved something about rabid Cardassian Voles eating the still-beating hearts of her enemies while they lived. Despite the energy weapons aimed at his chest, Alex looked at her in disbelief. Now, that was something he'd never expected to hear come from Selene Weller's lips. Scowling, she looked back at him. "What?"
"Nothing."
A pair of gloved fists caught them both in the lower back, painfully driving them to their knees before the lead Jem'Hadar. Alex winced as he hit the floor, hearing Selene gasp as her bad leg struck the duracrete. The Jem'Hadar grabbed her by the chin, roughly pulling her face from side to side as he examined her. "My men must not have done a terribly good job with you, Human. You barely seem injured."
Selene cocked her head to the side, a look of mock surprise on her face. "Was that supposed to be a beating? I thought that they'd gotten into the massage business, because let me tell you, I have been so stressed..." The Jem'Hadar struck her across the face, leaving an angry welt on her cheek. Shaking her head, Selene spat blood out onto the floor and glared up at the Jem'Hadar, murder in her eyes. The Jem'Hadar just shrugged. "Any more comments, Human? No? I thought not." He turned to Alex, kneeling down to eye level. "And you must be Lieutenant Carver."
Alex froze and Selene gaped. There was only one way that this Jem'Hadar could know his name.
Jason was alive.
The Jem'Hadar nodded. "I am Herma'Taklan. I understand that it was you who killed the leader of my hunting party., Lieutenant."
Alex nodded, "Yes, but-" The fist caught Alex in the abdomen, knocking him to the ground as the air rushed from his lungs in an explosive gasp. Selene made to stand, but one of the other Jem'Hadar held her down as Herma'Taklan stepped over to where a gasping Alex lay on his side and whispered in his ear. "I care nothing for your reasons, Human. You cost me a good Hunter, and that will cost you someday." Herma'Taklan savagely hit Alex again, and Alex found that he couldn't even scream. "You should consider yourself fortunate that today is not that day. My Lord Rakiin wants you both alive." Raising his gauntlet, he spoke into his communicator. "Herma'Taklan to Gilgamesh. Transport."
As Alex felt the transporter take hold, he caught Selene's gaze.
For the first time, he saw fear there.
-----
Jason sat in the middle of the room, staring at the doors.
After he and Aishwarya had finished speaking, he had been escorted back to his room and left alone. A quick touch confirmed what he had suspected. The door was shielded by a force field. He was locked in.
Gilded cages.
Restlessly, he got to his feet, pacing back and forth in the large room. Thirty paces to the table. Turn. Thirty paces to the bed. Turn. Repeat. He had done this for two hours now. Pace. Sit. Pace. Sit. Pace and kick at the force field. Sit and nurse a sore foot.
Turns out the worst thing about imprisonment was the boredom.
After two and a half hours, he walked up to the door and screamed at it. "Can I at least have someone to talk to!"
A hum filled the room and Alex materialized behind him.
The two friends stared at each other for a long, silent moment before Jason spoke. "Nice timing."
Alex gave a short bark of a laugh and collapsed unconscious at Jason's feet.
-----
The sky was dark and featureless as Selene walked slowly towards the wreckage in the distance, no clouds, no moon, no stars, the ruin of the crashed ship sparking and burning. The stench of burning insulation filled her nostrils, choking her with it's putrid grasp. The heat flushed her face, the fires out of control.
Her coat was ripped and torn, her face bleeding from a dozen cuts, and she could feel the burns on her hands and arms. Stopping in the middle of the debris, she turned and stared out around her. Nothing except darkness and fire all around.
"You killed us, Skipper."
Selene spun and found herself face to face with Tal, gasping in shock as she saw the deep gashes that ran through his face and raked across his chest. His eyes, usually so lively and mischievous, were white and rheumy, the eyes of a dead man. "No. No, Tal, I told you to leave."
Nyssa appeared behind her, the Romulan medic's neck at a odd angle, broken in the crash. "But you knew we'd come back for you."
"I never asked you to!"
Kordath rose from the fire, his awesome figure bleeding from a million wounds, the flames slowly licking at his hair. "You inspired us, Selene, and by doing so, you killed us. You knew that we would return for you, and you led us straight to the Gilgamesh. You led us to our deaths."
Selene felt the tears begin to fall as she looked on the faces of her friends, their dead eyes accusing her. "I didn't mean to. I tried to protect you all, I told you to leave!"
"But we didn't."
She turned and saw Alex, the black and red Starfleet uniform ripped and torn, his face cut and bleeding, but his eyes alive, a sad smile on his face. Gently, he held her as she wept, surrounded by the ruins of the Icarus.
"And we won't."
-----
Selene woke with a start, hands reaching out to steady herself on the hard metal floor. Just a dream. Just a dream.
"Good morning, Human."
Selene turned her head, looking through the entrance to her cell at the man standing there. He was easily a foot taller than she was, powerfully muscled with long black hair. White robes fell around him, contrasting the tanned skin.
Khanate.
Rising to her feet, Selene scowled. "What do you want, genie?" She almost laughed as the Khanate frowned at the name that Starfleet had come up with for anyone genetically engineered. The large man stepped up to the edge of the force field. "I'd be careful, little girl. It appears that I hold all the advantages here." He tapped the field, eliciting a blue spark. "You will address me as Lord."
"Uh huh. Right. That'll happen." Leaning against the far wall, she folded her arms across her chest. "Where's Carver?"
"Why? Is he important to you?"
Selene hesitated. With everything going on, why was Alex the first one she had wondered about? She should be concentrating on getting out of here before her crew returned and got shot down. Still, thoughts of the Lieutenant failed to leave her. "Just curious. Seemed like you wanted him more than me, that's all."
"He's being dealt with."
Her heart leapt into her throat. When a Khanate said that someone was being 'dealt with', that rarely meant anything good. Desperately trying to stay calm, she shrugged. "Whatever. You still haven't told me what you want. Isn't that how an interrogation is supposed to work?"
"Who said this was an interrogation?"
"If it wasn't, I'd be dead. You want something."
"Why did you destroy the Array, Human? It gets you nothing. It will be repaired within three months."
Three months that you're in the dark, she thought. "You know how it is. You get bored…"
The Khanate smiled, amused. "You were bored? So you decided to throw your life away?"
"I'm not dead yet."
"No, not yet. But you must have had some other reason. Some purpose."
Like I'd tell you. "Can't a girl just have some fun?"
"Of course. 'Fun' is what this is all about." The Khanate's smile grew wider, unnaturally wider. Selene's eyes grew as his features began to ripple and distort, his body shrinking and growing slimmer. A Changeling suddenly stood before her, his flattened, unfinished features smiling. "And this will be fun."
Selene screamed as the Changeling ripped into her mind.
-----
Aishwarya sighed as she sat in her library, the computer console glowing before her. Normally, she hated using the thing, preferring the feel of a book, but occasionally it was a necessary evil. File names scrolled across the screen at high speeds as the Gilgamesh downloaded the Starfleet mainframe that Commander Madden's friend had been kind enough to activate.
With the thought of the Starfleeter… Jason, she mentally corrected herself… she sighed again, running her hands over her face. A twinge of pity overtook her. Cut off from everything he knew, alone in a strange world, how must he feel? Her teachers as a child had taught her not to trust baseline Humans, that they were vicious and uncivilized, but Commander Madden... he was none of those things. Was he an indication of what baseline Humans could become if they were allowed to grow in peace?
Dangerous thoughts. Deadly thoughts if one of her brother's pet telepaths managed to detect them. Despite his outward pride in her and her achievements, she knew that her brother had suspicions about her, suspicions that reached beyond her beliefs about the Humans. There was no such thing as unconventional love in Khanate society. Her people's minds constantly looked for double-crosses in the shadows, searching for the traps that always lurked about. The quote rose in her mind unbidden: Knowing that there is a trap is the first step in evading it. Frank Herbert's Dune.
Not all wisdom came from textbooks.
"Problems, Sister?"
She hadn't needed superior hearing to hear him enter the library, or stand behind her. Turning to face him, she smiled. "No. Why would there be a problem, Rakiin?"
Her brother shrugged and leaned over her shoulder at the computer screen. "Just curious. What are you doing, Little Sister?"
"Downloading the Starfleet mainframe. It's an invaluable piece of history, Brother. Stories of the war, told by the very people who fought in it."
"Fought for the losing side, you mean."
Rising to her feet, Aishwarya made her way to one of her bookshelves, turning to face Rakiin. "History is a collection of facts, Brother. Our side. Their side. Both are tainted by perspective. The truth, more likely than not, lies somewhere in between."
"The only facts that I need know, Aishwarya, is that we won."
"Did we?" Aishwarya shook her head. "Look at our society now, Rakiin. Fractured. Feudal. There's no organization. You may rule this sector today, Brother, but tomorrow may be a different matter. How many young Khanate are nipping at your heels, looking to bring you crashing down?"
"Is that a threat, Aishwarya?"
"Merely an observation. I care nothing for politics, Brother, you know that." She pulled a book off the shelf and flipped through the pages. "Our society collapsed with the Romulan Empire. We turned on each other like feral wolves, creating Augments in all other cultures to shore up our own forces, each of us seeking to carve a piece of the spoils for their own. We are no Grand Empire, Rakiin. We are a study in chaos."
"There is strength in chaos, in unpredictability."
"'A strong blade is nothing without a steady hand.' Emperor Kahl, third Augment ruler of the Second Klingon Empire."
"Kahl was a Klingon fool who turned his back on our ways."
"Many Klingons believe he was a great ruler. Possibly the greatest since Martok. Certainly the best of all the Augment rulers."
"This is a dangerous line you're walking, Sister. Dangerously close to treason, I'd say."
"I'm merely stating facts, Rakiin. Historical and recorded by our own hands. How is that treason?"
Rakiin stepped forward and grabbed her by the arm, forcing her to drop the book. "Do you know how often I've protected you, Sister? How I've guarded your secret, how many people I've had killed for your little lies?"
Aishwarya tried to break free from her brother's grip, but found her arm locked in a diamond grip. "Starting with father, you mean? Or would you like me to start before that?"
Rakiin snarled and pushed her away, shoving her into the bookshelf as he turned from her. The two siblings stood not ten feet apart, the air between them thick. "Father was an old fool."
"Father understood what's coming. All empires fall, Rakiin, even the greatest. The T'Kon, the Icarians, the Aztecs, the Romans... All ashes in the wind. We need to evolve, Rakiin. We need to leave this petty hatred of the Humans behind and learn to grow, before it's too late."
Rakiin spun on a heel, "Remember that line, Sister. I may not be there to protect you forever."
"A life paid for in blood. How does it feel, Rakiin, to ascend to the throne with your family's blood on your hands?"
Rakiin made to leave, gathering his cloak around him. "I wouldn't be the first."
Aishwarya knelt as she picked up the book her brother had forced her to drop. "Remember what happened to Claudius, Brother. He was killed by his own nephew in revenge for the King's death."
Rakiin paused at the door to the library, his hand on the frame. "And Hamlet died in the process, didn't he, Sister? What, precisely, does that teach us?"
Aishwarya smiled as she watched her brother's back. "That vengeance for past wrongs will only lead us to our deaths."
Rakiin stood silent for a moment before he left the room. Smiling to herself, Aishwarya returned to her computer.
-----
Alex returned to consciousness slowly, feeling the pain in his stomach from where Herma'Taklan had kicked him. With a moan, he rolled over onto his side.
"Good, you're awake. How do you feel?"
Alex scowled up at Jason. "Like I've been living on the run and been beaten to a pulp while my best friend's been living it up. How the hell do you think I feel?"
Jason smiled and helped him to his feet. Vertical for the first time, Alex looked around.
Selene was missing.
"Where is she?" The pain forgotten, Alex began running around the lush room, tearing pillows off the ottoman and bed, as though Selene could be hidden beneath them. Jason watched in confusion. "Who?"
"Selene!"
Jason sighed, and Alex spun around at the sound. "Alex, I told you..."
"No! You don't understand..."
"Alex..."
"You didn't see her face?"
Jason stopped and frowned. "The other prisoner? No, I didn't. Why, who was..." He stopped as the realization played across his face. "Oh my God. It's Selene?"
Alex nodded, "This reality's version, anyway. They caught us in the ruins of the Admiralty. A bunch of Jem'Hadar."
Jason rolled his eyes, "Probably led by Hermy."
"Big one? Long hair? Got a taste for violence?"
"That's him." Jason sighed and sat down. "Odds are they've got Selene in another cell."
"Doesn't help."
"Have you told her?"
Alex froze, "Told her what?"
"About you and her... I mean, the Selene from our reality."
Alex slumped into one of the chairs and rubbed the bridge of his nose furiously. His voice took on a sharp edge, decidedly frustrated. "No. What am I supposed to say? 'Hi, I'm Alex. I'm your husband in another reality. So what's new?' The Temporal Prime Directive doesn't exactly have example scenarios for this kind of situation, Jace." Alex sighed and began to fiddle with the locket around his neck. "Besides, it's not her."
"Is she close?"
Alex laughed bitterly, "Yeah. Frighteningly."
Jason shook his head and pressed both palms to his temples, "Universe really seems intent on playing with our heads, doesn't it? As if we didn't have enough grief to deal with, now there's this?" They sat in silence for a long minutes, both wrapped up in their own thoughts. Finally, Alex stood and began to pace. "How did we get here, Jace? What happened?"
Jason ran his hands over his face, sighing in frustration. "What do you remember?"
"You finding me on the Albion, and then waking up at the Guardian of Forever."
"You were almost dead. The doctors on the Crichton were saying that your body was crushed, that you were lucky to be in a coma. I was going to take you home, at least, that was the plan before Sol went nova."
"Sol went nova?"
Jason laughed sharply, "Yeah, all the stars did. I don't know why, I don't know how, I just know that they did. In two days, everything was over. All the Governments gone, entire quadrants dead. We were just waiting for the end to come to us on the Crichton. Then you woke up."
"I thought you said I was dying."
"You were. And all of a sudden, you were up and moving, hijacking a shuttle. It was like you were possessed. You were moving strangely, talking... wrong." Jason's voice trailed off as he remembered the broken movements and strange voice Alex had used in the shuttlebay. Had that really been less than a week ago?
"Wouldn't be the first time in history a Starfleet officer's been possessed by some alien being."
Jason shrugged, "True, but there was more to it. Whatever it was that was using you, I think... I think it knew what was going on. It knew where to go, and it knew that if it didn't get off the Crichton fast, it would have died when the ship was destroyed."
"So you think it was involved in the supernovas somehow."
"I'm pretty sure of it." Jason stopped as an idea occurred to him. "Whatever it was shared your mind, what if it wasn't a one way street?"
"What do you mean?"
"What if... some of it's knowledge, or some of it, is still in your head? A kind of... mental spillover? You might know why the stars died. You might know exactly what happened."
Alex shook his head, "I doubt that."
"It's a possibility."
A new voice broke into the conversation, "Yes, it is."
Alex and Jason spun around to find themselves face to face with Rakiin and Herma'Taklan. Rakiin stood with an appraising look on his face, staring at Alex. "All I wanted was the technological information in that database you hold, Starfleeter, but now... this might be infinitely more interesting. Imagine, a weapon that could destroy a star." He laughed, "Khan himself must be smiling on me." Turning to leave, he motioned to Alex. "Bring him. Once Shade is finished with the female, he can begin stripping this one's mind."
Alex launched himself towards the Khanate, Jason close behind him, both of them intent of knocking the Augment down and finding out what they'd done with Selene. Neither reached him.
Alex never even felt the energy pulse that sent him spiraling back into darkness.
-----
Tal, Nyssa and Kordath sat on the bridge, the starlines flickering outside as Icarus soared past Uranus, the planet nothing more than an indistinct blur. The room was quiet as the grave, none of them speaking, all three focused on their own private musings as the chronometer counted down to Earth orbit.
The subspace radio beeped.
Tal and Nyssa jumped at the sudden sound, surprise sending their already high adrenaline levels rocketing to new heights. Only Kordath remained seated, his hand reaching over and activating the radio, reading the data that flowed through the open channel, acting as though he had been expecting it.
As Nyssa stood and walked over to read the data over Kordath's shoulder, Tal clutched his chest over his pounding heart. "I think I'm dead. I've had a heart attack and died." Nyssa smiled thinly, "You're not dead yet, Tal. Stop overreacting." Turning to the Klingon, she stared at the display. "Who's trying to talk to us?"
Kordath barely moved, "The signal is originating in San Francisco."
Tal frowned, "Can't be. The Com array's down. The Khanate can't talk to anyone."
"Then perhaps it is not the Khanate."
Nyssa tapped at the controls. "Text file only. Let's see what it says."
Tal stood and joined them as the file opened, the display blacking out as a line of text appeared.
IF YOU WISH TO RESCUE YOUR CAPTAIN, FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS.
Tal looked up at the others. "Trap?"
Kordath seemed to consider for a moment, "Possibly."
Nyssa shrugged. "So we walk into it, right?"
The three of them looked at each other, nodded and read the instructions.
-----
"I can hear him now, him and the Jem'Hadar. They're coming. They're coming..."
Aishwarya jumped slightly as the doors to her library swung open, one of the ship's countless Jem'Hadar entering the cavernous room, dragging the limp body of Jason Madden behind him. Her mind reeling in shock, she watched, unmoving, as the soldier dumped the Starfleet Commander on the tiled floor and left, the doors closing behind it's tall form.
Quietly, she found herself moving forward, staring at the black and red clad body, noticing the lack of breathing, the total stillness. She knew her brother was cruel, deadly, even, but for him to kill Madden and then to taunt her with his corpse...
She fell to her knees beside him, the silver and gold fabric of her skirts contrasting sharply with his torn and savaged uniform. Her hand shaking, she lightly pressed two fingers against his throat...
...and felt nothing.
Her eyes opened wide and she felt her throat close in grief.
Jason Madden was dead.