DISCLAIMER: The following is fan fiction utilizing events and characters from all five "Star Trek" television series along with bits and pieces from the feature films. It is fan fiction only… there is no intent here to collect income or infringe on the trademarks, copyrights, or patented work of others. Please DO NOT use this material for anything other than pure reading enjoyment. If you have been missing at least occasional new "Star Trek" episodes in your life, this is the place to come.
Star Trek: Absolution
I have not kept up with the "Star Trek" novels the past few years, but this storyline takes place shortly before the events in the "Star Trek: Nemesis" feature film. Since many of the book plots have at times varied from what we see on screen anyway, what you will read is based upon the stories that we viewed at home on TV and while munching popcorn in the movie theatres.
Chapter XI: Flames Of The Dragon
The sound of war drums had been slowly beating in the background all morning and for most of the afternoon. General Krell, the sturdy, muscular commander of King Zantu's Alucarn army was quite pleased with the progress they had made. Just prior to sunrise their soldiers had officially crossed the border into Vandahar and begun moving northward toward the distant walled city. He had already received word of Queen Maliya's arrest and – although it made things more difficult – her failed assassination attempt was not expected to deter them in the slightest. The chain mail he wore felt tight and protective around his chest, he was looking forward to hearing the chaotic sounds of battle once again.
Their forces numbered almost twelve thousand strong and had steadily covered most of the twenty-five short kilometers that separated them from the neighboring capital city with little resistance. So far, all of the vassal landowners who regularly paid tithes to King Apella had simply vacated their homes and retreated back within the walled city as word of the enemy's approach spread rapidly throughout the surrounding countryside. The thousands of marching men simply continued their rapid march, leaving behind small teams to secure the captured homes.
Between confident shouts, horses' hooves and the constant background drumbeat the sizeable army had made quite a bit of noise as it progressed north. Most of their artillery, including the newer cannons capable of firing larger explosive shells, were at the forefront of the huge parade and anchored securely to large wagons being pulled by horse and rider. Leading the charge were Alucarn's toughest, most well-trained soldiers and these were also the most heavily armed. Many of them carried swords and were equipped with the new repeating rifles that had been developed and perfected over the past few years. Each of them could fire up to twenty shots before reloading was necessary.
For the past half hour they had been able to see the smoke from the fires of Vandahar's defensive camp on the horizon, most of which drifted lazily away into the bright blue windless sky. As they had grown closer to the enemy forces, all Krell had to do was make a casual visual survey to the north in order to see the puny three thousand or so enemy troops gathered in front of the city wall waiting for them. He had been prompting King Zantu to let him annex the territory of Vandahar for over six months now. The King had finally consented and given him permission to seize the enemy lands along with its prized walled city. The plot to assassinate the King had been proposed to Maliya almost as an afterthought… no one had been more surprised then Krell when she had greedily accepted the offer and agreed to murder her husband.
The General could see that the Vandahar troops had artillery as well but he had been counting cannons for almost five minutes now and didn't see nearly enough of them to be concerned. With the new explosive shells ready to go, Alucarn could easily shoot farther and rain death down around the enemy long before their cannons were in range to fire back at them. He had a bet going with one of his senior officers as to how long it would take before the entire enemy defense force turned and retreated back into the cover of Vandahar's protective walls. He was certain that by tomorrow morning all of this foreign territory would be part of Alucarn.
The city's formidable walls were of no concern to him either. The explosive artillery shells would bring down enough of the stone for them to force a surrender or – if the wall held – Alucarn's soldiers would simply set up camp outside of the city's weapons range and shoot bombs randomly inside of its walls until King Apella saw no choice but to cede his authority unconditionally to Krell.
That was the General's reward for all of this – most of his troops would return to Alucarn but Krell himself would remain behind with enough men to disarm Vandahar's milita and install himself as the new King of Vandahar. He looked forward to becoming royalty and had openly lusted after such power for years. If Apella had not yet executed the lovely Maliya, well… perhaps the General would decide to renew the peace negotiations he had held with her over the years, this time between just the two of them and in Vandahar's private royal chambers.
Krell's personal guard rode on horseback alongside of him and they all wore the distinctive green and black uniforms that represented Alucarn's honor guard. One of the soldiers held their nation's flag proudly overhead, displaying the two colored rectangles prominently featured on the white background. Both of the rectangles intersected with green overlapping gold and represented the royal and working classes respectively. At the very center of the flag was a woven picture of a very sinister looking dragon that symbolized both the Mordra legend and the strength of Alucarn's military dictatorship.
The General had been randomly checking in with his various battalion commanders all morning to evaluate their confidence level. Prior to breaking out and downing a small lunch while he rode he had concluded his frequent trips between the dozens of divisions of marching men and was quite satisfied that the morale of his troops was high enough to proceed. Having additionally ordered some of his other officers to also drop back and listen in on many of the conversations carrying on throughout the large army of moving men, equipment and supplies had left him supremely optimistic. There was no army better on this world right now, and never had there been one so ready for ultimate conquest and total victory.
He took another quick look at the pitifully small Vandahar defense force in the distance and grinned with delight. Krell was quite ready to begin chasing them back inside the still-distant walls of the city behind them so that they could finally discover that it no longer offered them the protection they hoped it would. A hasty retreat would buy them a little more time, but left them no opportunity to take their inferior artillery and heavier equipment along with them.
By dusk the General was looking forward to having captured all of the enemy cannons and distributing them amongst his second group of most trusted soldiers. He was still sizing up the Vandahar forces and counting heads when he heard a faint roar in the distant sky to the northwest. The sky was clear aside from a few wispy clouds, so the sound was definitely not thunder.
A moment prior to the distant rumble a few horses had begun to whinny with fright. The riders sitting atop them calmly patted the animals and gently tried to get the creatures to calm down. One of the horses, a handsome brown and white one, reared back on its hind legs and tossed its rider completely while several others began nervously prancing in circles. "Whoa," one of the soldiers said with concern, pulling back on his reigns carefully. The horse beneath his saddle continued to whinny nervously as the distant rumble continued to rapidly grow both louder and closer. Taking a look back toward the Vandahar encampment the soldier's eyes suddenly widened and his face turned white with fear.
"Look!" someone shouted, and even General Krell found himself becoming concerned at this sudden unknown. Directly west of Vandahar city a shimmering cloud of emerald energy had formed in the sky and was gradually coalescing into the distinct shape of an angry looking winged dragon beast that very closely resembled the graphic representation of Mordra on Alucarn's flag. The creature was at least thirty meters long with a dark greenish-black scaled belly and fiery red eyes. Its jaws were drawn back in a fierce scowl that revealed rows of sharp white teeth and behind its body a massive, lengthy tail with dangerous looking spikes all along its length waved angrily back and forth as it continued moving towards their position.
Upon sighting the creature, all of the Vandhar troops in the distance immediately began an organized retreat back inside the city. They completely abandoned their horses and artillery, concentrating instead on moving all of their people rapidly into the safety offered behind the large city walls. Although Alucarn's forces were still a reasonable distance away, they were close enough to observe each of the massive gates along the length of the entire wall facing them swing firmly shut and lock tightly behind the retreating soldiers.
"Continue forward everyone!" the General commanded. "This is an illusion of some kind. Vandahar is known for its Kanutu magicians who have lots of tricks but no real magic…"
The rest of his words were lost amongst the noise of panicking soldiers as the massive floating dragon's head turned directly to face them. Krell could see the expressions of pure terror on the faces of his men as a terrible screech of anger drowned out all other noise. Powerful lances of orange flame suddenly reached out from the dragon's scarlet eyes and tore a huge smoking trench in the ground directly between his forces and Vandahar's vacated front line. Although they were not close enough to see, the line its fiery eyes cut was over a meter wide and at least three more deep. Shouts of surprise and bewilderment could be heard everywhere.
The dragon was moving a bit more rapidly now and quickly closing the remaining distance between them. Its huge, webbed green wings flapped up and down with strength and confidence in the afternoon sun and the beast continued to roar with anger as it approached. Some of the dismounted soldiers made an attempt to stand their ground, raise their rifles and began shooting haphazardly at the beast. A couple of them even managed to point and fire a couple of the cannons into the air although they had no ability to properly aim the projectiles. The sound of gunshots caused more soldiers to hesitate as they realized that they were still armed and also turned to fire their weapons at the giant dragon.
Sitting directly behind Commander Data on board the Yellowjacket, Lexi grinned with delight. One of the consoles next to the android in front of him clearly showed a graphical depiction of the dragon image along with its moving head, tail and flapping wings. "So that's what this ship looks like to them?" he asked curiously as Data nodded in reply.
"While we were still on the ground I was using Tasha's cloaking shield to project the image of a normal looking landscape," he said informatively. "Now we are using a combination of images transmitted to us by Captain Kim to substitute the image of a live, animated dragon. The shield is quite effective… no one on the ground can see the ship behind the illusion." On the forward viewscreen they could see dozens of Krell's soldiers repeatedly shooting at them.
Yar was in the co-pilot's seat and she studied the sensor readouts carefully before turning to Data. "The Alucarn soldiers are standing firm and putting up a fight, but Vandahar's forces have retreated into the city just as you asked them to. It's time to implement the second part of your plan," she commented with a smile. "I'm tightening the aft phaser width to minimum, reducing the intensity to one percent and altering the emitter array to a non-visible level."
"Thank you," Data said as he continued to move them closer to the thousands of men on the ground that composed Alucarn's invasion force. "Firing phasers."
Vandahar's heavy siege equipment still sat where it had been abandoned in front of the city walls. With the detailed precision only an android could muster, Data carefully adjusted the phaser-lock mechanism manually as the attenuated, now invisible cutting beams sliced through the tethers keeping all of the horses bound to the wagons and ammunition supply carts.
As if by magic, the invisible energy beams systematically severed all of them beginning with the entire eastern side of the defense perimeter and ending at its western end. As they were freed, the terror-stricken animals immediately began running for their lives. Neighing and whinnying with fright, the horses quickly turned away from the gunshots coming from Alucarn's soldiers in front of them and fled to the east and the west.
As they grew closer to King Zantu's invasion force the sound of bullets bouncing off the Yellowjacket's shielded hull became more noticeable. The small runabout with its projected dragon image was floating only twenty meters above the surface of the planet, and many of the shots from the soldiers below were accurately hitting their intended target. On the viewscreen, Data noted that several small groups of soldiers at the front of the army were responsible for most of the shooting while the remainder tried to calm the horses that were still quite unsettled by the loud roar from the ship's maneuvering thrusters.
"Their projectiles can't penetrate our hull, I hope." Tasha commented with concern.
"No they cannot. The cloaking device from your ship is designed to hide an entire Scout-Class Romulan shuttle with a crew of twelve. We are currently using approximately one third of the runabout's warp energy to power the dragon image surrounding the runabout. The rest of it is available for weapons and shields at my discretion."
"I have no idea what you just said," Lexi commented with concern in his voice. "But whether it was good or bad, please make them stop shooting at us."
Data's response was immediate. Once more the Yellowjacket's forward phasers fired, carving another channel – this time directly in front of the Alucarn invasion army's front line. From the perspective of the soldiers on the ground, the left eye of the approaching dragon emitted an orange beam of flame that started on the eastern side of the artillery line and quickly burned a dark smoking line in the ground toward the west. Likewise, Mordra's right eye fired toward the west and the second phaser furrowed into the ground and burned rapidly toward the east. Both of the energy beams met in the center of the army and promptly vanished, leaving a second huge, burning furrow in front of the frightened invaders that was less than ten meters away from the feet of the troops who – until seconds before – had still been shooting.
Completely taken by surprise, many of the soldiers dropped their weapons, but all of them ended up turning tail and running. General Krell and his officers held up their hands and shouted in a futile effort to try and stop the mob panic, but they failed miserably as the flood of frightened soldiers quickly dragged them along. To continue to try and hold their ground would easily have gotten them all trampled to death by human feet, horses' hooves or both. Krell had seen a lot of fighting in his lifetime and was not a man easily unnerved, but he glanced up into the sky at the huge green dragon floating in front of him and felt more fear than he could remember since the days when he was a small child who knew that he had angered his parents.
The General's most well-trained soldiers, situated at the front of the invasion force, actually ended up panicking the most. Since the entire rear two thirds of the army was closely packed with marching men instead of riders on horseback, it took time for thousands and thousands of them to retreat far enough south so that the men in front could begin falling back as well. Each moment that the soldiers up front spent waiting for their turn to flee seemed like an eternity, and they had no choice but to stand and watch helplessly as Mordra continued to fly slowly toward them with her red eyes burning in anger. When their opportunity to turn and run arrived, virtually all of them immediately did so.
Inside the Yellowjacket's forward cabin, Data continued to study the sensor readouts in front of him. "Tasha, please reconfigure the forward phasers to match the aft settings," he requested without glancing up. Behind them, Lexi watched the two of them efficiently do their jobs with his youthful wonder and curiosity. His gaze continually switched back and forth between the colored lights winking on the consoles in front of his friends and the out-of-control scene of panicked, retreating soldiers readily visible on the runabout's forward viewscreen.
"Done," Yar replied, watching the android fire the now invisible cutting beams once again. General Krell and the troops who were not yet in full retreat watched in absolute astonishment as the leather reigns and ropes hooking the horses to their artillery equipment and wagons began snapping and popping apart as if by magic. The procedure took much longer this time, since the Alucarn army had nearly three times the artillery of Vandahar's.
Patiently, the android took almost ten minutes to meticulously adjust and execute a rapid-fire phaser sequence designed to carefully free each animal from its attachments to the burden it carried and allow them to run for their lives. The fleeing horses were scared, but not so panicked that they failed to notice the most recent, still-smoking trench carved in the ground. They promptly split into two waves, just like their Vandahar counterparts had, and galloped rapidly away to the east and west in clouds of rapidly rising dry dust.
The dragon was very close to the Alucarn army now, and – temporarily conquering some of the enormous waves of fear rippling through his body – General Krell began moving back toward one of the abandoned cannons. He was debating as to whether or not he could get close enough to it and try turning its heavier firepower against the dragon when the decision was abruptly made for him.
Yet again the beast's angry eyes flared with power and the fully restored orange phaser beams sliced into the artillery line itself. All of the extra ammo, gunpowder and explosive shells began to detonate in dozens of clouds of fire as the phasers carved all the way through the entire supply line. Many of the cannons were instantly vaporized… the rest of them melted into pools of smoking, molten metal.
Krell glanced behind him and saw that most of his army was in full retreat – even his officers were running for their lives. Several hundred of the troops were standing frozen with fear, however, as they stared in awe and continued to watch the image of Mordra rain her wrath down upon them. The orange fire from the dragon's eyes continued to target the artillery, slicing through each and every cannon, wagon and ammo box.
Explosion after explosion rocked the afternoon country side and clouds of burning smoke and fire writhed like living snakes up into the atmosphere. With only a small breeze present, the entire area began to fill up with a choking black smoke causing the last of the soldiers, including Krell, to begin rapidly moving back toward the south.
Data watched the all-out withdrawal with growing satisfaction, patiently waiting until all of the fleeing soldiers had moved far enough away from the artillery line. Touching the Comm-badge attached to his uniform, he waited for the familiar electronic chirp before speaking. "Data to Captain Kim," he said with a hint of satisfaction, "We are ready. Please proceed."
"Ackowledged," Kim responded.
With sensor guided precision, the orbiting Rhode Island fired a salvo of eight low-yield photon torpedoes down toward the battlefield, each carefully targeted to encircle the Yellowjacket but yet impact far enough away so as not to damage its minimally shielded hull. Again the retreating Alucarn soldiers stopped and watched in terror as one by one the glittering scarlet bolts of energy flashed down from the heavens above.
The unbelievable sound of their explosions was deafening, followed almost immediately by a series of gigantic mushroom clouds of smoke pouring upward into the sunny sky. One of the blast clouds temporarily shielded the sun from the bulk of the soldiers and cast a sinister darkness on the still flaming, still smoldering battlefield. If the population of Stadia had never heard of hell before, then this day a great many of them at least knew exactly what it looked like.
Mordra the dragon beast continued her journey south and passed with a roar over the thousands of retreating Alucarn troops. Many of them dropped to the ground or took cover behind rocks or hills or among the few scattered groups of trees that dotted the open plains they had chosen to march across. They continued to watch in horror as Mordra, and all of the powers at her command, continued her journey south – directly toward their distant homes.
"Data what are you doing?" Tasha asked from her seat next to him. "They're retreating and you've accomplished your goal. Isn't it time for us to leave now?"
"Not quite yet," the android decided. "During your long absence I have grown quite familiar with the human mind and have even studied up on psychology. I did not observe anyone above the rank of General near the flag at the forefront of the Alucarn invasion force, which means that this King Zantu has severely irritated me. He hides safely tucked away in his castle where he secretly plots murder and orders his troops to maim and kill others."
"He irritates you?" Tasha said with wonder. "Data you've changed!"
He looked at her and smiled. "Yes," he replied. "I have an emotion chip now, and although Geordi needed to fine tune it a bit after it was first installed I have grown quite accustomed to it." He continued to guide the Yellowjacket toward the south, using the ship's forward viewscreen to carefully survey the countryside as it continued to pass below them. Turning in his seat the android glanced back at Lexi. "Where can I find this King Zantu?"
"Just follow the river," the young man said, pointing at a water source on the screen. "It's called the Yumaialin and it runs right past his castle. I've heard rumors from friends of mine that he likes to hunt and fish around there."
"Those soldiers will all claim they were just following orders," Data mused, adjusting their course to follow the winding path of the river toward the south. "But it takes a certain type of base mentality and a conscious choice for intelligent beings to pick up weapons and participate in expansionism and armed attacks on a peaceful, civilian population. It might do these men some good today to have to wonder for a while if their own families and homes will survive until tomorrow's sunrise. Shortly they will know exactly what Vandahar's soldiers felt like earlier."
"Most of them would probably be shot or hung if they refused to take part in an attack ordered by their King," decided Tasha. "That's often the way it works in the military."
"You have a valid point Tasha, and that is precisely why I want to make sure our message gets to the very top of Alucarn's command hierarchy," decided Data. "Often times if you spank a child and then leave, he feels tempted to misbehave again. In this case I think we must also put the fear of Mordra into King Zantu in order to achieve a lasting impression."
The Yellowjacket's speed had increased again, and – still projecting the image of a mighty dragon in place of its usual appearance – the Federation runabout continued following the Yumaialin river's twists and bends. They passed over several small villages with a loud roar and eventually noticed a huge stone castle in the distance, sitting proudly atop a large hill. Lexi chuckled at all of the tiny people that came running out of their homes to get a look at the fearsome dragon, wishing he was close enough to see the expressions on their faces. "My home is going to be safe again after you're done here, isn't it?" he asked.
"Your home will be safe for quite awhile indeed," Data promised him, glancing at the sensor readouts. "The closest bend of the river comes within one half kilometer of King Zantu's castle. It is time to send him our message."
"What are you going to do, Data?" Tasha asked, almost afraid to hear his response. She could not recall ever seeing emotion in the android's expression, much less the mischief-filled look that he now gave her.
"King Zantu would not wage such an attack against a peaceful nation like Vandahar without a complete lack of compassion for all living things," Data replied with a distinct note of disapproval. "Obviously his huge castle and large army are not enough protection, so he does not feel safe enough to live there comfortably." The android smiled as his emotion chip surged. "So I'm going to use the ship's phasers to construct a moat for him." He glanced back at Lexi and watched the youngster smile. "We have discovered who the real adult is today."
The android's fingers speedily danced across the Yellowjacket's control systems and they rapidly gained altitude. The viewscreen provided a view from below that showed lots of people streaming out of the castle and staring up at the huge beast that appeared to be floating above them. The snarling head of the dragon waved from side to side and then gradually looked downward as its long tail raised high in the air above. Once again the phaser beams flared forth from the burning red eyes of Mordra and touched the ground surrounding the castle, this time with their intensity set much higher.
One of the powerful beams burned deeply into the surface of the ground on the southern side of the castle and began slowly carving a circular trench counter-clockwise. The other phaser began vaporizing soil on the northern side of the castle and also moved counter-clockwise in a semi-circle toward the south. Each beam carved a 180 degree half circle into the land surrounding the castle and ended at the starting point of the other. Where only moments ago everything had been normal there was now a huge five meter wide, fifteen meter deep still-smoking moat surrounding the castle. Effectively, everyone on the inside of its perimeter was trapped there.
It's not really a moat unless it has water," Lexi pointed out with a chuckle.
"You are correct," Data acknowledged.
The large head of the dragon swerved its angry gaze toward the distant river a mere half kilometer away and its eyes again lit up with fire. The phasers carved deeply into the western shore of the river and furiously burned a channel directly between the closest bend in the Yumaialin toward the freshly dug moat. Data instructed Tasha to increase the phaser power gradually as the beams neared the moat, making certain that the tunnel continued growing deeper to allow plenty of room for the water to make a slow but steady downhill journey.
There was a lot of smoke and steam, but a great deal of the water from the river immediately began running along the new spillway and within a matter of twenty minutes – as they patiently hovered above and watched – began filling up the moat surrounding the castle to Data's satisfaction. Her mission accomplished, Mordra issued a final loud roar at the people standing outside the castle before once again turning south and rapidly rumbling away toward the distant horizon. The bystanders continued to watch the dragon depart with fear and wonder.
"Logistically, that's never going to work," Tasha said with disapproval, still a little taken aback by the android's passion for his newfound friends in Vandahar. "The sides of a moat have to be reinforced or the water will just wash them away and eventually it will collapse in upon itself. Simply carving one into the ground with the ship's phasers will never last."
"I am aware of that," Data responded. "Creating an actual working moat was not my goal. Giving King Zantu something to think about over the long term – and his soldiers some work to do – was the primary objective since it should provide a deterrent to future violence. No matter how well they clean up the mess that we have made down there a permanent blemish will remain on the land around the castle for some time to come. I believe the image will give Zantu cause to reconsider the next time he debates whether or not to wage war on a weaker population."
"How can you be sure of that?" Yar wondered.
"I have noticed that the violent, bully mentality is a rather simple one. King Zantu and violent people like him will always be tempted to hurt others, which is why I decided to put the fear of God into him and his people today. Vandahar's population also has observed much of this and will benefit from the experience as well." The android paused as he deactivated the Yellowjacket's dragon-altered cloaking shield and accelerated upward toward orbit. "If that is not enough to stop him, then he may have to deal with additional visits from Mordra. Captain Kim commands the Rhode Island after all, and since it patrols this sector he will be stopping by now and then to check in on these people."
The atmosphere began to thin beneath them and the star-filled void of outer space became visible in the windows at the front of the cockpit. Data kept the viewscreen's visual focused on the surface of Stadia so that Lexi could watch it fall further and further away from them as the runabout climbed rapidly into a high orbit. The computer locked on to the Rhode Island's identification beacon and they closed the remaining distance separating them from the Nova-Class Federation vessel. The young Stadian hunter watched the large starship gradually grow both larger and closer in the runabout's windows and his eyes widened with disbelief.
"What a wondrous vessel!" Lexi said with amazement as the runabout began circling the large starship in order to give him a better look at its design. "How come you're letting me see this? Isn't it against your laws?"
"You have been very helpful to both Tasha and myself," Data told him. "You have provided me with details vital to accomplishing my mission here. Additionally, the assistance that you have provided has saved many lives, including that of your King Apella. I will make certain that he knows of this, since both you and he will be the Stadian contact points between my people and yours." The android waved a finger at Lexi warningly. "But you must not tell anyone of this… it must be a complete secret even from the Aunt that you live with."
"I won't tell anyone," Lexi promised. "I swear I won't."
"Then it is time to land aboard the Rhode Island," Data decided. "I am certain that if you ask nicely Captain Kim will give you a tour of his ship."
King Apella had listened for most of the evening about the dragon that had saved them all. Captain Rendu would speak of nothing else, and Thadren had taken well over a half hour to brief him on the day's events. The troops and servants on duty in the castle were still whispering amongst themselves as they carried out their assigned duties – even Yori had watched the amazing spectacle from one of the tower windows and was still talking to his friends about the angry dragon that had provided such a memorable display. Apella and Sepenon had both patiently listened to General Thadren's report, and upon its conclusion the King had suggested that several scouting parties be sent out to verify that the Alucarn troops would not soon return.
Return? How could they? The first soldiers to report in had verified that all of Alucarn's artillery equipment had either been melted into slag or destroyed in the ammunition explosions. Still finding the flood of good news difficult to believe, the King had only to look out his bedroom window at the remnants of the battlefield in the growing twilight of late evening. The acrid odor of burnt gunpowder still filled the air and he could see dozens of fires still burning in the distance. The sight of the battlefield itself was all the evidence anyone needed to confirm that what they had witnessed was indeed real.
A battalion of his troops had gone outside of the city with horses and wagons, carefully maneuvering around the two large trenches dug deep into the Stadian soil. The Vandahar soldiers had found lots of abandoned rifles and swords lying about in the remnants of the hastily abandoned Alucarn camp. They had collected everything they felt was usable and dumped the rest of the enemy equipment into the remaining fires.
Upon hearing the final report Apella had taken several deep breaths – and drank several large goblets of wine – before managing to calm himself down enough to retire for the evening. The royal chambers seemed empty without his beloved Maliya but he was already growing used to the fact that she had betrayed him… a good leader didn't last long if he couldn't shrug off a tough loss now and then.
He wasn't at all surprised to see a bright blue energy surge appear in the center of his royal bed chambers – it was identical to the scene he had witnessed once before. The man who had visited them previously appeared to him again, seemingly out of thin air, and smiled with respect at Apella. The King studied the man's strange gold uniform curiously.
"You are a great leader Apella," Data said, bowing toward the elderly man. "You maintain enough soldiers to defend your nation and yet your army resists a policy of expansionism. Your tax laws are fair and your farmlands are full of growing things. I had to physically assault one of your soldiers at the gate in order to get arrested and was able to determine first hand that you treat your prisoners with compassion and respect until they get a fair legal hearing. Vandahar is a wonderful community, one you can be proud of."
"Thank you for all you have done. On behalf of my entire kingdom, thank you uh…"
"Data."
"Yes. Thank you so very much Data," Apella replied. "Although as things turned out we don't exactly have such a wonderful Queen as I once thought that we did."
"We have a saying where I come from," the android informed him. "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. It is sadly true much of the time with humans, and that is why you have my sincere admiration on so successfully resisting it."
"My father encountered the temptations of evil and managed to wrest himself away from them well before his death," the King said thoughtfully. "It took me awhile growing up as the next leader of this community, but he eventually taught me through example and experience that trampling on the people you govern can be very detrimental to your longevity. He was a good man who made some very poor choices early on in his life, and it has motivated me all the more to make certain I don't repeat his mistakes."
"King Zantu has newer artillery designs that he planned to use against you, with hollowed projectiles containing explosive powder that fire across a much farther range than yours do."
"From what my men have told me he no longer has any artillery," Apella said, chuckling merrily to himself as he remembered the events of the day. "Thanks to you, that is. You said that you would send us a signal and you sure delivered on your promise Data – I will grant you that."
"I have transported several intact Alucarn cannons into the store room where you previously kept the hand weapon found by your soldiers. Your own military experts will be able to examine them and make certain that you are prepared if King Zantu should trouble you again."
"He won't," stated Apella confidently. "He is a coward who strikes from the shadows. If he is not hiding under his bed right now in total fear of what you did then he is certainly not sleeping soundly this night." The King sat down on the edge of his bed and heartily roared with delight, still feeling a bit happy from the wine he had consumed earlier. Settling down, he stroked his beard thoughtfully. "You are a compassionate man too, sir. Despite all of the battlefield violence, your vision of Mordra decided to spare everyone this day, not just the innocent and pure of heart. Perhaps King Zantu and his people will take notice of that!"
"I am sorry that I had to scatter all of your horses," the android apologized. "They are beautiful animals and I wanted them out of the line of fire in case hostilities began before I could force Alucarn's army to withdraw."
"You needn't concern yourself with that," King Apella said with a large smile, casually waving off the issue with one hand. "We found a lot of horses wandering around out there this evening. More, in fact, than we took with us outside of the city walls."
"I have returned the boy Lexi to his Aunt, and I think you should know I would not have been able to save your life without the information he provided to me."
"He will be safe with her," promised the King. "His Aunt was extremely concerned for him and has been asking our magistrate about Lexi each and every day. I was planning to release him anyway, but had no idea that you were planning such a miraculous jail break." Again the King reared back his head and filled the room with laughter – this time tears appeared in his eyes. "I laugh because I am so deeply relieved…" he said with sincere emotion. "If not for you and your people there would have been many deaths today. When I saw the size of the enemy forces I immediately began considering an unconditional surrender, even knowing that King Zantu would have me and my entire senior staff executed."
"I think you will find him more willing to negotiate now," Data predicted. "And if he does not embrace the more peaceful side of politics you still do not have to worry about your people – mine will be checking in with you and Lexi from time to time to insure your safety."
"Perhaps someday…" the King said with a friendly smile as he sized up the man standing in front of him. "Perhaps someday your people and mine can become better friends as well."
"Perhaps," Data said with a smile, tapping his Comm-badge. "Data to Rhode Island, I am ready to return." The blue transporter energy seized the Commander in a glowing sparkle of dematerialization and he disappeared as quickly as he had arrived. Apella watched him go, his thoughts drifting once more to the afternoon chaos on the battlefield, and he filled the otherwise empty room with his booming laughter one more time.
Captain Harry Kim was waiting for Data in the Rhode Island's transporter room as the android materialized on the platform. Data stepped down to join Kim and the two of them walked out into the corridor and headed toward the ship's hangar bay. "I transmitted your report to both Starfleet Command and Deep Space Nine," Kim commented. "You did a fine job down there Commander… I'm very proud of you."
"Thank you," Data replied. "No matter how organized and efficient we become, there is never a way to predict all possible outcomes in a complex situation such as this one. Thus I am grateful that everything worked out to our mutual satisfaction. I would also like to thank you and your crew personally for pushing your ship's engines to the limit and making the extra effort to return early to provide me with additional assistance."
"It's just a ship," Kim said with a warm smile. "We can always build a new one."
Data paused for a few seconds, glancing curiously at the Captain. "You are not being entirely truthful with me, are you?"
"No," the Captain admitted. "Please don't make me risk my ship's engines again."
"I thought so," decided Data. "I have yet to meet a Federation Captain who considers a starship to be 'just a ship'."
They entered a turbolift together. "Shuttle bay," Captain Kim said to the unseen computer and the lift immediately began to descend rapidly. "I heard back from Captain Picard. He is most eager to meet with Tasha Yar and debrief her."
"I expected that," responded Data. "She is alive in this timeline due to some very unique circumstances. I find it extremely fortunate that she has managed to return to us."
"Believe it or not I totally understand," Kim told him. "In a manner of speaking, I am an exact copy of the original Harry Kim just like she is a time displaced version of Tasha Yar. I was generated during an accidental recreation of an old Kent State experiment while Voyager was stranded in the Delta quadrant." He smiled at the curious expression on Data's face. "It's a long story… perhaps we'll save it for another time."
"Where is Tasha now?"
"She's waiting for you in the shuttle bay," Kim said with a slow smile as the turbolift hesitated and then began moving sideways toward the rear of the ship. "I was hoping to arrange for guest quarters and have you both stay for awhile so that I could satisfy my own curiosity. But I received orders from Admiral Janeway for both of you to proceed immediately to Deep Space Nine." He held up his hands as though helpless to change the inevitable.
"I will send you an updated report," Data promised him. "There are some good people down on Stadia, and they may require further assistance from us." The turbolift paused and the doors snapped open to allow them access to the shuttle bay. Clearly visible were the damaged remnants of the Romulan shuttle resting alongside the hangar's far wall.
"Rest assured, my crew will conduct a thorough analysis of that ship before we drop it off at a starbase for you," Captain Kim promised. "Good luck Commander…" he paused as Data turned to firmly shake his hand. "Are you sure you don't want my Doctor to restore your skin to its normal appearance before you go?"
"That will not be necessary. I will undergo the procedure after rejoining my crew." Kim stood by the door and watched as the android and Tasha Yar climbed back aboard the Yellowjacket. The outer hatch closed on the snub-nosed, speedy runabout and moments later it moved steadily forward and penetrated the shuttle bay's outer forcefield before quickly accelerating to warp speed. Captain Kim gave them a quick wave for good luck before heading back to his bridge.