Chapter Thirteen: Rescues and Revelations
Mission
As the Alliance leaders argue and point fingers of mistrust at each other on Narendra III one of ARA's commanding officers departs on a secret mission to uncover some truth and find a missing comrade.
Mission Date:
112th day in the 2369th of Molar
Looking around the room he made a quick mental check of what he would need. On one table lay a phaser rifle and a trusty dk'tahg that he was certain he would need for his plan to be a success. Placed on the other table was an assortment of gear for survival and stealth. The thought of having to sneak around like a treacherous Romulan made him sneer for a moment. But what other alternative did he have? When left between the option of stealth and success or aggression and failure he reluctantly had to side with stealth. This mission was too important to him, too important to the Alliance he believed, to not be completed. After checking over everything once more Mulkrit picked up a glass of bloodwine and took a sip before exiting the storage room.
As he walked down the hallway only a couple of officers passed by him. He knew that K'Vort class bird-of-prey vessels had a small crew, but he had grown used to the large crew size and crowded hallways he commanded aboard the Sompek. The hallways he traveled down now seemed empty and it gave the ship an almost ghost-like feel to Mulkrit. He just paused for a moment and shrugged off the feeling before he continued his way towards Rah'q's quarters.
It was several weeks ago that Mulkrit had learned the information that had sent him on this suicidal quest. He hadn't taken it as truth first, which would have been the same move that any would have taken, yet he hadn't forgotten it earlier. With everyone in the Alliance having their attention turned onto the world of Narendra III Mulkrit had taken the opportunity to try and see just how much stock the information had. His first move had been to contact Rah'q, the new commanding officer of the Kor'Jaq, and tell him of the information. The Klingon officer had been skeptical at first, but eventually had chosen to risk things on the chance that Mulkrit's information was genuine. Now here they both were, daring death to take them on the off chance that they would be right.
As Mulkrit reached the door to Rah'q's quarters he paused for a moment and thought about what he was about to do, and what he should tell Rah'q in the meantime. The solider left in command of the Kor'Jaq was an honorable one, yet he didn't quite seem worthy of his title for some reason. Perhaps it was the way in which he had earned that title which made other Klingons cringe. But it wasn't Rah'q's fault; he was merely trying to adjust to the cards he had been dealt. For that no one could think critically of him. Putting any thoughts aside Mulkrit reached forward and hit the call button next to Rah'q's door.
"Yes?" came Rah'q's voice from inside the room.
"It's Mulkrit. I thought we could share a drink before we got to the Carraya system."
"Enter," was all Rah'q said in response.
As Mulkrit stepped inside the first thing he noticed about the quarters was its size. He had to remind himself again that everything aboard was smaller in comparison to what he was accustomed to on the Sompek. The other thing he noticed was how bright the lighting was. True it was no brighter than any other room on the ship, but he had also grown accustomed to a room lit only by candlelight. Despite some time since losing T'Jal Mulkrit had refused to put an end to his vigil. He wasn't sure why but he just wasn't ready to yet, and so the candles stayed lit.
"Sit down," Rah'q said as he looked over to see Mulkrit enter the room. He was on his knees on a ceremonial banner. "I was just saying a prayer for the honored dead."
"I didn't interrupt you did I, Rah'q?" Mulkrit said, hoping his intrusion hadn't bothered the warrior.
"Not at all. I was just finishing." A moment later Rah'q got up off the floor and walked over to where Mulkrit had seated himself. He outstretched his hand and Mulkrit handed over a bottle of bloodwine to him. "'64'?" he said questionly as he looked at the bottle's label. "Isn't it a little too fresh to be drinking?"
"It doesn't quite have to same kick to it, but I drink it nonetheless. With supply lines stretched thin we can't afford to be choosey about what we drink anymore."
To this Rah'q replied with gruff discontent before he walked over to a small table set in one corner. There he had a few glasses stored and he slowly started to poor bloodwine into one as he looked back at Mulkrit. "So what are you doing here Mulkrit? I figured you'd still be in the cargo bay."
"Everything has been checked over twice. It won't get any less ready if I neglect to check it again. Besides, I thought you might want to help me polish off this bottle before we get to the Carraya system."
"You didn't come all the way down here just to share this with me Mulkrit." As Rah'q finished pouring his glass he made his way across the room and took a seat across from Mulkrit. After taking a sip he continued. "Are you beginning to doubt your information?"
Looking over his glass Mulkrit sat there for a moment and thought over the question. "Believing the information is a bit of a gamble, I'll admit, but doesn't the rescue of such a person outweigh that gamble?"
"Of course it does. The rescue of any soldier is an honorable task, but I can't see how this case is anything more than a trap."
"How so?" Mulkrit asked with curiosity.
"Think about it. First of all it's hard to believe that the Romulans would keep such a high-ranking prisoner alive. If it were me I would have him killed the moment I was through interrogating him."
"Maybe so, but the Romulans don't think like us. They enjoy forcing honorable warriors to slowly waste away in their prison camps. It causes a demoralizing harm to our ranks and the Romulans know it."
"Yes, the Romulans are a race of honor less pa'tahqs. Still though, even if they did keep him alive after interrogating him, why send him to Carraya IV? The Carraya system is just inside of their border and from what I know is completely defenseless. I mean, it's only three hours from Terok Nor, one of our major bases of operation. How much sense would it be for them to put such a person so close to our reach?"
"I agree with you Rah'q, it doesn't make sense. That is exactly why I think the Romulans put him there." Mulkrit's statement left Rah'q so confused that he couldn't hide the fact even if he had wanted to. To help clear things up Mulkrit went on. "Think about it Rah'q. The Romulans are known for their stealth and covert tactics. So, knowing how a Romulan thinks, wouldn't it make sense for them to hide something we want right under our own noses? I mean the very notion seems crazy to us that there would be a prison camp on the border. Don't you think it's possible they would put one in the Carraya system because they would think it would come off as such a tactical error that we would dismiss it?"
"It's possible, but I still don't believe it's true."
"For Koltarn, I'll take that risk." Mulkrit said with a finality.
"So will I."
The remainder of the time spent in Rah'q's quarters was almost a dead silence. The two Klingon commanders talked briefly about the status of the war and recounted some of the more glorious battles they had been in, but neither spoke of Koltarn or the Carraya system again. Being a short journey from Kendra Alpha the time the two commanders had to spend recounting tales didn't last for long. Just as they sipped down the last of the bloodwine and started to ease back into their chairs a young officer came over the intercom to inform them that they had arrived in the Carraya system.
"Ready?" Rah'q asked Mulkrit.
"Ready to infiltrate a Romulan prison camp, kill the contingent of guards, and free all the Alliance prisoners?" Mulkrit asked looking at Rah'q for a moment. He then showed a slight grin and simply said, "Of course."
Once the two left Rah'q's quarters they entered into the nearest turbolift. There was a nervous silence between them and neither spoke until the turbolift slowed to a stop and opened onto the bridge. "Sensor report," Rah'q ordered as he took a step off the lift and onto the bridge.
"Sensors show Carraya IV to be a jungle world," a Klingon lieutenant manning the sensor station reported.
As Rah'q took his seat he made an effort to keep his frustration at bay. He already knew the environment on the planet. What he had meant by his question was something else entirely. Calming down a bit he decided to rephrase his question. "Do you detect any enemy presence in the system?"
"I'm not reading any Romulan vessels in the system, sir."
"What about on the planet?"
The young lieutenant looked over his console for a moment before responding. "I'm not reading any humanoid life on the planet either. Nothing but some scattered jungle wildlife."
Rah'q took this information in and waved Mulkrit over. "Are you sure this is where the Romulan prison camp is?"
"This is where my source said the prison was."
Leaning forward in his chair Rah'q rubbed his chin for a moment in thought before another possibility came to his mind. "Lieutenant, could the Romulans use a cloaking device to hide the prison from our sensors?"
"It's possible sir," the officer said with wavering hesitation, "but for them to be using a cloaking generator to hide something that large would give off some sort of visible distortions; of which I'm picking up none."
"It's down there," Mulkrit said with an odd certainty. "You have to let me go have a look. If for some reason there is no prison camp down there then it will do no harm anyway."
Rah'q went over everything in his mind as he looked at Mulkrit. Something about the whole situation just didn't add up in Rah'q's mind. Everything from the information about the missing Koltarn that Mulkrit had somehow obtained, to his request of using the Kor'Jaq covertly to go to the Carraya system, and now the lack of any sign of Romulans in the system. Being in Romulan space made the hairs on the back of Rah'q's neck prick with anticipation of an attack, but as he looked at Mulkrit something else rang in his mind. That something was the importance of the rescue of an Alliance officer as valued as Koltarn that Mulkrit had emphasized when he first came to Rah'q. "Okay," Rah'q said to Mulkrit almost reluctantly. "Go and gear up and meet me in the transporter room in fifteen minutes."
With Rah'q's go ahead Mulkrit turned around and exited the bridge. As the turbolift took him back down to the storage room where he had left his stuff he went over in his mind a few things. If the task before him turned out to be real then it would surely be a challenge. He didn't know exactly what he would encounter at the prison camp, and even though signs pointed to only a minimal threat he didn't think for even a moment about easing his resolve. Deep in his mind he readied himself for whatever awaited him on the planet. He wouldn't allow himself to walk away without accomplishing this mission. Koltarn was important and Mulkrit would do everything in his power that he could to see that Koltarn came home safely.
Mulkrit spent only a brief moment in the storage room to gather his equipment before he rushed himself to the transporter room. He was anxious to get down to the surface, but more so he was anxious to be able to put the mission behind him and enjoy the luxuries of victory that he hoped he would receive. With that he hurried into the transporter room, nearly beating Rah'q in the process, before dropping his equipment onto the transporter pad.
"I'll keep the Kor'Jaq in orbit of the Carrayan sun for the next five days. If for some reason you don't contact us by then I'll have to leave you behind."
"I understand," Mulkrit said as he stepped onto the transporter pad.
"Q'apla!" Rah'q said to Mulkrit before giving a nod to the transporter chief. A moment later Mulkrit disappeared in a shimmer of light and particles.
As the scene changed from the Kor'Jaq's transporter room to the jungle on Carraya IV Mulkrit readied his mind as best he could. Once the transport cycle was complete his hand instantly went to rest on a disruptor that he had strapped to his thigh. Looking around at his surroundings Mulkrit took a moment before he felt sure that everything was clear and he slowly moved his hand off of his weapon. Turning around he saw the small crate that contained his gear and he carefully opened it.
Inside were only a few bare essentials that Mulkrit had deemed absolutely necessary. The first thing he grabbed was the dk'tahg blade, which he slipped into his boot. Second, he grabbed a small round disk and tapped on it once. A slight beep noise came from it and satisfied at it he stuffed it just inside of his uniform. All that was left in the crate was some food rations and a tricorder. Picking up the tricorder he flipped it on and moved it around a little to check and see if it was working. Hopefully he would be able to use it to find the prison and maybe even come up with a general map once he did so. After taking out the food rations Mulkrit pushed the crate into a nearby bush to hide it, just in case.
The Carrayan sun shone brightly in the sky and as Mulkrit looked at it through the plant life he reasoned that it was probably midday. Not having much of an idea about what the geography of the planet consisted of, other than jungle; Mulkrit didn't have a clue as to where the Romulans might hide the prison camp. For a moment a whisper in his head told him that there was no prison and that the whole trip had been in vain. There was something else inside him though that didn't believe the whisper could possibly be true. After standing there for a moment and getting his bearings he did the only thing that came to mind; he picked a direction at random and began to walk.
As he walked on the first thing he noticed was how warm the planet was; or maybe he just thought it was warm. Being midday the sun beat down and the lush vegetation made the air moist with humidity. Sweat began to collect on his brow as he made his way through the jungle. Still being in the heavy leather clad Klingon uniform seemed to make conditions worse, but he continued to trudge through without giving any sign that he was bothered. There was a certain sense of pride he had when he wore his uniform and despite recent events he wasn't about to let anything take that away from him.
One thing that Mulkrit thought was odd was that he saw no sign of any wildlife, aside from the usual annoyances by local insects. On occasion he heard the squawk of a bird or something rustle in a nearby bush, but he didn't see anything. For a moment he wondered why, but he didn't give it much thought. As long as the rustling wasn't a Romulan soldier sneaking up on him he could care less about what was causing the noise.
Some time later Mulkrit found a small spring. Easing back against a rock he took the opportunity for a small break. Reaching inside of his uniform he pulled out a ration pack and opened it. Instantly a foul smell came to his nose and it seemed like something had died long ago inside. With a slight shrug Mulkrit downed the packet's contents and cupped some water from the spring and took a drink. After he relaxed for a moment he fished out the tricorder and took a look at it. Disappointment came to him as still the small device showed no sign of anything aside from more trees. He knew that the prison had to be nearby, but with no clue as to where he became a little frustrated. The thought of breaking into a prison and helping Koltarn to escape seemed to be a big enough challenge. But if he couldn't even find the place then what was the point?
A brief while later he began to move again with a renewed energy. His small break at the spring seemed to be a great help to him, but he wasn't about to make a habit out of it. He needed to find the prison as quickly as possible and come up with a plan of rescue. Only five days were given to him to complete this mission and were he to run into some difficulty then he knew he would need as much time as he could get, or else not be able to finish it at all.
Mulkrit continued to walk on and ignored any sign of hunger or exhaustion that crept its way into his body. The sun was sinking behind the tree line and darkness was starting to fall on the planet. He then gave a passing thought to shelter for the night, but he knew that rest was still hours away so he ignored that as well. With twilight creeping up on the jungle the sounds from all about him began to multiply. As he looked about he wondered what kind or animals lay in wait, and more importantly what kind of predators were lurking just within shadow's reach. In that instant he wished he would have spent a little less time drinking on the trip here and a little more time on learning about the planet. Even so he didn't let it bother him to much as Carraya IV was a Romulan planet and thus little was known about it.
For some reason his mind began to wonder then about how much further he should go on before stopping for the night. His body welcomed the chance for food and relaxation, but his mind argued the point away. The scenery around him hadn't really changed at all, and his body tried to convince him that the lush jungle would still be the same whether he rested or not. If it hadn't been for his tricorder he might have thought that he had gone in a big circle, since every step he took seemed to take him no where except into more of the same. He thought for a moment about taking another small break, but something refused to let him. That something seemed to whisper him to go just a little further, and a little further after that. It seemed also to promise that only a few more meters and something important would be revealed to him. He had just about given up taking those few more steps and resting when suddenly the trees before him began to thin.
Wondering only for a moment what might be just past the trees he summoned a little more energy and sprinted towards the tree line. When he finally made it through the trees a small grin came across his face as a knoll came into sight. So far he had seen nothing but the same flat, tree covered ground. Even though there was nothing of importance on the knoll the change in scenery was still a happy welcome to him. With a renewed spirit Mulkrit climbed to the top of the knoll to gaze at the sun as it made its final descent behind the horizon. As he looked out at the orange tinted sky he felt himself relax and part of his tension fall away. This relaxing moment passed by quickly though as he looked down from the horizon to gaze at what was just beyond the knoll. Tucked into a small basin just below his feet he saw a number of small buildings surrounded by a layered wall.
Immediately Mulkrit dropped down and laid on his stomach as he looked at the prison camp below. He wondered for a moment what it was doing there, so close to him, but that wonder was quickly pushed aside. Reaching into his uniform he pulled out his tricorder and a pair of binoculars that he had tucked away. Looking at the small device he just shook his head in confusement as nothing showed up. For some reason the camp wasn't being picked up on the tricorder. That fact didn't hold his attention for very long. The fact that he focused on was that despite his readings he had found the prison camp. Now that his search had ended it was time to try and come up with a plan to get in and out gain as little attention as possible.
Looking down on the camp he brought the binoculars to his eyes to try and get a better look at what made up the prison. The first thing he looked for was some sort of gate that allowed access into and out of the compound, he couldn't find anything though. For the moment he assumed the gate was located in one of the parts of the compound that had now turned dark in shadow as the sun fell from view.
From there he made a sweeping gaze around the compound to try and determine how many guards were out and where they were stationed. Right off the bat he eyed two Romulan sentries who were patrolling up and down the top of the compound's wall. He noticed another pair standing near a larger building talking about something. Mulkrit thought that only those four were on guard, but a flicker of movement caught his eye and he spotted a fifth guard move just out of a shadow on the opposite side of the compound as the other two. Only five guards? That didn't seem to be enough for a prison compound of that size, which apparently held some of the Alliance's best soldiers. He wondered if there were more in hiding that he just couldn't see. Or maybe there was only a handful because night was creeping up on them and they didn't feel it necessary to station a large contingent of soldiers around during the dead of night. Whatever the case may be Mulkrit knew he had to think of a way in and out as quickly and silently as possible.
With what information he had Mulkrit tried to come up with some sure fire plan of accomplishing his goals. Since he didn't know where the compound's gate was that option was scrapped. Even if he did though, walking in through the front door wasn't a smart idea. In his mind he then tried to come up with an alternate route of entry into the compound and went over all the pros and cons of each route. He finally decided to try and scale the wall nearest to the largest building, which to him seemed the ideal place for the prisoners to be held. From there he intended to find some sort of air duct to use to sneak into the building itself and try to recon it as best as possible.
Looking back towards the horizon Mulkrit noticed how low in the sky the sun now was. He decided to wait a few hours before trying any sort of entrance into the compound, hoping that by then the on-duty guards would be too fatigued to pick up on him were he to slip up.
The void of time spent before Mulkrit's attempt at entry was a boring one that seemed to drag on. He opened another packet of rations and almost didn't eat them when he realized there was no spring nearby to quench his thirst. His stomach convinced him otherwise though and he ate the tasteless field rations with only a slight cringe. After that he set about to finding some vines or something that would help him to get over the wall. Luckily for him the local vegetation had just what he would need in abundance and he collected and strung together a sturdy rope in no time. In his last hour before leaving the knoll's safety behind he just laid there and studied the compound through the binoculars. Nothing seemed to change within the compound and once he felt confident enough about his chances he started to make his way down into the basin.
Taking the journey downward as slow as possible he crept towards the compound. He was easily fifty yards away from the compound and yet he still felt the need to be as stealthy as he could. Paranoia seemed to be a necessity in the life of a soldier, especially in instances like the one Mulkrit was facing. Sticking low to the ground he made his way around the outer perimeter of the compound, hugging the ridgeline the whole way around. Once he got to a point directly behind where he wanted to scale the compound's walls Mulkrit hesitated for a moment and looked around out of instinct before deciding to leave what little safety the ridgeline provided and make his way towards the compound's wall.
The moment he reached the wall he looked up to its top. Standing next to it the wall seemed to be twice as tall as it had appeared from his vantage point on top of the knoll. Taking in a deep breath he removed the makeshift rope from off of his shoulder and gripped it firmly in his right hand. He had tied a rock to one end of the rope and was hoping that would be enough to allow him to scale the wall. Swinging the rope a couple of times he finally released the one end and to his relief it sailed over the wall and he heard a small thud come from just beyond the wall. Giving it a quick tug to determine its strength he nodded to himself in approval before he slowly began to climb up the wall.
Once he had scaled the wall Mulkrit jumped down from the top of the ten-foot barrier and rolled as his body made a thud on the ground. When his body stopped moving he picked himself up off of the ground and brushed off his uniform of any dirt that had collected on it. He then took a quick moment to check out both his body and his equipment to make certain neither were broken. Satisfied, he crept over to the building and hugged himself against it to make certain that none of the guards would spot him.
Against the building's wall he began to run his hands and his eyes over the surface to try and find some means of entry into the building. Unfortunately there was nothing. He sighed as he knew what that meant. It meant that he would have to go in through the front door. It meant sneaking past the two guards, and hopefully not being detected.
Crouching low to the ground Mulkrit began to sneak around the building and make his way to its front. The building, like the wall, was a lot larger up close then what it had been from further away. It was the size of a gymnasium and while it wasn't too large it seemed to be more so because of the fact that Mulkrit had to move around it so slowly. Finally to his relief he made it around the first corner, but that relief faded by quickly when he saw how much farther he had to go. As quickly as stealth would allow he made his way along the second wall and he had to let himself lean back to relax as he stopped at the last corner before reaching the front of the complex.
Peering around the corner Mulkrit once again spotted the two Romulan guards as they stood in front of the building's entrance. They seemed lost in whatever they were discussing and gave off the impression of being totally oblivious to their surroundings. For a moment Mulkrit thought he might be able to sneak past the two guards without any effort, but he quickly shoved that idea out of his mind. The pair of guards, while oblivious, were just standing a foot in front of the door and he doubted they were that inept. Grabbing the makeshift rope he carefully untied the rock from the one end as an idea came to him. Easing around the corner he pulled his arm back and then tossed the rock sailing over the two guards heads.
As the rock landed with a soft thud a distance away from the two guards their attention was suddenly caught. Immediately they stopped talking and looked over in the direction to where the rock had landed. A few more words were exchanged between the two and to Mulkrit's dismay only one of them started in the direction where the thud had come from. In his mind he quickly rationalized that one guard was easier to take out than two and he began to make his way to the guard that was left remaining. Closing on the guard he readied himself and with the other one still in sight he crept up on the guard silently. When he was on him Mulkrit leapt forward and place his left arm across the guard's chest and his right hand over the guard's mouth. The guard's body seized with shock, but it didn't last for very long as Mulkrit quickly jerked his right hand and he heard a sharp snap before the Romulan's body went limp in his arms.
After he dragged the Romulan's body around the corner he snuck back to the entrance. The other Romulan guard seemed to have forgotten the conversation he was having before Mulkrit's distraction because he had made his way across the compound to one of the other guards that was patrolling around. Ignoring him now Mulkrit peered into a small window on the building's door. Seeing nothing but an empty and dimly lit hallway the Klingon soldier slowly opened the door and slipped inside.
Letting his eyes adjust Mulkrit gave an inward smile as he saw what was clearly a holding area for prisoners. Before him was a long hallway with a number of doors placed down both sides. With a small window cut into each door Mulkrit began looking into each cell for Koltarn.
The first pair of cells that Mulkrit peered into were empty. He thought of that to be strange for a moment, but decided not to waste any time on it. In the next cell he found a Cardassian soldier asleep on a cot. For a moment he wondered who the soldier was, but he quickly shoved that out of his mind as well. His main goal was to free Koltarn. If he could he would free everyone else, but not before him. The following cells provided a variety of prisoners ranging from Cardassians to Ferengi to even a Yridian and a Bajoran. Two of the cells raised his expectations as they held Klingon soldiers in them, but neither one appeared to be Koltarn. It wasn't until Mulkrit was nearly all the way down the hallway did he find a cell with a Klingon leaning against a wall on the floor. For a moment Mulkrit stood there looking at the soldier, making sure his eyes were right. Once he felt certain he opened the cell door and made his way in. As he approached the tired and worn down soldier he knelt down. Mulkrit placed a hand on the soldier's shoulder to which the shoulder jumped.
"Why don't you just kill me?" the soldier said in a raspy voice. "Haven't you learned by now I won't tell you anything?"
"I'm not here to kill you Commander Koltarn," Mulkrit whispered, "I'm here
to rescue you."
A little shocked at the statement, Koltarn turned his head to see if the person next to him was playing some cruel joke. With bruised eyes and dim lighting he could barely make out Mulkrit's face. He didn't recognize the soldier right away, but he recognized the face to be that of a Klingon. His mouth dropped a little in amazement and he quietly uttered something in Klingon about Molar.
"Commander Mulkrit at your service." Mulkrit introduced himself, but quickly saw that this was hardly the time for pleasantries. "Can you walk?" he asked as he noticed how broken Koltarn's body looked.
"Barely," he said in response. "No thanks to those Romulan pa'tahqs." As Koltarn sat there he suddenly looked as though he was lost in thought. Finally when he spoke it was just barely audible. "Mulkrit....I've heard that name from before."
"Probably from a mission report or something you read. Like you, I'm the commanding officer of one of the ARA vessels. I command the Negh'Var class warship the Sompek."
"No, that's not it." Koltarn sat back and sifted through all the information stored in his mind. Something seemed to connect and he finally remembered where he had heard Mulkrit's name. "No, I heard it from my cell mate," he said before lifting a finger to point at the adjacent corner.
For a moment Mulkrit just sat there confused about Koltarn's statement. Finally though he turned his head to look in the direction which the broken soldier pointed and Mulkrit nearly fell backwards in surprise as a second figure took shape leaning against a wall. Slowly the commander crept over and as he got closer he was able to identify the figure as a Breen soldier. Something seemed familiar about him, but Mulkrit didn't know why. After realizing the soldier was asleep Mulkrit shook him. "Wake up. I need your helping in getting Koltarn out of here."
"Getting Koltarn out of here?" the Breen soldier said dazed and still half asleep. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm Commander Mulkrit, and I came here to rescue Koltarn. He's in too bad of shape though and I can't move him alone. Will you help me or do I leave you to rot in this prison cell?"
"Mulkrit?" the Breen soldier said questioningly. Then he leaned forward to get a better look at the Klingon soldier's face and when he did he clasped a hand on Mulkrit's arm. "It's good to see you friend."
At first Mulkrit had no idea what was going on and the Breen's actions startled him. Looking at the Breen soldier sitting before him though brought a feeling of recognition to him. Slowly the wheels in his head began to turn and as he listened to the Breen's words over again in his mind he suddenly knew why the soldier before him felt so familiar. "Zelbreghn?" Mulkrit replied, not sure if he was right and whether to believe it if he was.
"Yes my old friend," Zelbreghn replied with barely any strength in his voice.
Mulkrit immediately clasped his comrade's arm before he started speaking again. "But the Tzlih was destroyed nearly a year ago in the Kresh'nar Nebula." The Klingon soldier just sat there in shock for a moment, still not able to come to terms with his friend's sudden resurrection. "You're supposed to be dead. What are you doing here?"
"Well it's a long story, but let's just say that while the Tzlih took quite a beating it wasn't destroyed. Despite having a lot of my crew dead and only half a ship to fly we were able to get a few sectors away before the Romulans found us." Zelbreghn explained as his voice began to fail. "I've been here ever since."
"Not anymore friend. Come on, I'm getting you out of here."
"You don't have to tell me twice." Slowly Zelbreghn got up off the ground and it was instantly apparent to Mulkrit that the Breen soldier had been tortured just as hard as Koltarn had been. "I'm glad you're here Mulkrit," he was barely able to whisper out through waves of pain.
Mulkrit looked back at Zelbreghn for a moment, but couldn't think of anything good to say in response. He then made his way back across the room and bent down when he reached where Koltarn sat barely conscious. "Come on Koltarn, it's time to get you out of here."
"Well it's about time," Koltarn replied and made an effort to smile at the joke but a fierce wave of pain prevented him from doing so.
After ushering Zelbreghn over the two soldiers each placed an arm under Koltarn and carefully lifted him up off of the ground. Leaning the broken Klingon against the wall Mulkrit reached into his uniform and grabbed the small disk he had tucked away earlier.
"What's that?" Zelbreghn asked noticing the device.
"Our ticket out of here," Mulkrit replied before tapping the disk. Nothing happened for a moment and Mulkrit looked completely dumbfounded as he tapped the device over and over again, each time with the same result.
"Is that a transport locator?" Zelbreghn asked as he started to recognize the device.
"Yeah, but it doesn't appear to be working." Mulkrit replied as he grew frustrated at the device.
"No, it wouldn't. The Romulans have a shield around the compound that keeps devices like that from working, in case one gets slipped to us."
For a moment Koltarn stood there in thought for a moment. So the Romulans had a dampening shield around the compound. "I suppose that's why our scans didn't pick this place up," Mulkrit said to no one in particular. Zelbreghn gave a nod telling the Klingon soldier that he was right. "Well it looks like we're going to have to escape the hard way. Do you think you can make it out of this compound Koltarn?"
"Faster than you can," the wounded soldier barely managed to say.
With Koltarn leaned against the wall Mulkrit made his way over to the cell's door and opened it. He peeked his head out and looked down both ends of the dimly lit hallway to make sure there wasn't a guard laying in wait to strike at them. Once he was satisfied that everything was clear he signaled Zelbreghn to bring Koltarn over to the doorway. When the two wounded soldiers stood in the doorway they paused and both felt something inside of them. They were about to be free of the hostile prison and they couldn't help but to feel a little joy at the fact.
Placing an arm under Koltarn Mulkrit led his Breen friend out of the dank cell and down the hallway. A stale silence filled the air and Mulkrit grew a little nervous at just how quiet the compound was. Every now and then he would peer into a cell and each time he would find a prisoner lying asleep. He wished he could help free the others, but he knew that for the moment it was impossible. Right then he had to do everything in his power to get Koltarn and Zelbreghn out of there. The silence that had begun to bother Mulkrit didn't bother him for very long as suddenly it was broken by a blaring noise coming from all around him. "What's that?" Mulkrit said in shock.
"It's the intruder alarm," Zelbreghn said as he did nothing but stand there and listen. "How well did you cover your tracks when you snuck in here Mulkrit?"
"Pretty well," Mulkrit replied a little offended at Zelbreghn's words. The Breen soldier just stood there staring at him, not fully believing Mulkrit's words. "Well I did have to kill one of the guards," the Klingon soldier finally conceded, "but I hid the body," he added as though the fact would make a difference. Koltarn muttered some curse under his breath and Mulkrit began to get more offended when Zelbreghn finally said something.
"It doesn't matter if they found the body or not. The fact is they know someone's here and unless the two of you want to end up in that cell again then I suggest that instead of trying to blame someone for the situation let's just get out of it."
Letting everything fall away Mulkrit did nothing but give a quick nod. "Come on Koltarn, we need to get out of here now."
Koltarn said something that neither of the other two could understand before the three Alliance soldiers started off again. They were nearly running down the length of the hallway, even though the act was a challenge to Zelbreghn and even more difficult for Koltarn. Finally after a few painful minutes the three made their way to the building's door. Mulkrit took the role of lookout as he peered through the window and was amazed to see no guards present outside. He gave the all-clear signal to Zelbreghn who helped Koltarn over to the door before Mulkrit opened it and the three slipped out.
The outside of the building seemed to be a strange environment. From all around the alarms continued with their deafening sounds and yet the compound seemed to be so still. None of the Alliance soldiers gave the fact more than a passing thought as their minds focused on a means to escape. Zelbreghn asked Mulkrit about how he had entered the compound in the first place, but after looking at Koltarn he quickly explained that they wouldn't be able to escape that way. "Have any suggestions?" Mulkrit asked the Breen soldier as he looked about for anything that might help them to escape.
Zelbreghn thought for a moment and went over everything in his mind about the compound, trying to remember something they could use to escape. The obvious then came to his mind and he almost felt stupid for not remembering it earlier. "They have a shuttle in one of the larger buildings that they use to bring in supplies."
"Where?" was all Mulkrit said in response as he looked about for any sign of Romulans.
"Over there," Zelbreghn said as he pointed to a large building set in the corner with a retractable door that took up most of the building's front wall.
At once all three soldiers picked up their speed towards the shuttle hangar and it wasn't until they were halfway there did the first sign of trouble come as the blast from a Romulan disruptor flew past them. They stopped only for a moment and turned to look behind them and saw a contingent of Romulan soldiers charging their way across the compound. The three soldiers began running again and it seemed like they would make it until suddenly one of the Romulan's blasts found its mark and Mulkrit fell down in a wave of pain.
"Mulkrit!" Zelbreghn shouted as he stopped and rushed back over to his fallen Klingon friend.
"Go on without me Zelbreghn!" Mulkrit shouted as he looked around. In an instant he took in everything at once. The Romulan soldiers who were quickly gaining ground on them, the aching and bleeding wound that had appeared on his lower back, and finally the helmeted face of his Breen friend. "You have to go Zelbreghn. Koltarn is more important!" he said trying to emphasize just how important Koltarn's rescue was.
"I won't leave you here Mulkrit. I know what they'll do to you if I do."
Reaching into his uniform Mulkrit pulled something out and handed it to Zelbreghn. "Don't worry about me old friend. I'll take care of myself." After that Mulkrit turned away from Zelbreghn and Koltarn and pulled out his disruptor. Without much aim he started to fire at the approaching Romulans. A small feeling of success came as he saw one of them fall in death. Lying on the ground wounded Mulkrit just continued to open fire until another blast hit him in the shoulder and he fell backwards onto the ground and into the awaiting darkness.
Some time later Mulkrit finally regained consciousness. The first thing he noticed was the searing pain that came from his shoulder. He looked at his wound with distaste. It was one thing that he had been shot at all, but the job that the Romulan doctor had done to patch him up was horrible. To Mulkrit it looked like someone had just taped a cloth patch over his wound. Something that wouldn't keep the wound from causing him serious pain and trouble, but would keep him from bleeding out and dying right away. They intended to keep him alive, long enough to interrogate at least.
"Is there something wrong?" a voice came from somewhere that had noticed the look on Mulkrit's face.
At the sudden words Mulkrit turned his attention away from his wound and began to look around the room. All he saw was darkness and he couldn't even tell from what direction the voice had come from as the walls around him seemed to bounce the voice around creating an echo. "Yeah, your doctor is about as useful as a Kelmorian slug. Doesn't even know how to properly dress a disruptor wound." he said into the darkness.
Suddenly the voice gave into a small laugh before replying. "Our doctor is quite useful indeed in the field of Romulan medicine. As far as other biology's, such as Klingon for example, he hasn't grasped them completely yet. Unfortunately this has caused some bad results for some of our 'guests'."
"I'm sure they die just to get away from him." Mulkrit's comment once again seemed to amuse the Romulan as he gave another small chuckle. Having already had enough of the Romulan's game Mulkrit began to work at the knot that bound his hands together behind his back while he decided to try and distract the Romulan. "What do you want from me?" Mulkrit asked the shadows.
"That my Klingon friend is simple. I want some information from you. And if you provide it then you can live."
Instinct drove the Klingon soldier to want to spit back some insult at the Romulan and declare how he would never provide a single drop of information that the Romulan might want. He knew though that such an act wouldn't be a smart one. Instead he decided to act as cooperative as he could without doing so, thinking that it would serve as a much better distraction as he worked to free himself. "What information do you want?"
"First," the Romulan said taking a big pause afterwards to try and make himself sound more important, "I want to know how many Alliance soldiers did you bring with you."
"Thousands," Mulkrit said with a smirk. "And they are all planning to flatten this compound within the hour."
"Lies!" the Romulan shot back, feeling his intelligence had just been insulted. "At most there are half a dozen. We would have detected a group any larger than that."
"If you don't want to believe that then that's fine by me. But when they come to break me out of here you'll see I was right. Besides, what makes you think that you would detect them? I mean, if you couldn't detect me..."
"There you are mistaken, my Klingon friend. Our sensors picked you up the moment you beamed down onto the planet. We chose not to act though until we knew you could be caught."
Mulkrit smiled inward at the attempt the Romulan was making to sound superior than him, as though Mulkrit's whole expedition into the Romulan prison camp had been known about and somehow orchestrated by the Romulan himself. "Tell that to the Romulan I killed."
"Yes, that was unfortunate. But in war there must be casualties. I'm sure that as a soldier you're quite familiar with that prospect."
"Uh huh," Mulkrit muttered as he worked at the knot in the rope which held his hands together.
"If you will not tell me how many soldiers you brought with you then maybe we can find something else you will tell me. Why did you come here?"
"To free the Alliance prisoners being held here."
"I don't think so," the Romulan said questionly.
"What other reason would I have for coming to a Romulan prison camp?"
"There are over two dozen Alliance prisoners being held at this camp, but when you were caught you only had two of them with you. What makes those two important enough that you would risk your life to save them and none of the others?"
"Don't you know?" Mulkrit asked, getting in a small insult as well as causing more of a distraction for the Romulan.
"Our intelligence has provided us their names as well as their ranks and positions within the Alliance's military. Other than that we have nothing on them."
"I thought you would have interrogated them by now, as long as you've had them. Or maybe you tried and couldn't get anything out of them." Mulkrit smiled as he knew the Romulan had slipped up by saying they didn't know anything.
A sound came from somewhere in front of Mulkrit that sounded like something hard had just been hit. The next moment he could hear feet shuffling from the opposite side of the room and then suddenly the Romulan spoke again, but this time not to him. "Send him in."
A moment later a door off to Mulkrit's left slid open and a blinding light poured in. Eyes squinting, Mulkrit looked at the doorway to try and figure out exactly what was going on. A figure appeared for a moment before stepping into the room and letting the door close behind him. Mulkrit wasn't able to get a close enough look at the figure, but he could tell there was something different about him. He could tell the figure wasn't Romulan.
"Is there something you need from me?" the figure asked the Romulan somewhere in the shadows beyond Mulkrit's field of vision.
"This Klingon here isn't cooperating. I thought you might enjoy showing him what happens to those who don't cooperate at this camp."
"Gladly Centurion," the figure said with an obvious joy to his tone.
After that Mulkrit heard feet shuffle once more across the stone floor as the figure moved passed him. Silence filled the room until whoever the figure was began to rifle around for something on a table behind him. Mulkrit wondered who the figure was and more importantly what he was about to do. Frantically moving his fingers he tried to free his hands in the waning moments he had left, but time was just not on his side.
As Mulkrit struggled to free himself the figure looked over several devices. After finally choosing on one he turned around and noticed how Mulkrit's hands were frantically working to free themselves. "He's trying to free his hands Centurion," the figure replied with a tone of sarcastic joy.
"Fool. Where do you think you can go if you get out of that knot? You couldn't even make it out of this room before you'd be knocked unconscious."
"We'll see," Mulkrit almost silently muttered to himself.
"Why don't you teach him a lesson about trying to escape?" the Romulan suggested.
In the next moment a wave of pain coursed through Mulkrit's body as something was jabbed into his right side. The pain was nearly unbearable and Mulkrit almost screamed from both the shock of the sudden jab and the pain it caused. He didn't allow himself to though. Mulkrit knew that the Romulan would want a scream, so he wouldn't allow his torturer the satisfaction. Instead he just sat there in silence as though the attack hadn't fazed him at all.
The Romulan stepped forward as the figure paused in his attack momentarily. A grin stretched its way across his face as it became apparent that Mulkrit was in pain. "So Klingon, feeling a bit more cooperative?"
"Go to Gre'thor!" Mulkrit shot at the Romulan before spitting in the direction of the Romulan's voice.
"Very well then. If you do not wish to cooperate then you leave me with no choice but to have him continue." With that the Romulan could be heard taking a step back before another wave of pain hit Mulkrit.
This continued on for a while with no change. The Romulan would ask a question of Mulkrit and he would reply with an insult, to which he was rewarded with another sharp jab. Mulkrit struggled to keep himself conscious and focused as his body was consumed more and more by pain. He was about to give into the awaiting abyss and let his body pass out from the pain when suddenly something happened. At first Mulkrit thought that nothing had really happened and that the pain of his body just caused his mind to hallucinate. Then it happened again. As Mulkrit lifted his weary head up he could see through the darkness the building shake.
"What's going on?" the figure asked his Romulan commander with obvious confusion in his voice.
"I don't know," the Romulan replied, mirroring the figure's thoughts. Suddenly he rushed over to the comms panel and tapped it as he had done so before. "What's going on?" he quickly asked into the comm.
"Centurion........prisoners.........escaping........enemy soldiers.......inside the compound........torpedo bombing......orbit......" was all that could be heard through a deafening static before the transmission ended all together.
Having forgotten about Mulkrit the shadowed figure rushed over to the centurion to get a confirmation about what was going on. "Orders?" was all he could think to ask.
"How did they find us?" the Romulan muttered to himself more then to his subordinate. "We were so well hidden, so well disguised. One of the best prison camps and now we are under attack, on the verge of losing our lives and most importantly our reputations. How could this have happened?"
"Sir?" the figure asked confused about what his Romulan commander was muttering about and panicked about what was going on. He was about to make a move to escape when suddenly the room's door swung open and several blasts from a Klingon disruptor came flying in.
Through pain blurred eyes Mulkrit saw the door swing open and several glowing projectiles come flying through the doorway. In the shadows caste about the room he followed the glowing death as they connected with two figures standing by the wall opposite from him. With barely a scream and a loud thud the two figures fell onto the floor. No longer concerned about his jailers Mulkrit turned his attention to focus back on the doorway. What he saw brought back a touch of deja vu as he knew instantly that the figure being protected behind the gray helmet was not Klingon.
"Mulkrit!" the figure shouted before rushing over to check out his Klingon comrade.
"Zelbreghn," Mulkrit said before giving into a cough of pain. "I see you decided to return the favor and rescue me."
"Of course," the Breen soldier said as he began to untie Mulkrit's hands. "You didn't think I would leave you here with the embarrassment of being caught did you?"
"Oh is that why you came back for me?" Mulkrit said before both gave into a slight laugh. Suddenly Mulkrit had to squint his eyes as the lights in the room suddenly flickered on. As his eyes began to adjust to the sudden change in lighting he looked to the doorway to see a Klingon soldier from the Kor'Jaq. Turning his vision away he saw two bodies slumped into one corner. The first was a Romulan officer with an assortment of medallions and insignia attached to his uniform. A look of shock had been frozen onto his face. Next to him on the ground lay Mulkrit's would be torturer. He didn't recognize the clothing and a hood hid the figure's face from Mulkrit's view. Curiosity asked who the figure was, but Mulkrit ended up not caring.
"Let's go," Zelbreghn said as he helped Mulkrit up from where he sat. With an arm under Mulkrit the two began to make their way out of the small room until a noise suddenly caught their attention. As they turned around the body of the hooded figure began to stir and both soldiers realized the figure was still alive as his blood gleamed on his shoulder.
Making their way to the figure Mulkrit leaned down and knelt over his body. The figure moved about dazed, not having much of a clue about what had happened. Suddenly Mulkrit grabbed him and pulled him up off of the ground. Curious as to the figure's identity he slowly pulled back the figure's hood. What he saw shocked him. Underneath the hood slowly the figure's blue toned skin came into view, followed by shortened white hair, and finally the characteristic antennae of his race.
"An Andorian!" Zelbreghn expressed the shock that both he and Mulkrit were feeling.
"Not just any Andorian, Zelbreghn. I recognize him. His name is Shrelik, and he used to be one of the highest ranking generals in the Andorian Imperial Guard."
Suddenly Shrelik came back into consciousness as he realized what was going on. Seeing Mulkrit's face two inches in front of his own and the Klingon's hand gripped tightly onto his shirt he made a desperate attempt to free himself from Mulkrit's grip, but he failed.
"General Shrelik, what are you doing here? More importantly why are you helping the Romulans?" Mulkrit asked of his captive.
"I don't have to tell you anything!" Shrelik said before spitting into Mulkrit's face. "Why don't you just kill me like you did the rest of my race?"
Tired and frustrated Mulkrit tossed the wounded Andorian back onto the ground. He didn't feel much like dealing with Shrelik at the moment and he knew that the discovery of the Andorian general was sure to open a whole new line of questions. "Let's get out of here Zelbreghn," Mulkrit said as he slowly made his way to the door.
"What about him?" Zelbreghn asked as he gestured to the flailing Andorian.
"Bring him. I'm sure the Regent will have plenty of questions for him once we get to Narendra III."