Chapter 2.
Note: the present-day portions of this story occur after the WB film BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997).
* * * * *
Once again, the two Starfleet veterans were dumbfounded. Not only because of the identity of their pilot. But, also because of the name he had just uttered.
When they had first encountered that mysterious woman, face-to-face, she had claimed to be the half-Romulan daughter of former Enterprise-D security officer Lt. Tasha Yar. Although, not the one who had been senselessly killed, on planet Vagra II, by a malevolent liquid entity known as Armus. But, rather, an alternate Tasha Yar from a divergent time line!
One in which the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire had finally gone to war with each other, without any Organian interference.
That Tasha Yar had supposedly gone back twenty years, into the past, while serving as acting first officer aboard a temporally displaced Enterprise-C. Consequently, she became both one of the few survivors of the historically crucial Battle of Narendra III. . .and the very reluctant wife of her chief Romulan captor. A man who would raise their mixed-blood daughter to hate the Federation with a passion unmatched by any full-blooded Romulan!
Riker looked at the Traveler. "What's she up to this time?"
The Traveler half-smiled.
"A most apt way of phrasing your question. You see, the Romulan Senate did not look too kindly on the failure of Sela's plan to invade Vulcan. So, as punishment, she was demoted to chief of security. . .for the Romulan embassy on Nimbus III."
Riker whistled in shock.
"Talk about a fate worse than death!"
The Traveler nodded: "That is precisely how she sees it. She is obsessed with avenging her disgrace! Towards that end, she made an alliance, at the height of the Dominion War, with the Cardassian who calls himself. . .Gul Dukat."
"What kind of alliance?" Picard whispered, with a slight edge in his voice.
"Through the Obsidian Order, Dukat obtained- -and gave to Sela- -the same Ferengi mind-control device that was once used on you, Captain. Using it to amplify the Vulcan mind-melding techniques she was personally taught by Subcommander Selok of the Tal Shiar (formerly known as Ambassador T'pel of Vulcan), she has gained control of a Delta Quadrant life form known as a 'Yautja,' whose people come from a very old hunter/warrior culture. And, with him, Sela has gone back to twenty-first century Earth via the Guardian of Forever!"
"But, for what purpose?" Picard replied.
"To erase the very existence of one of the two men she holds responsible for her disgrace. She will use the Yautja to kill Ambassador Spock's earliest known ancestor on his mother's side. One Richard Grayson of Gotham City."
* * * * *
WAYNE MANOR (14 MILES FROM GOTHAM CITY)
Dick Grayson looked at his mentor, as he finished suiting up.
"What makes you think there's more to this Mad Hatter business than meets the eye?"
"Because," replied Batman (seated before the console of the Batcave's mainframe): ". . .the timing of it is a little too convenient for my peace of mind. Let's look at the facts! Fact One: half of the illegal immigrants working as wage-slaves, in that sweat shop, are refugees from Southwest Asia. More specifically; the former North India Principality of Jammu and Kashmir. Fact Two: over the last six months, that region has seen a lot of turmoil instigated by this man."
The Dark Knight pressed a button. Bringing up on the monitor a photograph of a regal-looking foreigner wearing a golden turban.
"Khan Noonein Singh; a militant Sikh separatist leader who's been inspired by all the recent turmoil, in the Near East, to declare his own 'holy war of liberation.' And, Fact Three: like certain other Asian countries, the Principality was split in half following World War Two. With the eastern half, Kashmir, remaining Indian; while the western half, Jammu, went to Islamic Pakistan."
That last fact was emphasized by the flags of those respective countries appearing over the names of the areas indicated on the computer-generated map.
"Don't tell me," said Robin (now standing by the Dark Knight's side): "Let me deduce. He. . . 'Sikhs' to reunify the country under his totally autonomous leadership."
Batman could not help wincing: "Bad pun; good deduction. Towards that end, I believe that he's been smuggling heroin from Xinjiang Province, China, to Gotham City. Trading it to someone here for the arms and ammunition so vital to his little war."
As emphasis, a computer-generated red arrow now stretched between the two geopolitical points.
Robin crossed his arms. "I suppose it's too much to hope that that someone is Rupert Thorne."
"Your supposition is, unfortunately, correct. However, three weeks ago (just before we 'happened' to get side-tracked by this Mad Hatter business), I was at least able to uncover the identity of the arms dealer's middleman."
Another computer button was pressed. Changing the map to the photograph of a one-eyed man (wearing a white patch over his right eye) dressed like a desert-dwelling nomad of the Near East.
"An ex-CIA mercenary," continued Batman: ". . .who did a lot of gun-running to the Muhajideen during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. I'm still trying to determine his real name. Yet, I do know that he's long since become internationally infamous, as a hitman, under his Cold War-era code name. Deathstroke!"
Robin paused to ponder all this information.
"So, let me get this straight. You think this Khan Noonein Singh is using Indian women, posing as refugees, to mule China-white in order to barter it for badly-needed arms and ammo."
Batman grinned: "Bingo!"
"Well, even if all that's true, where does a vigilante war against Thorne fit in?"
"It serves the dual purpose of crippling his monopoly on the local narcotics trade, while simultaneously distracting him from investigation- -and elimination- -of the new competition."
"And, you're reason for thinking that the Mad Hatter will hit Thorne's place, tonight?" persisted Robin.
The Dark Knight's grin became even wider.
"You mean, aside from the weekly punctuality he's shown, so far? Because, tonight is Friday night, the weekend before the Fourth of July (which, this year, falls on a Wednesday). That means a large influx of tourists from out of town. Some of them, wealthy and thrill-seeking enough that they'll take a chance at Thorne's gaming tables! Therefore, if I were the Mad Hatter, I'd pick tonight to brazenly rob it. Preferably, with a large, well-armed crew at my back."
"In that case," replied the Teen Wonder: ". . .should I call Batgirl, as an added precaution?"
Batman shook his head: "She wouldn't be able to make it on time. She's in Metropolis, observing the tenth anniversary of her parents' accident."
In that much, the Dark Knight was truly not hypothesizing.
Barbara Wilson's mother had been born Margaret Clarke. And, she had been Alfred Pennyworth's younger 'sister" only in the sense that he had been her Big Brother (as in, Big Brothers and Sisters of America). At which time, Alfred been a drama student enrolled at Metropolis University. And, on one of his mentoring visits to the residence of the Widow Clarke, he had happened to be accompanied by his dormitory room mate.
Both the latter and Margaret had been instantly smitten with each other. And the relationship they had started that day culminated (to nobody's surprise; least of all, Alfred's) in marriage, ten years later. It was, therefore, doubly heart-breaking when _both_ of nine year-old Barbara's parents had died in a car crash!
Barbara now approached the twin headstones, flowers in hand. She placed half of the bouquet (melanistic "Dr. Midnite" orchids) in front of her father's grave marker. Then, she turned to place the rest of the flowers (pearl-white marguerite daisies) in front of her mother's. Only to stop dead in her tracks and gasp. For someone had left an identical bundle of daisies, there, already!
And, after her maternal grandmother's passing, there had been only one other person besides Barbara who knew her mother's birth flower. She turned to look at the headstone that read:
"SLADE WILSON
Beloved Husband
Beloved Father"
"1/1/46-3/27/91"
tbc
