"Yes, I know Kostemojen, Scott; I fought him on the Promenade once with a Prophet inside of me. He is the strongest, and most dangerous, of the Pah Wraiths; the analog of your Satan."
Scott had beamed back aboard the Sequatchie and decided to confer with Kira about the events on the surface. Megan remained behind on el'Aena. He was unsure about leaving her, but Megan assured him that she was perfectly safe there. Kira's own people had made their report and beamed back to the Tsalagi as well.
"Great," Scott frowned while he spoke, "we've got to battle the devil himself."
"Essentially," Kira responded, very matter of fact. "I don't understand the 'army' part though; I was under the impression this was supposed to be a one-on-one fight. Kostemojen is changing the rules and trying to tilt the odds in his favor. I would suggest that we do whatever we can to even the score."
"I agree," Scott smiled back, "what have you got in mind?"
"Very simple, we send down enough of my people to counter the forces that Kostemojen assembles from the natives."
"That's fine Kira, but we can't use phasers or other weapons. We have to uphold the Prime Directive, the el'Aenians already know too much from our previous encounter. Any counter forces would have to use weapons indigenous to el'Aena and I seriously doubt that many of those are non-lethal. I don't want to harm anyone, their not responsible."
"Agreed," Kira responded, tapping her finger on her chin, "but I think I have just the one to lead the away team. For now, try to relax, Scott. I don't think Megan is in any danger. I have faith that the Prophets won't allow Kostemojen to change things that much. She'll be fine for at least forty hours, so you take care of business from your end, and don't worry. I'll call you back later. Tsalagi out."
Adoyi Nvda sat in a large tent that had been prepared and well stocked with food and drink. The natives had made an intricately carved throne from native wood and covered it with blankets and skins. She tried to get the others to eat some of the food, but soon realized that was hopeless, so she ate her fill of fruits and something similar to a chicken. She had to admit, the replicated food from the station didn't compare to the fresh, natural thing. She felt strange and couldn't quite figure out why. Of course, she felt anxious about the coming battle with the Pah Wraith Kostemojen, but it was something more. She decided to walk out into the woods. Of course, a warrior accompanied her, but she didn't mind. Out in nature, she felt at home, more so than she had since leaving el'Aena with Scott and Benny when they discovered her here after Empok Nor. She started to realize, as much as didn't want to admit it to herself, she was home. She now belonged to el'Aena, the first Prophet of el'Aena.
"Anyway, Major, that's the story so far."
Scott was still aboard the Sequatchie and he had Major Tayna on the comm. link. He felt it was only fair to bring the other senior staff at the station up to date. Of course, Tayna had a special stake in all of this. The Reckoning, according to prophecy, would bring a new age of peace and prosperity to her home world. There was a great deal riding on the outcome of this battle, not only for Scott.
"Don't worry, Commander," Tayna smiled and responded, "if I know Megan, she will beat Kostemojen down, unless she is absolutely not able to and besides, the Prophets are with her."
"Indeed," Qo'lek echoed from behind her, "Lieutenant McKnight is very strong and a spiritual person and unlike the Pah Wraiths, he has great honor and courage. That will carry her through and bring her the victory."
As a Klingon, Qo'lek was probably second only to Tayna as the spiritual officer on DS9. Megan was indeed a spiritual person, as Scott was as well, but not as sure in his beliefs as Megan. He hoped it would help her.
"Do you want us to send some people out there to assist, Scott?" Rachel asked from her station.
"Absolutely not!" Scott replied, a little more forcefully than he intended. "Under no circumstances are any station personnel to come here for any reason. There has been far too much knowledge given to these people about us already. Besides, Kira has something in mind to even the odds. We'll be fine. Sequatchie out."
Scott hoped silently that he wouldn't have to eat those words.
"You're sure this is possible, without being noticed?"
Kira sat at her desk in the ready room of the Tsalagi, with her Chief of Security Fanle Brins standing just opposite of her. Her First Officer Bara Tel stood to his side. Fanle had fought the Cardassians as Kira and Bara had, but he had something in his favor. He had been kept as prisoner by the Cardassians and while there, instead of being executed for his terrorist activities, he was brought to the laboratory of a sympathetic Cardassian. There, by cover of night, he was able to learn many advanced scientific and technological tricks that made him especially useful in security.
"Sure, Captain, I can almost guarantee it. We already have several crew altered to appear like the natives, so they are the obvious choices to observe from the ground and make minute adjustments as necessary. Kostemojen might be able to tell, but if Lt. McKnight can keep him busy, then we can pull off our end and tip the favor towards us."
"All right," Kira stood while speaking, "make all preparations and pull whoever you need."
Fanle nodded slightly and left the ready room. Bara sat down in the chair when he left and shot Kira his "I'm not done yet" look.
"Something on your mind, Colonel?"
Bara leaned forward and steepled his hands. He was the elder statesman of the senior staff. Kira had learned to lean heavily on his advice.
"Only one thing," Bara started, "do you think that maybe we shouldn't interfere? Kai Winn interfered before and now, here we are. Perhaps we should leave well enough alone."
Kira thought about that, and then smiled.
"You know, Bara, maybe this is how it's supposed to be. Maybe The Reckoning was supposed to take place here all along or maybe, this is another Reckoning and the prophecy about is simply not understood."
Bara smiled now himself.
"Either way, you've made up your mind, right?"
"Yup."
"Well then, I have nothing more to say except, let me know, if you have any other orders."
Scott beamed back down to the surface after dark to see Megan. He found her still walking through the woods as she healed dead plants. To his surprise, it also seemed as if she could commune with the local wildlife. The security warrior jumped a little at his appearance, but Megan soon reassured the guard that Scott could be trusted. She waved him off alone for a moment to give them a little privacy to talk.
"What did the squirrel or rabbit or whatever that was say to you?"
Megan/Adoyi Nvda smiled. Scott noticed that her eyes were a deeper purple now, at it seemed static charges danced along the edges of her pupils.
"Would you believe me if I said he was talking about the weather?"
"Sure, I'd believe you. I've never had an animal strike up a conversation with me before. So, now you're a regular Dr. Doolittle?"
Megan smiled and cast a somewhat confused look on her brows.
"Dr. Who?"
Now it was Scott's turn to smile again.
"No, not Dr. Who, Dr. Doolittle. It's from an ancient Earth story about a man who could talk to animals. Dr. Who was an entirely different story. Well, at least you weren't talking to some stray dog; I would think that you could never trust them. They're... well dogs. When did you discover this particular talent?"
"Earlier this afternoon, Scott. It's amazing! It's like going to sleep blind and waking up with sight. I've never felt so invigorated before. I've learned so much about this planet, its history, its nature, its people and their habits, all from a source I could never had access to before."
"Really?" Scott said with a worried look.
Megan saw the unspoken question in her husband's eyes and lowered her head. She didn't want to see Scott eye to eye for the first time since they had known each other. Scott laid a hand on her shoulder and rubbed her neck and face, then gathered her face to his and gave her a long kiss.
"Megan, I'm not going to lie to you, I want you, I want you to come back to me and we would just live our lives together like none of this ever happened. I know, you have to make this decision by yourself and whatever you decide, I will always love you and support you."
Megan returned the kiss and hugged him tightly.
"I knew that, silly."
Dawn found Scott and Megan still in the forest, where they fell asleep while embracing. The warrior guard had been replaced during the night by another who looked vaguely familiar. Scott rolled over with a start, somewhat embarrassed. The guard giggled under his breath and looked at the pair in the grass. Someone had placed a blanket over them against the night chill a built a small fire nearby. Scott looked up again at the new guard and thought that although he looked el'Aenian, there was something vaguely Bajoran, then he recognized the face of Colonel Bara from the Tsalagi.
"Good morning, Your Highness, Commander" he said, jokingly. "I trust you slept well."
"Actually, we did," Scott responded. Scott realized also that at some point during the night, Megan had removed some of her robes. That explained the need for the blanket. Megan looked up at him with a "thank you" look and began slipping back into her garb.
"I took the liberty of relieving your bodyguard during the night. There are about ten Tsalagi security personnel on the surface, disguised as el'Aenians. That's part of Captain Kira's plan. The rest of the plan will be revealed as necessary but rest assured we should have any undue numbers well under control."
"I'm glad," Scott replied. "I guess we should head back to the village."
The three of them started walking east. Megan didn't realize just how far from the village she had wandered during the day yesterday. She had walked out at least five kilometers, meaning the walk back would take some time. As they got closer, various natives, mainly children joined them and by the time they arrived, a rather large parade preceded them. Scott looked over at Megan, who looked somewhat embarrassed by it all. In the clearing beyond, the Orb remained at its position, just as it had been for the last several days. Standing below it, Kostemojen had reappeared. Behind him, a large gathering of natives, probably from surrounding villages, stood motionless, their eyes a distinctive shade of red, the same color of Kostemojen's eyes. Scott and Bara blinked against the sunlight and tried to focus.
"Hmm," Bara commented flatly, "there has to be at least two hundred natives there with probably more to come."
Scott frowned deeply and looked back at Megan who was now being led to her tent by several women and children. If Megan was going to survive this, it would be Kira's plan and Megan's strength of will would that would save her. Scott had never felt more helpless his entire life.