Chapter Eleven

The Remans - what was left of them - immediately backed away from the Vulcans. It was difficult to tell whether they were more afraid of the deadly Kolinahru, or their Borg allies, for they eyed both warily. As the Remans ducked back into the darker recesses of the courtyard (where they were probably more comfortable anyway), the Borg drones began approaching the Vulcans. There was something profoundly disturbing about the slow pace with which they pursued their prey. They were not terribly distant from the Kolinahru, yet at their speed it was clear that it would take the Borg several long seconds to reach them. Seeing a slight opportunity, I made a quick dash from my pillar to crouch down next to Picard and Spock. When I looked up again, I was amazed to see that the Vulcans had not moved from their position. Apparently, even the Borg did not scare the Kolinahru.

They were huddled together very closely, and each one had an arm extended into the middle of their group. I tilted my head to see them better, and was surprised to see that all of the monks had their hands on one older monk in the center, each touching his forehead. They were muttering, but because the communicators were offline, all I could hear was Vulcan. "What are they doing?" I whispered. Spock answered me, but his eyes never left the Kolinahru.

"They are entrusting him with their katra. In the likely event that they perish, he will do everything in his power to escape and return to Mount Seleyah." His voice was cold, but I thought I detected that slight hint of emotion that had come with age and wisdom.

"All those minds carried around inside his?" I said, nonplussed.

"Yes. Only a Vulcan with considerable training is able to withstand so many katra. It would drive anyone else mad."

"I believe you," I whispered, turning once again to see what would happen. The Vulcans were now reaching into their robes, and quickly each produced a long, sickle-bladed weapon. I had never seen anything quite like it; unlike the traditional lirpa, it seemed to have a handle on each side of the blade, so that it could be used for stabbing or slashing. In unspoken coordination, they each assumed an attack stance and waited for the Borg to close the remaining distance. "Captain," I said over my shoulder to Picard, "is there anything we can do to help them?" No answer. I looked over my shoulder, only to find that the captain was no longer there. I looked at Spock, but he appeared to be just as much in the dark as I was.

The first drone reached the Vulcans, and immediately crumpled to the ground as the forward monk severed its head in a sweeping blow. This elicited no response from the remaining drones other than to step over the body of their fallen comrade. Two enemies completely devoid of emotion, I thought. This could get very rough very quickly.

And get rough it did.

The one-armed Vulcan stepped forward, his green-stained stump still bleeding but temporarily tied off by one of his companions with a robe sash. In his remaining hand he clutched one of the sickle weapons. With lightning speed, he flung it in the direction of another drone. In an instant, the blood-slicked tip of the blade could be seen protruding from the back of the drone's neck. As it fell to its knees, the Vulcan grabbed the hilt and jerked upward, tearing the drone's head in half as he reclaimed his weapon. I wanted to turn my head and look away from the battle, but my gaze was fixed upon them.

One of the other monks leapt into the center of the group of drones. Utilizing the slashing handle of the weapon, he spun in a half circle in an attempt to eviscerate the surrounding Borg. Unfortunately, this did not work, and the blade stuck in the carapace of the first drone. Immediately, two of the other drones grabbed him and pushed him to his knees. In an instant, two black nanotubes shot out from one of the drones' fingers, piercing the neck of the monk. His face showed only slight discomfort as purple snake-like rivulets began forming over his exposed skin. With a look of resignation, he raised his hand to his companions and parted his fingers down the center. Live long and prosper. I could almost hear him saying it. His companions returned the gesture, then one of them mercifully brought down his blade and sliced off the ailing Vulcan's head.

At that moment Picard returned, carrying with him a dozen or so of the strange sickle-weapons. He handed me one and began passing them out to the other officers one by one. Spock raised an eyebrow as he took one.

"How did you get these?" he whispered.

"We passed a utility building on the way in. I thought it might be unlocked, and so it was." We turned toward the fight again. By now there were only seven or eight drones left, and five of the Kolinahru. It was at that moment that the Remans chose to rejoin the fight. With a fierce howl, they attacked the Kolinahru from behind, instantly killing one and wounding another.

Before Picard could even utter a word, Spock's entire body tensed, and he rose with a look so fierce that I backed away slightly in fear. He yelled something in Vulcan, then something in what must have been Reman, because it attracted their attention as he leaped from behind the pillar.

Never in my life had I seen anything like what I witnessed at that moment. The frailty and age of the man were gone in an instant, and he ran toward the fray. But with each step, his footfalls appeared to be lighter and lighter on the sand, until he was only barely grazing it as he passed. At the last moment before he reached the drones, his entire body lifted off the ground and spun in mid-air. The sickle-blade, slung from his side with a blurring inertial force, instantly sliced through three of the drones, whose respective pieces hit the ground long after he had moved on to his next victims.

In an instant the remaining energy from his initial sprint carried him up the front of another drone, knocking it violently to the ground. Spock landed with his feet on either side of the drone's head. He bent his knees to jump to the side and break its neck, and as he did he thrust his blade so hard and with such accuracy that it plunged through the faces of the three remaining drones. As they fell, he removed his blade and turned to face the only remaining threat: the Remans.

There were three of them left, and slowly nodding at each other, they dropped their weapons in surrender. One of the Kolinahru bent to pick up their daggers, then backed away. All stared at Spock for a long moment. His features softened, and his jaw went slack. The old man returned, and Spock's face looked more weary than I had ever seen it.

The Vulcan monks regarded him with cold wonder. The oldest one approached Spock and spoke to him in Vulcan for a moment. Spock replied, and the elder raised an eyebrow. Then, he gestured for us to come out from behind the pillars.

"It is safe now," he said in English. "Come. We must remove the electromagnetic dampening field so that you may communicate with your ships." Slowly, still in awe, we stepped into the arena and began moving toward them.

"How did he do that?" I whispered to Picard. His eyes never left Spock.

"I have no idea," he said.


We stepped out of the blistering heat and into a nondescript building, where we were instantly hit with a blast of cool, refreshing air. The three Remans, now bound at the hands and led by Tex, stood against a wall. The only furnishing the room had was a central command desk, from which one of the Vulcans deactivated the EM field. Tex replaced his sickle-blade with his phaser, and aimed it back and forth at the three.

"Y'all so much as move a muscle, and we gonna be moppin' ya off the walls," he grinned. The Remans said nothing, standing perfectly still and glowering at him. I tapped my communicator as soon as the field was lowered.

"Allen to Ascension. Report." Nothing. Picard did the same thing.

"Picard to Enterprise. Come in, Enterprise." Silence. Puzzlement and fear etched their way across our faces simultaneously. Suddenly…

"Admiral Heaton to Captain Picard."

"Picard here, Admiral. What's going on?"

"Captain, what happened down there? We lost contact with you."

"It's a long story, Admiral. We were caught in a dampening field of some sort, that kept us from…"

"Never mind that, Jean-Luc. The Borg have moved on towards Earth, and I've ordered both the Enterprise and the Ascension to pursue. My ship is also on its way, and we're already out of transporter range. I'm afraid you're stuck on Vulcan for the moment."

"The Borg just gave up on Vulcan?"

"No, they sent down several assimilation teams across the planet's surface. We beamed down as many people as we could spare to help deal with the crisis, but we have to move to where the larger problem is going to be."

"Understood, Admiral."

"Admiral," I said. Picard glanced at me as I interrupted.

"Captain Allen! Glad to hear you've survived thus far."

"Admiral," I repeated, "we stopped the Remans, and captured three of them." There was a pause.

"Really? That could explain why the Remans did not follow the Borg…" There was a long silence. "All right. I want you to see if you can use them to get aboard one of the Reman ships. Neither of you are going to see your ships again for a while. I want you to investigate this matter if you can, and if possible, see if you can find a weakness to exploit."

"Understood, Admiral," Picard said. The link was closed. Picard looked at me, then at the Reman prisoners. One of them spoke up.

"We will die before we let you sabotage our ship," he said resolutely. At that moment Spock approached him slowly, until their faces were inches apart. He spoke softly to the Reman.

"If you resist me, I will tear your throat out." The Reman's eyes widened a little in terror. Slowly, Spock placed his hand against the Reman's face.

"My mind to your mind. My thoughts to your thoughts." There was silence as the mind meld commenced. The Reman's muscles tensed in pain, but he did not tear away. For several long moments, we could hear nothing but the sound of their heavy breathing, then suddenly Spock disengaged and backed away. The Reman collapsed back against the wall, fury in his eyes. Spock turned to the rest of us.

"He is V'Eral, and he commands the Beldek, one of the Scimitar-class vessels."

"And who is his superior?" Picard asked. Spock shook his head.

"He does not know her name. All he had was a mental image, which I confess was…familiar to me, but I do not know how or why."

"What are they doing here?"

"They are here to abduct several of the scientists from the research base. He does not know what for, but I believe it is safe for us to assume that it has something to do with their research into thelaron radiation."

"But the Remans already have the secret to thelaron," Picard said.

"Perhaps not," Spock returned. "What knowledge they did have might have died with Shinzon and his ship. There is really only one way to find out." Picard nodded, approaching the Remans.

"You will contact your ship if it is still in this area. You will tell them that you have located the prisoners, and that all of us are to be beamed directly to the bridge of your ship." He then selected Tex, myself, Spock, Johnstone and Weston to join him as the captured scientists.

"My officers will expect a trap. Prisoners are always transferred directly to the brig."

"Then you will tell them that our presence is required to feed accurate information into the computer concerning your mission." The Reman sneered at Picard.

"That is very unlikely to work," he said.

"Then I suggest you make it work, because I would hate to have to turn you over to him," he pointed at Spock, whose cold gaze still managed to send a wave of fear over the Reman. Tex reached behind the Reman and grabbed from his belt what looked to be his communicator. He flipped a switch, and in a moment came another Reman voice.

"Beldek here, Commander." V'Eral glared at Picard, then Spock, then me.

"Subcommander Shelor, our mission has been a success. We have apprehended our targets."

"We lost contact with you for some time, Commander. Is everything all right?"

"No, you fool! Everything is not all right!" Tex tightened the grip on his phaser, and Spock reached for one of the sickle-bladed weapons. The Reman shook his head at us as he continued. "We lost several of our soldiers in the battle, and there was an electromagnetic field preventing our escape."

"We lost soldiers to…Vulcans?" came the voice again.

"Not just Vulcans, Subcommander. Their ability to fight was incredible. But we have defeated them, and have deactivated the shield. Prepare to beam three of us and six of them directly to the bridge."

"Should we not beam the prisoners to the…"

"No, we should not," he said. "We need them immediately for information on our next step. Obey my orders immediately."

"Yes, sir," the Subcommander responded, ending the communication.

"Phasers on stun," I said. Moments later, the room around us disappeared in a shimmer of light.


We were immediately surrounded by a much darker atmosphere as we materialized aboard the Reman ship. Only the two guards at the door were armed, so Tex and I shot them first, dropping them to the floor. The rest of the bridge crew – there were five of them – stood slowly, hands raised. I looked at Picard.

"What now?" I asked. He motioned to V'Eral.

"Our good Commander here is going to take us back to his superior, aren't you?"

"You will never get away with this!" V'Eral growled.

"We'll see, Commander," Picard said. "Mr. Spock, are you familiar with Reman technology?" Spock nodded.

"It is a complicated language, but the interfaces are actually quite simple."

"Good. I want you to seal off the bridge, and see if there is a way to flood the rest of the ship with an anesthetic gas. Commander V'Eral, you will inform the other ships that you are returning with the prize." V'Eral nodded sourly. "The rest of you, please step away from your stations and line up against the wall." He nodded to Tex. "Mr. Newman, if you would please?" Tex grinned, and one by one stunned the Reman bridge crew. Spock approached one of the command stations and began working swiftly. Moments later he looked up.

"The crew has been subdued, Captain. We have control of the ship."

"Excellent work, Mr. Spock. And now, Commander V'Eral, we need you to perform your duty." Spock opened a channel, and V'Eral began speaking to the rest of the Reman ships' commanders. As he did, I moved over next to Spock and spoke to him in a low voice.

"I was wondering, Ambassador, how did you do what you did back on Vulcan? I mean, it didn't even look like you were touching the ground half the time." Spock half smiled.

"I have spent much time among the Romulans," he said. "I did much studying under some of the former members of the Tal Shiar. The training that I received among the Kolinahru taught me to vanquish a foe using a lack of emotions. The training with the Tal Shiar taught me to do the same thing by focusing negative emotions telekinetically. Combined, the two sets of teachings gave me an unprecidented advantage. I myself was not aware of the power it held until that moment." I nodded grimly.

"All right, V'Eral," Picard said as soon as the link was closed. "What is our destination?"

"We must go deep into Romulan space," he said. "Well past the homeworlds. Course heading mark eight, sector zero-five-four-two."

"All right. Mr. Spock, signal radio silence to the other ships, and cloak this vessel. Lay in our course, at the equivalent of warp factor seven."

"Aye, Captain. Course laid in, Captain," Spock said.

"Engage."