30 Worlds: Megaforce, Episode XVIII: "Golden Voyagers"

CHAPTER TEN

Two A.I.C. soldiers were patrolling a corridor on Terok Nor when there was a tap on their shoulders. They turned around, only to have William and Sofia punch them directly in their faces. "Where to, William?" Sofia asked.

William pulled a scanner out of his utility pack and opened it, calling up an interior schematic of the station. "The command center is approximately seven levels above this one," William said. "However, we cannot place all of our eggs in one basket."

"What do you mean?" Clara asked. "We need to have two teams—one to fight their way to Terok Nor's command center in order to shut down the station's primary systems and another to find Q and free him once the other team has captured the command center. Chad, you'll lead Team 1—the command center team—alongside Mal and Clara. I'll lead the Q team with Sofia and Lennier," William said. "Good luck to all of you."

The two teams separated to go on their own quests.

In the command center, Gul Dukat looked at a Cardassian subordinate who occupied the engineering console. "Status report!" Dukat yelled out. "Hull breach on Level 8 of the core module. Force fields in place and holding," the Cardassian officer said. "Intruder alert on core module Levels 4 and 10," a Klingon said.

A door opened as Dukat yelled out, "What is going on here?!" "It's simple when you think about it, Gul," a voice called out. Dukat turned around and saw Chad, Mal and Clara. Mal and Clara shot a pair of Cardassian officers with their phasers while Chad kneed an approaching Klingon guard in the groin.

Chad then pulled the d'k tahg knife from the Klingon's waist sheath and held the tip up to Dukat's neck. "Where do I shut off the anomaly generator?" Chad said. "Rot in your Terran hell!" Dukat said. "I was hoping you were going to say that," Chad said.

Dropping the knife, Chad reached for his phaser. The Klingon at Tactical drew his disruptor and aimed it at Chad. However, Mal held a hand toward the falling d'k tahg and chanted, "Beware, forswear, send this knife where I do not care."

The d'k tahg sailed into the Klingon's heart. The now-lifeless body fell to the deck. This allowed Chad to finish drawing his phaser and shooting Dukat in the chest. Chad told Clara to locate the anomaly generator's shut-off switch.

As she searched for the control, Chad opened his Mobilates. "Chad to Prince William. Operations center is under our control. Please advise," he said.

"Well done, Chad," William said. "Continue looking for the anomaly generator's controls. Sofia, Lennier and I are almost at Q's position. William, out."

Down in the bowels of Terok Nor's core module, William, Sofia and Lennier found what appeared to be a human being strapped spread-eagle to a machine connected to the station's fusion power core. "Q, hold still. We'll have you free in a jiffy," William said.

"I don't think so," a dreadfully familiar voice called out. William, Sofia and Lennier turned and saw Kalabar. "Hello again, old friend," Kalabar said. "The only way you'll be able to shut down the anomaly generator is to destroy the station, killing us all and handing the multi-verse to the A.I.C. Either way, you lose and we win."

"Not exactly, Kalabar," a voice called out. A bright white flash of light in the room revealed Q2. "Son, is that you?" Q called out weakly.

"Kalabar, you made the biggest mistake any living being in this universe can make," Q2 said. "Oh, yeah? What is that?" Kalabar said.

"Pissing off a Q," Q2 said. Q2 held up his hand and snapped his fingers.

On the Bridges of the ships in the armada, gasps of horror accompanied the detonation of the station.

Somewhere in the Void

William opened his eyes to see the other Rangers, Q and Q2. "Where are we?" William said. "You are in the Q Continuum," Q2 said. "I transported us here a microsecond before the anomaly generator malfunctioned, trapping Kalabar as Terok Nor exploded around him."

Q turned to William and the Rangers. "Prince William, you and your people risked your lives and the future of your universe to save little old me," he said. "I must repay you. First, I'll send you back to your vessel. I sense there is an enormous amount of sadness since everyone believes you six were killed when Terok Nor imploded."

"And second, Q?" Sofia asked. "Our second gift awaits you at Starbase Yorktown," Q said before snapping his own fingers.

William and the other five Rangers appeared on the Bridge of the Amidala. "Prince William! Princess Sofia! You're alright!" Calhoun said before shutting off the command chair's restraints.

"Sorry for the scare, Tamora," William said with a sheepish grin. "Just one of Q's tricks," Sofia said. "What about the A.I.C.?" Calhoun said.

"Oh, I have a feeling we'll never be seeing Kalabar ever again," William said as Calhoun made her way back to Tactical and William took the command chair. "Stand down from Tactical Alert and begin repairs to damaged systems."

"Aye, aye, sir," Calhoun said before tapping a control on her board. As the Bridge lighting returned to normal, William smiled at his crew. "All ships, this is Prince William on the Amidala. Set course back for Starbase Yorktown."

An air of jubilation rose from the ships' crews as they all angled away from the Bajor sector and sped into hyper-light.

::TBC::