Disclaimer: Star Trek and all associated characters and situations are the property of CBS studios. Star Trek Online is the creation of Cryptic and Perfect World. Tomb Raider and the situations therein are the property of Square Enix. All are here used by myself for entertainment purposes only, without permission or intent to profit. Stardates were calculated with the help of the TNG Stardate Calculator available on TrekGuide .com and may be slightly out of sync with those used in the game's lore.
The Throne Room
USS Nautilus, Shuttle One Crew, Sam Hayashi's Log, Day Two, Nightfall:
I'm still alive. The Solarii tried to roast me, but this wind came out of nowhere and put out the flames. It's a miracle.
As selfish as this sounds, I could use another miracle just about now. Good ol' Matan figured that the wind that saved me was a sign from his long-dead Sun Queen that I'm supposed to somehow be the savior of all things Solarii: not exactly a role I'm interested in taking, but then again, he's not exactly offering - not when I'm bound, gagged, and under guard.
I need to escape. I managed to cut halfway through the bonds on my wrist before they dragged me here, to the old throne room in what has become Creepy Scavenger Central. I need to find a way to sever them completely, without gathering attention. Carlin is still out there, if Durtlhor and Nikora - the vindictive Klingon brothers - haven't killed her already. Doctor Howard and Alex are also still imprisoned in the shuttlepod I rigged up earlier, and they're running out of time. I don't know about the others. I'll help them if I can. I'll start with getting Matan off my back so I can try to escape...
The Solarii forced Sam against an ornately-decorated pillar in the old throne room of the Solarii palace and bound her to it.
"It's regrettable that you've made this precaution necessary," Matan said, his voice almost apologetic. "The Chosen favorite of the Sun Queen should afford greater dignity." He paused and turned to the Romulans. "Ungag her!" he barked.
One of the Romulans, large framed and with a scar across his forehead, reached around and untied her gag with clumsy fingers. She spat it out on him. He retreated, wiping his hands and glaring, then he moved as if to cuff her.
Matan hit him first. The rusted metal blades at the head of his staff bit into the Romulan's neck, causing the unfortunate man to fall back, howling and clutching his wounds. "Don't strike the Sun Queen's Chosen One," Matan admonished. "Show some respect." The Romulans both retreated to the other side of the room and the cult leader smiled at Sam. "Better?" he asked.
Sam glared at him. "Not thirty minutes ago you were trying to roast me alive. Now you want to be my buddy?" She shook her head. "I'm not buying it."
"The Ritual of Fire was an unfortunate necessity," said Matan. "We had to determine the Sun Queen's will. Now that she's favored you, everything is different."
"So all it takes for you to start treating me like a person is for a higher power to interrupt your festivities?" Sam scowled, her anger building. She knew she shouldn't say the next thing on her mind, but coming so obviously within a few moments of dying seemed to have strengthened her reckless abandon. She said it anyway. "I've got some bad news for you, friend: whoever's favored me upstairs, it sure isn't your precious Sun Queen. Himiko is dead. I saw the body, I saw her bones, and I watched as a couple of your trigger-happy goons vaporized what was left of her. There's no way she's still alive."
Matan glared at her and his fists clenched. "Silence! Blasphemy will not be tolerated, even from you!" Then his voice softened a bit and his hands relaxed. "You of all people should know better, Samantha. You've witnessed Her power firsthand. You've studied Her reign on your world. You've heard Her legends. Her very blood runs in your veins. Your destiny and Hers are inexorably linked. I think you know this, Samantha."
Sam glared at him, but she had to admit there was a certain truth to what he'd said. She had always been fascinated with Himiko, for as long as she could remember. She had learned once that her grandmother, Iku, came from a very old Japanese bloodline - rumor said it had even been a royal bloodline once. Sam had always dreamed of tracking down her ancestors and confirming that rumor herself, maybe even discovering that one of her ancestors had been Himiko herself. It had been one of the driving forces behind her choice of xenoarchaeology at Starfleet Academy. She had even made believe she was Himiko a few times when she was little. There was no way Matan could know any of that, though, and she wasn't about to tell him. Instead she gave him a dirty look and fell silent, hoping he'd lose interest in whatever game he was playing with her mind.
Before that could happen, though, Durtlhor stomped into the room. He turned to Matan and bowed slightly. "It is done, Father," he reported.
"The Outsider is dead?"
"She fell half a dozen meters into the Pit," Durtlhor reported. "Nikora is sending one of the Brothers to find the body before the Unholy Ones eat it."
Sam gritted her teeth and tugged at her ropes, realizing that this Outsider was Carlin. "That's my friend you're talking about, bastards!" She spat. "When I get out of here, I-" She made herself stop. She wanted to get out of these ropes and tear Durtlhor and the other Klingon to pieces herself, but saying so wasn't going to get her anywhere. In fact, making herself a credible threat was just a really good way of insuring that the Solarii would keep her even more tightly bound and closely watched. She needed to do the opposite: lull them into a false sense of security, and she needed to do it urgently. If Carlin was truly gone, then so was her only chance of outside rescue. Now more than ever, Sam needed to think clearly and plan shrewdly. She hated the fact that a part of her mind was truly capable of doing that when her best friend was dead, but she knew the time for tears would come later. Lots of tears, lots of soaked pillows on my bunk on the Nautilus, but for now, I need to get these goons to think I'm not a threat, she told herself. Give them a reason to just let me go. Then I can rip their hearts out later, and show it to them before they die.
She cleared her throat and made a tear slide down her cheek. That part wasn't hard - though it took all the acting skills she'd picked up from her sisters to limit herself to only one tear. "I-I have to go to her. Please," she said. "She's my best friend. At least let me see the body."
"You aren't going anywhere," said Matan.
"Why not? You think I'll escape? Where to? You've gotten all of my friends!" That wasn't quiet true and she knew it. There was still Commander Drel somewhere out there, and she would have to link up with him if they were to have any chance at all. She didn't want the Solarii to know she knew that, though. "Besides, if I'm really the Chosen One and the Sun Queen is watching over my destiny, then surely I'll be alright. Why don't you just let me go?"
Matan shook his head. "I don't think you understand: you are special. We can't risk any harm coming to you, nor can we risk losing you. You're the Key to our salvation. We've been searching for you for years. Some of us were beginning to doubt we would ever find you, yet here you are."
This isn't going the direction I'd hoped, Sam thought and decided to try a slightly different tack. "What do you mean I'm your salvation? I'm not special," she said. "I'm a Starfleet officer, but I can't save you from this planet by myself, and I certainly can't do it while tied up."
Again, Matan shook his head. "Our salvation lies in who you are and who you'll become, not what you do."
"And how exactly is who I am supposed to save you all?" Sam demanded, growing frustrated.
"The Ascension Ritual is the key," said Matan. He walked over to a battered desk that was covered with salvaged PADDs, including a number of Ferengi PADDs that looked like recent additions. Above it on the wall a crude, complicated diagram had been sketched. Sam couldn't make it out from where she was, but Matan touched it fondly before turning back to her. "Once the Ascension Ritual is complete, we will all be freed. The only thing that remains is finding the Chamber of the Sun, where the Ritual must take place. Already Doctor Mor's notes have pointed us in the right direction. Once we compare his information with the records of the old Dominion research outpost on this island, we should have everything we need. Then you will complete the ritual and set us free."
"You think a 2,000 year old ritual from a monarchy that died before either of our species attained spaceflight is going to do that?" Sam quipped, then shook her head. "You're insane, Matan."
The Cardassian chuckled. "You search for logic and reason where there is none," he said, stepping closer. "I made the same mistake once: back when I thought ships could still reach us and shuttles wouldn't fall from the sky."
"And if you let me go maybe me and my shipmates would have a chance of solving that problem, or at least figuring out a way to get off this rock!" Sam sighed. She was getting nowhere, but she knew of nothing else to do. She felt another tear run down her cheek that had nothing to do with acting. "I just want to go home," she whispered.
The violence of Matan's response surprised her. He seized her by the throat and slammed her head back against the pillar. "So do I, girl!" he said. "Don't you think I've tried? I've done everything, everything! I've given years of my life!" He released her and she slumped forward, coughing and gasping for breath. Matan stalked away a pace and continued his tirade. "We are all trapped here, all of us! You have the power to release us. Many have given up their souls willingly for this gift, and yet you-"
He suddenly cut off as the rumble of a distant explosion interrupted him. It was followed by another blast, and another, and another: each stronger than the last. The final explosion was almost deafening, so powerful it shook loose pieces of wood from the walls and ceiling.
Matan pulled out his communicator. "What's going on?" he demanded.
"I don't know, Father," said a frantic voice from the other side. "We're reading large explosions in the gas chambers beneath the Palace. There are fires all around your position!"
Matan scowled. "This is no accident." He turned to Durtlhor. "You're sure the Outsider is dead?"
"I know she fell into the Pit," said Durtlhor, "but we could not see a body, and I haven't heard any report yet from the Brothers we sent to investigate."
Matan turned back to his communicator. "Are there any reports from the Pit?"
"There was a gas explosion in the Pit about fifteen minutes ago. The guards think it was an accident, but it damaged the gates and they cleansed the Pit of the Unholy Ones as a precaution while they made repairs." The voice paused. "One of the guards did want me to relay a message to Brothers Nikora and Durtlhor. He said there were no females in the Pit. I...I thought he was joking. After all, we've never thrown females in the Pit."
Matan's fists clenched. "Forward the message now, and tell Nikora the Outsider is not only alive but has somehow escaped and is on her way here. It is the only explanation for the explosions."
Sam straightened. Carlin was alive: alive and on her way here! She couldn't stop herself from smiling at that. You go, girl! Kick some Solarii ass!
The voice from the communicator was more nervous and less supportive. "Father, I can have the transporter room lock onto you and the Chosen One. we can beam you out and-"
"No," said Matan, before the man could finish. "The Outsider will track her and follow. Since she knows about the gas, she may try to ignite the pockets under the warbird as well. We will fight her here instead. Send the Brothers. I will gather as many as I can from the Palace. This ends now!"
He closed the channel and turned to the other Solarii. "You two, guard the doors," he said to the Romulans. They drew weapons and split up, one heading down each of the halls leading off the throne room. "Durtlhor, you stay here," Matan ordered. "Guard the Chosen One with your life. Do not disappoint me again." Then he turned and headed after one of the Romulans.
A moment later, Sam was alone with Durtlhor. The Klingon turned toward her, regarding her impassively. He was laden with weapons, including the Jem'Hadar rifle and phaser he'd taken from Carlin. He also had that yumi and the quiver of arrows. He unslung the rifle, checked the charge, and then stood there, glowering silently at Sam.
She shifted, surreptitiously checking the surface of the pillar for anything she could use to escape her bonds. She knew she needed to get out of here and warn Carlin before she walked into whatever Solarii trap Matan was putting together. Her fingers found a thick brass tack that protruded a few centimeters from the ornamental metalwork it supported. Sam thought she could used it to cut through the rest of the ropes holding her wrists together, but she would have to bend down first. And that's gonna look suspicious. I can't do it with Mr Bad Attitude here trying to start a staring contest with me, she realized. I need to distract him, get him looking someplace else.
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes. Okay, here goes nothing! She opened her eyes again and cocked her head. "Hey, ugly! You planning on staring at me all day?" she taunted.
Durtlhor snorted, but said nothing.
"Look, I know I'm beautiful and all, and I'm sure this kimono does some pretty flattering things to my figure, but even I have to admit I'm probably not the most interesting thing for you to look at right now." Her eyes narrowed. "If I were to place any bets, I'd say you'd much rather be looking at my friend, the one your little society here started calling The Outsider, as if she's the only one. I bet you'd rather be looking at her down the sights of that rifle of yours, am I right?"
Durtlhor snarled. "She killed my brother, and she dishonored me. I will have my revenge - don't think I won't!"
"Yeah, I get that, the whole revenge thing. I could use a little of it myself," she admitted. "But in case you hadn't noticed, I'm the only other person in this room. My friend, The Outsider? She's outside." She jerked her head toward the doors, away from herself.
"I have my orders," said Durtlhor. "I will not disappoint Father Matan."
Sam rolled her eyes. "Yes, orders to guard the 'Chosen One.'" She knew the gesture was useless, but she made air-quotes with her fingers when she said Chosen One anyway. "You're doing a great job too...that is, if guard means stare at in an extremely creepy manner. Myself, if I were assigned to guard someone I would want to be facing the biggest threat to keeping them in my possession. In case you hadn't noticed, that's not exactly me. I'm a little tied up at the moment." She wriggled futilely in her bonds to demonstrate. "My friend, The Outsider, on the other hand, is free. She's somewhere out there - probably armed. She's already escaped your Pit and blown up the mountain underneath us. Not to mention she was the one who raided your communications base yesterday...the night after she killed your brother in single combat - unarmed as I understand it. I've got to admit, she's a lot bigger threat to you right now than a tied-up human girl in a dress."
Durtlhor shifted his grip on his rifle and his eyes did a quick scan of the room.
Sam had to stop herself from smiling. She was getting to him. He was afraid of Carlin. She could use that against him. "If I were you," she said. "I would be watching the doors."
His gaze returned to Sam, somewhat less steady than before. "My Brothers are already watching the doors."
"And you trust them?" she asked.
He snarled. "We are Solarii!"
"Klingons trusting Romulans and everyone's just one big happy family." Sam smirked. "Oh, the Federation would just love you guys. Too bad about the whole murderous cultist thing." She leaned forward as far as the ropes allow. "But I wasn't asking if you trusted them in general. What's important is: do you trust them to stop The Outsider? The one who's already killed Vamdar and God-only-knows how many other Solarii?" The smirk broadened into a smile. "You know, as I recall, one of the Romulans was already wounded. I see a lot of green on the floor where he was standing. I wonder how much blood he's lost. Maybe he'll pass out."
"taHqeq!" the Klingon swore.
"Same to you," Sam muttered and watched as he turned his attention to the halls leading into the room, moving into a better position to watch them both - which just happened to put his back to her. She smiled. Now she could get started.
She knelt down and started running the rope on her wrists over the exposed tack, picking it apart one strand at a time. At first, she was afraid she would have to make conversation or hum or something to cover the noise, but that turned out to be unnecessary. There were still plenty of explosions going on outside, joined now by screams and shouted commands. There was no weaponsfire, though, so for now Sam thought the only thing the Solarii were fighting was the fires Carlin had somehow managed to set off.
A particularly large explosion roared to life from somewhere close by just as Sam managed to sever the rope around her wrists. She shook it off and began tugging the rope that held her to the pillar around, trying to get at the knot. She could hear screams now. They sounded like they were coming from just down the hall. She tugged at the knot savagely, trying to get it undone. There was another, smaller explosion, even closer than the first. Durtlhor turned is attention that way, raising his rifle. But if the blast was caused by fires and not Carlin, that rifle wasn't going to protect him, or Sam. She kept working at the knot, urging herself to go faster.
Then, Durtlhor fired. The three-round burst sent pieces of decorative paneling flying in the hall, but appeared to be a miss. The green beam of a disruptor lanced back at him, but he took cover.
It's Carlin! Sam had to resist the urge to shout at her friend. She couldn't afford to distract her. Durtlhor had a superior weapon and a good position - a whole room to take cover in while she had only the threshold to the hallway. Sam needed to get into the fight. Fortunately, she had finally finished with the knot. She shook the rope off of her and rushed the Klingon warrior from behind, grabbing the only weapon she could reach immediately: one of his arrows.
Durtlhor must have sensed it. He spun to face her, but the arrow as already in her hand. He raised his hand to strike her, but before he could land the blow she thrust the arrow into his chest. He gasped and started to lose his grip on the rifle. She took it from his hands and turned it on him, flipping the setting to single shot. "This is for my friends, you Klingon bastard." Durtlhor bared his teeth in a snarl. She fired the rifle, and he dropped like a stone.
A moment later, Carlin stepped in, sweeping the room with a battered Romulan disruptor pistol. She saw Sam standing over Durtlhor's body and lowered her weapon. "I guess it sounds a little strange now to say I came here to rescue you," said Carlin.
"It's the thought that counts," Sam replied. She tossed the Jem'Hadar rifle to Carlin, then stripped the other weapons from the dead Klingon for herself, including the yumi and the arrows. It wasn't as good of a weapon as a phaser, perhaps, but she wanted it nonetheless. Call me sentimental, I guess. She turned to Carlin. "You have no idea how good it is to see you."
"You too," said Carlin. She touched her shortened hair. "I thought they were going to kill you during the ritual."
"Same here, good thing that wind came when it did," Sam said. "What about you? How did you get past the Romulan?"
"He, uh, wasn't a problem," said Carlin. "When the shuttlepod's engines fired it started a chain reaction with the verdenicine gas conduits the Solarii are using the power their equipment throughout the Palace. The fires and explosions are killing Solarii all over the place. The only reason I found this place was because I saw the Romulan guarding it stood his ground instead of trying to run when a verdenicine gas explosion started in the conduits around him. I decided that if he just stood there in the face of that he had to be guarding something important, so I cut my way in."
"Good thinking," said Sam, then paused. "Wait, did you say the shuttlepod caused this, as in the one the Solarii had me and Alex and Doc Howard locked up in?"
Carlin nodded. "I got them out in time, though," she added. "They should be on their way to meet up with Antori by now. Speaking of which I found something of yours." She handed her a combadge.
Sam smiled as she pinned it to her kimono. "Thanks!" she said. "I don't suppose you could find me a spare uniform while you're at it."
Carlin rolled her eyes and shook her head. "No, but I think I can find you a way out of here." She looked to the hallways. "There were fires back the way I came so..."
The Trill started heading for the other hallway, but Sam stopped her. She could hear footfalls from that direction. "Someone's coming," she warned, and raised her phaser. Seisha hicchu, she thought mentally preparing herself to face Matan and whatever he brought through the door with him.
What actually came through the door, though, came as a complete surprise. It was a short Ferengi in slightly soiled civilian clothing. He looked about as surprised to see them as they were to see him. There was silence for a moment, then Carlin asked, "Doctor Mor, is that you?"
"Yes," said the Ferengi. "Carlin and Sam? I thought they'd killed you."
"They've certainly earned an 'A' for effort on that front," Sam quipped. "What about you? Have you enjoyed your stay while the rest of us were caged up in cells or fighting for our lives?"
"Sam, please!" Carlin said. "He was only trying to survive. He's not trained for this like us." Reluctantly, Sam had to admit she was right. Carlin turned to Mor. "You did know they were holding Sam and the others, though, didn't you?"
"Yes, but...well, what could I do? They took away my phaser. There's no way I could have freed them without a weapon!"
"You could have tried to steal one," Sam suggested bitterly.
"That would have spoiled everything, hew-mon," said the Ferengi. "The Solarii let me move about freely precisely because they didn't see me as a threat. After all, I was helping them with my research." He moved to the desk and picked up the Ferengi PADDs, brushing them off and tucking them into his pockets. "Really, I wish I'd had my holorecorder for all of this. These Solarii are an anthropological marvel!"
"They're also insane murders, if you hadn't noticed," said Sam.
There was another rumble of a nearby explosion. Carlin cringed. "Look, we can argue about what the Solarii are once we're out of the Palace. There are gas pockets all over this mountain that could explode at any minute. We need to get out of here!"
"Agreed!" said the Ferengi. His eyes darted from one hallway to the other, then fixed on the one he'd come from. "There was a guard down this hall. I'll see if I can...uh, persuade him to leave." He smiled, showing teeth.
"Good idea. Take this, too, if you need it," Carlin said, handing Mor the battered disruptor pistol. "Sam and I will check the other hall to see if we can still get out that way, but I doubt it. The fires are pretty bad on that side."
Mor nodded and scrambled off down the hall. Carlin and Sam headed the other way, but as they passed the desk, Sam paused to study the diagram. It was confused and chaotic. She saw no one leaves scrawled in large letters several times. The only thing of note seemed to be a map of the archipelago's main island with several locations circled on it.
"What is it?" Carlin asked, stopping beside Sam.
"Something Matan said," she answered. "That there was a Dominion research base somewhere on the island that could help him find the answers he was looking for. If it's useful to him, it might be useful to us as well."
Carlin studied the map for a moment. "Well, if I recall the scans from Shuttle Two correctly, there was some sort of a compound here, overlooking the ocean. It looked like thermal concrete from the scans. It could be Dominion."
"We should check it out then...you know, when we're not running for our lives," said Sam.
Carlin smirked. "Duly noted."
They moved on to the hall, but had only to look down it to realize it offered no possibility of escape. Several beams had fallen in the middle, blocking Carlin's hole and the far end was engulfed in slowly-spreading flames. "Guess we're not getting out that way," said Sam. They hurried back to the throne room. "How long do you think we should give Mor to work his magic?" Sam asked.
Before Carlin could answer, Mor himself appeared around the corner, walking toward them. A moment later, Matan appeared, following him and flanked by more than half a dozen Solarii. Mor looked from one group to the other and said, "Run, Starfleet, run!"
"It's the Outsider, get her!" shouted one of the Solarii.
"Stun the Chosen One!" Matan ordered.
A confused volley of shots flew at the two women, but none of them hit. They did make Mor cover his head and start squealing in terror. They also made Sam swear. "There's too many of them!" she said to Carlin, pushing her back into the hall. Then she thumbed her phaser's setting to maximum and fired at the pillar in the center of the room, vaporizing it. Without its support the ceiling buckled and collapsed, raining wooden beams and debris into the center of the room. The Solarii survived though, too close to the other hall to be in danger, and Sam knew it was only a matter of time before they found away around or through her little obstacle. "We need to get out of here!" Sam said.
"But the fires-!"
"We don't have a choice!" Sam said.
"Granted, but if that's the case we've got to get out in the open as quickly as possible," said Carlin. "There are gas lines throughout this building that could explode at any minute."
Sam nodded. The fires were getting closer, engulfing the hole in the wall where Carlin had come in. They couldn't escape that way, but the method of her entry gave Sam an idea. "They say the shortest distance between two points is a straight line..." She aimed her phaser at the wall and fired, vaporizing a large section of the wood - big enough for Sam and Carlin to both fit through. She repeated the process with the next wall. They managed to get through three walls this way before a fourth, which seemed to be the outer wall, collapsed in front of them before they could get through. Sam coughed and stepped back. There wasn't any visible fire in this part of the palace, but there was a lot of smoke, blinding the Starfleet officers and choking them.
Carlin pulled out her tricorder. "I'm detecting...airflow. This way!" she said between coughs. Sam grabbed her shoulder and together they followed the tricorder's signals to a window that opened out onto the lowest eave of the multi-tiered roof. Fortunately, the window was large enough to climb out of and the eave wide enough to accommodate both of them. Sam went first, then she helped Carlin through. Once they were through, they stepped away from the smoke pouring out of the window and took a few moments to catch their breath.
When she could breathe normally again, Sam straightened and surveyed her surroundings. They were not very far up, maybe three meters, but it was high enough to afford some perspective on the sprawling temple complex. What Sam saw was discouraging. There was a bridge up ahead, which seemed to be the only way out of the complex besides the tunnels leading to the building they'd just left. Between that bridge and them were a number of smaller buildings, most of which were on fire. One of them exploded violently as she watched, spraying wooden shrapnel through the air. Between the buildings, she could make out here and there the figures of Solarii, running, screaming, and shouting orders at one another. "This doesn't look good," she said.
"Agreed," Carlin nodded. She straightened and tapped her combadge. "Agran to Drel! I've got Sam, but we're trapped on the roof of the palace, on the second floor, west side."
"I read you, and I see you," Commander Drel answered after a moment. "Go south. Just around the corner from you it looks like there's been a partial collapse. You should be able to climb down through the debris."
"What about the Solarii?" Carlin asked.
"I can't cover you from here, but it looks like things are pretty disorganized in there," said Drel. "Move quickly, and you should be able to make it out without attracting too much attention."
Sam nodded. "They're running around like headless chickens down there. If we're lucky none of them will even notice us...at least not until it's too late for them."
"Good luck and get out of there fast. Howard and McKensey are already with me. We'll meet you on the other side of the bridge and fall back."
"Got it," said Carlin. "We'll be right there. Agran out."
The two of them made their way around the roof and then down the pile of debris Drel had mentioned. Sam was forcefully reminded of the fact that the Solarii hadn't seen fit to give her any shoes to go with her new outfit. Every step that landed on a rough-edged piece of stone or wood (which was all of them) brought a stab of pain through the soles of her feet. She winced and tried to pick her way down more carefully.
She was almost at the bottom when she heard Carlin say, "Sam, look up. Something's happening!"
Sam looked to the sky, where Carlin pointed. There were clouds gathering, obscuring the light of the nebula...and they were gathering much too quickly to be normal clouds. Lightning flashed in their depths. Sam shivered and reminded herself of how very, very dead Himiko was. Then she noticed something else, a familiar figure on the second floor of an outbuilding, revealed in a flash of lightning. It was Nikora, and he was standing behind a very large, fully-automatic, turret-mounted plasma minigun. He was aiming it right at the two of them. "Get down!" Sam shouted, tackling Carlin. A stream of green fire ripped through the air where they'd been standing a moment before, then chased them as they ran behind the shelter of a ruined wall.
"You won't get away so easily Outsider!" Nikora shouted. "I've been waiting for you!"
The plasma bolts began eating through the wall. In seconds they were raining bits of plaster and wood all over the women. They ran to another section of the wall. The bolts followed. Sam peeked out and fired her phaser at him. The blast hit a metal shield bolted to the back of the turret, glancing off harmlessly.
"Haha! Waste your shots, you pathetic petaQ!" the Klingon shouted.
"That plate is solid duridium," said Carlin. "It'll take several shots from the phaser to get through, and I don't think the rifle will do anything to it."
"I'm out of charge," Sam reported.
"Then we're out of luck!" said Carlin. Debris started raining on them again and they scrambled to get out of the way as the wall collapsed. They rushed to a low garden wall, about halfway between the main building and Nikora. It was the only place they could get to in time to avoid his fire. Plasma bolts chased them all the way and immediately started drilling through the stone wall.
That was when Sam noticed something. She noticed that the bolts drilling through the wall were drilling through closer to Carlin's position, than her own. In fact the whole fight they'd been chasing her instead of Sam. Of course, she realized. Nikora doesn't want to kill me - well, maybe he just doesn't care - but he wants to get revenge on Carlin. He's probably obsessed with it and scared of her at the same time, like Durtlhor. This could be used against him as well...though it would be much, much riskier here than it had been in the throne room. "Draw his fire. I'm going to try to get around him," Sam said to Carlin.
Carlin shot her a disbelieving look. "There's no cover out there!"
"Hey, I'm the Chosen One. What's the worst that could happen?" Sam gave her a daredevil grin. "Just trust me on this one, okay?"
"If you say so," said Carlin. She raised her rifle and fired a three-round burst blind. The plasma minigun's fire shifted to her position, spraying fragments of stone over the top of the wall.
Sam scrambled to the opposite end of the wall, breathed a quick prayer, and dashed out. The plasma bolts didn't chase her. The Klingon seemed to be ignoring her. His mistake, Sam thought. She ran to the base of the outbuilding and tried the door, but it was locked. She tapped her combadge. "Hayashi to Agran! I need you to open this door for me. Maximum setting!"
"On it!" Carlin said. There was a scrambling sound from the other end. Then Carlin popped up from behind the wall several meters from her last position. She fired on the door, vaporizing a good portion of it and blasting it inward. The green fire from the plasma minigun immediately chased her, but she ducked behind the wall again.
That wall won't last forever, though, Sam realized. Already the stone on this side was deeply scored and glowing red hot. Another minute, and Nikora would be through. Better make this quick, then! Sam rushed inside and up a flight of stairs. There was a blind corner at the top, and she could hear the shrill thrumming of the turret on the other side. That's too close for the bow, she decided. Time for a little close quarters!
She ran around the corner screaming. Nikora's eyes went wide and he swore. He tried to swing the turret around, spraying fire into the building, but Sam was already too close. She grabbed the edge of the armor plate with one hand and used her momentum to swing around it for a vicious kick. The Klingon's armor bruised her heel, but the kick caught Nikora dead center in the chest and sent him sprawling. It also swung the turret back around through almost another 180 degrees, till it was almost pointing in the general direction of the Klingon. Don't mind if I do, Sam thought, accepting the opportunity. She seized the controls and pulled the trigger, swinging the gun toward the Nikora.
Green fire ripped through the wall and floor beside Nikora as he sprang to his feet. It was then that Sam realized she'd made a mistake. The Klingon charged, slamming into the turret with his shoulder, knocking it off its stand and knocking Sam off balance. She toppled backwards, then tumbled over the building's lowest eave. She managed to grab the edge of the roof as she passed, slowing her fall, but not stopping it. The turret had no such luck. It fell straight to the ground and exploded beneath her. A moment later she lost her grip and hit the ground as well, rolling to soften the impact.
"petaQ! My fight is not with you, but if you were not the Chosen One, I would kill you!" said Nikora. Then, he turned back to the stone wall, where Carlin had peeked out. "This ends now, Outsider!" He reached behind his back for something...and suddenly all his confidence evaporated. His eyes darted toward the ground, horrorstruck.
Sam followed his gaze and noticed a thick weapon with a pistol grip lying in the dirt beside her. She recognized it as a compact photon grenade launcher, and the flickering indicator light at the rear of the weapon indicated it had one round left. She snatched it up. "Looking for this?!" she asked Nikora as she took aim. "When you see your brothers in Hell, tell them we said 'hi!'" Then she fired.
The blast took out most of the second floor and showered the courtyard in debris. Sam shielded her face with her arm, then stood up, tossing the now-useless grenade launcher to the ground.
"Well, that was dramatic," Carlin stepping out from behind the garden wall.
"Yeah, and loud too." Sam unslung her bow and put an arrow on the string. "Let's get to that bridge before any of the Solarii start wondering what their exploded brother was shooting at."
"Right behind you!" said Carlin.
Author's Note: I decided to tell these scenes from Sam's perspective because I wanted more emphasis on her conversation with Matan and its revelations of plot to follow and less on Carlin running through a burning building (which would not have been as interesting as Lara's trip since Carlin is not an ace platformer). This, of course, made for some changes. First, it meant that I had to expand on Matthias' dialogue in the game, giving both him and Sam motivation for what they were saying that lined up with their characters as I'm portraying them. Then it meant that it would be Sam, not Carlin, who got to finish off the Klingon brothers - since having the perspective character fight and kill someone is a lot more interesting than having them sit back and let the other character do the work. It also meant keeping Sam Hayashi and Carlin together instead of having them split up, as Lara and Sam Nishimura did.
Incidentally, this is one of the levels that inspired me to think of writing Sam as a more competent fighter in the first place. In one cutscene in the game, Lara sees Sam down below being confronted by mooks and watches as the game's designated damsel-in-distress blows them away with a pistol. I cheer each time I see that and was sad that in the game we never see that side of Sam again.
Nikora's grenade launcher was briefly mentioned in chapter 23, where Brother John secretly wondered how much ammunition it had left. The answer is now revealed: one round - enough to make it a Chekhov's gun.