Chapter Eight
"Don't get too close to the wall!" Nat warned, letting go of his reins to cup both hands around his mouth. "Sand-drifts can cover holes and other hazards after a windstorm. Don't want you and your horses to fall in!"
Deanna and Riker turned their horses, leaving the soft sand to rejoin the group on the windswept path.
"Well, the entrance Data used is completely buried, just like the entrance to the tunnels," Riker reported irritably, the beating desert sun aggravating his frustration. "There's no getting in that way."
"There is a back door, of sorts, but it's difficult to access," Freja said. "If the kids found it, I doubt they'd be able to open it. We might find them there."
"It's worth a try," Troi said.
"We'll have to go around, to the far side of the Stairway." Freja pointed. "Unfortunately, the sand is even deeper there and very tricky to navigate on foot."
"Counselor, are you sensing anything from the missing girls?" Picard asked, squinting grimly at the looming stone structure.
"Still nothing, Captain," she admitted. "But, if they are inside the structure, there may be some kind of interference blocking my ability to—"
"Enough talk," Kurak grunted, her horse literally chomping at the bit to get back into a gallop. "Let's keep moving!"
The rest of the group fell in line behind Kurak, following her charge at a slightly more moderate pace. Strong winds blew the dust clouds their horses kicked up in swirls and gusts around them, spraying their hands and faces with stinging sand particles. As they turned the corner, the winds stopped short, leaving only the dry, baking heat.
Freja buried her face deeper in her jacket's collar. Riker winced despite himself.
"Who'd have thought I'd miss that damn wind…" he muttered.
"There!" Kurak yelled back to them, gesturing to a metallic something glinting through the rippling mirages obscuring their view.
"It's the speeder," Nat realized. "And that robot, Howard!"
Kurak pelted toward Howard, leaping off her horse before it came to a stop. "Where is my daughter, robot?" the furious Klingon demanded.
"I am Howard, your helpful Home Domestic Droid," Howard said in his cheery way.
Kurak's scowl grew deadly. "You'll be a helpless pile of scrap if you don't answer my question," she assured him.
"I am Howard," the robot said again. "Master Data ordered me to keep the children safe. I am here to ensure 'nothing happens to our ride back home.'" He played back a recording of Kahlestra's voice.
"So, you did help them get here…" Kurak clenched her fists, but refrained from tearing the robot's metallic-green head from its neck. Instead, she followed Howard's photoelectric gaze to a series of step-like protrusions jutting from the Stairway's eroded wall like a zig-zag staircase constructed for giants. Hauling herself up the first, then second steps, she shielded her eyes, squinting hard against the blinding sunlight until, on a ridge high above, a dark rectangle came into focus. A rectangle that could only be—
"The back door!" she shouted down to the rest of the group, only just beginning to approach Howard and the speeder. "It seems the girls found a way to open it!"
"And here I thought we'd have to make our own entrance," Nat commented, patting the excavation saddlebag he kept packed with explosives. "Hey, Howard! Watch the horses, will you?"
"I am here to serve," the robot said in his chipper announcer voice.
"Will," Picard called to Riker as he, Deanna, Freja and Nat dismounted. He stepped in close to his first officer, keeping his voice low as he said, "Those raiders Data encountered may still be at large. I want you to stay here with Howard. Alert me at once if you see any sign of activity out there. And keep in contact with Tu'Pari back at the compound. I want to know the moment the shuttle carrying that social worker and lawyer arrives."
"Understood, Captain," Riker said, swallowing back his displeasure with the assignment as he took his canteen and phaser rifle from his horse and moved toward the small patch of shade afforded by the speeder. Securing his own phaser in its holster, Picard joined the rest of the team jumping, climbing, and dragging themselves up the massive steps toward the narrow, crumbling landing and the open door.
"Mon Dieu…!" Picard stared up at the gleaming bismuth-like tower, his unfiltered awe momentarily softening his piercing eyes and chiseled features. "Tell me…" he said, unable to raise his voice above a reverent whisper. "What exactly are we seeing…?"
Nat hurriedly unpacked and assembled his recording device while Kurak and Freja scanned the walls for any sign of a hidden control panel.
"I'm not sure," he said, struggling to keep his hands from shaking as he raised the recording device to the level of his eye. "I think…it might be a battery of some kind. Perhaps fed by that energy source in the caverns below. My god…could you ever imagine…!"
"Captain…" Troi opened her eyes, lowering her hands from her temples. "It's just an impression… No…more like an echo… But, the girls were here, sir. I'm certain of it."
"Any idea where they might be now?" he asked.
Troi shook her head just slightly and stared at the looming tower, her mouth a tightly drawn line.
"There's residual traces of a massive power surge," Kurak reported, her searing glare nearly enough to melt her tricorder. "Whatever this is, it's been activated. Very recently."
"Over here!" Freja called from the far side of the tower. The group hurried to gather around, leaning in close as she held up—
"It's one of Kahlestra's data padds," Kurak identified. "The kind she uses for her schoolwork."
"Maybe she dropped it when this crystal…tower…thing activated…?" Nat supposed.
"If she did, I think it may have been on purpose," Freja said, tapping at the oversized padd's wide, flat screen. "Look."
She handed the padd to Kurak, who read the screen, her grip tightening until the thin device snapped in two with a sputter of sparks. Fiercely tossing the bits away, she spun to face the wall, clutching her elbow with one hand as she fought to calm her racing breath.
"Kurak?" Troi tried, knowing better than to try to touch the fuming Klingon.
"They've gone after Data," she rasped. "That message... Kahlestra vowed to me she'd bring him home."
"There has to be a way to get those kids back, or at least trace where they've gone," Freja said. "If they found a way to activate this thing, we can do the same. We're going to need Tu'Pari. And a copy of those codes Data—"
A hiss of static crackled from Picard's combadge, followed by Riker's half-garbled voice.
"...ptain, the shuttle…arriving at…the compound with…"
"Merde," Picard swore between his teeth and slapped his combadge to reply. "Acknowledged, Number One," he said. "On my way."
Closing the choppy channel, he turned to the group. "The counselor and I will take the speeder and return to the compound. We'll fill Tu'Pari in on the details and send him here with Data's codes. Once our newcomers have settled in, I'll return to lend what aid I can."
"And Riker?" Freja asked.
"He and Howard will keep guard here," Picard said. "No one is to activate this...device...unless we're sure we can control it. In the meantime, we're all to keep in contact. Until we've retrieved those children and Mr. Data, I want to know where everyone is at all times. I'm not losing anyone else to this...Preserver Tunnel. Understood?"
"Yes, Captain," the group acknowledged, each of them, even Nat, activating their comm devices without protest. Moving toward the Klingon scientist, Nat said, "We'll find them, Kurak."
Kurak stretched her lips in a dry smirk. "Presuming they haven't been vaporized like that Suliban spy, or—"
"That echo I sensed," Troi told her. "It seemed to come from a distance. Perhaps in space but…more likely in time. Wherever or whenever your daughter and Ishta may have gone, I am certain they arrived there alive and well."
"Spare me your 'empathic' reassurances," Kurak snarled, baring her teeth. "Just go, and leave me to my work!"
Troi seemed about to speak, but Picard held out a hand, gesturing for her to join him as he headed back toward the labyrinthine corridor to the exit.
To Be Continued…
References include - TNG: Suspicions
Next Time: Back to the future! Stay tuned!
Hi! Thanks for the nudge! I've been working on a whole bunch of original projects lately (mainly graphic novels) and I'm afraid my fanfics have had to simmer on the back burner for a while. I love this story, though, and I have it all plotted out. It's just a matter of finding the time here and there to add to it, and my other fanfics. It helps A LOT to know you're still interested and still reading my story! Thanks so much! Your reviews, thoughts and comments are always welcome. Please let me know what you think! :)
