“The Fields of Asphodel, part II”

Stardate 75304.7; April 22, 2398

 

Episode 81

 

 

Edited by Shaun Hayes

Written by Chris Adamek

 

 

 

Chapter Six

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With a disruptor in hand, Commander Sela casually crossed the flowery veranda, seemingly unworried by the trio of phasers pointed at her.  Perhaps she placed a great deal of faith in her bodyguards… or perhaps she simply found the threat posed by Captain Alan Christopher a laughable one.  Either way, Sela was not deterred in the slightest.

 

“I was hoping I would get a chance to meet you,” said Sela quietly as she approached Christopher.  She even had the gall to flash him a faint smile.  “After all, I do hold you personally responsible for the destruction of our empire…”

 

Christopher met Sela’s gaze with indifference, as if he’d heard the spiel time and again.  “The Elorg destroyed Romulus,” he said evenly.  “Not me.”

 

Sela’s smile endured as she continued her approach—but the second she was within striking range of the Captain, her face turned stone cold, and her disruptor found its way to Christopher’s throat.  “Refresh my memory, Captain… who discovered the rift inside the Alteran Expanse?  I was under the impression that person was you… but perhaps my memory is mistaken.”

 

Christopher gulped nervously as Sela nudged the weapon deeper into his throat.  “I’d say your memory is working just fine,” he nervously rasped.  He fumbled for his phaser, but the moment he moved, Sela plucked the weapon from his hand and threw it to the ground.

 

“Of course it is.”  A seductive smile fell upon her face as she brought her lips closer Christopher’s ear.  “Allow me to… personally thank you for your discovery.”

 

Very slowly, Sela tightened her grip on the disruptor, gradually squeezing the trigger until finally, she could feel the warm energy begin to surge through its mechanisms.  At any moment, she could pull the trigger and blow Christopher’s head to smithereens—but after the terror he bestowed upon Romulus, he was hardly worthy of such a swift demise.

 

There were a dozen better ways to kill him—and since he was Ka’Tulan, they would all end with a fairly spectacular light show when his body reverted to its non-corporeal state.  Sela had always been eager to witness such a display; she only hoped it lived up to her expectations…

 

But suddenly, Sela glimpsed a flash of verdant light streak across the veranda.  It soared almost directly over her shoulder, followed an instant later by a second blast and the sonorous shrieks of her guard.  Screaming in agony, the guard immediately collapsed, dead before his body hit the ground.

 

They were under attack… and the realization was a costly one, for it provided Christopher with the split-second he needed to retaliate against Sela.  In the blink of an eye, he grabbed the disrupter pointed at his throat and violently pushed it away.  Unwilling to allow Christopher such an easy escape, Sela immediately pulled the trigger.

 

Green light surged from the emitter, plowing straight into the air with deadly intent.  But while the intent was certainly present, the target was not, and the beam hurtled into the azure skies above.

 

Sela moved to fire again, but Christopher wasn’t content to simply push the weapon away from his throat.  He continued to shove Sela’s arm back until her grip on the disruptor faltered; it momentarily slipped away from her grasp, but she managed to cling onto the precious weapon with her fingertips.  She fumbled with it for a long moment before realizing it was probably a lost cause.  Thus, she flung the disruptor to the ground and cursed as it skittered across the veranda—and Christopher immediately planted his fist in her face.

 

Dazed, Sela stumbled back a meter or so, clutching her throbbing jaw as if it were about to fall off.  She peered up at Christopher with a severe gaze—but that did little to stop him.  Unwilling to go down so easily, Sela pounced upon Christopher with all her might, driving her skull into his chest.

 

He wheezed as the air vacated his lungs, and fell to the dusty veranda with a satisfying THUMP!  Momentum kept Sela hurtling through the warm air, and she crashed to the ground beside Christopher a scant moment later.  Knowing this was her opportunity to put an end to the Captain, she quickly climbed to her knees—and subsequently found her face little more than a centimeter from the business end of a phaser.

 

“Don’t move,” said the Trill female holding the weapon.  “Unless, of course, you want to die…”

 

The sentiment hardly moved Sela.  In fact, she was almost inclined to laugh at the young Trill for her stupidity.  Sela knew for a fact that the Trill would simply stun her—and that was only if she had to courage to fire the phaser to begin with.  Even so, Sela humored the Trill, remaining still as possible to at least give the appearance of compliance. 

 

“Get up,” ordered the Trill, motioning the action with her phaser.

 

Again, Sela complied—but the moment she stood erect, she tapped a small button on her belt and vanished amidst the verdant hues of a transporter beam…

 

 

 

Proceed to Chapter Seven

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