Stardate 76670.4; August 30, 2399
EPISODE
115
Edited by Peter Bossley
Written by Chris Adamek
ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS
Lieutenant
Ashton
Angela
Christopher
General Ordikan
Justin Reinbold
Lt. Commander
Jayla Trinn
Lieutenant
Flora Sanders
Overseer Va’kyr
High Overseer
Xi’Yor
Chapter 23
Tick. Tock. Tick.
Tock.
Deep
Space Nine was under siege. As a dozen
Elorg warships laid waste to the station’s shield grid, colossal explosions of
red and orange swept through the outer docking ring. Time was running out…
Weapons
ablaze, a squadron of ten Federation starships hastily charged through the
giant explosions. Transphasic torpedoes
surged across the raging battlefield, phaser beams lashed into the heavens—and
one of the mighty Andrinel-class warships burst into flame. The ten starships darted around the
smoldering ruins—where a squadron of Romulan warbirds was lying in wait. Together, the task force came about to
engage the remaining Elorg warships—when the space around the station began to
ripple…
A
flash of light suddenly blazed across the raging heavens, and a giant maelstrom
bloomed in its verdant wake. From the
distortion’s swirling maw came forth the spherical colossus known as
Eredas-Il—and just moments later, the Federation task force was no more.
With
Deep Space Nine suddenly defenseless, the giant weapon’s true reign of terror
began. A giant section of the weapon’s
hull slowly irised away, revealing an emitter that would spell the station’s
doom—already, wisps of azure light danced around the weapon’s tip… and as the
emitter was thrust from the giant sphere, a beam of blazing light started to
slice through the cosmos. When it
finally stopped, Deep Space Nine was gone—in its place, a meager cloud of
smoldering dust…
The
battle was over and, along with the rest of the Elorg fleet, Eredas-Il streaked
into warp. Kalidar awaited…
Clip. Clop.
Clip. Clop.
Echoes of Va’kyr’s hurried footfalls seemed to
shatter the eerie silence that tried to surround her. She strode, hastily, through the myriad corridors of the Dryad
Citadel on Kalidar, her package clutched tightly in her hand. It was an important package—or so she was told—personally,
she didn’t see much intrinsic value…
But then again, it wasn’t her
package. Her opinion didn’t quite
matter.
The package was weighty—it was certainly heavier
than Va’kyr would have expected, given its contents (or lack thereof)—but Va’kyr
nevertheless strode through the corridors as if her delivery was little more
than a data pad…
Of course, it was plainly obvious that her package
was more than a simple data pad. As she
maneuvered closer to her destination, Va’kyr received more than a few curious
glances; Overseer Lyor went so far as to approach Va’kyr, but so astonished was
he by the package, his incoherent words barely registered. A few of the protectors even raised their
weapons and gradually angled them at Va’kyr, but they, too, were rendered
useless as the curious package. Thus,
there was that foreboding silence…
And the footsteps.
About halfway to her destination, Va’kyr came upon
a junction in the corridor. Armed
protectors stood in her path, and while they certainly found the package
curious, they didn’t seem as bewildered as the others. One of them raised his weapon.
“Halt!”
Va’kyr slowed her pace, but she could not afford to
be bothered by these meager fools. Her
delivery was far more important than anything they
had to worry about. “Step aside,” she
coldly stated as she drew nearer.
One of the protectors complied. He slowly lowered his weapon and allowed for
Va’kyr’s passage… staring at the ominous package the entire time. The other, more boisterous protector, was
not nearly as wise—and with her free hand, Va’kyr withdrew her weapon and
vaporized him. The remaining protector
then made absolutely certain he was out of harm’s way…
And Va’kyr’s quest continued deeper into the
Citadel. As she walked, she suddenly
found herself wondering about the package.
Flamboyant as it might have been, the package itself was relatively
useless; it served no purpose as far as Va’kyr could tell. She could only assume that Xi’Yor intended
to keep it as a trophy…
If he returned.
His mission was a foolish one. Why she agreed to partake in it, Va’kyr
might never know, but in the rare event that Xi’Yor actually succeeded, she
knew that she would be in a much better position to execute her own plans when
the time was right. And if Xi’Yor failed…
so much the better. It made no
difference either way.
Still, Xi’Yor had insisted that this package be
delivered to his chambers, regardless of his situation. At the time, Va’kyr had not been inclined to
argue, and so she suddenly found herself approaching his private lair… the
inner sanctum where Xi’Yor hatched his most devious plans.
The door must have been reprogrammed to recognize
her DNA, because Va’kyr was able to enter the sanctum unchallenged. Either that, or Xi’Yor was foolish enough to
leave his door unlocked. Va’kyr
suspected the former over the latter; vile as he might have been, Xi’Yor was no
fool.
She stepped inside, and immediately took notice of
the shadowy figure standing in the far corner of the room. “Do you have it?” The voice was deep and
raspy, and possessed an ethereal quality that sent chills down Va’kyr’s spine.
“Who are you?” she demanded, still clutching the
package.
Through the darkness, Va’kyr could see the wraith
shaking his head. “I am called
Ordikan,” he said, but made no effort to justify the claim. His attention was elsewhere. “Do you have it?”
Va’kyr assumed the wraith spoke of her little
package. It was certain she wouldn’t
have delivered anything else to
Xi’Yor’s chamber. “I have it,” she
finally replied, making a valiant effort to maintain her cool.
“Good,” said the voice between eerie breaths. “Place it on the table.”
For a fleeting moment, Va’kyr was tempted to back
out into the corridor and forget this encounter ever transpired—but somehow,
she suspected Ordikan’s memory would not be so faulty… Thus, she approached the round table in the
middle of the room, and carefully placed Ra’thenn’s severed head on its
surface.
“Impressive,” Ordikan replied, obviously pleased
with the results. “How were you able to accomplish this feat? Xi’Yor has been unsuccessful in his numerous
attempts…”
Va’kyr’s only response was a cryptic smile.
It was enough for Ordikan. “Fair enough,” he said… and moments later,
the both of them beamed away.
When the blue-tinged transporter beam released her
a few moments later, Va’kyr found herself standing amidst an impressive control
center. It was circular in its design;
stark, metallic workstations were wrapped around the perimeter; a large, panoramic
viewscreen filled out the front of the room; a command pit dominated the
center.
The architecture was rather Gothic, clearly Elorg
in origin. In fact, most of the
workstations were manned with Elorg officers, but Va’kyr recognized none of
them. In fact, the entire facility was
alien to her. “What is this place?” she
wondered aloud.
No response.
No sign of Ordikan, either…
She stepped closer to the unmanned workstation
nearest her position, hoping to glean some answers from the wealth of data
flitting across the screen. It didn’t
take long for Va’kyr to realize she was aboard Eredas-Il…