Star Trek_ Typhon Pact_ Seize The Fire Part 2

21.

The d.a.m.ned thing is a sentient life-form, Riker thought as he made for Lieutenant Qontallium's quarters at a dead run. G.o.d G.o.d d.a.m.n. d.a.m.n.Once he got inside, he lit into the Gorn without any preamble. "Why the h.e.l.l didn't you tell me about this the last last time you were allegedly leveling with me?" time you were allegedly leveling with me?""Because I was protecting something that many in my caste regard as holy," S'syrixx said."Holy? You're telling me that an ancient machine intelligence of some sort runs and maintains Brahma-Shiva-and that it's now somehow part of the Gorn religion as well?""I have come to believe that the mind that resides in that machine is nothing less than S'Yahazah Herself.""S'Yahazah?""The Great Egg Bringer of Gorn prehistory. Our culture is extremely old, Rry'kurr, on the order of a million or more suncircuits. S'Yahazah, the progenitor of all the present-day castes, is the wielder of the awesome power of creation.""And you believe this . . . S'Yahazah lives inside the artifact.""It is the belief that has caused me to jeopardize both my career and my very life in order to protect an entire planet-even as I acted to safeguard the life and integrity of the intelligence that inhabits the ecosculptor. When I initially disabled the device, Rry'kurr, I could have simply planted explosives on board, or forced it to deorbit and burn up in Hranrar's atmosphere. Haven't you wondered why I did neither of those things?"In truth, he hadn't; time for reflective thought had not been in great abundance since his first encounter with Kra.s.srr. "I suppose I a.s.sumed you were only trying to slow down Kra.s.srr's mission-not destroy it.""I was, but for reasons I could not reveal to you. Not without speaking of the ineffable before nonbelievers."Riker folded his arms across his chest. "Well, you don't seem to have any problem doing that now-and in front of a lowly mammal, no less."S'syrixx sat on the edge of Qontallium's hard bed and wrapped his arms across his chest, mirroring Riker's body language. "It was either that or see S'Yahazah destroyed by those same lowly mammals, Rry'kurr. No offense intended.""None taken, Mister S'syrixx. I like like being a mammal. Now why should I believe there's an AI living aboard that device, let alone a figure out of Gorn theology?" being a mammal. Now why should I believe there's an AI living aboard that device, let alone a figure out of Gorn theology?"S'syrixx leaned forward, his cranial crests moving slightly up and down as though driven by some wheel that turned within the reptiloid's great head. "When I was working aboard Kra.s.srr's fleet I measured its thought-output-that which your Doctor Ree might describe as 'brainwave patterns.' We have seen this thought-output-the will of the ent.i.ty that dwells inside the ecosculptor, regardless of whether or not one believes it to be S'Yahazah's own-manifest itself on many occasions."Riker felt his brow furrow. "Manifest how?""I believe that the large-scale subs.p.a.ce communications interference Tie-tan Tie-tan has encountered all across this system to be S'Yahazah's handiwork, as well as the fortuitous instances of our breaking through it." has encountered all across this system to be S'Yahazah's handiwork, as well as the fortuitous instances of our breaking through it.""You seem to be saying that a ghost in the machine-""A G.o.ddess," S'syrixx corrected, interrupting."-a G.o.ddess in the machine is arbitrarily deciding which comm signals we can send and receive, and which ones we can't.""There is nothing arbitrary about it, Rry'kurr. S'Yahazah always follows a plan, even if its purpose is obscure to us. I believe that She is encouraging us to parley with our adversaries rather than fight them, and vice versa. That is why she has allowed us to speak with Kra.s.srr and Gog'resssh, all the while barring our subs.p.a.ce signals from getting past the system's periphery."Riker nodded, though he wasn't sanguine about accepting S'syrixx's story just yet. "Which would explain why we had to send our shuttlecraft pretty far outside the system to establish contact with Starfleet. I suppose t.i.tan t.i.tan would have to travel a comparable distance to get beyond the reach of . . ." He trailed off. would have to travel a comparable distance to get beyond the reach of . . ." He trailed off."Of a G.o.ddess," S'syrixx said with no evident embarra.s.sment. "Kra.s.srr doubtless had much the same difficulty in summoning the Typhon Pact fleet that now approaches.""So I have to weigh a global civilization of millions against a single AI," Riker said. Stated that way, the math still looked pretty straightforward. A simple case of the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few.But thoughts of another machine intelligence haunted him. The ghost of his late friend Data, a sentient being whose life had been no less valuable than that of any of Riker's other friends or colleagues, wouldn't let the captain resolve the conflict so simply."I hope what I have told you causes you to revise your plan of attack," S'syrixx said."It will," Riker said. "But I can't sacrifice millions just to save one. And I won't knowingly kill an intelligent being-even a machine intelligence-to save those millions.""But what if you cannot rescue both? What will you do then?""I'll just have to find a way to split the difference," Riker said. He felt a gentle smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Come with me, Mister S'syrixx."Xin Ra-Havreii took his seat at the conference table along with the rest of his away team, Lieutenant Commander Pazlar, the captain, and t.i.tan t.i.tan's Gorn guest. He stopped trying to conceal his annoyance at the last-minute, unplanned gathering."We're more than ready for this away mission, Captain," the chief engineer said with an impatient scowl. "I don't think this meeting is strictly necessary, especially with the Typhon Pact fleet coming in just over five hours. We still have a terraforming platform to raid and disable, and there is such a thing as overpreparing."The captain spoke with a calmness that belied the gravity of the moment. "Believe me, Commander, the last thing I want to do is hinder the mission. But some new information has just come to light, and your entire team needs to be brought up to speed."Ra-Havreii listened with an escalating sense of incredulity as the captain and the Gorn began speaking in tandem, taking turns to spin a tale that seemed half ancient Gorn legend and half high-tech ghost story.Ra-Havreii shook his head after they had finished. "So all we have to do is find a way to neutralize Brahma-Shiva's destructive capacity while sparing the existence of the AI that our guest claims dwells within it.""That's essentially it," the captain said."That's a.s.suming, of course, that there really is is an intelligence of any sort aboard Brahma-Shiva," Ra-Havreii said. "At the moment, the only evidence for this is the entirely subjective opinion of Mister S'syrixx." an intelligence of any sort aboard Brahma-Shiva," Ra-Havreii said. "At the moment, the only evidence for this is the entirely subjective opinion of Mister S'syrixx.""I speak only S'Yahazah's plain truth," growled the Gorn, who leaned forward slightly over the conference table in Ra-Havreii's direction. Ra-Havreii saw that Lieutenant Qontallium, who was standing nearby, had tensed visibly, and hoped that he hadn't flinched involuntarily himself."Easy there," Keru said.S'syrixx sat back in his chair, folding his long-clawed hands before him in a surprisingly graceful gesture. Then the Gorn lapsed into a silence that nevertheless seemed almost truculent."Perhaps other empirical evidence of Mister S'syrixx's a.s.sertion exists," said SecondGen White-Blue, who hovered a short distance from the table at about eye level, courtesy of his elegant array of antigravs and pneumatic thrusters."Explain," Captain Riker said."Mister Torvig and I noted a curious, nonrepeating anomalous reading on the subs.p.a.ce sensors," said the beachball-sized artificial intelligence.Riker's brows knitted. "Why didn't either of you report this? We might have discovered this . . . intelligence a bit sooner.""At the time we could not rule out our own instrumentality as the cause of our readings, Captain," White-Blue said, obviously unfazed by the captain's chiding tone. "Except when viewed in retrospect-and in juxtaposition with other information of better provenance-such rogue data points cannot be regarded as indicative of anything. Did we err?""I'll review t.i.tan t.i.tan's data-reporting protocols with you and Mister Torvig later," Melora told the AI."Of course, Commander.""Putting this cyberG.o.ddess business to one side for a moment," Keru said, "I have to question whether it's wise to send Commander Ra-Havreii off the ship right now. Our warp drive is still down, and we're going to have a severe need for speed at about the time the Typhon Pact fleet arrives.""If I thought there was anything that my engineering staff wasn't already doing to speed up the engine repairs," Ra-Havreii said, "then you'd need three wild sehlat sehlat and a couple of and a couple of mugato mugato to chase me out of that engine room. Don't worry, Commander. When to chase me out of that engine room. Don't worry, Commander. When t.i.tan t.i.tan needs to roll, she'll be ready. needs to roll, she'll be ready."Now back to the AI. How could its alleged presence affect the mission we're about to undertake?"Melora spoke up. "Ideally, we'd find a way to communicate with this intelligence. If we could enlist its cooperation in saving the Hranrarii, the AI could prove to be a huge a.s.set. It might even make the destruction of Brahma-Shiva entirely unnecessary.""That's a.s.suming we can trust the thing to consider us the good guys and Kra.s.srr's people the bad guys," Keru said. "In terms of the immediate safety of the Hranrarii and the Federation's long-term security, that could be just as risky as deciding to do nothing at all.""So we're still following the basic outline of the original plan," Ra-Havreii said. "We sneak a shuttlecraft to within transporter range of Brahma-Shiva, now that our good friend Gog'resssh has demonstrated that Kra.s.srr's fleet appears to be blind to small, stealthy craft on certain inbound trajectories. Then we beam aboard with Mister S'syrixx's guidance, copy out all the data we can from Brahma-Shiva's...o...b..ard systems, set our timed charges, and get the h.e.l.l out.""That's right," Riker said."The possible presence of a machine intelligence complicates things a bit, Captain," Melora said. "A functioning AI is a lot more than the sum of its files. Consciousness as we understand it is an emergent property of complex networks of neural connections, or reasonable a.n.a.logs thereof. As such, the 'essence' or 'soul' of a conscious ent.i.ty can't always just be copied as though it were merely a holodeck program.""Really?" Riker said. "Copies of Starfleet's early-model Emergency Medical Holograms are routinely pa.s.sing the Turing Test. Some of them are even demanding full civil rights under the guarantees of the Federation Const.i.tution. There's nothing 'mere' about that.""I can serve as a vessel to contain such a cybernetic consciousness," White-Blue said. "At least on a temporary basis, my function would be similar to the holographic systems that house the sentience of Starfleet's Emergency Medical Holograms.""Maybe," Melora said. "But we can't be sure it will work. Certain artificial consciousness matrices seem to resist being copied, the way latinum resists a replicator. For example, the Daystrom Inst.i.tute has been trying to recover the mind of Lieutenant Commander Data for almost three years now, with nothing to show for it so far."Ra-Havreii winced slightly. He was aware that the captain and Data had been close friends, so the shadow of sadness that pa.s.sed across Riker's face didn't surprise him nearly as much as Melora's surprising insensitivity in bringing the subject up.Still, he couldn't argue with her point. She was right."Indeed," Commander Tuvok said. "This aspect of the mission may be academic. t.i.tan t.i.tan's main computer still contains all the information it did after White-Blue accidentally caused it to achieve sentience. Since the time t.i.tan t.i.tan's emergent consciousness opted to sacrifice itself to save the ship, every attempt to recover that consciousness has met with failure."Riker acknowledged the difficulties with a melancholic nod. "If anything inside that artifact is conscious," he said at length, "then we have to at least try to save it."Tuvok said, "The needs of the many, Captain-""I know, Commander," the captain said, interrupting. "That's why you're still going on this mission. I'm not about to let Kra.s.srr wipe out millions of lives, and neither are any of you." Then he stood, signaling that the meeting was at an end.Ra-Havreii stood, following Riker's lead, as did everyone else save the hovering White-Blue. "We're ready, Captain."From his command chair on the bridge, Riker watched an aft view of t.i.tan t.i.tan, framed by the length of the starship's nacelles, beyond which lay a brilliant pink and amber aurora and the dim curve of the planet's cold northern reaches. The aftmost portion of t.i.tan t.i.tan's secondary hull, at the bottom of the central viewer, disgorged a small bright object that quickly dwindled in size until it was lost in the radiant taffy pull of local geomagnetic forces.The shuttlecraft Gillespie Gillespie was under way. was under way."Lieutenant Rager," he said. "Any sign that the S'alath S'alath has noticed the launch?" has noticed the launch?""Not as yet, Captain," replied the senior ops officer."Time until the Typhon Pact fleet arrives?""Approximately five hours and five minutes, Captain," Rager said, sounding justifiably uncomfortable at the prospect of cutting things so fine. "Give or take."What the heck am I supposed to do with all this excess time? Riker thought wryly as he settled in and awaited Gog'resssh's next scheduled call. Riker thought wryly as he settled in and awaited Gog'resssh's next scheduled call."The S'alath S'alath is hailing us, Captain," Rager reported a scant three minutes later. is hailing us, Captain," Rager reported a scant three minutes later.Gog'resssh is nothing if not punctual, Riker thought. "Put it up, Lieutenant."The frosty planetary vista on the main viewer abruptly vanished, replaced by a leering, lizardlike countenance that bore only a pa.s.sing resemblance to that of the Gorn technologist who had accompanied the just-departed second away team."The S'alath S'alath now stands ready to commit to a joint a.s.sault on the ecosculptor, Rry'kurr," now stands ready to commit to a joint a.s.sault on the ecosculptor, Rry'kurr," Gog'resssh rumbled. Gog'resssh rumbled. "We will leave immediately after your arrival aboard my vessel." "We will leave immediately after your arrival aboard my vessel.""Come again?" Riker said."Have we not already agreed to act as partners in this venture?" said the Gorn warrior, whose gray, diseased-looking facial scales gave him a decidedly sinister appearance-even for a razor-toothed, insect-eyed reptiloid. said the Gorn warrior, whose gray, diseased-looking facial scales gave him a decidedly sinister appearance-even for a razor-toothed, insect-eyed reptiloid.Riker felt a cavern of dread open up deep in his guts. "Thank you for the invitation, First Myrmidon Gog'resssh. But I'd be a more effective partner running t.i.tan t.i.tan from here." from here.""You will beam aboard the S'alath, S'alath, Rry'kurr," Rry'kurr," the reptiloid said, his gray-green lips pulling back to display a veritable dental abattoir. the reptiloid said, his gray-green lips pulling back to display a veritable dental abattoir. "Unless, of course, you wish Captain Kra.s.srr to become aware of your fortuitous survival." "Unless, of course, you wish Captain Kra.s.srr to become aware of your fortuitous survival."Riker paused for a moment to do the math, and almost immediately realized he had no good alternatives-at least not without all but guaranteeing the deaths of millions of innocent people. To say nothing of the likely destruction of t.i.tan t.i.tan."Send us the exact transporter coordinates," he said. "I'll beam over in a few minutes."The Gorn's grin widened, and Riker resisted an impulse to shudder only through a sheer act of will. "Excellent," "Excellent," Gog'resssh hissed an instant before he vanished from the screen. Gog'resssh hissed an instant before he vanished from the screen.Riker turned toward the main engineering console, behind which the gamma-shift officer of the watch was looking askance at him. "Mister Gibruch, you have the bridge.""Sir, you can't be serious about this," said Lieutenant Commander Tamen Gibruch. A native of the nonaligned planet Chand Aad, his ba.s.soonlike voice was an amalgam of the sounds generated by the columns of air contained in the trunks-they were sometimes described as "tails"-that dangled loosely from his cranium."If I refuse, he'll tip our hand early to Kra.s.srr before the Gillespie Gillespie team has a chance to do its job on the terraforming device." team has a chance to do its job on the terraforming device.""He's got to be bluffing, Captain. He knows that if he contacts Kra.s.srr he'll be placing his own ship in harm's way as well.""Stand down, Commander," Riker said, sharpening his tone to indicate that the matter wasn't open to debate. "I've dealt with the Gorn during a couple of previous diplomatic crises. They're big on bl.u.s.ter, but they also value courage and trust. If I refuse Gog'resssh's . . . request, he'll interpret it as bad faith on my part."Sounding somewhat chastened, Gibruch said, "Sorry, sir. It's just that his 'request' sounded more like a non-negotiable demand to me. And I'm not sure he's really crazy enough to risk revealing his own hiding place to Captain Kra.s.srr."Riker couldn't argue with any of that. But that didn't necessarily matter, given the particulars of the situation. "Maybe he is, and maybe he isn't. But the stakes are too high to risk calling his bluff. I'm not playing for poker chips, Commander. The stakes are millions of lives.""But you'll be walking into a trap!""Very likely." The captain began moving toward the turbolift. "But I don't appear to have a better alternative.""You'll be Gog'resssh's hostage!" Gibruch fluted, the pitch of his bellows-driven voice rising again, moving in lockstep with his emotions.Riker paused momentarily on the turbolift's threshold and looked over his shoulder back at Gibruch. "No, I won't, Commander-because in that eventuality, I expect you to blow the S'alath S'alath out of the sky." out of the sky."After the shimmering light-curtain of t.i.tan t.i.tan's transporter beam enfolded him, Riker felt as though he had just embarked on the longest transport of his life.In point of fact, he had; so intense were the twisting, tangling lines of local geomagnetic interference that using the transporters of both t.i.tan t.i.tan and the and the S'alath S'alath in tandem had turned out to be the only way-other than using a shuttlecraft-to safely traverse the few kilometers that separated the two vessels. He was conscious during his pa.s.sage through the matter stream, like an orbital skydiver leaping through a turbulent storm system. The transit brought to mind recollections of a similar travail experienced by his in tandem had turned out to be the only way-other than using a shuttlecraft-to safely traverse the few kilometers that separated the two vessels. He was conscious during his pa.s.sage through the matter stream, like an orbital skydiver leaping through a turbulent storm system. The transit brought to mind recollections of a similar travail experienced by his Enterprise Enterprise colleague Reginald Barclay, as well as a holodeck program in which he had spent a harrowing ninety seconds pa.s.sing through a simulation of the mid-twenty-second-century prototype transporter that Dr. Emory Erickson had built with his own hands. colleague Reginald Barclay, as well as a holodeck program in which he had spent a harrowing ninety seconds pa.s.sing through a simulation of the mid-twenty-second-century prototype transporter that Dr. Emory Erickson had built with his own hands.Then, with an abruptness that drew most of the air from his lungs, the combined Federation-Gorn transporter effect released him. He found himself standing on a bare metal stage, facing the glowing walls of a semicircular chamber that bore only a vague resemblance to t.i.tan t.i.tan's transporter room.Something seized his shoulder roughly, spinning him one hundred and eighty degrees about.Gog'resssh, flanked by a pair of armed and apparently hair-trigger-ready Gorn warriors, stood on the transporter stage facing him. Riker could see now that the stage was set inside a larger chamber, which included a freestanding control console. Gripping him by both shoulders hard enough to leave bruises, Gog'resssh presented Riker with a grin that was as foul-smelling as it was terrifying.Whatever condition was afflicting Gog'resssh, from the gray coloration and wrinkled texture of his facial scales to the peculiar glow of his insectlike eyes, Riker decided that t.i.tan t.i.tan's main viewer hadn't done it justice. The rogue Gorn warrior was clearly unwell, perhaps even dying.It came to Riker in a rush that Gog'resssh might be too desperate to behave rationally-and that in any such "nothing left to lose" scenario, Riker's a.s.sessment of the risks of beaming aboard the S'alath S'alath would almost certainly be way off the mark. would almost certainly be way off the mark."You understand our traditions well, Rry'kurr," Gog'resssh's said. "Appearing in our midst with your back to us does us honor."Thanks to his prior experiences with Gog'resssh's people, Riker understood that members of the Gorn warrior and political castes regarded any face-to-face transporter materialization as gravely offensive, a sign of unwarranted aggression."Just trying to be polite, First Myrmidon," Riker said, trying not to show any discomfiture at the rough handling-at least by human standards-that he was receiving in the first myrmidon's grasp. "Permission to come aboard the S'alath S'alath?""I would have you nowhere else, Rry'kurr," Gog'resssh said in sepulchral tones. The Gorn's thicket of razor-sharp teeth suddenly drew closer, as though he had summarily decided to bite Riker's head off. Then the transporter stage seemed to shift beneath Riker's feet, going abruptly perpendicular as it catapulted him into the air.Riker landed on his back on the deck, beside the transporter console, his head intact; though disoriented, he realized he had come to rest precisely where Gog'resssh had thrown him.Gog'resssh's armed toadies lumbered toward him, vicious-looking disruptor pistols gripped in scaly, clawed fingers that looked as strong as steel cables. Like their leader, these troopers also appeared unwell; they vaguely reminded Riker of the decomposing, flesh-eating ghouls that had been one of the mainstays of flatvid horror movies about four centuries ago."Rry'kurr!" Gog'resssh said. "You are now a prisoner of the new warrior caste of the Gorn Hegemony."Before Riker had left t.i.tan t.i.tan, he had heard protests not only from Lieutenant Commander Gibruch, but also from Dr. Ree. The latter had gone so far as to threaten to use his authority as CMO to relieve him of command. Only the sheer brute force of a command browbeating had caused Ree to back off, however reluctantly.Now, as one of the troopers hauled him roughly to his feet and placed his weapon at his temple, Riker wished that his chief surgeon had been more persistent.The other trooper searched him cursorily for weapons, but found nothing." 'New warrior caste'?" Riker asked, focusing on Gog'resssh and ignoring his underlings as much as possible."Those of us who were charged with the protection of the crecheworld of Sazssgrerrn when the Egg Bringer S'Yahazah withdrew her protection from it," Gog'resssh said.Things were beginning to make sense. "You and your people were on Sazssgrerrn when the . . . disaster struck."Gog'ressh growled with barely contained anger. "We are the only survivors, Rry'kurr. Survivors that my own caste-brethren tried to euthanize. We take our continued survival as a sign from S'Yahazah that we are destined to supplant those brethren and build a new warrior caste of our own-a warrior caste with a mandate to rule all the other castes, and a destiny that will never again leave us vulnerable to the whims of fate.""You want to control your destiny," Riker said. "There's nothing wrong with that. But what does that have to do with trying to blow up the terraforming device-the eco-sculptor, as you call it? And what does it have to do with capturing me?""The ecosculptor is merely a symbol of the old warrior caste. It must be destroyed.""Gog'resssh, I'm all for destroying the thing if that means saving the Hranrarii. But what I don't understand is why you'd destroy something that could create a hatchery world for your new caste.""Our new caste will be strong enough to prosper anywhere, and without such tricks as an ecosculptor. We may even use this very world, Hranrar, for our hatchery.""Putting the ecosculptor to one side, it's still just you and a few of your subordinates against the entire social order of the Gorn Hegemony," Riker said. "And not only that-you'll be going up against the entire Typhon Pact: the Breen, the Tzenkethi, the Kinshaya, the Tholians, and the Romulans.""That is why you are invaluable to me, Rry'kurr," Gog'resssh said, now almost purring as he reveled in his vision. "Once the entirety of the Typhon Pact learns that we have struck a decisive blow against the old warrior caste, it will discover that we have also taken the commander of Tie-tan Tie-tan, along with his ship.""Aren't you getting a little bit ahead of yourself, Gog'resssh? You not only don't have control of t.i.tan t.i.tan, you have no way to stop her crew from following their orders.""What orders?" Gog'resssh growled."Orders to destroy the S'alath S'alath in the event of my capture." in the event of my capture."Gog'resssh loped toward him again, quickly closing to within kissing distance. Riker could feel his most recent meal trying to flee his body. "Why should your crew believe any such thing has occurred, Rry'kurr? Once I have your command codes, one of my tech-casters will see to their rea.s.surance that all is well-using your voice, of course."Riker shook his head and released a nervous chuckle that he hoped Gog'resssh would interpret as confident. "Go climb your thumb," he said."I have seen this mammal before, First Myrmidon," the trooper to Riker's left said, stepping on whatever response Gog'resssh might have been about to make. "He came to Gornar aboard the Ent'rr'priszz Ent'rr'priszz, to put down the rebellion of the Black Crest warriors against the political caste.""Yessss," Gog'resssh said. "A battle he waged on behalf of an old order that would just as soon extinguish us all."At a gesture from Gog'resssh, the troopers seized him, each taking an arm. The rogue commander grabbed Riker's combadge and pulled it from his chest, along with shreds of black and gray fabric from his uniform tunic. Riker watched with as much impa.s.sivity as he could muster as Gog'resssh crushed the combadge as though it were an insect. Then the troopers half-carried, half-dragged him out of the chamber and down a length of grim, gray corridor before depositing him ungently into a cold, bare holding cell.

22.

As seen from the forward section of the shuttlecraft Gillespie Gillespie, Brahma-Shiva presented the aspect of a small but swiftly expanding disc, alone in the cosmic darkness but for the handful of smaller, nearby lights that surrounded it. Those lesser lights were all that could be seen of the five vessels that presently const.i.tuted Captain Kra.s.srr's terraforming fleet. Like a coterie of solicitous servants, they appeared to be tending Brahma-Shiva.Or perhaps, Xin Ra-Havreii thought, they were cajoling and scolding it like officious slave masters."Any indication that Kra.s.srr's fleet has seen us yet?" the chief engineer asked as he leaned into the darkened c.o.c.kpit to get a better view of the approaching artifact's ventral-most section."So far, so good," Ranul Keru said from the left chair, the pilot's seat. "We know that Gog'resssh used the same kind of 'bottom-up' approach vector to sneak up on these guys and exit before they figured out he was even there."Seated in the right chair, Tuvok checked a sensor reading on the copilot's console. "We should not become complacent, Commander. Kra.s.srr may have rea.s.sessed his security protocols since Gog'resssh's act of theft. The so-called blind spots that Gog'resssh exploited may no longer exist.""I suppose there's only one way to make an empirical determination," Ra-Havreii said. Though battle tactics and strategy had never been his strong suit, he recalled something some military luminary or other had said about contingency planning-words to the effect that generals always plan for the next war using the already-outdated theories of the previous conflict.Ra-Havreii heard a deep hissing sound coming from behind the c.o.c.kpit section; it made him start with a star-ship engineer's ingrained vigilance against sudden decompression-until he realized it was merely the sound of t.i.tan t.i.tan's latest guest speaking."Kra.s.srr is very exacting in his duties, but he does not excel at generalizing," said S'syrixx, who sat on the floor between the Gillespie Gillespie's seats while Lieutenant Qontallium and SecondGen White-Blue hovered nearby, the former figuratively, the latter literally."Meaning what, exactly?" Ra-Havreii asked, raising a snow-white eyebrow."Meaning that because Gog'resssh stole from the fleet's food stores, that will be the focus of any of Kra.s.srr's tactical upgrades," S'syrixx said. "Not necessarily the security of the ecosculptor. Gog'resssh doesn't seem to have tried to disable it, or even approach it.""Perhaps," Ra-Havreii said, turning to face the Gorn technician. "But if anyone focused Kra.s.srr's attention on enhancing the artifact's security, it would have been you you, Mister S'syrixx-the first first time you messed with it." time you messed with it.""I cannot dispute that," S'syrixx said. "Nor can you dispute that I now share with you whatever risk might flow from that decision.""I recommend that everyone focus on the mission at hand," Tuvok said.A few seconds later the frantic beeping of an alarm began a duet with the urgent flashing of a light on Tuvok's console. For a few moments Ra-Havreii thought his heart had stopped."Kra.s.srr must have seen us," he said."Calm yourself, Commander," Tuvok said. "The alarm merely indicates that we have reached optimal transporter range.""All stop," Keru said. "Keeping station. There's still no sign that Kra.s.srr knows we're here."As the away team began to mount the Gillespie Gillespie's small transporter stage, Ra-Havreii found himself standing uncomfortably close to S'syrixx. "I hope the transporter coordinates you gave us were accurate," he told the Gorn. "As well as your a.s.sessment of the life-support conditions inside the artifact." Not to mention Not to mention, he added silently, the optimal transporter frequencies and confinement-beam settings necessary to get us inside that thing without merging our molecules permanently with it the optimal transporter frequencies and confinement-beam settings necessary to get us inside that thing without merging our molecules permanently with it."I share your hopes," S'syrixx said, speaking around a display of teeth that might have frightened fear itself. "But be comforted. If I have miscalculated, whatever may happen to you because of my carelessness will also happen to me."Ra-Havreii felt rea.s.sured not in the least as the transporter's curtain of light took him.

GORN HEGEMONY WARSHIP S'ALATH S'ALATH A snorting grunt of surprise from the forward section of the command deck drew Z'shezhira's attention to the central viewer, which continued to display the planet's frigid northern curvature.Along with something new. A light, which one of Gog'resssh's junior troopers was watching with intent curiosity and no small amount of confusion. Within a few moments, Second Myrmidon Zegrroz'rh began to show an interest, his one good compound eye widening either with wonder or fear or both.No, she realized after a moment's study. It's not new at all It's not new at all.It was the ecosculptor, visible, if only barely, through the distortion of Hranrar's relentless northern auroral effects. It hung in its usual spot, just above the horizon line.But its formerly pa.s.sive, reflected-sunlight glow had escalated at least tenfold, making it more brilliant than any of Hranrar's natural satellites. It was as though the object had suddenly become charged with enormous internal energies, as one might expect were it about to release sufficient energy to remake an entire world.Forbid this, Great S'Yahazah, she thought, imagining the millions of Hranrarii lives that would probably be extinguished very soon, perhaps right before her eyes.The worst was finally happening. There was no longer any time to stall or temporize. Her limited slate of options suddenly narrowed to a single fateful choice. Taking advantage of the rapt attention the war-casters were paying to the beautiful and terrible image on the main screen, Z'shezhira began working quickly and quietly, entering a string of well-rehea.r.s.ed commands into her station's console.A moment before she could bring her task to completion, a voice behind her froze the blood in her veins."What are you doing?" bellowed Zegrroz'rh.Determined never to hesitate again in the face of a warcaster's challenge, she slammed her left ma.n.u.s into the console as she hastened to enter the EXECUTE EXECUTE command. command.Zegrroz'rh bellowed, charging toward her with outstretched claws even as the transporter beam began to make his body glow and shimmer. . . .

23.

Slumped against one of the bare metal walls of the holding cell, Riker made a glum a.s.sessment of his present circ.u.mstances.Gog'resssh must be on his bridge by now, giving orders, Riker thought. Having always had a gift for interpreting the "feel" of a ship, he felt he was a good judge of when a vessel was in motion, be it at warp or at impulse. But that gift didn't necessarily apply, he realized, to Gorn ships; at the moment he couldn't tell if the S'alath S'alath was still keeping station inside a geomagnetic hotspot over Hranrar's north pole, or if it was already under way, en route to Brahma-Shiva. was still keeping station inside a geomagnetic hotspot over Hranrar's north pole, or if it was already under way, en route to Brahma-Shiva.If Gog'resssh goes straight for Brahma-Shiva, then there's a good chance he'll destroy it before the crew of the Gillespie Gillespie can get to safety can get to safety, he thought, cursing himself for having so badly underestimated Gog'resssh's craziness quotient.He gazed through the blue forcefield barrier that prevented him from walking into the corridor to confront the lone guard who was standing sentry, his broad back facing in Riker's direction. And even if I And even if I do do get out of here, this fine fellow must be itching for the least little excuse to rip my head clean off my shoulders get out of here, this fine fellow must be itching for the least little excuse to rip my head clean off my shoulders.Deciding there was no point in keeping his minder waiting, he reached into the top of his boot and withdrew the palm-size "cricket" phaser he'd secreted there just before disembarking from t.i.tan t.i.tan. He adjusted the beam to a tight focus at an intensity of "disrupt," and aimed it at what appeared to be a sealed circuit panel on the wall beside the energy screen.He pressed the fire b.u.t.ton, and the small but powerful weapon's bright red beam immediately began tearing into the wall. The acrid smell of ozone quickly spread through the cell as the blue energy screen across the doorway sparked, sputtered, and finally vanished.A hulking form turned in the corridor beyond, its reptilian face displaying a mixture of incredulity and rage as a pair of compound eyes focused on Riker. Pausing to click the phaser to a less lethal setting, Riker aimed the weapon and opened fire.The Gorn guard took the shot full in the chest, but lumbered forward after only a moment's hesitation.Riker fired again. The Gorn took a stumbling half-step backward after taking a second direct hit to the center of its body ma.s.s, then resumed its advance. Riker swung his thumb onto the setting controls, re-set the weapon, and took aim again--but failed to click the "fire" b.u.t.ton again before the Gorn had drawn close enough to slap his arm away, sending the weapon clattering to the deck. Though he tried to roll with the blow, claws raked Riker's sleeve, shredding it thoroughly enough to make him certain he was already bleeding as he dived to the deck.Riker rolled to his feet, gathering himself immediately into a battle-ready crouch. Not only was the phaser nowhere in sight, the Gorn soldier was already coming for him again, leaving no time for the recovery of a weapon. Evidently more than aware that it had him overmatched, the creature hadn't even bothered to draw the wicked-looking sidearm it wore on its hip.I'm getting too G.o.dd.a.m.ned old for this, Riker thought.Although Z'shezhira had taken great pains over a considerable interval of time to perfect her escape plan, she remained plagued by two gnawing questions: one, had the ideal time to execute the plan really arrived? And would the plan work when she finally summoned sufficient courage to carry it out?She began to suspect that she wouldn't like the answer to either question as she worked in a s.p.a.ce far more cramped than the command deck, using a wall-mounted console to resume her remote control of the transporter systems.Despite her current difficulties, she was grateful for one important initial success; because of it, Zegrroz'rh would no longer pose a problem. But for reasons she could not yet fathom, that same success seemed to elude her in attaining her next objective. The targeting sensors were balking at establishing a transporter lock on what should have been a conspicuous and therefore easy target: the bio-signs of the only higher mammalian life form currently aboard the S'alath S'alath.Something was interfering with the annular confinement beam. It was as though another bio-sign was getting in the way, scrambling her lock.One of Gog'resssh's troopers must be with him, Z'shezhira realized. Maybe interrogating him, or perhaps doing something worse Maybe interrogating him, or perhaps doing something worse.The need for haste and stealth having left her with little alternative, she broadened the confinement beam and keyed in the ENERGIZE ENERGIZE command. command.The hissing, growling reptiloid advanced again, but this time his body began to glow and distort, as though Riker was watching the creature's image being projected onto an ancient funhouse mirror.When Riker raised his fists into a defensive posture, he saw that this strange effect wasn't limited to the Gorn.Here we go again, he thought as the matter stream enveloped him.Unlike his initial beam-over to the S'alath S'alath, however, this transit seemed to span only a few seconds. Within the s.p.a.ce of several heartbeats, the cheerless metal walls of a Gorn brig seemed to have curved and constricted, giving him a momentary sensation of claustrophobia.Unfortunately, the Gorn soldier was still charging him, either unaware of or apathetic toward the sudden unexplained change of scenery.Riker let the Gorn charge, feinted right, then spun to the left at the last possible instant. He kicked the reptiloid solidly in the head as it lunged past, but to little apparent effect.He turned as quickly as the little chamber's tight confines allowed, and heard a scream coming from his a.s.sailant's direction.Now Riker could see that there was a second second Gorn in this new chamber. The Gorn soldier had evidently forgotten about Riker as soon as he'd seen the other Gorn. This was a smaller, slighter creature, and the soldier was raising it from the deck using the single set of claws he had wrapped around the other reptiloid's throat. Gorn in this new chamber. The Gorn soldier had evidently forgotten about Riker as soon as he'd seen the other Gorn. This was a smaller, slighter creature, and the soldier was raising it from the deck using the single set of claws he had wrapped around the other reptiloid's throat."You!" the Gorn soldier said. " the Gorn soldier said. "You are responsible for this!" are responsible for this!"The creature in the soldier's iron grasp made incoherent sounds of distress as it strangled. Looking past the rapidly asphyxiating creature, Riker spied a window through which the white curvature of Hranrar's north polar region was clearly visible. At least Gog'resssh isn't under way yet for Brahma-Shiva At least Gog'resssh isn't under way yet for Brahma-Shiva, Riker noted with some relief, hoping that he'd rematerialized in an escape pod of some sort."Why did you bring me and this mammal here?" the soldier demanded. Riker could see on the smaller Gorn's facial scales evidence of more than one recent, only partially-healed beating. Evidently someone had used this smaller, weaker being as a punching bag.Riker now understood that he probably owed an enormous debt of thanks to the underdog in this Gorn-on-Gorn encounter. And there's only one way to repay that debt And there's only one way to repay that debt, he thought as he crept up behind the angry soldier.Spots swam before Z'shezhira's eyes. The universe had begun to contract around her as consciousness became increasingly problematic for her. Her feet kicked ineffectually at the air as the angry war-caster shouted questions whose answers he seemed unwilling to hear.She wasn't surprised by this turn of events; the odds had always been very much against any attempt at mutiny or escape. She merely felt an intense sorrow at the prospect of dying with this killing machine's image burned upon her retinas and into her brain. She had always hoped to die in some far-flung future, her final vision filled with grandchildren, children, and her intended, S'syrixx. Now, all she could see, ringed as it was in darkness, was the face of her killer.It was a face that suddenly displayed an emotion she had never a.s.sociated with members of the warrior caste: intense surprise.The ma.n.u.s at her throat squeezed her once, hard, nearly shattering her neck bones, then abruptly slackened. Then, like a burned-out eldertree in Gornar's southern forests, her tormentor swayed briefly before beginning an unceremonious terminal descent through a cloud of ozone-scented smoke. Z'shezhira would have fallen with him had she not managed to steady herself along the edge of one of the viewing ports.Catching her breath, she saw that the mammal she had targeted was standing directly behind the insensate war-caster. In its pink claws it clutched an unwieldy war-caster matter-disruption pistol."He left his holster unfastened," the mammal said, nodding toward the fallen war-caster. "Gog'resssh's discipline must be getting sloppy.""Rry'kurr," Z'shezhira croaked, rubbing her injured throat with both ma.n.u.s."I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage," the mammal said, still holding the weapon in a manner that made Z'shezhira wonder if he might be contemplating using it again."You saved my life," she said.Rry'kurr displayed his tiny white teeth, which emerged from a small jungle of mammal-fur. "I suppose we're even, then. Now unless I miss my guess, we're aboard one of the S'alath S'alath's escape pods."Z'shezhira could feel her disorientation beginning to fade. "Exactly," she said. Noting that feeling was returning to her limbs, she moved toward the main control panel and began inputting the launch-command sequence. "We must get under way before Gog'resssh discovers what I have done.""You'll get no objection from me," Rry'kurr said, bracing himself against the pod's sudden burst of acceleration during the launch. The acceleration quickly leveled out, stabilized by the internal grav system. The silence of s.p.a.ce ruled the pod's interior as Z'shezhira checked the instruments for signs of scanning beams from the S'alath S'alath, all the while taking pains to avoid looking at the war-caster corpse that lay near the forward viewing port."What should I call you?" the mammal said."I am called Z'shezhira," she said.The display of fur-bracketed teeth returned, making her shudder involuntarily. "I believe we have a mutual friend back aboard my ship," he said. "A fellow named S'syrixx.""S'syrixx is aboard your vessel presently?""Actually, no," Rry'kurr said.Z'shezhira hissed in bitter disappointment. "You are saying he has died.""Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Z'shezhira. At the moment, he's a.s.sisting some of my people on a mission away from my vessel."She reached toward him reflexively, and she startled when he recoiled from her, apparently just as reflexively."Watch those claws, lady," Rry'kurr said.Lowering her claws, she took a deep breath in an effort to smooth her ruffled, vasodilated scales. "My apologies, Rry'kurr. Where have you sent S'syrixx?""To the terraforming platform," he said as he glanced at what appeared to be a chronometer, which he kept wrapped around the narrow stalk that connected one pink ma.n.u.s to the rest of his arm. "The ecosculptor. The team should be boarding it any minute now, if they're not inside it already.""Why go inside it?""To access its internal computers. To learn everything we can about it."Her heart sank as she realized what a fool's errand her beloved had undertaken. "The Gorn fleet from which the S'alath S'alath has hidden will find your team and kill them. And S'syrixx along with them." has hidden will find your team and kill them. And S'syrixx along with them.""If I believed that, I never would have authorized the mission," Rry'kurr said.Before she could reply, the escape pod shook as though from a sharp impact. "Gog'resssh has found us," she said as she steadied herself against the pod's rudimentary flight console."I'm not so sure about that," Rry'kurr said. He gestured with one scaleless, pink paw toward the viewing port.Turning, Z'shezhira saw the bloated face of Second Myrmidon Zegrroz'rh pressed up against the viewing aperture. Despite the oxygen deficiencies of Hranrar's upper atmosphere, his one functioning eye focused upon her, radiating a hostility that was still very much alive."Friend of yours?" Rry'kurr asked."An impediment, and a slaver," she said, involuntarily allowing her own teeth to emerge in a long-suppressed expression of hostility as she used the maneuvering thrusters to dislodge the hated second myrmidon. With the viewing port now clear, the belly of the Federrazsh'n ship, Tie-tan Tie-tan, was swiftly growing nearer in the rarefied reaches of the upper atmosphere. "He was Gog'resssh's second in command."Though she feared offending the sensibilities of Great S'Yahazah, she rejoiced in the prospect of Zegrroz'rh's impending final agonies. She hoped he would meet death while still conscious of its jaws enclosing him, horrifically aware of its venomous fangs as they pierced his hard-scaled, radiation-seared flesh.Rry'kurr seemed to recoil slightly at her change in mood, and Z'shezhira couldn't say that she blamed him. She had caused several deaths today, directly or indirectly; was she not now as brutal as any war-caster?"Remind me never to p.i.s.s you off," Rry'kurr said."Zegrroz'rh!" Gog'resssh bellowed as he stomped onto the command deck.Empty. No one so much as minding any of the instruments, let alone making preparations for the a.s.sault upon Kra.s.srr's precious ecosculptor.He stalked over to the abandoned communications console and literally punched a channel open, bending the panel's thick metal in the process. "Z'shezhira! Why have you left your post?" When he received no response he resumed calling for Zegrroz'rh, but achieved the same result as before.Moving to another console that had not yet been the recipient of his rage, Gog'resssh checked the ship's internal sensors.Neither his second myrmidon nor Z'shezhira were anywhere aboard the S'alath S'alath. Nor was his Federrazsh'n prisoner, Rry'kurr.With a roar of inchoate rage, he checked the S'alath S'alath's inventory of escape pods, though he was already certain that he knew what he would find. Once he'd confirmed that one of the pods was missing, he switched on the external sensors.He grinned when he saw the initial scan results. Even with the fearsome electromagnetic hash from the planet's dynamic interior cloaking it, it was a simple matter to find the duranium pod as it arced higher in the atmosphere, following an elliptical trajectory toward the mammal vessel-a prize that he still meant to possess. It was a pity he lacked the expertise to attempt to beam back the pod's occupants, especially Z'shezhira, whose genes were destined to help him build his new master caste. Rry'kurr's escape would pose a problem as well, since Gog'resssh had had no opportunity as yet to wring from the mammal commander the authorization codes necessary to allow him to seize t.i.tan t.i.tan.But maybe Rry'kurr's escape would not matter.Gog'resssh's grin broadened as he opened a channel to Tie-tan Tie-tan.

U.S.S. t.i.tAN.

Never before in his Starfleet career had Gibruch felt quite so powerless as he did right now, as he stood before the conn facing the main viewscreen.Before him was a computer-enhanced image of Brahma-Shiva, which not only still lingered like a malignant cloud over the equatorial region of the ringed planet, but had also just taken on a baleful, blue-green glow. Lieutenant Rager's scans had confirmed Gibruch's initial impression that the thing's ominous brilliance was steadily increasing. Obviously, the object was finally powering up, building toward an eventual release of the cataclysmic, world-destroying energies that it had quietly contained for untold eons."Incoming bogey!" Rager announced.Gibruch turned away from the screen so that he faced the senior ops officer. "Another ship?"Rager paused momentarily to consult her console displays. Shaking her head, she said, "Negative, Commander. It's a small metal object, originating from the S'alath S'alath.""Red Alert!" Gibruch said."Shields and weapons locks aren't reliable this deep in Hranrar's geomagnetic field," Lieutenant Lavena said."Then prepare to initiate evasive maneuvers," Gibruch said. "And I want to know what's inside that thing. If there's any sign of life in there, I want it beamed aboard."After a few additional tense moments-during which the object drew inexorably closer to t.i.tan t.i.tan's unprotected belly-Rager shook her head again. "Internal bio scans are inconclusive, with all the local geomagnetism."Gibruch's cranial tails released a fluted diminished chord that betrayed his tension and frustration. That thing could be delivering a boarding party, a charge of antimatter, or another asylum-seeking refugee That thing could be delivering a boarding party, a charge of antimatter, or another asylum-seeking refugee, he thought as he craned his neck to get a better look at the sensor profile on Rager's console. There's just no way to tell from here There's just no way to tell from here."I've compensated for the interference enough to establish a limited phaser lock," Rager said.Something about the object's sensor profile didn't look right-it simply didn't appear "torpedo-like" enough to justify shooting first and asking questions later.But what if I'm wrong? he thought. Aloud, he said, "What's the status of the he thought. Aloud, he said, "What's the status of the S'alath S'alath's weapons?""They read as cold," Rager said, sounding surprised. "Belay that-they're beginning to power up now.""Hold your fire, Lieutenant. Tractor that thing into hangar bay two and send a security team to greet it.""Sir?" Rager said, her forehead wrinkling nearly as much as that of a Klingon."You heard me, Lieutenant." Gibruch did his best to sound confident, even though the only thing he felt completely certain about at the moment was that he would either be commended for his astute reasoning, or else he'd be singled out by future Starfleet Academy tactical studies instructors as the author of one of the worst on-the-fly decisions in Federation history."Gog'resssh is hailing us, Captain," Rager said.Gibruch didn't mind the standard practice of being addressed as "captain" when he ran the bridge during t.i.tan t.i.tan's wee hours. But hearing it now, with Captain Riker, Commander Vale, and Commander Tuvok all off the ship simultaneously, was quite another thing."Let's buy some time by putting him on the screen," Gibruch said, working hard to prevent his postcranial airways from causing his air-column-generated voice from shaking and fluttering.Though his image was being distorted by the polar region's ambient geomagnetism, Gog'resssh's state of mind was clearly evident-the Gorn commander was beside himself with anger."Surrender Tie-tan' Tie-tan's command codes, mammal," Gog'resssh said, Gog'resssh said, "or your captain will become the main course in our galley." "or your captain will become the main course in our galley.""Where is Captain Riker?" Gibruch demanded. "Show him to me."Gog'resssh merely stared fixedly from the screen, his multifaceted eyes narrowing with fury. Then the image broke up in a flurry of static, and was replaced a moment later by the approaching S'alath S'alath, its weapons tubes glowing balefully as the vessel plied Hranrar's tenuous upper atmosphere.A smaller, oblong shape tumbled in the foreground, substantially closer to t.i.tan t.i.tan now, but no less enigmatic. now, but no less enigmatic."Get that thing aboard, ASAP," Gibruch said, hoping he hadn't just enabled Gog'resssh to sneak a devastating weapon aboard t.i.tan t.i.tan during his watch. during his watch.

24.

HRANRAR.

Just after nightfall, Vale ordered the remainder of the team to get some rest. Sitting cross-legged at the base of a Hranrarii tree, she shared the first watch with Lieutenant Sortollo.Of course, there wasn't all that much to watch when one was confined in an open-air jail that consisted primarily of a gently sloping rooftop meadow. Two of Hranrar's five moons, both in crescent phase, cast a wan light from high in the clear sky, doing little to compete with the mult.i.tudinous pinpoints of distant starlight. Toward the horizon, the dark lawn's distant edges were suffused with the faint glow of the Hranrarii city that lay far, far below, giving everyone on the away team a clear incentive not to venture far from the roof's center.There, in what Vale's tricorder had declared the exact geographical center of the team's prison in the sky, lay Troi, Bolaji, Modan, Evesh, and Dakal. With the exception of Evesh, who was already on her back and snoring loudly, each team member not on watch had laid down to rest, if not to achieve an actual state of sleep.Vale watched as Dakal lifted his head to cast a disgusted look at Evesh. "How in the name of Ailam's ashen a.r.s.e can anybody sleep through that that? The Dominion wasn't this noisy when they bombed Lakarian City.""Consider getting some rest just another challenge, Ensign," Vale said. "When life hands you roka.s.sa roka.s.sas, you learn to make roka.s.sa roka.s.sa juice." juice.""Commander, I might as well be trying to get to sleep on top of an overloading warp core," Dakal said. "If I had some roka.s.sa roka.s.sas right now, I'd stick them in my ears.""And if I I had one right now, I'd be sorely tempted to make a ball gag out of it," Bolaji said blearily, remaining on her back, her eyes closed. "I always thought that Carda.s.sians were supposed to be good at enduring hardship in silence." had one right now, I'd be sorely tempted to make a ball gag out of it," Bolaji said blearily, remaining on her back, her eyes closed. "I always thought that Carda.s.sians were supposed to be good at enduring hardship in silence.""Settle down, people," rumbled Lieutenant Sortollo. For an absurd moment Vale wished she still had the option of threatening to turn the shuttlecraft Beiderbecke Beiderbecke around and taking her straight back to around and taking her straight back to t.i.tan t.i.tan, addressing the away team in the manner of a parent dealing with unruly children.All at once she felt the lawn rumble slightly beneath her, as though something just under the surface were causing the immediate area to vibrate. "People, I think we're about to have company," she said as a portion of the lawn several meters away distended and opened, just as had occurred only a short while ago.Moments later, half a dozen armed Hranrarii cops were stepping in orderly ranks from one of their lift mechanisms, which appeared to have come from one of the tower-jail's lower levels. Emerging behind the cops was Senior Watcher Ereb, the official who had consigned the away team to this place.Sortollo raised his hands to demonstrate that he was still unarmed. "Let's keep the local police-folk as calm as possible," he said. Vale did likewise, nodding to the rest of the team to get them to fall in line as well. Under Dakal's gentle ministrations, Evesh came awake with a series of sputtering snorts.While the entire away team rose and fell in, Vale watched as Ereb pointed a handheld electronic device of some sort at the lawn about five meters away from the lift, which was already beginning to disappear back into the turf; soon the rent in the sod would vanish, making the lawn as seamless as it had been before the lift's arrival.On the section of lawn at which the senior watcher had pointed, a glowing, golden disc appeared, an artifact with roughly twice the diameter of one of the personnel transporter stages aboard t.i.tan t.i.tan."You're early," Vale said, feeling her endocrine system disabling the "safety" setting for her fight-or-flight response. "You said you'd be back in the morning. Something important must have happened in the meantime." Or else Or else, she thought, somebody has made a hasty decision to dispose of us somebody has made a hasty decision to dispose of us."Please stand upon the conveyance," Ereb said, affect-free in both face and voice as far as Vale could tell. "All of you, if you please.""You first," Sortollo said.Ereb released a breath in a manner that sounded remarkably like a sigh of frustration. "Yours is a most contentious species, Commander Vale.""Confinement doesn't usually bring out the best in us," Vale said."You asked for a hearing with Hranrar's senior planetary leaders," Ereb said, sounding puzzled. "I believe your exact words were, 'Take me to your leader.' With this device we will fulfill your request."A choice of phrase that I'm sure I will never live down, she thought.Pointing at the still-glowing disc that Ereb had just conjured up on the lawn, Vale said, "How can we be certain that thing isn't some novel form of capital punishment?"Ereb blinked in evident confusion. "Capital . . . punishment?""Execution," Vale said. "You know, state-sanctioned killing."She felt a hand on her shoulder; startled, she spun toward the hand's owner, only to find that she was facing Deanna Troi."Relax, Christine. Ereb is appalled at the very idea of executions. I think we can trust that her disc is some sort of transporter, and not a matter-disintegrator of some kind."Vale nodded, then turned back to face Ereb. Gesturing grandly toward the disc, she said, "In that case, Ereb-after you."With a movement reminiscent of a shrug, Ereb sprang on gra.s.shopper legs to the middle of the stage, to be followed by her six police escorts. Vale stepped up next, to be followed moments later by Sortollo, Troi, and the remaining four members of the team.Vale had never been a fan of non-Starfleet transporters; in fact, if she'd had her druthers, she'd probably avoid entirely the process of having her body disa.s.sembled and rea.s.sembled. As she began to brace herself for whatever peculiar effects this alien transporter technology might have in store for her, she noticed that the sky had abruptly shifted.In less than an eyeblink, the night sky had vanished, giving way instantaneously to mid-day. Nothing else seemed to have changed, from the Hranrarii transporter beneath her boots, to the fellow crewmembers and Hranrarii natives with whom she shared it, to the flat green meadow that surrounded the transport disc.Despite the brightness of Hranrar's primary star, a brilliantly glowing object was clearly visible in the azure sky: Brahma-Shiva, Vale realized, since she knew it to be located on the opposite side-the day side, at the moment-of Hranrar. They must have instantaneously transported to some virtually identical glade atop an urban tower that she'd never be able to distinguish from the one she'd just left.Vale looked up, using her hands to shield her eyes against Hranrar's fierce central star. Almost directly overhead, the disk of the lower portion of Brahma-Shiva, together with an oblique view of the object's long, vertical spire, hung over Hranrar like a luminous sword of Damocles."Commander!" Sortollo cried.Vale looked away from the glowing apparition in the sky in time to see another lift begin to emerge from beneath the short, manicured gra.s.s. The sight of the sod ripping open from beneath disconcerted her, reminding her of the horror vids she had spent far too much of her youth watching.Putting aside her mental images of caskets opening and ravening, flesh-eating zombies rising from fresh graves, she watched as the lift finished emerging and opened.An august-looking, yellow-robe-bedecked Hranrarii emerged, flanked by a pair of dour-looking, standard cops or bodyguards. The amphibious eminence wasted no time striding onto the transport platform. As though in possession of empathic or intuitive instincts to rival Troi's, the creature strode unceremoniously past the bowing First Watcher Ereb and approached Vale. The newly arrived creature met the commander's gaze head-on with an intense, yellow-eyed stare."I am Sethne Naq, Speaker for the Great Syndic of the Global Moeity of Hranrar," the creature said in tones rendered mellifluous by the universal translators. "I am told that you claim to be able to explain the new light in our sky.""Someone must have called ahead to make sure the lights would be on," Ra-Havreii said moments after the transporter beam released its hold on the team a.s.signed to board Brahma-Shiva. "I detest beaming into darkened s.p.a.ces.""That might not be far from the truth," said Lieutenant Commander Keru as he made a circular visual sweep of the brightly illuminated chamber, his phaser at the ready, mirroring the motions of Lieutenant Qur Qontallium."My sensor sweep indicates that the lights became active only a few of your minutes ago," said SecondGen White-Blue, who hovered nearby to form the third point of an equilateral triangle in conjunction with Keru and Qontallium. "A humanoid-compatible nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere heated to twenty-one point eight degrees Celsius seems to have preceded the lights by a lengthy interval.""How lengthy?" Ra-Havreii said, sniffing the air; it carried a vaguely stale, musty smell, but was otherwise acceptable.A reptiloid voice behind Ra-Havreii interrupted. "Long enough to allow Kra.s.srr's engineering and tactical teams to install antipersonnel explosives without having to use pressure suits."Ra-Havreii supposed the Gorn must have a natural aversion to pressure suits, at least as Starfleet personnel understood them; with claws like those the Gorn possessed, incidents of accidental explosive decompression must have been endemic."Why would Kra.s.srr want to plant explosives in here?" Ra-Havreii asked. "He'd be placing his one chance to make this planet into a new Gorn warrior hatchery in jeopardy.""He reasoned that such an outcome would be better than allowing an enemy to turn Great S'Yahazah's formidable power against the Gorn Hegemony.""I wouldn't put it past Kra.s.srr to try to bluff us," Qontallium said. "How do we know he's really installed any explosives?""I know they are here because I helped install them," S'syrixx said.Both Keru and Qontallium appeared convinced. "Where?" said the security chief."Follow me," said the Gorn, who wasted no time leading the security contingent and Blue-White toward one of the nearby walls, where Keru and Qontallium began a.s.sisting S'syrixx in the painstaking removal of the series of small, palm-sized metal objects they found magnetized there amidst a busy, cramped filigree of complex markings that strongly resembled a written language.Content to leave the task of looking out for further b.o.o.by traps for the security contingent and the floating AI, Ra-Havreii devoted his entire attention to the room itself. Built into the center of Brahma-Shiva's base, the oval chamber extended some forty meters across at its widest point, while the ceiling stretched more than twenty meters overhead. Every surface of the gently curving walls was festooned with the same small, intricate shapes that had concealed the explosive charges S'syrixx and the security contingent were now busy re