Worlds Without End, Part XVIII

There was an open space between the concealment and the mesh fence that surrounded the Klingon prison. Moving as quickly as possible, a small group of Federation soldiers began cutting through it. Luke looked beyond at the prison itself: two stories, at least a thousand square meters. Automated gunnery towers were set up to fire at any unauthorized entrances or exits, and inside were barracks for the soldiers set to guard those identified as war criminals by the Klingon Empire. They didn't know how many were inside; the dampening field that prevented transport also made sensor sweeps almost impossible.

The team at the fence returned to their position, just as they had for the simulation, ready to charge headlong for the door that was directly ahead of them. The Federation troops held their weapons at the ready, their nervousness revealed to Luke through the Force. Luke took the front of the line, Leia just behind him; both held their lightsabers at the ready, though unlit. He nodded to Capt. Price, and she signaled the Federation trooper. The trooper held the remote and mouthed the count; on two Luke broke for the fence. The edges exploded and fell in as he reached it, and the alarms sounded. Blue and green lightsabers lit the darkness as the Jedi broke across the yard, closely followed by the Federation troops.

The weapons on the tower activated. Luke stood fast on the left flank, catching and reflecting the weapon's beam away from his unit, trying to protect them as they rushed through. He felt Leia's intense concentration as she did the same on the right. The fear of the troopers was now replaced by determination as they rushed towards the main building, the ones in front opening fire with phaser pulses on the door, hoping to blow it in before they arrived, or kill anyone who may try to come out. The Overlord's crew may not like war, Luke thought, but they certainly weren't pacifists. Luke's blade snapped out twice more to block more incoming weapons fire, then he fell in behind his unit. He watched helplessly as one trooper was struck by the tower and knocked off his feet, too far away for Luke to protect him. The door exploded beyond under the constant barrage and the troopers began charging in. Leia quickly followed the last one in while Luke covered her, then dove in himself.

The entrance room echoed with weapons fire, but the two Jedi didn't stop. Leia reached the control panel and stabbed it, causing the door to open. She and Luke rushed in, leaving the Federation troopers to hold off the Klingons while they searched for the computer core. The next room, however, wasn't it. Eight Klingons were strapping on armor; to their credit, three instantly had out their disruptors and opened fire. However, neither Luke nor Leia were caught off guard either; their blades deflected the first of the blasts aside, then Luke took some more aggressive swings, reflecting the shots right back at them and taking them down.

The weapons fire -at least, in this room- ended as the Klingons examined the Jedi. Luke could sense their curiosity. The one remaining Klingon with a disruptor put it back in its sheath and pulled out a bat'leth, spinning it slowly with one hand. The others were doing the same. "I have never met anyone brave enough to face a Klingon in hand to hand combat," the first one said with a toothy grin. He began stepping forward changing his grip on the weapon. "Songs will be sung of this day." He charged Luke, his blade making sweeping motions in a complex pattern of attack. But Luke had the Force, and a lightsaber... he rolled low and to the left, slipping past the flash of the blade, then swung up with his lightsaber as the Klingon tried to swing back at him. The lightsaber passed through the blade, then through its wielder; the Klingon dropped dead to the floor.

Leia took a step forward, her blade raised and held menacingly before her. Luke was quick to return to a fighting stance. Hopefully after that he could convince them a fight was pointless. He put as much authority in his voice as possible and said, "Don't make us have to kill you, too."

The Klingons, instead of being cowed, were amused. "Then perhaps today is a good day to die!" one cried, and together the remaining Klingons charged, weapons swinging. Leia sidestepped one, bringing her elbow up to knock him off-balance while she literally disarmed her attacker. Luke jumped over a low slice, swinging down with his blade to bisect the warrior's head. He hit the floor and leapt like it was a trampoline, somersaulting over the two remaining Klingons. He hit the floor and spun, catching one startled warrior off guard as he turned to bring his weapon to bear. Again, the bat'leths couldn't stop a lightsaber, and Luke sliced him in half. Luke stepped over the remains of the Klingon, trying to press his advantage. He made an overhead swing, but the Klingon slipped to the right; an almost fatal mistake for Luke as the guard attempted a quick counter-attack. Luke slipped out of the way and attempted a second swing on the Klingon. Despite twice witnessing the futility, the Klingon instinctively tried to block Luke's strike with his weapon; the lightsaber continued right through the blade and into the Klingon, finishing him off.

Luke whirled around to check on Leia, but she had already dispatched the last armed Klingon. At the moment she was trying to restrain the one-armed Klingon who seemed determined to fight on with his remaining hand. It was almost pitiful, and Luke grabbed the weapon out of his hand - a mistake, because he'd completely let his guard down. The Klingon gave him a backhand so quick it almost knocked Luke off his feet.

"I will not be your prisoner!" the Klingon roared as he tried to press his advantage. Unfortunately, he should have quit while he was ahead. Luke sidestepped each blow, finally, tripping him up and pinning him to the floor.

"You all right?" Leia asked.

"I'm more embarrassed than hurt," Luke said.

"I will not be-"

"We don't want you as a prisoner!" Luke shouted at him, feeling frustrated at the situation. He forced himself to calm down. "We just want to get our people and leave."

"The murderous, dishonorable Romulans will never leave this place alive!"

Luke concentrated and began speaking, very slowly, to the Klingon. "I just want you to show me the computer core. You will show me the computer core."

Hesitantly, the Klingon spoke. "I will take you to the computer core."

Luke got off the Klingon and helped him up. The guard led them through one of the other corridors up to a large, heavy door; it was also protected by a force field. With some convincing by Luke, the Klingon keyed in a code on the wall and the shield dropped. Luke sliced through the door and entered; Leia took a seat. "Captain, we've found the computer, but I can't read it." While she spoke Luke tried to persuade the Klingon to operate the computer, but to no avail - his hatred of Romulans was too great for Luke to overcome.

"I'm on my way," Price called. Soon she arrived and began tapping controls, checking over the instructions and touching pads at various prompts. Finally she spoke. "Cell 32, level 1," she declared. "I'm deactivating the dampening field." Seconds later the alarm sounded, followed by an angry Klingon voice. Price tapped her communicator. "Overlord, I'm transmitting the co-ordinates now. Beam him out, then get us out of here." Klingons began charging into the room, and Luke and Leia provided cover for Price until the three were beamed up. In the transporter room she hit her comm badge. "Riklin's secure?"

"Aye, captain," said Tesh. "We're heading into hyperspace."

Price wiped the sweat from her brow. "Let's hope he was worth it."

Julian Bashir and Ezri Dax shared a laugh as well as a drink as they watched the evening's entertainment, which was Quark running around like a chicken with its head cut off. At the moment he was berating one of the waiters for some microscopic flaw. "Quark, relax," Ezri said.

"I am relaxed," Quark said, straightening his shirt. "Perfectly relaxed."

"Quark," Bashir said, "stop it. He may be the Grand Nagus, but he's still your brother."

"Exactly," Quark said irritably, "he's my brother. Family's always the first to take advantage of you-"

"Rom wouldn't do that," Ezri said.

"No? No? You don't know anything about Ferengi."

"Rom's a decent guy, Quark," Bashir said.

"Why is he coming then, hm?" Quark demanded.

"To see how you're doing, maybe?"

"Ha! Like I said, nothing about Ferengi." Quark stepped behind the bar. "He's assessing the place... going to see if maybe he should take it back, turn a tidy little profit."

"As much fun as this is," Bashir said, "we do have a holosuite scheduled for this evening."

"It's ready, it's ready," Quark said as if he were waving away an irritating bug. "They're just finishing the clean-up... had an error with the bio... thing."

"Bio-reclamation?" Bashir asked.

"They're cleaning it up," Quark said.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Bashir said. "I'm not about to risk Ezri and I being turned into random energy fields."

"It wasn't that kind of error," Quark snapped. "The system just didn't trigger, that's all."

"Just the same, you'll pardon me if I wait until Col. Kira had a diagnostic done."

"No refunds," Quark said quickly.

"I'm taking a rain check," Bashir said, and left before Quark could speak up. He was bumped into by a Trandoshan who was coming in, but Bashir decided not to comment.

"Listen," Quark said to the waiter, "when I say to recalibrate the replicator I don't mean to rub it with a damp towel! Get to it!" The Trandoshan knocked on the bar to get Quark's attention. "I'll be with you in a minute, Mr.-" A clawed hand grabbed a lobe and pulled him around to look the alien in the face.

"Bossk," the Trandoshan said. The universal translator was having trouble, the speech sounded more hissed than it should. "I'm looking for someone."

"Holosuites are being readied for that perfect companion," Quark said, mindful of the grip on his ear.

"I am looking for someone on this station, Ferengi," Bossk said. He let go for the moment, but it seemed to be just so Quark could see the claws up close. "I was told you could find them."

"I see," Quark said, nervousness in his voice. "Look, I'm really busy right now, do you think maybe you could come back-"

Quark was lifted half a meter off the ground as the Trandoshan grabbed his shirtfront in one clawed hand, and for a brief moment he thought the reptilian was going to try and eat him. Instead Bossk spoke with a menace the universal translator had no trouble conveying. "Where is Elim Garak?" he demanded.

"Cardassia!" Quark shouted. "He hasn't been on the station in months!"

"Where on Cardassia?" Bossk demanded.

"I don't know." Bossk hissed at him, a very unfriendly sound. "I told you he left, I haven't seen or heard of him since!"

Quark was pulled inches from Bossk's face. "You had better not be lying, Ferengi." Then he tossed Quark backwards, demolishing a pile of bottles. He was knocked out by the blow, but soon the room started coming back into focus-

"Uh- hi, Quark," Rom said cheerfully. "How's business?"

Quark lay amongst the broken bottles. "Fine, Rom... just fine."

As the countdown completed, the starlines appeared and normal space returned for the crew of the Overlord. Immediately alarms began sounding. "Captain," the officer at tactical called, "I'm detecting over eighty ships out there, ranging from slightly larger than a shuttle to over... 1500 meters."

"Hopefully this is the alliance and not an ambush," Price said, her own nervousness buried beneath her hardened facade.

"Assuming the two aren't mutually exclusive," Tesh replied from the first officer's chair.

"Incoming communication, audio only," tactical reported.

"Let's hear it," Price ordered.

"Overlord this is Solo," as the voice of the pilot came through the comm systems, "Hold your position while I inform command of your presence."

"Are you sure this is the right thing, captain," Tesh asked, his voice low. "It's not too late to turn back."

Price shook her head slowly. "We're committed now. We've become involved. For better or for worse."

"We can still..."

"Still turn a blind eye?" Price replied gloomily, "Because that's what we've been doing. We cannot continue to ignore the conflict that is consuming this quadrant. If we can help, even in the smallest way, we are obligated to help."

Tesh finally backed down, although he obviously didn't want to. "Very well, captain. But I want to go on record as saying that this is a mistake."

"Incoming communication, captain"

"Noted," she said to Tesh, then nodded to the tactical officer.

"You're cleared for approach, Overlord," was the message over the communication system.

"Lay in a course and proceed," Price commanded. The Overlord slipped into formation with the rest of the fleet. Price knew, knew in her very bones, that this was the right thing. She just hoped it was also the smart thing.

"Run it again," Picard ordered.

Data tapped several panels and the image again showed on the screen. They watched in silence as the people charged into the Klingon compound, their weapons blasting away at the fortifications. There was no mistaking the Starfleet stealth uniforms they wore, or the comm badges they each had. Analysis of the weapons' effects clearly showed that their weapons were type II and type III phasers. If this wasn't a Federation attack, someone had gone to great lengths to make it look like one.

And that was the problem. The Klingons were up in arms over this, claiming the Federation had betrayed them to the Romulans. The Empire was decidedly mute on the subject, but things weren't looking too good for the Federation. Worf, as ambassador to the Klingon Empire, managed to get a copy of the security recordings from the attack, hoping they could ascertain the identity of the invaders. If not, this already ugly war could get even worse.

"That device," Picard commented, "the one used to reflect the disruptors. What is that?"

"Unknown sir," Data replied. "Its ability to actually reflect the beam is puzzling. It obviously has some kind of energy properties, but I am not aware of any technology capable of such a compact projection method, or display those particular properties."

"I don't think any of us have seen anything like these devices before," Picard replied.

"I have," Seven spoke.

Picard looked at her with some surprise. "The Borg?" he asked with some hesitation.

"No," she responded. "Lord Darth Vader had such a device when we met."

Picard looked at Seven with surprise. She had been with Vader for only a few seconds several months ago, and yet she could recall with certainty an unknown piece of technology he carried. The thought boggled his mind, but he had learned over the previous months to trust Seven's memory. "He didn't say what it was, did he?" he asked, although he knew it was highly unlikely.

"No," she replied, "but I'm certain they are the same type of device. They are almost identical in shape, mass, and design. I was unable to find any reference to it in either the cultural or technology files we were given."

"Which leads us, uncomfortably, to reconsider Commander Riker's allegations," Picard concluded. "Only the Empire would have access to such devices."

"Not exactly, sir," Data replied. "This technology came from their galaxy. It's possible that anyone from their galaxy could have used it, not just the Empire."

Picard sat up suddenly, his mind racing. All of a sudden, it all fell into place. "The rebels," he whispered. "That's it... it's the only answer that makes any sense. The rebels could have used Cardassian ships to start a war between the Federation and the Cardassians by destroying Halva. This begins draining our resources and forcing the Empire to deploy more ships here. They then impersonate the Federation and launch an attack on the Klingon war camp to cause a division between us and the Klingons. The Empire is then trapped in the middle of a complex war, further diverting their attention."

"Interesting," Data replied, "but it is merely speculation, sir."

"Yes, I know," Picard replied, "but it's the only theory that makes any sense. It explains the Cardassian's pointless attack, the non-existent Federation invasion, and who these mysterious individuals were. The Rebellion has a history of acts of sheer brutality, so it explains the Halva massacre. Besides which, the attackers clearly had to be from the Empire's galaxy, so it's either the Empire or the rebels, and we've seen no evidence that it's the Empire."

"But we have seen no direct evidence it is the rebels either," Seven pointed out.

"Perhaps," Picard replied, "but they're the only ones who have benefited from this attack. And one thing I've learned from my Dixon Hill days, those who have the means, motive, and opportunity are usually the guilty party."

"If this is true Captain," Data replied, "how should we proceed?"

Picard sighed. "We're powerless for now. I'll inform Starfleet Command and hopefully they can tell the Empire what we've learned. I hope they can restore peaceful relations between the Federation and the Klingons. Mr. Data, I know Will has given you a lot to do, but when you find some time I want you to go over the Imperial data again. No offense, lieutenant, but a second glance with this new information may turn up something that you missed."

"No offense taken, sir," Seven said.

"Good. Seven, I want you to analyze the battle again, in detail. Specifically, those two combatants."

"You believe there is a connection between them and Lord Vader," Seven said.

"The way they moved is superhuman, Seven. And what Vader did was impossible. That all three possess these devices makes me inclined to think there's a link."

"I will endeavor to find it, sir," Seven said. Picard nodded and showed himself out, leaving Seven alone. She played the footage in full again, paying close attention. After it was done, she started at the beginning, paying particular attention to the one with the green weapon. It was amazing to watch him; his movements were quick and precise, flawless. It appealed to her Borg nature... maximum possible efficiency. Not a single wasted swing or step or movement. She watched him again, committing all his movements to memory... and then despite that she still found herself starting again when it was all over, though she would have been forced to admit she had no idea why she felt so compelled.

Go To Part XIX
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