The aliens were humanoid, a bit taller on average than humans, and though they were slender, they had the look of beings that were strong and muscular. The skin was on the pale side, which contrasted with their large, dark eyes that were recessed deep in a bony skull. The ears were small and almost ineffective. The aliens appeared to be hairless, except that at the back of their heads, they had hair that they wore long and braided, with the thin braid reaching to their waists. The aliens appeared to be male. Thorpe also noticed that they had stiff-looking tuffs of hair hanging below the chin and off of the sides. The overall effect of the aliens made them appear rather unattractive and yet aggressive. He had also never seen these aliens before. The four humanoids by the gateway were wearing heavy-looking garments, in a deep red, and the consistency and the style of the outfits suggested that they were military. Each of the aliens had a broad equipment belt with several devices attached to it, and each was armed with a two-handed but snub-nosed weapon that Thorpe had no doubt was lethal. He noticed that he did not have his forcefield belt activated, and did not feel to be in any position to turn it on now.
The aliens started to talk, in fast, excited tones, but not a word was understood by the four who had just been at the Small Magellanic Cloud moments earlier. The aliens talked to each other and to some unseen controller. Another door opened, and more of the aliens, similarly dressed and armed, entered the room. They surrounded the newcomers and then frisked them. They found Thorpe's tricorder and phaser and removed them, while on Stanislava, they found the spare power pack for the forcefield belt and removed that. On Kayaha, they found nothing, but they looked curiously at him, while on Hamuto, they removed two devices, the object she had plugged into the control panel on the other side to activate the gateway, and something smaller and simpler, perhaps a tricorder or a communications device, or something similar. The two guards were stripped of their weapons. The device Hamuto had used to activate the gateway got a lot of attention from the aliens, who examined it and studied it among themselves. When Hamuto tried to grab it back, they pushed her aside, and one of the burly aliens grabbed her from behind. Instinctively, Thorpe wanted to intervene, but two aliens aiming their weapons right at his face dissuaded him. Nevertheless, he was beginning to wonder about that device that Hamuto had brought along. It could be rather important, he thought.
The aliens kept Stanislava and Thorpe together, recognizing that they were of the same race, while they kept the others separated. Groups of aliens marched off Kayaha, Hamuto and the two guards, and then they came back for Thorpe and his officer.
"This didn't work," Stanislava remarked.
"I know," Thorpe replied.
"Do we co-operate?"
"We have no choice. For now, we will, but lets not talk here. The aliens might not appreciate it."
The two were escorted up one level, to what was the equivalent of the cavern at the planet in the Small Magellanic Cloud. Normally, this was empty space, but something huge filled that location, and judging by its shape, it did not look like it could fly. Instead, it appeared to be some kind of structure, with multiple weapons ports, windows, and lots of hatches large enough to allow aircraft to pass through. All around the cavern was a broad walkway, and from that walkway, ramps had been extended to the structure. Soldiers-that was what they clearly were-were marching briskly down those ramps and into the structure. Around the whole area, some kind of siren was sounding, accompanied by flashing orange lights, and a multitude of voices over a public address system. Thorpe was mystified at what was going on.
Soon, the two were guided into a corridor, which sloped downwards and led to what Thorpe had the feeling was a brig sector. The floors were bare metal, with conduits on the ceiling, and regularly-spaced metal doors. The soldiers guided them right down to the end of the corridor, where a pair of doors opened for them. Inside, they found a man, who was not in the military uniform, sitting behind a desk. Several viewscreens were provided in the room, and as one of the guards handed over the devices found on the two humans, Thorpe looked around. One viewscreen was showing the Preserver script.
All but one of the guards left, while the man behind the desk examined carefully the equipment that had been laid in front of him. He seemed to recognize the phaser as a weapon, and examined it closely. He also looked at the power pack, and even scanned it with a small sensing device. He seemed puzzled by it. Finally, he looked at the tricorder, tapped a few of the controls and scanned it with his device. He seemed to understand what it was. The man reached under the desk to an unseen control panel, and entered some commands. Then, somewhat surprisingly, he handed the tricorder back to Thorpe, and pointed to his left, to one of the viewscreens. Thorpe turned, and saw that a second viewscreen was showing a few lines of text in the Preserver language.
Stanislava followed all of this, and said, "They're trying to communicate with us."
"That much is obvious," Thorpe said.
"That's what they're asking. The Preserver script translates as 'Do you understand this galactic language? If you have the ability, write your answers on the screen'"
Both noticed the large stylus mounted on the side of the smaller viewscreen. Thorpe said, "I assume you know that language enough to respond?"
"I wouldn't be an archaeologist if I couldn't handle the Preserver code."
"Go ahead."
Stanislava walked over and picked up the rather large stylus, which was about thirty centimetres long. She used it to scratch out her answer on the screen, and was not terribly surprised to see that what she drew was almost immediately regularized into printed-like characters. "I can understand this."
A new message flashed up on the screen, which Stanislava read off, "The device that was handed back is a sensing and recording machine. Is it capable of using the galaxy-language code to create a translation matrix between our natural languages?"
"Answer yes," Thorpe remarked.
The two humans and the alien behind the desk spent several minutes getting transmission technologies and coding to line up so that they could exchange their translation matrices. Stanislava used the tricorder to take the downloaded data and integrate it with linguistic algorithms that the captain had the foresight to install into the tricorder. Eventually, she had a routine available that would allow their universal translator implants to handle the alien language. The alien, with far more computing power and resources at his disposal, was able to do the job much more quickly. Finally, Stansilava used the tricorder to upload the translation matrix into Thorpe's implant, and then the captain did likewise with the woman.
The man was speaking, and now his words were being translated. "Is your procedure done?" he asked.
"Yes," Thorpe remarked.
"It took some time. I had been waiting for you."
"Unfortunately, we have only the tricorder. On board my ship, I would be able to do this much faster."
"Your ship is a long way away," the man said.
Technically, the alien was right. He was back in the Milky Way galaxy, and so was a lot closer to the main part of the Athena than he was to the lander, but still felt the lander was a short walk and a commbadge call away. "That may be," Thorpe finally said. "Who are you?"
"I believe that I should be asking the questions here. I am Sgo, technology assessment officer for the Salosian Special Forces."
"I see. I'm Captain Leonard Thorpe, of the United Federation of Planets starship Athena, and this is my chief archaeologist, Margaret Stanislava."
"What is your race? A scan of your xenotype does not match anything in our database."
Thorpe had an idea. "Can these viewscreens display a map of the galaxy, and your location?"
"What is the point of that?"
"So we can show you where we come from."
Sgo complied. The larger screen, which had held the Preserver script, now showed a map of the galaxy, which was pretty well the same shape that Thorpe was familiar with, and which had been generated from centuries of alien data, probes and studies with optical, infrared and radio telescopes throughout the Known Galaxy. Astrophysicists were pretty confident that their maps were accurate, and if the Salosians had produced this map, their confidence was not unfounded. Thorpe recognized the Orion spiral arm, and was able to quickly locate the Federation. "This is our home space," he finally said, pointing to the spot on the galaxy map. Now, Sgo revealed his homeworld. It was in the Gamma Quadrant, perhaps fifteen hundred to two thousand light years from Dominion space.
Sgo remarked, "I guess that explains why we are unfamiliar with your race."
"And why we're unfamiliar with yours." Thorpe decided that this was not the time to ask if the Salosians were aware of the Bajoran wormhole or the Dominion. He did have one other question, though. "What are you doing here?"
Once more, Sgo looked disapprovingly at the two. "Remember, you are our guests right now. I have questions to ask of you. Along with you came four individuals that were clearly of two different races. The one with the slight build, the whiskers on his face and the long black hair, what race is he?"
"He's an Odonan," Thorpe remarked.
"And the other three, who are similar?"
"Dorans."
Sgo asked, "Point out on the galaxy map where the homeworld of these Odonans is?"
"Actually, given the scale of this map, it's hardly any real distance away from the location that is our homeworld. My homeworld, Earth, and Kayaha's homeworld, Odona, are only twelve hundred light years apart."
"And the homeworld of the Doran?"
Stanislava and Thorpe looked at each other, but it was the captain who answered, "We do not know."
"In short," Sgo continued, "your people and the Odonans know each other because of contact in your home space, but you encountered the Dorans here?"
"Yes, that's right."
"How long has your people been on the terminal planet in the satellite galaxy?"
"Just a short number of days, I believe seven now."
"And the Odonans?"
"Sixty-one years."
"And the Dorans?"
"We do not know."
"And you came to the terminal world to look for the Odonans?"
"No," Thorpe explained. "Our people, on a mining planet, were transported here-there-against their will by the alien technology. We know that this happened to the Odonans those sixty-one years earlier, and so we invited them along to help us investigate what happened on our planet. The one with us, Shad Kayaha, was actually among the Odonans who were trapped here sixty-one years earlier."
"Then how did you contact the Dorans?"
Thorpe simply answered, "The Dorans appear to control the primary operations centre on the planet, and control the functions of the various facilities, including the ones that we ended up at. They apparently stage attacks to capture those unfortunate enough to end up here, and use them as slaves that farm their land, as they are unwilling or unable to do it themselves."
Sgo continued with the questions, "Whose idea was it to come to our location? Was it yours? Was it the Odonan's, or was it the Dorans'?"
"The Dorans."
"Why?"
"Apparently, a faction of the Dorans decided that the life they had here was not really working, and they were exploring the possibility of finding a more suitable planet to settle on."
"But why did they pick this particular location?"
"I do not know," Thorpe remarked.
Stanislava answered, "According to the Dorans, this planet was likely uninhabited. Salosians came across some time ago, but they were on the wrong planet, and said that this planet was uninhabited."
"I see," Sgo started. He leaned back in his chair. "I believe that our argument is with the Dorans, and not with your two peoples, you and the Odonan male."
"Argument?"
"I will explain. Approximately five hundred years ago, a science team discovered the ruins of ancient technology on this planet. They studied the ruins, and examined the interior." Thorpe wanted to ask how they had managed to break in, when all the efforts by the Athena crew had failed. "They activated the gateway and determined that the other end was a long way away, in the satellite galaxy. Once on the other side, they were apparently attacked. A short time later, we sent in a military team to determine the fates of the science team. They were ambushed. A series of battles erupted, and in the end, a large number of our forces were captured. According to the one survivor who made it back, a large number of our people were killed, massacred while in a helpless position, and others were taken as slaves. The aliens at the other end then did something that shut down the gateway, and no matter what we did, we could not reactivate it. Nevertheless, we built up a mission to eventually rescue the slaves, and their descendants."
Stanislava answered, "There are none of your kind on the planet. I was part of my people that was captured by the Doran raid, and I saw what was at the central location. No Salosians were there."
"Many among my people had the same opinion, that without our own food and nutrients, we could not survive, much less reproduce. A few held on to the belief that an on-going slave population might still exist there, and needed to be liberated."
"There is none."
"You are sure of this?"
"It has been the experience of the Dorans that none of their captives lives all that long, for the reasons that you state. None of them have access to essential proteins and other nutrients."
"That changes nothing," Sgo announced. "For five hundred years, we have waited for this moment. The Dorans-and it appears that these are the people who victimized us those many years ago-must understand that what they did cannot go unpunished."
"After five hundred years?"
"Memories solidify," Sgo said. "The determination becomes ever greater. Revenge is ours. It is our right. The Dorans cannot and will not act with impunity. Their actions demand punishment, and we will be the ones that will do it. We have waited all of this time. The gateway is open. We believe that we can now activate the main system and bring the battle command centre to the terminal planet. The Dorans will soon understand what they did was wrong."
Stanislava and Thorpe just looked at each other. He had many questions, and foremost of them was why had Hamuto brought them here? Surely, she would know about the past, although the story she had given was rather different from what was the reality, Thorpe realized. More to the point, he was worried about what would happen to him and his people, and especially Matsubara. If the Salosians attacked the Doran location, then Matsubara and any other non-Dorans who would be in the location would be at great risk. Once more, he knew, he had to act to get her out of there.
Thorpe was thinking fast. "What about us?" he started. "Are we to be targets of this attack too?"
"No," Sgo answered. "We have nothing against your people. You are not involved in this."
"But what of us? If your people attack and destroy the control centre, how could the various locations still work, and still send us back?"
"It is not our intention to destroy the control centre. We intend to capture it. We just intend to do to the Dorans what they did to our people, and what we believe they would have done had they come through the gateway and found the rest of our people."
Thorpe felt a sense of revulsion at what might happen. He knew about the battle at the humans' location, and the death toll there, and at the time, he had the feeling that the Dorans might have deserved that. They attacked and his people defended, which was a perfectly reasonable position. Given what he had seen of the Salosians, with their large structure and thousands of heavily-trained and armed soldiers and aircraft and heavy weapons, the Dorans likely had no chance. The Salosians, in their thirst for revenge against an enemy that might have achieved a more mythological standing among the Salosians, would quickly wipe them out-and anybody else who happened to be in the area. He had to propose a different plan.
"I believe that your idea is wrong," Thorpe remarked.
"Why? Is the concept of revenge not part of your culture?"
"Not like this. The history of my people has been one of turning enemies into allies, not only on our homeworld, where various and diverse cultures were combined into a functioning planet-wide society, but also with the races we met in space."
"Even those races you fought, and which committed atrocities against you?"
"Even those. Atrocities should not condemn an entire race. You can punish the perpetrators of an atrocity, but it is wrong to condemn an entire race for such sins."
"But apparently, these Dorans continue their ways, with their attacks and their slave-taking."
"That's true for some of the Dorans. Others want to escape that life."
"Or so you like to believe," Sgo continued. "The reality is different. If the Dorans are still acting this way, this behaviour is so ingrained in their culture that they cannot easily change. If the knowledge of what exists here reaches the Dorans, I have no doubt that they will attack."
Thorpe continued to think fast, which he knew just might lead to a result that he might not want in the long run. He was thinking about Matsubara, and his need to get her back. "You realize that the attack on the Dorans just might result in the destruction of the control centre and everything else. I know that's not your intent, but if the Dorans feel they are about to be massacred, then they just might sabotage and destroy the system."
"It is a risk we're willing to take," Sgo continued.
"But wouldn't it be more desirable to gain control of the structures, and the technology involved? Wouldn't it satisfy your need for revenge by simply banishing the Dorans to some other world, and then shutting down or even destroying the structure on the terminal planet? You'd gain that system, and then you can activate the outbound functions and let us all go home." Thorpe had the feeling that one last thing he would have to do once everybody was back home was to destroy the structure on Charamand, so that the Salosians could never come after him.
"We have our priorities. As we have mentioned, our battle is not with you. Once we gain control of the control centre, we will activate all the outbound functions, and your people can return to your homes. You have our word of honour on that."
"There's one further complication," Thorpe started, and when he said that, he seemed to get this look of impatience from Sgo. "Some of our people are at the Doran location." He knew that Matsubara was there, but he had no idea how many others might still be there. Nobody had any really good information on how many survived the uprising."
"I can do nothing about that. We will not target them, and will allow them to enter the transit system when the attack begins. You mention that you have a ship with you. If it is possible, you can rescue those individuals before the attack begins."
"I see."
Thorpe was not fully sure that the Salosians could be trusted in this mission, and that Matsubara was at a real risk. He had to continue to talk with Sgo, even as he remembered that he was just a technical assessment officer, and likely had no real authority. He had the sinking feeling that no matter how hard he tried, he could do nothing more than what he had proposed. He could not stop this. No one man could. In reality, the only way he could save the Dorans now was to get back to the lander, and once the Salosians and their military complex made the trip across to the Small Magellanic Cloud, he could beam the tricobalt explosive into the structure and detonate it. He was pretty sure that would destroy it and the structure, but was that really right?
The door opened, and two more of the Salosians entered the room. "The mission is going forward. All assigned personnel must report now to their operations stations. You're involved, Sgo."
"I'm on my way. Steta, escort the aliens back to the gateway. I have learned all that is necessary from them. What about the other meetings?"
"According to the monitors, everything checked out. The stories and the information correlate." "What about the control device that the Doran female had?"
"I matches the technology described in the database. We can operate it, and activate all functions at this location."
Thorpe heard that, and wondered more of what had happened. It appeared that the Salosians might have found something that the Odonans had not found at Norg, and which the humans could never find at Charamand because they could not penetrate the structure. A database existed, perhaps explaining how the technology worked. The Salosians seemed to have a lot of information. Now he learned that Hamuto had with her a device that when plugged in made the technology work at each location. If only he had known that earlier, he could have taken the device from her at phaser point, and... ultimately, the Dorans might have thanked him for what did not happen.
"Lets proceed." Sgo, as a final gesture, handed back the phaser to Thorpe and the power pack to the personal forcefield belt to Stanislava. He had that much confidence in him. Steta took over the escort duty, and guided the two humans back the way they had come, including entering the cavern, where the huge structure was alive with activity, with lights flashing, ports moving, hatches opening, and people moving around to their operations locations. In addition to the structure, hundreds of troops were massing around the remaining open areas. These soldiers, Thorpe surmised, were going to attack through the transit system. The Dorans were going to get it from multiple angles.
The two stepped through the gateway, with Thorpe thinking again that they had travelled two hundred thousand light years just like that. A number of Salosians, with only a few of them in uniform, were standing around the control panels, consulting the Salosian equivalent of padds and tricorders while studying the device they had removed from Hamuto. While Thorpe watched, they finally inserted the ungainly-looking jack into a slot, and made adjustments to the controls. Displays came on, and lights flashed and things beeped and chirped. Whatever they were doing appeared to work, as one said, "Everything is coming up just right. This appears to be fully functional."
"Can you initiate the transit?" asked another.
"Do we have clearance to proceed?"
A third individual consulted a small padd-like device he had, and said, "Yes, everything is in position."
"Activate transit."
While this was going on, and Steta was distracted by this, Thorpe gestured for Stanislava to follow him, and with a hand motion suggested it might be a good idea to turn on the forcefield belt. He did likewise. He stepped outside, and found that Kayaha was standing there, along with a Salosian guard. "It's time to get moving," Thorpe remarked. The guard seemed disinterested, as if his only purpose was to get the alien outside and away from sensitive systems.
"What about Hamuto and the two guards?" the archaeologist asked.
"Given what we've heard about the Salosian feelings for the Dorans, what were their odds of survival?"
"You're right."
The tapped his commbadge, and said, "Thorpe to Hakamura."
"I'm here, sir."
"Bring the shuttlepod over here, keep the shields on just in case. As soon as we're on board, set a course for the lander, best possible speed."
"Aye sir," replied the younger man, suddenly curious as to what was going on. Within seconds, the shuttlepod was landing in such a position that the rear of the small vessel faced the three. Thorpe was nervous now, thinking that the Salosians might misinterpret what he was doing and strike out at the shuttlepod. However, the hatch opened without incident, and the three climbed on board. Thorpe made his way over to the co-pilot's seat, and said, "Lets move."
"Sir," Hakamura said, as he faced the captain. He too noticed the one Salosian who was standing outside. "Weren't there five people on the ground?"
"Yes, the others were Doran, including Hamuto. Their fates are unknown."
"We can't just leave them," the security officer replied.
Thorpe quickly said, "We can't do anything for them. Right now, our greatest problem is what's about to happen at the central location, and we've got to worry about getting our people out of there."
"What's going on?"
Thorpe did not have to answer. They could see through the window what was happening. The huge doors that revealed the cavern were opening. Almost immediately, those on the shuttlepod could see the Salosian battle structure. It pretty well filled the entire cavern. Even before the doors were fully retracted, small vessels were launched, and they flew off in various directions. "Oh my god," Hakamura said, as he lifted the pod off of the ground and pulled away. "What is that?"
"The reason we've got to get back to that crater as soon as possible." Two of the small vessels, which appeared to be probes, streaked past the shuttlepod. Thorpe wondered if they were weapons, and whether or not the lander was in danger. Seconds later, with Hakamura hitting the throttles as far back as possible, he had lifted the pod over the residential part of the structure, and ahead was the lander.
A light flashed on the console, with Hakamura reporting, "The lander has raised its shields."
At the same time, the comm system started to beep, with the captain being the one that responded. "Thorpe here," he said.
"Sir," came Bayanhong's urgent voice. "What's going on here? Sensors have just come alive with... something emerging from the structure."
"I'm not sure what happened, or why the Dorans picked this particular location, but by all appearances, they have allowed a race that has spent five hundred years building up a hate for them to come back and get their revenge."
"Damn," replied the executive officer.
"My sentiments exactly. As soon as we're docked, begin to head back to the crater, best possible speed.""Aye, sir."
"Sir," Stanislava cut in. "Look at the rear monitor."
Thorpe switched on a monitor in front of him, which gave him a rear view. It showed that the big doors were now fully retracted, and the Salosian structure, perhaps some kind of barge, was now very slowly moving out. Thorpe doubted that it was very mobile or fast, but it did hover, and likely was going to move to the centre of the ring-like structure. Already, he could see components separating from it, and other small aircraft-like vessels were launching. At lower levels, a number of small vehicles, floating several metres above the ground and packed with standing Salosian warriors, moved the length of the walkway between the two halves of the structure. "They're going to attack through the transit system," Thorpe said.
"If they know which one, they'll beat us there."
"I know."
The lander was approaching rapidly. Hakamura skillfully flew under the large vessel, and turned around the pod as he lifted it towards the topside. Although the Salosians had said that the lander was not a target, that could change, so Bayanhong was playing it safe, and lowering just the necessary shields to let the shuttlepod enter its tiny bay and dock.
Moments later, Thorpe and the others were back on the bridge. Thorpe stood near the entrance, and said, "Bayanhong, Takoo, you're with me. Hakamura, you as well. Ochi, how long until we arrive?"
"Eight minutes, sir."
"Very well." The other three officers followed him to the same small room near the lander bridge that Thorpe had met the civilians in earlier. The captain filled in Bayanhong and Takoo, and to some degree Hakamura, what had happened on the other side. "I can't begin to think of a reason why the Dorans would've chosen that location of all of them," Bayanhong asked. "You don't think they honestly believed what they had been told about the aliens there?"
"No, maybe not," Thorpe said. "There was the implication of a massacre in there, where the Dorans at one time had the upper hand and apparently annihilated a number of Salosians in cold blood. The Salosians have not forgotten."
"You know," Takoo added, "the only reason I could think of for what the Doran leaders did was almost political. The leaders might've been challenged by that part of their society that wanted to settle on another planet and try to develop again. By picking this location and having some kind of disaster occur, they might dissuade such thinking for some time."
"I can't believe that they had any idea that this would happen to them," Thorpe started. "We have to consider some things. First of all, the Dorans might still be unwilling to co-operate, and they might be less willing to surrender Damiko and any others that they still hold. We might have to... force ourselves on them." Thorpe just hated the term that he had used, and how he had said it. He also hated to admit the deep-down feelings that prompted those words. "That might be hard. Another thing to consider is that it might not be in our best long-term interests to let the Salosians gain control of the technology here. They appear to be advanced and rather aggressive."
"That could just be an element of their culture, working on this revenge," Hakamura remarked. "We can't assume they're all like this."
"Maybe not, but the segment that could control this planet could well be."
"What do you suggest?" Bayanhong asked.
Thorpe had been thinking about this, but still was not fully sure if this was the right thing to do. Nevertheless, he came out with the words. "Based on what I've heard, and what we've gleaned from the sensors, the entire complex is powered by some kind of subspace tap directly into the sun in this system. The tap on this end is likely located in that spire in the centre of the crater. Even the sensor-blocking fields here cannot hide that much power. We have the tricobalt device. If we can beam it into the spire and detonate it, we could likely sever the tap and destroy the supporting structures."
"We can't scan through the sensor-blocking fields."
"I know. If necessary, we can use the pulse phaser arrays to get through the walls and get the device in."
"Are you sure that this is a wise thing to do?" Bayanhong asked.
"I'm not sure. Right now, I'd like to have that option available if I need it. There's just something about the Salosians that makes them dangerous, and perhaps not entirely trustworthy."
"They were trustworthy enough to let you keep your phaser, or give it back," Hakamura said.
"That could almost be cockiness on their part, one man and one small weapon wouldn't make one hint of a difference."
"Of course," Takoo started, "if we set off that tricobalt device, that would mean we're trapped here too."
"Hopefully we can escape. Nevertheless, we must come up with a way to contact the Dorans, hopefully before the Salosians get there."
"How?"
Hakamura quickly thought up an approach. "We can land, near that entrance where the three had emerged the first time. If we approach in force, we might be able to draw their attention. If necessary, we can enter the structure. Weren't both Stanislava and Kayaha in there? They might know the way."
"Okay, we'll go ahead and set that up. Perhaps just our presence there might get them to communicate, especially if there is any kind of information that could get back to them about the transit system."
Moments later, Thorpe and the others were back on the bridge. The lander was above the barrier that contained the atmosphere, and as Ochi had reported, the Salosian probes were following the ship, so she activated the cloaking device. "That's good thinking, lieutenant. Sal, contact our base."
Within seconds, Hakamura had opened the link to the equipment left behind at the structure where the humans were. "Commander Rocha," came the response.
"Commander," Thorpe started. "A serious situation has come up. If the gateway is going to open to Charamand, it will do so soon, and might not be open long. What I need you to do is to send someone to the Odonan location, and get them to start moving people to your location. I don't know how many there are, or how long it'll take, but we've got to do all that we can right now."
"Understood, I've already got Lieutenant Guerrereo on his way."
"Good," Thorpe said, as he sat down in his chair. He could see the stars shining brightly and in number, although he could not see the galaxy from this vantage point. He was surprised at himself, actually. For a moment anyway, he had thought about something other than getting Matsubara back.
* * *
It was the shrill sound that woke Matsubara up. She thought it was a dream, but the shaking was what woke her up. She managed to open her eyes, and saw that it was Teklensho that was shaking her, and calling out, "You must get up. We have a situation."
Matsubara had not realized that she had fallen sleep. She was tired-and was still tired now-and had no idea what how long she had been asleep. She had lost any concept of time or day, as if such things no longer mattered to her. She would eat when she was hungry and sleep when she needed to, like right now. Until she had been woken up, she had no idea that she had been asleep. Now, with some groggy sense of wakefulness entering her mind, she was aware of the shrill siren sound. "What is that?" she asked.
"A general alert. Everybody capable of doing so must take a weapon and prepare to defend our location."
"Against what?"
"I do not know. However, I've been asked, in particular, to take you back to the control centre. We must leave immediately."
"Okay," the science officer said, even as she struggled to her feet. As she stood up, she realized how thirsty and how hungry she was, among other bodily needs. Yet, Teklensho was not even going to offer her a drink of water or anything else. He just seemed extremely agitated, and kept gesturing for her to hurry. That was easier said than done, considering she was still not fully awake.
With Teklensho carrying his weapon and leading the way, the two made their way down the corridors and through the open areas, even as some Dorans were moving about with some sense of urgency-and Matsubara was getting the feeling that there were not all that many of them-until they returned to an area that was increasingly familiar to them. Standing at the end of the corridor, by the last set of heavy doors, were two more guards. Both seemed to recognize Teklensho and Matsubara, and let them into the control centre room immediately.
Matsubara just got the feeling that something was different here. The displays were different, with the console operators hunched over their controls and panels, trying to make sense of what was happening. What she really noticed was this look on the face of Vekharis. The older female looked paler, and even had a somewhat frightened look about her. When the Dorans said nothing for a few seconds, Matsubara finally spoke up. "I was asked to come here," she finally said.
"Yes," Vekharis remarked. "We have a problem, and we are looking for... explanations."
"I don't see how I can help you."
Vekharis and the other two senior leaders exchanged some sharp words in the language that Matsubara could not understand. Finally, a look of humiliation and shame on her face, Vekharis sat down. Another of the three, Loazi, started to speak. "We have lost control of the transit structure where we confronted the Salosians some time ago, and where your people and Hamuto went to meet with your captain. We had detected the activation of the gateway component, as per instructions, but a short time ago, we noticed that full inbound and outbound functions were activated, and our attempts to counteract that were defeated. Someone has assumed local control of the facility."
"Tell her the rest," Vekharis remarked.
"We also detected a significant mass transfer, drawing enough power that we noticed it here. Shortly thereafter, we noticed massive use of the transit station. That we still were able to control, and manage to shut it down and trap the vehicles that had been put into use. However, we feel that the moves are at best temporary. Do you have any ideas of what is going on?"
"No," Matsubara said, "beyond the fact that perhaps that planet was not uninhabited and that the story I got here was false. I have heard different things about what happened there. The 'official' story seems to be that six Salosians came through, were captured and committed ritual suicide. Another story is that some kind of battle was fought there. Which story is correct?"
"There was a battle there," Loazi finally answered.
Matsubara knew that Stanislava, Hamuto and Kayaha had gone there, and they were meeting the captain there. She felt concerned for their fate, and really wanted to know what had happened. Undoubtedly, they were part of what had happened at that location. She had an idea. "I don't know if it is possible, but I'd like to communicate with the lander, with my ship. They were there. They might know what has happened."
Loazi hesitated, at least until one of the console operators spoke up, announcing, "Our attempts to override the transit system has failed. The intruders have apparently figured out how to operate the vehicles autonomously."
"They are coming here," the third leader, Mysa, said.
"I know what."
"Grant the alien her request."
Loazi hesitated for just a second, before saying, "Very well. Gorimal, disable the communications blocks and send out a general hail, in an analog signal. Unfortunately, the Salosians might intercept this signal too, but they may not be able to understand what we're saying, just yet."
"System is open," Gorimal, one of the youngest women in the room, remarked. She gestured for Matsubara to come over and sit at her console. She tapped a few of the buttons and pointed a few things out, saying, "This would activate the system. We're picking up a response signal here... on this frequency. The link is open, voice only."
"Thank you," Matsubara said. She pushed the button.
A voice came out of the speaker, "Who is this? Are we the ones being contacted? This is the Athena lander, Lieutenant Hakamura speaking. Who is this?"
"Sal," Matsubara started. "It's me. Is the captain there?"
Hakamura had no chance to reply, as Thorpe simply cut him off. "Damiko? Is that you?"
"Yes."
"How are you?"
"I could be better. This away mission has gone on far too long and is far too rough for my liking, but anyway. What's happening?"
"Deep trouble. Whoever had the brilliant idea to go to that structure might need her head examined. The situation is now that a sleeping giant has been awoken. The Salosians, who seem to know a lot about this whole complex and the technology behind it, are coming in strength. They've got vessels, and they've got access to the transit system. You've got to get out of there."
Everybody in the room could hear and understand the conversation, and sense the urgency in the captain's voice. Vekharis spoke up, saying, "We will defeat them again, just like we defeated them before."
Matsubara translated what the Doran leader had said. "I don't think so," the captain continued. "There are fifty thousand of them, and they've got enough firepower to put a dent in the Dominion if they tried. They also know enough about the technology and the layout that, in my honest opinion, the Dorans don't have a chance."
Another of the operators spoke up, saying, "The system is now detecting a couple of small vessels, apparently unmanned, entering the crater region."
"Probes, to locate the crater. Our sensors indicate that the probes have locked on to your location and are approaching."
"We are truly doomed," Mysa remarked, turning her steely gaze on Vekharis. "Your idea was bad in the beginning, and it is bad now. Your attempts at influence, at putting Hamuto in her place, have failed, just like you were warned."
"We all agreed to the move," Vekharis retorted.
"There is no time for this," Matsubara remarked. "There's only one thing to do. We must leave this location. Your people must leave. If there's time, you can get to the transit station and get to a structure, any other structure, and flee somewhere else."
"They will track us down there."
"No," Thorpe said over the commlink. "We've got the means to ensure that the Salosians track nobody down."
The console operator said, "Now detecting another set of vessels, manned vessels, entering the crater region."
"We will fight. We will hold," Vekharis started.
"But must that apply to everybody?" Matsubara asked. "Must they all die for your own vanity? Let those who want to go actually go, and have a chance."
"But where will they go?" asked Loiza.
"Let them pick a location at random. Activate all the outbound functions, and let them scatter. Maybe they'll go to more than one."
"Yes," Thorpe said over the link. "You can't stop this."
Another operator said, "Systems indicate that the Salosians have entered the transit system again, from a neighbouring structure. We can slow them, but we can't stop them."
Vekharis, with a shrug, turned away form a group of women that she felt was increasingly becoming cowards. "Very well, run, run with your pathetic lives, and your cowardly ways. You're not worthy of being Dorans, of being what we were created to be. To run from a battle is sacrilege to everything that we know, everything that we are. History will not look favourably upon us."
"But at least you'll have a history," Matsubara said.
More calmly, Vekharis said, "Issue the order to evacuate to those who wish to go. Maybe none do. Activate outbound functions at all locations and advise those who are evacuating to attempt to transit at any location. After the Salosians are defeated, we will return to retrieve them, and deal with them then."
"Captain, did you hear that?" Matsubara said after quickly translating.
"Yes," the man replied-and both seemed to have an understanding that they should say nothing more of this matter.
Vekharis looked at Matsubara, and asked, "What are you waiting for? You seem to support this foolish notion, and now you're implying that you're staying here while the others flee like cowards."
"No, I'm merely-"
"Go! You're not wanted here."
In truth, Matsubara wanted to simply wait for the lander to pick her up and take her back to the location where she had emerged on this world, but Vekharis gave her this withering look, and several of the men in the room unholstered their weapons. Matsubara got the message. She quickly left the control centre, and noticed that nobody else was leaving. Just outside, she found Teklensho. "We've got to go."
"I heard," the man said. "The leadership is giving us the ability to leave this location and pick a location to go to. What location?"
"We've got no time," Matsubara remarked.
"My family."
"If they follow your beliefs, and want to do this too, then they should report to the transit station too."
"But we simply can't go," the man protested.
"Why?"
"We need supplies, and equipment. We need our personal possessions, our tools, seed stock, supplies for the initial period, so much stuff."
"Damn," the science officer said to herself. She realized now that she would be doing these people no favours by sending them to some other location without any support.
* * *
"There's no way to confirm, at least here, that the outbound functions have been activated," Bayanhong said on board the lander bridge. She continued to monitor the sensor readings, even as the lander remained cloaked. A number of small, fast and manoeuvrable Salosian aircraft were approaching the crater and flying over the twelve kilometre high rim that led into the crater. From the lander, they could see the aircraft streak past and dive downwards.
"Except the most obvious one," Thorpe answered "Hakamura, contact Rocha and inform him that the outbound function might finally be active now. He knows how to proceed."
"Aye, sir."
"And we've got to go in there and get the rest of out people out. I just hope that in doing this, we don't become a target."
* * *
"Commander Rocha," came the voice over the communications gear, which had been set up in the alien control centre, among the alien controls.
The voice was recognizable, so Rocha said, "Go ahead, Sal."
"We've received possible indication that as the Salosian attack is about to strike at the Doran control area, they may be fleeing. Outbound functions may be operational now."
"Oh man," the security chief said.
"Can you work it?"
"I'll soon find out," Rocha remarked. A lot of people were milling about, using the replicators and supplying them with raw material. Somewhere in there was one tired engineer specializing in alien technology, and he called out, "Lieutenant Turokuot! Turokuot! Where are you?"
The man crawled out from underneath one of the disassembled console hatches, and said, "Commander. What's going on?"
"I've just received word. The outbound function may be operational."
Whatever the engineer had been doing was forgotten now. He had been focused on just one task for so long, and now this was the chance to see if the work he had done so far had paid off. As the two made their way back, Rocha asked, "Can you actually do it?"
"It might be best to use the gateway. It might not move as many people at a time, but it's more predictable. I've studied the electronics for so long I'm sure I know the command sequence to open the gateway. I just hope it works."
Turokuot had to shoo some people away, as this area was getting rather crowded. Rocha stood near the communications gear, watching, and thinking. Guerrero was nearby, as was Ghanash, one of the Odonan Space Service officers who had been trapped here those many years ago. A lot was happening, and he was finding that it was not easy to control. He knew that the Odonans had been contacted, and that they were starting to move. They had every transit vehicle between the two locations moving, and they were packing as many people as possible on board. Many of the Odonans were lost and a little scared, since they were returning to a universe that might be a little too different for them. Rocha was pretty sure that the Odonan government would help its citizens reintegrate with the changed reality of the galaxy sixty-one years older than they were familiar with. The Adamsburg civilians were pressing around this part of the structure, since it had the replicators and no matter how hard the devices were working, it was hard to keep up. It would be harder once the Odonans started to come in number.
The engineer and a couple of assistants were pushing buttons and moving levers and checking readings, both on the alien displays and the tricorder. More than once, Turokuot had to make adjustments and even changes. All the while, the crowd was growing ever more thicker, as rumour started to spread on what might be happening. Rocha was still thinking about the next step, and how their resources were being stretched. About half of the Odonan shock troops were at the Odonan site, protecting the transit station as the people got on the vehicles, and the other half were at this end of the line. Both groups had been there to guard against an attack by the Dorans, although given the current situation, a raid by the Dorans was unlikely. On the other hand, the Salosians could come, and worse, they could come through the air in their own aircraft. He really should send somebody outside to keep an eye on the sky. Right now, he needed his own security officers to be the first to cross the gateway once it opens, and many of them were making their way through the gathering crowds.
"Sir, I believe this is the moment," Turokuot remarked. "Gateway activation sequence is set... and done." He pushed the last two buttons himself. More lights came on, and more displays shifted. Around the gateway frame, machines hummed and small lights flashed and went through colour shifts. The engineer studied the effects with his tricorder, and said, "Yes, it appears to be working. Something is happening."
"But the door is closed," remarked Ensign Brenda Gomez. She had been near the communications gear and had called in the other security officers.
"The door's nothing. We've opened the door already, and saw machinery behind it. Now lets see what's behind it." Turokuot walked over to one more console, and pushed the button that actually opened the gateway doors. As they parted, they did not see machinery, but a walkway that led to another corridor. "That was not there the last time," the man said excitedly.
"It's working?" asked Gomez.
"Yes, it's working. On the other side is Charamand!" A cheer went up from those gathered around the structure, and this cheer seemed to spread through the thickening crowd. It seemed that all of the Adamsburg people were already in the vicinity, and every couple of minutes, many Odonans, most of them a little lost and confused, came out of the residential half of the structure and came down the central walkway. As the cheers went up, Rocha could not help but shaking hands and going through an archaic "high five" ritual with the others.
However, Rocha soon had a problem. The people were starting to press forward. "Calm down!" he shouted, as loud as it was possible to do so. He, Turokuot, Gomez and Ghanash stood in front of the gateway, and prevented anybody from getting through. "We can't go yet," he announced. "There are defenses on the other side, defenses which we must neutralize first! The security team will go through first!"
"Always an excuse," somebody shouted out.
"It's true," Ghanash retorted, momentarily unaware that most of the citizens could not understand him. He continued, and found Rocha was translating. "We encountered them at Norg. They're nothing you want to tangle with, trust me. We also got to find the exit."
"That's a problem," Rocha said. "We didn't scan anything at Charamand."
"Same at Norg, but it must be there."
The security team started to assemble. They went in with phaser rifles, tricorders and the personal forcefield devices. Lieutenant Kelsey Hann led the group. As he waited for orders from Rocha, Ghanash spoke up, "There's a cavern on the other side, corresponding to this one. It should be one level up. It might be best to secure that area first, so that we can get these people moving. If something happens here, at least they'll be on this planet of yours already."
"Yes, we can do that. Hann, are you ready?"
"Yes, sir," the lieutenant remarked. He had seven people with him, and they got between the officers standing in front of the gateway. Already, they were scanning and watching out for anything that could be a danger or a threat.
"The rest of you, lets not waste time. Lets use the replicators to get food and water, which we might need once we're on the other side..."
* * *
Teklensho was not sure what he wanted to do. He wanted to return to his compound, and find his wife and son and gather supplies and equipment, but Matsubara was not sure if they had the time. The Salosians could attack at any time, but so far, they had held off. She wondered why. Maybe they were probing the defenses, attempting to scan, or perhaps they did not only want to destroy the Dorans, but seize the complex as well while keeping it intact. She had no idea how much time they had. In the end, Matsubara gave in, and they headed back to Teklensho's quarters. They found them empty.
"Teknin!" he shouted out. "Tekdaeo!" He heard nothing.
"Maybe they went to the transit station already," Matsubara remarked. "They do think like you do, that the Dorans should abandon this approach?"
"Yes," the man said, as he ran from room to room, looking for his family. He did grab some tools, some clothing, anything he could grab and carry easily, but certain things were already missing. "They might've already went," he finally conceded.
"Then we should go too."
The two returned to the corridor, with Teklensho carrying his weapon over one shoulder and a carry-back haphazardly stuffed with his possessions over the other. Fearing that the Salosians could attack from the air, Matsubara had Teklensho lead her around the ring structure that connected the two main parts of the structure. As soon as they arrived in the residential structure, they encountered another Doran male, carrying just the weapon, approached, and said, "Teklensho."
"Time is very critical."
"You're a quitter, aren't you?" the other man said.
"I wouldn't use that term."
"For as long as we've been here, there are those who said that we actually have it soft, that we use slaves to do our work, while we have this network that would allow us to go to any planet anywhere and do it for ourselves."
"And that's bad?" Teklensho asked.
"Yes. This is our planet now. We're going to defend it. You've let the alien mislead you."
"No he did not," Matsubara remarked. "They're doing it because this time, you've got a battle that you can't win."
"We'll win," the other man said, with confidence. He gripped his weapon more tightly. "This very weapon helped my grandfather and my father. With it, they won noble battles, and earned wives with it. I owe my existence to this very weapon, as strange as that might seem to a non-Doran. In the future, my son will owe his existence to this weapon. It's the thrill of battle. It's why we're here."
"You were exiled here," Matsubara said.
"Yes, because we were warriors, the best warriors in the galaxy. We were exiled here because our original home no longer had a need for warriors, but this planet does. We'll fight, and we'll hold."
"I wish you well," the science officer said. They were approaching the ramp that led down to the transit station, which, for some reason was where the Dorans were going to make their stand. Apparently, the women in the control centre were doing their best to delay the arrival of the Salosians here, but Matsubara had heard that they were coming through the air. She wondered where they were. She wondered where the lander was.
"Victory shall be ours today," the man said. "I can feel it all over my body. This will be a victory for the ages."
"I hope so, but I wouldn't count on it. How many of your people are here?"
"I don't know, perhaps a hundred, two hundred warriors."
"Against a force of fifty thousand?"
"Impossible," the man retorted. "Nobody could get that many through from the galaxy before the system was shut down."
"That's the number I heard."
"Then we shall fight them to the last man, and bring many, many along with us."
Matsubara shook her head, saying, "I've never known any race that more cheerfully approached their death and destruction."
"It's what we are," Teklensho cut in. "The battle proves who's the fittest, the strongest, the most able, and the most worthy to pass their genes along. This is our culture."
"But you're quitting," the other Doran said.
"That's because one of the skills of a true warrior is to know when not to fight. Being a warrior is more than just fighting. It is being able to fight with a chance to win. Only a foolish man would fight a battle he is sure to lose. It is better to retreat and prepare for another day, when we are strong again. We'll go to this other planet, and in better conditions, with fertile soils, and with our own pride and effort, we will flourish. Then, when these aliens, these... these."
"Salosians," Matsubara said.
"When these Salosians attack us, they'll find us a more than worthy adversary. We got to this position today because we allowed ourselves to rot, to get soft, to fight easy battles against generally unarmed people still in shock from accidentally coming over here. Maybe that's why I'm doing this."
The group finally made it to the transit station. It was crowded with people, with warriors taking up positions, and the "quitters" milling around, trying to get on board the vehicles. Matsubara was not very good estimating crowd sizes, but thought that about two hundred people were attempting to flee. She went over to the map, and looked over the various locations, and how they represented locations in the galaxy. Believing that the captain was going to make sure that the Salosians never were able to use this technology to go after the various worlds, Matsubara decided that she should pick a planet somewhere in the Beta Quadrant. As long as the Salosians never found out about the wormholes, the Dorans would be safe-if they survived. She stopped at the big map display, and picked some locations and scanned them into her tricorder.
The floor seemed to shake. Everybody noticed it, and looked up and around. The level of shouting and background conversation seemed to ease for a moment. Teklensho asked, "What was that?" They all felt it again, something similar to a very faint earthquake of short duration, just enough to be noticeable. "What's happening?"
"I believe that the attack is beginning, surface bombardment," Matsubara said. Teklensho was more interested in finding his wife and son, while Matsubara saw total disorganization in the Doran "quitters." Hardly any of them were attempting to go over the crossovers to the parked vehicles. She had this sinking feeling that she was going to have to co-ordinate and lead them. On the other side, she saw something that took her by surprise, a couple of humans and three Sikarians.
Before Matsubara could get make it to the other side of the crossover, she heard something. Others heard it too. They turned to the wall near them, just in time to see the hatch open and a vehicle stream into the station.
