“Servitor Silbrit, you must contact Denzit Janeway at once and allow me to speak with her,” Tuvok said over the din. Abruptly, the silence that had just been requested descended over the room.
The officer who had given the order turned toward Tuvok. His haggard mien and grim, determined eyes spoke of countless battles. None as desperate as this one. He studied Tuvok intently for a few seconds, then said, “You’re not Zahl.”
“No. I am a friend of the denzit’s. She is not aware of the munitions currently housed in this facility. She does not understand that by destroying this installation, she will also destroy the planet. If you tell her the truth, she will never believe you. If I tell her, she will break off her attack.”
“Nempir, how soon can you get that shield stabilized?” Silbrit demanded.
A series of three consecutive detonations responded for the unfortunate Nempir.
“You are wasting time you do not possess,” Tuvok assured Silbrit. “Contact the denzit.”
The Zahl commander appeared to weigh his pride versus his survival. His shoulders fell visibly as he said, “Bref, see if you can hail the lead Rilnar attack ship.”
The only sound that broke the silence was that of continued explosions on the surface above. Each successive blast was louder than the last.
Finally Bref reported, “The denzit is not responding, sir.”
Silbrit turned back to Tuvok. “Any other suggestions, friend of the denzit?”
Tuvok looked down at the Zahl uniform jacket the denzit had given him. The buttons flashed. She knew he was still in the citadel. Clearly, that did not trouble her. Or maybe it did, a little. Just not enough.
Tuvok shook his head.
“Kill him,” Silbrit ordered.
• • •
“Squads six through ten, attack pattern R-twenty,” the denzit ordered grimly. The shields around the island were falling faster than she had predicted. She was moments away from the end of her war.
Glancing at her tactical display, she noted that two of her tracer signals had been deactivated. The small tracking devices were designed to shut down in the absence of bio-signs. Either Lieutenant Kim and Seven had abandoned their disguises or they had just been added to a long list of casualties on Sormana. Tuvok’s signal was still active. He was alive down there.
Come on, Captain Chakotay, she thought. She’d given him clearance to enter orbit and rescue his team. What the hell was taking him so long? Her ground-based transporters couldn’t penetrate even the weakened energy shield around the island, but Voyager’s should have been able to. She wouldn’t hold her squad back once the shields came down for Tuvok’s sake. She had always hated “needs of the many” scenarios, but in this case she had no choice but to accept it. Tuvok deserved better than to die like this. But his life was Chakotay’s to save, not hers.
“Denzit, the Zahl installation is hailing us.”
“Which servitor?”
“Silbrit.”
Silbrit had been a fierce and bloodthirsty warrior in his day, but that day had passed. He had disappeared from the Zahl’s ranks two years prior. She assumed he had died. Apparently, he had been transferred to a much more critical post. She knew him only by reputation. In his career he had personally been responsible for the deaths of at least ten thousand Rilnar officers and citizens. She understood why he might want to speak with her now.
He didn’t deserve the courtesy.
“I have nothing to say to the servitor.”
“Understood, Denzit.”
A sudden sound of exclamations followed by alarmed shouts forced the denzit to turn from her panels toward the rear of her attack shuttle. “Don’t move,” one of her auxiliary tactical officers ordered.
Captain Chakotay lifted his hands in response.
“I am unarmed,” he said evenly.
His composure in the face of four weapons now aimed directly at him by her shuttle’s crew was impressive. His timing was inexplicable.
“Lower your weapons immediately,” the denzit ordered. “Attend to your stations.” Rising, she stepped toward Chakotay and pulled him toward the rearmost compartment of the shuttle. It wasn’t private, but it was the best she could do under the circumstances. “Why are you here?”
“Kim and Seven are aboard Voyager. They told me that the Zahl are storing enough chroniton torpedoes on that island to destroy the entire sector. You have to call off this attack.”
“I can’t . . .” she began automatically, but paused as this realization sank in. “Did your sensors confirm this?”
Chakotay shook his head. “I don’t need confirmation. I have the word of two of my officers.”
“This war could end in the next few minutes,” the denzit argued.
“Oh, it’s going to,” Chakotay assured her. “Did you plan on living long enough to celebrate your victory? Call off this attack.”
“Where is Tuvok?”
“He stayed behind. He was trying to reach you from the Zahl’s command center.”
The denzit turned back toward her crew. “Hail Silbrit,” she ordered.
A few seconds later, the Zahl servitor’s voice crackled throughout her ship.
“Denzit Janeway, you must stand down. If you destroy this island, you will kill us all.”
“So I’ve been told. Where is Commander Tuvok?”
“Your friend?”
“If you try to turn this into a hostage negotiation, Silbrit, I’m going to see you in hell.”
“I just ordered his execution.”
“Do that, and you’re next. I’m coming down there to confirm the intelligence I have just received regarding a store of incredibly dangerous weapons you’re holding. Drop what little is left of your shields and await my arrival.”
“We’re under attack from within our installation. I cannot assure your safety.”
“I’m willing to take my chances. Are you?”
“I’ll admit it. I’ve always wanted to meet you.”
“Now seems like as good a time as any.”
“Our shields will be down momentarily. Keep your officers on a short leash and I will do the same.”
“End transmission,” the denzit ordered. “Open a channel to all squads. Cease fire immediately and hold until further orders are given. Confirmation code Denzit Janeway Delta three four seven six two Omega.”
“Your orders transmitted and received,” her comm officer replied.
Turning to Chakotay, she said, “Go back to Voyager.”
“No.”
The denzit sighed. “This isn’t your fight.”
“It’s not yours either,” Chakotay reminded her.
VESTA
Farkas hurried onto her bridge just in time to see Dayne’s ship vanish from the main viewscreen. The six Krenim warships that had surrounded the Vesta during their negotiations had departed shortly before Admiral Janeway and Counselor Cambridge had transported with the Krenim agent to the Truon.
“Report,” Farkas ordered.
“Prior to its disappearance, the Truon raised her temporal shields. As soon as it did, we lost our sensor lock. I can’t tell you where or when they went, Captain,” Lieutenant Kar said.
“Farkas to engineering. Phinn.”
“Yes, Captain?”
“What did you learn about the Truon in the half hour that we had a stable sensor lock?”
“She’s amazing, Captain.”
“I wasn’t actually looking for a review.”
“Her engines don’t just alter the configuration of space and subspace. She initially emerged from an extradimensional, variable-plane stabilization fold.”
“Long story short, that ship can move through space and time at will, right?”
“Yes, Captain.”
Farkas nodded. Despite Dayne’s cryptic warning, she was pretty sure she knew where his ship was headed. The problem was when.
“We’re returning to Sormana, Bryce. Are you and Icheb ready to bring our new temporal shields onlin
e?”
“Yes, Captain, but they aren’t compatible with our slipstream assembly.”
“So we can’t operate both at once?”
“No, Captain.”
“Here’s how we’re going to do this,” Farkas said.
SORMANA
The transport coordinates Silbrit had provided deposited the denzit and Chakotay in an office adjacent to the citadel’s control room. The servitor was waiting for them. Tuvok stood beside him, unperturbed by the tension gripping everyone else.
“Welcome to Rahalla, Denzit Janeway,” Silbrit said once they had materialized. Nodding toward Chakotay he continued, “My, but you seem to have made a lot of new friends lately.”
“I am Captain Chakotay of the Federation Starship Voyager,” Chakotay replied, extending his hand to the Zahl leader.
Silbrit glanced toward Tuvok as he accepted Chakotay’s hand. “This man is one of yours, isn’t he? Has your Federation entered into an alliance with the denzit’s forces on Sormana?”
“No,” Chakotay replied.
“Before I became denzit, I was a Starfleet officer. Chakotay’s ship came here to retrieve me.”
The servitor appeared to warm to the idea. “If you’re planning to return to your own people, Denzit, you’ll get no argument from me.”
“I refused their offer, Servitor. I have no intention of leaving Sormana until this war is won.”
“If you’re not here to help her, why did your people attack Rahalla?” Silbrit demanded of Chakotay.
“When the denzit refused to leave Sormana, my fleet began to investigate the conflict. We wanted to understand why two species as advanced as the Rilnar and the Zahl were incapable of ending thousands of years of warfare over a tactically insignificant planet. We learned a great many things, among them, that a Zahl scientist named Rahalla claimed to have discovered chroniton particles on this planet and that the Zahl are reinforcing their swiftly dwindling forces on Sormana using individuals taken from alternate timelines.”
The denzit shot Chakotay a look of utter astonishment as he continued. “Despite Starfleet’s strict noninterference policy, we understand the devastating impact of temporal manipulation. We came here to confirm the intelligence we had gathered and hopefully to convince you that whatever other challenges your people face on the road to peace, further temporal corruption could destabilize anything you might accomplish.”
“Rahalla was a madman,” the denzit said. “No reputable Rilnar scientist gives credence to his supposed discoveries.”
“Rahalla was a genius, Denzit,” Silbrit replied. “We named this place for him when we discovered it a hundred years ago. Among other remarkable features, this tactically insignificant planet is home to the only naturally occurring stable chroniton fields the Zahl have ever discovered. In truth, we might have abandoned Sormana long ago, were it not for our determination never to allow this technology to fall into Rilnar hands.”
“There’s more than naturally occurring chroniton fields on Sormana now, isn’t there, Servitor?” Chakotay asked.
Silbrit nodded. “I don’t suppose that if I simply tell you, you’ll believe me?”
“Not a chance,” the denzit replied.
“This way.”
A small lift carried Silbrit, Tuvok, Chakotay, and the denzit to the lower levels of the building. A few minutes later, all of them stared in wondrous horror at the store of chroniton torpedoes the Zahl had amassed.
“You see?” Chakotay asked, once the denzit had absorbed the scope of the crisis.
“Where did these come from?” she demanded of Silbrit.
“I won’t tell you where we got the specs,” Silbrit replied. “But they were constructed here.”
“Why?”
“We’re going to need them.”
“Why?”
“When we succeed in driving the Rilnar from Sormana, we will still have to defend her.”
“From whom?” the denzit demanded.
“The Krenim?” Chakotay ventured.
Silbrit nodded. “If you’d seen what I have, you’d understand,” he suggested to the denzit.
“I’d like to see what you’ve seen,” Chakotay said. “I think if you showed the denzit as well, it would help a great deal.”
Silbrit started to reply but was cut off by the sound of a detonation on the surface above them. The catwalk on which the group stood swayed and creaked as the impact settled. Silbrit shouted into a small, handheld communicator. “Bref, report!”
“The Rilnar assault has resumed, sir. Shields are at eight percent and falling.”
Silbrit turned to the denzit. He didn’t seem surprised by this development, but was clearly infuriated. “This is what I get for trusting you.”
The denzit activated her communicator. “Cease fire at once,” she shouted. “I gave no order to resume the attack.”
“I gave the order,” a cold male voice replied.
“Limlesh?” the denzit asked, stunned.
“From the moment you began to welcome your former comrades to Sormana, I worried that your loyalties might change. I didn’t want to believe it, but when you chose to sue for peace rather than destroy the Zahl’s greatest tactical asset on Sormana, I knew you could no longer be trusted to lead us. You are relieved, Kathryn Janeway. I am assuming command of our forces effective immediately. Denzit Limlesh out.”
Three more blasts struck the building. Everyone held tight to the railing as they sought out solid ground. Silbrit directed them to a nearby ladder that led to the level below. Chakotay brought up the rear as the group descended. His feet had just touched terra firma when a terrified voice crackled over the building’s loudspeakers.
“Shields are down. Repeat, shields are down. All remaining forces, evacuate Rahalla.”
What happened next seemed to occur in slow motion. The ceiling high above the level where Chakotay stood cracked and began to fall. The massive blast of the bomb that had caused this destruction echoed through the chamber a fraction of a second later.
There was nowhere to run.
23
VOYAGER
Commander Tom Paris knew that Voyager should already have been well on her way out of the system by now. The captain’s orders had been perfectly clear.
But Voyager was his now, and it was his intention to make sure that all of his family, the captain and Tuvok included, survived what now seemed like the inevitable destruction of Sormana.
“We’re running out of time, Tom,” Lieutenant Kim whispered from the first officer’s chair to his left.
Seven stood behind Lieutenant Devi Patel at the science officer’s position on the bridge and reported, “The island’s shields have fallen.”
“Did the Rilnar finally destroy them?” Kim asked.
“No. The Zahl appear to have deactivated them.”
“Why the hell—?” Kim began.
“Chakotay and the denzit have transported to the island,” Patel reported before Seven had the chance.
Paris sighed, relieved. “He did it. They’re talking. It’s going to be all right.”
“You say that like you know what the denzit will do,” Kim argued. “You don’t. She looks like our admiral, but that’s where any similarity ends.”
“I know,” Paris agreed. “But I also know what Chakotay and Tuvok can do when they set their mind to it. Hold our position, Gwyn.”
“Holding, sir.”
“The Rilnar shuttles have ceased their aerial assault,” Lasren said.
“Aubrey, how are the Rilnar and Zahl colonial vessels doing?”
“The Rilnar have lost six vessels. The Zahl have lost eight. Long-range sensors show reinforcements on both sides approaching.”
“Are any of them paying any attention to us?”
“No, sir.”
“As long as that holds true, we’re staying. Get transporter locks on Chakotay, Tuvok, and the denzit. Be ready to pull them out on my order.”
“Acknowledged,” Lasren said.
Kim brushed the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his Zahl uniform. Several minutes later Seven said, “Commander Paris, the Rilnar have resumed their attack on the island.”
Paris rose from his seat. “Why?”
“Doesn’t matter. We have to go, now,” Kim insisted.
Paris clenched his jaw in frustration. “Helm, execute orbital release and take us to warp six.”
“Aye, sir.”
KRENIM TEMPORAL DEFENSE AGENCY VESSEL TRUON
There was only one seat on the Truon’s bridge. Her captain, Agent Dayne, occupied it for the few minutes it took to enter navigational instructions into his ship’s computer and engage the engines. Admiral Janeway and Counselor Cambridge wandered about the small space examining the displays. Even had they been able to read the Krenim language, there was no way they could have understood the significance or purpose of the technology they beheld.
Dayne had a feeling both of them got the general idea.
“How do we do this, Agent Dayne?” the admiral asked once they were under way.
“I will send both of you to Sormana. You will arrive in time to attempt to mitigate the disaster that is about to occur. If you fail, the counselor will die, along with everyone else on the planet and within a few trillion kilometers.
“Once you have succeeded, or failed, you, Admiral Janeway, will return to this ship to fulfill your end of our agreement.”
Dayne rose from his seat and crossed to a small storage cabinet embedded in the rear bulkhead of the bridge between the causality calculators and the temporal conversion matrix. After entering his security clearance codes, Dayne removed several small devices attached to thin, black bands. He then offered them to Janeway and Cambridge.
“Once you depart this ship you will be vulnerable to the same laws of space and time as everyone else not protected by the Truon’s temporal stabilization field. These are personal temporal synchronization disruptors. They are quite safe. Our field agents use them regularly to study unstable timelines.”
“So these were designed purely for research purposes?” Cambridge asked wryly.
Dayne was not amused.
“I only have six. Choose those you share them with wisely. Everyone who wears one of these will remember everything that happens, despite any alterations your actions may cause to the timeline once I restore the normal flow at the point of incursion.”
Star Trek: Voyager: A Pocket Full of Lies Page 30
