The Heart of Darkness
Lt. Cmdr. Peliar Zel
Chapter 9
"I've got it!" shouted Ryan and then sighed with relief. "I've got it." Ashley and Nikki quickly stood up and walked over to his station. Looking over his shoulders, they could see the alien waveform superimposed on an antiquated carrier wave that could have come from a number of different cultures, all from the past. "It's a modulated wave, Commander," he continued. "It varies in frequency from eighty kilohertz to one-hundred-fourty. It appears to be... radio!" "Radio?" repeated Ashley. "Can you break it down?" "I believe so, Commander," Ryan replied. On Earth in the 20th century, receiver sets sent out modulated destructive interference waves, stripping the incoming signals down to the original sound messages. I guess that's where we should start." He keyed a sequence of numbers, and the audio speakers began to spurt out static. "The closer we get to the right frequency, the clearer the sound will be." The computer intoned, "Working." The static began to take form. It no longer was a constant rushing sound. Definite pauses began to emerge, and evidence that the message was, as they had anticipated, a voice message. Every second brought more clarity and cohesion to the transmission. Finally, a male voice could be clearly heard. Ryan ordered the computer to stop the search, and listened intently. "I don't recognize the language," he said. "Neither do I," affirmed Nikki. "I do," said Ashley, and the others turned to face her, in shock. "It's..." A chill ran through her spine, and her hands began to shake. "What is it?" demanded Nikki. "Ashley, snap out of it." "It's Trill... It's an automated warning..." Ashley replied. "But... that can't be... possible..." She slowly turned around and went to sit on a nearby chair. "Put it through the universal translator, it'll be a lot faster than what I could do." The computer started to work at the translation. Being in a known language, it was almost instantaneous:
"They will, come; the Dark Ones will; On wings of fire they will fill our skies, and take our lives. The brave will flee, the women will mourn; Our lands will bleed with us. The Heart Of Darkness looks on with delight at his unholy feast. But the Light Eternal remains. The Light Eternal resists And the Heart of Darkness ceases to beat. For A Time."
Suddenly she understood. "Where is Team One?" "They left three hours ago. They're probably half way to the Neutral Zone by now," said Nikki. "What is it, Commander?" asked Ryan. "I'll explain on the way," Ashley replied. "On the way to where?" asked Nikki. "The artifact. Contact Lt. Hurst, and have him prepare a runabout for launch immediately." Ashley stood up again. "Drop everything," she ordered. "Let's go!" * * * Arriving at the rendezvous point, the Breen frigate dropped out of warp. On the bridge, Mraelok turned to Peliar with a confused look on his face. "I don't see anybody, Sub-Commander. Are you sure that these are the right coordinates?" "They are coming, Mr. Mraelok," replied Peliar. "Just hold position here." "Listen to me, sir," Mraelok argued. "You should know how angry your people get when traders violate their flight paths. I'm not going to stay here and be a sitting duck for the border patrol. If your friends aren't here in the next five minutes, we're resuming our course to Reimus." Fortunately, Mraelok did not have to live up to his threat. Just then, three Romulan Warbirds decloaked right in front of them. The Breen at the communications station reported that the lead ship was hailing them. "On screen," he ordered. An image of the Romulan bridge filled the viewscreen, and a Romulan Commander addressed Mraelok. "Captain," he said. "Our business is not with you. Please lower your shields and permit us to retrieve our citizens. Once the transport is complete, please leave Romulan space. We have closed our borders to all non-essential traffic. You have thiry seconds to comply." The Commander's image was replaced by the starfield and the three warbirds. "Like hell I will," yelled Mraelok loudly, standing up. "Helm, resume course to Reimus, warp six!" Mark also stood up and drew his disruptor, followed by the rest of the team a split-second later. Mraelok went for his weapon, but was too slow. Anna fired, hitting Mraelok in the chest, and he fell to the floor. Peliar turned to the first officer and offered him a choice. "You are the captain now, Mr...." "Lokui, sir," "Mr. Lokui, you are now the captain of this ship. Lower the shields, and once we have been beamed aboard the Romulan vessel, return to Federation space." Lokui seemed to be locked in a struggle with his conscience, but nodded in light of the heavily armed Romulans - on the bridge and on the viewscreen. He deactivated the shields, and within seconds, Romulan transporter beams whisked Mark, Anna, T'Lar and Peliar away to the bridge of the lead Romulan ship. The Breen frigate promptly came about and went to warp, on a heading back to Pharius. Apparently it hadn't been a good day for smuggling. "Welcome aboard, friends" said the Romulan Commander to Peliar. "I am Commander Konsaab, welcome aboard the warbird K'Aeshma." "THE Commander Konsaab?" asked Anna in shock. "You mean, right-wing, anti-Federation propogandist, butcher Commander Konsaab?" Unshaken, Konsaab replied with his dignity intact. He'd obviously had to face similar reactions from Movement members before. "Unfortunately, yes," he said. "I am not proud of my past, but I have a new cause now. Ambassador Spock has helped me put my emotions aside, and put me on the path to logic and truth." Mark whispered into Peliar's ear, with reasonable fear in his voice. "Now you've done it." To everyone, he said "How do we know that we can trust this guy?" The tension on the bridge mounted, as real Romulans and surgically altered Romulans eyed one another with suspicion. Suddenly, it was no longer an issue. The doors of the turbolift parted to reveal Spock, in the flesh. He walked towards Peliar and looked him over. "Zel!" he shouted. Peliar was startled, and looked towards Spock, locking eyes with him. The other fake Romulans looked at eachother in surprise, while Spock continued. "Ahh... I did not recognize you in your new host; but your forehead still wrinkles when you are nervous." A smile crept across Peliar's face as Spock walked towards him and presented his right hand in the traditional Vulcan greeting. "Live long and prosper, friend eternal." Peliar quickly reciprocated with his right hand. "Lt. Zel, I can assure you that Commander Konsaab and his crew are perfectly trustworthy, otherwise they would not be here. We had the displeasure of having to kill several Tal'Shiar spies trying to 'defect' with us, so I have personally interviewed every Romulan that is now here, within one thousand kilometers." "By 'interviewed', you mean..." said Mark trying to imitate a Vulcan mind meld on himself, and only succeeding at making a fool out of himself, "...One of those?" "Precisely," replied Spock. "Now, if there isn't anything further, I suggest that you head to our sick bay. Or, have your colleagues come to enjoy looking like Romulans?" "Actually," began Anna before she was cut off by a stern glance from T'Lar; "Okay." Anna, Mark and T'Lar were escorted off the bridge by a Romulan female, and led them to the sick bay to reverse the surgical alterations. Peliar remained on the bridge. "I am sorry for questioning your loyalty Commander," said Peliar to Konsaab apologetically. "Can we get underway?" "By all means, Mr. Zel. Do not distress yourself; Ambassador Spock was even more skeptical when he met me, if you can imagine!" Commander Konsaab turned to the helmsman and muttered a set of coordinates that Peliar correctly assumed was the position of the artifact. The K'Aeshma lurched forward in a familiar way, so although the viewscreen was blank, Peliar knew that the ship had gone to warp. Several seconds later, the lighting dimmed, a sign that the K'Aeshma was cloaked as well. The thought of being invisible soothed Peliar's misgivings about flying through hostile territory. Spock addressed Peliar as they sat down on the chairs flanking Commander Konsaab. "So; how does it feel to be a male again?" he asked. More than slightly embarassed, Peliar said the only thing that he could think of: "Itchy." Spock raised an eyebrow. eemed to be locked in a struggle with