Chapter 9
Chapter 8
Stardate 57203
Lilandra sat back down in her throne as the party got underway again. Kitty said something to her, and she chuckled, as Kitty rejoined the rest of the crew. As she passed a waiter with a tray of filled champagne glasses, she took one for herself.
“Well, Commander Pryde,” Picard said, “it seems that you’ve made an impression among our hosts.”
“That was the idea, Captain,” she replied.
“You look amazing, Kitty,” Will complemented her.
“Thank you, Will.”
“Do you mind a personal question?” Will asked.
“Double sided tape,” she replied impudently. Will’s eyes widened in surprise and his jaw dropped. “That’s what you were going to ask, isn’t it: how I possibly keep this dress up in defiance of gravity.”
“Well, yeah, but I didn’t really expect an answer.”
Kitty grinned. “Then I guess you’ll have to learn to expect more from me. Oh, and you can close your jaw now, before you trip over your tongue.” Will reddened in embarrassment. Kitty saw Troy and Crusher struggling to contain their laughter, and Geordie seemed to be in the midst of a coughing fit. Picard seemed to be doing a better job of controlling himself, but even his eye bore a twinkle of amusement.
Will looked at Kitty in a mock-stern manner. “Has no one ever warned you of the dangers of taking pot shots at superior officers, Miss Pryde? Not that I would ever stoop so low as to entertain petty revenge. I am, after all, an officer and a gentleman.”
“Well, one out of two ain’t bad,” Kitty riposted. “In the meanwhile, I’m going to get some food.” She left the others chuckling behind her as she moved toward the chafing trays lined against the sides of the room.
She had just arrived at a tray and picked up a dish when she felt a familiar presence behind her. “What’s on your mind, Gladiator?” she said without turning.
“You should not have returned,” Gladiator’s angry voice rumbled from behind her.
She turned to face him. “And why’s that?”
Gladiator took a step closer to her, lowering his voice, but not changing his tone. “The Majestrix has made up her mind.”
“People change their minds all the time.”
“And you believe that you can change her mind?”
“I aim to try,” Kitty quipped.
“Your presence here complicates matters,” his voice rumbled. “You should not be here. Your presence endangers the future of the Empire.”
Kitty looked at him. “How so? The Empire is in no danger from the Federation or from me. We’re here to negotiate a treaty, not start a war. And I intend to do my duty, whether it inconveniences you or not.”
“As things stand now, your mission will fail,” he stated with utter certainty.
Kitty assessed him for a moment. “And where do you stand on these negotiations, Gladiator? Are you in favor of a treaty with the Federation or against it?”
“My opinion does not matter,” he replied. “I am sworn to protect the Empire and the Crown, no matter what political decisions are made by the Majestrix. You are endangering what I am sworn to protect, and it is all for naught. Your mission is a waste of your time, and a danger to the Empire.”
“Maybe,” she responded. “But you’ve been wrong before. It’s possible that you might be wrong again.”
Gladiator drew himself up to his full height, anger fully on his face. “Mark my words: your mission cannot succeed under the current conditions. Your presence here undermines the future of the Empire that I am sworn to protect. Leave or pay the consequences.”
Kitty, too, drew herself up. “Are you threatening me, bullet head? You wanna rumble with me here and now? Are you really in the mood to find out what happens when an unstoppable force --- your ego --- meets an intangible object --- me?”
“You would fight me?” Gladiator laughed in derision. “You, the scared little girl from Earth? You are deluded if you think you can defeat me. Your man couldn’t defeat me, and he was much stronger than you are.”
Kitty calmly put her plate down next to the chafing tray.
Then she spun like a cat and grabbed Gladiator by the collar of his uniform, lifting him slightly. Gladiator was so shocked by the move that he had no time to react. “Don’t you ever mention my husband again. If you so much as think about him, I’ll rip your face off.”
Gladiator grabbed Kitty’s wrists and removed her hands from his uniform with contemptuous ease, and Kitty stifled a gasp of pain as her wrist was strained to the breaking point. “Do not think to manhandle me, woman. I will not tolerate such insult.” He began to push her away.
Kitty shifted her weight, spinning quickly in an Aikido counter, and Gladiator once again found himself surprised as Kitty used his own momentum to draw him past her and then added to that momentum with a shove. Gladiator lost his balance and stumbled into a nearby table, knocking dishes, glasses and silverware to the floor with a loud crash.
The noise caused the crowd to turn to them. Gladiator pushed himself upright and turned to attack Kitty. Kitty quickly toed off her high-heeled shoes, and grabbed the nearest chair to use as a weapon. She saw Gladiator gathering himself for a charge, and was determining how she would sidestep his attack, when two powerful voices rang out.
“Commander Pryde!!!”
“Gladiator!!!”
They both froze where they stood and Captain Picard and Majestrix Lilandra stepped between the two of them.
“What is the meaning of this?” Lilandra demanded from Gladiator.
“We were talking, and Shadowcat grabbed me,” Gladiator answered.
Kitty said nothing.
Lilandra looked at Kitty and then at Gladiator. “Is that all that occurred? Is that all that happened, Gladiator?”
Gladiator fumed silently. Then after a moment he said, “I may have said something to provoke her.”
“I see,” said Lilandra. “We will discuss this later. For now, you are relieved of your duties for the evening. I have no need of your services at this gathering.”
Gladiator looked to Lilandra in shock. “But Your Majesty, it is unsafe...”
“I will be perfectly safe,” She forestalled. “The rest of the Imperial Guard is present, as is my Champion. Your services are no longer required this evening.”
Gladiator paused for a moment. Then he bowed to Lilandra. “As you command, Your Majesty.” He looked at Kitty with anger in his eyes, as if to say this isn’t over, yet. As he passed close to a table, he slammed his fist down onto it in frustration. The table shattered and he returned his gaze to Kitty.
She returned his stare with one of her own, not taking her eyes off of him until he left the room.
Picard spoke up. “And you, Commander. What, exactly, did you think you were doing?”
“Getting ready to kick his sorry ass,” she replied.
“Excuse me?!?”
She sighed. “I apologize, Captain. And to you as well, Your Majesty.” She turned to Picard. “It’s an old feud between the two of us. I’m sorry I let him get me out of joint.”
“It is not Kitty’s fault, Captain,” Lilandra said. “It was Gladiator who approached Kitty. I was watching. He did so despite my direct order to avoid confronting her.”
“Nevertheless,” Picard replied, “a Starfleet Officer has no business getting into barroom brawls in the middle of a diplomatic gathering.”
“On the contrary, Captain,” Lilandra disagreed. “She acted exactly as a warrior should. She refused to be threatened or insulted, and We have no doubt that Gladiator did both. He’s a powerful man, and a great asset to the Empire. But he has a habit of losing control of his ego. Kitty slapped him down, which was exactly what he needed. Perhaps he’ll learn some self-control now. That would not displease Us at all, Captain.”
And apparently that was all that would be made of the matter at the party. Several waiters appeared to take the pieces of the table and broken china away, and the table was quickly replaced with a new one. The music started up again, and the party picked up again where it had left off.
Picard drew Kitty to the side. “Would you mind telling me what that was about?” he asked quietly but angrily.
“It was a personal matter, Sir.”
“Not good enough, Commander. Not good enough by half.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Sir.”
Picard looked at Kitty. “Perhaps it has slipped your mind, but we are on a diplomatic mission, Ms. Pryde, not a military one. Picking fights with the local constabulary is not a good way to complete our mission of making friends of these people.”
Kitty looked abashed. “I’m sorry, Captain. Really, I am. But this confrontation was inevitable. Gladiator and I have too much bad history for it not to have happened. I’m sorry that it happened so publicly, and for making your life more difficult, but I will not apologize for confronting him after he threatened and insulted me.”
“Perhaps I should confront Gladiator, and see if we can’t clear it all up,” Picard offered.
“No!” Kitty fairly shouted. Then more quietly, “No, Captain. Don’t go anywhere near him. As your Security Officer, I’m warning you not to go near him without me to escort you.”
Picard thought about that. “Do you really consider him a threat to security?”
“Captain,” she explained, “Gladiator may very well be the most dangerous man in the Shi’ar Empire. You saw what he did to that table. That wasn’t even a significant portion of his strength. He could tie Data into a pretzel if he wanted to.”
“Really?” Picard asked, disbelievingly.
“Yes, really. I’ve seen him bench press a shuttlecraft, just for the exercise... he did a lot of reps. He once clean-jerked a skyscraper... though granted, it was an emergency. This is not a man to mess around with, Captain. Stay away from him. And if we ever find ourselves confronting him, you leave him to me, because you and the rest of the crew do not have what it takes to fight him.”
“You’re really serious, aren’t you,” Picard asked. “I thought for a moment that you were just kidding about his strength, but you really mean it. And you’re already making contingency plans for it.”
“Y’damn right, I’m planning for him,” she replied. “If there is any man in the Empire who is a threat to the Enterprise, it’s him. So stay away from him, and let me deal with him.”
“Just how powerful is he?”
“Almost as powerful as he thinks he is,” Kitty answered.
“That doesn’t answer my question, Kitty.”
“Actually, it does. Gladiator’s strength is linked to his ego. The stronger he believes himself to be, the stronger he gets. The bigger his ego, the more capable he is of backing that ego up. And you’ve probably noticed that he has the biggest ego you’ll ever encounter.” Kitty grinned. “Which is why I answered the way I did. He really is almost as powerful as he thinks he is.”
Picard’s eyes went wide. “Then how do you fight someone who gets stronger with a thought?”
“Not just a thought, Captain. It’s not just a matter of thinking he’s super powerful. It’s a matter of knowing it. It takes a lot for the human --- or in his case, the humanoid --- mind to convince itself of something new. Especially its own invulnerability. The human mind has limitations in what it can believe. So Gladiator’s not all-powerful. As for how to defeat him... go after the power source.”
“Excuse me?”
“Sorry, Captain. I can’t give away all my secrets. Besides, I don’t want you getting it in your head that you might be able to take him on alone because I told you how to beat him. So I’ll just keep my little secret, and you will stay away from him.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Picard responded, sketching a salute.
*****
Gladiator entered his quarters at the opposite end of the Palace. His quarters were located among the quarters of the other members of the Imperial Guard. As the senior member and commanding officer of that Guard, his were the largest quarters, of course. Which left him with plenty of room for pacing.
And pace he did, even as his anger continued to seethe.
That fucking bitch. How dare she. How dare she lay her hand on me. I’ll rip her head off and leave her for the carrion-eaters.
But even Gladiator’s famous temper couldn’t last forever. Eventually he calmed down enough to start thinking constructively.
His thoughts weren’t good.
She’s a danger. She’ll get in the way. The others from the Federation aren’t a concern. But Shadowcat is too well-connected and knows too much to be anything but a problem. If I’m to protect the Empire, she needs to be... distracted. By whatever means necessary. I’ve always believed that the ends justify the means. I still do. This is no different.
With a resolved gesture he turned on his personal comm-unit. Immediately he heard the indicator that told him that the line was open and connected. There was no voice answering the other line... but then he didn’t really expect one. The person on the other side of the transmission was too careful for that.
“We need to talk,” Gladiator said into the comm-unit. “It’s about Shadowcat. She could become a nuisance. I want her dealt with and we need to discuss the method. I will expect you at the usual place and time.”
The other end of the line closed with a click.