Chapter 15
Chapter 14
Stardate 57261
The ship’s crew was back aboard within the hour. Major repairs were already under way, and the worst of the injured had already been treated in sickbay, now back under Dr. Crusher’s command.
Within minutes of the attack, Chandilar Control had sent out several warships for defensive/rescue operations aboard Starjammer. Their reports had been... disturbing. They sat in the main conference room as they heard the report.
“The crew has been massacred, Commander Riker,” reported Colonel T’Kara, the Shi’ar marine officer in charge of the boarding operation aboard Starjammer. His voice was husky with rage and fury. “Starjammer was boarded by an unidentified enemy, and its entire crew was butchered... those that weren’t killed in the initial attack, anyway. There was only one survivor, one of the Imperial Guards. The good news is that neither the Empress nor Captain Picard were among the dead. The bad news is that we have absolutely no clue where they might be.”
“Who was the surviving Guardsman?” asked Kitty.
“Sprite,” answered T’kara.
“Was she conscious?”
“No, Commander. Her injuries were critical, and she was never awake in my presence. She immediately moved aboard my ship and placed under the care of Healer Sikorsky who insisted on accompanying us.”
“I’d like to speak with her when she’s awake,” Kitty insisted.
“Assuming she does,” T’kara responded. “Her injuries were very severe.”
“You underestimate Sikorsky,” she said with greater confidence than she actually felt.
“I hope so. And if it is possible, I will see to it that you have a chance to speak with her.”
“Thank you.”
Riker spoke up. “The question now is what do we do in the interim. How do we find whoever it was that took them?”
“I don’t know,” admitted Kitty. “Anyone powerful and well-prepared enough to take out the Enterprise, the Starjammer and the entire Imperial Guard is a dangerous opponent that should not be underestimated. Plus, they could be anywhere in the galaxy by now, and we don’t even know where to look. And I don’t even want to contemplate a military rescue mission against someone powerful enough to take out Gladiator.”
“Excuse me, Commander Pryde,” interupted T’Kara, “but I never said that Gladiator was among the dead. He was not.”
“He wasn’t there?” Kitty asked in shock. “But he was on duty. I saw him barely an hour before the attack.”
“Then where is he?” asked Riker.
“Logically, if he is not aboard the Starjammer, then he must be wherever the Captain and the Empress are,” answered Data.
“But he’s her bodyguard,” Riker said. “He would never allow the Empress to be taken as long as he was alive. He’d fight to the death before that happened.”
“Unless he was in on it,” murmured Kitty.
“Excuse me?” exclaimed Riker. “I thought you said that the Imperial Guards were loyal to the Crown unto the death.”
“Yes, the Crown, not necessarily the person of Lilandra Neramani,” she answered.
Riker shook his head. “I just can’t believe that Gladiator would do such a thing. Is it possible he was coerced under threat of force, perhaps against the Empress, if not against himself?”
“Not a chance,” answered Kitty. “The Guard is under standing orders from Lilandra herself not to give in to threats of force against her person. Add to that the fact that Gladiator’s personality is such that he doesn’t respond well to threats: they piss him off, and they make him more belligerent, not less. Third, anything that could possibly be powerful enough to take him out of the fight would kill him, and I guarantee that the kidnappers would have been forced to use it against him if they had it. If he were threatened by the kidnappers, either he would be dead, or they would; there is no middle ground with him. And the fourth and most important factor is that this wouldn’t be the first time he betrayed a Crown leader of Shi’ar.”
“What!?!” exclaimed Riker.
“About four centuries ago --- yes, Lilandra and Gladiator really are that old --- Gladiator betrayed Lilandra’s brother, D’Ken, when he wore the crown. Granted he was an evil sonofabitch who enjoyed torturing and abusing his powers, and Lilandra was the good guy. But it was still a betrayal. Then he betrayed Lilandra in favor of her sister, who didn’t last on the throne very long. He then betrayed her sister in favor of Lilandra again,” Kitty’s eyes were very cold. “Oh, yes, Will. Gladiator has a very long history of betraying those he’s supposed to be guarding.”
“Then how could anyone possibly trust him as their bodyguard?” Riker asked.
“Because his loyalty to the Empire is unquestioned,” she explained. “Every time he betrayed one of the crown rulers, it was for the benefit of the Shi’ar people, at least as he saw it at the time. D’Ken was evil and was hurting the Shi’ar people, so Gladiator had no issue with betraying him. Lilandra was seen by many as too weak to rule, and so he supported her sister, who was known as a strong military leader. But she too was abusive, and when Lilandra proved her ability as a strong leader by fighting her sister, Gladiator’s loyalties returned to Lilandra and have been there ever since.”
“Lady Katherine speaks the truth,” confirmed T’Kara. “It was not exactly a happy time for the Empire, nor our proudest moment.”
Riker considered this for a moment. “Alright. Assume that Gladiator is involved somehow with the attacks on Enterprise and Starjammer, and in the kidnapping of the Empress and the Captain. How does that help us?”
Kitty thought about that. “It tells us that this is a coup attempt, and not a simple terrorist action. And it tells us that wherever they are, it is nearby.”
“How so?”
“The first thing you need to understand is that if Gladiator is involved, he’s leading this thing. He’s not the following type and he doesn’t take orders very well, he gives them. That means that he hasn’t got a lot of places to hide. Even here in the Empire, it’s hard for a nine-foot-tall, purple-skinned giant with a Mohawk haircut and spandex cloths to blend into a crowd. He’s also pretty well known in the Empire. So, there are only a limited number of places he can hide. Second, he didn’t kill Lilandra, so this isn’t an assassination. He clearly needs her alive, which means he’s looking to control the power structure within the Empire --- a coup of some sort. Which means he needs to stay close to the seat of power of the Empire, which is on Chandilar. He can’t go too far without risking losing control of what’s happening in the government. All of that means he’s close. And within the area, there are only a limited number of places he can hide that won’t be searched by the entire Shi’ar military, once they get mobilized.
She continued. “It also means that we don’t have much time. There are two types of people who commit these types of kidnappings. Amateurs and professionals. Amateurs often kill their victims during the kidnapping itself, usually accidentally. But even if the victim lives through the kidnapping itself, there’s a good chance that the victim will die in captivity because amateurs usually can’t figure out how to take care of prisoners without killing them. Sometimes amateur kidnappers screw up leaving amateur cops enough clues to find them and attempt an amateurish rescue, which as a very high chance of killing the victim. In short, victims of amateurs don’t have very good chances of survival.”
“But professionals are better. They only kill a victim out of need, and they usually see the victim as the key to their success, so they learn how to take care of their victims without accidentally killing them. They also are smart enough not to leave clues lying around that might lead to ill-conceived rescue attempts by ill-prepared law enforcement officials. They only kill victims if there’s a good reason, or if they have no use for them anymore and leaving them alive results in too great a risk. Gladiator falls into this category. He’s a pro, pure and simple. He’ll leave Lilandra and the Captain alive as long as he believes that it benefits him to do so. Which I can tell you will not be much longer. He’s not in this for a ransom, and he’s not trying to topple the government in the classical sense. I’m not sure what his real goal is, but I know that she’s key to it. But that won’t save her for long.”
“Gladiator has dealt himself a losing hand. There’s no way that he can get away with this, and he has to know it. Which means that this is a suicide mission for him. And if he expects to die, he doesn’t expect to keep Lilandra alive either --- or Captain Picard.”
“So how do we find him?” asked Riker.
Kitty’s hands flew over the touch-pad of the computer terminal in front of her. A map of the Chandilar solar system appeared on everyone’s screens. “As I said, Will, I think he’s nearby... still in the solar system. First, we need to try and track the ionic trail of that ship he was using.”
“Geordie, what’s the status on the repairs?” Riker asked.
“It’s still a mess down there, Commander,” he replied with chagrin. “But we’ve got the worst of the damage under control. I can give you point-six-five cee for standard cruising speed, and point-eight or so for emergencies. But they better be very short emergencies without too much bouncing around. Without a space dock, these repairs are pretty rough, and I don’t know how much shaking we can take.”
“What about weapons?”
Kitty answered. “All our weapons are back online. The rails for the photon torpedoes have been replaced, and with the warp core back online, we have phasers back too. Quantum torpedoes are back up too, but two of the launchers are in local mode. I’ve got my best crews on them. Shields are at about ninety percent, and we should have full shielding pretty soon. Scanning capability is acceptable. We lost some of our more long-range scanning capability, and the units will eventually have to be completely replaced. But we have enough eyes and ears to track the ionic distortion and detect an enemy. We can fight, and if Geordie is right, we can maneuver too. If need be, we can kick some ass and take some names.” She said this with a predatory smile that reminded everyone in the room of a cat looking forward to the kill.
“Good,” replied Will with a predatory grin of his own. “Then let’s go hunting.”
******
It was nearly six hours later. There had been little luck in tracking the enemy ship by its ionic trail. They had picked up the trail easily enough. But because of the speed of the enemy ship, the trail was a very small and thin one, and they had lost it shortly thereafter. Now, Enterprise and the Shi’ar fleet had spread out to search the entire solar system like a fine-tooth comb. The results had been less than inspiring.
Kitty had been off shift for over two hours now. She was in her quarters, ostensibly resting. But she was in no mood for sleep. Instead, she poured over a 3-D map of the solar system and monitored intra-ship communication traffic pertaining to the search. She was getting more frustrated as time went along, and she recognized the signs in herself. She was getting closer and closer to that emotional edge that she usually tried so hard to avoid, the one that led to her losing control of The Beast within her. But right now, she didn’t care. She was pissed --- at Gladiator for doing this, and at herself for not having stopped him. And she wanted --- needed --- to stay in the loop, and personally be part of tracking him down. She could practically hear The Beast growling in anticipation in the back of her brain. And at the moment, she liked it.
You always like it, girl. Admit it, the voice in the back of her mind said. The sooner you admit it, the happier your life will be.
Her forebrain denied it, but she admitted to herself that every time she denied it, the denial was weaker than the one before. She was slowly losing control, and she didn’t really care, not deep down where it counted. The Beast was looking forward to confronting Gladiator so that it could cut loose the way it really wanted to. It wanted to revel in its power, its ability to kill and maim and rend, and it wanted to pit itself against the most powerful opponent it could find. It wanted to prove that it was the best there is.
She exerted her will once again, mercilessly pushing The Beast back into its cage. There would be time enough for The Beast once they found Gladiator.
If they found him.
And right now, the prospect of finding him was growing smaller and smaller.
She studied the map again. She was getting tired, it was obvious. Her mind was starting to drift. She kept thinking back to her previous visits to the Shi’ar Empire. From her earliest visits as a rookie X-Man to her most recent visits just a few years ago, every time she looked at the map on the screen, she was reminded of some event from her past. She had visited just about everywhere in the solar system at one time or another, and she had visited hundreds of Shi’ar worlds in other solar systems as well. And she couldn’t seem to get them out of her mind to concentrate on the current problem.
That was when it hit her.
She knew where Gladiator was.
*****
“He’s on Sharra,” said Kitty as she entered the Captain’s ready-room. Riker was seated in Picard’s usual spot as he reviewed incoming reports on the search.
“Come again?” he said.
“He’s on Shi’ar IV’s second moon. The smaller of the two,” she explained.
“How do you know?”
“Because it’s where I would go if I were him,” she replied. “Sharra is a habitable moon with rough terrain. A century ago, it served as a training base for the Shi’ar military, but it was abandoned in favor of other locations. For a few decades afterwards, it served as the private training base of the Imperial Guard. It’s been completely abandoned for decades, but it has everything Gladiator would need, and there are only a few people who have access to the codes to bring the equipment online. Gladiator is one of them. But most specifically, the Guard used to use the Sharra base to train for hostage rescue training. They used authentic equipment and training situations, including live exercises that lasted days, even weeks at a time. Which means that he would have access to everything he needs to keep prisoners for a long period of time without risking damage to the prisoners. Like I said before, that’s the hardest part of hostage-taking: keeping them alive in captivity. He also has some very good if somewhat outdated security systems in place. And it’s still in-system. It serves all of his purposes.”
Riker considered this. “It’s worth a try, at the very least. We’ve got nothing to lose by checking it out. Riker to bridge.”
“Bridge here, Commander,” replied the voice of Data.
“Data, set course for Shi’ar IV’s second moon, Sharra. Best speed at your discretion.”
“Aye, Sir,” replied Data. “Course is laid in. We are proceeding at point-five-seven-five of light speed. Our estimated time of arrival is twenty-three minutes.”
“Acknowledged. Go to yellow alert, sound General Quarters and clear for combat. We may have found them.”
*****
Twenty minutes later, the Bridge crew were all at their stations.
“I’m picking up a ship in orbit,” Kitty reported. “It’s definitely the same type as the one that attacked us.” She paused for a moment. “Identity confirmed. That ship has the same emissions signature as the one that attacked us.”
“Open a channel,” Riker ordered.
“Channel open,”
“This is Commander Riker of the USS Enterprise. We demand the release of Majestrix Lilandra and Captain Picard immediately.”
There was a pause.
“No response,” said Kitty.
“Any change in the ship’s status?”
“Negative. They’re not even putting up their shields.”
“Scan them,” he ordered.
Another pause. “I’m not reading any life signs… wait… that sonofabitch!” Kitty was clearly angry from whatever realization she had just come to. “Gladiator killed his own crew. The coldhearted bastard killed his own crew to maintain operational security. He’s not on the ship. He and the hostages are on the surface.” She turned back to her tactical board. “Confirmed. I’m reading faint life signs. I can’t determine a number or type, but there are very few, and there shouldn’t be any life forms at all on the surface.”
“Can you pin down a location?” asked Riker.
“Only within several kilometers. The signs are too weak, and Gladiator seems to be using a baffler of some sort. Probably a personal scrambler; it’s a pretty common tool in the protection trade. It keeps scanners that might be used by weapons or assassins trying to target a subject from getting a solid lock on the subject. But they’re bulky and heavy and have a limited range. That means that this operation isn’t on the fly. He had the equipment set up beforehand. He knows what he’s doing.”
“So, what do you suggest? What’s the plan?” asked Riker.
“I plan to go down there and get them back. Gladiator will not negotiate. I’ll need to break them out.”
“What kind of strike force will you need?” asked Riker. “The entire security department is at your disposal, of course. But we can draw from other departments as well if you need it.”
“No, Will. No strike force,” she replied. “Just me. A solo mission.”
Riker looked at her in disbelief. “You’re joking, right?”
“No, I’m not,” she said simply.
“You're insane,” Riker said. “If you go down there alone, the only thing you’ll do is get the Captain and the Majestrix killed. You can’t possibly cover both of them long enough to get them out without extra feet on the ground.”
“I won’t have to,” she answered. “He won’t kill them yet. He’ll knock them out or tie them down. But he won’t kill them. Not until he’s dealt with me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I told you that he and I have a history. He wants to settle that history, and he’s upping the stakes. The Captain and Lilandra are the stakes in a personal contest.”
“I thought he was attempting a coup,” said Riker. “Now you’re saying that he’s after you personally. This doesn’t make any sense.”
“He is attempting a coup,” she explained. “But he knows that he can’t succeed as long as I’m around. He thinks that what he’s doing is in the best interests of the Empire. And he knows that I’m a danger to his plans. That’s what he meant when he said at the welcome party that I was endangering what he was sworn to protect. He needs to get me out of the way, and the Captain and the Majestrix are the bait to draw me out. He wants to end our personal feud and get me out of the way. He won’t kill them unless he’s convinced that I won’t come or unless he beats me. But I have to go alone.”
“Absolutely out of the question,” Riker said. “You are not going down to the planet surface without backup.”
“Any backup would just slow me down and get in the way.”
“I said no, and I meant it,” Riker ordered. “Either you go down with backup, or you don’t go at all.”
Kitty looked at Riker with exasperation. “Will, if you send anyone else down, Gladiator will kill them. And then he’ll kill the hostages.”
“My decision is final, Commander Pryde,” he said. “If you are unable to comply with my order, I will relieve you of your duty and find someone who will.”
Kitty was fuming mad. “Riker, you have absolutely no idea what you are dealing with here. Gladiator is no Klingon or Jem’Hadar soldier who will go down if you fire enough weapons at it. He’s immune to just about anything you can throw at him, and he’ll kill your people and the hostages if you try it.”
Riker was equally angry now. “But you think you can do by yourself what an entire security force and the entire compliment of a Sovereign-Class starship can’t. That is the most arrogant thing I have ever heard.”
“No, Will. Arrogance is making a decision on a subject that you have absolutely no knowledge about and refusing to reconsider when information from people with more experience tells you otherwise. I’ve been doing this for a long time, Commander. And I’m telling you, if anyone but me goes down there, it will be a friggin’ massacre.”
“You are relieved of duty, Commander,” Will ordered. “Lt. Commander Johnson will lead the rescue mission.”
“Don’t do this, Will,” Kitty warned.
“I said you are relieved.”
Kitty and Riker stared at each other for a moment. Then Kitty walked off the bridge without another word.