Star Trek Sim: The USS Eagle RPG-Episode 10

Title: The Lady Alara, Part Four
Stardate: 200106.02
Location: Imperial City, Galadon Twelve
Setting: Imperial Palace

On the Galadonese homeworld, two storms brewed, bubbled and boiled over. Both had arrived at Imperial City. Both were dangerous and deadly to the crew members of the USS Eagle. One was the weather; the other was the terrorists who had attacked the Palace.

A series of terrorist bombs detonated, shaking the fortress like palace on its very foundations. Part of the basement ceiling began to collapse, trapping the Away Team, Federation negotiators and Galadons who were there.

When it had finished falling, the survivors had the grim task of extricating themselves and others until help could arrive.

This was not aid but the terrorists responsible for the attacks. They wanted desperately to capture the Away Team, kill all the Royals and blame the United Federation of Planets for the atrocities. They had carefully planned and timed their attacks for this very reason, just as they had deliberately food poisoned the diplomatic reception weeks ago onboard the USS Eagle.

The agents were desperate to succeed here and now. They could not fail. They knew the consequences for failure. This time the Federation would look bad. And this time Ambassador Garne would die. They would make sure of it.

Title: The Lady Alara, Part Five
Stardate: 200106.04
Location: Imperial Palace, Imperial City, Galadon Twelve
Setting: Basement, Third Room off the Main Hall, Under the Rubble

In a separate room off the main hall by themselves, the Captain and the Lady Alara were trapped by the ceiling and supports that had come crashing down. Captain Kematsopoulos was unconscious, bleeding heavily and pinned under large slabs of the ceiling. The Lady Alara was with him in this room but mostly unharmed. She was conscious and had been spared serious injury when the Captain shielded her from the falling debris with his own body.

The Lady Alara tried to move. It seemed impossible. She tried again. She was firmly pinned under Captain K and the ceiling pieces above him. It was hard for her to find a place with some give to it. She had never felt so helpless in all her life. A humbling experience for a woman who wielded so much power.

"Captain? Can you hear me yet?" she asked shakily, finally able to move her foot.

The Lady Alara feared deeply for him. She knew from the sticky warm liquid enveloping part of her that the man who saved her life was bleeding badly. She also knew from finding his hand that it was quite cold. She took his pulse but had no idea what it should be for the alien species known as Humans.

The Lady Alara wanted to muster and order her people to help him. She even wanted to cry out in desperation, but she knew better. Xenophobia on this extreme magnitude was unheard of, even among the most right-wing Galadons, and completely unforeseen. A torrent of questions about what had happened flooded her mind, but, so far, the answers to even the simplest eluded her.

Suppressing an urge to yell, which could bring foe as well as friend, she returned to the task of freeing herself and the dying human to whom she owed her life. She wriggled some more, finally getting her torso free and headed in the direction of her left foot. She finally crawled out.

When the Lady Alara emerged she was shocked to find that it was pitch black outside the pile of rubble in which she had been entombed. "All illumination systems must be out," she thought. She wondered how that was possible, and added it to the list of disturbing questions.

The Lady Alara felt around the pile to try to get an overview of what it looked like. She formed a mental picture and with it a plan. Starting high and to the left of where she herself had emerged, she concentrated on digging out her companion. Her hands, unused to manual labor, quickly became cut and blistered.

"Captain? Captain? Can you hear me yet?" she kept whispering and trying to rouse him. She feared he did not have much longer left.

Again, the Lady Alara was answered by silence. She felt deeply responsible for this whole situation. She had received no warnings of an impending attack and simply could not comprehend how any Galadons could conceive of such a horrific act against the Palace. Still, it was her own xenophobic people who were at fault. She recognized that her people had gone too far. These aliens down here were not the enemy. Those vile Tureth were.

The Lady Alara resolved that she could not let these Federation aliens down here die, especially this one who had so swiftly put his life in jeopardy to save hers. She would do whatever it would take to save them and personally atone for her people's mistakes.

The work was slow. She removed all but the largest pieces. She stumbled back to the pile she made from the removed the rubble to feel for something. There it was, that long piece of twisted metal. She needed something for leverage to use as a pry bar. She carefully inserted the rod under the slab, trying very hard not to hit the Captain.

The Lady Alara set her jaw, bit her lip and pushed. She did not feel it move. She tried harder. It would not give. She put the rod down and ran her bleeding hands along the sides of the slab to get a better picture of it in her mind. It was immense. She went back to the pile and felt around for a large piece of rubble to use as wedge under the slab. Then she went back to work with the pry bar and the wedge. She knew she could not move the slab off the Human but she had a new plan with the wedge, to lift the weight of the slab off him enough to pull him out.

Then she heard a wonderful noise and felt the slab budge. It moved! She quickly thrust in the wedge with her foot. There was now room to pull the Captain out.

Although the Lady Alara was afraid to move the Captain, she also knew that he'd die there if she did nothing. Being the ruler of the Galadon Empire, she was also a woman of action. She braced herself and yanked him out. Then she dragged him to the safety of the secret room she was heading to in the palace basement when the ceiling collapsed.

She struggled with the lock mechanism to the secret door while holding the Captain's shoulders at the same time. This was impossible. She put him down gently and worked on the latch. There, it moved. The door slowly opened.

She blinked. Although the lighting was very dim, her eyes were accustomed to the dark. To her, it appeared that a bright beacon shot out of the room.

She hurriedly dragged the Captain in and left him on the floor. No one must know where they were and about this room. She quickly secured the secret door. This room was built stronger than the rest. She hoped it would protect them for now until she could execute her plan.

The Lady Alara, still squinting from the "bright light", approached a bureau and opened a drawer. She brought back with some objects, one of which looked like a medical kit. She went back to the alien.As her eyes finally got accustomed to the dim lights, the Lady Alara could now see without a doubt that Nouri was in a serious condition. She also noticed that humans bleed red, just as Galadons do.

Lady Alara was many things, but she was no doctor. Luckily, she knew more than most. She had made a point of receiving first aid training ever since the war resumed. "But this was an alien, what type of weird physiology and biology did he have?" she wondered. She attempted to stop the bleeding and tried to figure out what to do for the blood loss. The Lady Alara took a sample of Captain's blood and found it very similar to hers, iron based, etc.

Not having much to go on she attempted to revive the alien as she would a member of her own race.

Finally, Captain Kematsopoulos' eyelids moved. He regained consciousness and stared weakly into the Lady Alara's mesmerizing and lovely blue eyes.

The Lady Alara returned the gaze, looking deeply into his eyes. His pupils were mismatched in size. Another sign to her that this alien was dying. She was scared.

"I do not understand Human medicine, but I know you are dying and there is no way of getting you to a medical facility in time," she said.

The Lady Alara paused briefly, her voice became more serious, "There is an ancient Galdonese ritual I can perform that may save you life. It has never been done with Humans. I do not know if it will work or what the side effects will be for you."

"I need to get my people out of here. I am useless to everyone now. I cannot even sit up. If there is some way I can regain enough strength to help them even if it is dangerous to me, I still must take it. I have pledged my life to my crew and to helping others in need. I must get them out of here."

He would have tried to get up, but he was barely strong enough to keep his eyes open.

"Then to save you so that you may save others I must attempt the Ankhanahkstoi. There is no other way." She still looked further worried.

"I am a hesitant on how to start, Humans are not telepathic, correct?" she asked, not wanting to reveal much of what her operatives had learned of his race and of the Federation.

"I was linked through the farr, the bonding, to my wife while she lived. She was of a telepathic race. There was also the emafa kito (Vulcan mind touch) and the emafa suru (Vulcan mind meld). I shared her thoughts and feelings and she shared mine. I also have all her memories."

After a few more minutes of meditation she took a deep breath and undertook the Ankhanahkstoi.

Title: The Lady Alara, Part Six
Stardate: 200106.04
Location: Imperial Palace, Imperial City, Galadon Twelve
Setting: Basement, Secret Room

Lady Alara eyes grew more and more intense until they blazed a fiery blue. Her entire body now emanated this light until it consumed and enveloped the Captain. She continued staring at him with those mesmerizing eyes of hers and concentrating, looking for her link with him. The Captain's eyes finally picked up the blue color and glowed oddly with it also. She smiled happily.

They had established the telepathic link she needed.

The ritual continued for several minutes. The two were able to access most of each other's memories and thoughts. They now knew how they felt about each other. They also knew how their duties would forever separate them.

Slowly, as he became engulfed, the Captain's injuries began to heal and their clothing, drenched from the early downpour, to dry. A thick clay like paste formed from the stone particles and the water began to clump and fall off their clothing. When it was over, the blue light slowly dissipated from their bodies.

The Lady Alara was very tired and out of breath.

"How are you?" she gasped.

"Fine. Are you OK?" Nouristao replied, sounding much better but still very weak and shaky.

The Lady Alara smiled, thinking that Nouri will live, at least for now.

She had to get him and the others to safety soon.

The Lady Alara lied convincingly again, "Yes. I am fine."

"Good," Nouri said smiling. He was most relieved.

"We should rest now," Lady Alara cautioned.

"No, I must get to my crew." Nouri said adamantly.

The Galadonese Empress got up weakly. She needed to get them both some water. She staggered and stumbled.

"Are you all right?" Nouri was not so sure he believed her and tried to reach out to the link that was present between them to ascertain the truth.

He could not tell.

"I am fine," she lied again. "We will be weak for a time. We need to rest to be able to save the others. If we go too soon we can harm ourselves and not get the chance to help anyone," she warned.

She finally made it to her feet and retrieved water. The Empress gave some to the man who saved her life. He was still to weak to sit up. She propped his head up with her lap and held the cup for him to drink.

Nouri drank the water eagerly. The water refreshed and revived him further. Most of the blue color had left his body. He grew stronger and stronger until he was able to push the water aside. He was sure he could sit up and walk now. Captain Kematsopoulos wanted to delay no longer. Lives were at stake. Lives he had sworn to protect with his own life. He struggled to sit up against the Lady Alara's wishes.

"Please stay then. I cannot wait. I must go to them. Even a second can make the difference between life and death," he said, his black eyes still smoldering with the odd blue fire.

She knew it was too soon, too dangerous for him to get up now. She would argue no longer with him. He would sleep now and recover. She would make sure of it. She would not lose him to his stubbornness. "Perhaps this was another Human trait?" she thought. Then the Empress of All Galadon used the telepathic link with him to force him to sleep.

The Human tried to resist, but he was still too weak. The Empress' telepathic abilities and the link were too powerful for him to break in his current condition. Against his will and cursing his weakness, Nouri fell asleep.

That done, the "Lady Alara" smiled and collapsed next to him. Fighting his valiant but pointless struggle against her efforts had depleted what little energy she had remaining.