The Day of Traxtor (a USS Kelvin Adventure)

[CaptainWacky]

PART 1

'Captain's log, Stardate 1020.8. The Kelvin is currently docked at Starbase TK81 undergoing routine maintenance while our crew enjoy some much deserved recreation time. Admiral Burger is currently based at the station and has requested a meeting with me, the subject of which he is yet to share."

"Ah, Captain Robau," said Admiral Burger with unusual warmth when Robau entered his office. Robau didn't know why, but Burger had never liked him. Then again, from what Robau had observed, Burger didn't seem to like anyone much. To see him sitting behind his desk smiling was more surpising than most of the things Robau had seen as Captain of the Kelvin.

"Admiral," said Robau, nodding. Burger had not stopped looking at him, that same friendly smile plastered on his face. Robau felt himself shivering.

"It is good to see you well, " said Burger. "You've had some close shaves out there! Some close shaves, indeed!" That was true, but again it felt like an odd thing for Burger to say.

"Comes with the job," said Robau, evenly. Burger laughed at this, and shook his head in delight, as if it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. He picked up a PADD from his desk, stared at it for a moment, and handed it to Robau.

"I think you'll find it rather fascinating," said Burger as Robau read the PADD.

"A rogue planetoid with no obvious origin point..." said Robau.

"Not just that," said Burger, sounding more excited than Robau had ever heard him sound before. "Our Deep Space Probe GJ48 picked it up appearing in our universe...as if from nowthere."

"That's...impossible," said Robau, checking the data. But it was as Burger had said, the probe had seemingly detected the planetoid coming into existence, as though it had come from nothing.

"Now you can see why I want you, our finest Captain of our finest science vessel, investigating this most unique planetoid!" said Burger, with unnerving enthusiasm. "We not only need to know everything about the condition of this planetoid, we need to know where it came from! Did it enter our universe from another dimension? How could such a thing happen? We need to know! It could be one of tthe most important scientific finds of our generation...of ANY generation. And you, Captain Robau, you are the man for the job. You and your fine crew."

"Strange, I always thought you didn't like me," said Robau. He surprised himself by saying it.

"I'll admit, I was always rather harsh on you," said Burger. "But only because I knew what you were capable of. I pushed you so that you would be ready when the moment arrived, the moment when greatness would be required. This is that moment. This planet, from another universe...I feel it could change everything."

"Or maybe the Deep Space Probe was malfunctioning," said Robau. It was meant as a joke, but Burger looked concerned. Almost frantic.

"Oh no, Captain, you mustn't say that. You mustn't! It's real. And you are going to find out exactly what it is." He sat back in his chair after saying this and didn't look at Robau again. He appeared to be deep in thought. Robau stood, taking the PADD from the desk.

"Yes, sir," he said. "We'll leave as soon as the ship's maintenance is complete." Burger just nodded to this. He seemed so distant now, when a moment ago he'd been so uncharacteristically friendly. Robau took one last look at him and left the office.


George Kirk had not been in the same room as his wife for three months. They had talked by subspace communication, of course, and actually had some great conversations, but none of that felt like it mattered now. His wife Wionna was a botanical officer and has been serving at Starbase TK81 for those three months, along with their young son George Samuel. George hadn't wished for her to leave the Kelvin, but she had believed it to be too dangerous for George Samuel (usually known as Sam) there and George found that hard to argue with. The Kelvin had been involved in some dangerous situations. Officers had died. So he understood his wife's decision, but he hadn't wanted to give up being first officer. He felt selfish for that. Still, it could have been worse. Wionna had been wrongly told by Doctor Slod that she was pregnant again and had wanted to return to Earth to raise their family there. He thought of that as she walked into the room. If she'd been on Earth it may have been a year before he'd got to see her and his son again, so really he should feel relieved that it had been just three months.

"Daddy!" cried Sam. He ran over and George scooped him up for a big hug. He felt tears in his eyes.

"You've grown so much," he said. "So big and strong."

"Don't I know it," said Wionna. "It's been harder and harder to get him into the bath.

"It's good to see you again," said George, looking at her. "In the flesh, I mean."

"Don't get any funny ideas about my flesh right now," said Wionna.

"Err, no," said George. He looked at Sam but the boy hadn't picked up on it. "Before anything else, I'm just going to tell you straight up that Admiral Burger has given Captain Robau a mission. We leave in fourty eight hours." Wionna just nodded. She didn't seem upset or surprised.

"I do understand the life of a Starfleet officer," she said. "I am one too, you know. I just...after what Sam saw in the Noodle Nebula. That...vision he had..." George was surprised at this. They'd put it down to Sam just being scared at the time. There had been unusual temporal anomalies in the Noodle Nebula and one apparently touched Sam, but what Sam had claimed to have seen they just dismissed as a child's imagination. An army of Doctor Slods, ready to attack...it was not possible. It had been Slod who had rescued Sam from the time bubble. It made a kind of sense that Slod had become mixed in with whatever Sam had experienced. That's what they had told each other anyway.

"A boy that age should never have to experience a time anomaly," said George. "No one should, really. I understand completely why you don't want Sam on the ship. If we only carried out science missions like we were supposed to then it would be a different story, but Burger's sent us places a science vessel should never go..."

"I don't trust that Doctor Slod," said Wionna. "I just don't. Watch out for him, And look after my sister too." Her twin sister Jackie served on the Kelvin as a nurse, working closely with the enigmatic Slod.

"I'm always watching out for Slod, believe me," said George. "Can we maybe talk about something else? Or...do something else?" Wionna smiled.

"Sam, how'd you like to visit your aunt Jackie for a couple of hours? Then you can catch up with Daddy..."


Stellar Cartography officer Ensign Dukat was amazed by the rogue planet data when Captain Robau showed it to her. "Oh, wow," she said. She looked at it a little longer. "Oh...wow!"

"So you've never seen anything like this before? In all the records?" It was well known that Dukat had studied all the records stellar Cartography had. If anyone could make sense of the data, it was her.

"Never! I can't believe I'm serving on the science vessel that will investigate this phenomenon! We'll go down in history, Captain! Err, I mean, I'm sure you would have anyway with all you've done already, I'm just thinking of the rest of us." Robau smiled. He had grown to like Dukat after being unsure of her at first. Robau noticed that security officer Alnschloss K'Bentayr was staring intently at the display showing the rogue planetoid data.

"Something on your mind, Lieutenant Commander?" Robau asked.

"It is...nothing of significance, Captain," said AKB. "I was just reminded of an ancient legend of my people...nothing more."

"Oooh, I love ancient legends!" said Dukat. "Theyr'e always nonsense, of course, especially those about Gods and an afterlife...we Cardassians accepted the truth about life long ago. But myths and silly beliefs can tell us a lot about a people!"

"Indeed," said AKB. He did not even seems to be offended. "This myth speaks of...humans would call it the Devil. Trapped in a Hell planet of fire and placed outside of our universe to protect the ancient good ones. It is said that the day that planet returns is the day all that is good will end."

Robau, AKB and Dukat stared deeply into the sensor data. "Gosh!" said Dukat, laughing.

"As I said, it is merely a legend," said AKB. "This planet does not appear to be on fire, at least."

"That's reassuring," said Robau. "Well, I must make final preparations for the mission. Yeoman Chang, do you have the information I asked for?" Chang had just enetered the Bridge. She nodded. Robau walked over to her, not wanting AKB and Dukat to hear what she was about to say.

"I didn't know Doctor Slod would be leaving us," she said.

"Neither does he, yet," admitted Robau. He'd wanted to get Slod off his ship for some time now. It was true that he was as skilled a doctor as anyone in Starfleet, but his methods could be questionable at times and his bedside manner was downright horrible. Most of all Robau plain didn't like him or trust him. He didn't want someone like Slod on his ship so had requested to Starfleet that Slod be transferred as soon as possible. That transfer would now have to wait until after the rogue planetoid mission, but as soon as they returned to Starbase...

"Oh," said Chang, thinking about it for a moment. She sounded almost disappointed, which was strange. Robau didn't think she'd ever had dealings with Slod. "I have all the biographies of potential replacements you requested," she added.

"Thank you, that will be all," said Robau. She gave him a strange look and left. Between her and Burger, Robau was beginning to wonder if he even really knew anyone.


"How amusing," said Doctor Slod, before ending his interface with the ship's computer. It was an ability no one on the ship knew he had...save those he had brainwashed to his cause. Nurse Jackie Bombad was one of those, and she stared at Slod vacantly, in one of the trances he often placed her in. She had been surprisingly difficult to convert, but he'd gotten there in the end. He always did. "Not one of those doctors even comes close to my mastery of any field. Not one! Yet Robau would rather have one of them on the ship than me. He'd risk the lives of his crew by hiring an inferior Chief Medical Officer just because he doesn't trust me!"

"But he is right not to trust you..." said Bombad. Slod's head snapped round to look at her. It almost sounded as if she was breaking her enchantment. But her eyes were as glazed over as ever.

"He has no way of knowing that," said Slod. "My studies have found that human intuition is notoriously unreliable. He knows nothing. Like the rest of your species."

"Like the rest of my species," said Bombad.

"At least you have some redeeming qualities," said Slod, looking her up and down. "I hope you appreciate the fact that I haven't forced myself on you. I could have. It would have been my right, as your master. But I...respect you, Jackie. You might not believe that, but I do. I will not abuse your body as I have your mind. We will come together, of course. In the end you will come to me willingly. Once you see the glory of his coming. The coming of Traxtor."

"All glory to Traxtor," said Bombad.

"And to me," said Slod. "And to me."

"You are not Traxtor," said Bombad. Again he thought for a moment she was speaking out of term, but the trance seemed to be in place.

"I am his most loyal, most important servant," said Slod. "I shall be rewarded beyond all others. The time is drawing close, Jackie, oh so close. I can feel him now. I can feel Traxtor's presence reaching out through the void of space. He has arrived in our universe...in HIS universe. Traxtor is home. The death of all who oppose him is at hand."

Slod did not notice Jackie shivering.


"And so it is," said Wionna to George. They'd had a great two, but those days had come to end. As everything did. She looked out the massive Starbase window at the Kelvin docked outside. Would this be the time it wouldn't return from a mission? She tried not to think about stuff like that much anymore. She could put it out of her mind, concentrate on Sam, on her work. But it was always there. The risk was always in the back of her mind. There would come a day when she'd see George for the last time and he'd just never come home. It wasn't even an irrational fear, she felt. Starships had been lost before and the Kelvin seemed to get in danger more than most. So why wouldn't it be this day? It was stupid to think about it, she knew. There was nothing she could do about it..

"The mission might not take too long, and then..." started George, but he stopped as he saw tears in her eyes.

"Please come back," she said. "I know we all signed up for this. I know it's just a rogue planetoid investigation. I don't care. Just come back."

"I will, I will!" said George, hugging her. Sam was talking to his aunt Jackie and thankfully didn't see any of this. He ran over just as George and Wionna stopped hugging.

"Dad, I think it's nearly time," said Sam.

"For what?" laughed George. He said some odd things sometimes.

"For what I saw...in the Noodle Nebula. It was scary, dad. I don't think me and mom will even be safe here." Both George and Wionna just stared at him for a long moment.

"It was just a bad dream," said George. If he repeated it often enough, it might become true.

"It's not," said Sam. "I know it's not, dad. I know it's not."

George didn't want to leave them now, but what could he do? Wionna gave him a look to say she'd deal with it. He still couldn't bring himself to go. She gave him another look, more annoyed this time. George sighed.

"I'll be back soon," he said. "For both of you."

Wionna and Sam waited in silence to watch the Kelvin depart.


Admiral Burger watched from his office too. He couldn't seem to look away. He wanted to say something. He wanted to warn Robau. All the hatred he'd once felt for the Kelvin's Captain was gone now, it all seemed so silly. Burger had been so jealous and full of regret for so long. In Robau he had seen the kind of man he'd always wanted to be and had hated Robau for it. But now he had to tell him, had to stop Robau going to that planet. Everything depended on it. Yet he couldn't speak. He physically couldn't get the words out, couldn't hail the Kelvin even though he desperately wanted to. He was frozen in his chair and his brain would only let him say one thing, one horrible thing he did not want to say.

"All glory to Traxtor," whispered Burger as the Kevlin set out on its journey.

Burger reached for the phaser under his desk and set it to kill.

 

[CaptainWacky]

"It will be eight more hours before we reach the planetoid," said the ship's Deltan Navigator Ensign Yutti.

"Enough time to get some sleep," said sarcastic Helmsman Michael Johnson.

Robau had been feeling strangely anxious for a while now. He'd had to stop himself from asking Yutti for constant updates. He kept checking the data from the planetoid. Why was it worrying him so? He was Captain of a science vessel, this was the kind of thing that should have excited him.

"Something on your mind, Captain?" asked Kirk. Robau thought he heard something in Kirk's voice when he asked the question, as though he was feeling trepidation too.

"It's just so perplexing," said Robau, making sure that only Kirk could haer. "And whole planet entering our universe...I find it oddly eerie."

"I'm relieved you feel the same way," said Kirk, letting out a laugh. "There's also something Sam said..."

"Your son?" asked Robau, intrigued. That was the last thing he had been expecting.

"It's probably nothing, logically it must be nothing..." but Kirk was interrupted before he could finish by the computer making a strange noise.

"Report!" said Robau to the ship's Vulcan science officer T'Poo.

"The ship's computer appears to have suffered a small glitch," said T'Poo, looking into her viewer. "I am running a diagnostic but it appears to have only lasted a brief moment. I would say it is nothing to worry about, Captain."

"That's unlike you, T'Poo," said Robau. "I would have thought you'd like to get to the bottom of any glitch."

"I will of course be running thorough scans," said T'Poo, somewhat defensively. "I was just offering my initial impression."

"Of course," said Robau. He knew T'Poo would find whatever went wrong. Still, glitches like that rarely happened.

"Don't want the computer breaking on the way to the rogue planetoid," said Kirk.

"Or ever," said Robau, with a smile. "Now, you were saying something about Sam?" Just as he asked the question, Doctor Slod walked onto the Bridge.

"It's probably nothing, really," said Kirk, glancing briefly at Slod. "But I'll tell you later." Robau nodded.

"Doctor," said Robau, turning to Slod who was now hovering behind his chair. "It is unusual to see you on the Bridge."

"Yes, there usually isn't much of interest for me up here," said Slod, with his usual casual disdain. "Your Starfleet missions are often so childlike that I wonder how you convinced so many to join your Federation. Still, I must confess, when I heard of our current mission I was intrigued. They say this planet came from another universe?"

"We don't know," said Robau. He'd grown used to Slod's insults and managed not to show his dislike on the outside. "We'll find out."

"I should think so!" said Slod. "A discovery like this...I'm amazed this ship was assigned the mission. Surely Starfleet has better!"

"Well, if there's nothing else," said Robau. "It will be nearly eight hours before we arrive at the planet..."

"I'm willing to stand here that whole time," said Slod, with something resembling a smile. "My species does not grow fatigued as easily as yours does. I can amuse myself on the journey by playing out my many life experiences in my mind."

"The place of the doctor is in Sickbay," said Kirk, who clearly hadn't mastered disguising his dislike of Slod. "You are of no use on the Bridge." Robau couldn't believe Kirk had added that last part, but he liked it. Slod just continued to smile in that disturbing way.

"Of course, first officer," he said. "I'll return later..." But before he could finish, Dukat ran onto the Bridge.

"Captain, I found something!" she said, waving a PADD. "The planet has some kind of cloaking device around it!"

"A cloaking device?" said Robau, standing up. "How do you mean, Ensign?"

"I...I...that was the wrong word," stammered Dukat. She got like this sometimes, but she just needed encouragement. "Not exactly a cloaking device, obviously, because if it was we wouldn't be able to see he planet at all. But I noticed distortions around it, tiny distortions most would have missed but I've been studying every aspect of this data non stop. It's as if the planet is...disguised. That's the best way to put it. I think..."

"I think I've heard enough," said Slod. Everyone turned to look at him. What was he doing? "It's time. It wasn't supposed to be this soon, but at least it means I don't have to wait around listening to your inane conversation for another eight hours."

"What are you talking about, Slod?" asked Kirk. "Do you know something about this? About this planet?"

"It's not a planet," said Slod. "It's the birthplace of all true life. A scared place, turned into a prison." AKB stood up at this. He reached for his phaser.

"You will tell us what you know right now," said Robau. AKB was looking at him, waiting for the word to shoot Slod. Robau shook his head to say not yet, but had the strange feeling he'd be giving the order soon.

"I know that my time as your Doctor is coming to end," said Slod. "How could you, Captain! Having Chang find replacements for me, as if I could ever be replaced!"

"That's what this is about!?" asked Robau.

"No," said Slod. "It's about death. Your death. The death of all those who oppose him. All glory to Traxtor."

"ALL GLORY TO TRAXTOR," said Helmsman Johnson, sounded more excited than Robau or anyone had ever heard him. Yutti looked shocked but not for long, as Johnson grabbed his head and slammed it into the Navigator's console. AKB took aim at Johnson.

"No, shoot Slod!" said Robau, suddenly certain that it would be more important. But before AKB could do anything, T'Poo came up behind him and grabbed him in the Vulcan Nerve Pinch. For a hopeful moment, Robau thought maybe it wouldn't work on AKB's species. But it was a false hope as AKB fell to the floor.

"All glory to Traxtor," said T'Poo. She started to head towards Robau.

"Gosh!" said Dukat, as Michael Johnson came bearing down on her. But Kirk sprung into action, hitting Johnson with a karate kick to the chest. Slod watched it all impassively. The doors to the Bridge flew open and a security team of six officers armed with phasers ran in.

"You're done for now!" said Kirk. But the security team shot him and Communications officer Rice with their phasers. They were Slod's.

Robau dived behind his chair, grabbing a communicator as he avoided the phaser fire. He had one chance. "Robau to Baakon!" he said into the commuicator, talking to the ship's half Tellarite Chief Engineer. "Shut down the engines and lock them down! Do not let Doctor Slod gain control of his vessel!"

There was a long pause before Baakon replied. "All glory to Traxtor," he said.

Robau stood up and we met by a double fisted blow to the head by T'Poo. Her superior Vulcan strength knocked him unconscious before he even hit the floor.


Robau woke to find himself still on the Bridge and with a terrible headache. He wished T'Poo had merely used the Vulcan Nerve Pinch on him. He realised he was somehow on his feet and being held up. His vision was blurred but he was pretty sure he was being held in place by the two strongest security officers on the Kelvin. He could see someone sitting in the Captain's chair and knew right away who it was. Slod. As his eyesight completely returned he saw T'Poo, Johnson, Nurse Bombad, Baakon, Chang, and more security officers standing by Slod's side. They had all been turned. So many of his crew corrupted and he hadn't seen it. He looked around for Kirk, AKB, Yutti, Dukat, Rice or anyone else he knew was still on his side but could see them nowhere.

"Ah, Richard," said Slod. "Good to have you back with us. Your human brains are so weak, I feared T'Poo had killed you. Can you imagne that, Richard? Dying in such a way? One minute here, the next snuffed out by one mighty blow to the head? Does that not show you the pointlessness of your human existence, when you think about how easily it could end? What a small thing you are. But I digress. I really am pleased you awoke. I wouldn't want you to die without knowing how utter my victory over you is. Bring him to me, loyal servants." The two security guards dragged Robau over to Slod and held him in place.

"What are you," said Robau. It was all he could think of at this point.

"I am a sentinel of silence," said Slod. "I serve my master, he who owns all life in the galaxy, Traxtor. He whose return is at hand."

"You're part of some sick cult," said Robau. "You somehow brainwashed half my crew to your service. You think this planet is where your God lives. You're going to arrive there and be disappointed, Slod, because your God isn't real!"

"Oh, nice try, Richard," said Slod. "Ill-informed as you are you probably think I am just some insane alien on a foolish crusade. But Richard, I know God is real, because I have met Him. I was one of his servants, before there was any life on your planet, before it had even cooled. He was the first intelligence in this galaxy and it is his rightful domain. He created we Sentinels of Silence to bring silence to those who opposed Him. All glory to Traxtor!"

"All glory to Traxtor," repeated T'Poo, Johnson, Bombad and the others. It did disquiet Robau, but he wasn't ready to give up yet.

"You're still not convincing me, Slod," said Robau. "You claim to be one of the oldest beings in the universe yourself? Prove it!"

"How would I do that? What proof could I show you that you could possibly comprehend? Yes, I am old, it is true. Not as old as Traxtor, not even the oldest of my kind, but older than any of the child races in your Federation. We Sentinels were created by Traxtor when the others, his old adverseries, the liars, created their own sick perversion of life. They were jealous of Traxtor, you see, jealous that he was the first of them to reach intelligence."

"And what were these lifeforms, Traxtor and the others?" asked Robau.

"Nothing you could imagine," said Slod. "They came from the very stars themselves. I personally believe they were created by the Big Bang itself, that they were always in the universe. In time, their intelligence formed, Traxtor's being the first and always greatest. The others made life, the earliest humanoids, to worship them. Traxtor saw the evil of this and created we Sentinels to eradicate the corrputions from the universe."

"So just to be clear, you're saying the other intelligences created life before Traxtor, that your people were not the first..."

"TRAXTOR COULD HAVE CREATED LIFE EARLIER, IF HE'D WANTED," screamed Slod. It was the first time Robau had ever heard him raise his voice and it pleased him a little. A small victory.

"You were only created as a reaction to the others, Traxtor never really loved you," said Robau. Slod took a step towards him but stopped.

"I don't know what you hope to accomplish by this, Captain," he said. "Traxtor's return is here and soon you shall witness it. Your poor fool Dukat..."

"She is no fool," said Robau.

"And she still lives, in case you were wondering," said Slod. "Most of your people do, other than a few engineers Baakon had to spray with warp plasma when they tried to defy him." Baakon seemed to flinch ever so slightly at this memory, so slightly that Robau wasn't sure if he'd even seen it. But if he had...if the brainwashing was not absolute...

"You're responisble for every death on this ship," said Robau.

"I've saved your pitiful lives enough times that I have the right to take as many as is needed," he said. "You all belong to Traxtor now anyway. As I was saying before you interrupted, Dukat was right about the planet being under a distortion field. See for yourself, we have arrived."

"What..." said Robau, as the rogue planetoid appeared on the viewscreen. It looked as it had in all the PADD displays. Rocky, but with some vegitation. "I wasn't knocked out for eight hours."

"No, not even one," said Slod. "But I had Baakon make some modifications to the engines, based on my own warp theories. He managed to get us here at speeds your ship should not be capable of. Now if we continue to fly at those speed for much longer the engines will tear apart, but luckily we've arrived. The ancient enemy made the planet look uninteresting in case it ever slipped into any reality. Now the truth can be shown."

The planet changed before Robau's very eyes. Suddenly the surface was covered by lava and fire. A Hell planet, just as AKB had described it. Slod and all his brainwashed followers stared in awe, with the security chiefs even releasing their grip on Robau.

"COMPUTER, DELTA SIGMA EIGHT FOUR TWO," said Robau. It was an emergency code he'd had hard wired into the ship. He hadn't used it before because he wasn't sure if it would still work after all the modifications made to the ship's computer over the yeras. Calling Baakon had seemed like a better bet before as he had access to the engines. It was just a last ditch effort to shut down the computer and hopefully free Kirk and the others from the Brig. But nothing happened.

"No, I'm sorry, Captain," said Slod. "That little glitch T'Poo lied to you about earlier? That was me taking complete control of your computer. I have a better relationship with your ship than you've ever had. You never stood a chance."

Robau punched Slod straight in the jaw as hard as he could. He punched Slod so hard that he was pretty sure he'd broken his hand. But he also felt Slod's jaw dislocate. The security grabs grabbed him and held him tight. He looked straight at Slod. His jaw looked ruined, yet the doctor did not even appear to be in pain. Then Slod let his jaw sink back into his body and swallowed, his jaw disappearing down his throat. A new jaw then popped into place and it was as if it had never happened.

"What are you," Robau repeated.

"The man who will sit by Traxtor's side as he eats your worlds," said Slod. "Beat him, but don't knock him out."

The security guards pounded Robau's body enthusiastically.


"A Captain should be with his crew," said Slod as security dragged Robau off the Bridge and the turbolift door closed

"You said you would show him Traxtor," Bombad reminded him. "I want to see his face when he sees Traxtor." This delighted Slod. Bombad had been in his thrall longer than anyone and was now completely his.

"Perhaps you're right," said Slod. "We should bring him with us to the surface..."

"We?" asked Bombad. "I will get to see the glory of Traxtor in person?" There were tears in her eyes.

"Of course, my dear," said Slod. "Then, finally, the time will have arrived for us to...well, you know of what I speak. Now come, to the shuttlebay. Transporters won't work here. We'll stop by the Brig on the way."


They dragged Robau to the Brig and showed him nearly half his crew, crammed together in holding cells not big enough to hold them all. Kirk ran to the front.

"Captain, we'll get out of this," he said. "We'll find a way."

"That bastard Slod isn't winning," said Rice, who was also standing near the front.

"There may be nothing that can be done," said Robau. Rice looked shocked but Kirk seemed to understand. "They even turned Baakon despite forcing him to commit horrors that would damage any mind..."

"Enough," said one of the security guards, striking Robau again. They prepared to throw him into a holding cel. when Slod came in with Bombad following.

"No," said Slod. "I've had a change of heart. You're coming with us, Captain. You will see Traxtor for yourself, and be judged by him. Hartley, Brown, you'll be coming too, just to make sure he keeps still." Hartley and Brown were the two security guards who had been holding Robau. They were AKB's top two men, possibly because they were the largest and most intimidating. They dragged Robau away from the holding cell. He got one last look at Kirk, who nodded to him.


They bundled Robau into the shuttle and sat either side of him. Bombad sat by Slod's side. Johnson was already in the shuttle as he would be flying it. "What a lovely outing," said Slod.

"So tell me more of your so called God," said Robau.

"You'll be seeing him for yourself soon," said Slod, as the shuttle began its take off. "All your little questions will be answered."

"It's strange though," said Robau. "You spoke of him being the first intelligence in the universe, the greatest of all his type of being..."

"He was," said Slod.

"Yet the others created life before him...and managed to imprison him in this planet. How did that happen anyway? How come you Sentinels of Silence didn't manage to defend him? And how come you're still alive, Slod? Weren't you willing to die for your God?"

"Pathetic attempts at baiting me, Richard," said SLod. "They used trickery to imprison Traxtor. We Sentinels were away waging our holy war on the corruptions, when His siblings bonded Him to the plant he created us on. It was a cowardly tactic, Traxtor had no chance to fight back. Most of the Sentinels of Silence returned to the planet and found themselves unable to move, imprisoned too. Traxtor's cowardly siblings sent the planet out of the universe, to make sure he could never return. But they did not bet on me and the other survivors. We waited in the universe for Traxtor's return. We calculated the times when his planet would travel back through our universe. We spent centuries on those calculations, Richard, so don't doubt my loyalty again! Then we slept. Many of the other Sentinels died in that sleep, and of those who awakened few remain today. I am the one who converted the Kelvin to Traxtor's cause and it will be the Kelvin that takes Traxtor off his planet and brings him to his new home...Earth. The seat of your Federation shall be the seat of his power! For I also calculated, through centuries of work, a way to end the bonding his long departed siblings placed on him. It will have grown weak by now. All I have to do is shatter the remaining chains."

"Those siblings, what happened to them?"

"Don't think to ask them for help, Richard, they left the universe millions of years ago. They claimed to have evolved into a higher form of existence. That is not the truth of it. They simply feared Traxtor's return and abandoned this place! No more questions, we draw near."

The shuttle was flying to the surface of the planet now. Robau wondered how anyone, even Slod, could survive those fires. Yet the shuttle flew between them and into a deep canyon stretching down for miles beneath the surface. As it neared the bottom Robau could see something. A shimmering light below, like diamond. As they drew ever close Robau realised to his horror that they were figures...figures like Slod. Thousands of them, just standing there waitng. They all looked identical to Slod himself, an army of his brothers. The Sentinels of Silence.

An army of Slods.

TO BE CONCLUDED

 

[The Tomtrek]

THIS IS VERY GOOD.

 

[CaptainWacky]

THANKS

 

[Cassie]

I LOVE T'POO!

 

[CaptainWacky]

PART 2

"The air here is breathable for your kind," said Slod, after the shuttle had landed. "It's the only part of the planet where that is true. The Sentinels have been waiting here all along, waiting for me, the greatest Sentinel of them all, to return and free them. And Traxtor himself..."

"And where is Traxtor?" asked Robau. "I don't see him, Slod. Maybe your God has died."

"He cannot die," said Slod. "You cannot insult me by suggesting as much. Now come, it is time for my glory to begin."

"All glory to Traxtor," said Johnson and Bombad simultaneously.

"Of course," said Slod. "That's what I meant." He left the shuttle, Johnson and Bombad following close behind. Hartley and Brown appeared even more brainless than Slod's other converts, but they kept hold of Robau all the same as they exited.

"They are not as beautiful as you," said Bombad as they came across the first of the Sentinels. They were lined up like statues, a long line uncountable rows deep.

"No, they are merely soldier drones for Traxtor now," said Slod. "Once there was a light in them, as there is in me, but it has clearly faded over the eons. Still, they will serve their purpose. Slaughtering the faithless."

Slod marched between the lined up Sentinels. None even turned to look at him. There were stairs hewn into the rock after the final row. Slod climbed them, Johnson and Bombad behind him. Robau thought if he was ever going to attempt to escape Hartley and Brown it would be now. But instead he let them drag him up the stairs. He had to get close to Slod. Maybe then he'd have a chance to stop him, somehow. The stairs took them to something like a stage on top of the rock. There was a stone table there, which Slod stared at for a moment.

"This was where Traxtor would host his war councils," said Slod. "I was never invited to the table, I'd look up from below wishing I was there. Yet now I will sit at Traxtor's very side as the great deeds begin."

"There's no chairs," observed Robau.

"I will make some!" said Slod. "Enough, Richard. I could throw you down to the ground and have the Sentinels tear you apart now if I so pleased."

"But he must see Traxtor," said Bombad, almost begging. "He must see the glory, the poor fool."

"He will," said Slod. "Oh my love, how proud of you I am. You love Traxtor, don't you? As you love...me."

"I love you equally," said Bombad. Slod smiled, the most human smile Robau had ever seen from him. He really was in love with Bombad, in his own sick way. Slod walked to the front of the stage and addressed the army below.

"I HAVE RETURNED," he boomed. There was no reaction from the other Sentinels. "I, Slod, have arrived with a starship to lead you all off this planet and to take back the galaxy for Traxtor!" When he said Traxtor's name there was a stirring below. "The Day of Traxtor has arrived. He will awake from his slumber and at last be free. All glory to Traxtor!"

"ALL GLORY TO TRAXTOR," repeated the Sentinels at once, chilling Robau to the bone. Suddenly they were alive. And it did not seem possible to reason with them.

"Now I, Slod, shall begin the process of wakening our master," said Slod. He returned to the table and went down to his knees. He prayed to the table, in a language Robau did not recognise or understand. Hartley and Brown held Robau tighter than ever. He was strong, but the two of them together had him comfortably in place.

"Is he...coming?" whispered Johnson, who seemed in awe.

There was a sound from above. Robau looked up, out of the canyon, and saw something at the very top. Something that began pouring down into the canyon. Lava.

"He is coming," confirmed Slod.


Kirk and Rice tried to disappear into the crowd of impisoned crewmembers, so that the brainwashed guards could not hear them talk. Kirk liked Rice, the ship's Communications officer, but she was not known for having a tactical mind. Still, AKB, Yutti and Dukat were in another holding cell and most of the others in Kirk's cell were scared Ensigns or Yeomen. He and Rice were the most senior officers and it was up to them to get out of this mess.

"Robau mentioning Baakon to us was on purpose," said Kirk. "Perhaps Baakon's half-Tellarite nature makes it harder for Slod to maintain control over him, I don't know. We just need to find a way to get Baakon here."

"He's the Chief Engineer, he'll be in Engineering working on whatever Slod did to the engines," said Rice. "The only way to get him here would be some kind of engineering emergency."

"Yes, but what," said Kirk, looking around. Then a memory came back to him. There had been a problem with the lights in the room. It was supposed to have been fixed when the ship was undergoing maintenance, but they'd had to leave Starbase TK81 early. There was one panel on the floor that when stood on at just the right angle caused the lights in the room to flash on and off. But that panel was outside the holding cell and the only people out there belonged to Slod. Kirk walked to the front of the holding cell. "Yell at me," he whispered to Rice.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU WANT TO KISS ME?" shouted Rice, so convincingly that Kirk recoiled slightly. Perhaps she did have a tactical mind. One of the security guards, Ensign Thompson, took a step towards the cell.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"It's nothing, stay back," said Kirk.

"He was sexually harrassing me!" said Rice. Kirk did wonder if a brainwashed slave of Slod would actually care about sexual harrassment. Thompson took another step forward. She was nearly on the floor panel now.

"What do you expect, you locked us all up in here together!" said Kirk. "You should have put the men in one cell and the women in another!"

"He's a monster!" said Rice. Thompson stepped onto the right floor panel. Nothing happened. Kirk remembered that it took a few seconds of presssure to cause the lights to flicker. Even then it was just a small hope.

"All glory to Traxtor," said Thompson, not knowing what else to say. And then the lights flicked. They went completely on and off. All of Slod's guards reacted, looking around. Happily, the one on the panel didn't move right away, so the lights flickered more. She finally stepped close to the cell. "What was that!" she demanded.

"You're done for now!" said Kirk. "Someone is trying to break us out. Soon the forcefield will drop and we'll be free to overwhelm you!"

"We'll...we'll fix it," said Thompson.

"Ha!" said Kirk. "You're not even an Engineer! I doubt even the Chief Engineer could stop it in time!"

"Get Baakon," she said to another of the minions. "Get him here now."

"And Kirk didn't try to kiss me, I just said that to fuck with you!" added Rice, randomly.


Slod watched in awe as lava poured down the side of the canyon. The area they were standing on, including the part where the army of Slods stood, was elevated somewhat from the bottom of the canyon, so Robau hoped the lava would surround them like some kind of moat. He looked at Bombad and Johnson. Bombad looked back at him, briefly. There were tears in her eyes and he wondered if they were tears of happiness...or if she understood. He tried to move towards her, but Hartley and Brown still had him.

"Traxtor likes it to be warm," said Slod, as explanation. "He will make his return here when the lava pools have filled. Do you believe yet, Richard?"

"I believe that you will be stopped," said Robau. "You have an army, yes, but you only have one ship. Once Starfleet finds out the Kelvin has been taken, and it won't be long, they'll stop you. Your day was millions of years ago. You can't hope to fight the entire Federation."

"So much faith in your Starfleet!" said Slod. "And yet I know you could not stand your superior, Admiral Burger. Do you think he was equiped to stop me?"

"Burger...rose to the rank of Admiral," said Robau. He'd never quite known how Burger had done it but he must have been a good officer at once time. "He is a better man than you, for all his faults."

"I ordered him to take his own life, so I think you mean that he WAS a better man than I," said Slod. "That's right, I converted Burger to Traxtor's cause. He almost came willingly, after I showed him the glory."

"And this is what your God would want," said Robau. It wasn't a question.

"Of course," said Slod. "The lives of those who do not follow Traxtor are worth nothing. They were not created by him, they are not pure life."

"It all makes sense, Captain," said Johnson, surprising Robau. "Once you accept Traxtor, you accept the inferiority of the human species, of all those lifeforms not created by Traxtor. We deserve death! We are a flawed creation! Slod's people are immortal, ageless...they are truly alive."

Robau looked down at the lined up army. "Don't look like they're living to me," he said. The lava had nearly filled the pool around them. Slod was staring intently at the stone table. Robau thought he saw something above it for a moment. A distortion in the air. He looked closer. There was definitely something...like a hole. Like a hole in the air. Small, but there. And Slod was now kneeling to it.

"Oh great Traxtor, you honour us with your appearance," he said. Robau wondered if he was missing something or if this really was what Traxtor looked like.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEE," came a piercing screech from the hole in the air. Johnson smiled at it, but Bombad looked concerned.

"Please remain calm, my master," said Slod. "It has been a long time since you manifested in this realm, but your time has arrived! You have returned to your home universe. All I have to do is get you out of this prison before it is too late. Then...then you shall feast."

"Eeeeeeeee," said Traxtor, not as loud now.

"He is glorious," said Johnson.

"Slod, is this...is he complete?" asked Bombad.

"No, my dear, you are quite right to notice," said Slod. "This is merely Traxtor beginning to break into reality. He exists on such a higher level than us that it will take time for him to arrive fully." Robau looked to Johnson while Bombad and Slod were talking.

"And you find this glorious?" he asked.

"Of course," said Johnson. "My life finally makes sense, Captain. As a Starfleet officer I thought I'd achieve fulfilment, but I never did. There was always a hole in my soul that could not be filled. I hid it behind a mask of sarcasm, of cynicism. Now I know what I truly sought all those years. The glory of Traxtor."

"I can see you're a true believer," said Robau, trying not to sound too sad. He'd never been close to Johnson like he had his other officers, but he'd always been a skilled pliot and Robau had always hoped to bring him closer to the rest of the crew. More than anyone else Johnson seemed to truly buy into what Slod was selling. "You certainly seem far more commited to the cause than Hartley and Brown here." They both looked at Robau.

"All glory to Traxtor," they both said, robotically.

"Sounds like they're just saying it out of obligation," said Robau.

"They are loyal, they just don't have the breadth of feelings that I do," said Johnson. "Tell the Captain what Traxtor means to you."

"All glory to Traxtor," they repeated.

"Yes, but what does that MEAN to you?" asked Johnson, losing his Traxtor-induced cool a little. "Can you not feel the warmth of Traxtor in your hearts?"

"All glory to Traxtor," they said.

"Stop saying that!" said Johnson, losing it now. They loosened their grip on Robau as he stepped towards them.

"Stay back, we have orders from Traxtor," they said. Both had phasers on their belts that they'd kept a hand on most of the time they'd been holding Robau. Hartley pulled his out. Brown was keeping an eye on Robau.

"You don't even know Traxtor, not like I do!" said Johnson, getting closer now. Hartley released Robau and stepped towards Johnson, pointing his phaser right at him.

"We have orders from Traxtor!" he repeated.

"What's going on over there?" said Slod, finally turning away from Traxtor and Bombad. Brown let go of Robau for a second, distracted by Slod and trying to get a look at Johnson. It was all Robau needed. He span round Brown's massive body, grabbing the phaser from his belt. He quickly checked and found it was set to kill. He changed it to full stun (he wasn't going to kill anyone other than Slod if he could avoid it) and shot Hartley in the back. Brown lunged at Robau, but Robau used the big man's momentum against him to throw him to the hard ground with a judo throw. He raced over to where the stunned Hartley lay. He had to get to the other phaser before anyone else. Johnson realised what Robau was doing and dived for the phaser. Robau fired as he dived but missed. Johnson grabbed Hartley's phaser and frantically took aim, but Robau shot him first, stunning him too. He saw Slod racing over. He shot him in the chest...it just knocked Slod back a few steps rather than knocking him out. Robau took the remaining steps and grabbed the second phaser out of Johnson's hand. He aimed both at Slod.

"You forget, there's a whole army on my side," laughed Slod. Robau looked over his shoulder. The army of Slods stood as still as ever.

"Doesn't look like they care about you," he said. But there then came another noise. A voice. A terrible, rumbling voice.

"TO ME, MY SENTINELS OF SILENCE," said Traxtor. He was a cloud of swirling energy now, in a faintly humanoid shape, but still as dark as a shadow.

Robau looked over his shoulder again and saw the army of Slods begin to climb the stairs.


Baakon arrived in the brig. Kirk instantly noticed that he did not seem the same as the other brainwashed officers. There was a haunted, distracted look in Baakon's eyes. He looked around nervously as he entered the brig, as if he was looking for an escape. "What do you need?" he said to Thompson.

"They're trying to break out, the power is failing," she said.

"How do you know that?" snapped Baakon.

"The lights flickered, quite badly," said Thompson. "And Kirk said so."

"The lights..." Bakoon knew about the problem with the lights in the room. Kirk had to act fast.

"I know you tried to fix them," said Kirk. "You and the engineers under your command." Kirk saw Baakon flinch at this. Robau had told Kirk that Baakon had been forced to commit horrors after Slod had taken command. Kirk was banking on those horrors having involved Baakon's fellow engineers. He was very close to them. If Slod had made him hurt them it would have surely had an affect on Baakon, brainwashing or not.

"They...they didn't follow Traxtor's will..." said Baakon.

"I know you didn't want to hurt them," pleaded Kirk. "You can still make it right, make it up to them..."

"I...I killed them," said Baakon. "The warp plasma burned right through them...all for Traxtor."

"What kind of a God would ask you to do something like that to your friends?" asked Kirk.

"Hey, shut up," said Thompson. "Traxtor is always right."

"I'm a monster," sas Baakon. "A pig-faced monster! RRRRR!" He grabbed Thompson's phaser from her.

"That's it, shoot the control panel, let us out," came the voice of AKB, which Kirk could faintly make out. He was in the cell on the other side of the room.

"I deserve to die!" said Baakon, aiming the phaser at his own head.

"No, Rory!" shouted Dukat from the same cell as AKB. She often drank the Cardassian drink Kanar with Rory, and Kirk suspected they may have been sleeping together. "You're a good man, it's not your fault!"

"It wan't you who killed those men," said Kirk. "It was Traxtor. He's a lie, Rory, you know this in your heart. Help us fight that lie, so that no one else gets hurt."

"RRRRRRRRARGH!" said Rory, suddenly aiming the phaser at the control panel of the brig.

"No!" said Thompson, shooting her own phaser at Rory. She hit him in the chest, but she was too late. The blast from Rory's phaser hit the control panel and it exploded. The forcefield on both holding cells dropped. Kirk charged out, tackling Thompson to the floor as she tried to shoot at him. He didn't want to hurt her badly, she was a good officer, but he couldn't play it soft either. AKB, Dukat, Yutti and the others raced out of the other cell, overwhelming the officers in Traxtor's service. Kirk subdued Thompson then went over and checked on Rory.

"He's just stunned, should be waking up soon," said Kirk. "I hate to say this but I think we should lock him up in a cell on his own. We don't know how he'll be when he wakes up."

"That sounds like a prudent course of action, Commander," said AKB. "Any further orders?"

"Now we retake the ship," said Kirk. "Slod's on the planet and Baakon's down. That means the person in command will be..."

"T'Poo," said Dukat. "The strongest person on the ship."

"I never said it would be easy," said Kirk.

 

[CaptainWacky]

Robau had nowhere to go. The stage they were standing on did extend behind the table of Traxtor, but not by far. And on all sides it was completely surrounded by lava. Robau backed away slowly, keeping both phasers trained on Slod. The other Sentinels of Silence kept coming at a steady pace. They did not seem concerned by Robau keeping aim on Slod. Robau had an idea. He instead aimed both phasers at Traxtor. This time the Sentinels stopped dead in their tracks.

"You fool!" said Slod. "Do you really think you can damage the incandescent body of Traxtor with mere phasers?"

"They seem to think I can," said Robau, looking at the other Sentinels.

"They do no know Traxtor like I," said Slod, stepping towards Robau. Brown was also back on his feet and moving in the general direction.

"Maybe you shouldn't risk it, my love," said Bombad, taking Slod's arm. "If Traxtor hasn't fully manifested yet..."

"He is all powerful, all knowing, he cannot be harmed!" said Slod.

"What do you say, Traxtor, should I shoot you and see what happens?" asked Robau.

"FLESHY SCUM," said Traxtor. "YOU REMIND ME OF THE FIRST CHILDREN OF MY SIBLINGS, THOSE WHO SPREAD THEIR SEED ACROSS THE GALAXY. MY ARMY WILL FINISH THE JOB THEY STARTED AT THE BEGINNING OF TIME, BY ENDING ALL YOUR LINE. AND THERE ARE MORE, CAPTAIN, SO MANY MORE THAN YOU SEE HERE, HIDDEN ALL OVER YOUR GALAXY, READY TO BE ACTIVATED."

Robau had suspected this. The army of the planet were formidable, but still only numbered in the tens of thousands. "And the army operate under your command, they only move when you tell them to?" asked Robau.

"OF COURSE," said Traxtor. "THEY HAVE NO MINDS OF THEIR OWN."

"All but me," said Slod, barely audible.

"Then I know what must be done," said Robau, resigned to his fate. He knew what he was about to do would lead to his own death, but it seemed to be the only option. Traxtor's army were a clear and present threat to the Federation. "I am loathe to take a life, any life, but..."

"NO!" shouted Slod, running forwad. But Robau fired both phasers on their maximum setting into the figure of Traxtor.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE," said Traxtor letting out a mighty scream. He flickered. For a moment he was just a hole in the air again. But then his body returned. It did not appear as solid as before, but he was clearly still there. Robau span round to shoot at Slod, but the doctor pulled Brown in front of him. The security officer was vapourised. Robau turned back to fire on Traxtor again...and found him nearly returned to his previous state.

"You cannot kill him," said Slod, triumphantly. "I was right. Your phasers are not powerful enough."

"No," said Robau, looking up. "But perhaps the Kelvin's are."

The Kelvin had entered the planet's atmosphere and was flying towards the canyon at an alarming speed.


Kirk and AKB entered the Bridge side by side as the door opened, phasers ready. Right away he noticed T'Poo standing by the Captain's chair. She did not move to attack him, but several others did. Kirk realised that not all the converted were there, he could already think of several names that were unaccounted for, but there were three converted officers on the Bridge in addition to T'Poo. Kirk and AKB handled them, while Rice ran over to the communications station. Even the tiny Yeoman Chang threw herself at Kirk, snarling something about Traxtor. Kirk stunned her with his phaser. He aimed at T'Poo.

"Logic dictates that you should cease," said T'Poo. "Traxtor will soon rule the galaxy. I do not wish you to die, George, or any of you. Please give in to the glory."

"You're the most logical person I've ever met, T'Poo, how can you believe in this Traxtor monster!" said Kirk. He knew it wasn't T'Poo's fault, but he felt angry hearing her talk that way.

"Doctor Slod showed me the logic of Traxtor's superiority," she said. "We were locked in battle after we mind melded for several hours, but eventually he rewrote my...I mean, he won. He showed me he truth."

"Damn it," said Kirk. "I hope you can all have our minds put back together when this is over." He shot her with the phaser, but it did not put her down. She charged at him and grabbed his throat.

"Logically you should have set it to a higher setting," she said. "Your human sentimentality has defeated you." She took the phaser from his hand. AKB kicked T'Poo in the back. She tossed Kirk back using his Vulcan strength and chopped at AKB. He came back with a straight uppercut as she reached in for a nerve pinch.

"I'm not letting you put me to sleep again," he said. Kirk tried to follow it up with a flying kick but T'Poo caught her foot and tossed him into AKB.

"You must have liked that, AKB," she said. "You've always wanted to get closer to Kirk. Physically closer. Because you're in love with him." Kirk and AKB both started to get to their feet, but T'Poo reached down, attempting to Vulcan nerve pinch them both at the same time with each hand.

"Commander..." said AKB.

"NOW!" said Kirk. Both grabbed one of T'Poo's hands and powered up to their feet. They threw her over their heads and she hit the deck hard. AKB shot her with his phaser, set on heavy stun.

"Commander, about what she said..." started AKB.

"No explanation needed, my friend," said Kirk, patting him on his shoulder. "I've known for some time how you feel about me and you've never once let it interfere with your duty. You've always been one of the finest, most professional officers I've ever served with...and it is my honour to also call you a friend. The matter is closed as far as I'm concerned."

"Thank you, Commander," said AKB, relieved.

"Call me George," said Kirk. "At least until the Captain gets back." AKB nodded and checked a console.

"Can't scan the planet at all, can't detect anything from the surface...no way of establishing a transporter lock," said AKB.

"Orders, Captain?" asked Yutti, sitting in his usual position. Yutti was not much of a fighter so Kirk had asked him to stay back while they retook the Bridge. Dukat also entered the Bridge.

"Look like the only way to find out what's going on down there is to take the Kelvin closer," said Kirk. "Take us down, Mister Yuitt."

"Aye sir," said Yutti, taking over the helm. Although he was a navigator, Yutti was also a capable pilot. He flew the Kelvin into the planet's upper atmosphere. All they could see below was fire.

"The Hells of legend," said AKB.

"Wait, what's that?" asked Dukat, spotting something on the viewscreen. "Like an open space in the fire..." The viewscreen zoomed in on the area, the canyon where Robau, Slod and the others were. They could make out a mass of bodies. The army of Slods. They could also see the table and something floating above it...

"They...they all look just like him," said Kirk.

"Commander...George," said AKB. "We should take them out from here. They cannot mean to do any good, if they serve Slod and this Traxtor entity." Kirk thought about it for a long moment.

"No," he said at last. "I understand how you feel, but no. That's not what Starfleet does. Looks like the cayno isn't wide enough for the Kelvin to fiti inside, but take us lower, Mister Yutti. Slowly though, I don't like the look of those flames..."

"I DO," said Yutti, suddenly sounding different. "ALL GLORY TO TRAXTOR." And Yutti slammed his hand onto the helm controls, plunging the Kelvin towards the canyon.


"Your delivery is here," said Slod to Traxtor. "The Kelvin will send shuttles and take you and your army to the stars and then you shall activate the others, hidden throughout the galaxy. I will be your guide and sit by your side as you take what is rightfully yours."

"You have served me well, Slod," said Traxtor. "You will be rewarded, but I will decide where you shall sit."

"Of...of course," said Slod. "I did not mean to..."

"If you think the Kelvin's here to help you then you're seriously underestimating George Kirk and the rest of my crew," said Robau.

"Even now you hang on to hope!" said Slod. "I didn't bring the Kelvin down to the planet right away because I had to be sure everything was ready, that Traxtor was awake, that all the plans were in place. My orders to T'Poo were to bring the ship down once Traxtor awakened fully, as he has! It's time for the final stage. It's time for Traxtor to be freed."

"Yes," said Traxtor. "I can feel the bonds growing weak already. Do it, Slod, complete the process. Give your life to free me."

"I...what," said Slod.

"His life?" said Bombad. Strangely she did not sound upset at the prospect of Slod giving his life.

"There must be some kind of mistake," said Slod. "I can feel the bonds with my mind, all I have to do is squeeze and...and..."

"They will not break," said Traxtor. "I forgot you were not here at the time. My captors made it so that only the death of the one who awakened me on my sacred table could break the bonds. They thought that would hurt me, for some reason, as if any of my servants would not happily give their life."

"I could...I could give you Jonhson, Hartley...even...no, not her. But any of your other Sentinels! There are thousands down there, you wouldn't miss a couple of hundred!"

"It doesn't matter how many others would sacrifice themselves, it would not help," said Traxtor. "Only your death can free me, Slod. You have had a long life, longer than most who have lived in this universe. But your life always belonged to me. You know that. Now it is time for you to fulfil your destiny."

"He doesn't sound very excited about it," quiped Robau.

"If I do so," said Slod. "Will I live on with you, my Lord?"

"Well, no," laughed Traxtor. "There is no afterlife, you know this. Only my life is truly eternal, Slod. All others are expendable, made to die, even the ancient like you. It is the way of things. Your time has come. Now, why do you delay? Your starship is here, my deliverance is at hand."

"It's not my time yet!" wailed Slod. "There's still so much I wanted to do! To conquer, to bring the Federation to its knees...at your side, of course. In your name. Please, just allow me the time to figure out another way..."

"There is no other way," said Traxtor.

"Seems like you're toast, Slod," grinned Robau.

"Silence!" said Slod. "I am Slod! The greatest of all Sentinels, the first child of Traxtor..."

"You were not my first child," corrected Traxtor.

"It's a figure of speech!" snapped Slod. "I...I just...let me at least kill Johnson and see if that helps."

"I would gladly die for Traxtor," said Johnson. "Take me, Lord!"

"He is nothing," said Traxtor, dismissively. "It is only your life that matters, Slod. You who must die on my sacred table. See how special you are? I know you've dreamed of power all these years, Slod, I can sense it in you. I know you've even indulged in sins of the flesh with human females. I am not angry. You had a good life. I'm pleased for you. You should take comfort in knowing that as you die."

"My brain!" said Slod, suddenly. "I can transfer my consciousness into my lizard, if I can just get to Sickbay..."

"Your lizard?" asked Bombad. Robau remembered seeing one in Sickbay too.

"My ex wife is in it, but that's not important right now," said Slod, as if it all made perfect sense. "It will just take a minute..."

"Enough trickey," said Traxtor. "I grow wary, Slod. TO ME."

Slod took a few steps towards the table, apparently unable to resist Traxtor's voice. But then he stopped.

"No!" he spat out. "I refuse to die!"

"Then my loyal Sentinels will deliver you to me," said Slod, and some of them began to walk up the stairs again. Robau would have been concerned, if he wasn't distracted by a familiar sound. The sound of the Kelvin's phaser banks charging.

He looked at the ship in time to see its phasers fire.


"YUTTI!?" said Kirk, as the Kelvin flew towards the canyon fast.

"But Johnson beat him up, he can't be on Slod's side!" said Rice.

"He's a sleeper agent!" said Dukat. "My people have used them, to my shame. He didn't even know he'd been brainwashed until now." AKB was pulling Yutti away from the controls.

"Traxtor is better than sex!" said Yutti, a truly shocking thing for any Deltan to say.

"Well, Slod knows we're here now," said Kirk, as AKB subdued Yutti.

"What are they even doing?" asked Dukat. The viewscreen was zoomed in on Slod now, and the thing above the table. Bombad was standing close to Slod. Robau had two phasers and was keeping a watch on Johnson and Hartley. Brown was missing. "Looks like Slod and that thing are having a debate."

"Maybe Traxtor doesn't like Slod either," said Kirk. "Can we get the transporters working yet?"

"No," said AKB, who had handcuffed Yutti. "Still can't get any kind of lock on. Scanners do not work on the surface at all."

"There is nothing you can do!" said Yutti. "I sense Traxtor, he has grown almost to his full power. Soon he shall be free!"

"Then why is he still just floating above that table?" asked Kirk. "Doesn't look like Slod can free him."

"Bah!" said Yutti. "You'll know I was right when you die!"

"I'll take a shuttle to the surface," said Kirk. "Rescue Robau, and Jackie and the others if I can, maybe we can get out of here without anyone else dying..."

"I just heard from one of my people that the remainder of Slod's force have all camped out in the shuttlebay," said AKB. "They must have known that would be where you would go."

"Then gather everyone," said Kirk. "We'll talke back the shuttlebay and..."

"Commander, look," said Rice. "The Slod drones are moving up the stairs!"

"The Captain," said Kirk. "AKB, aim the phasers. Try not to kill anyone if you can avoid it, but collapse those steps and stop them from reaching the top." The Captain would be trapped with Slod and Traxtor, surrounded completely be lava without the stairs, but Kirk could see no other choice. Besides, he was unlikely to go down the stairs with the army there. AKB fired. The phaser burst hit the middle of the stairs. Several of the Slods seemed to be vapourised, but Kirk couldn't afford to have that on his conscience right now so he ignored it. The steps collapsed fully, cutting the army off from the stage area.

"You have angered Traxtor," said Yutti. "He'll kill you twice now."

"He'll be killing us a hundred times by the time this is over," said Kirk. "AKB, take Yutti to the brig then meet me there with the rest of your men. We're taking back the shuttlebay."

"Commander, as far as I can tell, the planet will be leaving our universe again in two hours...and it might not be back for millions of years," said Dukat, who had been doing calculations.

"Well we'll have to be fast then," said Kirk.


A few of the Sentinels had managed to get to the top of the steps before the phasers were fired. Most had died, but five had managed to get onto the stage and were now walking towards Robau and Slod. Johnson and Hartley joined them.

"Richard...Captain, you must protect me!" said Slod. "Fight by my side!"

"You are beyond insane," said Robau.

"You can't let them deliver me to Traxtor!" said Slod. "I'll die...and he will be free. Free to eat your galaxy."

"That's what you want him to do!" said Robau.

"I've had a change of heart, I realised I was wrong...I don't want to die," said Slod.

Robau hated to admit it but Slod was right. He did have to keep Slod alive to stop Traxtor from being freed. "I'm not giving you a phaser," said Robau.

"Don't need one," said Slod. "I'll tear these drones apart with my bare hands."

"Don't kill Johnson or Hartley," said Robau. Slod rolled his eyes but nodded.

"And you, my dear?" Slod asked Bombad, who had simply been standing still and listening the whole time, as she seemed to be doing a lot lately. It was like she was trapped in her body, Robau observed. "Do you serve Traxtor or do you serve me?"

"I do not serve Traxtor," she said. Slod smiled. He thought she belonged to him.

"You are no Sentinel, Slod," said Traxtor. "I said before there was no harm in your giving in to human temptations, but clearly I was wrong. It has made you soft, given you ideas above your station. You will die to free me not because you are worthy but because you deserve death!"

The Sentinels, Johnson and Hartley circled around Robau, Slod and Bombad. Robau fired one of his phasers at the closest Sentinel, but it avoided the blast with super human speed. "I didn't know they could do that," he said. "You never moved like that, Slod."

"Bah," said Slod. "A mere trick some models can perform. I am superior to them in all other ways." One of the Sentienls charged at Slod suddenly. He punched it right through the chest. The Sentinel did not seem hurt and moved closer, with Slod's arm still in its chest. It grabbed him by the head, seemingly trying to pull his head off. But Slod jerked his arm upwards, all the way through the chest and into the neck. The Sentinel's head came right off with Slod's arm under it. Slod stomped down on the skull, killing it. "See?" he asked.

"No regeneration when the brain is destroyed," said Robau to himself, but Bombad seemed to hear him and give a slight nod. Two other Sentinels attacked Slod. Robau did not rush to help, knowing how hard it was to kill Slod, but kept an eye on them as another Sentinel approached him.

"Those who oppose Traxtor must die," said the Sentinel.

"Is there anything else in you at all?" asked Robau. "Were you ever anything but a killer? Did you have free will once? Dreams and aspirations beyond this violence?" He could see nothing in the Sentinel's face to indicate that it understood.

"All glory to Traxtor!" it said and kicked Robau hard in the chest. It kicked him so hard Robau was knocked through the air and landed hard on his back. The Sentinel came at him fast, but Robau managed to shoot him right through the chest with a phaser blast. The Sentinel stopped for a moment. There was a large hole right through it now, but it did not care. It continued forward. Robau noticed Bombad coming up behind the Sentinel. He threw his second phaser to her. She shot at its head, but it managed to move to the side and she blew its arm off instead. Robau shot it in the head with his own phaser and the Sentinel finally died.

"You have killed just two," said Traxtor. "I have thousands more down there and millions hidden throughout the galaxy. Do you think you can keep this up forever?"

"You will not have this galaxy!" said Slod. The turn was so bizarre to Robau. Just minutes ago Slod had wanted to deliver the galaxy to Traxtor. Or had it just been personal glory that had motivated him all along? "And you will not have me...Jackie, come!"

Bombad came to Slod. "What are you doing?" Robau shouted, but while he was distracted he hadn't noticed Johnson sneaking up on him. The helmsman kicked Robau in the back of the leg and grabbed him around the neck in a choke.

"You never cared about me!" cried Johnson. "You were my Captain, but I knew you were laughing at me with the others! With Yutti! He slept with half the ship but would never come near me. And the women onboard...all laughing at me. I knew! I always knew, and Slod showed me the truth! Only through Traxtor will I ever experience love."

Robau would have loved to answer that, to tell Johnson it wasn't true, but he was struggling to breathe. Johnson had his arm completely around his neck. Robau struggled and managed to position the top of his head under Johnson's chin. He reached up and grabbed Johnson's arm, then fell straight down to the ground, ramming his head into Johnson's jaw. Johnson let go of him now and lay on the ground clutching his jaw. Robua struggled to get his breath back then pulled himself up. Johnson was trying to get up too, moaning something about Traxtor. Robau looked at him with pity then kicked him in the face to knock him out. "I'm sorry, Michael," he said. "Maybe I did fail you as your Captain. I promise I'll get you the help you need when this is over."

Robau ran over towards where Slod and Bombad had been headed. The other Sentinels and Hartley were trying to get to Slod, but Bombad was holding them off with her phaser. Robau couldn't tell what Slod was doing, but happily Traxtor filled in the details.

"You think to escape?" asked Traxtor. "Coward! My Sentinels will hunt you down. Even now they come." Robau looked to the edge of the stage where the stairs had been. He could hear the Sentinels chanting something. But then he heard another noise, high above. He looked up at the Kelvin, still hanging in the air at the top of the canyon, too large to come down. Then he saw what he'd hope for, something that confirmed what he'd just heard. The shuttle bay doors opening.


The fight to take back the shuttle bay had not been easy. Slod had converted nearly all the security guards on the ship to his cause, as well as several burly engineers. Kirk and AKB were the best fighters on the ship (with the possible exception of T'Poo, who they had only managed to defeat together), but they didn't have many other capable fighters to fight alongside them. Dukat had volunteered but AKB had recalled a time where he had tried to train her and she had shot him on the bottom. But Yeomon Kiki, an Andorian female, had proven to be highly skilled with a phaser and had been a key part of Kirk and AKB's campaign. Several others who fought with them had been injured, but luckily no one was killed, not even on Slod's side despite their willingness to die for Traxtor. Kirk, AKB and Kiki stood tall in the shuttle bay when it was all over.

"Yeomon Kiki...why aren't you in security?" asked AKB.

"I became a Yeoman because I wanted to serve on a Federation starship as fast as possible," she said. "But when they is all over, I'm going to the Academy. I'm going to be an officer."

"Good for you, kid," said Kirk. "And I want you in charge of securing these prisoners."

"Yes, sir!" she said. "And when I'm done? Should I take another shuttle down to the planet?"

"Only if we ask for help," said Kirk. "If we're swarmed by those Slod clones...I don't want anyone else dying. I've left Dukat in charge of the ship. Her orders are to take the Kelvin away if we don't return...and if Traxtor looks like he's escaped to fire all weapons on the surface before freeing."

"Understood, sir," said Kiki. She ordered the remaining loyal officers to carry the unconscious brainwashed force to the brig. It was getting busy in there. Kirk and AKB got in the shuttle.

"We go down there, we rescue Kirk, Jackie and any of the others who are still alive and we get out," said Kirk. "Dukat said the planet will be leaving the universe again in two hours. If her calculations are correct, we only have that long to save our friends."

"She said that twenty minutes ago," pointed out AKB.

"...let's just get a move on," said Kirk. He piloted the shuttle out of the bay. They flew down between the rivers of lava and into the canyon.

"The Captain appears to be isolated," said AKB. "I think that's Ensign Johnson on the ground near him...Slod and Nurse Bombad are close to the lava, with enemy forces approaching them. And now the Captain's heading that way."

"The Slods!" said Kirk. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The steps had been completely blown away, but the army of Slods weren't letting that stop them. They were forming some kind of human pyramid, climbing over each other's bodies. Soon they'd be at the top and Robau be in even more trouble.

"Should I fire the shuttle's phasers on them?" asked AKB.

"I didn't join Starfleet for this," said Kirk, delaying his answer. "We were supposed to seek out new life, find common ground...not destroy it. But I see no choice..." But Kirk was distracted by something below. Not all of the Slods were climbing. Several of them were aiming something at the shuttle. "Is that..."

"They have some kind of anti-aircraft weapon!" said AKB. Kirk desperately tried avasive maneouvers, but the Slods had already fired. An energy blast hit the shuttle.

"Losing control," said Kirk. "Need to land it."

"Phasers aren't responding," said AKB, trying to return fire. The shuttle was going down and Kirk wanted to crash land as close to Robau as possible. He managed to knock the Slods at the very top of the Slod pyramid off as he steered the shuttle onto the stage. It was not a smooth landing, but Kirk and AKB were fine. Robau looked back at them and nodded as they exited the shuttle. Then he continued to run in the direction of Slod and Bombad.

 

[CaptainWacky]

Something was rising out of the lava, not far from Slod. Something made of stone. And now it was moving towards him. Some kind of transportations, Robau decided. To travel through the lava.

"I know this planet as well as Traxtor!" boasted Slod. "This escape route has stood for billions of years, and now..."

"All glory to Traxtor!" said one of the remaining Sentinels, and he charged at Slod. Bombad shot his legs clean off with her phaser set on maximum and Slod kicked his foot right through the Sentinel's skull.

"As I was saying," said Slod. "The time of escape is at hand. Come with me, Jackie."

"Slod you coward!" shouted Robau, coming close. The Sentinels and Hartley ignored him, all they cared about was Slod.

"Looks like your shuttle is in no condition to fly, Richard," said Slod. "I have a ship hidden I'll be using to escape this planet, but I'm afraid there's only room for Jackie and me."

"She doesn't want to go with you!" said Robau. "You've given her no choice. You don't love her, you never would have broken her like this if you did."

"I love her and she loves me!" snapped Slod.

"It's true," said Bombad, and for a moment Robau thought she was talking to him. "I do love you, Slod. You don't need to restrain me anymore."

"Yes," said Slod. "Yes! I knew it. And now I will free you completely from my control and you will come with me of your own free will." Slod put a hand on her and, suddenly, Jackie changed. She did not look like she was trapped in her body anymore, she looked like the old Jackie Bombad. She breathed in deeply. And then she stepped onto the transport with Slod.

"We will be so happy together," said Slod. "I was so wrong to think I needed Traxtor. He is nothing but a ghost of my past. I am far greater than he and my name will be the one remembered throughout the universe. His hidden armies can easily be turned to me will...but first, you and I Jackie, you and I will celebrate our new union properly. I love you, Jackie, and it is thanks to you that I finally understand the meaning of that word."

And then Nurse Bombad pushed Slod off the transport and into the lava.

"NO!" screamed Traxtor, before Robau could even react. "He must die on the table for my resurrection!"

"I think she knew that," said Robau, with a smile. But then he noticed the transport was starting to sink back into the lava, as if it needed Slod to continue functioning. "Jackie, get back to shore." Jackie started tapping the controls. The transport moved in the right direction, but continued to sink.

"It's okay, Captain," she said. "I did it. I killed him at last..."

"Jump!" said Robau. Jackie almost seemed resigned to her fate, but then made a decision. She jumped from the transport into Robau's arms as he stood on the very edge of the shore. Both collapsed onto the ground away from the lava. Robau noticed that Hartley and the remaining Sentinels were standing confused, not knowing what to do. They had no reason to attack Robau and Bombad. But in the distance he could see Kirk and AKB firing on the other Sentinels, who were still climbing up from below. The fight wasn't over.

"I was trapped for so long," said Jackie. "He...he did things to my brain. I always knew it was wrong, there was always a parts of me that resisted, Captain. But I couldn't say anything. I'd freeze up if I tried. And part of me believed it was right to serve Traxtor, to serve...Slod. He made me believe it. He did it to so many others on the Kelvin, so many others suffered...but there was still a part of my old self in there. I knew I had to win my freedom, knew I had to convince him I loved him...I never loved him, Captain. NEVER. I hated him with every part of the real me that was left. I just needed an opening...and I finally got one. He's gone. He's finally gone."

"You did great..." said Robau, but he was interrupted by something in the lava. A figure rising. With hideous realisation he knew it was Slod. Half of his diamond skin was burned away, he looked more deranged than ever before, but somehow Slod was still alive.

"Foolish girl!" said Slod. "I know now that my love for you was my one weakness! I won't make the same mistake twice. I'll kill you first. Did you really think that mere lava could kill me?"

"No, but this can," said Jackie. She fired her phaser, set on maximum, at Slod's head. Slod actually managed to look puzzled for a moment before his head exploded. The smalls pieces of bone and brain landed in the lava and sunk below. Robau doubted that Slod was coming back from this one.

Right away Hartley fell to his knees clutching his head. "Captain?" he asked, coming back to his feet. "I don't know why I just did all that!"

"It's okay," said Robau, patting him on the shoulder. "Slod's control on you is broken. I imagine there's a lot of people on the Kelvin with headaches right now. Now come. Kirk and AKB need our help."

"Yes, Captain!" said both Hartley and Bombad.


"It's just like Sam's vision," said Kirk. "An army of Slods. So many of them." He and AKB had been shooting any Sentinel who had reached the top, but the numbers were beginning to overwhelm them. More and more were coming and some were avoiding the phaser blasts, as they seemed to have super human speed. Kirk and AKB started walking further from the edge. They heard Traxtor screaming something about someone having to die on his table.

"Best not go too close to the table," said AKB. They saw Kirk, Bombad and Hartley running over.

"Jackie!" said Kirk to his sister in law. "Are you okay?"

"I am now," she said. "Slod is dead. Hartley and I are free."

"Yet we may not be free of Traxtor's wrath," said Robau.

"I will kill you," said Traxtor. "Your deaths won't free me, but they will satisfy me. After that, I'll find another way off this planet. I'll find my way back into the universe."

"For a God, you don't seem very powerful," observed Robau.

"What? How dare you!" said Traxtor. "I created life! I once ruled all that there is to rule! I am Traxtor!"

"You're a ghost of the past," said Robau. "Kill us all you want, your planet is about to leave the universe again anyway. You'll be strandard with nothing but our dead bodies and your voiceless Sentinels for company."

"I'd really rather he didn't kill us," whispered Kirk to Robau.

"No!" said Johnson. Everyone had forgotten about him.

"You're free now, Michael!" said Robau. "Slod is dead, your mind is..."

"It...it was all a lie?" asked Johnson, crying. "The only thing I had to live for...was a lie! Traxtor isn't a god, he's nothing...my life is nothing! No, NOOOOOOOO!" He turned and ran and dived into the lava before anyone could do anything.

"Johnson..." said Kirk.

"How many more will die?" asked Jackie. "What do you even get out of this, Traxtor? You said you ruled the galaxy once, but that was long ages ago. There is so much life now. Can't you just...leave us alone?"

"IT IS MY RIGHT!" cried Traxtor. More and more Sentinels were heading towards Robau, Kirk, AKB, Bombad and Hartley now.

"This is it then," said Kirk.

"At least the Kelvin will be safe," said AKB, looking up. "And yet it still waits at the top of the canyon..."

"I ordered Dukat to leave...wait, what's that?" Kirk knew what it was as soon as he asked the question. Another shuttle.

"No!" said AKB. "Kill them, do it now!" The Sentinels charged, but the shuttle was coming in fast. Kirk saw that Dukat herself was flying it, with Yeoman Kiki. Dukat's piloting skills were not good, but she got the shuttle to the ground and opened the doors.

"Get in!" yelled Kiki. Hartley and Bombad went in first. AKB and Kirk followed, both firing their phasers at approaching Sentinels. Robau was last. He took one last look at Traxtor before ducking inside. The doors closed and the shuttle took off. Kirk took the controls.

"That's probably for the best," said Dukat. "But I did good getting it down here, right?"

"You disobeyed my direct orders," said Kirk. "But yes. You did good."

"They have anti aircraft weaponry," AKB reminded Kirk. "And they're preparing it!" Kirk went right to evasive maneouvers this time. He wasn't going to be shot down twice. The shuttle flew up and out of the canyon. The Kelvin was waiting, the shuttle bay doors still opened. Kirk docked the shuttle.

"How much time before the planet disappears?" asked Robau.

"Should be another half an hour...gosh, it's shimmering!" said Dukat. "My calculations weren't exact, you know!"

"Get us out of here, warp 9!" said Robau, to whoever was actually on the Bridge. They looked back out the shuttle bay doors as they closed, just in time to see the planet disappear from the universe as the Kelvin went to warp.


Rice handed back command to Robau as soon as he entered the Bridge. The Kelvin was basically operating on a skeleton crew. He sent Bombad to take control of Sickbay. There were a lot of injured and a lot of people waking up with Traxtor confusion. He didn't want what had happened with Johnson to happen to anyone else. Many crewmembers, Yutti, Chang, Hartley and others, came to him to apologise for what they'd done over the next several hours. Baakon did not do so, because he wasn't able to leave Sickbay. Bombad did what she could for him, but he was almost catatonic with the guilt from killing his fellow engineers. There was also one crewmember who refused to leave the Brig.

"Hello, T'Poo," said Robau. She was pacing her cell. "What are you still doing in here?"

"Captain, it would not be safe to let me leave," said T'Poo. "My logic betrayed me. I...I should have been stronger."

"Slod brainwashed half the crew, the rest of us were just lucky he didn't get to us in time."

"I AM A VULCAN," she said, with emotion not usual for one of that race. "A being of logic! When Slod first entered my mind I knew what he was doing was evil, I knew I should not follow Traxtor...but he somehow overpowered me. His mind-control triumphed over my logic. What if this was to happen again? It's only through sheer luck that I didn't kill anyone with my superior Vulcan strength."

"Slod is dead. Traxtor is in another universe. They're not coming back. And I do not believe this would happen again. I don't think you would let it."

"I would fight it with everything I am. I would fight it with pure flawless logic. And yet...that is what I tried to do against Slod. I failed. I do not see how I can return to my position."

"You've never taken leave, have you?"

"There has never been any logical reason to do so."

"Then return to Vulcan for a leave of absence. Meditate. Speak to the elders. Do what Vulcans do. But promise me this, T'Poo. Promise me you will return to the Kelvin." She thought about it for a moment.

"Logically...I should at least try. If I am able to regain my confidence, to purge Slod's evil completely from my mind...I promise you, I will return to the Kelvin."

"That's all I wanted to hear. And now, I order you to leave this Brig." Robua lowered the forcefield. T'Poo hesitated but stepped out.

"Yes, Captain," she said.


The trip back to Starbase TK81 was uneventful. Kirk came to speak to Robau in his Ready Room after a couple of hours.

"Is it a good time, Captain?" asked Kirk.

"As good as any," said Robau.

"I'm still trying to make sense of it all," said Kirk. "I never trusted Slod, but I never thought he was downright evil. Never suspected anything like this."

"I was his Captain," said Robau. "I was responsible for him, for everyone on this ship. I failed them. Eight of my crewmembers dead...nine if I include Slod. So many more with deep psychological trauma...I don't know if Baakon is ever going to recover. And I didn't know. Like you I never completely trusted Slod, so why the Hell didn't I try to get him off the ship earlier?"

"He was a skilled doctor!" said Kirk. "You couldn't get rid of him just for being rude. He saved all of our lives one times or another...just so he could keep us alive long enough to see that monster."

"Traxtor," said Robau, shuddering at the name. "Was he really one of the first lives in the universe? Something so full of hate? I'd always thought the earliest lifeforms would have been better than us, not like him."

"But he did have siblings," said Kirk. "They might have left us long ago, but according to Dukat they may have been responsible for the earliest humanoid life. We might all come from them. And we're not so bad. Mostly."

"Mostly," smiled Robau. "We have to choose to do good, Kirk, that's all we can do."

"Speaking of, there's several officers I'd like to put in for special commendation," said Kirk. "AKB, Dukat, Rice, Bombad, Baakon...and Yeoman Kiki. She'll make a fine officer once she completes her Academy trainig."

"Indeed," said Robau. "Maybe there's hope for us all yet."


Wionna and Sam were waiting at the airlock when the Kelvin docked at Starbase TK81. Kirk and Jackie stepped through together. Sam went right to his dad, while Wionna hugged her twin sister.

"You came back," she said. "Both of you."

"Told you I would," said Kirk. "Sam, let's let mom catch up with your aunt for a few minutes, okay?"

"Okay!" said Sam. They walked away while Sam told his father about the holo games he'd been playing.

"How are you?" asked Wionna. "Sorry if that's a stupid question."

"It will take time to get back to normal," said Jackie. "I don't know if I'll ever be the quite same person again. But I'm not letting Slod win. He wanted to break me, make me love him...even now part of me feels like I should miss him."

"He was a monster!" said Wionna.

"I know, I know, but he's still in my head...but he won't change me. I killed him and I'll kill what's left of him over time," said Jackie.

"What are you holding there?" asked Wionna, looking at the carrier Jackie was holding.

"Oh, this is a bit strange," said Jackie. "Do you know anything about looking after lizards?"


There were no stars in the sky above Traxtor now. Nothing but the void. His Sentinels of Silence were sleeping again, there was no point in keeping them awake. Traxtor could feel himself fading again. He would soon disappear from the physical realm, but unable to see or hear or speak. But he'd still exist. He'd still know. He'd wait. He'd done it before. Billions of years had passed. They would pass again. Someone else would come along to wake him. Slod had not been the one. There would be another. The Day of Traxtor would still come, even if it wasn't until the end of time.

EXECUTIVE PRODCUER
CAPTAINWACKY

 

[CaptainWacky]

bump

 

[CaptainWacky]

BUMP for anyone who has read previous chapters but doesn't know the SHOCKING CONCLUSION has been posted and yeah I know it's pretty long.

 

[CaptainWacky]

Should I bump this again since I'm pretty sure I must have been bumping it last year because some people hadn't read it and I can't tell who now because the Karma is gone?