SEASON 3: EPISODE 04

TO DELIGHT IN THE INHUMAN WORD: Part Ten

  Colonel Tiki wished that Captain Masters was the type that preferred to lead from the rear.  He did not want to have him out here with them but Masters was a stubborn bastard at times.  Tiki and Second Lieutenant Bradford Lee flanked each other as they headed towards the holodeck’s entrance, phaser rifles up and ready for action.  Behind them were two other marines from Lee’s squad, then the captain and two Marines at the rear.  He had left First Lieutenant Stark and his squad with Dyson, the Zaranite and the two Klingons.  Dyson and the others were in good hands and if something did happen to his group.  Tiki was confident that Stark would know what to do if something happened to him.

  They reached the door and he signalled for Lee to take the other side of the door.  The room was sealed with a simply privacy lock, not difficult to get around given he knew codes to get around just about any security seal on the ship.  He inputted the command and unlocked the door.  He held up three fingers and counted down, when he reached zero he pressed the door’s open control.  As it opened Lee slid through the tight space and Tiki followed quickly behind.

  Tiki and Lee entered a dismal scene.  They were in a badly lit street that could be from any large city in the Federation.  Tall buildings flanked them and from the black night sky above fell heavy rain.  He had no idea why anyone would want to visit this scene on a holodeck; it was cold, wet and dark.  Before them in the middle of the road was a single figure with their back to them.  From the body shape and long hair he guessed it was a woman and immediately noted that she was wearing a Starfleet uniform, though that did not mean she was part of the crew.  The uniform might have been part of the lure that helped the boarders gain access and take the ship.

  Lee and Tiki advanced on her.  He heard the splashing footprints of the next pair of marines following them into the holodeck.  Soon he heard another set of footprints and the faint sound as the door to the holodeck was closed and sealed.  He knew that the last pair of marines would remain by the door with the captain to guard it and keep him out of the way.

  Tiki signalled Lee to hold his position and gave it a three count before shouting, “Put your hands up and turn around!”

  The woman did not do as he commanded instead she glanced over her shoulder at them.  Lee and Tiki had stopped a few metres from her well out of her reach and with enough space between each other that she could not attack both of them at once.

  “Put those hands up and turn around!” Tiki repeated.  “Make any sudden movements and we will shoot you.”

  The woman looked surprised and confused.  She slowly put her hands in the air and turned around.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  Tiki looked at the drenched person before him.  She was soaked to the bone.  He studied her face but could not place it as one of the crew.  She also lacked rank pips on her collar but her blue shirt identified her as person in the ship’s science department, if she was a member of the crew.  That last part seemed very doubtful given he could not recognise her.

  “Name and rank,” he ordered.

  “My name is Gloria...as for rank, I have none.”

  “What about a surname?”

  “I don’t have one of those either, Colonel Tiki,” replied Gloria.

  ‘Gloria’ obviously knew who he was.  Not that it told him anything.  He was a senior officer and if the boarders did even a basic amount of preparation they would be aware of the most senior members of the crew.

  “What are you doing in our holodecks?” he asked.

  “I was enjoying the rain,” ‘Gloria’ replied turning her face up to the sky and smiling.  Her hands were open as if to catch the heavy droplets.

  “We don’t have time for games, lady.  If you don’t cooperate things will get more serious.”

  Gloria did not seem fazed by that threat at all.  “I don’t expect any of you marines would know me but I thought you might, Captain Masters,” she said addressing the captain behind Tiki.

  Tiki glanced back at the captain.  He did not look like her recognised her either but stepped forward toward Tiki as if a closer look might spur recognition.

  “Okay, I think this has...”

  “Gloria?” interrupted Masters, “As in the holographic counsellor that Lieutenant Wessling activated a month or so ago?” asked the captain.

  Gloria dipped her head slightly.  “The very same.”

  “You can lower you weapons, colonel,” ordered the captain.  “What are you doing in the holodeck?  Is there a patient in here?”

  Gloria shook her head.  “I received permission from you that I was allowed to spend some time in the holodecks on my own,” Gloria stated.  “Lieutenant Wessling assured me that it was all organised.”

  “She’s a hologram?” Tiki asked.

  Masters looked at him and nodded.  That at least explained why Dyson was unable to get a bio-sign reading.  She was not alive and would have blended perfectly with the holographic environment they were in.

  “Of course, the lieutenant said you wanted to have a bit of time active outside of your duties and to experience things on the holodeck.”

  “Why would you possibly want to experience a storm?” asked Tiki.  He had lowered his rifle slightly but not far enough that the threat of violence had completely dissolved.

  “While it might seem mundane to you I have never actually experienced any real weather before.  All I have is a climate controlled environment on this ship.  Scorching summer days, biting winter mornings are all foreign to me.”

  “None of this is real,” stated Tiki.

  “Neither am I, in a sense,” quip Gloria with a grin.  “It doesn’t seem real to you but as a hologram this is as real as it can get for me.”  Gloria stretched out her arms and basked in the rain.  “There’s something wondrous about watching a storm move in and the feeling as the rain cascades down your skin.”

  “Are you aware that this ship has been boarded?” asked Masters.

  Gloria gave them a surprised look as she shook her head.  “My program activated at the designated time and I’ve been in here alone since then.  I don’t focus on anything else but me during this time.  The going ons beyond those doors are a mystery to me.”

  “When did your program activate?” asked Tiki.

  “Twenty minutes ago.”

  That was not long before Stark had noticed the holodeck was active noted Tiki.  If he had been able to notice with a low powered scan then the boarders would most likely have also noticed.

  “It might have attracted the attention of our boarders.  We should fall back to the Jefferies tubes,” Tiki said quickly.

  “And what of Gloria?” asked Masters.

  “Leave her running.  You can lie can’t you?”

  “Of course,” said Gloria indignantly.

  “Great, if anyone turns up don’t tell them we were here.  Alright troops, let’s move out.”

  Third Varis’Wribal attempted to override the seal on the door to the holodeck.  He and Sixth Kazath’jool had been sweeping the ship looking for the vessel’s commanding officer when they were notified from the bridge that one of the holodecks had become active.  It had taken them around twenty minutes to reach the room.

  The bridge had not detected any life-signs from the holodeck.  Varis’Wribal considered that this most likely meant that it was a trap or distraction.  Some of the crew had avoided the attack and were free and they had set up the holodeck to draw in the Jem’Hadar to kill them or so that they would not be where the crew were going.  Despite this view he felt no apprehension about checking out a potential trap, he was a Jem’Hadar and he could deal with whatever situation arose.

  He was however, having no luck in getting past the seal.  Suddenly the seal dropped.  Varis’Wribal knew it was not his doing and quickly signalled Kazath’jool to shroud and he stepped back from the door.  It opened and human wearing the uniform of the Starfleet Marines of this ship poked around the door frame, phaser rifle raised and sweeping the corridor for hostiles.  Varis’Wribal looked past the marine and noticed a second by the door.  Further inside were four more.  Two were with a female member of the ship’s sciences department and the captain, their main target.  He spotted a further two marines positioned to the left and right of the group with the captain.  They were all heading for the door.

  Varis’Wribal did not need to communicate with Kazath’jool as to his next action.  Both were invisible to their enemies but could perceive each other.  With an obvious movement of his arm he signalled his intention to enter the holodeck to Kazath’jool.

  Varis’Wribal slipped past the marine at the door and into the holodeck.  It was raining, which was less than optimal.  The rain would have no effect on his camouflage but it made it harder to travel silently.  He had to watch that he did not splash too much as to raise the attention of the marines.  He made his way to the left most marine.

  Shrouding was an ability granted to all Jem’Hadar by the Founders.  It required great concentration to maintain and as such a Jem’Hadar’s level of white could influence his ability to shroud.  Varis’Wribal did not have to worry about that, he had received white just prior to the boarding of the vessel.  The concentration was so high that it was next to impossible to remain shrouded and attack an enemy, though it was rumoured that honoured elders could perform the feat.

  Varis’Wribal unsheathed his combat knife and waited for the marine to get close.  When the marine was right next to him Varis’Wribal unshrouded and struck.

  Tiki walked towards the door only half listening as the captain talked to the holographic counsellor.  The marines at the door unsealed it and opened it.  Private Salvatore lent out and checked the corridor for hostiles.  He kept a look out as they approached the door.

  From the corner of his right eye he spotted new movement.  Out of nowhere a shape materialised right next to Xanthius.  A look of surprise appeared on Xanthius’s face, which quickly turned to shock.  The shape faded into nothingness and Xanthius dropped to his knees, blood gushing from his slit throat.

  Tiki was quick to action raising his rifle and fired in and around where Xanthius had stood.  Two other marines joined him.  He stopped firing and signalled for the others to do the same.  There was no sign they had hit anything.  There was only one species that Tiki knew of that could do what he just saw: the Jem’Hadar.

  Third Varis’Wribal reshrouded quickly and strode away from the rapidly falling body.  He had to put as much distance between him and the deceased marine as possible.  When the first phaser blast cut through the air he dropped to the ground.

  He glanced to the entrance and saw the marine who had been covering the corridor turn his head to look at the weapons fire.  That was his last mistake.  Sixth Kazath’jool unshrouded in front of the marine, grabbed his head and snapped his neck.  There was a marine no more than two metres away but he failed to notice the attack thanks to the distracting phaser fire.  Kazath’jool reshrouded and caught the body of the now dead marine, holding him up.

  Varis’Wribal turned his attention back to his main target: the captain.  The marine he identified as the commander of the detachment on the ship was shepherding his group towards the far wall of the street.  That was a sensible move as it put a solid object at their backs to stop attacks from the rear but it would not be enough.  He stood back up and quickly cut across towards the group.

  Kazath’jool threw the human marine he was holding into the holodeck as a distraction.  It worked.  The female marine who had been at the door as well called the marine’s name and quickly ran to where the marine crashed to the ground.  Kazath’jool sprinted into the room and towards his target, an Andorian marine that was on his own to the right of the main group.  The sixth was making no attempt to be stealthy instead relying on the distraction.  Varis’Wribal saw the Andorian suddenly become aware of the sixth’s noisy approach and thought that Kazath’jool had been too careless.  However, that proved to be the mistake.  Kazath’jool unshrouded in front of the marine in mid leap.  The marine could do little but watch as the butt of the Jem’Hadar’s rifle sped towards his skull.  The impact knocked the Andorian unconscious.

  Instead of letting the Andorian crumple to the floor Kazath’jool wrapped an arm around the Andorian and pivoted, neatly placing the Andorian between him and the group containing the captain.  With his other hand he pointed his rifle at the female marine who had gone to check on the marine he had thrown into the room and let loose a barrage of disruptor fire.  It peppered the marine and she collapsed to the floor.

  Varis’Wribal mused that with such a display Kazath’jool was sure to be promoted at least to fifth.  There was nothing the fifth could do about this either as he was ordered to man one of the bridge stations.  That was unless Kazath’jool was killed in this attack.

  “This one is still alive, drop your weapons or he will not remain so,” ordered Kazath’jool as he pointed his rifle at the limp head of the marine in his arms.

  Again this was a mere distraction.  Such a demand would only work if you held a person of such value that their death would be a great loss.  While the species of the Federation had a high value for life Varis’Wribal knew that those in service to the military understood about acceptable losses and the expendability of those under their command.  The marine Kazath’jool held would give the others a moment’s pause before they deemed that his death to kill Kazath’jool was well worth the cost.

  Only a high value target would see them comply.  Varis’Wribal knew just the target.  He extended the arm that held his rifle and let it touch the head of his target.

  It had all happened so quickly.  First Salvatore’s body had gone flying through the air and next thing the Jem’Hadar had unshrouded and neatly disabled Yel’tar with a blow to the head, utilised him as a shield and gunned down Private Spearitt who had gone to check on Salvatore.

  Tiki could not help but feel impressed by the Jem’Hadar.  They were quick, lethal and efficient.  However, that did not mean he was not going to kill this Jem’Hadar.

  “This one is still alive, drop your weapons or he will not remain so,” ordered the Jem’Hadar.

  Tiki had his rifle trained on the Yel’tar shielded Jem’Hadar, as did Lee next to him.  They were the only marines left standing.  He stepped to the right and signalled Lee to go left.  They would move in different directions until they got a better shot.  The Jem’Hadar took a step back.  This game would only last so long; Tiki knew that in the end they were probably going to have to shoot through Yel’tar.

  “Drop your weapon, Jem’Hadar,” Tiki ordered.  “That’s the only way you’ll get out of this alive.”

  “Colonel,” called Captain Masters.

  There was a sense of urgency in Masters’ voice, no doubt due to the fact that they did not have the time to mess around in the holodeck, enemy reinforcements could be on the way.

  “We’ll wrap this up quickly, sir,” he said.

  “Ah, colonel...I think you should turn around.”

  Tiki risked a quick glance at the captain and felt his heart sink.

  “Drop your weapons or the captain dies,” said a Jem’Hadar with a rifle pointed to Masters’ temple.

  Tiki swore to himself and signalled Lee to drop his weapon.  Tiki let his rifle clatter to the pavement.  The Jem’Hadar repeated his order and Tiki added his hand phaser that he wore at his side to the ground.  The Jem’Hadar holding Yel’tar released him and the Andorian collapsed to the floor and moved round to join the Jem’Hadar who was threatening the captain.

  Well, there goes getting them to shoot across at each other, mused Tiki.

  “Well, that definitely answers who is in control of the ship,” commented Masters to Tiki.  He then turned to face the Jem’Hadar.  Masters took a step back from the rifle that had been at his head, which the Jem’Hadar allowed.

  Once the other Jem’Hadar had reached the one holding Masters hostage the Jem’Hadar was given an order to contact their commander.

  “Sixth to first, we have captured the commanding officer.”

  The only reply they got was static.  Tiki smiled to himself, pleased that he had taken the precaution of jamming communications in the immediate area.

  “They must have set up a signal jammer, third,” said the sixth to the third.

  The third nodded.  “No matter.   Our initial orders will suffice for now.  We do not require the others.”

  “What does that mean?” asked Masters.

  Tiki knew what the answer would be.

  “They are to be executed.  Our orders are to retrieve you; all other active personnel are to be executed,” said the third confirming Tiki’s thoughts.

  “You don’t have to kill them,” said the captain.  “You can just stun them.”

  “The Vorta’s orders were clear.”

  “Then let me speak to the Vorta first,” pleaded Masters.

  “She said that you would request such a thing if we captured you with members of your crew.  She has this message for you, ‘why would I show you mercy when you showed me none on Caprius III’.  Now, stand aside, captain.”

  “Caprius III?” replied Masters with surprise.  That was a name Tiki recognised.  It was the planet Masters crashed on after he was kidnapped several months ago.  To Tiki’s knowledge there the Dominion was not involved in that.

  “Jasis?  She’s your overseer!” continued Masters.

  “That is correct,” said the third.  “Her orders are that they should die.”

  Masters remained in the line of fire.  Now it was clear that they after him Tiki considered that it was a relatively safe bet they would not shoot through the captain.  As Masters stalled the Jem’Hadar Tiki glanced around for a means to escape.  His weapons were not too far away and he had some in his portable transporter buffer but he doubted he could arm himself and down the Jem’Hadar before they killed him.  His mind raced but no viable plan came to mind.

  “Move aside, captain,” repeated the third.

  “I will not,” said Masters defiantly.  “If you want to kill them you’ll have to kill me.”

  “Do not think you will save their lives.  Our orders are clear, they must die.”

  “No,” said Gloria.  Tiki had forgotten she was there.  She stepped forward and marched up to Masters and pulled him back so to get past him.  “I won’t allow you to kill...”

  Gloria did not finish as soon as she stepped around Masters the Jem’Hadar Third fired his weapon.  The blast was close range and there was no chance he would miss, Gloria fell to the ground.

  The Jem’Hadar stepped over her body.  “If you won’t move, you will be moved,” he stated.

  Masters appeared to be in shock as he stared down at Gloria.  The Jem’Hadar grabbed hold of the front of his uniform and looked like he was about to throw Masters to the side but the Jem’Hadar’s step faltered.  As the Jem’Hadar glanced down, Tiki’s eyes followed and they both saw Gloria’s hand wrapped around the Jem’Hadar’s leg.  The third tried to pull his leg free but could not.  He let out a scream of pain as Tiki saw Gloria’s hand crush his ankle.  With ridiculous ease Gloria swung the Jem’Hadar like he was a ragdoll and sent him flying ten metres into the wall of one of the buildings that flanked the street.

  Tiki was dumbfounded as he watched Gloria get to her feet.  Her face was a mask of shock and anger.  As she stood he saw the ‘wound’ she had suffered.  The blast had ripped into her stomach leaving a burnt and bloody mess, or at least it looked bloody.  It had the tinge of human flesh but no blood leaked from the wound, in essence it was a perfect picture of a disruptor wound to the stomach.  Gloria turned to the sixth and he immediately fired at her.  This time she did not fall.

  The sound of a disruptor discharging brought Tiki’s senses back and he dived for his discarded phaser rifle.  He heard another discard of the Jem’Hadar’s rifle and turned back to target the Jem’Hadar with his phaser.

  By then Gloria was within reach of the Jem’Hadar.  The Jem’Hadar lashed out with his disruptor has he had done against Yel’tar.  It struck her head but instead of snapping it back Gloria’s head held firm and the snapping sound came from the butt of the rifle breaking.  Gloria then grabbed the rifle and twisted it.  A grimace of pain came to the Jem’Hadar’s face as Gloria twisted his arms with the rifle until the Jem’Hadar was forced to release the weapon.

  Even before Gloria could toss the weapon away the Jem’Hadar launched another attack.  A knife had quickly appeared in the Jem’Hadar’s hand and he sliced at Gloria’s neck.  Tiki saw it slice through her neck but there was no explosion of blood back towards the Jem’Hadar.  He could not see the wound but knew there would be no blood coming from it.  The Jem’Hadar changed tack and stabbed at Gloria.  She swiftly moved her hand in the way and the knife cut into her palm and drove through to the hilt.  No pain appeared on Gloria’s face; instead all he could see was anger and rage.  Gloria closed her hand around the hilt of the dagger and the Jem’Hadar’s own hand and squeezed.  The sounds of snapping bones sounded amongst the rain.  She then pulled back the fist of her free hand and slammed it into the Jem’Hadar’s face.  The Jem’Hadar’s skull shattered and fell in like a deflating balloon.  Gloria released his hand and the Jem’Hadar fell lifeless to the floor.

  With that situation under control Tiki quickly headed for the third.  The impact was hard enough that it left a Jem’Hadar sized imprint in the wall but still the Jem’Hadar tried to get back to his feet.

  “Surrender,” Tiki demanded as he stood over the Jem’Hadar with his rifle aimed at the Jem’Hadar’s head.

  Varis’Wribal had lived for only three weeks and knew that this would be all the life he would get.  The human woman he had assumed dead had not been nor did he suspect she was human.  Her strength was unbelievable.  She had crushed the bones in his ankle with ease, even through his tough skin.  Then she had thrown him as if he was nothing and with incredible force.  He did not know who or what she was but he knew that her actions meant he would die.

  He vaguely heard disruptor fire and a cry of pain from Kazath’jool.  He knew that the sixth would be dead soon and so would he but he tried to get back to his feet.  He heard approaching splashing.

  “Surrender.”

  Varis’Wribal looked up at the marine colonel standing over him with a phaser rifle.  Varis’Wribal smiled and reached for his combat knife.

  “Don’t!” warned the marine.  “Keep your hands away from that weapon.”

  Varis’Wribal ignored him and kept inching for his combat knife.  He would not be taken alive.  If he had to he would force the marine to action.  The marine repeated his command as Varis’Wribal’s hand reached the hilt of the weapon.  He jerked his hand back to free his knife and the whine of a phaser echoed throughout the street.

  Tiki looked down at the headless Jem’Hadar.

  “You could have stunned him,” said Lee.

  He turned his back on the bloody scene to address Lee.  “We don’t have time to lug a prisoner around, especially one as dangerous as a Jem’Hadar.  This is the way it had to be.”  Tiki looked at the carnage in the fake street.  The Jem’Hadar were definitely dead but he knew all of his marines would not be.  “Get Stark and his squad in here,” he ordered Lee.  “He has a medic.”

  Masters edged towards Gloria.  She stood over the body of the Jem’Hadar she had killed.  It was quite a violent and gruesome death.  The Jem’Hadar might be hard headed but while Gloria looked like a typical human woman she was not and she could easily deliver the blow of a sledgehammer through her limbs.

  “Gloria,” he said.  She did not respond, continuing to stare down at the Jem’Hadar.  “Gloria, are you alright?”

  “They can’t hurt me, my holographic form, with physical attacks.  I’m made up of a collection of force fields to form a three dimensional image.  I can feel things, at least as far as my programming allows.  I can’t be killed by an energy weapon like a flesh and blood being.  I have no flesh or organs to suffer trauma.  I have no blood to bleed to death from.  He had to realise I was a hologram after his attack opened my neck but there was no blood.  He just didn’t stop.  He kept fighting...he kept trying to destroy me.”

  “He was a Jem’Hadar.  To him only victory will give him life and if he could not defeat you he doesn’t deserve to live and continue to serve his gods.”

  “I’ve never killed anyone before,” Gloria stated.  She looked up at Masters.  “This is a new experience for me.”

  While her voice was even and calm Masters noticed a tear roll down her cheek. Gloria was herself quite a gruesome sight.  Her neck was split open and her torso was a mess of disruptor wounds.  While none were real injuries they appeared real enough that Masters felt ill when he looked at them.

  “Taking a life is something that is difficult to get use to,” he stated from experience.  Masters had served for nearly two decades in Starfleet and he had been involved in the deaths of thousands of beings.  Mostly through the impersonal nature of starship combat where it was easy to just see the machine that was before you and ignore that it was crewed by sentient beings.  However, he also had killed more than one person face to face.

  “I was so angry,” stated Gloria.  “They shot me and I felt the sensation but I knew I wasn’t going to die.  The fact they had tried to kill me...it filled me with rage.  I struck out...I killed him.”

  “You saved the lives of the rest of us with your actions.  If you hadn’t attacked the Jem’Hadar they would have executed Tiki and Lee and any other Marine still alive in here.  I would have been captured and while my death might not be immediate it would have come.”

  “Did I have a right to take their lives?  I’m just a hologram...he was a sentient being.”

  “You have an obligation to save our lives,” he said.  “You might be a computer program but you still wear that uniform and with it comes responsibilities.”

  Gloria shook her head.  “This uniform isn’t real.  I’m not real.  Plus my job is to maintain the mental health of the crew, not to take lives,” she argued.

  “Your uniform isn’t real but you became a member of this crew when Lieutenant Wessling accepted you into her counselling staff.  You have an obligation to our safety, to save lives,” said Masters forcefully.  “You might do that by making sure we don’t snap and take a phaser to our own heads but you still save lives.  Today you did that but through removing a physical threat.  It is what any Starfleet officer would do be they security personnel or from the sciences department.”

  “I wasn’t programmed to handle something like this.”

  It was such a simple statement.  One that spoke to what Gloria was.  “None of us are born...created with the knowledge of how to deal with death,” said Masters.

  Gloria smiled hollowly.  “I was created with the knowledge on how to handle death.”

  “Well, then let this be a lesson on the differences of knowledge versus experience,” countered Masters.

  With sad eyes Gloria stared deeply into Masters and spoke, “I’m not sure this is an experience I would ever want.”

  Masters reached out and put his hand reassuringly on her shoulder.  He kept Gloria’s gaze and replied, “None of us ever do.”