The Brave and the Bold Book Two - Keith R. A. DeCandido [95]
After a moment, the Vulcan and the Klingon followed.
Within a few minutes, they had arrived. They took up position behind a large tree that overlooked the hill. Aidulac saw two humans—a younger one in a Starfleet uniform, and an older one in a variation of the same—standing near a table on which sat all four Instruments.
Three of them, Aidulac noted, were connected. The fourth was separate. She smiled. “I see he tried to construct the Great Rectangle.”
Worf turned to her. “We have received no resistance since we met you. Why is that?”
“I am invisible to Malkus thanks to this.” She removed the component from the third Instrument from her belt.
“That is the missing component from the third artifact,” Spock said.
Aidulac nodded. “I found it five years ago. Then I waited here for the final Instrument to be unearthed.”
Just then, two humans and three Klingons approached Malkus from the other side of the clearing.
“You were right,” Worf said to Spock. “He did enslave our fellow prisoners.”
“It seemed a reasonable hypothesis,” Spock said. “How close do you need to be to the artifacts in order for your device to work?”
“Closer than this,” Aidulac said ruefully. “We shall have to go out into the open.”
“Wait,” Worf said. “Look.”
The humans and Klingons all left—including one of the two Starfleet officers who had already been present—leaving only the elderly human to guard Malkus.
“They’ve probably gone to keep searching for you two.”
“Indeed,” Worf said. “Leaving only Dr. McCoy—and as the admiral himself might say, he is a doctor, not a fighter.”
Worf unsheathed a disruptor pistol, and Spock hefted the Klingon blade. They exchanged a nod, and then charged, Aidulac behind them.
Unsurprisingly, by the time they reached the Instruments, some of the thralls had returned. Worf, however, took two of them out with his disruptor, and the one that charged in at close quarters was dealt with by Spock. They covered her approach to Malkus quite well.
McCoy made a halfhearted attempt to attack Worf, but the human was far too aged to be any real threat. Worf grabbed his neck and said, “Sorry, Doctor, I have no time to discuss this logically.”
As Worf gently set the elderly human on the ground before turning his attention to other mind-controlled foes, Aidulac deactivated the component from the third Instrument. She no longer needed its protection from Malkus’s influence. “It’s been a long time, Mighty One.”
You! Then she felt his laughter in her mind. Of course, you survived. I should have known.
“I only survived for one reason, Mighty One—to see you and the Instruments I made for you destroyed.”
She switched on the device. In theory, it would neutralize all four artifacts.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Both the Klingon warrior that Spock was sparring with and the Starfleet officer that Worf was wrestling with stopped fighting. Spock was able to disarm the Klingon, and Worf knocked the Starfleet officer to the ground.
The Starfleet officer frowned. “What happened? Ambassador Worf? What the hell’s going on?”
“My apologies, Captain DeSoto,” Worf said, offering the man a hand up.
The Klingon warrior stared at Spock. “Why am I fighting a Vulcan?”
“All will be explained in due course,” Spock said, then turned to Aidulac. “It seems you were successful. Malkus’s telepathic hold appears to have been broken.”
Aidulac smiled.
“Captain, the birds-of-prey have broken formation!”
Klag whirled around at Rodek. “What?”
“The other ships as well—they have ceased firing.”
Toq said, “Sir, we are being hailed—by all the ships. They wish to know what is going on.”
Getting up out of his command chair—once again not stumbling—Klag thought, Something must have happened to Malkus.”Get me Picard, now!”
“Channel open,” Toq said.
“Activate your deflector now, Picard!”
“Understood, Klag.”
Klag watched the viewer as the Enterprise lowered its shields. Then its deflector dish lit up with a harsh light as the Starfleet vessel changed position.
To the new pilot, the captain said, “Koxx, keep us between