The Sky's the Limit - Marco Palmieri [72]
They waded against a sluggish current. Mud invaded Barclay’s boots, squishing between his toes. Occasionally something swam past him beneath the surface of the water, brushing against his leg. Barclay shuddered every time. Did they have leeches on Tadigea? Or some variety of alien piranhas?
He was afraid to ask.
A muffled roar reached his ears, like water cascading over a cliff. “What’s that noise?” he asked Lwaxana. They seemed be heading toward it.
“The Forever Falls,” she said. “It has great symbolic meaning to the Tadigeans, embodying abundance and generosity. Ubaan suggested that we include it in the simulation.” She brushed a damp strand of hair away from her eyes. “It seemed like a bright idea at the time.”
“That was very c-clever of him,” Barclay said. He just hoped that the falls weren’t between them and the control panel. Simulated or not, he had no desire to go over Niagara in a barrel—or whatever the Tadigean equivalent was.
The roar of the falls grew steadily louder as they trekked through the marsh. As before, the muddy quagmire made for rough going. Barclay wondered how much longer the pampered ambassador would be able to maintain their pace. To her credit, though, Lwaxana did not complain. If anything, her spirits seemed more indefatigable than his own. “So how long have you known my daughter, Lieutenant? Perhaps you can explain to me what exactly she sees in Commander Riker?”
They made a sharp turn, putting the falls on their right. Maybe we won’t have to cross them after all, he thought hopefully. He caught a glimpse of the falls through a stand of leafy cypresses and paused to take a closer look.
The Forever Falls tumbled over the edge of a crescent-shaped cliff that looked to be approximately thirty meters across. Water from the swamp, fed by some source farther upstream, spilled down the sides of the cliff to a rocky pool at least eighty meters below. Churning mist and foam obscured the bottom of the falls. Barclay experienced a touch of vertigo just looking over the precipice.
That’s a long way down.
He was backing away from the falls when a booming voice rang out over the din of the falling water. “Ambassador Troi! Starfleet!” Povz shouted, his words electronically amplified by his personal comm unit. “We have your companion. Show yourself if you value her life.”
Povz and his accomplices were standing at the opposite end of the crescent, only a few meters from the edge of the falls. To his dismay, Barclay saw Ro being held captive by two of the duplicitous amphibians. She squirmed and twisted in their grasp but could not seem to break free. Povz looked out over the falls, his crystal pendant still glowing brightly against his slimy chest. Had he chosen the top of the falls for its high visibility, Barclay wondered, or did the would-be kidnapper just have a flair for the dramatic?
“Do you hear me, mammals? Surrender at once!”
Barclay hesitated, uncertain what to do next. He felt torn between his loyalty to Ro and his duty to protect the ambassador. He shared a distraught look with Lwaxana. “Don’t worry about me,” she urged. “They won’t hurt me. I’m too valuable to them as a hostage.”
She started to step out from behind the cover of the trees.
“Don’t do it!” Ro shouted. “Not over my dead body!”
Going into action, she jabbed her heel into one of her captor’s ankles, then butted her head into the other frog’s jaw. As they reacted in pain, she tore herself free from their webbed fingers and, without hesitation, ran for the edge of the cliff. Milky orange poison sprayed at her heels.
“Remember Ubaan, Barclay!” She threw herself over the brink. “Don’t let me dowwwwwwn…!”
Her final cry stretched out endlessly as she plummeted toward the rocks below. Her plunging body disappeared into the turbulent white water and mist. Lwaxana gasped, clasping her hand over her mouth. Her face was ashen beneath her smeared makeup. “That poor, brave girl!”
“She’ll be okay,” Barclay reminded her hurriedly. “The holodeck’s safety