Protecting the interests of her people was no longer within her power. Reaching out with one of the few surviving tendrils available to her, she sensed the approach of the Telinaruul. Capture was unthinkable, though she suspected she would not survive even if she allowed such a repulsive action to take place.
No, the Wanderer decided. There was but a single course to follow. She must survive in order to continue the fight. The Telinaruulmight celebrate their victory here today, but such triumph—in keeping with their simple existence—ultimately was fleeting. The Shedai had waited uncounted generations for their chance to return to their rightful station as rulers of all that was known.
They could wait a while longer.
40
Diamond was the first to enter the chamber, stepping over pieces of fallen rock and through the ragged hole in the stone wall, the phaser rifle she had taken from one of her security officers leading the way. Xiong followed on her heels, his hand phaser also out and aimed ahead of him. Carrying his tricorder in his free hand, he studied the unit’s display screen once more before tapping Diamond on the shoulder. He pointed toward an archway carved out of the stone wall, from which filtered feeble, wavering lighting.
“That way.”
Upon realizing that the region of Erilon on which they stood was not, apparently, in any danger of blowing up, and pausing momentarily to offer up a measure of thanks—to those deity or deities who might be listening for the stroke of immense good fortune they had chosen to visit upon the landing party—Xiong immediately had convinced Captain Khatami to allow a search party to remain on the surface.
“Are you tempting fate, Lieutenant?” Khatami had asked, finally relenting to the request after retrieving the balance of the landing party. Though the captain might not possess all of the knowledge pertaining to the Taurus Reach, she knew enough to understand that whatever risk might be involved, the stakes warranted it—particularly given the appalling costs that already had been incurred.
Sensors had registered new power readings emanating from another location far beneath the ancient structure’s long-dead control room—the same spot that he had detected earlier. Xiong at first was confused how such a reading could be possible, given his understanding that nothing but solid rock existed beneath the chamber, which had been the focal point of his research on this planet since his initial exploration of the alien artifact.
“Like I said before,” the engineer offered as the trio followed the readings from Xiong’s tricorder deeper into the millennia-old ruins, “appearances can be deceiving.”
Following the path of the retreating creature into the depths of the artifact with the only illumination provided by handheld lights to guide them, the Starfleet officers could not admit surprise when they came across the hole leading through the rock wall of the passageway. Obviously not created in the same meticulous manner that characterized the corridors and chambers throughout the artifact, this opening appeared to have been blasted from whatever lay beyond. Evidence of the unrefined work lay all around them, fragmented chunks of stone and dirt littering the floor.
With al-Khaled following behind them, Diamond led Xiong toward the illuminated entryway. Drawing closer, Xiong could make out a low, droning hum coming from the chamber, the source of whatever was generating the power readings he tracked with his tricorder.
I can’t believe it. We’re finally here.At last, he and his companions were about to come face-to-face with what he had sought since first discovering the vast storehouse of mind-numbing technology.
“Faint life signs,” he whispered, reaching up to adjust one of the tricorder’s controls. “I’m barely picking it up, and it’s fading fast.”
“Dying?” Diamond asked, her expression itself posing the same question.
Xiong nodded. “I think so.”
Motioning for him and al-Khaled to hug the wall behind her, Diamond inched toward the entryway. She aimed the barrel of her phaser rifle through the opening, slowly sweeping the room before exposing herself to possible attack. A moment later Xiong watched as her body stiffened and she even recoiled a step before turning to him. “Look at this.”
She entered the doorway, and Xiong and al-Khaled followed. Xiong stopped as his eyes took in the sight before him.
“Oh, my,” was all he could whisper as he beheld what at first appeared to be the mirror image of the control room far above them. What distinguished this chamber from that other room was, of course, the buzz of activity and life permeating the atmosphere here. The chamber’s far wall was dominated by an array of control consoles all but identical to the ones Xiong had studied for weeks, save for the fact that the equipment here was functioning. Status monitors depicted graphics and text in a language the lieutenant had no hope of understanding. Rows of multicolored indicators flashed in irregular sequences and at varying frequencies, offering no clue as to their function.
Standing before all of it was the creature.
Instinct brought Xiong’s weapon hand up, the phaser training on the dark, stationary figure, but he did not fire. Only then did he realize that the thing was not so much standing before the collection of control mechanisms as it was sagging against it.
“Let’s end this,” Diamond said, stepping forward and pulling the stock of her phaser rifle to her shoulder.
Placing a hand on her arm, Xiong called out, “Wait!” Even as he offered the plea, his attention turned back to where the creature had remained since their arrival, offering no hint that it even was aware of their presence.
“What’s it doing?” al-Khaled asked, and Xiong noticed that the engineer had exchanged his own phaser for the tricorder slung over his shoulder. “I’m picking up massive power readings. Not just here but even farther down below us.”
“The self-destruct?” Diamond asked, her voice holding an anxious edge.
Al-Khaled shook his head. “No, this is new, and different. I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s as though…”
His remaining words were consumed by an intense rumbling that seemed to come from the walls, the floor and ceiling—everywhere. The illumination offered by dozens of indirect sources embedded into the stone walls flickered as if in response to an immense energy drain, though it did not seem to affect the chamber’s banks of computer screens and consoles.
“What the hell is happening?” Diamond asked, her words a hoarse whisper as she—like Xiong—watched the scene unfold with ever-widening eyes.
The lieutenant’s communicator beeped and he retrieved it from his belt to flip it open. “Xiong here.” He had to hold the unit close to his ear in order to hear the reply.
“ Khatami here, Lieutenant. We’re picking up new power surges from your location. What’s going on?”
“I wish I could tell you, Captain,” Xiong replied, shouting to be heard over the rising din. “We’re watching it happen.”
Standing motionless before the rows of consoles, its arms resting atop two panels, the creature seemed unaffected by anything as the crescendo continued to increase with each passing second. Many of the graphic displays accelerated their scroll of vibrant colors and alien text into a turbulent, unrestrained frenzy. Xiong’s efforts to cover his ears and muffle the disharmonious wail were futile as the noise storm rising up around him began to induce actual discomfort.
Then, as he and the others watched, the creature fell away from the consoles. The instant it broke contact with the smooth, featureless surface, everything stopped, stilled as though a simple switch had been flipped. The only sound in the chamber was the clatter of the humanoid figure as it crashed to the stone floor, collapsing into a lifeless heap.