Star Trek:
12.
Movements of the Unseen Hand
by Charles Hackney
Odo entered the room to see Arthur and Gerard hug. Tears were evident on Gerard�s face, and both of them were grinning like idiots.
He snorted. �Well that�s something I don�t see often in my cells. Enjoying yourselves, gentlemen?�
The two separated. Arthur grinned even wider, and answered �You have no idea, Constable.�
Nagato straightened and wiped his tears away. Odo approached the forcefield and looked Gerard in the eye. �What were you two doing just now?�
�Hugging, sir. I can explain��
�Don�t bother. I�m not interested. You�ll be happy to know that you�re being released. Eyewitness reports showed that it was the Klingons who started the fight, so you�re free to go.�
Arthur and Nagato left security, and were greeted by Bashir and a new face. Bashir introduced the newcomer. �Gentlemen, may I introduce Miles O�Brien, Chief of Operations on this station.� The man with the open countenance smiled an easy smile and shook their hands, saying �Nice to meet you.� Arthur liked him immediately.
Bashir continued. �Miles and I were just about to go into a holosuite. Would you care to join us?�
�Julian has some idea about a new program. Something about the Battle of Britain,� O�Brien added. �I�m not so sure.�
�Oh, come on, Chief,� Bashir joshed. �It�ll be fun. How about it gents? Care to mount our Spitfires and defend the Island of the Mighty from the forces of tyranny? I�ve always had a fascination for that time period. Heroic citizens turning the tide of evil as it threatens to sweep across the globe!�
�Well,� said Arthur, �if you�re interested in that era, I have an idea I�ve been working on. Ever watch any twentieth-century cinema?�
Bashir looked intrigued. �No, but I�m intrigued. What do you have in mind?�
�I�ll show you.� The four entered Quark�s and ascended the staircase to their assigned holosuite. As they entered the room, lined with a red grid of holo-emitters and support beams, Arthur took center stage. �Computer,� he said, �Begin program David-Cinema-One�
The bulkheads shimmered as holographic images were superimposed over the real walls. The scene was the inside of a movie theater. Low lights illuminated the softly cushioned chairs. Arthur walked down the aisle to a row near the front. His companions, uncertain, followed suit.
�Now watch.� Arthur settled down and fixed his attention to the massive screen. �Computer, play �Casablanca.�� The classic film began to run, and the three others immediately got the idea and settled down also to watch.
A group of Bajorans, Mar Teshem�s followers, gathered in his quarters. Almost two dozen individuals were present, representative of all strata of Bajoran society. Teshem sat on his favorite chair as he addressed them.
�This past day,� Mar began, �I have kept a low profile so as to allay the suspicion of the shapeshifter. No more. I have a plan that will end our planet�s subservience to the wormhole aliens, rid us of our enemies, and catapult Bajor to the status of a galactic power!�
Mar�s followers remained silent, but their faces shone with anticipation.
Mar continued: �Floating in space just outside these walls is a ship of enormous power. Alone it can destroy an entire fleet of starships, as it is armed with weapons so far above any conventional armament that no opposition is possible. This evening, as the crowd on the promenade reaches its height, you will distract the station�s officials while I obtain the vessel.�
One of the surrounding Bajorans cleared his throat. �Um� How could one man take a ship like that? I mean, I�m in your debt forever for opening my eyes, but you�re not a one-man army.�
Teshem smiled as he locked eyes with the questioning man. �I have resources� was all he said. As he said it, he seemed to catch fire. The blazing aura enveloped him, and the Bajorans who surrounded him caught the distinct odor of burning flesh. Mar Teshem seemed unhurt, however, and he began to laugh.
And Thornn laughed with him. A dark and ugly laugh.
�So, then he and Louie walk off into the fog, and Rick says �Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.��
Saavik arched an eyebrow at Nagato�s exited narrative. The two of them (and Arthur) sat at a table near the door of Quark�s, chatting as the establishment slowly filled. The maintenance and resupply of Juggernaut was over, but the ambassador still had not arrived (malfunction on his shuttle), so there was little for the crew to do except sit and chat and enjoy this unexpected vacation so soon after Juggernaut�s debut. Commander Naharat, the ship�s Horta science officer, was engaged in pleasant conversation with Jadzia Dax concerning some point of Bajoran geology. Lt. Varg�s two sons were at a center table heatedly arguing over which type of pepper sauce, red or green, tasted best on Katarian eggs. Varg himself entered Quark�s and joined his sons, declaring that the only proper topping for Katarian eggs was brown sugar.
Odo stood on the gallery walkway, supervising the crowd. Part of being a good security officer is the ability to monitor the stress level of a crowd, and the stress level at Quark�s was elevated, but tolerable. Odo was satisfied. As he turned to go, he caught a flash of movement in the corner of his eye and heard a man�s voice shout out �Down with the Prophets!� Odo swiveled to see a short Bajoran vault over a table to dash a glassful of Sluggo Cola (�Slimiest cola in the galaxy! Available at finer dining establishments near you!�) into the face of a seated vedek. The outraged vedek sprang to his feet, and his assailant cocked his fist, preparing to drive it through the vedek�s face (question: what would a Bajoran with a broken nose look like?) The fist was halted in mid-cock as Odo elongated his arm to reach twenty feet to the lower level and grab the offending Bajoran�s wrist. Taking advantage of the perpetrator�s momentary confusion, Varg and his sons leapt from their table and tackled the Bajoran, quickly immobilizing him in several joint locks.
Odo jumped over the handrail and dropped to the lower level as his arm returned to its customary length. He rushed over to the tangle of limbs that was the Bajoran and his three Tellarite captors. As he did so, Odo tapped the comm badge on his chest, saying �Security to Quark�s, on the double!�
But no backup came, since events similar to this were breaking out all over the promenade. A woman threw what on Earth was called a �molotov cocktail� into a garbage receptacle. A man began urinating into an incense censer in the Bajoran temple. Seven fights broke out.
Mar Teshem�s diversion.
While chaos reigned and DS9�s security force did their darnedest to contain it, Mar approached one of the station�s many transporter units. The Human manning the station smiled pleasantly at Mar as he approached and politely asked �How may I help you, sir?�
Mar Teshem tore his head off.
As the pool of blood spread from the transporter tech�s ripped neck, Teshem stepped onto the transporter pad. With a psychokinetic flick, the console activated and Mar dissolved into a sparkling mass of particles.
When he materialized, he was in one of the Juggernaut�s transporter rooms, facing a startled Lurian crewman. Teshem�s eyes blazed, and he screamed �DIE!� The Lurian�s chest exploded, showering the room with blood and viscera as flames erupted from the crewman�s torso.
Mar glanced at the door, and it sealed itself. He stepped down from the transporter platform to the control console. As he approached the console, it activated, lighting up and humming beneath its gray patina of Lurian blood.
Mar Teshem smiled, and the transport sequence initiated.
Thornn exulted. It was perfect. Just perfect.
�The hell!?�
O�Brien, on duty in ops, blurted the words out as the entire command deck was suddenly filled with the sparkling transporter effect. Starfleet personnel were materializing everywhere, wearing expressions of shock and confusion, and in various states of dress.
Everyone began talking at once, until Captain Sisko came storming out of his office, with several confused crewmen following.
�All right, people,� Sisko called out. �All right, now! AT EASE!�
That shut them up. Sisko turned toward Major Kira. �Report.�
�Sir I have no explanation��
�What the hairy hell is going on here?!� Stone came storming onto the command deck, wearing only a pair of trousers. Crewmembers gaped at the jigsaw puzzle of scars crisscrossing his heavily-muscled torso. Barefoot, he stalked to a lanky lieutenant and demanded of her �Why aren�t you on the bridge?�
The crewmember stammered. �I� I was, sir. Everything was normal, and then� we were here.�
Sisko interjected. �We�re working on determining the cause of it, Captain. Major? Anything?�
The Bajoran was at the science console. �We�re getting reports from all over the station, sir. Hundreds of crewmen materializing everywhere. Sensor analysis indicates the Juggernaut as the source of the transport, but simultaneous beam-outs of this magnitude are unheard of!�
Sisko looked at the viewscreen, where Juggernaut could be seen floating in space. �What�s happening over there?�
Thornn had never actually possessed anyone before. It could, of course, but such overt tactics were not usually its style. As marvelously complex and subtle as the computer systems of the Juggernaut were, the human brain is exceedingly more so. Possessing the ship was child�s play.
Mar Teshem strode onto the bridge. With Thornn influencing him as well as controlling the ship, he could feel Juggernaut, as if she were an extension of himself. He felt the energy flowing through the circuits, knew instinctively the exact number and status of the torpedoes, and when he spoke, the ship�s comm system delivered his voice (through the Borg override mechanism) into Deep Space Nine.
His voice echoed throughout the station, amplified by the alien technology: �Citizens of Bajor, and residents of this station; I am Mar Teshem. Bajor is no longer weak! We are no longer defenseless! I own this vessel, and the time has at last come for justice! For vengeance! I here serve warning to all Bajor�s enemies! Bajor is no longer your eternal victim and puppet! Let this action I now take be a message burning across space, and when I return from dealing with our greatest enemy, I will crush Bajor�s so-called protectors! Federation, you have seventy-two hours to evacuate Bajor�s stronghold!�
The transmission ended, and the Juggernaut slowly pivoted in space, pulling away from DS9.
Sisko began blasting orders. �Target phasers on that beast! Take out its engines!�
Stone winced.
Red beams of light lanced out from the station�s phaser array, but they harmlessly struck Juggernaut�s shields. The mammoth ship sailed clear of the station, and disappeared in a flash as it entered warp space.
Kira spoke from the science console: �Tracking the Juggernaut, Captain. It�s on a direct course for Cardassia.�
O�Brien muttered, �I think we�re in trouble.�
