Star Trek:
14.
Movements of the Unseen Hand
by Charles Hackney
At this point, I must explain a bit about combat between spirit beings. When I describe this fight to you, I will use terms such as punches or kicks, or the use of weapons such as swords or bolts of fire. These are metaphors. Just like you cannot comprehend spiritual beings without conceptualizing bodies for them, you cannot comprehend spiritual warfare without reference to weapons or attacks with which you are familiar. Believe me, the reality is as far beyond my descriptions as my existence is beyond your present physical state.
At any rate, Thornn saw me when I allowed him to. I had hidden myself from his sight and disrupted his control over Teshem just long enough for him to beam Arthur aboard. Thornn screamed in rage at me as I calmly stood between him and the mortals, and it prepared to fight.
Mar Teshem started to move toward Arthur, murder in his eyes. Arthur, however, commanded Teshem �Stop! Stay where you are, in the name of Christ Jesus!� Mar was immobilized. The Juggernaut and Gryphon ceased firing, and the Cardassians took full advantage of the situation, raking the vessels with disruptor fire. The vessels shook with the impact against the shields.
Arthur started toward Teshem, but felt suddenly� powerless. He turned his eyes heavenward, and whispered �Lord, what is it? What do you want me to do?�
�Wait,� I heard the Spirit whisper into his ear. Arthur stood his ground and regarded Teshem, who was writhing and cursing a few meters in front of him.
Thornn screamed at me �NO! He�s mine! He gave himself to me, and I will use him as I see fit!� Fire, dark and corrosive, billowed from its hands as it launched columns of flame at me. I manifested a sword, straight and sharp in the medieval style, and a round shield in the same style. The weapons gleamed bright, as if made of solid light, and I placed the shield in the path of the flame, deflecting and dissipating it.
I pointed the sword at Thornn, launching a razor-thin beam of purest lightning at the demon. It dodged, and the beam passed through the ship�s bulkhead instead. Thornn manifested two weapons, a wide-bladed falchion in one hand, and a massive axe in the other. It crouched low, and I slowly circled it. I knew our strengths were evenly matched. Neither of us were excessively powerful beings; Thornn was no Satan, but I was no archangel, either.
Thornn made the next move. With a hiss of exhalation, it swung its falchion in a wide arc, meaning to separate my head from my shoulders in one blow. Overly optimistic. I would not go down that easily. I stepped inside the wild swing, skewering Thornn�s other wrist with my own blade. Thornn faltered in his swing, releasing a howl of pain. It dropped its axe, and the weapon dissolved in a flood of red sparks. Thornn executed a sharp turn, bringing the falchion over its head and down at my own. I brought my shield up to deflect the blow, and the falchion blade impacted squarely against it. The impact disrupted my control over the shield, and it too disintegrated. I backed off several paces, and hurled several light-daggers at Thornn. It leapt to the side, but caught two of the darts in its side. Thick black blood could be seen seeping from the wounds. Roaring, Thornn hurled its falchion at me, and the massive sword struck me, lopping my hand off at the wrist. This time it was my turn to scream. Thornn laughed deep in his throat, and flexed his hands. The tips of his fingers grew into talons, long and razor-sharp. It charged me, intending to grapple with me and disembowel me with its claws. I stepped back, and fired a beam of white energy from my remaining hand through its torso. That stopped the demon in its tracks, and it stumbled to the ground. I wasted no time, but pressed my advantage, manifesting a new sword to replace the one that went with my severed hand. This sword was shorter and wider of blade, in the roman gladius style. I advanced, and swung the gladius sharply down onto Thornn�s neck, severing tendons and ligaments. Its hide was tough, though, and my blow did not sever the neck, as I had intended. It did, however, severely wound the demon, who lurched away from me to a corner of the bridge.
Arthur remained obedient, and waited for some word of instruction. Mar Teshem, through his link with Thornn, had felt every blow and wound that the demon had taken in our struggle. He lay on the deck weeping in agony, as Arthur watched with perplexity, not knowing what was really going on.
I approached Thornn, who had crumpled itself into a ball on the deck, heaving with painful gasps. I did not try to negotiate a peaceful settlement; that is not our way. Battle in the spiritual realms is cutthroat and without mercy. Mercy is for the mortals. Golden blood poured from my stump, but I paid it no heed. Soon enough I would be healed. Thornn, however, would not be allowed that option.
I did, however, make a plea for the sake of the mortal Mar Teshem. �Thornn,� I said to the withered wretch before me, �You are beaten. I would spare the Bajoran Teshem the pain that would result from my next strike. Sever your connection to him and I will leave you as you are. Refuse and your torment will be extended.�
I waited. The demon lay panting before me, collecting its strength. I feared that it was simply gathering strength for one last attack, and would ignore my entreaty.
I was correct. Thornn launched itself at me, raking with claws outstretched. I was expecting this, but even I was unprepared for the ferocity of its attack. The claws raked me diagonally across my torso. Pain shot through my body like fire igniting petroleum fumes. I had avoided most of the attack, which saved me from being totally eviscerated, but I was still severely wounded. Thornn�s attack left it almost exhausted, and it lay on the deck, trying desperately to regroup and attack again. I did not give it the opportunity to do so.
I forced down the shuddering pain that filled me, and thrust my gladius into Thornn�s back. And thrust it in again. And again. Thornn was totally immobilized, and Mar Teshem was howling in torment as he felt the sword as if it was piercing his own flesh. I dealt Thornn one final blow. I let my sword dissipate, and manifested a massive war-hammer. I swung the hammer down in a vertical arc, landing the blow squarely on Thornn�s head. The demon�s skull caved in with the blow, and I drew my arm back, the hammer�s head dripping with bits of brain and blood. I released the hammer, and it disappeared into the nothingness from which I drew it.
Thorn never lost consciousness. It lay on the deck, weeping from the pain that crushed it down. With my final blow, I had severed Thornn�s connection to Mar Teshem, and the pitiable man collapsed at last into unconsciousness. I directed a small burst of physical energy in Teshem�s direction, and the ring on his finger fell off. As it hit the deck, I sent waves of searing heat into it. The ring melted into a red-gold puddle on the deck as Arthur watched in amazement.
I spoke instructions into Arthur�s mind. He obeyed. Arthur gathered the insensate form of Mar Teshem into his arms and addressed the voice-command interface of the Juggernaut�s main computer. He said �Computer, lower shields and beam two to the runabout Jordan.� The ship responded, and Arthur and Teshem dematerialized.
The surrounding Cardassian ships, which had hitherto been pounding the Juggernaut�s shields, suddenly found themselves scoring direct hits on the mammoth vessel�s hide. They redoubled their attacks, and the leviathan ship pitched and buckled under the barrage. Gryphon�s shields collapsed under the sustained attacks, and the Intrepid-class vessel exploded into an inferno as the oxygen on board the ship was consumed by the devastating conflagration.
Juggernaut was dying. With no sentient guidance, it made no attempt to save itself, but merely crumbled under the assault of the Cardassian warships. One nacelle was sheared off by a disruptor blast, and spun lazily away from the whole. The pounding continued until, at last, the damage reached the warp core. The destruction was spectacular, like the birth of a star, radiant in its fury. The antimatter mixed freely with the surrounding matter, causing explosion after devastating explosion to rip through the bulk of the vessel. Finally, there was simply nothing left. The once-mighty ship was a mass of metallic tatters, drifting on the stellar winds. The Cardassians ceased firing and slowly began the laborious process of counting the dead and rescuing the survivors. They salvaged what they could from the wrecked ships that surrounded them. Manticore drifted in space, dark and lifeless.
Arthur and Gerard watched the process for a moment, then Gerard turned the runabout around and started back toward DS9, and their rendezvous with Major Kira.
