Star Trek: Earth Strike
Episode 10: Luck of the Lady
�I was expecting fireworks,� Quark said, �but this is marvellous!� The green tint had disappeared from the sky but now streaks of fire criss-crossed the heavens like a meteor shower. In truth Quark had stood against his human partners when they had insisted on fireworks. It had only been on their strict assurance that no fission devices would be used that he had in the end agreed to it...with the proviso that he would not be billed for the expense.
�Hu-mons!� Quark snorted derisively as his air-car started its pre-programmed descent towards the Lady Luck. �So impressed by a few coloured lights; they�re like children really. Still, their latinum shines as brightly as anyone�s,� he mused, �well, anyone�s but mine!�
Quark smiled, rubbing his hands, barely restraining a little jig of glee. The air-car was equipped with seats but he was too excited to sit down as he sped across the Atlantic Ocean. He�d worked so hard towards this that he could scarcely believe the day was finally here. �I�m going to be rich!� He chortled to himself.
Though gambling was not actually illegal here on Earth it was definitely discouraged both by the authorities and the non-fiscal nature of the economy. When quark had first proposed opening a casino here most people - short sighted fools, he thought to himself - had thought he was mad. They saw only the difficulties; he saw a ripe fruit waiting to be plucked! Ever since the Federation had established itself on Deep Space Nine Quark had observed that the humans were just as willing to throw their money onto his dabo tables as any other race - more so even, for they seemed inexperienced and naive when it came to matters of house odds. After Doctor Bashir had introduced them all to the Vic Fontayne programme Quark had started to investigate the phenomena of the Las Vegas casinos of the period. After a while he found it hard to see the words on his console past the glare of loose latinum in his imagination.
At first the permits and licences he had sought had been refused, despite the hefty bribes he had offered. It was only when he had convinced the Nagus to lend his weight to Quark�s arguments that the project would attract more visitors from Ferenginar and strengthen the ties between the Ferengi Alliance and the Federation that the necessary paperwork had been reluctantly cleared.
Then he could find no regional authority willing to allow construction of his establishment. Well, that hadn�t stopped him, Quark reflected smugly. It had taken all his latinum reserves and those of his partners, plus mortgaging the bar on Deep Space Nine several times over to buy and equip the Lady Luck, but he had done it!
He had done it, and he was going to be rich! Quark gave into temptation and danced a few steps in the cramped room of the air car as a small dot on the ocean�s horizon grew to take on the shape of an old Mississippi paddle steamer strung with lights and displays. He didn�t care about the incongruency of such a vessel in the middle of the open sea; all he cared about was the profit it was going to make him! Tonight was the grand opening, and the culmination of months of work. He had hired this air car to make a subsonic and suitable arrival. Even though the Lady was equipped with plenty of transporter platforms: a grand entrance would impress upon his partners who was actually in charge.
The column of energy seemed to spring into being instantly. Striking down like a stake from the heavens, fully one hundred meters across, it engulfed the Lady Luck, disintegrating it and drilling down into ocean's depths. The column was separated from the waters by a sleeve of superheated steam which rose and spread across the waters with lightening speed, yet not as fast as the rippling waves caused by the beam�s impact. Mere swells here, but they would become huge tsunamis as they neared the shallows of the coastal waters.
Quark was knocked off his feet as the air car�s safety systems avoided the hellish beam and roiling clouds of steam. He remained on his knees as he stared, slack jawed at the demolition of his dreams. Slowly he reached over and flicked the control that would take him back to his starting point. �This has not been a good day.� He said.
* * *
* * *
Antoine DuBoise paused in the huge doorway of Notra Dame Cathedral. The ugly gothic edifice loomed darkly over him, shedding it�s own gallic chill despite the heat of the morning. He ran his hands over his thinning hair, regretting the trait that ran in his family and wishing he had brought a hat.
He had come here for answers, and though god had not spoken to him directly as he had prayed within the immense church dedicated to Our Lady, he had reached a decision nevertheless.
Ever since the fire that had claimed the lives of his Father, half-brother and father�s wife, he had been unsure whether to reveal himself to his famous spacefaring uncle. The fact that his father had chosen to conceal his birth and existence from his brother had complicated the matter in his mind. Would it be disrespectful to go against his Father�s wishes now? Robere Picard had been a stubborn man who had clung to outmoded ways and ideas of honour. The fact that his father had evidently felt ashamed of him, having been born �out of wedlock� as he was, had pained Antoine all his life.
To continue with this concealment, however, would be tantamount to accepting that his life was an object of shame: a proposition that he had decided he was not willing to accept. He wandered down the banks of the Seine, lost in his own thoughts, unmindful of the unnaturally empty streets. Yes, he thought to himself, rubbing the back of his neck, hoping he wouldn�t get sunburnt, yes, he would compose a message tonight to Captain Jean Luc Picard informing him that his family had not entirely died out on that terrible night of flames six years ago.
He squinted up at the sky, his eyes watering, the sun was very bright today, he thought, even as he realised that it could not be the sun that assaulted his eyes, since her rays still beat down upon the back of his neck. Looking up he saw a bright spot in the sky that seemed to be growing incredibly quickly.
�Sacre bleu!� Were Antoine DuBoise�s last words as the giant remnant of Borg technology finally made contact with Earth, a direct hit upon Notra Dame Cathedral. The cube fragment released megatons of kinetic energy in one great blast that gouged a crater a kilometre deep and many more across, vaporising everything within it�s blast radius, flattening all for many kilometres around and causing shockwaves and earth tremors throughout the continent.
* * *
�It�s Paris, Sir,� Data informed Picard, �the piece of the supercube has obliterated Paris.�
