Subject: FANFIC ST: Death Dancer Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 23:02:53 -0700 From: "Colin Brian Witz" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.vs.starwars Thanks to the Following: Rob Wilson, who will without a doubt be by soon to help with my many spelling errors. Rob Dalton: For keeping this crazy thing going. Ok, Fanfic Interlude 1 This story is for the amusement of a select group of people, I have no intention of profiting from this story, in any manner, If you are from Paramount and are reading this, I hope it is better written then most of the scripts you have shoved at us for the last Seven years. Death Dancer The warning chimes went off in her room, a small private ship, controlled by one person, was hideously expensive. Still, she had made enough money working various sides to afford it, besides what good were Isseks, if one didn't spend them. Activating the screen, she let only her face be present to the hailing ship. A Klingon warrior appeared on the display before her. came the translation, She hated it when someone brought up her childhood, the remark would cost him in the long run. Replaying in low Klingon Entering the landing bay, she was dressed in her own 'uniform' a greenish black full body suit, with knee high boots, a pair of knives, gleamed out of the tops . At her left hip a long barreled Disruptor pistol was holstered.. The suit was designed for speed and freedom of movement, it's smart material moved with her, and looked and acted like a second skin. It also changed color in response to the release of certain Pheromones by her body, and was composed of some form of lizard scale, offering an armor like protection at times. The effect was not lost on the Klingons who secured the landing bay. She moved with the ease and grace of a true predator this was also noticed by the Klingons. came the Captain's Command. This did not surprise her, after all tensions between the two empires always existed, and war was more common then ever, especially with the Klingon's 'new' attitude to the Federation. Still, the Dancer's job was intelligence and the occasional liquidation, still she was the highest paid Orion woman of her generation, but business was slowing down, after years with good old fashioned tensions it looked like peace was about to break out and THAT would be bad for business.. What other work could a dance and pleasure trained spy, with augmented abilities, and empathy really find work in. The other slow down in her business was that she was too well known. When she first joined the Revenge Brotherhood, she had accomplished much because everyone underestimated her. She had made one mistake though, even with her savings, she had lived too long, gotten too good. Now even lesser Families and Starfleet could recognize her on sight. It was time to consolidate her holding, do one last mission, and 'retire' perhaps buy a small moon, or settledown for some mild trading. Federation Law required that a vessel the size of the one she Piloted, have a crew no less then five, be capable of warp drive no faster then 7.0^2 and have nothing more powerful then a 100 year old phasor array, and of course such things as a sensor scattering hull, cloaking device, Klingon Disruptors, Transwarp Fields with Graviton Accelerators surrounding ones Impulse drive, were of course far out of the question. Fortunately the _Blood Flower_ was registered under the Klingon Empire, and had all of it's electronic 'paperwork' completely up to date. Still enroute to the Romulon Empire via the Gorn Hegemony it was annoying to be stopped by some Idiot commanding a new Starfleet Cruiser. The foolish captain still kept asking where the rest of her crew was. What, did he think that she needed, a whole bevy of engineers and medical, and science personnel just to pilot such a small craft. It was getting very tempting to generate a few false images, show him just how fast her 'little ship' was, and how well armed. Transporter Chief Donovan was agitated, Captain Deerborne demanded the best from his crew, they were 'Starfleet' after all, they had to be the best. Still the Orion piloting the vessel was impossible to pin down, it was also impossible to get a good scan of the interior of the ship, beaming a security team into a radiation filled plasma tube would not work, if he could break through the interference he could just beam the crew over to their ship while an inspection was done, After all Deerborne had told him that this ship HAD to be connected to SOMETHING. Finally in disgust he replied "No luck Sir, her hull is composed of differential alloys, they scatter the sensor bands, I just can't penetrate it." "Why do I always get the impression that you make this stuff up to hide your own lack of skill?" Replied the Captain. Science officer Carson was quick to back up Donovan: "Sir, the effects of Differential Alloys and their anti-Isoliner abilities are well documented just look at the late twentieth century 'Stealth Craft'" knowing quite well that the captain would never bother to look through the historical database, "Ok, put her on the screen again!" grumbled Deerborne. "Yes Sir, replied the tired Comm Officer. Opening a full screen channel now." "Sir, I think I -"came the response from the Tactical Officer before Deerborne cut him off as the image of a black clad, green skinned woman with bright red eyes filled the screen again. Smiling in such a way the was more in character for a predator's display before commencing to eat then of any true warmth she hit a single button, as the whole bridge was filled with light as sound. "What happened, my command chair cronolog reports that Twenty whole minutes have gone by What did she do, create a time flux?" "No Sir, in plain English, she noticed we were all humans and transmitted a broadcast of Hypersonic sound combined with a burst of high intensity light, overloading our senses and causing us to blank out." Replied the Science officer. "Dammit Comms why didn't you filter that message, Comm Speak to ME!" Came Deerborne's angry reply. "Sir, the communication officer died when the Universal Translator overloaded her brain, trying to translate Hypersonic white noise." Came Carson's reply "Well, get me that Bitch's last course, I'm going to chase her down like a Andoriian Mist hound!" Shouted Deerborne "Sir, she went off at warp 8 toward Tholian Space before Cloaking."came the Reply from the Helmsman "Cloaking, Civilians can't have a Cloaking device!" grumbled Deerborne "None the less, she does. Sir" came Carson's reply. Death Dancer: 2 The Problem with traveling in Cloak was time consuming as the Cloaking device took energy that could otherwise be used for the warp drives. As a result she would have to travel slower through Federation Territory this would add to her already existing time constraints. Still, with the ship’s computer running everything, there wasn’t much to do, except exercise, take a few meditation trances, and remember. Rigel VII : (The Past) She moved in harmony with the music, in harmony with the deeper music of the spaces around her, the other girls never came in contact with her, and she them, her movements while coinciding with the simple beat of the Matron ’s cane, were tuned to the much more complex movements of the greater dance, the one that the Matron was as blind to as were all of the other girls. Slaves were bred to sense the emotions of others and fill that void, not to have feelings of their own. She could feel more then just the feelings and movements of those around her, when she closed her eyes, she could see more then any of the other’s could imagine. Yes, she knew from the touch of her feet on this very floor, she had to be careful, it was well enough to breed the girl for empathy, but stronger powers would be eliminated, several had been killed on the floor on which she was now dancing over the centuries. Out side of the room, viewing the movements of the children on the screens of their ships the bidder’s awaited. Commissions would be allocated to those to be sent on for further training, others would be sold to less prestigious tasks then to be a ‘Pleasure Servant’, As long as someone was willing to pay for their continued existence, they would survive as slaves of one sort or another. Orion, was seven Planet’s out from the primary, but in ages past the Original Orions had turned one of the gas Giants into a weak star, providing a nice ‘Tropical’ environment for it’s large ‘moon.’ the moon it’s self should not have been able to support life, but it had been assembled from many smaller bodies, and exhaustively transformed. Long ago the Orion’s sailed the stars long ago, they had built an artificial world over an artificial sun, but that knowledge was long ago lost in years of blood, and fire. She knew she would soon, be sold, and a lifetime at the control of others would be insufferable. She had bribed someone to bring her here. Before her were several men still in the Shadows, before her stood a young Green male, skilled in boarding operations on the perimeter where the light blended with the shadows weapons were placed for utility. Closing her eye’ s she grasped a Klingon jejtaj* blades, these were old they knew how they were supposed to be used. The young man who out massed her considerably grabbed a Klingon bat’leth* and laughed at her. He moved with skill and precision of one who knew that he had reach and mass however, he didn’t even think of her advantages, the cool air washed over them neutralizing their pheromone abilities, however she could still feel his aggression, and desire, mixed together. Feeling the tempo of the room, and his movements she made some exaggerated dodges, letting him press the initial attack. Soon, she isolated his rhythm from the rest of the room, the skills of a man trained as a warrior for his whole life came down to notes, she danced in harmony with his movements evading his every thrust like water or wind. He swung strong at mid level figuring that she would have to drop to avoid it and be caught by a sudden reverse, his swing however was overdone, taking too long to recover as she leaped above him. Her crescent shaped blades scored deeply into his legs from behind. The Warrior, found himself unable to support and fighting on his knees, bleeding as he was he raised the blade in a defensive posture, however she evaded his movements and sliced into his arms. With him lying there she took a short bow to the direction of the lights before removing his head. She hadn’t known what the assassins guild would be like, her debts piled up faster then she could imagine, several million Issiks* so far, transporters had implanted metals thought her skeleton, she had spent the last Six months working hard labor in a high G environment, other surgeries like when they had replaced her canines, with hollow fangs, and implanted venom sacs had left her helplessly sick for days. Now she was finding humiliation at the hands of her weapon’s instructor, every blade was freshly replicated, no lingering ties for her to cheat from, her actions were purely defensive, however, the Half-Vulcan was skilled at hiding his feelings, and showed her time and again the advantages of his greater skill, and strength against her lack of training. At Three times planet’s gravity, the Vulcan was at home, she was moving sluggishly. After each defeat he would make comments about how she should just have been content to be a common ‘Pleasure Slave’ and about her frailty, eventually she had mastered every weapon in the room, her muscles would become used to the gravity as she finished growing, and the modified bones, would support her. The final step of here training surprised her. They sent her back to the hell she had escaped from! Before teaching her anything new her Matron Aunts had her beaten for her defiance. Still despite that, she was begrudgingly taught several languages, advanced techniques in pleasure and pain, and finally how to blend into different cultures. A quick course in marksman ship and low combat soon followed (A six month cruise on a pirate ship ). Finally she was given her first target. Vennal Senstarris was a young captain, who had yet to learn the rules of ‘What is taking things too far.’ He had began raiding outside of proscribed area’s and had gone so far as to capture a Federation Science vessel, which had no appreciable value, just because he could. The Federation had as a result placed a heavy hand on the activities of various smuggling guilds as well, as increased the operational security of the merchant ships that the other pirates depended on. Vennal had to die, in a very painful manner, but still the death had to be done with care so as not to start a new blood feud. Orion society demanded ‘Clurous’ a coolness of face (One had to be pleasant and polite, all smiles, even when plotting the other’s death, especially when plotting the other’s death,. as a result Vennal, had spent the following week returning from his cruise being given the best in entertainment available. Pretending to be a simple station walker, she had managed to make her way onto Vennal’s ship, after rendering the crewman unconscious she then proceed to the captain’s chamber’s a bulky Klingon stood guard out side, trying to move casual as if she was part of Vennal’s ‘entertainment’ for the evening she had hoped to slip past the well armed fool. Unfortunately he had orders to not to let the captain be disturbed, and didn’t mind taking a little sample for himself. Not wanting to cause a disturbance she jabbed a thumb into a soft fleshy part rendering the warrior unconscious still with the great endurance of the klingon breed he would awaken soon, too soon for her requirements, pulling out a sonic knife she activated the blade as she pressed it into his ear, the Ultrasonic surrounding the wire would cut through anything short of bulkhead plate, the Klingon’s brain was no challenge, and with a piece of wadded cloth the tell tale bleeding would be unnoticed by passing crewmen, just another drunk guard. making way into the first officer’s quarters she moved over to the wall using the sonic knife again to see into the next room. making a slightly larger hole she undid her hair, removing the caps from the pins holding it in place, knowing his relative position she used the sonic knife to open a new hole directly behind Vennal, extracting a dart coated with a Neurotoxin, she slipped the dart into the shaft of her hair pin and blew. The dart dissolved into his flesh releasing the toxin into his system, his nerve endings would be come extremely sensitive light contact everything would create intense pain, however the same toxin would leave him paralyzed and un able to move as it destroyed his voluntary, and involuntary muscle control, in a few hours his digestive system would fail, and then his heart, but the whole time he would be aware of everything. Removing the second pin she went about filling the holes she had made in the wall with memory adaptive putty. the stuff was good for sealing cracks in starship hulls allowing repair and return to function of depressurized sections of a ship, it would morph to the walls and become the exact same color of grey as the rest of the ship, she was just about to leave when the cabin’s occupant returned. “Ah, so Vennal figured I would get tired of that little Ensign, and want a taste of home.” The Green officer leered as he entered his room. His strength was a match for her own!, (Damn, she inwardly cursed, another part of the test, was always to give the first time operative bad Intel. If they survived they learned to stay on their toes and adapt to situations. Not wanting to make a disturbance that would alert the rest of the ship, she simply smiled and removed her clothing, and began to dance suggestively. The man was so enraptured with her performance he never noticed her teeth sink into his shoulder. Crawling over into the fresher port she regurgitated next to the bruised form of the human prisoner. The taste of the venom always made her weak, remembering the sickness that had come with the original implantation. The form stirred “I--I’m Alex McDowell of the United Federation of Planets, attached to the Science Vessel USS Mir” she replied robotically reaching over and stroking the other woman’s face she laid her hand on the human’s shoulder and neck in a comforting fashion. she whispered “Alex, I am Called ‘Dancer’, you know I can’t leave any witnesses right?” The human nodded and sighed with relief as Dancer pressed closed the flow of blood to the brain. A merciful end for the young human after months of abuse. Still the moment the woman died she was looking into Dancer’s eye’s and the Empath drank deeply of the Starfleet engineer’s soul. dressing quickly she made her way into the engine room, there she took control of the ship programming an auto-pilot course into the artificial Star. She smiled recollecting through the human’s memories about a fitting ‘Viking Funeral’ the ship would make. She had just enough time to make off of the ship and join into the station crowd before it was too late. Chapter 3 The Gorn were descended from social hunting reptiles. Unlike their solitary hunting cousins, the Gorn were more like certain breeds of large birds. Matriarchal, Monogamous, and it showed in their physical make up. While your average male stood over two meter's in height, and weighed over 200kg, had armor like hide and sharp teeth and claws, the Females were at least 30% larger then the males, possessed a larger brain and lived twice as long. The Gorn women ran the government, captained the ships, and researched the sciences. The basic unit was the extended family of Matron, Breeders, and Sterile 'Aunt' hunters. Although strong Federation allies the Gorn were extremely territorial. Still it was a good place to find a ship for hire, and to replenish supplies for the next leg of her mission. Dinner with the station's Elder Matron had been somewhat pleasant, out of the Federation, she was able to relish in her body's needs. The augmentations done to her, and Orion nature had left her needing a good deal more protean and calories then her size would indicate. The best sources for this protean was other living creatures. Federation and Romulon Citizens were vegetarian for the most part, and thus the reason she enjoyed the Gorn, and Klingon empires so much. Still the prospects for finding a hirable captain that she could trust did not look good, there were some humans bound for Romulon space, but her Telepathic abilities . Dejected she returned to her ship, to be greeted by her 'friend'. The main display screen was now showing a human female in a Uniform that the Federation, had not issued in years. "Alex" warned her that the humans she had met on the trading center of the station, had entered her ship unauthorized, and attempted to bypass here security. Needing a computer capable of running her ship with minimum direction, and possessing a strong degree of Artificial Intelligence, she not only bought one but implanted the memories and personality of someone she had killed out of a sense of 'Mercy'/'Sympathy'. "Anything else to report, Alex?" came her next command as she changed "Yes, I just noticed a large ship of Orion Design., and before your reject this out of hand, note the crew roster."came the computer's response. "Well done, Ghost Girl." The Dancer chuckled, the first officer/wife was her second cousin. Tholian Border For days Deerborne had made the crew search for traces of the ship. Carson and T'Sul KNEW it was never there to begin with, doubling back was an old trick and they both knew it. "Sir," the security Chief responded, "We have just received notice that the woman we've been looking for has spent the last week on a Gorn space station." Glowering at his science crew for being unable to find that which was not there, Deerborne issued commands for the crew to make their fastest possible speed to Gorn Space. Vlandaliss was an expert smuggler, usually running Entertainment for Ale along the Federation/Romulon Boarder. Buying low and selling high was his specialty. Flush with Issiks from his first smuggling run in a small cloaked currier boat, he spotted a young slave, with a low price, her body was suffering from Anemia as a result of too much inbreeding. Still, buy purchasing her for Permanente companionship, he was able to get a better deal, and teaching her basic navigation had not been that hard. After years of successful runs, Vlandaliss was now very successful as a smuggler, his ship could hold off pirates or police ships with no problems, and could either hide from, or out run anything that it couldn't beat. Chrysandal was positively beaming, the sight of her cousin, the infamous erratic Roslandal, was something she was not used to, Still, living on a small smuggling vessel, she never did see any of her relatives, most had died by now, used up and discarded as she had nearly been. She was also proud in another fashion, her 'husband' had made enough money for her to spend months at an illegal science facility, undoing most of the damage her Matron Aunts had done to her. The doctors had even reversed the sterilization done to prevent unregistered breeding. Now, she was becoming something that her aunts had never intended her to be. A mother! "Roslandal, meet your 'Nephew' Vastirklen." She replied displaying the swell of growing son. The assassin, looked at her cousin, perhaps coming here was a mistake.... Death Dancer #4 The "Ithica" was docked at the Gorn starbase, Captain Deerborne was meeting with The Gorn 'Station Matriarch' "Yess, male human, the 'Blood Flower' was here about 80 of your human hours ago."-came the Gorn's heavily accented reply "Why didn't you notify Starfleet when she Arrived! She's a very dangerous criminal who has killed a member of my Crew!" was his angry response. "The Goddess of the Hunt, rides her, she is favored above others. Besides there is no warrents posted, and Male, you provide a very poor accounting for your species and gender. Kirk showed that a Male human could hunt as well as a Gorn." was the furious growl as the conversation disintergrated. "I take it negotiations with the Gorn went poorly captain."-Commented Carson, as he checked a glimpse at the charging Plasma and Phasor Banks of the station next to them (Which seemed to have gone into yellow alert while the Captain had been in conference. As soon as the Captain had passed the security Officer spoke low to Commander Carson, well first the Tholians now the Gorn, at this rate our Captain will dissolve all of our Alliances within a Year. (Glomily, Carson wondered just how believable would the 'accidental' overload of a phasor inside the captain's would be. Purhaps security could help with that, Deerborne had lost more security personnel the Kirk, and with far less results.) While the "Blood Flower" cruised into Romulon Space latched to the hull of the larger frieghter most of her systems were down, however the ship's computer was still examining the information it had optained from the Federation communications net. The computer was programed with the memories of a long dead starfleet Ensign Alexsandra McDowell. The electronic ghost possessed many of the same feelings as the original, and had over the last few decades grown to love and protect her killer. Still only able to appear as a projection on a veiw screen, she found a new tidbit of information very intriguing. Someone was researching a new generation of Holosuites, partialy based on Talosian technology, These promised to allow images that could have a semi-physical form. This along with her private research into pattern buffer technology seemed to provide the best chance at her having a physical existance again after so long. Checking her owner/killer/friends investments, she deceided to invest some Isseks into a small Holoporn company, Holoadventures of Rigel provided illusionary immaterial dancers to a number of stations and bars throught the quadrant, when the research was complete they would be in a position to be quite wealthy. The trip to Romulus lasted a few weeks, using the frieghter's slower speeds, yet it was getting too long for the assassin. Her cousin naming the offspring after her (Without permission), and refering to her in her childhood name of Vastirklassa was the most annoying part, still she would soon depart for Romulus making sure to eat as much as possible before heading into the stagnation of "Civilization", she also catalonged her enemies and their weaknesses. Like the Vulcans the Romulons distrusted Orions, a war that predated the seperation of the two cultures had been started when the first Vulcan star travelers encountered the first Orions, the war had continued until the Vulcans had split into two factions one that had become more like their Enemies and the other that had driven them back with their new found psionic weapons. Still unlike her missions against the Vulcans she had a special advantage. The Romulons like the Orions were very passionate and possessive, they held fueds and Romulon Males liked Orion women. To seize the heart of an enemy is to know his soul, intentions was the hardest part of any operation, especially where the Romulons were concerned, they loved to operate on the wheels within wheels principal, Still it had taken her and Alex a while to find a good target Praefect D'tael, he was about fifty years her senior but considering Rigellian and Romulon lifespans that wasn't that much, the old campaigner had two children, a Daughter in the Tal'Shiar, and a son serving as Tribune on a Romulon Modified D7. The outworlder's trade enclave on Romulus was still a very dangerous place, officially it didn't exist, however just because the average Centurion was afraid to travel their it's black market thrieved providing a nessary movement of trade. Still where one found trade one would always find those willing to leech off the enterprise of others. She had felt their emotions a mixture of predators hunger, lust, and malice, there were seven of them, too many for her to take on all at once without causing a scene, still she was confident that she could work out a way to break them down into consumable portions. Romulon law was very strict on weapons, so she was fairly certain that she had the advantage in equipment, the bribes required to have any serious firepower were too high for these sorts of bottom feeders. Reading the first twos minds she evaded their small clubs, dropping suddenly in a wide split as she shattered the face of the one on her left as he was bent over from his missed swing, while her retractable elbow spur castrated and disembowled the one on her right. Next three rushed her, while the other two held back. Good, she thought, the one whose nose and jaw had crumpled before her metal reinforced hand, wimpered on the ground. Springing to her feet she sliced open the neck of the nearest one with her laminate fingernails. The nearer of the two grasped the head of his walking cane pointing it at her. A sudden impulse of intent made her move suddenly to grapple with the one of the gang, as the stun beam struck the both of them. P'Tael looked at the spiecimin that the gang had brrought in, instead of paying them she would of course have them executed. None could know of this, besides she had some plans of her own for dealing with this dangerous Orion spy. The Tal'Shiar kept their eyes in everything, a Klingon traitor had informed her to expect the 'Dancer', and she had been planning this for a while. After she was done, what then, slowly execute the prisoner, or give her father a trained pleasure slave with a broken mind. After all, P'Tael reasoned, her father was infamous for his perversion, how else could one explain her Telepathic gifts except that she was half-Vulcan. Death Dancer #5 Alex was worried, still no contact, and it was only a matter of time before the Romulon Authorities discovered the ship that housed her. reading what defenses she could, she went to high alert as a Romulon male stood outside her entry hatch. "Alex, You can let me in." the man spoke with a commanding voice, as her biosensors recognized the person before her. "Saledak!?!, when did you get here?" came her surprised query to her partner's one time teacher, and sometimes lover. Entering the vessel the Vulcan priest touched the bulkhead with his living hand. *It is not safe for you to stay here, I have come to take you, as per her orders*-He thought to the former human that was presently housed within the ship. *You shall need all of the strength I have taught you two over the last twenty years in order to survive this, Alex* Alex only paused for a second before pronouncing *I am ready priest of War* Tal-Shiar Detention Center The Cell was cramped and very bright, the environmental controls had been reset to make things most uncomfortable for an Orion, the cell it's self was designed To facilitate the mental breakdown, and interrogation of Females prisoners, the Romulons were experts enough to have separate guidelines and rituals for the two genders, as well as for other species. The breakdown process however would not work so well on an Orion that was already insane buy her race's standards. While simultaneously reliving other events that had occurred in her, and other's life times, she gathered the rage, and indignation of the cell's previous inhabitants to fuel her. And with the calculating reptilian section of her brain she looked at her surroundings. The Room appeared more confined then it really was, Orions have a need for open spaces, particularly the vastness of space, the luminescence would be painfully bright but more so to a race whose eye's were as sensitive as her own, the chemicals that they had sprayed her with had neutralized her pheromones, the first weapon in her arsenal, the gag/muzzle prevented her from biting or spitting Neurotoxin. ingenious really, what a waste she thought, the first interrogation team should come to rough her up a bit before P'Teal arrives to rape her mind. Her red eyes narrowed to tiny diamond slits as she thought of her next move. The arrival of the interrogation team was signaled by a change in the cell's atmosphere, a powerful tranquilizer was being mixed with the air, apparently the Romulons were taking no chances with one as skilled in unarmed combat as she was. Slowing her metabolism she lay their dormant, until they decided to change the air for her new "guests" two of the entered the cell, still in encounter suits as the officer outside keyed controls adjusting the cell for his designs. The Two guards lifted her limp form onto the bed that had just folded it's self out from the wall and were preparing to secure her when she snapped out of Torpor. Slamming them together, before flinging one of them into the door's force screen, she enjoyed the officer's backward step, and the twitching movements the lifeless soldier made as the screen's discharges played havoc with the dead man's nervous system. The other one she tore into with her long fingernails letting his still hot green blood wash over her body. That would keep them thinking twice about trying to physically rape her, instead they would suffice with environmental torments until P'Teal came for her. As Electrical shocks raged across her body, the Dancer thought of her only true friends. The Past: Rigel VII Ever since she had gotten her little stowaway, things had not been going well. She had grown up feeling the emotions and the desires for the males, ever present even though separated by barriers. It was a fact of Orion existence, the species was driven by a constant need to mate and go farther. Revenge, Sex, Exploration and Exploitation were the driving forces of her kind. The females learned from the previous generations that all contact with the males had to be on their terms, even with slaves, especially with slaves. Now she was stuck with a mind completely alien to her. And a mind that was going mad with fear of men! The two minds Vastirkiassa Roslandal and Alex Mc Dowell were very different, as had been their experiences, one had grown up a slave in training, well adjusted to the possibilities with either gender, and trained to use sex as her weapon. The other had grown up rather awkward on a planet called "Earth" in a place called "Boston", her first experience with sex had been an embarrassing affair with an Older Cadet in Starfleet, more interested in computers then men or women she had felt relieved when they had transferred her to the science vessel Mir. Wondering what to do she once again traveled to the High G section of the station to find her old mentor, and teacher the Vulcan Pit fighting master. Perhaps he would know how they had come to inhabit the same body. Saledak had never seen his student in this degree of emotion. Orions like Vulcans hid their emotions when in public. In private the Orion soul reveled in it's predatory nature. Saledak understood this better then most years ago he had taken exile from his home of Vulcan, in order to fight the increasing aggressiveness of the Klingon empire, The young priest had chosen to serve the Vulcan God of War. As such a creature he had no place in normal Vulcan Society, and come every seven years must find himself locked in Pitched battle or Perish, for a War Priest there was no mating, no release, a short life, and no children. The mindlink had taken time to establish, it had taken a near timeless eternity to heal the damaged soul within Roslandal. Together the three of them fought and shared pain until they knew each other better then anyone they had known before. Joining hands Roslandal and Saledak began a ritual that the Vulcan had never actively experienced in his own life. Just through the memories of the other war priests. Together the three mated, and healed and shared the pain. Lying together exhausted Saledak hardly noticed that she had crushed his right hand during their intercourse. Saledak strode into the building, Romulon centurions hardly paying notice seeing him only as he wished to be seen. A warrior of High Rank and power. The illusion not only maintained by the uniform he wore but by the energy he projected. Romulons may pretend to be the warrior Vulcans of the past, Saledak WAS one. Walking into the Detention block, deep within the ground safely transporter proof. What was left of P'Teal greeted him and brought him before Roslandal. "So the Romulon tried to beat you in a battle of Wills did she?" Saledak looked as P'Teal's lifeless form slumped to the floor outside the cell. Continuing "You didn't leave me with much to work with, you must have burnt out most of her brain operating her like a puppet you know." Fishing out a neural regenerator and affixing it to the corpse's temple he ignored the stench of her voided innards. Now was the time to act. Enough of the brain that could be repaired was repaired, but it would need a new life force to keep the rest of the body from degenerating, with his left hand on the Romulon's breast he spoke the words of the ancient Vulcan Ritual. The Romulon rose slowly and walked to the prisoner, with the touch of her hand she deactivated the Muzzle around the Dancer's face, pulling the Orion close to her, she kissed her friend on each cheek, before hugging her. Very unRomulon like tears streamed down her face, *A BODY, Rose this is the best Present any one has EVER gotten me!* *Well Lex, it isn't exactly new, and it does stink, but I was sure you would like it.* *Now all we have to do is figure out how we are getting out of here* Death Dancer #6 Submitting had been an unpleasant but necessary part of the plan. She needed to gain high level security access to the Tal'Shair computers, and the Romulons weren't exactly going to allow her to walk in and fiddle with their computers. Thus she had been forced to arrange her own capture, and imprisonment. Her new "owner" thought she was broken and tamed, but in 50,000 years on official enslavement No one had ever broken the will of the Green Orions. As one of the Romulons forced open her mouth to show where they had defanged her, mind went back to the night where she choose to become an assassin and spy, the night she remembered her people's true heritage. The Orion's like all cultures have their great Epic, a story that in it's art defines a people. This Epic tells of how the Ambitious and Clever Golden clans brought about an alliance forever crushing the powerful Matriarchal Witch Clans of the Greens, using the Grey and Blue clans as their battle fodder. Every year there is a courtesan festival where the powerful Syndicate lords observe the newest Green Maidens to graduate from the "Schools". While Slavery is still illegal people examined, prodded and sold, on the grounds which once held the Castle to Lady Doramassi the last Queen of the Greens. A month before she was to be sold, a teenaged Vastirkiassa stood on the ground, and relived the memories of the previous generations. They were led forth in chains those who had been the Handmaidens to the Queen, they could see her head still proud and defiant, high above the assembled hosts of her enemies, even though it was no longer attached to her body. The sight that was to fill them with a loss of hope did not have that effect, they remembered their honor and face. The time of the Matriarchs was over for now, but it would come back again, now was the time to hide in plain sight. As Vastirkiassa made her steps to the auction platform in the traditional pose, she recalled the thoughts repeated back by each generation from the first. This was where the last free Green females became the first slaves. Childossila was barely beginning her transformation, she was the youngest of the Handmaidens, and to make a point the soldiers choose to take her first. They slammed her head against the block where they had taken the queen's head, it had once been the bench before the throne. Just as the platform on which it rested had once been the throne room. She almost chocked from the force. Instead of the sword they brought out a collar, and a brand. Even as the weight of the Warrior pressed upon her Childossila thought only of his demise, if she would not live to see it, come then one day one of her daughters or their daughters would see to it. In that moment Vastirkiassa knew her destiny. She would become the dark queen. The Spider that devours those that she mates. Since then she had never let a man take her unscathed, even Saledak whom she considered her mentor, had paid the price for their sterile copulation. The two stage poison had worked well, she wanted to regurgitate, but that was for later. She looked down at the Consoler General a sheet covered his groin and the signs of the Necrosis setting in, and spreading up his body. His digestion was already dead as were his reproductive faculties, the rest of him had an hour or two, but now he was amiable to suggestion. She commanded her victim The man coughed and fought, hard but in the end he relented. After she uploaded her worm she began her secondary hacking, releasing a small vessel to her control, escape, that would be necessary since she would have to leave the "Blood Flower" Behind on Romulus. the dying man begged. Smiling she made for the door, when she saw something she had not expected, The Tal'Shair officer from earlier in the Cell, and the son of the Romulon General. The disruptors pointed in her general direction defiantly showed that something was wrong. Alex/P'Teal had hoped that she could maintain the illusion of her current form long enough for Rose to get what she had wanted, but The surprise appearance of P'Teal's brother had complicated things, she didn't have all of the Romulon's memories, they had been destroyed when Roslindal had killed her in a Telepathic duel. The drugs they were using was making it hard for her different memories, the fragments of P'Teal, Alex who was some thirty years dead, Alex the machine, and her exosphere to Roselindal. The Romulon commanded The machine's imager only showed Chaos. He barked an order to a subordinate, who pressed the hypo to her flesh bringing back a nightmare she had hoped was locked away forever. Alex recognized the creatures entering the cargo bay at once, three meters tall, weighing only half as much as a human the Kl`tak^kil were a race of cannibalistic insects that the Mir had been dispatched to observe. Not notable for anything besides the fact that their planet was rich in Dilithium. The Orion captain and first officer watched over as the survivor's of the Mir, and crates full of equipment were hauled away by the Worker castes. As the worker's came for her, the first officer, shook his head, and she was roughly shoved off to the side. She watched as the last of her crew members disappeared down to the planet below leaving only her and two others. As soon as the last of the Kl`tak^kil had left, the pirates surrounded them. The officer's claimed her, so as the other two watched the Captain took her before giving her over to the first officer, dragged away she could still here the others cries. "It took me a while to analyze the toxin you used on the Proconsul." The Romulon commented pressing the hypo against his own neck. "I am now immune to your Pheromones, as well as your toxin there is nothing that either you or that you have pretending to be my sister can do to stop me." "Thank you, for getting rid of him, anyways, he was in the way of my plans for advancement, always siding with my sister. However like you I do insist on making people suffer for their crimes. Right now, your "friend" is reliving her worst nightmare, and soon I shall turn you into my pet." He said advancing with a new hypospray. He activated the view screen, as he could see a small group of Romulon's entering P'teal/Alex's cell. However the Romulon Commander did not notice that Saledak was the rearmost Romulon guard in the rape party. Alex and Saledak ran down the halls, on a mission to get to the transporter bay. From there they had the one transporter that had access to the whole complex and could transport out of it too. "Ok. I have a lock on her signature, I am transporting her here and then up to the ship."Saledak replied "Ok, You go next." was Alex's command before she slumped to the floor, Saledak's hand on her neck. "No, I am a Warpriest, to embrace death is my duty."-Saledak said solemnly as he dematerialized the two women. The Romulon's came for the room, but Saledak held them off as best he could, their beams often missing due to his enhanced reflexes, or by the telepathic ofustication he was so skilled at. "I still wish I could have planted a bomb or something." Roslindal grumbled "We were lucky to get out of there, Rose." "Oh, well the payment is worth it."she mused "We both suffered through all that, Saledak died, and the Payment is WORTH IT!?!" Alex screamed Roslindal snapped back in Orion. Alex yelled back Roslindal replied as a badly damaged ship appeared in their view screen. Epilog: The Klingon Empire used the transmission Codes to Covertly monitor the Romulon's activities, often allowing Klingon Border Colonies to fall under attack rather then allow the Romulons to know the existence of their Communications tap. The Codes lasted for another 60 years until they were compromised by one Lt. Commander Data. The Bloodflower Syndicate currently controls 60% of all Holoporn in the Alpha Quadrant and is being Run by Roslindal's Cousin, until her return. Roslindal's Nephew would later join Starfleet, and successfully make a small fortune running a variety of Gambling schemes at the Academy. He would eventually be court marshaled for winning a Klingon scout ship, during the first Cardassian War. No Memorials or observances for Saledak are ever held on Vulcan Alex and Roslindal departed for parts unknown after jury rigging repairs to the Alien vessel.