Star Trek: Fortitude
Season Four, Episode Seven - ‘Isolation, Part One’
By Jack D. Elmlinger
PROLOGUE
“They are a primitive people.”
“Indeed, but they are a species inhabiting an important planet.”
“I doubt that they even realize the resources that are at their disposal.”
“They are resources that we need. Don’t forget that.”
“I still say that we should attack.”
“I still say that we shouldn’t. Don’t forget your place.”
“My apologies, but this charade is… irritating.”
“It irritates me too. Nevertheless, we are but one vessel. We have limited manpower, and they number in the millions, planet-wide. If we destroy their village, others will come to investigate and soon, we will have made another enemy. Regardless of their lack of space flight, the ground assault alone would set us back for weeks… maybe more…”
“Weeks? With all due respect, they fight with rocks and spears.”
“Never underestimate the desire to fight for one’s home.”
“I underestimate nothing.”
“Good. Then we are agreed. We shall use peace as a weapon.”
“Against my better judgement, I will adhere to your plan.”
“When we return victorious with our cargo holds overflowing with dilithium and every single crew member still alive, my plan will be celebrated and our superiors can send a fleet of ships to return and annex the planet. If you would like, I can have you assigned to them as a reward for biting your tongue.”
“I thank you. That would be most… gratifying.”
“It’s settled. Prepare to transport down to the surface.”
“Coordinates are locked on the center of their village.”
“Remember to smile.”
“Excuse me?”
“Well, we are their new gods, after all…”
ACT ONE
Captain’s Log, Stardate 52447.9;
As we enter the second week of our duckblind mission in System X77 observing the preindustrial humanoid culture calling themselves the L’Raka, my crew is preparing to test the final upgrades to the new Starfleet isolation suits. In seven days, we have learned a great deal about the L’Raka.
Lieutenant Commander Sollik, having completed his extensive work on the isolation suits ahead of schedule, believes that we can learn even more by sharing his unique ability to walk among them, invisible to the naked eye. I am eager to partake in this mission and I am heading down to our hidden observation outpost.
Commander Valerie Archer watched her Captain mount the transporter pad with a smile. Leaving her in command while he went off on an exploratory adventure had been difficult for Ewan Llewellyn. After all, his new relationship status with his First Officer made him want to ensure her eternal happiness. Meanwhile, she felt exactly the same way about him but with the added official responsibility of worrying about the welfare of her commanding officer. As the Welshman had stammered through his excuses for going, she had just grinned and let him finish before logically and compassionately making the case for his departure.
Beside the Captain, Sollik hauled a Starfleet container towards the center of the transporter pad without even pretending that it was a struggle. With his enhanced strength making the job simple, the Suliban was nevertheless careful with his three brand-new isolation suits; red garments with matching helmets that practically cloaked the wearer. Until today, he was the only crew member aboard Fortitude with the ability to turn invisible. Part of him welcomed the prospect of it becoming a shared ability. At least, it would make for an interesting talking point, after hours while off-duty.
Doctor Katherine Pulaski and Ensign Jason Armstrong completed the away team preparing to beam down to the L’Raka village. Hidden behind a sophisticated holographic shield on top of a precarious rocky cliff overlooking the village, a prefabricated Starfleet observation outpost awaited them. Four trusted Fortitude science officers would be working hard down there, like they had been for the last seven days and for several more days to come. The arrival of their Captain and three other senior officers hardly threatened to stop them. There were no standing orders on ceremony when there was the exploration of an entirely new culture to be undertaken.
“Keep the ship over the polar ice cap,” Llewellyn told Archer. “I don’t want us being spotted by some eager young stargazer.”
“Don’t worry,” she reassured him. “There’s nowhere else for us to go.”
“Well, then… I guess I’ll see you in a few days.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
They skipped the parting kiss. While it was the worst kept secret aboard, it was still a secret nonetheless, and a kiss before the away team and the transporter chief would have ended that in a hurry. A shared smile would have to make do.
“All right,” Llewellyn finally ordered. “Energize!”
* * * *
It was a gray box. Nothing more… just a simple gray box.
It still managed to impress Captain Llewellyn.
The observation outpost had been installed with the tightest of regulations and the most sincere secrecy to avoid possible contamination to the L’Raka who were living forty feet below it, and yet it still managed to be an engineering marvel. Most of it stuck out from the rough-hewn rock. The section of the floor hanging over the village was constructed of transparent aluminium, causing the away team to look down and feel their stomachs do a backflip. The vertigo was only natural.
Ewan allowed Sollik to unpack the isolation suits as he checked in with the science officers assigned to the duckblind, gaining a few more facts since the regular morning update that he had received in his Ready Room, hours ago. As he scanned the PADD, Ensign Armstrong picked out a pair of red knee-high boots and passed them over to Doctor Pulaski.
“What’s your target, Doctor?”
“Naturally, I’m going to visit the village physician,” she told him as she swapped her regular footwear for the crimson boots. “Just because these people are pre-industrial doesn’t mean that they can’t teach me a thing or two about basic medical care. In fact, I prefer the hands-on approach. It should be exciting!”
“What about yourself, Ensign?,” inquired the Captain now that he was finished with the PADD.
“Ah, a comparative study for me, sir,” answered the eager Kentuckian. “I’ll be finding out if the L’Raka are anything like Humans at this stage of their development in several key areas. A little more in-depth view than the overall picture.”
Sollik handed out the isolation suit helmets to their designated wearers. Ewan fixed the Chief Engineer with a frown as he took his.
“Something wrong, Captain?”
“Not that I’m complaining… I was just expecting it to be heavier.”
“Nor I,” Pulaski, the oldest of the group, noted with relief. Beside her, Jason slid himself into the red jumpsuit and shrugged his shoulders into place. “Nice fit, Ensign. Sollik, are these suits tailored?”
“Yes, Doctor,” replied the Suliban.
“Okay, well, if you tell anybody my size… you’ll make my enemies list!”
“You have an enemies list?,” Jason asked, chuckling with mock-fear spread across his young face.
Pulaski’s expression said it all. Everybody, even Sollik, had to laugh. The suits worked so perfectly that Llewellyn considered promoting his chief engineer.
* * * *
It was slightly unnerving to look down upon one’s own hand and see right through it. Only the gravel where one walked could be seen, including their footprints but not the foot that had made it. The first ten minutes of the walkabout was spent getting to grips with the concept of invisibility. They were breaking new ground with these isolation suits. Starfleet Academy had trained Ewan for every kind of suit, environmental, zero-gravity, and even heavy loading… but this was something else.
What made the whole experience even more unsettling was the sheer beauty of the world around him that he desperately wanted to reach out and touch. It was coming to the end of a L’Rakan day. The powerful orange sun melted into the natural horizon, long shadows cast from every wooden building and every pair of legs… except his, of course. Approaching a small group of villagers, Ewan listened to their conversation piped in through his suit’s Universal Translator.
The L’Raka were a handsome race. The main feature that distinguished them from Humans came in the shape of a triangular cranial ridge. Both males and females had their hairstyles constructed around the tip of the triangle, their eyes resting at the lower corners and forming symmetry with the mouth and chin. Oblivious to his presence, the four middle-aged men finished chatting and separated.
More voices caught the Welshman’s attention. Turning, he followed them.
His tranquil evening was shattered by what he saw.
The L’Rakan identified as the village elder by the previous duck-blind reports was there, standing in the central courtyard of the community. He was deep in an apprehensive and clearly stressful conversation with a woman. She was dressed entirely in black and flanked by two towering soldiers… who were entirely not of this world and armed with weapons that were way beyond L’Rakan technology.
Ewan recognized the woman immediately and anger flooded his very soul. “Llewellyn to away team. Converge on my position at once.”
“Understood, Captain,” came the replies of his team.
“Is everything all right?,” asked Pulaski.
“No, Doctor. It most certainly is not. The village elder is talking to Naketha.”
ACT TWO
Naketha… What the hell was she doing here?
Unlike the Starfleet presence in the village, Naketha and her Centurions were anything but covert in their actions. Clearly, the Romulan Star Empire had no equivalent of the non-interference rules solidified in the Prime Directive. Ewan felt his anger grow with each passing moment. The Tal Shiar agent’s vicious facial features were twisted into one almighty sneer. Whatever was being discussed was pleasing her and terrifying the village elder.
Slowly, Llewellyn tried to take steps forward, aching to know what the conversation was about. To him, the duck-blind had already been transformed, regardless of the circumstances. Exploration had been replaced by yet another round with Naketha.
Tunnel vision set in. Cloaked to the naked eye, he moved forward. He was so focused that he forgot his surroundings. It was a tragic mistake to make in an isolation suit. Completely missing the L’Rakan walking across the central courtyard, the Captain managed to step directly into his path. The resulting collision was awfully baffling to both participants and the L’Rakan cried out, hitting someone invisible and fearing the worst, falling to the gravel.
Ewan tumbled, his mind disorganized in confusion as the revelation of Naketha’s presence was overcome with the sudden shock of impact. Despite being over in seconds, it failed to go unnoticed.
Naketha and her Centurions darted over. One of the male Romulans reached for a tricorder off of his belt and gave the area a cursory sweep. Showing his results to his commander with a scowl, he pointed directly at Llewellyn’s cloaked form.
He had been discovered.
As the Centurions hauled him to his feet, their rough actions caused the isolation suit to flicker and fail, a new prototype that it was. Soon they were holding a red-clad humanoid for Naketha’s inspection. Ewan tried to avoid her as she reached for his helmet but he had been in the grip of Romulans before. There was no escape.
Naketha removed the helmet with a gasp.
“Captain Llewellyn!”
“Naketha,” Ewan snarled, sweat beading on his forehead.
“What are you doing here?”
“I was about to ask you the same question.”
Before their exchange could continue, Naketha became aware of the small crowd forming around them. The villagers were getting curious with a man having appeared from nowhere right in front of their primitive eyes. Comprehension alone was a serious challenge and primal fear took over. Low background muttering began to swell, building to a crescendo of uneasy tones.
“Commander,” the Centurious with the tricorder interrupted,” I have two other Human biosigns closing on our location. They appear to be wearing some kind of stealth suit. I am also reading a Suliban heading towards us from due east.”
“You’re not alone,” spat out Naketha, glaring at Ewan. “Where is Fortitude?”
Llewellyn gave her no answer. Not even a hint of recognition as he resisted her with everything that he had.
“Scan for Federation technology,” Naketha ordered her Centurion.
“No vessels,” the Romulan informed her, a second later,” but I am detecting faint readings from some kind of obscured structure on the outskirts of the village. The power for the stealth suits is linked to it somehow.
The calculating mind of the Tal Shiar agent cobbled together the facts and added a characteristic dash of paranoia to the mix. Invisible Starfleet officers were running all over this village from some kind of hidden base and Captain Llewellyn was in command. It was exactly the kind of behavior that she had come to expect from her old adversary. He always reminded her, no matter how honorable or moral that he was, of a Romulan.
Fortitude was here, somewhere, probably after the same thing that she was after. Unwilling to lie or cheat, they simply chose to sneak around instead.
How pathetic…
It was time to twist this development to her advantage.
“Villagers,” she shouted overhead,” this demon hides himself from you, but I have exposed him… and if you follow me, I shall expose more of them! I shall expose to you these duplicitous beings and eradicate them from your settlement, saving you from their wicked evil. Who’s with me?!”
A cheer rose from the assembled crowd of L’Rakans.
Whatever number that Naketha had pulled on them, Ewan thought, it had worked.
As they headed for the duck-blind observation outpost, the captive Welshman was manhandled into the grip of one of the Centurions. Naketha pulled the other one aside, whispered a new set of orders into his pointed ear.
“Round up the other Starfleet officers and bring them to me.”
“Understood,” her subordinate said, nodding.
* * * *
Soon all of them stood at the foot of the rocky cliff. A throng of almost one hundred people was made up almost exclusively of L’Rakans. Children were held by their mothers, the unpredictable and unbalanced danger of Naketha being unknown to them. To them, she was something to be respected and praised. She had appeared to them in honesty and truth with fantastic powers and the promise of a brighter future. Not like this newcomer, the man in the strange red suit who had hidden from them with some kind of dark magic.
Naketha’s tricorder-wielding Centurion pointed forty feet into the air and towards the top of the cliff where Llewellyn knew the observation outpost rested behind a holographic generator. With as much grandiose gesturing for the benefit of the villagers as she could muster, the Romulan operative took hold of her disruptor pistol and fired. The holographic field dissipated and the gray box shimmered into view. Orange sunlight reflected from the windows, making it impossible to see inside.
“Stand back, villagers!,” Naketha cried, aiming once more at the sky.
“Damn it, no!,” Ewan protested, leaning forward as best as he could despite the hands locked around his arms. “Naketha, there are four science officers in there!”
“Casualties of war,” sneered the merciless agent of the Tal Shiar.
Curse here… She was actually enjoying this.
The hundred-strong crowd edged back towards the relative safety of the wooden structures that they called home. Dragging Llewellyn through the gravel and dirt, Naketha and the Centurion made space for the forthcoming landing. There was a horrible, heartbreaking second of inevitability before two disruptor pistols were pointed towards the outpost’s sturdy duratanium supports. If he could have thrown himself into the fire line, he would have done it. There was no question about it.
Pulling their triggers, the Romulans watched the supports vaporize.
Tearing from the rock underneath its own weight, the four gray walls and transparent floor of the Starfleet building buckled and twisted as it became a falling tomb for the four Starfleet officers inside. The cacophony was deafening with the gathered L’Rakans screaming in both triumph and terror. Metal fused with stone, nature seemingly rejecting the artificial structure, and as the mangled wreck thundered down the cliff, it became engulfed in plumes of smoke and fire. Ewan screwed his tear-stained eyes shut, not even wanting to risk seeing a corpse amidst the destruction.
Turning around, Naketha accepted a smattering of applause from the L’Rakans before she noticed her second Centurion leading a crestfallen Doctor Pulaski, Ensign Armstrong, and Lieutenant Commander Sollin onto the scene. Satisfied that she had turned surprise into support, she returned her attention to the captain Ewan Llewellyn.
“Well, well, Captain,” she chuckled with menace.
“I guarantee you,” Llewellyn said, battling through his emotions to growl at her,” that whatever you’re doing here, you won’t get away with it!”
“On the contrary,” Naketha retorted,” I find Starfleet officers wearing cloaking suits on a pre-warp world, and not only breaking their own Prime Directive but also the Treaty of Algernon, regarding cloaking experiments? Your plans, Captain, not mine, are the ones that will not succeed… and my guarantee is that I’ll find out what you’re up to!”
ACT THREE
Dejected, the away team sat under heavy guard.
Night had descended upon the village. It had been almost two hours since the total obliteration of the observation outpost and the death of four Starfleet science officers. It took that long for the tragedy to sink in. Before anybody could succumb to the emotion of the loss, Llewellyn reminded them that the situation wasn’t over.
When all was said and done, when Fortitude failed to get a regular report from the duck-blind and come looking for their missing personnel, then they could grieve. Stripped of their isolation suits and sporting the regular Starfleet uniforms of their departments, they sat alone in a small wooden hut near the center of the village.
“What I don’t understand,” Sollik hissed,” is that I was detected. Those Romulan tricorders must be sophisticated. So we were running the isolation suits at low power and we didn’t even bother with sensor suppressors, but me… I guess we don't know everything there is about Romulan technology.”
“That’s not my main concern,” Doctor Pulaski said. “Aren’t we supposed to be allies with the Empire at the moment, fighting the Dominion?”
“Half a galaxy away,” Llewellyn reminded his chief medical officer. “Besides, Naketha had always been a force unto herself. Working for the Tal Shiar had that advantage. The fact that she only has two Centurions with her means that she can’t be here with an invasion fleet. Damn it, just what is she playing at here?”
“I think we’re about to get the chance to find out,” whispered Jason Armstrong.
The young Ensign had been keeping tabs on a small hole near the rustic door, with one eye closed as the other eye held a vigil over the central courtyard outside. As his Captain joined him, he explained what he had been watching.
“Naketha just sent all of the L’Rakans away, save for the village elder and a small handful of official-looking men. They’ve lit a large fire in the middle of the courtyard. One of the Centurions is heading towards us.”
Seconds later, the door burst open and the Centurion pointed at Ewan. “You,” he growled,” with me!”
“Give her hell, Captain,” Sollik whispered.
* * * *
“Ah, Llewellyn… do join us.”
“It doesn’t look like I have much of a choice Naketha,” Ewan observed dryly as the disruptor leveled at his back waved him forward. Slowing to a halt, he stood directly before his nemesis. The village elder and his associates looked on, panic and guilt dominating their expressions. He sympathized with them. “What do you want?”
“I want to know what you’re doing here,” Naketha asked him, slowly.
“We’re on a purely scientific mission. Observation only with complete non-interference.”
“Liar! Do you want to know what I think? I think you’re here on a secret reconnaissance for the Federation. I think you detected the same dilithium deposits beneath this village and you’re heard to claim them for yourselves. With the Alpha Quadrant busy fighting the Dominion, I think you are sizing up the Empire for a second front. I think you’re planning to defeat the Dominion and then defeat us, and I think this dilithium is your starting point!”
“You can think whatever you like,” Llewellyn snapped back at her,” but we’re not interested in the dilithium. We detected it upon arrival but we’re more interested in the culture of the L’Raka and scientific discovery!”
Naketha made a nose like an enraged cat.
Spinning on the right steel heel of her knee-high leather boots, she walked over to a motionless Centurion on the other side of the roaring fire. The Centurion held something that was long and rectangular. With her back to Ewan, Naketha kept whatever she was doing hidden from her prisoner. It was only upon her return to her previous position that he saw what she had collected. He suddenly felt rather frightened.
“These are Aleh Terrh,” she explained to him, holding one of the two lethal-looking silver swords, letting the flickering firelight dance across the blade. “The name means ‘blade of darkness’. Romulan military personnel are trained in all types of combat, Captain, including swordplay. These particular weapons are used for honorable disputes regarding secrecy and distrust.”
“Why do I get the feeling that this isn’t an educational presentation?”
“You and I will duel, Captain. The winner can make any demand of the loser.”
“What if I don’t feel like duelling today?,” Llewellyn asked her as calmly as possible.
“Put it like this,” Naketha answered him, ruthlessly, throwing one of the Aleh Terrh to the dusty ground at his feet. “I’m going to attack you. Either you defend yourself and stand a slim chance of beating me… or I will not hesitate to cut you down.”
The Centurion holding the Welshman’s arms let go and retreated from the scene.
There was no choice in the matter.
Slowly, Ewan crouched towards the sword and wrapped his fingers around the hilt.
* * * *
Above the polar ice cap of L’Raka, the starship Fortitude hung blissfully unaware of the nightmare bestowed upon the duck-blind mission. The next report was due in almost fifteen minutes. Eagerly anticipating the Captain’s unbridled joy at getting some real exploration done, Valerie Archer sat on the Bridge, thinking of her lover. Ahead of her, the bald blue head of Lieutenant Arden Vuro dipped towards the helm.
“Commander,” he reported,” I’m picking up some residual polaron particles on my navigational array. They’re in a low orbit synchronous to the village where the duck-blind mission is taking place.”
“Hmm… strange,” Valerie mused, standing from the command chair. “Mister Brodie, can you see them?”
“Confirmed,” Gabriel Brodie’s deep voice resonated from Tactical.
“Speculation, what could be causing them?”
It took a second for everyone to think. While Gabe focused on his encyclopedic knowledge of tactical systems, Valerie and Arden began to remember an incident, two years ago, involving polaron particles. When it finally clicked, the First Officer glared at the helmsman. They had both arrived at the same conclusion with an answer that spelled disaster for the peaceful mission that they were undertaking.
“Red Alert!,” Archer ordered. “Set a course and engage at full impulse!”
“What’s the matter?,” Brodie asked innocently.
“Romulans…”
EPILOGUE
Despite having entertained more than a few fencing lessons at school, Ewan Llewellyn was no match for a lifetime of practice that Naketha could call upon when it came to handling the Aleh Terrh swords. Each parry was answered with a brutal new swing that he had never seen and therefore, he had no idea how to react. Yelling with adrenaline, he moved around the courtyard, dodging and countering her attacks as best as he could. The duel went on for almost four minutes, but despite his defiance, he finally lost his grip of the hilt.
The blade flipped through the night air and dug into the embers of the fire.
Sweat poured down his face as he caught his breath, defeated and unarmed.
Naketha pointed the tip of her sword at his throat. “Rules are rules, Captain,” she said, grinning. “So I’ll ask you again. What are you here?”
“I told you,” Ewan said, panting and not knowing what else to say to her.
“Wrong answer…”
Snapping her slender fingers, she summoned the two Centurions forward. They seized Llewellyn’s arms, pushing down upon them and forcing him brutally to his knees. In vain, he tried to wrestle against their muscles but it was nothing more than token resistance.
The Romulan to his left grabbed his wrist and yanked it, holding his exhausted limb horizontal to the surface of the central courtyard. As all of this was happening, Naketha discarded her sword and headed for the crackling fire. With purposeful speed, she took hold of the hilt sticking out of the flames and withdrew the white-hit blade. Turning around, she approached her prisoner, the burning Aleh Terrh gradually rising above her head.
With his left arm extended and at the mercy of the Romulans, Ewan knew what was coming. His heart slammed into the walls of his chest. His breathing increased as the panic attack overrode his entire body.
His head nearly burst with a painful surge of pressure. “No,” he gasped between breaths. “I yield! I yield…!”
“You forfeit your combat rights,” Naketha stated coldly.
The Centurion tightened his grip, pulling the trembling appendage tight. The sword’s superheated blade paused for an eternal moment. Time seemed to freeze.
Ewan swallowed hard. His jaw clenched in preparation with his eyes tightly closed…
… and then the sizzling blade sliced right through his arm.
To be Continued.