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"Broken Loyalties" by Lady Rainbow
Rating: PG-13 Travis runs into trouble and ends up getting saved by an old friend. Japanese: Wakarimasu ka? Do you understand? Sumimasen I’m sorry/Pardon me. Doozo arigatoo Thank you. Mae-weh-de-ru-sama (Mayweather, as a native Japanese might say it, with the sama honorofic at the end). Myu-rer-sama (Mueller, as a native Japanese might say it, with the sama. There is no “l” sound in Japanese...the closest approximate is the “r” sound). German (from Mueller): Jawohl. (An emphatic “yes”). Sei still! (Be still! Quit moving around!). Fasching (This is Karneval, a celebration like Mardi Gras, celebrated before Lent. Fasching is the Bavarian word for it, since Mueller’s Bavarian :)) Sag’ nichts! (Say nothing! Be Quiet!). Nicht wahr? (Isn’t it?/Right?) Eight “It’s definitely sabotage,” said T’Pol. Her tone was flat as she deactivated her scanner and unfolded herself from her crouch. “Travis, come here and see this for yourself.” Travis knelt next to Trip, who pointed out the telltale signs on the remains of the shuttle’s engine housing. Even with the blackened and charred debris, Travis could see an wide crack running down the length of the aft thruster. He swallowed hard as he imagined Paul’s shuttle taking off from Tanaka’s pristine launchpad, sailing through the air just seconds before disaster had struck. Trip ran a grimy finger along the crack and stopped halfway, where the aft thruster would have sealed with several deuranium rings. “The aft thruster had a crack in one of their seals. Hot gas spilled out of it and destabilized the entire assembly. Would’ve been ten, fifteen seconds from the first alarm to the explosion.” A slow flame of rage rose within Travis. “The seals would’ve cracked only under extreme pressure, or if they had been severely weakened to begin with. Tanaka told me that her technicians check out every shuttle before they’re launched and they personally sign off at every pre-flight inspection.” T’Pol nodded. “Lieutenant Commander Reed and Sumiko Tanaka are questioning those technicians as we speak, Travis. They will discover who were the last ones to sign off on the pre-flight checks...and who was responsible for their approval.” Travis took a deep breath, slowly counted to ten, then let it out. He heard a noise of sympathy behind him; Bernhard Mueller watched him with an expression of sympathy mixed with anger. Next to him stood Oneko, her ears flattened on her head, the fur spiked along her back, her claws extended. The cat hissed softly, but neither T’Pol or Trip seemed to hear her. “Mayweather-sama,” came a weak whisper to Travis’s right. He jerked upright at the sound of the agony in the voice. Bernhard drew out the short wakizashi sword from his belt, while Trip put a hand on the phase pistol in his side holster. T’Pol stood there for a moment, then pointed at the garden gate beyond the shuttle hanger. Travis nodded and began moving in that direction. Just as he reached the gate, Bernhard put a hand on his arm and gave him a look that said, Me first. Stay behind me. Travis wasn’t about to argue, even as he saw Oneko slip into the garden behind Bernhard’s legs. Trip waved T’Pol to cover Travis’s back as he joined Bernhard at the gate. In one smooth movement, both men entered the garden gate, phase pistol and sword in hand. They heard a terrible gasp and a shadow trembled in the safety of some tall trees. That shadow fell forward into the light. Travis gasped and ran to the shadow’s side. “Madeo-san,” Travis choked out. “Bernhard, he’s one of Tanaka’s personal guard.” He gazed at the young man’s pinched face, the terrified dark eyes, the sweat running down his cheek. Bernhard gently moved the boy’s hands from the crimson stain spreading across his abdomen. “Call for a medic,” Trip snapped at T’Pol. The Vulcan nodded and whipped out her communicator. Madeo shook his head and managed to turn his head to address Trip. "No...no medic, Tukuru-sama. Not..needed." Bernhard tried to staunch the red flow, but Madeo tried to push his hands away. He snapped, “Enough with that, Madeo! You will live...as your direct superior, I order it.” The young man coughed. “I allowed the saboteur to slip into the hangar. I saw him, Travis-sama and was ordered to keep silent. I should have told...should have...” Madeo’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, but Bernhard shook him awake. “Stay with us, Madeo-san,” Bernhard growled. “Tell us now. Who was the saboteur?” “Man...Starfleet...Secret...” Madeo managed a smile. “Tanaka-sama...silent. Wakirimasu ka, Myu-rer-sama? Un-understand?” “I understand, Madeo-san,” Bernhard said softly. “Stay with us.” “Sumimasen, Travis-sama. So sorry...now they will come after you...because you now know the truth...I served an dishonorable mistress...she—“ Madeo’s body shuddered in Bernhard’s arms. “...my life is my apolo—“ The light faded from the young guard’s eyes and with a rattle, his breath stopped. Trip looked up as green-robed medics from Tanaka’s fortress burst through the underbrush. “Pretty damn convenient they show up after he died,” he muttered under his breath. “Commander,” T’Pol warned in the same low tone. Man, Starfleet, Secret...Tanaka-sama silent...Travis’s eyes widened in disbelief. Secret Man in Starfleet...Section 31? Harris, or one of his operatives? Did Malcolm know about this? He felt a surge of anger towards the Englishman. Did Malcolm know his brother was marked for death, but did nothing? Travis gave Bernhard a cold look. “We better talk to Captain Archer and Malcolm. If Madeo’s right, we’ve got more problems to worry about.” “Jawohl,” Bernhard agreed. “Commander, Sub-Commander, can—“ Trip nodded. “We’ll cover for you here. You two get a hold of Jon and Malcolm. Better hurry before word of this spreads all over the place—“ “And Tanaka will no doubt restrict knowledge of this. She will possibly try to detain us,” T’Pol added with an undercurrent of distaste in her tone. “Go now, both of you.” Neither Bernhard nor Travis argued with her. They were both gone before the first medic reached T’Pol’s side. Tanaka ordered the entire area under lockdown. Communications with Enterprise and Starfleet were suspended as her security force conducted its own investigation. Travis discovered that the members of the crew who’d been on-planet at the time: Jon, Hoshi, Malcolm, Trip and T’Pol had been put under “protective custody”. The gardens and the grounds were crawling with guards. Bernhard swore under his breath as he and Travis took cover behind some thick shrubbery. He gestured for Travis to duck down as low as possible as a small patrol went past them. Travis held his breath as the horde went past. Bernhard listened for several seconds before he signed the all-clear. Both men said nothing as they crept down the steep slope of Tanaka’s mountain stronghold. “Now where?” Travis whispered as they hid in a copse of trees. He hoped that the sinking sun would provide some camouflage from Tanaka’s string of detection devices, but he doubted it. Their chances of avoiding detection were slim, even with Bernhard’s survival training. A meow answered him. Oneko poked her nose into their hiding space. She rubbed her whiskers under Travis’s hand, then took the silk sleeve of his kimono in her teeth. The cat tugged insistently, as if telling him to follow her. “Oneko, sei still! You’re going to lead them right to us!” Bernhard hissed. Travis frowned in the gloom; how was Oneko with Bernhard and him at the same time? They were hiding about ten feet away from each other. “Oneko—“ “I think she’s trying to tell us something, Bernhard,” he whispered. “She wants us to follow her.” “She’s crashing through these bushes louder than a group of noisemakers at Fasching!” “In that case, it’s better that we keep moving, or they will find us.” Bernhard let out an exasperated sigh, then a few quiet curses. “All right, Oneko, lead on. I’m trusting my well-being to a cat.” Oneko yowled softly, then padded noiselessly through the trees. “Myu-rer-san,” came a hoarse whisper. “Mae-weh-de-ru-sama.” Bernhard’s head snapped to the left as a guard dressed from head to toe in black beckoned to them. “Stay here, Travis. This might be a trap. If you hear trouble, get the bloody hell out of here.” “Bernhard—“ “Sag’ nichts! We cannot afford to be captured, nicht wahr?” Travis nodded and held his breath again as Bernhard melted through the underbrush. He’s even picked up some of Malcolm’s swearing. Great. After a few moments, he heard the deep Germanic voice whisper, “All clear, Travis. We’ve got help.” “We do?” Travis asked hoarsely as he reached Bernhard’s side. There were six or seven black-robed guards surrounding them. Their leader, the one who’d called Bernhard, smiled at Travis. “My name is Kaimaru Ryu, second leader of Team Green. My fellows and I have sworn our loyalty to Myu-rer-san and Reed-san. We will help you off the planet.” “But Captain Archer and the others—“ “They are safer where they are. It is you that Tanaka wishes to capture,” Kaimaru said. “She suspects that you are an agent of the Consortiums, of Philippe Trieste, and the ones who wish to destroy her. You must stay free to warn the others before a bloodbath starts.” “How do we do that?” Bernhard nodded. “We get back to Enterprise.” “Come, we can get you to safety. You must trust us, Mae-weh-der-ru-sama.” Travis stifled a sigh and said, “Well, looks like we don’t have much of a choice, Kaimaru-san. Lead on.” He heard a loud purr and glanced down at Oneko, who was rubbing her cheek against his leg. Despite their situation, he fought down a smile. The journey off the mountain was a harrowing one. Travis wished he could move as silently as Kaimaru, or his men, or Bernhard, or even Oneko, but he hadn’t been trained for stealth operations. Another set of classes to ask Malcolm about. Those skills are pretty damn useful at times like this. They avoided searchlights, scaled down the flights of stone steps, doubled and tripled back on creeks and shallow streams, as some of Kaimaru’s men laid false trails. Travis pushed himself to his limits; the thin kimono did nothing against the night chill, and his muscles protested against the workout they were getting. At least his rock-climbing and rappeling skills served him well here. Finally, they reached the edge of the Floating Bridge. Wind whipped the edges of Travis’s kimono as he looked at the span of duracrete and stone bridge and thought, No way in hell we can cross that undetected. I’m sure the guards at the three checkpoints have been alerted to us... Kaimaru pulled something out of a pouch tied to his belt. “Reed-san gave me these. I do not know what they are for, but he said these might be useful.” Travis’s eyes widened. “Transport signal enhancers!” “These will help tremendously,” Bernhard said, as he accepted them. The enhancers were attached to black armbands, which both men slid over their biceps. A reassuring cheep sounded as their signal was picked up. “Doozo arigatoo, Kaimaru-san.” “Thank you,” Travis echoed. “You are welcome,” Kaimaru replied, and as one, he and his patrol bowed deeply from the waist. That was the last thing Travis saw as Vega vanished around him... ...and a transporter room reformed around him. A familiar transporter room... ...just not Enterprise’s. “What the—?” he burst out as he looked wildly around him. Then he saw the husky form of a Tellarite at the transporter console. “Sandosh?” The Boomer captain of the Vhrum grinned at him. “Welcome aboard, Captain Travis. Our guest wants to see you as soon as possible.” “Guest?” Bernhard burst out. “Indeed,” said Captain Sandosh. “A very special guest.” |
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