Subject: Grail: "The Great Brightness"- `Queen to Queen'pt.3- `Enter the King'

<<Stardate: 47307.31-14:04>>

<<Deck 12>>

Athayla Anne Brinn exited the Sickbay followed by Subcommander

Thalissa. As they walked, Brinn a full stride ahead, six Marines came

out of the woodwork and surrounded them. Before they reached the

turbolift, Lt. Logan Castle, supported by En. Tifa Charr and two others,

barred their progress.

Logan disregarded all save Brinn. "The Captain wants you to take

the `prisoner' inside." Logan had no such compunctions about treating

the Romulan as an `honored guest'. Logan had nodded toward the door

before which he stood. Holodeck 12. Brinn arched an eyebrow, but entered

the room as the doors opened to admit her. Thalissa followed, sneering

disgustedly at Castle. Logan smiled at the compliment.

Brinn and the Romulan walked into a beautifully warm and sunbright

summer day. The sky was a deepening azure, heralding the coming dusk. In

the western horizon, dark gray clouds boiled and pushed east. Toward

them. A hot wind blew before it. Standing about thirty feet away, facing

the wind, was Epic Terrakian. Lightning strikes flickered in the

distance.

Epic turned to them as they approached through the high grasses

that blew about. There was not a tree or a shrub to break up the

landscape. Only green grass and blue sky and dark clouds that loomed

ever nearer.

In Epics hand was a Romulan disruptor. Thalissa recognized it as

her own. Her face was a stone cold mask. Her heart beat like a rabbits.

"What happened to your ship?", Epic asked without preamble. The

disruptor just hung at his side as if he were unaware of it.

Thalissa took a deep breath and spoke in a slow and measured tone.

Epic could sense her... anxiety..., he decided. Fear wasn't the right

word.

"The R'Larn was lost to the gravity of the sixth star in the Shavar

Cluster. What you call, the Great Brightness. Many escape pods got away

from the ship, but it would seem only mine resisted the gravity well

long enough for you to rescue me." She never looked away from Epics cold

eyes. She couldn't and she wouldn't.

"Why were you here?", Epics question was clipped and it seemed that

the answer he waited for was unimportant to him. Still, Thalissa

answered.

"It was our ambition to hide ourselves in the Cluster and ambush

your ship as you came through."

Epic nodded at the truth of her words. He suspected as much. "Why

did you attack the Indiana?"

Thalissa took a deep breath. "That was the renegade act of an over

eager commander named Sarvid. It was but a step in a larger plan to

embroil the Federation in a war with Romulus."

"Why start a war? Why now?" Epics curiosity was piqued.

Thalissa straightened. "It has been the position of many Romulans

that the Reunification Initiative inspired by Ambassador Spock has

gained greater favor in the Romulan Senate than it should. In an effort

to insure Romulan Purity, some felt that war would isolate us and make

us strong again."

Epic nodded at the reasoning. It was not even an original

philosophy. The Klingons once thought that way under Kahless. And the

Terrans once thought that way under Hitler. There were too many

references.

"Well, it seems...", Epic spoke wearily. "... that that is all

behind you now. We are not going back, not for a damned long while

anyway. Ever forward for us Questing Knights of the Grail. So, how shall

we accomodate you, Subcommander? Shall we drop you off where we found

you? Shall we leave you on the Class M world of your choice? Kerestia,

perhaps?"

Thalissa sighed deeply, some of her composure leaving with her

breath. "The R'Larn was declared renegade after our acts of war against

the Federation. They had to do it in the interests of civil relations."

It was obvious that Thalissa was disgusted by her peoples weakness. "All

we had left was our revenge against the slayers of our brothers on the

T'Saloset." She looked Epic in the eyes with a cold pain. "And now, we

don't even have that. I am a lone criminal amongst my own, and amongst

yours. I am at your mercy."

Epic nodded as his mind seemed to drift off. The clouds had rolled

overhead, making the day dark and the wind a bit chill. It was such a

day as this that Magda died. He watched the lightning strike randomly

across the open plain. Then, as if a sudden thought occured to him, he

turned back to Thalissa. Without emotion, he raised the disruptor and

fired.

Thalissas leg ruptured in a bloody explosion, her thigh a gory

mess. She fell to the grassy sward screaming and cursing. The leg was

horribly damaged but could be saved with immediate treatment. Athayla

Anne Brinn did not fail to notice that Thalissa had been shot in the

same leg as Brinn.

Epic dropped the disruptor on the ground and smashed it with a

solid heel. As the winds whipped up and the lightning flashed all

around, he said to her, "Now that you are infected, as we are, I

recommend you bend your efforts to helping us find a cure. Beyond that,

I leave you in the hands of my Executive Officer. Number One, you have

total authority to do with her as it pleases you."

Then, he turned down to the Romulan. "I won't be surprised if I

never see you again." Then, Epic smiled a cruel sneer and walked away,

following the storm. "Arch.", he called after a while. The familiar arch

appeared, and he exited the Holodeck.