Subject: Grail - "The Escape"

T'Nek looked intently at the small device on his workbench. It glowed

faintly, emmitting a pulsating glow. Yes, he thought to himself. This is

will do nicely.

There was a sudden movement of footsteps, running towards him. T'Nek

whirled around to face whoever it was. It was Morag, a friend and

companion.

"Ambassador, I have bad news. As we speak Lord Tindao is making his way

here to force you to participate in a scheme to trap Bregoro. I was

evesdropping on his conversation with a guard on the way here. Your life is

in danger, for he hates you a great deal. I don't believe you will survive

the trip back to the other Lords."

A look of concern came over T'Nek's face. "I see. I feared for a long time

that I would outlive my usefulness. Those damn bastards blame me for

everything that breaks. What am I supposed to do ? Create spare parts out

of nothing! I think we better leave now, and rendevous with Bregoro. I

have a dilithium power unit that should give us enough power to escape this

damned planet and get a message to my people."... A sneering voice abruptly

cuts off T'Nek.

"Not so fast, Ambassador. Consorting with the enemy ? Plotting to bring the

downfall of the Lords ?"

Lord Tinado slowly steps out of the shadows, a phaser trained on T'Nek. "It

seems you have indeed become useless, T'Neck. I will have great pleasure in

killing you myself."

T'Nek slowly raised his hands. "SO it will come to this, Tinado. I am

afraid I will not participate in your silly games. If you must kill me, so

be it"

At that moment Morag darted to the side and leaped at Tinado. T'Nek hurled

himself to the ground as a phaser blast rips through the air, catching

Morag fully in the chest. Morag screams out, then falls silent as he

crumples to the ground. For this small moment while Tinado was distracted

T'Nek grabbed a plasma container from his bench and hurled it at Tinado's

face. The contents splattered all over his body.Tinado fell to the ground

in pain while T'Nek raced out a side door to meet up with Bregoro.

<<Later>>

Bregoro looked up as T'Nek ran over to him. They were hiding in a cave on

the fringes of the city. Snow coverd just about everything. "Bregoro, I

have the dilithium power unit we need to take off. I will fit it, but it'll

take about 30 mins. I fear half the city will be looking for me now, as I

think I killed Lord Tinado."

Bregoro sighed sadly. "I hope this works, T'Nek. We must get word of our

problems to another race. Anyone who can lend a had,"

T'Nek spoke softly. "We lost Morag. He gave his life to save me..."

Bregoro's eyse glazed, then hardened. "I see. I'll stand guard at the

enterance of the cave. Work quickly, my friend."

Bregoro picked up a plasma rifle from the ground and walked over to the

caves enterance. He took up a defensive postion, and waited.

<<25mins later>>

"Nearly finished" T'Nek yelled to Bregoro. "Well done, let's get ready to

take launch"

At that moment there was the sound of phaser fire. The cave shook, and

stones and snow fell everywhere. "Damn it, how did they find us so

quickly..?" T'Nek shouted. Bregoro was already running to the cave

enterance. "T'Nek, blast off now. Hurry, we don't have time to argue. I'll

hold them off for as long as I can. Get help. Please.. Help this planet."

T'Nek looked at his friend, and realised that there was no stopping him.

T'Nek quickly boarded the old shuttle, and initiated the launching

sequence. The shuttle shook violently as it began to lift off, and even

more so as it burst through the cave roof. The shuttle slowly began to gain

speed. Almost instantly it was struck by a phaser bolt, followed by more

phaser fire. 'Evasive action" T'Nek screamed. The shuttle shuddered more

and more as it took phaser fire. Something in the side of it blew, and the

ship lurched and spun. He climbed and climbed, eventually breaking through

the planets atmosphere. The shuttle was badly damaged. Shields were down

and main power offline. T'Nek could sense the pure rage of the Lords

beneath him. He must get help from his people, and fast. The lights began

to flicker, and the engines cut out. He was adrift, floating on an unknown

course.

"Computer, begin transmitting this message on an endless loop. Priority

One".

"Mayday, mayday. This is Ambassador T'Nek of the Torillian Empire. Someone,

please help. This is an emergancy. Please, help me. <end message>

With almost no power left, T'Nek slowly drifted into unconsciousness hoping

that someone would find him before it's too late.

<<results>>