<USS Avalon> Day Four: Wrath of the gods

Day Four: Wrath of the gods

-Dodge Thomas

Needless to say, Dodge did not sleep well. What in the hell was a race of 
peoples previously unknown and untouched by the Federation doing worshiping it? 
None of it made sense?at least, nothing that Dodge wanted to believe. An 
especially chilly breeze found it?s way beneath the furs and blankets piled 
high atop him, and he shivered. Since the bioluminescent bacteria never 
actually dimmed, it was constantly a bright twilight in the underground city of 
Vanngard. 

Someone rapped at his door.

?Who is it??

?It is I, Urma Klandra.? She was in his room before he could protest. Something 
about the way she smiled made him uneasy. Or perhaps it was the way she locked 
the door behind her. Either way, something was not right.

?Can I uh?help you, miss Klandra??

?Urma, call me Urma. I wanted to apologize for the rooms.? Her voice, alien as 
it may have been, was husky. ?They were the best father could do on such short 
notice, and we uh?have no idea of your needs.?

Dodge crawled out from beneath the covers, not incidentally putting the bed 
between he and the bear-like female. Urma walked over and sat on one corner. 
?It?s hard to believe that you really come from another world, like the gods 
that rule our people. And yet, you claim none of their heritage??

?Yes, I do come from another world, but no, I won?t claim rite to anything that 
isn?t mine. Including the title of god.?

Silence filled the room, save the gentle whisper of wind. If she had been 
expecting any prolongation of conversation, she was wrong. Finally, she sighed.

?Father will see you in an hour. You?re to meet with the gods today.?

She turned and left, the slamming door sending a chill down his spine that 
wasn?t entirely due to the cold.

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Javat Klandra the Third, although kind and mighty, was not altogether bright. 

?Ah!? He exclaimed. ?The servants of the gods have arrived. They are anxious to 
meet others of their kind. Very few visit, it seems.?

Dodge glanced at the other two officers who flanked him. Each wore a thick 
leather suit of armor, as warm and protective as his own. ?We too are looking 
forward to meeting these ?gods?.?

?Excellent. It is but a short ride from here.?


?Ride??

?Ah yes, the shuttle system! You haven?t seen it yet??

?No.?

?It?s one of the gifts from the gods! It?s what finally brought the majority of 
the warring city states together at last! By connecting the cities with an 
underground transportation net, war and bloodshed were replaced by commerce and 
politics.? He grinned broadly.

Silently, Dodge questioned the difference on a fundamental level.

A short walk down a spiral stone staircase brought them to the most modern 
piece of technology they had yet seen. It was, however, no less shocking than 
the previous night?s unfurling of the Federation Crest.

What appeared to be three long shuttlecraft sat lined up front to back. Dodge 
looked for a moment. The warp drive engines had been removed, as had all but 
one of three shuttles? impulse drives. They were tied together with some kind 
of crude cable or rope. An Enforcer stood with a spear, issuing boarding 
instructions.

?You are late.? The emphasis was placed on Javat.

?I apologize for my tardiness. Please forgive me.?

?That will be for the gods to decide. Not for I, a lowly operator. You may 
board the transport.?

Dodge followed the group of Vann onto the vehicle, and he was in turn followed 
by Carson and Leila. The door slid shut as it normally would have, and the 
group took their seats along the walls.

?Where did you acquire this technology?? Dodge asked, shocked at the obvious 
violation of the Prime Directive. 

?It is a gift, as I said.? Javat seemed irritated.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The shuttle trip was indeed short, although by Dodge?s calculations they had 
traveled halfway across the planet, again. The three small craft emerged into 
the largest hollow chamber Dodge had seen yet. However, it was not the size of 
the chamber, but what it held. 

A veritable junkyard of Starfleet technology. Warp nacelles, hull sections, 
bits and pieces of this and that. And in the center of it all, towering above 
everything sat an Intrepid-class starship.

?The palace of the gods,? Javat breathed, barely whispering. Be reverent. If we 
honor them now, they will take us immediately, otherwise, we will have to wait 
to be seen. Men have frozen in this place waiting for the attention of the 
gods.?

The doors to the shuttle opened and Dodge was greeted by a wind as soft as a 
newly minted scalpel. They were much closer to the surface now. The group of 
Vann (there were probably seven including three Enforcers) all tapped their 
left breast. Each announced himself in a similar manner, following rank. 
Naturally, Javat went first.

?I hail Javat Estrada Klandra the Third. Beam me up!?

After his announcement, his entire form swirled in blue and was gone. The 
remaining Vann followed suit and vanished as well. For a few minutes, Dodge 
waited, then shugging spoke.

?I hail Dodge Thomas of the Avalon. Beam me up.?

Seconds later, he felt the familiar tingle of the transporters, and then he was 
in another place.

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The transporter room he stood in resembled his home ship, the Avalon?s in a way 
that was nearly painful to Dodge. Shortly after his arrival, his two Starfleet 
companions also were transported to the ship. An Enforcer nodded his presence 
and grunted gruffly ?Follow me.?

They were lead in a ceremonious fashion to what Dodge knew to be one of the 
holodecks. They waited for nearly ten minutes before the doors parted and Javat 
Klandra exited. A sour expression marred his usually jovial features.

?The gods are ready for you.? Said the Enforcer.

The three of them entered. Dodge noticed that the Enforcer did not follow. 
Obviously, they needed no body guard for their gods. Strange.

?It was unwise of you to have come here.? A voice called out.

?Very unwise.? Said another.

?You will not be able to leave.? A third chimed in.

?Who are you?? Dodge called out into the darkness. ?What do you want??

Light filled the room and Dodge saw three humans dressed in the way of the 
admiralty sitting before him.

?We are, to you, Admirals Garrett, Lambert and Jonas. We are, to the Vann, the 
gods of this backwards little planet.?

?What are you doing here??

?Personal exile.? Spoke one of the Admirals.

?Personal exploration.? Said another.

?Personal exaltation.? Finished the third. ?You see, we really are gods on this 
planet. It?s really quite intoxicating.?

?But how?d you get a ship, and all those parts, and the technology??

?Too many questions. I don?t like this one. It?s officers like this that rip 
through the ranks and then lodge themselves in the admiralty, just to free up 
the wheels of progress.?

?Yes, we work hard to keep those wheels from turning. You see, Dodge Thomas, 
progress in anyway except that which we allow would mean the end of us.?

?Starfleet is working more efficiently than ever. It?s becoming harder and 
harder for an admiral, even great ones such as ourselves, to attain a ship.?

?Instead, we?re consigned to the oblivion of a desk, of an office on some 
useless starbase in the middle of nowhere!?


?That?s not my problem.? Dodge nearly scowled. ?You?ve all broken what you 
stand for. By setting yourselves up to be gods, you?ve handicapped this 
society.?

?Silence you?you mortal!?

?We had hoped that you would be with us, but since you?re against us, it?s time 
for you and your kind to disappear. I can?t have more people sewing seeds of 
dissention, especially not ones that the natives already recognize as near 
deities as well!?


?You can?t stop us! Even if you tried, our ship is on the way, and if they 
don?t find us, someone will! And then they?ll find out about you and you?ll 
lose!?

?Ah, but I think not. You see, in the first place, no one would consider 
searching below the surface, and in the second place, we have a secret weapon.?


?What are you talking about??

?That luminescent bacteria you?ve seen? It?s not particularly flammable, but it 
is rather explosive if exposed to high levels of radiation. If you or one of 
your so mentioned ships attempts to end the polytheistic wonderland we?ve 
created, we?ll set off a chain reaction that will utterly destroy this planet.?


?Impossible!?

?Not so. The planet is mostly ice on a basalt skeleton. The bacteria inhabits 
the ice. I?d say that detonating one of the spare warp cores we have lying 
around ought to do the trick. So I suggest that you take it easy, try to relax, 
and die nice and quietly in some forgotten corner of Vanguard?s dungeon. It?s 
quite expansive, and I do think you?ll find it much to your dislike. Good bye 
Dodge Thomas, Carson Fuller, Leila Criswell. I do hope you enjoy oblivion.

With a touch of a button, the three of them let out a startled shout of pain, 
collapsing on the floor. For a moment, they writhed about in pain, stopping 
only when unconsciousness? had them comfortably unaware. Then in a flash of 
blue light, they were gone.

One of the admirals sighed. ?Out of sight, out of mind, eh??


His comment was met with nervous chuckles. 

?Now then, on to this pathetic resistance that our friend Svalld here has been 
telling us about.?


Svalld stepped out of the darkness, smiling broadly.

?My pleasure, your Holinesses.?



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