A New Adventure
Part VII: To do the right thing.
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*We never thought about the consequences*
*We did what we did, never second guessing,*
*We never saw the other side of it.*
*We believed we were right when others said we were wrong.*
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Narciso’s eyes slowly opened, the light in the bedroom was extremely low, and he could barely make out the face inches away from his own. That face was already looking into Narciso’s eyes deeply, admiringly. Narciso was laying on his side, his arms in front of him and Theo, lying beside him, was mirroring him. Their hands were holding each other; Narciso realized it as Theo raised his hand and kissed it. “Good morning…”
“Theo… What time is it?”
“We overslept. Though we didn’t do much sleeping.”
“I’ve missed my appointments.”
“You needed a break.”
“That’s no excuse.”
“Fine: I needed you.” Theo moved forward and wrapped Narciso in his arms. Narciso returned the embrace, resting his head against Theo’s chest, and placing his leg around his current lover’s hips. Theo began running his hands through Narciso’s long hair, loving the natural silken texture to it. The two continued on like this for a while longer, just relishing the embrace and closeness of the other. It was interrupted when the computer chimed and the voice of the captain came through.
“Talons to Ensign Richlands. Where are you? You were supposed to be on the bridge at 0900. That was two hours ago!”
Theo found his combadge on his nightstand and tapped it. “Richlands here sir. I shall be up there now.”
“Acknowledged. Do not be late again, I will not tolerate it.”
“Yessir.”
The computer chimed and then it chimed once more. “Talons to counselor Heliree.”
Narciso didn’t move, not wanting too. But when the captain called out again, Theo leaned over and reached past Narciso, retrieving his combadge and holding it for him. “Either you tap it or I do. And imagine if I respond.”
Narciso took the combadge, reluctantly, and tapped it. “Heliree here sir. Is something wrong?”
“Counselor we’ve reached Julain Pris. I would like your presence on the bridge. Your grandparents are already up here.”
“Acknowledged Captain. I’ll be up shortly…” Narciso tapped the combadge and cut the connection. He finally moved, and stood up from the bed, his form unobstructed for Theo to see. Unable to help himself, Theo sat up and reached for Narciso, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him back down. Narciso landed between Theo’s legs, and sat with his back pressed against by Theo’s chest. Theo kept his arms tight, and gently kissed Narciso’s shoulders. He occasionally placed his nose against Narciso’s skin and inhaled his scent. The counselor smelled of roses and an enthralling soft musk that could only be his natural pheromones. “I need to go. You do too.”
“I know. But I’ve been addicted to you, all my senses addicted to yours. I’ve finally indulged in you. Sorry for having a hard time pulling away from such a strong drug.”
“You talk as though I’m an Orion.”
“An Orion and a Deltan all rolled into one…” He gently bit Narciso’s shoulder. “I can’t get enough.”
Narciso only smiled, feeling good about himself and finally about life for the first time since the incident. He forced himself to stand up and moved to his clothes, dressing himself. Theo did the same, and when he was finished he went and placed himself behind Narciso, wrapping his arms around the Counselor once more. “Good thing we took that hydroshower together. I know you would hate having to go to work with-”
“-With nothing. Theo, you’re already late.”
“You’re right. We should get to work.” Theo spoke with a slightly depressed tone to his voice. As he let go of Narciso’s waist, the Counselor went ahead and left the small quarters. Theo watched him leave as he gathered his things. He wondered if he overstepped. He was the one who lead the events of last night. He told Narciso prior that he was glad they were friends. He hoped last night hadn’t ruined that friendship.
Narciso entered the turbolift alone and rode it to the bridge. Upon taking a step forward he was attacked by his grandmother and trapped by her embracing him. “Someone had a nice night!”
“Grandmother, please!” Narciso begged as he noticed Reaver sitting at the commander’s seat. A feeling of guilt suddenly washed over him and mixed horribly with his joy. He was suddenly cursing and praising himself all at once. The joy confirmed the strong feelings he had for Theo. The guilt confirmed the love he had for Reaver. He started to resent the guilt and what it represented. As Narciso’s mind wondered, Captain Talons’ voice broke him free and caused him to focus on the current events.
“Ambassadors. Shall we contact Julain Pris?”
“Yes Captain. Open a channel, but make sure none of your boys talk. Remember, females are superior to this race.”
“Of course Madam Ambassador.” As they spoke Theo appeared from the turbolift and took his place at the operations station. “Good, Theo. Hail Julain Pris. If I read the report correctly, our hail shall be picked up by their leader personally.”
“Yessir, hailing Julain Pris now. Hail acknowledged, putting it on the view-screen.”
As the image came onto the screen, the bridge crew saw a gorgeous young man. He ‘sang’ after making an upside-down triangle with his hands. A symbol of the womb of the women that was used as their greeting, much like the Vulcan hand gesture. “Federation Starship, NC-84174 USS Pallas Helena: Welcome to JPris Space. I am Alphorn. First child of the Empress and her voice. Ambassador Lilionia, we are honored to receive you and your ship.”
Lilionia stood from her seat and stood in the center of the bridge. She did the gesture, the one the young man did, and began to sing herself. “The honor is all ours, First Child and voice of the Empress, Alphorn. Please, Inform the Empress of her guests arrival.” The two actually were singing pitches as they communicated. The vocalization of melodies made the solid foundation and structure of the sentences a person spoke. It implied the tone, and the emotions meant to be sent with it. The ‘words’ of the actual sentence were sent telepathically. Looking at Lilionia on the bridge, she was basically singing in a very happy –though subtle- operatic pitch.
“I already have, Federation Ambassador Lilionia. She is waiting in her throne room within the Melodic Palace. Coordinates have been sent to you, as agreed. They shall put you in the foregrounds of the Palace.”
As Lilionia inhaled to begin singing her response, the Pallas Helena shook with a sudden impact, knocking Lilionia to the floor. Agu’Sti, Narciso and Reaver all rushed to her side seeing that she had been knocked out by her fall. “She must have hit her head! Grandfather take her to sickbay!” Narciso cried as the ship shook again. Agu’Sti picked up his wife and lifted her up with an amazing ease. His steps were hasty as he went to the turbolift and rode it away from the bridge.
“The Hell!? Shields up! Red Alert! Beldon, what in inferno is happening!?” Talons cried out.
“Unknown sir! Running scans now.” Beldon replied as the shield shook for a third time. The impact was greatly lessened by the shields. “Sir, we were hit with plasma torpedoes on our starboard side! Minor damage to the outer hull. No breaches. No point of origin Captain, sensors aren’t revealing any ships in our vicinity.”
“Counselor, you need to explain to Pristians that we are under attack! Tell them they might be in danger as well. It’s got to be the Romulans!”
“Captain I can’t”
“Yes you can!” Reaver shouted as he helped Narciso up to his feet. “You’re the only one with the chance to get the message through.”
Narciso hesitated and the ship was shaken again by another impact.
“Impact to our underbelly. Ventral shields holding at ninety-six percent!” Beldon replied.
Narciso finally stood in the center of the bridge and began to sing after establishing a telepathic link to Alphorn. His message was simple, a warning to defend themselves from the Romulans, and that they would give any aid needed for them to keep themselves safe.
Alphorn responded with gratitude and said that he just received word that more unidentified ships warped into their space. He said that some even beamed down armed teams and that they had entered the Melodic Palace uninvited. Alphorn sang mournfully, sending an image of his mother, the Empress. It was his way of asking that they help to rescue her. Narciso acknowledged and said that they would beam down as soon as it was safe to do so.
The entire conversation took less than a minute, sped up with more reliance on telepathy. The Pallas Helena shook once more. Seeing that Narciso had finished, Talons ordered the connection be cut and evasive maneuvers immediately. Hal started up the engines, and the Pallas Helena took off, curving to her starboard side.
“Captain, they have cloaks on, we can’t target them properly.” Ric called out.
“They are firing their weapons so triangulate by tacking the projection of their torpedoes. Use the energy particles patterns to lock onto and fire the phasers.”
“Plasma torpedo volley incoming!” Theo warned out loudly.
“Perfect! Aim at them and fire all phasers!” Reaver shouted.
Hal kept the ship going to her starboard. The volley was coming from the port side. Using the broadside to their advantage, all phasers were fired and a fraction managed to hit the torpedoes. It was enough, however, to set the whole volley ablaze. The eruption flared and hit the edge of three Romulan Dhael class warbirds, causing their cloaks to fluctuate. “Fire at will!” Talons shouted.
Ric managed to lock on to all three warbirds and fire phasers and a volley of photon torpedoes. The assault was deadly, as the warbirds were foolishly clumped together in a tight formation. The phasers weakened their hulls and the volley of photon torpedoes rendered them all disabled and dead in the water from the overwhelming damage.
As they were hit, a fourth ship decloaked behind them, revealing itself as a Haakona Advanced Warbird. The ship did not fire, instead it hailed the Pallas Helena. The view-screen came on, revealing an angry looking Romulan. “Federation dogs. Leave Romulan territory this instant! Your attack on Tal Shiar vessels will be reported and you will face the consequences of your actions!”
“We are in Neutral Space, and this system is hereby under the protection of the Federation. Retrieve your people from Julain Pris and leave. No more blood shall be shed by your trespassing onto Allied Federation space.” Talons replied, stern and with a harsh look in his eye due to the mention of the Tal Shiar. They wouldn’t be interested in this planet unless there was something on it. Something dangerous.
The connection was cut and the view-screen showed the Warbird cloak, however it did not attack. “Captain we are receiving a distress call from Julain Pris’ Capital of Harmonia.” Theo responded.
“That Haakona Warbird is still out there… Reaver! Take Narciso, Marietta, Ric and Theo with you as our representative party. The Counselor will be in charge of talks with the Pristians. We will beam down security crewmen with you. We will retake Harmonia and protect the Empress. Her safety is our top priority people. Head out.” As the fore mentioned people left the bridge, the Captain opened the ship wide intercom and proceeded to give orders to beam down security officers and crewmen. Thankfully the ship had 2540 souls aboard, all well trained and ready to do what was needed.
~To be continued~
