For the first time since setting foot on Sha Ka Ree, Lakotda woke up in the morning in good spirits. After the confusion and quick succession of events, he felt like things were finally looking up for him. Things were finally coming into place and if he was lucky, everything would fall into place soon enough.

The mood lasted all morning. He sung merry songs from his childhood while having a shower in his visitors apartment. Whistled an old sea shanty as he shaved his wrinkled face. Indulged in a full English breakfast with his beans smothered in yamok sauce then dressed in his favourite uniform, the only one that fit perfectly.

There were several messages sent down from the Epicente, all good news. Commander Kirkpatrick was returning today and Morgan’s team had been sent off into Dead Space. Good sign. Tenagra had actually slept and his team was working on resetting the city’s computer core. Wonderful. As he scoffed down his last piece of toast he calculated that if everything had gone to plan, Morgan should now be on Earth and Siaka should be deep into her interrogation.

Then he saw it. The message that brought two hours of clarity to a halt.

Placing his communicator on his chest, he dashed out the door on the hunt for the nearest transporter.

While he slept one of Siaka’s patrols had stumbled upon several corpses on the hunt for missing civilians. The names of the dead weren’t yet named, not publicly, but with the alert rating it didn’t take a genius to figure out who lay dead and departed in the lower levels of the city.

When he materialised in the belly of the central core, his grim mood shifted to confused admiration. His eyes locked on his surroundings. Oblivious to the rush of police officers and specialists ahead of him, he reached out to touch what he expected to be a bulkhead, a thick wall of metal. Instead of a cold alloy his fingertips brushed over stone. He was amazed by the craftsmanship. It resembled some of the ancient buildings on the planet below. His own home world had been replicated in the belly of the ship.

Snapping himself out of the wonder of what other hidden gems he’d fid hidden away in the city, he pulled himself away from the stone wall in front of him and dodged into an alleyway leading to his intended destination.

Within minutes he’d walked into a chamber. A familiar setting. More stone walls with torches set alight around the circular room. Pushing himself through a heavy set of oak doors, he targeted the lead forensic investigator, his eyes fixed on the body bags around him.

“The Admiralty?” The captain asked, receiving a nod. “Everyone that disappeared, are they all accounted for?”

“You could say that.” The LFI replied, a grim tone to his voice. “A civilian contractor came down here last night. He claims he wanted to try and get back to normal after recent events. He found Admiral Yoji cut into several pieces, he was shocked, stumbled back and found more bodies.”

Lakotda kneeled down over one of the bodies, pulling back the sheet covering them. “Cut up?”

“Viciously.” The LFI explained. “It would have been easy to get a clean cut from any kind of equipment with the right modifications, you could even vaporize them and we’d have no clue with itnernal sensors offline, but the Admirals were hacked apart. By what, we don‘t know yet.”

“Can you tell me anything else?” The captain asked as he pushed himself back to his feet.

“I’m glad you asked.” The LFI said, handing the captain his preliminary report. “They were alive when this happened.”

Nodding, though not quite understanding, Lakotda scanned the report and handed it back to the specialist. “Wonderful…” Rubbing his temples, he wondered if Okarro may have been onto something. Maybe life would have been easier if he stayed at home, ignored Rogan’s plea. Sure, he may end up serving for an infiltrated Starfleet Command, impostors taking control of the fleet. But maybe they’d be benevolent overlords? Treat him well? Who knows.

Turning and leaving, ready to sulk in the Epicentre until Siaka or Tenagra had some good news for him, Lakotda sauntered out of the chamber hoping to find something positive from this. The best he could think of was the fact that they’d at least found the bodies. IT was safe to say they’d been beamed out, but Navarro couldn’t have been responsible for that too, could he? Did he have allies? Did the invading force do all the work from a distance?

He wanted answers. He needed the Pryor.

That was it. The Pryor. So far he’d given him a major clue in putting the pieces together, he’d played around with the fabric of the universe and toyed with fate. Sure, it all blew up in his face, but if anyone could steer him in the right direction it was the Pryor. It didn’t even have to be in the right direction, just an approximate shove towards an answer.

So off he went, attempting a skip and a jump to regain some of his morning joy. He was off to see the wizard.

A combined twenty minutes walk and a transporter ride to the Pryor’s laboratory, his permanent residence within the Kolar gave the good captain enough time to get excited. He was going to demand answers and enlighten his soul.

Or so he thought.

When he arrived in the lab he found the Pryor scrambling around, flipping switches and pushing buttons. He was setting his ship, far off in the command level hanger bay, to launch immediately.

“You’re leaving?” The captain asked as he stormed into the lab, his heavy Starfleet issue boots clanking along the grated pathway leading into the hub of the room. “This is no time for one of the governments most valued assets to take a trip.”

“This is the perfect time, Kristan.” The Pryor responded, his eyes locked on the central console as he warmed up his ship. “You came for answers, but I don’t have time to give you any I’m afraid. My presence in this region is supposed to be as it’s guardian.” He explained, still working away. “This invading force..”

“The Iconians.” Lakotda added.

The Pryor smiled. “Good, yes, the Iconians turned away as, and I hate to sound too self involved, but they’re slightly afraid of my, well…” He stuttered as he thought of the right word before settling on, “Wrath.” That was it. Good word. “But there’s one that isn’t as afraid as I’d like him to be and, well, I think he’s figured out the loophole into being a definite threat to you all.”

“Who?” The captain asked. “How?”

“Funny you ask.” The Pryor responded. “He’s the man who led the Iconians here, who settled on Sakaria and who your people rose up against and sent out of this territory, with a little help, of course, and I think he’s a bit miffed.”

“Miffed?”

“Yes, it’s a long story. Short version is; there’s someone coming, we all may be doomed, if I fail… end of the world and all that lovely stuff.”

“And you don’t think this is something you should make the time to tell me about?” Lakotda snapped. “In, let’s say… great detail.”

The Pryor held up his hand. “Ok, short version. I’m not as all powerful as you Pridorn make me out to be. I’m old, very old, and with age comes diminishing health and I’ve pushed the limits of that way beyond my physical capabilities. This man wants to make a claim to retake this territory. To do that, he has to come through me.”

“And kill you?”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“But let’s say he succeeds, what then?”

“Then…” The Pryor sighed. “Like I said before, you’re the unstable element they can’t predict. It’ll all be up to you.”

Despite the Pryors high status in his civilisation, Kristan felt like punching him. “Then shouldn’t you perhaps tell me what I should be doing?”

“No.” The Pryor replied sharply, tapping the last few keys on his console.

“No?”

“Absolutly no.”

“Why?”

“It’s cheating.”

Kristan stared blankly at the Pryor. He was staring at a man who cheated all laws of logic to stay alive for thousands of years, who had taken apart the destiny of the universe to put it all together in whatever grand vision he saw fit and spilling some vital life or death information was cheating?

The Pryor could see this wasn’t going to be easy. “Kristan..” He paused, stepping away from the console. “I thought I could change the laws of time and space, I thought I could rest all the weight of the universe in all it’s intricate detail on my very shoulders and it seems as if I’ve put into motion the very end of life as we know it. I’ve already cheated, I’ve already crossed the line. It may very well cost me my life but I have to do what needs to be done, and you need to do what your heart and your head tells you too without me handing out any more spoilers.”

“Spoilers?” Kristan sighed. “Oh come on! All I need is to be nudged in the right direction, give me a hint because I am in way over my head here.”

The Pryor nodded. Gesturing for Kristan to come closer. “Alright…” He sighed, the captain moving towards him. “I’ll tell you one thing, just one thing.”

“That’s all I need, Pryor.” The captain said, thankful he was getting some help.

“One thing…” The Pryor whispered as Lakotda waited for that oh-so-needed one thing. “I’m sorry.” That was it. That’s all the Pryor had to say.

When the words left his mouth the Pryor tapped at his console, his body became consumed in light as his labs site-to-site the transporter took him far out the lab and onto his ship.

As Kristan realised what was going on, he punched the console beside him.

He stood quietly in mourning of his happy day.

As Amy stepped out the airlock into departure lounge, she gave a faint smile to her colleague as Chel’si extended her hand to welcome back the city’s second in command.

She hadn’t been gone long. It had only been seven days, but for some reason it felt as if she’d been gone for weeks. In what was a simple recon mission she’d been stranded, lost the Dauntless, gained some Romulan allies and rescued the Nosferatu. Outside of her narrow window of experience, it seemed as if the entire world had changed, beginning to crumble around Sha Ka Ree as she was on her little trip.

As she stepped back onto the deck plating of the South docks master airlock terminal, it reminded her of her first trip home after graduating from the Academy. It was the same place, but it felt different. Almost alien.

Sha Ka Ree didn’t feel quite right any more.

With a few moments of silence passing as Amy scanned the room around her, trying to get used to the quiet, not hearing the chaotic crowds of people swarming the lounge eager to be coming into the city or leaving for a short trip. The sound of people complaining about delays to their schedule, lost luggage, uncomfortable travel quarters. The every day hustle of the population buzzing around their daily tasks.

It had all gone. Replaced by the unsettling, awkward silence.

“Do we have a final number?” Amy asked, getting straight to business.

“We do.” Chel’si nodded, “353, 202 remaining. Mostly Kolar citizens.”

“My son…?”

With a smile on her face, Chel took Amy’s arm and began to lead her towards the far exit. “He’s safe. Understandably Matthews been busy so Haku’s been giving a helping hand in looking after him until you got back.”

“Are the schools still open?”

“He’s there now. History test.” Chel responded. Ready to ask her own personal question. “Marc… is he alright?”

Unsure how to answer, Amy decided to go for the response that would best ease her mind. “He’s been through some trauma, but he’s back on his feet and ready for the challenge ahead. You know what he’s like.”

Trying to smile, Chel could only nod. “All too well.” Trying not to think of the risk her husband was putting himself in the middle of, trying to remember the situation was far greater than their marriage, she moved back to slightly more comfortable business talk. “Aren’t the Romulans joining you?”

Shaking her head as they approached the door leading to the maze of corridors, Kirkpatrick gave a glance back to the airlock. “Not just yet. Commander Gretal is overseeing the last of the repairs while his science officer tries to figure out what de Luca downloaded into their system.”

“I’m sure the captain will be eager to find out himself, once he’s calmed down a little.”

“Speaking of which..” Amy shifted the conversation. “Have there been any reports of the Dauntless at all?”

“None.” Siaka frowned, leading Kirkpatrick into the corridors.

As they continued to catch up, Amy’s mind stll largely focused on the loss of the Dauntless and how to explain it to her captain, the duo entered the nearest transporter and within moments materialised in the epicentre, strolling into the command hub as they continued to chat. Only halting to a silence when they saw their disgruntled commander standing solemnly over the communications console.

Since the Pryor’s sudden departure his day had got progressively worse.

“Captain?” Amy darted to join the captain as he loomed, frozen over the console. Chel’si looked up from the lower level, pushing aside one of the junior crewmen to scan her eyes over the engineering console, hoping Tenagra’s plans hadn’t fallen apart.

Turning his back to the console as Kirkpatrick scanned over the text sprawled out on the panel, the captain began to think of his next move. If he had a next move. Right now, he was more clueless than he was when the Pryor left.

“Oh my…” Amy said, reading the information over and over, absorbing it until she could believe it.

“What?” Chel’si asked.

“The Kolar listening posts and relay stations are reporting the destruction of seventeen Starfleet vessels in the area, over five thousand officers and crew lost.” Amy replied softly. “Both Kolar MOD and civilian ships that came to their aid have been destroyed and…”

Chel’si darted to the upper level. And? And what? What more could be have happened. “Oh…” she uttered as she made it to the readout, her eyes hovering over the same words that Amy had fallen silent over. “All lines of contact to the Federation have been jammed or severed… but that means…”

“It means we’re on our own.” Lakotda snapped, finishing their sentence. “Unless Morgan can rustle up some support. If he makes it there in one piece.”

“He will, sir.” Amy reassured her captain, or at least, hoped to. “Until then, ca we expect support from the Kolar? They are, after all, Federation members now.”

Lakotda shook his head, still trying to wrap his head around the number of lives lost since he came to his homeworld. He was expecting death to welcome him home, but he hoped it would be his own he‘d be facing. The loss on this scale was beginning to overwhelm him. “I wouldn’t count on it… someone, please give me some good news.”

On cue, Lakotda’s communicator chirped. “Tenagra to Epicentre, I’m ready to start the process.”

Tapping his commbadge, Lakotda sighed. “Do it.”

“Right… there’ll be a bit of a blackout, but it’ll only last a few moments then systems will start to reload with their basic software. Then I can begin re-building, if you want to change your mind, now’s the time.”

“Just… do it.” The captain snapped. “And keep Lieutenant Commander Chel’si updated on your progress.” Quickly he closed the channel and focused on Kirkpatrick. “I need some time to think, can you handle things here for now?”

“Aye, sir.” Amy nodded.

Before his XO had answered, Lakotda was already making his way to the transporter. “And when I get back, I want to know what happened to my ship.”

The city fell into a solemn silence. Every street, every corridor, every facility and entertainment complex. It was all filled with fear. Upset. The sense of defeat and loss.

Our of half a million people, well over a third had been taken without cause or reason. News of the latest deaths began to swarm the news. Viewers focus seemed to turn from conspiracy and distrust within the ranks of their nations to a mass wondering if they were doomed. If this was the end.

An enemy they couldn’t find or begin to understand was leaving a path of destruction and this was only the first leg of their trip. Communications with other worlds outside their bubble or the quadrant had fallen silent. Friends, family and respected leaders has been lost, whether taken or killed.

With each passing day the death count was rising. There was less reason to get out of bed in the morning.

Even the news began to pick up on the vibe and reporters couldn’t stay positive enough to keep a smile on their faces.

Hope was quickly being lost.

There was a sickening crack as Navarro’s bloody head slammed on the floor, his vision blurred from repeated blows to the head and the crimson blood flowing from his forehead.

With his hands tied behind his back, unable to protect himself, he’d spent the better part of the day having his head smashed against the walls of his dungeon. With each blow he began to count how many of both the Federations and local Kolar laws and regulations Siaka was breaking as she beat him to a pulp.

“Got anything to say?” She said calmly, wiping the mans blood from her hands. “No?” He remained silent. Fine.

Grasping a handful of his hair, she dragged the officer across the floor and pushed his head down into a bucket of water. Counting the seconds an average human could hold their breath. Then leaving him in a little longer. Then a bit more before hauling him back out letting his desperately grasp for breath.

And just as he began to quickly inhale, his head was submerged again. He was beginning to wonder if the Kazon police officer was enjoying this. Torture. Humiliation. Vengeance.

Releasing him, she let him squirm on the floor as she calmly sat on the edge of the desk in the centre of the room, reaching for her coffee. “I could do this all day.” She said before taking a sip. “All week.”

As the lights flickered, Tenagra’s voice was heard over the intercom in the police building, muffled behind the heavy door that separated them from the rest of the unit. Thirty seconds until the scheduled blackout.

Navarro laughed. “Do you think you can kill us so easily?” He asked, seeing only Siaka’s uncaring stare in response. “It’s too late, detective chief inspector. It doesn’t matter what you do, how hard you try… don’t you understand? It’s over.”

With another sip of coffee, Siaka rubbed her eyes, the sound of Tenagra’s ten second countdown in the background. “What are you blabbering about?”

Navarro laughed.

Five seconds.

“You see…” He began.”

Three seconds.

“…we’re everywhere.”

The countdown reached zero. The lights began to fade, shutting off one by one until the two were left in darkness.