The Adventures of Zar Alces, Sd 10304.09

[Cptn Moose 0]

The Adventures of Zar Alces, Stardate 10304.09

"Gone But Not Forgotten"

 

"Our guests beamed aboard successfully," boomed the deep voiced Captain.  "You've done well."

 

"Oh, posh and bother," replied Zar Alces.  "It was a simple dematerialization with a tight annular confinement beam through an antimatter discharge filter.  It's a practice exercise at our Academy.  Don't they teach remedial dematerialization theory where you come from?"

 

Tom Riker grinned from ear to ear.  "You underestimate yourself.  Your timing was flawless.  One nanosecond in either direction and my daughter would have been vapor.  We are both in your debt."

 

"Enough to drop me at the nearest Starbase?"

 

"Funny man."  The smile was still on Tom's face, but it's tone was all too clear.  "You still have work to do.  How fortunate for us that an engineer of your abilities was available in our moment of need."

 

"I'm a scientist, thank you," said Alces.

 

"Scientist, engineer.  Whatever.  It was still fortunate."

 

"Imagine that.  What a coincidence that my shuttle died just as you were passing by.  It's just like you knew exactly where to find me.  What were the odds?"

 

"1 to 1," said Riker in a cocky tone.  "I never gamble.  I just play the game.  You've been tracked from the moment you entered this sector."

 

"Just for my transporter skills?  Your Academies are lacking."

 

"I have an extensive network of information at my disposal, and it keeps very good track of certain Federation vessels.  It's an essential survival skill when you share a universe with a body double.  For years, no one so much as sneezed on the Enterprise without it being reported to me.  The Arcadia is no different."

 

"Oh, that's right.  Your double was a celebrity aboard the Enterprise.  But why the interest in Captain Moose and company?"

 

The smile disappeared from Riker's face.  "You've met my daughter Rochelle.  You don't recognize her?"

 

"I swear I never touched her, Captain.  She's still pure as the driven snow ... well, as far as I'm concerned."

 

Riker scrutinized Alces' face intently.  His gaze was sharp, his focus unswerving.  "You're telling the truth.  You really don't know who she looks like.  How can you have held a senior post on a Starship and be so unfamiliar with it's crew?"

 

"With all due respect, Captain, if someone as ... oh, what's the word ... memorable, as your daughter had served onboard the Arcadia with me, I would have noticed.  Perhaps your intelligence network is not as thorough as you think?"

 

Riker blustered at the insult.  "It's thorough enough to know that you're a wanted man on the Trill homeworld.  Something about a borrowed symbiont?"

 

"It wasn't borrowed!  I was drafted into being a host, quite against my will I should say.  Although, truth be told, I am rather enjoying this form ..."  Alces rambled slightly, as he did when his mind was occupied with a different issue than he was discussing.  "Why would they summon me back now?" he wondered out loud.

 

"They were content to leave you alone while you were under Starfleet's jurisdiction.  Once they heard that you'd resigned your commission ..." Riker's voice trailed off smugly, his point made.

 

"That was yesterday," said Alces.  "News doesn't travel this fast in a bureaucracy unless it's helped along."  Riker's implication was not lost on him.  "You needed my help so badly that you would make sure I had no where else to go?  I thought you were a strategist?  People generally loose their fear of death somewhere in their third century."

 

The reprimand was not enough to shake the smugness out of Riker's victory.  The grin was back on his face as he put his arm around Alces' shoulder.  "Zar," he began.  "May I call you Zar?  I don't need you.  Your universe needs you.  Name someone with a better command of inter-dimensional mechanics than you."

 

"Ah yes, your unstable gateway.  To a mirror universe."

 

"To an evil mirror universe," Riker corrected.  "Your Captain Moose knows all about that dark dimension.  A place where horribly cruel body doubles of everyone you know, scheme and plot to take control of their empire.  Destroy a planet, slaughter hundreds of thousands of innocent beings, assassinate their superior officers ... it's all in a day's work for them as they claw their way to power.  Think of what would happen if the gateway were to become stable, and their ships could pass through at will.  It would be devastating."

 

"Or it could be very lucrative," suggested Alces.  "Think of the commercial opportunities you have with an entire universe of customers without scruples; weapons, recreational pharmaceuticals ... slave labor perhaps?"

 

"Exactly," said Riker.  "Their entire empire operates on slave labor.  Someone without a strong, moral backbone could be easily exploited.  The gateway must be closed, permanently.  And you're the only one who can do it."

 

"Why didn't you simply ask Moose for help?  You're his family ... sort of."

 

"He never would have believed me.  He would have thought that I wanted to exploit the gateway somehow, and done everything he could to keep me from it.  While we fought, the gateway would have grown larger, and it would have been too late to stop it."

 

"And so your daughter sends the Arcadia on a wild goose chase while you head in a different direction?  That way they won't interfere?"

 

"Exactly.  You're quite the strategist yourself, for an engineer."

 

"Scientist."

 

"Whatever."  Riker handed Alces a data padd.  "Here is the information on the gateway.  Be ready when we get there.  I'm sure my daughter will come by later to see to your needs."

 

"Captain Riker, one more question, if I may?  The other three lifeforms I beamed aboard, you haven't mentioned them.  Are they here to assist me?"

 

Riker's smile never left his face.  "No," he said jovially, "They're here for another purpose.  Don't worry about them."

 

Alces shrugged, and started to immerse himself in the data padd.  "Oh my stars and garters," he began to ramble, "these readings are only carried to the fifth decimal place.  However do they expect me to work with such inaccuracies?  They really don't teach anything at their academy ..."  Inside his mind, he was processing data of a different sort.  Thomas Riker was an impressive poker player, he thought.  And very dangerous.  But one of his former hosts, Xia Alces, had been a very successful courtesan, hanging on the arms of an excessive number or diplomats and high rollers.  Lies from men like Riker were as transparent as aluminum to him.  The question was whether he'd be able to outsmart him?  Or for that matter, would Captain Moose and the crew?

 

Cdr Zar Alces

Aboard an Unspecified Pirate Ship

Somewhere between the Miren and Rikarams Systems