"Storms in San Francisco"

[Cptn Elias Moore 0]

Lightning flashed outside the window, illuminating the dark office. Moments later, the sound of windblown rain spraying erratically against the glass was broken by a spectacular crash of thunder. Amidst the din, the siren of a fire-suppression craft could be heard soaring past the complex just a few yards below the window.

 

Another brilliant flash of light revealed a remarkably feminine silhouette standing within the doorway, one arm propped against the frame. "Dear James," the voice spoke in a playful tone, with a delightfully intoxicating accent--nothing recognizable on Earth, but none of the harsh inflection commonly perceived in extraterrestrial speech. "Why do you sit in the dark?"

 

Admiral Gardner raised an index finger, the smile on his face just barely visible in the meager light that managed its way into the office from ground-level lampposts. His eyes closed as another crash of thunder, more distant this time, echoed through the office. "I love thunderstorms. When I was child... I hated them. But my father... whenever one passed, he would keep all the lights in our home turned off and all the windows opened but for the screens. God... I can still recall the fear... no, the terror. I would hide under my bed until the storm passed."

 

"How terrible." the figure said in a voice that oozed sympathy. "Why would your father do that to you, James?"

 

"Simple, my love. I am disappointed that you do not see it." The Admiral stood and circled around his desk. He walked to the doorway and offered his hand. With an almost outwordly grace, the figure accepted his hand and stepped inside, leaving the door to close behind them. "As you know, the men typically lead the families on our world. My father was training me. Disciplining me, you might say, at first. He would not accept fear given to something so harmless as a simple storm."

 

The shapely woman allowed herself to be lead to one of the chairs in front of the Admiral's desk. Though she had been in the office many times, she still courteously waited until he motioned her to sit. "His 'training' was not fruitless."

 

"It never was." Gardner replied, one corner of his mouth upturned. He retook his seat behind the desk as lightning flashed again, and he waited for another crash of thunder, more distant still. He chuckled softly. "Now, I never pass up an opportunity to sit alone with the lights out during a thuderstorm. There's still a tingle of excitement as the room is lit up by a brighter flash, and I know that an especially intense roar is on its way. It's what remains of the old fear, you see... but it's been molded into something better." The Admiral pressed a button on one side of his desk, restoring the lights in his office and illuminating the face of his guest.

 

If it were possible for a Goddess of the Earth to drift down from the Heavens and grace Humanity... she was it. She was a being from a distant world, but she looked no different from a Human; the only qualities that even remotely set her apart were her spectacular beauty, beyond, Gardner believed, any normal Human's, and those deep black eyes that seemed almost unnatural but that never failed to draw the Admiral in. There was her other quality too... that remarkable sense of empathy. She always seemed so sensitive to his feelings... always seemed to understand him better than anyone. He perceived this as an emotional connection that spoke of love, a connection that she often acknowledged in her subtle, playful way. He had no idea that the true source of the connection was telepathic ability.

 

"You are a strange people." The woman said, but with no hint of mockery or even criticism in her voice. It was, rather, a mixed tone of curiosity and admiration for something clearly superior. Everything she said sounded just right to Admiral Gardner. "My people do not invoke harsh discipline on the young. But then, we do not have thunderstorms to fear on Betazed."

 

Gardner couldn't help but laugh out loud, as he often did in her company. The almost childlike naivety she demonstrated at times was especially charming coming from one so exotic. And always she said just the thing that would elicit the most favorable response from the Admiral. She was like a beacon of good feelings, and he was becoming more and more drunk on them. "No discipline. I'm not sure how you grew up to be such a fine woman, my dear Iyyonu. But, as you quite rightly observe, we grew up in very different environments. What of the Romulans?"

 

The woman frowned at the mere mention of the name. "No, there is no discipline from them, for they are so distant from my people. As I have told you, we have never even seen their faces. They remain hidden in their spaceships high above our planet, caring little for how we govern ourselves... as long as we make no attempt to leave or in any other way rebel against them. *That* would bring discipline."

 

"Yet your family fled to us." Gardner rested his arms atop his desk and leaned forward, immersing himself entirely in her enchanting words. "You've said they only take natural resources from your planet in limited quantities. But they otherwise let your people live in peace. Why risk so much to get so far from those who do not involve themselves in your lives?"

 

"Oh, but they do, James!" Iyyonu replied emphatically. It was a passionate response, and her passion was just as intoxicating as her compassion. "We have no freedom to explore the stars as you do. This is a dream that your people once dreamed, and mine dream it too."

 

"Yes, I see." The Admiral nodded, finding that he genuinely felt for the plight of the Betazoid people as this magnificent woman poured out her heart for them. "The need for freedom is strong indeed. It must have been difficult to escape their fleet."

 

Iyyonu nodded and put on a musing expression. "Everything had to be done in secret. The building of the ship, the movement of the scientists and engineers from all over the world, the launch from the surface after many years of toiling in the shadows... the ones who gave their lives to draw the attention of the fleet... the mines that surround our star system." She frowned and bowed her head and Gardner had to resist the urge to get up and embrace her.

 

"Their deaths will not be in vain, Iyyonu." Gardner said. "You came to the right place."

 

Iyyonu's head lifted and she offered Gardner a warm smile. "We went from star to star for over a year before we located the trading post on Maveo. They spoke very highly of the Humans, of the wonderful things you have accomplished. You have brought so much hope to so many worlds. Behind the Empire's borders, there is no hope for anyone but the tyrants who seek to conquer everything in their path. But I know now that there is hope for my people. We have found you, James."

 

Gardner unfolded his arms and reached across the desk, offering his upturned palms. Iyyonu took his hands and gripped them gently. "I have promised you, my love, and I will say it once more... we will free your people. They are mounting forces to invade us, you say? No matter. The information your experts have been giving us will allow us to gain an edge against them when that time comes. If it is allowed to come at all. For we plan to gain the upper hand, don't we?"

 

Iyyonu squeezed his hands more tightly. "Nequencia."

 

"Your creation my love." Gardner gazed straight into her eyes with a determined, almost ferocious, glint in his eyes. "We shall bring the Romulan Empire a thunderstorm that it shall never forget."

 

Iyyonu's response to this was a smile of deep satisfaction.

 

It had taken so much less time and effort than she had originally expected to mold the notoriously dogged Admiral Gardner, a rumored power behind both Starfleet Command and the United Earth Government. But she realized quickly that Gardner already knew a good deal about the Romulans and was not at all put off by the prospect of an interstellar war. Iyyonu, with her exotic charm and practiced flirtations, her heart-wrenching pleas for the freedom of her people, and her lies about Romulan invasion plans, was just the focus that Gardner's ambitions required...