Ad Astra :: Star Trek Fanfiction Archive ^{Beam me up, Scotty.}

Chapter Text

The Star Beagle Adventures                                                
Episode 7: The Roundabout
Scene 14: Precognition

7.14
Precognition

“How is Teacher Pel?”

The powerful, brightly feathered eadh courtier, Martial Nalconi, was meeting with Commodore Yui Song, Captain Skip Howard, and General Krank aboard the U.S.S. Mako. Not to be outnumbered, Nalconi had brought his granddaughter, Nalancessel, and a blind priestess named Calandrass, whose exceptionally large feathers ranged from crimson to cobalt blue. She seemed to be in a trance from the moment she boarded the ship.

“It is still Trader Pel,” Skip Howard rejoined. “Recovering from the pain of mistreatment, but still emotionally traumatized by it.”

“You have a mighty ship, Captain Ronald Howard the Fourteenth,” Nalconi replied. “And I suspect you have more than one. You would not be the first powerful visitors to the Oulheadhry. There have been many who thought themselves so powerful that they could ignore the realities of this place. I sincerely hope you are not so arrogant as to make that mistake.”

“What are these realities that we must recognize, Martial?” asked General Krank.

“It is no longer Trader Pel. It is now Teacher Pel,” said Nalconi. “As long as you are in the Oulheadhry, you are the protectors of a Teacher, something not seen in the Oulheadhry in nearly a thousand years. Trader Pel must accept her new role. A role that until recently, I was completely unaware of. And you must accept your new role. A legend walks among you.”

“At the moment, my first priority is to get my people back,” said Captain Howard.

“You cannot do that,” Nalconi replied. “They are now your champions. They have been entered into the games.”

“Against their wills,” Howard rejoined.

“That is of no consequence,” Nalconi intoned. “Trader Pel told me your priority was to not destabilize the Oulheadhry. Remove your champions and war will erupt among the religious factions at the heart of Roundabout Station. But war will not stay there. It will spread.”

“The men who were taken into the ring are not champions,” said General Krank. “They are warriors. They are trained to kill.”

“We do have a champion,” said Captain Howard. “If we were to enter him into the games, could our abductees be returned?”

“The Regent might endorse such an exchange, but the faction who took your people would never honor the exchange. They would gladly take another champion for the games. But they would not release the others.”

“We send our champion in exchange. We take our people back,” said General Krank.

“I will ask the Regent to endorse that scheme,” said Nalconi. “But our people cannot be involved. At least not directly.”

Calandrass, the blind priestess, suddenly drew a shuddering breath. Her feathers bristled out, turning to expose more crimson. The other two eadh fluffed their feathers in surprise as the priestess spoke, her voice croaking with disuse:

“The Golden Darkness comes!”

“Golden Darkness?” asked Captain Howard and Commodore Yui, almost in unison.

“What does she mean?” asked Krank.

Nalconi and Nalancessel both flattened their feathers to their heads, then fluffed them back up. “I have no idea,” said Nalancessel. “This is the first time in my lifetime that she has ever spoken.”

“She will not tell us what she means,” Nalconi added. “But one thing I can tell you…”

“The Golden Darkness comes!!!” Calandrass announced. Again.

“She’s going to keep saying it for a while,” Martial Nalconi concluded. “And it won’t be long before everyone is saying it.”

General Krank turned toward Commodore Yui and Captain Howard: “I have an idea…”

7.14