The Emerald City (part 4)

Posted on Thu Oct 10, 2019 @ 6:03am by Lieutenant Commander River Morgan & Lieutenant Annora Tessaro & Lieutenant Alanna Wells & Lieutenant Jason Haines & Civilian 'Key Holder' Yolanthe Ibalin & Ensign Jessica Mayhew & Ensign Tizo Criteser & Lieutenant JG Brianthe Oaxaca
Edited on on Thu Oct 10, 2019 @ 10:40pm

1,024 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Doors of Perception
Location: MD 8, 2200 Hrs

Previously in The Emerald City (part 3)

"When you say they, do you mean the Borg, or the villagers?" Denegal asked. "I was the only one to survive the crash. As far as the villagers, they are scared of me, rightfully so, as three hundred years ago, I was a much different individual, as you might guess."


And now, the continuation

He was the only one to survive? "I meant the people in the village. They are afraid of the prophet. Do you know who that is?"

"Supposedly I am," he said with a grimace. "As I said, I was different many years ago. When I first got here, I tried to think of a way to return to space. I came up with an idea that would give me the power I needed, and more. There is a particle, called the omega particle. Amongst the Borg it has god-like status. But trying to harness it is extremely difficult and dangerous, and trying to keep one stable is even more difficult. In my hubris, I told the villagers that I would bring them to god, that I was a prophet sent to save them. I had them starting to mine the material in the mountains that was radioactive and what I used to keep power here going for so long. I gave up on the omega particle about seventy-five years ago, but they still insist I am the prophet."

Hubris indeed. "I haven't heard of this Omega Particle. What is it?" She thought she was at least familiar with the primary known particles, but she'd never heard of this one.

"It is a particle that the Borg call 010, and it as close to a god that the Borg have," he said. "The energy potential from it is almost endless. It has the same energy output as a warp core. Keeping it stable is very difficult, and if it explodes, it devastates light years of space, and will rupture subspace, and make warp travel in the area impossible."

"Perfection," she said. "Have you ever harnessed it successfully?"

"No," Denegal said. "I didn't have the equipment. And by the time I truly realized it, the damage had been done to the natives."

"Did you find the particle here?" she asked.

"No," he replied. "I could not bring it forth."

Alanna nodded, grateful he never found it. "So," she continued. "If you stopped, why are there guards? Why do people who follow you and have weapons kill people in your name? Bring bodies of the newly-deceased to you? Why do they have crude Borg implants?" She shook her head. "I understand your desire to go home. We want to go home, too. But one of your followers killed someone that...mattered to me. They've killed others. The mining is causing radiation poisoning," she said. "Can you teach them to work together? To help each other instead of kill?"

"As I said," Denegal replied. "Reality here is fluid. When the people are here changes. In fact, this is the first time they have been around in some time. It is possible they don't remember me telling them to leave the area, as I know what my original work has done. It shames me to this day, and my people would have banished me for such acts. As far as your friend, I am sorry. I find it odd he died so quickly. Usually anyone hit by those weapons dies of radiation poisoning over the course of a few weeks.”

This was not at all what she thought she'd hear. "Can you go to them? Explain what's going on? There are people outside who are killing people, bringing them to the town, in your name."

"I am tied to the cube," he said, briefly lifting the cable. "If I unplug from it, I will die after about one hundred yards. I've lived about two hundred more years than one of my species normally does."

Once again, she noticed the newer parts. "Who did those?" she asked, indicating the replacements. "They look relatively new."

"I did," he said. "Rather crude. My power reserves are not what they used to be, nor am I able to control pain as well as I used to, so the stitching is off, and weaker than normal. And to return to a question you had, I had people bring bodies, as I did not wish to kill anyone to get new limbs. Of the two sins, desecrating a body was easier to live with over murdering someone."

"Yes, it is. Science and medical personnel use bodies of the deceased for research." An idea was forming that might work, if she could get some of the leaders to listen to her. "Do you mind if I talk to the leaders of the village and bring them back here?" It could drastically change how they followed their prophet if they saw him.

"You don't understand," Denegal said. "I don't want them to follow me at all. I don't want to be here at all anymore, but oddly, given all the evil I have done and deaths I have caused, suicide is something I can not bring myself to do. All it would take is for this cord to be disconnected from me and I would be free to answer for my sins."

Alanna felt Brianthe outside. Their friendship and work relationship made it easy to notice when she was close. "Brianthe, I need you to bring the others in here. Bring the senior followers of the prophet, too. We can end this peacefully if you get here now."

"Alanna? What?"

"I'll explain when you get here. Come right in."

Alanna turned to Denegal. "I'll help you, but I need to do something first. There is one thing you can do to undo part of what you created, and it doesn't involve suicide."

To be continued...

Lieutenant JG Alanna Wells
Chief Science Officer
Deep Space Five

Ensign Brianthe Oaxaca
Botanist
Deep Space Five

Lt Cmdr River Morgan
Acting CMO - DS5

 

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