by

“Wake up!”

Janus Osmand rolled over in his bed, finding the silhouette of a young woman framed by a blazing white light.

“Who... who is it?” he asked, still unable to make out the figure interrupting his pleasant slumber.

“They're gone! All of them!”

Finally, his eyes focused. “Sirona... what are you talking about?”

Sirona Rann stood back, brushing dark hair away from her face with a wave of her hand. “The Skorr. They're gone.”

Janus sat up in his bed. “Gone? Where?”

“I have no idea. I went to the command deck and it was empty.”

“They must be on one of the other ships.”

“All Skorr vessels have left the fleet. One of the other ships tried to signal when they departed, but there was no response.”

Janus stood. “I'll get dressed and join you on the command deck in five minutes. Have all ship commanders standing by.”

***

Janus leaned back in his chair at the communication station. “They must have had a reason.”

“I agree,” Sirona said. “But what could it have been? And why not tell us?”

“The Skorr can be temperamental at times. But they've never before done something without consulting me first.”

“The more immediate concern is how we are now short handed, especially on this ship,” Sirona said.

“Can I be of some help?”

Both Janus and Sirona spun about, surprised to hear any voice other than their own.

Forcas stood at the entrance to the command deck, his white hair lit from behind. “Has there been a problem?”

“It seems the Skorr have left. All of them.”

Forcas walked up to the comm station. “Considering how important they were to your operations, that is most unfortunate.”

“In light of this, I certainly can't go forward with the mission today.”

“Mission?” Forcas asked.

“I was to meet with the First Minister of the Lursandi. But with this...”

“Surely others from the fleet can come to run this vessel.”

Janus looked up at Forcas. “That isn't the issue. I have to find out what has happened to the Skorr. They have been critical to the successes we've had up to now.”

“Perhaps this is a sign that it is time your movement take a new direction, Janus Osmand.”

He pondered that a moment. There was something about what Forcas said that made Janus see an unspoken facet, a truth beneath the words.

“Yes, perhaps... Then should I go forward with the mission?” Janus asked.

Forcas smiled. “More boldly than before. Don't simply leave it to the Lursandi political class. Take your message to the masses of their world.”

“Yes... perhaps it is time I relied less on the support of the Skorr and more on my own instincts.”

“A sudden change of this magnitude...” Sirona began.

“A movement like this cannot be fettered by fear,” Forcas said. “We must proclaim from the rooftops what others would have us hide.”

Sirona turned to Janus. “We must consider what effect the sudden appearance of aliens will have on the Lursandi.”

“That is exactly what we must consider,” Forcas said. “For such an appearance will leave no room for their politicians to retreat from the destiny before them.”

Sirona's eyes bore in on Forcas. “It may be more than they can take. We came to bring them freedom and brotherhood.”

“Truth is never timid in the face of ignorance. It must be proclaimed as the salvation it is.”

“Salvation?” Sirona asked with an upturned brow on her Romulan features. “What exactly are we saving them from?”

“From their isolation,” Janus stated. “We are bringing them into the knowledge of their true origins. They will know once and for all that they are not alone in the universe.” Before Sirona could respond, Forcas added, “Only we can save them from the darkness they now inhabit. We shall show them the nobility from which they sprang from.”

***

The crowd stretched miles into the distance. Sirona guessed there were millions in the streets of the capital city of the Lursandi. The people of this world were mostly human in appearance with the exception of two ridges which ran from their temples down their faces, ending at the base of their necks. The First Minister, the leader of their government, had explained the ridges were a sensory organ for electromagnetic fields, used in more primitive times for tracking prey.

For a reason he wouldn't explain to her, Janus had decided to have Forcas address the crowd rather than doing so himself.

Forcas was certainly a practiced speaker, but to allow him to be the first voice from another world for these people troubled her.

The First Minister finished his address and stood aside, motioning Forcas forward.

His white hair blowing about in the breeze, Forcas took a moment to look out at the crowd before speaking.

“We bring greetings to your world from the stars above,” he began. “The darkness has risen from your planet, and now we offer the hand of friendship as brothers and sisters.”

Mild applause rose from the crowd as his words were translated for them.

“Long ago, before your star began to shine, this galaxy was ruled by a people whose wisdom was only exceeded by their sense of justice. They stood upon the stage of history knowing their enemies were close to bringing chaos and destruction to this galaxy. But they did not surrender even though they knew their own end was near. No, they looked forward to our time when their kind would once again rise to become what they had been. In their darkest hour, they went across this galaxy seeding worlds like yours, and like mine, with the building blocks of that future they hoped for.

“Despite the minor physical differences there may be between us, we all come from that seeding. We all were planted in the ground of this galaxy to one day rise... but not alone... to rise together, to reclaim the galaxy of our Ancient Progenitors as one people.

“I ask you to join us! To learn the truth of who you are, the truth of who we all are, so that together, we can make this galaxy into the paradise envisioned by our creators.”

Forcas looked out at the crowd, spreading his arms. “Join us for the coming kingdom of the Ancient Progenitors where justice will replace chaos, and life will replace death! For in that kingdom none will know sickness, nor hunger, nor want!”

The crowd exploded at that. But Sirona wasn't surprised. Their world had just been ravaged by a plague which had killed millions. Hope was as scarce as food.

While he gave few details, Forcas did give them just enough to replace the despair they had lived with for so long.

But Sirona feared it would not last.

***

A few hours later, the First Minister led them through a hospital where many plague victims came to die. Sirona scanned them with her tricorder, hoping to make good on the promise Forcas had made.

She turned to Janus. “It is a virus, one I suspect was engineered,” she said barely above a whisper. “This may be the work of an internal faction on this world.”

“All the more reason for us to be here to end such insanity,” Janus said.

“But unless the underlying social problems are dealt with...”

Forcas leaned in on their conversation. “Such concerns will be eliminated quite soon.”

Sirona smiled. “And how do you intend to accomplish this feat?”

He returned her smile. “Watch and learn.”

Forcas walked over to a bed, where a young woman, ravaged by the plague, did her best to sit up to greet him.

“No, my dear... do not exert yourself.” He placed his hand on her forehead. “We come to free you from your plight.”

“I am just glad to see such a one as you before I died,” she said, her voice failing.

“Die?” Forcas smiled. “You shall not die. You have too much life still to live.”

He closed his eyes, and moved his hand from her head to her chest.

“Stand up,” he commanded.

“Forcas...” Sirona began, but Osmand's hand on her arm caused her to pause.

The woman in the bed sat up and smiled. She looked at Forcas.

“How... how is this possible?” she said, as she stood up fully. “I have not been able to move my legs for weeks.”

Forcas held her. “This is the legacy of the Ancient Progenitors. These are the powers we all possess. In time, you will be taught to use them as well.”

Sirona ran the tricorder again. “Gone... all traces of the virus are gone.”

The assembled crowd in the hospital cheered.

“The men responsible for this plague are on the southern continent you call Darlithia,” Forcas said. “They must be captured and brought to justice.”

The First Minister turned to one of his aides and whispered a few words. He then turned back to Forcas. “If you could provide the exact location...”

“You will have their coordinates within the hour.”

As Forcas and the crowd moved on, Sirona turned to Janus. “How can you let him do this?!”

“What? Healing the sick? Is that what troubles you, Sirona?”

“No... I am concerned he is using technology in the guise of magic to deceive these people. Once that deception is found out, we and the rest of the galaxy will suffer for it.”

“Forcas was right, it is time for us to boldly proclaim our message,” Janus said. “How better than with a few miracles.”

***

That evening, back on their ship, Sirona went to the quarters Forcas occupied.

“I suspected it wouldn't be too long before you paid me a visit.”

She stared at him, doing her best to avoid the effect of his charm. “Then you know what I intend to ask.”

“You are worried I performed some bit of fakery to convince the Lursandi to join us.”

She sat in the chair across from him. “I know your speech to them contained little to gain the response it did, and I also know you have telepathic abilities which far exceed that of the most accomplished Betazoid.”

Forcas grinned. “My, you have been watching me closely, haven't you?”

“You didn't think I would allow someone to join our cause and not investigate them, did you?”

“Certainly not,” he said. “And you are right to do so. We must indeed be careful. Too much is at stake. Far more perhaps than you might imagine.”

“But one thing I haven't quite figured out...”

“And that is?”

“Your cure for the woman,” Sirona said. “We hadn't had enough time to determine a cure when you in fact did cure her. I would like to know how.”

Forcas sat on his bed, leaning against the wall. “My encounter with the Ancient Progenitor device which infused me with much of their knowledge also enhanced my telepathic abilities. Ever since, I have had the power to heal the sick, something I was quite well known for back on my homeworld.”

“Any chance you will allow me to have a doctor investigate the source of this ability?”

“I am at your disposal, Sirona. Do whatever scans you feel necessary.”

She smiled. “I did not expect you to be so willing.”

“I have nothing to hide.”

“We all have things to hide, Forcas. Some more than others.”

“Not I, my dear.”

She rose from the chair and walked to the door. “For now, I will have to take your word for that.”

“Take my actions as the proof you seek,” Forcas said. “In my acts you will find the truth.”

“The only question is, whose truth will it be? The one you want me to see, or the real truth?”

“Only you can judge that, Sirona.” He walked over to her. “But do not let your Romulan cynicism cloud that judgment. Sometimes, people are exactly what they appear to be.”

She looked into his eyes. “How I so wish I could find one person in this galaxy for which that were true.”

“I am that man.”

Sirona felt a weakness overtake her entire body. She didn't know if it was fatigue, or some telepathic spell.

He leaned toward her. His face only inches from her own.

“I can free you from so much, Sirona, if you would but let me.”

“But it wouldn't be real... only a trick of the mind.”

“I don't offer false miracles. The galaxy has had enough of falsehood. It is time for the truth to have its day.”

Sirona wanted to run, but her Romulan tenacity, and years of duty to whatever cause she was engaged in, refused to let her take that exit.

“I want to believe you,” she whispered.

“But you have been deceived too often,” he said. “You must find your faith in me by your own road. Be patient with both me and yourself. The time will come when the truth will find you.”

He leaned away from her.

“Goodnight, Forcas.”

Sirona flew from his quarters, glad to finally be able to breathe again.

She feared Forcas more than any man she had ever met. But she also felt drawn to him unlike any other.

***

“How can you say that?”

“Because of what I witnessed this day,” Janus said with a warm smile. “You have shed the Romulan way, Sirona, but you have yet to set aside the suspicion everyone else about you has the same inbred deceit you grew up with.”

“That's not what...”

“This will be the first night I can truly rest.” He took hold of her hand. “Before today, I was in constant fear of what would happen to everything I have built if I were to either be captured by the Federation or were to die.”

“You should still be in fear of that if you intend to rely on Forcas.”

He released her hand and sat on his bed. “He will take the leadership of this movement one day when I am gone, and I want your word you will follow him as you have me.”

“I believe in you Janus,” Sirona said, walking up to him. “But Forcas...”

“Has the spirit and power to make the dream of reuniting the children of the Ancient Progenitors a reality,” he said, looking up at her. “How can you not see that?”

She leaned down and kissed him gently on the forehead. “I have only seen you, Janus.”

“Perhaps I have become a stumbling block to far too many.”

“Don't say that!”

“It's true. If it weren't for me, the Federation might be much more willing to let our message be heard on its worlds.”

“In time, they will see as I have,” Sirona said.

“The Galaxy may not have enough time left for that.”

***

The next morning, Forcas, Janus, and Sirona were down on the planet again, being led across a bridge over the river which bisected the capital city. The First Minister, an elderly man wearing the finest clothes of the Lursandi, explained the importance of the river in their history, the many battles fought for it, and the mythic tales told of it through the centuries.

“Here at the midpoint between the two sides of the river Nrulas its depth is at its maximum, and the temperature of the water is at its minimum. Few have ever survived the combination.” He stopped at the railing. “In fact, below us rests the fleet of Gar-Huldaz. Some two thousand years ago, he sailed across at night to defeat his enemies on the other shore, but by some accident never explained his ships sank here. No one in his armada lived, thus ending the war.”

Sirona looked across the expanse of water. They were more than two miles from either side of the river. Instinctively, she glanced at the structure of the bridge to reassure herself it was sound.

Her obsessiveness was shattered by screams to her left.

She turned to see Janus hanging over the edge of the railing, his hand holding the arm of the dangling Forcas. Sirona rushed to them.

“Let go of me, Janus!” Forcas cried out. “Or we will both be lost!”

“No,” Janus replied. “I don't know what this...”

Before Sirona made it to them, the railing gave way, and they fell out of sight.

She watched both men strike the surface of the water and disappear into the depths below.

“Janus!”

Something stirred. It was hard to tell exactly what it was through the mist covering the thirty feet of distance between her and the surface of the river.

It was soon gone, and for nearly a minute she stared at the calm waters below.

“Janus...no...”

When all seemed lost, her eyes caught movement again.

Forcas rose out of the water, standing. In his arms he carried the unmoving body of Janus Osmand.

He stopped as his feet were just inches above the water.

The crowd around Sirona collectively gasped at the sight below them.

A glow formed above Forcas. With the passing of a few seconds, the glow coalesced into the form of a face--- the face of one of the Ancient Progenitors. It then rose to the level of the bridge.

The face smiled, and then a voice spoke with the sound of a rushing wind, “Follow our servant, Forcas. He will reveal the future we have planned for you.”

The face faded away, and Forcas glided up to the bridge, settling next to Sirona.

He turned to her and she felt his gaze pierce the depths of her soul.

***

Sirona watched the medical display above Janus Osmand. There had been no change since the last time she glanced at it.

“How is he?”

Sirona turned to Forcas. “Still in a coma.”

Forcas only nodded.

“How did you do it?”

He continued staring at Janus. “I... I don't think I did what you observed.”

“The Ancient Progenitors? But how? They're all gone.”

“Perhaps something of them remains. It is possible I was given more than just their knowledge by that machine I encountered.”

“But...”

“There are mysteries beyond our understanding in this universe, Sirona.” He turned to face her. “Believe what your eyes have told you this day. Have faith in the mission set before us.”

Sirona shook her head and looked at the still form of Janus Osmand in the bed. “This was his mission.”

“Now it is ours.”

“Can you heal him?”

Forcas seemed to hesitate, but only for a moment. “Do you believe I can?”

“I want to.”

“I have made the attempt, but...”

“Keep trying,” Sirona said. “We need him.”

Forcas took hold of her arms. “And if he is lost to us, will you follow me?”

“You?!”

“His mission has now become mine. The Ancient Progenitors had a destiny they wanted us to fulfill. I will not stop until that is accomplished.”

Sirona could feel her will being drawn from her. Whether it was Forcas himself, or something else...

Her heart raced. She remembered Janus mentioning how the Ancient Progenitors had left a message buried within the DNA of various humanoids throughout the Galaxy. Could there have been more? Could they have left programming which Forcas was now activating due to his encounter with their machine?

She used the mental training she knew to calm both her heart and her mind.

“I will continue his work,” Sirona said. “But I will not allow it to become something he never wanted.”

“What do you mean?” Forcas asked with a stern face.

“Don't turn this into your own personal kingdom, or I will be the first to put a stop to it.”

“Personal kingdom?” Finally, Forcas smiled. “You have no reason to worry about that.”

“It's all I worry about... now.”

Sirona left the medical bay, glad to be away from Forcas. But at the same time, she felt a loss because of it.

A full minute after Sirona had left, Forcas walked around the bed Janus was in, stopping at a sink in a corner of the room.

“Why did you come in after me, Janus? Why put yourself at such risk? Or was it something else?”

Forcas touched the tap. Water filled the bright metal sink.

“Your time has passed my friend.” Forcas placed his hands within the flow of water, turning them over repeatedly. “It is a time of great change for this galaxy, and you would only have gotten in the way.”

A smile crossed his face. “I had little choice but to take the opportunity you so willingly offered.”

He touched the tap, closing off the flow of water, then shook his hands over the sink. Forcas pulled a nearby towel off its hanger and dried the last of the moisture from his skin.

“But the dream of unifying the descendants of the Ancient Progenitors will come to pass. Perhaps on that day I will awaken you.”

***

Sirona watched Forcas enter the command deck. He appeared lost in thoughts she could only imagine.

She would not allow him to destroy what Janus Osmand had created. At the first sign of treachery...

“We must bring Osmand's message out from the wilderness and into the hearts and minds of the Federation,” Forcas said

“What do you mean?” Sirona asked.

“Set a course for Earth.”

* * *

Dark Horizon Story and Characters Copyright ©2008 Michael Gray

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