Monday 2 January 1995

Pegasus: The Beginning - Chapter Two

    Pendragon sat in his office taking in his new surroundings. The office looked very bare. He had yet to make it “his” and he was considering what to decorate his office with, what personal belongings to bring in. While he was undertaking this contemplation his communicator sounded.
    “Greenleaf to Pendragon.”
    “Go ahead Colonel.”
    “The Enterprise has just docked. Lieutenant Plato and Doctor Pulaski have just arrived.”
    “Good. Ask them to come to my office.”
    A few minutes later Dr. Pulaski and Lieutenant Plato arrived at the office. Pendragon was taken aback slightly by Plato’s appearance. He was tall with blue skin and white hair. Pendragon greeted him warmly but he was taken aback by the young Socratian’s approach.
    “Welcome to the Pegasus.” said Pendragon. “I must say now that I have never worked with a Socratian before.”
    “Then this experience will be new for both of us.” said Plato. “For I have never served with a human before.”
    Pendragon then turned to Pulaski and shook her hand.
    “It’s good to see you again Doctor.” he said.
    “Likewise Captain. But if you want to thank anyone for my being here then thank Ambassador Magus. He recommended me to President Watt himself.”
    The conversation did not last much longer as Pendragon received a call on his communicator. He was soon in ops.
    “What is it Colonel?” he asked.
    “A ship’s coming though the jump gate.” Greenleaf reported.
    “On screen.” Pendragon ordered.
    The image of the nearby jump gate appeared on the main viewer. The jump gate was activated and the ship soon appeared.
    “An Eldar cruiser!” said Greenleaf. “And they are hailing us.”
    “On screen.”
    The image of Eldar Clan Lord Lanriel Nightland appeared before them.
    “Lord Nightland.” said Pendragon. “To what do we owe this pleasure?”
    “I must speak with you on a matter of some urgency.” Nightland replied. “It concerns this station.”
    “Can you be more specific?”
    “I will speak only to you in person. May I beam aboard?
    Pendragon turned to Greenleaf.
    “Transmit co-ordinates to the cruiser.”
    He then turned back to the screen.
    “You should be getting the co-ordinates now.”
    Nightland looked down at his panel.
    “We will beam over immediately.”
    The screen went blank. Once again Pendragon turned to Greenleaf.
    “Go to transporter room three and escort Nightland and his party to my office.”
    Greenleaf soon entered transporter room three. There he was greeted by the station’s chief engineer, the dwarf, Major Larin.
    “I hear the Eldar are here.” Larin said. “If you ask me that’s not a good idea. I’ll never learn to trust the Eldar.”
    “We must not let our views get in the way of this.” said Greenleaf. “Please energise the transporter beam.”
    Larin did as he was asked. A few seconds later two Eldar stood on the transporter pad.
    “Lord Nightland.” said Greenleaf, bowing his head. “Welcome to the station.”
    Upon seeing the elf Nightland smiled.
    “Thank you Colonel Greenleaf. May I introduce y aid Elliath Starbrow.”
    “If you’ll come with me.”
    Nightland and Starbrow soon sat opposite Pendragon in his office.
    “You realise that if I wanted to I could arrest you now for crimes against the Federation.” said Pendragon.
    “Which would result in a war between our peoples.” said Nightland. “And neither of us want that.”
    “I won’t hide my disliking for you Lord Nightland, so I would be grateful if you could get to the point.”
    “Very well. As you know Captain the Eldar people evolved from the Elves which have lived upon this planet for eons, and it is because of that I am here. In the name of the Eldar people I claim the Realm of Galadriel and the land of Elrond.”
    Pendragon could not believe his ears.
    
    Pendragon was soon in communication with Admiral Lethbridge-Stewart at Starfleet Command.
    “Nightland only made one demand.” said Pendragon. “He wants to claim the Elves’ land for the Eldar.”
    “I don’t need to tell you what would happen if the Eldar gained a foothold on the Time of Legends.” said the Admiral. “That must not be allowed to happen. If the Eldar were to attack the Time the villages would not stand a chance.”
    “Isn’t that what the Pegasus is for?”

    The meeting chamber on the station was being used for the first time as news of the Eldar’s demands were relayed to the Council of the Time. As the Federation ambassador had not arrived yet Pendragon chose himself to represent the Federation, and he sat at the head of the table. All around him sat the various representatives of the races from the Time such as Aragorn, representing man, Gandalf, representing the wizards, as well as various other repetitive. The debate was very heated.
    “It is well known that the Eldar are off-shoots of the elves.” said Aragorn. “Perhaps they have a legitimate claim.”
    “Was there not a similar situation on Vulcan centuries ago?” said Gandalf. “The Romulans are not trying to invade Vulcan now are they? There are some on Romulus who seek a peaceful reunification with their Vulcan cousins.”
    “The Eldar are not peaceful.” said Pendragon. “I know this from their part in the attack on Babylon 5.”
    “Why didn’t you arrest Nightland when he stepped aboard?” asked Elrond. “This is a Federation station.”
    “Which is jointly run by both the Federation and the people of the Time.” said Bilbo. “And this station is open to every race.”
    “And I cannot arrest a man for just being here.” said Pendragon. “Ambassador Baggins, you were elected as the voice for the people of the Time on this station, including the elves. What do you think?”
    “I think we should make the Eldar go away.” said Bilbo. “In any way we can. Once they get into Galadriel they’ll start to move all over the place.”
    “I agree.” said Gandalf. “They must be made to leave.”
    “We shall take a vote.” said Pendragon. “If there is no overall decision then I shall use the casting vote.”
    There was a show of hands. All eleven voted in the same manner, against the Eldar.

    Pendragon soon entered his office where Nightland and Starbrow were waiting for him.
    “I’m afraid the vote went against you.” he said. “I must ask you to leave orbit.”
    Nightland got to his feet. He did not look happy.
    “I had hoped to achieve my purpose by peaceful means.” he said.
    He then activated his communicator.
    “Beam us aboard, now.”
    Before the Eldar’s transporter beam was energised Nightland turned to Pendragon.
    “You’ll hear from us very soon Captain. Very soon indeed.”
    The beam was then energised and they returned to their cruiser. Then Pendragon walked into ops.
    “Colonel Greenleaf, signal a yellow alert and put all fighters on standby.”


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