Princes of the Universe - Chapter Two

 Sisko, Watt and Pendragon walked towards the morgue on D.S.9. The Valkyrie arrived one hour earlier and Sisko, knowing of Pendragon’s vast ancient weapons knowledge, decided to take advantage of this.
    “We’ve never had an incident like this before.” said Sisko. “At least not while I’ve been in command here. Here we are.”
    Sisko led them into the morgue. They were greeted by Doctor Bashir.
    “You know our chief medical officer, Doctor Bashir.” said Sisko.
    “The body’s over here.” said Bashir.
    Bashir opened the morgue draw and pulled it out. The body was covered with a sheet.
    “I haven’t seen a death like this in years.” said Bashir.
    Bashir pulled back the sheet, revealing the body of the decapitated Bajoran. The head had been placed just above the neck.

    “The interesting thing is over here.” said Sisko.
    Sisko led them to another table.
    “This is the sword the Bajoran was using in the battle.” he continued. “I’ve never seen a Bajoran sword like this before.”
    “May I?” asked Pendragon.
    “Certainly Commander.” said Sisko.
    Pendragon picked up the sword, placing one hand on the handle and the other near the tip. He closely examined it.
    “You were correct Commander.” he said. “This sword is definitely not Bajoran! Where there any fragments of metal found on the scene?”
    “Just a few.” said Bashir. “They were found in the wall near where the body lay.”
    Bashir handed Pendragon a small bag which contained the small metal fragments. Pendragon held them up to the light so he could see them.
    “Have you a microscope here Doctor?” he asked.
    “In sickbay.” Bashir replied.
    A few minutes later Pendragon stood in sickbay with the others. He took some of the fragments from the bag and placed them under the microscope. He studied them for about a minute.
    “This proves my theory.” he said. “This sword is over two thousand years old, and it is Japanese!”
    “What was a Bajoran doing with a Japanese sword?” asked Sisko.
    Then Sisko’s communicator sounded. The signal was from Major Kira in ops.
    “The starship Daktari has just arrived, carrying the Admiral.”
    “What docking ring Major?”
    “Number four.”
    “We are on our way.”
    Sisko turned to Watt.
    “Would you like to join me Captain?”
    “Certainly.”
    A few minutes later Watt and Sisko stood at the doorway of airlock four. A few seconds later the door opened, and a tall man, with dark hair and a pony tail going down his neck entered. He was wearing the uniform of a Starfleet admiral.
    “Welcome to Deep Space Nine Admiral McCloud. I only wish you could have come here under better circumstances.” said Sisko.
    “Likewise Commander.” said McCloud.
    McCloud turned to Watt.
    “I wish to speak to you alone Captain.”
    “But what about the investigation Admiral?” asked Watt.
    “This is connected with the investigation Captain.” said McCloud. “May I use your office Commander?”
    “By all means.”
    Admiral McCloud marched through the corridor towards ops, followed by Watt and Sisko.

    Admiral Duncan McCloud was well known and respected in Starfleet. It was well known that Admiral McCloud was an Immortal, one of only two thought to be alive, his fellow clansman Connor McCloud being the other. McCloud was soon to take up the post of Commander-in-Chief of Starfleet, a post given to him by President-elect James Watt.

    Those currently working in ops had no idea what was going on when Admiral McCloud came marching through, heading towards Sisko’s office. He was closely followed by Watt. Sisko waited outside as they entered the office. McCloud had his back to Watt as Watt began to speak.
    “Commander Pendragon has found something quite interesting Admiral.” he started.
    McCloud turned around and stared at Watt.
    “Why did you leave Connor on Epsilon-Beta Captain?”
    “You mean Captain McCloud?” said Watt. “It was originally the idea of my second officer, Commander Sutek. He thought that the telepaths would be able to give him comfort because of his crippling injuries.”
    “That’s the thing.” said McCloud. “Connor would have completely recovered from his injuries in time.”
    “How can that be?” asked Watt. “I understand that Connor lost his immortality while in space.”
    “So did I.” said McCloud. “But now I know otherwise. By now he should have recovered from his injuries. And even though he has recovered I believe his life is still in great danger. Others may be after him.”
    McCloud walked over to the other side of the desk and sat in Sisko’s chair. Watt sat in the other chair.
    “I understand that Commander Pendragon has discovered the sword the Bajoran was carrying is Japanese, and over two thousand years old.”
    “How did you know?”
    “That does not matter, but what I am about to tell you does. The Bajoran, Kifas Sajo, had a Japanese sword because I gave it to him.”
    “You…? But why?”
    “I trust you know all about the Immortals Captain?”
    Watt nodded.
    “It was originally thought that the Immortals were only from Earth, and that Connor and I were the last two, but about fifty years ago when I was in command of Station K-7 I met a Bajoran trader, and I felt something I had not felt since the twenty-first century…the quickening.”
    “Are you saying that the Immortals are on other planets as well?”
    “Yes. The man I met fifty years ago is now lying in the morgue here, and he was killed by a Cardassian immortal, a man I now believe is heading toward the Epsilon system.”
    “For Connor?”
    “That’s what I think.”
    “Then that means all on Epsilon are in danger, not just Connor, but the telepaths as well.”
    McCloud got to his feet.
    “Did you leave any weapons with Connor before he left?”
    “We thought there was no need to.” said Watt.
    “Then he is in danger because there are no weapons on Epsilon-Beta One. We must get there as fast we can and stop the Cardassian.”
    “We can’t.” said Watt. “The Valkyrie’s warp engines were damaged in a near miss with the Cardassian’s ship, and if memory serves the Daktari only has a maximum speed of warp three. You wouldn’t be able to get there in time. There is no other way.”
    McCloud left the officer and stood on the balcony overlooking ops.
    “Commander Sisko, how many crews do you have working on the Valkyrie’s warp engines?”
    “Two, as well as their repair crews.”
    “I want all of your engineers working on those engines.” ordered McCloud. “I want them working double shifts if they have to.”
    “But the repair crews are tied up at the moment.” said Kira. “We…”
    “I don’t care Major.” said McCloud. “See to it Commander. I want the Valkyrie up and running within twenty hours.”
    “That won’t give us much time.” said Watt. “And they already have four hours head start on us.”
    “I know Captain.” said McCloud. “I just hope we arrive there in time.”