The Cost of Destiny
by Carol Sandford
~Chapters 1 to 5 ~Chapters 6 to 10 ~Chapters 11 to 15 ~Chapters 16 to 20 ~Chapters 21 to 25 ~Chapters 26 to 30 ~Chapters 36 to 40~ ~Chapters 41 to 45~ ~Chapters 46 to End~
Chapters 31 to 35
Chapter thirty one
Will deliberately looked away, pretending that he was searching the far off hills as his friend coughed as though he was trying to get a boulder out from his throat. The same hills that Will initially started heading for, and then changed his mind figuring that any enemy following him would think the same thing; head for the hills, head for safety. So Will didn't. He and his men turned tail, making sure they left enough evidence to indicate they were going towards the hills, but not enough to indicate their true path. The found refuge in a small, rocky outcrop, smack bang in the middle of nowhere.
Lieutenant Tang coughed again, the painful wheeze making Will grimace with compassion and fear. The old man was dying. Will knew it, and he was certain that Tang was more than aware of it too.
When the painful gasps subsided briefly and he heard Tang spit out the accumulation of dust and gunge that had worked its way into his system as he'd sucked in breaths, Will allowed him a second of privacy as he struggled to pretend that he wasn't as bad he feared.
"You okay, old friend. Need a drink?" Will was already reaching for the small pouch that held barely a quarter of a litre of precious water, his hand stilling at Tang's gruff, weary voice.
"No, no, save it. Don't go wasting it on me, Son."
Will ignored him, detaching it from his waistband and releasing the cap, wishing more than anything that he could raise it to his own lips and drain it dry, but he couldn't. He was okay, he could survive without water long enough to get rescued. His friend wouldn't.
The extensive burns he had meant that his skin couldn't hold any moisture apart from the massive blisters that caked his body, and Will hoped and prayed that none of them burst or got infected. God only knew what the dust and dirt on this ball of rock held.
Tang's eyes met Will's as he turned to him and lifted his head and shoulders from the ground, holding the pouch's lip-edge to his own charred mouth. Weary gratitude shone in his exhausted, pain-filled eyes and despite his own rule about leaving the dead and dying behind, Tang was glad he was being given a chance to live.
He caught the slight smile that touched Will's mouth as he gratefully sipped the temperate water, determined to take as little as he could until, at last he felt the liquid slide down his burning throat. He purposely closed his lips to stop Will from wasting any more. He'd had enough, and if they were going to have to see out the night. If he saw out the night, he emended, he was surely going to need more in the morning. At least now in the inkyness of night, the searing heat wasn't an issue. But come morning...well, that was a different story and he wasn't looking forward to it, one bit.
Will heard the men urgently whispering in the background and carefully laying Tang's head back down, he moved over to find out what they were talking about. Scuffling the few feet towards them, he stopped dead when he saw Bobby Tiller raise his palm to him, indicating that he should be silent. Will stopped dead, his ears searching out anything audible, his eyes reaching out into the darkness, looking for something, or someone.
Silence. Total silence. Will turned questioning eyes to his comrades who were still listening intently. Tiller's hand turned and indicated that Will should proceed, and as quietly as he could, Will moved closer.
"What is it?" he whispered quietly.
"I thought I heard something, but it's gone now." he whispered back, the white of his eyes, almost luminous as they caught the moonlight. "Wait!! there it is again!"
Instinctively, the three men quietly lay flat upon the hard, cold ground, trying to make themselves blend into shadows, their ears desperately trying to pick up any indication as to whether their enemy was as close as they feared. Worriedly, Will glanced over to his friend, checking that he was sufficiently out of sight from enemy eyes, whilst his heartbeat began to pound, echoing in his ears.
But he couldn't hear a thing. Nothing. Zilch, and that worried Will even more so. Did that mean the enemy could hear them and were taking similar precautions. Or was their minds playing tricks on them? Celestial spirits sent to torment their minds. God, he hated sitting like a possum, waiting. Praying. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place and whoever was on the other side of the rise knew it too.
And then they heard the distinct sound of a phaser being loaded, the tell-tale whine of the button being pushed along, elevating the beams intensity from stun to kill, and as Will prepared to be confronted, more than aware that they were likely to be out-numbered and definitely with more fire power than they possessed, his eyes squeezed shut as one vision filled his senses and two words slipped despairingly from his trembling lips, Goodbye, Imzadi.
Chapter thirty two
"Fill me in, Captain. I want to know everything - and I mean everything."
Leaving a more than competent pilot to fly them home, Captain Bill Traverse sat opposite the visibly exhausted man, but even so, he was never happier to see anyone alive as much as he. He studied Will's face, as much as he could through the grime and dried blood that caked his skin. But even though exhaustion poured from his being, nothing could defuse the steely regard in his cobalt eyes. The man wanted to know what was happening with the Sindareen, and he wanted to know now.
Only Bill wasn't too keen on telling him - not all of it anyway.
"The Sindareen attacked Betazed, Sir." Shock still tinged his words as he looked Will straight in the eye, holding his gaze steady as Will digested the news, inwardly startled that he didn't seem surprised to hear his bad tidings. When Bill was confident that the crummy news had registered, he ploughed on. "We think they deliberately set us up in order to get some of us away from the city."
Will's face creased in puzzlement, "Why? What on earth were they trying to achieve? We left behind more than enough military to protect Betazed. They couldn't have got through." But even as he said it, Will realised that it sounded stupid. Of course they could get through. Nothing was impenetrable, least of all a docile citizen that wouldn't recognize a bad guy if he come and slapped him across the face.
But Will continued to study the Captain's face and instinctively knew that his assumption was wrong, and worse than that, there was more to hear, the fearful look upon Traverse's face told him that. He swallowed noisily before adding, "Carry on."
"They took hostages, Sir." he said warily, half expecting the giant man to leap up and punch him for allowing it all to happen. For not doing their job properly. For not protecting those that had come to serve.
And then Will knew; knew that his beloved was one of those captured. Somehow things that had flashed through his mind. The screams, the cold hand of death gripping his heart as he lay waiting to be picked up. It all made sense to him now. "Deanna." He murmured distractedly, the same cold hand tightening its grip on his heart again, hurting him, reminding him that there was more at stake here than the woman he loved, his eyes widening with the horror that his instinct, his feelings had been correct. "Deanna's been taken, hasn't she?"
Will reeled back as he watched Captain Traverse slowly shake his head, his eyes dropping away as he tried to mask his horror and dispel the image at what he'd witnessed. "No, Sir," he said slowly, sadly, "Miss Troi is dead. I'm sorry, Si..."
He started as Will leapt to a stand, instantly filling the ships small confines already greatly reduced because of Tang's prone body on the cot laying between them all, the shock of Bill's news not only slamming him in the midriff, but emitting a similar gasp of shock from the other members of Will's remaining team. Traverse cowered back as Will reached down and grasped the front of his tunic, forcibly lifting him off his seat. "No! no, she's not! Deanna isn't dead. I'd know. I'd feel up here," letting Bill go with one hand so that he could tap his temple, accentuating his point, "I'd know if she was dead, and she isn't."
He felt a tug on his pant leg and with wild eyes he turned his attention downwards, to Tang's damaged face, to the man that knew that what he was saying was true but even so, he felt he had to say something, prepare him, question his senses, knowing that the mind was a powerful machine that could will anything that you wanted to see. "Will, it was hours ago that you said you'd heard Deanna. She might be dead by now. Accept that it may be true, Son"
Freeing Traverse's clothing, absently brushing the clothing down as he turned to his fallen friend, Will shook his head, denial wreathed his features, "No, I'd know, Tang, I'd know" he swore with such conviction that Tang nodded wearily, completely accepting affirmation for what it was, his eyes slipping closed once more as he continued with his painful struggle to stay alive.
He'd welcomed the pain medication with a mixture of relief and dismay. More than aware that now they'd been rescued, he was effectively out of the game and that he'd be shipped straight off to a med-unit as soon as they touched base, and that his war was over. Hell, his career might be over and that wasn't even worth contemplating. He'd been a Starfleet officer all his adult life, and he'd been so close - so close to being pensioned off, that his health had begun to suffer with the knowledge of being, 'set free'. He didn't want it. Hell, what was he gonna do, out there in the real world. Sit and read a book? Go fishing!?
Hell, no!
But it didn't look like he was going to have any other choice now. Damn it! So lost in his drug-infused meanderings he didn't quite catch most of Traverse's next words, but he sure as hell caught the tail end of them.
"...I saw her myself, Sir. I...I remember the jumper that she used to wear when she worked at the base, it was a pretty kind of yellow." He swallowed, turning paler as he plucked up courage to continue. "I...She...wasn't recognizable, Sir, she'd lost her..." He couldn't continue. He didn't have to, the picture he'd painted was more than enough. Too much.
Numbly, Will shook his head, not only denying his head to fill with the image that tried to over take his mind, but also wanting to dismiss the information that he was hearing. He could only reiterate his previous confident reply. "She's still alive, Bill. Trust me." He pleaded quietly. Bill could only nod. What more could he do? He hoped with all his being that the tall man was right.
Turning his gaze out of the ship's front screen, Will watched as they approached Betazed. One could not fail to see the numerous dark plumes of smoke that rose from the still smouldering buildings, the air of chaos blanketing it like a heavy, dark shroud, and as the ship landed back at the base, Will was already hovering impatiently for the door to open, and as soon as it did, he leapt free as soon as he could safely do so. Will set off towards the worst hit part of the city, his feet barely touching the ground as he raced on, his heart pounding in his chest, preparing him for what he was about to see.
Even though Will was confident that he wasn't going to find his Deanna amongst the dead that would surely be laying in the make-shift morgue by now, an ounce of him - one tiny ounce of him wondered if he'd gotten it wrong - that the intense love he felt for her was over-shadowing the truth.
Will was sure that he'd heard her, seen her in his dreams, and held her silently in his embrace. She was scared senseless, but she was okay, he could feel her. And somehow, he knew then even more so, that her life was connected to his. That they were bonded by a force that he wasn't sure he'd ever come to grips with. He rolled the word through his mind again, unconsciously reaching out for her, Imzadi Testing it's power, hoping above all hopes that she was out there, alive, waiting for him.
He almost slipped to the ground as he felt the feint ripple of her voice, and her fear, trickle through his frazzled mind.
Help us. Oh, God, Imzadi, help us!
Chapter thirty three
Will's feet slowed to an unsteady stop as he neared the still smouldering college building, the shock of what his eyes were seeing faltering his steps as he slowly took in the carnage that spread out before him. Medical teams worked on people that had been dug out of the collapsed entrance way, the flurry of military personnel, some of which Will knew, battled to stop relatives, friends and everyone else from entering the precarious building in a desperate attempt to find their missing loved ones, their cries and pleas swirling around Will's heart, gripping it even tighter, the pain becoming unbearable.
Unable to resist the pull, forcing his feet to move, Will hesitantly made his way off to the side where a dozen or so corpses lay in a row, their bodies covered with make-shift sheeting. Blood stained the stark whiteness of the material a bright and vivid red, the black soot a stark contrast amongst it, like a gruesome abstract painting.
Even though Will knew he wasn't searching for Deanna, he still found himself looking for a glimpse of the yellow jumper that Bill Traverse had mentioned on his way back to the planet. He had to see it for himself, despite everything. He just had to make sure it really wasn't her. When he saw the Zerx's holding each other as they stood over a prone corpse, Will inadvertently sighed with sad relief before letting his genuine sorrow come to the fore once more.
Several people, relations of the deceased Will guessed, stood beside those that lay on the ground, their grief pouring from their hunched, miserable figures, disbelief mingled the piteous whimpers as they tried desperately to comprehend the senseless waste of precious life, and with it Will felt an immense wave of shame wash over him. He had failed these people. He had let down his guard, believed that he was in control, and let these people put their utmost trust in him, and he had let them down.
He couldn't help the roll of despair that drenched right through to his soul as his moist eyes moved away from his failures, the action releasing a solitary tear. He didn't bother wiping it away letting the blurriness somehow distort the carnage around him. His gaze came to settle and refocus on a solitary figure standing back from the other mourners, her head bowed low, her dress sombre, like the mood that shrouded the scene.
Will quietly moved, coming to a silent stand behind her. He didn't know what to say so instead he lifted his hand and rested in gently upon her shoulder. Within seconds, her own came to settle upon his, and he felt and heard a deep, shaky breath leave her lips.
For a long moment the two of them did nothing but watch as yet another body got carried out of the smouldering building, the victim being laid along side the last in the row of those already there. Despite the sheeting covering the body, it could not hide the woman beneath. A bulge in her abdomen area brought a gasp of shock from Will's lips as he realised that the poor soul had been with child.
"Oh, my God," Will gasped, instantly feeling Lwaxana's fingers lace with his in a futile effort to help him through the shock of what his eyes were seeing and what his mind was screaming at him. "What have I done?"
Lwaxana Troi watched the movements before her, unable to look away, unable to turn and embrace the man behind her as his guilt filled her senses. "It wasn't your fault, William," she whispered, squeezing his fingers harder, "None of this was your fault. It was mine."
Everything stopped, just for a moment as Will absorbed her misplaced blame, which were preposterous. Stupid even. How could she take the blame for this war? How could she possibly have stopped it? Betazed had called on the Federation for their help, and they had sent him. HIM He was the one that should have seen this coming; seen the deception, but he hadn't and innocent people had died. Innocent people had been kidnapped. Deanna, his Imzadi, had been kidnapped.
"What could you have possibly done, Mrs. Troi?" He asked. "This was not your fault." Will told her quietly.
She squeezed his fingers again and finally, slowly turned to him, and he saw the shadow of a sad smile upon her tear-stained face. "And nor was it yours, Lieutenant Riker. But, I could have done more," she hesitated for a brief second, her brow furrowing with thoughts that raced through her mind, "I should have done more." she reiterated.
Will studied her features intently, ignoring the blood shot eyes and the added lines that seemed to have sprung up over-night with worry. "What could you have possibly done that I hadn't?"
"You forget, William, that I am an ambassador. I not only have friends in high places, I have friends elsewhere in this cosmos." Spinning on her heels she started to walk away from him and Will instinctively followed, dimly aware that something she had just said had sparked a flame of hope within her, therefore reigniting his too.
She continued, "We need help, Mr. Riker, and I am intent on getting it. It's time I used my status, and my charm to its full advantage, and you, Will, are going to help me. Come along."
Will hastened his footsteps to keep up with hers that were almost at a run now that she had made a decision, and he couldn't help asking her the obvious, "What about Deanna, Mrs. Troi, and the other captives?"
Without missing a beat, or even a step she said, "That'll be your job. I'm entrusting my daughter into your hands, so you'd better make sure you bring her home to me, preferably alive and in one piece." She added for good measure.
Will balked at her words, "Mrs. Troi! I don't think..."
"Save it, William. I know you can communicate with her, and you have, haven't you, since she's been gone?" She looked at him briefly for confirmation as he nodded, even though she didn't really need to see his face to know his answer. "Deanna will lead you to her."
Will couldn't help asking, "Have...have you 'spoken' to her, Mrs. Troi?"
Will winced under her indignant stare,"Of course I have, silly boy! I am her mother." Her eyes softened at Will's discomfort, slowing her steps until she actually stopped and reached out a hand to touch his arm. "She's alright, William. In danger, but alright, I promise."
Will nodded, his stance visibly relaxing a little with her reassurance. But even he knew that there was still a long way to go, and a lot to do before he could see for himself. Before he could hold her in his arms and never let her out of his sight again.
Will followed Lwaxana into the military base, his curiosity peaked to its height. "What are we doing here, Mrs. Troi?" Although he realized it was the logical place to be, and the once place that he knew he should have come to first, Will still couldn't understand why she would come here.
Not even bothering to knock on the door that they approached, which Will recognized as the boardroom, a room that he'd only ever visited once - on his arrival. The matriarch of Betazed's highest society pushed open the door and barrelled in, with Will close behind, hot on her heels, curiosity and excitement filling his being.
The seven stunned men within turned to see who had barged in on their crisis talks, balking and then visibly shrinking when they saw who it was. Without a greeting, Lwaxana Troi made her way to the head of the oval table, placed her hands upon the rich red mahogany top and stared intently at each and every one of them, not giving them a chance, or daring them to utter one word.
"Gentlemen," she stated, her face alive with determination, and hope. "We have a war to win, and I know how we can win it."
Chapter thirty four
The air was alive with frenzied tension as the men once more prepared to take to the skies. This time more ships, and more men were going into space to confront their enemy. This time, they were sure there would be no deception, and no cowardly attack on peaceful Betazed. The Sindareen had got what they'd wanted. A full frontal, no holds barred battle, out in the vast ocean of space and the Federation were going to give it to them, head on.
Lwaxana Troi hovered outside Will's shuttle as he busied himself with making sure everything he needed was on board, but even so, he still spoke to her, realizing that despite the message from Deanna pleading them to come and rescue them all, Lwaxana, and himself, held the truth within their heads.
Deanna's voice had shaken them all to the core as she relayed the very much prompted message. No ransom. No trade. Just to come and get them, if they dared. Will shuddered as he remembered Mrs. Troi crumpling to the seat behind her as Deanna had spoken directly to her telling her that it was a trap barely seconds after the crackly message got transferred to the boardroom.
But what else could they do? They had to go after them, the Sindareen and the hostages. There would be no stalemate in this battle. It was all-out war, a war that had been a long time coming. A war that would once and for all diminish the threat against the peaceful planet.
Betazed had no idea why the Sindareen had targeted them, other than sheer cursedness. That and a chance to wield their power upon a planet of peace. They were more cowardly than those that they tormented. They truly believed that they had the Federation in the palm of their grotty hands. Picking them off fleet by fleet instead of raiding Earth was a pathetic act of cowardice. Here, on their own turf, they could destroy the Federation, one by one if they had to. On Earth it would be another story.
Will stepped inside the shuttle and settled himself in the pilot's seat. He wasn't even mildly surprised when Lwaxana stepped inside after him, plainly with more on her mind. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear, but courtesy and intrigue forced himself to take a deep breath and wait, but even when she did touch his shoulder to garner his full attention, he still hadn't been surprised with her revelation.
"Listen to her, Will. Let Deanna guide you. Whatever happens out there, let my daughter help you." She implored, filling him with hope and more, realising that she was telling him that the silent communication that Betazoid's were famed for were going to be the key in the coming confrontation, and Deanna - his Deanna. He was going to be linked to her beyond the physical level. Beyond anything that he'd ever experienced before.
When he'd first heard Deanna in his mind, he'd been scared, scared of what she might be seeing. Hearing. But with each meeting, he grew more comfortable, more adept, and kinda honoured that he'd been blessed with what he knew to be a gift, and he intended to use his gift to not only get his Imzadi back, but to win this war.
He came back to the present with a quick shake of his senses and turned his full gaze onto the woman hovering at his shoulder. Will nodded solemnly. "I will, Mrs. Troi, and I'll bring Deanna back to you, you have my word." he vowed.
Lwaxana offered a sad smile as she nodded, tapping his shoulder to reiterate her faith in him. "I know you will, William. I'm very proud of you, you know? My daughter has chosen well."
Will didn't quite know how to respond to that as memories of her denial to mate with him cascaded through his memories, despite her subsequent acquiescence. Will still felt that given half a chance, Deanna would do anything to change what they had become. The thought gave Will a strange feeling deep within him, one that hurt, a hurt that spiralled throughout his body and soul making him tremble with its intensity.
Smiling tenderly, Lwaxana leaned down and put a tender kiss upon Will's brow, her heavy scent filling his nostrils, taking away the smell of fear that filled the ship, even if it was just for a brief moment. "Deanna loves you, Will." She said quietly. "Remember that and you will come home. You'll both come home." she promised, her voice quivering with emotion as a moment of loss rolled over her, a moment that didn't belong with her promise to the man that looked up to her, his convulsive throat movement revealing more than he wanted.
She'd said enough even though she wanted to say a whole lot more to him. Lwaxana Troi made her way back out of the ship and Will watched her go, a new respect for her filling his senses. When she was clear of the ship he pressed the button and closed the hatch, turning to his co-pilot that slid into his seat beside him, he took a deep shaky breath.
"Well, here we go. You ready, Bob?"
Bobby Tiller, more than happy to be be back behind the controls so soon after returning from their last harrowing trip out, had deliberately made himself scarce when the matriarch of Betazoid's society followed the lieutenant inside the ship, obviously needing some privacy going by the sombre expressions upon their faces.
Moving back into place and touching several of the multi-coloured controls before him, Bob beamed at his leader, hoping that he didn't notice that the smile that he put upon his face didn't quite reach his eyes, nor notice the trickle of apprehension touch his affirmation. "You bet, Sir. Let's go and kick some Sindareen butt!"
Nodding, the motion firing his eyes, and his heart with steely determination, Will fired up the engines and lay in his course. "Best damned idea I've heard all day. Now let's go and get my girl."
Chapter thirty five
Shut away again, out of sight and out of mind in the dark and dank hold, Deanna and her fellow captives felt the shift in tension escalate throughout the ship - not only through themselves, but her captors too. The fear reverberated from person to person as the arrival of the ships signalled the next stage in this deadly war game, the men able to stand, moved gingerly to their feet in anxious expectation.
They were here.
The Federation had ignored her silent advice and had come anyway. One part of her, the part that hurt, told her that they truly did not have a choice but to come. The other part, the part the hurt even more, hoped with all her heart that they would sacrifice those few and save the many.
But what hurt most of all was knowing the man that she had fallen desperately and hopelessly in love with would have come despite everything. She couldn't stop the shudder that rippled through her body, not only for the battle that was sure to come, but because, at last, at long last, if they got through this, if they made it home, Deanna was a only heartbeat away from seeing Will again. But the even greater reason was because any moment now, she might lose her Imzadi forever.
Her thoughts and movements betrayed her Jeb shifted his own thoughts from elsewhere to his charge. He had to reassure her, to help her through this next trial. "We'll be fine." He'll be fine," Jeb emended, realizing that her own thoughts were focused on one man as he held her closer still, trying to absorb the trembles that racked her slender frame, his quiet voice, strong with conviction as he studied Deanna's shadowed features as she sat tucked close beside him.
Deanna marvelled at the man holding her. In spite of the incredible pain he was suffering from his ankle injury, Jeb still managed to hold it together enough to offer her comfort. She so needed him beside her through this; to replace the one person that she could not have in his place. Deanna could only turn in his arms and coil her arms around his neck in gratitude.
Momentarily startled, and surprised at the innocent affection that Deanna was showering upon him, Jeb Murser recoiled a fraction until he felt her need, and then his fatherly instincts kicked in and he held her back, gently rubbing away the chilling shudders that still rippled throughout her slim body.
He knew what was troubling her, despite the obvious. The war was about to begin in earnest, and they were either going to live, or they were going to die. For some of them that had no one to care for, including him, death was just another step into another dimension. For others, like Deanna, death would be another path, a path of loneliness, and loss, and infinitely more. But it didn't start in the afterlife. It started here. Right now, and Deanna was already beginning to feel that loss even though he knew as well as she did, that her beloved was still alive.
Jeb could only offer her his comfort, and Deanna seemed more than content with that. His ankle hurt worse that hell itself and he tried valiantly not to move the shattered limb. As Deanna had turned in his arms, he felt the hot shard of pain shoot through his entire body and it was as much as he could take to stop the moan from leaving his mouth. He shifted a fraction to alleviate the pressure, but the woman in his embrace seemed oblivious to his dilemma.
And then he realized that along with her sudden stillness she was deathly quiet, the shudders finally ceasing along with everything else, bar the thrum of the ship surrounding them. She was communicating with someone, and Jeb had no doubt that it was their saviour, Lieutenant William Riker.
He hoped. Oh, God, how he hoped.