Chapter Text
Rakal turned to the away team. “We’re leaving. Now.”
Dral looked at the crowd who still regarded them with unease. She rubbed a sweaty hand against her coat and tried to slow her breathing. “Is that even possible? We can’t beam out, and I don’t think a shuttle…”
“I’m not willing to accept defeat, yet, Dral. Come on. And while we’re walking, tell me about what you see.”
Dral looked around, bewildered, but moved to walk alongside Rakal. “Anything in particular?”
“What jumps out at you about the culture?”
Dral had once written a paper about Romulan civilian textiles, and it felt fairly fresh in her mind, so she started there. “These people seem to favour natural fibres over synthetic. I see a lot of shawls and poncho-type outerwear. I know scientists always leap to some kind of ceremonial or religious explanation for everything, but it may just be what’s in style, now.”
She smiled at a woman who hustled her child into a building, looking over her shoulder. “There seems to be a great deal of paranoia in this culture, no doubt affected by the insular nature of the city. I’m reminded of ancient Cardassia and Romulus where conformity was law and the fashions became extensions of the government’s control of…” She trailed off. “Is this helpful in any way. I feel like I’m just rambling at this point.”
“Perhaps,” Rakal said, wryly. “But you’re not anxious anymore.”
“Oh.” Dral looked at her hands. “Well…thank you.” She turned to Lahiri. “Do you recognize these people? I feel like I should, but nothing is coming to mind.”
Lahiri shook her head. “I don’t think we’ve encountered them before, but I imagine a great deal was lost in the post-Burn chaos. I don’t trust our historical or cultural databases too intensely.” She waved at the signs and shop fronts. “My tricombadge isn’t identifying the language, either.” She stopped walking, suddenly. “Commander, another anomaly.”
They spun to see another opening in the air, this one showing a vast empty tract of land behind it.
“No time to scan. The city may be about to shift again.”
They dashed through the streets.
*****
Jirrok steeled herself. For what, she wasn’t sure, but when the two escapees materialized on the bridge, she tensed. Until one of them collapsed and she noticed burns on both of them. “Seldred, beam them and myself to sickbay.”
“Aye, Captain.”
The bridge vanished in a flash and then she found herself facing her Klingon CMO who immediately moved to assess the injured refugee.
“A social visit, Captain?” he said in his usual amiable growl. “I’m flattered.”
“I forgot to bring tea this time, Mukogh. My apologies.”
The large Klingon silently directed two nurses to move the injured refugee to a bio bed and said, “I will ignore this slight just this once.” before turning to his patient. As he worked, he met the eyes of the other, a woman who seemed worried. “What happened?”
The woman recoiled from Mukogh’s question, evidently taking his leonine aspect at face value. Jirrok stepped forward. “Dr. Mukogh is my chief medical officer and a skilled physician. You can trust him. And me, I hope.”
The woman took a breath, and then said, “The energy shield overloaded our systems. My colleague’s console exploded.”
“Colleague?” Mukogh said, nodding as though that was helpful information. “Do you two have any allergies I should know about?”
“Nothing relevant. Just a few minor food allergies.”
Mukogh tapped a few controls on the biobed. A readout display appeared before him. “He’s going into shock.” He spun rather gracefully for someone of his size and punched in a request to the medical replicator which produced a hypospray. This he administered. All the while, Jirrok found herself intensely grateful that Mukogh had chosen to stay on the ship when she’d offered. Having to get to know nearly a whole different crew was difficult, but Mukogh had taken the whole thing like a challenge.
The man on the bed stabilized, and Mukogh nodded. “My thanks for not dying on me,” he said aloud before turning to the other. He brought up a quick scan of her vitals and nodded to himself. “You appear to only have minor injuries. My nurse will assist you.” He directed her to another biobed where a nurse began healing her wounds with a dermal regenerator.
Medical crises dealt with, Jirrok approached the woman. “Do you mind telling me your names?”
The woman took a steadying breath. “I am Lona. My colleague is Denner.”
"What are your people called?" Jirrok asked, her voice calm and conversational. "For example, I am from a planet called Trill. Dr. Mukogh is a Klingon."
"We call ourselves The Children. I know we had an older name, but few remember it."
“Are you able to explain why you had to leave the city, Lona?”
“We were desperate,” she said, her voice small at first, but gained strength as she spoke. “The city was a prison. Or it felt like one. No one could leave. The population couldn’t grow. There were talks of instituting population controls, and we just couldn’t accept that. When we detected your ship in orbit, we knew we had to take the chance. So we stole a ship.” Lona met Jirrok’s eyes. “You must think us heartless, abandoning our friends and family.”
Jirrok kept her expression level. “I don’t know enough about your situation to judge. But I do know that refugees rarely choose to flee their homes unless they feel they have no other choice. If you wish us to return you, we will. If you wish to stay, I will consider your request.”
“If only the Scholar could help us,” Lona said absently.
“Who is the Scholar?”
“I don’t really know, but I do know that she created this situation. She’s the reason the city jumps through time.”
“Well, Jirrok said, it seems I have a call to make.”
*****
“Jirrok to away team.”
“Rakal here.” The edge of the city was in sight, but Rakal could see a contingent of armed guards before them. "We're about to encounter trouble, so talk fast."
"There's is an individual called--"
The transmission dissolved into a series of garbled pops and hums before going completely silent. She tapped her communicator again.
"Damn. Can anyone else get through?"
"Not at all, Commander," Nilsson said. "I'm also getting very weird readings."
"Run!"
The guards brandished their weapons as they approached. "You cannot cross the barrier! Your lives are in danger!"
White cracks began to spread through reality around them.
"You need to let us out, now!" Rakal shouted.
White light exploded around them.
*****
Captain Jirrok tapped her communicator again. "Away team, respond!" She activated her personal transporter and materialized on the bridge.
"What the hell is going on down there?"
Tosk's voice, usually gruff and serious sounded softer than usual. "Captain, the city has disappeared."
"Life signs?"
"Nothing."
A shocked silence descended on the bridge, broken only when Jirrok said, "I want them back. I don't care what we have to do.