Captain Picard was just settling into bed when the red alert klaxon sounded. Riker's voice came over the intercom.

"Captain Picard to the bridge". Picard groaned and climbed out of bed. The conference was starting tomorrow, and he had hoped to be well rested, however duty called. He slipped into his uniform quickly, and headed into the turbolift to go to the bridge.

"Number One, what's going on?" Picard asked Riker.

"A bombing sir - on Ma'at. The distress call just came in. The main conference hall has been severely damaged, as have many of the surrounding buildings."

"Casualties?"

"Yes, sir. There were many wounded, some critically. No deaths have been reported."

"Mr. Data, what is our ETA?"

"At present speed, ten hours, twelve minutes, fifteen seconds..."

"Increase speed to warp 9." Picard interrupted. "Picard to sickbay"

"Nurse Ogawa here, Captain."

"Contact Dr. Crusher. Inform her that there will be heavy casualties coming in due to a bombing on Ma'at. I'll have Data transfer the details to her office."

"Aye, Captain. Ogawa out"

"Captain, we have an incoming hail" Worf announced, checking his monitor again, "Sir, it's the Pu'v".

"I'll take it in my ready room" He walked into the room and sat down at his desk. He sighed. The Pu'v were new to the Federation, and tensions had been running high. He hit the comm button on his viewer and thought to himself 'it was going to be a long night'.

Darren had just gotten to sleep when the red alert klaxon sounded. The noise startled him, and he sat up in bed. Colby was next to him, still asleep. He glanced around the room, and his eyes came to rest upon his desktop viewer. A light was flashing, indicating that there was a message waiting for him. He was completely awake by this point, so decided to take a look at it. He climbed out of bed, being careful not to disturb Colby, and sat down at the desk.

"Computer, display message" he said. The computer registered his command and the message came up on the screen.

In the death of the night, everyone's got a theory, and frankly, I don't need to try and explain. We stare each other down, we hide behind a mask of lies, and yet I see the truth inside your eyes. The ghost of a memory, put time in a capsule, we twist and turn where angels burn. I know you're the nervous kind, you're never safe 'till you see the dawn, probing all the weakness, listen to the hunter becoming hunted. I am anything I want to be, begin to doubt my state of mind, sacrifice my happiness just so I can win. The look in their eyes, anger stole the jewels away, ultra violet is a wicked spell. I'm gonna crash into your world, I'm gonna do my best to break you, and then, when the madness stops, you will be alone. You're a magic time reversal clock, you mangle the truth while you take the bait, and when the world is closing in, you know time will be the thief and your fallen king will end up alone. I wonder if you know the pain, and ooh, I'd die to find out. You, however, have to die to leave my world. Take heed - all the psychic powers of suggestion I've been sending your way are important. All hope of salvage is now devoid.

Darren shuddered as he read the message. It was almost completely made up of lines from Savage Garden's songs, and yet he didn't totally understand what it all meant. Was it a threat? A warning? Again, his mind wandered back to the figure in the turbolift. He started wondering about the Captain's request - could the figure, and this message, be somehow related to the conspiracy?

Chapter 8

Back to Chapter 6
Back to Main Page