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| - I sat up and rubbed my head; it felt like a ton of bricks. I opened my eyes, and attempted to focus my vision enough to see, but couldn’t. I groaned. “What happened?” I spoke the words aloud; somewhat hoping for a reply, but not expecting one. I was surprised when I voice said, “Destiny, are you okay?” I replied, “Nicky?” At last, my eyes focused, and I found myself looking into Nicky’s worried face. I tried to get to my feet, but stumbled as I did so. Nicky lent me an arm for support. “Careful, you got hit by a phaser. It was set to stun, but you were hit right in the chest. Try not to walk yet.” I nodded and sat back down, slowly taking in what I could see around me. I was in the middle of a security cell, along with several other members of the crew. The cell was not that of Starfleet design, and I realized we must be aboard the Romulan Warbird. Across the hall from us stood another cell, and it didn’t take much imagination to guess there were others like it down the hall that contained the rest of the crew. There were four other people in the cell aside from Nicky and myself, including Lt. L’Nel, Chief Todd, Cadet Buccanan, and Denarchia. I turned to Nicky. “What do you think they want with us?” Nicky shook her head. “I’m not sure, but we’re alive, so they must need us for something.” At that very moment, the forcefield barring our cell was deactivated. Standing outside them, dressed in a black Romulan uniform, was Lt. Cmdr. Forrester. On her uniform was a six-pointed silver star, denoting the rank of a Romulan Grand Commander. I took note of the pointed Romulan ears, she had clearly undergone cosmetic surgery to have them altered, and I suspected that her blond hair was also fake. She had really played us well. As she entered the cell, she held up a hand. “Only the cadets.” We were led out of the cell by several Romulan guards armed with disrupters. As we were lined up in a row in the main chamber of the security section, Forrester began to speak. “Many of you may have already noticed, I am in fact of Romulan descent, as you can tell from my facial features. You are probably all thinking, that my hair was altered as well. However, it may come as surprise to you when I tell you that it is not fake; it is genetic.” We exchanged bewildered looks. How was that possible? She continued, “I received my coloration from my mother; Sela. Yes, that is correct; I am the only living descendent of Natasha Yar.” My eyes widened, and I heard several other cadets gasp. She smiled. “When I was young, my mother gave me the name Dawn. She told me it was because I would help bring about the beginning of a new era, one in which every species in the galaxy would be united under one master race, the Romulans. I quickly worked my way up the ranks of the Romulan military, even going as far as to kill my own mother to gain a greater position in the empire, waiting for the day when I could reveal my hand. Finally, the day came. I joined Starfleet using the surname Forrester, underwent surgery to appear human, and finally joined the crew of the Infinity. I tell you now; you were not brought here without reason. You cadets, will become the first foreign citizens of the Galactic Romulan Empire.” She walked to the far end of the line. “When I stand in front of you, you will pledge your eternal allegiance to the empire.” She stood in front of Cadet Buccanan. “Robert Buccanan, do you swear your life to the Galactic Romulan Empire?” Buccanan paused for a moment, and gulped. Then he looked at her, and narrowed his eyes. “Never. Screw your empire, and screw you.” Forrester replied, “Wrong answer.” She yanked out her disrupter and fired it at his head. I let out a shriek as he slumped to the floor in a heap. She sneered. “Slow in the head, as well as on foot.” She turned back to us. “I’ll give the rest of you an hour to consider your decision. Let me make this very clear to you; if you swear your allegiance to the empire, you will be the best. I will take the best, and I will kill the rest. Choose wisely.” She swiveled on her heel and left the room as we were led back to our cells. My hands were trembling, Cmdr. Forrester--no, Dawn--had just murdered Cadet Buccanan in cold blood, and she would do the same to every cadet that refused to join her. I found myself staring at the wall in a mental struggle; I couldn’t join the Romulans and betray the Federation; it went against everything I stood for. But if I refused, I would be executed, and that would leave me no better off. A tear slid down my cheek, and I punched the wall. I felt a hand come to rest on my shoulder, and I turned to see Nicky. She smiled at me. “It’s going to be alright Destiny.” “You bet it’s going to be alright, but only if we hurry.” We both turned towards Chief Todd, who was frantically ripping out wires from one of the ceiling lights. Nicky’s eyes widened. “Chief, they’re going to see you!” She smirked. “Nope. I modified the surveillance camera when they brought you guys out. Now it’ll play the last five minutes in an endless loop.” Denarchia replied, “What good is that going do us? There’s no way for us to get out.” Lt. L’Nel turned to her. “Actually, that assumption is incorrect. I have formulated a theory that may allow us to escape.” Chief Todd finished yanking out the wires and reattached the light cover. If I hadn’t seen her rip out the wires myself, I would’ve thought the light was just malfunctioning. The Vulcan engineer continued, “As you all know, this ship is equipped with a temporal phasic displacer, allowing the ship to phase out of this dimension and into others.” Denarchia cut in, “I hate to repeat myself, but what good will that do us?” L’Nel replied, “Patience cadet, I will explain that. While the ship itself is not phased out right now, in theory, anything making contact with the ship can harness its ability, even while it’s inactive.” My eyes widened. “Are you saying one of us could phase our body out of the ship?” L’Nel nodded. “In theory, but we would only be able to phase out enough to pass through the force field, any further and you would be left without the artificial gravity of the warbird.” Chief Todd glanced up from the mess of wires. “We need two people with high lung capacities. When we phase out, the air supply will be much lower.” I replied, “Orions have a high lung capacity.” Denarchia spoke up, “As do Xindi. I suppose you and I will go then.” I glanced over at her. “But, your arm-” She cut in, “Will be fine.” L’Nel nodded. “You two are the most logical choices.” Chief Todd began fashioning a pair of devices from the ball of wires. “As soon as you activate these, you’ll shift out of this dimension enough to pass through the wall. You will be undetectable on sensors, but still visible to the naked eye. You’ll have about sixty seconds. Once you escape, do not open any other cells; it’ll alert the Romulans to your escape. You’ll have to make your way to the bridge and disable the ship from there. Understood?” I nodded, and turned as I heard the sound of footsteps outside the cell. The chief shoved the devices behind her, and a moment later a sublieutenant and a pair of guardsmen walked up to our cell. The sublieutenant keyed in something on the panel by the force field, and a moment later it deactivated. The three Romulans entered the cell. “All the officers will follow me. Commander Dawn no longer sees value in keeping anyone besides the cadets alive. You are to be executed.” I gasped as the two guards dragged Chief Todd and Lt. L’Nel out of the cell. As she was led away, the chief flicked her eyes towards the bed on the opposite end of the room. I followed her gaze, and spotted two metal objects sitting under it. She looked me in the eye. “May God be with you cadets.” The sublieutenant sneered, and the force field rematerialized. All thirteen of the officers were led down the hall, and I caught sight of Christopher among them. He gave me a sad smile as he was led away, and I stared at the ground, utterly stunned. We had been through so much in the past month; we had survived the original Romulan assault, we had survived the shuttle crash and beaten the Guandians, we had even managed to defeat the Bioleeches, a species with technological and biological advancements far superior to ours. I was reminded of what the chief had first told me when I had asked her if she thought we’d ever get back home; she had told me that her God was in charge of what happened to us, that he had a purpose for all of this; it wasn’t just an accident. Well, if it was part of his plan, he would see it through to the end; I was about to find out. Denarchia turned to me. “We have to go, now.” Nicky gave me a half smile as she said. “Good luck.” I nodded and turned back to Denarchia. She handed me one of the devices. “On the count of three.” I nodded. “One.” “Two.” I took a deep breath. “Three!” I activated the device…
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