<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m definitely detecting something, Jim,\u201d Bones said, frowning at the instrument in his hand.\u00a0 \u201cA microscopic bio-chemical mass, barely registering, but in the same\u2026location\u2026 in each of us.\u201d<\/p>\n Bones started over to where I stood, ready to scan me too, assuming \u2013 how had it not occurred to me before now? \u2013 that, as an outsider, I might be a target, too.<\/p>\n Two of the Magda\u2019s attendants were instantly between us, taking his move as aggression.\u00a0 They each had some device in their hands, raised as weapons and ready to use on him.<\/p>\n \u201cStop!\u201d I exclaimed.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s only trying to do a medical scan.\u201d<\/p>\n The Magna waved her hand and Bones was forced to stand down.\u00a0 She smiled that knowing smile again.\u00a0 \u201cHow male-like to think we would harm one of our own gender, and an Elder at that.\u00a0 Truly these manlings have such small capacity for understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n Bones glared at the Magna, and I thought I wouldn\u2019t want to be in his crosshairs when he was in medical mode, focused and fearless, maybe rashly so.<\/p>\n \u201cTell me what this thing is,\u201d he demanded, protocol be damned.\u00a0 \u201cIs this some kind of joke?\u00a0\u00a0 If you\u2019re saying this is some kind of bio-weapon, why does it register as inert?\u201d<\/p>\n The Magna took a step back, as if in distaste.\u00a0 \u201cElder Surat, this one is very emotional.\u00a0 His aggression needs tempering, though I apologize for presuming to advise such an Elder as yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n She glanced at Bones with utter disdain, but her ego got the better of her.\u00a0 She couldn\u2019t resist bragging about her accomplishments.\u00a0 \u201cStill, he is perceptive in this observation.\u00a0\u00a0 The mass is programmed to remain dormant for a period, after which a mechanism initiates the bio-chemical reactions that set the disease in motion.\u00a0 A very elegant construction; one I would think a so-called scientist such as this doctor might appreciate.\u00a0 It took my own best researchers years to develop, according to my personal specifications.\u00a0 This allows the recipients ample time to comprehend the significance of their ending, the nature of their fate, and to repent the sins of their gender.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe sins of their gender?\u201d Spock asked, a raised eyebrow indicating his surprise.\u00a0 \u201cYou are attempting to inflict a punishment on random males for the perceived sins of one male forty years ago?\u00a0 That is hardly logical.\u201d<\/p>\n The Magdena Magna turned on him with sudden fierceness.\u00a0 \u201cYou know nothing of our world,\u201d she hissed.\u00a0 \u201cYou think your logic, your intellect, superior to mine, to ours?\u00a0 You stand there even now, clearly unable to grasp that you face imminent death, that your very manhood is what condemns you, and that no one \u2013 no one \u2013 will save such a creature as yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n The Magna was on a roll.\u00a0 There was pure venom in her voice as she went on, walking up to stand right in front of Spock.\u00a0 You could sense the collective gasp from the other women in the room, and her guards shifted their hands back toward their weapons, tense, and ready to spring.\u00a0 The Magna\u2019s deliberate closeness to a male \u2013 and a foreigner at that \u2013 was clearly an act of stunning boldness.<\/p>\n \u201cUnder the guise of diplomacy, your people intruded into my culture, violated my people \u2013 my family!<\/i> \u2013 arrogantly ignoring thousands of years of our civilization, as if we were mere savages.\u00a0 There is a reason, Mr. Spock, that we have succeeded in relegating males to the fringes of our society, relegated them to tightly controlled and limited roles.\u00a0 Otherwise, we would fall into chaos and conflict, like what we have heard of other worlds.\u00a0 Where there is aggression and conquest, there are always males leading the way.\u00a0 Your deaths can only benefit the worlds from which you come.\u201d<\/p>\n She turned away now, her anger still there, but less heated.\u00a0 \u201cIf I have been far more clever than your Federation anticipated, it does not surprise me.\u00a0 Your people have underestimated me.\u00a0 But they will not do so in the future, not after they see first hand what I am capable of.\u201d<\/p>\n I stood trying to follow this conversation, keeping a close eye on those familiar faces.\u00a0 How could things have gone so horribly wrong?\u00a0\u00a0 I had to remind myself that they didn\u2019t yet know all that I did, didn\u2019t know what these women did to men on a regular basis in the name of honor and purity.<\/p>\n And now it turns out their fearless leader had been nursing a grudge for nearly four decades, driven by her cultural beliefs and her own personal grief \u2013 the grief she\u2019d imposed on herself, killing her own daughter to comply with some insane set of rules.\u00a0 With all her impressive powers, intelligence and planetary resources at her disposal, was it possible she\u2019d actually succeeded?\u00a0 That she\u2019d actually designed and infected them with something that was going to kill them?<\/p>\n I was terrified that it was.<\/p>\n I wondered how she\u2019d done it, then noticed that Bones was just now grimly turning back from some little business of his own, wielding his scanner toward the wine glasses sitting empty on an elegantly carved tray.\u00a0 The toast.\u00a0 Three glasses alike, a fourth obviously for the Magna.\u00a0 Oh, god, the whole diplomacy imperative.\u00a0 They\u2019d been sitting ducks from the start.<\/p>\n \u201cNever mind all that now, Spock,\u201d Bones snapped.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cYou can\u2019t argue with her kind of logic.\u00a0 The more important thing is, just how long a fuse does this ticking time bomb of yours have?\u201d<\/p>\n The Magna stared at him.<\/p>\n \u201cHow long do we have before the bio-mass begins to degrade and initiate whatever reaction you\u2019ve programmed into it, dammit,\u201d he clarified impatiently.<\/p>\n \u201cSome hours,\u201d she smiled, waving her hand vaguely.\u00a0 \u201cPerhaps three or four.\u00a0 Or five.\u00a0 Perhaps less.\u00a0 It varies according to individual.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBones, what are we talking about here?\u201d Jim interjected.\u00a0 \u201cWhat kind of \u2026effects?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDammit, Jim, I can\u2019t just instantly intuit a chemical reaction from what\u2019s registering now as basically an inert mass.\u00a0 As far as I can tell, it\u2019s half-organic and half synthetic.\u00a0 I need time, and access to my lab to analyze it.\u00a0 For all I know this could even be some kind of bluff she\u2019s running.\u201d<\/p>\n The Magna responded in her silky voice.\u00a0 \u201cBluff?\u00a0 Ah, I understand, you think I might be\u2026 lying?\u00a0 Yet another insult to my intelligence and integrity?\u00a0 I assure you, this is very real.\u00a0 You are correct on one point, though, Doctor.\u00a0 For now it is inert.\u00a0 When the time-trigger is tripped, you will experience rapid, severe and widespread organ failure, cellular breakdown on a systemic level.\u00a0 It is a quite agonizing manner of death, I\u2019ve observed, but, fortunately for you, no man has survived longer than 24 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t keep quiet.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a bluff, Bones.\u00a0 This whole society apparently practices misandry \u2013 a systematic persecution of men.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy god, how many people have you used this on?\u201d Bones was incensed now.<\/p>\n The Magna shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cI can tell you that the mortality rate is essentially one hundred percent, or so our experience with the Cassandra<\/i> would indicate.\u00a0 A\u2026how would you say?…a\u2026serendipitous accident, that crash.\u00a0 Let us say it is quite effective, and should certainly convince your Federation, and Starfleet, that it can no longer regard Ardros as merely another planet available to have its women\u00a0 – and its resources – plundered.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe must\u2026 return to our ship, Magna,\u201d Jim said sharply.\u00a0 \u201cYou must at least allow us access to our medical facilities to do what we can to counteract this.\u00a0 You can\u2019t possibly expect us to simply\u2026 accept this fate\u2026 this\u2026 death sentence you\u2019re implying.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJim, we can\u2019t\u2026\u201d Bones interrupted him, his voice tense, but Jim silenced him with a quick, loaded look and a hand on his arm.<\/p>\n The Magna looked altogether too pleased at this idea.\u00a0 \u201cAs you wish, Captain.\u00a0 I am not unreasonable.\u00a0 I will order a brief opening of the shield for you to contact your ship to transport the three of you.\u201d<\/p>\n Three?\u00a0 Hey, wait a minute.<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll return to the ship with my men,\u201d I said, rather forcefully.<\/p>\n \u201cWith all deference, you will not wish to do that, Elder,\u201d said the Magdena Magna, as she gave the order to one of her aides, who was keeping as far away from this scene as she could, back pressed against the wall.<\/p>\n Jim glanced my way as he flipped open his communicator.\u00a0 The immediate sound of Scotty\u2019s voice coming through was overwhelmingly reassuring.\u00a0 \u201cFour to transport as\u2026 instructed, Mr. Scott,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n I admit it.\u00a0 I\u2019d hit my limit.\u00a0 I answered the Magna with a force that shocked me.\u00a0 I think maybe it even shocked my friends.\u00a0 She actually recoiled in the face of my imperious response.<\/p>\n I practically spat the words at her.\u00a0 \u201cWith all deference, Magna,\u201d I said, as I moved to join my friends, just before we were all beamed up, \u201cI go where I please.\u201d<\/p>\n Probably a more effective exit line than my first impulse, which was screw you.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" <previous\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 next > \u00a0Jim whipped around to Bones, who was already wielding his scanner, running it first over Jim, then Spock, then finally himself. \u201cI\u2019m definitely detecting something, Jim,\u201d Bones said, frowning at … Continue reading ![\"300px-The_Earth_seen_from_Apollo_17\"](\"https:\/\/hanilives.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/300px-The_Earth_seen_from_Apollo_17-150x150.jpg\")
<\/a>\u00a0Jim whipped around to Bones, who was already wielding his scanner, running it first over Jim, then Spock, then finally himself.<\/p>\n