TheBraveAndTheBoldBookOne This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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On 11 September 2001, I was in the midst of writing Part 1 of this book when the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were brutally attacked. The WTC was destroyed, killing thousands, and scarring the skyline of my hometown forever.
This book is sadly but emphatically dedicated to those whose lives were lost on that awful day.
Prelude Discovery
2151
This portion of the story takes place shortly before the Enterprise first-season episode Breaking the Ice.
Chapter One
C APTAIN , I believe you should come down to see this.
The captain of the Enterprise smiled at what almost sounded like enthusiasm coming from his Vulcan science officer, filtered through the intercom speakers in his quarters.
See what, TPol? Captain Jonathan Archer asked. He was currently kneeling on the floor, scratching his beagle Porthos behind one floppy ear.
I believe that we have found evidence that this planet is, in fact, the homeworld of the Zalkat Union.
The planet to which the Vulcan sub-commander referred was Beta Aurigae VII. Enterprise, the still largely experimental flagship of Earths nascent Starfleet space service, had been given a mandate to explore new worlds, and the Beta Aurigae system was full of them. The seventh planet even had an oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere (what the Vulcans referred to as a Minshara-class planet), so Archer had authorized TPol to lead a team to explore the surfaceafter a thorough scan, naturally. Archer had made the mistake of not making sufficient preparations for visiting an Earth-type world once, and several members of his crew almost paid for that with their lives. Jonathan Archer liked to think that he learned from his mistakes.
They had not detected any sentient animal lifeindeed, the largest animal theyd been able to detect was an insectnor anything especially dangerous to humanoids. There was plenty of plant life, and the probe and sensor readings indicated a scattering of refined metals and the remnants of a system of roads.
Let me guess, Archer said, standing upright, thus prompting a hurt look from Porthos, the Alley Cat Unions another one of those races were not meant to know about yet? He reached for the cup of coffee on the nightstand as Porthos started sniffing his boots.
Zalkat, not alley cat, Captain, and hardly, TPol said in the tone that Archer had come to recognize as the one she used when he was being annoyingly human. As far as he could tell, those times were roughly whenever Archer was awake. Sometimes, however, the teasing was impossible for him to resist, hence his deliberate malapropism.
She continued Archaeological evidence of the Union has been found on several worlds throughout the sectorand all of it indicates that the Unions heyday was over ninety thousand years ago.
Archer almost sputtered his coffee. Ninety thousand?
Yes, sir.
Wow. It took Archer a moment to wrap his mind around the number. Ninety thousand years ago, Homo sapiens didnt even exist. What have you found?
The remains of a building that, as best I can tell, was recently unearthed. Ive been extrapolating the weather patterns, and it would seem that erosion has been caused
TPol, he said with a smile, please tell me you didnt call to talk about the weather.
Excuse me? she said archly.
Archer sighed. Just give me the basics of what you found. Save the details for your written report.
A noise that Archer chose to interpret as static rather than a tcha of disapproval preceded TPols next statement. We have found several items containing markings consistent with other Zalkatian artifacts, as well as humanoid bone fossils that are consistent with those found at other Zalkatian sites. Ensign Sato has also discovered a box.
A box? Archer prompted when no further details were forthcoming.
Yes, sir. Mr. Reed has been attempting to gain ingress to the box, thus far with minimal success.
What, blasting it open with a phase pistol didnt work? Archer said with a laugh.
No.
Archer blinked. TPol, I was kidding.
So was Mr. Reed when he first made the suggestion. However, after all other avenues were exhausted, he did attempt to, as you so eloquently put it, blast it open. That proved as fruitless. The box is made of a material impervious to coherent phased light.
After gulping down the remainder of his coffee, Archer asked, Whats the big deal about this box anyhow? At Porthoss pleading look, Archer disposed of the coffee cup and then knelt down to scratch the canine behind the ears some more. Youre not getting any cheese, so stop giving me that look, he said to the puppy.
Sir?
Nothing, he said quickly. What about the box?
Ensign Sato has concluded, based on a very limited linguistic database that I provided, that the box contains critical documents relating to Malkus the Mighty.
Dare I ask what Malkus the Mighty is?
Was, Captain. Several of the documents that have been recovered from Zalkatian sites have made reference to Malkusapparently a tyrant who ruled for many years. Accounts have chronicled his reign at anywhere from ten years to a thousand yearsthe former is more likely, though the latter more prevalent in the accounts. The box is probably of the same tenor as most other documents relating to Malkus tributes to his glory, accounts of his greatness, and other such emotional outpourings.
Grinning, Archer asked, Is that distaste I hear in your tone, Sub-commander?
Certainly not, TPol said indignantly.
In any case, youve sold me.
Sir?
Sounds like this is a major archaeological find. He cradled Porthos in his arms and then stood upright. The dog made a happy bleating noise in response and licked Archers hand. Id like to get a good look at it. Mr. Tucker, Porthos, and I will be on the next pod down.
Sir, I dont think its necessary for you to bring
Archer sighed as he interrupted. Are we going to start this again? Porthos is a beagle. Hes spent most of his time sitting patiently in my cabin when every instinct in his little canine body pushes him to run yapping all over the ship. Id say hes earned another chance to run free in the great outdoors for a while.
After a brief pause, TPol said slowly, If youd let me finish, sir, youd have known that I have no objection to bringing your animal downassuming he is kept out of the main archaeological site we have established. My objection was to the presence of Mr. Tucker.
I cant see whyyou two havent gotten into an argument for hours, Archer said dryly. You must be suffering withdrawal.
I simply do not see what Mr. Tucker can contribute to the landing partyplus it would place Enterprise s four seniorm
ost crew members off-ship.
Travis can handle the conn while were gone. And Trips an engineer. Theyre good at opening things that dont want to be openedin fact, thats a particular talent of Trips.
Really? The dubiousness practically dripped from TPols voice.
Really. Well be down within the hour. Archer out. After cutting off that connection, he opened another. Archer to Tucker.
Tucker here.
Howd you like to take a little trip, Trip?
There was a pause, then a snort of what might have almost been laughter. Capn, however long you been waitinto use that lineyou shoulda waited longer.
It took Charles Trip Tucker all of forty-five seconds to open the box.
Malcolm Reed stared daggers at him. How in the hell did you do that, Commander?
Sorry, trade secret, Tucker said with his toothy smile.
Look, I went at that thing for the better part of an hour, Reed said, his normally dry face looking positively sour. I think
Forget it, Malcolm, Archer said with a grin. Trips not one to reveal a trade secret.
As his security chief continued to regard his chief engineer with disdain, Archer looked around the dig site. One of Reeds people had been detailed with keeping an eye on Porthos as he ran around a bushy area. Archer, meanwhile, looked admiringly at a pile of stones that vaguely resembled pictures of Greek ruins hed seen. The architectural style was completely different, of course, but it evoked the same feeling of treading on ancient ground. Ninety thousand years, he thought, still in awe of the number. Once, this barren, brown kilometer-wide patch of dirt was probably a thriving metropolis. Now there was nothing but an assortment of rocks and broken trinkets. Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair, he thought, recalling the Percy Bysshe Shelley poem.
TPol had collected several itemssome seemingly ordinary pieces of rock, others that appeared to have a particular shapeinto a sample case, each tagged with a notation written in the severe Vulcan script. Archer instinctively wanted to rebuke her for that Enterprise was an Earth ship, so to Archers mind the documentation should have been in an Earth languagebut he realized immediately how foolish that was. The two people who were going to be spending the most time with the artifacts from this dig were TPol and the ships linguist, Ensign Hoshi Sato. It mattered only that those two could read the notes. Their reports would be in English in any case.
Speaking of the young ensign, she was now kneeling down in front of the box, pawing through its contents, her hands clad in sterile gloves. I was right! These have the same markings as the box. She held something up to TPol, who stood next to her. Archer leaned in close to see a very small cubebarely two centimeters on a sidewith surprisingly elaborate markings, given its size. Sato easily held the cube between her forefinger and thumb. See? That glyph is definitely the symbol for mighty, she added, pointing to a marking on one side, then pointed to the opposite side, and thats the one for story. Its got to be more of those Malkus Chronicles.
TPol, her hands also gloved, took the cube. The evidence does seem to point to that conclusion.
The word mighty shouldnt be a clue all by itself, Archer said. I mean, this Malkus guy cant have been the only person to whom that word would apply.
Actually it is, Sato said sheepishly. See, that, she said, pointing to one corner of the glyph, indicates that its a proper name, and belongs to a great personage.
TPol added, The word mighty written in that particular style has thus far been exclusively found in relation to Malkus. It would seem that Ensign Satos hypothesis was correct.
Smiling, Sato stood up. Told you.
This is an even greater find than you might think, TPol said. These are a type of data storage. Other such items have been foundmany of them fragments of the so-called Malkus Chronicles. Until now, however, we have not found any units in such pristine condition.
They were certainly well preserved in that damn box, Reed muttered. Then, louder, he added, Actually, thats probably why that box was so bloody hard to get into. If it was related to such an important figure
TPol nodded. That is a logical deduction.
Pristine or not, Archer said, it doesnt do us any good if we cant read it. I dont think we have anything on board thatll interface with that thing.
Tucker walked over to the box. Lemme take a look at that.
Sato grabbed the box and moved it away from Tucker. Not until you get some gloves on.
Whoa there, Ensign Squeaky Clean, I took a shower fore I came down.
I dont care if you dipped yourself in a vat of decon gel, youre not touching my artifacts without gloves on.
Your artifacts? Tucker said with a laugh. You said they had this Malkus fellas name on em, not yours.
Malcolm, give the commander a pair of gloves, Archer said before the argument went on.
Fine, fine, gimme the damn gloves, Tucker said with a look at Sato. For her part, Sato continued to look defiant. She had obviously taken a personal interest in this find.
Reed smiled as he went to the supply box, and said in a perfect imitation of Tuckers drawl, Keep your shirt on.
Archer managed to maintain a straight face, as, naturally, did TPol. Sato had somewhat less discipline, and burst into a giggle.
Tucker turned to Archer. Yknow, if I wanted abuse, I coulda stayed home. Next time, open yown damn boxes. However, he took the gloves Reed profered a moment later, put them on, then looked at Sato. May I?
Presenting him with the box, Sato said with a smile, Knock yourself out, Commander.
Tucker studied one of the cubes for several seconds, then said, I think I might be able to modify one of the readers. Itll take a couple hours, thoughand Ill need to take one of these with me.
All right, take them back up to Enterprise, Archer said. TPol, go with him and give him a hand.
Captain, Sato said, request permission to go back
Deniedfor now, he added at the ensigns forlorn look. Once theyve rigged the reader up, then Ill want you in orbit translating whats on these cubes, but until then, with TPol going back to the ship, I want you down here cataloging what we find.
Yes, sir.
You will be remaining as well? TPol asked Archer.
The captain nodded. Not quite a first contact, but close enough for me. Id like to learn more about this Zalkat Union. Besides, he added with a smile, Porthos could use a little more running-around time.
Five hours later, Archer took a pod back up to Enterprise, along with Reed, the rest of the archaeological crew, a crate full of samples, and a very content beagle (who spent the entire trip from the surface asleep in Archers lap). An hour prior to that, TPol had sent a pod down to fetch Sato, and by the time Archer had settled back onto Enterprise, the two of them had a preliminary report for him.
The captain sat behind his desk. TPol stood calmly on the other side of the desk, while Sato was pacing around the cramped space, seemingly ready to burst. Archer found it an amusing contrast.
TPol said, This chronicle is somewhat different from the others that have been unearthed.
It was written after Malkus was overthrown, Sato added excitedly.
I have to say, Ensign, Archer said with a smile, youre remarkably enthusiastic for someone whod never heard of the Zalkat Union two days ago.
Its a fascinating culture, Captain, Sato said, now sounding a bit more sheepish. I could spend days just listening to their languageit has so many layers and nuances. They took their words very seriously. And their sculpturewhat we were able to unearth and what the sub-commanders shown me in some other recordsits just amazing.
Smiling indulgently, Archer said, Continue your report, Sub-commander.
After a brief nod, TPol said, Ensign Sato is correct in that this chronicle was written after Malkus was overthrown. In addition, it also provided the first evidence of how Malkus was able to rule for so long.
How long?
Apparently, and here, it seemed to Archer, TPol spoke with the greatest reluctance, he truly did reign
for the rough equivalent of one thousand years. Malkus had four items constructed which served as the instruments of his rule. They were devices of impressive powerfar in excess of the Unions baseline technology level.
Did he steal the technology from another spacefaring power?
Unknownand unlikely. Based on the descriptions that Ensign Sato and I have translated, it is in keeping with the Unions technology curve, simply farther along on that curve than the rest of the Union of that era. To give an Earth analogy, the creator of these devices was the Zalkatian equivalent of Leonardo daVinci. Unlike da Vinci, however, who could not construct the ornithopter he designed, Malkus was able to provide the material for these devices to be created.
So what do they do? Archer asked, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.
One was capable of controlling the weather, one imparted a fatal virus, one served as an immensely powerful energy weapon, and the final device could be used to channel telepathy.
Archer sat up. Mind control?
Yes, sir.
Basically, Sato said as she paced back and forth past the images of other, older ships named Enterprise on the office wall, he could force people to do what he wanted, and if they still didnt obey, they had their choice of dying by disease, tornado, or being blasted into oblivion.
Thats quite a combination. Archer knew his words didnt do their meaning justice. He thought back to the tyrants of human history, and imagined what Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler, or Colonel Green would have done with even one of those devices, much less all four. Hell, he thought, any sufficiently crazed Japanese shogun or Russian czar would have a field day. So what happened to the devices after Malkus was overthrown? He snorted. For that matter, how was he overthrown?
We havent found that part, yet, Sato said. She had moved to stand next to TPol. Captain, each of the cubes we found had different things on it, but the information were giving you about Malkuss devices is on all of them. I think thats why the box was so well preservedthe Zalkatians wanted someone to find these chronicles in the future.
STAR TREK - The Brave and the Bold Book One Page 1