Fateful Night - 21104.01

By Raass Giraath

--San Francisco Spaceport Pub, Earth, Stardate 21102.12:

Raass Giraath sat in the pub at the San Francisco spaceport, awaiting his transport to his next assignment. Lieutenant Commander Jacob Schmitt sat across the table from him. The Lieutenant Commander was sipping a whiskey sour, and frowning at Raass.

“So tell me how you why you didn’t consider the Romulan offer? You’ve been working with Romulans long enough,” Schmitt said.

“So that’s what’s on you mind, eh?” Raass growled. “Well, if you must know, I refused because they were Romulans.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Schmitt said. “Your business associates are all Romulans!”

Raass glared at Lieutenant Commander Schmitt for several minutes.

“Very well, I’ll tell you,” Raass began…

--Silverclaw Village, Relcar II, Gorn Confederation, seventeen years ago:

Daylight was fading from the sky as the village prepared for the coming night. The gate-guards were calling for the last of the merchants to enter the village walls. In an hour, the gates would be closed to ward against nocturnal predators. Relcar II, despite a temperate climate, was a semi-arid world and had its share of large predators. They made for the best hunting, but they were one of the chief threats come nightfall for the smaller villages. Rraass’giraath couldn’t image living anywhere else.

At fifteen years old, he had become colony’s youngest Hunter-Killer just three years ago. Very soon, he would be undergoing the Rites of the Hunter, which would mark his final passage into adulthood. He was excited and eager for the Rites. The crowning moment of the Rites would be Rraass slaying a Ch’Caarrethiss, the largest and most difficult to hunt predator on Relcar II.

“Rraass!” a shrill voice called out.

Rraass looked in the direction of the call, and saw a young female gesturing for him to come to her. Grilisska’carresh had blue scales covering most of her body, with a pale yellow scales running down her chest and abdomen. She was very beautiful, and very interested in Rraass. That was unusual, as Rraass had always been the smallest child in the village. Over the past few years he had made up for his lack of height with sheer strength. Coupled with being the youngest Hunter-Killer in colony history, Rraass was becoming one of the most sought after young males in the village.

Rraass trotted over to Grilisska. “Good evening, Grilisska,” Rraass said.

“I made this for you,” Grilisska said, presenting Rraass with a bone-handled hunting knife. “For you’re Rites.”

Rraass took the knife and hefted it. It was heavy-bladed, yet well balanced. The bone handle was made from Blood Beast bone, and was intricately carved in hunting scenes. The craftsmanship of the whole knife was excellent.

“Thank you, Grilisska,” Rraass said. “This is a very fine blade.”

“You are welcome, Rraass,” Grilisska said. “The bone is from the Blood Beast you and your brothers killed. Carry it with honor.”

“I will,” Rraass replied.

Grilisska smiled at him and then darted off. Rraass grinned slowly. The prettiest girl in the village had given him a very fine regard gift. “You lucky runt,” Rraak’giraath said form behind him.

Rraass turned to see his younger brother standing there, grinning.

“You’re just jealous, Rraak,” Rraass said.

“Me and every other young hunter in the village,” Rraak replied. “It’s bad enough that you’ve got Grilisska’s exclusive interest, but every other maiden in the village is trailing after you.”

“What can I say; I am the strongest young hunter in the village. Not bad for a runt, eh?” Rraass jibed back.

Rraak opened his mouth to reply, but whatever he was saying was drowned out by an earsplitting roar. A bright green beam descended from the sky and struck the Meeting Hall. The Meeting Hall exploded in a flash of fire. Rraass glanced up at the sky, and saw three more green beams descending from the heavens. The ground around him erupted in flame and debris. Rraass was flung from his feet, and fell heavily on the ground. Rraass rolled over, and his head spun. There was a ringing in his ears, and the air reeked of smoke and charred flesh. He shook his head to clear the fog in his mind. The building he’d been standing by was nothing but rubble. His eyes fixed on Rraak. Half of Rraak’s body was blacked, and he wasn’t moving. Rraass crawled over to him, and tried to wake him. Part of him knew that Rraak was dead, but that part spoke to him as if from a great distance. The rest of him was in a state of shock. Rraak stayed motionless, despite Rraass’ shaking. After what seemed like an eternity, Rraass began to hear the sounds coming from the chaos around him.

Rraass looked up and saw the street. Motionless bodies littered the street. Even worse were the bodies that were still moving. Rraass could now hear the screams of the wounded. Rraass’ eyes were stinging; smoke was filling the streets. Rraass crawled away from Rraak’s body. His eyes took in the horror around him. He saw the village elders and hunters gathering in small groups across the village. They appeared to be taking up weapons. More fire rained down from the sky. He heard more screams as the disruptor fire (for that was what the green lances of light had to be) once again brought death to the village.

Rraass crawled away, searching for somewhere to hide. He burrowed into the rubble a nearby building. He found a place where the debris was loose, and dug his way inside. Part of the debris pile was still smoldering, and the heat was nearly unbearable. But the rubble provided some small protection against the deadly weapons fire outside. Rraass could still hear buildings being struck by weapons fire, and could feel the earth shake as blast after blast struck the village. Suddenly, the heavy impacts ceased. For a moment the village was utterly silent. Then Rraass could hear small arms fire and the cries of battle. The surviving hunters and elders of the village were apparently fighting back. Rraass could hear muffled shouts in a foreign language, mingling with the battle cries of the Gorn hunters.

The minutes passed slowly. The shouts and sounds of battle slowly faded away. Rraass waited. Things grew quiet. Slowly Rraass began burrowing back out. Night had fallen and the air was still. The first stars were shining brightly in the night sky, giving the world a beauty that was in stark contrast to the ghastly scene of death and destruction on the ground below. Rraass could still see the darker plumes of smoke rising from burning piles of rubble. Most of the village looked like it had been destroyed. Rraass could see a few shapes moving in the growing darkness. They were far too small to be Gorn. It had to be Romulans. Fear and anger finally cut through the numbness that had settled on him. Rraass dropped to a crouch near a debris pile when he heard the sound of boots scraping on the gravel strewn street.

A patrol of Romulans passed by Rraass. It seemed that they were searching for survivors. They stopped near a something Rraass could just make out as pair a bodies. They kicked one, and Rraass heard a faint groan. One of the Romulans then shot the wounded Gorn with his disruptor pistol. He kicked the next body. No groan can from the apparently dead Gorn, but the Romulan fired his weapon anyway. Rraass felt white-hot hate surge through him. The patrol moved on. A pair of Romulans lingered though, and began prodding another body. They shined a light on the corpse, and Rraass saw a yellow-scaled arm striated with blue. It was Grilisska’s mother. One of the Romulans fired a burst into her head.

Rraass was on his feet and charging the Romulans before he realized what he was doing. He hit the nearest one at full speed, his claws ripping into the Romulan’s soft flesh. He razor sharp claws tore the soldier’s throat out. Then Rraass spun and leaped at the other Romulan. The Romulan brought his pistol up and fired, narrowly missing Rraass. Rraass tore into the murderer, his claws rending flesh and breaking bone. A moment later the second Romulan was lying dead in the street. Rraass glanced around. Apparently the other Romulans hadn’t heard the brief scuffle. Rraass darted toward a gap in the village wall. He ran into the forest, and kept running until all he could hear was the night sound sounds of the forest.

Night deepened around him. He waited until the moon had risen and set. Then he found a hollowed out stump and crawled inside to pass the remainder of the night. He slept little, and when dawn crept into the forest, Rraass was still tired. He made his way back to the village. In the light of day, the carnage was even worse. Nothing in the village stirred, aside from a few wisps of smoke. Rraass slowly began checking the bodies strewn about the remains of the village. It seemed he was the only survivor. He gathered the bodies of his village, and began building the funeral pyres his people used. He found the bodies of his parents, dead outside their home. Several villagers were missing, including Grilisska’carresh. He assumed that their bodies were buried in the rubble of the village. After sifting through the ruins of two buildings, he realized that it was a wasted effort. Anyone who had been inside of any of the destroyed buildings had surely died. It was with a very heavy heart that Rraass began lighting the funeral pyres. He watched in silence as the flames carried the spirits of his people to S’Yahazah.

--San Francisco Spaceport Pub, Earth, Stardate 21102.19:

“I built a shelter afterwards, and spent the night in an exhausted sleep. The next morning I left for Relcar City. Spent a few weeks living as an urchin on the streets. Then I hired on with a starship crew and left home for good. Eventually I found myself living on Clanhaven. The rest is in my service file,” Raass said, in a hollow tone. He was slowly twirling a bone handled knife between his hands.

“I had no idea,” Lieutenant Commander Schmitt said quietly. “Is that the knife she gave you?”

“Yes. I’ve carried it ever since,” Raass said.

Then the spaceport attendants called out Raass’ flight number.

“Take care of yourself, Ensign,” Lieutenant Commander Schmitt said.

“Yeah. I’ll try not to resign again,” Raass hissed. He grabbed his rucksack and headed off toward his shuttle.