With the Entity surrounded by a single unmoving moment in time, his link with all those who’d served him was severed.

**********

Doctor de Havilland heard the woman’s scream from outside, jolting him out of his trance like state. How long had he been sitting there on the floor; caked in the now dried blood of the man who’d early been trying to kill him and an unknown Vulcan. A Vulcan who’d been beamed away, by what the doctor recognised as a Federation Transported. He was annoyed that whoever had come to the rescue hadn’t seen fit to take him to.

Dragging himself up off the floor, the doctor looked at his dishevelled gross looking clothing. The average humanoid or biologically similar species contained within them roughly 5 litres of blood. Close to half that had spread out across the floor from the assailant after his catastrophic injury. Frank uniform pants were covered in the sticky congealed mess; but being black helped hide the fact. The smell however wasn’t hidden.

He stepped out of the house he’d been in; once he’d managed to unlock the door. The sun was higher in the sky, much higher in fact; indicating several hours had past. Just beyond the next building a ring of villages stood around a crouched figure that had its back towards the him. Some of them brandished an assortment of weapons; pitchfork, kitchen knife and fallen tree branch amongst them. He could only assume one of the three females amongst the group had been responsible for the scream.

The doctor approached cautiously; after all, these had been some of the very people, along with the dead man, who had attacked them in the first place. He’d almost closed the gap, when one of the women looked up at him.

“He’s got no face!” She exclaimed in shock.

“That thing was in our minds!” A male voice added.

“Making us say and do thing.” Sobbed a second women; she berried her head into the chest of the man next to her; most likely the husband, and cried.

“We should kill it” The man yelled again, waving the tree branch he was holding in the general direction of the creature.

“I can’t let you do that.” De Havilland announced, stepping amongst them.

The man looked at him; both puzzled and indignant. “Why should we let this thing live after what it did to use?”

“Because it’s just a slave and a puppet, like we all were.” The voice of an elderly woman with an air of authority about her; came from beyond the circle. “And I know you’re better than this Yeshan.”

The group, including the doctor turned their head towards the new arrival. The woman he’d first witnessed standing over the Vulcan. “Thank you.” He said to her with a nod.

“Don’t thank me doctor de Havilland, I was one of those desperately trying to kill the Commander.” Jia looked down at the ground. “I only hope I failed.”

De Havilland was surprised the woman knew his name, as he’d never said it; at least not to his knowledge. “I don’t know if he made it or not. But someone did beam him off the planet.”
“These used to be good hands; healing hands.” Jia spoke softly, turning them to examine every wrinkle and scare, time had given them.

The man she’d referred to as Yeshan walked up to her. They were both roughly the same age and height; had both lived in this small settlement since birth. He gripped both of her hands softly. “Jia, I have known you since before you became our ‘Oockoolo’. We grew up here.” He smiled, recalling how unruly and disruptive he’d been as a youth. “I trust your wisdom. I trust these hands.”

She smiled back at him, her hands still in his and looked across at the doctor. “The faceless one is yours to help and protect. See if you can find from where he came.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” De Havilland replied, helping the creature to its feet; the group made a gap for him and the two of them headed towards the doctors vehicle.

**********

High Chancellor Krevis stood by the window; the same window in his office he’d stood at when, as a brutal display of power, Helgeshran had caused one of the gardens to murder his collogue. It used to be a wonderful view, even if it still reflected the tastes of the Romulan Empire that had once been in occupation of the planet. Now he found it hard to look out of them, without recalling that horrific moment.

He’s people had gone from slaves, to a free people and back into slavery; all in under a year. Very few Vashran still possessed any form of free will; the numbers didn’t just drop by the day, but by the hour. He’d watched the life and sole of friends and collogues slowly slip away as the Helgeshran finally took hold.

Soon it would take him to; he already heard the voice in his mind, it was stronger now, more convincing. Was it a curse or a blessing, that his mind had the strength and resolve to hold on; just to watch all those around him, turn into puppets.

This was certainly not the benevolent God they’d worshipped for centuries. It may have used the name, but all pretence of even looking like their deity had long since been abandoned. This thing; whatever it was, took on a human like form. If they did have a God, it had given up on them. Had the fact they’d made little effort to break free from the Romulan oppression, singled them out as being unworthy? Was this what it was all about? They had been a slave race and always would be, just with a new master.

He ran a scaly finger along the metal edge of the letter opener concealed in his pocket. The thought had been to use it against his secretary; kill her and escape. Alternatively, he could use it on himself and end it all. It was a laughable idea though; their thick skins would make it almost impossible to inflict any significant injury with a blade as blunt as this one.

Krevis slapped his other hand against the glass in frustration; it was quiet, to quiet in fact. The cogs of his mind slowly turned, clicking into place, one by one. Silence, no voice, he couldn’t hear Helgeshran. He closed he’s eyes; not sure if it was a miracle or a sign of total madness.

He walked over to the door of his office, unsure what he would encounter on the other side, when it opened. Ikali was at her desk, arms folded across it, head berried; she was crying. Krevis placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder; softly telling her that everything would be ok and he didn’t hold any anger or bitterness towards her actions. No, his anger was aimed squarely at Helgeshran, or whatever that abomination really was.

The High Chancellor was about to contact his military; when it’s Commanding Officer and two of his men burst into the Secretaries office weapons drawn. Krevis was quickly able to reassure them that everything was ok; before issuing orders to the head of the military. He ordered Kralor to personally lead a team to the abandoned mines and investigate them thoroughly.

Once the Commander was gone; leaving one of his men just outside the door to act as guard; Krevis walked over to the hot drinks dispenser, sat in the corner of the room. IF he had to be honest, it was rare for him to use the thing. Ikali usually made the drinks, sometimes bringing one into the office before he’d even had the chance to ask for it. He’d often wondered if she could read his mind. Today though, he was making himself the drink and one for her to. Today he was not her boss, today he was a friend; there was a lot of trust to be rebuilt, so there was no time like the present.

There were three other worlds and dozens of starships belonging to several different species, scattered across the sector, which suddenly found themselves in the same situation. The controlling voice of Helgeshran, was gone and like the people of Vashran, slowly coming to terms with what had happened to them.