The Birth of Iconia

Chapter 16

"Yes, we can," LaForge agreed.

"Aye. I'll not be the one to break any peace," Scotty said.

"Nor will I," Todd said, almost smugly.

"Ok then," Hippaforalkus said, starting again. "Ladies and Gentlemen," he said, waving a hand that included everyone, "Welcome to Avalon. If you'll follow me, I'll show you around." He walked to the door and it glided open with a whoosh, and the group filed into the corridor. "This is the space station you saw from your ships. It is an ancient design, no pun intended, that has not been used in over fifty million years. The actual design is older than our hyperdrives, but we incorporated the latest versions of our technology.

"We constructed it this way because our engineers, Mr. Scott and Mr. LaForge started their careers working on this type of technology, but they can work on anything thrown at them.

"Some of the weapons you witnessed during the battle have been directly taken from this technological age as well. The Photon Torpedoes that you saw are quite effective, as are the Phasers."

"Aye, Lad," Scotty said, "And we shouldn't have any problems with the Ori using either of those at first, but given time…." He let it trail off and LaForge picked things up.

"Given time, they might be able to shield against either or both. Neither are really more powerful than what the Ori have. It's just technology that they're unfamiliar with."

"Hippaforalkus," McKay said, stumbling over the long name.

The ancient raised his hand in a hold on gesture. "I'll tell you what. Obviously, you know I've been around for a long time, but I was actually born about the same era as the twins," He said, indicating the two engineers. "I have a much more simple name from long ago. Why don't you call me by it: Will."

"Ok," McKay said, a bit taken aback by such a common name. "That's pretty easy. I know a few 'Wills' and 'Bills'."

"Well, I've never liked the name 'Bill'. I've always preferred 'Will'."

"So is Will short for something?" Carter asked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact," the Alteran said. "It's short for William. William Riker, at your service," he said, bowing slightly.

Jackson was surprised. "That doesn't even sound Ancient."

"I agree," Riker said. "But I assure you, Dr. Jackson. I am well over fifty million years old."

"And you don't look a day over thirty million," Scotty said, absolutely straight faced, except for the twinkle in his eye.

Riker laughed as they rounded a corner and came upon an incredible sight: a row of windows that looked out into the central core of the station. In it, they could see several of the Alteran ships being serviced. "The originals of these stations were a bit smaller, but as ships grew, they became larger. This is the biggest one ever built." As he spoke, something amazing happened. Camelot suddenly shimmered into view across the core. That gave a scale to the size of the core. It was massive! Borealis could easily fit inside along with the rest of the Iconian fleet.

Scotty spoke up, "We'd like to bring in your ships as well, and start working on them. We'll get them ship-shape so we can travel back to the Avalon Galaxy."

"Well," LaForge said. "Those that aren't ready can be transported inside Avalon. We've never worked on a Wraith ship, but we do know the theories behind them. We can help you on repairs too, Todd."

Todd was staring out the windows. All the smugness was gone from his attitude as he took in the marvel that was Avalon. Finally, he looked at Riker. "Why do you want my help, Hippaforalkus? Clearly, you don't need it."