This story is dedicated to the loving memory of Fanfiction Author:
R.J Bingham
Rest In Peace old Friend and Father-in-Law.
Star Trek: Excalibur
Since the launch of the NX-01 Enterprise, the NX-Class fleet had become the backbone and blue print for all Starfleet Vessels, yet it was almost certain that one of the designs had troubles from the beginning. One of the last of her design to launch called the Colorado, although she had her flaws from the start. Her first crew had perished during an engine malfunction as many of her construction detail had died due to unknown circumstances, now considered a cursed ship by many of the Starfleet officers, assembling a crew was all but impossible as the ship lay dormant for many months alone in the darkness of an old Starship graveyard set up by the Vulcans to retire outdated Starships for the scrap pile.
On the furthest reaches of Starfleet's grip an outpost had become under the watchful eye of the growing Klingon Empire, its only defence was an outdated weapons platform that could barely stand upto the weapons of the Klingon Warships. With all of the Starfleet vessels concentrating on vital systems, the planet was virtually defenceless against the marauding Klingon Empire.
Consoles exploded as dust and debris fell around the last remnants of the Starfleet research lab while they continued to defend the outpost against the vastly superior attacking force.
"FULL POWER TO THE DEFENCE GRID, MAYBE WE CAN DRAW FIRE UNTIL THE OTHERS ESCAPE!" The Commander called out.
"Sir, it's no good. The defence grid isn't getting past their shields"
"One bee sting can hurt, but a thousand can kill the bastards. Focus all firepower on the lead ship!"
"Aye sir!" A young woman cried out.
Explosions ripped through the command centre once more as the last of the scientists and engineers evacuated the planet in one of the last vessels, all that remained was the outpost's short-range science vessel.
"Alright, lets get the hell out of here… evacuate the outpost. Everyone out now!"
"Aye sir" said the remaining staff.
As they left all but one remained at his post, looking back the Commander of the outpost ran towards the human male and grabbed him by his left shoulder.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING MISTER? I SAID EVACUATE!"
"No sir, someone will have to stay behind and keep the weapons firing. Get out of here; I'll cover your backs"
"Bill, I can't ask you to do this" The Commander said slowly.
"I know. But you know I'm facing charges back home… sir. Let me do this"
Nodding slowly and saluting the bravery of the man before him he stood tall and proud as he looked at his young officer, possibly for the last time.
"Good luck Lieutenant…"
"To us all sir, get the others to safety, if there is a way out of here I will find it. I promise"
"I believe you will, after all… Klingons don't take prisoners"
"Once your ship is at Warp, I'll set the autodestruct and run like hell… we found some caves not far from here, I can make it"
The Commander removed his weapon from his thigh and tossed it too the young Lieutenant before walking away quickly, smiling too himself the Bill looked back at the weapon station before him as he targeted the nearest Klingon ship with everything the weapons platform could throw at it. Finally the scout ship jumped to warp as two Klingon Battle Cruisers broke past the defensive lines and began to transport troops to the surface, stepping behind a console Bill placed two Phaser Pistols on the ground next too him as he raised a Rifle and aimed it at the door as large alien soldiers began to appear in the doorway, taking a deep breath he began to fire down the corridor hitting the large Klingon Warriors, as they fell more Klingons appeared and took there places as they returned fire.
Disrupter blasts slammed into the consoles near him as debris flew in all directions from the explosions, covering his face for a moment he looked up as a large Klingon looked down upon him almost laughing. Smiling Bill stood as he held a small box in his hand, the eyes of the Klingon widened as he read the writing on the box, a count down was in progress. With a cocky smile, the young Lieutenant spoke in Klingon much to the surprise of the many warriors stood before him.
"See you in the afterlife!"
Explosions ripped along the corridors as the large alien looked around while large intensely hot flames began to consume his warriors behind him.
"You will die for this Human!" He said grabbing his blade.
Suddenly the young Lieutenant was engulfed in a blue haze as he smiled and spoke aloud in Klingon.
"But not today asshole!"
Laughing he disappeared in a Blue transporter haze as a series of large explosions ripped the outpost apart. Materialising on a transporter platform was a huge relief for the young officer as a large human male yelled into the intercom.
"We got 'im. Now sir!"
Aboard the large Starship, the artificial gravity seemed to shift slightly as the large vessel banked to port and screamed into warp as disrupter blasts slammed into its hull and finally dissipated as the vessel warped out of enemy fire. Smiling the large human male walked towards him with his hand extended for a handshake.
"Lieutenant Franks… nice job"
"Thank you Commander…"
"Tucker, everyone calls me Trip"
"Tuck… is this Enterprise sir?"
"Well it ain't no tug boat kid. The Cap'n wants to see you ASAP"
"Aye sir, of course sir" He said eagerly.
"Relax kid. Take it easy. We picked up the distress call from your outpost not long ago… then a message from a Commander Bennett, he said you where still on the planet. The Cap'n decided to take a look"
"Glad he did sir"
Stepping off the transporter platform the young officer looked around as his legs began to shake while the realisation hit him of what he had just witnessed and done on the planet surface; taking his arm Commander Tucker led him out of the transporter bay and finally upto the bridge. After regaining his composure, the young officer stepped onto the bridge and looked around slowly as the many officers on the bridge began to applaud him. Blushing slightly he walked towards the legendary Captain in the centre seat.
"Lieutenant Franks, I'm Captain Archer…"
"Yes sir, I know sir. I've heard a lot about you and your crew sir. I'm honoured"
"You showed a lot of balls down their kid. Nice work, we've contacted your Commanding officer and informed him that you are onboard, he and his crew send there thanks"
"They'll do more then that sir once they realise what I have"
"What's that?" Archer said quickly.
Smiling the young man reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out three medium sized data discs, and handed them to the Captain before him.
"What is this Lieutenant?"
"The research sir… and intelligence I… borrowed from the Klingon ships. Before the Commander ordered the evac, I was able to hack into one of the Klingon ships and download as much as I could onto these discs. I believe that Starfleet will find them interesting, fleet movements, general Intel and quiet a bit of Intel on the Romulans sir"
Smiling Archer extended his hand to the young officer, a motion that was gracefully accepted as he looked around the bridge once more.
"Bigger then I thought, if you don't mind sir… I'd like to get down to your sickbay, I busted a few ribs not long ago they are still giving me some pain"
"Of course Lieutenant… Hoshi, decode these discs. Trip why don't you take him down to sickbay, see what Phlox can do for him"
"Of course, this way Lieutenant"
For three days the Lieutenant remained onboard the Enterprise as it warped closer to Earth until a distress call changed the course of the ship. Although she was an excellent linguist the Lieutenant thought it would have made things go quicker if he would be allowed to assist Hoshi Sato in decrypting the data discs, until the distress call caught the attention of the crew.
"… Repeat this is the Cerberus, we have been attacked by Romulan ships…we've lost engines and loosing life support. Requesting assistance…"
"Hoshi?" Archer said.
"Got it sir, the Cerberus… a small transport ship. Warp three capable"
"Captain, the Cerberus had visited the Outpost on many occasions. I'm familiar with the vessel and its crew; it wouldn't last long in a fire fight against any ship"
"T'Pol?"
"I have it on sensors Captain…"
"On screen and magnify"
The screen changed to the image of the ship, almost unidentifiable due to the damage caused, both warp nacelles had been destroyed as plasma fires could be seen venting from the ship.
"Picking up five life signs, very erratic"
"Away team, have Phlox ready to beam over with a trauma kit. T'Pol, Trip, Malcolm…"
"Sir, request permission to join the team"
"Granted, grab your gear"
"Aye sir" Bill said with a concerned look on his face.
As the team materialised on the wreckage of the ship, they looked around at the damage and dead bodies on the floors. Kneeling down next to a body, Lieutenant Franks rolled over the corpse as shock overtook him. The right side of the unfortunate person's face had been melted by what appeared to be a plasma fire as a frozen look of pain remained on the face of the woman before him.
"My god… Tara"
"You knew her Franks?"
"Yes sir, ships Doctor. Damn…"
Closing his eyes, he stood as T'Pol scanned the area, pointing in one direction she signalled the way to move.
"This way to the bridge Captain… picking up the life signs their"
"No ma'am… this way to the bridge" Franks said with respect.
"The sensors do not lie Lieutenant"
"With respect Commander, they do if they don't know they are. In the event of a hostile force boarding the ship, a fake sensor image is projected to confuse an invading force as long as the backup computer core is on-line of course"
"Fascinating, how do you know this?"
"Because I designed it ma'am, you see this ship has been mistaken for a cargo carrier many times. It is in fact a courier ship delivering classified information about the Klingon Empire to Starfleet"
"What?" Archer yelled.
"We all have our secrets sir… forgive me"
"That was an intelligence outpost?" He barked.
"And an R and D Outpost sir, that's why I had to destroy it. Bridge is this way"
"Alright Lieutenant, but once we are back on Enterprise you and I will have a little chat"
"Aye sir" He smiled.
After climbing over rubble and debris the away team finally reached the bridge, forcing the doors open the smell of burnt flesh filled their lungs as they entered.
"May I assume I can trust these readings Lieutenant?"
"Of course Commander… Ssshhhh, you hear that?"
A slight moaning filled the bridge as they looked around, finally they located the source as they begun to pull bulkheads off a body.
"Lie still, you are okay" Phlox said.
Finally, the last piece of bulkhead was pulled away as a man climbed out from underneath what was left of the helm.
"Williams?" Franks said quickly.
"Franco? Is that you?" He coughed.
"Yeah… long story. What happened?"
"Not sure, where's the Captain?"
Looking around he saw Malcolm Reed shaking his head as he stood over another body, quickly scanning the bridge he saw the rest of the away team pulling debris off the remaining crew.
"Captain, this woman is badly injured, she needs medical attention fast" T'Pol said quickly.
"Phlox go, Archer to Enterprise… we have five survivors beam them and Phlox to sickbay"
"Williams… focus, you have to focus. What happened here?"
Shaking his head slightly he attempted to stand only to fall over in pain.
"We… picked up your signal, but we're too far out. Captain ordered us to head back anyway, we got intercepted by a Romulan ship, they boarded us before we knew what happened"
"Williams, listen to me… where is the Intel… where is it?"
"What intel?" Archer asked.
"We picked up some chatter on subspace a week ago; it looks like the Klingons are getting involved with the Romulans in this war…"
"That explains a lot" Trip said with a concerned look.
"Williams, where is it?"
"I-I don't know… once we got boarded I activated the grid as you showed me. We sealed the bridge but it was too late, the obviously got what they wanted. They disappeared not long after" He mumbled.
Three hours later, after being yelled at by the Captain, the Lieutenant Franks finally made his way back to the sickbay. Upon entering his face almost lit up as he saw the last person he expected to see sat on an Enterprise bio-bed.
"T'Lana?"
"Franks?"
Quickly the Lieutenant made his way towards the patient and hugged her softly, much to the surprise of the medical staff and officers around sickbay. Smiling he looked down upon the patient.
"When the hell did you rejoin?"
"I didn't… I was heading back when I got offered a ride on the Cerberus"
Slowly he brushed her long blonde hair away from her face as shock overtook many of the Enterprise crew now in sickbay.
"You're a Vulcan?" Reed said aloud.
"Not entirely" She said with a smile.
"Her mother is Vulcan… her father well, he was a different species"
"Which?" Phlox said with interest.
"I don't know. My mother never spoke much of him. It's good to see you again Bill"
"You don't sound like any Vulcan we've ever met" A nurse said with a smile.
"I found a place that allows me to experience the emotions forbidden by my people… yet still maintain an element of logic. Bill here as my first… experience with… some emotions"
Winking slightly a Phlox, Bill turned to the young officer he was speaking to on the bridge of the destroyed ship.
"Williams… welcome back"
"Franco, I thought that was you. What are you…"
"Let's just say the Klingons destroyed the outpost. Captain Archer was kind enough to offer us a lift back home; he was heading that way anyway"
"Kind of him…" T'Lana said with a smile.
"Wasn't it?…" He winked. "Williams, the intel was taken by the Romulans… where is the backup?"
"What backup?" He asked.
"Ohh come on Williams, I know you… you're the most anal person I know. You back up everything"
"My left shoe… peel off the heel. You'll find a small data chip, everything is on that chip"
Smiling slightly Franks tore the heel off and pulled out a small data chip, with a deep sigh he placed it in his pocket and turned to the Doctor.
"Doctor, how long before they can be released?"
"I'd like to keep them over night for observation, after that they should be fine"
"Do what you can for them, until we reach earth they are under my command, Archer's orders. T'Lana, we reach Earth is 20 hours… dinner, you and me"
"Of course"
Smiling he left the sickbay and headed back towards the bridge, as he entered he walked towards the Captain's office and entered as ordered.
"Captain Archer, I have the intel"
"I thought it was captured?"
"I was right about Williams; he always keeps a backup on all files"
"Excellent, I'll contact command and inform them. Nice work… Lieutenant"
"Thank you sir… what will happen to us once we reach Earth?"
"Admiral Foster wants you to report to him as soon as you can"
"Foster? Never heard of him"
"He's head of Starfleet Intelligence, your boss"
"Ohh… That Foster, perfect. Request permission to take a Phase-Pistol with me sir. He doesn't like me much"
"Request denied" He said with a smile. "So… you and that particularly attractive young Vulcan woman?"
"Once, yes… T'Lana is the most… unusual Vulcan I have ever met…"
"And?" Archer smiled.
"Private Sir… how did you know?"
"Gossip travels at warp speeds on a Starship kid" He laughed.
"I see that now. I was in my second year at the Academy, when this amazingly beautiful young woman was knocked up a year. She was quiet and shy in that strange Vulcan way. It took me six months to work up the nerve just to say hello…"
"And?" He said laughing.
"She hit me… hard. It was like, like being hit by a torpedo. A moment later she apologised as I lay bleeding on the floor, you see sir… everyone realised she wasn't the typical Vulcan and started hitting on her. She thought I was doing the same…"
"Where you?" He smiled.
"Of course… well I was about to. She has a smile that could melt even a Klingon's heart…"
"If they have them" Archer laughed.
"Yeah… Well it took me a few days to work up the nerve again, I made up some excuse about needing help with… damn what was it? Never mind, anyway after that we started dating, I even wrangled a posting on the old outpost together for a almost five years, until she was offered a post on the Cerberus. It was difficult but it was a promotion for her, eventually we drifted apart"
"Sounds familiar…" He smiled.
24 Hours Later…
Triumphantly the Enterprise returned to Earth to yet another hero's welcome as it was due to undergo yet another resupply, after beaming down to Earth for the first time in many years Lieutenant Franks made his way around the vast Starfleet Command complex until he arrived at the office of Admiral Foster, taking a deep breath he entered the large room as the old Admiral sat at his desk looking over what appeared to be a large report.
"Admiral, you wanted to see me sir?"
"Shut up and sit down!" He barked.
Obeying the Admiral's orders, he sat in a chair facing the balding Admiral as he continued to read the large file until he finally looked up with a deep look of hatred in his eyes.
"Well Lieutenant, I see you survived your little ordeal?"
"Sorry to disappoint you sir"
"Maybe next time you won't" He barked.
"Sir… if I may ask"
"Shut up… thank you. I've been looking over your file Lieutenant, what the hell are you playing at?"
"Sir?" He asked.
"Three weeks ago you violated orders and took a… Hopper on a little joyride with a young Ensign"
"Sir if this is about…"
"I wasn't finished. You realise who that young Ensign was Lieutenant?"
"Yes sir. But it wasn't a…'Joyride' as you say. I was under orders to investigate a sensor drone that broke past our sensor net, the commander ordered me to take along someone from engineering… the Ensign was up for the task"
"And her injuries?" He barked once more.
"The drone exploded as we got near it sir, the Ensign survived with a broken arm and wrist. I myself have a few broken ribs and other injuries"
"Your injuries do not concern me Lieutenant…"
Anger swelled within the Lieutenant as he stood and slammed his fists down on the desk and yelled for all to hear.
"ENSIGN Foster was next on the roster sir… she knew the risks as did I and everyone on that Outpost"
"You're out of line Lieutenant"
"Screw you… Ben!" He barked.
"You are addressing a superior officer Lieutenant" He said as he stood.
"Maybe… Now sit down and shut up. Listen for once in your damned life… Your daughter asked me for that mission, she's young and inexperienced. As a matter of fact, sir she is not the best engineer and not my first choice for the mission, Lieutenant Anderson was my first choice but he was busy with a power conduit at the time. Anna was available and asked me to join the mission; no one would work with her sir… out of pity I took her along. SHE screwed up and triggered the autodestruct that almost cost us both our lives… did you know that Ben? Your daughter screwed up. I knew it would have screwed her career so I covered it up for her…"
"What?" He yelled.
"Yeah… I bet she never told you that did she? I ordered her to stay quiet and let me take the fall for HER, not for you or anyone else. With broken ribs and a fractured arm and shoulder I dragged her back to the hopper as she lay weeping"
"I-I didn't know that" He mumbled.
"Yeah? Now the truth is out. Check my medical files if you have the bollocks to do so, I had to have my left shoulder all but rebuilt after dragging her worthless ass through the mud back to the hopper"
Slowly the Admiral sat down as he looked up at the angered Lieutenant before him as five Starfleet security officers entered his office. Sighing deeply he waved away the security as he looked up at he Lieutenant and spoke low almost silent.
"I'm sorry Lieutenant, I didn't know"
"What? I didn't catch that"
"I said… I'm sorry Lieutenant, I didn't know"
"Good… that little incident cost me a demotion by the way. Probably cost me my own command in the future"
A dark smile came over the Admiral as he looked directly into the eyes of the Lieutenant.
"Really? Not entirely Lieutenant. I have a little job for you, it was going to go to Archer and Enterprise… but I have a little job opportunity for you"