Star Trek: Ensigns
Episode V
What happened to the big bad wolf
…Continued from Episode IV
Commander Emma Starling, Chief of Science for the U.S.S. Alaska sat at her desk in her room, music played lightly in the background, something that sounded very old, a French female singer's voice rang out over brass instruments, the cadence almost sounded like a military march. She had in front of her a sheet of actual paper, something quite rare in the culture of the 24th century, and even rarer, an ink pen. She also had a bottle of strawberry wine that had been brewed by her youngest sister with her specifically in mind. She said aloud "now I can finally drift off into the stars, I can take my pension and buy a shuttle, something capable of only warp 4, with no weapons, and at least half the hull will be transparent. I can call in a few favors of star fleet personnel and have the sensors of the ship upgraded past what's on the market for civilians, and then spend the rest of my years in the same way sailing through the never ending night's sky, staring out at the stars. I could never bring myself to settle in some retirement community no matter how beautiful the scenery. I just wish Donald hadn't been killed trying to save those folks during the Dominion war. Donald, our children are grown and not only having children of their own, but dear sweet Lillian's eldest had her first baby just a month ago, I wish I could have been there. Now is my time to savor retirement. Donald you always had a way with words, I wish you were here to help me write this, I can't help but feel that in some ways like I'm betraying the Federation you gave your life protecting, so many memories of family in one branch or another of the fleet, but I've had enough of the military side of things. So many of my family had lived their whole lives in service to the United Federation of Planets with their only reward at the end a flag draped torpedo tube as a casket. One of my ancestors was the original flight instructor at Star Fleet Academy; he had died in the real scenario that led to the Kobiashi Maru test. Since then nearly every member of my family has either been in the fleet or been one of its civilian employees, but you knew that," she said, looking at a picture of a man in uniform.
She stood up and walked over to a glass model of the U.S.S. Excelsior, a picture hung near it of two adults and a newborn baby. She looked at them and said "Mom, what would you do? The trans-warp drive always needed your hands on a daily basis, dad, they never could have kept track of where every part was without you. Donald never knew quite what it was like for me to have never known anything other than the ship until entering the academy, having a brother and sisters being born on board as well, I know you would be proud of Paige, my brothers daughter, she's the Captain of this ship, its got a science department to make the Vulcans jealous, better sensors than on some spy satellites, and a stronger navigational deflector than the Enterprise, she asked me not to retire but to be her science officer, at least for a while. I think that while is up, I just can't stay," she walked back over to the desk, sat down, picked up the letter, signed her name, folded it neatly, and sat it on the desk in front of her while she contemplated its existence. Then, she picked it up and dropped it into a bin to be recycled, four other letters sat there as well, each with the word resignation written on them. The day continued on, music playing as Emma reminisced and dreamed.
Before separating into assault groups Commander Valientine and Lieutenant DePalma each knelt, Valientine taking a Rosary out of one pocket, the two men said a Hail Mary together and also asked St. Michael to bless them on this day. Once each team reached the hatch they would give a single tap on the team leads communicator, and wait until he heard three other communicator taps, then wait four seconds and then proceed. They divided off their squads, each squad arranging into a door breach position near each hatch, one man next to the control panel, one man on the other side to toss a flash grenade and the third one meter back from the door, kneeling with weapon raised and ready in case anyone was waiting on the other side. The kneeling man would be the first through the door, followed by the person to the left and finally the door controller.
Several decks away, Lieutenant Hopkins scrubbed her hands. She had been washing on and off for nearly an hour but couldn't get the stain of green blood off her hands. "It was the right thing to do, he had to be taken care of, if he was so deranged to think all women on board were his playthings, even the security girl, the Bolian, well, and someone had to stop him," she said to the mirror. "It was simple to do really; I just called him to sickbay, telling him that I needed a personal favor, he said he was more than happy to slip off to sickbay since his wife was sleeping and sexually useless to him for the last few years," she kept scrubbing, her skin had been blistering and coming off due to the chemical cleanser and repeated scrubbings.
"I took the vial marked Ponn Farr accelerant, removed the label and put it on a vial of Andorian Immune boost, removing the label that read 'For Andorian use only' before loading it into the hypo. The substance loaded into the injector was tetra chromium sulfide; it was kept on board just in case they came across an injured Andorian. Andorian immune systems would use it as an enhancement. I had flirted with him slightly, offering the TCS as a male enhancement known to work well on Vulcans. In a Vulcan system TCS bonds rapidly to the copper ions in the blood, causing systemic clotting and blood vessel rupturing. The victim generally dies in less than ten seconds, although I hadn't realized how much of his blood would spray on me, and I don't understand why it's not coming off, and yes, I'm glad I did it, I don't feel the least bit of guilt. He injected himself while smiling at me, the demented smile of an animal that needed to be put down. He realized something was wrong and grabbed me on the shoulder and tried to slap me, but he was only able to lightly rest his hand on my cheek. He stared up at me with a calm resignation and acceptance, muttering something unintelligible while slumping to the floor. I beamed out of there and straight into my bathroom and yes I admit I went back later and erased the transporter logs to make it all easier," she said, still talking to no one but her mirror.
"When I constructed his suicide note I took several samples of his writing style and had the computer get creative because I knew people would be suspicious and rather than have the mess of a trial or anything like that I'd just create an easy way out. I thought the note was brilliant in how it focused on it simply being his time to go, not just from star fleet or from medicine, but from the world in general. I was careful and cleaver to make sure that none of my DNA or biometric information remained on the padd before I placed it. No, you don't have to thank me, no I don't need an award or a promotion, I'm happy to stay here, healing those brave souls in Star Fleet," she failed to notice that there were parts of her hands and arms that were now bleeding as she had scrubbed all the way down to the veins and muscular tissue.
She stopped scrubbing and stared into the mirror seeing the image changing. She no longer saw herself, but Dr Sarel where she was standing. He stood there, staring back at her no expression on his face, just a cold blank stare from his dark eyes to hers, and then his mouth opened, she heard his voice say one word, and oddly enough she knew what it would be and said it at the same time, one simple eight letter word that had almost an equal number of vowels to consonants, it was the same word he muttered as he was slumping down to the ground, it was remember.
Ensign MacLaren was on the team lead by Lieutenant Commander Michael Register and would be assaulting through the hatch next to the main view screen. The access panel went up from deck two to the bridge on an incline, with the entrance being a hatch only wide enough for one man to crawl through at a time, had it not been for the other three simultaneous assaults it would be a certain death trap. Register put on a pair of protective goggles and had MacLaren take the left side of the door flash grenade in hand, with Lieutenant Register on point and Rozenski at the door control. Register tapped his communicator, and waited until he heard three more chimes. The chimes came, Register whispered "three, two, one, now!" and the hatch was popped. Daniel tossed the flash grenade through the doorway trying to aim towards the Captains chair, hoping it would land directly in Bruce Jackson's lap.
In computer Core Three Seja and Bera were sitting at a desk, they had their prisoner James Libus bound by the waist to a chair, his hands were tied lightly to the table; he could access the deck of cards to deal but not further. They were playing poker now. "Hey Seja, don't you think I should go with the away team and help with the final assault?" Bera asked.
"No, not really; if Commander Valientine had needed you I'm sure he would have said something. Besides, you have to stay; we haven't finished this round of cards yet, and I'm winning, deal the cards James" said Seja. James shuffled the cards and then passed one card to Seja, then one to Bera and one to himself before sending another to Seja. He continued until everyone had five cards.
"You can play against the computer. I really would like to help out, they'll need someone in tactical," Bera said examining her cards.
"Lieutenant Commander Register is up there, I'm sure he can handle it, what with he's the security chief. Two please James,"
"But I feel so useless right now. Two cards James,"
"You're keeping me company, which keeps me from falling asleep, which makes sure the New Earthers on board the Lone wolf and on the Alaska don't find a way of turning things around. I bet two bolts,"
"I know, I just would like to be more actively involved. I raise two,"
"I fold," replied James.
"Out of curiosity what was your final project? I heard it was something both controversial and impressive, but I couldn't get any details, I see your bet"
"I took a copy of the Emergency Medical Hologram Program and rewrote some of his functions for basic security use. He was designed to initialize only if 85 percent of the crew had become incapacitated. He was based off the Prometheus Incident, where two EMH's had to retake the ship after it had been hijacked,"
"Very impressive, what issues prevented it?"
"The primary problem was something I actually brought up, the chance that such a program could be hacked or come on accidentally and misidentify crew versus hostiles. Plus there's the whole issue as to whether a hologram should have access to weapons or the self–destruct codes that could be contained in the computer that runs the program. What was yours?"
"How Biogenic computers could be more efficiently modeled after highly structured fruit," Seja replied.
"And they were impressed?"
"Not at first, but then I took a high structure fruits native to Earth, an orange, to be exact, and connected it in a way to allow data to be encoded in its cell structure, specifically a song called 'Ode to Joy'. The structure of the orange allowed for easier and more efficient organization and access of data than an equivalent amount of the biogel that is currently used in computers. Let's see your cards,"
"Oh, wow, okay, now I'm impressed. You definitely earned the Cum Laude honor. I have a king, two jacks and two tens,"
"I know. I have four aces, I win," Seja said while doing a slight dance in her chair and giggling.
"Of course you do. What do you think of Limmer and Rhyster?"
"Tweetle dee and tweetle dummer? I avoid thinking of them at all costs, why?"
"I'm going to follow your example, and date two men at once, those two specifically,"
"Oh, good grief, please tell me you're kidding,"
"Nope, I think it sounds like fun,"
"Haven't I told you what complete idiots those two are? They shouldn't even be in Star Fleet, in my opinion. Daniel and Neric are at least intelligent, well mannered and do their jobs. Limmer and Rhyster's only accomplishment I've seen is avoiding work at all costs. Anything they don't avoid has to be redone,"
"Are you now admitting that you're dating both Daniel and Neric?" Bera said, leaning forward on her right wrist and smiling impishly.
Seja sighed and then said "Yes, I suppose I am. I should have a talk with them both to make sure we're all on the same page,"
"Ooh! I call front row seats!"
"NO. This will be a private discussion,"
"Awe, come on,"
"No Bera, I mean it, although I'll tell you what happened later. We can do one of those girly nights that you've wanted to try with the nail coloring and facials," Seja said
Michael Register charged onto the bridge, goggles already darkened to protect his eyes from the bright flashing grenade. He saw that the intruders had knocked over the Captains chair, navigators console and Operations station, erecting a forcefield enhanced circular barrier. All of the weapons fire was coming directly at him, and while it was missing wildly he didn't have time to think about more than squeezing the trigger. After about thirty seconds the door to the bridge water closet opened and Lieutenant DePalma's team joined the fray with two members being hit by weapons fire almost immediately, Commander Valientine's group opening fire ten seconds later one of their members was taken out after the first shot. There was still no sign of Lieutenant Vermillion, a quick glance at the door to the Captains ready room told Register why, the door had been welded shut, apparently from the other side. Lieutenant Rozenski got hit in the shoulder and was knocked into the wall behind him.
The forcefield was linked to their weapons, each time they fired it opened long enough for the shot to get out, and if he shot at the same time he could get through. Daniel was carefully timing his shots, doing his best to aim just a hair above the muzzle of each terrorist's weapon, and firing only when he saw the enemy weapons charge light go green, knowing his reaction time should be roughly the same as his targets and his shot might get through when the terrorists went out. He had taken out at least two of the terrorists and was working on his third. Suddenly the weapons fire stopped, the terrorists tossed down their weapons and held their hands up. Daniel looked around, assessing the situation. Several of the other members of the assault teams had been injured, Lieutenants Pulaski and Germanotti were dead, and Lieutenant Cox was bleeding heavily. Lieutenant DePalma had been hit in the knee and couldn't stand. Four terrorist lay dead in the firing shelter they had constructed, the two survivors were being restrained.
"Where's Bruce Jackson?" shouted Commander Valientine, grabbing the man by the collar and shaking him.
The terrorist smiled "He's back on the lone wolf, he got control of the docking clamps and then when out the way we came in, through the shaft that goes down to the Captains Yacht. He detached right before we started firing, did you like our distraction technique?" The terrorist started laughing directly at Valientine, who responded with a sharp punch to the man's stomach, causing him to double over. Valientine then stomped over to the ready room doors, drew his phaser, adjusted the settings and then started undoing the weld he saw. The doors finally opened and Vermillion's team was there, all unconscious. Two members of the team were not breathing; Lieutenant Vermillion was down and looked like he had been hit by a phaser blast to the head. Lieutenant Foster and Lieutenant Tourej were bound and gagged behind the Captain's desk. Valientine checked the pressure gauge on the captain's yacht, it was showing open vacuum; something had cut through there and was no longer present. Daniel MacLaren freed the counselor and engineer, who got up without a thank you and went to talk to Valientine. Register was scanning Vermillion when MacLaren came over.
"I can't reach Dr. Sarel, he's not responding. Daniel, take ops, you know what to do"
"Yes sir," Daniel replied. He went over to the operations station and summoned all medical and engineering personnel to the bridge. "Seja, is the EMH working? We need all the medical help we can get,"
"Most of the computer problems ended when Lone Wolf separated, we are having a few problems with the engines, but I'm sure Tourej will have them running right in just a bit. The EMH should be available to you on the bridge, Bera and I will be on the bridge in a few moments to help with clean up and repairs, it's good to hear your voice" Seja said.
"Computer, Initialize EMH" Daniel said
"Please state the nature of your emergency" said the hologram as it appeared on the bridge standing next to Daniel.
"Multiple injuries to several people," he replied
"Okay ensign, where's the doctor?" the hologram asked.
"Not responding to hails, Doctor" the ensign said.
"I will need a full triage assessment before I can start, otherwise I'm wasting time. Do you people not realize how important efficiency is in medicine?"
"Did Doctor Neric give you his bedside manners? I'm not medically trained; I don't know anything about a triage report"
"Doctor Neric was involved in my most recent upgrade Ensign; he has excellent knowledge and experience in battlefield and emergency medicine as well as alternative treatments. A triage report is an assessment of who's in the most critical condition and needs the most treatment, never mind, I see Lieutenant Hopkins," the EMH said before walking away.
Several engineering people were already repairing the damage to the bridge; Lieutenant Tourej was talking to Seja and assessing the situation. Bera was with Register working out security status, the EMH and Lieutenant Hopkins were taking care of the wounded; Daniel was hoping to stay out of the way by walking over to Lieutenant DePalma who was sitting on the floor, grimacing in pain and holding his knee.
"Lieutenant, is there anything I can do to help you?"
"No, I'll survive. Oh, your roommate, Ulrik, he's tied up in the water closet, we didn't have a chance to untie him, I'm sure he'd like your assistance," DePalma said.
MacLaren went into the water closet and found Ulrik in there, legs and hands shackled to the fixtures. He had a bored look on his face.
"Daniel, can you get me out before Seja sees? I know her sense of humor, she's going to want a picture of this and I'm not feeling up to that,"
"Yeah, sure man," he said, pulling out a phaser and adjusting it to a thin low power beam.
Daniel started cutting through the chains. "Ulrik, can I ask you about Seja?"
"Certainly Daniel" Ulrik said
"Do you think she likes me? You know, as more than just a friend?" Daniel said, severing the chain to Ulriks right wrist.
"Yes, Daniel, she does, but don't forget about the cultural dual factor," Ulrik said, as he watched Daniel start working on the other wrist.
"The what? I didn't do very well in comparative cultures" Daniel replied
"In Romulan culture, women around Seja's age generally take two lovers, sometimes it works and all three form a permanent bond, but most of the time it doesn't," Ulrik said as his left wrist came free.
"Oh. Like with her and Dr Neric?" Daniel said, as he started working on the left ankle.
"Exactly, I wasn't sure if you realized,"
"I noticed. I've been kinda hoping that it could be just me and her," Daniel said, starting on the right ankle.
"It's possible but I wouldn't pressure her,"
"Thank you. You're free now," Daniel said, standing up.
In the shared quarters of Lieutenants Limmer and Rhyster, Limmer sat at his desk polishing his tricorder.
"Benny, what are you doing?"
"Writing a new brothel program for the holodeck. It's better than the one I bought off that Quark fellow last year. It inserts a command into the main computer that scans every female passing into the holodeck or into the transporters so they can become the ladies. It also accesses the Medical library. Imagine getting together with any woman on the ship, even Captain Dallas. What are you doing?"
"Same old thing, you know, polishing my tricorder. Have you ever dreamed about what it would be like to not be in Star Fleet?"
"Yeah, I had a dream where I was stuck in a mining ship with you, we were billions and billions of kilometers from Earth and there was no one but us. Then I dreamed about running a game with crazed robots beating the snot out of each other. It was weird,"
"I asked Bera out,"
"Bera?"
"Yes,"
"Bera from security?"
"Yes,"
"The one who used to be a cage fighter?"
"Yes,"
"The Big Blue Menace?"
"Yes,"
"The one that'll rip you in two if you look at her funny Bera?"
"Yes that's her. She has a romantic soul. I think she might be the one,"
"You can't really go out with her you know?"
"Oh, why's that Benny? Is it because she's Bolian?"
"No Limmer, you just can't,"
"Or because she has enough harmful to humans gut bacteria to cause the next Plague?
"No Limmer, you just can't!"
"I don't care. I'll wear protection over my entire body if I have to. I love her,"
"That's not it Larry, you can't go with her cause she's going with me, and I'm not sharing, I saw more of you than I ever wanted to last time we shared a girl,"
"We'll see about that, Mister. I outrank you by three hours. I order you to not go out with Bera. There, now that that's settled"
"You can't order me not to date someone, and you can't outrank me by three hours just cause the Governor's announcement of your honorary appointment came three hours before mine did. They were both field promotions for protecting his niece during the Dominion war, the same niece that threatened to file sexual assault charges against us if she ever saw us again. Sooner or later someone's gonna realize that we've never even been to the academy,"
"You were the one supplying the girl with alcohol without bothering to check if she was a minor, and I have been there once, I was nine; on summer holiday with my parents; did I ever tell you about that?"
"Oh no, here we go again, another trip down memory lane…"
Back on the bridge Commander Valientine walked over to Ensign Seja, who was repairing the navigational console. It had been shot up in the assault as the terrorists used it as part of their barricade. Valientine knelt down next to her and said "any idea what state the Lone Wolf's computer might have been in prior to separation?"
"Actually, right before they separated their core was at 17 percent of functionality, that's good enough for life support and maneuvering thrusters with manual navigation. They might be able to get some weapons up but no warp and no cloak. Since they didn't have an engineer with them I doubt their computer is going to get better any time soon. I also uploaded a phase variance algorithm in the navigational deflector. It won't work well enough for them to go back into the asteroid belt and we should be able to track them even if they got warp power or cloaking devices back," she said
"Ensign, you did excellent work here, I only wish I could put something in your permanent record about this," he said, smiling.
"I know, secret mission, no records," she said. "I'm almost done with this console; you'll have navigation back in less than thirty seconds,"
Lieutenant Tourej came over to the commander and said "Sir, all major systems are fixed well enough for us to get back to the nearest space dock, shields, tractor beam and limited weapons are on line. One of the nacelles is having problems so I wouldn't recommend going faster than warp three any time soon,"
"What kind of problems?" Valientine asked
"It's got a plasma bleed into a secondary conduit; the whole nacelle is putting out an energy field like a non focused tractor beam. It's already magnetized enough to start drawing space debris, I can shut it off but without that nacelle we won't be able to maintain a warp bubble for long,"
"How did that happen?"
"That phaser detonated near a conduit while you were retaking the ship. The conduit had one of the nacelles main control systems. Normally we could shift control to one of the ships computers, but we are still feeling some of the aftershocks of the computer wars,"
"Alright, shut it and it's twin down, we'll just work with the other two nacelles," he said as he picked up a chair that had been knocked over. He placed the chair at the navigational console and then looked over to Ensign MacLaren who was just coming out of the ships water closet with Ulrik right behind him. "Ensign MacLaren, I need you on Navigation now, start a spiraling area sweep, thrusters only. Mr. Thorsen, take the operations console, start scanning for the Lone Wolf. Bera, you're on tactical, I'll expect all weapons ready to lock as soon as Thorsen gives you a target. Seja, take the communications station, hail Dr. Neric, check that his patient is safe for transport; we need to get everyone back on board. Lieutenant Tourej, start taking care of your engine room, I'll expect it in inspection shape in two hours. Let's get this show on the road people,"
"Commander, Dr Neric reports the Captain is stable, ready for transport by shuttlecraft only, apparently her life support systems could be disrupted by transporter use. The rest of the crew is ready to beam up now, transporters are available," reported Seja.
"Commander Valientine to Lieutenant Register, head down to Cargo bay four to await a few New Earth folk, have some people in the transporter rooms to make sure we let the right ones in. Lieutenant DePalma, are you up for duty?" said the Commander to the Lieutenants.
"Yeah, I was just helping the EMH out. I know we're busy but we got a major problem in sickbay, somebody killed the Doctor,"
"Oh great, are you sure he didn't just keel over? He's pretty old even for a Vulcan,'
"Oh yeah, there's blood everywhere, the EMH says he was poisoned, some kinda Andorian vaccine or something,"
"Alright make sure sickbay two is being used instead, lock down sick bay one until we can get a forensics team in there,"
"We already did as soon as Vermillion tripped over the body," DePalma said
"I did not trip," could be heard in the background
"I need someone to prep a shuttle to recover the Captain and Dr Neric, can you take care of that?"
"Yeah, Vermillion can take over here in sickbay; I'll do the beer run,"
"Thorsen, the new Earth people will be showing an electrostatic marker, beam them directly to cargo bay 4, make sure it's locked down,"
"Aye sir, transporter locked onto all signatures, Cargo bay four locked down with forcefields, New Earth are now in cargo bay four, everyone else is beaming into the transporter rooms one, two, and three," Ulrik said.
Suddenly they heard the sound of weapons hitting the ship.
Ensign Thorsen shouted "Sir! That was the Lone Wolf, we've been hit on decks 34 and 35, no damage, their weapons have nearly no power. I have a lock on them,"
"Sir, multiple weapons locks on the Lone Wolf, where do you want me to hit them first?" Bera said a slight twinkle in her eyes.
"Weapons first, then engines,"
" Firing lateral phaser array, their torpedoes are down, firing again, okay port phasers are out, they are coming around, firing, their shot went wide, I think their targeting sensors are malfunctioning. I'm firing again, starboard phasers are out and they have major plasma leaks near the impulse engine,"
"Commander, they are hailing us" said Seja
"Main Viewer Ensign" he said. On the viewscreen the view of the meteor belt disappeared and was replaced by the bleeding and burned face of Bruce Jackson.
"Xavier, you may have won this battle, but you've doomed our species forever,"
"Not really Bruce, the Breen have agreed to peace. There is no reason to put yourself of your crew in any further jeopardy; your ship is dead in the water, surrender and I'll see what I can do for you at your trial,"
"There's not going to be a trial for anyone commander, I'll see you in hell in just a few minutes. Jackson out,"
"Commander, our sensors are showing that their inertial dampeners are out, they are charging their warp core, they are arming all photon torpedoes," chimed in Ensign Thorsen.
"Sir, they are setting up to ram us," said Bera
"Ensign Seja, can you override their system? Command code is –"
"57E82B9J4, sir, I have it memorized. Accessing, okay, their torpedoes are disarmed but will still show as armed for the next ten minutes, I'm ejecting their warp core. Damn it! They severed the link, I can't reestablish," Seja said
"Sir, I still have a weapons lock, I can take them out with one torpedo," said Bera
No Bera, Thorsen, can you get a tractor on them?" Commander Valientine said
"The tractor is not responding right, it's getting interference from the wonky nacelle," replied Ulrik
"I thought that thing was off," said Valientine
"It is sir; unfortunately it's picking up power from the shields, I can get the tractor to respond as a repulsor beam, but the targeting system is drifting, I'm going to have to do some guess work here," replied Thorsen
"Do it ensign"
The tractor beam started as the Lone Wolf charged at the Alaska, the beam did hit the Lone wolf on its navigational deflector, sending it spinning end over end, it cart wheeled under the Alaska, bouncing along the ships shields. It slowed to a near dead stop half way down the ship, and started to list towards one of the Nacelles.
"Hey Valientine, are the fireworks over or should I scrub the shuttle launch," came over the communicator.
"DePalma, go ahead and launch, but keep your eyes on the Lone Wolf, they could still be a threat," replied Commander Valientine. "Thorsen, what are the sensors telling us about the Lone Wolf?" asked Xavier.
"Not good, at least half the crew is heavily injured, the power fluctuations suggest someone's already repairing the ship. Their impulse drive will be on in moments,"
"Is there communications system functional? "
"It should be,"
"Open a channel"
"Channel open sir,"
"Valientine to Lone Wolf, respond please"
A great deal of static could be heard along with some garbled voices and shouting.
"This is Commander Valientine to Lone Wolf, can anyone respond?"
More static was heard before a voice came through.
"This is Commander McGrath of New Earth, Bruce Jackson is dead and we surrender, please send help,"
"Alright, lower your shields, we'll start beaming you over to one of our cargo bays and we'll have a Dr on hand, Valientine out. Thorsen start beaming them over to cargo bay four, have the EMH there to greet them. Can we use the aft tractor on them?"
"We should be able to, it's running fine. Targeting, locked on, starting beam,"
The Lone Wolf, nose pointing down visibly shook the moment the tractor beam attached. The beam suddenly flashed and disappeared, the Lone Wolf quickly moved toward one of the Alaska's Nacelles. The smaller ship impacted the nacelle with an explosion and began to burn. The Alaska shook and three quarters of the exterior lights went out.
Back on the bridge, Commander Valientine shouted out "What hit us?"
Ensign Thorsen said "it was the lone wolf, there was interference caused by the nacelle, it pulled the Lone Wolf into it causing a massive energy discharge to reverberate through both ships. We have reports of fires in the corridors on decks five through forty, mostly around plasma conduits; it overwhelmed the fire suppression system, compensating now,"
"Bridge this is engineering, whatever you did caused a massive plasma feedback to the warp core, I'm ejecting before it ruptures,"
"Alright, Thorsen, please tell me you beamed them over before the tractor beam,"
"Yes sir, I got them, all live personnel transported to cargo bay four, deceased individuals transported to the ships morgue,"
"DePalma to Alaska, we've arrived, the Captain is being loaded right now, try to keep the fireworks down, that last one sent a ripple through the entire—" the transmission ended with static and a pop.
"Sir, the transmission was jammed before he finished, I'm picking up five Breen ships heading our way, their shields are up and their weapons are charged. Incoming transmission from the lead ship," reported Ensign Seja.
"Star Fleet vessel, you have violated the agreed upon boarder between the Breen Confederacy and your Federation. As we can see your vessel has sustained damage to its propulsion system we will give you generously one minute to depart from this area,"
"Breen ship, we will be departing soon, we are trying to retrieve injured personnel from the asteroid below. We will depart as soon as our shuttle is on board." As Xavier said this the Breen ships went past the Alaska and fired photon torpedoes on the meteorite that had served as Bruce Jackson's base. The base lit up and exploded, leaving nothing behind but a cloud of dust.
"Someone tell me DePalma left before they fired!" shouted Valientine
"Unknown sir, there was too much interference to know anything for certain," reported Bera, who looked very crestfallen.
"Sir, sensor logs showed three com badge signatures at the exact moment that the lead ship hailed us. I cannot confirm whose badges they are but their frequency does begin with the registration prefix for U.S.S. Alaska personnel. The signal came from inside one of the Breen ships," reported Ensign Thorsen.
"Seja, get me that ship on screen, I don't care if you have to walk over to them and neck pinch them until they turn on the screen just do it!"
Valientine's back was turned to the communication station, and he did not see her look at him with one eyebrow raised.
"I've locked on their communications system, forcing the protocol, channel open,"
The view screen showed the Breen in a room with consoles, one seated in the rear center on a slightly elevated platform. Standing next to the seated Breen was someone that looked fairly human from a distance. "I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but we'd appreciate our people being returned to us at once," The room stopped all action and looked up suddenly at the view screen. The view suddenly changed and focused on the seated individual who spoke in the Breen language.
"Commander, I had to bypass the Universal translator to get this to work, they may not understand you any more than you can understand them presently," said Seja.
The seated individual stood up and disappeared, his image replaced by the man who was standing next to him. This individual turned out to be a Vorta.
"I am Enon, spokesperson for Gor Tumel, you have been instructed Federation commander, I suggest you do as you have been told before anyone gets hurt,"
"You're a Vorta! Shouldn't you be in the Gamma Quadrant right now?"
"I was given a permanent assignment to the Breen Confederacy due to my performance prior to the end of the war. Now, turn your ship around or we will be opening fire,"
"I'm not leaving until my people are back on board. We registered their communications signatures on board your ship when we were first hailed,"
"Regardless of what your sensors might say, we don't have any knowledge of your people. Also, anyone in this area is subject to legal arrest by the Breen Confederacy. Our government is still awaiting the arrest of one Bruce Jackson, shouldn't you be looking for him?" the Vorta said with a malicious smile.
"Actually, we have Bruce, or at least his body. We might be willing to hand him over directly to you in exchange for our people,"
"If you have Mr. Jackson you are required to hand him over immediately,"
"Actually, Enon, the cease fire specifically states that he is to be transferred from our diplomat to the Breen Diplomat on Ferenginar. My study of Breen culture leads me to believe that if your Gor brought Bruce in, live or dead, it would be a tremendous honor to him and his clan, but if you want to keep insisting that you don't have our people, or that you have a right to destroy federation property we'll just have to handle this as the diplomats would want,"
The Breen came back into view and spoke to the Vorta.
"Commander, one moment please," Enon said as they both stepped out of view. A minute later Enon returned with his nose bleeding. "Gor Tumel has found that one of our ships in a moment of mercy did pick up three individuals and has authorized an exchange. We are sending transport coordinates. Please deactivate the viewscreen,"
"End transmission Ensign,"
"Viewscreen off," said Seja.
"Commander, three human life signs on sensors at the coordinates given by Enon. Beaming directly to sickbay two," said Thorsen.
"Vermillion, is it them?" asked Valientine
Indistinct shouting of orders could be heard. "Yes sir, Dr Neric is already clearing everyone out that's not essential and prepping for surgery. I'd recommend not bothering the man, he may be an ensign, but he's got the fire of a Chief Medical Officer,"
"Lieutenant, head to the morgue, put a communicator badge on Bruce Jackson, let me know when you're done. Ensign MacLaren, turn us about, head for Federation space as soon as Bruce is over there," said Valientine.
"Aye sir, course laid in, full impulse power as soon as transport is complete,"
"Vermillion to bridge, its going to be a minute, I think I've found him but he's pretty badly damaged, I'm going to have to identify by genetic scan. Okay, confirmed, placing communicator badge on him,"
"Ensign Thorsen, beam over the body to the same coordinates they gave you for the Captain,"
"Transport complete Commander,"
"Good, now let's get out of here.
"Engaging exit course at full impulse, leaving Breen space in thirty seconds," said Ensign MacLaren
"Bridge to engineering, I need a full report as soon as possible,"
"Already prepared, I'll be up there in a minute,"
"Ensign, open a channel to all decks,"
"Aye sir,"
"All hands, this is Commander Valientine, the secure operation is over. We are leaving Breen space; normal communications will be restored soon. I need all senior staff that is physically able to do so to return to duty stations as soon as possible. Also I'd like to ask everyone to keep the Captain in their hopes and prayers,"
Within a few minutes lieutenant DePalma arrived with a slight limp and relieved Ensign Thorsen, Lieutenant Vermillion took the helm from Ensign MacLaren, Lieutenant Register relieved Bera and told Ensign Seja she was relieved until tomorrow's shift. As the four friends got into the turbo lift and headed down there was an uncomfortable silence until they got to the deck of their quarters. Ulrik was the first off the lift followed by Bera, Daniel started to the door but Seja caught his hand. She pushed the button for the door to close and the turbolift asked them what floor they wanted to go to. They ignored the computer and faced one another; Daniel stood about eight inches taller than her but looked into her eyes and wrapped his arms around her. She pressed her face into his chest and started to cry.
"It's okay Seja," he said as he held her.
"I was so worried about you. I knew parts of what was going on but not everything. This has made me realize that I have feelings for you. Deep feelings and, well…" she trailed off while looking up into his eyes.
"Let me guess, you want to sit down with Neric and me for a talk? Okay. I have to be honest; I've never seen myself in a polyamorous relationship, I'll need some time to get used to the situation but you're in my heart, and you're more important to me than anything. I love you Seja,"
At the same time, in sick bay two, Dr Neric was just closing the last incision. The EMH stood next to him and said "she should be fine Doctor, our work was excellent. All scans are showing no residual traces of bacteria, virus, or any toxins in her system. The leaks in her spinal column are completely fixed, her pressure looks good, and all signs suggest a full recovery,"
"I can see that. I've already told you that you can go. Aren't you supposed to turn yourself off?" Neric said
"Dr. Sarel programmed a subroutine into me that prevents me from deactivating until I've reported in to him. With his death I cannot do that,"
"Sure you can, his body is in sick bay one, just go report to him and turn off,"
"But he's dead," replied the EMH
"And your point is?"
"Okay," the EMH said as it walked to the door and down the hall to sick bay one. Neric could see the EMH appear on a monitor that showed activity for sick bay one. The EMH walked over to the Vulcan's corpse and begin talking to it. After five minutes the EMH turned off and Neric tapped his COM badge. "Sickbay to Commander Valientine, can I talk to you in private?"
"One moment Ensign," Neric could hear Xavier walking past people and into a room
"Okay, go ahead doctor,"
"Well sir, I've cleaned her up and repaired everything I can. There's one problem. I've tried every trick that I know and everything that the EMH knows and we haven't been able to wake her. She'd stable, good brainwave activity but I suspect there may be a small bubble in her spinal column, possibly in the lumbar spine region. There may be some nerve damage too, but I won't know that for sure until she wakes. She's in a coma for no apparent medical reason, and will not be able to resume duties for quite a while,"
"Okay. Who else knows?"
"Just myself and the EMH, oh, and the EMH has apparently been programmed to report all events to Dr. Sarel, so Dr. Sarel's corpse also knows, but I don't think he'll tell anyone,"
"Okay, I'd like you to keep this quiet until we reach starbase. I'll need you to keep visitors away from the Captain for now. If anything changes—"
"You'll be the first to know. After myself and the patient, of course,"
"Valientine out"
The door to the office Xavier stood in chimed, and Chief of Engineering Tourej entered, followed by Lieutenant Foster.
"Sir, here's the report, I have a recommendation," she said as she handed him a padd.
"Go ahead Lieutenant," Valientine said while scanning the report.
"I'd like to do a saucer separation and have Star Fleet tow the Engineering hull in. The saucer has its own independent warp core and nacelles, it can get the crew and prisoners to the nearest Star base within a few minutes. I can have a team working on repairing the other half while its being towed, once we're back in dock Starfleet will be able to slap in a new warp core and fourth nacelle, we can reconnect the two halves then, the ship will be good as new,"
"How long will this take?"
"Assuming the Corps of Engineers doesn't drag its feet, four weeks maximum, that includes six days in tow time,"
"And if we keep the two halves together, returning under our own power?"
"Roughly six months, with a strong chance of burning out the saucers core along the way. The core that's in the saucer is meant as auxiliary, it can generate a warp field for short bursts, enough to get where you're going, but to extend it to cover the whole ship would be too much strain,"
"Alright, make the announcement, we separate in fifty minutes, timer starts at the end of this meeting. Who do you want working the Engineering hull and who's in saucer?"
"I'll need most of Engineering to stay with the hull until we reach starbase; I'm going to leave Lieutenant Rhyster with the saucer,"
"Oh no you don't, you're not sticking me with Rhyster or Limmer, how about Androsky?" said Valientine.
"Okay fine, but I'm sending Limmer and Rhyster along with him. I'll need a pilot and someone to run ops in the auxiliary bridge, a security person would be welcome, just in case" replied the Engineer
"I'd recommend Ensign MacLaren for helm and Thorsen for ops; Bera for tactical. Do you need someone medical? Will the EMH be functional?" said Xavier
"Not really, holo-emmiters and replicators will be off line to conserve power, we'll be roughing it on prepared field rations. I heard about Dr Sarel, is Neric available?"
"He has a delicate patient in sick bay two—"
"—which is in the engineering hull,"
"Right, ah, let me check with him on this, he may want to get the patient to Starbase sooner that the tow would take. If not, he's yours,"
"Alright, if he's not available I can grab one of the nurses,"
"Right, dismissed lieutenant,"
"aye sir," she said as she left.
"Commander Foster, what can I do for you?"
"I'll need a full list of casualties so I can begin contacting next of kin,"
"Andrei, I appreciate the offer but that's something that the first officer normally covers,"
"True, but until Captain Dallas comes around you're not the first officer, you're the Captain. I'm not just a counselor, I have a medical degree in neuroscience, I looked in on her, and I know what you're trying to keep secret. You think if the crew doesn't know their morale won't go even further into the bin, but that doesn't work. They need you to lead them, be a shining example and let me help guide them through the grieving process,"
"Okay, it'll be on your office computer by the time you get there. You're going to want to speak with Lieutenant Squin; she was Lieutenant Pulaski's fiancée. She's in the Biology department,"
In Ensign Thorsen's quarters, Ulrik was packing his backpack. His boyfriend was sitting on Ulrik's bed chatting with Bera.
"So you've been picked to be in charge of the civilians in the saucer section during separation? That's a great opportunity for you but it's a shame that you can't come with us," said Bera
"I know, Ulrik and I talked about it, and we'd like to invite you with us. We're going to use our time exploring Alaska on Earth, as soon as the Engineering hull reaches the starbase I'll have a shuttle there waiting to pick you two up," replied Justin
"That is so cool! I've never been on a vacation with a human couple before! I'm going to need to observe you discretely," Bera said with a giggle.
Justin looked slightly scarred before saying "uh, okay, we might need to discuss the words observe and privacy"
"Oh, don't worry; you'll never know I'm there. So, tell me about your mating preferences,"
Ulrik turned to Justin and said "Don't worry, she's just teasing. I hope. Bera you are teasing, correct?"
The Ensigns all reported to the battle bridge, Tourej sat in the command chair for the time being. Ulrik was in the Ops booth, Bera in tactical, MacLaren was at the helm.
"Alright everyone, the tow ships will engage their tractor beams as soon as separation is complete. Valientine is running the separation from the bridge; I need you guys to just monitor your stations. Ulrik, keep an eye on power levels to the sick bay, we need to make sure nothing gets interrupted down there, otherwise we'll have a very cranky doctor. Seja, how's engineering?"
"I think the appropriate human expression would be it's a ghost town in here, but since I'm not human, I'll just say it's deserted. Impulse engines are generating all power, with no problems, minor spikes occurring when someone replicates a large or complex piece of equipment, I'm currently staring down the hole where the warp core was, it's very dark down there,"
"Alright, don't go climbing down there, if anything changes—"
"I'll let you know. Seja out,"
"Beginning saucer separation" came in over the ships P.A. system. Five minutes elapsed with the crew glancing at their consoles.
"Saucer has separated Commander. Tow ships have engaged tractor beams starboard and port," reported Ensign Thorsen
"Helm, divert all command to the towers," said Tourej
"All command functions diverted. Tow ships are getting close and generating a tandem warp field looks like about warp four point five. Alaska Saucer has gone to warp," replied Ensign MacLaren
"Excellent. Bera, Thorsen, MacLaren, work out a schedule, I want each of you to drop by the bridge once an hour to verify speed and course, don't rely on the data that's fed from the towers, figure it out, double check yourselves. Thorsen, open a channel to all decks,"
"Channel open,"
"All hands, this is Chief of Engineering Tourej, I'm sure most of you are already busy and I'd personally like to thank you for staying, Starfleet appreciates this. In case you hadn't heard all food replicators and transporters are off-line. Avoid any main corridor that you're not specifically assigned to work on. Keep your safety masks on at all times, the flash fire released some very dangerous substances, don't breathe them in. Communicator badges will only be working intermittently, if you need to speak with someone you'll want to track them down. There will be a dinner at twenty-one hundred hours in the aft lounge. Some of the civilians stayed here to help out, everyone on board, officers, enlisted personnel, and civilians are welcome,"
Later that night, in the ships lounge Seja sat at a table, with a martini glass front of her. It was filled with a bright blue substance. Daniel was to her right with a cup of coffee in front of him, and Neric was to her left, sipping from a glass of water with a slice of lemon in it. A waitress stood next to their table with a padd
"I do appreciate the bartender making a drink in my honor, however, there is no such thing as a 'Romitini', pouring Romulan ale into a martini glass with an olive and a splash of vermouth does not make such a thing exist. Also, the vermouth appears to be reacting badly to the Romulan Ale, as neither one normally fizzes, nor do they cause olives to crenate. Now, as I requested before, chai, please," she said, handing the martini glass back to the waitress.
"Okay, gentlemen, I needed to speak with both of you," she said
"Cause you're dating both of us, correct?" asked Neric
"Uh, yes, and," Seja said, a slight tremble in her voice
"And you want to make sure we're fully aware and consenting?" asked Daniel
Well, yes but," Seja said, blushing
"Well Daniel, is it going to bother you if I and she get our wiggly going the night before you go on a date with her?" Dr. Neric said with a smile. Seja's eyes lit up and she covered her face in embarrassment.
"Not really doc, just treat her right when you're with her and there's no problem,"
"But, guys we need to—"Seja said, having trouble getting a word in
"Okay, let's create a schedule, dibs on Thursdays and Saturdays," said Neric
"Dibs?" asked Seja, confused
"As long as I get Fridays and Wednesdays, "replied MacLaren
"Um, guys, do I get a say in this?" asked Seja.
"Sure sweetheart, you can decide the rest of the week," said Neric.
Seja paused for a moment, eyeing both men. "You two planned this earlier, didn't you?"
"Yes we did, Neric and I talked earlier, we're on the same page, we are both okay with the idea, we're going to spend some time hanging out, do some male bonding but no jealousy to report," Daniel said
"Thank you, both," Seja said.
Doctor Nerics communicator chimed once and was followed by a weak sounding female voice that just said "Doctor?"
Neric bolted out of his seat, saying "it's the captain" as he turned and ran for the door, Daniel and Seja followed. In a few minutes the three of them arrived at sick bay two, they were all out of breath and sweating profusely.
"Captain, are you alright?" doctor Neric asked.
"I think so, but I can't move my legs. My hands feel like dead weight at the ends of my wrists."
"Daniel, I'm going to need your assistance, Seja, please find Tourej, tell her to come quickly,"
Seja turned and started running returning a few minutes later with Tourej in tow.
"What's happened to my ship?" asked the Captain
"We sustained damage to the plasma flow system and had to eject the core. Commander Valientine and I agreed to do a saucer separation, the saucer taking all the prisoners to the nearest starbase for processing. The operation was mostly a success, Bruce Jackson died during the conflict but his body was turned over to the Breen. We've contacted command, they now what's going on, the Breen have officially withdrew all warships from the border," said Tourej
"And we're being towed to the nearest dock?" asked the Captain
"Yes ma'am," said Daniel
"Alright. Doctor, next time I start heading for an away team mission, remind me of this incident, please,"
"Yes ma'am," said Neric
"Can I get a terminal in here? I would like to speak with Commander Valientine," said the Captain.
"I'd recommend against it Captain, I'm still not sure why you were comatose in the first place, I don't want anything affecting your stress level," replied Neric
"That's appreciated doctor, but I must insist. I promise to remain calm, and I really need to talk to people," said the Captain
"Okay, if you insist," he said, bringing the monitor from the medical desk over to her bed. He sat it on a stand next to her bed.
"Thank you doctor, now, everyone dismissed, including you doctor," said the Captain
"It's my sickbay," Neric said,
"Doctor, did your exam reveal anything new?"
"No captain"
"Did you program the computer to alert you if anything changes with my health?"
"Yes captain"
"Am I trying to regain my duties, to the best of your knowledge?"
"No captain"
"And you have the quarters next door, correct?
"Yes captain,"
"Then go use them. Take your friends with,"
They left, Tourej turned to head back to what she had been working on. Seja turned to Neric and Daniel and asked "what can you tell me?"
"I can't tell you anything dear, Doctor patient confidentiality. Daniel, on the other hand, is not a doctor," Neric said, resting his hand on Daniels shoulder.
Seja turned to Daniel and said "Alright MacLaren, spill it,"
"She's got nerve damage in her spine. Neric doesn't have the tools here to generate new nerve tissue; she might be permanently paralyzed,"
"Alright, come on Daniel, male bondage time. Which side of the bed do you prefer, door side or window side?"
"First, window side, second, that's bonding, Neric, and I was thinking something more like five card stud and a bottle of single malt,"
"Alright, but I don't drink anymore, and you can use my personal name now, if you wish, it's Mirid,"
"You boys have fun," she said. She then tapped her communicator and said "Seja to Bera, boy I have a story for you, meet me in our quarters,"