Star Trek Lost Destiny
By Hemaccabe
Book 1: Race of Death
Chapter 6: Time for a Real Choice
Seventeen hours later I got a report back from scan that had somewhat better resolution. In an attached audio file, a junior scan officer commented in a bored voice, "The corona effect may have been caused by interaction with the moon's magnetic field."
I checked. The moonlet was too small, it had no magnetic field. No other phenomena could have caused the corona.
It was not a very useful bit of scan interpretation, but part of the problem was that moonlet was still between Dreadnought and the Gorn Ship.
In the old days, if I had a problem like this, I would have gone to Becky. Becky and I had been assigned to share a dormitory room when we came to Star Fleet Academy. No one who makes it to Star Fleet Academy is a remedial student. However, in terms of the Academy, Becky's academics and her physical disciplines were weak. She clearly had not spent a great deal of time physically preparing herself or studying a Martial Art as Ambassador Spock had insisted I study Suus Mahna religiously.
On the other hand, when it came to understanding the unspoken social currents and where to shop for clothing, make up or how to order a coffee, she was a master.
We became best friends. She was like the sister I never had. She brought me home to spend time with her family. She guided me gently through the social currents which were invisible to me. I tutored her in academics and worked with her on her Star Fleet self-defense.
I avoided being isolated and despised. Becky got good grades and, eventually, was able to pin the upperclassman, James, who had been tormenting her. After that, the two had become close. I knew that after James graduated, he had proposed to Becky, who in violation of regulations, had secretly accepted.
I had told Becky about my desire to be a Captain one day. She replied, "Oh no, not me, I'm gonna go for astrogation."
"Why?" I had asked. Completely confused at how someone could not wish to be captain.
"Being Captain is just a lot of responsibility. All the interesting stuff happens in Astrogation, so I'll just do that."
Becky would have known about what was going on with the moonlet. She would have given me an expert reading of the scans. Now, thanks to Khan, I was working without her.
There were a lot of reasons why the Gorn ship could have been exuding that corona. I needed more data. I looked at my options.
There was a scanner from the planet's space route traffic control on the other side of the moonlet which could get a good look. However, that scanner was dedicated to outbound scanning, it wouldn't be looking down on the moonlet. I could, in theory, send a request up the chain of command to have that scanner turned around. There was no way, even if it was approved at each step, that the scanner would be ready in time and the Gorns would not be notified.
Justifying my decision to reset the scanner and have it looking down where the Gorn ship would be in seventeen hours, by saying to myself that I was just saving them all the time and trouble of considering so minor a request, I accessed the Cestus III Space Route Traffic Control system and reprogrammed the scanner satellite.
Seventeen hours later, I got a good look.
The Gorn ship was definitely extruding some kind of energy corona onto the moonlet. I analyzed the energy and determined that, if it could be focused into a column, it could be some sort of weapon. It was some sort of ionized energy. It wouldn't hit like a phaser, disruptor or even an old-fashioned plasma weapon, but it had the possibility, particularly if a ship's shields were down, of rendering a large portion of the crew unconscious.
The final stage of the Peace Celebration was for the Dreadnought and the Gorn ship to jointly go and survey a useless rock in the Cestus system's asteroid belt.
I asked Commander Witlin about it. "Why are we using two of the most capable and expensive ships in our fleets to go and survey what looks to be a valueless rock. A survey that could be done by a cheap robot probe?"
Commander Witlin replied patiently, "It's not necessarily the scientific knowledge we're after here. The Federation and the Gorn are demonstrating to each other that we can be partners in scientific exploration. This sort of illogical display is typical of diplomacy which is often based much more on emotion than practical considerations."
I had a bad feeling about this. I believed cultures made peace because both saw logical gain, not for emotional reasons. I was sure such an opinion would not be well received by a Human, so I kept my mouth shut except to say, "Thank-you Sir."
Seventeen hours later, Dreadnought was accompanying the Gorn ship on our cruise to the minor asteroid. We would be between the moonlet and the Gorn ship. At this point, in what was a moment of perfect timing for the universe, or something that had been engineered by the Gorn, the moonlet had gotten some energy from a solar storm and was arcing bolts of electrified plasma up to the ship in a way that would perfectly hide their corona if it was used as a weapon.
Of course, Dreadnought's shields were down. Raising our shields would be far too hostile a gesture.
I watched the Gorn ship through the window on my monitor and just when I expected, a column of ionized energy extended from the Gorn ship and hit Dreadnought near the Bridge on the Primary hull.
I immediately comm'ed up to Commander Witlin, "I believe the Gorn have just fired some sort of weapon against our ship. At the Bridge specifically. We need to take action!"
Commander Witlin replied, "I'm not sure where all these warnings are coming from. The ship has not been hit with a weapon. Stand fast to your post. That's an order."
Admittedly, the corona weapon did not hit like a normal weapon. The ship had not shuddered like it had just been hit by a phaser cannon. Unless one was looking for it, one wouldn't see the indicators that already showed the ship was drifting.
I could see energy levels had dropped on the Gorn ship, but they were already rising and the Gorn ship was turning to face us.
There were a lot of possibilities here and I had a lot to lose.
After my last Cadet cruise on Enterprise, I was gratified to graduate as Brigade Commander and first in my class from Star Fleet Academy. Most Cadets graduate as Ensigns. Sometimes, leading Cadets are given a bump to Lieutenant Junior Grade. How many will get the bump, if any, is not determined or announced before graduation. I had reviewed the records. In the last fifty years, the largest number of Cadets given the bump was four, but that was during the Four Years War. The most common occurrence was one, the second most common was none.
When I received my diploma and orders, I had been gratified to see that I had been graduated with the bump to Lieutenant Junior Grade. My orders were to join Dr. David Marcus on Grissom and assist him in studying the new Genesis Planet.
After a typical three-year tour, an officer isn't guaranteed a promotion. Not getting promoted doesn't even preclude an officer from achieving command. Frequently the failure to gain promotion has been based more on budgetary constraints, than failure to perform. Certainly, missing a promotion isn't good, but most Star Fleet Captains can point to a tour or two where they didn't get promoted.
However, after just two years on Grissom, and the functional end of that tour due to the destruction of the Genesis planet and the Grissom, I had been promoted to full Lieutenant. That made me one of the youngest Lieutenants in the fleet.
Here on Dreadnought, I'd already earned a commendation. My time here was almost done, completed without major error. There were no guarantees, but I was likely to be promoted again to Lieutenant Commander. I would probably be assigned to be Chief of Navigation on another ship, a command track position. With success, after that tour, I would be promoted to Full Commander, Chief of Navigation and First Officer on my following tour. That would put me in position for the big seat during the following tour.
It was possible I had made a mistake in my assessment of the situation. What if I was wrong about the magnetic fields on that moonlet? It would be reasonable to assume that Commander Witlin had more information than I did. Perhaps there was some sort of crises for which he needed me to stand fast? I had received a clear and direct order from my immediate, command superior. My only option would be to disobey a direct order and run to the Bridge. If I guessed wrong, not only would my career be destroyed, I could face court martial.
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