Chapter 7-Time Trek
Everyone in the brig cell knew that the Romulans guarding the crew could go for days without sleep or food if necessary. Nobody in the cell with Kirk had seen their captors eat anything or sleep for the past couple of days. This had caused a constant state of tension among the human crew members and it was starting to work on all of them, with the possible exception of Spock. The Vulcan hypothesized that the criminals were probably not as self-disciplined as other Vulcans and that it wouldn't be too much longer before they went to find food or get some rest. That would be the time to carry out Astrid's plan to go through the air ducts, providing, of course, that the people chosen to loosen the screen and go through it were able to hold out until that time.
A few hours later, after McCoy got through chiding everyone about thinking of food 'at a time like this', people did begin to nibble here and there from the replicator after Kirk had to order them to, to keep up their strength. Despite that, some were showing signs of stress.
Suddenly, one of the Romulan guards turned off the force field, at the same time keeping an acquired phaser trained on them. Uhura noticed that it was set on a wide field and to kill. Despite being outnumbered, the Romulans were the ones with the guns. Kirk ordered everyone to stay where they were and to not make any sudden moves. It would have been foolish to rush them. Spock reminded them all that Vulcanians were much stronger than the average human. Uhura said she found that out the hard way, holding up her hand. McCoy had managed to make a makeshift splint for her injured wrist. The Romulan guard grabbed Masters and roughly shoved her out of the cell. The force field snapped back on a second later.
"Masters!" Kirk shouted with concern and with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
The woman engineer could not answer him, for the Romulan had given her a neck pinch and had slung her over his shoulder like an old knapsack.
***
Tension was thick between Riley and Rand as they awaited their fate. They did not have long to wait. Rand noticed something very odd with the door mechanism. Someone was entering a security code that she recognized.
"Lieutenant Riley!" She gasped. "I know who that is!"
"Don't be so sure, yeoman. It could have been picked by random by a Romulan trying to get in."
Riley held his breath while Rand relaxed a little, but kept her phaser trained on the entrance. The security code was for a young fellow from Scott's section named Chekov, a brand new addition to the Enterprise crew. She knew it because everyone had to give their security code by entering it into the system with the destination coordinates in the transporter room when they beamed down. She was a transporter trainee, one of the few people on board who had access to that kind of information.
The door swished open. Scotty entered first, and then smiled.
"Don't fire, Mr. Riley. I'm pretty harmless." He then saw Rand. "Rand too. How nice. I'm sure glad that you two are crew. There was no doubt in this young lad's mind. Pavel, that can be dangerous. You have to be constantly on guard in situations like this."
Rand remembered Chekov because he was a very good looking boy. He was too young for her, but extremely likable and very cute. Riley lowered his weapon quickly, returning Scott's grin.
"Likewise, sir. It's good to see you and Chekov too."
"Now that we have found one another, what's next?" Rand asked.
"I think we should try and track down more of our crew, in the meantime, picking off some nasty old Romulans along the way." Riley said enthusiastically.
***
Captain Kirk was unusually pensive in the brig cell. McCoy had a feeling that he was concerned over the fate of their assistant chief engineer.
"You seem preoccupied, Jim." He observed gently.
"I just have the feeling that we have just lost another crew member." Kirk answered soberly.
Astrid spoke up, in an attempt to lift his spirits a little.
"That's impossible, Captain. Only red-shirted extras got killed off. Masters will be OK."
"What?" Kirk responded incredulously.
"Even though she was in only one episode, she is still remembered fondly. I doubt very much that she would be killed off so quickly after meeting old cliff-diving Lazerus."
"How can you be so sure? You said yourself that she was in only one episode."
"Well, we never heard of her getting killed in any other episode. She just seemed to fade into the woodwork. Besides, I have a strong feeling that she is still alive. Call it a hunch."
"My gut feelings tell me otherwise, Miss Keenan, but I hope you are right."
"One cannot always rely on human 'gut feelings', Captain." Spock said. "I, too, sense that Masters is still alive. It is more of a sense of her life force."
"Thank you, you two." Kirk said with a forced smile.
***
Jame Finney found a utility belt in a nearby storage locker, put it on, and placed the translator on it so it wouldn't fall again. She and Sarnel then went to the sensors to see if they could determine where the crew was being held. She found that most of them were in brig cells, although a few still lingered in engineering. She then had the idea of turning the tables on their unwanted guests by deactivating the brig force fields remotely. However, the equipment designed to do that was in the main transporter room.
When they arrived there, the area seemed deceptively quiet. Taking her phaser from the belt, Finney approached the door cautiously. She needlessly waved Sarnel to the side of the door, and was about to step through the threshold when Sarnel gasped. Mintak was approaching.
"FINNEY!!" He shouted.
Mintak's huge hand clapped tightly over her face before she had time to turn around. She could not gather enough oxygen to scream in fear, but had the presence of mind to jab him with her elbows. He didn't even wince. She used all of her Starfleet training in an attempt to escape, but there was one thing they didn't teach cadets in combat training, and that was how to stop a seven-foot Vulcan with his hand over a face from administering a neck pinch. She fell in a heap, her phaser clattering to the deck along with her.
Sarnel had had enough. He snatched Finney's gun from off the floor and aimed it at her assailant. He was a heartbeat away from pulling the trigger when Mintak knocked it out of his grasp.
Sarnel froze for a split second, and then charged. The two Vulcans rolled on the floor, Sarnel punching at Mintak with all of his might. The larger man fended off the wild blows easily, and grasped Sarnel's shoulders, holding the son of Surak at arm's length. He spoke to him in Vulcan.
"Kroykah, Sarnel! Listen! I no longer follow Rihan. She is a disgrace to the Vulcan people, even though I still believe emotion should not be stifled. I have no quarrel with your new alien friends. I do not wish to harm anyone, including Finney."
"You have had a change of heart?" Sarnel asked warily, feeling a little foolish in his grasp.
"Yes. I wish to start my own society somewhere, where emotions will be allowed, but tempered with reason. Your new friends may drop me and my group off anywhere. We will not resist."
"Will you please let me go?" Sarnel hissed. "I want to see if Finney is uninjured."
Mintak complied. Sarnel knelt beside the unconscious young woman.
***
The four Starfleet officers crept through the corridor. All were tense and all had their phasers primed. Scott led the way, followed by Chekov, Riley, and Rand. They all heard the sound of heavy footsteps, and swiftly ducked around a corner. Several Romulans appeared. One of them saw Janice and aimed a phaser at her. Chekov shoved Janice out of harm's way with super human strength, he and the alien firing at the same time. Rand briefly had the wind knocked out of her, but Chekov could not get out of the way in time, taking the phaser beam meant for her. Scotty and Riley fired simultaneously a second later, disintegrating the intruders. Rand was the first to notice that Pavel had been hit. She knelt beside him and checked for a pulse.
"You brave, wonderful little fool." She spoke to the unconscious young Russian. "He's alive, at least." She said, looking up at her shipmates. "What now?"
"Let's take him to my quarters." Scott said thoughtfully. "They are near here."
"Then what, Mr. Scott?" Riley asked in concern. "Chekov needs a doctor. It looks like he's been heavily stunned with a Number Two phaser. A lot of people don't survive that type of stun."
"He's got to survive. He saved Rand's life."
***
Kirk was the first to notice that the brig force fields had been deactivated. He motioned to Uhura, who, in turn, quietly directed the attention to the others to the fact. Now was the time to put their combat training to good use. The trick was to wrestle the phasers and other weapons away from the two guards without ending up like the captain. Spock and McCoy volunteered first. Spock gave one of the guards a very painful-looking neck pinch while McCoy, who still had his medikit handy, took care of the other Romulan by creeping up from behind and giving him a shot that would knock out a herd of charging rhinos. The crew continued with the other cells down the corridor. They then dragged the criminals back into the brig cells and manually re-established the force fields. The ship was soon fairly secure, except that Rihan and her band of outlaws could not be found.