Chapter 7

Acting Captain's log; supplemental: If all goes as plan this will be the last time I lay my head down before we are able to contact Starfleet. As tense as the last couple days have been I hope that tomorrow will be just as quiet. We are so close, but I can't shake the feeling that we are not safe yet.

"Lieutenant! Cloaked ship on our aft!"

Henry jolted up right in his first officer's chair as Ens. Selena Chaput shouted from the navigation console. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. It just came out of warp. It is coming right under our impulse trail."

"Do they know that we are aware of them?"

"Not that I can tell, Lieutenant."

"Red alert!" Henry opened a channel on his combadge to the entire ship. "This is the first officer, all hands to battle stations; repeat, all hands to battle stations. Romulan Warbird on our aft. Captain Lander, report to the bridge immediately."

The atmosphere on the Orion transformed from a sleepy lull to an awaken tension. Red lights flashed throughout the ship, and warning sirens blared. Every off-duty crewman was rushing to get to his or her post, and everyone else was going to the designated safe zones.

Only two minutes after the red alert sounded Lindsey came to the bridge. Her uniform was somewhat wrinkled, and her blond hair was a mess. Apparently, she had rolled out of bed as soon as the alert was raise, and also apparently she had slept in her uniform.

"Status!"

"Cloaked vessel on our aft," answered Henry.

"How close?"

"One hundred kilometers and closing," said Selina.

Lindsey came around the railing and sat in her captain's chair. "Are their weapons powered up?"

"It's hard to tell with the cloaking and all," said Selina. "But based on the energy readings I am getting, I would guess, yes."

"Henry, what's our weapon's status?"

Henry was at the tactical console. "Weapons are not yet powered up, but all phaser banks and photon torpedo tubes are operational."

"Can you power up the aft tubes without being noticed?"

"I believe I can, but I need a few minutes," answered Henry.

Lt. Johnathan Mikkelson arrived on the bridge, and Henry pointed him to his station. Selina took a moment to whisper updates to him before yielding the navigator's seat. Lt. Mikkelson reported, "Cloaked vessel fifty kilometers and closing."

"Captain, I can confirm that this is the same vessel that passed us in the asteroid field," added Selina from her new station at operations.

"Thank you, both."

"Captain, aft torpedo tubes are powered up. Ready to fire on your order."

"Wait."

"Wait?" asked Henry. "They are already in firing range."

"Have they fired on us?"

"No. But I don't think we have to wait for them to fire to know that they are a danger."

"Agreed. However, they haven't fired yet because they do not know, that we know, that they are here." Lindsey leaned back in her chair. "They will do exactly what they did at Beta-Gamma. They will wait until they are at point blank range. Only then will they decloak and fire. But this time it will be different. This time we will have the element of surprise. Ensign Chaput, give your reading to Lt. Hickensen for targeting purposes. Henry, do your best to make our first volley count. If you could take out their disruptors that would be best."

"Yes, Captain."

"Selina, what is their approach vector?"

"They are just slightly below our aft."

"They're going to target our propulsion," said Lindsey with a hint of worry in her voice. "Prepare to fire."

"Cloaked vessel is five kilometers from our stern," reported Selina. Henry's fingers hovered over the fire controls. "Four kilometers; three kilometers."

Lindsey raised her hand and pointed up with two fingers. "Target." Henry selected the best targets on the cloaked ship. Then looked up at Lindsey. It was only a second, but it was long and tense second before she dropped her hand.

"Fire!"


"Ten kilometers."

"Steady," said the Romulan first officer. "Colonel, we will be under them in a moment. We will fire on your command."

"Excellent, Subcommander." The Colonel leaned back in his seat. Despite his eagerness, he kept a calm composure.

"Five kilometers…three kilometers…two kil…"

"We're being targeted!" shouted the sensor officer. "They're firing!"

The Warbird lurched with the impact of several photon torpedoes. Reports were coming in from all the officers, but the Colonel shouted above all of them.

"Return fire!"


"Romulan Warbird decloaking!" said Henry. The Orion shook violently from the impact. "They've fired photon torpedos." The Orion shook again.

"We're taking heavy damage on the aft sections! Lower decks are also taking hits!" shouted Ens. Chaput from her station. "Shield strength at 60%!"

"Keep firing!" shouted Lindsey, but Henry shouted in return, "Aft torpedo tubes are hit!"

"Hard to Starboard! Tip our dorsal side! Fire phasers!"

The Orion turned to the right presenting the dorsal side to the Romulan Warbird, all the while drilling the enemy ship with its top side phaser arrays. The Warbird took a few more shots to the bottom rear of the Orion. There was a particularly violent shake, and Selina shouted, "Propulsion system hit! We've lost impulse!"

"Thrusters at full! Keep us turning! Power up forward torpedo tubes!" The Orion continued to turn to the right while the Romulan Warbird fired at the top of the Orion a few more times before it broke off its attack. The impacts near the bridge produced particularly violent shaking and rattling, and Lindsey looked nervously at the patchwork on the bridge's hull. She did not want to die from atmospheric decompression the way the previous captain did.

"More impacts on our starboard side!" shouted Selina. "System failures and structural compromises on multiple decks and one hull breach on deck 9."

Finally, the attack ended. "Where are they?"

"The Warbird broke to port," said Selina. "It is now behind us, flying away."

"Retreating?" asked Henry.

"Or merely setting up for another attack," said Lindsey. "They are smaller, more maneuverable, and have better acceleration than us. They will be back, but we will be ready. Helm, continue our starboard maneuver and bring us about. I want to face my enemy. Status reports! Shields?!"

"Shields are at 32%," reported Selina Chaput.

"Engineering, what is our propulsion status?"

The bridge engineer, Ens. Riley, answered. "Our starboard warp nacelle is gone. We have also lost our starboard and aft impulse engines, and the portside impulse engine is currently offline. Thrusters have taken damage but are mostly functional."

"How long before we have impulse power?"

The engineer consulted his console then reported. "Lt. Kustov says he can get the portside impulse engine online in forty minutes."

"Forty minutes?!" exclaimed Henry. "That's an eternity in battle!"

"We can't run or hide. It's time to fight," said Lindsey. "Weapons status?"

Henry answered. "Our armory was hit. We only have the torpedoes in the tubes. Aft torpedo tubes are offline. So is the front starboard tube, but we still have the front and portside tubes as well as the ventral tube. Each tube has ten torpedoes."

"Three tubes and thirty torpedoes! What about phasers?"

"Phasers are offline."

"What about the Romulans?"

"I did a number on them," said Henry. "What do you think, Ens. Chaput?"

"I think their disruptors are damaged, but they can still fire torpedoes." Selina then looked up from her screen. "Captain, they are turning back!"

"Helm, line us up. We will need to use our forward torpedo tubes." Lindsey sat back and thought for a second. She was running her hand through her messy hair when a beeping came on the bridge.

"Captain, they're hailing us," said Selina with a hint of surprise in her voice.

Lindsey opened a compartment in her captain's chair. "Ah, Captain Taylor still had a few of these stashed." Lindsey pulled out a hair tie.

"Lindsey, what are you doing?"

"Captain Taylor always told me to look your best when talking with the enemy," she answered as she pulled back her hair into a simple pony tail. "I will settle for not looking like I just rolled out of bed." Lindsey straighten her uniform. "Put them on screen, Ensign."

The view screen then displayed a very official but smug looking Romulan officer. Lindsey couldn't recognize his rank insignia. "I am Colonel Gaiath of the Romulan Star Empire, surrender your ship, and we will show mercy."

"I am Captain Lindsey Lander of the Federation Starship Orion. You are in Federation space and in violation of the Treaty of Algeron by crossing the Neutral Zone. It is you who ought to surrender to us. And don't think me the fool. Merciful or not, circumstances force you to either kill us or take us prisoner. And I am not about to let you do either of those things to my crew without a fight."

"Captain? Your rank is only that of a lieutenant, Ms. Lander."

"Acting Captain, thanks to you. Our losses have caused us much grief, but now I have an entire starship crew that desires vengeance. Who am I to deny them?"

"You're in over your head, Lieutenant."

"Maybe I am Colonel. But you will be the one to pay if you're wrong. I am the captain of a Federation Starship, and that makes me very dangerous." Lindsey turned and nodded to Selina who then killed the transmission.

Lindsey paused in thought until an idea came to her mind. "Lt. Mikkelson, what is our tractor beam status?"

"Tractor beam?"

"Yes, Johnathan, the tractor beam!"

"Ah, fully operational."

"Good. Helm, thrusters at full. Set a course right at the Warbird."

"A strafing vector?" asked Ens. Luke Ryan.

"Negative, Ensign. Set a collision course and adjust appropriately if the Romulans try to get out of the way."

"Lindsey?" asked Henry "What are you doing?"

"Lt. Hickensen, program the first three torpedoes in each tube to detonate early. I want to use them as counter measures to block the enemy torpedoes. Use the rest to target their engines. I am trusting you, Henry. Don't hold back. We're not saving anything for the next round. This is it. It is either us or them. If you can't take out their warp and impulse abilities, we lose.

"Lt. Mikkelson, set the tractor beam on repulse mode, and, on my mark, hit the Warbird with as strong of a repulsor beam as possible. Red line the tractor beam if you need to. We won't be needing it later, and I want as big of a push as possible."

"I see," said Johnathan as he appeared to understand Lindsey's plan.

"Gutsy move, Lindsey," said Henry as the Orion began to move. "Let's hope it works."

"Take out those engines, Henry, and it will," answered Lindsey.


"Colonel, they doing a direct charge!"

The Romulan Colonel laughed. Learning that he was dealing with a young and inexperienced captain had boosted his confidence. "They only have forward weapons. Charge at them at full speed. Fire plasma torpedoes when in range. When they break off we will get behind them and finish them."


Henry watched the viewscreen as the Romulan ship got larger. His hands hovered above the fire controls.

"Romulan Warbird at one hundred kilometers and closing fast," said Selina from across the bridge. "They're firing torpedoes."

"Fire counter measures," said Lindsey who showed no sign of nervousness as she sat in her captain's chair. Rather she had a determined look on her face. She had a plan and was going to see it through, for good or for ill.

"Firing counter measures," said Henry. Henry focused on his job, only occasionally looking up at the viewscreen to watch as his photon torpedoes exploded early and detonated the incoming Romulan torpedoes. The trick was surprisingly effective, but a few still got by. "Prepare for impact!" said Henry just as the torpedoes were about to hit.

The Orion shook from impact, but a reassuring voice came from across the bridge. "Three plasma torpedoes have hit the forward sections. Minimal damage, and shields are holding at 29%. Romulan Warbird at fifty kilometers and closing."

Lindsey turned towards Henry. "Henry, do your damage. Fire at will."


The Warbird took hit after hit, and the Colonel was no longer happy.

"Damage to the impulse engines!" Shouted an excited engineer. "Another hit like that one and we will lose propulsion."

"Continue heading!" replied the Colonel. "They with will break off. Then we'll fire on their vulnerable aft."


"Shields failing!" screamed Ens. Chaput. "Severe damage to the forward sections, and a hull breach on deck 6."

"Romulan warbird at twenty kilometers!" said Lt. Mikkelson.

"Johnathan, activate repulsor beam at ten kilometers."

"Negative Captain!" shouted Henry from behind Lindsey. "Give me longer than that."

"Henry, I can't do that."

"Trust me, Lindsey."

Lindsey looked back at Henry who was working the firing controls like she had never seen before. It was clear to her that he had some plan. "Johnathan, activate repulsor beam on the first officer's mark. You better be right about this, Henry."


Colonel Gaiath stared in awe as the Orion loomed in closer. He began to doubt his first theory and believe that the Orion's junior captain had actually ordered a ramming maneuver. The Enterprise had done it to the Scimitar. Maybe the Orion would do it to him!

"Collision warning!" shouted the navigator. "The Orion is at ten kilometers and closing."

The Colonel panicked, "Activate repulsor beam! Push them away!"


"Seven, Six, Fi…"

The Orion jolted suddenly, and Lindsey saw Henry slam his controls. "Now!" he shouted. Lindsey watched as Johnathan moved two display levers all the way up into a red zone, and then she felt the effects of the repulsor beam. The Romulan Warbird disappeared from the viewscreen, and Lindsey knew that they were clear from impact.

"Helm, lay in a new coarse away from the Warbird. Take the heading in which the tractor beam pushed us. Selina, get us some shields. We may need to disrupt their tractor beam."

"That won't be necessary," said Henry who was smiling when Lindsey turned to look at him. Lindsey quickly reran the last couple of seconds in her mind and then recalled the jolt just before Henry's order.

"You waited until they used their tractor beam, and then you took out the tractor beam emitter?"

"It wouldn't pay to escape only to be reeled in again. I waited to see where the array was. When we were jolted, I targeted the energy surge. Besides, their repulsor beam gave us an added push."

"You're crazy!"

"Crazier than a Captain who orders a collision course? Just remember in your report that you started it."

"Report? No time for that. Status!"

"Shields are gone…" started Selina.

"Not ours; theirs! Are they pursuing us?"

Selina looked at her display. "Romulan Warbird is coming around." She looked up with a smile. "They are using thrusters only."


"Subcommander! Impulse and warp engines are offline. Engineers are not sure how long before they are operational again."

"Colonel, what do we do?" asked the first officer.

"Set pursuit course. Use the tractor beam to keep them from escaping."

"Tractor beam is offline, Colonel."

"Weapons?"

"Offline."

Colonel Gaiath allowed himself to be overcome with anger for just a moment. This young captain had made a fool of him, but she had only delayed her defeat. "Time for plan B. Have our centurions prepare a boarding party."


"Congratulations, Captain. It worked," said Johnathan. "Our relative velocity to the Warbird is increasing."

"And their weapons must be offline, as they haven't shot at us yet," added Selina.

But Lindsey quieted the celebrations. "We are not safe yet. We are still in transporter range and our shields are down. Captain Lander to Engineering, how long until we have impulse?"

"Another twenty to thirty minutes, Captain," answered Lt. Vladimir Kustov.

"Captain Lander to all security officers and deputies. Prepare to defend the ship. We are about to be boarded."