CHAPTER 7
"One of the nicest things in life is making new friends who end up lasting a lifetime."
-Unknown
MALCOR III – CAPITAL CITY
JANUARY 2367
Riker had managed to stagger out of the alleyway, dizzy with shock. People were staring at him – that was bad. He wasn't supposed to attract attention. He was supposed to be doing...what? He stumbled another couple of steps, leaning drunkenly on a wall for support.
None of them looked right. This wasn't where he belonged. The ship. He had to get back to the ship.
A woman screamed. He sank to his knees and several people ran up to him, but none of them were wearing the right clothes – where was Dr. Crusher? Where was Data?
The last thing he remembered was hands grabbing at him.
Two men wheeled the cart through the halls of the medical center, finally getting the injured man into the trauma bay. The staff wasted no time getting him attached to the monitors.
Nilrem, examining the medic's initial reports said "He took a severe blow...possible trauma to the telencephalon..."
While Tava was conducting her own assessment, she added "Start fifteen octares of quadroline. We'll need a complete del-scan series...
Seconds later, Nilrem, listening with an audio-amplifier said, "Something's wrong. I can't find his cardial organ."
Tava grabbed for Riker's wrist, and after a moment she asked "What do you mean? I'm reading a steady circulation..."
Seconds later, after searching, and holding the device over his center chest. "There it is...up here..."
Perplexed, she turned and asked, "In his digestive tract?"
FEDERATION GALAXY-CLASS STARSHIP USS ENTERPRISE, IN ORBIT, MALCOR III
JANUARY 2367
Picard continued, "The Anorians did elect to join the Imperium, as you know."
"So her mission was a success then."
"For the Dosadi yes, for the Federation, it was something of a minor disaster. A promising species lost, in clear violation of the Prime Directive. And there was other political fallout as well."
"Is that why the Federation created it's own first contact teams?"
Picard cleared his throat. "Well, yes. Gaavrin found himself rather outmaneuvered by Ka'var, Rileeta, and her friend Lorac. But he had the last laugh in the end; rather typical for a Tellarite."
"How?"
The Captain shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "The Valley Forge returned to Dosad while the Delos stayed at Anoria. The Federation lodged a formal protest with the Dosadi over their violation of the Prime Directive and Gaavrin then negotiated the Treaty of Va'fakt. The Dosadi would leave all First Contact missions to the Federation in exchange for certain technological considerations and trade concessions. They turned over the entire program to the Federation."
Deanna Troi considered that for a moment, her hands in her lap. "So that is how Rileeta ended up assigned to Starfleet for so long. How did she react?"
"As you might expect, she was furious. At a stroke, the Federation had taken control of her project even after a successful mission. And she and Lorac had considerably less influence in Starfleet than they did in the Imperial fleet. Although they tried."
"What did they do?"
"Lorac joined Starfleet. He entered the Academy. He was in my class, in fact. Along with one other from the whole sorry mess."
"Who?"
Picard sighed. "The Princess Nefer."
"How did she manage that?"
"Wallon was a shrewd one. After the coup attempt he took steps to protect his family. Little Dorea was often sent to Dosad on 'diplomatic' missions or to visit her friend from the Delos. She turned out to be quite the charmer and stuck with the diplomatic mission long after it stopped being a pretense. She is still Anoria's representative to the Dosadi Imperial Council of Governors, in fact. Nefer, he sent to us."
"She was able to pass the exams?"
"She had embarked on a very intensive two year program to do exactly that. Guess who helped prepare her?"
"Rileeta?"
Picard sat up more comfortably, "No, actually, it was Lorac. We learned much later that he was a near-eidetic as well as being a spy."
"Is that how you met her?"
"Yes, of course. Starfleet wanted to add to her and her team's education before continuing the program and have her transfer her knowledge to other teams. They were actually studying at CalTech while we were at the Academy, but she visited often. Her aunt had graduated about thirty years earlier and was a very senior Captain at that time."
Picard's comm-badge whistled and Data's voice came through, "Captain, we have located Captain Rileeta. She will be aboard within twenty minutes."
"Thank you, Data. Have her..." he considered it for a moment, "Have her shown to Ten-Forward. Tell the senior staff to prepare for a briefing in one hour."
"Aye, aye, sir."
Picard stood, tugged his jacket downward and asked Troi, "Would you care to join us counselor? We can continue the history lesson."
She smiled and stood as well, "Thank you, Captain, I would. I'm looking forward to meeting this old acquaintance of yours."
STARFLEET ACADEMY, SAN FRANCISCO, EARTH
SEPTEMBER 2323
Cadet Jean-Luc Picard was running free and clean. The rain was starting to come down fairly hard, but it had little effect upon him, except to keep him cool. He was a solid 18 miles in and long past the wall, just enjoying the feel of the air pumping in and out of his lungs and the rhythmic pounding of his feet on the path.
This particular way was a winding jogging path that made its way up and down the folds in the Bay coastline near the Academy and was one of his favorite routes to run. The hills meant that in inclement weather it was less-frequently traveled than some of the other paths lower down and the views were spectacular.
It had been a very good year for him so far. He had actually won the Academy Marathon back in April, only a few months after he had passed the entrance exams – beating an upperclassman to do it. Well, it had been a good year for him socially...and athletically. It hadn't been all that good academically. There just always seemed to be other things to do – studying could wait. And then wait some more – usually until it was too late.
He turned his head to look out over the Bay, enjoying the feel of the rain on his face and the crenelated surface of the ocean, iron-grey and flat, heading out to the horizon...and he snapped his attention back to the path just as he slammed into the back of another person on the trail, tumbling the two of them into the rain-slick grass.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry!" he said as he rolled back to his knees, attempting to help the other person as well – then noticing that the other person looked like a dripping-wet black panther in dark blue trousers and a white shirt. And a moment later, realizing that the person was a foreign military officer.
Picard quickly got back to his feet and offered a hand down to the officer, "My fault entirely..." he paused a moment as he tried to determine their gender, finally settling on one, "Ma'am."
Rileeta took the proffered hand with a smile and sniffed. Taking in the young man's Academy PT uniform she answered in nasally and accented Standard, "Thank you, cadet. I'm afraid I wasn't paying much attention either. I don't like the rain much and I've got a cold."
"Cadet Jean-Luc Picard, ma'am. Starfleet Academy." he graciously introduced himself.
"Lieutenant (J.G.) Rileeta, Dosadi Imperial Marines." she shook his hand. "I'm meeting some friends at the shelter just around the bend, I don't suppose we could finish the introductions there?"
"Well, if it's OK with you ma'am, I was just going to finish my run – I've still got about 5 miles to go."
She waved him on and said, "Have fun, cadet!" and took a step – or tried to. "Yow!" She caught herself before she fell and kept the weight off her right ankle.
Picard also caught her elbow. "Are you OK?"
"I think I twisted it a little when we tumbled there...You hit like a brick wall." she teased him.
"Sorry." he smiled at her. "Can I offer you an arm until you get to the shelter?"
The two of them made their way the few hundred meters to a small building overlooking the ocean. Ever the gentleman, Picard helped her through the door, noting that there were several other cadets in the room as well.
"Ri?!" Another Dosadi called out and was on his feet in an instant, heading towards the door, concern all over his furry face.
"I just twisted it is all, Lorac. Don't worry." Rather than letting loose of Picard's arm, she introduced him, "Everyone, this is Cadet Jean-Luc Picard.
"Picard, this is my th'mew Cadet Lorac, and this is Cadet Nefer, Princess of Anoria!"
The aforementioned princess rolled her eyes and said "Jealous!"
Ignoring her, Rileeta continued, "Cadet Jim Robbins, and Cadet Phil Howard."
Picard said, "Pleased to meet you all." His curiosity got the better of him, "This seems like rather an odd gathering in an odd location. May I ask what you all are doing?"
Lorac grinned, "We're all spies!" That got a laugh from most everyone except Picard, who didn't much enjoy being made fun of. "Sorry." he continued with a twinkle in his golden cat's-eyes. "We're a study group – I'm tutoring us in astrophysics and stellar navigation and Rileeta tutors in ground tactics and first contact protocols. She's attached to Starfleet, it's all legitimate."
"Astrophysics?" That was one of the subjects he was struggling in.
Robbins said, "I know you – you won the marathon! Hey, join in man, the more the merrier."
Rileeta sniffed again and tried to shake the water out of her fur and her clothing. Cadet Howard grabbed a pair of towels from a drying rack along the back wall of the shelter and tossed them to her and to Picard. She smiled at him gratefully and began drying off.
Picard caught it easily, "Thanks. I think I shall." He made his way over to the table, piled high with books and took a seat, drying his shaved head first.
FEDERATION GALAXY-CLASS STARSHIP USS ENTERPRISE, IN ORBIT, MALCOR III
JANUARY 2367
Picard and Troi made their way through the corridors of the Enterprise, continuing to talk. Troi, always glad to get more information about his past from the normally reticent Picard, asked "So you were study-buddies?"
"I don't know that I'd use that specific term, Counselor, but that was how I met them initially. Cadet Lorac was actually quite a good tutor, and Rileeta's presentation was always rather engaging. She tended to illustrate her discussions with real-world stories of battles from many different cultures. The Dosadi as you know seem to have a nearly genetic fascination with history."
The doors to Ten-Forward swooshed open and they walked into the lounge, taking seats at a table near the large forward-facing windows. As always Picard found his attention drawn to the view. No matter how often he made orbit around a planet, the view of another world turning lazily below him inspired at least a brief period of reflection.
He continued while the two enjoyed the view. "From studying together, the group of us began to associate more and more. We all had a firm belief that conflict could be avoided through understanding and interaction. That intellect could defeat the brute passions. Lorac and I in particular seemed to have a very similar philosophy about different cultures. He helped me with academics and I helped him with physical fitness and athletics. Despite his very powerful intellect, he was not terribly athletic and he struggled to maintain passing scores on Academy fitness testing. My circle of friends and theirs interacted quite a bit, we found that we all socialized well together and often enjoyed a lot of the same events. Believe it or not, Counselor, a large group of us would even go bar-hopping occasionally."
He smiled again, "I don't know if you knew this or not, but Dosadi are very light-weight drinkers; Although they're spectacular jumpers and their cardiovascular system is better than humans, their livers are smaller and alcohol hits them fast and hard. Lorac was a hilarious drunk and would inevitably believe that he was suddenly endowed with dancing powers and he would drag Rileeta up onto the floor at every opportunity."
Returning her own view from the window to the Captain, Troi laughed, "It is hard to visualize you as a young, partying cadet. But," Troi prompted, "I sense there was a lot more to your relationship than study partners, Captain."
"Oh yes, Counselor." At her questioning expression he hastened to explain, "Oh, no, not like that, no, no. We were..." He was interrupted by the the double-doors sliding open again and there was a five-foot tall black-furred Dosadi with a good sized hole in her left ear just above a silver earring. The alien was wearing dusty-grey battle-dress with the 3 solid silver stripes of a captain over her shoulders, a Warrior's pendant snug around her throat and just above it, a throat-mic. It was evident that this was a working uniform – and from the dirt and stains on it, that she had been working in some fairly unsavory locations recently.
She and Picard saw each other instantly. He stood up and she walked over to the table, arriving just as Guinan made her way to the table as well. Rileeta simply looked at him, suspicion and not a little anger evident on her face.
Picard greeted her with a simple, "Rileeta." Her muzzle was shot with grey and there were some new scars, but otherwise she looked much the same.
She returned his greeting cooly, "Jean-Luc."
Rather than asking for their orders, Guinan instead looked at Troi with an expression of bemused surprise. "Jean-Luc." She looked back at Picard, pulled out a chair and sat down, "This is a story I have to hear."
Somewhat confused, Rileeta asked, "Beg pardon?"
Trying to regain control of the situation Picard said, "Allow me to begin with some introductions. This is my ship's counselor, Lieutenant Commander Deanna Troi and this is..." Picard hesitated. Guinan's role was considerably more than simply a bartender.
She introduced herself. "My name is Guinan. I'm the bartender here aboard the Enterprise. And I listen."
"Yes, exactly." he hurried on, "This is Captain Rileeta, Dosadi Imperial Marines. She is leading the First Contact team on Malcor III that Will was liaising with. Won't you be seated?"
Rileeta pulled her own chair out and sat down, followed swiftly by Picard.
She started out straight to business, "We haven't found him yet. We know where the team lost contact and we've been working from there out. He's not at the main medical center. We're checking the smaller clinics and...other places. The situation is still pretty fluid."
Troi was sorting through the torrent of strong emotions coming from the two senior officers. Sadness, regret, betrayal, anger, hesitation, mistrust – with her empathic abilities, it was a bit like being hit with a hose.
Picard thought for a few moments, his mouth tightly closed. No one said anything while he decided what tack to take. Finally he said, "Thank you for coming aboard to brief me in person. If Will is injured we must making locating him our absolute top priority."
A steward had come up to the table and Rileeta simply said, "Dosadi whiskey, neat."
Picard raised an eyebrow but politely ordered, "Earl Grey, hot." Both Guinan and Troi settled for water.
Guinan stepped in again, "So you're a Jean-Luc friend?" she asked Rileeta.
Rileeta looked puzzled and Troi tried to explain, "The Captain's just been explaining some of their history, Guinan. Evidently they were study partners at the Academy."
Rileeta cocked an ear at that. "Study partners?" She snorted.
Guinan decided to try to tease a little to get the two captains to lighten up. "Lovers, perhaps?"
Picard's face registered his surprise at that suggestion coming from Guinan and Rileeta actually laughed, "Oh no." She finally smiled and said, "I don't think either of us ever even considered it, although he was our th'mew."
Guinan asked, "Th'mew?"
Rileeta, reached for the drink that was just arriving, "I'll let him explain it. I once thought he understood it." She took a solid slug of the dark green liquid.
Picard took his tea and set it on the table, then straightened his tunic. "It means literally close-friend. But it goes well beyond that. It can mean lovers, or something like blood brothers. It's a bond of extreme trust and friendship that goes well beyond the norm. It's about one step shy of being adopted into the family."
"Something like imzadi, then." Troi suggested.
"Yes, that's really rather close, Counselor." he said, and tried to shift the topic somewhat. "You and Lorac were th'mew – but there it meant lovers, and more. Did you ever become mates?"
Troi struggled again with the wave of conflicting emotions. Warmth, pride, love, joy, anger, betrayal, loneliness. It was difficult to keep her face impassive. "From what the Captain has told me so far, I would guess that you did. "
Rileeta swirled the whiskey in her glass. "Eventually, but it's not that easy for Dosadi." She took another drink.
Guinan continued to probe, "It's not? Are there family issues?"
Smiling, Rileeta tried to explain, "No, not like that. Although my father was not Lorac's biggest fan. For Dosadi, our biochemistry is heavily involved. We don't even become fertile until we've settled on a mate and been around them for some time. Becoming mates is as much about compatible chemistry as it is about love. Usually you try out several mates until you find the one you are most compatible with and then your bodies just settle into each other's rhythms.
"My people love quickly, but for a mate, it goes well beyond that. When you find your mate, you really lose interest in anyone else. They become pretty much another half of you. If we lose our mate, we will often just...fade away and die. There's no interest in continuing to be." She glared at Picard, "Being apart from them is often quite difficult."
Trying not to show a reaction from the wave of anger coming from the Dosadi, Troi asked, "I'm surprised that you weren't mates by the time you were at the Academy with the Captain. From what he told me you were always together since you were little children."
Rileeta sighed, "It was a fairly unusual situation. Not by choice." She took another swallow of her drink and looked at Picard. "Do you remember, Jean-Luc?" She actually looked a little sad at the memory. "I remember you being very uncomfortable that evening, even though you were our th'mew by then."
He shifted in his seat and straightened his tunic again. "Among my people, that sort of conversation is not for outsiders, as you well know, Rileeta."
"You weren't an outsider. Not then, anyway." Her ears had drooped a little bit and Troi again had to deal with a storm of conflicting emotions.
Curious, Guinan prodded again, "What happened?"
Seeing Rileeta focused on her drink he decided to continue the story after all. "Well, we were in Lorac's room at the Academy one evening. I think it was raining again, in fact. I don't recall why Rileeta was there..."
"Gave a class presentation on first contact disasters." she spoke over the rim of her glass, her eyes still focused on the whiskey.
"Oh yes. Well, in any case, I remember the two of you were curled up on his bunk, and I think it was Varley and Nefer on the floor wasn't it?"
"Yup."
"I said something like 'why don't you two just get married already?' which actually isn't even allowed at the Academy, if you remember your regulations."
Rileeta mumbled something about "you and regulations..." but Picard chose to ignore her and continued,
"And that was when she began to explain it to me..."
STARFLEET ACADEMY, SAN FRANCISCO, EARTH
FEBRUARY 2324
Rileeta snuggled backwards into Lorac, enjoying the feel of him spooned around her. After Jean-Luc's question, she had tried to explain how Dosadi find their life's partner. It seemed like every species had it's own twist on finding your one true love.
Nefer asked, "So why aren't you two mates? You've said you've been friends since you were what, six?"
Rileeta said, "I don't know. Something just hasn't clicked yet."
Very softly, Lorac said, "It has for me."
She turned her head over her shoulder, "What?"
"You are my mate, Ri."
Picard was wondering if he, Nefer and Varley should make a dignified exit and head back to their own quarters. Varley's dark face was starting to show a blush at the intimacy the two were openly displaying.
"But...How...Why not for...when?"
He looked at her, his eyes, whiskers and ears projecting a sort of sad and hopeless longing. "Since I was about ten."
Her jaw dropped open and her ears flicked backwards in surprise. "That's not...why haven't I..."
He shrugged and decided to explain to the three friends that had become such a close part of their lives. "It doesn't happen often, but sometimes one person settles on a partner, but that partner doesn't have the same reaction."
"I do though! I want you as my mate!" she objected.
He continued, "It's not anything you can control, really. It doesn't really matter unless you want to have kits or if...well, if the other partner finds another mate. That simply isn't survivable. To see your mate become someone else's."
Rileeta stroked his face softly, "Why didn't you tell me?"
Picard and Varley looked at each other. There simply wasn't any way to subtly escape this conversation. Nefer, however seemed fascinated.
Lorac said, "Why would I? If you settled on me, I would tell you then. If you didn't, well, why burden you? But Ri, I've never had any interest in anyone else. Do you remember S'eeth?"
Rileeta laughed, "Of course, silly. And you know it. We still write all the time."
"I know – I meant do you remember when we were kits? I liked her. Before I met you, she was one of my best friends. But she wasn't you. No one was. I've never even played at mates with anyone else. No matter what I was doing, I thought about telling you, or asking you or how you'd react. From the first time I saw that dirty fur, I could not get you out of my mind."
She blinked back some tears, "Your ears are still funny looking." She flipped over, not paying any attention to her other friends, "Lorac, I don't understand it. If you knew...what's wrong with me? I've never been interested in anyone else. Never wanted anyone else. I still don't. Why haven't I felt it?"
He shrugged again. "I don't know, Ri. Maybe you will some day. I just figured it was time for you to know."
She nuzzled into him, pulling herself close, the two exchanging little kisses and touches. After a few moments, she turned back over, noticing how uncomfortable Varley and Picard were. She sniffed, "Sorry. You guys don't need to be so freaked out."
Nefer, enthralled, gushed, "This is so romantic!"
Varley said, "We didn't mean to eavesdrop, of course, but it's not like we had much of a choice."
Lorac said, "You weren't eavesdropping. You're th'mew – you've as much a right to know what's going on with us as anyone does. We trust you; with everything."
FEDERATION GALAXY-CLASS STARSHIP USS ENTERPRISE, IN ORBIT, MALCOR III
JANUARY 2367
Troi took a sip of her water. "So you weren't even a student at the Academy Captain Rileeta? But Lorac was your classmate, Captain?"
Picard said, "Yes. Rileeta was actually working on her PhDs in Xenology and Engineering at CalTech, but she would often be brought in as a guest lecturer at the Academy. Lorac and I ended up on a number of class-postings, in fact."
Rileeta laughed, "One of which nearly got you both expelled."
Guinan's eyes widened "Jean-Luc! Expelled?"
He grimaced. "Actually, I thought it a rather clever solution at the time."
Troi took a guess, 'The Kobayashi Maru test?"
"That seems to be everyone's first guess for everything at the Academy, doesn't it, Counselor? But no, not actually. Well, it was somewhat related to that test."
Rileeta finished her drink and signaled for a refill. She snorted. "Only in so far as that motivated the bet."
Both Guinan and Troi were watching him, but neither woman was saying anything. Picard tried to look innocent. "Simply an exploration of a no-win situation that might be encountered in fleet duty."
The pause continued. Finally, so did he. "I maintained that a cleverly captained small ship could successfully defeat a much larger one."
Rileeta chuckled. "You make it all sound so civilized, Jean-Luc. You were bragging and you know it. You were a cocky bastard. And sneaky."
Troi's surprise registered on her face. "Cocky? Sneaky? What happened?"
"He bet the tactical instructor that he could beat him with a Miranda-class frigate even if the instructor had an Excelsior-class heavy cruiser."
"That seems like an impossible mis-match."
"It would have been too. But Jean-Luc had an ace up his sleeve Captain MacGregor wasn't expecting."
FEDERATION EXCELSIOR-CLASS STARSHIP USS BERLIN, EARTH ORBIT
APRIL 2327
Captain Ian MacGregor shook his counterpart's hand. "Thank you, Captain Grinelli, for lending me your ship for this exercise."
Sofia Grinelli smiled at him. "It wasn't all that long ago that I was a student, Captain. And this particular exercise doesn't sound like it's going to take all that long."
"No, it really shouldn't. He's an excellent tactician, but he's overconfident, cocky, and boastful. In addition to teaching him some much-needed humility, this will provide an excellent exercise for the rest of the students. Although the Thunderbolt's crew will remain aboard and supervising, the acting crew will be made up entirely of students."
"You selected them?"
MacGregor laughed, his ruddy face and walrus-mustache shaking, "You'd think he'd at least have that much sense wouldn't you? But no, he's hand-picked his entire crew."
Down in the Berlin's communications switch room, a Dosadi crewman walked in with a clipboard and took a seat at a console. Looking bored, he simply watched the three other people go about their business and made a few notes. After a few minutes he stood up, stretched and left the room again.
FEDERATION MIRANDA-CLASS FRIGATE USS THUNDERBOLT, EARTH ORBIT
APRIL 2327
Senior Cadet Jean-Luc Picard sat comfortably in the command chair of the USS Thunderbolt. Her actual captain was just behind his shoulder, but for the day, the ship was his. The bridge was humming along quite nicely. Watching his crew go about their duties with such competence was very satisfying. None of the Thunderbolt's crew had needed to step in at all; True, they were simply holding orbit while everyone got settled before the exercise began, but it still spoke highly of their abilities that their first time as a complete crew in a real starship, they were doing well.
The bridge turbo-lift doors swooshed open and Lorac walked into the space. Picard swiveled his chair to face him, "Ah, Number One. Everything going well below decks?"
Lorac smiled, showing his fangs, "Everything is as expected, Captain."
Captain Abasi tried not to roll his eyes. The tall Kenyan had the starved-greyhound look that all ultra-marathoners seemed to enjoy.
Cadet Marta Batanides at the communications console turned his head to look at Picard. "The Berlin is hailing us, Captain."
"On screen please, Ms. Batanides."
MacGregor's smiling face filled the forward screen. "All right Picard. If you and your crew are ready, we'll head to the flight range at Titan. Nothing to get worried about, it'll be just like the simulations."
Picard tugged his jacket down. "Oh yes, Captain. We're all very nervous over here." His mock sincerity fooled no one.
MacGregor frowned and shook his head. "Picard, I am afraid I'm really going to enjoy teaching you this lesson. Berlin out."
As the screen went dark, Picard again spoke to Lorac, "Enough time, Number One?"
Lorac, typing away at the tactical console just nodded.
"What's the word going to be?"
"Ava"
Picard chuckled, causing Abasi to wonder exactly what was up. The word was Dosadi for 'thunder'. Picard turned back towards Varley at Flight Control, "Mr. Varley, take us out."
Two hours later, both ships coasted to their positions near Saturn.
Batanides again told Picard, "Berlin is hailing us, sir."
"On screen – and don't cut off until I signal you. That's vital, Marty." She grinned back and gave him a thumbs-up.
The forward view screen filled with the view of Berlin's bridge, her crew of experienced officers looking calm and collected. Picard could tell that his crew – while excited, were also nervous and most of them were probably expecting to be quickly defeated.
MacGregor smiled, every inch of him the confident, skilled Starfleet commander that he was. "Well, Picard, everything ready?"
"Yes, sir. And sir, we're all looking forward to seeing just how starship combat should be conducted."
MacGregor's smile faded. "Picard, you are treading on very thin ice with that attitude." His Berlin dwarfed the Thunderbolt in every respect.
"I apologize sir. I must be letting my excitement get the better of me."
"You might want to pay more attention to preparing for this exercise than making smart-mouthed comments. Now, verify that your weapons are on 'safe', sensors are configured to record uplink data from the Berlin and that your library computer is tied into Range Control."
"Yes, sir. Captain Abasi will check me on that."
Abasi nodded and waved his hand at MacGregor.
"Are you ready, Mr. Picard?"
"Yes, sir. Thunderbolt is ready."
"Then let's begin. Begin Exercise."
"Sir?" there was the briefest of pauses as MacGregor looked back at Picard. Picard smiled and said, "Ava". And made a slashing motion with his arm to Batanides. He immediately began issuing crisp, rapid orders. "Varley, full impulse, directly over the primary hull, weapons, fire as they bear."
The little ship leaped forward while the Berlin remained motionless. Picard continued, "Full shields, energize the defense grids. As we cross her primary hull, pivot 180 degrees and descend between her nacelles and continue firing. Weapons free to engage any target available."
Abasi was stunned. The Berlin wasn't moving at all. The Thunderbolt's phasers and torpedoes were firing and clearly scoring 'hits' on the cruiser as she closed to point-blank range.
FEDERATION EXCELSIOR-CLASS STARSHIP USS BERLIN, TITAN RANGE
APRIL 2327
Picard said, "Sir?"
McGregor, in the act of cutting communications looked at Cadet Picard who simply said, "Ava."
And throughout the Berlin, the intercom system began blaring some sort of horribly loud music at pain-inducing volumes. Everyone on the bridge clapped their hands over their ears and ducked their heads. Species with sensitive hearing were in agony, trying to block out the noise. Some sort of guitar and moaning noises and then drums began to beat...
Thunder! Thunder! Thunder! Over and over again. The music – and the pain – rapidly became more intense.
He tried to shout orders over the music, but no one could hear him. Everyone still had their hands over their ears anyway. So did he, for that matter.
I was caught in the middle of a railroad track THUNDER
Damage indicators were lighting up all over the consoles and the forward view screen showed MacGregor the Thunderbolt streaking in at them.
I looked around And I knew there was no turning back THUNDER
The weapons operator, a Caitan with very sensitive hearing, was curled up on the floor, trying to cover her ears with her hands and hide her head under the console. McGregor screamed "RAISE SHIELDS!" but no one could hear him. He jumped to his feet and ran to the defense station, his ears ringing loudly and shook the man, pointing at the viewscreen.
My mind raced and I thought what I could do THUNDER
Trying to hunch his shoulder up to cover his now-exposed ear the man typed quickly at his console, trying to raise the shields. More damage-indicators were coming on across the ship and the Thunderbolt was no longer visible on the screen.
And I knew, there was no help, no help from you THUNDER
McGregor sprinted for the communications console, pointing at the overhead and making throat slashing motions. The man at that station had been typing, feeling like his ears were bleeding, and he simply shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.
Sound of the drums, beatin' in my heart, the thunder of guns, tore me apart. You've been...THUNDERSTRUCK
Finally the Berlin began to maneuver – though she had already taken severe damage from the pounding the Thunderbolt was giving her. Unfortunately, having to communicate with hand signals is not conducive to starship combat. The Thunderbolt was no longer visible on the Berlin's sensors, but from the damage ripping across their starship, it was obvious she was behind them somewhere.
Went down the highway, broke the limit, we hit the town, went through to Texas, yeah Texas, and we had some fun. We met some girls, some dancers who gave a good time. Broke all the rules, played all the fools. Yeah, yeah, they, they, they blew our minds.
He was trying to get the idea across to his helmsman that he wanted to execute a skew-flip turn, through gestures and shouts, but no one could hear much of anything but ringing and the painfully loud music at this point.
I was shakin' at the knees. Could I come again please? Yeah the ladies were too kind. You've been – THUNDERSTRUCK. THUNDERSTRUCK, yeah, yeah, yeah THUNDERSTRUCK!2
Finally, mercifully, the computer decided that so much damage had been done to the Berlin that internal communications had failed and the horrible music cut off, leaving silence. Everyone aboard breathed a sigh of relief, most shaking their heads and trying to end the echoing high-pitched whining ringing sound left in their ears.
Seconds later another bracket of point-blank phasers and photon torpedoes struck the Berlin and the library computer's voice came over the intercom at normal volumes that everyone now struggled to hear: "Exercise concluded. USS Berlin combat ineffective. Casualties 76.7%. Elapsed time, three minutes."
Furious, MacGregor sat back down in the Captain's chair and tried to compose himself before he beamed over there and ripped that cadet into pieces.
FEDERATION MIRANDA-CLASS FRIGATE USS THUNDERBOLT, EARTH ORBIT
APRIL 2327
Abasi just watched, stunned, as the Berlin sat still while the Thunderbolt swung around, sat between her warp nacelles and calmly shot her to pieces. Finally, the cruiser swung into motion, but the cadet at the helm had little difficulty matching her movements while the weapons crews were engaging relatively motionless targets at point-blank range.
He looked at Picard, who was relaxed, watching the Berlin try to maneuver away, the mock damage she had suffered making that difficult. "What did you do?"
Picard looked back at him. "Do?"
"Don't be smart, cadet. That was some sort of code word – Did it disable their computers somehow?"
"That wouldn't be entirely fair, would it, Captain?"
Lorac laughed.
Picard continued, "Would you care to let him in on the secret, Number One?"
Lorac grinned, "Yes, Captain." He stood and held up a small, flat piece of equipment, no more than an inch on a side. "Have you ever seen one of these, sir?"
Abasi took it from him and studied it. "Data tap?"
"Yes, sir. While we were waiting, I beamed over to the Berlin and placed one in their communications switch room. No one even questioned why I was there. While we were en route, I simply used one of their own access codes."
"You can't access command functions from the comm system. There are interlocks to prevent that. In fact, you can't even inject command code for any critical system via external links."
"Not a critical system at all, sir. Well, at least not as far as the designers considered it."
"What non-critical system could you hack that would disable a starship's shields, weapons, and navigation?"
"The intercom, sir."
"How in the hell is that going to disable the ship?"
Lorac said, "Sound, at a loud enough volume, is seriously disorienting and disabling. And most of commanding a starship in combat involves verbal orders. Like 'raise shields' or courses, or...Well, I'm sure you get the picture sir."
Abasi's mouth hung open. "I don't know if you're going to be decorated or arrested."
