Chapter
9
"By now," Blakeney said, "the Rapier had made its way through the asteroid field, and had entered orbit of the planet."
"So surely they just beamed you all off the Titanic before it sank," Azov felt disappointed.
"Would that it were that simple, Azov," Blakeney shook his head. "Our problems had only just begun…"
I raised my head from where I'd fallen, and looked around my bridge. Other crewmembers were also getting up from where they'd fallen. Banks and Drake were both clambering up from under the viewscreen, where they'd been thrown from their consoles. Vinnok was already on his feet and so was Montez.
"I have one hell of a headache!" she announced.
"Captain," Vinnok was reading data from the security console, "the crash caused a breach in the secondary hull."
"Don't tell me," I bitterly stated, clambering to my feet. I looked at the viewscreen. It kept flashing on and off, but I could still make out the ocean outside.
"Yes, Captain," Vinnok finished. "Water is entering the ship. Titanic is sinking."
"Rapier to Titanic," Plant's voice sounded. "Respond."
"Go ahead," I tapped my combadge.
"Is everyone all right?" asked Plant.
"I haven't had a full damage report yet," I told her, "but we have a bigger problem."
"Oh?" she wondered.
"The crash breached our ventral hull," explained I, "We're now sinking in one of the oceans."
"We'll start beaming your crew aboard," Plant stated. I heard one of her officers in the background say something, which I couldn't make out. "Captain Blakeney," she spoke to me. "It appears that the Rapier's transporter circuitry was severely damaged by the Maquis. It'll take several hours to repair it."
"Acknowledged," I replied through gritted teeth. "Lieutenant," I turned to ops, "get all the civilians to the shuttle bay and remaining escape pods. Then begin evacuating the crew. Niles, you go too."
"Yes, Captain," Banks complied, running off the bridge. Counsellor Drake followed.
"Hold on a minute," Azov raised his hand, "this is the important bit. So where is the glor'yim at the moment?"
"At this time, it was still in the crown jewels," answered Blakeney, "which were in the crate in Y'trepp's quarters."
"Right," Azov nodded, "I want to know its location throughout the entire sinking!"
"I'll tell you what I know," Blakeney said. "Which brings me to High Priest Tsal…"
As far as I knew, he was still in the brig. However, the crash had caused all forcefields to go off-line, and that included the containment field in the brig. The Aurelian had been thrown onto the bed during the crash, and he'd cowered there for the duration. When the shaking and jolting stopped, he peered out from behind his hands. What he saw was smoke seeping out of the control station outside the cell. The security guard was lying on the floor. He took this opportunity to escape. Quickly climbing off the bed, he outstretched his hand to where the invisible barrier had been. A grin crossed his evil face when he realised that the forcefield was down. The disgraced High Priest strutted out of the cell and out through the main door. Once in the corridor he saw numerous Starfleet officers bustling around. They looked worried he noted.
"Something's wrong!" Tsal whispered to himself. He sped up and soon began running. Everyone ignored him, so whatever was wrong, it was serious. Before long he found a turbolift, which took him up to deck 5, where he sprinted down the hallway to his assigned quarters. Once inside the High Priest looked out of the windows. If he wasn't mistaken, Titanic was sitting in an ocean. He had heard Montez over the intercom warning everyone to brace for impact and it appeared that his subsequent assumption had been correct. They'd crash-landed. Tsal needed to be quick then. He found the Aurelian disrupter where he'd hidden it in the bedroom, and then headed for the door. "Your turn, Princess!"
"Are you all right?" Snipes asked, sitting up on the bed. Y'trepp, who'd been shielded by Snipes, looked up. The furniture in her quarters had been thrown around, but she was unharmed.
"Yeah," she told the Commander, climbing off the bed where she'd been lying. "Look at that!" she pointed out of the windows. Where once she'd seen the stars, she now saw a dull grey sky and snow covered hills. Even more alarming, was a cold blue ocean, in which Titanic appeared to be floating.
"I wonder how bad the damage is," Snipes peered out of the windows. Suddenly Lieutenant Bank's voice sounded on the intercom.
"All hands, stand by to abandon ship," she said. "All civilian personnel report to the shuttle bay."
"This is bad," Y'trepp knew.
"Everything's gonna be fine, babe," Snipes held her. "Come on, let's get you to the shuttle bay." He led her out of the bedroom and into the lounge area, but an eruption of sparks soon stopped them in their tracks. It had come from the door keypad. Without warning, the doors themselves slid open and High Priest Tsal stormed in, brandishing the disrupter pistol.
"Surprise!" announced the intruder.
"You!" Snipes cried.
"I hope I didn't interrupt anything," The Priest offered an empty apology.
"Niaga" reasoned Y'trepp, "we need to get off this ship! Now!"
"Oh, don't worry," Tsal responded. "I'm getting out of here! Just as soon as I've got the glor'yim!" The Princess and Commander Snipes looked at each other in disbelief, but Tsal then noticed the chest. "Stand aside," he ordered, pointing the gun at Y'trepp.
"Do as he says," Josh told her. The Princess stepped aside, into Snipes's arms, and the Priest dived at the box. Tearing open the lid, he found the crown jewels.
"At last," he cried, raising them out of the crate. "They're mine! All mine!" He attempted to pull the stones of glor'yim out of the jewels, starting with the crown. Josh seized this opportunity and while Tsal was struggling with the glor'yim, Snipes karate-chopped the back of the High Priest's neck. This caught him by surprise and so he dropped the crown jewels, but more importantly, he also dropped the disrupter. Josh wasted no time in grabbing Tsal by his collar, and punching him in the face. The evil Aurelian fell to the floor next to the crate, stunned. Commander Snipes moved towards the Priest, who noticed something in the crate. It was one of the coronation robes. Quickly, he whipped it out and threw it towards Snipes, which sent the Starfleet officer stumbling backwards, his vision impaired. Now it was Tsal's chance to seize the opportunity. He jumped to his feet and grabbed the disrupter from where it had fallen. As Snipes ripped the robe off his head, he saw Tsal pointing the disrupter at him.
Zap! A second later and Commander Josh Snipes lay on the floor, with a fatal wound in the centre of his chest.
"Josh!" cried Y'trepp, running over to her lover. Tsal returned to his task of recovering the glor'yim, which took about a minute. The Princess spent that time sitting over Josh's corpse, weeping.
"Come on, Princess," High Priest Tsal had put the two gems into his robe and was now on his way out of the quarters, grabbing Y'trepp on the way. She struggled intently, yelling profanities at him.
"It wasn't your day was it?" Azov put in. "You crashed your ship, then a murderer escaped from your brig and proceeded to kill one of your best friends. He also kidnapped a Princess and a means to create a powerful weapon."
"True, it wasn't one of the best days of my life," Blakeney agreed. "But in recent years I'm sorry to say that I've seen worse."
"Whatever," Azov waved his hand. "So when did you realise the High Priest had escaped?"
Blakeney continued, "At about the same time that Tsal was in Y'trepp's quarters. I was still on the bridge at the time…"
Montez and I were stood at the rear of the bridge, listening to Vinnok's report. He pointed at the ship schematic as he spoke.
"Titanic is going down by the rear," he explained. "Decks 35 and 36 are submerged, and the water level is rising."
"Have they been evacuated?" was what I wanted to know.
"All civilian personnel are out of the lower decks, Captain," Montez told me, "and most of the Starfleet crew have been moved into the saucer. However, V'ordell and a few others are still down there trying to prevent the water from spreading."
"And the evacuation?" I wondered.
"The civilian population are in the shuttle bay, under the supervision of Lieutenant Banks and Counsellor Drake," Vinnok explained. "Once all the shuttles have been launched, we will utilise the escape pods."
"Very good," I nodded but before I could move on, my combadge beeped.
"Brig to Captain Blakeney," the security officer had recovered.
I tapped the combadge "Go ahead,"
"Sir, the High Priest has gone," the officer reported.
"Gone?" I repeated.
"Yes, Captain," explained the guard. "I lost consciousness during the crash and when I came to, he was gone."
"Okay, Yeoman. Blakeney out," I ended the transmission. Looking at Vinnok, it was obvious that we both knew exactly where the Priest would go. I opened another comm. link, "Bridge to Commander Snipes." No reply. "Josh, this is the Captain. Respond!" Why wasn't he answering? I tried again, "Princess Y'trepp, this is the Captain. Do you read me?"
Princess Y'trepp heard my voice and went to respond. But High Priest Tsal clapped his hand over her mouth, so all that came out was a muffled noise of some kind. The unfortunate female was then dragged off down the corridor.
"She's in trouble," observed Montez.
"Perhaps Tsal has kidnapped her," suggested Vinnok, "along with the glor'yim."
I made a decision, "Vinnok, you and I have got to find them. Alondra, take charge."
"Aye, Captain," nodded my First Officer. The Vulcan Security Chief and myself strode into the rear turbolift. It was a blessing they were still working.
"It is reasonable to assume that Tsal will try and vacate the ship," reasoned Vinnok.
"The shuttle bay," I agreed, and told the computer, "Deck 4."
Niaga Tsal rounded a corner, dragging Y'trepp by the arm. Directly ahead of them was a set of large automatic doors labelled SHUTTLE BAY.
"Here we are," announced Tsal. "Our escape,"
"You won't get away with this, you monster!" Y'trepp cried.
"My dear," grinned the Priest, "I am getting away with it!" The two of them went through the doors, one of four entrances into the vast bay beyond. The large, roughly oval shaped room was two decks high. In the very centre were shuttle maintenance bays, and around the outer walls were shuttle storage docks. The floor was covered in white and yellows lines, to show shuttle allocations. Directly to Tsal and Y'trepp's right was the launching bay. A long flat shelf that extended out of the external door, which at present was open. The cold water and snowy backdrop could be seen outside. Y'trepp noticed that many of the shuttles had already been launched. Civilians were bustling around the bay, waiting for one of the many Starfleet personnel to assign them to a shuttle. Lieutenant Banks was in charge, stood by a type-6 shuttle, loading people on board. "Here we go!" laughed Tsal, pulling the Princess over to Banks' position. "Say one word," warned the Priest, pushing the disrupter into Y'trepp's back, "and I'll kill you!"
"This isn't going to work, Tsal!" the Princess growled. Tsal ignored her and approached Banks.
"Lieutenant," he shouted, "the Princess and I need to leave the ship."
"You and everyone else on board!" snapped the Operations Officer.
"But…" objected Tsal.
"Get in line and wait your turn!" Banks told him.
"Wait a minute," Counsellor Drake had just arrived, "Aren't you supposed to be in the brig?" Tsal didn't waste another minute. He pulled the disrupter out from behind Y'trepp's back and pointed it at Banks.
"I want a shuttlecraft," he demanded. "Now!"
"That's far enough Tsal!" I shouted. Vinnok and I had just entered the shuttle bay and were approaching the High Priest, type-2 phasers drawn. The High Priest swung round and pointed his weapon at me.
"Stay back, Captain," he warned, turning the disrupter on Y'trepp, "or she dies."
"Don't be a fool!" I told him, but he'd begun slowly moving across the room, taking the Princess with him. He was heading for one of the turbolifts in the bay.
"You'll be sorry, Captain," Tsal told me, as he dashed into the lift and closed the doors.
"Damn!" I cursed. "Where's he taking her?"
Vinnok examined the turbolift keypad and reported, "The turbolift car is heading for the lower levels."
"What?" I was horrified. "They'll be completely flooded before long!"
"The lift has stopped at deck 31," Vinnok told me. I walked over to an adjacent turbolift stop and pushed the keypad.
"Come on," I ordered Vinnok as the doors whooshed open. Boarding the lift we ordered the computer to take us to deck 31.
"Are you a complete fool, Captain?" Azov interposed.
"I beg your pardon?" Blakeney was again distracted by the interruption.
"Why the hell did you follow him down?" wondered Azov. "You knew that that part of Titanic was underwater."
"True," agreed Blakeney, "but he had the Princess."
"Oh no," Azov sarcastically stated.
"He also had the glor'yim," Blakeney pointed out.
This made Azov pause, but he decided, "You could always have gone back for it."
"Like you are now," smiled Blakeney. He carried on, "Anyway…"
Vinnok and I were in the turbolift, heading for deck 31. As we descended, I couldn't help thinking about what we'd find at the bottom. Were we on our way to a watery grave? My reverie was cut short when I felt the turbolift slow down and come to a complete stop. Taking a deep breath, and grabbing my phaser, I waited for the doors to open. I noticed that Vinnok too had drawn his firearm. Then, it happened. The automatic doors whooshed open and a wave of water pushed into the lift from the corridor. It continued to pour in until the water level was at our knees. The force had made the two of us stumble back until we hit the wall of the turbolift. We steadied ourselves and Vinnok stepped out of the lift first. I followed and we waded down the hallway, but upon reaching the junction at the end, an energy discharge flew inches past us and impacted the bulkhead. The blast had come from the disrupter that Tsal was pointing at us from down the corridor.
"Keep back, Captain!" he cried. Vinnok and I had dived for cover, back down the hall we'd just come from.
"We can't fire back," I observed. "We'd risk hitting the Princess." Vinnok agreed and peered around the corner.
"He is moving off down the corridor," he reported. I also looked around the corner. Tsal was wading off, with Y'trepp being dragged behind him.
"Come on," I signalled. Vinnok and myself followed them, though they didn't go very far. Just along the corridor was access to the Jefferies tubes, which they entered, after Tsal blasted off the door with his disrupter. "Give it up, Tsal!" I called after him. "You'll never get off this ship!" His response was another shot from the disrupter, which hit the water between me and Vinnok, making a large splash. It didn't take long for the two of us to reach the tubes, by which time Tsal had climbed to the deck above, with Y'trepp still as a hostage. As the Vulcan and I climbed the ladder, I noted that the water level had risen almost to our waists. I realised that whatever we did, we'd have to do it fast.
"Not like this story then," Azov again interrupted the tale. "Can't you give me the abridged version?"
"I wouldn't want to omit an important detail," smiled Blakeney. "Now if you let me finish without any more interruptions it may go a bit quicker…"
Vinnok and I exited the Jefferies tubes in main engineering. We were behind the large safety door that had closed during the core breach. It prevented us from accessing the rest of engineering. There was a large empty space where the warp core once stood. I walked over to the railings that once surrounded the engine core, and leant over the edge. The hole where the core should have been was dark, and seemed to go down forever. Suddenly, another weapons blast shot past my head. Spinning round, I saw Tsal hiding in V'ordell's office. Fortunately for me, being a Priest, he wasn't a very good shot with the disrupter. Before he could fire again, though, Vinnok took a shot at him, which forced him to retreat back into the safety of the office. It soon became apparent to me that Commander Vinnok and myself had no cover, no protection from Tsal's weapon blasts. However, the High Priest decided to change tactics. He decided to take advantage of his hostage, as he had done in the shuttle bay.
Grabbing Y'trepp, and jamming the gun into her back, Tsal gave me an ultimatum, "Let us go, Captain. Or the she dies!"
"You know I can't let you go, Tsal," I told him. "Not with the glor'yim in your possession."
"You don't have much of a choice, Captain," reasoned Tsal. "I've already killed one of your crew and I won't hesitate to shoot the Princess!"
"Josh!" I gritted my teeth. Before any of us could act, there was a loud explosion, and one of the consoles in the Chief Engineer's office shattered in a display of bright sparks. Tsal stumbled forward away from the explosion and in doing so, dropped the disrupter. It rolled across the floor towards me, where I kicked it into a corner. Y'trepp managed to pull herself away from him. "It's over, Tsal," I told him, pointing my phaser.
"Bridge to Captain Blakeney," Montez voice sounded.
"What is it, Alondra?" I asked.
"We've just lost many of our key systems," she explained, "including the turbolifts," At least that explained the explosion. The water must be leaking into vital computer areas.
"Acknowledged," I terminated the comm. link.
"Without the turbolifts," Vinnok reasoned, "the evacuation of Titanic will take a lot longer."
"Then let's hope we don't run into any more snags," I replied.
"Captain!" Y'trepp screamed. She pointed to the back of the room, which was quickly filling with water. It was seeping in from the Jefferies tubes. While we were distracted, High Priest Tsal ripped off his ceremonial robe, which made him a lot more manoeuvrable. He pounced at me, knocking the phaser from my hand. Vinnok raised his weapon but couldn't fire in case he hit me. Tsal had his hands around my throat, trying to strangle me, but I clenched my fist and punched him in the stomach.
"Vinnok," I ordered, "get the Princess out of here! Now!" He grabbed the Aurelian and the two of them paddled through the ankle-high water and into the Jefferies tubes. Meanwhile, Tsal had recovered from the blow to his stomach and had launched another attack at me. He swung his fist at my face but I stepped back and he missed. He then launched himself towards me, but again missed when I dodged. He fell into the railings around the hole where the core used to be. I moved towards him as he got back up, and clenched my fist. Angrily, I punched him around the face, which sent him back onto the railings, where he slumped over them, not moving.
"That was for Josh!" I whispered, then moved away and retrieved my phaser. But Tsal groaned, and again stood back up. His face was bloodied and he seemed worn out. He screamed some kind of war cry and charged towards me. I spun around and fired my phaser. It hit him in the chest and he flew backwards, tripping over the railing and falling into the hole behind him. I ran over and looked into the blackness below. The phaser was on stun, but I was certain that the fall would kill him. In all honesty, I wasn't sorry.
By now, the water had reached where I was stood, and was running down, into the hole, which had previously stayed sealed and dry. I was about to leave when I remembered something. Seeing Tsal's robe on the floor, I knelt down and rummaged through it. I found the glor'yim in one of the pockets and took it with me. Wading through the knee high water, which got slightly deeper as I moved towards the back of the room, I entered the Jefferies tubes to the deck above.