The Highlander slipped into an orbit parallel to the Gilgamesh. From there, all scans were directed toward the ship. Circe started rattling off readings. "No shields, no warp drive, no impulse drive, no weapons... hmmm... Life Support is running, but at a reduced rate, so they do have power. That is the only thing I see up and running, though. Everything else is down."
Apollo leaned forward in the command chair and slowly stroked his beard. "Scotty, with only Life Support running, and at such a low rate, how long would their emergency power hold out?"
"With those specifics? Weeks, months... I don't know. Years, I would guess. After all, the Jenolen lasted over 75 years with just the transporters and life support running," Scotty replied. He referred to the ship that enabled him to survive into the 24th century, by locking the transporter's pattern buffer into a continuous diagnostic cycle, and then beaming his pattern into the buffer. If it had completely worked, Commander William Riker and Lt. Commander Geordi LaForge would have found two people instead of just one.
Apollo nodded, satisfied with Scotty's estimate. "So in all possibility, someone may still be alive on that ship."
"If there is anyone alive, sensors fail to register them," Circe said.
"Stranger things have happened." He stood up. "Circe, pick a security team of two and meet me in the transporter room." He started toward the doors.
"Admiral." Sam's voice stopped him in his tracks. He slowly turned around. "May I remind you of Starfleet regulations pertaining to the disallowance of a ship's commanding officer on away teams."
He scowled at her. "I don't see why you had to ask my permission to remind me, since you did so anyway." He knew she didn't like this anymore than he did, but they had to go through the song and dance routine anyway, just for the record. "Very well. You have fulfilled your obligation in reminding me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be going."
"Admiral, I must insist you stay here and let me lead the away team."
"Out of the question. We don't know what happened over there..."
"Precisely why the commanding officer has no reason unnecessarily endangering himself on this mission."
His eyes narrowed to slits, his tongue stuck in his cheek. He glared at her like a vulture for a good minute or two. To her credit, she stared right back at him. The rest of the bridge crew watched in complete silence. "You enjoy this, don't you, Captain."
"Immensely, sir." Her voice betrayed no emotion whatsoever.
She's been hanging around me far too long, he thought.
:And if I have anything to do with it, I'd like to hang around you for a good long time to come, too.: she shot back at him.
He took a deep breath, and headed back to his seat. "I want reports every half hour. Is that clear, Captain?"
"As crystal, sir," she said, moving toward the turbolift and entering with Circe. Again, to her credit, she didn't crack a smile until she was in the turbolift, where if someone were to look closely, just before the doors completely closed, they would see Circe smiling with her as they gave each other a high five.
Before they had reached the transporter room, Apollo had changed his mind. Instead of reports every half hour, he wanted them to keep an open commlink at all times. And at the slightest sign of trouble, they get out of there. The team was more than happy to comply. Now they materialized on the bridge of the Gilgamesh. Bruebaker immediately had his phaser out. Janlet, a Bolian medical officer, had her tricorder out and scanning. Sam glanced around; nodding to the group, they all tapped their combadges. "Racer to Highlander. We're aboard."
"Acknowledged," they heard Apollo say, "what does it look like over there?"
"There's no one on the bridge." She glanced at Circe, who was over by a control panel. After experimentally tapping the dark panel, she shook her head. Sam nodded and continued. "The controls on the bridge are out." She walked over to the turbolift doors. "The doors aren't responding, either."
"Understood."
Circe had taken out her own tricorder and was now scanning around the bridge. "I detect no signs that a battle had occurred here. The EPS conduits behind the bulkheads are still intact. They are simply not receiving any power."
"Circe, see if you can..."
:APOLLO!:
Circe raised an eyebrow. At first, she didn't understand why the admiral suddenly stopped in midsentence. Then she saw Sam's face.
:Apollo, you're still acting as though you're commanding the away mission.:
She didn't get an answer for a long moment. :I'm sorry. You're right.: "Captain, do what your team can over there. Of paramount importance is that you be careful. Keep me posted. Highlander out."
The connection closed, and she let out a breath she'd been holding. She hated to do that to him, but she felt he was micromanaging her, and it undermined her authority. She knew when they returned, and she was alone with him, they were going to have a discussion about it.
Meanwhile, the away team had returned to their investigation. Sam opened a panel next to the turbolift doors and removed a manual door operator. She tested it to make sure it still worked - they used their own power source for situations such as this - and clicked it onto the door. Tapping in a code, the door slowly opened. She almost walked onto the turbolift out of habit, before she realized there was no turbolift there. "Whoa! What happened to the lift?"
Circe held the tricorder into the shaft. "The car is at the bottom of the shaft. It appears the magnetic coupling were shorted out, and the car plummeted to the bottom."
Sam made a face. "Yeesh. I hope there was no one in there."
Circe continued. "There were two crew members aboard the car. They are both most likely dead now."
Sam made another face. "Gee, thanks for painting the picture for me," she said sarcastically.
Circe smirked. "There is something else down there. I'm having a hard time getting a fix on it, though."
"We'll worry about it later," Sam said. "Right now, we have to find a way to the rest of the ship. Bruebaker, check out the Jefferies tube."
Bruebaker went to the other side of the bridge and popped open an access hatch in the floor. "All clear over here."
Sam looked over the security officer into the accessway. "Kinda dark in there." She tapped her badge. "Racer to Highlander."
"Scott here," came the reply.
This surprised Sam a little. A little worried, she asked, "Where's Admiral Racer?"
She heard a chuckle. "Not t' worry, lass. The admiral's still here. He's in the Ready Room. Can we help ye with something?"
"Could you send us a few lamps, please? We gained access to the rest of the ship, but visibility is limited."
"Aye. We'll get them to ye."
"Thanks. Racer out." No sooner did she close the link then noticed the telltale sign of a transporter. Four SIMS beacons appeared on the seat next to her. She picked them up and handed one to each person. Attaching hers to her wrist, she activated it, sending a focused beam of bright light ahead of her. The other three followed her example. When they were ready to go, Circe called up a map of the Gilgamesh on her tricorder. Sam nodded. "Let's go." One by one, they lowered themselves into the accessway.
~ * ~
Apollo walked into the holodeck. He had tried to get some rest in the Ready Room, then in his own quarters when that failed. But try as he might, while Sam was on the Gilgamesh, he couldn't sleep. So he decided to work off his exhaustion. "Computer," he said, his voice echoing in the empty room, "activate program Shadowfencing." He unclipped his light saber from his belt as a figure materialized before him. He walked up to it, realizing that he could be staring in a mirror. It was an exact replica of Racer save for one feature: the HoloRacer's eyes glowed green instead of blue. He had made that alteration one day when a crewman came looking for him while he was running the program, and didn't know which Racer to talk to. Apollo had tried an actual partner, but he had to hold back too much. This way, he could fight without pulling punches; indeed, he didn't dare pull them. This mirror Racer was exactly that... a complete match of the real Racer's skills.
The HoloRacer ignited his saber. Like his eyes, it gave off an emerald light. Apollo matched the move with his own sapphire blade. The two stared at each other, saluted with their sabers, and instantly went into a combat stance.
It was Apollo who made the first move. He swung his saber in front of him, to have it easily deflected by his mirror opponent. Another tentative slash, and another parry to counter the move. Then the HoloRacer seemed to grow impatient, and pressed an attack. The blows moved slowly at first, gaining speed to that of a normal fencing bout. Gradually, the pace quickened. In fifteen minutes, the two blades were blazing through the air, moving at a pace so fast they left extended trails behind them as the ionized particles of air took on the hue of the saber that had cleaved them. They hacked and slashed, blocked and thrusted.
The moves grew more elaborate, the dodges more graceful. HoloRacer twirled out of the way of Apollo's cross-cut, then weaved in and out, trying to score his own hits. Surprisingly, Apollo actually got an attack through, though all it did was graze his doppelganger's shoulder and singe the fabric on his uniform. He then executed a somersault over the head of HoloRacer to avoid a sweep that would have taken out his legs. Before he landed, and without turning, he brought his blade over and behind his head, positioning the blade parallel to his body so as to block the swipe coming at him from HoloRacer's follow-through. Apollo then attempted a sweep of his own, but HoloRacer nimbly leaped out of the way.
When he saw that his nemesis didn't land, Apollo gave him a feral grin. "So we're taking this to three dimensions, eh?" He lunged, bringing him up to HoloRacer's level and forcing his foe against a wall.
"Getting frustrated, are we?" HoloRacer said, as he clubbed Apollo in the back with the pommel of his saber. Apollo fell but didn't hit ground, instead whirling around to glide back up.
"As though you would know frustration," Apollo growled.
"Enough to know that you don't have your total concentration in this exercise," his own voice said back at him. "Almost not worth the workout."
Apollo was about to charge, but then realized he had programmed his shadow to try and goad him. Instead, he forced his breathing into a steady rhythm. He wiped the sweat off his brow and hovered there, taking in his image.
"Very good," HoloRacer said. He moved forward to continue.
As he approached though, Apollo said, "Computer, change environment: zero g." Suddenly, his doppelganger shot forward. Apollo spun in place, moving his opponent aside and giving him a boost for good measure by kicking him in the pants. HoloRacer slammed headfirst into the far wall, but he had the presence of mind to deactivate his saber before he hit.
He slowly turned against the wall, wiping his mouth although there was no blood. "So we're gonna play that way, huh? All right. The kid gloves are off!" Placing his feet behind him, he shot himself toward Apollo. Apollo brought his saber up, but HoloRacer whirled in mid-flight and kicked the saber out of Apollo's hand. Released from his grip, the weapon deactivated and slowly spun off to the side. He used the abilities that his sister had taught him... his protective aura kicked in, flaring brightly, as he rained blow upon blow onto his doppelganger with blinding speed. At first, HoloRacer was pummeled by the punches, as he was unfamiliar to the attacks. But Apollo had programed him to learn any move Apollo used on him, in order to be a true mirror image. Sure enough, it wasn't long before HoloRacer caught up, blocking almost every shot Apollo sent, and even getting a few of his own in. Apollo was definitely sweating now... he had never worked out this intensely before.
The holodeck doors opened, and Scotty started to walk in. While not much normally, it was enough for Apollo's attention to lapse. HoloRacer got in a few good hits, sending Apollo flying. He hit the wall, bounced off, and landed on his back. In one deft move, HoloRacer leaped, his saber flying toward his hand, igniting as he called it.
"What in the bloody..." Scotty started.
HoloRacer had started his downward thrust. "COMPUTER, FREEZE PROGRAM!!" Apollo yelled. HoloRacer slowed to a halt.
Both men were silent, Scotty just standing there with his mouth agape. Apollo was staring at the tip of the green lightsaber... about an inch from his face, HoloRacer's own face frozen in a feral snarl. Apollo held his breath as he slowly moved the hologram up enough with his feet so he could duck under the saber and get to his feet. Apollo noticed Scotty's look. "Report," he said.
"Ummm..." Scotty shook himself out of it, having difficulty trying to comprehend that Apollo had technically almost run himself through. "We got a transmission from Sam. She said they had found some of the Gilgamesh's crew. She also said you would want to hear it from her yourself."
Apollo raised an eyebrow. "All right, let's go." He turned to go, then stopped. Returning his attention to his simulacrum, he said, "Computer, resume program."
HoloRacer continued his downswing, but stopped when he realized his foe was no longer underneath him. As he looked up in confusion, he caught sight of a fist heading straight for his face. As he flew toward the far wall, he yelled, "Cheaterrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"
When his image hit the far wall, Apollo said, "Computer, end program." HoloRacer and the exercise room disappeared.
As they walked off the holodeck, Scotty commented, "It's a good thing you have the holodeck safeties, or else you'd have been shishkabobbed."
Apollo looked to his chief engineer. With his eyebrow raised and a mischievous smirk, he replied, "Safeties?"