DISCLAIMER:
"Star Trek" and all associated names and characters, with the exceptions of the ones created by myself for this story, are © Paramount. I am a fan of Gene Roddenberry's dream and just wish to keep it alive so that tomorrow's youth may gain by it as I have. This is fan fiction; there is no infringement of copyright intended with this story, nor have I written it for personal financial gain. So relax, engage at full warp and enjoy!
Chapter Four
Captain Keating paced anxiously towards the conn. In the heat of the conflict she didn't have time to go back to her quarters and change from her pajamas into her uniform. Instead she had elected to slip into her ready room so she could replicate and don a new one, while the engineers worked out how they could coax more speed out of the engines. No sooner than she was buttoning the last command pip on her collar, the engineers had already made the modifications, and they were already catching up to the Hydra. She looked up at the viewscreen. The U.S.S. Hydra was growing larger in the frame of view. She thought to herself that even though her daughter and her cohorts had managed to somehow bypass the auto destruct sequence, they would not be getting away with the theft of a starfleet vessel.
Not on her watch, anyway.
She looked back at her andorain tactical officer and gave the command, "Target their engines and fire, Mr. Yialla!" She looked back to the main viewscreen.
"Aye, sir." He responded, and commenced fine tuning his lock on the Hydra. Once attained, he tapped three times on the controls, and the forward phaser arrays shot forth a focused glowing beam of crimson fire. Yialla commented, "Direct hit, sir. Their aft shields were penetrated, the engines were hit, and they are dropping out of warp."
Not taking an extra second to think, Captain Keating drilled out the order to her helmsman, "Slow to impulse and match speed and course."
"They've come to a full stop captain." The tactical officer reported.
She had a wicked grin on her face. She knew that they had them now. They couldn't run, and they couldn't fight. All she would have to do is to ask for their surrender and wait. She calmly ordered, "Set for an intercept course and park me a thousand meters off of their bow." She walked back to her chair, and casually sat down. Glowing with the look of deep satisfaction, she commented, "I want to be right up in their faces."
The helmsman dutifully replied as commenced to enter the captain's orders into her console, "Aye, sir. Coming to all stop."
"Mr. Yialla." The captain said, folding her arms.
"Yes, sir." He responded almost autonomously.
Following the starfleet protocol that had served her so well in the past she ordered, "Have three full security details assemble and meet in the transporter rooms. We will need to be ready to board the Hydra and do a deck by deck search for our assailants if they don't decide to cooperate."
"Aye, sir." Yialla, responded, and in compliance commenced ordering the appropriate members of his staff to assemble.
She stood back up, walked between the two stations in front of her and ordered, "Hail them. I want to let our dear Mr. Roberts know exactly what his options are." She gazed at the viewscreen, and focused on the form of the little defiant class starship hanging almost lifeless in front of them. A few seconds passed then the viewscreen cut to a view of the Hydra's Bridge. Mr. Roberts was beginning to sit down into the captain's chair. His shirt was ripped down the chest. For a second she thought it odd, and wondered if he had required hasty medical assistance that would necessitate its partial removal or if he had been in a skirmish that he was on the losing side of. She wondered this for about a second more until her daughter, Nancy, walked into frame wearing only a tee shirt and her underwear. Nancy walked over to the conn and slipped down into it.
"That's my shirt." Captain Keating growled.
Nancy's subsequent simple use and mastery of gestured body language, more specifically the use of the middle finger, failed to surprise Captain Keating.
"Well Captain, I suppose you think that we should just give up and let you take us into custody." Roberts stated.
With an intense feeling of victory, and the look on her face of a cat perched in waiting outside the mouse hole, Captain Keating explained, "You have no shields, no phasers, and no engines to run away with. According to our sensors, you have only ten quantum torpedoes left. That might be enough to bring our shields down and cause some damage. However, I don't think you'd get more than the first volley off before I let loose with everything this ship has to offer, sending you, your cohorts, and that ship to kingdom come."
"We still have the Warhead, that would be enough to send you and your crew to kingdom come first, or are you not familiar with the design specs of defiant class starships, captain?" Roberts asked. With that Roberts tapped away at one of the small control panels on the armrest of his captain's chair.
Mr. Yialla piped up, "Sir, they have just activated and armed the Warhead device of that vessel."
Captain Keating, momentarily glanced back to her tactical officer and replied, "Thank you, Lieutenant." She looked back to the viewscreen, and said, "I don't think you are prepared to do that, Mr. Roberts."
Roberts stood up and walked forward to the viewscreen. He looked down to the ferengi at the tactical station. His casualty of a shirt slid down on one of his arms as he replied, "Mr. Quarn on my command launch the Warhead." He looked back at towards the viewscreen with a stone cold look having grown on his face and asked, "Are you prepared to call my bluff, captain?"
Captain Keating let off a wicked grin, and responded, "I am not a first year cadet. I know that you know full well that with no shields you will be destroyed as well. So don't play me the naive fool, Mr. Roberts."
"What makes you think I am not ready to die?" Roberts asked without expression.
"Under different circumstances, I might have enjoyed playing a hand of poker with you, Mr. Roberts. However, What you don't realize is that I have read your starfleet records, and your psych profile makes no mention of possible suicidal predisposition." She explained. She knew that she had him. He was left with no possible route of escape. He had to surrender. The capture of this newly rogue ship would go a long ways towards her being able to trade in the four pips on her collar for a single one with a box around it. Commodore Keating definitely had a nice ring to it.
With stoicism a vulcan would be proud of, Roberts responded, "That transcript is old. I have been out of starfleet for a long time now, captain. Five years in a federation penal colony has a way of changing a man. Can you be so sure that I just won't do it?"
The ferengi sitting at the tactical station of the Hydra looked up at Roberts and nervously interjected, "Wait just a minute, hoo-man. Let's be reasonable." He looked towards the viewscreen, and continued, "I'm sure we can negotiate some sort of an arrangement, that is mutually acceptable to all parties."
"I don't deal, ferengi!" Captain Keating snapped back.
Expressionlessly Roberts echoed, "Neither do I." He walked back to his captain's chair and sat down. He calmly looked towards the viewscreen and ordered, "Mr. Quarn, I am counting down from five if the Hoyle is not making a departure course at high warp when I reach zero, you are ordered to give them all we've got."
The ferengi shook his head disparagingly, "Aye, sir."
"Don't be a fool, Roberts, surrender now!" Captain Keating barked.
"Five."
Captain Keating crossed her arms, "You're bluffing, Roberts."
"Four."
Nancy smiled, looked into the viewscreen, and said, "Well, I guess we're finally going to get to go where we've been telling each other to all these years, mother. See you on the flip side."
"Three."
"I've stared down men with more balls than you, little boy, so don't think that your little charade here is going to fool or intimidate me." Captain Keating brashly harped out.
"Two."
Lieutenant Yialla's voice sliced through the tension, "Captain there are two subspace distortions forming off of the port and starboard bows." With a split second of working the controls he added, "They're romulan warbirds, decloaking!"
The ferengi turned his head slightly to Roberts not having the time to look fully away and explained, "Two romulan warbirds with their shields up and weapons charged, Captain Roberts."
"Well Captain…" Roberts began with trepidation in his voice, "It would appear I have a more pressing situation to take care of, before I come back to you to finish my light work. Quarn, end transmission."
The viewscreen cut back to a view of space, but instead of their being just the Hydra on the screen, their were now also two romulan warbirds flanking both the federation ships poised to strike. The federation had been at the brink of war with the romulans for several years now. The peace that was uneasy between them before was now at its last and most tenuous foothold. Captain Keating didn't hesitate when she gave the order, "Load all torpedo bays, and hail the romulans. We need to find out their intentions."
The viewscreen quickly switched to that of one of the romulan ships' bridges. A tall slender romulan male in command dress was centered on the screen. With typical romulan arrogance he said, "Federation vessel, you and your counterpart ship will leave this space immediately. It has been claimed by the Romulan Star Empire."
"This space is neutral territory, I don't recognize your claim to it." Captain Keating responded.
The romulan's stare intensified as he answered, "This space has been recently annexed by my government, both your ships will leave now, or be destroyed."
"The federation has not been apprised of your government's claim to this sector, besides I am on official federation business dealing with an internal security matter." Captain Keating explained.
"Internal security matters that require you to fire upon one of your own vessels? That is interesting, please explain captain. It is captain isn't it?"
"I am Captain Keating, and I do not feel it necessary to explain myself to you…commander…" She trailed off.
"I am Commander Teral, and unless you fully explain to me what you are doing in this sector, I will tow the fragmented remains of your craft back to Romulus as my trophy."
"I don't take threats well, commander!" Captain Keating fumed.
"Well then Captain Keating, Perhaps this will persuade you." Teral said. He motioned to someone unseen on his bridge, and then the viewscreen cut back to its former view of space.
Lieutenant Yialla exclaimed, "They're firing!"
The Hoyle rocked, and the bulkheads moaned in pain. Both ships must have fired with all they had for the shields surely were breached by their fire.
Captain Keating scrambled back to her chair, "Mr. Yialla, Return fire!"
His skillful andorian training failed him, as the ship thunderously rocked again. The tactical station exploded with a plasma overload, sending Lieutenant Yialla unconscious to the floor. Several manifolds must have ruptured in the hit, as steamy jets of gas plumed down from the ceiling. Flames began to erupt from the tactical and a couple of other stations on the bridge.
A look of angered disgust came over Captain Keating's face. She looked to the conn station to the young female ensign that was sitting there and ordered, "Ensign T'ralla, Get us out of here, maximum warp!"
The young bajoran ensign turned her head back to the captain and questioned, "Sir?"
"You heard me, get us out of here now." She barked.
"But what about the Hydra?" she asked, adding with a touch more feeling, "What about your daughter?"
"She started making her own decisions when she was sixteen. She's made her own bed; it looks like she is going to have to sleep in it now. The lives of my crew are more important than that of that ungrateful witch. Follow your orders, engage!"
"Aye, sir." The ensign obeyed, turning back to her station, and immediately laying in an escape course. Within a few seconds they were at warp and the skirmish was far behind them.
"Captain to sickbay, report!" she commanded over the com the agitation of losing in that conflict being all too apparent.
"We're kind of busy down here, captain. We have casualties coming in from all decks of the ship." The voice of a man replied.
"Send someone up to the bridge right away, Lieutenant Yialla has been injured. Keating, out!" She ordered.
Captain Keating stood up, and began to walk across the bridge to her ready room. Her XO had just walked onto the bridge.
"I'm sorry I am late captain. The turbolifts locked up in the attack." he explained.
"I will be in my ready room, Commander Evans. You have the bridge." She said, the doors opening and walking into her ready room.
As he sat down into the captain's chair he replied, "Aye, captain."
The doors to her ready room closed behind her.
"Computer, lock door." She somberly commanded.
She walked around her desk and sat down in her chair. She breathed in deeply for a second, looked to the computer terminal setting on her desk, and turned the computer its screen to face her. She pressed down on its wake up button, and the familiar sight of the Hoyle's LCARS startup screen lit up. She softly spoke as she gave the command, "Computer, replay video file Keating two two seven eight."
The computer chirped in compliance, and on the screen a video of herself, fifteen years ago came on the screen. It was a scene of a beach on risa. The sun was setting in the sky with golden reds and shades of indescribable purple. She was standing in the sand. A young red headed girl, barefooted, clad in a one-piece swimsuit, and barely a half-meter in stature, went shooting through the camera's view. "Come here you little brat!" her younger self smiled happily.
As the camera followed her chasing the little girl about the beach, the man who was running the camera spoke up; "Do you mean me, or Nancy?"
Her younger self laughed hysterically, as she managed to catch the little red head and tackle her to the ground tickling her furiously. The little girl giggled and squirmed, trying to break free of her loving attacker. The camera moved up and hovered above them. It zoomed in, and her younger self looked at the camera and smiled. "I love you." The man said.
"I love you to, Kyle." She said taking a deep breath.
The little girl piped in, "I love you to, daddy!" She gave her mother a big kiss on the cheek, hugged her with her tiny arms, smiled, and continued, "But I love mommy, even more."
Her younger self sighed and said, "I love you to, Nancy. To bad our shore leave is almost over."
The man's voice asked, "Do you think your captain will let you have another one sometime soon?"
"I don't know, Probably not for the next six months. How about yours?" she asked.
"He's not the most friendly captain in the world. I doubt I could get an extended leave for that long."
As the little red head worked hard to find all her mother's secret ticklish spots, her younger self replied, "You're the first officer, for crying out loud, Kyle. Use your influence to make it happen."
"As you wish, my dear." He replied.
She beamed a wide smile.
"I love you." she said.
"I love you." he replied.
"Mommy?" the little girl asked.
"Yes, Nancy?"
"I think you and daddy are the best mommy and daddy ever!" she explained with a smile. She proceeded to give her mother another hug, and then stood up to give the man running the camera a hug.
Captain Keating turned the screen away from her. She sat back in her chair and with a single tear running down her cheek, she commanded the computer, "Computer, end replay…and delete."
The computer groaned for a second, and prompted, "Warning, file Keating two two seven eight has been designated read only, stated action will result in its permanent loss from ship's database. Do you wish to proceed?"
She swiveled her chair around towards the viewport, and stared at the stars that were flying by behind them. Closing her eyes, a second tear falling, she replied, "Yes."
* * *
* End Chapter Two *
Having faced down Captain Keating the Hydra was left behind to the mercy of the romulans. Will they survive the romulan's attack? Will Quarn wind up visiting the Divine Treasury? Will they just surrender the Hydra to the romulans? Is romulan penal colony food any better than the federation's? To get the answers to these questions you will have to tune in for the next installment because this story is…
To be continued…
P.S.—the I would love any questions or comments that you all have for me you can either post them on the review page or email them to me at: mojo@iowatelecom.net