ACT IV
Outside of the Lambda Epsilon System
From the outside of the system, the Gulfstream launched a type 10 shuttlecraft, which screamed into the one planet system. During the flight, Wing kept an eye on sensors, while Dallas few the ship.
"Kim, talk to me," Wing said on the comm.
Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Gulfstream, Kim was watching the long range sensors. "Still clear."
"That's freaky," Dallas returned on the comm. "It seems a little too quiet out here."
"Keep your eyes on the road, Crewman," Kim ordered.
On the shuttle, Dallas brought the small craft to within range of a small station, which orbited Lambda Epsilon One. The small station was that like a comm relay, with a solar panel and a subspace antena on it.
Wing checked the scans of the comm array. "This is it, alright. This is exactly where the transmission came from." Also, he ran a scan of the station. "I'm picking up lifesigns on the station. Two Tellerite, one Human, six Bajoran, and one Elani."
"Should we lock onto them?"
"Too obvious, Crewman," Wing said. "We need to secure this station. Alpha team, let's get going."
Four crewmen accompanied Wing to the center of the craft. "Energize."
Dallas locked on transporters and energized the team off the shuttle...
...As the transporter effect ended, Wing quickly whipped out a tricorder, and began to scan around. He found the life signs. "Santos, Jones, you're with me. Horowitz, Hamasaki, check out the communications room."
As Crewman Taro Hamasaki lead Crewman Horowitz towards the communications room, Wing, drawing his phaser, lead his team to the control center, where the life signs are located.
The small corridor of the station was quiet. Very quiet, and dark. But the air was still warm, which was a good sign, at least. That meant that someone was still on the station. With phaser drawn, they came upon a locked door, which lead into the control center...
...Meanwhile, Hamasaki and Horowitz came to a similar door. However, their door was unlocked, and openned when the sensor was tripped. Inside the communications room was a few screens on a wall, and a typical communications board. The board blinked with transmission activity, and sensor logs.
Hamasaki made his way across the room, as Horowitz took a guarding position by the door. Hamasaki found a small device attached to the communications console. It contained some data on it. When he played it on his tricorder, it was the terrorist tape.
He hit his combadge. "Hamasaki to Lieutenant Wing. We found the message device."...
..."Understood," Wing said. Finally, he got the door open with a set of authorization codes. The door eased open, showing the inside of the communications room.
There were the life signs – the masked terrorists, along with their hostage. They didn't move at all. They were like statues.
Wing advanced forward, drawing his phaser. The figures didn't move at all. To test the waters, Wing shot a warning shot. Nothing but air, as the beam lanced through what appeared to be a holographic mage.
Santos found a small device, and shut it down. The fake scene went away, revealing some cylindars, wich blinking lights on it.
Wing scanned them. His thought came back to him. "It figures. We've been had."
Santos joined Wing. "Transporter cylindars?"
Wing nodded. "They're programmed to simulate bioreadings."
The deck began to rumble, violently. Everyone lost their footing, but managed to stay on their toes. Wing hit the combadge, rushing for an active console. "Shuttle, report!"
..."I'm under attack over here," Dallas said.
"What else is new?!" Wing called. ...
...Daniels ran onto the bridge, leaping into action. "Helm, take us in. Mister Kim, how many ships are there?"
"Five," Kim said, scanning the area. "Four are attacking the station, one has the shuttle in a tractor beam."
"Damn them to hell!" Daniels barked. "Battle stations. Helm, attack pattern delta-four. Target forward phasers on the tracotring ship, and fire."
The majestic Galaxy-class U.S.S. Gulfstream became a ruthless animal with rabies, firing a spray of weaponsfire on the terrorist ship. The terrorist, in return, fired on the shuttle.
Kim ferociously worked on his station to get a lock on Dallas, who was probably scared out of his mind. "Captain, we have to shut down that tractor beam," Kim urged. "I can't get a lock on Dallas."
"Sir," the tactical officer called, "the station's hull integrety is down to forty-five percent."
"Gulfstream to Wing," Daniels said, "can you guys hold out over there?"
"I'm working to get these shields up," Wing replied on the comm. "Stand by."
"Target that ship's tractor emitters," Daniels ordered. "Fire when you have a clean shot. Attack pattern omega."
The Gulfstream did a complete nose dive, spinning around. When low enough, she swan-dove, and went into an "upwards" motion, firing phasers at the terrorist ship's tractor beam emitter. That ended the tractor siege.
"I got a lock!" Kim reported. "Energizing!"
At that moment, the terrorist ship retaliated by destroying the shuttlecraft. As a result, the Gulfstream destroyed the terrorist ship.
A few moments passed. Finally, Daniels shot up, and turned to Kim. "Did you get him?" Danliels demanded.
"Sickbay to bridge," called the ship's doctor. "We have Crewman Dallas."
Everyone relaxed a little bit, as the good news came through.
"Captain," called the tactical officer. "The station's shields just went up."
The deck rumbled underneath the bridge. Daniels took to his seat. "Evasive maneuvers. Target the lead ship and fire phasers."
The Gulfstream complied with the greatest of ease. She came around, firing her aft phasers at one of the terrorist ships. Their shields took heavy damage. However, that same ship turned and fired on the Gulfstream.
There was vicious pounding. "Damage to the aft torpedo launcher. They're targetting our warp nacells," the tactical officer reported.
"We don't have time for this," Daniels said. "Helm, bring us about. Make a pass for the station. Mister Kim, let's bring our people home."
"Aye, Captain," Kim said.
The Gulfstream came full about, heading for the terraforming station. However, the terrorist ships formed a mini blockade, preventing the Gulfstream from going any closer to the station.
"This is going to be tough," Daniels said. The enemy ships just stood there, waiting for the Gulfstream to fire. "Hold position. This isn't going to end easy."
Suddenly, a comm signal came through. "Captain, we're being hailed by the station," the tactical officer said.
Daniels nodded. "On screen."
On the screen, twenty masked men surrounded the five man would-be rescue party. One of them, wearing a red mask adorned with golden trim around it, looking like a ninja, stepped forward, holding a massive phaser rifle of somekind. "We have five Federation prisoners. And we will execute them if you attempt any kind of rescue."
Daniels slowly rose to his feet. "Are they harmed?"
The red mask shook his head. "No. But they will be soon."
"I would like to speak with them," Daniels demanded.
"No."
"Then, I wish to negotiate for their release," Daniels said.
"You talk too much," said the terrorist. He motioned behind him. They brought forward, Kim recognized, Hamasaki, and held a d'artag to his neck. Five more men came over, and smacked Hamasaki. He fell to his knees, as they bound his hands and feet. "You are no longer in control here, Captain. Withdraw from here. Or we will kill this man."
Daniels shook his head. "The Federation does not submit to the will of terrorists. We demand, once again, the release of your prisoners."
The masked man nodded. "You don't know when to quit. Long live the Negarani!"
The five man chanted, as one of them smacked Hamasaki against the head, knocking him down. The visual image that followed was nothing more than a gore-fest, as they severed Hamasaki's head, live on visual comm. The whole thing took about a minute, as Hamasaki was still struggling as they cut into his neck. The sounds... the visual... it was too unreal, too graphic. Too horrible for words.
When it was over, the terrorist was holding Hamasaki's head to the viewer. "You have killed this man," the terrorist said. "If you do not take your losses and leave now, one by one, the others will die. If we read life signs on this station, the others will die."
Meanwhile, as the terrorist was talking, Kim was testing the station's shields with stray particles from the warp core. "Viewer off," an angry Daniels said. As the viewer blinked off, he was summoned to Kim's station. "I hope you have good news, Commander."
"I do," Kim said. "I've been attempting to make small, focused narrow-band subspace tunnels, using the warp nacells. It's easily undetectable, because I'm using the radiation field from the bussard collectors as a cover. I may be able to go under the space surrounding the station's shields. And, like threading a wire through a new hole, get a transporter beam through."
"To get our people home?"
"Exactly," Kim said. "I'm ready now."
"Do it," Daniels said. "I'll keep those guys busy. Hail them."
As Kim went to work, Daniels returned. The screen turned on, revealing the terrorists. "Who do you wish to have killed now, Captain?"
"No one," Daniels said. "I just wish to speak with you."
"I do not wish to speak with you," the terrorist in red said. "You are beneath me."
"I wish to know a few things about your group," Daniels said. "Who are the Negarani?"
"Gods to you," the terrorist said. "We will bring our wrath upon you and crush you until every last Federation man, woman, and child, is dead and burning in the pits of hell, where you Federation scumbags belong."
"Are you human?"
"What kind of dirty question is that? How dare you ask me if I am a member of that rediculus nasty species. For that, another one will die! Bring... HIM!"
They repeated the gorefest on Santos. However, Santos, it took five minutes for him to finally die, as he put up a fight before they could get the already bloody d'artag into his neck to begin cutting.
After it, the masked man asked of a very distraught and horrified Captain Daniels, "Any more questions, worm?"
"Yeah," Daniels managed to say. "Have you seen your surviving hostages lately?"
The masked man laughed. "Now, I will kill the other one with the slanted eyes! Bring him!"
"I don't think so," Daniels said. "Mister Kim... Energize!"
"With pleasure," Kim said, initiating the transporter protocols. Without any problems, the remaining rescue party was beamed aboard without so much as a single glitch. "Transport complete."
"Doctor Rhodes to the bridge," called the ship's doctor. "I'm bringing everyone to sickbay."
"Acknowledged," Daniels said. "Helm, bring us about. Get us the hell out of here."
"Aye, Captain."
Just as the Gulfstream came about, the terrorist ships screamed for the Starfleet vessel, firing all weapons on her. They hit the warp nacells, and crippled them with ease.
"Warp drive offline!" the helmsman said.
"We have plasma fires on decks forty-two through thrity-seven. Engineering is in danger!" Kim reported.
"Weapons are down, shields at zero percent!" the tactical officer called.
More fire, as the enemy weapons cut into the aft hull of the Gulfstream.
"Hull breaches, decks thirty one through thrity five!" Kim called. "We have decompression all over the ship!"
"Seal off those breaches! Emergency force fields! Hail SB248—"
"Comms are do-"The tactical station exploded, silencing the tactical officer.
Kim took over the station from the mission ops console. "I'm picking up three more warp signatures closing in!"
The three starbursts regergitated an Excelsior-B class, an Akira class, and the Ohio runabout. The runabout came to within towing position of the forward hull of the Gulfstream, and hit her with a tractor beam to pull her out of the battle zone.
On the screen, Commander Nakajima smerked. "Don't worry, four haulers are on their way to give us a push."
Just as she said so, four haulers dropped from warp, taking up an escorting position. They threw their beams on, and took the Gulfstream to warp.
After the Gulfstream was safely away, the Mukaihara (the Excelsior), and the Gertland (Akira) retreated to warp, heading back for the station.
The terrorists did not persue.
Station Log,
Stardate 60045.3 The Gulfstream has returned, and is undergoing extensive repairs. While everyone was busy playing with themselves in their failed rescue mission,
the base has been playing host to several convoys, as this is the only
serviceable base in the sector. I have made an inquiry to Starfleet
Command for upgrades to be made to the station.
They haven't returned my calls. Figures...
"So, you've been had?"
Wing nodded to McGawan, as the station doctor ran a tricorder over him. The dark-skined human woman, with a young complexion, nodded to Wing. "You can go."
"Thanks, Doc."
"You'd better thank me," Doc said as she went to the next patient.
Wing and McGawan entered into a corridor, and headed towards a turbolift. "How's Prime Minister Soliel?"
McGawan shook his head. "Distraught. She returned home to be with her family. It's not every day stuff like this happens. It's bullshit."
"You got that right."
A comm signal sounded. "Ops to McGawan."
McGawan hit his combadge. "Go ahead, Kaori."
"Sir... you'd better get up here."
It didn't take long for Wing and McGawan to come to Ops. On the screen, a boy, wearing nothing, was being chased by the camera man and three others, in a bright wooded area. One of the masked men threw a rock to the boy. The rock hit the boy in the back, and the boy went down.
The men quickly rushed forward, kicking the boy. They turned him over, and the face confirmed the identity. With a d'artag, they mutiliated the boy's face, as he screamed in agony. Then, they beheaded him, slow- like, just like back on the Lambda Epsilon Terraforming Station.
After the death, the image changed to the same man who made the demands to begin with. "Some time ago, a Federation team came to our newly acquired space station, and attempted to surpress us. We, the Negarani, have crushed them. And now, the rest of you will bare witness to the final moments of the Prince of Elani. If the Federation had not attempted its surpression, we would not have needed to kill the Prince of Elani. The Federation gave us no choice. For their insulence, the Prince of Elani has been killed, a testiment to the Federation, that we will no longer be held down. We are now a sovereign power, and declare it as such.
"For any system who does not wish harm upon it, for any government who wishes to be free of the tyrany of the Federation, join us now! Together, we will drive the Federation out of our holy lands, out of our childrens' playgrounds, and away from our families! We will be free! Long live the Negarani!"
And the transmission ends.
After a long pause, Kim reported another comm signal. "Captain? Prime Minister Soliel is on the comm."
McGawan nodded. "Put her through."
The screen image changed, displaying Prime Minister Soliel. "Captain, I know you did everything you could... to save my boy..."
McGawan fell to his knees, on the upper deck, in front of all of his officers. "From the bottom of my heart, Prime Minister... I'm so sorry."
Tears ran down Soliel's eyes. "So am I, Captain. So am I. The government has ruled that the actions of the Negarani are to be condemned. However, so is the failure of the rescue attempt by the Federation. As a result, the Elani have withdrawn from the Federation. I am sorry it has come to this, Captain. I have another son, who is living with his wife in the Krix system. I do not wish any more harm to come to my family, or to the families of the Elani, just because we are part of the Federation. I will not put any more of my people at risk. I'm sorry, Captain. I am truly sorry." With that, the transmission ended.
Slowly, McGawan got to his feet. A crewman, who had just come to ops, not realizing the situation, handed McGawan a padd. The padd was then thrown across the ops center, with such a force, that it shattered it totally. And, in one swift motion, McGawan's fist found its way to that same crewman's jaw.
Quickly, Wing sent a few large men to contain the Captain. "Take him to sickbay!" Wing ordered. After a while, McGawan did not struggle. He freely went.
"You know," Kim said, breaking the silence that followed, "I don't blame the Captain."
Nakajima lifted an eyebrow at the statement. "Somehow, Mister Kim, I agree with that statement. We have a long way to go. Take command, Mister Kim. I'll be in my office."
Nakajima took to the lower level, and entered into her office. In the berth that once docked the Enterprise, the Gulfstream underwent extensive external repairs. Workbees began to work ferociously on the aft section of the Gulfstream, repairing one nacell, and replacing another.
Elsewhere, a cargo hauler returned to the hauler bay, as the Detroit departed the station. The Constellation-class U.S.S. Detroit, commanded by Captain Chris Grear, pointed its way to Deep Space Nine, screaming into warp, leaving Starbase 248 behind, to its destiny...
Executive Producer
Man of Trek Lore
Outside of the Lambda Epsilon System
From the outside of the system, the Gulfstream launched a type 10 shuttlecraft, which screamed into the one planet system. During the flight, Wing kept an eye on sensors, while Dallas few the ship.
"Kim, talk to me," Wing said on the comm.
Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Gulfstream, Kim was watching the long range sensors. "Still clear."
"That's freaky," Dallas returned on the comm. "It seems a little too quiet out here."
"Keep your eyes on the road, Crewman," Kim ordered.
On the shuttle, Dallas brought the small craft to within range of a small station, which orbited Lambda Epsilon One. The small station was that like a comm relay, with a solar panel and a subspace antena on it.
Wing checked the scans of the comm array. "This is it, alright. This is exactly where the transmission came from." Also, he ran a scan of the station. "I'm picking up lifesigns on the station. Two Tellerite, one Human, six Bajoran, and one Elani."
"Should we lock onto them?"
"Too obvious, Crewman," Wing said. "We need to secure this station. Alpha team, let's get going."
Four crewmen accompanied Wing to the center of the craft. "Energize."
Dallas locked on transporters and energized the team off the shuttle...
...As the transporter effect ended, Wing quickly whipped out a tricorder, and began to scan around. He found the life signs. "Santos, Jones, you're with me. Horowitz, Hamasaki, check out the communications room."
As Crewman Taro Hamasaki lead Crewman Horowitz towards the communications room, Wing, drawing his phaser, lead his team to the control center, where the life signs are located.
The small corridor of the station was quiet. Very quiet, and dark. But the air was still warm, which was a good sign, at least. That meant that someone was still on the station. With phaser drawn, they came upon a locked door, which lead into the control center...
...Meanwhile, Hamasaki and Horowitz came to a similar door. However, their door was unlocked, and openned when the sensor was tripped. Inside the communications room was a few screens on a wall, and a typical communications board. The board blinked with transmission activity, and sensor logs.
Hamasaki made his way across the room, as Horowitz took a guarding position by the door. Hamasaki found a small device attached to the communications console. It contained some data on it. When he played it on his tricorder, it was the terrorist tape.
He hit his combadge. "Hamasaki to Lieutenant Wing. We found the message device."...
..."Understood," Wing said. Finally, he got the door open with a set of authorization codes. The door eased open, showing the inside of the communications room.
There were the life signs – the masked terrorists, along with their hostage. They didn't move at all. They were like statues.
Wing advanced forward, drawing his phaser. The figures didn't move at all. To test the waters, Wing shot a warning shot. Nothing but air, as the beam lanced through what appeared to be a holographic mage.
Santos found a small device, and shut it down. The fake scene went away, revealing some cylindars, wich blinking lights on it.
Wing scanned them. His thought came back to him. "It figures. We've been had."
Santos joined Wing. "Transporter cylindars?"
Wing nodded. "They're programmed to simulate bioreadings."
The deck began to rumble, violently. Everyone lost their footing, but managed to stay on their toes. Wing hit the combadge, rushing for an active console. "Shuttle, report!"
..."I'm under attack over here," Dallas said.
"What else is new?!" Wing called. ...
...Daniels ran onto the bridge, leaping into action. "Helm, take us in. Mister Kim, how many ships are there?"
"Five," Kim said, scanning the area. "Four are attacking the station, one has the shuttle in a tractor beam."
"Damn them to hell!" Daniels barked. "Battle stations. Helm, attack pattern delta-four. Target forward phasers on the tracotring ship, and fire."
The majestic Galaxy-class U.S.S. Gulfstream became a ruthless animal with rabies, firing a spray of weaponsfire on the terrorist ship. The terrorist, in return, fired on the shuttle.
Kim ferociously worked on his station to get a lock on Dallas, who was probably scared out of his mind. "Captain, we have to shut down that tractor beam," Kim urged. "I can't get a lock on Dallas."
"Sir," the tactical officer called, "the station's hull integrety is down to forty-five percent."
"Gulfstream to Wing," Daniels said, "can you guys hold out over there?"
"I'm working to get these shields up," Wing replied on the comm. "Stand by."
"Target that ship's tractor emitters," Daniels ordered. "Fire when you have a clean shot. Attack pattern omega."
The Gulfstream did a complete nose dive, spinning around. When low enough, she swan-dove, and went into an "upwards" motion, firing phasers at the terrorist ship's tractor beam emitter. That ended the tractor siege.
"I got a lock!" Kim reported. "Energizing!"
At that moment, the terrorist ship retaliated by destroying the shuttlecraft. As a result, the Gulfstream destroyed the terrorist ship.
A few moments passed. Finally, Daniels shot up, and turned to Kim. "Did you get him?" Danliels demanded.
"Sickbay to bridge," called the ship's doctor. "We have Crewman Dallas."
Everyone relaxed a little bit, as the good news came through.
"Captain," called the tactical officer. "The station's shields just went up."
The deck rumbled underneath the bridge. Daniels took to his seat. "Evasive maneuvers. Target the lead ship and fire phasers."
The Gulfstream complied with the greatest of ease. She came around, firing her aft phasers at one of the terrorist ships. Their shields took heavy damage. However, that same ship turned and fired on the Gulfstream.
There was vicious pounding. "Damage to the aft torpedo launcher. They're targetting our warp nacells," the tactical officer reported.
"We don't have time for this," Daniels said. "Helm, bring us about. Make a pass for the station. Mister Kim, let's bring our people home."
"Aye, Captain," Kim said.
The Gulfstream came full about, heading for the terraforming station. However, the terrorist ships formed a mini blockade, preventing the Gulfstream from going any closer to the station.
"This is going to be tough," Daniels said. The enemy ships just stood there, waiting for the Gulfstream to fire. "Hold position. This isn't going to end easy."
Suddenly, a comm signal came through. "Captain, we're being hailed by the station," the tactical officer said.
Daniels nodded. "On screen."
On the screen, twenty masked men surrounded the five man would-be rescue party. One of them, wearing a red mask adorned with golden trim around it, looking like a ninja, stepped forward, holding a massive phaser rifle of somekind. "We have five Federation prisoners. And we will execute them if you attempt any kind of rescue."
Daniels slowly rose to his feet. "Are they harmed?"
The red mask shook his head. "No. But they will be soon."
"I would like to speak with them," Daniels demanded.
"No."
"Then, I wish to negotiate for their release," Daniels said.
"You talk too much," said the terrorist. He motioned behind him. They brought forward, Kim recognized, Hamasaki, and held a d'artag to his neck. Five more men came over, and smacked Hamasaki. He fell to his knees, as they bound his hands and feet. "You are no longer in control here, Captain. Withdraw from here. Or we will kill this man."
Daniels shook his head. "The Federation does not submit to the will of terrorists. We demand, once again, the release of your prisoners."
The masked man nodded. "You don't know when to quit. Long live the Negarani!"
The five man chanted, as one of them smacked Hamasaki against the head, knocking him down. The visual image that followed was nothing more than a gore-fest, as they severed Hamasaki's head, live on visual comm. The whole thing took about a minute, as Hamasaki was still struggling as they cut into his neck. The sounds... the visual... it was too unreal, too graphic. Too horrible for words.
When it was over, the terrorist was holding Hamasaki's head to the viewer. "You have killed this man," the terrorist said. "If you do not take your losses and leave now, one by one, the others will die. If we read life signs on this station, the others will die."
Meanwhile, as the terrorist was talking, Kim was testing the station's shields with stray particles from the warp core. "Viewer off," an angry Daniels said. As the viewer blinked off, he was summoned to Kim's station. "I hope you have good news, Commander."
"I do," Kim said. "I've been attempting to make small, focused narrow-band subspace tunnels, using the warp nacells. It's easily undetectable, because I'm using the radiation field from the bussard collectors as a cover. I may be able to go under the space surrounding the station's shields. And, like threading a wire through a new hole, get a transporter beam through."
"To get our people home?"
"Exactly," Kim said. "I'm ready now."
"Do it," Daniels said. "I'll keep those guys busy. Hail them."
As Kim went to work, Daniels returned. The screen turned on, revealing the terrorists. "Who do you wish to have killed now, Captain?"
"No one," Daniels said. "I just wish to speak with you."
"I do not wish to speak with you," the terrorist in red said. "You are beneath me."
"I wish to know a few things about your group," Daniels said. "Who are the Negarani?"
"Gods to you," the terrorist said. "We will bring our wrath upon you and crush you until every last Federation man, woman, and child, is dead and burning in the pits of hell, where you Federation scumbags belong."
"Are you human?"
"What kind of dirty question is that? How dare you ask me if I am a member of that rediculus nasty species. For that, another one will die! Bring... HIM!"
They repeated the gorefest on Santos. However, Santos, it took five minutes for him to finally die, as he put up a fight before they could get the already bloody d'artag into his neck to begin cutting.
After it, the masked man asked of a very distraught and horrified Captain Daniels, "Any more questions, worm?"
"Yeah," Daniels managed to say. "Have you seen your surviving hostages lately?"
The masked man laughed. "Now, I will kill the other one with the slanted eyes! Bring him!"
"I don't think so," Daniels said. "Mister Kim... Energize!"
"With pleasure," Kim said, initiating the transporter protocols. Without any problems, the remaining rescue party was beamed aboard without so much as a single glitch. "Transport complete."
"Doctor Rhodes to the bridge," called the ship's doctor. "I'm bringing everyone to sickbay."
"Acknowledged," Daniels said. "Helm, bring us about. Get us the hell out of here."
"Aye, Captain."
Just as the Gulfstream came about, the terrorist ships screamed for the Starfleet vessel, firing all weapons on her. They hit the warp nacells, and crippled them with ease.
"Warp drive offline!" the helmsman said.
"We have plasma fires on decks forty-two through thrity-seven. Engineering is in danger!" Kim reported.
"Weapons are down, shields at zero percent!" the tactical officer called.
More fire, as the enemy weapons cut into the aft hull of the Gulfstream.
"Hull breaches, decks thirty one through thrity five!" Kim called. "We have decompression all over the ship!"
"Seal off those breaches! Emergency force fields! Hail SB248—"
"Comms are do-"The tactical station exploded, silencing the tactical officer.
Kim took over the station from the mission ops console. "I'm picking up three more warp signatures closing in!"
The three starbursts regergitated an Excelsior-B class, an Akira class, and the Ohio runabout. The runabout came to within towing position of the forward hull of the Gulfstream, and hit her with a tractor beam to pull her out of the battle zone.
On the screen, Commander Nakajima smerked. "Don't worry, four haulers are on their way to give us a push."
Just as she said so, four haulers dropped from warp, taking up an escorting position. They threw their beams on, and took the Gulfstream to warp.
After the Gulfstream was safely away, the Mukaihara (the Excelsior), and the Gertland (Akira) retreated to warp, heading back for the station.
The terrorists did not persue.
Station Log,
Stardate 60045.3 The Gulfstream has returned, and is undergoing extensive repairs. While everyone was busy playing with themselves in their failed rescue mission,
the base has been playing host to several convoys, as this is the only
serviceable base in the sector. I have made an inquiry to Starfleet
Command for upgrades to be made to the station.
They haven't returned my calls. Figures...
"So, you've been had?"
Wing nodded to McGawan, as the station doctor ran a tricorder over him. The dark-skined human woman, with a young complexion, nodded to Wing. "You can go."
"Thanks, Doc."
"You'd better thank me," Doc said as she went to the next patient.
Wing and McGawan entered into a corridor, and headed towards a turbolift. "How's Prime Minister Soliel?"
McGawan shook his head. "Distraught. She returned home to be with her family. It's not every day stuff like this happens. It's bullshit."
"You got that right."
A comm signal sounded. "Ops to McGawan."
McGawan hit his combadge. "Go ahead, Kaori."
"Sir... you'd better get up here."
It didn't take long for Wing and McGawan to come to Ops. On the screen, a boy, wearing nothing, was being chased by the camera man and three others, in a bright wooded area. One of the masked men threw a rock to the boy. The rock hit the boy in the back, and the boy went down.
The men quickly rushed forward, kicking the boy. They turned him over, and the face confirmed the identity. With a d'artag, they mutiliated the boy's face, as he screamed in agony. Then, they beheaded him, slow- like, just like back on the Lambda Epsilon Terraforming Station.
After the death, the image changed to the same man who made the demands to begin with. "Some time ago, a Federation team came to our newly acquired space station, and attempted to surpress us. We, the Negarani, have crushed them. And now, the rest of you will bare witness to the final moments of the Prince of Elani. If the Federation had not attempted its surpression, we would not have needed to kill the Prince of Elani. The Federation gave us no choice. For their insulence, the Prince of Elani has been killed, a testiment to the Federation, that we will no longer be held down. We are now a sovereign power, and declare it as such.
"For any system who does not wish harm upon it, for any government who wishes to be free of the tyrany of the Federation, join us now! Together, we will drive the Federation out of our holy lands, out of our childrens' playgrounds, and away from our families! We will be free! Long live the Negarani!"
And the transmission ends.
After a long pause, Kim reported another comm signal. "Captain? Prime Minister Soliel is on the comm."
McGawan nodded. "Put her through."
The screen image changed, displaying Prime Minister Soliel. "Captain, I know you did everything you could... to save my boy..."
McGawan fell to his knees, on the upper deck, in front of all of his officers. "From the bottom of my heart, Prime Minister... I'm so sorry."
Tears ran down Soliel's eyes. "So am I, Captain. So am I. The government has ruled that the actions of the Negarani are to be condemned. However, so is the failure of the rescue attempt by the Federation. As a result, the Elani have withdrawn from the Federation. I am sorry it has come to this, Captain. I have another son, who is living with his wife in the Krix system. I do not wish any more harm to come to my family, or to the families of the Elani, just because we are part of the Federation. I will not put any more of my people at risk. I'm sorry, Captain. I am truly sorry." With that, the transmission ended.
Slowly, McGawan got to his feet. A crewman, who had just come to ops, not realizing the situation, handed McGawan a padd. The padd was then thrown across the ops center, with such a force, that it shattered it totally. And, in one swift motion, McGawan's fist found its way to that same crewman's jaw.
Quickly, Wing sent a few large men to contain the Captain. "Take him to sickbay!" Wing ordered. After a while, McGawan did not struggle. He freely went.
"You know," Kim said, breaking the silence that followed, "I don't blame the Captain."
Nakajima lifted an eyebrow at the statement. "Somehow, Mister Kim, I agree with that statement. We have a long way to go. Take command, Mister Kim. I'll be in my office."
Nakajima took to the lower level, and entered into her office. In the berth that once docked the Enterprise, the Gulfstream underwent extensive external repairs. Workbees began to work ferociously on the aft section of the Gulfstream, repairing one nacell, and replacing another.
Elsewhere, a cargo hauler returned to the hauler bay, as the Detroit departed the station. The Constellation-class U.S.S. Detroit, commanded by Captain Chris Grear, pointed its way to Deep Space Nine, screaming into warp, leaving Starbase 248 behind, to its destiny...
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Man of Trek Lore