Chapter Nine

Bridge

The Spector held its position in the asteroid field, coiled and ready to strike like a viper, a mouthful of venom and a belly full of hate.

"Lt. Commander, shuttlecrafts One and Two have returned. They report their cargo has been placed as per the Captain's orders."

"Very good, Mr. Rodriguez. Extend my thanks for a job well done."

"Lt. Commander," Haro cut in from his science station, "sensors report the Zardanian mining vessel is almost in position."

"According to its current trajectory it will be in targeting range within eight minutes," added Lt. Aureli from the Helm.

"Have you been working with the simulations, Lt. Aureli?" Venax asked.

"Yes, sir. The Captain programmed it himself."

"Very good. We'll need to jump to full impulse speed as soon as the Zardanian ship is in position and catch them by surprise. Once we emerge from the asteroid field I'll fire a torpedo at their aft impulse manifold which should cripple their drive section, including warp drive. We will then fire a short phaser burst into their forward hull. If we aim correctly, their main power should be disrupted for about two minutes. Mr. Haro, are they any signs of additional ships?"

"Nothing that I can tell, Lt. Commander. However, our sensor resolution is reduced by the field."

"Very well. Prudence is advised. This ship may be used for mining but it is still a military vessel and armed as such. Helm, manoeuvring thrusters at one third, bring us down to zero-three-one mark two-six-zero and plot your attack trajectory. Bridge to Transporter Room Two."

Transporter Room Two

Crewman Maureen Leblanc watched as Acting Captain Dent looked over his phaser rifle, making minor adjustments to the settings. She adjusted her battle harness and wiped a gloved hand across her brow. Feeling another's eyes on her, she looked over and flashed a nervous smile at Ensign Hansen. She jumped when the comm channel opened.

"Bridge to Transporter Room Two."

"Go ahead, Venax," Dent answered.

"The Zardanian ship will be in position in six minutes. Shuttlecrafts have returned and report a successful mission."

"Excellent work all around, Lt. Commander. Ensure we have a fixed transporter lock on the teams at all times as well as an open comm channel."

"Aye, sir."

"All right everyone," Dent said loudly, addressing the seven member team in front of him, assembled on the large transporter pad, "you have all read the reports but time for a summary. Phasers set on heavy stun. Mr. Kwalski, you have Ensign Hansen's back. You are to retrieve the Zardanian database as quickly as possible. The rest of us will keep the Zardanian security forces occupied. Do not, I repeat do not engage them in hand-to-hand combat unless absolutely necessary. They are fast and exceptionally strong, their claws can tear a human apart in seconds and they have no compunctions about using them. Also, they are highly unorthodox in their military methods so expect anything once they realize what we are doing. Your battle vests are equipped with personal force fields which should protect you from one or two blasts from their disruptors but don't rely on this for complete protection – they aren't infallible in combat situations. Extreme caution is the mandate here, people. Everyone that is beamed over is coming back unharmed, is that understood?

"Also, keep your goggles on. The Zardanians have poor eyesight in darkened areas so their ships interior will be extremely well lit. Without our visual protection we'd be blinded in moments. Also, it's going to be hot...very hot. They are a lizard race and prefer extreme heat. Keep your rebreathers handy in case they try to gas us. Questions? No? Good. Bennett and Smith, you are Team One. Montoya and Garfield, Team Two. Leblanc, you have my back. Everyone on the pads."

The teams assembled, forming a circle with their weapons pointed outwards. Leblanc leaned over to the Captain and said, "Sir, Bennett is more experienced than I am. Maybe it would be better if he had your back."

"I need Bennett to ensure the turbolifts are secure, Leblanc. Venax has the utmost confidence in your abilities and I respect her opinion. You'll be fine. Just follow my lead."

"Sir," the transporter chief said, "we're about to engage the impulse drive. You might want to hold onto something. It's going to be a bit of a jolt."

Outside, the Spector went from a dead stop to flying over several asteroids, speeding towards the unsuspecting mining craft. Emerging from the field, the ship blasted a torpedo into the aft section of the Zardanian vessel, impacting directly on their impulse drive and crippling it. Its course altered by the explosion, the nose bent upward and the ship began to spin, exactly as tactical officer had anticipated. As the forward section came into view, the Vulcan targeted the port side and let loose a volley of phaser strikes, reducing the main power coupling to molten slag.

"Energize," the Vulcan ordered.

Zardanian Ship

Crewman Leblanc was momentarily disorientated as she materialized on board the enemy vessel. The bright light and heat struck her full in the face, forcing her to take a deep breath, the hot air rushing into her lungs and her forehead immediately covering in a sheen of perspiration. Ahead she saw three Zardanians lower themselves to the floor, preparing to flee from the heavily armed squad, their eyes wide in surprise. She had forgotten their species were comfortable walking on all fours or fully erect. She fumbled with her weapon trying to lower her aim when a series of quick phaser blasts burst out from her left side, each shot finding its mark dead centre in the Zardanian crewmen chests. In the time it took her fellow security officers to react to their presence Dent had stunned the lizards unconscious.

"Team One," he shouted, "lock that turbolift tight. Use your phasers to weld it shut. Team Two, move into that forward hallway and secure it. Hansen, set up that transport inhibitor so we don't have any surprises beamed in. Leblanc, follow me."

Dent moved forward towards a door to his side, quickly looking over an inscription on the entrance. Stabbing at the console next to it, he opened the doorway and rolled in, firing his rifle. Two more surprised Zardanians fell to the floor. Dent straightened and moved about the room, rifle at the ready. Leblanc tried to keep up, eyes wide in awe and appreciation.

That sure as hell ain't Captain Pat, she thought in surprise. It was one thing to read about the man; it was quite another to see him in action.

"Hansen!" Dent yelled. "Report!"

Hansen and Kwalski ran into the room, Kwalski sweeping around with his weapon, Hanson holding onto his back with one hand. Dent nodded approvingly at their actions.

"Inhibitor is set up, Captain."

"Get to work on that console over there, Ensign. It should have everything we need." Disrupter blasts and phaser fire echoed out of the hallway. Dent signalled Leblanc to follow and they exited the room. Overhead the ships communication channel erupted.

"INTRUDER ALERT. DECK EIGHT SECTION TWELVE. SECURITY TEAMS RESPOND. INTRUDER ALERT. FIRE TEAMS REPORT TO DECK TWO SECTION THREE AND ENGINEERING SECTION."

Team Two signalled they had secured the hall from the initial security teams. Dent could hear the sound of the phasers switching off along with the hissing of cooling metal at the turbolift entrance and knew they had sealed it shut. Team One backed off slightly from the doors and found cover, their weapons sweeping the access point.

"Barring anything unforeseen," Dent said to Leblanc, "we have them bottlenecked quite nicely."

"Spector to Captain Dent," Venax's voice said calmly over the comm channel.

"Go ahead."

"We've detected two more Zardanian cruisers headed this way in attack formation. They'll be in weapons range in ten minutes."

"Did this ship get a message out?"

"Negative sir. We would have detected it and are dampening any communications. These ships must have been patrolling and detected our attack."

"Surely the Spector can handle two ships, Captain," Leblanc offered.

"We can't afford a firefight at this time, crewman," Dent replied, "we have no way to repair the ship from major damage. Don't worry, we've anticipated this. They just showed up sooner than expected. Strike Teams, prepare -"

Dent was cut off as one of the bulkheads exploded outwards, the hall filling with fire and debris. Dent and Leblanc were thrown like rag dolls by the concussive force, their personal shields sparking and flashing. Dent hit the floor hard and rolled over to a wall, his shield defense flashing out but protected him from the detonation. Leblanc landed close by, her shield still intact.

"I guess this is the 'unorthodox' methods you were talking about," she gasped.

Dent smiled grimly and raised to one knee, firing his weapon randomly into the smoke, hoping to drive back any advancing force that might be using it for cover. After a series of shots he rolled to the opposite side and fired again, hoping the security teams would not be able to pinpoint his position. Leblanc ducked under some larger debris, her smaller frame finding it ideal cover. She commenced to fire blindly as well. Behind them Team Two engaged a second security force.

"I can't get any targets," she yelled, looking at her rifles readout. The display was static filled.

"The explosion is somehow affecting our targeting sensors," Dent called back. He slapped his comm badge, "Team One, report!"

"We're ok, Captain. Just a little shook up."

"You're cut off from us, Bennett. Transport back to the ship!"

"Bastards actually blew a hole in their own ship to get at us," Leblanc said in awe.

"They are anything if not persistent," Dent said. A sudden hail of disrupter fire towards the Captain's location forced him to hunker against a wall, using some slim debris as cover. He glanced up as Leblanc returned fire and then yelled at the woman.

"Leblanc, look up!"

Overhead a male Zardanian crawled along the ceiling, grimacing down at the security officer. He released his handhold and dropped to the floor, spinning around expertly. His tail flashed out and struck Dent in the chest, knocking him against a wall and sending his rifle spinning away into the smoke. Leblanc turned and aimed her weapon but her action was too late; the Zardanian fired a weapon strapped to his wrist. Leblanc took the hit square in the chest, crying out as she fell to the floor, her force field dissipating. The Zardanian crouched, crawling over rubble and giggling low in its throat as it approached the helpless woman. Leblanc's eyes widened in fear as the Zardanian loomed over her, aiming its weapon square at her head. Leblanc squeezed her eyes shut and heard a crash above her. Rolling to her side, she risked a look around.

Dent had rushed at the lizard and crashed into its side, sending it tumbling across the hall. The Captain reached down and grabbed Leblanc's weapon. The Zardanian issued a stream of curses at the Captain, just as Dent swung his rifle like a bat and connected solidly with the lizard's head. Dazed, the Zardanian toppled backwards, tripping over the wreckage. Dent slapped his rifle into his shoulder and fired point blank. The Zardanian fell to the floor. Leblanc collapsed, her breath rushing out.

Dent moved over to her, "Are you all right, crewman?"

"I think so...my side hurts though."

"Dent to Spector. Transport crewman Leblanc to sickbay."

"No sir! I can still help!"

"You already did, Leblanc. Your job here is done," Dent squeezed her shoulder and smiled, "damn good work for your first boarding party." She vanished in a field of blue energy. Dent looked up and shouted across the hall, "Kwalski! I'm coming in!"

Dent jumped across the hall and fell into the auxiliary control room. Hansen stood over the console as Kwalski covered the entrance. Dent stalked over to the junior Science officer. "What the hell is taking so long?" he asked.

"Captain, they have some unusual algorithms and encryptions protecting their database. I'm having trouble downloading the data to my tricorder."

"Kwalski, inform Team Two to transport back to the ship. They are taking too much fire from the reinforcements from what I heard out there. Hansen, step away from the console," Dent levelled his weapon at the computer console and adjusted the rifle's setting, firing a short burst. The side of the console erupted in sparks and bits of metal. Dent reached in and moved his hand around, finally dragging out a crystalline box, wires and data cables streaming from it as he threw it to the floor.

"Is that the data core?"

"Um...yes sir."

"Then our job here is done. Dent to Spector, ready for transport."