Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN STAR TREK!
Notes:
Schematization: I'm glad that you still like it and are still reading. As for the blip of a ship...hmmm...read on...andI do like your characters.
knight who says neep: Wow!A new reviewer! (does Happy Dance) So glad that you like my story enough to call for an update twice. I do hope that this satisfies you. I do have a question...Exactly what do you mean by "Monty Pythons references. It's funny and it actually makes sense." ? DidI use another of their lines? I read through and could only find the one in chapter 6...I wonder. Still, I am glad that you are enjoying my submission to the world of STFF.
What happened to my other reviewers? Sniff I miss y'all... Hope you read this and review...
Chapter 10
Sunday's Peace, Monday's War
The rest of the week passed uneventfully. I showed Saul around the rest of the Rock, and I think he enjoyed it. He was most interested in the engineering wing's computer lab and in the hospital's medical lab. In those few days I learned more about Saul than I thought possible. He possessed, in addition to his intuitive scanning ability, wicked computer skills and a keen interest in any and all forms of science. He was, eventually, able to convince me to allow him to return to the Assurance to work with Duo. And from what Duo told me later, Saul had completely rewired the bridge's comp network in sixteen hours. I was very impressed. The bridge of the Assurance had more crossed wires than a telephone operator's convention. Deciphering what wire goes to what system and how fast the connection is takes advanced degrees in tunneling and electrical engineering, as well as x-ray vision and very long arms. Like I said, the guy's got mad skills.
I spent my shore leave doing three things: sleeping, reading, and teaching. After the false alarm, I slept for fifteen hours straight, got up, showered, ate, read a little, and slept for another twelve. Sleep is a precious commodity on a pirate ship, and captains get next to none as a rule, so I slept a lot and did precious little else. Well, except for reading. My reserved quarters on the Rock had barely enough room for a bed and a chair. All other space was filled with books, paper books with leather and cloth binding that smelled of dust and mothballs and years of sitting in someone's attic. I considered that room to be a small corner of heaven. I had books from every author, from every planet, from every time period, sitting on shelves, in boxes, in trunks, under my bed, and covering almost every square inch of my room. I would read for hours, stop and sleep. This was my habit for two days. Then I was overwhelmed with a case of cabin fever and proceeded to do something else: teach.
The upper levels of the school are devoted to teaching skills. These can range from business management to medicine and cover just about everything in between. My rules for the occupants of the Rock is that they can leave whenever they wish, and I make sure that if they want to leave they have a skill that they can survive off of. If there are at three students and someone willing to teach, then there's a class for it. Computer tech, medicine, engineering, and flight school had the highest enrollment, but other classes include the useful: cooking, teaching, accounting; the interesting: agriculture, botany, biology, psychology; and the odd: pottery, smithy, knitting. A lot of the participants of certain classes had every intention of staying on the Rock or else moving to another spaceport somewhere, but a few had their sights set on joining the crew of the Assurance. And it was to these that I spent the next three days with.
We called them Cameron's Crazies, because the instructor, Bo Cameron, could whip a bunch of raw greenhorns into the most disciplined, obedient, fearlessly maniacal group of pirates that ever lived. I always spent a couple of days with the Crazies, picking out the ones that I would recruit when they were old enough, those who weren't what I was looking for went into the Rock's security team and waited until I thought that they were ready. When I left the sanctum of my private library, I went directly to the Crazies' training room. There were fifteen of them this year, which was a pretty big group; usually the number of Crazies was somewhere around nine or ten. Three Klingons, a Cardassian, four Andorians, the rest were humanoids. I was scanning the group when something caught my eye. Two of the humanoids were young women. That was really odd. First because not many women of any race want to be pirates, and secondly because Bo was insanely tough on the Crazies. These girls had to be either raving lunatics or they had major grit. I noted that, definitely worth looking into. When I walked into the room, all the Crazies froze and stared at me. Bo walked up calmly; a huge grin was on his face.
"Major Harper! What a surprise, though I must say I was expecting you. How is life on the Assurance?" The Crazies began to collect and softly whisper to one another.
"Better than fine. That last bunch of kids you sent me are working out fine. I don't know how you do it, Bo, but every year's group is better than the last."
"I aim to please, Harper, you know that." Bo was probably the only person who called me by my surname. "So, anything that I can do for you?" I looked behind him at the kids.
"Think that they're ready for a free-for-all?" He turned, sized them up for a couple seconds and gave his opinion.
"Yeah, maybe. But you gotta be gentle with them, Harper; they're still green, and I swore up down and sideways to their parents that they wouldn't get hurt too bad." I grinned.
"I promise I won't break too many bones." He turned and walked back to the Crazies.
"Alright, listen up. This is Major Keath Harper, commanding officer of the Crimson Assurance, and, if you're lucky enough, your new boss. Now the major wants to see how good you are, so here's what we're gonna do." I walked over to the wall and pulled off my boots and socks, still listening. "I want a nice clean free for all. Objective is to get Harper to surrender." I grinned and started stretching. "You can use any means you want, team up or fight alone, but you can't use any weapons." I walked to the center of the mat. "Understood?" Heads nodded and the Crazies began to make a circle around me. I slowly rolled my shoulders, eyes closed, I tensed up and waited.
The three Klingons attacked first. They came at me from three different sides, attacking with an improvised set of martial arts. Pretty good but not good enough. I dodged the first one, grabbed the arm of the second and swung him into the third. The Cardassian came next, he tried to hit me a couple of times, I got bored and kicked his feet out from under him. Two of the Andorians tried a frontal assault, while the other two came in from behind. They might have actually done some damage except for the fact that the Klingons threw themselves in the mix. The seven of them got really tangled up and the all ended on the floor. I didn't have to throw a punch. While they were trying to get up, four of the humans launched themselves at me. I evaded their attacks for a few seconds and then bolted. I leapt over the still struggling mass of Klingons and Andorians, while the humans pushed the group back down and got caught in it.
The only three that hadn't tried to fight me so far were human, including the two women. I stood there watching them, but they didn't move. I heard the Klingon behind me before he tried to hit me in the back of the head. I grabbed his arm as it went by and flipped him over my shoulder. When I came up from the throw, it was into the fist of the human male. He caught me square in the stomach, forcing all the wind out of my lungs. I doubled over, waited for him to come a little closer and then whipped my head upwards into his skull. That bought me time to breath, but gave me a wonderful view of the galaxy from inside my eyes. He staggered backwards and the girls jumped in, fists flying. They tried to repeat the guy's blow to my stomach, but I was prepared for it this time. I blocked the punches and moved to keep them both facing me, but that caused the guy to come in from the back. He grabbed me around my torso, trying to pin my arms to my side as the girls rushed in to take advantage of the situation. I waited to the last second, then jumped and kicked against the girls, throwing the guy backwards, and giving me enough room to break out of his grasp. They righted themselves quickly and rushed back in towards me. I noticed then that none of the other Crazies were trying to attack, I found that slightly odd, but I didn't complain. These three were a handful in and of themselves. They didn't attack but instead took strategic stances around me and waited. They wanted me to go offensive. So I did. I feinted to the girl in front of me and then, as the other two moved in, I kicked back at the guy and dropped under the other two girls. They were now all on one side, ready to charge again when they all froze and stared at me.
I was holding my Schnauers level with their heads. The safety's were off on both my guns and I was smiling slightly.
"I thought…this was supposed to be…a fair fight…" The guy protested panting.
"Since when do pirates play fair?" My smile broke into a grin and I snapped the safety back on. "You three fight well, very fluidly. What areyour names?"
"I'm Will, these are my sisters Sarah and Beth." He nodded to the two girls.
"You're siblings?"
"Yes, ma'am, triplets." Sarah said.
"You rescued us from the Orion ship Nytakagh two years ago." Beth added. "We want to be on the Assurance some day, to save others."
"You keep fighting like that and…" I stopped as a klaxon began to blare again. "What the…?" I holstered my guns snatched up my boots and raced out the door. "ThanksBoI'llcatchyalater!"
I raced down the hallway to the newest turbolift. I jumped in, yelled my destination and security codes and yanked on my boots while the lift shot down into the depths of the Rock. The doors opened to almost an exact copy of the first day down here. Matt looked up and met me halfway down the catwalk.
"Major. You may want to recall the Assurance's crew."
"What? Is it that bad?" He nodded.
"We're not sure but we believe that this is the same ship that grazed us before." We were at the main dais. "It sat there for five minutes before we sounded the klaxon. We believe that they're looking for something, but aren't ready to enter the field. If they accidentally bump into the Rock…" He trailed off. I understood.
"Can you put me on the Rock's intercom?" He nodded and walked down to one of the chairs. The chair's operator flipped a few switches and handed the microphone to me.
"All hands of the Assurance, this is the Major. We're pulling out in seven minutes. Repeat, all crew of the Assurance are to report to their stations in seven minutes." I handed it back to the operator and began to move towards the turbolift. Matt was right behind me.
"Orders, Major?" I paused and looked at him.
"The Rock is on silent run until I come back. No communications, no contact, keep an eye on the bogie. If we're not back within two hours, go on lockdown. If all else fails…you know what to do." He nodded. We shook hands and I walked out.
DXVJKE
The Assurance was a hive of controlled insanity. Crewmen and women were moving rapidly to be at their stations in time. I raced up to the bridge to find that the majority of my bridge crew was already there. Pilot and Gunner were calmly seated at their stations, Kat and Duo were quietly discussing something behind me, Hannah was at her station making notations of which stations were manned, Saul was waiting at the SINS controller, and André stepped on the bridge a few moments behind me with Carpenter next to him. I glanced and then stared at my CMO. Carpenter rarely came up onto the bridge and when he did he was at least presentable.
"Doc, why are you covered in…is that paint?" He shrugged and grinned at the same time.
"Hey, you called me away from a very important undertaking to educate my grandchildren in artistic endeavors."
"You were finger-painting again?"
"Call it what you will, but when certain CO's call their officers, said CO should not be surprised in what condition said officer arrives in." I laughed softly.
"Don't worry, if all goes well, you'll be back to your art education in an hour."
"Then if you'll excuse me, I'll use this hour to reorganize sickbay." He stepped back into the turbolift. Hannah turned towards me.
"Ma'am? All stations report full compliment, all hands present and accounted for."
"Good. Duo, how are my engines?"
"I can give you warp ten in a moment's notice." I twisted to look up at him.
"TEN?"
"Yup, when I recalibrated the engines and coupled them with Saul's reworked computer systems, we upped the drive's capability. Warp ten." I whistled.
"Will it hold?"
"Are you doubting me, boss? Don't worry, I ran the whole thing through a thousand different simulations, mostly because I couldn't believe the results myself. They'll last."
"Alright, Pilot, take us out. Kat, shields up and cloak on full. Gunner, I want weapons charged and ready. Silent runnings. Saul, tell me when we get near that ship." The Assurance began to pull away from the Rock, slipping out of the base's protective cloak and into her own.
"Heading, Ma'am?" Pilot asked.
"Drop us underneath the asteroid field and circle around the ship. We'll come at her from the back. Take it nice and easy, I don't want the Bogie to know that we're here." Pilot nodded and began to smoothly work the controls. The Assurance skillfully evaded the asteroids floating around her and dropped softly under the field. Moving at warp two, she straightened out and dove towards the last known position of the Bogie.
"Ship is approaching on long range scanners."
"Cut power and drift by her. Saul amass all information you can on that ship."
"Aye, Major." We dropped out of warp and glided underneath the Bogie. The Assurance was moving at considerable speed, but Saul had enough time to get some considerable info. When we were out of their sensor range I gave orders to jump to warp five for a few minutes and circle back around.
"Whatcha get?" Saul began to repeat the information.
"Ship is of Federation design, a Constitution-class Starship. Four-hundred twenty nine sentient life forms are aboard. Maximum speed is estimated at warp 9. Armaments: energy based shielding, forward phaser banks and photon torpedoes. Standard warp nacelles, impulse power, maneuvering capabilities are high."
"Does she have a name?" Call it a quirk, but I preferred to know the name of my adversary.
"Yes. The USS Enterprise, NCC 1701. Captained by James Kirk."
"No kidding?" I grinned. "Sweet. Kirk's a bloody living legend. Let's see how good he is. Pilot, take us straight at that ship. Kat take the cloak down."
"Ma'am?"
"You heard me, I don't want to tip my hand just yet." The Assurance turned and streaked towards the Enterprise with all the audacity of a pirate.
"We are within their scanning range now, Major."
"Ma'am, the Enterprise is hailing us."
"Onscreen." A human appeared on the view screen and I assumed that he was the captain. He was youngish, mid thirties I'd think, with light brown hair and hazel eyes, over all kind cute. CUTE? What the hell am I thinking? He's a bloody Fed, probably hasn't done a dishonest deed in his life.
"I'm Captain James Kirk of the Federation Starship Enterprise. Please identify yourself and your purpose for being here."
"Like hell I will." I lounged back in my chair, to give the air of apparent easiness.
"Excuse me?"
"Y'all ain't in Fed turf no more, dude, an' I don't have to tell you jack. Now would you be so kind as to get the bloody hell out of my way before I carve a tunnel through your gut." I always assumed the mantel of "Ruthless Cutthroat" when dealing with Fed's; we pirates had a reputation to uphold after all. He seemed slightly taken aback at my manner, but his eyes instantly hardened.
"I don't believe that I have to do anything of that nature, miss. We're here on a peaceful exploration mission and I don't want any trouble."
"Good. Move."
"I don't take orders from pirates and certainly not from one so discourteous as to not tell me her name."
"Discourteous?" I laughed derisively. "Alright then, you can call me Viper. Now will you get out of my way?"
"No." There was ice in his voice.
"Damn. Well, then I'm gonna have to shoot you. Nice chatting and all, but you really gotta work on your people skills." I nodded at Hannah and she cut him off before he was able to reply.
"Gunner, give 'em a nice kick in the pants, really stir up the hornet's nest. As soon as they're ready to follow, cut and run." Pilot and Gunner grinned at each other and began plotting their moves. The Assurance blasted at the Enterprise, not too hard, but enough to get his attention. Pilot jerked her sideways so that the return shots only grazed her side. The Enterprise shifted to follow us and fired again, catching the starboard shield dead on. Gunner fought back, giving them enough to show that we meant business. But my order for cut and run meant that we were to conserve power for later. The Enterprise killed the starboard shield and hid the forward hard. Kirk apparently knew what he was doing.
"Punch it and circle around, catch 'em off balance. Don't go above warp four." Pilot nodded and gunned the Assurance to warp two, yanking her away from the Enterprise. She then tightly arched backwards and Gunner dropped another payload on them. The Enterprise tried to hit on the starboard side again, but Pilot dropped us down and curved away so that the shot went wide.
"Enterprise's forward and port shields are down to ten percent power. They are in pursuit. Estimated time to overtake is four minutes."
"Take her up to warp five and head to the nearest Fed outpost, keep sniping at him." The Assurance took a sharp turn as Pilot altered her course and raced us towards the Federation. The Enterprise increased her speed to pursue.
"Estimate time to overtake is six minutes at this speed."
"Alright, hold it for a few more seconds then on my mark, all stop and shoot them in the back." The Enterprise wasn't shooting at us, probably to conserve power for their shields and thrusters.
"Mark." The Assurance went from flying to dead in an instant and Gunner through everything we had at them. The Enterprise lurched and stopped, but it was too late.
"Hit on the starboard nacelle. I believe that it is disabled, Major. They are preparing to fire."
"Warp ten and cloak us. Get us out of here!" The Enterprise lashed out, but hit nothing. For all intents and purposes, we weren't there. I exhaled slowly.
"Well, that was fun." I got a bunch of looks from all corners of the bridge and I grinned. "Pilot, take us back to the Rock by the long way and take an easy route, I don't want them following us."
"Aye, Ma'am."
"Hannah, put me on with the Rock." She paused turned to look at me and nodded.
"Matt, we got 'em. Crippled the ship about three thousand light years from here. They won't be causing any trouble now. Take the Rock off of alert and we'll be home in six hours or so." Hannah touched her earpiece and listened.
"Red Rock One acknowledges message and says they'll keep the porch light on for us."
"Good."
He was having trouble focusing. There was something in the back of his mind that was nagging at him, like a grain of sand stuck in his eye. This thing, this internal itch had started ever since the confrontation with the Federation vessel. At first he had tried to brush it off as a shadow of a memory that was triggered by the encounter with something from his supposed home. But this thought would not go away so easily and it was beginning to disrupt his work. He had been trying to fine-tune some calibrations to the computer, and now he could not think. It was being too much of a bother. He needed to mediate, to focus his thoughts and feelings to examining this thought.
"Major will you please excuse me?" I turned to Saul, puzzled by his request.
"Sure, Saul, go ahead." He stood from the SINS station and headed towards the turbo-lift. "You okay?" He paused before entering.
"I do not know."
DXVJKE
For those of you who haven't guessed already, yes I am bringing this story to a close. I would like to have one more real chapter and an epilogue to make an even dozen mouse clicks for my readers. Speaking of clicks for my readers, if you click that little tab in the bottom right corner of your screen you can send me a review and I LOVE getting reviews! And do stick around, I have some fun stuff planned for the next chapter. PLEASE REVIEW!
DarkX