Chapter Title: Battle of Wits
Chapter Synapses: Part two of two. West must outwit the Syndicate 'leader' Lazarian to buy Starwind and VonBach time to escape, while not compromising Winters and Sen, who are spying on the Orion Syndicate.
Written by: Seraph Koji
PreviouslyAdmiral Janeway's image was on the Hyperion's viewe "We just got a ransom letter from the Orion Syndicate. They want a stockpile of weapons in return for the life of Captain Victor Starwind." Janeway said solemnly, "Also, Lieutenant Commander Winters and Doctor Rin Asim have been sent on a secretive, covert, mission."
Asim and Winters sat at barstools with a Bolain man and two Klingons The Bollian smiled, "I am Motte, and I could use services of a Warp 7 ship of the damned. That is, the Syndicate can."
Starwind sat in an Orion Syndicate holding cell, alone. That is until two Klingon guards threw VonBach in with him.
West flirted with Lazarian in one of Hyperion's Observitorium lounges, just enough to taunt him, "C'mon Lazarian, a great guy like you, with fascinating stories and that oh-so-irresistible dark side, you can't tell me you aren't having fun."
Asim threw two ration packs on the ground in the cell, "Just wait a bit, sirs."
And now, the conclusion.
West and Lazarian sat in the lounge, still enjoying dinner.
West sipped her water, "Is that so?" West smiled, "Well, I'd tell you about some of my adventures, but, of course, then I'd have to kill you, and…"
"… you'd lose your crewmen." Lazarian reasoned.
"… I'd have to finish dinner all alone." West smile a coy smile. Perhaps she was coming on too strong?
Lazarian chuckled. His communication unit blipped. "Mr. Lazarian, how much longer?" Motte sounded frantic.
"Not much longer now." Lazarian assured Motte, "Lazarian out." He looked back to West, "Looks like it's time to strike a deal, Miss West."
West sighed and nodded, "What, exactly, did you want in the way of weapons again?" West was out of time.
Her commanding officer, however, had other concerns. "How much time does it take to search computer logs?" Starwind sighed.
Sen entered, carrying two ration packs, "Wait for our signal, sirs." He handed off the ration packs and left.
Time passed, Starwind and VonBach ate their rations, and waited. After a while, Starwind heard a rhythmic tappind on a bulkhead.
"Morse Code." Starwind paused, "T-I-M-E."
"Move." VonBach dragged Starwind aside as the wall being tapped exploded.
"A phaser set to overload makes big boom." Winters smiled, "Here are your weapons, sirs, now let's get the hell out of here.''
"Agreed." Starwind took a hand phaser while VonBach took dual phaser pistols and a belt of plasma grenades. Winters then led them don a hall, red lights blinking along it.
"Computer, activate Auto-Destruct sequence." Winters led the team to a transporter bay, "Authorization Winters, Sarah, Acting Captain, Zero-Zero-Zero-Mark-Gamma-Echo-Charlie-Destruct."
"Confirm, authorization Sen, Asim, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Delta-One-Six-Mark-Three-Seven-Two-Destruct."
"One minute, silent countdown. Lock out all command functions by my authorization and seal escape pods and shuttle bays. Transfer transporter controls to my tricorder." Winters mounted the transporter pad, "What are you all waiting for?"
The dors to the bay slid apart revealing a handful of Syndicate men.
VonBachj nodded to the others, "They're mine." Styarwind and Sen stood on the transporter pad,
"Where to?" Starwind turned to Winters.
Winters shrugged, "Lazarian's ship? Makes sense. The intel I need is there, and that's less suspicious."
VonBach waited till the Syndicate men totally blocked him from the door, guns trained on him. He sighed, "You want me to put down my guns, huh?" VonBach set his guns on the floor on his side of the door, watching a plasma grenade roll from his belt, active. He jumped to his feet, guns in hand, "Oops." He smiled, hitting the 'Door close' mechanism and dashing to the transporter pad, "That was fun."
"We have five seconds, Sarah." Starwind glanced at her.
Winters nodded, "Energizing."
The four figures dissolved into a beam of light as the room around them burst into flames.
"We don't have that kind of stockpile with us." West glared at a padd,
"Well, I'm sure there is something. Rumor has it this ship is equipped with a really big gun, a – correct me if I get the term wrong – fusion catalyst?" Lazarian smiled, his comm. unit blipping again.
"Lazarian, the hostage ship has been destroyed." A man reported.
West smiled, "Looks like you lost your bargaining chip, Mr. Lazarian. Perhaps there is dissention in your ranks" She stood and tapped her badge, "Security to Observitorium Lounge 2."
Lazarian pulled an aged Klingon disruptor from his belt.
"Don't even think about it, Lazarian, or I promise you; you won't live to regret it." West pulled her hand phaser.
Winters took the helm of Lazarian's small ship, "Setting course for Hyperion."
"Shields up, ready to return fire." VonBach sat at tactical.
Sen sat, silently looking through the database looking for mention of Lazarian's superiors.
Starwind took Operations, "Opening a channel."
As Lazarian was disarmed by two Hyperion security officers, West heard a beep from her comm. badge.
"Bridge to Commander West, the lead Syndicate ship is moving in, and is hailing us." Edwards, the ship's operations officer, paused, "It's Captain Starwind. Commander VonBach, Lieutenant Winters, and Doctor Sen are with him. He is requesting permission to dock."
"Granted, and welcome him home." West sighed with relief.
"Several other Syndicate ships are moving in, in attack formation." Edwards reported.
West paused, considering the words carefully, "Once the Captain is on board, go to maximum warp, get us back to Deep Space Nine. Until then lay cover fire."
It was only a moment or two before the binary system and the Syndicate fell away. As Hyperion streaked along at speeds faster than light, the turbolift doors slid apart on the bridge, revealing Starwind.
West immediately stood, "Captain on the bridge!" the rest of the bridge crew followed suit.
Following Starwind out of the lift were VonBach and Winters. VonBach took Tactical and Winters relieved Edwards from Operations.
"At ease." Starwind walked to the center, the three chairs at the middle of the bridge in a sort of 'C' formation, where he nodded to West, noticing her uniform a color of red, and one more rank pip than she used to have. "A few months back I told you that you didn't understand what it was to be a commanding officer. That hard decisions, tough calls, and putting on a brave face were matters of course. I said that once you took your first command, then perhaps you'd know what I said was true." Starwind spoke calmly to West, "Well? Was it quite what you expected?"
West shook her head, "Mind if I put on a blue uniform again when we get to DS9?"
Starwind smiled, "And you're no less of a person for it. Maybe more of a person. You know what the job entails, even if you only commanded a ship for a day or two. Maybe you got a respect for the work, maybe you learned about yourself, maybe nothing happened at all, but you did take a chance, you did give it more than your all, and frankly, you turned out damn good at it." Starwind paused, "Acting Captain Amy West, I hereby relieve you of duty. Rest up and get ready, tomorrow you get clients with space sickness, claustrophobia, and Mr. VonBach."
"The first two I can handle." West took off her third rank pip and presented it to Starwind, "It was a field commission."
Starwind though for a moment, "Commander Amy West, your field commission is over." He took the pip, "Lieutenant Amy West, for valor and grace under fire, I hereby bestow upon you the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and all the responsibility and privilege therein is yours." He handed her a different pip.
"Where did you get that?" West took the pip.
Starwind shrugged, "My uncle was an amateur
magician."
West looked at her hand, noticing the pip was gone. Talara stood, turned to West, and returned the pip
"How did you…?" Starwind stared at her. She had not moved from the helm since he ordered the bridge crew at ease.
"Sir, with all due respect, everyone's uncle is an amateur magician." She returned to her post.
"Entering the Bajor system." Winters reported.
Starwind stared blankly at the Andorian pilot for a moment, smirked, and took a seat in the central chair, "Commander Talara, drop out of warp. Lieutenant Winters, hail DS9, tell them Hyperion has returned from a successful shakedown cruise. And Sarah, there is one thing I don't get; where did you get the idea of blowing a cell wall with an overloaded phaser?"
"Kirk." Winters smiled, "Your Admiral James T. Kirk was freed from imprisonment on his own ship that way… well, with a blown-out wall, anyway. The phaser was improvisation."
"History buff, Winters?" Starwind asked.
Winters smiled, "Just a little." She cleared her throat, "Channel open."
It was the next day that Starwind stood at the Deep Space Nine promenade during the christening ceremony, giving a speech.
"Friends, shipmates, comrades, family. A crew is a gift, truly. And a great crew is a blessing. And no Starfleet Captain is a blessed as I. I have a crew, many of whom who have literally gone through unimaginable things with me, and recently risked their lives to save mine. And many of you I know from the Destiny, where though our ship was left behind, our sense of exploration and adventure were brought here aboard the Normandy, and now rest aboard the ship behind me." Hyperion, of course, was right outside the Promenade, visible through the windows, "But that family has grown to new people, like Sen Asim, our chief medical officer, and like so many of you here today. And this new family is still incomplete. That is, until today, when we obtain a first officer, Commander Dorian Collins. And it is my hope that she will make a fine addition to our family. Because we, comrades, my family, we are charged with the missions of Starfleet, not the least of which is to boldly go where no Terran, no Andorian, no Romulan, no Jem'Hadar, no Borg, no Son'a, where no one has gone before." Applause rose at Starwind's words, "And with Hyperion on our side, we have the wings on which to fly!" More applause, "Now, Hyperion is the only ship of the line. Hyperion is the single commissioned Cosmos class, the single commissioned Hyperion, the single commissioned ship with this crew, with this family, and if we do a damn good job, she won't be the last!" Yet more applause rose, "I'm Victor Starwind, your captain, and my simple message to you and to Hyperion herself is; 'Long may she fly'!" Starwind threw a bottle of champagne through the air and pressed a control on his podium, beaming the bottle into space. The crew watched in excitement as the bottle drifted toward Hyperion, finally shattering upon slamming into her hull. This got the loudest uproar of applause by far.
Starwind sat, only and hour or two later, in his ready room. A beautiful blonde woman wearing a red uniform walked in. She had three rank pips, and on the opposite side of her collar was a Red Squad insignia. "You wanted to see me, sir."
"Please, call me Vic. Spare the formalities in my office, they can stay on the bridge and in the conference room. And there, it's just Captain." Starwind motioned for her to sit, "So, you are Dorian Collins."
"Hyperion's newest 'family member'." Collins laughed softly, taking Starwind's advice to sit.
Starwind leaned back in his chair. "Too cheesy?" he asked, "And be truthful. Spare not, speak freely."
"Actually, just cheesy enough to still be kinda sweet and sentimental." Collins replied.
Starwind smiled, "So, you are a Red Squad girl? Sole survivor of the USS Valiant?"
"Yup, with Jake Sisko and Mr. Nog." Collins nodded.
Starwind gazed at her, a sort of curiosity in his eyes, "Yes, I remember Sisko's article on it. The ship behind enemy lines for eight months, manned by cadets. Surviving till she fell victim to a miscalculated risk. And only he, his friend, and Chief Petty Officer Dorian Collins survived. And you stayed true to your Captain Waters to the end, did you not? Even after his death, not questioning his actions?"
"Yes, si – Yes captain."
"Don't do that to me." Starwind stood, as did Collins, "I have high hopes for you, Dorian. And I'm sure you already know, but I'm not perfect. Support me publicly but question me privately. One judgment can be flawed, no matter the rank of the person who makes it."
Collins nodded, "I won't disappoint you, Vic."
"I look forward to getting to know you, Commander." Starwind smiled warmly, "Dismissed."
"Captain's log, supplemental. Well, I'm back. On his way to face trial, Lazarian was freed, witness claim Motte did it. We aren't really too concerned though. The names of Lazarian's superiors were given to Starfleet Intelligence, and the Orion Syndicate is going to fall again, no doubt. As for Hyperion operations, our first officer, Dorian Collins, will, I'm sure, adjust properly and will become a key member of our crew."
