Chapter 9 Treasure Trading Station

A few weeks after the fight at Regulus, the Sentry was fully repaired and had just completed a tour of inner system patrols when Admiral Quinn contacted Lieutenant Commander Maxwell.

"Starfleet has been contacted by a servant of one of the Great Houses. She claims to have vital information about Klingon war plans and is willing to exchange that information for a safe haven away from the Empire. Your orders are to go to the trading station in orbit of Argelius II and make contact with an Orion named Marta. Be aware the area is a hotbed of illicit activity. But they are in federation space and therefore under our authority, however they sometimes resist our efforts to enforce the rules."

"Sounds like a wretched hive of scum and villainy sir. But I'll keep an eye out." Maxwell said with a slight smirk.

The admiral, well aware of the commander's penchant for 20th century quotes got the reference and smiled as well. "Very well, Captain. Good luck." He replied

Maxwell stepped onto the bridge from his ready room. "Report."

"We're on course for our next patrol section eta three hours. All systems green." Flores replied

"Good. Helm, change course to Argelius II best possible speed."

"Aye sir. Course plotted and laid in."

"Engage."

Flores walked up next to him. "Sir?"

"Get the senior staff together and meet me in the briefing room. We have a new mission from Admiral Quinn." He said quietly

Five minutes later the senior staff was assembled in the conference room and Maxwell explained the mission. "Our mission is to locate and secure an Orion servant of one of the Great Klingon Houses named Marta. She claims to have vital information on Klingon fleet movements and is willing to exchange that information for protection from them. Our latest intel puts her on Treasure Trading Station in orbit of Argelius II. We've already changed course. Kolez, I want you to put together an away team we'll probably have to board the station. Flores, the area in question is rife with illicit activity I want to know what kind we should be on the lookout for. T'Vrell, we'll be taking an Orion onboard so do whatever research necessary to provide her with medical care should she require it. From what I'm told this place is a wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious." He said, winking at Flores and ending the briefing.

Flores face-palmed as she immediately understood the reference. T'Pring and T'Vrell both raised one eyebrow in distinctly Vulcan fashion. Kolez laughed as the officers filed out of the conference room. Maxwell sat in the center seat while Flores took the seat to his right. "Just promise me you won't end up in a Cantina-style shootout with a bounty hunter." She said

Maxwell smiled "I promise."

It took three days at warp 7.5 to reach Argelius. As described by the admiral the system was heavy with unregistered freighter traffic. "The Admiral was right sir. There is heavy traffic in the system. The station is delaying our request to beam aboard. I think they're trying to stall us sir." Said Flores.

"Agreed. I have an idea. Since this area is Federation space and therefore under our authority we have the right and duty to scan every ship for contraband and weapons. T'Vrell perform a wide area scan."

"Yes sir...I am getting faint readings on weapons and illicit cargo. We will have to get closer to find out which ships." She reported.

"Very well. Helm, plot a course that takes us within five kilometers of the three closest ships. T'Vrell, scan by on those scanners." He ordered.

The Sentry pulled alongside one freighter, scanned it but did not detect any illicit cargo. Moving to the next ship in line, the Sentry scanned a second time and detected an illegal substance onboard. Before they could send a team aboard, however the freighter raised its shields and opened fire with a single phaser turret. Three shots hit the hull of the Sentry before it could raise its own shields, however the Sentry's diburnium hull plating held against the relatively weak shots. The Sentry went to half impulse firing aft phasers and torpedoes. A barrage of phaser fire and a torpedo reduced the freighter's shields to 75%. But when the Sentry came about and hit it with a full alpha strike the shields collapsed quickly and the freighter was disabled.

Over the next ten minutes the Sentry scanned and disabled two more freighters carrying illegal cargo. It seemed to do the trick however, because as soon as the third freighter was disabled the station approved the Sentry's request to beam an away team aboard. Maxwell led a team of four officers and beamed aboard the station.

Maxwell and his team beamed into an empty room on the station. One of the officers suggested looking for the administrator of the station to begin searching for Marta. Maxwell agreed and led the team to the club area and found Qaris, the Ferengi merchant in charge of the station.

"Ah my good friends! Welcome to Treasure Trading Station. I am Qaris, the proprietor of this station. I can be your guide to pleasures of the mind, soul and of course the body. We have a special on holosuites today, buy two hours and get a free drink, excluding the top shelf or a round of electronic Tongo. Two of our three suites are currently open if you like I can show you our wide range of availa…" Qaris began but Maxwell quickly interrupted him.

"That's not why we're here. We're looking for an Orion named Marta. Have you seen her?" he asked

"Well, looking for Marta are you? That's valuable information and valuable information always has a price. Say…ten bars of gold pressed latinum." Qaris said carefully.

"Are you trying to extort a federation officer?" asked Maxwell sternly.

One of the security officers spoke up. "Our records indicate that this station has not had its Federation-mandated safety inspection in over two years. Perhaps if we helped Qaris get his establishment up to code it might…jog his memory."

"Excellent idea Lieutenant. Let's take a look around. Shall we?" said Maxwell.

Maxwell scanned a set of crates but found no issues. Another officer scanned Holosuite Two and found that life support had been rerouted to the suite. Qaris offered an excuse but the officer just glared and moved on. Another officer found a crate of smuggled trilithium, an explosive. Maxwell scanned the video Tongo machine and found it was using an illegal probability matrix. Another officer found the waste removal pipe leaking a toxic substance. A group of bar patrons walked over to Maxwell and complained about his inspection. "First our electronic Tongo and then our holosuites. What's next? The synthale? We don't need Starfleet to suck the fun out of everything." He said somewhat drunkenly. Then got angrier when Maxwell didn't respond. "You know what? I don't like the angle of your deflector dish and neither do my friends." He said

"Really? Well I don't like your face. Neither do my friends…" Maxwell said as another dozen officers beamed in heavily armed.

The drunk man seemed to still have some of his senses and backed down so Maxwell continued the inspection by scanning the bar. He found the Saurian brandy didn't have a Federation trade seal. Qaris seemed fed up with his inspection and relented. "Alright! They have Marta in cargo bay six. You cost me more in fines than the Klingon paid to keep me silent. I hope their captain grinds you into rokeg blood pie!." Qaris yelled as Maxwell took his team and the dozen officers to the cargo bay.

Maxwell and the group of security officers plowed through the few Klingons guarding the hallways but a firefight broke out when they hit the cargo bay. Maxwell could see additional prisoners held by forcefields. As his team subdued the Klingons he asked each one before letting them go if they had seen Marta. The second to last prisoner told Maxwell she was in the last cell. Before he could release Marta however a Klingon captain appeared in front of him and began swinging a Bat'leth. The security guards had other problems and therefore could not help. Maxwell ducked several swings then punched the Klingon hard with a left hook. The Klingon stumbled back some, giving Maxwell the chance to pull a sidearm and fire at the Klingon. The captain's armor dispersed the first two shots but the third penetrated the armor and put the man down for good.

The officers who had been injured in the fighting were transported back to the ship. Maxwell released Marta from her force field and introduced himself. "I am Captain Maxwell of the Federation starship Sentry. Are you Marta?" he asked

"Yes." She replied simply.

"We're prepared to give you sanctuary from the Klingons in exchange for your information." Maxwell said

"Thank you. But I will only share what I know with Starfleet Intelligence." She replied

"Very well. Maxwell to Sentry, beam up the assault team, myself and Marta." He ordered

There was a mass beam-out of nearly every person in the cargo bay. The rest returned to their own ships and crews.

Maxwell strode onto the bridge and asked for a report.

"Sir, we were just about to jump to warp when this Klingon ship appeared in front of us." Said Flores.

It was a massive Negh'Var-class battleship. It outgunned the Sentry several times over.

"They are hailing us." Said T'Vrell.

"This should be interesting, on screen." Replied Maxwell.

"Federation Pa'tak! Do you think you can defeat this ship? You will be desto-"

The channel was cut as Maxwell rolled his eyes and gave T'Vrell the signal. "Flores, is there any weakness we can exploit?" he asked

Flores ran a tactical analysis and quickly came up with a solution. "The ship itself is powerful however, the targeting systems and shields are pre-dominion war technology. If we stay mobile and don't try to slug it out with them we might have a chance." She said

The ship shook hard and a few sparks flew. "All power to weapons. Helm, evasive maneuvers, attack pattern Alpha II, bring us around behind him, Flores standby for an Alpha Strike. Set cannons for rapid fire, high yield torpedo salvo level two, level one beam overload. T'Vrell use a tachyon beam to drain the shields." He ordered quickly.

The Sentry went into a barrel roll and moved fast. Extra power fed to the impulse engines and the Sentry ran circles around the Negh'Var evading most of its weapons fire. The ship came around behind the larger ship and fired everything it had. A tachyon beam drained the big ship's shields and an overloaded phaser beam punched into the hull, pulse cannons opened a larger hole then two torpedo sunk deep into the hull and exploded, causing a warp core breach and destroying the ship.

Maxwell stood as the enemy ship exploded, "Well done. Helm take us back to Earth, best speed." He said. Then he looked at Marta "I hope your information is worth it."

"Oh it is Commander. Trust me." She replied

Maxwell turned to a security officer. "Ensign, please escort our guest to her quarters."

"Yes sir. This way ma'am." Said the Ensign

A few days later the Sentry arrived at Earth Spacedock and wasted no time docking right away. Maxwell reported to Admiral Quinn's office for debriefing.

"Excellent work on the trading station. Starfleet Intelligence is interviewing Marta as we speak. By all accounts her information is quite valuable."

"That's good news sir." Maxwell replied.

"In light of your recent performance I'm granting you and your crew a forty-eight-hour liberty pass." Said Quinn.

"Thank you sir. The crew will be most pleased."

"Report back here in forty-eight-hours and I'll probably have another mission for you or barring that a set of standard patrols."

"Aye sir."

"Dismissed."