Chapter 10 Secret Orders
His back against the wall, Maxwell frantically remodulated his phaser pistol again and brought down three more drones before one appeared behind him He moved quickly to avoid the arm grabbing him but was a fraction of a second too slow. His eyes widened as the assimilation tubules pierced his neck and Borg nanoprobes entered his bloodstream…
Maxwell sat up straight in alarm, breathing heavily. Thank goodness it was just a dream. He thought. The woman next to him stirred quietly. "James? Are you ok?" she asked.
"Just a bad dream. I'm alright." He replied while getting out of bed. Shuffling slowly over to the replicator he asked for a glass of water. "Computer, water, cold."
A small glass of water with ice appeared in the replicator alcove. As Maxwell took a sip the communication monitor blinked steadily. Who would be calling at this late hour? He wondered. He walked over to the monitor and opened the channel.
It was the front desk of the hotel he was staying at. "I'm sorry to disturb you Mr. Maxwell but there is a priority message from Starfleet Command for you."
"Patch it through."
Admiral Quinn appeared on the monitor. "Captain Maxwell."
"Admiral, what can I do for you?"
"Sorry to cut your leave short but I have a mission for you and your ship. Report back to Earth Spacedock as soon as you can. Your crew is also being recalled."
"Understood sir. Would this have anything to do with the informant we rescued?" he asked
"Indeed, it does. But that's all I can tell you now."
"Very good sir. I'll be there as soon as I can. Maxwell out." He said, cutting the channel.
He walked over to the bed and gave his partner a kiss on the cheek. "Wake up. I gotta go. Duty calls."
A few hours later Maxwell and Flores walked into Admiral Quinn's office. "Ah, Maxwell, Flores good. Have a seat." He said then handed them both a PADD. "Marta, the woman you rescued claims that the Klingons have a secret base in the Briar patch."
"The Briar patch? How did they get so deep into our territory?" asked Flores
"That's one of the questions I'm sending you to answer. These are the coordinates to that base. I want you to investigate and ascertain the nature of the base, then destroy it using whatever means necessary." Quinn replied.
"It'll take a few days to get there but we'll get the job done. Will we have any backup should we encounter large enemy forces?" Maxwell asked
"We have a taskforce stationed nearby if you need assistance. They have been made aware of your mission. Distress code word is Abraxas."
"Very good sir."
"Any questions?" asked Quinn.
"No sir," Maxwell and Flores replied.
"Dismissed."
An hour later Captain Maxwell and his crew were once again assembled aboard the Sentry in the conference room. "Lt. T'Pring, you'll find all the information you need to have our engines outfitted for the Briar patch. T'Vrell, I want you to work with her and get our engines to optimal efficiency in the patch. Also, prepare a series of probes to help us search for the base. Once we arrive, while we're searching for the base I want our ram scoop to collect as much metreon gas as we can." He said, handing out a set of PADDs.
Flores smiled knowingly. "The Riker Maneuver." She stated simply.
"Exactly. Hopefully we won't have to use it but just in case…In the event we don't we'll simply jettison the gas in deep space, detonate it and jump to warp. Any questions?" he replied.
There were none. "Very well, departure stations everyone." He said.
The crew filed out of the conference room and took their stations. T'Vrell was already requesting clearance from the dock master which was quickly granted. The new helmsmen, Ensign Mayweather took the ship out on maneuvering thrusters, jumping to warp when the ship was clear.
It took three days at warp seven to get to the Briar patch. On the second day, they passed a large Klingon force near Risa. Since their mission was priority they noted the fleet's location and passed it on to Starfleet Intelligence. The Sentry dropped out of warp outside the Briar patch on the third day and proceeded at full impulse. A half dozen probes were launched, extending the Sentry's sensor range.
"Captain. I have something." T'Vrell reported.
Maxwell stood, making his way to the science station. "This is the last few seconds of telemetry from a probe we launched. It detected a heavy disruptor turret near a pocket of metreon gas. Logic dictates that such a turret would be used in the defense of a weapons facility," She said.
The screen showed the probe approaching a small structure with a turret on top. The turret quickly swung, fired a green bolt and destroyed the probe, turning the image to static.
"Agreed. Send the last known coordinates to the helm…and direct our other probes to the same area."
"Aye sir."
"Coordinates received sir." Reported the helm.
"Engage at full impulse."
"Aye sir. ETA to coordinates five minutes."
A few moments later they approached the turret that had destroyed their probe. As soon as they were detected however the turret opened fire. Three disruptor bolts diffused against the Sentry's forward shields. On the bridge, the ship rocked softly. Maxwell nodded to Kolez, "Torpedoes, maximum yield. Fire when ready."
"Aye sir."
A pair of quantum torpedoes flashed out and destroyed the defensive platform. Then the Sentry continued before encountering a squadron of Klingon fighters. Though not equipped with a point defense system, the Sentry's fore and aft phaser beam arrays was sufficient to destroy the squadron.
"I think we're getting closer sir. There's another disruptor platform ahead." Kolez reported.
"You know what to do Kolez." Maxwell replied
The Sentry's forward phaser cannons fired, rapidly weakening the platform's mediocre shields and detonating the power core. A moment later T'Vrell piped up with a report. "Sir, I believe I've found the base. It is in the middle of a hollow asteroid."
"Very well. Helm, take us into transporter range. Kolez, have an assault team meet me in the transporter room. Full loadout."
"Yes sir."
Maxwell headed for the turbolift when Flores stopped him. "Sir, regulation state- "she began, stalled by her captain's raised hand. "I'm aware of the regulations Ms. Flores. They say a Captain shouldn't beam down to a dangerous area without armed escort. A fully loaded assault team should fulfill the 'escort' mandate quite nicely." He said with a smile.
"Actually, I was going to suggest that Kolez and T'Vrell accompany you."
"No. I can't take the whole senior staff on an away mission. The strike team is plenty and there are medics in a strike team." He replied.
"Alright. Just make sure you come back. I hate paperwork." She said smiling.
"I'll do my best." He responded with equal mirth.
A few minutes later Captain Maxwell and a five-man strike team consisting of three marines, a combat engineer and a medic were in the transporter room. A security officer passed out rifles of varying types to the men beaming down. The Captain took a full auto rifle with a standard sidearm, as did the two of the marines, the other took a sniper rifle. The engineer took a high-density rifle and the medic a split beam rifle. The Captain led them to the transporter pad and activated his rifle. A high-pitched whine sounded as the weapon powered up. He looked at the transporter operator and gave a single order. "Energize."
Six men materialized in a small hallway on the Klingon base. It was dark, as Klingon ships and stations often are. The marines swept the area with rifles but found no targets. The engineer and medic had tricorders out and scanning. "Sir, this base is nearly identical to the listening post we destroyed several weeks ago." The engineer said.
"The one with the Undine infiltrator? I hope we don't encounter one of those. Our familiarity with the last base should make it easy to destroy this one. Start planting charges where you see fit. Marines, move out." The Captain ordered.
The engineer removed a small case from his kit, and opened the lid to reveal a half-dozen spatial charges. He planted one on a support beam, then moved to catch up with his team. He just rounded a corner when he heard a marine yell "Contact front!" The sound of phaser and disruptor fire greeting him. He ran to catch up only to duck back as a burst of disruptor energy splashed against his shields. He eased back around the corner to pick a target, a Klingon officer equipped with a personal shield. Aiming carefully, he pulled the trigger twice. Two beams of energy splashed against the officer's shield forcing him to take cover. The other team members, focused on the more numerous warriors quickly took them down. Moving forward, Commander Maxwell was the first to encounter the officer who had taken cover. The officer jumped up and fired his disruptor pistol at Maxwell. The bolt just splashed against his recharging personal shield, five phaser rifles combined and vaporized the officer. The engineer planted another charge before the team moved on. They fought their way to the end of a corridor where a door blocked their progress. "Breach that door." commanded Maxwell.
The team got into position on both sides of the door. The engineer planted a small circular device in the center of the door and pressed a button. "Breaching. Clear!" he said, ducking to one side. The charge exploded and forced the door in, one of the marines tossed in a stun grenade blinding and deafening everyone inside. The team rushed in and put down four more Klingons before a pair of Andorian scientists peeked out from behind their consoles.
"Starfleet! Thank goodness. They've had us designing weapons for them. When we finish our work, they would take us away. We're the only ones left." One of them said.
"Don't worry, we'll beam you both to our ship. Can you tell me what kind of weapons you've been working on?" asked Maxwell.
"Mostly improved disruptors and torpedoes. But some of the demands were very…specific." He replied.
"How so?"
"They wanted a weapon strong enough to punch through solid neutronium, which is impossible. They also wanted something that could destroy a small moon or planet." The scientist replied.
"Were you successful in creating these weapons?" asked Maxwell.
The scientist sighed and nodded. "There are prototypes in the laboratory down the hall. Be careful, we used extremely high yield torpedoes as a baseline. If one goes up it'll take the asteroid with it and probably ignite every metreon gas pocket in the Briar patch."
"We'll take care of it." Replied Maxwell.
"If I may suggest?" said the scientist.
"Yes?"
"I suggest you take the weapons and dispose of them in deep space. Detonating even one of these weapons would produce a level seven shockwave."
"That would affect an entire star system!" exclaimed one of the marines.
"More like erase it from the galaxy." Corrected the scientist.
"I'll take it under advisement. Maxwell to Sentry, we've found a pair of civilian scientists, beam them up."
"Acknowledged."
"Let's move people." Said Maxwell.
The team moved out of the room and down a hallway, they turned left only to meet four more Klingons at the bottom of a ramp. Once the hall was clear the engineer scanned the room ahead. "I'm detecting at least four separate weapons and several Klingon lifesigns." He said.
"Watch your fire gentlemen. It would do us no good to wipe out the Briar Patch." Maxwell said then nodded to the engineer who once again planted a charge on the door and moved to the side. "Breach charge set. Clear!"
The charge blew in the doors and the team swept in. There was a group of Klingons right in front of them. A marine threw a photon grenade and vaporized a couple of them then the phaser rifles finished them off. This got the attention of almost twenty Klingons. Maxwell recognized the odds and ordered the team to retreat under covering fire. While the Marines suppressed the Klingons, Maxwell tapped his combadge. "Maxwell to Sentry, we've encountered heavy enemy forces. Requesting reinforcements."
"Understood."
Another dozen marines appeared and together with the original away team surged back into the laboratory. A fierce firefight broke out but eventually Maxwell and his group prevailed. Engineers attached pattern enhancers to the prototype weapons and they were beamed aboard the Sentry. The computer core was also downloaded, the memory of which contained schematics for other weapons as well. A dozen Klingons beamed in and attempted to take the lab back but were quickly dispatched. Engineers then placed additional spatial charges around the lab.
"Maxwell to Sentry. Area secured, beam us up."
"Acknowledged."
Maxwell appeared on the transporter pad with his away team. The other marines were beamed to transporter room two. He approached a comm. panel. "Maxwell to bridge, status report."
"Charges are armed and ready sir. The prototype weapons are aboard and being disarmed as we speak…correction, security just informed me that the weapons are completely disarmed." Replied Flores.
"Very well, prepare to get underway." He replied.
Maxwell stepped off the turbolift onto the bridge a few moments later. "Captain, we're being hailed. It's B'vat, he's outside the system." Kolez reported.
"On screen."
The screen changed and immediately the Klingon known as B'vat laughed. "Ha! Ha! Ha! You are so predictable Lieutenant Commander Maxwell. And like Tarkalean sheep you are led to the slaughter. I knew you would find my weapons facility. It was I who sent Marta to give you the location. While you were destroying what you thought was all our research, my men were already loading the more promising weapons and data onto a ship, which has a nice head start on you. Victory is mine and mine alone! You have lost this day and for you today is a good day to- "
"OH, SHUT UP ALREADY!" Maxwell yelled. Startling the Klingon into silence. Flores stifled a laugh despite the situation. "I know all that. But what you don't know is that while you were rambling on I sent a message to a nearby fleet. By now they're moving into blockading positions around the Briar patch. You won't get your weapons." He said, cutting the channel.
He turned to Kolez and nodded. The Saurian tapped a control and the base and its data exploded. "We have a lock on the ship with the weapons. They're out of range for the moment." He reported.
"Helm, pursuit course. Best speed." Maxwell ordered.
The Sentry took off at nearly full impulse catching up to a Raptor-class escort, just the kind of ship the Sabre-class was designed to combat. Phasers and quantum torpedoes hit the shields hard, a tachyon beam drained what little power they had left. A salvo from the aft launcher finished off the ship. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only ship. A Vo'Quv-class dreadnought was further ahead. It outgunned the Sentry by several margins so Maxwell called in some ships from Taskforce 141, the group assigned to help him in case he needed it.
A trio of Centaur-class tactical frigates, a Hermes-class patrol escort and a Galaxy-class cruiser arrived to assist. They opened fire on the port side of the dreadnought while the Sentry hit the aft shields. Maxwell opened a channel to all the allied ships.
"Sentry to all ships. Try for disabling shots. The dreadnought is carrying extremely high yield weapons. If they go off, we will not survive the shock wave." He said.
A string of acknowledgements was sent his way then the fleet shifted its fire to the engines. Moving aft they began hammering the super-strong shields of the Klingon dreadnought. Fortunately, the dreadnought was lacking in aft weaponry so only a few shots rang out. After the initial strike the fleet regrouped and fired an alpha strike. Beam overloads, high yield torpedoes and cannons set to rapid fire pounded the shields which began to weaken. A phaser beam from a frigate managed to penetrate the shields and hit the starboard nacelle, which began leaking plasma.
With a weak point in the shields now obvious the fleet concentrated another salvo near the starboard nacelle. This time the ship lost aft shields completely. The aft hull, while heavily armored, took several torpedoes and phaser bursts. It began to slow and the shields around the cargo areas were drained. The Galaxy cruiser in the fleet transported the weapons aboard and secured them. With the weapons safe, the fleet fired on the warp core of the dreadnought. Another three salvos were required to penetrate the armor and cause a core breach. The fleet evacuated the area at full impulse, they made it just outside detonation range when the dreadnought exploded.
The Sentry rumbled as the rapidly dissipating shockwave hit. "That was close. Contact the Missouri, have them transfer the weapons to us. We'll dispose of them in deep space. Kolez, work with T'Vrell and find us a good spot to detonate these weapons. Someplace out of the way, no planets or anything like that." Said Maxwell.
"Aye sir." They both replied.
"I'll be in my ready room. Comms, get me Admiral Quinn on subspace. Priority one. Route the signal to my ready room. Ms. Flores, you have the bridge." He said.
Maxwell left the bridge and went to his small ready room to the side. No sooner had he sat down than Admiral Quinn answered his call.
"Admiral. We've destroyed the research facility and captured the weapons he was developing. We're going to dispose of them in deep space. We also rescued several civilian scientists who were working at the base as well. We'll turn them over to Starfleet intelligence once we arrive at Earth Spacedock."
"Excellent work, Lieutenant Commander. I hate to see the Klingons, or anyone else for that matter, with the level of firepower we were told about. Good call on disposing of them in deep space." Quinn complimented.
"Bridge to Maxwell." Came over the intercom.
"One moment Admiral. Yes?" Maxwell replied.
"We've located an area suitable for disposing of the weapons. It's on the Federation border near Cardassian space but far enough away to avoid suspicion." Kolez reported.
Maxwell thought for a moment. "Very well. Lay in a course and engage at maximum warp. ETA?"
"About a week sir."
"Ok. Did you get that Admiral?" he asked
"I got it. You can drop off the civilian scientists at Deep Space Nine on your way if you like. If I have nothing for you by the time you've disposed of the weapons, feel free to take some shore leave while you're there." Quinn said.
"Thank you, sir. I'll think I'll take advantage of that." Replied Maxwell.
"If there's nothing else Lieutenant Commander."
"No sir."
"Very well. Quinn out."
Maxwell stepped back out onto the bridge. "Comms, send our report to the Commander of DS9 and request that Starfleet Intelligence take custody of the civilians we rescued from the Klingon base."
"Aye sir."
"Helm, is DS9 on our way to the coordinates specified for the disposal?"
"Not directly sir, but it's not too much of a detour. I can recalculate our course if you like." He replied.
"Do it." Maxwell replied.
"Aye sir."
"DS9 sir?" asked Flores.
"We're just gonna drop off those scientists we found. Starfleet Intelligence will take custody of them from there. We won't be stopping for more than an hour or so probably. The Admiral said if he didn't have another mission for us by the time we disposed of the weapons that we could take some shore leave there." He replied.
"Sir, a detour to DS9 would not affect our ETA but by a few hours."
"Very well. Engage the new course. Kolez, inform the scientists that we'll be dropping them off at DS9 and that Starfleet Intelligence will be questioning them before they are released."
"Yes sir."
A/N: Special Thanks to FlannelSalmon for beta reading this chapter.