Chapter Four
Meanwhile on board the Romulan vessel, Captain Tomahawk was waiting for the moment when Jaret comes on board. He was in his ready room eating his morning breakfast. While he was doing that, he was also reading what he can about Jaret's profile. He had one of his people hack into Earth's primitive computer systems and got Jaret's school files. He needed to know what to expect. What he read was not pleasing him, and troubled him at the same time. He growled at the screen which displayed the information. Suddenly the door beeped indicating that someone wanted in. He leaned back in his chair and yelled, "Enter!"
The door swished open to reveal a junior officer with more information. He bowed before he handed it to Tomahawk and bowed once more and left the room quickly. The room was quiet once again. Tomahawk looked at the datapadd he had just received. He set it beside his computer, downloaded the information from the padd to the monitor. He saw the reports the sensors were picking up.
"They're moving faster than I thought." Murmured Tomahawk. He scrolled down the screen, quickly scanning the information.
Several hours later, on the Galaxy, 0800 hours finally arrived. Jaret was walking with David and Ryan down the corridor that will lead to transporter room one.
"Are you sure you don't want to have a weapon just in case?" asked David hesitantly.
Jaret rolled his eyes and looked at David, "For the last and final time David, yes I'm sure. Please stop questioning my judgment."
Ryan chuckled, "Relax David, Lisa talked to him about the Romulans, and I'm sure he's well informed. I have no doubt that Tomahawk will be informed about Jaret too. In fact, I'm expecting that. Just let us do our jobs, and let Jaret do his. Jaret, we will keep an ear and eye out for you. Good luck, I better head back to the bridge and get ready. John says that the last of the school foundation is almost gone. After that, we should be able to move through the ground now that the weight is gone. See you in a while."
Jaret saw Ryan hurriedly leave to head for the
bridge. He noticed that David and him had already reached transporter
room one. He sighed and entered the doorway. David followed
somberly. Jaret nodded to the transporter operating officer and
got up on the
transporter pad. He turned around and looked
to David, "I'll be okay. Now, head back to the bridge and
help Ryan."
David nodded, "Aye sir, good luck Jaret."
Jaret nodded to the officer, "Let's do it."
The transporter officer started the procedure to beam Jaret over to the Romulan vessel. In several seconds, Jaret disappeared from the Galaxy. David looked on with great concern and turned to the officer, "Keep a tight lock on him, and pull him back the slightest instant that something goes wrong."
The officer nodded in understanding and kept an eye on his readings. David sighed and turned to leave the Transporter room.
Jaret finally transported on to the Romulan Vessel, and surprisingly
it took several seconds. He looked around and wasn't pleased
with what he saw. He was surrounded by several Romulan guards
with phaser rifles. He also briefly noticed that the ship is
still on active alert. He sighed and wondered what he got
himself into now. One of the guards behind him pushed him with
the butt of the rifle, urging him to follow the ones in front of
him. Meanwhile he wondered why Tomahawk wasn't here to greet
him. He reluctantly
followed the guards to where ever they
were taking him.
He walked through several corridors and felt like he was in a virtual maze. How was he ever going to get out of this situation? Finally the group stopped in front of a door, one of the guards pushed a button on the side to open the door. He stepped aside as did everybody else, and motioned for Jaret to enter the room. Jaret entered the room and heard the door closed behind him. The guards never came in to join him. He looked around; the room looked quite similar to the observation lounge. The only exception to this room from the other is that there weren't any windows. He went to the nearest chair and sat down to wait for Tomahawk to arrive. He wasn't too pleased at the moment and starting stewing away.
Several minutes came and went, when finally the door opened, Tomahawk stepped through. Jaret turned around in his chair and faced him. He noticed the smug look on Tomahawk's face and wondered what he was up to now.
"Welcome aboard Capt. Pieper, I trust there was no problem in getting here?" greeted Tomahawk.
"Well, considering I came here on good faith and with no weapons, I did not appreciate being greeted by a group of armed guards and you in no sight. I believe that was inappropriate not to meet me in the transporter room." pointed out Jaret calmly.
"Please forgive me, but my other officers of my command insisted on that for my safety. Now what can I do for you? We must solve this terrible dilemma." Tomahawk apologized.
He sat down across from where Jaret was seated. He leaned back and crossed his arms across his chest, and waited. Jaret had a sinking feeling about this meeting and knew that Tomahawk knew more than he was letting on. Fine he decided; he can play this game too.
"Why have you suddenly decided that we are such a threat to you? We just found the ship and we had no intention of finding your people, only the people who left the ship on Earth. Secondly, what happened to Lisa Crusher's people on Aldrea?" asked Jaret.
"The reason why we have decided that you are a threat, well, you have found that vessel. In order to answer your second question, Lisa's people are fine. In fact I have several of them in my brig. I bring them as hostages in order to get what I want. What I want is Lisa, if she was to be returned to me I will leave you be. I must insist that the ship you have will have to be destroyed, to prevent any future incidents." Smiled Tomahawk.
Jaret was stunned to learn that Tomahawk had hostages of Lisa's people. This is not what he expected and neither Lisa nor he prepared for that possibility. How low can Tomahawk go?
"You have her people on board? I won't just hand her over because you have hostages. How am I to know that they are alive and unharmed? I'm letting you know now that threats don't bother me and I don't respond to them." answered Jaret calmly.
"You doubt me at my word? You who have been a Captain for only five days? You have no experience in leadership and you are not qualified to make this choice. Lisa should be the one to make this choice. Ask her!" threatened Tomahawk angrily.
"Excuse me? Who showed up on my front door? I had no choice, and I believe that I made the right choice. I won't ask her because I know what her answer will be and I speak for her because I'm her Captain!" disagreed Jaret.
Tomahawk bristled with anger; he didn't expect blatant defiance from that boy who was hardly an adult. Here he was getting mocked by a child! He stood up quickly, "You want to know if the survivors are alive and unharmed? Follow me, I'll show you."
Jaret quickly got up from the chair and had to rush to get behind Tomahawk as he angrily rushed to the door and stepped out. Jaret followed and heard Tomahawk bark an order to the guards that were stationed outside of the room. He followed Tomahawk down a series of long corridors until they reached the turbo lift. It was very crowded as he and Tomahawk were followed by his guards. Several more minutes went by the time they reached the deck where the brig was on. Tomahawk motioned for Jaret to step out and he did so.
"Turn to your right please, I'll allow you to talk to the prisoners for five minutes, after that please come back to the door to be let out." informed Tomahawk coldly.
Jaret nodded his understanding and prepared himself. The door opened and Jaret entered. Once the door has closed behind him, he was stunned by what he saw. Sure enough, Tomahawk didn't lie about having hostages. The people he saw had that beaten down look. He stepped forward and he had a hard time walking for in his mind, he was greatly worried about what will happen. He can't attack the warbird because there was innocent people held captive here. He dreaded the agreement with Tomahawk later and knew that he was cornered. He didn't like this one bit.
"Excuse me, who is in charge here?" asked Jaret gently.
A crowd surrounded Jaret, he noticed that many were scared but some of them had that doubt look on their face. Suddenly a person was pushing towards to meet Jaret.
"I'm in charge here." said a haggard middle age man.
"Hello, I'm Captain Jaret Pieper, I'm in charge of the Galaxy. I'm here to hopefully negotiate your release and your eventual return to Aldrea." introduced Jaret.
"You command the Galaxy? So you found it, I hope it still works for your sake. I'm the original captain of the Galaxy." surprised the person.
"Captain James, it's an honor to meet you in the flesh. I see that you are all unharmed but to be honest, I don't know how long that will last under Tomahawk's command. I have a bad feeling about this ploy of his. I'm doubtful that it will end peacefully and I'm trying to free you all, but Tomahawk's not making it easy. Any advice?" asked Jaret.
"Tomahawk will not let any of us go. He will wage war on you and everything he sees as a threat to him. I don't think the Romulan Empire is aware of this situation which means he's operating outside of the chain of command. I hope you know what you are doing? You are only a child, how is that you can be a Captain? I wish you the best of luck regardless. I admire your courage in facing Tomahawk." advised James.
"I may be young, but believe me, age and wisdom don't necessarily go hand in hand. I must go soon, Tomahawk is expecting me back. I think my time is up here. Please take care of yourself in the mean time and don't do anything too rashly. I will do what I can to alleviate your suffering. Lisa has told me all of you, and I hold you and your people in the highest regards." Jaret smiled as he turned around and walked back towards the door, but stopping to see if anyone was injured. He wanted to make sure that they are unharmed for the most part.
Meanwhile, back on the Galaxy, Cmdr. Ryan Livingston was pacing on the bridge. It's been six hours since Jaret left the Galaxy and here it was already getting late. He was feeling very uncomfortable. Lisa and Tressa were getting annoyed at him pacing the floor but none said anything yet. He stopped several times in his pacing to look at the view screen. He looked at David and shrugged his shoulders.
"Ryan, calm down, I'm sure Jaret is fine. Be patient please, and so far everything is okay. I got some good news though. As soon as Jaret comes back, we can get the Galaxy up in the air." reported Lisa reassuringly.
Ryan stopped and looked at Lisa; he sighed and sat down in his chair.
"You're right. I'm sorry; I guess I'm a bit nervous. How long will it take to get the ship off the surface?" asked Ryan.
"Not very long." responded a voice.
Ryan turned around in his chair to look behind him. John just exited the turbo lift and went towards Ryan and joined him by taking the seat to Ryan's left.
"That was quick. So everything is ready then?" guessed Ryan.
"It took all day to remove the debris, the school, the surrounding power lines and all that but everything is done. I and my crew thanks you so very much for giving us a tough job to do. This won't take long as it stands, I've tripled check the systems and everything is ready to go. Have you heard anything from Jaret yet?" informed John.
"No, I haven't heard from Jaret. I have a feeling he'll be back soon though. I want you to head back to engineering, I'll signal you when Jaret gets back that way you can warm the engines up." suggested Ryan.
"I'll coordinate with David; we might need weapons on a notice moment. Getting through the surface is going to be quite taxing on our power supply and on our hulls." explained John as he got up and headed towards the turbo lift. David decided to join John as he overheard Ryan's suggestion.
It was very late into the day when Lisa got a message on her console from the transporter room.
"Sir, I'm receiving a message from the Romulan vessel, it says that Capt. Pieper will be heading back in one minute, as we are to ready for his arrival." Alerted Lisa.
"About bloody well time. It's been too long for me to be comfortable about this situation. Okay, inform transporter room one to receive him. Call the senior officers to the observation lounge, let the officer in the transporter room know where he is to come." ordered Ryan as he got up from his chair. An officer came up to him and nodded.
"Lisa, come on, lets get going. Lieutenant you have the bridge." commanded Ryan.
"Aye sir." acknowledged the officer who took Ryan's place on the bridge. Another officer took Lisa's place on her station.
"What happened up there that required a talking that lasts 11 hours!", grumbled Ryan.
"You never know, but Jaret must of wanted to make sure there wasn't any loose ends or holds for the Romulans to betray us." Guessed Lisa as she struggled to stay a pace of Ryan who was stomping away madly.
The two of them went to their right and entered the doorway that leads to the observation lounge. There they will await Jaret's arrival.
In transporter room one; Jaret was arriving back to the Galaxy. He looked at the officer.
"Sir, Cmdr. Livingston told me to tell you that the senior officers will be in the observation lounge." informed the officer.
Jaret stepped off the transporter pad and nodded his thanks. He left the room and headed for the nearest turbolift. He ran into Tammy who was on her way as well.
"Jaret, you're back. You were gone a long time. How did things go?" asked Tammy concerned.
"Not too well, I'll explain it all when we get to the observation lounge. Please, join me." invited Jaret as he got into the turbolift.
Tammy nodded and got in; she stood
quietly by his side and had to look at his face. She knew
instinctively that something was wrong. Jaret uttered the
command to get the turbolift to the bridge. The turbolift moved
upwards. The two just stood there in silence,
waiting for
either of them to say something. Several seconds later, the
turbolift stopped at the bridge, the door swished open and Jaret was
the first out of the turbolift. He strode his way to the
tactical station to converse with the tactical officer while Tammy
made her way towards the observation lounge ahead of her.
In the observation lounge, everyone was seated with the exception of Tammy and Jaret. Ryan was getting anxious and kept looking at the door. The door opened up and Ryan got up only to stop in mid air. Tammy entered the room and he sat down again. Tammy went to the empty seat that was in between Lisa and Tressa.
"I ran into Jaret on my way here, he's talking with the tactical officer at the moment, it doesn't look good guys. Call it a gut feeling."
Several seconds after Tammy sat down the door opened up to reveal Jaret's arrival. He immediately took his seat at the head of the table. Once he sat down, he looked at the faces of his senior officers. He heaved a sigh and got into explaining why he was gone for 11 hours. He was tired but this had to be done and dealt with now.
"I see that everyone's here, good, now I have several things to go over but I want to hear progress reports." explained Jaret as he looked towards John and David.
"Everything is ready for lift off sir. I've checked and re-checked the systems. Everything is ready. It might be a bit rocky considering most of the ship is under ground." informed John proudly.
"As for defense capabilities, we are primed and ready." also informed David.
Jaret nodded his approval and looked to Lisa and started there, "I have some news for you Lisa. It's not all good I'll warn you. Tomahawk has several of your people on board his vessel. He calls them his prisoners or hostages in regards to you. He wants you back or else. I've told him that you are not his prisoner neither are your people. I've got the distinct feeling that he is operating without the Romulan Empire's knowledge. That much I got from my meeting with the former captain of the Galaxy." Explained Jaret.
"Capt. James is there? Are my people being treated fairly?" asked a shocked and surprised Lisa.
"Yes they are alright but I don't know for how long they can last under Tomahawk's generosity. As for our situation with the Romulans, I'm sorry to say that it's not over. As we speak, Tomahawk's ship or ships are leaving Earth's orbit. We are to meet him at the Romulan border. He's been nice enough to give me the coordinates for it. The reasons why he wants us there is that because he wants our ship pitted against his. Winner takes all I guess. This might not work out, it might work but who knows what the fates are." explained Jaret calmly.
"We have to go one on one with them? Is that the only alternative?" gulped Ryan in fear.
"This is
the only way we can rescue Lisa's people. I know it's a lot
to take in. I want each of you to inform your departments. Everyone should know of this and make the choice weather to stay here
or stay behind. I'm going to contact Mr. Cryer and
Chief
O'Hara to inform him of what is going on. I'll
leave you to your choice. Dismissed." replied Jaret.
Slowly people left but before they did, they each gave Jaret a reassuring squeeze on his shoulders. Soon enough everyone left the observation lounge and Jaret was the only person left in the room. He leaned back and sighed. He knew what he was going up against and it wasn't a good sign.
The next day arrived too
soon for Ryan's comfort. He was alone in the turbolift that
was heading its way to the Bridge. He heaved a huge sigh and rubbed
his eyes. He had a hard time sleeping last night after what he and
his sister faced when they got home. He grimaced as he remembered how
Tammy and he were explaining to their parents what they were planning
to do. When Jaret had told them what had to be done in order to
free Lisa's people, he had already made his choice. He knew Tammy
did in the same instance as he. Since both of them are senior
officers, they had decided to stay and fight. At first their
parents argued with them, pleaded with them at the end but they
refused to give in. They left the house after the fight and
slept on board the Galaxy in their own quarters,
knowing that
they had much to do the very next day. The door to the turbolift
opened, and Ryan was shocked to find the whole place busy. He
noticed John at his station and walked towards him.
"So, you're staying?" asked Ryan after he finished his yawning.
John turned to him and winced as he saw how tired Ryan looked, "I am. I have no regrets. However, you look terrible like so many other people do. My parents on the other hand are a bit pissed off. They are not happy with my decision but they didn't complain too much. I think they are proud of me but won't admit it. I guess, I slept a bit easier last night than you have." revealed John.
"You got off lucky; Tammy and I had a fight on our hands. In the end they resorted to pleading." Ryan chuckled lightly.
"That is not an easy thing to do though, telling your parents that you are going away to fight a battle and the chance of you not coming back is a pretty real thing." sighed John sadly.
"I know, speaking of which, do you know if anybody left?" asked Ryan hesitantly.
"Everyone's here. At least this fight is for something good." informed John.
"Yeah, I agree. Thanks John, I better goes see Jaret, see how he fared with our two advisors." agreed Ryan as he went his way to Jaret's ready room. He nodded to Lisa who was in the Captain's chair. He walked up to the door way and waited to be let in.
Inside the ready
room, Jaret just finished his conversation with Mr. Cryer and Chief
O'Hara. He was extremely exhausted. He had a bad night with his
parents and knowing parents, just about everybody had the same type
of experience. He was pleased to know
that everyone who
signed up is staying on board. He sighed and leaned back in his
chair, his right hand holding a cup of hot tea. The door
suddenly beeped and he straightens up in the chair and barked,
"Enter."
The door opened and Ryan walked in quickly, and the door slid shut behind him. He sat down across from Jaret and leaned back. Jaret shook his head as he noticed how easily it took Ryan to get settled into his rank and role on board here. He knew that Ryan was the best possible choice to be his first officer, and so far he hasn't been disappointed yet.
"I assume John told you that everybody is here." greeted Jaret.
"Yes, he did tell me that. How did your conversation with Mr. Cryer and Chief O'Hara go?" asked Ryan.
Jaret sighed and sipped his tea slowly before answering Ryan's question, "Not well, they argued with me quite a bit. I told them that we must do this or innocent's blood will be on our hands. That's something I really don't want on my conscious. So, are we ready?"
Ryan
nodded silently; he got up from the chair and headed for the
doorway. Jaret set his cup of tea aside on the table and he too
got up and joined Ryan. The two stepped back once more onto the
bridge. Jaret and Ryan took to their seats and sat down. He noticed
that Lisa was at her station talking with the helm
officer. Tressa has finally decided to join them on the bridge
for the first time. He appreciated the offer and he nodded to
Ryan to start issuing orders. It was time for the real thing, to get
this ship off the ground and to see if they have succeeded in doing
this in the right way.
"John, let's get this ship off the ground. Helm, set course off Earth. David, switch us to code blue condition, I want everyone at their assigned stations." commanded Ryan.
"Aye sir, switching to Code blue." acknowledged David.
The bridge erupted into slurry of activity. The lights went to a pale blue; even the panels on the consol were blinking pale blue.
"Engineering reports that they are ready. Ground crews have left the surface. All departments have signed in and are at standby mode." reported Lisa.
"Very well, brace for any impact. Let's go." Nodded Jaret in his approval.
On the surface, the school was removed and portions of the top of the ship was the only thing visibly seen on the ground. All at once, the ground heaved, and the ship came loose of the soil which has kept it hidden for years. The people who were witnessing the event at a safe distance could see the ship finally break free from the ground, causing an eerie groan to be heard. The light of the rising sun glinted off the hull of the ship as it gracefully made its way up into the air. The people who were silently watching were the parents of the crew, they feared the worse but at the same time held hope in their hearts.
Meanwhile, in main engineering, John was watching the readings like a hawk. He hoped that everything will go smoothly. Holding his breath and waiting for the final news that they had breach the atmosphere and into space.
It seemed forever, the entire ship was holding their breath until finally Lisa reported that they have safely reached space with no further damage. Jaret smiled and turned to Ryan and saw that he was grinning.
"We made it, what now?" asked Ryan.
"We make our way to Romulan space. In the meantime, we must practice some combat drills. I want all of us to be prepared. You have the bridge Ryan, I must go see someone." advised Jaret as he got up and headed off the bridge and into the turbolift.
Tressa was a bit taken back by Jaret's quick exit and looked to Ryan and shrugged her shoulders.
"He's going to see Tammy. I know he is, guess he has some concerns to talk through." confirmed Ryan.
"I see, why not me?" asked Tressa silently.
"No offense Tressa, but you are new to us and Jaret trusts Tammy's opinion. I guess you and I haven't been through all that much as they did." pointed out Ryan.
Tressa could see Ryan's point and wasn't as hurt as she was before. It was great that Ryan's reasoning was having a calming effect on her.
"I think Ryan's right, Jaret and Tammy fought to keep this ship in our custody, and they even took charge right away. It made me wonder why Tammy isn't Captain but I guess it's her choice." voiced David.
"She does have leadership qualities, but then again, she is good in her medical field, she takes charge in Medic Bay." smiled Tressa.
"Do I know it! When I was in there for a cut my arm while I was helping on the surface, she gave me the fiercest scowl I seen on her to date. She lectured me to be more careful in the future but I laughed her off by telling her that since I'm a senior officer, no chance of that happening. She gave me one dark look that had me worry on what she'll do as retaliation. I won't cross her in Medic Bay, I know that now. Wished I knew that before but I have to learn somehow." Chuckled Ryan.
In the turbolift, Jaret was on his way to see Tammy. He wanted to talk to her by himself with no one around. He hated that he couldn't approach Tressa yet but he trusted Tammy for the time being. She has a way of saying things that made more sense to him than he could to himself. He has some nagging thoughts left and needed to be reassured so he can move forward. In several seconds, he reached the level that Medic Bay was on. He exited the turbolift and made his way to Medic Bay. When he reached Medic Bay he wasn't surprised to find Tammy hard at work by reading in her office. He knocked on the wall to get her attention and saw that Tammy looked up.
"Come on in Jaret, what's up?" greeted Tammy as she turned off her computer monitor.
Jaret came in and sat down. He sighed and looked at her, "Are we doing the right thing by getting involved?"
Tammy was
stunned by that question and she understood why he was thinking that
way, "Oh Jaret, you let everyone here make their own choices, that
is something that many adults rarely allow us to. We all made
the choice that we believe is right. I have no regrets. I
think that all of us know this is what our life is destined for. Look how
far we have come. Farther than ever thought of."
replied Tammy quickly.
"I know we all made the choices, but I find myself in charge of everything here, including the protection of this crew. I can't ask them to possibly sacrifice their life for people they don't know or even existed." protested Jaret.
"Well, adults do it all the time, cops and soldiers alike, they put their lives on the line for people they don't know or yet to exist. As far as I'm concerned, we here to fight for what is right, the right of a nation to exist without being exterminated because of another who hold fear and prejudice against them." pointed out Tammy.
"Why is it that you know everything? Another thing that makes me wonder, why you aren't Captain instead of me?" asked Jaret wistfully.
"I don't think so, I may have the stuff to take as far as leading but I don't have a lot of tenacity to do it right the first time around, plus you are stubborn so that is a good quality to have as Captain, no doubt about it. Besides, I love my place here in Medic Bay. Here I am in charge and I'm given a different kind of free rein than you are. You are in charge of the ship and its crew while I'm in charge of the crew's health and a small area." grinned Tammy foolishly.
"Very funny Tammy but thanks for your reassurance. I guess I've been thinking to hard on this." Smiled Jaret thankfully.
"How long till we reach the borders of Romulan Space?" asked Tammy.
"It takes three days, but we are taking our time getting there, no need to rush and besides, we need all the preparation we can get. We haven't left Earth's orbit yet but I imagine we will soon." informed Jaret as he got up and made his way out of Tammy's office.
Jaret left the office with a smile on his face, he felt much better and made his way back to the bridge. He stopped before reaching the Turbolift and touched his combadge, "Ryan, inform the helm to set a course for the longest route to Romulan Space. I want it to take more than a few days. See if they can arrange to plot the course near Aldrea's system. I think we need to swing on by there just in case."
"Aye sir, anything else?" asked Ryan's voice through the combadge.
"Nope, that is all, I'm going to get some sleep Ryan, I've had a long day today and I sorely am in need of sleep." Replied Jaret as he started to yawn.
"I understand sir. I will see you in the morning, bright and early!" signed off Ryan.
Jaret stopped yawning and walked to the turbolift. He instructed it to take him to deck 8 where his quarters were at.
Meanwhile, Tammy watched Jaret leave and once he left her sight completely she spoke out loud for herself to hear, "You are right that we will need all the preparing we can get, and knowing this crew, and we will fight hard for this."