Chapter Five
Captain Shawneela Osanna had just finished informing Admiral Necheyev of their early arrival when Chantilly and Lieutenant Gostillna entered Osanna's ready room. She was surprised at their arrival, but could feel the urgency in their emotions. Chantilly had several sheets of paper in her hands.
"Captain, you've got to read this, you've got to save Habiba from suffering this again," Chantilly said, thrusting the paper into Osanna's hands. Osanna opened her lock on her telepathy, and knew its contents before she started reading it herself. Still, she read it entirely herself before she took action.
'Yoakim, we need to make sure that Chantilly stays on board, have you found a way?' Osanna asked, telepathically. 'If Admiral Fahim gets his hands on her, we might not see her again.' She hadn't done it often, but she felt she needed to discuss this privately, and it didn't look like it was wise to leave the bridge at the moment.
She heard Plecnic's reply easily, as he used the techniques she'd taught him her first week in command. 'I have, Captain, but it's a little out of the normal.'
"Yoakim, I'll take out of the normal, at the moment. Admiral Fahim could call at any moment, and if we're not ready..." She trailed off.
'We will be. We need to make her an acting officer and assign her somewhere.'
'You're right, this is out of the normal. In fact it's past out of the normal and it's a block short of the twilight zone.' On board Osanna's last posting, she'd been forced to sit and watch that old show with her Captain. This idea would fit on it.
'There is a recent precedent that was younger than her, and actually sat in the center seat.' The image of a young blond girl in a red command uniform was projected into her mind.
'Necheyev will blow up when she hears about this.' Osanna thought. Her choices were getting limited though.
'Necheyev should be familiar with that case. She preformed the clean up afterwards.'
'What happened to that ship Captain? Was he assigned to a garbage scow afterwards?'
'I believe that Captain Picard still holds command of the Enterprise. I don't have any other solution for you Captain?'
'Okay, Yoakim, but you're telling Necheyev where this crazy idea came from.' There weren't very many posts available at the moment where Chantilly could sit that she wouldn't be in the way. Not with the level one diagnostic in progress. About the only one was the helm, which had just finished getting a quick repair following what appeared to have been a deliberate systems overload set by Commander Bourbon.
"Chantilly, did you ever complete that written pilot's test?" Osanna asked, speaking out loud again. She had taken emergency control of that damaged shuttle after the children's picnic, and Osanna had suggested it, as she was of age to get a licence.
Chantilly seemed to be shocked by the sudden question. Osanna, still with her telepathic senses open, could feel Chantilly remembering. She'd apparently taken the test during that last two weeks with her father. "Yes, all three hundred and seven questions. I've been afraid to ask what my score was, though."
Osanna quickly brought up the results. "It seems you only missed 29 questions. 90.5% is nowhere near failing." Osanna knew that at least a couple of her current pilots had missed more when they'd taken it. It was the first line of any pilot's licence, and their detail when you clicked on licenced pilot. "Ensign Hauan, report to the ready room."
It didn't take long for the Chinese man to enter the ready room. "Ensign Hauan, are your hands okay?" Osanna asked. He seemed to be holding them deliberately away from everything.
"They're a little tender sir, but they're fine," the helmsman said. She could sense the puzzlement from him.
"And how are the repairs to the helm going?" Osanna asked. She could feel Chantilly getting antsy behind her.
"We just need to test it, and run through a few training runs, and it will be ready," Hauan said. "Porter's handling the helm through Ops until then."
"Good, Ensign," Osanna replied. "I need to sit Chantilly on the bridge for a while, and she's just passed her written test. Do you think you can run her through those training runs?"
"I think I can do that, Captain," Hauan said, obviously pleased at getting the assignment. Assignments to train another officer were rare for Ensigns, and it looked good on anyone's record. "It might actually be a better test for the system." Osanna could see his point. Expert pilots often missed testing for the unexpected input, and someone like Chantilly was going to hit something wrong.
"Chantilly, before I make this offer, I want to make something clear," Osanna said, looking right into her eyes. "This is not something I'd normally do. I'm only doing this because I don't see any other option, and I think you can handle it. Understood?" Chantilly nodded. The understanding was clear in her emotions. "Chantilly, are you willing to serve as an officer?" Osanna asked. She looked seriously at the young girl, feeling Chantilly's emotions swirling again. Pregnancy had made them change swiftly, but at the moment they were so chaotic that Osanna couldn't separate them. After a moment, a single emotion emerged above the chaos.
Osanna could hear the determination, as Chantilly replied, "I am, Captain." The girl stood at attention, the flap that had been ripped down the front of her jumpsuit falling down to reveal her blue lace bra.
"Ensign Hauan, Chantilly will be your responsibility on the Bridge today," Osanna said. "I will be appointing her acting Ensign for the day, in order to cover her presence and post. After today, I'd like you to take on the additional duty of handling her training as a pilot. I'll send her out after she changes. Dismissed."
As Hauan left, Osanna turned to Chantilly, who appeared and felt shocked. The girl did appear to be holding up well, though. "Commander, replicate an appropriate uniform for Chantilly," Osanna ordered. "Computer, record in log, as of this Stardate, Chantilly Bourbon has been appointed as an acting-Ensign aboard the Oklahoma and assigned as a CONN Officer."
"Notation made. Acting-Ensign Chantilly Bourbon is required to enter a security authorization voice print pin as soon as possible," the Computer replied.
Commander Plecnic handed Chantilly a uniform. "Change here, Chantilly," he said. "You can set your voice print pin before you leave. The Computer will help you. I'll see you on the bridge in a few minutes." Osanna followed Plecnic and Gostillna out, leaving Chantilly to change. Osanna hoped she'd get out of this with her command intact. She hadn't believe her Senior Command Course Instructor when she had told her that there would be days like this.
Once she was on the bridge, Osanna turned to Gostillna. She had to get everything ready for when the Admiral called. "I need you to form a security team to rescue Habiba," she said. "I'm telling up front that you'll be working outside of your jurisdiction without authorization from the authorities on the Star Base, but I don't think we have a choice at the moment. If we contact Admiral Necheyev again, Admiral Fahim will know something is up."
"Agreed," Gostillna replied. "I'll handle it discretely." Osanna heard his thoughts begin to plan what it would take to find Habiba Fahim.
Next, the Captain turned to Commander Plecnic. "Yoakim, I suspect that Admiral Fahim is going to call me in for a visit. When that happens, I need you to go personally to the civil authorities on the Star Base with this letter." She handed him the letter. "Read it, and bring a copy of Chantilly's testimony from Sickbay for the judge."
Behind her, she could feel Chantilly re-enter the bridge. The young girl now wore the full red uniform of a command line officer, a single golden pip at her throat. Her emotions were now that of determination, pride, and confidence. "You look good in that, Chantilly." Chantilly smiled. "Take the helm, Chantilly. Ensign Hauan, see if she remembers everything from the written test."
"Aye, Captain," Chantilly said, sliding behind the helm. She could hear Chantilly and Hauan whispering back and forth while she contemplated her next move. There wasn't much that Osanna could do, so she sat back and observed her bridge for a while. She could tell that Hauan was happy with Chantilly's memory of the layout. The training mode light was on the helm, and Chantilly appeared to be entering everything short and precisely.
Behind her, Gostillna could be heard organizing his team, making sure that everything was ready the moment that the Captain had to beam over to the Star Base. She could trust him to be prepared. She also overheard word that Commander Bourbon was being held in shackles, this time.
Osanna saw Commander Plecnic going over the whole letter on her right. His feelings of disgust and anger directed at Admiral Fahim were almost enough to cause Osanna to flinch back when she felt them. He was quite ready to arrange for Admiral Fahim's hanging, and would probably plan on doing it himself.
She heard the doors of the turbolift open behind her, and turned to confirm that it was Counselor Tivan. He was carrying a medical tricorder. "Commander Tivan, what brings you to the Bridge?" Osanna asked.
"My wife heard of the attack in your quarters and sent me to make sure that Chantilly was in good physical condition. She is unable to stop in, as Lieutenant Amor has gone into labor," Tivan said. He was wearing his blue uniform, showing that his visit to the Bridge was unexpected. The Counselor was actually command qualified, and was currently serving as Second Officer, due to Commander Bourbon's removal from his post. Under normal situations, he would report to the Bridge, twice weekly, in his red uniform. Osanna actually hoped she'd be able to convince him to stay as second officer. He made a good balance with her and Plecnic.
Osanna watched as Tivan made an expert scan of Chantilly, interrupting her training for a moment. She heard him tell her, "It appears that you are doing quite well, despite recent events. You do need to have a little more calcium in your diet apparently." She couldn't hear Chantilly's reply, but Tivan seemed to think it amusing, from the emotion she felt as the Vulcan started to depart.
"Stay a moment, Tivan," Osanna said, before he could reach the turbolift. "I have a feeling that I'm going to need your command services in a moment. Tivan nodded, and took his seat on the other side of her from Commander Plecnic.
"Incoming communication from Admiral Fahim," Lieutenant Gostillna announced, once again working behind his station. Osanna could feel his disgusted with the Admiral.
"Do try to conceal your emotions with the Admiral, Greig," Osanna said. "Open a Channel." Admiral Fahim appeared on screen. He was a man of average height with thick black hair. Unlike recent fashion, he had a beard, streaked with white. The beard was obviously a recent choice, as it was still quite short. He wore a red Admiral's dress uniform, one of the latest designs, with a moderate amount of the gold strips.
"Welcome to Star Base 12, Captain," the Admiral said. "I must say I didn't expect to see my former command so soon. What brings you to visit?" Osanna could feel the anger rising off of Chantilly as the young girl tried to sit unremarked at the helm. She had thought that depth of anger from Chantilly would be less than what she felt towards her father.
"I'm afraid that I had to have my Chief Engineer arrested for the assault and rape of his daughter," Osanna said, sounding like she was barely repressing her anger. "I immediately set course to the nearest Star Base so he could also face the appropriate civil charges for his actions, as well as face a court-martial."
"This is very serious, and I find it hard to believe that Audon Bourbon would have acted that way," Fahim replied. Osanna could tell that he was lying. "He's always been such a good family man, and adored his wife." That was the truth as he believed it. "It just goes to show you how little you can know a fellow officer. Transfer him and his family on board immediately and I want to see you in my office to talk about how we're going to handle this."
"I will make the appropriate arrangements, Admiral," Osanna said. "You can expect us in say, an hour?" Osanna was barely able to get out the sentences as words like bastard, and profanities practically jumped out of Chantilly's mind and into hers. Yet, somehow Chantilly managed to stay silent while the Admiral was on screen.
"I'll expect you then, Star Base 12 out." The Admiral's picture disappeared, and Osanna closed down her telepathic senses to just empathy again.
"Okay, we have a job to do," Osanna said. "Yoakim, Grieg, you have your orders. Commander Tivan, you have the Bridge." She could tell that Chantilly didn't like to see the Captain go. "Don't worry Chantilly, nothing is likely to happen in orbit of the Star Base. Let's get to work."
The plan had changed a little by the time Captain Osanna had to beam down to the Star Base. No plan was static. At the moment, it relied heavily on the Captain's talents. Admiral Fahim had taken her to his quarters for a talk about how his old ship was fairing. Osanna was hoping she'd be able to find Habiba easily, but the young girl was not in evidence when Osanna reached the Admiral's quarters.
The main room was what Osanna called Arabic splendor. There were plenty of plants, and lots of silk on the furniture, and draped from the walls. The sofa she was seated at was quite soft, and comfortable. She'd been given a glass of what Osanna had determined was a prestigious wine label, but unfortunately, it was from a bad year. Osanna was sure that Fahim couldn't tell the difference. She could, unfortunately. Her mother had instilled that among many other social abilities to her when she was a teen. It was, according to mother, something that a daughter of the seventh house should be able to do. Osanna had left for Star Fleet Academy three hours after she turned eighteen.
"So, Captain, how do you like the Oklahoma and its crew," Fahim asked, settling back across from her in an overstuffed chair.
"You left me with a very good crew. Aside from the incident that caused me to come here, I haven't had to make any personnel changes," Osanna said, beginning to probe around telepathically. "I was a little worried at first when I saw that the ship's counselor was a Vulcan. That's not a usual choice, and until I met Tivan, I'd always felt that Vulcans were a little too dry, if you will, to fill that role. Where did you find him and Doctor T'Hana?"
"Doctor T'Hana delivered my daughter when my wife was fatally injured when we were vacationing on Vulcan," Fahim said. Osanna thought she might have caught a glimpse of Habiba's thoughts for just a second. "Counselor Tivan helped me get over the grief. Have you ever visited Vulcan, Captain?"
"No I haven't, but I heard Vulcan's Forge should not be missed," Osanna said. She'd just though she heard the thoughts of a lullaby. Yes, there it was.
"One should never miss the Forge." Fahim was saying. She let him drone on about the major desert on Vulcan, as she continued her probing.
'Habiba?' Osanna sent. She felt puzzlement, as the mind she was contacting was looking around to see where her name had been called from. 'This is Captain Osanna of the Oklahoma. Chantilly found your letter and brought it to me.' There was a sudden burst of joy from the young girl, as her emotions went from subdued to excited.
'Please, rescue me!' the thought was loud and clear, even if the link that Osanna was building was the only reason it was heard. More and more detailed feelings and thoughts where coming from Habiba.
'I'm working on that,' Osanna projected. 'Right now I'm listening to your father describe deserts in the main room of his quarters. Do you know where you are relative to that?' Osanna thought the description very boring, but the Admiral's droning while she contacted Habiba was a good thing.
The girl despaired. 'No, he blindfolded me when he brought me her when we moved to the Star Base.' The sudden depressed feelings were almost overwhelming. 'You'll never get me and Kismet out.'
'Is Kismet your baby?' Osanna could feel Habiba's confirmation. 'Don't worry, I've got another way, Habiba.' Osanna paused her contact with Habiba to make a few responses to Admiral Fahim's comment on the flora of the Forge. It was a secondary matter to involve the Admiral. Lieutenant Gostillna had told her that Fahim could go on for hours if you brought up a desert he'd visited.
'Okay, Habiba, move to the front of the room you're in.' Triangulation of telepathic contact was something she'd learnt at the Academy. There was just a little difference. 'Now to the back of the room.' A little more. 'About how much distance did you move?'
'Five meters,' Habiba returned. 'Why?' The despair had dropped a little.
'Okay, I think I know where you are now.' Osanna said. 'I'm going to alert my First Officer, and we'll see about getting you out of there, okay?' Osanna used a connection she'd set up with Commander Tivan to determine the final vector she needed.
'Is Chantilly okay?' Habiba asked suddenly.
'Yes, she is. Her father has been arrested, and I'm sure yours will be joining him.' Osanna could feel great satisfaction at that word, before she pulled out of her connection to open another one. Before she did, however, it looked like Admiral Fahim's monologue on the Forge was beginning to lag.
"Admiral, you've convinced me," Osanna said. "My next leave will definitely be on Vulcan. Not only does it seem to be a nice setting, but it has the added advantage of being away from my mother. I'm just glad she can't request the use of my ship. It's a good thing mother is a botanist, especially one specializing in water plants."
"Yes, you do have it lucky," Admiral Fahim said. "My father was a public servant of some note. If he could have, he would have contrived to monopolize the Oklahoma's schedule." Admiral Fahim was so easy to get on tangents. Osanna hadn't been willing to bring up Commander Bourbon and his case, and fortunately, Admiral Fahim didn't seem to want to either.
"Then there was the time he decided that he needed to get to Risa . . ." It looked like another tangent was safely started. Osanna began seeking out her first officer.
'Yoakim?' The emotions coming back confirmed the connection. 'I have the coordinates.' Osanna sent.
'I'm ready for them.' Osanna heard Commander Plecnic reply.
'Relative to the line formed between me and the Oklahoma's bridge, with me as the center point, one oh five mark sixteen, sixty-two meters.' She felt Plecnic writing it down, and could hear his thoughts as he was apparently looking at the station's plan.
'Okay, that puts it on this level, past there, in Star Fleet Territory, right on the other side of that reactor, in Cargo Bay 336, the Admiral's private storage. Captain, I know where she is. I'll let you know when we have her.' Osanna let her connection to Plecnic go dormant.
"... Of course that was the ill fated stop when Father died, but he died doing what he loved, and who could complain that, eh?" Osanna was really finding the Admiral's company to be quite disgusting. The bad wine wasn't helping to dull the pain either.