Chapter Nine
The Betazoid Ship, the Aphrodite.
Trip's crew consisted of six MACOs and four security officers, three armory officers and five engineers, led by Michael Rostov; four bridge officers, a medic, Liz Cutler, and a cook. He had four experienced officers, Lt. Carter, Ensigns Hall, Cutler and Rostov. Everyone else were pretty much greenhorns.
The Betazoid women helped by manning the mess hall and sick bay. The C'Darsian prison guards guarded their prisoners. In all, 32 people were under Trip's command, for a total of 52 individuals aboard the ship including the prisoners and he was determined not to lose a single one. The first order of business was to return the prisoners to the C'Dars system. It would not be any easy task.
Day Four.
"Commander," Lt. Carter, the Acting Science Officer called out, "there's a ship approaching at warp four."
"Identify," Trip ordered.
"Orion Sir," she replied after a few moments.
"Tucker to Rostov," Trip said depressing the comm.
"How's our cloaking device holding up?"
"Good Sir."
"Good. Keep us hidden for the next hour. We got an Orion ship approaching at warp four. I'd like to pass on by it without incident."
"Aye Captain," Rostov said. "I-I mean, Commander!" Trip grinned. Everyone kept slipping and calling him Captain.
They were able to pass by the Orion vessel and continue on course. But, the cloaking device continued to go on and off line. Trip had to keep going back and forwards from the bridge to engineering.
Unfortunately, it wasn't long before they came within sensor range of an unknown vessel with considerable weapons. Now the unknown ship was approaching at warp 3.5.
The Aphrodite tried to outrun the ship, but they were soon within 25,000 kilometers, and charging weapons.
"Captain, an unidentified vessel just dropped out of warp," the Helmsman said. "They're on an intercept course."
"Hail them!" Trip shouted.
"No response Captain!" Ensign Hall called out from the communications console. Trip shot her a glance. She had not even realized what she had said.
"Barrett, make weapons hot! Everybody!" he called out depressing the ship wide comm, "hold onto your asses, we're in for a fight!" Suddenly, a torpedo hit them.
"Shields?!" he called out.
"Holding Sir!" 96%.
"Damn good shields!" Trip said. "Fire torpedoes Mr. Barrett!" The torpedoes hit the alien ship.
"No impact Sir."
"Target their shields with phase cannons and hit 'em with everything we got!" Trip ordered.
"Everything Sir?" the tactical officer asked.
"You heard me! We gotta get their shields down if we're gonna kill 'em, now follow my orders!"
"Aye Sir," Barrett replied and fired both phase cannons, followed by several rounds of torpedo fire.
"Shields down!" Carter called out.
"Target their warp reactor!" Trip said. "Now!" Crewman Barrett fired as directed. Within a few moments, the enemy ship's warp reactor began to breach.
"Rostov!" Trip shouted into the comm. "Get us out of here!"
"Commander! The weapons put a drain on the engines; I can only give you high impulse!"
"You gotta do better than that Mike! Otherwise, we're gonna get caught in the debris field left from that ship's breach!"
"Any suggestions Sir?" Rostov asked panicked.
"Carter, route all power from any unoccupied places on the ship, mess hall, cargo bay, transport, get the picture! Even life support!"
"Aye Sir," Carter said.
"Mike," purge the manifold systems, do it two-three times, then restart the plasma relays, but watch out for the anti-matter re-mix, make sure it's right; and in five, push those engines to warp!"
"Aye Sir!" Rostov said.
"Warp core breach in six minutes Sir," Carter reported. Those six minutes seemed to evaporate in six seconds.
"We got warp!" Rostov called out over the comm.
"Helmsman!" get us the hell out of here!" Trip ordered. Within seconds the Aphrodite jumped to warp 2, then 3. The ship was jostled from the debris field left by the alien ship and some of the crew went flying. There were a few bloody noses and some sprained wrists and minor concussions all over the ship, but nothing serious.
Day Seven.
Trip woke up to his comm sounding. He shifted in the bed, and still half-asleep, he reached for the button over his head.
"Tucker here," he grumbled.
"Sorry to disturb you Sir, but we've got a problem," the Gamma shift comm Officer said.
"What is it?" Trip asked sitting up quickly.
"Someone's using the transporter Sir."
"What?! Transporter? Who, where are they going?"
"I don't know Sir, but there! It just powered up again, ten life signs before and ten just now!"
"What the hell!" he said jumping to his feet. "He grabbed the same uniform he had just taken off just two hours ago. He looked at his chronometer as he pulled on the jumpsuit. It was 3:30 am.
After dressing, he hurried to the bridge. Checking for bio-signs throughout the ship, he noticed that 22 were missing from the crew quarters that housed the C'Darsian prisoners and guards. He determined that they had transported from the locked quarters and had beamed down to a near-by planet that was sparsely habited. Only about 11,000 colonists from varying worlds were living on it.
Trip had awakened the C'Darsian Administrator, the MACOS and the security officers that were off duty. Within 20 minutes, a team had been assembled and they set out to retrieve the prisoners. It had been determined that several of the C'Darsian guards had helped the prisoners escape when they had dropped out of warp and gone to low impulse to preserve warp plasma and let the engines rest for a few hours.
Lt. Carter and Ensign Hall had argued that Trip should not accompany the away team, that Starfleet regulations forbade a Captain from accompanying this type of away mission. However, Trip had argued that the regulation didn't apply to him since he was not a Captain. So, he along with the six MACOS, four security officers, and two C'Darsian guards set out to retrieve the prisoners, even though they were outnumbered. They had tracked them to an abandoned warehouse just outside the main city.
"Hey, listen up," Trip spoke softly into the night air. "Some of them are armed, so be careful. I want everyone's weapons set to stun. I want everybody back alive, understood?"
"Aye Captain!" they all said together. Trip thought about correcting them, but just let it go for now.
"I want nine sets of boots on the ground, surround this dump. The others are with me. We're gonna drop in on our friends unannounced. On my signal, ground troops invade." Trip and four others climbed on top of the fragile roof. After a few moments, the ground team forced their way into the building.
There was phase pistol fire as many of the prisoners were stunned upon entry. Two or three of the prisoners were able to grab weapons and return fire, stunning several members of the away team. Then several others attacked the away team. That's when Trip and his roof team, dropped through the ceiling.
A fight ensued and for a few minutes it seemed that the prisoners were going to prevail. But Trip was having none of that. He shot one escapee from behind one of his people's back as he held a gun to the MACOs' neck. He turned just as a prisoner tried to attack him from behind; he grabbed the man and ran his head into a wall. He snatched another one off one of his guys and threw him across the room. The fight soon balanced out; the crew winning this battle.
Once the situation was under control, and the prisoners were being transported back to the ship, Trip began to question the guards taken as hostages.
"I want to know what happened, and I want to know right now, so start talkin,'' Trip demanded, "or you're all going to be joining these guys on lockdown."
"We were taken as hostages," one of the guards said. "We were forced to come with them."
"Yeah?" Trip asked, "how the hell did they get out of doors, locked from the
outside?"
"We have no idea!" one of the guards said. "All we know is that three of them had phase pistols, they took us by surprise. Someone on the ship must have helped them."
"How come I don't believe that?" Trip spat out. Suddenly, the guard attacked Trip. But, it had been a mistake. Having been knocked to the floor, Trip swung his right leg under his attacker, hurdling him to the floor. He then leapt to his feet and promptly punched the guard one good time and it was lights out!
Before the MACOS could react, two other guards attacked Trip. A couple of the MACOs almost abandoned their guard of the prisoners to help, but Trip wouldn't hear of it.
"Hold your positions!" he called out. "I got this!" With that he punched one of the guards, knocking him unconscious with one blow. The other one had grabbed Trip from the back and attempted to choke him with is forearm. Trip jabbed him with elbow in his midsection. He stumbled backwards. Trip then turned spinning with a kick to the guard's head that rendered him unconscious.
"Anybody else!" he shouted, spinning and looking around. No one stepped forward.
Minutes later, all the prisoners had been transported back to the ship and put back on lock down, along with the four guards who helped them escape. It turns out that they were not guards taken hostage after all, but prisoners from the beginning.
The crew was impressed with their CO's command skills and style. Within a week, Trip and his crew safely delivered the C'Darsains to their home world. Repairs were made to the ship and the crew was off to Betazed. Shields were operable, but the cloaking device was still not working well.
Day Twelve.
The ship traveled without incident for five more days, but things being as they were, they were attacked by pirates on the before they could enter into Betazed space. The cloaking device failed and their shields had taken a pounding. But Trip would not back down. He had promised to get these people home, and that's what he was going to do. They were boarded and engaged in hand to hand combat.
"We're taking this ship!" the intruder announced on the bridge after beaming aboard with three companions. "Surrender and we'll spare your crew Captain."
"You can't have the ship and nobody's dying today!" Trip said leaping from the command chair. "That is except you!"
"Brave talk for a man about to be killed if you don't surrender, now!"
"Hadn't anybody ever told you," Trip replied, "I'm hard to kill!" As Trip ran toward the intruder, he got off a couple of phase pistol shots. Trip barely dodged the first one and the second one hit him in his left shoulder, but he kept coming. Then, turning and flying, he threw a very precise kick to the intruder's chest who flew backwards, dropping his phase pistol. Trip leaped on him and thrust his fingers into his throat. The intruder fell over, dead.
The Rigelians exchanged phase pistol fire with the MACOS on the bridge. One MACO went down, and one of the pirates soon followed. Trip was then attacked by two others. One grabbed him from the front, then other from the back. He head butted the pirate in front of him, who fell to the floor unconscious. With his attacker on his back, Trip then ran upon the bulkhead in front of him, taking his attacker with him. Using the bulkhead as leverage, he flipped over the pirate and landed just behind him, he pushed his head into the wall and the pirate fell to the floor dead.
Carter and Hall watched in horrific awe at what was happening on the bridge right in front of them as they continued to do battle with the Rigelian ship.
The MACOs held phase pistols on the pirates. The armory had been sealed off and the pirates that beamed directly there were met immediately with the security team. They were stunned and easily detained. Suddenly, the intruders all disappeared in a flashing light.
The ship was hit again by a birage of weapons fire. The ship shook as a couple of small fires erupted on the bridge. Trip was hit in the side by flying shrapnel. He fell to the floor, hitting his head as he did so, but quickly jumped up when Rostov commed him.
"Sir, they've damaged our starboard port nacelles! What do we do?"
"Be there… in a… second," Trip choked out as he rose from the floor.
"Sir, you're hurt!" Carter called out running over to him and reaching for the piece of shrapnel embedded in his side.
"Don't!" Trip said. "Just make it… bleed more. I'm going to engineerin', you…have the con."
"But, Sir!"
"Just follow my order!" Trip yelled, not in the mood, nor did he have time for niceties.
He ran to engineering, helped the team with the engine problem so they could keep flying, then he ran back to the bridge.
The Rigelian ship was damaged, but was able to take a few parting shots just before jumping to warp. The ship shook.
"Damage report!" Trip called out.
"Shields damaged, some of our other systems are off line as well," Hall said. Then there was a call from Rostov in engineering.
"Captain Tucker! The engines are failing, we're gonna be sitting ducks if we don't get back on line soon!"
"Get… on it… Mike," Trip said winded. "They've gone to warp, and I think we scared them off. I'm counting on you, we're all counting on you. Tucker out," "Lt. Carter," he said, "you have the bridge," Then darkness claimed him.
Sick Bay, Aphrodite.
Trip started to stir. He felt like his head weighed a ton. He tried to rise up but felt hands holding him down.
"H-how long… have I…been out," he grumbled.
"Three hours, Sir," Ensign Liz Cutler answered. Trip smiled a little bit at the sight of her. It was good to see a familiar face.
"How are you feeling Captain Tucker?" a beautiful Betazoid woman who was helping with the injured asked.
"That's Commander Tucker," he replied, "and I feel like I just ran a 26 mile marathon, carrying an Orion on my back-we came in last. What's our status?" he asked Carter whom he spotted standing off in a corner. "And why aren't you on the bridge?"
"Begging your pardon Sir," she answered shakily. "But, I just came to check on you. We've got a situation."
"Well, let's hear it," Trip spat out.
"The engineering team have been working on the engines for three hours, but we still don't have warp drive… and… and"
"Well, what is it?"
"T-that ship, Sir! They're on their way back, and their bringing company!"
"How many!" he asked jumping from the bio-bed.
"Three Commander," Carter replied, "approaching at warp 4.5." Trip looked around.
"How long," he asked.
"'Bout forty minutes Sir."
"Get me a uniform!" he ordered.
"Commander, you really shouldn't be getting up and moving around. You have a concussion and your shoulder has a phase pistol burn. That shrapnel went in pretty deep too. You might start bleeding again," Cutler said.
"Isn't there anyone else who can take command?" the Betazoid asked.
"All due respect ma'am, but this is my hayride." A crewman handed him a fresh uniform. "Now if you'll excuse me," he said and pulled on the jumpsuit right in front of everybody. As he was pulling on his boots, the ship shook.
"Thought you said forty minutes!?" he shouted and depressed the comm., then grabbed his shoulder. "Tucker to bridge!"
"Sir, it's another ship! More Orions!"
"Aw hell!" Trip said and broke out into a run. He raced through the corridor and to a turbo lift. He bolted from it and raced to engineering. He immediately assessed the situation and frantically started to work on the engines with the team.
"Engineering to bridge!" Carter called out. "Commander Tucker, you're needed on the bridge!"
"Be there in a second Lieutenant! Just keep 'em busy, I've got an idea! Rostov, guys, I'm gonna do somethin' real strange, just don't panic. In a few
minutes you're gonna see something scary, ignore it! All I need you to do is keep her running steady and be prepared to jump to warp on my signal."
"But, Sir, we don't have warp!" Rostov said.
"Trust me!" he said and shot out the door. Rostov and his team stood there looking horrified as they saw the engines overload. Had their CO just set their engines to breach?
Trip raced the corridor for the bridge. Once there, he met the frightened looks of his bridge crew.
"Sir!" Hall said, "we're headed for a warp core breach in about ten minutes!"
Trip nodded, "I know! Fire weapons!" he called out to the tactical officer. Barrett nodded, not really knowing why, it wouldn't matter in a few minutes anyway, but he begin firing weapons just the same.
Lt. Carter looked at Trip, fear in her eyes, "Sir the breach," she said.
"W-what are we gonna do?"
"Trust me Lieutenant!" he said. "I told you no one was gonna die on my watch, and damn it, I meant that!"
The Orion ship fired back several times, but detecting the impending warp core breach, sped away at warp three.
"Engineering!" Trip called out over the comm. "Go to warp, now!" Everyone, especially the engineering team was surprised when they actually jumped to warp. Everyone cheered.
"Commander, what on earth did you do?" Carter asked
"Faked a warp core breach," he said, "done it before. Just created a little pyrotechnics display. " All of the bridge crew smiled.
"Rostov to Tucker," said a voice over the comm.
"Tucker here."
"I get the fake warp core breach Sir," Rostov said. "But how did you get the engines back on line so quickly. We'd been working on it for a while, what did you do?"
"Actually Mike, you guys had done a great job. I just rerouted the deuterium flow, made it back up on itself. Caused a little cascade in the tubes that spread out at almost light speed. Warp was a result."
"Sir, anybody ever told you that you were an absolute genius!" Rostov said.
"Once or twice," Trip said, "But I ignored them, they were my mom and dad." Everyone laughed a little. Trip grabbed his side and winced. He staggered as two of the bridge crewman rushed over to steady him. He looked at his hand and it was covered with blood.
"Oh no," Trip said, "Not again!" then it was lights out. Cutler insisted that Trip stay in sick bay this time. He was there for the next 48 hours as they cruised on to Betazed.
It was a successful mission. And, even though they were five days late, the Delobulan and C'Darsian government along the Royal Family of Betazed were extremely grateful. Captain Archer and his crew had been beside themselves with worry when Trip and his crew had not shown up at the rendezvous point. Archer had questioned his decision to let Trip take on such a dangerous mission. He was relieved to hear from Trip when they finally got all their systems back on line and could send a message.
Several members of the bridge crew, the MACOs and security team, the engineers and the other crewman not currently manning a station, all lined up in the cargo bay to greet the Betazed Prime Ministers who had come to collect their people as well as the Denobulan Scientists. As Trip walked through, the crew members lined up on either side of him, they all greeted him.
"Commander," they said, one by one as he passed them. He nodded his head to each of them. At the end of the line, one of the crewmen saluted him. They all stood at attention and saluted him.
"This is not the military," he said, "I'm a Starfleet officer, not a MACO, so no saluting required."
"Permission to speak freely Sir?" Carter asked. Trip nodded.
"Commander Tucker, we've never seen anything like what you've done in the last few weeks. We owe you our lives, all of us. What you've accomplished has been nothing short of a miracle. We kinda hate to see this mission end, and we'd all serve under you again, in a heartbeat. You're one hell of a warrior Sir!"
Trip just folded his arms in front of him as he looked down. "Thanks," he said softly. "But it's you guys who deserve the credit. You all were one hell of a team," and he saluted them. "Now let's get this show on the road. Ensign, open the docking bay doors."
"Aye Sir," Carter said. Trip turned back and looked at his little crew and smiled to himself. Yes, it had been a successful mission.