Chapter 12

BRIDGE

USS HURON

Captain Dan Hammel looked at the main screen. The screen was showing the tactical situation, Huron had chosen its intercept point and had maneuvered to the point and now was heading straight at Senator Jameson's shuttle. The distress signal had stopped and they had been tracking the shuttle for a while. There was another warp trail in proximity, presumably the Norsican pirate. These pirates that just recently started bothering the Federation were mostly small corvette type ships, a dozen crew at maximum. Huron was a destroyer-sized vessel, more than a match for the pirate.

Hammel figured the best way to approach the rescue was to simply charge in, hit hard to bring the shuttle's shields down, then beam the Senator back to the Huron. He would have more than enough firepower to take care of both ships quickly. This should be a simple operation with no surprises.

Standing next to Hammel was the Senator's nephew, Ensign Joseph Kenn, currently assigned to the Huron. Hammel thought it was a tremendous career-enhancer for this situation. Not only does he get to rescue a senior Senator, but his nephew is on board to greet the Senator. He could not understand why Jacobs of Wisconsin did not take this assignment. Hammel was apprised of the strategic situation and later when he learned that Wisconsin chose to go after the cruise liner, Hammel could not believe his good luck. Jacobs was going to be a fool for not choosing the Senator. Hammel turned to Kenn and said, "Better get down to the transporter room, we'll be beaming your uncle aboard in a few minutes."

Kenn smiled, "Thanks, we won't forget this!" turned and left. He entered the turbolift and said "Transporter room." It was a short trip, and the turbolift stopped and opened its door. Kenn walked out and the short distance to the transporter room.

Back on the bridge, the viewscreen was showing the distance rapidly closing. The science officer turned around to face the Captain. "We should be on their sensors now. That is confirmed, they are changing course."

Hammel asked, "Are we in visual range?"

The science officer shook his head, "Not yet."

Hammel ordered, "Change course, 228 Mark 4. Warp 8."

The ship turned and accelerated to the new course. The Navigator reported "This is ending up in a stern chase. Time to intercept is over 15 minutes now."

Hammel ordered, "Warp 9." Pressing the PA button, "All Hands, the tactical situation has changed, they are running from us and we are giving chase. Red Alert, Battle Stations."

Approaching the transporter room, Kenn turned and started towards the armory. Entering the Armory, the security chief was barking out orders to everybody in sight. When the chief saw Kenn he yelled, "KENN, GRAB A PHASER AND GET TO THE TRANSPORTER ROOM. BE READY FOR BOARDING ACTION. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?"

Kenn grabbed a phaser pistol and ran to the transporter room. Arriving there, there were four other security personnel there. All were dressed in the new Starfleet Standard uniform. They were looking at each other and turned when Kenn came in. "Mr. Kenn, what is going on?"

Kenn looked around at the group. "We're giving my uncle's shuttle chase right now. The bridge thinks that there is a pirate escorting the shuttle."

Crewman Andropoloulus asked, "Sir, what's the plan?"

Kenn thought for a minute. The short time he was in Badger training, Bauer kept hammering on them to always have a plan, keep it simple, and make sure everyone was on the same page. Bauer ran mercilessly over rough terrain, obstacle courses, in the surf, basically anywhere he could and they had to carry something. The object they had to carry was usually large, and heavy. The load had to be shared, and no one person could carry the load. Kenn particularly hated carrying the rowboat in the surf. A friend of Bauer had an old, wooden fishing boat that was horrible to carry. Bauer kept saying that they needed a plan. He also said that if you took a few moments to think first, that will reap benefits later. How many ways can you carry a stinking rowboat? His team was plodding along with the rowboat and came in dead last. Then Bauer did one of his dreaded debriefings, the team that finished first carried the boat upside down, and the individual members rotated positions so that no one person got tired carrying the stern end of the boat. Even though Bauer and Teal'c were mean jerks, Kenn did see that occasionally they might have a point.

Kenn shrugged, "When we beam over, let's face outward, and phaser anything that we see, except my uncle of course."

Crewman Ivanov asked, "Mr. Kenn, I know it's Norsicans, but what is a Norsican?"

Kenn thought back. Bauer and Teal'c were big on this. Some Chinese guy that said something like 'know thy enemy' or something. Kenn shrugged, "All I know is Norsicans are big with lots of spikes all over. Do not get into a hand-to-hand with them. Like I said, stun everybody."

The door to the transporter room opened and the sixth security crewman walked it. Kenn turned to the transporter chief. "Has action started yet?"

The crewman looked at his displays. "I don't think so, looks like we're still at warp 9. Let's take a look." He pushed a button and a screen behind him turned on. The screen showed both a pirate and the shuttle ahead. The data was showing that they were just coming in phaser range.

The first shot that the Huron fired was at the pirate, damaging its shields and penetrating to the hull. Another couple of shots and that ship dropped out of warp. The Huron now chased down the shuttle. The Huron fired its phasers again and brought down the shields. Next, Kenn saw the tractor beam latch onto the shuttle. He turned to the makeshift security team, "This is it, let's get ready."

The six men all stood on the individual pads on the transporter platform. Kenn drew his phaser. "Phasers on stun." The others drew their phasers and checked them on stun. The Captain's voice came over the com, "Transporter room, no lock possible on the hostages. Beam security over now."

The transporter chief looked at Kenn. "Only place big enough for all six of you seems to be the main cabin."

"Then that's where we'll go. Energize."

The six men crouched and had their phasers in one of their hands, ready to fire from the hip. The transporter effect started and they dissolved in a beam of light.

Over in the shuttle, the light and sound typical of a transporter started up. There were four Norsicans over in the shuttle. One was tasked to keeping a gun on the Senator and his pilot, who were sitting at the controls. The others picked up their weapons, the leader cried out "Hit them before they materialize!"

When the security team was almost fully materialized, the three Norsicans opened fire. Andropoloulus, Ivanov, and Chorsky were killed instantly and dropped to the floor. Kenn was at the rear facing the wrong way with other remaining security guards. He heard the weapon fire and turned seeing the three Norsicans with their weapons aimed at him. Crewman Reynolds to his left turned quicker and shot his phaser, the beam playing across the three Norsicans. Neither the beam strength or time on target were enough to bring them down and the three Norsicans shot Reynolds killing him. Kenn shot at one Norsican, but since he was firing from the hip, the shot went wild and hit the ceiling. The Norsicans aimed at Kenn and the crewman and yelled "DROP YOUR WEAPONS!"

Kenn froze, looked at the crewman, and nodded. Both dropped their weapons and raised their hands. One Norsican came over and hit Kenn with the butt of his phaser rifle and he fell over knocked unconscious. The Norsican at the front covering the pilot and Jameson said, "We'll keep the officer, throw the other in a spacesuit and out an airlock. He'll tell the others to back off. Shields are coming up soon."

The two other Norsicans grabbed an emergency spacesuit from the storage locker and told the crewman to put it on, which he reluctantly did. The Norsican up front said to the pilot, "Hail that ship."

A moment later, "Captain Dan Hammel, USS Huron. We out gun you. Surrender now."

The Lead Norsican answered back, "You may outgun us, but it is us that have the upper hand. Your rescue has failed. We are returning the bodies and one crewman out the airlock."

Hammel responded, "No, Wait…."

By this time, the Norsicans had the four dead crewmen and one live in the airlock. They opened the airlock without depressurizing first, and the air in the airlock pushed out all the bodies. By this time, the shields were regenerated and back online. When the shields came up, the transporter on the Huron could no longer beam anybody on or off the ship. Hammel looked at his science officer. The science officer shook his head. "Only one alive as they said. Their shields have come back up. Transporter beaming is no longer possible."

The Norsican continued, "Now Captain, we have kept the officer as an additional hostage. No further interference by Starfleet or he dies."

Hammel was incensed, "You can't do that!"

"I am doing it, any further attack we will execute him immediately. Also, eject your warp core immediately."

Hammel could not believe what he was hearing. "Absolutely not, we can't survive without it."

The Norsican shook his head. "Captain, I too am versed in engineering. You will be just fine, just no warp travel. Eject it now or we will kill the Senator."

Hammel shook his head, "The Senator is too important to you."

The Norsican gave an evil smile, "Yes, he is. But if we do not get what we want, we will end up dead anyway. So, we have nothing to lose. Just to prove I'm serious…." And he drew a knife and grabbed the senator. Jameson started yelling immediately and trying to squirm away from the Norsican. The Norsican was too big and all he needed to immobilize was the hand. He maneuvered the knife and cut off Jameson's pinky finger on his left hand. Jameson howled in pain and the pilot leaped to start administering first aid.

Hammel relented, "OK! I'll do it!" He looked at the engineer and said "Eject the core."

The engineer answered back, "We can't do that sir! We'll be helpless!"

"We have to, no other options!"

The engineer nodded, and started the sequence on the engineering panel. Down in Engineering, alarms went off and engineers scrambled free from various areas around the core. The core sealed off the conduit to the nacelles, the nacelles vented all warp plasma, and several interlocks were released to open the hatches to the outside. Inside ship pressure pushed the warp core down tracks through the floor to the outside. A final catch mechanism mechanically closed a hatch as the core exited, sealing the pressure hull once again. The core shot out the bottom of the ship, still giving its characteristic blue glow.

The Norsican smiled. He turned to the pilot, "Get us away from here, impulse power."

The shuttle turned and started to leave. But they were not done yet. The Norsican's image on Hammel's viewer turned back once again to the viewer. "Now that we're a safe distance away, I want you to lock onto your warp core and fire your phasers at it."

Hammel yelled back, "We'll be destroyed."

"Maybe. Maybe not. I need to make sure you won't pursue us."

Hammel's engineering officer was working a quick calculation. He had full impulse power dedicated to the shields, which wouldn't be enough. Checking the velocity of the warp core, he looked at the viewer. The engineer figured he was out of the viewscreen. Just to make sure, he stood up and walked forward. Hammel looked at him angrily, and noticed the engineer turned with his back to the viewscreen. He mouthed "One Minute."

Hammel figured it out. He looked at the Norsican. "Sir, we won't pursue you. You have more than enough to keep us away."

The Norsican shot right back, "You won't, because you won't have your core to salvage. Destroy it now."

How long had it been? Fifteen seconds? Hammel was trying to think on how to delay more. "Give me some time, we have to charge the weapons."

The Norsican shook his head, "Captain, you're stalling. This is what that costs." He reached over and the whole ordeal of cutting off Jameson's finger repeated itself. Hammel looked at the Navigation console and saw that the Navigator had energized the shield closest to the warp core to the maximum amount.

Hammel relented. "Lock phasers on the warp core and fire."

The weapon officer took his time, and fired. The phasers caused the core to instantly detonate. Jameson's shuttle was far enough away to only get a lightshow, but the Huron was another thing. The shockwave did severe damage to the ship's structure, equipment, and people. The shields were just enough to prevent any deaths, but the ship was barely in one piece. Most of the damage was either shock or burn related, and most of the casualties were burns in the outer areas of the ship.

BRIEFING ROOM

USS WISCONSIN

Captain Hammel's image was on the main viewscreen. In the briefing room was Jacobs, Leonaidas, and Bauer. Hammel finished his report, "So we are now dead in space, without a warp core to get anywhere. We are effectively stranded."

Jacobs shook his head. "What about your life support?"

"Functioning. I don't know how long it will last."

Bauer asked, "Did the surviving crewman have any intel as to the inside of the Senator's shuttle?"

Hammel nodded. "There were four Norsicans, armed with Norsican Phasers. Pilot and Senator Jameson were alive. He said that they fired on one Norsican with the stun setting and it barely slowed him down."

Bauer asked, "One? They only got one shot off?"

"Yes, he said we lost the first three before transport was even complete."

Bauer pressed, "When you got the shields down, why didn't you just beam humans onboard?"

Hammel angrily answered, "Are you questioning my judgement?"

Jacobs interjected, "Mr. Bauer's question is valid. Did they have jammers? Could you get a lock? Was something else that interfered? We need to know."

Hammel brewed for a second. "The situation changed and I felt it best to beam a team over to snatch the Senator. They had their shields up so quick we couldn't beam our own team back. I don't appreciate being second-guessed."

Jacobs continued, "We are not second- guessing you. We just want to know if there were any difficulties that could impact our tactics. I'm sure you did the best under the circumstances."

Hammel asked, "Are you going to render assistance?"

Jacobs thought, "We'll start heading that way, problem is we have an ongoing operation and you are outside an effective zone that we need to be in. I'll make my decision to help before the Wisconsin crosses that line. I need you to understand that by helping you we could compromise our operation, which could mean the lives of the hostages."

"You mean you aren't going to help us?"

Jacobs breathed deeply to help keep calm. "I didn't say that. Before I put us outside our zone, I need to be convinced that your situation is dire and is worth putting the hostages further at risk."

Hammel was mad, "You think I'm lying? We are severely damaged! I can't believe you would abandon another Starfleet officer! What is it about your 'zone' that you can't leave? You paid a visit to your good buddy Troy the other day, why not me?"

Jacobs was trying to think where this conversation first started going bad. Maybe a little explanation. "Sir, you said that you lost your warp core, which was detonated at close proximity. Damage includes severe structural damage, circuit burnouts, computer burnouts, and numerous casualties. You do have impulse power, therefore life support, minimal maneuvering, and defense. By those standards, you are not in dire need of help. If you are maintaining that you are in dire need of help, there is something else that is wrong that you haven't told me yet. Either way, we are on our way to help, but may not get there unless your situation worsens and our 'zone' becomes invalid."

"This ship is falling apart on me; I need help now! Why is this zone so important that you can't go outside for a short time?"

Jacobs shook his head. "I'm not at liberty to say. Captain, you need to calm down and deal with your situation. Get your shuttlecraft fired up, use them for power and life support as needed. I'll contact Starfleet and we'll get something organized for your crew."

"I'm going to remember this Jacobs, I'll get even."

Jacobs nodded his head. "Revenge can be a power motivation to keep oneself alive. If that's what you need, keep thinking that. Good day, Captain." And with that he pushed the end transmission button.

All was quiet in the briefing room. Jacobs looked around to Leonaidas and Bauer. "Well, that could have gone better. Jack, try to analyze what we learned. Figure out what we need to get the bad guys."

Bauer nodded. "You know he was grandstanding. Making a statement. He got caught without thinking the situation through."

Jacobs nodded and raised a finger. "Yes, we know that, but can't prove that. It's not our concern but the admiralty. Let's keep our own house in order. Gentlemen, I need to go to the bridge."