Chapter 03- Luau
NEW HAVEN RANCH
STARBASE 5 NORTHERN CONTENENT
DAY 1 OF SHORE LEAVE
Gibbs finished materializing and started walking up to the large ranch house. The spread was quite large, a barn, couple of silos, buildings, and a road that went off to the north over a small hill. The layout was nice in that the buildings did not dominate the view, the view was great of the rolling hills, nearby woods, and the sky of course. As Gibbs walked to the main house, an older gentlemen stepped out wearing jeans and western-cut shirt, and of course cowboy hat.
The gentlemen stepped down the few steps and extended a hand to Gibbs, "You must be Lt. Gibbs."
Gibbs shook his hand and nodded, "Yes Sir. Admiral McGongle, I presume?"
McGongle smiled, "I'm retired now son. Please call me George."
Gibbs nodded and kept silent. McGongle looked at what Gibbs was carrying. He had a large duffle bag in one hand and a very large weapon in the other. "Captain Jacobs mentioned you were going to try to do some hunting for their luau. That the gun you're going to shoot?"
Gibbs unslung the weapon, "Yes, Sir. Do you know about firearms?"
McGongle nodded, "I've fired a Colt .45 Frontier model c1865."
Gibbs smiled, "A fine weapon. Same principle as this, but this is a whole lot more powerful."
McGongle looked at the weapon as Gibbs presented it. Gibbs explained, "This is a Barrett .50 caliber semi-automatic sniper rifle. It holds ten rounds in the magazine. Optics are a 20-power scope on the front, with laser rangefinder integrated into the scope. The round is fired in excess of 3000 feet per second."
McGongle whistled, "Lethal out to how far?"
Gibbs looked him in the eye, "Mile to mile and a half."
McGongle was amazed. "Is that the mission for today?"
Gibbs nodded, "You find the target, I pop him. How far away are the boars?"
McGongle pointed to one of the sheds and started to walk. "A few hundred miles. We'll go there in a shuttle. We can use the scanners to find the boars and then you can shoot."
Gibbs nodded, "Sounds like a successful time for me. Sir, how do you know Captain Jacobs?"
McGongle explained, "He was on a ship that was based out of Starbase 5 for years, and I was the base Admiral. We had a good working relationship. He turns out good people. Can you shoot from the door?"
Gibbs answered, "As long as you keep it steady, that would be good practice for me. You'll need some ear protection. I brought some just in case."
McGongle reached the shed and opened the large door. Inside were some farm equipment along with a couple of small shuttles. "We'll take the one on the left. I've got the licenses for your hunt done already, fortunately, Starbase 5 is largely a frontier type planet."
Both got into the shuttle, and McGongle flew the ship out the door and turned south. Gibbs looked around at the lush countryside. "Good land around here."
McGongle started his explanation, "The climate here is approximately like the American Midwest. We grow crops here just like in America, and raise cattle too. Ranch New Haven produces almost a third of the food consumed by the civilians on the planet. The thing that makes it easy is the soil is extremely rich."
Gibbs looked around. "How large is your ranch?"
McGongle answered, "First, it's not my ranch, I just run it for the owner. Our size right now is about twenty square miles, growing all the time."
Gibbs was not easily impressed, but was at that. "Who is the owner?"
McGongle smiled, "They don't want to be known, for various reasons. In their absence, they have given me free reign on running the ranch."
The two continued on and chatted a bit. Gibbs was surprised on how friendly and helpful Admiral McGongle was. Gibbs' experience was that Admirals usually were so lofty as to be unapproachable. McGongle was different. Gibbs asked, "How long were you in Starfleet?"
"Thirty years, all of it great. Tell you the truth, I miss it a bit. Your ship The Wisconsin seems to be quite a ship though. Your Captain has told me quite a bit and I think your niche is going to be important as time goes on."
Gibbs smiled, "Sir, were you always at Starbase 5?"
McGongle shook his head, "No, just the last five years of my career. I was a starship captain for fifteen years before that. On the Indianapolis mostly."
Gibbs turned, "Why did you take ground duty?"
McGongle answered. "No choice, my last tour, last action on the Indianapolis we were attacked by Orions, 3 to 1 odds. We gave a good fight but was taking severe damage. We had to evacuate the bridge and set up a temporary bridge in engineering. We took another hit and warp coolant started venting into the engineering compartment. I ordered everyone on masks while I worked to prevent a warp core breach. I ended up inhaling some coolant and lost most of my lung capacity. Sensors are showing our first boar."
Gibbs took the rifle out of the case and loaded it. McGongle nodded and Gibbs opened the door on the left side. The shuttle was perfect for this, he could shoot out the door while sitting down. McGongle, sitting on the right side, turned the shuttle to the side so Gibbs could see the boar. Gibbs saw the movement and decided to try the first shot without the bipod set up. He was holding the Barrett freehanded and looked through the scope. He saw something moving in the tall weeds. McGongle asked, "You see him yet?"
Gibbs answered, "Yes, Sir if you want to watch, take this." Gibbs pulled a small transceiver from his pocket and turned something on the scope. Handing the transceiver to McGongle he said. "Plug this into your datacard slot. You will see exactly what I do through the scope.
McGongle did and a nice picture came up. McGongle could see the boar moving through the grass along with crosshairs with mil marks. At the bottom he saw the range in meters. Gibbs announced, "Taking the shot." And McGongle found he held his breath. When Gibbs shot, McGongle didn't so much hear the shot as feel the small explosion from the gun. The range meter read 427 and the boar dropped instantly. Gibbs did not take thirty seconds.
McGongle landed and the two went out to dress and wrap the first boar. While they were doing that McGongle mentioned, "That gun is fearsome. It feels like an explosion when it went off."
Gibbs while he was cutting answered, "It does at that. This weapon originally was a sniper weapon that was used not only on people, but also on light vehicles. With one shot, you could shoot a person sitting behind a quarter inch of glass and kill them at a thousand yards. The toughest part of the shot is having the right scope."
McGongle asked, "Would that round go through small shuttles like this?"
Gibbs shook his head, "Probably not without some help in the round. I saw you had a road though. Road vehicles are relatively soft, most likely this thing could shoot straight through that windshield or sheet metal and still be lethal."
McGongle observed, "As long as you hit the person in the head though."
Gibbs quietly remarked, "Nope, if I hit them anywhere, they're dead. The round is so large and fast that it creates a shockwave that destroys living tissue. Head, hand, foot, doesn't matter, they are still just as dead."
McGongle asked, "Klingons also?"
Gibbs smirked, "Probably, I haven't tried yet."
After they got the first boar loaded up, they took off and looked for the second. It wasn't long and Gibbs was looking at him through his scope. "Well Admiral, can you back me off a few hundred yards? I want this one to be a long shot. A long shot without help, I'm turning off my gizmos. You will still be able to look at your screen though."
McGongle complied and watched. Gibbs estimated the yardage about 900, slight wind from the left, and not much down angle. McGongle was hovering near the ground. Gibbs unfolded the bipod and laid down on the floor. He grabbed a small sandbag and used it as his adjustment brace with the stock. He could squeeze the bag and it would move the stock slightly altering his aim. McGongle watched the screen and saw that the boar was way out of the crosshairs. Suddenly Gibbs shot and the boar fell. Turning on the rangefinder, the reading was 825. McGongle complemented, "Nice shot."
Gibbs frowned, "Almost missed. I misjudged the distance and almost shot over him."
McGongle mentioned, "You were aiming to the left."
Gibbs nodded, "Windage. I looked at the grass and it looks like about 10 knots of wind. My mistake was the elevation. I elevated for 900 yards and we were a bit closer."
McGongle complemented, "Still hit him though."
"I almost missed him, practically scalped him. That's why I do this, practice."
McGongle landed near the boar. "Well, Mr. Gibbs, you can come practice at New Haven Ranch anytime. It's entertaining watching you."
"Thank you, sir."
The two dressed, bagged, and loaded up the boar on the shuttle. Gibbs asked, "All the Captain said was to bag the boars, what now?"
McGongle answered, "I have a man that is going to prep the boars for the roast. We're also bringing down a roaster on the night of your luau. Which night do you have?"
"The one in two days, I got first shift. You bringing them?"
McGongle nodded, "The owner of the ranch is a big Starfleet fan. I have orders to help Starfleet personnel enjoy themselves here at Starbase 5. We will be bringing all the food to your luau."
Gibbs was amazed, "That must be expensive. He must really appreciate us."
McGongle smiled, "He does. As I said before, the ranch supplies about a third of the food on the planet. We don't supply the Starfleet facility though."
Gibbs turned, "Why not?"
McGongle looked back. "Primarily paperwork, red tape. Admiral Adama has tried, but the owner prefers to sell to all the civilians outside the starbase. Nearly every restaurant and grocery store here have food come from us, it is more work, but we don't have to mess with government contracts."
Gibbs nodded, "I guess so."
IKV KLOLODE
BRIEFING ROOM
The last officer came in and sat down. Kang was at the head of the table and started the briefing. "We got an intelligence report that I want you all to be aware of. The Federation is continuing to field these new ships with the new warp nacelles. As you are aware, the Klingon high command wants data concerning this new group of ships, so whenever we come across a Starfleet vessel, be sure that you have your scanners set to record. We want power output, efficiency, materials if possible, and of course anything you come up that is noteworthy."
Kang continued pushing a button and causing the main viewscreen in the room to display schematics and a photo of the Wisconsin. "Of particular interest to us is this ship. She is brand new, on her first cruise."
Kang's weapon officer asked, "It looks like a Constitution class vessel with new engines. What is so different?"
Kang looked to Mara, who got up and walked to the screen and pointed to the ship's engines at first, "This ship has a new weapon, they call it the EMP. Basically, we think it sends out a pulse and disables all forms of technology for a short time. The ship also can still fight without power."
All were amazed, the engineer asked, "How do they accomplish that?"
Mara continued, "We are not sure, but this ship recently attacked a Norsican pirate base. There was a five-minute time where the data dropped out, likely due to them firing their EMP. During this time, the ship fired their new phasers. We think it was either one bank twice or two banks at different times. Power output is comparable to what the high command thinks their new phasers used."
The Klingons looked amazed. Kang was an unusual commander. Most Klingon commanders tended to be brute-force in their thinking on problem solving. This line of thinking also extended to how they run their ship, if a commander held a briefing, it tended to be a lecture, with the commander telling his subordinates the information and no questions asked. Kang was different and had different results than most commanders, a success rate that was unparalleled and had a unique distinction. Kang was the only commander to have captured the Enterprise, for a brief amount of time. This had the effect of launching him to legendary status.
Kang continued, "Also during this time of blackout, they managed to board two landing parties to rescue hostages the Norsicans held captive. I know what you all think of Starfleet, and I want you all to consider this ship a ship of warriors. They managed to land what we think was a dozen men, rescue hostages, and wreak havoc on the base. Infantry."
The infantry commander looked up, "Sir!"
Kang handed him a chip, "I want you to look at the aftermath of what they did, analyze it and inform me what you find. This much I know, they use explosives in their tactics, lots of them."
The infantry commander blinked, "That is a change in their doctrine. The Federation believes it to be too random of a weapon."
Kang nodded as he passed out more chips to the other officers, "There is much about this ship that is different. On this chip is the data we have shown you, also what we think are the likely capabilities of that ship. Included is a government hearing concerning the building of that ship that was broadcast to their public. It is very informative on not only the design of the ship, but of the ship's commander. Watch it also and I want you all to give me reports within a week. This ship is slated to be patrolling out of Starbase 5, which means we will stand a good chance running into it. I want us to be ready for combat."
All the officers nodded. Kang stood first and said, "To the success of the Empire!"
All stood at once and said, "To the success of the Empire!"
BRIDGE
USS WISCONSIN
AFTERNOON DAY 1 OF SHORE LEAVE
Jacobs was sitting in the Captain's chair. The bridge was still fully staffed; however, the rest of the ship was down to half complement. He was looking over some reports, normally done in his ready room, however with the ship on skeleton complement, Jacobs did not want to take away someone else's rest when he could still sit CONN and read these reports. Not much to do but make sure the ship does not fall out of the sky.
Jareau turned to him and said, "Mr. Leonaidas is calling from the surface."
Jacobs smiled, "Thank you JJ." Pushing a button on his chair he spoke, "Leo, how are you getting set up?"
"Very fine sir, you got some prime property here on the beach. Everyone has staked out their spots for their tents, we have people swimming and it looks like to be a day in Paradise. Sir, Admiral Adama brought over one of the emergency shelter shuttles from the Starbase."
Jacobs said, "He mentioned he was going to do that, it should help everyone out to get a fresh shower in the morning. Also, I don't want you guys digging a hole for an outhouse on my beach there."
Leo laughed, "Agreed, but I don't think you understand. HE brought it over."
The smile went away on Jacobs' face. "Is he there right now?"
Adama's voice came over the speaker, "He is. Josh, you got a wonderful spot here. I would like to talk to you privately."
Jacobs wondered what was going on, "In a minute sir, let me get to my ready room." Jacobs pushed the com button and said to Jareau, "JJ, transfer it to my ready room please. Mr. Agathon?"
Agathon turned from the nav console, "Sir?"
"You have the conn. Don't hit anything." Jacobs chuckled as he went to the ready room.
In the ready room, Jacobs sat down and pushed the button designated for the transmission, "Admiral, I'm alone. What is going on?"
Adama's voice came over the speaker, "Sorry to do this like this, but I'm not sure what is going on either. Admiral Clayborne is on his way out to Starbase 5 on Excalibur. He's having me hold some cargo vessels for wargames. That's all I know."
"Why go to the trouble to use one of my crew's communicators?"
Admiral answered, "Because I don't want him to know we made contact."
Jacobs thought, "We're not breaking regs."
Adama explained, "It's obvious to me he's after you. I don't know what it is, but I want you to have as much heads up as possible. I don't know what you should be ready for, but it's going to be a wargame with cargo ships, probably the Excalibur, and you. Also, if he sees that we've had no contact, then you got some surprise."
Jacobs said, "Thank you Admiral, we'll start looking at the tea leaves to figure something out. As long as you are there, might as well enjoy yourself."
Adama was thankful, "I'd love to, but the office calls. I'll talk to you soon. Here is Mr. Leonaidas."
Leonaidas' voice came through, "What do you want to do Josh? Cancel shore leave?"
Jacobs chuckled, "No, I'd have a mutiny. You guys enjoy the next couple of days, we're going to start kicking stuff around up here. Tonight, after your dinner, have a brief meeting with the section heads down there to start thinking the problem over. We'll do our homework up here, day after tomorrow on the handoff between shoreleaves, let's have a quick meeting with the heads and talk this over."
Leonaidas observed, "We can see the storm, we just don't know what kind of storm it is."
Jacobs continued, "So to continue the analogy, let's make sure our basics are up; food, water, and…"
Leonaidas interrupted, "Clean underwear if you get in an accident."
Jacobs finished, "You got it, have a nice leave Leo, see you in two days. Wisconsin out."
Jacobs thought a bit. What could it be? Time to do some serious thinking. He got up and went back to the bridge. Once on the bridge he said to Agathon, "Helo, call me if anything comes up. Let the department heads know we will have a working dinner tonight in the Briefing room, 18:00 hrs."
Agathon said, "Aye Aye sir, what about the heads that are on shore leave?"
Jacobs answered, "They can stay on their shore leave, I want the ones in charge that are on ship now."
Agathon nodded, "Aye sir."
Jacobs turned to the turbolift, "The bridge is yours."
RAPTOR SIMULATOR 1
USS WISCONSIN
Jacobs finished programming the starting conditions and climbed up in the sim. Buckling in the seat, he looked outside. The sim was presenting a view of the Grand Canyon airport. Finishing his checklists, he lifted off and turned toward the canyon. Crossing the ridge, he turned upstream and descended to a hundred feet above the Colorado river. He was not flying that fast, just about a hundred knots, fast enough to cover some distance, slow enough to enjoy the scenery.
He started thinking about Clayborne. Clayborne was doing this at the pressure of Jameson, to be sure. Maybe Jacobs needed to look at the problem from the backwards. Clayborne's goal would be to hurt the Wisconsin. How best to do that since a good portion of Starfleet was behind the Wisconsin concept? Do not let him. Well, that was obvious, but what would 'it' be? A wargame of some sort. Something that would seem to be 'fair' but in reality, wouldn't.
Fair or not fair. Sure as anything, Excalibur would be involved. Jacobs pushed a button for the computer, "Computer, set a reminder for me to ask Mr. Santini for an analysis on USS Excalibur." There was an acknowledging beep. OK, so we are expected to die in a loud and horrible manner at hands of Excalibur. What can we do to make it last longer? EMP? Is Wisconsin attacking or defending? Are the cargo ships going to be cargo ships in the wargame or simulating warships?
For that matter, who is commanding the Excalibur? The man is just as important as the machine. Jacobs hit the com button while making a tight turn above some rapids, "Jacobs to Hotchner."
Hotchner's voice came through, "Hotchner here."
Jacobs asked, "Did you get the dinner notice from Lt Agathon?"
Hotchner answered, "Yes, I will be there. Anything I can do in the meantime?"
Jacobs said, "Yes. Could you look up the commander of USS Excalibur? Start running a profile on him."
Hotchner spoke again, "Will do. Anything in particular?"
Jacobs thought a bit. "Actually yes, we might be placed in a wargame against him."
Hotchner said, "I'll start working on it."
"Thanks, Hotch. See you at 18:00"
Jacobs popped up and rolled inverted, he let the nose fall to the horizon then rolled upright again and pulled up level with the deck at 100 ft. He then twisted the main thruster throttle on full and the Raptor shot forward like a bullet. In no time he was supersonic, and Jacobs pulled up and did a half Cuban 8. Rolling wings level, he was flying back toward the airport at Mach 2, 100 ft above the ground. Coming over the field he chopped the throttle, rolled sideways, and did a hard turn to the left. He timed it fairly well, as he came around pointing at the airport, still had a bit too much speed and had to use reverse thrust for a bit. The touchdown was on the spot but a little hard.
Stepping out of the sim, Jacobs thought it would be great when the sims would get inertial dampeners. It would be almost impossible to tell you were in a box. TC was at the bottom of the stairs clapping, "They never heard the shockwave, their eardrums would be perforated."
Jacobs smiled. "I need to practice my combat landings; I came in too hot."
TC smiled his toothy smile, "Maybe, but everyone on the ground would need underwear change after hearing a sonic boom like you left. What were you doing?"
"Thinking. Carter is on shore leave, right?"
TC smiled, "Yes Sir. Helo just got a hold of me, I'll be there. What's it about?"
Jacobs thought out loud. "I wish I knew."
BRIEFING ROOM
USS WISCONSIN
18:00 HRS
Everyone sat down to the dinner. Pastor Octavian asked for the blessing then the food started being passed around. Jacobs asked the mess hall to prepare a family-style dinner where the officers would serve themselves. He felt it kept the mood a bit more informal, he did not want this to be a briefing.
Jacobs started off, "Everyone, thanks for coming. For those of you that are here in the place of your section heads, welcome, it is good for you to be involved like this."
TC just finished helping himself to some potatoes before passing it on down, "What is going on Sir?"
Jacobs answered, "I've been told that we might be involved in a wargame very soon. Probably just after shore leave."
Grimm asked, "What's the game?"
Jacobs shook his head, "I don't know, all I know is that it involves cargo ships and probably us, maybe the Excalibur."
Grimm was surprised, "It's out of drydock? I knew it was getting close."
Jacobs asked, "What do you know about her?"
Grimm thought a bit, "She is worth about two Enterprise class ships. That's a good rule, everything is doubled. Double power, double phasers, not quite double shields, but almost so. They can zap you no matter what angle you are to them. If you are directly in front, they can hit you with five phaser banks. As they pass by you, they can continue the phaser barrage."
Jacobs winced, "How long can she do that?"
Grimm answered, "I helped the design team. We took Commander Scott's experience with Enterprise's new phasers and ironed out the design for Wisconsin and Excalibur. They could theoretically keep up a continuous fire on a target, with some maneuvering."
TC asked, "Sir if I may?"
Jacobs said, "Absolutely, this is not a briefing. I want you all to talk, get some ideas that we can work on the next couple of days."
TC asked Grimm, "Do you know how it can maneuver?"
Grimm shook his head, "Not well. Specifics you will have to get somewhere else."
Lt. Tyrol chimed in, "I'll get on that. I'll pull everything engineering I can."
Lt. Jareau asked, "Do we know anybody on Excalibur?"
Hotchner answered, "I don't know him, but the Captain is Harold Jackson. I'm working on a background on him. A quick check on our crew turns up nothing significant. No officers have served with him."
Jacobs asked, "What about you all, do any of you know anybody on Excalibur?"
All shook their heads. Jacobs continued, "I would like each of you to look up your counterpart on Excalibur. We need to try to know the crew as well as the machine."
Teal'c asked, "What would the objective be?"
Jacobs quipped, "My cynical side would say the objective of the wargame is the downfall of the Wisconsin."
Teal'c pronounced, "Then we don't let that happen."
Jareau said dryly, "Easier said than done Teal'c"
Teal'c remarked, "Not at all, Lt. Jareau. We do not let them set the rules. We do not let them set the battleground. Admiral Clayborne will give the parameters of the wargame, so we will know how their trap is to be sprung."
Jacobs started thinking, "What are you saying Teal'c?"
Teal'c continued, "He will give the parameters. Are we sure the parameters are within guidelines from Starfleet's regulations on wargames?"
Jareau said, "How do we know what the parameters are? They haven't been given yet."
Teal'c nodded formally, then said, "Lt. Jareau, we do have the regulations on board, but do we really know them?"
Jacobs saw what Teal'c was saying, "No, we don't. We know in general, but not specifics. Here's another bit of homework for you the next couple of days, let's research all the regs on wargames. For example, is it allowable for us to use the EMP?"
Everyone was shaking their head. Agathon said quietly, "Wouldn't it be great to capture the Excalibur?"
Jacobs blinked hard. The room was quiet. Jacobs asked, "What are you thinking Helo?"
Agathon continued, "Isn't the saying 'The best defense is a good offense' applicable?"
Jacobs nodded, "Maybe, how do you apply it?"
Agathon said, "Let's get them."
Tyrol observed, "A whole lot easier said than done."
Agathon nodded, "Maybe, but what if we could?"
Jacobs said, "How would we do it?"
Agathon shook his head, "I don't know how. But we know that we can't go toe-to-toe with them. So, we'd have to capture them. That means Badgers on board."
Jacobs looked around, "Ok people, we have our work cut out for us before our turn at shore leave. Let's make it useful."
MALUAKA BEACH
STARBASE 5
LAST DAY OF SHIFT ONE'S SHORELEAVE, 2100 HRS
The Luau was finishing up. The food was terrific, entertainment provided by various skits of the Wisconsin crewmen. Leonaidas was laughing so hard at the science division's impromptu song of life on the Wisconsin that he had tears in his eyes. Things were calming down now; the music was provided by a music system that had speakers hidden in the tiki torches. Traditional, relaxing Hawaiian music was going on right now.
The officers gathered on the beach and Leonaidas started things off, "Well, guys, we go back to work tomorrow. I just talked with the Captain and they have had made a lot of progress thinking on the problem. I know you've been trying to relax, but anything come up in the last couple of days?"
Santini offered, "I really like Mr. Agathon's idea of capturing the Excalibur. The big problem is how to keep control of it."
Bauer asked, "How long would we need to hold it?"
Leonaidas guessed, "Long enough for the exercise to be over. I'd guess that it would have to be indefinitely."
Bauer shook his head, "Even if all the Badgers went over, we'd be outmanned 15 to 1. We'd never be able to control them."
Hornblower asked, "Can we knock them out? Gas them?"
Leonaidas shook his head, "I'll check the regs, but my guess is that we can't gas the ship. We're already in unconventional thinking territory, and we're going to have to go farther. How do we keep a crew of over 800 under control with less than 50 men? Or even less?"
There was no talk for a short time. One could hear various people talking all over the beach, light Hawaiian music, and the gentle surf in the background. Lt. Robin Reeves suddenly asked, "What if we didn't have to worry about the crew?"
Leonaidas sipped his fruit juice before asking, "How do we not worry about them?"
"What if we get them off the ship? Beam them off or something. We might have a lot of cargo ships on our side that could do the beaming."
Bauer corrected, "That's assuming that we're the defenders, not the aggressors. The scenario could be us attacking a convoy."
Lt. Reeves asked, "But what if we are the defenders, how long would it take to beam them off?"
All heads turned to Santini. Santini thought a bit. "We'd have to wait until after the EMP effect went away. I'm also assuming that none of the cargo ships would be 'damaged'. Assuming five ships using only the personnel transporters, six-man transporters, normal power cycling for a cargo ship would be probably one minute. That's thirty people a minute that we can beam off the Excalibur. It would take almost a half hour to get them all off."
All shook their heads at the figure. All could see the idea. It was almost like a big, dark blob hovering in front and you are supposed to describe it precisely. Santini started laughing, "What if they left by themselves?"
Leonaidas blinked, "How do you make a crew leave a ship?"
Santini continued his big belly laugh, "You make them want to leave."
MALUAKA BEACH
STARBASE 5
LAST DAY OF SHORELEAVE, 1800 HRS
Jacobs was sitting on a beach chair in the sand, almost laying down looking toward the ocean. There was a couple of islands a way off in the distance. He was extremely fortunate that he got this property. The sun was still above the horizon, would be for another hour, and the sea breeze was warm and relaxing. He heard his communicator chirp and he reached over to the table sitting next to him and flipped it open. "Jacobs here."
Lt. Reeves' voice was on the other end, "Sir, I hope you are having a good time."
"Wonderful Miss Reeves, just what the Doctor ordered. Everything ok up there?"
"Yes, sir. You have a call coming from the Tahiti. They just entered orbit and Captain Lopaka would like to talk to you."
This was a surprise. "Put him through, thank you."
Lopaka's voice came through, "Captain Jacobs, how are you doing?"
"Very well, thank you. What brings you here to Starbase 5?"
"Schedule change, evidently a former passenger of yours is very upset that he can't get back to Earth. He rattled some cages and we were diverted to pick him up."
Jacobs laughed at the audacity. "I assume your cruise line will be compensated."
Lopaka chuckled, "Very well, it's taxpayer dollars at work."
Jacobs had an idea. "How long is your layover?"
Lopaka answered, "Just a few hours, we transferred him up, but we hit an inspection point. First port of call after a warp 5 cruise requires inspection of our plasma guides. Not a long inspection, but not soon enough for the Senator."
Jacobs smiled, "Sounds like the Senator. Captain, I'm on shore leave right now."
Lopaka interrupted, "Yes, I found out, sorry to interrupt. When Miss Reeves told me, I told her not to bother, I'd get in touch next time we crossed bows. She insisted to connect me."
Jacobs nodded, "Absolutely. Why don't you beam down to these coordinates, we're just about to start a Luau and you're invited."
Lopaka laughed, "I'll be down in fifteen minutes."
Jacobs got up and walked to the main area where the table was set. Off in the distance they could smell the second boar being roasted, and a private shuttle was just landing on the primitive pad a short distance away. The crew started making their way to help carry the rest of the food to the table. The rear door opened and Admiral McGongle greeted them, "Food is here!"
Jacobs smiled, "About time!" Everyone pitched in and in a short time the shuttle was emptied. A second shuttle landed on the corner of the pad and Sam Cogley and his pilot stepped out. He brought a big case with him. Jacobs joked, "Sam, we got food!"
Cogley joked back, "If McGongle brought it, it's probably rotten!"
McGongle shot back, "No, it's good. I only give lawyers the rotten food."
Jacobs looked to the men, "Glad you could make it Sam. Let me get a hold of Ian." He opened his communicator, "Jacobs to Octavian."
The speaker on the communicator crackled with a British voice, "Octavian here."
"We're up at the landing platform."
"I'll be right there."
The three men chatted a short time then Octavian showed up. "Ian, glad you could make it. Ok, Sam, George, how are things going?"
McGongle started, "Very good, the ranch is running terrific. We've had good crops, and good people. Most of the kids that work here do end up going into Starfleet, good news is that they all have been success stories. The foremen have all signed up for another year, and I don't anticipate any problems."
Cogley finished, "The fund is ready to be used. As you can see, the shuttle should work nicely."
Jacobs observed, "I did notice. It almost looks Orion."
Cogley smiled, "That's because it is. I found it for sale over in the triangle. It's all legal, but a rarity in and of itself."
Jacobs nodded. "And Pastor, what about your items?"
Octavian looked back at each of them, "All ready. Sam, any planet you go to, you'll have somebody to escort you. Gentlemen, I thank you for each part you play in this."
The others nodded, Jacobs answered, "Glad to be able to do it. As I've said before, it's the least I could do. The Lord has blessed me tremendously, and it's my responsibility to glorify him with this. Ian?"
Octavian nodded, "Let's Pray. Lord, we thank you for this group. We thank you for saving us, and using us the way you have. Now Lord, with this opportunity that has come, we ask you to bless it to glorify you. In Jesus name, Amen."
Jacobs looked at each of them. "Guys, I think we have some food to eat, let's enjoy the table set before us!"
Out at the table overlooking the beach, Lopaka was talking to some of the Badgers he saw during his rescue. Lopaka looked at the Captain and smiled, "Captain, you dressed for the event!"
Jacobs was dressed in surfing shorts and Hawaiian shirt, "It is shore leave, I see you did the same!"
Lopaka laughed, "Captain, please. If I may, I offer a gift?"
Jacobs asked, "You don't have to."
Lopaka said, "Your crew's rescue of my ship was wonderful. This is the least we can do." He opened his communicator and said, "Transporter room, coordinates are good, energize."
A crate beamed down next to where the food table with the extras. Lopaka walked over and opened it up. "Chilled juice from Hawaii. It's a mixture, called POG."
Jacobs asked, "POG? What is that?"
"A mixture of three juices. It's best when fresh of course. Enough for all of us tonight."
The evening went well, excellent food, and the crew plus guests had a great time. It was a wonderful time to relax. At the end, Lopaka beamed back to the Tahiti and everyone started going off to their own tents. Jacobs retired to his tent, on the beach with a nice breeze blowing through. It took him all of five seconds to fall asleep.
