Star Trek : Wisconsin - 4 Mission to Maghreb

by Mashal Wisconsin

What happens when a pre-warp civilization is contacted by somebody other than the Federation, such as the Klingons? How does the Prime Directive apply? How does the Organian treaty regulate the interaction between the Federation and the Klingons? The USS Wisconsin must navigate these issues plus the fact that Maghreb has a large supply of dilithium. Join us now for this adventure!

11. Chapter 9

Chapter 409

HALLWAY OUTSIDE CARGO BAY 2

USS WISCONSIN

Jacobs and Leonaidas were waiting for the match players. Leonaidas asked, "Did you think this was going to get this big?"

On the other side of the door, they could hear the crowd. Jacobs shook his head, "I think I misjudged this." It sounded like the whole crew was waiting. "I got to complement Dom on fashioning a regulation Parisses square court in the cargo bay in such a short time."

"Mitchell ticked off Kaylee." Leonaidas answered.

"That figures. He has ticked off just about everyone on this ship. Now I can see why Dom was so enthusiastic on making the court. Kaylee is turning into his daughter."

"Here comes Mr. Anders." Leonaidas pointed out.

Anders was walking up carrying his headgear. Official Parisses' squares uniforms were typically a close-fitting body suit with a shoulder pad on one shoulder along with other pads strategically located in other places. The outfit allowed maximum agility along with some protection. Jacobs said, "Looks like your old outfit, superstitious?"

Anders shrugged, "It's comfortable. I have kept it and scrimmage Teal'c in it."

Leonaidas chuckled, "Looks like the years haven't been good on your outfit."

Anders smiled, "To quote an action hero, it's not the years, but the mileage."

Jacobs smiled, "Good luck Hattrick. What's your strategy?"

Anders looked evenly, not arrogant, or proud, just simply stating fact, "Score, defend, attack."

Jacobs did not understand. "Well, good luck."

Anders went through the doors and the crowd inside erupted in cheers. Jacobs looked down the hall and saw Mitchell walking up. "Well, Mr. Mitchell, are you ready for tonight?"

Mitchell smiled broadly, "I'm always ready sir, big sendoff?"

Jacobs shook his head, "No, just here to wish you luck. I want a good, clean game in there."

Michell's continued smiling, "Anders insisted on a referee. It will be a game according to the rules. In a way, that is good."

Leonaidas asked, "How's that?"

Mitchell looked at him, still with an irritating smirk, "Anders' isn't going to be able to complain when he loses."

Jacobs nodded, "I'm looking forward to watching."

"You coming inside?"

Jacobs shook his head, "No, I'll be watching as duty permits from my ready room. It's been arranged that your match is going to be on shipwide video. Have a good match, Mr. Mitchell."

Mitchell's smile broadened, "I will. I'll try not to hurt Anders too badly." Mitchell turned and walked into the gymnasium, and the crowd quieted noticeably.

Jacobs said, "Let's get to my ready room Leo." The two walked off to the turbolift.

CARGO BAY 2

Santini did a masterful job squeezing a Parisses square into the available cargo bay. The makeshift setup that Anders and Teal'c use just would not do for this match. Santini wanted a proper arena. Parisses squares is played with a ball smaller than a volleyball but larger than a softball. The ball is inflated to make it bounce. A regulation Parisses squares court is a cube forty feet on a side with holes in the center of each of the six faces of the cube. The holes are large enough to let the ball go through, but it is not an easy shot. Each of the holes has a light around it to signify the goal. Each team is color coded and their goal is signified by the lights around the holes, with the opposing team's goal always opposing your team's goal.

Parisses' squares is named after the discoverer of the gravity wave, Francois Parisses. The discovery led to anti-gravity and artificial gravity, which play an integral part of the game. The game ball has an anti-gravity generator in it, and it will not fall to the floor in the court. Also, each player has an anti-gravity unit on them which when turned on makes them weigh one tenth their weight. Players can bound off the ceilings if they want to or run on the floor to gain speed, then jump. The controls for the on/off switch are simple, a big button on the chest.

Lastly, there is one more thing to challenge the players, the goals change every five seconds according to a well-known but complex formula. Good players can anticipate when the goals are going to change, great players know where they are going to change. With goals that change position every five seconds, a ball that doesn't fall, players that can negate most of their weight, and teams of five; Parisses' squares is the fastest-pace team sport ever invented. It also is one of the most popular. Played in teams of five, it is like watching a basketball game with hockey-style checks into the walls. Professional games have as many fights as hockey but one-on-one generally is focused more on goal making. Bottom line is that it takes goals to win a match.

Santini not only had the court made up to regulation, he had the top half made in transparent aluminum and fashioned a deck for the crowd to watch through the clearview top half. Many people decided to get involved in the grudge match. Lt. Jareau installed some video sensor pickups and even had volunteers to run the cameras. Pastor Octavian volunteered to run the clock and scoreboard. When it was heard how many people were planning to attend, somebody hooked up a microphone and speaker system for him to give play-by-play. Lt. Grimm brought down a piano keyboard and plugged in and was playing pep-band songs. Dr. Mallard and Dr. Blake were on standby in case if, or when, somebody got hurt. And finally, Lt. Teal'c got somebody to sew on white stripes on his Badger uniform to make it look like a referee's uniform. Teal'c also had an anti-grav harness on.

Teal'c stood in the center of the court by the bottom goal and motioned to the players to come forward. Mitchell and Anders stepped forward and stood opposite the goal with Teal'c in between, much like two basketball players facing off for a jump ball. Teal'c handed each of them their respective harness and while they put them on along with their headgear, he started stating the rules. "As you both agreed to earlier, this match will be played according to standard FPSA regulations. The match will be three periods, fifteen minutes each. Five-minute breaks, twenty second breaks with the clock stopped after each goal, regulation goal changing, no holding on the ball more than five seconds, and no hitting below the belt or above the base of the neck. I expect a good, clean, match. Take your positions!"

The opposite sides turned red/blue and Mitchell took the red side while Anders took the blue. Teal'c placed the ball in the floor in the goal and the light around it turned green. Teal'c backed away, raised his hand, checked each player was in the proper place, and dropped his hand while he blew the whistle. The clock started and the ball shot out of the bottom goal straight up. Anders and Mitchell started running at the center. Octavian started his commentary, "Game's on! Both players charging hard toward the ball. It just rebounded off the ceiling and is coming back down."

Anders hit his anti-grav and jumped up for the ball. Mitchell hit his anti-grav and jumped as well, but not after the ball. Just as Anders was about to grab the ball, Mitchell took his shoulder and hit Anders square in the gut, knocking both out of the reach of the ball. Mitchell turned his anti-grav off, rolled both of them and they fell back down to the floor with Mitchell on top. The goals changed, Mitchell jumped up with anti-grav off, grabbed the ball, and threw it at his goal, scoring. Octavian announced, "Point Mitchell, after a hard tackle of Anders. Clock is stopped for twenty seconds as each return to his side."

Leonaidas said, "That hit had to smart."

Jacobs nodded, "About like a solid tackle. Anders had his anti-grav on so they did not hit as hard as he could. I wonder what happened?"

Leonaidas shrugged, "Do not know. Could Anders have misjudged Mitchell? Here comes the next ball."

Teal'c blew the whistle and the next ball was launched. Mitchell was smiling with a pure look of evil and immediately launched up for the ball. Anders hit his anti-grav button and jumped up a bit and grabbed the goal immediately above him. Mitchell got the ball and threw it at his goal, but Anders easily caught the ball. Instead of throwing it at his goal, he dropped back down on the floor as Mitchell bounded off the ceiling at Anders. Anders hit the floor, launched straight up at the goal on the ceiling and timed it perfectly, the goal changed to blue and he tossed the ball easily into the goal. Octavian yelled, "Goal Anders, perfectly timed with the switch."

The next ball was launched and Mitchell went for the ball. Anders went and grabbed Mitchell by the legs and threw him away from the ball. The ball bounced off the wall, both men rebounded and went after the ball. Mitchell grabbed the ball. Leonaidas observed, "Anders didn't go for the ball."

Jacobs added, "He also didn't hit Mitchell anywhere near as hard as he could have." Mitchell grabbed the ball but Anders' momentum carried him into the wall. The two grappled a bit then Anders let Mitchell up. Jacobs said, "What is Anders doing?" Mitchell threw the ball at his goal just as the goals changed. The ball went in the hole, but it was now a neutral hole, Mitchell's goal on the adjacent wall. Anders launched after Mitchell pushing him away, caught the ball as it was launched out the hole, and twisted to throw it in his goal.

Anders was scoring play after play. Leonaidas said, "I'm not sure what Anders is doing, but he is clearly running the score up."

Jacobs chuckled, "Worse than that, Anders is letting Mitchell make mistakes and capitalizing off them. Mitchell clearly is not keeping time carefully enough because he keeps throwing at goals just before they change."

Leonaidas said, "It is tough to keep time in a confusing situation like that. The goal changes every five seconds."

Jacobs said, "Yes, and not only is Anders keeping track of time and Mitchell is not, Anders is timing when to let Mitchell try a goal because Anders knows it's too late. Anders has even thrown balls at goals before they change, then they change while the ball is in midair, point for Anders. It's masterful."

Leonaidas saw what Anders was doing, "Proving to everyone who knows the game. Mitchell is out of his league."

The ball rebounded off a wall and Anders grabbed it. Mitchell was frustrated that he only scored one goal. Anders must be cheating; he obviously knew where the next goal was going to be. Mitchell was chasing Anders who was running away from his goal. What is this idiot doing? Anders got to the other wall and instead of turning or stopping, he hit the anti-grav and used his momentum to take two steps up the wall. Anders jumped off the wall and did a backward summersault throwing the ball at his goal while he was inverted. Mitchell was looking over his shoulder while he was trying to turn around.

The next few goals were simply amazing. Leonaidas remarked, "His first goals were showing us that he knows the timing and pattern of the goals changing. Now he's showing his athletic and gymnastic ability. I've never seen the flips and twists like this before."

Jacobs remarked, "I have, the Olympics. I wonder what is next. Pass me some more Doritoes please." Leonaidas handed them over. "Also, it's plain that Mitchell is trying to play rough, but Anders keeps avoiding the shots, at least the worst of them."

Leonaidas munched on some of his chips, "If it were anybody else, I'd say he was avoiding a fight. But it's more than that. He's doing some stuff like what we train the Badgers."

Jacobs asked, "How do you mean?"

"He's obviously seeing Mitchell's attacks. He's using Mitchell's energy against him. Mitchell takes a swing; Anders does not block but avoids then uses the momentum to put Mitchell out of position. Mitchell is trying to hurt Anders, but Anders is doing a great job not letting that happen. But he is not responding, that is the puzzling thing."

Jacobs nodded, "I'd have taken a swing by now."

Leonaidas agreed, "Me too, but he has not. I wonder why?"

The final few minutes was spent with Anders making bank shots. He was throwing the ball, hitting a wall, then on the rebound it would go in the proper goal. Jacobs remarked, "Bank shots."

Leonaidas said, "It's quite a show. He's also putting spin on them, it's the only way to make it work."

Jacobs took a sip of his juice. "I didn't notice that."

Leonaidas laughed, "You, the pilot, major of math, master of geometry didn't realize that?"

Jacobs smiled embarrassingly, "No, I missed that."

Leonaidas said, "Watch his shots, they aren't rebounding in the classical sense, think like pool bank shots. I'm telling you; he's putting spin on the ball."

Jacobs watched carefully, "You are right. That's amazing."

Time ran out and the buzzer sounded. Each player returned to his side, and a door opened in the wall next to each player. Pell stepped through a door with a stool for Mitchell to sit on. Mitchell was breathing hard, "That guy is infuriating, and he's a cheat!" Mitchell took the offered water and started drinking.

Pell said, "Everything looks legit to me."

"Ever play squares? No, I did not think so. Just shut up Pell." Mitchell angrily took the towel and toweled off a bit. "I'm going to get him good this period. Hey, what's that?"

Some of the crew started coming through Anders' door. Jareau brought in a stool, Lt. Reeves brought in some water, Maya brought in some towels, Chief Kaylee brought in some towels also, and Sharon Valerii brought in some Gatorade. All of them are beautiful women. Mitchell said, "Hey! What's with that! I want some of them over here!"

The girls finished up and went back outside the court, Anders thanking them. Mitchell was incensed. "I'm going to teach him a lesson."

Pell asked, "Sure you are, man. What are you gonna do?"

"I'm going to take his head clean off."

BRIDGE

USS EXCALIBUR

Jackson and Morrow walked in from the Captain's ready room after having obviously a lengthy discussion. Jackson looked to Lt. Holt. "Hail the Klolode, I'd like to speak to Kang. Visual."

Holt said, "Aye aye, sir."

In a minute she responded, "Kang's ready."

"On screen miss Holt." Jackson put on his best, stern face he could.

Kang's image came on the screen. He was sitting in his command chair. "This is Kang." He said in his usual slow, dry voice.

"Kang, we do not have established protocols for this, so I am just going to inform you that we've been retasked. Excalibur will be leaving in a few days."

Kang did not show any surprise. He did not show anything. Jackson thought that this guy would have won many hands at poker with his poker face. Kang said, "What is Starfleet going to do to accommodate your ambassador? Surely, they will not leave them on the ground with a Klingon warship in orbit overhead."

Jackson was not sure, but he thought he detected sarcasm in Kang's voice. More humor? Maybe a try at responding? Better make sure that his own poker face was still in place.

BRIDGE

IKV KLOLODE

Kang was looking at Jackson's image on the viewer. Kang was studying Jackson's face. Jackson responded with an even, stern face. He was trying to act so Vulcan, Kang thought. Jackson responded, "Kang, believe it or not, if it was anybody else but you, I would be worried about our contingent on the surface. However, no, Starfleet is not going to leave them alone. That is also why I wanted to inform you as to what my orders are. Another starship is being dispatched to relieve me."

Kang said dispassionately, "Which one?"

Jackson responded flatly, "The Wisconsin."

Kang continued, "So you won't be worried with me in orbit with a Federation Cruiser."

Jackson said with sarcasm, "No, not unless you have a cloaked ship nearby."

Kang ignored the sarcasm, but what the human said was troubling. This Jackson struck a nerve without realizing it. Kang looked at the viewscreen again, "Will you give me your word that this is not to outgun my ship?"

Jackson said, "On my honor, this is simply to exchange ships. I will probably have a short meeting with Captain Jacobs then I'll be off. And Kang, you already know why I must leave. We are responding to a calculated move by the Klingon High Command. If you do not know, then somebody is using you as a pawn, and I would find that hard to believe."

Kang slowly nodded. He was thinking fast, the High Command was doing something to draw the Excalibur away? He did not know of anything that was authorized. Could he get more information out of Jackson? Should he try something sly or hit the nail on the head? Sly was for Romulans. "It is unfortunate that you are being drawn away, Captain. I will be blunt but truthful. I know of nothing that would draw you away from here. What is drawing you away?"

Jackson tried to keep his surprise from showing, and was almost able to keep it from Kang. Jackson said obliquely said, "Suspected Klingon maneuvers on the neutral zone."

Kang nodded, "Thank you Captain. We await the arrival of the Wisconsin."

Kang was about to cut the signal when Jackson said, "And Kang…"

Kang said, "Yes?"

Jackson said totally deadpan, "Don't call me Shirley." And the transmission was cut.

Kang looked at Mara and said, "What do you think?"

Mara said, "About which item?"

Kang said, "The most threatening to us."

"What is going on with the High Command, I know of no maneuvers by the neutral zone. Most of the fleet's ships are tied up with the war with the Cardassians. We have enough ships on the neutral zone for a deterrent, but not an invasion of Federation space." Mara pointed out.

Kang ordered, "Display a map from us to the whole Federation Neutral zone. Show all known Klingon positions." The map displayed on the main viewer. Kang walked up and studied it a bit. He pointed to one indicator near the Neutral zone. "This one is new. What is it?"

Mara typed a bit on the computer. "It's the Kah'less!"

Kang turned, "Our battleship? That was supposed to be kept top secret! What is their patrol zone?"

Mara pushed a few more buttons, and the patrol area popped up that ran along a portion of the zone. Kang angrily noticed, "They wanted to specifically draw away the Excalibur! This patrol zone is not that near to strategic Federation assets, but close enough to make the Excalibur the logical ship to respond."

Mara said, "They could be at Vulcan in a few days. If the Federation saw that they would respond."

Kang shook his head. "If so, the patrol area would be more over here." Kang motioned. "If it was over there, then the Federation may respond with other ships. No, they wanted the Excalibur away from here for some other reason."

Mara asked, "But why?"

Kang stated, "I do not know, but if it was truly to benefit us, they would inform us to expect Excalibur to leave. Something else is happening." Kang thought a bit about Jackson said earlier. "I want battle drills starting in fifteen minutes."

Mara asked, "What scenario?"

Kang looked at her, "Us against a cloaked cruiser."

Mara said, "The Federation doesn't have cloaking technology."

"But we do, and we know that someone in the High Command has ordered our only battleship that was supposed to be kept secret to a position that will be detected by the Federation but the only proper ship to respond would be the Excalibur. We are being hunted by a Klingon cruiser." Kang stated.

"Why?"

Kang thought a bit of the possibilities. "Difficult to say. I have my share of enemies, and a few of them are on the High council. They may have had the clout to order the Kah'less to the Neutral zone. I do not know who specifically, but my reasoning is that they wanted the Federation Battleship to leave this space."

Mara put the pieces together. "To make the odds more even."

Kang nodded. "If the Federation Commander decided to engage, they would be less likely of stopping our death if the Federation ship was a cruiser. The Excalibur would deal a crippling blow its first salvo. So, the Excalibur had to be decoyed away from here. We are up against one of our own, a cruiser most likely. Start the drills."

"Do we contact the High Command on this retasking?"

Kang shook his head, "No. I do not like the fact that they did something without telling me. I do not know who to trust. We will let them know when Excalibur leaves."

CARGO BAY 2

USS WISCONSIN

Teal'c blew the whistle and period 2 started. The ball shot into play and the two jumped after the ball. Mitchell got the ball while Anders pushed him into a wall. Anders released him again just in time for him to throw the ball at his target and missed. Anders managed to grab the ball and bounded off a wall. The time to hold the ball was almost done when he threw it at a corner, dropped to the floor and ran in a different direction, only to grab the ball and start running again. This had the effect of resetting the five second possession clock. Anders did this several times.

Jacobs asked, "What's he doing now?"

Leonaidas shook his head. "I do not know. He is not taking any shots at the goals."

During one of the times, he was throwing the ball to reset the possession clock, Mitchell hit Anders square in the chest. It really did not accomplish much other than prevent Anders from getting the ball again. The ball went bouncing off the walls as Mitchell scrambled after it. Anders was pushing Mitchell around and into the walls, but keeping himself between Mitchell and whichever goal was Mitchell's at the time.

The clock kept running down as no goals were made. Leonaidas observed, "The period is going fast, but nothing is happening."

They were listening to the play-by-play. Octavian made the observation, "So far, no scoring, Score still is 22-1 Anders. Anders is frustrating Mitchell with his defensive game that is going on. This must be grueling for both; the period is almost over with no breaks."

Jacobs thought about what Anders said his strategy was going to be. "He's running Mitchell ragged."

"Why?"

"Think what Mitchell has said even after being warned Anders was a former pro. Mitchell kept remarking that Anders was old, could not last. Anders is running him ragged."

Leonaidas nodded, "I see. Anders is gambling that Mitchell would not have the endurance. Is he going to finish him off then?"

"Score, defend, attack." Jacobs mused aloud.

Leonaidas shook his head, "I don't follow."

"It is what Anders said his strategy was. He ran up the score. He is defending now, not letting Mitchell score and if Anders does not score."

Leonaidas nodded, "No rest."

"Mitchell may be younger, may even have more stamina, but he is not used to this. Anders is used to playing tired and how fatigue affects you. Now we are going to have the next period."

The period finished and the two went back to their sides. Pell came out and sat a stool down for Mitchell, gave him some water and a towel. Anders had the same entourage as before. Mitchell was breathing so hard he could not talk. "That….. guy….."

Dr. Mallard came through the door for Mitchell and said, "Mr. Mitchell, let me take a quick look at you." He started running the tricorder as Mitchell breathed hard. Dr. Blake was tending to Anders. "Mr. Mitchell, you are seriously stressed, exhausted even. I suggest you stop now."

Mitchell shook his head, "No…No…Got…to…"

Dr. Mallard said, "If you continue, drink some more water. I'll give you a tri-ox compound. It will enhance your breathing."

Mitchell said, "No…." He could not say more.

Dr. Mallard said flatly, "If you don't, you'll pass out in five minutes."

Mitchell nodded. Pell asked, "What does that do?"

Dr. Mallard explained as he administered the shot, "This will help him breath more efficiently and also directly injects oxygen into his blood, as if he was resting for an extended time, like an hour or more."

Mitchell was still breathing hard but nodded yes. Mallard injected him. "Now you have two minutes left in your rest period. Just relax and breath normally and do not talk. Watch yourself out there ensign. Your muscles still have a buildup of lactic acid, so be careful. If you experience burning or something like it, quit."

Mitchell's breathing naturally slowed. He glowered at Anders on the far side of the court. He's going to win if he has to break Ander's skull.

NURSE GRIFFIN'S QUARTERS

USS WISCONSIN

"Computer, start recording to my sister. Sis, we now have another form of barbarism going on. The new guy on the ship is in a match against one of the helmsmen. I gather that the helmsman is a former Parisses squares pro and the Captain set up this match to have him pound the new guy. The new guy is really cute too, his name is Pete Mitchell, and he has the most wonderful mischievous smile. Word is he is a real ladies' man. I have not met him yet but intend to if he survives this match. It's been awful, Anders, the helmsman, has been toying with poor Mitchell. I just saw Dr. Mallard injected something into Mitchell, I'm going to check on that later. I would not put across this gang of pirates to knock Mitchell out or something. This Parisses squares is the most brutal thing I've seen yet, barbarism at its worst. Men going out to see how much they can beat on each other, oh wait, the match is coming back on. I'll finish after this last period. Bye."

CARGO BAY TWO

USS WISCONSIN

Doctor Blake was attending to Anders, who also was breathing deeply. Blake scanned him while the girls were tending to him. Anders joked, "Ladies, I've gotten more attention from you this week than since I've been aboard."

Maya smiled, "You have been aboard longer than a week? I never noticed."

Lt. Reeves was smiling too, "I did, but only because Karl says your landings are so hard it hurts his back."

Anders shrugged, "Tell Karl to go get a back brace. Seriously, ladies, thank you. Don't you think it is a bit overboard though?"

Jareau squirted some Gatorade in his mouth, "No, we do not. Do not get us wrong, we like you Sam. That jerk over there needs to see that he is a jerk and we like gentlemen. You are a kind, intelligent, gracious, humble, and gentle man. Now we want you to tear his arms off."

Anders chuckled, "Yes, ma'am. I've been setting him up."

Dr. Blake said, "Maybe, but I just saw Dr. Mallard give him a tri-ox compound. I could give you some tri-ox as well."

Anders was breathing heavy, "No thanks, Doc. Things are going pretty much as I thought they would. I'm ok, I've been pacing myself and will be just fine."

"Isn't that going to shift things against you?" Blake asked.

Anders shook his head and took another swig of Gatorade. "No Doc, it does not. I'm actually glad to hear that. Ducky is a fine doc, but he is not doing Mitchell any good with that. Mitchell's muscles are still loaded up with lactic acid. I made sure of that last round."

Blake's eyes narrowed, "How so?"

"I made him run almost nonstop for fifteen minutes."

Blake countered, "But you were running too."

Anders smiled, "Not really. I just had to make sure he ran more than me. That is why I kept throwing the ball off the corners. He always went for the ball. I'd just come up, grapple a bit, take it away or block a shot, and throw it away. Mitchell would go after the ball again. Tri-ox will help him breathe, but it does not solve his real problem of lactic acidosis. Nothing does."

Blake's eyes narrowed. "You going to score big this period then?"

Anders shook his head, "Nope."

Jareau asked, "What then?"

Anders replied matter-of-factly, "Mitchell thinks this is about me and him, more correctly him. It's not. He is his own worst enemy and I've already proven it. What is going to happen is not for me, it's for you JJ, Miss Reeves, Kaylee, Maya, the Badgers, and half the crew he's ticked off this past week. You want payback."

Everyone was quiet. Anders said, "Two things people enjoy tremendously about Parisses squares. The scoring, and the fighting. I have given the scoring part of the match."

Jareau could not help smiling, "And now's the fight?"

Blake warned, "Don't get thrown out."

Anders smirked, "Doc, there is a lot that the regulations permit. I am not going to do anything illegal, but he is. He is going to get really mad. Watch."

Time was up and everyone but the players got off the court.

CAPTAIN'S READY ROOM

USS WISCONSIN

The final period was just about to begin when the com panel beeped, "Bridge to Captain Jacobs."

Leonaidas looked at Jacobs who said sarcastically, "Now?" Jacobs pushed the button and said, "Yes, Mr. Hotchner."

"Priority message incoming from Starfleet."

Jacobs said, "I'll be right out."

Leonaidas asked, "I'll leave, you can handle it here."

Jacobs shook his head as he got up, "No, keep watching, fill me in when I get back. It probably won't be long."

Jacobs walked to the door, made a quick check of his uniform, and stepped on the Bridge. He saw on the big monitor on the security station the match playing without sound and he had a small, knowing smile. He had approved that for on duty stations, nothing exciting was happening except for the various landing parties around the system. Hotchner handed him a datapad. "Encoded from Starfleet sir."

Jacobs typed in his code, and the message came up decoded.

FROM: ADMIRAL ADAMA, STARBASE 5

TO: CAPTAIN JACOBS, USS WISCONSIN

STOP ALL OPERATIONS AND PROCEED IMMEDIATELY TO PLANET MAGHREB, SYSTEM DELTA ALPHA PLANET 7, BEST POSSIBLE SPEED. ON ARRIVAL RELIEVE STARSHIP EXCALIBUR AND ASSUME PLANETARY OPERATIONS. BACKGROUND DATA WILL BE GIVEN SHORTLY. REPORT WHEN UNDERWAY WITH ETA.

STARBASE 5 OUT.

Jacobs looked at Hotchner, "How long to recall all landing parties and shuttlecraft in the system?"

Hotchner replied in is ususal Vulcan manner but with an inquisitive tone. "Two hours fourteen minutes."

"Begin immediate recall, also inform the engine room we will be going to warp in two hours. Nav, plot a speed course to system Delta Alpha Planet 7 also known as Maghreb. I'll let Dom know myself. He's at the match."

"Aye aye, sir. I'll try to find out what I can about Maghreb."

"Thank you, Hotch, carry on." Jacobs turned and went back to his ready room.

In the ready room. Leonaidas was drinking some water. "What's up?"

Jacobs handed over the datapad and said simply, "This." He started typing a quick message on his communicator to Santini. Leonaidas read the pad quietly.

"Anything further?"

Jacobs hit SEND and closed his communicator. "No, I'm doing an immediate recall of all landing parties, put the engine room on alert for warp speed, and just let Dom know what is going on. What's happening in the match?"

Leonaidas said, "Anders has started making goals again, but is slowing down. Mitchell seems agitated. Not sure what is going on."

Jacobs said, "His plan was 'attack'. I wonder when that is going to happen?"

CARGO BAY TWO

Santini was yelling at the top of his lungs. He really wanted Anders to pound Mitchell in the ground. Santini's Italian blood really came out in these games, and this is the first time he saw Parisses' squares live. Even though it was one on one instead of five on five, it was still exciting. Parisses squares invented by a Frenchman? Never, Parisses had to be Italian, it was especially enjoyable during the fights. Suddenly, his communicator vibrated.

Santini yelled, "Come on Anders! Check him!" He flipped out his communicator and read the message.

WE'VE BEEN RETASKED BY STARFLEET, WARPING OUT IN TWO HOURS. ENGINEERING HAS ALREADY BEEN NOTIFIED BUT THOUGHT IT BEST TO LET YOU KNOW. IT WILL BE A LONG SPEED RUN; I'LL HAVE A TIME FACTOR FOR YOU WHEN NAVIGATION GETS DONE PLOTTING THE COURSE. JOSH.

Santini was already on his feet to look at the court. He started making his way out of the crowd. Too bad, he had a feeling it was going to be good.

Santini walked quickly to Engineering which was just down the hall and up two decks. Arriving in Engineering he saw Lt Tyrol working on getting the ship ready for warp speed. "Turn those monitors off! I want you focused! We can watch later but now let us get ready for Warp speed. Commander Santini!"

Santini looked around, most people would see mayhem, but he saw an intricate dance being played out. Everyone knew their jobs. Santini said, "Report."

"We just got the word from the bridge to be ready for warp speed in two hours. We could go now, but I thought it best to get prepped for a long run. I am purging the deuterium lines now, servicing the coolant, and running a full power test on the warp coils." Tyrol handed over a datapad with lots of displays.

Santini took the pad and started looking over the data. "Good, carry on. I will review this in my office. Santini walked to one side of the engineering bay that his office was on, it was out of the way, but offered an impressive view of the bay. His office had a large window overlooking the bay and a door that was kept open except when he needed quiet in the office. His desk was at the window facing the bay and he sat down and started reviewing the data and logs. They had made good use of the time; everything was normal or going to be serviced to brand-new status. It helped to have even this little heads-up time. He saw one area that could use some attention.

Santini walked out of the office and said to Tyrol, "Get the crews to change antimatter injectors two through four with the new ones in spare parts."

Tyrol nodded, "Those only have a few light years on them."

Santini nodded, "Yes, but depending how long this speed run is, new ones will last longer. If we burn them out, we can always use the current ones as spares."

Tyrol agreed, "Aye aye, sir." He started pointing to a couple of crewmen and giving orders. Santini thought it best he change into some different clothes. Going back into his office he closed the door and blackened the window and changed quickly into his utility overalls. They were more comfortable and had more pockets for tools. He grabbed his well-worn hat and put it on. 'Time to get your hands dirty' he thought privately.

CARGO BAY 2

Anders and Mitchell had been running around. Anders was running slower than earlier. At one time he grabbed the ball with Mitchell close behind and Mitchell jumped up and wrapped up his arms in a chokehold around Ander's neck. Teal'c blew the whistle and yelled, "FOUL! Illegal chokehold! One minute penalty!"

Mitchell said, "It's one on one you idiot! You can't penalize me! I'd have no defense."

Teal'c walked up quickly, "QUIET! Rules say one minute for illegal hold, you get one minute. Go stand on your side!"

Teal'c was head and shoulders above Mitchell, and bulging with muscles. Mitchell backed down and walked over to the wall. Teal'c put the ball in the bottom goal and blew the whistle. The ball shot up, Anders jumped up and grabbed the ball. He continued up and when he got to the ceiling, grabbed the goal, and pulled himself up. At one tenth gee, he weighed almost twenty pounds and could easily hang on. In fact, he inverted himself and sat on the ceiling using the goal as an anchor. He started talking to Mitchell, "Hey Maverick, that chokehold is not smart. This was supposed to be a friendly game."

Mitchell was getting madder, "Friendly, never. You are cheating!"

"Give me an example."

Mitchell said, "You know when the goals are going to change, and where they are going." At that time the goals changed. The goal on the ceiling that Anders was anchored to was his goal. Anders threw the ball down to the floor and caught it on the rebound.

"Not so, these goals have been changing according to the association rules."

Mitchell said with disgust, "No one can predict that, it's too complex."

Anders laughed, "A good squares player needs to predict that, particularly for the team. That is something you've never figured out."

"What?"

"How to work with a team. That is how you got your callsign, you work alone. The rest of us mere mortals just drag you down. You are out only for yourself." The goals changed and Anders bounced the ball off the wall, floor, wall and caught it back.

"Showing off?" Mitchell sneered.

Anders shook his head, "No, we did this in practice. Mitchell, you should have figured out some things by now."

"Like what?"

"Like it takes a team to do anything. A team put this ship together. A team operates this ship. A team put this court together."

In the stands, Pell was listening intently. He looked around at everyone cheering Anders. He saw the engineering team that put the court together because of a run in between Mitchell and one of the engineers, Lt. Jareau and half the women on the ship because of Mitchell's unwanted advances, the Badgers because Mitchell kept belittling them, and others of course.

Pell suddenly saw the message that Anders was trying to get across to Mitchell. Pell had known Mitchell for years and knew that Mitchell would not get it. Mitchell always had to be the one who the attention was being directed to, the one that everyone would acknowledge was the 'best' at something. Pell also could see that if he stayed near Mitchell, Mitchell would poison him. Pell decided he was going to have to talk to Cdr. Carter later.

Mitchell said sarcastically to Anders, "But you're the only one in here."

The goals changed and Anders intentionally hung on the ball. "No, I'm not. I'm in here with the team. And now you are going to lose." Anders did not let go when the possession clock buzzed.

Teal'c blew his whistle, "Illegal Possesion!" Anders dropped down to the floor and handed the ball over and walked to his wall. Teal'c said, "Penalty time forfeited, Red Player, stand ready!"

Mitchell crouched; Anders took a less crouch stance.

Teal'c blew the whistle and dropped his hand. The ball shot out and Mitchell ran at Anders. Anders took one step and stood ready. Nobody was heading for the ball. Mitchell leaped at Anders yelling. Anders stepped to one side and grabbed Mitchell's arm and pivoted, causing Mitchell to turn sideways and sail past Anders, crashing into the wall. The crowd erupted. Anders jumped after the ball, landed on the floor, and walked up to Mitchell, who was getting to his feet, anger all over his face. Anders turned and ran at the wall, Mitchell close behind. Getting near the wall, instead of climbing it, Anders threw the ball at the wall and ducked. The ball rebounded and hit Mitchell in the headgear, knocking him backwards. The crowd was cheering wildly. The ball ended up bouncing off the ceiling and started drifting down.

Mitchell leaped to his feet and saw that Anders was clinging to one of the wall goals. Mitchell hit his antigrav button and leaped after Anders. Anders hit his antigrav and dropped to the floor causing Mitchell to crash on the wall. Mitchell saw the ball nearby and took the ball, seeing his goal now was the floor. He dropped to the floor and started running to the goal, only to be hit from behind by Anders. The two rolled around on the floor and ended up with Mitchell flying off and Anders on the floor on his back. Mitchell turned and saw Anders on the floor and leaped to land on him. Anders had it timed well and kicked Mitchell square in the chest with both feet, hitting Mitchell's antigrav button. Mitchell went flying wildly across the court and hit the top portion of the wall.

Octavian excitedly said, "And Anders gets a great kick into Mitchell's antigrav button, what a kick! Mitchell is now high on the wall and shaking that off! What a good fight! Anders is coming up off the floor now." Anders jumped up after Mitchell. Just as the two were within arm's reach, Mitchell hit Ander's antigrav button. Anders instead of turning the antigravity back on, he smiled and grabbed Mitchell, dragging him down with him. Mitchell struggled to get free, Anders kicked his leg in open air with a stirring motion, causing both to rotate. Mitchell was now on the bottom with Anders on top. Anders hit Mitchell's antigravity causing both to come crashing down on the floor. The landing knocked the wind out of Mitchell. Anders rolled off, grabbed Mitchell, and hit his antigrav button, stood him up, and roundhouse kicked him in the chest. Mitchell went flying into the other wall.

Mitchell shook off the impact and struggled. He saw the ball nearby and ignored it. Octavian announced, "WE GOT A FULL-FLEDGED FIGHT! Neither one is interested in the ball. If nothing changes, Anders will be the winner. Mitchell is charging Anders now!" Anders was ready for the attack, hit his antigrav and jumped up toward the ceiling. Mitchell tried to do the maneuver of climbing up the wall, but mistimed it and ended up stumbling and rolling up the wall. Anders rebounded off the wall and came down beside Mitchell, grabbing him and dragging him down to the floor. Anders finished with slamming Mitchell hard on his back.

Mitchell blinked hard, got his focus back, and struggled to his feet. He saw Anders standing on the other side of the court twirling the ball on the end of his finger like a basketball. Anders smiled and Mitchell launched after him. Anders removed his finger and grabbed Mitchell as he charged. Anders twisted and Mitchell got flung past him tumbling on the ground. The ball was still in the same exact space still spinning as Anders went up and put his finger underneath the ball. "You forget Mitchell that in Parisses' squares gravity is a variable to be managed, not constant."

Mitchell ran at Anders, who again stepped to the side and simply hit Mitchell's antigrav button turning it on. Mitchell lost traction and drifted up, and hit the wall with a thud. Anders was following up with a good solid check crashing Mitchell back into the wall. They were now about ten feet off the floor when Anders simply pushed Mitchell's antigrav button, turning it off and sending Mitchell to the floor. Anders checked the clock and dropped back to the floor. He walked over and grabbed the ball and held it intentionally too long.

Teal'c blew the whistle and said, "Illegal possession! Since no red players in penalty, penalty of thirty seconds is applied."

Anders walked calmly over to his wall. Mitchell was struggling at his wall. Anders had maneuvered it so the last hit would place Mitchell on his own wall. Teal'c started play again and the ball shot out of the floor. Mitchell was groggy from exhaustion, muscles were sore, and felt like he cracked a rib. He watched the ball rise and simply didn't have the energy to grab the ball. He saw the clock and it said twenty-five seconds. Mitchell was struggling for some reason to think this through. Anders had a thirty second penalty. Twenty-five seconds left. That leaves, what? Five seconds? Five seconds to do what? Anders is over there just relaxing, leaning against the wall. Where is that ball? The goals just changed, and his goal is the floor. Where is that ball? He saw the ball near the ceiling.

Mitchell hit the antigrav button and lightly pushed off the floor and drifted up and grabbed the ball. At one-tenth gee, he gently drifted down. Oh yeah, got to air-dribble. He bounced the ball off the floor and caught it. The goals just changed again. Where is his goal? Mitchell looked around. He saw his goal on one of the walls and threw the ball, missing the goal. The ball went bounding off the walls and he was trying to figure out how to catch it. What's that loud noise? Oh yeah, looks like time is out, but Anders still has five seconds to serve. Bummer for him, where is that ball?

Teal'c came forward and Anders walked up to the center. Teal'c grabbed the wrists of both players and held up Ander's arm to signify the victor. Mitchell was standing dazed. The crowd went totally wild.

CAPTAIN'S READY ROOM

USS WISCONSIN

Leonaidas stood, "That was a smackdown."

Jacobs chuckled and stood too, "Now we know what 'attack' means. Come on Leo, let's see where we're going next.