Chapter 2
MODULE 3
GHUT'S STATION
The landing party from the Wisconsin made their way through the station carefully. The activity was reminiscent of any primitive culture market- anything goes. Lots of arguments, haggling, products everywhere, and filthy. In this case, filthy was an understatement. Bauer remarked, "Either my nose is getting ruined, or the smell seems to be fading."
Jacobs responded, "I think the filters in this section must be working at least a little."
Maya/ Saurian hissed, "The oxygenators are working better. I can tell there is more O2 here."
Jacobs smirked. "Well at least we won't suffocate. How is the readout working Maya?"
Maya looked at the back of Jacobs' jacket. Maya had chosen to be a Saurian not only because of not being able to smell, as the joke was earlier. Rather Maya being a Saurian had more to do with the Saurian's ability to see in the infrared spectrum. The difficult part of using tricorders is that they are obvious. To spot SKINDIVER, a tricorder needs to be used. Tricorders are not easily concealable, so an innovative means had to be done. Jacobs was wearing a pack that concealed most of the tricorder's electronics on his gunbelt. The pack would send its output to some infrared lights on Jacobs' jacket. Maya could control the tricorder with a simple wristband control- nothing unusual there. Everyone had wristpad controls for something, usually EVA suits or communications or something. Maya had programmed the tricorder to simplify its output into lighting the lights on Jacobs' back and she would interpret it.
Maya/ Saurian interpreted the lights and said, "It is working. No sign of him yet."
Suddenly, there was yelling to their left. Some stall that had parts hanging all over had two aliens that were yelling at each other. It looked like it was a Norsican and a Klingon. The crowd that was around moved to a respectful distance as the argument heated up. Bauer was standing next to Jacobs and said, "Where are the guards?"
Jacobs looked around, "Not in sight. Team, keep your eyes open, this could be interesting."
The argument between two belligerent species degraded in the predictable manner. Soon, the two were pushing each other then started an all-out grappling fight. Neither one went for their weapons, they kept the fight basically with their fists. Bauer said, "So far, it's just a basic fight." The crowd started yelling and cheering for one or the other. Jacobs looked around and saw strips and slips of gold-pressed latinum changing hands as people were placing bets on the outcome.
Jacobs asked, "Which one do you guys' think will win?"
Stickell said, "The Norsican."
Maya followed up, "The Klingon has a disruptor. I am also scanning some sort of edged weapon."
Bauer was just about to add in his opinion when the Norsican grabbed the Klingon and extended his claw near his wrist. It was a clear violation from what the customs guard said on arriving at the station. The claw got near the Klingon's neck when he managed to pull the arm of the Norsican away, albeit with great strength. The Klingon managed to pull the Norsican over the top of him and the two ended up in a half-flip on the floor. Stickell said, "Whoa."
It was an impressive display of strength. The Klingon never let go of the arm with the dewclaw, and instead managed to twist it with a crunch. The Klingon pulled out his knife and jabbed it up the back of the Norsican's neck at the base of the skull, quickly killing him. Half of the crowd cheered and the winnings were collected. Bauer said, "Never underestimate a Klingon. This one looks to be a free-trader, not Klingon regular military. Still, every Klingon has attended their version of boot camp. They all know how to fight."
Jacobs nodded, "Point taken. Here come the local constables."
Wading through the crowd were four large aliens. Two were Orions, one was a Norsican, and the last was a race none of the landing party had ever seen. All wore the same sash that the customs guard wore. The Orion yelled, "Klingon! What happened here?"
The Klingon bared his teeth, "Combat came to me! The Norsican and I were in a brawl. He extended his dewclaw; it was now a lethal fight. I finished it."
The Orion nodded; he could see plainly one of the Norsican's arms horribly disfigured. It did seem like the dewclaw was extended. The Orion looked around and focused on Jacobs. "You there! Step forward."
Bauer was about to stop Jacobs but Jacobs said quietly, "It'll be ok, Jack." Jacobs took a step into the open. "What do you want?"
The Orion asked, "The Klingon's statement, what say you?"
The crowd was quiet. Jacobs looked at the Klingon, who had a stern look. Jacobs appeared non-impressed. "The Klingon speaks the truth. The Norsican was going for the Klingon's neck with the claw. The Klingon defeated him."
The crowd erupted, half booing, half cheering. The Orion questioned a few more, all agreed. The Orion stated, "I find the Klingon faultless. You may continue your way." The Orion motioned to his group, who grabbed the body of the dead Norsican and drug it away.
Jacobs led his crew away and asked them, "Observations."
Maya said, "It's good that the guard didn't take your word solely."
Bauer added, "But it is interesting that everyone is in agreement. You would expect some to lie for their own reasons."
Jacobs nodded, "That is what I was thinking. Why?"
Bauer suggested, "They may have surveillance."
Maya asked, "What for?"
Bauer said, "To find out the truth. If you are caught lying, they got you."
Maya looked at Jacobs, "Is this place under surveillance?"
Jacobs shook his head, "I have never heard of it. Luther?"
Stickell was looking around, "I have seen some nodes that could be sensors. This station is in such poor condition that I bet they all are not working."
Jacobs said, "But we don't know which ones are and are not."
Maya added, "And if a guard finds out you are lying, you're dead."
"Or worse." Bauer added.
Jacobs nodded. "Ok, we have a couple of more hours, let's make our way to the bar slowly. I do not want to stay in one place too long."
MODULE 5
GHUT'S STATION
This area was far more open, it was about the size and shape of a football field, and all open. It was also by far the most disgusting in smell. Bauer observed, "Considering how repulsive this place is, I wonder how anybody chooses to come here."
Stickell observed, "I have noticed every type of narcotic, plus a few I've never seen before. This isn't for just usage here. These are samples for entire cargos."
Bauer nodded, "Luther, I believe you are right. I have also noticed some stalls or whatever for weapons trading. Even a Varenti Disruptor."
Jacobs said, "Those are banned by the Federation, Klingons, and Romulans."
Bauer shrugged, "Not here."
Maya/Saurian added, "I've seen some illegal technology, transporter scramblers, communication hackers, etc. This is not including the slaves."
Jacobs smirked, "All I've seen is the food stands."
Bauer smiled, "My sense of smell is trying to make what is in my stomach come up and out."
Jacobs pointed around, "If you do, you will just contribute to what is already here. It's probably years old."
Suddenly, another argument erupted somewhere, they had witnessed several so far, ending in differing levels of violence. Some of the arguments were judged on the spot by the guards, others were not. It seemed like proximity to an available guard unit was the only determining factor. This argument was between a Romulan and Boolian. The two were yelling at each other when the Romulan pushed the Boolian away and started to draw his phaser. The Boolian was quicker with his weapon- a hand-portable railgun. The Boolian fired three shots that went straight through the Romulan's chest, and five people behind him as well. Orion guards showed up out of nowhere and grabbed the Boolian. "CLEAR THE AREA!" The guard motioned into the path of fire. The crowd separated like the Red Sea.
The head guard walked down the line of fire, stepping over the dead beings and to the far wall. In the wall were three nice, neat holes. The guard could hear air whistling through them. He took out a quick-seal kit and patched the holes quickly. The crowd could see the guard work and fell silent. The guard angrily walked back to the Boolian, who was starting to panic. His normal bright blue skin was turning gray with panic.
The guard said loudly, "This Boolian has fired a projectile weapon! While that is not prohibited, to cause a hull breach is. This will not go unpunished. There can be only one action."
The mob started to cheer loudly; they smelled blood in the air. Three guards started to drag the kicking and panicking Boolian away when the head guard spun with his weapon drawn, "WEAPONS DOWN!"
Jacobs could see that Bauer eyed something. The landing party quietly watched. The guards drug the Boolian into what appeared to be an airlock, but it was transparent. Maya/Saurian muttered, "Transparent aluminum."
The guards closed the airlock and everyone could see the Boolian in full panic mode hammering against the wall trying to get free. The head guard proclaimed loudly, "One that deprives us from our air will be deprived of air himself." The Boolian started screaming. The head guard turned and pushed a large button.
The airlock was also not of standard construction in another fashion, the outer doors snapped open ejecting the Boolian out into space. The crowd cheered wildly.
Jacobs said to Bauer, "What did you see, Jack?"
"The head guard has an earpiece. When he spun around, he was reacting to outside information. They definitely have some kind of surveillance." Bauer said.
Stickell added, "I'm identifying some cleverly hidden sensor nodes."
Jacobs looked around, "Really? How many? Four or five?"
Stickell said, "No, it is like one every twenty or thirty feet. This place is better wired up than Las Vegas."
Jacobs looked around obviously. "That could complicate things. We need to refine our exfiltration plan."
Bauer said, "Indeed."
Jacobs checked his watch. "Time is getting close, let's find our way to Slimey's." The landing party moved off.
MAIN AIRLOCK
MILLENIUM FALCON
Bodie and TC were hard at work. The outer door was closed but the short time that the landing party had it open when leaving had let in some of the putrid stench of the station. Bodie was hooking up a claymore on the ceiling. "TC, that smell isn't going to get inside, is it?"
TC smiled his big, toothy grin, "Nope, I got the filtration system working in the compartment just inside the airlock scrubbing that junk out. After we get done here, I'll vent the airlock to space, that will ensure no more gets in. It will also provide a level of security."
"How so, sir?"
TC laughed, "Cheyenne, remember to stay in character, it's just TC here. We set the claymores and evacuate the airlock. The pressure will act as a lock on the doors."
"How so?"
TC explained, "Federation code is to make airlock doors so that it's mechanically impossible to move if a pressure differential exists across the door."
Bodie said slowly, "That sounds reasonable. Just the Federation?"
TC shrugged, "Not everybody has our concern for safety. An airlock with a vacuum will make it nearly impossible for someone to enter through the airlock. If they do, KA BAM! They get claymored."
Bodie smiled, "That sounds like a good plan."
TC added, "And simple." He smiled devilishly.
STARBASE 5 COMMANDER'S OFFICE
STARBASE 5
Adama was running over fleet deployments with his staff. His chief-of-staff Commander Barnes was summing up the problem, "Admiral, short answer is that we are running short on supplies across the board. Starfleet transports are task saturated with missions throughout Federation space and our needs simply are not high enough priority. The Federation is seriously behind in ramping up for a war with the Klingons, we depended too much on the Organians keeping the peace."
Adama nodded, "I know that, what do we need?"
"For your plan, we need another hundred tons of carbon fiber nanotube. Because of the fear of a Klingon attack, the outlying worlds are prepping for disaster. That is creating a shortage away from the core of the Federation. We are also short on foodstuffs, spare parts, raw materials, and Starfleet says they cannot ship the quantity we need on our schedule." Barnes reported.
Adama asked, "Can we get these locally?" He knew the answer before it came.
"Yes, but the companies involved have a history of not dealing with Starfleet. Strange thing is they are almost all managed by former Starfleet personnel." Barnes said.
Adama nodded. It was that old problem. Samuel T. Cogley was a good friend and his law firm was a tremendous help with the building tensions with a certain Senator Jameson, but Cogley also represented several companies whose owners refused to deal with Starfleet. Adama had to get contracts to get supplies from deeper in the Federation, or from third parties on Starbase 5. The third parties made big profits, the only ones that lost out were firms represented by Cogley. "I'm working on the one common factor I can find, Mr. Cogley."
Yeoman Street's voice came over the com, "Incoming priority 1 message incoming from Federation Intelligence. Top Secret Coding."
This level of secrecy allowed Barnes to listen in. Adama checked the status of his office. The doors were already closed and he saw on his desk status board that the room was secured for Top Secret discussions. "Thank you, Della." Adama keyed in his security code and the message appeared on the big screen.
The face on the screen was of a human. The head of the Federation Intelligence Directorate (FID), Michael Briggs, codenamed Archangel. Briggs received his Archangel callsign from the times before the Klingon war years ago. Briggs took the nickname others had given him and embraced it, he could frequently be found wearing clothes dressed in all-white, it lended to a unique style for him. Briggs proved himself to be a master spy and very quickly had an unparalleled spy network inside the Klingon Empire. This feat has never been reproduced as Klingon culture is notoriously resistant on spying. Briggs also worked in collusion with Straker on getting the covert funding necessary for SHADO base, which also helped him getting nominated and approved as head of the FID. Briggs had proven himself to be a master organizer, spy, and able director of the FID.
This kind of history and power would tend to destroy most men. With Briggs, somehow, he was able to keep his moral direction. He was extremely patriotic, and never took political favors to further his own agenda or his own personal well-being. He also was a no-nonsense man, not known for small talk. Archangel also was not an alarmist. Whatever the message was, it was serious.
Briggs started, "Admiral Adama, it's Archangel. Stardate 7556.6. It's imperative you abort the mission that the Wisconsin is on. FID has credible intel that it is a trap of some sort. We believe the trap is specifically for Captain Jacobs, however it could be for the whole ship. Acknowledge when you can."
Adama's heart sank, this message is nearly a day old and it will take three hours to get a message to the Wisconsin. Adama checked his one-time authorization codes then pushed the com button. "Computer, Priority 1 message to USS Wisconsin." The computer beeped signaling it was ready. "USS Wisconsin from Admiral Adama, Commander Starbase 5. Stardate 7556.6 Imperative you abort your mission, repeat imperative you abort your mission. Command codeword is Mt. St Helens, Authorization Adama Alpha 453 Kilo 291. Reply on receipt and confirmation of abort. Beware of a trap. Computer, encode and transmit immediately."
Commander Barnes asked, "Will they get it in time?"
Adama said somberly, "We will know in about six hours. Send a message to Archangel 'Message received.'"
BRIDGE
USS WISCONSIN
THREE HOURS LATER, STARDATE 7556.7
Commander Leonaidas sat in the command chair looking around the bridge. Everyone was quiet. The tension was thick. He had the bridge crew rotating on and off duty to keep everyone fresh. Leonaidas was the only one that had been on duty since the captain left, now pushing ten hours ago. The turbolift doors opened and Pastor Octavian stepped onto the bridge quietly. Leonaidas turned to see who stepped on the bridge and said quietly, "Pastor."
Octavian nodded, "Commander." He looked around at the bridge. The tactical station's big screen had the position of the station and observable asteroids displayed; it looked like they were making good progress on updating the charts for the system. Lt Jareau was back on duty on the communications console and her screens had numerous communications logs of ships coming and going out of the system. For a short time, she had an impressive list of ships, suspected cargos, personnel, species, and whatever else she could glean from transmissions. Commander Hotchner was on duty as well, it looked like the remote sensor package was operating at peak efficiency. He was busy working with Ensign Hornblower on charting asteroids, a difficult procedure doing it passively as it was far more difficult to determine range.
Jareau turned around suddenly, "Incoming message from Starfleet, Priority 1!"
"On Screen." Leonaidas ordered.
Admiral Adama's image filled the screen. He had a stern look which betrayed his concern. "USS Wisconsin from Admiral Adama, Commander Starbase 5. Stardate 7556.6 Imperative you abort your mission, repeat imperative you abort your mission. Command codeword is Mt. St Helens, Authorization Adama Alpha 453 Kilo 291. Reply on receipt and confirmation of abort. Beware of a trap."
The screen went back to a long-distance shot of the station. Leonaidas turned quickly to Jareau. "Authorized?"
Jareau was tapping already, "Authorization confirmed."
Octavian asked, "Who is in the trap? The Captain or us?"
Leonaidas asked, "Any contacts other than asteroids?"
Hotchner stated flatly, "Negative."
Leonaidas said, "Then let's assume it's the Captain. Lt. Jareau, send the abort code to the Millenium Falcon. Use subspace, I do not want to waste one second."
MILLENIUM FALCON
Bodie and TC had set up a small table in the entryway right behind the airlock. They were playing an old-fashioned game of cards. TC picked up a card discarded by Bodie, "Cheyenne, you have to remember, I'm collecting 7's." TC chuckled a bit then discarded.
Bodie nodded like he was in defeat. "Yes, yes." Then he picked up TC's card. "You should have realized I'm collecting hearts." He laid his hand down. "Gin."
TC was dumbfounded. "You were discarding those earlier! You were collecting Spades I thought!"
Bodie smiled, "Basic tactics, misdirection." TC looked up and started a belly laugh.
Suddenly, an alarm went off in the cockpit. TC scrambled to the ladder and climbed up into the cockpit level. He reached the communications panel. Bodie squeezed through the narrow opening and said, "What is it?"
TC finished typing in the coding and said, "We're ordered to abort." He pulled out his communicator and said, "TC to landing party!"
SLIMEY'S BAR
GHUT'S STATION
The four members of the landing party were sitting at a table in Ghut's bar. They kept looking around, no humans in sight. The bar was dark and smelled so bad you could almost see the stench. Bauer murmured, "You'd think that food places would smell better."
Jacobs smirked at the comment. He took a sip of his…. Whatever. No taste at all. "You'd think so. Any sign of our man Maya?"
Maya/Saurian looked at the infrared lights on Jacobs' jacket, "Nothing. In a place as large as this, we might not be getting the far side adequately covered."
Jacobs nodded, "Ok, you two stay here, Luther come with me."
Bauer asked, "What are you doing?"
Jacobs said, "I'm getting another round of this…" He looked at his drink. It looked disgustingly yellow. "Yellow stuff. You all took your anti-intoxicant pills, right?"
The three nodded. Jacobs said, "Then let's stay in character. I'll try to drum up some business. That is what we're supposedly here for." Jacobs stood up smiling.
Stickell looked at Bauer. Bauer nodded and Stickell stood up and followed Jacobs. Maya/Saurian kept an eye on them. Bauer asked, "Can you see the lights still?"
Maya/Saurian said, "Yes, quite easily. It turns out my vision isn't as bad as yours in this place."
Bauer looked around. "Well, I should be creeped out, but the place does grow on you. I'm here in the cesspool of the galaxy drinking with an ugly six-foot lizard."
Maya/Saurian hissed, Bauer had learned it was a Saurian's way of laughing. Maya/Saurian said, "Jack, you say the nicest things."
Jacobs and Stickell made their way to the bar, it was relatively crowded. A Klingon bumped Jacobs and said, "Out of my way weakling!"
Jacobs looked at the Klingon, who was a little taller than him. "I will if you want to talk about trade."
The Klingon reached over to push Jacobs out of the way. Jacobs took the arm and pulled and rotated out of the way, pulling the Klingon off his feet and onto the floor. The crowd laughed while Jacobs said, "Klingon, don't push me around."
The Klingon hopped up to his feet and yelled, "You dishonor me!"
"How? By showing what a clumsy oaf you are?" Jacobs yelled back.
The Klingon lunged for Jacobs, who again quickly stepped out of the way and did a double-fisted hit in the back of the Klingon. The hit was largely ineffective, the Klingon fell across a table more from his own momentum. Jacobs could tell the Klingon was very drunk. Jacobs grabbed the Klingon's arm and pulled him up, "Klingon! Let me buy you a Raktajino before you turn into a pujwl'!"
The Klingon eyed Jacobs. "How does a human know about Raktajino?"
Jacobs said, "I could tell you the truth and make you fear of my battle prowess, or lie and make you fear my battle prowess."
The Klingon continued to eye Jacobs then started laughing, "I like you human. Buy me a Raktajino! It is better than your human coffee!"
Jacobs smiled, "I'll agree with you. After tasting Raktajino it makes our coffee taste like… water."
The Klingon laughed and slapped Jacobs on the back. Jacobs placed his orders. The barkeep handed over the Klingon coffee and the other drinks. Jacobs handed one over to Stickell. The Klingon took a drink and said, "Tell me human, what are you trading?"
Jacobs said, "Ten thousand liters of reactor-grade water."
The Klingon nodded, "I could use some. Would you be willing to sell a thousand to me?"
Jacobs sipped his drink and said, "Maybe. What do you have?"
"Klingon disruptors, the latest from the High Command." The Klingon said.
Jacobs groaned, "No, not more of those. Somebody traded me some supposedly current level disruptors, turns out they were over forty years old!"
"No, really, the latest versions. The ones with Duranium pre-fire chambers. Here is an example." The Klingon drew his disruptor out and handed it over. It was remarkable, no one in the bar batted an eye. Jacobs took the disruptor and looked it over. He took out the magazine and saw that it was indeed new, with current power cells. Jacobs replaced the magazine and opened the firing mechanism. It was Duranium after all. Jacobs closed the mechanism and handed the disruptor back.
"I see you are honorable after all. Four dozen disruptors for a thousand liters of water." Jacobs offered.
"What is your purity?"
"Less than 1 picogram per liter." Jacobs said
The Klingon nodded, "Three dozen disruptors. They are untraceable beyond the generic signature of Klingon disruptors."
Jacobs nodded, "Three dozen works for me. Bring your containers to docking port 14C in six hours. Be sure they are clean."
The Klingon nodded agreement. Jacobs looked at the barkeep and said, "Sale pad!" The barkeep handed one over. Jacobs typed in the information and both him and the Klingon put their thumbprints on it. The Barkeep witnessed it with his own thumbprint then put the pad back on the shelf.
Jacobs and Stickell started making their way back to the table. Stickell said, "You plan on being here in six hours?"
Jacobs shook his head, "No. But in case we are, we will get some disruptors. If anyone starts checking up on us, we will have some credibility of a pending sale. Send a message to the Falcon that we will be having company in six hours."
"If we're not going to be here…" Stickell started to ask.
Jacobs said, "Follow through. Our communications are monitored."
Maya/Saurian was watching the lights and suddenly saw the signal, "He is here. Just showed up."
Bauer turned from watching the Captain to the entryway, no one had just walked through. "Where?"
"Behind Josh and to our right." Maya/Saurian said.
Bauer stood up, catching Jacobs' eye. Jacobs met Bauer's gaze, Bauer looked to the right and found a table that had a Saurian, an Orion, and something that looked like an orangutan sitting at it. Jacobs turned and started walking toward the table. Bauer said to Maya/Saurian, "Let go."
Jacobs was making his way to the table. He was wondering who was SKINDIVER. Definitely not the Orangutan, it was smaller than a human. As he got to the table, he noticed a box sitting on the chair closest to the wall. Jacobs turned quickly and saw that Bauer and Maya were about twenty feet away and closing nicely. Stickell was at his side. Just as Jacobs was going to introduce himself, the Saurian said, "I heard you have reactor-grade water for sale."
Jacobs said evenly, "You heard right."
The Saurian stood and faced Jacobs, "I'd like to trade your entire stock for what is in the box."
Jacobs asked, "What's in the box?" Bauer now is fifteen feet away.
The Saurian hissed a long hiss. It just sounded very sinister. "A skindiver suit!". The Orion opened the box and Jacobs saw what looked like a wetsuit with electronics folded roughly in the box. It also had a lot of blood. Jacobs and Stickell reached for their weapons. The Saurian drew his weapon as well, but Stickell was faster and got a shot off. Jacobs fired his phaser at the Orion who was sitting down. The Orion had a weapon under the table and got a shot through the table missing Jacobs by millimeters. With the shots fired, the whole bar erupted in violence, everyone had leaped up and people were bumping into each other.
Someone pushed into the back of Bauer, who spun around and palm-striked a Romulan in the nose. Maya/Saurian noted the lights on Jacobs jacket that the signal suddenly went dead. A Klingon hit her in the side, and she slammed her elbow into the Klingon's chest. The whole bar degenerated into a large barfight with occasional energy fire from some weapon. Jacobs was hit from behind and knocked to the floor, he saw a knee and kicked at the knee hearing a satisfying crunch. Jacobs leaped up and grabbed the being who belonged to the knee, finding out it was another Klingon. Somewhere in the chaos he heard the communicator beep.
No time for that now, Jacobs pushed the Klingon away into an Orion. The Orion hit the Klingon in the face only to have the Klingon head butt the Orion back. Suddenly, Jacobs was grabbed from the side and thrown against the wall. Instead of slamming against the wall, the wall gave way and Jacobs fell through the trapdoor. The trapdoor immediately closed. Jacobs was gone.
Maya/Saurian saw Jacobs and a Norsican go through the trapdoor in the wall together and close. She yelled, "Trapdoor!" and pointed in the direction. She got grabbed by something resembling an ape and tackled to the ground. Maya/Saurian rolled, throwing the ape into two Klingons who fell on the ape. Bauer had an Orion by the neck and turned and saw no sign of Jacobs. The chaos in the bar prevented him from going to investigate. Bauer squeezed for all he was worth and all three hundred pounds of Orion fell to the floor, Bauer yelled "Red Alert!" He pulled out his phaser and shot point blank at the Orangutang that was about ready to tackle him. At that range, even on stun the phaser would kill.
Stickell had his phaser out and started firing his close quarters shots. All of these shots were killing shots because of the close quarters. There was a small perimeter that was starting to form near Stickell. Bauer managed to get close to Stickell and said, "Did you see him?"
Stickell fired his phaser at another target and dodged a glass that was thrown at him. "No sir!"
Maya fired her phaser at the trapdoor blowing a hole in it. A dark hole was revealed beyond. Bauer ordered, "In Maya!"
Maya transformed instantly into a hummingbird and flew into the hole. She transformed into a panther to look around in the dark area. It was a short tunnel and she followed it briefly to the end, an airlock into open space. No sign of the Captain. There was a freshly dead Norsican on the floor. She turned around and into her normal self and went back to the hole. Stickell and Bauer were getting backed up to the trapdoor. She yelled to them, "He's gone, it ends in an airlock!"
Bauer yelled to Stickell, "In!"
Stickell turned and slapped something on the wall next to the trapdoor. As soon as Stickell was in, he turned and started firing at the crowd from inside. When Bauer saw the shots coming from behind him, he turned and tapped the small device on the wall and dove through the hole. The device emitted a loud shrill sound making everyone in the bar cover their ears. Bauer and Stickell set a couple of booby traps and went down the short tunnel. Maya heard the communicator beeping for the first time. She opened the communicator and said, "What!"
"Mt. St Helens!" TC's voice said.
Maya said to Bauer, "Emergency Abort!"
Bauer said, "Come get us!"
"Do you copy TC?" Maya asked.
COCKPIT
MILLENIUM FALCON
TC said, "Copy, coming to get you! Leave your com open!" TC started working the controls and said, "The docking clamps! They aren't letting us go!"
Bodie asked, "What now?"
TC reached behind him and flipped open a cover. He pushed a guarded button and there was a lurch. "Airlock severed." TC swung the ship and started following the communicator signal like a homing signal. "Get to the dorsal airlock!"
Bodie moved back several feet to a ladder going up. He climbed a rung and opened a pane. "Ready!"
TC rolled the ship so that the airlock was facing the station. He swung around one module and was getting close when he lost the com signal. The station was jamming the signals. He was looking for a likely candidate when his heart sank. The most likely airlock was in a position that he could not squeeze the Falcon in for docking. "I see the airlock, be prepared to use the extended tube!"
Bodie nodded, "Yes sir!"
TC was using his thrusters heavily. He brought the ship in the best position and ground to a stop. "Fire now! NOW!"
The docking ring was adapted from a Raptor's docking ring. They had anticipated that the Millenium Falcon would not be able to get into a docking position in an emergency. The docking ring had a flexible sleeve attached to it. It shot up and hit the airlock squarely. The docking ring clamps dug into the metal and secured in place. Once it was in place, air started flowing into the flexible tube pressurizing it. Once pressurized, a cutting ring fired up cutting through the airlock metal in seconds. Bodie opened the Falcon's airlock and shot a cable up, grabbing the airlock door and retracting it. Once the door was inside the gravity field of the Falcon, it fell to the floor with a thud. Right behind it were the three remaining members of the landing party. They expertly put their feet on the ladder and stepped into the Falcon. Bodie suddenly realized, "Where's the Captain?!"
Bauer and Stickell closed the Falcon's airlock. Bauer said, "He is gone! We got the abort code." They sealed the airlock. "Blow it Cheyenne! TC, escape the volcano!"
Bodie released the locks holding the tube to the Falcon, and the pressure pushed the Falcon away. It also started an explosive decompression in that section of the station. TC responded by saying, "Aye aye sir! Escaping the Volcano!" He hit the thrusters and turned toward the escape route. TC hit a valve and the water started venting into space, forming a dense cloud of ice crystals. "That should help confuse them!"
Bodie looked at Bauer, Stickell, and Maya. "Where is the Captain?"
Bauer looked back grimly and shook his head.
BEHIND THE TRAPDOOR
THREE MINUTES AGO
The Norsican had pushed Jacobs through the trapdoor and fell on Jacobs on the other side. The Norsican pulled Jacobs up, with Jacobs coming up swinging for the Norsican's neck. He hit the nerve bundle and the Norsican went down. Jacobs was about to jump over the Norsican when he was grabbed from behind and pulled off his feet. He fell flat on his back hitting his head on the floor, and saw stars for a short time. Suddenly, he saw two Klingon faces. Jacobs was roughly grabbed and picked up. He struggled, kicking one in the shin. One of the Klingons gave him a knee to the gut, knocking out his wind. They pulled him through the airlock as the Norsican got up and started walking to the airlock. The last Klingon drew his disruptor and said, "No connections to us!" He fired and killed the Norsican.
They closed the airlock and went a short distance to the other end of the tube. Once inside, the Klingons sealed that door and blew some charges. The tube connecting the airlocks separated and flew off into space. Jacobs was getting his wind back and started struggling. A couple of more Klingons joined up. Now it was four versus one. The Klingons had Jacobs in a tight grip and started dragging him down the deserted hallway.
BRIDGE
USS WISCONSIN
Jareau turned, "Millenium Falcon on secure subspace."
Leonaidas said, "On speaker."
"Millenium Falcon to Base."
Leonaidas answered, "Base here. Report."
"Mount St. Helens acknowledged. Five aboard. Falcon Actual missing."
Leonaidas blanched and looked at Octavian. "Acknowledged, Falcon Actual Missing. Return to base. Any targets following you?"
"Negative base." TC reported.
Leonaidas said, "Base out." He looked at Octavian and said dejectedly. "They got the Captain."
Octavian nodded. "I'm going to get the prayer group going. Let me know what else I can do."
Leonaidas nodded and Octavian left. "JJ, let the senior staff know we are going to have a meeting thirty minutes after the Falcon returns. Inform Starbase Five that the Captain is missing, more information to follow.
UNKNOWN HALLWAY
GHUT'S STATION
Jacobs was dragged along a dim hallway and through an open cargo container bay. The bay was huge. They drug him up to some containers and keyed a sequence and opened a door into a container. The container was large but empty inside except for a small chamber. The Klingons stepped into the chamber with Jacobs and pushed a button. The chamber closed and slowly lowered into the floor. When the chamber opened again, Jacobs recognized where he was. Or rather what he was in. He was in a Klingon ship.
Out of the shadows a figure walked toward him. "Welcome aboard my ship Captain Jacobs. We have been waiting for you!"
The figure stepped into light. Jacobs' heart sank. It was Kor.
Dahar Master Kor.
Kor the Merciless.
