Talk about trouble. This is going to get ugly very quickly. I love the way you've got both groups doing similar infiltration techniques, some to cause harm and others for information gathering. This is getting real good, keep it coming.
Yeah, I agree, the juxtapositon of the Lexington and the Shlavka away teams is very interesting indeed. And the paranoid Halenoi won't make any distinction between the two if the Starfleeters are discovered, I'm sure. You set things up to turn really bad, really fast. I think it is Wesley and the possibly the two Helenoi on the Lexington who might be the wildcards in this. Excellent stuff.
A fantastic story is being set up here. I love the style - the three point view of the story and the TOS feel as commented on by others. Wesley is a sharp tack and knows his stuff. But of course in the way of these things something somewhere is going to go afoul. Oh and of course there are our mystery guests to consider and just when they might show up for dinner.
I have a very serious beef with you. You don't post to this story often enough or in long enough segments! Which I guess is the best praise I can give for this excellent story!
You're doing a great job balancing the various threads in this story. Wesley's obvious pride in his ship and crew come through clearly as he gives his guided tour to the two Halenoi. Obviously, you're setting us up for the excrement to hit the oscillator. I'm looking forward to the next chapter!
Lexington: Aliens Part 4 “The only way that’s going to happen.” Merric declared with a scowl, “Is when the last Shlavka butcher is dead.” As Wesley pondered the young Halenoi pilot’s words, he sadly shook his head before replying in a grave voice, “What would that accomplish, young man? Will the extermination of an entire race bring back your dead?” “No.” Merric retorted, “But it would bring them justice.” “Justice for them?” Robert countered, “Or vengeance for you?” “Sometimes…” Merric replied intently, “Justice and vengeance are the same thing.” “The probe has detected the Shlavka ship.” Lieutenant Commander Zha’Thara interrupted, raising her head from the sensor hood over which she had been crouched. “They’re doing just what you thought they’d do. They’ve powered down their systems to minimum hoping the ionic interference would mask their presence.” “Are you going to attack them?” Flying Officer Merric inquired; his heart racing as he anticipated the destruction of his hated foe. “No.” Commodore Wesley responded in a low voice as he shook his head. “We’ll wait until the Shlavka captain decides to power up and then we’ll continue following him.” “But…the Shlavka…” Merric protested, his face reddening with anger, “…you’re just going to let them go…after they destroyed our shuttle…raped our world…stole our people…” “We are not here to take sides in your war.” The gray-haired commodore declared; his powerful and commanding presence silencing the young Halenoi’s remonstration. Seeing that he had both of his guests’ attention, Robert’s voice took on a much gentler—almost fatherly—tone. “If we can—and if you are willing—we will try to help you make peace—but we cannot and will not participate in your war—nor will we let your conflict spread out into the neighboring systems. Like it or not—this is a big galaxy and there are far more races out here—some of them friendly like us—others far more hostile than the Shlavka could ever hope to be—and others still far more alien than you can possibly imagine. If you’re going to go out into this…” He gestured with his right hand at the starry field on the viewscreen, “…then you had better understand that.” Exhaling deeply as the Andorian science officer’s relief walked on to the bridge, an idea flashed into the commodore’s mind. “Talana? Would you mind continuing our guest’s tour? The next stop I’d planned was engineering.” Sensing at once her commanding officer’s plan, the lovely blue-skinned woman flashed a conspiratorial grin, “Of course, Sir.” The smile still on her face, the lieutenant commander, turning her attention to the two Halenoi, gestured towards the turbolift, if you’ll accompany me…” Taking the center seat as his science officer and two guests departed the bridge, the commodore instructed Talana’s relief, “Keep a close eye on those sensors—I want to know the moment that ship powers up.” ********************************************************************** “Everything seems to be in order Dr. Collins…Ms. Watley.” An UMBRA security guard, clad in a beige suit with gold trim declared as he inspected the forged credentials that Lieutenant Collins and Ensign Watley had presented him. “Long way from home.” The security guard remarked conversationally, smiling flirtatiously at the dark-haired Jennifer as he entered the phony names into his computer. “I remember going to the beaches at Calys as a boy…before the Shlavka came. I heard they did a wonderful job restoring them. Tell me…does the sky still turn that glorious pink color as Danae rises?” Inwardly giving thanks for the hours of tedious and exacting rehearsal that the Bear had put her and the others through before reporting in, Jennifer shook her head, “You must be thinking of Demi Beach—on the other end of the island. Calys is still undergoing reconstruction—but—if all goes well—it should be opening the start of the new cycle. “That’s right.” The security guard answered back; nodding his head in satisfaction at the answer he had been given. “I remember now.” Handing Collins and Watley a pair of identification tags, the guard instructed, “You have to wear at all times while you’re in the security compound. Dr. Tyee’s labs are on the third lower level. Take the second lift on the right, and if you have any questions or see something suspicious, just hit the intercom and a security guard will be there at once.” “Thank you.” Collins replied as he affixed his tag to his coat pocket. “We’ll keep that in mind.” “See you later.” Jennifer added, giving the guard a playful wink as she walked by. “Maybe we can get together for a cup of jarrok sometime?” “Yeah…sure…” the young guard responded with a grin, “Just say when and where and it’s a date.” Jerking his head towards Collins, the guard whispered, “Better hurry…your boss looks impatient.” “I’ll get back to you.” Jennifer smiled back as she rushed to join the engineering lieutenant. Sparing the young science officer a sideways glare, Collins grumbled, “Did you forget the Commander’s orders, Ensign?” “No, I didn’t.” Jennifer replied defensively, adding, “It pays to get on the good side of the guys with the guns, and if a little flirting makes our jobs a little easier—what’s so wrong about that. Besides…” the raven-haired beauty teased, “…it was fun.” ******************************************************************** Cilla gritted her teeth, barely concealing her anger as she saw her soon-to-be supervisor leaning over the shoulder of the receptionist she was due to relieve, whispering in her ear as he shamelessly flirted with her. As she watched the scene in front of her play out, the communications officer hearkened back to a conversation she had with one of her few friends on the Lexington, Lieutenant Commander Zha’Thara before she had beamed down to the surface. “Even though legally there’s equality between the sexes on Halen…” Cilla explained, repeating much of what she’d said at an earlier briefing, “…culturally, economically, and socially it’s still very much a patriarchal society. Very few women hold high positions in politics, business, the government, the military, or academia…” “And mild to moderate sexual harassment is still very much the rule in the workplace.” Talana completed and then, her antennae leaning forward in a gesture indicating worry and concern, inquired, “Are you going to be able to keep it together down there? I mean…I’m one of the few people who know the full story about why you are the way you are and…well…I’m afraid that…” “I’ll get pissed off and punch out the first guy who gets fresh with me and end up screwing up the mission as a result?” Cilla finished as she daubed her mouth with her napkin. Sighing, the willowy blonde reluctantly confessed, “I’m worried about that too and I thought seriously about asking the Bear or Commodore Wesley to send someone else…but if I did that…I’d probably never get the opportunity again…” “You’re probably right.” Talana affirmed her lips momentarily turning up into a slight grin, “While Alexei’s not as big a monster as you junior officers make him out to be—he’s usually not one to give second chances.” Exhaling, the blue-skinned woman nodded her head, “If you want to do more than utter the phrase ‘Hailing frequencies open, Sir,’ for the rest of your career, then you’re going to have to deal with this situation—and the sooner—the better.” Taking a deep breath as she squared her shoulders and plastered a smile on her face, Cilla stepped towards the receptionist’s desk, “Hello.” Cilla introduced herself as she held out her credentials. “My name is Cilla Oudekirk—I’m the new second shift receptionist reporting for work.” Quickly standing upright, the attractive man who had just been flirting with woman Cilla was due to relieve flashed a roguish grin as he took the papers from the long-legged Cilla’s hands. “I’m Colonel Pal Restof of UMBRA—head of security.” Examining the papers as the now off-duty receptionist vacated her chair; the Colonel nodded his head in satisfaction. “Everything appears to be in order. Welcome aboard. After winking at the departing secretary, Restof turned his attention back to Cilla, his roguish demeanor suddenly gone, “As you’re probably aware, we’re currently on a heightened state of alert. I’ll be taking a tour of the labs. If Commander Strakan or Colonel Freman calls, you’re to inform me immediately through my pager. Otherwise, take a message and I’ll return the calls when I get back.” “Understood, Sir.” Cilla replied efficiently as she sat down at the receptionist’s desk. “Excellent.” Restof exclaimed, the roguish grin returning as he eyed his new secretary appreciatively. “I should be back in about an hour.” Waiting until her new supervisor had safely departed, Cilla grinned as she accessed the antique desktop computer. Now let’s see if I can find what we’re looking for without tripping any alarms.
Lexington: Aliens Part 4 cont Walking down the corridors of the immense starship led by their Andorian tour guide, the two rescued Halenoi were once again amazed at the presence of the different alien races that comprised the Lexington’s crew. While consisting mostly of the Halenoi appearing race called humans, there were those with pointy ears that Talana called Vulcans, one that looked Halenoi, but had spots that appeared to run down his neck and back that their guide called a Trill, and even a few other Andorians amongst the crew of this astonishing vessel. “How many different races are there?” Lieutenant Alys inquired in a hushed voice, “And how many are in this Federation of yours?” Chuckling, Talana gladly answered the curious Halenoi’s question, “We’re not exactly sure how many different sentient species there are in the galaxy—that’s one of the reasons why we’re here—to try to make peaceful contact with as many as possible. As for how big the Federation is…” her chuckles now replaced by an impish grin, the Andorian science officer announced to her doubting charges, “…as of now the Federation is spread across an area of approximately a thousand light years and consists of around 59 different species—of course…” she added, the mischievous grin still on her face, “…I could be off by a few species—I haven’t checked the news lately.” “Impossible…” Merric shook his head in disbelief, “There’s no way you can get so many different races together without them killing each other.” Sighing dejectedly, Myra chimed in, “Much as I hate to say it, I have to agree with Merric. I can’t see how you can possibly keep such a large group of different species and cultures together for long.” The grin that had been on her face now replaced by a thoughtful expression, Talana replied honestly, “It’s not easy—and you’re right—there frequently are tensions that crop up. Many of our races didn’t get along with each other prior to joining the Federation—and more than a few still hold a few grudges. For instance, my people and the Vulcans fought both cold and hot wars with each other for hundreds of years and were on the verge of another hot war when we made first contact with the humans. It was the Earthers, acting as mediators, who finally got us to make peace.” As the tiny group approached engineering, the Andorian woman’s teasing grin returned as the door slid open, “And then there are the Tellarites…” ******************************************************************** “And this is where you’ll be working…” Dr. Tyee, an elegant, middle-aged Halenoi woman with platinum blonde hair, announced as she ushered Lieutenant Collins and Ensign Whatley through a doorway flanked by UMBRA security guards to either side. “It’s a spinoff from our special project.” The project director proudly declared, explaining, “If our theories are correct—and I think they are—then not only will we have broken the light-speed barrier for space travel, but we’ll also have a faster-than-light equivalent to radio.” Subspace communications. Collins at once deduced. Plastering an enthusiastic smile on his face, the undercover engineering officer replied, answering for the young dark-haired woman standing beside him, “I can’t tell you how much we’re looking forward to working on this project, Dr. Tyee. When do we get started?” “Excellent.” The Halenoi scientist answered back, pleased at the newcomer’s response. “I’ll introduce you to Dr. Castra—he’s the head of this particular section, and he’ll put the two of you to work. Come with me.” As the project leader escorted the two undercover Starfleet officers to their assignment, she didn’t notice the covert looks a custodian sweeping the floor gave her as they passed by. As the door closed behind them, the custodian tapped the side of her neck two times, activated a tiny communications device embedded beneath her skin. In another section of the project, the leader of the Shlavka infiltration cell felt the vibrations emanating from a similar device implanted within him. As he tapped out his single tap response, Assig attempted to make the gesture appear to be an unconscious act as he spoke to the two Halenoi security guards opposite him. “This is my first day on the job…” the Shlavka glibly lied as he regarded the slender red-haired Halenoi and his burly partner, “…and I’m afraid I’m lost. Can you direct me to the Dyska Project?” After first examining the new employee’s credentials, the slender Halenoi replied as he returned the documents, “Go down this corridor…first door on the left…then third door on the right. Present your docs to the guard at the door.” “Thank you.” Assig replied as he recovered his papers. “I’ll be on my way.” Watching as the newcomer departed, the slender Halenoi smiled as he turned to his new partner, “Firsdays are always like this. Come with me, Rookie and I’ll show you where you’ll be assigned. So…” the security officer inquired as the pair made their way down the corridor in the opposite direction from which Assig went, “…that’s an interesting accent you have. Where did you come from again?” “Dyakan City.” Alexei Kuznetsov, now wearing the uniform of one of the facility civilian security guards responded; keeping to his cover story of coming from one of the more distant, still resource poor continents. “Yeah…” the other guard replied, his tone a mixture of sympathy and irritation, “…reconstruction efforts are still going on in your part of the world—aren’t they?” “Right.” The burly Russian replied laconically, hoping that the tone of his voice would induce his partner to change the subject. Taking the big man’s hint, the other guard sighed, “Can’t say as I blame you for not wanting to talk about it.” Jerking his head at a door, the guard declared, “This is your post. You’re not to let anyone through without the proper authorization. Have a good shift and I’ll be by to relieve you in four hours.” Nodding his head in acknowledgment, Alexei took his post. By now, the Commander figured, his team should be in place. Now, it was just a matter of waiting until Oudekirk and Collins got the information they were looking for. After that—it would simply be a matter of maintaining their covers while conducting a quiet surface investigation of Halenoi society and culture until the Lexingtonreturned…provided nothing went wrong, that is. On the other side of the facility, the Shlavka leader made ready to strike. After first ensuring that he was in a blind spot where the omnipresent cameras could not spot him, Assig removed the thin fibrous wire that had been sewn into the color of his shirt. Turning it into an instant garrote, the Shlavka infiltrator grinned in satisfaction as he observed his prey. Waiting patiently for the right moment, the Shlavka infiltrator was soon rewarded as the guard turned his back on him. Striking smoothly and quickly, Assig wrapped the garrote around the Halenoi’s throat, twisting it until the body finally went limp. Checking to make sure there was no breath or heartbeat, Assig dragged his victim into a nearby custodial room where he rifled the poor guard’s pocket until he found what he was looking for—a pass card. Tapping the subcutaneous transmitter implanted on the side of his neck three times, Assig gave the ‘go’ signal to the rest of his team. Soon—they would all be either heroes—or dead—or—most likely both. Either way—the only thing that counted was the success of the mission. Assig had yet to fail a mission and had no intention of doing so now. *********************************************************************** Gasping at the sheer space in the giant starship’s engineering section, Lieutenant Alys remarked, her voice filled with awe. “This section alone is bigger than most of our manned deep space probes.” Her eyes fixed on the thrumming warp core, the flight control officer inquired, “What do you use as fuel? Fusion?” “No.” Talana shook her head, “We use matter—anti-matter.” “Impossible.” Merric sneered, “There’s no way you could contain that much energy.” “Then why aren’t your atoms scattered all across space, Pup?” A course, gravelly voice demanded. Pivoting rapidly towards the voice, the young Halenoi pilot’s eyes widened as they laid eyes on something that he had only imagined seeing in a science fiction movie. All the other aliens he and Myra bore at least a superficial resemblance to Halenoi: the humans, except for slight variations in eye and hair color could pass unnoticed—a thought that had begun to slowly gnaw at the suspicious young pilot. And as for the other races, except for the Andorians with their blue skin and antennae, they were close enough to Halenoi standards where they wouldn’t look too much out of place. But the individual standing before him now defied such simple categorizing. He was a portly—really stout would be a better description—individual about a head shorter than the Halenoi pilot and much hairier. But what truly set him apart were his facial features. His broad snout and sharp canines gave him an almost feral cast. Stunned speechless by the alien, Merric almost missed his next words. “What’s with these two, Talana?” The porcine alien demanded in a belligerent voice, thrusting his finger at the Andorian woman who was at that moment valiantly trying to restrain her laughter. “Are they brain damaged or something? And why the hells did you bring them into my section? I have more important things to do than wet-nurse a pair of striplings.” “Calm down, G’arv.” Talana replied in a voice half teasing—half conciliatory. “Commodore Wesley’s orders. These are the two Halenoi we rescued from that shuttle.” Turning her attention back to her guests, Talana introduced the two of them to the acerbic being wearing a red shirt and rank designations similar to the Andorian’s on his sleeves, “This is Lieutenant Commander G’arv, our chief engineer. He comes from another planet that was a founding member of the Federation, Tellar.” “And a damned good thing we decided to join too.” The Tellarite declared in a gruff voice, “Otherwise you’d all be lost.” “Modesty is not a Tellarite virtue.” Talana jibed back. “That goes for good manners as well.” Her smile vanishing, the Andorian patiently explained to the gruff engineer, “The Commodore was hoping that you’d show Flying Officer Freman and Lieutenant Alys your section and maybe answer any questions they might have.” “Four years of Starfleet Academy…post-graduate degrees in warp mechanics and plasma physics…and fifteen years as an engineer on everything from Kestrels to Connies and I get stuck playing tour-guide.” The stocky engineer huffed, “All right, pups…follow me and try not to get lost and if you have any questions I’ll try to answer them in words you can understand.” As the little group began to make their way deeper into G’arv’s domain, Myra whispered into Talana’s ear, “Is he always like this.” Snickering, Talana whispered back, “To tell the truth…we’ve caught him on a good day.” *********************************************************************** “Commodore…the Shlavka ship has resumed course.” Lieutenant Terrence Lawford, the Lexington’s chief navigator, announced. “Follow his course and heading, Ms. Bathory.” Commodore Wesley instructed, “And remember…keep our distance…we don’t want to spook him.” “Aye, Sir.” The youthful Hungarian acknowledged. Cupping his chin, Robert gazed intently at the viewscreen, his eyes trying to pick out the dim Shlavka vessel moving amongst the other points of light. In an almost inaudible voice, the commodore muttered to himself, “It’s a wild gamble—but I don’t see any other choice. Otherwise, an awful lot of people are going to get killed and I’ll probably end up sharing a spot in Hell with Colonel Green.” “Sir! A B’rel class scoutship has appeared on our scanners.” Snapped out of his reverie by Aliz’s thickly accented Hungarian voice, Robert at once ordered, “Magnify.” As the wavy, fuzzy image slowly defined itself into the shape of one of the relatively new raptor-shaped Klingon pursuit craft, the commodore barked out, “Course and heading!” “They’re on an intercept course for the Shlavka vessel.” Lieutenant Terrence Lawford reported back in his usual posh English accent. “Estimated time until they reach weapons range—two minutes…thirty seconds.” Coming to a quick decision, Wesley inquired, “Can we get to that ship before the Klingons?” “If we go to maximum warp now…” Terrence promptly replied, “We should get there at nearly the same time.” “Do it.” The commodore ordered as he punched the intercom button on his chair arm, “Red Alert…all hands to General Quarters.”
And now the enter the fray but what exactly is their purpose? ... mmm ... - Means trouble any which way. Great to have Aliens back. This is a really interesting story with again great parallels and differences between the different incursion teams. it gets even better as the federation crew is likely to get hit by all sides.
Looks like we're heading into the breach. Great work on the infiltration teams. I'm looking forward to see how the Shlavka get their asses whooped by Starfleet.
I disagree with Xeris(sorry!) It looks like Starfleet is about to get whipped by the Shlavka infiltration team-the Fleeters are all in position to be targets or collateral damage. Keep writing so we can find out who's right!
Definitely enjoying this...like others have said, you've done well at creating the TOS feel, but with your own well-defined characters.
The Halenoi security is truly appaling. I mean isn't there anyone in that facility who isn't an infiltrator? Way to build up the tension though. I can feel things are going to go down very soon here and in the ensuing chaos I'm not so sure that a victor will emerge at all. In any case ... I'm looking forward to the ensuing chaos.
Always fun when the Klingons show up! Wonder what's their angle here? And do they have smooth foreheads or ridges?
Thanks, guys...it's not that Halenoi security is bad--it's just that the infiltrators--both sets--are good! (That's my story and I'm sticking to it! ) Seriously--I'll admit, it's a bit of a plot device, but I wanted to move things along and well...it's something you'd see in TOS... As for the Klingons...next chapter...
Problems posting Part 5 I was hoping to get part 5 posted, but I seem to have problems with vBulletin cutting whole portions of text. It might be a problem with Word 2007, So, I'll see how it goes with an older version...
Re: Problems posting Part 5 If worse comes to worse, take your text, paste it into Notepad and format it for vBulletin there, and then post it here. That's what I've had to do with other sites less cooperative than this one. Make sure that just before you copy and paste the text into the BBS, that you turn off Word Wrap or you'll end up with line breaks in unintended places.
I don't know how I missed these last two segments - my previous post probably doesn't make much sense (it refers to an earlier segment)! Great stuff here - Wesley shows wisdom and diplomatic skill as he deals with his two guests. (Loved the scene with G'arv. And yes, he did seem rather sedate for a Tellarite - maybe he wasn't feeling well! ) It's apparent that things are about to hit the fan on the surface. Hopefully, the landing party can thwart the Shlavka's assassination attempt.