Star Trek Hunter Episode 7: The Great Mushroom

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 7: The Great Mushroom
Scene 10: A Bad Feeling

7.10
A Bad Feeling​

2nd Lt. Gaia Gamor felt like she had been born in the captain’s chair, gotten married to it and was destined to be buried with it. She had been pulling double shifts in command in no small part out of boredom. Dr. Jazz was running an experiment that required several crew members to remain onboard and never go planetside. She was part of this control group and as the ranking operations officer remaining on the ship, the captain’s chair was a natural place for her to be.

But it wasn’t the double-shifts that were bothering her. It was a navigational issue. Something was causing her to have to adjust the U.S.S. Hunter’s orbit. The planet’s mass was known, as were the mass of both moons, the nearby planets and Pi 110 itself. With both of her navigators planetside, it was pretty much up to Lt. Gamor to figure out what was going on. The math geniuses, Tauk and Carrera, were both busy planetside, but navigators had to be good at math too. This math was simple. The problem was that the math wasn’t telling her anything useful.

For some reason the Hunter was speeding up on the day side and slowing down on the night side of Pillo. It wasn’t much, but it didn’t take much to require a course correction.


“Hunter,” Gamor called and looked to the space behind the navigation station where the boat’s interactive avatar preferred to appear.

“Lieutenant Gamor,” responded Hunter, appearing as expected.

“I’m sure you’ve been monitoring our orbit,” Gamor said. “Can you tell me why we’re having to make so many course corrections? There don’t seem to be any gravitational fluctuations that could be causing it.”

“We are encountering a field effect, almost like moving through a field of particulate matter,” Hunter replied.

Lt. Gamor leaned forward in the captain’s chair. She had a hunch. “Can you conduct an analysis of the particulate matter and identify where it’s coming from?”

“The particulate matter appears to be connected to the flora canopy on the planet below,” Hunter said.

“Please display on the viewscreen - show me a high magnification, high resolution view.”

The viewscreen changed to show what appeared to be a living plant cell.

“Hunter, what am I looking at?” Gamor asked.

“A cell in a streamer that is attached to the canopy on Pillo,” Hunter replied.

“Mushroom? We’re flying through mushroom?”

The viewscreen pulled back to display several streamers until the tiny tendrils were almost too small to be seen.

“These tendrils are only a few molecules thick,” Hunter stated. “And yes, these are mushroom tendrils. We are flying through a field of them. They seem to be carried out some distance from the planet by the solar wind, which is why we are not encountering as many of them on the day side.”

Lt. Gamor relaxed back into the captain’s chair. “How far out do these tendrils go?”

Hunter took a few moments to study the tendrils, displaying this research on the viewscreen. “The tendrils connect to both of the moons of Pillo and also to a significant amount of the debris collected in the LaGrange points of both moons.”

Gamor let out a low whistle. “That’s a lot - far more extensive than I imagined. Has any of this material made it past our navigational screens onto the hull?”

“I do not detect any particles inside our navigational screens,” Hunter replied.

“Project an orbit that will keep us outside of the reach of these tendrils,” Gamor said.

Hunter displayed an elliptical orbit outside the orbits of Pillo’s twin moons.

Gamor walked around the boat’s avatar to the currently unoccupied bridge navigation station, sat and checked the orbit plan. She then turned to Flight Specialist Joey Chin at the pilot station next to her. “Mr. Chin, lay in this orbit pattern and take us out to it when ready.”

“Establishing new orbit, sir,” Chin responded as Lt. Gamor got up and returned to the captain’s chair.

Gamor knew it was an illusion, but she could almost feel the boat slipping free of tiny mushroom tendrils as it moved past one of the planet’s moons.


“Bridge, this is Transporter Room 1…” Transporter Engineer K’rok’s voice was unmistakable.

“Go ahead, K’rok,” Gamor responded.

“I have Flight Specialists Dih and Salazaar and Chief Guth requesting beam up.”

“Go ahead and bring them up. Advise Chief Guth to report to the bridge once aboard.” Gamor wasn’t sure why half her team was returning, but she was glad to have them back - even though none of this group could relieve her of command.

Chief Guth reported to the bridge within moments.

“What’s up, Guth?” Gamor asked. “I thought you and the other pilots were going to stay planetside for another day.”

“We just had a feeling, sir,” Guth responded. “Ensign Phillips was on a date and I didn’t think it was right to interrupt him just because a few pilots were feeling jumpy.”

The communication system brought K’rok’s voice to the bridge again: “Bridge, this is Transporter Room 1…”

“More beamout requests, K’rok?” Gamor asked.

“Navigators Strahl and Imex and Engineers Tomos and Yolanda Thomas are requesting transport up here.”

“Bring them aboard, Mr. K’rok,” Gamor replied. She turned her attention to her Chief Flight Specialist. “So what would you like to do now, Chief?”

“If it’s the same with you, Dih and I would like to stand watch at the interceptor bays,” Guth responded.

“That must be some bad feeling you have - and it sounds like you’re not the only one…” Gamor mused.

7.10​

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Both the name of the planet and its capital (and only city) are puns invented by a clever wag among the early settlers.

Pillo orbits the star 110 Piscium - which is abbreviated Pi 110. Pillo.

Of course the city inside the Great Mushroom had to be named Porte Abello. If you haven't gotten that one yet, you will slap your forehead when you do...

 

[Gibraltar]

Review 7.8 - Ah, all the flora here is a single organism, fascinating. One wonders... sentient perhaps? Loved the theorizing about how the mushroom-shower discovery came about.

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Review 7.8 - Ah, all the flora here is a single organism, fascinating. One wonders... sentient perhaps? Loved the theorizing about how the mushroom-shower discovery came about.

You're not the only one to wonder that about the Great Mushroom...

And about that shower discovery, maybe the carpet bunched up just a little to cause a convenient stumble? Oops...

Thanks!! rbs

 

[Gibraltar]

Review 7.9 - Someone or something certainly appears to be trying to communicate with members of the crew through their dreams.

Do these attempts have good intent or ill, though? Given the disturbing imagery, it could be either.

Unsettling stuff and well rendered!

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Review 7.9 - ...Do these attempts have good intent or ill, though?...

I think the answer to that question might be, "no." (I love giving yes/no answers to either/or questions...) Glad you enjoyed this one! Dream sequences are fun - particularly the shifty, fluid, mercurial nature of them.

Thanks again for the reviews! rbs

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 7: The Great Mushroom
Scene 11: Case Closed

7.11
Case Closed​

With a now familiar and very appropriate sounding squawk, Justice Irons delivered her ruling: “First, with regard to the plaintiff’s complaint, due to the unenforceability of the patent applications at the heart of this case, I am dismissing this case without prejudice. No harm, no foul, no precedent, no damages.”

The plaintiff and her lawyers did not make any reply, but this was clearly not the ruling they had hoped for. Mayor Sally Chesticut let her hand fall to the plaintiff’s mushroom with a soft, squishy sound.

Irons turned to direct her remarks to the defendant’s mushroom. “Second, with regard to the actions of the defendant, all patents granted by the planetary administration are hereby voided pending appeal and further, the planetary administration is hereby enjoined against granting patents or even reviewing patent applications pending a broad competency review. Additionally, I am recommending a full audit of all planetary administrative rulings and activities.”

Irons leveled her gaze at Planetary Administrator John Westinghall. “Administrator - I strongly recommend you get your house in order ahead of this recommended audit. Given the state of your patent review process, I strongly suspect you may have other, more serious procedural issues. Mr. Westinghall, I believe you foresaw a judicial rebuke. Consider this it.”

“Case dismissed. Court adjourned,” Irons concluded. She banged the mushroom again, creating a rather sour sounding squawk.


At that moment, in another area of Porte Abello, a fight was about to break out. Almost no one knew why and few had any idea who would be fighting, but the premonition of a fight was drawing spectators, including the Hunter’s crew. Ensign Tolon Reeves had a bad feeling about it and put his squad on alert.

Dr. Carrera had a much worse feeling about it and had gathered as many of the crew as he could find. As he drew near to the crowd, his worst fears were realized - 1.) there were a lot of nausicaans, 2.) they were armed with swords, 3.) Commander David Pepper was in the middle of it. And in a bad way.

No less than six nausicaans were holding Pep’s arms behind him. He was leaning forward, trying to drag them off their feet. Another nausicaan stepped in front of the giant and drew a sword, set to plunge it into the giant’s heart.

Carrera let out a high-pitched scream and charged toward the sword-wielding nausicaan. Nausicaans were large and this one was much larger than normal. Carrera was a small man, so he went for the knees. Investigator Buttans also ran toward the nausicaan at tremendous speed. Although Buttans was not as large as his opponent, he was able to tackle with considerable force due to his speed - Buttans, Carrera and the nausicaan went tumbling - but not before the nausicaan left his sword embedded in Pep’s chest.

The nausicaan drew a knife, only to find himself wrestled firmly to the ground by Tolon and Belo Garr. Jarrong stepped over him, first relieving him of the knife, then with a roundhouse left punch, relieving him of consciousness.

Several nausicaans seemed to be fighting each other and the two whom Pep had knocked out in the bar a few nights previously, took on the nausicaans who were holding the giant’s arms, enabling him to pull free of them. Pep removed the sword from his chest and pushed his hand into the wound, which was bleeding profusely.

Several nausicaans fell - first those close to Pep, then others. Only those close enough could see Mlady’s tiny figure sprinting among the towering nausicaans at tremendous speed, a small phaser in each hand, stunning every nausicaan at point blank range, regardless of which side they appeared to be fighting on. Within less than a minute, no one who had been fighting was left standing except for Pep and Mlady. Pep removed his hand from the sword wound and Mlady put her mouth to the bleeding wound. “Hunter, two for medical beamout!” Pep gasped, holding Mlady’s mouth to his chest. Within a few seconds the transporter whisked them away, leaving several members of Hunter’s crew slack-jawed at what they had just witnessed.

A little further away on the edge of the crowd, Dr. Tali Shae quietly called for medical beamout.

7.11 (of 18)​

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 7: The Great Mushroom
Scene 12: Battle for Pillo

7.12
Battle for Pillo ​

2nd Lt. Gaia Gamor was keeping up with all the reports of medical beamouts, but she was not tempted in the least to step away from the captain’s chair. Instead, she strapped herself in and found herself ordering the rest of the bridge crew to do the same. She was not surprised when Guth called her from one of the interceptor bays.

“Bridge, this is Interceptor 1 requesting permission to launch…”

“I was just about to ask you to do that. Launch both interceptors,” Gamor replied. “Maintain close formation.”

Almost at that moment, Navigator Johanna Imex, who had requested permission to staff the bridge tactical station on arriving, reported, “Ships entering the system at high warp. At least two.” She was already raising the Hunter’s shields as Lt. Gamor gave the order.

“Shields up, weapons hot, bring us about to face them. Interceptors, take wing positions forward and keep their torpedoes off of us. All hands - brace for combat!”

...​

In Porte Abello, Ensign Tolon Reeves gave his squad the order to separate out the unconscious nausicaans and bind them. Nausicaans were tough and resilient and even though the majority of them had been hit by Mlady’s phasers set on heavy stun at close range, several of them were starting to come around. But none of them had sufficient fight to put up a struggle against Tolon’s tactical squad and they were swiftly contained.

...​

As everyone else left the courtroom, Justice Minerva Irons found herself relaxing back into the mushroom from which she had delivered her ruling. She had a feeling that things weren’t going well for anyone else, but there was little she could do about it at the moment. Her mind was beckoned elsewhere. In her vision she was swept off to a small town on a rather drab planet where people wearing drab clothing were going about the business of farming.

Irons wasn’t sure where this particular agricultural backwater was, but she could easily identify the fly in the bucolic ointment. A large, well-dressed man was entering a small, but unusual building. Neither his clothing nor the building had anything to do with farming. She hadn’t seen his face, but his clothing and gait were very familiar. So was the clothing and manner of the farmers and farms around him.

Even the rugged, forbidding landscape was oddly familiar to Irons. These farms had been blasted out of this landscape long ago. The few places where land could possibly be cleared for farming clearly limited the population of this settlement. From the condition of the buildings, the village looked old, but well cared for.

...​

Three nausicaan heavy cruisers appeared out of warp in close formation and immediately began firing on the Hunter. The Hunter would have been quickly destroyed had it not been for the interceptors using their phaser cannon to prevent the large number of photon torpedoes from getting through.

Nausicaan heavy cruisers were very rarely seen - three of them together represented probably half of the capital ships of the Nausicaan Collective - which claimed to speak for roughly half of the nausicaans in the sector and was the only large nausicaan organization - more of a syndicate than a government.

Any one of these cruisers would have outclassed the Hunter even with the heavily armed tactical unit attached. With half its weaponry away on a mission to Vulcan, the Hunter was hopelessly outgunned. Gamor was both putting up a fight and simultaneously hailing these vessels in an attempt to surrender. No one was answering.


Then the tactical unit appeared out of high warp directly in between two of the heavy cruisers - with less than 30 meters between the tactical unit and the two cruisers on either side. In that moment the tactical unit pivoted 90 degrees, bringing its forward torpedo tube to point directly at one cruiser and the aft tube to point at the other. Torpedoes launched simultaneously at point blank range from each tube, but did not activate – they drifted toward the two cruisers.

The tactical unit moved forward at high speed. It nosed down, barely diving under one of the cruisers as the torpedoes drifted, unpowered, at launch speed into the deflector screens of the two vessels. On contacting the cruisers’ deflector screens, both torpedoes exploded simultaneously, overwhelming the emitters of both vessels and causing a feedback loop between the shielding systems that whipped both ships like a gigantic bandsaw, ripping open the hull plating and causing secondary explosions on each ship.

As these secondary explosions on the two now disabled cruisers multiplied out of control, the tactical unit focused its main phaser cannon at the third cruiser’s deflector dish, heating the shield directly in front of the dish. This remaining nausicaan heavy cruiser focused its fire on the tactical unit, only to find that its small target was moving too erratically to be predicted. In spite of these crazy, weaving and spinning maneuvers, the pilot of the tactical unit managed to keep the small vessel’s prow pointed precisely at the cruiser’s main deflector dish. Four torpedoes launched from the tactical unit’s aft tube, away from the cruiser.

These four torpedoes each took different trajectories, each sweeping around on individual arcs to head toward the nausicaan cruiser from different directions - directly toward the cruiser’s deflector dish. The cruiser was only able to destroy one torpedo with its forward disruptors before the other three torpedoes arrived simultaneously, just as the tactical unit disengaged its main forward phaser.

The torpedoes punched through a hole the phaser had opened in the nausicaan cruiser’s deflector screens. The first torpedo overwhelmed the deflector, taking down the protective screen. The second destroyed the deflector dish, causing secondary explosions. The third buried itself deep in the cruiser’s hull before exploding, ripping the ship to pieces with multiple, simultaneous secondary explosions.


Lt. Gamor was still hailing the other two cruisers as they drifted apart, offering to take on survivors. It quickly became evident there would be no survivors as explosions continued inside both ships, gutting their hulls and leaving them floating, burnt out, empty hulks. Only shards remained of the third cruiser.


“Hunter platform, this is the tactical unit, Kenneth Dolphin commanding,” came the transmission.

“Tactical unit, this is the Hunter, Gaia Gamor commanding,” Lt. Gamor responded. “Boy am I glad to see you, boss…”

Dolphin’s voice came back over the system. “Request permission to dock, Lieutenant.”

“Permission granted, sir,” Gamor replied. “I take it your mission was a success?”

“That would be an affirmative. We are carrying three crew members and three katras. Each katra is now located squarely where it should be.”

“Tactical unit, this is Interceptor 1,” came Guth’s voice. “Sir, I have never seen flying like that. Or shooting.”

“Ensign T’Lon did the shooting, Mr. Guth,” Dolphin responded. “As for the flying - let’s hope I never have to do anything like that again - at least for a while. I’ll see all of you on board. When I get there can someone please explain to me why I just had to blow up half of the Nausicaan Collective’s main fleet?”

7.12 (of 18)​

 

[Gibraltar]

Review 7.10 - People are beaming back due to an onset of widespread 'bad vibes' and the ship's been flying through mushroom spores reaching from the planet to it's moons. Utterly fascinating, and a terrific mystery unfolding here.

 

[Gibraltar]

Review 7.11 - That was an unexpectedly brutal fight (at least from the reader's perspective, everyone there obviously saw it coming). Thank goodness for Pepper's fellow crew intervening, most especially the remarkable Mlady. Now, what the hell set all that in motion in the first place?

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Review 7.10 - ...Utterly fascinating, and a terrific mystery unfolding here.

Glad you're enjoying the mystery... Is it the old caretaker wearing a mask - or is it a real ghost?

Review 7.11 - ...Now, what the hell set all that in motion in the first place?

Not in the first place... In the last place... Around Pillo, the future causes the past... Sort of...

Thanks!! rbs

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 7: The Great Mushroom
Scene 13: A Shared Vision

7.13
A Shared Vision​

Neither the City of Porte Abello nor the planetary administration of Pillo were anywhere near equipped to handle the aftermath of a nausicaan civil war, which was what had more or less happened. In all, Lt. Cmdr. Mlady had stunned more than 200 nausicaans in the fight that had wounded Commander David Pepper. Tolon’s tactical squad had quickly run out of restraints and had to improvise using local rope - which was not really strong enough to hold the nausicaans and several had escaped.

And while this was the largest uprising, it was not the only one. Few of the nausicaans were talking, but by interviewing other residents of Porte Abello who knew the nausicaans, Lt. Tauk, Investigator Lynhart Shran and Investigator Buttans Ngumbo were able to derive that the fights had pitted local nausicaans against interlopers. The few local nausicaans who were talking identified at least a few of the interlopers as members of the Collective (or “Collectors” as most nausicaans referred to them.)

Tauk and Investigator Shran were questioning one uncharacteristically talkative nausicaan - a young female named Yuum - on the promise of her anonymity. Her father and sister had been killed by a Collector in one of the brawls.


“We were told right from the start never to talk about the visions,” Yuum said. Her anger was evident and Shran and Tauk maintained a respectful distance. “We have had them just like everyone else, but the Collective didn’t want anyone to know about it. They wanted to know if the visions showed anything beyond the immediate area of this star system. They wanted to use the visions to prey on the trade routes near this system.”

Tauk coughed heavily, then said, “So did the visions expand beyond this system?” He coughed again.

Yuum nodded. “Right from the beginning we were seeing visions about people we knew on our homeworlds - family members. But that wasn’t what the collectors were looking for. They were looking for evidence the visions could be used to control the trade routes.”

Tauk continued coughing. Investigator Lynhart Shran took over questioning at a gesture from the young ferengi.

“So I take it they found what they were looking for?” Shran asked.

“Several, all at once. It led to a successful attack on a tellarite freighter last week,” Yuum replied. “The Collective was willing to risk half their fleet to take over this colony. If they had managed it, they could have taken tens of thousands of hostages and it would have been nearly impossible to get them off this planet. Is it true that a small Star Fleet patrol craft destroyed three of the Collective’s heavy cruisers?”

“That’s the report,” Tauk attempted, but could not continue as he was coughing harder.

“Are you all right, boss?” Shran asked.

Tauk waved impatiently, gesturing for Shran to continue.

Shran turned his attention back to the young nausicaan. “Yes. We don’t know the details yet, but we’ve been told our boat was attacked by three nausicaan heavy cruisers and won. I have no idea how.”

Yuum lit up at this news. “I want to join Star Fleet! I want to see the Collective taken out! I want to be there!”

Tauk managed, “You would be the first nausicaan in Star…” His coughing came back, far worse than before, blood dripping from his mouth and nose.


Lt. Kenny Dolphin had just secured the tactical unit after docking.

2nd Lt. Gaia Gamor was still in the captain’s chair.

Pep was laying in sick bay recovering from heart surgery, Lt. Cmdr. Mlady and Dr. Tali Shae next to him.

Dr. Sarekson Carrera had returned to the Hunter and was on his way to inspect the tactical unit.

Investigator Buttans Ngumbo was with Ensign Tolon Reeves and the tactical squad, arranging for long term containment of the members of the Nausicaan Collective who had started fights throughout Porte Abello.

Justice Minerva Irons was just leaving the courtroom.

Dr. Jazz Sam Sinder was cleaning up after successfully managing delicate heart surgery in the middle of a fire fight.


The vision of Tauk coughing up blood in desperation hit all of the Hunter’s crew simultaneously.


“Medical Beamout!” Shran’s voice was so gravelly it sounded as if his throat was about to shred itself.

Transporter Engineer K’rok was already in process of beaming Lt. Tauk and Investigator Shran directly to Medical.

7.13 (of 18)​

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 7: The Great Mushroom
Scene 14: Taking His Breath Away

7.14
Taking His Breath Away​

Dr. Jazz Sam Sinder and Dr. Tali Shae had moved Lt. Tauk to the forward surgery as Pep was recovering in the main surgery. They had conferred about the young lieutenant’s diagnosis. Communicating the results was Dr. Shae’s responsibility.

“We thought at first you might be having an allergic reaction to the spores,” Tali Shae said.

Tauk shook his head. “I was coughing before we got to Pillo. This has been coming on for a while.”

“Then you suspected. Why didn’t you come to me?” Shae asked.

“There isn’t much that can be done. It’s lungworm,” Tauk said.

Tali Shae rolled her eyes. “How about if you let me be the doctor in this room? It isn’t lungworm. What you have is a genetic condition. Your lung tissues are breaking down. Dr. Jazz administered a medicine that will suppress your symptoms temporarily. We will need to do surgery tomorrow. Dr. Jazz will remove the destroyed material from inside your lung, reconstruct the damaged areas and we can correct the missing sequence in your DNA at the same time.”

Tauk shook his head. “You can do the surgery, but I cannot allow you to alter my genetic structure. That would violate one of our highest laws.”

“I thought you were no longer a citizen of the Ferengi Alliance - weren’t you exiled?”

“Due to my doctoral dissertation. That does not change the fact that I am ferengi. I may have mathematically proved that, according to game theory, the Rules of Acquisition are counter-productive to wealth generation and general prosperity, but I cannot condone genetic therapy. Unlike humans, we learned the lesson from our eugenics wars.”

“I’m not talking about making you into some sort of superman, Lieutenant,” Dr. Tali Shae countered. “Just correcting the defect that is causing your lung to consume itself.”

“There can be no exceptions, Doctor,” said Tauk. “Doctor Dolphin was right to ask the question whether the benefits of genetic therapy are worth the risk that people will cheat. Ferengi are very familiar with that concept. Cheating is inevitable and inevitably leads to self-destruction. The ferengi learned that lesson the hard way. We tried half-measures. Which led to a second eugenics war. That’s why we refer to them as the eugenics wars.”

Dr. Tali Shae took a deep breath. “I understand. I need you to understand that the window for genetic modification is not very wide. If you change your mind - and I’m not suggesting that you are likely to - we may have a few months. Without the treatment, the outlook is not good. With a combination of surgeries and medicines, we can slow the progress of the disease. But it will be fatal within no more than a year - two years at the outside. And as it progresses, it will become debilitating and extremely painful. The pain can be managed, but at increasing cost to your mental awareness.”

Tauk grimaced. “How long will I be able to continue in my duties?”

“Are you certain you want to remain at your post, now that you have a time limit?”

“Doctor, this,” Tauk looked around, gestured vaguely to the room around him, “this is my home. There is no other place for me.”

Tali Shae walked over to one of the forensic workstations and sat down. “I really don’t know, Tauk. There are too many variables. I suppose a year, maybe more, maybe less. Honestly, I’m just wildly guessing. Dr. Jazz is designing the surgery. We should be ready tomorrow. Do you feel up to a senior staff meeting? Justice Irons has scheduled it for the main surgery, considering we have two senior staff recuperating down here.”

“I think I can manage it, thank you, Doctor.”

7.14 (of 18)​

Author's Note: You might recall Kenny Dolphin's dream in 7.1 that included the image of Tauk coughing with blood dripping from his nose and mouth. You might also have noticed that Tauk started coughing in Episode 4 and it's gradually been getting worse...

 

[Gibraltar]

Review 7.12 - Damn, what a fight! Good thing Dolphin and the others returned when they did, or Hunter would have been pasted. Fantastic coordination by the crew of the tactical unit. Now I'm wondering what prompted the Nausicaan's to attack a Federation colony? Perchance some future event sensed by the Nausicaan's in the colony, or payback for Pepper's little scuffle?

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Review 7.12 - ...Fantastic coordination by the crew of the tactical unit... ...payback for Pepper's little scuffle?

Miraculous coordination. Of course Dolphin and T'Lon have spent a lot of time in each other's heads recently... Yeah - I think this might be a little bigger than Pep. Assuming that's possible... Thanks!! rbs

 

[Gibraltar]

Review 7.13/7.14 - The Nausicaan informant has a wealth of intel, and what she's divulged makes sense from her species' viewpoint. A great reveal of the seriousness of Tauk's slowly developing condition, made more tragic by his rejection of available genetic therapies. I've come to like this character, and I'd hate to see him die, but if he does he'll have passed adhering to he and his people's beliefs.

Great stuff!

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Review 7.13/7.14 - ...A great reveal of the seriousness of Tauk's slowly developing condition, made more tragic by his rejection of available genetic therapies. I've come to like this character, and I'd hate to see him die...

I'm really glad the Tauk character connected for you - it's always gratifying to see readers starting to root for your characters.

Thanks for the kind words!! rbs

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 7: The Great Mushroom
Scene 15: Time on Target

7.15
Time on Target​

About a half hour later, the senior staff gathered in the main surgery.


“I really hope we aren’t setting a precedent,” Justice Irons said, looking around the surgery. Tauk was propped up on one surgery table and Commander David Pepper on another. A few extra chairs had been brought into the room to accommodate remainder of the senior staff.

“Lieutenant Tauk, let’s start with you. Tell us what your team has found out about the nausicaans.”

Tauk cleared his throat, immediately drawing concerned looks from everyone in the room. He paused long enough to indulge in a slight sigh. “It’s clear enough that the Nausicaan Collective was making a bold move to take over this colony. Pi 110 is located near two main arteries for trade routes within the Federation. It would be a very defensible position for the Collective - they could have held tens of thousands of hostages under the mushrooms and they would have established a foothold deep inside Federation territory. They also believed they would have benefitted from premonitions everyone seems to experience on Pillo.”

Pep’s voice was uncharacteristically soft and not as low as usual. “What I want to know…” He paused to take a deep breath. “What made the Collective so bold to think such a move would be tolerated in such close proximity to Earth?”

“Historically, this area was squarely within the Collective’s patrol territory,” Irons replied. “Star Fleet has only been able to strengthen our presence in this sector since the threats from the Borg and the Dominion have receded. I think the Collective was feeling strong enough to make a play to regain some of their historic territory. Thanks to Lieutenant Dolphin, that bid ended catastrophically for them. Kenneth, I would like to hear some more about these unconventional tactics you used to take down three capital ships with what is essentially a heavily armed shuttle.”

Lt. Dolphin grimaced and raised his eyebrows. “Those tactics were the product of desperation and adrenaline. And only half mine. I left the shooting up to Ensign T’Lon. Her tactics were extremely creative. It was her idea to launch torpedoes without engaging their engines so that I had time to get us out of the way before they blew up. She also came up with the Time On Target use of torpedoes on the third ship.”

Tauk cleared his throat. “Time On Target? I’ve heard the term before, but I don’t know what it means.”

“I’m not surprised,” Dolphin responded. “It doesn’t often have a use in modern combat. It dates back to the use of cannon on the battlefield. Gunners would aim their cannon very high with a sufficient charge to drop cannon balls on their enemies from above, then quickly reloaded and fired directly at the enemy. Time On Target meant the cannon balls falling from above would arrive at the same time as those coming straight across the battlefield. A devastating attack. T’Lon’s use of it - having photon torpedoes arriving from several different trajectories - made it impossible for the cruiser to prevent all of them from hitting their target.”

Dr. Carrera spoke up. “What I want to know is how you brought the tactical unit out of warp within a thousand meters of another ship, much less in between two other ships with less than 30 meters clearance on either side. We designed the unit with as many potentials as possible, but I don’t think that was one of them.”

Dolphin blushed a little and mumbled something Carrera couldn’t distinguish.

Dr. Carrera turned to Tauk: “What did he say?”

Tauk’s ears were the only ones in the room sensitive enough to comprehend Dolphin’s Yankee mumble.


“He said he flew it stick.”


Tali Shae turned toward Dolphin. “You did what?”

Dr. Carrera was wide-eyed with disbelief, but his voice remained calm. “You flew stick at warp speed. You came out of warp at hundreds of times the speed of light, placed that boat precisely between two heavy cruisers that were less than 100 meters apart - and you did it manually? Is that even allowed?”

“Combat flight rules provide fairly broad discretion for manual operation… As I said, desperation and adrenaline,” Dolphin reiterated.


Carrera looked at Dr. Tali Shae. “Whatever you’re prescribing for him, I want some too.”


Justice Irons was shaking her head. “I have never heard of such a thing. I am quite tempted to classify that maneuver just so that a generation of cadets don’t get themselves killed trying to recreate it.” She turned toward her first officer. “David, how is your heart?”

“Dr. C. saved my life,” Pep replied. “If he and Ngumbo hadn’t tackled that nausicaan, that sword would have gone right through my heart. As it was, it was just a nasty nick. I have more surgery scheduled for the next few days. After that I should be fine. We need to talk about how many people saw Mlady biting my wound.”

Carrera turned toward Pep with some surprise. “Is that what she was doing? I couldn’t tell. All I could see was that she put her mouth to the wound.”

Mlady, seated next to the surgical bed Pep was recuperating in, was trying not to smile, but was unable to keep from baring her fangs.

Dr. Tali Shae started, “Mlady produces an enzyme…”

Lt. Dolphin interrupted her. “We cannot tell the crew that. It would create unrealistic expectations - she can only do that with people whom she has genetically modified…”

“I am right here,” Mlady said, her fangs now bared.

“Don’t tell anybody anything,” Irons said. “It’s none of their business. If you hear any crew members asking questions or speculating about this incident, tell them it is a private matter and if they want to know more, they should ask their Executive Officer or their Operations Officer. And you can let them know that David will refer them to Mlady, so they might as well start with her.”

Mlady relaxed, but looked pointedly at each of the directors, effectively sealing her privacy.

“That should settle them down,” Dr. Carrera said. “Everyone on this boat should be used to unusual personal relationships by now. They may be surprised, and there will be some gossip. But we have a fairly respectful crew. There isn’t a person here who hasn’t had to deal with people being too nosy about their private lives.”

Dolphin spoke directly to Mlady, “I apologize for being insensitive a moment ago.”

Mlady gave Dolphin a long evaluating gaze. It was several heartbeats before she took a breath and quietly said, “Apology accepted.”

7.15 (of 18)​

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 7: The Great Mushroom
Scene 16: A Mushroom in Reverse

7.16
A Mushroom in Reverse​

“Now that that’s settled, it’s time to address the elephant in the room,” Justice Irons said. Just as Pep cleared his throat, Irons added, “Or I should say, the mushroom. We all had the visions. Even Lieutenant Dolphin - and before he broke the seal from the tactical unit, meaning he had not breathed Hunter’s air. So we can probably rule out spores. So the question is, what is causing these premonitions?”

Dr. Carrera said, “We don’t have enough information - or maybe we do, but it’s spread around. We all need to know what everyone saw and when they saw it.”

“I think I might have been the first,” said Dolphin. “About a week ago at our last senior staff meeting, I was talking about a dream. It didn’t mean anything to me at the time, but that vision we all had of Tauk coughing blood, I had that exact vision in my dream. That was before I even knew the Hunter was going to Pillo and even then I didn’t know that I would link back up with you before you broke orbit.”

“I saw Pep with a hole in his chest - his heart had been removed,” Dr. Carrera added. “It was a bizarre dream - a nightmare really.”

“Sounds to me like a premonition about me getting stabbed,” Commander David Pepper responded.

“Is your heart missing?” Irons asked.

Pep patted his hands about on his chest as if to make sure. “Doesn’t seem to be…”

“But in the dream, even though there was a hole, he said his heart wasn’t missing,” Carrera responded.

“Did any of you feel that you were contacted by an intelligence?” Irons asked.


Her question elicited only confused looks.


Irons described her dreams involving the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, and the dying brown dwarf star, although she omitted the part about Mlady.

The room was silent for a moment, but only Dr. Carrera seemed to be taking it in.

“It does sound like an intelligent contact. But there’s a lot to unpack here. You said they were feeding stellar material to Pi 110?” Carrera asked.

Irons nodded. “I couldn’t even begin to describe the technology.”

“That would have to be billions of years in the future. That star should have an exceptionally long life-span.”

“I got the feeling that it was a far distant future,” Irons replied.

“Here’s my guess - and please observe the caveat that it is a wild guess…” Carrera leaned forward in his chair, clearly excited. “I suspect we are in contact with a vast intelligence that has not yet become sentient - but will in the far distant future. This could be an example of symmetric causality.”

This statement earned Carrera blank looks from everyone except Tauk. The little ferengi took a drink and cleared his throat. “So something in the future is causing what we are experiencing?”

“It sounds counterintuitive, but only because we have evolved to experience causality past to future. But an intelligence could conceivably experience causality from what we would consider future to past. Causality - assuming it happens at all - and our universe makes no sense to us if it does not - must run both directions. We have demonstrated this effect over and over at the subatomic level, but it must apply as a general rule. In fact, it is what makes recursive warp drive – our zip drive – possible. So let’s assume for a moment that is what is at work here.”

Carrera paused a moment to let everyone else catch up. “Our intelligence is, in our experience, accidental. We have deliberately furthered it, but its origins were what we would call accidental. But our friend - let’s assume for the moment it’s the mushroom - could not have achieved sentience without a series of deliberate actions, among the first of which would be to create the potential for a symbiotic relationship with sentient bipeds - the colonists of Pillo.”

Dr. Tali Shae looked as if she had received a sudden shock. “Are you suggesting that the reason the colonists found an environment ready-made for them, complete with oxygen, potable water and carnivorous mushroom showers, is because this mushroom instructed itself in the distant future to create this environment in the past?”

“It sounds exotic when you put it that way. But think about it this way,” Carrera mused. “Creating these environmental potentials are among the last sentient acts of a being that would be in a condition we would compare to senility. Gone are the halcyon days of its youth at the other end of space-time from our perspective. And now, in these, as we would consider them, early days of our universe, but to our agaricaloid friend, its last moments as a sentient being, it hangs onto the one task it must accomplish to make what we would refer to as its final form possible.”


Pep turned to Dr. Tali Shae. “Doc, whatever you’re prescribing for him, I want some too…”


Irons smiled. “I can see you have the bit between your teeth. If you’re not careful, this idea of yours might end up garnering another honorary doctorate for you.” Irons took a deep breath. “Whatever this intelligence is, it seems clear others could use it to make mischief. I am going to recommend that Star Fleet establish a permanent presence and garrison this system with sufficient resources to prevent the Nausicaan Collective or any other bad actors from taking over this system.”

She looked around at her directors. “I want each of you to think through your experiences and provide a detailed report not only of your own visions and experiences, but also for your staff - in as much detail as possible. Let’s leave Pep and Tauk to rest. Both have surgeries ahead of them. And please try not to gather any more injuries for now. We will remain in orbit of Pillo until Star Fleet can dispatch an appropriate relief vessel for us. We are adjourned.”

7.16 (of 18)​

 

[Gibraltar]

Review 7.15/7.16 - More in-depth info on The Dolphin/T'Lon Maneuver, and just how ridiculously risky it was. Has to be a medal or commendation in that for them.

The temporally-retrograde explanation for the planet's premonitions is wild and incredibly interesting. I can't wait to see what the crew does with this information.