YES - Close to the Edge: Star Beagle Adventures episodes 12 - 19

The Star Beagle Adventures
Episode 16: And You And I Part I - Cord of Life
Scene 15: Reasons to Call


And you and I reach out for reasons to call...




“Captain Howard to the bridge.”

Captain Ronald Howard, XIV was instantly flustered. He had just thrown on his uniform and exited his cabin, bound for the transporter. He stopped in his tracks. “What is it, Lieutenant Commander? I’m on my way to the transporter.”

“No, you are not, sir,” came the voice of Lt. Cmdr. Gregg Clark over Howard’s communicator pin. “Commodore’s orders. The holy landers have made contact and you are needed as our ambassador to them.”

“But T’Eln…” Howard started.

“We are already aware, sir. You cannot go down there. You’re needed up here.”

Skip Howard stood for a moment, breathing deeply, wrestling with his emotions.

“Captain?”

“On my way,” Howard responded. “Patch me through to Commander Carter.” He turned and re-entered his quarters.

As Howard was making it to the back of his quarters, Commander Rhonda Carter’s voice came through his communicator. “Captain Howard? This is Rhonda Carter.”

“Rhonda, you are aware of what just happened to Governor T’Eln?”

“I’m just now getting up to speed on it,” said Carter.

Howard stopped for a moment to check his appearance in the mirror. He ran a comb through his thinning, red hair and touched up his forest-green eye shadow as he as he was talking. “I need you to go down to the colony and take charge. Make sure they install a new civilian leader to serve in T’Eln’s absence. Try to give everyone confidence that we expect she is safe and will return to us. And take care of Spike. Take her with you wherever you go. She was there when T’Eln was taken and it shook her up.”

“Aye, Captain.”

“Rhonda, I think Rock had something to do with all this,” Howard said as he stepped to the back of his quarters, through the back door and stepped onto a lift that took him down into his office. “I think somehow she created a telepathic link between me and one of those… um… cthulhuoids. I’m going to have my hands full with these holy landers. Can you reach out to Rock and see if she can give you more insight?”

“I’ll handle it. Good luck with the holy landers, Skip,” Carter said.

“Never rains, but it pours. Thanks Rhonda. Howard out.” Skip Howard strode through his office and onto the bridge of the U.S.S. Beagle.


Lt. Cmdr. Gregg Clark rose from the command throne and stepped aside. “Commodore Yui wants you to conduct negotiations from this chair.” He patted the side of the throne. “She likes the way it looks.”

“Hail the Mako,” Howard said as he assumed the Beagle’s oddly regal throne.

“Frequency established, sir,” said Sergeant Tammy Glick, seated at one of the twin rear stations.

“U.S.S. Mako, this is the U.S.S. Beagle, Ronald Howard, XIV, commanding,” Skip Howard said.

Commodore Yui Song, in the far more comfortable looking center seat of the Mako’s bridge, appeared on one of the wall-sized monitors of the Beagle’s bridge.

“This is the U.S.S. Mako, Yui Song commanding. Go ahead, Beagle.”

“Commodore, I am assuming you are aware of the abduction of Governor T’Eln,” Howard started.

“I am aware of the situation and it appears you have assigned Commander Carter to master that situation,” the elderly Chinese woman responded.

“Her time there is limited by the outcome of these negotiations,” Skip Howard replied. “Can you spare Lieutenant Commander Senek to assist her and take over in her place when she needs to return to helm the Escort’s tactical launch?”

In response, without looking behind her, Commodore Yui pointed over her right shoulder at the gorgeous vulcan, currently standing at the tactical communications station at the back of the Mako’s bridge. She then turned her hand and pointed with her thumb to the rear exit to the bridge. In response, Lt. Cmdr. Senek locked his station and exited the bridge. Moments later, a female bolian lieutenant took his place.

“You’re not sending Gregg?” Yui asked.

“I need my first officer by my side,” Howard replied. “You have Shadow and Pel to advise you. Lieutenant Commander Clark has been working closely with them to gain the best possible understanding of the holy landers. I will be relying on his expertise.”

“What is your plan?” Yui asked.

“I plan to invite them to the founding ceremony for the ASA 4 colony on Rattleroot Island. We will not try to negotiate for ASA 2 until we are face-to-face with them. I would like to have Lieutenant Commander zh’Kathar join me for that discussion to discourage them from attempting to dominate us using their sub-sonic vocalizations,” Howard said.

“Are you not confident of the communicator adaptations that are supposed to protect you from their songs?”

“I’m reasonably confident that those counter-measures will work,” Howard replied. “But I would prefer to avoid alerting them that we have developed those counter-measures for as long as possible.”

In response, Yui Song nodded her head sagely. “I like your thinking. Lieutenant Oroht, please replay the message we received from the holy landers.”

In response, Lt. Kykena Oroht, the bolian who had taken over the tactical communications station, activated a control. A very garishly made-up female alien appeared on the viewscreens on the bridges of the U.S.S. Beagle and the U.S.S. Mako. No, Skip Howard realized, she wasn't wearing makeup. The yellow, green, and violet patterns on her face and upper torso were actually some sort of dye that was adhered to her exoskeleton. The holy landers did not wear clothing. Apparently, dye was adhered in increasingly complex and colorful patterns to denote rank. This female holy lander had blue eyes, but her compound, third eye in the middle of her forehead sparkled like a faceted black onyx. Her three hands were clasped, an affectation Howard had never seen before in his limited experience with the holy landers.


“I am Queen. One of your ships has contaminated this galaxy with a very dangerous infestation, an invasive species your ship brought here from the Great Wheel. By my decree, your ships are confiscated and will be destroyed. All traces of the infestation are to be destroyed. Your people are quarantined locally under my supervision. Any additional federations who may arrive will be subject to my ruling. Respond with honor, and no punishment will be added to this order. That is all.”


“Well, she told us, didn’t she?” Howard observed.

“So how do we respond to this, Captain?” asked Commodore Yui Song. “Her decrees do not put me into a particularly diplomatic mood.”

“We follow the plan,” Skip Howard replied. “With your approval, I will invite her and her court to the opening ceremony on ASA 4. Instead of rejecting her decrees, I will contest them, which will, hopefully, require some sort of trial, which will, hopefully, give Captain Phlox time to arrive and even the odds.”

“Very well, Captain Howard,” Yui responded. “Prepare your transmission and provide it to me for review. You will be the face of our task force. I will be the authority behind you." Yui Song's expression hardened, if that was possible. She looked and sounded cold and regal. "That queen will have to earn the privilege of talking to me.”

Robert Bruce Scott said:

"That queen will have to earn the privilege of talking to me.”

Click to expand...

And that's how it's done.


-Will

Ooh, definitely coming to the boil now. Big fan of the very Trek-like solution. Diplomacy first, but with a tactical plan in reserve.

Robert Bruce Scott said:

In response, Lt. Cmdr. Senek locked his station

Click to expand...

And a version of Starfleet with an actual working knowledge of IT security is a powerful adversary indeed.

The Star Beagle Adventures
Episode 17: And You And I Part II - Eclipse
Scene 1: Terms of Expression


Coming quickly to terms of all expression laid …



“Hello, Queen. I am Captain Ronald Howard the Fourteenth, commanding the United Space Ship Beagle and speaking on behalf of the Beagle Task force, an exploratory expedition from the United Federation of Planets. We have established a colony on the planet known locally as Beidth, and to us as ASA 4, the 4th planet from the sun known to us as Al Salemais A, or ASA and to the locals as Ul. We are preparing an opening ceremony and are extending an invitation to you and a select group of representatives to join us, along with local representatives.

“It is important to note that by establishing a colony within the ASA star system, we are bringing the intelligent life within this star system under our protection. Our policy is to not interfere with their cultural development, and we implore you to respect and adhere to this policy as visitors to a colony of the United Federation of Planets.

“We have considered your edicts, and we do not recognize your authority to issue such edicts against representatives of the United Federation of Planets or against any other native population within this galaxy. We are aware that you have traveled here through the Jar Galaxy, known to you as the Great Wheel. Our general policy is to give precedence to the native populations, while welcoming immigrants to our galaxy.

“The creatures you referred to as an invasive species are relatives to our populations and have part of their genesis within the Milky Way. While they were born in the Jar Galaxy, they have ancestry within the Milky Way, which we will respect, and we implore you to respect as well.

“You are welcome to join us as honored guests. Please comport yourselves accordingly and do not attempt to usurp our sovereignty or the sovereignty of other natives of our galaxy.”



Commodore Yui Song was amused. "Good draft..." She switched off the viewer, stood up from her chair behind her desk in her office aboard the U.S.S. Mako, and turned toward Captain Howard. “Well, your throne is fancier than hers. I suppose the vulcans who built your ship really wanted to make an impression. But “Hello Queen?” Not something more formal like, "Greetings Your Majesty" or some such?”

“That would be a recognition of her status,” Captain Skip Howard rejoined. “And like as not, one she wouldn’t recognize.”

“Arrogant and gracious at the same time,” Yui observed.

“I figured I’d go with what I know,” Howard rejoined.

Commodore Yui made an amused noise, then assumed a more serious expression. “Are we prepared for them to come in hot?”

Howard bit his lip and took a deep breath. Then: “I know Captain Phlox is pushing his engines beyond their max, but it’s not really the Citadel itself that we need. We need the 31 short range interceptors Citadel is carrying.”

Yui shook her head slowly. “Those little pea-shooters have not proven very effective against destroyers. They do okay against oversized cruisers that don’t maneuver well. They can get inside a big ship’s shields and hammer at blind spots not covered by their guns. But destroyers generally don't have blind spots. And the death toll among interceptor pilots, especially against the jem’hadar, was just unconscionable.” She tapped a few controls on her desk and the image of a holy lander destroyer came up on the screen. “These ships don’t have blind spots. They’re bristling with weapons.”

Howard had a grim expression. “We’ll only get one shot at this. We have to put a thermomine on each of their hulls…”

“No, Ronald,” Yui interrupted. “My pilots could do it. But I only have two interceptors. We can’t count on such a complicated maneuver without weeks of training and simulations. And that’s assuming Phil has enough skilled pilots. Those interceptors are for the colony's defense. We can’t send them up against those holy lander destroyers.”

Skip Howard looked grim. He sat down slowly. “Our chances against that armada wouldn’t be good assuming they’re no more powerful than they look. And we know the holy warrior’s songs can make starship engines perform well above specifications. We have to assume the same holds true for their weapons and shields.”

Yui Song obtained a tea service from the replicator. She settled across from Howard and served him a cup of tea and waited, watching her subordinate as she slowly worked down her tea.

Howard drank equally slowly. He looked up. “I had forgotten how much I liked this stuff. This is really good tea.” He set his cup on the tea service. “Okay, I have another idea. It’s a real long shot and I really hate to ask. But I just can’t see any other way.”


Yui looked at him steadily. “The godchildren?”


Howard nodded slowly. “The godchildren.”


Yui Song sighed heavily. "Go ahead and send your message, Skip. Let's roll the dice."

The Star Beagle Adventures
Episode 17: And You And I Part II - Eclipse
Scene 2: Emotion Revealed


Emotions revealed as the ocean maid …




“There’s just so much going on in this system. So much more than I would expect way out here on the edge of the galaxy.”


Private First Class Raanda Habib was out of uniform except for her undershirt and panties and was resting in the arms of her lover, Gan Baatar. She would have to suit back up soon and rejoin her squad for patrol, but she was taking every moment to spend with the theoretical engineer. An occupation that sounded to Raanda like a contradiction in terms. Gan did not program engine systems, design engine architecture or even develop flow charts. He conceptualized what specific engine designs might be capable of. And he could not tell Raanda much about the ideas that had made him so valuable to the Beagle Task Force as most of it was well beyond her security rating.


Not that it would have made a lot of sense to her. Gan was, apparently, a person who sat and thought most of the time.

“It actually makes sense,” Gan mused. “We think of Earth, Bajor, and Romulus as “super-planets” – worlds on which conditions for carbon-based life has been so favorable for so long that life has been able to develop in abundance over billions of years. It’s no accident. Those three worlds are in very quiet neighborhoods with very few neighbors. The Al Salamais system has been out here, on its own, with these three marvelous planets all generating life in abundance over billions of years. No star systems anywhere nearby to cast debris into this system or even dislodge native asteroids from their orbits…”

“I thought you were an engineer, not a biologist,” Raanda observed.

“Well… Most of that came from Norkaond Vef. Stuff she told me while we were walking around,” Gan admitted.

Raanda turned and gave him a sour expression, followed by a pout. “You’ve been going on romantic walks with Norkie behind my back!”

“Well, I try not to,” said Gan. “But she’s really fast. No matter how fast I walk, she just keeps up effortlessly on those short little legs. Like some white-haired, bipedal Chihuahua. And there’s nowhere on this island I can hide from her. I’ve even tried changing my shampoo and wearing colognes. But her sense of smell is so good, all of that is just like me, I dunno, like me changing my shirt and hoping she won’t recognize my face.”

Raanda was giggling in spite of herself. She rewarded him with a kiss. “I have to go in a few,” she said. “Going back on patrol. Not that I have a clue what any of us could do if another one of those cthulhuoids shows up. Just being in the same star system with those things creeps me out.”

“I was thinking I’ll stay here for a while,” said Gan. “I’ve never been happier. Come to think of it I don't think I’ve ever really been happy before.”

Raanda got up, turned around and straddled him, put her hands on his shoulders. “Gan, I don’t know where I’m going next. I might be assigned to stay and protect the colony. Or I might be sent back out with the Beagle. The task force won’t stay here indefinitely. I guess it depends on how things go with these holy landers…”

“I know,” Gan replied. “The universe doesn’t make us any promises…”

“I’m a marine, Gan,” Raanda said. “Not just any marine... I'm a Space Hound. Love'em and leave'em - that's what they tell us. If they ship me off world, I don’t know where I’ll be assigned or what I’ll be facing out there. If I ship out, don’t wait for me…”


“What are you talking about?” said Gan in some confusion.


“During the wars, the lifespan of marine privates in theater was often measured in minutes. I want you living your life, not waiting for a girl only to find out months later that I got killed in action. Or even just an accident.”

Gan looked stricken.

“I’m sorry, Gan,” said Raanda. “We jumped into this and I really needed you. I need you now. I mean, like, you know… All this stuff is tearing me up too. But it’s a reality the Space Hounds live with. Other marines marry. But we serve so far from home for such long tours of duty, the most dangerous work marines do…”

“So you want me to hook up with Norkie?” Gan asked, trying to affect a lighter tone.

Raanda kissed his nose and lightly thumped his forehead. “You better not while I’m within 20 parsecs...”








“Permission to speak freely, Commander, Lieutenant Commander?”


Lance Corporal Petra Spitze had joined Commander Rhonda Carter and Lieutenant Commander Senek on the beach on Rattleroot Island, near the spot where Governor T’Eln had been snatched by some gigantic, squid-like sea monster, with 12 tentacles, 4 red eyes, and, apparently, some sort of psychic connection with Captain Ronald Howard, XIV.

“Always with me, Lance Corporal,” said Rhonda Carter. Lt. Cmdr. Senek bowed his head slightly and made a welcoming gesture with both hands.

Spike turned to face Senek. “Sir, you are the most beautiful man I have ever seen. I just wanted to get that out of the way so that I’m not thinking it every 3 minutes or so. I apologize for my impertinence.”

“You’re on rather thin ice, Lance Corporal,” Carter replied. She turned to look at the U.S.S. Mako’s 2nd officer. “But she isn’t wrong. And I’m generally not attracted to men. I apologize for the discomfort.”

“Apologies accepted,” Senek replied, for once appearing more amused than mournful. “And a unique approach, Lance Corporal. I think Captain Howard would say something like, “Let me know how that works for you.” I can only hope that it does so that we may concentrate fully on this investigation. T’Eln is an icon among my people. She has shaped modern vulcan culture in more ways than I have time to explain. Think about the greatest living hero among your people and you can only begin to imagine how significant she is among mine. Very few vulcans progress as deep into the Kolinahr as she has. Albert Einstein achieved immortality among humans when he said that E=mc squared. T’Eln’s most famous discovery cuts far deeper than that.”


“You can’t just stop there, Lieutenant Commander,” said Commander Carter. “What were these immortal words?”


Senek regarded the two warriors carefully. “You have to understand that through the Kolinahr, T’Eln had purged herself of all emotion. But she went much further than that and became a master of the discipline. It was only after serving in that role for more than 50 years, in response to a question from one of her students, that she said something that changed vulcan culture forever:


“Love is not an emotion”.”

Robert Bruce Scott said:

Other marines marry. But we serve so far from home for such long tours of duty,

Click to expand...

Perhapse, considering where 21st century relationships have come since 1964, polygamy is an honored and even acceptable solution for lovers who can not be together all the time, in the 24th century. "Honey, I'm shipping out in the morning, be sure to tell our other wife, Brenda, I love you both, and take care of each other while I'm away for the next 12 months."

I don't think a bipedal chihuahua is the image I would have in mind for a second mate, though.

-Will

Will The Serious said:

I don't think a bipedal chihuahua is the image I would have in mind for a second mate, though.

Click to expand...

That and you need some pretty powerful antivirals if you're going to get it on with a tellerite... Thanks!! rbs

Will The Serious said:

polygamy is an honored and even acceptable solution for lovers who can not be together all the time,

Click to expand...

Or, to quote Stephen Stills, if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with.

The Star Beagle Adventures
Episode 17: And You And I Part II - Eclipse
Scene 3: Movement Regained


As a movement regained and regarded both the same …




“If love is not an emotion, then what is it?”


Lance Corporal Petra Spitze was both put off and quite confused. The statement “Love is not an emotion” had just been compared to the relationship of matter to energy as one of the greatest revelations that could be put into words.


Lieutenant Commander Senek almost smiled. “Premiere Emeritus T’Eln has been publishing her journals for nearly a century. I would have to refer you to Journal 127, Entries 84 through 114. There is a lot more, but it is all cross-referenced and indexed. You can access her redacted journals from the Beagle’s computer.” The beautiful vulcan’s expression became more serious. “For now, I suggest we concentrate on locating her.”

In response, Spike led the two Star Fleet officers to a section of the beach near the ocean. “Okay, Commander,” she said, gesturing to Rhonda Carter. “You are standing almost exactly where I was when Governor T’Eln shouted. She called the creature “Skip” and told it not to kill me and that it should become visible.”

Commander Carter planted her feet firmly in the sand. “And where was Skip Cthulhu?”

“That thing was as big as a whale,” Spike responded. She paced around a large area. “It was kind of here when it, um… de-cloaked? I’ve seen octopies? Octopusses? I’ve seen them change colors and camouflage themselves. It was something like that. Stay here,” she added, putting her palms up, then walked toward the ocean.

“Governor T’Eln was standing here,” Spike continued, raising her voice to be heard over the waves lapping the shore behind her. “She ordered me to stand still and stay quiet. She calmed the thing down. It had its… um… 3 of its squiddy arms raised around me, ready to strike, and I’m pretty sure the governor stopped it from killing me. When it finally withdrew its arms, Governor T'Eln ordered me to walk away. Somehow, she knew it was going to take her. And boy…” Spike walked back toward the two Star Fleet officers.

“Skip-to-my-lou, or whatever you just called him, he was really fast.” Spike walked up next to Lt. Cmdr. Senek, then took off running at a full sprint toward the ocean and stopped at the water’s edge. She turned back toward Senek and Carter, her voice loud to carry to them over the sound of the ocean. “He leapt twice as far as I just ran, scooping up Governor T’Eln in mid-leap.”

She walked back to Carter and Senek again. “Twice as far, easily three times faster than my best sprint, and I’m not a shabby sprinter. I couldn’t see what he did with T’Eln because of the angle. I just saw her legs under his backside, and his tentacles reaching down for her. And then they were gone.”


Rhonda Carter was amused in spite of herself. “Did you just call him “Skiptomilou”?”


“I’m sorry, sir,” Spike responded. “It was as close to what you called him as I could figure.”

“No,” Carter replied. “I like yours better. Skiptomilou it is.”

Spike smiled. “Well, just after all that, Captain Howard called me. He sounded like he had just woken up from a deep sleep. He already knew what had happened. Said he thought he had dreamed it. And when he called me, he didn’t say “This is Captain Howard.” And he didn’t call me by rank as he usually does. He said, “Spike, this is Skip”.”

“Why do you think that is an important detail?” asked Lt. Cmdr. Senek.

“Permission to speak freely, sir?” Spike asked.

Senek and Carter exchanged glances. “I suppose I should be reassured you feel the need to ask again, Lance Corporal,” Carter remarked, then: “Permission granted.”

In response, Spike came to attention, then turned to address the beautiful vulcan. “Sir, in my experience, it is always pertinent whenever anyone, especially a superior officer, behaves in an unusual way. Captain Howard occasionally calls me by my nickname, but he’s never identified himself by his own nickname in my presence or in the presence of any enlisted Marine, nor has he ever invited any of us to use his nickname. It was out of character for him.”

Spike turned toward Commander Carter. “I’m sorry, sir, if I come off as impertinent. I mean no disrespect, sir.”

“None taken, Marine,” Carter replied. “We’re both front-line veterans of bitter wars. I’ve read your jacket. You lost a lot of friends in battle and you've been decorated for valor many times. You’ve earned a little leeway.”

Spike relaxed visibly. “Thank you, sir…”

“A. Little. Leeway,” Carter emphasized. “Captain Howard and I had a discussion yesterday with one of my godchildren, Rock. I spoke with her about an hour ago and she confirmed that she had created a telepathic link between the creature you saw and Captain Howard. She said she copied part of Captain Howard’s personality matrix into the cthulhuoid, which may cause all kinds of unpredictable results.” Carter took a deep breath. “But one of those effects probably saved your life..."


"Apparently, Skiptomilou cares about you.”

Robert Bruce Scott said:

I’ve seen octopies? Octopusses?

Click to expand...

octopuses,
octopi,
octopodes?

From https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/the-many-plurals-of-octopus-octopi-octopuses-octopodes

"The three plurals for octopus come from the different ways the English language adopts plurals. Octopi is the oldest plural of octopus, coming from the belief that words of Latin origin should have Latin endings. Octopuses was the next plural, giving the word an English ending to match its adoption as an English word. Lastly, octopodes stemmed from the belief that because octopus is originally Greek, it should have a Greek ending."


-Will

A story that entertains and educates.

Just so long as nobody introduces octuplets of octopodes.

BountyTrek said:

Just so long as nobody introduces octuplets of octopodes.

Click to expand...

Coming soon to a fanfic near you... Thanks!! rbs

The Star Beagle Adventures
Episode 17: And You And I Part II - Eclipse
Scene 4: All Complete


All complete in the sight of seeds of life with you ...



“So are you going to buck Skip back to Commander? He hasn’t attended any of this course since the first week.”


There was a teasing tone to Rhonda Carter’s question that tested Commodore Yui Song’s rather small supply of patience. It was an impertinent question. An attempt by an inferior officer to hold a superior officer to task. The elderly Chinese woman took a deep breath and steeped herself in patience. It was also, she reminded herself, expected of Star Fleet captains to hold flag officers to the highest standards. A certain sense of satisfaction took the place of Song’s rising temper. Carter was demonstrating she was ready to resume command. Her retraining was complete.

“You’d best be grateful that I excused Captain Howard from these classes. He had a more pressing assignment, in addition to preparing for the arrival of the holy landers.”

“And putting my ship back together?” Carter asked.

“You will re-assume primary responsibility for that,” Commodore Yui replied. "But you will have all the help the task force can provide.” At this moment, the chime to the Commodore’s office sounded. “Come!” Yui barked.

The door opened to admit Captain Ronald Howard, XIV, resplendent in full dress uniform. Yui’s office had become rather full of Star Fleet officers in full dress uniform – the bright whites reserved for only the most formal occasions. In addition to Carter, Howard, and Yui, were Commander Jason Bates, Commander Dutch Holland (wearing a formal white luchador uniform, complete with matching mask), Commander Lucian Moorman, and Lieutenant Commanders Gregg Clark, Zizira Gross, Vranran zh’Kathar, and Senek. Two NCO’s were also present: the coxwains for the U.S.S. Mako and U.S.S. Escort, Master Chief Ho Rivers and Master Chief Bill Waller. Only one non-Star Fleet officer was present: General Krank of the Klingon Imperial Defense Force.

Commodore Yui Song drew a deep breath. “Captain Howard, I had considered allowing you the honor of performing this function, but after careful reconsideration, given what comes next, even though this is my decision, I believe it would be inappropriate for either of us to perform the ceremony.”

It was Escort’s andorian 2nd officer who put into words the question shared among most of the other officers in the room: “She cannot be promoted by a lower ranking officer…”

Andorians were famously aggressive and Vranran zh’Kathar was no exception, but she withered slightly under Commodore Yui’s baleful eye.

Skip Howard broke the silence. “Commodore, if I may?” He held out his right hand. The commodore placed a small, wooden box in his hand. Howard turned his attention toward zh’Kathar. “You weren’t aboard Escort the last time Commander Carter was promoted to captain. It was a battlefield promotion and no superior officer was available to do it then. Star Fleet has a procedure available when a superior officer is not available.” Howard turned his attention to the NCOs. “Master Chief William Jefferson Waller, front and center!”

In response, the U.S.S. Escort’s Chief of the Boat, Bill Waller, stepped forward to receive the wooden box from Captain Howard. “This time it’s for good, Bill,” Howard remarked.

Waller remained ramrod straight and formal, very unlike his usual, relaxed demeanor. Standing a step ahead of Commodore Yui Song and Captain Skip Howard, he turned to face the remaining officers in the room, each movement crisp and precise. His voice was different as well. Normally a rather soft-spoken man, Waller pronounced each word slowly and loudly, sounding like a drill sergeant:

“Commander Rhonda Elaine Padalka Carter… Front and center…” Waller waited for Commander Carter to take her place. “I have been given the great honor and pleasure of performing this function twice. It was four years ago, under the order of Admiral William Ross…” Waller removed a single, solid rank pip from the small, wooden box in his hand. “That I first pinned this on your collar. I never imagined I would have to do it again, but someone has to, and, due to extraordinary circumstances, I get to do it again.”

Rhonda Carter was the only person in the room shorter than Waller. As he pinned the pip to her collar, he said, “I first said this nearly four years ago: Commandant Star Fleet has placed special trust and confidence in the loyalty, trust, and abilities of Commander Rhonda Carter. Commander Rhonda Carter is hereby restored to the rank of Captain, Star Fleet, with all the privileges, responsibilities, and authority due to her restored office. He took a step back and shook Carter’s hand. In a much softer voice he said, “Welcome back, Captain.”

Carter was not generally given to emotional displays, but she gripped the NCO and brought him into a rough and very tight hug. To general applause and some light laughter.

“Please, Captain,” Waller muttered, glancing at General Krank. “Not in front of the klingon...”


A few celebratory moments later, the miniscule captain had shaken nearly every hand in the room. The last two in line were Commodore Yui Song and Captain Ronald Howard, XIV.

“I needed to accelerate your re-certification,” Yui remarked after a brief handshake. “We need Captain Carter for the trial that will be upon us in a few hours. But I think you have grown into so much more over these past few weeks. And it’s not so much your response to your certification exam as the relationship you have developed with your godchildren. Just seeing that fills me with so much hope for the future. In spite of these holy landers and their ships.”

At that moment, Master Chief Ho Rivers stepped up and whispered in the commodore’s ear. She turned away for a quick word, then turned back to the two captains in her command. “I’m sorry, Rhonda. Jason, Ho, and I are needed elsewhere. Please enjoy this moment. There will be time for what comes next soon enough.” Yui Song turned and exited, flanked by her executive officer and the chief of the boat.

“Okay, Skip,” said Carter, gripping Captain Howard by the arm instead of shaking his hand. She guided him away from the others in the room. “I have to know what was so important that the commodore excused you from auditing my coursework. I know it’s not just the battle that’s coming.”

“I’d prefer not to distract you from that battle, but as your commanding officer, at least up until a few minutes ago, I had a unique responsibility,” Howard replied. “I am your advocate. We’ve been preparing for this trial with the holy landers, but I’ve had to prepare for your next trial. I suppose now is as good a time as any for me to ask…” Howard’s expression became more serious. “Do you want me to continue to represent you, as your advocate, in the upcoming inquest?”




Only one lieutenant commander within the task force was not present for the promotional ceremony for Rhonda Carter. Lieutenant Commander Gabisile Natal was one deck up on the bridge of the U.S.S. Mako, seated in the command chair. It was nowhere near as intimidating as the Beagle’s command throne, but far more comfortable. Natal rose as Commodore Yui Song, Commander Jason Bates and Master Chief Ho Rivers entered the bridge: “Commodore on the deck!”

“As you were,” Yui Song responded quickly, then: “Lieutenant Commander?”

“It’s the holy landers, sir. They just sent us their answer...”

---

Author's Note:

This is the final scene for Episode 17.

The adventure will continue in Episode 18: And You And I Part III - The Preacher and the Teacher, to be posted in this thread.

Continued from Episode 17...


The Star Beagle Adventures
Episode 18: And You And I Part III – The Preacher and the Teacher
Scene 1: The Colored Door of time


Sad preacher nailed upon the colored door of time …


Fear is so much more than an emotion. It predates emotions. It is a visceral response to stimulus developed to improve the chances for survival. It doesn’t always work as planned. And the primitive fear responses can be extremely slow to adapt to new circumstances. This can be a death knell for thousands of specimens while only a few have, entirely by accident, a predisposition for a more successful fear response.

A terrified squirrel dodges back and forth, feinting a run in one direction, then another. This behavior confuses a carnivore and can cause the carnivore to commit to a chase pattern prematurely, giving advantage to the squirrel’s greater agility.

When those same squirrels dance in traffic, they routinely become features of the pavement.


No person who had not completed the kolinahr could have maintained a shred of sanity after being partially swallowed by a giant, squid-like creature, plunged into the ocean, then squirted out of the creature’s gullet into what Premiere Emeritus T’Eln could only describe as some variety of specimen container.

From the first moment the creature had, in mid leap, wrapped four of its 12 tentacles around her and stuffed her into its gullet, only her legs from the knees down protruding from its mouth, T’Eln had been plunged into darkness.

It was a darkness that was more than the absence of light. This animal produced an amazing variety of dyes, which allowed it to shift its colors at the slightest thought. Here, in its gullet, at the nexus of those dyes, the only color was black. But the darkness was so much deeper than that.

This cuthuhloid was powerfully telepathic. She had felt its presence on the beach. It had been trying not to be noticed. Now its entire mind was in contact with hers. A mind far deeper, far stronger, and far more ancient than hers. And utterly alien. Filled with dark purpose. T’Eln did the only thing she could about all this darkness.


She closed her eyes.


T’Eln was surprised by a growing sense of terror. Isolation. Not belonging. A sense of being trapped inside a tight space with barely enough air to breathe. While all of these things were true about her, the terror was not hers.

The terror was coming from this creature. Not just that part of the creature that now carried the personality imprints from Skip Howard and from Rock, the godchild. It had already incorporated those personalities into a single, expanded consciousness. The terror was coming from having those new personalities, those new perspectives, the entirely new experiences of emotion and volition, imposed on its consciousness after untold centuries of serial living.

It had been decades since T’Eln had needed to meditate on the nature of fear in order to set fear aside. But she had taught this meditation to so many others. And now she had a new pupil. Even as her own body was encased in darkness, a tight shell to protect her from the ocean depths and a reedy supply of oxygen, rich with the odors of this creature’s stomach, where it was coming from, T’Eln was concentrated not on her own fear, but the creature’s fear. She couldn’t effectively help the creature without a name.


SkipRock. That was the name T’Eln gave to her host. Gradually, she stabilized the emotions of an ancient creature that had never really experienced emotion before.


Even as she was naming Skip, she could sense the immense pressure of the depths of the ocean, the bottom of the ocean, just outside what was now a fragile shell. So much pressure that the interior of the shell was glowing.

T’Eln kept her eyes closed. This new light was far too bright, and she could experience it easily through her closed eyelids. One brilliant color after another. Faster and faster. Pulsating bands of color.

And the shell was gone. Here in the deepest part of the ocean, surrounded by brilliant colors, the ancient vulcan now stood, eyes opened, next to a gigantic, ancient, squid-like creature. The colors were pulsing through SkipRock’s skin. But they were coming through the door.

And Governor T’Eln and SkipRock stepped together through the Colored Door of Time.

The Star Beagle Adventures
Episode 18: And You And I Part III – The Preacher and the Teacher
Scene 2: Reminded of the Rhyme


Insane teacher be there reminded of the rhyme …



“We are paladin, anointed to ward the doorways of the Great Wheel. We sanctify the doors and the holy lands at the doorways. Our feet hallow the ground of the worlds of a thousand galaxies. We are the anointed. Our cause is eternal. Our authority is universal. We accept your gracious invitation and your challenge. Your challenge requires immediate trial by combat. But we value life and do not wish to harm you or your people. If you fight with honor, you need not die. We will demonstrate our power on arrival. Follow our example, and we will meet you on the field of honor. Desecrate the field of honor and your utter destruction is assured. If not by this queen, another will take up our holy cause until our holy wrath is assuaged. We will accept the judgment of honor. You will accept the judgment of honor. Or you will be destroyed.”


The oddly ant-like queen of the holy landers opened her garishly decorated mouth wide, the first time even Shadow had ever seen a holy lander do this. The effect was quite disconcerting. She didn’t have a hinged jaw. It looked more like her head peeled back to reveal vertical and horizontal rows of glistening, slime-covered mandibles. The inner, vertical row knit together with an audible, clicking, grinding sound. Then the outer, horizontal row did the same, as the slick, smooth, heavily dyed skin slid back around to cover them.

“It is so.”

Her visage vanished from the screen.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to unsee that.” Captain Skip Howard had given voice to the sentiments of everyone in the room.

Commodore Yui Song was just as flummoxed. “Do you think that was some kind of ritual expression?” She turned toward the task force’s now resident expert on all things holy lander, the purple known as Shadow who had served the holy landers for nearly 35 years.


Captain Skip Howard, Commodore Yui Song, Lieutenant Commander Senek, Major Janet Carter, Pel, and Shadow were gathered in the recently refurbished Command Information Center on Deck 4 of the U.S.S. Mako. Viewscreens around the room displayed the configuration of the entire defensive installation, closeups of each of the ships and the command center for the fortress Escort installation with its 47 remotely controlled phaser cannon installations and 18 single-shot photon torpedo launchers.

The U.S.S. Mako and the U.S.S. Beagle were the only two ships with the task force. Around them were arranged six smaller vessels: the U.S.S. Arizona, the U.S.S. Bluebird, the U.S.S. Puppy, the tactical launch for the U.S.S. Escort and two short-range interceptors that were usually docked on the underside of the Mako’s saucer section.

And on another tactical readout, 28 holy lander destroyers that were just entering the Al Salamais star system.

Shadow’s face was somewhat simian and she tended to express her emotions with slight changes in the way the purple fur stood or lay on her head and arms. But everyone in the room had become familiar enough with her to read that she was just as surprised and somewhat horrified by the queen’s display as everyone else in the room. “I don’t know. I have never seen them do anything like that. I didn’t even know that they could.”


“It was quite impressive,” Howard opined. “But I did not read it in context as a threat. It seemed more like a ritual display of authority. It might be something only the females can do.”

Commodore Yui Song cleared her throat. “Tactical analysis.”

Lt. Cmdr. Senek responded. “Each of their destroyers outguns any of our support craft 2 to 1 or more. Three of their destroyers will outgun the Beagle and it will take five to outgun the Mako. They have 28. In terms of weaponry, we have the equivalent of 10 of their ships. 10 against their 28.”

At that moment Commander Jason Bates’ voice came into the CIC from the U.S.S. Mako’s bridge. “Weapons on the lead ship are hot and they’re targeting a large asteroid. I think we’re about to get a demonstration of their strength.”

All eyes focused on a pair of monitors. One provided a visual of the lead ship from one of the many probes belonging to the task force. The other displayed readings, including a power rating on the lead ship’s weapons.

“Interesting...” opined Senek. “Power readings are minimal. Far below the level required to damage that asteroid. It’s composition is more than 87 percent iron…”

As the vulcan 2nd officer of the U.S.S. Mako was speaking, the lead ship fired on the asteroid. The impact of the weak beam caused significant surface heating, melting some of the iron and altered the asteroid’s course.

Again, the voice of Commodore Yui Song’s first officer, Jason Bates, came into the CIC. “They’re lining up for a second shot.”

“Woah!!” – Pel and some of the junior officers in the room reacted to the readings of the power buildup in the lead ship’s primary cannon.

With a short blast, the large asteroid was entirely vaporized.


There was a moment of stunned silence.


It was Lt. Cmdr. Senek who broke the silence: “That was far more powerful than any of our weapons. About 5% more powerful than Mako’s primary phaser cannon. About 13% over Escort’s pulse phaser cannon.”

“And each of those 28 ships has the same primary cannon,” Major Janet Carter observed.


“If you fight with honor, you need not die,” Skip Howard mused.


“Captain Howard,” said Yui Song, “Do you have something?”


Howard pondered for a moment.: "Order the task force to recalibrate all guns to… Lieutenant Commander, what was the power differential between their first and second shots?”

“The first shot was 1.34% of the second shot,” Senek responded.

Howard turned toward his commanding officer. “Commodore, it is vital for us to respond in kind. We don’t have to tip our hand about our full power. The Bluebird could reproduce the holy lander’s shot. Target an asteroid, fire at 1.34% of full power, then full power…”

All of the commanders of the task force were tied into the CIC, including Lieutenant Commander Vranran zh'Kather at the helm of the U.S.S. Bluebird. Commodore Yui turned toward the monitor that displayed the andorian 2nd officer of the U.S.S. Escort. “Lieutenant Commander zh'Kather, do you understand what Captain Howard wants you to do?”

“Aye, Commodore,” zh'Kather replied.

“Go do it now,” Yui ordered. She turned toward Howard. “Okay, what next?"

“We will maintain shields at full strength,” Howard replied. “But all weapons need to be reset to 1.34% yield. Senek, how long until they arrive?”

“They’re not in a hurry,” the beautiful vulcan responded. “At current speed, 4.8 hours.”

Howard turned toward Yui Song. “We have to reprogram tactical simulation training mode for all units to respond to each weapons hit based on that ratio...”

The Star Beagle Adventures
Episode 18: And You And I Part III – The Preacher and the Teacher
Scene 3: Mutant Enemy


There’ll be no mutant enemy we shall certify …



The sensation of stepping through the door lasted only an instant. An astoundingly insightful instant. Then the sensation of being wrapped in a cocoon, breathing a stream of putrid air from the stomach of a giant squid returned. Anyone other than T’Eln would have been thrown into life-threatening terror. It was taking all of the ancient vulcan’s self-control to not be overwhelmed with animal terror. The kohlinar might have banished her emotions, but it had not banished her animal instincts.

Yet for all the terror T’Eln was aware of and allowing to wash past her consciousness without engaging it, it was nothing compared to the terror of her companion. The gigantic, ancient creature that had snatched her off the beach of Rattleroot Island had never experienced any sense of self or inner reflection. It had, for its tens of thousands of years of serial living, never before had a soul.

All of T’Eln’s considerable mental prowess and discipline was now devoted to supporting her captor's entry into this terrifying new sense of volition. The creature was frozen with the limitless possibilities of choices. T’Eln guided it back toward its initial purpose. Finally, reluctantly, her host began again to move, conveying her up through a different sea onto a different island with a different atmosphere on a different planet.

15 other cthulhuoids paused their various activities. Some had been eating, others sleeping, others collaborating on manufacturing a large, complex structure, which involved a complex dance as they were, essentially, 3D printing all the parts with their excretions. Each carefully finished part of their joint project in a process that would have looked, in T’Eln’s emotionless judgment, like something a normal vulcan might find mildly amusing and that would cause any human to become helpless with laughter, if only these creatures weren’t so gigantic and intimidating.

SkipRock (the name T’Eln had given to her captor, who now had part of the personalities of both Skip Howard and the godchild known as Rock) was more terrified than before. And the terror was infectuous. T’Eln found herself swept into the community. SkipRock was terrified by the discovery that he might have a soul. The other nameless members of his nameless, soulless pod were even more terrified that SkipRock’s condition might be contagious.

These creatures had no language, nor did they communicate in imagery. It was only intent that they shared – what courses of action lay before the pod and which they might choose. At the moment, the choice to eliminate the contagion from their pod was very strong.

T’Eln offered another course of action. One that intrigued the pod. Given their almost limitless serial existence, there was a natural resistance to change. But their desire for novelty was even stronger and T’Eln was able to play on their native curiosity in a plea for them to spare the life and nascent soul of SkipRock.

And her own.





Captain Skip Howard and Commodore Yui Song were in the CIC aboard the U.S.S. Mako, only minutes away from an armed confrontation with the holy lander fleet when Lieutenant Commander Senek, serving at the CIC Ops station, reported, “One of our probes has located Governor T’Eln’s communicator. She is on ASA 2 in an underground grotto on one of the tropical islands.”

Yui Song responded first. “Can we beam her out?”

“We can,” Senek replied.


“Should we?” asked Captain Howard. He turned to look at Senek.


Commodore Yui watched the non-verbal communication between Skip Howard and his former 2nd officer.

“No, Captain,” Senek concluded after a moment. “I do not believe we should.”

“Prepare a transport protocol to beam her via the probe to a shuttle,” Commodore Yui ordered. “Dispatch a shuttle to ASA 2 under a white flag so we don’t have to use that protocol.” Yui turned to look into the beautiful vulcan’s eyes. “I’m relying on you, Mr. Senek. The moment your judgment changes and you believe you should beam her out of there, issue the order.”

Senek’s response was entirely free of any hint of surprise. “Thank you, sir.”

Robert Bruce Scott said:

SkipRock was terrified by the discovery that he might have a soul.

Click to expand...

You and me both, SkipRock.