Dauntless 1x04 - To Serve the Unwise

[mirandafave]

Agree that the landing sequence seemed very authentic and plausible. A great portrayal of it.

Wright knows they are onto him and that makes him more than dangerous. The question still remains as to his true intentions and motivations.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Chapter Sixteen

USS Dauntless
Keleera system
Stardate 57413.9

Doctor Arlon Maxx stood in front of the screen in sickbay with ch’Maras standing beside him. Both were looking at the display from the medical tricorder before it had been smashed. What they had received was more than enough to confirm their suspicions but not enough to do anything about it. They needed Gonzales and Parker as well but Wright had suddenly made extensive shift changes a few hours ago, meaning they wouldn’t get to talk at all.

‘What can we do?’ Maxx asked.

‘On our own? Nothing,’ ch’Maras replied. ‘But I do have an idea.’

‘What?’

‘I can’t tell you yet, but you have to trust me. When I give you the signal, you have to do what I’m about to tell you straight away.’

Maxx nodded. ‘What’s the signal?’

‘If I’m right, you’ll know when.’

‘What do I have to do?’

As ch’Maras explained his plan, Maxx looked suitably shocked and his face paled. ‘Are you crazy?’ he asked, backing away.

‘You know it’s safe, Doctor,’ ch’Maras pressed. ‘It’s the only way we can make sure she’s safe!’

Maxx slumped, recognising the truth in that. ‘I’ll be ready.’

Ch’Maras nodded. ‘I’ll bring Gonzales and Parker in, and Mahtani too, I think he knows more than we do about what’s going on.’

‘Be careful, Wright suspects Mahtani, remember.’

‘I know,’ the Andorian replied as he left sickbay.

Maxx paced sickbay for a while without having any purpose and then decided to go to the crew lounge, hoping to find something to occupy his time with. His shift was over and he didn’t feel like going to his quarters and reading the latest Starfleet medical journals, and for some reason the holodeck just didn’t appeal to him. Before he left, he entered the morgue and pulled out one of the drawers, looking at Captain Astar’s serene face as she lay in stasis. He returned the body and engaged a security seal on the drawer, something he had never done before. Then he gave strict instructions to the computer and locked out any possibility of them being countermanded.

‘Doctor Maxx, please report to engineering,’ Xeris suddenly called.

‘On my way,’ he replied, grabbing his medical kit as he headed that way. ‘What’s the problem?’

‘One of my fool engineers cracked his skull open and he’s in a shielded section, no way to transport him out.’

‘Acknowledged,’ the Bolian replied. ‘Maxx to Kornilov and Swha, meet me in engineering with a stretcher, code two.’

‘On our way,’ technician Kornilov replied.

When Maxx reached engineering, he saw that the situation was far more serious than it originally seemed. The engineer in question had indeed cracked his skull open, but he was a Gallamite, and his brain was extremely delicate, hence the reason they had evolved with transparent skulls, so any abnormality would show up straight away in the discolouration of their cerebral fluid.

‘Damn, I’m going to need more than what’s in here for him,’ Maxx cursed but knelt beside the dying engineer and checked him over with the tricorder. His fears were confirmed. ‘His brain has been damaged. Without the exact composition of the fluid to regulate his brain, it will start to shut down in the next few minutes.’

‘What can we do?’ Xeris asked.

‘I need someone to get a osteo-regenerator so I can seal the skull. Then I need to find out the composition of the cerebral fluid.’

‘Can’t the tricorder tell you that?’

‘For any other species, yes, because there are only a few hundred neurotransmitters. Gallamites have several thousand, and if there’s an imbalance, they can die. Did you see the colour of his fluid when he hit his head?’

‘It went a kind of mustard colour and then went clear again.’

Maxx nodded. ‘That’s a good sign, it means that his brain cleared itself of a dangerous imbalance.’

‘The osteo-regenerator’s coming, Doc.’

‘He’ll need to be moved to sickbay as soon as he’s stable so I can monitor the neurotransmitter balance.’

‘How long before I can get him back? He’s the best warp specialist I have,’ Xeris asked.

‘At least two days, I won’t release him from sickbay until he’s recovered.’

Xeris nodded. ‘Fine, if you’ll excuse me, I have to fix my engines.’

As the Romulan walked away, Maxx noticed someone duck into a Jeffries tube, someone in a red uniform. He frowned, wondering if they would reappear but they didn’t and the osteo-regenerator arrived so he concentrated on his patient. Within minutes, the tricorder had stopped its frantic bleeping as the engineer’s lifesigns started to stabilise. An extensive scan with the tricorder on the leaked cerebral fluid had given him at least an idea of the balance of neurotransmitters.

‘You can move him,’ he said to Kornilov. ‘But be careful. I want him put on these neurotransmitters as soon as he’s in sickbay,’ he added, passing across the medical tricorder.

Kornilov handed his tricorder to Maxx and nodded, helping Swha to move the Gallamite onto the antigrav stretcher. Maxx picked up his medical kit, intending to return to sickbay when another frantic call was received, this time by Lieutenant Parker.

‘Medical emergency, Doctor Maxx report to holodeck one immediately.’

‘On my way,’ he acknowledged, sprinting for the turbolift to take him to deck fourteen. ‘What’s the problem?’

‘Just get down here!’

It took less than two minutes for him to reach holodeck one and as soon as the doors opened, he understood the emergency, and the reason Parker refused to elaborate. Lying on the deck was the unconscious form of the ship’s chief science officer, Lieutenant Jamal Mahtani. Maxx knelt beside him and checked him over with the tricorder.

‘Lieutenant, he’s dead.’

‘Computer, run program Mahtani-37 with safeties engaged,’ Parker instructed.

Immediately, the holodeck came to life, the scene was jungle assault course, and the safeties included just a net in the lower canopy.

‘What is this?’

'This is a jungle survival course from the Nasat homeworld. Mahtani has run this program every week since the ship left Spacedock. Today he took the safeties off.’

‘You and I both know that’s not what happened.’

Parker nodded. ‘Wright asked him to do something, and he’s done it. He wasn’t needed anymore.’

Maxx agreed. ‘We have no evidence, but we have to report this to him anyway.’

Parker’s shoulders slumped. ‘Come on, let’s get this out of the way. I’ll seal the room. Come and have your technicians take a look and collect evidence, not that I think we’ll find any.’

‘He disengaged the safeties, maybe the computer recorded the tampering,’ Maxx offered.

‘Maybe,’ Parker replied, taking another glance at Mahtani’s broken body before leaving the holodeck.

 

[mirandafave]

OMG!!

This is really raising the stakes and Wright looks like he's a one man killing spree. And with the doc busy is the Captain's stasis field safe?! Excellent stuff. Exciting and rivetting. And if Wright can do all this I sort of all don't want any evidence against him because it'll bring an end to his devious ways! Still no clue waht he is up to.

 

[DavidFalkayn]

And Wright has made his big mistake. Killing Mahtani has only made the others all the more determined to bring him down. The question becomes will they be able to do it before he succeeds in his ultimate goal...

 

[CeJay]

Yeah, Wright has definitely crossed the line here. Killing off his own crewmembers though should be hardly surprising, considering this guys back story.

You got yourself a class A villain here. How do you take him down? I'm looking forward to find out the answer.

 

[Mistral]

Class A villain? This guy's a sociopath! Didn't anybody in Starfleet Medical notice? He must have been examined once or twice along the way...

 

[BrotherBenny]

Chapter Seventeen

USS Dauntless
Keleera system
Stardate 57414.2

With the repairs now complete, as best they could be without a starbase, the Dauntless was back in space and ready to head to the Eeroth system to finish what they started. Lieutenant Commander Xeris had checked every repair personally, and while he was sure something about the calibration of the deflector dish was off, everything checked out and he had given Wright the all clear to proceed. As the ship jumped to warp, Xeris noticed a message light blinking on the terminal in his office. Someone was trying to contact him and be discreet about it. He sat down and watched the message appear on the monitor. It disappeared after precisely eleven seconds and a second message appeared, remaining on screen for the same period of time. The terminal went blank and Xeris stood up.

Now he knew exactly what was wrong with the deflector dish and also that there was nothing he could do without it showing up on Wright’s console on the bridge. The man was thoroughly devious, and as a Romulan he could respect the man for that. But as a Starfleet officer, he wanted to space the bastard. Sabotaging the dish would be suicide for the crew, but allowing Wright to go through with his plan wasn’t going to leave them much better off, but they would have a chance. Xeris decided on using his own methods of counterterrorism and left engineering in the capable hands of Lieutenant Queran, the Xindi-Arboreal assistant chief engineer.

‘I didn’t think you’d be long,’ Gonzales said as Xeris entered his quarters.

‘I thought you were on the bridge,’ the chief engineer replied.

‘I am, I recorded this earlier, so Wright couldn’t trace it back to me. You know what he’s planning and what it means for us. Ch’Maras has already got Maxx sorted out, and Parker is just about ready to vaporise him. We can’t risk bringing Larson in, we’ll just have to hope that he stays out of the way.’

‘I can’t see that happening,’ Xeris muttered and was surprised when the hologram replied.

‘Neither can I, but we’ll deal with that when the time comes.’

Xeris nodded. ‘How long do you think we have?’

‘He’ll wait until the Eeroth crisis has been resolved and we’re heading back to Kursican space before attempting his manoeuvre.’

‘Then we have to be ready to take back the ship as soon as possible.’

‘Maxx knows what he has to do, and I know what I have to do. Ch’Maras has thought of everything it would seem. Here’s what you need to do.’

‘Can we trust the Andorian?’ Xeris interrupted.

‘We have to, but to answer your next question, yes he is trustworthy and this might go a long way to helping him reclaim his name.’

‘Good enough for me,’ the Romulan replied. ‘What do you need from me?’

‘He’ll need an extraordinary amount of energy to power the deflector dish. When you get the signal, and you’ll know what it is, you have to take the warp core offline.’

‘I can’t do that on a whim.’

‘We both know you’re capable of doing what needs to be done. This is the only way we’re going to be able to stop him.’

Xeris nodded, Gonzales smiled and the hologram vanished. ‘Accursed technology.’

‘Bridge to Xeris,’ Wright called over the comm.

‘Xeris here.’

‘Why aren’t you in engineering, Commander?’

Xeris scowled. ‘I needed something from my quarters, Commander.’

‘You will address me as Captain, or you will be relieved of duty.’

‘Aye sir,’ Xeris retorted.

‘Try again, Commander. No more tricks. You’re skirting insubordination as it is.’

The smug tone rubbed the Romulan engineer the wrong way. ‘You don’t deserve to be called, Captain, whatever the regulations say.’

‘You’re relieved. I suggest you stay in your quarters unless you want security to babysit you.’

‘I’ll stay in my quarters,’ Xeris replied. A smile formed on his face, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Instead they cooled a burning rage into a cold fury, one that would be eminently useful whether they succeeded in stopping Wright, or not.

Opening a cabinet in his bedroom, Xeris dragged out a box and entered a code that only he knew. Inside the box was a collection of weaponry unrivalled in the Federation, and all of it was in perfect working order. This was usually the first item he had brought aboard any new posting because of all the security checks it went through. It was made from pure kelbonite which made it impossible to transport and he had so far managed to convince the chief of security on every ship he’d served on that it was innocuous.

That was going to change now as both Parker and Gonzales were going to learn what was inside. Since he was stuck in his quarters for the foreseeable future, he decided to clean the weapons so they were ready for use. He’d neglected their care of late and it was starting to show on some of the older ones. He had the feeling that he was going to need them. Of course, shutting down the ship was important, perhaps the most important, but he had plenty of time to write a neat little program to help him with that.

Xeris continued to clean his weapons and as he did so, he wondered what his lover had done, or convinced Wright of, to have that little head to head. He admired her tenacity, as well as her lithe figure, and her cunning ways almost matched his own. In his opinion, however, it was ch’Maras who was the weak link. He was the one who was organising everything, and trying to stay one or two steps ahead of Wright, but Xeris wasn’t sure that the Andorian was up to the task, hence the reason for the array of weapons he was currently dealing with.

‘All senior officers report to their stations,’ Gonzales called over the comm. ‘We are approaching the Eeroth system.’

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

Here's hoping that Xeris manages to stay ahead of Wright without getting caught.

I always thought Wright was a devious S.O.B. but geez!

Good stuff!

 

[DavidFalkayn]

Nice. Plans are set in motion--the question becomes who's plan will come out on top? Of course--no plan survives contact with the enemy intact...

 

[Mistral]

What is Xeris going to do? Shoot the warp core? Shoot Wright? And as Starfleet's second official mutiny, do the mutineers have enough evidence to survive a court-martial?

 

[BrotherBenny]

Chapter Eighteen

USS Dauntless
Eeroth IV
Stardate 57416.7

Lieutenant ch’Maras ignored the twitching of his antennae whenever he thought of Mahtani’s death and the fact that Commander Wright had not performed any kind of funeral, instead having the body placed in stasis. There would be time later for such issues to be dealt with, the Eeroth were currently the top priority. It had been eighteen hours since they arrived and the rebels had not contacted them. In fact, there had been no contact with anyone either on the planet, the moons, or any vessels in that time.

‘Sensors?’ Wright asked for the tenth time. ‘Show me that there is someone still alive.’

‘Sensors show no living being on the surface, sir,’ Gonzales replied. ‘But there are still power generation plants operating.’

‘Time to send an away team,’ Wright said, looking at the tactical and acting first officer. ‘Go to one of the power plants and see if you find anyone left alive. I want to know what happened while we were gone.’

‘Aye sir,’ Gonzales said. ‘Ch’Maras, you’re with me. I’ll have a security team meet us in the transporter room.’

Ch’Maras stood up and caught Wright’s gaze as he entered the turbolift. It was not something he wanted to experience again. The man looked at him as if he was not going to be returning to the ship, and the fact that it didn’t matter. As soon as the turbolift doors closed, he slumped.

‘Gonzales to security, have a team meet me in transport room one.’

‘Acknowledged,’ Parker replied.

‘He thinks this is a suicide mission,’ ch’Maras stated.

‘I know,’ Gonzales replied. ‘But the only way for us to know what happened down there is to see it for ourselves. The Cha’lav-Aquatic ship was destroyed before it could do any permanent damage, and unless the rebels were able to repair and replace their damaged satellites, then there shouldn’t be anything in this system capable of killing everyone.’

‘The Cha’lav?’

‘We’d see some evidence of their return.’

Ch’Maras nodded. ‘Then something more catastrophic happened to them.’

‘It would seem so, but we won’t know for certain until we get down there.’

‘Should we take a shuttle instead?’

‘Sensors show a normal class-M atmosphere, nothing unusual at all, except for the fact that a population of a few hundred million has just vanished.’

The turbolift doors opened and Ensign Hoya stood waiting. Standing next to the Benzite was Cadet Jenak, and chief petty officer D’rass, a Caitian. The five of them proceeded into the transporter room and the transporter chief nodded to them.

‘Coordinates are set,’ he said.

‘What coordinates? Gonzales asked, checking them over. ‘These are nowhere near any power plants. Transporter room to bridge, where are supposed to be going, Commander?’

‘We’ve just picked up a single humanoid lifesign. That’s where you’re going,’ Wright said and cut the channel.

‘Everybody ready?’ she asked her team as she joined them on the transporter pad.

They nodded.

‘Energise.’

The first thing the Andorian noticed as he materialised on the surface was that it was dryer than he had been to believe. Initial scans had shown the Eeroth homeworld to be a verdant paradise, and the recent attack shown have caused extensive rainfall, not a desertification. The three members of the security team fanned out, phasers in hand, and Gonzales took out her tricorder.

‘I’m not picking up any lifeforms here at all, and the level of power being generated from the nearest plant is negligible, as if it was in the process of being shut down.’

‘Commander, over here,’ Cadet Jenak called.

Gonzales and ch’Maras ran over to the cadet’s position and saw the child she held in her arms. He was no more than ten years old and was clearly in trouble.

‘There’s a cave system over there,’ Jenak pointed. ‘He ran out and collapsed.’

‘Cadet, go with him directly to sickbay and inform Commander Wright of the situation. We’ll investigate the caves.’

‘Be careful, sir.’

‘Always, Cadet,’ Gonzales replied and ran for the caves. Ch’Maras followed her and the two remaining security officers brought up the rear. Jenak disappeared in a pillar of light and they made it to the caves just as the ground rumbled.

‘What was that?’ D’rass asked.

‘It wasn’t a ground tremor,’ ch’Maras answered, consulting his tricorder. ‘It came from orbit.’

‘What did?’ Gonzales asked.

‘A neutron torpedo.’

‘What?’

‘That’s why there are no people here, Commander. The neutron torpedoes have wiped out almost every living thing, from the Eeroth to the plants to the microorganisms.’

‘Who launched those torpedoes?’

‘One of the satellites in orbit,’ he replied. ‘There’s nothing else within range.’

‘There may still be some people living in the caves,’ D’rass added. ‘We should find out.’

‘We will, but we need to contact Wright first, and have him destroy that satellite.’

‘Aye sir,’ ch’Maras said and tapped his combadge. ‘Ch’Maras to Dauntless.’

‘Go ahead, Lieutenant,’ Wright answered.

‘The satellite above our position is launching neutron torpedoes at the surface. Almost every living thing has been obliterated, leaving what’s left of the cities intact for someone else to occupy.’

‘Like the rebels?’ Wright asked, sounding angry.

‘Possibly, sir, but we haven’t seen them either.’

‘Send the coordinates of the satellite to the tactical station, Lieutenant. What is the situation down there?’

‘We’re going to investigate a cave system that may contain survivors, sir.’

‘Proceed, and keep me informed.’

‘Aye sir, ch’Maras out.’

‘Let’s go, hopefully we’ll find survivors and answers.’

As the group descended further into the cave system, ch’Maras became worried. He knew that Wright would destroy the satellite, but could not shake the feeling that the rampaging human would not do something to kill another member of the crew, or two, if given the opportunity.

‘My tricorder’s picking up lifesigns ahead, dozens of them,’ Gonzales said.

‘Thank the Great Cats,’ D’rass muttered. ‘We can take them back to the surface, let them know it’s safe.’

‘If they trust us.’

‘They have to,’ ch’Maras said. ‘We’re they’re only hope.’

 

[DavidFalkayn]

Wright's playing for keeps here--as are the Eeroth. Parker, ch'Maras and co. better be on their guard...

 

[CeJay]

It seems that the longer Parker, Xeris and co wait to make their move the longer they're putting everyone on Dauntless in mortal danger (including themselves). Wright needs to be stopped. He's got all the power now and has already shown that he is not shy of using it to get what he wants, no matter who gets in his way.

Man, this guys is evil!

 

[Mistral]

Time for Wright to get taken out b4 others die.

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

I guess this means that the mirror-universe Wright is some sort of saint!

 

[DavidFalkayn]

Wright's definitely one of the better villains that has appeared here. What makes him so dangerous is that 1) He's competent, and 2) we know so little about him.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Chapter Nineteen

Guest Quarters
Starbase 535
Stardate 57423.1

Nicholas Locarno stared out of the window of his private quarters aboard the starbase and considered all the colonies in the nearby star systems who were now heavily armed. Like his cousin, Tom Paris, the first officer of Voyager, he had an interest in the twentieth century and often spent a lot of time researching the period. One thing that bothered him about that time was the proliferation of small arms and the number of deaths that resulted from their unregulated use. He didn’t think people today were as likely to use phasers against their neighbours for imagined slights but he knew that when fear took hold, all bets were off. Once Admiral Owens learned of Logan’s order, he countermanded it but allowed those colonies who already had the weapons to keep them, provided they were used against the enemy and kept locked up otherwise.

Locarno’s conscience also bothered him about one other thing. He had reported everything to his handler, and that included Linnis and her impressive abilities. Normally they would have asked that he return for a thorough debriefing, but this time they asked him to keep the girl close and make sure she was safe. They knew something more than they were telling him and he didn’t like that, especially where she was concerned. The only problem was that he had no one he could talk to about the situation, no one to ask for advice—well, almost no one.

‘Computer, open a channel to Captain Lionel Logan, commanding officer, USS Everest.’

‘Stand by,’ the computer answered.

Locarno considered his options and realised that there was very little he could do. With all the resources at their disposal, they could easily find him, no matter where he went, but he had to get Linnis to a place of impenetrable safety.

‘Mister Locarno, you look lost,’ Captain Logan said from the screen.

‘That’s not far off my current state of mind,’ the freighter hauler replied. ‘I have a little problem and I need a solution. I was hoping that you’d be able to help.’

‘Why me, I’m no longer involved in what’s going on out there.’

‘But you do know what’s going on.’

‘I heard about the events on Ynelav Four, the Romulans are hopping mad. Perhaps your problem could be solved that way?’ Logan suggested.

‘I’ll look into that, how goes your mission?’

‘They’ve accepted us for now, but we’re still on a knife edge. A lot could still go wrong.’

‘Good luck, and thank you.’

‘You’re welcome, Logan out.’

Locarno considered the option and went in search of his charge. She should have been sleeping but she didn’t like doing so in their quarters, she much preferred the freighter. Convenient, since he was going to be taking a ride. Ynelav IV was only a few hours away at warp, so there should be no problem in getting there and back before his next job.

‘Uncle Nicky!’ a high-pitched voice squealed and Locarno turned to face the voice.

‘Very funny, Jean,’ he replied. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘The Admiral issued a recall order a few hours ago. The Cha’lav have destroyed one of the Resoto refugee worlds. I just they’ve found the others as well. Command has ordered him not to intervene so he’s called us all back.’

‘Because they’ll be coming here next,’ Locarno said.

‘That’s what we thought too. The Independence and the Ditagh are also docked, waiting for the fight.’

‘We’re going to need more than that if we have any hope of sending the Cha’lav a message they won’t forget.’

‘True,’ Hajar replied. ‘Here’s hoping that we’re able to gain some more allies.’

Locarno nodded. ‘If you’ll excuse me, I have a job waiting for me.’

‘No you don’t, I checked. I wanted to see if you’d like to come out for dinner with a group of us. We need to unwind.’

‘Thanks, but I can’t. I need to talk to someone about Linnis. There’s only one person who knows what she’s likely to go through.’

Hajar stared at him, looking for any sign of falsehood. ‘Alright, maybe next time?’

He smiled. ‘Sure.’

‘Good luck.’

‘To you as well,’ he replied and headed for the freighter at a brisk jog.

When he reached the docking bay, he saw Linnis walking round the outside of it and poking her fingers around.

‘Hi Mister Locarno,’ she said without turning round. ‘I’m just looking around at your ship. It’s old isn’t it?’

‘Call me Nick,’ he said and knelt down beside her. ‘Yes it is quite old, but its gets me, us, where we need to go. I know someone we can go to who can help you control your powers. Do you want to take a ride?’

‘Yes please,’ she replied and then put her hands on her hips and looked at him with a glint in her eye. ‘You won’t take me somewhere I’m not going to like are you?’

‘No, we’re going to see the spiritual leader of a people called Ynelavii.’

‘I think I’ve been there before, a long time ago,’ she said and Locarno hid his surprise. ‘I am five hundred years old you know.’

He grinned. ‘I know. Come on, let’s go now and I’ll buy you a souvenir.’

‘Okay,’ she replied and followed Locarno up the ramp.

She paused, turned around with a slight frown on her face, then smiled and ran into the freighter.

Locarno ran through the preflight checks and after receiving permission to depart from Operations, took the Kolvoord from its docking berth into space. Linnis sat beside him in the co-pilot’s chair, her favourite spot, and watched as they left the Kursican system. As soon as they jumped to warp, she turned to him.

‘We’re not coming back, you do know that, don’t you?’

Locarno turned to her. ‘What do you mean?’

‘We won’t see the starbase again, we’re going on an adventure.’

‘I hope it’s a good one,’ he replied and then stared straight ahead looking worried.’

‘It will be, you have me to guide you.’

Locarno sighed, wondering what he had got himself into. ‘Are we going to make it to Ynelav IV, or does the adventure begin after that?’

‘After,’ the Ocampan answered sincerely. ‘We’ll be picking up a couple of people first.’

‘Alright, do I need some more supplies?’

‘We’ll pick up what we need, don’t worry.’

 

[Mistral]

I almost forgot about dear, sweet, Linnis. Nice to see Nick again, too.

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

So . . . Locarno and Paris are identical cousins?

Makes sense to me!

Great segment, and yes - it's nice to see Locarno and Linnis again. Should be a nice, quiet adventure.

 

[DavidFalkayn]

Locarno and Linnis going off on an adventure--nothing can go wrong here--right...right?