This is intended as a ST: Gibraltar short story... well, certainly shorter than the ones I've written so far. Thanks go to TheLoneRedshirt for the use of Captain Akinola and the crew of the stalwart ship USS Bluefin. USS Bluefin Sector 21509 Alliance Occupied Cardassian Territory “Code One-Alpha-Zero!” Commander Inga Strauss announced from where she examined the Ops board over Lt. Commander T’Ser’s shoulder, “Ship in distress.” Captain Joseph B. Akinola sat forward in his command chair, suddenly imbued with a sense of urgency after days of relative quietude on patrol in occupied Cardassian space. “Specifics,” he ordered. T’Ser answered promptly, “It’s from the starship Gibraltar, sir. Records show she’s tasked to escort duty, one of four ships sitting watchdog on a convoy of freighters bearing relief supplies to Cardassian colonies in Sector 21508.” Strauss resumed her seat, initiating a Level-4 diagnostic on all ship’s defensive systems. “Stats on the Gibraltar?” she inquired of T’Ser. The Vulcan quirked a dubious eyebrow as the starship’s information scrolled across her display. “Upgraded Constitution-class, ma’am, reactivated and refit during the war. Moderate armament, maximum speed rated at Warp 8.2.” “Can you say ‘sitting duck?’ muttered Senior Chief Solly Brin, a burly red-skinned Orion, from an auxiliary station aft. “What’s her situation?” Akinola pressed. T’Ser delved into the encoded substrate of the distress call, decipherable only to those in possession of the proper Starfleet encryption matrices. “It appears she was sent to investigate a suspicious distress call from a Kriosian freighter in the E’Mdifarr Belt some .7 lightyears off the convoy’s course.” She paused, gleaning additional information from the brief text message. She turned, fixing a serious look on the captain. “They’ve been ambushed, sir. At present, they’re fighting four ships that look to be cargo haulers modified for combat, and a number of smaller fighters and corsairs.” “Set an intercept course for those coordinates at maximum warp and engage,” Akinola ordered, watching the starfield on the main viewer shift as the Albacore-class Border Cutter came about and engaged her faster-than-light engines. “Then send an encrypted burst message… let them know we’re on our way.” “Aye, sir.” T’Ser acknowledged as she carried out the order. She glanced back at Akinola, “Sir, what about their fellow convoy escort ships? Wouldn’t they be able to respond more quickly?” Akinola nodded somberly, “They could, Commander, but they won’t. Gibraltar is buying time for the convoy to get away. That’s their job.” “Bait, sir?” “Precisely, Mr. T’Ser.” ***** USS Gibraltar E’Mdifarr Asteroid Belt, E’Mdifarr system Sector 21508 Alliance Occupied Cardassian Territory “Shields down to fifty-three percent!” shouted Master Chief Tark from the Tactical station over the crash of another barrage against Gibraltar’s shields. “Helm, tighter turns.” Captain Donald Sandhurst urged from the command chair, watching the starship slalom between enormous chunks of asteroidal debris that loomed large in the viewer. They’d come to the asteroid belt in response to a distress call from a freighter claiming to be under attack by insurgent vessels. Though suspicious that an emergency should occur so close to the path of the convoy, the crew had at first sensed nothing out of the ordinary as the handful of armed shuttles attacking the freighter scattered upon their arrival. But as soon as Ramirez’s away team had beamed over, all hell had broken loose. The damaged freighter had been a ruse, in fact the ship had been retrofit to carry capital weapons and shield generators, making the humble looking cargo hauler into a formidable warship. The supposedly routed fighters had returned with a vengeance, accompanied by three more of the faux-freighters, a force clearly capable of inflicting great damage on the unsuspecting convoy. So, the Gibraltar had fled deeper into the asteroid field, drawing the pirate vessels into a pursuit to ensure that the isolated starship would not have the opportunity to call for help or warn the convoy. “Communications?” Sandhurst asked. “Still being jammed,” answered Lt. Commander Pell Ojana, the ship’s Bajoran second officer and diplomatic specialist. Looking over to his young science officer, Sandhurst inquired, “Status of the IFEW?” The ebony skinned Zulu, Ensign Kuenre Shanthi, clung to his console as Ensign Brett Lightner’s wild maneuvering at the helm pushed the inertial dampeners to their limits. Shanthi finally found his voice, answering, “The Ionization Field Effect Weapon is primed and ready for deployment, Captain.” “Good, just make sure all our new friends are in close proximity when we set it off.” From Ops, Lieutenant JG Olivia Juneau piped up, “Two of the freighters are lagging behind, sir. We’ll have to either slow down or double back to maneuver them in range of the device.” “Mr. Lightner, hook us around smartly, one-hundred eighty degree turn beneath that big monster bearing 173-mark-008” Sandhurst commanded. Beaming like a kid in a candy store, Lightner responded in the affirmative, throwing the old workhorse into a tight turn, utilizing the gravitational field of the asteroid to sling-shot the starship back in the opposite direction of their pursuers. As Tark lay down a fusillade of photon torpedo and phaser fire, Juneau opened the aft shuttlebay doors, exposing the large cylindrical device in its launch cradle that now monopolized most of the bay’s space. ***** Kriosian-flagged freighter SS Draskaar E’Mdifarr Asteroid Belt, E’Mdifarr system Sector 21508 Alliance Occupied Cardassian Territory Gibraltar’s away team sat in sullen silence, held at gunpoint by members of the freighter’s crew. Two Humans and a Zaranite kept watch over the Starfleeters as the freighter shuddered under fire from the starship as well as the stress of High-g maneuvers within the asteroid field. “This sucks,” Commander Liana Ramirez announced definitively but quietly, her small frame dwarfed by the enormous Bolian lieutenant seated next to her on the deck of the cargo bay. They’d been surrounded and captured almost instantaneously upon beaming onboard the supposedly stricken cargo ship. Their captors, whoever they were, had done an admirable job of feigning damage through the creative use of localized subspace fields and thoron emissions. On the other side of Ramirez sat the Gibraltar’s El Aurian chief security/tactical officer. Leaning in towards the first officer with an ironic smirk gracing his deceptively youthful feature, Pava Lar’ragos chimed in, “Would this be a bad time to reflect on how your security chief voted for transporting stun grenades over prior to beaming in?” Ramirez scratched idly at her temple with her middle finger, “Bite me, Pava” she offered in a subdued voice. “Providing we survive this little excursion, sir, I’d be only too happy to oblige.” Ramirez rolled her eyes as the ship’s chief medical officer, Lieutenant JG Issara Taiee grinned despite the seriousness of their situation. “We can’t just sit here, Commander” rumbled the large Bolian engineer, Ashok. “For the time being, Lieutenant, we have a dearth of options,” Ramirez sighed. “Enough talking!” barked one of their jailers, emphasizing his point by waving the barrel of his Klingon disruptor rifle at the group. She and the others obligingly fell silent, all of them still contemplating some kind of escape strategy. The ship rocked again, the sensation accompanied by the screech and hollow thump of a hull breach somewhere nearby. A moment later, an Andorian in smudged coveralls walked briskly into the compartment, escorted by two more armed Humans. Regarding the captured Starfleet personnel coolly, he asked, “Which one of you is the engineer?” Lt. Ashok began to rise and was startled when Lar’ragos jumped to his feet. “That’d be me.” The Andorian looked at Lar’ragos skeptically, then gestured to Ashok. “Then why is he getting up?” “Him?” Lar’ragos looked to the Bolian, “Look at him, the big bruiser’s the security officer. He’s just trying to protect me.” Ashok reluctantly resumed his seat, and Ramirez patted his arm in silent encouragement. Lar’ragos offered the XO a discrete wink as he turned back toward the Andorian, whom he presumed to be the freighter’s engineer. “Can I have my equipment?” Looking to one of the guards, the Andorian dispatched the man to collect the engineering kit Ashok had brought over. Holding on to the briefcase-sized kit himself, the Andorian gestured for Lar’ragos to follow, flanked by the two armed men. Moving down a narrow dimly lit corridor, the four arrived at a dilapidated looking turbolift car. Entering the turbocar, the Andorian stepped to the side to allow Lar’ragos and his escorts room. The Andorian thought idly that it was strange for the Starfleet engineer to be wearing a disturbing little smile. “What’s so damn funny?” the Andorian asked hotly as the doors slid closed. Lar’ragos said nothing, but his eyes narrowed and the smile grew wider. ***** USS Bluefin En route to Sector 21508, Warp 9.2 Alliance Occupied Cardassian Territory With over an hour before their rendezvous with the besieged Gibraltar, Akinola had moved to his ready room in an attempt to gauge the likelihood that Bluefin would find survivors upon their arrival. Taking a seat at his desk, he called up the general specs of the old Connie, reflecting that Starfleet had done an admirable job in restoring the ship, taking so much time in fact that she’d slipped from her drydock moorings only after the end of the Dominion War. Her captain, Sandhurst, had been an engineer of some renown who’d somehow been talked into accepting a captaincy. That was the thing about long wars, Akinola mused, they created many opportunities for upward mobility through the ranks. Scanning the bullet points of the Gibraltar’s recent history, Akinola noted that Sandhurst had occupied the center seat for less than a year, but his ship was already gaining a reputation for finding itself in the eye of the storm. Having cut his teeth on the fiasco at the Cardassian colony of Lakesh in the Crolsa system, Sandhurst had followed months of routine escort missions by joining up with Jean-Luc Picard’s ill-fated mission of mercy into the Briar Patch. Despite their widely divergent career paths, Akinola felt a growing sense of kinship for the man who, like him, commanded what many saw as an outdated vessel fated to carry out the kinds of mundane missions that nonetheless kept the Federation functioning. Switching off his terminal, Akinola vowed that if at all possible, he would deliver Sandhurst and his crew safely from this most recent trouble. ‘We old bucket captains have to stick together, after all.’ ***** Kriosian-flagged freighter SS Draskaar E’Mdifarr Asteroid Belt, E’Mdifarr system Sector 21508 Alliance Occupied Cardassian Territory The doors parted to reveal a scene of absolute carnage. Lar’ragos limped out of the turbocar, holding a rifle in each hand. His face was cut and bruised, but the smile remained. He spat wetly, dislodging the severed Andorian antennae that had been clutched in his teeth. He emerged from the shadows behind the two guards watching over the remaining away team members. Triggering both rifles simultaneously, Lar’ragos sent hyper-kinetic streams of pulsed plasma into the backs of the men, turning both into smoking piles of charred flesh and fragmented bone. Rising to her feet, Ramirez caught one of the rifles out of the air as Lar’ragos threw it to her. Looking the El Aurian up and down, she shook her head in a mixture of disbelief and resignation. “Do I want to know, Pava?” “Almost certainly not, sir” he replied gravely. Hefting the rifle, Ramirez motioned for the others to get to their feet. “We'll need to get to the bridge on this heap.” *****
This is an excellent slam bang opening to what I'm sure is going to be an action packed story involving these two crews. Those pirates made two big mistakes: pissing off both Lar'ragos and Ramirez at the same time! And now they're going to get the Bluefin on to their butts...I hope they've got good health insurance! I have a feeling Sandhurst and Akinola are going to get along famously--God help the bad guys! Way to go, guys!
Great opening segment! I'm honored that you've included Akinola & Co. from the USS Bluefin. My favorite part thus far is Lar'ragos doing his Rambo impersonation - spitting out that Andorian's antenna and firing both pulse rifles. Such a nice, quiet, reserved guy!
Well this is certainly good news for all us Gibraltar addicts. You only just finished your juggernaut story and swiftly provide us with a terrific cross-over tale to make the wait for the next installment more bearable. And what a great cross-over it is. (I was suspecting all along that one was in the works, btw) There are obvious similarities between Bluefin and Gibraltar and it made perfect sense to me that Akinola would feel something of a kinship to Sandhurst. And Pava … what a badass! This is a guy you never ever want to cross as you continue to remind us. This promises to be an action-packed story combining two of the most interesting crews in Starfleet. Looking forward to see how it all plays out.
Agreed -- with all the above -- on all counts. But, especially with the comments about the Pava scene. Pure evil! And I love it!
ST: Gibraltar - Backup - Part 2 PART 2 Kriosian-flagged freighter SS Draskaar E’Mdifarr Asteroid Belt, E’Mdifarr system Sector 21508 Alliance Occupied Cardassian Territory As Lar’ragos’ adrenaline ebbed, the severity of his injuries became more apparent. While Ramirez was dispatching Ashok to recover the away team’s confiscated equipment, Lar’ragos stumbled, nearly toppling over, and Ramirez and Taiee moved to assist him to the floor. Ramirez handed off Pava’s rifle to Petty Officer Saihra Dunleavy who took up a defensive position behind a cargo container, orienting herself towards the turbolift. Still awaiting her medical instrumentation, Taiee nonetheless managed to diagnose the most serious of the El Aurian’s injuries. Lar’ragos was suffering a concussion, three fractured ribs, a broken right hand, and a hyper-extended left knee. “What the devil happened in there, Pava?” Ramirez asked as she waited for Taiee to finish her assessment. Lar’ragos coughed, “No room to maneuver in there. Plus, I’m pretty sure one of them is an ex-Federation Marine, he sure as hell fought like one.” Shaking her head slightly, Ramirez chided him gently. “That was brave, Pava. Incredibly reckless and stupid, but brave.” Wincing and gritting his teeth with the effort, Lar’ragos craned his head to look at what remained of the two men that had been guarding the Starfleet contingent. “The three in the lift car are alive, and I’m sorry about those two.” He gestured towards the rifle in Ramirez’s hand. “No stun setting, and I wasn’t in any shape for another fight.” “You did what you had to in order to rescue us, Pava.” Ramirez glanced up at the open turbolift door, just visible in the shadows, the bodies splayed on the car’s floor still motionless. Almost wistfully, she whispered, “What you always do, in fact.” He coughed painfully, “Just make sure Donald knows… he’s keeping me on a short leash these days.” Ashok arrived with their gear, handing the medical kit to Taiee who proceeded to scan Lar’ragos with her tricorder as the other personnel retrieved their phasers. Looking to the Bolian, Ramirez ordered, “Ashok, find a computer access junction and hack in. I want to see what we can find out about these people.” Looking back down at Lar’ragos, Ramirez inquired, “Your tactical assessment, Lieutenant?” “They’re not pirates, Commander. That crowd usually runs with Orions, Nausicaans or Chalnoth as muscle.” He gave her a meaningful look, “Federation nationals in civilian vessels geared for combat. Who does it sound like to you?” She nodded dourly, “I’d hoped those reports of a Maquis resurgence were overstated. Looks like they weren’t.” Motioning towards Dunleavy and Ashok’s engineering assistant, Ramirez said, “Get those men out of the turbolift and frisk them for additional weapons and comms, then let Taiee treat them.” “What about the bridge?” Lar’ragos asked. “The bridge can wait,” Ramirez answered thoughtfully, “Our opponents just jumped a few levels higher in the threat column. We’d better have a workable plan before we take these people on.” ***** USS Gibraltar E’Mdifarr Asteroid Belt, E’Mdifarr system Sector 21508 Alliance Occupied Cardassian Territory Disruptor pulses, phaser beams and merculite rockets flared against Gibraltar’s forward shields in a maelstrom of fury as the starship bore down on her would-be pursuers. Gibraltar’s return fire, however, was much more discriminating, focusing on the ersatz-warship’s shield generators with punishing blows from her photon torpedoes and surgically pinpointed blasts from her phaser banks. “Right on the mark, Master Chief, keep it up,” encouraged Sandhurst. “Their shield strength will have to be no higher than forty percent for this to work,” Shanthi reminded the bridge crew, somewhat unnecessarily. “I was at the briefing, thanks” Juneau replied snidely, too focused on the looming asteroids on the viewscreen to add her customary eye roll. “Focus, children,” Sandhurst admonished from the center seat as the ship was buffeted by another enemy salvo. Glancing at Shanthi, the captain double checked to make sure the young ensign’s hand was well away from the release toggle for the IFEW. ‘No sense in making this whole party for nothing,’ he reflected mordantly. Even if the experimental device was unsuccessful, every moment these brigands spent chasing his ship was another percentage of a parsec distance the convoy put between themselves and the pirates. Juneau announced, “Five seconds until all FTL capable threat vessels are within range, sir.” “Five seconds, mark.” Sandhurst acknowledged, engaging the chronometer on his chair’s armrest. As he looked up, his eyes grew wide as a giant piece of asteroidal debris hove into view ahead of them. Gesturing futilely at the viewer, Sandhurst’s command persona slipped several notches as he gasped, “Rock! Big rock!” Purposefully looking back at the ashen-faced captain as he nimbly skirted the two kilometer wide obstruction, Ensign Lightner smiled widely, “I’m on it, sir. No worries.” Sandhurst sank back into his chair, cursing the young pilot silently in his head as he fought to salvage his composure. Just in time, he noticed the chronometer reaching ‘1.’ “Launch the weapon,” he ordered, his voice regaining its authoritative timbre. Shanthi tapped his panel, initiating release of the ten meter long cylinder sitting in its launch cradle in the aft-most section of the shuttle bay. The object slid out behind the starship, beginning to spin slowly end-over-end, its reflective surface glinting weakly in the diffused starlight. “Emergency shutdown of engineering mains,” Sandhurst ordered, “Route all auxiliary power to the structural integrity field in the engine nacelles.” The bridge duty engineer answered in the affirmative as Juneau announced, “Detonation in four… three… two…” There was the faintest pulse of whitish light from the object and then it self-destructed in a small, ridiculously anti-climactic explosion. Alarms began to wail from the engineering station, and the officer manning the board began a damage assessment. At Sciences, Shanthi announced, “Ion pulse confirmed, Captain. Strength and duration are within established parameters.” “Confirmed, sir,” Juneau agreed, “The warp nacelles of all vessels within one-million kilometers have been depolarized.” “Including ours,” the duty engineer added. “Thanks to our emergency shutdown and SIF reinforcement, we took less of a hit, sir. Crews are scrambling to begin repairs, and we’ll have a head start over the threat vessels.” “Understood,” Sandhurst said tersely, “Launch a full spread of photons, Master Chief. Mr. Lightner, get us the hell out of here while they’re still trying to figure out what just happened.” Pell looked up from her board, fixing Sandhurst with a cautiously worried expression. “What about the away team, Captain?” Sandhurst was unable to keep the glare forming on his features in check, causing Pell to blanch. “You better than anyone should know I don’t leave our people behind, Commander. For the moment, however, we don’t even know which of those four freighters they’re aboard.” He turned his face, now laden with resolve, towards the viewscreen as a flurry of photons arced towards the scattering enemy craft. “We will be back for them.” As Gibraltar fled deeper into the asteroid field, Sandhurst allowed himself a brief moment of muted satisfaction. Thanks to the successful deployment of the device, a weapon of his own design, their attackers would be unable to pursue the aid ships. Regardless of the fate that ultimately befell the Gibraltar, the convoy would be safe, and the relief supplies they carried would make it to the suffering Cardassians clinging to life amidst the rubble of their devastated colonies. ***** USS Bluefin En route to E’Mdifarr system, Warp 9.2 Alliance Occupied Cardassian Territory Akinola’s ready room door chimed, and he invited the visitor inside. Strauss entered, finding the captain reclining in his desk chair, arms crossed behind his head as the strains of classic Terran jazz played in the compartment. A half-finished wood carving of what appeared to be a starship sat atop the desk amidst a pile of wood shavings and a knife. “What do you have for me, XO?” “Pre-engagement diagnostics complete, sir. All weapons and defensive systems are functioning nominally, and I’ve got the crew running damage control drills.” “Very good, Commander.” Akinola sat forward slowly, a calm smile on his face. “ETA to the E’Mdifarr system?” “Seventeen minutes, sir.” Strauss observed her captain’s relaxed demeanor, envying the older man’s composure in the face of imminent combat. She’d seen more than her share of warfare, but still got keyed up every time before an engagement. “Anything noteworthy on sensors?” “We detected what appears to have been a sizeable ionic discharge somewhere within the system’s asteroid field and it’s been playing hell with our sensors, sir. We’ve been unable to identify any spacecraft within the system so far, and comms are still being jammed locally.” Akinola nodded fractionally. “Sounds like our comrades are giving the enemy a good fight.” Strauss looked skeptical. “You think Gibraltar’s still in one piece, Captain? From the brief distress call they got off before the jamming started, it sounded as if these pirates got the jump on them, not to mention outnumbering and outgunning them.” Akinola activated his desktop terminal, turning the screen for Strauss to see. A cross section of a Constitution-class starship was displayed, along with the lean face of a man who appeared to be in his mid-40’s, the ship’s captain presumably. “I’ve been reading up on the ship and its crew, and do you know what I’ve discovered?” “What’s that, sir?” “That despite the size, power, and age of their ship, they’re a wily bunch who’ve managed to turn the tables on stronger opponents more than once in the past.” Akinola gave Strauss an expectant look, “Remind you of anyone?” She smiled in response, “Now that you mention it, sir, it does.” Akinola switched off the terminal, rising from his chair. “I’m counting on them to stay in the fight until we get there, Commander. And then Bluefin and Gibraltar are going to make these sorry sons-of-bitches wish they’d selected a different life path.” Strauss nodded enthusiastically, “Aye, sir.” *****
Re: ST: Gibraltar - Backup - Part 2 A Maquis resurgence, huh? That'll put a crimp in the relief effort, especially flying around in 24th century Q-ships. Glad to see Lar'ragos is still able to give better than he gets, although he's gonna need some aspirin. Loved Capt. Sandhurst's pucker moment when he saw the asteroid on the viewscreen. "Big rock!" indeed! And nice work with Akinola and Strauss. You've got a good handle on them. Excellent segment! Keep it coming.
Re: ST: Gibraltar - Backup - Part 2 "Rock! Big Rock!" I love lines like that! They remind me of Jeff Goldblum! And the Maquis are back! [Homer Simpson]WOO-HOOO![/Homer Simpson] Excellent segment! :thumbsup:
Re: ST: Gibraltar - Backup - Part 2 "Rock! Big Rock!" The newest catchphrase Slam bang action, Sandhurst has been tinkering again, and the return of the Maquis--good stuff! And Bluefin racing to join the fun--those Maquis aren't going to know what's hit 'em. Very well done!
Re: ST: Gibraltar - Backup - Part 2 Exciting stuff. And I agree with everything that has been said. The quote rocks ... (pun intended) I'm surprised to see just how much kinship Akinola feels with Gibraltar, never having met the captain or ship. It's almost as if he's building up high expectations which might not even be met. I'm sure they will be but wouldn't it be funny if it turns out the two crews don't get along at all? Looking forward to more.
Re: ST: Gibraltar - Backup - Part 2 Good story so far, Gibraltar. Nice to see someone making good use of the Maquis, I haven't seen much of them in fanfic before. (Of course, that's probably more due to the era that I and many of my other writer friends write in.) Looking forward to more!
Re: ST: Gibraltar - Backup - Part 2 Thanks for all the support, folks! Your feedback makes the effort worthwhile. It’s not that Akinola feels a personal kinship to a captain he’s never met, so much as he experiences a professional bond with Sandhurst. Both men are assigned to older workhorse ships, the kind of duty that combines both drudgery with occasions of sheer pandemonium (as Sandhurst is currently experiencing). Bluefin and Gibraltar are of a kind, the types of vessels that do much of the mundane day-to-day work that enables the Federation to function. Ships and crews like these receive little in the way of the accolades awarded to larger, more prestigious ships. Ultimately, Akinola feels he’s coming to the rescue of another working captain, and his crew, who bear a striking resemblance to his own people. As for whether or not the two men will click on a personal level, of course, remains to be seen.
Re: ST: Gibraltar - Backup - Part 2 ^ Couldn't agree more with Gibraltar. The backgrounds of these two captains create a kinship that they may not feel with captains of the big, capital ships. Sandhurst was an engineer most of his career. Akinola was an enlisted man for many years, receiving a field promotion to lieutenant when he was a CPO. Of course, whether there is any personal friendship beyond that does remain to be seen. I'll leave that to Gibraltar to determine.
Re: ST: Gibraltar - Backup - Part 2 Very good stuff. I look forward to checking out the Bluefin stories. Your Gibraltar characters would seem to mesh well with them.
ST: Gibraltar - Backup - Part 3 PART 3 USS Gibraltar E’Mdifarr Asteroid Belt, E’Mdifarr system Sector 21508 Alliance Occupied Cardassian Territory Sandhurst strode through the narrow corridor under the flickering overhead lighting, resisting the urge with every step to open the nearest EPS access panel and assist in the ship’s repairs. His engineering teams could handle it, and he had other priorities to attend to. Stepping into Sickbay, Sandhurst was relieved to find only a few of his crew being attended to by the ship’s two Emergency Medical Holograms and Lt. Taiee’s efficient nursing staff. Quickly locating the person who’d prompted his visit to Sickbay, Sandhurst approached the examination table, currently occupied by Ensign Belinda Lascomb, the ship’s assistant chief engineer. The young woman’s legs were still clad in her radiation-hardened engineering jumpsuit, the upper half having been removed in order to treat her injuries. Looking to the medical hologram, the captain inquired briskly, “What’s her condition?” The EMH looked up from the panel where he was directing the ensign’s treatment. “Severe radiation poisoning, sir. She absorbed close to 500 REMS while in the nacelle housing, despite her protective garment.” “How soon can you have her back to duty?” The hologram favored Sandhurst with an expression of disbelief mixed with disdain, “You can’t be serious, sir? I’ve given her the maximum dosage of hyronalin that her body can handle. That, coupled with the deionization series I’m running on her will hopefully stave off any long-term damage. There’s no way she can return to duty in less than a week, and even then she’ll have to be careful not to expose herself to any further radiation, even at low levels, for several months.” Marshalling his patience, Sandhurst explained as calmly as possible, “Our ship is damaged and without warp capability. We can only hide out here for so long until our enemies find us. I need to get those nacelles polarized within the next few hours so that we can escape this system, and at present only two people aboard have the requisite skills to do that… Ensign Lascomb and myself.” The hologram met his gaze evenly, “Then I’d suggest finding a Rad-Haz suit in your size, Captain, because the ensign is out of commission.” The sudden pressure of Lascomb’s hand grasping his own startled Sandhurst, who glanced down to find the young woman retching into a pan held by a nurse who held Lascomb’s head gently as she evacuated her stomach. Taking a few deep, shuddering breaths, the ensign turned her head to look at Sandhurst. She opened her mouth to speak, her teeth tinged red from her bleeding gums, “I can… do it, Captain. Just… need a few… minutes to catch… my breath.” Her eyes were focused on him like lazers, her mind and spirit willing despite the radiation-induced weakness of her flesh. The last thing she wanted to do, Sandhurst realized, was let her captain and her crewmates down. He was momentarily overcome by a sense of self-loathing; that he had come here to force the junior officer back into the storm of hard radiation being given off by the depolarized warp coils. Sandhurst’s mind wandered back to his days at Command Officer Candidate’s training, where they’d drummed into the students that a CO must be willing to order others to their deaths for the good of the majority. ‘Easier said than done,’ he thought darkly. Taking Lascomb’s hand in his, Sandhurst forced on his best supportive smile, “That’s alright, Ensign. You’ve done your duty. Your efforts and those of your team have got us more than halfway there. Time for the old man to step up.” Nodding to the EMH, Sandhurst stepped away from the exam bed towards the exit, only to find Pell standing near the entrance, arms folded across her chest. He walked past her into the corridor, and Pell fell into step beside him. “The hell you are—“ she began. “It’s not up for discussion, Commander,” he replied brusquely, cutting her off. “Don’t think that because Ramirez isn’t here that I’m just going to sit by and let you do something foolish,” Pell pressed. “As acting XO, it’s my responsibility to make sure this crew has the best possible chance of surviving our current circumstances. Our best chance is with you in the captain’s chair, sir, not crawling around inside the nacelles.” The pair stepped into the turbolift, with Sandhurst ordering, “Main Engineering.” As the turbocar began its descent, Pell turned to him. “And outside the bounds of my official duty, Donald, from a purely selfish standpoint I don’t want you doing this.” The determination set in his features softened somewhat. “I know, Ojana. I’m sorry. This is something I have to do.” “No, this is something Lascomb has to do. It’s her job.” Sandhurst kept his gaze fixed deliberately at the lift car’s doors. “She’s barely a year out of the academy. I can’t ask her to sacrifice her life like this. Not for something that I walked into because I wasn’t being cautious enough.” Pell emitted an exasperated sigh, “It was an ambush! And don’t beat yourself up too badly, neither Ramirez nor your pet psychic saw it coming either.” He shot her a hard glare as the doors parted, “Pava’s saved my life, Ojana, you’d do well to remember that. And you said we needed lessons in diplomacy?” She followed him through Engineering to a bank of equipment lockers. As Sandhurst opened one and removed a radiation suit, he said coolly, “I’ll send updates as to my progress every five minutes. Your place is on the bridge, Commander.” Looking over to find her still standing there defiantly, he added, “That’s an order.” In full view of the engineering personnel and heedless of the consequences, Pell raised up on her tiptoes and kissed Sandhurst briefly on the cheek. “Aye, Captain. Try not to get yourself killed while you’re being heroic, sir.” ***** Tactical Outpost Theta Hakton VII Sector 21512, Former Demilitarized Zone Alliance Occupied Cardassian Territory “Laren, what the hell happened?” The former Starfleet captain’s voice was taut with barely contained anger that was not assuaged by his lightyears distance from the event. Ro Laren sighed, “I wish we knew for certain, Ben. Something’s gone wrong in the E’Mdifarr system; that much is obvious.” She felt a headache coming on, a bad one. Months of planning had gone into this operation, and it had unraveled in mere minutes. “Laramie’s group was staged and ready to deploy. They issued their distress call on schedule and succeeded in drawing in one of the Starfleet escorts. After taking out the escort, Laramie was supposed to signal that the Q-ships were ready, before leaving to rendezvous with your group and offload cargo from the relief convoy.” “Only he never signaled,” Benjamin Maxwell concluded. “Correct. That’s why I aborted the mission. There was no sense in your group jumping the convoy and assuming all that risk of dueling with the other three escort ships if we were going to have to abandon the cargo.” She could see Maxwell nodding slightly as he absorbed the facts, “You did the right thing, Laren. I just hate to see all our work evaporate like that.” “I’m right there with you, Ben.” “Remind me again why the hell we let Laramie join our cell?” Her smile was tinged with irony, “Because his family owns the shipyard that produced the Q-ships and they’ve held Maquis sympathies from the beginning.” Maxwell rolled his eyes, “That’s right, now I remember.” His mood turning more somber, he appeared thoughtful, “What do you propose we do now?” “Cut our losses, unfortunately.” Ro shook her head, “Those ships represent a huge investment on our part, both in men and materiel. But as much as I’d dearly love to send a ship or two to find out what’s gone wrong, if Laramie and his people have been captured, they know enough to threaten our entire operation. We’ll have to evacuate all our currently established bases, at least all the ones Laramie knows about.” “As much as I hate to admit it, that’s undoubtedly the safest course of action.” The ex-captain’s features darkened, “I’m sure as hell not going back to prison over this.” Frowning, Ro observed, “We’ve both done time in the Starfleet Stockade, Ben. Don’t flatter yourself. That place is a damned country club compared to Lazon II. After you’ve experienced Cardassian and Dominion hospitality, even Rura Penthe would seem luxurious.” Maxwell winced at his own gaffe, “I’ll have to take your word for that, Laren. I’m sorry if it seemed like I was invalidating your experiences there. I know those wounds are still fresh.” He signaled to someone off screen, “Anyway, looks like it’s time to start packing. I’ll meet you at our auxiliary rally point in say… two weeks?” “Two weeks it is. I’ll see you then, Capt—“ she caught herself, “Mr. Maxwell.” ***** USS Bluefin E’Mdifarr system Sector 21508 Alliance Occupied Cardassian Territory Akinola waited patiently in the command chair for updates from his senior staff. He had learned long ago that constant prompting from an anxious captain did not speed matters up so much as cause sufficient angst among the bridge officers to encourage hasty assessments that invariably endangered the mission. “Still experiencing significant communications jamming, sir,” reported T’Ser from Operations. “It’s strongest in the vicinity of the system’s asteroid field, bearing 116-mark-025. If we close any further, we’ll be out of comms range with Starfleet.” Strauss looked up from the Tactical station, “We could drop a series of communications buoys behind us as we approached, sir.” Akinola smiled, “A variant on the old bread-crumb trail, XO?” “Something like that, Captain,” Strauss confirmed. “The buoys will be vulnerable to attack, of course, but if the people that ambushed Gibraltar see them, it might just be enough to draw them out to try and disable our comms relay.” “A solid plan,” Akinola assessed. “Implement it immediately, Commander.” Turning back to look at Lieutenant Bane at the sensor station, Akinola gave the man a questioning expression. “Nothing yet, Cap’n,” Bane announced in his Australian-accented Standard. “If someone’s out there in the asteroids, they’re keeping their heads down. No worries, though, I can detect a Cardassian vole fart at a lightyear plus, Captain.” Mock wincing, Akinola observed, “Thank you for that unnecessarily graphic descriptive, Nigel.” Calling back over his shoulder, the captain asked, “Chief Brin, what other assets do we have inbound to assist?” “At last report, sir, the starship Trafalgar and the cutter Onodaga are en route at maximum warp. However, Trafalgar isn’t due to arrive for another nine hours.” Akinola mused, “Hmm, Captain Littlefoot is going to miss out on all the fun. Pity, Marcus always did like a good scrap.” To the bridge crew in general he announced, “Alright, people, let’s step up our readiness.” “Red alert,” ordered Strauss, initiated the crimson strobes and muted klaxon that elevated their status from yellow alert and set the crew to general quarters. “This is not a drill, all hands to battle stations!” ***** Kriosian-flagged freighter SS Draskaar E’Mdifarr Asteroid Belt, E’Mdifarr system Sector 21508 Alliance Occupied Cardassian Territory The turbolift doors to the freighter’s bridge opened to a dazzling burst of weapons fire that scored and blacked the interior of the lift car for lack of another target. Karl Lightner lowered his disruptor pistol, frowning at the empty chamber. “Dolka, where the hell are they? You said the lift car didn’t make any stops between the cargo level and here.” “It didn’t,” came the Tellarite’s gruff reply. “Sensors confirmed there were three lifeforms in the car.” Lightner shook his head in disgust, stepping forward to examine the battered interior of the lift. “This is ridiculous. First the Starfleeters manage to overpower our people in the cargo bay, and now they’re playing mind games with us. We’ve got to reassert control of this situation now. This is our damn ship!” The ceiling panel on the lift car banged downward, opening unexpectedly, causing Karl to jump back and begin raising his weapon. A hand reached down from somewhere atop the lift car and tossed a cylindrical device onto the bridge. Lightner had just enough time to yell, “Grenade!” as he dove for the dubious cover of a cargo status console on the upper deck of the rectangular bridge. The photon grenade, primed for stun, bounced off the top of the control station and clattered under a work station at the back of the bridge. The force of its detonation was partially blocked by the interceding consoles that shielded most of the Maquis from more than a brief dose of the weapon’s discharge. Ramirez dropped down into the lift car from the ceiling hatch, followed closely by Dunleavy, both women armed with hand phasers. As the two pivoted smartly around either side of the lift, they were disappointed to see most of the armed bridge crew clambering to their feet, weapons in hand. The women opened fire nearly simultaneously. Ramirez scored two hits, sending her targets reeling and crashing to the deck. Then, someone off to the side of the lift grabbed a hold of her extended arm and pulled, throwing her off balance and sending her stumbling onto the bridge. She found herself face to face with a Human male who looked suspiciously familiar, though in the heat of the moment she couldn’t quite discern why. Wrenching her arm, the man forced her to drop her phaser, and Ramirez replied by driving her knee up and into the man’s thigh. Dunleavy, meanwhile, dropped another two of the freighter crew with well placed stun shots, only to be knocked backwards herself by a disruptor bolt that slammed into the side of the lift door near her head, showering her with molten metal shrapnel. The Maquis danced backwards, favoring his other leg as he tried to throw the smaller Ramirez off balance. Bringing her head forward and then up sharply, Ramirez drove the back of her skull up into the man’s chin, sending him stumbling backwards. She followed this with another knee strike to his groin and a palm-heel blow that rocked his head back yet again, this time sending him tottering and causing him to fall backwards down the short staircase into the bridge well. Turning to retrieve her phaser, Ramirez found a Maquis pointing a late 23rd century Starfleet pistol phaser directly at her, his finger depressing the trigger. She braced herself for the killing shot, only to blink in confusion as something whistled past her head and buried itself in the man’s chest. As the stricken Maquis sank to his knees and his phaser clattered to the deck, she realized the implement used to bring him down was a rectangular panel cover from inside the lift car. Ramirez spun around just in time to see Ashok, who’d finally managed to wriggle down through the small ceiling hatch, disarm yet another of the Maquis by grabbing the man’s forearm and wrenching it to the tune of cracking bone. Then, the enormous Bolian picked the man up and threw him bodily across the bridge to collide with the last of the bridge crew, who was bringing his Ferengi phaser to bear. The two men collapsed in a tangle of limbs and unconscious flesh. Dumbfounded, Ramirez looked back at the Maquis with the panel cover protruding from his chest. “Lieutenant… how… I mean, holy shit!” Picking an unconscious crew member up in each hand and dragging them towards the back of the bridge, the taciturn Bolian said simply, “Starfleet Academy, track and field, discus champion three years running.” Ramirez moved to assist Dunleavy, who was huddled in the corner of the lift, clutching at her burned face with both hands. “And I thought Pava was the dangerous one…” the exec murmured. *****
Re: ST: Gibraltar - Backup - Part 3 Wow! A tough decision for Sandhurst. His training says delegate, his heart says do it yourself. Hope he doesn't get radiation poisoning like his young engineer! Interesting to see Ro Laren again and I like how you've put Maxwell in with the Maquis. That makes since considering his history with the Cardassians and how his career must have ended. Oh, and a great fight scene on the bridge of the Q-ship. I could hear the whistling of wind as that piece of metal whipped through the air before taking out the bad guy. You also continue to do a great job portraying the crew of the Bluefin. The banter on the bridge seemed just right. So, what's next?
Re: ST: Gibraltar - Backup - Part 3 Having problems posting here, so let's try this again. I'd have to agree with Sandhurst's decision here--Lascomb couldn't have gone back out even if she had wanted to--and I have a feeling she most definitely wanted to. The Old Man's the only other one who could do the job, so he's elected. And Ashok has joined the Pava Lar'ragos badass club with that discus throw. And Ro Laren and Ben Maxwell leading the Maquis--things are about to get even wilder on the Cardassian frontier!
Re: ST: Gibraltar - Backup - Part 3 Very cool action sequence and I like the Maquis angle here. I hope you will have enough space in this story to further explore this new-Maquis. If not I hope you will expand on it in other works. Sweet stuff.