CHAPTER 7
Supplemental (USS Independence)
Aurelia reminded the crew, “Command’s orders are to force that ship to surrender and return it to Cardassia Prime. We don’t know why this ship hasn’t complied. It’s possible it didn’t get the surrender command. We’ll fire on it as a last resort, understood?” Even as the words flowed from her mouth she anticipated conflict.
Several nods and acknowledgments came from the bridge officers.
Windslow inquired, “They can detect us by now, what are they doing?”
The rejoinder came from tactical, “Shields and weapons are active; hostile is not targeting us, yet. They’re holding position.”
Kimula advised, “We’re in communications range.”
The captain stood, crossing her arms, “Alright. Let’s hope they are in the mood to talk. Open hailing frequencies.”
“Open.”
“This is Captain Sintina Aurelia of the Federation Starship Independence, we demand that you stay at your current position and stand down. Your government has surrendered and you are required to return to Cardassian space with us. We’re sending you the official command now. Please respond.”
A tense moment followed on the bridge. Bin Nadal had his finger hovering over the activator of the pulse phasers. Kimula listened to the background static of her earpiece. Windslow sat on the edge of his seat, elbows resting on his knees with his fingers intertwined. D’nas ran through in his head possible evasive maneuvers he could enter. Tang’s immediate use had come to an end, which only added to his anxiety. Aurelia held vigil at the center of the room.
After what seemed like too long a time, Kimula offered, “They did get the message, ma’am.”
Then Bin Nadal added, “They still haven’t locked weap… Now they have! And firing!”
“D’nas, evasive!”
*****
The focused energy beam failed to hit its target by only meters due to the seemingly erratic shift in position of the Independence.
*****
Now standing, Windslow quipped, “So much for talking.”
“That’s a decision they’ll regret,” boasted Aurelia. “Fire pulse phasers, target their shields!”
With practiced efficiency, Bin Nadal executed the order, as he confirmed, “Aye, firing.”
*****
The thrusters on the dagger-shaped Independence fired, pointing its devastating arsenal toward the much weaker, decade old target. In a flurry of energy, blinding blasts erupted from two twin cannons on either side of the ship.
The salvo hit hard against the protective shell around the Galor. Its shields fluctuated from the onslaught. Finally, they could no longer hold back the deluge. The last of the bursts of phaser energy impacted on the hull; leaving a blackened char in their wake.
*****
Bin Nadal turned in his chair, probably more than he should have under the circumstances, but his astonishment couldn’t be contained. “Their ventral shields are down.”
Aurelia felt a swelling of pride, “That should show them they’re no going to win.”
Bin Nadal turned again to his task at hand, “They’re returning fire.” A mild earthquake swept through the ship. “Forward shields down to 89%.”
Aurelia straddled the patrician between the helm and tactical stations, “D’nas, try to keep us on their ventral side. Karim, silence those disruptors.”
From behind her, Windslow observed, “Captain, they’re running. They’re only 40,000 kilometers from the edge of the Badlands.”
Aurelia looked over her shoulder, “And?”
The first officer’s response was cut short with a shout from the tactical station, “Incoming torpedoes!” Instinctively, the bridge crew grabbed whatever happened to be around them to brace for the collision they knew was coming.
Two intense jolts rocked the ship. One coming even before the other was done.
Bin Nadal reported, “Forward shields down to 52%.”
“Keep working on those weapons, Karim.”
“Aye.”
Windslow plopped in his chair quickly analyzing the console next to it. “They’re getting close to the edge.” Aurelia only turned her head enough to dismiss him. He took a more ominous tone, “Captain, if they go to warp…”
Aurelia waved her hand, “Fine!” She returned her attention to D’nas, “Pursuit course, get us close enough to tractor them, and get us back on their ventral side!”
“Aye,” replied the helmsman as he instructed the Independence to move at full impulse.
Windslow stood with horror, “No, back us off!”
Not knowing what to do in such a situation, the Tamarian officer looked for guidance in his captain’s face.
Coldly and calmly, much to her surprise, Aurelia stated, “Ensign, you will follow my orders. Catch up to them.”
“Belay that! Captain, you’re putting the ship in unnecessary risk!”
Aurelia again looked at D’nas, “Do it.”
Tang agreed with Windslow. He had seen tricks like this before. He could only offer, “The Galor has exited the plasma storms. It’s going to warp.”
Aurelia argued, “So will we once we…”
The view screen suddenly caught her attention. A tsunami of plasma barreled toward them.
Only Tang and Windslow truly knew the implications of what the others gawked at. As the first officer hurried to his seat, he raised his voice, “All hands brace for imp...”
Aurelia’s vision involuntarily moved from the view screen to the ceiling. She became vaguely aware that her body was not in contact with anything. It then occurred to her, it soon would be. She couldn’t decide which to be more concerned about: the physical pain of the impact or the fact she couldn’t breath. She saw D’nas and Bin Nadal. They seemed to have weathered the impact better than she. D’nas laid on the two stairs going down the ‘pit’, but he raised himself to his elbows. Bin Nadal had some how, or perhaps by chance, stayed in his seat. The air flooded back into her lungs as he attempted to shake off what was no doubt a mild concussion.
The captain rose to her feet, but only with the assistance of her chair, “Report.” Before the word had left her mouth she saw at least some of the damage. Kimula lay unconscious behind the XO’s chair. It was probably fortunate considering what appeared to be the Andorian equivalent of her fibula projecting from her leg. Before anyone could respond to her previous question, she added, “Medical teams to the bridge.”
Aurelia realized the shaking on the bridge hadn’t quite subsided, she assumed it was her legs.
Bin Nadal began, “Shields holding at 12%.”
Windslow continued, “Injury reports from all decks; no fatalities, yet.”
Tang was next, “I’m detecting at least seven micro-fractures in the hull; several EPS overloads; anti-matter containment in pod 3 failing.”
Aurelia hit her compin harder than she had intended, “Jinal.”
“Here, captain.”
“You see that containment pod?”
“Aye, I’m already on it.”
“Good,” Aurelia turned to Tang as she noticed Dr. Zo’Kama entering the bridge to tend to Kimula. “What about the Galor, can you track them?”
The lieutenant shook his head, “Not with all this plasma activity.”
Aurelia still felt as if she were on a merry-go-round. She wanted answers, but didn’t want to admit her ignorance on the bridge. “Stand down from red alert.” Her eyes meant her first officers, “Commander, follow me.” The two entered the ready room aft of the bridge.
*****
Sintina was happy to sit in her chair. She clutched her head in an attempt to stop it from spinning. “What the hell just happened, Windslow?”
Windslow took a seat, “It’s a Maquis trick. Apparently, the Cardassians picked up on it.”
Aurelia had her hands move her head up, annoyance and embarrassment in her face.
Ethan elaborated, “The Gul on that ship knew enough that if he initiated warp that close to the storms, the warp field and subspace stresses would have a wake effect on the plasma and they would destroy us for him. I assumed you knew about it.” He then leaned closer, intent in his eyes, “As captain, you should have educated yourself about such tactics.”
Sintina rose at the provocation, “Don’t you presume to tell me what Captains should and shouldn’t do, Commander!” Windslow backed off. Aurelia unnecessarily continued the attack, “The sooner Starfleet finishes that investigation, the sooner you won’t be my problem anymore.”
Ethan leaned back, “You know about that?” a statement more a question in his tone.
His only rejoinder was a cold stare.
He looked down, “Please don’t tell my family. They don’t need to know about that.”
Sintina wanted to feel guilty about pulling such a punch, but didn’t, “They’ll find out eventually, but you should be the one to tell them.” The captain concluded with a bit more sympathy in her voice, “Get out.”
*****
With a sigh, Bajoran medic Girani entered her darkened quarters after a long day of work. She sat at her desk; with one more duty to attend to. She removed a small oval device from a drawer and placed it on the monitor in front of her. A moment later, the screen came to life, her purple and brown uniform reflecting the light; a middle-aged human male of African decent wearing a black tunic filled the display. “Report,” he ordered.
“The Doctor found a new friend. A security officer named Bin Nadal.”
“That is the second time in just over a week I’ve heard that name in a report. We’ll have to keep an eye on him just to make sure he doesn’t put 2 and 2 together.”
“What about the Doctor?”
He shook his head, “It’s too soon to act. The Old Woman has Listeners everywhere. She’s gotten too close lately and she’s been more aggressive about finding sympathetic officers. We have to let things cool down for a while.”
“And the engineer who helped him?”
The older man took on the sound of a father, “Don’t worry so much. No one kills one of our own without a penance being exacted.” He leaned forward, “In our line of work, patience is a virtue.”
END OF CHAPTER 7
END OF “DARK HORSES”
