CHAPTER 3
Supplemental
USS Independence, Deck 4
In Route of Cestus III
It was 02:15, Zulu time. The corridors of the Independence were dimmed. Karim stepped out of his quarters, a duffle bag over his shoulder. He wore a light-tan, Mandarin shirt; loose fitting brown pants; and an Asian-style, denim jacket. His stride was swift.
*****
The entrance of the shuttle bay opened. The heavy doors slid with what seemed like an inordinate amount of noise. The two-story hangar was mostly dark.
The Indy housed six support vessels, minus a few worker bees. Like the ship itself, they were designed for the war.
The four Valkyrie-class were small, two-person fighters. They were equipped with two micro-pulse phasers, which had one-third the power of their full size counterparts. Six standard photons rounded out its arsenal. The major downside of the Valkyrie was its lack of a warp drive.
The remaining two craft were Icarus-class runabouts. The Icarus is to the Danube what the Soveriegn is to the Galaxy. It boasted stronger shields, 360 x 360-degree phaser coverage, 12 photons, with two forward tubes. The vessels could sustain warp 5.5. The Delos was an Icarus-class.
The security officer looked up and to the left. The control bay was lit and manned. Karim reached into the bag, retrieving a small cylinder. He placed it in his pocket and set down the duffle. Then, he headed for the stairs leading to the control station.
It was regrettable he had to take these steps. The man he was about to subdue was Crewman Hess. Bin Nadal had only talked to him a few times. Hess seemed like a nice guy. The crewman was probably recording letters for home or playing some sort of computer game. There was little else to do during the graveyard shift.
Karim entered the small room. A large window reflected his image.
Hess was watching a newscast on a padd. He spun around to the door as the commander walked in. The crewman seemed glad to have a visitor, “What are you doing up at this time of night, sir?”
Bin Nadal flatly stated, “I’m going to steal a shuttle.”
After a guffaw, Hess came back with, “That’s a good one, sir. But how do you intend to get past me?”
Reaching in to his pocket, Karim answered, “With this hypo-spray.”
The grin of the crewman’s face barely had a chance to fade before the tactical officer closed the gap and injected him with axonol.
Karim gently rested the man on some non-essential controls. Then, he quickly input a series of commands. The shuttle bay lights come on and the exterior door began sliding up. Bin Nadal muted the warning klaxons. He moved back down to the main level. As his feet left the stairway, he heard the interior hatch open. There was no time to react. Whoever it was would have to be neutralized as well. He moved to the ajar entrance, hypo still in hand.
The person stepped in. Bin Nadal stopped in his tracks when he realized it was Nicole.
Lieutenant Chase seemed just as surprised as her lover. She jumped back and gave a yelp. Nicole was wearing only silk pajamas. She observed Karim, just a meter away from her. Both of his hands were up; silently urging her to calm down. A hypo-spray was in one of them. “What are you doing?” she demanded.
The security chief lowered his hands, “Go back to bed, Nicole.”
His lover was persistent, “Not until you answer my question.” She placed her hands on her hips. Her surprise turned to annoyance, “I wake up and you’re not there. The computer told me you were here.”
He didn’t have time to for this. He moved to pick up his bag, “I’ve been ordered on a covert mission. That’s all I can say.”
Nicole nodded until something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She seemed oddly undisturbed by the discovery. “I’d believe that if Crewman Hess wasn’t unconscious up there.”
Karim breathed deeply as he opened the hatch on the Delos. “I don’t want you involved.”
The woman huffed, “Well, it’s a bit too late for that. I already am, or haven’t you noticed?” She walked closer, “What’s this really about?”
“I already told you.”
“A covert mission that requires you to commandeer a shuttle?” doubted Nicole.
A thought entered Karim’s mind. He still had the hypo in his hand. She was in reach. He glanced at it for just a moment, but it was enough for Chase to read his thoughts.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a decent relationship. I’m not willing to let you go to do whatever you’re going to do alone. I love you, Karim.”
Her revelation was comforting to Karim, but he still debated.
She got even closer, “Let me put it another way, unless you use that hypo on me, I’m coming with you.” She paused for just a moment.
Karim didn’t move to tranquilize her.
Nicole decided not to linger too long. She brushed past him and assumed the co-pilot’s seat. “I’ll have to replicate some clothes along the way.” She tapped on the console and looked at her lover, still at the threshold. “I need someone to set the course. I don’t know where we’re going.”
The security officer looked down at the hypo, then the deck. He whispered to himself, “goddamnit.”
He boarded the runabout, with a sigh, and sealed the hatch.
*****
The reptilian doctor, Zo’Kama Do’matar, commanded the ship. Initially, she had no desire to take the Bridge Officer’s Test. The issue was recently forced upon her. During, the now Lieutenant Commander, Windslow’s absence, there were only two officers on the ship with the qualifications to take command; Aurelia and Bin Nadal. Starfleet regulations required three. So the doctor, being a full commander, was drafted. Once she got a taste, however, she found she liked it. Bin Nadal and she had been rotating the graveyard shift.
Zo’Kama reached for her Ta’rat’ush, a thick brown liquid, that her Arkonian physiology required. The drink was lukewarm. It seemed hotter going down from last she drank, which meant she was cooling. It was normal for this time of night. She would have to go to the lavatory for a few minutes and raise the temperature in the room, if she expected to stay active for the rest of the night.
An alarm sounded from the ops station. Petty Officer Dorian reported, “Sir, I’m reading a launch sequence.”
“What?” said the Arkonian, as she rose, “Stop it. Secure the bay doors.”
Dorian attempted to do so, but, “I can’t, it someone has blocked remote operation.”
The doctor wasn’t a warp field expert, but she knew enough. A shuttle could launch while its mother vessel was in subspace, but it was a risky maneuver. Transversing the warp-field was tricky. “Well, slow to impulse so they don’t kill themselves.” She added, as if it were an afterthought, “Captain to the bridge.”
The African-European man added, “It’s the Delos. It’s exiting the launch bay.”
“Tractor beam,” ordered Zo’Kama.
Dorian responded quickly, “Aye.”
The com switched on. “What is it, doctor?” asked an obviously groggy Aurelia.
“We’ve had an unauthorized shuttle launch,” rejoined the Arkonian.
The captain said to herself, “Karim,” but it was loud enough to be heard over the speaker. She informed the doctor, “I’ll be right there.”
The petty officer reported with a proud smile, “Sir, we have them.”
*****
A blue light emanated from port of the shuttle.
“Damn, they’ve locked on,” complained Nicole.
Karim remained calm, “I know how to disrupt their beam.”
“Can’t you just use your security codes to disable it…and their weapons, for that matter?” offered Chase.
Bin Nadal shook his head without looking over, “I could, but I won’t.”
*****
Dorian’s display indicated a fluctuation in the tractor emitter; then, a total collapse. In his inexperience, he thought a tractor beam couldn’t be nullified so easily. He spun on his stool, “Sir, they’ve used an inverse graviton pulse to disrupt our emitter.”
Just then, the turbolift doors parted. Captain Aurelia strode in. Her uniform jacket was no where in sight. Her red undershirt’s sleeves were pushed up. “Report.”
“He broke our tractor lock,” said Zo’Kama as she stepped to the side. “He’s about to go to warp. Should we pursue?”
Aurelia considered the question. Her gut reaction was to go after him, disable his shuttle, and flog him. Yet again, someone had undermined her authority…and her judgment. She never thought Karim, a comrade in arms and trusted friend, would join the likes of Ro, Windslow, Picard, and basically every admiral she had crossed paths with. Her fists clinched.
A new train of thought began in her mind. The last months had forced her to realize she had a bigger responsibility as captain. She couldn’t rush head long and do whatever she wanted. It was a lesson she was slow to learn, but beginning to accept.
The captain watched as the Delos flashed into subspace on the main viewer.
A possibility entered Aurelia’s consciences, what if he was right?
Amazingly, her logic overrode her emotions. She said, to no one in particular, “I didn’t divert for him before. Why should I divert for him now?” She regarded the Arkonian, “Continue on to the Cestus system, but increase to warp 9. I want to get that job over as soon as possible.”
Zo’Kama was a little taken back by Aurelia’s response, but had no desire to question it. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good luck, Karim,” said Sintina, just above a whisper. “I hope you find whoever you’re looking for…before I find you.”
END OF CHAPTER 3
Supplemental
USS Independence, Deck 4
In Route of Cestus III
It was 02:15, Zulu time. The corridors of the Independence were dimmed. Karim stepped out of his quarters, a duffle bag over his shoulder. He wore a light-tan, Mandarin shirt; loose fitting brown pants; and an Asian-style, denim jacket. His stride was swift.
*****
The entrance of the shuttle bay opened. The heavy doors slid with what seemed like an inordinate amount of noise. The two-story hangar was mostly dark.
The Indy housed six support vessels, minus a few worker bees. Like the ship itself, they were designed for the war.
The four Valkyrie-class were small, two-person fighters. They were equipped with two micro-pulse phasers, which had one-third the power of their full size counterparts. Six standard photons rounded out its arsenal. The major downside of the Valkyrie was its lack of a warp drive.
The remaining two craft were Icarus-class runabouts. The Icarus is to the Danube what the Soveriegn is to the Galaxy. It boasted stronger shields, 360 x 360-degree phaser coverage, 12 photons, with two forward tubes. The vessels could sustain warp 5.5. The Delos was an Icarus-class.
The security officer looked up and to the left. The control bay was lit and manned. Karim reached into the bag, retrieving a small cylinder. He placed it in his pocket and set down the duffle. Then, he headed for the stairs leading to the control station.
It was regrettable he had to take these steps. The man he was about to subdue was Crewman Hess. Bin Nadal had only talked to him a few times. Hess seemed like a nice guy. The crewman was probably recording letters for home or playing some sort of computer game. There was little else to do during the graveyard shift.
Karim entered the small room. A large window reflected his image.
Hess was watching a newscast on a padd. He spun around to the door as the commander walked in. The crewman seemed glad to have a visitor, “What are you doing up at this time of night, sir?”
Bin Nadal flatly stated, “I’m going to steal a shuttle.”
After a guffaw, Hess came back with, “That’s a good one, sir. But how do you intend to get past me?”
Reaching in to his pocket, Karim answered, “With this hypo-spray.”
The grin of the crewman’s face barely had a chance to fade before the tactical officer closed the gap and injected him with axonol.
Karim gently rested the man on some non-essential controls. Then, he quickly input a series of commands. The shuttle bay lights come on and the exterior door began sliding up. Bin Nadal muted the warning klaxons. He moved back down to the main level. As his feet left the stairway, he heard the interior hatch open. There was no time to react. Whoever it was would have to be neutralized as well. He moved to the ajar entrance, hypo still in hand.
The person stepped in. Bin Nadal stopped in his tracks when he realized it was Nicole.
Lieutenant Chase seemed just as surprised as her lover. She jumped back and gave a yelp. Nicole was wearing only silk pajamas. She observed Karim, just a meter away from her. Both of his hands were up; silently urging her to calm down. A hypo-spray was in one of them. “What are you doing?” she demanded.
The security chief lowered his hands, “Go back to bed, Nicole.”
His lover was persistent, “Not until you answer my question.” She placed her hands on her hips. Her surprise turned to annoyance, “I wake up and you’re not there. The computer told me you were here.”
He didn’t have time to for this. He moved to pick up his bag, “I’ve been ordered on a covert mission. That’s all I can say.”
Nicole nodded until something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She seemed oddly undisturbed by the discovery. “I’d believe that if Crewman Hess wasn’t unconscious up there.”
Karim breathed deeply as he opened the hatch on the Delos. “I don’t want you involved.”
The woman huffed, “Well, it’s a bit too late for that. I already am, or haven’t you noticed?” She walked closer, “What’s this really about?”
“I already told you.”
“A covert mission that requires you to commandeer a shuttle?” doubted Nicole.
A thought entered Karim’s mind. He still had the hypo in his hand. She was in reach. He glanced at it for just a moment, but it was enough for Chase to read his thoughts.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a decent relationship. I’m not willing to let you go to do whatever you’re going to do alone. I love you, Karim.”
Her revelation was comforting to Karim, but he still debated.
She got even closer, “Let me put it another way, unless you use that hypo on me, I’m coming with you.” She paused for just a moment.
Karim didn’t move to tranquilize her.
Nicole decided not to linger too long. She brushed past him and assumed the co-pilot’s seat. “I’ll have to replicate some clothes along the way.” She tapped on the console and looked at her lover, still at the threshold. “I need someone to set the course. I don’t know where we’re going.”
The security officer looked down at the hypo, then the deck. He whispered to himself, “goddamnit.”
He boarded the runabout, with a sigh, and sealed the hatch.
*****
The reptilian doctor, Zo’Kama Do’matar, commanded the ship. Initially, she had no desire to take the Bridge Officer’s Test. The issue was recently forced upon her. During, the now Lieutenant Commander, Windslow’s absence, there were only two officers on the ship with the qualifications to take command; Aurelia and Bin Nadal. Starfleet regulations required three. So the doctor, being a full commander, was drafted. Once she got a taste, however, she found she liked it. Bin Nadal and she had been rotating the graveyard shift.
Zo’Kama reached for her Ta’rat’ush, a thick brown liquid, that her Arkonian physiology required. The drink was lukewarm. It seemed hotter going down from last she drank, which meant she was cooling. It was normal for this time of night. She would have to go to the lavatory for a few minutes and raise the temperature in the room, if she expected to stay active for the rest of the night.
An alarm sounded from the ops station. Petty Officer Dorian reported, “Sir, I’m reading a launch sequence.”
“What?” said the Arkonian, as she rose, “Stop it. Secure the bay doors.”
Dorian attempted to do so, but, “I can’t, it someone has blocked remote operation.”
The doctor wasn’t a warp field expert, but she knew enough. A shuttle could launch while its mother vessel was in subspace, but it was a risky maneuver. Transversing the warp-field was tricky. “Well, slow to impulse so they don’t kill themselves.” She added, as if it were an afterthought, “Captain to the bridge.”
The African-European man added, “It’s the Delos. It’s exiting the launch bay.”
“Tractor beam,” ordered Zo’Kama.
Dorian responded quickly, “Aye.”
The com switched on. “What is it, doctor?” asked an obviously groggy Aurelia.
“We’ve had an unauthorized shuttle launch,” rejoined the Arkonian.
The captain said to herself, “Karim,” but it was loud enough to be heard over the speaker. She informed the doctor, “I’ll be right there.”
The petty officer reported with a proud smile, “Sir, we have them.”
*****
A blue light emanated from port of the shuttle.
“Damn, they’ve locked on,” complained Nicole.
Karim remained calm, “I know how to disrupt their beam.”
“Can’t you just use your security codes to disable it…and their weapons, for that matter?” offered Chase.
Bin Nadal shook his head without looking over, “I could, but I won’t.”
*****
Dorian’s display indicated a fluctuation in the tractor emitter; then, a total collapse. In his inexperience, he thought a tractor beam couldn’t be nullified so easily. He spun on his stool, “Sir, they’ve used an inverse graviton pulse to disrupt our emitter.”
Just then, the turbolift doors parted. Captain Aurelia strode in. Her uniform jacket was no where in sight. Her red undershirt’s sleeves were pushed up. “Report.”
“He broke our tractor lock,” said Zo’Kama as she stepped to the side. “He’s about to go to warp. Should we pursue?”
Aurelia considered the question. Her gut reaction was to go after him, disable his shuttle, and flog him. Yet again, someone had undermined her authority…and her judgment. She never thought Karim, a comrade in arms and trusted friend, would join the likes of Ro, Windslow, Picard, and basically every admiral she had crossed paths with. Her fists clinched.
A new train of thought began in her mind. The last months had forced her to realize she had a bigger responsibility as captain. She couldn’t rush head long and do whatever she wanted. It was a lesson she was slow to learn, but beginning to accept.
The captain watched as the Delos flashed into subspace on the main viewer.
A possibility entered Aurelia’s consciences, what if he was right?
Amazingly, her logic overrode her emotions. She said, to no one in particular, “I didn’t divert for him before. Why should I divert for him now?” She regarded the Arkonian, “Continue on to the Cestus system, but increase to warp 9. I want to get that job over as soon as possible.”
Zo’Kama was a little taken back by Aurelia’s response, but had no desire to question it. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good luck, Karim,” said Sintina, just above a whisper. “I hope you find whoever you’re looking for…before I find you.”
END OF CHAPTER 3
Pava has morals? When the hell did this happen? 
