Chapter 23
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: Star Trek is trademarked and copyrighted by CBS Studios.
NO infringement is intended. All other material is copyright to Unusualsuspex 2010.
Chapter 23
USS ANGEL
EN-ROUTE TO ARGOLIS SECTOR
UFP SPACE
September 17th 2371 – 0711 FST
Muresh had barely turned away from the monitors when she heard Kellman’s shout.
“Muresh, this is Kellman on the medical deck. We have a situation.”
She stopped mid-stride, her eyes screwing shut and an Orion curse resting on her lips.
“Deal with it Kellman!”
“Er…Muresh?”
She span about to unleash a torrent of abuse at the total inability of her crew to accomplish the simplest of tasks when she saw Conran pointing at the screen. Blaster bolts were criss-crossing the monitor screen apparently at random in the darkened confines of the medical deck. This time she spat the curse out and Conran blanched.
“Kellman report!” There was no reply and similarly with her call to Tazat. About to order a party of the bridge boarders to attend the scene, she heard the sputter of a force field activating behind her and turned to find that the bridge had been neatly bisected. On one side of the screen were the Orion party, on the other the Angel’s bridge officers.
For a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity, all was silence and stillness on the bridge. Breaking the spell, Muresh strode to within a hair’s breadth of the force field, the static making her short red hair wave as if in a breeze.
“I don’t know how you did this Gray but it was a mistake!” Muresh’s teeth were bared in a feral grimace of anger, but Kat didn’t flinch. Instead she too approached the fizzling force field and stared directly into the Orion’s angry eyes.
“The only mistake is yours Muresh. I didn’t do this; one of my crew did and believe me when I find out who it was they’ll be recommended for a citataion.”
Muresh drew back a fist before realising the folly of such an action and instead turned to the remaining members of her crew.
“Get down to the medical deck and finish this!”
Preferring the risk of phaser fire to that of facing his angered leader, the senior crew member sprinted towards the bridge’s rear exit only to rebound off the door which solidly refused to open. By the time he’d regained his feet, a second crew member had anticipated the order to use the Jefferies tubes to descend.
When she too was thrown across the deck by a strong electrical charge, Muresh seemed to sag. When she finally returned her gaze to Kat, the fight seemed to have leeched from her eyes, yet the defiance in her stance was apparent.
“So Captain Gray, what now?”
Kat smiled smugly and shook her head. “I have no idea but I suspect we’ll know soon enough.”
On the medical deck, Kellman had found herself crouched in a corner as phantom shadows flitted across her peripheral vision seeming to appear and disappear at random. She had attempted shots at these spectres, but only succeeded in stunning one of her own team and so had pulled back into the shadows to wait.
Soon enough a temporary silence engulfed her section and she quietly stepped forward towards the door, blaster raised and senses screaming that somebody was waiting for her. When she quickly risked a glance into the broad central corridor, she saw nobody. No bodies, no sign of her team.
“Tazat, this is Kellman, respond.” Only silence greeted her calls and eventually, she silently slipped out to head for the room Tazat had first entered.
Like the area she had just vacated, this one was in semi-darkness, the only light coming from the medical equipment and monitor panels, but it was enough to see the unmistakable form of Tazat stretched out on the deck.
Easing cautiously forward, she swept the room with the muzzle of the blaster but saw no movement. By the time she had reached Tazat’s still body her heart was beating like a trip hammer.
“Tazat!” she hissed. She nudged him with her foot as she continued to scan around the room but there was no response. Leaning down slowly she rapidly scanned his body but saw no phaser burns or other wounds. Placing her fingers against his neck, she breathed a sigh of relief to feel a strong pulse.
It was then that she felt the cold of steel against her neck in the slight gap between suit and helmet. Strangely, as her eyes began to close, she was sure she heard a male voice say “There, don’t worry, the nurse will be with you shortly…”
“Move it up Jenningsss!” The hiss in Ress’s voice was far more effective than any shout could have been and the Ensign bringing up the rear of the freed security party accelerated his climb up the Jefferies tube.
“Torbin, Galeth, hold here.” Ress pointed a curved talon at the deck then gestured forward. “Gupta, Evansss, you have the fore accesss, Carmen and Ture the aft. Jenkinsss,” his claw swung to indicate the out of breath ensign. “You’re with me.” Bestowing a baleful glare on the unfortunate man was enough to make him straighten up and nod.
“Remember, nobody movesss until we get the go from Charlie, underssstood?”
With nods all around, the details headed out to their allocated locations to await the final go signal from Chariscarpia. Around the main medical deck, similar parties had made their way to strategic locations close to the segregated boarders. Others had headed down to engineering and back to the hangar deck which although reported clear were still being treated as hostile until proven otherwise.
In a matter of minutes, the combined security teams had checked in after liberating more weapons en route and they stood silently behind the engineering access panels as Chariscarpia counted down.
“On my mark, three…two…one…Mark!”
A second after the security teams had burst into the corridors on either side of the trapped boarders she dropped the screens, effectively allowing a barrage of phaser fire to stun them into submission.
One of the boarders, more resilient to the stun setting than his comrades, surreptitiously edged his hand towards his dropped blaster. When a giant, taloned foot slammed down on the weapon, he snatched his hand back quickly wondering if he’d actually lost any fingers. A final phaser blast took away the nightmare vision.
Ress tapped his communicator delicately. “Sssierra one reportsss sssection 8-12 Alpha sssecure.”
The chime of a transporter beam accompanied the dissolution of the twelve boarders in his section, beamed now to the secure area on the cargo deck that had previously held the Starfleet crew.
“Niccce work Jenkinsss,” he hissed bestowing what the ensign hoped was a smile upon him. “Might need to work on thossse fitnesss levelsss though.”
Back on the bridge, Muresh had witnessed the effective ruin of her plan with growing despondency. She at last turned to sit in the centre seat, still separated from the Starfleet crew by the force field.
Resting her elbows on her knees, she eventually looked up at Kat.
“It would seem Captain that whoever masterminded this is a skilful and swift operative.” She gave a tired grin. “I don’t suppose you’d allow me to offer them alternative employment?”
“I suspect that even if I did they would turn down the offer.” She stepped once more towards the force field that segregated them. “Now, it seems to me that…”
Kat was interrupted by the squawk of Muresh’s communicator. The sound transformed the Orion from dejected to active in a flash as a voice broke through the static.
“Muresh, this is Valens. What is your status?”
Much as Muresh personally felt that Valens would stab her in the back to gain control of the cartel, she had never been so glad to hear his voice.
“Mission is scrubbed Valens. The artefact is not here. Request immediate beam out protocol Shagar.”
“Better make it fast then. I have two Federation vessels in pursuit. Valens out.”
There was a definite hint of disgust in the man’s voice which Muresh silently vowed to take him to account for when she returned to the ship. She stood from the centre seat, now obviously back in command.
“I have to say Captain that while my mission here seems to have been a wasted one it has made me more appreciative of the calibre of officer that Starfleet seems to be turning out these days.”
“So what now Muresh?” Kat was genuinely curious. As a Starfleet officer she would have happily watched Muresh being sent for rehab, but as a human she needed to understand the woman’s drive for revenge.
“My word was given Captain. Your vessel and its crew were merely the bearers of the artefact and your crew’s actions are to be applauded. I would have expected nothing less from my own crew.” She turned an unexpectedly warm smile on Kat. “You should be proud of their ingenuity Captain.”
Somewhat surprised at the turn in Muresh’s manner she nodded.
“Pride in my crew comes with the job Muresh.” She paused fleetingly. “Just a suggestion but instead of doing this the hard way, wouldn’t it make sense to swallow your pride and approach the Klingons directly?”
The Orion tilted her head on one side. “Perhaps the chase has become more important than the quarry Captain.” She turned to stand at the rear of the bridge grouped with her remaining boarders, but just before she shimmered out of existence she smiled again. “I’ll consider it Captain.”
Chariscarpia had detected the inbound Orion vessel moments before it dropped out of high warp. She had no access to the shields which had been initially bypassed by the Orion’s override codes and for a moment felt that the fight to regain control of Angel might have been to no avail. It was as the boarders began to disappear from the cargo bay and the bridge that she also detected two incoming Starfleet vessels and realised that this was a rapid retreat by the Orions and not reinforcement.
It was at that moment she felt the full weight of something she had taken for granted until now. Her emotions, following the transfer into this android body, had remained intact evidenced by the feeling of sheer relief as the large Orion vessel rapidly departed under full warp with the Galaxy class USS Chesapeake Bay in hot pursuit. It had been a matter of debate between herself and Data in the days prior to her transfer whether she would maintain the capacity for emotions and she luxuriated in the feeling for just a moment.
The second ship, the USS Von Braun, reverted to real space in close proximity to Angel and hailed them. Somewhat embarrassed, Chariscarpia suddenly realised that she had yet to drop the security screen on the bridge and quickly did so. With the SCE vessel now in attendance, she felt now might be a prudent time to report to the Captain.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: Star Trek is trademarked and copyrighted by CBS Studios.
NO infringement is intended. All other material is copyright to Unusualsuspex 2010.
Chapter 23
USS ANGEL
EN-ROUTE TO ARGOLIS SECTOR
UFP SPACE
September 17th 2371 – 0711 FST
Muresh had barely turned away from the monitors when she heard Kellman’s shout.
“Muresh, this is Kellman on the medical deck. We have a situation.”
She stopped mid-stride, her eyes screwing shut and an Orion curse resting on her lips.
“Deal with it Kellman!”
“Er…Muresh?”
She span about to unleash a torrent of abuse at the total inability of her crew to accomplish the simplest of tasks when she saw Conran pointing at the screen. Blaster bolts were criss-crossing the monitor screen apparently at random in the darkened confines of the medical deck. This time she spat the curse out and Conran blanched.
“Kellman report!” There was no reply and similarly with her call to Tazat. About to order a party of the bridge boarders to attend the scene, she heard the sputter of a force field activating behind her and turned to find that the bridge had been neatly bisected. On one side of the screen were the Orion party, on the other the Angel’s bridge officers.
For a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity, all was silence and stillness on the bridge. Breaking the spell, Muresh strode to within a hair’s breadth of the force field, the static making her short red hair wave as if in a breeze.
“I don’t know how you did this Gray but it was a mistake!” Muresh’s teeth were bared in a feral grimace of anger, but Kat didn’t flinch. Instead she too approached the fizzling force field and stared directly into the Orion’s angry eyes.
“The only mistake is yours Muresh. I didn’t do this; one of my crew did and believe me when I find out who it was they’ll be recommended for a citataion.”
Muresh drew back a fist before realising the folly of such an action and instead turned to the remaining members of her crew.
“Get down to the medical deck and finish this!”
Preferring the risk of phaser fire to that of facing his angered leader, the senior crew member sprinted towards the bridge’s rear exit only to rebound off the door which solidly refused to open. By the time he’d regained his feet, a second crew member had anticipated the order to use the Jefferies tubes to descend.
When she too was thrown across the deck by a strong electrical charge, Muresh seemed to sag. When she finally returned her gaze to Kat, the fight seemed to have leeched from her eyes, yet the defiance in her stance was apparent.
“So Captain Gray, what now?”
Kat smiled smugly and shook her head. “I have no idea but I suspect we’ll know soon enough.”
**********
On the medical deck, Kellman had found herself crouched in a corner as phantom shadows flitted across her peripheral vision seeming to appear and disappear at random. She had attempted shots at these spectres, but only succeeded in stunning one of her own team and so had pulled back into the shadows to wait.
Soon enough a temporary silence engulfed her section and she quietly stepped forward towards the door, blaster raised and senses screaming that somebody was waiting for her. When she quickly risked a glance into the broad central corridor, she saw nobody. No bodies, no sign of her team.
“Tazat, this is Kellman, respond.” Only silence greeted her calls and eventually, she silently slipped out to head for the room Tazat had first entered.
Like the area she had just vacated, this one was in semi-darkness, the only light coming from the medical equipment and monitor panels, but it was enough to see the unmistakable form of Tazat stretched out on the deck.
Easing cautiously forward, she swept the room with the muzzle of the blaster but saw no movement. By the time she had reached Tazat’s still body her heart was beating like a trip hammer.
“Tazat!” she hissed. She nudged him with her foot as she continued to scan around the room but there was no response. Leaning down slowly she rapidly scanned his body but saw no phaser burns or other wounds. Placing her fingers against his neck, she breathed a sigh of relief to feel a strong pulse.
It was then that she felt the cold of steel against her neck in the slight gap between suit and helmet. Strangely, as her eyes began to close, she was sure she heard a male voice say “There, don’t worry, the nurse will be with you shortly…”
**********
“Move it up Jenningsss!” The hiss in Ress’s voice was far more effective than any shout could have been and the Ensign bringing up the rear of the freed security party accelerated his climb up the Jefferies tube.
“Torbin, Galeth, hold here.” Ress pointed a curved talon at the deck then gestured forward. “Gupta, Evansss, you have the fore accesss, Carmen and Ture the aft. Jenkinsss,” his claw swung to indicate the out of breath ensign. “You’re with me.” Bestowing a baleful glare on the unfortunate man was enough to make him straighten up and nod.
“Remember, nobody movesss until we get the go from Charlie, underssstood?”
With nods all around, the details headed out to their allocated locations to await the final go signal from Chariscarpia. Around the main medical deck, similar parties had made their way to strategic locations close to the segregated boarders. Others had headed down to engineering and back to the hangar deck which although reported clear were still being treated as hostile until proven otherwise.
In a matter of minutes, the combined security teams had checked in after liberating more weapons en route and they stood silently behind the engineering access panels as Chariscarpia counted down.
“On my mark, three…two…one…Mark!”
A second after the security teams had burst into the corridors on either side of the trapped boarders she dropped the screens, effectively allowing a barrage of phaser fire to stun them into submission.
One of the boarders, more resilient to the stun setting than his comrades, surreptitiously edged his hand towards his dropped blaster. When a giant, taloned foot slammed down on the weapon, he snatched his hand back quickly wondering if he’d actually lost any fingers. A final phaser blast took away the nightmare vision.
Ress tapped his communicator delicately. “Sssierra one reportsss sssection 8-12 Alpha sssecure.”
The chime of a transporter beam accompanied the dissolution of the twelve boarders in his section, beamed now to the secure area on the cargo deck that had previously held the Starfleet crew.
“Niccce work Jenkinsss,” he hissed bestowing what the ensign hoped was a smile upon him. “Might need to work on thossse fitnesss levelsss though.”
**********
Back on the bridge, Muresh had witnessed the effective ruin of her plan with growing despondency. She at last turned to sit in the centre seat, still separated from the Starfleet crew by the force field.
Resting her elbows on her knees, she eventually looked up at Kat.
“It would seem Captain that whoever masterminded this is a skilful and swift operative.” She gave a tired grin. “I don’t suppose you’d allow me to offer them alternative employment?”
“I suspect that even if I did they would turn down the offer.” She stepped once more towards the force field that segregated them. “Now, it seems to me that…”
Kat was interrupted by the squawk of Muresh’s communicator. The sound transformed the Orion from dejected to active in a flash as a voice broke through the static.
“Muresh, this is Valens. What is your status?”
Much as Muresh personally felt that Valens would stab her in the back to gain control of the cartel, she had never been so glad to hear his voice.
“Mission is scrubbed Valens. The artefact is not here. Request immediate beam out protocol Shagar.”
“Better make it fast then. I have two Federation vessels in pursuit. Valens out.”
There was a definite hint of disgust in the man’s voice which Muresh silently vowed to take him to account for when she returned to the ship. She stood from the centre seat, now obviously back in command.
“I have to say Captain that while my mission here seems to have been a wasted one it has made me more appreciative of the calibre of officer that Starfleet seems to be turning out these days.”
“So what now Muresh?” Kat was genuinely curious. As a Starfleet officer she would have happily watched Muresh being sent for rehab, but as a human she needed to understand the woman’s drive for revenge.
“My word was given Captain. Your vessel and its crew were merely the bearers of the artefact and your crew’s actions are to be applauded. I would have expected nothing less from my own crew.” She turned an unexpectedly warm smile on Kat. “You should be proud of their ingenuity Captain.”
Somewhat surprised at the turn in Muresh’s manner she nodded.
“Pride in my crew comes with the job Muresh.” She paused fleetingly. “Just a suggestion but instead of doing this the hard way, wouldn’t it make sense to swallow your pride and approach the Klingons directly?”
The Orion tilted her head on one side. “Perhaps the chase has become more important than the quarry Captain.” She turned to stand at the rear of the bridge grouped with her remaining boarders, but just before she shimmered out of existence she smiled again. “I’ll consider it Captain.”
**********
Chariscarpia had detected the inbound Orion vessel moments before it dropped out of high warp. She had no access to the shields which had been initially bypassed by the Orion’s override codes and for a moment felt that the fight to regain control of Angel might have been to no avail. It was as the boarders began to disappear from the cargo bay and the bridge that she also detected two incoming Starfleet vessels and realised that this was a rapid retreat by the Orions and not reinforcement.
It was at that moment she felt the full weight of something she had taken for granted until now. Her emotions, following the transfer into this android body, had remained intact evidenced by the feeling of sheer relief as the large Orion vessel rapidly departed under full warp with the Galaxy class USS Chesapeake Bay in hot pursuit. It had been a matter of debate between herself and Data in the days prior to her transfer whether she would maintain the capacity for emotions and she luxuriated in the feeling for just a moment.
The second ship, the USS Von Braun, reverted to real space in close proximity to Angel and hailed them. Somewhat embarrassed, Chariscarpia suddenly realised that she had yet to drop the security screen on the bridge and quickly did so. With the SCE vessel now in attendance, she felt now might be a prudent time to report to the Captain.
I shall say no more!
) but Book III of what is now a quadrilogy is already in research and draft stages.