You're welcome.
Star Trek: Cayuga
- Thread starter admiralelm11
- Start date
- Status
Response to: ‘00:00’
I really liked this story. It had mystery, diplomacy, action, and some excellent character interplay. As you know I'm rather fond of the immediate post-Dominion War period, with Starfleet trying to find it's footing in a galaxy upended by that horrible conflict.
I like Cayuga's crew, and they seem to be gelling well together with the exception of zh’Tali. She's the type of character near and dear to my heart, the sword in her master's hand, the person willing to kill to uphold the largely pacifistic ideals of the Federation.
Pozach is coming into her own as a captain. However, though it was probably not her plan, allowing the Cardassian pirates to beam aboard Cayuga was reckless in the extreme. They're fortunate the Cardassians only planted devices designed to cripple their warp drive rather than an explosive device. If it was Weynik's plan, then he was gambling with the lives of someone else's crew other than his own... which is bad form all the way around.
Great story!
I really liked this story. It had mystery, diplomacy, action, and some excellent character interplay. As you know I'm rather fond of the immediate post-Dominion War period, with Starfleet trying to find it's footing in a galaxy upended by that horrible conflict.
I like Cayuga's crew, and they seem to be gelling well together with the exception of zh’Tali. She's the type of character near and dear to my heart, the sword in her master's hand, the person willing to kill to uphold the largely pacifistic ideals of the Federation.
Pozach is coming into her own as a captain. However, though it was probably not her plan, allowing the Cardassian pirates to beam aboard Cayuga was reckless in the extreme. They're fortunate the Cardassians only planted devices designed to cripple their warp drive rather than an explosive device. If it was Weynik's plan, then he was gambling with the lives of someone else's crew other than his own... which is bad form all the way around.
Great story!
I'm on a roll. I just couldn't wait a while to let Patriotic Chorus hang there in the air. My readers must mutiny!
Anyways, here it is. Enjoy!
Star Trek: Cayuga
‘Patriotic Chorus, Part Two’
By Jack Elmlinger
Davi zh’Tali took some solace in the fact that the crew had been largely unmolested by Starfleet. They had been given quarters on Starbase Three-Five-Nine and each of them had been called in for their own interpretation of events. She knew that Lieutenants Pasko and Maguire had been detained for the longest time yet and she expected her own interrogation to last longer still.
“I heard that the Seventh Fleet took out a Cardassian staging ground in the Ashivar system,” her escort said, glibly, watching the Andorian zhen for a reaction. “They captured several warships.”
zh’Tali ignored his attempts to unnerve her and instead, she focused instead on the Cayuga. The Saber class starship orbited the starbase but only engineering and repair teams were allowed aboard. Even they were under close supervision by Starfleet. The Fafnir’s assault had cripplied the ship, destroying the shield generators and piercing through the hull. Six members of her crew had been murdered because of the gambit that Captain Daimousen had played.
“Good thing that we caught the Cardies when we did,” he added. “Next thing you know, they’ll be trying to breed their own spoonhead Jem’hadar.”
“Lieutenant,” she said curtly,” permission to continue denied.”
The escort keyed open the door before them and motioned zh’Tali inside. “Admiral sh’Diaar, presenting Commander zh’Tali,” he said as if he doubted that she would be a commander for much longer.
The Andorian shen sitting behind the deck glanced up and said simply,” Leave us” zh’Tali watched the door slide shut before standing at attention before the Admiral’s desk.
“You can sit,” sh’Diaar said and the zhen bent down to perch herself on one of the utilitarian chairs facing the desk, her eyes staring at a point beyond her head. A small smile appeared on the Admiral’s face before she leaned across the desk. “Hello, Davi.”
zh’Tali nodded. “Admiral.” sh’Diaar let out an exasperated sigh and the commander shifted in her seat. “... bondmate.”
“I was hoping for ‘Thanadyshen’ or even ‘Thana’ but ‘bondmate’ is a start, I suppose.” sh’Diaar rose, circling around the table and sitting down next to zh’Tali, taking her hand into her own. “How are you, Davi? I haven’t heard from you since before the war.”
“I thought you’ve been keeping tabs on me,” zh’Tali noted. “I assume that my transfer to the Cayuga was not a coincidence.”
sh’Diaar blushed at her. “I do try to look out for my bondmate.”
“A misguided effort, though… well-intentioned,” zh’Tali said with a sigh before she asked,” How are our other bondmates? Thren and Nerue?”
“Threnadrik is well. He’s been working long hours at Utopia Planitia, overseeing construction on his new ship, the Kumari, and helping to dig out parts of San Francisco that the engineers haven’t been able to get to yet,” zh’Tali’s bondmate said, her smile deepening. Neruetanehn’s with him on Mars. He’s finished teaching for the year so I’m sure that he’s running around Olympus Mons like a mad child.”
zh’Tali nodded severely, her milder attitude fading. “Ad -- Thana. What’s to become of my ship?”
Thanadyshen sh’Diaar flinched at the coldness in her voice. “The Cayuga’s being repaired before she returns to Cardassian space under your command to continue the search for the Cardassian militants. You’ll be paired up with the Warrior since they’ve just returned from their analysis of the Buckingham debris.” She watched her bondmate carefully. “You’re surprised.”
“I expected there to be court-martials for myself and the rest of the Bridge crew,” was the commander’s blunt response. “There are to be no consequences for our actions against the Fafnir in the Norgo system?”
“Not… for you. Your captain, Jeanne Pozach, will be remaining here, awaiting her court-martial.”
zh’Tali shook her head. “That is unacceptable.”
“You don’t get a say in the decision here, Davi,” sh’Diaar said sharply. “Admiral Falconer needs someone to hold responsible for the attack of one Federation starship against another. Pozach stepped right into it. She is the Captain and the actions of her ship and her crew are her responsibility.”
“The Admiral is wrong,” she told her. “Thana, this combat, this unofficial war is wrong. I believe that Starfleet is lashing out from blind prejudice and hatred.”
sh’Diaar’s surprise showed in her eyes. “Bondmate, Starfleet is made up of citizens from all over the Federation. We’ve moved past anything as petty as… racism.”
“Oh?,” zh’Tali asked her, picking up a framed photo from off of the desk. She glanced at it before she turned it towards sh’Diaar. It showed her and several other admirals at a social mixer, smiling and holding their drinks up in salute. All of them were Andorians. “I would have never guessed.”
“Davi…”
zh’Tali stood up from her seat. “Thank you, Admiral. I need to prepare my ship and crew for departure.”
sh’Diaar watched the door slide shut behind her. “That went better than I expected,” she said with a sigh.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Starbases, Doctor Moru had been taught, were colossal outposts that were capable of housing thousands of people with space to spare. They were technological wonders that made even the magnificence of starships pale in comparison. They were the pinnacle of Starfleet.
Starbase Three-Five-Nine reminded the Bolian of the Cayuga since it was cramped.
The Starbase that had been the headquarters of the allied effort against the Dominion was a small space station. There was no Promenade and no Trill bistro. Much like the Cayuga, there were confined corridors and bare bulkheads.
Moru shouldered his way past another crewman and keyed over the quarters that he had been assigned to. They were approximately the same size as his room aboard the Cayuga. Except here, he had to share them with Hobbes.
The room was dark and the science officer was curled up on his bed. Moru activated his computer and quieted the audio. “Computer,” he whispered into the audio pickup,” search the Federation communications net for any messages directed to Zimthar Moru, USS Cayuga. Display them.”
The screen was motionless for a moment before the seal of the United Federation of Planets appeared before him. It was quickly replaced by a face that the doctor both anticipated and dreaded.
“Zimthar,” Professor Craggar Moru said, scowling at him,” new of the Cayuga’s… engagement… has reached the FNS nets here on Earth.” The younger Moru sat down heavily on his bed. “As a member of the Cayuga crew, you fired on Federation citizens.” The older Moru’s voice dropped dangerously. “‘Disappointment’ doesn’t begin to encompass what I feel for you, right now.”
The image disappeared from the screen and Zimthar flopped down onto his side. “I guess some things don’t change,” he muttered to himself.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“Breakers seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, and twenty are showing clear,” Aimee Maguire read off of the PADD forced next to her face by the confines of the Jefferies tube. “Total power loss to resistance: zero-point-zero-zero… ah, forget it. Three to the negative eighth power percent. Good.” She elbowed her way back into the open where Aaron Connelly was recording her findings into the main status display..
Maguire leaned against the bulkhead, tapping at the pins that held her hair in place and eyeing the foreign engineers who were examining her warp core. Connelly followed her gaze and said,” It’s like they don’t trust us to make our own repairs.”
“Or they just don’t trust us,” she snapped back at him. “If the fleet didn’t need all of the help that it can get, tracking down these Cardassian terrorists, then the Cayuga wouldn’t be going anywhere for a very, very, long time.”
One of the foreign engineers from the Starbase approached them. “Excuse me, Lieutenant,” he said. “We’ve completed our checks and we’re certifying that the Cayuga is ready for departure.”
“So glad that you agree,” the Chief Engineer said, making dismissive gestures towards the door. “Shoo.”
The foreign engineers filed out of the engine room but the man who had spoken to her paused by the door. “Just… try to make sure that your Captain remembers who the bad guys are, all right?”
Maguire smiled sweetly and waved to the man as he left. “Aaron?,” she muttered through clenched teeth. “Remember that one night when I feel out of bed and hit my head?”
Connelly blushed faintly at the memory. “Yeah?”
“Remember all of those really nasty bad words that I used?”
“Yeah!”
Maguire pulled her hair pins out and tapped them against her thigh. “I’m thinking them all over again.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Federation detention cells had always struck Commander zh’Tali as disingenuous. They were utterly inescapable after they were equipped with force fields, transport inhibitors, and reinforced wall-plating. Great pains had been made to disguise all of that. The walls were as blank and emotionless as Pozach’s face was.
“The bunk is a bit short,” she said dully,” but it’s okay as long as I curl my knees when I sleep.”
The bed mattered very little to the Andorian. “The Cayuga is set to ship out tomorrow with her normal crew. We’ve been paired up with the Warrior to continue searching.” Her eyes focused on the spot of black and blue that marred Pozach’s brown skin.
“I’m surprised that they’re letting you back out into space,” Pozach said, pacing in front of the invisible force field that separated them.
“Admiral sh’Diaar is in charge of both this Starbase and the coordinate of Cardassian aid. As such, we fell into her jurisdiction and not Admiral Falconer’s. She appears… sympathetic,” zh’Tali said, shrugging at this news. “Also Starfleet is increasingly determined to find those responsible for the attack on the Buckingham. They require all available vessels to continue the search.”
“Do they have any more leads?,” the prisoner asked her, perching down on the edge of her bunk.
“Nothing conclusive at the moment. Twelve Cardassian military vessels have been impounded or destroyed. Over four hundred Cardassian civilians have been imprisoned for questioning and none of them have provided us with a credible lead.”
Pozach leaned back against the wall of her cell and closed her eyes. “How many Cardassians have been killed in the last two weeks?”
“Including those in the Fafnir’s attack,” zh’Tali paused,” thirty-five hundred, but that is a conservative estimate.”
Jeanne opened her eyes and turned to face her First Officer. “Davi, listen to me. Work with the task force and find out who’s responsible.” zh’Tali began to object but she stopped her with a gesture. “End this… end it before anyone else gets killed.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Lieutenant Pasko watched Starbase Three-Five-Nine recede into the darkness of space. “We shouldn’t be leaving her there,” the pilot said softly.
Sitting in the command chair, zh’Tali stirred at this pronouncement.. “Captain Pozach’s orders were explicit.”
“I don’t care what she ordered,” Maguire scowled from the engineering station. “Most of the time, she can’t keep her own priorities straight.”
“So she should be orchestrating a jailbreak?,” Pasko asked her, his attention turned away from the main viewscreen.
Maguire winked at his suggestion. “Yes, exactly.”
“Commander,” Lieutenant Keitsev interrupted them from the Ops position,” the Warrior has matched speed and course for the Dibinku system. Captain Ghran wishes to speak with you, face-to-face, and he’s asking when that might be.”
“Immediately. Have him led to the Captain’s Ready Room -- “ zh’Tali hesitated before saying,” To the Situation Room.”
She summoned Lieutenant Hobbes to the Bridge to assume command before she strode into the Situation Room. The doors slid shut behind her and she carefully approached the head of the table. Slowly, she sat down and turned in her chair to watch the stars. Twenty minutes later, Dixon escorted two figures into the room and the Andorian finally moved to face them.
“Commander zh’Tali,” Captain Ghran growled in his patented Tellarite manner,” if the situation wasn’t so frakked up, I would say that it pleases me to see you. Of course, I stopped gagging at the sight of Andorians since I served aboard the Gladiator.”
zh’Tali held back her resentment at his statement. She stood up from her chair, bowing her head slightly to the Warrior’s captain. “Welcome aboard the Cayuga.”
Ghran nodded and motioned to the other officer accompanying him. “This is Lieutenant Zaahr, my tactical officer,” he said, nodding at the Gorn officer beside him.
“A pleasure,” the Andorian said blankly. “Please sit. I assume that you aren’t here to insure that the Cayuga won’t have any further … incidents?”
“Actually, no. Ryan Daimousen is a bastard who can kiss my hairy ass,” the Tellarite explained with a faint grin. I’ll let Mister Zaahr explain.”
The Tellarite took a seat but Zaahr remained standing. After clearing his throat, the reptilian said,” After the Buckingham was destroyed, we were called in to see if any Dominion weapons technology was used.”
“I read the overview of your report,” zh’Tali said,” and you found no traces of phased polaron weapons?”
Zaahr glanced at her, blowing air out of his nostrils. “That’s true. Instead, we found extensive damage from Cardassian spiral-wave disruptors. We also found trace signatures from Starfleet quantum torpedoes.”
“Perhaps, they were torpedoes from the Buckingham’s own ordinance payload?”
“The traces that we found, Commander, weren’t on any of the interior hull pieces. They were on all of the outer hull fragments. The weapons didn’t detonate with the destruction of the ship.”
“Why wasn’t this information reported to the Admiral?”
“It was,” Zaahr told her. “Admiral Falconer told us that our information was ‘inconclusive’.”
zh’Tali shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Is it possible that the Cardassian militants captured those weapons?”
“It’s possible but unlikely,” countered the Warrior’s tactical officer. “The security surrounding such ordinance is far from light and there have been no reports of theft.”
zh’Tali said nothing and the Gorn officer pressed on. “Only a Federation starship would carry quantum torpedoes and quantum torpedoes were used in the destruction of the Buckingham.”
Captain Ghran leaned forward in his seat, his brow lowered down into a frown. “Commander zh’Tali,” he growled, taking over from his officer,” the Buckingham was destroyed by a Starfleet vessel.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The doors to the Situation Room swooshed open and Commander zh’Tali stalked her way out onto the Bridge. “Summon Connelly and Polcheny,” she snapped at the Bridge crew. “Maguire and Pasko, join me in the Ready Room.” She turned back towards Captain Ghran and Lieutenant Zaahr. “We’ll keep you apprised once we learn about anything new,” she added before she unceremoniously ushered them off of the Bridge.
In the Ready Room, she directed Pasko and Maguire to sit down before she said,” I want to know the exact location and activity of every Starfleet vessel in Cardassian space for the week surrounding the destruction of the Buckingham. Neither of you may leave this room until you have compiled the information and noted any abnormalities.”
With that said and done, she left them and behind her, the door clicked into the locked position.
“What the f---”
“Don’t bother,” Pasko interrupted her. “I suspect that whatever we find is going to be important.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Anyways, here it is. Enjoy!
Star Trek: Cayuga
‘Patriotic Chorus, Part Two’
By Jack Elmlinger
Davi zh’Tali took some solace in the fact that the crew had been largely unmolested by Starfleet. They had been given quarters on Starbase Three-Five-Nine and each of them had been called in for their own interpretation of events. She knew that Lieutenants Pasko and Maguire had been detained for the longest time yet and she expected her own interrogation to last longer still.
“I heard that the Seventh Fleet took out a Cardassian staging ground in the Ashivar system,” her escort said, glibly, watching the Andorian zhen for a reaction. “They captured several warships.”
zh’Tali ignored his attempts to unnerve her and instead, she focused instead on the Cayuga. The Saber class starship orbited the starbase but only engineering and repair teams were allowed aboard. Even they were under close supervision by Starfleet. The Fafnir’s assault had cripplied the ship, destroying the shield generators and piercing through the hull. Six members of her crew had been murdered because of the gambit that Captain Daimousen had played.
“Good thing that we caught the Cardies when we did,” he added. “Next thing you know, they’ll be trying to breed their own spoonhead Jem’hadar.”
“Lieutenant,” she said curtly,” permission to continue denied.”
The escort keyed open the door before them and motioned zh’Tali inside. “Admiral sh’Diaar, presenting Commander zh’Tali,” he said as if he doubted that she would be a commander for much longer.
The Andorian shen sitting behind the deck glanced up and said simply,” Leave us” zh’Tali watched the door slide shut before standing at attention before the Admiral’s desk.
“You can sit,” sh’Diaar said and the zhen bent down to perch herself on one of the utilitarian chairs facing the desk, her eyes staring at a point beyond her head. A small smile appeared on the Admiral’s face before she leaned across the desk. “Hello, Davi.”
zh’Tali nodded. “Admiral.” sh’Diaar let out an exasperated sigh and the commander shifted in her seat. “... bondmate.”
“I was hoping for ‘Thanadyshen’ or even ‘Thana’ but ‘bondmate’ is a start, I suppose.” sh’Diaar rose, circling around the table and sitting down next to zh’Tali, taking her hand into her own. “How are you, Davi? I haven’t heard from you since before the war.”
“I thought you’ve been keeping tabs on me,” zh’Tali noted. “I assume that my transfer to the Cayuga was not a coincidence.”
sh’Diaar blushed at her. “I do try to look out for my bondmate.”
“A misguided effort, though… well-intentioned,” zh’Tali said with a sigh before she asked,” How are our other bondmates? Thren and Nerue?”
“Threnadrik is well. He’s been working long hours at Utopia Planitia, overseeing construction on his new ship, the Kumari, and helping to dig out parts of San Francisco that the engineers haven’t been able to get to yet,” zh’Tali’s bondmate said, her smile deepening. Neruetanehn’s with him on Mars. He’s finished teaching for the year so I’m sure that he’s running around Olympus Mons like a mad child.”
zh’Tali nodded severely, her milder attitude fading. “Ad -- Thana. What’s to become of my ship?”
Thanadyshen sh’Diaar flinched at the coldness in her voice. “The Cayuga’s being repaired before she returns to Cardassian space under your command to continue the search for the Cardassian militants. You’ll be paired up with the Warrior since they’ve just returned from their analysis of the Buckingham debris.” She watched her bondmate carefully. “You’re surprised.”
“I expected there to be court-martials for myself and the rest of the Bridge crew,” was the commander’s blunt response. “There are to be no consequences for our actions against the Fafnir in the Norgo system?”
“Not… for you. Your captain, Jeanne Pozach, will be remaining here, awaiting her court-martial.”
zh’Tali shook her head. “That is unacceptable.”
“You don’t get a say in the decision here, Davi,” sh’Diaar said sharply. “Admiral Falconer needs someone to hold responsible for the attack of one Federation starship against another. Pozach stepped right into it. She is the Captain and the actions of her ship and her crew are her responsibility.”
“The Admiral is wrong,” she told her. “Thana, this combat, this unofficial war is wrong. I believe that Starfleet is lashing out from blind prejudice and hatred.”
sh’Diaar’s surprise showed in her eyes. “Bondmate, Starfleet is made up of citizens from all over the Federation. We’ve moved past anything as petty as… racism.”
“Oh?,” zh’Tali asked her, picking up a framed photo from off of the desk. She glanced at it before she turned it towards sh’Diaar. It showed her and several other admirals at a social mixer, smiling and holding their drinks up in salute. All of them were Andorians. “I would have never guessed.”
“Davi…”
zh’Tali stood up from her seat. “Thank you, Admiral. I need to prepare my ship and crew for departure.”
sh’Diaar watched the door slide shut behind her. “That went better than I expected,” she said with a sigh.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Starbases, Doctor Moru had been taught, were colossal outposts that were capable of housing thousands of people with space to spare. They were technological wonders that made even the magnificence of starships pale in comparison. They were the pinnacle of Starfleet.
Starbase Three-Five-Nine reminded the Bolian of the Cayuga since it was cramped.
The Starbase that had been the headquarters of the allied effort against the Dominion was a small space station. There was no Promenade and no Trill bistro. Much like the Cayuga, there were confined corridors and bare bulkheads.
Moru shouldered his way past another crewman and keyed over the quarters that he had been assigned to. They were approximately the same size as his room aboard the Cayuga. Except here, he had to share them with Hobbes.
The room was dark and the science officer was curled up on his bed. Moru activated his computer and quieted the audio. “Computer,” he whispered into the audio pickup,” search the Federation communications net for any messages directed to Zimthar Moru, USS Cayuga. Display them.”
The screen was motionless for a moment before the seal of the United Federation of Planets appeared before him. It was quickly replaced by a face that the doctor both anticipated and dreaded.
“Zimthar,” Professor Craggar Moru said, scowling at him,” new of the Cayuga’s… engagement… has reached the FNS nets here on Earth.” The younger Moru sat down heavily on his bed. “As a member of the Cayuga crew, you fired on Federation citizens.” The older Moru’s voice dropped dangerously. “‘Disappointment’ doesn’t begin to encompass what I feel for you, right now.”
The image disappeared from the screen and Zimthar flopped down onto his side. “I guess some things don’t change,” he muttered to himself.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“Breakers seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, and twenty are showing clear,” Aimee Maguire read off of the PADD forced next to her face by the confines of the Jefferies tube. “Total power loss to resistance: zero-point-zero-zero… ah, forget it. Three to the negative eighth power percent. Good.” She elbowed her way back into the open where Aaron Connelly was recording her findings into the main status display..
Maguire leaned against the bulkhead, tapping at the pins that held her hair in place and eyeing the foreign engineers who were examining her warp core. Connelly followed her gaze and said,” It’s like they don’t trust us to make our own repairs.”
“Or they just don’t trust us,” she snapped back at him. “If the fleet didn’t need all of the help that it can get, tracking down these Cardassian terrorists, then the Cayuga wouldn’t be going anywhere for a very, very, long time.”
One of the foreign engineers from the Starbase approached them. “Excuse me, Lieutenant,” he said. “We’ve completed our checks and we’re certifying that the Cayuga is ready for departure.”
“So glad that you agree,” the Chief Engineer said, making dismissive gestures towards the door. “Shoo.”
The foreign engineers filed out of the engine room but the man who had spoken to her paused by the door. “Just… try to make sure that your Captain remembers who the bad guys are, all right?”
Maguire smiled sweetly and waved to the man as he left. “Aaron?,” she muttered through clenched teeth. “Remember that one night when I feel out of bed and hit my head?”
Connelly blushed faintly at the memory. “Yeah?”
“Remember all of those really nasty bad words that I used?”
“Yeah!”
Maguire pulled her hair pins out and tapped them against her thigh. “I’m thinking them all over again.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Federation detention cells had always struck Commander zh’Tali as disingenuous. They were utterly inescapable after they were equipped with force fields, transport inhibitors, and reinforced wall-plating. Great pains had been made to disguise all of that. The walls were as blank and emotionless as Pozach’s face was.
“The bunk is a bit short,” she said dully,” but it’s okay as long as I curl my knees when I sleep.”
The bed mattered very little to the Andorian. “The Cayuga is set to ship out tomorrow with her normal crew. We’ve been paired up with the Warrior to continue searching.” Her eyes focused on the spot of black and blue that marred Pozach’s brown skin.
“I’m surprised that they’re letting you back out into space,” Pozach said, pacing in front of the invisible force field that separated them.
“Admiral sh’Diaar is in charge of both this Starbase and the coordinate of Cardassian aid. As such, we fell into her jurisdiction and not Admiral Falconer’s. She appears… sympathetic,” zh’Tali said, shrugging at this news. “Also Starfleet is increasingly determined to find those responsible for the attack on the Buckingham. They require all available vessels to continue the search.”
“Do they have any more leads?,” the prisoner asked her, perching down on the edge of her bunk.
“Nothing conclusive at the moment. Twelve Cardassian military vessels have been impounded or destroyed. Over four hundred Cardassian civilians have been imprisoned for questioning and none of them have provided us with a credible lead.”
Pozach leaned back against the wall of her cell and closed her eyes. “How many Cardassians have been killed in the last two weeks?”
“Including those in the Fafnir’s attack,” zh’Tali paused,” thirty-five hundred, but that is a conservative estimate.”
Jeanne opened her eyes and turned to face her First Officer. “Davi, listen to me. Work with the task force and find out who’s responsible.” zh’Tali began to object but she stopped her with a gesture. “End this… end it before anyone else gets killed.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Lieutenant Pasko watched Starbase Three-Five-Nine recede into the darkness of space. “We shouldn’t be leaving her there,” the pilot said softly.
Sitting in the command chair, zh’Tali stirred at this pronouncement.. “Captain Pozach’s orders were explicit.”
“I don’t care what she ordered,” Maguire scowled from the engineering station. “Most of the time, she can’t keep her own priorities straight.”
“So she should be orchestrating a jailbreak?,” Pasko asked her, his attention turned away from the main viewscreen.
Maguire winked at his suggestion. “Yes, exactly.”
“Commander,” Lieutenant Keitsev interrupted them from the Ops position,” the Warrior has matched speed and course for the Dibinku system. Captain Ghran wishes to speak with you, face-to-face, and he’s asking when that might be.”
“Immediately. Have him led to the Captain’s Ready Room -- “ zh’Tali hesitated before saying,” To the Situation Room.”
She summoned Lieutenant Hobbes to the Bridge to assume command before she strode into the Situation Room. The doors slid shut behind her and she carefully approached the head of the table. Slowly, she sat down and turned in her chair to watch the stars. Twenty minutes later, Dixon escorted two figures into the room and the Andorian finally moved to face them.
“Commander zh’Tali,” Captain Ghran growled in his patented Tellarite manner,” if the situation wasn’t so frakked up, I would say that it pleases me to see you. Of course, I stopped gagging at the sight of Andorians since I served aboard the Gladiator.”
zh’Tali held back her resentment at his statement. She stood up from her chair, bowing her head slightly to the Warrior’s captain. “Welcome aboard the Cayuga.”
Ghran nodded and motioned to the other officer accompanying him. “This is Lieutenant Zaahr, my tactical officer,” he said, nodding at the Gorn officer beside him.
“A pleasure,” the Andorian said blankly. “Please sit. I assume that you aren’t here to insure that the Cayuga won’t have any further … incidents?”
“Actually, no. Ryan Daimousen is a bastard who can kiss my hairy ass,” the Tellarite explained with a faint grin. I’ll let Mister Zaahr explain.”
The Tellarite took a seat but Zaahr remained standing. After clearing his throat, the reptilian said,” After the Buckingham was destroyed, we were called in to see if any Dominion weapons technology was used.”
“I read the overview of your report,” zh’Tali said,” and you found no traces of phased polaron weapons?”
Zaahr glanced at her, blowing air out of his nostrils. “That’s true. Instead, we found extensive damage from Cardassian spiral-wave disruptors. We also found trace signatures from Starfleet quantum torpedoes.”
“Perhaps, they were torpedoes from the Buckingham’s own ordinance payload?”
“The traces that we found, Commander, weren’t on any of the interior hull pieces. They were on all of the outer hull fragments. The weapons didn’t detonate with the destruction of the ship.”
“Why wasn’t this information reported to the Admiral?”
“It was,” Zaahr told her. “Admiral Falconer told us that our information was ‘inconclusive’.”
zh’Tali shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Is it possible that the Cardassian militants captured those weapons?”
“It’s possible but unlikely,” countered the Warrior’s tactical officer. “The security surrounding such ordinance is far from light and there have been no reports of theft.”
zh’Tali said nothing and the Gorn officer pressed on. “Only a Federation starship would carry quantum torpedoes and quantum torpedoes were used in the destruction of the Buckingham.”
Captain Ghran leaned forward in his seat, his brow lowered down into a frown. “Commander zh’Tali,” he growled, taking over from his officer,” the Buckingham was destroyed by a Starfleet vessel.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The doors to the Situation Room swooshed open and Commander zh’Tali stalked her way out onto the Bridge. “Summon Connelly and Polcheny,” she snapped at the Bridge crew. “Maguire and Pasko, join me in the Ready Room.” She turned back towards Captain Ghran and Lieutenant Zaahr. “We’ll keep you apprised once we learn about anything new,” she added before she unceremoniously ushered them off of the Bridge.
In the Ready Room, she directed Pasko and Maguire to sit down before she said,” I want to know the exact location and activity of every Starfleet vessel in Cardassian space for the week surrounding the destruction of the Buckingham. Neither of you may leave this room until you have compiled the information and noted any abnormalities.”
With that said and done, she left them and behind her, the door clicked into the locked position.
“What the f---”
“Don’t bother,” Pasko interrupted her. “I suspect that whatever we find is going to be important.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Much later in the day, the door chimes rang and Brandon Hobbes entered the Ready Room, carrying a tray of food with him. “Hello,” he said quietly. “Ensign Polcheny asked me to bring this in for you. She thought that you might be hungry.”
“How thoughtful,” Aimee said dryly.
“Thanks, Brandon.” The science officer placed the food on the desk and as he turned to leave, Pasko stopped him. “Would you like to eat with us?”
“I-I wouldn’t want to interrupt.”
Maguire reclined in Pozach’s chair. “I don’t mind.”
Hobbes sat down carefully next to Pasko. “I’ll just read my paper.”
“What is it?,” Sean asked him as his attention returned to his own PADD.
“It’s about the unique properties of neutrinos in the Bajoran wormhole, written by Lieutenant Sekara Leyn,” Hobbes replied absently.
“It sounds like a snooze,” snorted Maguire.
Hobbes began to answer but the pilot cut him off. “Maybe you two should start a correspondence,” he told her. “I mean, you seem to have the same taste in women.”
“Oh?,” asked the chief engineer.
Pasko nodded enthusiastically. “Yep, and you’re going to need her help after that last screw-up.” He deepened his voice theatrically. “I had the biggest crush on Jamie and Little Alice took one look at me and her heart stopped.”
Maguire groaned,” Oh… oh, hell.”
Hobbes glanced up and gestured vaguely between them. “You two aren’t in a … in a relationship?”
Pasko snorted at him and Maguire groaned again. “Oh, hell, no.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“Did you know that she keeps breath mints in here?”
Pasko looked up at Maguire and scowled. “Aimee, for the love of… Stop rooting through Jeanne’s desk!”
“A guitar pick?,” Maguire wondered aloud, holding it up to the light.
“This is impossible!,” Pasko shouted, dropping his PADD to the floor. “I’ve checked through every sensor and communications log of one hundred and seventeen starships in the Seventh Fleet, as well as those of the Starsong, Atlantis, Warrior, and nearly two hundred Federation civilian relief craft.” He gestured helpless to Maguire. “There is not a ship out of place!”
Maguire sighed and resisted the urge to heft the crystal lying on the desk. “So zh’Tali will never let us out of here. There are worse places to live.”
Pasko stood up and began pacing around the room. Aimee stood up and circled around the desk to stop him. “Joe, you’re exhausted. Take a seat and rest already.” She glanced around the room. “Here,” she continued, handing him a PADD. “Hobbes left his paper on Bajoran whosie-whatsits. That’ll put you to sleep.”
She settled down on the floor and began reviewing ship positions on her PADD again. Her fingers were just about to touch her hair pins when Sean’s yelp of surprise almost made her want to stab herself with them.
“That’s it,” he whispered.
“It can’t be that good,” Maguire groused at him, rubbing her scalp.
“No, look!” He held up the PADD that Lieutenant Hobbes had left behind. “This paper went out over subspace to a lot of people, including Hobbes. Like Professor Lenara Kahn on Trill, Lieutenant Austin on the Starsong, Lieutenant Commander Chen on the Atlantis, and Lieutenant Commander Matthew Pell of the starship Gladiator, but it says here that the transmission wasn’t actually received by the Gladiator.”
Maguire shrugged at this. “So? It wouldn’t be the first time that a starship’s communications array went down. Maybe they were making repairs?”
“Bring up the Gladiator’s communications records,” Pasko said. The engineer did and he snatched the PADD out of her hands. “Look at that. All of their routine outgoing messages were sent.”
“Like I said, maybe their receiver was damaged.”
“By what?! And if it were, they would have noted it in their outgoings so that their incoming transmissions could be sent. They didn’t.”
“So what, Sean?”
“Think about it. When a starship receives a transmission, the sender gets confirmation of it. It includes the time and the location that the transmission was received.” He glanced down at Hobbes’ PADD. “And Leyn’s paper went out, four hours before the Buckingham was destroyed.”
Maguire pursed her lips thoughtfully. “That really makes me want to know where they were at the time.”
“Yes,” Pasko said, agreeing with her,” and I think that zh’Tali would like to know that as well.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“USS Gladiator, NCC-45592, Ambassador class heavy cruiser,” Commander zh’Tali said, gesturing to the display screen behind her. “Originally built as a second-generation Ambassador, she had been refit twice. Her first refit was in 2370 to accommodate the Federation’s ecologically-sound warp drive and her second refit was in early 2373 with improved weapons capability in anticipation of the Dominion War.” The Andorian zhen altered the diagram to show details of the weapons system. “The Gladiator received upgrades similar to those test-bedded on the Lakota, such as upgraded shielding, heavier phaser banks, ablative armor and, of course,” -- zh’Tali paused dramatically -- ,” quantum torpedoes.”
The air in the Warrior’s briefing room crackled dangerously as she finished her assessment. On one side of the table sat Pasko, Maguire, and Ntannu. Sitting opposite of them was the Miranda class starship’s command staff.
Captain Ghran cleared his throat to address the Cayuga’’s First Officer. “Are you frakking crazy?!,” the Tellarite asked her. “You presume to attack the Gladiator?”
“We can take them, sir,” Pasko snapped back at the higher-ranking officer. “That tub is nearly forty years old and I don’t care how many refits that she’s had. The Cayuga may be newer and faster than both the Gladiator and the Warrior but together, we could beat her.”
Zaahr shook his reptilian head. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Lieutenant. About three years ago, the Lakota engaged the Defiant on the edge of the Sol System. They did some fairly severe damage to her, and the Defiant is tougher than either of our ships.”
“Sean,” Maguire said from beside him,” if they tag us with even one of those quantum torpedoes, we’d be looking at a serious hull breach. Like a large portion of the ship would be missing.”
“I can stay out of their torpedo range,” the pilot said confidently. “Cayuga’s got maneuverability on her side.”
“The Warrior doesn’t,” Lieutenant Jason Marino, the Warrior’s helm officer said, interrupting him. “The losses that we would take would be heinous.”
“Question,” asked Commander Siobhan MacGregor, Ghran’s First Officer, before Pasko could respond to his fellow pilot,” why?”
“Why what?,” Pasko asked him, defensively.
“Why would the crew of the Gladiator destroy the Buckingham? Why would they kill two hundred and fifty-three of their fellow officers? MacGregor gestured emptily at this question. “That’s the part of this situation that I… just don’t get.”
The officers from both ships looked at one another uncomfortably with the silence stretching until zh’Tali cleared her throat to gain their attention. Behind her was a Starfleet personnel personnel file. The picture in the upper right-hand corner showing a smiling woman with graying red hair.
“Captain Allison Cheney,” she shared with them. “Born on Proxima Five in 2334 and graduated from Starfleet Academy in 2356. In early 2364, she married her fellow officer, Eric Cheney, and eight months later, she requested a transfer to Hamirik, near Cardassian space, to begin a family. Her commission was reactivated and she fought in the first Cardassian conflict until 2366. Hamirik fell into the region established as the Demilitarized Zone after the conflict. Cheney then accepted promotion to Captain and command of the Gladiator.”
zh’Tali paused for a breath before she continued, slower and quieter. “When the Dominion War broke out, the Gladiator was assigned to the Seventh Fleet. As an opening move, the Dominion attacked and conquered almost all of the Federation’s colonies in the former Demilitarized Zone. Starfleet’s efforts to evacuate the colonies was often too late. Cheney’s son, David and her brother were killed by the Jem’hadar on Hamirik. Two years later, her husband, Commander Eric Cheny was killed when the USS Cortez was destroyed while on patrol near Azaeron.”
“Damn,” Pasko muttered underneath his breath.
“So,” Ntannu pondered, saying something for the first time,” she’s just gone around the bend? Maybe she thought that the captain of the Buckingham was somehow responsible for his ship not being able to get to Hamirik?”
“It’s probably more complicated than that,” remarked Ghran.
“The Buckingham was attacked with Cardassian weapons, presumably installed on the Gladiator,” Zaahr said,” but the Buckingham fought back. Maybe they got too close to causing some damage that would have been a little hard to explain away to Starfleet Command.”
“Cheney hit the Buckingham with quantum torpedoes,” Pasko concluded.
“Why not just hit them with the quantum torpedoes in the first place?,” MacGregor asked. “What did they gain by using weaker weapons?”
zh’Tali cleared her throat again and the room fell silent. “They have gained exactly what they intended to,” she said with cold malice,” with not simply the destruction of the Buckingham but with the destruction in such a way that the Cardassians were blamed for the attack.” She brought up an image of the debris from the Buckingham on the screen behind her.
“At the cost of the lives of two hundred and fifty-three Starfleet officers, Captain Cheney has provoked a renewal of conflict between the Federation and what little remains of the Cardassian Union. Just to satisfy her own lust for vengeance, she had blackened the name of Starfleet and we will stop her.”
“Which brings me back to my original frakking question if you were paying attention, Snowflake,” Captain Ghran barked at her. “What in the name of Sanity do you intend to do?”
zh’Tali smiled at the Tellarite captain. “I am going to beam over to her ship and ask her to stand down, allowing her ship to be taken to Starbase Three-Nine-Five by security teams from the Warrior and the Cayuga. I am sure that she wouldn’t object.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The soft lines of the Gladiator’s Bridge had always appealed to Allison Cheney. The anachronistic styling of the consoles, some forty-years out-of-date, simultaneously soothed and delighted her. She raised her eyes to the viewscreen as the two starships approached hers, the red glow of their warp nacelles reflecting off of their dark hulls. Where her ship and the Warrior had beautiful curves, the Saber class starship had angles that threatened to cut anyone that wandered too close to her. Cheney made sure that the sharpness of his ship remained hidden.
“The Cayuga is ready for transport,” Commander Mardak said, inhaling a puff of methane from his breather. “Allison, I don’t think that this is a good idea.”
Cheney nodded thoughtfully at him. “You’re right, of course,” she told the Benzite,” but look at that ship, the Cayuga. Two weeks ago, she attacked the USS Fafnir. If they get too close to us, we can destroy them and claim self-defense.” She glanced over at the young Human sitting at the Ops station, ignoring the fearful look in her eyes. “Ensign, tell Commander zh’Tali that she’s welcome to come aboard any time.”
A single pillar of silver-blue energy formed at the center of the Bridge. After the transporter effect had faded from view, Cheney stood from her command chair and extended her hand to the white-haired Andorian who had appeared before her.
“Hello,” the zhen said with a smile. “I’m Davi zh’Tali.”
“Delighted to meet you. Is this a visit of business or pleasure?”
“Oh, a little of both, I suspect. Business first, though,” the commander said, tilting her head to one side. “Did you order the destruction of the USS Buckingham?”
Cheney’s pleasant smile faded away and the temperature on the Bridge seemed to drop. “Yes.”
“Thank you for your honesty, Captain,” zh’Tali said sincerely. “You are under arrest. You will return with me to the Cayuga. Your ship and crew will be taken into Starfleet custody.”
Shaking her head, Cheney turned around and returned to her spot in her command chair. “I’m sorry, Commander, but I can’t allow that.” She motioned to the tactical officer with a nod of her head. “Lieutenant, target the drive and communications systems of the Cayuga and the Warrior. Then… destroy them.” Then she addressed the Ensign at Ops. “Summon a security team to the Bridge to escort the commander to the Brig.”
The Ensign’s quaking fingers reached for her combadge and that was when zh’Tali acted. She grabbed the ensign’s head and slammed it against her console until both blood and enamel flew wildly across the room. The helm officer next to her gasped and leaped up from his chair to try to tackle her. Without any warning, the Andorian grabbed his wrist and broke it, pivoting and throwing him into the Ops officer, crushing both of them against a nearby bulkhead.
Two ensigns rushed across the Bridge to stand between her and their captain. The Andorian zhen speared her hand into the first man’s mouth, jerking down sharply to dislocate his jaw before plucking off his combadge and tossing it at the second ensign’s feet, tripping her to the ground. She took a moment to kick at the ensign’s head before dodging a phaser blast fired by the tactical officer. Hitting the deck, she rolled and launched the combadge at him, hitting his temple. The impact caused him to fall like David and Goliath.
zh’Tali stood up and turned slowly towards Mardak and Cheney. “You are under arrest,” she repeated before she lashed out at them. She ripped the Benzite’s methane breather from his chest before she punched him in the stomach. “And you will come with me.” Gagging on blue blood, Mardak sagged to the floor and zh’Tali backhanded Cheney so that she might follow.
The Cayuga’s First Officer tapped her combadge. “zh’Tali to Warrior. Begin transporting over the boarding parties and a medical trauma team to the Bridge.”
Humanoids appeared around her in a haze of transporter energy. A physician dispersed her nurses towards the wounded and Lieutenant Zaahr directed his officers to take places at the command consoles. The Gorn surveyed the carnage and muttered to himself,” By the Great Egg…”
zh’Tali spared him a sanguine glance. “Your deity is not with us.” She tapped her combadge again. “zh’Tali to Cayuga. Energize.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
It had taken them a little more than half an hour to assume control over the Gladiator since the crew had largely surrendered without any conflict. Zaahr’s teams found the rest of the ship’s command staff and several other people heavily sedated in a cargo bay. Lieutenant Maguire uncovered support struts for a weapons emplacement on the hull. Power conduits from Main Engineering lead up to it and they had been altered to match Cardassian power specifications. Captain Ghran reported all of this new evidence to Admiral Falconer and the ‘investigation’ was put on hold until the Gladiator’s role in the destruction of the Buckingham was clarified by the Starfleet Criminal Investigative Service.
Now that the three starships were racing at warp for Starbase Three-Nine-Five, Captain Cheney sat in the Cayuga’s Brig, tracing the edges of her bunk. Like the ship, its angles were harsh like the future that she saw filled with sharp lines of courtrooms and penal colonies for the rest of her life.
Cheney saw something else; the rounded curves of an alternative.
Already dim to simulate nighttime, the lights in the brig blacked out completely. The hum of the force field died and she stood at the doors leading to the corridor outside opened.”
“Hello.”
“Hello,” replied Lieutenant Keitsev.
“Are you here to end this?”
The hands that stretched out towards her and around her throat were curved flesh over rigid bone. They bore down on her until she felt the hard lines of her life blend away into nothingness.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The Mess Hall was filled with happy, partying, inebriated officers and crew members.
“We won!,” Alice Polcheny cried out, draping herself across Sean and Aimee. “Th’ good guys saved th’ day!”
“That’s it,” Aimee told her. “No more daiquiris for you… ever.”
Alice looked panicked for a moment but she quickly forgot. “We’re getting Cap’n Po -- the lady back, right?”
Sean nodded and Alice settled herself on him. “Now that Starfleet knows who really destroyed the Buckingham, they’ve got a new focus,” he told her. “I almost feel bad for the Gladiator’s officers.”
“I do feel bad after what zh’Tali did to them,” Aimee said, shaking her head. “Some of them are still in Sickbay, unconscious.”
“But they’re alive.”
“Sean,” Alice asked him, tugging on his sleeve,” where’s Vasily? He should be here, having fun.”
“I’ll go get him,” Aimee told them. “I need to go drag Sam out of here, anyways.” She left the Mess Hall before Alice could slur a thank you her way, pushing her way through the crowd. She broke through to the outer corridor and turned a corner down towards the crew quarters.
“Hey! Keitsev!,” she called out as she saw a familiar silhouette duck into the deserted transport room. She followed him and found Keitsev poised over the control console, entering in coordinates. “Are you going somewhere? Come on! Polcheny’s smashed and she misses your company.” She glanced at the panel and frowned. “Hey, you’re really going somewhere. Keitsev, what’s going on?”
Keitsev hesitated for a moment before he struck her. Her hair pins snapped, flying against the wall. His victim raised her hands in defense but he muscled his way past them before he struck her again… and again. Her head hit the floor and she heard the soft chime of the transporter. Then she didn’t hear very much at all after that as darkness overcame her.
The End...
“How thoughtful,” Aimee said dryly.
“Thanks, Brandon.” The science officer placed the food on the desk and as he turned to leave, Pasko stopped him. “Would you like to eat with us?”
“I-I wouldn’t want to interrupt.”
Maguire reclined in Pozach’s chair. “I don’t mind.”
Hobbes sat down carefully next to Pasko. “I’ll just read my paper.”
“What is it?,” Sean asked him as his attention returned to his own PADD.
“It’s about the unique properties of neutrinos in the Bajoran wormhole, written by Lieutenant Sekara Leyn,” Hobbes replied absently.
“It sounds like a snooze,” snorted Maguire.
Hobbes began to answer but the pilot cut him off. “Maybe you two should start a correspondence,” he told her. “I mean, you seem to have the same taste in women.”
“Oh?,” asked the chief engineer.
Pasko nodded enthusiastically. “Yep, and you’re going to need her help after that last screw-up.” He deepened his voice theatrically. “I had the biggest crush on Jamie and Little Alice took one look at me and her heart stopped.”
Maguire groaned,” Oh… oh, hell.”
Hobbes glanced up and gestured vaguely between them. “You two aren’t in a … in a relationship?”
Pasko snorted at him and Maguire groaned again. “Oh, hell, no.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“Did you know that she keeps breath mints in here?”
Pasko looked up at Maguire and scowled. “Aimee, for the love of… Stop rooting through Jeanne’s desk!”
“A guitar pick?,” Maguire wondered aloud, holding it up to the light.
“This is impossible!,” Pasko shouted, dropping his PADD to the floor. “I’ve checked through every sensor and communications log of one hundred and seventeen starships in the Seventh Fleet, as well as those of the Starsong, Atlantis, Warrior, and nearly two hundred Federation civilian relief craft.” He gestured helpless to Maguire. “There is not a ship out of place!”
Maguire sighed and resisted the urge to heft the crystal lying on the desk. “So zh’Tali will never let us out of here. There are worse places to live.”
Pasko stood up and began pacing around the room. Aimee stood up and circled around the desk to stop him. “Joe, you’re exhausted. Take a seat and rest already.” She glanced around the room. “Here,” she continued, handing him a PADD. “Hobbes left his paper on Bajoran whosie-whatsits. That’ll put you to sleep.”
She settled down on the floor and began reviewing ship positions on her PADD again. Her fingers were just about to touch her hair pins when Sean’s yelp of surprise almost made her want to stab herself with them.
“That’s it,” he whispered.
“It can’t be that good,” Maguire groused at him, rubbing her scalp.
“No, look!” He held up the PADD that Lieutenant Hobbes had left behind. “This paper went out over subspace to a lot of people, including Hobbes. Like Professor Lenara Kahn on Trill, Lieutenant Austin on the Starsong, Lieutenant Commander Chen on the Atlantis, and Lieutenant Commander Matthew Pell of the starship Gladiator, but it says here that the transmission wasn’t actually received by the Gladiator.”
Maguire shrugged at this. “So? It wouldn’t be the first time that a starship’s communications array went down. Maybe they were making repairs?”
“Bring up the Gladiator’s communications records,” Pasko said. The engineer did and he snatched the PADD out of her hands. “Look at that. All of their routine outgoing messages were sent.”
“Like I said, maybe their receiver was damaged.”
“By what?! And if it were, they would have noted it in their outgoings so that their incoming transmissions could be sent. They didn’t.”
“So what, Sean?”
“Think about it. When a starship receives a transmission, the sender gets confirmation of it. It includes the time and the location that the transmission was received.” He glanced down at Hobbes’ PADD. “And Leyn’s paper went out, four hours before the Buckingham was destroyed.”
Maguire pursed her lips thoughtfully. “That really makes me want to know where they were at the time.”
“Yes,” Pasko said, agreeing with her,” and I think that zh’Tali would like to know that as well.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“USS Gladiator, NCC-45592, Ambassador class heavy cruiser,” Commander zh’Tali said, gesturing to the display screen behind her. “Originally built as a second-generation Ambassador, she had been refit twice. Her first refit was in 2370 to accommodate the Federation’s ecologically-sound warp drive and her second refit was in early 2373 with improved weapons capability in anticipation of the Dominion War.” The Andorian zhen altered the diagram to show details of the weapons system. “The Gladiator received upgrades similar to those test-bedded on the Lakota, such as upgraded shielding, heavier phaser banks, ablative armor and, of course,” -- zh’Tali paused dramatically -- ,” quantum torpedoes.”
The air in the Warrior’s briefing room crackled dangerously as she finished her assessment. On one side of the table sat Pasko, Maguire, and Ntannu. Sitting opposite of them was the Miranda class starship’s command staff.
Captain Ghran cleared his throat to address the Cayuga’’s First Officer. “Are you frakking crazy?!,” the Tellarite asked her. “You presume to attack the Gladiator?”
“We can take them, sir,” Pasko snapped back at the higher-ranking officer. “That tub is nearly forty years old and I don’t care how many refits that she’s had. The Cayuga may be newer and faster than both the Gladiator and the Warrior but together, we could beat her.”
Zaahr shook his reptilian head. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Lieutenant. About three years ago, the Lakota engaged the Defiant on the edge of the Sol System. They did some fairly severe damage to her, and the Defiant is tougher than either of our ships.”
“Sean,” Maguire said from beside him,” if they tag us with even one of those quantum torpedoes, we’d be looking at a serious hull breach. Like a large portion of the ship would be missing.”
“I can stay out of their torpedo range,” the pilot said confidently. “Cayuga’s got maneuverability on her side.”
“The Warrior doesn’t,” Lieutenant Jason Marino, the Warrior’s helm officer said, interrupting him. “The losses that we would take would be heinous.”
“Question,” asked Commander Siobhan MacGregor, Ghran’s First Officer, before Pasko could respond to his fellow pilot,” why?”
“Why what?,” Pasko asked him, defensively.
“Why would the crew of the Gladiator destroy the Buckingham? Why would they kill two hundred and fifty-three of their fellow officers? MacGregor gestured emptily at this question. “That’s the part of this situation that I… just don’t get.”
The officers from both ships looked at one another uncomfortably with the silence stretching until zh’Tali cleared her throat to gain their attention. Behind her was a Starfleet personnel personnel file. The picture in the upper right-hand corner showing a smiling woman with graying red hair.
“Captain Allison Cheney,” she shared with them. “Born on Proxima Five in 2334 and graduated from Starfleet Academy in 2356. In early 2364, she married her fellow officer, Eric Cheney, and eight months later, she requested a transfer to Hamirik, near Cardassian space, to begin a family. Her commission was reactivated and she fought in the first Cardassian conflict until 2366. Hamirik fell into the region established as the Demilitarized Zone after the conflict. Cheney then accepted promotion to Captain and command of the Gladiator.”
zh’Tali paused for a breath before she continued, slower and quieter. “When the Dominion War broke out, the Gladiator was assigned to the Seventh Fleet. As an opening move, the Dominion attacked and conquered almost all of the Federation’s colonies in the former Demilitarized Zone. Starfleet’s efforts to evacuate the colonies was often too late. Cheney’s son, David and her brother were killed by the Jem’hadar on Hamirik. Two years later, her husband, Commander Eric Cheny was killed when the USS Cortez was destroyed while on patrol near Azaeron.”
“Damn,” Pasko muttered underneath his breath.
“So,” Ntannu pondered, saying something for the first time,” she’s just gone around the bend? Maybe she thought that the captain of the Buckingham was somehow responsible for his ship not being able to get to Hamirik?”
“It’s probably more complicated than that,” remarked Ghran.
“The Buckingham was attacked with Cardassian weapons, presumably installed on the Gladiator,” Zaahr said,” but the Buckingham fought back. Maybe they got too close to causing some damage that would have been a little hard to explain away to Starfleet Command.”
“Cheney hit the Buckingham with quantum torpedoes,” Pasko concluded.
“Why not just hit them with the quantum torpedoes in the first place?,” MacGregor asked. “What did they gain by using weaker weapons?”
zh’Tali cleared her throat again and the room fell silent. “They have gained exactly what they intended to,” she said with cold malice,” with not simply the destruction of the Buckingham but with the destruction in such a way that the Cardassians were blamed for the attack.” She brought up an image of the debris from the Buckingham on the screen behind her.
“At the cost of the lives of two hundred and fifty-three Starfleet officers, Captain Cheney has provoked a renewal of conflict between the Federation and what little remains of the Cardassian Union. Just to satisfy her own lust for vengeance, she had blackened the name of Starfleet and we will stop her.”
“Which brings me back to my original frakking question if you were paying attention, Snowflake,” Captain Ghran barked at her. “What in the name of Sanity do you intend to do?”
zh’Tali smiled at the Tellarite captain. “I am going to beam over to her ship and ask her to stand down, allowing her ship to be taken to Starbase Three-Nine-Five by security teams from the Warrior and the Cayuga. I am sure that she wouldn’t object.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The soft lines of the Gladiator’s Bridge had always appealed to Allison Cheney. The anachronistic styling of the consoles, some forty-years out-of-date, simultaneously soothed and delighted her. She raised her eyes to the viewscreen as the two starships approached hers, the red glow of their warp nacelles reflecting off of their dark hulls. Where her ship and the Warrior had beautiful curves, the Saber class starship had angles that threatened to cut anyone that wandered too close to her. Cheney made sure that the sharpness of his ship remained hidden.
“The Cayuga is ready for transport,” Commander Mardak said, inhaling a puff of methane from his breather. “Allison, I don’t think that this is a good idea.”
Cheney nodded thoughtfully at him. “You’re right, of course,” she told the Benzite,” but look at that ship, the Cayuga. Two weeks ago, she attacked the USS Fafnir. If they get too close to us, we can destroy them and claim self-defense.” She glanced over at the young Human sitting at the Ops station, ignoring the fearful look in her eyes. “Ensign, tell Commander zh’Tali that she’s welcome to come aboard any time.”
A single pillar of silver-blue energy formed at the center of the Bridge. After the transporter effect had faded from view, Cheney stood from her command chair and extended her hand to the white-haired Andorian who had appeared before her.
“Hello,” the zhen said with a smile. “I’m Davi zh’Tali.”
“Delighted to meet you. Is this a visit of business or pleasure?”
“Oh, a little of both, I suspect. Business first, though,” the commander said, tilting her head to one side. “Did you order the destruction of the USS Buckingham?”
Cheney’s pleasant smile faded away and the temperature on the Bridge seemed to drop. “Yes.”
“Thank you for your honesty, Captain,” zh’Tali said sincerely. “You are under arrest. You will return with me to the Cayuga. Your ship and crew will be taken into Starfleet custody.”
Shaking her head, Cheney turned around and returned to her spot in her command chair. “I’m sorry, Commander, but I can’t allow that.” She motioned to the tactical officer with a nod of her head. “Lieutenant, target the drive and communications systems of the Cayuga and the Warrior. Then… destroy them.” Then she addressed the Ensign at Ops. “Summon a security team to the Bridge to escort the commander to the Brig.”
The Ensign’s quaking fingers reached for her combadge and that was when zh’Tali acted. She grabbed the ensign’s head and slammed it against her console until both blood and enamel flew wildly across the room. The helm officer next to her gasped and leaped up from his chair to try to tackle her. Without any warning, the Andorian grabbed his wrist and broke it, pivoting and throwing him into the Ops officer, crushing both of them against a nearby bulkhead.
Two ensigns rushed across the Bridge to stand between her and their captain. The Andorian zhen speared her hand into the first man’s mouth, jerking down sharply to dislocate his jaw before plucking off his combadge and tossing it at the second ensign’s feet, tripping her to the ground. She took a moment to kick at the ensign’s head before dodging a phaser blast fired by the tactical officer. Hitting the deck, she rolled and launched the combadge at him, hitting his temple. The impact caused him to fall like David and Goliath.
zh’Tali stood up and turned slowly towards Mardak and Cheney. “You are under arrest,” she repeated before she lashed out at them. She ripped the Benzite’s methane breather from his chest before she punched him in the stomach. “And you will come with me.” Gagging on blue blood, Mardak sagged to the floor and zh’Tali backhanded Cheney so that she might follow.
The Cayuga’s First Officer tapped her combadge. “zh’Tali to Warrior. Begin transporting over the boarding parties and a medical trauma team to the Bridge.”
Humanoids appeared around her in a haze of transporter energy. A physician dispersed her nurses towards the wounded and Lieutenant Zaahr directed his officers to take places at the command consoles. The Gorn surveyed the carnage and muttered to himself,” By the Great Egg…”
zh’Tali spared him a sanguine glance. “Your deity is not with us.” She tapped her combadge again. “zh’Tali to Cayuga. Energize.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
It had taken them a little more than half an hour to assume control over the Gladiator since the crew had largely surrendered without any conflict. Zaahr’s teams found the rest of the ship’s command staff and several other people heavily sedated in a cargo bay. Lieutenant Maguire uncovered support struts for a weapons emplacement on the hull. Power conduits from Main Engineering lead up to it and they had been altered to match Cardassian power specifications. Captain Ghran reported all of this new evidence to Admiral Falconer and the ‘investigation’ was put on hold until the Gladiator’s role in the destruction of the Buckingham was clarified by the Starfleet Criminal Investigative Service.
Now that the three starships were racing at warp for Starbase Three-Nine-Five, Captain Cheney sat in the Cayuga’s Brig, tracing the edges of her bunk. Like the ship, its angles were harsh like the future that she saw filled with sharp lines of courtrooms and penal colonies for the rest of her life.
Cheney saw something else; the rounded curves of an alternative.
Already dim to simulate nighttime, the lights in the brig blacked out completely. The hum of the force field died and she stood at the doors leading to the corridor outside opened.”
“Hello.”
“Hello,” replied Lieutenant Keitsev.
“Are you here to end this?”
The hands that stretched out towards her and around her throat were curved flesh over rigid bone. They bore down on her until she felt the hard lines of her life blend away into nothingness.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The Mess Hall was filled with happy, partying, inebriated officers and crew members.
“We won!,” Alice Polcheny cried out, draping herself across Sean and Aimee. “Th’ good guys saved th’ day!”
“That’s it,” Aimee told her. “No more daiquiris for you… ever.”
Alice looked panicked for a moment but she quickly forgot. “We’re getting Cap’n Po -- the lady back, right?”
Sean nodded and Alice settled herself on him. “Now that Starfleet knows who really destroyed the Buckingham, they’ve got a new focus,” he told her. “I almost feel bad for the Gladiator’s officers.”
“I do feel bad after what zh’Tali did to them,” Aimee said, shaking her head. “Some of them are still in Sickbay, unconscious.”
“But they’re alive.”
“Sean,” Alice asked him, tugging on his sleeve,” where’s Vasily? He should be here, having fun.”
“I’ll go get him,” Aimee told them. “I need to go drag Sam out of here, anyways.” She left the Mess Hall before Alice could slur a thank you her way, pushing her way through the crowd. She broke through to the outer corridor and turned a corner down towards the crew quarters.
“Hey! Keitsev!,” she called out as she saw a familiar silhouette duck into the deserted transport room. She followed him and found Keitsev poised over the control console, entering in coordinates. “Are you going somewhere? Come on! Polcheny’s smashed and she misses your company.” She glanced at the panel and frowned. “Hey, you’re really going somewhere. Keitsev, what’s going on?”
Keitsev hesitated for a moment before he struck her. Her hair pins snapped, flying against the wall. His victim raised her hands in defense but he muscled his way past them before he struck her again… and again. Her head hit the floor and she heard the soft chime of the transporter. Then she didn’t hear very much at all after that as darkness overcame her.
The End...
Response to: ‘The Jeanne Pozach Story”
I really enjoyed this Captain's Table tale, and how it unexpectedly involves a story from Jeanne's first days as a cadet. There's a lot of hinted-at backstory here, and while some of it goes unexplained, I think that's for the best. You can read between the lines enough to get the gist, and what all of this must have cost her psyche as a result.
The level of strength needed to shed that past and pass the rigorous testing to even be considered for SF Academy shows just how formidable Pozach is. Nicely done.
I really enjoyed this Captain's Table tale, and how it unexpectedly involves a story from Jeanne's first days as a cadet. There's a lot of hinted-at backstory here, and while some of it goes unexplained, I think that's for the best. You can read between the lines enough to get the gist, and what all of this must have cost her psyche as a result.
The level of strength needed to shed that past and pass the rigorous testing to even be considered for SF Academy shows just how formidable Pozach is. Nicely done.
Star Trek: Cayuga
08 - ‘Passing Ships’
By Jack Elmlinger
Being thrown into the Brig was a pain in the ass; no matter how many times everyone apologized to you afterwards. Captain Pozach scowled as her console rejected her access codes for the third time before she twisted around in his chair to face the stars. The Cayuga’s starboard rear section stretched out before her and beyond it, the almost antiquated hull of Starbase Three-Five-Nine.
Beside her, the door chimes rang for her attention. She touched the bruise on her cheek before turning around in her chair to address the door. “Enter.” The doors pulled themselves apart and Weynik stepped inside.
“Captain,” she said, rising from her chair,” I hadn’t heard that you were aboard.”
“Yes, I asked your transporter chief to let me surprise you.” The Roylan shifted his weight from one foot to the other, grimacing. “Can we talk?”
“I have a dozen officers to see off on their trip back to Starfleet Academy and I want to welcome their replacements as well as a new operations officer aboard personally.” She gestured with a hand to one of the chairs opposite her deck. “Please, speak quickly.”
She knew that she was being brusque and she knew it because she was also tired of being apologized to and of being told that the thousands of Cardassian deaths had been for no reason. She had heard enough of that when they had released her from the Starbase’s Brig.
Weynik reached down and plucked a guitar pick up off the floor. Pozach raised an eyebrow at it. “You play guitar?,” he asked her before dismissing the question with a wave of his hand. “Never mind.” He cleared his throat and added,” Captain, I was wondering if you would marry me.”
Pozach leaned over her desk to take the pick from his hand. “You and I have worked together before. I wouldn’t call us friends. I certainly don’t appreciate you, asking me to marry you.”
“I didn’t mean --- You met Wintamba while we were dealing with the black marketeers.”
“Captain of the Atlantis,” she replied. “A telepathic Roylan.”
Weynik nodded. “She and I agreed that after the war, we would get married. If we both made it out alive.”
“Why?,” Pozach asked him, flipping the pick over in her hand.
“Why? Well, she’s intelligent and -- ,” Weynik began to say but Pozach shook her head.
“No, Captain. Why me?” Sitting back in her chair, the junior captain allowed her irritation to flash through her eyes. “You’ve made it quite clear that you don’t respect me or even like me.”
Anger clouded Weynik’s face and he opened his mouth to argue his point. “No,” he said, at length. “No, I deserved that. Before -- I had decided that you weren’t the kind of person who should be in command of a starship.”
“The person I am hasn’t changed,” she snapped back at him.
“I understand that, but my … view of you has. Your actions in the Norgo system -- you stood up for what Starfleet is supposed to be, and that’s something that a lot of us wouldn’t have done.”
Pozach felt her ears warm up. “I only did what I felt that I had to do.”
“I know,” Weynik said,” and for that, you have my respect.”
They sat in silence for a moment before Pozach said,” I only met her once but Captain Wintamba seemed to be a delightful woman. You’re a lucky man.” She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I guess I need to learn about Roylan weddings if I’m going to do this properly.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The dim lights made the Starbase’s hospital seem smaller than it was as if the shadows had become solid. “Can I see her?,” Sam Dixon asked, reaching into his pocket to reassure himself that the ring was there.
The doctor led him into the recovery room where its sole occupant was lying in bed, her golden hair scattered around her head. At the top of the bed, a LCARS display beeped in time with her pulse.
Sam sat down beside Aimee and took her hand. “We tracked down Keitsev’s transport,” he told her. “The coordinates that he set into the transporter system were twenty thousand kilometers below the Cayuga. Since we didn’t find a cold body out there, we think that he beamed onto a cloaked ship that had been keeping pace with us.”
Aimee said nothing.
“There’s a part in the Starbase lounge,” continued the security officer,” for Polcheny, Sayvok, and the rest of us. I was going to go down later and put in an appearance.” Aimee continued to stare at the ceiling and he sighed. “Come on, Aimee. The doctors fixed the bleeding and the concussion.”
“I’m sorry,” the engineer whispered back at him,” if getting the shit kicked out of me has made me any less than cheerful.”
Sam stood up, one hand reaching into his pocket. “I’ve got to go now.” He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the forehead,” but listen, when I get back from the Academy… will you marry me?”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“Do you always wear that uniform, Davi?”
Commander zh’Tali looked up from her plate in surprise before she glanced down at the black and gray over red that covered her body. “Well… yes. It is comfortable and I have few other clothes.”
Across the table from her, Thanadysehn sh’Diaar laughed, her long white hair shaking around her shoulders. “Of course, I’ve forgotten how focused that you are.” The Admiral’s small quarters seemed to fill with her mirth.
zh’Tali raised an eyebrow. “I am what I was trained to be.”
“I think you’re more than that. After all, you were trained to combat the Borg. Yet you still fought in the Dominion War.”
zh’Tali nodded at her. “It’s not the war that I prepared for, no.” She considered her food. “My zhavey would have been proud of you, Thana.”
“Don’t start that.”
“I’m serious,” the zhen snapped at her. “You’re an Admiral in Starfleet with … endearing bondmates.”
“As if she’d be disappointed in you,” sh’Diaar countered. “You’re the First Officer of a starship. You’re doing what she and
your charan always wanted you to do.”
“What I do, Thana, is kill. No matter what position you assign me to, no matter how you dress it up, what I do is kill. Neither of our parents or our bondmates would be proud of that.”
“You do other things,” the admiral insisted. zh’Tali frowned at her, confused, and her bondmate laughed outright. “Davi, you’re that little girl who slept with a stuffed ko’lar bear under your arms until you turned thirteen. You’re the teenager who turned bright red when Aedevalyn th’Rhys asked you out on a date.”
“I’m also the woman who has dedicated the last eleven years of her life to vengeance,” Davi said, putting down her silverware. “One of my officers … the traitor… came to me, a few days before the incident with the Fafnir. He asked me to teach him, to fill him with stories about the glory of war.” She shook her head. “I am no one to be proud of, Thana.”
sh’Diaar stood up and in zh’Tali’s view, she did a very odd thing. She stepped around the table and wrapped her arms around her bondmate, kissing her on the lips. “Don’t tell me,” she whispered into her ear,” who I should be proud of, dearest.
zh’Tali relaxed… if only for a little while.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
They walked around the last corner in the corridor and entered the transporter room. Alice dropped her bags on the floor.
“Well,” she said,” here we are.”
Sean adjusted the strap of Alice’s duffle bag which was slung over her shoulder. “The most lasting memory that I have of the Academy is getting beat up during combat training by a big feline guy from Cait,” he confided in her.
“That sounds like fun,” she said with enthusiasm. “I hope that I get to try that too.”
“Actually, I’d prefer that you avoid it.” His fond smile slid away from his face. “How long until the Gihlan reaches Earth?”
Alice leaned against the corridor bulkhead and tried to look casual while she did the math in her head. “Well, Earth is about forty light years from. A Constellation class starship can cruise at high warp indefinitely so… at Warp Eight, fourteen days.” She smiled nervously and shifted closer to the wall so that a gaggle of crew members could pass by them. “Then it’s back to class.”
“The once and future cadet,” Sean said, forcing another smile.
Alice stepped up closer to Sean. “Listen, Sean, I just wanted you to know that I’m going to miss… talking with you.” She swallowed, her eyes darting left and right. “Um… a lot.”
Sean reached out, tentatively and took her hand. “Tell you what. Every day that you’re gone, I’ll write you a letter.”
Alice bit her lower lip and grinned through her teeth. “And I’ll write to you!
He grinned back at her. “I’d like that a lot.”
The End…
08 - ‘Passing Ships’
By Jack Elmlinger
Being thrown into the Brig was a pain in the ass; no matter how many times everyone apologized to you afterwards. Captain Pozach scowled as her console rejected her access codes for the third time before she twisted around in his chair to face the stars. The Cayuga’s starboard rear section stretched out before her and beyond it, the almost antiquated hull of Starbase Three-Five-Nine.
Beside her, the door chimes rang for her attention. She touched the bruise on her cheek before turning around in her chair to address the door. “Enter.” The doors pulled themselves apart and Weynik stepped inside.
“Captain,” she said, rising from her chair,” I hadn’t heard that you were aboard.”
“Yes, I asked your transporter chief to let me surprise you.” The Roylan shifted his weight from one foot to the other, grimacing. “Can we talk?”
“I have a dozen officers to see off on their trip back to Starfleet Academy and I want to welcome their replacements as well as a new operations officer aboard personally.” She gestured with a hand to one of the chairs opposite her deck. “Please, speak quickly.”
She knew that she was being brusque and she knew it because she was also tired of being apologized to and of being told that the thousands of Cardassian deaths had been for no reason. She had heard enough of that when they had released her from the Starbase’s Brig.
Weynik reached down and plucked a guitar pick up off the floor. Pozach raised an eyebrow at it. “You play guitar?,” he asked her before dismissing the question with a wave of his hand. “Never mind.” He cleared his throat and added,” Captain, I was wondering if you would marry me.”
Pozach leaned over her desk to take the pick from his hand. “You and I have worked together before. I wouldn’t call us friends. I certainly don’t appreciate you, asking me to marry you.”
“I didn’t mean --- You met Wintamba while we were dealing with the black marketeers.”
“Captain of the Atlantis,” she replied. “A telepathic Roylan.”
Weynik nodded. “She and I agreed that after the war, we would get married. If we both made it out alive.”
“Why?,” Pozach asked him, flipping the pick over in her hand.
“Why? Well, she’s intelligent and -- ,” Weynik began to say but Pozach shook her head.
“No, Captain. Why me?” Sitting back in her chair, the junior captain allowed her irritation to flash through her eyes. “You’ve made it quite clear that you don’t respect me or even like me.”
Anger clouded Weynik’s face and he opened his mouth to argue his point. “No,” he said, at length. “No, I deserved that. Before -- I had decided that you weren’t the kind of person who should be in command of a starship.”
“The person I am hasn’t changed,” she snapped back at him.
“I understand that, but my … view of you has. Your actions in the Norgo system -- you stood up for what Starfleet is supposed to be, and that’s something that a lot of us wouldn’t have done.”
Pozach felt her ears warm up. “I only did what I felt that I had to do.”
“I know,” Weynik said,” and for that, you have my respect.”
They sat in silence for a moment before Pozach said,” I only met her once but Captain Wintamba seemed to be a delightful woman. You’re a lucky man.” She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I guess I need to learn about Roylan weddings if I’m going to do this properly.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The dim lights made the Starbase’s hospital seem smaller than it was as if the shadows had become solid. “Can I see her?,” Sam Dixon asked, reaching into his pocket to reassure himself that the ring was there.
The doctor led him into the recovery room where its sole occupant was lying in bed, her golden hair scattered around her head. At the top of the bed, a LCARS display beeped in time with her pulse.
Sam sat down beside Aimee and took her hand. “We tracked down Keitsev’s transport,” he told her. “The coordinates that he set into the transporter system were twenty thousand kilometers below the Cayuga. Since we didn’t find a cold body out there, we think that he beamed onto a cloaked ship that had been keeping pace with us.”
Aimee said nothing.
“There’s a part in the Starbase lounge,” continued the security officer,” for Polcheny, Sayvok, and the rest of us. I was going to go down later and put in an appearance.” Aimee continued to stare at the ceiling and he sighed. “Come on, Aimee. The doctors fixed the bleeding and the concussion.”
“I’m sorry,” the engineer whispered back at him,” if getting the shit kicked out of me has made me any less than cheerful.”
Sam stood up, one hand reaching into his pocket. “I’ve got to go now.” He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the forehead,” but listen, when I get back from the Academy… will you marry me?”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“Do you always wear that uniform, Davi?”
Commander zh’Tali looked up from her plate in surprise before she glanced down at the black and gray over red that covered her body. “Well… yes. It is comfortable and I have few other clothes.”
Across the table from her, Thanadysehn sh’Diaar laughed, her long white hair shaking around her shoulders. “Of course, I’ve forgotten how focused that you are.” The Admiral’s small quarters seemed to fill with her mirth.
zh’Tali raised an eyebrow. “I am what I was trained to be.”
“I think you’re more than that. After all, you were trained to combat the Borg. Yet you still fought in the Dominion War.”
zh’Tali nodded at her. “It’s not the war that I prepared for, no.” She considered her food. “My zhavey would have been proud of you, Thana.”
“Don’t start that.”
“I’m serious,” the zhen snapped at her. “You’re an Admiral in Starfleet with … endearing bondmates.”
“As if she’d be disappointed in you,” sh’Diaar countered. “You’re the First Officer of a starship. You’re doing what she and
your charan always wanted you to do.”
“What I do, Thana, is kill. No matter what position you assign me to, no matter how you dress it up, what I do is kill. Neither of our parents or our bondmates would be proud of that.”
“You do other things,” the admiral insisted. zh’Tali frowned at her, confused, and her bondmate laughed outright. “Davi, you’re that little girl who slept with a stuffed ko’lar bear under your arms until you turned thirteen. You’re the teenager who turned bright red when Aedevalyn th’Rhys asked you out on a date.”
“I’m also the woman who has dedicated the last eleven years of her life to vengeance,” Davi said, putting down her silverware. “One of my officers … the traitor… came to me, a few days before the incident with the Fafnir. He asked me to teach him, to fill him with stories about the glory of war.” She shook her head. “I am no one to be proud of, Thana.”
sh’Diaar stood up and in zh’Tali’s view, she did a very odd thing. She stepped around the table and wrapped her arms around her bondmate, kissing her on the lips. “Don’t tell me,” she whispered into her ear,” who I should be proud of, dearest.
zh’Tali relaxed… if only for a little while.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
They walked around the last corner in the corridor and entered the transporter room. Alice dropped her bags on the floor.
“Well,” she said,” here we are.”
Sean adjusted the strap of Alice’s duffle bag which was slung over her shoulder. “The most lasting memory that I have of the Academy is getting beat up during combat training by a big feline guy from Cait,” he confided in her.
“That sounds like fun,” she said with enthusiasm. “I hope that I get to try that too.”
“Actually, I’d prefer that you avoid it.” His fond smile slid away from his face. “How long until the Gihlan reaches Earth?”
Alice leaned against the corridor bulkhead and tried to look casual while she did the math in her head. “Well, Earth is about forty light years from. A Constellation class starship can cruise at high warp indefinitely so… at Warp Eight, fourteen days.” She smiled nervously and shifted closer to the wall so that a gaggle of crew members could pass by them. “Then it’s back to class.”
“The once and future cadet,” Sean said, forcing another smile.
Alice stepped up closer to Sean. “Listen, Sean, I just wanted you to know that I’m going to miss… talking with you.” She swallowed, her eyes darting left and right. “Um… a lot.”
Sean reached out, tentatively and took her hand. “Tell you what. Every day that you’re gone, I’ll write you a letter.”
Alice bit her lower lip and grinned through her teeth. “And I’ll write to you!
He grinned back at her. “I’d like that a lot.”
The End…
‘00:00’
What I liked in this story is that we really get to see Starfleet working together for once. Sure, you still have the snobish Thirteenth Fleet, but too often we see Starfleet work at cross purposes or be outright obtuse (and yes, I've been guilty of writing stories like that myself), whereas here we get to see a number of ships and officers work hand in hand to solve the Cardassian piracy problem, rather than the hero ship and captain having to fight against their own people to get stuff done.
As for zh’Tali, I'm actually quite surprised how most of the crew seem to have accepted her and her actions, leaving Maguire mostly on her own with her concerns. I get that Starfleet has changed and I wonder if you are setting this up as a central issue of your stories. I'm certainly eager to see how this gets resolved. If it does at all. It's certainly compelling.
The Jeanne Pozach Story
One of the most impressive things about this series you are crafting here is the sheer variety of stories you are telling, from sweeping action pieces to intimate character vignettes. This Captain's Table/Origin Story tale was another good entry although it certainly left me with more questions and an appetite to learn more about your central protagonist.
What exactly did she do on her home world? Did she kill a lover? Did she get into a jealous rage? She certainly doesn't seem the type. And on that point, how exactly did she turn from a rather insecure cadet into a confident officer and later a starship captain. Clearly much more to explore here and I'd love to see you do it.
BTW it might be easier to keep track of this if you posted each story in its own thread. Having everything in one place makes it a little messy to follow. Just a thought.
What I liked in this story is that we really get to see Starfleet working together for once. Sure, you still have the snobish Thirteenth Fleet, but too often we see Starfleet work at cross purposes or be outright obtuse (and yes, I've been guilty of writing stories like that myself), whereas here we get to see a number of ships and officers work hand in hand to solve the Cardassian piracy problem, rather than the hero ship and captain having to fight against their own people to get stuff done.
As for zh’Tali, I'm actually quite surprised how most of the crew seem to have accepted her and her actions, leaving Maguire mostly on her own with her concerns. I get that Starfleet has changed and I wonder if you are setting this up as a central issue of your stories. I'm certainly eager to see how this gets resolved. If it does at all. It's certainly compelling.
The Jeanne Pozach Story
One of the most impressive things about this series you are crafting here is the sheer variety of stories you are telling, from sweeping action pieces to intimate character vignettes. This Captain's Table/Origin Story tale was another good entry although it certainly left me with more questions and an appetite to learn more about your central protagonist.
What exactly did she do on her home world? Did she kill a lover? Did she get into a jealous rage? She certainly doesn't seem the type. And on that point, how exactly did she turn from a rather insecure cadet into a confident officer and later a starship captain. Clearly much more to explore here and I'd love to see you do it.
BTW it might be easier to keep track of this if you posted each story in its own thread. Having everything in one place makes it a little messy to follow. Just a thought.
Patriotic Chorus - Part One
It's getting quite clear that the theme you are exploring with this series is Starfleet's ethical post-war dilemma. And you do that to excellent effect with a lot of blurred lines.
Although things have truly escalated when two Starfleet ships start shooting at each other. Whoever is going to preside over the upcoming court martial has their work cut out for them. I'm with Pozach here, that's for sure, but I wonder if there is anything else she could have done than ordering to fire on the Fafnir. But hey, I'm not gonna be the guy second-guessing her choices here.
Also, gotta shout out some of the excellent and highly entertaining character dialog in this story.
It's getting quite clear that the theme you are exploring with this series is Starfleet's ethical post-war dilemma. And you do that to excellent effect with a lot of blurred lines.
Although things have truly escalated when two Starfleet ships start shooting at each other. Whoever is going to preside over the upcoming court martial has their work cut out for them. I'm with Pozach here, that's for sure, but I wonder if there is anything else she could have done than ordering to fire on the Fafnir. But hey, I'm not gonna be the guy second-guessing her choices here.
Also, gotta shout out some of the excellent and highly entertaining character dialog in this story.
All right, caught up with the stories in this threat.
Patriotic Chorus II really highlights the post-war fracture in Starfleet and establishes a mystery which I hope you'll reveal in the coming stories, including a cliffhanger, in form of a betrayal, that just begs for a continuation. zh’Tali remains one of your most fascinating characters, inherently flawed and entirely out of place in a galaxy (mostly) at peace. Her story arc is going to be really interesting moving forward, I'm sure.
Passing Ships felts like a nice little prologue to the action-packed events of the recent stories. It feels like the beginning of a new chapter for these characters.
I'll be checking out your next stories next, although it may take me some time. You've really cranked these out in record time.
Patriotic Chorus II really highlights the post-war fracture in Starfleet and establishes a mystery which I hope you'll reveal in the coming stories, including a cliffhanger, in form of a betrayal, that just begs for a continuation. zh’Tali remains one of your most fascinating characters, inherently flawed and entirely out of place in a galaxy (mostly) at peace. Her story arc is going to be really interesting moving forward, I'm sure.
Passing Ships felts like a nice little prologue to the action-packed events of the recent stories. It feels like the beginning of a new chapter for these characters.
I'll be checking out your next stories next, although it may take me some time. You've really cranked these out in record time.
- Status
