Written by Alex Matthews
Created by Jonathan Crosby-Bromley and Alex Matthews
Based on 'Star Trek' created by Gene Roddenberry
Produced by Sojournerverse Productions
STARRING
Matt Damon as CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER APRIL
Rose Leslie as COMMANDER MAYA KENT
Christina Chang as DR PATRICIA SONG
Ed Skrein as COMMANDER WARREN MACKENZIE
Gabriel-Kane Day-Lewis as LT. EDWARD HEMMINGWAY
Jack Hunter as LT. TIMOTHY DI MARCO
Lesley-Ann Brandt as COMMANDER ANNIKA BARD
Natalie Dormer as LT. COMMANDER SIRANNA
GUEST-STARRING
Sanaa Latham as DR. OLIVIA KENDRICK
TBA as ASSISTANT DIRECTOR VERAN LERAK
===============================================
The office of the erstwhile Assistant Director of External Affairs was abuzz with members of Starfleet Security working alongside their brethren from the New Jalyel Police Constabulary. Checking computer files, running detailed forensic scans, looking for any and all evidence to understand just what had gone down here only an hour or so before.
But all Commander Annika Bard cared about right now was the fallen security officer laying dead in front of her.
As she gently lowered the plastic sheet back over the body of Hank Anderson and pushed herself into a standing position, Bard offered up a silent prayer to whatever Gods were watching over them. Then, after she finished, she made a pledge, just as silent, that his killer would be brought to justice.
A pledge she had every intention of keeping. Just like the one she had made for all those poor unfortunate souls on Rigel IV. Because now the bastard who was responsible had a name.
Veran Lerak, you've just become the most wanted man in the Rigel system.
Her examination of the wound that had killed the non-com had told her one important thing. The discharge of the energy weapon, a disruptor by the tissue damage, had been in close contact, but at an unusual angle. To her expert eye, it looked like the discharge had occurred during a struggle with the weapon.
That meant that it could very well have been accidental. But that didn’t change the fact that Lerak had run from the scene of the crime, absconded with Olivia Kendrick in tow, most probably as a hostage. Not to mention his recorded confession for his involvement in the problems of Rigel IV.
Now they just had to find him.
“Commander?” Turning away as the coroner attendants began moving Anderson’s body away, Bard took the proffered hand scanner from one of the technicians.
Bard quickly read the display and the results of the forensic sweep, grimacing with disappointment at what it told her. “Transporter signatures?”
It confirmed her suspicion that Lerak had enacted some kind of fail-safe extraction plan now that his little endeavour had been rumbled. Unfortunately, whereas a shuttle or other such vehicle could have been tracked from leaving the Executive Assembly, a transporter was another matter.
Still, they weren’t completely out of options. “Coordinate with the local P.D. liaison. We’re going to need their help in order to track where Lerak beamed out to before the signal fades.”
The tech nodded, heading off. As much as she wanted to chase down this lead, Bard knew she had another, more solemn task to take care of first. She pulled out her communicator and signalled the Consulate, knowing that they would have what she needed.
“This is Commander Bard, Starfleet Security. I need to secure a priority channel to the Starship Hannock, on its way back from Rigel IX.”
* * *
As he sat in his command chair, trying to understand and deal with the swell of grief that threatened to overwhelm him, Captain Christopher April knew he wasn’t the only one who felt that way.
The rest of the Hannock’s senior officers had gathered on the small bridge, even Warren Mackenzie sat at the engineering monitors. Each and every one of them looked just as shell-shocked as April himself felt. The absence of Freida Rasmussen at her usual post was all the more painful too.
Because now they had lost one of their own.
April’s mind felt numb as he played it over in his mind again, what Commander Bard had informed them of only a short time ago. That Hank Anderson was dead. That Olivia Kendrick and Veran Lerak were in the wind, the former quite possibly a prisoner of the later.
The Hannock was mere minutes from entering orbit around Rigel V. They were pushing the impulse engines for all they could to get there as fast as they could, under Tim Di Marco’s skilled touch. April knew he should be formulating battle plans, search patterns, preparing the crew for what might be to come.
But all he could think about was the letters he was going to have to compose to send to Anderson's family. How his mother and father would hear that their son was gone. How his wife and two kids back on Vega Colony would learn that their husband and father was never coming home.
“Captain?” Hemmingway’s pensive inquiry cut through the fog of April’s maudlin thoughts. Like the rest of the senior officers, the lieutenant had insisted on being at his station, despite his experiences. “Sir, we’re being hailed by Commander Bard again.”
“Onscreen,” he managed to force himself to say. He blinked a few times, as he focused on the forward viewscreen as Bard appeared on it. Now was not the time for pleasantries, “Report, Commander.”
[Lerak’s a crafty son-of-a-bitch,] replied the lithe security officer. [He bounced his transporter signal across the entire emergency escape satellite network. But we finally managed to get a lock on the location he ran to. One of the islands of the Viltani Barrier.]
April remembered what Olivia had told him about that area only a few days ago. How it was similar to the Spanish Riviera of pre-WW3 Earth, a place where the rich and famous would go to lap up sun, sea and sand. “He wouldn’t stay there for long,” he mused aloud, “not after what he’s done. He must have some kind of plan to leave the system.”
[Agreed.] Bard looked at something off-screen for a moment, [Our sources say he has a holiday villa there. With its own private spaceship hanger. But no mention of a craft in his records.]
His lips pursed in disgust, April scoffed, “Oh, he has one. Count on it. Send us those coordinates.” He checked the astrogator in his command display, “We’ll hit orbit in less than 90 seconds.”
[Understood. Good hunting.] Bard vanished from the screen, returning to the view of a rapidly growing Rigel V.
April leaned forward ever so slightly. He tossed a look over his shoulder to Maya Kent, sitting at her tactical console. A moment of understanding and agreement passing unsaid between the captain and executive officer. Her Scottish burr sounded clipped and precise as she barked out orders, “Tactical Alert, condition red.”
The overhead light panels dimmed, with crimson-hued supplementary lighting washing over the bridge and the personnel manning their stations. After a moment, Hemmingway confirmed all decks were at ready status.
“Picking something up at the target coordinates.” April turned his chair to look at Kent, as she studied the tactical data on her console monitor, the blue light illuminating the deep concentration on her face. “A ship, moving off into the atmosphere at full impulse.”
Jeanne Leroy spoke up next, “It’s a small star cruiser, Captain. A standard civilian model, based on the configuration.” She frowned at her own screen, “But its energy signature is strange. It’s packing a hell of a lot more power than it should.”
“Hang on, let me take a look.” Mackenzie’s hands danced over his console as he tied into the science station readings and brought them up on his display. He whistled in awe, “Oh, someone has been making some home improvements. Heavy modifications. A fair bit of extra juice going into structural integrity and shields.” He shot April a grim look, “Not to mention a fair share of what look like weapons ports.”
April refused to let himself be intimidated by the facts. The Hannock may be an old Ganges-class ship, but it could still run circles around an amoral businessman’s hot-rod. “Shields up, phase-cannons at the ready. Load forward torpedo tubes.” He looked back to Kent, “I want him disarmed and disabled. Remember, he had a hostage.”
Kent gave him the briefest of nods before focusing on her targeting scanners as April looked to Hemmingway, “Signal him to heave to and prepare to be boarded, Lieutenant.”
“Aye, sir.” Hemmingway adjusted his personal transceiver as he fiddled with his dials, repeating his captain‘s demands on an open channel. Eventually, he shook his head in dismay, “No answer, sir.”
April had his communications officer continue trying to establish contact. I want this done by the book. I will not let that bastard get away with any of his crimes because of some damn legal loophole or technicality.
Di Marco spoke up from the helm, “He’s out of the atmosphere, moving into the system.” There was an alarm that he quickly silenced, “He’s spotted us. He’s bugging out, Captain.”
“Pursuit course. Don’t lose him, Tim.”
On the screen, Rigel V shifted out of view, as the only thing on it became the sleek shape of the cruiser, more a pleasure yacht than anything else, against the dark backdrop of space. Its impulse exhaust ports glowed burning white-hot. He’s pushing his engines hard, but he won’t outrun us.
“We can easily match his speed, Captain,” reported the helmsman, confirming April‘s own thoughts. “But he might push his engines into a catastrophic overload if he keeps red-lining and ramping up his speed.”
“Still no response to hails, Captain,” chimed in Hemmingway. “He can hear us, but he’s refusing to answer.”
“Energy build-up!” cried out Kent, more stunned than alarmed. “He’s firing!”
High-yield energy discharges slammed into the Hannock’s forward defensive screens. The ship actually rocked from the impact. Everyone on the bridge, April included, was buffeted by it. Damn, how much fire-power is he packing?!
“Shields down to 87%, EPS overloads on Decks 3 and 4!” Mackenzie looked to April in dismay, “That’s a hell of a lot of fire-power he’s sending our way, Captain.”
“Maybe too much,” opined Kent. She grinned almost wolfishly at April, “He’s overtaxing his entire power grid. He’s losing speed and there are breaks in his own shield matrix.”
“He’s desperate.” April realized they could end this here and now. “Maya, target his engines. I want him dead in the water.”
On the screen, twin lances of ruby-red energy shot out from under the Hannock’s forward hull. With Kent’s precision aim, they pierced one of the gaps in the yacht’s overextended shield pattern. There was a plume of fire and smoke that was quickly snuffed out by the cold vacuum of space as the ship listed to one side, the engines darkening as it began to drift.
“Engines disabled,” Kent reported with prideful glee. “Power across the yacht is intermittent at best, but life support is still strong.”
“Prepare a boarding party,” April ordered, standing from his chair. He wanted to feel victorious at finally putting this to an end, but the spectre of the murder of one of his crew hung over him like a dark shroud. There was also his concern for Olivia. Lerak had taken her as a hostage, she was still at risk. “I want you to--”
The chirp of an incoming signal cut him off, as Hemmingway quickly dealt with it, “The yacht is hailing us, sir.”
April acknowledged the report with a nod, before instructing the lieutenant to patch it up on the main screen. Instead of the expected image of Lerak’s smug or angry visage, he was instead graced with Olivia’s attractive features. He forced himself to remain in a professional mode, “Dr Kendrick. I’m pleased to see you are okay.”
[A few bumps and bruises, but otherwise intact. Captain April.] She offered the slightest of smiles at their mutual formality, brushing some errant hair out of her face. [This ship is down for the count, so I would appreciate a lift.]
“Already underway. What about your-- your ‘host’?”
A look of sadness overtook her lovely features, [He won't be any trouble.]
She looked over her shoulder, moving out of the way of the screen’s visual pick-up, allowing April to see the huddled figure of Veran Lerak on the deck. Knees drawn up to his chin, his shoulder shaking, face buried in his crossed arms. The faint echo of his sobs was just about audible via the comm-channel.
A broken man. April considered himself a compassionate man. But after everything that Lerak had wrought, all the people dead because of his action, he found it very, very hard to feel sorry for the Jelna exomale.
He’d brought it on all himself.
* * *
