I'm sure that's coming.
There was an old courtroom drama called Ironsides. (Ironsides is the nickname of the USS Constitution).
-Will
Star Trek Hunter Episode 21: The Enemy of My Enemy
- Thread starter Robert Bruce Scott
- Start date
-Will
I would also like to add that Minerva is the goddess of wisdom and justice, born from Zeus's head.
And
The sister ship of Ol' Ironsides is the USS Constellation.
Very well crafted character name.
Maybe Minerva Iron's middle name is Artimis.
-Will
And
The sister ship of Ol' Ironsides is the USS Constellation.
Very well crafted character name.
Maybe Minerva Iron's middle name is Artimis.
-Will
Glad the action is coming through - STH tends to be long on dialogue, so seeing the action connect is quite gratifying.
Buttans Ngumbo is an underutilized hero. I didn't show much of his star-crossed romance with Dr. Carrera, only because there really wasn't much narrative room for it. He talks with Kenny about their differences, twice, but I wish I could have devoted a scene between Buttans and Carrera to their mismatch (Buttans was in love, Carrera was in lust.) Alas, a relationship that nuanced would really need at least three scenes to do it justice.
I didn't have Dredd in mind when I was writing Irons, but several readers have mentioned that she is a very Dredd-ful character - rough, frontier justice. It is an apt comparison. She definitely has a bit of Clint Eastwood in her - she plays it down, but she gets a sadistic thrill from violence and she unapologetically leaves mountains of bodies in her wake.
All I can say about Sela's plans for Minerva Irons is... hang on to your hat!
That's one part of where the character's name came from...
And there's the other - thanks for noticing! I think you're the first reader to pick up on that. There is a lot of significance behind the major character names in STH - such as the giant whose name is David (yeah - that was on purpose too...) - revered throughout the Klingon Empire for his 27-volume compendium and analysis of klingon poetry and considered a poet in his own right... as Doctor Pepper. (Rumors persist even into the 25th Century that Dr Pepper contains prune juice, making it tremendously popular among klingons.)
Nope, alas, I missed that opportunity. The alert klaxon is clearly described in earlier chapters as the classic red-alert heard in every franchise production - that grinding, whooping sound that vibrates the very skull of anyone within hearing range...
Thanks!! rbs
Star Trek Hunter
Episode 21: The Enemy of My Enemy
Scene 7: The Wreck of the I.K.V. ‘Iw Hov
21.7
The Wreck of the I.K.V. ‘Iw Hov
The Wreck of the I.K.V. ‘Iw Hov
Commander Kenneth Dolphin set the reader on the tactical unit’s pilot control console and hooked its readout into the main viewer, but found himself watching the small viewscreen on the reader as much as the main viewer. Commander David Pepper had evidently recorded this message some time before the death message Kenny and Tauk had viewed nearly a week earlier on the asteroid.
“Welcome to the ‘Iw Hov. Sorry for the mess. It’s ironic. I finally get my own command and the captain has to go down with his ship. When I beamed on board to retrieve Mlady, and to make sure our klingon friends didn’t get to keep her, or the gamorlans... Well…. About the mess… You’re just going to have to see this…”
Pep’s image was replaced by what was clearly ship’s footage of one of the gamorlans, looking up at a security camera. Pep’s voice continued narrating: “Cute, isn’t he? The soft fur ridge around his face… The big sad eyes…” The gamorlan suddenly opened its mouth – wide – exposing a mass of fangs – and lunged at the camera at incredible speed - then the picture cut out. And was replaced by Pep.
“Yeah, they have claws too. And brains. Our klingon friends beamed five elderly gamorlans onto the ‘Iw Hov and those five cute little old aliens went through 23 klingon warriors like a knife through hot butter. But that wasn’t all. They tore this ship apart, quite literally. Less than half the ship’s systems were operational by the time I made it to the bridge.”
The image shifted to a view of the bridge of the bird of prey as seen from another security camera. Klingons were shooting wildly at two gamorlans, but the tiny aliens moved almost too fast for the eye to follow. They burrowed through the klingon crew with ruthless speed, then one of them crawled up under the pilot’s station and started dismantling it, taking a number of electric shocks that would have killed a full grown klingon.
“These little guys are so ferocious that Mlady had to lock herself in the brig just to get away from them. It’s important to remember these little creeps drove themselves into extinction over religious differences. I suspect they would have been even more intolerant of other species. From the technology I observed, I think they were about a hundred years or less from developing faster than light travel. I could say I’m sad they didn’t make it – but I would be lying. I think the galaxy dodged a big one when these guys snuffed themselves out.”
“So anyway, one of them was already dead when I beamed onboard. I killed three more of them and took command of the ship. There were two surviving klingon crewmembers – Udrus Rorger and Avor Firshok. I had vented most of the ship’s atmosphere and the warp drive was offline. But the cloaking device was operational, so I was able to land the ‘Iw Hov inside one of the damaged decks of that enormous romulan battlegod, the Fero, just before they went to warp. I was hoping to resupply, but we still had a live gamorlan on board and something it did caused the cloak to go on the fritz.”
“I was only able to resupply our atmosphere and we jumped off the Fero as they were passing this solar system. Which left us in the outer asteroid belt. Udrus and Avor were doing their best to keep up with the gamorlan, but there was no way they could make repairs as fast as he was tearing things up. They caught up with him in the port wing. Here’s what the internal sensors picked up…”
The viewer displayed part of a corridor leading to an access hatch. A female klingon staggered into the picture, trying to dislodge a ferocious furry creature from her chest. His fangs were able to penetrate her armor and he bit her neck viciously, then turned around as she fell to the deck, ready to pounce. A disrupter beam passed through his head and sparked on an EPS conduit in the wall behind him, causing a series of explosions. A large hole opened, then the entire corridor was open to space, blowing out the bodies of the dead gamorlan, the dead klingon and another klingon who was still alive… but evidently not for long. Shortly after she was blown out of the breach, the wing section that had broken off tumbled back into view and the nacelle attached to the end of the wing exploded, causing the camera to go dark.
David Pepper’s face returned to the screen. “And that was the last gasp for the I.K.V. ‘Iw Hov. We tumbled without power for any system except life support for six hours. It was extremely uncomfortable because the inertial dampener was offline. So imagine spinning at about 1.4 G. For six hours. Until we finally hit one of the asteroids. At which point we lost life support. My legs are crushed. I would have died two days ago except for Mlady. I plan to record another file to provide instructions on how to safely handle her since she will soon enter hibernation. It has been a good run.”
“When I was a child I read all the heroic klingon poetry I could get my hands on. I always wanted to captain a klingon bird of prey. These are legendary ships of adventure. When I was working on my doctorate, I spent five years with the klingons, serving on their ships, living on their homeworld, the most egalitarian people I ever knew until I came to serve on the U.S.S. Hunter. Do not mourn for me. I have had an amazing life. Take care of Mlady for me. This is Commander Dave… No… Captain David Pepper of the I.K.V. ‘Iw Hov, signing off. Heghlu’meH QaQ javjam!”
As the image of his late first officer vanished and the screen went dark, Kenny Dolphin found himself, inexplicably, smiling, laughing and weeping simultaneously.
It was a silent laugh, not a response to humor, but a recognition of triumph.
Something magnificent had passed through the universe.
And he had left his mark.
- Heghlu’ meH QaQ jajvam! (Today is a good day to die!)
21.7 (of 16)
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Only Pep could get away with that (he usually called her "Min.") From Episode 11.3:
Pep made an amused noise, drew a deep breath, assumed more of a serious expression. “Tali, as your commanding officer, Minnie wanted me to have a talk with you about your professional appearance.”
“What are you talking about?” Tali’s antennae began twitching in irritation...
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Another emotional chapter. Excellent. Nice touch to have Pep explain his dream to captain a "legendary ship of adventure" and name himself satisfactorily successful.
Ha ha ha. That's, I think, how most of the crew would react if someone called her Minnie in front of them.
-Will
... Who the hell is Minnie, and why should I give a damn about what they think about my appearance?" Tali questioned, unable to make the association with Justice Irons.
Ha ha ha. That's, I think, how most of the crew would react if someone called her Minnie in front of them.
-Will
Pep was Minerva's champion - a gentle giant who would, at her command, churn a half-dozen highly trained warriors into butter in less than two minutes - or decipher an alien language a million years dead and teach it to her crew. She tolerated far more informality from him than she ever would from anyone else.
In her words (Episode 13.1): “I love watching David fight,” Irons said, answering Tali’s initial thought. “The eyes of a scholar, the mind of a dreamer, the heart of a warrior, the soul of a poet - all wrapped up in the body of a titan. Sucks for whoever is stupid enough to challenge him. Whenever he is in my dreams, he’s always a guardian.”
In losing Pep, Irons has lost the better part of herself - a blow from which she will never really recover.
Glad you enjoyed Pep's auto-eulogy - Thanks!! rbs
Star Trek Hunter
Episode 21: The Enemy of My Enemy
Scene 8: A Big Enough Lever
21.8
A Big Enough Lever
A Big Enough Lever
The U.S.S. Ark was nearing completion. The first Star Fleet vessel to be commissioned for construction entirely outside of the human homeworld solar system, its commission number was NBWC 1001. It was being built in the Bolarus system, and its construction had been kept very, very quiet. Just as the development of Earth’s first generation of faster-than-light ships had brought humans and vulcans into a close relationship, the development of the Ark was bringing humans and bolians into a much closer relationship.
The design was reminiscent of the classic double-hulled Star Fleet design – with two significant exceptions: The Ark had five hulls – and they were enormous beyond imagination. Instead of one saucer section, there were four - each saucer larger than a borg cube - attached above and beneath an enormous, roughly cigar-shaped engineering hull, front and rear. Six wings radiated from the center of the engineering hull, each supporting nacelles that were themselves each more than twice the size of an engineering hull for the old galaxy class starships, but looked hopelessly small compared to the enormous saucer sections they had to move.
The ship seemed to have no front or rear or top or bottom – the engineering hull supported two bridges on opposite ends and opposite poles of the engineering hull. Each saucer section also supported a bridge, in the traditional location at the top.
The U.S.S. Victory, a Galaxy class starship, drifted between two of the saucer sections, entirely dwarfed by them. A unique group of dignitaries stood on the observation deck, inspecting the work in progress.
“It’s a push-me, pull-you,” observed Federation President Maria Rodriguez. “Why is it designed with such a strange configuration?”
Federation Council Leader Ushi Irons put his hand on the shoulder of a very large, elderly bolian. The latter cleared his throat loudly, drawing the attention of everyone present.
“The U.S.S. Ark uses a modular design,” said Web Planning Commissioner Xagg Boles – with an odd emphasis on the word ‘Ark’. “It may surprise you that the Ark is designed for stable flight at warp 9.95. Believe me, it surprises me. We plan ultimately to build three sister ships to the Ark. Any of the four primary hulls can attach to any of the four primary hull ports on the engineering hull and will, once the entire line is created, be interchangeable with any of its sister ships.”
WP Commissioner Boles gestured toward one of the enormous, saucer-shaped primary hulls. “Each primary hull is capable of independent travel at up to warp 4. These ships are being created for major planetary rescue missions. Three primary hulls could be placed in orbit to conduct stabilization and rescue missions while the fourth could remain attached to the engineering hull to take an initial planning and preparation group to a refugee location. That primary hull could be left in orbit to prepare the location for a massive influx of refugees, freeing the engineering hull to return to the disaster location and pick up the other primary hulls as they fill up and are ready for evacuation. The engineering hull is bidirectional to allow it to quickly reverse, saving hours of travel in case of emergency. This also builds resiliency into the system. The engineering hull can sustain a tremendous amount of damage and continue to be fully functional as all functions are at least duplicated and in most cases quadrupled in very remote locations.”
“The Ark appears to be quite well protected,” intoned Emperor Sin IV. “I see evidence of hundreds of interceptor ports. And both the engineering and primary hulls appear to have some extremely large phaser cannon as well as no small number of torpedo tubes. Why all the firepower, Commissioner?”
WP Commissioner Boles shifted uncomfortably. “That was a requirement from Star Fleet. I think I should defer to the Commandant…”
Star Fleet Commandant Barrett th’Zoarhi spoke up. “One of the most prevalent and dangerous byproducts of natural disasters is war, Emperor. We anticipate pressures that may cause us to need to move populations under duress…”
“It appeals to me,” the blind emperor interrupted, “that we have recently learned a harsh lesson in the value of superplanets – planets like Earth and Bajor that are exceptionally fertile worlds – abundant with life. With the destruction of the greatest superplanet in this part of space, Romulus, we learned how fragile our coalition is and how vital superplanets are to us. And there are no less than five superplanets within the Federation that are homes to protected populations. How do you put it? Innocents – those who have not yet developed faster than light travel. It appeals to me that such a mobile space station as the Ark would be perfectly suited for removing these populations from their exceptionally fertile worlds against their will.”
“If we were such a people, why bother moving them at all?” Chief Justice Julian Bashir’s cultured British accent caught everyone’s attention. “If we were such people, we would not need the Ark for that. One ship like this one that we are standing on now would be easily sufficient to enslave a planetary population and cause them and their planet to produce for us.”
A combined shiver ran through the various dignitaries at hearing the Chief Justice describe such harsh eventuality in his trademark suave tones.
Emperor Sin IV turned his blind eyes toward Bashir. “It also appeals to me that this flying fortress could carry vast amounts of soil and, either with or without the consent of the rescued, pluck an entire world, from the topsoil to the dominant species from the claw of an enemy. Such a world might then be transplanted into the Federation…”
“Emperor,” said Ushi Irons, “What kind of people do you think we are?”
“You misapprehend my concern, Council Leader,” said the andorian emperor. “I am not concerned about the kind of people that we are. I am concerned about the kind of people that we might be tempted to become…”
21.8 (of 16)
Plato
Episode 21, part 8 of 16 parts or scenes.
-Will
-Will
Quite literally what the U.S.S. Ark was built for - transplanting entire biospheres from one planet to another. (Its sister ships are the U.S.S. Atlas, the U.S.S. Mohammad, and the U.S.S. Delivery - collectively known as Atlas Class Planetary Rescue Vehicles.) Ushi Irons ordered their construction in Episode 11.2.
A theme that runs through the franchise from the very first episode aired. What if we become gods? Big theme in STH. Kenny Dolphin's First Commandment of Federation Ethics: THOU SHALT NOT PLAY GOD!
Will got it right. You'll notice the same numbers at the very beginning of each scene. Thanks!! rbs
Star Trek Hunter
Episode 21: The Enemy of My Enemy
Scene 9: The Second Cube
21.9
The Second Cube
The Second Cube
“We have power!” 2nd Lt. Ethan Phillips exclaimed.
“Tali – do we have all hands on board?” asked Justice Minerva Irons.
Dr. Tali Shae’s voice came to the bridge across the comm system: “We’re missing Lynarr, Grace and Butt.. wait – they just came up out of the nacelle – we have everyone. Go!”
“Ethan – get us out of here!” Irons ordered.
Phillips was already taking off from the hangar bay. The doors were starting to close again as the U.S.S. Hunter slipped through.
“Your honor,” said 2nd Lt. Tolon Reeves. “On the wall…”
Irons turned to see a section of the wall near her office door now had Chinese script engraved on it.
“Reeves, there are two borg cubes out there. I want you to get me a solution on the second cube,” said Irons. “All hands, brace for QuickQuiet – Boles, Gamor and Alstars to the bridge. Ethan – we need to be out of range of the romulan tractor beam. A quick burst on full impulse, then use the thrusters to give us a little tumble.”
The sudden jolt from the impulse engine felt different from the feeling of warp drive in the deckplates. It only lasted a few moments. A quick hit from the port thrusters and the Hunter veered off to port just as the ship went dark from the QuickQuiet order.
Because the lights had been off throughout the ship for several days and had only been on for a few minutes before being shut off again, the luminescent wall panels had almost no energy to reflect back into the hallways. The interior of the ship quickly became pitch black with the exception of a few monitors.
“We had to take to the Jeffries Tubes,” said Lt. Gaia Gamor, walking onto the bridge.
“Bloody uncomfortable, cramped things, no bloody light,” added Ensign Geoffrey Horatio Alstars as he followed her in.
“Language, Geoff…” said Boles, bringing up the rear.
“You’re not the one with the jolly lumps about the forehead,” Alstars groused.
“Gaia, take navigation,” said Justice Irons. “Mr. Alstars, join Lieutenant Tolon at tactical. It appears our resident borg left a message. There are two borg cubes out there. Neither is in good shape at the moment. The one that is more complete is keeping the romulans away from the second cube. Command and control is coming from the second cube. The last thing we need at this moment is an active borg invasion in romulan space. So how do we take out the second cube?”
“With the Hunter?” asked Lt. Tolon. “Even if that ship is as badly damaged as it appears to be, we don’t have enough in the way of weapons to even tickle it.”
“Can you display passive sensor readings?” asked Lieutenant Boles. “I’d like to see how big those holes are. Do any of them go straight through?”
Justice Irons spoke up. “Do you really think they would let us do to them what we did to Gamorlan?”
“If we set the trajectory and then go completely dark.. Just a tiny piece of debris drifting through…” said Boles.
“I’ve got something that might work,” said Lt. Tolon. “We’ll have to take a 20 degree turn about three-quarters of the way through.”
“Send the coordinates and configuration to Gaia,” said Boles. “Alstars, get with Gaia and work out a passive solution. See if you can get us headed straight through that opening. When we come to the turn, we’ll reorient with impulse and at the same time go to warp 4.2 – that should create enough of a warp shell to rip them open but not so big that we can’t break out. Geoff – I need you to verify my math on the warp factor.”
“I’ve already done the math,” Ensign Alstars responded. “You had a good rough guess, but I think we can risk 4.218.”
“Your honor?” asked Boles.
Justice Minerva Irons stood up and gestured to the captain’s chair she had just vacated. “It’s your mission, Mr. Boles. Take command…”
- * - * - * - * - * - * -
Hundeeth spotted something flashing on his console. He hit a control, then turned to Sela: “Supreme Commander, the main hangar bay door is opening!”
“We don’t have time for this Hundeeth – get it closed!”
“I have sent the override command, but the U.S.S. Hunter is already exiting.”
“Good,” said Supreme Commander Sela. “I will want a complete analysis of how they escaped, complete telemetry from the hangar bay. We’ll have time to review that later. Now I need you to get me a firing solution on that second cube!” Sela ordered.
“What is so important about the second cube?” Centurion Cireeka asked quietly of an officer next to her.
“They’re not shooting at us.”
“Exactly,” said Commander Hundeeth. “They’re hiding behind the first cube. That suggests command and control. These borg are in really bad shape – both ships...”
While Hundeeth and Cireeka were busy targeting the borg cubes, Sela turned her attention to the admiral of the first fleet. “How are we handling the borg landing parties?”
“Better than three for one,” Admiral Ekot replied. “The sword and shield training has paid off.”
“Not well enough if we’re losing one for every three of them we kill,” said Sela. “We need to improve both training and…”
At that moment an enormous explosion could be seen behind the borg cube that the Bestia was engaged with.
Commander Hundeeth checked his readings. “Borg landing parties are exiting. They’re taking everything they brought.”
“How did we get the second cube?” asked Sela.
“We didn’t,” said Hundeeth. “The Hunter did. The first cube is withdrawing.”
“No they don’t! They do not leave our space! Take them apart!” Sela ordered. “Follow and destroy. Leave some probes and a landing unit here to find out how Star Fleet destroyed that 2nd cube…”
21.9 (of 16)
Probably. Maybe even a little frightened. If the Hunter destroyed the second cube, perhaps Sela had a very lucky brush with death herself. That sort of thing can leave a person swearing to figure out how to never let death come so close again.
-Will
Actually, she's oddly gratified... Sela isn't afraid of Minerva Irons...
But she will be... She will be...
Thanks!! rbs
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Star Trek Hunter
Episode 21: The Enemy of My Enemy
Scene 10: The Fourth Signal
21.10
The Fourth Signal
The Fourth Signal
“I need more, Doctor Moon…” 2nd Officer Napoleon Boles was frustrated. His Director of Engineering was refusing to certify the U.S.S. Hunter for recursive warp (zip drive) because the mass of the hull was out of tolerance by a few kilograms. “Hunter…” Boles looked about the bridge.
The ship’s interactive holographic avatar appeared in his preferred location behind the navigator’s station. “Lieutenant Boles…”
“Could the romulans have attached something to your hull while you were powered down?”
“I am not finding any irregularities…”
“Scan your hull down to the micron. Could they have… I don’t know… sprayed on some sort of film?”
“Scanning…” said Hunter and promptly vanished. A moment later the avatar reappeared. “Confirmed. With the exception of the underside of the nacelle, I am finding a new layer of material approximately four microns deep that has been applied to the hull.”
“Geoff,” said Boles, “Get down to engineering. Work with Hunter and your department to identify the substance and determine how to safely remove it.”
“I’ll go get a chisel…” Alstars groused.
“Get a helmet,” Boles suggested. “Lieutenant Gamor, are we anywhere near an asteroid field or any debris field we can hide in?”
“Our closest option is to return to the scene of the battle,” Lt. Gamor replied. “Sensors show the Bestia left in pursuit of the remaining cube.”
“They might have left some assets to protect the resources left by the borg,” Boles mused. “Next?”
“A gas cloud about 2.3 light years distant and a brown dwarf system just under 4 light years away,” Gamor said.
“The gas cloud would be an attractive hiding place for pirates – which makes me think there might be a warbird lurking in it. How long to the brown dwarf at warp 8?”
“Just under a day and a half,” Gamor responded.
“Find me a rock between here and there to hide on for a few hours so we can scrape the hull,” said Lt. Boles. “You have the con. I will be in medical.”
“Are you all right, sir?” Gamor asked.
“None of us are, Lieutenant. If the romulans spray painted our hull with something, what do you want to bet they did the same to our stomach linings? They also ran us through their transporter, which means they have the precise frequencies for each of our internal communicators. Who knows what else they have done to us? I knew that escape was far too easy...” Boles was already near the exit to the bridge. “Special Agent Lynarr, this is Napoleon Boles. Meet me in medical…”
- * - * - * - * - * - * -
Commander Kenneth Dolphin was startled out of a deep sleep. He had stationed the Hunter’s tactical unit at the rendezvous point and gone dark – reducing power output to minimal life support in an attempt to go unseen in dark space. Something had set off a signal alert.
“What was that?” he asked of no one in particular, since he was alone. He scanned the control panels in front of him. An indicator was flashing on the navigation/tactical panel next to him. Dolphin leaned over, touched a control, read the display.
“Shit!”
“I believe you would chide any of your crewmembers for such language,” came a familiar voice.
Dolphin was nearly startled out of his wits. “Hunter?”
“Hunter Tactical,” came the response. “I have been here all along. You seem to be somewhat anxious. You do remember Dr. Kim and I are both here.”
“Thanks, Hunter,” Dolphin said. Then: “Mlady’s communicator is sending out her hibernation signal again. That’s going to bring romulans here. We can’t stay here. Bring the engine online and get ready for recursive warp – we’re on the move…”
- * - * - * - * - * - * -
It started with the stomach pumping – which included deep cleaning of every part of each crewmember’s digestive system to include such organs as intestines, livers and kidneys. It was an extremely uncomfortable, inconvenient and, in most cases, completely humiliating experience. Everyone onboard had to go through it except Special Agent Anana Lynarr and Hugh Mann (who was once again dormant in his recharging alcove in the captain’s office.)
Of the U.S.S. Hunter’s crew, only Lynarr had not eaten romulan food – which, it turned out, had been laced with very low levels of a radio-isotope of iridium that would eventually have done long-term damage to the Hunter’s crew members. A similar isotope of iridium-oxide was found to have been sprayed onto the ship’s hull. For good measure, Lt. Napoleon Boles ordered each crewmember’s internal communicator removed, destroyed and replaced with a new communicator tuned to a new unique frequency.
Initial attempts to remove the isotope from the Hunter’s hull using the transporter verified that the isotope would contaminate the transporter system – as Midshipman Tammy Brazil had warned. Decontamination of even a small amount from the cargo bay transporter took nearly three hours and further attempts to use the transporter for iridium-oxide removal were abandoned.
In desperation, Boles finally ordered the iridium-oxide isotope layer burned off with hand phasers, which required a dozen crew members in full EVA suits to walk on the outside of the ship, setting the volatile iridium-oxide isotope on fire with sustained phaser blasts. This created a surreal vision of a dozen people in space suits setting fire to a flaming ship while they walked on its hull, but each fire only lasted a few seconds as the metal and oxygen separated and burned away more oxides leeched from the surface of the Hunter’s hull, leaving a fine haze of elemental iridium and trace aluminum which could then be collected with an improvised tool that looked like a vacuum cleaner, but based on gravity plating.
All of the isotopic iridium that had been removed from the surface of the ship and the digestive systems of its crew was gathered and lumped into two small spheres roughly the size of golf balls. With the rest of the crew watching images transmitted back by remote cameras, Lt. Napoleon Boles, Chief Flight Specialist Thyssi zh’Qaoleq and Ensign Geoffrey Horatio Alstars, once again clad in EVA suits, clambered out onto the outer hull of U.S.S. Hunter. Boles carried the iridium golf balls. Alstars and zh’Qaoleq each carried a golf club.
Boles set each ball ¾ of an inch above Hunter’s hull, where, due to inertia, they remained. Alstars took the first swing, launching an iridium isotope ball into dark space. Without a moment’s hesitation and using only one hand, Thyssi zh’Qaoleq set the second iridium ball on a nearly parallel course.
As the three crew members (and two remote cameras) re-entered the Hunter, Boles received a call from the bridge: “Dr. Boles, this is Lt. T’Lon. We just received a fourth hibernation beacon from Mlady’s communicator…”
21.10 (of16)
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