Star Trek Hunter - Episode 4: Run To Earth

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 4: Run To Earth
Scene 12: Dark Mode

4.12
Dark Mode​

The Hunter was dark, its decks illuminated only by luminescent panels, radiating out the light energy the chemicals inside those panels had been absorbing from the general lighting. A dim blue glow - just enough to see by. The only control panels that were powered were the ones that Dr. Sarekson Carrera and his engineering department needed to evaluate the condition of the engines. Only the Medical bay, which included the brig units, was fully powered. This was the most heavily insulated area, deep in the interior of the boat.

With the exception of the engineering department and four staff on the bridge, most of the crew was gathered in Medical. T’Lok’s body was in cold storage. 2nd Lt. Tauk, Lt. Kenneth Dolphin, and Ensign T’Lon - all awakened from their long, involuntary slumbers - were present, huddled together, T’Lon’s team crowded in close around them. Tactical Specialist Belo Cantys and her half-brother, Garr, seemed momentarily unwilling to step aside to allow Justice Minerva Irons to step up and place her hand on Tauk’s chest. The little ferengi barely moved.

“Tauk, I’m sorry,” Irons said. “You have no defenses against the Breakfast Killer. She tried to kill Lieutenant Dolphin. If she had tried to kill you as well… Our only choice was to keep you sedated so she couldn’t find you.”

Tauk nodded numbly. Investigator Lynhart Shran stepped up behind him and placed a hand on the young lieutenant’s shoulder.

Irons continued, “Lieutenant, as assistant director, until I name a new director, you are in charge of ground operations.”

Tauk started to nod, then turned and called to the medical director: “Dr. Shae - can we link the forensic work stations to the data for ground ops?”

Tali Shae looked at Tauk, but her antennae twitched toward the forensic work stations located in the forward surgery. “It’s all one computer,” she said.


Tauk and his staff gathered in the forward surgery. “Before we can capture our Breakfast Killer, we have to find her. So someone tell me how we know it is a female?”

Shran spoke up. “On the beach, when everything went sideways, BK2 was reaching out to us. Looking for anyone who had been looking for her. The Judge and me - we don’t have much in the way of telepathy, but we do have some defenses. But T’Lok could sense her - she told us it was a female mind - a very powerful one.”

Belo Cantys winced slightly when Shran said T’Lok’s name and looked at T’Lon, but the ensign registered no emotion.

Tauk reacted to a different part of Shran’s response. “BK2?”

“Breakfast Killer… number Two. We know she’s not the first one. And using an acronym will help - take it from an old manhunter. The target is a target.”

“We’re trying to capture this target, Lynhart, not kill her,” Tauk said.

“That is going to be a very tall order, boss.”

“Worked like a charm on me,” Tauk responded, slightly acerbically. He turned toward T’Lon. “Ensign, I would like to use your squad to do some detective work.”

T’Lon responded evenly, “Put us to work, Sir.”

Tauk took a moment to adjust - he had outranked T’Lon since he met her, but they had always been colleagues working for T’Lok. He had never given her an order and only now realized his request had to be construed as one. He took a deep breath, then plowed on, now addressing the squad members. “I need you to each take one of BK2’s victims. Start with the humans. Trace their movements over the past three years. We are operating under the assumption that BK2 used repeated mind-melds to install… instructions. What we’re looking for is a correlation that places the human victims in proximity where BK2 would have had prolonged opportunity to conduct a number of mind-melds. Probably over the space of several days, if not weeks. Investigator Buttans, I want you to supervise. Make sure all the human victims are followed, then do the same with their spouses. If my theory is right, they will all pass through one or two different places. If you get that far, start looking for any female vulcan/betazoid hybrids in those places at those times.”

Shran smiled. “Amazing what a good sleep will do for you, boss,” he said. “So what do you want me to do?”

“I assume you’ve been putting together a plan to kill her,” Tauk said.

“Until about five minutes ago, I had an idea…” Shran started.

Tauk cut him off. “I want you to come up with a plan to capture her and render her powers inert.”

Shran shook his head, his antennae comically moving the opposite direction from his face. “I just knew you were going to say that, boss”


Tauk turned and put his hand on T’Lon’s arm. “T’Lon, this is not an order, but our biggest clue is in Dr. Dolphin’s mind. Can you find it?”

“I can try.. I want to try. If he will allow me. It may take a lot of time.”

“Take all the time you need - and only if he will allow it. But he needs to consider this,” Tauk continued. “Whatever BK2 put in his head - the compulsion to kill on her command - it’s probably still there. And you are probably the only person who can dig it out of him. I’m sure he will want to be rid of it.”


Dr. Tali Shae stormed into the room, her antennae twitching. “Alright, what are you people doing on my forensic workstations? Get back to your own room!”

Justice Irons was behind the doctor, laughing quietly. “We’re clear for warp eleven. You can go back to the ground ops center now. Investigator Shran, do you have some answers for me about what attacked us?”

“I think so, boss.”

“Lieutenant Tauk, I want you, Buttans and Shran in Conference Room #1 in twenty minutes. Be ready to talk about the attack,” Irons concluded. “Lieutenant Commander Mlady, bring us to warp eleven and get us to Earth. Senior staff meeting in twenty minutes, Conference Room #1.”

The communication system carried Mlady’s voice back from the bridge, “Aye, Captain.”

4.12 (of 14)​

 

[Gibraltar]

Review of 4.10 - The universe giveth, the universe taketh away... Good news follows on the heels of tragedy. Perhaps the crew can breath a sigh of relief, at least for a short while, as it appears the immediate danger has passed.

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 4: Run To Earth
Scene 13: Assessment

4.13
Assessment​

The three surviving department directors, 1st Lieutenants Kenneth Dolphin and Sarekson Carrera and Lt. Commander Tali Shae, were seated around the antique teak table in the executive conference room along with the executive staff: Justice Minerva Irons, Commander David Pepper and Lt. Commander Mlady. Investigators Lynhart Shran and Buttans Ngumbo were also seated at the table.

Outside the large window on the starboard side of the room, stars streamed by at a speed none of them had ever witnessed before. But all eyes were focused on a holographic image of an as yet unidentified ship gradually emerging from a cloaking field, firing a bright red disrupter beam at almost the very moment it decloaked. The entire sequence depicted an event that had lasted only three seconds, but the display slowed this sequence to a crawl.

2nd Lt Tauk stood next to this image at the front of the room. “As you are no doubt aware, there are several different types of cloaking device. They all work on the same basic principle, but they manifest in different ways. The frequency of the shimmer we collected on telemetry is consistent with a romulan cloak. But the prow of the ship we were able to observe, and the material composition of its hull are not consistent with romulan construction. Not to mention the color spectrum of the disruptor beam.”

Tauk continued, “Investigator Buttans performed an analysis of the damage to our hull. The results, along with the telemetry on the attacking ship’s hull, its prow design, and the color spectrum and power of the weapon, as well as the results from the autopsy on Lieutenant Smith - they’re all consistent with a cardassian Keldon class battlecruiser.”

“A cardassian battlecruiser with a romulan cloaking device?” Dolphin asked.

Dr. Carrera followed, “I want to know how they were able to fire a main disruptor before fully decloaking.”

Tauk responded, “This isn’t general knowledge, but during the war with the Dominion, the romulan and cardassian military intelligence agencies - the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order - forged an alliance. The romulans installed cloaking devices on seven cardassian Keldon class battlecruisers prior to a disastrous attack on what they thought was the homeworld of the Founders. All those ships were reported lost in that attack. Apparently they modified an eighth ship.” Tauk turned toward Dr. Carrera, “As for your question, that was really the final clue. The cardassians improved on the Galorn class battlecruiser by adding a very large battery to the main disruptor. The disruptor still needs access to main power. But if that battery were fully charged, they would not need to wait for the disruptor to power up before engaging it. No other ship would be able to do that.”

Mlady spoke up, “What keeps the romulans and klingons from upgrading their disruptors that way?”

“Treaty law,” Justice Irons responded. “Specifically the Khitomer Accords. It’s the same treaty that keeps the Federation from developing cloaking technology.”

Lt. Tauk continued, “Investigator Shran had already suspected the cardasians. Lynhart?”

Investigator Lynhart Shran continued the analysis in his gravelly voice: “Back on New Hope Colony there was cardassian junk all over the place. Cardassian disruptors, cardassian band rifles, T’Lon’s team was sheltering under cardassian armored ground vehicles.”

“Even the dampening generator,” Buttans Ngumbo added, “I was only able to shut it down because I could read cardassian script.”

“By itself, all that didn’t mean much,” Shran continued. “Cardassian military surplus is all over the place. It’s cheap, not as powerful as klingon weapons nor as clean and versatile as federation equipment. But it’s simple, rugged, easy to repair. You could drag a cardassian band rifle through the mud and then fire it underwater. I wouldn’t try that with my revolver.”

Lt. Tauk picked up the thread, “But with a Keldon class battlecruiser firing on us, not to destroy but to disable us…”

“They were trying to rescue Governor Ivonovic,” Justice Irons concluded. “Hunter!”

The boat’s interactive avatar appeared next to the holographic display, across from Lt. Tauk. “Your honor?”

“Prepare a recording of this briefing to send to the U.S.S. Challenger and get me Captain Summers on a priority security channel.”


In a few moments, the holographic image of the decloaking ship was replaced with a two-dimensional representation of the bearded Captain DeForest Summers.

“Summers here, how can I help you, Captain Irons?”

“Are you carrying Governor Ivonovic?”

“Taking him to Earth,” Summers responded. “Him and a few of his cronies who tried to break him out of Star Base 11.”

“I am sending you a briefing about an attack on my vessel that occurred less than four hours ago. We believe there is a Keldon class battlecruiser using a romulan cloaking device that may attack your vessel if they realize you have Ivonovic,” Irons said. “I highly recommend you start looking for it immediately. Captain, this ship can engage its main disruptor immediately on decloaking.”

“That would be a violation of treaty,” Summers said.

“I think we may have a rogue element here, Captain,” Irons responded. “The Cardassian Interim Central Government will have plausible deniability.”

“Understood Captain - thanks for the warning,” Summers responded.

“I have to look after my crew, Captain, past and present,” Irons replied with a smile. “Hunter out.”

4.13 (of 14)​

 

[Gibraltar]

Review of 4.11 - The worst duty demanded of a commanding officer. Performed by Irons with dignity and poignancy, and no less than Smith deserved. Now that this crew has shed blood, their ultimate vengeance will be a thing to behold... once they've identified their targets.

 

[Galen4]

Very somber and intense...and I really like the thought you put into how the cloaking generator vs ship's power consumption operates. I love technical details like that. Keep it up!

Speaking of attention to detail, this series uses its own org chart and titles for various dept. heads which is pretty cool.
It's a signature that helps set your series apart. All of that and a menace to keep the crew occupied.

I just hope I can read fast enough to keep up with your output!

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Review of 4.10 - ...Perhaps the crew can breath a sigh of relief, at least for a short while, as it appears the immediate danger has passed...

...has passed for them...

Review of 4.11 - ... once they've identified their targets...

Targets plural being the key... Thanks for the reviews!!

...and I really like the thought you put into how the cloaking generator vs ship's power consumption operates. I love technical details like that...

I just hope I can read fast enough to keep up with your output!

Thanks for the kind words!! I'm a total Trektech nerd, so there is quite a bit of that... I'm trying to keep the updates down to one or two scenes every 2-3 days so it's not just a huge dump all at once. I try to keep my chapters/scenes to an average 800-1100 words with an absolute maximum of 2000 words so each chapter is bite-sized and a quick, easy read in one sitting.

Thanks!! rbs

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Star Trek Hunter
Episode 4: Run To Earth
Scene 14: Pon Farr

4.14
Pon Farr​

Lt. Kenny Dolphin wandered out of the conference room and eventually found himself on deck 5. Two of his flight crew greeted him as he stepped off the lift; they took his place in it and left the deck. Dolphin was still foggy from his recent brush with death. The only thing that had really gotten through to him since waking was T’Lok Smith’s death. He couldn’t even remember which crew members he had just met.

He wandered around the track. One person was standing near the port side. It was Ensign T’Lon. He walked up to her, then just stared at the wall. T’Lon placed her hand on the wall. Dolphin focused his attention there.

“This is where it happened,” she said simply.

That section of wall looked just the same as the rest. The repair was seamless. Dolphin wondered if T’Lon could see some sort of telepathic imprint to tell her where the spot was. “How can you tell?” he asked.

“Telemetry,” she answered.

“Why are you here?” Dolphin heard himself ask.

T’Lon looked at him levelly. “To talk to you. Everyone has come to look at this wall. I anticipated you would as well.”

Kenny Dolphin just looked at her.

“Whatever BK2 placed in your mind, the program to kill on command, it’s probably still there,” T’Lon continued. “I think I can find it and remove it.”

“When do we start?” Dolphin asked.

“Tomorrow. When we’re strong enough,” T’Lon responded, then turned and walked away.

Dolphin watched her. There was something wrong about her gait, awkward. He realized she was walking with her left arm crooked - as though arm-in-arm with her now-deceased childhood friend. Dolphin felt a wave of sadness for her, then found himself suddenly awash in an unfamiliar and unwelcome emotion - waves of nostalgia for a lost childhood only a few days passed - his first command - innocent flirting with a pretty young vulcan - riding a giant wave on a surfboard for the first time - staring up at unfamiliar stars from the warm sands of a planet that was not Earth. It all seemed so long ago. It was a lifetime ago.

Kenny Dolphin shook his head to dispel the reverie. He wasn’t certain how long he had stood there watching the hallway after T’Lon had departed. He got started moving and ended up in the director’s lounge on deck 4. Neither Carrera nor Shae were there. They almost never were. When he was stationed on the Enterprise, he had a small, isolated stateroom to himself. Dolphin had long preferred a solitary existence.

But for the past week, he had shared this space with T’Lok - her endless curiosity, boundless enthusiasm, intelligent conversation had filled this room. It wasn’t a large room but it seemed cavernous and empty without her.


Dolphin sat on the couch just staring at the door - as if she might just walk in. The door chime startled him - he had never heard it used. He stood up and said, “Enter.”

The door opened to reveal Investigator Lynhart Shran. Dolphin was genuinely surprised.

“Investigator Shran?”

“I can’t stay, boss. We have a lead and I’m needed upstairs. But I figured you could use this.” Shran walked in and set a heavy shot glass and a captain’s bottle with a crystal cork on the counter next to the replicator. A small amount of thick, navy blue liquid lurked in the bottom of the bottle. “Aldebaran whisky from the lowland marshes of the southern continent - 60 years old - almost as old as I am,” he said. “Drink it slow - this is the good stuff. When you’re done I’d like the bottle and the glass back. They’re hand-blown. The real stuff just tastes better when you keep it and drink it in the real stuff.”

Dolphin looked at the bottle with renewed respect - it was a work of art. So was the glass. “Thank you, Mr. Shran.”

“Drink it slow,” Shran said, then walked out the door.


Shran was right - the whisky had wonderful, complex combinations of flavors that kept unfolding as the intoxicating effect took hold. There was only one shot in the bottle. Dolphin sat on the couch, slowly enjoying the drink and catalogued his memories of T’Lok. It made sense to him to try to remember everything about her that he could. He was astounded at how much he had taken her presence for granted - as though they might share this room for years. These were good memories and well worth preserving.

Dolphin was lifted from his reverie by the door chiming again. He drained the glass, walked carefully and placed it on the counter next to the bottle, then said, “Enter.”

Gaia Gamor stepped into the room carrying a platter with a small amount of food. Behind her, David Pepper squeezed through the doorway. Wonderful smells from the breakfast on the beach filled the room - especially the smoked fish. “I thought you might be hungry,” Gamor said.

“I wasn’t, but I’m starving now,” Dolphin said. He called for the Hunter to project a dining table with appropriate seating, sat down at the table and waived for Gaia and Pep to join him. He launched into the miniature buffet with gusto. He hadn’t eaten in days.

“Lenny Shran’s Aldebaran Whisky,” Pep observed after sniffing the empty shot glass. “That man has the best taste in everything.”

“Mmmm..” Dolphin observed around a mouthful of fish.

Gaia Gamor smiled as Dolphin swiftly polished off the food. “I guess I should have brought more.”

“No, this was exactly the right amount.”

Pep looked around the room. “Kind of empty without her, isn’t it?”

“I’ve been remembering her. Everything I can think of. Just a week, but there really was a lot,” Dolphin said, then bit his lip.

“She did wonders with her department,” said Gaia. “She took a box of broken toys and turned them into a close-knit family - an excellent team. You got to know so little about her.”


“About a year ago she had an affair with old Tomos - the vulcan down in engineering,” Pep said.

Dolphin was stunned, not about the affair, but that Pep addressed it so casually.

“Lasted only a few weeks, but Tomos said it was the most wonderful event in his life. That’s a lot from an old fashioned vulcan. Mate for lifetime type. He washed up here after his wife died - no idea how he was going to go on with life or even if he wanted to.”

“Pon Farr,” Pep explained. “It’s milder and shorter for older vulcans, but he was still fairly miserable. The first time is so much worse - usually happens in their mid-20’s. Trauma can cause early onset, which makes it even worse… But I don’t have to tell you that, do I? You literally wrote the book on it.”

“Two books,” Dolphin said, ruefully. “They didn’t exactly make me popular. Particularly with vulcans.”

“How illogical of them,” Pep rejoined. “But these days your second book is pretty much the defninitive work for humans who get tangled up in Pon Farr.”

Pep took a deep breath, eyed Dolphin carefully. “T’Lok was more klingon than vulcan or human - at least in spirit,” he said. “Completely fearless. She was never afraid to give everything she had and everything she was. She lived every moment like it was her last. She lived more in 27 years than most people could manage in a hundred.” Pep stood up.

Dolphin and Gamor also stood up.

Pep put his enormous hand on Dolphin’s chest. This odd physical contact seemed omnipresent with this crew - it was very unusual for Star Fleet officers to touch each other this way - except on this boat. Dolphin had grown used to it - even started to enjoy it, but he was still far too inhibited to return the gesture. He was the product of generations of New England WASPs - casual physical contact was not part of the culture he had been raised in.

“Don’t mourn for her, Kenny. She had an amazing life. Mourn for us that we lost her,” Pep said. He stepped back and picked up the bottle and glass. “I’ll take these back to Lenny for you,” he said, then turned to leave.

Gaia Gamor placed her hand on Dolphin’s chest, smiled and said, “Good night, Director,” then followed Pep out the door.


A few hours later, Dolphin was awakened by someone knocking on the door of his escape/sleeping pod. He preferred to sleep naked - so he wrapped a sheet around himself, then touched the control panel that unsealed and opened the pod door. Through the dark, translucent window, he could see someone step to the side of the door. Dolphin started to emerge from the pod. T’Lon pressed him back into the pod, joining him and closed the pod door.

“I’m cold,” she said.

Without thinking, Dolphin opened the sheet, then responded strongly as he felt her skin pressing against his. “Are we about to do something we will need to disclose?” he asked, awkwardly.

T’Lon pressed her cheek next to his, covering part of his face with her hair and whispered softly in his ear: “That is my intent.”

4 - Run To Earth​

This is the final scene for Episode 4. The story continues in Episode 5: The Fires of Pon Farr.

 

[Gibraltar]

Review of 4.12 - The fact that Irons expects the crew to capture their quarry says a lot about her and her team. Yes, she undoubtedly hungers for vengeance, as do some of the others, but duty comes first.

Welcome back to the world of the living, Tauk, you have work to do!

 

[Gibraltar]

Review of 4.13 - So there's a Cardassian connection here. Is the Keldon-class ship just another piece of Alpha Quadrant military surplus, or are Hunter's telepathic enemies allied with the Union? More excellent detective work from Irons' people.

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Review of 4.12 - The fact that Irons expects the crew to capture their quarry says a lot about her and her team...

Irons & Tauk really want to find out who BK#2 (and BK#1) work for. But catching her and questioning her - that's going to be a tall order... How to get a super-powerful telepath to give up her secrets?

Review of 4.13 - So there's a Cardassian connection here...

Not uncommon in STH for several different things to go wrong all at once.. Cardassians trying to rescue(?) Governor Ivonovic... BK#2 and her genocidal rampage (on behalf of her mysterious sponsor)... And a new problem is about to be uncovered (literally)...

Thanks again!! rbs

 

[Gibraltar]

Review of 4.14 - More emotional fallout from T'Lok's death, and some poignant reminiscence about her from multiple crew. I liked the bonding happening here, and how such a controversial figure as Dolphin has been folded into the crew almost effortlessly. It appears he may have finally found a place where he fits. As for Dolphin and T’Lon… as the scene closed, I couldn’t help but hear George Takei’s voice saying, “Oh myyyy!”

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Review of 4.14 … as the scene closed, I couldn’t help but hear George Takei’s voice saying, “Oh myyyy!”

Glad you got a charge out of the ending twist! I like to put clues out there about what will happen, but keep them low key enough that readers (and therefore, believably, the characters) don't put it all together until after it happens.. (she's 25... first Pon Farr usually initiates in their mid 20's... Trauma can cause early onset... She knows Dolphin's the subject matter expert... prolonged mind meld...)

Thanks for the in-depth review! One of the themes that runs through the series is the strength of family bonds. It's really gratifying to see that coming through in these reviews.

Thanks!! rbs