Star Trek: Intrepid - The Double Edge

[CeJay]

What a creep-tastic chapter. Man, that oversized Shantok morphing into a nightmarish creature going after the crew was terrifying. I still believe that the Inth are up to more than simply terrorizing this crew, but what that could be, and how this attack fits into all this, I cannot figure out yet. Shantok seems to play a role here as well, at least in the sense that the Inth are utilizing her somehow. And what is up with Perboda's killer handshake? Ouch.

This story continues to be a great Holiday treat and I'm anxiously awaiting the next installment.

 

[Galen4]

Chapter 11
​

------Part 1------​

USS Sentry


Hiroko bolted off the transporter stage so fast she nearly started out before fully rematerializing. The junior-grade lieutenant who was working the controls scrambled after her, huffing to keep up despite being twenty years her junior.

“Captain, I’m Lt. Joanne Manta.” She gasped out, finally managing to catch up to Hiroko in the corridor. The young woman used the back of her sleeve to wipe sweat off her dark-skinned brow. “Welcome aboard ma’am. I’ll escort you to the bridge if that’s where you’re headed.”

“I am.” Hiroko shot back crisply.

“Then you’re going the wrong way, ma’am. We just passed turbo shaft four.”

Hiroko halted in mid step, looking behind her with confusion. She had automatically traced the path she would have taken on the Legacy, forgetting for a moment she was aboard an unfamiliar ship. She took a breath. “Of course. Lead the way, lieutenant.

Manta did and moments later Hiroko found herself on the Spartan, compact bridge of a Nebula-class starship.

“Captain on the bridge!” Manta called out, emerging through the doors just behind Hiroko.

There was some clumsy shuffling of feet as a few crewmembers tried to stand at attention. “As you were.” Hiroko said before the recent academy graduates embarrassed themselves any further.

They were a motley assortment. The group who was manning the bridge wore smudgy uniforms, their hair was disheveled and most appeared shell-shocked from the recent engagement. Not one of them looked older than twenty. The highest rank between them was ensign as far as Hiroko could tell and factoring in the casualty list she had read, it meant Lt. Manta was the most seasoned officer currently at her disposal.

The ship’s purification system had yet to fully scrub the air, so a fine haze hung over a deck that was still littered with debris.

Just for a moment, she was distracted by the torn captain’s chair. It bore a conspicuous bloodstain, which was a grim reminder to her that the ship’s entire command staff had died in this very room at the hands of a Jem’Hadar boarding party. The fact that Sentry was still sailing under her own flag however, was a profound testimonial to their absence.

Strangely, evidence of those sacrifices brought just the smallest measure of comfort to her regarding her own personal loss.

She batted the thought away, annoyed by her own self-indulgence. “What do we have on that disturbance?” She demanded of the operations officer.

The young crewman’s fingers traveled nervously over his interface, bringing Sentry’s formable sensor suite to bear for the third time in five minutes. “It’s a localized disruption of the space-time continuum, captain. We’re reading…um, high level neutrino emanations and subspace interference patterns similar to what the nebula was putting out, just far more concentrated. The phenomenon is also radiating…uh, looks like chronotrons.” He bit his lip, trying call up any other relevant information his CO would need. He was green and had logged very little time in Operations so it wasn’t coming easy. “Well, the over all configuration is similar to a wormhole but with a more constricted dimensional radius?”

“Was that a question or a report, crewman?”

His eyes widened. “A report, ma’am!”

Hiroko dropped into the command chair and tapped the armrest. “Nagasaki, we’re sending our data to you.”

Manta patted the crewman at OPS on the shoulder to ensure he didn’t miss his cue. A moment later, she nodded at Hiroko. “Interlink set and secure. They’re receiving, ma’am.”

Jellico’s voice thrummed over the bridge speakers. “We’re getting it, Sentry. Keep it coming. Zorek’s people are evaluating. We’ll get back to you.”

“Acknowledged. Hiroko out.” She stared accusingly at the glimmer of red and blue on the main viewer, which at this distance looked deceptively peaceful to the naked eye. “Okay people, give me a picture.”

The view jumped closer, revealing a long, luminescent funnel that that was tearing away from the Kokala Nebula and cutting erratically through space.

“Position of those Cardassian destroyers?”

“Closing on an intercept with the anomaly.”

“What the hell’s wrong with them?”

“I don’t think it’s intentional, ma’am.” Manta volunteered. “It just so happens the disturbance is moving in their direction. They’re just not trying very hard to avoid it.”

She hunched forward in the command chair. “Extreme magnification.”

The funnel leaped in size again, now filling the entire viewer. At the current resolution, the thing looked less like a spatial vortex and more like a swarm of fireflies. Hiroko wondered if she were seeing an optical illusion or the anomaly was really comprised of luminescent particles of some sort.

Or…what if they were something else all together? She wasn’t sure where the thought had come from, but it burned with urgency.

“Scan the anomaly for life forms.” She surprised herself with the order, still unsure from where the compulsion had originated.

The crewman at OPS looked back over his shoulder, equally surprised. “Ma’am? Did you say life forms?”

Hiroko’s timbre became frosty. “That’s what I said. And you’ll find I don’t like having to repeat myself, crewman.”

“Yes ma’am!” But compliance proved more difficult than he expected. After floundering desperately at his board for several seconds, he looked beseechingly at Manta, who was standing nearby. She stepped over and examined the data with him.

“Captain, the anomaly is in a state of flux. Even our sensors can’t resolve anything in a situation like this.”

“Now showing the anomaly is no longer extending through space. It‘s come to a dead stop.” The update had come from the crewman who was manning tactical, just to Hiroko’s right.

“Let’s see it.”

Not only had the vortex ceased its expansion, but also as the crew watched, the funnel’s mouth widened into a windsock shape.

The disturbance began to dissipate, sparkling away like an ember in the wind. When it was finally gone, Hiroko could make out a small object left behind, reminding her of a magician’s slight of hand trick.

“Zero in on that.” Manta ordered.

When the object was expanded to full view, it left Hiroko speechless.

As the captain gawked, Manta took over a vacant station and began her own scans.

The captain stood up, continuing to stare furiously at the viewer. “Is that what it looks like?”

“It is.” Manta acknowledged. “She’s definitely one of ours. Excelsior-class starship. I just can’t tell you which one. There’s too much residual disturbance from the anomaly to read their transponder and she’s too beat up to make out her registry at this distance.”

“I thought there was only one survivor from the Excelsior Wing.” Hiroko said, mostly to herself.

“Apparently not.” Manta replied. “From what I can tell, the anomaly…carried it here. I just don’t see how that’s possible.”

Hiroko had a feeling that the line between possible and impossible was about to get blurred…and not in a way that anyone would like.

“Hail them.” Manta ordered with an assertiveness that pleased Hiroko.

“No response.” The tactical officer’s report was hardly unexpected. With all the noise out there, Hiroko had doubted their message would end up as anything other than garbled. His next report was also no surprise but far more disappointing. “Ma’am, Cardassian warships have increased speed and are targeting the Excelsior ship. Estimating firing range in two minutes.”

“Can we intercept?”

“Not in time, captain.” Manta said through a tight face. “We’re a good twenty-eight minutes away at full impulse.”

“All right. Best guess: does she have shields or weapons?”

Manta shared her opinion again, still picking up the slack for the frazzled, inexperienced bridge crew. “I would say not, ma’am. And I think I know why.”

She looked at the junior lieutenant expectantly.

“The interference we’re reading isn’t left over from the anomaly. I think the ship itself is generating it.”

Hiroko almost jumped across the room, her eyes wide with disbelief as she looked over Manta’s auxiliary OPS board. “Shinji rarenai!” She muttered in Japanese.

“Nagasaki’s hailing.” She heard from behind her.

“On screen.”

The three Cardassian ships disappeared from the viewer, replaced by an anxious Admiral Jellico. “Hiroko, can you punch through that interference?”

“Sorry, Admiral. Our chamber coils are at full output but we still can’t get through. Sir, we think that Starfleet ship out there is creating all of the remaining distortions.”

“Zorek’s people came to the same conclusion.”

“Whatever’s happening to them, it’s left them vulnerable.” She pressed. “They haven’t moved under their own power and by now they would have. I doubt they have the means to defend themselves. Sir, I know we can’t get there in time to save our ship, but the Cardassians might disengage if they see us moving on their position.”

Jellico appeared thoughtful as he looked away from the screen and in a moment fraught with anticipation, she dared hope he might actually sanction her idea. Her hopes died quickly however, because when he returned his attention to her once again he was already shaking his head. “That might work against one vessel, captain…but not a squadron. I know how the cardies operate. The bastards are more aggressive in numbers. Believe me, they’re going to pulverize that ship long before we get on the scene. At that point, the Jem’Hadar could overrun what’s left of Tango Fleet. It’s too great a risk for one ship. We have to pool our resources with the Tenth while we still can.”

Hiroko closed her eyes in embittered resignation. “We’re not even going to try.”

It was Zorek’s gravely, dispassionate voice that answered her. “It’s not the ethical decision, captain. But it IS the correct decision. The logic of the battlefield is as regrettable as it is inescapable.”

She wanted very badly to suggest where and how deeply Zorek could insert his damned “battlefield logic”, but she was becoming too hallowed inside to muster the little bit of energy the effort required.

So it was that another part of Caroline Hiroko withered. The war was killing her a little piece at a time, she knew. That thought led to an even darker epiphany: even if the Federation won by some miracle, it would never be the same again. Too many lines were being crossed; too many values cast aside, too many unspeakable acts rationalized away. The Federation charter was deconstructing into an “ends justify the means” philosophy. History taught that few societies who trekked down this road ever regained their moral luster.

It would be tragically ironic if the Federation survived only to succumb to internal decay---brought upon by dissolving its rules of conduct and ethical standards, which it had done to survive in the first place.

Inspiration struck at that moment, dispelling her somber reflections. She flipped a lock of dark hair out of her eyes. “Crewman, try sending a tight-beam subspace pulse channeled through the main deflector to the Cardassians. That might get through the interference.”

“Aye, captain. What should we say?”

“Warn them to break off or our entire fleet will warp into them, firing everything we have.” A bluff---the fleet was too close for warp---but what the hell.

Grinning, the young man began tapping away at the tactical station’s board.

“Captain. It’s too late.” Manta said, indicating the main viewer once again.

All eyes looked up to see the Cardassian ships, not one, not two, but all three firing their weapons simultaneously.

Hiroko’s face pinched into an angry grimace.

“You god damned bastards,” the crewman at OPS seethed. “Just like you fish-head son of a bitches to fire on a defenseless crew! Why don’t you come over here and try that?”

The deadly energy beams triangulated into a single blast, aimed squarely at the Excelsior's secondary hull. There was no aurora borealis effect to indicate the presence of shields, nothing at all to slow down the onslaught. The spiral-waive disruptors became a knife blade, thrust into the ship’s side.

It only took moments for a blinding light to engulf the target, signaling the total destruction of the Cardassians’ prey.

Or rather, that’s what should have happened.

What happened instead was something that no one saw coming.

And all Hiroko could think, was that her earlier assessment that the possible and impossible would soon overlap had been ridiculously understated.

 

[CeJay]

Great chapter. May have said this before but I really like Hiroko and even more so for pondering the steady decay of Starfleet's ethical and moral standards and what this may mean in the bigger picture once this conflict concludes as well as for bemoaning the effects it has on her personally.

Also, always enjoy seeing a green-behind-the-ears crew, something that becomes unavoidable in a brutal war such as this. Good thing Hiroko has at least one, if not seasoned officer, at least somebody who knows what she's doing, in Lt. Manta.

The end to the chapter was a nice little misdirect which had me going there for a moment. The cliffhanger is leaving me hungry for a conclusion.

Well done.

 

[admiralelm11]

I echo CeJay's sentiments. This is a good chapter. The abandonment of ethics and morality in wartime is always an interesting card to play in a story. I'd love to see more happening with this green crew. I am curious if Captain Hiroko survives the war and where her career goes from there.

Anyways, awesome work, Galen4.

 

[Galen4]

Thanks Cejay and admiralelm11 for the comments.

Funny thing about Hiroko, way back in the planning stages, she was only meant to be a minor background character. But, as so often happens to writers, small players end up making their own plans.

So, without giving away spoilers, I can say Hiroko's role will become larger as this story arc progresses.
More to come soon.

 

[Galen4]

Chapter 11
---Part 2---​

USS Intrepid
A short time earlier…


Lt. Commander Adol awoke thrashing and shouting at the top of his lungs. His brief hope that he was exiting a nightmare was dispelled the second his eyes were fully open and he could see his predicament had been no work of fiction from an overwrought mind. Tentacles still encircled his body, some of them tightly constricting his legs and arms and pinching off circulation. Still in the throes of terror, he began yanking and tearing at them, grunting in pain as the slippery elastic bonds snapped away one by one.

With full awareness came two immediate bits of good news; the first was that he was no longer suspended. The second was a change of scenery. Indeed, his new surroundings were such a blessing, he resisted the validity of his own senses, fearing his relocation simply too good to be true. Perhaps his captors had created the illusion of freedom with plans to snatch it away the moment he invested hope?

Panting and trembling, he used the bulkhead behind him to push up to a standing position. With overwhelming disgust, he ripped the last of the tentacles from his body and flung them away. Much of his uniform was in tatters where the things had sliced through the fabric. He could feel a stinging latticework of cuts throughout his body and spotted tiny streams of blue blood running down his legs and arms through the shredded openings in his clothing.

Adol did a quick self-examination and performed basic movements of his limbs before satisfying himself that he had suffered no serious damage.

He patted the wall he was resting on and stamped a foot experimentally, both to restore circulation and for reassurance that his environment wasn’t a mirage.

By all the gods, it was real. He was back aboard the Intrepid!

It didn’t make sense. Nothing these creatures were doing made sense. The abductions, the telepathic violations, the crew being put off the ship…

Only to be returned again?

The trauma was beginning to catch up to the Andorian. Slumber beckoned, encouraging him lie down and close his eyes just for a brief nap…a small respite and he’d be “right as rain”, like the humans said…

He slapped himself hard across the face.

Then he did it again.

While a cup of coffee would have been more enjoyable, the self-punishment still got the job done. He was, at least for right now, alert.

He looked up and down the shadowy corridor. It was empty. Only the dim emergency lights were on, casting dark pallets over the walls and carpet. The lights were flickering on both ends of the hallway, making it difficult to see more than a dozen meters beyond him in either direction.

It was clear that his section of the ship had suffered battle damage. The floor was covered in twisted pieces of conduit, plastiglass and bulkhead, along with the scattered remains of the tentacles he had discarded. A few of the severed limbs continued to coil and spasm where they lay, as though groping blindly for another victim.

It felt like he was in a vacant, condemned building. At least life support was functional. There was heat and gravity. His antennae waived, sampling the oxygen content of the air and finding it normal, which meant the reclamation systems were also in good working order.

His first attempt at speaking produced a pathetic squawk. He had to coax his voice back to life by coughing and swallowing heavily to generate moisture. When his larynx finally cooperated, he tried again.

“Computer, report our current location and ship’s status.”

It didn’t respond.

“Adol to captain.”

There was nothing through the COMM system, either.

“Adol to any crewmember. Please respond.”

Still nothing.

He took a step forward and his boot fell on something flat and hard. Looking down, he saw it was his beloved combat knife. He scooped it up and walked over to the far bulkhead. He could now see that he was on deck twelve, section eight, not far from engineering, according to the directory on the wall.

Adol trotted off, deciding that engineering wasn’t a bad destination. He could gain control of the ship from there. He stopped twice during the trip, hoping he could get a response from either the computer or the COMM system via the manual interface panels built into the bulkheads, but he had no more success than he had with vocal commands.

The journey down the dark corridor was a short one, and he didn’t encounter anyone, living or dead, along the way.

“Commander!” Lieutenant (j.g.) Cal Benjamin shouted in surprised delight as Adol strode through the doors into engineering. The young engineering chief looked much like Adol; tattered clothing, rumpled hair and a face that was drooping with the weighted remains of shock and encroaching fatigue.

“Lieutenant, how many of the crew have you accounted for?” Adol demanded without fanfare.

Benjamin rubbed his hands together anxiously. “I have five in here, sir. They’re not engineering specialists, but I put ‘em to work anyway. Internal sensors and communications are down so I don’t know who else is aboard. I sent emergency action messages to all terminals, instructing everyone to check in with me. So far, no responses.”

“What about the ship?”

“Warp drive, impulse power and thrusters are also down. We’re deaf, blind and paralyzed. What repairs I got done before hand were all set back by the Inth. I think we’re in worse shape now then before we were captured.”

Adol grimaced at that. “Then at least get a tricorder so we can see how many of our people are aboard.”

Benjamin shifted awkwardly under Adol’s scrutiny. “I already tried that, sir. There’s too much bioelectric interference in here.”

The Andorian’s cranial appendages stiffened irritably. “What? ‘Bioelectric interference’? From what?”

He gestured for the security chief to follow him. They rounded a corner that opened to the main reactor bay, which normally granted full view of the warp core. Benjamin pointed in the direction of the core. “From that, sir.”

An array of emotions sped through Adol’s mind; anger, astonishment, disgust, hatred and yes, even fear. His mouth worked at expressing at least some of those feelings, but nothing would come out.

“The tricorder couldn’t read it,” Benjamin continued, filling the silence, “Like I said, the thing’s interfering with all scans. God knows what else it’s interfering with.”

Adol crept forward, his knife in hand, launching guarded looks in every direction at once. His revulsion was so great; he nearly lost all self-control. He barely restrained the urge to wildly attack the intruder with his blade, slashing in fury until he could no longer lift his arms…

“It’s them, isn’t it?”

Benjamin’s rhetorical question grounded the Andorian once again, drawing his focus back to the everyday world of command responsibilities. ‘Yes,” he replied with more composure than he felt. “I can sense a mind in there. Can’t you?”

Benjamin said that he could, and did so with what Adol considered to be remarkable poise, considering what they were all enduring. This wasn’t the first time the kid’s resiliency had surprised him.

They stood together for a moment, sharing a feeling of helplessness as they regarded the invader.

The warp core---all three stories of it---was completely sheathed in a wriggling cocoon of living tissue, tissue almost identical to what the crew encountered in the Kokala Nebula. The pile of organic matter was gray and blotchy, with white highlights that could have been cartilage or bone. Tentacles that seemed more like arteries were interwoven all throughout the mass. As they watched, one of those tendrils detached high above them with a wet pop. It waived in the air like a snake before snapping out and latching on to an upper story engineering console. The instant it went taught, the tendril lit up from within, shifting between green and blue every few seconds. More extensions could be seen stretched out over their heads like ancient telephone cables, already affixed to various panels, EPS access junctions, plasma regulators and other keys points in engineering.

The structure was not only writhing with life, but also glowing with a deep violet light that oscillated with a steady rhythm, reminiscent of a heartbeat.

Adol estimated that the covering was at least ten meters thick, a size that was already inhibiting access to critical areas of the compartment.

While they had been standing there, the five officers Benjamin had mentioned wandered over timidly, their courage buoyed by Adol’s presence.

Ensign Tyler---who normally worked in astrometrics---was brandishing a phaser. “It’s disgusting!” he said to Adol. “Request permission to eradicate, sir!”

“Surrender your weapon, ensign. Now!” Adol marched over to him and snatched it away before he could object. He powered down the phaser and fastened it to his belt. “Were you planning to fire on our warp core, you idiot?”

Tyler gaped back at him. “No sir. I just---”

“Whatever it was you were doing, get back to it.” He glared at the other four officers. “That goes for the rest of you as well. I want warp drive and shields up ASAP.” There were murmurs of consent and the crew retreated back to their assignments. Adol realized he was still holding his combat knife and he secured it under his tattered pant leg again.

“Can you tell what this thing is doing to our systems?” He asked Benjamin, once the others were out of earshot.

Benjamin ran a hand through his dark hair as he considered the question. “Well sir, I’ve gotta tell you that at first I thought it might be feeding off our reactor. But I’m not registering a power drain anywhere. In fact, I think it may be the other way around.”

“What does that mean?”

“Some of our powered down terminals have reactivated on their own since I’ve been here. It’s the same for various sub routines and even life support. The ship seems to be almost…suckling energy from the cocoon.”

The fact that Adol had the monstrosity to thank for the air he was breathing only elevated his repugnance. He brushed the feeling off quickly and turned to immediate concerns once again. “What are your instructions, lieutenant?”

The youthful engineer was careful to keep his expression passive, unsure if the Andorian was joking or if it was a sarcastic reprimand because Benjamin had somehow stepped out of line. He cleared his throat. “Sir?”

“You’re the chief engineer. This is engineering.” Adol shot back impatiently. “So you’re in charge. Tell me what I should be doing to get the core online.”

“Oh. Uh, yes sir. But…what about the rest of the crew? They’re still missing and a lot of ‘em are wounded. Shouldn’t we send someone out to round them up?”

“If the entire crew has been returned, they’ll make their way to their posts just like you did. The wounded will be cared for as they’re discovered. In the meantime, our priority is the ship.”

Deciding that Adol was peddling logic that even a Vulcan would buy, Benjamin assigned him to reinitialize a second level deuterium actuator, one of the few areas of the network that wasn’t overrun by the cocoon.

As Adol had predicted, more engineering staff began to stumble in after a while, looking shocked and bewildered. Benjamin began directing and reassigning personnel now that he had specialists to take over repair efforts. Adol watched approvingly as the kid fielded the expected reactions at the sight of the cocoon, deftly shutting down objections and queries while he all but shoved crewmembers to their assignments.

As for the security chief, his universe quickly became a series of small enclaves, whose sinister purpose was to foil his every solution while presenting him with new conundrums. Time became meaningless as he traveled from one prison to the next, and it had nothing to do with temporal anomalies.

The present found him with his upper torso inserted into yet another cramped diagnostic gangway, struggling to balance a series of flow induction nodes. He was nearing the threshold of his engineering extension training and knew it. Already his progress was slowing to a crawl. To say that Adol was eagerly awaiting his relief was an understatement.

“Commander!” the cry had come from the lower level, near the base of the warp core.

He ducked out of the access hatch and managed to bang his temple in the process. He cursed, dropping his hydro spanner where it clattered away out of sight. “Report!” He shouted back. “What’s happening?”

 

[Galen4]

Chapter 11
---Part 3---​

“Sir! Sir! Something’s going on with the cocoon!”

Adol leaped off the upper railing and grabbed a slide pole, slipping downward like an old earth firefighter. The instant his boots hit the bottom deck, he sprinted over to where Benjamin and a throng of crewmembers were gathered, staring up at the cocoon apprehensively.

He arrived just as part of the sheath was tearing open and crustacean-like organisms were crawling out of the orifice. The creatures were oblong-shaped and at least two meters long with mottled brown shells. They possessed a dozen legs each. Black slime erupted from the hole and splattered the deck at the crew’s feet.

“Stand back, everyone! Move to the other side of the room! Now!” Adol pulled out his phaser.

The unusual creatures began skittering around the cocoon, like squirrels racing around a tree. Their clawed limbs made scratching noises every time they ran over a boney protrusion. To everyone’s relief, the things didn’t venture down from the second story.

Something else emerged from the opening. It was humanoid figure; swathed in so many tentacles it resembled a mummy. As the figure was pushed out, they crew could see it was anchored to a nest of more tentacles, which kept the body aloft. Then, ever so slowly, the figure was lowered to the deck. The mandibles retracted all at once and the body tumbled to the floor.

It was Jason Aubrey.

The crew ran to him, heedless of their safety. Adol reached him first. He pulled the captain to a sitting position. Aubrey’s eyes flew open and he gasped.

“Take it slow, sir.” Adol belted out an order for someone to bring a medkit, but a crewmember was already on it. A young woman with red hair jogged back and began running a tricorder over Aubrey moments later.

“What’s the verdict?” Adol asked after the scanner had completed a few passes.

Engineer’s mate first class Angelina Dougherty was the daughter of a prominent Starfleet admiral, but more importantly, she also had advanced field medic training. She looked back at Adol with a relieved smile. “He’s dehydrated, but no physical injuries.” She reported.

“Any sign of synaptic trauma?”

“Sorry, I can’t tell, sir. There’s too much bioelectric interference in here. The tricorder can’t give me anything detailed.”

“I’m fine.” The captain said thickly, getting to his feet. But his eyes were unfocused and his knees buckled when he tried to stand.

Adol and Benjamin caught him and then helped Aubrey move over to the nearest vacant workstation where he sat down heavily.

“Sir, the last time I saw you, you were being carried off by an alien giant. I half expected you’d be devoured.”

“You and me both, commander.” Aubrey agreed shakily. The captain frowned at the smothered warp core. “Status report.”

Within a few minutes, the crew brought him up to speed.

Once that was done, Benjamin could contain himself no longer. “Sir, I can’t believe you were inside that thing! Do you remember what happened to you?”

Looking at the cocoon with distaste, Aubrey said: “Thankfully, I don’t remember being wrapped up in there.” He shivered. “I recall that pincer grabbing me, lifting me off my feet, and then…everything went black and I was just drifting in some type of void...” His brow drew together as he focused his thoughts. “While I was in that state, I communicated with the Inth, but not through speech. It was some kind of shared imagery…” His voice dwindled away.

Adol was direct. “Did you convince them not to attack the Alpha Quadrant?”

The captain seemed oddly reflective. “It’s…complicated. There’s more going on here than any of us realized, commander.”

“With all due respect sir, that’s not an answer.”

“Captain! Lieutenant! We have external sensors now.” Ensign Tyler was working at a nearby engineering kiosk. Benjamin ran over to confirm the good news.

He bobbed his head excitedly as he scanned Tyler’s board. “Yes sir, I should be able to see our position now.” One display screen after the other blinked on as Benjamin finished the final adjustments. “Uh oh. We’re moving, sir.”

“Moving?” Aubrey repeated dully. “I thought we were still trapped within the nebula.”

“Negative, captain. Sensors definitely show forward momentum through the cloud. One hundred thousand KPH and accelerating. Our drive systems are still down so I know we’re not traveling under our own power.”

“That’s not possible.” Adol objected. “There’s no way to plow through a nebula at that speed without deflectors or shields. The particle density’s too thick. We’d be torn apart.”

“Can you tell what part of the Kalandra Sector we’re exiting into?” Aubrey asked carefully.

Benjamin rubbed his chin, exchanging his look of concern for one of incredulity. “Sorry, captain. There’s a…distortion envelope of some type surrounding the ship. It’s creating a phase variance field that’s interfering with sensors. We can’t scan beyond a few hundred meters from the hull.”

“Can you compensate?”

“I can try, sir.”

First Mate Dougherty suddenly jumped away from a terminal she’d been sitting at, throwing her arms up in surprise. “Whoa! Captain, the plasma injector prestart sequence just fired up. And I didn’t do it.”

“I’m reading current across the EPS grid!” Someone called from the upper level.

Aubrey looked down to see the station he was at abruptly surge to life. “Intermix cooler tanks have activated.” He advised everyone. He stood up and walked over to Benjamin, who was doing a slow 360 as he surveyed the room before plopping back into a terminal chair.

“Sir, that thing is restoring all of our systems.” Benjamin complained. The loss of control was offending him more and more by the minute.

“Forget that for now. Can you get through the phase variance? I need to know where we’re going.”

“No sir,” the engineer returned assertively. “There’s no way we’re gonna overpower the variance field with sensors. But I was thinking…we could launch a class 5 probe, programmed to match our speed. If we keep it within two hundred meters of our hull we can at least get visual telemetry if nothing else.”

“See to it.”

Benjamin did and soon a snowy image appeared on the one of the display screens. It was Intrepid’s starboard side. The picture quality got better as the probe traveled away from the ship. Soon, they could see that a swirling funnel of luminescent particles encompassed Intrepid. She was a comet, leaving a trail of glittering sand in her wake.

“We just cleared the nebula but I still can’t tell what section we’re in.” Adol grumbled.

As if addressing his concern, the funnel suddenly faded away, creating a full, unobstructed view around the ship. Intrepid was no longer moving but she now looked like a ghostly apparition. A dim ruddiness clung to the hull while parts of the saucer section and starboard nacelle faded in and out, at times becoming transparent.

“Is that a problem with the optical sensors?” Adol asked with a frown.

Benjamin was frowning himself. “No, sir. ODN signal strength shows no signs of degradation. But…this is weird. Even with that funnel gone, I’m still reading a variance field around the ship.”

“What’s causing it?” Ensign Tyler asked from over Benjamin’s shoulder.

Adol considered the smothered warp core with censure. “Take a wild guess, ensign.”

A yellow splinter came into view at the far corner of the screen.

“What is that? Benjamin, angle in on that image and pull back for a complete picture.” Aubrey ordered.

Three Cardassian warships took center stage.

“Oh my God.” Benjamin yelped. “They’re right on top of us!”

“Are the shields back?” Aubrey asked.

Benjamin started tapping his board wildly and then slapped it in aggravation. “Damn! No sir! They’re still down!”

Adol pointed at the bow of each ship, indicating a telltale light source. “Their disruptor cannons just went hot. They’re about to open fire.”

Aubrey grabbed Benjamin’s arm. “We need to buy time. Try hailing them by bouncing the signal off our probe.” He said urgently.

“All hands brace for incoming fire!” Adol ejected, hoping some part of the COMM system would take his words and run with them.

The bows of all three warships became blazing suns as their disruptor cannons came to life, directing a fusillade at the vulnerable starship.



USS Nagasaki


Standing amid Zorek’s bridge of serene Vulcans, Admiral Jellico was like a pocket of turbulence to a calm sky. His umbrage hovered near the boiling point as he watched the probable destruction of yet another member of his ill-fated task force.

There was no hesitation. No restraint. As soon as the Starfleet vessel was free of the vortex, the triad of Cardassian warships launched a devastating salvo that swept into the Excelsior-class ship at full yield---and it was all played out in hellish detail by the data feed from Sentry.

But the spiral-wave disruptors never made contact with their victim. Instead, they passed straight through the Intrepid as though she were as intangible as a latent afterimage.

Jellico and Zorek, standing side by side, shared a look of surprise. On the main viewer, they watched the Cardassians fire again, no doubt suspecting a trick.

Once more, the beams sliced through their target as though it wasn’t there.

The attackers followed up the initial assaults with everything but the proverbial kitchen sink, unloading a combination salvo of plasma torpedoes and disruptors. A storm of weapons fire showered the space before them.

All of it sizzled through the Starfleet ship without causing her to so much as rattle. She remained in place, close but untouchable, like some cosmic version of the Flying Dutchman.

“That’s Intrepid, Jason Aubrey’s boat,” Jellico declared. “I recognize the variant-two hull configuration. What is he up to? Is he using some kind of holographic ruse?”

Zorek seemed unconvinced as he peered intently at the screen. “Logically, the Cardassians wouldn’t try so hard to destroy Intrepid if she were merely a projection. They may be detecting something that we can’t see.”

Science officer Telik decided to risk conjecture. “From what our scans indicated about the vortex, I think it likely that Intrepid is, in some way, out of phase with normal space-time.”

“An efficient defense system.” Zorek observed, completing her thought. And Logical, he mused to himself. The success of shields and armor was directly proportionate to how much punishment they could absorb. The more practical approach was to not get hit in the first place.

The warships ceased fire. Then unexpectedly, they came about and began to fly away at full impulse.

They’re spooked, Jellico thought. Why?

“Admiral. Captain,” L’Nira intoned from tactical, just as a warbling ping sounded around the ship. “Sensors indicate Intrepid is now radiating 12th Power energy readings from her secondary hull. An expediential cycle is in effect. Explosive discharge is imminent."

The vice-admiral didn’t question how such a thing was possible, or assume the readings were false. There wasn’t time to second-guess. He knew that an energy pulse of that magnitude would vaporize all matter within a half light year radius and likely fracture subspace in the process. “Jellico to all ships! Prepare for emergency warp!”

The flight control officer activated a programmed sequence. The computer input an escape vector that would assure no accidental collisions with the rest of the fleet.

Zorek had opened his mouth to say, “engage” when his eyes were drawn back to the screen by a new development.

A green energy bolt flashed out from Intrepid’s engineering hull and arced towards the nearest destroyer, overtaking the ship as though it were standing still. The arc stopped just beyond the outer shield boundary, holding relative position despite the speeds they were traveling at.

Zorek’s gray eyebrows drew together. “Lt. Telik, supply an analysis of---“

A translucent globe inflated from the tip of the bolt and instantly surrounded the Cardassian ship. The Galor-class destroyer lost speed and quickly came to a stop.

“What the hell is going on?” Jellico sputtered, thoughts of escape now forgotten.

A second energy bolt chased down and then enveloped the next Cardassian ship.

And then a third arc of lightning snared the last ship.

All three warships were now imprisoned inside of shimmering green blisters, with each globe tethered to Intrepid’s secondary hull through whipping energy tendrils.

“Captain Hiroko is hailing.”

Jellico forced himself to sit back down while the forward viewer split the image between her and the Cardassian’s plight. “Sir, I think I can make contact with Intrepid now. They’ve launched a probe. We can use it to relay a signal.”

“By all means.” Jellico encouraged. As he waited, he watched the seasoned Zorek pace his bridge with uncharacteristic impatience, gently prodding his science officers to dissect what they were witnessing and produce answers. So far, all they were producing was befuddled expressions.

“No response from Intrepid,” Hiroko updated. “We were able to secure an open channel for a few seconds but all we heard was overlapping yells from the crew. That, and a noise that sounded like rushing wind.”

Zorek had managed to still his restless legs and was now stroking his beard. “Intriguing.” He offered.

Hiroko’s almond eyes narrowed with concern as she looked off screen, which jolted the admiral back to his feet. “Wait a minute,” She murmured. “Something else is happening…”

“Admiral,” Zorek cut in, pointing at the viewer.

Hiroko ended the connection and the main viewer went to full screen mode again. It was centered on one of the imprisoned destroyers.

“New readings on energy output.” Lt. Telik added, but had no chance to finish her report.

The glittering sphere around the vessel was rapidly beginning to collapse. Within seconds, it made contact with the Galor’s stern and bow. The slender tail began to fold and crumple as the energy globe started crushing the ship with unrelenting force. At a certain point, the mangled rear-end could take no more and exploded into a cloud of debris. Soon, all that was left was the ship’s primary hull, which quickly erupted into a fireworks display as her reactors breached under the horrendous pressure.

Strangely, all of the explosions were contained within the sphere, transforming it into a tiny star that finally shrank away and winked out of sight. It was like a supernova, played backwards. The writhing energy ribbon also vanished.

Of the three warships, only two now remained, still leashed to Intrepid and helpless.

A stunned silence fell over Nagasaki’s bridge officers.

And then the second sphere began to fall in on itself.

Both warships fired their disruptors in a panicked attempt to break the envelopes that were holding them captive. The barriers went from green to violet with each impact, but didn’t breach.

L’Nira’s voice was unusually bland, as though the security chief were making a concerted effort to strain empathy from her words. “Sirs, we’re receiving text messages from the remaining warships.” She advised. “It appears they are also using Intrepid’s probe as a relay to circumvent the interference, just as Sentry did.” She pulled her gaze up from the tactical board, her eyebrows askew with fascination. “They are surrendering.”

“Dictate this message to Intrepid,” Jellico demanded at once, “Aubrey, stop what you’re doing. You’ve made your point. The enemy is surrendering.” He turned expectantly to the rear of the bridge, but L’Nira only shook her head.

He whirled back to the screen and saw the second destroyer bend inward, shatter and then implode.

Only one ship now remained.

“Message from the last vessel,” L’Nira announced, her emotional control visibly faltering. “It is from a Gul Palad. He says that there is a nephew of a high-ranking Cardassian official aboard. He is…begging us to spare his crew. He is repeating his offer of unconditional surrender.”

The last energy sphere began to contract.

“Goddamn it, Captain! I’m giving you a direct Order!” Jellico snarled. “Stop your attack! Let them surrender!”

The inside of the barrier made contact with the destroyer’s hull.

“They’re more valuable to us as prisoners, don’t you get that?” Part of Jellico marveled at the fact that, of all the people in the galaxy, it was he who had become an advocate for a ship full of enemy Cardassians.

The last ship was methodically and ruthlessly crushed out of existence. The people of Tango Fleet were a captive audience to the slaughter, too far away to intervene even if they had tried.

The final energy stream snapped off, leaving no trace of the enemy warships or the hundreds of men and women who had populated them.

 

[CeJay]

Oh boy, the Lovecraftian horror show continues for the Intrepid in her crew. The imagery you describe here is really making my skin crawl, it's that vivid.

The question continues what the Inth are up to but perhaps even more so, how does Aubrey and company fit into their plans? And what have they done to Aubrey? Has he been altered somehow inside this cocoon? I also still wonder where Shantok is in all this as it seemed to me that she had a special kind of connection with the Inth.

It is clear that Aubrey and his crew have little control over their own ship at the moment which is clearly set on a warpath. It did short work of those ships but I can't help wonder if the Inth would make a great deal of difference between the Caradassians and Federation ships?

 

[Galen4]

Chapter 12
---Part 1---​

USS Intrepid
Deck 12, Main Engineering



Finally, it stopped.

The unrelenting pressure had felt like layers of stone pinning the crew to the deck, squeezing the air from their lungs and putting unmerciful force on their bones and joints. While above them, a cyclone had shrieked through the room, sounding like a hoard of angry banshees.

While that chaos was going on, the mass of alien tissue around the warp core had ignited into an intense light, as if a small sun had erupted within the engineering compartment.

Now the pandemonium was over. Aubrey rolled over and sat up, seeing black starbursts across his eyes and feeling his joints protesting at having to bend once again. “Report!” He rasped out.

No one reported anything at first. Benjamin, Adol and the rest of the crew staggered around aimlessly, some half-blind because the pressure wave had held them with their face towards the light-source.

Engineer’s First Mate Dougherty was nearest a station. She made it into a seat, her arms now bare after the windstorm had shredded more of her already tattered uniform away. Looking back from under a frizzled rat’s nest of red hair, she said: “Sensors went blank during the event, sir. I can’t tell what happened but no damage was done to our systems. And there’s no sign of the Cardassian ships.”

Benjamin was at the master system’s board. “I don’t get it.” He said to himself, his voice sounding loud in the now quiet room.

Aubrey and Adol drew up behind him. “What are you seeing?” Aubrey panted, still catching his breath.

The young engineering chief was still dazed. He rubbed a smudgy hand across his forehead. “The Cardies are gone, sir. No debris, no energy signatures, nothing.” He looked over his shoulder at them. “I know they fired on us with our shields down. But we have no damage. It’s a miracle.”

“It was no miracle, kid.” Adol corrected mordantly. He flung an unhappy glance at the swaddled warp core. There were at least five more tentacles now spanning the upper level.

“Sensors may have been blacked out…but what about visual playback?” Aubrey suggested. “Maybe our probe will have a record of what happened.”

Benjamin snapped his fingers in agreement and started tapping out commands. “Got it!” He yipped a few seconds later. The engineering staff slowly coalesced behind them to watch the visual playback.

When it was over, no one was cheering. The merciless destruction of the Cardassian ships was loathsome to say the least. One by one, the crew turned and looked up at the thing that sat in their engineering room, attached to the core like some monstrous parasite…a parasite they knew possessed a cold intelligence, limitless power and no compunctions regarding whom that power was used against.

“It was a slaughter.” Adol stated with disgust. “The Inth weren’t protecting us, they were protecting themselves.”

Aubrey remained quiet until Benjamin derailed whatever private thoughts he was having.

“Captain, updates coming in from the bridge. Internal sensors show a full head count. Everyone’s back aboard. Counselor Perboda is organizing scout teams to retrieve anyone to injured to walk and moving them to Medical. And…” He reflected on the scrolling text before him. “Sickbay says they have Commander Shantok! She’s in the ICU.”

Aubrey started. “ICU? What’s wrong with her?”

Now subdued, Benjamin turned slowly in his chair. “All it says is that she’s in a deep coma. Synaptic trauma. They don’t have more yet.”

“Sir, uplink restored to the fleet. We have them on sensors, close by.” Dougherty contributed from her post. “You’ll need to see this other communiqué, captain. It requires command level security codes to decrypt.”

Aubrey limped over on aching legs. She moved aside as he sat down and began imputing his personal keys. After a few seconds, he straightened, his face a dark mask. “Betazed has fallen.” He said simply.

There were subdued moans around him. A few people stopped their tasks and sat heavily in the nearest chair, heads in their hands. Others remained still as a redwood, paralyzed by remorse.

It was an unplanned moment of silence for those who had perished. During that time, it seemed those ghosts stood among the crew, maybe in silent protest that their sacrifices had come to nothing or perhaps in mourning that the Federation’s days were now numbered.

Someone out of sight could be heard sobbing quietly.

Aubrey eased up slowly and moved back to Adol and Benjamin. “Lieutenant, send the news out to the crew.”

“Aye, captain.” Benjamin acknowledged thickly. “Do you want to…add anything to the message, sir?”

“No.”

The engineer and security chief locked eyes worriedly just before Benjamin tapped on his board to fulfill the order.

Soon after, the boson’s whistle piped over the PA system. “Bridge to Captain.”

“Aubrey here. Go Ahead, Mr. Rodriguez.”

“Sir, I have Admiral Jellico on a Priority One channel. He’s asking for you.”

“Send it down here.” Before closing his end, he had another thought. “And lieutenant, address intercraft when he comes on; all screens, all speakers. I want the entire ship to hear this.”

“Oh…yes, sir. Rodriguez out.”

He turned around to find Adol wearing a thin smirk. “The admiral may not appreciate that breach of protocol, sir.”

Aubrey smirked back. “Like I give a bloody damn, at this point. The crew shouldn’t have to wait for answers. They deserve that much.”

Soon, a wall monitor winked on and the captain began a detailed summary to the admiral regarding everything that happened to him and his crew while being held prisoners. Jellico and Zorek stood shoulder to shoulder on Nagasaki’s bridge, processing the bizarre tale.

“The Inth were evolving until we interrupted their transition with Genesis.” Aubrey was explaining. “Now the progression has been stopped and can’t proceed.”

“Are they planning to attack us out of revenge?” Jellico asked.

Aubrey steeled himself. So far, he had been briefing the admiral on what was already known to his crew. What he said next would be news to everyone. How his battered shipmates would take the information was anyone’s guess…

“An attack is exactly what I’m trying to prevent. You see, admiral, not all of the Inth were inside the Kokala Nebula---but they are all connected on some level, much as the Borg are interlinked through a collective mind. So, when we interrupted the process for some of the Inth, we interrupted it for all of them.”

Jellico’s mouth twitched in exasperation. “What do they want, captain?”

“To complete their evolution, sir. But all of the Inth must be in close physical proximity for that to happen, now. So I’ll need to take those aboard my ship to join with the remaining members of their species.”

“And where, exactly, will this family reunion take place?”

“Archer IV.”

“Archer IV?” Jellico blatted. “We were just there, remember? We lost that system to the Dominion. Not only is the Archer system heavily fortified by enemy forces, but you’d have to travel through occupied Dominion space just to reach it.”

The captain ignored the point. “After receiving the Inth at Archer IV, we’ll need to return all of them to the Kokala Nebula. They have a connection with this place. Once they’re gathered here, the evolution can proceed and they’ll ascend out of our universe for good.”

“Hold on a minute, hold on.” Jellico raised his palms in defiance. “Are you telling me that all the Inth want you for is…ferry service? I thought they’re all powerful? This ‘super-race’ needs to highjack a starship just to move around?”

Aubrey pursed his lips with impatience. “For now, the Inth are trapped in an unstable, transitional phase…suspended between evolutionary cycles. As a result, they can’t effectively travel under their own power.”

“’For now’?” Zorek asked, picking up on the qualifier.

“If the process doesn’t complete soon, their power will completely destabilize, resulting in an energy breach that could fracture subspace and devastate half the quadrant. And that, I’m afraid, is the good news.”

Aubrey’s captive audience remained silent, awaiting the other shoe to drop.

“If they miss this window, the Inth will revert to their original state and become stranded in our universe. When that happens, they’ll go back to exterminating all space faring life. When it’s over, the Federation, our allies and even our enemies will all be gone. Understand this won’t be an attack that can be managed through the conventions of modern warfare. We’d be victims of an extinction-level event that would permanently change the landscape of the galaxy.”

Standing beside him, Adol’s worried scowl grew deep. He wanted to burst, but managed to hold onto his tongue.

“That’s quite a story,” Jellico admitted after a brief pause. “Sounds like these boys really have you spooked.”

“You’re right to say I’m ‘spooked’.” Aubrey answered tightly. “Because everything I just said is true. Therefore, I request permission to proceed to Archer IV immediately.”

To everyone’s surprise, Admiral Jellico nodded amicably. “By all means. Besides, with that monster in your belly, I sure as hell don’t want Intrepid anywhere near the fleet.”

Aubrey’s shoulders sank in relief. For the first time since the discussion began, he breathed normally. “Thank you, sir. I’ll send you our flight plan as soon---“

“Not so fast.” Jellico interrupted. “I’ll give you official permission, but these ‘Inth’ are going to do something for us first.”

Aubrey froze. “Sir? I don’t know what you---“

“It’s called Quid Pro Quo, captain. Even in their ‘helpless’ state, they’ve managed to turn your ship into a super weapon that’s damn near invincible. That’s a tactical advantage I can’t ignore.”

 

[Galen4]

Chapter 12
---Part 2---​

“May I ask what you have in mind, sir?” Zorek inquired.

The admiral’s unswerving glare stayed on Aubrey. “When you leave, you’re going to take the Intrepid straight through the heart of the Dominion fleet surrounding Betazed. Basically, I want you to cut a swath through those bastards on the way out. From what I’ve just seen you should be able to eliminate a sizable portion of their forces. Between that and the ships we already took from them, I’m betting Command can get reinforcements here before the enemy can establish new supply lines. We might just get a second chance at wrestling this sector out of Dominion hands.”

Zorek squinted with concern. “Admiral, may I speak to you in private?”

“Later.” Jellico spat.

“Sir, that’s not the agreement I made with them.” Aubrey returned, voicing his own concern.

“Of course it wasn’t---because you didn’t bother to make an agreement in the first place, you just caved in to their demands.” The admiral folded his arms, appearing to wax philosophical as he continued. “Let me give you another version of events: These creatures showed off a little power, put on a fright show and then used their telepathy to play on your childhood fears of the Inth. It obviously worked. Look at you. You’re ready to do their bidding without question, now.”

“I can assure you, sir…I’m not under their control.”

Jellico sputtered derisively, his face stretching into cockeyed disbelief. “You can’t assure me of anything, captain. Not considering how invasive that telepathic probing was. A third of your crew was taken down by synaptic trauma. Your XO’s in a coma, for Christ’s sake---and she’s one of the most powerful telepaths in the quadrant.”

“But I haven’t been harmed, Admiral.”

“Which is odd given all you’ve recounted.” Zorek’s baritone rumbled with suspicion. “How is it that you alone were able to sustain prolonged mental communication with these beings and emerge unscathed, while everyone else was damaged by even fleeting contact?”

It was a reasonable question. From the corner of his eye, Aubrey saw his crew turn their heads to him in unison. “By the time they got to me, they had learned how to communicate without causing harm.” He offered carefully.

“Or they were practicing on Intrepid’s crew so they could learn how to better control YOU.” Jellico sneered. “Now they have one of our most seasoned combat specialists under their thumb. That’s a hell of an asset to possess.”

Aubrey’s tone flattened with irritation. “To what end?”

“The logical goal should be obvious. Do you not see it?”

He shook his head at Zorek in confusion.

“Their story about evolution could be a ruse. The Inth might be hobbled for other reasons and are now manipulating you into helping them. Once you’ve restored them to full power, they could very well turn on us and ravage the quadrant. Instead of saving the Federation, you may instead be facilitating its demise.”

“Those are all valid concerns,” Aubrey said hurriedly, trying to hold his crumbling patience together. “And if I thought the Inth were back to exterminate us, I would destroy my ship to stop them, if that’s what it took. Even if it meant the lives of my crew and me.

But the bottom line is I know they are evolving. So I am sorry, Admiral…I can’t use the Inth to fight our war. They would never agree to it and forcing the issue is far too risky. We’re all in enough danger as it is.”

Zorek nodded thoughtfully.

The admiral however, bristled. “I don’t think you heard me, captain. I wasn’t making a request, it was an order!”

The snide challenge tripped a wire for Aubrey and in an instant, weeks of internalized stress plumed out of the captain, drowning all self-restraint.

Aubrey’s patience snapped like a frayed guitar string.

His biting oratory slid out almost robotically, while still managing to convey pure contempt; he was a man trying to turn the village idiot from a poisoned well. “Listen to me very carefully, you stupid ass…”

Jellico’s mouth fell open.

“I’m going to make this very simple for you: I will NOT under any circumstances attack the Dominion with the Inth aboard. I’m responsible for this mess and I plan to clean it up. As of now, that is the only mission my ship is committed to. I won’t tolerate you compounding a bad tactical decision with a fatal one. Bring me up on bloody charges if you like but in the meantime stop prattling at me and let me do my god damned job.”

“You’re relived of command!” Jellico nearly screamed. “I order you to turn your ship over to the next ranking officer! You will hold position until I decide---“

Aubrey tapped the console and Jellico disappeared. “Sanctimonious idiot.” He griped under his breath. Then, he spoke out to the intercom as an astonished Adol looked on. “Captain to bridge.”

“Rodriguez here.” Came the shaky response from overhead.

“Set course for Archer IV and engage at full impulse. Make sure our course takes us away from Tango Fleet and Dominion forces. Once I get the all clear from Benjamin, I’ll order warp speed. In the meantime, stand by for further instructions.”

“Uh…aye sir.”

Aubrey was now giving Adol his undivided inspection, evaluating if his new first officer would challenge the decision. Adol gave no quarter, so at first they merely stared at each other, maintaining poker faces while Benjamin and the rest of the crew slinked away behind them, like townsfolk seeking shelter as two gunfighters squared off at high noon…

The captain was first to concede the duel. “Well? It’s not like you to hide your feelings, commander.”

“I was waiting until we had some privacy.”

Aubrey walked him back to a vacant corner that was free of eavesdroppers. “Speak freely Commander, by all means.”

“What if Zorek is right?” Adol threw at him.

“He’s not.”

“You seem to be the only one who knows that, sir. And that’s a concern. Because you’re not just gambling with the lives of the crew, nor even just the Federation…but all civilized life on this end of the galaxy.”

He looked sideways at the security chief. “I thought you didn’t believe in the Inth.”

Adol’s antennae sagged a little. “Okay. You were right.” He avowed. “I felt them touch my mind, too.” He suppressed a shudder. “I suppose I didn’t want to admit it. But it’s my job as acting XO to offer alternative explanations, you know.”

“Granted. Anything else?”

“’’Anything else’? I’ve barely started, sir! Do you know what a difficult position you’ve placed me in here? The admiral just relived you of command. According to regs, I should have you confined and then turn the ship around.”

“Will you?”

“No.” He grumbled after a moment of hesitation. “I agree that trying to use the Inth against the Dominion is foolish and I support your decision in refusing that order. The admiral’s grabbing at straws.” His moody eyes hardened with resistance. “But I can’t promise unconditional cooperation on this, sir. If I have reason to doubt this mission, I’ll take whatever action is necessary to stop it. I’m loyal to you and Starfleet…but ultimately, it’s the Federation I’m loyal to. I won’t see it destroyed on my watch.”

“You realize that by not reliving me, you’re also in violation of Jellico’s orders. You’ll be brought up on charges when this is all over, too.”

“Respectfully, sir…let me worry about my future. For now, I just want a Federation left at the end. If there is, I’ll take that as a win.”

“Then it seems we’re in agreement.” Aubrey assumed quickly, already looking towards the exit. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be in sickbay, checking on Shantok. Oh, and I’ll need a full report on ship’s status and personnel within the hour. They’ll be a staff meeting shortly thereafter.” He turned to walk away, judging the matter closed.

“No sir.”

He did an about face. “Excuse me, Commander?”

“I said ‘no’.” Adol repeated firmly. “You’re not going anywhere until you speak to the crew.”

“I’m not?”

“No, you’re not. Remember, the entire ship was listening a few minutes ago. You saw to that. And what they heard was you defying Jellico while turning your back on the war effort---all to help a race that just finished torturing us. To say nothing of another devastating loss to the Dominion they once again had to suffer through. You’re asking too much from this crew. They need to feel your confidence and assuredness more than ever before. And by the way, I suggest you make it a damn good fireside speech if you want to avoid a mutiny.”

The captain glowered at him. “I assume you’re still speaking freely?”

“I’m speaking as your first officer.” He paused. “Sir.”

“And I thought Shantok was direct.” Aubrey muttered. Deciding the Andorian was this close to hoisting Aubrey over his shoulder and plopping him in front of the nearest interface panel, he decided a little capitulation might be in order.

Besides, his caustic blue-skinned friend was right---and shame on him for not thinking of it first.



USS Nagasaki


Vice-Admiral Edward Jellico stormed into Zorek’s ready room, leaving a trail of profanity in his wake so robust; it seemed to hang in the air like a dense fog.

This time Captain Zorek was hot on his heels. He slipped in just behind Jellico, as the admiral careened behind the Vulcan’s desk and dropped into the main chair.

“Did you hear what that son of a bitch SAID to me?” Jellico demanded shrilly.

“We all did.” Zorek replied with disapproval. He glided into the opposite chair, not in the least bothered by the reverse-order of seating in his own office. “Admiral, if I may, this situation is beyond our control. We can’t force Captain Aubrey to obey your orders. Neither can we stop him from traveling to Archer IV. We can only hope that he is correct about the Inth.”

Jellico slammed the desk with his fist. “God dammit!” He hissed. “I should never have signed off on his Genesis idea.”

“We all accepted the risks of trying to stop the attack on Betazed. The probability of success was never high. The battle is now lost. We were not the victors. It is time to move on.”

The admiral fidgeted in his chair, still smoldering, but didn’t reply.

“Admiral. The Tenth Fleet commander is requesting an update on our rendezvous. Our resources will be needed elsewhere.”

“All right.” He said finally, jerking his chin into a curt nod. “Tell the fleet we’re getting underway in fifteen minutes and advise the Tenth as well.”

Zorek rose and left the room. As soon as the doors closed, Jellico spun around and began jabbing at the desk monitor. Caroline Hiroko’s face blinked on a moment later. “Admiral?”

“I kept a channel open to the Sentry. Are you up to speed?”

“I am, sir.” She confirmed sourly. “I heard it all. Just having trouble believing it.”

“Captain, I have new orders for you. I want you to follow Aubrey and report on his movements. With your sensors, you should be able to keep tabs on him while staying outside Intrepid’s scanning radius.”

“I understand.”

“This is going to sound a lot like the last instructions I gave you. You will not engage enemy ships or directly confront Aubrey. You saw what happened to the Cardassians. Just monitor and break radio silence long enough to report.”

“What happens when he reaches Dominion-held space?”

“You withdraw and find the nearest safe harbor. Are we clear?”

“I am, sir.”

“One more thing. Be careful. Aubrey’s dangerous. Watch your back out there.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure we don’t provoke the Inth.”

“That’s not what I meant.” He leaned forward. “Caroline…Aubrey’s dangerous.”

Hiroko blinked in confusion. “Admiral? I’m not sure what you’re trying to say.”

Jellico fell into a disquieting silence, momentarily at a loss. Then he snorted, as if to dismiss his own words. “Forget it. I guess that smug bastard got my dander up, is all. Maybe he reminds me too much of another mouthy officer I ran into, once.”

Her befuddled look became acidic. “We’ll see how smug Aubrey is during his court-martial, sir.”

He bared his teeth unpleasantly. “If I live long enough to see it, I’ll die a happy man.”

***​

There was a time, in Gul Katorn’s youth, that death had frightened him. Not because of judgment in the afterlife or the possibility of complete oblivion…no, it was to have his life’s accomplishments cut short. Even back then he was ambitious and yearned for battles to win and legacies to create that might one day be recited in future classrooms. There was so very much he had wanted to do.

Death held no terror in the present. Today, he had decades of life experience to draw upon. He understood the bleak reality of just how limited his avenues had truly been. In the end, the galaxy cared nothing for legacies or accomplishments. He had been merely playing a game…

He made peace with that epiphany in later years because he considered his life a game worth playing. There had been military service. Then there had been the Obsidian Order. But now there was life as a puppet, either to Timett’s family or to the Dominion. Now, the game sought to play him.

The guttural bleep! bleep! bleep! in his ear told him what his body already knew: total life support failure. The oxygen was almost gone while the temperature was unbearably cold and plunging by the minute. What little breath he had left was illustrated by little white puffs.

It would be over soon. Katorn was done waiting, however. He was struggling to breath and had no intention of suffocating to death. He would be ridiculed when at last his stiff corpse was pulled from the dilapidated rescue pod, and that was unacceptable.

He thumbed his disruptor to maximum power to ensure vaporization and put it to his temple. It pleased him to think that warmth would be his last sensation. But in that final second, a new sound made him pause. The life support warning was now joined by a second alarm; this one was a high ting! ting! ting!

Proximity alert. Gasping, he wiped away the frost from the window port only to gape in surprise at the specter before him: a Federation starship, swooping in on his position, coming so close that its massive form swallowed the stars, so close he could look within the saucer’s windows.

No.

It was she! Intrepid. The same ship that had robbed him of his own…the same vessel that he had seen flattened by the nebula’s tentacle. Now, back from the dead to hound him, to gloat in this, his final moments of life…

Chase me where I go, if you dare. There wasn’t air enough to speak the words so he only mouthed them.

And then he pressed the trigger.

Nothing happened of course, because the transporter beam that suddenly swept over him had already gutted his weapon, rendering it useless.

Katorn realized that his nemesis wanted him alive, that his humiliation might endure. No doubt he would be held up as a trophy for the amusement of the crew.

He had time for a parting thought before fading into the matter stream:

He would make sure his opponent paid for this fraudulent act of mercy.

Gul Katorn, former member of the Obsidian Order, would be no helpless prisoner.

No indeed.

In fact, he had a secret---and when that secret was unleashed, his enemy would know unspeakable sorrow…

-----To be concluded in "Preemptive Maneuvers"------

Coming soon​

 

[admiralelm11]

Wow, this is a pretty awesome story. I request more soon at your leisure, sir.

 

[CeJay]

Wow, what a journey this has been. It's taken us a little while but we finally got there.

First of all, congratulations on completing what has turned out to be the first entry into quite a fantastic tale which essentially first introduced us to these great characters, none more intriguing as Jason Aubrey himself. Side note: Loved the way he snapped at Jellico. I would have paid money to see that reaction shot.

I suppose I didn't quite expect this to be a two-parter. It's almost unfair, after you left us hanging for so long with this story, that we won't even get a payoff after all this time. On the other hand I can see of course that this impressive plot was far too big to wrap up into a single story. The saga of the resurgence of the seemingly ageless Inth deserves to be told on an epic scale and I can't wait for Preemptive Measures.

I hope however that it won't take seven years to tell that story. Not sure I have that kind of patience now that we've gotten a taste of things yet to come.

Outstanding work, kind sir. Looking forward to many more Intrepid adventures.

 

[Galen4]

Thanks Cejay and Admiralel11 for the feedback.

I know what you mean, Cejay...it did take a long time to put this one to bed. But only because I stepped away from fan fiction for several years. In fact, this was left hanging for so long, I probably lost most of my original readers. But rest assured, even with my other commitments, I still plan to move forward with future stories. So it won't take years to complete the next segments.

The other good news is that Preemptive Maneuvers is mostly already written. These stories were put together years before I joined United Trek and are just getting make overs. PE needs less of a re write, which means it can go up faster. Even if I don't have all of my original documents, I have it in my head, at least. I can also promise that PE will be a definite conclusion to his arc.

Thanks again for your commentary!