Star Trek: Phoenix - Honour & Duty (S1 E4)

[AndyBlue1975]

QONOS.

The hover bikes roared down the gravel laden roads towards the estate, with intent. On approach to the main gates, the lead biker flipped up the covering on the activation button for the front mounted disruptors, and thumbed it repeatedly. The estate guards hardly a moment to react as they, along with the gates, were catapulted from their spot. The corpse’ & the gates eventually settled many meters away in a crumpled, smouldering heap of twisted iron & burning flesh. The group laughed over the intercoms of their helmets, as they roared down the estate road that would eventually lead them to the palatial house. The ground’s specially bred targ, bolted for cover as soon as they heard the oncoming roar of the bikes. Over the individual biker’s intercoms, Drex voice was unmistakeable.
"When we have ransacked the house, and performed the wishes of the Chancellor, we will enjoy a spot of rest and recreation by way of targ hunting!” The squad of the Chancellor’s Crimson Guard wholeheartedly agreed.
As they increased their speed, and other animals of the estate escaped to cover, the grand house loomed in the distance with the distinctive crest adorning the wall above the door. It would only be a matter of moments before the crest of the House Of Marax were removed, and replaced with the High Council’s emblem, denoting the property seized, and all titles stripped.
Some of the hover bikes moved off to take up spots to guard the perimeter, some back tracked to the gates, whilst Drex and the rest pushed the engines on the bikes to the limit as they neared the house.
His bike had hardly come to rest as Drex vaulted off, & landing with a resounding thud whilst spraying gravel everywhere, he launched himself shoulder first at the door whilst shouting the traditional verses that befell such an event.
The soldiers came to a standstill as Drex removed his helmet, almost ignoring the incoming reports of the gates & perimeter secured.
The hallway was empty.
No grand tapestries depicting the history of the house. No marble statues of great warriors from the family’s past. No paintings of soldiers of the empire. Not even the customary barrel of bloodwine & cups at the door. Not even a picture of Emperor Kahless graced the barren walls of the centuries old house, which had been passed down through the generations.
His men fanned out throughout the mansion, leaving no nook, cranny, or dark corner out of their search sweep.
Suddenly, one of Drex’s men vaulted down the stairs carrying an item that only gleamed in the sparse light that filtered through into the hall. Handing over to Drex what seemed clearly to be some kind of mechanism, Delk felt proud to have served his battalion well on his first official day of being posted to the Crimson Guard. Manoeuvring the device in his hand, Drex scanned the item to ensure it wasn’t some kind of explosive device. He discovered upon completion of his scans that although it wasn’t a weapon as such, it was more something that could be used as a weapon. Pressing what he had worked out to be the operating command buttons he disappeared, and momentarily reappeared. Then, his sharp Klingon eyes discovered a very small insignia on the portable cloak; Dominion.
Feeling his frustration mount, Drex felt a low growl build in his belly, until it built to a snarl, until it made its journeys end by becoming a roar as it exited his throat. “RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAHHHHH! The cowards have fled! Get me Chancellor Martok & Defence Command. They must have left Qonos!”

ALPHA FLYER.

Although he knew it was Duco underneath the chair, Craig found himself talking to his legs. The Alpha Flyer and its repairs were almost complete, and the boys had made a few enhancements whilst they were at it as well.
Duco was just finishing off modifications of the chairs, which would mean no more back ache for whoever should be occupying it. But then not all species had a spine, and so Jelvian officers wouldn’t feel the benefits. The seats had been overhauled and now had better lumbar support, as well heating elements. Craig sat in one and hit a button that was yet to be marked, although he knew pressing it wouldn’t cause a core dump or launch a torpedo. A faint whirring emanated from the back support as the massaging element worked its magic. "Aaaaahhh, this is good;” exclaimed Craig. “It’s a pity that we have to take her back to Spacedock today. But it sure beats boring escort duty.”
With his final adjustments completed, Duco appeared from underneath the chair, and lifted himself from the floor to standing position. Walking over to his toolbox placed on one of the side consoles, he tidied up the mess of dynospanners, wrenches, and other equipment away. "
We’ve definitely got back in the good books, I’m sure. With Ken’s guidance and assistance from the team where warranted, we have repaired the battle damage, made interior enhancements & upgrades, as well as adapting the hyper impulse intake manifolds to help squeeze out more power.”
Confidently, he grabbed the final tool to be put away, and flicked it in his hand, making it do a perfect somersault to land back in his hand, with the grip the right way. “I’ve even managed to convince Ken to leave his beloved engines behind, and join us on our pocket rocket!”
Craig was gobsmacked; “How did you manage to persuade him?”
Duco chuckled at how easy it had been, and how he had pandered to Ken’s nostalgia. “I told him about my collection of schematics of Starfleet vessels from his era. He was sold when i told him i had blueprints of the original Constitution Class, launched in the 2240’s, prior to all the subsequent upgrades and final major refit of the 2270’s.” But there was another purpose to getting Ken a change of scenery. He was spending far too much time trying to get Klix operational again. He had discovered that some of the language in the book, was similar to Klix’s native tongue, but that is as far as he had got to finding out what the purpose & origin of the book was.
Everytime the book was touched; it would project the plethora of images again, until the final projection of the humanoid head would appear. It would fizzle, and distort slightly as the image rotated, but it was almost as if it was waiting for some sort of interaction. Ken wanted to try placing the book in the comatose officer’s hands, but Simon was concerned for, and as he put it, any possible, unforeseen scenarios that could put the ship in danger. The only other option was to relinquish Klix to the Daystrom Institute, but all the senior officers agreed that, in itself, was a last resort.
Although Captain Maddox was a nobel prize winner in the field of cybernetics & robotics, Klix belonged on the Phoenix.
Kurt expressed that they would prod and poke at him until he had more perforations than a tea bag, and that ultimately, being surrounded by familiar faces was more comforting & productive then being surrounded by strangers. Simon was well aware that the doc could make his recommendations an official order, and Starfleet would back that. After all, Klix was, for better or worse, ill, if described in human terms. He was also Kurt’s patient; even though Ken’s engineering team would perform any repairs, or ‘cures’ to any ailments. "
Permission to come aboard!” Ken announced as he entered the Flyer. Duco glanced at Craig, which he instantly recognised that the Lieutenant clearly had mischief in mind. "
Welcome aboard Ken. Ok, it’s not a Constitution Class shuttle, but we think you’ll be impressed with the ride. In fact, I have a seat reserved just for you here, monitoring the engineering station.”
The chair that Duco invited Ken to sit in was the last chair he had recently completed. Sitting down, and resting his hands on the arm consoles, Ken sighed as he sank into the plush leather upholstery.
"Aaaaaahhhh!” he sighed, yet as promptly as he sat down, he shot up as the chairs lumbar massage facility whirred into action.
"What the….?!”
When his colleagues finally managed to compose themselves from their creased inducing laughter, Duco explained the enhanced chairs & all of their benefits, whilst demonstrating to Ken as he sat.
Checking the chronometer, Ken prompted Duco out of his proud demonstration; “You’d better get out of those oily overalls, and grab a sonic shower, as the time will soon be upon us to launch, and we haven’t done any prepatory pre-launch checks yet!”
Grabbing his toolbox in earnest, the Lieutenant disappeared out of the hatch. Craig laughed at his rarely seen burst of speed.
"The only time I have ever seen him move so fast, is when he has the opportunity to sink a pint of Bringloid synthehol!”
Warping through space, the Klingon prison barge, flanked by two Bird Of Prey’s, alongside the Federation escort of the Phoenix, & the two Defiant class cruisers, U.S.S. Arizona & U.S.S. Titanic, were a majestic sight to behold.
At the last minute, Admiral Ross, Chief Of Starfleet Operations & attaché to Federation President Bacco, thought it was best to have extra escorts, after reading the report of the mission to Ardana & a possible renewed Dominion threat. Simon had argued the point with Janeway who had informed Simon of the change of plans, that he felt confident that the changeling was just a one off incident, and that the Dominion had kept to their word & stayed in the Gamma Quadrant. But Janeway had orders, and the war veteran Bill Ross had become extremely paranoid that if one changeling had infiltrated a Federation world, & influenced society, how many more changelings or Vorta were there that had stayed behind in the Alpha Quadrant. Chancellor Martok & the new Romulan Senate had also voiced their concerns over the possibility that there were also stragglers in the Beta Quadrant.
The political machinations, constant reports, issues, and the crew evaluations had taken their toll on Simon, who had decided to have some well earned time off. As these thoughts whirled in his head, he decided it was best to leave it all to his able first officer whilst he lay back on his lounger in holodeck two, soaked up the sun, closed his eyes, & listened to the gentle lapping of the sea meeting the shore.

 

[AndyBlue1975]

READY ROOM, U.S.S. PHOENIX.

In the ready room, Andy dealt with reports in between crew evaluations, whilst Rez manned the bridge. He thought it would be good experience for him considering he was undertaking the bridge course, and would have an examination soon.
He finished the report where Captain Hodgkinson had requested permission for an experienced Yeoman to join the bridge crew & perform a multitude of responsibilities as well as ad hoc tasks. The main expected tasks would be typing up reports & submitting them, as well as making sure that the senior officers were aware of things such as medical appointments, family events, etc.
He had heard that the other ships deployed for five year missions had experienced eventful times, and petitioned that seeing that Starfleet was returning to the old ways of exploration, perhaps the reintroduction of positions & roles used in force during the latter half of the twenty third century could be debated. Already, the Science Officer role had been reintroduced, so Starfleet think tanks, the Admiralty, psychologists, & physicians had embarked on a project examining officer structure, the pressures of command, the changing roles of fleet deployment, and other factors throughout history. The five year missions, although a norm in the past, were a deployment that was last in use prolifically over a hundred years prior, and even then towards the end of the century, to be ordered on to a multi-year mission was an order issued very few & far between. So, the return to the frontier exploratory roles was a work in progress, & something that Starfleet was an open book on when it came to feedback. Over a century ago, the political & galactic environment of the Alpha Quadrant was almost alien to a century later. In essence, some theorists viewed that the new five year missions would be like those first captains of the Constitution class of explorers taking their first steps into the unknown.
As Andy skimmed through the candidates for Yeoman, the last review of the day before he had to relieve Rez from duty heralded their arrival by way of the door chime. "
Enter please, Ensign Sodak.”
The door made its customary swishing noise as the Vulcan engineer entered, and placed himself in the seat that the Commander had gestured towards.
Sodak folded his arms mid torso and steepled his fingers, whilst sat in silence, patiently awaiting initiation of his evaluation by Andy.
Stalling for time, Andy pretended to thumb through Sodak’s file; he knew what to say but wasn’t sure how to present it to the previously passionate Vulcan.
"Mr. Sodak. Your record speaks for itself. Exemplary.”
Arrogantly, yet naively, Sodak was presumptuous.
"Then it appears that my evaluation is simply a matter of official exercise.”
Puzzled, Andy’s rehearsed speech had been stopped before it had begun.
"I’m sorry Sodak, i don’t follow.”
"If my record is unblemished, then i am to be offered the position of Science Officer.”
Although Andy knew that Vulcans used logic as a defence to assuage any human guilt of bearing news that was not agreeable, Andy wasn’t sure with Sodak.
After all, he had previously embraced the ways of followers who embraced emotion over logic.
"Although you have the necessary qualifications to fill the position, you lack the experience in Science. Yes, i understand that an engineering role is a science in itself, what with the study of space time physics & warp geometry, which makes those skills transferrable, it is preferred to have an experienced officer on board. The Captain very much wanted a Vulcan in the position, and was hoping you would fill the role, however, a more experienced person has applied for the role that more than fits the person specification. Sodak, it isn’t all bad news though as the Captain wishes you to fill the role as a temporary secondment until we collect the officer. On top of that, the Captain is looking to build a science team, as considering there are no science vessels deployed in our direction, it would be best to have our own team on board.
Therefore, Ensign Sodak, i am promoting you to Lieutenant, and second in command of the new science team.”
Andy stood up and held out his hand to shake, whilst handing over a box displaying the new rank pips.
"Sodak....i am sorry. I know you felt it was the next logical step for you.”
Standing up & instead of shaking the Commander’s hand, he offered the Vulcan salute, whilst accepting the pips.
"Commander, you proceed from a false assumption. Although a short time ago, i may have shown disappointment, i now have no ego to bruise. It is a logical choice to make, and i will gain valuable experience & insight during our mission. I give acceptance of my role.”
Placing the pips on his uniform, as Andy returned the Vulcan salute, Sodak realising the evaluation was complete, headed out of the door.
Andy sat back down wondering how it was possible to simply switch off emotions, as if there were a simple activation button marked off and on.

BRIDGE, U.S.S. PHOENIX.

Making his way out of the ready room, Andy hurried over to Rez to relieve him from his shift. Rez was ready for doing nothing more than having an early night, and was already out of the centre seat as soon as he spotted Sodak exit from his evaluation.
"Lieutenant Babai, you are relieved.”
"I thought the chronometer was about to stop, the way time seemed to be dragging on.”
"What’s our status?”
“We are cruising at warp 5, en route to the rendezvous point with the Vullian royal cruiser. All ships report standard activity with no issues or anomalies. Our estimated time of arrival is within the hour.”
Smiling, Andy nodded in acknowledge of the Lieutenant’s detailed efficiency.
"If you don’t pass the bridge exam, i will walk around the floor of the admiralty at Starfleet HQ naked!” Chuckling, Rez replied; “Then i will ensure it doesn’t come to that! Goodnight Commander.”
With their parting pleasantries done, Rez made his way to the turbolift.

ALPHA FLYER.

Fully prepped & ready to go, the three officers onboard the Alpha Flyer awaited clearance. As the shuttlebay doors opened Ken powered up the quantum core, hyper impulse drive & thrusters. Even though the forcefield immediately activated to replace the opening door, the bay still sounded an alert klaxon to warn that it was unsafe for any personnel to be present in the bay. The magnetic docking strips deactivated as the vessel hovered under its own power on thrusters.
"Punch it, Duco!”
Commanding thrusters ahead until they cleared the bay, Duco did just that as the interior of the bay whizzed past at speed.
Clearing the doors, the super shuttle switched to hyper impulse, and until they were at a safe distance to do so, he programmed a warp command on standby.
As they moved slowly away from the alliance convoy, Craig pointed out the Vullian royal cruiser.
Ken gazed at the smooth curvatures of the gleaming hull of the vessel.
"They say she has a coaxial warp drive. Boy would i like to get my hands on those specs!”
Chuckling together, Craig hoped that the rendezvous would be routine, & all disputes between the alliance & the Vullians would be resolved by the time they got back.
The last thing he wanted was to arrive at Earth, and find that Starfleet was back in conflict, which would ultimately mean the end of what he signed up for, which was to chart new frontiers.

PHOENIX.

As the crew of the Phoenix made their way through the corridor leading to the turboshaft that lead to the bridge, they unawares, went about their day routinely.
As a trail of misty vapour appeared which headed into the turbolift, whilst the doors swished silently behind it, those unfortunate enough to be present in that same corridor succumbed to the vapour, & unconsciously dropped to the floor.
By the time the turbolift arrived at the bridge, as the doors opened a mass cloud of mist moved rapidly through the bridge.
Before anyone could react, the whole crew were incapacitated.
That is, everyone apart from the now uncloaked Klingons whom the cloud seemed to have no effect on, as the remaining loyalists to the House Of Marax manned the consoles of vital systems.

REZ.

Rez decided to put his mind at ease that he would visit the quarters assigned for their ‘guest.’ Outside, the two security offers nodded in acknowledgement of Rez, as one of them tapped a code on the numerical pad to let him enter.
Soft hues illuminated the casket draped with the flags of the Federation & Vullia over it.
It brought it home to him that although he knew the risks he would experience in his line of duty, he still always felt aware of his mortality.
It had been five years since the Prometheus incident on Beta Osiris, and although he hadn’t needed a counselling session for twelve months, the repressed memories were making a show again, and it was clear that the anti depressants weren’t working.
He hunched over the casket and quietly sobbed, thinking about that time five years ago.
But it was the thought of death that was the icing on the cake, as he couldn’t help but think that ashes to ashes, and dust to dust was a terrible mantra to show for oneself at the end of a lifetime of experiences. Hunching over the coffin, he quietly sobbed, as the Vulcan hand patted him on the shoulder.
Instantly stiffening up, he whirled round reaching for his phaser, as he met the empathic gaze of Valik.
Speaking in a low tone, respecting the dead, he mouthed; “Let it go.”
Valik then proceeded to walk through the door of the quarters leading out to the corridor, akin to a ghostly apparition.

ALPHA FLYER.

Phasers & quantum torpedoes lashed out of the Phoenix at all the nearby vessels.
None of the Vullian or alliance vessels even had shields up or defensive screens, as there wasn’t the fear of any threat to implement such measures.
As the Alpha Flyer was about to jump to warp, they were too late to even react to the incoming torpedo.
Composing themselves, the officers dragged themselves from the floor and to their stations to ascertain damage and find out just exactly why a Federation ship would fire on an ally.
Bleeding from a cut to the forehead, Ken’s expression spoke volumes to Duco & Craig.
"We took the full brunt of that impact, and it has caused a massive cascade throughout the quantum core. There’s nothing i can do to stop the slipstream initialisation that it has caused, and we haven’t got time to man the escape pods!”
As they all exchanged expressions of mortification, Ken knew exactly what the bad news meant to an engineer.
An unstable core whether it be warp, transwarp, or any other kind could place them anywhere in the galaxy, and not necessarily in the same universe or time.
The whirling forces inside the core started to increase to a bright intensity, culminating in the craft vanishing into warp, leaving behind the battling starships of the Vullians, Klingons, & Starfleet.

REZ.

The doors swished open as Rez ran out only to be met by the guarding security detachment.
Whirling around whilst looking up and down the corridors, Rez could see no sign of Valik.
Shouting after him, Perez enquired; “Sir....is there something wrong?....Sir!”
Rez hurtled down the corridors, searching this way and that, as he thought he saw a glimpse of a cloak rounding a corner....the cloak Valik was wearing at Mount Seleya.
Rez was tired, emotionally drained, and very confused, yet he couldn’t help but feel compelled & curious.
Eventually, Rez found himself in engineering, and found Valik gazing at the book in Ken’s laboratory that was found on Ardana.
"Valik....or whoever you are.....what the hell is......!”
He was no longer in control of his mind & body as he moved robotically towards the book, picked it up whilst the projected head continued to rotate, and placed it in Klix’s hands.
A burst of energy overwhelmed Klix’s body, as electric charges enveloped his body.
As quickly the matter consumed Klix, it subsided, as he dropped the book to the floor.
Pressing on the activation pads to undo the cradle restraints, he stepped out to find Lieutenant Babai unconscious on the floor, as were the rest of the engineering team as he found to his dismay.
Collecting the book from the floor, which no longer pulsated, and gave the impression of any other antique book, he decided the best course of action was to head for the bridge, as he repeatedly uttered; “Home.”

BRIDGE, U.S.S. PHOENIX.

The bridge of the Phoenix was as silent as a cemetery as bodies of officers littered the floor, along with the Klingon invaders slumped over their consoles & chairs.
The silence was only occasionally broken by audio hails from all vessels trying to ascertain the situation aboard.
The crimson hue of battle stations enveloped the bridge as the weapons station showed shields down, yet armaments running hot.
Shimmering into existence, the holographic officer was activated by the ship’s computer, to attend to the emergency.
"Please state the nature of the command emergency.”
There was nobody to respond to his prompt, as the blonde, slightly curly haired command hologram quickly examined the bridge and the current predicament.
As he sat in his chair to answer the hails from the other vessels, transporter beams coalesced into forms of a boarding party consisting of Vullian, Starfleet, & Klingon officers.
As Klix entered the bridge, and conversed with the hologram and ensemble of officers, as they tried to piece together what had caused current events to transpire, one of the Klingon warriors examined the unconscious invaders.
Instantly, he recognised the crest on the sash as he mouthed the words; “Marax.”

 

[AndyBlue1975]

SICKBAY, U.S.S. PHOENIX.

It was the first real test of the sickbay facilities and the medical team, but Doctor Coey and his team were more than up to the challenge.
Normally, such a continuous stream of sick or injured people would make the doc more grouchy than normal, but because he had chance to practice his preferred hands on approach as well as having assistance from the medical bay’s technology, he was as happy as a targ in mud.
The energy discharge from Klix’s book had caused the doc to not only have to deal with those who bumped themselves as they slumped unconscious, but he wanted to screen & administer injections where necessary for any potential radiation sickness.
He was even more thorough with those who had not only fell victim to the mass energy discharge, but also the knockout gas that the invaders had administered.
He even insisted that the Klingon & Vullian boarding parties were not allowed off the ship until they had been checked over, much to the Klingons annoyance.

READY ROOM, U.S.S. PHOENIX.

In the ready room, heavy discussions were coming to their conclusion as the respective vessels Captain’s, & the Vullian Ambassador came to agreement.
It had been agreed that the remaining members of the House Of Marax be turned over to the Vullians for crimes against the monarchy, as to which a trial was to be held on Vullia upon the ambassador’s immediate arrival.
As the Vullian delegation shook hands with the Klingon delegation, Captain Hodgkinson smiled and thought to himself that witnessing historical moments such as peace re-established between powers, was one of the more pleasing parts of his mission mandate.
The ambassador then took Simon’s hand and shook it in the spirit of friendship.
"Captain, trade routes will be kept open between all our three respective powers, and we will remain a part of the big Federation family. In fact, i was just mentioning to Captain Kavlak that some of the routes with the Yridians & the Ferengi are almost at the expiration date of the contract, to which we wish to distribute those to the Klingon Cargo Authority.”
Kavlak nodded in appreciation; “A great deal has been achieved here today my allies, which is worthy of song. I shall let the Chancellor know of the events that have transpired. I am sure he will be most relieved that we are not plunging into another war, when there are those still recovering from the last.”
The delegates made their way out of the ready room, as Simon escorted them all to the transporter room, whilst Andy had the bridge.

ALPHA FLYER.

As the super shuttle exited the slipstream, the officers found themselves narrowly avoiding the nacelles of a Constellation Class ship.
“The engines are in need of maintenance, but i have stabilized the reaction;” announced Ken.
"Where the hell are we? screamed Craig as they were up close and personal with the starship a bit closer than he liked.
"It appears our location is nearby to Utopia Planitia:” announced Duco.
Jubilant with glee, Craig clapped his hands at the thought that they hadn’t travelled that far off track, and if anything, they were closer to Spacedock to hand back the Flyer.
Ken gazed out of the window, alongside the other two officers.
"Since when did Utopia Planitia have vessels in drydock such as half completed Miranda Class vessels, as well as final version Constitution Class vessels?” pondered Duco.
Craig focused on his console, and flew over the touch keys rapidly typing in commands.
"I’ve scanned the shipyard, and i’m transmitting the list to you of the ships in berth.”
After looking over the names of the vessels, the realisation dawned on Ken.
"I am masking our energy signature, effectively making us invisible from any tracking or sensor devices on the ships or at the base.”
“........Yorktown....Constellation.....Excelsior.....wait a minute....Excelsior?!” exclaimed Craig.
Both Duco & Craig turned to Ken with their eyes agog, to which Ken just silently nodded.
Duco prompted the computer to see if the voice recognition & response mechanism was still working after the attack from the Phoenix and their impromptu slipstream jump.
"Computer, what is the current date, and please answer in calendar format.”
"....working....working....working......information complete & verified. The current Terran calendar date is January 10th 2284.”