Thanks, guys. I'm plugging away on the next part now--hopefully I'll have it out quicker than this one.
And yes, CeJay--the climax is coming soon...very soon.
And yes, CeJay--the climax is coming soon...very soon.
Sutherland: Rocks and Shoals
- Thread starter DavidFalkayn
- Start date
Sutherland: Rocks and Shoals Part 11
We're in the home stretch now folks, so buckle your seat belts and put your trays in the upright position...
**********************************************************************
“Where is Cherenkov?” Gul Rejak demanded as he paced up and down in front of his desk in his Taris III office. “He was supposed to be here by now. Tabor is due in the morning.”
“We don’t know.” A green Orion Syndicate factotum replied. “We haven’t heard from him in over twenty four standard hours. Perhaps we should call off the exchange until we know more?” The Syndicate operative suggested.
“No.” Rejak replied, ceasing his pacing as he poured a glass of kanar from a crystal decanter on his desk. Shaking his head, the corrupt gul explained, “We’re too far along to pull back now. Starfleet wouldn’t take the risk of striking here anyway—we’re too deep into the disputed territories—they won’t run the risk of confronting the Klingons.” Swallowing the contents of his glass in one gulp, Rejak declared, “We continue the exchange as planned. But…” he qualified as he refilled his glass, “…I think I’ll take a few additional precautions—just in case.”
“A very wise move, Gul Rejak.” The green Orion acknowledged with a sycophantic grin. “I’ll inform my employers that they can expect their payment on time. They will be most pleased to hear that.”
**********************************************************************
“Much as I hate to say this…” Captain Elizabeth Shelby said, addressing the scrambled image on her desk monitor, “…you’re right. This is the only way we can be sure that this is ended once and for all. All right, Pierson, I agree. So long as Diaz and her people behave themselves, we have a truce.”
“Good. I’ll let Bri know.” Pierson replied, added a jaunty goodbye, “See ya on Pallas V, Lizzy.”
Gazing at the now black screen, Shelby tapped her intercom, “Commander Hobson…Chris? Come into my office, please, we need to talk…”
**********************************************************************
“Getting signals and what appears to be life signs.” Nura announced as the Moselle drew near the asteroid belt surrounding a dim red dwarf star. “Looks like Ayenga’s still here.”
“I’m not so sure…” Manuele Atoa demurred as he piloted his ‘stolen’ runabout towards one of the larger planetoids.
“What do you mean?” The Bzzit Khaht sitting in the copilot’s seat asked. “This is where Tabor told us she’d probably be hiding…”
“It’s too easy.” The tactical specialist replied, “Too pat. Yeah…” he conceded, “Everything looks right…the signals are what you’d expect from bleed-over even with security precautions…but…”
“You sssssenssse a trap, human…” S’nurl interjected, his voice coming across more as a hiss, “Sssssoooo do I…”
“Then you better let me pilot this ship.” Nura declared, “Of the three of us, I’m the best pilot here. That’s not bragging—it’s the simple truth.”
“Point taken.” Atoa nodded as he turned manual control over to his copilot, “All right, Nura…it’s all yours. Let’s see if Ayenga’s here or not.”
**********************************************************************
Pausing for a moment at the threshold of Rick’s, the name the previous Sutherland captain had given to the 1940s North African cabaret themed bar, Sam Lavelle took in the scene before him. Lieutenant Alec Mikelson, from hydroponics, sat in his usual position behind the piano tickling the ivories as Lieutenant Commander Tol and his current fling, the Bluefin’s Vulcan operation’s officer, Lieutenant T’Ser, sat listening and talking softly amongst themselves. Other off duty members of both crews were either congregated near the roulette wheel or were otherwise laughing and enjoying themselves. All except for one lonely figure sitting at the bar by herself nursing her drink. Immediately recognizing his old friend, Sito Jaxa, at the bar, Sam shook his head sadly before approaching her, calling out her name before he drew too close.
“Jaxa? All right if I join you?”
The tormented Bajoran woman tilted her head slightly towards the empty seat to her right as she silently sipped her drink.
Taking the stool next to her, Sam, raising his hand, got the attention of the bartender, “Hey Mac! Canadian on the rocks!” Turning to his old friend, the dark haired helmsman then prompted, speaking in a low voice, “Wanna talk?”
*********************************************************************
“You know…” T’Ser remarked, tapping her feet gently to the music as she regarded the Trill sitting opposite her, “…there’s one thing I don’t understand about joined Trill…”
“And what’s that?” Jadon asked with a roguish smirk as he took a sip of Saurian brandy.
“How do you keep all those voices inside you from consuming you?” T’Ser asked, genuinely curious. “Vulcans—being a long-lived species—tend to accumulate a lot of memories—a lot! But joined Trill…the symbiotes can live for centuries—but hosts…” she sighed as she shook her head, “…live about as long as humans. To suddenly be confronted by generations worth of memories and experiences and maintain your sanity—I don’t think even a kolinhar master could do it.”
“Well…” Jadon smiled, “I can give you the boilerplate explanation of how all candidates for joining are exhaustively screened by the Symbiosis Commission and undergo years of training—generally from childhood—and that the majority of candidates—even after going through all that training—wash out, but…” he shook his head, “…that’s not really the truth—at least not the whole truth.”Exhaling deeply, the roguish Trill warned, “This could take a while…”
“Got plenty of time.” T’Ser smiled, placing a hand over the hand of the engineer, “I don’t have to be back on the Bluefin for a couple of hours yet. Go on…”
“Ok…” Jadon began, “You’re right…it isn’t easy at first. No matter how much you think you’re ready for it…how much the Symbiosis Committee thinks you’ve been trained for it…those first few moments after the symbiote has bonded with you…the cascade of memories…of lives.” Pausing for a moment, the normally loquacious Trill seemed to struggle for words, “Think of it like this…you’re floating on a lake. It’s a clear, summer’s day…no wind…white clouds overhead…that’s your mind before the joining. Then comes the symbiote and all at once the waves swamp you, the wind howls, the clouds turn dark and the sky turns gray and boiling. You’re flailing about trying to keep afloat as all those voices start pulling you into the water…”
Shivering at Jadon’s description, T’Ser remarked in a low whisper, “That’s…how do you…”
“Then…” The Trill smiled, “…just as you think you’re about to drown, the symbiote steps in and helps you pull it together.”
“Wow…” T’Ser gasped, “I never realized…”
“It’s a Trill thing…” Jadon chuckled, “And there are other things that help. For instance the zhian'tara ritual really helps to put everything in focus. By getting the chance to physically interact with the symbiote’s prior hosts, it gives you the opportunity to see that while you might be part of a greater whole, you’re still your own person—a unique individual.”
Visibly impressed, T’Ser asked, “But does it always work out so smoothly?”
“No.” The Trill engineer confessed, shaking his head. “Sometimes the Symbiosis Commission makes a mistake—someone who looks like they’d make an ideal candidate actually isn’t. Or…one or more of the prior hosts could be so strong…that they end up overpowering both current host and symbiote and for all intents and purposes take over. When that happens…” Tol shook his head, “…things can get very bad for all concerned—host and symbiote—sometimes both end up lost.”
“Damn,” was all T’Ser could say as she regarded the man across from her, “And here I thought just having one voice inside me was tough.”
“You get used to it.” Jadon laughed, turning the conversation back to a lighter note as he offered the Vulcan woman his hand, “Now…since this is going to be our last night together…why don’t we just drink and dance the night away?”
“Sounds like a plan to me!” T’Ser laughed as she took the Trill’s hand.
**********************************************************************
“So…” Sam ventured, waiting for his friend to make the first move.
“So…” Sito replied as she sipped her drink. Then, after several moments of silence, the young Bajoran remarked, “Nice place.”
“Yeah…” The Canadian helmsman agreed, “We like it.”
“Where’s Maria?”
“She’ll be here in about an hour.” Sam replied, “She said she had some stuff she had to take care of.”
“Oh.”
Taking a deep breath, Lavelle decided that it was time to finally address the elephant in the room, “How’re you holding it together, Jaxa?”
A thin smile coming to the security officer’s face, Sito answered back, “I’m glad someone other then Counselor Freedman has finally decided to just come out and ask me that question.”
Chuckling for a few moments, Sam gently pressed, “So…how are you doing?”
“I have my good moments and my bad.” The tormented Bajoran woman confessed. Touching her temple with her index finger and gently tapping it, she continued, “They’re still there…but they usually stay quiet now. It’s better when I keep busy…” Recoiling automatically as a male crewmember accidently brushed her as he walked past where she sat, Sito clenched her teeth. “It really isn’t as bad as it was. Not so long ago, I’d have either tried to kill that crewman or I’d be in a ball in that corner over there. Hells…” she exclaimed as she tossed back her drink, “…a few months ago, in a place like this, I might have…” She shuddered as the Junkie tried to push herself to the fore, “I might have…”
“Hey…” Sam consoled, “…Jaxa…it’s ok. You just remember that you’re amongst friends here.”
“Thanks, Sam.” The Bajoran responded with a shaky smile as she stood up. “I think I needed to hear that.”
“Anytime.” Lavelle answered back, flashing a toothy grin. His smile disappearing to be replaced by a look of concern, the Canadian inquired, “You gonna be ok? If you want…I can walk you back to wherever you need to go.”
“No…” Jaxa replied, shaking her head vigorously, “That’s all right, Sam. I’ll be ok. But thanks anyway.” Turning to leave the bar, she said over her shoulder, “Tell Maria I said Hi.”
Watching as his friend left the bar, Sam shook his head sadly. It’s not fair. She should be sitting here now and not me…
“You ok, Sam?”
Turning towards the bartender, Lavelle managed a shaky grin, “Yeah…I’ll be all right, Mac.” Sighing, he said as he sipped his drink, “I was just feeling old.”
“Huh…” Mac snorted as he plucked a gray hair from his head, “Wait ‘til you get a few of these. Then you can say you’re feeling old. ‘til then, enjoy being young while you can.”
Shaking his head sadly, Sam replied, “But what do you do, Mac, if someone takes your youth away from you?”
*********************************************************************
“Sensssor contactssss…” S’nurl hissed from his position as the runabout picked its way through the asteroid field, “Two ssssshipssss…”
“Hidekis.” Atoa swore. “I was afraid of that.”
You’re crazy!” Nura exclaimed with a sneer, “Why would Ayenga want to work with the Cardassians?”
“I can think of any number of reasons.” Manuele replied, “But I don’t think she called them in. Might have been Tabor…” the New Kauaian speculated, “…using the Cardies to do his dirty work for him. That way he gets to take out both of his problems all at the same time.”
“They’re closssssing on our posssition at maximum impulsssseee…” The Gorn hissed, his voice taking on a note of urgency.
“All right, Nura.” Manuele declared, “Let’s see if you’re as Sierra Hotel a pilot as you say you are.”
“Just watch me do my stuff.” The Bzzit Khaht answered back, her feelings of betrayal and distrust momentarily forgotten as the adrenaline coursed through her system. “I hope you’ve kept up the maintenance on your inertial compensators—by the time I’m through they’re going to be getting one hell of a workout.”
*********************************************************************
“Dayum!” Treasure exclaimed as she polished off the last of her ribs, “That Cookie of yours sure knows his BBQ—an’ Texas style to boot! I ain’t had spareribs this juicy…” Seeing the far off look in her dinner companion’s eyes, the well-endowed engineer quipped, “Earth to Dale…Earth to Dale…”
“Oh…” Commander Dale McBride exclaimed as he snapped out of his reverie. “I’m sorry, Treasure…”
“What’s up, Hon?” Angela asked with a look of concern on her face. “You look like you got the weight o’ the universe on your mind.”
“It’s just…” The Texas born XO said with a sigh, “…that once we’re done here…” shaking his head, his lips turned up in a nervous smile, “I’m afraid I’m not very good at this…”
“That’s ok, Sugar…” Treasure replied, her voice now taking on more of a gentle, consoling tone, “I think I know what you’re wantin’ to say and I gotta feelin’ that’s why you had Cookie fix up this special spread for us—‘cause this is gonna be our last night together. After tonight, we’re goin’ to be busy finishing up with Rejak and all, and after that we’re goin’ to be goin’ our separate ways.” Smiling, she placed her hand over his, “An’ that’s ok. We had fun. You’re a nice man an’ one day you’re gonna make T’Ser a great husband—that is if’n she’s got the good sense to realize that…”
Startled at the young ensign’s perceptive read of the situation, Dale’s eyes widened, “What…how…”
“Honey…” the North Star native chuckled, “…a girl knows these things. I could see it in your eyes whenever the two of you were together.” Leaning over, the buxom blonde whispered in his ear, “An’ I’ll let you in on a little secret…she’s got that same look.”
“But I thought…” Dale stammered, “Her and Commander Tol…the way they were laughing and all…that…”
Her chuckles turning into gentle laughter, Angela interjected, “Her and Jadon—long term? Naw…neither of ‘em wants that. No…” she said, her laughter slowly fading as her voice once again took on a tender tone, “…she’s only got eyes for one guy—lucky stiff!”
[FONT="]*********************************************************************** [/FONT]
We're in the home stretch now folks, so buckle your seat belts and put your trays in the upright position...
**********************************************************************
“Where is Cherenkov?” Gul Rejak demanded as he paced up and down in front of his desk in his Taris III office. “He was supposed to be here by now. Tabor is due in the morning.”
“We don’t know.” A green Orion Syndicate factotum replied. “We haven’t heard from him in over twenty four standard hours. Perhaps we should call off the exchange until we know more?” The Syndicate operative suggested.
“No.” Rejak replied, ceasing his pacing as he poured a glass of kanar from a crystal decanter on his desk. Shaking his head, the corrupt gul explained, “We’re too far along to pull back now. Starfleet wouldn’t take the risk of striking here anyway—we’re too deep into the disputed territories—they won’t run the risk of confronting the Klingons.” Swallowing the contents of his glass in one gulp, Rejak declared, “We continue the exchange as planned. But…” he qualified as he refilled his glass, “…I think I’ll take a few additional precautions—just in case.”
“A very wise move, Gul Rejak.” The green Orion acknowledged with a sycophantic grin. “I’ll inform my employers that they can expect their payment on time. They will be most pleased to hear that.”
**********************************************************************
“Much as I hate to say this…” Captain Elizabeth Shelby said, addressing the scrambled image on her desk monitor, “…you’re right. This is the only way we can be sure that this is ended once and for all. All right, Pierson, I agree. So long as Diaz and her people behave themselves, we have a truce.”
“Good. I’ll let Bri know.” Pierson replied, added a jaunty goodbye, “See ya on Pallas V, Lizzy.”
Gazing at the now black screen, Shelby tapped her intercom, “Commander Hobson…Chris? Come into my office, please, we need to talk…”
**********************************************************************
“Getting signals and what appears to be life signs.” Nura announced as the Moselle drew near the asteroid belt surrounding a dim red dwarf star. “Looks like Ayenga’s still here.”
“I’m not so sure…” Manuele Atoa demurred as he piloted his ‘stolen’ runabout towards one of the larger planetoids.
“What do you mean?” The Bzzit Khaht sitting in the copilot’s seat asked. “This is where Tabor told us she’d probably be hiding…”
“It’s too easy.” The tactical specialist replied, “Too pat. Yeah…” he conceded, “Everything looks right…the signals are what you’d expect from bleed-over even with security precautions…but…”
“You sssssenssse a trap, human…” S’nurl interjected, his voice coming across more as a hiss, “Sssssoooo do I…”
“Then you better let me pilot this ship.” Nura declared, “Of the three of us, I’m the best pilot here. That’s not bragging—it’s the simple truth.”
“Point taken.” Atoa nodded as he turned manual control over to his copilot, “All right, Nura…it’s all yours. Let’s see if Ayenga’s here or not.”
**********************************************************************
Pausing for a moment at the threshold of Rick’s, the name the previous Sutherland captain had given to the 1940s North African cabaret themed bar, Sam Lavelle took in the scene before him. Lieutenant Alec Mikelson, from hydroponics, sat in his usual position behind the piano tickling the ivories as Lieutenant Commander Tol and his current fling, the Bluefin’s Vulcan operation’s officer, Lieutenant T’Ser, sat listening and talking softly amongst themselves. Other off duty members of both crews were either congregated near the roulette wheel or were otherwise laughing and enjoying themselves. All except for one lonely figure sitting at the bar by herself nursing her drink. Immediately recognizing his old friend, Sito Jaxa, at the bar, Sam shook his head sadly before approaching her, calling out her name before he drew too close.
“Jaxa? All right if I join you?”
The tormented Bajoran woman tilted her head slightly towards the empty seat to her right as she silently sipped her drink.
Taking the stool next to her, Sam, raising his hand, got the attention of the bartender, “Hey Mac! Canadian on the rocks!” Turning to his old friend, the dark haired helmsman then prompted, speaking in a low voice, “Wanna talk?”
*********************************************************************
“You know…” T’Ser remarked, tapping her feet gently to the music as she regarded the Trill sitting opposite her, “…there’s one thing I don’t understand about joined Trill…”
“And what’s that?” Jadon asked with a roguish smirk as he took a sip of Saurian brandy.
“How do you keep all those voices inside you from consuming you?” T’Ser asked, genuinely curious. “Vulcans—being a long-lived species—tend to accumulate a lot of memories—a lot! But joined Trill…the symbiotes can live for centuries—but hosts…” she sighed as she shook her head, “…live about as long as humans. To suddenly be confronted by generations worth of memories and experiences and maintain your sanity—I don’t think even a kolinhar master could do it.”
“Well…” Jadon smiled, “I can give you the boilerplate explanation of how all candidates for joining are exhaustively screened by the Symbiosis Commission and undergo years of training—generally from childhood—and that the majority of candidates—even after going through all that training—wash out, but…” he shook his head, “…that’s not really the truth—at least not the whole truth.”Exhaling deeply, the roguish Trill warned, “This could take a while…”
“Got plenty of time.” T’Ser smiled, placing a hand over the hand of the engineer, “I don’t have to be back on the Bluefin for a couple of hours yet. Go on…”
“Ok…” Jadon began, “You’re right…it isn’t easy at first. No matter how much you think you’re ready for it…how much the Symbiosis Committee thinks you’ve been trained for it…those first few moments after the symbiote has bonded with you…the cascade of memories…of lives.” Pausing for a moment, the normally loquacious Trill seemed to struggle for words, “Think of it like this…you’re floating on a lake. It’s a clear, summer’s day…no wind…white clouds overhead…that’s your mind before the joining. Then comes the symbiote and all at once the waves swamp you, the wind howls, the clouds turn dark and the sky turns gray and boiling. You’re flailing about trying to keep afloat as all those voices start pulling you into the water…”
Shivering at Jadon’s description, T’Ser remarked in a low whisper, “That’s…how do you…”
“Then…” The Trill smiled, “…just as you think you’re about to drown, the symbiote steps in and helps you pull it together.”
“Wow…” T’Ser gasped, “I never realized…”
“It’s a Trill thing…” Jadon chuckled, “And there are other things that help. For instance the zhian'tara ritual really helps to put everything in focus. By getting the chance to physically interact with the symbiote’s prior hosts, it gives you the opportunity to see that while you might be part of a greater whole, you’re still your own person—a unique individual.”
Visibly impressed, T’Ser asked, “But does it always work out so smoothly?”
“No.” The Trill engineer confessed, shaking his head. “Sometimes the Symbiosis Commission makes a mistake—someone who looks like they’d make an ideal candidate actually isn’t. Or…one or more of the prior hosts could be so strong…that they end up overpowering both current host and symbiote and for all intents and purposes take over. When that happens…” Tol shook his head, “…things can get very bad for all concerned—host and symbiote—sometimes both end up lost.”
“Damn,” was all T’Ser could say as she regarded the man across from her, “And here I thought just having one voice inside me was tough.”
“You get used to it.” Jadon laughed, turning the conversation back to a lighter note as he offered the Vulcan woman his hand, “Now…since this is going to be our last night together…why don’t we just drink and dance the night away?”
“Sounds like a plan to me!” T’Ser laughed as she took the Trill’s hand.
**********************************************************************
“So…” Sam ventured, waiting for his friend to make the first move.
“So…” Sito replied as she sipped her drink. Then, after several moments of silence, the young Bajoran remarked, “Nice place.”
“Yeah…” The Canadian helmsman agreed, “We like it.”
“Where’s Maria?”
“She’ll be here in about an hour.” Sam replied, “She said she had some stuff she had to take care of.”
“Oh.”
Taking a deep breath, Lavelle decided that it was time to finally address the elephant in the room, “How’re you holding it together, Jaxa?”
A thin smile coming to the security officer’s face, Sito answered back, “I’m glad someone other then Counselor Freedman has finally decided to just come out and ask me that question.”
Chuckling for a few moments, Sam gently pressed, “So…how are you doing?”
“I have my good moments and my bad.” The tormented Bajoran woman confessed. Touching her temple with her index finger and gently tapping it, she continued, “They’re still there…but they usually stay quiet now. It’s better when I keep busy…” Recoiling automatically as a male crewmember accidently brushed her as he walked past where she sat, Sito clenched her teeth. “It really isn’t as bad as it was. Not so long ago, I’d have either tried to kill that crewman or I’d be in a ball in that corner over there. Hells…” she exclaimed as she tossed back her drink, “…a few months ago, in a place like this, I might have…” She shuddered as the Junkie tried to push herself to the fore, “I might have…”
“Hey…” Sam consoled, “…Jaxa…it’s ok. You just remember that you’re amongst friends here.”
“Thanks, Sam.” The Bajoran responded with a shaky smile as she stood up. “I think I needed to hear that.”
“Anytime.” Lavelle answered back, flashing a toothy grin. His smile disappearing to be replaced by a look of concern, the Canadian inquired, “You gonna be ok? If you want…I can walk you back to wherever you need to go.”
“No…” Jaxa replied, shaking her head vigorously, “That’s all right, Sam. I’ll be ok. But thanks anyway.” Turning to leave the bar, she said over her shoulder, “Tell Maria I said Hi.”
Watching as his friend left the bar, Sam shook his head sadly. It’s not fair. She should be sitting here now and not me…
“You ok, Sam?”
Turning towards the bartender, Lavelle managed a shaky grin, “Yeah…I’ll be all right, Mac.” Sighing, he said as he sipped his drink, “I was just feeling old.”
“Huh…” Mac snorted as he plucked a gray hair from his head, “Wait ‘til you get a few of these. Then you can say you’re feeling old. ‘til then, enjoy being young while you can.”
Shaking his head sadly, Sam replied, “But what do you do, Mac, if someone takes your youth away from you?”
*********************************************************************
“Sensssor contactssss…” S’nurl hissed from his position as the runabout picked its way through the asteroid field, “Two ssssshipssss…”
“Hidekis.” Atoa swore. “I was afraid of that.”
You’re crazy!” Nura exclaimed with a sneer, “Why would Ayenga want to work with the Cardassians?”
“I can think of any number of reasons.” Manuele replied, “But I don’t think she called them in. Might have been Tabor…” the New Kauaian speculated, “…using the Cardies to do his dirty work for him. That way he gets to take out both of his problems all at the same time.”
“They’re closssssing on our posssition at maximum impulsssseee…” The Gorn hissed, his voice taking on a note of urgency.
“All right, Nura.” Manuele declared, “Let’s see if you’re as Sierra Hotel a pilot as you say you are.”
“Just watch me do my stuff.” The Bzzit Khaht answered back, her feelings of betrayal and distrust momentarily forgotten as the adrenaline coursed through her system. “I hope you’ve kept up the maintenance on your inertial compensators—by the time I’m through they’re going to be getting one hell of a workout.”
*********************************************************************
“Dayum!” Treasure exclaimed as she polished off the last of her ribs, “That Cookie of yours sure knows his BBQ—an’ Texas style to boot! I ain’t had spareribs this juicy…” Seeing the far off look in her dinner companion’s eyes, the well-endowed engineer quipped, “Earth to Dale…Earth to Dale…”
“Oh…” Commander Dale McBride exclaimed as he snapped out of his reverie. “I’m sorry, Treasure…”
“What’s up, Hon?” Angela asked with a look of concern on her face. “You look like you got the weight o’ the universe on your mind.”
“It’s just…” The Texas born XO said with a sigh, “…that once we’re done here…” shaking his head, his lips turned up in a nervous smile, “I’m afraid I’m not very good at this…”
“That’s ok, Sugar…” Treasure replied, her voice now taking on more of a gentle, consoling tone, “I think I know what you’re wantin’ to say and I gotta feelin’ that’s why you had Cookie fix up this special spread for us—‘cause this is gonna be our last night together. After tonight, we’re goin’ to be busy finishing up with Rejak and all, and after that we’re goin’ to be goin’ our separate ways.” Smiling, she placed her hand over his, “An’ that’s ok. We had fun. You’re a nice man an’ one day you’re gonna make T’Ser a great husband—that is if’n she’s got the good sense to realize that…”
Startled at the young ensign’s perceptive read of the situation, Dale’s eyes widened, “What…how…”
“Honey…” the North Star native chuckled, “…a girl knows these things. I could see it in your eyes whenever the two of you were together.” Leaning over, the buxom blonde whispered in his ear, “An’ I’ll let you in on a little secret…she’s got that same look.”
“But I thought…” Dale stammered, “Her and Commander Tol…the way they were laughing and all…that…”
Her chuckles turning into gentle laughter, Angela interjected, “Her and Jadon—long term? Naw…neither of ‘em wants that. No…” she said, her laughter slowly fading as her voice once again took on a tender tone, “…she’s only got eyes for one guy—lucky stiff!”
[FONT="]*********************************************************************** [/FONT]
Sutherland: Rocks and Shoals Part 11 cont
“Frak!” Manuele cursed as a green disruptor bolt fired from one of the pursuing Cardassian frigates just missed them, shattering a nearby planetoid. “That was too damned close.”
“Going to get a lot closer.” Nura retorted in a low voice as she piloted the tiny runabout between the space detritus, weaving in and out and between with an almost reckless abandon. “Hold on!” She shouted as she pitched the craft up on its Z-axis, reaching the cover of one of the larger planetoids just as yet another disruptor beam lanced towards them.
Seeing a metallic glint on one of the smaller planetoids nearby, Manuele quickly glanced at his sensor display. “Get outta here—NOW!” The New Kauaian yelled as Nura, her reflexes instinctively taking charge, turned sharply about as the planetoid exploded, setting off other explosions causing the runabout to shake as rocky and metallic fragments struck the shields, straining them to their max. One of the frigates, however, was not as fortunate as it found itself caught right in the middle of the blast radius. It now drifted powerless in the belt, undergoing a pounding as planetoids impacted on it.
Watching as its sister ship slowed down, Manuele nodded his head, “Get us out of here, Nura. Ayenga’s long gone and is probably already on her way to Taris III.”
“Where are we going?” The Bzzit Khaht asked as the runabout slipped smoothly into warp, leaving their pursuers far behind.
“Taris III, of course.” Atoa replied, “We’ve got to stop Ayenga, Rejak, and Tabor.”
Her laughter taking on an almost hysterical tone, Nura exclaimed, “You mean the three of us? One Starfleet officer, a pilot, and a bar bouncer are going to stop the Kon Ma, Gul Rejak, and the Orion Syndicate all by ourselves!” Shaking her head, she spat out, “Are you sure you’re not the one on acid?”
“You two don’t have to come along if you don’t want to.” Manuele said in a low voice, addressing both the Bzzit Khaht sitting next to him and the large Gorn standing in the back. “I have to do this, but you don’t. There’s a nearby system I can drop you off at if you want. From there, you should be able to get back to Pallas V.”
“Ssssssmart move would be to leave…” S’nurl hissed, “But if I go, I will misssss a good fight. I think I will sssssee thisssss through.”
“Ok, S’nurl.” Manuele grinned, “Glad to have you aboard.” Turning towards his copilot, Manuele asked, “What about you, Nura? Want me to drop you off?”
“No.” The young pilot shook her head, “I’ve always been one for lost causes. ‘sides…” she said, a thin smile crossing her face, “I have a feeling Sabrina’ll be there too.”
Sighing, Atoa uttered in an almost inaudible voice, “I hope someone’s there, ‘cause we’re going to need all the help we can get.”
***********************************************************************
“Assuming standard orbit around Pallas V.” Lieutenant Lavelle reported from his position at the helm.
“We’re being hailed by the planetary authorities.” Lieutenant Dryer interjected. “They want to know what we’re doing here and when we’re going to get the hell out.”
“Yeah, I guess they would be pretty jittery about having a Nebula and an Albacore suddenly popping in on them…” Liz quipped as she leaned back in her chair.
“They’d really crap a brick if they knew about our other little surprise.” Ensign Django snorted, referring to the Defiant that had remained cloaked under Shelby’s orders.
“I think we’ve given the cockroaches long enough time to scurry for cover.” Captain Shelby remarked as she gestured at the acting tactical chief, “Tell Pallas Control that we’re not going to be here long and then send the signal to Chief Brin.”
A few moments later, Nyota looked up, “Chief Brin’s confirmation signal received. We’re on.”
“Very good. Contact Captain Akinola and tell him if he wants to join us he better be ready now, ‘cause I’m not waiting on him.” Shelby declared as she hit her comm button, “Lieutenant Sito? Report to Transporter Room One for landing party duty at once.” Noticing the dubious looks coming from her first officer and tactical officer, Liz explained, “I need to see how she’s going to perform in the field sooner or later…”
“Sir?” Hobson inquired, lowering his voice so that only his captain could hear, “Are you sure you want to go through with this?”
“We discussed this earlier, Chris.” Shelby replied in an equally low whisper, “And we both agreed that…no matter how distasteful it is…that there really isn’t any alternative—not if we want to put an end to this once and for all.”
“It’s just, Sir…” Hobson pointed out, “…if certain admirals were to ever find out…”
“I know, Chris…it’ll make their day ‘cause they’ll finally be able to roast me alive.” Liz interrupted; a sad smile on her face as she looked up at her first officer, “I’m open to suggestions. Give me something—anything—else that even has a remote possibility of working and I’ll take it.” Receiving only silence in return, Liz sighed, “It’s like we talked about…there really isn’t any choice. If we don’t take care of the problem at its source—it’ll just keep coming back.”
“Aye, Sir.” Commander Hobson reluctantly agreed as his captain finished issuing her orders.
“Keep a lock on our comm frequencies, Chris and be ready to yank us out at the first sign of a double-cross. Also, after we beam down, I want you to contact Mr. Worf. Tell him, to get ready to receive some guests soon.”
**********************************************************************
Immediately upon rematerializing, Captain Shelby and her landing party were confronted by Larkin and Rof, both armed with phasers pointed straight at them. “You two ought to know that we’ve left our comm frequencies open—my ship is hearing everything that’s going on right now. So, you can either lower those weapons…” Shelby ordered in a crisp voice as both Sito and Akinola drew their weapons as well, “…or you’re going to know what it feels like to be transported into deep space.” Noticing that the two Maquis members showed no inclination to lower their weapons, Liz took a deep breath, but before she could speak to issue her command, a voice quickly called out.
“Larkin! Rof! Stand down—now!”
“I thought we had a truce, Sabrina.” Shelby remarked as the Rutian and Alshain reluctantly complied with their leader’s order.
“We do.” The former starship captain replied as she gestured towards the door that she had just come in from, “Larkin was afraid you were going to try a double-cross.”
“Funny…” Liz quipped wryly as she and the others joined the Maquis leader in walking towards the door, “I thought you were going to pull the same thing.”
“I keep my word.” Sabrina replied simply as she door slid open to reveal a makeshift conference room where Pierson, his wife, Danyor Krakke, Dak, and Chief Brin were already waiting.
“So do I.” Liz retorted, but before she could continue, Captain Akinola, recognizing his Chief of the Boat even through the plastic surgery, interrupted.
“Boats? Is that you?” Shaking his head in disbelief, the border skipper, relieved at finally being reunited with his long-time friend and shipmate, joked, “Damn! I can’t believe it! They actually made you look better!” His smile growing wider, the white-haired grizzled mustang captain remarked with genuine affection in his voice, “It’s good to see you again, Solly.”
“You should have seen what they wanted to do with me, Skipper.” Chief Brin joshed back, a big toothy grin on his face at seeing his captain once again. “Good to see you to again, Captain.”
“While I’m enjoying this little reunion as much as everyone else here is, I think we’ve got some stuff to deal with.” Pierson remarked as he fingered the scar on his cheek.
“Lynn’s right.” Miriam chimed in, supporting her ex-husband. “We have a lot to talk about. So…let’s get started. How are we going to take care of Rejak, Tabor, the Syndicate, and Ayenga?”
“Ok…” Shelby agreed as she took a seat, “It just so happens I have a plan that’ll allow us to do just about all of those things at the same time. The only hitch…” The petite blonde captain confessed, “Is Ayenga. I haven’t heard from my man yet…” Turning to Sabrina, Liz asked, “Have you?”
“No.” Diaz admitted with a frown. “Nor have I heard from Nura.”
“I haven’t heard so much as a hiss from S’nurl either.” Pierson added, tapping his fingers on the table. “And that has me more than a little worried.”
“They might be maintaining silent running.” The experienced Akinola pointed out. “Not wanting to risk their transmission being intercepted.”
“That’s possible.” Shelby allowed. “Knowing Manny…” she speculated, “…he’ll have concluded that time’s at a premium, so he’ll probably head straight to Taris III…”
“Gutsy…” Joseph remarked approvingly, nodding his head.
“Stupid.” Larkin sneered, “Smart play would be to come back here.”
“Manuele’s thinking about more than just himself.” Shelby fired back, “He knows that if Ayenga gets away with doing what we think she’s going to do, then all hell’s going to break loose in this sector and probably beyond.”
“And what is she going to do?” Diaz inquired, raising her eyebrows in a mixture of curiosity and skepticism.
“If my doctor and science officer and Captain Akinola’s doctor is right, then she’s going to contaminate Rejak’s Corillan acid shipment with the mutagenic gel she stole.” Shelby replied flatly; Joseph silently nodding his head in agreement at the younger captain’s pronouncement.
“Damn.” Miriam whispered, “I always knew Ayenga was crazy…but I never figured…”
“So…” Pierson inquired, “What’s your plan?”
As Shelby laid out her scheme, Captain Akinola shook his head in amazement as both Pierson and Diaz grinned. As she continued to set out her stratagem, the space-wise skipper listened more intently. It just might work. He thought, much to his surprise. But…she’s left out one detail. Waiting until the younger captain had finished her presentation, the white-haired skipper cleared his throat. “Captain. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but your plan is a good one. But…there’s one little thing you didn’t take into account…”
“By all means, Captain Akinola…” Liz replied, with just the faintest of sarcastic grins, “…enlighten me.”
“With pleasure.” The older captain grinned smugly as he pointed out the single slender, yet potentially critical, deficiency in Shelby’s plan, “You didn’t account for the possibility—however slight—that Rejak would anticipate that move and have something ready. I’d suggest that you do this…” Joseph continued as he outlined his proposal, “…that way, if Rejak does have an ace up his sleeve, you’ll be able to counter it at once.”
Chagrined at her lapse, Shelby bit her lip as she nodded her head, forcing herself to confess, “You’re right. I should have taken that into account.” Looking the older man straight in the eyes, the petite captain offered a simple, yet genuine, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” A surprised Akinola replied.
“Now, I suggest we get ready—I want us to warp out within the hour. Captain?” Liz requested as she turned her attention back to Captain Akinola, “I need to borrow Chief Brin for a short while, if I may?”
A somewhat mystified Captain Akinola, taken by surprise by Shelby’s request, inquired in a skeptical tone, “Why?”
“It’s all right, Skipper.” Chief Brin quickly interjected, speaking softly so that only his captain could hear, “She probably just wants to debrief me so that she can get a better idea on what her man might be up to. Can’t say as I blame her…” he added, maintaining a respectful tone.
Nodding his head, the Nigerian border skipper agreed, “All right, Chief. I’ll see you back on the Bluefin when you’re done.” Tapping his comm badge, Akinola called out, “Dale? Beam me up.”
After Captain Akinola dematerialized, Liz again spoke, “Pierson? I’ll want you too.”
“Anytime, babe…” The rogue leered as Shelby, smirking, touched her comm badge.
“Shelby to Sutherland--Energize.”
Rematerializing on the Sutherland’s transporter pad, Liz again activated her comm badge, “Mr. Worf? Would you mind beaming on to the Sutherland? I need to see you in my ready room as soon as possible.”
“Yes, Sir.” The Klingon’s rich baritone voice responded.
“If you’ll follow me…” Liz directed to her guests and Lieutenant Sito, “…this won’t take long.”
*********************************************************************
Minutes later, the little group, now joined by Lieutenant Commander Worf, sat in Captain Shelby’s office, the captain sitting on the edge of her desk. “I want to make one thing perfectly clear—nothing said in this meeting will appear on the ship’s log, nor is it to appear in any personal logs. For those of you who aren’t in Starfleet…” she declared, her eyes fixing on Pierson, “…it’s our word against yours. All I have to say here is that even though I might not be the most liked person in some circles of Starfleet, you’re even less liked.” Catching her breath, Liz continued, “Now that that’s out of the way, if anyone here is uncomfortable with this—you can leave right now—no questions asked and nothing further will ever be mentioned.”
Nodding her head in satisfaction as no one walked out, Liz laid out her plan. “I’m tasking you people with a special mission—one that I think will appeal to you. You will have one objective and one objective only—Gul Rejak.” Smiles appeared on the faces of everyone in the room on hearing the captain’s words. “Your job will be to neutralize him so that he is no longer a threat.”
“Neutralize, Captain?” Chief Brin inquired, wanting to be sure that he read Shelby’s unstated objective correctly.
“That’s right, Chief.” Liz replied in a calm, level voice, her face devoid of expression as she laid especial emphasis on her first word, “Neutralize him.”
“That’s what I thought you said.” The Red Orion said with a feral grin. Glancing out the corner of his eye, he spotted a similar grin appearing on the face of the young Bajoran sitting next to him.
“If anyone has a problem with that—let me know now, and you can leave—again, nothing will be said.” Hearing only silence in response, Shelby nodded her head grimly, “Good. Now…as to how you’re going to get to your objective…that will depend on whether he’s on the planet’s surface or on his ship. Mr. Worf—it’ll be the Defiant’s job to determine that. Once we know for sure where he is, we can proceed from there. I won’t lie to you…” she confessed, “…this might very well be a one way trip—but I think we’re all in agreement that it has to be done. Any questions?”
“Lizzy?” Pierson waved, flashing a roguish grin, “I’ve got a pretty good idea how we’re going to get to him if he’s on a ship, but what about if he’s on the planet’s surface? He’ll have transporter buffers in place so we can’t beam down and if we go by shuttle, we’ll be shot down for sure…”
“I’m glad you asked me that question.” Shelby replied, flashing a mischievous grin, “Tell me, Lynn…have you ever dreamed you were a bird?”
After everyone had a few moments to recover after hearing Shelby’s plan to get them to the planet’s surface, Liz stood up, “All right, let’s get to it—we’ve got a lot to do and not a whole lot of time to do it in. Report to holodeck one to practice your ingress techniques for both contingencies—regardless of how it goes down, you’re only going to get one shot at this and you better get it right.”
“Frak!” Manuele cursed as a green disruptor bolt fired from one of the pursuing Cardassian frigates just missed them, shattering a nearby planetoid. “That was too damned close.”
“Going to get a lot closer.” Nura retorted in a low voice as she piloted the tiny runabout between the space detritus, weaving in and out and between with an almost reckless abandon. “Hold on!” She shouted as she pitched the craft up on its Z-axis, reaching the cover of one of the larger planetoids just as yet another disruptor beam lanced towards them.
Seeing a metallic glint on one of the smaller planetoids nearby, Manuele quickly glanced at his sensor display. “Get outta here—NOW!” The New Kauaian yelled as Nura, her reflexes instinctively taking charge, turned sharply about as the planetoid exploded, setting off other explosions causing the runabout to shake as rocky and metallic fragments struck the shields, straining them to their max. One of the frigates, however, was not as fortunate as it found itself caught right in the middle of the blast radius. It now drifted powerless in the belt, undergoing a pounding as planetoids impacted on it.
Watching as its sister ship slowed down, Manuele nodded his head, “Get us out of here, Nura. Ayenga’s long gone and is probably already on her way to Taris III.”
“Where are we going?” The Bzzit Khaht asked as the runabout slipped smoothly into warp, leaving their pursuers far behind.
“Taris III, of course.” Atoa replied, “We’ve got to stop Ayenga, Rejak, and Tabor.”
Her laughter taking on an almost hysterical tone, Nura exclaimed, “You mean the three of us? One Starfleet officer, a pilot, and a bar bouncer are going to stop the Kon Ma, Gul Rejak, and the Orion Syndicate all by ourselves!” Shaking her head, she spat out, “Are you sure you’re not the one on acid?”
“You two don’t have to come along if you don’t want to.” Manuele said in a low voice, addressing both the Bzzit Khaht sitting next to him and the large Gorn standing in the back. “I have to do this, but you don’t. There’s a nearby system I can drop you off at if you want. From there, you should be able to get back to Pallas V.”
“Ssssssmart move would be to leave…” S’nurl hissed, “But if I go, I will misssss a good fight. I think I will sssssee thisssss through.”
“Ok, S’nurl.” Manuele grinned, “Glad to have you aboard.” Turning towards his copilot, Manuele asked, “What about you, Nura? Want me to drop you off?”
“No.” The young pilot shook her head, “I’ve always been one for lost causes. ‘sides…” she said, a thin smile crossing her face, “I have a feeling Sabrina’ll be there too.”
Sighing, Atoa uttered in an almost inaudible voice, “I hope someone’s there, ‘cause we’re going to need all the help we can get.”
***********************************************************************
“Assuming standard orbit around Pallas V.” Lieutenant Lavelle reported from his position at the helm.
“We’re being hailed by the planetary authorities.” Lieutenant Dryer interjected. “They want to know what we’re doing here and when we’re going to get the hell out.”
“Yeah, I guess they would be pretty jittery about having a Nebula and an Albacore suddenly popping in on them…” Liz quipped as she leaned back in her chair.
“They’d really crap a brick if they knew about our other little surprise.” Ensign Django snorted, referring to the Defiant that had remained cloaked under Shelby’s orders.
“I think we’ve given the cockroaches long enough time to scurry for cover.” Captain Shelby remarked as she gestured at the acting tactical chief, “Tell Pallas Control that we’re not going to be here long and then send the signal to Chief Brin.”
A few moments later, Nyota looked up, “Chief Brin’s confirmation signal received. We’re on.”
“Very good. Contact Captain Akinola and tell him if he wants to join us he better be ready now, ‘cause I’m not waiting on him.” Shelby declared as she hit her comm button, “Lieutenant Sito? Report to Transporter Room One for landing party duty at once.” Noticing the dubious looks coming from her first officer and tactical officer, Liz explained, “I need to see how she’s going to perform in the field sooner or later…”
“Sir?” Hobson inquired, lowering his voice so that only his captain could hear, “Are you sure you want to go through with this?”
“We discussed this earlier, Chris.” Shelby replied in an equally low whisper, “And we both agreed that…no matter how distasteful it is…that there really isn’t any alternative—not if we want to put an end to this once and for all.”
“It’s just, Sir…” Hobson pointed out, “…if certain admirals were to ever find out…”
“I know, Chris…it’ll make their day ‘cause they’ll finally be able to roast me alive.” Liz interrupted; a sad smile on her face as she looked up at her first officer, “I’m open to suggestions. Give me something—anything—else that even has a remote possibility of working and I’ll take it.” Receiving only silence in return, Liz sighed, “It’s like we talked about…there really isn’t any choice. If we don’t take care of the problem at its source—it’ll just keep coming back.”
“Aye, Sir.” Commander Hobson reluctantly agreed as his captain finished issuing her orders.
“Keep a lock on our comm frequencies, Chris and be ready to yank us out at the first sign of a double-cross. Also, after we beam down, I want you to contact Mr. Worf. Tell him, to get ready to receive some guests soon.”
**********************************************************************
Immediately upon rematerializing, Captain Shelby and her landing party were confronted by Larkin and Rof, both armed with phasers pointed straight at them. “You two ought to know that we’ve left our comm frequencies open—my ship is hearing everything that’s going on right now. So, you can either lower those weapons…” Shelby ordered in a crisp voice as both Sito and Akinola drew their weapons as well, “…or you’re going to know what it feels like to be transported into deep space.” Noticing that the two Maquis members showed no inclination to lower their weapons, Liz took a deep breath, but before she could speak to issue her command, a voice quickly called out.
“Larkin! Rof! Stand down—now!”
“I thought we had a truce, Sabrina.” Shelby remarked as the Rutian and Alshain reluctantly complied with their leader’s order.
“We do.” The former starship captain replied as she gestured towards the door that she had just come in from, “Larkin was afraid you were going to try a double-cross.”
“Funny…” Liz quipped wryly as she and the others joined the Maquis leader in walking towards the door, “I thought you were going to pull the same thing.”
“I keep my word.” Sabrina replied simply as she door slid open to reveal a makeshift conference room where Pierson, his wife, Danyor Krakke, Dak, and Chief Brin were already waiting.
“So do I.” Liz retorted, but before she could continue, Captain Akinola, recognizing his Chief of the Boat even through the plastic surgery, interrupted.
“Boats? Is that you?” Shaking his head in disbelief, the border skipper, relieved at finally being reunited with his long-time friend and shipmate, joked, “Damn! I can’t believe it! They actually made you look better!” His smile growing wider, the white-haired grizzled mustang captain remarked with genuine affection in his voice, “It’s good to see you again, Solly.”
“You should have seen what they wanted to do with me, Skipper.” Chief Brin joshed back, a big toothy grin on his face at seeing his captain once again. “Good to see you to again, Captain.”
“While I’m enjoying this little reunion as much as everyone else here is, I think we’ve got some stuff to deal with.” Pierson remarked as he fingered the scar on his cheek.
“Lynn’s right.” Miriam chimed in, supporting her ex-husband. “We have a lot to talk about. So…let’s get started. How are we going to take care of Rejak, Tabor, the Syndicate, and Ayenga?”
“Ok…” Shelby agreed as she took a seat, “It just so happens I have a plan that’ll allow us to do just about all of those things at the same time. The only hitch…” The petite blonde captain confessed, “Is Ayenga. I haven’t heard from my man yet…” Turning to Sabrina, Liz asked, “Have you?”
“No.” Diaz admitted with a frown. “Nor have I heard from Nura.”
“I haven’t heard so much as a hiss from S’nurl either.” Pierson added, tapping his fingers on the table. “And that has me more than a little worried.”
“They might be maintaining silent running.” The experienced Akinola pointed out. “Not wanting to risk their transmission being intercepted.”
“That’s possible.” Shelby allowed. “Knowing Manny…” she speculated, “…he’ll have concluded that time’s at a premium, so he’ll probably head straight to Taris III…”
“Gutsy…” Joseph remarked approvingly, nodding his head.
“Stupid.” Larkin sneered, “Smart play would be to come back here.”
“Manuele’s thinking about more than just himself.” Shelby fired back, “He knows that if Ayenga gets away with doing what we think she’s going to do, then all hell’s going to break loose in this sector and probably beyond.”
“And what is she going to do?” Diaz inquired, raising her eyebrows in a mixture of curiosity and skepticism.
“If my doctor and science officer and Captain Akinola’s doctor is right, then she’s going to contaminate Rejak’s Corillan acid shipment with the mutagenic gel she stole.” Shelby replied flatly; Joseph silently nodding his head in agreement at the younger captain’s pronouncement.
“Damn.” Miriam whispered, “I always knew Ayenga was crazy…but I never figured…”
“So…” Pierson inquired, “What’s your plan?”
As Shelby laid out her scheme, Captain Akinola shook his head in amazement as both Pierson and Diaz grinned. As she continued to set out her stratagem, the space-wise skipper listened more intently. It just might work. He thought, much to his surprise. But…she’s left out one detail. Waiting until the younger captain had finished her presentation, the white-haired skipper cleared his throat. “Captain. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but your plan is a good one. But…there’s one little thing you didn’t take into account…”
“By all means, Captain Akinola…” Liz replied, with just the faintest of sarcastic grins, “…enlighten me.”
“With pleasure.” The older captain grinned smugly as he pointed out the single slender, yet potentially critical, deficiency in Shelby’s plan, “You didn’t account for the possibility—however slight—that Rejak would anticipate that move and have something ready. I’d suggest that you do this…” Joseph continued as he outlined his proposal, “…that way, if Rejak does have an ace up his sleeve, you’ll be able to counter it at once.”
Chagrined at her lapse, Shelby bit her lip as she nodded her head, forcing herself to confess, “You’re right. I should have taken that into account.” Looking the older man straight in the eyes, the petite captain offered a simple, yet genuine, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” A surprised Akinola replied.
“Now, I suggest we get ready—I want us to warp out within the hour. Captain?” Liz requested as she turned her attention back to Captain Akinola, “I need to borrow Chief Brin for a short while, if I may?”
A somewhat mystified Captain Akinola, taken by surprise by Shelby’s request, inquired in a skeptical tone, “Why?”
“It’s all right, Skipper.” Chief Brin quickly interjected, speaking softly so that only his captain could hear, “She probably just wants to debrief me so that she can get a better idea on what her man might be up to. Can’t say as I blame her…” he added, maintaining a respectful tone.
Nodding his head, the Nigerian border skipper agreed, “All right, Chief. I’ll see you back on the Bluefin when you’re done.” Tapping his comm badge, Akinola called out, “Dale? Beam me up.”
After Captain Akinola dematerialized, Liz again spoke, “Pierson? I’ll want you too.”
“Anytime, babe…” The rogue leered as Shelby, smirking, touched her comm badge.
“Shelby to Sutherland--Energize.”
Rematerializing on the Sutherland’s transporter pad, Liz again activated her comm badge, “Mr. Worf? Would you mind beaming on to the Sutherland? I need to see you in my ready room as soon as possible.”
“Yes, Sir.” The Klingon’s rich baritone voice responded.
“If you’ll follow me…” Liz directed to her guests and Lieutenant Sito, “…this won’t take long.”
*********************************************************************
Minutes later, the little group, now joined by Lieutenant Commander Worf, sat in Captain Shelby’s office, the captain sitting on the edge of her desk. “I want to make one thing perfectly clear—nothing said in this meeting will appear on the ship’s log, nor is it to appear in any personal logs. For those of you who aren’t in Starfleet…” she declared, her eyes fixing on Pierson, “…it’s our word against yours. All I have to say here is that even though I might not be the most liked person in some circles of Starfleet, you’re even less liked.” Catching her breath, Liz continued, “Now that that’s out of the way, if anyone here is uncomfortable with this—you can leave right now—no questions asked and nothing further will ever be mentioned.”
Nodding her head in satisfaction as no one walked out, Liz laid out her plan. “I’m tasking you people with a special mission—one that I think will appeal to you. You will have one objective and one objective only—Gul Rejak.” Smiles appeared on the faces of everyone in the room on hearing the captain’s words. “Your job will be to neutralize him so that he is no longer a threat.”
“Neutralize, Captain?” Chief Brin inquired, wanting to be sure that he read Shelby’s unstated objective correctly.
“That’s right, Chief.” Liz replied in a calm, level voice, her face devoid of expression as she laid especial emphasis on her first word, “Neutralize him.”
“That’s what I thought you said.” The Red Orion said with a feral grin. Glancing out the corner of his eye, he spotted a similar grin appearing on the face of the young Bajoran sitting next to him.
“If anyone has a problem with that—let me know now, and you can leave—again, nothing will be said.” Hearing only silence in response, Shelby nodded her head grimly, “Good. Now…as to how you’re going to get to your objective…that will depend on whether he’s on the planet’s surface or on his ship. Mr. Worf—it’ll be the Defiant’s job to determine that. Once we know for sure where he is, we can proceed from there. I won’t lie to you…” she confessed, “…this might very well be a one way trip—but I think we’re all in agreement that it has to be done. Any questions?”
“Lizzy?” Pierson waved, flashing a roguish grin, “I’ve got a pretty good idea how we’re going to get to him if he’s on a ship, but what about if he’s on the planet’s surface? He’ll have transporter buffers in place so we can’t beam down and if we go by shuttle, we’ll be shot down for sure…”
“I’m glad you asked me that question.” Shelby replied, flashing a mischievous grin, “Tell me, Lynn…have you ever dreamed you were a bird?”
After everyone had a few moments to recover after hearing Shelby’s plan to get them to the planet’s surface, Liz stood up, “All right, let’s get to it—we’ve got a lot to do and not a whole lot of time to do it in. Report to holodeck one to practice your ingress techniques for both contingencies—regardless of how it goes down, you’re only going to get one shot at this and you better get it right.”
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I'm not sure what scares me more, Worf having a one on one with Rejak, or one of Jaxa's "personalities."
Great piece and everything seems to be coming together now.
Looking forward to the rest.
Great piece and everything seems to be coming together now.
Looking forward to the rest.
Two excellent segments - I liked the back-and-forth between quiet character moments and the action sequences. You've set the stage for what promises to be an exciting finish!
I'm loving it!
I'm loving it!
That was a lot of fun. The interaction between Shelby and Akinola was excellent. There just might be hope for a realm of mutual respect between them. And I see you're sending my favorite UT character into harm's way again. Try not to kill him off, ok? The Bluefin wouldn't be the same without him. (Although, with Dale alive and Treasure an Ensign I imagine he will survive.)
Wow, that's a pretty bold order on Shelby's part. Clearly this is not coming from her superiors and she is making the call to have a man (a bad man, granted) eliminated by herself. Not very Starfleet of her.
I like that she made that call even if I don't think that she has the authority to make it. What a disaster this would be if that would ever come to light though.
Great setup for what is clearly going to be a big bang ending.
I like that she made that call even if I don't think that she has the authority to make it. What a disaster this would be if that would ever come to light though.
Great setup for what is clearly going to be a big bang ending.
Well, CeJay, in a way it did come from Glover--remember his orders state that she's to do 'whatever she feels necessary' to stop Rejak and Tabor short of renewing the war with the Klingons or damaging relations with the Cardassians. Of course, were this ever to come to light, he could disavow that by saying, "I didn't mean for her to do THAT!" And, as she said, there are certain admirals in Starfleet that would just love to hang her should this ever come out. It is a difficult moral issue for her--one the one hand, she knows that there's no way Rejak would ever face punishment for his actions, but on the other, she is essentially acting as judge, jury, and executioner...
It would be no worse than Sisko's actions in DS9 and it would mean that thousands of lives and families would be saved from the ravages of the Acid trade.
Besides, the old Vulcan idiom holds true: the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. I have no doubt that Liz would hold her head up high if it did come out and she would say that she did it to save somebody's son or brother, somebody's daughter or sister, from the Acid. What's she's asked them to do is morally right, if not legally so.
If I found out that someone had done to my friend or sister what Rejak had done to Jaxa, I would probably have the bastard executed, although in my case it would be for revenge. I don't know if Liz's motives are any purer, but IMO, Rejak deserves whatever he gets.
I don't think the justification that "because he deserves it" holds up especially well within Starfleet and their supposedly superior morality.
If you were to advocate the idea of "neutralizing" people because they've done bad things or even because we would be better off without them you pretty much throw everything Starfleet is suppose to be out of the window and reduce it to some shadowy organization like Section 31 which probably started out with similarly high ideals. But eventually you figure if it is that easy to get rid of the bad guy why bother with courts, juries or a legal system at all.
I still like Shelby’s (or Glover’s) decision mostly because it is so risky and controversial in nature. And the possible fall out and the implications could be of a massive magnitude.
I do believe a bit of an atonement would be justified or perhaps some Sisko-esque second-guessing ...
Oh, there will be that, rest assured. Shelby's basically a decent and honorable person--albeit she has her own code of honor in many ways. I do intend to have her reflect on her action here--most likely in a vignette.
It doesn't hold up, not by a long shot, but after seeing the darker side of paradise that DS9 showed us, I think that there are still plenty of humans (and probably of other races too) who are not as morally superior as they like to think they are.
After all, how many times did our heroes break the PD or bend it almost too far? Star Trek has never been a utopia, only an idealised version of life and while I like to think that I would never go so low as to have someone neutralised, I know that there are situations where I would do so if pushed.
We all would and anyone who says differently is a liar.
Looks like I stirred up a bit of dust here--good. 
One of the reasons I did that scene was to show how we're beginning to see a hardening and coarsening of attitudes--and people--as the Dominion War ramps up and then in its aftermath. Remember, this is the same Liz who, not so long ago, told Erika Benteen that while she understood and agreed with Leyton and her position regarding the threat the Dominion posed, that Leyton was wrong--remember her words, "The Federation Council and President proposes...Starfleet disposes." Now, here she is acting as supreme arbiter--granted with a slight fig leaf given to her by Glover. The difference is, with Rejak, it's more or less personal--or rather family--since Sito is now part of her crew.
No matter what happens--and who's to say--other than me, that is --that Rejak will give them a choice in the matter, Liz will be thinking about this for a long time...
One of the reasons I did that scene was to show how we're beginning to see a hardening and coarsening of attitudes--and people--as the Dominion War ramps up and then in its aftermath. Remember, this is the same Liz who, not so long ago, told Erika Benteen that while she understood and agreed with Leyton and her position regarding the threat the Dominion posed, that Leyton was wrong--remember her words, "The Federation Council and President proposes...Starfleet disposes." Now, here she is acting as supreme arbiter--granted with a slight fig leaf given to her by Glover. The difference is, with Rejak, it's more or less personal--or rather family--since Sito is now part of her crew.
No matter what happens--and who's to say--other than me, that is
--that Rejak will give them a choice in the matter, Liz will be thinking about this for a long time...
I'm hard at work on the next part--to quote Ivanova, "Boom, Boom and BOOM!"
Sutherland: Rocks and Shoals Part 12
“Daras Tabor…you know Ahmet Nihal, second of the Nihalim family of the Orion Syndicate?” Gul Rejak said, gesturing to the green Orion seated across from the Cardassian’s desk.
“Personally, no.” The Bajoran terrorist replied as he was ushered into Rejak’s luxuriously appointed office by an aide, “But we have spoken a few times through subspace.” Taking the unoccupied seat next to the Orion, Tabor presented a padd. “We’re ready to conduct the exchange. Once we take delivery of the drugs, I’ll authorize the transfer of funds to the bank of your choice—I believe you mentioned the Borqu Bank on Ferenginar?”
“A good choice.” The Orion declared approvingly, “Like any good Ferengi, Borqu takes his cut, but he keeps his security protocols up and is very discreet.” Pausing for a moment to take a sip of springwine, Nihal continued, “Once I receive word that the goods in question have reached Federation space, I will turn over control of our freighter and its cargo to you.” A sly grin crossing his face, the Syndicate liaison concluded, “I think you will find them sufficient to carry out your purpose.”
“I’m sure I will.” Tabor responded, “So…when do we begin?”
“Immediately.” Gul Rejak answered back, “We’ll have to use shuttlecraft to transport the cargo though—as an additional security precaution in the event Ayenga manages to elude the little trap I set for her, I’ve activated the planet’s transporter buffers.”
“A sensible precaution.” Nihal quickly interjected before the Bajoran terrorist could protest. “It won’t hurt us to spend a few extra hours on the surface.”
“Of course not!” Rejak grinned, snapping his fingers. As the door opened to reveal a pair of scantily clad women—one an Andorian and the other apparently human, the Cardassian leered, “You’re my guests! Ketala and Tania will see to all your needs!”
********************************************************************
“Cloak’s operating at normal parameters.” Chief O’Brien reported as the Defiant neared Taris III.
“Take us in. Begin passive scans.” Lieutenant Commander Worf ordered as the tiny warship drew closer to the third habitable planet of the G2 star.
“One Galor class ship…” Jadzia Dax reported, “…four Hideki class patrol ships, a pair of modified Peregrines—those might belong to Tabor or his people, a pair of Orion raiders—and…” she added, a smile crossing her face, “…two freighters. Looks like we caught them in time.”
“Good.” Worf replied, “Any indication as to whether Rejak is on the surface or on the Galor?”
“It appears he’s on the surface.” Dax replied, “There’s a lot of traffic emanating from these coordinates to the two freighters.” She reported as she downloaded the location into the Defiant’s computer.
“We have him then.” Worf declared. “Transmit the information to the Sutherland.” Hitting the intercom button, the Klingon then ordered, “Landing party prepare for insertion.” Turning his attention back to the lovely Trill sitting at the helm, he instructed, “Mr. Dax, the conn is yours.”
“Aye, Sir.” Dax acknowledged, an unspoken, ‘be careful’ tacitly understood by the Klingon warrior as he nodded his head when their eyes met.
****************************************************************
“Transmission from the Defiant, Captain.” Lieutenant Dryer stated as she relayed the results of the Defiant’s reconnaissance.
Nodding her head, an unusually reflective and somber Elizabeth Shelby responded, “Very well, give the Go signal—all units to move according to plan. Red alert.” The bridge now suddenly awash in red light as the alarm klaxon sounded, Shelby ordered, “Prepare to take us in, Mr. Lavelle.”
**********************************************************************
“Adjust for planetary rotation.” Lieutenant Commander Dax ordered as she tapped the intercom button on the command chair, “We’re in position, Worf.” After a moment’s hesitation, Jadzia inquired in a worry-filled tone, “Are you sure about this, Worf? If Rejak raises his shields before you touch down…”
Taking a deep breath, the Klingon warrior led his assault team into the airlock. Receiving confirming nods from the human, red Orion, and Bajoran that would accompany him, Worf answered back in a surprisingly gentle voice, “I know. We all know. Depressurize and open.”
Grimly nodding her head at a young human ensign manning the starship’s tactical console, Jadzia imagined the airlock door opening into space at the same time as the force field dropped, exposing her par’Machai and the rest of his team to the vacuum. She then imagined them stepping off into space, the retro-thrusters in their suits firing as they began their harrowing descent.
*********************************************************************
“That’s it!” Sabrina announced into her comm as a green light on the control panel of her raider blinked. “We’re going in. Remember, people, our job is to draw those patrol ships off—let the starships do the heavy lifting here.”
Answering his beeping comm unit, a complacent Gul Rejak asked, “What is it?”
“Sensors have picked up several Maquis raiders at the outer edge of the system closing rapidly.”
“Then send the patrol vessels to chase them off!” Rejak gruffly ordered.
“They’re taking the bait, Bri…” Larkin called out from his raider as his scanners picked up the oncoming Hidekis.
“All right…” Sabrina ordered, “Remember to keep to the plan, people. “Draw ‘em out as far as we can.”
*********************************************************************
Darkness surrounding her, Sito Jaxa felt her chest rise and fall as she breathed. Her suit impellers firing automatically, the young Bajoran felt the gentle tugging of the planet’s surface as she, along with her comrades, began their long descent. Zero-G freefall—that most dangerous of maneuvers—normally carried out by only the best of Starfleet’s Marines and commandoes, along with a few foolhardy adventurers, Sito Jaxa was now making her first dive with only a precious few hours of holodeck training. Her odds of surviving were not good.
“Fun—isn’t it?” The Huntress grinned as the laws of physics took effect.
Ignoring the voice in her head, Sito ran the calculations in her mind. An object falling freely at one earth gravity falls at 9.8 meters per second squared and Sito and her comrades began their descent at five hundred kilometers above the surface of Taris Three. Without the anti-grav units in their suits, she and her friends would have reached terminal velocity long before even nearing the surface. But that wouldn’t have been an issue as they would have burned up anyway due to atmospheric friction if not for the dissipation screens and ablative coating of their suits. Of course, should any of those elements fail…well, Jaxa didn’t want to dwell on the consequences of that. Instead, she fantasized about how it would feel to finally eviscerate Gul Rejak—the look on his face as she plunged her knife first into his groin. As she and the rest of her team entered the planet’s stratosphere, she smiled, not even sure—or even caring now—if it was her—or the Huntress—who was smiling.
*********************************************************************
Watching intently as the Cardassian patrol vessels, taken in by Diaz’s ruse, sped off towards the raiders, Shelby nodded her head. “Signal the Bluefin—now!”
“Signal coming in from Sutherland, Captain.” Lieutenant T’Ser reported, “Now.”
“All right, Ensign Bralus, take us in.” Joseph ordered, “Prepare Mark 22s to fire on my mark.”
Disruptor bolts from the pursuing Hideki barely missing her, Sabrina Diaz pulled her tiny raider into a steep climb. Her vision now a blurry red haze as her maneuvers strained the modified Peregrine’s inertial compensators to their limits and beyond, the former Starfleet captain fought to reach the firing button on her console before she passed out, touching the button just as the red haze began to turn black.
“They’re charging their disruptor banks, Captain.” Lt. Dryer reported as twin yellow beams lanced out from the Galor. The Sutherland shaking lightly from the impact, Captain Shelby ordered, “Return fire, all phasers. Helm, take us to course two-four-five, mark three, then fire photon torpedoes two and four.”
“Aye, Captain.” Sam Lavelle acknowledged as he piloted the Nebula class cruiser as its phasers impacted on the Cardassian ship’s shields. “Torpedoes away.”
“One impact.” Nyota declared, “Their shields are holding.”
“Concentrate on their lower quadrant, Mr. Lavelle—that’s where they’re weakest.” Liz instructed as the Suthy shuddered once again under the Cardassian ship’s fire.
“Gods!” Ensign Bralus whispered in awe, partially distracted by the lethal pas de deux of the two capital ships as explosions from the impact of beams and torpedoes on deflector shields filled his screen.
“Mind your helm, Mr. Bralus.” Commander McBride ordered, somewhat in wonder himself at the display of raw power he was witnessing on his viewscreen, as the border cutter shuddered under the weapons fire from one of the Orion raiders.
“Fire the Mark 22s.” Akinola commanded in a sharp, clear voice that immediately brought his bridge crew back to the task at hand, “Then switch to the photons.”
“Torpedoes away.” The young Bolian, his mind now back on the job, acknowledged.
"The freighters are down.” T’Ser reported as the ‘Rat Traps’ exploded near their targets, “But the raiders are still active.”
“They must have hardened their systems.” Akinola concluded as he stroked his chin. “Looks like we’re going to have to do this the hard way. Attack plan Tango-4, target the lead Orion, all weapons—Fire!” The Nigerian captain ordered as he lowered his arm in a chopping motion.
“Direct hit.” The Vulcan operations officer reported, “They’re drifting.”
“Good.” Joseph replied, “Shift target to the lead Kon Ma raider...”
“Divide and conquer?” Dale inquired with a grin.
“Let’s hope so, XO…” Akinola replied, managing a grin of his own, “Otherwise, we’re going to be in for a long day.”
************************************************************************
“Daras Tabor…you know Ahmet Nihal, second of the Nihalim family of the Orion Syndicate?” Gul Rejak said, gesturing to the green Orion seated across from the Cardassian’s desk.
“Personally, no.” The Bajoran terrorist replied as he was ushered into Rejak’s luxuriously appointed office by an aide, “But we have spoken a few times through subspace.” Taking the unoccupied seat next to the Orion, Tabor presented a padd. “We’re ready to conduct the exchange. Once we take delivery of the drugs, I’ll authorize the transfer of funds to the bank of your choice—I believe you mentioned the Borqu Bank on Ferenginar?”
“A good choice.” The Orion declared approvingly, “Like any good Ferengi, Borqu takes his cut, but he keeps his security protocols up and is very discreet.” Pausing for a moment to take a sip of springwine, Nihal continued, “Once I receive word that the goods in question have reached Federation space, I will turn over control of our freighter and its cargo to you.” A sly grin crossing his face, the Syndicate liaison concluded, “I think you will find them sufficient to carry out your purpose.”
“I’m sure I will.” Tabor responded, “So…when do we begin?”
“Immediately.” Gul Rejak answered back, “We’ll have to use shuttlecraft to transport the cargo though—as an additional security precaution in the event Ayenga manages to elude the little trap I set for her, I’ve activated the planet’s transporter buffers.”
“A sensible precaution.” Nihal quickly interjected before the Bajoran terrorist could protest. “It won’t hurt us to spend a few extra hours on the surface.”
“Of course not!” Rejak grinned, snapping his fingers. As the door opened to reveal a pair of scantily clad women—one an Andorian and the other apparently human, the Cardassian leered, “You’re my guests! Ketala and Tania will see to all your needs!”
********************************************************************
“Cloak’s operating at normal parameters.” Chief O’Brien reported as the Defiant neared Taris III.
“Take us in. Begin passive scans.” Lieutenant Commander Worf ordered as the tiny warship drew closer to the third habitable planet of the G2 star.
“One Galor class ship…” Jadzia Dax reported, “…four Hideki class patrol ships, a pair of modified Peregrines—those might belong to Tabor or his people, a pair of Orion raiders—and…” she added, a smile crossing her face, “…two freighters. Looks like we caught them in time.”
“Good.” Worf replied, “Any indication as to whether Rejak is on the surface or on the Galor?”
“It appears he’s on the surface.” Dax replied, “There’s a lot of traffic emanating from these coordinates to the two freighters.” She reported as she downloaded the location into the Defiant’s computer.
“We have him then.” Worf declared. “Transmit the information to the Sutherland.” Hitting the intercom button, the Klingon then ordered, “Landing party prepare for insertion.” Turning his attention back to the lovely Trill sitting at the helm, he instructed, “Mr. Dax, the conn is yours.”
“Aye, Sir.” Dax acknowledged, an unspoken, ‘be careful’ tacitly understood by the Klingon warrior as he nodded his head when their eyes met.
****************************************************************
“Transmission from the Defiant, Captain.” Lieutenant Dryer stated as she relayed the results of the Defiant’s reconnaissance.
Nodding her head, an unusually reflective and somber Elizabeth Shelby responded, “Very well, give the Go signal—all units to move according to plan. Red alert.” The bridge now suddenly awash in red light as the alarm klaxon sounded, Shelby ordered, “Prepare to take us in, Mr. Lavelle.”
**********************************************************************
“Adjust for planetary rotation.” Lieutenant Commander Dax ordered as she tapped the intercom button on the command chair, “We’re in position, Worf.” After a moment’s hesitation, Jadzia inquired in a worry-filled tone, “Are you sure about this, Worf? If Rejak raises his shields before you touch down…”
Taking a deep breath, the Klingon warrior led his assault team into the airlock. Receiving confirming nods from the human, red Orion, and Bajoran that would accompany him, Worf answered back in a surprisingly gentle voice, “I know. We all know. Depressurize and open.”
Grimly nodding her head at a young human ensign manning the starship’s tactical console, Jadzia imagined the airlock door opening into space at the same time as the force field dropped, exposing her par’Machai and the rest of his team to the vacuum. She then imagined them stepping off into space, the retro-thrusters in their suits firing as they began their harrowing descent.
*********************************************************************
“That’s it!” Sabrina announced into her comm as a green light on the control panel of her raider blinked. “We’re going in. Remember, people, our job is to draw those patrol ships off—let the starships do the heavy lifting here.”
Answering his beeping comm unit, a complacent Gul Rejak asked, “What is it?”
“Sensors have picked up several Maquis raiders at the outer edge of the system closing rapidly.”
“Then send the patrol vessels to chase them off!” Rejak gruffly ordered.
“They’re taking the bait, Bri…” Larkin called out from his raider as his scanners picked up the oncoming Hidekis.
“All right…” Sabrina ordered, “Remember to keep to the plan, people. “Draw ‘em out as far as we can.”
*********************************************************************
Darkness surrounding her, Sito Jaxa felt her chest rise and fall as she breathed. Her suit impellers firing automatically, the young Bajoran felt the gentle tugging of the planet’s surface as she, along with her comrades, began their long descent. Zero-G freefall—that most dangerous of maneuvers—normally carried out by only the best of Starfleet’s Marines and commandoes, along with a few foolhardy adventurers, Sito Jaxa was now making her first dive with only a precious few hours of holodeck training. Her odds of surviving were not good.
“Fun—isn’t it?” The Huntress grinned as the laws of physics took effect.
Ignoring the voice in her head, Sito ran the calculations in her mind. An object falling freely at one earth gravity falls at 9.8 meters per second squared and Sito and her comrades began their descent at five hundred kilometers above the surface of Taris Three. Without the anti-grav units in their suits, she and her friends would have reached terminal velocity long before even nearing the surface. But that wouldn’t have been an issue as they would have burned up anyway due to atmospheric friction if not for the dissipation screens and ablative coating of their suits. Of course, should any of those elements fail…well, Jaxa didn’t want to dwell on the consequences of that. Instead, she fantasized about how it would feel to finally eviscerate Gul Rejak—the look on his face as she plunged her knife first into his groin. As she and the rest of her team entered the planet’s stratosphere, she smiled, not even sure—or even caring now—if it was her—or the Huntress—who was smiling.
*********************************************************************
Watching intently as the Cardassian patrol vessels, taken in by Diaz’s ruse, sped off towards the raiders, Shelby nodded her head. “Signal the Bluefin—now!”
“Signal coming in from Sutherland, Captain.” Lieutenant T’Ser reported, “Now.”
“All right, Ensign Bralus, take us in.” Joseph ordered, “Prepare Mark 22s to fire on my mark.”
Disruptor bolts from the pursuing Hideki barely missing her, Sabrina Diaz pulled her tiny raider into a steep climb. Her vision now a blurry red haze as her maneuvers strained the modified Peregrine’s inertial compensators to their limits and beyond, the former Starfleet captain fought to reach the firing button on her console before she passed out, touching the button just as the red haze began to turn black.
“They’re charging their disruptor banks, Captain.” Lt. Dryer reported as twin yellow beams lanced out from the Galor. The Sutherland shaking lightly from the impact, Captain Shelby ordered, “Return fire, all phasers. Helm, take us to course two-four-five, mark three, then fire photon torpedoes two and four.”
“Aye, Captain.” Sam Lavelle acknowledged as he piloted the Nebula class cruiser as its phasers impacted on the Cardassian ship’s shields. “Torpedoes away.”
“One impact.” Nyota declared, “Their shields are holding.”
“Concentrate on their lower quadrant, Mr. Lavelle—that’s where they’re weakest.” Liz instructed as the Suthy shuddered once again under the Cardassian ship’s fire.
“Gods!” Ensign Bralus whispered in awe, partially distracted by the lethal pas de deux of the two capital ships as explosions from the impact of beams and torpedoes on deflector shields filled his screen.
“Mind your helm, Mr. Bralus.” Commander McBride ordered, somewhat in wonder himself at the display of raw power he was witnessing on his viewscreen, as the border cutter shuddered under the weapons fire from one of the Orion raiders.
“Fire the Mark 22s.” Akinola commanded in a sharp, clear voice that immediately brought his bridge crew back to the task at hand, “Then switch to the photons.”
“Torpedoes away.” The young Bolian, his mind now back on the job, acknowledged.
"The freighters are down.” T’Ser reported as the ‘Rat Traps’ exploded near their targets, “But the raiders are still active.”
“They must have hardened their systems.” Akinola concluded as he stroked his chin. “Looks like we’re going to have to do this the hard way. Attack plan Tango-4, target the lead Orion, all weapons—Fire!” The Nigerian captain ordered as he lowered his arm in a chopping motion.
“Direct hit.” The Vulcan operations officer reported, “They’re drifting.”
“Good.” Joseph replied, “Shift target to the lead Kon Ma raider...”
“Divide and conquer?” Dale inquired with a grin.
“Let’s hope so, XO…” Akinola replied, managing a grin of his own, “Otherwise, we’re going to be in for a long day.”
************************************************************************
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Sutherland: Rocks and Shoals Part 12 cont
Rolling as he hit the ground with a thud Solly disengaged his parachute. Rising to his feet, his phaser carbine at the ready, the red Orion chief petty officer scanned the landing zone, grunting as he saw the rest of his team recovering from their landings. Their presence masked by both the darkness and their stealth suits, Solly nodded his head. So far…so good. Long way to go though. Approaching Lieutenant Sito who was still tied up with her ‘chute, Brin drew his knife, making as if to cut the lines only to be rudely rebuffed by the Bajoran.
“I’ve got it.” Jaxa snarled as she took out the Andorian war knife sheathed at her side and swiftly slashed the cords.
“So I see.” Chief Brin replied in a flat tone as he backed off.
“Chief? A moment…”
Recognizing the deep voice of the Klingon placed in command of the assault team, Solly nodded his head as Worf approached, “Sir?”
Speaking in a low, confidential tone, Worf inquired, “How aware are you of Lieutenant Sito’s situation, Chief?”
“I’ve read the official reports and Admiral Glover discussed it somewhat with me, but…” The red Orion admitted, “I have a feeling there’s still an awful lot I don’t know.”
“You’re right about that.” The Klingon warrior bluntly replied, “Did the report or Admiral Glover tell you that besides Cardassians, the ones most frequently abusing her were Orions?”
Chief Brin clenched his teeth before grimly responding, “I think I understand both her reaction and what you’re trying to say, Commander. Don’t worry. I’ll be careful around her. And…” he added, a note of determination in his voice, “I promise I won’t let anything happen to her and I won’t let her do anything she might regret later.”
“Good.” The Klingon replied, most satisfied with the chief’s answer. Turning to the young Bajoran woman who was keeping her distance from the red Orion who had earlier come to her aid, Worf commanded, his deep voice bringing her back at once to the task at hand, “Lieutenant Sito? Are we within that building’s defense perimeter?”
Her training at once kicking in, Jaxa took out her tricorder. Nodding her head after a quick scan, the security specialist replied, “Yes, Sir. We’re well within the shield wall, but we’re still open to possible weapons fire from the building itself.”
Jerking his head in the direction of Rejak’s compound, Worf, along with his team, began their stealthy approach. “Then we should move quickly before they find out we’re here.”
“I’ll second that plan.” Pierson declared sardonically, fingering the scar on his cheek. “The sooner we get there…the sooner we can deal with Gul Rejak—once and for all.”
***********************************************************************
“What’s going on here?” Ahmet Nihal demanded as he rushed half-naked and breathless into Gul Rejak’s office.
“What do you think?” Daras Tabor replied with a sarcastic voice, “We’re under attack.”
“It seems Sabrina Diaz and Starfleet reached an accord.” Rejak responded in thoughtful tone, “And at the most…inconvenient…of times.”
“So…” the Ahmet demanded, “What do you plan to do about it?”
“Why…” the corrupt gul shrugged his shoulders, “I intend to destroy the attacking vessels…what else?” Tapping his comm badge, Rejak then ordered, “Prokan…raise shields and prepare ground defenses.”
**********************************************************************
Assured that the Worf’s team had begun its assault, Jadzia Dax ordered, “All right, Mr. Nog…time to give the Sutherland a hand. Take us one hundred degrees mark six. Prepare photon torpedoes and phasers. As the Galor loomed larger in the Defiant’s viewscreen, the raven-haired Trill cupped her chin. “Come in on their lower front quadrant, Mr. Nog…that way we’ll be able to catch them in a crossfire.”
“Aye, Sir.” The Ferengi cadet acknowledged.
“All right…” Jadzia stood up as she felt the sudden rush of adrenaline, “Decloak and fire!”
**********************************************************************
Skirting the fighting, Ayenga smiled triumphantly as she piloted her raider closer to the drifting freighter carrying the cargo of Corillan acid. “Transmit the recognition code.”
“What if Daras has changed the code?” Her Bajoran copilot, Omkar, inquired with a worried frown.
“Of course he did.” Ayenga smiled back, “That’s why I gave you these codes—got them from our inside source just before everything started blowing up here.” She declared triumphantly as she dodged a random disruptor bolt.
“All right…” Omkar replied, “Transmitting.” Sighing in relief, Omkar reported, “Their systems are still down because of the Federation torpedoes, but they can manage to get their shuttle bay doors open.
“Good.” Ayenga exclaimed, “Tell Hanya and Banan to get ready and signal Tohon to board the Orion. We do this right, we’ll make off with both freighters before Daras, Rejak, or the Starfleeters know what’s happening.”
***********************************************************************
“Which one?” Nura asked as she pointed at the tactical display. “They’ve split up—one of ‘em’s going to each freighter. Which one’s the one with Ayenga?”
“That one.” Manuele decided, picking one of the freighters at random. “We’ve got a fifty-fifty shot…”
“Better oddsssss than in mossssst casssssinossss I know…” S’nurl quipped, his toothy grin lending the Gorn a fearsome appearance.
“We’re in transporter range.” The Bzzit Khaht pilot declared, “We won’t have any problems beaming over thanks to those ‘rat trap’ torpedoes.”
“All right…let’s go.” Atoa ordered as he pressed a button on the runabout’s control console. “I’ve just sent a tight beam locator signal to the Sutherland. That way they’ll know we’re here and they can make sure the Bluefin or anyone else on our side doesn’t shoot us down.”
Cradling his disruptor carbine, S’nurl hissed, “Let’ssssss go….we are wassssting time.”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself.” Manuele quipped, flashing a sardonic smile as he stepped up on the transporter pad, joining his comrades. “Energize.”
**********************************************************************
Her lips turning up in a smile as she witnessed the Defiant joining the fray, Liz muttered under her breath, “’Bout time you joined the party, Jadz.”
“Signal coming in…” Lieutenant Dryer reported, at first in a detached voice. But then, a broad grin appeared on her face, “It’s from Manny! He’s going after Ayenga, but there’s a problem…she’s going after both freighters and he can only chase one of the teams.”
“Relay it to Captain Akinola.” Liz ordered as the Sutherland shook under the onslaught of the Galor’s disruptors and photon torpedoes. “Course one-six-five, mark thirty, Mr. Lavelle…execute. Nyota, fire photon torpedoes, pattern Sigma—Now! Let’s see if between the two of us we can get that Cardie to break off.”
“Torpedoes away! The Cardies have launched too.” The ebony skinned tactical officer exclaimed as four balls of red energy shot out of the Suthy’s tactical pod, racing past an equal number of blobs launched by the Cardassians. “Brace for impact!”
“Shields!” Liz commanded. Lieutenant Rysyl, manning the operations console moved instinctively to comply just as the Cardassian torpedoes detonated, sending the Nebula class vessel into a convulsion of shakes and shudders. Her console erupting into a fury of sparks, Anara screamed as she covered her eyes with her hands in a vain effort to keep the sparks away from her face and eyes.
“Anara!” Hobson called out, the expressionless mask he normally wore in public shattered as he saw the Deltan woman writhing on the deck in pain. Rushing to the fallen Anara’s side, Chris kneeling down tapped his comm badge, “Medical teams to the bridge, stat!” He ordered as, with surprising gentleness, he removed the Deltan’s blood stained hands away from her face, taking care not to disturb the metallic fragments embedded into her flesh. Sighing in relief as he noted that none of her facial injuries were deep or serious, Chris managed a reassuring smile, “You’ll be all right, Anara…help is on its way.”
“Get those fires out, now!” Shelby ordered. Calling out to her tactical officer, the blonde captain commanded, “Return fire—all phaser banks!”
“Firing!” Nyota replied as Maria and Varok, quickly grabbing fire extinguishers, moved to put out the fires that had erupted on the operations and sciences consoles.
Watching the Cardassian ship, now drifting helplessly in her viewscreen, Liz turned her attention to Commander Hobson, “How is she, Chris.”
“I think she’ll be all right.” Her first officer replied as he fought to regain his normal equilibrium. “I’ve stopped most of the bleeding, but she’s going to need medical help.”
“They’ll be here soon, Chris.” Liz replied reassuringly as she heard her tactical officer call out to her.
“Captain? The Defiant is hailing us.”
“On screen, Mr. Dryer.” Liz responded as she turned back towards the viewscreen. Seeing the face of her long time friend, the blonde captain managed a shaky grin, “Thanks for the assist.”
“Don’t mention it.” Jadzia responded, “How’re you doing?”
“They got a lucky hit on us in their last barrage.” Shelby answered back, “But I think we’ve got everything under control…”
“Sir?” Maria Django interrupted, “We’re picking up unusual fluctuations in the warp engines!”
***********************************************************************
Alarm klaxons ringing, Jadon heard the voice of one of his engineers cry out in pain. “On my way! The Trill engineer shouted as he rushed towards the injured crewman, whimpering as he laid on the deck, his legs crushed by a piece of fallen conduit. “Help’s on its way, Son.” He said reassuringly as he tapped his comm badge, “Medical teams to engineering…”
“They’re on their way, Jadon!” Denise Murakawa’s voice responded, “We’ll get there as fast as we can.”
“Boss!”
His head jerking up as he heard Angela’s scream, a single word escaped the Trill’s lips…
“Treasure!”
*********************************************************************
Rolling as he hit the ground with a thud Solly disengaged his parachute. Rising to his feet, his phaser carbine at the ready, the red Orion chief petty officer scanned the landing zone, grunting as he saw the rest of his team recovering from their landings. Their presence masked by both the darkness and their stealth suits, Solly nodded his head. So far…so good. Long way to go though. Approaching Lieutenant Sito who was still tied up with her ‘chute, Brin drew his knife, making as if to cut the lines only to be rudely rebuffed by the Bajoran.
“I’ve got it.” Jaxa snarled as she took out the Andorian war knife sheathed at her side and swiftly slashed the cords.
“So I see.” Chief Brin replied in a flat tone as he backed off.
“Chief? A moment…”
Recognizing the deep voice of the Klingon placed in command of the assault team, Solly nodded his head as Worf approached, “Sir?”
Speaking in a low, confidential tone, Worf inquired, “How aware are you of Lieutenant Sito’s situation, Chief?”
“I’ve read the official reports and Admiral Glover discussed it somewhat with me, but…” The red Orion admitted, “I have a feeling there’s still an awful lot I don’t know.”
“You’re right about that.” The Klingon warrior bluntly replied, “Did the report or Admiral Glover tell you that besides Cardassians, the ones most frequently abusing her were Orions?”
Chief Brin clenched his teeth before grimly responding, “I think I understand both her reaction and what you’re trying to say, Commander. Don’t worry. I’ll be careful around her. And…” he added, a note of determination in his voice, “I promise I won’t let anything happen to her and I won’t let her do anything she might regret later.”
“Good.” The Klingon replied, most satisfied with the chief’s answer. Turning to the young Bajoran woman who was keeping her distance from the red Orion who had earlier come to her aid, Worf commanded, his deep voice bringing her back at once to the task at hand, “Lieutenant Sito? Are we within that building’s defense perimeter?”
Her training at once kicking in, Jaxa took out her tricorder. Nodding her head after a quick scan, the security specialist replied, “Yes, Sir. We’re well within the shield wall, but we’re still open to possible weapons fire from the building itself.”
Jerking his head in the direction of Rejak’s compound, Worf, along with his team, began their stealthy approach. “Then we should move quickly before they find out we’re here.”
“I’ll second that plan.” Pierson declared sardonically, fingering the scar on his cheek. “The sooner we get there…the sooner we can deal with Gul Rejak—once and for all.”
***********************************************************************
“What’s going on here?” Ahmet Nihal demanded as he rushed half-naked and breathless into Gul Rejak’s office.
“What do you think?” Daras Tabor replied with a sarcastic voice, “We’re under attack.”
“It seems Sabrina Diaz and Starfleet reached an accord.” Rejak responded in thoughtful tone, “And at the most…inconvenient…of times.”
“So…” the Ahmet demanded, “What do you plan to do about it?”
“Why…” the corrupt gul shrugged his shoulders, “I intend to destroy the attacking vessels…what else?” Tapping his comm badge, Rejak then ordered, “Prokan…raise shields and prepare ground defenses.”
**********************************************************************
Assured that the Worf’s team had begun its assault, Jadzia Dax ordered, “All right, Mr. Nog…time to give the Sutherland a hand. Take us one hundred degrees mark six. Prepare photon torpedoes and phasers. As the Galor loomed larger in the Defiant’s viewscreen, the raven-haired Trill cupped her chin. “Come in on their lower front quadrant, Mr. Nog…that way we’ll be able to catch them in a crossfire.”
“Aye, Sir.” The Ferengi cadet acknowledged.
“All right…” Jadzia stood up as she felt the sudden rush of adrenaline, “Decloak and fire!”
**********************************************************************
Skirting the fighting, Ayenga smiled triumphantly as she piloted her raider closer to the drifting freighter carrying the cargo of Corillan acid. “Transmit the recognition code.”
“What if Daras has changed the code?” Her Bajoran copilot, Omkar, inquired with a worried frown.
“Of course he did.” Ayenga smiled back, “That’s why I gave you these codes—got them from our inside source just before everything started blowing up here.” She declared triumphantly as she dodged a random disruptor bolt.
“All right…” Omkar replied, “Transmitting.” Sighing in relief, Omkar reported, “Their systems are still down because of the Federation torpedoes, but they can manage to get their shuttle bay doors open.
“Good.” Ayenga exclaimed, “Tell Hanya and Banan to get ready and signal Tohon to board the Orion. We do this right, we’ll make off with both freighters before Daras, Rejak, or the Starfleeters know what’s happening.”
***********************************************************************
“Which one?” Nura asked as she pointed at the tactical display. “They’ve split up—one of ‘em’s going to each freighter. Which one’s the one with Ayenga?”
“That one.” Manuele decided, picking one of the freighters at random. “We’ve got a fifty-fifty shot…”
“Better oddsssss than in mossssst casssssinossss I know…” S’nurl quipped, his toothy grin lending the Gorn a fearsome appearance.
“We’re in transporter range.” The Bzzit Khaht pilot declared, “We won’t have any problems beaming over thanks to those ‘rat trap’ torpedoes.”
“All right…let’s go.” Atoa ordered as he pressed a button on the runabout’s control console. “I’ve just sent a tight beam locator signal to the Sutherland. That way they’ll know we’re here and they can make sure the Bluefin or anyone else on our side doesn’t shoot us down.”
Cradling his disruptor carbine, S’nurl hissed, “Let’ssssss go….we are wassssting time.”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself.” Manuele quipped, flashing a sardonic smile as he stepped up on the transporter pad, joining his comrades. “Energize.”
**********************************************************************
Her lips turning up in a smile as she witnessed the Defiant joining the fray, Liz muttered under her breath, “’Bout time you joined the party, Jadz.”
“Signal coming in…” Lieutenant Dryer reported, at first in a detached voice. But then, a broad grin appeared on her face, “It’s from Manny! He’s going after Ayenga, but there’s a problem…she’s going after both freighters and he can only chase one of the teams.”
“Relay it to Captain Akinola.” Liz ordered as the Sutherland shook under the onslaught of the Galor’s disruptors and photon torpedoes. “Course one-six-five, mark thirty, Mr. Lavelle…execute. Nyota, fire photon torpedoes, pattern Sigma—Now! Let’s see if between the two of us we can get that Cardie to break off.”
“Torpedoes away! The Cardies have launched too.” The ebony skinned tactical officer exclaimed as four balls of red energy shot out of the Suthy’s tactical pod, racing past an equal number of blobs launched by the Cardassians. “Brace for impact!”
“Shields!” Liz commanded. Lieutenant Rysyl, manning the operations console moved instinctively to comply just as the Cardassian torpedoes detonated, sending the Nebula class vessel into a convulsion of shakes and shudders. Her console erupting into a fury of sparks, Anara screamed as she covered her eyes with her hands in a vain effort to keep the sparks away from her face and eyes.
“Anara!” Hobson called out, the expressionless mask he normally wore in public shattered as he saw the Deltan woman writhing on the deck in pain. Rushing to the fallen Anara’s side, Chris kneeling down tapped his comm badge, “Medical teams to the bridge, stat!” He ordered as, with surprising gentleness, he removed the Deltan’s blood stained hands away from her face, taking care not to disturb the metallic fragments embedded into her flesh. Sighing in relief as he noted that none of her facial injuries were deep or serious, Chris managed a reassuring smile, “You’ll be all right, Anara…help is on its way.”
“Get those fires out, now!” Shelby ordered. Calling out to her tactical officer, the blonde captain commanded, “Return fire—all phaser banks!”
“Firing!” Nyota replied as Maria and Varok, quickly grabbing fire extinguishers, moved to put out the fires that had erupted on the operations and sciences consoles.
Watching the Cardassian ship, now drifting helplessly in her viewscreen, Liz turned her attention to Commander Hobson, “How is she, Chris.”
“I think she’ll be all right.” Her first officer replied as he fought to regain his normal equilibrium. “I’ve stopped most of the bleeding, but she’s going to need medical help.”
“They’ll be here soon, Chris.” Liz replied reassuringly as she heard her tactical officer call out to her.
“Captain? The Defiant is hailing us.”
“On screen, Mr. Dryer.” Liz responded as she turned back towards the viewscreen. Seeing the face of her long time friend, the blonde captain managed a shaky grin, “Thanks for the assist.”
“Don’t mention it.” Jadzia responded, “How’re you doing?”
“They got a lucky hit on us in their last barrage.” Shelby answered back, “But I think we’ve got everything under control…”
“Sir?” Maria Django interrupted, “We’re picking up unusual fluctuations in the warp engines!”
***********************************************************************
Alarm klaxons ringing, Jadon heard the voice of one of his engineers cry out in pain. “On my way! The Trill engineer shouted as he rushed towards the injured crewman, whimpering as he laid on the deck, his legs crushed by a piece of fallen conduit. “Help’s on its way, Son.” He said reassuringly as he tapped his comm badge, “Medical teams to engineering…”
“They’re on their way, Jadon!” Denise Murakawa’s voice responded, “We’ll get there as fast as we can.”
“Boss!”
His head jerking up as he heard Angela’s scream, a single word escaped the Trill’s lips…
“Treasure!”
*********************************************************************
And the next part is coming when????????
Great stuff.
Looks like the Suthy is taking a beating.
As long as eveyone keeps on top of things they might all survive, except of course Gul Dead-Man-Walking once Lt Sito "Whoopass" Jaxa reaches his...erm...you know
Great stuff.
Looks like the Suthy is taking a beating.
As long as eveyone keeps on top of things they might all survive, except of course Gul Dead-Man-Walking once Lt Sito "Whoopass" Jaxa reaches his...erm...you know
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