Tales of the USS Bluefin - 3: Cascade Effect

[Gibraltar]

Well, now Bluefin’s got more help on scene, but whether all those ships combined can stave off an environmental catastrophe is still in question. This is certainly one of those operations where the crew is earning their pay… you know… that Starfleet doesn’t give them.

Akinola, McBride and the others are keeping their cool under very trying circumstances. It’s nice to get to see professionals like these at work. They may not be exploring strange new worlds or defending the Federation from the Borg, but they are saving the universe… one stricken freighter at a time.

 

[DavidFalkayn]

This is the equivalent of a supertanker going up in the middle of a harbor. And this is a side of Starfleet that doesn't get seen--just as most people don't realize the many missions performed by the Coast Guard. The Bluefin and its cohorts and their crews don't get the glory that the Enterprises and co. get, but without them, the Federation would fall apart.

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

USS Adair
Conducting fire suppression / haz-mat disposal mission in Molari IV orbit.

Captain Gunderson noted on the tactical plotter that Bluefin and Scamp had stabilized, at least for the moment, the aft section of the wrecked freighter. The next hour was critical. Both burning sections would begin to enter the atmosphere in approximately 90 minutes, based on the current rate of orbital decay. Also, the increased levels of radiation from the plasma fire would begin to affect the two cutters while they remained in tractor beam range. It was time to implement her plan.

"Chief Porter, patch me through to the Kilimanjaro."

Porter worked the communications board then turned to Gunderson. "Channel open, ma'am. Captain Vress is standing by."

"On screen."

Captain Vress appeared on the viewscreen momentarily. "Captain Gunderson, we're ready for your next maneuver."

"Very well, Captain Vress. We're going to move Adair directly behind the command section and launch the Mark II Hellbusters. I doubt they will be any more effective than the Mark I's launched by the cutters, but we'll give it a go. We'll then open up with the fire suppression cannons as we move in and attempt to push the section out of orbit and back into space. At my signal, you will need to release your tractor beams and get your ship clear. This might not work." Gunderson left unsaid just how badly wrong this could go.

"Understood. We will disengage tractor beams and move off at your signal. Good luck to you, Margaret!"

"And to you, Vress. Adair out." She turned to Lt. Commander Nakayama, her XO. "Soji, have the fire cannon crews prepared to fire the suppression matrix on my command. Helm, move us in astern of the command section. Shields to maximum, stand-by to launch tubes one and two."

The old fire cutter pivoted gracefully and began to move into the raging inferno from the hull breaches in the derelict. The viewscreen dimmed automatically as the light and radiation increased. Massive hydraulic rams extended forward from the fire cutter's saucer section to make physical contact with the freighter.

"Launch torpedoes," ordered Gunderson.

The two Mark II Hellbusters streaked from the Adair and disappeared into the vortex of ignited plasma. At first, nothing seemed to happen, then there was a blossom of flames that expanded rapidly, then diminished. The fire was not extinguished, but it seemed less intense than before.

"Now, Mr. Gorelek, move us in. XO, activate fire cannons," ordered the captain.

The twin fire cannons located port and starboard of the ships "wing" section began to unleash a stream of encapsulated particles, the "matrix". Unlike water or foam, which are ineffective in a vacuum, the dense particles could travel at a high rate of speed through space and remain intact until they reached the source of a fire. The heat would destabilize the particles, which in turn tended to attack and break down the source of fuel. No fuel - no fire, at least in theory. Unfortunately, there were thousands of tons of fuel, more than the fire cutter could suppress. The matrix stream did decrease the intensity of the fire as the ship approached, however, which is what Gunderson intended.

The Adair began to shake as it moved closer to the freighter, fighting the waves of radiation and intense heat. "Steady helm, keep us lined up for contact," said Gunderson, calmly. Gorelek, the Tellarite helmsman, expertly adjusted the pitch, roll and yaw of the ship so that the forward rams would make contact at the predetermined location. There was a rumble and gentle jolt as the fire cutter connected with the freighter.

"Radiation levels rising," intoned Nakayama. "Estimate ten minutes before shield and insulation break-down."

"Thank you XO. Helm, engage impulse engines, ahead slow, take us out of orbit."

The Adair's powerful impulse engines glowed a bright red as the fire cutter shoved against the immense command section of the Kanrin Maru. Slowly, incrementally, as the fire cutter increased power, the derelict began to respond.

"Radiation levels approaching danger threshold. We've locked down anti-rad doors in the outer corridors," said Nakayama.

"Noted. Helm, increase thrust for orbital breakaway. XO, mind the inertial dampeners."

Like a miniature comet, the massive command section engulfed the fire cutter in a tail of swirling green gases as it began to move out of orbit and into space. The Adair began to pick up speed as its ion-mass pulse engines overcame the mass of the burning freighter, pressing it inexorably away from the planet.

"Helm, all stop! XO, what's our status?" Gunderson asked as the derelict continued on a course to the Molari star.

"Reading nominal hull damage, shields still firm, radiation levels falling rapidly," replied Nakayama. "Retracting forward rams and dispatching haz-mat detail to hot areas."

"Outstanding work, people. Helm, bring us about to rendezvous with the rest of our little shin-dig," said Gunderson, a small smile of pride and satisfaction on her face. "Chief, open a channel to the Bluefin."

* * *

USS Bluefin
Fire suppression / Haz-mat OPs, in Molari IV orbit.

On the bridge of the Bluefin, Akinola and his crew watched on the viewscreen as the Adair muscled the burning command section out of orbit and on a trajectory toward the sun. Spontaneous applause broke forth when they saw the hulk move away from the planet and the fire cutter curve back toward them.

Akinola smiled broadly, "Okay people, settle down. We've still got work to do. The aft section has more than twice the mass of the command section, so Adair can't pull that trick a second time."

"Incoming message from the Adair, captain." announced T'Ser.

Captain Gunderson appeared on the viewscreen. "Well, that was fun," she said. "But we've still got the engineering section, most of the cargo section, and less than an hour before this thing starts burning atmosphere. Joseph, I'm open to suggestions."

He looked back at her, a serious expression on his face. "Marge, I have one, but you're probably not going to like it."

* * *

 

[Gibraltar]

One down, another (more massive) one to go. The clock is ticking, boys and girls!

 

[Admiral2]

I'm not surprised. Being named after Red Adair, the ship has no choice but to do outstanding work.

Keep it up, TLR! :thumbsup:

 

[DavidFalkayn]

The Adair getting the job done with good old fashioned elbow grease--nicely done.

Now, what is Akinola's plan and why isn't Marge going to like it?

 

[CeJay]

Ok I haven't had much of chance to chime in here because to be quiet honest you write way faster than I can read ... or at least post.

In any case I've been enjoying this immensely. I really liked the developing relationship between T'Ser and the Texan first officer. You've written it so well in fact that I already started to miss him. Seeing how close they were I'm surprised that the issue of his loss hasn't been mentioned yet. Maybe in the future ... ?

The rescue operations are absolute top notch and remind me of those disaster movies of old (and new). A lot of tension which is being dealt with outstanding professionalism by the unsung heroes of the Federation.

I do have one probably stupid question though. Fire-fighters in space? OK but can there be fire in a vacuum? I thought no but maybe I'm just misinformed.

In any case terrific work and I'm eager to find out how they'll pull all this off.

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

CeJay said:
Ok I haven't had much of chance to chime in here because to be quiet honest you write way faster than I can read ... or at least post.

In any case I've been enjoying this immensely. I really liked the developing relationship between T'Ser and the Texan first officer. You've written it so well in fact that I already started to miss him. Seeing how close they were I'm surprised that the issue of his loss hasn't been mentioned yet. Maybe in the future ... ?

The rescue operations are absolute top notch and remind me of those disaster movies of old (and new). A lot of tension which is being dealt with outstanding professionalism by the unsung heroes of the Federation.

I do have one probably stupid question though. Fire-fighters in space? OK but can there be fire in a vacuum? I thought no but maybe I'm just misinformed.

In any case terrific work and I'm eager to find out how they'll pull all this off.

Thanks, CeJay. I do tend to write fast - it's the caffeine at work! And yes, there will be a story about the death of McBride. It's in the works, although it won't be the next story. I gave only a hint of McBride and T'Ser's relationship in my first story, "Semper Paratus," when Strauss asked about the previous first officer.

The fire in space thing is somewhat problematic< I agree. I came up with "Tri-phosphorous explosives" as the fuel souuce. Normal phosphorous can burn underwater - very nasty stuff. I posit that Tri-P generates its own oxygen and can burn faster than vacuum can counteract - more of a very hot, radioactive plasma than normal fire. After all, stars burn and they exist in a vacuum. My scenario is probably implausible, but it is science fiction after all. In any case, fire would be a danger on any spaceship, thus the need for fire-control and specially trained fire fighters and their apparatus. The Russians lost a submarine some years ago due to fire. Subs are probably the best analogy we have for our sci-fi ships in terms of life support, close quarters and potential hazards.

Thank you very much for the kind comments! I appreciate you taking the time to read this.

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

USS Bluefin
Conducting fire suppression / haz-mat OPs, Molari IV orbit

The main viewscreen on the bridge of the Bluefin was divided into three images: captains Vress, Rodenko and Gunderson. Vress had a slight frown, Rodenko looked tranquil, and Gunderson looked like she might come right through the viewscreen.

"Captain Akinola, are you frakking crazy?" Gunderson thundered in amazement.

Akinola smiled. "According to my CMO, I'm sane, just irritating. Hear me out, Marge."

Gunderson leaned back in her chair, but still looked unhappy. "So, Joseph, you're saying that blowing up the rest of the Kanrin Maru is a perfectly reasonable course of action?"

"Think about it," replied Akinola, "It's going to be destroyed anyway. We've removed all of the survivors, and according to my engineer, if we detonate all of the Tri-P at one time, the debris field will simply burn up in the atmosphere without endangering anyone or anything on the surface."

Akinola could just hear Captain Gunderson mutter something about crazy engineers.

Vress spoke up, "Joseph, even if we were to manage detonating all of the Tri-P at once, and I'm not sure we can, what about our ships? Won't a blast of that magnitude destroy us?"

Akinola shook his head. "I'm not proposing a suicide mission. Yes, it will be risky, but you and Marge's ship can move out of range immediately. Your ships don't have the firepower to help anyway. Point defense phasers are useless. We'll need the Mark VI warshots on the Bluefin and Scamp to provide the yield necessary to explode all of the remaining Tri-P at once."

Gunderson had a resigned expression on her face. "Okay, Joseph, suppose you try this and manage to detonate the remaining Tri-P. Sure, I can see how that will prevent problems for the folks dirt-side. But you and Rodenko and your crews will be pulverized by the blast effect. Even at full impulse, you couldn't clear away fast enough. You will be killed and your ships destroyed."

"Not if we go to warp," replied Akinola quietly.

Gunderson came out of her chair and approached her viewscreen. "While you're still in the planet's gravity well? Dammit, Joseph, you are talking suicide! You'll have absolutely no navigational control - you could end up inside a star or smashed against Molari IV." She stood, hands on hips, peering intently at the screen.

"We've thought of that, Marge. Gralt and Commander Slevon on the Scamp have been working on that very problem."

* * *

T'Ser entered the wardroom and saw Commander McBride seated, his head leaned back against the bulkhead. He appeared to be asleep. "Dale?" she asked, hesitantly.

McBride's eyes flew open and his chair came forward suddenly. "I'm awake!" he said, blearily, "Just restin' my eyes."

T'Ser set her food tray down across from him and seated herself. "If you were awake, what was that awful noise you were making?" she asked with a coy smile.

The XO opened and closed his eyes quickly and rubbed his face. "I guess I'm just coming down off the adrenaline overload. When that second explosion hit, I'm afraid I went to 'brown alert' and fouled, m' hard suit. We were all pretty cranked about then. After we got back, I got cleaned up and changed and came in here to just, y'know, relax a bit. Guess I relaxed a bit too much."

T'Ser reached across the table and patted his hand. Crinkling her nose at him, she smiled and said, "Dale, about the 'brown alert' thing . . . too much information."

He looked back at her with a blank expression. "Oh. Right."

* * *

Dr. Baxter set the cortical stimulator down on the tray and sighed heavily. He looked up at the now flat lines on the monitor above the bio-bed. "Time of death, 14:37," he said to the attending corpsman. "caused by respiratory failure due to extreme burning of the trachea and lungs with subsequent pulmonary collapse."

Baxter looked down at the still, lifeless form of the Tellarite crewman. So young! Baxter thought. He looked again at the scorched name-tag on the uniform - "Grelin," Baxter said, softly, "I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

Baxter turned from the dead youngster and pulled off the blood-streaked smock, tossing it absently into a 'cycler bin. He went into his office and leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his thick, white hair. For a moment he just stared through the transparent aluminum wall panels back at the body of the dead Tellarite. Then, he gathered himself with a deep breath and spoke. "Computer, addendum to case log 2011, subject - Grelin. Despite nano-therapy and focused dermal regeneration protocols, the subject succumbed to his burns at 14:37 hours, stardate . . ."

* * *

Akinola walked over to Gralt at the engineering station and spoke quietly. "Okay, commander, I've managed to convince Captain Vress and Captain Gunderson that we can survive this. How about you convincing me one more time?"

Gralt nodded and indicated a display panel. "The way Slevon and I have figured it, we will each fire four of our Mark VI torpedoes, programmed to impact the engieering section simulateously. With the yield for all eight dialed up to maximum, that gives us a yield of 1600 isotons, more than sufficient to detonate the remaining Tri-P. As soon as we both launch our last torpedoes, both ships go to warp for 14.762 nano-seconds, that will move us out of the blast zone but should keep us out of the sun or whatever." Gralt crossed his arms and sighed. "Slevon figures we have an 89.3% chance of avoiding a 'fatal collision with a transient space-born object.'" Gralt shook his head and looked at Akinola. "He's a damn fine engineer, if only he could just get the damn stick out of his frakking Jefferies tube and speak Standard."

Akinola suppressed a grin and nodded. "Okay, Gralt. You've sold me. Let's get this done."

* * *

 

[Dulak]

Talk about living on the edge. So may variables in that plan, so many things that could go wrong. I love it!

Dulak

 

[DavidFalkayn]

Like they say, "You have to go out, but you don't have to come back!" Risky and chancy, but that's what the job calls for...

These guys might not have to stare down Galor class or D'deridex class warships, they might not tangle with planet devouring monsters, nor do they have to tangle with Borg cubes, but, in many ways, what they do is even more dangerous--and every bit as important as those serving on the Galaxies, Sovereigns and Nebulas.

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

USS Bluefin
Tactical operations, Molari IV orbit

As McBride and T'Ser exited the turbo-lift onto the bridge, they saw the image of Captain Rodenko of the Scamp on the viewscreen.

"We're ready and standing by, Joseph. We've slaved our fire control to your tactical station to coordinate the torpedoes. We're prepared for warp burst as soon as the final torpedo is launched," said Rodenko. "Good luck, captain. Scamp standing by." The screen returned to a view of the burning remains of the Kanrin Maru.

Akinola glanced back to see McBride and T'Ser appraoch their stations. T'Ser back to OPs, relieving Lt. Bane, and McBride sitting at tactical. "Stations, everyone!" barked Akinola. "That wreck hits the atmosphere in ten minutes. We've got one shot to prevent that, and we're going to take it. Sound red alert, Ms. T'Ser." As the lights changed to red and the klaxon sounded, he hit the inter-ship comm switch. "All hands, man your battle stations. We will attempt to destroy the remaining wreckage by detonating the remaining Tri-P. For those of you who remember your academy chemistry classes, you know this is a dangerous attempt. We will make a warp-burst jump after we fire the fourth torpedo, which should clear us from the blast zone." Akinola paused for a moment, then resumed. "Just for the record, I'm damn proud of each and everyone of you. It's a privilege to serve as your captain." He punched the inter-ship switch off, then turned to McBride. "XO, initiate torpedo launch sequence on my mark."

* * *

USS Adair
Holding station with the USS Kilimanjaro, approximately 300,000 km from Molari IV


Captain Gunderson sat in her command chair, hundreds of thousands of kilometers from the Bluefin and Scamp, her fingers drumming against the chair arm in nervous frustration. Moments before, she had contacted Akinola, telling him, "If you get yourself killed, I will personally hunt you down in Hell and kick your ass!" She had said it with her typical friendly sarcasm, but her heart ached with concern for her colleagues, especially Akinola.

She thought back to their short, intense relationship of more than a decade past. She had always liked Joseph and found him to be an attractive man, but she had been surprised when he seemed to reciprocate those feelings after they shared a week of shore leave together. But both she and Akinola were married to their ships - their crews were their families, and while in another reality they might have shared more, they were what they were - starship captains. Still, the feelings she had for Akinola ran deep and the thought of his possible death chilled her.

"Maximum magnification on viewer," she ordered. The image changed from a distant view of the orange planet, Molari IV, to one of the two cutters maneuvering for a torpedo barrage against the derelict freighter.

"Don't be wrong, Joseph," she whispered.

* * *

USS Bluefin
Tactical operation in orbit around Molari IV, under red alert

"Commander McBride, execute!" ordered Akinola.

McBride tapped the fire control contact and both cutters began launching their Mark VI torpedoes. The first volley arced wide, then curved back toward the freighter. Each subsequent pair of torpedoes arcing less until the final two launched straight and true.

"Warp jump!" ordered Akinola and Ensign Fralk engaged the warp drive, pre-programmed for the necessary nano-seconds, as the Kanrin Maru erupted like a new-born star.

* * *

Molari IV, Dante Mining Camp 17
Muerte Mountain Range

Dralis Turk was not the brightest employee of the Dante Mining Corporation. He had the same mindset that causes people to attempt to surf in a hurricane, ignore warning signs, and stand under a tree during an electrical storm. In this case, however, Dralis wanted to see the fireworks when the burning freighter was detonated.

All of the workers in the surface pressure domes had been ordered deep underground until the crisis was resolved. When word passed down that the Border Service was going to attempt to destroy the super freighter before it hit the atmosphere, well, that was a sight that Dralis simply could not miss.

Now he stood on a rocky outcropping, staring up into the night sky. He wore a breathing mask to protect him from the sulfur and the lack of oxygen. He carried a flask of rum, some sandwiches, and a mini-corder to record the event for posterity.

It was pretty easy to spot the burning ship as it trailed across the night sky. It looked to him much like a comet he saw once during his childhood, when he lived on Rigel IV. He took a swig of rum, savoring the liquid as it burned down his throat, then took a bite of a sandwich. He stopped chewing as he noticed a flash, then the night sky turned to day.

Dralis watched in slack-jawed amazement, ignoring the stinging in his eyes, as a new sun appeared overhead for just a moment, then, just as quickly faded away. Day receded back to night. Suddenly thousands of tiny lights began to flash through the sky, leaving quick, staccato streaks like meteorites.

Dralis jumped up and danced a drunken jig. "Whoo-hoo!" he shouted at the spectacular light show.

* * *

USS Adair
On station, 300 thousand kilometers from Molari IV

The bridge crew watched in stunned amazement at the massive burst of light that flared then faded.

"Holy crap!" said the young navigator.

"Belay that, mister," said Gunderson, a bit too sharply. "XO, report!"

Commander Nakayama leaned over the scanner hood and made several fine adjustments. "The remains of the freighter have been completely detroyed. The remaining fragments are burning up harmlessly in the planet's atmosphere."

The bridge crew let out a few whoops while the helmsman and navigator exchanged high-fives. Gunderson let this pass, she knew that the job was done and done well. But a queston remained. "What of the Bluefin and Scamp?"

The Japanese officer frowned in concentration as he worked the sensor controls. Finally, he turned to Captain Gunderson, a stricken look on his face. "I can't locate them anywhere."

* * *

 

[Dulak]

Nice way to show the special effect of the destroyed freighter from another perspective. Heck, you introdiced a whole new character in a paragraph that didn't seem cut from cardboard.

Nice Job.

 

[Jamee999]

Damn you and all your cliffhangers.

Very well written and great story, characters and everything.

Carry on.

 

[DavidFalkayn]

Oh Boy! So...where's Bluefin and Scamp? While we know Bluefin's going to come out ok, Scamp's fate is still very much up in the air. And I was getting to like Rodenko...

Very, very, tense and well done story!

 

[Gibraltar]

You know you're in for a rough go of it when the captain feels the need to give the, "I'm proud to have served with you" speech. That's Starfleet code for, This is going to be outrageously difficult and ridiculously dangerous, and I'd like to thank you for going along with it."

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

USS Bluefin
Location: currently unknown

Akinola blinked in confusion. One moment he was watching the first sets of torpedoes streaking toward the burning remains of the SS Kamrin Maru, now all he saw was the same orange planetary surface, but the burning freighter was gone. "Where are we?" he asked.

T'Ser bent over the sensor hood for a moment, that stood and turned toward Akinola, an eyebrow raised. "It would seem that we are still in orbit around Molari IV. . ."

Akinola frowned. "How could that be? If we had remained, we'd have been blown to kingdom come! Besides, where's the debris field from the freighter?"

T'Ser patiently finished answering, "Sir, as I was saying, we are in orbit around Molari IV, but we are on the opposite side of the planet from our previous position."

The rest of the bridge crew turned and stared at T'Ser as if she had grown a second head. Akinola felt a shiver in his spine. "But that would mean . . ."

T'Ser nodded. "That we transited through Molari IV. That would be correct."

"Whoa!" said McBride, "You're saying we went through the planet on this little warp jump? But we could have . . ."

"But we didn't," finished the captain. "A miss is as good as a mile, as the old saying goes. What about Scamp? Do you have a bearing on her?"

T'Ser turned back to her scanner hood and adjusted the sensitivity levels. For a moment, she said nothing and Akinola began to feel a sense of dread. Finally, she spoke.

"I have them sir! They're in the Molari asteroid belt."

"That far? What's their status?" asked Akinola with concern.

It would appear that they are intact. In fact, I'm receiving multiple hails as we speak, including from the Scamp."

For the first time in many hours, Akinola allowed himself to relax as he slumped back in the command chair. "Put them all on-screen commander."

* * *

USS Adair
Standard orbit, Molari IV
24 hours later

Captains Akinola, Gunderson, Vress and Rodenko sat at a table in the Adair's lounge. Fire fighting parephanalia from years past and from several cultures adorned the walls. Akinola was regarding a model of an early 20th century Coast Guard fire boat when he felt an elbow in his ribs.

"Joseph? You were wool-gathering. Vress asked you a question," said Gunderson.

"Sorry," said Akinola, "What were you saying, Vress?"

"I was wondering how your ship and Boris' managed to be so far apart, yet you used the same duration warp burst. I am intrigued."

Rodenko, who was already two sheets to the wind, merely shrugged and took another slug of vodka. Akinola swirled his snifter of Saurian brandy. "No way to know for sure, Vress. Gralt says that it's something to do with the randomness of going to warp in a gravity well. Now we know why it's a dangerous stunt to pull."

"It damn near got you killed!" said Marge, her eyes sparking. "In astro-metric terms, you missed reappearing inside of that planet by a hair. We'd still be searching for you if that had happened."

"It would have saved the price of a burial," said Akinola, reasonably. Boris snorted with laughter.

Marge shook her head. "Both of you need your heads examined."

Vress stood, "If you will excuse me, I must return to Kilimanjaro. This little exercise has put us two days behind on our rendezvous with the USS Anzio. They lost a nacelle in an ion storm and are limping home. We need to give them a tow."

The other captains stood as well. Rodenko and Akinola shook Vress' hand warmly. Marge gave him a hug. Rodenko looked at the chronometer. "I must leave as well. Joseph, Margaret, it is good to see you again. He kissed Margaret on both cheeks but restrained himself from doing likewise for Akinola when he saw the raised eyebrow on the senior captain's face. Then Akinola broke into a wide grin and hugged the Russian, who clapped him on the back in return.

"Take care of yourself, Bear," said Akinola.

"Da! You do the same, Joseph Ivanovitch." Boris lifted the half-empty bottle of Vodka and swaggered from the lounge.

"Looks like the party's over," said Gunderson, with a grin.

"Yeah," said Akinola, "Too bad we can't get together more often."

Gunderson nodded. She suddenly stepped toward Akinola, raised up on her toes, and kissed him firmly on the lips.

Akinola was caught off guard, but quickly recovered and returned the kiss as he embraced her. Momentarily, they stepped apart.

"That was for being right and getting us through this in one piece," she said with a coy smile.

Akinola was going to respond when she suddenly hit him hard in the mid-section. The sucker punch caught him totally off-guard and he doubled over. He struggled to catch his breath.

"And that," she said in a low, intense voice, "is for nearly getting yourself and your crew killed and scaring me to death!"

Akinola coughed and managed to straighten without any further violence from Gunderson. He held his hands up in mock surrender. "You do know that striking a superior officer is a court-martial offense?" he said with a crooked grin.

"Superior officer? Dammit, Joseph, you're only six weeks senior to me." She had her arms folded in mock indignation.

"Senior is senior," he said, then feigned fear and ducked as Gunderson held up her fist to him. Then her face broke into a smile and she embraced him warmly. "Please be careful, Joseph. I don't want to be there when your luck runs out."

He held up her chin and gazed into her eyes. "I'll try, Marge. But sometimes the job gets dangerous."

She smiled back at him. "Not nearly as dangerous as you, I think. Come on, I'll walk you to the transporter room."

* * *

Epilogue

USS Bluefin
Standard orbit, Molari IV

Captain Akinola sat in his ready room. Although he was bone weary from the events of the past two days, sleep would not come to him. He had left his quarters and made his way to his ready room to work on an unfinished wood carving. He opened a desk drawer and pulled out a rolled-up piece of canvas. He untied the draw-string and unrolled the bundle, revealing his set of carving knives and gouges. He eyed the ship model on which he'd been working and selected a 25 degree V-groove gouge. Methodically, he began to remove narrow strips from the basswood.

His computer chimed, signalling an in-coming message. He sighed and sat down the wood and carving tool. The day had been filled with reports and interviews with the Federation Transportation and Safety Board, The Interstellar Commerce Commission, and various and sundry representatives of the Molari governing authority and mining commission. Now that the crisis was over, everyone wanted to second guess his actions.

He considered ignoring the chime, but finally reached over and activated the viewscreen on his desk. A man he did not know with greying hair and piercing blue eyes stared at him from the screen.

"Captain Akinola?" the man asked.

"I'm Akinola," he said, guardedly. "And you are? . . ."

"Mendus Palmer, captain. I'm the CEO of FreightStar Corporation, the owner of the Kanrin Maru."

Akinola steeled himself for the questions, the veiled accusations or even threats of legal action as he had received earlier in the day from others. "How can I help you, Mr. Palmer?"

Palmer hesitated and looked down for a moment, as if unsure what to say. He finally looked up and Akinola was surprised to see tears in the man's eyes. Palmer's voice had a quaver of deep emotion. "I just wanted to tell you thank you. You and your crew and those other ships . . . for saving the passengers, for trying . . ." He paused for a moment to compose himself and cleared his throat, "For trying so hard to save the crew on my ship. You and your colleagues risked so much and you managed to save so many."

Akinola felt ashamed for his initial reaction to the man. "Mr. Palmer, I appreciate it, but you don't have to . . ."

Palmer held up a hand. "Please, captain, let me finish. I read the reports and know the risks you took. One case in particular - your men tried so hard to save a young Tellarite crewman."

Akinola remembered, "Yes sir, Grelin, I believe?"

Palmer nodded. His lips were trembling. "I just had to thank you for trying. You see . . . Grelin was my adopted son."

Akinola was unable to reply.

* * *

Areopolis, Mars
Red Sands Apartments, Unit 14B

Tal Ronlik was having a good day. His union rep had finally come through for him and raised holy hell with FreightStar about cutting into Ronlik's vacation and the extra hours he had pulled. His girlfriend, Drienne had gotten over her mad spell with him and last night had been, well, spectacular!

Now he was about to collect a nice sum of money since his team won the sector Parrises squares tournament on Mars. He sat, drinking scotch and feeling very good.

He decided to check the news on the holo-vision. The top story on the Federation News Service was about the destruction of the SS Kanrin Maru. He stopped suddenly with his scotch halfway to his mouth. This was the first he had heard of this.

The news anchor, a serious-looking Centauran, related the horrible tale of tragedy and destruction. "Nearly a quarter of a billion credits worth of cargo and explosives were lost in the explosion, not to mention the loss of life. Officials with the Molari IV government and the Dante Mining Corportation have hinted that the Border Service mis-handled the crisis and have demanded an investigation. Strangely, the FreightStar Corporation has not issued a statement."

Ronlik shook his head and snorted. "Frakking Border collies probably screwed up," he said with disgust. "Too bad they didn't have someone competent handling this." He downed the rest of his drink and tuned into a holo-movie.

* * *

 

[Gibraltar]

A terrific finish, equal parts poignant and vexing as some people take the time to acknowledge the efforts of the Border Service, and others simply take them for granted, or worse yet, perceive incompetence where none existed.

As for Bluefin, Kilimanjaro, Scamp, and Adair, these crews are the true backbone of Starfleet. Without people like them who are willing to put their lives on the line on a daily basis, there would be no exploratory arm of Starfleet to seek out new life.

A damn fine job all the way around. You certainly kept me on my toes for the whole ride. :thumbsup:

 

[DavidFalkayn]

A great story. To echo Gibraltar, the Border Service, like the U.S. Coast Guard that you're basing your series on, is often forgotten by most people, but they're always there when you need them. They go out in ships that are two...three...generations behind the state of the art, they put it all on the line no matter what, they're underappreciated, and they still go out and get the job done.

Akinola, T'Ser, Strauss, McBride and all the others--they resonate so deeply. Very nicely done!

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

Thanks, Gibraltar and David, I appreciate your comments very much. I hope I've captured the flavor of the Border Service in this story.

Akinola, Strauss & Co. will return in a few days in a story that takes place immediately after "Storms and Shadows." Following that, I plan on telling the story of McBride's death.

Again, I appreciate the encouragement, suggestions and, yes, the helpful corrections that I've received. It's been fun and I'm looking forward to writing more tales and reading your work also.