The Star Eagle Adventures: EVS-2 - Crossing Over
- Thread starter CeJay
- Start date
Literary feedback is not my strong point. So I will just tell you that I was very happy when I noticed you had a new story being posted here! Hooray!
Heh...good ol' Liz...never one to let an opportunity slip. But Gibraltar is right, the big question is whether the Terrible Trio end up killing the Orions--or each other.
I guess it's getting harder for the Orion pirates to find good help these days. Talk about falling for an old ruse! 
But hey - it worked, that's what counts in the end.
Wonder if Owens enjoyed the show? Methinks he protested too much.
Have to agree with everyone else. These three may be their own worst enemies in this situation. If I were the Orions, I would just leave the ship, let Owens and Shelby slug it out, then come back later.
But hey - it worked, that's what counts in the end.Wonder if Owens enjoyed the show? Methinks he protested too much.
Have to agree with everyone else. These three may be their own worst enemies in this situation. If I were the Orions, I would just leave the ship, let Owens and Shelby slug it out, then come back later.
Using the maintenance crawlways they managed to reach the bridge quickly and without running into any additional opposition. They were however not prepared for what they found once they had reached the oval shaped command center of the Von Stauffenberg.
“There is nobody here,” said Erika, after she realized that none of the many computer stations were manned and that there wasn’t a single sign of the Orions.
Liz shook her head. “Something isn’t right here.”
But Erika was already heading towards the center of the room where she found a table like instrument panel which controlled most essential ship functions. “If we move fast we might be able to activate force fields and flood the rest of the freighter with anesthizine to neutralize the Orions.”
She didn’t get far. Just before reaching the control station she stopped suddenly as if she had bumped into an invisible barrier.
The two Starfleet captains smelled a rat immediately and brought up their weapons.
But before they realized what had happened, Owens’ phaser and Shelby’s rifle were out of their hands as if somebody had magically pulled them away.
It quickly turned out that there had been nothing magical about it.
Erika was similarly disarmed and rough invisible hands took hold of her. Then the grinning face of Graat appeared out of thin air behind the Starfleet commander.
“I told you I had a few surprises of my own,” he said with a clearly bemused belly laugh just before he and his three men fully revealed themselves by deactivating their full body stealth suits.
The two Orions who had disarmed Michael and Liz now used their weapons to hold them at bay.
Graat for his part just couldn’t stop seeing the humor of the situation. “Beaten by your own technology,” he said in between laughs. “Don’t worry, the freighter crew didn’t see us coming either. You just gotta love these outfits,” he said. “We raided one of your hidden cultural observation posts a few months back and got our hands on some of these neat suits. Always thought they’d come in handy some day.”
Erika struggled in the large Orion’s grasp. “You won’t get away with this.”
That elicited another round of laughter from Graat. “What a clever line. And I suppose I’m expected to say something like: ‘Oh, but I will’,” he said and then looked over his other two captives. “I never thought we’d be able to nab Starfleet officers. And now I’ve got three, including two captains. That’s bragging rights for life.”
Liz wasn’t paying the overbearing Orion any attention. Instead she focused in on the man at her side, shooting him another frown. “This is all your fault, if you had listened to me for once we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
Michael couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. “Have you completely lost your mind? I was the one telling you not to beam over onto the freighter. Understand this. Everything that has happened today is because of your short-sightedness, your refusal to listen to a reasonable argument and because you’d rather take an unnecessary risk then –“
“You are such a sanctimonious bastard if I have ever –“
Erika tried to intervene. “Maybe this isn’t the best of times to –“
Michael was not going to be shut up. “You are a complete and utter disgrace. If we ever get out of this alive I will make sure that all of Starfleet Command knows it too. You will never command as much as a garbage hauler ever again.”
Graat could barely stop laughing at the pathetically ridiculous display of two Starfleet officers fighting amongst each other.
“You son of a bitch,” Liz cried, ignored the phaser rifle pointed at her head and turned to attack Owens.
Eagle’s captain made a similar move.
They easily sidestepped each other and instead of going for the other captain’s throat, they both knocked out each other’s guard simultaneously.
It had all happened so quickly, Graat didn’t immediately realize what had happened. He got a stark reminder however when Erika drove her elbow violently into his midsection. Even as he doubled over, she snatched back her phaser rifle and took out the third Orion who hadn’t known where to turn first. Then she swung around again and used the butt of the weapon like a bat to hit Graat over his large head, forcing him to drop to his knees.
Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, she quickly jumped to the controls and ran a scan to confirm the whereabouts of the remaining Orions. Once she was sure that none were left on the bridge, she secured the command center and activated force fields to restrain those in other parts of the ship.
She finally turned around with a large smile on her face to find Liz and Michael who had quickly and efficiently tied up the four Orions on the bridge. “The ship is secured. Now all we have to do is wait for reinforcements to arrive. I have to say, you guys really had me fooled there for a minute.”
Liz shot her a dark look. “Who said I was playing?”
Erika’s facial expression turned into a grimace.
“You blame me for what has happened here?” Michael said with a steely edge in his voice. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I’m perfectly fine to take some of the responsibility for this mess. That doesn’t mean I don’t think that you are an insufferable, self-righteous officer who would never have made captain in the first place if it hadn’t been for your connections,” she said after she was done securing the last Orion thug. “If I hadn’t done what I did, coming over here, trying to make a difference, these bastards would probably have gotten away with a ship load of cargo and potential slaves. Makes me kind of wonder how many people got hurt over the years because you just had to play it safe.”
“Liz, please.”
“Don’t mind her. She’s only going to dig her own grave here anyway,” he said and then focused on Shelby with a venomous look. “You somehow see yourself as a great Starfleet hero, don’t you? Another Archer or Jim Kirk. You think because your grandfather was Starfleet royalty that you’ll go down that route as well. But you don’t realize that those people were great because they didn’t betray their friends and colleagues. They had loyalty and above all else they possessed something you’ll never have. An incorruptible character.”
“I’d rather be a risk-taker than a coward –“
Erika took a step towards the two captains and for the first time since their strange trip had begun she looked genuinely angry herself. “I’ve really had it up to here with the both of you,” she said with such intensity that they had no choice but to stop focusing on each other and turn to look at her.
“I’m probably going to get into trouble for what I’m going to say next but to be honest I don’t even care anymore. The truth is, you’re both idiots.”
That stunned the two captains into speechlessness.
“You,” she continued and pointed at Michael Owens. “Yes, you are right about what Liz did do me. She hurt me and it wasn’t right and it certainly wasn’t fair. She was thinking of her own career and decided that it was more important to her than I was. But that happened a long time ago and I have forgiven her since then. Why can’t you? She was young back then and so was I. And it certainly isn’t right for you to blame her for the decisions that I made afterwards. It isn’t her fault that I supported Leyton. That’s nobody’s fault but my own. In fact it is thanks to her that I got off easy. She came to me afterwards and she brokered a deal that allowed me to go to a minimum-security penal colony. If it hadn’t been for her I’d still be rotting in a supermax prison cell today.
And yeah, Liz likes to have fun, everybody knows that. But that doesn’t mean that she is a bad person or that she doesn’t have the right moral code to be a good starship captain and a decorated officer. She plays hard when she isn’t on duty but she works even harder and that’s all that should matter to anyone, including you.”
Shelby nodded with a smile. “Thanks, Erika.”
“Oh shut the hell up.”
Liz’s eyes grew open a few inches.
“You need to get over yourself, too. You lost a crewmember while Michael was in charge of your mission. That’s tragic but as a captain you know that we lose crewmembers all the time. As a captain you know that every decision you make is a gamble, sometimes it pays off and sometimes it all flies into your face. But you can’t hold him responsible for those times that it didn’t work out because guess what, you’ve made those calls before and you know the score. You know that sometimes, no matter how hard you work, you can’t avoid the sacrifices and the pain.
And stop with these silly accusations that Michael does everything by the book and doesn’t take any risks as a starship captain. If you believe that, than you don’t know him at all. This is the guy who went against all orders and sacrificed his ship to save a clearly hostile Tzenkethi colony world, the same man who blasted an asteroid out of the skies to avoid it destroying an entire world even though it was a clear violation of the Prime Directive.
So both of you, for the love of God, stop with this nonsense bickering. You are Starfleet captains, why don’t you try to behave like one, for a change?”
And then there was silence on the bridge of the Von Stauffenberg.
Neither Elizabeth Shelby nor Michael Owens or Erika Benteen could think of a single thing to add. Even though from the slightly embarrassed expressions on the two captain’s faces, Benteen was getting the distinct feeling that she had managed to drive her point home. And the fact that she hadn’t been place under arrest yet was a good sign that they would not push for a court martial for shouting at a superior officer either.
“I’d hate to interrupt this moment of peaceful reflection,” said Graat with an increasingly growing smirk on his face.
“What the hell do you want?” Erika said.
“Oh, I was really rooting for a happy ending here with everybody finally making up and being friends again but I doubt that will happen, seeing that you will still all lose,” he said and gestured towards the main screen, unable to use his hands which were tied behind his back.
The three Starfleet officers turned to look only to find an Orion raider on fast approach, bringing with it an entire contingent of additional thugs and pirates.
“You see, all I needed was a bit of time for my ship to get here. And you were all too accommodating. Love the irony,” he said and began to laugh again.
It soon after got stuck in his throat.
Benteen smirked when she looked down at the sensor readouts on the control console. “Sweet irony indeed.”
Michael and Liz didn’t quite understand until they noticed the two ships dropping out of warp just behind the Orion vessel. They were both much larger, faster and better armed than the raider. They were also, at first glance, identical to each other.
The two Nebula-class Starfleet cruisers instantly caught up with the Orion ship which had noticed them too late to beat an effective retreat. It opened fire in a desperate attempt to get away but all its hopes were dashed when both ships returned the gesture simultaneously, disabling the raider in a matter of seconds.
“The USS Eagle and the USS Sutherland are hailing us,” said Erika with a smile plastered on her face. She turned to face the captains. “They are inquiring if we are in need of assistance.”
Only a few moments later, security teams of both ships materialized on the bridge of the Von Stauffenberg both teams being led by female Bajoran lieutenants. The two security chiefs noticed the odd coincidence themselves and threw each other surprised looks before they quickly attended to their respective captains.
Liz and Michael gave them orders to take away the prisoners on the bridge and clear the rest of the ship and shortly thereafter the three officers were once again alone.
“I supposed I better be on my way now,” said Erika after an awkward silence had ensued between them. “I still need to report to DS9.”
“We can take you,” Michael quickly offered and Liz nodded in agreement.
“Thanks but I think I’d rather travel alone this time. No offense.”
“Are you sure?” Liz said. “What if we promise to get along?” she added and gave Michael a conciliatory look which was returned in kind.
“I would love for nothing more than to see you both get along, trust me. But to be honest, I think I need some time alone,” she said and looked straight into Liz’s eyes. She was saying more than she put into words and Liz understood immediately.
Shelby hadn’t minded the kiss they had shared, in fact she had quite enjoyed it but it hadn’t meant as much to her as it had to Erika Benteen.
“Be careful,” said Owens. “And you will consider my offer?”
She nodded. “I have considered your offer. Both of your offers. But I might be put to better use somewhere else. Starfleet is going to need every able officer in the years to come. I’m certain I won’t be bored.”
The two captains nodded, once again, understandingly.
“Thanks for everything you’ve done for me. I mean it. And I’m sure I’ll see you guys around,” she said and then tapped her combadge. “Benteen to Zambezi. One person to beam over. Energize.”
And then there were two.
“I suppose she made the right decision,” said Michael Owens after she had watched her disappear. “Perhaps it’ll be better for her to try and make it on her own after what she’s been through. It’ll build up confidence.”
Liz nodded in agreement. “Yeah.”
They looked at each other.
“We will have to write a report about what happened here,” Owens said eventually.
“If you leave out that I called you a sanctimonious bastard I’ll skip the part where you said that I was a disgrace to the uniform.”
Michael didn’t need to think about that twice. “You have yourself a deal, Captain.”
“There is nobody here,” said Erika, after she realized that none of the many computer stations were manned and that there wasn’t a single sign of the Orions.
Liz shook her head. “Something isn’t right here.”
But Erika was already heading towards the center of the room where she found a table like instrument panel which controlled most essential ship functions. “If we move fast we might be able to activate force fields and flood the rest of the freighter with anesthizine to neutralize the Orions.”
She didn’t get far. Just before reaching the control station she stopped suddenly as if she had bumped into an invisible barrier.
The two Starfleet captains smelled a rat immediately and brought up their weapons.
But before they realized what had happened, Owens’ phaser and Shelby’s rifle were out of their hands as if somebody had magically pulled them away.
It quickly turned out that there had been nothing magical about it.
Erika was similarly disarmed and rough invisible hands took hold of her. Then the grinning face of Graat appeared out of thin air behind the Starfleet commander.
“I told you I had a few surprises of my own,” he said with a clearly bemused belly laugh just before he and his three men fully revealed themselves by deactivating their full body stealth suits.
The two Orions who had disarmed Michael and Liz now used their weapons to hold them at bay.
Graat for his part just couldn’t stop seeing the humor of the situation. “Beaten by your own technology,” he said in between laughs. “Don’t worry, the freighter crew didn’t see us coming either. You just gotta love these outfits,” he said. “We raided one of your hidden cultural observation posts a few months back and got our hands on some of these neat suits. Always thought they’d come in handy some day.”
Erika struggled in the large Orion’s grasp. “You won’t get away with this.”
That elicited another round of laughter from Graat. “What a clever line. And I suppose I’m expected to say something like: ‘Oh, but I will’,” he said and then looked over his other two captives. “I never thought we’d be able to nab Starfleet officers. And now I’ve got three, including two captains. That’s bragging rights for life.”
Liz wasn’t paying the overbearing Orion any attention. Instead she focused in on the man at her side, shooting him another frown. “This is all your fault, if you had listened to me for once we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
Michael couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. “Have you completely lost your mind? I was the one telling you not to beam over onto the freighter. Understand this. Everything that has happened today is because of your short-sightedness, your refusal to listen to a reasonable argument and because you’d rather take an unnecessary risk then –“
“You are such a sanctimonious bastard if I have ever –“
Erika tried to intervene. “Maybe this isn’t the best of times to –“
Michael was not going to be shut up. “You are a complete and utter disgrace. If we ever get out of this alive I will make sure that all of Starfleet Command knows it too. You will never command as much as a garbage hauler ever again.”
Graat could barely stop laughing at the pathetically ridiculous display of two Starfleet officers fighting amongst each other.
“You son of a bitch,” Liz cried, ignored the phaser rifle pointed at her head and turned to attack Owens.
Eagle’s captain made a similar move.
They easily sidestepped each other and instead of going for the other captain’s throat, they both knocked out each other’s guard simultaneously.
It had all happened so quickly, Graat didn’t immediately realize what had happened. He got a stark reminder however when Erika drove her elbow violently into his midsection. Even as he doubled over, she snatched back her phaser rifle and took out the third Orion who hadn’t known where to turn first. Then she swung around again and used the butt of the weapon like a bat to hit Graat over his large head, forcing him to drop to his knees.
Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, she quickly jumped to the controls and ran a scan to confirm the whereabouts of the remaining Orions. Once she was sure that none were left on the bridge, she secured the command center and activated force fields to restrain those in other parts of the ship.
She finally turned around with a large smile on her face to find Liz and Michael who had quickly and efficiently tied up the four Orions on the bridge. “The ship is secured. Now all we have to do is wait for reinforcements to arrive. I have to say, you guys really had me fooled there for a minute.”
Liz shot her a dark look. “Who said I was playing?”
Erika’s facial expression turned into a grimace.
“You blame me for what has happened here?” Michael said with a steely edge in his voice. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I’m perfectly fine to take some of the responsibility for this mess. That doesn’t mean I don’t think that you are an insufferable, self-righteous officer who would never have made captain in the first place if it hadn’t been for your connections,” she said after she was done securing the last Orion thug. “If I hadn’t done what I did, coming over here, trying to make a difference, these bastards would probably have gotten away with a ship load of cargo and potential slaves. Makes me kind of wonder how many people got hurt over the years because you just had to play it safe.”
“Liz, please.”
“Don’t mind her. She’s only going to dig her own grave here anyway,” he said and then focused on Shelby with a venomous look. “You somehow see yourself as a great Starfleet hero, don’t you? Another Archer or Jim Kirk. You think because your grandfather was Starfleet royalty that you’ll go down that route as well. But you don’t realize that those people were great because they didn’t betray their friends and colleagues. They had loyalty and above all else they possessed something you’ll never have. An incorruptible character.”
“I’d rather be a risk-taker than a coward –“
Erika took a step towards the two captains and for the first time since their strange trip had begun she looked genuinely angry herself. “I’ve really had it up to here with the both of you,” she said with such intensity that they had no choice but to stop focusing on each other and turn to look at her.
“I’m probably going to get into trouble for what I’m going to say next but to be honest I don’t even care anymore. The truth is, you’re both idiots.”
That stunned the two captains into speechlessness.
“You,” she continued and pointed at Michael Owens. “Yes, you are right about what Liz did do me. She hurt me and it wasn’t right and it certainly wasn’t fair. She was thinking of her own career and decided that it was more important to her than I was. But that happened a long time ago and I have forgiven her since then. Why can’t you? She was young back then and so was I. And it certainly isn’t right for you to blame her for the decisions that I made afterwards. It isn’t her fault that I supported Leyton. That’s nobody’s fault but my own. In fact it is thanks to her that I got off easy. She came to me afterwards and she brokered a deal that allowed me to go to a minimum-security penal colony. If it hadn’t been for her I’d still be rotting in a supermax prison cell today.
And yeah, Liz likes to have fun, everybody knows that. But that doesn’t mean that she is a bad person or that she doesn’t have the right moral code to be a good starship captain and a decorated officer. She plays hard when she isn’t on duty but she works even harder and that’s all that should matter to anyone, including you.”
Shelby nodded with a smile. “Thanks, Erika.”
“Oh shut the hell up.”
Liz’s eyes grew open a few inches.
“You need to get over yourself, too. You lost a crewmember while Michael was in charge of your mission. That’s tragic but as a captain you know that we lose crewmembers all the time. As a captain you know that every decision you make is a gamble, sometimes it pays off and sometimes it all flies into your face. But you can’t hold him responsible for those times that it didn’t work out because guess what, you’ve made those calls before and you know the score. You know that sometimes, no matter how hard you work, you can’t avoid the sacrifices and the pain.
And stop with these silly accusations that Michael does everything by the book and doesn’t take any risks as a starship captain. If you believe that, than you don’t know him at all. This is the guy who went against all orders and sacrificed his ship to save a clearly hostile Tzenkethi colony world, the same man who blasted an asteroid out of the skies to avoid it destroying an entire world even though it was a clear violation of the Prime Directive.
So both of you, for the love of God, stop with this nonsense bickering. You are Starfleet captains, why don’t you try to behave like one, for a change?”
And then there was silence on the bridge of the Von Stauffenberg.
Neither Elizabeth Shelby nor Michael Owens or Erika Benteen could think of a single thing to add. Even though from the slightly embarrassed expressions on the two captain’s faces, Benteen was getting the distinct feeling that she had managed to drive her point home. And the fact that she hadn’t been place under arrest yet was a good sign that they would not push for a court martial for shouting at a superior officer either.
“I’d hate to interrupt this moment of peaceful reflection,” said Graat with an increasingly growing smirk on his face.
“What the hell do you want?” Erika said.
“Oh, I was really rooting for a happy ending here with everybody finally making up and being friends again but I doubt that will happen, seeing that you will still all lose,” he said and gestured towards the main screen, unable to use his hands which were tied behind his back.
The three Starfleet officers turned to look only to find an Orion raider on fast approach, bringing with it an entire contingent of additional thugs and pirates.
“You see, all I needed was a bit of time for my ship to get here. And you were all too accommodating. Love the irony,” he said and began to laugh again.
It soon after got stuck in his throat.
Benteen smirked when she looked down at the sensor readouts on the control console. “Sweet irony indeed.”
Michael and Liz didn’t quite understand until they noticed the two ships dropping out of warp just behind the Orion vessel. They were both much larger, faster and better armed than the raider. They were also, at first glance, identical to each other.
The two Nebula-class Starfleet cruisers instantly caught up with the Orion ship which had noticed them too late to beat an effective retreat. It opened fire in a desperate attempt to get away but all its hopes were dashed when both ships returned the gesture simultaneously, disabling the raider in a matter of seconds.
“The USS Eagle and the USS Sutherland are hailing us,” said Erika with a smile plastered on her face. She turned to face the captains. “They are inquiring if we are in need of assistance.”
Only a few moments later, security teams of both ships materialized on the bridge of the Von Stauffenberg both teams being led by female Bajoran lieutenants. The two security chiefs noticed the odd coincidence themselves and threw each other surprised looks before they quickly attended to their respective captains.
Liz and Michael gave them orders to take away the prisoners on the bridge and clear the rest of the ship and shortly thereafter the three officers were once again alone.
“I supposed I better be on my way now,” said Erika after an awkward silence had ensued between them. “I still need to report to DS9.”
“We can take you,” Michael quickly offered and Liz nodded in agreement.
“Thanks but I think I’d rather travel alone this time. No offense.”
“Are you sure?” Liz said. “What if we promise to get along?” she added and gave Michael a conciliatory look which was returned in kind.
“I would love for nothing more than to see you both get along, trust me. But to be honest, I think I need some time alone,” she said and looked straight into Liz’s eyes. She was saying more than she put into words and Liz understood immediately.
Shelby hadn’t minded the kiss they had shared, in fact she had quite enjoyed it but it hadn’t meant as much to her as it had to Erika Benteen.
“Be careful,” said Owens. “And you will consider my offer?”
She nodded. “I have considered your offer. Both of your offers. But I might be put to better use somewhere else. Starfleet is going to need every able officer in the years to come. I’m certain I won’t be bored.”
The two captains nodded, once again, understandingly.
“Thanks for everything you’ve done for me. I mean it. And I’m sure I’ll see you guys around,” she said and then tapped her combadge. “Benteen to Zambezi. One person to beam over. Energize.”
And then there were two.
“I suppose she made the right decision,” said Michael Owens after she had watched her disappear. “Perhaps it’ll be better for her to try and make it on her own after what she’s been through. It’ll build up confidence.”
Liz nodded in agreement. “Yeah.”
They looked at each other.
“We will have to write a report about what happened here,” Owens said eventually.
“If you leave out that I called you a sanctimonious bastard I’ll skip the part where you said that I was a disgrace to the uniform.”
Michael didn’t need to think about that twice. “You have yourself a deal, Captain.”
_ _ _ _
Stay tuned for 'Command Performance' featuring characters from DarKush's Dark Territory
Stay tuned for 'Command Performance' featuring characters from DarKush's Dark Territory
It seems that Shelby and Owens finally buried the hatchet (thankfully, not in each others' skulls). As strange as this trip turned out, I think it did Benteen some good. She once more sees her value as a Starfleet officer and managed to say some things that both Shelby and Owens needed to hear - badly!
Great story! Looking forward to your Dark Territory cross-over.
Great story! Looking forward to your Dark Territory cross-over.
Yeah, Benteen was able to put aside a lot of old garbage here and both Shelby and Owens did need a good chewing out. A very well done tale!
The real irony here is how good both of these captains are, each in their own unconventional ways. Erika should just be glad they're both on our side.
I was pleased to see that at the very least Owens and Shelby are willing to negotiate a peace of sorts. I strongly doubt they'll ever be friends, but there's mutual professional respect there now, and that's better than the toxic animosity they've wallowed in until now.
All things considered, they're doing a damnsight better than Donald and Terrence ever have.
This was a terrific story. Tightly written, adventurous, funny, and touching... all in one.
I was pleased to see that at the very least Owens and Shelby are willing to negotiate a peace of sorts. I strongly doubt they'll ever be friends, but there's mutual professional respect there now, and that's better than the toxic animosity they've wallowed in until now.
All things considered, they're doing a damnsight better than Donald and Terrence ever have.
This was a terrific story. Tightly written, adventurous, funny, and touching... all in one.
Command Performance
Featuring Terrence Glover from Darkush’s Dark Territory
Featuring Terrence Glover from Darkush’s Dark Territory
September 2365
“Ok folks, it’s game time. Visual flight rules and thrusters only from here on in. Stay within the target area and keep your eyes open. Remember, this is a live fire exercise and you only have minimum shields inside the cloud. Keep an eye on your peripherals, there’s bound to be plenty of loose scrap swirling around. Stick to your rules of engagement and follow your flight leader. Silver, take over. Good hunting.”
Terrence Glover reduced the thrust of his one-man, Sopwith-class interceptor craft to allow the six identical vessels which had followed him to shoot past him and into the gray blue cloud ahead.
“Silver to Hotshot, copy. Nova Squad, go to tight echelon formation and follow my lead.”
“Banshee; Silver, copy.”
“Tight echelon, Goose copies.”
“Boomerang; going to echelon.”
“Paladin; copy”
That was all but one.
Silver aka Lif Culsten turned his helmeted head to his left to find the last remaining member of his flight group through the transparent canopy of his cockpit.
“Ace is on the ball. Let’s do this thing already.”
Lif sighed. Ace would be trouble, he just knew it. But that was hardly surprising considering his name was Nick Locarno.
The six Nova squadron interceptors moved in on each other in preparation to enter the cloud while their academy advisor would watch the exercise from afar.
“Ace; Hotshot, you sure you wanna sit this out? You gonna miss all the fun.”
“Fun?” Terrence responded. “Kid, I’ve done this run about a gazillion times in my day. I’d be having as much fun doing this as you would brushing your teeth.”
“Yeah, right. That’s why you are the only prof who still suits up to every other exercise. Any excuse to get back into the cockpit, right? Or maybe you’re just worried that we’re about to shatter all your records.”
“Get off his back, Ace. Hotshot just likes to spend time with his kids. Makes him feel young again,” said the female voice of Banshee, her smirk obvious even over the audio channel.
“Hotshot; Nova Actual, reign in your people here will you, before I start handing out failing grades for pissing off the teacher.”
“Ouch,” said Banshee.
“Silver; Nova Squad, you heard the man. Let’s cut the chatter and focus on the job. Go weapons hot and follow me in.”
“Job? More like milk run,” mumbled Ace.
The six interceptors shot into the Oort Cloud at zero point six c’s with their phasers hot and ready to go. The point of this exercise was to put into practice months of training in piloting and close quarter dog fighting. For Terrence Glover this all may have been child’s play but for most of this young Nova Squadron group it most likely wasn’t. The autonomous drones hidden within the cloud wouldn’t show up on sensors and even though they were only equipped with lasers, they could still become dangerous for the lightly armored and shielded interceptors. Adding loose debris and small asteroid fragments to the mix meant these cadets would require all their focus.
“Silver; Nova Squad, start the fireworks but watch your crossfire.”
As if they had all been waiting for it, every single interceptor unleashed its class-seven, short burst phasers at once, unloading on debris, drones and what they thought may have been either at once.
Sitting in his craft outside the cloud, Terrence shook his head.
Lif quickly realized as well that all they were doing was wasting energy and blowing up a whole lot of dust, making their murky surroundings an even harder terrain to navigate.
“Okay, okay, Nova Squad, hold you fire. Only shoot once you have a confirmed target. Repeat, fire at confirmed targets only.”
The fire ceased quickly. Except from Nova Two. Ace.
“Silver; Ace, cease fire.”
“We’ll turn the debris into dust, it’ll make it much easier to find the drones,” he responded.
“No, it won’t. The dust is just worsening our visibility. Cease fire, Ace.”
His canons continued to sputter for a while until they finally stopped shooting all together. “You’re the boss.”
Lif sighed. He hadn’t missed the sarcasm in his voice.
“We’ve got drones, two o’clock high,” said Banshee.
“I see them,” Lif said. “Engage at will. Let’s take them all out.”
“Now we’re talking,” Ace said and increased thrust to his engines to shoot in front of the pack. His phasers blasting away almost instantly.
The rest of Nova Squadron followed closely.
The battle was quickly turning into a free for all, as most of the fighters broke formation in order to try and kill as many drones as possible for later bragging rights. Most of the devices didn’t stand a chance against the speed and power of the interceptors.
Lif made his twelfth kill with a large smirk on his face. At this pace he was going to outscore them all, even Ace who liked to think that he was the best pilot the Academy had ever seen. But as the newly minted Nova Squadron flight leader, Silver understood that he had to put him into his place quickly.
“Watch your peripheral space, knucklehead,” Banshee screamed over the comm. channel.
“That’s really no way for a freshman to talk to an elder,” Ace shot back.
The fiery exchanged distracted Lif enough to break off his pursuit of a fleeing drone and locate the two interceptors instead. He soon realized what was happening. Nick was bringing his craft too close to Banshee’s and the younger cadet didn’t seem to appreciate the maneuver. In order to compensate, Banshee tried to pull away and right towards a large comet fragment.
“Silver; Banshee, watch your terrain.”
But it was too late and the rock slammed hard into the side of the small interceptor. Banshee screamed as her vessel began to tumble out of control. It held together but its thrusters and impulse engines went dark, as did the cockpit.
“Banshee,” Lif cried.
There was a minute of agonizing silence.
“Silver; Banshee do you read me?”
The young cadet coughed. “I read you, Silver. I’m just a bit shaken up. I think I lost engines. Shields are down too.”
“Incoming drone, nine o’clock high,” Goose reported.
Lif saw it too. It was coming in hot, with lasers blasting away and it was heading straight for Banshee. Normally a couple of laser hits wouldn’t have been a big deal to one of their interceptors but her craft was seriously weakened and unable to bring up its shields. In that state, even the normally harmless lasers could become extremely dangerous.
“Banshee, get out of there, now,” Lif screamed.
“I can’t,” her strained voice replied. “The damn bucket won’t move.”
“Nova, take out that drone. Whatever it takes,” Lif said once he realized that she wasn’t going to be able to help herself. He quickly followed his own advice, pushing his thrusters to maximum to try and intercept that drone before it could take down one of his own.
“I’ve got this,” said Ace and quickly unleashed his own phasers. None of the burst however were able to connect with the tiny drone which continued on its course undeterred. Frustrated, Ace pushed harder. He was so focused on taking down the small device he didn’t notice the comet fragments in his path. They were too small to cause serious damage to his craft but they were enough to throw him off course.
Lif didn’t make the same mistake and rolled his interceptor to avoid the debris. Unfortunately that cost him a couple of precious seconds. By the time he had reestablished himself and had both the drone and Banshee in sight again he painfully realized that he wasn’t going to reach them in time. And nobody else in his squad was closer.
Lif broke out in a cold sweat as he watched the drone close in on its target, unable to do a single thing to stop it.
That’s when a phaser burst out of seemingly nowhere cut the offending drone apart.
Lif turned his head to find the source. He wasn’t able to spot it immediately, the sun was shining right into his visor. That was until an interceptor emerged, blotting out the bright star in the distance and throwing long shadows his way.
“Hotshot; Nova Squadron, you are done here. Form up on me, we’re going home.”
Terrence moved his craft passed Banshee’s and took her into a tractor beam before shooting out of the Oort Cloud at full thrusters. The remaining interceptors quickly got into formation behind him. This time without hesitation and without a single comment.
* * *
I had a feeling something was about to go sideways. It makes me wonder if Terrance expected something to go wrong and was waiting to step in.
Just goes to show that, while confidence is crucial for a fighter pilot, cockiness can get someone killed.
Nice writing - I thought you did a great job capturing the banter between the pilots.
Just goes to show that, while confidence is crucial for a fighter pilot, cockiness can get someone killed.
Nice writing - I thought you did a great job capturing the banter between the pilots.
1-Loved the finale of Erika's story. Great exchanges between the protagonists.
2-*sigh* TLR always beats me to the most succinct comments, so, What He Said.
After landing their crafts in their designated hangar bay on Starbase One, Banshee was the first one to pull up her canopy and jump out of her interceptor. Her feet hit the deck before the hangar crew could even bring up the steps.
She pulled off her helmet and dropped it unceremoniously onto the floor to reveal an attractive face and long brunette hair which quickly fell down her shoulders. She had already zeroed in on Ace’s interceptor which’s canopy was only now beginning to lift.
“You dumbass, egomaniacal, self-centered son of a bitch,” she shouted. “Your asinine and reckless maneuvering almost got me kill out there!”
Nick Locarno took his time to step out of his cockpit. “Maybe if you were able to hold your course instead of flinching like a little calf every time you see a shadow you’d be able to come home under your own power, rookie,” he said as he pulled off his own helmet.
“At least I can follow orders, knucklehead. Our rules of engagements were clear, stay in formation. Where the hell where you going?”
“Cool your jets, Jean,” he said. “Why don’t you try and earn your wings first before you go off ranting and screaming at your betters.”
“My betters?” she fumed. “I’m going to knock you on your ass and then we see how much better than me you really are.”
Silver, Boomerang, Goose and Paladin quickly converged on the two pilots but not quickly enough to prevent Jean Hagar to make good on her threat and spraying out Locarno onto the deck after dishing out a mean and spot-on right hook.
He glared at her, holding his bruised cheek. “You bitch.”
“You deserved that and more,” she shot back but was quickly apprehended by Boomerang and Paladin.
Locarno picked himself off the floor. “Why don’t you try that again?” he said and quickly pulled off his gloves and moved closer.
Lif Culsten stepped into his way. “Stop this, now.”
“You saw that, right?” he said and looked at the other pilots. “You all saw this. I’ve got witnesses and I demand that she’s kicked out of the squad,” Locarno said, even while he tried to push himself past Culsten. “In fact I want to see her brought up on charges. Hitting a senior cadet is a serious offense.”
“You goddamn crybaby,” Jean Hajar fumed. “You’ll live, that’s more than I could have said for myself if the commander hadn’t shown up when he did,” she added, still struggling against her fellow pilots holding on to her arms. “I want him brought up for reckless endangerment.”
Culsten looked back and forth between the two young pilots trying to get at each other’s throats. Not for the first time he asked himself what he had ever done to deserve this. Yes, he had wanted to lead Nova Squadron from the first day he had set foot onto Academy grounds and Ryan Ridegeway, his predecessor, had made it look so easy, too. But Ryan never had to break up fights between his pilots. He had known how to keep them in line and focused but whatever his secret had been, it completely eluded Lif Culsten.
He stole a glance at Terrence Glover who had disembarked from his own craft in an almost leisurely fashion. Now he appeared to be chatting with a female deck officer and the smiles on their faces seemed to indicate that this entire situation was a source of great amusement to them both.
He quickly understood that their academic advisor was not going to be any help in this matter. “Everyone hit the showers,” he finally said. “Clear your heads, we’ve got more exercises to go through tomorrow.”
“What?” Hajar said in disbelief as she finally managed to wrestle back her arms from her comrades. “Is that all you’re going to do about a guy who nearly killed one of your pilots?”
“Oh, shut up,” said Locarno, and then focused on Culsten. “I expect you to have charges ready by the morning. I refuse to fly with a pilot who fails to show any kind of respect to rank,” he said and headed out.
After a few seconds so did Hajar but not before shooting a withering glare at Culsten.
He also noticed the disapproving looks from the other pilots, most notably the short, blonde-haired Bajoran. Jaxa shook her head and followed the rest of her team.
Lif Culsten looked deflated, his hand rubbing his forehead as if that might somehow allow a great thought to spring forth that would bring everybody back into line.
“They looked rather unhappy.”
He looked up to see that Glover had now finally come over. Lif thought that he had lousy timing. He could have used his input five minutes earlier.
“I just don’t understand. Things always seemed to work so smoothly under Ryan and now that he’s moved on, everything is just falling apart. What am I doing wrong, sir?”
The broad-shouldered, dark-skinned lieutenant commander focused on the cadet. “Maybe the question you need to ask yourself is what are you not doing?” said Terrence. “I’ve watched you out there. You were just like the others. You were more concerned about driving up your score than lead your team. Your Nova Actual now, it’s time you took charge.”
“It’s difficult to take charge if nobody seems to want to listen.”
“Lif, this is Starfleet. We might be a group of explorers, scientists and peacekeepers but we’re also officers. Well, in your case aspiring officers. And officers take orders and are expected to follow them. And guess what, there’s no choice in the matter. If they don’t want to listen you make them listen. And if that doesn’t work either, quite frankly, they have no business of being here.”
He nodded slowly, thinking he understood. “Maybe you could give me some more pointers.”
Terrence looked at him and then back at the female officer he had been talking to earlier. She was still watching him. “Tell you the truth, I’ve made other plans,” he said and sounded almost apologetic.
Silver did a poor job at trying to hide his disappointment.
“Listen, kid, I like you,” he said, now once again squarely focused on the cadet. “And I know Ridgeway left some mighty big shoes to fill but I’m going to tell you the same thing I’ve told him once. You gotta learn to take care of your people yourself. Trust me, it’s one of the most important lessons you can get. Once you go out into deep space and you’ve been put in command of a ship or a base, hell even if it’s just a shuttle, people will be looking to you to make the decisions and there’ll nobody else you can go to and ask for help. So you better learn it here. And I hate to break it to you, but if you can’t learn it now, maybe your just not cut out for this,” he said and then gave Culsten an encouraging clasp on the back before he quickly returned to the attractive lieutenant who was patiently waiting on him.
She pulled off her helmet and dropped it unceremoniously onto the floor to reveal an attractive face and long brunette hair which quickly fell down her shoulders. She had already zeroed in on Ace’s interceptor which’s canopy was only now beginning to lift.
“You dumbass, egomaniacal, self-centered son of a bitch,” she shouted. “Your asinine and reckless maneuvering almost got me kill out there!”
Nick Locarno took his time to step out of his cockpit. “Maybe if you were able to hold your course instead of flinching like a little calf every time you see a shadow you’d be able to come home under your own power, rookie,” he said as he pulled off his own helmet.
“At least I can follow orders, knucklehead. Our rules of engagements were clear, stay in formation. Where the hell where you going?”
“Cool your jets, Jean,” he said. “Why don’t you try and earn your wings first before you go off ranting and screaming at your betters.”
“My betters?” she fumed. “I’m going to knock you on your ass and then we see how much better than me you really are.”
Silver, Boomerang, Goose and Paladin quickly converged on the two pilots but not quickly enough to prevent Jean Hagar to make good on her threat and spraying out Locarno onto the deck after dishing out a mean and spot-on right hook.
He glared at her, holding his bruised cheek. “You bitch.”
“You deserved that and more,” she shot back but was quickly apprehended by Boomerang and Paladin.
Locarno picked himself off the floor. “Why don’t you try that again?” he said and quickly pulled off his gloves and moved closer.
Lif Culsten stepped into his way. “Stop this, now.”
“You saw that, right?” he said and looked at the other pilots. “You all saw this. I’ve got witnesses and I demand that she’s kicked out of the squad,” Locarno said, even while he tried to push himself past Culsten. “In fact I want to see her brought up on charges. Hitting a senior cadet is a serious offense.”
“You goddamn crybaby,” Jean Hajar fumed. “You’ll live, that’s more than I could have said for myself if the commander hadn’t shown up when he did,” she added, still struggling against her fellow pilots holding on to her arms. “I want him brought up for reckless endangerment.”
Culsten looked back and forth between the two young pilots trying to get at each other’s throats. Not for the first time he asked himself what he had ever done to deserve this. Yes, he had wanted to lead Nova Squadron from the first day he had set foot onto Academy grounds and Ryan Ridegeway, his predecessor, had made it look so easy, too. But Ryan never had to break up fights between his pilots. He had known how to keep them in line and focused but whatever his secret had been, it completely eluded Lif Culsten.
He stole a glance at Terrence Glover who had disembarked from his own craft in an almost leisurely fashion. Now he appeared to be chatting with a female deck officer and the smiles on their faces seemed to indicate that this entire situation was a source of great amusement to them both.
He quickly understood that their academic advisor was not going to be any help in this matter. “Everyone hit the showers,” he finally said. “Clear your heads, we’ve got more exercises to go through tomorrow.”
“What?” Hajar said in disbelief as she finally managed to wrestle back her arms from her comrades. “Is that all you’re going to do about a guy who nearly killed one of your pilots?”
“Oh, shut up,” said Locarno, and then focused on Culsten. “I expect you to have charges ready by the morning. I refuse to fly with a pilot who fails to show any kind of respect to rank,” he said and headed out.
After a few seconds so did Hajar but not before shooting a withering glare at Culsten.
He also noticed the disapproving looks from the other pilots, most notably the short, blonde-haired Bajoran. Jaxa shook her head and followed the rest of her team.
Lif Culsten looked deflated, his hand rubbing his forehead as if that might somehow allow a great thought to spring forth that would bring everybody back into line.
“They looked rather unhappy.”
He looked up to see that Glover had now finally come over. Lif thought that he had lousy timing. He could have used his input five minutes earlier.
“I just don’t understand. Things always seemed to work so smoothly under Ryan and now that he’s moved on, everything is just falling apart. What am I doing wrong, sir?”
The broad-shouldered, dark-skinned lieutenant commander focused on the cadet. “Maybe the question you need to ask yourself is what are you not doing?” said Terrence. “I’ve watched you out there. You were just like the others. You were more concerned about driving up your score than lead your team. Your Nova Actual now, it’s time you took charge.”
“It’s difficult to take charge if nobody seems to want to listen.”
“Lif, this is Starfleet. We might be a group of explorers, scientists and peacekeepers but we’re also officers. Well, in your case aspiring officers. And officers take orders and are expected to follow them. And guess what, there’s no choice in the matter. If they don’t want to listen you make them listen. And if that doesn’t work either, quite frankly, they have no business of being here.”
He nodded slowly, thinking he understood. “Maybe you could give me some more pointers.”
Terrence looked at him and then back at the female officer he had been talking to earlier. She was still watching him. “Tell you the truth, I’ve made other plans,” he said and sounded almost apologetic.
Silver did a poor job at trying to hide his disappointment.
“Listen, kid, I like you,” he said, now once again squarely focused on the cadet. “And I know Ridgeway left some mighty big shoes to fill but I’m going to tell you the same thing I’ve told him once. You gotta learn to take care of your people yourself. Trust me, it’s one of the most important lessons you can get. Once you go out into deep space and you’ve been put in command of a ship or a base, hell even if it’s just a shuttle, people will be looking to you to make the decisions and there’ll nobody else you can go to and ask for help. So you better learn it here. And I hate to break it to you, but if you can’t learn it now, maybe your just not cut out for this,” he said and then gave Culsten an encouraging clasp on the back before he quickly returned to the attractive lieutenant who was patiently waiting on him.
He had thought long and hard about what Glover had been trying to tell him and he had ultimately concluded that as Nova Squads academic advisor, Terrence Glover owed him more than the lecture he had been given.
He was sure he had been right about the part that on a real mission, a commanding officer needed to make his own decisions but the truth of the matter was that he was not yet a real commanding officer. He was at the Academy, training to become one. And he needed a sense of how a real commanding officer would deal with a situation he was facing.
“Jenkins, where the hell is my report!”
He could hear Terrence Glover’s booming voice as soon as he had stepped out of the turbo-lift, even though his office was at least thirty yards down the hall.
Lif froze for a moment to reconsider. Perhaps seeking him out had not been a good idea.
It turned out he was about the only one who did stop. The many administrators, teachers and cadets who frequented these parts of the building barely even took notice of the man’s outburst, carrying on with business as usual.
The newly minted Nova Squad leader took a deep breath and headed down the corridor to find Glover’s office.
“I don’t understand this,” a much younger voice stammered. “I filed it away yesterday exactly where you told me to, right after I finished up compiling the bibliography.”
“Do you have any idea how much time, sweat and effort has gone into this?” Glover rumbled, still undeniably upset over this issue. “Of course you don’t. Somebody remind me why I took on an assistant unable to tell the difference between a Klingon and a Nausicaan?”
When Culsten stepped into the anteroom of Glover’s office he noticed the pretty brunette receptionist with the large smile on her face. She seemed entirely unimpressed by the conversation taking place in one of the offices behind her. “Good morning, how can I help you?”
“I’m here to see Commander Glover.”
She nodded and pointed at one of the open doors. “Follow the reaming.”
“I suppose it’s possible that it went to the central file server instead and –“
“You suppose?” Glover said in disbelieve. “My God, man, how did you ever manage to graduate this place, anyway?”
When Lif entered the office, cautiously, he found a wiry ensign hunched over a computer console while Glover was sitting behind his desk shuffling through staples of padds but seemingly unable to find what he was looking for.
“Commander?”
Terrence looked up to see Lif standing in the doorway. If there had been any doubt about his current mood, and there really shouldn’t have been, then it became unquestionably apparent by the deep frown on his face that Terrence Glover was mad as hell.
Lif quickly understood that it had been a mistake to show up unannounced. “Is this … is this a bad time?”
Glover just glared. But his ire was quickly refocused on the slim ensign who had apparently finished searching the file system on the computer.
“I better go and talk to tech admin, perhaps they can locate the file,” he said and carefully began to head for the door, trying to slip out before he could be subjected to any more abuse.
“You do that,” Terrence said but as soon as his assistant had managed his retreat, he decided that he had not yet made his point clearly enough. He jumped out of his seat and rushed to the door and past Lif. “Jenkins,” he called after the fleeing assistant. “Don’t even bother showing up here again without that report. In fact, I don’t want to see your face around here ever again.”
But Ensign Jenkins had long since disappeared out of sight, perhaps even out of earshot, even though that seemed almost impossible, and Glover’s renewed outburst was mostly witnessed by the secretary, a few bystanders and Lif Culsten.
After a moment of trying to compose himself again Terrence focused on the cadet still standing by his door. He shot him a quizzical and clearly impatient look.
“Bad time?” he said again.
“Bad time?” said Terrence. “I don’t know, Lif, what do you think?”
“I’ll come back then.”
He took a deep breath. “No, that’s alright. I do tend to tell you guys that my door is always open and I stand by my word. But you gotta take a seat. I have to make an important call first.”
Lif nodded and did as had been suggested. In fact the idea of doing anything but following Glover’s instructions to the letter not even crossing his mind.
“Marcy, patch me through to Captain Ortega’s office,” he said to the still smiling receptionist outside and then headed back into his office to sit behind his desk.
The face of a middle aged Starfleet officer with prominently gray hair and four pips on his collar appeared on the screen of his computer just a few moments later. From the expression on his face it seemed clear that this man didn’t much care for Terrence. “Glover, what do you want?”
“I need you to look at my application again.”
“I’ve done your stupid little assignment, it’s just that my dimwit assistant appears to have misplaced it somehow.”
The captain almost smiled at that. But it wasn’t a pleasant smile. On the contrary. “I’m afraid it looks as if you missed the deadline for your report, Commander. As you know each applicant was required to provide a detailed analysis on Klingon culture and history by 1200 hours today. It’s 1212 and I haven’t received yours. I will have to disregard your application.”
Ortega’s smile grew slightly. “What a shame. Well, there is always next year, I suppose.”
“Alright, let’s cut the crap, Ortega. I know that you don’t like me and to be honest, I’m not your biggest fan either. You carry yourself like a man of great importance because you’ve been put in charge of this project when we all know that the most significant thing you’ve ever commanded is your own desk. And now you’re letting your personal feelings dictate your assessment of my application and I won’t stand for that.”
The captain’s smile dropped from his lips to be replaced by a stern, accusatory glare. “Commander, I will not let you –“
“Oh, I’m sorry, did I step on your toes, Captain? I don’t care. You need to pick the right candidate for this position and no matter how you twist or turn it, that’s me. And you damn well know that. You haven’t made anyone else jump through these ridiculous hoops and I’m done playing games. Give me this assignment and let’s move on already.”
The glare had since turned into fuming anger. “You are way out of line, Commander, and I’m this far away from having you written up for conduct unbecoming,” he said, putting his thumb and index finger an inch apart. Her couldn’t quite stop his left eye from twitching. “A Starfleet officer does not speak to a superior officer in this manner.”
Now Terrence smiled. “You are absolutely correct, Captain. A Starfleet officer wouldn’t. A Klingon would.”
That seemed to leave Ortega speechless.
“I’ll report for my assignment as planned next month,” said Terrence, perfectly satisfied with himself.
“Goddamnit, Glover,” said the captain.
“It was nice talking to you too, Glover out.”
And with that Ortega’s face vanished from the screen.
“Alright then, Lif, how can I ...”
But Cadet Culsten was nowhere in sight. Instead Jenkins had reappeared by the door.
“Uhm, he left and he asked me to tell you that he got everything he needed,” said the ensign and then raised his hand to show him a data padd. “I managed to find your report. It’s all here, including the bibliography.”
Terrence clapped his hands together and laughed. “Well done, Jenkins. And you’d be delighted to hear that you won’t have to put up with me much longer. In six weeks time I’ll be eating gagh, drinking blood wine and sharing the kind of gruesome pleasantries which will make our daily conversations look like afternoon tea at the country estate in comparison. You’re looking at the newest member of the Starfleet and Klingon Defense Force officer exchange program.”
He was sure he had been right about the part that on a real mission, a commanding officer needed to make his own decisions but the truth of the matter was that he was not yet a real commanding officer. He was at the Academy, training to become one. And he needed a sense of how a real commanding officer would deal with a situation he was facing.
“Jenkins, where the hell is my report!”
He could hear Terrence Glover’s booming voice as soon as he had stepped out of the turbo-lift, even though his office was at least thirty yards down the hall.
Lif froze for a moment to reconsider. Perhaps seeking him out had not been a good idea.
It turned out he was about the only one who did stop. The many administrators, teachers and cadets who frequented these parts of the building barely even took notice of the man’s outburst, carrying on with business as usual.
The newly minted Nova Squad leader took a deep breath and headed down the corridor to find Glover’s office.
“I don’t understand this,” a much younger voice stammered. “I filed it away yesterday exactly where you told me to, right after I finished up compiling the bibliography.”
“Do you have any idea how much time, sweat and effort has gone into this?” Glover rumbled, still undeniably upset over this issue. “Of course you don’t. Somebody remind me why I took on an assistant unable to tell the difference between a Klingon and a Nausicaan?”
When Culsten stepped into the anteroom of Glover’s office he noticed the pretty brunette receptionist with the large smile on her face. She seemed entirely unimpressed by the conversation taking place in one of the offices behind her. “Good morning, how can I help you?”
“I’m here to see Commander Glover.”
She nodded and pointed at one of the open doors. “Follow the reaming.”
“I suppose it’s possible that it went to the central file server instead and –“
“You suppose?” Glover said in disbelieve. “My God, man, how did you ever manage to graduate this place, anyway?”
When Lif entered the office, cautiously, he found a wiry ensign hunched over a computer console while Glover was sitting behind his desk shuffling through staples of padds but seemingly unable to find what he was looking for.
“Commander?”
Terrence looked up to see Lif standing in the doorway. If there had been any doubt about his current mood, and there really shouldn’t have been, then it became unquestionably apparent by the deep frown on his face that Terrence Glover was mad as hell.
Lif quickly understood that it had been a mistake to show up unannounced. “Is this … is this a bad time?”
Glover just glared. But his ire was quickly refocused on the slim ensign who had apparently finished searching the file system on the computer.
“I better go and talk to tech admin, perhaps they can locate the file,” he said and carefully began to head for the door, trying to slip out before he could be subjected to any more abuse.
“You do that,” Terrence said but as soon as his assistant had managed his retreat, he decided that he had not yet made his point clearly enough. He jumped out of his seat and rushed to the door and past Lif. “Jenkins,” he called after the fleeing assistant. “Don’t even bother showing up here again without that report. In fact, I don’t want to see your face around here ever again.”
But Ensign Jenkins had long since disappeared out of sight, perhaps even out of earshot, even though that seemed almost impossible, and Glover’s renewed outburst was mostly witnessed by the secretary, a few bystanders and Lif Culsten.
After a moment of trying to compose himself again Terrence focused on the cadet still standing by his door. He shot him a quizzical and clearly impatient look.
“Bad time?” he said again.
“Bad time?” said Terrence. “I don’t know, Lif, what do you think?”
“I’ll come back then.”
He took a deep breath. “No, that’s alright. I do tend to tell you guys that my door is always open and I stand by my word. But you gotta take a seat. I have to make an important call first.”
Lif nodded and did as had been suggested. In fact the idea of doing anything but following Glover’s instructions to the letter not even crossing his mind.
“Marcy, patch me through to Captain Ortega’s office,” he said to the still smiling receptionist outside and then headed back into his office to sit behind his desk.
The face of a middle aged Starfleet officer with prominently gray hair and four pips on his collar appeared on the screen of his computer just a few moments later. From the expression on his face it seemed clear that this man didn’t much care for Terrence. “Glover, what do you want?”
“I need you to look at my application again.”
“I’ve done your stupid little assignment, it’s just that my dimwit assistant appears to have misplaced it somehow.”
The captain almost smiled at that. But it wasn’t a pleasant smile. On the contrary. “I’m afraid it looks as if you missed the deadline for your report, Commander. As you know each applicant was required to provide a detailed analysis on Klingon culture and history by 1200 hours today. It’s 1212 and I haven’t received yours. I will have to disregard your application.”
Ortega’s smile grew slightly. “What a shame. Well, there is always next year, I suppose.”
“Alright, let’s cut the crap, Ortega. I know that you don’t like me and to be honest, I’m not your biggest fan either. You carry yourself like a man of great importance because you’ve been put in charge of this project when we all know that the most significant thing you’ve ever commanded is your own desk. And now you’re letting your personal feelings dictate your assessment of my application and I won’t stand for that.”
The captain’s smile dropped from his lips to be replaced by a stern, accusatory glare. “Commander, I will not let you –“
“Oh, I’m sorry, did I step on your toes, Captain? I don’t care. You need to pick the right candidate for this position and no matter how you twist or turn it, that’s me. And you damn well know that. You haven’t made anyone else jump through these ridiculous hoops and I’m done playing games. Give me this assignment and let’s move on already.”
The glare had since turned into fuming anger. “You are way out of line, Commander, and I’m this far away from having you written up for conduct unbecoming,” he said, putting his thumb and index finger an inch apart. Her couldn’t quite stop his left eye from twitching. “A Starfleet officer does not speak to a superior officer in this manner.”
Now Terrence smiled. “You are absolutely correct, Captain. A Starfleet officer wouldn’t. A Klingon would.”
That seemed to leave Ortega speechless.
“I’ll report for my assignment as planned next month,” said Terrence, perfectly satisfied with himself.
“Goddamnit, Glover,” said the captain.
“It was nice talking to you too, Glover out.”
And with that Ortega’s face vanished from the screen.
“Alright then, Lif, how can I ...”
But Cadet Culsten was nowhere in sight. Instead Jenkins had reappeared by the door.
“Uhm, he left and he asked me to tell you that he got everything he needed,” said the ensign and then raised his hand to show him a data padd. “I managed to find your report. It’s all here, including the bibliography.”
Terrence clapped his hands together and laughed. “Well done, Jenkins. And you’d be delighted to hear that you won’t have to put up with me much longer. In six weeks time I’ll be eating gagh, drinking blood wine and sharing the kind of gruesome pleasantries which will make our daily conversations look like afternoon tea at the country estate in comparison. You’re looking at the newest member of the Starfleet and Klingon Defense Force officer exchange program.”
Just finished the first story with Shelby and Owens. It was fun seeing the two try to work together. L Eet's face it, they didn't exactly make a good team. But they got results in the end. Erika had to show them the error of their ways and pinned them down fairly accurately. Good tight tough.
^^ But even pompous asses can make good starship commanders. I think Lif heard exactly what he needed to hear from Glover.
“I can’t shake those drones, somebody give me a hand over here.”
Their second attempt at the Oort Cloud exercise had started out well enough but it had quickly taken a turn for the worse when it had become apparently clear that Jean Hajar and Nick Locarno had no intentions of playing by the same rules.
This in turn had made it difficult for Lif to keep the squad in formation.
The basic AI of the drones they were facing had quickly identified that to be their opponent's weakest link and they had began to isolate the interceptors and focusing their fire.
Their first target had been Ace’s craft.
“Come on, guys, I’m taking damage here,” Locarno said with increasing frustration.
“I’ve got this.”
To Lif’s surprise it was Jean who was moving her interceptor in position to take out the drones trailing Nick’s vessel.
She unleashed her phasers a little bit too indiscriminately.
Nick noticed when his small ship began to rattle from the much more powerful phaser blasts which were now being slung his way. “Damn it, Banshee, ease up on your fire.”
But she didn’t. Instead she just moved in closer, with her fingers apparently glued to the trigger of her phaser canons.
Lif noticed all this too late. “Banshee, disengage, disengage.”
By now the phaser blasts had shredded the last drone chasing Locarno’s interceptor. They had also, however, landed a few direct hits on his impulse drive. Already weakened from the drone’s laser fire and with minimal shields available within the Oort Cloud, the interceptor’s fusion reactor became unstable within moments.
“She’s gonna blow,” Locarno screamed.
Silver pushed his own engines way beyond maximum safety limits but he already knew he was going to be too late.
A bright flash in the engine compartment of Nick’s craft spelled it’s doom.
Lif had to bring up a hand to shield his eyes.
Before the explosion had even begun, it disappeared. And with it the damaged Sopwith, the Oort Cloud and space itself.
Instead Lif found himself hovering in a sitting position a few inches above ground in a large, yellow-gridded chamber. His four squad members where in a similar position all across the room.
“Catastrophic failure to Interceptor Two detected,” the computer voice said in a calm, mechanical voice. “Simulation terminated.”
And with that all five cadets were gently placed onto their feet again by the invisible force fields which had previously held them in place.
“You crazy bitch, you did that on purpose,” Locarno shouted as he ripped off his helmet.
But Banshee merely shrugged. “Maybe if you didn’t flinch every time you saw your own shadow, you’d be able to –“
Nick Locarno was not going to have any of that. “I’m going to have your head for this.”
“You want to get your ass kicked again?” she said after she had removed her own helmet and taken on a fighting stance. “I’d be more than happy to oblige and this time you’ll have no wimpy excuse for getting knocked onto your butt by a girl.”
Nick appeared more than ready to take her up on her offer as he slowly approached her.
“Both of you, cut the crap, now!”
They froze and turned to look at the person whose voice had boomed across the holodeck. They were both surprised to find that it belonged to Lif Culsten.
“I’ve had it with the both of you. If you two dimwits cannot pull yourself together and follow simple instructions than you have no place in being in my squadron. Whatever your personal feelings are, they cannot dictate the way you perform inside that cockpit. I will not stand for that.”
Nick and Jean stared at him agape. It weren’t just his words that had left them both speechless, it was the fact they were coming from him. The usually mild-mannered cadet was the last person anyone would have expected such a forceful outburst from.
Even Sito Jaxa and Joshua Albert couldn’t quite believe this astonishing transformation.
The shock didn’t late long and the two quarreling cadets quickly started up again, talking at the same time and accusing the other of being the real problem.
Lif had enough. “Get out!”
That shut them up again. They didn’t move but they looked at Culsten as if they weren’t quite sure what he had just said.
“I said get the hell out. I have no use for either one of you. You’re both off the squad!”
“You can’t do that,” said Locarno. “I’m the best pilot you have.”
Hajar snorted at that. “Best pilot my ass,” she said and then looked back at the flight leader. “Lif, you can’t be serious.”
“I’m damn serious. Now get out of my sight and don’t bother showing your faces around here again.”
The two stunned pilots were at a loss for words. They waited a couple of seconds for any sign that Culsten may have been kidding, even though the tone of his voice and body language seemed to leave no room for interpretation. They exchanged a few glances with the other two pilots but eventually decided that there was no point. They turned and left the holodeck.
An awkward silence ensued between the three remaining cadets.
Lif could tell by the disapproving frown on both their faces that they didn’t agree at all with his actions. Before he could think of anything else to say, Sito and Albert followed the other two cadets, leaving Culsten alone in the empty holodeck.
Their second attempt at the Oort Cloud exercise had started out well enough but it had quickly taken a turn for the worse when it had become apparently clear that Jean Hajar and Nick Locarno had no intentions of playing by the same rules.
This in turn had made it difficult for Lif to keep the squad in formation.
The basic AI of the drones they were facing had quickly identified that to be their opponent's weakest link and they had began to isolate the interceptors and focusing their fire.
Their first target had been Ace’s craft.
“Come on, guys, I’m taking damage here,” Locarno said with increasing frustration.
“I’ve got this.”
To Lif’s surprise it was Jean who was moving her interceptor in position to take out the drones trailing Nick’s vessel.
She unleashed her phasers a little bit too indiscriminately.
Nick noticed when his small ship began to rattle from the much more powerful phaser blasts which were now being slung his way. “Damn it, Banshee, ease up on your fire.”
But she didn’t. Instead she just moved in closer, with her fingers apparently glued to the trigger of her phaser canons.
Lif noticed all this too late. “Banshee, disengage, disengage.”
By now the phaser blasts had shredded the last drone chasing Locarno’s interceptor. They had also, however, landed a few direct hits on his impulse drive. Already weakened from the drone’s laser fire and with minimal shields available within the Oort Cloud, the interceptor’s fusion reactor became unstable within moments.
“She’s gonna blow,” Locarno screamed.
Silver pushed his own engines way beyond maximum safety limits but he already knew he was going to be too late.
A bright flash in the engine compartment of Nick’s craft spelled it’s doom.
Lif had to bring up a hand to shield his eyes.
Before the explosion had even begun, it disappeared. And with it the damaged Sopwith, the Oort Cloud and space itself.
Instead Lif found himself hovering in a sitting position a few inches above ground in a large, yellow-gridded chamber. His four squad members where in a similar position all across the room.
“Catastrophic failure to Interceptor Two detected,” the computer voice said in a calm, mechanical voice. “Simulation terminated.”
And with that all five cadets were gently placed onto their feet again by the invisible force fields which had previously held them in place.
“You crazy bitch, you did that on purpose,” Locarno shouted as he ripped off his helmet.
But Banshee merely shrugged. “Maybe if you didn’t flinch every time you saw your own shadow, you’d be able to –“
Nick Locarno was not going to have any of that. “I’m going to have your head for this.”
“You want to get your ass kicked again?” she said after she had removed her own helmet and taken on a fighting stance. “I’d be more than happy to oblige and this time you’ll have no wimpy excuse for getting knocked onto your butt by a girl.”
Nick appeared more than ready to take her up on her offer as he slowly approached her.
“Both of you, cut the crap, now!”
They froze and turned to look at the person whose voice had boomed across the holodeck. They were both surprised to find that it belonged to Lif Culsten.
“I’ve had it with the both of you. If you two dimwits cannot pull yourself together and follow simple instructions than you have no place in being in my squadron. Whatever your personal feelings are, they cannot dictate the way you perform inside that cockpit. I will not stand for that.”
Nick and Jean stared at him agape. It weren’t just his words that had left them both speechless, it was the fact they were coming from him. The usually mild-mannered cadet was the last person anyone would have expected such a forceful outburst from.
Even Sito Jaxa and Joshua Albert couldn’t quite believe this astonishing transformation.
The shock didn’t late long and the two quarreling cadets quickly started up again, talking at the same time and accusing the other of being the real problem.
Lif had enough. “Get out!”
That shut them up again. They didn’t move but they looked at Culsten as if they weren’t quite sure what he had just said.
“I said get the hell out. I have no use for either one of you. You’re both off the squad!”
“You can’t do that,” said Locarno. “I’m the best pilot you have.”
Hajar snorted at that. “Best pilot my ass,” she said and then looked back at the flight leader. “Lif, you can’t be serious.”
“I’m damn serious. Now get out of my sight and don’t bother showing your faces around here again.”
The two stunned pilots were at a loss for words. They waited a couple of seconds for any sign that Culsten may have been kidding, even though the tone of his voice and body language seemed to leave no room for interpretation. They exchanged a few glances with the other two pilots but eventually decided that there was no point. They turned and left the holodeck.
An awkward silence ensued between the three remaining cadets.
Lif could tell by the disapproving frown on both their faces that they didn’t agree at all with his actions. Before he could think of anything else to say, Sito and Albert followed the other two cadets, leaving Culsten alone in the empty holodeck.
Well the next instalment of these short stories is an interesting sort. Seeing Glover in his Academy mentor days. Still a pain to those around him and acting like a pompous ass. But as always, he usually has a point [a valid point] to make. Here he has proven has suited he is to the Klingon exchange program and he has also given Lif something to think about. Hmm ... I wonder where Jean and Nick will go to? What squad might be willing to take in two brash pilots such as them?
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