STAR CROSSED
A prequel to the upcoming The Star Eagle Adventures IV
Many thanks to TheLoneRedshirt for allowing me to use the Bluefin and its characters.
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Stardate: 50435 (2373 AD)
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Tazla Star didn’t particular like Captain Melvin Schwarzkopf.
He was assertive, arrogant and ambitious. In short he was very much like herself and it was maybe that fact alone that made her dislike him almost immediately. He had a short, staunch build, dark hair that for some sort of failed fashioned sense he insisted on wearing halfway down his neck and was just about a few years older than she was.
He was a career officer just like her.
Except for Schwarzkopf was one of those hero captains, apparently well liked by the enormous crew of his Galaxy-class monstrosity of a starship and decorated on multiple occasions for his heroic actions to save the universe and God knows what else.
She had no such accolades to call her own. She had to fight with arms and legs for her command, he had been handed the USS Heracles on a silver platter. She really didn’t like the man.
To make things worse her own crew seemed to be more impressed by Schwarzkopf than they were by their own captain, judging by the way they were looking at him with wide open eyes.
She couldn’t quite blame them.
It had only been a few months since she had come aboard the Sacajawea and she still didn’t feel she had earned the respect of her crew who virtually knew nothing about her commanding officer for very good reasons.
Evan Mahoney, her first officer, was one handsome bastard she hated to admit. The problem was that he knew it too and was not shy to use it to his full advantage. She had fallen for it from day one and she was still regretting the mistakes that had been made.
Then there was Doctor Alan Newheiser. She wasn’t afraid to admit (to herself) that the guy gave her the creeps. Which was strange considering the company she had used to keep. The ship’s doctor would have fitted right into that crowd would it not be for the fact that he wasn’t quite that transparent. He had a gleam in his eyes that wanted her to turn away every time he glanced in her direction.
Ironically the person she felt the most confidence in was her security chief N’ek’too. He was an Ariolo and if there was one thing she knew about their people it was that they didn’t believe in close relationships of any kind. The man reminded her of the mystical demons that were the regular villains of the fairytales that were once so popular on her own home world. His reptilian features were sharply accentuated by his leathery skin, an overhanging brow and a downward shaped jaw that appeared to give him a permanent frown. The poor guy would have been stoned to death if he’d set foot on Trill some three hundred years ago.
She pushed her long fire red hear behind one ear and focused on the wall screen again were Schwarzkopf was still addressing herself and her crew from his ship.
“We have now confirmed that Shapeer Shuun is to arrive on Eteron within the next 48 hours. As you know Shuun is the suspected mastermind of raiding a number of Federation colonies along the Klingon border, trying to entice another war with the empire. He is also suspected to have direct links to the Elix clan of the Orion syndicate,” Schwarzkopf explained.
Star knew all this and not because she had been briefed by Schwarzkopf before. She knew Shapeer Shuun a whole of a lot better than she would have ever been comfortable to admit.
“We have been trying to nab Shuun for the last six months but have never been able to get solid information on his whereabouts. This might be our best chance. As far as we know he will be meeting with some other high ranking members of other criminal factions. However we’re only interested in Shuun. He possess information that will be extremely valuable to us.”
“Including possible links between Shuun’s organization and Starfleet?” Evan Mahoney asked, his voice doubtful of the possibility.
Star managed to maintain her composure even though she felt a cold shiver running up her spine.
Newheiser shot her a quick glance, a crooked smile on his impossibly thin lips.
Schwarzkopf nodded. “As distasteful as this possibility might sound to you – to all of us – we have good reason to believe that there might be connections between Shuun and certain elements of Starfleet. I want them found and dealt with appropriately.”
The Trill captain wanted to laugh but wisely suppressed the urge. Who did this hotshot captain think he was? Just because he commanded one of the largest starship ever built certainly didn’t make him the ultimate authority on the law around here. She had little choice but follow his lead. Command was on his side on this one.
“What about that border cutter?” Star wanted to know, her question had not only surprised Schwarzkopf but also her own people who had found her rather reserved ever since the meeting had begun. “Their captain –Akinola, was it? – insists that they have been waiting for the opportunity to pick up Shuun themselves. Doesn’t an operation like this technical fall into their jurisdiction?”
Schwarzkopf looked annoyed by that question and Star delighted in this. “Apparently they have managed to gather their own intel about the meeting on Eteron and have been in a waiting pattern out here for the last few days,” he said, referring to their current location in the Adelphous system which was located just a few warp minutes from Eteron. The entire region of space was known by the locales as The Triangle, due it’s unique position, wedged in-between Klingon and Romulan territory. Understandingly never a popular place to live it had deservingly gained a somewhat seedy reputation. A no-man’s land right at the back door of the Federation. “Akinola is convinced that Shuun might be expecting a move by us and is preparing a trap for just that eventuality. I doubt they can come up with anything to stop the firepower of a Galaxy though.”
“I take it they had some sort of plan,” asked Star.
“You must have noticed the Corvallen freighter when we arrived.”
Mahoney glanced out of the window. There, in between the massive Heracles and the multiple times smaller border cutter Bluefin, was an even smaller and rather uninviting looking amber colored ship. “What that heap of junk?”
“According to Akinola it has been outfitted with an improved warp drive and shields. It should also draw little attention around Eteron where it’d fit right in,” he said and took a small breath before continuing. “I’ll be blunt, I don’t think this is something the Border Service should be doing, not while we’re here. I have suggested to Captain Akinola that we implement their plan instead and he has agreed.”
This time Star couldn’t suppress a sly grin. She had a pretty good idea just how agreeable Akinola would have been to Schwarzkopf’s so-called suggestion.
“Shuun will be on Eteron in 48 hours. We will assemble an extraction team and take the freighter to Eteron in exactly 42 hours. I will give you more detailed instructions shortly. Schwarzkopf out.”
And with that he vanished from the wall screen in the observation lounge. Not taking questions or asking for recommendations. He knew exactly what he wanted and he would make sure he would get it. It was how Tazla would have done it. And again she was appalled by it.
She could see her Ariolo security chief slightly shake is huge head. “It is a mistake to wait that long,” he said with his deep, raspy sounding voice. “We should leave for Eteron as soon as possible and have Shuun come to us instead of the other way.”
“It’s his call,” Mahoney said. “I’m sure Schwarzkopf knows exactly what he’s doing?”
Star wondered if Mahoney had asked for a transfer onto the Heracles, the way he seemed to be supporting Schwarzkopf. She wouldn’t have minded the request at all. In fact she would have encouraged it.
“He certainly seems quite sure of himself, doesn’t he?” asked Newheiser and for whatever reason decided to focus on Star while he spoke, he appeared to be carefully studying her expression while he spoke. “Wouldn’t you agree, Captain?”
Star stood. Her sign that the meeting was concluded. “He has command of this operation, so we do as he says. That’s all,” she said sharply and headed for the doors. She had a thing about being the first one out of a meeting.
“Always in such a hurry,” the doctor continued. “I wonder what it is that compels her to make such swift withdrawals,” he said to nobody in particular.
Mahoney was the next to stand. “We have our orders. N’ek’too, I want you to prepare a strike team with your best people. We don’t know yet how many resources Schwarzkopf wants us to contribute but its best to be prepared. Run some drills on extraction scenarios until we get more orders.”
The Ariolo nodded sharply and left.
“Sometimes I do wonder, Mister Mahoney,” Newheiser said as he stood,” who really runs this ship.”
He gave the doctor a puzzled look. “I bet your pardon, doctor.”
“I think you heard me,” Newheiser replied and stepped up right next to him. “Don’t fool yourself. The crew knows about your relationship with our dear, pretty captain. Or should I say the lack thereof?”
“You know I really think that this is hardly any of the crews business. Or yours.”
He shrugged. “Maybe not. But I do like to know who I’m supposed to answer to. And something tells me it isn’t Star,” he said and walked towards the doors. “At least not a whole lot longer,” he almost whispered just before he left the puzzled first officer by himself.
A prequel to the upcoming The Star Eagle Adventures IV
Many thanks to TheLoneRedshirt for allowing me to use the Bluefin and its characters.
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Stardate: 50435 (2373 AD)
---------------------------------------------
Tazla Star didn’t particular like Captain Melvin Schwarzkopf.
He was assertive, arrogant and ambitious. In short he was very much like herself and it was maybe that fact alone that made her dislike him almost immediately. He had a short, staunch build, dark hair that for some sort of failed fashioned sense he insisted on wearing halfway down his neck and was just about a few years older than she was.
He was a career officer just like her.
Except for Schwarzkopf was one of those hero captains, apparently well liked by the enormous crew of his Galaxy-class monstrosity of a starship and decorated on multiple occasions for his heroic actions to save the universe and God knows what else.
She had no such accolades to call her own. She had to fight with arms and legs for her command, he had been handed the USS Heracles on a silver platter. She really didn’t like the man.
To make things worse her own crew seemed to be more impressed by Schwarzkopf than they were by their own captain, judging by the way they were looking at him with wide open eyes.
She couldn’t quite blame them.
It had only been a few months since she had come aboard the Sacajawea and she still didn’t feel she had earned the respect of her crew who virtually knew nothing about her commanding officer for very good reasons.
Evan Mahoney, her first officer, was one handsome bastard she hated to admit. The problem was that he knew it too and was not shy to use it to his full advantage. She had fallen for it from day one and she was still regretting the mistakes that had been made.
Then there was Doctor Alan Newheiser. She wasn’t afraid to admit (to herself) that the guy gave her the creeps. Which was strange considering the company she had used to keep. The ship’s doctor would have fitted right into that crowd would it not be for the fact that he wasn’t quite that transparent. He had a gleam in his eyes that wanted her to turn away every time he glanced in her direction.
Ironically the person she felt the most confidence in was her security chief N’ek’too. He was an Ariolo and if there was one thing she knew about their people it was that they didn’t believe in close relationships of any kind. The man reminded her of the mystical demons that were the regular villains of the fairytales that were once so popular on her own home world. His reptilian features were sharply accentuated by his leathery skin, an overhanging brow and a downward shaped jaw that appeared to give him a permanent frown. The poor guy would have been stoned to death if he’d set foot on Trill some three hundred years ago.
She pushed her long fire red hear behind one ear and focused on the wall screen again were Schwarzkopf was still addressing herself and her crew from his ship.
“We have now confirmed that Shapeer Shuun is to arrive on Eteron within the next 48 hours. As you know Shuun is the suspected mastermind of raiding a number of Federation colonies along the Klingon border, trying to entice another war with the empire. He is also suspected to have direct links to the Elix clan of the Orion syndicate,” Schwarzkopf explained.
Star knew all this and not because she had been briefed by Schwarzkopf before. She knew Shapeer Shuun a whole of a lot better than she would have ever been comfortable to admit.
“We have been trying to nab Shuun for the last six months but have never been able to get solid information on his whereabouts. This might be our best chance. As far as we know he will be meeting with some other high ranking members of other criminal factions. However we’re only interested in Shuun. He possess information that will be extremely valuable to us.”
“Including possible links between Shuun’s organization and Starfleet?” Evan Mahoney asked, his voice doubtful of the possibility.
Star managed to maintain her composure even though she felt a cold shiver running up her spine.
Newheiser shot her a quick glance, a crooked smile on his impossibly thin lips.
Schwarzkopf nodded. “As distasteful as this possibility might sound to you – to all of us – we have good reason to believe that there might be connections between Shuun and certain elements of Starfleet. I want them found and dealt with appropriately.”
The Trill captain wanted to laugh but wisely suppressed the urge. Who did this hotshot captain think he was? Just because he commanded one of the largest starship ever built certainly didn’t make him the ultimate authority on the law around here. She had little choice but follow his lead. Command was on his side on this one.
“What about that border cutter?” Star wanted to know, her question had not only surprised Schwarzkopf but also her own people who had found her rather reserved ever since the meeting had begun. “Their captain –Akinola, was it? – insists that they have been waiting for the opportunity to pick up Shuun themselves. Doesn’t an operation like this technical fall into their jurisdiction?”
Schwarzkopf looked annoyed by that question and Star delighted in this. “Apparently they have managed to gather their own intel about the meeting on Eteron and have been in a waiting pattern out here for the last few days,” he said, referring to their current location in the Adelphous system which was located just a few warp minutes from Eteron. The entire region of space was known by the locales as The Triangle, due it’s unique position, wedged in-between Klingon and Romulan territory. Understandingly never a popular place to live it had deservingly gained a somewhat seedy reputation. A no-man’s land right at the back door of the Federation. “Akinola is convinced that Shuun might be expecting a move by us and is preparing a trap for just that eventuality. I doubt they can come up with anything to stop the firepower of a Galaxy though.”
“I take it they had some sort of plan,” asked Star.
“You must have noticed the Corvallen freighter when we arrived.”
Mahoney glanced out of the window. There, in between the massive Heracles and the multiple times smaller border cutter Bluefin, was an even smaller and rather uninviting looking amber colored ship. “What that heap of junk?”
“According to Akinola it has been outfitted with an improved warp drive and shields. It should also draw little attention around Eteron where it’d fit right in,” he said and took a small breath before continuing. “I’ll be blunt, I don’t think this is something the Border Service should be doing, not while we’re here. I have suggested to Captain Akinola that we implement their plan instead and he has agreed.”
This time Star couldn’t suppress a sly grin. She had a pretty good idea just how agreeable Akinola would have been to Schwarzkopf’s so-called suggestion.
“Shuun will be on Eteron in 48 hours. We will assemble an extraction team and take the freighter to Eteron in exactly 42 hours. I will give you more detailed instructions shortly. Schwarzkopf out.”
And with that he vanished from the wall screen in the observation lounge. Not taking questions or asking for recommendations. He knew exactly what he wanted and he would make sure he would get it. It was how Tazla would have done it. And again she was appalled by it.
She could see her Ariolo security chief slightly shake is huge head. “It is a mistake to wait that long,” he said with his deep, raspy sounding voice. “We should leave for Eteron as soon as possible and have Shuun come to us instead of the other way.”
“It’s his call,” Mahoney said. “I’m sure Schwarzkopf knows exactly what he’s doing?”
Star wondered if Mahoney had asked for a transfer onto the Heracles, the way he seemed to be supporting Schwarzkopf. She wouldn’t have minded the request at all. In fact she would have encouraged it.
“He certainly seems quite sure of himself, doesn’t he?” asked Newheiser and for whatever reason decided to focus on Star while he spoke, he appeared to be carefully studying her expression while he spoke. “Wouldn’t you agree, Captain?”
Star stood. Her sign that the meeting was concluded. “He has command of this operation, so we do as he says. That’s all,” she said sharply and headed for the doors. She had a thing about being the first one out of a meeting.
“Always in such a hurry,” the doctor continued. “I wonder what it is that compels her to make such swift withdrawals,” he said to nobody in particular.
Mahoney was the next to stand. “We have our orders. N’ek’too, I want you to prepare a strike team with your best people. We don’t know yet how many resources Schwarzkopf wants us to contribute but its best to be prepared. Run some drills on extraction scenarios until we get more orders.”
The Ariolo nodded sharply and left.
“Sometimes I do wonder, Mister Mahoney,” Newheiser said as he stood,” who really runs this ship.”
He gave the doctor a puzzled look. “I bet your pardon, doctor.”
“I think you heard me,” Newheiser replied and stepped up right next to him. “Don’t fool yourself. The crew knows about your relationship with our dear, pretty captain. Or should I say the lack thereof?”
“You know I really think that this is hardly any of the crews business. Or yours.”
He shrugged. “Maybe not. But I do like to know who I’m supposed to answer to. And something tells me it isn’t Star,” he said and walked towards the doors. “At least not a whole lot longer,” he almost whispered just before he left the puzzled first officer by himself.
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Good opening!
His poor nephew must be wondering why the hell he took a post on his uncle's ship right about now. McBride handled the situation well, though, providing just enough of a backboard for the captain's thoughts that Akinola managed to talk himself through what was bothering him. That show's great maturity on McBride's part, as well as solid instincts.
