Sorry about the long delay in waiting for the next post. Life got real busy and I got hung up on this next part. Don't know why, just did. Thank fully, lots of stuff after this sorted out and we'll be a bit more regular [at least for a bit 
] Thanks for the patience and of course reading and for any comments given.
This segment continues Dr. Judith Monroe's flashback.
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B]The Mountains of Ponthoon Lunar 5[/B]
Little Judy woke with a start. The cold biting into her skin brought her to. She pulled a blanket up under her chin. Shivering under her covers, she brought her focus on her surrounds. No longer was she being jarred and jolted by the movement of the jeep. Instead, she found herself huddled in a corner of small cavern. Looking at the entrance, she concluded that she must be in one of the many caves that lined the steep sides of the mountains.
Around her, others lay huddled in semblances of their homes, blankets and clothes used to shelter them from the cold of Ponthoon’s nights. The night sky was clear leaving the refugees in the cold of the world’s nights. Some lay moaning from injuries received in the attacks.
Little Judy took in the shattered remnants of the colony huddled here. No doubt, other caverns in these and other mountains across the planet, held other survivors. Or so they could only hope. A lone nurse moved among the injured tending what little medicine and care she could among the many injured and sick. A few others tried to assist but with little medical knowledge they were reduced to offering support and issuing rations.
At the entrance, sentries stood watching over the valley below. Hoping to spy any pursuers from the attacks. They stood with weapons ready. These weapons were like her father’s simple weapons for use on the farms and to protect from the wilder beasts of the planet. The weapons, and the sentries who bore them, were not suited or expected to fight in such a fashion.
Near to the entrance, she spied her father in a small group of angry men. Drawing the blanket around her shoulders and picking herself up carefully from the floor, so as not to disturb her grandmother lying next to her, Judy padded towards her father. Upon approaching, she could hear clearly the angry voices of the men and the calmer voice of her father.
“Enough of this! My family has been killed and injured. I will not stand here and wait for the Nausicaans to come and hunt the rest of us down.” Angry tears filled the man’s eyes that stared at Judy’s father accusingly. “Won’t you be satisfied until they’ve come here and killed my only boy?” He gestured at the small form of a blonde soot covered waif looking up with scared, sad eyes.
Judy’s father looked at the boy and then spied Judy too. His features softened to a meek smile and then he turned to the accusing father. “As have I lost family. My little girl here has no mother. Do you suggest I charge off to battle Nausicaans and leave her with no father too? Leave her here, unprotected, so that they can find her?” Judy blanched and cowered at the prospect. Her father seeing this, ran over to the frightened girl and picked her up. Hugging her tight in his arms, he turned to the other men and forcibly told them and reassured Judy, “I won’t do it. I won’t leave her alone to go on a suicide run fuelled by revenge that can achieve nothing. You won’t even have your revenge Maddox. They’ll cut you down before you get anywhere near.”
Clutching his rifle, Maddox returned just as forcibly. “They can try but I’ll have my revenge.”
“And your son can bury two parents come the morning. Not enough losing his sisters is it?” Judy winced, the small waif whimpered, and Judy’s father cursed himself at his harsh words. But they seemed to have effect as the man staggered backwards and then stooped to stoop up his little boy. Tears spilled down his cheeks as he hugged, kissed and whispered words of fatherly love to the last of his family.
An elder man however scratched at his head. Dried blood plastering a deep gash over one eye. His ear and clothes were similarly caked in blood. “So what do we do? We might not be wise heading out to attack the Nausicaans head on but we can’t just sit here hiding. They’ll track us down. I don’t want to scaremonger but tis the truth and ye all know it.”
“Starfleet will come before that.”
“Bah! Starfleet.” The old man waved the suggestion off. He staggered over to a rock and seated himself on the makeshift stool. He produced a flask from his deep pocket. Unscrewing the cap he took a greedy gulp of the alcohol within. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he smacked his lips as if he had downed a life saving medicine. “Starfleet? Starfleet! Huh. They’ve left us to rot. Would we be prey to attack from Nausicaans if we were Vulcan, Andoria? No. But because we are merely a piddly frontier world. Fodder. That’s all we are. Fodder. At the most, we are a breadbasket for the Federation. A mere obstacle should some unfriendly force come tripping across the border. A safety valve. Measly offerings to be had for the picking so the likes of those bastarding Nausicaan don’t go interfering with fancier folk from richer more important worlds.”
“For all their talk of a precious society that values one and all, it’s a pile of crock.” He pointed at himself defiantly. “I should know. I’ve farmed on this world for decades now. And in all that time, the Federation has never cared a damn about our fates. Where are the promised infrastructure developments? Where are ..?”
“Donald, enough.” A scolding woman, leaning on a crutch hobbled forwards. Her right leg packaged in bandaging. “Yes the Federation didn’t come through on many of its promises. But we came here to carve out our own world, our own infrastructure. And if it weren’t for the medical care the Federation brought to our world, our little boys would never have survived the Altarian Plague outbreak. Nor would many of us who lived back then.” She looked around the cavern and met defiantly the eyes of those who looked upon her. Her voice carried despite her small frame and Donald shrank in on himself, mumbling under his breath. “This is our world. We will make of it what we will. But we are a part of the Federation. And what this young man says is true, the Federation will come. They’ve never let us down before. They always come through in the end.”
“Bah Mary. You always lilted wistfully about the them. The Fleeters are too busy cosying up to new worlds, exploiting their resources and studying nebulas.”
Mary lifted her chin and looked down her nose at Donald. “May be. But I’ll tell you what. The Dogs will come.”
“Ack!” Donald dismissed her beliefs, although not as convincingly this time round.
“Oh my God!” One of the sentries shouted in alarm and the cavern erupted in screams and chaos as five Nausicaans charged the sentry post, gutting the two farmers come failed guards, before unleashing mayhem within.
Without a thought or a glance behind, Judy’s father charged out the back passage with the other fleeing colonists with Judy’s small frame wrapped around him. She clung for dear life as he pushed and barrelled down the passage with the others. Any thought of standing bravely and holding off the horde dismissed immediately as his primary concern became getting Judy away from the carnage.
Into the night the escaping colonists ran. In different directions and with shouts and calls for family they disappeared into the night. But around them menacing shadows moved and zeroed in on their positions. Hunting the injured, the frail, the weak, the small, the fathers, the mothers, and the innocent. The stalking Nausicaans came and the screams started.
Judy and her father though, ran on. The screams and the figures dragged to the ground were left behind as they broke through the bushes and dove down into the scattered trees that struggled to hang to life at the side of the mountains. But the cover was sparse and the trees mere branches. Slabs of rocks funnelled into broken water riven veins down towards the valley. Judy’s father smashed into them, stumbled through the tough, wiry bush that had to be hardy enough to survive the extreme climates of Ponthoon.
The sounds of the bloodshed above and behind them on the mountaintop disappeared. However, in the quiet they could hear crashing in the bush, signs of pursuers hunting them down. So on they had to run, even as the sounds crept closer and closer, hungry snarls accompanying the crashing sounds.
Looking back over her father’s shoulder, Judy could make out the looming shapes of the Nausicaans in pursuit through the trees and between the rocks. Her view constantly jarred by the desperate race across the uneven downward sloping terrain. But then a terrifying visage filled her view as a Nausicaan beast bore down on them. He smashed into them and it propelled her father to the ground. Hitting the ground hard they tumbled and tumbled with Judy falling away from her father. With a cry she came to a stop as she slapped into a tree trunk.
The Nausicaans rushed to a stop and grinned a macabre thirsty grin. “Lovely!” This tall brute advanced towards a whimpering Judy. She pulled her knees up tight. Behind the monster, she could see two more advancing on her unconscious father, their knives drawn and brutish teeth already dripping with blood.
Judy whimpered a soft but pleading cry. “No.”
“It won’t hurt little one ... for too long!” He hoarsely laughed withdrawing a long blade. The look of bloodlust and madness fervent upon his face as he stepped closer to her.
“Ahem.” A voice cleared its throat above them. A lone figure stoop atop one of the rock outcrops. He wore a uniform Judy recognised as being vaguely Starfleet. And he stood with a cockish grin illuminated in the moonlight, leaning on an umbrella. “I’m somebody your own size.”
The Nausicaan looked up, stooped over Judy, his dagger blade inches from her throat. “Huh, I don’t think so.” He stood up to his full impressive height.
“No. Maybe not then.” The figure admittedly, unperturbed, then inclined his head in the direction behind the Nausicaan. “But I’m pretty sure he is.”
“Pathetic human. I’m not like to –ngh!” The Nausicaan fell a dagger driven to the hilt into his skull. Judy looked on wide-eyed with fear and amazement as a huge cat came out from the darkness.
“Fang!” He intoned in a scolding voice. “I was trying to give him a fighting chance.”
“There’s six more of them.” He plucked the dagger out of the skull and looked over to the two frozen Nausicaans lumbering over Judy’s father watching the two spectres. “They’ll have plenty of fighting chances.”
The man atop the rock crop smiled delightedly. “I suppose you’re right Fang. Stay tight little miss.” He turned then and ran throwing himself off the rocks and into the fray. The large cat, a Kzinti, Judy thought amazed, shot off in a different direction. After a second or two, hollers and sounds of engagement came from that direction.
Looking back towards her father, Judy saw the man with the umbrella stab it one of the Nausicaans whilst firing his phaser at the second. He felled the second Nausicaan and went hand to hand with the first, swathing the umbrella around like a sword and pummelling fist blows into the Nausicaan’s face.
Enraged the Nausicaan tossed the umbrella aside, grabbed the man by the lapels and threw him backwards. The man slammed into the rockface. “No good you giving me your angry face. Besides, didn’t your mother tell you if you pull a face and the wind changes it’ll stay that way. I have to tell you. That isn’t a good look you’ve got there.”
The Nausicaan growled in response.
“Tough audience. What did you do? Swallow a dictionary. You’re a regular walking lexicon mate.” He darted forward and head butted the beast. The unexpected blow causing it to stagger backwards, losing balance almost tripping over the form of Judy’s father, the uniformed man darted forwards again to throw the beast to the ground. He pulled a dagger from the leg of the Nausicaan and with a swift vicious flick cut his throat. The beast stilled and the man stood triumphant over his trophy.
The night air quieten again and in a moment a bloody and smiling Kzinti returned to the fold as Judy’s father stirred and started calling for Judy. She hurried over to his side and helped him to sit up.
“Take it easy. You’re safe now. So is ... Judy.” The man reassured Judy’s father who frowned in confusion at the turn of events and then grew alarmed at the frightful sight of the Kzinti. “Not to worry. The big cat is with me. He’s nothing to feared. Give him a ball of wool and you’ll keep him entertained for hours.”
The Kzinti glowered and rolled his eyes in despair. This elicited a small laugh from Judy. To see the laughter in his daughter’s face after the day of hell brought tears to her father.
“Th ... thank you so much.”
The uniformed man pretended to not notice the thanks broken by constant sobs as the father kissed his little girl and held her protectively in his arms. “No bother. All part of the job. Though we do accept tips.”
“Thank you so much. The rest of the colony!”
The Kzinti looked back up the mountain keenly, apparently ill at ease remaining here and desiring to get back to the fight. “Our people our helping. The others will be ok.”
“What Fang said, everyone will be fine. We beamed in at the right time. A minute later and we’d have missed you and the little girl disappearing into the night and being pursued by these animals.”
“Who are you? Where did you come from?”
“The name’s McGregor, Chief of the Boats, USS
Kestrel. This is my pet, Rah Eyrrs. He likes it if you tickle him behind the ears.”
The Kzinti frowned. “We must be going. The captain will be wanting to know our sit-rep.”
“He can put it in his pipe. Nevertheless, we best be going. Take care. And never fear little girl. The Border Patrol will always be there.” He winked and then disappeared into the night behind the Kzinti. Back to the fight.
Young Judy watched as the man disappeared. She watched and marvelled at the fighting spirit. The swagger and the cool but brutal demeanour. And she looked up at her father and remembered his promise that help would come from the skies above. Marvelled at the certainly of that promise and how it was faithfully kept by these ... heroes.
She looked back at the stars trying to decipher which star above was ship in orbit. A starship dedicated to protecting them. A starship staffed by brave persons, awesome and scary persons capable of such bravery and dedication. A starship serving in the Border Patrol. A starship called
Kestrel.
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I hope the relationship between him and the yeoman pans out. 
