USS PYTHEAS (Dauntless Repost)

[BrotherBenny]

Chapter Eighteen

USS Pytheas
Keleera system
Stardate 55384.5 (May 21, 2378)

The Pytheas slowed to half impulse as it entered the system at an oblique angle to the sun, aiming for the third planet. According to the sensors, Keleera III was a O-class planet, more than eighty percent of the surface was covered in water, the remaining twenty percent being a string of volcanic islands which stretched across the globe in a giant crescent. Ensign Larson put the ship into a high orbit as ordered by Wright. He then put the thrusters into standby mode and took the impulse engines offline.

'I'm ready, sir,' Larson informed Wright.

'Bridge to engineering; Commander Xeris, take the warp core offline, vent all plasma from the nacelles and standby to engage atmospheric thrusters.'

'Aye sir,' the chief engineer replied.

Gonzales tapped her combadge. 'This is Commander Gonzales, we are preparing to land the ship. Go to blue alert and all personnel go to code blue stations.'

As the bridge lighting changed from white to blue, Wright sat back down in the command chair.

'Descent course plotted, landing zone is the largest island in the northern hemisphere,' Larson said.

'Very good,' Wright replied. 'Continue preparations.'

'Landing mechanisms online, inertial dampers at maximum.'

'All decks report condition blue, Commander,' Gonzales said.

Wright nodded. 'Take her down, Larson, steady as she goes.'

'Aye sir,' Larson replied as the Pytheas began its descent.

The Intrepid-class starship slipped into the upper atmosphere and descended on a glide trajectory which would reduce any stresses on the already damaged hull. The ship started to shake as it was buffeted by the high winds of the lower atmosphere but Larson kept the ship on course.

'Status?' Wright asked.

'Altitude, one hundred kilometres; speed, ten thousand kph,' Larson replied with a quick glance at the controls to his right.

'Keep her steady,' Wright said as the ship shuddered.

'Twenty kilometres to the landing zone, speed four thousand kph. We're coming through the cloud cover,' Larson responded coolly.

'Extend landing struts, prepare to release inertial dampers and adjust them to match the planet's gravity.'

Larson tapped out a command sequence with one hand as the other kept the ship steady. From the underside of the engineering section, the landing struts emerged and locked into position.

'Standing by on environmental controls,' Talen added from operations.

Landing a starship was a well-oiled routine, even for those who had never done so before. All it took was for everyone to know what they needed to do and when they needed to do it. The ship levelled out and slowed further, coming in to land on an open plain at the base of a steaming volcano.

'Disengaging engines, securing thruster exhaust, we're down,' Larson said as the Pytheas' struts came into contact with solid ground.

'Start organising repair crews,' Wright ordered. 'I don't want us down here too long.'

'Aye sir,' Gonzales replied. 'I'll speak with Xeris about his prioritising the schedule.'

'Good, I'll be in my ready room if you need me. Have Mahtani join me.'

Wright sat behind the desk and pulled out a padd.

'Have you been able to make any preparations on this?' Wright asked when Mahtani entered.

'Yes sir, I've made the calculations and input them into deflector control. I just need to reconfigure the dish to create the energy pulses.'

'How long will it take you?'

'About two hours, sir.'

'The deflector dish took a little damage in our scuffle with the Cha'lav. Inform Xeris that you'll make the repairs while you make some adjustments. If he asks you exactly what you're doing, I'm sure you'll be able to respond with a plausible lie.'

'Yes sir,' Mahtani muttered.

'Is there a problem, Lieutenant?'

'Permission to speak freely, sir?'

'Granted.'

'I don't know if you're aware of this, but I know exactly what you're planning to do with those modifications.'

'Do you, now?'

'Yes sir. What you're planning is dangerous.'

'What I plan to do with those modifications is no concern of yours, Lieutenant. All you need to know is that if I succeed, it will be better for the crew, for this ship and for Starfleet.'

Mahtani narrowed his eyes. 'Aye sir.'

'Dismissed, and make sure those modifications are complete before we leave this planet.'

'Aye sir,' the science officer replied and left.

Wright continued to sit in the chair and gazed at the contents of the padd. There was something niggling at the back of his mind and he decided to check it out, wondering if he was being paranoid or not. He stood up and left the ready room, leaving Gonzales in charge still. The hydroponics bay was quiet and he entered without anyone seeing him. Striding to the end of the third row, he paused, noticing that the last tray was empty.

'Computer, who was the last person in here?'

'Lieutenant Commander Sheena Gonzales,' the computer answered.

'Damn you,' he muttered. 'How much more do you know? How much do they all know?'

He was about to leave when he noticed that something had been left in the tray as well, half buried in the soil. A medical tricorder set to constantly record. He picked it up and switched it off, then smashed it against the bulkhead. The clever little doctor knew something as well, but the question was what. That was three of the senior staff so far, four if you included the captain, may she rest on ice forever, he thought to himself.

Wright returned to the bridge, determined to keep tighter rein on his senior officers, lest they decide they can get the better of him. Monitoring their every movement would take up too much time, but he could prevent them from meeting each other during their off-duty hours and knew that when he called the next staff meeting in eleven hours, they would have cause to dislike him. It was time that this ship started to function as a single whole, not distinct parts with officers and their agendas dictating things.

The next one to find out what he was up to would find themselves dead, in an unfortunately fatal accident.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Chapter Nineteen

USS Pytheas
Keleera system
Stardate 55386.0 (May 21, 2378)

Doctor Arlon Maxx stood in front of the screen in sickbay with Talen standing beside him. Both were looking at the display from the medical tricorder before it had been smashed. What they had received was more than enough to confirm their suspicions but not enough to do anything about it. They needed Gonzales and Parker as well but Wright had suddenly made extensive shift changes a few hours ago, meaning they wouldn't get to talk at all.

'What can we do?' Maxx asked.

'On our own? Nothing,' Talen replied. 'But I do have an idea.'

'What?'

'I can't tell you yet, but you have to trust me. When I give you the signal, you have to do what I'm about to tell you straight away.'

Maxx nodded. 'What's the signal?'

'If I'm right, you'll know when.'

'What do I have to do?'

As Talen explained his plan, Maxx looked suitably shocked and his face paled. 'Are you crazy?' he asked, backing away.

'You know it's safe, Doctor,' Talen pressed. 'It's the only way we can make sure she's safe!'

Maxx slumped, recognising the truth in that. 'I'll be ready.'

Talen nodded. 'I'll bring Gonzales and Parker in, and Mahtani too, I think he knows more than we do about what's going on.'

'Be careful, Wright suspects Mahtani, remember.'

'I know,' the Andorian replied as he left sickbay.

Maxx decided to go to the crew lounge, hoping to find something to occupy his time with. His shift was over and he didn't feel like going to his quarters and reading the latest Starfleet medical journals. Before he left, he entered the morgue and looked at Captain Astar's stasis chamber. He engaged a security seal on the drawer, something he had never done before, and then he gave strict instructions to the computer which locked out any possibility of them being countermanded.

'Doctor Maxx, please report to engineering,' Xeris suddenly called.

'On my way,' he replied, grabbing his medical kit as he headed that way. 'What's the problem?'

'One of my fool engineers cracked his skull open and he's in a shielded section, no way to transport him out.'

'Acknowledged,' the Bolian replied. 'Maxx to Kornilov and Swha, meet me in engineering with a stretcher, code two.'

'On our way,' technician Kornilov replied.

When Maxx reached engineering, he saw that the situation was far more serious than it originally seemed. The engineer in question was a Gallamite, and his brain was extremely delicate, hence the reason they had evolved with transparent skulls, so any abnormality would show up straight away in the discolouration of their cerebral fluid.

'Damn, I'm going to need more than what's in here for him,' Maxx cursed but knelt beside the dying engineer and checked him over with the tricorder. His fears were confirmed. 'His brain has been damaged. Without the exact composition of the fluid to regulate his brain, it will start to shut down in the next few minutes.'

'What can we do?' Xeris asked.

'I need someone to get a osteo-regenerator so I can seal the skull. Then I need to find out the composition of the cerebral fluid.'

'Can't the tricorder tell you that?'

'For any other species, yes, because there are only a few hundred neurotransmitters. Gallamites have several thousand, and if there's an imbalance, they can die. Did you see the colour of his fluid when he hit his head?'

'It went a kind of mustard colour and then went clear again.'

Maxx nodded. 'That's a good sign, it means that his brain cleared itself of a dangerous imbalance.'

'The osteo-regenerator's coming, Doc.'

'He'll need to be moved to sickbay as soon as he's stable so I can monitor the neurotransmitter balance.'

'How long before I can get him back? He's the best warp specialist I have,' Xeris asked.

'At least two days, I won't release him from sickbay until he's recovered.'

Xeris nodded. 'Fine, if you'll excuse me, I have to fix my engines.'

As the Romulan walked away, Maxx noticed someone duck into a Jeffries tube, someone in a red uniform. He frowned, wondering if they would reappear but they didn't and the osteo-regenerator arrived so he concentrated on his patient. Within minutes, the tricorder had stopped its frantic bleeping as the engineer's lifesigns started to stabilise. An extensive scan with the tricorder on the leaked cerebral fluid had given him at least an idea of the balance of neurotransmitters.

'You can move him,' he said to Kornilov. 'But be careful. I want him put on these neurotransmitters as soon as he's in sickbay,' he added, passing across the medical tricorder.

Kornilov handed his tricorder to Maxx and nodded, helping Swha to move the Gallamite onto the antigrav stretcher. Maxx picked up his medical kit, intending to return to sickbay when another frantic call was received, this time by Lieutenant Parker.

'Medical emergency, Doctor Maxx report to holodeck one immediately.'

'On my way,' he acknowledged, sprinting for the turbolift to take him to deck fourteen. 'What's the problem?'

'Just get down here!'

It took less than two minutes for him to reach holodeck one and as soon as the doors opened, he understood the emergency, and the reason Parker refused to elaborate. Lying on the deck was the unconscious form of the ship's chief science officer, Lieutenant Jamal Mahtani. Maxx knelt beside him and checked him over with the tricorder.

'Lieutenant, he's dead.'

'Computer, run program Mahtani-37 with safeties engaged,' Parker instructed.

Immediately, the holodeck came to life, the scene was jungle assault course, and the safeties included just a net in the lower canopy.

'What is this?'

'This is a jungle survival course from the Nasat homeworld. Mahtani has run this program every week since the ship left Spacedock. Today he took the safeties off.'

'You and I both know that's not what happened.'

Parker nodded. 'Wright asked him to do something, and he's done it. He wasn't needed anymore.'

Maxx agreed. 'We have no evidence, but we have to report this to him anyway.'

Parker's shoulders slumped. 'Come on, let's get this out of the way. I'll seal the room. Come and have your technicians take a look and collect evidence, not that I think we'll find any.'

'He disengaged the safeties, maybe the computer recorded the tampering,' Maxx offered.

'Maybe,' Parker replied, taking another glance at Mahtani's broken body before leaving the holodeck.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Chapter Twenty

USS Pytheas
Keleera system
Stardate 55388.9 (May 22, 2378)

With the repairs now complete, as best they could be without a starbase, the Pytheas was back in space and ready to head to the Eeroth system to finish what they started. Lieutenant Commander Xeris had checked every repair personally, and while he was sure something about the calibration of the deflector dish was off, everything checked out and he had given Wright the all clear to proceed. As the ship jumped to warp, Xeris noticed a message light blinking on the terminal in his office. Someone was trying to contact him and be discreet about it. He sat down and watched the message appear on the monitor. It disappeared after precisely eleven seconds and a second message appeared, remaining on screen for the same period of time. The terminal went blank and Xeris stood up.

Now he knew exactly what was wrong with the deflector dish and also that there was nothing he could do without it showing up on Wright's console on the bridge. The man was thoroughly devious, and as a Romulan he could respect the man for that. But as a Starfleet officer, he wanted to space the bastard. Sabotaging the dish would be suicide for the crew, but allowing Wright to go through with his plan wasn't going to leave them much better off, but they would have a chance. Xeris decided on using his own methods of counter-terrorism and left engineering in the capable hands of Lieutenant Queran, the Xindi-Arboreal assistant chief engineer.

'I didn't think you'd be long,' Gonzales said as Xeris entered his quarters.

'I thought you were on the bridge,' the chief engineer replied.

'I am, I recorded this earlier, so Wright couldn't trace it back to me. You know what he's planning and what it means for us. Talen has already got Maxx sorted out, and Parker is just about ready to vaporise him. We can't risk bringing Larson in, we'll just have to hope that he stays out of the way.'

'I can't see that happening,' Xeris muttered and was surprised when the hologram replied.

'Neither can I, but we'll deal with that when the time comes.'

Xeris nodded. 'How long do you think we have?'

'He'll wait until the Eeroth crisis has been resolved and we're heading back to Kursican space before attempting his manoeuvre.'

'Then we have to be ready to take back the ship as soon as possible.'

'Maxx knows what he has to do, and I know what I have to do. Talen has thought of everything it would seem. Here's what you need to do.'

'Can we trust the Andorian?' Xeris interrupted.

'We have to, but to answer your next question, yes he is trustworthy.'

'Good enough for me,' the Romulan replied. 'What do you need from me?'

'Wright will need an extraordinary amount of energy to power the deflector dish. When you get the signal, and you'll know what it is, you have to take the warp core offline.'

'I can't do that on a whim.'

'We both know you're capable of doing what needs to be done. This is the only way we're going to be able to stop him.'

Xeris nodded, Gonzales smiled and the hologram vanished. 'Accursed technology.'

'Bridge to Xeris,' Wright called over the comm.

'Xeris here.'

'Why aren't you in engineering, Commander?'

Xeris scowled. 'I needed something from my quarters, Commander.'

'You will address me as Captain, or you will be relieved of duty.'

'Aye sir,' Xeris retorted.

'Try again, Commander. No more tricks. You're skirting insubordination as it is.'

The smug tone rubbed the Romulan engineer the wrong way. 'You don't deserve to be called, Captain, whatever the regulations say.'

'You're relieved. I suggest you stay in your quarters unless you want security to babysit you.'

'I'll stay in my quarters,' Xeris replied. A smile formed on his face, but it didn't reach his eyes. Instead they cooled a burning rage into a cold fury, one that would be eminently useful whether they succeeded in stopping Wright, or not.

Opening a cabinet in his bedroom, Xeris dragged out a box and entered a code that only he knew. Inside the box was a collection of weaponry unrivalled in the Federation, and all of it was in perfect working order. This was usually the first item he had brought aboard any new posting because of all the security checks it went through. It was made from pure kelbonite which made it impossible to transport and he had so far managed to convince the chief of security on every ship he'd served on that it was innocuous.

That was going to change now as both Parker and Gonzales were going to learn what was inside. Since he was stuck in his quarters for the foreseeable future, he decided to clean the weapons so they were ready for use. He'd neglected their care of late and it was starting to show on some of the older ones. He had the feeling that he was going to need them. Of course, shutting down the ship was important, perhaps the most important, but he had plenty of time to write a neat little program to help him with that.

Xeris continued to clean his weapons and as he did so, he wondered what his lover had done, or convinced Wright of, to have that little head to head. He admired her tenacity, as well as her lithe figure, and her cunning ways almost matched his own. In his opinion, however, it was Talen who was the weak link. He was the one who was organising everything, and trying to stay one or two steps ahead of Wright, but Xeris wasn't sure that the Andorian was up to the task, hence the reason for the array of weapons he was currently dealing with.

'I want that devious bastard to pay for Mahtani's death and I know just the weapon to use,' Xeris muttered to himself as he picked up a curved blade from his weapons cache. 'Poetic justice.'

 

[BrotherBenny]

Chapter Twenty-One

USS Pytheas
En route to Eeroth IV
Stardate 55389.0 (May 22, 2378)

Lieutenant Talen ignored the twitching of his antennae whenever he thought of Mahtani's death and the fact that Commander Wright had not performed any kind of funeral, instead having the body placed in stasis. There would be time later for such issues to be dealt with, the Eeroth were currently the top priority. It had been eight hours since they arrived and this time President Rashal had neither contacted them or done anything to remove them. In fact, there had been no contact with anyone either on the planet, the moons, or any vessels in that time.

'Sensors?' Wright asked for the tenth time. 'Show me that there is someone still alive.'

'Sensors show no living being on the surface, sir,' Gonzales replied. 'But there are still power generation plants operating.'

'Time to send an away team,' Wright said, looking at the tactical and acting first officer. 'Go to one of the power plants and see if you find anyone left alive. I want to know what happened while we were gone.'

'Aye sir,' Gonzales said. 'Talen, you're with me. I'll have a security team meet us in the transporter room.'

Talen stood up and caught Wright's gaze as he entered the turbolift. It was not something he wanted to experience again. The man looked at him as if he was not going to be returning to the ship, and the fact that it didn't matter. As soon as the turbolift doors closed, he slumped.

'Gonzales to security, have a team meet me in transporter room one.'

'Acknowledged,' Parker replied.

'He thinks this is a suicide mission,' Talen stated.

'I know,' Gonzales replied. 'But the only way for us to know what happened down there is to see it for ourselves. The Cha'lav-Aquatic ship was destroyed before it could do any permanent damage, and unless the rebels were able to repair and replace their damaged satellites, then there shouldn't be anything in this system capable of killing everyone.'

'The Cha'lav?'

'We'd see some evidence of their return.'

Talen nodded. 'Then something more catastrophic happened to them.'

'It would seem so, but we won't know for certain until we get down there.'

'Should we take a shuttle instead?'

'Sensors show a normal M-class atmosphere, nothing unusual at all, except for the fact that a population of a few hundred million has just vanished.'

The turbolift doors opened and Ensign Hoya stood waiting. Standing next to the Benzite was Cadet Jenak, and chief petty officer D'rass, a Caitian. The five of them proceeded into the transporter room and the transporter chief nodded to them.

'Coordinates are set,' he said.

'What coordinates? Gonzales asked, checking them over. 'These are nowhere near any power plants. Transporter room to bridge, where are supposed to be going, Commander?'

'We've just picked up a single humanoid lifesign. That's where you're going,' Wright said and cut the channel.

'Everybody ready?' she asked her team as she joined them on the transporter pad.

They nodded.

'Energise.'

The first thing the Andorian noticed as he materialised on the surface was that it was dryer than he had been to believe. Initial scans had shown the Eeroth homeworld to be a verdant paradise, and the recent attack shown have caused extensive rainfall, not a desertification. The three members of the security team fanned out, phasers in hand, and Gonzales took out her tricorder.

'I'm not picking up any lifeforms here at all, and the level of power being generated from the nearest plant is negligible, as if it was in the process of being shut down.'

'Commander, over here,' Cadet Jenak called.

Gonzales and Talen ran over to the cadet's position and saw the child she held in her arms. He was no more than ten years old and was clearly in trouble.

'There's a cave system over there,' Jenak pointed. 'He ran out and collapsed.'

'Cadet, go with him directly to sickbay and inform Commander Wright of the situation. We'll investigate the caves.'

'Be careful, sir.'

'Always, Cadet,' Gonzales replied and ran for the caves. Talen followed her and the two remaining security officers brought up the rear. Jenak disappeared in a pillar of light and they made it to the caves just as the ground rumbled.

'What was that?' D'rass asked.

'It wasn't a ground tremor,' the Andorian answered, consulting his tricorder. 'It came from orbit.'

'What did?' Gonzales asked.

'A neutron torpedo.'

'What?'

'That's why there are no people here, Commander. The neutron torpedoes have wiped out almost every living thing, from the Eeroth to the plants to the micro-organisms.'

'Who launched those torpedoes?'

'One of the satellites in orbit,' he replied. 'There's nothing else within range.'

'There may still be some people living in the caves,' D'rass added. 'We should find out.'

'We will, but we need to contact Wright first, and have him destroy that satellite.'

'Aye sir,' Talen said and tapped his combadge. 'Away team to Pytheas.'

'Go ahead, Lieutenant,' Wright answered.

'The satellite above our position is launching neutron torpedoes at the surface. Almost every living thing has been obliterated, leaving what's left of the cities intact for someone else to occupy.'

'Like the rebels?' Wright asked, sounding angry.

'Possibly, sir, but we haven't seen them either.'

'Send the coordinates of the satellite to the tactical station, Lieutenant. What is the situation down there?'

'We're going to investigate a cave system that may contain survivors, sir.'

'Proceed, and keep me informed.'

'Aye sir, away team out.'

'Let's go, hopefully we'll find survivors and answers.'

As the group descended further into the cave system, Talen became worried. He knew that Wright would destroy the satellite, but could not shake the feeling that the rampaging human would not do something to kill another member of the crew, or two, if given the opportunity.

'My tricorder's picking up lifesigns ahead, dozens of them,' Gonzales said.

'Thank the Great Cats,' D'rass muttered. 'We can take them back to the surface, let them know it's safe.'

'If they trust us.'

'They have to,' Talen said. 'We're they're only hope.'

 

[BrotherBenny]

Chapter Twenty-Two

Guest Quarters
Starbase 535
Stardate 55390.1 (May 23, 2378)

Lieutenant Commander Miles Murdoch stared out of the window of his private quarters aboard the starbase and considered all the colonies in the nearby star systems who were now heavily armed. Like his Academy friend, Tom Paris, the first officer of Voyager, he had an interest in the twentieth century and often spent a lot of time researching the period. One thing that bothered him about that time was the proliferation of small arms and the number of deaths that resulted from their unregulated use. He didn't think people today were as likely to use phasers against their neighbours for imagined slights but he knew that when fear took hold, all bets were off. Once Admiral Ranar learned of Logan's order, he countermanded it but allowed those colonies who already had the weapons to keep them, provided they were used against the enemy and kept locked up otherwise.

Murdoch's conscience also bothered him about one other thing. He had reported everything to Admiral Nechayev, and that included Linnis and her impressive abilities. Normally they would have asked that he return for a thorough debriefing, but this time they asked him to keep the girl close and make sure she was safe. They knew something more than they were telling him and he didn't like that, especially where she was concerned. The only problem was that he had no one he could talk to about the situation, no one to ask for advice—well, almost no one.

'Computer, open a channel to Lieutenant Paul Marshall, chief of security, USS Everest.'

'Stand by,' the computer answered.

Murdoch hated the fact that he had been separated from Paul for one of Nechayev's urgent missions but there was nothing untoward in the two of them communicating. Especially since the freighter cover had been blown a few days ago and they were now both back in uniform permanently. Murdoch considered his options and realised that there was very little he could do. With all the resources at their disposal, Starfleet Intelligence could easily find him, no matter where he went, but he had to get Linnis to a place of impenetrable safety. He had a feeling that she was going to be needed for something important.

'Miles, you look lost,' Lieutenant Marshall said from the screen.

'That's not far off my current state of mind,' the Intelligence operative replied. 'I have a little problem and I need a solution. I was hoping that you'd be able to help.'

'What do you need me to do?' Marshall asked, not even questioning his lover.

Murdoch explained his plan without revealing to anyone who might be listening in.

'I'll see what I can do and let you in a day or two,' Marshall replied.

'Thank you, and I'm sorry I have to do this.'

'You're welcome, Marshall out.'

Murdoch considered the option and went in search of his charge. She should have been sleeping but wasn't there. He thought he'd find her in the long-range shuttle Nechayev had appropriated for his use. Ynelav IV was only a few hours away at warp, so there should be no problem in getting there before anyone realised he had gone.

'Commander,' a voice said and Murdoch turned to see Commander Madden.

'Sir?'

'Logan issued a recall order a few hours ago. The Cha'lav have destroyed one of the Resoto refugee worlds. They've found the others as well. Command has ordered him not to intervene so he's called everyone back.'

'Because they'll be coming here next,' Murdoch said.

'That's what we thought too. The Independence and the Ditagh are also docked, waiting for the fight.'

'We're going to need more than that if we have any hope of sending the Cha'lav a message they won't forget.'

'True,' he replied. 'Here's hoping that we're able to gain some more allies.'

Murdoch nodded. 'If you'll excuse me, I have a little girl waiting for me.'

'I wanted to see if you'd like to come out for dinner with a group of us. We need to unwind.'

'Thanks, but I can't. I need to talk to someone about Linnis. There's only one person who knows what she's likely to go through.'

Madden stared at him, looking for any sign of falsehood. 'All right, maybe next time?'

'Sure.' he replied and headed for the freighter at a brisk jog.

When he reached the docking bay, he saw Linnis walking round the outside of it and poking her fingers around.

'Hi Mister Murdoch,' she said without turning round. 'I'm just looking around at your ship. It's new isn't it?'

'Call me Miles,' he said and knelt down beside her. 'Yes it is quite new. I know someone we can go to who can help you control your powers. Do you want to take a ride?'

'Yes please,' she replied and then put her hands on her hips and looked at him with a glint in her eye. 'You won't take me somewhere I'm not going to like are you?'

'No, we're going to see the spiritual leader of a people called Ynelavii.'

'Ynelavii,' she said, as if tasting the word. 'That sounds funny.'

He grinned. 'I know. Come on, let's go now and I'll buy you a souvenir.'

'Okay,' she replied and followed Murdoch up the ramp.

She paused, turned around with a slight frown on her face, then smiled and ran into the shuttle.

Murdoch ran through the preflight checks and after receiving permission to depart from Operations, took the Lowell from its docking berth into space. Linnis sat beside him in the co-pilot's chair, her favourite spot, and watched as they left the Kursican system. As soon as they jumped to warp, she turned to him.

'We're not coming back, you do know that, don't you?'

Murdoch turned to her. 'What do you mean?'

'We won't see the starbase again, we're going on an adventure.'

'I hope it's a good one,' he replied and then stared straight ahead looking worried.'

'It will be, you have me to guide you. Are you going to miss your friend?'

Murdoch sighed, wondering what he had got himself into. 'I will, very much. Are we going to make it to Ynelav IV, or does the adventure begin after that?'

'After,' the Ocampan answered sincerely. 'We'll be picking up a couple of people first.'

'Alright, do I need some more supplies?'

'We'll pick up what we need, don't worry.'

 

[BrotherBenny]

Chapter Twenty-Three

Starfleet Resettlement Camp
Eeroth IV
Stardate 55393.3 (May 24, 2378)

After almost two days, the crew had found every Eeroth remaining alive on the planet's surface. Lieutenant Commander Gonzales looked at them and sighed. From a population of hundreds of millions, they had been reduced to less than nine thousand, and there was no sign of the rebels or the Presidential staff. Wright had ordered a complete search of every moon in the system and every asteroid over a certain size and they had still come up empty. Rashal had set in motion a sequence of events which had devastated his people. As they huddled together, Fahira and Dahreki together, it seemed as though they had finally left their cultural biases behind them. Doctor Maxx and his medical teams were still checking everyone out and making sure they were healthy, but he had expressed a grave concern when he looked at the numbers and did a genetic analysis. She remembered the look on every face around the table.

'Are you sure the numbers aren't wrong?' she had asked, aware of the implication.

He sighed. 'I've checked them five times, and I've had the EMH triple check them. Nine thousand two hundred and eleven people, even with the genetic diversity they have, is not enough to sustain the population. They would need three times that if they want to live beyond three or four generations.'

'What about genetic manipulation or engineering?' Wright asked and Parker shot him a look. It was as if she knew something.

'That's illegal in Federation space, Commander,' Maxx said as if speaking to a simpleton.

'We're not in Federation space, Doctor, and it might be their only hope if you can devise a way to introduce a random genetic mutation into their DNA.'

Maxx frowned. 'Other doctors have found ways of doing it, but I will not sacrifice my principles to save these people. It isn't right.'

'Neither is letting them die,' Larson said. 'Whether we like it or not, we are their only hope of survival. We owe it to them to help.'

'No, we don't,' Gonzales replied. 'The Cha'lav are the ones responsible for all this, and we're just here to pick up the pieces and help them get back to something resembling a normal life. Not even a fleet of counsellors can help them deal with the fact that they have just lost more than ninety-nine percent of their entire race. We need to find Rashal.'

'Why?' Wright's question shocked everyone. 'He was responsible for this atrocity.'

'I think he was used by the Cha'lav,' Parker said. 'And we need to find him and reintegrate his staff to these people to provide them a better chance of survival.'

'A few hundred people won't make any difference,' Maxx replied, 'except for a decimal place or something.'

'It's still something,' Parker shot back. 'We're Starfleet officers. We're supposed to do whatever it takes to help others. Isn't that what we're about?'

'Not at the moment,' Wright replied quietly. 'We're here to stop the Cha'lav, but instead we've doomed another race to near-extinction.'

'No we haven't,' Parker strode up to him and yelled. 'The Cha'lav have, and not going to stand by while you all wallow in self pity. I'm going down to the surface to get these people ready for a fight.'

'Hold it right there, Lieutenant,' Wright said. 'You don't have the authority to do that.'

'And you don't have the balls. Whatever agenda you're playing here has nothing to do with these people, and quite frankly I don't think it has anything to do with us either. We came to return a man to his people and found them in need of help. We were asked for help and now, when they are in their darkest hour, we're turning our backs on them? That's not what I signed up for.'

'You're relieved,' he said simply.

'Well done, Commander. Are you going to relieve your entire senior staff, or just murder them.'

'That's enough!' Wright yelled. 'One more comment and you'll be sent to the brig instead of your quarters.'

Parker stormed out of the conference room barely missing the door.

'Doctor, investigate the possibility of a genetic solution, one that doesn't break the law. Gonzales, head down to the surface and see what condition these people are in. If they are able to fight, then let's arm them with ships and weapons. If not, we'll just concentrate on getting them healthy. The rest of you, dismissed.'

Gonzales felt a hand on her shoulder and blinked, remembering she was on the surface. 'You all right?' Maxx asked.

'I'm fine, how are they?'

'Physically they're fine, and emotionally well in some cases. I think it's collective shock, and we'll have a problem when it does sink in. In the meantime, I just have to get these latest blood samples up to the ship to run some more tests.'

'What are you hoping to find?'

'Something that will prevent me from using the genetic option. Has Wright contacted Command at all?'

'He says he has, but I'd need to check the logs. Why do you ask?'

'He's planning something. Talen and I figured something out about him, and I didn't get a chance to tell Parker.'

'Does it impact his ability to command the crew at this very moment?'

'No, but it does tell why he's been acting the way he has. Commander, this is important.'

'I'm sure it is, and I'm not trying to make light of the fact that he's a dangerous individual. But if what you found was legally useful in any way, you'd have used it, wouldn't you?'

Maxx nodded. 'It just goes to pattern of behaviour and may provide an explanation of what he's up to. With Parker and Xeris under guard, and the rest of us being watched, we're losing our ability to stop him.'

'There's a plan, Doctor. Just stick to it.'

Maxx nodded, walked to the beam-in site and requested transport. Gonzales looked around at the security guards as they moved through the camp, breaking up fights and just talking to people.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Chapter Twenty-Four

USS Pytheas
Eeroth IV orbit
Stardate 55393.4 (May 24, 2378)

'Mister President, I hope you'll reconsider,' Wright almost pleaded with the new Eeroth leader.

'Unfortunately, the will of the people prevents me from doing so, Commander Wright. So far, your help has been effective only at damaging this world more than the Cha'lav did. Please leave this system. Return to your space station and leave us in peace.'

'What if the Cha'lav come to finish the job?'

'Then we'll die on our own terms. Please leave this system, we'll attend to the rebels ourselves, they are our people after all.'

The screen blanked and Wright sighed. Around him, the bridge crew clearly felt that they could have done more for the Eeroth but things had not gone well. Less than an hour ago, Rashal and the presidential staff had arrived in orbit and been handed over to the new leader. The rebels had also recently appeared from an asteroid and given up, unable to bear responsibility for allowing the Cha'lav to use their weapon against them.

'Ensign Larson, set a course for Starbase 535, warp six.'

'Sir? We can't just leave them.'

Gonzales interjected. 'They asked us to leave, Ensign. Staying now would violate the Prime Directive.'

'Aye sir, course and speed laid in.'

'Let's go,' Wright said and the Pytheas jumped to warp. 'Gonzales, you have the conn, I'll be in my quarters.'

'Aye sir.'

Wright entered the turbolift and willed his heart rate down to normal. 'Deflector control,' he ordered.

As the turbolift descended, Wright considered his options. His plan was suicidal at warp so he needed a convincing excuse to slow to impulse. An explosive decompression would automatically trigger alarms and a warp core shutdown, but he would need to be careful not to get caught, his command crew didn't trust him as it was. The doors opened and Wright found his path blocked by Lieutenant Commander Xeris and Lieutenant Parker.

'Aren't you two supposed to be confined to quarters?'

'Aren't you supposed to be leading this crew instead of whatever agenda you have?' Xeris shot back. 'I've countered the modifications you had Jamal make before you killed him.'

Wright smiled. 'Computer, initiate program Wright-1-1-4.'

'Unable to comply, secondary deflector system has been disengaged.'

Wright kept his composure as the two officers approached him. 'Initiate programs Wright 1-1-5 and 1-1-6.'

'Acknowledged,' the computer replied and Wright dematerialised.

He reappeared on deck six in the control room for the secondary deflector dish and started the program to charge the secondary deflector. That done, he made his way through Jeffries tubes to the captain's mess and proceeded to overload the bioneural gel packs and cause an explosion which he hoped would blow out the deck, and therefore slow the ship. After several moments and no warnings, he muttered a curse and realised that they were tracking his movements.

'Computer, activate all remaining Wright-1 programs, cascade effect.'

It was a last-ditch attempt to slow the ship and put his plan into motion.



'Commander, Wright's heading down to deflector control,' Talen said.

Larson turned round. 'What's going on?'

'Gonzales to Xeris, he's heading your way.'

'Acknowledged.'

'Commander?' Larson asked again.

'Ensign, please concentrate on your console.'

'I don't know if you've noticed, but I wasn't included in your plans to mutiny.'

'This isn't a mutiny,' Talen replied. 'We 're retaking the ship from a dangerous killer.'

'Jamal?'

'Yes, Wright killed him, we found his tampering buried in the program Mahtani used.'

'Right then,' Larson replied and returned his gaze to the helm console.

'Xeris to bridge, he's gone. He beamed out somewhere.'

'Get to the secondary deflector room, he'll try to use the tertiary system.'

'On our way, Xeris out.'

Talen waited as long as he could but it was taking too long to catch him. 'He's in the captain's mess, trying to blow out the section.'

'Lock him out!'

'I'm trying, but he's just activated a whole slew of programs to stop me.'

'Can you stop him?'

The Andorian looked up. 'I'm not sure, but as long as we stay at warp he can't activate the deflector.'

'Gonzales to Xeris, get back down to engineering. We have to stay at warp.'

'Right, Parker's on her way to the mess.'

'He'll be long gone.'

'Internal sensors put him there.'

'He dumped his combadge, scanning for his lifesigns...his quarters, hurry.'

'Commander, we should activate all the forcefields on the ship,' Larson said. 'It'll slow him down.'

'We can't afford to alert anyone else, we don't know if he's working with anyone on board.'

'What else can we do?'

'I'm not sure; Talen, how's it coming?'

'I've shut down two of the programs but there're still two more.'

Gonzales slammed her fist on the console. 'Damn him.'

'Is it time?'

Gonzales nodded. 'Bridge to sickbay.'

'Maxx here.'

'It's time.'

'Aye sir, sickbay out.'

'We've lost his biosignature,' Talen muttered. 'What the hell is he doing?'

'I've had enough of this,' Gonzales said and tapped a few keys. The red alert klaxon sounded. 'This is Commander Gonzales to all hands. Commander Wright has killed Lieutenant Jamal Mahtani and is currently loose on board this ship with technology to mask his biosigns. He is to be considered extremely dangerous and if any crewman spots him, call for security immediately. All non-essential personnel please report to your quarters and remain there until this situation has been resolved, that is all.'

'We can do more,' Larson said.

'Not yet, I want to give our people time to reach their quarters. Then I'll seal them all in and activate all the forcefields. We'll have him trapped.'

'Not quite, he can still use the Jeffries tubes.'

'His movements will be limited.'

'Lock out his voice codes,' Talen suggested.

'I did that as soon as he activated those programs, Lieutenant.'

The Andorian nodded. 'We just have to stay one step ahead of him. Where will he go next?'

'Engineering, he'll have to slow us down if he wants to do anything, so that'll give him his best chance of success.'

The Pytheas suddenly shook and the rattle was felt by everyone on the bridge.

'Bridge to Xeris, what happened?'

'I'm not sure,' the chief engineer replied with a sigh. 'But we're slowing to impulse.'

 

[BrotherBenny]

Chapter Twenty-Five

USS Pytheas
En route to Starbase 535
Stardate 55393.5 (May 24, 2378)

As the starship slowed to impulse, Lieutenant K'Tyra Parker cursed the fates which had led her here. Yes, she'd been living on borrowed time in the future, waiting until the Cha'lav succeeded in destroying everything she held dear, but at least she didn't have to contend with problems like this. Everyone was too busy fighting for their very existence on starships that were held together with luck and willpower to try and pull stupid stunts like this. But here, in one version of her distant past, where life was good and all the worst battles of the time were over, one man was trying to cause a boatload of trouble and she only suspected his true motives. A hastily-convened conference between the senior staff had aired all the suspicions and possibilities and they all agreed that the simplest explanation was the right one, the question that burned in all their minds, was why Wright was doing this. She suspected that before the day was out, she would have her answer, and that she wasn't going to like it very much.

Holding a mek'leth in the right hand, Parker slowly crept up on the deflector room, where the tertiary deflector system was located. She was expecting it to be locked and was therefore surprised when the doors slid open at her approach. Aaron Wright strode out and stopped in his tracks as he spotted her. Instead of running, he smirked and walked toward her, seemingly without a care in the world. Parker adjusted her stance, prepared for an attack, but Wright just walked past her and continued down the corridor. She regained her senses quickly and followed, not doing anything to provoke him but watching where he went.

'Parker to bridge, Wright's ignoring me as if I wasn't even here. I'm following him at the moment, release the forcefields on this deck.'

'Lieutenant?'

'Send someone to tertiary deflector control to stop whatever he's doing, and have security standing by.'

'I'm sending Talen, security is standing by on all exit points to deck six. Care to tell me what's going on?' Gonzales asked.

'I have no idea, but I think it's important.'

'Don't do anything rash, and keep this channel open.'

'Aye sir.'

Parker slipped the mek'leth into her trousers at the small of her back, a trick she learned as a child, and let Wright lead her. She kept pace with his unhurried walk as the starship's acting captain led her toward his quarters. She hadn't expected it but nevertheless could not allow him access to anything he had in there.

'Commander, stop,' she called out to him.

Wright turned to face her, the same smirk on his face. 'There's nothing you or this crew can do to stop me, not now.'

'Stop you from doing what?' she asked in a carefully neutral tone.

'Please, Lieutenant, don't insult my intelligence. I'm sure you and the others have consulted with the good doctor about the readings taken in the hydroponics bay.'

'What readings?'

Wright sighed. 'As you well know, my quantum signature does not match yours. All I'm trying to do is get home, the least you could do is allow me that, since you aren't able to return to your home.'

The Klingon hybrid scowled. 'My “home” was corrupted by the Cha'lav. I came here to stop them from doing the same again. There's nothing for me even if I could return. What is so bad about living here?'

'I have a duty to my people and I intend to fulfil it.'

'At what cost?'

'What is that supposed to mean?'

'You've killed one Starfleet officer and if your jacket is to be believed, been responsible for several more deaths. What is to stop me killing you here and now?'

'That would be your sense of duty, Lieutenant. You would never be able to beat me in a fight, your Klingon strength notwithstanding, but you still believe in the Federation and Starfleet and their famed justice system. I've been on both sides of the fence and my side is infinitely more preferable, there's less pretence about being who you really are. Quite frankly, I'm fed up of pretending to be the good Starfleet Commander who does what he's told when the Captain tells him to. I'm going home, and you're all coming along for the ride.'

'Did you get all that, Commander?' Parker asked.

'Loud and clear, and recorded for posterity,' Gonzales answered. 'Commander Aaron Wright, you are hereby relieved of command. I am taking command of the Pytheas and if you would please relinquish your lockout on the deflector systems, we can deal with you in short order.'

'Sorry, Commander, I can't do that,' he said and walked into his quarters.
'Now what?' Parker asked.

As if answering her question, the lights suddenly faded into complete darkness.

'Gonzales, can you hear me?'

'Get back up here, there's nothing more we can do.'

'On my way.'

Choosing the safest route, Parker reached the bridge through the Jeffries tubes, a journey of almost fifteen minutes, and stood at the tactical station.

'Report!' Gonzales asked.

'All power systems throughout the ship are being rerouted through the tertiary deflector system. We've just lost the warp engines, shields, weapons and impulse engines,' Parker replied.

'The secondary deflector is powering up. Three minutes until fully charged,' Talen added. 'Do you think Maxx was able to do it?'

'Let's hope so,' Larson replied.

'Life support down to minimum levels,' Parker said.

'Deflector at maximum charge in two minutes.'

The turbolift doors opened and Wright strode onto the bridge. He was no longer wearing his Starfleet uniform, instead favouring an earth-toned tunic. Talen moved to stop him but Gonzales waved him back.

'Satisfied, Mister Wright?'

'Almost.'

'One minute.'

'What happens next?'

'Once I'm home, I'll take a shuttle and you'll be free to do as you please.'

'Time,' Talen whispered.

The Pytheas began to shake as the awesome power being channelled through the deflector dish was released in a stream of energy. Four points of energy streamed into one as a spatial rift began to form. Everyone on the bridge watched as the rift grew and the ship moved, imperceptibly at first but the rift increased in strength almost exponentially and pulled the starship in.

'Thirty seconds until rift boundary,' Talen reported as the lights came back on.

'Main power is coming back online,' Parker added. 'Weapons, shields, engines, we've got everything.'

'Yellow alert.'

'You won't need it.'

'We'll see,' a female voice said from the door to the ready room.

Wright turned to face her.

'I'd like my ship back now.'

'It's all yours, Captain.'

 

[BrotherBenny]

Epilogue

USS Pytheas
The Spatial Rift
May 24, 2378 (Stardate 55393.6)

The rift enveloped the starship like a glove and a single, blinding flash of light was the only visible sign of transition. As the after-image faded, Captain Leza Astar stepped toward her former first officer and shoved him backwards. He stumbled and fell into his chair, looking up at her with pity in his eyes. She gestured for Parker to stand by him and then turned to face the viewscreen. She sat down and clutched the arms.

'Talen, where are we?'

'Checking, Captain. According to the quantum scans, we're in the mirror universe recorded by Captain Kirk and the crew of Deep Space Nine.'

'Where are we? Are there any ships in the area?'

'According to our astrometrics database, we're in the Denorios Belt, Bajoran space,' Talen replied.

Having returned to her post, Gonzales added: 'One vessel in range, I'm reading it as a Defiant-class vessel, on an intercept course.'

'Red alert,' Astar ordered.

'All stations report ready.'

'Hail the ship.'

'Captain, I recommend we do not interfere.'

'Recommendation noted, Commander, but the ship is headed our way and I would rather know beforehand what the hell was going on, before they get into weapons range.'

'Aye sir, hailing frequencies open.'

'This is Captain Leza Astar of the Federation starship Pytheas to the Defiant-class starship. We have no intention of joining the war with the rebellion and wish only to return home.'

The star field vanished from the viewscreen, replaced by the image of a well-known man. 'General Smiley O'Brien, Terran Rebellion,' the curly-haired Irishman replied and then noticed Wright. 'Where the hell did he come from?'

Astar glanced in Wright's direction. 'You know him?'

'Yeah, I do. He's currently a prisoner of the Alliance.'

'A prisoner?'

Wright stood up and Parker stepped forward in warning. 'Eight years ago, I found an ancient device on Earth and figured out how to use it, but it was useless until I found the planet it came from, while surveying for ores for the Alliance. As soon as I landed, I was drawn to a cave system. The next thing I know, the device is burnt to a crisp and I'm stuck in your universe.'

'You were the lucky one,' Smiley snorted and turned to face Astar. 'Your universe's Aaron Wright became a troublemaker and ended up on Terok Nor. He was the favoured slave of the Intendant until Sisko came along. When we took over, he wasn't able to escape and the Alliance took him.'

'We have to get him back, Captain,' Gonzales said.

Astar nodded. 'I know, somehow.'

'We can help you, but you need to help us first,' Smiley said and help up a hand to forestall an argument. 'I've known enough people from your side to know that you won't help us defeat the Alliance. Right now, we have a bigger problem. When your Major Kira and Doctor Bashir came through the wormhole, they made their presence known to some very powerful creatures.'

'Go on.'

'These creatures allied themselves with an empire on the other side of the wormhole and they've been trying to exterminate us ever since. The Bajorans have almost completely been wiped out by them.'

'An empire from the other side of the wormhole, that sounds like...'

'Captain, I'm picking up three ships approaching, extreme edge of our sensor range. Without the astrometrics array we'd never have seen them.'

'Can you tell who they are?' Astar asked.

'From this distance, and their energy signature, if I didn't know any better I would say that it was the Dominion.'

Smiley sighed. 'The Vorta Imperium, the slaves of the Pah Wraiths. We need to leave, now.'

Astar nodded. 'Lead on, we'll follow. What do you know of the Changelings?'

'Odo's species? The Vorta hunt them down like prey, using their foot soldiers...'

'The Jem'Hadar,' Gonzales muttered. 'I thought we were finally rid of them.'

'You defeated them?' Smiley's eyes widened in shock. 'You have to help us.'

'We'll see about that, but right now we need to leave.'

'We're heading back to Terok Nor.'

'In orbit of Bajor?'

'Where else?'

'Mister Larson, set a course for Bajor, warp six.'




The Pytheas will return in Fragments of Control

 

[BrotherBenny]

Thank you all for reading the repost of the first four Dauntless/Pytheas stories.

Fragments of Control will be in a separate thread.

Posting begins 7/20/09

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Very nice...I really like the way that instead of just letting the Mirror Universe thing come out of nowhere, you had the anomalous tricorder readings being mentioned early on, to foreshadow what was going on. Can't wait to see the new Fragments of Control!

And great to see Astar's return! As before, I like this new cause of her illness much better than the old one.

 

[Gibraltar]

Feedback on “Extreme Prejudice” - Part 2 - Thru Chapter 11.

Things are beginning to calm, but I'm only guessing this is the calm before the bigger storm arrives.

Both Parker and the admiral are playing fast and loose with the Temporal Prime Directive, and I'm having a hard time understanding their logic. They'll reveal some information, but not all, so I suppose I'm having difficulty discerning where their 'line in the sand' is towards restricted future-information.

Great stuff!

 

[Gibraltar]

Feedback on “Extreme Prejudice” - Part 2 - Thru Chapter 13.

It was going to be a long day. - Heh, talk about an understatement! Chasing a desperate man back to his homeworld in an attempt him from inadvertently causing a genocide? Longest. Day. Ever.

 

[Gibraltar]

Feedback on “Extreme Prejudice” - Part 2 - Thru Chapter 16.

Holy hell. The worst-case scenario has materialized, but as awful as the death of a world is, the acrimony and back-biting between Astar, Logan, Dhrex and Wright is inexcusable.

‘No sir,’ Wright turned on her. ‘Whatever you have to say, you can say it here, where everyone can hear.’

Wright's fortunate he didn't pop off like that in front of a different captain in regards to having that conversation out in the open on the bridge... a less understanding CO might have snatched his throat out.

 

[BrotherBenny]

You have no idea what these people are like.

 

[Gibraltar]

You have no idea what these people are like.

I dare you to make less sense!