The Star Beagle Adventures
Episode 18: And You And I Part III – The Preacher and the Teacher
Scene 5: In the Sight
All complete in the sight of seeds of life with you ...
18.5
In the Sight
In the Sight
“We have to rescue her!”
2nd Lieutenant Susan Gard had been desperately trying to establish communication with the inert holy lander destroyer only a few yards away from her voluntarily inert interceptor. They had resolutely ignored her hails and were doing their best to pretend to be nothing more than a field of debris, the supposed scant remains of a fabricated warp core breach. Gard had finally resorted to knocking on their front door.
Literally.
The young Star Fleet fighter pilot had exited her craft with a spanner, the largest, heaviest tool she had in her light interceptor, and banged on the destroyer's sensor array until a holy lander, surprisingly needing no Extra Vehicular Activity suit beyond an atmosphere tank and a mask that covered the creature’s face, emerged from a nearby airlock and ushered her into the craft.
The holy lander grasped the handle on the back of Gard’s EVA suit with one hand, while using its other two hands to seal the airlock. And Gard took the opportunity to use the quick release on her EVA suit, kicked herself free and raced to the fighting ship’s bridge, leaving the oddly ant-like alien struggling with the airlock and an empty EVA suit. Gard had, like all the pilots and security personnel in the task force, carefully studied the analysis of the wrecked holy lander destroyer that Captain Howard’s expedition had investigated months earlier on the south side of Mount Torlochtor, which included a detailed layout of the ship as well as instructions on how to activate the doors.
The holy lander from whom she had escaped started singing almost immediately. Gard’s only clue that the creature was attempting to use low frequencies to override her conscious volition was a silent notice from her communicator. The default setting for the communicator immediately counteracted those frequencies with frequencies of its own. Gard almost instinctively removed the pin from her uniform and pinned it to the inside of her undergarment.
Which left the befuddled ship commander arguing with an indignant, passionate Star Fleet officer much smaller than him, but whom he could not control. This was quite unsettling to the creature, causing his three antennae to vibrate uncontrollably. He was having difficulty responding. Only two of his three eyes had eyelids – these were starting to blink uncontrollably.
“According to the rules of honor, as a wounded enemy left on the field of honorable combat, your pilot can only be rescued by your forces at risk of honor damage to ship and crew…”
“No they do not!!!” Gard interrupted. “Captain sh’Zhiathis was hit by an honor shot intended to represent your weapons at full power. According to YOUR rules of honor, she has been vaporized and is therefore not recoverable by honor combatants.”
“Even if that is so, we have removed our ships from the field of honor and cannot move from this position,” the ship commander retorted.
“You can move under a white flag. Your queen has already recognized and honored the white flag signal for one of our vessels as a non-combatant on a rescue mission.” Gard thrust a tricorder into the commander’s middle hand. “That is the signal. Broadcast it and move this ship in to save the life of Captain sh’Zhiathis, or by all that you consider holy I will have this farce of a battle nullified as of this moment for your failure to follow your own rules of honorable combat!”
“I am following…”
“NO YOU ARE NOT!!!” The young Star Fleet pilot emphasized her words with an outraged and very accusatory index finger. “Every second sh’Zhiathis is out there, she presents a requirement to render aid to our ships, who may then be attacked on a mission of mercy that is caused entirely by your refusal to mount a rescue! If one of our ships is damaged on the field of honor because of your negligence, I will make it my life’s mission to have you identified as the violator of your own rules of honor! I don’t know what your queen will do to you, but I can guarantee that you do not want to make an implacable enemy of the Federation and draw us in to actual combat without the protection of your... rules of honor.” Gard spat these last words out with evident contempt.
“Even if we get to her ship, we don’t know how to…” the alien commander started, only to be interrupted by a creature he was now thoroughly frightened by. The combination of her evident rage, clear fighting ability and, more importantly, the fact that the efforts of now five singers to control her were failing to have any impact on her behavior, was causing the superstitious creature to wonder just what variety of minuscule, enraged, brown-eyed god might have gotten onto his bridge.
“Get me close and I will rescue her!” 2nd Lt. Gard’s chocolate brown eyes smoldered. “NOW!!”
18.5
