Early 2409 …
Galatea entered the system a short distance from the ringed planet. Resting above the orbit of the icy rings was the focus for the Exeter-class ship and crew.
“Satellite in range of sensors, scanning now.” Omazei, the Trill Science Chief, reported dutifully as her fingers danced upon the console.
Kathryn touched her rank pips absentmindedly and spoke without looking away from the viewscreen. “Anthi, anything on tactical? Being this close to Klingon-space I’m not in the mood to take chances.”
The Andorian First Officer tapped on her console and after a few seconds replied, “Passive scans within the system are negative.”
Anthi’s brother, Thel Ythysi, spoke from the Engineering section of the bridge. “Captain, initial analysis of the satellite reveal it is fully functional within expected parameters.” His tone was slightly incredulous. From his unexpected report, the bridge crew became silent.
Kathryn leaned forward in her chair, visually inspecting the large machine in the void. Slowly rotating on its y-axis, it was a remote research satellite that hosted a myriad array of sensors dedicated to the planet. Several days ago, a request was made from Starfleet Corps of Engineers to investigate possible faulty bio-neural gel packs as telemetry was getting scrambled. USS Galatea answered the call. As innocuous as the situation should be, Kathryn started to feel uneasy about it.
The Captain turned to Omazei, whose face was highlighted by shifting colors from the console, waiting for additional confirmation. Only the dim hum from the ship’s engines could be heard over the next few seconds. She suddenly looked to Kathryn and shouted, “Vessel decloaking, port fifteen degrees!”
The viewscreen added a shimmer to the star field behind the satellite. As the ship coalesced, dread washed over Kathryn and someone unseen gasped. The Vor’cha-class battlecruiser drifted menacingly toward the Federation vessel.
“Open a hailing frequency,” Kathryn ordered. After a few seconds she added, “Klingon vessel, this is Captain Beringer of the USS Galatea on a routine maintenance mission to a Federation satellite. Are you here to assist?” Kathryn swallowed, the query felt stale in her mouth, but she couldn’t invite hostilities as the Klingon ship clearly outclassed her own vessel in many ways.
After a few moments, the Comm Officer acknowledged no response.
An alarm rang from Anthi’s console, starling everyone. “Weapons lock!”
Kathryn whispered a curse, then said, “Raise shields!”
Omazei followed, “Another contact, starboard one-three-five degrees.”
The viewscreen was replaced by a top-down tactical display where a second Vor’cha battlecruiser appeared behind and to the right of Galatea. The screen changed back to the windowed-display view. Green beams appeared from “behind” the camera and obliterated the satellite.
Kathryn spoke quickly. “Someone’s getting a bill; Helm get us out of here, dealer’s choice!”
At the controls, Ian McKinnon swiftly tugged on his gloves and deftly keyed in commands. Galatea banked to port and impulse engines revved louder. The Vor’cha to the front maneuvered to match the Starfleet ship’s vector and fired, disruptor beams belching from emitters until a few found their target. The small ship shuddered from the attack and Kathryn clutched the armrests to keep from being thrown to the floor.
With the klaxon blaring, Anthi roared, “shields at 42-percent, hull damage multiple decks!”
Kathryn noticed the helmsman furiously stabbing the console. Anthi called out, “Brace for impact!”
Multiple torpedo strikes rocked Galatea further, causing a console behind Kathryn to explode, showering her with sparks and small debris. She turned to her Chief Engineer. “Thel, how’s she holding?”
The bulky Andorian wiped sweat off his brow and shook his head, antennae stiff from worry. “We need to get out of here.”
Kathryn jumped to the helm station and forced calm into her voice. “Mr. McKinnon, toot sweet please.”
He pressed a key on the console and the stars on the viewscreen stretched as the ship limped into a Warp tunnel.
+++
Three Hours Later …
The Executive Team sat silently in the Ready-Room as they waited for Thel Ythysi to arrive. Each officer’s uniform was dirty to varying degrees, depending on how much work they performed in the nooks and crannies of the ship. Everyone looked tired as no one was above the paramount need to repair the ship.
The doors swished open and Thel walked in holding several PADDs, his own uniform tattered at the cuffs along with the ubiquitous smudges. Sitting down he handed everyone a PADD. “No need for a presentation, it’s all there and it’s obvious the situation is dire.”
Ian swiveled toward the Captain to get attention. “We are currently in the Arucanis Sector. Navigation is still out so it’s hard to get a precise reading. We’re safe from the Klingons but that’s not a guarantee. After three hours, if they really wanted a kill they could have tagged us.”
The Science Chief spoke up next. “Deflector control will need a few more hours at the least. The primary dish will likely need replacing.” Omazei tucked her short hair behind ears, revealing Trill patterns along her neck. “The damage to comms will take about four hours to fix. Until then, we can only send tight-beam subspace transmissions.” She crossed her arms as a sign she was finished.
Kathryn gazed upon the Chief of Operations, S’Rel. The Vulcan sensed eyes on her and looked away from the PADD. “Captain, considering the structural damage to the ship, I recommend reduced shift time for everyone aboard until we can reach a suitable Starbase to affect substantial repairs. I have prepared a roster rotation and will affix it to Thel’s report.”
“On that note”, Doctor Annika Kramer punctuated, “we have three dead and forty-seven wounded beyond first-aid; twelve being out-of-action. Other than the deceased, we can triage.” She pulled a hair tie, releasing her bright blond hair to fall onto her shoulders without further attention. “We are relatively lucky.”
By this point Kathryn was pinching the bridge of her nose while listening intently. A dull headache was in its second hour and she resolved to persevere without medication. “Anthi, let’s pretend the Klingon’s are on the hunt, what are your chances?”
The proud Andorean First Officer sat straighter. “Slim. Two-beam arrays and the rear torpedo launcher are destroyed. No offense to Galatea, but I don’t believe she could fight-to-win. The sooner we get to a space dock, the better.”
Thel leaned forward. “I agree. Current speed capabilities are Warp two-point-four. Don’t go that fast for more than an hour: the starboard pylon structural integrity is uncomfortably weak. At our current estimated position, it’ll take us two weeks to get to a suitable dry dock. The detail is in the report, of course.”
Kathryn sighed and nodded solemnly. She looked over the PADD briefly before placed her hands on the table as if to fix the ship with her force of will. “We will respect our dead when we reach port. Time is of the essence now. Galatea is beat-up, but not beaten down. As cheesey as that sounds, it’s true.“
She looked to each of the assemble crew. “Take an hour, if your teams do not need your immediate attention. Although this looks bad, I’m confident she’ll get us home.”
---
Cast for crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Katheryn Winnick
Anthi Ythysi - Monique Ganderton
Thel Ythysi - Kevin Sorbo
Ian McKinnon - Ben Browder
Omazei - Gemma Arterton
S'Rel - Morena Baccarin
Annika Kramer - Abbie Cornish
Showing posts with label Annika. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Annika. Show all posts
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Thursday, February 15, 2018
A Quiet Fate
Solaris burst into the system and instantly traveled at a relaxed speed of sixteen thousand kilometers per second …
“Transwarp completed, Captain.” Lieutenant Ian McKinnon tapped on the helm console preparing the ship to handle inter-system travel. He wore thin gloves when on deck to pilot the ship. It was a quirk Kathryn learned to appreciate over the years.
Interrupting her own musings, Kathryn turned her attention to the main view screen. The tension on the bridge grew. Standing, she queried, “how soon to Delphi Station?”
The outpost had been built on the outer fringes of declared Federation space toward the galactic rim. It’s primary mission was meant to research the Galactic Barrier phenomenon. Two days ago, Solaris received an automated distress signal through subspace. Kathryn’s concern was that the time stamp on the message was two days older than when it was received. With the station being so remote, Solaris was the closest ship to respond. And with the message mysteriously being “old”, Kathryn redlined the Transwarp Drive.
The Science Chief responded, “At present speed, five minutes.” Omazei, a female Trill, was the second-longest serving Senior Officer on the bridge with Kathryn. She turned to look at the main screen, confident she would not miss new telemetry. “Long-range visual is available.”
“View and magnify image,” Kathryn ordered.
As the scene shifted from a blurry star-field to the Starfleet outpost, everyone on the bridge gasped with surprise and terror.
+++
Two Hours Later, Deck 16, Cargo Bay 4
Four more bodies materialized on the transporter pad. The cargo bay had transformed into a makeshift morgue as the station crew was too numerous to be housed elsewhere. Chief Medical Officer Annika Kramer also wanted to preserve the dead in their already frozen state in order to conduct autopsies. Wearing an environmental suit and waving a tricorder, she was crouched over a previously delivered crewperson. A yeoman stood nearby with a PADD, entering information relayed by Doctor Kramer.
Standing in the cargo bay, wearing her own suit, Kathryn somberly looked upon the grim scene. Forty-seven crew were found floating outside their remote outpost. Initial scans did not reveal they were attacked from external sources and the station itself was not damaged, although the docking port doors were open, exposing the station to the vacuum of space. With the four recent arrivals, the station’s crew was accounted fully in the cargo bay.
Behind Kathryn, the decontamination chamber cycled and First Officer Anthi Ythysi stepped into the cargo bay. The tall Andorian stopped next to Kathryn and presented a PADD wrapped in a protective sheath. Standing at attention to respect the dead, she reported, “The station team reports no structural damage to the station at all. The team leader hopes to have more news within two hours.”
Kathryn accepted the PADD and scrolled through data already abridged by the XO, more to distract her from the scene in the cargo bay than to question Anthi’s summary. “Out of curiosity, does any of the crew have family from the station?”
“No, sir.”
“Good news, I suppose.”
Anthi stood silent in response, which was typical for her, much to Kathryn’s esteem. Andorians were not known to be verbose, and for moments like this, only duty would help solve the puzzle of the station’s demise.
Annika walked up to the pair of officers. “Captain, I’m not finding definite answers here. Although I have not examined the four that just arrived, it’s a sure bet they’ll have similar conditions as everyone else: extreme levels of Adrenaline, Norepinephrine and Cortisol.”
“Those are stress hormones,” Kathryn declared.
Nodding, Annika continued. “Everyone on Delphi Station was under extreme duress of some kind. My educated guess is that they were under fight or flight conditions. There is no physical trauma like you’d expect from explosive decompression.” She sighed. “Unless a more immediate cause is determined, I’m leaning toward a dreadful conclusion: mass suicide.”
Kathryn looked to the report about the fully intact structural integrity of the station. The equation was looking bad. “Personal logs will need to be reviewed, if there are any of course.”
Annika huffed in her suit as she looked to the transporter pad. “I’ll finish here soon and send my report.”
Kathryn turned her suit to face Anthi and nodded toward the decompression chamber as a sign to exit. “Let us leave Annika to her work.”
“I’m sure she would enjoy not being watched, sir.”
+++
Several minutes later, leaving Cargo Bay 4 …
“Any news on why didn’t we receive the distress call in time?”
Anthi looked to Kathryn as they walked toward a turbolift. “Omazei completed a level one diagnostic of the transceiver and subspace communication logs. All systems are functioning as expected. She does have a reasonably plausible theory and it involves the Tyrant Star Cluster.”
Kathryn abruptly stopped, clearly surprised by the comment. “It’s due to return?”
Nodding, Anthi continued. “It already did. As you know, the stellar phenomenon appears randomly at the galactic rim every one hundred years. Telemetry revealed the Cluster appeared approximately twenty light years away from the station … four days ago.”
Kathryn raised a hand to her chin as she collated information about the tragedy at Delphi Station. “The time stamp on the distress signal was four days ago.”
“Indeed. The graviton shock wave created from the Cluster’s sudden appearance in our reality also caused a time dilation in subspace. This best explains that while the message was sent four days ago in real time, we received the message two days ago”
Saddened by the revelation, Kathryn decided to continue walking as the information swirled in her head. “The crew asked for help, and no one would have heard them.”
Anthi followed her Captain in muted agreement.
---
Cast For Crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Katheryn Winnick
Anthi Ythysi - Monique Ganderton
Omazei - Gemma Arterton
Annika Kramer - Abbie Cornish
Ian McKinnon - Ben Browder
Seen but not heard:
Yeoman – Male street extra 1
“Transwarp completed, Captain.” Lieutenant Ian McKinnon tapped on the helm console preparing the ship to handle inter-system travel. He wore thin gloves when on deck to pilot the ship. It was a quirk Kathryn learned to appreciate over the years.
Interrupting her own musings, Kathryn turned her attention to the main view screen. The tension on the bridge grew. Standing, she queried, “how soon to Delphi Station?”
The outpost had been built on the outer fringes of declared Federation space toward the galactic rim. It’s primary mission was meant to research the Galactic Barrier phenomenon. Two days ago, Solaris received an automated distress signal through subspace. Kathryn’s concern was that the time stamp on the message was two days older than when it was received. With the station being so remote, Solaris was the closest ship to respond. And with the message mysteriously being “old”, Kathryn redlined the Transwarp Drive.
The Science Chief responded, “At present speed, five minutes.” Omazei, a female Trill, was the second-longest serving Senior Officer on the bridge with Kathryn. She turned to look at the main screen, confident she would not miss new telemetry. “Long-range visual is available.”
“View and magnify image,” Kathryn ordered.
As the scene shifted from a blurry star-field to the Starfleet outpost, everyone on the bridge gasped with surprise and terror.
+++
Two Hours Later, Deck 16, Cargo Bay 4
Four more bodies materialized on the transporter pad. The cargo bay had transformed into a makeshift morgue as the station crew was too numerous to be housed elsewhere. Chief Medical Officer Annika Kramer also wanted to preserve the dead in their already frozen state in order to conduct autopsies. Wearing an environmental suit and waving a tricorder, she was crouched over a previously delivered crewperson. A yeoman stood nearby with a PADD, entering information relayed by Doctor Kramer.
Standing in the cargo bay, wearing her own suit, Kathryn somberly looked upon the grim scene. Forty-seven crew were found floating outside their remote outpost. Initial scans did not reveal they were attacked from external sources and the station itself was not damaged, although the docking port doors were open, exposing the station to the vacuum of space. With the four recent arrivals, the station’s crew was accounted fully in the cargo bay.
Behind Kathryn, the decontamination chamber cycled and First Officer Anthi Ythysi stepped into the cargo bay. The tall Andorian stopped next to Kathryn and presented a PADD wrapped in a protective sheath. Standing at attention to respect the dead, she reported, “The station team reports no structural damage to the station at all. The team leader hopes to have more news within two hours.”
Kathryn accepted the PADD and scrolled through data already abridged by the XO, more to distract her from the scene in the cargo bay than to question Anthi’s summary. “Out of curiosity, does any of the crew have family from the station?”
“No, sir.”
“Good news, I suppose.”
Anthi stood silent in response, which was typical for her, much to Kathryn’s esteem. Andorians were not known to be verbose, and for moments like this, only duty would help solve the puzzle of the station’s demise.
Annika walked up to the pair of officers. “Captain, I’m not finding definite answers here. Although I have not examined the four that just arrived, it’s a sure bet they’ll have similar conditions as everyone else: extreme levels of Adrenaline, Norepinephrine and Cortisol.”
“Those are stress hormones,” Kathryn declared.
Nodding, Annika continued. “Everyone on Delphi Station was under extreme duress of some kind. My educated guess is that they were under fight or flight conditions. There is no physical trauma like you’d expect from explosive decompression.” She sighed. “Unless a more immediate cause is determined, I’m leaning toward a dreadful conclusion: mass suicide.”
Kathryn looked to the report about the fully intact structural integrity of the station. The equation was looking bad. “Personal logs will need to be reviewed, if there are any of course.”
Annika huffed in her suit as she looked to the transporter pad. “I’ll finish here soon and send my report.”
Kathryn turned her suit to face Anthi and nodded toward the decompression chamber as a sign to exit. “Let us leave Annika to her work.”
“I’m sure she would enjoy not being watched, sir.”
+++
Several minutes later, leaving Cargo Bay 4 …
“Any news on why didn’t we receive the distress call in time?”
Anthi looked to Kathryn as they walked toward a turbolift. “Omazei completed a level one diagnostic of the transceiver and subspace communication logs. All systems are functioning as expected. She does have a reasonably plausible theory and it involves the Tyrant Star Cluster.”
Kathryn abruptly stopped, clearly surprised by the comment. “It’s due to return?”
Nodding, Anthi continued. “It already did. As you know, the stellar phenomenon appears randomly at the galactic rim every one hundred years. Telemetry revealed the Cluster appeared approximately twenty light years away from the station … four days ago.”
Kathryn raised a hand to her chin as she collated information about the tragedy at Delphi Station. “The time stamp on the distress signal was four days ago.”
“Indeed. The graviton shock wave created from the Cluster’s sudden appearance in our reality also caused a time dilation in subspace. This best explains that while the message was sent four days ago in real time, we received the message two days ago”
Saddened by the revelation, Kathryn decided to continue walking as the information swirled in her head. “The crew asked for help, and no one would have heard them.”
Anthi followed her Captain in muted agreement.
---
Cast For Crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Katheryn Winnick
Anthi Ythysi - Monique Ganderton
Omazei - Gemma Arterton
Annika Kramer - Abbie Cornish
Ian McKinnon - Ben Browder
Seen but not heard:
Yeoman – Male street extra 1
Friday, November 17, 2017
Copy Kathy
Copy Kathy
The doors to Sick Bay open and Doctor Annika Kramer walks out. Her affect is blank until the doors close. She looks back to the doors and shakes her head before turning to face Captain Beringer and First Officer Ythysi. “Bad news or good news first?
The other officers look at each other before responding as if communicating with facial expressions first. Kathryn replies, “Bad news, I suppose. It’s better to get that out of the way.”
Annika sighs. “She has no idea how she got here. It’s as if, in a blink of an eye, she was on the bridge and then in your quarters.”
Kathryn crossed her arms.
Anthi’s antennae twitched slightly. “And the good news?”
“She is a perfect copy of Kathryn, physically, mentally, biologically, psychologically, even chronologically. Frankly Captain, if you died right now, no one would know the woman in Sick Bay,” she thumbed to the doors behind her, “is not … you.
With one hand, Kathryn rubbed on the rank pips on her collar before responding. “The bottom line is she is here and we need to do something about it.”
The Andorian First Officer spoke quickly. “On the face of it, we can’t ethically do anything. It’s not like this was caused by a transporter malfunction or some trick from Q. That would be relatively easy to solve, so to speak. Besides, we would have heard from Q by now, I’m sure.”
Annika put her hands on her hips. “Well, we can’t keep her here either.”
Shaking her head, Kathryn asked, “How’s the rest of the crew?”
“No one has reported further symptoms for two days.”
Nodding, Kathryn said, “so, she is the remaining issue.” She turned to Anthi. “The warning markers were deployed around Xerosia, correct?”
“Yes, sir. Once we recovered from the hallucinations, the buoys were launched. The crew has been submitting reports of their experiences since then.”
Kathryn paced a few steps in the hallway. “The second sentient planet the Federation has encountered and this happens. As if it is trying to send a message to-.” She stopped and turned to the other women.
“The question is, what are we going to do with her?” Annika was scratching her head and didn’t notice the gleam in Kathryn’s eyes.
“I have an idea. But it’s personal and selfish.”
Anthi looked back to Kathryn. They stared at each other for several seconds before Annika looked up and tried to join the silent conversation.
+++
Several minutes later …
The doors to Sick Bay open and Captain Kathryn Beringer walks in. Her affect is blank until the doors close. She looks back to the Doctor and First Officer and nods her head before turning to face the other Kathryn Beringer. “Bad news or good news first?
Sitting on a Bio-Bed and wearing standard medical fatigues, with her long burgundy hair let down and flowing over shoulders, Kathryn smirked. “Bad news, I suppose. It’s better to get that out of the way.”
Captain Beringer smiled. “I knew you would say that. Mind if I call you ‘Kathy’, it will help with the conversation?”
Kathy kept smirking, “It’s what I was going to ask you, actually.”
Anthi crossed her arms. Annika placed her hands on her hips.
Kathryn continued. “Okay, the bad news is we cannot determine how you got here. According to Doctor Kramer, there is no reason you should be here and, thus, we have no way to figure out how to … send you back –“.
“So,” Kathy interrupted, “you need to figure out what to do with me.”
“Yes. But, if you are me, then you know everything about me. Everything.”
The two women stared at each other for several seconds until Kathy broke the silence. “I can’t read your mind.”
Kathryn crossed arms behind her back as if to stand in relaxed attention and leaned forward at the waist. “As you know, there are a handful of people on board, you trust intimately, who know your … our past very well.”
“Yes, and two of them are in this room.”
“Exactly.” Kathryn spoke in hushed tones. “Duty as a Starfleet Captain prevents you from doing some work you really want to do.”
Kathy narrowed her eyes. “Then why stay in Starfleet?”
Kathryn narrowed her eyes and grinned. “In the grand scheme of things, you can do more in the chair, than away from it.”
Looking over Kathryn’s shoulder, Kathy could see Anthi and Annika had not moved. Clearly, a plan had been hatched by the three of them and Kathy was the catalyst. “Specifically meaning?”
The Captain looked back to the others in the room and then back to Kathy with a mischievous look in her eyes. “We do have a Black Talon suit.”
Kathy briefly looked stunned until the realization behind the statement dawned on her. Kathryn was suggesting she be in two places at the same time: one as the dutiful Starfleet Captain, the other …
“Let me be crystal clear about this. You’re thinking I could take the Black Talon and ‘hunt’ Syndicate members to satisfy a vendetta?!”
Kathryn didn’t move. “Correction: making a dent in the slave trade. This is our passion, our motivation to be where we are and joining Starfleet was the ‘high road’, so to speak. As a reminder, you tread the ‘low road’ and it was hard, real hard.”
Looking skeptical, Kathy asked, “So why suggest I go back to that life?”
Kathryn reached up and touched the rank pips on her collar. “It would be a lonely life to be sure. You remember what it was like before joining Starfleet: the constant insecurity, fear, hate … and satisfaction. Frankly, you don’t have to be a killer, not like you wanted to be or thought you could be. Finding slavers and reporting them should be enough.”
“C’mon, you remember reporting to the authorities was never enough!”
“True, but this time you’ll have some support.” She smiled and spread her arms wide as if to show off some fashionable piece of clothing.
Kathy smirked, the idea and its many possibilities was settling in her mind. “Unofficially I presume?”
Kathryn looked smug. “Look at it another way: as official as I can make it.”
---
Cast for crew:
Kathryn Beringer / Kathy - Rachel Nichols
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn Winnick
Annika Kramer - Abbie Cornish
Cast for crew:
Kathryn Beringer / Kathy - Rachel Nichols
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn Winnick
Annika Kramer - Abbie Cornish
Thursday, October 20, 2016
What Do We Do?
Unofficial Literary Challenge 24 - Mirror Wars - Prompt 3
---
Kathryn looked at the main viewscreen in shock. The planet’s surface was a wasteland of craters. Small areas of city-scape could be seen between gaping pits, but these were blackened husks. Faint clouds hovered high above the surface. The crew was looking at a dead planet. “Anything?”
Omazei, sitting behind and to the left against the back wall shook her head. “Nothing, not anymore. There are no life-signs on the planet, not even a microbe of algae.”
Kathryn nodded solemnly. “Can we determine how long ago this happened?”
“Readings indicate within ten years.”
Ian whistled from the helm station. “What happened?”
Anthi announced, “Captain, projectile launch from the surface, headed for us!”
Kathryn turned in her chair perplexed by the report. “Identify and time to impact?”
Looking wide-eyed from her console, Anthi almost yelled, “solid deuterium, ten seconds!”
“Helm, whatever it takes! Shields up!” The bridge lights suddenly turned red with the warning claxon blaring. Solaris lurched to port. Standing crew was thrown to the ground and anyone sitting was pushed into arm rests. On the viewscreen and the planet’s curve disappeared, then a bright light grew from one side.
The shock wave crashed against the ship, pushing it along the roll axis. The shield’s either absorbed or deflected the force from the explosion. Inside, inertial dampeners and gravity regulators fought for control of the crew.
Kathryn reached for the command chair’s armrest to lift herself from the floor. “S’Rel, save the damage report for later. Ian, don’t stop, get us out of here. Omazei what just happened?”
The Trill Science Officer sat into her chair and started tapping at her console. After a few seconds, Omazei replied, “fusion detonation, approximately fifty megatons. Data shows a laser beam directed at the projectile from the surface caused the ignition. The source of both seems to be from the same location.”
Ian McKinnon at the helm spoke up. “Captain, we are about to arrive at the moon’s orbit around Kurza III.”
Turning to helm, Kathryn smiled. “Thank you Ian, full stop. Get ready to bolt if we are attacked again.” She looked around the bridge, and then rested her gaze to the MSD console. The image of the Excelsior-class ship above S’Rel started showing red in many places along the ship with increasing amounts. “Okay, go to yellow alert. S’Rel, let’s look at the damage report. I want a staff meeting in thirty minutes.”
+++
Kathryn looked around the room and stopped at the Chief Medical Officer. “How’s the crew?”
Annika Kramer sat forward. “There is not a concern for radiation; the ship’s shielding handled that easily. Although, initial reports declare there are ten serious injuries from the initial evasive maneuver, thirty-seven more from the shockwave and over two-hundred minor injuries over both events, after that, bumps and bruises. Triage teams will be working around the clock.”
“And the ship?”
The Andorian Chief Engineer interlaced his fingers on the table, a sign of concern. “The ship got battered from such close proximity to a thermonuclear explosion. Repairs will be slow, but he’ll fly right.”
“We’ve been through worse, Thel, I’m sure. Analysis of the situation?”
S’Rel raised a Vulcan eyebrow as if to gather attention before speaking. “The Kurza system was mapped by Voyager’s journey through the Delta Quadrant, though only rudimentary information was collected as the system was over fifty light years perpendicular to the path plotted. A study by Starfleet determined faint radio transmissions emanating from the system.”
Kathryn picked up immediately, “which is why we are here: consider First Contact possibilities unless the Prime Directive kicks in. Radio signals are a sign of a developing culture, yet within thirty years, it looks like whatever culture was on Kurza III is now gone, and a giant gun is pointed into space?”
Omazei leaned forward. “Automated planetary defenses are well known throughout recent history. In 2364, when the Enterprise-D visited the planet Minos , for example. This weapon may have been a part of the culture when Voyager passed by.”
“You said, ‘automated’. Have scans revealed anything about our attacker?”
Omazei looked at a PADD. “Back-tracing the trajectory of the attack, the source location is a massive metallic structure on the surface.”
The Andorian First Officer swiveled her chair toward Omazei. “It’s easy to presume the weapon was defending the planet because of our reception. But if the surface looks like a war zone, then could it be that the weapon was used against the planet?”
The room was quiet for a few seconds. Kathryn started to formulate a plan. “Okay, I want to see this through. A small team is going to the surface. Omazei, have Romas Verthir meet me in Transporter Room Three. Thel, can you join me for this one?”
The ship’s engineer nodded.
+++
Three Starfleet officers materialized on the planet and immediately pulled out tricorders from holsters on their environmental suits. Romas turned left while Thel turned right as Kathryn swept in front of her. Occasional strong winds blew dirt and sand in every direction.
Kathryn turned her head within the suit, whose design was inspired by the hellish milieu of Nukara. “Radiation levels are pretty high. We’ll have an hour at best.”
“Captain, look below.” Romas sounded sad and Kathryn had to bend at the waist due to the helmet being fixed to the shoulder harness. She took a step back from seeing the burned skull, only to crush more blackened bone. She looked around again and realized they teleported onto a field of bones.
Thel stepped forward still looking at his tricorder and snapped more bone, seeming to be oblivious to the carnage under foot. “Captain, my readings suggest an entryway to the structure one-hundred meters in this direction.” He was pointing toward the long side of the building that fired upon Solaris, which they chanced to start their survey of the situation. Fortunately, the ship was not greeted by weapons fire as before.
Kathryn and Romas joined Thel as he walked in the direction the tricorder was taking him. She inspected the area as best as the restrictive combat suit would allow. The building itself was almost one-hundred meters tall and three-hundred meters long and covered in rubble and sand from the area. It looked as if debris and soil rained from the surrounding parts of the city. The entire settlement around them was devastated. Large buildings seemed gutted out from massive explosions, revealing only the skeletal structure of beams from foundations. Smaller buildings seemed cleaned away by a massive broom.
As they walked, Romas would briefly stop to examine a skeletal corpse before catching up to the others only to stop again and scan with the tricorder. Kathryn noticed the number of bodies, or the piles of bones seemed to increase as they approached the door.
Thel suddenly raised an arm to stop Kathryn and he gestured to the building. Kathryn watched as a long pole pointed at them and swiveled back and forth, as if to wave them away from approaching further. She increased the audio from external microphones and heard a distinctly familiar sound.
Click. Click. Click.
“Thoughts?”
Thel lifted his tricorder slowly. After a few seconds, he reported, “it’s a ballistic weapon and clearly out of ammunition.”
“That explains the wounds in the nearby bodies,” Romas added and he knelt down to put a finger through a hole in a skull.
Kathryn looked around and noticed more in the same condition nearby and shook her head. She looked up and down the length of the building and started to notice other barrels protruding outward in varying sizes and lengths. Only the one nearby was moving. Leaning back to look toward the top of the building, she could see a large dome at the center with a long cylinder pointing toward the sky. She surmised that was the cannon that shot at her ship. “This structure is made for war.”
Thel took a step forward. “The door is this way.” He placed a hand on the phaser pistol at his waist.
As they reached the door, it hanged by one hinge inward and looked as if it were opened by explosive force. Cautiously, Kathryn entered first and activated the suits headlamps. Inside, the dust and dirt crawled into the structure from several years of exposure. The metallic hallway was only ten-meters long, devoid of any other features and allowed the team to walk in their bulky suits without discomfort. When they reached the door at the other end, it slid open without prompt but with great difficulty. Sand slowly blew into the fresh interior.
She moved her suit to allow the lamps to shine within. Inside the darkened room was packed with conduits, pipes and various conveyors, yet a walkway allowed transit within the metallic guts of the building. The microphones picked up a faint hum inside the structure suggesting it was still powered by some source. Kathryn turned back to Romas and Thel, both were still conducting scans with tricorders.
Kathryn activated the suits communicator. “Solaris, this is the Captain, do you read me?”
Static answered first and then Anthi’s voice responded faintly, “barely, but underst- <shzzt>. We are still <shzzt> to track your loca- <shzzt>. Do you cop- <shzzt>.”
“Yes. Boost signal and check every five minutes.”
“Aye aye, Capta- <shzzt>.”
“Okay, make or break time. Thel, I’ll need another pair of eyes in here, Romas keep scanning and mapping, please. Let’s chat to a minimum.” The others agreed with thumbs-up. Turning to the open door, she entered with a hand resting on her sidearm.
Several uninterrupted minutes passed as they walked the path that seemed to lead to the center of the structure. Communication with the ship was becoming more strained and Romas surmised it was indirect interference. At one point they passed a large area that was clearly used as an ammunition storage room with automated loaders near tracks and conveyors. The room was empty of fuel for the many weapons the site contained.
Eventually, they reached the center of the building. Inside the cavernous room, the walls were covered with display screens, all darkened and a few cracked. Suspended from the ceiling was a large command chair connected by a jungle of cables and wires. Some were not connected to the chair or armature and hanging above the floor. In front of the chair were a few other displays with input terminals. Sitting in the chair rested a single occupant, unmoving.
Slowly walking into the room, Romas continued his scans behind Thel and Kathryn. Checking the chronometer, Kathryn noted they would have very little time to investigate the situation as prolonged exposure was still a concern, yet the radiation levels inside the building were significantly lower than outside. Stepping toward the control chair, Kathryn could tell the occupant was dead from a head wound. In the Kurzan’s lap was an elegant-looking pistol, clearly used for its suicide.
“What happened?” Kathryn though out loud. Looking to Thel, he was already at a nearby console using his tricorder. She checked her suit’s reading once more. “Thel, anything?”
Without looking away from his work, he tapped at the tricorder before responding, “yes, sir. This console seems functional. In fact, most systems within the structure seem to be reasonably operational. I’m attempting to download information, but –“
The deep voice comes from everywhere within the room. Romas and Thel look to Kathryn. She shrugs. “Let me guess Thel, you are unable to download anything because of resistance from the program?”
“Yes, sir.”
Kathryn nods. She clears her throat and then activates the suit’s speakers. “Are you … Concord?”
Romas turned to Kathryn. “Captain, as a war machine, Concord may only recognize military-style phrasing, so conversation may be limited in scope. Yet, I do sense a presence here. I perceive Concord is A. I.”
Kathryn raised a hand absentmindedly to her neck as if reaching for her rank pips. It was a tick of hers as she concentrated. Would Concord respond to further inquiry? “Concord, I am a commanding officer conducting performance evaluation. Action report is ordered.”
The team waited for several minutes. Kathryn started to think the conversation was over before Concord responded.
Thel stood and closed his tricorder. “I’m not getting any data from these terminals. Concord will either need to give us the information or tell us about it.”
Kathryn nodded. “Explain the defeat.”
“Created, then destroyed,” Romas paced toward the dead Kurzan in the center of the room. “What if the Brotherhood were others like Concord? Maybe the Kurzans created these structures as a means of planetary defense that turned against them –“
“An unintended genocide?” Thel interrupted. “Then why would the controller,” pointing to the Kurzan, “kill himself? Wouldn’t he try to stop Concord in some way?’
Romas continued his train of thought. “Maybe he couldn’t stop Concord … or maybe he started it?”
Kathryn looked at the chronometer and waved a hand to stop discussion. “There are too many variables, too many mysteries and we are out of time.” She turned toward the door.
Thel attached the tricorder onto his belt. “What about Concord?”
Turning to look back, Kathryn answered. “Our mission was to determine First Contact protocols. If we were unable to make First Contact, then the Prime Directive kicks in. In this case, P. D. does not apply as we were not aware of Concord until it was too late. We have not contaminated the civilization because it doesn’t exist anymore. So the only question that remained was what happened to the Kurzans.” She opened her arms wide. “This happened.”
Romas turned back to the controller. “That may be so, but what do we do with Concord?”
---
Cast for crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn Winnick
Thel Ythysi - Kevin Sorbo
Ian McKinnon - Ben Browder
Omazei - Gemma Arterton
S'Rel - Morena Baccarin
Romas Verthir- Idris Elba
Annika Kramer - Abbie Cornish
Concord - Tony Todd - the voice
---
Kathryn looked at the main viewscreen in shock. The planet’s surface was a wasteland of craters. Small areas of city-scape could be seen between gaping pits, but these were blackened husks. Faint clouds hovered high above the surface. The crew was looking at a dead planet. “Anything?”
Omazei, sitting behind and to the left against the back wall shook her head. “Nothing, not anymore. There are no life-signs on the planet, not even a microbe of algae.”
Kathryn nodded solemnly. “Can we determine how long ago this happened?”
“Readings indicate within ten years.”
Ian whistled from the helm station. “What happened?”
Anthi announced, “Captain, projectile launch from the surface, headed for us!”
Kathryn turned in her chair perplexed by the report. “Identify and time to impact?”
Looking wide-eyed from her console, Anthi almost yelled, “solid deuterium, ten seconds!”
“Helm, whatever it takes! Shields up!” The bridge lights suddenly turned red with the warning claxon blaring. Solaris lurched to port. Standing crew was thrown to the ground and anyone sitting was pushed into arm rests. On the viewscreen and the planet’s curve disappeared, then a bright light grew from one side.
The shock wave crashed against the ship, pushing it along the roll axis. The shield’s either absorbed or deflected the force from the explosion. Inside, inertial dampeners and gravity regulators fought for control of the crew.
Kathryn reached for the command chair’s armrest to lift herself from the floor. “S’Rel, save the damage report for later. Ian, don’t stop, get us out of here. Omazei what just happened?”
The Trill Science Officer sat into her chair and started tapping at her console. After a few seconds, Omazei replied, “fusion detonation, approximately fifty megatons. Data shows a laser beam directed at the projectile from the surface caused the ignition. The source of both seems to be from the same location.”
Ian McKinnon at the helm spoke up. “Captain, we are about to arrive at the moon’s orbit around Kurza III.”
Turning to helm, Kathryn smiled. “Thank you Ian, full stop. Get ready to bolt if we are attacked again.” She looked around the bridge, and then rested her gaze to the MSD console. The image of the Excelsior-class ship above S’Rel started showing red in many places along the ship with increasing amounts. “Okay, go to yellow alert. S’Rel, let’s look at the damage report. I want a staff meeting in thirty minutes.”
+++
Kathryn looked around the room and stopped at the Chief Medical Officer. “How’s the crew?”
Annika Kramer sat forward. “There is not a concern for radiation; the ship’s shielding handled that easily. Although, initial reports declare there are ten serious injuries from the initial evasive maneuver, thirty-seven more from the shockwave and over two-hundred minor injuries over both events, after that, bumps and bruises. Triage teams will be working around the clock.”
“And the ship?”
The Andorian Chief Engineer interlaced his fingers on the table, a sign of concern. “The ship got battered from such close proximity to a thermonuclear explosion. Repairs will be slow, but he’ll fly right.”
“We’ve been through worse, Thel, I’m sure. Analysis of the situation?”
S’Rel raised a Vulcan eyebrow as if to gather attention before speaking. “The Kurza system was mapped by Voyager’s journey through the Delta Quadrant, though only rudimentary information was collected as the system was over fifty light years perpendicular to the path plotted. A study by Starfleet determined faint radio transmissions emanating from the system.”
Kathryn picked up immediately, “which is why we are here: consider First Contact possibilities unless the Prime Directive kicks in. Radio signals are a sign of a developing culture, yet within thirty years, it looks like whatever culture was on Kurza III is now gone, and a giant gun is pointed into space?”
Omazei leaned forward. “Automated planetary defenses are well known throughout recent history. In 2364, when the Enterprise-D visited the planet Minos , for example. This weapon may have been a part of the culture when Voyager passed by.”
“You said, ‘automated’. Have scans revealed anything about our attacker?”
Omazei looked at a PADD. “Back-tracing the trajectory of the attack, the source location is a massive metallic structure on the surface.”
The Andorian First Officer swiveled her chair toward Omazei. “It’s easy to presume the weapon was defending the planet because of our reception. But if the surface looks like a war zone, then could it be that the weapon was used against the planet?”
The room was quiet for a few seconds. Kathryn started to formulate a plan. “Okay, I want to see this through. A small team is going to the surface. Omazei, have Romas Verthir meet me in Transporter Room Three. Thel, can you join me for this one?”
The ship’s engineer nodded.
+++
Three Starfleet officers materialized on the planet and immediately pulled out tricorders from holsters on their environmental suits. Romas turned left while Thel turned right as Kathryn swept in front of her. Occasional strong winds blew dirt and sand in every direction.
Kathryn turned her head within the suit, whose design was inspired by the hellish milieu of Nukara. “Radiation levels are pretty high. We’ll have an hour at best.”
“Captain, look below.” Romas sounded sad and Kathryn had to bend at the waist due to the helmet being fixed to the shoulder harness. She took a step back from seeing the burned skull, only to crush more blackened bone. She looked around again and realized they teleported onto a field of bones.
Thel stepped forward still looking at his tricorder and snapped more bone, seeming to be oblivious to the carnage under foot. “Captain, my readings suggest an entryway to the structure one-hundred meters in this direction.” He was pointing toward the long side of the building that fired upon Solaris, which they chanced to start their survey of the situation. Fortunately, the ship was not greeted by weapons fire as before.
Kathryn and Romas joined Thel as he walked in the direction the tricorder was taking him. She inspected the area as best as the restrictive combat suit would allow. The building itself was almost one-hundred meters tall and three-hundred meters long and covered in rubble and sand from the area. It looked as if debris and soil rained from the surrounding parts of the city. The entire settlement around them was devastated. Large buildings seemed gutted out from massive explosions, revealing only the skeletal structure of beams from foundations. Smaller buildings seemed cleaned away by a massive broom.
As they walked, Romas would briefly stop to examine a skeletal corpse before catching up to the others only to stop again and scan with the tricorder. Kathryn noticed the number of bodies, or the piles of bones seemed to increase as they approached the door.
Thel suddenly raised an arm to stop Kathryn and he gestured to the building. Kathryn watched as a long pole pointed at them and swiveled back and forth, as if to wave them away from approaching further. She increased the audio from external microphones and heard a distinctly familiar sound.
Click. Click. Click.
“Thoughts?”
Thel lifted his tricorder slowly. After a few seconds, he reported, “it’s a ballistic weapon and clearly out of ammunition.”
“That explains the wounds in the nearby bodies,” Romas added and he knelt down to put a finger through a hole in a skull.
Kathryn looked around and noticed more in the same condition nearby and shook her head. She looked up and down the length of the building and started to notice other barrels protruding outward in varying sizes and lengths. Only the one nearby was moving. Leaning back to look toward the top of the building, she could see a large dome at the center with a long cylinder pointing toward the sky. She surmised that was the cannon that shot at her ship. “This structure is made for war.”
Thel took a step forward. “The door is this way.” He placed a hand on the phaser pistol at his waist.
As they reached the door, it hanged by one hinge inward and looked as if it were opened by explosive force. Cautiously, Kathryn entered first and activated the suits headlamps. Inside, the dust and dirt crawled into the structure from several years of exposure. The metallic hallway was only ten-meters long, devoid of any other features and allowed the team to walk in their bulky suits without discomfort. When they reached the door at the other end, it slid open without prompt but with great difficulty. Sand slowly blew into the fresh interior.
She moved her suit to allow the lamps to shine within. Inside the darkened room was packed with conduits, pipes and various conveyors, yet a walkway allowed transit within the metallic guts of the building. The microphones picked up a faint hum inside the structure suggesting it was still powered by some source. Kathryn turned back to Romas and Thel, both were still conducting scans with tricorders.
Kathryn activated the suits communicator. “Solaris, this is the Captain, do you read me?”
Static answered first and then Anthi’s voice responded faintly, “barely, but underst- <shzzt>. We are still <shzzt> to track your loca- <shzzt>. Do you cop- <shzzt>.”
“Yes. Boost signal and check every five minutes.”
“Aye aye, Capta- <shzzt>.”
“Okay, make or break time. Thel, I’ll need another pair of eyes in here, Romas keep scanning and mapping, please. Let’s chat to a minimum.” The others agreed with thumbs-up. Turning to the open door, she entered with a hand resting on her sidearm.
Several uninterrupted minutes passed as they walked the path that seemed to lead to the center of the structure. Communication with the ship was becoming more strained and Romas surmised it was indirect interference. At one point they passed a large area that was clearly used as an ammunition storage room with automated loaders near tracks and conveyors. The room was empty of fuel for the many weapons the site contained.
Eventually, they reached the center of the building. Inside the cavernous room, the walls were covered with display screens, all darkened and a few cracked. Suspended from the ceiling was a large command chair connected by a jungle of cables and wires. Some were not connected to the chair or armature and hanging above the floor. In front of the chair were a few other displays with input terminals. Sitting in the chair rested a single occupant, unmoving.
Slowly walking into the room, Romas continued his scans behind Thel and Kathryn. Checking the chronometer, Kathryn noted they would have very little time to investigate the situation as prolonged exposure was still a concern, yet the radiation levels inside the building were significantly lower than outside. Stepping toward the control chair, Kathryn could tell the occupant was dead from a head wound. In the Kurzan’s lap was an elegant-looking pistol, clearly used for its suicide.
“What happened?” Kathryn though out loud. Looking to Thel, he was already at a nearby console using his tricorder. She checked her suit’s reading once more. “Thel, anything?”
Without looking away from his work, he tapped at the tricorder before responding, “yes, sir. This console seems functional. In fact, most systems within the structure seem to be reasonably operational. I’m attempting to download information, but –“
Concord calls
Enemies of the state
All within
All without
Only Concord remains
Enemies of the state
All within
All without
Only Concord remains
The deep voice comes from everywhere within the room. Romas and Thel look to Kathryn. She shrugs. “Let me guess Thel, you are unable to download anything because of resistance from the program?”
“Yes, sir.”
Kathryn nods. She clears her throat and then activates the suit’s speakers. “Are you … Concord?”
Victory
In name and duty
Forever
In name and duty
Forever
Romas turned to Kathryn. “Captain, as a war machine, Concord may only recognize military-style phrasing, so conversation may be limited in scope. Yet, I do sense a presence here. I perceive Concord is A. I.”
Kathryn raised a hand absentmindedly to her neck as if reaching for her rank pips. It was a tick of hers as she concentrated. Would Concord respond to further inquiry? “Concord, I am a commanding officer conducting performance evaluation. Action report is ordered.”
The team waited for several minutes. Kathryn started to think the conversation was over before Concord responded.
Pacification accomplished
Enemies of the state
Vanquished
Yet Brothers
Defeated
Only Concord Remains
Enemies of the state
Vanquished
Yet Brothers
Defeated
Only Concord Remains
Thel stood and closed his tricorder. “I’m not getting any data from these terminals. Concord will either need to give us the information or tell us about it.”
Kathryn nodded. “Explain the defeat.”
Enemies of the state
Created the Brotherhood
Then
Destroyed the Brotherhood
Only Concord Remains
Created the Brotherhood
Then
Destroyed the Brotherhood
Only Concord Remains
“Created, then destroyed,” Romas paced toward the dead Kurzan in the center of the room. “What if the Brotherhood were others like Concord? Maybe the Kurzans created these structures as a means of planetary defense that turned against them –“
“An unintended genocide?” Thel interrupted. “Then why would the controller,” pointing to the Kurzan, “kill himself? Wouldn’t he try to stop Concord in some way?’
Romas continued his train of thought. “Maybe he couldn’t stop Concord … or maybe he started it?”
Kathryn looked at the chronometer and waved a hand to stop discussion. “There are too many variables, too many mysteries and we are out of time.” She turned toward the door.
Thel attached the tricorder onto his belt. “What about Concord?”
Turning to look back, Kathryn answered. “Our mission was to determine First Contact protocols. If we were unable to make First Contact, then the Prime Directive kicks in. In this case, P. D. does not apply as we were not aware of Concord until it was too late. We have not contaminated the civilization because it doesn’t exist anymore. So the only question that remained was what happened to the Kurzans.” She opened her arms wide. “This happened.”
Romas turned back to the controller. “That may be so, but what do we do with Concord?”
---
Cast for crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn Winnick
Thel Ythysi - Kevin Sorbo
Ian McKinnon - Ben Browder
Omazei - Gemma Arterton
S'Rel - Morena Baccarin
Romas Verthir- Idris Elba
Annika Kramer - Abbie Cornish
Concord - Tony Todd - the voice
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Perplexing Complexities
LC 19 - Perplexing Complexities
---
Kathryn gripped her chair’s armrest as Solaris suddenly decelerated from warp. Inertial dampeners strained as the ship came to a full stop.
The alarm claxon was silenced, yet the red warning lights still flashed.
“Whomever did that thank you for reading my mind.”
First officer Anthi Ythysi did not look up from her console and replied while tapping at various screens. “You’re welcome, sir.”
Looking around, Kathryn could see everyone frantically reviewing data at their stations. “Status report.”
Per standard procedure for an unknown event, Helmsman Ian McKinnon responded first. “Involuntary full stop from warp, engines offline.”
From the Tactical station, Anthi spoke next, frustration easily heard in her voice. “Weapons systems are functional but offline. Shields are also offline.”
Chief Science Officer Omazei quickly turned to Kathyrn to report, her short brown hair rested to the sides of her face as she calmly responded. “Short-range sensors do not detect any ships or stellar phenomena nearby. Log-range sensors are offline.”
Kathryn nodded then spoke into the air. “Engineering, what’s going on?”
Thel Ythysi, Solaris’ Chief Engineer spoke through quick breaths. “Port outboard impulse engine - has sustained massive - structural damage. Port nacelle structural - integrity down ten percent. Warp core – stable but – offline. Batteries operating – at one-hundred percent.”
What happened, Kathryn whispered. She looked around the bridge again and the crew was calming down as the emergency settled into the new phase of recovery. Sitting in her command chair, she activated an armrest console and started reviewing high-clearance reports about the current situation and followed-up on information shared between stations. She noticed everyone was silent as they worked through their duties to assess Solaris’ status.
The Vulcan Chief of Operations, S’Rel broke the relative silence, her calm voice further reducing the excitement. “Captain, repair crews have been routed to the affected areas, we have a visual of the damage from Work Bee Three.”
Kathryn almost dreaded to see the damage, yet it was necessary. “On screen.” The screen flickered to an image of the ship’s primary hull. The Work Bee pilot was still maneuvering into position from the launch bay in the secondary hull, yet the damage seen caused Kathryn to gasp.
A cylindrical trench was dug from the exhaust into the impulse engine housing. It was clean-cut and reminded Kathryn of how a Borg cutting beam could slice through any structure with ease and minimal peripheral damage.
The Work Bee then turned on its x-axis to review the port-side nacelle. Along its length, it looks as if a large ball rolled down the structure, warping metal inward. Electric discharge flashed from random points along the photonic spill-port while green-colored gas vented from various plate joints around the lower half of the subspace field coil system.
Three other Work Bees arrived and started repairs on the nacelle. Kathryn waved a hand to her neck in a chopping motion and turned to Anthi.
“Senior staff meeting in one hour.”
Anthi nodded, “aye, Captain.”
+++
The Chief Engineer was the last to enter the room. His uniform was dotted with dark smoke or stains as he arrived directly from Main Engineering with no time to clean-up. The Andorian wore a stern look on his face, more than normal. “Pardon me.”
Kathryn nodded with understanding. She looked to her staff one-at-a-time before speaking. “So, something happened out there. We’ve all seen the result, now let’s find a cause. First, what can Solaris do … S’Rel?”
The female Vulcan laced her fingers together. “In the time we have had to assess the situation, it is clear the ship is debilitated. Every primary system is offline, yet the batteries are keeping the ship functional. Unless we can get the Warp Core online, then the batteries have thirty-hours to sustain us. Naturally, reducing to minimal service levels will extend their capacity.”
Thel tapped fingers on the table and then added, “about the Warp Core; I can’t explain it, but it and the primary capacitors were fully drained of power. The Dilithium crystals are intact and we are still working to rebalance the matter/anti-matter matrix. The Core was cold-started and when I left Engineering, it was estimated full functionality will be restored within ten hours.”
“What about engines,” Kathryn queried.
“The damaged impulse engine is utterly inoperable. We will need dry-dock to replace it. The port nacelle can be repaired, but I wouldn’t go past warp two.”
Omazei grabbed a PADD on the table and started calculating.
Kathryn waited for a few seconds before turning to her First officer. “Anthi, are we vulnerable sitting out here?”
The Andorian sat straighter in her chair. “Sensor logs put us in the middle of nowhere. Without main shields, it’s the surface defense grid is keeping us safe from any micro-projectiles and radiation. Once the Warp Core power levels reach the minimum threshold, then shields and weapons will be available.”
“Annika, any casualties?”
The Chief Medical Officer brushed a lock of dark blonde hair from her face. “Only a few bruises from the sudden change in speed have been reported.”
The Science Chief had finished her calculations and looked up to join the conversation. “The nearest dry-dock is at Arcturus. Travelling at warp two will get us there in three weeks.”
Everyone in the room seemed to sit into their chairs deeper at the idea of a relatively long journey.
Kathryn let it sink in for a few heartbeats longer before attempting to lighten the mood. “We’ve been in worse situations, so that doesn’t sound so bad. Now that we have an idea where we are, let’s get to what happened. Analysis?”
Ian stood and pressed a key on the table. The wall monitor activated showing a rear-view video from the bridge tower. The scene was motionless and showed all four impulse engines in the fore-ground, with the nacelles pointing to the dark horizon. “Wait ‘till you see this.” Pressing another key the scene showed the stars whizzing past the ship; typical when travelling at warp speed.
Suddenly, the outer port impulse engine and nacelle was damaged. Green gas started leaking from the nacelle, the ship clearly slowed down to stop.
Ian looked from the monitor with a grin. “Catch that?”
Everyone looked to each other and Kathryn spoke for the rest of the officers, “catch what? I didn’t see anything to cause the destruction of the engines.”
“Exactly. There is nothing. I’ve poured over the records and what you saw was unaltered, unfiltered video of the incident. In one microsecond, the ship is fully operational, the next microsecond, [/]boom[/i].” To make his point, Ian looped the video in two second intervals: one second before, then after the event and slowed the playback to take ten seconds total. He stopped the video just before the transition from ‘normal’.
A stream of light in the background was circled. “This is a passing star. THR-KD08 to be exact.” The video moved forward one frame and the damage appeared to the ship, while the streak continued its path. “As you can see, that star, along with the other stars we passed, moved as expected.”
Kathryn was incredulous. “Ian, are you saying the event was instantaneous?”
Ian nodded, “based on the evidence available, yes.”
Omazei added, “Sensor logs do not find a trace of a power source or intervening object along our path.”
Thel continued, “Repair teams did not detect any residual signatures at the contact surface along the nacelles or in the impulse engine.
Kathryn looked at the officers with skepticism. “So … this just … happened?”
Everyone else in the room looked at each other, and then nodded silently.
+++
Cast for crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn Winnick
Thel Ythysi - Kevin Sorbo
Ian McKinnon - Ben Browder
Omazei - Gemma Arterton
S'Rel - Morena Baccarin
Annika Kramer - Abbie Cornish
---
Kathryn gripped her chair’s armrest as Solaris suddenly decelerated from warp. Inertial dampeners strained as the ship came to a full stop.
The alarm claxon was silenced, yet the red warning lights still flashed.
“Whomever did that thank you for reading my mind.”
First officer Anthi Ythysi did not look up from her console and replied while tapping at various screens. “You’re welcome, sir.”
Looking around, Kathryn could see everyone frantically reviewing data at their stations. “Status report.”
Per standard procedure for an unknown event, Helmsman Ian McKinnon responded first. “Involuntary full stop from warp, engines offline.”
From the Tactical station, Anthi spoke next, frustration easily heard in her voice. “Weapons systems are functional but offline. Shields are also offline.”
Chief Science Officer Omazei quickly turned to Kathyrn to report, her short brown hair rested to the sides of her face as she calmly responded. “Short-range sensors do not detect any ships or stellar phenomena nearby. Log-range sensors are offline.”
Kathryn nodded then spoke into the air. “Engineering, what’s going on?”
Thel Ythysi, Solaris’ Chief Engineer spoke through quick breaths. “Port outboard impulse engine - has sustained massive - structural damage. Port nacelle structural - integrity down ten percent. Warp core – stable but – offline. Batteries operating – at one-hundred percent.”
What happened, Kathryn whispered. She looked around the bridge again and the crew was calming down as the emergency settled into the new phase of recovery. Sitting in her command chair, she activated an armrest console and started reviewing high-clearance reports about the current situation and followed-up on information shared between stations. She noticed everyone was silent as they worked through their duties to assess Solaris’ status.
The Vulcan Chief of Operations, S’Rel broke the relative silence, her calm voice further reducing the excitement. “Captain, repair crews have been routed to the affected areas, we have a visual of the damage from Work Bee Three.”
Kathryn almost dreaded to see the damage, yet it was necessary. “On screen.” The screen flickered to an image of the ship’s primary hull. The Work Bee pilot was still maneuvering into position from the launch bay in the secondary hull, yet the damage seen caused Kathryn to gasp.
A cylindrical trench was dug from the exhaust into the impulse engine housing. It was clean-cut and reminded Kathryn of how a Borg cutting beam could slice through any structure with ease and minimal peripheral damage.
The Work Bee then turned on its x-axis to review the port-side nacelle. Along its length, it looks as if a large ball rolled down the structure, warping metal inward. Electric discharge flashed from random points along the photonic spill-port while green-colored gas vented from various plate joints around the lower half of the subspace field coil system.
Three other Work Bees arrived and started repairs on the nacelle. Kathryn waved a hand to her neck in a chopping motion and turned to Anthi.
“Senior staff meeting in one hour.”
Anthi nodded, “aye, Captain.”
+++
The Chief Engineer was the last to enter the room. His uniform was dotted with dark smoke or stains as he arrived directly from Main Engineering with no time to clean-up. The Andorian wore a stern look on his face, more than normal. “Pardon me.”
Kathryn nodded with understanding. She looked to her staff one-at-a-time before speaking. “So, something happened out there. We’ve all seen the result, now let’s find a cause. First, what can Solaris do … S’Rel?”
The female Vulcan laced her fingers together. “In the time we have had to assess the situation, it is clear the ship is debilitated. Every primary system is offline, yet the batteries are keeping the ship functional. Unless we can get the Warp Core online, then the batteries have thirty-hours to sustain us. Naturally, reducing to minimal service levels will extend their capacity.”
Thel tapped fingers on the table and then added, “about the Warp Core; I can’t explain it, but it and the primary capacitors were fully drained of power. The Dilithium crystals are intact and we are still working to rebalance the matter/anti-matter matrix. The Core was cold-started and when I left Engineering, it was estimated full functionality will be restored within ten hours.”
“What about engines,” Kathryn queried.
“The damaged impulse engine is utterly inoperable. We will need dry-dock to replace it. The port nacelle can be repaired, but I wouldn’t go past warp two.”
Omazei grabbed a PADD on the table and started calculating.
Kathryn waited for a few seconds before turning to her First officer. “Anthi, are we vulnerable sitting out here?”
The Andorian sat straighter in her chair. “Sensor logs put us in the middle of nowhere. Without main shields, it’s the surface defense grid is keeping us safe from any micro-projectiles and radiation. Once the Warp Core power levels reach the minimum threshold, then shields and weapons will be available.”
“Annika, any casualties?”
The Chief Medical Officer brushed a lock of dark blonde hair from her face. “Only a few bruises from the sudden change in speed have been reported.”
The Science Chief had finished her calculations and looked up to join the conversation. “The nearest dry-dock is at Arcturus. Travelling at warp two will get us there in three weeks.”
Everyone in the room seemed to sit into their chairs deeper at the idea of a relatively long journey.
Kathryn let it sink in for a few heartbeats longer before attempting to lighten the mood. “We’ve been in worse situations, so that doesn’t sound so bad. Now that we have an idea where we are, let’s get to what happened. Analysis?”
Ian stood and pressed a key on the table. The wall monitor activated showing a rear-view video from the bridge tower. The scene was motionless and showed all four impulse engines in the fore-ground, with the nacelles pointing to the dark horizon. “Wait ‘till you see this.” Pressing another key the scene showed the stars whizzing past the ship; typical when travelling at warp speed.
Suddenly, the outer port impulse engine and nacelle was damaged. Green gas started leaking from the nacelle, the ship clearly slowed down to stop.
Ian looked from the monitor with a grin. “Catch that?”
Everyone looked to each other and Kathryn spoke for the rest of the officers, “catch what? I didn’t see anything to cause the destruction of the engines.”
“Exactly. There is nothing. I’ve poured over the records and what you saw was unaltered, unfiltered video of the incident. In one microsecond, the ship is fully operational, the next microsecond, [/]boom[/i].” To make his point, Ian looped the video in two second intervals: one second before, then after the event and slowed the playback to take ten seconds total. He stopped the video just before the transition from ‘normal’.
A stream of light in the background was circled. “This is a passing star. THR-KD08 to be exact.” The video moved forward one frame and the damage appeared to the ship, while the streak continued its path. “As you can see, that star, along with the other stars we passed, moved as expected.”
Kathryn was incredulous. “Ian, are you saying the event was instantaneous?”
Ian nodded, “based on the evidence available, yes.”
Omazei added, “Sensor logs do not find a trace of a power source or intervening object along our path.”
Thel continued, “Repair teams did not detect any residual signatures at the contact surface along the nacelles or in the impulse engine.
Kathryn looked at the officers with skepticism. “So … this just … happened?”
Everyone else in the room looked at each other, and then nodded silently.
+++
Cast for crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn Winnick
Thel Ythysi - Kevin Sorbo
Ian McKinnon - Ben Browder
Omazei - Gemma Arterton
S'Rel - Morena Baccarin
Annika Kramer - Abbie Cornish
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Cause Unknown
---
Cast:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn Winnick
Karl Melango - Jeremy Renner
Thel Ythysi - Kevin Sorbo
Ian McKinnon - Ben Browder
Omazei - Gemma Arterton
S'Rel - Morena Baccarin
Romas Verthir - Idris Elba
Bur'ar - David Ramsey
Annika Kramer - Abbie Cornish
Nurse Rhonda (heard, not seen) - voice of Meg Ryan
Monday, December 2, 2013
Call To Arms
Literary Challenge 41 - Call To Arms
---
2 hours ago
"Captain, their forward shields are down!" Anthi's usually calm demeanor disappeared at the climax of the battle.
Kathryn stood and pointed at the burning starship on the screen. "Weapons, Fire!"
From the lower rear hull, a large missile was ejected. Its bio-neural intelligence quickly scanned the area, locked on the enemy ship, activated thrusters and primed the warhead. The Solaris banked to starboard as the warhead sped toward it's victim three kilometers away. The Orion Brigand Cruiser coughed a torpedo at the missile but was shot down by the massive projectile's point-defense system. The missile penetrated the forward hull like a needle into a puss-filled bruise. Internal atmosphere vented for a half-second before the detonation ripped the ship apart. Chunks of burning hull and thousands of small debris, metal and organic, blossomed from the fireball that consumed the rest of the ship.
On the bridge, Kathryn looked away from the screen to the crew on the bridge. "Good work everyone. Anthi, you and Karl are on the assault team. Omazei, you have the con. Contact Lieutenant Retarius and Doctor Kramer to meet us in transporter room two. I'm giving this op two hours with reports. At that mark, bring in the M.A.C.O. Team for clean-up and recovery."
The Trill Science Chief nodded gravely and started tapping at her console.
+++
10 minutes later
The Away Team was assembled in the transporter room and all were strapping kits and checking weapons. The click-and-clack merged with the hum of the ships engines. Kathryn noticed the concentration on the team's faces and decided something needed to be said. "Ok, before we transport, the Orions on the station have lost their way out. That means they'll be fighting from a corner. They'll be more vicious on defense, so we need to keep up the offense. There are two objectives: security of the crew and preservation of research material. Lieutenant Retarius is joining the team for the secondary goal." She looked at each of the team as she spoke. "But there is a tertiary objective: enemy combatants are to be treated with extreme prejudice."
Medical Chief Annika Kramer, spoke after several seconds of silence, her voice almost booming even in an attempt to keep it conversational. "Sir, is that necessary?"
"Yes, Doctor. The research conducted on the station is highly sensitive and therefore valuable to the war effort. For that reason, only the station crew and this team are allowed to walk away from this situation."
Security officer Karl Melango spoke next, "What about the Cordorba?"
Kathryn looked in his direction. "They will be turned around if ... when ... we succeed."
Anthi was next, her Andorian antennae twitched nervously as she spoke. "These are Orions, Sir. Is this a coincidence?"
Everyone looked at Kathryn for a response. They all knew bits of her past but only Anthi knew the full story. For her part, she looked down, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she looked back to Anthi, her affect was neutral as if she resigned herself to what was said next. "'Duty to Starfleet before duty to self', that is what I said to Admiral Decker when I spoke for this crew as we joined the Dawn Patrol Task Force. To answer the question, yes. Thank you for keeping me honest Anthi. Right now, we are alone, so my orders are for the safety of the station crew and protection of the research."
Kathryn felt insincere saying it but her words were true and she hoped the team would believe them. She could tell her First Officer was not convinced. Looking at the others it was hard to tell, yet she knew they would follow her orders. Kathryn slung the phaser rifle over her shoulder, nodded, and turned to step onto the transporter pad.
+++
1 hour later
She lifted the rifle to her shoulder and squeezed the trigger. An orange beam raced to her target, burned through the shielding and pierced into the helmet. She raked the beam down into the torso as the body convulsed to death. Releasing the trigger deactivated the beam, the armored soldier collapsed and silence returned to the darkened corridor. Kathryn peered down the hallway and waited a few seconds. Not hearing more sounds, she exhaled in relief and looked at the team. Everyone's armor was scored in various places but otherwise no one was injured and doing very well. They were facing a corridor with a side path a few meters to the right. The research hub was at the end of the hallway where the concentration of the remaining invaders and station crew were kept.
Kathryn motioned for Annika and Karl to advance down the side path, the other two with her against the final door. As the team split, Margaret set up a phaser turret at the intersection of the hallway, aiming toward the door. Anthi watched the doorway while Kathryn turned to face the path they came from.
Margaret whispered, "Turret is set up and primed."
"And you are sure the suit doesn't conceal anything the user holds?" Kathryn whispered over her shoulder.
The Lieutenant nodded as she made a final adjustment on the remote turret.
"Ok. Anthi, you're up."
The Andorian took a few steps back and lowered her rifle. Anthi removed a folded cloth from her kit and started fitting into the black body suit. She zipped up to her breasts, reached behind the new layer and tugged at her Andorian combat knife before zipping up to her neck. Pulling forward a cowl that covered her head, she tapped a code onto an unseen pad within the suit above her right breast. Anthi suddenly became invisible excepting for a very faint silhouette seen only barely as she moved toward a Jefferies tube.
The hatch plate moved to the floor by unseen hands, a few seconds passed and was lifted back into place.
Kathryn smiled. "By the way Retarius, next time I tell you to turn over everything to me, do it. This time I'm glad you didn't." She tapped her badge twice.
Her badge vibrated as Karl responded silently. Kathryn tapped three times to send the code designed to let Karl know that Anthi was deployed.
+++
5 minutes later
Kathryn looked at her PADD as it revealed the technical layout of the room beyond the doors. She grinned as the enemy red dots were congregated near a console, while the station crew green dots were huddled in a corner next to a single red dot. Anthi's blue dot slowly moved toward the lone red one. The rest of the Away Team surrounded the room at both entrances. If Kathryn opened her door the turret would have a clear line of sight to the enemy. It would be too easy.
+++
Inside the room
Anthi was three meters away from the Orion guard. He was a hulk of a man and was menacing the crew with a deadly stare. His back was to Anthi as she approached. She quickly unzipped the suit, reached for her knife and charged. One scientist saw the knife appear out of nowhere and became terrified. The Orion spun to look and raised the disruptor pistol as the blade flashed across his neck. Anthi grabbed the pistol and twisted it away with one hand. She spun the knife in her other hand then drove it hilt-deep into an eye socket, splashing her with orange blood.
Outside the room
The blue and red dots touched. This was it. Kathryn braced herself. That was Margaret's sign to open the door. As the door hissed open the group of Orions spun around , clearly surprised. They drew weapons just as the automated turret clicked, finding targets it released its charge. Kathryn pressed her rifle's trigger quickly to fire short bursts.
The group of Orions danced as the barrage of phaser bolts chewed and burned into them.
+++
5 minutes later
"Solaris, this is the Captain. Crew is secured, Team is safe, situation under control. Stand by."
Omazei sounded relieved. "Understood, Captain. Glad to hear your voice. Standing by."
She looked down the hallway to watch Anthi removing the stealth suit out of sight from everyone else in the room. Annika scanned the station crew with her tricorder and conducting necessary triage. Margaret was talking with the lead researcher at a console, schematics concerning the stealth suit were visible between them. Karl inspected the Orions for anything valuable to determine the 'why, who and what' of their coming to the station.
Kathryn walked to an Orion body. She tore an arm sleeve open. Karl watched her and looked at the exposed arm. A dark scar ran down the arm. He recognized the gang symbol and looked to Kathryn.
"Is that -"
"Yes." Kathryn interrupted but did not look away and pulled out a tricorder, scanning the body. Karl stood and watched, knowing the Captain owned the situation. Anthi walked up to Karl, surveyed the scene and waited as well. Kathryn finished her scan and stood. "None of these." She stalked to the lone sentry Anthi dispatched and repeated her scan.
Once the scan was complete, the display informed Kathryn there was a match. She opened a smaller PADD strapped to her thigh, keyed in a command and struck through a name from a list. When she returned to Karl and Anthi, she pointed a thumb over her shoulder. "That was one of them."
+++
Now
"... and after all enemy combatants were neutralized, the station was secured. Replacement parts and components are being transferred as we speak."
"Good work Captain Beringer. Are you sure you don't need Codorba to assist? Maybe a joint patrol of the system perhaps?" The male Captain's bald head shined in the light of his Ready Room. He smiled in a way that was inherently charming to Kathryn, but she couldn’t tell if that was a genuine feeling from her or not.
"Thank you Captain Daikar but unfortunately that will not be necessary." Unfortunately?! Kathryn's thought disappeared quickly. "By the time you arrive we'll have handled that and anything else. But if the situation gets worse I'll be sure to contact Starfleet with a special note to you?" She rolled her mind's eyes to herself.
"That would be welcome. I hope to hear from you in the future either way. Daikar out."
The screen went blank and Kathryn sighed in relief and then looked to Anthi sitting on the other side of her desk. The First Officer leaned forward in her chair and rested her arms on the table. "Kathryn, officially speaking, have you told anyone in Starfleet about the details of your past?"
"Do you think my judgment is biased?"
Anthi sat back. "Not really, but I'm not in the mood to start doubting you."
"Good. Let me know when that happens. To answer your question, other than you ... no, and for the record, that is how it will stay."
"So, what happened here was ... coincidence?"
Kathryn nodded and smiled. "Luck more like it."
---
Cast:
---
2 hours ago
"Captain, their forward shields are down!" Anthi's usually calm demeanor disappeared at the climax of the battle.
Kathryn stood and pointed at the burning starship on the screen. "Weapons, Fire!"
From the lower rear hull, a large missile was ejected. Its bio-neural intelligence quickly scanned the area, locked on the enemy ship, activated thrusters and primed the warhead. The Solaris banked to starboard as the warhead sped toward it's victim three kilometers away. The Orion Brigand Cruiser coughed a torpedo at the missile but was shot down by the massive projectile's point-defense system. The missile penetrated the forward hull like a needle into a puss-filled bruise. Internal atmosphere vented for a half-second before the detonation ripped the ship apart. Chunks of burning hull and thousands of small debris, metal and organic, blossomed from the fireball that consumed the rest of the ship.
On the bridge, Kathryn looked away from the screen to the crew on the bridge. "Good work everyone. Anthi, you and Karl are on the assault team. Omazei, you have the con. Contact Lieutenant Retarius and Doctor Kramer to meet us in transporter room two. I'm giving this op two hours with reports. At that mark, bring in the M.A.C.O. Team for clean-up and recovery."
The Trill Science Chief nodded gravely and started tapping at her console.
+++
10 minutes later
The Away Team was assembled in the transporter room and all were strapping kits and checking weapons. The click-and-clack merged with the hum of the ships engines. Kathryn noticed the concentration on the team's faces and decided something needed to be said. "Ok, before we transport, the Orions on the station have lost their way out. That means they'll be fighting from a corner. They'll be more vicious on defense, so we need to keep up the offense. There are two objectives: security of the crew and preservation of research material. Lieutenant Retarius is joining the team for the secondary goal." She looked at each of the team as she spoke. "But there is a tertiary objective: enemy combatants are to be treated with extreme prejudice."
Medical Chief Annika Kramer, spoke after several seconds of silence, her voice almost booming even in an attempt to keep it conversational. "Sir, is that necessary?"
"Yes, Doctor. The research conducted on the station is highly sensitive and therefore valuable to the war effort. For that reason, only the station crew and this team are allowed to walk away from this situation."
Security officer Karl Melango spoke next, "What about the Cordorba?"
Kathryn looked in his direction. "They will be turned around if ... when ... we succeed."
Anthi was next, her Andorian antennae twitched nervously as she spoke. "These are Orions, Sir. Is this a coincidence?"
Everyone looked at Kathryn for a response. They all knew bits of her past but only Anthi knew the full story. For her part, she looked down, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she looked back to Anthi, her affect was neutral as if she resigned herself to what was said next. "'Duty to Starfleet before duty to self', that is what I said to Admiral Decker when I spoke for this crew as we joined the Dawn Patrol Task Force. To answer the question, yes. Thank you for keeping me honest Anthi. Right now, we are alone, so my orders are for the safety of the station crew and protection of the research."
Kathryn felt insincere saying it but her words were true and she hoped the team would believe them. She could tell her First Officer was not convinced. Looking at the others it was hard to tell, yet she knew they would follow her orders. Kathryn slung the phaser rifle over her shoulder, nodded, and turned to step onto the transporter pad.
+++
1 hour later
She lifted the rifle to her shoulder and squeezed the trigger. An orange beam raced to her target, burned through the shielding and pierced into the helmet. She raked the beam down into the torso as the body convulsed to death. Releasing the trigger deactivated the beam, the armored soldier collapsed and silence returned to the darkened corridor. Kathryn peered down the hallway and waited a few seconds. Not hearing more sounds, she exhaled in relief and looked at the team. Everyone's armor was scored in various places but otherwise no one was injured and doing very well. They were facing a corridor with a side path a few meters to the right. The research hub was at the end of the hallway where the concentration of the remaining invaders and station crew were kept.
Kathryn motioned for Annika and Karl to advance down the side path, the other two with her against the final door. As the team split, Margaret set up a phaser turret at the intersection of the hallway, aiming toward the door. Anthi watched the doorway while Kathryn turned to face the path they came from.
Margaret whispered, "Turret is set up and primed."
"And you are sure the suit doesn't conceal anything the user holds?" Kathryn whispered over her shoulder.
The Lieutenant nodded as she made a final adjustment on the remote turret.
"Ok. Anthi, you're up."
The Andorian took a few steps back and lowered her rifle. Anthi removed a folded cloth from her kit and started fitting into the black body suit. She zipped up to her breasts, reached behind the new layer and tugged at her Andorian combat knife before zipping up to her neck. Pulling forward a cowl that covered her head, she tapped a code onto an unseen pad within the suit above her right breast. Anthi suddenly became invisible excepting for a very faint silhouette seen only barely as she moved toward a Jefferies tube.
The hatch plate moved to the floor by unseen hands, a few seconds passed and was lifted back into place.
Kathryn smiled. "By the way Retarius, next time I tell you to turn over everything to me, do it. This time I'm glad you didn't." She tapped her badge twice.
Her badge vibrated as Karl responded silently. Kathryn tapped three times to send the code designed to let Karl know that Anthi was deployed.
+++
5 minutes later
Kathryn looked at her PADD as it revealed the technical layout of the room beyond the doors. She grinned as the enemy red dots were congregated near a console, while the station crew green dots were huddled in a corner next to a single red dot. Anthi's blue dot slowly moved toward the lone red one. The rest of the Away Team surrounded the room at both entrances. If Kathryn opened her door the turret would have a clear line of sight to the enemy. It would be too easy.
+++
Inside the room
Anthi was three meters away from the Orion guard. He was a hulk of a man and was menacing the crew with a deadly stare. His back was to Anthi as she approached. She quickly unzipped the suit, reached for her knife and charged. One scientist saw the knife appear out of nowhere and became terrified. The Orion spun to look and raised the disruptor pistol as the blade flashed across his neck. Anthi grabbed the pistol and twisted it away with one hand. She spun the knife in her other hand then drove it hilt-deep into an eye socket, splashing her with orange blood.
Outside the room
The blue and red dots touched. This was it. Kathryn braced herself. That was Margaret's sign to open the door. As the door hissed open the group of Orions spun around , clearly surprised. They drew weapons just as the automated turret clicked, finding targets it released its charge. Kathryn pressed her rifle's trigger quickly to fire short bursts.
The group of Orions danced as the barrage of phaser bolts chewed and burned into them.
+++
5 minutes later
"Solaris, this is the Captain. Crew is secured, Team is safe, situation under control. Stand by."
Omazei sounded relieved. "Understood, Captain. Glad to hear your voice. Standing by."
She looked down the hallway to watch Anthi removing the stealth suit out of sight from everyone else in the room. Annika scanned the station crew with her tricorder and conducting necessary triage. Margaret was talking with the lead researcher at a console, schematics concerning the stealth suit were visible between them. Karl inspected the Orions for anything valuable to determine the 'why, who and what' of their coming to the station.
Kathryn walked to an Orion body. She tore an arm sleeve open. Karl watched her and looked at the exposed arm. A dark scar ran down the arm. He recognized the gang symbol and looked to Kathryn.
"Is that -"
"Yes." Kathryn interrupted but did not look away and pulled out a tricorder, scanning the body. Karl stood and watched, knowing the Captain owned the situation. Anthi walked up to Karl, surveyed the scene and waited as well. Kathryn finished her scan and stood. "None of these." She stalked to the lone sentry Anthi dispatched and repeated her scan.
Once the scan was complete, the display informed Kathryn there was a match. She opened a smaller PADD strapped to her thigh, keyed in a command and struck through a name from a list. When she returned to Karl and Anthi, she pointed a thumb over her shoulder. "That was one of them."
+++
Now
"... and after all enemy combatants were neutralized, the station was secured. Replacement parts and components are being transferred as we speak."
"Good work Captain Beringer. Are you sure you don't need Codorba to assist? Maybe a joint patrol of the system perhaps?" The male Captain's bald head shined in the light of his Ready Room. He smiled in a way that was inherently charming to Kathryn, but she couldn’t tell if that was a genuine feeling from her or not.
"Thank you Captain Daikar but unfortunately that will not be necessary." Unfortunately?! Kathryn's thought disappeared quickly. "By the time you arrive we'll have handled that and anything else. But if the situation gets worse I'll be sure to contact Starfleet with a special note to you?" She rolled her mind's eyes to herself.
"That would be welcome. I hope to hear from you in the future either way. Daikar out."
The screen went blank and Kathryn sighed in relief and then looked to Anthi sitting on the other side of her desk. The First Officer leaned forward in her chair and rested her arms on the table. "Kathryn, officially speaking, have you told anyone in Starfleet about the details of your past?"
"Do you think my judgment is biased?"
Anthi sat back. "Not really, but I'm not in the mood to start doubting you."
"Good. Let me know when that happens. To answer your question, other than you ... no, and for the record, that is how it will stay."
"So, what happened here was ... coincidence?"
Kathryn nodded and smiled. "Luck more like it."
---
Cast:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn Winnick
Omazei - Gemma Arterton
Annika Kramer - Abbie Cornish
Karl Melango - Jeremy Renner
Daikar - Billy Zane
Lone Drone
Literary Challenge 39 - Lone Drone
---
---
Cast:
---
"Last time I saw one was before I took command of
the Sixth Wave," Kathryn said sullenly.
First Officer Anthi looked at the Borg Drone lying on the table and nodded. The table itself was the only piece of furniture in the room. Between the Drone and the two Starfleet officers was an invisible barrier of energy whose modulating frequencies hummed louder than the engines of Solaris. The medical bay was otherwise silent.
"I'm impressed it's still alive," Anthi said. "The Probe was utterly destroyed."
Kathryn kept looking at the specimen. "Any more findings about that?"
Still holding the PADD with the data, the female Andorian recall edthe information from memory and did not look away from the Borg either. "Analysis suggests the destruction occurred two days ago. Particle forensics reveal high amounts of Polaron energy primarily used."
Kathryn nodded. "Not many races use Polaron weapons." Anthi agreed silently.
Chief Medical Officer Annika Kramer walked up to the pair and spoke in a whisper. "Captain, racial scans revealed the Borg is Orion."
"Really?" Kathryn could not hide her surprise and Anthi looked to the Doctor incredulously. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. What's the next move?"
Annika crossed her arms, PADD in one hand. "Well, we have plenty of options: place the Borg in stasis for Starfleet review, attempt liberation protocols, or the airlock."
Kathryn smirked. "In other words, whatever we want." Annika nodded. "Ok, let me review your notes, Doctor; I'll decide when I'm finished." Kathryn walked away with Doctor Kramer's PADD.
+++
Within seconds of reading the Doctor's report, Kathryn was running back to the medical lab. She tapped her communicator and contacted Anthi and Karl Malango: her two most trusted Tactical officers. Crew members were dodging clear from Kathryn's sprint down the hallways. When she reached the medical bay, Karl and Anthi were waiting. Kathryn stopped and hunched over to catch her breath. She reached for Karl's sidearm phaser in between gulps for air but only put her hand out.
Karl was clearly confused. "Sir?"
"Anthi -" Kathryn paused to take a deep breath. "It's one -" another breath, "- of them."
Anthi's eyes widened and she turned to Karl. "Officer Melango, you are ordered to relieve your firearm to the Captain." Karl maintained his confusion but followed the order. He watched as Kathryn set the phaser to it's most powerful setting. She was regaining composure and her breathing was normalizing.
"Thank you Anthi. Follow me in." Kathryn straightened her jacket and all three entered the room. The Borg was still lying on the table. The doors hushed closed behind them. Karl looked at Anthi who replied with a finger to her lips.
A few steps into the room, Anthi said, "Captain, are you sure?"
"Certain Orion slavers have a brand that runs down the left arm."
Karl paused as he followed the others toward the shielded room. "What's going on here?"
Kathryn stopped at the control panel to the Borg's room. "If that Borg is who I think it is, then it's not walking out of this room alive." She quickly tapped a command and the shield collapsed. Walking up to the Borg, she poked at the exposed flesh on his face. After a few seconds, she stepped away and retrieved a laser scalpel. The tiny beam cut open the sleeve without burning into the skin. All three watched as a grey/green scar was revealed. She parted the Borg cloth and winced as she touched its cold skin.
Karl persisted, "I don't understand."
Kathryn spoke without looking away. "This Orion was certainly a slaver. He was a part of the group that attacked a colonial ship heading to Hesperus. I was on that ship ... I was a slave before I joined Starfleet."
Kathryn placed the phaser's emitter at the top of the Borg's head and then paused.
Anthi and Karl looked at each other and took a step back.
Kathryn was still for several seconds then lifted the pistol and handed it back to Karl. "No, you don't deserve that." She tapped her badge. "Thel, what's our current speed?"
"Warp four," the male Andorian replied casually.
"Increase speed to maximum warp until further notice."
There was a pause before Thel acknowledged. The thrum of the engines increased before sonic dampeners compensated.
Kathryn tapped her badge again. "Transporter Room 2."
A female voice replied, "Aye, Captain?"
"Scan for my position. Lock on the Borg life signature nearby and immediately beam it out of the ship, one hundred meters in front of the forward shield facing."
Two seconds later, the Borg's form shimmered and disappeared.
First Officer Anthi looked at the Borg Drone lying on the table and nodded. The table itself was the only piece of furniture in the room. Between the Drone and the two Starfleet officers was an invisible barrier of energy whose modulating frequencies hummed louder than the engines of Solaris. The medical bay was otherwise silent.
"I'm impressed it's still alive," Anthi said. "The Probe was utterly destroyed."
Kathryn kept looking at the specimen. "Any more findings about that?"
Still holding the PADD with the data, the female Andorian recall edthe information from memory and did not look away from the Borg either. "Analysis suggests the destruction occurred two days ago. Particle forensics reveal high amounts of Polaron energy primarily used."
Kathryn nodded. "Not many races use Polaron weapons." Anthi agreed silently.
Chief Medical Officer Annika Kramer walked up to the pair and spoke in a whisper. "Captain, racial scans revealed the Borg is Orion."
"Really?" Kathryn could not hide her surprise and Anthi looked to the Doctor incredulously. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. What's the next move?"
Annika crossed her arms, PADD in one hand. "Well, we have plenty of options: place the Borg in stasis for Starfleet review, attempt liberation protocols, or the airlock."
Kathryn smirked. "In other words, whatever we want." Annika nodded. "Ok, let me review your notes, Doctor; I'll decide when I'm finished." Kathryn walked away with Doctor Kramer's PADD.
+++
Within seconds of reading the Doctor's report, Kathryn was running back to the medical lab. She tapped her communicator and contacted Anthi and Karl Malango: her two most trusted Tactical officers. Crew members were dodging clear from Kathryn's sprint down the hallways. When she reached the medical bay, Karl and Anthi were waiting. Kathryn stopped and hunched over to catch her breath. She reached for Karl's sidearm phaser in between gulps for air but only put her hand out.
Karl was clearly confused. "Sir?"
"Anthi -" Kathryn paused to take a deep breath. "It's one -" another breath, "- of them."
Anthi's eyes widened and she turned to Karl. "Officer Melango, you are ordered to relieve your firearm to the Captain." Karl maintained his confusion but followed the order. He watched as Kathryn set the phaser to it's most powerful setting. She was regaining composure and her breathing was normalizing.
"Thank you Anthi. Follow me in." Kathryn straightened her jacket and all three entered the room. The Borg was still lying on the table. The doors hushed closed behind them. Karl looked at Anthi who replied with a finger to her lips.
A few steps into the room, Anthi said, "Captain, are you sure?"
"Certain Orion slavers have a brand that runs down the left arm."
Karl paused as he followed the others toward the shielded room. "What's going on here?"
Kathryn stopped at the control panel to the Borg's room. "If that Borg is who I think it is, then it's not walking out of this room alive." She quickly tapped a command and the shield collapsed. Walking up to the Borg, she poked at the exposed flesh on his face. After a few seconds, she stepped away and retrieved a laser scalpel. The tiny beam cut open the sleeve without burning into the skin. All three watched as a grey/green scar was revealed. She parted the Borg cloth and winced as she touched its cold skin.
Karl persisted, "I don't understand."
Kathryn spoke without looking away. "This Orion was certainly a slaver. He was a part of the group that attacked a colonial ship heading to Hesperus. I was on that ship ... I was a slave before I joined Starfleet."
Kathryn placed the phaser's emitter at the top of the Borg's head and then paused.
Anthi and Karl looked at each other and took a step back.
Kathryn was still for several seconds then lifted the pistol and handed it back to Karl. "No, you don't deserve that." She tapped her badge. "Thel, what's our current speed?"
"Warp four," the male Andorian replied casually.
"Increase speed to maximum warp until further notice."
There was a pause before Thel acknowledged. The thrum of the engines increased before sonic dampeners compensated.
Kathryn tapped her badge again. "Transporter Room 2."
A female voice replied, "Aye, Captain?"
"Scan for my position. Lock on the Borg life signature nearby and immediately beam it out of the ship, one hundred meters in front of the forward shield facing."
Two seconds later, the Borg's form shimmered and disappeared.
---
Cast:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn Winnick
Karl Melango - Jeremy Renner
Annika Kramer - Abbie Cornish
Transporter officer - Random Extra 1
Borg Drone - Random Extra 2
Mentioned but not seen:
Thel Ythysi - Kevin Sorbo
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