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 Anthi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anthi. 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
Saturday, February 10, 2018
A Patriot's Game
Kathryn stood straight while looking at the data scrolling on the display. “No offense S’Rel, but are you sure, absolutely sure?”
The female Vulcan sitting at her Operations station on the bridge nodded at the screen. “Yes, sir. Verification protocols were followed along with my own diagnostic. The worm was manually installed by attaché Motira, shortly after we departed New Romulus.”
Scanning the data, Kathryn whispered to herself, “holodeck, medical, a munitions locker and ... the engine room?” She looked away feeling confused, yet some action had to be done to stop further hemorrhaging of data. “Isolate and five-layer encrypt all records. Use whatever resources you need to purge every nanobyte of that worm code from the core. Then send this information to my ready room.” She turned to the Andorian First Officer. “Anthi, I need to speak with Ambassador V’Sar, immediately.”
“Aye, Captain.”
+++
The Romulan Ambassador finished reviewing the information from the screen, his face contorted with disappointment. Spinning the desktop display toward Kathryn, he sat back into the chair.
Kathryn sat motionless wearing a determined countenance. “I wanted you to see the evidence first. I must admit, it was sloppy work for Tal Shiar agent. Regardless, I trust you will allow me to detain Motira.”
V’Sar sighed uncharacteristically and nodded. “I trust you believe me when I say this is a complete surprise. How the Tal Shiar maintains effort to meddle in Republican affairs disturbs me.”
“How you are certain this is about the Romulan Republic? The worm was a digital recorder of specific sections on this ship, which is a well-known design. Unless –,“ Kathryn had the thousand-yard stare for a brief moment, but long enough for V’Sar to look at her questioningly. She tapped her combadge and stood. “Security, locate Romulan Attaché Motira and escort her to the Brig, expect resistance.”
“Captain?” V’Sar was clearly confused.
She moved around the desk and toward the door and then stopped to look at V’Sar. “The Tal Shiar program was an old one, which is how we were able to find it, and Motira has explicit surveillance for a reason. You can come with me, or you can stay here. Either way, it may not matter unless we stop her.”
V’Sar stood and demanded, “What are your thoughts Captain Beringer?”
“I think Motira plans to blow up the ship.”
+++
Deck 15
Sitting at the bar of the Headsail Lounge, Motira was looking into an empty glass; the Tamarian Frost was very tasty and the spice flavor lingered on her lips. Long dark brown hair fell to cover the sides of her face. As people had been entering and leaving the Lounge, she did not realize the security detail enter the room. Wearing traditional Romulan clothing made her easily stand out, even if she was the only one sitting at the bar.
Only when she noticed the bartender behind the bar back away from the direction of the main entrance, did she gather something was different.
I had hoped to have one more day, she thought to herself. Casually turning in her seat, she took stock of the two human males; one dark-skinned and the other lighter, both bulky and tall enough to prove the intimidation they exuded. Motira scoffed at the idea and then raised an eyebrow noticing they wore phasers at their hips.
The lighter-skinned one took a step forward. “Attaché Motira, please come with us.”
She looked around the Lounge and counted six others, who were looking at the situation calmly and quietly, before responding. “I am a representative of the Romulan Republic. What is the meaning of this?”
“We have been ordered to escort you for safety reasons.”
“Is there an emergency?”
The officer’s hand moved halfway to the phaser. “I do apologize for the inconvenience. Please come with us.”
Motira shrugged and casually strolled past the security detail to exit the Headsail Lounge.
+++
Deck 9
The Turbolift doors opened and Motira stepped into the hallway, the burley security team quietly following her. Turning a corner, she stopped as she noticed V’Sar and Kathryn waiting outside the doors to the Holding Cells several meters away. “Amabssador, do you know what is going on?”
V’Sar’s sneered. “Tal Shiar scum.”
The comment shocked Kathryn and Motria alike. Kathryn raised her hands to calm the Ambassador. “V’Sar, I think we-“
“For the Empire”, shouted Motira. She balled a fist to backhand the security guard to her left, and then side kicked the guard to the right. Both were thrown against walls, arms flailing from the shock attack. She quickly reached for a phaser and swiveled toward the pair down the hallway, quickly pressing buttons to adjust the beam setting.
Kathryn recovered from Motira’s surprise assault on the security team. “Motira, stand down! Whatever you’re plans, it’s done.”
Motira looked to the guards and comforted with them incapacitated, she stalked a few steps forward. “I just needed one more day,” she said aloud.
V’Sar stood motionless and relaxed even with the phaser trained on him. “One day or a thousand years from now, the Star Empire is part of the history books. New Romulus is the future.”
“Maybe so, but patriots like me will make every step to that future more difficult than the last.” She gritted her teeth as she prepared to fire.
The Ambassador pushed Kathryn away, the counter-force propelling him toward Motira. The phaser beam connected the two Romulans and V’Sar was wrapped in a cocoon of light. Not expecting the Ambassador to wear a personal shield, Motira stood surprised.
Without stopping, V’Sar charged Motira. He knocked the phaser out of her hand and then reached to choke the Attaché. She gasped for air and buckled to her knees, struggling against his grip.
A phaser emitter touched V’Sar’s temple, forcing him to pause. He looked to see Kathryn standing over him. “That’s enough Ambassador; I think the Republic is victorious this day.”
V’Sar grinned and released his grip to stand. Motira collapsed as she coughed in defeat. He regained his regal poise before reaching into the folds of his diplomatic uniform. Revealing a small device, he handed it to Kathryn. “Thank you for your assistance, Captain Beringer. I apologize to your crew for the inconvenience.”
Lowering the phaser, she replied, “indeed.” Accepting the cube-shaped shield projector, Kathryn added, “neat trick.”
“A man in my position can make enemies very quickly, wouldn’t you agree?”
Kathryn lifted Motira from the floor. The security team had recovered and escorted the Romulan toward the holding cells. She watched them disappear before turning to V’Sar. “What do you mean, ‘assistance’?”
The Ambassador became smug. “I must apologize, Captain. I knew there was a spy within the Ambassadorial coterie but was unable to discover who it was. Our presence aboard this ship was not only for diplomatic reasons, but also as a vehicle, so to speak, to find, flush and neutralize the agent. Or traitor, depending on who it was, of course.”
Kathryn's eyes narrowed. "Of course."
___
Cast For Crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Katheryn Winnick
Anthi Ythysi - Monique Ganderton
S'Rel - Morena Baccarin
Ambassador V'Sar - Michael Fassbender
Attaché Motira – Priyanka Chopra
Security Officer 1 - Male street extra 1
Security Officer 2 - Male street extra 2
The female Vulcan sitting at her Operations station on the bridge nodded at the screen. “Yes, sir. Verification protocols were followed along with my own diagnostic. The worm was manually installed by attaché Motira, shortly after we departed New Romulus.”
Scanning the data, Kathryn whispered to herself, “holodeck, medical, a munitions locker and ... the engine room?” She looked away feeling confused, yet some action had to be done to stop further hemorrhaging of data. “Isolate and five-layer encrypt all records. Use whatever resources you need to purge every nanobyte of that worm code from the core. Then send this information to my ready room.” She turned to the Andorian First Officer. “Anthi, I need to speak with Ambassador V’Sar, immediately.”
“Aye, Captain.”
+++
The Romulan Ambassador finished reviewing the information from the screen, his face contorted with disappointment. Spinning the desktop display toward Kathryn, he sat back into the chair.
Kathryn sat motionless wearing a determined countenance. “I wanted you to see the evidence first. I must admit, it was sloppy work for Tal Shiar agent. Regardless, I trust you will allow me to detain Motira.”
V’Sar sighed uncharacteristically and nodded. “I trust you believe me when I say this is a complete surprise. How the Tal Shiar maintains effort to meddle in Republican affairs disturbs me.”
“How you are certain this is about the Romulan Republic? The worm was a digital recorder of specific sections on this ship, which is a well-known design. Unless –,“ Kathryn had the thousand-yard stare for a brief moment, but long enough for V’Sar to look at her questioningly. She tapped her combadge and stood. “Security, locate Romulan Attaché Motira and escort her to the Brig, expect resistance.”
“Captain?” V’Sar was clearly confused.
She moved around the desk and toward the door and then stopped to look at V’Sar. “The Tal Shiar program was an old one, which is how we were able to find it, and Motira has explicit surveillance for a reason. You can come with me, or you can stay here. Either way, it may not matter unless we stop her.”
V’Sar stood and demanded, “What are your thoughts Captain Beringer?”
“I think Motira plans to blow up the ship.”
+++
Deck 15
Sitting at the bar of the Headsail Lounge, Motira was looking into an empty glass; the Tamarian Frost was very tasty and the spice flavor lingered on her lips. Long dark brown hair fell to cover the sides of her face. As people had been entering and leaving the Lounge, she did not realize the security detail enter the room. Wearing traditional Romulan clothing made her easily stand out, even if she was the only one sitting at the bar.
Only when she noticed the bartender behind the bar back away from the direction of the main entrance, did she gather something was different.
I had hoped to have one more day, she thought to herself. Casually turning in her seat, she took stock of the two human males; one dark-skinned and the other lighter, both bulky and tall enough to prove the intimidation they exuded. Motira scoffed at the idea and then raised an eyebrow noticing they wore phasers at their hips.
The lighter-skinned one took a step forward. “Attaché Motira, please come with us.”
She looked around the Lounge and counted six others, who were looking at the situation calmly and quietly, before responding. “I am a representative of the Romulan Republic. What is the meaning of this?”
“We have been ordered to escort you for safety reasons.”
“Is there an emergency?”
The officer’s hand moved halfway to the phaser. “I do apologize for the inconvenience. Please come with us.”
Motira shrugged and casually strolled past the security detail to exit the Headsail Lounge.
+++
Deck 9
The Turbolift doors opened and Motira stepped into the hallway, the burley security team quietly following her. Turning a corner, she stopped as she noticed V’Sar and Kathryn waiting outside the doors to the Holding Cells several meters away. “Amabssador, do you know what is going on?”
V’Sar’s sneered. “Tal Shiar scum.”
The comment shocked Kathryn and Motria alike. Kathryn raised her hands to calm the Ambassador. “V’Sar, I think we-“
“For the Empire”, shouted Motira. She balled a fist to backhand the security guard to her left, and then side kicked the guard to the right. Both were thrown against walls, arms flailing from the shock attack. She quickly reached for a phaser and swiveled toward the pair down the hallway, quickly pressing buttons to adjust the beam setting.
Kathryn recovered from Motira’s surprise assault on the security team. “Motira, stand down! Whatever you’re plans, it’s done.”
Motira looked to the guards and comforted with them incapacitated, she stalked a few steps forward. “I just needed one more day,” she said aloud.
V’Sar stood motionless and relaxed even with the phaser trained on him. “One day or a thousand years from now, the Star Empire is part of the history books. New Romulus is the future.”
“Maybe so, but patriots like me will make every step to that future more difficult than the last.” She gritted her teeth as she prepared to fire.
The Ambassador pushed Kathryn away, the counter-force propelling him toward Motira. The phaser beam connected the two Romulans and V’Sar was wrapped in a cocoon of light. Not expecting the Ambassador to wear a personal shield, Motira stood surprised.
Without stopping, V’Sar charged Motira. He knocked the phaser out of her hand and then reached to choke the Attaché. She gasped for air and buckled to her knees, struggling against his grip.
A phaser emitter touched V’Sar’s temple, forcing him to pause. He looked to see Kathryn standing over him. “That’s enough Ambassador; I think the Republic is victorious this day.”
V’Sar grinned and released his grip to stand. Motira collapsed as she coughed in defeat. He regained his regal poise before reaching into the folds of his diplomatic uniform. Revealing a small device, he handed it to Kathryn. “Thank you for your assistance, Captain Beringer. I apologize to your crew for the inconvenience.”
Lowering the phaser, she replied, “indeed.” Accepting the cube-shaped shield projector, Kathryn added, “neat trick.”
“A man in my position can make enemies very quickly, wouldn’t you agree?”
Kathryn lifted Motira from the floor. The security team had recovered and escorted the Romulan toward the holding cells. She watched them disappear before turning to V’Sar. “What do you mean, ‘assistance’?”
The Ambassador became smug. “I must apologize, Captain. I knew there was a spy within the Ambassadorial coterie but was unable to discover who it was. Our presence aboard this ship was not only for diplomatic reasons, but also as a vehicle, so to speak, to find, flush and neutralize the agent. Or traitor, depending on who it was, of course.”
Kathryn's eyes narrowed. "Of course."
___
Cast For Crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Katheryn Winnick
Anthi Ythysi - Monique Ganderton
S'Rel - Morena Baccarin
Ambassador V'Sar - Michael Fassbender
Attaché Motira – Priyanka Chopra
Security Officer 1 - Male street extra 1
Security Officer 2 - Male street extra 2
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
Friday, October 6, 2017
The Sound of Silence
The streaking star field on the main viewscreen abruptly stops and the ship rolls slightly as RCS thrusters adjust to match the system’s elliptical plane.
Kathryn smiles and she taps the rank pips on her collar. “It’s good to be home,” she says quietly to herself. Standing from the center seat of the bridge, she takes a few steps toward the helm station. “Ian, scan the vicinity for traffic and plot a course toward Utopia Planetia, quarter-impulse speed please. We are ahead of schedule and can afford some sight-seeing, so to speak.”
“Aye, Captain.” After a few seconds looking over his console, Ian added, “System traffic is light and course plotted.”
“Excellent, thank you.” She turned to Anthi, her Andorian First Officer. “Anthi, you have the conn, I’ll be in my ready-room until we arrive for docking procedures.”
Anthi nodded, her antennae curled slowly together as a sign she was relaxed. “Aye, Captain.”
+++
After docking …
Exiting the ready-room, Kathryn verified docking procedures were completed without incident with various bridge crew. She then entered the turbo-lift and was about to order a destination when S’Rel appeared and nodded. The Chief of Operations, being Vulcan, was typically subdued as she joined Kathryn in the tube.
“Deck Eight”, Kathryn ordered as the doors closed. The tube hummed slightly as it descended.
“Captain, I wish to speak to you about the personnel transfer scheduled while we are at the shipyards.”
Kathryn looked surprised. “Interesting time to discuss that”, she replied patiently.
“This was an opportune time.” S’Rel produced a PADD from behind her back.
Accepting it with a quiet sigh, Kathryn scanned the short roster. “A few changes since the personnel meeting, yet all Deck Officers have signed off and –“, she hovered a finger over the blinking icon at the bottom of the report. “Do you have any reservations?“
S’Rel's brow crumpled from concentration, or consternation. “A last-minute addition was requested from the Indomitable, sir. Ensign Turkal, a communications specialist. I formally request his denial for transfer to Solaris.”
Looking again, Kathryn reviewed specific details. As the turbolift doors opened, some officers waiting stepped aside. Kathryn smiled and looked to each quickly before returning her attention to the PADD, S’Rel followed behind. Stopping near an intersection, Kathryn turned to the Vulcan. “Forgive me S’Rel, nothing in his record suggests he could not be posted aboard this ship.”
Crossing her arms behind her back, S’Rel looked around the hallway. Kathryn cocked her head to the side as she perceived S’Rel seemed embarrassed. “Turkal broke off our engagement after he admitted to wanting relations with another woman. His partner is on this vessel already.”
Kathryn closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.
+++
On Deck Eleven …
At the end of the hallway the turbolift doors to the dorsal shuttlebay seemed a kilometer away. Kathryn tapped the rank pips on her collar as she strode forward. Crossing an intersection, a female down a sideway called her name. Wincing, Kathryn stopped abruptly a few paces from the turbolift and turned around. Science Chief Omazei turned a corner and stopped. She was holding a PADD and wore a bright smile. Almost thirty centimeters shorter than Kathryn, the Trill was certainly ‘cute’.
“I’m so glad I caught you Captain!” Omazei pushed her chin-length black hair behind an ear revealing brown marks that ran along the sides of her face and disappeared under her uniform’s collar.
“Yes, Commander, what can I do for you?”
Omazei’s demeanor shifted from congenial to professional as she tapped on the PADD. “I was looking over the telemetry from our survey of Wyngus III and noticed some … irregularities.”
There was a pause and Kathryn raised her eyebrows after several seconds as Omazei seemed to be waiting for a response.
“Yes, well, I checked the logs and noticed a calibration differential between the primary and secondary sensor platforms. The calibration was the top of error range, meaning –“
“Meaning the telemetry is not accurate within five,” Kathryn interrupted and sighed, “to ten percent.”
“Exactly. The Sensor and Deflector teams could recalibrate the pylons while we are here! The yards have the tools needed to complete the task within a few days at the most.”
“Complications would be a delay though. Could we complete the recalibration when we leave drydock?”
Omazei looked skeptical. “It could be done, yet we are scheduled to conduct system surveys in the Cestus Sector, so physical handling while at Warp Speed is not recommended.” +++ On Deck Eighteen ... Kathryn stepped out of the turbolift and quickly walked toward the main shuttlebay doorway. As if on cue, Chief Engineer Thel exited a room she passed. “Ah, Captain, good timing! I have the requisition logs for the upcoming weapons refit. There have been some major revisions needing your approval.” Kathryn had stopped to turn to the Andorian and accepted the PADD. She scanned the list and looked up with surprise. “These look less like revisions and more like an overhaul.” “Yes, sir. The Pulse Phasers will require a minimal power routing lattice our current network will be stressed to handle." “Was this known at the time of the initial report?” Thel put his hands behind his back; a sign he was embarrassed about something. “The requisition was made based on our current Mark Twelve configuration. Starfleet has granted the request for Mark Fourteen systems and –“ “It’s better to keep what they gave, than to turn it down,” Kathryn interrupted as she nodded. “Can the lattice network be upgraded before the weapon systems arrive?” “Easily.” He pulled another PADD from a pouch on his work vest and tapped a few keys. “I’ll need the full Engineering team on a rotating twelve-hour shift over two days to keep the weapons refit on schedule.” Kathryn closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. +++ On board the shuttlecraft Yanaze… Kathryn tapped on the console to the right as she completed the pre-flight check. Her combadge chirped and she slapped at the device impatiently. “Beringer here.” She forced calm into her voice. “Captain, this is Bur’ar. There is a concern with the Prisoner transfer.” The Klingon Chief of Security sounded as if he were growling. “Are you alone?” Even though she was the only person on the Yellowstone shuttlecraft, she was compelled to look back into the fuselage. Seeing no one, Kathryn replied, “yes, what’s the problem?” Bur’ar cleared his throat. “As the prisoners were being escorted to shuttlebay one, some words were exchanged with the Orion ambassador who was nearby at an intersection. A physical altercation started between the two. The escort team successfully separated the combatants without injury. The ambassador was sent to quarters. Upon arriving to the transport shuttle, the Orion prisoner started showing signs of illness and is currently in sickbay.” Kathryn sat back into the chair and crossed her arms. “What’s the prognosis for the prisoner?” “Not very good.” “Has anyone questioned Staza?” “Due to her status, protocol dictates you must be present throughout any investigation.” Kathryn closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. +++ At Utopia Planitia Alpha Station … Entering the holodeck, Kathryn removed her combadge and placed it within a small container embedded in the wall next to the control panel. She pressed an icon on the panel and then stepped into the dimly lit chamber. “Computer, lock main door, vocal authorization access only. Begin program: Kathryn-Risa-Lambda-Seven.” The panel on the wall chirped an acknowledgment and the yellow-on-black grid lines were replaced by a serene beach. Water lapped several meters away, with a thick tree-line running perpendicular to the beach. Kathryn could feel the simulated warmth on her cheeks with a slight breeze pulling or pushing her hair. She tugged at the regulation-styled bun of hair and it unfolded to flow over her shoulders. Taking a few paces to a lone beach chair, Kathryn unzipped her uniform jacket and rested it over the chair. She pushed her trousers to her feet then sat down and pulled her boots off. Kathryn reclined the back of the chair and crossed her legs. The sound of the waves and occasional squawking of a Risian parakeet in the background was soothing. She sighed, closing her eyes and licking her lips. “Computer, lower ambient volume, continue until stop command.” The sounds around her diminished until barely audible. “Stop.”
+++
Cast for crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn Winnick
S'Rel - Morena Baccarin
Thel Ythysi - Kevin Sorbo
Omazei - Gemma Arterton
Bur'ar - David Ramsay
Ian - Ben Browder
Mentioned but not seen:
Turkal - Male street extra
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Caught In Time
ULC 29 – Temporal Intrigue – Prompt 3 “Mouse Problems”
---
Omazei stood at the display on the wall and failed to stifle a yawn. Everyone in the room started yawning as she spoke.
“I’m sorry about that, although I’m sure we are all, literally, tired of losing sleep.”
Everyone nodded in agreement and Omazei tapped a key on the screen. A blurry image of a red-colored bipedal creature appeared. The initial image changed with another of the same creature from a different angle, then another image as if on a rotation.
“This is our newest residence, Nunpar Hablas. Discovered on Konar III in 2398 by the crew of the USS Ernst Mach, ironically, while on a routine planetary survey. Logs reveal exactly what we’ve been encountering: loss of sleep from persistent interruption by these –“
As if on queue, a creature like on the screen passed through the wall closest to Kathryn’s chair. The Nunpar ran in a blur and seemed to fly onto the table and ‘stopped’ in front of Kathryn. Standing about 13 centimeters, it looked like a miniature humanoid and although standing still, it seemed to be in constant motion. A high-pitched buzz emanated from the blurry creature as it waved its arms erratically. Then it zoomed to stand in front of the Klingon Security Officer.
Bur’ar rubbed his eyes then pounded fists on the table as if to crush the Nunpar, which dodged the sudden attack. No one else reacted to his actions. The buzz intensified for a second, and then the Nunpar ran off the table and through the door of the room whose sensors registered the movement and opened belatedly.
“Forgive me Captain, I lost control,” sighed Bur’ar.
Kathryn rubbed her temples. “Sadly, I sympathize with you.” She looked to Omazei, who read the look on Kathryn’s face to continue.
“Yes, well, in summary, these creatures are fast and annoying. Universal translators don’t seem to work on the Nunpar. It seems the surveyors made very little effort to communicate with the Nunpar and the logs reflect a rather heightened exasperation that stymied their work. The Ernst Mach laid warning buoys in the system because of their experience. There are no recorded instances of the Nunpar off-planet.”
Anthi growled, “until now.”
Kathryn smiled at her First Officer’s remark. “Okay. A few questions.”
“Only a few?” Anthi’s dark-shaded eyes flashed angrily, her antennae twitching as she interrupted her Captain. Quickly she raised her hands as if to surrender. “I’m sorry, sir.”
Nodding sympathetically, Kathyn spoke as she continued to rub her temples. “How many do we have on board? How did they get here? How do we get them off?”
Chief Engineer Thel calmly responded, “I’ve scoured the transporter logs and these … things, are not in the database. So they were either physically brought on board or transported from another source.”
Omazei stepped away from the display. “Reports about this creature appeared nine days ago. We have not passed another ship or starbase in thirteen days. It’s possible it came aboard somehow during our last stop at Deep Space Eight. Their Chief Constable replied to my query the other day and do not report anything similar. Based on internal reports, I think we only have one.”
Buzzing returned and everyone started looking around until the Nunpar jumped through the center of the table. It ran around in circles, collided with Bur’ar’s hand, and then ricocheted off the edge of the table. Still vibrating it sank through the floor.
Kathryn looked shocked at the others. “So. How do we get rid of it?”
“Um, are we curious how it didn’t pass through Bur’ar?” Omazei asked.
“No,” replied the others in unison.
“Or how it has not run out into outer space?”
“No,” everyone copied.
After light laughter from the group, Anthi cleared her throat. “Seriously, we know it’s vibrating so fast as to be able to pass through solid matter without problems.”
“Except organic matter,” added Omazei after another yawn.
“Right, well I’m not going to make recommendations for a trap of that kind. I could … but I won’t.”
Thel tapped the table loudly. “We have to find a way to stop it long enough to trap it into something inanimate.”
Kathryn’s mental fog lifted at the idea of a box made of thin air. “I have an idea.”
+++
Omazei stood from the trap laid out within the cargo bay. Four posts about three meters high were spread out in a square about fifteen meters apart. Closing a tricorder, she turned Kathryn and nodded.
Kathryn tapped her badge. “Helm, full stop.”
“Acknowledged,” replied a male voice. The ship’s engines lost power and the ambient sound of warp travel faded.
At a nearby console, Kathryn tapped a few keys on a console and the four posts activated, a faint blue spark intermittently appearing between the columns to reveal the ‘walls’. Otherwise the space within the trap was peaceful.
Bur’ar lifted a phaser pistol and adjusted a setting before firing into the trap. The beam penetrated two meters past the invisible barrier before slowing down. After a few seconds, Bur’ar stopped firing. Within the trap, the phaser beam slowly traversed the distance until it came to a stop at the center.
Omazei opened her tricorder and scanned the area. Impressed, she whistled before continuing her scans. “The trap is maintaining temporal integrity, with time effectively stopped in the center.”
Thel looked up from his Engineering console. “Power input from the warp core is stable.”
Kathryn nodded and she yawned. “Good.”
Anthi stepped up to Kathryn and stretched. “What do we do with the Nunpar once we’ve caught it?”
“Unless we race back to Konor III, I have no idea. I’m too tired to come up with something witty.”
---
Cast For Crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
Anthi Ythysi - Kathryn Winnick
Thel Ythysi - Kevin Sorbo
Omazei - Gemma Arterton
Bur’ar - David Ramsey
---
Omazei stood at the display on the wall and failed to stifle a yawn. Everyone in the room started yawning as she spoke.
“I’m sorry about that, although I’m sure we are all, literally, tired of losing sleep.”
Everyone nodded in agreement and Omazei tapped a key on the screen. A blurry image of a red-colored bipedal creature appeared. The initial image changed with another of the same creature from a different angle, then another image as if on a rotation.
“This is our newest residence, Nunpar Hablas. Discovered on Konar III in 2398 by the crew of the USS Ernst Mach, ironically, while on a routine planetary survey. Logs reveal exactly what we’ve been encountering: loss of sleep from persistent interruption by these –“
As if on queue, a creature like on the screen passed through the wall closest to Kathryn’s chair. The Nunpar ran in a blur and seemed to fly onto the table and ‘stopped’ in front of Kathryn. Standing about 13 centimeters, it looked like a miniature humanoid and although standing still, it seemed to be in constant motion. A high-pitched buzz emanated from the blurry creature as it waved its arms erratically. Then it zoomed to stand in front of the Klingon Security Officer.
Bur’ar rubbed his eyes then pounded fists on the table as if to crush the Nunpar, which dodged the sudden attack. No one else reacted to his actions. The buzz intensified for a second, and then the Nunpar ran off the table and through the door of the room whose sensors registered the movement and opened belatedly.
“Forgive me Captain, I lost control,” sighed Bur’ar.
Kathryn rubbed her temples. “Sadly, I sympathize with you.” She looked to Omazei, who read the look on Kathryn’s face to continue.
“Yes, well, in summary, these creatures are fast and annoying. Universal translators don’t seem to work on the Nunpar. It seems the surveyors made very little effort to communicate with the Nunpar and the logs reflect a rather heightened exasperation that stymied their work. The Ernst Mach laid warning buoys in the system because of their experience. There are no recorded instances of the Nunpar off-planet.”
Anthi growled, “until now.”
Kathryn smiled at her First Officer’s remark. “Okay. A few questions.”
“Only a few?” Anthi’s dark-shaded eyes flashed angrily, her antennae twitching as she interrupted her Captain. Quickly she raised her hands as if to surrender. “I’m sorry, sir.”
Nodding sympathetically, Kathyn spoke as she continued to rub her temples. “How many do we have on board? How did they get here? How do we get them off?”
Chief Engineer Thel calmly responded, “I’ve scoured the transporter logs and these … things, are not in the database. So they were either physically brought on board or transported from another source.”
Omazei stepped away from the display. “Reports about this creature appeared nine days ago. We have not passed another ship or starbase in thirteen days. It’s possible it came aboard somehow during our last stop at Deep Space Eight. Their Chief Constable replied to my query the other day and do not report anything similar. Based on internal reports, I think we only have one.”
Buzzing returned and everyone started looking around until the Nunpar jumped through the center of the table. It ran around in circles, collided with Bur’ar’s hand, and then ricocheted off the edge of the table. Still vibrating it sank through the floor.
Kathryn looked shocked at the others. “So. How do we get rid of it?”
“Um, are we curious how it didn’t pass through Bur’ar?” Omazei asked.
“No,” replied the others in unison.
“Or how it has not run out into outer space?”
“No,” everyone copied.
After light laughter from the group, Anthi cleared her throat. “Seriously, we know it’s vibrating so fast as to be able to pass through solid matter without problems.”
“Except organic matter,” added Omazei after another yawn.
“Right, well I’m not going to make recommendations for a trap of that kind. I could … but I won’t.”
Thel tapped the table loudly. “We have to find a way to stop it long enough to trap it into something inanimate.”
Kathryn’s mental fog lifted at the idea of a box made of thin air. “I have an idea.”
+++
Omazei stood from the trap laid out within the cargo bay. Four posts about three meters high were spread out in a square about fifteen meters apart. Closing a tricorder, she turned Kathryn and nodded.
Kathryn tapped her badge. “Helm, full stop.”
“Acknowledged,” replied a male voice. The ship’s engines lost power and the ambient sound of warp travel faded.
At a nearby console, Kathryn tapped a few keys on a console and the four posts activated, a faint blue spark intermittently appearing between the columns to reveal the ‘walls’. Otherwise the space within the trap was peaceful.
Bur’ar lifted a phaser pistol and adjusted a setting before firing into the trap. The beam penetrated two meters past the invisible barrier before slowing down. After a few seconds, Bur’ar stopped firing. Within the trap, the phaser beam slowly traversed the distance until it came to a stop at the center.
Omazei opened her tricorder and scanned the area. Impressed, she whistled before continuing her scans. “The trap is maintaining temporal integrity, with time effectively stopped in the center.”
Thel looked up from his Engineering console. “Power input from the warp core is stable.”
Kathryn nodded and she yawned. “Good.”
Anthi stepped up to Kathryn and stretched. “What do we do with the Nunpar once we’ve caught it?”
“Unless we race back to Konor III, I have no idea. I’m too tired to come up with something witty.”
---
Cast For Crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
Anthi Ythysi - Kathryn Winnick
Thel Ythysi - Kevin Sorbo
Omazei - Gemma Arterton
Bur’ar - David Ramsey
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
Tuesday, August 2, 2016
If/Then
Unofficial Literary Challenge 22 - The Changeling
---
The woman sitting at the pilot’s seat of the Yellowstone Runabout smiled at Kathryn. Her round face was graced with soft cheeks and thin lips. Yet her cat-shaped eyes relayed a sharp intellect. Brown hair fell straight, ending in curls, halfway down her chest covering Science career pipes on the uniform. Kathryn returned the smile through the small desktop viewscreen. The conversation, so far, had been filled with remembering Academy days.
Snapping her fingers, Kathryn became excited from another recollection. “Speaking of bad boyfriends, I dated a Bajoran with Klingon tattoos on his back, do you remember him?”
Alison Burnett squinted as she searched her memories. Kathryn continued. “I met him at a party and he was all over me. He was so good looking and fun but he did have a mean streak. We dated a few weeks.”
The Lieutenant Commander smirked and then nodded. “I think I remember him, did he wear earrings on both ears?”
Kathryn’s eyes widened, “yes! You may have met him once or twice.”
Alison covered her mouth as if embarrassed. “He asked me to date him while you were seeing him too. I threatened to haul him to the ethics board, and then punched him in the face.”
Kathryn feigned disappointment. “What?!” Both women burst into laughter. Kathryn wiped away a tear. “No wonder he broke it off. What an idiot. Although the board would have laughed you out of the room, I guess I should thank you for that.”
Alison also dabbed at her eyes to keep the thin mascara from running. “Only in the Academy , right?” Sher smile faded. “Shall we get down to business?”
“Yes, yes indeed.” Kathryn wore a seriousness that fit her rank as she interlaced her fingers on the ready-room desk. She sat upright and tried to remain congenial but could not hide her solemnness. “Solaris is en route to your location and we should be there shortly.” Kathryn placed a hand on a PADD next to the screen without looking away. “I’m sure you can guess that my orders are to bring you in –“, she cleared her throat, surrendering to the gravity of the situation. “Dead or alive.”
Alison was not surprised and her countenance hardened. “Starfleet is that serious? Kathy, look at those orders: you are being ordered to kill me if you have to. Defection is not a death sentence.”
“I’ve read them, more times than you think.”
“And yet, they send one of my Academy friends to do their dirty work?”
“Would you rather someone else?”
Turning away from the screen, Alison sighed. “I’d rather not even have that choice –“
“That’s my point Alison, you have a choice! If you choose to turn around, then the punishment won’t be severe.” Kathryn had sat back and opened her arms wide showing some frustration.
Alison was resolute and she shook her head. “I have chosen. So many rules and regulations, my work was being controlled by idiots and pantomimes. The secrecy was almost conspiratorial and the War was a breaking point. The Federation is no longer the shining beacon of order and stability it promotes to the rest of the galaxy … at least not for me anymore.
Leaning forward, Kathryn became animated. “And defecting to the Terran Empire was the best alternative?! You could have resigned, or even told Admiral Quinn to burn in Sto’Vo’Kor. Even the Orion Syndicate in this universe would make a deal you couldn’t refuse with what you know.”
A chime activated and Anthi’s voice coldly declared from the bridge next to Kathryn’s ready-room, “we are at the coordinates as ordered, Captain.”
Alison looked away at a console within the Runabout. “Confirmed. Kathy, you really shouldn’t be here. If you leave, then there will be no more surprises.”
Kathryn looked down as she spoke, her own resolution growing. “The secrets you have about Black Talon are why the Federation sent me. The longer this goes on, the worse it will be for you. Don’t do this.”
A new very familiar voice was heard from Alison’s side. “Okay, that’s enough.” Another woman gruffly pulled Alison out of the pilot seat, sat down herself and started tapping at the console.
Kathryn was genuinely shocked. “You! Are you behind Alison’s defection?!”
Mirror Kathryn smiled mischievously and brushed aside a thick lock of burgundy hair from her face, revealing the black eyepatch across her left eye. “Maybe.”
The door to Kathryn’s room swished open and Anthi stopped at the threshold. “Captain, a Tachyon burst was detected and a Terran ship came through. It’s –“
“The Abyssal”, Kathryn interrupted not looking away from the screen and seething with fury.
Kathryn on the shuttle mocked, “so, Captain Beringer, if you really want to get into a shooting match, then your friend is in the crossfire.”
Ignoring her doppelganger, Kathryn glanced to Anthi, “prepare Pattern Rho Tycho, but hold station otherwise.”
Anthi nodded and left the room quickly as the Terran responded, “Wise move, Captain. Although your style for naming ship maneuvers is so formal. We like things to be simple and straightforward. Next time, just say it: rescue transport.” Alison stood behind the seat into view. Kathryn could not read any emotion on her old friend’s face.
“Go to Hell. You heard my orders; I’ll vaporize the shuttle before it enters Terran space.”
Mirror Kathryn pursed her lips. “Tsk tsk, Captain, that’s not noble at all. In fact, that sounds very … Terran of you.” She laughed at her whimsical verbal parry.
Tapping her combadge, Kathryn hoped for the best outcome, and leapt out of her chair toward the bridge, leaving the laughing in the room behind her. “Anthi, execute!”
She could feel the ship lurch as it quickly moved toward the shuttle. On the main viewscreen, the Terran Advanced Heavy Cruiser also stirred. A tractor beam emitted from the Abyssal and caught the tiny vessel.
Kathryn barked, “S’Rel, do we have Alison?”
The Vulcan was furiously tapping keys on her console. “There is interference, as if she were being transported already.”
In an instant, Kathryn recalled how Alison was one of her first true friends in the Academy; she accepted Kathryn and helped her to push past prejudices and anger made from years of captivity with the Orions. Alison didn’t smile often, but when she did it was inviting and infectious and Kathryn immediately missed her friend and regretted not saying more to her since Graduation Day. Her thoughts turned to the Black Talon suit and the lengths Kathryn went to preserve its secret, yet feeling happy to know Alison was a part of the project. Finally, the words from her orders flashed in front of her.
Dead or Alive.
The Terrans could not have Black Talon. Kathryn frowned with her next words. “Phasers, fire at the shuttle.”
Anthi tapped a key and bright orange streaks reached into the void . The small ship was incinerated and the fireball dissipated quickly.
The Abyssal banked away from Solaris, and accelerated at impulse speed while it’s deflector emitted a beam toward a point in front of the ship.
S’Rel declared they were being hailed and Kathryn nodded.
The large viewscreen changed to show the Mirror Captain’s face, a wide grin mocking Kathyrn. “I’m surprise you went through with your orders. That was very cold-blooded back there.”
Kathryn gulped. “Is Alison with you?”
The Terran shrugged, still wearing her grin. “If you want to look for her, then one day you’ll find out.”
---
Cast for crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
Alison Burnett - Alexa Davalos
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn Winnick
S'Rel - Morena Baccarin
---
The woman sitting at the pilot’s seat of the Yellowstone Runabout smiled at Kathryn. Her round face was graced with soft cheeks and thin lips. Yet her cat-shaped eyes relayed a sharp intellect. Brown hair fell straight, ending in curls, halfway down her chest covering Science career pipes on the uniform. Kathryn returned the smile through the small desktop viewscreen. The conversation, so far, had been filled with remembering Academy days.
Snapping her fingers, Kathryn became excited from another recollection. “Speaking of bad boyfriends, I dated a Bajoran with Klingon tattoos on his back, do you remember him?”
Alison Burnett squinted as she searched her memories. Kathryn continued. “I met him at a party and he was all over me. He was so good looking and fun but he did have a mean streak. We dated a few weeks.”
The Lieutenant Commander smirked and then nodded. “I think I remember him, did he wear earrings on both ears?”
Kathryn’s eyes widened, “yes! You may have met him once or twice.”
Alison covered her mouth as if embarrassed. “He asked me to date him while you were seeing him too. I threatened to haul him to the ethics board, and then punched him in the face.”
Kathryn feigned disappointment. “What?!” Both women burst into laughter. Kathryn wiped away a tear. “No wonder he broke it off. What an idiot. Although the board would have laughed you out of the room, I guess I should thank you for that.”
Alison also dabbed at her eyes to keep the thin mascara from running. “Only in the Academy , right?” Sher smile faded. “Shall we get down to business?”
“Yes, yes indeed.” Kathryn wore a seriousness that fit her rank as she interlaced her fingers on the ready-room desk. She sat upright and tried to remain congenial but could not hide her solemnness. “Solaris is en route to your location and we should be there shortly.” Kathryn placed a hand on a PADD next to the screen without looking away. “I’m sure you can guess that my orders are to bring you in –“, she cleared her throat, surrendering to the gravity of the situation. “Dead or alive.”
Alison was not surprised and her countenance hardened. “Starfleet is that serious? Kathy, look at those orders: you are being ordered to kill me if you have to. Defection is not a death sentence.”
“I’ve read them, more times than you think.”
“And yet, they send one of my Academy friends to do their dirty work?”
“Would you rather someone else?”
Turning away from the screen, Alison sighed. “I’d rather not even have that choice –“
“That’s my point Alison, you have a choice! If you choose to turn around, then the punishment won’t be severe.” Kathryn had sat back and opened her arms wide showing some frustration.
Alison was resolute and she shook her head. “I have chosen. So many rules and regulations, my work was being controlled by idiots and pantomimes. The secrecy was almost conspiratorial and the War was a breaking point. The Federation is no longer the shining beacon of order and stability it promotes to the rest of the galaxy … at least not for me anymore.
Leaning forward, Kathryn became animated. “And defecting to the Terran Empire was the best alternative?! You could have resigned, or even told Admiral Quinn to burn in Sto’Vo’Kor. Even the Orion Syndicate in this universe would make a deal you couldn’t refuse with what you know.”
A chime activated and Anthi’s voice coldly declared from the bridge next to Kathryn’s ready-room, “we are at the coordinates as ordered, Captain.”
Alison looked away at a console within the Runabout. “Confirmed. Kathy, you really shouldn’t be here. If you leave, then there will be no more surprises.”
Kathryn looked down as she spoke, her own resolution growing. “The secrets you have about Black Talon are why the Federation sent me. The longer this goes on, the worse it will be for you. Don’t do this.”
A new very familiar voice was heard from Alison’s side. “Okay, that’s enough.” Another woman gruffly pulled Alison out of the pilot seat, sat down herself and started tapping at the console.
Kathryn was genuinely shocked. “You! Are you behind Alison’s defection?!”
Mirror Kathryn smiled mischievously and brushed aside a thick lock of burgundy hair from her face, revealing the black eyepatch across her left eye. “Maybe.”
The door to Kathryn’s room swished open and Anthi stopped at the threshold. “Captain, a Tachyon burst was detected and a Terran ship came through. It’s –“
“The Abyssal”, Kathryn interrupted not looking away from the screen and seething with fury.
Kathryn on the shuttle mocked, “so, Captain Beringer, if you really want to get into a shooting match, then your friend is in the crossfire.”
Ignoring her doppelganger, Kathryn glanced to Anthi, “prepare Pattern Rho Tycho, but hold station otherwise.”
Anthi nodded and left the room quickly as the Terran responded, “Wise move, Captain. Although your style for naming ship maneuvers is so formal. We like things to be simple and straightforward. Next time, just say it: rescue transport.” Alison stood behind the seat into view. Kathryn could not read any emotion on her old friend’s face.
“Go to Hell. You heard my orders; I’ll vaporize the shuttle before it enters Terran space.”
Mirror Kathryn pursed her lips. “Tsk tsk, Captain, that’s not noble at all. In fact, that sounds very … Terran of you.” She laughed at her whimsical verbal parry.
Tapping her combadge, Kathryn hoped for the best outcome, and leapt out of her chair toward the bridge, leaving the laughing in the room behind her. “Anthi, execute!”
She could feel the ship lurch as it quickly moved toward the shuttle. On the main viewscreen, the Terran Advanced Heavy Cruiser also stirred. A tractor beam emitted from the Abyssal and caught the tiny vessel.
Kathryn barked, “S’Rel, do we have Alison?”
The Vulcan was furiously tapping keys on her console. “There is interference, as if she were being transported already.”
In an instant, Kathryn recalled how Alison was one of her first true friends in the Academy; she accepted Kathryn and helped her to push past prejudices and anger made from years of captivity with the Orions. Alison didn’t smile often, but when she did it was inviting and infectious and Kathryn immediately missed her friend and regretted not saying more to her since Graduation Day. Her thoughts turned to the Black Talon suit and the lengths Kathryn went to preserve its secret, yet feeling happy to know Alison was a part of the project. Finally, the words from her orders flashed in front of her.
Dead or Alive.
The Terrans could not have Black Talon. Kathryn frowned with her next words. “Phasers, fire at the shuttle.”
Anthi tapped a key and bright orange streaks reached into the void . The small ship was incinerated and the fireball dissipated quickly.
The Abyssal banked away from Solaris, and accelerated at impulse speed while it’s deflector emitted a beam toward a point in front of the ship.
S’Rel declared they were being hailed and Kathryn nodded.
The large viewscreen changed to show the Mirror Captain’s face, a wide grin mocking Kathyrn. “I’m surprise you went through with your orders. That was very cold-blooded back there.”
Kathryn gulped. “Is Alison with you?”
The Terran shrugged, still wearing her grin. “If you want to look for her, then one day you’ll find out.”
---
Cast for crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
Alison Burnett - Alexa Davalos
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn Winnick
S'Rel - Morena Baccarin
Thursday, June 2, 2016
Gambit Not Needed
Unofficial Literary Challenge 21 - "In the Darkness" - Prompt 2
+++
The man sat on the stiff bench looking up at Kathryn. With regulation-cut brown hair, thin mustache and soft blue eyes, he looked innocent. Yet the red-colored yoke of his uniform was torn at the shoulder and was scuffed in other places from the security team during his apprehension. The Lieutenant didn’t look apologetic or remorseful, which insulted Kathryn further.
Kathryn pursed her lips as she considered her words, imagining herself repeatedly punching his face. Glancing over a shoulder to her First Officer, adrenaline ebbed as a result of Anthi’s presence. Looking back to the man sitting in front of her, Kathryn bristled at the thought of interrogating him for information. She would rather let JAG have him but Solaris was at least two standard days away from a Federation outpost and Kathryn hunted for closure. She was personally offended from the action of the prisoner before her.
“My ship. This is my ship.” Kathryn spoke through clenched teeth as she pointed to her sternum. Her tone sharpened and rose with each word. “Why did you try to start a mutiny on my ship!
“It didn’t work, did it? Your crew is commendably loyal to you.”
Kathryn stepped forward. Anthi lowered the shield to the brig and entered the room, stopping when Kathryn raised a hand to halt her XO, also showing she was still in control.
“To Starfleet,” the Captain calmly corrected. “Tell me why.”
The man tsked, and then looked away.
Kathryn grinned and walked into his field of view. Turning back to the prisoner, she leaned against the wall and feigned a relaxed pose. “What happened to cause your brazen attempt to control my ship.”
“As long as I’m in this room, then I do not have to follow your orders. A court-martial is the worst I’ll get from Starfleet now.”
Anthi crossed her arms and hmphed audibly. This earned the man’s attention as if he was disrespected somehow.
“What’s that supposed to mean? You know the regulations- .”
“We’ll see about that,” Kathryn interrupted. Looking to Anthi, she asked unsympathetically, “did you apologize by the way? Pistol-whipping is not your style.”
The prisoner put a hand to the back of his head absentmindedly.
Anthi’s antennae stiffened. “I’m sorry. Traitor.”
The man grew more defiant. “Name calling now?”
“It’s not an opinion. You have no name with me.”
Kathryn stepped forward and smirked. “Look, answer my question and this will stay … relatively easy for you. Otherwise, when we get to Starbase Nineteen, I’m sure Admiral Liao will take a keen interest in your actions and act with absolute righteousness.”
Surprised, the man looked to the Captain. “We are not going to Deep Space Four?”
Kathryn quickly concealed her own surprise. The mutineer incriminated himself enough by expecting to go to a specific outpost. She needed to exploit the hole in his bulwark. “Why should we? Solaris almost had a mutiny on his hands! It seems fitting Liao would get the case; he is an expert on such matters, not that it happens often. Admittedly, I have not sent an update to our current orders. It’s a little out-of-the way, so you have a little bit of time to save yourself from ‘The Diablo’, wouldn’t you agree?”
The man seemed dazed by the revelation. “But … I was told-“. He interrupted himself and lowered his head, hands rubbing together nervously.
Anthi and Kathryn exchanged looks. The Captain mocked, “You look a little worried.” She then got serious. “You should be. In ancient times, mutiny was punishable by death. It’s good we have evolved past such barbarism, but that doesn’t mean the law isn’t still harsh. Count yourself lucky that your recruits surrendered your plans instead of acting with you. All they did was follow the words. But you decided to storm the bridge. It must have been a shock to see your compatriots turn on you.”
Perspiration started to fall from the man’s hairline as he rubbed his hands with increasing vigor. He whispered, “this … can’t be happening.”
Kathryn’s uneasiness with his reaction started to cause concern. Blocking her sympathy, Kathryn focused her attack and forced a congenial tone. Verbal strong-arming the man had weakened his defenses; maybe softer words would open the gates. “Just talk to me. The truth will set you free, from a certain point of view. Convince me of your intentions and I’ll help make consequences less severe. Throughout the Iconian War to now, have I ever mislead the crew … or you?”
With hands trembling slightly, the Lieutenant’s mouth opened and closed as if he wanted to say something, but was stopped, then another force pushed him to speak only to retreat again.
Anthi’s patience broke and she put a foot forward with raised fists. “SAY SOMETHING!”
The outburst shocked the prisoner. “It was a t-t-TEST!”
The silence was thick in the room as the man darted looked between the two women. Kathryn’s countenance darkened.
“What ... ”
“It – it was a test: the mutiny. I was ordered to start a – a sedition to discover how you would behave, how the crew would react.”
Kathryn and Anthi were equally dumbfounded from the revelation. Anthi recovered first, her anger quelled by confusion.
“Why?”
The man buckled and spoke rapidly. “It was known the Undine had penetrated several ranks with the Federation. Even after a purge, it highlighted several weaknesses. Starfleet was attacked from within and that was seen as unforgivably unacceptable. Before the Iconian war, several officers, like me, were recruited, trained and celled within several ships of the Fleet. The War allowed our handlers to target specific crews who underperformed during the conflict.”
Karthryn stiffened at the accusation. “Starfleet ordered Solaris away from the front-lines for most of the war!”
“It didn’t matter to some.” The prisoner lowered his head, ashamed. “Water had to be as thick as blood.”
Anthi took a step forward, her antennae leaning toward the prisoner. “Who did you report to?”
Sitting back to gain distance from the Andorian, the man blurted. “Section 31”.
+++
Cast for crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn Winnick
Mutineer - Aiden Gillen
Mentioned but not seen:
Maximilian Liao - James Hong
+++
The man sat on the stiff bench looking up at Kathryn. With regulation-cut brown hair, thin mustache and soft blue eyes, he looked innocent. Yet the red-colored yoke of his uniform was torn at the shoulder and was scuffed in other places from the security team during his apprehension. The Lieutenant didn’t look apologetic or remorseful, which insulted Kathryn further.
Kathryn pursed her lips as she considered her words, imagining herself repeatedly punching his face. Glancing over a shoulder to her First Officer, adrenaline ebbed as a result of Anthi’s presence. Looking back to the man sitting in front of her, Kathryn bristled at the thought of interrogating him for information. She would rather let JAG have him but Solaris was at least two standard days away from a Federation outpost and Kathryn hunted for closure. She was personally offended from the action of the prisoner before her.
“My ship. This is my ship.” Kathryn spoke through clenched teeth as she pointed to her sternum. Her tone sharpened and rose with each word. “Why did you try to start a mutiny on my ship!
“It didn’t work, did it? Your crew is commendably loyal to you.”
Kathryn stepped forward. Anthi lowered the shield to the brig and entered the room, stopping when Kathryn raised a hand to halt her XO, also showing she was still in control.
“To Starfleet,” the Captain calmly corrected. “Tell me why.”
The man tsked, and then looked away.
Kathryn grinned and walked into his field of view. Turning back to the prisoner, she leaned against the wall and feigned a relaxed pose. “What happened to cause your brazen attempt to control my ship.”
“As long as I’m in this room, then I do not have to follow your orders. A court-martial is the worst I’ll get from Starfleet now.”
Anthi crossed her arms and hmphed audibly. This earned the man’s attention as if he was disrespected somehow.
“What’s that supposed to mean? You know the regulations- .”
“We’ll see about that,” Kathryn interrupted. Looking to Anthi, she asked unsympathetically, “did you apologize by the way? Pistol-whipping is not your style.”
The prisoner put a hand to the back of his head absentmindedly.
Anthi’s antennae stiffened. “I’m sorry. Traitor.”
The man grew more defiant. “Name calling now?”
“It’s not an opinion. You have no name with me.”
Kathryn stepped forward and smirked. “Look, answer my question and this will stay … relatively easy for you. Otherwise, when we get to Starbase Nineteen, I’m sure Admiral Liao will take a keen interest in your actions and act with absolute righteousness.”
Surprised, the man looked to the Captain. “We are not going to Deep Space Four?”
Kathryn quickly concealed her own surprise. The mutineer incriminated himself enough by expecting to go to a specific outpost. She needed to exploit the hole in his bulwark. “Why should we? Solaris almost had a mutiny on his hands! It seems fitting Liao would get the case; he is an expert on such matters, not that it happens often. Admittedly, I have not sent an update to our current orders. It’s a little out-of-the way, so you have a little bit of time to save yourself from ‘The Diablo’, wouldn’t you agree?”
The man seemed dazed by the revelation. “But … I was told-“. He interrupted himself and lowered his head, hands rubbing together nervously.
Anthi and Kathryn exchanged looks. The Captain mocked, “You look a little worried.” She then got serious. “You should be. In ancient times, mutiny was punishable by death. It’s good we have evolved past such barbarism, but that doesn’t mean the law isn’t still harsh. Count yourself lucky that your recruits surrendered your plans instead of acting with you. All they did was follow the words. But you decided to storm the bridge. It must have been a shock to see your compatriots turn on you.”
Perspiration started to fall from the man’s hairline as he rubbed his hands with increasing vigor. He whispered, “this … can’t be happening.”
Kathryn’s uneasiness with his reaction started to cause concern. Blocking her sympathy, Kathryn focused her attack and forced a congenial tone. Verbal strong-arming the man had weakened his defenses; maybe softer words would open the gates. “Just talk to me. The truth will set you free, from a certain point of view. Convince me of your intentions and I’ll help make consequences less severe. Throughout the Iconian War to now, have I ever mislead the crew … or you?”
With hands trembling slightly, the Lieutenant’s mouth opened and closed as if he wanted to say something, but was stopped, then another force pushed him to speak only to retreat again.
Anthi’s patience broke and she put a foot forward with raised fists. “SAY SOMETHING!”
The outburst shocked the prisoner. “It was a t-t-TEST!”
The silence was thick in the room as the man darted looked between the two women. Kathryn’s countenance darkened.
“What ... ”
“It – it was a test: the mutiny. I was ordered to start a – a sedition to discover how you would behave, how the crew would react.”
Kathryn and Anthi were equally dumbfounded from the revelation. Anthi recovered first, her anger quelled by confusion.
“Why?”
The man buckled and spoke rapidly. “It was known the Undine had penetrated several ranks with the Federation. Even after a purge, it highlighted several weaknesses. Starfleet was attacked from within and that was seen as unforgivably unacceptable. Before the Iconian war, several officers, like me, were recruited, trained and celled within several ships of the Fleet. The War allowed our handlers to target specific crews who underperformed during the conflict.”
Karthryn stiffened at the accusation. “Starfleet ordered Solaris away from the front-lines for most of the war!”
“It didn’t matter to some.” The prisoner lowered his head, ashamed. “Water had to be as thick as blood.”
Anthi took a step forward, her antennae leaning toward the prisoner. “Who did you report to?”
Sitting back to gain distance from the Andorian, the man blurted. “Section 31”.
+++
Cast for crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn Winnick
Mutineer - Aiden Gillen
Mentioned but not seen:
Maximilian Liao - James Hong
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Fast Rescue
Unofficial Literary Challenge 18 - Prompt 3, "Where Are You?"
Anthi and Staza looked to each other with equal horror. “Get her out of there”, ordered the Andorian.
---
The Vaadwaur’s lifeless body collapsed, smoke rising from
the multiple phaser blasts to his cloak.
Still crouching, Anthi looked around the room still
pointing her rifle at the large male, the room started to smell of cooked
flesh. A meter away to Anthi’s right,
Staza Murai glanced around the transporter console, and then looked to Anthi as
she slung her rifle over a shoulder.
“That was unexpected.”
Ignoring the casual comment considering the blast marks
from the shootout decorating the transporter room, the Andorian looked toward
her left and saw Omazei grimace from a burn wound to her shoulder and waved off
Anthi’s look of concern. The Trill’s
face transformed to shock and she quickly moved to another officer across the
room.
“Brin!”
The Talaxian was crumpled against a bulkhead, blood
oozing from an open laceration at his stomach.
Anthi stood and could tell Brin was dead. Nonetheless, Omazei tapped her combadge and
ordered an emergency transport to Sick Bay and both were washed in a blue
translucent shower before disappearing.
Finally, the transporter officer stood. Anthi recognized the human female. “Ensign, what the hell happened? Where’s the Captain?”
Cira Beitz wiped sweat from her brow while also moving a
strand of loose brown hair from her eyes.
The rest of her jaw-length hair was disheveled. Attacking the console, she quickly responded,
“The record shows her pattern was intercepted and redirected.” She nodded to the Vaadwaur. “His pattern infiltrated the beam at the same
time.”
Staza stepped forward.
“Can you locate Kathryn?”
The question raised Anthi’s eyebrows and her antennae
turned toward the Orion. The First
Officer was surprised at Staza’s congenial use of the Captain’s first
name. Although Anthi did the same
regularly, she didn’t think the Empire’s liaison was on friendly enough terms
with Kathryn.
The Ensign’s fingers fluttered across the console
again. “Yes. She’s still on the surface near the transport
site.”
Anthi and Staza looked to each other with equal horror. “Get her out of there”, ordered the Andorian.
After a few moments, Cira shook her head. “I’m unable to secure a lock for more than a
second. She’s been moved to one of the
hab-domes.” After another second, “she
is in a room with three others.”
The First Officer stepped up and verified Cira’s
results. She whispered a curse. “Keep trying.” Looking to the Orion, Anthi invited, “ready
to rescue the Captain?”
Staza pulled her sleek plasma rifle off her shoulder and
checked the charge. Satisfied, she
winked and stalked to the transporter pad.
Anthi followed. She
tapped her combadge. “Bridge, the
Captain is still on the surface. Staza
and I are going to get her back.” She
checked her own power supply, then pulled a stun grenade from her belt pack and
armed it.
Turning to the transporter officer, she asked, “can you drop
us in that room?”
Cira shook her head again. “Too much interference in the building. But outside –“
Anthi interrupted, “do it.” She pointed to the Vaadwaur corpse. “And get that filth off this ship.”
+++
Crossing his arms, the Commando sneered, “by now your
team is dead.” The guards to either side
of Kathryn’s chair huffed, thinking their leader’s comment was comical.
Kathryn looked up.
One eye was swollen shut from a purple contusion. She smirked from bloodied lips. “One man against hundreds, he will not get
far.”
“It will not matter, because we have you. The Federation will –“
The door behind the Commando burst open and Staza rolled
to the side. As she stopped in a crouch,
a teal-colored beam lanced through the room to a guard on Kathryn’s left. He yelped as the plasma beam seared through
his chest and caused his jacket to burn.
Lying on the ground outside the doorway, Anthi took a shot into the room. The orange phaser
beam found the other guard’s face, charring skin.
The officer pulled a pistol from a holster and returned
fire toward the door while moving behind Kathryn’s chair. Staza and Anthi fired again but missed their
mark.
Pointing the gun to Kathryn’s head, the officer shouted,
“another shot and your Captain dies.”
After a few seconds of tense silence, Anthi lowered the
rifle and slowly stood with hands raised.
Staza continued to crouch but lowered her rifle to the floor.
Grinning, the Commando was smug. “Good, good.
Three top officers from [i]Solaris[/i].”
Anthi ignored him.
“Captain, you look down and out.”
Kathryn’s eyes widened and she looked to Anthi’s right hand. The Andorian’s palm was facing outward and a
thin black ring encircled the middle finger.
“This is going to hurt.”
“Eh?” The Vaadwaur
looked down to Kathryn and that was Anthi’s chance.
The Tactical officer quickly flung her arms forward. The grenade hidden from the Vaudwaar’s view
soared toward him, the locking pin still on Anthi’s finger. As the small cylinder flew, Kathryn ducked at
the waist and fell to the floor. The Commando’s
surprise was obvious as he just stared at the projectile. At impact on the Vaadwaur’ chest, the stun
grenade exploded, engulfing him in a vapor of smoke while the shock wave from
the blast pierced his ears. Kathryn
screamed from the grenade’s effect.
Anthi dropped to the ground and lifted her rifle as Staza
did the same. They fired into the Commando’s
chest and he crumpled to the floor, lifeless.
Rushing to Kathryn as she writhed in pain, Anthi tapped
her badge. “Cira as soon as we leave the
building, beam us out, emergency protocols.”
The Andorian and Orion lifted Kathryn to their shoulders and exited the
building, then disappeared before Vaadwaur reinforcements arrived.
---
Cast for crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn Winnick
Staza Murai - Sarah Lind
Cira Beitz - Selma Blair
Omazei - Gemma Arterton
Brin - Miles Teller
Vaadwaur Commando - Male street extra 1
Vaadwaur Soldiers (2) - Male street extra 2 and 3
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn Winnick
Staza Murai - Sarah Lind
Cira Beitz - Selma Blair
Omazei - Gemma Arterton
Brin - Miles Teller
Vaadwaur Commando - Male street extra 1
Vaadwaur Soldiers (2) - Male street extra 2 and 3
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Endangering the Mundane
Unofficial Literary Challenge 17 - Prompt 2 "Sheer Boredom"
+++
Kathryn looked from the PADD with raised eyebrows to the two officers standing relaxed before her desk. The blonde female was relatively young wearing Science department colors on her uniform. She was lithe and her long blonde hair was styled with extra volume. The Vulcan’s short midnight black hair was a stark contrast to her uniform’s Operation yellow highlights on an otherwise traditionally black-colored uniform. Sitting, Kathryn put the PADD on her desk and crossed her arms, yet smiled approvingly as she reclined her chair.
“This is a great idea. Why not?”
Counselor Harrington’s smile seemed to brighten the room.
S’Rel’s typically neutral affect almost turned to grimace from the Captain’s judgment and cleared her throat indicating she was about to speak next. “Captain, we are currently on a system charting mission. This event would be a distraction from duty.”
Christa rolled her eyes slightly. “That is fully appreciated. From what I can tell, the Astrometrics teams are the ones doing most of the work and I’m sure they are relishing the experience. All fun and no play make Starfleet a dull -”. She shrugged searching for words, and then settling on the most obvious. “Fleet.”
Swiveling her chair toward the windows, Kathryn mused further on the arguments presented as she absentmindedly rubbed a finger against the rank pips on her collar. Solaris was resting at the second Lagrange point of the largest planet in the current system. As such, there was not much to see. Not being in motion for a few days while various probes and shuttles were used for deep-data scans and measurements did have some crew members itching for duties beyond expectantly mundane tasks. Although times like these are a part of the ‘job’, it was true that Astrometric personnel were the busiest. Even Kathryn caught herself looking for something official to do on occasion. At least her list of things-to-do-when-nothing-else-was-happening was getting shorter.
Looking back to the officers, Kathryn looked to S’Rel. “Your advice is always appreciated, yet I think a little distraction will be good for moral.” She then looked to Christa. “At the same time, the crew needs to stay focused on their duties. This must not have a time frame that will force decisions to be made that could endanger their original task and ultimately the ship. I don’t want discipline to falter because of this.”
Both officers spoke at the same time. “Yes, sir.”
“Christa, with that said, I’ll leave the details up to you. Make sure the Duty Leaders understand the importance to follow-up on their teams as scheduled and to reign in anyone having too much fun. Finally, I request that anything making the list not involve EVA.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Kathryn saluted from her chair. Christa and S’Rel saluted and walked out the room. The doors stayed open as Anthi walked in looking over her shoulder. The doors closed and she walked up to Kathryn’s desk. Pointing a thumb to the door, she asked, “what was all that about?”
Kathryn stood and wore a wry smile on her face. “Ever been on a scavenger hunt before?”
+++
Cast for crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
S'Rel - Morena Baccarin
Christa Harrington - Emily Bett Rickards
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn Winnick
+++
Kathryn looked from the PADD with raised eyebrows to the two officers standing relaxed before her desk. The blonde female was relatively young wearing Science department colors on her uniform. She was lithe and her long blonde hair was styled with extra volume. The Vulcan’s short midnight black hair was a stark contrast to her uniform’s Operation yellow highlights on an otherwise traditionally black-colored uniform. Sitting, Kathryn put the PADD on her desk and crossed her arms, yet smiled approvingly as she reclined her chair.
“This is a great idea. Why not?”
Counselor Harrington’s smile seemed to brighten the room.
S’Rel’s typically neutral affect almost turned to grimace from the Captain’s judgment and cleared her throat indicating she was about to speak next. “Captain, we are currently on a system charting mission. This event would be a distraction from duty.”
Christa rolled her eyes slightly. “That is fully appreciated. From what I can tell, the Astrometrics teams are the ones doing most of the work and I’m sure they are relishing the experience. All fun and no play make Starfleet a dull -”. She shrugged searching for words, and then settling on the most obvious. “Fleet.”
Swiveling her chair toward the windows, Kathryn mused further on the arguments presented as she absentmindedly rubbed a finger against the rank pips on her collar. Solaris was resting at the second Lagrange point of the largest planet in the current system. As such, there was not much to see. Not being in motion for a few days while various probes and shuttles were used for deep-data scans and measurements did have some crew members itching for duties beyond expectantly mundane tasks. Although times like these are a part of the ‘job’, it was true that Astrometric personnel were the busiest. Even Kathryn caught herself looking for something official to do on occasion. At least her list of things-to-do-when-nothing-else-was-happening was getting shorter.
Looking back to the officers, Kathryn looked to S’Rel. “Your advice is always appreciated, yet I think a little distraction will be good for moral.” She then looked to Christa. “At the same time, the crew needs to stay focused on their duties. This must not have a time frame that will force decisions to be made that could endanger their original task and ultimately the ship. I don’t want discipline to falter because of this.”
Both officers spoke at the same time. “Yes, sir.”
“Christa, with that said, I’ll leave the details up to you. Make sure the Duty Leaders understand the importance to follow-up on their teams as scheduled and to reign in anyone having too much fun. Finally, I request that anything making the list not involve EVA.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Kathryn saluted from her chair. Christa and S’Rel saluted and walked out the room. The doors stayed open as Anthi walked in looking over her shoulder. The doors closed and she walked up to Kathryn’s desk. Pointing a thumb to the door, she asked, “what was all that about?”
Kathryn stood and wore a wry smile on her face. “Ever been on a scavenger hunt before?”
+++
Cast for crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
S'Rel - Morena Baccarin
Christa Harrington - Emily Bett Rickards
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn Winnick
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