Previously on Star Trek: Sarek…
When the USS Sarek is recalled to the Alpha Quadrant, Captain Kalin Kale is promoted to
the Advanced Starship Design Bureau at Utopia Planitia Fleetyard and the
starship is assigned to patrol the Cardassian Demilitarized Zone for three
months under the command of Commander Yu-Fen M. Coster before returning to
Utopia Planitia where Coster will join Kale’s design team and the starship will
be turned over to the command of the starship’s Chief Engineer, T’Veer.
Three months later, the starship is heading back
to Sector OO1.
Captain’s log, stardate 48808.0:
Sarek’s Demilitarized Zone patrol has ended and
the ship has received orders to report to Utopia Planitia Fleetyards for a minor systems upgrade. While there, I will step down from command
during a ceremony that will promote Chief Engineer/Executive Officer T’Veer to
Captain and assign her the command of this ship. While my new posting under Captain Kale at
the Essex-Class Development Project is certainly a step up in my career, I am
beginning to feel what Kalin must have felt when he left three months ago. I will miss this ship and crew. And despite the misgivings I had when I
joined this ship back in early 2370, I feel I will never find another crew to
take the place in my heart that this crew occupies.
Ship and crew are at full readiness. Lieutenant (JG) Kes has reported we should
arrive in Sector 0-0-1 within five days.
Coster, out.
The
bridge was bustling with activity.
Everyone was busy but the Commanding Officer, who sat in the center
seat, a look of sadness on her face.
Commander
T’Veer, who had been sitting in the first officer’s seat to the right of the
captain, had been trying to ignore the emotional display, but to no avail.
“Captain,
what is bothering you?” she asked Coster.
After
a moment, Coster stirred, looking at T’Veer
“Hmm? What?
Oh, I’m sorry, T’Veer. It’s
just... well, I’ve been thinking about the impending time when I will have to
leave the ship.”
“But
you have known for three months that you were being reassigned. Why do you let it bother you now?”
“Because,
for three months, we were busy.
Patrolling the Zone. Stopping
ships. Searching for illegal
weapons. We even had to forcefully stop
that Cardassian shuttle and take it into tow.
We had things to occupy our minds.
Now.... all I can do is think about the ceremony when I will step down.”
“What
would prevent you from thinking unpleasent thoughts?”
“I
don’t know. Maybe if I go down to a
holodeck or...”
The
young Commanding Officer’s thought was cut off when Lieutenant Arbelo at the
ops position attracted her attention.
“Captain,
sensors are registering some kind of artificial object moving directly across
our course.”
“What
is it?” asked Coster.
“From
what I can tell, it appears to be a...
probe of some sort.”
“Mister
Kes,” said Coster to the Caitain helm officer at the conn, “slow to impulse,
put us on a parallel course with the probe.”
T’Veer
turned to Coster.
“Are
you certain you want to start investigating this now?”
“Hey,”
Coster replied, “it’s something to keep us occupied. Besides, how long could it take?”
“Captain,”
said science officer T’Ashara, who was sitting at the aft Science I
console. “The probe is emitting a low
level scan of the Sarek. It is transmitting back along a course
roughly equivalent to the course that the probe itself took getting here.”
“Triangulate. Find out where this probe came from,” ordered
the young Asian woman as she stood and walked toward ops. As she did, Arbelo turned towards her.
“Captain,
universal translater is picking up and deciphering a message from the probe.”
“On
speakers.”
A
somewhat garbled sounding mechanical voice emerged from the bridge speakers
talking in stuttering Federation standard.
“Greeting to outworlder. We am the inhabiter of the second planet of
the Qualen star. We am inviting you, who
are obviously travelers among stars, to visit planet ours. Approach station Lyran 5 and greet us. End
message. Message repeat... Greeting to outworlder...”
As
the message again repeated, Coster looked at the ops panel in front of Arbelo.
“Monster,”
she said, “have you found where the probe originates?”
“Yes. The star system listed in Federation records
as Sigma 2-9. Five planets, never
explored.”
Coster
looked at her First Officer. T’Veer
raised her eyebrow in reply. Coster then
turned to Kes at the conn.
“Lieutenant,
set course for the Sigma 2-9 system, warp 3.
Mister Fil, contact Utopia
Planitia. Inform them we may be
delayed a day or so.”
“Captain,
do you believe we should go off our schedule?” asked T’Veer. “After all, we are supposed to be loading a
number of preliminary survey vessels aboard at Utopia Planitia.”
“T’Veer,
the mission of this ship is to contact new civilizations. We have a previously unknown civilization
that’s asking to be contacted. We can’t
just ignore it.”
“Perhaps
we could have Starfleet send another ship to...”
“T’Veer,
please. Let me have this one. It’s my final week of command. I need to do this.”
“Your
need is an emotional one. But I suppose
we could ‘check things out’. Agreed.”
“Mister
Kes, has the course been entered?” asked Coster.
“Affirrrrmative,
Captain.”
Signaling
with her fingers, Coster ordered with a smile, “Engage!”
Space, The
Final Frontier...
These are
the voyages of the starship Sarek!
Her ongoing
mission: To seek new life. To contact new civilizations.
To Boldy
Explore the Unknown!
Star Trek:
Sarek
“A Fond
Farewell – Part 2” By PJK
This story is dedicated to the original Senior
Staff of the Federation Chapter USS Sarek
NCC-72075,
without whom the starship Sarek would have been no more than fragmented ideas in the back of
my mind.
Thanks guys, for providing the Wormhole to let a
starship FLY!
The
Sarek entered the Sigma 2-9 system,
now being catalogued as the Qualen star system, three Class III probes
preceding her.
“Now
receiving telemetry from probes,” reported T’Ashara.
“Report,”
ordered T’Veer.
“Five
planets in the system. Planet 5 is a gas
giant with rings, Class J, nine/tenths the size of Saturn. Planet 4 is terrestrial, Class E, no life.”
Arbelo
continued the report.
“Telemetry
from Probe 2 is reporting planet 3 to be Class K, no evidence of life. Planet 1 is Class B, with a surface
temperature of 2500 degrees Celcius.”
“Probe
3 is now approaching planet 2,” said T’Ashara.
“Now reading Class M environment.
Oxygen/Nitrogen atmosphere, slightly higher oxygen content than Terra. Indications of artificial satellites and
space stations. Numerous space craft in
the vicinity of the planet and it’s three moons.”
“Dis
must be de place!” remarked Arbelo with a smile.
“Mister
Fil, open a hailing frequency to the planet, “ ordered Coster.
The
frequency chimed and Fil nodded to Coster.
“Greetings
inhabitants of the planet Qualen II.
This is the United Starship Sarek,
representing the United Federation of Planets.
We received your invitation from the probe you sent toward the galactic
core and wish to open relations.”
Coster
waited a moment. Nothing happened.
“I
repeat,” said Coster again, “This is the USS
Sarek. We received your probe’s
invitation and wish to make contact.”
Again, nothing happened, until Arbelo called for the Captain’s
attention.
“Mic,
five of the Qualen spacecraft that had been traveling between the planet and
their second moon have altered course to intercept us.”
Just
as suddenly, Fil announced, “We are receiving a reply, Mic.”
The
main viewscreen changed to the view of a humanoid male, looking about forty
Terran years of age, his mouth covered by some form of breathing
apparatus. His green hair and light blue
complexion looked strange on the screen.
“Sarek - please - stand - by - while -
your - language - is - translated ,” said a mechanical sounding voice. The being on the screen could be seen working
various controls on the panel he faced.
“Greetings,
United Starship Sarek. I am Philton 1st
level Mox Tronna Grebbeck, Commander of the Legion. I welcome you and your...”
The
being looked at something on his controls.
“...Your
immense vessel to our home
world.”
It
was obvious from the Commander’s tone that he was impressed by the size of the
Federation ship. He continued.
“Please
bring your ship to our Lyran 5 station
where we can greet you properly Commander United Starship Sarek.”
Coster
spoke.
“This
is Commander Yu-Fen M. Coster, commander of the Starship Sarek. We accept your
invitation.”
The
Legion Commander showed some embarrassment at having mistaken the ship’s name
for the commanding officer. He cut the
visual connection, and the screen returned to the external view, which showed
the five Qualen ships now in formation around the Sarek, escorting her back to the planet.
“Captain,”
said Counselor Kethry Sutherland, pulling Coster slightly to the side, “I just
thought you should know. He was pleased
to see us. Maybe too pleased. And that pleasure grew when he realized how
large our ship actually is. Not the
reaction you would expect from a previously uncontacted civilization who have
no real idea whether we’re hostile or not.”
Coster
glanced at the screen showing two of the shuttlecraft sized Qualen ships that
were escorting them.
“What
else should they feel? They invited us.”
“I
know, Mic. But it is still not what I
would expect. Experience has shown me
that most new species react with at least a little fear. Even Earth was suspicious when the Vulcan
survey ship landed in
Again
Coster glanced at the tiny ships on the screen, saying to Sutherland, “I’ll
take it under advisement,” as she returned to the command chair.
The
trip to the Lyran 5 station took
almost half an hour. The Sarek moved into a parking orbit and was
surrounded by many other seemingly curious ships.
“Parrrrking
orrrrbit established, Captain,” said Kes.
“Captain,”
said Fil with concern, “I’ve lost contact with decks 32 through 37.”
“What?”
asked T’Veer with concern as she rushed up to the engineering display at the
aft stations.
“What’s
wrong?” asked Coster.
“Unknown,”
replied Fil. “Could be some sort of
natural interference from the planet.”
“Captain!”
exclaimed Arbelo. “I’ve lost all
readings on decks 12 through 15 in the saucer section.”
“Captain,
internal scans are not working,” informed T’Veer.
“That’s
it! Go to yellow alert!”
“But,
Captain. What about ourrrr docking?”
asked Kes.
“We’ve
got a problem to deal with first. Mister
Fil, contact the Qualen’s and tell them....”
The
viewscreen blinked. The face of the
Commander of the Legion, Mox Tronna Grebbeck again appeared.
“To
the crew of the United Starship Sarek. We hereby claim your ship as our own in our
effort to expand the Qualen Hegemony to the stars. As is usual with the ships we claim, you and
your crew will be omitted from this plain.
We thank you for your cooperation and look forward to your company in
the next plain.”
“What
is that supposed to mean?” asked Arbelo.
“It
means upgrade status to red alert.
Mister Fil, issue phasers to all crew members.”
The
alert klaxons sounded as Fil started handing phasers from a storage locker to
everyone on the bridge. Suddenly, the
klaxons went silent.
“Captain,
I’m reading some form of knockout gas filling decks 8 through 20 in the stardrive
section,” reported T’Veer.
“I’m
reading transporter traces in the battle bridge,” said Fil.
Before
Coster could react, a somewhat familiar hum started in the corner of the
bridge. Five outlines started forming.
“Defend
the bridge!” shouted Coster as six phasers pointed at the materializing forms.
Fil
fired first, his beam hitting the first of the enemy troops to completely
materialize. But it was obvious that the
aliens expected this and the others ducked, firing in return. Kes, the closest of the bridge crew to where
the aliens materialized attempted to get up from the conn and fire her phaser,
but was stopped mid-stride when one of the blue-skinned aliens fired a blast of
something at the fleeing Cait. She fell
to the deck, frozen in place by the alien weapon.
Another
group of aliens beamed in on the rear portion of the bridge. Coster, realizing her crew was outnumbered,
ordered a retreat from the bridge.
The
remaining Sarek crew started heading
toward the one remaining turbolift, the aliens close behind. As the doors started closing, Coster could
see the two Vulcans, T’Veer and T’Ashara, fighting their way toward the
observation lounge hallway, passing into the doors. But to her shock and sorrow, the last glimpse
she had was of T’Veer going down under the blast of the alien’s disrupter.
The
small group of Coster, Arbelo, and Fil made their way down to deck 4, and
exited the turbolift. Touching the
nearest panel, Coster said, “Override protocol, Coster-Delta-Omega-Niner. Override and disconnect all command and
engineering functions.”
“All
command and engineering functions are now disconnected. Only a clearence Alpha-2 or higher can
reinstate functions,” the ship’s computer reported.
“Come
on,” Coster ordered.
The
trio made their way along the corridor, here and there hearing the sounds of
crew being hit, and even killed, by the alien’s weapons. They entered a Jeffries Tube intersection and
made their way down to deck 6. Exiting
the tube, Coster was horrified to see the sight that greeted them.
A
number of the civilian complement, including three children, were hung upside
down from the corridor ceiling, obviously dead.
Another dozen or so lay along the sides of the corridor. Arbelo took out his tricorder and scanned
those laying on the deck.
“They’re
alive, Captain, though barely. The
Qualen’s must have used their knockout gas here.”
“The
The
door to the ship’s school opened sluggishly at their approach.
The
school area had been expanded in the last year to make room for the Starfleet
Academy Annex to train newly contacted beings from the Gamma Quadrant to become
Starfleet Officers. The horror was
evident on all three faces when they entered the Annex. The Command-Division Lieutenant who taught
the classes, and all three students from parts of the Gamma Quadrant were dead,
their heads decapitated. Coster rushed
next door to where the primary school classes were held, her heart in her
throat.
In
the primary classroom, she found Val’ri Raiajh slumped over on the front
desk. Her class of twenty children were
literally piled in a corner. Coster fell
to her knees, tears flowing down her face.
Arbelo
and Fil entered the room, Fil coming over to comfort Coster, Arbelo scanning
the pile of children. To his surprise,
all the children were still alive. He
started moving them off of one another so they would not suffocate each other,
when they heard Val’ri moan softly.
Arbelo
continued checking the children while Coster and Fil went over to the waking
Raiajh.
“Aliens...,”
she moaned again. “Killed... Academy
group... wanted to kill us all....
Leader was distracted by.... will... willk...”
Odd
colored blood seeped from a wound in Val’ri’s neck. Fil applied pressure while Coster tookout a
first aid kit and applied a healing agent to Val’ri’s wound.
“Captain,”
called Arbelo, “I’ve found your son.”
Coster
finished what she was doing with Val’ri, allowing Fil to complete the job, and
joined Arbelo. On the deck lay the
unmoving form of her son, Shawn Clove.
Coster felt the young boy’s neck, and was relieved to find a weak though
steady pulse. She hugged the boy for a
moment before returning to the matter at hand.
“Penji,
is there a way to seal off this area of the ship so that no one can enter
without authorization?”
“Yes.”
Suddenly,
a young girl entered from another room of the school.
“Mommy!”
she cried.
Fil
caught the little girl, whom Coster recognized as Charissa Xaran, a close
friend of her son’s, before she could run into Val’ri.
“Take
it easy, Charissa,” said Fil. “Your
mommy will be alright.”
“Can
Val’ri take care of herself and the children now?” Coster asked.
Val’ri’s
eyes opened at the mention of her name.
She gazed at Coster unsteadily.
“I...
I think I.... can, ...Captain.”
“OK. Val’ri, we’re going to seal off the learning
center. That way you and the kids will
be safe. We also are sealing the Annex.
“I...
can understand that.”
“Stay
safe.”
Coster,
Fil, and Arbelo left the learning center.
Fil pressed his hand against one of the wall panels.
“Computer,
seal off deck 6, section B-9 through D-12, and initiate quarantine forcefield.”
“Your
request is a command function and cannot be initiated without proper
authorization.”
“Computer,”
said Coster, “command authorization Coster-Alpha-One-One-Six-Theta-Nine. Proceed with seal-off and quarantine.”
A
hum sounded from the bulkhead next to the trio.
“Seal-off
and quarantine are in effect for deck 6, sections B-9 through D-12.”
“Come
on!”
The
three started heading to where another jeffries tube could lead them to the
battle bridge. As they rounded a corner,
they were suddenly in the sights of a weapon.
“HALT!”
shouted the tall warrior.
“A-ZuRQuIL! It’s the Captain and me,” said Fil urgently.
The
Capellan warrior slumped against the bulkhead of the corridor, obviously glad
the group were his allies. Coster
noticed the blood stain on the side of his robes and covering a portion of his
honor sash. Fil noticed the two Klingons
on the deck behind him.
“A
group of ten of the aliens ambushed us here,” A-ZuRQuIL explained
while Arbelo applied a clotting agent to his wound. “They blasted half of Private Kazh’s body
away before we were aware of their presence.
I killed two, and Lieutenant Kro’Toth killed another. They started to flee toward intersection C-2
when Kro’Toth and another of the Klingons chased after them. I would have joined them had I not been unable
to move.”
“Where
is Kro’Toth?” asked Coster.
“I
do not know. Neither have returned, and
I lost communications ability just before the aliens ambushed us.”
Arbelo
finished what he was doing and said, “That’s the best I can do for now. It will probably leave a scar.”
“A
warrior is nothing without a few scars, Little One.”
“Can
you join us? We’re heading to the battle
bridge.”
“A
power cat could not keep me from your side.”
The
four officers started off once again toward the entrance to the jefferies tubes
when a shout sounded behind them. They
whirled around and saw three of the blue-skinned aliens running down the
corridor toward them. Catching them
unprepared, Fil shoved the other three officers into the turbolift they stood
next to and shouted, “Deck 11!”
Coster,
Arbelo, and A-ZuRQuIL tried to prevent the turbolift from leaving
as Fil fired his phaser at the approaching enemy, blasting one into
non-existence before another caught him in his weapon’s blast. The last thing the Captain saw before the doors
closed tight was Fil’s body dropping lifelessly to the deck.
“We
must go back!” shouted A-ZuRQuIL.
“Inadvisable,
Captain,” said Arbelo. “They would no
doubt be waiting for us.”
The
doors opened on deck 11, where the three cautiously walked out into the
corridor.
“I
thought you wanted to go to the battle bridge?” asked A-ZuRQuIL.
“We
can’t go by turbolift. These Qualens
know how we get around in them, and one of the first places they captured was
the battle bridge. We have to sneak
there.”
They
started walking down the corridor, flinching and aiming their phasers at every
noise. Finally, while passing one set of
doors, they heard a familiar sound.
“Pssst.”
Coster
looked around. Then she saw the human
finger gesturing to them from between the slightly opened doors.
“In
here,” a female voice whispered. The
door was pushed open, revealing one of Fil’s Security Guards, Ensign Carrie Karandanz.
The
three entered the room, actually someone’s quarters, and Karandanz reclosed the
door.
“I
was able to hide in here when the aliens pumped knockout gas onto this
deck. While I was waiting for it to
clear, I managed to rig the monitor to spy on the enemy on the bridge.”
The
group looked at the wall monitor, which showed a group of fifteen of the
Qualens on the bridge. The tallest one
in the center Coster recognised as Mox Tronna Grebbeck.
“I
cannot access anything, First Philton,” one of the subordinates said to
Grebbeck.
“You
fool!” Grebbeck said, slapping the back of his hand across the subordinate’s
face. “How can you not access
anything. This IS the starship’s
main control interface. You MUST
be able to get into the computer. YOU
MUST!”
“Philton,
we have suppressed all resistance aboard this starship,” reported another
Qualen that walked out of a turbolift.
“We should have no problem omitting the remaining groups.”
Another
Qualan spoke up after having tried to access ops, finally almost thrusting his
fist through the panel.
“Philton,
has it occured to you how many beings there must be on a vessel of this size?”
“Hundreds,
of course. But we caught them
unawares. They will be of no concern to
us.”
That’s what you think, thought Coster as
she watched the screen in fascination.
“But
what about the pockets of resistance that still exist? We have no more Shorna gas to quell them.”
“Do
you not have detector devices? Do you
not have your freeze guns and heat-rupters?
Hunt them down. Consider it
sport, as our ancestors did. They are
nothing but animals. Animals that aid
our journey further into the galaxy, but animals by our standards
none-the-less.”
Coster
noticed A-ZuRQuIL’s expression grow more angry, his fists
clenching and unclenching over and over.
On
the screen, the first subordinate again approached Grebbeck, blood dripping
down his chin. He had been seemingly
listening to what Coster assumed was a communications device.
“Philton,
Team Dren reports they have located the another pocket of resistance. There are four of them holed up on deck 11,
in one of the living quarters.”
The
report alarmed all four of the Sarek
crew. Arbelo took out his tricorder and
scanned the area surrounding the cabin they were hidden in.
“Trouble,
Captain. I’m reading twenty Qualens
closing in on our location.”
“Suggestions?”
Karandanz
looked at A-ZuRQuIL, her superior.
“The
full frontal approach?”
“Agreed,”
replied the tall warrior.
The
two security officers started resetting their phasers. A-ZuRQuIL turned to the others,
saying, “Set your phasers to level 7.”
He consulted with Arbelo’s tricorder.
“Five are stationed at the closest spoke intersection. Another ten equally stationed between the
intersection and the turbolifts at each end of the corridor. The last five are slowly approaching our
location. Let’s give them a welcome they
won’t forget.”
A-ZuRQuIL and Arbelo
positioned themselves on each side of the door.
Arbelo nodded at the Capellan, who counted down from three.
The
two officers pulled the doors open and ran out, shooting along the way. The counter-attack completely surprised the
approaching Qualen, all five of whom quickly no longer existed.
The
four officers made their way down the corridor, A-ZuRQuIL took
point, followed by Coster and Karandanz, Arbelo covering the rear. The remaining fifteen Qualen following
closely behind. As the quartet passed
through a safety point in the corridor, Coster blasted a sensor on the ceiling,
causing an airtight door to activate, sealing the corridor and separating the
Starfleet Officers from the Qualen.
Arbelo scanned with the tricorder.
“They
can’t get through. They’re trying to
find another way to get around to us. I
predict they may find another way within five minutes. And we can’t just seal off all the airtights,
or we’ll just trap ourselves.”
“Agreed. We have to find another way.”
They
started off down the corridor. As they
passed the entrance to holodeck one, they found another fellow crewmember
coming from the opposite direction.
Arbelo recognized the tall officer as the Efrosian Diagnostic Engineer,
Lt Commander D’Nld Chaaz’N. He limped
toward the quartet of officers, a phaser in his hand.
“They’ve...
got... engineering...,” he gasped between heaving breaths. “They... suddenly... beamed... in...” He slumped against the bulkhead, trying to
catch his breath.
“What
happened down there?” asked Coster.
After
a moment, and with Chaaz’N breathing a little easier, he answered.
“I
was up on the deck 35 level around the intermix chamber, checking the deuterium
flow, when about two dozen blue-skinned aliens suddenly beamed into the main
engineering compartment, firing at anyone they saw. Commander N’Vorda, the Assistant Chief, was
able to catch two of them by forming longer arms and wrapping around them, but
two others blasted him with some sort of freezing weapon. The last I saw before I escaped through the
maintainance hatch to level 34, Commander N’Vorda was laying on the deck
completely frozen. I don’t know if
anyone else who was in engineering is alive or dead.”
“How
did you get up here?” asked A-ZuRQuIL.
“Mostly
through the jefferies tubes, with those... those monsters close behind all the
time.”
“There
goes our idea to get to the battle bridge through the tubes,” grumbled A-ZuRQuIL.
As
if to punctuate the engineer’s statement, a howl from around the curve of the
corridor announced the presence of the Qualens.
“Quick!
In here,” shouted Coster, indicating the door to holodeck one.
As
the door opened, the group started to run inside the empty holodeck. Unfortunately, not everyone was fast enough,
as Chaaz’N was caught full in the back by the blast of a freeze-cannon,
followed immediately by a disrupter beam.
The frozen officer exploded into millions of pieces, scattering all over
the deck like a destroyed statue.
“Computer,
emergency override! Lock door to
holodeck one!” shouted Coster as the heavy doors shut.
“Holodeck
one is now locked,” announced the unnervingly calm computer voice.
The
ten Qualen soldiers outside the holodeck started firing their weapons at the
now-locked doors, with little effect.
One of the Qualen then took out a commulink.
“First
Philton, this is Nevar 3rd Level Lexona.
We have trapped four of the crew in a room that scans say has no other
exit, but we cannot get into the room with the present firepower.”
“I
understand, “ replied Grebbeck’s voice.
“I will arrive shortly with more troops.
We must capture one of the senior controllers alive and make him tell us
how to access this United Starship
Sarek’s computer system. Stand by.”
A
few minutes later, Philton 1st Level Mox Tronna Grebbeck and twenty more of the
Qualen troops, the whole group together representing over ninety percent of the
occupying force, arrived at the holodeck doors.
They started setting up their disrupters on mobile stands for an
organized barrage.
* * * *
“They’re
amassing a barrage,” reported Arbelo, monitoring the tricorder. “I read thirty-one beings on the opposite
side of the door. Estimate the door will
give way within five minutes.”
“Five
minutes. That’s not long, is it?”
remarked Coster. “What would Kalin do in
a situation like this?” Nobody knew.
“What’s
the problem, Mic?” asked a familiar sounding voice.
The
four officer’s spun in surprise, their phasers aimed at the lone figure
standing behind them.
“Hold
it!” shouted Coster as she recognized the man.
“Kalin, what the heck are you doing here? You left the ship three months ago!”
“In
the literal sense, I’m not here. I’m a
holographic interface programmed by Captain Kale for you to refer to in
stressful situations.”
“Well,
this certainly qualifies.” She glanced
at the others around her. “ Boy, it was
nice of him to tell me about this, wasn’t it?”
“Tell
me what’s going on. Maybe we can figure
something out.”
Suddenly,
the sound of the disrupter barrage started.
* * *
*
“We
are almost through, First Philton,” informed a Qualen soldier to Grebbeck. The blue-skinned alien smiled.
Then,
with a squeal and clunk, the heavy doors parted. The Qualens stormed into the room two by two,
until half of the soldiers were inside.
Assured of his safety, Grebbeck entered through the blast-damaged doors.
Cargo
containers lined the walls and were stacked in piles around the large grey
room. Filling the opposite wall was a
huge door that seemed to separate the bay from the vacuum of space. The cargo bay looked deserted. But Grebbeck knew better.
“Search
the room. The four inferiors must be
hidden here somewhere. And when you find
them, bring the highest ranking one to me.
The rest you may kill at your leisure.”
The
remaining fourteen soldiers left the corridor, joining their brethren in the
bay in search for the Starfleet Officers.
Then without warning, the door they had entered from closed and locked,
sealing them inside. The Qualen had not
yet gotten over their shock when they were again surprised by the fifty
security officers who stepped out from behind the containers, phaser rifles
trained on the Qualens.
“Drop
your weapons and kick them away,” ordered A-ZuRQuIL, who stood
near the exterior cargo door with Coster and Kale. Some of the Qualens lowered their weapons to
the floor, kicking them out of reach, drawing looks of surprise and resentment
from those who still held on to their disrupters.
A-ZuRQuIL
took a step forward, aiming his phaser at the closest Qualen soldier, and again
said, “Drop your weapons or we will fire!”
“These
animals have no backbone and only crave peace and friendship,”said
Grebbeck. “Pay them no mind. They will not kill.”
When
no other soldier relenquished his disrupter, A-ZuRQuIL fired,
vaporizing the soldier he aimed at.
“Security
officers, if the aliens do not surrender on the count of three, open fire,
power level 8.”
The
Qualens began to look nervously at one another, then at their First Philton,
who stood, arms crossed, a look of shock on his face at the unexpected loss of
the soldier.
“One...”
A
few Qualens dropped their weapons, kicking them toward the Starfleet officers.
“Two...”
More
Qualen’s did the same, leaving only four soldiers still armed.
“Three...”
The
final four dropped the disrupters and kicked them out of reach. Grebbeck looked with scorn at his now
captured army and slowly raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
Arbelo
and Karandanz came out from behind cargo pods on each side of the bay, the
Vulcan/Efrosian/Terran officer joining Coster and Kale, their phasers trained
on the surrendered soldiers. Karandanz
and A-ZuRQuIL collected all of the abandoned alien weapons and
had the soldiers kneel on the deck, their hands behind their necks, where the
Federation officers cuffed them.
Mic
Coster walked warily toward Grebbeck and thrust one of his own commulinks into
his hand. With the barrel of her phaser
less than an inch from the tip of his nose, she said to Grebbeck, “Contact your
remaining troops and tell them to surrender.”
Grebbeck’s
eyes narrowed, but he complied. The
remaining four Qualen, who had been on the bridge still trying to access the
ship’s computer, damaging a number of panels in the process, threw their
weapons into a turbolift as ordered, which whisked them away to the farthest
point on the ship.
Coster
looked at the First Philton.
“Why?”
she growled with contempt. “We accepted your
invitation. We offered friendship. Why did you have to do this to us?”
“I
need not answer questions from an inferior like you. The only reason for the
existence of other species in this galaxy is to provide the Qualen, beings of
superior intellect and reason, with the technology to colonize the stars. It is the destiny of our master race to
inhabit all the planets of the galaxy, “ said Grebbeck. And the scariest part was he believed what he
said.
“You
lure other space-traveling races to your planet so you can acquire their
technology?”
“That
is their only purpose for existing.”
“Boy,
do you have a thing or two to learn about the galaxy. Mister A-ZuRQuIL. Mister Karandanz. Escort our ‘guests’ to their new rooms.”
“With pleasure.”
Leading
the bound Qualens out into the corridor, Grebbeck turned and shouted back to
Coster.
“First
tell me how. How did you hide all
these troops in here and we did not detect them? How did you get these weapons? I MUST know.” Coster smiled.
“Quite
simple, really. Computer, shut down
holodeck one.”
Around
them, the cargo bay dissolved into the shiny black walls of the holodeck. Along with the cargo pods, barrels, and drums
dissolved the fifty security officers and their phaser rifles. Grebbeck looked on in total disbelief.
A-ZuRQuIL
poked his phaser barrel into Grebbeck’s back, urging him forward.
“Come
on, Mister Master Race. Some superior
intellect. Heh, heh, heh.”
* * * *
Captain’s log, stardate 48810.0:
With the Qualen situation behind us, the time
for healing and recovery has started. A
census of the ship has determined that 134 crew and civilians were killed by
the invading Qualen.
They include Lt Commander Chaaz’N and Lieutenant
Warren Littlefield of engineering, Lieutenant Toreth, the Dean of our Academy
Annex, and his three cadets, and Ensigns Patrick Weaver and John Runningbear,
as well as three members of the Klingon Defense Force Platoon assigned to our
security department.
Seriously injured were Commander T’Veer, Lt
Commander V’Pier N’Vorda, Lt Commander T’Ashara, Lieutenant Penji Fil, and
Klingon Lieutenant Kro’Toth, as well as civilians Val’ri Raiajh, and Barrett
Roony. Triage units have been set up in
the main shuttlebay and shuttlebay three, caring for the hundreds of injured
members of the crew. Thank God that
Shawn was not seriously injured. Just
cuts and scrapes from the rough handling the Qualens gave the children in the
After restoring control of the ship and
consulting with Starfleet Command, the Merrimac and Hornet have arrived at
Qualen II, where all native Qualen were returned to their planet from their
moonbases and space stations, and all their spaceships destroyed. Marker buoys and a Neutral Zone have been
established around the Qualen system, quarantining the ‘Master Race’ from the
rest of the galaxy.
This incident has answered the mysteries of
close to two-dozen ships declared missing in this sector over the past one-hundred
and fifty years.
Sarek is now entering the Terran system, a week
late, but in one piece. I now look
forward to a planet-bound life, at least for now.
Coster, out.
With
nothing much else to do, Coster spent the last few hours of her duty shift
reading the last few chapters of “Foundation and Empire”. The familiar sight of the colored bands of
Jupiter’s atmosphere alerted her to the fact that the ship had entered the Sol
system and was rapidly approaching their destination. She placed a bookmark where she left off, and
placed the book under her arm as she strode out onto the bridge.
The
red planet of Mars with its two unusual-looking moons was fast approaching on
the main viewscreen.
“Monster,
has Utopia Planitia Yards contacted
us yet?” asked Coster.
“Affirmative. They have teams standing by to begin
conversion of the
Still
looking at the screen, with her hands clasped behind her back in a pose very
reminiscent of Captain Kale, Coster spoke to Lieutenant Fil.
“Mister Fil, please call Lieutenant
Commander N’Vorda to the bridge.”
“Yes,
Captain.”
A
few minutes later, V’Pier ‘Greg’ N’Vorda stepped out of the aft turbolift. The shapeshifter, in his usual humanoid form,
walked over to the tactical station.
“You
called for me, Captain.”
“Greg,
I want you to command the docking proceedure.”
“Excuse
me?” N’Vorda said.
“Come
down here and command the docking.”
“But...
but... I don’t think...”
“You
wish to be Executive Officer eventually, do you not, Mister N’Vorda?” asked
T’Veer, who still sported an arm sling from the broken bone suffered during the
Qualen takeover.
“Yes,
but...” Seeing there was no winning this
fight, N’Vorda complied. He walked down
the ramp to the lower bridge level and took his place where Coster had stood. Coster meanwhile stepped over to the command
chair and sat down.
N’Vorda
turned to Penji Fil at tactical and said, “Mister Fil, open hailing frequencies
to the Yards.”
“Aye,
sir. Hailing frequencies open.”
N’Vorda
cleared his throat, causing a strange slurping sound.
“Utopia Planitia, this is the starship Sarek, ready for docking maneuver.”
On
the screen, the huge starbase orbited hundreds of miles above the spot where
the Viking II lander touched down on the Red Planet almost a full 400 years
earlier.
“Sarek, this is UP Fleetyard control. You
are cleared to dock.”
The
spacedoors of the station slowly opened to admit the starship.
“Lock
on,” ordered N’Vorda.
The
human Ensign who replaced the still-recovering Lieutenant (JG) Pr’n Kes at the
conn pressed a control. The indicator on
his board signalled green.
“Systems
locked,” reported the ensign.
N’Vorda
looked around the bridge, checking all the necessary stations that would be
used during the docking. All seemed to
check out. Finally, he spoke again.
“Utopia Planitia, you have control.”
“Affirmative,
Sarek. You will be docked in Slip 9. Prepare to lock mooring lines and
umbilicals.”
“Thank
you, Fleetyard Control. Sarek out.”
The
Sarek, under control of the
starbase’s computer, slowly entered the dock complex, turning slightly as she
entered, and faced into Slip 9. As the
ship came to a full halt, the mooring tractors locked her into position while
the docking tube linked into the dorsal docking port, connecting the external
power umbilical as well.
* * * *
Up in the docking port’s control
room, recently promoted
* * * *
“Bridge
to all stations,” said N’Vorda into the intercom as the final interlocks
clicked shut with a metallic clang. “We
are now docked. Stand down all decks and
stations. Thank you. Bridge out.”
Coster
stood and walked over to the slightly nervous engineer.
“Very
nice, Mister N’Vorda. I couldn’t have
done better myself.”
She
offered her hand, which N’Vorda shook with gusto, his arm almost liquifying and
shaking around. Then turning to face the
intercom pickup, she said, “All necessary crewmembers, remember the ceremony in
Nine/Ten Forward this evening. To all
the rest of you, I thank you very much.
You are the finest crew I have ever served with, and perhaps the finest
crew in all the Fleet. Coster out.”
* * * *
Coster and T’Veer exited a turbolift
on deck 6 and walked into the transporter room.
Once inside, T’Veer dismissed transporter chief Ron Giacobbe, while
Coster opened a channel to Fleetyard
Control.
“Control,
I’m locked onto your transporter two.
Ready to energize,” said Coster.
“Acknowledged,
Sarek. Transporters at your discretion,” said a
female voice.
Coster
nodded at T’Veer, who energized the controls.
Three figures materialized on the platform.
“Permission
to come aboard,” said the elder of the three officers.
“Granted,”
said Coster with a broad smile. “Welcome
back, Captain Kale.”
Kale, wearing the new standard
Starfleet jumpsuit, similar to the uniforms Starfleet had issued aboard
starbases for the last few years, stepped down from the platform and hugged his
former First Officer. Coster returned
the hug. Kale then turned to the
Engineer and offered his greetings before introducing his companions.
“Commander Coster, Commander T’Veer,
this is
As the officers exchanged
handshakes, Koester quickly offered an apology for wanting to rush off and
start work on the runabout.
“Would you like an escort to the
shuttlebay, Captain?” T’Veer asked.
“No, thanks,” Koester replied,
already halfway out the door with Kane.
“We can find our way.”
As the transporter room door slid
shut, Kale turned back to Coster and said, “So, Mic. What have you done to my ship?”
“Your
ship?”
“Well,
when I left her three months ago, she still had a full crew and was in perfect
operational condition.”
“We
had a little... incident, Captain,” offered T’Veer.
It
was Kale’s turn to raise an eyebrow this time, but quickly turned serious.
“I
read your report. How’s Shawn?” the
Captain asked.
“Doing
well,” answered Coster, remembering the young boy’s reaction when he finally
woke up in sickbay after the Qualen had been dealt with, screaming at the top
of his lungs about monsters. “He and a
majority of the children will have to see the Counselors from time to time, but
he’s doing alright.”
The
three started walking into the corridor toward the VIP quarters Kale would be
using for the next 24 hours. Along the
way, various crewmembers would say, “Good morning, Captain Kale,” or “Welcome
back,” or, “Good to see you again.”
“We’ve
got the basic ideas down ‘on paper’ for the new class ship. I’ve been working closely with Doctor Leah
Brahms on the engine core and warp coil design modifications,” Kale said to
Coster as they walked. “The team you
will be heading is going to be in charge of the primary hull basic
configuration, designated Beta Team. You
have 20 people working under you.
Including Lieutenant Shelly. She
makes coffee from a blend of Vulcan and Centauri beans that will make your...”
They
reached a turbolift and the door snapped open suddenly.
“Oh,
now where was I?” asked Kale. “Ahh,
yes. T’Veer, are you looking forward to
tonight?”
“Time
passes at the same rate whether I anticipate an event or not. Longing for the event to occur will not make
it happen any faster.”
Kale
turned to Coster.
“You
know,” he said, thumbing a finger at the engineer, “I missed her.”
* * * *
A
crowd was gathered on the lower level of Nine/Ten Forward. A podium had been set up in the center of the
room. The group mingled with one
another, some talking about the recent tragedy, some about the ceremony about
to occur, others just general chit-chat.
The
soft chime of the ship’s bells brought everyone’s attention to the podium,
where Fleet Admiral Alynna Nechayev stepped forward.
“Commander
T’Veer, please step forward,” the Admiral said.
The
tall Vulcan woman, dressed in her best dress uniform, stepped up to the podium
where she stood at ramrod-straight attention.
Nechayev
read from a padd in front of her.
“To
Commander T’Veer: For outstanding
service to the entire Federation and especially the USS Sarek over the last year and a half, you are hereby promoted to
the rank of Captain.”
A
small spackling of applause started around the room as Captain Kale stepped
forward and placed a new round gold pip on T’Veer’s collar. Commander Yu-Fen Mic Coster then stood and
walked to the podium, shook the Fleet Admiral’s hand, and took the padd from
her.
Coster
cleared her throat, then spoke into the podium’s vocal pickup.
“To Coster, Commander Yu-Fen M.,
Acting-Commanding Officer of USS
Sarek NCC-72075: Effective immediately you will relinquish
command of the USS Sarek to Captain
T’Veer, after which you will report to Utopia
Planitia Starfleet Yards and take command of Beta Team of the Essex-Class
Development Project.”
Coster replaced the padd onto the
podium, and smiled and nodded at T’Veer.
“Computer,” said Coster.
The computer bleeped in
acknowledgement.
“Transfer all command and override
protocols to Captain T’Veer.
Authorization Coster-Alpha-One-One-Six-Theta-Nine.”
“All command protocols are now under
command of Captain T’Veer,” the computer voice replied.
Coster turned around, shook the
Vulcan Captain’s hand, and stepped down from the podium. As she did, a full round of applause
started. Coster slowly walked through
the crowd to Kale, who was back sitting next to the bar. He noticed the tears welling in her eyes,
reached out, and hugged her.
As Captain T’Veer started making a
speech at the podium, Kale took Coster’s hand and the two walked out of the
lounge.
“By the way, Kalin,” Coster said as the
lounge doors slowly slid shut behind them.
“What other holodeck programs did you install that you haven’t told me
about?”
The End
Return to 2370.
Return to Stories Archive.
For the Star Trek: Dauntless sequel to this
story, click here for “Payback.”