Confrontation within the star system
Posted on 10/24/2015 @ 1:29pm by Commander David Rogers & Captain Kheren & Captain Syntron & Captain Joshua Riker & Lt. Commander Jonathan Livingstone
Edited on on 11/21/2015 @ 4:39pm
Mission:
Brave New World
Location: Eden star system
Syntron turned to Commander Rogers as he spoke on the open channel to the Horizon.
"If we permanently disable the ability of the bussard ramscoops to collect needed materials, perhaps we can eventually send the Polaris and its occupants back to the planet without any further conflict with the Draxx ships or destruction of the Zetarians aboard."
Giving the suggestion a moments thought, Rogers replied.
"it is doable sir, but given the distance, targeting the ram scoops is hit and miss. Not to mention there is a pair of them to disable. So, if you cannot access the onboard computer with your command code override and shut them down, I suggest we interrupt the magnetic field collectors directly."
Livingstone blinked his large eyes up at his commanding officer.
"I advise against direct override, Captain. This would necessitate standard communication channels, an electromagnetic link the Zetarians would use to invade us. I agree interupting their powering up has to be at the source."
The bussard collectors used an ionizing beam emitter to impart a charge onto the neutral particles in space, allowing the magnetic field generator to collect the particles and separate them into usable matter which is stored or used by the ship engines. In this case, the only option David could project from this distance was interruption of the collection field, or denying the field of usable matter; in this case, hydrogen for the Polaris.
"We can sweep the interstellar particles out of the Polaris' path using main deflector, Sir. Reversing the graviton polarity generators and tuning it to the hydrogen frequency of fourteen point seven electron volts will enable us to project a graviton pulse in front of the Polaris, pushing the hydrogen out of its path and leaving nothing for them to collect."
"That will slow them down but not stop them. They have reconfigured the armor plates of the ship as solar panels.," the X'Ell then pointed out.
"Captain!" shouted Argyle to bring their attention back to the main viewer.
On the screen they saw the Horizon fire warning shots across the destroyers' bows, forcing them to veer off to avoid the orange discharge of as many phasers as there were assailing ships. The flagship was a literal flying fortress, even without her saucer section having enough phaser strips to face such an attacking fleet, phasers that were as powerful as those of a space station. And yet, it was only a matter of time before some of those attackers would manage to slip by this fire cover and find their powerless, defenseless target; time measured in seconds.
Now, the Draxx regrouped and came back in two waves of attack groups coming from three different angles.
"The first wave is about to draw fire from the Horizon so that the second group will be able to penetrate their cover and fire at the Polaris," the cyborg tactical officer analyzed. "With only the stardrive's weaponry available, the Horizon will not be able this time to stop them all."
"Do not interfere," Garawl then said to Syntron with a menacing growl. "We know how to deal with such a situation. It will be over quickly. This time, these evil spirits will not threaten you or us and escape again."
"Commander Rogers," the captain of the Phoenix immediately ordered, seemingly ignoring the Draxx, "proceed with calibrating the main deflector to sweep the interstellar particles away from the Polaris' path. Once implemented, this will at least nullify their progress while providing us with more time to curtail any opportunity from escaping from this planet again."
"On it sir!", David quipped as he ran to the main engineering console.
The captain turned toward the helm.
"Mister Traynor, put us on course to allow Commander Rogers the optimal position to accomplish this feat."
"Yes, Sir," the human helmsman responded as he entered in the coordinates and guided the ship toward the Polaris.
Punching icons on the LCARS display, David re-configured the main deflector to the interstellar hydrogen frequency while simultaneously reversing the graviton polarity generators in order to project the pulse in the desired function. The dish itself was steerable within just over seven degree's of arc along the Z axis of the ship. Because normal deflector operations during flight already swept particles from the flight path, the tuning operation took less then a minute to set up and actuate.
As Traynor brought the sleek prow of the Phoenix to bear on the rising Polaris, David actuated the deflector pulse. Pale luminesence shot from the dish and swept in a tight beam out to the sleek craft, tracing an arc forward from the Polaris' flight path. All interstellar matter, from miniscule dust to the stomic particles of matter were pushed back out of the flight trajectory. The Polaris' bussard ram scoops now found only empty vacuum to feed on; effectively starving the ship of convertable hydrogen.
Syntron then turned his attention to the cyborg tactical/security officer standing besides the Draxx representative.
"Lieutenant Argyle, I need your tactical skills manning the plasma-phaser arrays. I need you to target the bussard collectors and decimate both sets of this apparatus with precision."
The captain noted a moment of hesitation as he processed the order, switching his priority as the security officer into that of a tactical one once again.
"On it Sir.” acknowledged Argyle to the captain and began preparing the weapons console.
Syntron then addressed his science chief.
"Mister Livingstone, if possible...we need to devise a short burst-signal to reprogram systems on the Polaris using command codes without allowing any Zetarian an opportunity to trace an electromagnetic path back to our ship the split second it arrives. Perhaps using this in conjunction with a diversionary tactic to draw their attention away while this occurs may suffice."
The luminous implants flashed within the feathered mane of the X'Ell as he acknowledged the Vulcan's orders.
Syntron then turned and faced the Draxx officer directly.
"Garawl, beta of your pack... This will only work if you can convince your ships to allow us this opportunity to resolve this situation without
further conflict and before destroying the Polaris. The opportunity for destruction will be available afterward if we do not succeed in our efforts."
For a moment, it was almost as if the Caninoid would pounce on the Vulcan, body hunched, ears pointed forward, fangs bared, breathing turning shallow; noticing the agressive posture, Duncan Argyle sent a signal to the two security officers at the turbolift doors and their had went discretly but firmly to their belted phaser, all unblinking eyes on the alien.
And then, only a growl rumbled through his furred throat.
"Garawl to attack force; take firing position and await my command. If the other ship interferes, continue attack pattern."
It was then that the voice of Joey Sisko was heard over the open channel.
"I heard you, Captain Syntron... and you too Draxx commander. We are acknowledging. But be warned; any hostile move against our ships will be met with equal force. All your vessels have been identified, scanned for weaknesses and locked on by our weapon systems. Twenty class IV phasers and twenty quantum II torpedoes will be sent your way on the first salvo; and we have plenty more to serve. This ship has been built as a mobile space station able to protect our people from such an attack. Please, in the interest of interstellar peace, do not test our capabilities nor our resolve in this."
The ominous silence was then broken by the musical tones of the X'Ell science chief.
"I'm sending out a class IV probe and deploying it's six subprobes in an asynchronized random transmitting pattern with the recorded compressed prefix code and a set of commands to shut down all systems except the structural integrity field... which will drain all power including life support."
On the screen, a small light shot out of the Phoenix' bow and then spread like an exploding comet into six directions.
"Life support! But... the crew..."
"Is not aboard, Commander Sisko."
Again there was complete silence at the other end of the channel for a good moment as, on screen, the Draxx destroyers took a hemispherical formation with the inside englobing the position of the Polaris and the Horizon, all weapons pointed at the diminutive Aquarius class vessel still drifting away from the planet.
"Passive scans seem to confirm this, Lieutenant," finally admitted the half-Bajoran in the Horizon's command chair. "But our sensors do not have your nanite enhancements to make sure. Hence why we did not notice... But then... where... how..."
More pressing maters put these questions aside as Jonathan's implants flashed crazily again on his head.
"I sent you with this transmission the schematics of our caging process for the Zetarians. Please proceed immediately as devised with your entire landing bay... and ready your tractor beam to haul the Polaris in."
"Understood... Confirming readiness... proceeding... now!"
They all saw then that, suddenly, the Polaris went almost dark except for a faint shimmering all around it. Almost at the same instant, two precise beams from the Phoenix shot at the front part of the extended nacelles, blowing up the faintly glowing ramscoop collectors to smithereens. Then, a blue ray shot from the underside of the Horizon's stern and the much smaller vessel was dragged behind and then inside the massive hull.
"We have them!" exclaimed Sisko with obvious relief. "The Polaris overpowered SIF is holding them inside the ship and our entire docking bay is further enveloped in Commander Rogers' cage. They're not going anywhere now!"
"Except for them!" suddenly exclaimed Argyle, pointing at the screen
They all saw suddenly the six subprobes and their main platform reassemble by themselves as the multi-vector probe fired it's impulse drive at maximum away from the ships... readying it's warp drive.
Could some or all of these non-corporeal beings managed to have transported themselves to such a confined space? the Vulcan captain briefly pondered.
Syntron immediately turned to his CSO.
"Mister Livingstone, scan that probe for signs of the Zetarians."
"I detect seven distinct neurogenic signals... and they're going into warp."
Just as the Avian Starfleet officer said it, there was a sudden flash of light as the near-light speed distorted image of the conical probe disappeared at supraluminic speed. That they saw but for a brief, fleeting instant as all the lighting and the consoles on the bridge flashed wildly for several seconds and the image became a jumble of pixels before resuming to a briefly distorted, colorless image of the star system and then returning to normal.
At that moment, Garawl put his big hands to his large ears and howled in pain while a loud screeching sound was heard about him and Jonathan Livingstone swooned and colapsed with a grunt on the floor.
Syntron called to sickbay. "Medical emergency on the bridge. Our avian CSO has collapsed."
The captain then approached the Draxx.
"What is your condition Garawl?" Syntron inquired with concern as he optically examined him.
Garawl was shaking his head and blinking his eyes back at him, seemingly unable to hear him and somewhat stunned as if by an electric charge. The ship's standard EMH shimmered on the bridge right beside a dazed Livingstone, but then disappeared in a flash of static, his expression decidedly annoyed. A moment later, the bridge door opened and a medical team rushed to the fallen CSO. Kneeling beside him while sending a quick glance at the shaken Draxx, assessing the urgency of the X'Ell's condition over that of the visiting alien with a medical tricorder. But the Avian officer too was shaking his head and getting back to his wobbling feet.
"Easy Lieutenant; stay down while I complete my medical scan."
"There is... no need... Doctor," Jonathan assured him with a voice and a stare getting stronger by the second as he straightened himself and his uniform. "It was but a momentary inconvenience, more startling than hurtful."
It looked much more an understatement than a factual account in the eyes of his crewmates, but the X'Ell was apparently recovered from whatever had struck him. And that he now proceeded to explain to his commanding officer.
"Electromagnetic pulse, Captain; the Zetarrians used all the transmission channels and scanners of the probe to blast us with an EM discharge, powerful enough to overpower our systems protectiions against such a pulse. It blinded all our sensors and froze all our systems... including my sheereess, the implants connected to my own brain. It is over now, but it was not a pleasurable experience."
"I... concur," Duncan Argyle's voice added behind Syntron.
With the more spectacular collapse of the Science chief and the startling howl of pain of the Draxx, no one had noticed that the liberated Borg too had been just as affected by the EM pulse. All his cybernetic implants had short-circuited, just like the ship's systems, literally paralyzing his whole organic body parts as well. His living organs had taken some time to recuperate enough to reinitiate his technological connections. He too was still a bit dazed by the leftover pain, but he was nevertheless already back to his tactical sensors.
"Scanners report that they burned their whole impulse drive and most of their emitters powering that attack... but they have gone to warp. Short range scans reveal nothing. Our long range scanners are still rebooting from the EM pulse."
"So are the ears of our guest here," the medic stated. "He was assaulted by ultrasonic frequencies from the disabled systems. Obviously his hearing is much more sensitive than those of Humans. It will take a few minutes more before he can hear normally again. We have several Andorians and Caitians still dazed as well on other decks and the Ferengis all passed out. Vulcans of course will not show it, even as they were affected too."
That last one was directed at the Captain while looking intently at him.
An eyebrow raised as the Vulcan processed the information and pondered on the question.
"Curiously, this particular impulse did not faze me to the degree that it impacted others. I had incorrectly assumed that those frequency bursts I was experiencing were emanating from our own equipment."
"That's... what all the other Vulcans on board stated... Sir," the medic said with raised eyebrows and a dubious twist at the corner of his mouth before turning his attention to the Draxx.
The captain then engaged ship-wide communication.
"Attention crew... this is the Captain. Our ship was just bombarded with an external electromagnetic pulse. All crew members impacted by the affects of this pulse are ordered to report to sickbay if they have not yet been evaluated by medical personnel. If you were affected and are currently on duty, your counterpart from another shift can cover your post and remaining duties."
Shifting topics, Syntron continued with his announcement.
"All department heads... have your teams run diagnostic scans and tests of all vital equipment within your domain. Your personnel are to report any and all abnormalities to you for your report before replacing any damaged equipment. A thorough itemization of all impact damage must be on record."
Syntron paused for a moment as he glanced about the bridge before concluding.
"Until notified otherwise, we are still on high alert. No one is to send any signals out or receive and external transmissions unless authorized. Captain out."
Ironically, just as he disengaged communications, Lieutenant Bijoŭ announced "Captain, we are receiving a signal from the Firebird. They indicate that they are returning and have sent a report from Commander Riker."
"Acknowledged Lieutenant. Notify them of the attack which occurred and that we will be pursing the escapees momentarily" the captain responded as he turned his attention briefly to his chief engineer.
"Commander Rogers, peruse the report from the Firebird and see if there is anything pressing or enlightening within the contents."
"Perusing, aye captain," David responded, whilst turning back to his console and accessing the Firebird message.
Syntron stepped back over helm.
"Mister Traynor... project the path of that probe and immediately set a course to intercept."
"I have the course laid in, Captain.. Engaging now."
With the ship en route, the captain brought his attention back to the Draxx officer.
"Are you able to hear me, Garawl?" Syntron questioned, as he gazed intently at him with professional concern.
"Syntron of the Phoenix! stop your ship now before my pack..."
He was interrupted by a sudden series of jolts that almost sent them all to the deckplates.
"The Draxx fleet has turned on us and fired gravimetric torpedoes! " Argyle reported. " Lucky we jumped to warp just as they detonated! Only minor damage to the stern... with our shields down, we would have been pulverized! Sir... they are in pursuit and targeting us again!"
The Draxx activated his own transmitter in earnest.
"This is Garawl! Hold fire! This is not an abduction! I repeat; this is not an abduction! No Zetarians boarded this ship during the energy pulse directed at us!"
"Understood, Sir," came the hoped reply. "When our sensors were operational again and we saw the alien ship warping out..."
"Follow the alien vessel in pursuit of the escaped ones and fan out to cover a larger vector," interrupted Garawl. "I will stay on board the vessel to monitor the search."
"Acknowledged."
Calm returned to the bridge as, on screen, the thirty destroyers spreaded out in a large formation like an umbrella opening as they too now looked out for the fleeing probe.
Positioned back in the center seat, the captain of the Phoenix inquired "Where is the Firebird along with the Horizon's stardrive and saucer in relation to this probes projected path?"
"Undetermined, Sir," Livingstone answered shaking his head. "Any change of direction from the probe while at warp was undetectable as our systems were overloaded by the EM pulse. I am making a general sweep with passive long range sensors. Taking into account that the maximum speed of such a probe is warp 6, this means a distance of sixty four point eight million kilometers every second away from us... in a volume of space of nearly three hundred billion cubic kilometers growing exponentially for each of those seconds. And our search capability is limited with passive scans."
"Continue long-range scans Lieutenant" the captain ordered. "As remote as the odds may seem, this volume of space which we are examining is virtually empty."
The captain addressed the alluring Deltan counselor manning the communications station.
"Lieutenant Bijoŭ, send a scrambled message to the Firebird along with the Horizon stardrive and saucer sections of our trajectory. Request that they initiate long-range scans for this probe from their positions. It may be possible that we could triangulate a signal from this probe among all of our vessels working in conjunction."
Having quickly scanned the document, Rogers noted the mostly known data contained within, but a snippet of intelligence stood out. Noting it specifically into his PADD, David stood and returned to the centre seat positioned under the transparent skylight. Handing his PADD to Syntron, David concisely reported his findings.
"Sir. The Horizon bridge module evaded the enemies torpedoe's by powering down shields, which are graviton based. The system's gravity well confused the targeting of the incoming weapons."
Knowing full well the Vulcan captain would, like captain Kheren, realize such a tactic would probably only work once, David continued.
"The Firebird is under escort by three cruiser type vessels, which Commander Riker insist's are non-beligerent."
Glancing at the chronometer over the main viewer Rogers calculated elapsed time from the message reciept from the Phoenix' yacht.
"ETA for the Firebird, and escort, two minutes."
Noting that his captain was investigating all options in finding the dissappearing probe, David interjected his own thoughts on the tactic's used by captain Kheren.
"Sir, even if we drop shields to evade incoming torpedo fire, we cannot drop the forcefield on the prisoner's shuttle. That level ten field will undoubtably attract their gravity based sensors. The only option other than taking the hit would be to jettison that shuttle to draw the torpedo's away from us. Like a chaff flare from earth history."
Having put that forward, David also knew his captain. Syntron would never sacrifice those live's, even though they were dangerous to the Phoenix and her crew, just to save his own ship. Starfleet didn't allow that. Seeing just such a thought in Syntron's eye's as he spoke, David tilted his head slightly and shrugged his shoulder's, indicating he knew that would be Syntron's response to the jettison idea, while also conveying Rogers' own requiesence. His job was to suggest alternative's to the captain, not to implement them.
And Rogers also noted one other thing about his captain. With Riker on the Firebird, and the ship's councillor at comm's, the Vulcan sat alone in the center of the bridge, flanked by empty chairs. Befitting perhaps, the lonely burdens all starfleet captains faced from that lofty seeming chair. With that thought David turned away and returned to his engineering console.
"The shields on the exterior of this ship may be dropped accordingly if necessary, but the integrity of the force-field surrounding the shuttle containing the Zetarians must remain intact, regardless of circumstance" the captain noted to all.
Then glancing over to the chief engineer, the captain confirmed "The shuttle will remain ensconced in the hanger bay until we are able to send it and the occupants safely to the surface of the planet. However, we will need to devise a method to ensure that the shuttle is unable to leave the surface after it arrives."
"That would be the easy part, Captain," Livingstone answered while his eyes kept searching space through his passive sensors."We only have to send the shuttle and it,s caging grid into the gravity well of the planet in a powerless trajectory to crash in one piece on the surface. Going through the negative energy field will render all power sources and systems inert and the crash will obliterate all materials. Being of pure energy, the Zetarians will survive the passage if we synchornise speed of descent with the time required to clear the field before the forcefield fails completely. having no materiality, they will effortlessly survive the crash proper... and then be physically unable to use any possible scrap left over, if any."
He paused a moment from his scanning to look at his captain when he spoke next.
"That, of course, assumes that we have a way to bring back our people still trapped down there... and without giving another way for the Zetarians to escape like they did with the Phoenix. That is the hard part, Sir."
"Indeed" Syntron confirmed. "But first we must resolve the situation with the Zetarians that hijacked the probe."
Syntron then inquired "Any signs of the Firebird, the Horizon stardrive or saucer section?"
"Without our enhancing nanites in their systems, the Horizon is barely recovering from the EM pulse," the X'ell reminded him. "I have the Firebird on an approach course to the system at high warp with six Draxx escorts not far behind and the bridge module following more slowly further away... and... Sir, the probe just dropped out of warp! It is right between them and us!"
His big golden eyes shot up towards Syntron.
"It sent a subspace hail to the Firebird... and they opened a channel to receive the transmission."
They all knew by now what that meant. And Garawl stated it with heavy finality.
"Your people aboard that ship are now compromized."
The way he said it was exactly like a death sentence.
Receiving the information as it was conveyed weighed heavy on the shoulders of the captain. A moment later he leaned all the way back in the center seat as he gazed over at his chief engineer.
"Commander Rogers... I will need you to assemble a small team and attempt to clear out these seven Zetarians from the Firebird. But in this case, we will need to... as the antiquated Earth expression goes... get the genie back into the bottle and seal them up until they can be deposited back onto that prison planet."
Syntron recognized that this would be like going back into the fire again for the chief engineer after their narrow escape from the Nuntio, but he also knew that the Commander would not want to abandon his crewmates to a similar fate or worse. Rogers was also the one with the skills to pull off such an engineering feat.
"Alpha Shanarl's task force will destroy them long before you can get to them," Garawl stated flatly.
On the tactical display, it was indeed obvious the six Draxx destroyers following the captain'Yacth were already moving in for the kill.
The captain turned to face the Draxx representative.
"Then it is up to you Garawl to convince them otherwise. Have we not already demonstrated our capacity to contain the Zetarians within the shuttle in our hangar bay along with driving them from the Polaris?"
Before a response came, Syntron continued further with his point.
"Your troops once again are too hasty to lose trust in us and prepare to act in violence. One of the concerns you and your associates initially had about us was that we were hostile and a threat to sentient beings in this region. Yet we have been the ones showing restraint and working through alternative solutions throughout the course of these events."
"And yet, they have escaped your grasp and now threaten you again."
He turned to face the screen while speaking in a cold stoic manner.
"I am not the Alpha; I do not make the decisions. The Alpha is out there, not me... or you. We cannot transmit to them in time at this distance... and there is no more time to discuss.You are too far away and don't have the time necessary to implement your measures. The moment they just take control of either the helm system or it's operator, they will flee with all the speed your craft out there can muster."
On the viewer, the destroyers had already opened fire and the class IV Probe was instantly obliterated.
"They have escaped from you; they will not escape us."
David had thought hard during the request to clear the Firebird but could not come up with a more practical solution than one; a highly risky one at that. Hitting controls on his panel, he ran a quick simulation on the idea and found it plausible. As Garawl defiantly defended his alpha counterpart and the situation on the Firebird grew dire, David sent the plan and simulation directly to captain Syntron's PADD,then rose quickly and headed to the turbolift, while informing Syntron of his destination. "Captain, there's no time. I need to be in transporter room one", he stated as the turbolift doors swooshed shut between them.
As he exited the lift he informed the nearby security guard that he needed all the EVA suits he could round up as fast as possible, then continued past the Lieutenant into the transporter room and relieved the operator.
"Get out, Ensign," Rogers stated brusquely as he started setting up the parameters for a transport from the Firebird.
Working as fast as he could, David aligned the field coils of the transporter system and then began synchronizing the phase dampers. As they were brought into sync, the security Lieutenant and another red shirt entered the bay, depositing nine EVA suits onto the floor near the transporter pad. David nodded thanks at the pair and ordered them also out of the room with a curt, gutteral "Leave!"
The phase dampers were now in sync and Rogers set up a shunt through the subspace field coils and, just before initiating transport, spoke to the main computer.
Computer. Erect a level ten forcefield around transporter room 1, then lock all transporter command interfaces ship wide to security level 10 after forcefield activation. Authorization Rogers beta, alpha five."
As usual, the impersonal voice of the computer responded promplty and concisely.
"Level 10 forcefield engaged. Ship transporter functions now at level 10 security."
David nodded absently as he began the highly risky but life saving subspace transport of all the occupants of the Firebird. His lockdown of the transporters and the forcefield within the transporter room assured the safety of the rest of the Phoenix from incursion when the Zetarians were beamed into the bay along with the entire Firebird crew. No one inside the transporter room, including himself, could order the forcefield down or engage the transporters for site-to-site. Only Captain Syntron had that level 10 authority on the Phoenix.
Because a subspace transport had to shunt through the subspace field coils, the beam in itself would be longer than normal. David could only imagine the feeling of such a slow transport process on the Firebird crew as the targetting scanners locked onto the lifeforms on the Firebird so far away, and the Heisenberg compensators accounted for all the subatomic particles of the crew.
If it worked.
Safe transporter range was forty thousand kilometers at best. Anything beyond would loose cohesion as the beam would traverse too much disrupting space particles and energy fields. The enhanced nanites might help, and discovery of Iconian ancient supertechnology proved it at least feasible, but no one in the Federation had ever succeeded such long distance teleportation before... except the rare times subspace transport had been attempted in the late 24th century.
For the sake of his crewmates, Rogers hoped this would be the time.
As the matter stream grabbed the crew, the shunt into subspace would likely seem like an agony of time to those being transported, although only a matter of five or six seconds passed. Still, those five to six seconds were twice longer than a standard transport. Four seconds passed .... then five. Suddenly the subspace signal emerged back into normal space on the transporter pad. David continued to modulate the patterns, assuring the signatures matched from both the target and destination streams. This ensured the integrity of the re-materialization.
The matter streams coalesced onto the pad area and suddenly, the entire Firebird crew was aboard the Phoenix, locked within a level 10 forcefield with no way out excepting the order of the Phoenix captain. As Rogers stepped back from the now inert tranporter panel, he again came face to face with the red glow of a Zetarian in the glowing eye's of his engineering officer, Leland Hunter. David again felt the panic that had gripped him on the Nuntio. Drawing his sidearm, previously set to high stun, David gestured at the EVA suits on the floor in front of them.
"No buts, people. All of you. Put one on!"
As none of them made an initial move toward obeying, David noticed the glow in more than one set of eyes.
"As you can see around you, the level 10 forcefield is up. We're all going no farther than this room. Now, your all getting suited up, or your going down. Your choice."
"The suits will protect you all" Riker spoke, again in a voice not quite his own.
"This one does not need one," Riker continued gesturing to Tolo.
Noting the crew was hesitant, David fired one shot into the forcefield to their left to confirm it's existence.
"You should listen to him," Riker said again, gesturing for the suits.
On the bridge, the shot enacted the alarm at Tac/Sec that the phaser shot had occured.
Pointing towards Hunter and M'ata, Riker continued.
"If you notice their eyes."
Riker gestured towards the crew members with red eyes. "This one saved the rest" gesturing towards himself, Riker continued;"the rest of them are on still on the ship. Some of us too"
Rogers glanced fleetingly between Lieutenant's Hunter and M'ata as they stood seemingly stoicaly, making no move toward donning the proffered suits. MCPO Gorski stepped carefully off the pad and grabbed the nearest EVA suit. As he started to put it on, Ensign MacGyver followed slowly, as if attempting the maneuver would get him in trouble with M'ata or Hunter. Looking back to commander Riker, David noted the blue hue where human sclera was normally white. As Riker finished speaking, David appologetically raised his empty hand, while still keeping his phaser trained toward Lieutenant Hunter.
"I am sorry commander, but I put the transporters are under level 10 security access."
David meant this for Rikers knowledge, as he would know not even the Phoenix XO could access the security.
"I couldn't beam your friends here even if I wanted to."
Suddenly, as Rogers was lookng at Riker, both M'ata's and Hunter's ey's shone brightly as the entities within them burst forth toward David. Perhaps they thought Rogers was the only way out of this prison transporter bay now. Regardless, David noticed the flash of light and, without thought, fired his phaser. Lieutenant Hunter and the angry red glow preceding him, caught the full effect of the blast and Leland collapsed like a dropped empty sack. The Zetarian rushing toward Rogers simply dissapated within the phaser blast cone.
But M'ata's Zetarian had planned this. Sacrificing its companion in the phaser blast, it was milliseconds behind and through to Rogers before his phaser could be brought to bear. As his mind was thrust into a red wall of writhing nothingness, David's last thought was, perhaps his stepfather had the easier death.
"Quickly all of you, put the suits on," Riker ordered the Firebird crew in a voice that was now very much his own.
Rogers glanced over towards Riker and their eyes met. The red glow from Rogers' eyes and the blue from Riker's were the only eyes in the room that showed any sign of infection. As Rogers raised his phaser towards Riker, Riker simply smiled and looked down at his hand.
"He is not going to be very happy about this" Riker said in a soft charged voice as he opened his palm.
"I know, I will owe him one," Riker responded to himself as he glanced down revealing the portable transmitter from Doctor Gray
Before Rogers could react, Riker tossed the emitter towards the Chief Engineer and the Doctor began to materialize. The energy from the holographic doctor appearing was enough to distract the entity within Rogers. As it glanced slightly over towards the materializing Doctor Gray, Riker rushed forwards and struck Rogers just below the throat with a palm strike. As Rogers stumbled backwards from the strike, Riker wrestled the phaser away. Then, with a quick glance to ensure the phaser was still set at full stun, Riker fired into Rogers, dropping him.
As Rogers fell towards the ground, the flash of red light enveloped his head and, with reflexes Riker only had because of his new found brain assistant, Riker thumbed the setting at level 16 and fired again, vaporizing the red entity.
Glancing around the room momentarily, it appeared that the only entity still within the transporter room were the ones inside the head of the first officer.
"It is done," said the eery voice through the first officer's mouth. "we are the only one left."
"The others on the probe were destroyed as well," said another voice that was not Riker's even as it came out through his lips.
Without his own will, Riker's gaze went to Mrriin M'ata. The felinoid woman was coiled to spring like a tigress at the first sign of threat from the possessed Human. Slowly, the phaser was offered to her. As she took it to point it at Riker, both ghostly voice spoke in turn.
"We are sorry for what happened."
"We tried to stop the others when they invaded your ship, but we failed."
"Fortunately, your fellow flesh creatures on the planet had programmed their vessel's computer to interchange their living crew with artificial counterparts the moment our energy signature was detected aboard."
"We thought we had become corporeal again, but we had been in truth occupying constructs of photons and forcefields chained to the vessel's power grid."
"When the planet's negative energy barrier sucked out all energy, we survived as the dying forcefields insulated us just long enough for the ship's leftover momentum to carry passed it and into orbit."
"By then, we had become incorporeal again, only able to interface on a basic level with the ship's powerless systems."
"A few of them managed to reach your probe and only two of us succeeded in following those five others that tried to escape."
"You have disposed of them."
"Now, we only wish to return home."
"We will do all we can, we owe each other that much" Riker responded.
Reaching for a comms panel Riker stopped and shook his head.
"Those on your ship may not accept words from us" Riker said as if distant within his own mind.
As he glanced around the room Riker nodded to Doctor Gray, who was checking to David Rogers. Gesturing towards Rogers Riker nodded in agreement with himself.
"The words are going to have to come from him, at least for now"
The view in the forward screen of the Diamond Star coalesced into the star field in front of the giant vessel. David, alone in the center seat on the bridge, sadly watched the enhanced targeting blip as it tracked the D'kora class Ferengi vessel of his step-father. He could only imagine what those on the ship felt while falling into the event horizon of the black hole swirling on David's screen. As the blip neared the horizon, it suddenly winked out as the ship's sensors could no longer receive its telemetry. The singularity was swallowing even the D'Kora's subspace transponder signal now.
Then, without warning, Rogers was on the Ferengi vessel, watching the dark maw of the singularity surge in front of him. Time slowed to a creeping crawl and David could not even turn to run. His attempt to turn seemed to take a lifetime. He would fall forever into the black hole; slowly stretched over a thousand years until the stress on his body infinitismally tore him apart year by year. David screamed!
"No!"
Trying to jump up, Rogers was restrained by Doctor Grey's palm on his chest. The hologram was immesurably strong and David seemed like he no more than twitched even though he had tried to rise forcefully.
"Easy commander", Grey quipped soothingly. "You're alright."
David looked up into the wizened face of the Phoenix' doctor, his blue eye's looking into his own. David realized then where he was and looked left to right. The transporter room was calm, almost serene, except for the inert form of Lieutenant Hunter over by the pad. Nodding once to the EMH, David was allowed to rise. Shakily, Rogers stood and faced commander Riker; and then noticed the blue hue still in the XO's eye's. Quickly he looked around at the other crew members in the bay, but none of the others showed a hint of possesion. David began to reach for his holster, then stopped as he realized it was empty. Looking over at the Doctor again, then at M'Ata, David then looked back at Riker.
"So? What's the deal uhm, ... commander?"
Smiling Riker spoke out in a voice filled with energy.
"This one gives us a saying. As your people would say... it is a long story"
Glancing over at Doctor Gray, Riker got the nod of approval as the Doctor spoke to Rogers' health.
Finally realizing that only Riker was possessed and at that only by the 'good guys', he spoke to the problem he had set up regarding the bay.
"We are sealed in commander. With your permission, I'll see what the captain can do for us."
"Do it" Riker responded, his voice his own.
"The Captain understands now who we are, and we should be able to work together from here"
As the Doctor helped Rogers fully to his feet he turned his attention to Commander Riker. The Commander showed no signs of injury and appeared to be no worse for wear for the beings currently sharing his brain.
Tapping his comm badge, David spoke to the bridge.
"Rogers to bridge; Regulation 46A."
And quickly cutting off the comm, David glanced again at Riker, noting the blue hue as it seemed to pulse in two shades. He didn't entirely trust these so-called good Zetarians yet, thus his succinct message to the bridge. Syntron would know his crew were not alone here, and perhaps devise a way to communicate into the transporter bay that none of them here could communicate out of without risking the Zetarians to hitch-hike on the signal.
As it were, Counselor Bijou certainly understood. And so did Jonathan Livingstone. Thinking quickly, he confered with security officer Arguyle and the liberated Borg nodded.The X'Ell then turned towards Syntron.
"Captain; since no encoded message should be sent on an open channel when hostile forces might be monitoring, as per the stated regulation, I propose to circumvent the Zetarians ability to travel through electromagnetic medium by using atmospheric vibration through the bulkhead adjoining the transporter room where they are detained."
"Meaning?" Wondered Bijou.
"With your permission, officer Arguyle will go to the maintenance room next to transporter room 1. I will connect with his Borg implants through my sheereess. Anything we want to ttransmit to Commander Rogers would be done through him tapping in Morse code on the walls. Sound will carry communication without giving the Zetarians any mean of escaping,"
"But... aren't sound waves electromagnetic in nature?" the counselor asked.
"Basically yes... but sound requires a physical medium and a mechanical force to travel; namely, the ambiant air in the transporter room. That's why Officer Aguyle will wear an EVA suit and the maintenance room will be sealed and depressurized. Any Zetarian trying to piggy back the sound waves will be bounced back by the vacuum on the other side of the bulkhead."
"Proceed" Syntron confirmed. "But be certain we do not allow the Zetarian another means to slip away as they did with the probes and the Firebird."
"Aye, Captain. As long as the forcefield is in place, we are reasonably secured from that eventuality. But we can still increase confinement by evacuating and cutting off all power connections to all the immediate surrounding rooms around, above and below. We can also activate the emergency structural integrity field, so that all compartments will be isolated long enough to implement a new forcefield if they still manage to get out."
"Initiate those protocols as well" the captain responded. "We will side with caution each step of the way until the remaining Zetarians are back on the planet's surface once again."
"Aye, Captain."
* * *
On the bridge of the USS Phoenix, everyone followed as the unexpected events unfolded within the Firebird.
Afterward, Syntron faced the Draxx officer once again.
"At times Garawl, ingenuity and patience can be more effective weapons when confronting adversarial circumstances than hostility."
"At times, yes," the Caninoid commander agreed. "but chance is not, and we do not take any. Surprise served you well... this time. Do not forget what happened to your other starship... and ours."
Obviously, the Nuntio hadn't been as lucky, lacking the foreknowledge the crew of the Phoenix gained from their sacrifice and that of many Draxx. It was a lesson Garawl, for one, was not going to forget.
"Captain... we're being hailed," Counselor Bijou then announced with a smile. "It's Captain Kheren."
Syntron had been out of communication with the Andorian captain of the Horizon for quite a while by then. For a Vulcan, he appeared rather gratified to hear this news; especially not knowing the current status of his counterpart from the fleet.
"Counselor, patch him through the main viewer" Syntron commanded.
"Yes Sir," the alluring Deltan woman confirmed as she transferred the signal through. The familiar image of the dark blue skin contrasted by the long white mane with antennae sprouting from the side top of his head appeared larger than life on the viewscreen.
"Kheren to Syntron; did you lost something?"
"Captain," explained then Jonathan Livingstone looking at his sensors, "the Horizon's bridge module is entering the system with the Firebird in tow."
A shift to the external view showed the saucer-shaped craft of the flagship reaching the very edge of the star system with the sleek captain's yacht tettered behind by a blueish energy beam. Right behind it, six more dagger-shaped destroyers were regrouping with the thirty others that had followed the Phoenix to reassemble into the massive Draxx dreadnought. Then the image returned to the frozen indigo features of the Andorian commanding officer.
"Captain Kheren... despite these trying circumstances, you appear to be well."
"So do you, my friend. It seems you have the situation well in hand... and I must say I am as impressed as the Draxx are. We will leave your yacht in your vicinity and then rejoin with the rest of my ship. I have invited Alpha Shanarl on the Horizon to discuss what to do next. I would very much like for you and your senior officers to attend."
With the wisp of a smirk flashing across his otherwise stoic expression, the Vulcan captain repositioned himself slightly within the center seat.
"Indeed we did. Thank you for returning my wayward shuttle Captain Kheren."
Syntron turned his head as he swiftly instructed his Ops officer Garvex P'Trell to prepare tractor beams to receive the abandoned Captain's Yacht in-tow once it arrived into range. Despite the necessity for this occurrence, Syntron would read about this incident with heightened interest in his first officer's report on their journey back. He then turned his attention from the Andorian Ops officer on his
The captain did not want to discuss this tentative plan in front of Garawl because he knew that this Draxx beta officer would not only not approve of such possible measures, but could also actively interfere with their discussions. He would be informed once they had their plan ready to set in motion.
The lift finished descending and the doors parted from the center as the captain exited and made his way to the bulkhead adjoining the transporter room where the Zetarian were being detained, along with his officers.
He approached the assistant chief Tac/Sec officer enhanced by the Borg-based implants.
"Lieutenant Argyle, how is communication progressing with Commanders Riker and Rogers?"
David heard a tapping coming from the wall behind him. Realizing the rythm was morse code, He walked to the bulkhead and tapped back a confirmation signal.
.-. --- --. . .-. ... / .... . .-. . / ... - --- .--. / --. --- --- -.. / .- .-.. .. . -. / -.-. --- -. - .- .. -. . -.. / .. -. / -..- --- / ... - --- .--.
Already well into their communication, as Syntron, spoke a tapping sound registered on the bulkhead. Translating the code quickly Argyle turned towards the Captain.
"All appears to be clear sir. Rogers is reporting that all hostile beings have been defeated. However apparently two of the "good ones" are still inside Commander Riker, but they wish to speak peacefully."
Adjusting his implant slightly and gesturing towards the phaser rifle laying at his feet, Argyle continued.
"With preliminary security protocols, it appears there is minimal threat in opening the transporter room to evacuate the crewman inside."
"Maintain a security field around Commander Riker until the remaining crew are confirmed clear of Zetarian subjugation" the captain noted. "Afterward, complete a full-scan of the interior of the shuttle and the hanger bay to ensure that there are no entities lurking anywhere in the area or equipment. Once this has been established, you will follow me into the shuttle bay and stand guard while I converse with these remaining entities."
Syntron then glanced at the phaser rifle positioned near his feet.
"We will release the crew only after we are certain that no further risk is involved."
By Joshua Riker on 11/06/2015 @ 5:17pm
Blzbub, I edited your comment slightly to better play off what I did on the Firebird.
By Joshua Riker on 11/07/2015 @ 4:05am
Great bit there. I loved the thoughts about death, very well done sir.
By David Rogers on 11/07/2015 @ 11:35am
Well played Riker ... well played.
By Syntron on 11/07/2015 @ 11:45pm
Indeed. Way to go gentlemen! :-)
By Joshua Riker on 11/09/2015 @ 1:23am
Indeed, this story came together nicely. A great job all around, as usual.
By David Rogers on 11/10/2015 @ 10:26am
not sure who put in the part about the transport in my post, but subspace transport can happen over light years. No need to worry about losing the cohesion. ;) It is just not tested enough to be considered safe for use by Star Fleet.
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Subspace_transporter
By Kheren on 11/11/2015 @ 12:52am
I did. Wasn't aware of subspace transporter and thought you were going "Into Darkness" ;)
Nice find there.
By David Rogers on 11/19/2015 @ 11:11pm
sorry guys & gals. I only just today found the response to my bridge communication (vis-s-vis Regulation 46a).
Also, I formatted all my colored responses within the post back to white, with just today's response to Argyle left in orange. :)
By Kheren on 11/20/2015 @ 12:45pm
That's the way to do it.
I reshuffled the text a bit for a better flow and corrected Doctor Gray's name.
We're coming to a close. Keep up the good work people!
By Syntron on 11/20/2015 @ 3:04pm
The end of the post appears to have been cut-off.
We may need a new thread to continue on anyway since this one is rather full.
By Kheren on 11/24/2015 @ 1:23pm
Already included in the novelization so no biggie