Boyctinius
20-12-2004, 23:34
Alarms filled my ears, the bridge was blasted, a burning hulk. It was just supposed to be a simple escort service until we got the signal from Starfleet that the Klingons had decided to declare war on the Federation. Before that we had no reason to worry, a simple milk run.
Ever since the Kodos Incident Starfleet wanted us to stay nearby a star base at all times, but ironically, we still found a way to run into the interesting encounters every once in a while.
Smoke was still coming from all over. I really couldn’t see much any way. Considering that a bulkhead was on top of me. It happened six minuets after we caught three Klinon battle cruisers snooping around the convoy. I couldn’t do anything, orders were being made but I couldn’t follow them.
Proximity alarms and damage alarms and who knows how many alarms were going off but my head was full of them, my head injury was amplifying every one of them. The whole mess sounded like a dinner triangle was being ringed.
For several moments the alarms stopped, allowing me to hear what was going on. Apparently the ship had taken some heavy blows and was nearly beaten. It sounded as though the whole thing as over, like it never happened. Then I could hear the sound of moving objects, seconds later the bulkhead on top of me was shoved away. For a second I saw nothing, and then I saw the Capitan’s blackened face appear through the smoke. He reached out a hand and helped me up and out of the hole I had been in. Now I could see what had happened after I was buried under the bulkhead. The bridge was on fire in several spots; the dome above the bridge was cracked all the way across. Then the Capitan smiled, why I don’t know.
“Now Randy, why are you on the floor” He said.
“ Sorry Capitan, tripped on the ship” I replied as I rubbed the side of my head.
The bridge was nearly empty. Lt. Coleman was still at the helm and Carl was lying under one of the consoles on the other side of the bridge. The only other people there except for them was the Capitan and I.
“ What’s going on?” I asked.
“ After you disappeared under that bulkhead, we took some heavy hits from those Klingon battle cruisers” He started. “ Were out of torpedoes and phasers are down to twenty percent. The ships falling apart, Carl estimates that we have at least fifteen minuets till the bulkheads collapse.”
“ Charming” I answered.
“ Don’t worry, I’ve got almost everybody off the ship” He assured me.
He turned to face Carl, which had gotten up from under the console.
“ Come on, we are running out of time” He snapped.
“ Give me a few minuets” Carl responded as he took out his lazer torch and started to cut away the name plaque from the wall next to the turbolift.
The Capitan walked over to the command chair and pressed the comm. Button.
“ Last call for anybody still on the ship, meet us in transporter room two” He announced.
“All done” Carl said as he entered the tubolift.
We were not far behind him. When the lift started It’s last trip down to the transporter room, I felt sorry for the ship. It had carried us to unknown places and took us on adventures we will never forget. But now we were leaving forever, never to return to her friendly corridors and it’s large, greeting rooms.
“ Goodbye old friend, goodbye” I murmured as the doors to the lift opened.
Depending on how many were left on the ship, someone would have to stay behind. I made the choice immediately that the person should be me. No matter how much the Capitan yells I would not budge. I thought as I walked into the transporter room. There were four people waiting in the room when we got there. I slowly walked over to the controls and told them to get on the pad.
“ Get on the pad!” I shouted.
“ Randy, move” the Capitan said as he walked over to the console as well.
“ No Capitan, I will not allow you to put yourself in danger” I replied, “ No, you’re too valuable!”
“That’s an order Commander!” He bellowed.
“ Hurry up!” yelled a crewman from the pad.
I stood there a moment, thinking what to do. The Captain looked worried, but not an ordinary person could see with the untrained eye. Something that I had seen and grew accustomed to over the years working with him.
“ Yes sir…” I said as walked to the pad knowing what to do” But you owe me a drink later”
I stood on the pad as he started to punch in the operation codes.
“See you on the other side” He said as the cool blue beam of the transporter swiftly enveloped us in a blue mist.
Then, just as fast as it had started, the beam dissipated and we found our selves in the cargo hold of one of the cargo ships that we had been escorting before the battle. As soon as I was sure that I was completely materialized I ran over to the transporter controls and shoved the transporter chief out of the way.
“ Move” I growled at him.
Then I began the transporter process.
“ Captain, get on the pad!” I shouted trough the comm. Link between ships.
“ Understood” came his reply “ Transport on standby”
“Get on the pad” I shouted.
“ Not enough time, engaging backup forcefeilds…. Forcefeilds online. Transport in progress” his voice said.
The blue beam returned to the pad in the shape of a man. Just as that started I began to work the controls, then, the blue beam shaped like a man began to flicker. The transporter chief moved forward and began to work the other controls.
“ We’re loosing the signal!” he shouted.
“ I’m boosting the signal, ” I said as I franticly worked the controls.
“ I’m loosing the lock, pattern Buffers are overheating,” said the transporter chief.
He dropped to the floor and pulled out a laser torch and began to cut away at the casing to the controls. Meanwhile I was still working the controls, changing this and that to accommodate the new commands I was imputing into the console. Then there was a sizzling noise from the console, followed by an explosion of sparks. I was launched backward, away from the console; the chief was flung as well. For several seconds the room was silent, and then the room began to shake and tumble like an asteroid was ramming us. For a moment I got to my feet, I stood and saw that the transporter console was on fire. I ran over there in an attempt to put it out when another shock hit the freighter. I felt the floor slip from under my feet; I was hurled across the cargo bay and into a large stack of cargo canisters. They collapsed on my impact into them. The canisters tumbled about, burring me in a pile of crates. Slowly the shaking began to subside. While I still had the chance I pushed the crates away and I stood up. The room was a mess, cargo crates were strewn everywhere. People were standing up and pulling themselves out of the piles of crates and such. Then the intercom came on; bringing news we were dreading to hear.
“ Is everyone down there okay, the Wasp seems to have lost structural integrity and imploded in some spots” It squealed.
“ Oh god” gasped someone on the other side of the bay.
I felt enraged, my guts felt like they were being torn in a different pieces. But that was replaced instantly by anger. I started to walk to the freighters bridge, trying not to show the inner turmoil. I walked strait to the ladder in the back of the room that lead to a corridor. Chris jogged forward and put his hand on my shoulder as I started to climb. I turned and got off for a moment.
“ Don’t do anything you will regret,” He said with a raised eyebrow.
“ Just cleaning up some leftovers” I said as I began to climb again.
I continued to climb for a few feet and pulled myself up. Then, without a look back, I strode into the corridor and began to walk to the bridge. On the way I began to formulate a plan. I could head right at them and fire all weapons available, no, too risky, I need something original. What would the Capitan do? He would make haste for the asteroid field, wait… The asteroid field, I could use that to my advantage.
By the time I had made it to the bridge had the plan all worked out in my head, let’s just hope it works.
The door in front of me opened, revealing rectangular a room with a few consoles, only three were occupied. The Captain of the freighter slowly turned around to face me.
“ Commander, I had no Ide…” he said just as a look of extreme surprise and fear and confusion crossed his face.
I gave him a cold stare and a small grin.
“ I’m taking command of this vessel, as of now, you are relieved of command” I snapped
“ You can’t do that!” He complained.
“ I just did, now please leave before I have you thrown in the brig,” I barked.
“ Well, if you put it that way” he said as he stood up out of his chair and began to exit the bridge.
“ Clear the bridge” I ordered.
The remaining people stood up and started to slowly file out of the room. As they passed they gave me looks of confusion, I didn’t blame them. I had no control over my judgment of right and wrong, my anger clouded my mind like a thick fog.
Once the bridge was empty I walked up to the Conn and took a seat. Then I began to plug in the coordinates for the ship. Then ordered the ship to head toward the asteroid field as planned. Within seconds the ship began to pull away from the convoy, minuets passed without a glitch. Up ahead the asteroid field began to loom over the freighter like a mountain over a field, casting long dark shadows over the hull. Then, without warning, the ship shuddered slightly.
“ What the heck” I murmured as I got up to look at the tactical station.
On the screen, it showed a gray cloud of rocks surrounding a black area. Then, as the sensors began to scan that area it showed an asteroid, and I was heading right for it. The ship shuddered again as large rocks pelted off the ships hull. I got to the Conn and took control of the ship. My fingers were flying over the console like crazy. Then, slowly, the bulky freighter began to lean to one side. Slowly turning out of the way. But no, not fast enough. Even larger rocks began to pelt the ship. Now the ship was rocking heavily.
“ This isn’t going to work!” I shouted, although I was alone on the bridge.
Then I began to reroute all the power possible from the freighter and redirect it to the engines. The ship jolted hard, sending me out of my seat and onto the floor. Sparks spewed out of one of the consoles. Just as all this was happening, the door to the bridge slid opened and let in a stumbling LC. Brickey.
“ What in the heck is going on?” He shouted.
“ We’re in the asteroid field,” I said as I stood up and took the Conn once more.
“ I noticed that” He said as he took a seat in the science station.
By now the freighter had flown clear of the asteroid field and we were heading back toward the convoy. Up ahead, a asteroid was right in front of us, also heading for the convoy.
“ What’s that?” he asked.
“ Apparently, when I boosted the power to the engines, the shock wave must have pushed out of the field” I noted.
“ We need to stop it” Chris said.
“ Nurm, once again you stated the obvious” I snapped.
I sat there for a moment, and then I went back to my plan, which was almost exactly what was happening now.
“ My plan in the first place was to use the asteroid to get rid of the klingon ships, unfortunately, it’s going the wrong way” I added.
“ We could still do that” He stated with a small humanlike smile crossing his face.
“ Fine, let’s do this” I perked.
Then Chris began to recalibrate the tractor beam to push the asteroid toward the Klingon ships. Within seconds a blue beam shot out from the freighter and hit the asteroid with tremendous force, pushing the asteroid in the desired direction.
“ Does this heap have weapons?” I asked Chris.
“ Pulse phasers” He replied.
“ Good, lock on and fire on my command” I ordered.
The asteroid was outpacing the freighter like a sloth against a cheetah. It stormed away at incredible speeds. The Klingon ships began to dodge it like it was nothing. Barely moving. I sat for seconds, watching the asteroid pass close to the enemy ships.
“ Fire!” I shouted.
Bright orange pulses of light blasted away from the freighter, only taking moments to reach the target. When they hit, the asteroid blew, sending rocks of various sizes in every direction. The first ship didn’t have a chance. It was hit hard. It was covered in huge burning hole in it’s hull, some sections had been cut clean off. The second ship was completely destroyed, chunks of its hull was spinning in amongst the asteroid debris. The third ship pulled up at record speeds only to be caught with the shockwave and flung into deep space.
“ I didn’t quite expect that, ” commented Mr. Brickey.
Three hours later…
The burning hulk of the engineering section was as barren as a desert. Nothing could of survived the massive destruction that had torn the ship apart. Unfortunately, the Captain was somewhere in this mess and I was determined to find him. Within minuets of beaming aboard, we were put to work at clearing debris out of the way of the rescue teams. The senior crew of the Wasp, although separated, we worked our way to the transporter room.
It was morally heartbreaking to pick our way through the wreckage. Finding things that belonged to others, things we had taken for granted were blasted away. Complete walls had been blown out; whole rooms had been destroyed, leaving only a harmless looking star field. Only hours before, these hallways had been teaming with activity.
I had been among the first who arrived at the transporter room. I stood there, waiting for the others, I don’t know why I didn’t go in sooner but I just stood there and looked at the door. LC Brickey and Lt. Stern shortly followed me. Lt. Dahlquist shortly followed. Then CMO Nunez came sprinting around the corner and skidded to a halt. She stood there for a while, catching her breath.
“ You reckon he survived?” asked Carl.
“ I don’t know, this was the hardest spot hit from the explosion” I replied solemnly.
Kelsey turned her head to face me, she had a expression of despair that not even a trained Vulcan could hide.
“ I’m afraid to go in there, afraid to find what I think we’ll find ”She said.
“ We would have to go in anyway, ” Carl added.
“ Just to be sure, I’ll get a medic, ” Richard said as he turned around and sped off down the hallway, jumping over fallen bulkheads on the way.
“ Logic dictates that when faced with a grim choice, it is always the most displeasing that is the right one” Chris said blandly.
“ Yeah, he would of wanted me to come for him, he would of done the same thing for me” I sighed.
I came up to the door it didn’t open like usual. I should of known that it wouldn’t work, but I was too tiered and stressed out to notice that it wouldn’t. I opened the manual override panel and pulled on the lever several times to jack open the door. The crank would only open the door halfway, but from what I could see from where I was standing was not what one would look forward too. The room looked as though Gods hand had swept through and destroyed this solitary room, leaving the walls and such still standing. Sitting up against the back wall was the Capitan; he had a gash across his forehead and a large piece of metal sticking out of his leg. Large conduits were hanging everywhere and the transporter console had been torn apart. On the far side of the room the faint buzz of a forcefeild hummed, still working after all that had happened. For a minuet I thought that the capitian was dead, but to my surprise a low moan came from him.
“ My goodness, it takes a lot to hurt a Boyce” Exclaimed Kelsey.
“ Oh my god” muttered Lt. Coleman.
I didn’t have to think twice, I bolted through the half open door and ran to the captain, dodging fallen conduits and leaping over broken bulkheads. When I got to him he look oblivious of what was going on around him.
“ Who… is it?” He moaned, “ It better be you Randy, you still owe me a drink!”
“ You better believe it” I replied.
Kelsey ran up with a medical tricorder and began scanning him. Then she got a hypospray put of her med bag and gave him a dosage of whatever was in it.
“ Randy, it doesn’t look good” She said.
That wasn’t the news I wanted to hear.
“ I can hear you but I can’t see you” The Capitan blandly stated, “How is it?”
“ It looks like you’re going to be okay, you might need some extra R & R ” I answered.
“ Liar” He responded as his eyes began to come to focus.
“ Okay, maybe a whole lot of extra R & R” I joked.
He didn’t seem interested in my comment; he seemed to be deep in thought. Then he smiled.
“ I told you I’d see you again” He replied.
“ Okay, Karnack, calm down there” I responded.
His eyes came back into focus and looked strait at me.
“ Somthin odd is going on, the Klingons don’t just attack without someone messing with their ponytails” He said with a humorous tone.
Then he started to shiver and shake horribly, as though some unseen force was shaking the life out of him. I held him down with all my might but he seemed to have the strength of a thousand men. Kelsey ran over and checked his condition quickly before ordering us to do things. As she bent over she said
“he’s going into shock, probably from blood loss. Randy, help me get him out of this room”
I grabbed the Capitan by the legs and began to pull him out of the room, the rest of the group moved pieces of broken ship out of the way so that I could move him out of the room as fast as possible. I wouldn’t dare pick him up, for I feared that if I did so, it would do more harm than good. Medics arrived outside of the room just in time to get him to one of the ships that were part of the convoy. They had him beamed to the medical ship Lexington.
A few minuets after he was taken we gathered and prepared to be beamed out ourselves.
“Lexington, five to beam up” I announced into my communicator.
Med bay, UFPMT Lexington…
The medical bay in the Lexington smelt like an old country hospital back home, it had a strong smell of chemicals and medications that would drive a man crazy.
“How’s he doing?” I asked Kelsey as she walked out of the room.
“ It doesn’t look good, he lost a lot of blood, internally and externally. But we did remove the twenty-five inch long piece of bulkhead out of his leg, unfortunately, he will probably be sent back home… permanently”
“That wasn’t what I wanted to hear,” I grumbled.
Ever since we had beamed over from the Wasp, the bridge crew seemed to hover around the med bay for some time. Mr. Brickey was the only one that didn’t look concerned, he blankly stared at the wall opposite him and when asked why he would just reply “I am awaiting the news of the captains condition” but we all knew that he was telling the truth because we all seemed to know him pretty well to do so.
After I talked to Kelsey, she walked over to the opposite wall and sunk into one of the many big leather chairs. As soon as she sat down a young ensign walked up to me and began to speak.
“ Sir, we have Admiral Smile on channel nine. He wishes to speak with you ”He said. Just as I heard the information I started to walk to the small Comm. Station ”Oh, by the way sir, he doesn’t seemed to pleased.”
LC. Brickey raised an eyebrow to the statement.
“ Well say it ain’t so” I joked as I continued to my destination.
I calmly walked to the Comm. Station. Admiral Smiles face filled most of the screen; he had an ugly expression on his face. He sat up as he saw me he straitened up in his chair.
“Commander” he calmly stated.
“You rang, look, I have things to do so can you hurry it up” I said as I smiled.
“Don’t fool with me Commander, this is no laughing matter” He thundered.
I knew he couldn’t hurt me across a million light years so I decided to make him get ticked off.
“Oh, It is a laughing matter Admiral Smile” I jested.
“Don’t start with me Commander” He barked “ I am not going to get into one of these again, I swear, I really shouldn’t have put you and Boyce on one ship”
“I learned from the best sir” I replied.
“No time for this, Commander, You are now officially relieved from command and are to report to Starfleet command for your court martial… Immediately” He said sternly.
“That was short!” I exclaimed, ”He usually takes forever to get to a point, he must not like me.”
The screen went blank, quickly replaced with the SFC seal, with the date and time of the transmission stamped to the bottom. I stood there for a moment, mostly stunned. So I stood there until I grasped the situation, following that I left the booth and walked into the stuffy waiting area.
“Apparently, as you say…the gig is up” LC Brickey murmured as I returned to the waiting room.
“ What happened?” Asked Kelsey.
As I was about to answer that, two security guards stepped calmly into the room.
“ Sir, we have orders to take you to the brig, will you come peaceably” They both stated.
“ Now boys, you know me, have I gone anywhere I don’t want to?” I chirped.
They both turned and looked at each other, and shrugged.
“Sir we have orders to take you willingly or not ”The oldest one replied as he moved forward and attempted to reach for my arm. His other hand was on his phaser strapped on his belt.
“ I warned you, ” I stated.
As the older guard grabbed my arm I swung my fist catching him in the side of the face. He reeled back as the other guard came forward and made a swing for me, I ducked and elbowed him in the back. He kept on strait into the wall. Now both guards were on the ground moaning.
“ Now, which way to the brig?’ I said as I calmly walked out of the room.
I calmly walked into the brig and locked myself into one of the cells, which surprised the guard on duty. Within a few minuets, the two guards who were sent to apprehend me came limping in.
Earth, Sanfransisco, Starfleet Command Headquarters
Two weeks later…
The door ahead of me slid open to reveal a large cathedral like room with high ceilings. On both sides of the wide walkway were two stands, both of them filled with top ranking Starfleet officers and ambassadors. In the middle of the floor painted on the floor was the UFP emblem, it shined like a sun, lighting the room, although the light was not coming from the emblem the light reflecting off of the highly polished floor seemed to shine all the same. At the very back of the room between the two stands was a long step leading up to three rather large chairs. To the left sat Admiral Smile, he sat there and stared at me disappointedly. In the middle sat Federation president Cartridge, his long white beard reminded me of some old wizard, and next to the president sat Ambassador Sarek. For a Vulcan his age he sure didn’t show it.
The guard, which was behind me, gave me a shove out of the door and I began to walk forward while the guard took post at the door. I walked quietly and calmly across the room. I slowly walked across the UFP seal and stopped at the foot of the long step. Then admiral Smile began to speak.
“ Commander Bunker, you are accused of commandeering federation property for your own purposes, unauthorized and unnecessary rank pulling, and assault on a fellow officer, how do you plead” He said in a loud clear voice so loud that it rung off the walls.
I felt as though I was being pummeled by a hundred boulders, I knew I had done those things and I had no reason to do them, but for the fact that I was kind of under a lot of stress would help, but I did them all the same.
“Guilty sir” I replied.
The whole room was filled with the sounds of murmurs and people who seemed to be shocked by my reply to the admiral.
“ You know that if you plead guilty to these charges you will loose your position in Starfleet and a three year sentence in the New Zealand penal colony, ” He bellowed. So far the president or the ambassador had said nothing.
“ Yes” I responded.
A butter knife could have cut the tension in the air, the admiral was the only person who had talked so far, and it was like he was my judge, jury and executioner. Not a word had been said.
“Okay then, Guards” He said as he motioned for the guard to come and take me away.
Just as the guard was to grab my arm, the ambassador leaned over and whispered to the president, the president nodded and the ambassador stood up.
“ Commander, your willingness to come forward and take that plead has interested me, and after considering your honesty, also your spotless record, the president has given me the authority on this hearing, and taking all of this into consideration, I believe you worthy of a second chance. So, your punishment will be two weeks relieved of duty and to be posted on another ship. That will be all.” After he got done talking he sat down, looking quite pleased with himself, although Vulcans refuse to show emotion, If you look hard enough, you will find it.
“ Mr. President, you can’t do thi…” Smile shouted angrily.
“ Admiral, I believe I already have, ”he said with a smile” Court augured”
The Admiral stormed out of the room in anger. All about were cheers and clapping as the crowd slowly filed out of the large hall. Out of the sea of red uniforms came four people fighting against the current of the crowd. One of them got to the wall and leapt over it without a second thought. The other three quickly followed suit.
“ Randy” Kelsey yelled as she stood up from jumping over the wall.
By now, the room was quite empty, in fact we were the only ones here excluding the guards, the rest of the crowd had left. I walked over to her, watching Carl jump over the wall.
“ Man, Starfleet’s got a lot of nerve court marshaling you after you saved all those freighters “ He said after straitening out his uniform after he landed.
“ Well Carl, They have to make an example for the younger officers of what is right and wrong, besides, we all know what I did was wrong” I replied.” Where are you guys posted?”
“ They wanted me to command a medical starship but I turned it down,” Kelsey answered.
“ They did the same with me, tempting me with an instructing job at the Academy. After I declined they said they would give me a posting on one of those new ships being built in space dock” He said” Then they told me the conversation never took place.”
“Odd” I commented.
There was a brief pause while everybody thought about that for a little bit.
“ So, what happened to you when they dropped you off at starbase 39?” Coleman asked.
The thought of what happened still horrified me. Just thinking about it made me shake.
“Well, they held me there for a while in a cell with a Balonian. He never shut up. I couldn’t get to sleep for at least three days. After insomnia set in I saw a whole bunch of odd things. Then they took me here and held me in one of the cells. Thank goodness I was alone. They fed and treated me okay otherwise” I replied.
We all stood there for a while, looking about the room. None of us said much about my comment, and all was quiet. One by one, they left, leaving only Kelsey and me.
“Let’s go before we miss the only hover train to Sydney ”She perked.
We both turned and walked out of the courtroom. I was amazed on how much the Academy had changed since I attended school here. On one side of campus was the old Starfleet Command building, which was now being converted into another wing of the Academy. Across the bay you could see the new structure, being built like a huge skyscraper of the past. The grounds were full of ponds and trees, nice cool grass and bountiful flowers of many types. Up ahead was the campus station. The grand glass entrance was huge, like ones seen in palaces. There we boarded one of the trains. Kelsey and I sat down and began to talk.
“ I got some news for you” she stated.
“ And what would that be?” I asked as I leaned back in the reclining char and pulling down the flap in my uniform jacket to get some cool air in.
“ Remember when we went on our first mission and we ran into that cloud that sent us back in time?” she stated.
“ Yes” I replied.
“ The ship that was supposed to be the WASP was stolen the same week we ran into those Klingons ” She announced as she wiped her bangs out of her face.
I instantly sat up, surprised, and also because of the jolt of the train taking off.
“ You have my attention, ” I stated.
“ A couple of pirates or something stole it, killing the guards and maintenance crew” She replied.
I turned my head and looked out the window as I took in this information. Down below not more than twenty feet laid the gently rolling Pacific Ocean, gleaming a golden blue with the afternoon sun.
“ That’s horrible, ” I answered.
Once again all went quiet, you could hear the gentle purr of the trains engines and the soft roar of the ocean below. The noises made feel sleepy, my head hit up against the window and slowly I went into a deep comfortable sleep.
I don’t know how long I slept but Kelsey woke me up
“ Randy, were here” She announced as I sat up in the chair I had slept in the whole trip.
Up ahead I could see the small station that lay not far outside of Sydney. The train slowly came to a stop at the station. The station looked like an old adobe structure, made of wood and clay. There was a long covered way that was in front of it, which sheltered people who awaited their train from the elements. The grounds around the station were covered in thick foliage, unlike the dry scrub of the outback.
The train slowly pulled up next to the platform and stopped. People were getting out of their seats; I waited for a minuet before getting up to get off the train. I stood up and followed the other people off the train. When I got to the exit I could feel the nice cool summer breeze I had grown up with. The breeze reminded me of back on the farm, were I spent my childhood playing in the cornfields. After pausing to take in a deep cool breath of fresh air I stepped down off the train and started to walk over to the luggage pile. I wasn’t surprised that there weren’t any people here to greet me because most of the people who live in Forenster never get out of town much. It didn’t take long to find my Starfleet issue duffel bag in amongst the other peoples brown and blue suitcases. After I got my luggage I walked over to the transport that was waiting at the other side of the structure. I slowly walked through the lobby I exited out of the main door. When I made it out of the front door I was tackled, I was flung to the side and up against the wall. There was only one person who would do such a thing.
“ Abby?” I asked as I turned around.
“ Who else would it be?” She said.
I really didn’t feel like talking, I had too much on my mind. I had too much to think about. But she just kept on looking me strait in the eye, like she could see strait inside me.
“ Okay now Abby, we have so much to catch up on!” as Kelsey came out of nowhere and pulled Abby along with her.
“But…” Abby complained.
At the corner she stopped for a moment and looked back.
“ Thank you” I whispered.
She nodded and turned around the corner.
With that, I boarded my bus and took the rest of the day off. When I got home, I just went strait inside, dropped my bag at the door and went strait to bed. Sleeping till long into the next morning. When I got up, it was about six O’clock. I got up and made some breakfast, which consisted of bacon, eggs, hash browns, and bread. After I ate and cleaned up I went out to the barn and fed all the animals, then I saddled up my horse Firestorm and rode him out into the hills. The ride was long and comforting, as I rode higher up I could see the whole town, going about its business. Once I got to the top, I dismounted and lead the horse around till I got the property fence. I stood there for a while, watching the wheat stalks sway in the wind, moving like waves of the ocean. Firestorm nosed my head, I gently grabbed it and rubbed his nose.
“Well Firestorm, now just if life is always this good” I commented as I continued to lean against the fence.
For a moment I thought I could here another person behind me, but I dismissed it as some wild animal. I thought about what had happened over the last three weeks, thinking that I failed as a Commander, as a person. Firestorm neighed.
“ I know, I know, we better be getting back” I said as I looked down on the watch that was attached to by belt loop. I had been up here all morning.
“ No wonder they brought you in… you talk to animals” Came a voice from behind me.
I turned around fast, thinking someone was attacking only to see a man, sitting high on a horse, his face hidden in the shadow of the nearby pine tree. He was wearing a plaid shirt with dark blue jeans; his boots were incrusted in mud.
For a moment I thought I knew who the person was. He rode forward slowly out of the shadows. To my surprise, it was Admiral James T. Kirk. He was looking down at the town, just as I was, more interested in the view than me.
“ You have some nice property up here” He commented as he leaned forward in his saddle and looked at me. Then he dismounted and walked over to the fence.
“ It was my fathers” I replied. “ Why are you here?”
“ We have a mutual friend, a mutual friend that has saved my career a few times. When he heard about you court martial, he wanted me to check up on you ” He answered calmly. “He said that he owed you a drink, and wanted me to do that for him.”
“ Ah, I see” I said.
“ I really don’t know any places around here that come recommended” He perked.
“ O’Malley’s is good, if you don’t mind the cigar smoke and the bad music, ” I suggested.
“ Sounds good to me” He replied.
For a moment he stood there without saying a word, then he mounted his horse and started to slowly ride down the hill.
“ You coming or not,” He shouted.
I didn’t answer him; I just mounted Firestorm and trotted forward to catch up, and then slowed down to a walk. We rode down the hill in silence, when we reached the bottom he broke the silence.
“ When do you get a new posting?” He asked curiously.
“ I don’t know, but I think it will be a command posting, because they are making me do a lot of extra paperwork about how my command style is” I replied as honestly as I could.
“ When you do, you must not hold anything back, you must totally commit yourself to your ship and your crew” He said as he stopped his horse, I did the same.
“ To be a good commander” He started, “ is to love what you do, but you must also be willing to order the destruction of the thing you love, there is the dilemma Commander…we are always prepared to loose some of us, but we are never prepared to loose all of us, There will always be the empty chair, a salute to fallen comrades, but you must hold nothing back. For gods sake I should know this. I have been in Starfleet for so long that I have encountered every situation possible and I got others and myself out of them unscathed. Here is my advice to you, never, I mean never believe in the no-win scenario, for it doesn’t exists, even when all seems grim there is always a chance, no matter how minute.”
“ Yes sir” I replied. This statement to how true it was stunned me.
“ Now, let’s get a drink” He said smiling.
Somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, two weeks later…
The sun was slowly rising over the nearby peaks of the snow-encrusted Rocky Mountains. Off in the distance I could see a small creek slowly winding it’s way down the mountain valley. The sun made the sky a golden red as it rose from its daily slumber. Birds and other wildlife were beginning to go about their daily lives. The clear voice of a blue Jay rang through the mountainside like a flute through a music hall.
After I had finished my breakfast, I cleaned my dishes and sat by the fire and drank coffee as I watched the river go by, teaming with trout and salmon. I had come up here to finish my time off with a little fishing, something I haven’t had the pleasure of doing since I left space dock on my first assignment. I spent my first week staying at home, going about my usual chores and activities. Then I came up here for a nice long and relaxing fishing trip. I had left my communicator at home, in hopes that they’d forget about me and let me stay up here longer. Around noon I began to pack, deciding that I should head back anyway. Once I was packed I headed down the trail, pausing only once and a while to rest and drink a few mouthfuls of water.
Up ahead, I saw a clearing and decided to stop there to rest. I walked to the center and sat down, took off my pack and began to reach for my water bottle when something caught my in the clear western sky. At first it looked like a white speck, nothing else. But as it got closer, it began to take shape. It looked like a Starfleet shuttle, but what was a shuttle doing so far out. I continued to watch it, as it got closer. It was coming in this direction, and it seemed to be in a hurry, and in no way going to stop. Now I could hear the light hum of the engines, as the shuttle got closer. I could see it getting lower and lower, and by the time it reached the edge of the clearing it took off the top of one of the trees, flinging it off like a loose twig as it blasted by. I sped right over the clearing at record speeds no doubt; bringing a tremendous wave of fast moving air that knocked me off my feet. As I fell to the ground, I caught a glimpse of the shuttles name. It said Plato. No sooner was it overhead, it was gone, disappearing into the trees next to the creek. I was curious to see if they landed so I left my gear there and jogged over into the forest.
I clawed my way through the thick bushes, in some places I had to go around because it was so thick. When I actually reached the cliff overlooking the creek, I saw that the shuttle did indeed land. The rear cargo door was open and there seemed to be no one nearby. I continued to look around but I still couldn’t find anything.
Suddenly, a hand shot up from below me and grabbed onto the top of the cliff. Then another hand, followed by the person who belonged to the hands. Before me stood up a six-foot man in a Starfleet uniform, he seemed to be straight out of the academy. He seemed to be out of breath, but that didn’t look as though it bothered him much.
“ Sorry to be intruding sir, by chance is your name Randy Bunker?” He asked.
“ Somethin to ya” I responded.
“ Sorry captain, Starfleet wants you to report to the WASP immediately” He said.
“ The WASP was destroyed four weeks ago, ” I stated. “ Wait, I’m only a Commander.”
“ Special orders from the top, you are to report to the WASP to take command” He insisted.
The whole mountainside went silent; all that could be heard was the wind. I was becoming interested in this, but why would command give me my own ship.
“ Let me see your orders Mr…” I stated.
“ Voelker sir, your first officer” He replied as he passed me a PADD.
As I read it, Voelker began to ramble.
“ Well sir, you were pretty hard to find, we couldn’t reach you on your communicator, perhaps because you never brought it” He implied.
“ I wonder why I did that, ” I murmured under my breath as I handed him the PADD back.
“ Well then, let’s get going” I perked as I swung myself over the edge of the cliff and slowly began to climb down.
As we climbed down, Voelker seemed interested in my previous position on the original WASP. I didn’t tell him much. When we got to the bottom, we walked over to the shuttle and took our seats. He pushed a few buttons on the console and the rear door close up. Within seconds we were airborne and going higher and higher in the planets atmosphere so fast that flames scorched by the forward window. Then it began to shake a little as we exited the atmosphere and into dark space. Up ahead, I could see the bright moon, shining a bright white light into the cramped shuttle.
Basking in the moons bright light sat a large starship, almost like any other, but it’s size doubled that of any ship I had seen. As we came closer, I could see that the engineering section and connecting neck were different, they were thicker than normal and had thin gray strips in some areas. Now we were approaching the ship by going over the enlarged saucer section. Down below I could see black and yellow markings on the edge, which confused me. Up ahead, closer to the bridge were two large hatches, with the same yellow and black markings, I had never seen this before.
“ Voelker, what are those hatches for?” I asked.
“ Oh those, those are the fighter bay doors” He replied as though he was an expert.” This ship is an Ambassador Class prototype, they wanted to try out some new systems so they are using the WASP for the test bed”
“ I don’t care if everything is new, just as long as the Communication systems work” I joked, thinking back to the old ship and how the communication systems would never work right.
“ What are our orders?” I asked.
“ We are to go into sector two-nine-three for patrol for klingon starships” Voelker replied.
The shuttle began to slow down after we passed over the saucer section, slowly turning so that it would be facing the shuttle bay doors by the time it had completed it’s turn. Slowly, the ship came in and out of view. When it came all the way around, it was facing the large open bay, with its large turtle shell doors wide open.
Once in position, the shuttle gently glided into the shuttle bay and came to a complete stop. Then the side door opened and we exited the craft. When I stepped out, I was amazed by what I saw. The room was painted a bright white, no dirt or stains of any kind anywhere. The room was so organized you could find any tool any time. Behind us, I could hear the bay doors closing.
An able’s man walked up and handed me a uniform jacket.
“ Sir, you are needed on the bridge”
“ On my way, oh, where’s the turbolift?” I asked.
“ Strait ahead” She replied pointing to a large door in the wall next to the ladder going to the bay’s control tower.
Voelker and I walked over to the turbolift and entered. Then it began its short trip to the bridge. On the way up I put on my uniform jacket, pausing for a moment to look at the captains emblem on the shoulder strap. Then the door opened.
“ Capitan on deck!” shouted a familiar voice.
I looked around the bridge. I was shocked, Lt. Coleman, CMO Kelsey Nunez, Lt. Stern, and LC. Brickey were all at their respectable stations.
There was a large console in the back of the bridge facing the view screen. The rest of the bridge seemed exactly the same.
“ I thought you guys were posted elsewhere” I stuttered as I enterd the room.
“ This is it” Kelsey announced “ USS WASP NX-20126-A”
I walked to the Capitan’s chair and grabbed a hold of the headrest.
“ Lets get to work, Comm., patch me in with control” I ordered.
“ Already done” replied a new officer I had not met yet.
“ Control, this is USS WASP requesting permission to depart” I said over the intercom.
“ USS WASP NX-two-o-one-two-six Alpha, request granted, permission to leave orbit” The intercom squealed.
I walked around the chair and seated myself in it.
“ Okay, lets kick this pit” I said as I went to the intercom. “ All hands red alert, power up all systems”
The bright white lights changed to a blood red, and the red alert klaxon squealed. Reports were coming in from all over the bridge.
“ Photon torpedoes armed… phasers online… Sheilds are at full… MID online… Ablative Armour active… Point defense online… fighters on standby”
Then I switched over to the comm. System.
“ Carl, you down there?” I asked.
“ Where else would I be? ” He replied over the intercom.
“ Work your magic, I need all the power you got” I ordered.
“ Gotcha Randy” he replied.
Then I turned to face the main viewer.
“ Mr. Coleman, maximum warp to sector two-nine-three” I said “Officers meeting in two hours”
Two hours later…
The room off to the side of the bridge turned out to be the briefing room. It had large windows all along the wall. In the room was a long table, which could seat fifteen people. Now, all of those seats were full. Almost everybody here I knew, except for the short man with a black goatee. He sat there for a while, rubbing his chin thoughtfully until I took a seat at the head of the table. Then he stood up.
“ Sir I am Lieutenant Ribitske, your new Comms. Officer” He said.
Then he sat down, which I thought to be odd, but I said nothing in the matter.
“ Okay, I would like to be the first to announce what our assignment is. Our orders are to patrol sector two-nine-three for possible Klingon ships. Starfleet has reason to believe that a large force is gathering along the border. Our second objective is to find possible allies for the fight that will most likely come” I announced.
“ Sounds like Starfleet is getting desperate” Added Voelker.
“ A possibility, but ever since the Klingons blamed us for the destruction of a battle station in orbit of one of their primary starship bases, and the attack and destruction of the WASP, Starfleet has been on highest alert” I replied.
Then the intercom popped on.
“All senior officers to the bridge, I repeat, all senior officers to the bridge!”
We all got up and left the room quickly, getting to our posts within seconds of the announcement. I took a seat in the captain’s chair.
“ Report” I said.
“ Sir, we are on final approach on the Traleani system” LC. Brickey announced.
“ Stats” I ordered.
“ Traleani is a class 1 star with about one habitable planet and three habitable moons” Brickey replied. “ The third planet has a strange quality”
“ What would that be?” I asked.
“ The planet and the moon have a conjoined atmosphere” He answered.
“ And what are the chances of running into something like this again” I stated as I turned the chair to face him.
“ Twenty-one trillion to one sir” He replied.
“ Well then, Mr. Coleman, adjust course so that we come into orbit of this planet” I ordered.
“ But sir” protested Voelker.
“ Not now Commander… Coleman, put this sucker on screen” I snapped as I leaned back in the chair and took it all in.
The veiwscreen popped on and showed us all of what this planet, or planets had to offer. It showed two greenish bluish planets connected by a sparkling line of sky. Clouds could be seen swirling in-between these two planets like milk in a glass.
“ Fascinating” commented Chris.
“ Sir I must remind you our orders are to patrol the border” Voelker again protested.
“ And we were sent out here to find new allies, were we not” I perked as I stood up and walked over to the science console where LC. Brickey sat.
Voelker seemed to be distressed by the fact that both of his arguments were shot down within seconds of them being said.
“ Now, Mr. Brickey, I know you are just itching to study that planet, so go ahead, just use passive sensors, we don’t want to disturb the hosts” I commented.
HOW DID YOU PEOPLE LIKE IT, THAT"S ONLY THE BEGINING THOUGH
Ever since the Kodos Incident Starfleet wanted us to stay nearby a star base at all times, but ironically, we still found a way to run into the interesting encounters every once in a while.
Smoke was still coming from all over. I really couldn’t see much any way. Considering that a bulkhead was on top of me. It happened six minuets after we caught three Klinon battle cruisers snooping around the convoy. I couldn’t do anything, orders were being made but I couldn’t follow them.
Proximity alarms and damage alarms and who knows how many alarms were going off but my head was full of them, my head injury was amplifying every one of them. The whole mess sounded like a dinner triangle was being ringed.
For several moments the alarms stopped, allowing me to hear what was going on. Apparently the ship had taken some heavy blows and was nearly beaten. It sounded as though the whole thing as over, like it never happened. Then I could hear the sound of moving objects, seconds later the bulkhead on top of me was shoved away. For a second I saw nothing, and then I saw the Capitan’s blackened face appear through the smoke. He reached out a hand and helped me up and out of the hole I had been in. Now I could see what had happened after I was buried under the bulkhead. The bridge was on fire in several spots; the dome above the bridge was cracked all the way across. Then the Capitan smiled, why I don’t know.
“Now Randy, why are you on the floor” He said.
“ Sorry Capitan, tripped on the ship” I replied as I rubbed the side of my head.
The bridge was nearly empty. Lt. Coleman was still at the helm and Carl was lying under one of the consoles on the other side of the bridge. The only other people there except for them was the Capitan and I.
“ What’s going on?” I asked.
“ After you disappeared under that bulkhead, we took some heavy hits from those Klingon battle cruisers” He started. “ Were out of torpedoes and phasers are down to twenty percent. The ships falling apart, Carl estimates that we have at least fifteen minuets till the bulkheads collapse.”
“ Charming” I answered.
“ Don’t worry, I’ve got almost everybody off the ship” He assured me.
He turned to face Carl, which had gotten up from under the console.
“ Come on, we are running out of time” He snapped.
“ Give me a few minuets” Carl responded as he took out his lazer torch and started to cut away the name plaque from the wall next to the turbolift.
The Capitan walked over to the command chair and pressed the comm. Button.
“ Last call for anybody still on the ship, meet us in transporter room two” He announced.
“All done” Carl said as he entered the tubolift.
We were not far behind him. When the lift started It’s last trip down to the transporter room, I felt sorry for the ship. It had carried us to unknown places and took us on adventures we will never forget. But now we were leaving forever, never to return to her friendly corridors and it’s large, greeting rooms.
“ Goodbye old friend, goodbye” I murmured as the doors to the lift opened.
Depending on how many were left on the ship, someone would have to stay behind. I made the choice immediately that the person should be me. No matter how much the Capitan yells I would not budge. I thought as I walked into the transporter room. There were four people waiting in the room when we got there. I slowly walked over to the controls and told them to get on the pad.
“ Get on the pad!” I shouted.
“ Randy, move” the Capitan said as he walked over to the console as well.
“ No Capitan, I will not allow you to put yourself in danger” I replied, “ No, you’re too valuable!”
“That’s an order Commander!” He bellowed.
“ Hurry up!” yelled a crewman from the pad.
I stood there a moment, thinking what to do. The Captain looked worried, but not an ordinary person could see with the untrained eye. Something that I had seen and grew accustomed to over the years working with him.
“ Yes sir…” I said as walked to the pad knowing what to do” But you owe me a drink later”
I stood on the pad as he started to punch in the operation codes.
“See you on the other side” He said as the cool blue beam of the transporter swiftly enveloped us in a blue mist.
Then, just as fast as it had started, the beam dissipated and we found our selves in the cargo hold of one of the cargo ships that we had been escorting before the battle. As soon as I was sure that I was completely materialized I ran over to the transporter controls and shoved the transporter chief out of the way.
“ Move” I growled at him.
Then I began the transporter process.
“ Captain, get on the pad!” I shouted trough the comm. Link between ships.
“ Understood” came his reply “ Transport on standby”
“Get on the pad” I shouted.
“ Not enough time, engaging backup forcefeilds…. Forcefeilds online. Transport in progress” his voice said.
The blue beam returned to the pad in the shape of a man. Just as that started I began to work the controls, then, the blue beam shaped like a man began to flicker. The transporter chief moved forward and began to work the other controls.
“ We’re loosing the signal!” he shouted.
“ I’m boosting the signal, ” I said as I franticly worked the controls.
“ I’m loosing the lock, pattern Buffers are overheating,” said the transporter chief.
He dropped to the floor and pulled out a laser torch and began to cut away at the casing to the controls. Meanwhile I was still working the controls, changing this and that to accommodate the new commands I was imputing into the console. Then there was a sizzling noise from the console, followed by an explosion of sparks. I was launched backward, away from the console; the chief was flung as well. For several seconds the room was silent, and then the room began to shake and tumble like an asteroid was ramming us. For a moment I got to my feet, I stood and saw that the transporter console was on fire. I ran over there in an attempt to put it out when another shock hit the freighter. I felt the floor slip from under my feet; I was hurled across the cargo bay and into a large stack of cargo canisters. They collapsed on my impact into them. The canisters tumbled about, burring me in a pile of crates. Slowly the shaking began to subside. While I still had the chance I pushed the crates away and I stood up. The room was a mess, cargo crates were strewn everywhere. People were standing up and pulling themselves out of the piles of crates and such. Then the intercom came on; bringing news we were dreading to hear.
“ Is everyone down there okay, the Wasp seems to have lost structural integrity and imploded in some spots” It squealed.
“ Oh god” gasped someone on the other side of the bay.
I felt enraged, my guts felt like they were being torn in a different pieces. But that was replaced instantly by anger. I started to walk to the freighters bridge, trying not to show the inner turmoil. I walked strait to the ladder in the back of the room that lead to a corridor. Chris jogged forward and put his hand on my shoulder as I started to climb. I turned and got off for a moment.
“ Don’t do anything you will regret,” He said with a raised eyebrow.
“ Just cleaning up some leftovers” I said as I began to climb again.
I continued to climb for a few feet and pulled myself up. Then, without a look back, I strode into the corridor and began to walk to the bridge. On the way I began to formulate a plan. I could head right at them and fire all weapons available, no, too risky, I need something original. What would the Capitan do? He would make haste for the asteroid field, wait… The asteroid field, I could use that to my advantage.
By the time I had made it to the bridge had the plan all worked out in my head, let’s just hope it works.
The door in front of me opened, revealing rectangular a room with a few consoles, only three were occupied. The Captain of the freighter slowly turned around to face me.
“ Commander, I had no Ide…” he said just as a look of extreme surprise and fear and confusion crossed his face.
I gave him a cold stare and a small grin.
“ I’m taking command of this vessel, as of now, you are relieved of command” I snapped
“ You can’t do that!” He complained.
“ I just did, now please leave before I have you thrown in the brig,” I barked.
“ Well, if you put it that way” he said as he stood up out of his chair and began to exit the bridge.
“ Clear the bridge” I ordered.
The remaining people stood up and started to slowly file out of the room. As they passed they gave me looks of confusion, I didn’t blame them. I had no control over my judgment of right and wrong, my anger clouded my mind like a thick fog.
Once the bridge was empty I walked up to the Conn and took a seat. Then I began to plug in the coordinates for the ship. Then ordered the ship to head toward the asteroid field as planned. Within seconds the ship began to pull away from the convoy, minuets passed without a glitch. Up ahead the asteroid field began to loom over the freighter like a mountain over a field, casting long dark shadows over the hull. Then, without warning, the ship shuddered slightly.
“ What the heck” I murmured as I got up to look at the tactical station.
On the screen, it showed a gray cloud of rocks surrounding a black area. Then, as the sensors began to scan that area it showed an asteroid, and I was heading right for it. The ship shuddered again as large rocks pelted off the ships hull. I got to the Conn and took control of the ship. My fingers were flying over the console like crazy. Then, slowly, the bulky freighter began to lean to one side. Slowly turning out of the way. But no, not fast enough. Even larger rocks began to pelt the ship. Now the ship was rocking heavily.
“ This isn’t going to work!” I shouted, although I was alone on the bridge.
Then I began to reroute all the power possible from the freighter and redirect it to the engines. The ship jolted hard, sending me out of my seat and onto the floor. Sparks spewed out of one of the consoles. Just as all this was happening, the door to the bridge slid opened and let in a stumbling LC. Brickey.
“ What in the heck is going on?” He shouted.
“ We’re in the asteroid field,” I said as I stood up and took the Conn once more.
“ I noticed that” He said as he took a seat in the science station.
By now the freighter had flown clear of the asteroid field and we were heading back toward the convoy. Up ahead, a asteroid was right in front of us, also heading for the convoy.
“ What’s that?” he asked.
“ Apparently, when I boosted the power to the engines, the shock wave must have pushed out of the field” I noted.
“ We need to stop it” Chris said.
“ Nurm, once again you stated the obvious” I snapped.
I sat there for a moment, and then I went back to my plan, which was almost exactly what was happening now.
“ My plan in the first place was to use the asteroid to get rid of the klingon ships, unfortunately, it’s going the wrong way” I added.
“ We could still do that” He stated with a small humanlike smile crossing his face.
“ Fine, let’s do this” I perked.
Then Chris began to recalibrate the tractor beam to push the asteroid toward the Klingon ships. Within seconds a blue beam shot out from the freighter and hit the asteroid with tremendous force, pushing the asteroid in the desired direction.
“ Does this heap have weapons?” I asked Chris.
“ Pulse phasers” He replied.
“ Good, lock on and fire on my command” I ordered.
The asteroid was outpacing the freighter like a sloth against a cheetah. It stormed away at incredible speeds. The Klingon ships began to dodge it like it was nothing. Barely moving. I sat for seconds, watching the asteroid pass close to the enemy ships.
“ Fire!” I shouted.
Bright orange pulses of light blasted away from the freighter, only taking moments to reach the target. When they hit, the asteroid blew, sending rocks of various sizes in every direction. The first ship didn’t have a chance. It was hit hard. It was covered in huge burning hole in it’s hull, some sections had been cut clean off. The second ship was completely destroyed, chunks of its hull was spinning in amongst the asteroid debris. The third ship pulled up at record speeds only to be caught with the shockwave and flung into deep space.
“ I didn’t quite expect that, ” commented Mr. Brickey.
Three hours later…
The burning hulk of the engineering section was as barren as a desert. Nothing could of survived the massive destruction that had torn the ship apart. Unfortunately, the Captain was somewhere in this mess and I was determined to find him. Within minuets of beaming aboard, we were put to work at clearing debris out of the way of the rescue teams. The senior crew of the Wasp, although separated, we worked our way to the transporter room.
It was morally heartbreaking to pick our way through the wreckage. Finding things that belonged to others, things we had taken for granted were blasted away. Complete walls had been blown out; whole rooms had been destroyed, leaving only a harmless looking star field. Only hours before, these hallways had been teaming with activity.
I had been among the first who arrived at the transporter room. I stood there, waiting for the others, I don’t know why I didn’t go in sooner but I just stood there and looked at the door. LC Brickey and Lt. Stern shortly followed me. Lt. Dahlquist shortly followed. Then CMO Nunez came sprinting around the corner and skidded to a halt. She stood there for a while, catching her breath.
“ You reckon he survived?” asked Carl.
“ I don’t know, this was the hardest spot hit from the explosion” I replied solemnly.
Kelsey turned her head to face me, she had a expression of despair that not even a trained Vulcan could hide.
“ I’m afraid to go in there, afraid to find what I think we’ll find ”She said.
“ We would have to go in anyway, ” Carl added.
“ Just to be sure, I’ll get a medic, ” Richard said as he turned around and sped off down the hallway, jumping over fallen bulkheads on the way.
“ Logic dictates that when faced with a grim choice, it is always the most displeasing that is the right one” Chris said blandly.
“ Yeah, he would of wanted me to come for him, he would of done the same thing for me” I sighed.
I came up to the door it didn’t open like usual. I should of known that it wouldn’t work, but I was too tiered and stressed out to notice that it wouldn’t. I opened the manual override panel and pulled on the lever several times to jack open the door. The crank would only open the door halfway, but from what I could see from where I was standing was not what one would look forward too. The room looked as though Gods hand had swept through and destroyed this solitary room, leaving the walls and such still standing. Sitting up against the back wall was the Capitan; he had a gash across his forehead and a large piece of metal sticking out of his leg. Large conduits were hanging everywhere and the transporter console had been torn apart. On the far side of the room the faint buzz of a forcefeild hummed, still working after all that had happened. For a minuet I thought that the capitian was dead, but to my surprise a low moan came from him.
“ My goodness, it takes a lot to hurt a Boyce” Exclaimed Kelsey.
“ Oh my god” muttered Lt. Coleman.
I didn’t have to think twice, I bolted through the half open door and ran to the captain, dodging fallen conduits and leaping over broken bulkheads. When I got to him he look oblivious of what was going on around him.
“ Who… is it?” He moaned, “ It better be you Randy, you still owe me a drink!”
“ You better believe it” I replied.
Kelsey ran up with a medical tricorder and began scanning him. Then she got a hypospray put of her med bag and gave him a dosage of whatever was in it.
“ Randy, it doesn’t look good” She said.
That wasn’t the news I wanted to hear.
“ I can hear you but I can’t see you” The Capitan blandly stated, “How is it?”
“ It looks like you’re going to be okay, you might need some extra R & R ” I answered.
“ Liar” He responded as his eyes began to come to focus.
“ Okay, maybe a whole lot of extra R & R” I joked.
He didn’t seem interested in my comment; he seemed to be deep in thought. Then he smiled.
“ I told you I’d see you again” He replied.
“ Okay, Karnack, calm down there” I responded.
His eyes came back into focus and looked strait at me.
“ Somthin odd is going on, the Klingons don’t just attack without someone messing with their ponytails” He said with a humorous tone.
Then he started to shiver and shake horribly, as though some unseen force was shaking the life out of him. I held him down with all my might but he seemed to have the strength of a thousand men. Kelsey ran over and checked his condition quickly before ordering us to do things. As she bent over she said
“he’s going into shock, probably from blood loss. Randy, help me get him out of this room”
I grabbed the Capitan by the legs and began to pull him out of the room, the rest of the group moved pieces of broken ship out of the way so that I could move him out of the room as fast as possible. I wouldn’t dare pick him up, for I feared that if I did so, it would do more harm than good. Medics arrived outside of the room just in time to get him to one of the ships that were part of the convoy. They had him beamed to the medical ship Lexington.
A few minuets after he was taken we gathered and prepared to be beamed out ourselves.
“Lexington, five to beam up” I announced into my communicator.
Med bay, UFPMT Lexington…
The medical bay in the Lexington smelt like an old country hospital back home, it had a strong smell of chemicals and medications that would drive a man crazy.
“How’s he doing?” I asked Kelsey as she walked out of the room.
“ It doesn’t look good, he lost a lot of blood, internally and externally. But we did remove the twenty-five inch long piece of bulkhead out of his leg, unfortunately, he will probably be sent back home… permanently”
“That wasn’t what I wanted to hear,” I grumbled.
Ever since we had beamed over from the Wasp, the bridge crew seemed to hover around the med bay for some time. Mr. Brickey was the only one that didn’t look concerned, he blankly stared at the wall opposite him and when asked why he would just reply “I am awaiting the news of the captains condition” but we all knew that he was telling the truth because we all seemed to know him pretty well to do so.
After I talked to Kelsey, she walked over to the opposite wall and sunk into one of the many big leather chairs. As soon as she sat down a young ensign walked up to me and began to speak.
“ Sir, we have Admiral Smile on channel nine. He wishes to speak with you ”He said. Just as I heard the information I started to walk to the small Comm. Station ”Oh, by the way sir, he doesn’t seemed to pleased.”
LC. Brickey raised an eyebrow to the statement.
“ Well say it ain’t so” I joked as I continued to my destination.
I calmly walked to the Comm. Station. Admiral Smiles face filled most of the screen; he had an ugly expression on his face. He sat up as he saw me he straitened up in his chair.
“Commander” he calmly stated.
“You rang, look, I have things to do so can you hurry it up” I said as I smiled.
“Don’t fool with me Commander, this is no laughing matter” He thundered.
I knew he couldn’t hurt me across a million light years so I decided to make him get ticked off.
“Oh, It is a laughing matter Admiral Smile” I jested.
“Don’t start with me Commander” He barked “ I am not going to get into one of these again, I swear, I really shouldn’t have put you and Boyce on one ship”
“I learned from the best sir” I replied.
“No time for this, Commander, You are now officially relieved from command and are to report to Starfleet command for your court martial… Immediately” He said sternly.
“That was short!” I exclaimed, ”He usually takes forever to get to a point, he must not like me.”
The screen went blank, quickly replaced with the SFC seal, with the date and time of the transmission stamped to the bottom. I stood there for a moment, mostly stunned. So I stood there until I grasped the situation, following that I left the booth and walked into the stuffy waiting area.
“Apparently, as you say…the gig is up” LC Brickey murmured as I returned to the waiting room.
“ What happened?” Asked Kelsey.
As I was about to answer that, two security guards stepped calmly into the room.
“ Sir, we have orders to take you to the brig, will you come peaceably” They both stated.
“ Now boys, you know me, have I gone anywhere I don’t want to?” I chirped.
They both turned and looked at each other, and shrugged.
“Sir we have orders to take you willingly or not ”The oldest one replied as he moved forward and attempted to reach for my arm. His other hand was on his phaser strapped on his belt.
“ I warned you, ” I stated.
As the older guard grabbed my arm I swung my fist catching him in the side of the face. He reeled back as the other guard came forward and made a swing for me, I ducked and elbowed him in the back. He kept on strait into the wall. Now both guards were on the ground moaning.
“ Now, which way to the brig?’ I said as I calmly walked out of the room.
I calmly walked into the brig and locked myself into one of the cells, which surprised the guard on duty. Within a few minuets, the two guards who were sent to apprehend me came limping in.
Earth, Sanfransisco, Starfleet Command Headquarters
Two weeks later…
The door ahead of me slid open to reveal a large cathedral like room with high ceilings. On both sides of the wide walkway were two stands, both of them filled with top ranking Starfleet officers and ambassadors. In the middle of the floor painted on the floor was the UFP emblem, it shined like a sun, lighting the room, although the light was not coming from the emblem the light reflecting off of the highly polished floor seemed to shine all the same. At the very back of the room between the two stands was a long step leading up to three rather large chairs. To the left sat Admiral Smile, he sat there and stared at me disappointedly. In the middle sat Federation president Cartridge, his long white beard reminded me of some old wizard, and next to the president sat Ambassador Sarek. For a Vulcan his age he sure didn’t show it.
The guard, which was behind me, gave me a shove out of the door and I began to walk forward while the guard took post at the door. I walked quietly and calmly across the room. I slowly walked across the UFP seal and stopped at the foot of the long step. Then admiral Smile began to speak.
“ Commander Bunker, you are accused of commandeering federation property for your own purposes, unauthorized and unnecessary rank pulling, and assault on a fellow officer, how do you plead” He said in a loud clear voice so loud that it rung off the walls.
I felt as though I was being pummeled by a hundred boulders, I knew I had done those things and I had no reason to do them, but for the fact that I was kind of under a lot of stress would help, but I did them all the same.
“Guilty sir” I replied.
The whole room was filled with the sounds of murmurs and people who seemed to be shocked by my reply to the admiral.
“ You know that if you plead guilty to these charges you will loose your position in Starfleet and a three year sentence in the New Zealand penal colony, ” He bellowed. So far the president or the ambassador had said nothing.
“ Yes” I responded.
A butter knife could have cut the tension in the air, the admiral was the only person who had talked so far, and it was like he was my judge, jury and executioner. Not a word had been said.
“Okay then, Guards” He said as he motioned for the guard to come and take me away.
Just as the guard was to grab my arm, the ambassador leaned over and whispered to the president, the president nodded and the ambassador stood up.
“ Commander, your willingness to come forward and take that plead has interested me, and after considering your honesty, also your spotless record, the president has given me the authority on this hearing, and taking all of this into consideration, I believe you worthy of a second chance. So, your punishment will be two weeks relieved of duty and to be posted on another ship. That will be all.” After he got done talking he sat down, looking quite pleased with himself, although Vulcans refuse to show emotion, If you look hard enough, you will find it.
“ Mr. President, you can’t do thi…” Smile shouted angrily.
“ Admiral, I believe I already have, ”he said with a smile” Court augured”
The Admiral stormed out of the room in anger. All about were cheers and clapping as the crowd slowly filed out of the large hall. Out of the sea of red uniforms came four people fighting against the current of the crowd. One of them got to the wall and leapt over it without a second thought. The other three quickly followed suit.
“ Randy” Kelsey yelled as she stood up from jumping over the wall.
By now, the room was quite empty, in fact we were the only ones here excluding the guards, the rest of the crowd had left. I walked over to her, watching Carl jump over the wall.
“ Man, Starfleet’s got a lot of nerve court marshaling you after you saved all those freighters “ He said after straitening out his uniform after he landed.
“ Well Carl, They have to make an example for the younger officers of what is right and wrong, besides, we all know what I did was wrong” I replied.” Where are you guys posted?”
“ They wanted me to command a medical starship but I turned it down,” Kelsey answered.
“ They did the same with me, tempting me with an instructing job at the Academy. After I declined they said they would give me a posting on one of those new ships being built in space dock” He said” Then they told me the conversation never took place.”
“Odd” I commented.
There was a brief pause while everybody thought about that for a little bit.
“ So, what happened to you when they dropped you off at starbase 39?” Coleman asked.
The thought of what happened still horrified me. Just thinking about it made me shake.
“Well, they held me there for a while in a cell with a Balonian. He never shut up. I couldn’t get to sleep for at least three days. After insomnia set in I saw a whole bunch of odd things. Then they took me here and held me in one of the cells. Thank goodness I was alone. They fed and treated me okay otherwise” I replied.
We all stood there for a while, looking about the room. None of us said much about my comment, and all was quiet. One by one, they left, leaving only Kelsey and me.
“Let’s go before we miss the only hover train to Sydney ”She perked.
We both turned and walked out of the courtroom. I was amazed on how much the Academy had changed since I attended school here. On one side of campus was the old Starfleet Command building, which was now being converted into another wing of the Academy. Across the bay you could see the new structure, being built like a huge skyscraper of the past. The grounds were full of ponds and trees, nice cool grass and bountiful flowers of many types. Up ahead was the campus station. The grand glass entrance was huge, like ones seen in palaces. There we boarded one of the trains. Kelsey and I sat down and began to talk.
“ I got some news for you” she stated.
“ And what would that be?” I asked as I leaned back in the reclining char and pulling down the flap in my uniform jacket to get some cool air in.
“ Remember when we went on our first mission and we ran into that cloud that sent us back in time?” she stated.
“ Yes” I replied.
“ The ship that was supposed to be the WASP was stolen the same week we ran into those Klingons ” She announced as she wiped her bangs out of her face.
I instantly sat up, surprised, and also because of the jolt of the train taking off.
“ You have my attention, ” I stated.
“ A couple of pirates or something stole it, killing the guards and maintenance crew” She replied.
I turned my head and looked out the window as I took in this information. Down below not more than twenty feet laid the gently rolling Pacific Ocean, gleaming a golden blue with the afternoon sun.
“ That’s horrible, ” I answered.
Once again all went quiet, you could hear the gentle purr of the trains engines and the soft roar of the ocean below. The noises made feel sleepy, my head hit up against the window and slowly I went into a deep comfortable sleep.
I don’t know how long I slept but Kelsey woke me up
“ Randy, were here” She announced as I sat up in the chair I had slept in the whole trip.
Up ahead I could see the small station that lay not far outside of Sydney. The train slowly came to a stop at the station. The station looked like an old adobe structure, made of wood and clay. There was a long covered way that was in front of it, which sheltered people who awaited their train from the elements. The grounds around the station were covered in thick foliage, unlike the dry scrub of the outback.
The train slowly pulled up next to the platform and stopped. People were getting out of their seats; I waited for a minuet before getting up to get off the train. I stood up and followed the other people off the train. When I got to the exit I could feel the nice cool summer breeze I had grown up with. The breeze reminded me of back on the farm, were I spent my childhood playing in the cornfields. After pausing to take in a deep cool breath of fresh air I stepped down off the train and started to walk over to the luggage pile. I wasn’t surprised that there weren’t any people here to greet me because most of the people who live in Forenster never get out of town much. It didn’t take long to find my Starfleet issue duffel bag in amongst the other peoples brown and blue suitcases. After I got my luggage I walked over to the transport that was waiting at the other side of the structure. I slowly walked through the lobby I exited out of the main door. When I made it out of the front door I was tackled, I was flung to the side and up against the wall. There was only one person who would do such a thing.
“ Abby?” I asked as I turned around.
“ Who else would it be?” She said.
I really didn’t feel like talking, I had too much on my mind. I had too much to think about. But she just kept on looking me strait in the eye, like she could see strait inside me.
“ Okay now Abby, we have so much to catch up on!” as Kelsey came out of nowhere and pulled Abby along with her.
“But…” Abby complained.
At the corner she stopped for a moment and looked back.
“ Thank you” I whispered.
She nodded and turned around the corner.
With that, I boarded my bus and took the rest of the day off. When I got home, I just went strait inside, dropped my bag at the door and went strait to bed. Sleeping till long into the next morning. When I got up, it was about six O’clock. I got up and made some breakfast, which consisted of bacon, eggs, hash browns, and bread. After I ate and cleaned up I went out to the barn and fed all the animals, then I saddled up my horse Firestorm and rode him out into the hills. The ride was long and comforting, as I rode higher up I could see the whole town, going about its business. Once I got to the top, I dismounted and lead the horse around till I got the property fence. I stood there for a while, watching the wheat stalks sway in the wind, moving like waves of the ocean. Firestorm nosed my head, I gently grabbed it and rubbed his nose.
“Well Firestorm, now just if life is always this good” I commented as I continued to lean against the fence.
For a moment I thought I could here another person behind me, but I dismissed it as some wild animal. I thought about what had happened over the last three weeks, thinking that I failed as a Commander, as a person. Firestorm neighed.
“ I know, I know, we better be getting back” I said as I looked down on the watch that was attached to by belt loop. I had been up here all morning.
“ No wonder they brought you in… you talk to animals” Came a voice from behind me.
I turned around fast, thinking someone was attacking only to see a man, sitting high on a horse, his face hidden in the shadow of the nearby pine tree. He was wearing a plaid shirt with dark blue jeans; his boots were incrusted in mud.
For a moment I thought I knew who the person was. He rode forward slowly out of the shadows. To my surprise, it was Admiral James T. Kirk. He was looking down at the town, just as I was, more interested in the view than me.
“ You have some nice property up here” He commented as he leaned forward in his saddle and looked at me. Then he dismounted and walked over to the fence.
“ It was my fathers” I replied. “ Why are you here?”
“ We have a mutual friend, a mutual friend that has saved my career a few times. When he heard about you court martial, he wanted me to check up on you ” He answered calmly. “He said that he owed you a drink, and wanted me to do that for him.”
“ Ah, I see” I said.
“ I really don’t know any places around here that come recommended” He perked.
“ O’Malley’s is good, if you don’t mind the cigar smoke and the bad music, ” I suggested.
“ Sounds good to me” He replied.
For a moment he stood there without saying a word, then he mounted his horse and started to slowly ride down the hill.
“ You coming or not,” He shouted.
I didn’t answer him; I just mounted Firestorm and trotted forward to catch up, and then slowed down to a walk. We rode down the hill in silence, when we reached the bottom he broke the silence.
“ When do you get a new posting?” He asked curiously.
“ I don’t know, but I think it will be a command posting, because they are making me do a lot of extra paperwork about how my command style is” I replied as honestly as I could.
“ When you do, you must not hold anything back, you must totally commit yourself to your ship and your crew” He said as he stopped his horse, I did the same.
“ To be a good commander” He started, “ is to love what you do, but you must also be willing to order the destruction of the thing you love, there is the dilemma Commander…we are always prepared to loose some of us, but we are never prepared to loose all of us, There will always be the empty chair, a salute to fallen comrades, but you must hold nothing back. For gods sake I should know this. I have been in Starfleet for so long that I have encountered every situation possible and I got others and myself out of them unscathed. Here is my advice to you, never, I mean never believe in the no-win scenario, for it doesn’t exists, even when all seems grim there is always a chance, no matter how minute.”
“ Yes sir” I replied. This statement to how true it was stunned me.
“ Now, let’s get a drink” He said smiling.
Somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, two weeks later…
The sun was slowly rising over the nearby peaks of the snow-encrusted Rocky Mountains. Off in the distance I could see a small creek slowly winding it’s way down the mountain valley. The sun made the sky a golden red as it rose from its daily slumber. Birds and other wildlife were beginning to go about their daily lives. The clear voice of a blue Jay rang through the mountainside like a flute through a music hall.
After I had finished my breakfast, I cleaned my dishes and sat by the fire and drank coffee as I watched the river go by, teaming with trout and salmon. I had come up here to finish my time off with a little fishing, something I haven’t had the pleasure of doing since I left space dock on my first assignment. I spent my first week staying at home, going about my usual chores and activities. Then I came up here for a nice long and relaxing fishing trip. I had left my communicator at home, in hopes that they’d forget about me and let me stay up here longer. Around noon I began to pack, deciding that I should head back anyway. Once I was packed I headed down the trail, pausing only once and a while to rest and drink a few mouthfuls of water.
Up ahead, I saw a clearing and decided to stop there to rest. I walked to the center and sat down, took off my pack and began to reach for my water bottle when something caught my in the clear western sky. At first it looked like a white speck, nothing else. But as it got closer, it began to take shape. It looked like a Starfleet shuttle, but what was a shuttle doing so far out. I continued to watch it, as it got closer. It was coming in this direction, and it seemed to be in a hurry, and in no way going to stop. Now I could hear the light hum of the engines, as the shuttle got closer. I could see it getting lower and lower, and by the time it reached the edge of the clearing it took off the top of one of the trees, flinging it off like a loose twig as it blasted by. I sped right over the clearing at record speeds no doubt; bringing a tremendous wave of fast moving air that knocked me off my feet. As I fell to the ground, I caught a glimpse of the shuttles name. It said Plato. No sooner was it overhead, it was gone, disappearing into the trees next to the creek. I was curious to see if they landed so I left my gear there and jogged over into the forest.
I clawed my way through the thick bushes, in some places I had to go around because it was so thick. When I actually reached the cliff overlooking the creek, I saw that the shuttle did indeed land. The rear cargo door was open and there seemed to be no one nearby. I continued to look around but I still couldn’t find anything.
Suddenly, a hand shot up from below me and grabbed onto the top of the cliff. Then another hand, followed by the person who belonged to the hands. Before me stood up a six-foot man in a Starfleet uniform, he seemed to be straight out of the academy. He seemed to be out of breath, but that didn’t look as though it bothered him much.
“ Sorry to be intruding sir, by chance is your name Randy Bunker?” He asked.
“ Somethin to ya” I responded.
“ Sorry captain, Starfleet wants you to report to the WASP immediately” He said.
“ The WASP was destroyed four weeks ago, ” I stated. “ Wait, I’m only a Commander.”
“ Special orders from the top, you are to report to the WASP to take command” He insisted.
The whole mountainside went silent; all that could be heard was the wind. I was becoming interested in this, but why would command give me my own ship.
“ Let me see your orders Mr…” I stated.
“ Voelker sir, your first officer” He replied as he passed me a PADD.
As I read it, Voelker began to ramble.
“ Well sir, you were pretty hard to find, we couldn’t reach you on your communicator, perhaps because you never brought it” He implied.
“ I wonder why I did that, ” I murmured under my breath as I handed him the PADD back.
“ Well then, let’s get going” I perked as I swung myself over the edge of the cliff and slowly began to climb down.
As we climbed down, Voelker seemed interested in my previous position on the original WASP. I didn’t tell him much. When we got to the bottom, we walked over to the shuttle and took our seats. He pushed a few buttons on the console and the rear door close up. Within seconds we were airborne and going higher and higher in the planets atmosphere so fast that flames scorched by the forward window. Then it began to shake a little as we exited the atmosphere and into dark space. Up ahead, I could see the bright moon, shining a bright white light into the cramped shuttle.
Basking in the moons bright light sat a large starship, almost like any other, but it’s size doubled that of any ship I had seen. As we came closer, I could see that the engineering section and connecting neck were different, they were thicker than normal and had thin gray strips in some areas. Now we were approaching the ship by going over the enlarged saucer section. Down below I could see black and yellow markings on the edge, which confused me. Up ahead, closer to the bridge were two large hatches, with the same yellow and black markings, I had never seen this before.
“ Voelker, what are those hatches for?” I asked.
“ Oh those, those are the fighter bay doors” He replied as though he was an expert.” This ship is an Ambassador Class prototype, they wanted to try out some new systems so they are using the WASP for the test bed”
“ I don’t care if everything is new, just as long as the Communication systems work” I joked, thinking back to the old ship and how the communication systems would never work right.
“ What are our orders?” I asked.
“ We are to go into sector two-nine-three for patrol for klingon starships” Voelker replied.
The shuttle began to slow down after we passed over the saucer section, slowly turning so that it would be facing the shuttle bay doors by the time it had completed it’s turn. Slowly, the ship came in and out of view. When it came all the way around, it was facing the large open bay, with its large turtle shell doors wide open.
Once in position, the shuttle gently glided into the shuttle bay and came to a complete stop. Then the side door opened and we exited the craft. When I stepped out, I was amazed by what I saw. The room was painted a bright white, no dirt or stains of any kind anywhere. The room was so organized you could find any tool any time. Behind us, I could hear the bay doors closing.
An able’s man walked up and handed me a uniform jacket.
“ Sir, you are needed on the bridge”
“ On my way, oh, where’s the turbolift?” I asked.
“ Strait ahead” She replied pointing to a large door in the wall next to the ladder going to the bay’s control tower.
Voelker and I walked over to the turbolift and entered. Then it began its short trip to the bridge. On the way up I put on my uniform jacket, pausing for a moment to look at the captains emblem on the shoulder strap. Then the door opened.
“ Capitan on deck!” shouted a familiar voice.
I looked around the bridge. I was shocked, Lt. Coleman, CMO Kelsey Nunez, Lt. Stern, and LC. Brickey were all at their respectable stations.
There was a large console in the back of the bridge facing the view screen. The rest of the bridge seemed exactly the same.
“ I thought you guys were posted elsewhere” I stuttered as I enterd the room.
“ This is it” Kelsey announced “ USS WASP NX-20126-A”
I walked to the Capitan’s chair and grabbed a hold of the headrest.
“ Lets get to work, Comm., patch me in with control” I ordered.
“ Already done” replied a new officer I had not met yet.
“ Control, this is USS WASP requesting permission to depart” I said over the intercom.
“ USS WASP NX-two-o-one-two-six Alpha, request granted, permission to leave orbit” The intercom squealed.
I walked around the chair and seated myself in it.
“ Okay, lets kick this pit” I said as I went to the intercom. “ All hands red alert, power up all systems”
The bright white lights changed to a blood red, and the red alert klaxon squealed. Reports were coming in from all over the bridge.
“ Photon torpedoes armed… phasers online… Sheilds are at full… MID online… Ablative Armour active… Point defense online… fighters on standby”
Then I switched over to the comm. System.
“ Carl, you down there?” I asked.
“ Where else would I be? ” He replied over the intercom.
“ Work your magic, I need all the power you got” I ordered.
“ Gotcha Randy” he replied.
Then I turned to face the main viewer.
“ Mr. Coleman, maximum warp to sector two-nine-three” I said “Officers meeting in two hours”
Two hours later…
The room off to the side of the bridge turned out to be the briefing room. It had large windows all along the wall. In the room was a long table, which could seat fifteen people. Now, all of those seats were full. Almost everybody here I knew, except for the short man with a black goatee. He sat there for a while, rubbing his chin thoughtfully until I took a seat at the head of the table. Then he stood up.
“ Sir I am Lieutenant Ribitske, your new Comms. Officer” He said.
Then he sat down, which I thought to be odd, but I said nothing in the matter.
“ Okay, I would like to be the first to announce what our assignment is. Our orders are to patrol sector two-nine-three for possible Klingon ships. Starfleet has reason to believe that a large force is gathering along the border. Our second objective is to find possible allies for the fight that will most likely come” I announced.
“ Sounds like Starfleet is getting desperate” Added Voelker.
“ A possibility, but ever since the Klingons blamed us for the destruction of a battle station in orbit of one of their primary starship bases, and the attack and destruction of the WASP, Starfleet has been on highest alert” I replied.
Then the intercom popped on.
“All senior officers to the bridge, I repeat, all senior officers to the bridge!”
We all got up and left the room quickly, getting to our posts within seconds of the announcement. I took a seat in the captain’s chair.
“ Report” I said.
“ Sir, we are on final approach on the Traleani system” LC. Brickey announced.
“ Stats” I ordered.
“ Traleani is a class 1 star with about one habitable planet and three habitable moons” Brickey replied. “ The third planet has a strange quality”
“ What would that be?” I asked.
“ The planet and the moon have a conjoined atmosphere” He answered.
“ And what are the chances of running into something like this again” I stated as I turned the chair to face him.
“ Twenty-one trillion to one sir” He replied.
“ Well then, Mr. Coleman, adjust course so that we come into orbit of this planet” I ordered.
“ But sir” protested Voelker.
“ Not now Commander… Coleman, put this sucker on screen” I snapped as I leaned back in the chair and took it all in.
The veiwscreen popped on and showed us all of what this planet, or planets had to offer. It showed two greenish bluish planets connected by a sparkling line of sky. Clouds could be seen swirling in-between these two planets like milk in a glass.
“ Fascinating” commented Chris.
“ Sir I must remind you our orders are to patrol the border” Voelker again protested.
“ And we were sent out here to find new allies, were we not” I perked as I stood up and walked over to the science console where LC. Brickey sat.
Voelker seemed to be distressed by the fact that both of his arguments were shot down within seconds of them being said.
“ Now, Mr. Brickey, I know you are just itching to study that planet, so go ahead, just use passive sensors, we don’t want to disturb the hosts” I commented.
HOW DID YOU PEOPLE LIKE IT, THAT"S ONLY THE BEGINING THOUGH