SEASON 3: EPISODE 04

TO DELIGHT IN THE INHUMAN WORD: Part Six

  Thopok slowly opened his eyes.  It took him a second to realise that the reason he was staring up at the ceiling was because he was lying on the floor.  He felt something over his month and went to remove it.

  “Wait!” called a voice as a hand grasped his.

  By reflex he went for his d’k tahg.  However, his muscles and his brain did not seem to be in sync and as he pulled out his dagger he flung it away, unable to keep his fingers on the hilt.

  “Be calm!” ordered the unfamiliar voice.

  Thopok darting eyes finally locked onto a masked alien.

  “What are you doing!” he spat out.

  “The room was gassed.  I revived you and placed a mask on you to prevent you from succumbing again.”

  Thopok calmed down and noticed that the alien was wearing a Starfleet uniform; its rank insignia denoted an enlisted person, though at that moment he could not recall exactly what rank it was.  The alien slowly pulled its hand away from his mask.

  Thopok felt a general unease in his stomach.  It reminded him of the half-dead racht he had foolishly consumed on a neutral space station when he was just an ensign.  He put his discomfort out of his mind as he glanced around him.

  “Why have you revived me first?” he asked.

  “According to the tricorder the antidote works faster on Klingons.  I thought it would be wise to have you come to first as I believe that the ship has been boarded and most likely captured.”

  “Captured?”

  She pointed off to the side.  Thopok turned and looked out of the windows and saw that they were travelling at warp.  Previously the ship had dropped to impulse and was even stationary for a period.  With the gas attack followed by the ship returning to warp, it was reasonable to assume the ship had been captured.

  He looked down to the captain and saw he had a mask on as well.

  “Have you given him the injection?”

  She nodded.  “Before you woke.  It took you three minutes to regain consciousness; it will be double that time for the captain.  His human physiology is not as well versed with dealing with toxins.”

  “I assume you were unaffected due to your mask,” he said.

  “Yes.  As a Zaranite I require a level of fluorine in the air I breathe that would be fatal to species that evolved on class M worlds.  So I have to be supplied by a personal supply.”  It pointed to its mask.  “It’s a closed system so I have not breathed in any of the tainted air.”

  Thopok studied the alien.  He had not heard of or seen a Zaranite before so he could not judge how typical this one was.  Its voice and its body shape suggested it was a female but he could not make out any facial features due it the headgear it wore.  The headgear covered nearly its entire head with only the top of the alien’s smooth, hairless head protruding.  The main part of the headdress was a large grey mask that covered its face.  From the sides of the mask were two tubes that came down it the alien’s shoulders and looped behind her to the main part of her life support system.  The rest of it seemed to be made out of a cream coloured, soft looking flowing material that wrapped around its entire head.

  Thopok’s immediate reaction was to be wary of the alien.  All he could see of it was the mask, no face, no mouth, no eyes.  He could not judge or read the alien and how could you judge a being if you could not look it in the eyes?  However, it was in a Starfleet uniform and at the moment that had to be enough.

  He noticed that the Zaranite appeared to just be staring at him, though with just the opaque eye pieces of the mask it did seem that was all it ever did.  Even with that he could not shake the feeling that the Zaranite was still staring at him.  Was it due to fear, interest or something else, he could not tell.  He cursed its concealing mask.

  “Do you know any more of what has happened?” he asked, breaking the unusual silence.

  The Zaranite shook her head, Thopok was still unsure if the Zaranite was female but he could not help but to think of it as one due to its voice and its body shape.  “No, there’ve been no broadcasts over the internal communication system and no one else has entered this room.”

  Thopok slowly sat up.  His muscles still felt weak and heavy, no doubt a side effect of the gas.  He shook his arms to see if that would rejuvenate them.  Slowly his muscles started to return to normal.

  There was a sharp inhale beside him.  Thopok looked down to see the captain’s eyes were open.  The captain too went to remove the mask but the Zaranite was quick to stop him.

  As she did Thopok got a look at the top of her head.  He noticed that the top of the headgear was rounded and thick.  It also did not appear to form an airtight seal with the Zaranite’s head.  Obviously the mask had to seal to the Zaranite’s face to allow her to breathe but that meant the rest of the headdress did not serve a functional purpose.  He guessed it had to be decorative or part of some type of social convention.

  “It’s okay, sir,” the Zaranite said as Captain Masters weakly struggled against her.  “The mask is for your protection.”

  The human captain settled down, his eyes darted around the room.  “I don’t feel well,” he mumbled coarsely.

  “That is a side effect of what I injected you with to revive you.”

  “Injected?  Revive?” he mumbled questioningly.

  “I believe that the entire ship has been attacked with anesthezine to render the crew unconscious.”

  “We’ve been attacked?” Masters asked.  “We’ve been boarded,” Masters said with realisation.  The captain’s voice betrayed that he was not feeling well but his focus was definitely returning quickly.

  The captain gestured for the Zaranite’s help to sit up.

  “Thank you, Petty Officer Second Class...”

  “G’Ethza,” finished the Zaranite.

  “You’re a torpedo systems technician, aren’t you?” asked Masters. Sitting up was obviously not agreeing with him as he looked to be concentrating on not feeling ill.  “How many others have you injected apart from me and Thopok?”

  “No one.”  G’Ethza  held up a hypospray.  “I only have one dose left.”

  “We should revive another person,” said Masters.

  “Who?  There are only Klingons here...no offense,” she directed to Thopok.  He just nodded to show he did not care about the comment.  “Drunken Klingons I should add.”

  “The larger our party the more able we would be able to fight off any hostiles we might meet,” explained the captain.

  Thopok agreed with the idea.  They did not know how many of the enemy were onboard and four people were better than three.

  “Who do I give it to?” G’Ethza asked.

  The captain looked over to Thopok.  “You know them better than I do, it’s up to you.”

  The captain gestured for G’Ethza to hand the hypospray to Thopok.  Thopok took it, somewhat reluctantly and went to his fallen brethren.  He gazed down on the rabble and thought it was appropriate that they would be sprawled on the floor covered in bloodwine.  It did not take him long to come to a conclusion.  As much as it irritated him, Mon’kor was the most capable of this hopeless bunch.  He pulled Mon’kor from his seat and moved him to a clear spot to lay him on the floor.

  “You need to mask him first,” said the petty officer, rushing to him and giving him a mask.  “Let him take a few breaths first so to clear the inside of the mask of any contaminated air.”

  He nodded and did as he was instructed.  They waited for the three minutes for Mon’kor to stir.  Unlike him, when Mon’kor stirred did not seem too aware; no doubt the effects of the bloodwine he had ingested.  Mon’kor did not seem to even notice the mask for several seconds.  Once he did he slowly attempted to pull it off.

  “I would not do that,” he said grabbing the other Klingon’s arm to stop him.

  Mon’kor did not even have the presence to reach for a weapon to defend himself.  Mon’kor just appeared confused until he finally recognised Thopok.

  “Thopok!  What have you done to me?” He tried to shake Thopok’s hold but as with Thopok before Mon’kor’s limbs were still slow and weak.  “Have you poisoned me to force me to fight you?  That just proves your unsuitability to wear the uniform of a warrior.”

  “I’m not responsible for this you fool.  Someone has gassed the entire ship.  Why else would I also wear a mask?”

  Mon’kor mumbled something nonsensical.

  “Any idea who’s done this?” asked Masters.

  Thopok glanced over to him and saw he was sitting up a bit straighter, the ill feeling seemed to be passing.

  “That list is infinite.  There are few species as inept as you humans,” commented Mon’kor.

  “Have you tried calling for help?” asked Masters

  “I tried to but the computer isn’t responding,” responded G’Ethza.

  “That’s a bad sign,” said Masters.  “If they have control of the computer it means they have the bridge and engineering.”

  “I suggest you get rid of your combadges,” said Thopok.  “They can track you through it, can they not?”

  Masters nodded.  “They can.”

  “We should destroy them,” suggested Thopok.  “As the commanding officer your capture for interrogation would be very high on the list of task for the boarders to complete, which means they will be likely to search for you.  If you leave your combadge here and are not with it they will know you have not been incapacitated and are wandering the ship.”

  “If they can’t detect it at all my fate remains a mystery,” finished Masters.

  Masters took off his combadge and accepted G’Ethza’s.  Thopok walked up to him and took their combadges.  He took them to the replicator and placed them in the slot and recycled them.

  “I don’t think we should stay here,” he stated.

  “So are you saying we should run and hide like little children?” barked Mon’kor.  He had managed to sit up and was slowly getting to his feet.  “We should arm ourselves and ready for combat!”

  “We don’t know the situation.  If you want to stay here and fight against an unknown number of unknown enemies you can,” said Masters, the colour had fully returned to his face.  “We need to move somewhere where we won’t be likely to be found.”

  “Where do we go?” asked G’Ethza.

  “The Jefferies tubes.  We can access any area of the ship through them and we’re unlikely to accidentally run into anyone else,” suggested the captain.

  “We need a way to completely hide us from sensors,” said Thopok.  “It is possible a search team might detect our movements if they get close enough to our position.”

  “We should disable the internal sensors,” said Mon’kor.

  “That would give away our position and that we have avoided their attack,” Thopok countered.

  “Thopok’s right.  Unless we can disable all the internal sensors all we would be doing it broadcasting the area we are in,” said Masters, backing him up.  “We should have bio-dampeners in the armouries.”

  “Where are these armouries?” asked Thopok.

  “The nearest would be...down on deck 12, near the shuttle storage and fabrication areas.”

  “We should go now.  This is a fairly big ship but if we waste time it will make it easier for the enemy to find us,” hurried Thopok.

  “It is foolish to leave!” argued Mon’kor.  “We can blockade this room.  It is defendable!”

  “I think I agree with him,” said the petty officer.  “We can hold up in here and seal the door from the inside.”

  “We don’t have any weapons,” pointed out Masters.  “The replicators here won’t create weapons without a command authorisation and with the computer out of our control there’s no way to know if I can get that access or that it can be done without notifying whomever is in control,” pointed out Masters.  “We’ll all have better odds if we stick together.  Consider it an order,” said Masters to G’Ethza before turning to Mon’kor.  “As for you Mon’kor, I can’t order you to come with us.

  “I can order you,” Thopok spoke up.  “As third officer of the IKS MalbeB I...”

  Mon’kor snarled at Thopok.  “The MalbeB is nothing but rubble; you are the third officer of nothing.”

  “I still am a superior officer to you, Sogh Mon’kor.  The ship may be gone but until we hear differently from someone in High Command you will follow the orders of the highest ranked survivor – me.  If you do not find my orders worthy or honourable, you may challenge me for my position.”

  The two Klingons squared up and locked gazes.  Since Thopok had joined the crew of the MalbeB four months ago he and Mon’kor had clashed on numerous occasions and neither officer respected the other.  Mon’kor had been the most vocal about Thopok’s past failures.  Thopok knew Mon’kor had been pushed to challenge him for third officer.  However, Mon’kor had no interest in advancing in rank or position on the MalbeB and just told the others that Thopok was the third officer the ship deserved, plus it would be enjoyable to watch a person such as Thopok in the role.

  Thopok on the other hand had considered summarily executing Mon’kor.  However, he knew that if he killed Mon’kor or any other member of the crew for not showing him enough respect the commanding officer would get rid of him.  It had made his position almost unbearable and untenable but he had soldiered on because he had no other choice.  However, now he was the commanding officer so he did not have to worry about that.

  Neither Klingon made a move as the tense standoff continued.  Thopok finally spoke, “You will join us and follow the orders of Captain Masters.  Is that clear?”

  “As you order, la’,” said Mon’kor relenting, much as Thopok knew he would.  Mon’kor would gain nothing by fighting him and since the only way he could disobey and live was to challenge Thopok for command it left Mon’kor with only one option: follow orders.

  The four beings gathered and prepared to venture outwards.  Masters ordered G’Ethza to take the medkit with them as it did not seem the unconscious Klingons were injured so would not need it when they regained consciousness.  Masters had wanted to take the weapons off the Klingons but Mon’kor protested about such an action and Thopok agreed.  Taking the d’k tahg from a live warrior even if he was unconscious was a grave insult to that warrior.  Thopok also argued that if the rest regained consciousness it would be best to leave them weapons to defend themselves.  Once that was done they were ready to move out.

  “Take point, Thopok.  There should be an access hatch thirty metres down the hallway on the left.  G’Ethza, you go next, followed by Mon’kor.”

  Thopok felt an inkling of respect for the Starfleet captain.  Despite been unconscious and waking with virtually no information on what was going on he did not seem daunted.  He had quickly come up with a plan and was moving swiftly along with it.  Masters had authority and Thopok could see that even Mon’kor quickly realised that.  If Thopok could not have order Mon’kor to follow he had a feeling that the command and authority of Captain Masters would have forced Mon’kor to relent and step in line behind an undeniable leader of men.

  That was the type of respect he had once enjoyed and it had been a long time since someone else with that power had treated him with any type of respect.  It felt good to be trusted by someone in command and know that they believed you were capable of a task.  As he cautiously exited the lounge into the corridor he reflected that it had been too long.

  Ensign Cole inserted the chip back into it place in the turbolift controls.  Nothing happened.

  “DAMNIT!” he yelled thumping the wall of the turbolift with his fist.

  “Excuse me.”  He turned and saw that Autumn’s eyes were just barely open.  “Some people are trying to sleep,” she said meekly.

  Cole dropped to his knees and took one of her hands in his.  “Autumn!”

  Bailey had been unconscious since she had been shot by the Jem’Hadar.  Cole’s spirit instantly lifted upon hearing her voice again.

  “Why so concerned?” Bailey asked.  She strained her neck up and he placed a hand behind her head to support it.  “I don’t remember having a bloody, burnt hole in my side.”

  “I’m sorry, I should have shot him,” he apologised.

  “You’re sorry, why?” asked a perplexed sounding Bailey.

  “If I’d shot the Jem’Hadar he won’t have injured you.”

  “That’s a good point.  I think I remember you missing him by a mile.  You need practise at the phaser range,” she joked.  “I’m sure Misi appreciates that you didn’t shoot him.”

  “If he’s still alive,” he said quietly.  Guilt quickly filled Cole as he thought of the lieutenant.  “I left him and the commander up there alive...I abandoned them.”

  “For someone who hasn’t been shot you do whine a lot,” Bailey commented.  “You did what you had to,” she reassured him.  “I’m guessing the turbolift isn’t working.”

  “No, it’s locked in place.  As far as I can tell the entire system is in lock down.  I’ve tried but I can’t reinitiate this one...so far, I haven’t given up yet,” he added with a smile hoping that it would reassure her.

  “Have you contacted anyone?”

  He shook his head.  “Internal communications are down.  I can’t reach anyone.  Not even the computer is responding to requests.”

  Bailey shifted and let out a moan of pain.  “God that hurts.  Feel free to give me as many drugs as you can for the pain.”

  “I can’t.  There’s no medkit in this turbolift.”

  “I thought Starfleet put medkits everywhere.”  Bailey let out a sigh.  “I guess they didn’t expect people to be injured and trapped in these things.  Well, looks like we’re well and truly trapped.”  Bailey winced in pain again.  “I remember someone saying back at the academy to really appreciate the power of a phaser you need to be shot by one...well I have and I can tell you that they’re an idiot.”

  “It wasn’t a phaser,” he said.

  “What was it?”

  “One of those Jem’Hadar pistols.”

  Bailey let out a painful sigh.  “That’s not good.”

  “Obviously.”

  Bailey gave him a look that he often got when things went over his head.  “I mean it’s extra not good.  The Jem’Hadar polaron anti-personnel weapons often use anticoagulants.”

  “What?” Cole asked.

  “Anticoagulants.  Things that stop your blood from clotting,” Bailey explained.

  Cole looked down to the bloody wound.  “So the bleeding isn’t going to stop?”

  “It will eventually...when I run out of blood.”

  He gave her a stern look.  “That’s not funny.”

  “You’re telling me!” Bailey countered.  The effort sent her into a fit of coughing and Cole had to hold her down out of fear she would injure herself more.  “Don’t worry, I’m sure that the captain or Colonel Tiki will organise something and we’ll be out of here in a jiffy.”

  “How can you be so optimistic?”

  “It’s one of my endearing attributes.  A sense of optimism that raises the spirits of those around me.  Are you feeling it?”

  He gave her a false smile.  “I no longer have any worries.”

  “See, works every time,” Bailey reached out his her hand and stroked him arm.  “Don’t worry; we’ll be out of here soon.”

  Cole grasped her hand and squeezed it.  He smiled back at Bailey as if he believed her, but he did not.  He had no doubts the ship was in enemy hands and the fates of two low ranking officers of minimal importance just were not a priority.  The first sign of rescue would most likely be when they were beamed out of the turbolift and into a prisoner of war camp.

  “Shouldn’t you be fixing this turbolift?” Bailey asked.

  “Right,” he replied.  He gave her hand one last squeeze and stood.

  With his back to Bailey he finally let his smile disappear.  He did not know how much more he could do to try and get the turbolift activated.  He knew that he was highly unlikely to get it moving again, but he had to try.  He could not give up, not because his life depended on it but because Bailey’s did.

  Jasis let the Jem’Hadar first and fourth enter the captain’s quarters first.  They had cleared the decks of the ship of the gas and were now able to go about the main task: finding Captain Masters.  They had used the ship’s transporter to beam them just outside the captain’s quarters and she was glad that she had not been incapacitated by the gas when they materialised, that would have been very annoying.  On the bridge she had left the second to oversee the three Jem’Hadar manning the bridge stations.  With one Jem’Hadar guarding the prisoners from the bridge that left two others that she had dispatched to go deck by deck and investigate the ship in case there was anything else of interest.

  The first came back out of the quarters.  “Captain Masters is not here.”

  Jasis frowned.  “That is most...disappointing.”

  “His quarters are not empty.  There is a woman present in his bed.”

  “Really?  Let me see.”

  The first stood aside and she entered Captain Masters’ private quarters.  This was something completely new to her.  Jasis had based her mission on the invaluable data that had been gathered whilst the ship’s science officer, Terri Letac, had been in Dominion captivity.  Letac had been subjected to a simulated reality and tricked into revealing information on the Swiftfire such as the ship’s future patrol routes, layout, information on various personnel and classified information on the ship. 

  Some of it had proved to be useless.  For example the patrol route they had received had been useless as the Swiftfire had been reassigned roughly two weeks ago for some other assignment and that had been followed by Task Force 59 moving to a new location.  Letac’s private codes would have been changed as soon as she returned to the ship, again making them useless.  However, things such as duty assignments, room layouts and how the crew responded to events were harder to change.  So thanks to Jasis’s knowledge of the ship she had been able to train her forces with exact holographic recreations of places like the bridge and engineering.

  In the end it was the timing that became the most concerning factor.  This operation was to take place two weeks ago but it was not possible.  She had been concerned that as time went on the risk of her plans being discovered increased.  If either side had stumbled on her before she got to the Swiftfire her mission would have been over very quickly.

  The Dominion had no idea Jasis 13 was active.  She had appropriated the captured Federation vessel for the mission with some help from her replacement.  Even the Jem’Hadar she now commanded had no idea of her true self or the true nature of her plans.  Once again she had her other self to thank for their presence.  Jasis 13 had no doubt that Jasis 14 would have made sure that if they were discovered that there would be no evidence that tied her to her estranged predecessor.  It was what Jasis 13 would have done.

  She had considered keeping evidence to the contrary that she could use to blackmail her successor.  However, that was a dangerous move.  Jasis 14 had the entire Dominion in the Alpha Quadrant in which to draw from.  Her successor would simply find it easier to have Jasis 13 killed if Jasis 13 pushed her.  At the moment Jasis 14 preferred to just offer a bit of help and for the rest of the time just pretend Jasis 13 did not exist.

  Thankfully despite it taking longer than she planned they had not run across any Dominion of Federation Alliance forces.

  Thank the Founders, she mused.

  The design of the captain’s quarters was not a surprise; she had access to more than enough detailed records on the layout of the crew quarters on an Akira class vessel.  What she did not know was exactly how Captain Masters’ quarters looked.  What personal touched he had added, if he had adjusted the layout of the room in any way.  His room could tell her a lot about the man he was, even more so than the Dominion intelligence reports on him.

  She made her way to the bed, which the fourth was standing over and saw a very peaceful Rachel Daley sleeping there.  This was not a big surprise.  She knew that Captain Masters had recently started a relationship with the marine major; however she had expected that if Daley was there so would Masters.

  “Well, this is interesting,” she murmured.  “Have the second locate the captain’s combadge.”

  She continued to stare at Daley, to assess her.  From what she understood of human views on beauty she thought that Daley could be considered an attractive woman.  Her face had the features that could mark her as beautiful, though she knew that humans considered beauty to be something very subjective.  On that surface level she could understand why Masters would have started an intimate relationship with Daley.

  Jasis felt the first’s presence next to her.  “Yes?”

  “The second reports they are unable to detect Captain Masters’ combadge.”

  “He is unable?” Jasis questioned

  “It is not showing on the ship’s sensors.  I have ordered him to sweep the ship again.”

  “Well, this isn’t exactly to plan,” she mumbled.  “It is possible that the captain might have recently left the ship.  I wonder if I haven’t managed to miss him somehow.  Contact the two Jem’Hadar sweeping the ship and notify them to be on the lookout for the captain.  It is possible he might be somewhere on this ship without his combadge.”

  “With only two Jem’Hadar that could take some time,” said the first.

  Jasis had to make due with a new small crew.  She had only been able to get her hands on a platoon of Jem’Hadar.  To make up enough numbers to run the Armidale and to help with the boarding action she had to turn to mercenaries.  At the moment the Armidale was entirely crewed by mercenaries.  Jasis trusted that they would stick to the plan as long as she owned them a significant amount.  However, a stolen Centaur class vessel could also bring about a significant profit if the mercenaries stole it and sold it.  As added insurance she had informed them that the ship was rigged to explode if they stole it.

  Jasis could order more mercenaries onto the Swiftfire from the Armidale but she was already running the Armidale with a barely adequate number.  It might take them more time but time was not exactly a crucial factor that the moment.

  “Have them concentrate on public areas, lounges, science labs, the quarters of senior staff.  Time is not a huge factor.  There is no way for anyone to track us down.”  A thought suddenly came to her.  “You have checked his ready room?” she asked.

  “Of course, rona’toran.”

  Jasis smiled to herself.  She thought about what if the first had given her the opposite answer and how silly she would have felt if the captain had just been off the bridge this entire time.  It would be more embarrassing for the Jem’Hadar than her and she could just imagine the face of the first if he or his men had missed such an obvious location and failed to secure a room connected to the bridge.

  “Signal you men,” she ordered.

  “Very well, rona’toran.”

  “Once that’s done I want you to secure her to a chair,” Jasis said pointing to Daley.  A wide sadistic smile came to her face.  “I think Miss Daley and I will be having a bit of a chat.”