SEASON 3: EPISODE 04

TO DELIGHT IN THE INHUMAN WORD: Part Nine

  “Here you go,” said Colonel Tiki to Masters.

  Masters accepted the type 2 phaser from giant marine.  He checked its charge and holstered it at his side.  He looked around the small armoury, which seemed overcrowded with the fifteen beings inside.  He spotted Mon’kor scowl as he was given a type 2 phaser.  He looked less than pleased and appeared to be arguing with the marine who had given him the weapon.

  “So what’s the count?” Masters asked turning his attention back to Tiki.

  “We have enough phaser rifles to arm my marines.  We even found a sniper version for the squad’s sniper.  Not much in the way of heavy ordinance, there are only two isomagnetic disintegrators.  They’ll breach the hull...but that means you have to be in the same room as the hull breach...so that usefulness is something not so useful.”

  “What about explosives?”

  Tiki sighed.  “Nothing great.  We won’t be blowing up the ship with what we can lay our hands on in here.  We can definitely do some damage though.”

  They had not discussed it but both Masters and Tiki knew that if they could not regain the ship they had to destroy it.  Tiki was already looking into that eventuality, which Masters found concerning.

  “We need to come up with a plan to take back this ship and limit casualties to the crew.  A running fire fight through the hulls is not something I want,” spelt out Masters.

  “I agree.  Our best bet is to try and take back the bridge or engineering.  From there we can disrupt their control of the ship.”

  “Problem is we have no idea the number of boarders on the ship,” pointed out Masters.

  “We at least have some bio-dampeners,” pointed out Tiki.  “We’ll be able to at least keep the element of surprise.”

  Masters looked down to his wrist.  On it he wore a wristband that contained a bio-dampener that hid him from sensors.

  “I think I have a solution for that,” said First Lieutenant Stark, stepping around the bulk of Tiki.  “We could use the Darling as a sensor.  We’re a stone’s throw from the shuttlebay.”

  In comparison to Tiki, Stark was a fair bit smaller.  He was of around average height and lacked the massive bulk of the colonel.  Stark also had a darker complexion than Colonel Tiki and had a circle beard, much like Masters.  Stark was a technology expert and Masters had no doubt Stark could have as easily been an engineer in Starfleet if he had not joined the Marine Corps.

  “Won’t the boarders detect that?” asked Tiki.

  “Not if we keep the power very low.  It would mean we probably won’t get more than a life-signs count on the ship.”

  “That would mean the boarders identity would still be a mystery,” pointed out Masters.

  “But at least we’d know roughly how many.”

  “Roughly?” questioned Tiki just before Masters could do the same thing.

  “I’ll be comparing the number of crew on this ship, plus the Klingons, and comparing it to the life-sign readings currently.  The difference would be the minimum number of boarders.  The problem arises that my original figure is not...accurate.”

  Masters was about to ask why it would not be when it dawned on him.  “The number of alive crew might be different now,” he said.

  Stark nodded solemnly, “They might be dead or simply have been taken off the ship.  That’s assuming there was another vessel involved in the boarding.”

  Masters nodded in agreement.  It seemed likely that another vessel had to have been present.  They were in the middle of space with no planets or station nearby and the boarders had to have come from somewhere.

  “It will still give us a fair idea, as long as there are more life-sign now than before, otherwise the readings will be useless,” pointed out Tiki.  He looked to Masters.  “How many people do you actually need to run this ship?”

  Masters thought about it for a few seconds.  “You’d need a minimum of three on the bridge, one at flight control, ops and tactical.  A fourth would also be desirable to command or man the science station.  As for engineering...four in each room could operate this ship as long as nothing major goes wrong.”

  “So we’re looking at a possible twelve hostiles.  Even if we get nothing useful from the sensors we’ll stick to a minimum of twelve boarders,” said Tiki.  He looked back to Stark.  “Get on it, Tyson.  Take two marines with you in case you run into anyone.  After you’re done get back here so we can plan what to do next.”

  There was not a lot to do while they waited for Stark to return.  Tiki oversaw the rest of his men preparing for the mission, once that was done he discussed with Captain Masters plans on how to destroy the ship if that became the only option left open to them.  They were still discussing it when Stark returned.

  Both Tiki and Masters went to the lieutenant.

  “Run into any trouble?” asked Tiki.

  Stark shook his head.  “Didn’t see any sign of the enemy.  We got to the Darling without incident.”

  Tiki was glad to hear that, the last thing he needed was for the enemy to become aware of the fact they were running around the ship still.

  “And the scans?” asked Captain Masters.

  “We got them done.  We’re looking at a minimum of fifteen hostiles.”

  “What about where they are?” asked Tiki

  Stark’s face showed that he did not have much good news on that front.  “We had to keep it really low powered.  We did get a deck by deck listing so for the most part we don’t know.  But we did get a number for the bridge area.  Eight.  One was pretty weak, so I’m thinking that they might have captured some of the bridge crew and are holding them there.”

  Tiki frowned deeply.  “That could be a problem.  It means they have hostages to use as shields or deterrents to attacks.  It will make taking back that area more difficult.  If we work on there being four bridge crew and say one or two guards for the prisoners, that means two or three prisoners.”

  “The gamma shift has at least seven personnel on the bridge at most times,” said Masters.  Tiki heard the pain in his voice as he no doubt considered that it was almost certain some of the crew had been killed when the ship was captured.

  Tiki put a more positive spin on the news.  “We at least are about equal in terms of numbers with the minimum,” he said.  “We also know that five or six are on the bridge, we’re looking at four or five in the engineering rooms.  We can overpower any one of those locations, maybe even take back both of the main engineerings with a simultaneous attack.”

  “Did you try to send out a signal from the Darling?” asked Tiki.

  Stark nodded but frowned at the same time.  “We tried.  There’s a communication interference field surrounding the ship preventing signals from escaping.  It appears they have remodulated the shields so that any transmission is basically bounced back.  If I knew what the exact modulation so I could breach the field but I don’t know how long that would take.  I also detected some sensor interference and the source was not this ship.  I couldn’t risk a scan wide or comprehensive enough to discover the source but I’d guess that there is another ship with us.”

  “That’s not good news,” said Masters.  “If there is another ship they could reinforce their forces on this ship at any time.”

  “Also, again this is a bit of speculating, but I think they might be masking both ships,” said Stark.

  Tiki frowned.  He did not need Stark to explain why that was also bad news.  If the ships had effective sensor masking then it would make it a lot harder for any search party to locate them.  Also if the source was another ship disabling the interference was out of their reach.

  “Well, at least we have a rough idea of what we’re up against,” commented Masters not sounding particularly up beat.

  “There’s one more thing,” said Stark.  Tiki looked back to Stark and waited for him to continue.  “We detected that one of the nearby holodecks is operating.  The readings we got were pretty basic but they did seem to indicate that it was actively doing something.  The readings weren’t purely uniform as you would expect if someone just left it running.”

  Tiki looked to Masters and knew exactly what the captain was going to say.

  “We have to check it out.”

  Tiki was going to argue that it was a waste of time and that they should go after taking back the ship but he knew it would be pointless to argue.  Captain Masters had the final say.

  “Okay, we’ll have a look, just in case someone is still active and doesn’t know the ship has been boarded.  We can use all the help we can get to take this ship back,” said Tiki.

  Masters nodded a thank you to him for not arguing with him.  Tiki mused that he did not get to be a colonel without knowing which battles to fight.  He turned to address the rest of the marines.

  “Saddle up, marines!  We’re heading out!”

  Cole brushed the stray hair from Autumn’s face.  It distressed him to see her like this.  He was sure she had noticeably paled and his makeshift bandage was soaked with her blood.  The pain she was in was etched on her face.  He wanted to do more but there was nothing he could do, he had nothing to work with in the tight confines of the turbolift

  “It hurts,” Bailey mumbled.

  “I know,” Cole said trying to reassure her.  “You just need to hang on, help will be coming soon.  Just think about something nice.  Like home; think of Alpha Centauri.”

  “How many times do I have to remind you I was born on the Proxima colony?  I swear if you say Alpha Centauri again I’ll...” Bailey went into a fit of coughing.  The action causing her to cry in pain as Cole did his best to hold her still.  “I don’t think anyone’s coming,” Bailey said after several moments of silence.

  “Don’t say that.  I’m sure a rescue is already under way.”

  “If it was they would be here now.  The Dominion have taken the ship...there’s no help coming.”

  “The captain, Nikki and Colonel Tiki wouldn’t let that happen.  They’ll take back this ship and save us.”

  “They don’t even know we’re here.”

  “I’ve sent a signal.”

  “No you haven’t.  I know you tried but it didn’t work.  You can’t get the turbolift moving and you can’t contact anyone else on the ship.”

  Cole had indeed tried to send a signal out using the turbolift controls but had failed.  He had put on an act to make it seem like he had succeeded so to ease Autumn’s mind, it seemed that ploy had also failed miserably.

  “You just need to hold on,” Cole willed Bailey.

  “I don’t know if I can.  Sooner rather than later it will be too late to save me.”

  “I am not going to let you die,” he assured Bailey.

  “You can’t do anything about it in here,” Bailey told him.  “You’re uninjured you could climb out of the turbolift and make your way to an escape pod or the shuttlebay.  You can escape, save yourself.”

  The suggestion shocked Cole.  He had not once considered leaving the turbolift.  “I’m not going to leave you here.”

  Bailey looked him in the eye questioningly.  “So you want to watch me slowly bleed to death?”  The question took his breath away.  He tried to stammer out a reply but Bailey continued to speak, “I don’t want you to see that.  I don’t want you to waste your time on a lost cause.”

  “You are not a lost cause.”

  “You’re an idiot,” Bailey said harshly.  She then reached up weakly with her arm and placed a trembling hand on his cheek.  “But you’re a brave idiot.  I’m going to die here, Frank.  I don’t want you to die with me, not when I know you can escape and survive.”

  Cole grabbed her shaking hand on his face and squeezed it.  “I can’t leave you here.”

  “Please, I want you to leave me,” Bailey paused; a pleading look came to her pain filled face.  “It’s my last wish that you at least try to save yourself.”

  Cole stared into Bailey’s watering eyes and felt his own match hers.  He clenched his eyes shut to hold back the tears.  “I can’t do that,” he stated, eyes still closed.

  He felt her pull her hand from his face and suddenly his cheek stung and a sound of flesh striking flesh echoed in the turbolift.  Cole opened his eyes and saw rage in the eyes of Bailey.

  “Frank Edwin Cole, you get the hell out of this goddamn turbolift NOW!” shouted Bailey.

  “But...”

  He did not get to continue his sentence as he received another slap to the face.

  “GET OUT!” screamed Bailey.  She struck him again.  “GET THE HELL OUT!”

  Cole was forced to restrain Bailey as she attacked him.  Her voice pummelled him in the small space.

  Bailey’s rage did not subside even when he had her arms under his control.  “You’d stay and watch me die, you bastard!  I will never forgive you if you do!”

  Her word hurt him far more than her physical attack.  Cole was speechless as he stared into her angry eyes.  He saw how serious Bailey was about him leaving her.  Cole knew that to stay would hurt Bailey far more than if he left and she died.

  “Okay,” Cole said hoarsely.  “I’ll go.”  The anger and rage in Bailey’s eyes subsided.  “But I’m not leaving.  I’m going to get help.  You...you will stay alive until I get back.  I’m going to save you.”

  He left go of her arms and stood up.  He looked up at the ceiling and saw the roof access hatch.  It took him only a few moments to open it.

  “Thank you,” whispered Bailey.  “I have something to fight for, something to cling onto hope for – you.”

  Cole did not look back at Bailey and just nodded to show he had heard what she had said.  Cole then hoisted himself up and through the hatch on the roof of the turbolift and into the dark channel of the turbolift tube.  He bent down and looked back into the turbolift and down at the prone body of Autumn on the floor.

  “I’ll be back,” he promised.  “I love you.”

  Bailey smiled as widely as she could manage.  “I love you too.”

  It took Cole’s entire will to pull away from the hatch.  He moved to the ladder on the wall of the tube and placed a foot on the first rung.  As his other foot landed on the next rung he realised that tears were freely flowing down his cheeks.

    Lieutenant Paul Dyson silently worked on his task.  The group had come to a stop at the closest exit point to the holodeck they had come to check.  His job was to use the local internal sensors to check out the area.  This was a task he could do without signalling anyone to their presence as he was not taking control of the sensors, simply leeching the information from them.  He focused on the readings from the holodeck and watched them for several moments until he had enough information to form a conclusion.

  He turned to Colonel Tiki and Captain Masters who were seated behind him in the small junction space.

  “Stark was right, one of the holodecks is definitely active.”

  “Someone was probably using it when they gassed the ship,” said Tiki.

  “The safety protocols should keep them safe for now,” added Masters.

  “No, what I meant is that he was right that someone is using it.  The readings show that the holodeck us adjusting due to someone being active inside.”

  “Can you tell who?” asked Masters.

  “That’s the weird thing – I can’t,” admitted Dyson.  That was the strangest part of this whole thing; Dyson had no idea who was in the holodeck.  “The readings don’t make any sense at all.  There are no bio-signs from inside the room but someone, or something, is interacting with the scenario.”

  Masters glanced at Tiki.  “Sensor interference?  Bio-dampeners?” asked Masters.  “Do you think we have some boarders in there?” asked Masters.

  “It’s possible but why would the people stealing our ship go for a play in a holodeck?  And why would they mask their presence in there but not anywhere else?” said Tiki.

  “We have to check it out,” stated Masters in a way that left no ambiguity as to that being an order.

  Tiki nodded.  “I’ll take a squad with me.  I’ll leave the other with you and Dyson,” Tiki said to Masters.

  Tika went to squeeze past Masters, no mean feat given the size of the marine, but Masters grabbed him.  “I don’t think so.  I’m coming with you.”

  “I don’t think that is a good idea, sir.  Part of my mission as joint-head of security for the Swiftfire is to ensure your safety and in this tube is the safest place for you at this time.”

  “I’m the commanding officer of this ship and I will not hide in the Jefferies tubes when I have the opportunity to see who has taken my ship and possibly find out first hand why.”

  Dyson silently watched as the two strong willed men clashed.  Neither looked like they were willing to give in to the other.

  “I could restrain you for your own safety, captain,” pointed out Tiki

  “I wouldn’t want to hurt one of your men or women, colonel,” shot back Masters.

  Dyson thought that they would be stuck like this forever but the colonel yielded to Captain Masters.

  “Nor do they want to hurt you,” Tiki said with a sigh.  “Very well.  You let my men lead.”

  Masters nodded and allowed the colonel to squeeze past him.  Tiki returned a moment later.

  “Dyson, I want you to extend a communication and sensor jamming over the immediate area.  If there is a hostile in there I don’t want them calling for help,” ordered Tiki.

  “That will interference with your communications as well,” he pointed out.

  “I’m aware of that but we’re close enough that if something goes wrong you’ll be able to hear it with your ears,” said Tiki with a wide smile.

  Dyson smiled back weakly.  The colonel had a way of finding the light side in the situation, no doubt due to years of experience in life or death situations.  Dyson being a joined Trill had far more experience than the colonel but it was telling him to be more pessimistic about the entire endeavour.

  If it can go wrong, it probably will, said the voice of one of Dyson’s past hosts.  Paul could not help but agree.