Path: inforamp.net!news.nstn.ca!news.dal.ca!torn!howland.reston.ans.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news-feed.iguide.com!uunet!in2.uu.net!ulowell.uml.edu!news.cs.umb.edu!oitnews.harvard.edu!irs.joslin.harvard.edu!weed From: Mathew Weed Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: New! Defender: (Also The Vortex' Defender) Part V Date: Sun, 25 Feb 1996 14:20:32 -0500 Organization: Harvard University Office of Information Technology Lines: 836 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: irs.joslin.harvard.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Status: N What's Paramount's is Paramount's, what's ours is copyright 1995-6 McGinnis' return to the bridge came as a surprise to his officers, not because he had returned, but more as a result of his quite obvious change in mood. "All right, people, I've learned a good deal from our new "guest," whom Benik is seeing to the brig now. The fighters aren't related to the Romulans, and are just regular pirates. The Romulans have orders to capture or destroy this ship, and have brought a small landing party that has orders to capture M'Kenna and take her back to Lursa and B'itor for whatever purpose they may have. This group is our primary concern, and is made up primarily of human agents, led by a small trader named "Rafe", or something like that. With this in mind, I want ship's security, and the remains of the marine contingent to put together a large party, with full battle gear and the field artillery to prepare for an insertion via either transporter or runabout. "Mr. Schultz, if your department can contribute people from other divisions who have military training appropriate to the task, without endangering your efficiency, please draw upon them. M'Kenna is a major figure in the Empire, and must be recaptured at all cost. Mr. Thale, maintain tactical maneuvering stance, and move to a position from which we can effectively ensure that nothing takes off from anywhere within our current phaser range, and nothing can escape a circle having a fifty kilometer radius around the point at which M'Kenna was, apparently, captured. Operations, give me a way to knock out all surface-space communications. All right, people, you've got your jobs, let's get cracking!" The activity level on the Bridge, already high, jumped sharply, particularly near the weapons station. * * * Gank found the crack in the rock that opened with a slight push. Soon, the Klingons and the Federation troops were angling their way down the cave. Between the rumblings from the one-sided battle above them, they could hear some commotion ahead, and quietly made their way toward it; Torgul in the lead. * * * "Sir, I'm getting a weak signal from Captain Torgul," Anders reported. "She seems a bit ... stressed," "Put her through," The crackle of interference was strong when Torgul's voice came over the bridge's speakers. "Sir, I've found M'Kenna, but she's been captured by a number of terrorists. We're following them, but are unsure of numbers and weapons at the moment." "We've got a fix, but you're passing into a region that we can't transport her out of without a communicator. I can beam in some help if you think it would be useful." "No sir, I think that we've got them out numbered, and we've got surprise on our side, so it shouldn't be a problem. If we've not reported in fifteen minutes, there's been a problem." "All right, good luck." "Thanks, out." replied the telarite. "Sir, we're taking the fighters down one by one, but even with the ring split into eighth power collimators, we're still missing a lot more of these damned fighters than we're getting." said Schultz, as his fingers, for the hundredth time it seemed, struck the firing controls. "How many are left?" "About ten, bout of a squadron of twenty." "Have they damaged our shields?" "No Sir, their weapons aren't powerful enough at the range that they've got to keep in order to miss out on our phasers." "Fine, let's make it a bit harder for them to keep their range. Helm, set course for the fighters, velocity maximum safe impulse speed, use the drive, it should shake 'em up while we go by. Mr. Schultz, while we're giving them a close-up view of our colors, use the computer to individually target the ships using the engineering, wing, and aft ring collimators. Whatever we can't get with the ring or the drive, we'll get with the small systems." "Sir, the computer's not capable of handling that many targets." "Yes it can, we make our computers to handle multiple scanning analyses all the time, just use the tactical analyzer to target adjust and fire. it'll be slow, since we don't have enough distributed processing for that many targets, but it'll work, and the computer won't get tired." "Yes Sir," said Schultz somewhat doubtfully. "Commander T'sommahr, help out with the computer work," "Yes Sir," she said, while moving to assist Schultz with a programming and activation job that his computer skills were only barely sufficient to handle in the required time. "Sir, we're now in position to begin our run," said Thale. "Tactical, are you ready?" "Yes Sir," said Schultz, now seeing how things should be handled, and wondering why the ship's automatic targeting systems hadn't been given enough flexibility to handle multiple jobs. "Let's do it," said McGinnis who sat back for the ride. Unfortunately, the ride was all-too-brief, as the shock of the ship's near passage and heavy blows from the ring's sub-collimators knocked five fighters down, and the computer, using short bursts of phaser fire struck down three more before the remains of the once-dangerous fighter force turned and accelerated toward both warp drive and open space. * * * Two of Rafe's men dragged Elise between them, meaning to put her in a holding cell. Suddenly, they heard the unmistakable click of a phaser rifle being taken off safety. Before they could react, both men felt something hard and pointy in their ribs. They dropped Elise and raised their hands. "Pick her up." Torgul ordered her people. Two Klingons instantly obeyed. "Alright, boys;" she addressed Rafe's men. "we're going for a little walk." * * * "Sir," called Anders, "I've got Torgul on the line, she says that they've recaptured M'Kenna, and that she's in real bad shape. She's requested an emergency beam-in for nine." "Fine, I'll get to sick bay as soon as I can, but tell Benik to get down there on the double, it may help her to have a truly familiar face on hand." *** McGinnis headed for sickbay, as soon as he had a moment free. Still a fair way down the hall, he heard the screams of what could have been a wild animal; but he knew it wasn't. As he stepped in the door, he demanded the doctor's explanation. "We were forced to restrain her." the doctor said. "The chalazine typically brings out aggressive behavior. She's pretty much out of control." "Chalazine?" "A *designer* drug, often used by merchants. Makes them aggressive while bargaining. That's in small doses; the dose captain McKenna received... You can see for yourself." "Can't you give her something?" McGinnis looked into the exam room, where Elise struggled against the restraining force field, transfixed by the change in the woman whose instincts and training he had come to respect. "Not with what's already in her system. The drug will have to simply run its course." McGinnis nodded thoughtfully. "Shut off the restraints." "But Captain," "Do it." With a shrug, the doctor complied. Elise was off the exam table in a flash, and instantly crouched in a corner; the best defensive position she could find. McGinnis went in cautiously, showing open hands. "M'Kenna?" He crouched a couple of meters away, getting on her level. "You know who I am, right?" Elise stared at him for a moment, then nodded. She came out of the crouch just a little bit, holding her head up and straightening her back. "Hiya, Mac." He smiled, in spite of himself. "It's bad, eh?" "Pretty bad." she agreed. "Do they really need to restrain you?" She looked around. "I don't like it." "I know; but in your estimation, is it necessary?" "I..." she had a hard time fighting between honesty, and want. "We could do the brig thing." she chuckled bitterly. "It wouldn't be the first time." "We'll keep it relatively quiet. Shall I have Benik take you there?" he asked, wanting to keep this within the command structure. Elise laughed again, in a way that gave McGinnis chills. "Better not." she said. "Else you'll have to get what's left of him outta my teeth with a toothpick." He looked at the doctor, who nodded and said "Part of the aggressive reaction to the drug." "Odd;" McGinnis said dryly, "she doesn't have that reaction with me." "Who says I don't?" Elise whispered, looking both afraid and hungry. "Yes, well..." He backed up a bit and stood. "I'll send security down with two men,-" "Better make it four." Elise stood slowly, her back still in the corner. "Uh...right. Doctor? Can you uh...handle things till then?" "I'll have a couple of orderlies sit with her." "Sounds like fun." Elise smiled, her eyes slightly glazed over. "We'll talk later, right Mac?" "Er...yes." McGinnis edged toward the door. "I'd say we have quite a bit to discuss. You just...concentrate on getting better, for now." "Aye-aye, sir." she said, and began to laugh again. McGinnis kept his cool until he got into the hallway, then let himself shudder. * * * "Subcommander! I have a message from the surface of the planet, directed to the ... former commander," cried the centurion at the communications board. Arwein, who had not yet fully accepted that she had just killed one of the changelings of whom the Federation and Cardassians were so afraid, turned sharply in the command chair, wishing that the chief engineer would arrive on the bridge to take command. However, for the moment, she was responsible. "Open a link." "Open" "What do you want?" she demanded, not particularly caring who was on the other end of the channel. "I am Rafe, and your commander will not be pleased with how you are treating me," came the oily voice of one of the humans whom they had transported to the surface several days previously. "The commander is dead, I am in charge now," she replied, not in the mood to deal with this dupe of the Klingon p'tae B'itor and Lursa. "The Humans have come with a mighty warship, and will take me if you don't beam me up right now," said Rafe, his voice now slightly nervous. "The humans, even at their worst, have more respect for their enemies, and honor than you have. As the commander was a changeling, I have no evidence that we received orders from the high command to bring you here, or to help you in any way." Rafe, who had made no arrangements, save those with the former commander, knew that he would have to figure out some other way to escape the truly enormous battleship which was, even now, blasting away more and more of the pirates with whom he had formed a temporary alliance. A frighteningly obvious fact was that they weren't having any effect at all on the big battlewagon. He wouldn't have cared all that much, except that Elise McKenna was up there, and the thought of her coming after him, free of her drugs, but not of her fury, with a pack of soldiers who had fanatical loyalty to her; this was what he truly feared. .... well, it couldn't have lasted anyway. "Fuck you, bitch," he spat as he closed the channel, and started running. *** After checking in at the bridge, McGinnis decided to look in on the interrogations; Torgul had brought two new subjects with her. These men seemed to be closer to the one called Rafe, so the information could be more valuable. He only hoped they could manage to extract it, before Benik got carried away and pulverized the source. His pace slowed, though, when he neared the interrogation room and heard dead silence. Upon entering, he was treated to the view of Torgul and Benik glaring wordlessly at the new prisoners. "What seems to be the problem?" McGinnis asked. The Tellerite and the Klingon exchanged uncomfortable looks. The prisoners, however, looked positively smug. "Captain Torgul," McGinnis insisted, "I asked you a question." "Sir." Torgul squirmed a bit. "This...slime claims M'Kenna promised him her protection." "Is that so?" McGinnis doubted it, but turned to the prisoners. "She said she'd get you to look the other way," one of them growled, "while us and Rafe escaped. She promised we'd get out of this. She gave her word." McGinnis looked at Benik, who clearly did not believe any of this; yet would not touch the prisoners until he knew them to be lying. "I see." McGinnis said. "I suppose I'll have to verify this with the source." The two apish hoodlums snickered. Obviously, they doubted McKenna could verify her own name, at this point. "She's not as bad off as all that." he assured them, though not quite convinced of this himself. "In fact, I just came from speaking with her. Yes, gentlemen; I suppose we'll have this cleared up quite soon. Take this time to ponder whether you might want to change your story." He headed for the door. "Captain, Lieutenant, carry on." **** McGinnis stormed into the brig, pausing before McKenna's cell until the force-field was lowered. Elise sat up; sporting a few new bruises, but looking none the worse for it. "Willie Mac!" she growled, a lopsided grin on her face. "Sure you wanna come in here unarmed?" McGinnis ignored her, and stepped inside. "Raise force-field, and opaque it." he ordered the guard. "Computer: McGinnis, code one-A-zero-zero security override; disengage all monitoring and recording devices at this location." "Override accepted," the computer intoned, "shut down complete." "Ooooo." Elise scoffed. "No witnesses. I'm scared." "You should be." McGinnis shot back. "I am sorely tempted to wring your miserable neck." A slow smile spread over Elise's face. "Why don't you give it your best shot, Willie Mac?" "Stop calling me that!" he snapped. "I need to know if you promised those brigands we'd let them go." "Do I LOOK stupid?" He ignored her question. "Could you kindly tell me where they might get such an idea?" Elise shrugged. "I *might* have said something..." "Might have?" "Hey; that was on the condition Rafe let me go without doping me up. Quid pro quo, right?" "Quid pro-" He pushed his hand through his hair. "I want exact words, M'Kenna." "You might be outta luck." "Try." Elise dragged herself to her feet, and paced the cell for a few moments. "OK, I was at the begging stage;-" "Somehow I have trouble picturing you begging." She shot him a look. "Some things are worse than death, man. Rafe was talkin' about keepin' me for a pet. I'd rather become a hooker on Cardassia, than go through that again." "Again?" "Ancient history. Anyway, I said something to the effect that maybe we could work something out. Maybe I could use my pull to get them out of this." McGinnis nodded thoughtfully. "You didn't actually promise results." "Right. And the whole thing hinged on me *not* gettin' dosed." "I suppose they thought you would still me incapacitated enough, that you wouldn't be able to verify any of this." "Yeah, they shot me up pretty good." He paused to look her over a bit. "You seem much better." "For now. Shakes should set in, about an hour from now." "Shakes?" "Chalazine's parting love gift, as it leaves the system." He shook his head. "I'm sorry I doubted you." "You should be." she sniffed. "I had a nice healthy buzz goin' and now I'm all sobered up." A few come-backs came to mind, but McGinnis settled for "I think I'll let the doctor be the judge of that." He considered his next words carefully. "M'Kenna, it seems the pirates intended to capture you all along. Someone leaked information to them, concerning your whereabouts. I get different stories from them as to why, but you might consider that perhaps your being sent on this mission..." He paused, not really wanting to open this particular can of worms. "I don't know what circles of influence are at work here, but you may have been set up." Elise had been leaning against a wall. She turned away from him, visibly slumping. "M'Kenna?" "Welcome to my nightmare, Billy-boy." she said, her back still turned. "I don't know why he doesn't just slit my throat and get it over with." "Who?" "Do I have to say it?" McGinnis, of course, knew very well she meant Gowron. "No, you don't have to say it. Why do you stand for it? You're a reasonable person. Well; mostly reasonable." She laughed a little. "It's not like I have a choice, you know?" She sighed. "Now I gotta go back there, and pretend I don't know. The only thing I get out of it, is knowing he'll be really pissed his little plan didn't work. Just means he'll try harder, next time." "You still carry Federation citizenship. I'm perfectly willing to extend diplomatic protection to you, until I can deliver you to a starbase." "And risk starting a war?" She turned to face him. "You must think I'm pretty damn selfish." He lifted his chin slightly, poised to deliver his catalyst. "Actually, I was wondering how you can function, with such a huge martyr complex." "Oh, you are fucking TOAST!" She launched herself at him, taking him almost by surprise. They rolled on the floor a few times, but the drug had taken its toll. McGinnis managed to pin her without too much trouble, and let her rage until she wound down and lay still. He waited a moment more (in case it was a trick), then released her. A soft snore startled him, and he realized she'd fallen asleep. With a few stifled grunts, he managed to hoist her up unto her cot. Elise stirred, gave him an incredibly beatific smile, then drifted back off to sleep. Pausing to catch his breath, he watched her for awhile. How could she be so strong, yet seem to need so much? Nothing about her fit his ideal of a leader, yet he doubted he'd met many finer. And, damn it, what was it about her that made him feel he should help her? Why should he care? He began to think he was getting a taste of what made her troops serve her so avidly. He knew small groups of them found excuses to quietly stroll past the brig, hoping for some word. They would do whatever she asked of them, and ask to do more. He shook his head. He didn't understand how she could command such respect, while behaving like a common foot soldier; or worse. Quietly, he ordered the guard to lower the force-field. With a smile, he headed up to the interrogation room. At least he was going to get the chance to cheer *someone* up, today. McGinnis entered the room once again, glancing at the prisoners and their captors. "I..." he sighed and shook his head. "I really *hate* liars." With that, he turned to leave; but not before being treated to the sight of Benik and Torgul's broadening smiles. * * * "Captain McGinnis to sick bay," came the quiet announcement from the computer on his desk. He saved the form that he had been filling out, and left his quarters, as glad as any other Starfleet captain to be able to avoid paperwork. "What do you need, doctor?" he asked as soon as the doors had opened enough to allow him to slip in. "McKenna is here, she had some more trouble with the Chalazine, but I think that she's over it now." It was true, as McGinnis entered one of the private recovery rooms, he saw McKenna, sweaty, disheveled, but clearly "better" than he'd seen her in more than a day. "So how're you feeling?" "Not bad, just pissed off. When can I go and hunt the bastard down?" "I don't know yet, we're just finishing our scans of the area, including the scout and their base. It looks like Sanchez didn't survive the crash, and the scout's engines are so close to going critical, that I don't even dare pick it up and try to fix it. Benik's been talking with some of his men, they may be able to tell us where he's going and who's helping him try to get you." "Speaking of which," the doctor's voice interrupted, "that Klingon bone crusher brought in a couple of prisoners for me to "repair,". I thought that we were still observing the Geneva convention." "We do, doctor, but the Klingons don't." said McGinnis, noticing Elise's feral grin on hearing the comment. "Right, but aren't you responsible for their care?" "No, as I told one of the pirates, M'Kenna's party has diplomatic immunity, so in areas relating to interspecies relations, where the ship's safety isn't at risk, they've got a free hand." "Well, that lug certainly felt free to use his hands," grumbled the doctor as he turned and left the two commanders to their privacy. However, before they could return to discussing Rafe, a call came in for McGinnis. "here," he said in response to the voice of Lt. Anders. "Sir, we're ready to deal with the base." "Fine, commence fire!" * * * Rafe, after making sure that he had shaken the Feds who had been trying to track him, returned to the pirates' base, where many of them were trying to prepare for a rather hasty disencampment. The level of activity was high enough for him to steal a small air car and make a break for the surface. The sky opening before him gave him a brief flash of relief before it was crushed by a tremendous crrrrraaaack! as the formerly blue sky in front of him went white. The shock threw him sideways in his seat, and he saw the great crater where one of the auxiliary launching fields for the fighter craft had been. Another crrrraaaack!!!! sounded, and this time, he actually saw the blue bolt of light smash into the caves where he'd had McKenna for a few glorious minutes, blasting a far larger crater than had the first shot. A third, and a forth deafening blast ripped into other auxiliary areas, before he realized that the Feds were waiting to get the base last. he had to get away, but where. As he looked around, he saw the ship for the first time, and the only thought that passed through his mind was that it was a gigantic son-of-a-bitch. It was a good thirty or forty kilometers away, but still, it was obvious that the thing's wings had to be nearly a kilometer across at a guess, and it was longer than its wings were wide. Also, every time it used its main ring-shaped phaser generators, the charging discharges that preceded the firing of the bluish-white bolts were blinding, even through the fully polarized windows of his little aircar. His right turn put the Federation starship and its activities behind him, and sent him toward a chain of mountains that might provide some protection from the great ship's phasers, and its sensors, which would doubtless be working to find him so that McKenna could ... make him beg for death. However, just before he began to climb their slopes, the reflected glow from a brilliant column of phaser fire showed him that the Feds were now preparing to blow apart the base directly, now that the launching fields were destroyed. The stream of photon torpedo launches was all-too-obvious, and he knew that he was about to die. When it came, combined blast of multiple annihilation devices lifted millions of tons of rock, debris, and vaporized material in a column fifteen kilometers across, and two hundred high. He missed out on the vaporization ring of the multiple photon detonations by many kilometers, but the shock wave, when it came, was more than enough to throw his air car into a spin, and smash it into the side of a mountain. However, although both of his legs were trapped, he neither lost consciousness nor died, and, with a sinking feeling that it would have been better to die from the blast than from dehydration or radiation poisoning; or worse, by McKenna's hands, Rafe began to struggle to free himself from the wrecked machine. * * * Elise groaned, someone was out side her door, and although the Federation didn't believe in torture, its damned doorchimes were just as bad at times. "You look...better." McGinnis stood in the corridor just outside McKenna's quarters. "I'm fine," she said, despite the worn look that she now wore like a heavy coat. "How's the bombardment goin'?" "We're done, and if there's anything alive down there, I'll fork over this week's pay." "Rafe's still alive." she said, barely loudly enough for McGinnis to hear her words. "Impossible." he shook his head. "We put ten torpedoes into that base, and hit the general vicinity at least twenty times with half-powered discharge from the ring. There's no way that anyone could be alive within a hundred clicks of that place, and the radiation'll take care of anybody who might have escaped the bombardment." Elise wasn't convinced. "If there's one thing Rafe can do, it's save his own ass." She smiled wearily. "Get ready to fork over the cash, Willie-Mac. This is one bet you ain't gonna win." "Do you have proof?" He ignored the nickname...for now. "No, other than what comes from knowing him." "Well, you and your people are welcomed to have a look, but I'd like to keep some of them here to help out should we have to try to board that Romulan ship up there." "What Rom' ship?" Elise asked, her natural hatred of the lying, dishonorable bastards was immediately kindled. "We scanned a Romulan ship while we were on our way down here to look for you, but it was too big to handle quickly, so we left them up there, since they couldn't have gotten a shot off at us due to the sensor masking nature of this planet's atmosphere. Benik talked with a couple of Rafe's men, and they said that the Romulans had brought them here in order to try to set up that trap we spoke about earlier." McKenna silently looked away. "Right." said McGinnis, guessing what was on her mind. "Well, as I said, you can go down there if you like, but I need you to leave a few of your people behind." she nodded in response, and he continued. "Get your people together and notify me how many are going with you in an hour. By the way, I had a feeling that you might want to go down there, so I thought that I'd give you this." he said, as he handed her the powerful Romulan disruptor rifle that he'd captured as a young lieutenant. "Its seen me through a number of tough spots and kept me in one piece, and I thought that you might want a little extra luck right now." She took the rifle from his hands, examining it closely. "Nice." she said, sighting down its length. "Yer right; I could use a bit of luck just now. Although," she looked up from the rifle, an evil smile on her face, "it didn't bring much luck to the Rom you took it off, did it?" "He was lucky I didn't have time to waste." he said, turning to let McKenna prepare, both mentally and physically for what lay ahead. However, as he walked away, he turned back around and said, "Make sure that you bring both the gun, and yourself, back to this ship in one piece." * * * "Sub-Commander, I have a very unusual reading from the planet," said Arwein, still not sure how to report her findings to the new commanding officer. "Describe what you've seen," replied the former chief engineer. "Some time ago, a high-yield energy shockwave disturbed the scan-opaque layer of the atmosphere sufficiently to allow us limited scans of the planet for just a moment. During that time, I scanned a tremendous explosion, or more likely closely sequential set of explosions, which were immediately followed by these telescopic images." The attention of all of the Romulan warriors on the bridge moved to the main screen, which showed, quite clearly, a tremendous mushroom cloud reaching far higher into the stratosphere than any that any of them had seen before. The atmosphere quickly became highly opaque to both scan and to telescopic imaging, just as it always did after a major volcanic eruption or when they destroyed a colony or other ground target. "Did the Federation ship explode?" asked one of the young sub-centuria near the back of the bridge in a voice that showed that the question had not been meant for any one else's ears. "No, there wasn't enough energy in the explosion, but I am pretty sure that both the pirates, and that human whom Lursa asked us to bring to this sector, are now dead," said Arwein. "Good," was the only comment made by the commander. "We didn't need those Klingon-hired P'tae aboard and now the humans have solved that problem for us. Do you think that they'll be back up here before we can repair the cloaking device?" "Humans are always hard to predict," was all she felt safe in saying. * * * Usually, Elise had trouble matching Benik's long-legged pace; but today, he seemed particularly careful to match *her* pace. She knew he was just being considerate, and it was bugging the hell out of her. When they came to the room where their formation was to take place, he stood in her way. "M'Kenna," he said, not looking her in the eye. "It is good to see you are yourself, again." "You might change your mind, when you hear what I have to say." she cracked. "No, you misunderstand me." He continued to avoid eye contact. "While it is true, we all worried about you while you were...sick, I in particular wondered...; that is, it seemed to me..." "Spit it out, man!" She shifted from foot to foot. "I... when you were first brought back, you said some things..." "Yeah?" Benik sighed uncomfortably, trying to find more bushes to beat around. "How are things between you and Kurn?" Suddenly, Elise understood. She didn't remember what she might have said to him, but knowing the influence of the drug, she had a rough idea. She moved so as to force eye-contact. "Never better, man. Understand me?" She enunciated further. "Never better." "Ah." Benik nodded, still supremely uncomfortable. "Good." "Benik, chalazine isn't a truth serum." "I did not imply..." "Right." she looked at him sideways. "Was it pretty scary, whatever it was I said?" "Absolutely intimidating." he admitted. "For a big strong Klingon like you?" "Even big strong Klingons know their limits." He smiled briefly, letting his eyes meet hers. "But, I admit; there are worse ways to die." "Get that idea right out of your head." she said, and stepped toward the door. After a moments hesitation, he moved out of her way. He waited in the hall a moment to compose himself, then followed her in. The platoon was ready to be called to attention. Elise waited while T'Lith took reports from the squad leaders. She glanced at Benik, waiting at the rear of the formation. On one hand, she'd pay money to know what had spooked him; on the other hand, she had enough of an idea to know she didn't *want* to know. T'Lith called her, and she took the formation. "At ease." Elise said, looking over the faces. "I congratulate you all on your conduct so far, during this crisis. As representatives of the Klingon empire, all of you have conducted yourselves with honor and discipline. We are not, however, done yet. This ship will soon enter intense combat, and many a warrior will secure his place in the Hall of Warriors today. I could certainly understand your eagerness to be a part of this." She began to pace. "There is other work to be done, though; work that no one will sing songs about. If none of you want to take part in this work, it is no discredit to you. I want it understood that what I am about to propose is strictly voluntary, and it is doubtful there is even a point to it." Elise looked them over again. "As you know, the base on the planet where we joined battle, has been obliterated. It is doubtful anything could have survived; and yet-" She had to make herself go on. "I know the pirate, Rafe. I am convinced, despite evidence to the contrary, that he is alive." The platoon stirred infinitesimally. "I have received clearance to go hunt him down." Elise went on. "Quite possibly a useless search. In a moment, I am going to ask for volunteers to join me, but I want this understood: to decline, would NOT be a dishonorable decision. Consider carefully, what choice you want to make. To stay and join the battle here is the path with the most glory, and I completely understand if you all wish to take that path. Atten-SHUN!" She smiled, as twenty boots snapped together. "I am going in the anteroom. All volunteers stay here, all others are dismissed." She went into the small conference room and waited. At first, she could hear the murmur of discussion. Soon, however, there was silence. "Looks like it'll be just you an me, Rafe." she smiled to herself, and opened the door. The platoon stood at strict attention. T'Lith turned and faced Elise, saluting. "All present and accounted for." T'Lith reported. "Do they understand...?" Elise felt a bit confused. "Captain," T'Lith assured her, "sometimes glory and honor do not go hand in hand. Our place is with you." She smiled. "There will be other battles, at which we will no doubt cover ourselves with glory." She glanced over her shoulder. "Quite frankly, we are dismayed you would think we would reach any other decision; but in view of your recent illness, we are willing to overlook it." Elise couldn't resist a smile. "Thanks for lettin' me off the hook." she said. "You're right; I don't know what I was thinking. First Sergeant, take the platoon to draw weapons and equipment. We'll meet in transporter room three, in one half hour. Carry on." Elise left to seek out McGinnis, knowing he might not be so easy to convince. She was right. * * * He shook his head, even before she was finished speaking. "Normally, I would be happy to send you and your people on all the wild goose chases you could come up with; but it's a simple matter of not being able to spare the people. Losing as many as we have, we're just lucky to have your people to augment our ranks." "You're not hearing me, Captain." Elise tried to be as no-nonsense as possible. "You won't be able to stop them. And even if you could, you wouldn't want to try to deal with what you'd have on your hands." "Are you implying your troops are so undisciplined as to disobey even your orders, or are you saying you won't order them to stay?" Swallowing her rising ire, she tried again. "Look, sir; you have to understand Klingons." "True, its important for me to understand the preferences of my crew, but they must also live by my rules." "Damit, McGinnis! How many battles you wanna fight today?" "This battle isn't mine to fight, you are the one who needs to make it clear that it is their duty to this vessel to remain behind." "They're beyond that. This isn't even a matter of following or disobeying orders." "Like hell, it isn't! Now; if you're not up to the task-" "You can't just-" "If you don't stop interrupting me,-" He paused, surprised when she didn't interrupt him again. "I'm quite firm on this, M'Kenna. You can not possibly justify taking an entire platoon to search for one man who is most likely already dead." "And I'm saying you can't expect them to sit still for this." she looked away. "They already feel bad that I got snatched out from under their noses. They have to make up for it." "They are soldiers, M'Kenna; not children." "Since fucking when?" In spite of himself, he smiled. In spite of herself, she smiled back. "I promise," she said, "I'll never call you Willie-Mac again." He smiled again, knowing now that at least he had some rapport with her. "I'd back down if I could, but I don't see how. I have to live this day on the assumption that every resource over which I have command will be required to beat this ship. It's bigger, faster, and probably better armed than we are; and if we're planning to get home, I have to be ready to use any advantage that I can get. If that includes your people, don't for a moment think I'm going to let you slip through my fingers." "How about if I carry a transponder, and you can beam us up the moment you need us?" "We could be in the heat of battle. We wont have *time* to beam you up, much less the chance to lower shields long enough." "How 'bout if I reconfigure your helm to voice command, and download history files of evasive maneuvers and battle maneuvers?" "Let you tinker with my ship? Are you crazy?" "Why not? I do it all the time." "Maybe that's why you don't have your own ship." he teased. "Look; I'm trying to find an option, here." "And I'm trying to tell you that there aren't any. We can't stay in atmosphere forever. Even with this ship's engineering, we've only got a few hours before we have to get back to a null-G environment." he said, frustrated at his lack of options. He sighed, turned away, and smacked the wall with his hand. "I really don't want to have to deal with both Romulans, *and* surly Klingons." "That's what I'm tryin' to tell you." "I'd shut up right now, if I were you." he warned, then turned to face her. "You're leaving me in a real lurch, M'Kenna." "I'll make it up to you." "I don't see how. You and your people have been nothing but a drag on this mission, right from the beginning." "Hey!" Elise leaned in. "Torgul woulda been LOST without us! That whole platoon woulda been toast!" A slow smile crept across McGinnis face. "You're absolutely right. How could we possibly function without you?" Elise stood with her mouth open for a moment, then snapped it shut. "Shame on you, tryin' to jerk my chain like that. Playin' on a poor defenseless Klingon's trip-wire." "Did it work?" He asked, smiled, then shook his head. "I hadn't planned on your entire platoon going down with you, and since its clear that they will demand to do so, you can simply delay your mission until after we're done up here. If we survive, you'll have all the time and support that I can give you. If not, its likely that both ships will be destroyed, and in any case, he's not likely to have communications gear, so he'll be trapped down there for a long time." "If he's as bad off as you say, then he dies with whatever information we need to figure just what went on here. We won't get him in time." He had to admit, she had a point; although she was more in need of answers than he. Still, it might be nice to plug up some of these leaks. He only had one more concern. "Should we be...defeated in battle, you and your people would be marooned on the planet." "Oh, yer right." she scoffed. "That's so much worse than bein blown ta bits. Besides, I heard you were indestructible." "I'd prefer not to test that theory." "You came back from another universe, with yer ship ready to blow up under you, and *then* handled the Borg; butcha can't deal with one lil' old Romulan?" "This ones neither little, nor old." "We're gettin' nowhere here, Willie-Mac." "I thought you said you wouldn't call me that any more." "Provisionally." "Quid pro quo?" "Quid...?" she looked confused. He smiled. "Something you said when you were...indisposed." He sighed, preparing to face the inevitable. "All right, you go as soon as you can get your people in the transporter room. You go in, you find him, and you call for a beam-out. You may end up cooling your heels for awhile, but I want to know the minute you're ready to come back up. No additional agendas, no straying from the beam-up site; you sit down and stay put until we can get to you. Any questioning will be done here on the ship, under observation. Am I making myself understood?" Elise was still leaning against the wall, arms folded across her chest. "I think I get your drift." "Keep your platoon in line, and don't allow them to stray one hair away from the mission." "You sayin' I can't control my troops?" "Heaven forfend." Elise shoved herself away from the wall and leaned in close. "You got a lotta nerve, McGinnis." she growled, smiling and showing her teeth. "Lucky for you, I *like* nerve. Thanks." McGinnis watched her tromp away down the hall. "Yes;" he murmured, *************** If you want parts of this story, plese mail either Matt or Cris and we'll get them to you. If you want more information or the files for the Fall of the Federation, or Vortex of Power Series, please see ftp.gdw.com /pub/startrek/story/tng for Fall of the Federation stuff, and /pub/startrek/story/DS9 (any file including the word Vortex) for Vortex of Power stories. You are also invited to contact Matt or Chris directly. and archer77@ix.netcom.com for VOP. "lucky for me, indeed." "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all of those other forms that have been tried from time to time." Winston Churchill as quoted on the CBS evening news for Feb 19, 1996 Matthew Weed (617) 432-9023 mweed@count51.med.harvard.edu A.M.Harvard University