Gently, with an almost graceful movement, the USS Gibraltar slid out of the Starbase's spacedock after having completed repairs. The attack by those unknown aliens had left the Intrepid class Starship damaged, but quick repairs soon fixed that.
Our mission to Ku'Vat can continue. Captain McMillan thought to himself as he sat in his chair, more relaxed than he had felt in a long time. Perhaps we'll finally find out why those aliens were so interested in that place. The Gibraltar had been on a diplomatic mission to this colony -recently given to the Klingons to preserve good relations- anyway, but the interruption of the unknown aliens had interfered with that. Now, they were good to go.
Or were they?
"Captain." Ms. Sereana Westland, the Vulcan now manning OPS, stated. "We are receiving a message from Starfleet." An eyebrow perked up, showing as much surprise as McMillan would ever see from the Vulcan. "We are ordered to hold our position, to await the arrival of a new crewmember."
The Captain showed more than just a perked up eyebrow at this reaction. "I wasn't aware of any new crew... send me the transfer orders please." Just as it appeared on the Captain's console, and just as McMillan read the name -being unable to suppress a shudder of recognition- all hell broke lose. In the middle of the Bridge, space seemed to twist into itself. Air was sucked out of the lungs of anyone unfortunate to be near this phenomanon, and a blinding flash blinded all who dared to gaze into it. It lasted only a few seconds, but they were seconds the Gibraltar crew could easily have gone without.
When the phenomanon -a spatial rift, it would seem- had vanished, a man stood there, armed to the teeth. A man who McMillan had met before, during a mission on the Connecticut where he had been asked to observe. Slowly, McMillan rose from his seat, and took the two steps towards this man. "So this is the Gibraltar." The man said, looking around. "How disappointing."
"Colonel Serp Auer." McMillan uttered with as much respect as he could muster for this man. He didn't envy Captain Seelowe, the former Captain of the Connecticut, for having to deal with this man day in, day out. Auer was a menace. Lack of respect for any rules but his own. And apparently, Starfleet simply let him get away with it. Mostly because they needed him. And they couldn't stop him if they wanted to. In many aspects, this man reminded McMillan of Slade, the renegade officer. Though Slade was more elusive, more deadly... and, McMillan couldn't help but think, definitely better looking.
"The same." Auer responded, looking down at the petit Captain with the lack of respect piercing from his eyes. "Let me get to the point, Captain. I'm here to observe the Gibraltar crew on this mission of yours to see if they're worthy of a special mission." He huffed. "And I do hope your crew fares better than the crews of the ships I've recently visited. So far though, I must admit, I'm rather disappointed."
McMillan didn't know what stung more: the lack of respect, or the insults the man dared to utter. "Colonel Auer," he merely responded, looking up at the man while still making sure Auer knew who was in charge, "Let me make one thing clear. If you are here to observe, then I expect you to do just that. Don't interfere... just watch." He paused, and looked into the man's eyes. "From the *back* of the Bridge. Do I make myself clear?"
Auer merely smiled a toothy little smile. "I like you Captain. You've got guts." And with that, he moved on to the back, stopping at the Tactical console. "Kelly, fancy meeting you here."
Lt. Kelly Heron merely looked at her old aquintance. "You've got some nerve coming here. If you're planning to do the same to this ship as you've done to the Carolina and Connecticut, forget it."
McMillan had to admit: he was thrown off balance by this sudden arrival of this special Starfleet envoy... but he couldn't show it. They were under 'observation', after all. Better do what they went out there to do. "Helm." He said to Angelis Bourne, who was sitting dutyfully at the helm. "Set a course for Ku'Vat, warp 6, and engage."
"Aye Captain." the Ensign said in response. "Course laid in, engaging at warp 6." He paused, as the starfield at the main viewscreen changed to the view of stars flashing by in a beautiful hue of colours. The Gibraltar was on her way.
-----
"Captain, we're entering the Ku'Vat system." Ensign Bourne reported. "Dropping out of warp, engaging impulse engines." The planet was in visual range already, thanks to some excellent piloting from the Ensign at the Helm.
McMillan nodded, and turned to Ms. Westland at OPS. "Let's let them know we're here. Open a channel."
But the response was not how the Captain had envisioned it. "No response Captain." The Vulcan at OPS answered. "In fact... it would seem communications are being jammed."
Who could that be? "Science, scan for any ships in orbit." McMillan ordered, having a very bad feeling about this. He glanced at Counselor Giffen, who merely looked at him with a worried look on his face. This sudden observation from Colonel Auer who was armed to the teeth, was enough to make anyone feel ill at ease. This sudden jamming of communications... it could not be a good sign, that was for sure.
"Sir, I'm detecting a Cardassian freighter leaving the planet." Ensign Braveheart, the Chief Science Officer, spoke up. "It's heading..." He then paused. "No wait... it's gone!" The man seemed surprised himself. "It's like... it was there, and all of a sudden it vanished!"
"Cloak?" Heron suggested.
"I didn't know Cardassian freighters *had* a cloaking device?" McMillan responded. While he enjoyed a mystery holo-novel like any other man, there could also be a thing as too much mystery.
"Not much is known about the Cardassians' techological advances since the end of the Domionion Wars." Ms. Westland responded dutyfully. "Generally, it is assumed that..." But she couldn't finish her sentence. All of a sudden, consoles flickered and shut down, the constant humming of generators silenced, and the Bridge was plunged into darkness. Only the emergency lighting and the immediate Red Alert signals which were activated, illuminated the darkness.
And then, an orange transporterbeam delivered the answer to the un-asked questions in McMillan's mind as to how this could have happened. The person materialising smiled, and spoke up immediately. "Please state the nature of the Command emergency." The silence which greeted her only made her smile more. "Hello Gentlemen. You don't know how long I've been waiting to say that line."
McMillan stood up from his chair, as he watched Security react almost as fast as he did. "Slade." He spoke.
With mock surprise and genuine sarcasm, the Gibraltar's public enemy nr. 1 responded. "Oh my god, Captain Obvious. You recognised me!" From the corner of his eyes, McMillan saw the counselor react... no doubt responding to the surge of anger irradiating from the Captain himself. Again, Slade had caught them completely by surprise.
"What do you want Slade?" He demanded.
The scourne in the Captain's side responded casually. "Oh, nothing really, Captain. Just... playing a bit of hide and seek. I've got 45 disruptors aimed at you, and you don't want to find them. So I suggest you start working on your lovely little boat..."
The cruel reality of the situation began to sink in. "You want us to repair our ship after you've disabled it... and if we don't do it quick enough, you'll blow us to bits?" McMillan summarised, not caring for a nanosecond if his nickname 'Captain Obvious' given by Slade was only reinforced now.
"Well, I must admit," Slade commented casually, "I do enjoy being followed. Though I do have work to do: doing all those dirty jobs that Starfleet is afraid to." She smiled another smile. "But my brave Captain... that isn't your concern." She leaned forward ever so slightly, and said in a lowered voice: "By the way, if I were you, I'd change my command codes." With that, she stood up straight again, and concluded her visit. "If you'd all please excuse me... I've got a job to do."
Recognising too late what was going on, McMillan bellowed "Security! Transporter inhi..." but by the time he had finished his half-sentence, Slade was gone again... disappeared in a beam of light and energy.
-----
Captain's Log. There is no sign of Slade, although with the ship in this state, there is no way to be certain. She caught us completely by surprise. Sensors, warp drive, shields and weapons are offline. I cannot help but go over the conversation in my mind. She's got us out-gunned, that's for sure. 45 disruptorbanks would be more than a match for the Gibraltar's phaserbanks... even if they were working now. And what did she mean by 'doing Starfleet's dirty work'? Is she somehow working for Starfleet? I find that hard to believe... otherwise we've been sent on a fool's errand: a futile mission. Surely Starfleet wouldn't send us to capture one of their operatives? Nevertheless, there *is* the matter of the command codes to consider. Slade had them. Without a doubt. Otherwise she couldn't completely disable the ship without even firing a weapon. But how did she get it? I wouldn't put it past her that she'd be spying at us... but an even more frightening option is possible... could Starfleet have given her these codes? If she *is* working for Starfleet on a top secret mission, then would this actually be as far-fetched as I hope it is?
Sitting at his desk in his office just outside of the Birdge, Captain McMillan looked at Counselor Dolamite Giffen and Colonel Serp Auer. The latter he had asked to talk to in private... the former had asked to come along. McMillan had granted the Counselor this request: the man could be helpful in 'reading' Auer.
"I hardly find it a coincidence that you get assigned to our ship, just as Slade disables us again." McMillan started. He disliked falsely accusing people, but after Slade using the Gibraltar's command codes... well, it opened up some disturbing possibilities. "Why exactly did you come on board? What mission is it that you're testing us for?"
If Auer was insulted, he didn't show it. The same lack of respect came from his eyes. "I have nothing to do with Slade." He told the Captain and the Counselor. "But this... coincidence has shown me what I need to complete my observation. You want to know about this mission, Captain? Fine. But if you tell *anyone*, I have the authorisation by Starfleet Tactical to *terminate* the 'leak'." He leaned forward, his hands on the Captain's desk. "Do you understand?"
McMillan was horrified. To think that Starfleet Command would agree on such... terrible ways of keeping securicy. Nevertheless, he nodded. "I understand." He said, making sure not to sound apprehensive, even though he was. "What's the mission?"
Standing up straight again, Auer spoke up. "The Federation wants you to capture an alien warship: the Harbinger. They have a... crued, but effective way of propulsion that the Federation wants to posess."
This was too much for the good Captain. "Are you saying that the Federation wants us to *attack* and *capture* a ship of a race we haven't even had diplomatic contact with? A race which we don't even *know*, or even pose a threat to us?"
Here, Auer's face became more serious, if that was at all possible. "Oh, they form a threat alright." He activated a holographic display of what seemed to be a sleek fighter. "Behold. The fighters that this Harbinger carries. They're capable of destruction on an epic scale." He paused, and glanced at both Captain McMillan and Counselor Giffen. "These... aliens are on their way to Earth, Captain. They've targeted the very heart of the Federation. And what's worse: they have a way of propulsion which lets them travel around huge distances, instantly." Another pause, as he transferred information to the Captain's console. "Proof, Captain. All the data we have on them."
Looking at this data was enough to make anyone turn pale. "My god." McMillan winced.
"This is why we have this veil of secrecy, Captain." Auer continued. "This is why Starfleet wants one of their ships... to get a similar means of propulsion. To pretect the Federation."
For a moment, McMillan said nothing. Then though, he regained his composure. "Colonel Auer... what you have told me sounds terrifying. But my first duty *now*, is to this ship, this crew. And right now, we may very well have Slade out there, her disruptors aimed at us. We will deal with one situation at a time. First Slade... then the Harbinger." He paused. "Do I make myself clear, Colonel?"
"Perfectly." Auer answered, as he walked out the door. McMillan bit his lip, and turned to Counselor Giffen. "See what you can find on him." He whispered despite nobody else being in the room. "He might be telling the truth, but I want Starfleet's confirmation on this. In the meantime, I want to learn more about him." With a nod from the Counselor, both men exited the Captain's Office, and entered the Bridge.
"Captain," Ms. Westland spoke up, "I think we have something. Sensors indicated what seems to be a large mass, over 1100 meters, directly in front of us." she reported. "If it *is* Slade, we can disrupt her cloak by sending out a modified tachyon pulse."
"Well then?" McMillan could almost sense the 'but' coming. "Why haven't you done this yet?"
"It's not without risk." Braveheart answered for his colleage at OPS. "There's a serious chance we could blow out the Main Deflector Dish."
"A 76.5274 % chance of that happening." Westland pointed out.
Glancing at the viewscreen where the alleged cloaked ship seemed to be, McMillan thought of their previous encounters with Slade, and then shook his head. "How about we put it in a tractorbeam? And push it further away? That would at least give us a better chance of firing that pulse."
"Captain, we cannot move something that large with our tractorbeams." Braveheart spat out. "The chances of us succeeding are slim, at best."
"The chances are 1.092 % of this working." Westland echoed. "The tractorbeam wasn't designed for this." This was true, of course. The Gibraltar wasn't a big ship... it would need a big ship to tow another big ship away. But, so McMillan figured, not just now.
"Thank you. Prepare the tractorbeam." McMillan ordered, sticking to his opinion. "At the very least, we'd be able to get an idea of the mass of that ship." If he knew Slade -and he did- then she wouldn't make this *that* easy for them. "Activate the tractorbeam, and run a detailed scan." He was fortunate that Engineer Clawtooth had worked so hard to put the sensors back online again, otherwise this wouldn't be possible.
As a blue beam emitted from the tractorbeam emitters at the front of the ship, Braveheart gasped. "The mass I'm getting from these readings isn't anything like that of a big ship." He looked up at the Captain. "This seems to be a Scorpion class attack shuttle, used by the Romulans."
"Bring it in." At least it was something. "And put a secure forcefield around it. I want a research team to go to the shuttlebay immediately." McMillan guessed that it was this shuttle which had given them false readings, letting them think that there'd been a big ship out there instead of this shuttlecraft. And well, it had worked. "Any *other* sign of Slade?"
"I'm detecing what could have been a warpfield being formed." Braveheart informed the crew. "I believe Slade has gone to warp."
"If we can trust those readings." McMillan responded quickly. "Alright. Lt. Clawtooth, I don't want to stay here too long. When can we go to warp?"
"Now would be good a time as any Sir." The Engineer said, tapping some commands on his console, "But we have warp 5, at the very best. You'll have to be careful."
"It's better than nothing." McMillan was unable to keep a sigh from escaping. "Slade's got us good... again. But we will be back. Twice already, we've not been able to beam down to Ku'Vat... first because of those aliens, and now Slade... I don't know about you people, but that only makes me more curious."
"First things' first though." The Captain quickly sat down in his chair, and nodded to the Helmsman. "Mr. Bourne... set a course back to the Starbase for repairs. Warp 5... engage."
-----
As the USS Gibraltar left the system, Slade sat in her personal Scimitar, shaking her head. She allowed herself a faint smile, before she focussed her attention on the other things that mattered. There was work be done... and no time to waste.
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