Episode 56: "Betrayal"

At drift. Crippled. No hope of repair, without spare parts. That was, in a nutshell, the state the Gibraltar was in now. After the battle with the clone ship Ohiom, the Gibraltar had been mere shots away from being destroyed. Luckily they had managed to destroy the Ohiom before that could happen... but it had left them in a bad shape indeed.

Captain McMillan had never been as tired as he was now. There was no hope for rescue from Starfleet, since they still considered the Gibraltar crew to be fugitives. The Klingons were looking for them too, and wouldn't hesitate to destroy them. And add to that, the clones wouldn't be all that friendly either, since... well, they had just lost one of their ships at the hands of the Gibraltar crew.

But none of that troubled the good Captain as much as the fact that they weren't going anywhere. They were stuck here: the warpcore was damaged beyond repair, as were several other systems. The best that they could do right now, was use the thrusters. And that wouldn't get them very far.

The crew was feeling the effects of exhaustion too. They had been working around the clock to get whatever fix-able system, back online. Sadly, without the power provided by the warpcore, it'd be impossible to proceed any further.

Ensign Johnson and Lt.Cmdr. Weatherwax did manage to think on their toes, though. "Sir, if we rig one of the shuttlecraft to provide power to some of the critical systems, we can at least temporarily bring those online."

McMillan nodded. That'd at least be something. "Do it."

Reconfiguring the shuttle's power generators to provide power to the Gibraltar wasn't the hardest part: making sure that the Gibraltar's power conduits held, was. But the crew managed to get it done. Before long, Ensign Kaleaon was one of the only people on the Bridge, looking at a lit-up console. "Sir, I'm initiating a long range scan." he commented. At least that way, they'd be able to see what was out there.

 

The results came back quickly, but something in it puzzled Kaleaon. "Sir," he said in a confused voice, "I'm detecting. . . confirmed Sir, it's a Federation warpsignature."

"Can you see which ship it is?" Braveheart asked.

"Affirmative Sir." came Kaleaon's response. "It's. . . it's ours, Sir! It's the USS Gibraltar."

Commander Braveheart turned to the Captain. "The clones."

"No doubt here to finish off what they started." said Kelly Heron, who had taken up position at OPS. "It's what I would do, if I were in their shoes."

"Ensign," McMillan spoke up again, "Any signs that they've detected us?"

"Negative Sir." Kaleaon answered. "They're just sitting there, orbiting a nearby planet. It's like they don't even know we're here."

"Probably because we're not emitting enough energy readings," Johnson suggested. "With us being shot up and all."

"Agreed." McMillan said, leaning back into his chair again. For a moment he relaxed ever so slightly, content that they wouldn't be blown up today. But then an idea started to form in his head. He turned to his XO, whose eyes were glistening with a thought too. "Are you thinking what I am thinking, Commander?"

Braveheart nodded. "It's a clone ship. Their Gibraltar is built exactly the same was as our Gibraltar. Which means. . ."

"Which means we can use parts of their ship as spare parts for ours." McMillan finished Braveheart's sentence. "If we can board their ship and take control of it, we should be able to do just that." He then looked at the rest of the crew. Some of them blinked, wondering what kind of a crazy idea this was, others grinned, knowing it was probably the only chance they had.

 

"If this is going to work, we'll be needing a small team." McMillan continued. "Kelly, you should definitely go: your combat experience will be useful. Johnson, Weatherwax, you two have to go as well." At Johnson's surprised look, McMillan continued. "You're the hazard team lead on board, are you not? And Weatherwax will be able to hack into the other Gibraltar's computer."

"I take it you'll be leading the away mission, Sir?" Braveheart asked.

McMillan nodded. "This is one mission I can't sit out. Besides, I need someone I can trust to help us out, if needed."

"Alright then Sir," Braveheart conceded. "But I'd like to state, for the record, that I object to this."

"I'll file an objection to Starfleet the moment we're cleared of those charges, Commander." McMillan said with a faint smile. "Now... Johnson, Weatherwax, Kelly... to the shuttlebay."

 

The trip to the cloned Gibraltar didn't take long. Luckily, Kelly had managed to use some of her knowledge to partially cloak the Flyer, so the clone crew wouldn't see it coming. It didn't take much of an effort to open the clone ship's shuttlebay doors either. Once the team of four was in, the hard part would really start.

As the team made their way to the Bridge, McMillan noticed two things. The first being that this ship wasn't as damaged as the Gibraltar was, and the second that they hadn't encountered anyone here just yet. Sure, the clone ships probably weren't populated by too many people, but still. . . they should have bumped into someone by now.

"I don't like this." McMillan said, as he stopped right outside of the Bridge. "This is way too easy. Where are the clones?"

But Johnson shook her head. "Relax Captain, perhaps they really just didn't see us coming." She gestured to the door that would lead to the Bridge: the ship's control center. "Shall we?"

McMillan nodded. "You and Weatherwax go through that door, while Kelly and myself will go via the conference room." He let out a soft sigh as he pulled out his rifle. "Here we go..." he said, knowing he'd probably have to shoot people who at least *looked* like the ones he'd been serving with for a long time already.

But there was no time for doubts now. This had to happen. He gestured at Kelly to take point, after which both of them stormed in, through the conference room, onto the Bridge. There, a surprise awaited them...

Ensign Sophie Johnson and Lt.Cmdr. Richardjrn Weatherwax aimed their weapons at McMillan and Kelly. "Surrender, Captain." said the clone of Commander Braveheart. "And you might be spared."

 

For a moment, McMillan thought he was dreaming. But no... this was very real. "Sophie?" he asked, looking at the Ensign. "Rich? What the hell is going on?"

 

"They're clones." murmured Kelly, who seemed to have a better grasp of the situation than McMillan did. "Damnit, I should have seen this coming."

"To be more precise," Johnson continued, "I am the clone. I reprogrammed the Weatherwax hologram to aid me in gathering information about you, Captain. You and your crew. And now that we know everything there is to know about you, we can replace you. Starfleet will never know."

McMillan shook his head. "You're a *clone*." he said, more forceful than he had intended. He felt betrayed. Used. Duped. In short, he felt like an idiot. "Since when? And where is the real Ensign Johnson?"

The Braveheart clone stepped in. "All in good time, Captain. Suffice it to say, she's been undercover in your crew for a few weeks now."

"Since the mission to the destroyed cloning facility." McMillan finished, nodding to himself. "Of course. Johnson and Weatherwax were the only ones who could breath in the atmosphere. You must've switched with the real Johnson there."

"Indeed, Captain." the cloned Braveheart answered. "All per the Creator's instructions, of course. We just needed an opportunity to get her back, and you kindly gave us one. We even know the location of your ship now, thanks to you. I must say Captain, I'm a little disappointed. I thought you'd have given us much more of a fight, but you've handed us the Federation on a silver platter."

McMillan bit his lip as he looked at Kelly. She nodded in return. "No." McMillan then finally spoke up, feeling his confidence return. "You haven't won just yet."

"And what did you hope to do to stop us?" said the Johnson clone.

"Why, I'd ask for backup, of course." He nodded at Kelly, who said some Klingon words in her communication device. Immediately afterwards, the clone-ship lurched, as a Klingon Bird of Prey – Kelly's – decloaked and started attacking.

As McMillan dove for cover, Kelly started her rampage. McMillan knew Kelly: she was quite something. She had – or would, he never knew for sure with her - successfully defeated many enemies, including the Borg, the Klingons, and even time itself. A crew of clones would not stand in her way.

 

Still, as Kelly started slaying the various crewmembers with her bat'leth, the cloned Johnson tapped in some commands on her omnitool. It caused Weatherwax to suddenly fire at anything that moved, making it that more difficult for Kelly to do her job. . . and for McMillan to survive.

So, the Captain tapped his commbadge. "McMillan to Braveheart. Commander, we've been duped! Johnson's a clone, and Weatherwax has been reprogrammed. I want you to hack into his program and see if you can undo the damage!"

=/\=That,=/\= came Braveheart's voice on the comm, =/\=might take some time Sir. But we're on it. Hold on!=/\=

"Easier said than done!" McMillan said as he dove for cover again, Weatherwax's phaserbeams barely missing him. Kelly in the meantime, was down to her third dead clone, and was on her way to the fourth. Commander Braveheart – the clone, that was – was clearly no match for the fightingmachine that was Kelly, and he fell on the floor. Dead.

To hear Braveheart's voice while his clone was laying dead on the floor, was definitely one of the oddest things McMillan had ever experienced. Aside from being fired upon by a hologram that was supposed to be a member of his crew, of course. =/\=Sir, initiating reboot of Weatherwax's program... now!=/\=

The hologram froze for a moment, and then looked around. "Wait a second," he said as he turned to McMillan. "Captain? What's happening?"

"Thank god." McMillan responded as Kelly and the Debbydo clone were locked in mortal combat. "Weatherwax, you're on the clone ship of the Gibraltar. I need you to hack into the computer and release anaestezine gas throughout the ship."

Weatherwax paused for a moment. "How can I be sure you're not a clone of the Captain?"

McMillan shook his head in frustration. "When we're done here, you can scan me all you want. Right now, we need to seize control of this ship, you understand?"

The hologram didn't immediately go to work. Instead, he thought this through, but then thankfully nodded. "This will only take five seconds."

Five long seconds later, McMillan's tricorder showed that all remaining clones on board had been knocked unconscious by the gas. "Thank you, Commander." he said with a sigh, as he turned to Kelly, who had just finished beating the crap out of the Debbydo clone. "That was fun," she said with a smile on her face. McMillan shivered: he knew she actually meant it too.

"Sophie!" Weatherwax suddenly shouted, as the hologram ran towards the lifeless body of the clone on the floor. "Sophie. . . no!"

"She's a clone." McMillan answered. "She's infiltrated our ship and reprogrammed you." He paused, and put a hand on Weatherwax's shoulder. "We'll find her, Rich. I promise you that."

First though, they needed to get their ship operational again. At least with this clone ship under their control, they'd have the necessary spare parts. "McMillan to Braveheart," McMillan said as he tapped his commbadge, "Ship is secured, mission is a success. Have Engineering stand by: we'll be bringing lots and lots of spare parts your way."

As the clone ship started moving to the location of the original Gibraltar, McMillan silently hoped that the repairs wouldn't take too long... they had to save Ensign Johnson, and stop these clones once and for all...

To be continued...