G'day All....
Well here's the next bit of the Trek story, hope you all enjoy it -
as always comments/criticisms always welcome...
*Yawn* - well I think I'll wait till tomorrow before I get going
with part seven of OMGod - I'd say it'll be ready by thursday or friday :)
A Trek Into the Past
by
Brett Handy
Chapter 2:
The first thing that the Dr Conroy noticed about the 21st
century was the pollution. "You wouldn't believe the
contaminants in the air", he commented to his companion.
"Put the Tricorder away", Mara hissed quickly.
Embarrassed John flicked it back into its holster. The
two of them were walking down a rather large avenue, in Mega-
Tokyo's shopping district. There were surprisingly few people
out, and it was making Mara slightly nervous.
They continued down the street, glancing at shop windows
as they passed. John frowned at the price tags, "Where are we
going to get money from?", he asked.
Mara shrugged, "I don't know, we'll think of something",
she replied.
Rummaging through one of his pockets he pulled out a
sliver of Gold-pressed Latinum, "I wonder if this is worth
anything?", he mused.
"I'm sure we can work out something", said a voice from
behind him, the Universal Translator that the officer's
Commbadges tied into, translated the Japanese into Federation
Standard (English).
The two officers spun quickly, to be confronted by at
least a dozen strange looking people. They were wearing
jackets that had 'Outriders' labelled across them. Several of
them were carrying pieces of metal piping.
John frowned, "Do you know what this is worth?", he
asked.
The obvious leader (he was much bigger and uglier than
the rest) stepped forward, "I'd say it was worth letting you
get out of here alive", he said smirking. The rest of the
gang laughed rudely.
Mara began to edge on hand towards her phaser but a hand
on her arm stopped her, "Don't", John said, "It's too public".
She nodded and dropped into a fighting crouch, "Let's see
how well I taught you Doc", she said, advancing towards the
gang.
John recognised her advance from one of the Klingon
katas, for paired attacks, that he had learned. He smiled and
put his medical case and Tricorder on the ground, "I'd suggest
leaving", he said to the gang, advancing in tandem with Mara.
The leader of the gang frowned, was not used to having
anyone challenge him, "well, get them!", he shouted, moving
forward. It took less than three minutes before the majority
of the gang were down. The Klingons were the unmatched
unarmed combat masters of the Alpha Quadrant and their
techniques were nearly flawless.
The two officers had barely broken a sweat, "Well I guess
you learned something after all", Mara commented, noticing
John had taken down almost as many of them as she had, "there
might be a place in security for you".
John grimaced, breathing heavily, "No thanks", he
replied, retrieving his kit and tricorder.
Mara looked at the unconscious gang members, "We might
just have found a source of clothing", she said.
******
Sylia was hovering over Mackie anxiously, they had found
him a few minutes ago and had been unable to wake him. "Come
on", she said, slapping his face gently, "Wake up!".
Nene and Priss were looking around the store, "Well it
doesn't look like anything was stolen", Nene reported after
checking the cash register.
Mackie yawned loudly, "Ahhh, Sis", he said, "You wouldn't
believe the dream I had".
Sylia looked at her brother crossly, "We've been trying
to wake you for ten minutes", she scolded.
Priss grabbed his jaw forcing him to look her in the eye,
"Well he doesn't look drugged", she commented.
"Ahh, Sylia, I think you should have a look at this",
called Linna nervously, from the rear of the store.
The three women left Mackie to lock up the store and went
to see what Linna was so excited about. "What's go you so
upset?", Nene asked curiously.
Linna gulped, "This is a security recording from about
twenty minutes ago", she explained, pushing some buttons on a
console.
The three other Knight Sabres turned to watch the
monitor. They saw Mackie sitting behind the counter,
obviously bored. "So what??", asked Priss impatiently. Linna
just pointed to the screen where two figures had just
*materialised out of thin air*. They continued to watch as
the female noticed Mackie and proceeded to shoot him with some
kind of energy weapon.
Priss closed her mouth with a snap, everyone was stunned
as they saw the male figure rush over to Mackie and check him
over, with a strange device. "What are you doing?", he
shouted at his companion, in English.
There was a burst of static covering her response, and
the screen broke up for a few moments. When it cleared the
two figures had closed their strange devices and were leaving
the store, one of them muttering something about shopping.
"Do you want another look?", Linna asked. It was a
rhetorical question, they replayed the tape several times,
trying to see how anyone could have faked what happened. The
two figures were wearing jet-black jumpsuits, the male had a
blue coloured stripe across his shoulders and the female had a
golden one. They were carrying assorted strange devices and
both were wearing a badge that looked similar to an large
stylised arrow-head.
Mackie had joined them from the store, amazed to find
that he hadn't dreamed the strange pair. He rubbed his chest,
trying to find any evidence that he had been shot. Shrugging
he examined the tape, "These guy's really know how to make an
entrance", he commented, seeing the beam-in for the tenth
time.
Sylia had watched the tape a few times before sitting
back into a chair, thinking. Nene had attempted to enhance
the image using computer imagery, but nothing new had been
revealed. "At least they didn't hurt Mackie", Nene commented,
trying to find something positive.
Priss snorted, "Well, everyone makes mistakes", she said
nudging Mackie.
Mackie just ignored it, he was used to being teased by
Priss, "Well, what are we going to do about it?", he asked.
Sylia shook her head, "Well, we don't know enough to get
very far", she said, "So for the moment, I think we had all
better head home".
Linna nodded, "I've got work tomorrow anyway", she said.
The five of them walked through the empty store and out to the
front to where their cars were parked.
There were several ADP cars and an ambulance parked a
little down the road. On impulse Nene walked over and quizzed
one of the attending officers. When she returned to the group
it was with a satisfied smirk, "And what's got you so happy?",
Priss asked, noting her expression.
"Oh, I found out a little more about our mysterious
shoppers", she said, "It turns out that a group of Outriders
decided that they looked like easy pickings".
Priss smirked, "And they shot 'em", she guessed.
Nene shook her head, "Nope, according to the gang", she
grinned, "they fought it out with their fists".
"How many of them", Linna asked curiously.
Nene's smile widened, "Oh, not more than a dozen", she
said. The other Knight Sabres exchanged disbelieving glances.
"Thats not the best part", Nene said giggling. Seeing
their less-than-amused expressions, she continued quickly, "Oh
it seems that one or two of the Outriders woke up with their
clothes missing".
******
If he were Human, Uslim would have been bored, if he were
Human that is. Being a Vulcan he simply decided that it would
provided useful information if he were to monitor the
Television Stations.
"This is most Illogical", he commented, watching a
commercial, telling people that if they drank *spiffy* brand
of soft drink it was 'cool'.
"I fail to see how temperature relates", he complained.
Deciding that the Television broadcasts would be best
monitored by the computer he devoted himself to better
understand the city's information network.
"Computer", he ordered, "Locate a signal that is intended
for the information processing centre and tie my terminal into
it".
<*Working*>, the computer responded, <*No central
information processing centre located*>.
Uslim frowned, "This might take some time", he thought.
******
General Korako was displeased, standing before him was a
figure of defiance and nothing they did seemed to make a
difference.
"Tell us who you really are", insisted Captain Shiro.
The prisoner looked at him defiantly, "I am Captain Ford
Harakam, StarFleet service number 356-297-445, United
Federation of Planets", he said again.
"Bullshit!", snapped Shiro, slapping him across the face,
drawing blood.
Harakam just repeat his previous statement, adding that
mistreatment of Prisoners was a violation of article 5 of the
uniform code of military justice. "And", he said, looking
straight at Shiro, "You touch me again and I'll break your
hand".
Shiro raised his fist again, intending on smashing him in
the face, but a voice stopped him. "Shiro!", snapped Korako,
stilling his hand, "I'm sure that the Captain must be tired
after his long trip, see that he is given appropriate
quarters".
Shiro fumed for a moment before motioning two guards
forward, "Take him to his room", he ordered.
Major Hitomi watched from the corner, she didn't like
this business of interrogation, "Sir, must we keep questioning
him?", she asked, "If his is a military officer, then we are
violating our *own* codes".
Shiro glanced at her, "Major, you stick to flying
aircraft and leave the 'questioning' to us", he said.
Korako stood, "I agree Major, it would be violating
regulations if we used, Ahh, less conventional techniques".,
he said.
Shiro shook his head, "How do we know is *really* is a
military officer?", he asked.
Hitomi shook her head, "That uniform, for one thing", she
said, "and he has the bearing of an officer".
Shiro smirked, "Oh, studying him that closely?", he asked
insinuatingly.
"Enough!", said Korako, "This bickering is getting us no
where", both officers were silent, while the general thought
to matter through.
He sat behind his desk, "Captain Shiro", he said, "I give
you permission to use any means necessary to get the
information out of him".
Shiro grinned, evilly, "Yes Sir!", he said smartly,
turning to make preparations.
"Oh, before you go", the general added, "The Major here,
will make sure that you don't do any permanent damage to our
'guest'". Shiro stiffened slightly and continued out of the
room..
Major Hitomi looked questioningly at the General, "Well
Hitomi, I want you to make sure our guest survives the
interrogation", he explained.
"But Sir", she began to protest.
Korako nodded, "I understand", he said, his eyes
softening, "I don't like it either, but we need that
information".
Hitmoi shook her head, "And if his army comes looking for
him?", she asked, remembering her encounter with the runabout.
"God help us all", the general said, turning away to look
out the window.
******
"I'm telling you that you got cheated!", Mara insisted.
The two officers were sitting in a small cafe, getting
rather strange glances. They were dressed in the same
clothing that they had 'acquired' from the unfortunate gang
they had met two nights ago.
"Lieutenant", John said, "Shut up and eat your dinner".
Mara gave him a sour look, "Yes *sir*", she said
sarcastically, approximating a mock salute with a spoon.
John had exchanged some of their Latinum with a pawn
broker, getting quite a bit of cash from the deal. They had
located all but one of the parts that Uslim required, but now
they had a small cash problem.
"How are we going to afford a crystal of the quality that
Uslim needs?", John asked, counting his remaining money.
Mara shrugged, "You'll think of something", she said,
continuing to eat.
The only remaining part was a piece of high quality
crystal, it was required for Uslim to replace several
Isolinear Optical Chips. Cheap crystals were easy to find,
but the quality that was needed was the problem. The type of
crystal was only currently used in scientific research or
military applications.
Suddenly a ADP car screamed passed the restaurant,
"Please evacuate the area immediately!", came an amplified
voice from the car, "A rouge Boomer is headed in this...".
The rest of the sentence was cut off, as the car exploded
in flames. John and Mara overturned a table and hid behind
it, as pieces of glass flooded the restaurant.
******
Leon was not having a good day, he was prepping a K-12
power armour for launch. "One minute to target!", called the
pilot of the ADP helicopter over the radio.
Leon nodded to his team, they were travelling towards the
area of disturbance, all four of them in the latest armour
available.
A light went green in the launch bay and the squad piled
out, parachutes deploying and breaking thruster firing to slow
their descent. Leon was amazed at the destruction below. The
two Boomers had turned up almost half an hour ago, cutting a
swath of destruction through the city. Everything the ADP
threw at them was brushed aside, they had lost nearly twenty
K-12's this evening, only five of the pilots had survived.
The four man team landed in formation, moving towards the
closest Boomer, overhead, Leon could see outlines of nearly a
dozen ADP helicopters, all adding their gunfire and rockets in
an attempt to stop the Boomers. Deploying in a tight
formation the squad turned the next corner to be confronted by
a scene of total destruction. Broken and twisted wrecks of
K-12s littered the street, Leon averted his eyes at the scene.
He glanced up as he heard another aircraft overhead,
"What the hell is that?", called one of his team members.
Leon recognised the Knight Sabres transport and welcoming
the help, he signalled the squad to move forwards, "It's the
Knight Sabres", he announced, "Anyone object to their help?".
The squad was silent, "Well, then lets move out", he
said, "We don't want them to have all the fun".
Leon was worried, from what he had seen these Boomers
were different, the ADP had *never* been this trashed. "I
hope Priss is alright", he thought, remembering the brown-hair
singer who he knew to be one of them.
******
Priss was definitely *not* alright, "Damn, my rail-gun
spikes just bounce off", she called to Linna. The two of them
had were going after the closer Boomer, while Nene and Sylia
took the one further away.
Linna nodded, "Alright, lets see how it deals with my
ribbons", she said, dodging in close to the Boomer. Priss
shot a series of rounds at the Boomer, distracting it so that
Linna could get a good hit.
Linna's ribbons lashed out at the C-55, unfortunately
they shattered on impact. Jumping backward in shock, Linna
dodged another of the Boomer's laser blasts. Priss continued
to shoot, distracting it for a moment. Jumping high, Linna
came down on the Boomer's back, using a knuckle bomb. The
blast only served to angry the Boomer and it backhanded her
into a wall.
Priss screamed in frustration, she was nearly out of
rounds. Linna was unsteadily getting to her feet, the Boomer
aiming it's laser at her.
"EAT THIS", came a shout from further down the street.
The Boomer was blown from it's feet by a missile. Priss
ran over and grabbed Linna, moving her out of the way.
Turning she saw a squad of four K-12's moving down the street,
the lead unit had a heavy missile launcher on one shoulder,
she recognised it's pilot.
The Boomer got to it's feet, seemingly unhurt by the
powerful blast. "Fire!", Leon screamed again.
The squad opened up with everything available, high
calibre armour piercing rounds impacted into the Boomer, not
doing any damage but pushing it backwards. "What the hell are
you doing", Priss shouted over the noise to Leon (who was
standing watching the Boomer, but not firing).
"Just wait", he said.
The Boomer managed to get off a couple of unaimed laser
blasts, before the sheer kinetic energy of the Bullets pushed
it back through a wall.
"NOW!", shouted Leon, firing his remaining missile, not
at the Boomer, but at the building that it was under. A
volley of six missiles followed his, screaming into the
building and destroying most of the supports. Tons of
concrete and steel fell straight on the Boomer's head, pinning
it to the ground.
As the dust cleared, it was apparent that the Boomer was
still intact, its screams and growls echoed from beneath the
rubble. But fortunately it couldn't move. The ADP squad
cracked open their armour, grinning at each other in relief.
"Well that's one down", one of them observed.
Priss was about to thank them when she remember Sylia and
Nene, they had gone off to fight one of these things
themselves. "I'm sorry, we have to go now", she said to Leon,
"Our other friends might will probably need help".
Leon nodded, "We'll help", he offered, it was a thought
echoed by the rest of the squad as well, they snapped down
their canopies and checked their weapons. The four K-12s and
two worried Knight Sabres quite literally flew down the
street.
******
"NENE!", Sylia screamed, as the pink hardsuit was
backhanded through a building.
The Boomer that they were fighting seemed to be
completely bullet-proof. She had it numerous time, with
enough force to damage or destroy a regular C-55. Her arm
blades were broken, snapped off when she attempted to impale
the Boomer. It had struck her across the stomach, ripping
into her armour.
"Nene?", she called over the radio, "Come in, can you
hear me?". She felt a trickle of blood down the inside of her
abdominal armour.
She was busy watching what had happened to Nene, when she
felt a searing pain in her shoulder, dodging away, she saw
that her armour was burnt away. "Damn, he tagged me", she
growled.
Bobbing and weaving she decided that her only chance lay
in destroying part of the Boomer's control system. She began
to run in circles, trying to get a close shot at the Boomer's
back. Seeing her chance she rammed a fist at the back of the
Boomer's head. The explosion of the knuckle bomb did little.
She suddenly felt herself impaled on the boomer's claw.
"That's it", she thought, feeling immense pain, wondering
what would happen to the Knight Sabres after her death. "I
hope Nene is alright", was her last conscious thought.
******
John winced and ducked further behind the wall. The
sounds of battle were echoing from across the street. Mara
and John were huddled behind a small concrete wall, trying to
avoid the stray shots coming into the cafe.
"I wonder how much longer its going to go on?", Mara
mused, she had drawn her phaser out of concealment when the
Boomer had first appeared.
They both ducked as a large object flew through the
shop's front window. John looked in horror as the still form
lying against the shop's rear wall, a pool of blood was
rapidly spreading across the floor. He grabbed up his medical
kit and ran over, knelling beside the person, running his
Tricorder over the body.
Mara ran over beside him, "Oh god, is he alive?", she
asked.
John had gone into 'doctor' mode, "*She* is alive, but
won't be for much longer", he said.
"Doc", Mara, said warningly, "Remember that we aren't
supposed to interfere".
John ignored her, reaching for into his medical kit,
grabbing up a laser scalpel, trying to seal up the gaping
wound. "If I can get her stabilised, she should survive", he
muttered.
Mara grabbed his arm, "You could be destroying history",
she insisted, "Remember the Prime Directive, you took an
oath".
John pulled his arm away, "I also swore another oath", he
said, turning back to his patient, "To aid the sick and
injured".
Mara nodded slowly, "Well it's your decision", she said,
turning back to watch the front of the store.
The doctor turned back to his patient, running a tissue
regenerator over the gaping wound, "What I wouldn't give for
access to a bio-bed", he thought.
He was frustrated in getting to the internal damage, but
the strange armour the woman was wearing. Scanning for some
kind of release mechanism he located it and began snapping the
armour off. It fell away from her body quickly, revealing
that she was wearing some kind of tight-fitting undergarment.
A noise behind him startled John and he spun around,
standing in the broken shop front was a Boomer. John dove to
his left, pulling his phaser from it's hiding place in his
sleeve. Luckily for him, the Boomer was distracted for a
moment by another person wearing power amour. He rolled to
his knees, firing his small phaser at the Boomer.
The red-gold beam hissed into the Boomer, sparking on
it's armour. Unfortunately his small type-I phaser did little
against the Boomer's armour, managing to only scratch the
surface. It had turned back to face him, when his beam was
joined by a second. John glanced to his left, seeing Mara
firing her own phaser.
"This is useless", he thought, diving to the side as a
laser beam cut in his direction. He pulled out his Tricorder,
scanning the strange Boomer carefully. The readings he got
astounded him.
******
Mara ducked another laser shot, returning fire. She had
already gone through eight settings on her phaser, all had
little or no effect.
"Mara", John shouted from behind some cover on her right,
"Use setting 10 or above, it's got tritanium armour!".
Mara nodded, and set her phaser up to the highest level,
"I hope he's right", she thought. With the amount of use she
had already put it through, and using it at the highest
setting, a type-II phaser should be just about out of power
after her first shot.
She jumped towards the Boomer, dodging another laser
blast. Taking careful aim, she shot straight at the Boomer's
chest. To say the result was spectacular would be an
understatement, the Tritanium armour was blasted into vapour
as soon as her shot hit it. The Boomer's head was blown from
it's body, most of which vaporised under the intense energy.
Mara breathed a sigh of relief, dropping to her knees.
She glanced at her phaser, she had guessed right, it was
totally discharged. "Next time I'll bring along a phaser
*rifle*", she thought to herself.
******
John returned his phaser to it's hiding place (after
carefully setting it back to stun). He hurried over to his
patient, noticing that she was more or less unharmed by this
last attack.
Mara was scanning the area with her Tricorder, "It looks
like there are more people coming", she announced, "And that
other power armour is still functioning". Then she noticed an
unusual reading, "I'll be back in a moment", she said,
scrambling over the rubble.
John just continued to work, he had managed to stop a lot
of the internal bleeding and was fighting to keep the young
woman alive. "You really took a beating", he said to her
unconscious face, "So, do you do this thing for a living, or
what?". Not really expecting an answer John continued to
babble a bit.
A few moments later Mara returned, sliding down into the
'fox-hole' where John was treating his patient.
She held up the Boomer's head, "We've found our last
part", she said.
John looked up momentarily from where is was still
working. "Oh?", he asked.
"Yeah, the laser is generated by passing it through a
high-quality refractive crystal", she explained, "Now we can
get out of here".
John grunted, "In a minute", he said.
Mara frowned, "Now look, you said once you have her
stabilised we can get out of here", she said.
John frowned, "She's nowhere near stable yet, I've had to
shock her heart four times to keep it going", he explained, "I
can't leave yet".
Mara had her Tricorder out and was scanning the area
again, "Well it looks like her partner is on the way", she
announced, picking up the other hardsuit.
John shook his head, "I can't leave", he said flatly.
"Well come on Doc", she said, "We can't stay here, if
they find us...".
It was at that moment that Nene came running around the
corner of the street. John looked at Mara suddenly, "You take
the crystal back to Uslim, I'll follow when she's stable", he
said.
Mara shook her head, not willing to leave her friend.
"I don't want any arguments Lieutenant", he barked at
her.
Mara frowned, "I still don't like it", she complained.
Thinking for a moment she tossed John her phaser, "Here, this
will be charged up again in about an hour", she said.
John smiled, "Thanks Mara, good luck".
Mara nodded, "You too, don't get yourself killed", she
warned.
Moving slightly away from her friend, she tapped her
communicator, "Computer, one to beam back", she ordered.
******
Nene arrived just in time to see a woman dissolve in a
pillar of light. Blinking slightly she checked her sensors
again, looking for Sylia's signal. It was close, and she
hurried forward.
What she saw frightened her, Sylia was lying in a pool of
blood, her armour had been removed and was lying in a pile by
her feet. Before she could move, a man stepped between her
and Sylia, "Whoever you are, stay back", he shouted, levelling
some kind of weapon at her.
Nene froze, "That's my friend", she said indicating
Sylia.
The man frowned, but slipped the weapon back into his
clothes and turned back to Sylia, picking up a strange
instrument. "What are you doing to her", Nene cried, placing
a hand on the man's shoulder.
He frowned at her, "Saving her life", he said bluntly,
"Now unless you've got some medical training I'm telling you
to stand back".
Nene was unsure about the strange man, he seemed to know
what he was doing, Sylia was still alive after all. And from
the amount of blood on the floor it was certainly good to
hear.
"Mackie", she called into her radio, "We're going to need
an airlift, immediately".
A few moments later Priss and Linna arrive, escorted by a
group of ADP K-12's. "Keep them back", she called to over the
radio Priss, "Sylia's been hurt".
******
Priss turned to Leon, "One of our group is hurt, please
wait here", she ordered.
Leon nodded under his suit, "Alright men", he said,
"spread out and look for that Boomer". The other three began
looking for the Boomer, investigating the buildings that had
been ruined.
"Anything I can do to help?", he asked.
Priss shook her head, "We'll be leaving soon", she said,
"Unless you have some kind of objection?".
Leon shook his head, "No Priss", he said to her quietly,
"You and your friends are free to go". And with that he
turned and walked back to his men
******
Linna was examining Sylia, shuddering at the mess she was
in. "I'm telling you that it's dangerous to move her", said
the strange man.
Nene placed a hand on his shoulder, "Thank you for what
you've done, but we'll take over now".
The man snorted, "You've got to be kidding", he said,
"Are any of you doctors? I've just spent the last ten minutes
and god knows how much effort, keeping her alive, I'm not
about to let you ruin my work".
Linna looked at him carefully, he seemed slightly
familiar. "And you are a doctor?", she asked looking at the
slightly worn jacket and jeans he was wearing.
"I'm as close to a doctor as your going to get lady", he
said, "Now either let me keep treating her or let her die...
it's your choice".
Linna nodded, "Alright, you can come with us", she
announced.
Nene tapped her on the shoulder, "Are you sure that's a
good idea?", she asked, "You remember what Sylia said
about..."
Linna cut her off, "That was before she got herself
gutted by a Boomer", she said sharply, "*He's* the only doctor
we've got".
A moment later the transport landed and it's doors
opened. The three remaining Knight Sabres lifted their leader
carefully and carried her to the waiting plane.
******
Mackie nearly had a heart attack, seeing his sister
wheeled out of the transport. He knew that someone was
wounded, but no one had told him it was her. He quickly
followed the stretcher into the infirmary.
He gulped as he saw the ragged gash on her stomach and
her pale complexion. He felt a hand on his shoulder, it was
Linna, "I'm sure she'll be alright", she said comfortingly.
"I'm going to need some kind of power source", said a man
that Mackie had never seen before. He was hovering over
Sylia's prone form, examining her carefully. Mackie felt a
spurt of recognition, "Isn't that the guy from the shop", he
blurted to Linna.
Linna frowned and looked at the man closely, "Your
right", she said, "I didn't notice". Linna then motioned to
Priss and the two of them went apart to talk.
Mackie continued to watch anxiously as the man hooked up
a strangle device to her arm, "What are you doing??", he
asked, concerned.
The man gave him a worried look, "If I don't replace some
of the blood that she's lost, she'll die", he said tersely,
"Now unless you've got some important reason for being here,
please leave".
******
Nene (still in her armour) placed a hand on Mackie's
shoulder and gesturing to Sylia, "Excuse me *doctor*", she
said, "That's his sister".
John sighed, "Sorry", he said, looking at the young boy,
"I'm just a little stressed out at the moment".
John failed to recognise the boy as the one that Mara had
stunned when they had first arrived, he was too caught up in
his work. "Where's that power?", he insisted to Nene.
She walked over to a power outlet, "Here", she said,
wondering what he meant.
John frowned, and scanned the wall with his Tricorder,
there was power there, but it was at a very primitive
frequency and modulation. "Well I guess it's better than
nothing", he muttered, placing the power cell over the outlet.
"Now as long as the StarFleet Engineers had taken into
consideration the power type..", he thought to himself. A
moment later, the cell beeped and all the lights went out.
"What the hell are you doing?", Nene said, looking at the
glowing power pack.
John noted that the power pack was at full charge and he
quickly put it into the regenerator. He flicked the switch
and the regenerator hummed slightly. "All we can do now', he
said, "Is wait".
******
"Come on!", said Mara impatiently, "How long is this
going to take?".
"About an hour and a half less than the last time you
asked", replied Uslim, adjusting the crystal slightly.
Mara had returned with all the necessary equipment, but
as Uslim kept reminding her, this would take a few days.
"Have we got enough power to beam him back?", she asked.
Uslim shook his head, "Our power reserves are down to
almost nill", he said, "We must conserve as much power as
possible, until I can get these components installed".
Mara slumped down into a chair, she had never abandoned a
friend before and was not about to start now. "John should be
here now", she thought to herself, "I should have forced him
to come". Even as she thought it she realised that it
wouldn't have worked, had she tried to force him to come he
would have resisted and she might have lost the chance to get
the parts back here.
"John will be fine", Uslim said, in what was probably a
comforting tone (for a Vulcan).
Mara nodded, not really convinced, picking up the phaser
rifle she had been working on, she checked it's charge and
components for the tenth time. "I won't be caught out next
time", she growled, sighting down the rifle's length.
******
John woke suddenly. "What...", he muttered, not
recognising the surroundings. He was lying on a strange bed,
covered with a light sheet. Blinking he sat up, then he
remembering, he quickly turned to check on his patient.
The young woman looked better, but it would still be a
few days until she was completely out of danger and then a
week or two before she was fully-recovered. John checked the
regenerator, it had completed its work and had switched itself
off.
He yawned, picked up the Tricorder and scanned the woman,
noticing that her heartbeat and other vital signs were stable.
"Your doing better miss", he said (never actually being told
her name).
She groaned slightly and he quickly leaned over, her
eye's fluttered open, "Where?", she murmured.
John smiled down at her, "Your alright miss, with a bit
of rest you'll be back up in no time", he said comfortingly.
She shook her head and attempted to sit up, John quickly
held her down, "No!", he said, forcing her to stay down, "Do
you want me to sedate you?".
She shook her head again, "Who.. are.. you..", she said
with some effort.
John smiled, "At the moment I'm your doctor", he grinned,
"But my name's John". After a moment he smiled again, "By the
way", he said, "Do *you* have a name?".
"Her name's Sylia", came a timid voice from the door.
John turned around to see the young boy that he had
noticed earlier, "How is she?", he asked.
John waved him over, "Ask her yourself", he said, "The
hypo that I gave her is almost worn off".
The boy, who John remembered was called Mackie walked
slowly over to the bed and hovered over his sister, "Hey
Sis?", he said.
Sylia opened her eyes and smiled weakly, "Mackie", she
groaned, "The others?".
Mackie nodded, tears in his eyes, "Your safe Sis", he
said, "Everyone else is safe too".
John turned and walked back to his medical case, packing
away the regenerator, "This is the best part of being a
doctor", he thought to himself happily.
A moment later three unfamiliar women walked into the
room, "Mackie!", one of them said angrily, "We told you to
keep and eye on him, not...". She broke off, noticing that
Sylia was awake.
"Sylia!", she cried happily, leaning over the bed. The
other two also smiled, tears filling their eyes.
After a few minutes, one of them (she had long black hair
and a serious expression) walked over to him, "Will she be
alright?", she asked.
John nodded, "She needs a few more days of observation,
there still could be complications, but it looks good so far",
he replied.
She stuck out her hand, "I'm Linna", she said, "You'll
probably want to freshen up, Mackie will show you to a spare
room".
The two of them walked upstairs, john marvelling at the
security systems that seemed to be everywhere. Finally they
emerged into what looked like a pretty ordinary looking house.
Mackie motioned John into a room, "Here you are", he said.
John walked into the room and Mackie closed the door
behind him, locking it.
"Hey!", John called through the door, "What's going on?"
"Sorry doctor", Mackie replied, "But Linna thinks that it
would be better if you stayed put for a while".
John sighed, he would feel better after cleaning up (or
at least as close as he could get in the 21st century). As he
walked into the bathroom, he suddenly realised where he had
seen him before. "Oh no..", he thought to himself, "Of all
the luck...".
{Author's Note: Yeah *scratching my head* that does seem a
little contrived, doesn't it?}
Finally getting out of the street clothes, he also
slipped out of his uniform and into a shower. Fifteen minutes
later he was back into uniform and thanking whoever designed
the fabric. He re-attached his communicator badge and decided
to call in, since he was alone and not really able to do
anything else.
"Conroy to runabout Murray", he said tapping his
commbadge, "respond Murray"
{Author's Note: The Murray River is one of the biggest in
Australia - since the Runabouts are named
after rivers.. what the hell...}
"Doc, where the hell are you?", responded Mara, "You've
been out of contact since I left you".
"Sorry Mara", John replied, "But I've stabilised the
woman's condition and should be ready for beam-out soon".
"Well", replied Mara, "That would be great, except for
the fact that while Uslim is repairing the Engines, we've only
got minimal *life support* and no chance of using the
transporter".
John sighed, "Well how long will it take?", he asked,
feeling a little uncomfortable.
"Uslim here", interrupted Uslim, "I must first realign
the Isolinear matrix and then compute the proper flow
curve...".
John broke in, "Uslim, I'm a doctor, not an engineer", he
said, "Just tell me how long".
There was silence for a moment before Uslim responded, "I
don't know", he said.
John nodded to himself, "Well let me know when your
ready", he said, "I'm not sure how long I'll be welcome here".
Sitting down on the bed, John check the charge on his own
phaser and then on the Type-II that he had borrowed from Mara,
they were both at full. He grimly placed the Type-II into
it's holster and slid the smaller up one sleeve.
******
Major Hitmoi winced as she saw the condition of her
charge. Harakam had several burn marks on his temples (the
result of the electrodes that had been attached there) and he
was bleeding from a cut lip. She winced again as Captain
Shiro smashed his fist into the prisoner's face.
"I am.. Captain.. Ford Harakam.... Service No", Harakam
mumbled weakly
Shiro snarled and raised his fist again. Hitomi grabbed
it before he could get any momentum up, "That's enough", she
said firmly.
Shiro sneered at her, "Got no stomach for this pilot?",
he said grinning.
Resisting the urge to pound him into the ground Hitomi
gestured to the two guards standing at the door, "Captain
Shiro is leaving now", she ordered, "You will personally make
sure he is standing 100 meters from this building before
returning".
Shiro shook his head, "Your making a mistake", he said as
the guards removed him, "The general will hear about this".
Hitomi waited until they had left before she brought
Harakam a glass of water, "here you go", she said.
He looked at her with blood-shot eyes, "What's this?", he
asked weakly, "Your suppose to be the 'good Romulan' ?".
She shrugged not understanding exactly what he meant,
"Drink it", she insisted, "If you weren't so resistant to the
drugs it would be over by now".
Harakam nodded, "Well I guess that's too bad for you
then", he said.
Hitomi looked at him sadly, "No, it's too bad for you",
she said, "The general needs that information".
Harakam shrugged and then winced at the pain, "That's no
concern of mine", he said, and then drank the water.
Hitomi nodded, "Well I think Shiro has done enough for
tonight", she said.
Harakam shook his head, "I've been interrogated by the
best", he said, "I was even captured by the Cardassians
once..". Harakam broke off at her empty expression, "Those
names *really* don't mean anything to you?", he asked.
Hitomi shook her head, "No, I'm sorry, but they don't",
she said.
Harakam sighed, "Well I'm sorry that this is the way it
has to be", he said and then looked firmly ahead, ignoring any
other comments she made.
******
Quincy was disappointed, he was sitting watching a record
of the battle that took place yesterday. "Impressive", he
murmured, noticing that the modified C-55s were seemingly
unaffected by the ordinance thrown against them.
"Yes Sir", replied Dr Marshall from his seat in front of
Quincy's desk, "The Atomic and Molecular structure of the
element make it almost impervious to current weapons".
Quincy frowned as one of the Boomer's was trapped under a
building, "Oh don't worry Sir", said Marshall, "That C-55 is
still intact, it's servo's just can't lift that much weight".
Quincy frowned and watched the telemetry from the second
Boomer, "What's that?" he demanded, seeing a red-gold beam
lance across the Boomer's vision.
Dr Marshall gulped nervously, "Well sir...", he began.
A moment later Quincy saw all the Boomer's readings cut
out, "I thought you said it was impervious to all weapons", he
demanded.
Marshall nodded, "All *current* weapons sir", he said,
shaking his head, "According to our data, the Boomer was hit
by a Phased Energy weapon".
Quincy frowned, "A Phaser?", he mused, "We've been
attempting to produce a phaser for nearly ten years".
Marshall nodded, "Yes Sir, but whoever destroyed the
Boomer, used one", he explained, "There was very little of the
Boomer left, most of it was disintegrated".
Quincy swivelled his chair around to face the window,
"You've done well doctor", he said, "What did you call this
metal?".
"Its called Tritanium", he replied.
"Well, see to it that you replace the armour on as many
models as possible", Quincy replied.
Marshall swallowed nervously, "Uhh sir, those two C-55s
used up almost all of our supply", he explained, "I have no
idea where to get more from".
Quincy nodded, "Well I'll see that some gets delivered as
soon as it becomes available", he said, dismissing the doctor
with a gesture.
A few moments after doctor Marshall left, a tall figure
entered the room, "I hear you need something?", he said to
Quincy.
Quincy nodded, not turning to look at the man, "As much
of that metal as you can find", he replied.
The man nodded, "Oh", he said, stopping suddenly and
turning back to Quincy, "Our 'guest' had some more information
to tell us". With that he tossed a tape recorder and piece of
paper on the desk, "He was very helpful", he finished, walking
out the door.
Quincy picked up the record of the interrogation, "Matter
Transmission, Faster than Light engines, Anti-matter
reactors", he muttered, "It looks like something out of
science fiction".
******
"Relax, focus..", Lt John Conroy, was thinking, moving
through the complex relaxation techniques that were the
complement to the Klingon martial arts that he had learned.
He had been attempting to relax since talking with Mara and
Uslim, so far nothing seemed to be working. Sighing in
frustration he sat down in a chair and tried some breathing
techniques.
"Don't stop", said Linna, stepping into the room, "I
don't think I've seen techniques quite like that".
John nodded, "It's an obscure form", he said, "Taught a
*long* way from here". John smiled slightly, "About 500 light
years from here", he thought, but didn't add.
"Sylia's condition seems to be stable", Linna noted
sitting down opposite him.
"She's not quite out of the woods yet", John disagreed,
"It's going to take some special care if she's going to *ever*
going to be back to the same physical condition as before".
Linna nodded, "I know", she said quietly.
John stood, "Well are you going to keep me in here
forever?", he asked bluntly.
"Eager to leave?", Linna asked, smiling slightly.
John shook his head, "No", he replied, "But I don't
really like being a prisoner".
Linna frowned, "Well, I'm afraid that there are a few
things that need explaining before we let you roam around at
will", she said.
John sat back down, "Such as?", he said.
"What were you doing in the combat area?", Linna asked.
John smiled, "Ducking", he replied shortly, "A friend and
I were having lunch when the Boomer attacked, we didn't have
time to get away".
Linna nodded, "Alright, that explains why you were
there", she said, "Now can you tell me why you decided to help
Sylia?".
John shrugged, "She was hurt, I'm a doctor", he replied
simply.
Linna shook her head, "Your the first doctor I've met
that didn't ask for a credit card before treating a patient",
she commented.
"Credit Card?", John asked.
Frowning deeper Linna studied him closely, "Your not from
around here, are you?", she asked.
"No", John replied, "Not from anywhere around here".
"Well...", Linna said, waiting for an explanation.
John frowned at her, these questions were becoming rather
invasive, "I really think that I've answered enough
questions", he said, "I'd like to leave now".
John stood and started for the door, Linna stepped in
front of him, "Oh no you don't!", she said blocking his way,
"Not until you tell me how you do that fancy entrance thing".
"What 'entrance thing' is that?", John replied, confused.
Linna smiled, "That one where you appear out of thin air
in a column of light and shoot an innocent bystander", she
said.
John edged his hand near the phaser-II, hidden in his
clothing, that he had borrowed from Mara, "I don't know what
your talking about", he said.
Linna's eyes narrowed, "Oh I think you do", she said.
John backed up slightly, so that the phaser wouldn't
cause any permanent damage, "I'm sure you must be mistaken",
he said.
Linna moved with him, keeping the distance between them
constant, "Come on, you and that friend of yours who likes to
shoot people", she said.
John whipped out the phaser, only to have Linna knock it
from his grasp, "No you don't!", she said.
John decided that a hasty exit would be a good idea and
moved to sweep Linna's feet from under her. Unfortunately she
read his move and avoided it. He quickly switched to a series
of body blows that she easily parried.
"Not bad", Linna noted. She then began her own attack,
aiming for John's head, he barely managed to block her attack,
stumbling backwards. Linna followed up with a kick to the
chest and John fell backward and thumped against a wall.
"Had enough?", she asked, panting slightly.
John groaned and shook his head to clear it. "You win",
he said, clambering to his feet, "Your a better fighter".
Then he pulled the smaller type-I phaser from his sleeve, "But
somehow I don't think you can dodge this", he said, aiming it
at her.
Linna raised her arms, "That's cheating", she said.
Suddenly the door was flung open, "Doctor!", called
Mackie, "Something's wrong with Sylia!".
John looked at him, wondering what could have gone wrong,
unconsciously he slipped the phaser away as he bolted for the
door, leaving a confused Linna standing in the middle of the
room, with her hands raised, "Well I guess that's the end of
my questions", she said to the empty room.
Racing down the hallway, John was breathing heavily when
he finally reached the infirmary, he grabbed up a Tricorder
and scanned Sylia's still form, "That's strange", he said,
puffing, "There's nothing wrong...".
He broke off and looked up to see Mackie, Linna and the
woman named Priss standing in the doorway, "Well I think that
answers *one* important question", Priss said dryly.
John frowned, "Oh?", he asked.
"As to your moral standards", Linna continued.
"That was a test?", John asked, confused.
The three nodded, "It was to see if you'd abandon Sylia
to save your own skin", Priss said, "Looks like you passed".
"Who's bright idea was that?", John said sarcastically.
"Mine...", came a weak voice from the bed.
John frowned, "Well next time make it something a little
less trying on the nerves", he said, "I almost had a heart
attack running down all those stairs".
Mackie and Priss laughed, while Linna just smiled
slightly, "Everybody out", John said, "Sylia needs time to
regain her strength".
Everyone filed out, John turning out the light as he
left, he took the Tricorder with him to keep a constant
monitor on Sylia's condition, "I should have thought of this
before", he muttered.
The three led him to a comfortable lounge room,
"Doctor?", Mackie asked curiously, "What's your *real* name?".
John smiled, "It's John", he said, "John Conroy".
"Well John", Linna said, "How would you like a job?".
"A job?", he asked, "What kind of job?".
"Well, we need someone to help Sylia recover from her
injuries", she explained, "And since your the only doctor
available....".
John shrugged, "Alright", he said, "But no more locking
me in my room".
Linna nodded in agreement, "Done!", she said.
John returned to his room to get some sleep (carrying the
Tricorder with him to keep a close watch on Sylia), he slumped
into bed and felt more relaxed than he had in weeks, even if
these people were not *quite* his friends, he knew now that
they weren't the enemy.
******
"How can you trust him?", Priss argued, "We don't know
anything about him".
Linna nodded, "He also knows nothing about us", she said,
"So we're about even there".
Mackie looked up, "Are you sure Linna?", he asked, "If
he's going to be taking care of Sylia...."
Linna shrugged, "He wouldn't have reacted that way if he
didn't care", she said, "He also would have attacked me more
aggressively if he intended to escape".
"And what about those weapons he's carrying?", Priss
asked, "You've got to admit that it's dangerous for him to be
carrying those around".
Linna nodded, "He's already proven that he'd only use
them when someone threatens him", she said.
A moment later a breathless Nene rushed into the room,
carrying something the a plastic bag, "Wait till you see
this", she said. Tipping the bag open, a piece of metal
clattered to the desk.
"What the hell is important about that?", Priss asked.
"It's part of the armour from the second Boomer from
yesterday", she said.
"What blasted and melted it like that?", Mackie asked,
eyeing the strange metal.
"The lab boys have no idea", Nene said, "They couldn't
even make a dint in it".
"What did they use?", Priss asked, picking it up and
turning it over in her hands.
"Everything", Nene said, "Diamond drills, laser cutters,
even explosives, nothing so much as scratched it".
Linna looked at the metal with bleak eyes, "I think we're
in serious trouble", she said, "If the Boomer's are *that*
armoured....."
******
Glossary: (For those of you unfamiliar with some of the Star
Trek terms - if you see anything that should be
explained missing, or anything I've got wrong,
let me know)
Commbadge - A StarFleet commbadge is standard
issue to all officers, it provides
for communication, identification and
transporter lock, it is a small,
badge like object, that is coated
with a layer of gold and silver.
Danube Class Runabout - A small class of ship used by
StarFleet, capable of Warp Speed
and with several cargo options (ie:
combat, planetary survey,
exploration), it makes the small
vessel a more useful replacement to
a shuttle (the usual transports
that are used on starships)
Gold-Pressed Latinum - Standard currency inside and outside
of the Federation, mainly because it
cannot be replicated.
Isolinear Optical Chip - This is a data storage media, often
used in the control systems of
spacecraft, but also used in much
the same way as computer disks
today.
Phaser - A phaser is the standard issue
defensive weapon to all StarFleet
personnel - There are several
distinct types.
Type I - Smallest type of phaser, capable of
stun/kill settings only
II - Pistol-sized phaser, capable of
molecular disruption (vaporisation)
III - This is a rifle model, only used in
special circumstances, considered a
heavy weapon.
{as a note - the big phaser arrays on the Enterprise-D are
listed as Class-X}
Replicator - This device creates matter from
energy in specific patterns - it can
be used to create *virtually*
anything, but the power costs are
quite significant.
Tricorder - Hand-held instrument used by
StarFleet for detection and
scanning. There are several
different types of specialised
Tricorders, medical, science etc.
Tritanium - A strong metal used in the
construction of starships, it is a
light and durable material.
Universal Translator - The Universal Translator is a
computer program that ties into every
StarFleet commbadge, it translates
the sounds (and in some cases
gestures/smells/body language) of
alien species into Federation
Standard
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Address: darkwnd@sv.net.au WWW page: http://www.sv.net.au/~darkwnd
Kane: "Master, the other children tease me..."
Old Master: "Have you learnt nothing from my teachings, Grasshopper?"
Kane: "What do you mean master?"
Old Master: "Well can you not beat the Sh#T out of them???"
-----Fast Forward (1990)
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