Dinner and Danger .. Pt 2 - Danger
Posted on Thursday 2 February 2017 @ 22:01 by Captain Melody Jones & Lieutenant Commander David Tan
Mission:
Intermission
Location: USS Merlin / Tenlax IV
Timeline: Mid January
4706 words - 9.4 OF Standard Post Measure
ON :
03:15 hrs - Thursday ...
... 47 hrs : 32 mins : 29 sec ...
"Your sure you are doing the right thing by going after Steph with no back-up ?" Lana said as David dressed somewhat dramatically in black from head to foot.
"What option do I have ?" he said, reaching down to lace up his boots, boots he hadn't worn in quite a long time, "Pass it over to the Captain, involve Starfleet, what ?"
"Daddy ..." Mia said from the doorway, wiping sleep from her eyes as she entered their room and climbed onto David's knee, "Where are you going ?"
"To work Sweetheart, that's all, you go back to bed, I'll be back before you know it, OK ?" Kenzie came in, unsurprisingly she had woken the instant her sister had, but had allowed the younger of them to go first. David wrapped his arms around both girls, looking up at Lana for some support, but rather than taking the girls, she went into the living area. Sighing, David managed to stand, a girl in each arm, and followed. Lana was walking to the table a mug and plate in her hands. she put them down and told him to sit, and despite his protesting that he didn't have the time, she insisted he eat the buttered crumpets and drink the mug of strong coffee before he left. Both girls sat on his knee throughout, making every effort to stifle yawns. Finally finished, he stood and allowed Lana to take the children. He picked up a bag he'd prepared the night before: A couple of phasers, communicators, Med kit, Restraints ...
~~~~~
Entering the turbo-lift he requested 'Deck fourteen' and closed his eyes as the 'lift dropped ... As the doors opened he stepped out and began his walk to Shuttle-bay One. There were very few people about at this time so he wasn't surprised not to see anyone else roaming the corridors. He stopped outside the door to the 'Bay and crouched, checking the contents of the bag once again. It wasn't that he was nervous, he just tended to be thorough in his preparation no matter how serious the situation ... 'Better to have and not need, than need and not have' he thought wryly. He checked his wrist chronometer, still counting down to the deadline:
As the doors opened he could see the type 12 shuttle already facing the shuttle-bay doors. It was fast, he knew, but even so, they would only reach their destination with approximately six hours to spare, not a great deal of time to prepare and reconnoitre the meeting point. He looked around to see if Commander Jones was already here ....
Melody was in the cockpit making final preparations for launch. She someone come into the shuttle bay and made her way to the rear of the craft where the boarding ramp was open. "Ready to go. You said time was of the essence so I thought we better take this beauty. It's been retrofitted with an enhanced warp core so we should make it there with time on our side. Also the shields and weapons have been upgraded just in case we run into any..... resistance. However" she added "I don't think the Captain would appreciate us putting holes in his brand new shuttle craft so lets try and get back in one piece."
Tag
Melody settled into the pilots position and activated the comm system as the rear door closed behind them. "Shuttlecraft Galahad requesting launch clearance."
"Galahad, this is shuttle operations. You are cleared for takeoff. Have a nice trip."
The shuttle-bay doors opened and Melody powered and proceeded out into space. Once they had cleared the Merlin's warp field she brought the warp core online.
"OK, setting a course for Tenlex IV, maximum warp" and the shuttle blasted into warp speed.
20:41 hrs - Saturday ...
... 06 hrs : 19 mins : 02 sec ...
The shuttle came to a complete stop behind Tenlax IV, ensuring that the Moon was on the opposite side of the planet. They needed to come up with a means to legitimately land, without arousing the suspicions of the possible abductor. It was decided that they would disable the shuttles identification beacon and go in as traders. If they shadowed a larger vessel into the Spaceport they might be able to land without too much issue .... Once landed, they passed through the Spaceport quickly, searching out a directory to find the location of Stephanie Tennant. If they could get to her first it would make things much easier, but they had to keep in mind that it was highly likely Valok Narat wasn't working alone, he dared not risk capture once he took his hostage.
"I think we need to find out where Narat is." David said, looking at the sparsely populated Port, "He has to be holed up somewhere if Stephanie is still working, he wouldn't risk going straight through the front door, regardless of how desperate he was to cause the Tennant's pain and suffering."
They found three main hostelries offering apartments to residents and visitors and began walking along the dusty street toward the closest:
"I hope we can bring this to a conclusion while we're on the surface, but if he manages to get her off, then we may have a chase on our hands." he said, looking at Melody ...
Melody had studied the plans of the outpost n their journey over. "If we do have a chase it's a good job you brought an experienced pilot with you" she added with a wink. " Do you want me to head back to the shuttle and get the engines on standby or would you prefer some backup ?" As she pulled a small type 1 hand phaser from her pocket.
"I think at this point a second pair of eyes would be better. Besides, we have no idea how many people Narat will have with him. Is there any way we could have the shuttle prepped for a quick lift, it would at least give us that few seconds ?" he said, looking up at the six storey building while resisting the urge to scratch his head in frustration, then it occurred to him that Narat could be going after Stephanie now, not waiting on her to come to them, "Steph' works in the building over the square, I think we should go there and get her before they do. but if we're spotted then all hell could break loose, so lets appear to be anything but who we are."
He figured if they meandered across the large square looking at the stalls, the marketplace, they could appear as simple visitors and nothing more to anyone watching. It was risky, but they had few options open to them ... He took her arm, concealing her phaser in the process and began to walk into the marketplace when he realised that the reason they were here was walking directly towards them. but there was someone else too ... A man, long dark coat and brimmed hat. He was walking diagonally towards Stephanie, one hand beneath his dusty coat.
"They are here !" he whispered, nodding almost imperceptibly in the oncoming mans direction. He felt Melody tense slightly ....
Melody whisper to him "Do you have a plan? Or are we just winging this? You could get the girl while I...... Distract our friend here. I can be very....... distracting" she added with a sideways smile.
Up to melody making her suggestion, he had been thinking along the same lines, but reversed. He was going to have her approach Stephanie as a friend, moving her away from the area casually, while he got in the mans way, but it made more sense to do it her way, especially as Steph knew David and had do for many years, she was less likely to react suspiciously at his approach. he nodded:
"OK, I'll get Stephanie and take her back the way we have come, it might be less risky than having her suddenly change direction, you can go and 'distract' our friend over there. I'll take her to that old bar we passed near the spaceport and wait there for you. by the time you meet up with us I will have explained the situation to Steph. We'll get the shuttle and go, fast !" another thought occurred to him as he watched the man slowly closing the distance between himself and his intended target, "Keep your eyes open Commander, I can't imagine Narat will be that confident to just send one man to do his errand."
Melody winked and ruffled her hair slightly as she brought the zipper on the font of her jacket down slightly with one hand. Also with the other, unbeknownst to Tan, she double checked that the mini - hypospray was in her other pocket - she might be needing it!
Without any further conversation they split up ... David heading towards the girl, Melody towards her unsuspecting victim ...
Melody walked up to the man in the hat and gave him a coy smile. "Hey there" she said silkily "Looking for a good time?"
Despite himself, the man stopped and gave her a lecherous look that chilled Melody the core. He came very close to her. He spoke but his eyes ere not looking at her face.
"What a pretty young thing like you do....."
While he was enjoying the view that Melody had provided, he was not watching her hands. His sentence was cut short by the hiss as the hypo discharged into his neck. His legs gave out and Melody quickly lowered him into a bench that was near where they had stopped. A Couple who were passing stopped and Melody looked at them somewhat embarrassed and said "Too much to drink." They shrugged and gave a knowing look as they walked off. As she straightened back up she felt a hand on her shoulder and voice cry say "Not so fast...... Oh no - he had backup she thought!"
"Hi Steph, long time no see." David said as he approached his objective, he could see Melody approaching the man shadowing them with an easy confidence, "It's good to see you again, how about a drink, I've found a nice little tavern we could go to if you have the time between lectures ?"
"David, what are you doing here, I thou ....." Stephanie began as Tan took her arm a little more aggressively than intended. She began to pull away but he increased the pressure of his hold fractionally. it was enough to make her stop and look at him. David could still see Melody but she dropped from sight a second later.
With lightning reflexes she span around and yelled the top of her voice "HOW DARE YOU!"
Everyone in the area heard the woman scream out, it was the distraction he was waiting for, and as prople began to levitate towards where the now seemingly relaxed woman was standing over someone, he pulled Steph' out of the square.
Her sudden vocal outburst stopped the second man in his tracks momentarily. This gave Melody just enough time power her right fist into his gut. As he doubled over her other fist connected hard with his nose. There was an audible crunch as the second man now landed flat on his back. 'He wont be getting up soon' she thought to herself. Not wanting to find out if there was anymore she quickly turned and ran back toward where she had left Tan. She slowed as she realised he was no longer there. With the 2 new figures rapidly approaching, Melody had to dash off into the crowd and hoped she could loose them and at the same time, find Tan.
The bar was anything but upper-class, in fact, he was surprised the place had seating not made from old crates. He sat Steph down and went to the bar, realising quickly that two people sat at a table without drinks would attract more attention than two people who were simply passing through. Returning to the table he gave Steph her drink and quickly explained the situation. Understandably she was unconvinced ... Fifteen minutes passed, then twenty and still no sign of Melody ... He made a decision quickly and downed his drink:
"We're leaving." he said quietly as he scanned the room.
"I'm not going anywhere !" Stephanie Tennant said, suddenly defiant, "I'm sorry David, but have commitme ....."
"You will do as I say Steph." David whispered, making sure she was in no way confused about his intention to take her off this moon, glancing at the door wondering where the hell Melody was, "There are people here that intend you harm, and you Parents have asked me to come get you, so ....." he stopped speaking when he realised that Steph, far from hanging on his every word, was looking at something behind him. He turned slowly, but much too slowly as something slammed into his temple. He was unconscious before his face hit the table ...
Another man was stood behind Tan now. Having knocked him out, he was now reaching for a knife under his coat to finishe the job when there was a hiss and it was his turn to crumple to the floor
Melody was retuning her hypospray to her pocket. "Well it's a good job one of us was prepared. You must be Steph. I'm Melody. She reached out her hand. With her other hand she quickly pulled a comm badge from her pocket and slapped it on Tan's back. Before Steph could protest, Melody hit the comm badge "Jones to Galahad. Three to beam up....... Energize!"
Soon all three were stood in the aft section of the shuttle. While Melody reached for the med kit she spoke quickly "Computer. Emergency procedure alapha 1. Raise shields and prepare for immediate takeoff.
She opened the med kit and was scanning Tan with the tricorder. "So" she said to Steph "What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?" Melody closed the tricorder and reached for a small bile of smelling salts. She cracked it open and held it under Tan's nose.
"I'm, I was, studying ..." Steph said, taken aback with the sudden turn of events, watching as the woman knelt beside David, "What's going on, why are those people after me, I've done nothing wrong." she stopped speaking, turning her attention to their family friend ...
David gagged, returning to consciousness and quickly pushing the foul-smelling salts away ... Groggily at first, he climbed to his feet, looking around realising he was no longer in the tavern but on the Galahad. He rubbed the back of his head, still smarting from the blow from his unseen assailant.
"David, are you OK, maybe you should rest a little ?" a concerned Stephanie said, taking one of his arms. But they had to get out of here before Narat could come after them, unless of course he already was ! ... He went forward, eyes scanning the panels quickly: Shields were raised, the shuttle was prepped for immediate liftoff, good.
"Commander, if you will do the honours ...." he said, motioning to the Pilots seat, "Steph, let's let Commander Jones do her job , we need to get out of here quickly." he took her hand, leading her back to the bulkhead separating the cockpit area from the Aft section.
"But why, I don't understa ....."
"You don't need to for now. Let's just say that someone who used to work for you Parents is less than content, he worked at the Saturn Facility but was dismissed after trying to take confidential spec's. He threatened your parents and when that had no effect, he planned to take his frustrations out on them through you." He felt the shuttle rise from the ground, climbing rapidly until the Spaceport was all but a spec on the surface of the moon, seconds later he heard the beeping and looked at the panel to Melody's right:
"We have company." he said. Releasing her hand, he pulled out the jump seat, coaxing her to sit, then went forward ... He hoped Melody could get them away before they were embroiled in a fire-fight ! ...
Two craft were rapidly approaching. Melody did a quick scan of the region before yelling out "Hang on" as the craft took a steep turn to starboard, accelerating rapidly.
Melody called out "There is a plasma field in this sector, we might be able to loose them in there." As the shuttle entered, the cabin was buffered hard by turbulence. The craft rocked harder suddenly. "Oh great, weapons fire too." Melody mused.
"Well you could hardly expect him to ask for her return politely can you." David said, a wry grin on his face despite their situation.
"I do have a plan B but I don't think you're going to like it." she said as the craft rocked again. "You have to re-align the impulse flow regulators."
David thought about it. Technically, Melody out-ranked him, so could insist, but they were doing this out of uniform and she was here to help, so regulations didn't apply. he did realise that they had no other option but to realign the flow regulators so moved to the back of the cabin and dropped to his knees. A moment later he was almost finished.
"We're not stopping here are we ?" Stephanie asked, suddenly realising her situation was indeed dire.
Melody let out a chuckle "Who said anything about stopping? We can use the impulse exhaust to detonate the plasma field behind us. Even if they survive the explosion, which I doubt, it should wipe out any trace of our ion wake so we can make a clean getaway. I'll try and keep the ship steady, try not to blow us up, OK ?"
When he'd done he moved to the front looking at the tactical plot showing the two pursuing vessels. They meant business, and given the fact they didn't seem to be trying to delay them but were seemingly on blowing them into nothingness, it was one of those 'now or never' situations ... He entered the relevant override codes ...... The explosion behind them was nothing short of spectacular ! ... But they weren't out of the proverbial woods just yet. The shuttle increased speed rapidly, but it was never going to outrun the shock-wave rapidly approaching:
"One of the ships have been completely destroyed, the other one received superficial damage, it's coming after us." David said, eyes flicking between the icon of the pursuing vessel and the approaching line of the shock-wave, "What's the betting that Narat managed to be on that ship" he muttered. The 'wave was seconds away ...
"Steph, grab hold of something, NOW !" he said as the wave hit ......
~~~~~
They were drifting, a lazy rotation making the stars seem to rotate. David got tentatively to his feet, seeing Melody rubbing her head in the Pilots seat. He looked around the smoke-filled cabin and could see Stephanie slumped in the Aft compartment. He leaved over one of the panels, accessing environmental controls and purged the smoke before limping to Steph. Thankfully she had just been knocked unconscious. getting her to a sitting position he went forward to check their situation. He was about to speak to Melody when he looked out of the plexi-glass cockpit. There, less than one hundred meters from them, was the other ship ! ... It too was tumbling, seemingly dead in space. It occurred to him that if anyone over there was alive, it was going to be a race to see who got power restored first. If it was them all well and good, but if not .......
Melody shook her had and looked round "Everybody ok?"
"Has anyone ever mentioned that these things could do with better seating arrangements ?" Stephanie said, climbing back to her feet.
Melody studied her panel. "Main power is offline. It looks like the EPS relays were overloaded." She turned and got out of her seat. Going to the back of the shuttle she opened one of the panels on the rear on the left hand side. Looking inside she breathed a sigh of relief. "It doesn't look too bad, I should be able to reroute the main EPS flow through the secondary power relays but the connections have been damaged. You two better stand clear, there's a chance the relays could short out."
David guided Steph to the pilots seat and sat down in the secondary position as Melody began removing panels. Her head all but disappeared as she worked and David nervously glanced at the crippled vessel less than a thousand meters from them. If they regained control of their power and weapons systems before the shuttle, they would certainly be ones dying.
Melody was working feverishly in the open panel. "That should do it." The lights in the cabin flickered and then came back to normal strength.
Melody smiled. "Right! Let's get out of he.............."
ZAP !!!
There was a sudden bright flash of light as an residual EPS discharge shot out of the panel and stuck her square in the chest. The force of the blast threw her backwards and she crumpled in a heap on the floor. Smoke rising from her frizzled hair. The power stayed on, but Melody did not move.
Both David and Steph' practically flew out of their seats, dropping beside the stricken Commander It was clear she had been subjected to a massive electrical discharge, one that of not treated could kill her ... He stood, retrieving blankets from one of the storage lockers, baling one he tentatively lifted Melody's head and lowered it on the blanket. Steph had found a first-aid box and was rummaging through until she found a hypo-spray. She explained quickly that she needed to stabilise the unconscious Melody before there was irreparable damage to her synaptic pathways. She placed the 'spray against the woman's neck activating the device, the muscle spasm's began to subside immediately, but Melody remained unconscious. David was about to ask what next when a cockpit alarm began to sound. He ran to the front of the shuttle, the other vessel was moving !
He knew that if they came around they would destroy the shuttle, so he was left with no other option but to fire on the ship ... Dropping into the pilot's seat he shouted back for Steph to keep hold of Melody then, without waiting for confirmation that his instruction had been heard he propelled the small craft forward and to Port. This way allowed him to remain out of range of the other vessels' main phaser banks, but he would only have one chance at disabling them ... He brought all weapons on-line and instructed the computer to target weapons and life support, his thought being that if he could cripple them the Galahad could run.
As the shuttle came around he levelled up to the other vessel's rear Starboard quarter, it's trajectory still bringing them around but not as fast as the shuttle could move. It was a 'cat and mouse' scenario as the bigger ship would eventually have all their weapons on-line and could hit them wherever they were ... With everything fully operational, at least until the EPS relay gave way again, he fired ...
The first two beams of almost pure energy lanced across the void, slamming into the ship almost broadside, the third sliced through their weakened shields and into the weapons systems, he was about to defer the last shot but needed them immobile to allow them to escape. He hit the fire panel ... The duel beams arrowed across the blackness and into the enemy vessel. There was zero chance of survival as the warp cores' matter anti-matter chambers ruptured. space lit up with a whiteness that was almost blinding for long long seconds, then it slowly subsided ... Where the enemy vessel once was now contained only the blackness of space. For a second he was shocked at the outcome, then remembered Melody !
"Computer .. Set course for USS Merlin location .. Maximum warp .. Engage !"
The shuttle obliged, crossing into the nether-realm of faster-than-light travel ... All they could do was keep Melody comfortable, as long as her unconsciousness didn't decay into a comatose state, she would hopefully be fine. Both David and Stephanie had medical experience, David more so, but he deferred to Steph for the duration as her knowledge on Melody's injuries was more extensive than his own. She nursed Melody for the duration of the trip back. An hour from the Starbase she opened her eyes:
"Stay there." Steph instructed the Commander, "You've been injured, possibly seriously." .....
=^= Shuttle Galahad .. This is the Starbase Dock-master .. You are approaching our inner marker .. Reduce speed immediately =^=
=^= Space dock .. USS Galahad .. Medical Emergency .. Request immediate approach and emergency transport of one Officer .. Electrocution due to EPS Relay explosion =^=
=^= Shuttle Galahad .. Your vessel has been informed of your situation .. Emergency transport direct to USS Merlin Sick-bay in thirty seconds .. Once your injured are off you are approved to dock =^=
=^= Understood Dock-master =^= David said then waited. Thirty seconds later the Comm chirped to life once again:
=^= Shuttle Galahad .. USS Merlin Transporter Chief .. Prepare for transport =^= David told Stephanie to step away from the prone Melody. He told the Ship they were clear and Melody vanished from sight .....
~~~~~
David landed the shuttle in the Main Bay of the Merlin, then contacting the Bridge he informed them that he would be reuniting Stephanie Tennant with her Parents then coming back aboard but was told that they were in fact already aboard and in his quarters. He asked about Melody and was told that while the massive shock could have, in fact 'should have' killed her outright, she was going to recover. There had been some initial nerve damage, but this had proved a temporary issue. Despite the Commanders' insistence that she was well, she was being kept in Sick-bay until all tests results were positive.
Thanking the Duty Officer and asking to be informed if there is any change he took Stephanie to her parents ... As they entered Laurence and Nora rushed to their Daughter, arms out wide, Lana put her arms around David as they watched the reunion. Kenzie and Mia came from their room a little bemused at the scene but Lana said they should go play for a while.
"David I cannot thank you enough." Nora Tennant said, when she finally let go of Steph, "Was it difficult ?"
"It wasn't easy." he replied.
"What about Narat ?" Steph's Father asked, David shook his head.
"They're all dead Dad." Steph said, her head still buried in his shoulder.
"Good !" Nora said, "We should be getting ready to go ba ...."
"You'll do no such thing !" Lana interrupted, knowing exactly what she was about to say, "You'll rest up then join us for a welcome home meal, that's an order !" The Tennants, both holding the rank of Captain, grinned.
"I'll arrange quarters for you." David said moving to his desk, moments later the door chime activated. David opened the door to a young Yeoman who had been instructed to show the three guests to quarters, "We'll see you later." he said, taking the hand offered by Laurence Tennant before accepting a fond kiss on the cheek from his Wife. Stephanie hugged both Lana and David in turn then the three left. David went to the ornate drinks cabinet and poured himself a Cognac .... for a long moment he remained silent, wondering about the turn of events. Truth be told, if it hadn't been for the needless loss of over three hundred lives, he would have thought the rescue had gone too easily. Despite his attempts to dismiss it as some form of mild post traumatic stress, the niggling thought remained in his head. He wondered, as he sipped the warming liquid, if it would ever really leave him .......
OFF :
Lieutenant David Tan
Chief Operations Officer
USS Merlin
Lieutenant Melody Jones
Executive Officer
USS Merlin
