Work Text:
Act One
Personal Log, Lieutenant Commander Lara Archer, Stardate 61533.8: I've been using the holodeck a lot lately. I guess I'm… restless? I don't know. After being in space for almost two and a half years, between serving on the Enterprise, the Titan, and of course my own command on the Cutlass… and now being assigned to DS5… I don't know. I mean, the work is fine I suppose. But there's not a lot of exploration or even transportation going on. Mostly it's just a lot of traffic control, putting out minor fires here and there, listening to the docks and shuttle bays tell me how behind they are and how they need more staff, listening to the Medical Director tell me how behind THEY are and how THEY need more staff, filing requisitions for additional personnel and having them be flat-out rejected, or if they do get approved, they are filled at less than ten percent of what was requested. As my Uncle Jon-Jon used to say, there is a fine line between 'stir crazy' and 'bat-shit crazy'… just hope I don't cross that line anytime soon.
Scene 1: Exiting Holodeck Six, Deep Space Five
Lara Archer removes the headband and mask of her Silver Steel costume as she exits the holodeck, rubbing her eyes. T'Prex, still clad in the black and white boots and bodice of Night Star, follows behind. And Norin Manni starts to unbuckle the colorful mechanical carapace of Tech Nine's costume.
"Well that was exciting!" Manni says. "What a rush!"
"I still do not understand why these 'costumes' are so… minimal… for the female agents," T'Prex adds.
"In the 1980s on Earth, women were still not really seen as the equal of men in most settings," Archer explains. "Men could get away with just being capable, but women had to be attractive first and foremost, and less focus was put on their skills and abilities."
"In other words, back then, girls were expected to show their tits, their asses, or, ideally, both," Manni adds with a bit of disgust.
"Well said, Norin! Sometimes I forget that you spent more time on Earth growing up than you did on Trill," Archer comments. "So, same time next week, and we'll try to take on the Circle of Vines?"
"Acceptable," T'Prex replies, failing to hide her excitement under the veil of Vulcan stoicism.
"Sounds good!" Manni adds, making no effort to hide his eagerness to play another chapter.
"I'll get us some time!" Archer answers.
She goes to her quarters and changes out of her Silver Steel gear and puts her regular uniform back on. As she is attaching the last pip to her collar, she gets a message summoning her to Admiral Sorik's office.
She takes the turbolift up three levels, then walks down the long corridor past the open-air food court. She just catches the slightest whiff of Rhaandari chocolate. "Ohhh that's the good stuff," she says to no one in particular.
Finally arriving at the Admiral's Office, she takes a seat at the desk across from Commander Veltin, Admiral Sorik's attaché, expecting some kind of routine update or new procedure for station diplomatic relations. Veltin seems to study her for a moment, then speaks.
"Computer, seal all doors to this room and deactivate all recording devices and sensors. Authorization Veltin six baker two charlie three three zulu, enable," Veltin orders.
"Security code accepted. All doors sealed. Recording devices and sensors deactivated," the pleasant female computer voice says in response to the order as various clicks and bumps are heard throughout the room.
Archer's eyebrows raise. "What's going on?"
"Commander, I have a special assignment for you and you alone," Veltin replies. "This is not to go through official channels. There is to be no record of this assignment. Do not speak to any of the DS5 staff about this. Is that understood?"
"Understood," she replies, nodding, her stomach twisting slightly as she remembers the Lunar Crescent Medallion sitting in her medals case and the events that led to her earning it.
"We believe that an experimental Romulan vessel may have crashed on one of the asteroids in this system. It was likely hidden under a layer of ice, possibly for years or even decades, when its orbit recently took it close enough to the star to sublimate the ice, revealing the vessel beneath.
"You are to take a shuttle, alone, to the asteroid, and perform a detailed scan of the wreckage. Scan other asteroids in the vicinity so as not to arouse the suspicion of anyone that might be watching you. This assignment is to be kept completely secret, so do nothing that would draw any extra attention. When the scan is complete, report back to me and me alone without using any open communications channels."
"What if I find something that I can't handle alone?" Archer asks.
Veltin seems to consider this for a moment. "Complete the initial scans first. Then, if you decide it is worth further pursuit, we can discuss additional personnel."
"Understood."
"Computer, restore recording devices and sensors and unseal the doors."
"Acknowledged," comes the computer's response and the accompanying bumps and clicks. "Recording devices and sensors reactivated. Doors unsealed."
Veltin's tone now changes slightly. "Commander Archer, please remember that there are others that need to use the holodecks. They are not strictly reserved for Starfleet personnel."
"I'm sorry Commander," she answers back, playing along. "I guess we got a little carried away. We'll stick to the schedule from now on."
"See that you do. Dismissed."
Scene 2: Shuttle Bay Supervisor's Office, Deep Space Five
"Three days," says Chief Grolak, the Tellarite Shuttle Bay Supervisor, not looking up from his console.
"Excuse me?" Archer asks.
"The science survey shuttle you want," he answers, still not looking at her, typing on his computer. "It'll be three days before my team can have it ready."
Archer blinks, then narrows her eyes at him. "No it won't," she replies.
He finally turns his furry face slightly her direction. "Yes, actually, it will. Look, I know you have connections around here. Your buddy, that tall Vulcan woman, whatshername, T'Plix or something?"
"T'Prex."
"Whatever. Unless you fancy doing your own maintenance inspection, fuel allotment, and equipment loadout yourself, it'll be three days until we can get to it."
Archer shrugs and says, "OK."
"OK?"
"That's what I said, Growback." She picks up the PADD containing the checklists for a Type 9 shuttlecraft, the Harper, currently resting on Landing Pad Six. Then she walks out the door and down the ramp.
"It's GROLAK!" he shouts after her.
"Whatever!"
She arrives at the Harper and starts working on the checklist. In just 79 minutes, she completes a job that would have taken two technicians an hour and half. As she completes the final walk around, she says, "Just like Grandpa Danny's old Cessna," to no one in particular. She climbs into the cockpit and closes the external hatch.
Firing up the primary systems and completing the final on-board diagnostics, she opens a comm channel. "Shuttle Control, this is shuttlecraft Harper, requesting clearance to depart from Pad Six."
A familiar voice comes over the comm. "Now just hold on there, missy. You won't be goin' nowheres till I get a flight plan that I'm sure you just happened to forget to file."
"Ozzie, is that you?" she answers. "Holy smokes! I thought you were still up brown-nosing with that Tellarite delegation?"
"Nah they got me loaned down 'ere for a few weeks while Lieutenant Farmer is home with her new baby."
"Ah gotcha. How are things with you? Haven't seen much of you for a while."
"Not gonna lie, it's borin' as fuck, love. And them Tellarites stink something goddamn awful!"
"Well yeah, they pride themselves on it! They even have 'stink contests' or so I am told."
"No joke, that. Anyway, what they got you doin' takin' a shuttle out?"
"I dunno. Some kind of asteroid survey. You know, 'document eccentric orbits' kind of nonsense. I think Commander Tokimune just hates me."
"I think she kinda hates everybody to be honest. Anyways, shuttle Harper you are clear to depart on Sequence Alpha. Don't scratch the paint!"
"Departure Sequence Alpha, roger that. Harper out."
Scene 3: Cockpit of the Harper, in the asteroid field
The Harper drops out of warp at the first asteroid in the series. Archer's plan includes a detailed survey of seven of the 104 known objects around Beta Indi, the star at the heart of the system.
"And so, it begins…" Archer says to the empty chair next to her. "Computer, play music from Archer's 1980s America collection." The computer beeps in acknowledgement, and 'When I See You Smile' by Bad English comes over the shuttle's audio system. "Ah, love this one," she says again to the empty cockpit, and starts going through her scanning procedure. She can almost hear Darveena Jaax's voice singing along with her again as she initiates the scan procedure and maneuvers the shuttle for optimum sensor perspective.
As she flips on the mineral scanner, she gets caught up in the music and begins her own little concert…
"Just BEAT IIIIT! BEAT IIIIT! No one wants to beee defeeeated!"
She switches to the subsurface imager.
"Cuz I got PAC-MAN FEEEEVEER! It's drivin' me crazaaay!" she sings, holding an invisible microphone up to her mouth.
Now the quantum gravimetric sensor.
"That's the poooower of love… da da da dum dum. BOP BAH!" She taps her fingers on the edge of the console as if playing the drums.
She completes the scan of the first asteroid and switches to her Vulcan lyre playlist en route to the second object on the list, a larger planetoid which is not the one that allegedly holds the Romulan wreck. She repeats the same pattern, minus the vocals. Scan, orbit, scan, orbit, scan. Between cycles, she goes to the small replicator on the shuttle that has a rather abysmal menu and replicates a toasted cheese sandwich with tomato soup and a glass of water and has lunch while she works.
She makes a second pass over one area and charges the forward phaser emitter, firing a half-second burst at 12% power. The burst is enough to vaporize a bit of the outer layer of rock, and she scans that area again. She puts her dishes in the replicator to recycle, changes the music again, then heads to the next object.
"OK, here we go," she mutters to the replicator as she drops out of warp near the planetoid that holds the Romulan wreck. "Computer, play Archer's Academy Study Music." The soundtrack shifts to a series of low-intensity instrumental songs designed to promote study, or at least her version of study.
She repeats the same scan cycle, this time paying much more attention to the readings.
Just as Veltin had described, the Harper's mineral spectroscopy array detects a large metallic mass imbedded deep in a narrow crevice on the surface of the planetoid. Alloy composition matches that of known Romulan starship construction.
To avoid spending too much time in one place, she moves to a more eccentric orbit and does another scan of the wreckage from a different angle. One would expect a Romulan ship to have a quantum singularity core. But the subsurface resonance imager is showing evidence of a more traditional matter/antimatter reactor.
She needs another scan using the quantum gravimetric sensor. "One more pass…" she says to no one. The computer displays the scan data. "Gotcha!" she shouts as the scanners confirm there is definitely a distinct warp core signature coming from a Romulan vessel. Plus, the core configuration itself doesn't match anything on record. I'm going to need some help, she thinks. I have to let Veltin know.
She warps ahead and repeats the ruse of scanning the next four asteroids on her list, a task that takes well over two hours. Then she copies the scan data of the Romulan ship from the shuttle computer to a PADD, and pulls the antenna from the PADD so it can't sync to the shuttle computers. Now, she has to do something about the shuttle's record of the scan to keep it off the books.
She crawls under the pilot's chair and removes the access panel from under the console. A few strategically-yanked isolinear chips, and the data synchronization transmission goes offline. It will flag as a glitch on the landing controller's panel, but she can work with that. She also has to somehow do a complete wipe of the shuttle computer, while still having enough control to land. Going dark right in front of the bay doors will be too obvious.
As she nears the station, she goes through the normal landing procedure. "DS5, this is shuttle Harper on Approach Alpha, requesting landing clearance," Archer says, while simultaneously strapping her PADD securely to the seat next to her and keying a manual program into the power control system.
"Harper, this is Shuttle Control," replies T'Prex, who has taken over for Ozzie at shift change. "You are clear to land at Bay Six. Please note that we aren't receiving your data synchronization signal."
"Hi T'Prex!" Archer answers. "Yeah my computer system has some kind of glitch that I haven't quite figured out yet. Harper heading for Bay Six." She braces slightly, expecting T'Prex to say something else, and exhales slightly when she doesn't.
As Archer enters the bay doors and turns toward the landing pad, she executes the last part of her plan. She puts her left arm over her face, holds her head close to the console, and whispers to herself, "Oooohhhhh this is going to hurt." With her other hand she presses a control on the panel. A few sparks fly from under the console as she triggers a controlled overload of the shuttle computer! This erases all sensor and navigation information, and causes the shuttle to abruptly power down seconds away from touchdown. The shuttle goes black, then falls a full two meters to the deck! Archer's arm takes the brunt of the impact, protecting her head from making direct contact with the console, but in the process she injures her left shoulder! Howling in pain, she fumbles for the PADD in the dark with her good arm, finds it, then quickly retracts the straps holding it down, and verifies that it is still intact. After about three seconds, the shuttle's emergency power kicks on.
"Shuttle Harper, come in!" T'Prex's urgent voice echoes through the cockpit.
"Help!" is all Archer can say through her pain.
"We'll beam you to the infirmary!"
"No… no I can make it," she says to the comm, not wanting to risk losing the PADD. She manages to get up from the pilot's chair and open the external hatch. Two crewmembers help her out of the shuttle and down to the infirmary, with the PADD clutched in her one useable arm.
Scene 4: Main Infirmary, Deep Space Five
"You have a grade two separation of your shoulder," Dr. T'Plath says as she runs the medical tricorder over Archer's injury. "Hold your arm straight down, please," she instructs.
"I dunno… I guess I must have missed something in the— OW! In the initial inspection and diagnostics on the shuttle— nnggh!" T'Plath's hands are precise, efficient, and completely without gentleness. I miss Dr. Selar, she thinks to herself. And Roger. I really miss Roger!
T'Plath runs a protoplaser over Archer's injury, and the pain begins to subside, relief clearly visible on Archer's face. Then T'Plath switches to an osteogenic stimulator for a moment, granting even more relief. "This will help with any residual pain and inflammation," she says as she injects Archer with a hypospray. "Come back in 48 hours for a follow up. Commander Tokimune wants to see you. Next patient, please!"
Oh boy, she thinks, pausing for a moment outside the infirmary to rub and flex her shoulder and mentally prepare herself to meet with the station's XO.
After quickly dropping her PADD off in her quarters, Archer passes through Central Operations, colloquially known simply as Ops. This is her domain from 1600 to 2400, five days on, two days off, where she oversees the station's activities during Beta Shift. The constant noise of the consoles and the chatter of a dozen simultaneous conversations remind her that this station is running with a crew of just over 1,100, a major change from the 45 personnel on the Cutlass. Captain Eddard MacDonald, the station's commanding officer, a fiery redheaded Scot, sees her enter and nods his head in the direction of the XO's office with an almost apologetic grin.
She walks up to the office of Commander Emma Tokimune, the First Officer of the station. The door opens, and before Archer can even say a word, Tokimune locks eyes with her and points to a chair in front of her desk, where Archer immediately sits. Her silver-white hair, deep wrinkles, coal black eyes, and Japanese features make Archer feel like she is talking to one of the Yakuza bosses from her Silver Steel holodeck program.
"What… happened?" Tokimune asks slowly, pausing slightly between words, still staring unblinkingly at Archer.
"As I tried to explain to Dr. T'Plath, there must have been some kind of computer issue that I missed during the preflight—"
"You have… 694.7 flight hours in small craft," she interrupts, still staring, still not blinking, as if moving her eyelids was just too much effort, "including 37.1 hours in a 2038 Cessna Skyhawk. You have 2,367.3 flight hours total." She rattles off these numbers without needing to look at her screen for verification. "You have had 19 incidents during those flight hours, none of which were caused by something being missed in preflight in…"
Suddenly, Tokimune's brow furrows as she glances down at her console. The numbers are not the same as they were thirty seconds ago. They've changed. Archer's incident count is now 18, and her flight record now shows 689.0 small craft hours and 2,361.6 total. The 5.7 hours of the previous flight are gone. Which also means that the matter of the missing flight plan, which she was going to question Archer about next, is no longer relevant. She finally blinks and finishes her sentence, "… spection."
"Commander?" Archer asks, watching the XO's expressions change as she looks at her console.
Tokimune looks back up, again locking eyes with her Beta Shift commander. As a 53-year veteran of Starfleet, she knows that sometimes, when weird things happen, the only thing one can do is let it go. But as First Officer of the station, she can't simply look the other way after an incident like this. The record might be gone, but there are dozens of people who saw the crash. Without looking down, she types a few commands on her console, then addresses Archer.
"As a consequence of your careless shuttle preparation, you are hereby forbidden from executing your own vessel maintenance checklists until you complete at least ten hours of remedial training in small craft maintenance operations."
"Aye, sir. I'll schedule that immediately," Archer replies.
"Dismissed."
Archer gets up from the chair and turns for the door.
"Commander," Tokimune says as Archer is about to leave. She stops and looks back. "I hope it's worth it."
Archer nods, then heads out the door. As she passes back through Ops, Captain MacDonald catches her.
"Hope she wasn't too hard on ya, lass," he says.
"Could definitely have been worse," Archer answers honestly. "She wants me to take ten hours of shuttle prep training before I do my own checklist again."
"That's it?" the captain asks, incredulously. "Aw, that's nothin'! You'll have that knocked out in a week!"
"That's what I'm hoping!"
Archer quickly returns to her quarters, where she takes a moment to gently stretch her shoulder to keep it from tightening up on her too much. Then she sits down and schedules her remedial shuttle prep training for the following week.
"Well look at that," she says to her console. "T'Prex is teaching the class in shuttle maintenance prep!" She puts herself on T'Prex's roster for the following week. While still at the computer, she types out a message to Veltin.
>>TO: CMDR VELTIN, CO/OFFICE OF THE ADMIRAL, 17TH FLEET
COMMANDER
I HAVE LOCATED A SUITABLE ROOM FOR YOUR DIPLOMATIC SOCIAL FUNCTION. HOWEVER, I WILL NEED ADDITIONAL STAFF TO MAKE SURE THE EVENT GOES SMOOTHLY. PLEASE ADVISE.
LTCMD ARCHER<<
An hour later, she gets a response.
>>TO: LTCMD ARCHER, COMMAND DUTY OFFICER - BETA SHIFT
SINCE THIS IS A MINOR FUNCTION, IT WOULD BE ILLOGICAL TO USE ANY OF THE MAJOR PROVIDERS. I WOULD THINK NO MORE THAN THREE PERSONNEL WOULD BE SUFFICIENT. REMEMBER THAT THIS SMALL FUNCTION SHOULD NOT DISTRACT FROM NORMAL STATION BUSINESS.
CMDR VELTIN<<
No more than three, Archer thinks. And I know just the three.
Act Two
Lara Archer, Personal Log, Supplemental:
[DATA CORRUPTION DETECTED: UNABLE TO RETRIEVE LOG FILE]
Scene 5: Grolak's Office, Deep Space Five
"Three days," says Chief Grolak, again.
"Nope," Archer responds. Instead of taking his PADD this time, she hands him one.
He takes the PADD. He looks at it. His eyes narrow, then widen. "This can't be serious?"
"You're welcome to call Ops and talk to Tokimune yourself."
Grolak mulls over this option, and decides against it. "Thirty minutes." He signs the PADD with his fuzzy thumb and hands it back, then gets on the comm. "Parker, get your team to Pad Two and get the Nile prepped. You have thirty minutes."
"Are you kidding? It'll take two hours at least!" Petty Officer 2nd Class David Parker shouts.
"Did I stutter? Get your ass moving!" Grolak orders.
"Ugh! Fine!"
Archer nods and heads down the ramp. "Thanks, Smokestack!"
"It's GROLAK!"
"Whatever!"
She descends the ramp and watches Parker and his team from a distance as they scramble to load the Nile for its asteroid mission. The three shuttle bay crew members perform the standard inspection and fuel setup, then start loading the geological excavation tools and mineral scanners into the aft compartment. Just as they are ready to start bringing the EVA suits, she pounces.
"Why is my runabout not ready yet?" she barks at Parker and his team, scowling. "And where is the rest of the equipment?"
"Rest of what equipment?" Parker asks.
"The transport pattern enhancers?" she answers, raising her eyebrows and handing him the PADD she clandestinely modified, listing the additional equipment. "The portable power generator?"
"Uhh…" Parker responds, dumbfounded, flipping through the inventory list that now magically has three new items on it.
"I bet the geological demolition charges aren't even in there! What have you people been doing all this time? Do I need to get Grolak down here—"
"No, sir! We'll get it loaded!" Parker exclaims, running to grab the pattern enhancers.
"Hurry up! Here, crewman, help me with this." She beckons the youngest looking crewman on the team to help her load the case of phaser rifles that just happened to be stored nearby. The crewman looks around and, seeing no one else to contradict Archer's orders, he complies.
Finally, the Nile is loaded with everything on Archer's list, and Parker 'thumbs' his signature to confirm that all preparation is complete. As his team is departing, three familiar faces arrive at Pad Two, ready to start the asteroid survey mission.
"Oh! Hi Commander!" Ensign Andrew Williams says. "Hey Krohn! Hey Paul!" he greets his fellow Starfleet Class of '83 graduates and ex-Cutlass crewmates, who arrive only a moment later.
"Ensign Williams," Archer says back with a big smile. "How are you liking DS5?"
"Oh gosh, the science labs are amazing!" he gushes. "The range on the long-baseline astrometric interferometer on deck 60 is unbelievable! We've already started remapping part of the sector. And the chromospheric emission scanner shows us that the Beta Indi star might do something… big… in the next thousand years, maybe."
Andros and Krohn look at each other, roll their eyes, and share a knowing grin.
"Science officers," Andros says with a slight shake of his blue head.
"Tell me about it," Krohn nods in agreement.
"Oh, you guys," Williams responds, sheepishly.
"Well, let's get on board and I'll brief you on the mission on the way," Archer says.
The team climbs aboard the Nile. Archer moves to the pilot's chair, and the ensigns instinctively take the same stations they occupied eight months earlier on this same runabout.
"Wow… it's been a minute since we were on the Nile together," Williams says, almost absentmindedly. "Not since…"
"Pebble," Andros answers.
"Indeed," Krohn adds.
Archer smiles to herself, remembering that most unique First Contact situation. "Initiating startup," she says.
"All systems ready," Krohn confirms.
Firing up the main thrusters, she opens a comm channel. "Shuttle Control, this is Runabout Nile, on Pad Two, requesting clearance for departure."
"You headin' out again?" Ozzie quips. "Twice in as many days!"
"Hey Ozzie!" the three ensigns shout in recognition.
"By golly, you got the whole gang with you this time. More asteroid surveys? I see you have a real flight plan on file now."
"Yep, going rock hunting!" she answers.
"Right then. Runabout Nile, you are clear for Departure Bravo. See you on the flip side."
"Departure Bravo, roger that. Nile out."
Scene 6: The Runabout Nile, en route to the asteroid field
"So, what's with the stack of type three rifles?" Andros asks.
"What? Oh my, look at that…" Williams says, realizing what Andros is looking at.
"And why isn't the runabout computer syncing with the station?" Krohn asks, one Klingon eyebrow raised.
"Come to think of it, I thought I saw some transport pattern enhancers back there," Williams adds.
"Heh, you guys don't miss much, do you?" Archer mutters. She takes a deep breath. "What I am about to tell you is considered classified. You are not to share this with anyone. Is that clear?"
"Oh boy… yes, ok, got it," Williams answers nervously.
"Go on…" Krohn says stoically.
"I'm in," says Andros matter-of-factly, now understanding his presence as a security officer on a science mission.
"There is some unknown type of Romulan vessel crash-landed on one of the asteroids in this system. I found it and did some preliminary scans, which I am putting up on the screens now." She physically plugs her PADD into the shuttle's computer, and her scan data appears for them to study.
After a few moments, the usually quiet Krohn pipes up. "This is an unusual warp core design. Especially for a Romulan ship."
Andros's Andorian antennae wiggle with excitement, but he says nothing.
"The alloy composites are definitely Romulan," Williams adds, still nervous. "Any life signs?"
"No, nothing. As far as I can tell, it's been there for years, probably decades, and was maybe buried under a layer of ice until the asteroid's orbit took it close enough to the star to melt the ice away," Archer states.
"I don't know about this. I thought we were looking at rocks, not tracking down Romulans," Williams says, panic creeping into his voice.
"C'mon Andy," Andros says. "You know we've got your back!"
"Indeed," Krohn reassures him.
Archer turns directly to Williams. "I know this is a little scary, ok? But we need you. For one thing, if there IS something out there, your Romulan is a lot better than mine. Plus, you have the scientific mind to help us figure out the origins of this ship. And Andros is right. We DO have your back. You aren't doing this alone." She pauses and smiles. "Ok?"
He breathes out and straightens up, nodding and collecting himself. "Ok," he responds.
"Aye, captain," Krohn adds.
"Let's do this!" Andros barks.
Scene 7: Runabout Nile, approaching the Romulan wreck
As Archer did on the first trip, they go through the motions of scanning the first asteroid. Arriving at the second asteroid, she speaks to her crew.
"OK here's the play. Andros, keep your tactical scanners working, but I also want you to reach out telepathically and see if you can sense whether anyone else is in the area. Can you do that?"
"Got it!" he answers with enthusiasm.
"Krohn, keep a handle on the ship. We may need to fire up shields, weapons, transporters, anything, so be ready."
"Understood."
"And Williams, focus your scans on that wreck. Look for whatever kind of warp core they are using and get as much information as you can. We might have to go down there, or we might have to beam it up. That'll be your call."
"On it," Williams nods.
As the scanners do their work, Williams looks at the map of the asteroid that the computer is building. "This whole planetoid is like a rat maze," he says. "Twisting tunnels and crevices… here!" He points at the screen. "This way can get us in!" He taps a couple of controls and sends the path and coordinates to the other stations.
"Got it," Archer acknowledges.
"Uh, Andy?" Andros complains. "Look again. The thing is up against the cave wall."
Williams looks at the screen, rotating the three dimensional view around. "Hmm, you're right."
"The only way to access the core will be from inside the ship," Krohn adds.
"And the only way to access the ship," Archer deduces, "is from inside the planetoid." She ponders for a moment. "Andros, Williams, anything on sensors? Or other senses?" she asks.
"No energy signatures. No distortion fields. No thoughts except the four of us. Andy had eggs and toast for breakfast," Andros teases.
"Hey!" Williams complains.
"He looked it up in your replicator log files," Krohn says.
"Well who helped him do that I wonder!" Williams replies. The slightest bit of a smile crosses Krohn's face.
"Krohn, power down all but our critical systems," Archer orders. "Let's minimize our power signature, just in case someone is watching." Krohn nods, and various devices and panels around the runabout shut off. Only the cockpit consoles remain lit, casting an eerie glow on their faces. "Run silent, run deep," she says as she pilots the Nile down the winding tunnel toward the strange Romulan ship at the end, darkness engulfing them save for the random flecks of metal in the cave walls.
Scene 8: The Nile, near the Romulan wreck
The runabout settles to a stop, a cloud of dust billowing up from the underside of the vessel as it touches down. It takes several minutes for the dust to settle in the minimal gravity of the planetoid.
"OK. Who is coming with me to check out the ship?" Archer asks, getting up from her chair.
"Me! Me! Pick me!" Andros volunteers eagerly.
"It would be an honor," Krohn adds.
Williams interjects. "Unless you can read Romulan, I should be the one to go."
"OK Williams, you and me," Archer confirms. "Andros, Krohn, you have the Nile. If we need some engineering expertise, Krohn will swap places with Williams. No need to put more than two of us at risk at a time. Andros, keep your scanners and your antennas peeled to what's in the cavern behind us. Questions?"
"No, sir," Krohn replies.
"Williams, let's get suited up."
Archer and Williams climb into their EVA suits and grab their other gear. With phaser rifles in hand, tricorders on their hips, and pattern enhancers on their backs, they step onto the transporter pad, back to back, gravity boots engaged.
"Energize."
The two Topeka High graduates disappear from the Nile in columns of glitter. They reappear in pitch blackness, the lights from inside their EV suits and the targeting reticles on their rifles casting a faint glow that is instantly swallowed up by the gloom.
"Archer to Nile, transport complete," Archer says, activating the beacon light on her EV suit helmet.
"This is Nile, we've got you," Andros replies, watching his panel closely, antennae at rest for the moment.
"Keep this channel open," Archer states. "Williams, with me."
"Déjà vu anyone?" Williams says nervously. "Like being on the Khopesh again…" The lights from their suits now reflect off the corridor walls, casting a hazy green glow.
"Doing OK Andy?" Andros asks.
"Yeah, mostly, I guess."
The blackness of each intersection seems to engulf Archer and Williams as they walk along. The nearly weightless, frozen remains of long-dead Romulans silently scream at them as they proceed. They reach the main engine room without incident.
"Whoa…" Archer breathes as they reach the core. "Williams? Thoughts? I can't make out what these consoles say."
"Just what a Starfleet ship would say if you went to its engine room. 'Antimatter containment'," he says, pointing at a console, "'core integrity', 'deuterium flow regulation'. It's really nothing that special."
"Do a full scan of everything."
"Aye."
Their tricorders buzz across the engine room and the warp core, which Krohn compiles at his console on the Nile.
"It is not a very large vessel," Krohn notes, comparing all the sensor data from the Harper, the Nile, and now from inside the Romulan ship itself. "Four decks. A crew of maybe 25. Smaller even than the Cutlass. Surprisingly very little damage."
"Looks like some kind of scout ship," Andros adds. "See if you can find the cloaking device."
"Found it," Williams says. "Cloaking system seems intact, but without power there's no way to really tell."
"Design looks to match up with intelligence reports from cloaking devices of the 2360s," Andros adds.
Archer looks for a moment at the various remains scattered around the deck. Some of their arms seem to be still grasping at their necks. Others seem to be grasping themselves or each other. "These people suffocated while they were freezing to death," she says with familiarity.
"I wonder if this crevice they crashed in was just an ice patch twenty years ago?" Williams postulates. "Maybe they tried to land here on purpose, and the ice melted and evaporated around the ship, and it sank, then froze back over? Maybe it was just so cold around the ship at that point that the life support just couldn't keep up and got overwhelmed."
"Here, Williams, look at this," Archer points at scorch marks on the main computer core. Williams looks. "You might be right," she adds. "But they also tried to blow up the computer, probably to release the safety protocols and free themselves." Archer's tricorder registers petrochemical residue around the main computer housing. "They tried to make some kind of makeshift bomb. Not terribly unlike the charges that Mathran used to bomb the research center on Ivor Prime a few months back," she shudders.
"We aren't going to be able to beam that warp core out," Krohn adds. "It's too big for the runabout to hold."
"Agreed," Williams confirms. "It's embedded in the frame of the ship."
"What if we just fly the whole ship out?" Andros asks.
"You mean… restore power?" Williams adds. "How? With what?"
"I dunno, you're the scientist," Andros teases back with a smile. "Figure something out!"
Archer smiles, enjoying the playful banter, remembering her time as a fresh ensign not a year out of the Academy.
"Hey, Krohn is the EPS engineer, ask him!" Williams banters back.
"It can be done," Krohn states. "We would need to connect power to the runabout and charge the auxiliary batteries on the Romulan ship. If we do, we might be able to get some systems back online."
Archer interjects, "What about the computer? It's mostly fried."
"The runabout has a backup computer core. Surely it would be able to substitute for a 20-year-old Romulan one," Krohn says.
"I mean, we'd have to set up the translation matrix so the Romulan ship could get the right signals from the core," Archer prods.
"And?"
"And get your Klingon butt over here and get started, Ensign!" Archer orders, grinning.
"Uhhhh Commander?" Andros's worried voice breaks in. "A Klingon Bird of Prey just dropped out of warp at the edge of sensor range…"
"Belay that, Krohn. Beam us back!"
In less than five seconds, Archer and Williams sparkle back onto the Nile.
"Think they detected our transporter signal?" Williams asks.
"They did not," Krohn responds flatly.
"I don't think it matters. They are heading straight for us!" Andros adds, his Andorian antennae twitching with excitement.
"Should we call the station?"
"We wouldn't be able to get a clear signal. Refractive metals in the cavern walls, remember?" Andros responds. "Wait… two more ships dropping out of warp. They're… Rhaandari?"
"What?" Archer asks, incredulously. "What are they doing here?"
"They are hailing the Klingon ship," Andros states.
"See if you can listen in," Archer says.
Andros relays the conversation between the ships. "Rhaandari are asking what they are doing here… Ugh. Nausicaans! The same pirate group that we've been dealing with since they came after you at P'Jem!" Andros exclaims.
"You mean the ones you saved me and T'Prex from? Thanks again for that by the way," Archer responds.
"It was an honor," the Klingon states.
"I dunno about that, but you're welcome," Williams adds.
"The Nausicaans are claiming salvage rights… the Rhaandari are challenging… Nausicaans say they were here first, blah blah blah… the Rhaandari are charging weapons! They're firing!" shouts Andros.
Flashes of orange light are visible outside the runabout, reflecting off the veins of metal in the cavern walls. They are soon joined by green flashes as the Nausicaans return fire with their 30-year-old Klingon warship.
"Another Rhaandari ship just warped in… and another Nausicaan Raider! What have we gotten ourselves into?" Andros asks.
"There's nothing here that's that valuable. Unless there is something in the computer systems of that Romulan ship that we don't know about, I haven't seen anything that would lead me to believe this ship is worth fighting over. I mean, yes, it's a bit unique, but taken in context it's really nothing that special," Archer says.
"Well, someone thinks it is, enough to bring the Rhaandari and the Nausicaans all the way out here," Williams adds.
Wait, Archer thinks. Nausicaan raiders. The 'hired muscle' of the Orion Syndicate. Here. Now. While I'm out here in this asteroid field. Son of a—! But before she can fully process the thought…
"Commander, they are heading this way!" Andros yells.
"Shields!"
An instant after Krohn hits the shield controls, the cave lights up green, then goes black as the cavern collapses! Sparks fly across the cabin as the Nile is buried in rubble!
Act Three
Lara Archer Personal Log, Supplemental:
[DATA CORRUPTION DETECTED, UNABLE TO RETRIEVE LOG FILE]
Scene 9: The Nile
Alarms ring through the cockpit of the runabout.
"Krohn, how long will the shields last?" Archer asks, the whine of Nile's power systems building.
"Brace yourselves!" comes Krohn's response.
The shields fail, and the Nile is suddenly buried to the hull in crushed rock and metal. More sparks fly, and Krohn's hair briefly catches fire from molten debris. Multiple alarms now sound in the cockpit. The Nile is now flat against the hull of the Romulan ship.
"About that long," Krohn states.
Archer nods. "Everyone ok?"
"Yeah, I'm ok," Williams says.
"Good here," Andros answers.
"I may need a wig," Krohn quips.
"Divert all possible power to structural integrity. How long can we hold out under this much rock?"
"Two hours… maybe less."
The four of them take a breath and just sit for a moment in the hazy cockpit. Archer breaks the silence. "Well, it seems the decision has been made for us. Let's figure out a way to power up that Romulan ship."
Scene 10: Aft compartment of the Nile, and on the Romulan ship
"We'll need to get the EPS line connected first to get emergency and backup systems online, assuming the Romulan vessel was designed to emulate the Federation technology of the time," Krohn says.
"Probably have to work on the computer core next," Archer adds, "and get the consoles set up in a language that we can all understand."
"Life support and gravity," Williams says. "We can't just walk around in EV suits forever."
"What about weapons and shields?" Andros asks. "With our 'special friends' out there, we don't want to leave without some kind of defenses."
"We don't even know if that ship HAS any weapons," argues Williams. "Plus, it would have to be running under its own power then."
"Agreed," Krohn remarks. "Computer, life support, internal power, then other systems."
"Let's get to it," Archer says. "Time is money."
Scene 10a: Power Connections
Krohn and Andros start climbing into their EVA suits.
"It's a good thing we ended up so close to the Romulan ship," Archer says as the team continues to gear up. "Shorter throw for the EPS cables."
"Y'know," Andros adds, "Andy's right. This IS a lot like the Khopesh situation."
"And the Zhukov situation," Archer agrees.
The hull of the Nile creaks and groans under the strain of many tons of rubble.
"Ready, Williams?" Archer asks. Williams nods and steps onto the transporter pad. "Energize."
Krohn beams Williams to the Romulan ship so he can oversee the power flow from inside.
"Made it," Williams says, flipping on his headlamp and looking at the external power monitor console. "Oh!" he says in surprise. "There's a nameplate here. For the ship. It's called the Starhawk."
Krohn steps onto the transporter pad, grabbing an engineer's toolkit as he does. "Energize," he says.
Archer engages the transporter, and Krohn dissolves into sparkles, reappearing just outside the runabout, his boots thumping against the port wing of the Starhawk. He connects the standard three-meter EPS cable to the external port on the Nile, then attaches a universal adapter to the end of the cable. He makes a quick adjustment, then fits the adapter into the Starhawk's receptacle with a snap, ejecting a fine icy powder as it does so.
"Connected. Williams, watch the power flow on your end. Andros, begin the transfer at one percent."
Andros moves the power slider up the slightest amount.
"It's working! Power is coming through!" shouts Williams excitedly.
"Andros, 5%. Williams?"
"Still good!"
"Ten percent."
The lights around Williams start to flicker to life. "Still good!"
Krohn makes an adjustment to the adapter. "Andros, give it 25 and hold it there."
"Still looking good!" Williams smiles. "I think we are in business here! Ready to get the computer online."
Time elapsed, 17 minutes.
Scene 10b: Computer Core
While Krohn and Williams are getting the power connection set up, Archer and Andros are working on the computer situation.
"Got it!" Andros shouts in triumph as he carefully unsnaps the last connection from the Nile's backup computer core.
"Excellent work!" Archer says. "Let's get over there." They haul the large cylindrical computer core onto the transporter pad, and Archer energizes, sending them to the Starhawk. "Now comes the hard part," she laments as she assesses the charred remains of the old computer core. Sighing, she says, "There's nothing for it, Mister Frodo," to herself.
Andros, having spent most of his youth on Earth and attending school there, catches the literary reference. "This is no mine, it's a tomb," he replies, ominously.
Archer looks at him in surprise. "That's it! This is now 'Asteroid Moria'! Perfect!" Andros grins back.
They set the Nile's backup computer core down and parse through the myriad connections for the existing system, pulling them loose one by one as quickly as they can. Once freed from its attachments, they lift the burnt corpse of the Starhawk's computer out of its closet and replace it with the Nile's backup unit. Then they start the process of reattaching all of the connections.
The lights around the computer core closet start to come on. "Power is ready for you," Williams says.
"We need to run the adaptive diagnostics. Stand by," Archer answers. "Andros, look at that panel there and tell me when the language changes from Romulan to Federation Standard."
"Got it," he replies.
Archer taps the initialization sequence, and the system starts booting up, recognizing the connections to an old Romulan system and adapting to them. Along the way, Archer is tapping out code on the front panel. Just as an error message appears on the screen, Archer is ready with adjusted code, and the alert disappears. Then again. Then a third time.
"OK it's reading in Standard now," Andros says. He looks at Archer, who is still cranking out bits of code as the adaptive diagnostics continue, and asks, "How do you do that, Commander?"
"Do what?"
"It's like you know what the computer is going to do before it does it, and you 'get in front' of the problem before it happens."
Archer smiles at the compliment. "I grew up around computers and diagnostic stations. My father was a computer engineer. My mother was a meteorologist who worked with specialized weather equipment. Guess I just absorbed it."
"Cool!"
"Williams, we are ready here," she says into the comms. "Give us the juice."
"Diverting power to the computer core… now!" replies the science ensign.
The computer core beeps, chirps, and comes online. The interfaces begin to connect to the Romulan ship, accepting data input and slowly rewriting the coding of the ship's consoles. Since the previous occupants of the Starhawk had already gone to so much trouble to try to defeat their own ship's computer security in order to survive, it doesn't take much for the new core to take control. Within minutes, the ship begins to slowly come to life as consoles reactivate.
Total time elapsed: 38 minutes. Time remaining until structural failure of the Nile: 1 hour 22 minutes.
Scene 10c: Life Support
"OK," Archer says, looking at her PADD that shows the blueprint and damage situation of the Starhawk. "Andros, head down to deflector control. Looks like there is a hull breach there that needs to be sealed."
"That sounds boring," he complains.
"Krohn, get to the Starhawk transporter. Looks like there is damage that might cause problems once it's powered up."
"Understood."
"Williams, check the secondary relays on the starboard side. Make sure gravity is going to come on without frying the wing."
"On it."
"I'll head up to the bridge. Looks like damage to the ventilation system," she finishes. "Be fast but be thorough. Time is money. Let's go."
The four officers spread out to different sections of the ship to seal and repair the Starhawk so that life support systems will function. After several minutes of quiet work, the team communication channel erupts with Klingon frustration.
"Rrraaaaaaaaagh!!"
"Krohn, you ok?" Williams asks politely.
"Mrraagh! Stupid Romulan transporter! Who designed this QIp ghIt! Why is the buffer sensor right next to the dampener control module?!"
"I'm about done here, I can help, give me just a second. Keep your bat'leth on!"
"Hrrrrr…"
"There we go. Heading your way!"
After a few minutes' work, Krohn grunts, "Hrrph… thank you, Andy."
"No problem!"
The team finishes their repairs. Archer's suit is covered in dust and grime from crawling around in ductwork. Andros and Williams's hands are filthy with conduit sealant. Krohn has several small burn marks on his EV suit. But they arrive together in the Starhawk's engine room.
"Initialize," Archer instructs.
"Ventilation system coming online. Oxygen/nitrogen ratio set," Williams announces. "Pressure climbing… and… there we go!" Their EVA suits light up to indicate there is a breathable atmosphere. They eagerly but carefully take their helmets off and breathe freely again.
"Artificial gravity coming online," Krohn states. "Twenty percent… 50…" They all feel their weight under their feet again. "One gee. Demagnetize boots."
They turn off their gravity boots and walk normally for the first time in hours.
"Anyone hungry?" Andros asks.
Time remaining until the Nile's structural integrity fails: 58 minutes.
Scene 11: The engine room of the Starhawk
With life support and gravity restored, the crew happily sheds their EVA gear. With the contents of the Starhawk galley desiccated and ruined after 20 years in space, Krohn manages to bring the Nile's replicator to the Starhawk and connect it to the power grid so they are able to have a bite to eat while working on the power systems.
"Check the deuterium supply," Archer orders while having a bite of tuna sandwich.
"Looks like we have plenty. 73% full," Andros says, gulping down some water.
"Antimatter?"
Williams checks the levels, chicken wrap in hand. "Wow, 42%. I'm really surprised the magnetic bottles maintained integrity for this long! Must have some kind of hardwired magnetic backup system."
"Like a Federation ship," Krohn adds. "We should be ready to start the fusion reactor. But we will need more power from the runabout. A lot more. Probably 85% EPS flow or better in order to be able to prime the reaction."
"Can the Nile handle that much draw?" asks Williams, concerned.
"Can the CABLE handle that much draw?" Andros chimes in.
"It will be fine," Krohn assures the team.
Before anyone can volunteer to return to the Nile, Archer taps her commbadge. "Computer, one to beam up." She sparkles away, leaving the three ensigns in charge of the Starhawk side of the power transfer.
She walks to the power transfer monitor console. "OK, what do I need to do here?" she asks, dusting the sandwich crumbs from her hands.
"Bring it up to 30%," Krohn says. Archer moves the slider up, with no issues. "Forty." No significant change in the systems on the Nile. "Fifty."
As Archer slides the controls to the 50% mark, the runabout starts to complain audibly.
"Getting a hum, here. Is that normal?" Archer asks.
"Yes, that's the secondary cooling system kicking in. Take it to 60."
"Really buzzing now," Archer says, raising an eyebrow.
"It's fine. Go for 70."
"Ooookay…" Archer is skeptical but keeps nudging the slider to the next mark. The buzzing sounds continues but doesn't change much.
"Push it to 75."
"Something just went 'thump' in the wall! And I can see the external cable glowing red!"
"It's fine. The Nile has a tertiary coolant pump, it was probably just that kicking in."
"Probably?" Archer queries.
"Commander, remember, this is the runabout that had that silicon-based plant explode the replicator. After that incident, I made some… modifications. It will work. Trust me," the Klingon ops officer assures her.
"You really are quite the tinkerer, aren't you, Krohn?" Andros teases.
"Eighty," Krohn instructs.
Archer swallows hard, then pushes the slider to the 80% mark. Alerts start to sound on the coolant panel.
Krohn cuts her off. "It's fine! Go for 85."
She crosses her fingers, then slides the dial to the 85% setting. The lights in the Nile dim and flicker, she can feel a noticeable warmth from the deck plating, and the connection cable outside is now glowing orange-hot. But the connection holds.
"Eighty-five percent!" she sighs.
"Priming fusion generators," Krohn says. "Andy, watch the temperature/pressure ratio and let me know as it approaches critical."
"Got it… 45% of critical… 55… 70… almost there… now!"
Krohn initiates the flow of deuterium into the fusion reactors, now primed with the needed heat and pressure. In moments, they are generating their own power.
As soon as the fusion reactors start, the power connection to the Nile automatically shuts down and the EPS cable disconnects itself, the orange-hot glow rapidly subsiding. The Nile returns to full power just as the sensors show something happening on the surface.
Time until the Nile's structural integrity fails: 33 minutes.
Scene 12: The cockpit of the Nile, the bridge of the Starhawk
"Uhh guys," Archer says, "I'm getting some activity readings from the surface of the asteroid… I think they may be trying to drill down through the collapsed cavern to get to us." She breathes before saying more. "I owe you an apology. I brought you out here without telling you the whole story from the beginning. I should have trusted you, and I'm sorry."
"Nah, we get it," Andros replies. "Classified operational security. I'd have done the same thing."
"Like Kirk said, 'risk is our business'," Williams adds.
"Indeed," Krohn intones.
Archer smiles. "But I couldn't have asked for a better crew for this mission."
"Let's get this show on the road! No sense waiting for the bad guys to come to us," Andros shouts.
"Right!" Archer jumps to the flight controls and begins firing up the Nile to full power. "I'll try to hold them off if they get too close. You get that ship running and out of here and get back to the station!"
"Negative," comes Krohn's one-word reply.
"You can't just leave us here, Commander," says Andros. "Call it mutiny if you want to, but we aren't just going to let you sacrifice yourself."
"They're right, Lara," Williams adds. "This ship needs a captain, and it's not us. Besides, can't you program the Nile to be a distraction or something, miss 'beat me in the science fair with her computer thing sophomore year'?"
Archer is momentarily taken aback. "Uhhh well," she says, "yes, actually I can. But first…" She fires up the transporter and beams all the remaining supplies she brought on the Nile over to the Starhawk. Then she beams in some metallic ore fragments from the surrounding cave. Finally, she sets to work programming the computer.
{{COMMAND AUTH ARCHER, L. DS5 6636S}}
[COMMAND CODEBLOCK - NILE - RUNABOUT]
INITIALIZE ALERT TACTICAL RED
SHIELDS 100
PHASER STARBOARD 100
PHASER PORT 100
[SUBROUTINE 'EXIT MORIA']
NAVIGATION PLOT [ESCAPE VECTOR]
DETECT [PATHWAY]
IF [PATHWAY] CLEAR
EXECUTE [ESCAPE VECTOR]
ELSE TACTICAL - TARGET OBSTACLE - PHASER
[/END SUBROUTINE 'EXIT MORIA']
[SUBROUTINE 'HOME']
NAVIGATION PLOT [DEEP SPACE FIVE]
DETECT [PATHWAY]
WHILE [PATHWAY] CLEAR
MAXIMUM WARP
ELSE
EXECUTE 'DECOY' SUBROUTINE
ON ARRIVAL [DEEP SPACE FIVE]
COMMSYSTEM - BYPASS [DEEP SPACE FIVE OPS]
COMMSYSTEM - BYPASS [VELTIN]
COMMSYSTEM - ENCRYPT CODE - 'GDAY CAPN'
TRANSMIT TARGET - REYNOLDS, O. [EXCLUSIVE]
DISTRESS COORDINATES - [ASTEROID MORIA]
PACKET - LOGS [NILE]
PACKET - LOGS [HARPER]
PACKET - FILES [STARHAWK]
[REM: GET FILES TO OZZIE AND NO ONE ELSE!!]
[/END SUBROUTINE 'HOME']
[SUBROUTINE 'DECOY']
[REM: CHASE NAUSICAANS BUT NOT OTHERS]
VICINITY SCAN
WHILE [PATHWAY] NOT CLEAR
ON [THREAT] BREL KLINGON
PURSUE AND ENGAGE UNTIL [PHASER STATUS] EMPTY
THEN RESUME SUBROUTINE 'HOME'
ON [THREAT] OTHER
EVASIVE PATTERN DELTA 1 UNTIL [PATHWAY] CLEAR
THEN RESUME SUBROUTINE 'HOME'
IF AT ANY TIME
[SELF] SHIELD < 70 OR [SELF] HULLINTEGRITY < 100
ABORT SUBROUTINE 'DECOY'
RESUME SUBROUTINE 'HOME'
[/END SUBROUTINE 'DECOY']
[/END COMMAND CODEBLOCK - NILE - RUNABOUT]Once the program is online, she gathers a few last-minute items, then disables life support and beams herself and the rest of the equipment over to the Starhawk.
Scene 13: The bridge of the Starhawk
Archer joins her crew on the bridge of the Starhawk, bringing in the cart with the phaser rifles, as well as the standard phasers from the cockpit of the Nile, which she hands out while giving orders.
"Engine status Mr. Krohn?" she asks.
"Running on auxiliary power. Impulse engines priming. Two more minutes for them to reach operational capacity. Main power warming up. Estimate 30 minutes until it is online. Dilithium chamber seems to be intact, but nacelle status unknown."
"Good enough. Defensive systems status Mr. Andros?" she asks.
"Shield system looks to be working. Looks like we don't have torpedoes, but we DO have full 360 degrees coverage with disruptor beams, plus forward disruptor cannons. They are charging now, but without main power it will take some time."
"Well armed for a little scout ship. Other ship's systems, Mr. Williams?"
"Sensors working, navigational deflector up and running, computer core is good, communications systems online. Cloaking device status…" Williams fumbles with unfamiliar controls, and finally adds, "Unknown."
"Krohn, anything we can do to speed up main power?"
"No."
Archer slides into the helm chair and assesses the unfamiliar flight controls. Krohn is at ops. Andros sits at tactical. Williams takes what would appear to be a communications station. All of them have type 2 phasers at their hips and type 3 phaser rifles at their stations. Krohn has his bat'leth handy, as always. Archer has what she assumes is a Romulan Honor Blade similar to the one T'Prex loaned her at P'Jem that she found in the commanding officer's quarters.
"Williams, scan the area around us. Let's see what it will take to lift off this rock."
Williams walks over to what appears to be a scanning station and fires up the sensors.
"The port nacelle is stuck under a few tons of rock, but it's low-density, like loose gravel almost. Shouldn't pose a problem. The Nile is still resting on the aft section. Wait… Commander! There's another way out of this cavern! Starboard side! We'd need to drill out with the phasers… sorry, disruptors… but there's another cavern system that leads out of the asteroid!"
"Great job! Andros, how are those weapons coming?"
"Not there yet. Really need main power online."
"It takes as long as it takes!" Krohn growls.
"What about the portable generator we brought with us? Could that help somehow?" Williams wonders.
Krohn thinks for a moment. "Perhaps. Permission to leave the bridge, captain?"
"Go!" shouts Archer. "Time is money!"
Krohn races out of the room, taking his rifle and bat'leth with him, and hurries down the passageway toward main engineering. Williams sees the empty chair and moves to sit at ops.
"Can you link up with the Nile and see what its sensors say about how the Nausicaans are progressing with their drilling?"
"Got it," Andros replies. "Uhh… this isn't good. They'll be through in less than five minutes!"
"Red alert! If we can raise shields, do it. Give me whatever power you can to thrusters and put the rest in weapons. I don't want to have to fight like a cornered sehlat, but we need something. Krohn, how's it coming!"
"Generator connected. Powering up now!"
"We need weapons in three minutes, or we are going to have a bad time."
"Understood!"
"Andros, status."
"Four minutes until they are through."
"Priming injectors," Krohn calls from the warp core. "Stand by…"
A tense minute passes. Williams fidgets nervously. Andros drums his fingers on his console. Archer attempts and abandons a Vulcan breathing technique.
"QAPLA'!" Krohn shouts in triumph. "Main power online!"
"Williams!" shouts Archer.
"Aye!" Williams engages main power. Lights come on. Power rating sliders quickly move to much higher settings.
"Krohn, what about warp drive?"
"Port nacelle is damaged, can't be repaired from here. Starboard nacelle working. Best speed we can make is warp 3."
"Good enough! Get back up here!"
"On my way!"
Scene 14: Bridge of the Starhawk, moments later
"They're almost through!" Williams shouts.
Krohn arrives back at his post with mere moments to spare before the Nausicaans cut through the asteroid debris and reach the Nile. But the Nile fires itself up, fangs bared, blasting the remote mining drone and rocketing out of the cavern.
"I see three Nausicaan Raiders, five Rhaandari light cruisers, and… I have no idea what that is," Andros says, looking at the telemetry from the Nile.
Archer looks at the scans. "It's a Yorandi Rebels heavy escort. What the hell are they doing this deep in the Ivorian Sector?"
"I don't know, but their ship is dead in space. Three of the Rhaandari are pretty beat up, too, but they're still fighting. Only one of the Raiders looks damaged at all. It's firing on the Nile!" Andros finishes.
"And the Nile is shooting back!" Williams says. "Wait… I've lost contact. It's out of telemetry range."
"If the program holds, it should make a run for the station, hopefully drawing some of our friends away," says Archer.
"Fingers crossed," Williams adds.
"Any thoughts on the cloak?"
"Even if it works," says Andros, "no weapons or shields while it's running."
"Right. Williams, see if you can work on it, just in case."
"Aye!"
"In the meantime, charge weapons and target the weak spot in the cave wall."
"Disruptor beams configured for drilling and locked on target."
"Open fire."
Andros fires the disruptor beam. The dark cavern lights up with green energy and the rocky cave wall begins to disintegrate. The shields are showered with molten debris as the beam melts through the section of loose, porous rock.
"Ten seconds… five, four, three…"
"Cease fire."
"Captain," Williams says urgently, "we're through, but the cave is showing signs of seismic stress… it's about to collapse!"
"Hold on!" Archer shouts, gunning the engines.
She yanks the ship free from its 20-year home and steers into the cavern just as the roof of the chamber comes down behind them.
"It's bringing down the whole cavern system!" Williams yells.
"Working on it!"
The long-dormant engines complain loudly. The deck shudders under their feet. An avalanche of rock and gravel fills the viewscreen until finally they see open space. Behind them, the planetoid folds in on itself.
Scene 15: Bridge of the Starhawk, in space
They emerge on the far side of the asteroid from the Nausicaans and Rhaandari. It doesn't take long for their enemies to realize that the runabout is a diversion. But it does give the crew of the Starhawk a few precious moments to prepare.
"Captain, I think we've been detected!" Williams warns. "Nausicaan ships orbiting around the asteroid. They'll be here 43 seconds!"
"Krohn, get that warp nacelle aligned, just in case we have to make a run for it," orders Archer. "Andros, do whatever you can to tune the weapons for greatest effect against the Nausicaan ships. Williams, set scanners for maximum efficacy."
"Aye!" the three officers respond. Archer rolls her shoulders and gets a firm handle on the helm.
"The Rhaandari are leaving! They're warping away!" Williams cries.
"Dammit! Guess they won't be helping us," Archer says. "What about the Raiders? How long until they are in weapons range?"
"Thirty-eight seconds…" Andros answers.
"Williams, hail them."
"Uh, wow, they're actually responding."
"On screen."
The viewscreen fills with an unforgettably ugly Nausicaan face. "Bah, Archer! There you are! And your pitiful little band who spoiled our fun on P'Jem. I will enjoy taking your vessel and watching you all float out the airlock!" He abruptly closes the channel.
"Twelve seconds to weapons range!" Andros shouts.
"Should we make a break for it?" asks Williams.
"We aren't running from these bastards!" Archer declares. "Williams, try to contact DS5. Andros, strafing run, forward cannons full power… FIRE!"
The first Bird of Prey evades, taking a minimal hit. The second Raider strafes the Starhawk, hammering the shields.
"Dammit! Damage?" Archer asks while swinging the ship around.
"Dorsal shields at 68%. The port nacelle is… well it's still out," Krohn says.
"Andros stand by beams." Archer turns quickly to port. "Fire!"
The Starhawk lights up the first ship's forward shields, but the damage is minimal. The second ship unleashes its barrage, pounding the underside of the Starhawk. More sparks fly. A vacant panel explodes.
"Aaaah!" Williams cries, knocked from his chair.
"FUCKERS!" Archer screams, twisting the Starhawk around.
"BRRAAAGH! Ventral shields at 46%. Hull breach on deck four, sealing the area. Your patchwork on the deflector has been undone, Paul," cries the Klingon.
"Krohn, divert power from the port nacelle to forward shields. Andros ready those cannons!"
"Cannons ready!"
The first enemy ship tries to bait to line up for the second. She doesn't fall for it, twisting toward the second ship and sneaking under it. She then slams the impulse power to full, surprising the first attacker.
"Fire full spread!"
Andros's cannons obliterate the Raider's aft shield.
"Beams! Fire!"
With their aft section now exposed, the Starhawk's beam weapon hits home. An explosion from the deuterium tanks ejects hull plating shrapnel into the void and sends the ship spinning out of control. At least three Nausicaan bodies can be seen floating out of the breach and into space.
"The other ship is coming about, bearing 190 mark 125," Andros relays.
"Hold on!" Archer shouts as she pitches the Starhawk into a crazy maneuver, reversing engines to avoid the Raider's disruptors while lining up Andros's shot. "Fire cannons!"
The volley rips through the Raider's shields. "Damage to their impulse reactor, and they are leaking coolant. But they're still coming," Williams says as he resets the sensors.
"Give it up, Azmok…" Archer says to herself. "Hail them again," she orders.
Williams tries to call the Raider. "No response," he says. "And I think I know why. Their torpedo launcher is leaking and causing interference, and they only have about half their impulse drive."
"Well, they are coming around anyway," Andros adds. Sure enough, the viewscreen shows the damaged Klingon ship coming right at them.
"Uh… they aren't slowing down…" Williams states.
"Shit! Fire everything, reinforce shields and structural integrity, brace for impact!"
Their guns punch through what's left of the Raider's shields and penetrate the hull. The neck of the vessel breaks off, sending the bridge section flying off into space.
But it doesn't stop.
The rest of the ship crashes into the port bow of the Starhawk. Sparks fly across the bridge. Another console explodes. Andros and Williams are thrown to the deck. Archer manages to stabilize the ship, but only after a few precious seconds tick by.
"Shields down!" reports Krohn. "Massive hull breach on deck three! Sealing the deck… we are no longer venting atmosphere but…"
"Transporters! We are being boarded!" shouts Williams.
Scene 16: Bridge and Main Corridor of the Starhawk
"Take cover!" Andros orders, taking charge of the situation. "They can't beam onto the bridge, so they'll be coming from the corridor. Use at least setting four on your phasers. Nausicaans are tough bastards." The crew sets their phasers as instructed and takes cover behind their consoles.
The swirling sound of Klingon transporters finishes, and the ugly guttural cries and running footsteps of angry, desperate Nausicaans fill the corridor.
Andros pulls a small device from his pocket.
"Andros, what is—" Archer starts to say, but she never gets to finish her sentence as he grins, pushing a button.
A series of "pop pop pop" sounds and bright flashes echo through the corridor, followed immediately by Nausicaan cries of anguish and pain. Their numbers are thinned, but the four meanest, ugliest, and nastiest of the group stand at the entryway to the bridge. Three of them hold some kind of riot shields in front of them, filling the doorway, their serrated daggers visible between. Azmok slinks behind them like a sehlat stalking its prey.
Archer and crew fire their weapons. The riot shields seem to absorb the shots, and the three shield bearers march inexorably forward, with Azmok right behind. Archer's team keeps firing to no avail. The thugs keep closing in.
"Low and high!" Andros shouts.
The crew obeys, firing low at the thugs' feet. The impact of the shots, even if they miss, cause the thugs to stumble, leaving them open for just a moment. They fire again. The riot shields fall, but the Nausicaans recover, and charge! Andros, Krohn, and Williams are each accosted by a thug. Azmok runs directly at Archer, shouting, "Now you're MINE!"
Before Archer can get another shot off, Azmok is upon her. She fends off his initial attack, but her rifle goes flying. She manages to twist away from his follow-up, and in a flash, she is holding the Romulan Honor Blade. Metal rings on metal as they clash weapons furiously, then separate for a moment, sizing each other up. Azmok's muscles ripple as he looks down on her. Archer's feet find purchase on the deck.
"What's the matter, Starfleet?" Azmok taunts. "Do they not teach you real fighting at the Academy?" He feints, then strikes at her. She parries and counters, jump-kicking him in the chin. But Azmok slashes her leg in return.
"Mrrrggh…!" she growls through her teeth at the wound, chasing him with a flurry of swings. He parries every strike, then pounds her face with a backfist, knocking her off balance. But she rolls out of the fall, slashing his shins as she does.
"Ha ha! You got me! I'm impressed!" he laughs sarcastically, then lunges at her again. She manages to block the strike and hold him at bay for just a moment, hoping someone else will hit him with a phaser shot at that moment. It doesn't happen. She does catch a glimpse of the shattered pieces of a phaser rifle scattering across the deck, along with several bloody Nausicaan teeth. Krohn's handiwork, she assumes.
He shoves her back and lunges again, pinning her against the bulkhead. Her arms are trapped under his grip and the flat of her own blade. He raises his dagger, and repeats his words from their battle at P'Jem. "Know that today you have died at the hands of— OOOF!!" She brings her knee up hard against his groin, stunning him for a split second, long enough to wriggle free of his grasp.
That's when she sees it. The edge she needs. They have been evenly matched so far. But she catches something in his eyes, his posture, his actions.
He strikes at her. Metal sparks fly as she blocks, but doesn't counter-attack. She empties her mind of rage and anger, and lets him come. Behind her, she hears two phaser beams strike true. He fakes a lunge. She stands fast. "RAH!" he shouts, and comes at her with his dagger. Three strikes, three blocks, no counter from her. She can see his eyes narrow. "What's the matter, Archer?" he taunts. "Getting tired?"
She just grins at him.
His scowl deepens. He strikes at her furiously, and she deflects, seeming to need less effort with every block. To her left, the unmistakable sound of Klingon bat'leth on Nausicaan skull echoes across the bridge.
That's three, she thinks. Now.
"Seems like YOU'RE the one who's getting tired, Azmok," she taunts. Then she attacks. He blocks and parries her strikes. In the exchange, she leaves just enough of an opening that he can't resist, and hits her with another backfist strike, his favorite move. But she uses the momentum of the impact to spin around, her sword reversed in her grip, and drive the blade ten centimeters deep into his sternum! His eyes go wide with shock and pain.
"That was for Picard," she says, locking eyes with him. She twists the sword, tearing the nerve endings around his Nausicaan trachea.
"MAAGGHH!" he gasps.
"THAT was for T'Prex!" she growls, now glaring in pure hatred at him.
He tries to throw his dagger at her head. She dodges easily, grabbing his arm, wrenching him forward while pulling the sword free. She then pummels his face with her elbow seven times and shouts, "And this is for ME!" Then she delivers a powerful kick to his chin, knocking him backward two meters across the deck. He lands with a dull thud and lies motionless, bleeding brown Nausicaan ichor from his chest and face.
She leans over, her hands on her knees, gasping for air, and looks around. All four Nausicaans are now lying on the deck, in various states of injury and unconsciousness.
Williams falls to one knee, bleeding from a gash across his stomach, though he seems supremely satisfied with himself. Andros, bleeding blue from a cut across his shoulder, rushes to his side, saying, "Dude! Now THAT was a tennis swing! No wonder you won State!" He points to the shattered rifle and teeth on the floor.
Krohn walks up to Archer and extends his hand. "You are… a true warrior!" he says with reverence. She takes his hand, shakes it, and stands.
The communications console beeps. Williams hobbles to the station and checks the screen. "We're being hailed!"
"What? By whom?" asks Archer, still panting.
Williams can't help but smile. "It's the Cutlass!"
Archer, who has retrieved her sword from the floor, says, "On screen." As the view changes, her knees nearly give out in relief as she gazes upon the most wonderful sight in the entire universe. "OZZIE!" she cries.
"Cap'n?!" he says in surprise. "By golly, whadda you got yourself into this time? Need a hand, there?"
Andros, Williams, and Krohn just grin at the screen.
Archer gestures with her sword to the Nausicaans laid out on the floor and in the corridor, most of whom are still moaning in pain. "Sure," she says, smiling, lungs still catching up with her. "You can help us take out the trash."
Scene 17: On board the Cutlass
Archer, Andros, Krohn, and Williams beam over to the Cutlass. Winal Oma smiles broadly from the transporter controls. Roger Mayweather and a medical team are there to greet them as they materialize.
"Well, you've been busy!" Mayweather says.
"Roger!" she cries as she hugs him. "Winal! Beam any Nausicaans on the Starhawk directly to the brig! Andros, get down there. Some of them need medical attention."
"Already there!" he shouts as he leaves the transporter room, his gold uniform stained with blue streaks as he runs. One of the medical staff goes with him.
"Williams, get to sickbay. Krohn, with me. We need to talk to the Yorandi. They may have some answers to all this." They leave the transporter room and take the turbolift to the bridge.
"HOLY SHIT! CAPTAIN ON THE BRIDGE!" Sulu practically screams as they arrive, hugging her old friend. "Oh, your 'buddy' Veltin got arrested just as we were leaving the station."
"Good," Archer replies.
Krohn walks over to the ops station. Ozzie steps aside, moving to the First Officer's chair with a smile. Archer moves to a place she hasn't touched in months. She sits in the Captain's Chair.
"Lieutenant Sulu, hail the Yorandi vessel," Archer orders.
"Frequencies open," Sulu replies, grinning.
"Yorandi vessel. This is Lieutenant Commander Lara Archer of the—"
BOOM! The ship suddenly explodes!
"SHIELDS!" Archer shouts. Sulu gets the shields up one second before the shockwave hits. The Cutlass is rocked, and Sulu and Krohn are nearly thrown to the deck.
"Report!"
"Must have been a self-destruct," Sulu says. "The ship was disabled but not damaged bad enough for… that."
T'Prex turns in her chair. "What HAVE you been doing?" she asks.
Sulu's console beeps. "DS5 is hailing."
"On screen."
The warm red-and-silver visage of Captain MacDonald appears. "Aye, there ya are, lass! Have to say I'm relieved to see ya in one piece."
"Good to see you too, Captain," she answers.
"You're gonna want to get back to the station in a jiff. There's been a… development."
"You got the intel from the Nile I take it?" Reynolds asks.
"Aye, that we did. But we need to debrief ya right away. It's even more complicated than ya think."
"We're on our way. Cutlass out." Archer turns to Sulu. "Get a tractor beam on the Starhawk. Bridge to engineering."
Another familiar voice answers the call. "Manni here."
Archer smiles and closes her eyes. "Mister Manni, we need to take the Starhawk back to DS5. Get things set up for a warp tow."
"Give me two minutes to get things calibrated."
"Let me know when you're ready. Bridge out."
Scene 18: Back on DS5
"Come in!" MacDonald says.
Archer walks into the Central Operations briefing room. MacDonald, Tokimune, and the station's Chief of Security, Commander Vic Jackson, are waiting for her. MacDonald and Jackson smile as Archer enters. Tokimune just stares, unblinking as always.
"Have a seat, lass," MacDonald invites. Archer takes a chair.
"You had yourself quite an adventure in the last few days," Jackson says.
"You could say that," she replies. "Any news on the Starhawk?"
"Commander Winal, the engineers, and the forensic team are looking it over as we speak," Jackson answers. "Everything in your report matches their findings. All evidence points to the crew being defectors that were trying to escape the Romulan Empire, and got killed by a Tal Shiar 'anti-defector' protocol. Bastards."
"At what point did you suspect that Veltin was an Orion Syndicate mole?" Tokimune asks bluntly.
"When the Nausicaans showed up in force," she answers. "The only way they could have known I was out there was if information about the Starhawk got leaked to them."
"What about the Rhaandari?" MacDonald asks. "And the Yorandi Rebels?"
"If I had to guess," she replies, "I'd say that whatever information Veltin leaked, it was coded to say something about a 'valuable prize' that was ready for the taking. The Nausicaan Raiders knew that was me, but the other groups thought it was the Starhawk."
"Well, as you might expect, the Rhaandari government is denying all knowledge of the incident, and saying their ships must have been acting alone," Jackson interjects.
"Of course they are," Archer grins. "And with Veltin dead, and the Yorandi ship gone, there's no one alive to say otherwise. Speaking of Veltin, how is Admiral Sorik handling the situation?"
"Which part?" MacDonald asks. "Finding his attaché dead in the brig by suicide? Or learning that she was an Orion spy?" He chuckles a bit, as do Archer and Jackson.
"I mean, I figure there will be a full investigation. Handled internally by his office, of course," Archer states.
"You got it," Jackson answers.
Tokimune stands. She pulls her commbadge from her uniform and tosses it on the table in front of MacDonald. "She'll do," is all she says. As she turns to leave the room, she offers Archer the faintest smile.
"What… was that about?"
"I think maybe ya just got a new job!" MacDonald replies, smiling.
Scene 19: The Pavel Chekov Auditorium, Deep Space Five
Archer stands at the podium of the small auditorium in full dress uniform, three full pips on her collar now, performing her first duty as the new Executive Officer of Deep Space Five. Many of the former crew of the Cutlass under Archer's command are in the crowd, including Sulu, T'Prex, Mayweather, Manni, Ozzie, Winal, and most of the old Evening and Night Watch crews.
"Ensign Paul Andros, please step forward," she says, smiling.
Andros, also in full dress, takes the stage and stands before Archer.
"For leadership and resourcefulness, consistent with the finest traditions of Starfleet, as of today, Stardate 61544.0, I hereby promote you to the rank of lieutenant junior grade," she announces, pinning an open circle pip on his collar.
Andros grins broadly, his antennae wiggling with excitement.
"And, for service above and beyond the call of duty under extraordinary circumstances, you are hereby awarded the James T. Kirk Distinguished Service Medal." She hands him the medal, in its case. He takes it, still smiling. She turns to the crowd. "Honored guests, Lieutenant Junior Grade Paul Andros!"
The crowd applauds.
"So much for being the youngest ever to receive the Kirk DSM," Sulu grins to Manni as she claps.
Archer repeats the same speech, promotion, and award for Krohn and Andrew Williams. Krohn stands fast but almost seems to grow taller while getting his pip and medal. Williams, on the other hand, tries and fails to fight back tears as he receives his. The crowd cheers them all. Then Archer, T'Prex, Manni, Andros, Krohn, and Williams quickly depart the small auditorium for another destination.
Ten minutes later, the six of them enter the main holodeck. Archer, clad in the form-fitting suit and mask of Silver Steel, walks ahead. T'Prex and Manni, decked out in their Night Star and Tech Nine costumes, follow close behind. And behind them, Andros, Krohn, and Williams, dressed as the pugilist Blue Brawler, the mutant Stone Hammer, and the yellow-clad Sparkz, fall in behind.
"Let's go," Silver Steel beckons. "The Circle of Vines won't know what hit them!"
Mission Completed and Successful!