Loose ends

Posted on Thu Jan 17th, 2019 @ 7:29pm by Second Mate Quinton Beck & MERCHANT RANKS Fala Gaz (NPC) & Second Mate Simon Starr & Master Steward Othor Jaxz Ghost of the Second Star
Edited on on Fri Jan 18th, 2019 @ 1:07am

6,840 words; about a 34 minute read

Mission: From Within...
Location: Second Star (SB214)

-On-

{Sickbay-Adjacent corridor}

Judah said "no" for the thousandth time. Poison had tried every imaginable pressure to force the shuttlebay doors open, and many of them would have worked had his OS not been able to see the code intrusions as a Human would. Any computer security is easily defeated if you have the right codes and access. Judah knew he could stop the doors from opening, but there was another problem at work.

His physical copies were hard to maintain and even a single projection was largely distracting for him still. He was in a fencing match against Poison, keeping the ship on lockdown, re routing turbo-lifts, sealing bulkheads and raising shields. It was manageable, and he never had to give a similar order twice, his partitioned selves capable of learning. The Rangers decks were still dark, and his options few. The exocomps carried sonic blasters along with a variety of undetectable ordnance, their self learning program engaged as well he shared his data with them openly and in turn he got arms and legs.

In Sickbay, there was a Ranger walking towards the morgue. He had savaged poor Nurse Bunny, the small woman was knocked off her feet by the blow and landed in a heap. Quill was holding the man back, but in a flash assaulted some injured soul on the bio bed. Quill turned to save a life and the Ranger moved past him before anyone could object.

With his body unguarded, Judah sent messages out frantically.

=0= Anyone to sickbay, bedroom is unlocked!

The code came through loud and clear on Akio's commbadge, he was in the antimatter reactor control room, very nearby. Akio had wanted to make sure the brig and sickbay lines were in no danger of failing. At hearing this, he knew someone had gotten through. Swallowing hard, Akio knew what he must do, and grabbed the capacitor pack he used to test for surgepoint weaknesses. It probably wouldn't do much more than shock the man. To defend Judah, he would have to fight this unit of a man somehow...

"Judah, transport me into the morgue with you!

=0= Site to site is not available, Saligere has ECM running, J-Tube 4-s Hurry!

Akio knew what he meant, the Jefferies tubes had a maintenance hatch in the floor of the morgue. But what was the plan for when he got there? Realization that Judah could broadcast inside the morgue helped the plan fall together. The adjacent room shared a wall with the morgue, and Akio opened the wall panels up.

Just one more room over, in sickbay, Saligere stood in the door frame to the morgue. The lights didn't turn on in the small side room leaving it very dimly lit. He followed an ODN line, crammed into a small opening at the corner of one of the bio bed gurneys and located the source. As Sheila had explained, it would be self evident where the data line was going. Curiosity got the better of him, and he pulled the latch on the morgue slab.

It was locked, a simple metal lock, mechanical and strong. He saw a small hole, a likely insertion point for a key. Seeing no other purchase points for his fingers he mentally shrugged and lifted the ODN cable running out of the wall of slabs. Had he been paying full attention, he might have seen through the holographic baffle Judah put up to cover Akio's stealthy entrance from the floor hatch. The dim light was enough, combined with Judahs shaky projection to keep Saligere looking the wrong way.

=/\= Saligere to Sheila, I've got the ODN line in sickbay secured. Orders?

Her voice came over the line, cutting, cruel, and jubilant.
=/\= Judah, listen to Sheila now okay. You so much as peep and Sal here cuts your lines. End your defensive efforts immediately. Stand Down or we will cut you down."

An eerie silence occurred. Elsewhere his replicants vanished. One by one as Sheilas people reported in was confirmation Judah had withdrawn.

{Agora- Main Entrance}

Stopping the Rangers from taking the bridge or any vital sections in the Saucer was childs play. The Turbolift was impossibly slow, and Judah rerouted the invaders to a sealed off and inert deck. There were sixty odd soldiers crammed into a bunker dead end, so containing them relatively easy. The Jefferies tubes were all mined and ready to collapse, so far they hadn't been used. The only other point of entry was the Agora, the skylights were an easy breakthrough inconspicuous as well. Othor and his stewards were ready, any skylight that was destined to breach would have over a dozen armed personnel ready to greet them. Kas and Avor stood nearest the only Turbolift entrance, ready for the other insurgent teams who were crawling up the shaft. All Turbolift routes came through the Saucer Meridian at this juncture and a hard break in the lines made sure it stopped.

Avor and Kas stood alone in the corridor, moments before the first breach. Poor Judah had to have been busy if these guys had gotten so far. Facing an enemy was never something Avor casually regarded, it was always life or death to him.

"I don't want to lose you." He spoke plainly, there was time for little else.

Kas could only reply, "Then be here with us."

Galvanized, Avor took his position in the flank position along the Turbolift doors. Kas unlimbered a Coil gun, firable without tripping weapons sensors. A pull out panel provided neat cover and a prop for her barrel.

The doors began to part, and Avor pulled the pin on his sonic grenade, a beat and the door parted under a halting jerk a few centimeters more. Avor dropped it in, withdrawing to hold his ears.

Just above them, in the Gardens along the bottom of the Agora, Toriza had a task force assembled. Bas Klayton, Jade Ling, Rowland among them, they had armed and trained a few locals willing to fight. Rowland had been in his quarters as the alert sounded, as he left the corridors he followed the stream of injured backwards until he saw a group of Rangers plundering the poor souls caught in the Agora when the fighting started. Their scanners detected other breaches along the Agora, and they met Toriza, who had just gotten there from Engineering blunting their assault.

Clearing the Agora took no time at all, but many of them had gone to ground. Rowland was a killer shot, and stronger than any of his opposition by miles. She took note of him. Despite their efforts,two of sheilas men escaped into the saucer section, containment had failed.

Toriza growled under exertion and frustration from the escapees.
=0= Two at large, Deck 7 aft!

{Apiary- Deck 8: School}

The Children on board knew to race to the schoolhouse during red alert. The first day saw drilling on this, and now most of the children on board were accounted for and safe. Inia was a teacher and took the initiative to keep them inside and busy, to reduce panic. Deciding any lesson was as good for distraction she went with one she enjoyed.

"Who wants to see pupa being born? If you look you can see the only baby queen they allowed right there. Why do they only allow a few Queens do you think?"

One of the kids, a Tellarite boy blurted out, "Queens want to be the only one, other queens means competition!"

Inia nodded, but suggested in her tone there was more.

A hand shot up, a Bajoran girl asked to speak, Inia nodded she could.

"It would make the bees confused?"

Inia was proud, the research into hives and colony disorders was the first unit of study they had this week, and clearly it was being listened to.

"Yes, a hive, just like a ship and crew, requires everyone to do their very specific job, so that the whole community gets to accomplish its goals. We have something like a Queen on board, but his name is Captain Beck. But... Captain Beck isn't the only leader is he? There is Kas Shar'Zhen, Fala Gaz, Chief Callahan... they are all leaders like a queen is, but we really only have one Queen. Captain Beck."

A Tiburonian girl spoke through her flaps, "...is that why the ships is shutting down? 'cuz the Captain is missing?"

Inia nodded, "Yes, but we have people working on finding him so don't worry, we can go home soon.

"My daddy said the Captain got taken, and took his gun."

That was Zala, the precious little light of Inia's life. It was a small show of defiance, probably to make her feel some kind of control in a scary time. Inia indulged it with a patient smile. "Look, why don't we-"

The door opened to the school house room. It was under security seal, and should not have opened from the outside at all. Judah had total systems control, if that door opened.... Judah wasnt there to stop it, and someone forced there way in.

She knew what would greet her eyes as she turned to look. A ranger, balaclava over his face, body armor inflating size and stature. He walked into the large room, seemingly taken in by the fearful eyes. Inia played her part in this, she became shaky, watered her eyes and made herself as small as she could be. The children huddled near her, and to the biggest of them, a teenage girl who was often helpful Inia gave her a solid look. In a glance the two women communicated a world of depth, "Save the Children, you are in charge."

A small blade lining the forearm inside her sleeve moved down to her finger tips as she wept.

{Turbolift Access Gantry, pre-saucer section bridge}

Kas had her sights perfect. Despite the forty meters from her perch to the Turbolift doors, she hadn't missed her mark once. Using a coilgun and a sensor suppression suite, she could shoot freely. The enemy could fire too naturally, but that's where the killing ground they had forced was the impassable obstacle. The force of the bullet made for a spot of fun, aim at the leg just above the knee, and they do a neat forward flip. Catch them in a jump and you could send backwards a meter or two if you hit them center of mass. Not killing them was the hard part. Avor took the more dangerous position flanking the corridor walls just outside the door. If Kas didnt nail them cold, Avor had a solid punch and Tasered gloves ready.

Eight Rangers had so far found nothing but trouble, the ninth was hiding behind a shield and Kas used the high power settings to blow out the EPS lead in the walls as he passed. The next wave brought two more shielded commandos who threw stun grenades ahead of them as soon as the door opened. Kas shot one of them no sooner than it was released from the hand to throw. It detonated inside the Turbolift and both men went down.

Despite the horror of fighting in your own home, Avor seemed to be in high spirits, he shouted from behind his confiscated shield, "Gods Kas, do you even need me?" One of the men stirred and tried to rise, unwittingly, and Avor kicked the poor Marine hard along the upper legs, punching a tasered glove into the stomach for good measure. A chokepoint to the whole Saucer section had been Kas's plan ages ago when they were setting up shop. Now, it was a foresight worth a whole security team in this fight. Two of them held half the ship.

=0= Mommy?!!!

Judah piped audio from the school for them to hear, the unmistakable voice of Zala rising over the bedlam of they heard. There were no monitors, this was perhaps his only way of telling them exactly what they needed to know. The kids were in trouble.

Judah was in a separate battle, so Toriza shouted over their comms,

=0= I've shut down the lift and collapsed the gantry. Go to the school now, I have a team to hold your position!!!

Kas fired off her clip, shattering the shield in one Rangers hands, Avor took the opportunity to ambush the other one from behind, throwing him down the turbolift shaft. They took off together down the corridor.

{Bridge}

Vicente was trying to keep everything in order. Most of the crew were confined to quarters but many of them were ne'erdo wells and rule breakers naturally so civilians were in peril all over the ship. Thankfully their containment had held for the saucer section, Kas wouldn't let a soul past her. The Captains lockdowns only let certain people issue commands, and he was in the Captains chair now.

A chime on the communications panel sounded. Vicente looked in fear, intuition telling him from experience that the bell was tolling.

Fala was there, for which Vicente was grateful. She was working with her legal counsel for the moment Starfleet came aboard. She knew Vicente was out of his depth, but she had more important things, he could handle it.

"Breathe deep, repeat, slow your pulse."

Two solid breaths and the repeating chime banished his progress. Stressed would have to do.

"Okay, open that line."

A moment passed, Vicente took a last breath before the image feed began. Before he opened the line, Fala suggested , "Perhaps it would allay suspicion if we pushed them a different way?

"Hmm?

Fala reminded herself of Vicentes youth, tact was not a winning tactic with him. "Piss him off, he can't be suspicious if he wants to kill you."

All he needed was the chuckle, he was ready, a gesture signaled Othor to open the feed.

"Vicente Escudero, Second Star. How can we assist you?

Tor Savill, Starbase 214 Security, came onto the screen. He looked stoic, but perplexed.

"Where is Mr. Sudor?

"Talloc Sudor is engaged in an arrest elsewhere on the ship. The Captain is still at large. Leaves me in charge. What's up?

"We were expecting an update, we have detected possible weapons discharges and sit to site transport usage far above any norms."

"Weapons? nah not reported to us. It's a big ship though, but I know welders and replacement fuel rods can show"

"Mr. Escudero, I need to speak to your supervisor."

Vicente blinked in fine deception, "I am not sure what you mean. I am the commanding watch officer. How. Can. I. Help. You?" He parsed out the end of his statement in a very unflattering condescension.

Starfleet was a place where rank had its privileges, the Merchant fleet had it's own too. Vicente made a note to keep this clip for his personal files. He had enraged a Vulcan.

"I will not be obfuscated by a junior officer biding time. If you do not produce Talloc, or a member of your senior staff-"

Fala cut the line. Vicente went wide-eyed looking at her in disbelief. She was grinning, "Oh yes, that'll do it."

Fala walked onto the Bridge from her office lounge, "I'll talk to him after you're done stalling. Soften him up for me."


{Main Shuttlebay Entrance}

Sheila was almost ready to admit defeat. Quinton had lead a merry chase, and she was trapped. It was his beautiful voice, that lifted her spirits in this dark moment. Saligere had secured the ODN line. If she was right about that..

=/\= You get a raise Sal, find out what it connects to, don't break it!

Sheila looked where Simon stood, wondering what he was planning.

=/\= Oh man, Sheila there's a dead kid?

That was about right. She had a card to play now. Looking at Simon, she spoke to him again. "Your precious captain keeps a dead kid in the morgue, care to ask more before you throw your lot in with him?

"That is something that I can ask the captain directly, without your involvement" Starr replied bluntly. "But as it stands, you've tried to access restricted areas of the ship, and tried to get a mutiny started. Those are my concerns right now. The reasons do not matter, just the actions that you have performed."

He didn't show it, but there was the obvious concern with that, in his mind going through all the possibilities as to why that may be the case. He could think of too many reasons to make it tarnish Beck, if the child died - they could be investigating cause of death, he suggested to himself. If he was killed, they could be finding information on the killer. More noble than covert. But this was a merchant ship, and he hadn't heard of any attacks in security reports. Talloc may have kept it from him, but with the new discovery that didn't surprise Simon at all.

"Right now, your not in a position to negotiate. Imagine when Starfleet hears that the only weapon fired came from one of their own officers," he mentioned, giving Talloc a cold look. "They would immediately want to back away from all of this, and will probably throw you to the lions in the process. It's what they do. I've been on the other side. Anything that makes them look like their 'interfering' when their caught, they'll disconnect as much as possible. Don't forget, I am ex-starfleet after all, I know how they work." Starr completed.

At that point, he had said what he had to say, and heard what he had to hear, at least in this corridor. "If your lucky Talloc, they'll go easy on you during the Court Martial. I don't know about the rest of you, but mutiny is usually answered with dismissal, maybe some time at Jaros II. Judah, transport the four of them to the brig and activate the force fields there."

Judah should have instantly responded, Except Simon wasn't aware that Saligere held Judahs life in the palm of his hands. A beat passed and Talloc slowly brought his phaser back up, pointing at Simon but clearly dreading that fact.

Sheila broke the silence, a feral grin on her face.

=/\= Sal, you've got the ball. Don't drop it. Anything happens to me, my line goes dark... cut the line, you understand."

=/\= Gladly, this is creepy Sheils. I'd rather sit with a Borg. I'd sooner torch this abomination then touch it to be frank."

She looked to ceiling reflexively, ignoring Saligere. "Judah? I know you are listening. Open this door, and you may not wind up the subject of experimentation and dissection."

The Shuttlebay door slid open. Sheila had leverage strong enough to override the ships computer now.

The time almost arrived. Simon was that close, but then seeing the shuttlebay doors open, this wasn't good. This wasn't part of Beck's plan. With that, he held his hand over the phaser, but knew he wouldn't be able to hit sheila right now, but he readied himself for the moment, maneveuring himself back for what he knew any security officer in Talloc's situation would do in a hostile situation. He saw him preparing, and knew he would have to do the same.

"Poison, Ice, with me. Talloc... I am counting on you to keep Mr. Starr under wraps until I have Beck on a silver plate. You do that, we all win. Got it?

Talloc and Simon stared down their lengths and sights at one another. Talloc hated this, but the die was cast. He nodded to Sheila in silent affirmation.

The three women entered the Shuttlebay, the door sealing behind them.

In a flash Talloc made his move, waiting for nothing, assuming it was enough to grant an element of surprise. Firing the phaser in a sweeping arc, the flare on the confinement field was blinding. Ducking under where he assumed Simon would fire in reaction, and diving around the gentle bend in the corridor, desperate for some form of cover.

With that, Starr ducked for the cover he had just maneuvered himself too as Sheila and the others entered the shuttlebay. The blast did catch the edge of his leg, thankfully it was the bionic leg, so he didn't feel anything. He'll probably have to speak to an engineer about the damage when this was over. As he ducked into cover, he aimed his own phaser at him.

{Main Shuttlebay- Tiburon}

It was dark, and she knew the cavernous doors were welded shut for the moment, all the better, it meant Beck wouldn't be blasting his way out.

Weapons primed they scanned everything but the Tiburon, whose primary ramp had been rescinded despite being in berth. A good panic room for sure, but nothing the trio was scared of. Nothing penetrated the sensor blinds on the small starship, so boarding was their only option. Masks and magnetic boots covered most of the defensive countermeasures, ECM belts would make sure most particle based energy weapons were disrupted, Eye and ear protection standard with the helmet, but they were not ready for the countermeasure feared most.

Othor plucked memories from the trio, creating shadows of dead relatives, whispers and phantasms to horrify and bewilder. They had all trained in counter telepathic tactics, but his was insidiously subtle. Recalling a pleasant memory was not something you normally fought against, but it gave him all the ammunition needed. By the time Poison found the external latch on the Tiburon, she was beyond sanity.

The Gravity increased, the temperatures would swing wildly from freezing to boiling, Sheila had enough after only fifteen seconds.
"Quinton Beck! I will kill your biogenic nightmare if this continues one moment longer!"

The tumult continued, and she made the call. Interesting, Judah was still fighting her. He was valuable alive but a secondary objective. He was just as useful dead.

"Sal cut the line now!" The words felt wrong, like murder. Sheila had never taken that long hard look til now, realizing how far she had come.

The uproar died immediately, still no words from Judah. Sheila didnt like this one bit.

=/\= Sal... come in?

Silence all around her, Poison was still trying to force enter the Tiburon, Ice was scouring the shuttlebay for other surprises. She had to get to Beck, everything came down to his word versus hers.

=/\= Sal is no longer on the ship.

Sheila didnt recognize Akio's voice, but knew what it amounted to all the same. She lost her man in sickbay, but the smoking gun was still there, locked up in a ship locked inside a starbase. She just had to get them to see it!

Poison shouted in glee, "Hatch is opening boss!"

Time was up for Quinton Beck.

"Weapons primed, I'll chance having to explain why we had to shoot, just do not kill the man."

Ilyce snorted, "Pretty Please though, I have imagined it for a week now!"

Sheila considered her frostbite and burns, the pain in the ass over the last few days from him.

"Okay just a little."

{School- Deck 8}

His plan was to hold the kids as leverage over the crew. A surefire victory was in his minds eye, accolades, handshakes and promotions awaited. They had all huddled in the back corner as if that did anything to help them, the only adult was an Andorian Aenar, certainly no threat to Big Bad Kodan Krom of Deneb. He was twice her height, four times as heavy there was no doubt in his mind how this would play.

"I want the children of your command staff. Don't make me make you tell me who they are. Teacher, you point them out or I start showing my impatience.

Inia was an actress of the highest caliber. When she pointed at a young Human boy, her only reason was so the man would cross in front of her. He heartbeat was slow, her blood colder than ice. Aenar were mildly telepathic, he senses raw and rashed from the mans nature. He was here to hurt people, and she felt his desires. The man had carnal appetites, well Inia resolved to sate them, just not how it was expected.

His foot fall pounded the deck, walking on his heel made him feel mighty, but it told Inia how his weight fell. As he got close, she pretended to shy away from him, and got his attention. He approached and grabbed her bicep, pulling her in closely. She could feel his imagination on her body and it sickened her. She was close enough, but he was ready for her. It wasn't quite time.

"Who's dat little blue one?" He leered at Inia, who tried to keep her gaze from lifting too high. Almost sold, he was droppin ghis guard.

"Captains son." She lied, but that bait would get him to move, it was too good to be true and anybody on board who had paid attention would have realized the Captain didn't have a son on board.

She saw his attention shift, felt the weight of him move to his heel. She fainted, a waif too fragile to exist in his eyes. He dropped her and only took one step more. A sharp pain at his heel, and the sensation of falling forward were the best his confused mind could provide. She cut his Achilles tendon on one leg, and in a flash sliced the closer knee.

Kodan hit the ground hard, agony coursing into his being from the dual wounds. Still dangerous, his training compelled him to fight, and he tried for the hand holding the knife. In a blind snatch, he was offered and grabbed the blade itself. Inia twisted and lifted, making his fingers useless. In a flash he felt another stab in his shoulders as she cut the tendons there. Withonly one arm, Kodan tried to move out of her range but she was in control, and in no time slashed at his only working arm.

Kodan was confused, Inia was furious. He couldn't move, she had cut him in every important way and reduced him to a highly capable torso. Terrified he was about to die, he called out, "Carson! Carson! Hellererrrr-" Inia stuffed a piece of cloth torn from her shirt into his mouth. The knife told him the rest as it pressed against his carotid artery.

Carson wasn't so bad all things considered, he was no fan of Kodan either. Still the sight of Kodan in such a state under the bloody Andorian made him reel. He lifted his pulse rifle without thinking and Inia charged him before it came all the way up. In his panic, he hit the firing stud and a pulse shot the wall harmlessly over her shoulder. When she arrived in his face it was to stab his eyes. Carson only barely raised his arm in time, taking the blade in the thick meat, missing the bone.

He was able to strike her, using the hand holding the stock of his rifle he let it drop to better hit her. To her credit, and his amazement, she took the full force if his punch and even seemed to lean into it. Her knife was in his arm and he used that to keep her from stabbing him again. With little choice he started to hit Inia repeatedly, desperate to detach her from him. He felt like he was beating a child, the bones cracked in her face he could feel it.

She was still growling, when he lifted her high into the air and slammed her into the ground. Commotion got his eye as the children under teenaged leadership ran down the corridor disappearing into the labyrinth. Inia was still fighting him, weak and broken he heard the sounds of a feral animal making its last stand. Carson raised his rifle, wanting only to stun her.

Kas disavowed him of the notion by kicking the rifle out of his hands, firing again in the moment. Avor tackled Carson, who realized these Andorians were likely this little ones bondmates. He tried to speak but Avor, in a dark rage, gave no time or quarter.

When Avor was finished, his knuckles were impacte,d swollen and broken. Carson was lucky to breathe without aspirating blood and teeth. Both men were incapacitated and Kas held Inia in a cradling and gentle hold. Avor realized then, seeing his family, where his loyalties were.

Weeping, he fell to his knees and embraced both of them.

{Sickbay- Morgue}

Saligere was waiting on the word. There was some sick and twisted science going on, he couldn't wait to kill this wretched creature. Opening the slab would be one of his worst memories. The smell, the visceral sensations, simply looking at the dead body somehow halted in its decay evoked images of the Borg, and Saligere had experience with them for sure.

Quill stood at the morgue entrance, stopping when Saligere held a knifes edge to the ODN line that was essentially Judahs brainstem.

"Please... That boy is alive, all evidence to the contrary."

Saligere snorted, "This is not life. This is a Borg experiment, and highly illegal. If Starfleet weren't watching us, I'd vaporize this putrescent nightmare."

"You'd be killing an innocent life, whether you agree with me or not, I am telling you what I will tell Starfleet."

"Starfleet would have nothing to say on this. He is dead, no amount of hardware fixes that. You and your crew are guilty of crimes, and will be arrested. This one, will be disposed of either way.

"How else can I beg of you to simply wait for Starfleet to make that decision?"

"You cannot ask me anything, the architect of this abomination gets no say."

"I didn't make him this way-"

Quill didn't see Akio, but had been hearing something from the back of the room. Akio interrupted their dialogue, his surprise ready.

"I did."

Akio had taken one of the refrigerant units for the Morgue and siphoned the coolant from the container. It only took moments, but listening to this man discuss killing Judah so casually made the tension unbearable. The coolant was toxic, and inhaling small amounts of it caused serious lung problems. Akio, as silent as could be, placed a hand with the tube over Saligeres mouth and pressed the release on his containment module. Terrible pressure forced coolant into Saligeres lungs, who collapsed instantly in writhing agony.

"Akio, no!" Judahs voice matched Quills reaction to the sudden violence. He could speak though, because the threat to his life was gone.

Quill looked on with horror, but Akio was a doctor and engineer this was his skillset in fine form. He picked up the large man, struggling under the weight, Quill moved to help and they moved to drag him into the main sickbay. Once they had gotten him to a bio-bed, lifitng him was a different matter. Usually Bunny or one of his assistants brought an antigrav gurney but there was too much going on, and Bunny was in a bio bed herself.

Akio was not gentle. He handled Saligere like so much raw ingredient for a meal. Quill heard the snapping and crunching of joints and tendons as Akio shoved and rolled him up onto the bed. Unable to stand the rough treatment and Saligeres ragdoll physics, Quill activated the Bio Bed grav units which allowed them to re position the man. Working fast, Quill began to address the damage to lungs and throat, the coolant having frozen them solid.

There was no hope. Saligere would die in agony, unable to breathe, what was left of his blood circulation carrying toxic waste.

Akio Itachi had murdered before, and this time was no different. Judah attracted a revulsion in the living, and Akio was the boys only defense. He stopped Quill from calling Starbase Medical, "I will see to him, Nobody can know what he saw or Judah dies."

"Aki, not another one..."
Judahs ghost appeared in the room, free to project himself without fear. He had been projecting the wall of the morgue to disguise Akio, though he had little idea to what end Akio was planning.

"He will remain alive in stasis until I can find a place for him. He is already dead Quill, his heart and brain haven't figured it out yet. I'll find a place, that can treat him and care for his body."

Quill was torn, this man had nearly killed Bunny, Lid'a, Judah, had proven time and again he was a remorseless killer. His oath was not the same as the Hippocratic oath, his Medical license was through Ferenginar. If this man had his way, three people would be dead right now. Quill knew this, but still felt obliged to try and save the mans life. He had a duty to honor, no matter who the patient was, they were under protection if they were on his bed.

Akio took the decision away when the bio-bed initiated a site to site transport. Quill opened his mouth to protest but realized this was a way out. Ignorance was bliss, and also served a neat form of deniability. So instead Quill looked past Akio, saying simply, "...can you see to Judah, I have wounded here."

Meanwhile, the darkened morgue saw a touch of light as a gleam escaped the seams of the bio bed. Saligere materialized, agony and confusion his whole world. his panicked mind tried to make sense of why he couldnt breathe, why he couldnt move his arms or legs, why he was trapped in a small dark place... His final thoughts were of terror as he succumbed to his injuries and fell unconscious, dreaming of being buried alive.

As he slumbered, stasis chemicals and cold storage protocols injected into his body, the computer running a program for long term stasis. It wouldn't save his life, but rather prolong what sparks remained. Akio had needed spare parts for Judah, cerebro-spinal fluid required a living donor.

Saligere had a long life in stasis ahead of him.

{Main Shuttlebay}

Quinton primed his phaser, wishing it hadn't gotten this close. Simon was busy with Talloc, Kas was holding the Saucer with her family... there was nobody to come. Damn it all, this was the reason he hired an outfit in the first place but here they were, beating down his door to take his ship away. The standoff with Judah had gotten Sheila in and Judah had been silent since Sheilas man had taken control of Sickbay, and the morgue.

If Sheila held a gun to Judahs head, he would do as she asked. He knew this without asking himself or even debating. There was no debate, she had him dead to rights. If she pulled her trigger, it would damn them all. This was thin ice, but it hadn't borken yet. An equivalent exchange of fire meant there were two injured parties.

Quinton tried again, Engineering had held, the Saucer was locked down, The Exocomps deactivated most of the Rangers systems on their decks, retaking those would be Starfleets job. He just had to avoid capture, time was on their side.

=0= Judah, Quill, Akio, Bunny? Anyone at all in sickbay?

Poison cycled the airlock, it began to pressurize, they were seconds away. ECM from all three women made site to site impossible. As the airlock began to roll open, Quinton grabbed the manual controls and held tight.

Through the viewpanels he saw the twisted evil face of Poison leering at him. Like a cat playing with a mouse she had cornered her quarry. He heard Sheila talking to them, she was ordering them to restrain, to capture not kill. He hated these women, their casual indifference to life. He avoided military and soldier types for this reason. Life was not a game, these women valued nothing.

=0=Judah here, we got sickbay back. I'm good captain.

Kas was next, "Carson shot his weapon twice, it's on them now Cap'n, we are en route to your location, hold on!"

There wasn't time, Poison had gotten an inch of the airlock door opened and it was slowly advancing. Not enough, and she was about to find that out.

=0=Quinton to Sheila. Don't hold your breath, makes it worse.

=0= I'll have my man take care of Judah, vent me I dare you.

With great satisfaction Quinton hit the airlock controls. Immediately high winds from the rushing air grabbed them. Only magboots held them firm to the deck. Masks they wore prevented explosive decompression, but they were not meant for vacuum. As they tried to recover, Quinton opened the airlock for them, firing his phaser three times.

Sheila took a second hit, but they all went down. Quinton stepped down the ramp as it descended to the deck.

=0=Quinton to bridge, sound our surrender to Starfleet Security, inform them our mercenary outfit has attempted a coup.

=0= Good to hear your voice Captain!
Vicente was ecstatic, Fala was already speaking to her lawyers loudly enough to hear.

Quinton was jogging to the main entrance, hoping Simon didn't need his help, or worse, facing down Talloc.

Leaving the large room, the corridor seemed very small...

Just as Quentin stepped out of the shuttle bay, a phaser beam passed right by him, hitting Talloc square in the chest, stunning him. Looking at where the shot come from, Starr was just around the corner, sitting on the ground, his leg sparking.

"Just in time captain," as he nodded towards Talloc, "he shot first, and as it came from a Federation phaser, that should be good enough to prove to Starfleet that I was acting in defense," he added, looking down towards the damaged leg.

"Luckily this thing got replaced, otherwise I would be getting one of these for the first time, and it would have been a lot more painful" he said, remembering a similar situation on an away team mission he had been on during his time in the fleet. The cause of the leg in the first place.

Quinton was impressed, handling Talloc, on top of these three was no small matter. If Simon hadn't been there to stop them, Quinton knew he would have been captured. Poor Talloc, almost got the goose, left with nothing but feathers.

"Mr. Starr, we aren't out of the woods yet, but I look forward to meeting you in a more official capacity. See to this crowd, extra scrutiny on these three, they are vipers. Also, I confined Rowland to his quarters, surprisingly he stayed there. Keep an eye on those quarters, I don't quite trust him yet.

"I'll get a security detail to keeo guard, I'll be personally involved in the escort of these ones." Starr replied, looking towards Beck and the three rangers. "And they wonder why I left" he said as a side comment.

=0= Starr to Noxley, keep an eye on the new prisoners - they've already caused trouble. I'll be down to join you in a few minutes =0=

He then turned to Beck. "So, captain, this kid - I haven't heard anything - and if somebody died, I feel security should know about it. Quill hasn't told me anything, and neither has Talloc, and I doubt he will now, so - what was that about?" he asked.

"You can ask him yourself, he isn't dead."

The holo-emitters didnt broadcast in most places around Engineering and the shuttlebay. It was simply too much interference and other systems that took energy priority often couldn't be moved. Still, just outside the Shuttlebay at the corridor threshhold, a dark haired, lanky form resolved into focus. Judah.

"Hi Simon!"

Simon nodded, and had a brief discussion with Judah, and thanked him for the help. He also wanted to make sure that he wasn't under threat again. Judah was more than just the ship's AI after all, he was a member of the crew, making his safety one of Starr's concerns.

=0= Captain to the Bridge! We got Starfleet Security beaming on board sir!

Quinton felt a great burden in the form of more fighting to clear those decks. He was on his way to the bridge when one of the security teams reported the Rangers were standing down to Starfleet teams. It had only been a minute, could it really be all over? Knowing better than to celebrate he knew a call was coming.

Admiral Ferrell blustered audibly,
=0= Quinton?! How...wh..why... for gods sake you haven't even left dry dock and you've shot three people!
=0= Hey Doug, they were bad. Don't worry I have evidence. Tell your people please?
=0= It's Admiral Ferrell, Quinton. And I'll be there in person, I've seen your evidence.

The line dropped out, and there was nobody in the corridor. Quinton took a moment to breathe and found a deep laugh inside him. Welling emotions tormented sensible motions of decorum and he began to laugh loudly. He told himself it was just venting stress.

The tears of joy said otherwise.

-End-

Austen
Ben

 

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