SEASON 2: EPISODE 02

Q, TIME AND AGAIN: Part Thirteen

  Captain Rachel ‘Nat’ Daley listened to the Captain’s suggestions.  She couldn’t help feel embarrassed about what she had said before.  She and the Captain had met a week before on Earth at a bar in the Australian outback.  When they first met she had thought he was one of those sleazy bar types who hit on anything in a skirt and had no problem giving him her middle name.  It wasn’t the first time some sleazy male had hit on her and it was her practice to give them her middle name, somehow it felt less personal if they referred to her by her middle name.  In the end she found out that Jonathan wasn’t sleazy at all, in fact she had been quite attracted to him.  They had both told each other that they were in Starfleet but for some reason they never said anything about were they were stationed or what they did.  She guessed that it wasn’t that surprising since they were at war and talking about what they did in Starfleet made them remember that fact.

  To find out he was the captain on the vessel she was stationed came as a shock.  While not a wholly unpleasant shock, it was a shock.  She had gotten it into her head that she’d meet up with him again on Victory over the Dominion Day celebrations after the war, it was all a romantic fantasy and now she felt a bit silly thinking about it.

  Adding to the embarrassment of telling the Captain she hadn’t told him her first name was what she said to him after that.  She had told him that they couldn’t have a relationship together.  It sounded a bit presumptuous for her to say that but there was no doubt that they were both attracted to each other, but she believed in keeping her love life outside that of the chain of command.  They were also in the middle of a war and they were serving on the same vessel, which also complicated things.  She had heard of how people did stupid things to protect their partners, in some cases they had even endangered or failed important missions and during this war that was a very dangerous thing to do.

  The Captain was taking it very well.  He didn’t seem upset or angry.  In fact he had looked almost relieved when she had outlined the ‘rules of engagement’ as he had called it.  There was something she wasn’t aware of and wanted to find out what it was, she put it on her list of things to do.

  As she watched and listened to the Captain she couldn’t help but feel a deep connection with him.  She couldn’t explain the feeling or why she was feeling it.  It was almost like a memory but she couldn’t make sense of it.

  The Captain was interrupted mid-sentence by a communication.

  “Captain…”

  Nat waited for some to come but nothing did.  She looked at the Captain who had a look of concern on his face.

  “That sounded like Ensign Cole!  Ensign?”  No response.  The Captain hit his combadge to make sure the line was still open.  “Ensign, respond!”  Again nothing.  “Something’s wrong!”  The Captain signalled Colonel Tiki.

  “Tiki here.”

  “Get to the Shuttlebay now!  I think Ensign Cole is in trouble!” ordered the Captain.  “Come on, Captain.  We have to get to the shuttlebay!”

  “Maybe the best action would be for you to return to the bridge, Captain,” suggested Daley.

  “We can either have that argument and waste time or we can get down there and help my flight controller.  I’ll promise to stay behind you, if that makes you feel better.”

  It didn’t, however the captain didn’t look like he was going to just go back to the bridge.  Daley acknowledged and picked up her rifle that rested against the wall.

  The Captain was already running towards the nearest turbolift.  Nat quickly sprinted to catch up and yelled at the Marines close by.  “Saddle up, we’re going to the shuttlebay!”

  Kel’Tarna slipped into the shuttlebay unnoticed.  All his men were dead except for the two that he had sent to deal with the Starfleet officers who looked to be heading for the shuttlebay.  His Second had been the last to die, he had fought the Starfleet officers near the lab where they kept the cloaking device but unfortunately he had not managed to get to the device and destroy it.  That left the only course of action now open, the destruction of the entire ship.  Kel’Tarna had hoped to quickly destroy the device, the strike cruiser and escape with his men on some of the ship’s shuttles and attack fighters.  He had always doubted enough of his men would be able to survive to taken enough fighters to threaten the Akira class heavy cruiser, but they could have caused it more damage before retreating back to Cardassian space and being redeployed to another fighting unit.  Even that plan wasn’t going to be workable, all he had was three men and they still had not dealt with the cloaking device.

  He had considered sabotaging the rear weapons pod but because the heavy safety features of the pod it was unlikely that even that would have destroyed the vessel.  So in the end he had decided that the shuttlebay would be a prime target.  Located basically right through the middle of the vessel’s saucer section if he could cause a large enough explosion he might be able to destroy the vessel.  At least that is what he thought was the best option.  He could feel the effects of the lack of white.  His troops hadn’t had white for a while and were due to receive more after they attacked this ship.  Being on a convert mission behind enemy lines meant that resupplying the strike cruiser had been a problem, the Vorta had therefore imposed rationing of the Ketracel-white to make sure that it would last.  The Vorta had made sure that they had just enough that they would be able to shroud during their mission.  Kel’Tarna blamed this for the quickness that the Starfleet forces had mopped up his men.  His men had not been in top mental or physical states to keep fighting and in the end they would have made foolish mistakes and been easily dealt with.  In fact Kel’Tarna had lost the ability to shroud a while ago, in fact he was surprised that the two Jem’Hadar that had accompanied him could still shroud.  But he had seen their faces before they shrouded and saw that it had been an effort for them to perform the act.  If they lived past the engagement with the Starfleet officers he had sent them to attack he doubted that they would be able to reshroud, not that it mattered they would all be dead soon.

  Kel’Tarna saw that four fighters sat in the middle of the bay.  The four fighters were fully armed and even had photon torpedoes connected under their hull.  These were obviously the ship’s on-duty fighters.  In case of sudden attack these fighters would be able to launch immediately and provide fire support for the Akira.  This worked well into Kel’Tarna’s plan, it gave him sixteen torpedoes to use.  He went to the front fighter and inspected the torpedoes.  He thought that they would do nicely.

  Masters followed behind Daley and a second Marine has they made their way cautiously towards the shuttlebay.  Despite his hassling for them to go faster the Marines had proceeded very cautiously.  They were almost there when Daley spoke.

  “My God!”

  “What?” asked Masters trying to get past.

  “Keep back, Captain.  What do you see?” she asked the other Marine.

  “I see two Jemmies down and four Starfleet.  Damn that’s a lot of blood.”

  “Let me see!” shouted Masters and he pushed past the two Marines.

  Masters was shocked by the scene he saw.  Six beings lay in a pool of blood that wasn’t just on the floor; it was on the walls and the ceiling.  He quickly spotted Cole slumped against a wall.  It didn’t look good; the young ensign was covered in blood.

  “Jesus!  Are they all…?” he asked.

  Daley produced a tricorder and scanned.  “The Jem’Hadar are dead.  Looks like the rest are dead too.  No, wait.  I’m getting a faint life sign.”

  “From who?”

  “The one on the wall.” Daley turned.  “Get the Medic up here now!”

  One of the Marines ran from the back of the group and she pointed to Cole.  The Marine was quickly by Cole scanning him with a medical tricorder.  Masters gingerly stepped into the bloodied floor.

  “Is he going to be okay?”

  “He’s not in too bad of shape.  Luckily most of this blood on him isn’t his.  He’s got a nasty gash on his thigh and a bit of blood loss, but other then that he’ll be fine.”  The Marine applied a pressure bandage to the wound.  “This will slow down the blood flow, but I should get him to sickbay.”

  “Do it,” said Daley.

  The Marine called over another Marine and the two Marines picked up Cole and headed for sickbay.  They would have to walk there since the transporters were down.

  “We better go to the shuttlebay.  I sent Ensign Cole to perform a mission for me there.  We’ll have to complete it.”

  Daley nodded and the group continued.

  As the got closer to the shuttlebay they heard thumps that could only be weapons fire hitting the bulkheads.

  “This is Major Stevens; I’ve got Jem’Hadar in the shuttlebay.  Please assist.”

  Kel’Tarna fired blindly around the fighter.  He had been caught by surprise when the Starfleet Marines had entered the shuttlebay.  He had been out in the open and was just lucky he had seen the Marines quickly and got to cover before they could kill him.  He knew that now that they knew where he was that he didn’t have any chance of fighting his way out and that he was the last of his troops to remain alive.  But he had to continue his mission and to do that he had to delay the Marines.  They were already closing the net around him and his firing was just to make them seek cover or keep them in cover for longer.  Luckily the fighter shielded him from their attacks.  But he would only need the cover for a bit longer, he was almost complete.

  When Captain Daley’s group entered the shuttlebay they found Major Stevens’ group assaulting one of the attack fighters.  Captain Daley and Masters went to Major Stevens’ position.

  “What’s the count, Major?” asked Masters.

  “What the hell?” said Stevens.  “I thought I told you to get to the bridge?”

  “I did.  Now I’m down here,” replied Masters.  “How many?”

  “We think only one,” she replied.  “But he’s got good cover behind that fighter.  I’m moving my troops to get around but there isn’t much cover between us and the fighter.”

  There was a burst of sporadic fire from behind the fighter, but it missed all the Starfleet personnel.

  “But he has nowhere to go.”

  Suddenly there was a shout.

  “VICTORY IS LIFE!”

  The Jem’Hadar burst around from the fighter with his weapons blazing.  In one hand he held his energy rifle and in the other his smaller hand weapon.  Two Marines were caught in the open moving to outflank the Jem’Hadar.  The Jem’Hadar down both Marines and sent the rest behind cover.

  Major Stevens swore and stood up from behind her cover to fire at the Jem’Hadar.  But the Jem’Hadar was quicker and fired first.  The Major was hit and fell to the ground.  But the Jem’Hadar didn’t get much further.  The other Marines fired back, catching the Jem’Hadar in a crossfire.  The Jem’Hadar’s body was jolted from side to side by the weapons fire before he collapsed in a smoking heap.

  The Marines then rushed behind the fighter to make sure it was secure.  While they did that Masters and Daley checked on the Major, she was still alive.

  “Are you okay, Major?” asked Captain Daley.

  The Major looked furious.  “That sonofabitch!  He caught me in the shoulder.”

  Captain Daley kept the Major on her back as she removed her armour around her shoulders.

  “Looks like some of the energy got through.  You’ve got some burns and a shallow wound.”

  “If he wasn’t already dead, I’d kill that Jem’Hadar!”

  “Do you want me to get a medic?” asked Masters.

  “No, don’t bother.  I’ll see to it after you’ve checked on the rest of my men.”

  Masters nodded.  “Captain, stay here and keep the Major here.  I’ll go and check on the two that the Jem’Hadar got in the open.”

  Masters ran over to the two Marines who had some of their colleagues around them.

  “They’re both alive,” said one Marine.  “Jigger is in bad shape though; he took a blast straight to the chest.” The Marine pointed to the smaller of the two injured Marines.  “He’ll need to go to sickbay straight away.  As for Dutch…”  The Marine took Masters to the other Marine, who was positively huge.  “You’d need nothing short of a photon torpedo to knock his big arse down.  The Jem’Hadar just managed a glancing shot.  How the Jem’Hadar only managed a glancing shot is amazing.  Dutch is the size of a house.”

  “I might be the size of a house but I move like a gazelle,” said Dutch.

  That brought a laugh to the Marines who heard it.

  “A hundred and fifty kilo Gazelle who has no legs maybe.”  Masters turned to see Colonel Tiki approaching them.  “You alright, Captain?”

  “I’m fine, Colonel.”

  “You really should be in a secure area and not running around battle zones,” said Tiki.  “That’s the whole reason I sent Major Stevens to secure you and send you to the bridge.  Maybe next time I’ll have her stun you and shackle you to the captain’s chair on the bridge.”

  The colonel was right; it was not very prudent of Masters to be putting himself in these risky situations.  Though he had to wonder how much of a joke the colonel’s last comment had been.

  “Good, I think that we’ve got them all now,” said Tiki pointing to the Jem’Hadar.  “That looks like the First over there.  But we’ll keep up the patrols and the static guards until sensors are back online.”

  There was a shout from the direction of the fighter and Masters and the Colonel went to see what was going on.

  “We’ve got a problem,” said one Marine.

  “What is it, Stark?” asked Tiki.

  “This fighter’s torpedoes are armed!” said Stark.

  Tiki and Masters rushed to one of the torpedoes under the vessel and saw Stark was right.

  “Let me guess they are on a timer,” said the colonel.

  “Yes, sir.  As you can see we have under three minutes.”

  “Can you deactivate them?” asked Tiki.

  “I don’t think so, at least not in time.  The Jem’Hadar has damaged the controls, getting around that will take several minutes.”

  “Get Wing Commander Benton in here now,” ordered Masters.

  Soon Wing Commander Benton was in the shuttlebay.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “We think that the Jem’Hadar has armed the torpedoes on this fighter and set them to self destruct in around two minute,” explained Masters.

  Benton looked shocked.  “Can you deactivate them?”

  “Not in time,” said Tiki.

  “I could take the fighter out and jettison the torpedoes into space,” said Benton.  “I should be able to get them far enough from the Swiftfire that they don’t do any damage.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that,” said Masters.

  Benton smiled and clambered onto the fighter and opened the cockpit and got in.  She started up the fighter.

  “You guys did some work on this fighter,” she yelled down to Tiki and Masters.  “I’m getting some damage reports.  Hull damage.”  Benton continued to read the reports.  “This isn’t good.”

  “What?” asked Masters.

  Benton got out of the cockpit and scrambled down the sides of the fighter.  “This is really not good!”  She got under the fighter.  Masters and Tiki crowded around her to see what she was doing.  “Shit!  The Jem’Hadar must have sabotaged the release system.  Let’s see if I can…”  Benton fiddled under the fighter.  “Damn, damn, damn!  This fighter isn’t going to dumping anything!  He’s fused the torpedoes to the fighter!  What are we going to do now, captain?”

  Masters didn’t respond.  Tiki turned to asked the Captain if he had any ideas but found that the Captain was next to him anymore.  “Captain Masters?”

  Captain Daley watched as a Marine helped Major Stevens off towards sickbay.  She suddenly heard a lot of commotion near the fighter that the Jem’Hadar had used for cover.  She heard the whine of its engines powering up and saw it unsteadily lift off the deck.  She saw one of the fighter pilots and the Colonel yelling at the fighter.  The Colonel was even hitting it and grabbing it, it looked like he was trying to pull it back down.

  The fighter started to go forward with the pilot and Colonel following and yelling.  She decided to run over and see what was going on.

  “Colonel!” she yelled as she ran towards him.  “Colonel!  COLONEL!”  The Colonel finally heard her.  “What’s going on?”

  “The Captain’s taking the fighter out!” he yelled back, then continued to yell at the fighter.  He stopped chasing it as it got close to the edge of the bay.

  “So?” she asked.

  “The damn things got armed torpedoes that are set to go off and there’s no way to jettison them from the fighter,” explained Tiki.

  Daley looked alarmed.  “That fighter has four Photon torpedoes onboard!  If they go off they’ll destroy that fighter.”

  “Now you see our problem,” said the pilot who was standing not far from them.  “He’s going to sacrifice himself to save this ship.”