Blood and Fire 01 - Starship Down
Title: Blood and Fire
Author: Soledad
Fandom: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Author's notes:
For disclaimer and background information go to the secondary index page.
Daliwakans are an alien race. Their only representative, a Human/Daliwakan half-bred was the gigolo in Tom Paris’ Sandrine’s holoprogram. Ensign Hodel is “played” by Sendhil Ramamurthy, just for the exotic touch. Ensign Nagel’s only appearance was in the 2nd season TNG episode “Peak Performance”.
Rating: General for this part, suitable for all.
Summary: In which the Enterprise is sent to a mysterious mission, and Captain Picard is not amused.
CHAPTER 01 - STARSHIP DOWN
Stardate: 43076.7
Captain Jean-Luc Picard recording
The Enterprise has been ordered by Admiral Nakamura to go to the aid of the USS Copernicus, a scientific research vessel, which has set out a distress signal and is now adrift with no further communication coming from its captain and crew. Our mission is to find out what had caused the break of communication and to help the Copernicus with whatever repairs might be necessary.
Admiral Nakamura emphasized in his message that Starfleet Command is concerned because the Copernicus was last located in a disputed area of space between the Federation and the Ferengi Alliance. As there is no exact data about what, exactly, counts as Ferengi territory, Federations ships - especially Starfleet vessels - usually avoid this particular area. It has no systems with habitable planets, so it’s of little interest for us, unless for mining purposes.
Why the Copernicus was heading in this direction, the admiral couldn’t - or wouldn’t - tell me. I hope, however, that either my CMO or my Science Officer will be able to provide me with some basic data about the Copernicus’ original mission, so that we won’t be stumbling into a potentially dangerous situation with our eyes closed. Picard out.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Finished with his official log, the captain of the Enterprise rose from behind his desk and fetched the half-empty bottle of calvados from his cupboard. As a rule, he didn’t drink while on duty, but sometimes the secrecy of Starfleet Headquarters frustrated him beyond endurance. As the commanding officer of Starfleet’s flagship, he expected to be given all the details he might need to get the job done.
Unfortunately, some of the more conservative members of Starfleet Command were still suffering from the delusion that the officers serving in the front line - the same ones that actually kept the Federation safe - didn’t need to be bothered with unnecessary knowledge. Admiral Nakamura, a great admirer of his people’s samurai tradition (or how he interpreted it anyway) was one of those less than practical oriented people.
Well, it couldn’t be helped. Luckily for Picard, he had an android as his Science Officer; an intelligent machine that could converse with computers on their own language and was therefore damn hard to catch when hacking any secret databases. He’d find out everything they needed to know - and then some.
Reassured that they’d be able to do the job, despite the outdated mentality of certain superior officers, Jean-Luc Picard allowed himself a very small glass of calvados, removed the evidence from sight, and signalled his senior staff to come to the daily briefing.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The senior officers of the Enterprise were still not full in numbers. Doctor Katherine Pulaski, who had served as the chief medical officer of the ship during the recent year, had transferred back to the USS Repulse, her old ship, and Doctor Beverly Crusher had not yet returned from Starfleet Medical, where she had served as the aide of the Surgeon General for a year. Therefore the medical section was currently represented by Doctor Selar, a calm, no-nonsense Vulcan, young for her own people, yet one with good contacts within Starfleet Medical and a great deal of experience. She’d already served twenty-three years on various Starfleet vessels, the last two of them aboard the Enterprise.
Aside from the section heads, who were regularly present at the daily meetings, this time Transporter Chief O’Brien had been asked to join, together with Tactical Officer Nagel, and, of course, Counselor Troi, as always. Commander Riker, now sporting a neatly trimmed, full beard, was sitting next to Troi, consulting the crew evaluation reports that were done by the end of the month; the two of them usually worked on those together. Recently-promoted Chief Engineer Geordi LaForge still seemed a little uncertain about his new position but tried to hide it, while Lieutenant Worf, their chief of security, stared sourly at the tabletop in front of him, as usual.
Picard greeted his officers, who had not yet heard about their new assignment, took his established place at the head of the conference table and cut to the core of the problem as was his wont.
“We have received new orders from Starfleet Command,” he told them without preamble. “The USS Copernicus has sent out a distress signal two days ago. Since then, communication couldn’t be re-established, so we’ve been ordered to rendezvous with the Copernicus, figure out what’s wrong and provide any help that may be needed.”
“Where was the Copernicus operating at the moment of sending out the distress call?” Riker asked.
“Accessing,” Commander Data answered in Picard’s stead. His yellow eyes became unfocused, as always when he was communicating directly with the main computer. “According to the last official report, they were travelling in the Haseeth sector.”
“The Haseeth sector?” Worf repeated with a frown. “Isn’t that Ferengi territory?”
“Not exactly,” Picard corrected. “In fact, it’s disputed territory between the Federation and the Ferengi Alliance.”
“What is the Copernicus doing there, then?” Troi asked. “Border patrol duty?”
Picard shook his head. “No; the Copernicus is a science vessel, assigned to mapping uncharted territory and geological survey, preparing for future mining activity.”
“Could they have been attacked by the Ferengi?” Riker guessed.
Tactical Officer Nagel shook her head, long blonde hair whipping across her shoulder.
“That’s unlikely,” she replied. “The Copernicus is an Oberth-class ship; those are only used as science vessels by Starfleet and the non-Starfleet agencies. She wouldn’t be a match even for a small, outdated Ferengi freighter, not to mention a Marauder-class ship. The Ferengi would have destroyed her with a single shot, before she could have sent that distress signal.”
“Can we be certain that the Copernicus has not, in fact, been destroyed?” Worf asked.
“Long-range scanners of Selani Base within range of the Haseeth sector confirm that the ship is still there, adrift. It just won’t reply to any calls,” Picard replied.
“Why hasn’t Selani Base sent out a patrol ship to check on them, then?” Riker asked in surprise.
“That was exactly the question I have asked Admiral Nakamura,” Picard said dryly, “but he refused to give any explanation. All he answered was that I’ll understand everything as soon as we’ve reached the Copernicus and consulted a certain Commander Yarell who’s supposed to be on board as a Starfleet observer.”
“Commander Jenna Yarnell?” Dr. Selar raised an elegant Vulcan eyebrow. “Curious. Has he not served at Starfleet Intelligence until recently?”
“You know the commander?” Picard asked, his suspicions that there must have been more behind the Copernicus’ mission than a simple cartography assignment, going up a notch.
“I know her reputation,” Selar replied. “She graduated in the same year I did, as a science officer, specialising in biotechnology and genetics, and was promptly drafted by Starfleet Intelligence, researching Romulan biological weapons, especially the poisonous and exploding plants on the Eden planet, visited by Captain Kirk’s Enterprise, back in 2269. Last time I heard about her she was still working there.”
“If she was assigned to the Copernicus as an observer, and the Copernicus was sent on a seemingly harmless cartography mission in disputed space, that can only mean one thing,” Picard said thoughtfully. “Starfleet Intelligence suspects the Ferengi to have developed some kind of biological weapon and wanted to find out more about it - should it truly exist.”
Selar nodded. “That is a logical assumption, Captain.”
Troi, however, shook her head. “I find it unlikely that the Ferengi would release a weapon of mass destruction. They’re businessmen, first and foremost, not warriors. They have a saying that states: A dead customer can’t buy as much as a live one. Killing off masses of potential customers would be against their general attitude and business politics.”
“Yeah, but they’re also known to say: Fear makes a good business partner,” Riker argued. “I don’t believe they’d commit genocide, either; not unless they’re cornered and have absolutely no other chance. But they might have developed such a weapon as a tool to blackmail potential partners - or enemies - to do their asking.”
“Or the whole thing is a bluff,” Ensign Nagel commented.
“Whatever,” Worf muttered darkly. “Ferengi have no honour.”
“We might see it that way; however, as they like to say: Morality is always defined by those in power,” Troi countered. “Besides, they wouldn’t be the first party to build a doomsday weapon, just to frighten their adversaries, without the true intention to use it… or the last one.”
“True; but historic evidence shows us that even weapons never meant to be used get to be used sometimes, causing terrible destruction,” Picard said. “It’s enough if there is one delusional person in the right position. We cannot leave the possible existence of such a weapon out of consideration.”
“On the other hand, it’s also possible that the Copernicus is simply having some kind of medical emergency, or a system failure,” Geordi LaForge pointed out reasonably.
Picard nodded. “Also true. Which is why we need to assemble the away team with all these possibilities in our mind,” he looked at Riker. “I’ll leave it to you, Number One.”
Riker weighed the possibilities in his mind for a moment.
“I’ll take Geordi for the system analysis,” he then said. “Also for possible repairs and in case we might need his special vision. Worf would want to come with us, I assume,” the Klingon nodded grimly, “and we’ll need at least two other security officers, just in case.”
“Lieutenant Eakins and Ensign Burke are the next ones on schedule,” Worf told him. “They’re both reliable, experienced officers.”
“Good; then all we’ll need is a med-tech and another technician,” Riker said, looking at the section heads. “Suggestions?”
“I suggest Ensign Freeman,” Selar said. “He has successfully served on previous away missions and does not panic easily.”
“And I’ll take Hodel,” Geordi added. “He has excellent manual skills.”
“Make it so,” Picard agreed. He trusted his officers to know their people without him micro-managing things. “Data, what’s our ETA at the Copernicus’ last known position?”
“Approximately twenty-six hours and forty minutes, assuming we will keep our current travelling velocity of warp six point five,” the android replied promptly.
“We will,” Picard said. “Blundering into disputed territory with maximum warp would only draw unwanted attention and raise questions we aren’t quite ready to answer yet. If Starfleet Command saw fit to wait two days before ordering us to search for the Copernicus, it cannot be that urgent.”
“Or they’ve been waiting for intel and underestimated the actual urgency of the situation,” Ensign Nagel, who’d attended to Advanced Tactical Training at the Security Academy in Annapolis, commented dryly.
“Everything is possible,” Picard allowed. “But until we learn more about the situation, it’s all guesswork. Number One,” he looked at Riker, “see to it that the members of the away team are informed, so that they can do the necessary prep work in time. Dismissed.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Twenty six hours and thirty minutes later, Lieutenant Dan Eakins and Ensign Colin Freeman were the first members of the away team who arrived at the transporter room. Aside from Chief O’Brien, that is, but that was a given fact. During delicate missions, the transporter chief always insisted to operate the controls personally. This one was no exception.
Eakins and Freeman made a handsome couple, O’Brien found; and an unusual one. Usually, one would expect the security officer to be big and beefy, but Eakins contradicted that old cliché by being of average height and quite slim, almost too thin. There was wiry strength in that thin body, however, and Eakins was known to be a crack shot, whose Academy records had lasted for almost a decade. Still, with his fine-boned face, tousled hair and elegant, long-fingered hands he made the impression of an artist rather than a member of the military force.
Freeman, on the other hand, was several inches taller and broadly built, with a full, almost pudgy face and short-cropped hair that made him look like an overgrown teenager. Anyway, the two of them seemed to complement each other very well. There had to be some truth to the old saying about opposites attracting each other.
They were also obviously and sappily in love with each other, which O’Brien, an old-fashioned romantic at heart, found very cute.
According to the rumour mill, they’d even had a romantic dinner at Ten Forward to celebrate their anniversary, which was a serious thing for two guys to do, even in a committed relationship. O’Brien briefly wondered if he should arrange something similar for Keiko. Perhaps a romantic dinner would be the right scene for a marriage proposal.
Which made him wonder whether Freeman or Eakins had actually proposed last night, and what the answer might have been.
The arrival of Ensign Hodel distracted him from his hypothetical family planning. A gifted engineer in his mid-thirties, Hodel - which was the Anglicized version of his actual name - was the son of a Hindu mother and a Daliwakan father: a good head taller than O’Brien; slender, dark-skinned and almost devastatingly handsome, with wavy, ink-black hair that he wore just a bit longer than regulations would strictly allow. Fortunately for him, Geordi LaForge didn’t care about such minor transgressions as long as people did their jobs well.
Hodel also had a row of delicate ridges down the centre of his forehead, and pronounced skin above the eyebrows, but a lot less prominent than by full-blooded Daliwakans, which only enhanced his good looks. Small wonder that he already had two spouses back on his home planet, and - according to Daliwakan custom - he was entitled to have three more.
He was also a good friend of Eakins, whom he now greeted with an affectionate pat on the shoulders, ignoring Freeman’s slightly jealous glare.
“Hey Dan, we’ve missed you at the Parrises Squares match yesterday,” he said accusingly. “We had to ask Hennessey to stand in as the fourth player, and were beaten into the ground by Hildebrandt’s team. It’s not nice to abandon your team-mates at such a vital match. We might have lost any chances to become ship’s companions with this loss.”
“Sorry,” Eakins replied, not sounding sorry at all, “but it doesn’t happen every week that we’d have the day off at the same time.”
“Oh, c’mon!” Hodel laughed. “You’ve been together for how long? Two years? Three?”
“Since the Academy, almost,” Eakins corrected. “We’ve been assigned to the Horatio together, right after graduating.”
“It was out fourth anniversary,” Freeman added with a tight smile. “We had some serious celebrating to do.”
“I’ve heard about it,” Hodel grinned. “Holodeck reservation, romantic dinner… you've walked the whole nine miles, haven’t you? My, but you guys are seriously besotted.”
“And you’re a busybody who cannot keep his nose out of other people’s lives,” Eakins retorted but without real heat. One couldn’t blame Hodel for being nosy like a mongoose. It was a Daliwakan thing - those guys simply didn’t know the meaning of privacy. “So, you’re coming with us on this trip?”
“Oh yeah!” Hodel beamed at them. He had been recently assigned to the Enterprise and this was his first away mission with his new crew, so he was understandably excited. “I can’t wait to be on our way. I’ve never been aboard an Oberth-class vessel before. Hell, I’ve never even seen one, except in holosimulations.”
“They are interesting little vessels,” O’Brien said, putting the image of the external sensors on the viewscreen behind his console. “A bit crammed perhaps, but very functional. I’ve served on one right after graduating… it was quite a challenge, but I loved it.”
The other three watched the image on the screen with interest. The Oberth-class ship was definitely of a strange structure, with two separate hulls connected by the nacelle pylons. Many of the standard features found on other Starfleet vessels weren't present. The nacelles seemingly lacked the normal Bussard collectors and blue warp field grill. The navigation deflector array was apparently missing, too. There might have been impulse engines, but they weren't obvious. One had to wonder how the ship managed to travel through space to begin with.
“That’s… unusual,” Hodel commented softly; as an engineer, he must have found the ship even stranger than the other two. O’Brien nodded.
“Yep; a fairly old design. This ship class came into service in the early 23rd century and has been refitted and modernized several times since then. It’s said that all Oberth-class ships will be retired as soon as the new Nova-class can replace them as planetary science vessels.”
“Can you tell me anything about the inner structure?” Hodel asked.
“Sure,” O’Brien said. “It’s a very simple layout, actually. The upper section contains the living quarters, bridge and science labs. The bottom section contains the warp core and engineering. There's a turbolift shaft that runs through the pylons or the crew has the choice to beam to each section. The ship itself only requires a small crew to operate it.”
“How many crewmembers are we talking about?” Freeman asked, mentally checking the contents of his emergency medkit.
“Oberth-class vessels generally have a crew of eighty,” O’Brien told him.
“Eighty people on such a small ship?” Hodel stared at the viewscreen, completely baffled. “How do they fit in, and that with the required equipment, too?”
O’Brien shrugged. “As I said, it is a little crammed. By a length of a hundred and fifty metres, there are only two decks within the saucer section, the upper one mostly occupied by the bridge itself. But we’ve managed just fine. One learns to live at close quarters if one has to.”
They were interrupted by the arrival of the rest of the away team, lead by Commander Riker. Worf and Ensigns Nagel and Burke were armed with Type II phaser rifles, one of which Nagel handed to Eakins wordlessly but with a disapproving frown. The others were given Type II personal phasers. Additionally, Geordi, Nagel and Eakins had standard tricorders and Burke carried a small hand-held sensor, just in case.
Captain Picard had chosen to see of the Away team personally, with Doctor Selar and Data accompanying him. The doctor was looking as emotionless as only a very concerned Vulcan could be, and Data was, well, himself.
“Do you wish you could come with us, Doc?” Riker grinned at Selar.
“Wishing for things that cannot be accomplished is irrelevant and not logical,” the Vulcan replied coldly. “While I would indeed prefer to examine the situation directly, my current assignment as the acting chief medical officer of the Enterprise does not allow me to leave the ship, unless a medical emergency makes my presence absolutely necessary.”
“Let’s hope that will not happen,” Picard said soberly. “You can monitor the away team’s progress from the bridge, Doctor.”
“I intend to do so, Captain,” Selar assured him. “We cannot rule out the possibility of an epidemic outbreak aboard the Copernicus, in which case I shall need to have a medical evacuation team ready to beam over.”
“Good,” Picard turned to O’Brien. “Chief, find our away team a safe place to land aboard that ship.”
“Aye, Captain,” O’Brien took a minute to scan the other ship thoroughly; then he frowned. “Strange…”
“What?” Riker asked.
“”I can’t find any lifesigns,” O’Brien replied, “but the sensors are picking up a repulsor field, located at the centre of the Copernicus’ cargo bay.”
“A repulsor field?” Data repeated. “Interesting. It would mean…”
“… that the crew of the Copernicus is trying to isolate something,” Picard finished for him grimly.
Data nodded. “Correct, sir. The question is: what are they trying to isolate and why?”
“And why aren’t there any lifesigns?” Riker added in concern.
“Actually, there are,” O’Brien corrected his precious statement, while running another scan on the other ship. “Just not human ones. In fact, I can’t exactly determine what kind of lifesigns they are. They’re weak and diffuse, but the computer’s unable to recognize them.”
“Not Ferengi, though?” Picard asked.
O’Brien shook his head. “Not unless they’re using a scattering field strong enough to fool the Enterprise’s short-range sensors, which is virtually impossible. No know race has a technology that would be highly enough developed for that.”
“None that we’d know of,” Geordi corrected. “But basically, you’re right. We won’t learn anything conclusive, unless we beam over and take a closer look, I’m afraid.”
“Agreed,” Picard said. “The sooner we do it, the sooner we can leave this place. You1ve got permission to disembark, Number One; just be very careful.”
“Of course, Captain,” Riker promised; then he looked at the members of the away team. “Get ready, people! We’re going over.”
The others took their places on the transporter platform, excited and nervous at the same time - with the notable exception of Worf, who simply looked sour as always.
“Energize,” Riker said.
O’Brien touched the controls and the seven people turned into sparkling columns of energy and vanished.
“Transfer complete,” O’Brien reported to Picard. “They’ve rematerialized aboard the Copernicus without problems.”
The captain nodded. “Thank you, Chief. Keep a constant lock of them, just in case they might need an emergency beam-out. Doctor, Commander,” he turned to Selar and Data,” return to the bridge with me. I need you to run an in-depth search about the Copernicus, her crew, her previous missions… and about that Starfleet observer they’ve got with them on board. Something is very wrong over there, and I’d like to know what it is before my people walk into a deadly trap.”
“Aye, sir,” the two officers replied in unison and followed him out of the transporter room.
Left to his own devices, Miles Edward O’Brien turned his attention back to his console, starting a clever little subroutine he’d created with the help of LaForge that would keep a constant transporter lock on the people aboard the other ship. Just like Captain Picard, he had a very bad feeling about the whole mission, and he was not taking any chances when it came to the survival of his crewmates.
Chapter 02 - Lethal Encounters
Author: Soledad
Fandom: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Author's notes:
For disclaimer and background information go to the secondary index page.
Daliwakans are an alien race. Their only representative, a Human/Daliwakan half-bred was the gigolo in Tom Paris’ Sandrine’s holoprogram. Ensign Hodel is “played” by Sendhil Ramamurthy, just for the exotic touch. Ensign Nagel’s only appearance was in the 2nd season TNG episode “Peak Performance”.
Rating: General for this part, suitable for all.
Summary: In which the Enterprise is sent to a mysterious mission, and Captain Picard is not amused.
CHAPTER 01 - STARSHIP DOWN
Stardate: 43076.7
Captain Jean-Luc Picard recording
The Enterprise has been ordered by Admiral Nakamura to go to the aid of the USS Copernicus, a scientific research vessel, which has set out a distress signal and is now adrift with no further communication coming from its captain and crew. Our mission is to find out what had caused the break of communication and to help the Copernicus with whatever repairs might be necessary.
Admiral Nakamura emphasized in his message that Starfleet Command is concerned because the Copernicus was last located in a disputed area of space between the Federation and the Ferengi Alliance. As there is no exact data about what, exactly, counts as Ferengi territory, Federations ships - especially Starfleet vessels - usually avoid this particular area. It has no systems with habitable planets, so it’s of little interest for us, unless for mining purposes.
Why the Copernicus was heading in this direction, the admiral couldn’t - or wouldn’t - tell me. I hope, however, that either my CMO or my Science Officer will be able to provide me with some basic data about the Copernicus’ original mission, so that we won’t be stumbling into a potentially dangerous situation with our eyes closed. Picard out.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Finished with his official log, the captain of the Enterprise rose from behind his desk and fetched the half-empty bottle of calvados from his cupboard. As a rule, he didn’t drink while on duty, but sometimes the secrecy of Starfleet Headquarters frustrated him beyond endurance. As the commanding officer of Starfleet’s flagship, he expected to be given all the details he might need to get the job done.
Unfortunately, some of the more conservative members of Starfleet Command were still suffering from the delusion that the officers serving in the front line - the same ones that actually kept the Federation safe - didn’t need to be bothered with unnecessary knowledge. Admiral Nakamura, a great admirer of his people’s samurai tradition (or how he interpreted it anyway) was one of those less than practical oriented people.
Well, it couldn’t be helped. Luckily for Picard, he had an android as his Science Officer; an intelligent machine that could converse with computers on their own language and was therefore damn hard to catch when hacking any secret databases. He’d find out everything they needed to know - and then some.
Reassured that they’d be able to do the job, despite the outdated mentality of certain superior officers, Jean-Luc Picard allowed himself a very small glass of calvados, removed the evidence from sight, and signalled his senior staff to come to the daily briefing.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The senior officers of the Enterprise were still not full in numbers. Doctor Katherine Pulaski, who had served as the chief medical officer of the ship during the recent year, had transferred back to the USS Repulse, her old ship, and Doctor Beverly Crusher had not yet returned from Starfleet Medical, where she had served as the aide of the Surgeon General for a year. Therefore the medical section was currently represented by Doctor Selar, a calm, no-nonsense Vulcan, young for her own people, yet one with good contacts within Starfleet Medical and a great deal of experience. She’d already served twenty-three years on various Starfleet vessels, the last two of them aboard the Enterprise.
Aside from the section heads, who were regularly present at the daily meetings, this time Transporter Chief O’Brien had been asked to join, together with Tactical Officer Nagel, and, of course, Counselor Troi, as always. Commander Riker, now sporting a neatly trimmed, full beard, was sitting next to Troi, consulting the crew evaluation reports that were done by the end of the month; the two of them usually worked on those together. Recently-promoted Chief Engineer Geordi LaForge still seemed a little uncertain about his new position but tried to hide it, while Lieutenant Worf, their chief of security, stared sourly at the tabletop in front of him, as usual.
Picard greeted his officers, who had not yet heard about their new assignment, took his established place at the head of the conference table and cut to the core of the problem as was his wont.
“We have received new orders from Starfleet Command,” he told them without preamble. “The USS Copernicus has sent out a distress signal two days ago. Since then, communication couldn’t be re-established, so we’ve been ordered to rendezvous with the Copernicus, figure out what’s wrong and provide any help that may be needed.”
“Where was the Copernicus operating at the moment of sending out the distress call?” Riker asked.
“Accessing,” Commander Data answered in Picard’s stead. His yellow eyes became unfocused, as always when he was communicating directly with the main computer. “According to the last official report, they were travelling in the Haseeth sector.”
“The Haseeth sector?” Worf repeated with a frown. “Isn’t that Ferengi territory?”
“Not exactly,” Picard corrected. “In fact, it’s disputed territory between the Federation and the Ferengi Alliance.”
“What is the Copernicus doing there, then?” Troi asked. “Border patrol duty?”
Picard shook his head. “No; the Copernicus is a science vessel, assigned to mapping uncharted territory and geological survey, preparing for future mining activity.”
“Could they have been attacked by the Ferengi?” Riker guessed.
Tactical Officer Nagel shook her head, long blonde hair whipping across her shoulder.
“That’s unlikely,” she replied. “The Copernicus is an Oberth-class ship; those are only used as science vessels by Starfleet and the non-Starfleet agencies. She wouldn’t be a match even for a small, outdated Ferengi freighter, not to mention a Marauder-class ship. The Ferengi would have destroyed her with a single shot, before she could have sent that distress signal.”
“Can we be certain that the Copernicus has not, in fact, been destroyed?” Worf asked.
“Long-range scanners of Selani Base within range of the Haseeth sector confirm that the ship is still there, adrift. It just won’t reply to any calls,” Picard replied.
“Why hasn’t Selani Base sent out a patrol ship to check on them, then?” Riker asked in surprise.
“That was exactly the question I have asked Admiral Nakamura,” Picard said dryly, “but he refused to give any explanation. All he answered was that I’ll understand everything as soon as we’ve reached the Copernicus and consulted a certain Commander Yarell who’s supposed to be on board as a Starfleet observer.”
“Commander Jenna Yarnell?” Dr. Selar raised an elegant Vulcan eyebrow. “Curious. Has he not served at Starfleet Intelligence until recently?”
“You know the commander?” Picard asked, his suspicions that there must have been more behind the Copernicus’ mission than a simple cartography assignment, going up a notch.
“I know her reputation,” Selar replied. “She graduated in the same year I did, as a science officer, specialising in biotechnology and genetics, and was promptly drafted by Starfleet Intelligence, researching Romulan biological weapons, especially the poisonous and exploding plants on the Eden planet, visited by Captain Kirk’s Enterprise, back in 2269. Last time I heard about her she was still working there.”
“If she was assigned to the Copernicus as an observer, and the Copernicus was sent on a seemingly harmless cartography mission in disputed space, that can only mean one thing,” Picard said thoughtfully. “Starfleet Intelligence suspects the Ferengi to have developed some kind of biological weapon and wanted to find out more about it - should it truly exist.”
Selar nodded. “That is a logical assumption, Captain.”
Troi, however, shook her head. “I find it unlikely that the Ferengi would release a weapon of mass destruction. They’re businessmen, first and foremost, not warriors. They have a saying that states: A dead customer can’t buy as much as a live one. Killing off masses of potential customers would be against their general attitude and business politics.”
“Yeah, but they’re also known to say: Fear makes a good business partner,” Riker argued. “I don’t believe they’d commit genocide, either; not unless they’re cornered and have absolutely no other chance. But they might have developed such a weapon as a tool to blackmail potential partners - or enemies - to do their asking.”
“Or the whole thing is a bluff,” Ensign Nagel commented.
“Whatever,” Worf muttered darkly. “Ferengi have no honour.”
“We might see it that way; however, as they like to say: Morality is always defined by those in power,” Troi countered. “Besides, they wouldn’t be the first party to build a doomsday weapon, just to frighten their adversaries, without the true intention to use it… or the last one.”
“True; but historic evidence shows us that even weapons never meant to be used get to be used sometimes, causing terrible destruction,” Picard said. “It’s enough if there is one delusional person in the right position. We cannot leave the possible existence of such a weapon out of consideration.”
“On the other hand, it’s also possible that the Copernicus is simply having some kind of medical emergency, or a system failure,” Geordi LaForge pointed out reasonably.
Picard nodded. “Also true. Which is why we need to assemble the away team with all these possibilities in our mind,” he looked at Riker. “I’ll leave it to you, Number One.”
Riker weighed the possibilities in his mind for a moment.
“I’ll take Geordi for the system analysis,” he then said. “Also for possible repairs and in case we might need his special vision. Worf would want to come with us, I assume,” the Klingon nodded grimly, “and we’ll need at least two other security officers, just in case.”
“Lieutenant Eakins and Ensign Burke are the next ones on schedule,” Worf told him. “They’re both reliable, experienced officers.”
“Good; then all we’ll need is a med-tech and another technician,” Riker said, looking at the section heads. “Suggestions?”
“I suggest Ensign Freeman,” Selar said. “He has successfully served on previous away missions and does not panic easily.”
“And I’ll take Hodel,” Geordi added. “He has excellent manual skills.”
“Make it so,” Picard agreed. He trusted his officers to know their people without him micro-managing things. “Data, what’s our ETA at the Copernicus’ last known position?”
“Approximately twenty-six hours and forty minutes, assuming we will keep our current travelling velocity of warp six point five,” the android replied promptly.
“We will,” Picard said. “Blundering into disputed territory with maximum warp would only draw unwanted attention and raise questions we aren’t quite ready to answer yet. If Starfleet Command saw fit to wait two days before ordering us to search for the Copernicus, it cannot be that urgent.”
“Or they’ve been waiting for intel and underestimated the actual urgency of the situation,” Ensign Nagel, who’d attended to Advanced Tactical Training at the Security Academy in Annapolis, commented dryly.
“Everything is possible,” Picard allowed. “But until we learn more about the situation, it’s all guesswork. Number One,” he looked at Riker, “see to it that the members of the away team are informed, so that they can do the necessary prep work in time. Dismissed.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Twenty six hours and thirty minutes later, Lieutenant Dan Eakins and Ensign Colin Freeman were the first members of the away team who arrived at the transporter room. Aside from Chief O’Brien, that is, but that was a given fact. During delicate missions, the transporter chief always insisted to operate the controls personally. This one was no exception.
Eakins and Freeman made a handsome couple, O’Brien found; and an unusual one. Usually, one would expect the security officer to be big and beefy, but Eakins contradicted that old cliché by being of average height and quite slim, almost too thin. There was wiry strength in that thin body, however, and Eakins was known to be a crack shot, whose Academy records had lasted for almost a decade. Still, with his fine-boned face, tousled hair and elegant, long-fingered hands he made the impression of an artist rather than a member of the military force.
Freeman, on the other hand, was several inches taller and broadly built, with a full, almost pudgy face and short-cropped hair that made him look like an overgrown teenager. Anyway, the two of them seemed to complement each other very well. There had to be some truth to the old saying about opposites attracting each other.
They were also obviously and sappily in love with each other, which O’Brien, an old-fashioned romantic at heart, found very cute.
According to the rumour mill, they’d even had a romantic dinner at Ten Forward to celebrate their anniversary, which was a serious thing for two guys to do, even in a committed relationship. O’Brien briefly wondered if he should arrange something similar for Keiko. Perhaps a romantic dinner would be the right scene for a marriage proposal.
Which made him wonder whether Freeman or Eakins had actually proposed last night, and what the answer might have been.
The arrival of Ensign Hodel distracted him from his hypothetical family planning. A gifted engineer in his mid-thirties, Hodel - which was the Anglicized version of his actual name - was the son of a Hindu mother and a Daliwakan father: a good head taller than O’Brien; slender, dark-skinned and almost devastatingly handsome, with wavy, ink-black hair that he wore just a bit longer than regulations would strictly allow. Fortunately for him, Geordi LaForge didn’t care about such minor transgressions as long as people did their jobs well.
Hodel also had a row of delicate ridges down the centre of his forehead, and pronounced skin above the eyebrows, but a lot less prominent than by full-blooded Daliwakans, which only enhanced his good looks. Small wonder that he already had two spouses back on his home planet, and - according to Daliwakan custom - he was entitled to have three more.
He was also a good friend of Eakins, whom he now greeted with an affectionate pat on the shoulders, ignoring Freeman’s slightly jealous glare.
“Hey Dan, we’ve missed you at the Parrises Squares match yesterday,” he said accusingly. “We had to ask Hennessey to stand in as the fourth player, and were beaten into the ground by Hildebrandt’s team. It’s not nice to abandon your team-mates at such a vital match. We might have lost any chances to become ship’s companions with this loss.”
“Sorry,” Eakins replied, not sounding sorry at all, “but it doesn’t happen every week that we’d have the day off at the same time.”
“Oh, c’mon!” Hodel laughed. “You’ve been together for how long? Two years? Three?”
“Since the Academy, almost,” Eakins corrected. “We’ve been assigned to the Horatio together, right after graduating.”
“It was out fourth anniversary,” Freeman added with a tight smile. “We had some serious celebrating to do.”
“I’ve heard about it,” Hodel grinned. “Holodeck reservation, romantic dinner… you've walked the whole nine miles, haven’t you? My, but you guys are seriously besotted.”
“And you’re a busybody who cannot keep his nose out of other people’s lives,” Eakins retorted but without real heat. One couldn’t blame Hodel for being nosy like a mongoose. It was a Daliwakan thing - those guys simply didn’t know the meaning of privacy. “So, you’re coming with us on this trip?”
“Oh yeah!” Hodel beamed at them. He had been recently assigned to the Enterprise and this was his first away mission with his new crew, so he was understandably excited. “I can’t wait to be on our way. I’ve never been aboard an Oberth-class vessel before. Hell, I’ve never even seen one, except in holosimulations.”
“They are interesting little vessels,” O’Brien said, putting the image of the external sensors on the viewscreen behind his console. “A bit crammed perhaps, but very functional. I’ve served on one right after graduating… it was quite a challenge, but I loved it.”
The other three watched the image on the screen with interest. The Oberth-class ship was definitely of a strange structure, with two separate hulls connected by the nacelle pylons. Many of the standard features found on other Starfleet vessels weren't present. The nacelles seemingly lacked the normal Bussard collectors and blue warp field grill. The navigation deflector array was apparently missing, too. There might have been impulse engines, but they weren't obvious. One had to wonder how the ship managed to travel through space to begin with.
“That’s… unusual,” Hodel commented softly; as an engineer, he must have found the ship even stranger than the other two. O’Brien nodded.
“Yep; a fairly old design. This ship class came into service in the early 23rd century and has been refitted and modernized several times since then. It’s said that all Oberth-class ships will be retired as soon as the new Nova-class can replace them as planetary science vessels.”
“Can you tell me anything about the inner structure?” Hodel asked.
“Sure,” O’Brien said. “It’s a very simple layout, actually. The upper section contains the living quarters, bridge and science labs. The bottom section contains the warp core and engineering. There's a turbolift shaft that runs through the pylons or the crew has the choice to beam to each section. The ship itself only requires a small crew to operate it.”
“How many crewmembers are we talking about?” Freeman asked, mentally checking the contents of his emergency medkit.
“Oberth-class vessels generally have a crew of eighty,” O’Brien told him.
“Eighty people on such a small ship?” Hodel stared at the viewscreen, completely baffled. “How do they fit in, and that with the required equipment, too?”
O’Brien shrugged. “As I said, it is a little crammed. By a length of a hundred and fifty metres, there are only two decks within the saucer section, the upper one mostly occupied by the bridge itself. But we’ve managed just fine. One learns to live at close quarters if one has to.”
They were interrupted by the arrival of the rest of the away team, lead by Commander Riker. Worf and Ensigns Nagel and Burke were armed with Type II phaser rifles, one of which Nagel handed to Eakins wordlessly but with a disapproving frown. The others were given Type II personal phasers. Additionally, Geordi, Nagel and Eakins had standard tricorders and Burke carried a small hand-held sensor, just in case.
Captain Picard had chosen to see of the Away team personally, with Doctor Selar and Data accompanying him. The doctor was looking as emotionless as only a very concerned Vulcan could be, and Data was, well, himself.
“Do you wish you could come with us, Doc?” Riker grinned at Selar.
“Wishing for things that cannot be accomplished is irrelevant and not logical,” the Vulcan replied coldly. “While I would indeed prefer to examine the situation directly, my current assignment as the acting chief medical officer of the Enterprise does not allow me to leave the ship, unless a medical emergency makes my presence absolutely necessary.”
“Let’s hope that will not happen,” Picard said soberly. “You can monitor the away team’s progress from the bridge, Doctor.”
“I intend to do so, Captain,” Selar assured him. “We cannot rule out the possibility of an epidemic outbreak aboard the Copernicus, in which case I shall need to have a medical evacuation team ready to beam over.”
“Good,” Picard turned to O’Brien. “Chief, find our away team a safe place to land aboard that ship.”
“Aye, Captain,” O’Brien took a minute to scan the other ship thoroughly; then he frowned. “Strange…”
“What?” Riker asked.
“”I can’t find any lifesigns,” O’Brien replied, “but the sensors are picking up a repulsor field, located at the centre of the Copernicus’ cargo bay.”
“A repulsor field?” Data repeated. “Interesting. It would mean…”
“… that the crew of the Copernicus is trying to isolate something,” Picard finished for him grimly.
Data nodded. “Correct, sir. The question is: what are they trying to isolate and why?”
“And why aren’t there any lifesigns?” Riker added in concern.
“Actually, there are,” O’Brien corrected his precious statement, while running another scan on the other ship. “Just not human ones. In fact, I can’t exactly determine what kind of lifesigns they are. They’re weak and diffuse, but the computer’s unable to recognize them.”
“Not Ferengi, though?” Picard asked.
O’Brien shook his head. “Not unless they’re using a scattering field strong enough to fool the Enterprise’s short-range sensors, which is virtually impossible. No know race has a technology that would be highly enough developed for that.”
“None that we’d know of,” Geordi corrected. “But basically, you’re right. We won’t learn anything conclusive, unless we beam over and take a closer look, I’m afraid.”
“Agreed,” Picard said. “The sooner we do it, the sooner we can leave this place. You1ve got permission to disembark, Number One; just be very careful.”
“Of course, Captain,” Riker promised; then he looked at the members of the away team. “Get ready, people! We’re going over.”
The others took their places on the transporter platform, excited and nervous at the same time - with the notable exception of Worf, who simply looked sour as always.
“Energize,” Riker said.
O’Brien touched the controls and the seven people turned into sparkling columns of energy and vanished.
“Transfer complete,” O’Brien reported to Picard. “They’ve rematerialized aboard the Copernicus without problems.”
The captain nodded. “Thank you, Chief. Keep a constant lock of them, just in case they might need an emergency beam-out. Doctor, Commander,” he turned to Selar and Data,” return to the bridge with me. I need you to run an in-depth search about the Copernicus, her crew, her previous missions… and about that Starfleet observer they’ve got with them on board. Something is very wrong over there, and I’d like to know what it is before my people walk into a deadly trap.”
“Aye, sir,” the two officers replied in unison and followed him out of the transporter room.
Left to his own devices, Miles Edward O’Brien turned his attention back to his console, starting a clever little subroutine he’d created with the help of LaForge that would keep a constant transporter lock on the people aboard the other ship. Just like Captain Picard, he had a very bad feeling about the whole mission, and he was not taking any chances when it came to the survival of his crewmates.
Chapter 02 - Lethal Encounters