Rescue

Posted on Sun Jun 24, 2018 @ 7:56pm by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson

3,070 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Divide et Impera ~ Chapter 2: Heralding the Chase
Location: USS Castelnaudary

The first thump was so quiet it was almost impossible to hear. The second thump sounded like a knock on the ceiling.

The third thump left a dent in the wall. The door to the cell rattled, then went still.

Finally, the door opened and a figure stepped in, black commando gear further silhouetted by the light in the corridor. The figure stepped into the room and tilted its head, looking Hunter over. Then, it brought its hand up and tapped its helmet. "I found him," a distinctly feminine voice said, then tilted its head down to look at him. "Commander Hunter, I presume?" she said.

His sullen silence didn't help but she shrugged and with another tap, followed by a click, the helmet came off, revealing a deep green face and forest green hair. "Lieutenant Commander Etara, USS Castelnaudary," the woman said. "We're here to get you."

Hunter stared back at the figure as it entered the room. It was in black commando gear so it was impossible to tell if the wearer was male or female. That is until it spoke and he herd a feminine voice which was quickly followed as the helmet came off and he found himself staring at a green face with forest green hair.

He only had one question for his rescuer: "How did you know where to find me?"

"Lieutenant Sanders gave us the heads-up. While the Victory is off chasing diamonds to find you, we decided to track ships near the station and chased a few down," Lieutenant Etara said.

*Thank you Cassandra!* Alec silently thought as he returned his attention to Lt. Commander Etara. "Well, I hope it wasn't too much trouble for you to rescue me and I do appreciate the rescue. " He finished gratefully.

"We'll beam you directly to our Sickbay," Lieutenant Etara said. "The Captain will meet us there."

"Oh no! No Sickbay for me thank you very much. I'm perfectly fine." Alec protested. "I need to get back to the Victory and you need to let Rhea er Captain Kennit that you found me."

She let out a long sigh. "Doctor Anderson warned us you'd be like this," she said. She darted forward and grabbed Hunter by the arm, while her free hand hit her wrist. The familiar tingle and whine of a Federation transporter beam filled the room and a moment later they were in a cramped Defiant-class Sickbay, two officers in blue standing nearby.

Meesa let go of Hunter's arm and looked up. "Etara to bridge: I have him safely in Sickbay."

"Good work, Meesa," another female voice said, "I'll be there momentarily."

Meesa snapped off a small salute and looked at the blonde female standing nearby. "He's all yours, Doctor," she said, then nodded to Hunter. "Commander," and turned and left.

The doctor came over and gently put a hand on Hunter's shoulder. "Commander," she said, "if you will lie down, I'd like to make sure you're all right." Her voice was soft, but firm, but her cobalt-blue eyes were sympathetic.

Alec glared at the departing Etara before turning to the doctor. He sighed, "Doctor, I appreciate your concern. I truly do but I am fine. Why doesn't anyone believe me? I just want to get to my ship." He looked around, "Defiant-class, right?" He said by way of making small talk and hopefully postponing the doctor from her crusade to examine him. Maybe just maybe when the Castelnaudary's Captain arrived he could convince her he was alright.

"That's correct." A new voice said as the doors to Sickbay opened. A slim brunette with silver eyes walked in, her hair tied back in a ponytail with a small hairclip. She smiled and held out her hand. "It's good to see you again, Commander," Captain Edwards said. "I'm sorry we keep meeting under such dismal circumstances."

"Captain Edwards." Alec said warmly to the Castelnaudary captain. "It's good to see you again, very good. Please don't apologize. I'm grateful for the rescue." Alec replied as he took her hand, clasping it within his and giving a firm but not overly so handshake.

Tiffany looked at the doctor and smiled. "Given that Doctor Jones has been scanning you since I walked in the room, I'd say she's about done." She glanced at the doctor. "Do you have what you need, Amber?" As Doctor Jones nodded, Tiffany stepped aside and gestured to the door. "Shall we talk in my ready room?"

Alec glanced at the doctor, "Now that's just sneaky and here I was beginning to like you. Have you been taking lessons from our CMO?" Alec asked with an undercurrent of humor as he glanced at Edwards, "Sounds like a good idea Captain, please lead the way."

Tiffany gave a small chuckle as they walked out and immediately into a waiting turbolift. "Your CMO learned most of her tricks from Doctor Jones," she said, then looked to the ceiling. "Bridge."

Alec looked back at Jones, eyeing her with new respect. "Really? Now I'll really have to watch her." Alec replied semi-seriously.

A moment later they stepped out on the bridge and walked towards the Captain's ready room. "Have we got a lead on where the other ship went, Jasmine?"

"Negative," the woman at the helm said. "But I'm sssscanning for itsss ion trail, and a ssssignal hassss been intercsssepted." The hiss in her voice extended, and the snakes on her Medusa-like head writhed, sharing her frustration.

"Maintain blackout and follow at maximum warp," Tiffany said, turning towards her ready room and holding the door open for Hunter.

Alec tried not to stare at the snakes on woman's head and followed Edwards into her ready room. As the door hissed closed, he finally spoke, "Were those snakes on your Chief Flight Control officer's head?"

"Yes," Tiffany said, matter of factly. "Her species is, well, unpronounceable, but is collectively grouped with a number of others known as The Furies." She gestured towards the only other chair in the room and walked over to her replicator, tapping in an order. A moment later a bowl of steaming stew and a tall drink appeared. She carried it over and set it down on her desk in front of him. "I'm going on the assumption you could use a good meal. And I'm sure Doctor Jones will be telling me the same thing shortly."

She smiled at sat down, activating her computer. "I want to start, Commander, by apologizing for your being dragged into this."

Alec grinned at her thoughtfulness, "I appreciate it." As he reached for the glass. He shook his head, confusion in his voice, "Apologize? As far as I can tell, you have nothing to apologize for. You rescued me and by the way, thank you again for saving my hide."

Captain Edwards sighed and sat back. "For the past several months we've been tracking an individual who is the head of one of the most dangerous criminal organizations we have ever come across. His followers are fierce, deadly, and seem to be willing to follow him to the Gates of Hell. He's placed operatives on several Starfleet ships. We're concerned he's put one on yours."

Alec stopped. The glass halfway to his mouth. He placed the glass back on the desk. "An operative aboard the Victory? Seems we've had our fair share of people being onboard who don't belong lately." He looked at her, "So what is being done? Have you notified Captain Kennit and told her of this possible operative?"

"No," Tiffany said. "To be frank, we aren't sure if she can be trusted, and we have no way of knowing if the wrong person will intercept it. Plus, as of now, they appear to be running silent. We're having a hard time figuring out where they are. We were hoping you could provide some insight."

Alec set his glass back on the desk and looked into the silver eyes of Captain Edwards. "Did I hear you correctly? You aren't sure if you can trust Captain Rhea Kennit? She's the most trustworthy person I know. I trust her or does that make you wonder about my trust worthiness?" Alec finished. His voice while still level and taken on a frosty air. After a moment of silence he continued, "Knowing the Captain, she's running silent as you deduced. Using her shields to mask her engine emissions. As to where she's going we were running down a smuggler of diamonds which led us to a space station. I'm sure Rhea used her powers of persuasion to find out where the diamonds are headed and is following that lead. I'd like to think she thinks it will lead to me but that sounds arrogant."

Tiffany nodded and sat back in her chair. "The most trustworthy person you know," she said, half to herself. "All right," she said, meeting his hardened gaze. "I'll take that into account. Unfortunately, the most trustworthy person you know is the Federation's second-best assassin, and is most likely being manipulated by someone trained by the only agent better than her."

She opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out a padd, handing it to him, a biographical file displayed on it. "His name is Darren Blackhawk. He's a master manipulator and strategist, and an expert at what is called the 'long con'. We believe he's ultimately the reason you were grabbed, and he's the one who's sent your ship hurtling along its course, and he's the person with an agent on your ship."

Alec took the offered PaDD and read it, looking at Edwards as he finished. "Captain I find it hard to believe that Rhea is being manipulated by anyone especially this Darren Blackhawk and he's better than her but be that as it may if he's got an agent on the Victory he knows what Rhea is doing." He grew silent for a moment before voicing his thoughts. "So, your saying I'm bait for Rhea for what purpose? Revenge? Payback? Have you got ideas on what plans has he got for Rhea?"

"I don't think you're bait, so much as an obstacle that was pulled out of the way," Tiffany said. She watched his face. "How many have died 'mysteriously' so far?" she said, with a knowing look.

He met her gaze, his brow furrowing as he remembered the unexplained deaths aboard the Victory. "You wouldn't be asking that if you didn't already know. Your saying his agent is responsible for these deaths?"

"Most likely. We lost three crewmen on our previous ship thanks to one of his agents," Tiffany said. "When we transferred to this ship, he almost blew up the entire thing."

He shook his head, trying to wrap his head all he was hearing. "My next question is, what can I do to assist you in stopping this Blackhawk?" He paused and asked another question, "An obstacle pulled out of the way..." he repeated, "Forgive me Captain but why not just kill me? Get me out of the way permanently? it does sound like this Blackwood leaves anything to chance. Have you checked me over to make sure I don't have a bomb inside me or I'm somehow going to explode when I get back to the Victory."

"That was the first thing you were scanned for when we transported you, and what Doctor Jones was scanning for," Tiffany said. "If she'd found any physical anomalies, viral agents, et cetera, you would be put in isolation until we could figure it out." She chewed her lip for a moment though. "You make a good point, however. Why keep you alive? Perhaps you are bait. Or leverage. He doesn't leave things to chance, but he doesn't waste opportunities either. My guess is you were alive for insurance, in case something in his plan went awry. Our rescuing you has removed that safety net, however. He'll step up his timetable."

She sighed and looked at Hunter. "We don't know where the Victory is going, so fill me in. Tell me where it's been and perhaps we'll find something overlooked. What led you to this point?"

Alec leaned back in his chair as Captain Edwards made her request. Then leaned forward and began telling his story, "We came across a smuggler, one captain Hunter, no relation I assure you and took him and his ship into custody. We inspected his ship and found he had a large cache of diamonds hidden aboard. When we attempted to turn him over to the starbase authorities, we were told specifically by the Admiral in command to let him go. Needless to say, the Captain smelled something fishy and we followed the good Captain Hunter to a space station to find out why he was smuggling the diamonds. We boarded the station in two teams. The Captain's was to find out about the diamonds mine was to trail Captain Hunter. I did to a warehouse where I was jumped and kidnapped until you came to my rescue. I can only guess that Captain Kennit found out about the diamonds and is following them to see where they lead and hoping it gives her a clue to my whereabouts." He sighed "At least Id like to think that but I could be mistaken."

Tiffany drummed her fingers on her desk. "What Admiral?" she said. "Which starbase?"

Alec eyed her, a slight smile coming to his face, "Ask and you shall receive. It was station DQ-8 a relay station I believe is how it's classified and the man in charge was one Admiral Rufus Tanner." He leaned forward "Does that mean anything?" Hoping that Rhea and the Victory hadn't been set up and were on their way into a trap.

Tiffany's brow furrowed. "Admiral Tanner? Why would he be involved? He's a transition administrator. He's only at that station another three days then he's moving on to facilitate re-opening one of the bases ruined in the Borg attack."

Alec shook his head, "Captain, I can't answer why he was involved. I only know he was involved and he was adament that we release the smuggler Captain Hunter and his ship the Caroline. " His stomach was in knots as he asked his next question, "Do you have reason to suspect that Tanner is involved in all this?"

"Quite the opposite," Tiffany said. "He has a clean record, which is rather impressive. In fact, he--" she blinked. "He let Captain Hunter go?"

Alec nodded, "That's right Captain. Ordered us to release his ship. Said that DQ-8 was just a relay station and didn't have the proper facilities to hold Captain Hunter, so he released him."

"That's against policy. Captain Hunter should have been given a debriefing first and the starbase would have had to send someone out to clear out the rest of his illicit cargo before releasing him."

Alec shook, his head in disagreement, "Against policy it may well be but I'm telling you that Admiral Tanner did exactly that without so much as a slap on the wrist."

"Commander," Captain Edwards said, "Admiral Tanner has built his career around policy. That's why he's at that Starbase: to establish new protocols until the permanent station commander arrives. For him to not follow protocol is...well, unthinkable."

She drummed her fingers again on her desk, then stopped. "Oh no....what if he's not the accomplice? What if he's the target?"

Alec eyed Edwards, "A target? How so?" He asked curiosity creeping into his voice.

"If Hunter and this Orion were part of the same plot as the agent on your ship, then that message might have been faked. Which means the Captain was chasing Captain Hunter by design. And so was your abduction, and so is wherever the breadcrumbs are leading her now. But the only reason to plant that kind of seed about the Admiral is if it's going to eventually come back around. If this is to wind her up and get her angry by kidnapping you and leading her along, then the Admiral is in danger."

She stood up quickly and came around her desk, rushing back onto the bridge. "Jas, fire it up. Get us to DQ-8, best possible speed."

"Aye, Captain," Jasmine hissed from her seat, her hands working her console deftly. The ship tilted on its axis, swung around and leaped into warp, the deckplates vibrating with the change in speed.

Alec had followed Tiffany back onto the bridge and as she finished giving her orders he moved closer so he could speak to her without being overheard. "Without sounding conceited, I think I can say with assurance that my kidnapping is definitely going to wind Rhea up and get her angry. Hell, she's probably punching holes in the walls of her Ready Room, not to mention what demands she's making on the crew to solve this mystery. If she thinks or is led to believe Tanner is behind this, he's a marked man and this Blackhawk gets rid of two problems with one blow."

"Exactly why I want us there in case she shows up," Tiffany said, sitting down in her chair. "Please, avail yourself of my ready room, and have something to eat. I get the feeling we're going to need everyone at their best shortly."

Alec shook his head at Edwards suggestion. "With all due respect Captain, my place is here on the bridge especially if you do encounter Rhea and the Victory. Your going to need someone to talk her down and no offense someone she trusts. Now,I can sit quietly, out of the way at an unmanned console until such time as I'm needed, if any, unless your ordering me to your Ready Room."

Tiffany gave him a long look, then nodded her head in deference to his wish. "Science station," she said, pointing to a console on the fore-right side of the bridge.

Alec gave a grateful nod to Tiffany. He knew she didn't have to allow him on the bridge after all it was her ship and he was a guest for the lack of a better word, He moved to the station she had indicated and sat down. Now there was nothing to do but wait and pray that they intercepted the Victory in time to prevent a disaster.

 

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