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Chapter 4
Stardate 37881.1
Verionius frowned at the PADD in front of him.
According to the report he had requested from the computer, Lt. Commander
Trianth had still not removed the insubordination remarks from his file.
Verionius swore, perturbed by this. Trianth had promised that once
Verionius had completed the first "special assignment" he would remove
them. Naturally Verionius had assumed that he would do so, as a good
faith effort. This only served to show Verionius that his superior
was as dishonorable as he suspected. The situation was not to Verionius'
liking. He did not like playing this role, it seemed deceitful and
made him feel no better than the men he was attempting to turn in.
Verionius reviewed his PADD. So far he had
documented several cases of Trianth's piracy. He had gathered the
names of many of the conspirators, but he knew that there were others that
he had not uncovered yet.
Verionius sighed. He needed to have all the
names together before he could turn over his information to the Captain.
Anything less would result in criminals escaping from justice. Verionius
checked his chronometer, and began encrypting the PADD. Once he was
finished, he stuffed the thin computer under his matress. That done,
he left his quarters and headed for his duties near the ship's armory.
Moments after he left the quarters, the door slid
open and Ensign Rivers entered the room. He pulled out a tricorder
and began sweeping it around the Cadet's room. He stopped near the
mattress, and focused his scan. Then he reached beneath the mattress,
and pulled out the PADD. He quickly slid another PADD under the mattress,
and hurried from the room. Rivers moved quickly, taking well travelled
path to Lt. Comdr. Derrick Trianth's door. He tapped the door chime,
and entered as the door opened.
A half hour later, Rivers left the room with several
more credits than he had when he entered. He also had new orders,
that he felt no pleasure in carrying out. Cadet R'Ashiera was to
suffer an accident before he could cause further damage to the cause.
Rivers shook his head. If only Verionius had
been different. If only he had not attempted to overthrow the cause.
Then he would have had a future. Rivers sighed. The only future
Verionius had now would be as a corpse.
Verionius sat quietly in the crew lounge, and sipped
his cup of Andorian Bark tea. Around him, other crew members milled
about, chatting, laughing. Verionius sat alone by choice. He
did not feel a connection to these people, much like when he had been in
the Academy. His only close friend had been his room mate, a vulcan
by the name of Pret'ahna. The two had gained much from one another,
and Verionius had hoped that his friend would be assigned to Gettysburg
with him. Unfortunately the vulcan had recieved assignment to a long
range science vessel. It would be a year, at least, before Verionius
would meet with his friend again.
"Verionius." Ensign Rivers approached, with
a smile on his face. "Can I join you?"
Verionius shrugged, and waved to the empty seat
across from him.
"Thanks." Rivers grinned as he sat down, and
slurped his coffee noisely as he looked around the room. "So, what
plans do you have after your shift is over?"
Verionius shrugged again. "Probably go back
to my quarters."
Rivers frowned at this. "Just go home?
Nah, that won't do it. You need some action, my friend."
Verionius glanced at the human. "Such as?"
Rivers leaned close. "I got a great holodeck
program for you to try. Totally awesome. Very, invigorating."
Verionius shook his head. "I have had enough
of holodeck programs. Thanks."
Rivers nodded. "You'll love this one.
You get to take part in a full contact hand to hand fight with three klingon
warriors."
Verionius looked at Rivers and blinked. "That
sounds very stimulating, but no thanks." He finished his tea.
"There is no honor in fighting a fake opponent, and knowing that there
is no risk to you."
Rivers grasped Verionius' arm. "That's just
it. This one removes the safety interface on the holodeck.
Reduces it to 50% of normal, without notifying anyone. You can't
get killed, but you can get all kinds of hurt."
Verionius blinked again. "Well...."
Rivers grinned wider. "Come on. I want
to see the results of an Andorian vs. three Klingons. I'm taking
part in it too."
Verionius relented. "Very well. I'll
meet you there when my shift ends." With that said, he stood and
exited the lounge without looking back. Rivers watched him leave,
then nodded to Trianth, who was standing nearby. Trianth nodded back,
and turned away again.
On the bridge Trianth noticed the light flash once,
then twice on his console. The holodeck program had automatically
terminated itself, and erased the coding to prevent anyone snooping to
see who had done it. All they would find would be a dead Andorian
cadet, and the deactivated safety protocals. Trianth smiled as he
considered how easy it had been to eliminate this threat.
The turbolift doors slid open, and Verionius entered
the bridge. Trianth felt his job drop. He quickly feigned innocence.
"Cadet."
Verionius stared at Trianth bitterly. He then
focused on Captain Blanton.
"Captain, I have some information for you."
Blanton looked at Verionius.
"This man is leading a pirate ring aboard your ship."
Verinoius pointed at Trianth. Blanton rose.
"Security, stand by." Blanton tapped his comm.
"Mr. R'Ashiera, do you have proof?"
Verionius nodded. "Plus he attempted to have
me killed."
Trianth stepped forward. "This is an outrage!
Captain, allow me to remove this insubordinate Cadet from the bridge."
Blanton shook his head, as three armed officers
stepped on the bridge. "We'll sort this out later. Take Lt.
Commander Trianth to the brig, under arrest."
Trianth started to protest, but demurred when the
guards raised their weapons. He glared at Verionius as he was led
off the bridge. "You'll pay for this."
After the guards led Trianth from the bridge, Blanton
turned to Verionius. "In my ready room."
Once inside, Verionius quickly told Blanton of all
that he had learned. Blanton made notes of all of the names that
Verionius gave him, 20 in all. Once the young Cadet had stopped speaking,
Blanton sadly shook his head.
"Thank you R'Ashiera. Now the hard part is
over." He contemplated that. "Or else it's just begun."
He tapped on the comm button. "Commander Barnes to the ready room."
A moment later, the Executive Officer walked in,
and nodded at Blanton.
"Commander, I want the following crewmen relieved
of duty, and locked in the brig." Blanton handed Barnes the PADD.
"They are guilty of treason, and of illegal weapons sales."
Barnes looked at the list. "Sir, this is incredible.
Who discovered this? And why wasn't I informed of the investigation?"
Blanton nodded toward Verionius. "Cadet R'Ashiera
is responsible for the investigation. And sorry Number One, I wanted
to keep this quiet until we found them all."
Barnes caught the hidden meaning and nodded.
"Understood sir. I better get this group off to jail." He looked
at Verionius. "Good work, Cadet."
"Thank you Commander." Verionius felt good.
He had impressed the Commanding Officer, and Executive Officer with this
job.
"Cadet, why don't you go back to your quarters.
Take some R&R for a little while." Blanton smiled at Verionius.
"You've earned it." He paused for a moment. "Excuse me, I meant
Ensign R'Ashiera."
Verionius felt pride. "Thank you sir."
He saluted smartly, and exited the room. The entire walk to his quarters
he kept hearing the words over and over. Ensign R'Ashiera.
Verionius woke up to the sound of air hissing in
his room. He slowly rolled over, and immediately felt his eyes burn.
The air was filled with gas, and was burning his skin and face. He
made his way over to the computer terminal, coughing as he covered his
face.
"Computer, purge atmosphere in these quarters and
replenish."
A few seconds later, the air began to clear, and
Verionius felt his head clear as well. He shook his head, and looked
around. On the floor near his bed was a ruptured cannister of pure
Nitric acid gas. Verionius shuddered as he realized that if he had
not woke up, the acid would have dissolved in his lungs, and eaten him
from the inside out. He tapped his comm badge.
"R'Ashiera to bridge."
There was no response. Verionius frowned as
he tapped it again. Still nothing. He grabbed his dagger and
stashed it in his waistband, as he exited his quarters. He looked
up and down the corridor, but did not notice anything amiss. He moved
swiftly to the turbolift, and stepped into the compartment.
"Bridge." He said, and took a deep breath
as the lift moved toward the command center. Suddenly the turbolift
lights went out, and the car jerked to a stop. Verionius tapped the
panel, and was rewarded with nothing. A moment later, the car moved
up again, before stopping once more. As the car jerked to a stop,
Verionius braced himself for the inevitable. Sure enough, when the
door slid open there were some men with phasers pointed at him. Ensign
Rivers stood in front, and gestured for Verionius to exit the car.
Once , he saw that none of the four men standing here were on his list,
other than Rivers. Verionius sneered at the men.
"So, some of you escaped my notice."
Rivers frowned. "Don't be so smug, Verionius.
You may have escaped our attempt in the holodeck, but this is one that
you will not escape from."
Verionius noticed where he was. The deck 2
docking airlock. The way the men stood implied to Verionius what
was going to happen.
"So, Rivers. What is it going to be?
Accidently flushed out the air lock? Or suicide?" Verionius
glared at his former friend.
"Neither." Rivers said smuggly. "It
is going to be exactly this. An assassination."
"You aren't even going to hide it?"
Rivers shook his head. "Nope. Lt. Commander
Trianth escapes, catches you, and then flushes you out the airlock."
Rivers grinned an evil grin. "Right before he gets away in a shuttle
pod."
Verionius nodded. "Well thought out.
You are going to have one heck of a good career, as a pirate." He
turned away. "So let's get this over with." Unseen by Rivers,
he slid the thin bladed dagger free, and concealed it along his arm.
Rivers nodded at one of the others. The man
ushered Verionius toward the airlock door, phaser against his back.
As they reached the door, Verionius stumbled. As the man reached
forward to grab him, Verionius swung his arm up and back, striking the
man across the head. The man dropped, and Verionius quickly rolled
off to the side. He grabbed the man's phaser as he rolled.
Rivers was yelling orders to the other two men.
"Cut him down, force him into the airlock."
Verionius considered the situation. He could
stand and fight here, and possibly be overwealmed and killed. Or
he could take this advantage to turn the tables. He opted for number
two. With a quick gesture, he stood and hurled the dagger to where
Rivers stood barking out orders. The dagger penetrated just below
the man's chin, and protruded out the back of his neck. Rivers dropped
to his knees, and his hands went up to tug at the metal blade. Red
blood spurted freely. With the other men distracted, Verionius snatched
a spacesuit, and flung himself into the inner airlock. He quickly
tugged the suit on, and began trying to fasten all of the latches.
He felt his ears pop as the pressure changed. He looked up at the
door, and saw Trianth glaring at him. The pressure decreased to zero,
and the outer door began to open. Verionius clamped his mouth shut,
and finished fastening the gloves. He snatched the helmet, as he
began to drift out the door, and just as rapidly fastened it on.
The hissing of air within the helmet felt good, and Verionius sucked at
the sweet oxygen. He kicked himself out the airlock, catching a final
glimpse of Trianth screaming his rage. Once free of the airlock,
Verionius took a survey of his surroundings. From where he was floating,
he was near the bridge. Just above him, several feet, were the upper
warp nacelles. Not too far in the distance, the deep space comm station
that Gettysburg had been repairing was floating in the inky depths.
He opted to head for the bridge, and try to communicate with Blanton.
As he floated that way, he noticed the outer airlock door lights flashing,
signalling that another party was coming out. Verionius swore, as
he realized that he was going to have to come up with another plan.
He made his choice, and kicked away from the saucer again. As he
began slowly floating toward the comm station, he vented some of his air
supply for added thrust.
A few moments, which seemed an eternity, later he
grasped onto the hull of the comm station, and stopped his flight.
He quickly scrambled over the surface of the station, searching for an
airlock door. In a moment he found one, and opened to control panel
to activate the unit. Another moment, and the outer doors slid open.
Verionius propelled himself inside, and closed the outer door. Once
the cabin pressurized, he stepped into the cramped control chamber of the
unmanned station. He made his way over to the comm panel. After
checking the external sensors, he activated the small viewscreen.
Luckily enough whoever had pursued him out of the ship had not made it
to the station yet. He started to signal the ship, when he suddenly
noticed something that made his heart leap. The ship was moving away
from the station, slowly at the moment, but accelerating. Verionius
tapped on the comm panel.
"Verionius to Gettysburg. Mayday, mayday.
I am aboard the comm station. I need assistance stat."
On the viewscreen, he saw the Gettysburg seem to
pause. Then, with a blur the ship jumped into warp and disappeared.
A few minutes passed with no response. Verionius tapped the comm
panel, and resent the message. He then activated an emergency beacon,
and waited. The station had an emergency supply of oxygen, enough
for one man to survive for 36 hours. Less time if there were more
than one aboard. Verionius checked his suits' supply. Only
6 hours remained after he had vented the tanks to thrust over to here.
He sat down, and waited.
As the hours ticked by, Verionius continued to check
his signal. So far no response had come back. Verionius knew
that there were other starships in this region, and that it would be just
a matter of time before one of them responded. As this thought crossed
his mind, the external sensors suddenly bleeped. Verionius checked
the readout, and was puzzled when it recorded nothing. It was then
that he heard the airlock door cycle open. He swore as he rushed
over to the inner door, and peered into the chamber. The outer door
was open, and a suited figure floated in. He waved at Verionius through
the window, and the comm channel opened.
*I told you that you would pay Verionius.
And now it ends.*
Trianth. Verionius grimaced at the sound of
his voice. He tapped his comm button on the suit. "I think
not. I have the inner doors locked, and the passwords re-configured.
You will not be coming in."
*No? We shall see.* He lifted his arm,
and aimed a phaser at the inner door. *At maximum setting it should
just take a few bursts to open that door.* He fired the phaser, and
Verionius stepped away from the door as the outer layer of duranium melted
away. Verionius quickly grabbed his suit helmet, and switched the
station's life support off. He snugged his helmet on, as the second
burst hit the door. The metal on the inside of the door seemed to
bend outward, as the air pressure shifted. One final burst, and the
door exploded outward. The remaining air sucked at Verionius as it
fled the station. Verionius grabbed a support and clung to it until
the worst was over. Once the air was gone, Verionius magnetized his
boots, and crept forward, his own phaser in hand. He peered out the
door, but Trianth was not there.
*Come on out, R'Ashiera. I can phaser this
station out of existance.*
"Why don't you come in?" Verionius grinned
fiercely. "Let's see who is the better shot."
*I think not.* Verionius noticed the sensor
panel go dead. *There, now that you are blind to my position, I have
the advantage again.*
Verionius glared at the panel, and tried to gather
his thoughts. Trianth could hold true to what he said, and blast
this station apart. He would be stupid enough to come through the
airlock, where Verionius could easily trap him; just as Verionius would
not be stupid enough to come out. It was a standoff, until Verionius
ran out of air anyway.
Minutes ticked by into hours. Occassionally
Trianth uttered a threat, and disintegrated new sections of the station.
Verionius watched his air supply diminish. He frowned at the display.
He had read it earlier, and it had 6 hours. Now it showed only 30
minutes, even though only two hours had passed. It was then that
Verionius noticed the small gash in the suit's air tanks. He swore
as he realized that it must have happened when he was knocked around after
the airlock door had been blown. He had to think fast.
"Commander Trianth. This is ridiculous.
Neither of us is getting any younger here. And this standoff is not
an honorable solution."
*Then come out, R'Ashiera. I shall end your
suffering.*
Verionius frowned. "Why not settle this like
men? Or are you a coward?"
*Coward? No. Nor am I stupid.
I am not walking into whatever trap you may have devised.*
The display in his helmet flashed. 15 minutes
of air. Verionius swore again
"Then I shall just have to come out." And
with that he pushed himself into the doorway, with the small unit he had
disconnected from the station in his hand. Sure enough, Trianth stood
waiting, phaser leveled at Verionius. He frowned at the box in Verionius
hands.
*What is that, R'Ashiera?*
"This? Oh, nothing much. Just a small
plasma induction unit. And if you fire that phaser at me, you risk
puncturing it."
*Are you insane? If that ruptures, this whole
station goes up!* Trianth exclaimed.
"I know. Now throw that phaser away, and let's
settle this." Verionius grinned. 5 minutes, the display flashed.
Trianth hurled the phaser away. *Fine.*
Verionius set the unit down, and kicked off the
floor, hurtling himself at Trianth. The former security chief side
stepped, and Verionius spun out the airlock and into space. As he
used the small thrusters to reorient, he noticed Trianth had a phaser in
hand again. He waved at Verionius.
*No tricks now, eh R'Ashiera?*
"You are without honor." Verionius stated,
as he realized that he had lost.
*Yes, I am. And in a second you will be without
life. Goodbye you Andorian son of a ....*
The rest of Trianth's sentence ended as a transporter
beam swept him away. Verionius then noticed a Constellation Class
ship, moving toward him. A moment later and the beam also surrounded
him. The light faded, and the transporter room formed around him.
As the warning light came on in his helmet, he unlatched it and took a
deep breath. Commander Barnes and Captain Blanton stepped forward.
"Ensign, are you okay?"
Verionius nodded. "Thank you Captain, Commander."
Barnes grinned. "Smart thinking, getting yourself
to that station and signalling us. We were chasing a red herring
that your friend Trianth set up. We realized what had happened, and
turned back. Just in time it seems."
Verionius nodded. "Indeed."
Blanton smiled at the young man. "We have
all of the conspirators in the brig, son. All except Rivers that
is. Someday you have to teach me to throw a knife like the men say
you threw it."
"If we are ever stationed together, after this cruise,
I would like that."
Blanton grinned. "I think that we'll have
plenty of time, son. I already put a request in to Starfleet.
If you want a post on Gettysburg, it's yours."
Verionius looked at the Captain, then at the First
Officer. He nodded.
"I would like that very much sir. I just hope
that my entire service here is not like the first cruise I took."
Blanton laughed as he put his arm around Verionius'
shoulder and moved him out of the transporter room. "Come on son,
these are the best kinds of missions. Real seat of the pants type
stuff."
The door shut behind the two, and Barnes stared
after them for a moment.
(No doubt about it. That young man has quite
a career ahead of him.) Barnes grinned as he started out the door.
(Who knows? Maybe someday Verionius will be Captain in his own right.)
The transporter door shut behind him, and another
day ended on the Gettysburg, while the career of Verionius R'Ashiera had
just begun.
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