Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
"Sir," Methuselah turned from his console.
"I have monitored a transmission from Admiral Hunter to all Starfleet vessels
in the region. It is.....odd, for lack of a better word."
"Odd in what way, Mr. Methuselah?"
"The message states that the Farseeker has been
destroyed by an unknown phenomenon with all hands lost."
Verionius blinked. "What?"
"I said..."
"I heard you Lieutenant, I'm just trying to figure
out where he got his information," Verionius tapped his comm badge.
"Bridge to Engineering."
*Go ahead.*
"Mr. Nathaniels, is there anyway that a message
could have been sent from this ship, either intentionally or automated,
that would inform Starfleet of our status?"
*Well there's no way an automated signal could be
sent without us intializing it, and telling the computer what information
to send. I haven't automated the system to do that either.
As for anyone intentionally sending it, they would have had to do it within
the last hour in order for Starfleet to know anything.*
"Why do you say the last hour specifically?"
*Well, I've had the internal comm system up and
I thought we had the whole system active. It wasn't until an hour
ago that we actually had the capability to send a signal all the way back
to Starfleet. We would have been lucky to get resolution out of this
system.*
"Thank you, Mr. Nathaniels. Bridge out,"
Verionius turned to DeLanthri. "Check all logs of any outgoing communications
or signals from the time of our disaster to present."
"Aye sir," DeLanthri nodded as he leaned over
his console.
"R'Ashiera to Walker."
*Yes sir.*
"Have any of the teams out there sent any information
updates or communications back to Starfleet, or to anyone else?"
*No sir. In fact, I restricted all comm signals
to tight-beam only, with my authorization to prevent signal leakage.
I don't want any unexpected guests showing up after all. Is there
a problem?*
"I'll tell you about when you return. Keep
me updated, R'Ashiera out." Verionius puzzled the situation over
in his mind for a few moments. Something really felt wrong with the
whole thing.
"Mr. DeLanthri, you have the bridge. I'll
be in my ready room," He started toward the door. "Let me know
when you have that log checked."
"Aye sir." DeLanthri nodded as he continued
his work.
On the runabout Nautilus, Walker had a bad feeling
in her gut from Verionius' last transmission. She continued to puzzle
over it while absently punching buttons on her console.
"Commander Walker?" Holbrock broke her train
of thought.
"Yes," She sat up and turned to the man.
"Are you okay?" He stared at her intently.
Walker almost felt the brushing of thought against her mind.
"Don't even go in there," She growled to the
Ops Chief. "You may not make it back out."
"I was just..."
"Concentrate on your panel, not on my mind,"
She still glared at him. "I would hate to tell Commander R'Ashiera
that his Chief Ops Manager met with an accident."
"I...understand sir," Holbrock whirled back
to his controls so fast, Walker caught a breeze. She smiled as she
turned back to her controls just as her console began beeping.
"Hello there," She muttered as she focussed
on the screen. "What have we here?"
Holbrock stood over her a moment later. "Xentronium
particles? I don't understand the significance."
Walker chuckled. "Brush up on your science
manuals, particularly stellar science," She hit a few more buttons.
"Xentronium is common in stars that are nearing a nuclear breakdown, in
their final stages. To collect them you have to send a probe within
the stars thermosphere and collect them within a few weeks of the star's
explosion."
"Okay, sure, but why take that risk..and how is
it relevant here?"
"The particles can't be artificially created.
And neither of the stars in this region were nearing that point.
Both of the binary stars were fairly young," Walker explained.
"So these particles did not originate from here. Aha, found it."
Walker was almost beaming.
"Faint traces of dueterium and tritanium,"
Holbrock read over her shoulder. "So that probe was a torpedo?"
"Possibly so," Walker's tone become more subdued
as she read the screen. "Or a horrifying bomb."
"But why make a bomb loaded with xentronium particles?
Surely there's easier ways to blast a ship than that," Holbrock frowned.
Walker's face went pale. "Not if you are trying
to make it look like a natural disaster."
"You mean someone set this off to make it look like
we were destroyed by the stars?"
"Check the console," Walker explained as she
moved to the comm panel. "Both stars are showing signs of rapid aging,
in fact I would guess that within 36 hours or so both stars will implode."
"What?" Holbrock leaned over the console.
"Walker to shuttle teams. Remain in place
and scan both the status of the stars, and for approaching vessels.
The Nautilus is returning to the Farseeker for now."
Both shuttles confirmed the order.
"Walker to Farseeker, we have the information that
Verionius requested and are returning to the ship."
*Commander Walker, this is Commander DeLanthri.
I shall notify the Captain at once. You are cleared to land in the
main shuttlebay.*
"Acknowledged."
Chapter Eight
It was only a few hours later, just after Nathaniels let them know that the sensors were back online and that they could go to warp 3 and lower that the wait ended.
"Sir, incoming message for you from Admiral Hunter,"
DeLanthri said with a look of curiousity.
"In my ready room," Verionius dashed off the
bridge, and keyed in his code when he entered the ready room.
*Commander R'Ashiera, what do you have to report?*
Verionius studied Hunter's face closely and noticed that the man seemed
slightly puzzled. Puzzled that something happened, or puzzled
that we are still alive? Verionius mused.
"Admiral, we were barely out of Federation space
when we were attacked by 4 Galor class ships. The leader, one
Gul Vendat demanded that we surrender Lt. Commander Walker to them,
and they would let us go. At present they
are blocking our safe entry to Federation space," Verionius deliberately
withheld the information about the bomb. Let him try to dig for
that info himself.
Hunter chewed on that for a moment. *Cardassians are interfering
in your mission. I was afraid that might happen. We'll send
assistance your way. Give me your co-ordinates, so I can get rescue
craft enroute.*
Something about the way Hunter asked for the Farseeker's
position ate at Verionius for a moment. And confirmed his fears all
in the same moment.
"There is one more thing, Admiral. We recently intercepted a
message from Command stating that we had been destroyed with all hands
lost. I found that rather disconcerting."
Hunter glared at Verionius. *Obviously you are not dead.
I shall notify Starfleet Command, and ask them to track down whoever sent
that message in error.*
"Sir, the message appeared to originate from you."
*Commander R'Ashiera, we can sort all of this out
once we get you back to Federation space. Now, are you going to give
me those co-ordinates?*
Verionius nodded. "Aye Admiral. Entering
co-ordinates now."
Hunter looked at his screen. *I'll have some
ships there within 4 hours. Stay put.*
The screen blanked and Verionius considered his
thoughts. After a moment he decided, and returned to the bridge.
"Mr. Ramses, move us out of here, and place us where
we can not be detected. Mr. DeLanthri, I want you to launch a
class 7 probe, and leave it here with a continuos non-detectable link,"
He sat down in the command chair. "I have a feeling that we will
get our final puzzle piece dropped in place within the next few hours."
Ramses began looking for a hiding place while DeLanthri
set about to launching the probe. Walker gave Verionius a questioning
look, but the Andorian just smiled and waited.
"Sir, if we are springing a trap," DeLanthri
had a confident grin. "Which I am sure we are...why not fit the probe
with a hologram emitter. We could program an image of the ship, and
create enough sensor bubbles to trick whoever you are waiting for into
thinking it is really us."
"Can you do all of that fairly quickly?" Verionius
turned to him.
"If Mr. Holbrock will let me borrow Lt. Methuselah,"
DeLanthri explained. "According to his records, he should be quite
adept at this."
"Carry on, Mr. DeLanthri," Verionius nodded.
For the first time in hours he was feeling like he was in control once
again.
Chapter Nine
Two and half hours later, DeLanthri noticed the objects
on his long range sensors. He quickly adjusted the scan to a
passive one.
"Commander, we have 3 ships
approaching. They are not yet within range." DeLanthri reported
crisply.
"Reduce all power to minimal
levels. Boost the sensor radius." Verionius sat down in his
command chair and stared at the viewscreen with anticipation. "Mr.
Holbrock, let's take a look at the rescue ships."
Holbrock touched several
buttons, and the viewscreen changed to show the exterior view of the Farseeker.
A few minutes later, 3 pinopints of light were seen to be growing in size.
Everyone on the bridge held their breath, with exception of Walker; who
kept mumbling to herself, and DeLanthri; who hoped that he could fire the
first salvo.
"Sir, the ships are Cardassian Warships. They
are firing on the hologram."
"Quickly, detonate the probe." Verionius fairly
leaped from his chair.
DeLanthri touched buttons. "Probe detonated.
Hologram deactivated."
The bridge crew watched as the Cardassian ships
circled for a few moments before turning and warping out, apparently satisfied.
Verionius nodded slowly. "It was a trap.
And now I know what Hunter is," He stood and looked around at his
bridge crew. "I want a department head meeting in ten minutes in
the briefing room." He turned and exited the bridge.
Ten minutes later the senior officers had gathered
in the briefing room, waiting for Verionius to answer the many questions
circulating in their minds.
Verionius looked at all of those assembled here.
To his right was Walker, Andor, Ramses, and Holbrock.
To his left was DeLanthri, Alton, Bavor, and Nathaniels.
He nodded at those present, and began to speak.
"I have been investigating as much as I can about
Admiral Hunter, ever since our initial encounter with Gul Vendat.
Everything in his file shows him to be an extraordinary man. He has
moved through the ranks rapidly, and has personally been responsible for
many technological breakthroughs."
Verionius stood and walked slowly around the table.
"This of course shows us that Admiral Hunter has been a major player in
Starfleet. Very difficult for him to be a phony. Lt. Andor?"
Brakkis cleared his throat. "Sir, Admiral
Hunter's personal files indicate the he is a warm and compassionate man,
but also very driven to achieve his goals. If you are asking my opinion,
then I would say that the Admiral is behaving within those parameters,
with the exception of his apparent hatred of Lt. Commander Walker."
Bavor spoke. "Sir, it should be noted the
Admiral Hunter was missing for two weeks after a failed expedition in this
region. He was examined thoroughly when he was found. Medical
records indicate that he is the same man as when he left. No chance
for him to be a changeling, or a surgically altered Cardassian."
Alton spoke. "Then what the heck are we saying
here? That it is within his perogative to send us out here, then
let the Cardassian's know that we are here, and send them to blow us sky
high?" Alton shook her head. "I don't buy it! Either
the guy's a phony or in their pocket somehow, or we're looking the wrong
way."
Verionius smiled. "Relax, Alton. I don't
think everything in his file is consistant with what we've seen.
I suspect that Hunter is being controlled by the Cardassians in some way.
So now we have two objectives. 1) Find where they are developing
this bomb, and destroy the lab; 2) Get back to the Federation and expose
Hunter."
Walker leaned forward. "Let me be the one
to get Hunter, please?"
The group laughed. Verionius again smiled.
"We will all 'get Hunter'. First of all though, we need more info
on that bomb, and we need to find the base where it is being developed."
"We may have a lead on that," Ramses said.
"Before this meeting, I was tracing the path of the ships that destroyed
our probe. They lead back toward a large asteriod field that's half
a lightday away from here. And it just happens that the probe came
from that same direction."
"Well then...let's set a course for the asteroid
field," Verionius grinned. "It's time we called on the Cardassians."
Part 4 Coming soon!