Note:
Star Traks: Next Frontier
“Lost Marbles, Part II”
By Cory Parker
LAST TIME, ON STAR TRAKS: NEXT FRONTIER…
The crew of the USS Haymaker ends their peacekeeping mission in Sector 66-F, and is reassigned to Starbase 54 to participate in “Project Bottle Rocket”, becoming the first Federation ship with a slipstream device. On the way to the starbase, Dr. Clinton and Lt. Benn begin a romantic relationship. After a successful test of the slipstream drive, the Haymaker is assigned to rendezvous with the USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant, in the hopes of escorting them home. However, the drive malfunctions and the crew finds themselves in the Gamma Quadrant, sitting in the middle of Dominion space. During an attack by pirates, Chief Engineer Monty is stolen and with him the information needed to repair the drive. The Haymaker is saved from the pirates by the Jem’Hadar, only to become captured by the Dominion themselves…
AND NOW, THE CONCLUSION…
“Captain’s Log, Stardate 54011.7. Happy 2377, everyone. In four hours, I’m scheduled to meet with one of the Founders on a Jem’Hadar battlestation. Lt. Comm. Gabriel will be at my side for security, and Mennol will be present as well. However, having those two in the same room together is the least of my worries. Our presence here is a clear violation of the treaty that we signed to end the Dominion war, and Starfleet, hell, the entire Alpha Quadrant isn’t ready for another huge war. I have to convince our wonderful hosts that we ended up here by accident. Speaking of which, the engineering crew has been working non-stop to try and figure out how to fix the slipstream drive. They say that they’re making progress, which is the first piece of good news I’ve heard since we’ve got here.”
“We’re not making any progress, are we?” Lt. Abbott shook his head ‘no’ and rubbed his forehead. “Great,” sighed Ensign Beth Anderson as she ordered her seventh cup of coffee of the morning.
“I can’t
believe that you can drink that much coffee and not start shaking,” stated
Crewman Mike Jacobs, looking up from a paper of slipstream theories.
“Call it a gift. Any luck?” she asked, pointing at Jacob’s PADD.
“No. Dr. Nick Lorenz may be an engineering genius, but he can’t write a scientific paper worth a damn.” Abbott stood up from the engineering conference table where all of his staff were seated and looked at the slipstream drive.
“Well, I can’t lie to the captain much longer. We need some sort of FTL propulsion, and we need it soon. He’s meeting with one of the Founders in less than four hours, and he’ll probably want to do something stupid afterward, like make a run for it or some other dumb idea like that.” Abbott sighed and leaned on the railing surrounding the drive. “I really wish Monty was here.”
“I really wish I was back home right now,” said Monty as he watched the pirates who had captured him try to decipher the encryption that had slid into place over the majority of the data they had stolen from the Haymaker. Bits and pieces of Federation technology were strewn all over the cargo bay as the pirates worked. “You guys are just wasting your time,” he yelled from the two meter by two meter area where he was confined.
“Quiet, you, before I reduce you to a handful of sub-routines,” threatened one of the larger pirates. Monty just laughed and folded his arms.
“I’d like
to see you try. You can’t even decode
the rest of the information you stole.
You could be trying to break into
Halloway groaned softly as he surveyed the room. The senior staff, with the exception of Monty, was seated in the main conference room on the USS Haymaker. No one was all that happy. Halvox had that look of death in her eye, and Halloway was glad that Gabriel was seated next to her. The captain suspected that the half-Hellian was going through her ‘Hon’Du’, but was afraid to ask. Benn kept scratching the spots on her neck, a nervous habit she had developed as a child. Doctor Clinton sat next to her, continually glancing from the Trill to the rest of the senior staff. Across from the good doctor sat LaCroix, applying lipstick for what seemed like the hundredth time. Mennol sat beside her, probably scanning the minds of the rest of the people. Farthest away from Halloway sat Bannon, not paying attention at all. ‘No surprise there…’ thought Halloway as he prepared to speak. “I would have Lt. Abbott here to give a report on the slipstream drive, but it seems that he has his hands full. Besides, there isn’t anything new to report, anyway. Kerry, what’s the status of Ops?” Halvox shot a look at Halloway that, if glances were phasers, would have struck him dead.
“Both Tactical and Ops are at eighty percent and rising,” reported Gabriel, speaking before Halvox lost that temper of hers. “We’ve figured out exactly what the pirates stole. Most of it is easily replaceable, with the obvious exception of the chief.”
“We are still sitting at half-impulse,” interrupted Benn. “With all the engineering staff concentrated on the slipstream drive, the impulse engines are being overlooked. With your permission, Captain, I’d like to take some of the personnel with engineering experience and repair the drive.”
“How long will it take?”
“If we push it, we can have full impulse by the time we get to the Dominion space station. Maybe,” she added, scratching her spots.
“Good
idea. Gabriel, I also want our shields
and weapons at full when we get there.
If it comes down to it, I want us to be able to at least fight, even if
we can’t run. It’s nice that Vera’s
ship has extended their shields around us, but I’d feel better if we had ours
back up.” The security chief
nodded. “
“There were a few bumps and bruises, and one broken arm, but other than that, the crew’s in good health. I was planning on assisting Jenna, er, Lt. Benn with the repairs on the impulse drive. I have some engineering experience, and I’m not doing anything sitting in Sickbay.” Halloway smiled at the new couple.
“Permission granted, Doctor. LaCroix, anything to report?”
“Not right now. I am worried about that upcoming meeting with the Founder, though. Mennol and I would like to discuss some things with you after the meeting.”
“Fair enough. Bannon?”
“Huh?” asked the science officer, blinking in confusion.
“Anything to report?”
“Well, with us leaving Sector 66-F, I’d like to send a detailed map of the area to Starfleet Command, Science Division.”
“Bannon, we left Sector 66-F weeks ago.”
“We did? Where are we now?”
“The Gamma Quadrant.” Panic filled the eyes of the young ensign, who leapt to his feet.
“Oh
no! If the Dominion catches us here,
we’re finished! The ship, Starfleet,
the entire Alpha Quadrant will be pulled into another…ohhhhh…” sighed Bannon as
“He really
needs to relax,” muttered
“Scott,
could you hand me that laser torch to your left?” asked Benn, the bottom half
of her body jutting out of a Jefferies tube.
“Here,” he said as he placed it on the Trill’s waiting hand.
“Thanks,” she responded as she activated the torch. Finishing her welding, the conn officer wiggled out from the cramped tube and greeted the doctor with a smile. Her hair was disheveled, and there was dirt on her face. To Scott, she looked as beautiful as ever. “I’m starved. Could you hand me one of those rations from the kit?”
“Oh, well, I figured that we could…um, have a real meal.”
“We don’t have time to leave,
darling,” cooed Benn as she placed her hand on
“No need. I brought lunch to us,” said Scott as he produced a small picnic basket. Jenna’s face lit up, and she grabbed Scott and kissed him passionately, catching him rather off-guard. As he backed up into a bulkhead, he responded in kind, and the two slid to the floor. Jenna smiled and began to undo his uniform.
“Lunch can wait.”
“I agree wholeheartedly.”
The door to Halloway’s ready room chimed, rousing the captain from a much-needed nap. “Come in,” he muttered as he quickly rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
“Catch you at a bad time, Bobby?” inquired Rachel as she entered the ready room, followed by Mennol and Gabriel. Before he could answer, Mennol nodded in reply.
“He was dreaming about that princess back in Sector 66-F. Quite vividly, as I recall. Shame we had to wake him, Commander.” Halloway glanced at Gabriel, who promptly brought his large right claw and slapped Mennol on the back of the head. Mennol winced in pain and glared at the large tactical officer. Now smiling, Halloway’s gaze fell on LaCroix.
“What’s going on, Commander?”
“Benn and Clinton finished repairing the impulse engines, and Gabriel has gotten weapons back up as well.”
“What about Halvox?” LaCroix coughed nervously and nodded at Gabriel.
“Kerry’s taking some time off for the moment,” answered Gabriel. “While in torpedo control, she broke Lt. Martin’s nose after he made an off-hand remark.”
“Which was what, exactly?” asked Mennol, still rubbing his head from Gabriel’s blow.
“I believe he said something to the effect of ‘It must be her time of the month again,’ if I recall correctly.” Halloway shook his head. Standing, he smoothed out the wrinkles in his uniform and gazed out the window.
“I reviewed the treaty that the Federation signed with the Dominion earlier, and the way I read it, we have clearly violated their space by arriving unannounced. They could have blown us from the water, and legally, there would be nothing the Federation or Starfleet could have done about it.”
“Then why keep us alive, then?” asked Mennol. “If Admiral Fallow had been in a similar scenario, he would have blown this ship up.” The three officers stared at the Betazoid, who just shrugged. “Just trying to put things in perspective.”
“Thanks,” uttered LaCroix sarcastically.
“To answer Mennol’s question, the Dominion needs us alive for one reason: to gain information on our slipstream drive. They know that we possess a means of propulsion that can bring ships undetected into the very heart of their territory. They want the technology so that if they ever decide to attack the Alpha Quadrant again, they can take the non-stop flight straight to Earth.” Halloway rubbed his head, the vestiges of a headache coming on.
“The longer we stay here, the more likely that they’ll be able to make enough scans of the drive to construct one of their own,” stated Gabriel, sounding none too happy at the thought.
“But we can’t fix the drive until we get Monty back.”
“Exactly, Rachel. That’s why I’ve had Bannon working on locating the pirates via their warp signatures. Since we haven’t been moving ourselves, he was able to modify the main deflector dish to disguise our long-range scans.” Halloway turned his computer monitor around and revealed a map of the area, with three red lines, representing the pirate’s travel route, cross the screen and stopping in a nebula. “They’ve stopped here, about 7 light-years away. However, there’s no telling how long they’ll stay there.”
“How are we getting there?” asked Mennol as he examined the map. “Last time I checked, we were missing a warp drive.”
“Oh, Bannon has a few thoughts about that, too,” sighed the captain, heading for the bridge, with the other three in tow.
“Really?” asked Mennol, sounding very surprised. “Sounds like a changeling has already infiltrated the ship.”
“What makes you say that?” asked LaCroix as she checked her reflection on the nearby engineering station.
“More that one intelligent thought per day? Does that sound like Bannon to you?”
4 HOURS LATER…
“The bitch…er, the Vorta’s hailing us, Captain,” reported Halvox. The senior staff was all present on the bridge.
“On screen.” The wide smile of the Vorta threatened to blind the crew. Halloway had a fleeting thought of what she might look like naked, then shook it out of his head.
“Captain Halloway, we’ll be dropping out of warp in seconds.”
“Oh, fantastic. Can’t wait,” responded Halloway sarcastically. Vera didn’t get it. She continued to smile, her dark hair falling around her shoulders, creating a frame around her cleavage, which her dress seemed made to flaunt.
“Neither can…” Suddenly, Vera’s head turned to the side, then back again, her smile gone. “Er, one moment, Captain.” She then disappeared, her face replaced by the stars slowing as the vessels dropped out of warp.
“What the hell was that all about?” asked LaCroix.
“I think I know,” stated Gabriel. “The station has been destroyed.”
“What!?!” asked Halloway. Looking to the screen, a large debris field greeted his eyes. The battlestation had been reduced to spacedust.
“Scanning for survivors,” stated Bannon. Halvox rolled her eyes and snorted.
“Why bother? If there is anybody out there, there’s not much of them left,” she stated angrily. Suddenly, a dead Jem’Hadar struck the viewscreen right in front of Benn, causing the lieutenant to jump back in her seat. The body stayed plastered in place for a moment, then streaked off and floated away.
“See?” said Halvox as she waved at the screen, an evil smile plastered on her face. Halloway placed a comforting hand on the shoulder of Lt. Benn, who was still shook up by the Jem’Hadar.
“Does that count as road kill?” asked Benn to no one in particular. Halloway smiled, then once again became all business. He motioned for Halvox to reopen the channel. Vera, who appeared shocked and lost, replaced the debris field. Halloway smiled inwardly and observed, “I guess we’re not going to meet the Founders, after all.”
“Captain…we are at a loss at what has happened here.”
“Our scans show recent weapons fire,” reported Gabriel. “The energy signatures appear to be those of the pirate ships we encountered earlier, though to a much larger scale.” A small frown crossed Vera’s face.
“Thank you, Gabriel,” she said with a nod. “Captain, it appears that we have a mutual enemy. Perhaps we can help each other?” All eyes were on Halloway. He sighed and uttered a small chuckle.
“Oh, why not?”
PIRATE VESSEL
“Why not?” yelled the irate pirate captain, his annoyance with the strange hologram growing with every moment.
“Because I don’t like you,” yelled back Monty as he crossed his arms, a frown across his face. “You really shouldn’t take what belongs to others.” The pirate captain’s face was a brighter shade of crimson than it normally was, his yellow eyes glowing.
“If you don’t tell us how to access the information we stole from your ship, you’ll spend the rest of your existence scrubbing down plasma tubes!” Monty’s held his head high in defiance.
“Do your worst, sir. I’ll never talk.” And with that, Monty sat down and crossed his arms. The captain cursed under his breath, then nodded to one of his crewmembers. Suddenly, Monty began to blink in and out of existence. He stood and looked at the captain, deep worry on his face. “What are you doing?”
“Decoupling and reformatting your program, once we break through the encryption protecting it. Which should only take about an hour or so. It was nice knowing you. I look forward to integrating your sub-routines into our waste reclamation system.” The captain then started to walk away. Monty looked down at his slowly dissolving hands and took a step forward.
“You wouldn’t!” The captain turned and smiled.
“Tell me how to break into the information, and we’ll leave you alone.” Monty bit his lip and raised his left arm, staring at the bare framework of what used to be his hand. Sighing, he nodded.
“Fine. Stop what you’re doing and I’ll do it.” The captain smiled and gave the signal to stop. Monty’s fluxuations ceased, and the engineer sighed a breath of relief. Glaring at the smirking pirate captain, Monty set his jaw and took in a breath. “I’ll need some time to bypass the security codes.”
USS HAYMAKER
“How many safety routines did you have to bypass in order to rig this up?” asked a concerned Halloway. He stood in Main Engineering, staring up at the disabled slipstream drive that was surrounded by five smaller warp cores that were taken from the Haymaker’s contingent of shuttles. The cores were connected by a rat’s nest of wires and cables running into one another and every which way.
“I had to take them all offline, sir,” confessed Lt. Abbott as Bannon stared intently at an engineering panel. “Ensign Bannon and I went over the plan, and in theory, the daisy-chained shuttle warp cores should be sufficient for Warp 4, maybe even Warp 5.”
“Unless the timing is off between the cores, which in that case we’ll have five simultaneous warp core breeches,” commented Bannon casually as he reviewed the matter-antimatter injection sequencers. Halloway rubbed his forehead and looked with worry at the warp drives.
“Okay, important safety tip. Thanks, Bannon.”
“No problem,” responded the science officer, totally oblivious to the sarcasm. Abbott stepped forward and gestured at the warp drives.
“I know it seems like a crazy idea, Captain, but Bannon’s theories are sound. It should work.”
“Has the Dominion ship detected the instillation of our new warp drive…drives?” corrected Halloway. Abbott checked a nearby console.
“I don’t think so. I’ve masked Main Engineering with loads of electromagnetic interference. Keeps prying eyes off the slipstream, as well as allowing us a bit of a surprise once we power the warp drives up.”
“Good. Let’s just hope this works.” Halloway’s comm badge chirped. “Halloway here.”
“Captain,” came LaCroix’s voice. “That Vorta woman wishes to speak with you. We’re almost to the pirate’s fleet.”
“I’ll be up in a moment, Halloway out.”
Back on the bridge, Halloway stared at the pirate fleet out on the viewscreen, which shared space with the ever-grinning face of Vera. “As you can see Captain, there are substantially more ships than either of us anticipated.”
“That’s for sure.” Onscreen, there were twelve smaller ships like the ones that had attacked the Haymaker, along with four larger ships, all of which were in orbit around a small gray planetoid. Halloway looked at the fleet, then back at Vera. “What’s the word on more Jem’Hadar vessels joining us?”
“Unfortunately, the closest Jem’Hadar fleet is twelve hours away. The rest of the fleet was apparently destroyed along with the battlestation.”
“Which means those four large ships must pack quite a wallop,” said Halvox. “From here I’m reading several large disrupter cannons, a multitude of photon launchers, heavy shielding, and cloaking devices. Their only weakness seems to be that they are incredibly slow.”
“Well, since we are obviously outnumbered and outgunned, Captain Halloway, I suggest we tail them until reinforcements arrive,” smiled Vera.
“Need I remind you Vera that I have a crewmember trapped aboard one of those ships?” asked Halloway, pointing at the pirate fleet. “With your help, we can rescue my crewman, and then lead the pirates towards the Jem’Hadar fleet, where they can ambush the pirates. How’s that for a plan?”
“How are you going to sneak in to their fleet and scan all sixteen of their vessels to determine which one your crewman is on without being discovered? Last time I checked, your vessel didn’t have a cloaking device,” responded Vera. Halloway didn’t have an answer.
PIRATE VESSEL
“Why is this taking so long?” yelled the pirate captain, once again irate as Monty whistled while he worked on decrypting the stolen files from the Haymaker.
“It’s taking so long because my program is integrated with the files you stole. If I trip a security measure, my program will deactivate and I’ll have to start all over.” Monty pushed a few buttons then frowned. “I might not even be able to do it.” The captain slammed his fist against the wall, then pointed at Monty.
“You’re just wasting time.” Monty turned and threw up his hands.
“Fine, you try and do it.” The captain stared at the hologram, then pounded the wall again. Monty sighed and threw his hands up in the air. “If you want this to go faster, stop hitting the bulkhead and download my program into your computer system so I can operate independently of the rest of the files.” The pirate captain stared at the hologram for a moment, then turned away.
“Fine, just hurry up.” Monty nodded, then turned to the computer screen.
“Computer, transfer holographic program EEH-1 to the local system.” Monty flickered for a moment, then stabilized. “Okay, now I can really get to work.” As the pirate captain walked away, Monty turned to the screen, pretending to work. “Computer,” he asked in a low voice, “begin transfer of command codes to program EEH-1.”
USS HAYMAKER
As Halloway and Vera continued to debate the next course of action, LaCroix yawned and her eyes scanned lazily down to a nearby control panel where a message was flashing. She stopped yawning and leaned in for a closer look.
“HEY HAYMAKER, IT’S MONTY,” read the message. LaCroix blinked for a moment in confusion, then began to type.
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?” she typed casually.
“I’M SENDING YOU THE COORDINATES FOR THE SHIP I’M ON.” Vera stopped arguing for a moment to look at LaCroix.
“What are you doing?” the Vorta asked, a tinge of suspicion hanging on her voice.
“Reading my horoscope.” Halloway looked back at LaCroix, then pinched his nose and looked back at Vera.
“It figures.” As the two resumed arguing, coordinates and a schematic of the pirate vessel flashed on LaCroix’s screen. Flipping her hair back, LaCroix subtly transferred the data to Benn and Halvox’s stations. The two women turned and stared at LaCroix.
“OH, AND BY THE WAY, DON’T BLOW ME UP,” wrote Monty.
“Blow you up?” asked LaCroix out loud. Both Halloway and Vera turned to look at the first officer with confusion.
“Blow who up?” they both asked in unison.
“Them,” pointed Bannon as a lone pirate ship broke off from the rest of the fleet and headed towards the Haymaker. Vera quickly disappeared and the entire screen was filled with the Jem’Hadar ship attacking the small vessel. Bannon then turned back to his science station, once again oblivious to the universe.
“It appears that Vera is attacking the pirate vessel that was just pirated by Monty,” observed Benn with no hint of sarcasm. Halloway rolled his eyes and drummed his armrest.
“Halvox, open a channel to the pirate vessel.” Halvox nodded and gestured at the screen. “Captain Halloway to Monty. Can you read me, Chief?”
“Well, well, well, look who decided to finally rescue me?” came the voice of the hologram over the comm. The connection was filled with static and explosions could be heard in the background. “Any help with the Jem’Hadar would be appreciated.”
“How did you gain control of the ship, Monty?” asked LaCroix.
“The idiots let me download myself into their computer. I rewrote the command codes and knocked the pirates out with gas in the…oh sh*t!” The comm ceased suddenly with a loud explosion. On the viewscreen, the bridge crew watched in horror as a large explosion rocked the pirate vessel as the Jem’Hadar’s weapons pounded into it. Halloway stood and walked towards the screen.
“Permission to fire on the Jem’Hadar, Captain?” asked Gabriel. All eyes were on Halloway. If the Haymaker fired on Vera’s ship, then the peace treaty wouldn’t be worth the PADD it was written on. Trespassing was one thing, but attacking…well, in that case, let’s just say Starfleet wouldn’t mind if the Haymaker never came back. Another large explosion on the pirate vessel brought Halloway back to the present. He ran over to Bannon’s station, where the ensign was enthralled by the computer activity on his monitor.
“Bannon, can we beam the computer core of that vessel onto ours?” Bannon didn’t respond. Halloway slapped him, prompting the science officer to take his eyes off the complex computer code that was scrolling down his screen.
“Yes, Captain?”
“Can we beam the computer core over here?”
“The computer core from where?” Halloway slapped his forehead, then turned to see the pirate vessel erupt into a large ball of flame. The captain’s jaw dropped. Gabriel sighed and looked down. LaCroix placed a hand over her mouth in shock. Benn shed a tear, which gently glided down the pilot’s face. The Haymaker had just lost one of their own, a friend they had only begun to know, and a Starfleet officer who had just given the ultimate sacrifice. Halloway slowly returned to his seat, watching the debris of the pirate ship float through space as the Jem’Hadar vessel turned around towards the Haymaker. For a moment, the bridge was completely silent.
“Well, great, now we’ll never get back!” complained Halvox, throwing her hands up in the air. Halloway turned and glared at Halvox, who merely shrugged and said, “Well, we won’t!” Halloway’s comm badge chirped.
“Abbott to Halloway. Did the ship that Monty was on just explode?”
“Yes it did.” There was a pause.
“Sh*t.”
“Yep. Any chance you can fix the slipstream by yourself?”
“Nope.” Halloway’s head dropped in his hand.
“Sh*t.”
“I hate to break up this pity party,” broke in Halvox, “but we’re going to have company in a minute.” Halloway looked back up at the screen, where the whole of the pirate fleet was heading their way. “Vera’s calling again.” The Vorta blinked onto the viewscreen.
“Captain, it appears that we are about to become outnumbered. You stay put, I’ll go get the rest of the Dominion fleet.”
“Wait a minute, you just can’t leave us here!” objected Halloway. Vera’s smile became sadder, but still present.
“Unfortunately, Captain Halloway, we can’t tow your ship and escape the pirates. It was nice meeting you. Good luck.” With that, Vera’s face disappeared, and the bridge crew watched the Jem’Hadar ship leap into warp.
“What a b*tch!” yelled LaCroix. Suddenly, the ship rocked as the first few ships of the pirate fleet descended on the Haymaker.
“Halloway to Abbott. Looks like we’ll be needing warp now.”
“Okay, but don’t get pissed at me if this doesn’t work. It was Bannon’s idea,” warned Abbott over the comm.
“Warning noted. Lt. Benn, follow our former friends,” ordered Halloway.
“Aye, sir.” With that, the Haymaker began to speed away from the advancing pirate fleet. “Preparing to go to warp,” reported Benn. “I think.”
Down in Engineering, Lt. Abbott gritted his teeth as he watched the five warp cores as they begun to come to life. “Is this going to work?” asked a very worried Ensign Anderson. Crewman Jacobs stepped beside her and grinned slightly.
“If not, want
to go out in style?” Jacobs’ hand rested
on hers.
“Halloway to Abbott. Anytime, Lieutenant,” growled the captain over the comm.. Abbott checked the status of the cores, then crossed himself.
“Hitting warp one now, Captain,” answered Abbott as he placed one hand over his eyes and activated the engines. The cores began humming faster, at first at different rates, then one of the cables connecting Core Three and Core Four exploded, sending a shower of sparks at Crewman Jacobs. Suddenly, all five of the cores hummed in unison, and the Haymaker shot into warp.
Back on the bridge, Halloway uttered silent thanks as he watched the stars streak by on the viewscreen. “Well, so far so good. Benn, can we go faster?”
“Uh, sure,” responded Benn, sounding not too sure. “Increasing to warp factor three.” As she entered in the request for more power, Halloway swore that he could hear the warp drives down in Engineering humming rather erratically. Then he realized that Abbott was calling his name over the comm.
“Captain! We’ve got a problem down here.”
“Abbott, in case you haven’t noticed, we’re having some problems up here as well…who’s screaming?” Male screaming could be heard in the background, with an alarmed female voice shouting something.
“Oh, that’s Crewman Jacobs. One of the power converters exploded and his hair caught on fire. Beth’s running after him, trying to put it out.” Suddenly, the ship shook violently. Halloway shot a worried glance at Benn.
“Please don’t tell me that’s the warp drives.”
“Actually,” reported Gabriel, “two of the faster pirate vessels have caught up with us. They’ve opened fire.”
“By all means, fire back. Benn, increase to warp four.”
“Uh, Captain,” interjected Abbott’s voice, “that problem I mentioned a second ago?”
“What, Jacobs’ hair?”
“No, something bigger. The warp cores are beginning to lose synchronicity. If we don’t drop out of warp soon, one of the engines will fail, or worse, explode.”
“How much time?”
“Probably in three minutes.” A large explosion was heard in the background. “Make that two minutes.” The comm channel closed rather abruptly. Halloway turned and looked over at LaCroix. Her worried expression mirrored his own, which wasn’t a good sign.
“Options, Commander?”
“Hope that the entire pirate fleet’s warp drives will fail before ours?”
“Oh, you’re a lot of help.”
Back down in Engineering, Lt. Abbott shielded his eyes as another connection cable broke loose from Core One and snaked around on the floor as Jacobs took care to avoid the new shower of sparks. The crewman was covered in water, his hair half-burnt off. Ensign Anderson dropped the replicated bucket on the deck and headed over to Abbott. The humming of the cores was becoming more and more random, the pitches varying by each second.
“This isn’t
good, is it?” asked
“Need some help?”
“Well, I wish I could say it was a pleasure serving with you, but I can’t,” muttered Halvox as another barrage slammed into the Haymaker. Gabriel raised an eyebrow and uttered a small ‘ahem’. Halvox looked over at him, then gave a rare sad smile. “Well, maybe you, Gabriel.”
“And to think, the last person I end up ever shagging was Scott,” sighed Benn. “Not the best I’ve ever had, but certainly not the worse.” The bridge shook again as more weapons hit the ship. Bannon, as usual, was oblivious to the farewells of the crew. He was too intrigued by the sudden stop of the computer code that had been scrolling at his station for the last fifteen minutes. LaCroix sighed, then looked at Halloway.
“Well, since this is the end…” she said, her eyes darting from Halloway to his ready room and back again. Halloway thought for a moment, then shrugged.
“Sure, why
not.” The two excused themselves and
hurried to the ready room. Halvox
snorted in disapproval. The ship rocked
again as the turbolift doors opened, revealing Dr. Clinton. He ran out and over to a surprised Benn, who
kissed him passionately.
“I heard
that we were in trouble, so I ran up here to be with you.” Benn uttered a loving ‘aww’ and took
“What the hell are you doing up here?” asked Halvox, glaring at the Betazoid. “We were having a private pity party.” Mennol rolled his eyes and sat down in Halloway’s chair.
“I sensed that Halloway and LaCroix were otherwise occupied, so I decided to spend my last few minutes up here with you. Beats hanging out in my quarters waiting to be blown to bits.”
“Why wait?” murmured Halvox as she raised her phaser and pointed it at the back of Mennol’s head. Gabriel shook his head as he watched Mennol stick a defiant middle finger at Halvox without turning around. Halvox cursed under her breath and replaced the phaser at her belt.
“Mind reader,” reminded Mennol in a singsong voice. The ship shook again, and the station next to Bannon’s exploded. The science officer turned casually to look at the blown-out station, then turned back to his own.
“Shields down to 14 percent,” reported Gabriel. “We can’t another barrage, and they’ve just unleashed twelve photon torpedoes. Nice working with you all.” With that, he reached down below Tactical and produced Fluffy. Clinging to it tightly, he started singing softy to his teddy bear. Suddenly, the ship rocked violently. In their last few seconds of existence, the bridge crew performed their last acts. Benn and Clinton held tightly to each other. Halvox reconsidered blowing Mennol away, and grabbed her phaser. Mennol promptly gave her another finger. Gabriel kissed the top of Fluffy’s head. Bannon finally looked up and tried to ask what was going on. They all though it was the end, but instead of being blown to bits, the streaking stars on the viewscreen suddenly melted away, replaced the swirling vortex of slipstream. As the confused bridge crew stared in shock at the viewscreen, Halloway and LaCroix hurried out of the ready room, trying to replace their clothing.
“What the hell happened?” asked Halloway. Looking around the bridge, his eyes stopped on Mennol, who read his mind and threw up his hands and stood.
“I know, I know. Get the hell out of your seat.”
“Damn
right. And stop reading my mind!” yelled
Halloway as he and LaCroix settled into their chairs.
“We appear to be in slipstream, heading back to the Alpha Quadrant.,” reported a confused Benn.
“I thought Abbott said that Monty’s the only one who could have fixed the slipstream drive,” said LaCroix as she tried to fix her disheveled hair.
“He is,” came a familiar voice from the back of the bridge. As the senior staff turned to look, Halloway’s expression of confusion turned to one of shock. Monty was leaning against Bannon’s post, grinning from ear to holographic ear. “Nice to know that I will be missed. So, who’s planning the wake?”
“Monty, what the hell are you doing here?” stammered LaCroix. “We thought you were dead!” Monty held up a wagging finger, then pointed it at Bannon.
“Just before the Jem’Hadar attacked, I transferred all the stolen computer data, along with myself, to the Haymaker. That’s what Bannon’s been staring at for the last few minutes. It just took some time for my program to recompile itself back into the Haymaker’s hologrid. Once I was back to my old self again, I reappeared down in Engineering and fixed the drive.”
“How long have you been active?” asked Halloway.
“Oh, about five minutes.”
“And you fixed the drive in five minutes?”
“Yeah, it’s a pretty funny story actually.” Just then, the turbolift doors opened, revealing a dirty and tired Lt. Abbott. His face was beet red underneath the grime. “One of the computer connections was plugged in backwards, which shorted out the slipstream velocity data processor. I just replicated a new one and installed it correctly.”
“That’s it? That was the big engineering challenge that stranded us in the Gamma Quadrant?” asked Halloway as he stared in disbelief at Abbott. Monty chuckled and turned to Abbott, who wiped some of the dirt off his face and coughed nervously.
“Yes, sir,” responded Abbott meekly. Halloway sighed and returned to his seat.
“Captain’s Log, Stardate 54042.2. After returning to the Alpha Quadrant, we traveled directly to Starbase 54 and demanded that they take this thing out of the Haymaker. It was none too soon, for even though Monty had fixed the drive, the techs at the starbase found that the drive itself was already becoming too unstable to use again. So much for that idea. We’re almost done with the repairs, and Starfleet has ordered us to return to Sector 66-F to continue on our previous mission. The crew is getting together tonight to celebrate the return of Monty, and true to form, our chief engineer’s sense of humor knows no bounds…or sense of decency.”
“When you asked who has planning the wake, I thought you were kidding,” mused Halloway as he walked into the mess hall with Monty. The hall had been decorated with pictures of the hologram, a giant sign that read ‘We’ll Miss You Monty’, a large buffet table, and a photon torpedo that was being used as a coffin.
“Well, since nobody had started planning the wake, I figured I’d do it myself. Besides, I won’t be around to enjoy the real thing anyways,” added Monty with a chuckle as he wandered over to Benn and Clinton. Halloway walked into the kitchen and dug underneath one of the counters for something decent to drink.
“Looking for something?” Tossing aside an expired bottle of kanar, Halloway raised his head out of the cabinet to look up at LaCroix. Halloway stood and headed one of the replicators in the back of the kitchen.
“I was hoping for some real alcohol, but I guess the fake stuff will have to do,” he responded as he punched up a synthale. He grabbed the glass, then turned and looked at the commander. “Listen, Rachel, what happened earlier in the ready room…”
“You mean, what was about to happen,” she corrected. Halloway nodded and took a long drink of is ale.
“Yes. Well, we both thought we were about to die, and since that didn’t happen, maybe…”
“Maybe what?” Her eyes were glittering with expectation. She smiled seductively and slowly dragged a finger down Halloway’s chest. “You want to pick up where we left off?”
“Actually, I’d rather just forget that it happened.” LaCroix expression turned immediately.
“Fine, whatever,” she said with a wave of her hand as she turned and exited the kitchen. Halloway chuckled and sauntered out, his eyes drawn to Gabriel and Halvox trying to explain to Bannon that Monty wasn’t really dead. Taking another drink, the captain walked over to the trio.
“I’m telling you for the last time Bannon, Monty isn’t dead! He’s over there giving his own eulogy,” yelled Halvox as the clueless Bannon. He blinked and looked where Halvox was pointing. Looking at Monty babble on, Bannon then turned back to Halvox and looked thoughtfully at her.
“Are you sure?” asked Bannon, squinting his eyes in doubt. Halvox growled in frustration and threw up her hands. Halloway laughed and placed an arm around Bannon, who hadn’t even noticed the captain’s presence.
“Well, I don’t think that we’ll be visiting the Gamma Quadrant again anytime soon,” observed Gabriel. “What did Captain Janeway have to say?”
“Excuse me?” asked Halloway.
“Captain Janeway. Of the USS Voyager.”
“What does it matter what she has to say?”
“Weren’t we supposed to rescue Voyager and bring her back?”
“Yes, but obviously we can’t…oh sh*t.” Gabriel scratched one of his wings and looked at Halloway in confusion.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t think anybody told Voyager that we weren’t coming anymore.”
USS VOYAGER, DELTA QUADRANT
“Any sign of the Haymaker, Mr. Kim?” asked Janeway as she stood, staring out into the abyss of space.
“Negative, Captain,” responded the young ensign. Janeway sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Chakotay walked up beside her and placed a reassuring hand on the captain’s shoulder.
“They’re over a week late, Katherine. I don’t think they made it.” Janeway glanced at her first officer, then turned back to the viewscreen. Another chance to return home was gone. She sighed, and both she and Chakotay returned to their seats.
“Mr. Paris,
resume course towards the Alpha Quadrant.”
“I
sincerely hope not. One Starfleet
vessel stuck out in the Delta Quadrant is bad enough. The slipstream probably didn’t work.” Janeway nodded, then looked at
“Mr. Paris, remind me to give your father an earful the next time I talk with him.”
EPILOGUE
Crewman Timothy Fields whistled softly to himself as he finished packing up his engineer’s kit and began walking towards the turbolift. The Haymaker was scheduled to leave Starbase 54 at 0800 the next day, and Fields had heard enough bad things about the ship and her mission that finished his repairs early to make sure that he wouldn’t get stuck on board. He smiled politely at a passing ensign, then hurried down the hall to catch the turbolift. Sliding between the doors, Fields rubbed his forehead and cleared his throat. “Transporter Room One,” he ordered, and the turbolift obediently sprung to life. Leaning back against the wall, Fields’ exhausted eyes looked upward at the ceiling of the lift. He could swear that the ceiling seemed to be moving. “I’ve been on this boat way to long,” he mumbled as he rubbed his eyes. Looking back up, Fields was shocked to see that the ceiling was actually melting. A long stream of gold colored goo reached down to the floor and began to coalesce into a humanoid form. No, not humanoid, human. Fields let a cry of fear as the face of the thing was his own. The other Fields smiled and grabbed the engineering kit from the frightened Fields, opened it, and retrieved a large phaser welder. Pointing it at the original Fields, the other Fields shrugged and activated the phaser.
“Sorry.”
Ensign
Pratt smoothed out his uniform and patted the small box under him arm. It had taken him nearly three weeks, but he
had managed to find Lt. Abbott’s left work boot that the lieutenant had lost
one night after
“Going back to the starbase?” he asked as Fields walked by. The crewman stopped and turned.
“Yes, actually.”
“Oh. Well, the transporter rooms are actually that way,” said Pratt, pointing in the opposite direction that Fields had been walking. Fields looked down the corridor, then smiled.
“Of course.” Pratt smiled and entered the turbolift, then wrinkled his nose.
“What’s that smell?”
“I think it was something from the party,” answered Fields. Pratt nodded and covered his nose with his uniform as the turbolift doors closed. Fields waited a moment, then walked into the transporter room. He nodded to the clearly bored Crewman Jacobs, and stepped onto the pad. Jacobs yawned as he activated the transporter, and as Fields began to dissolve, he smiled evilly. As the transport completed, Jacobs yawned again and went back to reading a PADD, not realizing that he had just let loose a Founder into the heart of Federation space.
THE END