The Federation Tribune - July 2005

[Rob Versteegt]

                  ==== The Federation Tribune ====
                           ==== July 2005 ====


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Chief Editor's notes
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And once again here's the newest issue of the Federation Tribune. No
triviaquestions or answers this time, but don't worry, you'll get your
answers and new questions next time! ;-)

And then. . . one more thing. August is coming closer and closer. . . which
means that the big change, and FF's fifth birthday is coming closer as well.
So far, there is one article in planning, namely a fleetwide silly story
(look on the newspaper forums for more information on that), but that's not
enough to put in a special edition. So I'm asking you all to think up
something which has to do with the fifth birthday of Frontier Fleet, or with
Frontier Fleet in general. Come on everybody, together we can make the
special edition an edition to be remembered! Of course, as always, you can
mail me your additions to that issue: chiefeditor at frontierfleet.com. Thanks
already!

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USS CALHOUN / DELTA ONE status report - June 2005, by Adrian Rodd.
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STARDATE 2391.06.18
CURRENT EPISODE: "Heritage" (#23)

Location of the Calhoun: near Delta One

After a tense, sleepless night, it appears that the crisis is slowly dying
down for the crew of the Calhoun. Most of the station's fanatical attackers
have been caught, leaving the crew to deal with the aftershock of a
disturbing and traumatising experience...

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USS Odyssey status report, June 2005, by Dennis Church.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Location: Dinwor V
Stardate: 2391.06.19

Captain Bennek is informed about Nerfertii's departure, and while he's not
happy, he - like most of the crew - understood Leon's reason for leaving so
abruptly.

Location: Dinwor V
Stardate: 2391.06.20

The second round of the competition is played through, and the reception
began...where one group plots the death of a musical legend, and another
aims to stop it. The musicians arrive at the ceremony, along with Commander
Denebris and Ensign Harmondale, a recent arrival, posing as "escorts", with
the goal of stopping Revar's murder.

The Dah Ebom have already begun putting their plans into motion - will the
crew of the Odyssey be able to stop them, or will all their musical wizardry
have been for naught?

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USS Valkyrie Status Report June 2005, by Brandon Allard.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Stardate: 2391.05.01-03

Location: Alpha Quadrant, departing Betreka nebula.

FO's log: The Orions have found us. They want their phase cloak, which we
don't have. They will most likely want the Ferengi when we don't hand over
the cloak, which we can't give them either. (As we are now bound to protect
them after taking them into custody.) Not to mention they will probably want
revenge when they don't get what they want. Then to top it all off, we have
to be the noble Federation representatives and refrain from blowing them
into subatomic particles. Some days it's just not worth getting up in the
morning. Log ends.


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Pandora Station Status Report July 2005, by Rob Versteegt.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

========================================
Episode 9 - How I Wonder Where You Are
========================================

Stardate 2391.05.28

Even though the station was rescued and was slowly returning to its original
orbit, the tension for the crew of Pandora Station was far from over. After
all, it had just been discovered that three of the five Dholari were
actually not Dholari at all: they were the surgically altered Ms. Zang, Ms.
Flanigan, and Mr. Vok: the three crewmembers which had been believed to be
dead. This still didn't explain the mystery of why they, with Commander
Jalando at their side, had been fighting to destroy Pandora Station.

Stardate 2391.05.30:

With the Station back in orbit, and life continuing as normal as possible,
the Medical Department had found out what caused Flanigan, Zang, Vok and
Jalando to turn on their own crew. Apparently a rebel faction on the Dholari
and Venoghrian homeworld (Called Q'yth) had wanted to make it appear as if
the Dholari were responsible for the destruction of a Starfleet facility.
That way, they hoped, Starfleet would take actions against the Dholari,
which in turn would result in the total destruction of the Dholari, and
ultimately also the Venoghrians. The rebel group would have Q'yth for
themselves then. . .

Agent T'hims, who had been under the effects of the rebels' drug as well,
has returned to his own homeworld. The rebel leader L'kon has been sent to a
Federation court, where he will be trailed. Even though Jalando, Vok,
Flanigan and Zang had been drugged, and thus not responsible for their
actions, it would still be difficult for the crew to trust them, after what
these four have done. . .

========================================
Episode 10 - 20 Leagues Under The Sea.
========================================

Stardate 2391.06.06:

About ten days after the 'incident' with the 'Dholari', Captain Kane asked
the senior staff to come together for a meeting. Although many promotions
were handed out, (amongst which were the promotion to Lt.Cmdr for Dr.
Truesdale, and the promotions to full Lieutenant for OPS Nel and Counsellor
Aslam) the atmosphere in the meeting bordered on being grim. There was,
evidently, still a great distrust against the First Officer.

Still, the mission which the senior staff was sent on could very well mend
that lack of trust. Dr. Bati, a civilian marine biologist, had been looking
for a planet to set up a small underwater outpost, to study the marine life
there. In Pandora II, he found a perfect planet indeed. During this
briefing, the senior staff had been ordered by Captain Kane to assist Dr.
Bati in finding a suitable location for this outpost.

Stardate 2391.06.07:

The following day, the senior crew had been split up in three teams. These
teams would each take a modified Delta Flyer, and explore the oceans of
Pandora II. At exactly 0800 hours, Commander Jalando gave the order to
depart.

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USS Atlantis Status Report June 2005, by Ben Versteegt.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Stardate:
- 2391.05.28

Location of the (crew of the) USS Atlantis:
- (Holding position near) derelict ship, Gamma Quadrant.

Summary:

2391.05.28:

Struggling their way through the derelict ship, plagued by frightening
hallucinations and illusions, the three away teams were finding it
increasingly difficult to stay sane and do what they came on the ship to do.
The first away team, lead by Commander Velden, was forced to use violence
against members of their own team -- security officers who previously died
on the ship and who have apparently been turned into living dead... Zombies
if you will. Not only that, but these zombies turned out to be hostile.

The second and third team had not yet encountered the zombies, but they did
encounter various hallucinations. Team three, having arrived at what seemed
to be the Bridge of this derelict vessel, managed to get a communications
console to work, and they received a message from Captain Torn, saying that
the Atlantis was abandoning them. What they didn't know was that the Captain
never sent such a message. It was almost like the alien ship had a mind of
its own...

Meanwhile, the Atlantis launched two shuttles: one unoccupied and remotely
controlled by the other shuttle, which was manned by the EEH and Bart the
Bartender, the two holograms whose programs had been back-upped before they
left, just in case something went wrong. During their flight, the shuttle
lost contact with the remote shuttle and was hit by ionic discharges from
the ion cloud. The shuttle was severely damaged and the holo-emitters could
no longer sustain the programs of Bart and the EEH. The interference and the
ionic discharges caused the two holographic matrices to merge by accident,
and soon a new hologram was formed out of the other two: not Bart, not the
EEH, but a combination of both of them. This new hologram, essentially a
glitch, managed to pilot the shuttle back to the Atlantis. It is as of yet
unclear what will happen to this new hologram... It is up to Captain Torn to
decide if this hologram is allowed to stay... or if it should be deleted.

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SF Academy Status Report June 2005, by Rob Versteegt.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

==================
Instructors: (8)

Chief Instructor Sedaq, played by Adrien Rodd
Instructor Joran Moore, played by David Susman.
Instructor Vivienne Creenan, played by Rob Versteegt
Instructor Miranda Winter, played by Ben Versteegt
Instructor Argl, played by John Hardy
Instructor Sophie Jaune, played by Rob Verlinden
Instructor Liz Bronson, played by Laura Elliot
Instructor Abena Kwanu, played by Jeremy Beeler

==================
Cadets lost: (7)

Cadet Lichfield, played by Mike Hutton.
Cadet Ariennye Alexis Arie Nokomis, played by Tiffany Porter
Cadet Callum Armour, played by Callum Armour.
Cadet Aleana Netal, played by Selin A.
Cadet Job Lavigne, played by Joseph Wood.
Cadet Alisa Alexander, played by Tiffany Boggs.
Cadet Dimitry Volkov, played by Dimitar Bosevski.

==================
New Signups: 12 (5 were useless, which leaves 7(!!) new cadets... if they
had all mailed me back already. Now there are 6 new cadets. Well, that's
good too, isn't it?)

==================
Individual Cadets: (8)

Cadet Brooke-lyn O'Neil, played by Kaitlyn Nelson (Rob007)
Cadet Ramon Vos, played by Ramon Vos (Bobby)
Cadet Soa Shilrae, played by Reggy Maldonado (Jeremy)
Cadet Jiernan Trenan, played by Risto Gegov (David)
Cadet Jordan Artison, played by Laura Veduci (John)
Cadet Kai Healey, played by Jonathan Healey (Adrian)
Cadet Keash Foultish, played by Christ van Silfhout (Bobby)
Cadet Tvork, played by Carlisle (Laura.)

==================
List Cadets: (1) (List instructors: Bobby, John)

Cadet Mario Five, played by Marjan Petrovski (LOA)

(]Mission Summary:[)

Not really a lot is happening on the list... And as an experiment, we'll try
to keep it that way. The list could slow cadets down, which is something we
don't want. So for now, the list will remain cadet-less. ;-)

==================
Graduates: (3)

Cadet Jack Dark, played by Petter Solhaug => AOPS Ensign Jack Dark, USS
Valkyrie.
Cadet John Harmondale, played by Jovan Gegov => ASTC Ensign John Harmondale,
USS Odyssey.
Cadet T'Valla, played by Brittany Kelley => ACONN Ensign T'Valla, USS
Calhoun.

==================

Well, that's it for this month. Let's have more graduates next month!

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Public Relations Status Report June 2005, by Rob Versteegt.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Quite something has happened in June, for Public Relations. But... we'll get
to that soon. First of all, the signups, and where they found us.

There were 12 signups. That's not really a lot, but a total of 7 proved to
be good enough to join. Normally there are just a few signups which are good
enough to enter the Academy. 7 out of 12 is pretty much indeed.

Now where did they find us?

6: Google or another search engine.
1: startrek.pagina.nl
2: unknown.
1: was a member before.
1: through a friend
1: banner exchange / voting sites

Now, PR has also done some additional work. I've contacted the ex-members of
this game, asking them if they wanted to come back. Of all those ex-members,
I got about 5 responses saying that they wanted to come back some day. Of
those 5 responses were 2 who wanted to come back immediately. Those were
William Lea, who now plays Lt. JG William Lea on the USS Atlantis, and Katy
Crockett, who now plays ACOUNS Lt. JG Athena Mishbano on Pandora Station.

And.. .that's it for this month. Don't forget to vote at
www.frontierfleet.net/comm/vote !

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Promotions in June 2005, by Rob Versteegt
--------------------------------------------------------------------

There have been several promotions last month! Congratulations everyone!

>From Cadet to Ensign:

Cadet Jack Dark, played by Petter Solhaug => AOPS Ensign Jack Dark, USS
Valkyrie.
Cadet John Harmondale, played by Jovan Gegov => ASTC Ensign John Harmondale,
USS Odyssey.
Cadet T'Valla, played by Brittany Kelley => ACONN Ensign T'Valla, USS
Calhoun.

>From Ensign to Lieutenant Junion Grade:

ACEO Ensign Mphilo Morabulu, played by Ben Versteegt => Lt.jg Morabulu,
Pandora Station
ACMO Ensign Threnn Vok, played by Rob Versteegt => Lt.jg Vok, Pandora
Station.

>From Lieutenant Junior Grade to Lieutenant:

OPS Pieter Nel, played by Aaron Langston => Lieutenant Nel, Pandora Station.
COUNS Tek Aslam, played by Gael Imaddedine => Lieutenant Aslam, Pandora
Station.

>From Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander:

2O/CMO Jessica Truesdale, played by Sussie Andersson => Lt.Cmdr Truesdale,
Pandora Station.

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Posting Stats June 2005, by Rob Versteegt.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Calhoun players:

Adrian Rodd: 55 (Cal 31, Panda 14, Atly 10) PC: 12
Kelley MacKinnon: 26 (Cal 26) PC: 13
Laura Elliot: 19 (Cal 19) PC: 14
Mark O'Bannon: 5 (Cal 5) PC: 5
Aaron DeLay: 19 (Cal 19) PC: 10
Jake Hanlon: 18 (Cal 18) PC: 9
Angelic Noble: 6 (Cal 6) PC: 6)
Jeremy Beeler: 12 (Cal 9, Atly 3) PC: 4
Brittany Kelley: 1 (Cal 1) PC: 1
Eric Hess: 0

USS Odyssey players:

Rob Verlinden: 5 (Ody 5) PC: 5
Dennis Church: 12 (Ody 9, Panda 3) PC: 8
Martin Miller: 0
Dawn Johnson: 0
Abby Leib: 4 (Ody 4) PC: 4
Matthew Cobble: 1 (Ody 1) PC: 1
Daniel Balding: 1 (Ody 1) PC: 1
Yugoslav Zingovski: 1 (Ody 1) PC: 1
Jovan Gegov: 3 (Ody 3) PC: 3
David Church: 2 (Ody 2) PC: 2

USS Valkyrie players:

Guido Dorssers: 0
Brandon Allard: 4 (Valk 4) PC: 4
Jonathan Hardy: 6 (Valk 6, Panda 2) PC: 4
Matt Brown: 21 (Ody 5, Valk 9, Panda 7) PC: 7
Richard Clogston: 27 (Ody 11, Valk 16) PC: 9
Ann Montague: 12 (Valk 12) PC: 12
Clare Bradley: 4 (Valk 4) PC: 4
Chris J.: 0
Ruben Hilbers: 21 (Valk 21) PC: 15
Petter Solhaug: 1 (Valk 1) PC: 1

Pandora Station players:

Bram Peeters: 29 (Ody 4, Panda 21, Atly 4) PC: 12
Rob Versteegt: 95 (Cal 21, Ody 6, Valk 11, Panda 41, Atly 16) PC: 6
Sussie Andersson: 12 (Panda 9, Atly 3) PC: 5
Aaron Langston: 10 (Cal 3, Panda 7) PC: 7
Gael Imaddedine: 5 (Valk 3, Panda 2) PC: 2
Gabriel Pelletier: 1 (Panda 1) PC: 1
Katy Crockett: 6 (Panda 6) PC: 6
Noel S.: 0

USS Atlantis players:

David Susman: 23 (Cal 2, Ody 3, Valk 7, Panda 3, Atly 8) PC: 5
Ben Versteegt: 8 (Ody 2, Panda 1, Atly 5) PC: 3
Alonzo Soban: 1 (Atly 1) PC: 1
Mike Sheinin: 0
Rickardh Karlsson: 1 (Atly 1) PC: 1
Andre Thomas: 3 (Atly 3) PC: 3
Hanna Brunefeldt: 2 (Atly 2) PC: 2
William Lea: 1 (Atly 1) PC: 1

Dutystation totals:
USS Calhoun: 158
USS Odyssey: 54
USS Valkyrie: 92
Pandora Station: 118
USS Atlantis: 55

Fleet Total: 477

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The Alpha Centauri Mystery - Part 24 - When Captains Clash, by Ben Versteegt
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Summary: Still a prisoner on board the USS Iapetus, Captain Ayer is brutally
tortured by Donovan, who wants, on the one hand, to know the location of the
rest of the crystals, and on the other, revenge. Ayer manages to hold on and
stall, in order to regain some of his strength. Meanwhile, Sandra, Zaag and
Zjavick have convinced Captain Kellin to follow the Iapetus and to try to
rescue Ayer and retrieve the samples. Although his ship, the USS Sophocles,
is far from a match for a Prometheus class, Kellin orders a pursuit course
nonetheless, determined to find answers and solve this mystery.

And now the continuation:

Multi-Vector Assault Mode. It was the most celebrated weapon of the
Prometheus class, one of Starfleet's finest warships. It was also the
strongest weapon of the ship, and made the vessel nearly invincible. One
body would split up into three modules, giving the enemy three vessels to
worry about. This tactic usually resulted in either the retreat or the utter
obliteration of the enemy ship or ships. The Prometheus class and its
multi-vector assault mode were the envy of many Starfleet captains, and even
more of the Federation's enemies. A stronger weapon had yet to be found.

But Captain Donovan had found it. He had ordered his crew to construct
conversion matrices to hold the crystals and collect their energy, but this
time at a rate more compatible to the ship's systems. The last time the
energy of one of these crystals had been attached to the phaser banks, one
of the phaser arrays had overloaded and exploded. If only the crew of the
Iapetus could find a way to harness the power of these crystals without
destroying every system on the ship, then Donovan would be a happy man.

And he was happy, indeed. The engineering department, lead by the Halian
Lieutenant Enwabi, had created a conversion matrix that managed to store the
radiation waves the crystals emitted and gradually send them to the ship's
systems. Enwabi had just finished telling Donovan that this would result in
an increase in power of well over 450 percent -- even more than last time.

"You hear that?" Donovan turned to Ayer, who had recently been given a pain
killer but still claimed he was too weak to speak. "Four hundred and fifty
percent! With these crystals, we can boost power to the weapons, shields,
*and* still manage to outrun our rivals. The enemies of the Federation won't
stand a chance."

"I'm thrilled for you," said Ayer in a way that clearly showed he wasn't.
"So what are you going to do with your new toy? Power up your phaser arrays
and blast every potential enemy out of the sky?"

Donovan grinned. "Something like that."

"Why stop there?" Ayer was practically shouting now, furious that a
Starfleet Captain could relish the thought of violence. "Why not simply get
a whole bunch of crystals, equip a fleet of ships with them and obliterate
Romulus?"

"And why shouldn't we?" Donovan asked, his voice as loud as Ayer's. "Why
shouldn't we use this power to dispose of our enemies before they dispose of
us?" He paused while Ayer gasped in surprise. "Oh, we'll make it look like
an accident, of course," he continued as he began walking around the room.
"We'll make it look like a science experiment on Romulus has gone wrong." He
brought his hand to his chin and continued to think out loud. "Apparently,
they were developing some sort of weapon of mass-destruction. But the weapon
destabilised and exploded, killing the entire population."

Ayer couldn't believe what Donovan was suggesting. "You can't be serious..."

Donovan rested the pole he had been carrying on his shoulder. "When news of
this tragic event reaches the Federation Council, it will be unanimously
decided to help our former adversary. The citizens of the then-collapsed
Romulan Star Empire will welcome our help, and they will be dependent on it.
Romulus will be made a Federation protectorate, and in time, even a member.
With Federation care and under Federation rule, the Romulans will realise
how wrong they have been to oppose the Federation in the first place." He
smiled. "With the Romulans integrated as peaceful and happy members of the
Federation, the highly praised Federation values will once again be free to
rule all over the place." He looked at Ayer. "Tell me, isn't that what you
want, too? To take away threats to the Federation?"

"Yes, but not like this!" Ayer shouted. "You're planning to commit genocide.
Do you even realise what that means? Millions if not billions of innocent
lives will be lost!"

The other Captain smiled faintly. "You're right in that it would be highly
unpractical. It would be difficult indeed to carry out such a mission in
utmost secrecy. There would certainly be an investigation, hearings,
questions would be asked, there-"

"I'm not talking about it being practical or not," Ayer yelled at him, "I'm
talking about lives here! If it doesn't worry you that this plan of yours
kills all those innocent people, then you're even more of a monster than I
thought you were."

Donovan looked at Ayer gravely. "So I'm a monster, now?" he asked softly.

"If you can't see that what you're suggesting is wrong, then yes, you are a
monster."

"Then maybe," Donovan said with a sigh, "maybe I need to be a monster. I
have to be the one to move beyond what's right and wrong. I have to make the
tough decisions so people like you can live your lives in peace, happily
following the Federation's values. I have to do what needs to be done in
order for the general people to live in freedom. My task, Captain Ayer, is
more important than that of any Starfleet Captain. My task demands of me to
forget about doing the *right* thing, and start doing what is *needed* to
keep the Federation alive." He narrowed his eyes. "And if genocide is needed
to keep the Federation in one piece, then you have my word, I *will* commit
genocide."

"All for the glory of the Federation?" Ayer asked sarcastically.

Donovan nodded curtly. The look in his eyes was one of pure determination.
"All for the glory of the Federation."

"You're mad..." Ayer whispered. "Stark raving mad."

Anger burned in Donovan's eyes. "I protect the Federation!" he yelled. "I
make the universe safe for democracy! How *dare* you say I'm mad? I do the
dirty jobs that no one wants to do, and all you can say is that I'm mad? If
anything, you should be grateful for what I do."

Ayer rolled his eyes. "We've been over this."

"Yes, we have." Donovan grabbed hold of the pole again, tightly this time.
"And I'm tired of arguing with you, Ayer. Tired of all your cynicism, your
defiance, your lies. No more beating about the bush. I want the location of
the rest of the samples. You said you knew. Talk."

"I didn't say I knew their exact location," Ayer corrected him, but
immediately fell to the ground again after Donovan hit him with the pole
again. His arm had gone numb.

"Liar!" the other Captain roared. "I think you do know where they are, and
you're going to tell me *now*, or I'll break every bone in your body!"

Ayer moaned as he sat up straight. "I think you already have."

"The location, Ayer!"

He looked at him, his eyes cold. "Go to hell."

Donovan swung again, and Ayer crashed to the ground once more, the pole
having hit him hard in the side. The pain was terrible, but not as terrible
as before -- luckily for him the painkiller was doing its job perfectly.
With luck, it would hold out long enough for Ayer to make his move. He just
wasn't sure yet what move he was going to make.

He knew that if Donovan would continue hitting him like this, he would be
unconscious in no time at all, painkillers or no. He needed time to figure
out what he could do and to set whatever plan he would come up with in
motion -- he needed a break. Fortunately for Ayer, the break came before
Donovan could hit him with the blood-stained pole again.

=/\= Bridge to Captain Donovan. =/\= The voice of Lieutenant Enwabi sounded
through the communications system. With the deaths of both the First Officer
and the STC, Enwabi had been appointed temporary second-in-command. =/\=
We're approaching our third module, sir. They have just contacted us and
stated that most of their systems are up and running again. Not on 100
percent efficiency, I might add, but they're running anyway. =/\=

Donovan tapped his communicator. "Acknowledged. That's good to hear. Take us
out of warp and prepare to dock with the other modules. Donovan ou-"

He was interrupted before he could close the channel. =/\= One more thing,
sir. The warbird is gone. =/\=

The Iapetus Captain frowned. "Gone?"

=/\= Vanished, sir. She's nowhere in this sector, according to our sensors.
=/\=

"We thrashed their propulsion systems," Donovan stated. "They couldn't have
gone far. Certainly not beyond the range of our sensors... They must have
gotten their cloak back on line." He paused. "Have you spoken to Commander
Gnar on the third module about it?"

=/\= I have, Captain, =/\= reported Enwabi. =/\= The commander didn't see
them leave, either. He thinks they must have cloaked in order to disappear
off the sensors this suddenly. =/\=

"I'm surprised Gnar didn't immediately fire his weapons on the warbird's
last known location." Donovan smiled. Commander Gnar, a Tellarite and
usually in command of the night shift on the Iapetus, had the tendency to
shoot at anything that moved -- or, in this case, at anything that suddenly
vanished.

Enwabi chuckled. =/\= I would imagine he tried, sir. The Romulans must have
repaired at least some of their propulsion systems, otherwise they couldn't
have moved and they would have been hit. =/\=

Donovan nodded. "So it would seem. Continuous scans, Lieutenant. I want to
spot them the moment they decloak, if not sooner."

=/\= You're expecting them to come back? =/\= The engineer sounded more than
a little surprised.

"Counting on it, Enwabi. Donovan out."

"Sounds like you're having trouble finding yourself some Romulans," Ayer
commented. "They keep eluding you, don't they?"

Instead of striking Ayer down with the pole, Donovan simply shrugged and
even smiled. "It's what Romulans do," he told him. From one moment to
another, Donovan switched from a gentle and kind expression to a demanding
one. A psychologist would find it fascinating. Ayer, at this point, only
found it scary. "Now, the location of the samples, please."

"I don't know their location," Ayer said bluntly. "Sorry."

"What? But you said..."

"I lied." Ayer looked Donovan straight into the eyes. "I tried telling you
the truth, but you were too stubborn and too pig-headed to accept it."

"I don't believe you."

"See?" Ayer sighed and tried to find support against a bulkhead. "You see
what I mean? You are convinced I hold the secret to this whole situation.
Well, I don't. And you know it, too."

"The location!" Donovan insisted.

Ayer narrowed his eyes. "I. Don't. Know," he said, stressing each word.

"Liar!" Donovan shouted again, and swung his pole at the other Captain's
head. This time, however, Ayer managed to duck quickly and the pole only hit
the bulkhead. Donovan looked pleasantly surprised. "So you're not all that
broken after all... Nice to know."

Donovan tried to pull the pole back to swing again, but Ayer reacted
quickly - he grabbed the pole and pushed it forward before Donovan had time
to react. The other end of the pole hit Donovan squarely in the stomach, and
the Captain dropped the pole and bent over, bringing his hands to his
stomach.

This was the chance Ayer had been waiting for. As quickly as he could, he
jumped up from the ground he had been laying on, still weak from the beating
he had received, and headed towards the exit.

It was a shame he hadn't taken the two security officers into account.

They walked up to him, phasers drawn. "That's far enough," one of them told
Ayer. The Captain realised the -- somewhat obvious -- flaw in his plan and
sighed. There was no chance for escape now.

Donovan held up his hand to order the security officers to stand down (or at
least to not shoot Ayer on sight), as he regained his strength. "I must say,
I didn't see that coming, Ayer," he said. "You're quicker than you led me to
believe. Very good."

"Not quick enough, I'm afraid," Ayer muttered and winced at the pain he was
feeling.

"Are you still sure about the location of the crystals?"

"I still don't know, if that's what you mean," Ayer shot back.

Donovan grinned. "Good. Don't worry, you will remember." Ayer didn't like
the sound of that, and tried to walk backwards while Donovan was getting
closer. The two security officers, however, blocked Ayer's path. "You are
dismissed," Donovan suddenly said to the security officers.

Ayer looked at him, surprised. What did he mean by this?

Donovan recognised the surprise on Ayer's face; this only made him grin
broader. "Captain Ayer and I are going to have a chat. Alone."

The security officer nodded and left the room, leaving the two Captains
behind. Donovan spoke up first. "Surprised? I thought you might be." He
motioned at the door. "Security officers. Great guys, handy in a battle,
too, but if it comes down to the serious, albeit very necessary violence,
they might throw up. I just had the carpet cleaned, you know."

"So you're going to beat me up for information," Ayer concluded. "Again. How
unoriginal of you."

Donovan cocked his head. "It's your choice. Either you tell me the truth and
I'll let you live..."

"...Or you'll break every bone in my body, I know. We've been through
*that*, too," Ayer replied.

"Actually, I was thinking that a little hand-to-hand combat would persuade
you to talk," Donovan said with a smile. "If anything, I can refrain from
holding back and have a good exercise at the same time." He held up his
fists in a fighting position and began to walk circles around Ayer.

"You called *that* 'holding back'?" Ayer said, referring to the blows he had
already received from Donovan earlier.

"The location," Donovan insisted again.

"Is there any particular reason why you don't like me?" Ayer asked, ignoring
the question. "Something aside from the fact that I proved more of a
challenge to you than you thought?"

Donovan continued circling Ayer. "The location." It was clear that Donovan
was getting impatient.

"You know what I think?" continued Ayer. "I think that you do know that I
really haven't the slightest idea where the samples are. I think you just
want revenge."

"The location, Captain."

"I brought the Romulans to your ship and it was me and my team who took over
your Bridge. We were damned hard for you to deal with, weren't we, Donovan?"

"Are you *trying* to get yourself killed?" Donovan hissed through his
clenched teeth. "Give me the location of the samples, and I won't be forced
to hurt you!"

"Ah, but isn't that what you really want?" Ayer was on a roll. "You *want*
to hurt me, don't you? You want to make me pay for every single bit of
trouble I and my crew have caused you, isn't that so?"

Donovan finally gave in. Memories of the death of Vince Hall came back to
him. His tactical officer and closest friend had been shot by the
Cardassian, Enbek. The image of his trusted friend laying there, motionless
on the floor of sickbay, raced through his mind again and again. "You killed
my STC!" he hurled his cry at Ayer.

Ayer looked at him, deadpan. "And you killed mine. We're even."

This was too much for Donovan's already run out patience. He swung his fist
at Ayer, but the other Captain ducked. Ayer lurched forward, attempting to
crash, shoulder-first, into Donovan's stomach -- a weak spot, he hoped. But
Donovan saw through his plan. He quickly stepped to the side and swung his
leg against Ayer's knees. Screaming with pain, Ayer crashed to the floor,
Donovan not far behind him. The Captain of the Iapetus got away with a few
heavy punches to Ayer's face, but Ayer quickly turned to tables on him by
sending his elbow to collide with Donovan's temple.

Donovan fell off Ayer, staggering through the room in a desperate struggle
to find his balance, while Ayer lurched himself at Donovan, making the other
Captain lose the same balance he was seeking. They both fell to the ground
again and started to roll over the floor, each fighting to get the upper
hand.

As they continued to roll over the floor, the voice of Lieutenant Enwabi
sounded through the communication systems. =/\= Captain, this is the Bridge.
Docking procedure complete. Sensors are reporting no Romulan warbirds yet,
but we have detected a Starfleet vessel heading towards us at high warp.
They have detected us, sir. =/\=

With that, both Donovan and Ayer stopped fighting. As if playing time was
over, Donovan pushed Ayer off of him and moved to a monitor to activate a
visual link to the Bridge. For the moment, he simply ignored Ayer -- there
were more pressing matters. "How? We masked our warp signature."

=/\= They must have detected the third module, sir. =/\= Enwabi now looked
closely at Donovan. =/\= Captain, are you all right? =/\=

It was only now that Donovan realised his nose was bleeding. He wiped away
some of the blood and looked at it. He chuckled momentarily. "I'm fine,
Lieutenant."

There was a pause. =/\= Captain, =/\= Enwabi asked tentatively. =/\= What
about the Starfleet ship? They have no doubt come to get their Captain back.
=/\=

Donovan looked behind him, where Ayer was still on the ground, breathing
heavily. He grinned. "They can forget about that for a while. Ayer stays
right where he is."

Ayer did not agree. "Like hell I will," he announced and jumped at Donovan.
The latter saw too late what was happening and found himself hitting the
ground with the back of his head within moments. Ayer had the upper hand
now, and his fist connected with Donovan's face. The Captain was
unconscious... for now.

It didn't take long for Ayer to find a phaser -- it was a type-1 -- in the
room. Quickly, he grabbed the container with the samples in it, which had
been in this room under Donovan's protection the whole time, and charged
towards the exit. He took the two security officers by surprise; they hit
the deck before either of them could fire their weapons. Ayer was on the
run, now, and was taking the crystals with him. Of course, he knew that some
crystals had already been integrated into the Iapetus' systems, but if he
managed to beam away to the Starfleet ship with the rest of the samples,
Donovan would only have a few crystals left -- not nearly enough to equip a
whole fleet with.


Donovan, however, being a trained Section 31 operative, woke up fairly
quickly. It took more than a mere blow to the head to keep him unconscious.
"Damn that Ayer," he cursed and looked at Enwabi over the still open
channel. "What's our status?"

=/\= According to internal sensors, Ayer is walking to the nearest
transporter room, =/\= reported the Lieutenant.

The Captain snorted. "He wants to escape, probably to that Starfleet ship.
Well, he won't get far."

=/\= Agreed, sir, =/\= Enwabi replied. =/\= I can easily lock onto him and
transport him to the brig. I'll do so now, sir. =/\=

"No," said Donovan as he narrowed his eyes. "Leave Ayer to me."

=/\= But sir, he has the crystals with him! =/\=

Donovan nodded. "Understood. I'll handle it."

=/\= Shouldn't I at least send some security officers to accompany you? =/\=
protested Enwabi.

"Negative, Lieutenant," Donovan told her, the expression on his face one of
sheer determination. "Ayer is mine. Leave him to me, and to me alone. Got
that?"

Enwabi nodded. =/\= Understood, sir. =/\= She paused for a brief moment.
=/\= What should we do about the Starfleet ship, Captain? They're still on
an intercept course, and they will enter weapons range any second now. =/\=

"Are they a match for the Iapetus?" inquired Donovan.

=/\= Negative, sir. It's an Intrepid class. =/\=

"Then they are of no consequence," Donovan replied. "Talk to them, find out
what they know. If they suspect anything..." He paused as a smile crept up
his face. "Eliminate them."

=/\= But sir- =/\=

"No witnesses, Lieutenant. You must understand that by now." Donovan looked
the engineer in the eyes. "I expect my orders to be carried out, and if you
can't do it, I'll find someone who can. Is that understood, Lieutenant
Enwabi?"

The Halian Lieutenant had a hard time pushing away her tears. =/\= Yes,
Captain. Perfectly. =/\=

Donovan nodded curtly. "Good. Donovan out." The channel closed and Captain
Donovan walked out of the room, determined to find Captain Ayer and deal
with that problem once and for all.

To be continued...

=====