The Federation Tribune - August 2005

[Rob Versteegt]

                  ==== The Federation Tribune ====
                           ==== August 2005 ====


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Chief Editor's notes
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And once again, there is a great issue of the Federation Tribune! This one
will feature the trivia again, plus of course one of the final chapters of
The Alpha Centauri Mystery! You'll find the posting stats, promotions, and
of course the status reports from July, in this issue!

The next issue won't be in September, but in August... to be exact, at
August 26th, in time for Frontier Fleet's fifth anniversary. I have already
gotten some articles, but there is always room for more! So if you feel
inspired, send your article (anything you can come up with, concerning
Frontier Fleet and/or transwarp) to chiefeditor at frontierfleet.com, before
August 25th! I'll be watching my mailbox! :P

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USS Calhoun Status Report, July 2005, by Kelley MacKinnon.
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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, July 2005, by Dennis Church.
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Location: Dinwor V
Stardate: 2391.06.20

The inter-galactic musical legend, Jerul Revar, began her speech with no
incident - until the Jerwasi decided to interupt to give their awards out
early, wanting to keep the flow of the occasion as smooth as possible. That
proved to be the chance that the Dah Ebom, having participated in the
festival under the group name "Prophet's Tears", would need. After being
brought up on stage to accept their own award, the five armed and prepared
terrorists made their move shortly after the Odyssey's group was brought up
to recieve their own award - an irony if there ever was one, as they now
join Revar and the Jerwasi judges on the stage as hostages due to their
musical ability. To prove their point, one of the Dah Ebom stabbed
Lieutenant Alex Davis, wounding her badly.

Out of nowhere, a piercing sound filled the room, disorienting everyone for
a few moments...and it appears to only worsen the situation, as Captain
Bennek attemps to knock out one of the terrorists, only to get knocked
unconcious. The situation seems to worsen now, with two officers out of
commission....will the crew of the Odyssey be able to outmanuever the Dah
Ebom and save Revar?

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USS Valkyrie Status Report July 2005, by John Hardy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Stardate: 2391.05.03

Location: Alpha Quadrant, en route to Starbase G-6

Second Officer's Log: The Valkyrie is currently holding position, as
Commander Maiek attempts to negotiate with the Orion over what they claim to
be *their* missing phase cloak, while Captain Main remains in Sickbay. The
only phase cloak we are aware of is now debris within the Betreka nebula,
which I doubt the Orion will take in good understanding. As revenge, they
shall probably desire to take the Ferengi as slaves - something we cannot
allow, having taken the Ferengi crew into custody. My personal desire would
be shoot our way past the Orion and continue upon our way to Starbase G-6.
However, this is not an option, as we need to uphold the Federation. It
would seem I have picked quite a time to come aboard this vessel. End of
log.

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Pandora Station Status Report, July 2005, by Rob Versteegt.
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Episode 10 - 20 Leagues Under The Sea.

Locations:
- In the Flyers Pegasus, Wyvern and Gryphon, which are in the oceans of
Pandora II.
- Pandora Station, in orbit of Pandora II.

Stardate: 2391.06.07

As the three Delta Flyers entered the atmosphere, and later the ocean, the
crews of the Flyers were wondering what they would find down there, in the
oceans of Pandora II.

After a speedy and rather dangerous entrance in the ocean by the Flyer
Pegasus, under the command of Jalando, they found that Lt. Nel's piloting
skills had caused casualties: two (non-sentient) marine lifeforms had been
crushed under the weight of the incoming Flyer. This was of course not the
kind of 'first contact' the Flyer crew wanted to have. When they studied the
remains though, they found out that there was something in the body
chemistry of these fish which reduced sensor activity. A further examination
revealed that there was a larger population of such fish closer to the ocean
floor. When Lt. Nel and Ensign Sobra had been beamed up to Pandora
Station -there was an incoming message for the both of them- Commander
Jalando and Lt. Aslam continued their search for the mysteries surrounding
these fish.

When they finally reached the ocean floor, the two officers were surprised
to find the lifeforms here responding to the active sensors. Also, they
found out that there were metallic readings coming from the ocean floor.
After scraping away the thick layer of dirt, the Commander and the
Lieutenant discovered some sort of metallic plates. . . which were certainly
not created by nature. . .

The team in the Flyer Wyvern also entered the ocean, after having a
discussion about mythology. When they finally reached the ocean floor, they
found not only a lot rocks, but also several fish which gave off electrical
currents when coming into contact with the Flyer. Lt. Morabulu observed that
a few of these fish might not damage the Flyer, but the whole group of such
fish which was approaching fast, might. . .

The third team, in the Flyer Gryphon, had encountered a plant-like creature,
after entering the ocean. This creature seemed to have developed an
interesting in the Flyer though, since it grabbed hold of the large shuttle,
and started pulling it along. No matter what the Flyer crew did, it would
not let go. . . until it came to some sort of underwater island: a large
area of sand rising up from the ocean floor. Earlier on, the Flyer crew had
thought of this place for a perfect location to put Dr. Bati's marine
outpost. Now though, that seemed to be impossible: it was already  inhabited
by several more of these large plant-like creatures. . .

Meanwhile, on Pandora Station, things went their usual way. A new AOPS,
Ensign Arquette, arrived, and was almost immediately ordered by Captain Kane
to oversee the cleaning up and restoration of a forgotten swimming pool. . .

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

Stardate:
- 2391.05.28
- 2391.08.29 (announcement)

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

Summary:

2391.05.28:

Still trying to find their way out of the derelict ship, the three away
teams' efforts were hampered by various hallucinations and by
formerly-living members of their own teams. Dead security officers tried to
kill the rest of the away teams, too, which would lead to them becoming
zombies as well. While team two was hopelessly lost and team one was still
unaware of the other teams' attempts to locate and rescue them, team three
seemed to have made some progress: they had found the Bridge of this ship.
Unfortunately, a member of their team died and turned into a zombie, bent on
killing his former colleagues. Team three had no choice but to run for their
lives.

Meanwhile, the first team, after having narrowly escaped a number of such
zombies, had discovered an energy signal that belonged to what appeared to
be a transporter. Although it was a good bet that this was a trap, they
couldn't just stay where they were. On their way to the transporter, they
encountered an active console -- something that seemed impossible on a ship
previously thought to be without power. One of their subsequent less
pleasant discoveries was that of a nearly-decayed body in an access tube.
The alien seemed to have committed suicide; possibly to avoid being turned
into a zombie by whatever life forms there were on this ship. And there were
life forms, the team discovered. Although the tricorders didn't register
them, the telepathic Lieutenant Jomorr sensed that there were life forms
everywhere around them.

While the first and second teams failed to get off the ship, the third team
had opted for a more radical approach: shooting the bulkheads proved highly
effective to get off the ship, for Lieutenant Singh was inadvertently blown
into space. He used the thrusters of his environmental suit to gain access
to one of the docked shuttles, and went back to retrieve the rest of his
team. The other members of his team used the same tactic and floated into
space not long after Singh had informed them that their rescue vehicle was
standing by. All of the remaining members of team three were eventually
picked up, along with the zombie that had once been part of their team. In a
desperate attempt to save his team-mates from the murderous zombie, doctor
Thomas pushed both him and the zombie out into space.

On the Atlantis, it proved impossible to establish contact with the shuttle.
Captain Torn decided to arrange a meeting with the few members of the senior
staff they had left on the ship, to discuss their options -- if there were
any.

2391.08.26:

At 1313 hours, a priority message from Admiral Barclay reached the monitor
of Captain Torn. The news it brought with it was amazing, and a great
honour: the USS Atlantis, together with five other ships and one station,
had been chosen to become part of Starfleet's first transwarp fleet. To this
end, the Atlantis would be refitted with a transwarp drive. By way of a
shipwide message, Torn delivered this news to the rest of the crew. A new
era of exploration was about to begin.

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SF Academy Status Report July 2005, by Rob Versteegt.
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==================
Active Instructors: (5)

Instructor Vivienne Creenan, played by Rob Versteegt
Instructor Miranda Winter, played by Ben Versteegt
Instructor Argl, played by John Hardy
Instructor Liz Bronson, played by Laura Elliot
Instructor Abena Kwanu, played by Jeremy Beeler

==================
Instructors on LOA: (3)

Chief Instructor Sedaq, played by Adrien Rodd
Instructor Joran Moore, played by David Susman.
Instructor Sophie Jaune, played by Rob Verlinden

==================
Cadets lost: (4)

Cadet Jiernan Trenan, played by Risto Gegov.
Cadet Mario Five, played by Marjan Patrovski.
Cadet Soa Shilrae, played by Reggie Maldonado.
Cadet Anaria Jenn, played by Anna Troy.

==================
New Signups: Exactly like last month: There were 12 signups, 5 of them were
useless. That leaves 7 new Cadets, of which one still has to mail me back.

==================
Individual Cadets: (10)

Cadet Brooke-lyn O'Neil, played by Kaitlyn Nelson (Rob007)
Cadet Claude Carredeau, played by Donald Johnston (Ben)
Cadet Devon Nekkar, played by Dan Koger (Bobby)
Cadet Killian Malachi, played by Robert Bolton (Jeremy)
Cadet Rabel Droge, played by Michael Calgano (Bobby)
Cadet Ramon Vos, played by Ramon Vos (Bobby)
Cadet Jordan Artison, played by Laura Veduci (John)
Cadet Keash Foultish, played by Christ van Silfhout (Bobby)
Cadet Tvork, played by Carlisle (Laura)
Cadet Thorne, played by Spencer Beacock (Bobby)

==================
Graduates: (2)

Cadet Kai Healey, played by Jonathan Healey => ACOUNS Ensign Kai Healey, USS
Odyssey.
Cadet Solan Arquette, played by Scott Rick => AOPS Ensign Solan Arquette,
Pandora Station.

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

And that's it for now! And of course, my thanks to all instructors! Without
you, there wouldn't be an Academy!

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PR Status Report July 2005, by Rob Versteegt.
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First of all: vote for ST Frontier Fleet, here:
http://www.frontierfleet.net/comm/vote. Thank you. Now, let's continue with
this status report, shall we?

Last month had been one without many interesting things happening. PR
activities were limited to voting, placing some advertisements, and trying
to convince some people to join STFF. There were a few signups, but not that
much. 12 in total. Here is where they found us:

2: Just browsing the internet.
1: Unknown.
2: Google or another search Engine.
4: PBEM.com (Hooray! Placing ads there worked!) / or another PBEM
advertising or voting page.
3: Thanks to family or friends.

And that's it for this month. What I find interesting is that even though
there aren't that many signups, the ones who do find us either come here
because of a friend or family, or because of an advertisement. That's
something to keep in mind.

See you all next month in the status report!

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Promotions in July 2005: by Rob Versteegt.
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There were only two promotions in July, and both were from Cadet to Ensign:

Cadet Kai Healey, played by Jonathan Healey => ACOUNS Ensign Kai Healey, USS
Odyssey.
Cadet Solan Arquette, played by Scott Rick => AOPS Ensign Solan Arquette,
Pandora Station.

Congratulations!

(More promotions next month, I think! :P)

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Posting Stats July 2005, by Rob Versteegt.
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Posting Stats July 2005:

Calhoun players:

Adrian Rodd: 51 (Cal 27, Panda 11, Atly 13)
Kelley MacKinnon: 33 (Cal 33)
Laura Elliot: 17 (Cal 17)
Mark O'Bannon: 14 (Cal 12, Atly 2)
Aaron DeLay: 1 (Cal 1)
Jake Hanlon: 9 (Cal 9)
Angelic Noble: 2 (Cal 2)
Jeremy Beeler: 9 (Cal 9)
Eric Hess: 0

Total USS Calhoun: 141.

USS Odyssey players:

Rob Verlinden: 4 (Ody 4)
Dennis Church: 11 (Ody 11)
Martin Miller: 0
Dawn Johnson: 0
Abby Leib: 5 (Ody 5)
Matthew Cobble: 1 (Ody 1)
Daniel Balding: 5 (Ody 5)
Yugoslav Zingovski: 0
Jovan Gegov: 3 (Ody 3)
Jonathan Healey: 7 (Ody 7)
Dave Church: 3 (Ody 3)

Total USS Odyssey: 75

USS Valkyrie players:

Brandon Allard: 2 (Valk 2)
Jonathan Hardy: 2 (Ody 1, Panda 1)
Richard Clogston: 16 (Ody 9, Valk 7)
Ann Montague: 3 (Valk 3)
Clare Bradley: 0
Chris J.: 0
Ruben Hilbers: 12 (Valk 12)
Petter Solhaug: 0

Total USS Valkyrie: 45

Pandora Station players:

Bram Peeters: 26 (Ody 7, Panda 13, Atly 6)
Rob Versteegt: 93 (Cal 17, Ody 10, Valk 17, Panda 35, Atly 14)
Sussie Andersson: 9 (Panda 6, Atly 3)
Aaron Langston: 6 (Cal 3, Panda 3)
Gael Imaddedine: 8 (Valk 2, Panda 6)
Gabriel Pelletier: 1 (Panda 1)
Katy Crockett: 2 (Panda 2)
Scott Rick: 2 (Panda 2)

Total Pandora Station: 86

USS Atlantis players:

David Susman: 27 (Cal 2, Ody 6, Valk 2, Panda 4, Atly 13)
Ben Versteegt: 11 (Ody 3, Panda 2, Atly 6)
Alonzo Soban: 7 (Atly 7)
Mike Sheinin: 1 (Atly 1)
Hanna Brunefeldt: 2 (Atly 2)
Andre Thomas: 5 (Atly 5)
William Lea: 0

Total USS Atlantis: 72

Fleet Total: 419

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Trivia #9, by Clare Bradley.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Trivia Quiz #9

1. Michael Sullivan is a character in what holodeck program?
A. Ancient West
B. Dixon Hill
C. Chez Sandrine
D. Fair Haven

2. What was the name of Khan's ship?
A. S.S. Botany Bay
B. S.S. Conestoga
C. S.S. Fortunate
D. S.S. Tsiolkovsky

3. What is the name of Quark's father?
A. Kolopak
B. Keldar
C. Kolos
D. Kryton

4. Q's son rearranged the tectonic plates on what planet?
A. Bozel Prime
B. Golos Prime
C. Cardassia Prime
D. Vendikar

5. William Riker was NOT offered the command of what vessel?
A. U.S.S. Drake
B. U.S.S. Ares
C. U.S.S. Sao Paulo
D. U.S.S. Melbourne

6. How often do Changelings need to regenerate in a liquid state?
A. Every 24 hours
B. Every 20 hours
C. Every 18 hours
D. Every 16 hours

7. Where did Neelix grow up?
A. Rinax
B. Talax
C. Ocampa
D. In Space

8. Who did the Cardassians use as intermediaries when they covertly supplied
weapons to the Alliance for Global Unity, also known as the Circle?
A. The Kressari
B. The Ferengi
C. The Tzenkethi
D. The Kobliad

9. Who defended Kirk was he was court martialed for the death of Benjamin
Finney?
A. Commodore Stone
B. Samuel T. Cogley
C. Areel Shaw
D. Spock

10. What was making the Akaali sick?
A. A disease contracted from aliens on their world.
B. An industrial lubricant that seeped into the water supply.
C. Neutrino emissions.
D. Evolutionary processes.

11. How often is the Admiral's Banquet held?
A. Every six months
B. Every year
C. Every two years
D. Once a decade

12. What is the Vulcan ritual where the memory of an event is suppressed
along with the emotions associated with it?
A. Fullara
B. Kal-if-fee
C. Plak-tow
D. Kahswan

13. The Apnex Sea is located on what planet?
A. Bajor
B. Romulus
C. Betazed
D. Talax

14. What did Phlox request Hoshi bring him from Madame Chang's restaurant?
A. Egg Rolls
B. Lemon Chicken
C. Egg Drop Soup
D. Chicken Fried Rice

15. Who was the only person not effected by the pod plants on Omicron Ceti
III?
A. McCoy
B. Uhura
C. Spock
D. Kirk

Email your answers to grozit at gmail.com no later than 09.10.05, with 'Trivia
9' in the subject line. Remember to check the newspaper forum for bonus
questions throughout the month!

Here are the results from last month's quiz.

1. Who was Captain Kirk's First Officer?
A. Pavel Chekhov
B. Yeoman Rand
C. Christine Chapel
D. Spock
Answer: D.

2. What was Dr. McCoy's nickname?
A. Kirk's McCoy-toy
B. Grumpy
C. Bones
D. All of the Above
Answer: C.

3. Deep Space Nine was located near what planet?
A. Wrigley's Pleasure Planet
B. Bajor
C. Risa
D. Planet Hell
Answer: B.

4. What Vulcan served on the Enterprise NX-01?
A. Spock
B. Sarek
C. T'Pol
D. Saavik
Answer: C.

5. Voyager was lost in what quadrant of the galaxy?
A. Lambda Lambda Lambda
B. Pi
C. Delta
D. Alpha
Answer: C.

6. Scotty was...?
A. Scottish
B. Dutch
C. Chinese
D. Mexican
Answer: A.

7. Voyager's doctor was a...?
A. Bricklayer
B. Hologram
C. Android
D. Malpractice lawsuit waiting to happen.
Answer: B.

8. The Enterprise NX-01 became a focal point in what conflict?
A. The Dominion War
B. Q Civil War
C. Federation-Cardassian War
D. The Temporal Cold War
Answer: D.

9. What was Seven's full designation?
A. Seven of Two
B. Seven of Arabia
C. Seven of 1,000,000
D. Seven of Nine
Answer: D.

10. Who was Locutus of Borg?
A. Deanna Troi
B. Jean-Luc Picard
C. Wesley Crusher
D. Beverly Crusher
Answer: B.

11. What was the name of Captain Archer's dog?
A. Spot
B. T'Pol
C. Silik
D. Porthos
Answer: D.

12. Who was Jake Sisko's father?
A. Odo
B. Q
C. Morn
D. Benjamin Sisko
Answer: D.

13. Who did Jadzia Dax marry?
A. Benjamin Sisko
B. Quark
C. Julian Bashir
D. Worf
Answer: D.

14. What was Geordi LaForge's disability?
A. He was blind.
B. He was schizophrenic.
C. He had tourettes syndrome.
D. He had no legs.
Answer: A.

15. Deanna Troi was half-Betazoid, and half-what?
A. Klingon
B. Vulcan
C. Human
D. Bolian
Answer: C.


Scores:
Bram Peeters: 15 + 3 = 18 points
Ben Versteegt: 15 + 3 = 18 points
Rob Versteegt: 15 + 3 = 18 points
Adrian Rodd: 15 + 2 = 18 points
Rob Verlinden: 15 + 2 = 17 points
David Sussman: 15 + 1 = 17 points
Sussie Anderson: 15 points


Cumulative Rankings:
1. Rob Versteegt: 105 points (8 quizzes)
2. Rob Verlinden: 97 points (7 quizzes)
3. Bram Peeters: 95 points (7 quizzes)
4. Ben Versteegt: 87 points (6 quizzes)
5. Merijn Donders: 62 points (4 quizzes)
6. Adrian Rodd: 45 points (4 quizzes)
7. Sussie Anderson: 43 points (4 quizzes)
8. Pat Buidin: 32 points (2 quizzes)
9. David Susman: 23 points (2 quizzes)
10. Rickardh Karlsson: 12 points (1 quiz)
11. Martin Miller: 10 points (1 quiz)
12. Brandon Allard: 8 points (1 quiz)


Rankings based on average:
(only includes people who answered more than one quiz)
1. Pat Buidin: 16 point average
2. Merijn Donders: 15.5 point average
3. Ben Versteegt: 14.5 point average
4. Rob Verlinden: 13.857 point average
5. Bram Peeters: 13.571 point average
6. Rob Versteegt: 13.125 point average
7. David Susman: 11.5 point average
8. Adrian Rodd: 11.25 point average
9. Sussie Anderson: 10.75 point average

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Pandora Station: News from the Crosroads Bar. By Patrick Buidin.
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Dear customers,

Seeing the increasing demands, I've decided to publish every month the
recipes of some traditional beverages that are available in my
establishment.

This month I'll disclose the secrets of the Romulan Ale, a powerful
alcoholic beverage of romulan origin, which is illegal in the Federation but
so appreciated by some of you.

The first recipe is from the previous owner of the Crossroads, I've
discovered it in the amount of papers he had left, so enough talking, here
are the ingredients:
375.0 ml Blue Curacao
375.0 ml Grain Alcohol
375.0 ml 151 Proof Rum
Combine ingredients in a (just over) one-litre bottle. Chill in freezer for
two hours. Serve in shot glasses.

The other recipe has been given to me by a Ferengi trader and I must say it
has cost me a lot to have it :

40 oz. Vodka
26 oz. Blue Curacao
2 litres Passion Fruit Juice
40 oz. Gin
And finally another variant that I've made up myself, a bit different and
more spicy.

1 1/2 oz White rum
1 oz Blue Curacao
Sprite (or 7-Up)
6 drops Tabasco sauce
serve here in cocktail glasses.

Try them all if you want and tell me which is your favourite, stay tuned for
next month.

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The Alpha Centauri Mystery - Part 25 - Sophocles' Tragedy, by Ben Versteegt.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Summary:

Captain Ayer, commanding officer of the now-destroyed USS Aquinas, has been
captured by Captain Donovan, a Section 31 operative aboard his ship, the
Iapetus. More importantly, Donovan has obtained possession of some samples
which can be used to harness enormous amounts of energy -- he has already
integrated some of these crystals into his ship. Ayer, however, has managed
to escape and is now on his way to the transporter room, carrying the
remaining samples. Donovan is determined to stop him.

Meanwhile, the USS Sophocles warps towards the Iapetus in order to bring
back Ayer and the samples. Her Captain, a man called Kellin, knows that a
battle against the Iapetus cannot be won. He also knows that the stakes are
high -- in the wrong hands, the samples could prove deadly.

And now the continuation:

Tension was rising on the Bridge of the Intrepid class starship USS
Sophocles. The Prometheus class on the viewscreen had armed its weapons, and
sensors revealed that those weapons were locked on the Sophocles itself.
Captain Kellin, commanding officer of the Sophocles, hoped that the weapons
lock was merely meant as a warning and that the crew of the Iapetus did not
intent to actually use those weapons against the Sophocles. "No Starfleet
vessel will fire on another Starfleet vessel," read one of the general
Starfleet orders. Some comfort that was, Kellin thought. There had been
incidents of Starfleet vessels opening fire on other Starfleet vessels -- 
the most recent example was the nearly obliterated starship Aquinas, which,
according to Lieutenant Commander Zjavick and the other survivors of the
Excelsior class vessel, was attacked by the very same ship the Sophocles now
faced. Based on this information, Kellin had little faith in the Iapetus'
crew's adherence to that particular general order.

"We're entering weapons range, sir," the tactical officer reported.

Kellin swallowed and tried to hide how nervous he really was. "Take us out
of warp and raise shields. Don't arm the phasers yet, but keep hailing
them."

The operations officer shook her head. "They're still not responding,
Captain."

>From the corner of his eye, Kellin noticed Zjavick walking up to him. The
Captain had invited Zjavick, Ensign Burke and the Ferengi called Zaag to
come with him to the Bridge, hoping that they might have some useful
information regarding the Iapetus. After all, they had faced the ship in
battle and made it out alive. Kellin was about to ask Zjavick for his
opinion on the situation, when the Lieutenant at the operations console
reported, to her own surprise, that the Iapetus was now suddenly answering
their hails.

Kellin shared a look with Zjavick before replying. "Put them on screen."

The large viewscreen, which had been showing the Iapetus in space, now
switched to the interior of the starship's Bridge. A young Lieutenant held
the Captain's chair. She looked nervous and timid, but her eyes showed how
determined she was to resolve this situation quickly. Kellin knew full well
that looks could be deceiving. Still, he had expected to talk to a fellow
Captain instead of to a young, uncertain looking Lieutenant. He had to
admit, it knocked him off his guard for a moment. "This is Captain Kellin on
board the USS Sophocles. You have your weapons trained on us. Stand down
immediately."

Kellin had no way of knowing what went on in Lieutenant Enwabi's mind as she
locked her gaze with his. She had been trained to conceal her emotions in
front of a potential enemy -- a difficult task indeed for a member of an
emotionally sensitive race such as the Halians. She had only barely managed,
and still had difficulty maintaining a straight expression right now,
especially because she knew that the talk she was now going to have with
this Captain Kellin would determine the faith of the crew of the Sophocles.
Her Captain had ordered her to destroy their adversaries if they proved to
know too much. "No witnesses" had been the motto.

Although as much as she wanted to prevent having to give the order to
destroy the Sophocles, she did realise that if Captain Kellin pushed for her
to hand over Ayer and the samples, he could prove to be quite the nuisance.
In that regrettable case, he, as well as his ship, would have to be disposed
of. Quietly. The remains of the Sophocles would be vaporised -- something
they neglected to do with the Aquinas. That was different, though: they had
been in a hurry back then.

Enwabi tried to put on a neutral face. "Listen, Captain Kellin, to prevent
anyone from getting hurt, I would advise you to return to where you came
from."

"And I would advise you again, Lieutenant, to stand down," Kellin countered.

"Please, Captain, go away." Enwabi's facial expression very briefly turned
into one of despair, before she managed to put on a neutral face again.
"Whatever it is you want, you will not find it here." She paused and sighed.
"All I am allowed to tell you is that this vessel is acting under orders
from Starfleet Intelligence and is to be left alone," she continued, as if
reciting a directive she had recited so many times before. "You are to act
as if you never saw us, and you will not report your encounter with this
vessel in your log, by orders of Admiral Petters, Starfleet Intelligence.
Any violation to these orders will result in serious repercussions." She
smiled a deceptively sincere smile. "Just so you know who you're dealing
with, Captain."

Kellin frowned. "Just what exactly do these 'serious repercussions' entail?"

Enwabi draped her hands behind her back. "The Admiral was deliberately vague
about that, sir. I believe he mentioned something about us being allowed to
use all measures necessary to ensure our mission's completion."

"You realise I will have to verify this with Intelligence before I can
comply."

Enwabi inclined her head. "Of course. However, I must inform you that we
will scramble all of your outgoing communications, except this one of
course. Standard procedure in critical situations such as this one." She
shrugged. "You will be able to contact Starfleet again when you've cleared
this area."

"By which time you will be long gone," Kellin concluded. "How convenient."

Enwabi allowed herself a faint smile. "If you say so. Now, Captain, we have
a job to do and we can't allow you to stay and watch. So I ask you again:
please leave the area."

Kellin sighed heavily. He knew that if these orders were genuine, he had to
obey them. But in order to see if those orders were indeed genuine, he first
had to follow them. If he did so, the Iapetus would get away -- with the
samples and Ayer. Orders to the contrary or no, he was not the kind of
Captain that would turn back at the first sign of trouble. In this instance,
though, he seemed to have very few other options... if any.

But he would have, soon. That was, if the engineering department on his ship
was doing its job -- which he knew it was. His engineers would somehow find
a way to cut through the interference signal emitted by the Iapetus, and
they would be able to contact Starfleet from their present position, instead
of having to retreat to a distance of half a light year first. He just
needed to buy them enough time. "If you'd kindly allow me to speak to your
Captain, I'd be happy to-"

He was cut off by Enwabi. "He's busy and unable to speak to you at the
moment. You can speak to me."

"What about your first officer?" Kellin inquired. "Is he busy too?"

For a short moment, Enwabi's face darkened. The Iapetus' First Officer had
been a man she had come to know and trust, and even rely upon -- a fairly
dangerous business in the Intelligence trade. Commander Javis had proved
himself a fine intelligence officer, worthy of working for Section 31, as
had all the crewmembers on board. But Javis stood out of the crowd with his
light humour in dangerous situations and his loud voice. He had certainly
been a presence to be reckoned with. The Iapetus wouldn't be the same
without him.

She visibly winced at the memory of the medical officers hauling his body
off the Bridge, just a few minutes ago. Or had it been hours already? She
didn't know, nor did she want to. She simply wanted to forget about Javis,
about the brutal way he had been killed on his own ship, but she couldn't.
Not until the aftermath was over -- not until the Sophocles had been dealt
with.

Enwabi managed to force her facial expression back into a neutral one, and
looked at Kellin. "He cannot be disturbed at the moment. You will have to
talk to me."

At that moment, Zjavick stepped forward. He didn't recognise Enwabi, but he
did know what *really* happened to the First Officer of the Iapetus. "He
cannot be disturbed, because he's dead," he said bluntly, deciding to
confront the Lieutenant with what she undoubtedly already knew. "I was there
with a bunch of Romulans on your Bridge. They killed your First Officer. I
saw it happen."

Enwabi bit her lip. Not only was it hard for her to hear this, but it was
also hard for her that she would have to destroy the Sophocles for this. Her
Captain's orders were clear: if the crew of the Sophocles knew anything at
all about their mission, they had to be destroyed. She swallowed hard and
took a deep breath, trying to push back the stream of tears that was welling
up inside her. With moist eyes and cold fury, she looked Zjavick squarely in
the eyes. "You have just signed your death sentence, Commander," she
announced. "I am sorry."

And then the channel closed.

Kellin looked at Zjavick as he raised a questioning eyebrow. "Care to
explain, Commander?"

Before Zjavick could comply, the entire ship shuddered. Tremors knocked
nearly everyone off their places and explosions lit up the Bridge without
warning. Consoles caught flame, and the fires began to rage throughout the
ship. For a moment, it looked as if the entire ceiling came down upon the
Bridge crew, for a support beam crashed to the ground. Smoke was pouring
onto the Bridge and power levels dropped to critical levels.

Kellin only barely managed to jump out of the way of the falling support
beam. "Report!" he yelled to any of the Bridge crew. At that point, he
wasn't even sure if anyone else was still alive.

"We've been hit!" the operations office was calling out from her badly
damaged console. "Hull breach, decks three to six, sections twelve to
fifteen." She looked at her Captain in grim realisation. "They've cut
straight through the ship!"

"They've enhanced their weapons..." Zjavick said softly.

Sandra finished for him, "They're using the crystals to increase power."

"Get those shields back on line now," Kellin ordered harshly. "Helm, get us
out of their weapons range. Back off, back off!"

Zjavick stared at the Captain. "We're retreating?" His tone of voice made it
perfectly clear to Kellin that he didn't agree at all with that decision.

"You're damn right we're retreating," Kellin snapped at him "We don't stand
a chance against them -- we'd be dust before we could inflict any serious
damage. Tactical, I need those shields!"

The situation reminded Zjavick of some of the perils the Aquinas had been
in. Captain Ayer had responded in a similar manner in various no-win
scenarios they had found themselves in, and those were the times when a
tactical retreat was the best course of action. It seemed to Zjavick that,
if Captain Ayer had been here, he would have ordered the same thing.

But he wasn't here. And that was what it was all about. They had to stay and
fight to get their Captain back, as well as the samples. It was painfully
obvious now what the crystals could do if they ended up in the wrong hands.
For a moment, Zjavick wondered if they had perhaps already lost. But only
for a moment.

Because after only a moment, they were hit again. This time, however,
shields were in place to absorb most of the blow. "Shields down to
thirty-six percent," reported the tactical officer.

"Increase power to shields," ordered Kellin as the ship shook beneath him,
"and return fire. Take out their weapons." His reasoning was actually a
pretty good one, thought Zjavick: the modified weapon systems were much more
likely to sustain major damage, precisely because they were modified. It was
his hope that the Iapetus' weapon systems would short-circuit if they
received too much of a pounding. "Scan for damage to their ship, shields,
anything," continued Kellin. "They've been in a battle before -- they can't
have fully repaired this quickly."

"Firing all weapons," the tactical officer replied. From the aft torpedo
tubes of the Sophocles, a number of torpedoes appeared which made their way
towards the Iapetus. Not long thereafter, they crashed themselves into the
shields of the starship, aiming to punch a hole in them. Even with the
assistance of phaser fire from the Sophocles, however, the shields were not
breached.

"No damage to their weapons," reported the Lieutenant at the tactical
station. "Their shields are down to forty-five percent."

"Just a little while longer," Kellin hissed through his clenched teeth. They
needed to create an opening big enough for a salvo of torpedoes to punch
through and shred the weapons of the Iapetus apart. Coincidentally, a hole
in the shields was also exactly what they needed to beam up Captain Ayer and
the samples. After that, they would hurry back to Earth at maximum warp in
the hopes that the Iapetus would not follow them into Starfleet's most
protected star system.

It was, as they said, a long shot. In the back of his head, Kellin knew full
well that the Sophocles was no match at all for a Prometheus class starship
such as the Iapetus. The way things were going now, he would honestly not be
surprised if his ship was cosmic dust within the next ten minutes.
Although... his ship was sturdier than that. Fifteen it was, then.

Sandra, however, was far less willing to admit defeat this quickly. "Aim for
the bottom module," she was saying. "They sustained most damage there."
Kellin nodded to the tactical officer, who immediately aimed for the bottom
module. But the Iapetus was no longer split up into three separate modules,
and the shield generators on the top and middle module were protecting the
lower module, too. Nevertheless, the ventral side of the ship did seem to be
somewhat of a weak spot -- it was all they had to exploit.

Another jolt shocked the ship. "Shields at six percent!" shouted the
Lieutenant at tactical. "Warp engines are off line, we've lost power to the
aft torpedo tubes. Transporters are down. Casualty reports coming in from
every single deck, sir."

Zjavick and Sandra shared a look. "Transporters off line?" Sandra said,
horrified. "That means..."

"Without transporters, we can't beam the Captain or the samples aboard,"
Zjavick concurred. "Captain Kellin, have engineering-"

Kellin cut him off. "You listen to me, Commander. I can't spare anyone to
fix the transporters. I have every engineer on board preventing this ship
from falling apart at the seams as it is."

"Except me," countered Zjavick. "Let me go down to the transporter room and
beam the Captain aboard."

Captain Kellin looked at him gravely. "You do realise that in a few minutes,
the transporter system may be the only thing left of this ship, do you?"

"You just punch a hole in those shields, sir," Zjavick stated firmly. "I'll
do the rest."

"And I'll help," announced Sandra. "We'll get the Captain and the samples
back."

"I'll come with you!" Zaag yelped, feeling terribly uncomfortable on the
Bridge with its exploding consoles and breaching conduits. At the various
questioning looks he received from Kellin and the others, he added, "Don't
forget: I fixed the life support system on the Aquinas. How hard can a
transporter be?"

Zjavick smiled. "Looks like there's three of us again. Captain?"

Kellin nodded, against better judgement. "Go. We'll make that hole in their
shields for you. Somehow." As if not paying any more attention to Zjavick,
Sandra and Zaag, Kellin looked at the helm officer. "Helm, come about,
course one-seven-nine mark three-five-oh  Tactical, we're going to get a
shot at their ventral section. Make the most of it."

Various "aye sir"s were heard as the two officers did as they were told.
Zjavick, meanwhile gestured for Sandra and Zaag to accompany him to the
turbolift. Before they could enter the lift, though, they lost their balance
and fell to the ground when another phaser blast struck the ship. Badly.
Various consoles and plasma conduits exploded in rapid succession and the
temperature on the Bridge was rising fast due to the uncontrollable fires
that had erupted. It became clear all of a sudden to most officers present
that they didn't have a long time to live.

"Shields have failed!" yelled the Lieutenant at Tactical. It was hard to
make one's voice known above the sound the fire made as it consumed the
bulkhead, the carpet and the consoles. Only Zaag's shriek of panic rose
easily above the background noise. "Hull breach on deck two." The officer
looked at his console for a moment and was unpleasantly surprised.
"Captain... They're targeting the Bridge!"

Before Kellin could respond, the officer added in a panic-stricken voice,
"They're firing!"

"Helm, roll to port!" ordered Kellin hastily. "Fire starboard thrusters.
Initiate-" But he got no further. The Iapetus fired their beam of deadly
energy, which impacted the Sophocles. Part of the ship's hull vaporised the
very second the phaser beam hit the starship, while various shattered hull
fragments were jettisoned into space by the uncontrolled decompression of
various sections of the ship, as well as by the explosions that took place
after EPS conduits in the area had overloaded.

But the Bridge was still there. The helmsman had followed Kellin's orders
only moments before the phaser beam hit, causing major damage to the
starboard dorsal section of the Sophocles, but sparing the Bridge from utter
destruction. That, however, did not mean that there was any less damage. The
blast had after all been very near the Bridge, and it was nothing short of a
miracle that the bulkheads making up the outer hull of the Bridge had not
breached themselves. Debris lay scattered over the floor, as did the
officers -- the shocks following the blast had swept everyone off their
feet, literally.

"Heavy damage, deck two," the Lieutenant at Operations was one of the first
officers to get her bearings again. "We have a hull breach, too. Routing
more power to emergency force field emitters."

"We're sure as hell not going to be able to take much more of this,"
exclaimed the Bolian First Officer by the name of Hles. She had been equally
unable to remain standing on her feet, just as the rest of the crew, and was
now returning to her chair, desperately clinging on to her armrests. She was
more than expecting another hit soon -- in fact, she was certain they would
be struck again any time now. And this time, the Iapetus would not miss
their target.

"They're targeting the Bridge again," reported the Tactical officer.

"Evasive manoeuvres!" shouted Kellin as he, too, grasped his seat firmly for
support. "Brace for impact!"

The impact brought with it a multitude of explosions, and obliterated the
Bridge, vaporising the entire command centre, along with most of the senior
crew of the Sophocles.

That is, it would have if the Romulans hadn't interfered.

Before the Iapetus could fire, Kellin and all the others on the Bridge of
the Sophocles witnessed a hail of green disruptor fire that poured down on
to the modified phaser banks of the enemy vessel. The distraction gave the
crew of the Sophocles enough time to take evasive manoeuvres and even fire a
few shots of themselves.

"Romulans?" Kellin asked once the Sophocles was more or less out of harm's
way -- at least for the moment.

"Confirmed, sir," replied the Lieutenant at Operations. "A badly damaged
Romulan Warbird just decloaked off our port bow and started firing at the
Iapetus. The Iapetus' shields in that section have weakened to thirty-one
percent."

Kellin didn't exactly know what to think of this Romulan interference. He
welcomed it, of course, for without them his lifeless remains would have
floated out into space at this very moment, hovering above the equally
lifeless remains of what used to be his ship. To say he was grateful for
their assistance was an understatement. On the other hand, the old saying
"Beware of Romulans bearing gifts" had proven true on numerous occasions and
couldn't be ignored out of hand. And he had to admit: their aid was one very
helpful gift.

But Kellin wasn't a man who was instantly suspicious of those who had just
saved his ship in such a timely fashion. He would deal with the
ramifications of the Romulans' help later, if they even survived. Although
with the Romulans present, they suddenly stood a much better chance at that.

"We're being hailed, sir. It's the Romulans."

"On screen," Kellin ordered. "Helm, keep switching evasive manoeuvres."

On the main viewer, the image appeared of a Romulan who was unfamiliar to
Kellin. In fact, no one on the Bridge recognised him, which wasn't very
surprising, given the fact that none of Captain Kellin's crew knew many
Romulans. But there were three people on the Bridge who did recognise the
face. To Zjavick, Zaag and Sandra, it was the face of a man they had rather
not seen again. It was ironic, then, that they felt almost ecstatically
relieved at his sudden appearance.

"Vraal." Zjavick said the name in what seemed to be a snarl with surprise
mixed within it. "What are you doing here?"

"Why, I would think it obvious, Commander," Vraal said amusedly. "We have
come to your assistance."

"Commander?" Kellin inquired as he stood up. "Do you know this man?"

"Know him? He nearly killed us." Zjavick was still eyeing Vraal on the
viewer. "He is responsible for the attack on the outpost on Alpha Centauri
III, and he abducted us so we could lead him to the crystals."

"Come now, Commander, let us not dwell on the past." Vraal winced as his
ship was hit by the Iapetus' weapons. "The simple fact is, we cannot obtain
the crystals on our own. Neither can you. You need our help."

Kellin, not one to sit at the sidelines, stepped forward. This was his
Bridge, his viewscreen, and therefore his conversation. "Your help is
appreciated, Commander Vraal," he told the Romulan. "I will make every
effort to make sure that when we retrieve the samples, the Federation shares
any and all research data it obtains with the Romulans."

"Captain!" Zjavick shouted in protest. Kellin waved him off.

"And we will make sure that you make sure of that, Captain,"  said Vraal. He
was confident that, if they got out of the fight alive, he would be able to
steal back the samples from the Sophocles quite easily, so he would settle
for any deal even remotely satisfactory at this point. "But for now, we have
a battle to win. I suggest we get this over with."

"Agreed," Kellin replied. "Concentrate your fire on the ventral section of
the Iapetus. We believe it has sustained more damage there in a previous
fight."

"It has sustained damage there, yes," Vraal confirmed as he held back a
smirk. "We should know -- we inflicted it." He smiled and looked at Zjavick,
Sandra and Zaag. "Give my best to Captain Ayer. Tell him that he owes me a
favour after this." His eyes narrowed. "A big favour."

The conversation ended and the screen returned to the familiar starfield.
Kellin eyed Zjavick. "Better get going, Commander. When we punch through
those shields, I want to beam up Ayer and the samples immediately."

Zjavick nodded in determination. He was going to save his Captain, no matter
what. Kellin was right -- they would deal with Vraal later. Much later, if
Zjavick had anything to do with it. "Understood," he replied and, together
with Sandra and Zaag, walked into the turbolift that awaited them.
"Transporter Room One," Zjavick ordered, and the lift complied.

*****

In Transporter Room One, only on the Iapetus, Captain Ayer was working
frantically at the main console. He had bypassed the security lockouts on
the console, which had been surprisingly easy. He had expected the Iapetus
security department to be a little more careful not to leave unmanned
consoles guarded only by a standard security protocol while there was a
fugitive on the loose. He wondered wryly if perhaps the now-dead security
chief of the Iapetus, a man called Hall, had been the one who kept the
entire department running. Perhaps, he thought, his subordinates within the
security department were understandably distracted and failed to perform
their duties well enough because of it. As Ayer had learned from experience,
no matter how well an officer was trained, the grief that officer felt at
the death of a superior officer or friend could -- and would -- get in the
way of doing one's duty. Was that possibly the reason that he had been able
to get to the transporter room this easily?

It pained him to realise that the death of one being could lead to the safe
escape of another. Hal had been a Starfleet officer, just like Ayer. Donovan
had been furious at Ayer, whom he held responsible for the death of his
friend. Ayer felt his pain -- more physically than emotionally, though. But
Ayer had lost a valued friend on this ship as well. His own security
officer, Watters, had been shot by Captain Donovan as he bravely risked his
own life to save the lives of his fellow officers.

Ayer clenched his fist around the handle of the container in which the
remaining samples were put. Immediately he winced -- tensing his muscles had
become a painful exercise after the beating he had received from Donovan. He
needed to focus all his efforts on trying to escape -- he would be angry
later, he told himself. For now, escape was all that mattered.

The Iapetus was in battle, it seemed. Tremors went through the ship as it
was hit. According to the sensor data Ayer could access from here, there
were two ships attacking the ship he was on: one Romulan, one Starfleet. It
was the Starfleet ship to which he was planning to beam. He considered
himself fortunate indeed to have his escape coincide with such a battle.
Again, he was reminded of the inevitable fact in life that one man's battle
to the death was another man's escape from it. Ayer chose to see this as a
positive occurrence: every negative event that occurred in the universe
resulted in a positive one, at least for others. The fact that this
reasoning could just as easily be turned around -- everything positive
resulted, in one way or another, in something negative -- was conveniently
forgotten.

It didn't take long for Ayer to program the transporter to beam both him and
the samples to the Starfleet ship in battle. According to the sensors, their
shields were down, which obviously facilitated the beaming in. In order to
do so, however, the shields of the Iapetus had to be off line as well.
Fortunately, the Starfleet ship and the Romulans focused their fire on a
specific part of the ventral shields. A breach in those shields was soon to
follow, and Ayer had programmed the transporter to beam him to the other
ship the moment that happened. In the meantime, there was nothing for Ayer
to do but stand on the transporter platform, waiting to be beamed down.

Such plans were, unfortunately, prone to failure whenever someone entered
the transporter room in order to stop the escapee from beaming out. In this
case, that someone turned out to be none other than Captain Donovan. He had
bypassed the lock on the door easily enough -- he was the Captain of this
ship, after all -- and now entered the transporter room with a smug smile on
his face. All chances of escape vanished before Ayer's eyes as he watched
Donovan cancel the program which Ayer had activated on the transporter
console. So much for that plan.

Now that there was no chance that Ayer was beaming anywhere at this moment,
Donovan told himself he could afford to have some fun, now. Against a
damaged Romulan ship and a battered Starfleet Intrepid class, the Iapetus
was hardly at risk. His presence was not required on the Bridge as of yet.

So, with time to spare, he stared straight at Ayer.

And Ayer stared back.

"Ayer."

"Donovan."

No further words were necessary, for Donovan lunged himself at Ayer, who
already expected the attack and blocked it. However, Donovan's thrust was
greater than he had thought possible, and it made him stagger backwards
before falling onto the platform. Once again, they were locked in a struggle
not only for survival, but for possession of the samples as well. While the
Iapetus was pounding its foes with massive phaser blasts, its Captain got
off a couple of powerful punches to his own enemy. But Ayer resisted,
realising that he would never come this close to escaping again. He gave it
all he had, as did the ships that fought to rescue him and retrieve the
samples.

'All they had', however, was not going to be enough.


To be continued,

======