The Continuing Story of Deep Space 2: Page 62
"Warning... secondary conductors reaching maximum allowed heat-tolerance. Warning... Powerconduit alpha2 burned out... Warning... secondary conductors at maximum tolerance... Warning... Warning... Fire extinguishers exhausted...cooling solution is necessary!!!..." The computer kept on repeating one alarm after the other, indicators flickered all around the bridge and the last three hours Jan Roel was running from one controle-panel to another since the neural interlink was fried after a fire following the most recent short-out in the upper engineering room.
"Computer... rerout commandlinks via console three, shut down power on the third deck and cargo-bays, except cargobay nr two and let the all the necessary power flow through the primary powerconduit. Mmm...what now, oh yes, mmm... the cooling problems... Well, Computer… depressurize the jeffries-tubes, that should put the remaining fires out."
"Warning... primary powerconduit can not continuosly sustain all powerdemands... Warning... recommend shutting down of the dri--"COMPUTER SHUT UP!!! I KNOW I KNOW... I've had enough of it... I should have taken another ship. The overhaul was only in its starting phase and now look at it... Wim will kill me slowly and painful, if the ship itself doesn't. And that computer... the attitude, the personality it was given by his programmers,... I HATE IT... Everytime I try to work something out it almost seems to find pleasure in the remarks it yells. As though it was made especially to anoy us... me... whom am I taking to anyhow? I must seem mad... but then, would a mad man make (yes, I..I made it, changed it, molded it, Wim could never come up with as advanced like it is now) He would never succeed in an escape with it and get this far on his own ? NO... I should be commander and not him. I am better in everything!!
Suddenly a loud bang popped his ears and the ship began shivering so hard that he was thrown to the ground... "Warning... primary conductor ruptured and exploded in 2-epsilon section. Hull breach on deck two. Structural integrity fields can't sustain tork." Jan Roel saw through the windows, on the bridge, the lighttraces from the stars fade away an in their place came the regular small points of the myriad number of stars.
"Computer what happened ? "Jan asked turning his head from one window to another, hoping that another window would show what he wanted to show, but no, only dots and dots and dots, everywhere around. "Warpfield collapsed due to irregular poweroutput. Warpdrive is shut down and reagens was, as described in the safety-protocol, exhausted. Anti-matter containers are sealed and shielded...Warning...imminent shut down of integrity field... Warning… hull breach on deck two."
"Computer, what do you recommend?" Jan yelled, not knowing what to do anymore. The ship was on the virge of breaking in halve, the integrityfields are collapsing, power is failing as will soon life-support. The three androids currently working in several points at engineering didn't respond either. That old rubbish from Louis!! Commander Keuleers was going to torture and kill him... "Recommend complete power shut-down and ejection of reactorcore and anti-mattercontainers, request mayday, launch beacon and proceed to lifeboats" Computer don't you know anything else ? "No, the only prescribed thing to do is as recomended" Was the icecold reply.
Jan-Roel couldn't surpress a loud sigh and fell donw backwards in the captain's chair, tears running down his face… it can't finish like this, it can't finish like this,… is all he could say as another explosion, from a ruptured overheated conduit, blew away part of the floor on the Gandhi's bridge and a piece of metal sliced away part of his left hand with which he tried to shield his eyes from the strong lightflash of the blast. While heavy bleeding, the surroundings became more and more of a blur and just before he fel in a deep, dark unconsciousness, he could feal the ship shaking and saw a part of the engines fly past the left window…
"Admiral, this is cmdr Johanson speaking…" And after a short but noticeable delay he continued "The USS Gandhi, or wat is left of it, is immobilised. We are reading, as expected, one life-sign, but very faint. We cannot get correct bio-readings because of the heavy gamma-radiation from the damaged ship sections. Structural integrity has failed and there are already different and increasing ruptures in the hull. The ship won't last long. We have transported the suspect directly to our medical bay."
"Can we salvage the ship, commander ?" Jan immediately asked "No Sir." And this reply was swift and direct. "The ruptures have gone as far as engineering and the deuterium and thrusterfuel storages are critical. I suggest we get the hell out of here. We can tow the Elltuhs but I would advise not to delay any second now!!".
"Very well. Shields at maximum, keep auxiliary power standby, close the aft-blastshields. Captain… Take the Elltuhs in a tractor-beam and go to warp when ready. Then plot a course to the Vega-Minor sector and engage." Very well admiral, on our way, engaging at warp and setting for Warp 5" this time the, calm and seasoned voice of the captain replied.
A blinding flash, silent and deadly surrounded the speeding ship as it jumped to warp. The USS Gandhi, as sturdy as they get, lived through several battles with and against the Jem'Hadar, the Borg, pirates, was no more. It took only one man to pull this off… Keuleers randomly thought back to the times that his small crew survived their ordeal in the other universe… Their adventures… and now part of their memories… just gone… Blown into oblivion… The cadets just sat there… not nowing how to react… feeling strange, releived and sad… They too had spent an important part of their young live on board the seemingly indestructible Gandhi… Gandhi, contradictio in termini, a powerful battleship named after one of the greatest pacifists… Gone.
They all sat there, still, as statues… "We jumped to warp" Luke said, beeing first to break the silence. He pointed to the window in front of him, the first window where the blast shield was lifted. The stars became lines passing the view.
"Admiral, request permission to withdraw to my quarters ?!" Wim asked, already standing up and getting on his way.
"Request denied, sit down and let's get to business. We've lost enough time as it is right now." And Wim, somewhat startled, sat down again.
"Well, I hope I have everyone's attention?!" She quickly looked into the eyes of the people present and, although just a second or two longer, it was quite noticeable that she gave Arthur more attention than the rest...
"THERE are NO species called the 'ELDER'." She concluded and was now certain that she really had all the attention she needed. "It is an elaborate hoax designed by me and some loyal officers at Starfleet, to divert attention from us to these 'Elder' As you all now, there have been and still are a lot of changes in troop movements and policies regarding Starfleet. A pattern is emerging and, almost, a distinct line can be drawn to the loyal troops and a faction, seemingly, dominated by a group of politicians led by a Vulcan named SURUK. They are a bunch of extremists whom believe that, since Starfleet has shown its dominant power in the struggle against the dominion and the Borg, and still a lot of starfleet intact, while most other, allied forces, routed or eliminated, it is the time to 'consolidate' the position of the UFP. Now is, according to them, the time to impose the influence of Earth - Willingly or not!! Now, I strongly believe most of Starfleet is still loyal, but since the recent shifts and transfers these forces have been scattered throughout the Galaxy. At vega-minor, where whe are headed right now, is a small outpost, DS3. We have been concealing, and gathering, some of the still loyal forces. At this moment we have assembled a small battle-fleet of 7 starships, three Akira-class, two Galaxy-class and two support destroyers. We were able to conceal them as beeing reported lost in small fights with the remaining Jem'Hadar ships.
"But why not DS2 ? You surely must know that we allways have been loyal in every possible way ? We even, heavily understaffed, death-defying and outnumbered, took care of the starfleet back-door while Starfleet faught the Dominion. We have all the docking- and repairfacilities and can accomodate up to 15.000 'visitors'. We would have to press them a bit together, but hey, they are soldiers aren't they ?" Arthur changed quickly the tone of the dark conversation. The others at the conference-table didn't say anything but listened with increasing awe.
"Nope, not DS2. Not right now. Vega-Minor is better suited to avoid curious looks, has low traffic and has allways had a very low profile. Unlike DS2, which increasingly caught attention over the years. And that is the last thing we need. I will try to increase the staff aboard your spacestation, so you don't have to rely as mutch on these obsolete androids. Tomorrow, when we arrive at DS3, I will dispatch two platoons of marines and an engineering team, for 'training purposes'. We have to expose those criminals, but our forces are still too weak and the rest too scathered. So that's all the people I can spare for the moment. By the way, Arthur, people from DS2, Jan-Roel was operating under my command. He did an excellent job drawing attention to his insane actions, leaving us the opportunity to rearrange some deployments in some remote, but strategic areas, near the neutral-zone. Tomorrow, at DS3, I will have you meet the captains of the other ships and the CO from the spacestation. We will then coordinate, and plan our next move. Any urgent questions left ? None ? Very well. I again remind you… NOTHING of this meeting is discussed with any other crew, colleague, family, friends… UNDERSTOOD!! Arthur, can we meet in the cantine in, say, an hour ?"
"Ok, admiral. I'll be there" And they all left the ready-room.
"The transpondersignal of the Gandhi has disappeared!! No other signals are detected. No beacon, nothing… It's off the scopes, probably destroyed. The USS Nemesis has changed course, but the last hour gave no readings and probably went out of range. Oh, here it is, a burst of gamma-radiation. The Gandhi is destroyed Joeri." Helena looked away from the panel she was standing at and sat down.
"I am certain that everyone is safe and sound. It has to be. There is no alternative. We keep hoping for the best. That is an order, Helena." Joeri stood up, went to Helena and put his arms on her shoulder. "I will send a message to starfleet-command and tell them what we know already. I will ask for them to set up a search and rescue mission. We are not capable right now to go out there ourselves. Starfleet probably has a ship available. It is best for us to monitor the situation from here. Perhaps you best go to the medical bay, take a sedative and have some sleep. It might do you good." Helena seldom found Joery to be so caring. Still hesitating she stood up and went to the turbolifts.
"Computer, secure connection to Starfleet command, priority one. On Screen! "
"Connection established, priority one ." Was the reply from the computer whom still had the twisted voice.
An unknown face appeared. It was a Vulcan admiral he had never seen before, or had he ? There was a familiarity about it he couldn't place. Not right now anyway.
"This is admiral Tevek. Go ahead." Spoken in the familiar, cold Vulcan way. Not a rinkle moved in his face, no expression what so ever.
"Sir, we strongly believe the USS Gandhi was destroyed, or at least severely damaged in the Vega-sector. I will transmit its last known position. I request a search and rescue. The USS Nemesis was the closest to it but we have no trace of it any more."
"The Nemesis you say ? What was the Gandhi doing at Vega ? Where was the Nemesis when the Gandhi was destroyed ? Do you have a last bearing on the Nemesis ? Isn't Necheyev on board that ship ? Well well… OK Lieutenant… We will dispatch a rescue party. Tevek out!" And the screen went blank and disappeared in its surroundings. Leaving nothing but a blank wall.
Joeri couldn't help but noticing a bad gutt-feeling. It felt strangely wrong contacting starfleet, and then, an admiral responding ? And the way he reacted to the mentioning of Necheyev and the Nemesis ? "Oh no, now I remember! I knew I saw that face before!! He headed the black-ops section on Mars. And now an admiral at San Francisco ?" Quickly Joeri tapped his commbadge "Geert get up here!! Now !! It's important!!"
"It'l better be! On my way" was the quick reply. Joeri could hear Louis in the background yelling to Geert for leaving him unexpected in the middle of a job… Oh boy he will be pissed…
Arthur sat down at the counter and ordered a plain and simple beer. He didn't feel like having one of these fancy drinks lake Romulan ale, or whatever. He was feeling down and it wasn't getting better. The cantina was crowded, people walked in and out. Jan Theys and the cadets where taking a tour of the ship, and Luke and his two companions on the unfortunate Elltuhs were sitting at one of the windows opposite of the counter, having some late lunch with crewmates from the Nemesis they new from their duties on other places. They seemed to be entertaining each other with stories spanning the last decade and a half. Thank god places like this were always large enough. Smalltalk like this, babbling about things long ago were the last thing on the seasoned admiral's mind. The bartender, in front of him, was an android, one of these hightech miracles, powerful, almost identical to humans, if it wasn't for the small square on their forehead, just above their nose (which they didn't need). What a waste. Such a marvel of technology as a barkeeper. This thing would do excellent work on DS2. If Louis saw it he wouldn't hesitate and try to sneak it away to the remote spacestation.He drank his pint of pilsener ale half empty and there she was. Alyanna entered the crowded room and wandered towards Arthur. She changed her clothing into something leisurable and loosened her hair. Now that was a sight that many weren't used to.
"Well well, Alyanna please join me in this drink. It is great to know that at least not all day, not to say all week, was full of shit. One condition, though, before I buy you a drink…"
"And that is…??" While getting seated on a barstool.
"Not A word about the job! Nada, nothing, zero! Okay" And that last word he said with a much softer voice than the rest of that sentence. "No arguments here" And Necheyev ordered a weird looking cocktail with an even weirder name.
"It has been a long time since Paris, Arthur."
"Too long" he replied while looking straight into her blue, cold (almost icy) eyes.
She continued with the same soft voice, which was another thing not many had the pleasure to enjoy "What has happened to us ? I just can't shake the feeling that…" "What ?" There Arthur immediately continued.. "That we could have become an item ? I don't know. You know, that time in Paris I even would have given up Starfleet for you. Nothing would have given me more pleasure than to be with you. Now, years later, putting everything in perspective, you ruined my personal life. Every once in a while when I met someone whom I really liked, I couldn't help but comparing to you, and they wouldn't add up to you. Now I feel like my whole life has past me without me even knowing it." He drank his pint empty and asked the android another one.
Alyanna sat there, not quite expecting this confession. She sipped from her 'cocktail' and put her hand on his hand which was lying next to his pint. "You know what ? It is getting awfully crowded in here, let's go elaborate on this subject in my quarters and have it all out."
"Well, Alyanna, you got me intruiged." And they left. The gang at the window did notice Arthur and Necheyev leaving, and from one joke came another…