Star Trek Constitution: A Romulan For All Seasons (Pt. 1)

[Blooded]

Title - Star Trek Constitution: A Romulan For All Seasons (Pt. 1)
Author- Kyle West
E-Mail - the_6th_day@hotmail.com or lordblooded@yahoo.co.uk
Spoilers - Briefly mentions NEM, but does not spoil anything.
Rating- PG
Disclaimer- "Constitution" and the characters aboard her in this story are created by the author and thus his own property. "Star Trek" and all of it's spin offs are copyright of Paramount. No resemblance is intended to any person alive or dead.



Star Trek: Constitution
Episode 1.1
“A Romulan For All Seasons (Pt. 1)”


TEASER

“Captain, I am detecting an odd power surge within the ship.” Lieutenant Commander Charlie Gardner told his commanding officer.

They were onboard the USS Kingdom, on which Gardner had served for seven years. He was the Chief of Science aboard the vessel, a position he had held for four of his seven years aboard the Kingdom.

“What kind of power surge?” The Asian Captain asked immediately.

Gardner took a moment to reread his sensor readings before replying. “I don’t know, Sir. It appears to be from a system on this ship though.”

The Captain turned his chair back towards the viewscreen, before slapping his commbadge. “Nokinoshi to Engineering, we’re detecting a power surge. What the hell is it?”

“It’s heading towards Bridge systems, Captain.” Gardner told Nokinoshi.

“Engineering here,” came the voice of the Chief Engineer, Kevin NcNilly, “we’re sorting out the problem as we speak. Just a minor surge, Sir, nothing to worry about.”

“Captain, the surge is still heading towards Bridge systems. We could be facing an overload here.” Gardner said, dismissing McNilly’s claims that it was ‘just a minor surge’.

Nokinoshi looked at Gardner, and then looked away again. “McNilly, I need that power surge stopped now.”

“Give me a second, Sir.” McNilly said, before going silent. The Bridge remained silent for almost a minute, before McNilly’s voice could be heard again. “Done, Sir. It’s all sorted.”

Nokinoshi looked at Gardner for confirmation, which Gardner gave with a single nod. “Well done, Lieutenant. Good work.”

“Thank you, Sir.” McNilly replied, before the link went dead.

“Just a minor power surge, people, it was nothing life threatening.” Nokinoshi told his Bridge crew.

“Cap-“ Gardner began, but was cut off when his console exploded and he was shot half way across the Bridge.

Nokinoshi, stunned, quickly climbed out of his chair and knelt down beside Gardner. He was slightly taken back when he saw how bloody Gardner’s face was. It was almost as though all of the skin on his face had been burnt off and all that remained was blood. But he knew all to well that they were just extreme burns to his face.

He quickly felt for a pulse on his neck, and got one. He pulled his hand away from Gardner’s neck, and ignored the blood that now covered his fingers. He slapped his commbadge.

“Nokinoshi to Sickbay, I need a medical team on the Bridge right now! Nokinoshi out.” He looked across the Bridge to his second officer. “Harding, come and help me.”

Harding ran across to his position, and knelt down beside the two. Before he could say anything, the turbolift doors slid open and McNilly burst out onto the Bridge. He looked around the Bridge; first at the destroyed Science Station, and then to the crowd of officers towards the centre of the Bridge. He could just make out a body on the floor. “What the hell happened?” He shouted as he ran over to Nokinoshi.

“I was just about to ask you the same question!” Nokinoshi yelled back as McNilly stopped beside him.

“My God. Charlie?” McNilly asked quietly.

“Yes.” Nokinoshi answered, as the turbolift doors slid open again.

“Out of the way!” The CMO shouted as he and his medics made their way to the wounded officer. The crowd of officers quickly split up, and the Doctor was beside Gardner within seconds. He quickly looked over Gardner’s wounds, before putting his hand up in the air. “Hypospray!” He ordered his nurse, and she instantly put the hypospray into his hand. He pressed the hypospray against Gardner’s neck, and then moved it away. He raised his medical tricorder, and moved it over Gardner’s body. “No change.” He said, more to himself than anyone else on the Bridge. “What happened?”

“There was a power surge. McNilly said he had stopped it, but then seconds later the Science Station exploded in Gardner’s face.” The now standing Captain told the Chief Medical Officer.

“Were we attacked?” The Doctor asked as he took a medical instrument out of his medical box.

“No. It was just some … freak accident.” McNilly said. He still couldn’t understand how it had happened himself.

The turbolift doors opened again, and a heavily pregnant woman walked out onto the Bridge. She was wearing her uniform, despite the fact that Nokinoshi had told her a dozen times that he didn’t want her back on duty until she had given birth to her baby.

Nokinoshi, Harding and McNilly looked over to the turbolift and seemed to become even more distressed when they saw who it was that had just entered the Bridge. They looked at each other, and then Harding quickly got to his feet and ran over to her. He tried to block her view of what was happening in the centre of the Bridge.

“Ensign Gardner? What are you doing on the Bridge? The Captain has told you before that you shouldn’t be concerning yourself with ship matters until you’ve had your baby.” Harding said, still trying to block her view.

“I heard that there was an explosion on the Bridge, and I wanted to make sure that you were all ok.” She said as she tried to see what was happening behind Harding. She could see that Harding was panicking.

“That’s very caring of you, Ensign, but you really shouldn’t be up-“

“Where’s Charlie?” She asked, just before she saw what remained of the Science Station. “Oh my God.”

“Enisgn, please, go back to your quarters.” Harding said as he tried to gently turn her around. She pushed his arms away and ran to the centre of the Bridge as fast as a pregnant woman could. She stopped instantly when she saw Captain Nokinoshi, the Doctor, and some medics, leaning over her husbands body.

“Wh-what ha-happened?” She asked faintly.

Harding stepped up beside her and put an arm around her. “There was a power surge, and it destroyed his station. He was sitting right in front of the station when in happened.”

“One-Two-Three-Four-Five.” The Doctor said as he pushed down on Gardner’s chest repeatedly. After the count of five, Nokinoshi breathed into Gardner’s mouth. There was no response.

“Doctor!” Nokinoshi shouted, urging him to do something else. It was then that he heard the Doctors medical tricorder stop beeping, and instead make a constant ‘beeeeeeeeeeeep’ sound. He dropped his head in defeat.

The Doctor leant over to Gardner’s head and pulled his eyelids closed.

Gardner’s wife felt all her emotions explode. She couldn’t stop shaking or crying. Harding put his other arm around her, and rested her head against his chest. She put her arms around him and squeezed tight. Harding noticed her shaking, and signalled for the Doctor to come over to them.

“Her baby?” The Doctor asked, not really needing confirmation of what Harding was worried about.

Harding nodded in response.

“Nurses, help Mr Harding get Ensign Gardner to Sickbay. Be careful with her though, we don’t want to hurt her baby.” The Doctor ordered quietly. As Harding took Gardner to the turbolift, the Doctor noticed that Captain Nokinoshi looked confused. The Doctor wiped the blood from his hands, and walked towards the Captain. “She’s gone in to early labour.”

“How?” The Captain asked.

“The distress of losing her husband probably.” The Doctor said as he looked at the dead body of Charlie Gardner.

“What about the baby? It will be ok, won’t it?” The Captain asked again.

The Doctor sighed. “I can’t make any guarantees, Captain. If you want my opinion as a human being, I hope the baby will survive. If your asking my medical opinion, then it does not look good for Ensign Gardner’s child.”

Nokinoshi looked down at his feet. “My God.”

The Doctor tried to make a faint smile, but couldn’t. He patted the Captain’s shoulder once, and then ran up to the now empty turbolift. He stepped inside, and then the turbolift doors slid closed, leaving an unbearable silence on the Bridge.

* * *


ACT ONE

Ten years later…

The buzz of the door broke the silence in Captain Alyssa Gardner’s Ready Room. Gardner had been sitting at her desk for almost two hours, and was reading over the crew manifests. She wanted to be familiar with the names of her senior officers by the time she met them all.

At the sound of the buzz, she quickly broke her eye contact with the computer screen and looked over at the doors.

“Enter.” She said. Almost instantly, the doors slid open. “Michael.” She said, with a smile, to the man standing in the doorway.

“Alyssa.” He replied, also with a smile. He put down one of his bags and walked towards her. She climbed out from her chair and walked around to the front of her desk, where she shared a long hug with the Englishman. Once the hug and ended, Michael Harding took a moment to take in her appearance. “You look…fantastic.” He complimented, stepping away from her as he said it.

“I was about to say the same thing about you.” She said, equally as kind. “It’s been, what, four years since we last spoke face to face?” She reminded herself, quite amazed at the amount of time they hadn’t seen each other in.

Harding smiled again. “Yes, four years. But you’ve shot up the command chain since then.” He said, pointing to the four pins on her collar.

Gardner smiled with embarrassment. She felt like a little girl meeting a handsome man for the first time. Harding was definitely handsome, no doubt about that. His dark hair, with streaks of grey in it, made him even more handsome. He had a very attractive smile, not to mention the small fact that he was “gorgeous” as one of Alyssa’s friends had so fondly put it.

However, Alyssa had never thought of Michael in a romantic way, at least she wasn’t aware of doing so. Ever since her husband had died, she had not been aware of any romantic feelings towards anyone. Losing her husband, and then her baby, well it was enough to put anyone off of falling in love ever again.

Funny thing was, before those two events had occurred, Harding and Gardner hadn’t really spoken to each other. Alyssa had always felt that Harding just though of her as ‘Charlie’s Wife’, and not as a normal Starfleet Officer. How ironic it was, that now these two people were close friends and would remain so for the rest of their lives.

Harding had been there for her when her husband and baby had died. It was almost as if being together, when both events had occurred, had formed a bond between Alyssa and Gardner. He had looked after her after the baby had died. In fact, he was spending so much time with her in Sick Bay that Doctor Reynolds had ordered him to his quarters. And then, after she had returned to her own quarters, Alyssa found herself being looked after by Michael again. When he found out that Gardner was intending to leave Starfleet, Michael did his best to make her change her mind. He didn’t want her “throwing her whole life down the drain Charlie would not have wanted her to do that.” And he was right, Charlie wouldn’t have wanted her to give up everything that she had worked for. So she stayed in Starfleet, and for the next six years she served as Science Officer on the USS Kingdom. In those six years, Gardner and Harding had become very close friends. Harding was always looking out for her, and for that she was very thankful. He had even been demoted for disobeying orders from Captain Nokinoshi when he stole a shuttlecraft and went to rescue Gardner and an away team from a group of Klingons. Although his demotion was retracted after some begging from the Senior Officers aboard the Kingdom.

She had left the Kingdom, four years ago, to become first officer aboard the USS Manchester. They had not seen each other since, although they had kept in contact as best they could.

Now here they were, face to face, in her Ready Room. Alyssa felt odd knowing that she was now of a higher rank than Michael.

She looked down at the floor, and then back at him. “My own command. I bet you never thought that the young Ensign Gardner would ever become a Captain?” She mocked.

“On the contrary,” he began, his English accent as smooth as Alyssa had remembered it to be, “I always thought you had promise. Although there was a time I didn’t think I’d even get you to stay in Starfleet.” He joked, and she laughed gently in response.

“I must admit, I was surprised to see that you were still a Commander.” Alyssa told him as she walked around to her replicator. When she got to the replicator, she turned to him. “Coffee, black?”

He nodded in response. “You remember.” He said as she made the requests to her replicator. Thirty seconds later, they were both sipping their drinks.

“So, why are you still a Commander?” She asked, although she was trying not to sound condescending.

Harding smiled to himself, and put his drink down on the table. “I was offered a promotion on two occasions, but the ships on offer didn’t seem like my kind of ships. Funnily enough, I was offered command of the Kingdom six weeks ago.”

“The Kingdom? Nokinoshi finally gave her up did he?” Alyssa joked, remembering how fond Nokinoshi was of the USS Kingdom.

“Yes, he accepted a promotion to Admiral. After serving under him as his First Officer for over a decade, I guess he felt I was worthy of taking over command of the ship.” Harding said as he went to pick up his drink again.

“Why didn’t you accept the promotion?” Alyssa asked, although she already knew the answer.

“After finding out that the newly promoted Captain Alyssa Gardner wanted me as her first officer, how could I turn her down?”

“I feel kind of guilty now. Had I not put in that request for you to be my First Officer, you’d have your own command now.” Alyssa said, feeling depressed all of a sudden. Harding noticed this.

“Alyssa, commanding my own ship is not something I have got to do right now. I’m 41 years old, there is plenty of time for me to command a vessel.” He said to her, trying to make her not feel depressed, which worked. She smiled at his comment.

Harding put his drink down again, and walked around the Ready Room. Alyssa watched him.

“So, this is the USS Constitution? Intrepid Class ships are good ships. They seem to be invincible against the Borg.” He joked, remembering all the stories he had read about the USS Voyager’s encounters with the Borg.

“Well, hopefully we won’t have to test this Intrepid Class ship against the Borg.” She joked back. “Last thing I want is for us to face a Borg Cube.”

“Same here.” Harding agreed. “Although, judging by Admiral Janeway’s final mission report, I doubt the Borg will show their faces in the Alpha Quadrant for a long time yet.”

Harding walked over to the ‘couch’ and sat down. “I’ve been told that Starfleet have already given us an assignment? I have no idea what it is, apart from the fact that it requires us to leave Spacedock in roughly two days.”

Gardner nodded, and picked up a data pad from her desk. She took it over to Harding, and handed to him. As he read over it, Gardner sat next to him. She remained silent for a minute, while he read over the mission details, and only spoke when he finished reading the information. “They just want us to investigate, that’s all.” She told him.

“Doesn’t sound dangerous.” He joked. “When do the rest of the crew come aboard?” He asked, changing the subject slightly.

“Ah, good question.” Alyssa replied, before getting up from the seat. She walked back to her desk and picked up another data pad. She quickly read over it, reminding herself of its details. “Most officers are already aboard while the officers, who have yet to come aboard, are reported to be in the Officers Lounge area of the Spacedock. I have requested that all officers be aboard, by 0700 hours, tomorrow morning.”

“Sounds good.” Harding said as he stood up. He walked over to his bag and picked it up. “If you don’t mind, I’ll go and find my quarters. I want to make sure that all of my luggage has made it to my quarters.”

Alyssa laughed at his last comment, remembering the time when the Kingdom’s senior crew had removed all of Harding’s things from his quarters and sent them to the Cargo Bay. Harding smiled in response to her laughter, and then exited the Ready Room.

For Gardner, things were starting to feel normal again.

* * *

The doors to the Officers Lounge opened, and the number of officers in there instantly took Lieutenant Commander Matthew Adams aback. He hadn’t expected so many of Constitution’s officers to be in the Lounge. In fact, he thought there may have only been several officers there, as he had presumed that most of the officers would have reported for duty aboard the Constitution by now. As Chief Engineer, he really should have reported for duty already but, considering he had only just got to Spacedock, he wasn’t ready to start working yet.

He walked into to room, and shared some nods with certain officers. Obviously, the officers knew who he was. Chief of Engineering was a very prestigious position, so Adams wasn’t particularly surprised that people knew what the Chief Engineer, on their vessel, actually looked like.

He went over to the bar, and ordered a glass of water. The last thing he wanted to do was get drunk the night before he was supposed to start his new job aboard a new ship.

He sipped his drink, and innocently looked around the lounge. He watched small groups of people joking around at tables, and other officers sitting on their own drinking. Obviously, some of the officers were more outgoing than others. As for Adams, well he was usually quite outgoing, always trying his best to be friendly, but at the moment he didn’t really have anyone to talk to.

He turned back to the bar, and sipped his drink again. He looked either way down the bar, and saw people ordering drinks from the under-staffed bar workers. It was only then that he realised he was sitting next to a Brikar. Remembering the crew list he had looked at, he knew who this officer was. He turned his whole body to face him, before speaking. “Tret Romiq?” He asked, although he didn’t need any confirmation from the security officer. After all, there were very few Brikar in Starfleet, so it was obvious that this Brikar was the one listed as the Chief of Tactical and Security onboard Constitution.

The Brikar slowly turned his head to Adams. “Yes?” He replied.

“I’m Lieutenant Commander Matthew Adams.” Adams told him. “Chief of-“

“Engineering.” Romiq finished. “Yes, I know who you are.”

Adams was slightly surprised by how cold Romiq was towards him. He decided to change the topic.

He looked at what Romiq was drinking. “Ah, orange juice? I see I’m not the only one who doesn’t want to drink synthahol the night before going on-duty.”

“No,” Romiq said, “I just like orange juice. I do not drink synthahol.”

“Ah.” Adams said in defeat. Talking to this Brikar was harder than Adams had thought it to be. Before he could say anything else, a blue skinned man cut in-between them and ordered a whiskey. An Andorian, Adams thought to himself.

Expecting the Andorian to leave as soon as he had received his drink, Adams decided not to talk to Romiq until the Andorian had left. But the Andorian didn’t leave.

The blue skinned alien sipped his drink, before looking at Adams and then at Romiq and then back at Adams.

“Oh cheer up eh?” The Andorian said, with a strong cockney accent. “We’re going out to explore space in a matter of hours. And you two are sitting here like a bunch of old grannies. Although my old granny had an odd smell about her, but you too don’t.” He finished.

Adams was confused, although he didn’t show it. Romiq didn’t even appear to be listening.

Adams put his drink down on the table and sat up straight. “’Granny’?” He asked.

“Yeah, what of it?” The Andorian asked, obviously not realising how odd it was for an Andorian to use that word.

Adams let out a small laugh. “Well, ‘granny’ isn’t a word that Andorian’s have been known to use. Not to mention your accent. You’d have had to be living in London for a long time to get an accent like that.”

“Lieutenant, I believe that this is William Harvey.” Romiq said, revealing that he had actually been listening to the conversation.

“That’s right.” Harvey said, and held out his blue hand to Adams. Adams shook his hand.

“Harvey?” Adams asked himself. He was silent for a few seconds, before finally remembering whom the Andorian was. “Oh, William Harvey as in the Constitutions helmsman?” He asked, although he didn’t need any confirmation.

“The one and only.” He said, before downing his whiskey. He coughed out loud, before putting his glass down. “Same please.” He said to the barman.

Adams couldn’t believe he had forgotten who this officer was. After reading his profile, Adams had wanted to meet this William Harvey as soon as possible. He found it odd that he had actually forgotten about the Andorian.

Harvey had been raised on Earth, by Admiral Jonathan Harvey and his wife, after his parents had been killed. According to his records, Harvey had never been to Andoria. In fact, Harvey was probably more human than even some actual humans.

“And you are?” The Andorian asked as he received his drink.

“Lieutenant Commander Matthew Adams.” Adams told him. “Chief Engineer.”

“Ah, so we’ll be working together a lot then?” The Andorian asked, although it seemed as though he was actually stating a fact rather than asking a question. Adams nodded in response.

Harvey sipped his drink and then looked at Romiq, who was looking down at his glass of orange juice. Harvey stared at him for almost half a minute, before turning back to Adams.

“No points for working out who he is.” Harvey said, jokingly. “He’s a Brikar, and Constitution only has one Brikar onboard, so this must be Tret Romiq.” Romiq didn’t say anything, but continued to stare at his glass.

“You’ll have to excuse Mr Romiq,” Adams said, “he’s not the biggest of talkers.”

“You don’t say?” Harvey replied sarcastically. Adams smiled in response. Harvey looked at the Brikar again. “You know what he needs?” He said, but didn’t give Adams a chance to answer. “He needs a couple of hours alone with a woman.”

Adams laughed out loud. He didn’t know Romiq at all, but he had a feeling that Romiq was not interested in what Harvey was suggesting.

“I’m telling you, a night with one of our gorgeous female officers will lighten him up. And if it doesn’t, well then we’ll have to prod him with some hot iron rods.” Harvey said, although Adams wasn’t actually sure if he was joking or not.

“I do not intend to spend the night with one of Constitution’s female officers.” Romiq finally said, but still looking at his glass.

“Male officer then?” Harvey asked. Romiq’s head shot around at Harvey. “Relax, it was a joke.” He said, patting the tactical and security officer on the shoulder. Harvey was surprised at how hard the Brikar’s shoulder was.

Harvey turned back to Adams, who was just finishing off his drink. “The USS Gowerton is in Spacedock for upgrades, and her crew are staying in the officer quarters here at Spacedock. What d’ya say, should we pay their female crew a visit?”

“You are one of a kind, you know that?” Adams said, laughing. He put his glass down. “Ok, I’m in.” He said, and stood up.

The Andorian grinned. “Great.” He replied, before standing up himself. They took a few steps towards the doors, before Harvey turned back to where they had been sitting. “What about you, Lieutenant? Are you going to join us?”

“I have no desire to visit the female officer quarters.” Romiq replied.

Harvey began walking back to the Brikar. “You know, I really am starting to think that you swing the other way.” He said as he got to the Brikar. “Get up, you big lump of rock.” He said, before pulling on Romiq’s arm. Romiq didn’t move. “Oh c’mon! This is your last night before you board the Constitution, enjoy it!”

“Ok.” The Brikar replied, and Harvey’s face lit up. “But only because I do not want to listen to your moans any longer.”

“That’s the way.” Harvey said as Romiq stood up. Harvey and Romiq joined Adams, and then the group made their way out of the lounge.

As the made their way through the doors, Romiq turned his head towards Harvey. “’Swing the other way’?” He asked, to Adams and Harvey’s amusement.

* * *


ACT TWO

The doors to sickbay opened, and Terika Sonna got her first view of the room that she would be spending most of her time in from now on.

She stepped into the room, and saw one of her male medics examining the contents of all the med-kits.

“Doctor Sonna.” He said once he saw her.

“Medic.” She replied in acknowledgement, before walking to the CMO’s office.

She placed her case just inside of the office, and took a moment to examine the room. She felt overwhelmed. Her silver eyes examined the room further, before she moved to the chair behind the desk. She sat in the chair, and kept upright; not slouching at all.

Terika was one of the first Xyerian’s to join Starfleet, and was the first one to actually get a placement on a Starfleet vessel. Her homeworld, Xyeria, had only recently joined the Federation so not many of her species had joined Starfleet yet.

In fact, it was her government that had urged her to join Starfleet in the first place. Had they not urged her to do so, Sonna probably would never have joined Starfleet. She had only been in Starfleet for three months, and had it not been for her medical abilities she would not even be on the Constitution.

She looked over at her ‘suitcase’ and kept a steady eye contact with it. Seconds later, it was moving, though the air, towards her. It stopped above her desk, and then it dropped down onto her desk, before opening. She removed several medical items, and placed them on her desk. Before she had the chance to do anything else, her commbadge beeped. She gently tapped it.

“Sonna here.” She said, although it had come out quieter than she had intended.

“Dr Sonna,” a male voice said, “Captain Gardner has requested that all Senior Officers report to the Conference Room as soon as possible.”

“Thank you for informing me. I will be there in a few minutes.” She replied. “Sonna out.”

Sonna stood up from the chair, and walked around her desk before walking out of the officer. On her way out of Sickbay, she remembered to say goodbye to the medic.

* * *

Lieutenant Adams was the last officer to enter the Conference Room, and quickly apologised for being late. “I was getting myself acquainted with Main Engineering.” He had told Captain Gardner. He quickly sat himself in the empty chair next to Lieutenant Harvey, with Commander Harding sitting on the other side of him.

Alyssa Gardner was sitting in the chair at the head of the table, and only stood up once Adams had sat himself down. “Now that everyone is present,” she began as she stood herself up, “I would like to tell you all about the assignment that Starfleet has given to us.”

Harding also stood up, and stepped over to the computer terminal on the wall. He tapped a control on it, and then a star map appeared. He pointed to one specific planet. “This planet,” he began, “has somehow sent out a distress signal. It was received, by Starfleet, three days ago.”

“That planet is near the Romulan Neutral Zone, right?” Harvey asked the Englishman.

“Correct. It is not a part of the Federation, but its leaders were in talks with Federation Ambassadors over the prospect of it becoming a Federation Planet.” Harding told the other senior officers. “The situation has been made worse by the fact that a Starfleet Admiral is actually on the planet. It was he who sent the distress signal.”

“Are they under attack?” Adams asked.

“We cannot be sure, Lieutenant.” Gardner said, rejoining the conversation. “However, it does seem very likely that that is the case.”

“Romulans?” Harvey asked the Captain.

“We won’t know until we get there.” Harding replied. “But since the incident with the Enterprise, a few months ago, relations with the Romulans have been very fragile.”

“And if it is the Romulans?”

Adams turned around to see who had asked the question, and saw a Vulcan. Lieutenant Turvok, Adams reminded himself.

Turvok had the appearance of most Vulcans. Black hair, the typical Vulcan haircut, and so on. Adams had never actually spoken to a Vulcan male before, but he had spoken to quite a few females of the species. He was looking forward to working with this Vulcan in the future.

“Well, Starfleet have given us permission to do whatever is required to help that planets inhabitants.” Harding replied to the Vulcan.

“So they have basically given us permission to get into a fire fight with a Romulan vessel?” Harvey said, interpreting the First Officers comment. “Great, just great.” He added.

“Like Commander Harding said, we are not certain that it is the Romulans who are responsible.” Gardner reminded the Andorian.

“Of course.” Harvey replied, but the movement of his antennae led Gardner to believe that Harvey had already decided that the Romulans were responsible.

Adams leaned forward in his chair, and faced his Captain. “So, we go to that planet and investigate the distress message? And if we find a starship there, we have permission to blow it out of the sky?”

“Correct, Lieutenant.” Harding answered.

Adams pushed back into his chair. “Other vessels get a simple assignment on their first mission, and yet our first mission could end with us all getting killed.” He said to himself.

“Nobody said space was fair, Lieutenant.” Gardner said, obviously hearing his comment. Gardner began to address everyone in the room. “As every officer has reported for duty, Starfleet have given us permission to leave Spacedock earlier than planned.” She told them. “We will leave in three hours.” Her comment was met my nods of approval from Adams and Harvey. Gardner turned back to Adams again. “Lieutenant, will the warp drive be ready for maximum warp in three hours?”

“She’s read for maximum warp right now, ma’am.” Adams replied with a smile.

“Good. You are all dismissed.” Gardner told them.

Just as all of officers were about to get out of their chairs, Harvey spoke. “Um, Captain, I had been thinking that maybe we should all have some drinks in The Officers Mess at 1900 hours.” He told her. “I thought it would be a good opportunity for us all to get to know each other.” He added at the last second.

“I am not sure that I will be able to make it,” Gardner told him, “but do not let that stop the rest of you from meeting in the Mess Hall.”

“Thank you, Captain.” Harvey said, before standing up. They were all about to leave before Gardner called out to them.

“Can lieutenant’s Harvey, Adams and Romiq please stay behind for a moment?” She asked, although it was more of an order than a request.

Adams and Harvey looked at each other, and then they looked in front of them to see Romiq holding his head. They all turned around; Romiq slower to do so than Adams and Harvey.

Harvey’s antennae were pointing forward, and they were slightly distracting for Adams. “Captain?” The Andorian asked, attempting to sound innocent.

Gardner looked at Harding, who was still present in the room, and then walked around to her chair at the head of the Conference Table. “I hear that the three of you enjoyed a night in the female officers section of the Officer Quarters, last night?”

Harvey and Adams shot glances at each other. “We were just getting to know some of the Gowerton’s crew, ma’am.” Adams lied.

Gardner looked at Romiq, who didn’t look quite with it, and then back at Adams and Harvey. “You were drinking, I suppose?”

Harvey contemplated saying no, but then he remembered just how hung-over Romiq looked. “Yes, Captain.”

“Well next time, you drink synthahol, please do not drink so much.” She said, although Adams got the feeling that the comment was directed to Romiq more than himself and Harvey.

“Yes ma’am. Sorry ma’am.” Adams replied for the three of them.

“Just make sure it doesn’t happen again.” She told them, with a smile. “Dismissed.”

Harvey and Adams nodded and then turned around. They were about to walk out, but Romiq was blocking their way, and he hadn’t turned around yet.

“Oh for crying out loud, Lieutenant.” Harvey said, as he and Adams turned the Brikar around. “We’re going to have to get you to sickbay, you bloody brick.” Harvey could be heard saying, as he and the other two left the Conference Room.

Gardner smiled to Harding, and then they began discussing the upcoming mission.

* * *

“Lieutenant Harvey, are we ready?” Gardner asked as she exited her Ready Room and walked out onto the Bridge.

As she walked to the Captains Chair, she took a long look at the large Bridge. She had never understood why Intrepid-Class vessels had such big Bridges, but that wasn’t to say she didn’t like it. The bigger the bridge, the less chance there was of feeling confined to it.

“Yes, Captain.” Harvey replied from the helm station that was only a few feet in front of the viewscreen.

Gardner finally took her place in the Captains Chair and looked at Harding, who was sitting in the chair beside hers. She away from Harding, and then looked towards the viewscreen. “Viewscreen on.” She ordered.

The viewscreen blinked, and then revealed the inside of the Spacedock. Straight ahead of them was the USS Shield, which was also a new Intrepid-Class ship. The Shield would be ready for departure in a week’s time.

“Bring us around, Lieutenant.” Gardner ordered the Andorian helmsman.

The view on the viewscreen began to change, before settling to show the Spacedock doors. Gardner could see construction pods moving out of the way of Constitution’s path.

“Inform the Control Centre that we are ready to depart, Lieutenant Turvok.” Gardner ordered the Vulcan.

Five seconds later, Turvok replied. “We have permission to depart, Captain.”

Gardner smiled. This was the first time she had ever ordered a ship out of Spacedock, and she was going to enjoy it. She tapped her commbadge. “Gardner to Engineering. Is everything in order?”

“Everything is just fine, ma’am.” The voice of Adams replied.

“Good to hear. Gardner out.” The Captain looked at the viewscreen again, and watched as the doors fully opened. She took a second to think. After those few seconds, she turned to Harding. “You do it.”

“Me?” Harding replied in surprise. “No, this is your moment.”

“You gave up the chance of your own command for me. I want you to do this, and that’s an order.” Gardner said quietly.

Harding smiled at her, and then nodded. He turned back to the viewscreen.

“Take us out, Lieutenant Harvey.” Harding ordered. Gardner, who was still looking at the Englishman, smiled and then looked at the viewscreen to watch her ship leave Spacedock.

The ship moved closer to the doors when, almost 60 seconds later, the whiteness of the inside of Spacedock was replaced by the endless blackness of space. Gardner had never found space to be more beautiful than it was at this moment.

“We’re out of Spacedock, Commander.” The Andorian called out from his station.

“Set course for the co-ordinates that Starfleet have given us,” Harding ordered. “maximum warp.” He finished.

Within seconds, stars streaking past the viewscreen replaced the stillness of space.

* * *


ACT THREE

“So you are sure it is the Romulans?” Adams asked Harvey as they both drank their drinks. They were sitting around a table with Turvok. None of the other Senior Officers had joined them yet.

“Of course.” Harvey replied bluntly. He sipped his vodka again. “I’ve never trusted the Romulans, and never will. There is something mysterious about them, and I’ve never liked mysterious things.”

Adams let out a small laugh, while Turvok did nothing but raise an eyebrow. Harvey was about to add to his comment, but stopped when he saw Tret Romiq enter the room. Harvey laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Adams asked.

“Oh, nothing. Just amused by something, that’s all.” The Andorian replied, as he watched the Brikar go to the bar. Two minutes later, the Brikar was walking to Harvey’s table.

“Lieutenants.” He said as he took a seat. He placed his drink on the table.

“Back to the orange juice?” Adams noted, looking at the content of the glass.

“Yes.” Tret replied. “Synthahol does not have good effects on me.”

Harvey and Adams laughed, while Turvok just raised his eyebrow again. After a few minutes, Adams put his hands on the table and pushed himself into a standing position.

“Anyone want refills?” He asked as he picked up his glass. Harvey nodded, and handed the engineer his glass, while Turvok shook his head. Adams turned away from the table and walked to the bar.

For a few seconds, there was silence around the table. Harvey broke it.

“Turvok, what do you think of the Romulans?” The Andorian asked.

“I do not have an opinion of them, Lieutenant.” The Vulcan replied simply.

“You’re kidding me?” Harvey asked in disbelief. “You were both the same people at one time. You must have an opinion of them.”

“Vulcan’s do not like to discuss their past.” Turvok replied, hinting for Harvey to drop the issue. It was a hint that Harvey took.

Harvey looked past Romiq to see the Officers’ Mess door’s open, and a very attractive woman walk in. It was Dr Sonna.

She stood just inside the room, and surveyed her surroundings. The room was quite dark, and had a ‘cosy’ feel to it. The chairs all looked comfortable and padded, and the room has a red lighting effect, which made it feel more appealing.

Sonna then looked around at the officers. The room was not particularly full, but it still took Sonna a few moments to spot her fellow senior officers. When she did spot the senior officers, she noticed that Lieutenant Harvey was waving for her to join him and a Brikar and Vulcan.

She slowly walked over to them and, when she got to them, Harvey stood up and shook her hand. After shaking her hand, he turned towards the other officers at the table.

“Dr Sonna, this is Lieutenant Turvok.” Harvey told her, and the Vulcan replied with a nod to the Xyerian. “And this is Lieutenant Commander Tret Romiq.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dr Sonna. I have heard much about your work on Xyeria.” The Brikar said as he shook her hand. Terika replied with a short nervous laugh.

“Can I get you a drink, Doctor?” Harvey said, trying his best to make her feel welcome. He knew what it was like to feel like an outsider, considering he had grown up on Earth, so he knew how nervous the Doctor must have been feeling considering that she was representing a whole planet, on Constitution.

“No thank you.” Terika replied as she took a seat.

“Will, here’s your drink.” Adams said as he approached the table. He handed Harvey the square-like glass, which contained a green coloured liquid. Just as he was about to put his own drink on the table, he noticed Terika Sonna sitting in the chair next to his.

He was instantly taken aback. She was beautiful. Her long black hair. Her skin. She was perfect. Damn it Matthew, calm yourself down, Adams ordered himself. She looked at him, and they instantly locked their contact. At first, Adams found her silver eyes to be slightly distracting, but that passed after a few seconds.

Realising that neither of the two were actually going to speak, only stare at each other, Harvey introduced them to each other. “Lieutenant Adams, meet Doctor Sonna.” The Andorian said, although he wasn’t particularly sure that Adams was listening. “Doctor Sonna, meet Lieutenant Adams.”

“You can call me Matthew.” Adams told her.

Harvey, Turvok and Romiq just watched on.

“I’ll try to remember that,” Terika replied, “Matthew.” She finished.

The way she said his name, it was just beautiful.

Matthew, you’re smitten, he thought to himself.

* * *

“We’re approaching the planet, Captain.” Harvey told the Captain from the helm.

“Drop out of warp, Mr Harvey.” Gardner ordered as she stood up from the Captains’ Chair. “Lieutenant Turvok, are you detecting any other vessels?”

There was a few seconds of silence, before Turvok finally replied. “Sensors are not detecting any vessels. However, it is quite possible that any vessels in orbit could be cloaked.”

“Good point.” Harding replied for Gardner. “Go to Yellow Alert.”

“Yes, Commander.” Romiq replied from his station at the back of the Bridge.

Gardner turned to her First Officer. “Michael, I’m going to take down an away team. You have the Bridge.”

Harding nodded in acknowledgment.

Gardner began to walk to the turbolift. “Lieutenant Romiq, you’re with me. Commander, have Lieutenant Adams meet us in Transporter Room 1.

“Yes, Captain.” Harding replied, as the turbolift doors closed.

* * *

The greens of the forest were disturbed when three blue lights appeared from nowhere. Within seconds, those lights had become three humanoids.

As soon as she had rematerialised, Gardner raised her tricorder and took readings of her surroundings.

As Gardner took her readings, Romiq grasped his phaser and raised it.

“Detecting anything out of the normal, ma’am?” Adams asked Gardner.

Gardner sighed. “Something is interfering with the scans. I can’t get proper readings.” The Captain replied.

“Let me look at that.” Adams said, and Gardner passed him the tricorder. For a few minutes, Adams played around with the tricorder; attempting to fix the problem.

“Captain,” Romiq called as he walked over to a bush, “look.”

Gardner turned around to where Romiq was standing, and looked to where Romiq was pointing. There was a foot sticking out from under the bush. Gardner nodded to Romiq, and he then pulled the body out from the bush. As soon as it was out, Romiq dropped the leg and pointed his phaser at the body.

The body was Romulan.

Romiq bent down and put his hand on the Romulans neck. After a few seconds, he turned back to the approaching Gardner. “Dead, Captain.” He told her.

Gardner slapped her commbadge. “Gardner to Constitution. Commander Harding, please beam down to our coordinates, with a security team, ASAP.”
“Yes, Captain.” Harding’s voice replied. “Anything we should be warned about?” He asked.

“We’ve found a Romulan, but he’s dead.” Gardner replied as she signalled Romiq to put the body back in the bush.

“I’ll be there, with a security team, in a few minutes, Captain. Constitution out.”

After Romiq had hidden the body in the bush, Gardner turned her attention back to Adams. She walked over to the engineer, who was still working on the tricorder.

“Any luck, Lieutenant?” Gardner asked, although she knew what his answer would be.

Adams passed her the tricorder. “None at all.” He said in defeat. He looked around their surroundings. “Something is interfering with our readings, and I believe we will have to deactivate that before we can take any readings.”

“Have a team beam down to help you find what is responsible.” Gardner ordered him, as Harding and a security team rematerialised in the same spot that Gardner, Romiq and Adams had. As Adams sent orders to the ship, requesting that a science team be transported down, Gardner and Romiq joined Harding and the security team.

“So it’s the Romulans?” Harding asked as soon as Gardner had got to him.

“Yes.” She replied. “Although we still have no idea what is actually going on down here.”

“True.” Harding replied. “Do you know where the main town is?”

“Our tricorders are being disrupted by something nearby. We’re going to have to just guess where the town is.” Gardner replied, showing the tricorders odd readings to Harding.

“I suggest that you, and another security team from the ship, search for the town. Lieutenant Romiq, this security team and I will search the area for any other Romulans.” Harding said to her, already forming his plan.

“Sounds good to me, Commander.” She replied, before slapping her commbadge. “Gardner to Constitution. Have another security team beam down to our position. Gardner out.”

“We’ll contact you if we encounter any Romulans.” Harding told his commanding officer, before signalling his security team to move into the trees. “Good luck.” He added, before he and Romiq joined the security team.

Just as Harding and his team vanished from sight, another security team appeared beside her.

* * *

Harding quietly moved through the trees, before coming to a stop. Romiq was right beside him. Romiq waved his arm, signalling for the other security officers to follow them.

They had been searching the area for almost two hours and, five minutes earlier, had heard weapon fire. They were quickly, but quietly, making their way to the source of the weapon fire. The sounds were getting louder, so Harding knew they were almost there.

Just as Harding went to take a step forward, a green beam shot right across the front of him, missing him by only a few inches.

The officers instantly took steps backwards, and hid themselves behind the trees. Romiq pointed his phaser in the direction that the plasma beam had come from, and fired.

An amber beam, from Romiq’s phaser, ripped through the air and struck a think branch on a tree. The blast split the branch from the tree, and the branch fell to the ground, crushing a humanoid as it fell.

“The weapon fire is Romulan, Commander.” Tret told the commander as he hid himself behind a large tree.

Before Harding could reply, a red pulse shot past them towards where the Romulans were.

The security team jumped around, and aimed their phasers in the direction of where the weapon fire had come from. Before they could do anything, more green beams shot past them. They were literally in the middle of a firefight.

“Fire at the Romulans!” Harding shouted to his officers, and seconds later they were all shooting in the direction of the Romulans.

Green beams blasted into the trees next to the Starfleet officers, and Harding had to duck more than three times to avoid getting struck in the face.

After more than five minutes of shooting, Harding ordered his men to stand down.

They waited a further minute, waiting for the Romulans to fire again, but they didn’t.

“Lieutenant, check the area.” Harding ordered the Brikar. Romiq quietly ran towards where the Romulans had been, holding his phaser rifle in a firing position.

After a few minutes, Romiq returned.

“There were five dead Romulans, Commander.” Romiq told Harding. “However, I do not know if others were able to escape.”

“Go-“ Harding was about to make a comment, but was cut off when red weapon pulses shot into the trees around them. “Take cover!” He shouted, as the weapon fire continued to engulf them.

Before the Starfleet officers could fire back, more than a dozen humanoids came out of the trees and aimed the weapons at them.

“Don’t move!” One of the men shouted at them. “We have you surrounded.”

Harding looked to Romiq, and then threw his phaser to the ground.

* * *


ACT FOUR

“Let go of us!” Harding shouted at the three, well built, men that were dragging him down a corridor. “We’re here to bloody help you!”

The men said nothing.

Romiq had seven men restraining him, although he still looked like he would be able to break free if called upon to do so.

The men in front of them kicked open a pair of doors, and then Harding, Romiq, and the other officers were thrown into the room.

Harding hit the floor hard, but was on his feet within seconds. He swirled to face the men, and clenched his fists.

“Commander Michael Harding?” A voice said from behind Harding. Harding turned around to see a Starfleet Admiral sat behind a desk.

“Admiral Johansson?” Harding asked in surprise. His attention was then taken by the back of a woman sitting in a chair in front of the Admiral. The woman turned around to Harding once she heard his name.

“Alyssa?” Harding asked in more confusion. He turned his attention back to Johansson. “What the hell do your men think they are doing? We were helping them out there!”

“I’m sorry for how those men reacted towards you, Commander. I assure you that it will never happen again.” Johansson said to him, all to calmly.

“You had better hope so, Admiral.” Harding told him.

“Are you threatening me, Commander?”

“Would I threaten a Starfleet Admiral?” Harding replied innocently.

“I don’t know. Would you?”

“That’s enough.” Gardner shouted. “Commander, the Admiral has apologised for how you were treated, so lets just leave it alone now ok?”

“Ok.” Harding replied as Gardner pulled a chair out for him and Romiq. Once sitting down, he took a moment to cool himself down.

“Admiral, now that Commander Harding is here, can you explain to us what exactly is going on?” Gardner asked.

“Of course.” The Admiral said, and stood up from his chair. He began walking side to side. “Three weeks ago, we were hit by weapon fire from a starship. This continued for three more days.”

Harding leaned in to Gardner. “Captain, that starship may still be in orbit. We should warn the Constitution.”

“You should beam up as soon as the Admiral has told us what exactly is going on.” Gardner told him. Harding nodded, and sat back in his chair. “Carry on, Admiral.”

“After those three days, we thought it had ended. We sent a distress message, requesting help.”

“How?” Harding asked.

“What?”

“How did you send a distress message? This planet doesn’t have the technology to send messages as far as this message went.”

“I helped them to upgrade them.” Johansson told Harding, with more force than one would have expected. “Can I go on?”

Harding nodded.

“But a day later, they started sending troops down. That was how we found out that it was the Romulans. We have been fighting them ever since. We believe that they are beginning an invasion of the Federation.” Johansson finished.

The room remained silent while the officers thought about what Johansson had just told them. After a few minutes, Harding stood up.

“I should return to the ship.” Harding told Gardner, and she nodded. “I’ll inform you of any information we get.”

“Take Lieutenant Romiq with you. The security team can stay with me.” Gardner told her first officer.

“Very well.” Harding said, before slapping his commbadge. “Harding to Constitution. Transport Lieutenant Romiq and myself to transporter room 1.”

Within seconds, Harding and Romiq had vanished. Gardner turned back to the Admiral, who was now sitting down in his chair again.

“Admiral, what do you want us to do?” She asked him.

His response came quicker than Gardner had expected. “Evacuate the city. Beam us aboard your ship.”

“Admiral, we can’t fit that many people on the Constitution. She’s only an Intrepid-Class ship.”

“Take me and some other of the more important people then.” The Admiral told her.

“Admiral-“ Gardner began, but was stopped by the chirp of her commbadge. “Excuse me, Admiral.”

She walked to the back of the room, and her officers turned to face her. She hit her commbadge. “Gardner here.”

“Captain, this is Lieutenant Adams.” Came the engineers reply.

“Adams? What is it?”

“Captain, we’ve found something that may interest you. You need to get down here.”

“I’ll be there in a moment. Gardner out.” Gardner turned back to the Admiral. “I’m sorry, Admiral, but I am needed somewhere else. I will be back as soon as I have met with my engineer.”

“Captain, I would prefer you to stay here with us so that we can discuss what we are going to do the rectify this situation.” The Admiral said with force.

“I’m sorry, Admiral, but my Engineer has requested my presence.” Gardner told him. While she was a bit surprised by how forceful Johansson sounded, Gardner summed it all up to the dire situation he had been in for the last few weeks. She slapped her commbadge. “Gardner to Constitution. Transport the security team and I to Lieutenant Commander Adams’ position.”

“Aye, Captain.” A voice replied.

“Wait!” Johansson shouted as the Starfleet Officers were transported out of the room. Two men came running into the room, and looked at the Admiral. “Find them.” Johansson ordered them.

Within a second, the two men had left the room again, leaving Johansson to punch his desk.

* * *

“Any luck in scanning the towns inhabitants, Ensign?” Harding asked as he walked out onto the Bridge from the turbolift. Romiq walked in behind him, and quickly went to his tactical station.

“No, Commander. We are getting better scans of the surface and where things are located, but we are having no luck in actually find out what those things are.” Ensign Hu Sing, a Chinese born man, replied as Harding sat in his chair at the centre of the Bridge.

“Keep trying.” Harding replied as Harvey left the Captains Chair and took the helm. “Lieutenant Harvey, take us to a higher orbit. Lieutenant Romiq, bring all weapons online.”

“Weapons, Sir?” Harvey asked as he took the Constitution to a higher orbit.

“We have reason to believe that there is a cloaked Romulan vessel in the area. Better have our weapons at the ready now than get caught with our tail between our legs later.” Harding replied to the Andorian helmsman. Harvey laughed slightly at his Commander’s choice of metaphor, but tried to make sure he didn’t laugh too much.

“Still no luck, Commander.” Sing said from his station.

“Keep trying.” Harding said, before turning to the tactical officer. “Lieutenant, do you have a lock on the away teams?”

“Yes, Commander.” Romiq replied as he checked his console. “Their commbadges are not being affected by the interference.”

“That’s convenient.” Harding said to himself.

“Sir?” Harvey asked in confusion, turning his chair to face the Englishman at the same time.

“Everything just seems to convenient down there. The away team find a Romulan body almost as soon as they beam down. We get pulled into a phaser fight between Romulans and the planets inhabitants, yet the inhabitants stop firing as soon as we get involved. And the Admiral, well he just didn’t seem right.” Harding replied, summarising it all in his head at the same time. “I want to know as soon as we have broken through the interference.” Harding said, loudly, to all of his Bridge Crew.

* * *


ACT FIVE

“You requested my presence?” Gardner asked Adams as soon as she materialised next to him.

“Yes, ma’am.” He replied, before signalling for her to follow him. “There is something that I think you should see.” He said, before breaking up a crowd of officers. He pointed down to the ground, and Gardner was surprised to see a silver steel casing in front of her.

“What is it?” Gardner asked as she put her hand on it to feel it.

“We believe that it is a door, Captain.” The Engineer replied.

Gardner removed her hand from it, and took a step backwards. “How did you find it?”

“Well, Lieutenant Turvok noticed a slight increase in interference on this spot. He checked some other areas, but none of them had the same slight increase.” He said, showing her the interference on his own tricorder. Gardner hadn’t even noticed that her Science officer was standing on the other side of her. “So I had some officers dig up this area, and that was then we found this.” Adams finished.

“You’re sure it is a door?” Gardner asked, eyes still focused on the metal object.

“Certain.” Adams replied quickly. “We don’t know what exactly it leads to, but it must be something big. Do you want us to open it?”

Gardner considered whether or not the door should actually be opened, and her decision was leaning towards ‘no’, but something strange was happening on this planet and she wanted answers. “Go ahead, Lieutenant.”

Adams called over two officers, and told them where to direct their phasers. Firing on where Adams had told them, the officers disintegrated four thick catches. Adams squeezed his fingers into a small gap, and tried to pull the door upwards, but without success.

“Help me out, Turvok.” Adams said, trying to get a better grip.

Turvok bent down and dug his fingers into a similar gap and, when he was satisfied with the grip he had, pull the door upwards. Both Adams and Turvok struggled to lift the weight of the door, but Turvok’s added Vulcan strength was enough to open it. Once it was properly open, and with no risk of it falling closed again, Turvok and Adams left go of door.

The hole was full of shadows, but Adams was sure that he could see steps that led downwards. He could hear a faint hum, and was pretty certain that it was coming from a computer.

“Captain, there is a computer just inside.” Adams told her, putting his hand on his phaser as he did so.

“Lieutenant Turvok and I will accompany you.” Gardner said, doing the same with her phaser. She quickly ordered the other officers to patrol the area, before walking down the steps after Adams.

When they had stopped walking down the steps, Adams looked around his surroundings quickly. He couldn’t see a thing, as it was so black, but after a few seconds he noticed a very dim green light.

He jogged over to the green light, and tapped it. A small computer terminal lit up, and Adams gave himself a small smile. He spent 10 seconds tapping commands into the terminal, before a green field lit up but quickly went again. Adams left the terminal, and walked back to Gardner and Turvok.

“What was that?” Gardner asked after seeing the green field.

“A forcefield, ma’am.” Adams answered. “Had we walked one meter forward we would have been killed instantly by the forcefield. I’ve taken it down. I’ve also turned that console offline, so I don’t think there should be any interference on the planets surface. It was a very sophisticated computer, Captain. And it was Romulan.”

Gardner and Turvok pulled their phasers out as soon as Adams finished his sentence, and quickly looked around. “Any chance of some light?” Gardner asked quietly.

“Not here, Captain, but if we keep walking that way we should come to some light very soon.” He replied, pointing in the direction of where the forcefield had been.

Gardner nodded, and all three officers slowly took steps in the direction that Adams had specified.

Three minutes later, they found themselves at the start of a corridor that led to a room with dim lights in it. Although she couldn’t see the room properly, Gardner had a feeling that it was very big.

They took their time to walk down the corridor, and never loosened their grips on their weapons. Just as they were about to make it to the large room, Adams stepped ahead of the Captain. Gardner was very grateful that he was willing to protect his Captain, but part of her felt that he had read her records and found out that she wasn’t particularly great in the tactical area.

Adams stopped dead, causing Gardner to quickly step to the side to avoid walking into her engineer.

“Lieutenant, what is-“ Gardner could not finish her question, as she was instantly concentrated on the gigantic room that they were standing in.

“What the-“ Adams said as he looked at all the metallic beds that had bodies resting on them. He raised his tricorder, and began taking scans while he moved deeper into the room.

Gardner slowly walked further into the room, while Turvok walked behind her. Both Gardner and Turvok were looking at the bodies of people who liked like the humanoid species that lived on the planet. The only sound that could be heard was the echoing of the Starfleet officers’ boots hitting the ground as they walked.

“Captain,” Adams called out, but didn’t finish. Gardner quickly walked over to Adams, who was standing beside a bed and staring at it. Turvok followed Gardner, but moved slower.

Gardner got to Adams but didn’t even get out a word before she was taken by surprise by the body on the bed. It was the body of a man who was probably in his early 50’s. His hair was brown, but contained a lot of green.

“He’s a Starfleet Admiral.” Adams said, noting the pins on the collar of the mans uniform.

“Yes. This is Admiral Johansson. I was with him a few minutes ago.” Gardner said, remembering her odd meeting with the Norwegian human.

“Whoever you were with, Captain, it wasn’t Admiral Johansson. This man has been dead for over two weeks.” Adams told her, after looking at the readings on his tricorder. Gardner looked at him in surprise, even Turvok appeared to show signs of surprise. Adams waved his free arm around the room. “They’re all dead.”

* * *

“Captain, we’re getting readings from the planet!” Ensign Hu Sing shouted from his station.

Harding turned in his chair to face the stand-in science officer. “What information-“

“Sir,” Sing said, cutting off the First Officer. “That planets inhabitants,”

“Yes?” Harding asked impatiently, urging the Chinese man to finish his sentence.

“They’re all Romulan.” Sing finished.

“What?!” Harding replied loudly, and quickly ran over to the science station. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, Sir, unless the sensors are lying.” Sing responded, pointing Harding to the sensor readings.

“How can this be?” Harding asked quietly in surprise. Sing was about to say something, but was beaten by Romiq.

“Sir, the viewscreen.” The Brikar called out from his station.

Harding turned around to face the viewscreen, and felt his world collapsing around him when he saw three Romulan Warbirds decloaking in front of the Constitution.

“Bloody hell.” Harvey said after the warbirds had fully decloaked.

To Be Continued…

[ray gower]

Okay. I have read it.

And it is not bad. Not quite as inventive (yet) as some of your earlier efforts. But you do appear to have worked on the problems from earlier. There is much less repetition, for instance.

Just one thought- For Gardner to be the Chief Science Officer for five years, then she is unlikely to be an Ensign, unless there has ben a major cull of senior officers and the ship is as lost as Voyager. Nor, as an Ensign, could she give orders. Try Lt Commander?

[Blooded]

Thanks for reading it.

Not my best fan fic, but I'm happy with how it turned out. Part Two is still being written, but it is already a hell of a lot better than this one.

Gardner's rank? Well, that was something I didn't put too much thought too. My bad

Also, Victory episode 4 is up on this site. It is the best episode to date, and I'm hoping i could get some detailed feedback on it...