The Price of Latinum (Part 3 of 3)

Posted on 18 Aug 2022 @ 4:58pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Ensign Mimi & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Oliver Sylver & Petty Officer 1st Class T'Lin & Petty Officer 1st Class Ember Locksley & Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeysa Zeror & Petty Officer 3rd Class Helliun 'Hel' Inant
Edited on on 18 Aug 2022 @ 5:02pm

3,653 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: Alcyone Sector, USS Galileo-A
Timeline: MD 10, 1355 hrs

Previously, on The Price of Latinum (Part 2)...

"That's not good enough John," Naime hissed in response then replying to Inaros "He's conscious but I don't know if he's able to walk on his own."

"Get to sickbay," Leon's voice came through, firm. "We have a triage going on here."

"We're on our way." Naime closed the channel and glanced at Hollenday, from what she'd heard of the man she felt like she could already predict his response "No playing the hero now, I'll get you to sickbay, you're what's important to me right now."

“Y’all can bring me up on charges later but an untested refit being on high speed runs and then engaged with a heavy Farengi cruiser we need to keep this ship goin’ and we don’t have but a handful of nut busters”

"No intention of bringing you up on charges Hollenday, just bringing you up to sickbay. Now stop complaining and let's try to get you up." Naime offered him a hand and a shoulder up. From where she was standing it didn't look like John could walk much at all and if she had to drag him all the way to sickbay then that is what she would do "I'm not giving you a choice here John, we're going now!"

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Deck 1 - Bridge

Rice let out a breath as the doors of the turbolift opened, and she turned her head to look at Doctor Locksley. "Sylver took a whip to him, but went down heavy. He hasn't regained consciousness, but looks like he is breathing."

Ember nodded, moving quickly to the fallen helm officer. She knelt next to him, scanning with one hand even as the other opened the medkit up. Aria was right, he was breathing and it was the blow to the head that had rendered him unconscious, not the whip. She didn't confirm though; she let Rice get on with her own problems, while she attended to hers.

The large Klingon warrior at the front of Galileo's bridge tightened his fists with a mixture of anticipation and irritation. He swiveled in his small chair to face the young Starfleet lieutenant. "The time to strike is now!" Kuran said to Rice. "What are you waiting for?!" He'd received his orders from his own captain but now it seemed the Federation was too concerned with their wounded to fight.

Aria shot the Klingon a look, lifting a hand. Her eyes went to the displays, taking a deeper breath. She was making sure everything was ready, and it looked like it as Engineering reported in. Good. They'd need the power for it. No point going into combat if you couldn't move, or have shields. "Let's do this," she said, lowering her hand. "Kuran, initiate attack pattern. T'Lin, Klingon ships have weaker shields, let's make sure the Praxis keeps her, target the Ferengi to disable. We will not blow her up, Commander Tarin is on it. Mimi, divert any power you can to our shields and weapons, push Engineering as hard as you must."

"Aye ma'am." T'Lin was starting to sound like her normal self. She quickly input the needed routines and patterns.

"I will give you as much as I dare." Mimi replied, with the warp core offline the fusion reactors were working hard to keep even the basic systems online, the emergency phaser batteries would keep the weapons going for a little while but they were useless without power to keep them charged. And the shields were even worse.

Kuran grunted with satisfaction when the acknowledgements finally came in. "Executing now!" he yelled, forcefully pressing a large blinking button on his LCARS console. Galileo suddenly lurched forward, her impulse engine glowing red hot as she accelerated to full combat speed within a matter of seconds. The ship's inertial dampers took a second to compensate during which the entire crew was subjected to several Gs of inertia, pushing them into the rear of their seats for those lucky enough to be on the bridge.

In space, the Nova-class gained velocity then quickly came about to intercept the stern of the Klingon battlecruiser. Collision alerts sounded within the Starfleet ship as Galileo deftly maneuvered mere meters below the nacelle wing of its allied companion to cover its advance. The warship Praxis continued to lay down disruptor fire on the Ferengi marauder and pelt its dwindling shields while the small science ship emerged from its cover to strike.

"Fire! Now!" bellowed Kuran from the helm while he manipulated the conn's controls.

"Firing." T'Lin focused what the Galileo had on the same area of shield as the Klingon ship.

Turquoise warp plasma still leaked from the Nova-class' damaged starboard nacelle but didn't prevent the science vessel from re-engaging. On the Vulcan science officer's command, a full salvo of forward phaser fire emanated from the tiny ship's dorsal and ventral arrays. Firing in rapid succession, eight bright streaks of orange energy beams penetrated through the Ferengi marauder's outer hull. More secondary detonations followed on impact, this time within the D'Kora-class' impulse reactor and engineering section. The vessel momentarily lost primary power and rolled to port while its internal lighting flickered then went dark.

"Sirs," T'Lin just figured to include the Klingon as well. "The Ferengi ship has lost propulsion and currently their main power is offline."

At Galileo's helm, Kuran sneered with satisfaction following the successful attack run. He prepared for another followup strike by entering several manual commands into the helm console, then initiated them. The Nova-class sharply broke to port and rolled on its Z-axis in a preventative defensive maneuver, then swiftly started to turn back to the marauder. The Klingon commander was piloting the Starfleet science vessel as he would a Bird of Prey, and with equal skill.

"Weapons!" Kuran ordered after receiving the Vulcan's report. "Target their life support systems...we will cripple them permanently!"

"Belay that," Aria cut in, her eyes firm. Taking out the life support was a death sentence she was not willing to just hand out. "Hail the Ferengi vessel. We will give them a chance to surrender. If not...well, that is their choice. Kuran, let your Captain know my plan, and my pride of fighting side by side with you, with honour."

"Yes Lieutenant Rice!" T'Lin replied. She moved her hand to reroute the navigation if need be.

"Aye Sir." Mimi tapped at the ops console sending out the request to communicate with the Ferengi, she was quite surprised when they actually decided to respond.

Long moments passed before Galileo's main viewscreen blinked and their hail was finally acknowledged. The bridge of the Ferengi marauder appeared, in a state of chaos. In the background, multiple pulsing warning strobes flashed and were accompanied by sparking consoles masked in electrical smoke. DaiMon Nok scrambled into the foreground, disheveled with a large bleeding gash on his bulbous forehead. "What do you want, Star-Fleet?! Are you here to put me to my death, like that insufferable Klingon captain?"

"My name is Lieutenant Rice, Commanding Officer of the USS Galileo," Aria said, watching the Ferengi with calm features. "You will unconditionally surrender to us. You will tell your crew to stand down, lower their arms. You will return anyone you have taken from our ships, alive and unharmed. If you comply, we will give you your lives, but you will face the legal consequences for what you have done. What do you say?" She doubted she would be popular with the Klingons, but it was a battle she would have to fight, using the agreements between the Federation and the Klingon Empire.

The urgent yelling from Ferengi bridge officers interrupted the DaiMon's attention. He barked back at them, hissing then flailing his arms before turning back to the viewscreen. "Yes, yes! I accept your terms!" Nok frantically looked over his shoulder again then back. "The Klingons are beaming over and killing us...cutting off our ears as trophies! Stop this now and I'll give you all the gold-pressed latinum we have on board!!"

Kuran swiftly stood at Galileo's helm console and pointed an accusing finger at the Ferengi captain. "No! You stole a cloaking device from the Imperial Fleet and fled, like a coward! We have tracked you down across the stars and now we will collect our bounty on your head!" He stepped forward in front of his console to look the distressed thief directly in his eyes. "Death is an honorable sentence compared to what your crew will face on Rura Penthe..."

Aria made a movement to Mimi, for her to cut the transmission. She stood, looking at Kuran. "I understand your anger," she finally said. "I would like to speak to your Captain, to understand the situation better. For now, would it be acceptable to halt the killings?" it was a balance. If the Ferengi were thieves, and under Klingon law there may not be much she could do. But she wanted to open the discussion, if possible. And to do that, she needed Kuran's Captain.

When the Federation lieutenant interjected, Kuran's lips flared and his sharp crooked teeth bared. He walked with long and fast strides from the helm to the command well where he stopped less than a foot from the short chief of security. "I am my captain's representative. His authority extends to me!" he rebuked, staring down intimidatingly to the smaller acting captain. "There is nothing more you need to understand. My people will prosecute that petaQ and his crew as we desire...this is our bounty!"

"I am not disagreeing," Aria said, holding his eyes without flinching. "But this is a fight we both fought. According to the Treaty of Alliance, we can't interfere on Klingon internal affairs. But we are here now, together. There is a story behind this, a glorious story of your hunt for your bounty. I do not take that away from you. As we are now involved, I too have to follow our code of honour. And that means asking for clemency in this moment, to secure those that were taken from us."

Kuran's dark Klingon eyes stared into Rice's, once again determining the strength of her conviction and authority. The left side of his lip curled and he scowled again while stepping away from her and back to his station. "Hail my ship!"

Mimi looked at Kuran for several moments before glancing across to Aria, she didn't want to take any orders from a Klingon.

Aria looked and Mimi and gave her a nod, to do it, a small smile coming to her. Mimi had her back, she appreciated it a lot. She touched her pocket, her fingers brushing against the old, cracked commbadge there. Old and no longer active, it was now little more than a piece of metal. But she still carried it.

Her ears twitching slightly, Mimi tapped the comm system again opening a channel to the Klingon ship.

"Captain," Kuran firmly spoke to his commander, "this Federation commander has done her duty but is now asking for...clemency towards the Ferengi. She wishes to recover one of her own who has been taken and is still on board the marauder..."

KehG's face was prominent and stoic. He mindfully stroked his goatee amid thought while background reports across his bridge were shouted from one station to another in native Klingon. "I will speak with her," reverberated his elderly, throaty voice.

Aria stepped forward, watching KehG's face. She kept her back straight, her pale blue eyes watching him. "I do not seek to interfere in Klingon affairs," she said, her voice firm, but also respectful. This was a Klingon warrior, and she spoke to him as such. "I do seek to recover a member of the crew from the Ferengi. You have hunted them to the ends of the galaxy. Songs will be sung about this victory, and I am honoured that we will have been a small part the end of it. Your enemy is defeated, your property will be reclaimed. I ask for the lives of the remaining. For them to live in shame, so they can tell the tales of their defeat, and be a warning towards others attempting to take what is rightfully yours."

The Klingon captain leaned forward in his chair, his face growing larger on the already-large Galileo viewscreen. His brow creased with apparent disdain at Rice's platitudes. But then, after a pause of silence, he bared his sharp teeth and revealed an unexpected smile. "You speak well...for a Human! But you cannot deceive me with your flattery. Starfleet's diplomatic tactics are well known to us." Leaning back in his command chair, KehG revealed the current situation in its entirety. "The Ferengi vessel is disabled and we have recovered your officer...the female commander. She is in our medical bay as we speak. The remaining baktag on their starship are being transferred to my brigs...if they cooperate." He grunted while glancing away in private thought.

"Since we are allies and you fought with us in battle, I will allow you to negotiate the terms of these Ferengi's fates with me," KehG decided. "The Federation values life. Even the life of criminals!" He scowled at the dishonorable concept. "I invite you and your officers aboard my battlecruiser for negotiations and to return your commander. We await your signal." KehG raised a hand to his operations officer and the comms channel cut out.

Aria took a deeper breath, her eyes going to Kuran. She gave him a respectful nod. "I will need to make sure repairs start here before I can beam over. A few minutes, at most," she said, wanting him to know she was not fobbing him off. It was a great honour, to be invited onboard a Klingon vessel. She turned to look at the bridge crew, her hand briefly touching her uniform, feeling the outline of a small metal object in her pocket. "Ensign Mimi, get the repair crews going. I want the warp core back online as soon as possible, but you are going to beam over with me, so leave the orders with Engineering." She looked at Locksley, frowning. "If possible, I want Sylver back at his post by the time I get back. If not possible, get Petty Officer Ni-ya up here to fill in." She remember the woman having some piloting experience from some time in her life before Starfleet. Aria took a moment, looking at what was left of the bridge crew. "T'Lin, you have the bridge. Let Stark know we do not need to go to the Ferengi vessel, but we will need to secure the Ferengi we have on this ship."

Mimi turned to Aria sharply but found herself unwilling to voice the words floating around her mind, especially with one of the Klingons within earshot. Having just a few Klingons on the ship was already making her agitated but being ordered to go onto a ship full of them would be a test of her resolve. "Aye Sir." She eventually said and turned back to the Ops console, her tail twitching nervously. =/\= Bridge to engineering.=/\=

"Engineering here," Hel replied, sounding somewhat surprised at being contacted.

"We are sending a team over to the Klingon vessel," Mimi started to explain what she needed from the engineers, she recognised Hel's voice on the other end and guessed that Chief Naime was either busy or elsewhere. "I need power for transporters and the warp core back on line as soon as possible."

There was a moment of what could be interpreted as stunned silence. "We'll have to divert some power from other areas for the transporters. And I can't give you a time on the warp core being up and running, but we will get to that straight away."

"Understood, do what you can, bridge out." Mimi closed the channel to engineering before dishing out some other instructions to her Ops staff.

T’Lin was surprised at the order especially with a full officer present. She cast a glance quickly to Mimi but figured this was not the time to bring up Fleet regulations. “Aye Lieutenant.” T’Lin made her way to the command chair.

Ember let out a soft breath with a shake of her head as she looked down to the pilot. What was it with officers thinking that medicine worked to a schedule? She pressed a hypo to Oliver's neck to wake him, gripping his shoulder reassuringly. "Sylver...you're on the bridge, you were knocked out during a fight."

Sylver's body jerked as his eyes flew open, his hand going up as if to defend himself. Her words sunk in as the world came into focus again, and he grimaced. "Ferengi..." he said, quietly, blinking to clear the blurry vision. But if there was a doctor, it meant that the fighting was over.

"That's...under control," Locksley reloaded the hypospray and pressed it to his neck, sighing softly. "But now we have Klingons involved and some kind of stand off with the Ferengi. And I don't think you're up to taking the helm," she scanned him, shaking her head at the clear concussion he was sporting. She started to heal the fracture in his arm, glancing to him. "Do you think you can make it to Sickbay with my help?" she asked, not wanting to use the energy for a site to site transport if they could save it.

He nodded, looking at her for a moment before he looked around, trying to figure out what was happening. "I can walk," he said, the hypo helping him focus. He still hurt, but he could focus his eyes now and see what was happening.

Ember nodded, finishing patching up his arm before taking his other, carefully helping him up. "Here, let me help," she said firmly, not taking no for an answer as she took some of his weight...his not inconsiderable weight...leading him towards the lift.

Aria looked at Kuran and Mimi, giving a nod. "Follow me," she said, heading to the turbolift. "We'll go to the transporter room." Ideally, she would have cleaned herself up. Blood was drying on her, her hair was a mess and she felt mucky. But another part of her recognised that fresh from battle may be a good look in front of the Klingons.

At the helm, Commander Kuran was pleased to finally vacate the bridge of the inferior Federation science vessel. Afterall, his duty had been done. He'd led his boarding parties to save the fragile Starfleet crew from Ferengi captivity then even piloted their frigate in combat. Galileo's sterile scent and bright lighting was beginning to wane on him, and so he rose from the conn and vigorously walked toward the turbolift with purpose. "...If I spend another minute on this ship, I will lose all of my sense of smell..." he complained.

"I would happily lose my sense of smell before beaming onto one of your ships." Mimi remarked as she followed Aria and the Klingon off the bridge though not before stopping at a weapons locker to grab a phaser, normally she'd never use one but on a ship full of Klingons she wouldn't hesitate.


Deck 2 - Transporter Room 1

One level below the bridge, the door to Transporter Room 1 swished open. Inside was Petty Officer Goldie Brown, the young blond operations officer who'd made her way to her new station moments after the ship-to-ship transporter cycle was approved. "Sirs," she said to the small cadre of officers - both Starfleet and Klingon. Standing behind the primary console, the woman tapped at the interface then reported the latest status update. "Praxis is standing by to receive you. Ready on your signal."

Aria nodded, moving onto the transporter pad, her hands straightening her uniform jacket with a quick tug. She looked at Mimi for a moment before giving her a small but reassuring smile.

Passing Aria, Mimi noticed the small smile. She returned it but it wasn't a pleasant one, she was tense and nervous and it definitely showed. She deliberately stood behind Kuran ready to make him the first to go if anything happened.

Commander Kuran stepped up into the bright hue of overhead lights within the transporter pad. Being a veteran warrior, he knew exactly how to interpret the felinoid's body language. The Operations ensign was remarkably easy to read. So, when Mimi took her place on her designated circle, he covertly spoke to her while keeping his eyes straight ahead. "...Your phaser will not save you on a Klingon starship..." was his simple warning.

"Energize," Aria said, her vision changing at the transporter beams. Some people closed their eyes. Aria liked to see the world change, that brief second when everything was just shiny, pretty sparks.

To be Continued...

[OFF]

--

DaiMon Nok
Commanding Officer
Ferengi Marauder
[PNPC Saalm]

Commander Kuran
First Officer
IKS Praxis
[PNPC Saalm]

Captain KehG
Commanding Officer
IKS Praxis
[PNPC Saalm]

Lieutenant Aria Rice
Acting XO/Acting CO/Chief Security Officer
USS Galileo-A

PO3 Heliun 'Hel' Inant
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Oliver Sylver
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

Ensign Mimi
Deputy Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

PO3 Jeysa Zeror
Captain's Yeoman
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Mimi]

Dr. Ember Locksley
Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

PO1 T'Lin
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Warraquim]

RSS Feed