Organization: Penn State University
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 15:19:58 EST
From: <CGM101@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: The Vigilante part 3b

general disclaimers apply

All poetry is taken from from "The Collected Works of Robert Service"
Without permission but great respect

I would like to express my special thanks to Sujay Shaunak for his help and
encouragement in writing IIIB & IIIC.  It turned out better than I would
have thought possible.

***********************
Lawrence E. Nagy
in care of:
cgm101@psuvm.psu.edu

********************************************



                   T H E   V I G I L A N T E

                              IIIB

                         "The Warriors"
                          (continued)


Hark to the ewe that bore him:
  "What had muddied the strain?
Never his brothers before him
  Showed the hint of a stain."
Hark to the tups and wethers;
  Hark to the old gray ram:
"We're all of us white, but he's black as night,
  And he'll never be worth a damn."
            "The Black Sheep"
            Robert W. Service





    Six figures appeared in a standard Federation transporter
room.   A female Klingon and a male Kalonian stood on either
side of 2 human males who were kneeling over the form of a
Vulcan.  They all had portable, full-face breathers strapped or
held to their faces.
    The sixth stood in the center of the semicircle.  She
was a female with shoulder length straight black hair and
had the portable breather strapped properly over her face.
All six wore one piece, snug fitting, flat gray body suits
with wires and connectors sticking out from them.
    The woman made an obvious move towards a tricorder-like
device she was holding.  She managed to press one button.
    A security officer saw this and yelled "Look out,  she's
got a weapon!" and fired his phaser at her.
    The doors to the transporter room snapped opened and a blue
skinned Andorian rushed in, phaser in hand.  He was just in time
to see the Klingon female pull off her mask, growling, and rush
toward the security man.
    The Andorian's shot hit first as the security man's second
shot immediately followed.  The Klingon grunted and dropped to
one knee.
    "Identify yourselves." the Andorian hissed, his antennae
twitching slightly.
    Anndrea Whitecloud looked at the blue-skinned figure.  Blue
antennae protruded from his white hair.  His teeth were bared
and gleamed white.  She watched as his thumb clicked on the
phaser, she knew that he was increasing the setting.
    The transporter room had quite a few other people in it.
The most prominent were the mustard-yellow of security although
there were a couple of blue-shirts and the red-shirted
blue-skinned humanoid.
    "We have injured. Get your doctors to work." Whitecloud
demanded.
     The Andorian hissed as he motioned to the doctor and her
assistant. He was about to address the female when a Yeoman
interrupted him.
    "Sir! Bridge reports that a high intensity explosion has
just been registered on the planet's surface."
    "Coordinates? The team? " he was veritably snarling.
    "Bridge reports no survivors." he continued "Sir, I believe
that she activated some form of detonation device."
    Bronsdale piped in, "Sir, she just killed Assali, Meede and
Albert!"
    "You had no business in putting an away team down there."
Whitecloud said.
    The Andorian motioned with his hand.  "Add extra security,
even to those in sickbay." his voice deathly quiet, his gaze
locked with that of Whitecloud.  The doctor began moving the
others out.
    "But sir!! She is responsible for ..."
    A beam from the Andorian's phaser cut the man short sending
him senseless.  He then stared back at the female remaining on
the transporter pad.  "That is quite enough Yeoman", he hissed.
    "And that is quite enough as well, LIEUTENANT Qhasmon, you
will return to the bridge NOW, I will speak with you later."
    A new man stepped into the transporter room. Now, only
himself and three security men remained in the room with
Whitecloud.  One of the three was the unconscious form of the
man the Andorian had shot.
    Whitecloud instinctively came to attention when she saw the
pips in the man's collar.  His features were almost youthful,
save for the steely glint in his blue eyes and the firmness he
had held in his voice.
    "Sir, the woman ..."  one of the men began.
    "That is enough Yeoman Upaw. I am aware of the situation."
The Captain was terse with the Yeoman.
    The Captain looked at the woman, she appeared to be about as
tall as he, around 5' 8".  She had darkly tanned skin and
straight black hair, her eyes were dark and defiant.  She had
sharp angular features that would be considered beautiful and
exotic in almost any human culture, as well as some non-human
ones.
    "Your name, please." The Captain said formally.
    "Anndrea Smith." She was not a very creative liar.
    "Very well, 'Ms. Smith', Security officer Seneschal will
escort you to medical, then we shall meet.  We have much to
discuss."
    "Yes, Sir." she replied reflexively.
    The Captain stared ahead at the transporter, feeling older.
He was aware of the Yeoman at the transporter control panel.
"Attend to Mr. .... Bronsdale.." Captain Percival Malory turned
and left, leaving Upaw to help a now groggy Yeoman Bronsdale.

--------------

    Chief Swanson watched the three appear on the transporter.
She still found it difficult to get used to the speed of these
new transporters.  There was minimal of the standard sparkling,
the subject just suddenly appeared.
    The landing party appeared in very unusual poses, they were
covering or averting their eyes as if from a bright light.  She
wasn't surprised, however, since she had to time it extremely
close.  She not only had to wait for the destruct command from
the Drop Ship survivors, but also had to time it so she pulled
them out just before the effects of the explosion reached them.
Otherwise, the Delphi may have noticed them 'die' early and
investigate further which is something they were trying to
avoid.
    "Excellent timing," the shortest one began as he pulled off
his helmet.  When he got it clear he looked at the tall blond
female human standing behind the control panel.  "Who are you,
and why have you brought us here?".
    "Sir," another said "I don't think this is the Delphi."
They all instinctively reached for their phasers, the short one
finding his first.
    "I wish you wouldn't do that." said a voice from the door.
It was a medium-built, bald, pointed-eared humanoid who was also
wearing the same baggy black uniform.  With him, was half a
dozen others all wearing the same uniform.  They carried large,
strange looking phasers and wore no rank insignia.  The little
insignia they were wearing, however, did appear to be standard
Star Fleet.
    "Mister, I demand an explanation, who are you people?." said
the tallest of the three.
    At the same time the short human was trying to raise the
Delphi on his communicator.
    "That won't be necessary," said the Vulcan, "this room is
quite shielded."
    The man continued to try to contact his ship but to no
avail.  The three didn't lower their weapons, at first, while
they assessed the situation.  What finally forced their decision
was not the security pointing their own phasers at them, but the
transporter chief holding her hand over a button on the console.
Anyone with respect for the transporter, knew better than to get
an operator disturbed with them while standing on the pad.
    As soon as they lowered their phasers two of the six who had
entered with the Volcan circulated relieving them of their
equipment.  They then took off the remainder of their
environmental suits.
    "Now I'd like to welcome you aboard, I'm Commander Norton"
the Vulcan said.  "I apologize for abruptly transporting you
like we did.  But the Captain didn't see any other option."
    The tallest stepped forward and said "I am Commander Assali,
First Officer of the U.S.S. Delphi."  he then indicated the
others "and these are Lieutenant Meede, and Midshipmen Albert.
Now, we'd like to know just who you people are, who's in charge
and why we can not contact our ship."
    "All in due time, Commander." Norton said "Now if you'd
follow these men to your temporary quarters.  I'm sure, that
after that storm you'd like to get cleaned up."
    "Sir," Commander Assali said the word sarcastically "We are
not going anywhere until we get some answers."
    Norton hesitated for a minute then produced an old style
communicator from one his large pockets and spoke quietly into
it.  When he was finished he snapped it shut and dropped it back
into the pocket.  "Commander, All I am authorized to tell you,
at this time, is that The Delphi stumbled onto a top secret Star
Fleet project during a training accident.  Much information
beyond that, would make you and your crew extremely difficult to
safely release, especially if your going to be stationed in this
quadrant."
    "I'm sorry, that is not sufficient, Sir." Lieutenant Meede
said.
    Norton thought for a second then said "Okay if that's the
way you want it.  Chief Swanson, I'd like you to totally disable
the transporter in this room." He then turned to one of his men
and said "Make sure all computer interface is disconnected
except for the food replicator.
    "Gentlemen, this is not one of the more comfortable quarters
to billet in and the head has minimal wash facilities.  But
since this is were you wish to remain, we're flexible."
    The three turned and whispered among themselves then Assali
turned back to Commander Norton "Standard quarters will be
sufficient until such time we are returned to the Delphi."
    The Vulcan smiled and said "Very good".

    The security personnel escorted the three out of the
transporter room.  On the trip to their quarters they saw a some
more of the ship.  The hallways were narrow, spartin, and purely
utilitarian.  The room next to the transporter room they arrived
in, had another transporter.  They could see as they walked by
that the room was extremely large and had several large open
doors into it.  It appeared to have facilities to transport over
one hundred personnel at a time, but that seemed ridiculous.
    They arrived at the door to a billet, which slid open
crisply to admit them.  "The quarters in this section are
designed for four occupants.  The replicators can provide for
any of your needs, so make yourselves comfortable."  said one of
the guards.
    "We are confined to these quarters?" asked the Lieutenant.
    "In essence, yes" said the security guard. "The Captain and
First Officer would like to speak to you soon and hopefully
answer some of your questions"  At that, the guards waited for
their guests to enter their quarters and then took their
stations on either side of the door.

-----------

    "Sir, We have the transmission from Star Base 89" said the
Delphi's communications officer, Lt. Penthrach.
    "Thank you Mr Penthrach" Captain Malory said to his intercom
in his ready room.  He then sat back in his chair and punched
the files up on his console. He had been awaiting this
transmission since getting the retina scans.
    Each file was accompanied by the usual poor quality visual.
Captain Malory browsed through the first page of each file.

              NAME    : William Jacob Collins
              RANK    : Ensign
              POSITION: Flight Specialist
                        U.S.S. AMBARTSUMIAN NCC-3817
              NOTES   : Ship destroyed by engine core
                        failure, all hands lost
                        Star-date 46998.

              NAME    : Joseph Franz
              RANK    : Yoeman
              POSITION: Security Specialist
                        U.S.S. EL CID NCC-534-B
              NOTES   : Killed in action during boarder
                        skirmish with Cardaseans
                        Star-date 47310.

              NAME    : S'Turlek
              RANK    : Ensign
              POSITION: Junior Science Officer
                        U.S.S. TONTI NCC-599
              NOTES   : Missing assumed dead after shuttle
                        disappeared near Neutral Zone
                        Star-date 47329.

              NAME    : Anndrea Clay-Dove Whitecloud
              RANK    : Lieutenant, Junior Grade
              POSITION: Assistant Chief of Security
                        U.S.S. REGULUS NCC-1840-C
              NOTES   : Killed in Transporter accident
                        Star-date 47360.

              From KLINGON Imperial Fleet HQ
              NAME    : K'Lerana Valerta Krogg
              RANK    : Commander
              POSITION: Command Pilot
                        Reconnaissance ship TRARLON
              NOTES   : Ship Lost while on classified mission.


              SUBJECT : KALONIAN National;
                        Star Fleet has no record of the Kalonian
                        subject.

              NOTE    : The Kalonian Defense Force (K.D.F)
                        maintains it's policy to protect the
                        privacy of all it's Citizens.

Captain Malory reread the information, then made a decision.

 ----------

    "Who are these people?" Lieutenant Meede stormed.
    "We'll find out soon enough." Commander Assali said coolly.
    "We need to exercise utmost caution. We have been abducted
by an unknown force.  This clearly constitutes a hostile act.
If these were Star Fleet officers, they sure as HELL wouldn't
treat other officers in such a manner.  I suggest we make mental
preparations for becoming hostages... That 'Commander Norton',
looked suspiciously Romulan to me..."

    The storm had left them quite grimy even under the
environment suits so they were taking turns using the head.
Midshipman Albert came walking out freshly showered.  The two
officers were too busy planning to get cleaned up so he had
taken the first shift in the shower, it did feel good.  Since
his uniform had gotten quite dirty, he ordered a fresh one from
the replicator.  Before putting it on he took some time to look
through the drawers near the replicator.
    "Sirs, you might want to see this." he pulled out a
laminated card that was stuck in the back of one of the draws.

Welcome aboard the U.S.S. Vigilante.

--- There will be a mandatory meeting for all personnel at
    0830 in shuttle bay 1.  This should give all a chance to
    get settled.  All crew assignments will be handed out at
    this time.

--- Ship's uniforms are available from the replicators in
    each room just program required size.  Standard Star
    Fleet issue boots are appropriate. (a slight wait may be
    necessary, full power is currently not on line)

--- Please make yourself as comfortable as possible,
    as soon as more quarters are finished they will be
    assigned.

    The two officers looked at the card then Assali said "It
really doesn't tell us much.  Except maybe the name of the
ship."
    "It fits" Meede interjected "That original hail we
heard was garbled, but could have been directed towards a
vessel named 'Vigilante'."
    "Sirs, perhaps you should use the showers before they decide
to talk to us." Albert suggested.
    "Thank you Mr Albert, I almost forgot"  Assali said as he
turned toward the head.

    Assali, Meede, and Albert were escorted through the
corridors of the Vigilante.  The three were perfectly groomed in
standard Star Fleet uniforms.  The few others they saw in the
hallways wore the same baggy, black uniform with several large
'cargo' pockets.  Everyone they saw walked crisply and stiff,
all seemed to be overly disciplined and didn't ever give them a
second glance.
    Meede raised an eyebrow at this behavior. His abductors had
just moved up several notches on his personal 'danger scale'.

    They were lead into a good sized room for the ones they had
glimpsed.  It was flat gray like the rest of the ship with a
U-shaped table that had eight chairs at it.  Other chairs were
also placed around the perimeter of the room.  In the center of
the U was a single chair positioned to face all seated at the
table.
    "Its a court room." Assali said after they had stood in it
for a minute.
    "Are we being put a trial?" Albert asked.
    Meede simply scowled.
    Just then the door slid open and Commander Norton walked in
accompanied by a short Kalonian female and a good sized human
male.  The man was almost 2 meters tall, had relatively wide
shouders and long graying black hair thinning on top and pulled
back into a pony tail.
    Meede looked at the man then said "I thought you were dead,"
he hesitated for a moment, and then added "Sir."
    "It's good to see you again too, Mr Meede" the man said.
    Assali turned to the Lieutenant "You know this man?".
    "Yes sir, I served briefly under him aboard the Nielsen
before I was promoted to the Charlemagne."
    "Wasn't the Nielsen part of the armada destroyed at
Wolf-359?" Albert asked.
    "Please Allow me to introduce myself," the man said,
ignoring the question, and offered his had to Assali "I'm
Captain Anthony and I'd like to personally welcome you aboard
the U.S.S. Vigilante," he then indicated the Kalonian with him
"and this is my first officer, Commander Tarva."
    She didn't offer her hand, just slightly nodded toward them.
    "Now, I suppose you have a lot of questions, why don't you
have a seat and we'll see if we can answer any of them." Anthony
indicated the chairs at the table as he and Commander Tarva
headed for them.
    "Sir, if you really are a commissioned Star Fleet ship, why
have you not allowed us to contact the Delphi?" Meede asked
before everybody was fully seated.
    "I thought that would be the first question you'd ask."
Anthony said with a grin.  "As I'm sure Mr Norton has advised
you, the U.S.S. Vigilante is a top secret project.  We are under
strict orders not to reveal ourselves to anybody.  We are to
remain anonymous until such time we have completed the mission
for which we were designed and are training for.  If we were to
simply allow you to call the Delphi that would be in direct
violation of one of our primary mission directives."
    "Its interesting that our sensors didn't directly detect you
as we approached the planet ...", Assali lead.
    "As I've said, we are an experimental ship, I really can't
get into our 'stealth' capabilities."
    The three sat and looked at each other for a minute.
"Captain, aren't you concerned that the Delphi is looking for
us?"  Commander Assali asked somewhat incredulously.
    Tarva fielded this one "We were aware that the remains of
the transport that had crashed would be destroyed after the
survivors were evacuated.  We pulled you off the planet just
before you would have been vaporized by the blast.  Hopefully,
the Delphi will think that you were killed."
    "Hopefully, they'll think we were killed?  You want them to
abandon us?  Then what, you keep us against our will, kill us
yourselves, what?"  Meede had assumed his head of security
authoritative tone.
    Tarva had been a security Chief for too long to be impressed
by Meede's posturing.  After a few months of him, Anthony
had also become use to it.
    Anthony replied "Lieutenant, our intention was to keep you
from harm, if we wanted you dead, we would have ignored you."
    "Which we almost did." Tarva lied.
    Assali had been quietly listening to the exchange and
finally spoke up.  "The way I see it then, you are looking
for some way to exchange us for your missing crew without
revealing yourselves.  Does that sum up the situation? "
    "Most of it." Anthony said.
    "There is a bit more we must accomplish to clean up this
incident properly."  Tarva added.
    "And that is?" Meede asked.
    "We must insure that all computer and other records of the
Delphi's foray into AR-24 are erased or altered to exclude any
and all contact with the Vigilante and her personnel."  Tarva
replied casually.
    Midshipman Albert blurted out "That's impossible...Sir."  he
then turned to Assali "Sir, Captain Malory would never go for
altering the computer records, would he?"
    Tarva looked at Assali "Is the Captain of the Delphi
Percival Malory?"
    Assali scrutinized the recognition in Tarva's face "Yes,
Percival Malory is the Captain of the U.S.S. Delphi, do you know
him?"
    "After Wolf-359, the New Aukland rescued me from an escape
pod.  The Captain was Percival Malory, we actually became quite
good friends." She said this more to Anthony than Commander
Assali.
    Anthony turned to Tarva "Between Commander Assali and
yourself we may be able to convince Captain Malory...."
    "Hold that thought," Assali interrupted "convince Captain
Malory about what, I'm not convinced myself. You're going to
have to tell and show me a lot more than you have so far to get
me to try to convince my Captain to do something that is
strictly against policy."
    "Sir," Meede said to Assali "Are you saying that you may
even be considering asking Captain Malory to forge his logs?"
    "Lieutenant," Anthony said "You must learn to look beyond
the rules and regulations of an individual ship to the security
of the entire Federation."
    Meede scoffed "Are you trying to tell us that this project
is that important?"
    "We are." Tarva answered seriously.
    Assali motioned for Meede to remain silent and thought for a
moment.  "Let's try to compromise some here.  Show me what you
can of this ship.  If you convince me, then I'll do what I can.
At no time, however, will I involve myself in lying to or
attempting to deceive my commanding officer, is that clear."

    A pipping sound came from the intercom.  "Bridge to Captain
Anthony."
    "Go ahead."
    "Sir, We read the Delphi powering up, she's probably
preparing to get under way." came a female voice.
    "Have we obtained our new orbit?" Tarva said to the speaker.
    "Yes, sir."
    "Very good, we'll be right up." Anthony stood followed by
the rest at the table.  "Mr Norton, would you have someone
escort Lieutenant Meede and Mr Albert back to their quarters."
    Norton who had remained standing by the door acknowledged
the command with a slight nod and a "Yes, Sir".
    Anthony toward Assali "Won't you please accompany me to the
Bridge?"
    "Sir, I must protest," Meede interjected "I don't know that
we should allow ourselves to be split up by these people."
    "Mr Meede," Assali turned to the man "If we were not safe,
there's not much we could do about it.  So I suggest we take
them at face value until they give us reason to believe
otherwise.  Is that clear?"
    "Yes, sir"
    "Now, return to our quarters and wait for me."
    With that, the two groups exited the briefing room.

-----------

    Andrea Whitecloud wore a standard yellow Star Fleet
uniform with no rank or insignia.  She sat at one end of a table
in a relatively large conference room.  Sitting at the table
were the remaining command staff of the USS Delphi.  Among them
were of course Captain Malory, Doctor Mayak and the second in
command of security, now chief of security, Lieutenant Anna
Zalvosta.
    "Ms. Smith" the Captain was saying "Let me get this
straight, you claim that you and your crew are the survivors of
a private registry transport?"
    "That's correct."
    "And the name of the transport was The Vigilante"
    "Actually it was the Klingon equivalent, but essentially
yes."
    "Don't you think that VIGILANTE is a rather severe name for
a transport?" Malory was calmly paging through notes on his
terminal, notes totally unrelated to what was going on at
present.
    "Not for the make up of the crew."  Whitecloud leaned
casually to one side with her hands laying loosely in her lap.
    "Now there's something I'd like to talk about." Malory said
as if suddenly finding something interesting. "It is most
intriguing, that you accomplished getting a Kalonian and a
Klingon to work together.  The only time I've ever seen some in
a room together, they were trying to kill each other.
    "It's amazing how much hatred and prejudices can be put
aside if the price is right."  Whitecloud seemed bored with the
whole process.
    "Then your cargo was extremely valuable?"
    "Some would think so."
    "What exactly was your cargo?"
    "An assortment of things."
    Malory seemed to ignore her answers and just continued
with his questions "If it was so valuable, why did you destroy
it."
    "Who said I destroyed it?"
    "Then what was that you were doing with the tri-corder after
you were beamed up?" interjected the new chief of security.
    "I was in the process of activating a homing beacon when we
were transported, I was just trying to finish what I had
started."
    "That was some homing beacon." Lieutenant Zalvosta said
incredulously.
    "The tricorder must have malfunctioned when YOUR man lost
his cool.  The tri-corder also had a destruct function in it,
but that is not what I was activating."
    "Once again you try to blame US for the death of the away
team." Malory was starting to show some slight agitation.
    "I lost more then THREE comrades in that crash, I have to
live with that.  I am not going to accept the blame for the
death of three people who were some place they shouldn't have
been when someone else caused a malfunction.  As far as I'm
concerned, I'm more of a witness than a participant to the
matter."  Whitecloud had straighten out and had both hands palms
down on the table and was staring directly at Malory.
    Before Malory could respond a piping sound came over the
intercom.  "Captain, Bridge here".
    "Go a head Mr Qhasmon."
    "Sir, we are ready to get under way."
    "Stand by.", Malory rose and stood for a moment beside his
chair, gazing at his 'guest'.
    "I am sure that we will speak again, Miss...Smith, before we
reach Star Base 89 at any rate...."
    "Starbase 89?" Whitecloud asked.
    "Yes, the Admiral has shown a specific interest in you and
your crew." Malory clapped his hand atop his chair and abruptly
left the meeting room.

-----------

    "One thing still puzzles me.." Assali said to Anthony as
they entered the turbo-lift to the bridge.
    "What's that?  BRIDGE" Captain Anthony stood in a casual at
ease posture.
    Assali's knees buckled slightly from the extreme
acceleration of the lift.  "I've been trying to figure out why
none of our sensors spotted your ship and why we had such a hard
time zeroing in on your crew."
    "Mr Assali," Anthony said in mock shock.  "Like we've said,
this is a secret project it wouldn't do us any good if any
passing Star Ship could see us, Would it?"  The door to the
turbo lift opened and Assali and Anthony stepped onto the
bridge.
    On the main screen was the image of the Delphi.  The
Vigilante had come up behind and above it.  The angle and the
distance made the single warp drive ship seem extremely small.
    "My God," Assali said "you're cloaked, aren't you?."
    Anthony smiled "Yea, I suppose we are.  Ensign O'Malley
report."
    "Sir, the Delphi has maintained its shields and appears to
be preparing to leave orbit."
    "If they leave orbit, we're going to have a tougher time
fixing this problem."  Anthony stood behind O'Malley looking at
the ship on the screen.
    "What were your plans with my ship?" Assali asked concerned.
    Anthony looked at the Delphi's first officer "It doesn't
matter, Malory seems to be playing it safe."
    "He does seem to have a sixth sense"  Assali agreed with a
smile.  He knew that Malory was anything but safe in his style
of Captaining.
    Tarva walked up behind them from the other lift "That does
seem to be a major requirement for a Star Fleet Captain."
    The Delphi changed its orbit and vectored away from the
planet.  It made an abrupt half turn and changed course for a
little more than an instant. Then it resumed its course and
heading.  Within seconds it was out of sight as it increased to
maximum impulse power.
    "What kind of maneuver was that?" Anthony asked curiously.
    Assali smiled "I call it a 'Crazy Qhasmon'"
    "What's the point?" Anthony was not satisfied.
    Assali merely shrugged his shoulders.
    "You know Andorians ..." he offered.
    A Vulcan seated at the science station along the rear
perimeter of the bridge spoke up "Sir,"
    "Yes, Lieutenant S'Erlet."  The Captain turned his attention
to his young Science Officer.
    "I have been monitoring the Delphi as closely as possible. I
have ... noted ... that it seems to have a very sophisticated
scanner emission pattern.  There seems to be some problems with
it however, as periodically, the scanner bandwith gets flooded
with garbage.  Akin to resonance echoes, Sir.
     I would think that this may lead to some problems with
their navigational sensors. "
     Tarva didn't quite agree with S'Erlet's opinion, "I doubt
that a Captain would have his ship prepare for warp speed if he
felt that his sensors  were faulty ...."  Tarva kept her other
suspicions silent.
    Assali continued to remain sailent on their speculations.
    "Ensign O'Malley, at current course what is their best
destination?"  Anthony asked.
    "Sir, current course will set them directly to Star Base
89."
    Anthony turned to Assali "Commander, would Star Base 89 be
an appropriate destination for the Delphi at this time?"
    Assali continued to simply stand mute.
    "What would be the average cruising speed of a Pentalia
class ship?"
    "Warp six" Tarva replied.
    "Plot a wide course to Star Base 89 best speed.  We'll just
go and wait for them." Anthony said.
    "Best speed, Sir?" O'Malley confirmed.
    "Best Speed" Tarva confirmed.
    "Aye, sir" O'Malley worked a few buttons.  "Course plotted
and laid in, Sir"
    "Engage." Anthony stood casually with his hands in his
jacket pockets.
    The helmsman next to O'Malley pushed a few buttons and the
Vigilante vectored out of orbit just like the Delphi except for
the 'Crazy Qhasmon'.  "Full impulse" he reported.
    "We're clear for warp" O'Malley said after a couple minutes.
    "Engage" Tarva said from the Captain's chair.
    The star field on the screen suddenly blurred to the
standard 'rushing stars' optical illusion of warp.  "Best Speed
attained" the helmsman said immediately.
    "Very good, notify me when we arrive at Star Base 89"
Anthony then turned to Assali "Won't you join me in the briefing
room?" and headed toward a door near one of the Turbo Lifts.
Assali turned and followed the Captain off the bridge.

    Anthony had to layout their mission to Assali in some
detail.  He, however, did not tell him of the new technology or
how they planned to get to the Borg in a timely manner.  The
fewest number of details revealed the better, if only he could
totally convince Assali.
    The toughest part was getting Assali to agree to try to
convince Malory on his word alone with out revealing the
Vigilante or its nature.
    Assali still didn't have any idea what the ship looked like.
All windows he'd seen merely looked into empty space and Anthony
was very tight lipped about details of the ship.
    "Captain," Assali said "You have more or less convinced me
of your sincerity and the importance of your mission.  My
question remains, how are you going to contact the Delphi or
alter it's logs after it arrives at Star Base 89?"
    "Actually near a Star Base a Star Ship is likely to have
minimum security especially when it comes to having its shields
lowered for transport."
    "And what do you plan to do when the Delphi lowers its
shields?" Assali was again showing proper concern for his ship.
    Anthony smiled and said "Not the same thing we would have
done if they had dropped their shields at AR-24."
    Assali scowled at the evasion.
    "Okay, here's my plan, since it involves you and will
require your help..."

-----------

    Whitecloud had been assigned a small but nice room.  In
fact, it was a lot nicer than what she had on the Vigilante, but
it wasn't home.  She had been allowed only limited contact with
the rest of her crew, they were being treated equally well.  She
wondered with a flashing grin how close their stories were to
hers.
    Anndrea Whitecloud had lost faith in a Supreme Being since
she was disenchanted on Infiniti West, now she found herself
praying that The Vigilante had picked up the Delphi's landing
party.  With the death of S'Turlek she had lost a total of 13 of
the original 18.  It would be difficult for even a seasoned
commander to deal with, it being her first solo command made it
even more difficult.
    Whitecloud walked to her door which she had to signal to
have the guard open.  A guard stood in the doorway looking at
her "What do you want?" he said.
    "I Was told that you had exercise facilities that could be
made available to me." Whitecloud said as pleasantly as she
could.
    "One moment" he said cursly.  She could see him reach to his
communicator pin as the door slid shut between them.
    A few moments later the door slid open again and the guard
still stood in the same position. "Facilities are currently
available, are you ready at this time?"
    "Yes, that would be fine" she grabbed the bag of exercise
clothes she had been issued and headed out the door.  A pair of
guards fell in behind her.

     Anndrea had been working out on the strength training
equipment for about ten minutes when a couple of young security
officers, not that she had seen an older security officer on the
DELPHI yet, entered the rec room.
    "You're the one, aren't you?" one of them said as they
approached.
    Whitecloud who had been in a reclined position sat up and
pushed hair off of her face.  "I'm sorry were you talking to me,
Ensign?" she said in an authoritative voice.
    "Your the one who killed the away team.  What are you doing
in here?  Shouldn't you be in the brig?" one of them said
harshly.
    "What caused that terrible accident is still under
investigation." Whitecloud said as she stood up.
    "Were the hell do you think your going?" the other said and
pushed Whitecloud hard enough to make her sit back down on the
bench.  "You kill two security officers and the First Officer,
now your in the security training room acting like you own the
place."
    Whitecloud stood up quickly and stared at the speaker then
hissed "Mister, if you touch me again, I will KILL you, is that
understood?"
    The other one grabbed her by the arm and spun her towards
him as he said "How dare you threaten Star Fleet officers".
    Whitecloud grabbed the man's arm, pulled him free of her and
twisted the arm around his back.  The man groaned from the
sudden stretched then screamed as his arm and shoulder broke and
and his arm started to double back on itself.
    As soon as his friend screamed the other man rushed at them.
Whitecloud kicked straight out at him landing square in the
chest doubling him over and throwing him across the room.
    Whitecloud stood behind the man and continued applying
pressure.  As he screamed she whispered icily "Death is easy if
you know how to apply it."
    In response to the man's screams, the guards had come
running into the room.  "What's going on here!" one of them
yelled as they approached.
    Whitecloud let the man go and pushed him to the floor.  "Why
did you let these two in, you know I'm not allowed company."
    One guard held a phaser on Whitecloud while the other knelt
down to examine the security man she had just released.  His arm
was still twisted up behind his back and he lay on his stomach
moaning.  The guard with the phaser touched his communicator pin
and said "Security and medical to Security Training Room one."

-----------

    Anndrea Whitecloud stood in the conference room in a stiff
at ease posture.  Seated at the table were Captain Malory, Chief
of Security Anna Zalvosta, and Doctor Mayak.  Standing to either
side of Whitecloud but against the walls were two large security
men.
    "Ms. Smith," Malory began "we are here to determine the
circumstances around the incident earlier today in the Training
Room.  In your own words what exactly happened there today?"
    "Sir, I was approached at a time when I was led to believe
that I was to remain segregated from the rest of your crew."
Whitecloud began "They accosted me in a rough and threatening
manner.  I told these ENSIGNS to leave me alone, instead they
persisted in confronting me.  Since they were not suppose to be
there, I knew they didn't just 'happen on me'.  They had planned
to confront me and were in collusion with my guards.  It was
obvious that they had plans for me, I was not about to allow
them to follow through."
    "The Ensigns of course, tell a different story." Captain
Malory said "I tend to believe the truth is some where in the
middle."
    "Captain, Sir," Lieutenant Zalvosta said "do you believe
that four Star Fleet officers are lying?"
    The Captain turned to his new Chief of Security "I believe
that both parties' perceptions of events may be slightly
clouded."  Then to Mayak "Doctor, what is the status of the
injured crewman?"
    The doctor looked down at a chart in front of her "The
gentleman with the injured arm should be pretty much healed in a
day or two.  His arm, however, may never be exactly right, but
we'll see.  The other merely had the wind knocked out of him,
he's fine."
    "Thank you, Doctor.  Ms Zalvosta inform all personnel
involved that appropriate disciplinary action will be taken."
Malory then spoke to the whole room "Ms Smith please take a
seat, the rest are dismissed."
    "But Sir..." one of Whitecloud's guards started.
    "But nothing, everyone is dismissed I wish to talk privately
with Ms Smith."
    "Aye, Sir." the other guard said and they headed out of the
room with the rest.
    After Whitecloud had taken a seat across from Malory he said
"Lieutenant Whitecloud, I believe it is time we ended this
charade."
    "I'm sorry, you must have me mistaken for somebody else."
Whitecloud said calmly.
    Malory pushed a few buttons on the console in front of him.
The screen at one end of the room came on with the first page of
Whitecloud's file from Star Base 89.  The visual was poor, as
was standard, but it was obviously Whitecloud. "Are you trying
to deny that this is you."
    Whitecloud thought for a second and said very seriously
"Sir, I'm hoping you will realize that the persons in those
files can't be on this ship."
    "I must know why three of my best officers were killed.  I
have a lot of questions I need answered, before I can accept
that you were never here."
    "Tell me what you have." Whitecloud seemed to be offering to
answer the questions.
    Malory paged through his notes on the terminal for a few
minutes while he considered the options.  Finally he said "The
explosion?"
    "We could not leave top secret equipment to be found by
anybody.  Policy."
    "What really happened?"
    "You stumbled on to a top secrete project just when things
weren't going well"
    Malory continued to page through his notes "Your still being
extremely evasive, Lieutenant."
    "I have my orders."
    "And what do your orders say about answering to Admirals
under direct questioning?"
    "I'm willing to pay the price of keeping my orders."
    Malory frowned at her stubbornness, this wasn't getting any
where.  He knew that she was hiding a lot but was she sincere
about the secrecy.  If she was telling the truth and Star Fleet
was involved, then he shouldn't be asking her questions.
    "I'll leave the rest of the questions to the Admiral, maybe
you'll be able to talk more freely with him."  Malory said then
turned off his console.
    "I don't think so." Whitecloud said matter of factly.
    "Well, we'll find out very soon."
    The conversation was interrupted by the comm pipping on
"Captain, Bridge here".
    "Go ahead, Mr Penthrach"
    "Sir, preparing to drop out of warp for approach to Star
Base 89."
    "Very good, I'll be there in a few minutes."
    "Bridge out."

-----------

    The Vigilante had taken up a place off of Star Base 89.
They had been hiding in a nearby system until they estimated the
Delphi would arrive.
    The ship's orientation made the Star Base appear to be
laying on it's side.  It was a massive structure, designed to
dock more then ten Star Ships at a time.
    The top half was dome shape, with a long pylon like tale
extending below it.  The structure ended up looking very much
like a mushroom.  Protruding from every surface of the Base
where a multitude of antennas and sensor arrays.  Evenly spaced
around the base of the dome were five large doors to allow
StarShips into Dry dock.
    Being a monitoring station for the neutral zone Star Base 89
was heavily armed and shielded.  It not only had phaser rings on
the dome but had a multitude of phaser cannons and torpedo
launchers spread all over the surface.  The shield generators
were not as visible but were still there.  From shear size alone
the base was able to generate shields capable of with standing a
prolonged attack.
    "Ensign, monitor the scanners closely, we don't need anybody
bumping into us."  Tarva said from the Captain's chair.  Tarva
smiled at her use of words, she was begining to sound like the
Captain.
    "Aye, Sir" replied O'Malley.  She soon spoke again "Sir, the
Delphi is dropping out of warp and approaching standard orbit
around Star Base 89."
    Tarva stood and pressed a button on the Captain's console
"Bridge to Captain Anthony."
    "Go ahead." returned the Captain immediately.
    "Sir, the Delphi has just dropped out of warp and is
approaching Star Base."
    "Acknowledged, I'm on my way."
    Tarva then headed to the turbo-lift.

    Tarva entered Transporter Room II dressed in her yellow Star
Fleet uniform.  Commander Norton, Commander Assali and Chief
Swanson waited for her.  Norton also wore his yellow standard
uniform, just incase.
    Tarva spoke to Norton as she entered "Have you been able to
spot any of our people on the Delphi?"
    "We think we've spotted Valerta and Galleran.  We also feel
that we can transport through their shields.  As they stand,
their at minimum power and we've been able to determine the
pulse frequency.  I think, however, that it wouldn't be prudent
to just pull them out."
    "Agreed, what's the Delphi's Transporter activity been
like?"
    "There's been some activity but there hasn't been any way to
tell if any of our crew but Valerta and Galleran are still on
the ship." Swanson replied.
    Tarva said "I'll go to Star Base and try to contact Captain
Malory from there."
    She then stepped onto the front of the large pad.  As she
stepped up, she noticed the pad had a slightly different tint to
it then the rest.  It was the pad destroyed by the accident that
killed Ensign Shertz.  Tarva was tempted to step to an adjoining
pad, but didn't.  "When ever your ready, Chief."
    "Waiting for an opening, Sir" Swanson said as she watched
her scanner. "Energizing"
    The scene around Tarva shifted and was replaced by a hallway
on Star Base 89.  She immediately started walking as if she was
going somewhere.  It would take her a moment or two to get her
bearings but she didn't want to look out of place.
    Tarva had been to Star Base 89 and knew where she was going.
The Base lounge was quite large to accommodate the high Star
Base traffic.  One feature, was a communication facility for
personnel to make personal calls to other ships.  Normally, even
personal traffic had to be channeled through official channels.
These facilities allowed personnel to keep in touch on a more
unofficial level.
    "Commander Tarva?" The male voice came from behind her as
she approached the doors to the lounge.  When she turned she saw
a medium built human wearing a yellow uniform with Star Base
security insignia.
    "Lieutenant Bloom," Tarva said trying to be casual. "It's
been a long time."
    "Commander, I didn't know you were visiting, I would have
looked you up."  Bloom said with a smile as he approached.  "How
have you been?"
    Lieutenant Ian Bloom had served as second in command of
security under Tarva on the Eclipse.  He had transferred to a
position on Star Base A107 a month before the Borg incident.
    "I didn't know you were stationed here." Tarva said with a
smile when he reached her.
    "I'm Chief of Internal Security." he said proudly.  She knew
that his interests always were in Star Base Security.  "Where
are you stationed now, Sir?"
    "I've been working as a security consultant for new
operations in the sector." Tarva lied.
    "So your just visiting?  Perhaps you'd join me for dinner
this evening, we have so much to catch up on."
    Tarva smiled, she and Lieutenant Bloom had become good
friends.  She really would like to catch up with him. "I'm
Sorry, I can't, I have somebody else I really do need to catch
before one of us leaves."
    "Perhaps I could help." he offered as they approached the
doors to the lounge.
    "Thanks, but that's not necessary, all I have to do is make
a call."
    He smiled, "Of course, your here to use the comm center.
Okay, I'll let you go."
    "Perhaps we can schedule dinner before I leave, I'll contact
you."
    "Very good," he said "Till then.." he bowed slightly then
turned crisply and walked back down the hall.
    Tarva walked through the nearly empty lounge.  Because of
the few patrons she could catch snippets of conversation.  Once
again her K.D.F. back ground showed it self.  She caught her
self trying to listen to them as she passed.  You never know
what you could pick up.
    One conversation caught her attention but she didn't allow
herself to even slow down as she passed.
    "..I still can't believe the away team was killed, it
happened so quick, no warning."
    "And your saying that the Captain is cajoling the person who
caused it?"
    "You wouldn't believe..."
    Tarva entered one of the comm booths on the far side of the
lounge.  She placed her palm on the ID pad, hoping Anthony was
right about how she was officially listed.  A small screen lit
up showing her ID information.

              NAME    : Sashon Tarva
              RANK    : Commander
              POSITION: Security Specialist --
                        Star Fleet Security Consultant Corps.
              NOTES   : Currently on Assignment along Romulan
                        Neutral Zone assessing possible security
                        Lapses.

    Most of the Vigilante's crew where listed as deceased.  The
top brass of Project Fulton, however, knew that the Vig may have
need of making some kind of contact with regular Star Fleet.
Some selected officers on the Vigilante were assigned to the
S.F.S.C.C. which was, in fact, just a cover for Project Fulton
personnel.
    She then entered her request for a patch to the Delphi.
Since it was a public channel there was a slight wait before the
hail was answered.
    The chubby face of a rather over weight man appeared on the
monitor.  "This is the Delphi, Lieutenant Penthrach, can I help
you?"
    "Yes, I'd like to speak with Captain Malory."
    The man glanced at his screen obviously checking her
personal information provided with the transmission.  "I'm
sorry, Commander Tarva, the Captain is not available at this
time.  Can I take a message or arrange a call back?"
    "Yes, tell the Captain I'd like to speak with him as soon as
he is available."  Tarva then placed her communicator pin in a
matching indentation on her console.  "Entering communicator
frequency now."
    "Very good, Commander, I'll pass your message to the Captain
as soon as he is available."
    "Thank you, Tarva out."
    The screen blinked off, Tarva stood and headed to a table in
the lounge.  She was trying to place her pin on properly when a
shadow covered her.  Thinking it was the waiter she looked up to
order.
    "Commander Tarva?" said a blond haired human female standing
over her.  She wore the red uniform of Star Fleet command and
commander pips on her collar.
                              to be continued........