Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: Re: vigilante story
From: jsv@math.canterbury.ac.nz (Julian Visch)
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 03:03:34 GMT
Organization: Department of Mathematics, University of Canterbury

Here is some more of the story...(The author hasn't finished writing it yet)
 
   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 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.
    "Andrea 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 also wearing the same uniform.  They all 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 cannot 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 Volcan 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    : Andrea 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.  Around the
perimeter of the room other chairs where also placed.  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 long graying black
hair thinning on top and pulled back into a pony tail.
    Meede looked 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
second.  "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 bye" Malory stood and headed for the door.  Then
turned to Whitecloud "I'm finished questioning you for now, but
I'm sure they'll have more questions at Star Base 89."
    "Star Base 89?" Whitecloud asked.
    "Yes, the Admiral has shown a specific interest in you and
your crew."  He then abruptly left the meeting room.


    "One things been bothering 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 didn't seem to want to answer the question so
O'Malley said "Sir, I've been monitoring their sensor emissions.
It seems they have extremely sensitive scanner arrays.  These
arrays, however, may tend to leave an aft hole in their
coverage."
    Tarva finished, catching on to O'Malley's observations "So
they would have to make random course variations to check their
baffles."
    "That would be my guess, Sir" O'Malley said.
    The forced poker face on Assali told all that they had
deduced correctly.
    "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 made no reply and simply stood 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 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
officers.
    "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 for 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'll be 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 anyway to
tell if any of our crew but Valerta and Galleran are still on
the ship." Swanson replied.
    Tarva said "I'll go to the 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 were 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 at
Wolf-359.
    "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 security 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.
                              
    Tarva stood out of courtesy to a fellow Star Fleet Commander
"Yes, do I know you?"
    The woman offered her hand and said "My name is Commander
Shelby".
    Tarva ignored the gesture and said "Won't you have a seat."
and motioned toward an extra chair at her table.  This was not a
good sign, but Tarva figured Commander Shelby may have merely
recognized her.  There weren't that many Kalonians in Star
Fleet.
    When they were both seated Tarva asked "How may I help you?"
    The woman looked at Tarva seriously "Let me get right to
business, I'm what I guess I would call, the local liaison for
the S.F.S.C.C."
    Tarva was not expecting this, she knew that the S.F.S.C.C.
was just a front developed by Project Fulton.  Commander Shelby
admitting she was in the 'Corps' was telling her that she must
know about the Vigilante.
    Tarva didn't say anything she just looked at Shelby as if
waiting for her to finish a sentence.
    So she continued "I was alerted to your presence by the
computer when you accessed the comm station.  I must admit that
I was not expecting any of the 'Corps' to be stopping by here so
soon."
    "Why wouldn't you be expecting me, Commander, Star Base 89
was on my schedule."  Tarva replied pleasantly.
    "Of course, this isn't the proper place for us to discuss
this matter." Shelby said and stood up "Shall we."
    Tarva followed Shelby out of the lounge.  She turned to
Tarva "So, how long have you been on Star Base 89?"
    "For a while" Tarva replied.
    They walked swiftly through the corridors not speaking.
They turned into a small room in a security section.  The room
was bare except for a table and several chairs, when the door
closed, it seemed to seal itself.  There wasn't even the
obligatory computer console or other computer based accessories.
Shelby took one of the seats and Tarva sat in another.
    "So, how can I help you, Commander?" Tarva said.
    "Commander, what in the world are you doing here?  Project
Fulton issued explicit orders for you not to make contact.  Is
your ship in the area?"
    "I do not know who you are, or what connection you have with
Project Fulton.  If you are involved, you know that I can't
discuss any details with you.  So why have you even contacted
me?"
    "I've chosen to contact you because you've boarded Star Base
89 without authorization and you are in direct violation of
Fulton directives.  I'm trying to determine why you have done
this and if we should be concerned about your progress." Shelby
seemed to be getting slightly anxious.
    Tarva decided that this human knew enough about the project
to confide in.  "During a training session, we experienced a
failure in one of our personnel delivery systems.  This failure
caused the loss of quite a few of the team involved.  The
remainder of the team was picked up by Captain Malory and the
U.S.S. Delphi before we had a chance to retrieve them ourselves.
At the same time we found it prudent to remove a Delphi landing
party from the site before some wreckage self destructed."
    Shelby put the pieces together "So your ship and the Delphi
have effectively exchanged crew members, is that correct?"
    "Yes"
    "Now your here trying to contact Captain Malory to try to
effect some sort of exchange."
    "Essentially"
    Shelby sat back in her chair and looked at Tarva "Is there
anyway I can help?"
    "Does this Admiral Hrgon know about project Fulton?" Tarva
asked.
    "Not officially." Shelby said as if it was a running
problem.
    "What does that mean?"
    "The Admiral is, shall we say, extremely nosy, he has to
know everything that is going on in his sector.  He won't
acknowledge the fact that there may be some Star Fleet projects
that he shouldn't know about."
    Tarva thought for a second then asked "and how much do you
know of the project, just were are you placed?"
    "You may have already guessed that I can't really answer
that question but I can tell you what I don't know.  I don't
know your ship's name or how its going to do what its suppose
to.  I don't know the Captain, it could be you. I do know some
of the basic tech theories proposed for use in Project Fulton
but I don't know their standing.  I guess my job is that of
liaison, any time S.F.S.C.C. comes through the computer, I jump.
Other than that, I have regular duties here.  In fact, this is
the first time I've actually been needed in this capacity."
    "I think you may be able to help us, Commander." Tarva said
"If we are going to convince Captain Malory to go along with us
we may need your input."
    "That's why I'm here."
    Tarva's comm pin began to chime, she immediately touched it
and said "This is Commander Tarva"
    "Commander," came a familiar voice "Malory here"
    Tarva smiled at the sound of his voice "Captain, I need to
talk to you, it's quite important"
    "I can arrange for you to beam over if you want."
    "That would be best" Tarva replied.
    "Very good, I'll release authorization."
    "Acknowledged, Tarva out"
    Tarva turned to Shelby "Where's the nearest transporter
room?"
    "I'll take you."
    The two commanders walked out of the secure room and headed
down the hall.


    Tarva watched Commander Shelby, the Transporter Chief and
the Star Base transporter room begin to sparkle, soon everything
was sparkling.  The sparkling began to reform in the shape of a
new transporter room.  At the controls was a Yellow shirted
operator and next him was a young man in a red command uniform.
    As soon as she could move again, Tarva came stiffly to
attention and said "Captain, permission to come aboard, Sir?"
    "Permission granted," Captain Malory said "Welcome aboard
the Delphi."
    "Thank you, Sir."
    "So, Commander Tarva," Malory said with a smile "how have
you been?"  The standard offer of a handshake was absent.
    "I've been fine" She replied formally "Sir, I do need to
talk with you."
    "Yes, of course" Malory said then motioned to the door.
"Won't you come with me."  They walked into the hall and headed
to the turbo lift.  "So, Commander, your doing security
consulting now, must be very interesting."
    "Yes, sir, I get to do a lot of traveling, it keeps me quite
busy."  They rode the lift only a few decks before stepping onto
the bridge.
    Tarva quickly surveyed the bridge.  It was definitely a
standard Pentalia layout but obviously brand new.  A few things
looked slightly familiar.  They were the extra panels tacked on
to the ops station and science station.  Very similar in look to
what was tacked on the Vigilante's helm and navigation stations.
    "Mr Qhasmon," Malory said to the blue skinned Andorian
sitting in the Captain's chair "Please make sure that I have
minimum interruptions while I talk to Commander Tarva"
    "Aye, Sir" he replied immediately.
    Tarva followed Malory into his ready room and as the door
slid shut she heard someone say "Two Kalonian's in less then a
week, that's one for the record book".
    As soon as the door closed Malory turned around and embraced
Tarva.  "Sashon, what are you doing here?" He asked after their
short hug.
    "Percival, I've got a problem and I need your help."
    "You know I'd do anything I can for you."  Malory said as he
leaned against his desk with hands to his side.  "What do you
need, passage some where, someplace to stay, what?"
    Tarva frowned slightly and took a step toward him "It's not
that easy."
    "Well, lets hear it then." Malory was starting to get
interested, he had never known Sashon to be evasive.
    Tarva looked around the room then said "Is this room totally
secured?"
    Malory looked puzzled and troubled at the same time then
said "Computer"
    "WORKING" came the generic female voice.
    "Initiate, Alpha security"
    "ALPHA SECURITY INITIATED" Replied the voice.
    Tarva looked back at the door control panel.  The small
green light on it had changed to red.  The red light was the
only out ward sign of a security code implementation.
    "Satisfied?" Malory had walked behind his desk and motioned
for Tarva to have a seat.  After she sat down so did he.  "Now
what's with all of the secrecy?"
    Tarva sat back comfortably, crossed her legs at the knees
and said "I'm here to get my crew back."
    "And what crew is that?" Malory asked sounding genuinely
confused.
    Tarva smiled "I believe you picked them up in AR-24.  I'm
here to retrieve them."
    "So she wasn't lying when she said Star Fleet was involved."
Malory mused to himself.
    "Who is that, Captain?"
    Malory sat for a minute then said "I should have known that
you were involved, Whitecloud is too damned cold to be
associated with anybody else."
    "I hope the Lieutenant hasn't caused you any trouble, I must
warn you that some would refer to her as, I believe the proper
phrase is 'a Loose Cannon'." Tarva paused then added "Lieutenant
Whitecloud is a very good warrior."
    Malory smiled "Thanks for the warning, but its a bit late.
Don't worry, nobody was hurt too bad."
    "I do apologize for any incident that may have occurred.
Most of our crew is a bit 'on the edge'.  We've learned how to
deal with them, but they can be a handful if your not prepared."
    "So I found out." Malory agreed.
    Tarva had to turn the conversation back on track "Now if you
could tell me who else is alive and where they are."
    "Now wait a minute, Sashon, three of my officers were killed
in AR-24.  I can't just turn them over to you without finishing
the investigation."  Something was going on here and Malory
wasn't about to just drop everything blindly, even if the
security of the Federation was involved.  He had a duty to his
ship and his crew to find out what.  Besides, if this was for
real Admiral Hrgon would know about it, wouldn't he?
    "What I was hoping for is not going to be that easy,
Captain." Tarva said "But that brings me to the other topic I
wanted to discuss."
    "And what might that be?"
    "Your landing party was not killed at AR-24."
    "What?"
    "We were able to retrieve them just before the explosion."
    "If my people are still alive, where are they?"
    "They are quite safe, you can trust me on that.  Right now,
they're just waiting for me to arrange a proper exchange."
    "Well, that's going to be difficult.  Lieutenant Whitecloud
has already been transferred to the Star Base for interrogation.
I was delivering her when you called."  Malory seemed quite
aware of the irony.
    Tarva considered for a second then said "Can you get her
back?"
    Malory laughed "Get her back? I've got to deliver the other
four in a couple of hours.  Admiral Hrgon is anxious to know
exactly what the hell's been going on."
    "I thought there were six survivors?" Tarva said concerned.
    "Oh yes, the Vulcan S'Turlek, did not survive his injuries."
    Tarva was quiet for a few moments "Let me lay this on the
table.  We have to get this taken care of.  Not only do we want
to get both crews back to were they're suppose to be, but we
also need to adjust ship's logs to erase all data collected."
    "Now wait a minute, your asking me to forge my logs on your
word?" Malory was quite serious "I'm sorry, Sashon, but I can't
do that, on what little you've given me."
    Tarva said  "We knew that this would be your response so
we've arranged to give you more then my word."  She then stood
and pulled out a large old style communicator from under the
back of her uniform.  She flipped it open and said "Have you
made arrangements with Commander Shelby?"
    Malory shuddred, if Commander Shelby is involved in this, it
must have something to do with the Borg.  If that's true, it's
no wonder they have such tight security.
    Tarva listened to the response on the communicator then said
to Malory "Can you at least promise not to make any new logs
concerning this incident and especially this conversation until
I've had further opportunity to convince you?"
    Now Malory didn't need to consider for a second "I will not
make any new logs or investigate this incident further until
you've had that chance."
    Tarva smiled "Now would be as good a time as any to get
started."
    Captain Malory stood, ready for the intrigue.  "Where do we
go?"
    "Let's start by going back to Star Base 89."
    "Okay, but first, I have to talk with my officers, won't you
wait on the bridge for a second.  Computer, cancel alpha
security."
    "ALPHA SECURITY CANCELED."
    The red light on the control pad changed back to green and
Tarva headed out.  She could hear Malory asking some of his
officers to come in.
    The communications officer and a young female officer were
already headed to the ready room as she stepped onto the bridge.

    "Mr Penthrach, has there been any unauthorized
communications to or from the Delphi, say in the past ten
minutes?" Malory asked as soon as the door was closed.
    The Lieutenant stiffened his large frame "No sir, our
systems would alert us to any unauthorized transmission."
    Malory then turned to the female "Ensign, has there been any
unusual ORACLE anomalies since we dropped out of warp?"
    The Ensign also came to stiff attention "No Sir, We've been
doing the standard calibrations since arrival.  We have not had
any unaccounted for readings."  The standard ORACLE testing
procedures included testing it's output against the known
readings from other ships and structures in the area.
    "Is there a problem, Sir?" Penthrach asked.
    "No Lieutenant, dismissed."
    With that all three stepped onto the bridge.

    Tarva and Malory appeared in a small transporter room on
Star Base 89.  The room was empty except for the operator, a
blond haired human female wearing a red command uniform.
    "Commander Shelby, how nice to see you again."  Malory said
to the attractive officer as soon as he was released from the
effects of the transporter.
    Shelby was all business "Sir, won't you come with me
please?"  She immediately turned and exited the room before they
had a chance to even step down from the transporter.
    Tarva and Malory followed Commander Shelby, none of them
said a word.  They were soon in the security section standing
outside the secure room Tarva and Shelby had met in earlier.
The door opened indicating it was unoccupied.  Shelby pressed a
button on the control pad closing it in front of them.  Tarva
and Shelby watched down the corridor until it was empty.  Shelby
then nodded to Tarva.
    Tarva pulled out her communicator and said into it "All is
clear, you may proceed when ready."  the communicator was quicky
returned to it's place under her tunic.
    A light blinked on the control pad indicating the door was
being operated from inside.  It then slid open revealing
Malory's First Officer.
    "Captain, it's good to see you again." Assali said with a
wide smile.

    The four sat around the table in the sealed room.  Tarva,
Shelby and Assali had been laying out the details of what needed
to be done.  With Assali convinced it hadn't taken much to swing
Malory.  There came a time that every Captain had to implicitly
trust his officers especially the First Officer this was
certainly one of them.
    "I still can't believe that Admiral Hrgon is out side the
loop on this." Malory said.
    "We couldn't include everybody." Shelby replied "That would
defeat the purpose.  The more people who know, the greater the
chance of a leak either accidental or intentional we just can't
afford one.  Besides, though Admiral Hrgon's loyalty to Star
Fleet is indisputable, he does have his own agenda.  We don't
need anybody side tracking Project Fulton to affect their own
power base."
    "I suppose your right, but it still disturbs me to be going
around a commanding officer's back."  Malory thought for a
second then said "How about Commodore Albrit?"
    Shelby laughed "That pompous ass, I wouldn't have anything
to do with this project if he was involved."
    Malory smiled "You've just won me over.  Now how are we
going to accomplish this?"

    After further discussion they had come up with plans to get
The Vigilante's crew back to her and they had a plan for
explaining the reappearance of the Delphi's officers.  The
biggest problem would be getting Whitecloud away from Admiral
Hrgon without him going ballistic looking for her.  That was the
tough part, he had her under tight guard and would be ready for
the others very soon.
    After they stood to leave Assali pulled out an over sized
communicator like Tarva carried.  He watched the others leave as
he signaled the Vigilante.  As soon as the door shut behind them
the walls shifted and became the Vigilante's transporter room.

    Malory spoke to Commander Shelby as they walked back toward
the transporter room.  "Tarva and I will begin preparations as
soon as we get back to the Delphi."
    "Very good, I'll begin preparations on this end.  I hope all
works out, we need to get this over with as soon as possible."
Shelby had just finished speaking when they turned a corner and
came face to face with Admiral Hrgon and Lieutenant Bloom.
    "Ah, Captain Malory, just the human I've been looking for."
said the Admiral.  He was relatively short, a Tellerite, quite
hairy with a large nose, more like a snout.
    Malory, Shelby and Tarva immediately came to a natural
attention.  "Sir," Malory said "How can I help you?"
    Hrgon ignored Malory for the moment and turned to
acknowledge the others "Commander Shelby, and this must be
Commander Tarva."
    "Sir" they both said.
    "Commander Tarva, your with the S F S C C?" Hrgon pronounced
each of the letters as if it were a word.
    "Yes, Sir." She replied.
    "Very good, I'll be wanting to discuss something with you,
if you could contact my aid to set up a time."
    "Sir, I may not be in the area much longer." Tarva said
trying to avoid the meeting.
    "Well, we'll just have to make it soon.  By the way,
Lieutenant Bloom informs me he could not find a record of your
billet assignment or even of your arrival itinerary."
    "Sir," Tarva said not wanting to appear defensive "part of
my job is to identify security lapses at Star Fleet
installations.  Though I'm not here on official business it's
become kind of standard for us to travel under low profile.
Since I'd just arrived, when I encountered Lieutenant Bloom, I
had not yet secured quarters.  Now Captain Malory has offered
the hospitality of the Delphi so I'll be billeting there."
    Hrgon nodded his acceptance of the explanation then turned
to Malory "Now Captain, I'm ready to talk to the remaining
detainees, if you could arrange for them to be transferred
directly to Holding Area R-8, I would greatly appreciate it."
    "And what of Lieutenant Whitecloud?" Malory asked.
    Hrgon looked at the two female security specialists flanking
the Captain then said "We were unable to get any new information
from her.  She has been extremely well trained, I wish my whole
security staff were trained as well."  The last remark made
Bloom shift uneasily.
    "Also, Captain" Hrgon continued "I'm going to want to
discuss this matter with you more in depth some time soon.
Perhaps you should accompany the rest of Whitecloud's crew when
you transport them over."
    "Yes, perhaps that would be the best time." Malory agreed.
    "Very good" Hrgon was about to walk away when he turned to
Shelby.  "Commander, are you available in about half an hour?
I've got some problems related to Captain Malory's guests I'd
like your opinion on."
    "Yes, Sir" Shelby said instinctively.
    "That will be all, dismissed" Hrgon and Bloom continued down
the corridor.
    "Do you think he just happened to bump into us?" Tarva said
more insinuating than asking.
    Nobody bothered answering her, they were at the transporter
room.


    Tarva stood in her room on the Delphi looking out at Star
Base 89.  She had to take her room for appearances sake but they
had work to do.  She had her communicator in hand but she had
paused to look at the majesty of the station.
    Tarva flipped open the devise, held it up to the side of her
face and said one word "Energize".
    There was a slight pause waiting for an opening then the
wall and window in front of her shifted and became Transporter
Room II on the Vigilante.  Captain Anthony stood next to Chief
Swanson at the controls, with him were Commanders Assali and
Norton.  "Report" he said simply.
    "Sir, as Commander Assali has probably reported we have a
plan to return all crew to their proper assignments.  There will
be a slight delay retrieving Lieutenant Whitecloud, she has
already been transferred to Star Base 89"  Tarva remained
standing on the transporter.  "The only other problem will be
telling exactly when our team is being transported."
    "Does the Delphi have any Klingon or Kalonian crew?"
Anthony asked.  He had approached her and stood a step below her
so he could talk to her more face to face.
    Tarva knew where he was leading "No sir, the Klingon and the
Kalonian our scans show are both survivors of the drop ship."
    "And there are five of our people still on the Delphi?"
    "No Sir, one of the original crew died after arriving on the
Delphi.  He was the Vulcan S'Turlek."  Tarva had not moved from
her spot.
    "So as long as they transport all of our crew at the same
time, by themselves, we should be able to get them back at."
Anthony headed back to his place by the control panel.
    "Sir, Captain Malory has assured us he would arrange to make
it so." Assali said.
    "Very good," Anthony turned back to Tarva "Commander, you'd
better get back to the Delphi."
    "Aye, Sir"
    The wall and window shifted back.


    "Sir, Holding Area R-8 reports they are prepared to receive
our guests."  reported the Yoeman standing at the control panel.
    "Very well, have them brought in."  Malory and Tarva stood
to one side of the operator.  They would beam over after
transporting the four.
    The door to the transporter room opened to allow in the new
arrivals.  First in was the Klingon female flanked by two
security guards.  The rest followed, each accompanied by two
security guards with drawn weapons.  One of the guards carried a
metal satchel that carried all equipment and clothing the
survivors had with them when they came aboard.  The last in was
the Chief of security, her and the one carrying the bag were the
only ones without drawn phasers.
    The four walked straight to the transporter and took their
positions.  None of them said a word or acknowledged Tarva's
presence, but they did notice her.  The bag was placed on its
own pad then the security stood back from the pad, as was
custom.  They however did keep their weapons drawn.
    Malory turned to the operator "Raise force field".
    "Force field activated" he said after pushing a few buttons.
    The security immediately holstered their weapons.
"Dismissed" Lieutenant Zalvasta said.  The eight immediately
filed out of the room.
    Malory, Tarva, Zalvosta and the operator were the only ones
to remain.
    "Where is Smith," The Klingon demanded.
    "What have you done with her?" said one of the humans.
    Malory smiled, they were good, defiant to the end.  "Don't
worry, you should be seeing her very soon."  he then turned to
the operator "Energize."
    A few buttons were pushed, then he slid his fingers up the
control panels applying power.  The four started the normal
sparkling then the operator said "Sir, I'm reading some sort of
power surge.  Delphi to R-8, do you have a lock?"
    They had started fading in and out "Delphi, this is R-8 we
can't get a secure lock, increasing power."
    The operator responded "Try to reverse, we don't want to
lose them."
    "Acknowledged" the four continued to sparkle and fade.
    "What's going on?" Malory demanded.
    "Sir, something's wrong, we've lost the fix, trying to
regain now."  The operator was desperately pushing buttons.  A
red light on the console began to blink accompanied by a beeping
sound.
    "Delphi, do you have them?" came a worried voice over the
speaker.
    "I think I've got the lock..." the whole transporter flashed
from an explosion.  The force field absorbed most of the
explosion but failed from loss of energy.  The control panel
mostly protected the operator but Zalvosta, Malory and Tarva
were fully exposed.  All three were thrown back against the bulk
head.
    Red emergency lights came on to a loud fire claxon.  The
operator stood up from his instinctive ducking position and
started calling for medical and emergency teams.  He then turned
to attend his Captain.
    "Delphi, what happened over there, we've totally lost them.
Do you have them?  Delphi, please come in...."


    Tarva limped into Malory's quarters after signaling.  A
fresh scar ran down the far right of her face from just below
her ear wrapping around toward front of her neck and
disappearing under her collar near the rank pips.  Her left arm
hung in a low sling.
    Malory sat at a work station table in the middle section of
his suite.  A large regeneration patch was affixed to the right
side of his face.
    As she approached, he looked up at her.  She could see the
fury in his eyes.  "Computer!"
    "WORKING"
    "Initiate Alpha Security."  he said loudly.
    "ALPHA SECURITY INITIATED."
    Malory stood up to face Tarva she could see his upper torso
was held stiff by a temporary brace.
    "What the HELL did you people do to My transporter?!" He was
losing his attempts to control the anger.  "We could've all been
killed!"
    "Sir," Tarva said trying not to react to his emotions "the
transporters on the Vigilante are a radical new design.  It was
impossible to predict how the Delphi's transporters would
respond to the forced signal."
    "Nothing's impossible to predict when it comes to this kind
of technology.  If your people didn't know or suspect then they
are extremely incompetent."
    "Percival," Tarva said softly trying to calm him "if they
did know, I was not informed.  You must remember though, we are
still in training, that includes learning all of the
idiosyncrasies of the technology.  Nobody on board was involved
in any of the development, they just handed it over to us and
said 'good bye'."
    "My transporter room was destroyed and four people were
almost killed, I hope it's worth it."  He had softened some.
    "I hope so too."
    "Did they get a hold of your people okay?"
    Tarva smiled slightly "Yes, Sir, they arrived with no
adverse effects."
    "Very good, at least some thing went right."  Malory had sat
back down.  "Now Admiral Hrgon is screaming for me.  I've been
able to put off going to see him because of the injuries but
that's already wearing thin."
    "This could my chance to go, he did want to talk to me too."
Tarva suggested  "We have to start enacting the plans to get
Lieutenant Whitecloud back to the Vigilante."
    Malory cringed at the reminder that he was still going to be
involved in these covert operations.  If Hrgon pieced it all
together it could ruin his career.  "Very well, I'll make
arrangements.  Dismissed."
    As Tarva headed back to the door Malory was saying
"Computer, cancel Alpha Security."
    "ALPHA SECURITY CANCELED"
    The little green light on the panel came on just as Tarva
reached the door.


    Lieutenant Bloom met Malory and Tarva in the transporter
room.  "Sir, I'm surprised your willing to use the transporter
so soon after the accident."  He said to them as they started
down the hall.
    "The transporter that exploded, is no longer functioning."
Malory said as if talking to a child.
    "Has there been any progress in determining the reason for
the accident?" Bloom persisted.
    "No, the explosion left very few clues." Tarva replied.
    As they progressed they through the corridors they could see
an increase in security including check stations and ID checks.
Finally, they reached an interrogation area and met Admiral
Hrgon.
    "Ahh, Captain Malory and Commander Tarva I'm glad your back
on your feet after the accident."  Though he was trying to sound
pleasant, his irritation was quite evident.  He then headed into
one of the rooms saying "Come with me."
    A window on the far walled looked into one of the rooms.
Sitting casually at a table was Lieutenant Whitecloud.  "This is
Lieutenant Anndrea Whitecloud." Hrgon said to Tarva.
    "Sir," Tarva interrupted "is that a one way window or a view
screen?"
    "It's just a standard observation window." Lieutenant Bloom
said trying to get in on the conversation.
    "I'm sorry, Sir." Tarva said "You were saying her name is
Whitecloud."
    Hrgon looked slightly irritated but continued "At least
that's what our records tell us.  They also tell us, however,
that Lieutenant Whitecloud was killed in a transporter accident
almost a year ago.  In fact, Commander, all four of the victims
of your transporter accident are all listed as having died
around a year ago."
    Hrgon turned back to Malory and Tarva "Don't you think it
quite odd that all of her living but dead comrades were killed a
second time in a transporter accident?  As a security
specialist, Commander, how do you interpret this situation?"
    "Sir," Malory interjected "Whitecloud claims to be part of a
top secrete Star Fleet mission.  If this is true, the
inconsistencies with her story tend to add up."
    "All except two," Hrgon said "Have you read her complete
file?  Sure, she has been decorated several times for bravery,
she was in the top of her class at the Academy and so on.  She's
also been busted down in rank twice for insubordination, she was
put on restricted duty once for fighting with a ship mate.  Her
last Captain even had to bail her out of jail once for
destroying a bar in a fist fight on Intalla 4.  In fact, all of
her comrades had similar records.  Now, is this the profile of
an officer that would be recruited by Star Fleet for a top
secrete mission?  I sure wouldn't want her on my team."
    During Hrgon's speech, Tarva figured that he just didn't
know how to handle a good warrior.
    Hrgon continued "Finally, I am not aware of any top secret
missions in this quadrant.  Star Fleet would not be running
training missions in a quadrant without telling the local
authority something."
    "Sir," Tarva said "What if she is telling the truth?"
    "That's just not possible."
    "Sir, you must have an open mind when it comes to matters
like these.  Shouldn't you at least consider the consequences of
pursuing what may be a classified project.  There may be a very
good reason for such tight security."  Tarva was trying to act
like she was piecing her argument together as she went.
    Hrgon seemed to take extreme offense to the argument.
"Commander, I'm a Rear Admiral in Star Fleet.  I am responsible
for the security of this entire quadrant my integrity is beyond
reproach."
    Tarva was extremely uncomfortable with anybody believing
themselves so invincible.  "Sir, I'm one of the few survivors of
Wolf-359.  I've lived through what can happen when an enemy gets
inside the head of someone who's loyalty and integrity are
beyond reproach.  If we don't start keeping that in mind as we
form our own power bases, the Federation may not be so lucky
next time."
    "Commander, do you know more about this then you are letting
on?" Hrgon suddenly sounded extremely suspicious.  "Tell me,
just exactly which ship did you come in on."
    Whitecloud began fidgeting around under the table.  Soon she
ducked down so nobody could see her.
    "Sir, I resent the implication your making." Tarva said
"Could it be, that I've struck a cord you don't want to hear?"
    Lieutenant Bloom was looking into the room "Sir, where did
she go?"
    "I think she went under the table." Malory responded.
    "What the hell is she doing?" Bloom asked and approached the
window to get a better look.
    Whitecloud stood up from under the table and looked directly
at the window.  She then calmly lifted her right hand as if
pointing at them.
    "Look out, she's got a phaser!" Bloom yelled and dived
toward the Admiral knocking him to the deck.  Malory and Tarva
hit the floor to the the whine of the phaser and shattering
glass.
    Lieutenant Bloom was the first one up.  He was hitting his
comm pin and calling for security as Whitecloud jumped through
the window.  He was grabbing for his phaser as she approach then
hesitated when she seemed to be turning away.  He never realized
that she was setting up for the round house kick that sent him
flying across the room, unconscious.
    Whitecloud then grabbed Tarva from behind holding her close
across the abdomen with the phaser between them.  It was clear
to all that she had the phaser set to maximum power.
    "Everybody get up." Whitecloud said to Malory and Hrgon.
    "If your really Star Fleet," Malory said "you wouldn't be
doing this."
    "Lieutenant, you'll never get away from here," Hrgon added
"you've just sealed your fate."
    "You make any kind of move on me," Whitecloud said calmly
but with wild eyes "I'll take the Kalonian with me.  Do you
really want to risk that?"
    "Come on Lieutenant," Tarva said "be reasonable you don't
want to do this." sweat had begun to form on her face.
    "Quiet!" Whitecloud demanded and nudged the phaser some
"Quiet all of you!"
    The door to the room burst open and three security guards
jumped through phasers in hand.  The first two fired point blank
at both Tarva and Whitecloud.  At the same time Malory jumped at
Whitecloud hoping to knock the phaser loose.  He heard the tell
tale sound of a phaser set on full power being fired when the
shots from the security phasers struck him.  Just as he would
have hit them, Whitecloud and Tarva were enveloped by a red glow
and disappeared.  Leaving Malory to roll to the floor
unconscious.


    Captain Percival Malory lay in his own bunk aboard the
Delphi, his head still throbbed after almost a full day.  The
phaser blasts on top of his previous injuries had made him
extremely weak.  He still wasn't sure what had happened, he
hadn't heard from the Vigilante and it didn't go down the way
he'd been told it would.
    He wasn't sure if he'd drifted off or what but he was
suddenly aware of a presence next to his bed.  He turned to
look, it was his old friend Sashon.  She wasn't dressed in her
standard mustard yellow uniform but in a baggy black one.
    She leaned over to look at him, her long braid fell to one
side.  "How are you she whispered?"
    "Fine, just very weak, Dr Mayak tells me I should be good as
new pretty soon." he smiled and sat up slightly leaning on his
elbows. "When am I going to get my officers back?"
    "They'll be along very soon." Tarva said quietly "Just
remember your one last promise."
    "Don't worry, I'm in too deep to back out now." then asked
"What about the logs we down loaded to Star Base 89?"
    "We have to trust that Commander Shelby can take care of
those files."  Tarva said carefully.  She could see the strain
in his face. "I've got to go."
    "Make sure you come back, I don't want this all to end up
being just a waste of time." he had eased himself back down
flat.
    "I'll do my best, I promise."  She leaned over and kissed
him lightly then stood up straight.  He watched her flip open
her large communicator and say something into it.  "Good bye my
friend." she said to him then was gone.
    "Good bye.." he said, then surrendered to the exhaustion.


    The following day, Tarva went down to one of the cargo bays
to see the final loose end tied up.  In the bay sat one of their
few standard transports.  This one had been given private
markings and I.D. codes.  The ship was too big for the bay and
sat at an angle to fit.
    Commander Assali and crew stood dressed in their
environmental suits outside the ship waiting for the pilot.
They had purposely damaged the suits and covered themselves with
dirt.
    One of the few human drop ship pilots had planned to pilot
the transport but Norton and Kartang had decided otherwise.
They didn't need another 'loose canon' on the Delphi even if it
was just for an hour or two.
    "So who's going to pilot it?" Assali was asking Shuttle Bay
Chief, Taragoma.
    "I'm not sure" he said "but he should be here anytime now."
    As if in response to his prediction a door to the bay opened
to allow in a person dressed in non-issue clothing.  The clothes
looked like a conglomeration of Klingon and Romulan uniforms
with some other odd equipment thrown in for good measure.  An
old style Romulan disrupter hung comfortably at her side.
    Taragoma didn't recognize her at first until he noticed her
bright red hair which had been slicked down flat.  He smiled and
said "You'd better wear your seat belts."
    Assali recognized her too "Isn't that Ensign O'Malley, the
navigator?"
    Tarva had joined them "Yes, Commander, it is."
    They watched her begin the preflight check with one of the
technicians.  "Don't you have somebody other then the ships
navigator for this mission?" Assali asked.
    "Most of our Drop Ship pilots are not human," Tarva said "we
felt that after the trouble we've caused, a non human pilot
would actually invite closer scrutiny.  The few pilots that are
human, however, have had, shall we say, a falling out with Star
Fleet of one sort or another.  It's been decided that Ensign
O'Malley would be the best pilot to deal with Star Fleet at this
time."
    O'Malley approached the group and stood at attention "Sir,
the ship is ready for departure." she said to both Tarva and
Assali.
    "Very good," Tarva said "prepare for departure."
    The four boarded the ship.  It had been loaded with an array
of trade goods and amenities for long haul travel.  It really
looked and smelled like someone had been living in it for a long
time.
    O'Malley sat in the pilot's seat with Assali at co-pilot.
Albert and Meede sat in makeshift net type slings in the cargo
area.  "This is the Faraday requesting clearance for departure."
O'Malley said to flight control.
    "Faraday your cleared for liftoff." Taragoma replied.
    The blast shields in the cabin snapped shut as the Faraday
slowly lifted from the deck.  The ship rotated forcing the aft
end through the force field of the bay so it could slip free of
the ship.  O'Malley hated flying blind.
    The Vigilante had moved to the asteroid belt to let the
Faraday out unseen.  The blast shields remained shut until the
ship was clear of the Vigilante's cloaking.  Great measures had
been taken to keep details from their guests, they weren't about
to cancel that by letting them get a look at the actual ship.


    "Captain," Lieutenant Penthrach turned toward Malory "We're
being hailed by an incoming transport."
    Malory wore a small regen patch near his ear and sat extra
straight still feeling the effects of the back brace he'd very
recently shed.  "On screen."
    The face of a young, red haired female human filled the
screen.  "Hailing the U.S.S. Delphi, this is the Transport
Faraday."
    "This is the Delphi, Captain Malory speaking." Malory said.
    "Captain" the woman replied "I'm Janny Osborn, owner and
operator of the Faraday.  I believe I have some people you've
been looking for."
    "Indeed?" Malory tried to sound slightly intrigued but not
really interested.
    They could see her reach up and adjust something on the
control board.  The view on the screen started to widen
revealing a very familiar face.
    Malory stood up quickly to the sounds of gasps from the rest
of the bridge crew.  "What is the meaning of this?" he tried to
sound as surprised as the rest of the crew.
    Commander Assali sat next to the pilot, he wore a tattered
environmental suit and was smudged with dirt. "Captain, Sir,
permission to come aboard?" he said.
    "It's a trick." Qhasmon hissed "We saw them die in that
explosion."
    Malory ignored the Andorean "Are there any other survivors?"
he asked trying to sound very unconvinced.
    "All three of us survived," Assali said "the others are in
the back.  Sir, if we could expedite this, we haven't had a
shower in quite awhile."
    Malory signaled to have audio broadcast cut then turned to
the ORACLE operator "What can you tell me about that ship?" he
had to cover all the bases he normally would.
    "Sir, I read four life forms, all humanoid." She scanned the
readings closer "There is no unusual power output or
substances." she continued to dial in, "In fact, sir, I read the
power output to be quite weak.  My first guess would be that the
dilithium crystals are deteriorated."
    Malory turned back to the screen "Permission granted to land
your craft in shuttle bay 1."  He then cut the audio transmitter
again and turned to the intercom. "Security and Medical to
Shuttle Bay 1.  Shuttle Bay 1 prepare for incoming transport."
    "Captain," O'Malley said cautiously trying to play the role
"Your crew has promised me certain compensation for returning
them."
    "Are you trying to ransom my crew to me, Captain Osborn?"
Malory asked very suspiciously, he hadn't been told of this
twist.
    "No, Sir." O'Malley replied with what seemed to be a twinge
of fear.  "It's just that this being a high security area I may
have trouble leaving freely.  I've been promised safe passage,
absolutely no interference."
    Malory looked toward Assali for confirmation "That's
correct, Sir.  With the stipulation that she does not incur any
offenses while with us."
    O'Malley laughed "Yea, I'm to be on my best behavior."  She
then said "There is one other thing that is even more
important."
    "And what is that?" Malory said, though, knowing how these
people operated he could guess what it was.
    "As your scanners have probably already told you," O'Malley
said "My supply of dilithium crystals has begun to deteriorate.
I've been promised the needed repairs to the drive and
replacement of the crystals."
    "What ever Mr Assali has promised, I will stand by." Malory
finally said tiring of the 'negotiations'.
    "Very good" the red head said "Starting approach to shuttle
bay."  the screen returned to standard view of the approaching
ship.
    "Sir," Penthrach said "In coming message from Admiral Hrgon.
Apparently he's been monitoring the conversation."
    'Here it comes' Malory thought to himself then said "Thank
you Mr Penthrach, I'll take it in my ready-room."

    The transport expertly slid into the shuttle bay and set
down smoothly.  The door on the side of the long boxy body
hissed and jerked open.  Steam poured out of release valves
partially obscuring the opening.  A short figure walked up to
the door way then started down the stairs.  He wore a tattered
environmental suit and carried the helmet professionally under
one arm.
    The semi circle of security guards around the opening knew
at once it was Lieutenant Meede.  Immediately behind Meede, came
Midshipman Albert looking similarly disheveled.  By the time
Meede reached the deck the doorway was filled by Commander
Assali.  Finally, Chief of Security Zalvosta loudly said
"Attention, First Officer on Deck"  bringing the assembly to
stiff attention as Commander Assali descended the ramp.
    Zalvosta approached the three "Sir, Welcome back" She said.
    "Where's Captain Malory?" Assali asked.  Then smiled "I
thought he would be here to greet his prodigal sons personally."
    "Sir," Zalvosta replied "He received an urgent message from
Admiral Hrgon just as you were making your final approach."
    "Yes, I understand." they were expecting as much.
    Doctor Mayak approached with her team to begin preliminary
scans of the survivors.  Zalvosta turned to speak with Meede
but was distracted by a commotion from the assembly.  Coming
down the gangplank was an oddly dressed woman with slicked down
bright red hair.
    The woman wore what appeared to be an assortment of
mismatched older style Romulan and Klingon uniforms.  There was
also a small assortment of equipment strapped to her, not the
least of which was an old Romulan disrupter casually dangling
from her round hip.  This was obviously the pilot, Janny Osborn.
    "Ms Osborn," Zalvosta said when she reached the bottom of
the steps "I'm going to have to ask you to leave the weapon with
us for the duration of your stay."
    O'Malley looked at Zalvosta suspiciously for a second then
looked at Meede and Assali, Assali nodded.  O'Malley made a
quick motion toward the disrupter jerking it from the holster
and spinning it next to her at the same time.  The barrel ended
in her hand with butt pointing out.  She then turned and gave it
to Meede.


    The assembly sat in one of the Delphi's meeting rooms.
Present were Admiral Hrgon and his aid, Captain Malory,
Commander Assali, Lieutenant Meede, and Midshipman Albert.  Also
present was the ORACLE operator on duty at the time of the
explosion at AR-24 and Janice O'Malley.
    O'Malley sat toward one end of the table away from the rest.
She was slouched back with her feet sticking out in front of
her.  It was all she could do to keep from putting them up on
the table but figured she was pushing it as it was.  She really
enjoyed playing the rogue.
    Admiral Hrgon turned to O'Malley "Let me get this straight,
you were passing by the AR-24 system when you picked up a
distress signal?"
    "As I've said several times before," O'Malley said "I was
passing by the system when I received what sounded like a
distress call.  The Faraday was already starting to have
problems but I figured there may at least be something to
salvage.  It wouldn't take much to scan the area and see if I
could find something to help fix my drive."
    "You weren't even thinking of survivors?" Malory asked.
    "Of course, if there were survivors there would be a better
chance of some usable equipment.  Besides, a lot of times there
is a reward for the safe return of survivors.  Sometimes, the
survivors are able to express their appreciation for being
rescued."  O'Malley had rehearsed the story well.
    "Did you know that charging survivors for rescue is against
just about every code there is?" Hrgon asked in disbelief.
    "Of course, but there is usually some sort of voluntary
reward.  For instance, I would not have come here if it wasn't
for your crew.  My first choice was the Nexus Colony, they were
much closer and not nearly as patrolled as this place is."
    "And you would have had to pay for your own repairs at
Nexus, is that right?" Hrgon was more making a statement then
asking a question.
    "I'm a trader, I have to make the greatest return possible.
If I come out of this with free quality repairs, I've done quite
well."
    "Surely" Hrgon said trying to look threatening "You know
that if we run a complete I.D. check on you, you'd probably be
arrested."
    "I was assured safe passage by a Commander in Star Fleet,
that was enough for me." O'Malley had to remain confident.
    "That is enough, Sir." O'Malley said firmly to Hrgon.
"We've had enough tragedy from this incident, it's time to close
the book on it."
    Hrgon took the opportunity to turn on Malory "And how do you
explain abandoning your landing party on a planet with a hostile
environment?"
    "Sir, between the explosion burying the away team, the
unusual rock structures of the planet and the severe storms we
had every reason to believe that the away team was killed in the
explosion."  Malory said confidently.  Then added "Besides sir,
you were the one who ordered us back immediately with the
survivors we had picked up."
    Hrgon frowned at the shifting of blame but before he could
say anything Assali said "Sir, we were unconscious for over
twenty four hours, by the time we dug our way out of the sand we
could not reach the Delphi, our communicators were destroyed.
If Ms Osborn hadn't also heard the distress call that originally
brought the Delphi in we would be dead by now."
    The discussion of detailed events lasted several more hours.
Each person involved ended up telling their story several times,
some times in groups and sometimes separately.  In the end Hrgon
begrudgingly closed the case accepting the stories as they stood
but vowed that he knew some kind of cover up was happening.  He
also said that he thought that all of this was somehow connected
with Whitecloud and 'The Vigilante' and would eventually prove
it.


    Malory, Meede and Assali stood in the shuttle bay to see
O'Malley off, all other standard personnel had been dismissed.
Meede carried the disrupter and gave it back to O'Malley as she
stood in front of the ramp.
    "I'm glad you finally decided to trust us" O'Malley said to
Meede spinning the weapon back into it's holster.
    "I didn't have much choice." he said then added with as much
of a smile as he could muster "I half wish I was going with you,
that was a fine crew."
    "Thank you," O'Malley said "Coming from you, that is quite a
complement."
    She then turned to Assali.
    "Give my regards to everyone, I wish you the best of luck."
Assali said holding out his hand.
    O'Malley shook the Commander's hand and said "Thank you,
sir, we'll need it."
    Malory also offered his hand "I thought I had said all of my
good byes already." he said "Just make sure you bring them back,
is that clear."
    "Yes, Sir." O'Malley said then shook his hand.  Before she
let go, she hugged the Captain lightly then the other two.
Janice then climbed the steps to the Faraday and disappeared
behind them as they closed.
    The Faraday waited as the bay doors opened then slid out of
the Delphi and headed to the asteroid belt.


                              ++++

    The woman standing next to Captain Anthony's bed seemed tall
for a human female.  Her wavy blond hair was cut to above
shoulder length and was held away from her face with several
clips.  She wore the red uniform and insignia of Star Fleet
Command.
    Anthony stared at the woman as she sat down on the edge of
his bed.  "Robert," she said softly "your doing the right thing.
Star Fleet needs information on the Borg.  If they ever return
in force it could mean the end of life as we know it.  You know
that can't be allowed to happen.  Everybody here knows the
risks, they've accepted them.  Use the information we obtained
from the battle to keep your crew alive."
    "I've lost so many already" he whispered "and we haven't
even left the Federation yet."
    "I know," she said soothingly "many more could die too, if
you let them."
    Anthony raised his hand to touch her face and she reached
out to touch his.  "I love you.." he said as she faded away.
    The door signal chimed waking Anthony, he called for the
visitor to enter.  Commander Tarva entered came in and stood at
attention just inside the door.
    "Sir," she said "All final tests have been completed, the
U.S.S. Vigilante is ready for deployment."
    "Very good," he said "Notify all hands to prepare for
departure within the hour.  I'll be with you in a moment." Tarva
reached for the wall mounted communicator to relay the orders
and Captain Anthony headed into the bathroom to change.
    Tarva waited in the first room in her standard at-ease
posture looking around the Captain's cabin.  She had been here
before but had never taken a close look at it.  The cabin
consisted of three rooms separated by the same style dividers as
in her room.  The first room was set up as a meeting room with a
table and several chairs.  The middle room was the sitting room,
with a couch and the standard rough duty chairs.  The third room
had the bed, closet and other amenities.
    Next to the door was a shelf with a glass covered pedestal.
On the pedestal was a faded blue book with well worn edges.  In
the upper right hand quadrant were stacked faded gold print
words 'Collected Poems of Robert Service'.
    Tarva pushed a button on the pedestal, the front of the
glass opened and the platform holding the book slid out at her.
Tarva carefully opened the front cover and saw a name penned on
the inside 'L..ry Na..' the rest seemed to be an address.
Something compelled her to turn to the end of the book and read
the last stanza of the last poem...

               And so, frail creatures of a day,
             Let's have a good time while we may,
             And do the very best we can
             To give one to our fellow man;
             Knowing that all will end with Death,
             And lift our heads like blossoms blithe
             To meet at last the Swinging Sythe.