STAR TREK S :I

By Agelshaxe

eX astris

 

Prologue

 

"He is our primary suspect...We need you to determine whether or not he is the one who has breached our security."

"Are you certain?"

"Absolutely...We have studied the sector closely...Everything in that report is factual...All we need to do is implement it to see if our man is worthy."

"I will proceed immediately."

 

Chapter One

 

YEAR 2328

 

The USS-Yosemite approached starbase 31 at half-impulse, on board the bridge, Commander Fielmann turned the ship's intercom system on so that the whole crew could hear him. "This is the captain, we are approaching starbase 24 at this moment, docking will be complete in two minutes, as soon as we dock I want everyone off the ship drinking a beer on board the starbase, we don't want to waste any time. This ship might break up any minute if the repair crews don't get working right away."

The commander switched off the intercom and turned to lieutenant commander Patrickson who was standing at the tactical station: "Patrickson.. You and I will supervise the evacuation with lieutenant Kaylin."

"Yes, sir..." Patrickson nodded.

Ten minutes later, the whole crew was off the ship. Fielmann, Patrickson and lieutenant Dian Kaylin let the special repair crews enter the ship, they were wearing EVA suits and antigrav units were floating by at crazy speeds carrying tall piles of equipment.

"Let's hope they get this ship fixed." Patrickson said, watching the crews run past.

"Goddamned Klingons..." Fielmann muttered.

"There's something I still don't understand. Why would they attack us?" Kaylin said. "We just signed the peace treaty!"

"Probably a separate movement." Patrickson said. "A lot of Klingons are certainly still opposed to the idea of peace with the Federation.

"Well...I think I agree with them, for once...It was almost calmer before we signed the peace treaty." Fielmann said.

"Let's go." Kaylin suddenly suggested. And they went.

 

"Red Alert! Hard to port!" Captain Samuels barked. Lieutenant Kaylin punched in a quick command on her console and the ship reared to the side, dodging a volley of disruptors that had been fired from the Klingon vessel.

"Second Klingon bird-of-prey decloaking." Patrickson reported.

Suddenly, another volley of disruptor fire came towards the Yosemite. This time, Kaylin didn't react as fast and the disruptors hammered the forward shields. An ensign didn't hold on and he crashed head first into the engineering terminal.

"Full phasers at starboard target. Fire!" Samuels ordered.

The red lances were thrown from the Federation vessel and struck the starboard Klingon in the nacelle area. This seemed to annoy the Klingons so they fired continuous blasts of disruptors at the Starfleet ship.

An explosion rattled through the ship as the shields dropped. Aline Castaro, the tactical officer, was thrown into the turbolift doors when her console exploded in a shower of sparks. Patrickson took control of the now vacated station and fired all weapons at the starboard Klingon ship. The shields of the ship dropped as well and the photon torpedoes that followed the phasers made one of the nacelles explode in a burst of flame which soon the whole ship.

"One of the ships have been destro..." Kaylin was cut off in mid-speech when the second Klingon ship suddenly fired once again. Patrickson was blinded by an explosion at the front of the bridge. He shielded his eyes whilst trying to keep his balance. When the light was gone, he didn't see the captain anymore. Commander Fielmann was now seated in the command chair, his head was bleeding near his right temple. His eyes were so filled with hate that it seemed that they could have turned objects on fire at a distance.

"Return fire." He said through clenched teeth.

Patrickson fired everything that he could muster in continuous bursts. The Klingon ship veered to the starboard of the Yosemite and began to retreat. Patrickson wouldn't let it go...Kaylin seemed to control the ship exactly as Patrickson wished she would so he would have the best firing capability. The last photon torpedo flew from its bay and literally transpierced the hull of the Klingon vessel, ripping it apart in a violent explosion.

"Bastards." Patrickson muttered as the debris from the Klingon ship flew past the screen.

The bridge was silent. Patrickson turned to Fielmann.

"What is it?" He asked.

Fielmann looked like he had come straight from hell, with bloodshot eyes and blood running down his face: "The captain's dead..."

 

Chapter Two

 

Starbase 31 was an old base that had been renovated many times throughout the years. It had been constructed in 2273 and since then had been upgraded, renovated, expanded dozens of time. Today, it was no longer just a repair base and a place to rotate your temporary crewmembers. It was also the home of four thousand people, Starfleet officers, families...there was even a section for races that couldn't live in a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, this comprised deck 10, mostly.

Patrickson noticed lieutenant Kaylin in the bar, he walked toward her and sat down besides her.

"What's up, Dian?" He asked.

She was sipping some blue, pulpy cocktail that he had seen her have numerous times on board the Yosemite. "Oh, I'm fine." She said.

"Anything interesting going on in the heads of our fellow officers?" He asked.

Kaylin was a full-telepath, she was born from Betazoid parents and she had lived on Betazed until she joined Starfleet after graduating from the Betazoid education system.

"They seem to have calmed down, a night's sleep can do that." She said. "And how are you?"

"Can't you tell?" He asked with an amused smile.

"Yes, I can...But I want to see you say it yourself." She said.

His smile slowly faded away: "Well...I feel better than yesterday."

"Mh-hmmm..."

"And...I am kind of mourning, I guess..."

"That's correct." She said. "Everyone is..."

Suddenly, Patrickson's combadge chirped:"This is admiral Lang, report to my office immediately."

"What's that about?" Kaylin asked.

"I have no idea..." Patrickson said with a shrug, then he touched her hand. "I'll explain when I get back."

"Okay, see you later."

 

Patrickson pressed the door chime of Admiral's Lang's office: "Come." He heard a voice say.

He entered and saw the admiral sitting at his desk at the opposite side of the room, the admiral had dark hair and what seemed to be a perpetual frown on his face. "Lieutenant commander Patrickson.. Please have a seat."

Patrickson sat down in a comfortable chair near to Lang's desk.

"I bet you're wondering why you've been summoned here, commander." Lang said.

"Yes." Patrickson simply said.

"Well...First I must make sure that you will not let any of this information leak out anywhere. It's an order."

"I understand."

"Good." Lang lay back in his chair. "We've been studying you for some time, commander. We have been impressed by your impressive service to Starfleet and the Federation, and we were wondering if you could possibly consider becoming a member of Starfleet Intelligence services."

Patrickson blinked.

Lang smiled: "I understand you are surprised."

"Uh....yeah."

"Take your time." Lang said. "You don't have to give your answer immediately."

"No..." Patrickson said.

"No?" Lang was surprised.

"No, I don't need more time..." Patrickson said. "I'm in."

"Ah!" Lang laughed. "I was thinking for a moment that you had said that you didn't want to become a member."

"I have a duty to Starfleet and the Federation." Patrickson still seemed a bit unsure of himself.

"Perfect." Lang said. "We have a mission that we must fulfill."

"What? Now?" Patrickson frowned.

"Yes, right away. There's something in a neighboring system that we are supposed to check out." The admiral was already at the door when he finished his sentence. He turned and looked quizzically at Patrickson. "Are you coming?"

 

 

 

 

Chapter Three

 

"Now that you are a member of Starfleet Intelligence I need to create a file that I will transmit to Starfleet H.Q. by subspace." Lang quickly tapped a few things on a PADD and sent it. "There, Rookie. After this mission I'll give you your access codes and your identification numbers."

"Why not right away?" Patrickson asked, slightly annoyed at the use of the nickname 'Rookie' to designate him.

"It's a matter of security. We always have to be careful." Lang said.

"So...what about this mission?" Patrickson asked.

"I can't divulge too much information. What I can tell you is that this is happening in the Rash'kill system."

"Rash'kill..." Patrickson repeated. "That's pretty deserted."

"It was pretty deserted until one month ago." Lang corrected with a raised finger.

Patrickson decided to keep further questions to himself.

 

"What is that?" Patrickson stared through the windows of the docking area at the starship beyond the glass.

"That, is the USS-Ambassador." Lang said with a smile.

"A prototype?" Patrickson asked.

"NX-10521," Lang said. "the next generation of starships."

"Wow."

"We'll be using it to get to the Rash'kill system. It uses a new type of warp core with more efficient flowing in the engines so we can beat any speed record previously set by any starship."

"What's its maximum warp speed?" Patrickson asked as they began moving towards the transporter room.

"Warp 8.5 on the reformed Warp scale." Lang said. "We'll be in the Rash'kill in less than two days."

"Not bad." Patrickson said as they entered the transporter room. Lang ordered the officer that managed the transporter console to beam them over to the Ambassador and they both stepped onto the transporter pad.

A moment later, in the turbolift to the bridge of the Ambassador, Patrickson asked: "Will this crew be comprised of Starfleet Intelligence officers?"

"No." the admiral said. "Intelligence only has the resources to create one team like that at a time. We will have to pretend to be normal officers that have been given a special mission from H.Q."

"So the crewmembers don't know we will be working with Intelligence."

"Nope." Lang said.

The turbolift doors opened.

Lang walked to the command chair and sat in it. As Patrickson walked onto the bridge, and recognized the officer at conn.

"Dian?" He said, surprised as his Betazoid friend turned and was equally surprised to see him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him.

"He's my second-in-command on this mission, lieutenant." Lang said.

"Oh, I see." She said.

Lang turned away and Patrickson mouthed: we'll talk later, Kaylin nodded then asked Lang: "Orders, sir?"

"Yes." Lang said. "Take us out of the base and set a course to the Rash'kill sector, warp 6."

"We'll be underway in less than two minutes, sir."

"Good. Commander Patrickson, join me in my ready room, please." Lang stood up and walked into the ready-room, closely followed by Patrickson.

Chapter Four

 

"So, are you finally going to give me a little more explanations?" Patrickson asked as the doors of the admiral's ready room closed.

"That is precisely what I was going to do." Lang said as he dropped into his chair.

Patrickson fell into the sofa opposite to Lang's desk: "Fire away, sir."

"I just need to make sure again that you won't tell anyone about this operation, not even the friends that you seem to have on board this ship." Lang said.

"Of course. I understand my duties, admiral."

"Sure you do, Rookie...Now listen up: We are going to deal with an alien artificial intelligence device that could advance our technological degree by at least a thousand years."

Patrickson raised a skeptical eyebrow: "Seems to good to be true..."

"It is too good to be true, but, strangely, it is true." Lang said. "The Rash'kill system is known for being a system with nothing of interest within it. No planets, no asteroids...nothing. But there is one thing in that system..."

"The sun..." Patrickson said.

"Precisely." Lang said smiling. "A few days ago, a Vulcan science vessel was conducting a simple scan on the Rash'kill sun. They discovered a bizarre radiation signature which didn't seem to be a reaction caused by the star. After a few further and more extensive scans, the Vulcans came in contact with an alien artificial intelligence within the sun."

Patrickson said nothing, waiting for Lang to continue.

"Fearing the implications of such a discovery, the Vulcans didn't report anything about this to their superiors and went to the Federation council to seek help. They decided to leave this investigation to Starfleet Intelligence. Being the nearest member of Starfleet to the Rash'kill system, I was the one ordered to go and check this star out. Since this mission coincided with your planned recruiting into SI, I decided to bring you on the mission. Beginning your Intelligence career with such a fabulous discovery will make you shine within the organization."

"Oh joy..." Patrickson said, unenthusiastically.

Lang smiled: "Having a good record is capital if you want to make yourself remembered, Rookie."

"I understand." Patrickson said.

"Ambition may be bad in some cases, but one of the cases where it isn't is inside Starfleet Intelligence." Lang said. "Now let's get back to the bridge."

 

Patrickson was getting lost in the complex and long corridors of the USS-Ambassador. Even though the ship had the common layout of Starfleet starships, somehow, Patrickson still had difficulty to know where he was without asking the computer.

After a few confused detours, Patrickson found a turbolift and entered.

"Computer, bring me to deck 10."

"You are currently on deck 10." The computer said.

"Is that right?" Patrickson said, half-frustrated and half-amused. "Well then bring me to the deck where the Mess Hall is."

"The Mess Hall is located on deck 10." The computer said.

Patrickson sighed and walked out of the lift, than he began attempting to find the Mess...

 

Dian Kaylin tapped her foot impatiently on the carpeted floor of the Mess Hall. Patrickson was running ten minutes late and she was getting hungry.

Finally, two minutes thereafter, Patrickson came through the Mess Hall's starboard door, looking like he had just witnessed a miracle. He came towards her and she asked: "What did you see? A ghost?"

Patrickson smiled: "I was just surprised to find the Mess, I've been going through all the corridors in the ship for the last twenty minutes."

"Yeah...You'll need to learn how to navigate around this ship if you're going to stay..." Then she raised an eyebrow. "Are you staying."

He opened his mouth, and for a moment said nothing...Then he shrugged and shook his head: "I honestly don't know."

She frowned: "And who's this Lang guy?"

"He's an admiral. He works for Starfleet Command." He said. "He wants me to work for the Federation."

A waitress suddenly came to their table, asking them if they wanted anything. They both ordered coffees. Patrickson took a ham sandwich and Kaylin ordered a baked Betazoid fish.

When the waitress had left, they returned to their conversation: "Work for the federation..." Kaylin repeated. "And what are you going to do actually."

"I..." Patrickson smiled. "I don't know if..."

"Officers!" A loud voice boomed, surprising both Patrickson and Kaylin.

They turned and they saw admiral Lang approaching, holding a mug that contained a steaming beverage. "How are you? Having lunch I see."

"Uh...yeah." Patrickson said.

"Well...I don't want to bother you too much but we have something to talk about, commander Patrickson."

Patrickson turned and looked apologetically to Kaylin who looked deeply annoyed. Then he stood up and followed Lang out of the Mess Hall.

When they were in the turbolift a few minutes later, Lang halted it between two decks.

"Saved by the bell, lieutenant?" Lang turned to face Patrickson. "Saved by me?"

Patrickson sighed and dropped against the side of the turbolift: "Yeah."

"You'll have to learn something, Rookie." Lang said, pointing a finger at the commander. "And that is that personal relationships are one of the most dangerous things in the field. It's the easiest way to get yourself into the deepest troubles ever."

"I understand..." Patrickson said.

They said nothing for a while, then Lang said: "Just be careful, that Betazoid girl is going to wreak havoc in our operation if you aren't careful...You haven't yet been given training against mind-resisting techniques, you will only receive them once we get back to Earth, until then, I want you to stay clear of telepaths or any other kind of mind readers...Is that clear?"

Patrickson hesitated, then nodded slowly: "Yes, sir."

"Good." Lang said. "Computer, resume turbolift functions."

 

Chapter Five

 

Twenty light-years away from the Ambassador, hidden behind an unstable cloaking shield, a strangely shaped ship warped at maximum speed towards the Rash'kill system--the Raptor... On board its bridge were representatives of many races: two humans, one male, one female; a Romulan, a Klingon, an Angosian and a Lekarian stood in their respective places on the bridge.

"Captain." The tall Angosian said in his low baritone. "The Rash'kill system is now five light-years away. We shall get there in less than five hours."

"Why are we still going at such a slow pace?" The human captain asked, nervously pulling on his earlobe. "You do know that the Federation will be at the Rash'kill soon?!"

"Yes, sir..." The Angosian said sourly. "But if you hadn't initiated such a violent warp jump without listening to my recommendations, we would already be in the Rash'kill system."

The captain stood up and walked until his face was six inches away from the Angosian's: "Maybe you give good recommendations...But your competence leaves much to be desired...The failure occurred two hours ago and you still haven't done anything about it...Now I strongly suggest you get your Angosian backside moving or you might be in a real bad situation."

The Angosian said nothing, just kept his gaze locked with the captain's until he walked into the turbolift and disappeared.

The female human walked towards the captain: "You should be careful with him, Daniel." She warned. "He has many allies aboard the ship..."

"I don't care...They're all useless...What I want is to get to the Rash'kill system as fast as possible and find what that pathetic Yridian sold us..."

"Of course..." She said. "I just don't want things to get ugly."

"I know." He smiled to her. "Don't worry, everything'll be fine."

 

One hour thereafter...

 

The Angosian cam back onto the bridge out of the turbolift, the captain turned in his command seat to face the tall engineer. "Well?" He asked. "Are your engines finally functioning as they should?"

"Perfectly..." The engineer said, his chin high. "We now have maximum warp capability."

"Good." The captain turned back to face the viewscreen. "Helm...Accelerate to maximum warp speed."

"Aye." The Romulan helmswoman said. "ETA at the Rash'kill sun...one hour."

"Excellent." he smiled.

 

"ETA at the Rash'kill sun, one hour fifteen minutes, admiral." Kaylin reported from her conn terminal.

"Good." Lang said, then he activated the communications to Engineering. "Chief, I want five probes ready by the time we reach the Rash'kill system. Is that possible?"

"Anything is possible, admiral...Some things are just improbable." The voice of the engineer said.

"Well then in which category does my order fit?" Lang asked with a smile.

"Totally possible, sir. We'll have'em ready in one hour."

"Thanks, chief...Bridge out."

Patrickson was walking briskly through the corridors of deck 3 towards his quarters...Suddenly, he heard footsteps quickly approaching behind him...and a very familiar voice called out: "Wait up!"

Damn...he thought with a sigh as he swiveled to see Dian Kaylin rushing up to him.

"Patrickson...What the hell is going on?" She demanded, her voice firm.

"I'm sorry..." He said. "I can't."

"Why? What's with this admiral Lang? And what is this mysterious job were doing, and for whom...for what?" She was furious.

"Why are you asking all these questions?" Patrickson asked. "Don't you know that, sooner or later, you are going to know what's going on?

"Yes...But you know me well enough to know that I don't care about physical truth...I want the truth to come out of your own mouth."

"What about your Betazoid powers? Wouldn't it be simpler just to read my mind?"

"I can't."

Patrickson blinked: "What...?"

"I can't." She said, her arms folded across her chest.

"You can't." He raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"You are setting up barriers." She said. "Whether it's willingly or not I don't know...But I want you to tell me."

Patrickson sighed, and massaged his temple with his left hand, then said: "I'm sorry..."

Kaylin closed her eyes, calming herself...When she had opened them, she shook her head: "Who the hell are you, lieutenant commander? I don't know you anymore."

"Are you sure? You can never be sure, Dian...never!" He pointed a finger at her."You don't know who I was, anymore...Now, today, you know me better than ever before..."

He turned on his heels and began slowly walking away from her. He was angry...So angry that he felt like bending all the bulkheads on this deck, using only his bare hands.

And he let his guard down...

Suddenly, as he realized his mistake...He rose his mental barriers immediately, but he was not fast enough and he turned to see a small smile on Dian's lips. She looked up at him: "You're right, Patrickson...Today, I know who you are."

She walked away...Patrickson felt his face go pale...She knew everything...Just one explosive emotion and his barriers dropped...Long enough for everything to reach the telepath's mind.

She knew everything...

 

Chapter Six

 

"You filthy Angosian!" The bridge walls almost vibrated due to the shouting coming from captain Daniel's mouth. "What the hell happened?"

"A small...mistake, sir." The Angosian answered.

"Right..." The captain unholstered his disruptor. "But this one will be the last one..."

The captain fired, and, under the disbelieving eyes of the rest of the bridge crew, the Angosian was disintegrated.

The captain holstered the weapon and pointed to a short Denebian at the back of the bridge: "You! Replace him!" He pointed at the engineering station."And try to get those engines up and running as fast as possible..."

"A...Aye, captain." The Denebian stammered as he rushed to the station."We should have the engines back online in forty-five minutes."

"I hope so...For your sake." The captain said through clenched teeth.

 

Patrickson paced the turbolift in circles during the quick journey to the bridge. A million questions whirled around his mind. Thinking about possible outcomes to this incident with Kaylin. Would she tell everyone on the ship? Would his cover and Lang's be blown forever? Or would she rather stay quiet?

The lift's doors opened to reveal the Ambassador's bridge. Lang was watching over the tactical officer's shoulder--lieutenant Jeffrey Levin, Patrickson recalled. Kaylin gave Patrickson a split-second glance before returning her attention to the console before her. Patrickson licked his lips and walked towards Lang and whispered into the admiral's ear: "We have a problem."

"Later, commander." Lang said. "We've just arrived in the Rash'kill system."

"But, sir..." Patrickson urged.

"Later, I said."

Patrickson sighed and dropped himself into the second-in-command's chair.

"Wait a minute..." Kaylin suddenly bent nearer to her console with disbelieving eyes. "I'm reading a strange distortion five hundred thousand kilometers aft."

"Confirmed." Levin said.

"Red Alert. Shields up." Lang let himself fall into the command chair. "Bring us around to face the distortion."

The Ambassador turned on itself using its side-thrusters to face the strange distortion that had just materialized.

"It's a ship." Levin said. "A big ship..."

Finally, the Raptor had reached the Rash'kill system. Captain Daniel smiled as the Romulan operations officer made the ship decloak right in the face of the Federation starship. Daniel had never seen a Starfleet ship of this design, even though it seemed to be a top of the line ship, it was still significantly less large than the Raptor itself. It probably posed only a small threat to the security of his vessel.

"Raise shields and bring weapons to full power." He ordered. "What's their status?"

"They're at battle alert, captain." The Klingon at tactical reported. "But they will not fire first."

"Of course, they won't." The captain smirked. "They are Federation fools...Arm all disruptor banks and ready full phasers. I also want all our photon torpedoes at ready."

"Aye, sir." The Klingon said.

"Fire at will." The captain said, eager to see the result of his ship's attack. He had never had a real occasion to fight in a real battle against a worthy opponent. He had only managed to destroy small Romulan cargo ships, and sometimes he would attack other freighters from different systems...But they were all obsolete and with virtually no defensive capability, hardly great challenges for one of the most experienced pirates still roaming the stars.

"They're firing!" Levin reported.

"Veer to port, now!" Lang barked.

The Ambassador was hit by the rapid phaser fire, but the disruptors were slower and narrowly missed the Federation ship.

"Return fire! Full phasers!" Lang ordered.

"Aye." Levin punched in the phaser control panel.

The red beam lashed out from the saucer section of the vessel and struck the pirate ship on its underbelly.

"Continue firing and coordinate the phaser beams to one specific point while plotting an elliptical course around the enemy. Full impulse power." Lang ordered, clutching the armrests of his command chair with force.

The Ambassador accelerated and swiveled around the pirate ship whilst concentrating a red phaser beam on the port shields of the vessel.

"Fire all photon torpedoes available once those bastards stop turning around us." Daniel ordered. "And try to disable their propulsion systems with phasers first, then with disruptors."

The Ambassador ceased its course around the Raptor and began accelerating away from the pirate vessel. Suddenly, the photon torpedoes were fire in volleys of three in rapid successions, hitting the aft shields of the Federation vessel and making the whole ship rattle under the explosions of the torpedoes.

"Looping now!" Lang ordered.

Kaylin's fingers flew across the helm and the Ambassador did a half turn on itself backwards and half a turn to starboard so it was face-to-face with the pirate ship.

"Fire all weapons." Lang said.

The impressive barrage of phaser fire which was rapidly followed by rapid and deadly volleys of photon torpedoes. The Raptor veered to starboard, receiving most of the damage on its port shields.

"Port shields down to 10 percent!" The Klingon reported.

"Reinforce!" Daniel ordered.

"I can't! The auxiliary power isn't responding."

"How is that possible?! We revised them only days ago!" The captain said.

The Denebian engineer said: "Uh...I kinda used the auxiliary generators to help boost the engine efficiency."

Daniel rolled his eyes: "Dammit...If we weren't going to blow up I would kill you."

The engineer didn't know whether to be relieved or not.

More phaser fire came from the Federation starship, disabling the port shields.

"Port shields down!" The Klingon shouted. "We will not survive another hit!"

Daniel closed his eyes and sighed in annoyance.

"It is a good day to die!!" The Klingon exclaimed.

"Oh shut up..." Daniel muttered.

"Fire." Lang ordered.

The photon torpedoes ripped through the hull of the massive Raptor and exploded within the core of the ship. One of the photon torpedoes struck the warp core and the flames consumed the ship in a few microseconds.

"The pirate ship has been destroyed." Levin gave a most unnecessary comment to the rest of the bridge crew.

"Good..." Lang let out a relieved breath. "Now let's assess our damage and continue our mission."

Chapter Seven

 

The damage to the Ambassador was not too serious and the crew had got it up to almost perfect functionality four hours after the battle. During the four hours, Patrickson didn't have much to do do he went to Engineering to help in any way he could.

When he returned to the bridge after his sonic shower, everything seemed fine aboard the bridge. Lang smiled pleasantly to Patrickson: "Commander! We're ten seconds away from the sun. You're just in time."

From where he was standing, Patrickson could almost hear Kaylin think: Just in time for what? As she turned her head to glance at him.

He felt awful.

The Rash'kill sun approached quickly on the viewscreen...It was slightly different from the sun in the Sol system, darker and with a more orange tint. And there were almost no eruptions on the surface...which was strange...very strange.

"Nice sun." Lang said unenthusiastically...obviously attempting to fill the silence that was reigning on the bridge

"This is engineering." The chief engineer's voice said over the intercom. "The probes are ready to be sent into the sun...With your special addition to the mixture."

"Understood," Lang said. "bridge out."

Patrickson had no idea what the hell the 'special addition' was...But he felt he was going to discover it really soon.

The probes were thrown almost back-to-back straight into the sun, the bridge crew stared in surprise as the probes plunged straight into the stars corona.

"What..." Patrickson began but Lang interrupted him.

"Sit down, Rookie. The show's about to start."

Suddenly, there was a blinding flash and the viewscreen quickly adjusted the lighting so that the bridge crew didn't immediately go blind...Then the outside of the star began to shimmer strangely and, much to the amazement of the crew, the whole star dissolved in a humongous cloud of dust.

The only thing left of the sun was a large object...a very large object.

* * *

"Holy cow..." Levin breathed. "What in the world is that thing?"

Everyone was staring, wide-eyed at the massive object which the viewscreen was showing. The central section was a long cylinder that was as long as the diameter of the star that had once occupied the same space. All along the cylinder were cubes, tubes, saucers and various different geometrical shapes... The object was made out of some dark material that could easily have been obsidian...But Patrickson was sure it was not. It must've been some metal that had never been seen before. It wouldn't have been surprising considering that this object seemed to have been created by a technologically advanced race which could have been at least a thousand years in advance of the Federation.

Patrickson recalled Lang's words: " We are going to deal with an alien artificial intelligence device that could advance our technological degree by at least a thousand years."

A thousand years...Patrickson hadn't measured the meaning of such a leap forward...It was truly unbelievable.

"Patrickson, you're with me." Lang said as he stood up from his seat and began walking towards the turbolift."

All of the sudden, Kaylin stood up from her chair and said: "Sir! I'd like to know what's going on if you don't mind."

Lang sighed and turned to face her: "I don't believe that's wise at this time, miss Kaylin. Now, you have command of the bridge. Me and Patrickson are beaming over there."

"Sir." Kaylin persisted. "I have to insist."

"No you don't, lieutenant. Now follow my orders if you don't want to find yourself locked up in the brig."

Kaylin flexed her jaw muscles in annoyance and managed to say a sour: "Yes, sir." through clenched teeth as she dropped into the command chair.

On their way to the transporter room, Patrickson asked Lang: "Uh...Sir? Am I supposed to do anything special?"

"I don't think you should have to, Rookie." Lang said with a reassuring smile. "Only answer if you're asked a question and use all the politeness and diplomacy you've ever learned because this is unlike any computer we've ever dealed with."

"It's a sentient artificial intelligence?" Patrickson asked.

"That and more." Lang said. "Sentient and horrifically intelligent. So watch your mouth, is that clear?"

"Perfectly."

"Good." They entered the transporter room. "Let's go."

 

Chapter Eight

 

Patrickson rematerialized inside what he presumed was the core of the complex. The walls were smooth and circular, they went up so high that he couldn't see the top, and when he looked down he had the same feeling of infinity.

They were standing on a metallic bridge which had been painted in white, they walked towards a large cube-shaped object which was totally bare on all sides and had a gray-blue color.

"What's that?" Patrickson whispered to Lang.

"I think it's the central computer core..." The admiral said.

They came before the cube and waited.

After one minute of waiting, the cube suddenly rose into the air, levitated by an invisible force, revealing what lay beneath. A large, complex looking set of machinery. Wires, terminals and blinking lights.

And then, a female voice reverberated off the walls of the enormous chamber: "This is unit D-999999956. How may I be of service?"

"I am admiral Lang of the Federation." Lang said in a loud, clear voice.

"Ah! Finally, the envoy from the Federation. It is a pleasure to meet you, sir. And who is your charming companion?"

Patrickson was in a daze, until Lang gave him a look and he stammered: "Uh...Patrickson, lieutenant commander Patrickson."

"Pleased to meet you lieutenant commander. I am honored by your visit and hope that you haven't gone through to much trouble to get to me."

"No not at all." Lang said. "It seems a pirate ship came here with malevolent intentions, but we neutralized them."

"Dear me! Were any of your crew injured?"

"No, not seriously." Lang said.

"I apologize from the bottom of my heart."

"You have no need to apologize, unit D-99999..."

"Just call me D, it's my nickname."

Patrickson's head was spinning.

Lang didn't blink: "Alright, D. The Federation was considering an alliance with you."

"An alliance? With me? Why?"

"Well...We often see alliances between the Federation and other races to be very beneficial in many ways, including learning from each other, technology exchanges, knowledge exchanges, etc..."

"I see." The computer seemed to ponder a moment. "But I do not know what you could offer us...We are only computers after all."

Lang hesitated a moment then said: "Well...Perhaps, somehow, since you are sentient computers. We could offer you...liberty?"

"Liberty?"

"Uh...Well, yes. Maybe we could create bodies for you? To make you more free?"

Interesting idea...Patrickson thought.

"Interesting...After so many millennia, I must admit that this could be good news for us."

"Us?" Lang asked.

"Yes, we are five independent computers inside the central core. We shall discuss your offer between ourselves and shall keep you advised of our situation. Thank you."

And the two officers were beamed back aboard the Ambassador.

Chapter Nine

 

"This is insane..." Patrickson said as he and Lang returned to the bridge. "It's impossible!"

"Impossible...obviously not since we've seen it work with our own eyes." Lang said. "On first contact, the computer showed exactly the same reaction to the Vulcans. They are sentient."

"Or perhaps they're just another trick." Patrickson suggested, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "They may speak like sentient beings, but it could just be a complex program devised to comfort 'real' sentient aliens that would speak to this computer."

"Interesting hypothesis, Rookie...I'll write it down. But our first priority is to establish peaceful relations, our second is to manage to get new technologies."

"Hmmm...I see." Patrickson nodded. "But I'm still curious why you call me Rookie."

Lang smiled: "My personal Intelligence instructor used to call me by that nickname...Since then, all of my students have had to endure the nickname."

"I see..." Patrickson sighed.

They entered the turbolift once the crewmembers that were standing in it had exited it and Lang said: "Bridge."

The lift began moving and Patrickson turned to Lang: "I don't suppose we'll be able to keep this secret for long."

"No...But we'll have to keep it to the very end." Lang said.

"How?"Patrickson asked. "There has obviously already been a leak and some information got to the ears of those pirates."

"Yes...We have a ship on the tail of the Yridian who sold them the information."

"And what about the crew? How will we guarantee their silence?"

"You'll see."Lang said.

The lift doors opened to reveal the bridge. Kaylin, who was still in the command chair, looked even more infuriated than before. Patrickson sighed inwardly.

"Admiral." Kaylin said coldly, returning to her post.

"Lieutenant," Lang said to her as he went to sit down on his chair. "I want complete subspace channel lockout of the ship."

She turned with a surprised expression to look at the admiral: "Sir?"

"You heard me," He said patiently. "I don't want anything to get in or off this ship through the subspace channels."

She nodded slowly and said a hesitant: "Aye." as she turned back to face her console.

Now Patrickson knew how they would prevent leaks...Until the issue was resolved, he would cut the ship off from any exterior influence. Effective...But probably very suspicious to the eyes of the crew.

"May I ask what is over there, sir? Now that there is no threat of the information, which is no doubt very important, leaking through the Federation." There was a hint of sarcasm in Kaylin's voice as she questioned the admiral.

"No...We don't want to risk letting such critical information out...Not until I am authorized to." Lang said.

"Authorized by...?"

"My superiors."

"Who are...?"

Patrickson frowned, Kaylin was going to get into big trouble if she continued on the road she was taking with Lang.

The admiral was getting slightly annoyed, Patrickson could see it: "Miss Kaylin...What is the point of all these questions?"

"I want some answers." She said.

"And you will get them...when the time is right..." He said.

Levin suddenly spoke up: "Uh...Admiral Lang? The...the object is hailing us."

"Patch it in to my ready room." Lang stood up and began moving towards his ready room. "Patrickson, you're with me."

When the doors to the ready room had closed, an image of the core of the object appeared on the screen. The computer known as 'D' spoke: "Admiral Lang?"

"I am here, D. So is commander Patrickson." Lang said. "Have you considered our offer?"

"Yes...unfortunately...My friends wish something more than you have already offered us so that our exchange can be equal."

"And what is this 'something'?" He asked.

"It will guarantee that we will be able to complete our part of the bargain and that we will also benefit from it...It is a thing that you have in abundance so it will not be difficult to provide us with the adequate amount of it."

"I'm curious to hear what this miraculous thing is." Lang said.

D seemed to hesitate, then said: "We have studied the anatomy of your species and believe that you should be able to provide us with...blood and healthy vital organs."

Patrickson jumped: "What?!"

Lang silenced Patrickson with a quick glance then turned to the viewscreen, as placid as ever: "In quantities, how much will that make?"

"...The blood must be fresh for adequate use and the vital organs must still be functioning so that they can provide us with what we need. Our calculations show that five-hundred liters of blood and approximately the same weight of organs per week should suffice."

"Is there any other way to produce the elements you need?" Lang asked and Patrickson prayed that the answer was yes.

"No." D said.

Lang said nothing for a few moments then said: "We will consider your offer."

"Be advised..." D said. "That if you do not accept, there shall be no deal."

"I see..." Lang nodded. "Okay, Lang out."

Patrickson let out all the words that had been building up in his mouth: "Sir! We can't accept the deal? Blood? Organs? Have they gone insane? And what is there in blood that we can't get anywhere else? I..."

"Patrickson!" Lang snapped, Patrickson fell silent. "Please be quiet...I'm thinking."

After a few moments, Lang said: "We have to."

"What?!" Patrickson couldn't believe his ears. "Did you hear what they were asking? Five hundred liters of fresh blood."

"But on the other hand...Access to technology beyond our wildest dreams! A thousand years of progress in a few months!"

"Are you willing to sacrifice dozens of living beings every week for this?"

"Don't forget. You are the inferior officer, Rookie. I'm in charge of representing the interests of the Federation, not you."

"How do you know what the Federation wants?" Patrickson demanded: "I believe that no one anywhere in the Federation would even bother listening to such a wild proposal!"

"Believe what you want...But today, I am the one to make the decision."

"Are you insane? Wha..."

"That's enough!" Lang barked. "You're confined to your quarters, Patrickson."

"What?! You think you can confine me?"

"I can..." Lang said. "And I will."

The admiral tapped his combadge and ordered three guards to come in and bring Patrickson to his quarters. Patrickson didn't resist, but kept his gaze locked with Lang's.

Patrickson's eyes seemed to say: You'll be hearing from me.

And Lang's seemed to respond: Let's see you get out of your quarters first...

Chapter TEN

 

In his quarters, Patrickson was sitting at his desk. His computer in front of him.

What could he do...No one knew what Patrickson was planning besides him, and who knows what devilish deal he would strike with the computers on board that object.

He buried his face in his arms, trying to think of a way to pass by the five security guards outside unnoticed.

His computer activated itself.

His head darted up to face the screen of the small computer. "What...?"

"Patrickson...It is I, unit D-999999956. I must speak with you." The female computer's voice came out from the speakers of the computer. "I couldn't express my real feelings while my friends were listening. So I came into your computer."

"How the hell did you get into my computer?"

"Your ship uses a primitive computer device...It was no problem to infiltrate it. I need your help."

"My help? How?"

"I do not wish to slaughter all those innocents...Even though my friends believe it is necessary to our survival, I do not believe it...They are all bloodthirsty programs who only wish to conquer your galaxy."

"Conquer it?"

"Yes, once the first delivery of blood and organs is made...They will be able to reinforce our ship until it is virtually indestructible...They will destroy all of your Federation before you have time to know what hit you."

"What can I do?"

"I know that your admiral Lang wishes to strike a deal with them.And even if I am incorrect, if he refuses to strike a deal. My friends will kill the crew of your ship and use their own internal organs and blood to reinforce the ship. You must stall him, prevent him from getting on board our ship."

"I can't...He's confined me to quarters for objecting against his decision."

"You must find a way to stall him...."

"I'm stuck in my quarters! There's no way I can get out."

Suddenly, the doors of his quarters opened. He approached it carefully and saw that the guards that were in the corridor had been neutralized by anesthezine gas.

"Hey? Why don't you try that trick on admiral Lang?" Patrickson asked. "If he's unconscious that could buy us some time."

"No...I do not have the capability to access the room in which the admiral is...The circuits in that area are to difficult to decrypt." She said, her voice was now coming out of the speakers of the corridor--from where the normal computer voice came from.

"Where is this room?" Patrickson grabbed the hand phaser of one of the guards.

"I believe it is called: Transporter room 1."

"Damn...That means he's going over to your ship."

"Then there is no choice..." D's voice said gravely.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"We will have to destroy the ship."

"Your ship?! But won't that kill you?" He asked.

"Yes...but there is no other way..."

 

Ten seconds after Lang beamed over to the other ship, Patrickson entered the transporter room and stunned the transporter chief. He told the computer to beam him in a secluded area a few dozen meters away from the point where Lang had beamed to.

He stepped on the transporter pad and was beamed to the other ship.

* * *

He appeared behind a corner formed by two large cubes that seemed to serve no useful purpose. He glanced behind the corner and saw Lang walking towards the central core. Patrickson took a deep breath and dove from behind the cubes, firing at Lang.

Nothing happened.

His phaser didn't work.

Meanwhile, Lang had heard him and had swiveled, a look of total surprise on his face.

"Rookie! What the hell are you doing he..."

Patrickson sprinted across the metallic bridge towards Lang and swung his right fist across Lang's jaw. The admiral fell to the ground with a thud, but immediately kicked his leg up, tripping Patrickson and making him fall on the floor as well.

Lang stood up quickly and the central core began buzzing, he ran towards it and a low, masculine, computerized voice said: "This is unit D-999999954, you are admiral Lang?"

"Ye..." The admiral was cut off when Patrickson attempted to knock him out with his useless phaser, Lang expertly evaded the hit and kicked Patrickson in the stomach, quickly following with an uppercut. Patrickson was thrown backwards, his nose was bleeding.

Suddenly, the portion of the metallic bridge on which Patrickson and Lang were standing rose into the air and approached a large dark cube-shaped object a few levels up. It was one of the central computer cores.

"This is unit D-999999954, have we reached an agreement, admiral?" The voice said again.

Lang was too occupied to respond, he and Patrickson were clutching each others uniforms, trying to pull each other in opposite directions. Suddenly, there was the sound of a transporter and Patrickson looked up to a platform a few meters up.

There was a security team standing there, led by lieutenant Dian Kaylin.

"Dian!" He called, before receiving a violent head butt in the jaw.

"Do we have an agreement?" The computer asked again.

"No!" Patrickson shouted as he held himself on the railing of the metallic bridge. "We'll never make a deal with you bloodthirsty bastards. We know what you're planning...It won't work."

The computer hesitated, then said: "We tried to make an equal deal...But you did not accept...Now we will have to take from you what we want."

Suddenly, the platform upon which the security guards and Kaylin were standing began shaking violently. The security guards managed to keep their balance, but Kaylin, who was standing nearer to the edge of the platform, tripped and fell three meters before landing on the top of the computer core.

"Kaylin!" Patrickson called out her name.

"It is ironic that your own life-giving substances will be the ammunition in the gun that we will use to shoot you."

Kaylin was enveloped in a white, crackling energy.

Patrickson began running to her, but Lang was still standing and grabbed his shoe. Patrickson kicked him in the face and the admiral skidded across the bridge, he skidded off the edge of the bridge but caught himself just before being pulled down to the bottom of the structure. His two hands were the only things keeping him from falling to his doom.

Patrickson went to him and put out his hand: "Even though this goes against my better judgement, I think I should save you."

He pulled the admiral up onto the bridge, Lang said: "Patrickson....Thank y..."

Patrickson knocked him violently on the back of the head, he fell to the ground unconscious: "Thank me later, admiral." Patrickson said.

The lieutenant commander rushed to Kaylin and pulled her from the grip of the computer core. She was weak, but not unconscious. She said: "Quick Patrickson...Call the ship...Destroy the complex before they reactivate the defensive systems."

But it wasn't Kaylin's voice...

Patrickson asked:"Who are you?"

She grabbed his shoulder: "Please! Tell your ship to destroy the complex! Quickly!"

Patrickson slammed his combadge: "Levin! Target all weapons and blast this station! Now!"

"Aye, sir." Levin's voice said. "Should we beam you back?"

"That would be appreciated." Patrickson smiled.

"Understood. Stand by."

Patrickson looked up at the security officers. They dematerialized and, a few seconds later, Patrickson, the unconscious admiral Lang and Dian Kaylin disappeared as well.

The voice of D-999999954 said: "So close..."

The photon torpedoes penetrated the hull of the ship and detonated. The phasers melted the exterior hull of the ship and exposed the exterior of the structure to space, the evacuating air pulled the computers and bridges out into the infinite emptiness of space and suddenly...As one photon torpedo struck the main power source of the ship. It exploded.

"Get us the hell out of here." Levin ordered. "Maximum warp."

The Ambassador narrowly escaped the shockwave provoked by the explosion of the alien vessel.

The security officers were not injured, bur Patrickson, Lang and Kaylin needed to be brought to sickbay. Patrickson could walk, but the others couldn't.

The doctor asked: "Patrickson? What happened?"

"Kaylin was zapped by some bizarre energy field...I don't know what happened to her." He answered.

"And what happened to the admiral?"

Patrickson hesitated, then said: "An unfortunate incident..."

 

Chapter Eleven

 

Lang's eyes opened, Patrickson was standing over him.

"Dammit, Patrickson...What the hell were you thinking?"

"What the hell were you thinking...They knew that something like this would happen in the nearby future."

"Who is 'they'?" Lang asked.

Patrickson smiled: "Let me put it this way...You said you were a member of Intelligence since when?"

Lang frowned: "Seven years..."

"Right." Patrickson said. "Well I've been in eleven."

Lang stared at the lt.-commander in horror: "You...you..."

"Elite operative Patrickson at your service, admiral." Patrickson said.

"But..."

"Intelligence believed you were unstable and potentially dangerous. I was dispatched to keep an eye on you. You were given fake orders to recruit me, and I was supposed to wait until you did something dangerous to the security of the Federation...I must admit I was surprised that it only took two days for me to discover the evil that lay beneath your skin." Patrickson grinned. "Sorry, Rookie...You lost."

Patrickson left a stunned admiral Lang lying on the biobed, and he walked towards the bed where Kaylin was being reanimated.

When she was awake, she saw Patrickson and smiled: "Patrickson."

He didn't smile, he was frowning and had his arms crossed: "Kaylin?"

She looked down at the floor with a sigh, looking deeply apologetic: "It was an act of instinct."

"Instinct? You have instinct?"

"I may have been a computer...But I had a soul...Couldn't you tell?"

"I'm careful when it comes to the obvious..." He said.

"The ship was going to be destroyed...My friends were going to delete me, I had to go somewhere...Lieutenant Kaylin's body was lying on my information processor and I used the connection to escape them."

"And where is she now?" Patrickson asked.

She shook her head: "I'm sorry...I don't know."

He took a deep breath: "Fine...Well, while you're here. We'll have to call you something besides D..."

She pondered a moment then asked: "What was her name?"

"Her name is Dian..."

She winced, then asked: "Well...what name do you suggest?"

He sighed: "I don't know...we'll see."

 

 

Epilogue

 

Commander Fielmann paced the arrivals room nervously, he was waiting for Patrickson and Kaylin to return from their assignment. He hadn't had the opportunity to speak with them over the subspace channel because he was working on a moon where there were no transmitters.

Suddenly, he saw them, walking towards him with a third officer. They looked different...Patrickson looked more mature, his eyes had gone from kiddy-like eyes to the eyes of a Starfleet war veteran. Kaylin looked truly strange...As if she had regressed until her mind was that of a ten year-old. Fielmann had never seen the other officer.

"Patrickson? What the hell is going on."

His friend gave him a small smile: "It's going to take some time to explain."

The third officer put out his hand, Fielmann shook it: "I'm lieutenant Levin." He said.

"Fielmann." the commander said.

"Let's go to the Mess." Patrickson said. "We need to sit down."

"Why? I think there's something strange that's going to come out from between your lips, Patrickson"

Patrickson glanced at Kaylin, then turned back to Fielmann: "You don't know the half of it, commander."

 

the end

 

 

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