Chapter
Five
"They relieved me of command,
okay…Doesn't seem so bad. But why did they have to throw me into the goddamned brig?"
Protocol,
he knew, was the answer…But it still was quite aggravating.
The
security guard stationed in the brig shrugged at Kline's statement:
"Sorry, sir…I'm just a guard."
"Yeah…You're
glowing with innocence, ensign." Kline sighed and lay down on the bunk.
And
he slowly drifted off into sleep…
"You
said you would help, where are you?"
The
woman was there, standing in a black void with Kline…The two of them were alone.
"I
can't find you…We found some sort of subspace instability and I think this has
something to do with you but I can't contact you."
"We
are prisoners of independence, we need your help…You must come and find
us."
"But
I don't know how to find you. How can I? Tell me!"
"You
can only find us with your ship…The subspace instability will open a subspace
rift if you detonate a quantum torpedo near it."
He
was surprised at this sudden rush of precise information.
"How
do you know that?"
"Know
what, sir?"
Kline's
eyes opened, the guard was eyeing him with a quizzical look.
"I
need to speak with Commander Sutter." Kline told the guard.
"Uh…I
don't know if…"
"Now!" Kline snapped. "It's important."
* * *
Kline
looked horrible; his hair looked like it had been blown up by an atomic bomb.
The bags under his eyes had doubled in volume and some dark stubble was upon
his chin. He looked up at her with bloodshot eyes as she came towards the cell.
"You
wanted to see me, Captain?"
"My
name's Alan…I'm not Captain anymore, right? Unless you've changed your
mind…?"
She
said nothing, just waited.
He
sighed: "You're probably going to tell me to go to hell…But I know how to
open a subspace rift using the instability."
She
frowned: "Really…"
"Yeah,
a quantum torpedo detonated near the subspace instability should open the rift.
And the people were looking for are inside that rift!"
She
looked at him with a mixed look of sadness and skepticism: "I'm sorry,
sir…I wish I could do something. But I can't."
Kline
buried his face in his palms: "Dammit…Well, I'm
sorry I asked. I should've known…"
Sutter
studied him a short moment longer, then hurriedly left the brig.
* * *
Reeves
stepped into the brig and told the security guard she'd like to be alone with
the Captain. The guard left the room and left the two of them alone.
"Reeves!" Kline waved a greeting as the
cryptologist approached the force field which contained him in the cell.
"Come to offer your moral support?"
"No,
actually…" Reeves said. "I've come because Stevenson's been taking
readings of the instability continuously ever since we got here…And he's been
picking up dozens of strange reading emanating from it. Things that could only
come up at such close range."
Kline
blinked, interest in his eyes: "Really?"
"Yeah…And
I was thinking…Maybe you were right." She said. "And you need a
chance."
Kline
watched with disbelieving eyes as Reeves switched off the force field.
"My,
my…" She said. "Looks like the force field is malfunctioning…"
He
stood up and approached her: "Why are you doing this?"
"Because
you have to find the truth…" She said. "And I want to know the truth
too."
He
placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled: "Thanks,"
"Any
time…"
* * *
Kline
hated this plan, but he had no choice.
The
doors of the torpedo control room opened and he brandished his hand phaser set
on stun in front of him. The terrified ensigns inside the control room stared
at him in horror.
"I'm
sorry about this," Kline said. "But I need some answers."
Keeping
his phaser aimed at the group of ensigns, he walked to the main console and
said: "Computer, lock out all torpedo commands from the bridge.
Authorization Kline Tetha
Sutter
hadn't changed his access codes yet, the computer acknowledged: "Commands
locked out."
"Prepare
a quantum torpedo that will detonate precisely at the coordinates of the
subspace instability."
A
few seconds later, the computer said: "Torpedo ready,"
"Fire,"
"What
are you doing?" One of the ensigns asked.
"Revealing
the hidden truth, ensign…" Kline said. "…I hope…"
"What
the hell is going on?" Sutter demanded as she stood up from the command
chair, staring at the blue torpedo flying across the screen.
"Torpedo
control has been locked out…" Lt. Commander Jennifer Mantion at tactical
reported. "We have no control; the torpedo was fired manually from the
launching bay."
"Bridge
to torpedo control room, what's going on?" Sutter said.
"Sorry
Commander…But everything will be clear soon."
"Captain Kline?!" Sutter jumped. "What…"
"Instead
of thinking about me why don't you look at the viewscreen, I bet it's going to
be a lot more interesting…"
She
frowned and turned to face the screen. The Captain was maybe going crazy but
she still trusted him nonetheless…
The
torpedo became smaller and smaller until it suddenly detonated…The explosion
expanded and suddenly contracted as if something was sucking it up…The flash of
energy began growing again, but it was different…White strands of ruptured
space extended from the center of the phenomena and divided themselves into
branches as they did…
"Whoa…"
She heard someone breathe although she didn't recognize the voice.
"Eskina, a scan." She said after a moment.
"Aye…"
A few seconds later the Ops officer said: "It's a subspace rift, highly
unstable…But there's another weird reading. I can't identify it just yet…"
The
doors of the turbolift opened and Captain Kline was escorted in by a large
security guard.
"So?"
He asked, looking at the rift on the screen.
"Something's
emerging from the rift…" Eskina reported. "A ship…"
All
eyes stared at the viewscreen as the ship appeared from out of the rift…
"Identification
please…" Sutter said.
"Federation
ship…" Eskina said. "Constitution-Class…"
Kline
jumped upon seeing the name of the ship written in faded black letters on the
top of the saucer.
"It's
the USS-Independence…"
We
are prisoners of independence…
The
words of the woman swirled around inside Kline's head as the meaning of the
sentence was revealed to him.
"You
were right…" Sutter looked at him with a mixed look of amazement and
apology. "I'm…I'm sorry."
He
walked towards her and smiled: "Don't worry about it; you were doing your
duty…"
"Yeah,"
She nodded slowly. "Captain, I think I should give command of the ship
back to you."
He
grinned: "That'd be fine with me."
They
did the appropriate change with the main computer and Kline was once again in
command of his ship.
"Okay,"
He rubbed his hands together and suppressed another yawn. "Scan for life
signs."
"Aye,"
Mantion conducted the scan. "I am reading ten life signs on board the
ship…I cannot say what kind of life sign exactly, though."
"Can
we hail them?"
She
nodded: "Audio and visual communications are possible."
"Okay,
hail that ship."
A
few moments later, a face appeared on the screen, in the background was a
bridge design that Kline had seen many times before…The old Constitution-class
design was a legend in Starfleet.
And
Kline recognized the face immediately…It was the woman from his dreams, his
hallucinations. He stood from his chair.
"You
came," She smiled.
It
was strange to be finally speaking with this person in a completely lucid
state.
"Yes,
I did…I followed your instructions and here we are." He smiled.
"Thank
you…I do not know how much longer we could have survived on board this vessel."
"Now
I have questions for you, how did this happen? And who are you?"
"We
are the crew of a Tnathian ship…I am the leader, Reelin."
Kline
blinked; she had the appearance of a human. Maybe the Tnathians
were a similar species, he had never heard of them before.
"How
did you find yourself on board the
"A
hundred years ago, our ship was being caught in the subspace rift…The Independence
came to our assistance but our ship exploded before they could save us…Ten of
us were evacuated aboard the Independence before the explosion.
Unfortunately, the
"What
happened then?"
"We
are noncorporeal beings, Captain…" She said.
"This is the body of Captain Rose Meier…Ten crewmembers accepted to
give us the protection of their bodies once they had died. The environmental
systems stopped functioning after a few short hours and the vacuum preserved
their bodies…So we entered the bodies since we can survive in a vacuum and
we've been waiting ever since."
"So
you're occupying the preserved dead bodies of these crewmembers…"
"Yes…"
She nodded slowly. "And we have been trying for all these years to make
telepathic contact with someone--anyone--outside the subspace rift…But
it was only recently that we finally got to you, Captain."
"It
was you…" Kline nodded. "I understand…"
"We
are finally free, and we have you to thank for our freedom, captain…Thank you."