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Chapter One
« This is Kline. Sutter?! Come in! »
No
response.
«
Dammit answer me! »
Again,
nothing...
Kline
flexed his jaw muscles in annoyance and turned to Eskina who was sitting at Ops:
« Talk to me, Gregory. »
«
I can read them. I just can't find them! That storm is sending our feedback
readings running around in zig-zags around the
planet. My console is telling me that Sutter's team is all around the planet! »
Kline
nodded with a concerned expression on his face.
« Get down! »
A
disruptor blast disintegrated a tree besides Mantion.
Sutter,
the security chief, and a security guard named Greeson were dashing through a
tropical forest with Klingon renegades right behind them. The Klingons had
attacked starbase 138 where the Valiant was unloading their cargo. Since
they were the only ship near the planet, when the renegades came along, they
needed to beam down a team to sabotage the Klingon base. Unfortunately, as soon
as the base exploded, an extremely powerful and interfering tachyon storm
rolled right in. The planet was one of the only M-class planets Mantion knew
that was capable of having a tachyon storm on the surface.
Mantion
heard Klingon curses a dozen meters behind the Starfleet officers.
She
pulled her hand phaser out and set it to overload. She dropped it on the floor
and prayed that she had timed correctly.
She
did.
She
knew it when a Klingon crashed on Sutter's head, which was not precisely the
desired effect. The Klingon was unconscious, fortunately, but unfortunately so
was Sutter.
Greeson
hauled Sutter over his shoulder. Mantion thanked Sutter silently for being so
small and Greeson for being so large.
Another
disruptor blast turned a large sequoia-like tree into a torch. Mantion swiveled
and sent a few random phaser blasts in all directions from her phaser rifle.
She started running again.
I
hope this damned storm stops soon. She thought, although it wasn't likely.
Then,
she got an idea.
«Greeson! Quick! This way! » she pointed to the east.
«
But that's back to the caverns that we destroyed! » he said.
« Exactly! Come on! »
They
started running faster towards the caves where they had planted simple
explosives. Destroying most of the Klingons' apparatuses.
They entered the caves.
«
Wait. » she pointed to a wall where there was a small opening. Big enough for a humanoid to pass through.
«
That's crazy to go in there! » he said.
«
Exactly. » she smiled. « That's what they're going to think. »
The Klingons moved into the caves.
Captain
Grk's eyes scanned the walls of the cave. And they came upon a small cave that
was big enough to fit a few people inside.
No
one would be suicidal enough to hide in there. He smiled.
Suddenly,
he heard a scream, then an explosion was heard and tons of rocks fell upon him
and his fellow Klingons. He only had time to scream before he was hit on the
head by a heavy rock.
«
Sir, no offense intended. » Greeson whispered. « But this is suicidal. »
They were sitting in the small cave where the
Klingons could crush them in one hit.
She
put a finger to her lips, signaling him to be quiet.
When
they heard the steps of the Klingons, they stopped moving as if they had been
frozen in time. When they didn't hear disruptor fire, and no
crashing of rocks. Mantion screamed: « NOW! »
She
heard an explosion, rocks tumbling and crashing.
Greeson
let out a sigh of relief: « Lucky. » he groaned.
«
Not lucky, » she smiled. « Genius. »
«
And modest. » he gave her back a wan smile.
They
stepped out of the small cave and saw a pile of rocks, some Klingons locked
under the stones, although still alive.
A
large breach in the ceiling of the cave revealed a blue sky, and the smiling
face of Commander Janna Sutter, holding Mantion's phaser rifle.
«
I almost didn't hear you scream. »
Sutter said, still sounding woozy.
«Has
the storm ended? » asked Greeson.
Sutter
gestured to the blue sky.
Suddenly,
the commander's commbadge chirped: « Sutter here. »
«
Sutter...goddammit it's good to hear you. Status? »
Kline sounded happy.
«
« Magnificent, commander. Congratulations to all
of you. »
«
We'll be back soon. » She said.
«
I'll beam you up A.S.A.P, commander. Kline out. »