CHAPTER TWO
McKinley had been
extensively refitted after the Dominion war. It was now in possession of five
exterior docking areas where ships could be refitted by large, computerized,
mechanical arms. The main structure of the station was located in the center
point of the pentagon that the five docking areas traced. It was a
classic-style starbase, but around the lower area were five tunnels that
connected to each docking area.
Commander Janna
Sutter was standing in tunnel 2, looking out the window at the Valiant
whose warp core was being replaced by another, more efficient one. She suddenly
saw two large security officers walking towards her, she turned to face them
and the officer on the right asked: "Lieutenant Commander Sutter?"
"That's
me." She said.
"Please come
with us. Rear-Admiral Patrickson has asked for all of
the members of your senior crew, with the exception of Miss Burnel, to report
to his office as soon as possible." Burnel was still on starbase 666 to
enjoy her shore leave.
She sighed;
Starfleet Intelligence was probably never going to allow her more than two days
of leave. If she had the occasions to see her daughter and her husband more
often she wouldn't mind the little amount of off-time; that was what was making
her regret her Intelligence career the most.
A few minutes later,
she was inside Patrickson's office. Captain Kline was
there, he was in wrinkled civilian clothing and made a strange sound when he
walked around, and she decided to ask him later about why he was in such a
condition. Jennifer Mantion was there, standing against the wall and listening
to Doctor Simon Tarses and John Stevenson talk with the captain. Greg Eskina
was also there, next to the replicator, ordering a hot coffee. He obviously had
done something that had kept him up for a long time the night before. Yasmin
Reeves wasn't here.
Patrickson
stepped into the room as soon as everyone was there: "Good morning,
everyone. Have you managed to return to Earth standard time or you're still
struggling?"
"Struggling..."
Eskina swallowed a large gulp of coffee and rubbed his eyes with the hand which
was still free.
"I see..."
Patrickson saw the state in which captain Kline was
and raised an intrigued eyebrow. "Just curious, captain...What were you
doing when I called you."
"Drying..."
Kline said with a wan smile.
Patrickson
mentally shrugged and dropped into his comfortable chair. The officers followed
his example and sat down in the seats that were reserved for them.
"We have a
problem, one of our Intelligence vessels, the USS-Nightshade, has failed to respond to our hails and, unfortunately, was
carrying some of our most sensitive materials to a base on the planet Gyltian."
"Déjà-vu..."
Stevenson said.
"Yes...Circumstances
make this problem look very much like the time when the USS-Watan
disappeared, which was the cause of your first mission. But I don't believe
these two problems have the same cause. And if by any chance it was the
same cause, the Nightshade wouldn't be of great interest to someone as
demented as that scientist that you met back there on that planet. It used to
be an Oberth-class vessel, but we extensively
refitted it and it became a ship which would make a fine match against the Valiant
itself."
"You mean it's
a ship designed for battle or something?" Eskina asked.
"Essentially,
yes...It is equipped with our most recent technological advances. For example,
we attempted to design adaptive phasers that could, after a short impact on any
vessel's shields, adapt and cut straight through the shields."
"Interesting."
"Of
course...Some dreams can never become reality..." Patrickson
sighed. "The phasers backfired and almost destroyed the Nightshade itself.
Well...Let's be brief, the lives of some of our fellow officers may be in
danger."
"Okay, but if
you want us to go and find them...Which ship will we use? The Valiant
doesn't seem in good enough condition to go on a search and rescue
mission..." Sutter said.
"Yes...The Eagle
shall be your vessel on this mission." Patrickson
said.
"The
Eagle!" Kline smiled, and the smile quickly faded. "But
does it work now?"
"Don't
worry..." Patrickson said. "We've corrected
all the malfunctions that were on board the ship. And again, I assure you we
have no idea how whatever happened, happened."
"Well...Don't
worry about it...We got out of it okay." Eskina said. "Just one
thing...Did you make the chairs on the bridge feel a little less like rock and
more like leather?"
Patrickson
smiled: "You'll find that the Eagle has changed a lot since you
last used it."
"Happy
to hear that." Eskina said.
"Well...You'd
better get going. You will have to take a runabout to Jupiter where the Eagle
should be in orbit, cloaked. The runabout will be able to track it and beam
you aboard. Good luck."
Kline had time to
change into his Starfleet uniform before they left aboard the runabout towards
the gas-giant of the Solar system.
The runabout
"USS-Eagle
located. Preparing automatic beam-out." The computer said.
Kline was about to
say something but a transporter beam was initiated and they all dematerialized
into columns of blue light...
***
...to
reappear in a transporter room, presumably the one of the Eagle.
Yasmin Reeves was
standing next to Robinson, the transporter chief. She was smiling:
"Welcome back aboard."
"Lieutenants."
Kline gave her and the chief a curt nod. Then he examined the transporter room,
seeing all the modifications. Indeed, the floors had been carpeted, the walls
had been painted and the doors now had labels to indicate which deck and which
section one was in.
"Nice changes." Eskina nodded,
satisfied.
"We should get
to the bridge." Reeves said. "Patrickson
has just ordered our immediate departure."
Kline nodded:
"Let's go."
The bridge had been
extensively refitted, it was now larger and longer, the lights were brighter
and it felt less cramped, there was also a thick layer of carpet here and the
consoles were no longer boxy and ugly too look at but were nice and smooth. The
bridge resembled one of a Galaxy-class starship, although the layout of
the consoles was different.
The two forward
consoles were tactical and Ops, the conn station was behind the captain's
chair, in the center of the bridge, a holographic display of the viewscreen
would appear in front of the pilot--it was the same system aboard the Valiant--for
quicker response. The first officer's seat was, strangely, placed on the right
of the bridge, against the wall, with the usual first officer's console in
front of the chair. The secondary stations were at the back of the bridge, like
on many starships. And another chair, probably meant for Yasmin Reeves who
didn't have a cryptology department on board this ship, was placed to the left
of the captain's chair.
"Everyone take
their respective positions." Kline said. The officers did so immediately
and, soon enough; the ship was ready to leave.
"Set a course
for the Gylt system. Maximum warp.
Keep our cloaking device steady and I want constant monitoring." Kline
ordered.
Sutter smiled and
asked: "You're not taking your chances?"
"No..."
Kline said. "Despite Patrickson's assurances...I
still want to be careful."
Lieutenant Johnson,
who had taken the conn to replace Burnel, said: "Course set."
"Warp
speed." Kline said.
"Aye."
And,
behind its cloaking shield, the Eagle went to warp. The crew, unaware
but unafraid of the dangers that could come...