Genesis 2, p.10

“A small planet?”  Mansel asked, bewildered. “Can’t you ask for anything reasonable?  What on earth could you do with a small planet?” “Whatever I want.” Glancing down at the small screen attached to Mansel’s armrest, he noticed a message. TORPEDO READY.  TRANSPORTER CREW IS STANDING.  Pretending to take no notice of it, Mansel looked back to the viewscreen.  Ambassador Wilson was still there; tied to the chair that Mansel and his bridge crew see him so clearly.  Mansel saw the fear in his eyes.  What was supposed to have been a simple escort mission had gone terribly wrong.  Mansel understood his position and sympathized with him.  That same thing usually happened to him when he went on dates.  “Anything else you ‘require?’” he asked, still sitting upright in his chair. “Yes,” the terrorist replied to no one’s surprise.  “A new vessel.  Preferably yours.” Mansel shook his head.  “Sorry,” he said.  “I can’t give you that, either.  I just got this ship.  I’m not about to let you or anyone else take it.” “Just got your shiny new starship, eh?” K’Tesh taunted.  “I’m dealing with a rookie.”  There was a slight pause as the Uranian terrorist grinned off screen.  “Those are the ones I like to have the most fun with.” “I’m sure you do,” said Mansel.  “Mark.” On Mansel’s mark, Lieutenant Commander Lamb fired the one important torpedo.  It would be Lamb’s accuracy that decided whether or not the ambassador lived. The torpedo hit the ship at the exact spot it was supposed to.  K’Tesh fired at ambassador Wilson, but his aim was knocked off by the vibrations going through the ship.  He paused to aim his carbine at the ambassador again, but he was gone. “Transport complete, sir; we’ve got him,” came Lieutenant Hardy from Communications. “Regular phasers, Lamb, open fire,” ordered Commander Vaughn.  The Tactical officer was only too happy to respond.  The blue lances of fire turned to red as the Explorer fired on the Valentine. This time, Lieutenant Commander Lamb chose to target his engines rather than his shields, which were now nonexistent.                                                                            *** On the Valentine, K’Tesh was furious.  A rookie had foiled his plans, a mere rookie.  He worked to target the Explorer’s engines.  He fired off another round of missiles that impacted against their shields.  He took brief joy in watching the starship rock from the impact.  “I have pricked you, Mansel!” he exclaimed.  “Will you not bleed?”  His only answer was a proton torpedo launched from the Explorer. It hit his engines, rendering him with no sublight.  With no choice left, he went to translight. “He’s gone translight, sir,” reported Lieutenant Talaj, quite uselessly.  The area that had once been occupied was now empty.  It was then that Mansel realized that he had won his first battle.  While he reveled over that fact, Commander Vaughn requested a damage report. “Should we pursue?” Lieutenant Commander Broadaway asked. Mansel pondered, then shook his head.  “No, Broadaway.  We’ve got what we came for.”  He looked towards his communications officer.  “Lieutenant Hardy, inform UNSF that we have ambassador Wilson.” While she did that, the secondary communications officer rattled off the damage report.  “Decks 3, 4, and 5 all report damage,” he said.  “Life support and structural integrity seem to be intact.  Engineering reports that the translight core is acting up, but he’s got it under control.” “Thank you, Ensign.”  Mansel turned to Commander Vaughn.  “Good thinking, Terry.  I assumed you beamed ambassador Wilson to sickbay?” Commander Vaughn nodded.  “Yes sir.  Doctor Seuss is taking care of him now.” “Excellent.  Lieutenant Commander Broadaway, seat a course for Earth, translight speed.  I’d like to meet with the staff.  Lieutenant Hardy, please notify Lieutenant Commander Fleury and Lieutenant Commander Ames.”                                                                            *** Once again in the conference room, Mansel and his crew assembled.  Lieutenant Commander Fleury was not present; however, as he was too busy trying to get things under control in Engineering. “Alright, people,” said Mansel, standing at the head of the table.  “Let’s review our first successfully completed mission.  Questions?  Comments?” “The mission was only partially successful,” stated Lieutenant Talaj.  “K’Tesh is still on the loose.” “Our mission wasn’t to capture K’Tesh, though,” Lieutenant Commander Broadaway pointed out to the surprise of everyone, especially himself.  “Our mission was to safely retrieve the ambassador, which we did.” Lieutenant Talaj nodded in approval.  “I stand corrected.  Thank you, Jason.” Lieutenant Commander Broadaway visibly reddened.