It wasn't until Rex started on his way up the gas jet that he began to consider the undeniable, unescapable fact that he had no idea where he was going. There were two possible endings for him; death and capture. He hoped he was lucky. One thing he knew he had to avoid was hitting the outlet vent somewhere up on Eros' surface, another was suffocation. All in all it looked bad.
When several beams of light where thrust into his eyes, Rex knew he had met a fate not first on his list. Still gasping from the smothering exhaust fumes he tumbled out of the small panel. Ricky followed and the pair slumped in an indignant heap before the feet of the Lieutenant.
Harno didn't look as though he believed Rex's story, he didn't have to, just so long as he remembered it. Drake looked around at the group that had, thankfully, found him and wondered what he was supposed to do now. At least Carter wasn't here.
"Are you seriously trying to tell me that you were captured Mr. Drake?" Asked the Security officer. Rex asked himself the same question.
"What other reason could there be, you think I'd choose to come here?" The officer looked unsure.
"Who captured you?" He asked.
"I would have thought that you'd have known that, you're the law around here." Ricky sat up. The Medic that was tending his wounds instructed him to lie down again. "Do you think we'd do this to ourselves?" Rex asked.
"You can tell it to the Commander, when she gets back, for now we're putting you on the ship."
With Commander Gerros Carter below them and Lieutenant Harno somewhere above, it made little sense to continue, but Fraser knew of at least three other factors that could work in their favour. Rex and Ricky, by now surely well hidden from premature discovery, Benco Codey, expertly in pursuit of his quarry, and of course Edlund himself, were all somewhere in between. Probability dictated that at least one of these groups would divert Carter somehow.
The tough part was climbing all the way up from the lowest levels of the complex to somewhere safer.
"Could I ask you something Alborell?" Jannel gasped. Fraser didn't waste breath answering. "Where are we going?" When he thought about it, Fraser had to admit that he didn't know. They reached a suitable point for the Captain to continue the discussion.
"I just assumed that by following this trail we'd find ourselves somewhere." It sounded like a very flimsy explanation.
"Intuition?" Remarked Jannel.
"Call it that if you will, I just know we're going the right way." Fraser peered down the access ladder, there was no sign of Carter or her crew.
"I don't dispute you Alborell, but I think I know why we've been so compelled to follow this trail." Fraser looked intrigued. "Where else was there to go?" It sounded like a point was being made here, and as usual, Fraser was missing it. "I mean, what turnings have we passed, when could we have left this obviously well heeled trail, prepared no doubt by our old friend Edlund." Fraser was finally getting the idea.
"I see your point Jannel, it does seem a little neat." Fraser looked around again, and noticed the lights. Jannel looked too.
"What level is this?" Jannel suddenly asked. Fraser shrugged.
"I never bothered to find out what these signs meant."
His attention was suddenly diverted by a muffled crunching noise, like the regular sound of marching feet, and then by the unmistakable sound of voices. He dashed around the corner of the corridor that they were sitting in and saw the source of his alarm. Below him, in a wide chamber of gantries and service generators, was a group of Starfleet officers. That at least accounted for the marching feet, but for the sound of the voices he had to look to two very familiar individuals standing in the centre of the group. The reunion would have to wait, but how much had Rex and Ricky told them? Knowing Drake as he did, Fraser had no cause for worry, and looking at the condition that Ricky Hawkins was in, he had no problems there either.
Jannel approached, quietly.
"Carter must be long gone by now, there isn't a trace of activity on the multicorder." Another instrument that, the use of which, Fraser had invested time in teaching to Jannel.
"Lets hope so, but I think we may have a new problem." Jannel looked down into the large room. The group appeared to be making their way out of the complex, with occasional reference to the signs that Fraser had proved so disinterested in.
"We're going to rescue them aren't we?" Fraser hadn't got any choice.
"I was afraid something like this might happen."
The large group moved on after its brief pause, marching their captors up to the metallic steps that promised to take them all out of this hellhole. The officer that had been left to lead the away team on following Harno's disappearance placed a foot firmly on the first step, but didn't quite make the second as the whole area was suddenly turned pitch black. At the same moment the other officers found themselves unable to move on and fumbled around for their torches.
A single dot of illumination flicked on as someone lit her hand beacon, but the light beam span wildly as the beacon flew into the air as she was pushed to the floor. There was a shout of caution as the officer by the steps, now picking himself up from the base of the stairway, felt a body brush past him. He was in the process of determining which way he was facing when a second form ran past and pushed him backwards into another officer. More torches came on, more bodies span in the darkness as unseen assailants hurried through the group. There seemed to be a half-dozen attackers as the team tried to form itself into the fighting unit that it had trained to be, but by the time they had got themselves into the fight, it was over and Rex Drake and Ricky Hawkins were gone, along with their liberators,
Fraser could feel his head throbbing, but he still smiled. All of his plan so far had paid off, handsomely, though most of it had been improvised. Rex had the appearance of a man that had been through several very bad experiences, which of course he had, and Ricky had a scar for everyday of the week, but Jannel had fared best of all, most of her trauma had been mental. Rex gathered the strength to ask a question.
"What happened to Codey?" Fraser turned up his hands.
"That, I don't know, but I've a feeling he'll be able to hold out without us," said Alborell dismissively.
"Come on, he couldn't have done anything without us," Ricky added a note of cynicism.
"What difference does it make, do you think any of this is going to work, even if Benco does catch Dave Edlund, how's he going to get out of here, or even off Eros?" Jannel had seldom been this despondant. Fraser felt himself to be on home ground.
"It's all taken care of, we've just got to do our part." Ricky stood up, unsteadily.
"That plan, as you call it, will never work." Fraser looked unperturbed.
"I am not about to surrender Ricky, especially after all we've been through."
"So button it," Rex added. With their current differences sorted out, the group collectively turned their attention to the next problem. It didn't take them long to get back to the surface of Eros, that was easy. What would undoubtedly prove less so was getting back onto the Cougar.
Rarely had such determined effort produced such little reward as Commander Carter's. More than once she had considered abandoning the mission, but something had made her go on. Reports, she mused, and having to make them to ones superiors, gave her a very strong compulsion to do things properly. When a ship came to the end of its assignment and the logs were examined, conditions in the field were rarely taken into account. So, though it seemed quite pointless, Carter had continued to search the lower levels of the Erosian city. If any complaint was to be brought against her, it would not be for her lack of vigilance. Stalking quietly along the edge of the corridor, she found the prize that until now had eluded her.
A short distance away on the level below, through a gap in one of the floor panels, Commander Carter could see a light, moving towards her. Halting her group with a single gesture, she crouched down and looked into the lower passageway. The light was followed by a single figure, the face was difficult to make out with the bright beam shining out of the darkness and the angle of her observation, but it was clearly not Fraser. The troublesome Captain, if indeed it had been him, had eluded her once already in this hour, quite by chance when he had, quite 'coincidentally' happened upon an escape route. Now, if Carter could make some good of this escapade and catch whoever this other person was, then it would surely be a victory in the eyes of her superiors. At last she had hope. It all rested on her success.
Mindful of the task that confronted her, Gerros Carter decided to take on this interloper alone. There was no advantage in numbers here, Fraser had proved that, and with her own experience much greater than any of the officers available, she was far more likely to succeed on her own. Explaining her intentions to the group she ordered the rest of the team to stay where they were. They were not to help her unless she asked for it and after ten minutes, they were to return to the surface. With all that understood Gerros checked her phaser and her tricorder and lowered herself down through the narrow gap in the floor.
There was no immediate indication that the stranger had seen her as she dropped silently into the shadows, but he had seen someone. As Carter watched, she saw the figure kneel down and position something on the floor. Carter tried to see what it was, but was cautious about revealing herself. She had a clear shot at the target, but didn't want to shoot, not yet, he wasn't going anywhere. The figure backed into a gap, also conveniently in shadow, and remained still. She got the feeling that something was about to happen.
Before the minute was up, someone else came trotting down the corridor. The obfuscated form moved closer, seemingly unaware of either Carter or the other stranger, until the Commander could finally see his face. Gerros held her breath as she recognised Dave Edlund. She had seen his face, or something like it, in the ship's database after her conversation with Fraser. So he had been telling the truth, one of the most wanted men in the region really was here, and by the looks of things he was about to be caught.
Carter set her phaser for wide beam, heavy stun. As Edlund approached the device on the floor he must have crossed some kind of invisible beam. Just as he reached the small plate-like object laid down moments ago, a field of energy flicked across the width of the corridor, in an instant the running man was laying on the floor.
Commander Carter seized her opportunity.
"Starfleet Security, stop or I fire!" Gerros stepped out into the open. The other figure also stepped out of his hiding place and glanced briefly down at the body at his feet. Carter still couldn't quite make out his face. As she walked nearer he slowly began to raise his hands, apparently offering surrender. Unfortunately for Gerros, it was an empty offer. An annular confinement beam suddenly appeared around the stranger and Edlund and they both dematerialised before her eyes. Carter, thinking quickly, flipped open her tricorder. They couldn't have gone far, transporters were subject to the same interference as communicators, these tunnels restricted both. Sure enough, the beam-out had taken them only as far as two levels. Carter decided to move.
Codey ruminated about the great expense that he had gone to so that he could ensure his escape. The batteries of the mini-transporter unit were now quite dead, it was a great pity that the small and costly device could not be retrieved, but it was too heavy for him to carry both it and Dave Edlund, and he knew which was worth the most. That was, provided he could get him out of here. With a quick shot of tranquilliser he made sure that Edlund would stay out for a while longer, Benco Codey lifted the body over his shoulders and made for his preselected destination. The Commander would not be far away, she would by now have a clear lock on him and no matter how much he tried to evade them, he wouldn't be able to outrun a whole team of crewmen. He couldn't run and he couldn't hide, but he did have another plan.
The passageway he was in ended, just a few metres away, in a steep and wide drop where earlier tectonic activity had sheared the remainder of the corridor away. It had taken almost a full hour for Benco to map the river at the bottom using probes and flow diagrams, but he had eventually determined its course. It would be a daring escape and it was a shame that no one would be there to see it, at least not all of it. For the whole plan to work however, someone did have to witness his disappearance. Lowering Edlund onto the floor Benco hastily searched through his pockets for the tiny box of electronics that would be his final trick, a jamming signal that would cover his and Edlund's life signs until they floated far enough away. He fixed it to his arm and waited, hoping that Carter's aim was as poor as her hunting skills.
Carter eased herself around the corner and fired off a snap shot as soon as she saw the man standing at the end of the passageway. It was a near miss but the figure still fell backwards, perhaps in surprise. Where she was expecting to see him hit the floor and stop, he disappeared down some unseen hole. She ran forward and called the officers waiting on the level below. When she reached the edge of the gap she could see nothing. Opening her tricorder she tried to find what she was sure she had seen. She was still looking when her crew arrived. Carter would have a hard time explaining this one.
There was no point in trying to pursue, Gerros had decided. Whether Edlund was alive or dead, they would probably never know. It seem inconceivable that even this small fact was unknown to her, still she had learned nothing for all her effort.
"Was it Edlund Sir, is he here?" An officer gasped, no doubt anticipating some kind of fight.
"Was or is, we've no way of telling." Carter sounded resigned to the fact that she had failed. She had lost the battle, but not the war. Her failure, however, had renewed her determination.
"We'll return to the surface and double the guard on Fraser's ship, so long as I am on Eros, so is he."
Alborell Fraser looked out across the cracked and broken plain towards the Cougar, with almost as many doubts in his mind as there were security officers on his ship. He sank down into the dry drainage trench again and reported his findings to the others.
"Just as I had predicted, the security detail has been tripled." Ricky looked displeased, more so than usual.
"I thought you and Benco had a plan?" His rage was partly due to his ignorance, having missed most of what had been going on in the last few hours it was understandable that he should feel that the situation was getting beyond his control. Ricky didn't like losing control, especially to people like Fraser.
"Worry not, this was anticipated," assured Fraser, taking out his multicorder. According to the schedule they had a half hour before they had to move onto the small ship. There was time for them to catch their breath.
Alborell gestured for Drake to give him the control box that Benco Codey had so thoughtfully provided them with. As with all of Codey's contraptions, it had been made out of several other devices.
"So how do you intend to get past three security teams, a fully armed starship and all the way back to the Starbase with a ship with nearly half the maximum speed of its pursuers?" Ricky put it in a way that Fraser hadn't considered before.
"You know, you have a knack for making difficult tasks seem impossible." Ricky sank down to the floor, allowing the air in his tired body to escape into a sigh.
"Great, you have no idea, why didn't you tell us that at the beginning, we could have avoided a lot of hardship."
"Hey, come on," said Jannel, in an attempt to focus the discussion and avoid the petty bickering that was inevitable in many of Fraser's conversations with his 'crew', "we've gotten this far haven't we, lets not fail now." She was, of course, right.
Despite the seemingly insurmountable problems that faced them, there was a way to make it to the Starbase. What they were to do once they were there was quite another matter, but the plan was very clear and precisely worked out. All that it required was that nothing went wrong, there was no contingency. This, Fraser had realised, was the plan's great weakness.
"If we're going to give up, we should do so now," said Fraser.
"What!" Ricky was the first to protest, but Jannel and Rex mirrored his surprise.
"All I'm saying is, this is where we start getting into serious trouble, the point of no return." There was no further reaction from the others. "So far our crimes have been fairly trivial and I believe we could argue ourselves a good defence for what we've done. There's no proof that the ship didn't break down, that we weren't captured by Codey and that this is all no more than a mistake,"
"but after this?" Jannel asked.
"It's all a bit of a gamble with unknown odds." Fraser had, for once, said what was on his mind with no concern for its effect on the others. It was against the best principles of everything he knew about leadership, but what good leader would have put those in his charge in such a position.
"Tell us straight Fraser," Ricky was again recalling the pictures that Anson Jacs had shown him before he'd left, "what could go wrong?"
"There's no way they can find those computer subroutines we put in is there?" Rex added.
"I'd say we don't have too many worries, we're not exactly dealing with the crew of the Enterprise here, besides, most of the ship's officers have been chasing us around the tunnels all night. They'll be tired, mad and busy, Carter especially." Fraser wondered what the Commander was doing now. Somehow he regretted that the situation had become confrontational, he respected Gerros Carter and could easily see things from her perspective, but after all, he had his own skin to save.
"Just remember, the next phase of the operation will involve some fairly serious misdemeanours, anyone who wants out better say so now." There was a silence.
Ricky was the first to speak.
"I'm in," he announced, "but only because I have no choice, Jacs could do far worse things to me than Starfleet ever would, I almost want to get caught." The Captain turned next to Jannel.
"I know it's going to work Alborell, you haven't failed me yet." Alborell smiled.
"If this works out Ricky, Anson Jacs will no longer be a concern." Fraser assured.
"If this works out, it'll be the most renowned escape in history." Rex Drake spoke with the varied knowledge of Fraser's numerous historical counterparts. "Let's just hope that Codey keeps his side of the bargain."
"If he wants Edlund back, he'll have to," said Fraser, pleased at the neat complexity that had emerged from the once haphazard scheme. The stasis capsule containing Dave Edlund was just a half a kilometre away in the prearranged position, safely hidden in the ever more convenient tunnel network. Once they had got the ship back, Fraser would collect him.
When Rex tapped the face of the chronograph that he carried around with him on his wrist, Alborell knew that their wait was at an end. There would be little time for discussion once the device had been activated and Fraser checked one more time that they all knew what they were doing. With everything prepared, Captain Fraser placed his finger over the large blue button on the face of the remote communicator initiation unit. As one minute ticked onto the next, he activated the small device and watched, over the top of the trench, as the beams of the Liberator's transporter appeared over the security teams.
With an explosion of energy, the four uncoiled themselves into a sprint. It was vital that they got the shields up before anyone could beam back down again, they had as long as it would take for the transporter chief on the orbiting vessel to realise that the emergency beam-out call had not come from the away team. Stopping himself quickly with his hands against the wall of the cargo bay, Fraser slapped the panel of the cargo bay computer. It was just two minutes before the next part of the plan was due to be initiated. The Cougar's shields, quite uncharacteristically, went up straight away and Fraser raced to the bridge. If all of their preparation had worked, they would finally be leaving Eros, if not, it was going to be a very short journey.
The bridge crew of the USS Liberator were not often given the opportunity to see the full emotional state of their Captain so clearly. It was presently difficult not to be aware of it. Carter rested her hands on the arm of her command chair and stood up vigorously. The news that her three security teams had just prematurely arrived aboard the ship was not being received well. Fortunately, Lieutenant Harno possessed the ability to continue regardless of his commander's temperament.
"There is one other matter that needs to be addressed sir," he said, with all of the urgency that his voice would allow.
"Go on," said Carter, somehow aware that the situation was about to get worse.
"Though this may be of no relevance Captain, I think you should know that one of our probes was launched some three hours ago, a class six relay to be precise." Harno watched his Captains expression carefully. Had he been in any way human, he would surely have thought twice about his next statement. "It was apparently unscheduled, but seemed to be part of a test routine. It did not auto-destruct in accordance with normal test procedures, and it seems that no one on board at the time was aware of the action." Carter felt some frustration that Harno had such a predilection for irrelevance, but then it occurred to her that this, maybe, was not a coincidence. She was at the science station in seconds.
Lieutenant Reeves, still contemplating the implications of what had happened on the planet, moved quickly aside.
"I want to know who sent out that probe Mr. Reeves, there has to be a record somewhere." The Lieutenant nodded and did as he was ordered without question. The Commander watched the Science Officer working for a minute and then returned to her seat.
"What about Mr. Fraser?" Harno found it odd that Carter had chosen to ignore, what he considered to be, the most important aspect of the circumstance. Gerros thought through the events of the last few hours. The more she tried to analyse the situation, the more tired and confused she became.
"Leave Fraser where he is, he won't be able to get past us." As she uttered the words, it struck her as odd that Fraser, and his unknown accomplice, would, if they had a plan at all, overlook such an obvious fact. If only she could think straight. "What's going on Harno?" Surely the Icosian had a theory.
Lieutenant Harno did not answer immediately, he had fallen for what humans called 'rhetorical questions' before, but apparently, on this occasion, Commander Carter was genuinely asking him for his opinion.
"I am unable to answer that question Captain." Carter had forgotten, Harno was incapable of independent thought. It wasn't worth pursuing the matter in her current state of mind.
"Well, perhaps you can give it some thought Mr. Harno while you take the bridge, I am going to get some sleep."
It would have taken some considerable guesswork on Harno's part to predict the events that were taking place a few hundred kilometres below the Liberator, in the Erosian City. An opulent looking vessel was skilfully sliding along the floor of the office building that had successfully hidden it from the intense gaze of Starfleet's vigilant representatives. The landing gear of Benco Codey's ship, the Trieste, scarcely missed the ground before it receded into the smooth body of the craft. With the kind of flying precision that no computer could emulate, the small ship made its way to the front of the building.
Pausing momentarily with its sensors poking tentatively into the outside world, like some subterranean creature emerging from hibernation, the ship made a turn until it was sideways on to the front of the building and facing in the same direction as the debris ridden street. Edging its way further out into the daylight, now almost sure that it was safe to proceed, it rose slowly and cleared the first story of the derelict block. Then, in a single movement, the sky seemed to reclaim it from the confined space of the city and it shot upwards in an explosion of noise and dust. With one mighty eruption of power, the SS Trieste blasted into the outer atmosphere of Eros, leaving it, once again, in an unheard silence.
"Captain to the Bridge," called Lieutenant Harno, just as Carter had dropped onto her couch.
"What is it Lieutenant?"
"We are receiving a distress call from somewhere within this system sir." Gerros wondered if she had heard him right. "It appears to be a locating beacon, but the message is apparently from a nearby vessel."
"I'm on my way, don't do anything until I'm there." Commander Carter rushed back to her post and found her crew busily making preparations for the questions they knew they were going to be asked.
The ship's first officer, Lieutenant Commander Locke, entered the bridge from another turbolift and began to find out from the Science Officer what was going on. The Captain's obligation was clear enough, but what was this all about. Another ship, surely that wasn't possible. That would make three inside a week, and this was supposedly an unremarkable star system, devoid of life and well away from any trade route, it seemed unlikely.
"Fraser, it's got to be." It wasn't difficult to see what was going on. Unfortunately, as ever, the realisation came too late. There was no way that they could ignore a distress call, even if had come from one of their own probes. "Ensign, I want full impulse, take us to that probe as quickly as you can." The Flight Controller moved into action.
"Couldn't we launch probes Captain, in case Fraser or the other one try to escape," Locke sounded anxious.
"Setting up the probes would take a few minutes Captain." Reeves announced.
"We can't justify wasting time launching probes when a distress call has been logged Mr. Locke, even if it is fake."
"But Captain, our aft sensors might not register a small ship leaving the planet, especially on the far side." Carter weighed the options.
"Don't worry, if either of them leave we'll be able to intercept them before they get very far." The idea was sound, but something troubled Carter. It seemed unlikely that Fraser would set up such a plan without realising the obvious flaws, he did, after all, know the full capabilities of the Liberator. "Mr. Reeves, make full and continuous sensor scans of Eros for as long as you can." Carter was determined to see that Fraser paid for this. Sending false distress calls was a breach of regulations of the highest order, it would be the crime that brought him down.
The small cylindrical probe was holding a steady course that led it away from the planet, when the Liberator found it. It had, as suggested, been launched earlier from the very ship that had now discovered it, during a test routine. This kind of physical testing of the probe launcher was not rare, engineering officers regularly used it after they had made repairs or as part of a diagnostic routine, what struck the crew of the Liberator as odd was the crewman who had initiated the test; Ensign Lacy. Of course, they quickly realised that the unfortunate Ensign had been set up, and they realised even quicker, who had set him up.
"Beam that object aboard Mr. Harno," ordered Carter, "for evidence." The Lieutenant did as he had been told. "Helm, take us back to the planet Eros, full speed ahead." There was as much activity on the Bridge now as there had been for all of the four years that the ship had been under Carter's command. "Reeves, anything on sensors yet?" The station at the back of the Bridge, behind the command chair, was alive with activity as every available sensor was pointed at the space around the planet. Reeves' face answered the question more quickly than any sentence he could have.
Carter had counted the minutes down on her chair console, almost seventeen minutes since they had left orbit, blinded by the poorer sensors at the rear of the vessel. Could Fraser have got away in that time?
"Mr. Reeves, put your sensor readings onto the main screen." The Commander kept her attention on the forward viewer. When the image that she had waited for appeared, she immediately saw what Fraser was up to, and as ever, it put her in the worst of all possible situations.
Both ships had left Eros, simultaneously and in practically opposite directions. They were both travelling at a steady rate of warp, as though they had no reason to rush, and they both seemed to be on a heading to nowhere in particular. Catching one of them would be easy, but the question was, which one.
"Harno, which ship is the Cougar?" The Lieutenant touched the keypad and highlighted one of the ships on the display.
"There sir, the other vessel reads as a private ship, the Trieste. It could be the ship that we first observed arriving at Eros, however we did not gain sufficient information from our initial readings to be certain." Carter had reached her decision.
"Mr. Thomas, set an intercept course for the Trieste, warp six. Lieutenant Harno, have a security unit standing by to board the vessel." The Security Officer hesitated.
"Captain, I do not believe that we have enough evidence to legally search the unknown ship." Gerros Carter leapt from her seat and faced the Lieutenant squarely.
"I'm not interested in what you think, I want that ship, and everyone on it, brought in. If we have to, we'll find an excuse to board that vessel. Fraser's playing this whole game on the basis of our operating procedures. If we want to catch him, we'll have to do things a little differently."
"Course plotted and laid in Captain, intercept in twenty-eight minutes," the Conn Officer reported.
"Let's go!" Responded Carter.
The Cougar had made good headway and was on schedule to reach the uninhabited system of Virgo within a few minutes. The giant red sun, radiation from which prohibited successful population of the surrounding planets, came into view as the ship fell out of subspace. The Captain turned the ship towards the seventh, outermost planet, and sat back in his seat. It didn't take long for the medium sized hunk of grey-green rock called Virgo-2178 to appear before them in the forward viewport. It was sufficiently obscure for their needs. Fraser again checked the clock.
"I hope Benco can stall them long enough," said Alborell, to no one in particular. It had been nearly half an hour since their departure from Eros and they had almost burned the engines out to get here. Fraser studied the charts again.
Ricky looked over the Captain's shoulder and wondered how anyone could make sense of such a mass of information. He resigned control of the situation, if indeed he ever had it, to Fraser and sat down in the unoccupied chair at the rear of the Bridge. Alborell found the movement distracting enough to lose track of his calculations.
"Is something bothering you Ricky?" Fraser glared up at him.
"It's going to be a hell of a trial," said Ricky. Fraser tried to ignore him, but it wasn't easy. "That's assuming we make it to the trial," Ricky added as a footnote, continuing, "I mean, if the cargo doesn't blow up, or if Jacs doesn't have us killed when he finds out we never made it to Reebos Ceti."
"We have problems, I don't deny that, but I have plans for Mr. Jacs." Ricky didn't seem impressed. "As for the explosives, that's your department." Rex Drake caught the tail end of the conversation as he walked in.
"I can give you warp four all the way to Starbase 106 Captain, more than that and we'll have dead engines before we get there." Content that he was doing his job, even if no one else was, Drake sat down.
"It's not enough, the Liberator will catch us easily." Ricky announced.
"Not if the computer simulations that Rex and I have been running are correct," said Fraser, confidently. Ricky still wasn't convinced. "Carter has got to hit a precise speed, just so fast that she catches us, but not so fast that her engines go down." Fraser seemed to have researched his subject.
"I suppose this was an accurate simulation?" Fraser nodded, Ricky supposed that if Fraser knew anything he knew about Starfleet's ships. "Carter won't overrun her engines," said Ricky in anticipated disagreement.
"Sure she will," Drake added to Fraser's argument, "she's angry."
"Mad enough to make a mistake," said Fraser in conclusion. Ricky realised that there was no point in discussing it any more.
Fraser grabbed the flight stick and brought the Cougar in to land on Virgo's planet, pulling the nose of the ship further up and slowing its descent slightly. The sound of the landing gear wheezing into its support housing vibrated through the hull. Jannel was waiting in the Cargo Bay and was appropriately attired in a vacuum suit. She grabbed the side of the, now almost weightless, stasis canister and started to push it towards the opening bay door. Dave Edlund's suspended expression peered out of the tiny window as the canister drifted out the back of the ship and towards a large boulder, which it hit, gently, before stopping and falling to the ground.
"All done here," called Jannel over the intercom. The large bay door immediately began to rise, moments later so did the ship.
Benco Codey lay back in his favourite chair and watched the computer display that showed his pursuers. Their advance was painfully slow, painful for them at least. When the communications channel finally opened, Codey prepared his most indignant face and flicked the switch at his left hand.
"Mr. Codey?" Said the female face on the screen.
"Who wants to know?" Benco replied. It seemed like a somewhat foolish question as the uniform gave away the obvious identity.
"I am Commander Carter of the Federation starship Liberator." Benco showed no reaction. "I order you to stop and prepare to be boarded."
"Why, what have I done?" His protest seemed a little too dramatic for Carter, who knew that this was all a show.
"We have good reason to believe that you are carrying someone aboard your ship." He'd better be, thought Gerros. The fact that the sensors showed just one occupant on board the Trieste had caused her already bad mood to become an almost terminal state.
"Mr. Codey, if you do not stop immediately I will have no choice but to open fire, this is your last warning." Codey didn't need to be told again.
The small cruiser slid out of subspace and came to an abrupt stop. The USS Liberator swung around and sidled up to its bow. Benco saw four figures appear in a circle, all were facing outwards and all had phasers drawn and ready. When they saw that the ship was safe, the forward-most officer stepped forward.
"You will set course for Starbase 106, maximum safe cruising speed," said Harno in a resolute tone. Codey decided not to argue. "Harno to Liberator, all secure here Captain." Carter's voice returned.
"Start your search Mr. Harno, I'll see you at 106." Gerros no longer expected that Harno's team would find anything, she'd realised soon after the initial scans of the Trieste that Fraser was again one step ahead of her, but she had decided to continue anyway. At least now she had caught someone. All she had to do now was find Fraser, and she had a pretty good idea of where he was going.
"Engineering, we need warp seven immediately," ordered Carter, apparently with little regard for text book engineers.
"That's not possible Commander," came the predictable reply from Engineering. Carter was not in the mood for a discussion.
"Then make it possible mister, this is an emergency." The scenario that Carter most wanted to see happen was the one where Fraser was stupid enough to put up a fight. The Liberator would bear down on the puny Cougar and blow it to pieces with a single photon torpedo. Of course, she realised that it was a fantasy, primitive feelings were clouding her normally resolute judgment.
The Engineer was on the comm again, but he wasn't telling her what she wanted to hear.
"I don't care what operating procedures you have to break, I want warp seven, NOW!" There was a short silence, followed by a few beeps from the engineering console.
"Very well Captain, as you wish, but I recommend caution." The Commander needed to hear no more and gave the signal to the Conn Officer to engage at the higher speed. The atmosphere on the bridge acquired another layer.
Half an hour passed uneventfully, the sensor screen remained clear of any sign of the Cougar and Commander Gerros Carter paced.
"You're sure you've nothing on sensors yet Mr. Reeves?" Carter's nerves frayed at the thought that her whole plan could go horribly wrong. "Have you tried boosting output," she suggested. The officer tried to think of a polite reply.
"They are at maximum sir." Nothing could be done there. Carter strolled about, eying each station with close scrutiny. The voice of the Chief Engineer returned.
"Captain, we have a problem." Gerros turned around to face the command chair. This action was not strictly necessary, as the voice pickup sensors were perfectly able to hear anyone anywhere in the room, but the 'chair' provided her with something to focus on.
"Report," she ordered.
"In approximately sixteen minutes, the computer will initiate an emergency shutdown of the warp engines," the Engineer said simply. Gerros half expected him to say 'I told you so'.
"Override," said Carter. Engineers hated one word answers.
"It won't help," the officer insisted, "we will still be forced to shutdown manually six minutes later." Carter's first officer, Locke, who had tried to keep quiet for as long as he could, felt that it was time to offer his opinion.
"We should be careful Captain. If we were to lose our engines..." He got no further. Carter sat down and announced,
"advice duly noted, carry out my orders Lieutenant." Just to honour her words she tapped a brief entry into the computer interface in the arm of her chair.
Lieutenant Commander Locke took his turn to quiz the bridge crew. The Executive Officer had always respected his Captain, but there had been occasions when he had put himself in her place and thought through situations, to see if they both reached the same conclusion, or at least if Carter's conclusion was more satisfactory. Usually Gerros Carter showed herself worthy of the role of Captain, but none of the situations he'd thought himself through had ever been this interesting.
He walked up to the science station behind the Commander, who didn't look round, and acknowledged Lieutenant Reeves. The sensor logs showed the readouts of the Cougar that had been made by various methods at various times. It was a wholly unimpressive ship by all accounts. Locke noted its top speed. He next looked at the navigational chart showing their present position. The computer plotted their course from Eros and then overlaid the presumed position of the Cougar. Why hadn't Carter done this?
Then finally Locke lay the range of the Liberator at present speed, the range for a rather more conservative speed and the consequences of an engine shutdown with a restart from cold. If it continued at its present velocity the USS Liberator was not going to reach the Cougar. He stepped back from the screen and returned to his position beside the Captain.
"Would you permit me to make a suggestion sir?" He said.
Carter broke off from whatever train of thought she had been on, her eyebrows lowered and with a frown across her face. Locke didn't possess his usual tone.
"Always," she said, anxiously. Locke walked back to the science station and was about to speak when another call from the Engineer came over the communications channel.
"Captain, I may have a solution to our problem," the voice sounded optimistic, but it was not yet enough to raise Carter's mood. "I might be able to buy us some more time from the engines sir," said the Engineer.
"How?" Asked Carter.
"Well," began the Engineer, "it involves altering the alignment of the dilithium crystals in the reaction chamber." Carter wondered if this was the suggestion or just an elaborate plan to push her over the edge and into permanent insanity. "I would like to make it clear that this isn't my idea Captain," the Engineer went on, not quite grasping the idea of what it meant to be in command.
"The fact that you took the trouble to inform me shows that you have some confidence in the proposition Lieutenant."
"Desperate times Captain, I thought you would like to be informed of any option, no matter how insignificant, and Lieutenant Stragey does seem sure enough about what he's doing." Carter weighed the options. "Of course if it doesn't work it could get messy."
"Messy?" Carter probed.
"Dilithium crystals, reaction chamber, the whole system could be damaged, could take days to repair, weeks maybe." The risk didn't seem worth it, not to any rationally thinking person at least.
"We need another hour at least to get the Cougar on our sensors sir," Reeves reminded. There was a moment of suspense.
"Do it." Carter looked to her First Officer. "Even if we just get the Cougars position on sensors we can make a contact report." The Engineer confirmed his orders and the channel closed.
In the half an hour or so that subsequently passed, it looked as though fate was being kind to Commander Carter and her crew. Progress was even better than expected and the engines now thumped out a steady warp seven point five. Mr. Stragey had certainly earned his pay for the week, and as if that weren't good enough, the sensors were starting to see some return for their hard work.
"There, that's no system error," exclaimed the delighted Lieutenant Reeves, ever aware of the Liberator's unreliable and outdated equipment, at seeing a small row of figures lining up nicely in the subspace band. Locke beckoned the Captain over.
"I think we have him," he informed, "or we will when we can correlate this warp signature with the one in our database."
"Now at least we know where he's going, Mr. Reeves, can you plot that course to determine the destination of the Cougar?" Asked Gerros.
"I'm doing the calculations now sir."
Gerros allowed herself a smile. It seemed to spread around the whole Bridge, each crewman gradually relaxing the muscles that their task had made so tense. The gambit, it seemed, had paid off.
The red lights that suddenly started blinking on the walls and the familiar klaxon of 'Red Alert' were somehow inconsequential.
"Warning, Safety Interlocks Enabled," said the voice of the computer. Carter ordered the helm to drop to impulse.
"I've got the Cougar's course Captain, he's headed for the Regal system," shouted Reeves above the noise.
"Raise Starfleet at Starbase 106 Mr. Locke, inform them that Mr. Fraser will be joining them shortly." It looked as though Carter would be a little late.
Fraser looked at Starbase 106 with more than a little concern about his future. Things seemed less clear in his mind than they once had been, but the initial stages of the plan had just about worked. It was impossible to turn back now. He checked his instruments one more time and flipped open the communications channel.
"This is the SS Cougar, F563487, requesting docking clearance," said Fraser clearly, to whoever was listening. There was a worrying pause, then, as expected, the reply came. The voice was not of the usual automated computer system however, but from the stations Operations Manager. Carter had clearly done her bit.
"Cougar F563487, continue towards station perimeter and hold on all stop at thirty-five thousand kilometres," said the voice. Rex came in on the short conversation.
"Transporter range, just like you said." Alborell gently moved the ship to it's new heading.
"And with Starfleet aboard we might stand a chance against the likes of Anson Jacs and Orrin Davison," explained Fraser.
"We?" Said Rex, lighting a cigarette. Fraser waited for the fire suppression system to come on.
"You might be seen to be an accessory to this Rex, I thought you were with me on this." Drake sucked heavily on the virgin stick of tobacco.
"You helped me out of a bad situation, I won't forget that, but I didn't ask to be dragged into something ten times worse. If this plan looks like it's not going to work, I'm gone."
Fraser was just contemplating at which point in his plan Rex was most likely to leave, when Ricky and Jannel walked in. They also appeared to be bringing him a problem. They had evidently been arguing, but had cut it short when the bridge door had opened. They sat as far apart as the Bridge layout would allow.
"What's the matter with him?" Drake inquired. Jannel ignored him. Rex turned back to the Captain who was looking up at something in the ceiling.
"Now listen," Fraser said, realising that they already were. "It's vital that everyone remembers our story." He looked at the three blank faces before him. "Starfleet will be sending people over in a few minutes, if you are unsure about something, say nothing." Again, there was no response. Rex tapped the thin white stick of dried leaves and paper, knocking ash onto the seat of the navigators station.
"What about Jacs," said Ricky finally, seeming agitated at his sister's silence.
"I've told you, it's all going to be taken care of," assured the Captain.
"When," asked Ricky. "Don't think that Starfleet will stand in his way, they haven't before." Fraser wished he felt as confident as he looked.
"We'll get to him first."
"From a cell?" asked Ricky, now quite sure that Alborell Fraser had no idea what he was talking about.
"We won't be in any cell," Fraser laughed nervously.
Ricky stood up and banged his fist against the Auxiliary Life Support control panel. Fraser decided not to return the favour on the ship's behalf.
"This is all your fault Fraser, I told you it was a mistake to go to Eros."
"My fault, if you hadn't persuaded me to go to Reebos Ceti I would never have taken the Eros job," Fraser retorted.
"Hey, I didn't force you, that was Jannel." Jannel took exception to this statement and stood up to correct her brother.
"Keep me out of this, you dragged me away from home in the first place, if you had kept away from that stupid gang of yours, we wouldn't even be here." Rex Drake suddenly spoke up.
"Captain, I suppose this is a bad time to ask, but when am I getting paid?"
Fraser sat back in his seat and waited. There was nothing more to do until the security team from the USS Morgan arrived. They did so with the consistent exactitude that was their reputation. Commander Anderson stood proudly in front of the group of officers, victorious against his non-resistant foe, his phaser holstered firmly at his hip.
"Somehow Fraser, I knew this was going to happen," Anderson beamed. The statement would have carried more weight if it had been understated, but Anderson wasn't the type to pass up the chance to make his strong willed and overbearing nature even stronger.
David Anderson had never been Alborell's favourite officer and he suspected that the feeling was mutual. The two had fallen out around the time of Fraser's first six monthly officer review on the Morgan. Fraser had served as a bridge officer aboard the USS Warrior but, when his new assignment aboard the Morgan had come up, he had requested a transfer to engineering. There was something about this arrangement that troubled Commander Anderson. Perhaps things would have been different if Alborell had shown more aptitude with matters mechanical than with those of a navigational nature, or maybe if their had been some evidence that he really did belong more in engineering than he did in security, his first assignment, things between them may have been better. Unfortunately for the misplaced Lieutenant Fraser things were not so. Commander Anderson made no effort to hide the fact that he saw Alborell Fraser as a time wasting, complaining, discontented man of poor intelligence and judgment and misguided in his pursuit of a career with Starfleet. Anderson was one of those in the upper ranks who constantly reminded people of the 'other more deserving crewmen' who were apparently waiting in vast legions to come and take over the jobs of the inept but lucky lesser crew that were so often found around the ship. Fraser expected that his resignation was possibly the best news Anderson had heard in a long time. He certainly looked a lot happier.
"I must be so tiresome for you Commander, being right all the time," Fraser suggested. Anderson considered returning the insult, but was so completely satisfied with what it inferred, that he didn't bother. Instead, he looked critically at the bridge, hoping to find another aspect of Alborell's new life that he could lambaste. Discovering that there was in fact a sizable amount of material for several extended bouts of good solid insults, Anderson sat down without invitation. His 'people', as he invariably called them, took it upon themselves to check out the ship. "I imagine that Commander Carter gave you all the details." Fraser smiled with genuine glee.
"Carter is a good officer," said Anderson, as usual picking up the wrong point and answering clumsily, "you can be sure that she will see this matter resolved to her satisfaction."
One of the officers returned with a tricorder in his hand.
"Three others aboard sir, cargo as specified." Anderson turned around in his seat and looked at the young Ensign.
"Nothing else?" Asked the Commander. He seemed reluctant to openly discuss the matter of the missing person. Realising that it wasn't his problem, he stood up again. "Well, then I suppose I had better get the formalities out of the way," he said with little interest in the job he had been sent to do. "Captain Alborell Fraser, you are hereby held in custody until such time as the formal investigation into charges brought against you by the United Federation of Planets is completed," Anderson recited.
"And I must inform you that in accordance with the orders of Commander Gerros Carter, I, my crew and my passengers request a full medical examination by a qualified Starfleet physician, and furthermore, in accordance with Federation directive 238, paragraph A, all persons entering the vessel Cougar since the placement of said order, must also be subject to an examination." Anderson, who had already turned to leave the Bridge, stopped and looked back.
"ME?"
"Commander Carter is a good officer, nothing if not thorough." Fraser looked down at the controls in front of him. Anderson called the Morgan,
"Transporter room, eight to beam directly to Sick Bay."
The small shuttlecraft that darted towards the offices of the Qualtec Extraction & Processing Company, was, like the great many that used the Spaceport on Slithe, accepted onto the landing area with little regard. Its Ferengi pilot walked anxiously through the corridors of the administration building, trying to remember where Orrin Davison's office was. It had been some months since he had visited Orrin to tell him the news about Eros.
The caller walked in without invitation.
"Kirik! Who let you in here," exclaimed Davison. The Ferengi sat himself down on the other side of Orrin's desk and smiled his crooked smile.
"How come you're never pleased to see me, yet I always bring you such useful information," He said.
"Next time I want information I'll go to the Yridians. You're information could cost me my career."
Davison got up and walked to the door, locking it with a single key press. "I told you never to come here again, if you're seen," Orrin was working himself into a rage.
"You will not be displeased when you hear the information," insisted Kirik, "It's about that Captain you hired." Tempted Kirik further.
"What, you know about that?" Davison knew he was going to end up poorer after this meeting. Kirik's smile broadened.
"You know me better than that,"
The Ferengi looked towards the small safe set into the wall of Orrin's office where Orrin had previously kept his 'spending money'.
"How much this time?" Davison asked. The Ferengi held up his fingers.
"That's almost twice what I paid you last time."
"But this information increases the value of the information that I gave you before." Kirik admitted to himself that Davison was a worthy opponent when it came to bartering.
Davison kept his silence.
"Ah, very well, less ten."
"Keep going," said Davison.
"But I have my expenses to consider." Kirik protested. Orrin laughed.
"Expenses! What expenses? You were sitting in some bar somewhere and you just happened to overhear something with those fine Ferengi ears of yours. So you raced over here and hoped that I'd pay you for your good fortune. Kirik stood up.
"I have other things to do with my time Mr. Davison."
"Fine, sell it to someone else." Kirik knew, there was no one else to sell it to. "I'll pay you as before, but since you're so insistent, I'll pay up front, at least that way you'll leave me alone." Kirik sat down as Davison opened his safe.
The credits were soon rattling onto the desk in front of Kirik. The sound was like music to the Ferengi.
"Now, start talking." Kirik began.
"You were indeed correct, Mr. Davison. I was in a bar and I did overhear a conversation." Davison sighed. "I was in the Regency Club, a Starfleet officer was talking to the owner, he was giving him some news."
"About Captain Fraser?"
"Yes," said Kirik.
"He's here isn't he." Kirik slapped the table.
"Better than that, he's been arrested." Davison slumped into his chair.
Kirik began to slide the credits greedily into his side pocket.
"Wait, I've got another job for you." It sounded profitable. "Fraser might need a few things explaining to him,"
"Such as?" Kirik asked.
"Make him understand that mentioning my name at his trial would be a bad idea." Kirik understood. Davison went back to the safe and drew out more money.
"Don't worry Mr. Davison, I'll make sure he gets the message."
In any of the numerous areas designed for pleasure and relaxation on Starbase 106, it would easily be possible to forget your troubles, but none more so than the artificially sustained biosphere that occupied the stations sixth level. Even the recently installed holosuites and the high-tech recreation decks that the vast majority of visitors to the station seemed to prefer, could not lift away ones cares so completely as the splendours* gardens and pool-side trails. On the bank of an ocean green pond one could quite easily ignore the impending trial and possible assassination attempts by the sectors most ruthless and blood thirsty crime lord, not to mention the small matter of the survey data that you had promised to keep out of the hands of the authorities, but with the company that Fraser had, he found it rather difficult to forget.
"But Alborell, you must have had a plan, you said you had," said Jannel, "why come here without a plan?" It was a pity, thought Alborell, that Benco Codey and he had not had time to think about what was going to happen once they had left Eros.
Jannel Hawkins had reacted badly to Fraser's confession that he was really working more on luck and fate now than anything. Fraser realised that the truth was the only thing that Jannel would believe, though sadly she didn't like believing it.
"It seemed like the a good idea, think about it, it's the last place that Davison and Jacs were expecting me to go," he explained. Jannel just stood, her mouth hanging open. "You see, these people are constantly planning and preparing, covering their backs, staying three steps ahead of the game. The way to beat them is to change the game."
"It won't stop them from killing you," Jannel pointed out.
"It will slow them down though, catch them off guard." He felt that such a bold statement could only raise Jannel's estimation of his ability. "Besides, no one would try anything here, with a Starfleet security officer following us everywhere." Fraser noted the complete absence of any reaction to his insightful analysis of the situation and started to wonder if Jannel had actually been listening.
"Since you mention Starfleet," Jannel began. Fraser silenced her with a wave of disregard.
"Don't worry about the trial, I have a few tricks up my sleeve." He turned to smile politely at the Security Officer, just in time to see a flash of light push him off his feet.
The sound was familiar, phaser fire, and from the look of the Officer, it wasn't one of the more hospitable settings. Both Jannel and Fraser realised what was going on in time to get out of the way of the next blast. Jannel half jumped and was half pushed into the water while Fraser, now trying to regain momentum, moved in the opposite direction. He heard the splash behind him as Jannel went into the pool but then heard a scream. Surely it wasn't her they wanted, but he feared the worst. He tried to stop himself but another shot scanned across the tree in front of him and cut out just by his left arm. A near miss, but it showed that the attacker was behind him. Before he knew it, he was running.
Fraser's mind raced as he sprinted along the path. He was unarmed and defenceless against an unknown assassin in a park that seemed totally unpopulated, indeed, its population was decreasing by the minute. He could try to get back to the pool, he so wanted to see that Jannel was alright and the phaser that the Security Officer was carrying would be most useful. Alternatively he could find some way out. There were exits all around the upper gantry that ran around the perimeter of the park, his attacker wouldn't dare to follow him out onto the plaza, there were too many people there and if he did one of them was sure to be carrying a weapon. The problem with that idea was that once he was on the gantry he would be exposed and vulnerable, an easy target. There was another option; he could hide. There were enough bushes and trees off the main path and plenty of dark and shaded areas where Fraser could conceal himself. It would only be a matter of time before the Morgan realised that their officer was dead, or the stations security noticed that something was going on. Unfortunately, he wasn't far enough ahead yet to be able to get into cover. He had to think of something else.
Shafts of red light seared the ground in front of him and Alborell realised that the assassin was gaining. The path turned sharply to the right, between some orange trees, and led up to a wooden bridge. Alborell cleared the turn, noting the smell of burning oranges as another shot stabbed into the trees, and jumped from the bridge, hoping that the water beneath was deep enough.
Clearly the assassin didn't want to get wet, maybe it upset his escape plan, maybe he couldn't swim. Fraser held himself under as the current pulled him along. He wished he'd paid a little more attention to the map that had been on display when they had entered, because he had no idea of where this river went. He soon found out however. As he popped his head up and gasped for air he saw a figure standing by the side of the river. Evidently she was an employee of the gardens, as she was currently pulling some kind of implement through the patch of soil in front of her and on the path a short distance away there was a grav-cart loaded with tools and plants.
She was more than a little surprised to see someone climbing out of the water.
"Get down," shouted Captain Fraser. The woman ignored his suggestion completely. "There's someone in the park, he's trying to kill me!" Alborell ran up to her, dripping water onto the newly prepared patch of ground.
"Get away from me," cried the woman, upset that her work, and her peace, was being disrupted.
"Communicator," blabbed Fraser, "have you got a communicator?" The woman looked at him indignantly.
"No, I haven't, they're dreadful things, always interrupting you when you're working." Fraser looked at the cart.
"Where are the environmental controls for the biosphere?" Fraser had an idea.
"Why should I tell you, you're not allowed to use them."
"I need to make it rain, it does rain here doesn't it?" The woman put down her rake and walked over to the cart. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to fetch security," the woman replied.
"Wait, I'm coming with you," said Fraser.
"Please, leave me alone, I'm not sure where you've escaped from, but it's clear to me that you shouldn't be out in public." She climbed onto the cart and was about to engage its drive systems when a curtain of blue energy appeared just behind Fraser.
Alborell recognised it immediately and figured that it was either help arriving or the assassin had found him. He ran forward and dived over the cart, pulling the woman, screaming, down with him. A blast hit the side of the vehicle, this definitely wasn't help. Fraser grabbed the thing closest to hand, a potted plant, and threw it in the direction of his assailant. The man ducked out of the way and fired another shot into the cart.
Alborell looked for something else to throw, this time it was a trowel. Again the man, now crouching next to a jumja tree, dodged, and again he fired. This time the shot seared the head and upper body of a statue behind Alborell. A soil analysis probe was the next item to fly at the man with the phaser. Then came a bottle of plant food, then a cutting tool, then a Borgia plant, until finally Fraser spotted the one thing that had been staring him in the face.
Fixed to the side of the cart on a rack was a two pronged fork. Alborell pulled it from its holder and gripped it firmly. Just as another shot blistered the side of the grav-cart he jumped up and hurled the implement like a spear. It sailed gracefully through the air and straight into the leg of the gunman, causing him to let out a yell. The assassin was still too far away for a frontal assault, he still had the gun, so Fraser decided to make his escape.
"Get on," he ordered. The gardener did as she was told.
The grav-cart had not been designed for speed, but it moved surprisingly fast. Fraser had a suspicion that the narrow paths and walkways, though wide enough for the grav-cart, had not been intended to allow travel at this rate. Several corners presented a problem and navigation of the more difficult sections of the route was not made any easier by the almost constant screaming that Fraser found he had to endure. He got the distinct impression that his passenger was not at all pleased with the deft way that he had handled the vehicle.
When Fraser reached his destination, the access ladder to the service gantry, he jumped from the vehicle and started to climb.
"I suggest that you get yourself out of here, he'll be coming back." The woman didn't need telling twice. The side of the cart was testament to the reality of Fraser's claims, and she sped off at once. Alborell's boots clanked onto the first step of the ladder. He stopped. There was silence. He took the next, and then each subsequent step, quietly this time, until he had made it to the top. He could see the door, some twenty metres away to his right. Like the ladder, the gantry was metal and his escape would not go unnoticed. The mystery attacker would be on his feet by now, and the height of the gantry would undoubtedly allow him a couple of shots, wherever he was. Fraser had to run.
He grabbed the handrail firmly and pushed himself away, towards the door. His feet crashed heavily onto the metal surface sending out a sound that could be heard throughout the vast park. The door grew closer with each deafening stride, a phaser shot sparked across the handrail to his side, he kept running, another shot hit the wall, he focused on the door, just ten more steps. Suddenly, and to Fraser's complete surprise, the door that he was heading for began to slide open. Two figures walked calmly through and immediately noticed the Captain, loudly approaching. Alborell, now almost at the door, looked across to his right to see another shot, evidently more accurate than the others, coming towards him. Sparks from the side-rail danced and an intense pain stabbed into his right leg, Fraser felt himself falling. The two men had obviously realised what was going on and had drawn their weapons. Fraser rolled onto the floor and saw the contorted face of one of them, a Ferengi, as he screamed and folded onto the floor in front of him.
Fraser felt that he was counting down the seconds to his own death as he scrambled along the floor to the doorway. Another, heavier, body fell behind him and he made it into the short corridor that led out to the plaza. He heard the door close, taking another beam of energy intended for the Captain as it did so. By the time he reached the busy walkway of the plaza, his strength was almost gone. He groaned as he collapsed onto the floor and could hear the chatter of the passers by as they suddenly realised what had happened. As darkness began to fall he finally managed to point to the direction from which he had come. It looked as though Jannel had been right after all. Fraser just hoped she would be next to him when he awoke, telling him so.
Mark can be reached at: garak@globalnet.co.uk
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