Chapter 2 - Lend Me Your Ears
Melissa Vargas sighed heavily as she listened to Lieutenant Commander Kristen Bishop, the Chief Engineer of the Chamberlain, describe the current status of the vessel's power systems. Vargas didn't like what she was hearing.
"We still haven't figured out how the energy surge managed to disrupt the reactor synchronization system," Bishop said.
Captain Jack McCall watched the holographic display over the center of the table in the conference room relate the details of Bishop's bad news. Fortunately most of their systems had returned to normal within an hour of going down.
"How long until warp drive is back online?" Jack asked.
"We should have reactors one and two operational in forty-eight hours."
"But that would only give us warp six."
Bishop nodded. "Until we repair the synchronization system, we won't be able to run more than two reactors at a time, Captain."
Jack looked down at the table. He did not like the idea of being in the Kel-j'na Region with a disabled ship. There were few Starfleet vessels patrolling the region and they knew far too little about this new frontier.
"Do you think we'll have to return to Delta Ophiuchus for repairs?"
Bishop's eyes went wide. "No. I think we can eventually repair the problem, sir."
Jack knew he had hit a nerve with Bishop. She was proud of her staff and felt they were capable of anything that was thrown their way. Suggesting the possibility of returning to the shipyard the Chamberlain had launched from two months ago was not something Bishop wanted to consider. Jack knew she would push her engineering staff hard to make sure that never happened.
Jack turned to Melissa Vargas. "How are the rescue operations going down on the planet?"
Vargas turned to Jack as Bishop, Hank Evans, and Duncan Zachary turned their attention to her.
"Commander Negev reports they have set up fifteen emergency medical stations and they've treated five hundred of the reported three thousand injured. Doctor Preston sent his latest estimate of those killed by the Borg. He now believes seven thousand four hundred died in the attack."
Jack contemplated that number for several moments. The Parxula Five Colony had been hit hard. News of this attack would not sit well with the Federation Council. Many members had been demanding more forceful action be taken against the Borg for years and they would use this incident as proof of their position. Jack knew it was empty rhetoric. Despite the performance of the Chamberlain against them, Starfleet simply did not possess the technology to take the Borg on in a full scale war.
"Does Preston need more personnel for the planetary medical stations?" Jack asked.
Vargas shook her head. "He's got all of our medical staff as well as most of the Science Department down there already. He told me the biggest problem is a shortage of surgically trained doctors."
"The two medical ships are still a day away. I'm afraid he'll have to do his best until then," Jack stated.
Jack knew Mei-Wan was part of the group down on the surface working in the medical stations. He had wondered for the last five hours how she was dealing with the results of a Borg attack. She had seen her share of death and misery as he had during the Dominion War and in the Glazyalan prison camp, but the Borg had their own unique brand of destruction. Jack knew it wouldn't be an enjoyable experience for his wife or something she would want to remember.
He turned in his chair toward Duncan Zachary, the Chamberlain's Science Officer.
"Have you been able to learn anything from the sensor logs concerning our mysterious friends?"
Zachary leaned forward in his seat and stared at the surface of the table for almost five seconds before answering.
"Well, there isn't much the logs can tell us I'm afraid. That energy surge disabled all our sensor systems," Zachary said.
Jack turned to Hank. "You're certain you've never seen a vessel like that before?"
Hank Evans thought a moment. "I would have remembered something like that."
"Anyone who can defeat the Borg as that ship did makes these folks someone I'd like to talk to," Jack said.
Hank smiled. "I can try checking some sources and see what I come up with." He turned to Vargas. "That is assuming communications are functioning."
Vargas frowned. "That's the one system we've been able to keep up and running."
Jack nodded. "Dismissed."
Everyone but Jack got up from their chairs. Bishop walked over to her Captain as the others left the room.
"Sir, I know the Chamberlain's in bad shape right now, but this was the first time an Oceana Class starship went through a real battle."
"If another Borg ship had arrived after our friends in the other vessel had left we would have been defenseless," Jack replied.
Bishop took a deep breath. "I realize the ship still has some problems, but I think we can get past them."
"I certainly hope we get the opportunity to, Lieutenant Commander."
***
Jack walked into his quarters and got a glass of juice from the replicator. He looked at a nearby table and saw various PADDs and printed materials scattered across it where Mei-Wan had left her work when the red alert had sounded hours before. He wished more than anything else she were with him right now.
His ship faced the enemy it had been designed to defeat and done its job before the large unknown vessel appeared. The gargantuan alien had fired its weapons at the Borg and the power surge from the blast had disabled the Chamberlain without coming anywhere near the starship. The power at its disposal had to be incredible.
Jack closed his eyes and fell back into the couch. He took a long drink from his glass and tried to forget the events of the last seven hours.
The door opened and Jack turned and smiled. Mei-Wan slowly entered their quarters.
"Hi," Jack said softly.
Mei-Wan stopped, startled. "Oh, Jack. I didn't know you were here."
She sank into a chair across from him and exhaled.
"Bad?" he asked.
Mei-Wan nodded. "I have to be back down there in six hours."
Jack sat up. "I thought Preston had everything under control?"
"An hour ago we found two hundred more colonists buried under a building. About half were dead. The other half I think wished they were."
Jack sat silently and watched Mei-Wan. He could tell she was tired, but he knew there was more than physical exhaustion taking its toll on her.
She leaned forward in her chair. "It was terrible, Jack. There were huge sections of the Colony that were just gone--nothing but massive holes in the ground left behind. All I could think of was what happened to all the people."
Jack sighed. "I could tell you, but I don't think you want to know."
"No I don't."
She stood up and stretched her arms and legs. Jack watched her.
"You coming to bed?" she asked.
"No. I have to see Hank in about an hour. He's checking out some information for me."
Mei-Wan nodded. "I'm going to shut off the Comm. Zachary caught me on my way here and harassed me about some stupid evaluation for one of my Ensigns. I swear Jack, if he comes near me in the next twelve hours I'm going to blast a hole in his head with a phaser."
Jack grinned as Mei-Wan disappeared down the hall toward their bedroom.
***
Jack McCall sat watching shuttles pass back and forth between his ship and the colony below that they orbited. He saw a Starfleet Medical vessel, the U.S.S. Zimmer, which had arrived eight hours early. He had grown rather fond of looking out the windows of the Captain's Yacht. It gave him the one thing he couldn't find anywhere else on the Chamberlain; peace and quiet.
Jack leaned forward and grabbed a full glass off the panel in front of him. He took a small drink and let the taste of the alcohol fill his mouth a moment before swallowing. A second later he felt the liquid hit his stomach.
The sound of the Yacht's main hatch opening made Jack turn. He forced a smile as Duncan Zachary, his wife's immediate superior, cautiously entered the forward section.
"What can I do for you, Mr. Zachary?"
Zachary smiled in his usual feeble attempt at human interaction. "There was something I, uh, needed to speak to you about if its uh, not a bad time, sir?"
"Not at all," Jack replied and motioned to Zachary to take the seat to Jack's left.
The Science Officer slowly relaxed into the soft chair.
"Would you like a drink, Mr. Zachary?" Jack asked.
Zachary smiled, but then hesitated a moment. "Well, I guess so, sir."
Jack reached down into a small compartment and pulled out a second glass. He filled it with the golden liquid from a bottle on the panel in front of him. Jack handed the glass to his Science Officer.
Zachary took a cautious sip and then smiled. "Very nice."
Jack grinned and watched Zachary.
Zachary took a deep breath. "Captain, I can imagine what Lieutenant McCall has said to you about me. However, I want you to know I don't see the problems between her and I as personal."
"That's good to know," Jack replied.
"I've been Science Officer on four starships and I have my own style for running my department."
"Everyone has their own style of command. That's nothing to apologize for."
Zachary took a deep breath. "And I don't. I just want you to know that I've found that most Starfleet Science Personnel come from ships where regulations and discipline were not a high priority in the Science Department. I think they should be."
"I can understand that."
"Lieutenant McCall served aboard the Farragut and then the Beaumont. Both of those science departments were poorly supervised, so in one sense her attitudes about procedures and protocol aren't her fault, but I have to run my department my way."
Jack sighed heavily. The near constant battle between Zachary and Mei-Wan had been his least favorite part of life the last two months.
"Again, I understand and agree," Jack said.
Zachary nodded and continued. "I can't give her greater latitude than others in the department just because she's your wife."
"And you shouldn't," Jack replied as he lifted his glass off the panel. "Her career in Starfleet has to stand on its own apart from mine."
Zachary took a sip from his own glass and smiled. "I'm glad we agree on this, sir. I intend to make the Science Department of the Chamberlain the best in the fleet over the next several years."
Jack nodded. "I support your aspiration, Mr. Zachary and you have my full support."
"Thank you, sir," replied the Science Officer. He finished his glass of scotch.
"So is that why you came looking for me?"
Zachary though for a moment. "No. After the battle with the Borg this morning I was going over the sensor systems and discovered that the primary sensor arrays had been connected to the communication system enabling them to work in concert together."
Jack sat up in his seat and placed his glass on the panel in front of him.
Zachary continued. "I can't imagine why someone would want to do that, but they have."
"Have you told anyone else about this?" Jack asked.
"No. I sealed the sensor system suite by voice authorization and decided to bring this directly to you."
Jack leaned forward and touched the intercom control. "McCall to Evans."
After a few moments Hank Evans' voice blurted over the intercom, "Yeah, go ahead."
"Hank, Mr. Zachary has discovered some odd alterations to the sensor systems and communication system."
After a full second, "Now that is interesting."
Jack smiled. "I thought you might see it that way. Get Vargas and the two of you go check it out."
Hank's voice replied, "Yes, sir." The intercom deactivated.
Zachary watched the captain touch another control. "Computer, modify sensor suite authorization to include Lieutenant Commander Hank Evans. Authorization McCall Zed-nine-alpha, Mei-three-nine."
"Authorization confirmed," the Computer replied.
Jack leaned back lost in thought.
"Is there something more to this, sir?" the Science Officer asked.
"You may have just helped us solve a mystery, Mr. Zachary."
***
Down in the sensor suite on Deck Twenty-one Hank Evans and Melissa Vargas carefully examined the sensor control systems. Vargas watched the changing displays on the tricorder in her right hand.
"Well, there goes my number one suspect," Vargas stated.
Hank smiled. "Zachary?"
"Yeah. Wouldn't make sense for him to bring this to the captain if he was the one doing it."
Hank nodded as he pulled a panel off of a section of wall. Vargas pointed her tricorder at the collection of isolinear chips.
"One thing's for certain," Hank said. "Someone knew what they were doing. I did a full diagnostic of these systems two weeks ago and didn't find anything. Zachary may be a jackass, but his anal attitude sure came in handy this time."
He pointed to a set of three chips in the open panel. "Right there."
Melissa nodded as her tricorder began an electronic whine. "If we didn't know where it was we'd never notice."
"Exactly. Only a handful of people on this ship would know how to do this."
She took a deep breath and closed her tricorder. "Zachary, Pederson, someone in the science department, and the command personnel."
Hank replaced the wall panel. "And Bishop and her engineering staff."
"So who do we question first?"
Hank leaned against a wall. "No one yet. Now we go over personnel records and see who has the training needed to do this. We narrow it down until we've got five or six suspects. Then we start interrogating them."
"Well, we can rule out Pederson and Zachary. If it weren't for them we wouldn't even know about this."
Hank nodded. "I agree. I'll have the computer come up with a list of possible candidates. We can meet tomorrow at 0900 and narrow it down and then take it to the captain. In the meantime, let's get someone down here to disable this."
Hank smiled and looked at Melissa. "I'm supposed to meet Kadan in the Officer's Lounge on Deck Nine later for some drinks. You want to join us?"
Melissa Vargas returned Hank's smile. "Actually I've got plans for the evening."
Hank grinned as the two of them walked toward the exit.
