Chapter 6 - A Little Help From My Friends
As Jack entered the Bridge the alarm klaxon blared leaving no doubt what was to be expected soon. Hank Evans stood at the Tactical Station with a sour look on his face.
"Bishop says she can only give us about twenty-five percent on the weapons systems," Hank told the Captain.
Jack settled into his command chair and turned to Vargas at Ops. "Redirect power to the shields, Ms. Vargas."
Negev turned to Pederson, "Signal the colony and the Zimmer to go to red alert and stand by. If hostilities take place the Zimmer is to go to maximum warp and leave the system."
Pederson nodded and went to work at her Communication's panel.
Jack looked to the Science Station. "Do we have sensors, Mr. Zachary?"
"Minimal scans only, sir. Most of the systems are still being repaired," the Science Officer replied.
Jack shook his head. He had the feeling this wasn't going to end well.
"Can I at least see who's flying like a bat out of hell into this system?" he asked.
Melissa went to work at her station and in moments the new arrivals were displayed on the main viewscreen.
Jack heard a heavy sigh from behind him and he turned to Hank.
"You know who this is?" Jack asked.
Hank shook his head and looked at Jack. "Those ships belong to the Levalum Clan. A group of very nasty operators who run a section of the Region about a hundred light years from Kel-j'na and just beyond the Nysryck, Ulos, and Noslen systems. Their territory is about three times the size of the Romulan Empire, but its organized around an economic power structure rather than a political one."
Hank took a deep breath as he continued to examine the ships on the viewscreen. "Outside their territory the Levalum Clan is responsible for most of the prostitution, smuggling, and outright theft in the Kel-j'na Region. Within their territory…"
Hank smiled at Jack. "Well, let's say their territory is not a nice place to live or visit."
"Do you think they'll attack?" Jack asked.
"You can count on it."
Jack turned to Negev. "Take us out of orbit and on an intercept course to those ships."
Negev stood and gave Conn Officer Nedj s'Felis a course heading and an order for full impulse. Jack turned to Pederson.
"Send an order to reduce speed and to acknowledge our hails," Jack said.
Hank sighed. "They won't respond to intimidation, Captain. All they respect is raw power."
"Right now, that seems to be something we are in short supply of, Hank."
The two Levalum vessels plowed toward the planet and past the Chamberlain leaving the huge starship behind and going the wrong way.
"Full about!" Jack ordered. "Arm phasers and torpedoes."
The medical ship, Zimmer, had begun to leave orbit as the two invaders made their way toward the planet. Bright pulses of energy erupted from the two ships and struck the shields of the small Zimmer. After a few moments the ship's shields were gone and flashes of energy erupted on the surface of its hull.
"Fire torpedoes," Jack ordered.
Zachary turned to Jack. "The Zimmer has lost warp power and shields. It won't hold up much longer."
Hank shook his head. "Torpedoes took their shields down about ten percent."
Jack stood to his feet. "Move us between the hostiles and the Zimmer and ask our Chief Engineer if we might have enough power for our primary weapon system."
The Chamberlain moved quickly towards the medical starship to protect it from the vessels intent on tearing it apart. Again torpedoes from the Oceana Class Starship struck the Levalum craft, but this time a section of one ship exploded outward throwing debris into space.
"That's the decoy," Hank said. "Its on automatic control. It’s a standard ploy of the Levalum to come in with two ships, let one get damaged and get you to focus your attack on that craft while the main ship continues on."
"Interesting tactic," Jack said. "Hit the main vessel with phasers and torpedoes."
Again the Chamberlain fired its weapons at the Levalum ship, but the smaller vessel moved more swiftly than before and avoided damage. The Zimmer had moved behind the Chamberlain at full impulse and was making a course away from the battle.
Negev turned to Jack. "Ms. Bishop reports the synchronization system cannot supply enough power for the Reactive Plasma Emitters to function."
Jack shook his head. "Wonderful. We'll have to get them the old fashioned way."
Jack turned to Hank, "I want that ship."
Hank's eyes widened causing Jack to turn to the viewscreen as the Levalum vessel made a course directly toward the Chamberlain. Alarms sounded around the Bridge.
"Collision Alert!" Negev shouted.
The Levalum ship changed course at the last possible moment to avoid hitting the less maneuverable Chamberlain and sped past towards its real target.
"They're after the Zimmer again." Negev stated.
Hank looked down at his panel and brought up a display that showed a close up view of the Levalum craft as it sped past them moments before. The image shifted several times before displaying an alien symbol on the hull of the craft.
"Captain, hail them again," Hank said.
Jack turned to Hank, confused. "What the hell for?"
"I know these guys, Jack. I might be able to talk them out of this attack."
"They are about to fire on the Zimmer!"
"That's why I have to talk to them now."
Jack took a deep breath and turned to Pederson. "Open a channel."
He turned to Hank. "Make it good."
Hank took a deep breath and addressed the Comm system. "Hey, Trulfulsa… you call that trash you're flying a ship? I've seen better flown by the Naitr'm. I guess that figures though. Their females have far more class than your prostitutes do."
Everyone on the Bridge looked at Hank. Jack shook his head.
"I said to make it good."
Hank grinned. "Trust me."
A few moments later Zachary looked up from his panel. "The vessel has broken off its pursuit of the Zimmer and reduced speed. It is coming about towards us."
A wide smile formed on Jack's face as he looked at Hank who did his best not to react.
"I stand corrected," Jack said.
Pederson grinned. "We are being hailed, Captain."
"On screen."
After a few moments of static an image of two strange aliens appeared on the viewscreen. The two creatures appeared to be on some sort of command deck, but it was the darkest and dirtiest Bridge Jack had ever seen. It made a Klingon Bridge look like a luxury hotel suite.
"Well if it isn't Hank Evans," one of the aliens said. "Everyone had wondered what had happened to you."
Hank smiled. "Nice to know you missed me, Trulfulsa. It gives me a warm feeling all inside."
Trulfulsa sneered. "I use women for that, Evans. You must have gotten soft to be so easily entertained."
"He always was," the other alien said as it laughed.
"And how are you doing, Galfalda? Your brother still cleaning up after you?" Hank asked.
The second creature's laughter died. "I really don't like that, Evans."
"Why do you think I do it?"
Jack turned to Hank and motioned for him to move it along.
Hank took a deep breath. "So why are you guys out here harassing the locals? You're a bit far from home aren't you?"
Trulfulsa leaned forward. "We heard a Fashod vessel had been in the area and thought we'd come by to have a look."
"Why don't you just enter Fashod territory if you want to see one of their ships?"
Galfalda grinned. "You go first and we'll follow, Evans."
Trulfulsa started laughing. "Yes, we'll follow… much later!"
Hank frowned. "My guess is you two thought you'd come by and scavenge around for whatever the Fashod left behind. I bet you didn't expect to find a ship this size facing you."
"Well, I've never known a Fashod vessel to leave much behind that you'd have to worry about," Trulfulsa said.
"This system is under the protection of the United Federation of Planets and we don't think much of people attacking our medical vessels," Hank said.
"A medical vessel? That other ship was a medical vessel?" Galfalda asked.
Hank smiled. "Hardly any weapons and the women aren't much to speak of."
Melissa Vargas glanced at Hank and frowned while the two aliens on the viewscreen seemed irritated.
"We aren't going to waste any more time with a ship like that. What about your vessel, Evans? How much would you take for it?" Trulfulsa asked.
Jack looked at his Tactical Officer and waited to hear the answer to this one. He was curious to hear how much his ship would go for.
Hank took a deep breath. "It's not for sale… at any price."
Trulfulsa frowned, but a moment later smiled. "If you gave it to us, we could consider it payment for what you owe us."
Hank looked at Jack who shook his head and grinned.
"I don't owe you that much, Trulfulsa," Hank said.
"You still owe for the holographic system and the Drone you destroyed."
"I've still got a year left to finish paying."
Trulfulsa grinned. "You remember that. I'd hate to have to send someone out to collect. I actually like you Evans."
The viewscreen went blank and a moment later displayed the image of the Levalum ship turning about and going to warp out of the system.
Jack walked up next to Hank. "Nice friends you've got there. I can't wait to hear the story about this holographic system you bought."
Hank smiled. "Get me real drunk and I might tell you."
Jack turned to Negev. "Secure from General Quarters and hail the Zimmer. Have Bishop send whatever help they need for repairs."
Negev nodded. "Aye, sir."
***
Three hours later, Melissa Vargas found herself walking down a corridor on Deck Six toward a room she had been planning to visit, but for a completely different purpose. She hated having to go there and she hated the captain who had ordered her to do it, but she couldn't argue with what she had found. She wished she had never looked at Lee McGuire's communication logs. It would have allowed her to spend the night in his arms again, but now that wasn't likely to happen.
Lee McGuire walked toward the entrance to his quarters with a smile. She was early, he thought. It’s a good sign when a woman comes to you.
The door opened and he took in the image of her beauty. Something about the upswept eyebrows excited him. Perhaps it was the idea of bringing passion out of the heart of a Vulcan. Of course, Melissa was only half Vulcan, but that didn't matter to Lee. She was all woman. That was the important thing.
"Come in my dear," he said invitingly.
Melissa took a deep breath and walked in. She stopped and waited for the door to close behind her. She could tell he was happy to see her and that made her hate herself all the more for being there.
"I guess we'll be in my quarters tonight."
She took a deep breath trying to ignore the way his deep voice beckoned to her. "Lee I need to talk to you about something."
He moved slowly toward her and put his arms around her waist. "Enough talk."
She held up a PADD. "Ship's business."
McGuire frowned but a moment. His smile returned. "How about we leave that to later?"
"I can't," she said.
He nodded and pulled his arms back away from her. "Let's make this quick. I'm a man with passion on his mind."
Melissa looked at the PADD and fought back tears. She knew she loved this man. She didn't know when or how it happened, but she had fallen in love with him.
"Lee, there are a number of items in your communication logs that need some explaining." There, she said it.
Lee McGuire stared at her. He couldn't believe they were discussing communication logs. "What the hell does that have to do with anything, Melissa?"
She held up the PADD and activated the display. "There are five transmissions you sent out over the past two months which were encrypted and didn't show up on the master Comm logs."
McGuire shook his head. "Who the hell cares? Starfleet Officers send encrypted communications all the time. Nobody wants their personal business open to examination by some snot nosed Ensign in a dark room of Starfleet Command."
"These aren't just encrypted. They didn't even show up on Pederson's logs."
McGuire took a deep breath. "That was the general idea."
Melissa's eyes went wide. "Then you admit you sent hidden transmissions from this ship?"
He seemed surprised by the question. "Yes. Now can we proceed with our evening?"
She took a step back. She couldn't believe how he was reacting to this. "You do realize that's a violation of Starfleet regulations, don't you?"
Lee nodded. "So what? Like I said, that was the general idea."
Melissa closed her eyes. She didn't expect the conversation to go this way.
She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Melissa looked at the PADD. "You sent two unauthorized communications to Admiral Simmons, two to someone at Starfleet Academy, and another to someone on the U.S.S. Republic."
Lee's eyes narrowed. "You tried to decode my messages?"
Melissa looked directly at him. "That was the only way I could find out who they were sent to."
He sighed and shook his head. "Do you do this with every man you make love to?"
"That has nothing to do with it," she said with building frustration.
"Really? Why the hell else would you be rummaging around in my personal communications?" he asked.
"Because I was ordered to!"
Lee looked down at the floor. "By who?"
"The captain."
He laughed. "This ship can barely function. We've fought the Borg and now some regional alien species and our captain is concerned with some questionable communications?"
"These aren't the only ones, Lee."
He looked straight at her. "I'm certain they aren't. How the hell did Jack McCall ever get command of a starship? The man's a mental disaster. We'll be lucky to make it back to Federation space alive with him in command."
Melissa didn't want to admit she had started to ask the same questions earlier in the day, but Lee's covert communications couldn't be explained away so easily. "There were other communications sent through an elaborate alteration of the sensor and communication systems that were also encrypted. The captain believes, as do I, that a spy is aboard this vessel."
"What the hell does that have to do with me? I don't have to go to all that trouble to keep people from prying into my communications." He frowned. "At least not until now."
Melissa held up the PADD. "The captain thinks the spy might be working for Admiral Simmons and you sent two covert and encrypted messages to him."
Lee laughed. "Fergus Simmons doesn't give a damn what goes on aboard this ship. He'd just as soon have the whole Oceana Class disassembled and sold off for scrap."
"Perhaps he's looking for an excuse to make that happen," Melissa said.
"The way the Oceana and this ship have performed I don't think he'd have to look far. The class is a disaster, Melissa."
She thought for several moments. There was something that didn't make sense. "So you're saying you had nothing to do with the modifications to the sensor system?"
"That's right. I've had no trouble hiding my communications from prying eyes up until now," he said.
"Then what's behind the messages you did send?"
Lee stared at her for almost thirty seconds. He had reached his limit. He walked up to her and grabbed the PADD out of her hand.
He looked at the display. "The message to the Republic was to an old friend of mine, Lieutenant Commander Marsley. I was asking him how the problems with his wife were going. Having gone through a divorce myself I thought I might give him some encouragement."
Melissa nodded, but she still wasn't satisfied.
Lee continued. "The two messages to the Academy were to my daughter, Kaitlyn. This is her first year and I'm worried about how she's doing. I assume a parent being concerned about their children is acceptable to you and his highness, Jack McCall."
Melissa sighed. "And the two to Simmons?"
"One was to ask him to check up on Kaitlyn for me and the other was to turn down his offer of another assignment. I told him I thought the Chamberlain was a good ship with a good crew."
He looked into Melissa's eyes. "I may reconsider that, now," he said to her.
She looked down at the floor while he walked over to a table and picked up a small object.
He walked back to her and tossed the object, an isolinear chip, into the air. Melissa caught it in her hand.
"What's this?"
"It's the encryption code that I use. Having worked as Simmons' Chief of Staff I got used to sending all my important messages using it," he said.
"Why give it to me?" she asked.
"So you can decode those damn messages and convince yourself I'm no spy, Melissa." He forced the PADD back into her hand.
Melissa tried to hand the chip back to him. "I don't need to read them, Lee."
"No, you've gone this far, why not finish it? The captain I'm sure will want to read all of it line by line. Then he'll have you looking for hidden messages within each sentence. After that maybe he'll have the Counselor wander about through my mind just to make sure I don't have any evil thoughts!"
Melissa tried to look at him, but couldn’t. "Lee, I'm sorry. I had to do this."
"No you didn't. All you had to do was tell our rather paranoid captain that he was becoming obsessed with this idea of a spy and if he didn't accept that then you should have gone to Negev and reported that you thought the captain was unfit for duty," he said.
"I still think there is a spy aboard, Lee," Melissa whispered.
"Then you're as crazy as McCall is."
Melissa started to respond, but stopped herself. There was nothing left for her to say.
"Go take my personal communications to your captain. I'm sure he's expecting it," Lee said as he walked to the replicator and touched the controls. A moment later a cup of hot tea materialized. He picked it up and took a sip from the cup.
Lee looked up and saw Melissa hadn't moved. "If you don't mind, I have things to do. Would you please get the hell out of my quarters?"
Melissa fought back her tears and simply nodded.
Five seconds later she was back in the corridor again almost running to the turbolift.
