Chapter 4 - Messages From Afar
The next morning, much to his surprise, Jack didn't regret passing on Kristen Bishop's offer, but he did let his mind wonder how the night might have gone if he had indulged himself. He had to admit he found her to be a beautiful woman and suspected her confidence over her engineering abilities extended to other, more intriguing, aspects of her life.
Garth might be right, he thought. Maybe I should give myself a break.
Thinking back on the times he had been around Kristen Bishop, Jack realized she'd been hinting at spending some time together for nearly a month. He simply hadn't been paying attention.
In the shower, he let his mind, at least he wanted to believe that was the part of him where his imagination resided this day, wonder even more about the opportunity he'd let pass the night before.
"God, she is a sexy woman," he said to himself as he lathered shampoo into his dark hair. Several minutes later, he let the steaming hot water wash away the foam from his head.
Then it struck him.
Kristen Bishop was the first woman he'd looked at, really looked at, since he had fallen in love with Mei-Wan. Part of him wanted to cry because of the line he had crossed, but another sliver of his personality actually felt good.
He didn't love Mei-Wan any less, or stop wishing she'd somehow be found alive, but he knew for at least a brief moment he'd peeked out of the pit he'd been in the last four months and stolen a glimpse of the surrounding countryside.
And he liked what he saw.
He wasn't ready to make that final move and crawl out just yet, but he realized he would eventually crawl out.
***
A short time later, Jack stepped onto the bridge of the Chamberlain and sat in his command chair. Since he'd come off leave, he liked to start each day from the center seat. Somehow it gave him the sense of being anchored for the rest of the day.
He saw Melissa Vargas seated at the Operations Station, busily checking various displays and confirming the ship's status. She looked over at him momentarily and smiled before returning to the myriad beeping and chirping indicators which demanded her attention.
Jack glanced at the chronometer just above the main viewscreen and saw he had twenty-seven minutes before the morning meeting of the command staff. His executive officer, Lak Negev had started that daily ritual while Jack was on leave. The general consensus among his department heads was to continue what Negev had started. Jack had agreed.
He looked over at the Engineering Station, and instead of the usual lieutenant who occupied that seat, Kristen Bishop sat reviewing the drive systems of the Chamberlain.
She turned and looked directly at him. Bishop did her best to suppress a smile, then turned away, pretending to watch the plasma temperature status readout.
Jack turned his own gaze to the main viewscreen. The planet Cajma Six rotated slowly beneath them, appearing calm and serene, but Jack knew that serenity was the result of a planet wide wave of death that had occurred four and half months before.
An Andorian sat down in the seat next to Jack and activated the small panel attached to his chair.
"How are you this morning, Captain," Negev asked, continuing to watch the listing of information on the tiny display.
"Just fine, Mr. Negev," Jack replied with a touch more energy than usual.
Negev closed the display. "I understand the midshipmen are planning a party this evening."
"Really?" Jack asked as both of them looked over at Melissa Vargas. She had been supervising the collection of "middies" that had come aboard a month and a half earlier.
"They wanted to celebrate the end of their tour before they left," she told them. "It would be nice if you could come and say a few words to them, Captain."
Jack frowned. "Isn't that your job, Commander?"
Melissa raised an eyebrow. "It is traditional for the CO to speak to the midshipmen before they leave, sir."
Jack turned to his Exec. "Lak, would you..."
Negev smiled and shook his head. "Far be it from me to interfere with tradition, Captain."
Jack sighed. "What time?" he asked, resigned to his fate.
Melissa grinned. "The party starts around 1800. You can come by anytime after that."
Jack nodded.
Arthur Conrad's communication panel began chirping. After touching several controls he turned to Jack.
"Captain, we have an incoming message."
"Who from?" Jack inquired.
Conrad took a second to check a readout. "Janus Osmand."
Jack took a deep breath just as Hank Evans entered the bridge and stood at the Tactical Station behind the command chair.
"What does he want?" Jack asked with a sour tone in his voice.
Conrad took a moment to listen to the small receiver in his ear. "He simply says it's is urgent he speak to you, Captain."
Jack exhaled. "Put him on, Mr. Conrad."
The rugged and wrinkled face of Janus Osmand, wanted for defiance of the Prime Directive among other things, filled the viewscreen.
"This had better be good, Osmand," Jack said. "I have been ordered to have no further contact with you."
"McCall," Osmand started, obviously agitated. "We picked up a signal several hours ago from a G'voda vessel and have just finished decoding it."
"G'voda?" Jack asked, sitting up in his seat.
Osmand motioned to someone off screen. "It's audio only. Listen."
A brief spatter of static filled the bridge speakers and then as it cleared, Jack and everyone else on the bridge heard a somewhat distorted, yet hauntingly familiar voice.
"This is Lieutenant Mei-Wan McCall to any vessel, please respond! My ship is damaged and low on power. I may not be able to transmit for much longer," spoke the voice that Jack had longed to hear for months.
She's alive! his mind screamed as he fought to keep his wits about him. He had to get to her and fast.
"How far are you from her location," Jack quickly asked Osmand as all eyes on the bridge turned to their captain.
"Five days at maximum warp," Osmand said.
Jack jumped to his feet. "Can you send us the coordinates for the source of the signal?"
Osmand turned to one of his Skorr aides.
A moment later, Jack turned to Hank Evans. "Well?"
Hank looked up from his Tactical Panel. "We could be there in a day."
Jack spun about to face the viewscreen again. "We'll get her."
"Be careful, Captain. I don't like this situation at all."
Just before directing Conrad to end the communication, Jack turned back to the viewscreen. "Thank you, Mr. Osmand."
"I just hope she's okay, Captain," Osmand said. A moment later the signal ended and Jack saw the planet Cajma displayed again.
He turned to Negev who shook his head.
"It would take us more than six hours to bring the Corps of Engineers back to the Chamberlain," he told Jack. "Then probably another two to secure their equipment in the main bay."
The main bay, Jack thought. He turned to Melissa Vargas.
"Is the Abdiel still aboard?"
Doing everything she could to not be overwhelmed at hearing her friend's voice again, Melissa nodded. "Yes, sir. According to the Flight Deck Commander, she's nearly ready to depart."
Jack turned to his Exec. "You have the conn, Mr. Negev."
Jack stepped away from his command chair on his way to the exit. "Mr. Evans, Ms. Vargas; you're with me."
"Captain," Negev said, causing Jack to stop. "Perhaps we should let Mr. Falco go and report back..."
Jack shook his head. "I know it smells like a trap, but I have to go, Lak."
Knowing this was a debate he wasn't going to win, the Andorian said, "Good luck, sir."
"Thanks," Jack said as he followed Hank and Melissa off the bridge.
***
Five hours later, the Defiant class, U.S.S. Abdiel soared through space at better than warp nine. Jack McCall stood on the bridge of the small vessel listening carefully as Lieutenant Madri Karsila, a native of the planet Tiburon, made adjustments to the ship's communications system.
"Still nothing, Captain," Karsila said.
Jack let out a frustrated sigh as Hank and Melissa stood nearby.
"She did say the ship was damaged and low on power," Melissa stated.
Hank frowned. "If someone wanted to lure the Chamberlain somewhere, it wouldn't take much to figure the possibility of Mei-Wan being alive would be impossible for you to resist, Jack."
"I know," Jack said. "Which is another reason, besides the problems with the Corps of Engineers, to take the Abdiel instead."
Melissa looked at Jack. "That's assuming the ship was what they wanted."
Jack realized her meaning. The G'voda had attacked a Sovereign class starship to capture his father, Admiral Jeremiah McCall. If for some reason they wanted Jack, specifically, the message they received would certainly deliver him to them.
But it sounded like Mei, Jack thought. It had to be her!
After months of learning to accept she was dead, all the hopes he dared not voice had filled his mind and heart in the hours since they'd received the message from Osmand.
Jack turned to the young Bajoran woman at the Conn Station at the front of the bridge. "Time to arrival?"
She looked down at her controls. "Nineteen hours, seven minutes."
Paul Falco turned his command seat to Jack and the others at communications. He hated how McCall had appropriated his ship, but even he found it hard to blame him. How could he be angry at a man going to find his wife?
"Captain," Falco said. "It might be better if you and the others got some rest. If we pick up anything, I'll let you know immediately."
Jack turned to the Abdiel's commander. He knew they were simply getting in the way of Falco and his people. Despite how he knew Falco felt about him, it was Falco's ship. No CO liked having a higher ranking officer violate his realm.
"You're right," Jack conceded. "But the moment you get anything..."
Falco smiled. "I'll call you myself."
***
An hour later Jack tried to rest in the small quarters he had been assigned for the duration of their mission, but found it impossible to sleep. He was torn between hope he dared not give too much ground to, and despair that this would all turn out to be a cruel hoax to deceive them to some end they couldn't fathom at the moment.
He just wished the Abdiel could get there faster. He hated not knowing and he hated that she might be all alone in a damaged and powerless ship.
Jack growled and bolted up from the small bed. He'd try sleeping later.
He walked down the narrow curving corridor on Deck Two past a couple of science labs and the sickbay. When he entered the ship's mess hall he found he wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep.
Melissa Vargas turned to him from her cup of chocolate ice cream. "I thought you were going to sleep, sir."
"I did too," he said as he approached the replicator. "Chicken salad sandwich... mayo, lettuce, and onion," he told the device. A moment later, a plate with his food appeared.
He turned to Vargas. "Mind if I join you?"
She smiled and pointed to the chair across from her.
Jack sat down and picked up his sandwich and took a bite from it. He looked at Melissa. "Did it sound like Mei to you on the message?" he asked, almost a pleading tone to his voice.
She nodded. "I'm certain it's her, Captain."
He dropped his sandwich on the plate. He couldn't eat anymore. He was too tied up in knots emotionally to do anything, but he couldn't stand doing nothing.
Jack closed his eyes.
Melissa reached over and put her hand on his. "I know," she whispered. "The waiting is impossible."
He opened his eyes and looked at her. A smile came to his face. "Yeah."
"I bet Mei will want to spend all her time telling us everything she's learned about the G'voda, rather than answering our questions about what happened to her," Melissa said with a grin.
Jack chuckled. "That would be just like her, wouldn't it?"
Jack looked into Melissa's eyes as he felt the warmth of her touch. "I'm sorry I've not been around much since Hank and I returned from that god-awful planet he took me too," Jack told her.
"It's okay," she told him. "You had your own pain. You didn't need mine too."
"Don't make excuses for me," he said. "You needed someone to talk to--- someone who knew Mei."
She shrugged her shoulders and looked down at their intertwined hands. "I almost came by your quarters a couple of times, but I always felt as if I'd be intruding on something too private."
"Well, I've been told recently, that pain is something that is easier to get through when you can share your feelings with someone else," Jack said.
Melissa smiled. "Akala told me the same thing."
Jack looked at the woman across from him and aside from the differences in parentage, and a thousand other superficial things, they shared something very dear to him--- a love for Mei-Wan.
He couldn't pretend anymore. The anguish built up over four months cut loose.
"I don't know if I'll be able to get through this if it isn't her, Melissa," he said as his eyes filled with tears.
She held his hand tighter as she fought back her own pain. "You'll get through it, no matter what happens."
***
A half hour later, after Melissa assured him she'd get some sleep, Jack walked back to his quarters. Just as he was about to enter, a voice called to him.
"Well, here we are again," Hank Evans said.
Jack turned and smiled. "I guess so."
"You going to be ready for this?" Hank asked.
"I doubt it," Jack said.
Hank grinned. "Then you're ready."
Jack shook his head. "More contradictory Kel-j'na Region wisdom?"
"No," Hank chuckled. "I just wanted to cheer you up."
"Thanks."
"Don't thank me until we know this isn't some sort of trap."
Jack frowned. "I'm worried we won't know that until it's too late."
Hank leaned forward. "That's why they call it a trap."
***
The Abdiel dropped out of warp and activated its array of scanners seventeen hours after Jack McCall fell asleep. It didn't take long for them to find what they came searching for.
"Metallic object, at two, two, five," Falco said, a moment after Jack, Hank, and Melissa entered his bridge.
"Power signature?" Jack asked as he and the others made their way to the tactical station.
"Weak, but enough for life support and a few other systems."
"Good girl, Mei," Melissa said softly.
"Life signs?" Hank asked.
Falco paused a moment before answering. "Nothing, but we can't detect anything within the ship," he told them. "Either there's nothing there, or the hull is interfering with our scans."
"Any signals?" Hank inquired.
"Nothing," Falco said.
"Time to intercept?" Jack asked.
"We're at full impulse," Falco told them as he glanced at the tactical display. "We should be able to bring the ship aboard within the next ten minutes."
"Bring it aboard?" Melissa asked, uncertain if that was a wise course of action.
"It's about the size of a small shuttle," the Abdiel's commander said. "We're going to bring it into the Deck Three Shuttlebay."
***
Jack stood with Hank and Falco on the deck of the shuttlebay within the Abdiel, looking at the shining metal craft which had been brought aboard just a few minutes before. Melissa went over the surface of the ship with a tricorder, checking it out one last time at Hank's insistence. The two security guards behind them were also a result of Hank's protestations.
All Jack wanted was the answer to a single question.
Was it really Mei-Wan inside this craft?
But he knew they had to be careful, especially now. The ship before them was of an advanced design, that much was certain. However, they still couldn't identify a power source, let alone any sign of what would pass for engines.
The most troubling aspect was the way the outer hull of the thing refused to let them know anything about its interior.
Melissa walked up to Jack and the others.
"I can't detect anything overtly dangerous," she said. "But I can't rule anything out either."
"Still no life signs?" Jack asked, wishing he'd hear another answer than the one he'd heard the last ten times he'd inquired.
Melissa shook her head. "I think I found what might be a door mechanism, but I'm not sure it's such a good idea to just go activating things without some idea of what they are."
"We need to get inside," Jack said with a finality Hank didn't like.
"We should wait until..."
"She could be dying inside there for all we know," Jack nearly shouted. He turned to Melissa. "Try the door."
Melissa was about to suggest caution herself, but she didn't get the opportunity.
An eight by ten foot section of the metal craft's hull appeared to turn into a liquid form and flowed downward, leaving an opening in its place.
"Weapons!" Hank ordered the security men as he un-holstered his own.
Melissa quickly began scanning with her tricorder again. "Oxygen atmosphere," she reported.
Jack's heart raced as they all listened.
Silence.
Jack thought he'd heard something aside from the low hum of the tricorder.
There it was again!
A lone footstep echoed out of the opening in the alien craft.
Hank himself stepped closer to the opening.
Several more footsteps.
Melissa's tricorder sounded an alert.
"Movement," she whispered. "Something's coming out."
Jack strained to keep his eyes focused on the exit.
A figure walked slowly through the opening.
"It's one of them!" Hank shouted. "Stay where you are!" he told the thing standing before them.
The thing's form looked human enough in basic shape, however that was where the similarity ended. Its skin, if that was the right word for what covered its exterior, was a bright shinning metal, yet appeared in various places to be unfinished. Connections, power conduits, and spun metal which seemed to mimic the function of muscle lay exposed where the outer covering was missing.
Turning toward them, the machine's glowing red eyes focused on Jack.
For the captain of the Chamberlain the only thing he felt was revulsion toward this construction of shine and circuit. Not only did it make him think of a human who had been skinned alive, but now he noticed the most disturbing aspect of it. In general the form was human, yet was distinctly female.
Then it spoke.
"Jack!," the metallic toned voice said. "It's me... Mei-Wan!"
