Star Trek: The Elite

8/9/2019 Star Trek: The Elite

1/34


2/34

2

Sloan stepped over the guardrail around the chamber and peered in. Without looking he spoke to hisscientist, Disengage the temporal field.

The scientist hesitated, Sir, we need to run some tests before we can determine if its safe to let himout.

We dont have time for any more tests! The Enterprise will be here in less than 6 minutes! heapproached the scientist, And if we dont have something to show for our efforts, Section 31 will become-shall we say-a thing of thepast. So we need toah his voice faded as he started to hyperventilate.

The scientist bent over and helped a coughing Sloan up off the floor. Wed better get you to sickbay,he looked up. Ensign Mannon, see that he that he gets there safely.

The ensign replied with a simple Yes, Commander and escorted his dying leader out of the lab. Oncehe had left, Commander Jovan, the scientist, ordered the two other guards to leave and wait outside. Hethen turned to the chamber, and with a tap of a button disengaged the temporal field.

The man inside the chamber opened his eyes abruptly as the door in front of him slid open. Hestumbled out and then propped himself up on the guardrail. He moaned for a few seconds and thenspoke, Where he looked around, what isoh, my head!

The commander walked forward and put his hand on the mans shoulder, Youre on the U.S.S Darren ,and my name is Jovan Rehn. I brought you here.

Field Commander Abram T. Smith, Fifth Infantry Division. He looked up, Am I your prisoner, Rehn?No, youre not. And youre also not in the 21 st Century anymore. Youre in the late 24 th, and youve just

made history.Abram gave him a skeptical look and then laughed out loud, Are you crazy? Oh, wait, did that new

Lieutenant put you up to this? He is gonna be dead if I ever get my hands on him!Commander Jovan was getting impatient. But just as he was about to speak, the all too familiar crash

of a photon torpedo impacting on the shields rocked the ship. Rehn quickly hauled an unconscious Abramon to his shoulders and headed out the sliding doors to the turbolift down the corridor.

Stepping into the turbolift, he gave the command to proceed to the bridge. Only a few seconds later,the turbolift doors hissed open to reveal the bridge. Lieutenant Carry got up out of the captains chair inthe center of the large room and approached the Commander.

Our shields are down to 34%, sir, he began, The Enterprise is firing type-7 photon torpedoes; wecant survive much longer.

Rehn settled down into the chair as the Darren took another blast from a photon torpedo.The communications officer looked up from his station and informed the commander that the

Enterprise was hailing.

They want Sloan , Rehn thought to himself, Put them through, he replied.The large view screen ahead of him changed from an image of the attacking ship to one of the

Enterprise Bridge. Captain Jean-Luc Picard sat in the center chair. To his right sat Comdr. William Riker.And to his left, the Betazoid Counselor Deanna Troi sat passively.

Commander Jovan, Picard began, your ship is carrying a fugitive of the Federation. We alsounderstand that you have already violated the Temporal Prime Directive. Can you confirm this?

Rehn hesitated as he checked the status readout on his chair, then looked up and spoke, Yes, wecan. And we can also confirm the fact that you are firing on a Federation starship. I hope you haveauthorization.

As a matter of fact we do! Riker blurted, Were acting under direct orders from the FederationCouncil. So I hope you have an excuse for protecting a wanted man.

You forget, Commander, that Sloan is my superior. And that I am loyal to him until his death!Picard looked sternly at Rehn, Im sorry you feel that way, but Im sure we will be hearing that

statement again very soon. When you make your speech to the Council. End Transmission.As the viewscreen switched again another blast rocked the ship. That one took out impulse andthrusters, Sir. The status officer announced, Were dead in the water.

Rehn was just about to call for options when he noticed that their guest had become conscious againand was staring dumbstruck at the view screen. Soyou were telling the truth. I am in the 24 th Century.

Im glad youre finally seeing things, but right now we have to find some way of getting out of here. Weneed options.

For a moment, Abram felt something click inside his head. Then he remembered. The memory wasfaint, but there. Years ago, almost fifteen (or by now almost three hundred), he had heard the same wordsspoken to himby his commanding officer. They had been


3/34

3

In a ditch. He finished his thought aloud.Rehn turned to him; I beg your pardon? he sounded annoyed.We were pinned-downin a ditch. Abram continued. Our vehicle was badly damaged, and we had

lost all engine power. Just like now.Abram had gotten Rehns undivided attention. He knew very well of the extreme differences in

technology over three hundred years, but somehow he was inclined to go with whatever course of actionAbram suggested next. What did you do? he asked expectantly.

Abram looked far away for a few seconds, than his head jolted up. Delay! he looked at Rehn, Theenemy battery that was firing on us was only equipped with 160mm guided heavy shells. They packed amean punch, but they were slow as a turtle, and they had almost no maneuverability. He looked up at thetactical station as he finished, We were able to shoot them out of sky long enough to get away.

The Lieutenant at tactical started quickly tapping the controls in front of him. An astonished smilestarted to form on his face. He finally stopped and looked up from the board. Commander, I think we cando it.

Elaborate, Rehn replied, casting a quick glance at the satisfied look on Abrams face.The Type-7 photon torpedo is built for a high yield, but it was never designed for maneuverability, he

continued, We can destroy them with a low-power Phaser blast just as they cleared the Enterprise shieldperimeter.

Rehns eyes locked onto the viewscreen before him, Do it.As the words left his mouth, the torpedo tubes of the U.S.S. Enterprise flared for a millisecond. And a

blaze of light like a small sun began its hunt for the target it was sent to destroy. In that same fraction of time, two more blazes of light, though much dimmer, raced across the hull of the Darren. Faster andfaster they accelerated, never slowing, until they finally collided with each other directly at the bow of theship. And when they did, they sent a brilliant beam of light hurling towards the torpedo. And in one moreflash of light, the weapon was reduced to unidentifiable scraps of metal, burning with plasma.

The ensuing explosion impacted on the shields of the Enterprise , giving the Darren just enough time tolaunch a full spread of torpedoes at the ship. The crews on both sides of the battle knew the tide hadbeen turned.

The ships continued to exchange fire, but it was clear now that the Enterprise was damaged.Meanwhile, inside the Darren, the crew was all preparing for an evacuation of the ship. Rehn, Smith, anda few others of the bridge crew dashed down the curving corridors, down a few turbolifts, until finallyarriving at the shuttle bay.

Rehn gave out quick instructions to the others as they boarded the small, compact shuttles that rested

in the bay. As soon as you get out of the shield perimeter, use the cloaking devices in your craft. Then goscatter into high-warp and put as much distance between you and the Enterprise as possible. Wellreunite at Utopia Planitia in three days. Good luck, my friends. He gave them all a warm smile beforeducking under the hatch door at the back of the shuttle.

When he got inside, Abram was already sitting in the copilots chair in the front of the shuttle. Rehnquickly took a seat beside him and started tapping the controls in front of him. He glanced over at theperplexed look on Smiths face.

He turned back to board, Im initiating launch sequence, opening shuttle bay doors, disengagingenvironmental forcefield. He paused as the whooshing sound of the bay depressurizing engulfed theship.

The ship then started to lift off of the deck, hovering not only because of the maneuvering thrusters,but also from the loss of gravity. It then started to turn ever so slowly around; Smith saw for the first timewhat he had waited so long to see as a child.

He saw the stars, thousands of them, with no end.As the shuttle eased out of the cargo bay, he continued to seem fixed in a trance. His face was aperfect picture of awe. Rehn couldnt help noticing how strongly he was feeling about all of this.

Space truly was the Final Frontier, in any century.The shuttle continued on a sloping upward course from the shuttle bay and between the large warp

nacelles of the old Excelsior -class starship. It then accelerated into impulse as it cleared the perimeter of the vessel. Once the craft was a few kilometers from the Darren , Rehn brought the shuttle around to takeone last look at the two ships.


4/34

4

The Darren was badly damaged; sections of the hull had been ripped away, exposing the fiery deckson the inside of the ship. Plasma was beginning to leak out of the port warp nacelle, if it were ignited byone of the Enterprises phaser blasts, it would most certainly destroy the ship.

Then Smith noticed something. Not all of the phaser bursts were coming from the Enterprise ; some of them were still coming from the Darren !

He decided to tell Rehn, though he figured that he already knew, Correct me if Im wrong, but didntwe just evacuate your ship?

Rehn didnt look up from his console as he answered, Yes, I didnt believe we had a choice.Abram nodded as he turned back the fighting ships, So, why is it still firing back at the Enterprise ?

That got his attention, Rehns head jolted up to look at the ships. His expression was that of bewilderment for a second, but it changed to one of annoyance.

Sloan. He spoke through his clenched teeth.Who?Rehns fingers played across the control board as he spoke, No time to explain right now. Lets just

say hes not the kind of man to go down without a fight.But then why didnt he join us when we evacuated the ship? Smith was finding this Sloan hard to

understand.He also doesnt like to run from a fight.

Sounds like he doesnt know when to quit . Abram thought to himself.Thoughts raced through Rehns mind like insects. Questions were asked and answered in no more the

a few milliseconds. But he knew that he had to act fast if he were to rescue Sloan. Although at the sametime he risked that Enterprise might see them if they attempted a rescue. It was a common fact that thecloaking device would have to be deactivated if they wanted to transport Sloan out. Unless

He engaged the impulse engines and steered the cloaked shuttle towards the Darren .

Take that you, Starfleet dogs! How about a taste of your own medicine!In a mad fury on the bridge of the Darren , Sloan fired everything possible from ships weapons. And at

the same time cursed the fact they couldnt get a more battle-worthy starship. A flashing red light on thetactical readout caught his attention for a moment, but it only fueled the fire raging inside of him. Another phaser bank had burned-out, leaving him with only one option to keep his pride alive.

In one leap, Sloan moved to the desk reading OPERATIONS and activated the voice interface system.Computer, initiate self-destruct program, he choked out.The computers voice responded to the command, Please enter authorization code for self-destruct

program.Computer, self-destruct program authorization Sloan-Seven-Seven-OmegaFour, confirm.Two words were all that the computer needed to respond with, Code confirmed.Sloan sat back in the chair as the display counted down from five minutes. This had to be the best

course of action, for what else could he do? He would not be such a fool as to try to escape, nor would hedo the unthinkable and surrender to the Federation. Yes, this was the best choice: end it all now with thedestruction of the ship.

He swiveled the chair around to look at the viewscreen one last time. And he saw not just theEnterprise out on the stars, but another ship too, a new one. He knew it wasnt like anything hed ever encountered before, but he seemed to get the feeling it was going to be helpful to him.

For it was attacking the Enterprise .

Rehns mind raced faster than it ever had before. His problem had just become a whole lot more

complicated. He couldnt understand why Sloan had started the self-destruct sequence. But he now hadto work faster at timing the de-cloaking and transport before the Darren exploded.He hadnt bothered to look up very often to check what was going on outside, the display readouts had

been telling him everything. But he did look up, through the cockpit window and out into space.He saw it, the largest ship he had seen in his life. Its dark, smooth, sloping hull was almost

indistinguishable from the starscape. But it was there; even the sensors now proved that.As he frantically went over the readings scrolling before him, he checked the time left on the self-

destruct countdown. 3:343:333:32


5/34

5

The clock seemed ominous to him, like it was counting down the moments till his death. He shook itoff, though, and kept working. The ship he saw before him was generating a huge bioelectric field arounditself. All of the systems in the ship appeared to be biological, very similar to

His face suddenly went pale; could this be what Starfleet had feared? That one day the aliens knownas Species 8472 would try once again to invade the Federation? But the ships configuration was sodifferent from what he had seen of the bioships. He began running a comparison between the twoschematics, but his search was interrupted by the computers voice.

Warning, proximity to U.S.S. Darren is not recommended due to its self-destruct program activation.Set escape course immediately.

Rehn was fully aware of the risk, but he held the shuttle steady. Computer, are we within transporter range?

Affirmative.He swung around in the chair to the transporter control console. A few more seconds and he had

established a lock on Sloan. He looked at the clock. 23 seconds2221

Rehn reached for the console and tapped the control. He and Smith both looked towards the back of the shuttle as Sloan slowly materialized in a sparkling of light. At first Sloan appeared dazed anddisorientated. He rocked over and propped himself up on a near by panel.

When he came through, he just gazed at Rehn with a glassy stare, and then grinned. Rehn swungaround back to the helm console, setting a course away from the Darren at maximum warp. 543

Outside, time seemed to slow to almost a complete stop, the last two seconds before the destructionof the starship felt like an eternity. The Enterprise and the alien vessel circled each other in deadlycombat. Some would describe it as being similar to some Klingon ritual symbolizing the clash betweentwo honorable warriors, fighting to the death for immortal glory.

But however it could be described, it didnt matter. For the burning carcass of the Darren there was tobe no memorial, no salute, not even an honorable decommissioning. Only one moment, one fraction of asecond, and it flew apart in a blaze of hull fragments and fire. Perhaps, if some great philosopher hadwitnessed that moment, he would still describe it as a glorious end, for a glorious ship.

Not the Darren , that was only a nickname. Not Darren

U.S.SExcelsior

Three Days Later

The red sphere of Mars glowed brightly in contrast with the black starscape. The canyons of riverslong dry snaked across the surface of the planet. Twisting around mountains and dropping into valleys.And finally meeting with plains that were once great oceans. But these oceans were not empty. Flickeringlights shined up into the night sky from hundreds of Martian Cities, built by humans brave enough toendure harsh life on a new world.

This was the sight that greeted Truman Smith as he gazed out the wide viewport of the Starbase. Thechatter of the voices behind him seemed non-existent.

He didnt want to hear them. He didnt even want to look at them.Over the three days he and Rehn had traveled to these shipyards, Smith had been given a summary

of history for the past 300 years. Not only that, but he had gotten to know the Starfleet control interface,learned how to pilot a shuttle, and been briefed in the many protocols of the United Federation of Planets.

They had even decided on a new name. Truman was Smiths middle name, so it didnt seem awkward tobe called that. Every night he had spent almost sleepless, just taking in the information thrust at him thatday. But when they finally arrived at Utopia Planitia, he went first to this window, not to his quarters.

He figured he didnt want to interact with anyone right now. All this turmoil was a little too much for hismind to take. He was the only man from his time to know that soon, a man named Cochran would inventthe most incredible technology mankind would see; warp drive. And only fifty years after that, theydestablish a huge federation. Theyd transform and become explorers instead of warriors. And all that hehad fought for, all that he was still fighting for, it would all be considered a dark spot by history. Thetragedy of World War III, thats what Rehn had called it. Thats what history had called it.


6/34

6

Smith came out of his thoughts as he noticed Rehns reflection in the glass, seemingly walkingtowards him from the planets surface. Youve been here for quite awhile, he mused, Sure you arenthungry?

But Smith just shook his head; he didnt feel like talking right now, much less eating. After a fewminutes, Rehn finally left. He seemed disappointed. Im not what he thought I was, Smith thought, how could I be what he thought I was? How? I have to; I have to be the man he expected. I must become thestrong-willed, determined man he wants. But that would be denial. I couldnt survive here; this world is toodifferent. But he needs me. He needs me to resurrect a dying organization. I wont disappoint him, ever.And with his thoughts gathered, and his head held high, Smith made his way through the corridors of thestation; searching for Rehn, and his new life.

Commander Reginald Barclay adjusted his position in his chair anxiously. As he looked around, newfaces were all that greeted his eyes. He knew no one here, which made him a little uneasy. The chair wastoo uncomfortable; he stood up, and tipped the table next to him. Reginald frantically scrambled to catchthe falling object. Unfortunately, he missed, and it toppled to ground with a resounding thud.

Barclays face turned bright red with embarrassment. Half the guests in the large mess hall room were just staring at him, but eventually they caught themselves and rejoined their groups in conversation.Barclay let out a sigh and lifted the heavy table back up to its normal position.

As he did, the invitees in the room turned towards the sliding double doors and started a rather invigorated applause. Reginald strained his neck to see over the bodies of the crowd. He saw a pair of men, one tall and robust, and the other slightly shorter and with the obvious markings of a Bajoran. Theyboth wore Starfleet uniforms, and the tall one seemed to be wearing four rank pips on his neck; thesymbol of a captain.

These were undoubtedly his new commanding officers.Across the room, Rehn guided Smith through the sea of spectators, here for the christening of Smiths

Starship. Rehn had explained it to him yesterday, the only way we can carry on Section 31 is if we havesome kind of a ship, the U.S.S. Valor is perfect. So here they were, at the christening ceremony of the new ship. Smith approached the large windowopposite of the one facing Mars. It was open now, giving a clear view of the ship resting in the dock. Hislips parted in sheer amazement. It was so unlike anything he had ever imagined: sleek, flowing; though itheld an inner strength. The curving saucer section flowed down into a lower engineering hull, and back upinto the supports and nacelles of the warp engines.

BrilliantThat was the only thought that came to mind.

Just brilliant.He spun around to Rehn, a light in his eyes and an invigoration on his features. Ill need a crew. He

looked over his shoulder at the ship as he spoke, That ship deserves the best crew in history. Hewhispered to no one.

Rehn smiled, Theyre all here, waiting to meet you. I have confidence that you can mold them into thebest crew in history.

Smith had never been so anxious in his life. This was his dream! To become a leader of a ship, yes,that satisfied every ambition he had ever sought. He knew in his heart, deep down, this was the life hehad been intended to lead. The pursuit of knowledge: the driving power in Starfleet. The protection of thatability: the purpose of Section 31. He would fulfill both tasks, and excel at them. He was now CaptainTruman A. Smith; commander of Starfleets most advanced ship, and the redeemer of Section 31.

Rehn took him around the room. A collage of smiling faces greeted his eyes: Humans, Andorians,Bolians, Bajorans, and Trillsthey all greeted him with happiness. This was his new staffChief Engineer Vorik of Vulcan, Tactical officer Jules Raymond of Earth, Operations officer Reginald Barclay of Earth, Helms Officer Jila Brayton of Endaru, Chief Medical officer Donald Hodgeson of Earth, and of course, First officer Jovan Rehn of Bajor. These were the people that he would mold into the best crew inhistory; his new family.

After a tour of the ship, Smith went off to his quarters for some much-needed rest. Tomorrow he wouldstart his new life. Life has many roads, but it seems someone else is always driving the car. You cant map life, so just hang on for the ride. That was what his father had told him. It helped him overcome a


7/34

7

harsh childhood in the changing world he occupied. But this road, he never would have guessed hed betraveling down it. Just hang on for the ride. Yes, this was going to be a wild ride. And he would enjoy it.

As the turbolift door slid open onto the bridge, Smith rubbed whatever sleep was left out of his eyesand blinked a few times. All of his staff stood waiting for him. It was time. He walked out of the turboliftand looked around. Everyone stood at attention as he took the chair. It was comfortable, and had amajesty about it he couldnt quite describe.

Helm, he hesitated for emphasis, Take us out!All over the ship, systems came alive. The impulse engines slowly accelerated the vessel. Like a bear

coming out of its cave, the ship emerged from the dock. As it cleared the last portion of the station, thecrowd assembled on the bridge and on the station let out a great cheer. The U.S.S. Valor had embarked.

Brayton at the helm station gave out her report, Weve cleared the docking bay, sir.Accelerate to three-fourths impulse.Aye, sir. She worked the controls at her station. On the large viewscreen, the numerous construction

bays of Utopia Planitia flew by in a blur of motion. In a few seconds, Brayton spoke again, We havecleared the fleet yards, sir.

Smith rose from the captains chair and walked over beside the helms officer, Jila, set course for theNeutral Zone, maximum warp.

She hesitated for a moment. In her mind she wanted to protest, but it was not her place. Still, shewondered why her captain was ordering a course for the Neutral Zone. Unlessno, it couldnt bepossible. Could this have something to do with the Romulans?

Course plotted and laid in.Smith waited for a tense second, drawing the stress of the crowd there on the bridge even higher.Engage.On the screen in front of him, the stars accelerated for an instant, disappearing in a kaleidoscope of

color and blur. The screen flashed a brilliant white, and then subsided into a view of space, flowing pastthem like a river. Smith caught his breath. It was so magnificent!

Captains Log, supplemental. The maiden voyage of the U.S.S. Valor has gotten off to a smooth start.Our first mission is to rendezvous with the Enterprise and help them with repairs. In addition, CaptainPicard and his staff have agreed to a meeting with my officers to discuss the recent attack on their vessel.

In the large briefing room, Smith tapped a button on the small console in front of him, saving the log

entry into the ships database. He looked around the empty room. Though he was the only one there, itstill felt like a fine place. As his gaze took him out the window, he marveled at the large vessel floating afew kilometers outside. Huge gashes in the hull and numerous plasma trails led off from it. He had beentold that the pieces that had been broken off were still capable of supporting life. Meaning there still couldbe crewmembers trapped inside.

His thoughts were interrupted as the doors of the room slid open and the two ships staffs walked in.Picard took a seat at the right of him, and Rehn took the one to the left. The rest of Picards staff sat onhis side, and the rest of Smiths sat on Rehns side.

Captain Picard, Smith began, I would be open to any discussion you and your crew might haveabout your recent encounter.

Picard straightened in his chair, Yes, well. When they first appeared we tried hailing them, but theydidnt reply. None of our weapons seemed to have any affect on them. It was quite odd the way theyattacked us. From our visual analyses they appeared to have far superior weapons, yet they did not use

them to their full capacity. Presumably because they may not have wanted to destroy us. He paused,Im sure mister Data could explain it in more detail. Picard turned to the android.Data was apparently caught off guard, but he gathered himself and spoke. The ship generated a

bioelectric field that acted as a kind of shield. The field blocked mostly all forms of scanning, and, asCaptain Picard mentioned, they were capable of absorbing all of our weapons. It appears their onlyarmament is a focused antimatter stream. Our shields were unable to counter it. Yet, as he explained,they did not use the antimatter weapon to its fullest capacity.

Rehn decided to interrupt, Could this be in any way related to the technology he paused, biology used by Species 8472?


8/34

8

No, beside Data, Troi looked up. No, I could sense thoughts coming from the beings on that shipthat were much more sophisticated than those of Species 8472. Obviously the bioelectric field was notstrong enough to block my telepathic abilities.

And we identified a distinct power network in their ship that was definitely not biological. Geordi LaForge spoke up.

Across the table from him, Hodgeson turned to Doctor Beverly Crusher, Id like to analyze any datayou might have regarding that ship. It sounds to me as if these people are using a mix of biological andtechnological components to run their vessel.

Rehn glanced over at Smith and nodded. Truman knew what that meant, he looked up, Computer,seal all access to this room and erect a level ten force field around it. Cut off all communications after thefollowing.

Picard rose quickly from his chair, a look of utter confusion and anger on his face. I demand to knowthe meaning of this! he bellowed.

On the wall behind him, the tapestry of Starfleets insignia changed to a holographic screen. A logothat only Rehn would recognize appeared on the display, only to be promptly replaced by the image of aman.

Riker whispered hatefully under his breath, Sloan.Very good, Mr. Riker, He replied in a mock congratulating tone, I applaud your intelligence. The

image on the screen turned to Picard, I suggest you sit down, captain. We have a lot to talk about.Talk! the captain huffed, With you, Sloan? Picards anger and disapproval was obvious on his

features, Just how did you do it, Sloan? How did you fake your own death? How? A hologram? A clone?Or some other gruesome method I dont know about?

A look of resentment crossed Sloans face, but he kept it in check, Very perceptive, captain. Yes, itwas a clone. I sent him in my place to Deep Space Nine. But I paid dearly for that action; I was infectedwith a virus. I have no more than five years to live. That sentence seemed to catch the attention of Riker,who appeared to brighten at the words, The man on this ship, Captain Smith, he is the second-in-command of Section 31. And he will carry on the organization when I am dead.

Every soul in the room froze, especially the staff of the Valor . Looks of disbelief and confusion spreadacross their faces. Only Riker noticed how Rehn did not act as surprised as the others. He found that tobe a little more than a coincidence.

Smith felt rather awkward. He shifted in his chair and cleared his throat.Sloan saved him further uneasiness by continuing. Section 31 has made some startling discoveries.

You were not the only ones to be attacked by these aliens. The Cardassians, Klingons, and Romulans

have reported similar attacks. In addition, they have reported multiple ship sightings. More specifically, theKlingons have encountered eight distinct alien vessels with the same configuration. The Cardassianshave reported three ships. And the Romulans have reported five. The Federation has only seen one: thevessel that attacked you. Moreover, all these attacks seemed to start at around the same time: four daysago. Mister Data, have you been able to track the ship that attacked you?

The android replied with ease, No, the bioelectric field generated by the ship prevents long rangesensors from detecting them.

Sloan smiled, What if I told you, your skills are out of date?Data looked surprised, I do not believe that assumption would be correct, my skills improve as

technology improves. I can never become out of date.You mean as known technology improves. Before the late starship Darren was destroyed, I launched

a micro tracking probe into the alien ships hull. Currently they are on a direct course for Starbase 173. Aproud smile grew onto his features.

Commander Riker, Will turned around as Sloan addressed him, I want you to temporarily transfer tothe Valor for the rest of this mission.And what mission would that be? Riker struck back.Sloan was becoming impatient. The mission to find out what is going here. This region of the Alpha

Quadrant is in a lot of danger.Riker glanced at Picard, who gave him a nod. Alright, Sloan, Ill go along with your little plan.Good, Sloan smiled, I expect your full cooperation in these matters.The Commander nodded.Excellent, Sloan clapped his hands together, Now I suggest you get moving. The aliens wont wait.


9/34

9

As the screen went blank, Smith, who had been sitting rather quietly through the entire meeting, spoketo the officers in the room. Ladies and gentlemen, Sloan has spoken, he expressed with mockreverence. Dismissed.

As the officers left the room, Captain Picard was the last one to leave. As he approached the doorway,the captain turned to Smith.

Any questions, captain? Smith inquired.Picard hesitated for a moment, obviously contemplating his answer, Ino. Justwatch your back.Smith was confused for a moment as Picard continued through the door. Watch your back. What did

the captain mean by that? Was he referring to Sloan? But he let the subject go; after all, what could he beworried about? Sloan was his commanding officer.

And for some reason, that frightened him.

On the bridge of the Valor , Rehn had taken his seat in the first-officers chair. During the meeting, hehad noticed more than anything the look that Riker had given him. Rehn understood the reason for thecommanders hate. Rehn had served as an ensign aboard the Enterprise-E , and quickly caught the eye of Captain Picard.

However, Riker hadnt trusted Rehn from the beginning, and the fact that Rehn was always makingsecret communications with Sloan didnt make matters any easier. Riker once even had Commander Worf do a thorough search of Rehns quarters. The results hadnt turned up anything bad for Rehn, butRiker still didnt trust him. One time he may have even heard Riker remark to Picard that Rehn was Toogood at his job.

Still, those minor set backs hadnt done anything to reveal Rehns connection with Section 31. Untilone morning, Rehn found himself lying on the hard floor of the brig. Riker had told him everything thatday, from the secret communications with Sloan, to their plan to bring a successor from the past to inheritSection 31. From that day on, Rehn and Riker had a personal rivalry going that just wouldnt be settled.

Rehn had never found out how Riker knew about his involvement with Sloan and Section 31. Soonafter the incident, Rehn had been brought before a court marshal and stripped of his Starfleet rank. Sloanhad not deserted him though, and Rehn was soon back aboard a starship. Only this time, it was theflagship of Section 31. There he had continued his work on the time-transporter with Sloan. And the restwas history.

Riker probably wondered how Rehn was reinstated into Starfleet. Sloan had contacted some of hisfriends at Starfleet Command, and Rehn was cleared of the records about his contact with Section 31.

Now Rehn was back aboard a Federation Starship, and he had completed his mission to bring AbramSmith to the captaincy. Things were looking up again, and Rehn hoped they would stay that way for along time.

In the captains ready room, Smith sat quietly behind his desk. In his hand he held a standard StarfleetPADD, the general computer access device used in most Federation facilities. Smith found it easier thanhe expected to operate the tool. In his time similar devices were in mass use. But still it was an awkwardfeeling to him. After the briefing with Sloan and the Enterprise staff, he had felt a strong sense of uneasiness. Why was he here in the future when his place was clearly in the past?

In a simpler way he just felt like he was not in the right place. Scientists had speculated for years in the21 st Century that time-travel was not so impossible after all. But the cruel ways of the changing world hadshut their mouths in the pretense that such idealistic views would never have any ground in the big

picture. Society had closed its ears to visionaries such as those scientists, and in turn they paid dearlyfor that action.Only years after that, World War III had begun, and the drug-controlled soldiers that fought on the

battlefields of the world had permanently put an end to the decades of work on the scientists part. Thatwas one of the primary reasons Smith had joined the North American forces; to protect the rights of thosemen and women still living who had the good sense to oppose the New Mans Order.

But even the ideals Smith had begun to fight for diminished, and the North American generals orderedthat their troops too would convert to the more modern and efficient way of the drug-controlled soldiers.Of course there was much opposition to this radical change in strategy. But those voices faded away as


10/34

10

well, and division-by-division, army-by-army, the forces of the North Americans converted into the drug-infested maniacs the European Coalition fought with.

Smith and his division had been outraged by the decision made by the North American leaders. Theyhad even openly opposed the path that the people of the world were taking. Smiths small forces fled theNorth American continent into an atmospheric transport. They hoped to reach Antarctica, were they wouldtake a shuttle off of the Earth, and with any luck take refuge on the Moon. But halfway through theatmospheric flight, their ship had lost its navigational systems and crashed on the central area of Europe,in the southern part of France.

That was where they had been. That was where they were when Smith had been transported away.Away through time, away into a time when he was powerless to help them. Smith thought of them, of what had happened to them. He also thought of what he could have done to save them. The day beforehe had been transported away, one of his scouts had reported that a full force of Europeans wasadvancing on their position; they were due to attack Smith and his group the next morning.

Smith remembered how one of his soldiers had put it, Its really a shame. We might be the only onesleft in the whole world who know that what theyre doing to people is wrong. And here we are about to diebecause of that. Those words had stirred the emotions of every soldier in the camp that night. A few menhad spoken in feigned optimism that that man was wrong, that they did have a chance to prevail, and thatdeath would not come by morning. But even they knew that they spoke empty words.

Maybe the timing of the transport was not so bad after all. Perhaps Smith had done all he could, saidall he could say. These men from the future had given him a second chance at life. Rehn and Sloan werethe only reasons Smith was alive and well. He was so much in debt to them. Life was not as harsh asSmith had first perceived, for it was life that gave every being purpose. And now, it was giving himpurpose that would have otherwise died a meaningless death.

With the conclusion of his thoughts, Smith looked up as the door chime rung. He hesitated for amoment as he remembered what Rehn had told him about that.

Come, he spoke hesitantly.The door parted down the middle as Jila Brayton walked in. Her soft brown hair hung loosely down her

back, framing Jilas face, and her bright blue eyes. Two ridges on her skin draped down from above her temples and met above her nose, forming a kind of crown above her face. She walked in with a sturdystep towards Smiths desk at the end of the room. In a different scenario, Smith could almost see Braytonas his superior.

Lieutenant Brayton, Smith addressed her, Im guessing this probably isnt a formal visit.Jila wavered for a second as she processed the meaning of the human term, No, Captain, she

replied, I didnt plan on giving any kind of report.Smith leaned back in his chair, placing the PADD on the table in front of him. He made a gesture with

his other hand towards the chair in front of his desk.Jila hesitated a few seconds before reluctantly sitting down. She sat back and crossed her arms, I see

no reason in going through customary formalities so Ill get right to the point. If a may be blunt, sir, whatin the name of good sense were you thinking?

Smith was expecting this kind of question, Look, JilaBut she cut him off, Ive heard rumors about Section 31, everyone has. But not one of us has ever

tried to get involved directly with them. They are notorious for using methods of conduct that no saneStarfleet officer would ever dare attempt. And yet you, a man of fine stature in Starfleet and theFederation, have gone over to their side. Why did you do it?

Behind the desk, Smith sighed and sat back in his chair. They gave me a chance no one else couldoffer.

And you welcomed it with open arms? Jila looked skeptical, Sir, Ive done some research into your personnel files. It says you graduated from the Academy first in your class. You were posted as an Ensignon the Sutherland , and quickly rose to the position of First Officer. Before you were even ten years out of the Academy, you were offered your own command. She paused as she noticed the uneasy expressionon Smiths face, I had my doubts about your faster-than-normal clime to the top. So I checked with someof my friends on the Sutherland . Turns out theyve never heard of you. They tell me the First Officer onthe Sutherland has been Commander Jacob Richardson for the last seven years.

Smith hated what he had to do now, but it was the only choice. If he told Jila the truth, he risked her telling someone about his situation. If he did not tell her, he risked that she still might inform someone of


11/34

11

her findings and start a mutiny on the grounds that Smith was an imposter. It was an extremely difficultchoice.

He reached across his chest and removed his combadge, placing it reverently on the desk in front of him. The rest of this conversation is off the record, He looked up at Jila, I trust you will respect myrequest that none of what you hear or see in this room will pass outside those doors, He gestured towardthe airlock at the other end of the room.

Brayton nodded, Fair enough, She removed her combadge in the same way and placed it on thedesk, you tell me what I want to know and I leave you alone. So, lets hear it.

Smith took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, My real name is Abram T. Smith. I was thecommander of the Fifth Infantry Division of the North American Alliance army during the Third World War.Sloan and Section 31 are responsible for my presence here in the 24 th Century. They brought me here toone day become the director of Section 31.

Jila looked shocked as she sat frozen in her chair, after a long few seconds, she spoke, Yourenotfrom this century? Smith shook his head, And, you were brought here by Section 31? This time, Smithnodded. Jila finally sat back and chuckled, My captain is a man from the 21 st Century?

Your taking this well, Smith mused.Believe me, sir, Im sorry I cant take this story beyond these walls. Itd make a great article for the

Federation News Bureau.Smith was pretty confident at this moment that he had dealt with the situation correctly. But he just

wanted to make sure, Jila, remember your promise, he nodded at the combadges on the desk, your bound by your oath to Starfleet to uphold it.

Dont worry, sir, Jila seemed more relaxed now than she had been a minute ago, I have no will or motive to tell your story to anyone else. Besides, she paused and leaned back in the chair, Endaranstake an oath when were just kids never to tell falsehood or break a promise. Your secrets safe with me.

Smith was about to say something but never got the chance, for the shrill sound of the Red Alertwarning signal filled the room. It was followed shortly by the voice of Rehn, All hands to battle stations.

Jila and Smith exchanged a short glance before rising from their chairs and heading out the door.

On the main viewscreen at the front of the bridge, space studded with stars was all that could be seen.As Smith took his seat in the center chair, Rehn informed of why Red Alert had been called for.

Starbase 173 is gone, sir.Smith turned to Rehn in disbelief, An entire Starbase justvanished?

Well, not completely, behind him, Commander Barclay added to Rehns statement, Im picking uptraces of recent weapons fire. One of the signatures is Federation, but the other is completely unfamiliar.

A chill ran down Smiths spine. A ship that could destroy an entire Starbase without a trace must bemore powerful than anything the Federation had encountered. Unless disappearances like this were notuncommon.

Rehn looked skeptical as he scrolled through the sensor logs on his console. But according to longrange sensors, the alien ship is still three hours away, holding a steady speed of warp three. Theres noway they could have destroyed the station.

At the helm, Jila jumped in her seat. S-Sir, another ship just appeared out of nowhere.Configuration? Rehn prompted.It matches the layout described by the Enterprise .Im receiving a transmission from the alien vessel, Barclay announced as his console chimed.

Smith rose from his seat and approached the viewscreen. The vessel before him looked almost

exactly like the one he and Rehn had seen as they left the Darren . Lets hear what they have to say.Everyone on the bridge listened after Barclay pressed the key on his console to activate the bridgespeakers. But a voice was not heard at first, just a humming and the faint noise of subspace static. Oncethe humming stopped and the static reduced, the bridge crew held their breath. I am Guide of the Aldrym Preserver ship Quena .

Smith heard the echoing voice in his mind, not his ears. It chilled him even more. The voice soundedcalm, serene, yet haunting. It sounded as if it belonged to a dark thing; a being, whose name was onlywhispered in the darkness of night. It frightened him. Your ship has been chosen to preserve the Aldrym race. The alloys of your vessel are crucial to that task. Resistand your death will come painfully. Do not resistand your death will come quickly.


12/34

12

Smith tried to calm his shaking figure. A deep breath filled his lungs, and it left his chest slowly. Yousound confident that we will die. Have you even scanned our vessel to know its capabilities?

The voice did not sound intimidated, We are not interested in the capabilities of your ship, but we areinterested in the capabilities of you as a people. We will now evaluate you as a race.

As soon as the voice was finished speaking the Bridge filled with a swirling green mist. But as soon asit came, the mist was gone. What was that? Rehn asked hesitantly.

I havent the faintest idea, Barclay replied quickly, But Im picking up reports of phaser skirmishes allover the ship. It appears were being boarded.

Everyone on the bridge froze in his or her place. If there were ever a time when fear was the mostparamount emotion, that had to be one of them. The Aldrym had arrived.

To Be Continued

Episode 1Saviors, Part 2

On the Bridge of the Valor , a silence filled the air. Every soul in the room did not dare to speak a word.

Barclay had just informed Captain Smith that the ship was in process of being boarded by an alien raceknown as the Aldrym.

How many life forms? Smith broke the stillness.Barclay answered, though hesitantly, Icant tell, sir.On his chest, Smith heard his combadge chirp, and a voice emanate from it, I believe a have news

that might be of interest, Captain, The voice was Hodgesons.The captain reached down and tapped the badge, This better be good, Doc. Weve got a big problem

up here.But Hodgeson assured him, This is well worth it, sir. But Im afraid it wont be easy for you to get here

to see it.Smith was suddenly perplexed, Elaborate, doctor.The muffled sound of a man yelling and a phaser firing filtered over the combadge. In a few moments,

Hodgesons voice could be heard shouting orders to his medical staff, Someone get that door sealed!

Ensign, get to the weapons locker and for heavens sake find some better weapons!Sounds like theyre in need of some assistance, Jules remarked from the tactical station.Im sorry, Hodgesons tired voice could be heard on the bridge speakers now. Barclay had switched

them over. Bridge, are you still there? static began to fill the speakers, the doctors voice could barely byheard, WerequirehelpAldrymtaking oversickbaycantbridgeplease respond!

Smith could almost hear the screams of the officers dying in the background. When Hodgesons voicewas heard no more, the captain signaled for Barclay to close the comlink.

They need my help, Jules Raymond said from his station, Im getting a security team down thereASAP. And before Rehn could say anything to the contrary, the tactical officer had already begun todescend behind the closed doors of the turbolift.

As the turbolift doors opened before Jules into the long corridor, he couldnt help but wonder what theAldrym leader had meant with the thoughts, We will now evaluate you as a race. It was perplexing, evenfor him. Jules ordinarily found the answers to difficult questions much quicker than anyone he wascontending with did. That quick thinking led him to make fast and accurate decisions, and in turn gave himdecisiveness unmatched by most officers in Starfleet. If Jules Raymond made a decision, it was almostalways the correct one. And if he truly believed in that decision, Jules would act on it without fail.

However, this situation with the Aldrym was far more than he had ever dealt with. He in a way lookedforward to pitting his wits against theirs.

The tactical officer stopped dead in his tracks as a sharp beam of energy shot past and blew a largehole in the corridor wall beside him. Jules looked up to see where the blast had come from. Two dark


13/34

13

figures ducked behind a wall at the far end of the hallway. Instinct and intuition guided Raymondsmovements as he too ducked behind a nearby corner.

Another white streak of energy shot past him and impacted on the turbolift door, ripping a huge gap inthe gray metal. Jules drew the hand phaser from his belt and quickly gauged the distance between himand the two beings. In a quick motion Raymond rolled out from behind the wall and fired towards the spotwhere his enemies had been. And hit them.

But the two figures seemed to disregard the phaser blast, which Jules had set to maximum. One justraised the large weapon from its waist and leveled it at the helpless tactical officer.

The bridge of the Valor was in a state of turmoil. Every display readout in the room reinforced the factthat the ship was under serious attack. Every deck reported it was in danger. And as if that werentenough, Vorik had just reported that the Warp Core was in danger if the Aldrym reached Engineering.

Options. Smith called.Beside him, Rehn looked up in thought. He brought his hand from the console to his right ear, and

played subconsciously with his traditional Bajoran ear ornament. After a few moments, he turned to Smithand stated plainly, We dont have many.

Barclay spoke up rather slowly from his console, I believe I can offer a suggestion.By all means, Smith encouraged him.

Well, Reginald continued, If we could reach one of the Transporter Rooms, we could use it tobeam But Jila cut him off.

Beam the Aldrym off the ship? But their bioelectric field couldRehn silently motioned for Jila to cease her statement. And she did so, though quite reluctantly.

Barclay continued his sentence, to beam our personnel to safety. I remind you, we still havecrewmembers trapped all over the ship. If we could get them to safety and then organize them intogroups, we could better combat the Aldrym threat.

Smith turned to the Operations officer in amazement. Astonishing, Mr. Barclay, he began, I had noidea you were a strategist.

Im notnormally. Barclay replied somewhat sheepishly.Well, it seems like an excellent plan to me, Smith continued as he rose from his chair. Im going to

try to get to the transporter room. Rehn, stay here and coordinate your security efforts with Mr. Raymond.Aye, sir, Rehn spoke from his chair. Then he added, Before you go, may I speak with you alone?Smith was puzzled, but he complied, In my ready room.

The two walked silently off the noisy bridge into the captains private room. Once the doors had slidshut behind them, Rehn wasted not a second with formalities. He got right to the point.

Truman, I have regrets about telling you this, but I believe its necessary in this situation. He pausedand heaved a large sigh, Sloan is aboard this ship.

Jules thoughts were those of panic. His mind completely halted as he stared at the glowing whitebarrel of the Aldrym cannon. It pointed right at his chest. For the first time in his entire life, Jules Raymondfelt truly mortal. It came as a pity to him that he had only now learned to become humble. Even in the lastmoments of life, he felt as though he still had a chance to survive.

But the thought left him as the split second passed when the streaking energy beam struck his body.Jules breathed his last breath as the world dissolved around him in a black haze.

A strange feeling filled him, and a thought to match.

Every square inch of his body spoke to him in that instant before death. This isnt right. This isnt real. Its just an illusion

Doctor Donald Hodgeson had never felt so crowded in his life. The hard deck plates below him feltrough and abrasive to his hands and knees. With every movement his back nearly hit the low roof thatcovered his head.

The doctor had made a promise to himself never to go clamoring around in one of these conduits.Starfleet called them Jeffreys Tubes, but Hodgeson had invented a personal title for them: Prison


14/34

14

Tunnels. The very thought of being closed inside a never-ending hallway no wider or higher than a cargocrate simply abhorred him. Now he crawled inside one these claustrophobia-inducing crawlways.

Behind him, Ensign Lee politely informed the doctor he was holding up the officers behind him. It tooka few moments for Donald to realize that he had been at a complete stop while he had been loathing. TheCMO began crawling again; still thinking of how he hated these dreaded Prison Tunnels.

A minute later they had reached the next conduit junction. Hodgeson stepped out of the tunnel andstood straight up in the small room, stretching his arms above his head at the same time.

Computer, he prompted, Where are we?The computer responded in its normal, even tone, Deck 17, Section 23 Beta, Engineering.Looks like were here, Ensign Lee remarked as he cleared the conduit, Its about time.

With a steady stride, Doctor Hodgeson walked towards the doors at the opposite end of the room.Once there, he reached over and pressed the control beside the doors. They immediately parted to revealthe control base for the entire ship, Main Engineering.

He walked forward with an eager stride and motioned for his team to come after him. The colossalglowing tower in the center of the room shone brightly, lighting even the fringes of the multi-levelchamber. It was the driving power for the entire ship.

The Warp Core was the name of this tower. It operated on a matter/antimatter reaction regulated byDilithium crystals. The reaction produced enough power to drive the entire ship. It also was responsiblefor creating and maintaining the warp bubble needed to achieve faster-than-light travel aboard a starship.The concept of warp physics was one of the most difficult areas of expertise to master. For that reason,Hodgeson had a great deal of respect for the engineers of Starfleet.

The Chief Engineer of the Valor happened to be approaching the doctor at that very moment. Voriksposture was perfectly fitting for a Vulcan, and even in the virtual chaos of the scene, he maintained aserene and logical expression.

Doctor Hodgeson, he addressed Donald, We were informed you wereDead? the doctor cut him off, No, just a few scrapes and bruises, but were fine.Vorik straightened up, We are grateful for your survival. But we have wounded.

Hodgeson looked around the room and noticed several crewmen lined up on the floor. He wasshocked at the degree of injury they had suffered. His legs instinctively brought him to walk over thevictims and kneel down beside the closest one. The man, a young ensign, had a huge spot of blood onhis side. From memory, Donald could tell that the man had been hit by a severe blast of energy. It worriedhim to think just how severe a blast could create a wound like it.

Good Lord, he exclaimed, What happened to these people?

Vorik calmly stepped over to the doctor and explained, An Aldrym group breached our securityforcefield and proceeded to attack our personnel.

One of the other engineering crewmen walking by added a statement, Theyre impervious to phasers.We had to rip out the EPS power nodes and set them for a timed detonation. He nodded towards theinjured crewmen, They volunteered to attach the nodes to the Aldrym soldiers. We all owe them our lives.

Ensign Hanson, Vorik scolded, Please continue your repairs of the EPS distribution network.Aye, sir, Hanson replied.So, Hodgeson continued, How are things going on a technical note?

Vorik turned back to the doctor, The EPS power grid is non-functional, life-support is barelyfunctioning, and we are a few minutes away from loosing all propulsion. I estimate repair time at nearlythree days.

Donald sighed heavily, I truly wonder if this could get any worse. He leaned back onto the cold floor,

But with our luck, it probably will get a whole lot worse.The doctor couldnt have been more correct. Every person in that large room was thinking nearly thesame thought. The ship would never survive long enough for the repairs to be completed. Aldrym or not,the Valor was falling apart.

The bridge was in the process of being flooded with damage reports from across the ship. Thecrewmembers present scrambled to repair the systems they had access to. Rehn sat quietly in thecommand chair, assessing the information poring in.


15/34

15

Behind him, Commander Riker burst out of the turbolift onto the bridge. He walked down the few stepsto the lower level of the room and came to stand in front of Rehn.

What is going here? he asked Rehn.The Bajoran glanced up from his console momentarily. At that moment, he did not particularly want a

confrontation between him and the commander. Riker and he hadnt spoken since the meeting with Sloanand he didnt feel like doing it now.

But Rehn didnt want to give Riker another reason to doubt him. He complied, An alien species, whoidentified themselves as the Aldrym, have been boarding our vessel. They are deliberately causingdamage to every possible system. And we have suffered approximately sixty-three percent casualties,half of those fatalities.

Riker lowered his head in grief. Thirty-one percent of the crew was dead, and another thirty-twopercent had been severely injured. So much for the maiden voyage, he whispered under his breath.

I could use an extra hand, Rehn told him, We can use help we can get.For the first time since the Valors First Officer could remember, Riker smiled at something Rehn said.

Perhaps the wall separating the two was beginning to crumble. Commander Riker took a seat in the FirstOfficers chair and began looking over the display readouts.

He shook his head, Weve got seventy-three percent overall systems damage. Thats way below evenminimal operating capabilities.

But Rehn needed some kind of diversion from the knowledge that the ship wouldnt last long. Whatwere you up to before you got here? he asked.

Riker kept his gaze on the console screen while he spoke, I was resting in my quarters when I heardthe Red Alert signal. It took me a few minutes to get my uniform on and head out into the corridor. Thenext thing I knew I was blocked on every side by fallen conduits and bulkheads. I had to get inside one of the Jeffreys Tubes and crawl all the way to deck four. It took me a little while to repair the turbolift there,but as you can see, I made it.

Impressive, Rehn mumbled, Jila, what is the status of the Aldrym vessel?From her station the helms officer replied, Theyre holding position three kilometers from us. It

appears their antimatter weapon is offline, if they even have one.Whats our tactical status?Behind Rehn, Ensign Bailey spoke, Phasers and Photon Torpedoes are offline. Propulsion is gone,

and I can only give you thrusters at seventy-eight percent power.Ill take it, Jovan said, Jila, set a course away from the Aldrym. Were leaving the party early.With inertial dampers gone, the Valor lurched beneath the crews feet. The image on the viewscreen

slowly turned, rotating away from the Aldrym ship. After the turn ceased, Rehn felt the ship start to moveforward. However, the Aldrym had other plans than to let their victims escape.

Sir! Bailey announced, The Aldrym antimatter weapon is powering up!Theyre firing! Jila shouted.The round hull of the Aldrym ship lit up with streams of antimatter as it flowed towards the bow of the

vessel. Once all had met, the streams combined into a beam that shot out towards the Valor . When it hit,the port warp nacelle was ripped clean off its support strut. Another beam came hurtling from Aldrym ship,piercing the lower engineering hull of the Valor and sending pieces of debris spinning out into space.

Inside the bridge, display consoles exploded all around. The upper bulkheads of the ceiling camecrashing down on the helpless crewmembers. One bulkhead hit the helm station.

Even though the ship swayed and shook beneath him, Rehn tried to get up and help Jila Brayton. ButRiker pushed him back down with a stern hand. For the first time in his life, Rehn felt truly guilty. He hadordered Jila to move the ship away from the Aldrym, but it appeared to have cost the lives of hundreds of

innocent people. Now he knew the feeling officers eventually encountered: the feeling of losing acrewmember under their command.It was the most horrible thing he had ever felt.

A few moments earlier, Smith walked down the dimly lit corridor towards Transporter room three. Hewas still trying to make peace with the knowledge that his direct superior was aboard endangering himself by being aboard the Valor . It made no sense to him. Sloan knew the danger this mission presented. Whythen did he choose to make it harder on all of them by personally staying with them?


16/34

16

A security team blocked the corridor beyond Smith. When he arrived, the captain noticed the officerswere fighting an Aldrym soldier. One Aldrym soldier.

Lieutenant, Smith prompted the team leader, I see you could use some help.The officer paused as he realized who was speaking to him. That Aldrym soldier is impervious to

energy weapons, sir. Weve got a few men going to the weapons locker for a micro-torpedo launcher now.All we need to do is hold the Aldrym off until they get here.

The lieutenant handed Smith a phaser. From his limited knowledge, Smith realized it was set for maximum power. As Rehn had told him, that was enough to vaporized most materials.

But the captain had no more time to think, for a streak of white energy shot out from the spot wherethe Aldrym was holding position. It barely missed Smith, but the beam did hit the Lieutenant. In a fewmilliseconds, the officers body was nothing more than a torn heap of flesh, bloody and burnt.

Smith was horrified at the sight, he felt like crying for the man, but his mind was too filled with anger todo so. It that instant, Smith truly felt like he was obligated to help these people. Though he was a man outof time, this was his time now.

The men had arrived with the micro-torpedo launcher. It was a bulky thing, with a long, thick barrel. Itreminded Smith of some of the 21 st Century hand-held missile launchers. The two officers carrying thegun opened a tripod and set up the weapon on it.

As the rest of the security officers retreated back behind the launcher, Smith directed the team to waitfor his signal to fire. Down the left-curving corridor, the captain could see the shadow of the Aldrym troopadvancing toward his position. He waited in silence for the instant when the soldier walked into the line-of-sight of the gun.

Smith estimated five seconds until the Aldrym soldier appeared. Fourthreetwoone

A dark figure emerged before him. Smith guessed the soldier didnt even suspect anyone to be there.Fire! the captain yelled.Beside Smith, the micro-torpedo launcher hummed for a tenth of a second. Barely three tenths of a

second after Truman gave the command, the small sun-bright torpedo had rocketed away from the barrelof the launcher. In the blink of eye, the torpedo flew straight through the dark corridor to collide with theunsuspecting Aldrym soldier. A fiery blast filled the corridor where the Aldrym had stood, accompanied bya burst of thunder that made Smith fall back to the floor. When the smoke cleared, the Aldrym soldier wasgone.

We did it! the excited voice of one of the officers exclaimed. But as soon as the words had left his

mouth, the entire ship lurched and the warning alarms consistent with a hull breach echoed all around.Beneath Smiths feet, the hull of the Valor buckled and creaked. The ceiling lights that lit the corridor flickered on and off, and again the ship lurched and swayed all around. Smith figured that the inertialdampers had been knocked offline.

Smith looked up quickly to see a ceiling bulkhead come crashing down, but he did not react quicklyenough to save the crewmen it struck. The man cried for help for one brief instant, then lay motionlessunder the crushing weight of the duranium mass.

The captain and the other two officers looked at each other over the beam. He was a good man, oneof the officers remarked, He didnt deserve to die like this.

No one does, Smith whispered.

Engineering was in ruins.

Consoles and deck plates everywhere were in shambles. And the warp core had taken the worst of it.Someone get me power to the ejection system! Even in his currently filthy uniform, Vorik maintainedhis Vulcan serenity, at least on the outside. Inside, he was nearly frantic in his actions.

Atop the upper-level catwalk, one of the engineering officers replied, Were barely able to keep life-support running, sir! It would mean diverting power from every available system just to activate one of theconsoles!

Vorik sighed to himself and pointed his wrist beacon up towards the warp core. Aside from the fewemergency lights still functioning, the officers wrist-mounted lights were the only things making workpossible. Half the engineering crew was dead or wounded, so even work was a miracle. But it wouldntmatter in a few minutes whether Vorik had a staff of two men or twenty, for the warp core was leaking


17/34

17

antimatter out into space. Under normal circumstances, the emergency forcefield system would havecontained the leak by then. But the only functioning system left aboard ship was life-support, which was atthat time draining every bit of reserve power left.

Vorik knew he had to eject the core before the leaking antimatter came in contact with any vital areasof the ship. But with the ejection system fried and the vessel with little or no power, their best choice atthat moment was to abandon ship. Unfortunately, the ship-wide COM system was also damaged, so Vorikhad no way of telling the captain what had happened.

But the Academy had taught Vorik never to despair, and his Vulcan mind had nearly twice theintellectual capacity of humans. The Chief Engineer knew he could find a way to solve this problem.

A logical way.Ensign Taros, he called up to the catwalk, Reroute power from life-support to the warp core ejection

system. Activate the ejection sequence manually, and bypass any security lockouts still in place. Vorikfigured the crew could last at least an hour without the ships constant life-support systems online. Heknew his Vulcan physiology would last him three times that long. The default length of a warp coreejection countdown was five minutes. In that time span, Vorik would intentionally drain the remainingantimatter from the core, leaving it empty once ejected. That way, if the aliens kept up their attack, theship would not be at risk of them detonating the warp coreat that point a full antimatter explosive.

The plan would be tight, but Vorik predicted a ninety-four point five percent probability of success.Vorik then walked over to one of nearby consoles, and activated it by attaching his tricorder to the

surface and feeding it power. The display brought up a schematic of the deck, and the location of any lifereadings. If the man were human, he would have gasped in terror.

Seventy-five Aldrym soldiers were ten seconds from arriving.

On the bridge, Riker was unsure of himself. A feeling he not often experienced. The Aldrym vesselshad ceased their assault following the Valors complete loss of power. At that point, the only lighting onthe bridge was a fire at the helm station and the few consoles the crew fed with emergency power cells.Now, he looked with extreme puzzlement at his power-fed screen.

The screen seemed to pulsate an image of white light in an almost random pattern. The commander tried to fix it, but it appeared the display was not malfunctioning. Then he remembered; it was somethinghis father had taught him as a child.

Morse code.Riker struggled to conjure up the memory of how to decipher the ancient code. It had to do with a

series of noises or pulses representing letters and spaces. From what Riker could tell, the message wasrepeating the same sequence over and over. He figured someone was probably using the ships interfaceto send a massage without the use of the COM system or typed text.

Finally, the commander remembered, and began deciphering the message.G-O T-O S-H-U-T-T-L-E B-A-Y T-W-O. And then the sequence repeated.

Go to Shuttle Bay two. That was the message.Rehn, he said hurriedly, I think someones trying to tell us to go somewhere.The Bajoran first-officer turned to Riker eagerly; any information was welcomed at that point.

Riker continued, Someone has programmed this console remotely to flash in a certain repeatingsequence, I believe its the centuries-old Earth language known as Morse code.

Rehn looked intrigued, Can you decipher it? he asked.I already have, Riker smiled, Its saying: go to shuttle bay two over and over.Rehn wasted no time authenticating the message; he trusted Rikers judgement and interpretation of

the pulses. After all, Jovan had never even heard of this Morse code in his life. Rehn got up andinstructed the bridge crew to follow him as he entered a Jeffreys Tube in the floor.As the commander began his crawl through the cramped tunnel, he couldnt help but think of who had

sent the message. But he guessed he would find out soon enough.

Smith angled his wrist beacon upward ahead of him. He didnt like what he saw.A fallen bulkhead blocked the Jeffreys Tube. As Smith lowered his beacon, he looked back at the two

security officers following him. Looks like this ones blocked too, he informed them.


18/34

18

The officer closest to Smith sighed. This was the fourth tube the threesome had tried, but it seemed astructural collapse had resulted in one long break in the ships inner hull down through several decks. Theteam would have to crawl back through a long winding tube to the other side of the saucer section, andthen try to cross to the engineering hull. But the atmosphere inside the Jeffreys Tube was becoming hotand the air thin. Smith guessed that the life-support systems were offline. That made the situation evenworse.

The captains beacon caught a sign on the wall as he retreated through the tunnel. It read DECK TEN ,OUTER HULL and had an arrow pointing to the next junction reading AIRLOCK . Suddenly, an idea struck Smithlike a club. He looked forward to the security officers ahead of him. I think I may have an idea, he toldthem.

As the captain and his team reached the airlock, Smith explained, Could we use the airlock to get outinto space and walk to the shuttle bay on the hull?

The nearest officer smiled and nodded, The Environmental Suits have magnetic boots. We can walkalong the hull whichever way is fit.

Wonderful, Smith walked over to the panel on the wall by the airlock door. He pressed in his accesscode and the doors parted open to reveal the airlock room. Smith opened one of the supply closets andpulled out a suit. It fit him quite nicely, considering he was taller than most of the crew.

In a few moments, the rest of his team had their suits on and their helmets locked in place. Before heopened the outer door, though, the captain grabbed a Phaser Rifle from the rack and attached it to hisback. The security officers did the same and signaled that they were ready.

Smith punched in his code to start the decompression sequence and held on tightly to the bars besidethe airlock door. He felt a whoosh and a pull as the air escaped out of the opening door. Once the cyclewas complete, the captain activated his magnetic boots and stepped out onto the hull of the Valor . As helooked up, the stars seemed to spin around him. But Smith realized it was only his body adjusting to thesight.

It was a disorientating feeling looking at the ships hull from the underside as it appearing the vesselwas upside-down. He looked again to the blanket of stars above. Wooziness built up inside the captainsbelly, and he figured looking at the stars was not the best idea at the moment. Again fixing his eyes to thehull, Smith motioned for his companions to follow him and proceeded on down the curving hull.

From what little knowledge he had about the layout of the Valor , Smith remembered that the ship hadtwo shuttle bays. One was situated at the junction between the engineering hull and saucer section. Theother hung on the ventral side of the engineering hull. The Captain figured the ventral bay was the closestconsidering they were on the underside of the ship. He just hoped the message that had been sent on the

Jeffreys tube work panel by Morse code meant to proceed to the ventral shuttle bay.A sparkle of light in Smiths peripheral vision caught his attention. He turned just in time to see the

security officer on his left vaporize in a stream of white light. The captain looked back to see where thestream had originated. On the opposite side of saucer sections hull, a group of figures seemed to beapproaching his position.

And from what Smith could tell, they were Aldrym.

Main Engineering was a living inferno.Every console, every bulkhead, and every crew member in that bloody room burned with plasma fire.

Needless to say, the Aldrym had been thorough. One of the murdering aliens came walking over to theburning carcass of Vorik. He touched the bare neck of flaming body without even feeling the heat, or thepain, of the raging plasma.

He felt a pulse.Weak, it was, but still there.In a silent gesture of disgust, the Aldrym lifted his Ion Disruptor and stood back from Voriks dwindling

figure. And just before the aliens weapon consumed the dying body, the Vulcan opened his eyes. Andthrough those eyes Vorik saw not the Aldrym about to kill him, but the reflective surface of what appearedto be glass.

And he was inside that glass.Even though the Vulcan repressed emotions, he still had them. And at that split second before death,

Vorik felt only confusion.


19/34

19

Smith quickly ducked as another Aldrym shot hurled its way across the hull. He then heard theremaining security officer over his helmets COM speaker and turned. His partner was crouching in one of the indentations for windows in the area. It was the perfect hiding spot. As fast as the magnetic bootswould allow, the captain ran towards the makeshift barricade.

He carefully made his way behind the low wall. Then, peering over the edge, he asked the officer, Isthere any way we can erect a forcefield on the hull?

Even if we could, it wouldnt matter, he conceded, Before you arrived on site with us, we had triedremotely setting up a forcefield to block the Aldrym. He just walked right through it.

Probably that accursed bioelectric field theyve got, Smith muttered. He then noticed something onhis weapon: a sniper scope. An idea flashed into his mind, and he lifted the rifle to his helmet. Tying thesniper mode into his helmets internal display, he zoomed into the Aldrym group and analyzed them.

If youre thinking of sniping them, sir, forget it, he heard the security officer say, When the Aldrymweapon passed so close to our rifles, it must have depleted the energy supply. Well each get one shotout of each rifle at best.

But Smith already knew, and he was far ahead of the young man. Adjusting his view slightly, he aimeddownward, at an exposed spot on the hull where the plating had been ripped away. You see that? heasked the officer, I bet one of those exposed conduits is holding some kind of fuel or coolant.

The man beside him flipped open his tricorder and scanned the area. A grin formed on his face as heread the results. Looking up from the device, he told his commanding officer, The fourth one from theright is a plasma line for the impulse drive. And, sir, its leaking.

Smith looked closer at the conduit, but didnt see the leak. What are talking about, crewman?Theres a microfracture in the duranium casing around the conduit, and somewhere farther down the

line, the plasma flow in being blocked. A very thin stream of the plasma is leaking out into space. Particledensity iszero point zero zero eight five particles of plasma per square centimeter. Its not that dense,but its dense enough.

The captain saw where this was going, Dense enough to cause a pretty big ka-boom if ignited?Its just right.Well then, Smith continued, Target the plasma cloud and prepare to fire on my mark, crewman.Once the officer acknowledged him, Smith commanded the Computer, Estimate time until the Aldrym

group enters the plasma field, and begin a countdown.Estimated time is fourteen seconds, it replied, Twelve seconds, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four,

three, two, one

Fire! As soon as Smith gave the command, he and the security officer fired their shots. The two streaks of

energy bolted forward and continued, unhindered, into the invisible plasma cloudAnd passed right through it.Smiths mind raced. Why hadnt the shot ignited the plasma cloud? A thousand possibilities existed,

but he could only think of one; they had both missed. Then, as if some unknown force had heard his silentplea, the plasma conduit suddenly ruptured under the pressure of the compressed fuel, spewing super-heated plasma gas into space and igniting the cloud.

The ensuing explosion cascaded in a rapidly expanding green flame. It engulfed the Aldrym andcontinued to explode towards the two officers. Smith pushed the crewman down behind the wall andducked himself as the flames shot overhead in a thunder of fury.

When the captain ventured a look over the safety of the ledge, all his eyes were met with was the barehull, and the plasma stream flowing out into space. As he looked up the stream, he saw an even more

satisfactory sight; the Aldrym group spinning away into the oblivion of the stars, with no hope of return.He allowed himself a content smile. Cherish every victory, he remembered being told once. Well, thatwas certainly the case here. For now, he had survived.

Rehn felt the sweat beading up on his brow; the temperature had risen another ten degrees. In anattempt to cool himself, he ripped the front of his tunic open and fanned his chest, still covered by hisundercoat. It didnt help.


20/34

20

So he crawled on through the cramped tunnel of the Jeffreys Tube, trying to ignore the stale, heatedair. He tried to keep a cool head, knowing that by some twist of fate, he and the rest of the officers withhim would make it off the ship in time. Unfortunately, cool was a word in the very back of his mind.

Up ahead, he saw another conduit door. As he approached it, he read the labeling on the hatch. In asigh of relief, he called back to his companions, Weve made it!

After opening the hatch, Rehn looked out and saw one of the best things he had in a while; theshuttlebay. Once all of his friends had exited the tunnel, he walked over to the two shuttles resting on thehull. From behind one of them, a man walked out.

Glad you made it, Sloan greeted him.One of the junior officers behind Rehn spoke, Who is that?A friend, the commander replied, Just a friend. He eyed Sloan disapprovingly, but the Section 31

Director simply smiled back.From the airlock at the far side of the bay, Rehn heard footsteps. Drawing the phaser from his belt, he

ducked behind one of the shuttles. The rest of the officers followed suit. Waiting tensely, the commander expected an Aldrym to come around the edge of the small ship, but instead, his fears were proved wrong.

We come in peace, Captain Smith said as he and a crewman walked out from behind the shuttle.Rehn couldnt believe his eyes; he hadnt seen the captain since their discussion in his ready room.Simultaneously, he and Truman said, I thought you were dead.The captain looked around the area, at all the faces. But his brow furrowed. Where was his crew?He looked back at Rehn, Where are the rest of my officers?The commanders face looked apologetic. Sir, he cleared his throat, Wewe cant save them. We

have to get off the ship and escape the Aldrym. Theres no time. There was never enough time , Smith thought. Alright, he said finally, Lets go.

In a few minutes, the two shuttles were speeding away from the Valor at maximum impulse. Thecaptain had taken one shuttle and Rehn the other. They now flew side by side on an escape course fromthe dying starship.

Smith sat at the controls of his shuttle, and watched the Valor until it cleared the viewport.Disappointed? Sloan asked.Yeah, the captain replied. He didnt care to say any more.

At that moment, every alarm in the shuttle suddenly sounded. In front of the shuttle, only a fewkilometers away, an Aldrym ship wavered into view, weapons already charging. Smith couldnt believe it;he read two signatures on his sensor.

Two Aldrym ships.

Then it hit him; this ship was the one that had attacked the Enterprise . It had finally arrived.The end would come swiftly for him and his comrades. He braced himself on the console and waited

for the energy to claim him life. It writhed from the Aldrym ship in a torrent of power, brushing the shuttlesaway like sand in a windstorm.

The only thing Truman regretted was never being able to thank Jovan Rehn.

Wake up, captain.The voice emanated from somewhere far away, a place too distant to touch. But it drew closer, and

louder. It filled Smiths mind until it was all he could think of, all he could comprehend. Then, he awokeAnd found himself in a room. All around him the walls pulsated with energy, their glow lighting the

long hallway ahead of him. He stood up and began to walk toward them. Farther down the hallway hestarted to run, some inward force compelling him to do so. After running for what seemed like hours, hecame to the end of his journey, to the only place he knew to go: the brain.

The expanse around him was so great and majestic; he doubted hed ever been anywhere more awe-inspiring. Cords of energy twisted through themselves, defying all form and reason. They somehow spoketo him; in a way nothing he had encountered ever hadever could.

Where are you? he shouted.From somewhere above himno around him, a voice spoke, I am here, Abram Smith.The energy cords began to move. They coiled around a spot a few meters ahead of the captain. They

glowed even brighter than before, and pulsated with a deep sound. The cords parted, revealing their work; a human.

Who? Smith started, but then corrected himself as realization flooded in, Guide.


21/34

21

The figure nodded. Yes, quite right, he told the captain, I speak for the Aldrym Quena , the entity whoinhabits this vessel.

Wait a minute, the captain interrupted, inhabits? The man cocked his head slightly, Yes. Quena is a non-corporeal being, one of two hundred survivors

of The Great Disaster. You see, nearly five thousand of your years ago, the Aldrym race was wiped out ina catastrophic subspace explosion. But somehow, beyond all odds, a few of us survived.

After centuries of calculation, we realized that we had not simply survived, but had been saved. Thisdeed had to have been done by a being more powerful than even us. We are a proud race, Captain; thebeings that saved us should be found and rewarded. Therefore, we are searching the galaxies to find thatsavior. We must test every race, every being, and every miniscule life form we come across to know if they are the ones that saved us from annihilation.

All that you experienced since we first communicated with you was no more than a neural stimulationof your cerebral cortex.

A what?The man looked confused for a moment, and then answered, It was a dream, an illusion, a facsimile.

It only happened in your mind and the minds of all the beings on your vessel.The Captain was appalled. You experimented with us?In a sense, yes, the Aldrym replied calmly, We needed to see if you had the mental and physical

capabilities to save yourselves from total destruction at our hands. If you were truly a more advanced raceto the point where you could have saved us, than you surely would have had no trouble defeating one of our weakest attacks.

To Smith, this was getting more and more unbelievable by the minute. Wait a minute, weakestattacks? Youve got to be joking.

Hardly, the Guide said with another quizzical look. We never employed the use of our Trans-dimensional weaponry, and did not attack from varying phases of energy distortion, or

Okay, okay, Smith interrupted, I get it. Just tell me one thing; are my ship and crew safe?Quite, they have only undergone remote neural evaluation. If you wish, you can return to your ship

now. The only purpose of bringing you aboard was to give you an explanation of why we came to thisgalaxy and caused what we did.

But Smith wasnt finished yet. What about the Starbase, or Captain Picard and the Enterprise ?Both will be returned to their former states. They were simply put in a form of subspace suspension,

so the attack on your vessel would be more realistic in the simulation.Okay, Smith sighed. I guess I could wish you good luck, but you seem to have everything you need

for finding your savior.The Aldrym wavered a bit, obviously wondering what the expression meant. We may have the

resources, yes. But no force in this universe is powerful enough to grant us what we seek in an instant.Ours will be a long and arduous journey. But some day, we will find that one being, and when we do, allwill be set right with my people. We will all have what really need; fulfillment.

Well in that case, good luck, Quena .The being simply nodded, and the next thing Smith knew he was watching the Aldrym ships waver out

of viewfrom the bridge of the Valor .

As the crew around him began to wake up, Smith checked the readouts on the consoles around him.Everything was as it was before the simulation had begun. And, to the Captains relief, the Starbase thathad mysteriously been destroyed was back in its place, just as the Aldrym had said.

What in the name of? The voice was Raymonds.Smith turned to see him standing at his console, a bit dazed, but in perfect shape. Something wrong,Commander?

I wasdead, he replied slowly.Truman smiled. Ill explain it all later.

That evening, the captain invited his entire senior staff to dinner in his quarters, where he explainedthe entire incident aboard the Aldrym ship. In addition, he admitted to being brought to the future by


22/34

22

Section 31 from the past. After a few moments of silence, Hodgeson said simply, Well, I doubt we couldbe in better hands.

Everyone smiled at that, and briefly after, Smith raised his glass and proposed a toast.After a long pause, he smiled. Looking at all the faces around him distinctly he said, To saviors.

Episode 2The Stone is Cast

Space looked beautiful at warp. Or at least Smith thought it did. He hadnt gotten a chance to reallylook at it this way since he started his captaincy on the Valor . The stars blurred by in long streams of light,seeming to blend together in an everlas

Documents

Star Trek: The Elite