S.S. Roanes

Posted on Sat Feb 8th, 2020 @ 4:12pm by Skye & Korel
Edited on on Sat Feb 8th, 2020 @ 4:32pm

2,284 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 103 - In The Darkest Days...
Location: Various
Timeline: MD4 0030 hours

On

When one blast their way out of Pirates Haven you generally don't head to a worse sector, but the trio did. Korel ordered full speed to Scavengers Cove and they arrived there 6 hours later.

" She will probably not be easily found. Keep your eyes open," Korel told them. The them being H'rall and humanoid female Skye.

Running a program to analyse the readings for them, Skye sat back and at a mouthful of noodles. They tasted vile if she was being honest yet the replicator offered limited options.

“If it was easy, you wouldn’t have been offered a bargain,” she pointed out. “Rule 1, if it looks too good to be true, it is. Your seller has either sold you out or sold this ship twice. Or more.”

Korel hoped she was wrong by asking " Can your program detect gravitic fields?"

“I can make that happen,” Skye said, setting aside the noodles to access her programme. “There isn’t much I can’t do with a computer.”

Korel smiled.

" We have company ! Two bogies dead ahead closing fast." H'rall yowled.

" Evasive manuvers. Take us under those asteroid shells, look that one there looks hollow. Fly us through it." Korel ordered.

Ducking into the hole like a rabbitt the shuttle skipped past the two ships with luck and into a more secure section. They were safe if those two ships had just be cruising by.

"Skye do you detect them?" Korel asked her.

Working at the computer, Skye nodded. "They came to a dead stop and are scanning the area. Maybe wondering what just missed them? Which was impressive, by the way. Nice flying Kitty," she grinned at their pilot. "They are civilian ships, not Starfleet. Not heavily armed, crew of four on each. Small cargo transports but the manifests are showing no cargo on either ship. They must be on a mission to pick up, not deliver."

Korel scowled and grunted. " All I wanted was to buy a ship and become a legitimate businessman. They can out run us but not out gun. If we have to fight them we will. Any luck scanning the gravitic mine?" Korel then asked.

“Legitimate is overrated,” Skye muttered as she worked. “I’ve got it. Sending coordinates to the helm. Not too close, we can disable it remotely and make it safe.”

Skye's words inspired Korel. Moving back to the front he studied screen. The shuttle took position as all eyes now fell on Skye. The ship was in tact with minimal power running it.

" By Kahless she's beautiful." Korel whispered.

Skye arched an eyebrow, not sure she’d ever consider a ship beautiful. Now some of the artefacts she had acquired in her short life ... they were beautiful. “Okay, let’s test out my baby...”

As they settled into a holding position she jettisoned the repair drone she had spent hours upgrading and modifying. It had been a cheap and cheerful job, given the high chance she would have to sacrifice it to eliminate the mine. Better it than them.

Bringing the system online she set it off in search of the mine, keeping an eye on its system readings. “Good news, the mine doesn’t have friends... okay, I need to concentrate...”

With that she popped earbuds in and started up her playlist, the familiar music blaring in her ears helping her to focus on the task at hand. Through cameras built into the drone she manipulated the controls to study the mine, comparing them to a database she had hacked just for this occasion. Frowning, she rechecked one of the sensor readings and grinned. “It’s harmless!”

It took her a second to realise she had shouted rather than spoken. With an apologetic smile she silenced her music. “The internal power coupling must be faulty. There is no charge to the actual detonators. The only way that will go boom is if you blow it up yourself. Give me five minutes and I’ll have it detached and cleared.”

" Then we can attach a tow cable. Once it is cleared I want to board it before we leave this sector. " Korel added. H'rall held the shuttle steady.

“Huh...” Skye commented from behind them. “The ship still has cargo aboard. I’m into the ship’s database and they have a full registry.... but they have more containers than they should have. Mine is clear. I’ll keep it tethered to the drone so it doesn’t reattach to the hull.”

" Skye can we go over there? I would love to see what we have found. The booty could be priceless." Korel asked. Stopping for a minute when he considered why the bogies had been flying so close with empty bays " You said we could trigger the mines explosion? We need to make it look like the SS Roane exploded. So we can shake the other ships attention. Any ideas onbhow to do that?"

“I can self destruct the drone, that would be enough,” Skye said. “We can jam sensors ... chances of them buying it are low unless... make it look like we are adrift, if they answer our hail asking for help, then I can make their computer think anything we want.”

" Even better let's fire up the ship and scoot right past that patrol? Is that doable?" Korel hoped. H'rall then added " I can get their attention and meet you back at Starbase 400."

Skye grinned across at H’rall, “you a secret badass kitty? And yes. That ship just needs powered up and some maintenance. But she can fly.”

" I would love to prove that back at the station," H'rall yowled.

Korel chuckled and grabbed his satchel to take with him to the Roane. He also had some needed items he had aquired from the Tellarite that would be useful. As most cruiser ships lime the Roane had command codes, Korel had purchased cheater codes that would avail him full computer access as if he were the skipper himself. " Let's Roll."

Skye stood and packed her things away, pulling on her leather jacket and then her backpack. “Lets go get you your ship...”

< The Roane >
The fairly new cruiser had only been out a year when she fell victim to the gravitic mine. Its skipper had hoped to use the cove as a short cut but soon discovered the dangers of the cove.

H'rall was able to moore with its aft hatch and allowed Korel and Skye to do their thing. H'eall then took the shuttle to the exodus of the belt and paved the way for the Roanes emergence.

Entering the bay Korel was excited to check out the holds but the stagnant air needed venting first. An old ships hand himself he knew how to purge the air and thus they began in the little ships engine room.

" Skye the reactor is still on idle. And this thing says it has a transporter and holosuite. We are going to be rich. We need to vent this old air out first." Korel told her.

“They must have a redundant computer core if they are running a holosuite,” Skye observed as she followed him towards an engineering console which housed the life support controls. The air around them was stagnant and stale but at least breathable. “What do you want me to do?”

" Let's head to the bridge, ops or whatever they call it. Life support systems can generally be maintained there. We can probably fire up the engine from there too." Korel replied. Taking out his dak'tagh he was prepared for whatever.

“Love a man who comes prepared,” Skye teased as she followed him. She was much more interested in the cargo containers but she’d wait. First they had to get this ship moving and back to the station.

Korel led the way surprised at the clear path to the bridge turbo lift. Minimal power meant a slow rise from the lift. Halting on the next deck up Korel exited as a smell caught his nose. There was death aboard, he could smell it. " Skye something has died on this deck."

“Yeah, my appetite,” the teenager quipped as she slipped past him. “Coming?” She asked as she headed for a maintenance ladder heading up to the next deck. “We can search later...”

Korel followed his inner Klingon blood pounding through his heart. Up the next deck the doors opened as they then entered the bridge area. To the helms chair he went inserting his codes into the terminal. The power flickered as a reset took place on the console. Followed by a holo program of a beautiful terran looking female.

" Welcome to the SS Roane commissioned in 2395. Which of you is the Captain? " she asked.

Skye nudged Korel to speak up as she studied the bridge. While compact it was well equipped. Someone had spent a lot of time upgrading systems. There was definitely more than met the eye. Which just made her all the more suspicious of it. Nobody would sell this for a bargain. But just maybe they let someone steal it for them...

She frowned, instincts telling her this was wrong. And she kind of likes the Klingon and his kitty Kat. For one thing they didn’t treat her like a kid. while the legitimate life was not something she ever thought of, she hoped he got what he wanted.

" Korel! Fire up the engines and set a course for Starbase 400." Korel replied. The AI blinked and then the lights got brighter on the bridge. The air also came on as it seemed to be venting the stale stuff out. Korel then,looked on the screen but didn't see it moving

" We aren't moving though Skye. Stay here and I'll go down to the engine room and see what's wrong down there."

Korel exited but Skye wasn't alone as the comm system crackled.

"" Korel they're heading your way,"" the voice of H'rall yowled over the Roane's speakers.

Skye was really not liking whoever those people were. Finding the comms she knelt down to pull out her own makeshift computer, “H’rall, be a nice Kitty and send me their co-ordinates,” she asked. “I have a drone, a mine and they have a date with our friends...”

Sitting cross legged on the floor, she worked quickly. “Almost there, make sure you are clear and signal when you are out range.”

"" Skye when this is over I mean to....." H'rall started to say but static out. " OUT OF RANGE "

Refusing to be distracted she directed the drone, bringing it up close to the largest of the two ships before triggering an overload on the drone. So small, drifting in like a random piece of debris, it would detonate the mine when the self destruct activated in three, two, one ...

Even from here, she felt the ship shudder slightly under the shockwave from the detonated mine. Even to the two ships following them, the damage would not be extensive- but enough to keep them busy for a few hours.

“Korea, we need to get moving, fast,” Skye announced over the comms.

Feeling the explosion Korel eye the matter stream on the engineering console. Fortunately he had some knowledge in Klingon warp cores and hoped for the best. As the levels rose to nominal he suddenly realized this ship could haul some butt if necessicary. Rushing back up via the ladder again Korel rejoined Skye.

" What happened? I got the engines back on line." Korel both asked and explained.

“I improvised. Both their ships are drifting while they repair damage, we don’t have long but we will have a head start,” Skye told him from her spot on the floor.

Korel walked over to the silouette of the woman AI who had addressed him.

" Hello Captain Korel. How can I be of service?"
" Can you plot a course?" he asked her.
" I am equippted to interface with the bridge auto pilot programming. I can also tutor you on how to do so if you desire?" she replied.


Korel could fly a shuttle but not as good as H'rall. Jumping to the pilot chair he quickly figured out the helm, with her help. It was not the prettiest escape but soon they were away from the devris and reverse trajectory back to home.

" Skye you have been ... priceless. We have not discussed your fee for all this help?"

“You can give me whatever you think is fair, after you’ve checked this place out,” she told him with a dismissive shrug. “Or you could owe me a favour.”

" Or you could become my partner. A joint merger if you will? This baby will do warp 5. We can modify her to have more fire power but the universe ia our pearl. First mate??? Or what ever term humans use? Your computer skills alone,merit this offer? Korel proposed.

“You’ll break Kitty’s heart,” Skye told him with a grin. “I’m not really into staying in one place too long, it’s a good way to end up in a prison or a morgue. Besides, I’m nineteen. And there is a castle made of chocolate I need to aquire when we get back.”

Korel chuckled.

" I am as old as your grandfather. Besides my wife would kill me. The offer will remain open. When we inventory I will pay you handsomely." Korel explained.

“Fair enough. Maybe I’ll even buy the castle, it’s a lot less messy that way,” she mused. With a grin she added, “since I don’t know my grandfather you are probably right. But you are still a young man in Klingon years, right?”

RSS Feed