More Than A Little Shakedown

Posted on Thu Oct 28th, 2021 @ 4:52pm by Fleet Admiral Mike K`Wor Bremer & Commander Leksander Draven & Commander Jonathan Roebuck IV & Lieutenant Heath Carter & Lieutenant K`Wor & Ensign Robert Harper & Ensign Luke Conway & Ensign Becca Bremer & Master Chief Petty Officer Mark Branson & First Ramata`tar & Lieutenant Jackson Blake Dr & Lieutenant Commander Ariana Monroe-Wayne

2,261 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 110 - An Endeavor in Discovery
Location: USS Pegasus-C
Timeline: MD2-2200hrs

ON:

Mike was in his quarters aboard the Pegasus-C. He was reading a message from his daughter Becca. She was impressed with the Odyssey class ship's medical facilities. She was also impressed with Dr. Blake. The new Chief Medical Officer knew his stuff. Mike sent a quick reply back to Becca then he closed the monitor.

Mikes stood and stretched. He then ordered a warm tea from the food slot and decided it would be a good time to get ready for bed. Tomorrow he planned to put the new ships through her paces. Warp jumps, slipstream runs, highspeed turns at warp, as well as battle maneuvers at warp and impulse.

He took a sip of his tea and barely had a chance to set it on his side table when the comm beeped.

"Bridge to Fleet Admiral Bremer." Carter called.

"Bremer here."

"Sir we've received a distress call from a civilian cruise ship, the SS Carnival. They say they've been caught in a minefield near Japori. We're not the closest ship, but we can get there before any other." Carter reported.

Mike didn't hesitate, "Set course and engage at slipstream. Have the senior officers report to the Bridge. I'm on my way."


Bridge

A few minutes later Mike arrived on the Bridge. Chief Branson was taken over the helm while K'Wor was taking a seat at Ops.

"We should arrive within the hour." Commander Roebuck reported.

"What the hell is a civilian cruise ship doing way out here, so soon after a war? Clean up has even started in some battle areas." Mike said aloud.

"The SS Carnival is a high warp cruise ship, about ten years hold. Three thousand passengers, two hundred crew. Their course wasn't supposed to take them this far out. They were supposed to be stopping at Regulus, Risa, and Orion before returning to New France." Draven reported.

Mike looked back at tactical, "Conway, who's minefield are they stuck in?"

Conway tapped in a few command, "It's a mixed Miradorn and Krazzle field. Other than that we have no information on it...Starfleet didn't even know it was there."

Mike glanced at Draven who nodded in agreement.

"Doctor Blake, we'll need medical ready. Commander Monroe, we'll need you to help keep those civilians calm." Mike said.

Ariana nodded. “Understood Admiral, I’ll do what I can to help them.”

“We’ll be ready, Sir,” Blake replied with a calm confidence. He had a good team , albeit a smaller than usual contingent, and he didn’t doubt they would be able to deal with whatever came at them.

"Everyone else, I need options. How close we can get, exact location of the field and the Carnival, what types of mines we're dealing with and how to neutralize them." Mike said. "Let's get to it."


<>

"Admiral, we're coming within range. Dropping to impulse." Branson announced.

Mike stood. "Alright, I need suggestions."

"Use the ship's phasers to clear a path to the cruise ship, then tow her out." Conway replied.

"I disagree. If we misfire or one of the mines' explosions sets off others closer to the cruise ship it might damage or destroy it." K'Wor replied.

Conway shook his head. "I know how to pin-point target the phasers to avoid that."

"The risk is too great." K'Wor said as he looked over from Ops.

"Maybe for you..."Conway added before a dirty look from Bremer made him stop.

Mike thought for a moment, then looked at Draven then at Roebuck. "Any other ideas?"

"I've been looking to see what Starfleet Intel has on these mines. They're a mix of proximity, magnetic, and others. There's even some in there that are attracted to a ship's antimatter and warp plasma, designed to explode close to a ship's engineering hull." Draven explained.

"I don't understand how anyone would of just wandered into this field." Branson commented from Flight Control.

"There's a control satellite in the middle of the field. He detects incoming ships and projects a damping field. Our sensors are too advances for it, so we can see through." Draven replied.

"We're too big, but I bet the Perseus isn't." Roebuck added.

Mike looked over at the Commander.

"The ship's Aquarius Class light escort. She's small enough to maneuver around the mines. She can get in close to that satellite, disable it, then use her deflector to push the mines out of her way while she tows the cruise ship out. For added protection the Perseus can extend her shields around the cruise ship during the move." Roebuck explained.

"We can remove her warp core before she separates so those seeker mines aren't attracted to her." Conway added.

Mike nodded. "Do it. Roebuck, you're in command. Branson and Conway go as well. We'll keep a datalink with you to help you see the forest through the trees."

Roebuck nodded as Branson and Conway also logged out of their stations. They headed to the forward starboard side egress then forward to the Bridge's transporter.

"K'Wor, set up the datalink with the Perseus." Mike added.

Ramata'tar took over the Tactical Station while Carter took over Flight Control.

"Harper, monitor the Perseus's progress from the Flight Operations station please." Mike added.

"Link established. They should be ready to launch in about ten minutes. The Perseus' warp core is already powered down and secured, and they'll jettison it after they undock and we can hold it nearby with a tractor beam." K'Wor reported.

Ariana say quiet letting everyone do what they needed to do. Being this close to a minefield was making her nervous, especially with her being in the later stages of her pregnancy.

Minutes passed...

"The Perseus has undocked." K'Wor said

A moment later the smaller Aquarius class light escort passed the Pegasus as it entered the field. The moments were tense as all anyone aboard the Pegasus could do was wait. Finally, the comm beeped.

"Perseus to Pegasus, we've reached the cruise ship. She appears to be in good condition. We've locked tractor beams on her and we're preparing to move out." Roebuck said over the comm.

"Understood." Mike replied.

The minutes ticked by again...

"Their deflector is pushing the mines out of their path", K'Wor said, "wait, one mine isn't moving or responding to the resonance pulse."

An explosion was heard over the comm.

Mike stood up, "Commander Roebuck report!"

"One of the mines, it had some kind of shielding, prevented us from moving it. The Perseus took the brunt of the blast. We have two dead, six injured, including Ensign Conway. The cruise ship also has some injuries." Roebuck replied.

Mike tapped his comm-badge. "Bridge to Sickbay, stand by to receive casualties."

"They've cleared the field." K'Wor replied.

Mike watch the screen as the Perseus released her tractor beams and maneuvered into docking position. The cruise ship eased further away from the field as the Pegasus started to back away as well.

"First, clear that field." Mike ordered.

Ramata'tar nodded. "Yes sir." He tapped a few buttons on the tactical panel. Several photon torpedoes burst from the Pegasus's forward launchers. They detonated within the field causing a domino effect, destroying all of the mines.

Over the comms, Dr Blake’s voice filtered through. “Sickbay here, we are ready, Sir.”


Sickbay

A shimmer of light and several people from the Perseus were beamed in. Of them, Conway was in obvious pain. Burns to his face, right shoulder, and abdomen.

A few moments later injured from the cruise ship were also beamed in.

Becca was the first to Conway. As she started to scan him with a tricorder her expression changed to concern to surprise. The readings didn't make sense.

"Um, Nurse Larson, apply Dermaline Gel to the burns and ready a Dermal regenerator. Also administer 5ccs of Terakine for pain."

The Nurse nodded as Becca looked for Doctor Blake. Once she found him, she walked over with her tricorder.

"Doctor, can you look it these readings please." Becca said, concerned. "Mister Conway's vitals are...off. Honestly, if I didn't know better, I'd say he's at least a quarter Klingon, but his Starfleet Medical records indicate he's fully Human."

Issuing instructions to one of the nurses, Jackson turned from his own patient to study the readings. He trusted that anyone coming to him was doing so for good reason and from what he had observed, Ensign Bremer was a capable member of the team.

His eyes swept over the readings - twice. "Impressive spot, ensign. I'd have to agree. Get him treated and stabilised, and lets run some DNA sequencing. The last thing we need is to treat him with something that would kill him rather than cure him. I'll come over as soon as I'm done here."

Becca nodded and returned to Conway's biobed. She ran another set of scans. As the results came in, her eyes widened. "This...this can't be right."

She looked at Conway for a minute before snapping out of her shock.

"Are all the patients accounted for?" Becca asked.

"Yes ma'am. We lost of the civilians from the cruise ship, but everyone else is stable or currently being treated." Larson replied.

Becca nodded then abruptly left.

A few moments later she arrived on the Bridge and walked straight to her father. "We need to talk, in private."

Mike raised an eye brow then stood. "Lek, you have the Bridge."

Mike and his daughter walked into his Ready Room. The room was still sparse and bare, none of Mike's personal items were there, having been removed so work on the new Bridge module could be completed.

"What's wrong?" Mike asked.

"I was treating Ensign Conway. His Starfleet record lists him as Human, but these scans show he's at least one-quarter Klingon." Becca explained.

'That would explain his anger outbursts' Mike thought. It was something he understood all too well, especially when he was younger. "Any idea why it's not in his file?"

"No, but there's more. Doctor Blake had me run a DNA sequence to make sure we didn't mistreat his injuries." She paused a moment to gather her words, "Conway has made it clear he hates Admirals, says all his Mother told him about his father was he was an Admiral and they had a fling...basically." Becca explained.

Mike nodded.

Becca handed Mike a PADD, "I know who his father is."

Mike looked over the PADD.

"At first, I thought you were his father, but the DNA didn't quite match, so I checked Uncle K'Temoc." Becca looked at her father for a moment, "He's Conway's father."

Mike looked over the data for a moment. There was no denying the facts. "Does Conway know?"

"He's still unconscious." Becca replied.

"Don't tell him anything right now. This is something we need to tell them both, together." Mike replied.

"There's something I don't understand though, when Conway was...conceived, K'Temoc was just a newly promoted Captain at the time." Becca said.

"Maybe he misunderstood or mis-remembered what his Mother told him. Maybe he said he's an Admiral now? I don't know, but either way I think he's going to get angrier before this is over." Mike replied.

Becca nodded.

"Return to Sickbay, keep those findings between you, me, and Doctor Blake, and ask him to come to the Bridge when he's able." Mike added.

The minutes had ticked by as the situation in Sickbay calmed. After a brief, private discussion with Ensign Bremer, Dr Blake made his way to the Bridge. “You wanted to see me, Sir?”

Mike stood. He motioned for Monroe to come over too. "How are the injured? Starfleet and Civilian alike?"

“A few will need some ongoing care and unfortunately one civilian couldn’t be revived after being beamed aboard. I’m sure most will benefit from some time with Counsellor Monroe once they’ve rested,” Dr Blake reported.

Ariana offered a polite smile. “I’ll be available for anyone who needs to talk.”

Mike nodded, "Good."

"Sir, damage control teams are aboard the cruise ship. They're propulsion systems are in tact and they believe they can make it to Starbase 74 without issue. We've already plotted them a clear path, and the USS Emmitt Till will meet them and escort them to the starbase." Draven explained.

Mike nodded, "Okay. very good. Send a message to the USS Emmitt Till and asked them to bring our damage control team home after they get the cruise ship secured at SB74."

Draven nodded.

"Sorry Doctor, Counselor." Mike said as he looked back.

“From speaking with Ensign Bremer, I assume this is with regard to Mr Conway?” Blake surmised, keeping his voice low.

"There's no question, K'Temoc is Conway's father?" Mike asked.

“I reconfirmed it myself,” Blake nodded.

Mike nodded, "I think it best to tell them both, together, once we get back to Starbase 400. What do you think?"

“As the new arrival I will defer to yourselves,” Dr Blake said with a rueful smile. “I imagine it will come as a shock.”

Ariana raised an eyebrow in more of a Vulcan manner than a Betazoid one. “Given his avoidance to talk to me about what’s bothering him, it’s going to be one hell of a shock. I’m imagining a very explosive response.”

Mike nodded. "Agreed."

"Sir, the cruise ship has departed." Harper reported."

"Then let us get back to the Station." Mike said.

A few moments later, the Pegasus turned away from where the mine field had once been and warped away, returning to Starbase 400.



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