STAR TREK - SCE - 09 - The Riddled Post

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Star Trekr - SCE 09 - The Riddled Post

By Aaron Rosenberg

"Starfleet, come in! Emergency! We've got catastrophic systems failure, equipment down across the

board, we need help! Please respo-!"

Captain David Gold switched off the audio recording and glanced around the observation lounge-as

always, Sonya Gomez admired his ability to stay calm at a time like this.

But then, he had heard the distress call already, as had Sonya, his first officer, and second officer Lt.

Commander Kieran Duffy. Around the table, the rest of the S.C.E. team on the U.S.S. da Vinci looked

more startled at the urgent cry for help.

Gold turned his blue eyes on Sonya. She nodded, and began filling in the gaps.

She tugged absently at her shirt cuffs and looked around the table at her team. "Okay, first off a bit about

the planet." She pressed a control on the console in front of her, and an image of a planet appeared on

the viewscreen. "We're looking at BorSitu Minor-anybody heard of it?" No one responded. "Right, that's

not surprising. It's got only the one outpost on it. But BorSitu Minor does have something

worthwhile-dilithium, some of the richest deposits ever found. The outpost is geared toward mining

operations, and tends to rotate staff every year or two. Most of the work is automated, so the staff is

pretty small."

"How small?" asked Dr. Lense from the other side of the table, though Sonya noticed the doctor didn't

make eye contact with anyone as she spoke.

"Less than a dozen, according to their latest records."

Lense nodded. "We should be able to handle any casualties, then, but I'd like to know if there's a ship

with a bigger sickbay around that we can call on just in case."

"Both the Fearless and the Sugihara are in the area," Gold said. "I'll have McAllan contact them."

"Thank you," Lense said quietly.

Gomez went on. "The biggest issue with BorSitu Minor is the atmosphere. It's highly ionized, and the

charge blocks normal transporters, communicators, and sensors. In addition, it has a high acid

content-it's dangerously corrosive. The outpost has a transporter pad, heavily shielded and with extra

signal boosters-they've even got a matter/antimatter plant on-site for power, to give them enough to cut

through the atmosphere and to shield against the atmosphere. But, based on that distress signal, the

transporter probably isn't working-so the away team will have to take a shuttlecraft down there. And

when they get there, the shield may be down as well."

"In which case," Kieran said, "We'll have to rig up a portable shield generator. The team can activate it as

they open the shuttle door, and use it to move around."

"It'll have to be quick," Fabian Stevens said from his seat next to Duffy. "Those portables only last about

an hour or so."

From her modified chair at the far end of the table, P8 Blue said, "For an outpost of that size, an hour will

be enough."

Sonya smiled. "Glad to hear you say that, Pattie, because you're on the away team, along with Corsi and

Soloman. From you, I want a structural analysis, and any first guesses as to what happened." Turning to

the short Bynar, she said, "Soloman, check the computer files and make sure the systems are repairable."

Finally, she gazed upon the tall human security chief sitting next to Lense. "Corsi, assess the safety level-I

need to know if we can all go in, and if we need security with us." All three nodded. "Meantime, Fabian,

I want you to prepare possible attack scenarios for us-"

Fabian frowned. "We're going to attack the outpost?"

"No, but somebody may have. I want to know who could have done it from orbit, and how. We'll

compare those to Pattie's assessment and see if we get a match." She glanced at Gold, who nodded.

"Okay, that's it. Let's get to work."

The meeting over, people began rising from their seats. Corsi was the first to her feet and out the door, as

usual-she seemed eager to prepare, and Sonya repressed a smile. Corsi was always enthusiastic about

security, and she was probably thrilled to be playing a major part in the first portion of this expedition.

Gold was out next, back to the bridge and the business of running the da Vinci-including having the other

two ships notified that they may be needed for medical backup. Soloman also wandered out, chatting

with Bart Faulwell and Fabian. Carol Abramowitz and Pattie were right behind them-Sonya was glad to

see that the two roommates were on speaking terms again, after a tiff they had over Carol's musical

choices-as was Dr. Lense.

That left Kieran and Sonya alone in the observation lounge.

"Gee," Kieran said, "you and I not on the away team on the day we were supposed to have lunch.

Coincidence?"

Sonya stood up and put on her official face. "Commander Duffy, I am shocked-shocked-that you would

accuse me of putting personal preference before duty." Then she broke into a smile. "Besides, those three

really are the best ones to go on the team-especially Pattie with her tough hide, in case there are

problems with the atmosphere."

"Fair enough," Kieran said, with a smile of his own. "Shall we go to the mess hall, the mess hall, or maybe

the mess hall?"

"Actually, I was thinking my quarters," Sonya said.

Kieran's smile widened.

"Entering BorSitu's atmosphere," Blue reported from the Franklin's co-pilot seat. "Shields holding,

systems fully operational."

"Good." Corsi was piloting, blue eyes narrowed in concentration, and her steady hands held the

shuttlecraft on-course. This, despite the sudden buffeting of the ever-present electrical storm, not to

mention her hands being gloved, since both she and Soloman wore atmospheric suits. Blue's chitinous

hide and Nasat physiology made such an encumbrance unnecessary for her.

Behind her, the Bynar sat quietly, absorbed in his own thoughts. He had come a long way in dealing with

the loss of his mate, but she'd noticed he still disappeared into his own head when there wasn't work to

do. That was dangerous if something came up suddenly, but she already knew better than to rely on him

in combat.

The shuttle rocked a bit, its stabilizers fighting to compensate for the lightning and wind, but Corsi kept

them on target and within a minute they could see the outlines of the outpost up ahead. It grew rapidly in

their view, and Blue glanced down at her readouts.

"Matter-antimatter readings normal," the insectoid announced, and Corsi allowed herself to relax just a

little. That had been their first concern. If the power plant had been bled off or jettisoned, they would

have needed to reinstall and recalibrate it before they had any hope of getting power again. With the

generator's matter-antimatter chamber intact, they just had to worry about finding the problems and

restoring functions.

Just. Corsi realized she'd been hanging around with engineers too long.

"The bad news," Blue continued, "is that I'm not getting any shield readings. It's down like we thought, so

we'll need to use the generator and hope the damage isn't too severe."

Then the station came fully into view, and Corsi actually let a soft curse escape her-that distracted Blue

enough to look, and even Soloman glanced up, then stared in shock.

The outpost was not that large-a dozen buildings, perhaps, all clustered together-and without its shields

Corsi could clearly see each building even through the haze of the acidic atmosphere. The buildings were

weathered, the air obviously having worn away edges and pitted surfaces once the shields had dropped.

But what had evoked the curse were the holes. Everywhere she looked, the buildings were riddled with

them, drilled right through the walls at various angles. It was as if a giant needle had pierced the outpost,

time and again.

"Approaching shuttle bay," Corsi announced, and she was angered that her voice shook slightly. At least

her hands were steady. She shouldn't have been so affected by this. "Get the shield generator ready."

A minute later, the shuttlecraft settled to the deck of the shuttle bay-which, being exposed to the

atmosphere, was also pitted and warped in spots. The Franklin's engines shut down with a whine, and

they all unbuckled-she had insisted on everyone strapping in before they left the da Vinci, which had

proved necessary in the turbulent ionization they had just flown through. As Blue set up the generator,

Corsi drew her phaser as she stepped towards the exit hatch.

"Is that necessary?" Soloman inquired, gesturing towards the weapon. "Anything dangerous would have

been killed by the outside air."

"Maybe, but I can't chance it," she replied, wishing in retrospect that she'd requested that Gomez let her

bring another one of her own team down. "If it's safe, fine. But if there is something out there, something

built to survive this stuff or prepared to handle it, I'd rather not have to waste time reaching for a

weapon." The little Bynar seemed at a loss for a reply, and all three of them were silent as they gathered

around the hatch. She looked at Blue "All set?" The eight-armed blue insectoid nodded. "Okay. On three

I pop the hatch, you hit the shield, and we step out. One, two, three!"

It worked perfectly, especially for a non-security team-she opened the hatch, Blue already extending her

arm and the generator, and the shield formed just beyond the shuttle door, protecting them from the

atmosphere. Blue stepped out first, being careful to keep the shield just overlapping the hatch, and Corsi

followed, then Soloman. The Bynar shut the hatch behind him. Then Corsi took the lead and led the other

two quickly over to the nearest building. The doors were inoperable, of course, but she knew where the

manual override was and it took only a minute for her to flip the lever, pop the doors, and usher the other

two inside. She noticed the head-sized holes in the door and the walls, but set that aside for now-she'd

examine them more closely later.

Once inside, Blue set the generator down on the floor. She and Soloman turned to the consoles, while

Corsi examined the rest of the room. It wasn't a pleasant sight. There were bodies on the floor, all of

them largely decomposed-the air had done the same to them as to the walls, only far worse. The air felt

alive even through the shield and their suits, as the charge transferred to every surface. Details seemed to

waver slightly-Corsi knew it was a side effect of the current in the air, but it made her nervous, and she

tightened her grip on the phaser for reassurance. At least the area seemed secure-no lifesigns, no

movement beyond that shimmer, and no other entrances beside the door they'd used. So once again

Corsi forced herself to wait and watch while the two engineers did their work.

"Systems all check out," Blue announced after several minutes, and Soloman nodded in agreement. "The

shields are functional, at least on this end."

The next step was back outside and around the front of the building, to the emitter array. Once there, it

was obvious even to Corsi what the problem was-the array had a hole the size of a hoverball through it.

"Could you give me a hand here, Commander?"

Corsi did as Blue requested, setting the generator down beside her and the phaser on top where she

could reach it quickly, and among the three of them they managed to wrestle the damaged piece off the

array. Then they trundled it back to the Franklin. Once inside, it took less than an hour for the two

engineers to repair the damage, and only ten more minutes to restore the piece to its place. Soloman than

rebooted the system and restored the shields over the outpost-Corsi always found it creepy to hear him

speaking in computer langauge, interfacing directly with the systems, but she couldn't argue with the

effects. It was another hour before the filtration system had removed all contaminants from the air,

replacing corrosives with breathable elements-she insisted they spend that time safely inside the

shuttlecraft, to be sure. Finally, the Franklin's sensors indicated it was safe to step outside, and they did

so, this time without the portable generator.

Without the haze of BorSitu's atmosphere, the devastation was even worse. Every hole was clearly

defined, and the buildings looked like ancient ruins, ready to crumble at any moment. But the damage

was less than a day old, and Corsi knew that clues were often time-sensitive, so she didn't waste any

time-once she was sure the air was safe she allowed her two companions to go about their assigned

tasks, although she kept a close eye on them. She also scanned for lifesigns-and got a surprising

response.

"We've got survivors!" she said. Soloman looked up, and Blue did as well. "Two lifesigns, human, over

there." Corsi waved her phaser across the square. "Ten meters distance." She glanced up. "That's only

half the size of this square. They're not on the other side-they're at the center." She turned towards the

squat building in the middle of the open area, as did the others.

"That's the power station," Blue confirmed.

"Makes sense," Corsi admitted, leading them toward the building. "You said the generator was showing

as normal. And there aren't any holes in this building. So these two, whoever they are, were in the only

safe place when it happened. Whatever it was."

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