STAR TREK - SCE - 09-12 (Omnibus 3) - Some Assembly Required

Contents

The Riddled Post

by Aaron Rosenberg

Here There Be Monsters

by Keith R.A. DeCandido

Ambush

by Dave Galanter & Greg Brodeur

Some Assembly Required

by Scott Ciencin & Dan Jolley

About the Authors

Look for STAR TREK fiction from Pocket Books

“Any Answer from Starfleet?”

“Just static, sir. I think I’m getting feedback from Beta Argola, though.” Ina’s hands did a coordinated

dance over her console. “It’s possible they got the first message, but I can’t confirm it.”

“We need to reachthem, if no one else,” Gold said, pacing toward the command chair, then motioned

Gomez to his side. “Commander, assuming we didn’t get through to Starfleet, how can we increase the

damage we’re doing to their ships? If we can just disable them long enough to repair warp drive, and we

can break away long enough to be out of jamming range, we can call for reinforcements and head for

Beta Argola.”

Gomez’s brow knitted in thought. “Yes, sir. Increase the damage, hm?”

“I have a ship full of engineers here,” Gold said with a wry smile. “Surely we can put them to use. What

materials do we have aboard that could be used defensively or offensively?”

“Nothing that I can…” She paused. Gold knew that look in her eyes: drip-drop, drip-drop. Engineers

didn’t often have a flood of ideas. Their genius was in gathering the dew from leaves of intelligence and

experience. “Mining equipment,” she said, finally.

“The cargo bays are filled with it. They’re overflowing, in fact.”

“Can you use it?”

Probably not yet quite sure of just how she’d do that, Gomez nodded anyway. “We’ll find a way, sir.”

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the authors’

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Contents

The Riddled Post

by Aaron Rosenberg

Here There Be Monsters

by Keith R.A. DeCandido

Ambush

by Dave Galanter & Greg Brodeur

Some Assembly Required

by Scott Ciencin & Dan Jolley

About the Authors

The Riddled Post

Aaron Rosenberg

Chapter

1

“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 theU.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 nearby that we can call on just in case.”

“Both theFearless and theSugihara 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 and to shield against that 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 theda 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’d

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.

Chapter

2

“Entering BorSitu’s atmosphere,” Blue reported from theFranklin ’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 for 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. TheFranklin ’s engines shut down with a whine, and

they all unbuckled. Corsi had insisted on everyone strapping in before they left theda 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 toward the exit hatch.

“Is that necessary?” Soloman inquired, gesturing toward 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 nonsecurity team. Corsi 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-size 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 hover-ball 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 theFranklin. 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 then

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

speaking in computer language, 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, theFranklin ’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 toward 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.”

Stepping inside, she marveled at the difference. The power station hadn’t been hit by whatever had

caused the holes, and so although its outer walls had been worn down by the air, the inside was fully

intact. It was like stepping out of a sandstorm and into a gleaming steel playground. Corsi wasn’t an

engineer, but she recognized several pieces of equipment around the area—before her eyes were drawn

to the two figures slumped on the floor.

“Damn!” She slapped her communicator out of habit, and was surprised when Gomez responded.

“I linked our badges in through theFranklin, ” Soloman explained. The little Bynar actually sounded

apologetic. “This way they have enough power to get through the atmosphere.”

“I wish you’d told me,” Corsi muttered.

“Told you what? Corsi, what’s your status?”Gomez sounded worried.

“Sorry, not you. Status is good—we’ve got the shields restored, and the air breathable. And we’ve got

two survivors, though they’re both in bad shape. I’ll get them to the shuttlecraft, and then bring them up.

Have Lense standing by.”

“How does the station look, Corsi?”Gomez asked.“Any idea what caused the systems failure?”

Corsi paused in the act of hoisting one of the figures—a stocky middle-aged man—onto her shoulder,

and glanced out through the open door at the holes decorating the other buildings. “Oh, I’ve got a pretty

fair idea.”

Chapter

3

Back on theda Vinci, Duffy waited in the shuttle bay with an impatient Sonya Gomez. As soon as the

Franklin had cleared the atmosphere, they had beamed the two survivors directly to sickbay, where

Lense was working on them.

Corsi’s call had come just as they were finishing up lunch. Sonnie had instructed the computer to route

any calls from the away team to her. It was her way of justifying them indulging in their date.

And it was a date. Just like the old days on theEnterprise. In fact, it was almost exactly like their dates

on theEnterprise, even with all the water that had gone under the bridge in the seven years since they

broke up following her transfer to theOberth. Duffy chose to view this as a good sign for the renewal of

their relationship.

TheFranklin soon settled in next to theda Vinci ’s other shuttle, theArchimedes, and the hatch closed.

Sonnie turned her attention to Corsi as soon as she exited—Duffy wasn’t surprised that the tall blond

security chief had a full report ready for them.

The content of the report was a bit surprising, though, and more than a little alarming. As soon as Corsi

finished, Sonnie called a meeting of all staff, excepting the good doctor.

“We’ve got a problem,” she informed the others when they’d all reached the observation lounge—Gold

was there as well, but he’d deferred to her. “Apparently something took out this outpost by holing the

buildings and letting the outside atmosphere leak in. But the shields themselves weren’t damaged.”

“I thought Pattie said they’d repaired part of the shield,” Carol said.

“No, we repaired a piece of the array that was damaged,” Pattie replied. “The shield itself was fine.”

The cultural expert still looked puzzled, and Pattie explained. “Usually, when a shield is hit, the shield

itself absorbs the damage. It may cause feedback in the controls or the array, shorting out circuits that

have been overloaded, but the shield integrity is what gets hit the most. If you reduce a shield to half its

normal strength, then shut it down, when you turn it back on it’s still at only half-strength until the integrity

has been fully repaired. I replaced part of the array, which had a hole in it, but when we switched the

shields back on they were at full strength. No damage at all.”

Fabian cut in. “So the only thing that knocked them down was that hole.”

“Precisely.”

“Which means something got through the shield itself and then damaged the array,” Carol said. “Okay,

yeah—that’s bad. What can ignore a full-strength shield and then do physical damage to things on the

inside?”

“Nothing. At least, that’s what we thought.” Sonya glanced around. “Which is why we have a problem.

Sure, you can tune a weapon to the same frequency as a shield, and bypass the defenses that way—if

you know the frequency for that particular shield. But that only works with energy weapons, most of

which wouldn’t work in this atmosphere. If someone’s got a way to physically penetrate a shield, without

affecting the shield…”

“We’re talking a major impact on starship combat tactics,” Corsi said. “Shields would be functionally

useless.”

“Ifthat’s what this is,” Duffy said. “I recommend we investigate with a full team.”

“Agreed,” Sonnie said. In fact, she’d already decided on this course of action before the meeting

started, but she also suggested that Duffy make the recommendation and have her agree with it to present

a united front. Duffy had to admit to liking the new Sonya Gomez—after her ordeal on the planet

Sarindar, she had become more sure of herself. Duffy liked the change, especially if it meant more

lunches like today….

She turned to Fabian. “Did you have any luck with those attack scenarios?”

Fabian shook his head. “None so far. I mean, there are ways to hit the outpost from space, although that

atmosphere’s like a natural defense grid—it’ll dull or even stop most attacks from penetrating through to

the surface. But I don’t know anything that can do what Corsi described. I’ll need to get a firsthand look

at the damage.”

She nodded. “That’ll be your job. Soloman, did you have a chance to work on the computers?”

The little Bynar shook his head. “We were concentrating on the shield controls, Commander. I

volunteered to remain behind to examine the rest of the station’s systems, but Lt. Commander Corsi felt

the team should stick together.”

Corsi smoldered at that, but Sonnie defused that quickly. “That was the right choice. We don’t know the

terrain well enough to leave someone there alone. When we head back down, you’ll get to work on that.

First priority is the transporter—if we can get that running again it’ll make all our lives easier. Then check

on the station logs, see if you can get any idea what happened. Duffy, give him a hand—you’re better at

sifting through entries.”

Kieran groaned—he hated research, and Sonnie knew that—but he nodded anyway.

“Pattie, you and I will check out the power station—I want to know why it wasn’t hit. There’s got to be

a reason, and I have a feeling it’s important somehow.” She glanced at the others. “Corsi, continue what

you were doing before—give us a full sweep of the place. Not just possible dangers, but see what their

security systems were, and how they were bypassed. Carol, I want you and Bart to do some digging.

See if you can find anything out about this place, both the planet and the station, and any reasons why

someone might want to put it out of commission. Everybody clear?”

She glanced around once more. Corsi, to Duffy’s total lack of surprise, spoke up. “Commander, I want

a full security team this time.”

“That’s fine. Everyone else, gather what you need—we’ll meet at the shuttle bay in fifteen minutes.”

As everyone got up, Gold said, “Be careful down there, people. We still don’t know a damn thing about

what happened here.”

“We will, sir,” Sonnie said with an encouraging smile.

Chapter

4

Fabian’s first comment, once Pattie had remotely opened a window through the shields and theFranklin

had landed in the shuttle bay, was “Damn!” The others voiced similar sentiments—even the three who’d

already been down seemed a little stunned by the sight before them. But they were all professionals, and

after a minute they shook themselves, unhooked their safety harnesses, grabbed their gear, and set about

on their various assignments. They broke into teams of three, mostly—two S.C.E. team members and

one security guard—with Corsi taking the remaining security guards to do their sweep.

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