Episode 1x02

 

Uncommon Cold (II)

 

Chapter One

 

‘Commander, the Eradicator is firing at the sea,’ Young yelled from the Osiris’ tactical console.

‘Ensign, get us in the air,’ Wright said as he sat back in the central seat. He had been at the rear science console watching the events unfold at the prison.

Wright held on as Larson bypassed several safety protocols, which in other circumstances would have earned him a court martial for endangering lives, and retracted the landing struts while the ship was still on the ground. He engaged the impulse engines as the Osiris plummeted a few feet and spun the ship a hundred and eighty degrees, then flew straight toward the Jumani cruiser at a speed not recommended while on a planet.

‘Young, as soon as we’re within range fire a torpedo at the Eradicator’s power systems.’

‘Aye sir,’ the young tactical officer replied and loaded the torpedo tube.

The Osiris sped across the planet’s surface and soon came across the Eradicator as it dived through the atmosphere toward the Mauna Loa that was at this very moment emerging from the sea, with its shields at maximum.

‘Approaching maximum range,’ Larson said.

‘Fire,’ Wright yelled.

A single quantum torpedo whistled through the air and slammed into the side of the Eradicator, knocking it out of the way of its attack trajectory.

‘Good shot,’ Wright congratulated Young and then turned his attention to the viewscreen where the sea was now clearly visible. ‘What the hell—?’

The Flyer emerged from the water and flew toward the Osiris but nothing followed it.

Larson asked what was on everybody’s lips. ‘Where’s the Winceby?’

‘Wright to Mauna Loa.’

‘Lieutenant Chen here, sir.’

‘Lieutenant, where’s the Captain?’

He heard Chen take a deep breath. ‘Captain Astor and the others were on the Winceby when it slid down to the seabed. They finally got it toward the surface and then the Eradicator fired on them.’

Wright’s anger was bubbling toward the surface. ‘What happened?’ he asked through clenched teeth.

‘The ship slid back to the bottom and I lost contact with them. I couldn’t even detect their lifesigns anymore.’

Wright sighed in helplessness. ‘You got out of there. Which means that we have a second chance to get them out of there.’

His anger was now solely directed at Captain Tyar and the Eradicator.

‘The Eradicator is coming around for another assault,’ Young said from tactical.

‘I don’t suppose he’ll let us fire at his engines again,’ Wright thought aloud.

‘Probably not, sir,’ Larson replied.

‘Sir, they’re firing,’ Young yelled.

A volley of torpedoes slammed into the Osiris’ shields.

‘Hull breach on deck twenty-three,’ Talen’s beta-shift replacement at Operations, Ensign Bartok, said. ‘Emergency bulkheads are holding.’

‘Return fire,’ Wright ordered.

Young fired phasers and torpedoes at the Jumani warship and watched as the Eradicator took hit after hit but still kept coming.

‘His shields are holding,’ she said.

‘How can that be?’ Wright asked. ‘Last time we hit him with less than that and his engines nearly blew.’

‘His repairs were obviously quite extensive in such a short time,’ Young answered with an almost-Vulcan detachment. ‘He’s coming back.’

‘Lieutenant, keep firing.’

‘Aye sir,’ Young replied.

‘Wright to Mauna Loa.’

‘Go ahead, sir.’

‘I want you to go and help Gonzales against that other warship. We’ll take care of the Eradicator. And don’t worry about the Captain, she’ll be okay.’

‘Aye sir,’ Chen replied and manoeuvred the Flyer to head in the direction of the prison.

She didn’t really believe that Astor would be okay, not with Xeris and Talen at each others’ throats. Snowcroft was a good pilot, her hobby was antique spacecraft, but she was still too young an officer to appreciate what power plays between senior officers could do to a fledgling career.

 

The Constitution-class USS Winceby had raised a cloud of dust when it hit the bottom. The Eradicator’s second blast ripped through the hull of the starship and she went sliding toward the seabed again, her forward hull irrevocably damaged. There would now be no way to fly the ship home under its own power. Creative manoeuvring by Snowcroft working the ventral thrusters, now working properly, put the Winceby back on the ridge again but they were now in trouble.

‘Is everyone okay?’ Astor asked as she pulled herself up.

‘Yes, sir,’ Snowcroft answered from the helm control.

‘Talen, Xeris?’ she called over the comlink.

‘We’re fine,’ Xeris replied. ‘The impulse engines are okay but I’m not sure about the warp engines.’

‘Thank you, Commander,’ Astor said. ‘Can we get out of here now?’

‘The forward hull has been compromised in three places. I’ve no idea if she’s even spaceworthy now,’ Talen added.

‘Well, we still need to get out of here.’

‘We’re on the ridge and all the thrusters are now working at better than eighty percent of maximum,’ Xeris told her.

The information on his engineering screens all showed green, even considering the fact that the entire ship was submerged in an inland sea with very murky water. They had all been having trouble seeing but main power, such as it was, had been restored to nearly maximum levels so there was plenty of light for them to see what was going on inside the ship.

‘I’ve got full power,’ Snowcroft said from the helm.

‘Then by all that’s holy, get us out of here,’ Talen screeched from engineering, deafening everybody.

‘Engaging thrusters,’ Snowcroft intoned as she used the antique craft’s manual controls.

The Winceby shuddered, more from the hull breaches than the thrusters, but it finally started rising to the surface and Astor hoped that this would be the last time. She was hungry, had been in the environment suit for hours and was itching to relieve herself. Snowcroft looked uncomfortable too and she was sure that Xeris and Talen would be. She was the captain and had to be strong. Using all her energy reserves she moved to sit in the captain’s chair of the antique starship. Snowcroft, still holding the ship on an ascent course, smiled briefly. Astor didn’t see it and Snowcroft was glad of that as she saw the murkiness recede and daylight start to filter through.

‘We’re approaching the surface,’ Snowcroft said.

‘Astor to Osiris?’

There was no response.

‘Sir, the Eradicator is still there.’

‘Xeris, have we got weapons?’

From engineering she heard a curse, that sounded Romulan. ‘I’m working on it, but the phaser banks took a big hit from that Jumani warship.’

‘I have a feeling you might want to hurry.’

‘Give me sixty seconds,’ Xeris replied.

‘What sort of evasive manoeuvres can we do with this ship?’

‘Minimal ones,’ Snowcroft answered facetiously.

‘Ensign, this is serious,’ Astor retorted, all humour gone from her tone. ‘What can we do with this ship to give Commander Xeris a chance to get the weapons online?’

‘The best I can do with the thrusters, as the impulse engines are now offline, is manoeuvre away from the shots, but that’s about it. We’ve got no shields and the hull has been hopelessly compromised.’

‘Thank you, Ensign, that’s all I needed to know.’

Snowcroft nodded her head just as the Winceby broke through the surface of the inland sea. The sunlight was waning but the fact that Astor could see it was enough. They were lucky not to be stuck on the seabed.

 

‘Commander, need some help,’ Lieutenant Chen said from the Mauna Loa.

‘The warship,’ Gonzales replied and abruptly cut the comm. ‘Thanks.’

‘No problem,’ Chen replied to herself.

She saw the single warship fire what looked like everything it had at the two runabouts and the cargo ship. The Flyer loosed a few microtorpedoes at the warship’s engines and then used the phasers on the weapons ports. The Monongahela joined the Mauna Loa in a combined attack on the weaker of the two warships as the Kanawha quickly approached.

*          *          *

‘Weapons are online,’ Jenson yelled from the cargo ship’s armoury.

McNamara hit the trigger and the ageing hulk of the cargo ship fired plasma charges at the approaching warship.

‘Shields?’ Reich asked as the Rustbucket shuddered.

He heard the boom of an explosive decompression.

‘One more minute,’ Jenson replied.

‘Reich to Gonzales.’

‘Go ahead, Lieutenant.’

‘We’re on our way.’

With the two runabouts, the Flyer and the cargo ship, the Jumani warship decided against continuing to fight and turned tail. ‘Don’t let him get away,’ Gonzales ordered to no one in particular. ‘He’ll be back with reinforcements.’

All four crafts fired shots at the retreating warship and each pilot watched the shields flicker out of existence. The warship exploded in a blinding flash of light and the three Starfleet auxiliary craft scrambled to avoid the debris. The cargo ship was too big to move that quickly and it was hit by several pieces. Reich watched what had been a rather large section of hull twist and cavort toward him and tried in vain to manoeuvre out of the way. He winced and cringed as it hit but looked up to see a smile on McNamara’s face.

‘Jenson got the shields up just in time.’

Reich grinned and then chuckled out loud.

‘Jenson!’

‘Sir?’

‘You saved our butts with those shields.’

‘Don’t ask for any more miracles, sir. I think I’ve used up the day’s quota,’ the security officer said.

‘I wouldn’t dare,’ Reich replied and then opened the comlink to Gonzales. ‘All in one piece, Commander. Can we go now?’

‘We have to rendezvous with the Osiris and it looks like they’re having a little trouble with the Eradicator,’ Gonzales told him.

‘Are my crew safe?’ Cavendish asked.

‘Safe and sound, helped us too. You’ve got a fine crew, Captain.’

On the Kanawha, Cavendish smiled. ‘They’re Starfleet,’ he said cryptically.

Reich laughed and an open comlink between all ships meant that everybody else was too. At least until they saw the Osiris and the Winceby.

‘My ship!’ Cavendish screeched.

‘Kanawha to Osiris.’

‘Gonzales,’ Wright yelled. ‘Don’t talk, just fire.’

Gonzales’ eyes narrowed to slits. ‘All ships, fire,’ she said quietly.

The Eradicator was pounded by microtorpedoes, phaser fire and plasma charges. It shuddered under the strain and the shields, like they had on the last warship, flickered and failed.

‘Cease fire,’ Wright ordered. ‘Captain Tyar, leave now or I will destroy you. You’ve lost one warship today and another is unsalvageable. Isn’t that enough damage?’

‘You will regret this, Starfleet,’ Tyar said and the Eradicator pulled up sharply and headed out of the atmosphere.

Gonzales watched him go. ‘Commander, permission to dock?’

‘Granted, all vessels.’

 

The Osiris returned to the ground and the landing struts made a deep thunk as they made contact. Gonzales was back at tactical and making sure that the Jumani weren’t coming back. Wright was in the captain’s chair, watching the Winceby on the viewscreen. It wasn’t designed for atmospheric flight and Snowcroft was having a hard time keeping her in the air as thousands of gallons of water gushed out from the numerous hull breaches. The bridge and first six decks were clear of water and sea creatures, leaving another seventeen to clear. It was going to take a while.

‘Ensign,’ Astor said. ‘You’ve done enough. Get back to the Osiris and I’ll hold her steady while she drains.’

‘You go, sir. I’m staying until its done.’

‘Sir,’ Talen appeared, he’d climbed up the turboshaft again.

‘Lieutenant, take over from Ensign Snowcroft,’ Astor said in a tone that nobody would argue with. It was her captain’s voice and it was back to full parade-ground volume.

‘Aye sir,’ the Operations officer said.

Snowcroft looked up at Astor sheepishly and then smiled when the captain did the same.

‘Where’s Xeris?’

‘Here,’ the engineer said, climbing onto the bridge.

‘Astor to Wright, three to beam up.’

Talen glanced back as all three suited figures dematerialised in pillars of white light. He was alone on a century-old starship. But at least the temperature was cold enough for him to enjoy. He watched the readouts on his screen. Deck eleven was now clear, almost half the ship. In another twenty minutes the ship should be clear enough to take into orbit, provided the hull didn’t buckle any further.

Astor wasted no time. After stepping off the transporter platform, disposing of her environment suit and changing into a fresh uniform, she went straight to sickbay where Solian Brex, with the aid of his entire medical staff and the Emergency Medical Hologram (Mark III), was attending to the crew of the Winceby. Captain Eric Cavendish was sitting on a biobed as Brex waved a medical tricorder across his body.

‘Captain Cavendish?’ Astor asked as she approached.

Cavendish looked up. ‘Captain Astor?’

Astor nodded.

‘I must thank you for saving my crew.’

‘I’m afraid you’re in better condition than your ship.’

‘How bad is she?’

‘Hull breaches on most decks, severe damage to the infrastructure. Warp and impulse engines are surprisingly intact.’

‘So she’s not too bad, after all,’ Cavendish replied.

‘Apart from the fact that her class was retired seventy years ago.’

Cavendish nodded, realising he was out of his time period. ‘Doctor, you’ve been waving that thing at me for nearly ten minutes. Have you found anything wrong with me?’

‘That’s just it, I haven’t,’ Brex answered. ‘You’re in fantastic shape. Apart from a little dehydration.’

‘Doc?’ Astor asked.

‘Clean them up and get them out,’ Brex said with a grin.

‘We haven’t got enough quarters, you’ll have to double up,’ Astor told Cavendish.

‘That’s not a problem, Captain. We’ve been together for a long time. A little longer won’t make much difference, unless our ship is ready.’

‘Sorry, no. We’ll have to leave her here for now.’

‘As you wish,’ Cavendish demurred.

Before Astor could say more, her combadge chirped.

‘Go ahead, Commander.’

‘Sir, we’re receiving a priority one distress call from the Jumani homeworld. A priority alert to anyone in the area. They’re under attack.’

Astor looked at Brex and Cavendish. ‘You’ll have to remain with us for a little while. Red alert; all hands to battle stations.’

 

 

Chapter Two

 

Captain’s Log, stardate 58164.1:

Captain Cavendish and the crew of the USS Winceby are guests aboard the Osiris for the time being but the ship is to remain on Abanaki XV for now as the Osiris is responding to an urgent distress call from the Jumani homeworld. From what we have been able to gather, a single alien craft – unknown at this point – fired a number of weapons into the atmosphere of Jumani Prime. We don’t know what damage this has caused but the Jumani are private people. For them to ask for help from anybody means that it is a grave situation indeed. I only hope that we can help them, and maybe it will lead to the end of the war that they have been fighting with the Abanaki. But that is a secondary consideration. Our primary goal will be to help them stave off whatever disaster they have been beset by.

 

For most of the two hours that it took to get to the Jumani system, Captain Elizabeth Astor sat in her quarters going over the information in the LCARS database about the Jumani and to be quite honest there wasn’t that much. She was thinking that Captain Stapleton of the Malvinas did the most cursory of inspections when he made his foray into the sector about eight years ago and the fact of the matter was that what was happening now might not have been if Stapleton had done his job properly. He had been killed in the war, as had so many others, so she decided not to think ill of the dead. She was trying to think of what she might be able to do to help when the door chimed. She turned off the LCARS access and moved to face the door.

‘Enter.’

The doors slid open to reveal Lieutenant Commander Xeris, her Romulan chief engineer, in a fresh uniform.

‘Captain, I wish to discuss a private matter with you,’ he said stoically, making him seem more Vulcan.

Astor raised her eyebrows. From what she knew of the only Romulan in Starfleet he was a very private man and told no one anything of his past.

‘Is it important?’ she asked, slightly impatient.

‘I believe so,’ Xeris answered, taken aback by the captain’s tone.

‘Well?’

‘I have information regarding the Jumani Militia.’

Astor looked at him as if he’d sprouted wings. ‘What kind of information?’

Xeris looked uncomfortable and shifted positions.

‘Commander?’ Astor asked again, raising her voice.

‘Someone in Starfleet Command knew about the Winceby,’ he said matter-of-factly.

‘And he did nothing about it?’ Astor asked, wondering who it could have been.

‘He kept an eye on the situation.’

Astor nearly exploded. ‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’

Xeris realised that he was going to have to tell her everything if she was going to believe him, and he needed her to. ‘I was part of…Section 31,’ He finally admitted.

Astor nodded her head in comprehension as part of the truth dawned. ‘I suppose I should understand that, you being the only Romulan in Starfleet.’

He ignored that jibe, had heard it before, numerous times. ‘As you know, Section 31 went underground after the fiasco with the Founder disease and many operatives were released from the section, including me. I knew about the Winceby and the Jumani-Abanaki war. They wanted to see if either race came up with a new weapon which they then planned to use against the Dominion.’

‘And then?’

‘Nothing, it was a low priority.’

‘When the war ended?’

‘Section 31 left them alone, thought that as they hadn’t come up with anything the war had probably ended.’

‘Why are you telling me this, Commander? If you’ve been released then there’s no need for me to know.’

‘My loyalty lies with you now, Captain. Not with Section 31 anymore, and we’re heading into…another dangerous situation. It could be related.’

‘In that case, you should have told me a lot earlier. Is that why you were assigned to this ship, on this mission?’

‘No ma’am. I was assigned to the Osiris because of the SCE background. Admiral Kelley thought that as the ship would be in a sector where no help would be available then you should have an engineer capable of jury-rigging anything. He fell short of assigning a full SCE detail.’

Astor smiled grimly at her uncle’s manoeuvring. ‘How can I know that you won’t switch sides again?’

Xeris looked at her and raised an eyebrow. ‘You don’t,’ he said honestly. ‘I guess you’ll just have trust me.’

Astor lowered her head and sighed. ‘I used to have trouble trusting Romulans, especially knowing their history with Earth and Starfleet. Then they joined the alliance, yes they were still two-faced, but they dis help us to defeat the Dominion. Okay, Commander. You’ve told me. I’m not going to put this in any official record, not even in my personal log. But I want to know now if you know anything else about the Jumani or the Abanaki, and I want to know now.’

Xeris shook his head. ‘I only know what I’ve told you. But I can tell you that the Jumani Militia will not listen to reason, I know that for sure.’

‘How can you be so sure about that, Commander?’

‘Section 31 engineered the coup that toppled the legitimate government. They killed the Jumani Premier and allowed the Supreme Commander of the Militia take power, and then control the Jumani however he wanted. The Militia double-crossed them and did their own thing. Section 31 was trying to figure out a way to fix the problem when the disease for the Founders was created and this sector was then forgotten about.’

Astor nodded and tried to digest the information. ‘Dismissed.’

Xeris strode from the room and walked to the turbolift a broken man. He had hoped that telling Astor about Section 31’s actions would make her change her mind about helping them. They should be allowed to get on with their lives without interference from the Alpha Quadrant’s do-gooders, but here he was, working for the do-gooders and trying to change the system from the inside. Astor stood at the window of her ready room watching the stars streak past at speeds that once boggled the minds and sometimes still do. She was wondering just what she could do to convince the Jumani Militia to end their war.

But there was also the distress call that they had received and she had to decide whether it was an ambush or not. Astor watched the stars and thought long and hard about the Jumani-Abanaki war, Xeris’ information about Section 31, and whether or not that information would be helpful to the Supreme Commander of the Militia in ending the war. Before she could make up her mind on any issue, however, her combadge alerted her to more immediate problems.

‘Captain to the bridge,’ Wright said suddenly and she detected an urgency in his tone. The doors opened to the bridge and Wright was sitting in the captain’s chair, staring at something on her screen.

‘What is it?’

‘We’ve got the complete distress call from Jumani Prime.’

‘Play it again.’

 

“This is the Supreme Commander of the Jumani Militia to any ship in range. We have been attacked by an unknown vessel. They released some kind of biological agent into our atmosphere and the entire population is infected. We request assistance…This is the Supreme Commander of the Jumani Militia to any ship—”

 

‘It keeps repeating,’ Gonzales told her. ‘The message is at least three hours old.’

‘It took us two hours to get here.’ Astor said but wasted no time in deciding on a course of action.

‘Contact the Supreme Commander. Federation Starship Osiris responding. Ensign, put us in a high orbit.’

‘Aye sir.’

‘Are we getting a signal from the planet?’

‘No sir,’ Gonzales answered. ‘But I’m picking up a massive subspace distortion, it looks like every vessel the Jumani have is converging on the origin of that message, at their homeworld.’

Astor was looking in her direction and gulped. ‘Scan for every ship in the immediate area. I want to know who did this.’

‘Aye sir,’ the tactical officer replied and set about distinguishing between all the warp signatures that she was getting.

‘We’re in a high orbit, Captain,’ Larson told her.

The Osiris was greeted by a horrific sight. More than thirty vessels dropped out of warp seconds after they did and were firing at any ship that left the surface. Astor watched, helpless, as six small pleasure craft were vaporised by the Militia cruisers and warships.

‘Open a channel to the lead ship.’

‘This is Captain Ulit of the Annihilator,’ came the response. ‘This is internal problem, you are advised to withdraw.’

‘I am Captain Astor of the Federation starship Osiris. We’re responding to the distress call.’

Ulit looked lost for a second but then hung his head and admitted the truth. ‘We have no way to combat biological agents, not on this magnitude.’

‘We do,’ Astor replied quickly without hesitation, without thinking about the ramifications. ‘I can assemble a team to try to find a cure.’

Ulit looked at her. ‘Go ahead. I will contact the Supreme Commander.’

Astor watched Ulit’s face before the screen faded back to the orbiting ships. She waited no more than a second before organising her people. ‘Astor to sickbay.’

‘Brex here, Captain,’ the doctor replied and sounded a little harried, he had probably only just finished treating the Winceby crew.

‘Assemble your best people. We’ve got a planetary case of biological warfare to deal with.’

Brex sounded surprised when he answered. ‘A planetary case?’

‘Yes, Doctor, I don’t know how many people yet, but the Supreme Commander tells me that the entire population is infected.’

 ‘Aye sir, permission to take the Mauna Loa.’

‘Granted, you’ll wear full biohazard gear.’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Have you got any qualified pilots on your medical staff?’

‘Yes sir, three.’

‘Take at least one with you. You can have all the resources in the sector at your disposal.’

‘I’ll be ready in ten minutes, Captain.’

The Bolian tapped his combadge again to close the link and then turned to his staff. He gestured for them all to follow him into the relatively small, and rarely used, situation room. Because of the size of the Osiris the medical staff consisted of five doctors and about twenty nurses, all of which would be involved in finding a cure.

‘Computer, activate Emergency Medical Hologram.’

‘What is the matter, Doctor?’

‘Ladies, gentlemen and hologram, we have a serious situation brewing on the surface of Jumani Prime. An alien race has seeded the atmosphere with a biological agent that has infected the entire population of the planet.’

Derek Stryker, a junior grade Lieutenant and doctor, asked the most important question. ‘Was it genetically engineered?’

‘Considering the scale of the attack, I would say yes,’ Brex answered. ‘We are to wear full biohazard gear while on the surface and we’ll take whatever we can down to the surface to aid in our search for the cure.’

‘What if we can’t find one?’ asked the pessimistic doctor, Lieutenant Eugene Carson.

‘Then a planetful of people die, and I’m not willing to accede defeat before we’ve even begun,’ Brex answered.

‘Where do we start?’ asked the head nurse, Janice Gold.

Brex smiled. ‘Gather everything useful in combating plagues that can be taken down to the surface and prep the Mauna Loa, both Runabouts too. We may need them as triage centres.’

‘Yes sir,’ the doctors and nurses echoed each other.

‘Dismissed.’

 

Astor slumped down in her chair and watched the scene unfold below. The Jumani Militia ships, all forty of them, were taking up positions around the planet as a cordon to prevent anything entering or leaving the atmosphere. Ulit’s warship, the Annihilator, was acting as a control centre in high orbit. She watched her bridge officers as they moved to individual tasks. Most had nothing to do as this was almost completely a medical matter, all she would have to do is protect them on the surface.

‘Gonzales, send a security team with the doctors.’

‘Aye sir,’ the tactical officer replied and tapped her combadge. ‘Lieutenant Reich, pick a team and follow the doctors when they go to the surface, full biohazard gear. You may be pulled in to help them, do what they ask. I’ll be joining you shortly.’

‘Aye sir,’ Reich answered.

‘You’ll be joining them?’ Astor asked, turning to face her.

‘Yes sir,’ Gonzales replied. ‘If you want to do a job properly, and all that.’

‘Excellent,’ Astor replied and turned back to the viewscreen.

Brex, three of his two doctors and eleven of the twenty nurses made their way through the pristine corridors of the Osiris toward the main shuttlebay. The Heliopolis-class starship had three large shuttle bays. Shuttlebay one had the Flyer and Runabouts and Shuttlebay two had the three shuttlecraft. Shuttlebay three was dedicated to the use of any craft that the crew might build for specific uses, like the Delta Flyer was for Voyager. The shuttlebay doors opened and they walked in. Brex stopped as he saw Astor and Lieutenant Reich, with a full security detail.

‘Captain?’

Astor looked at the fifteen people ahead of her.

‘Because of the number of people with you, and those that will accompany you,’ she indicated the security people, ‘you will take the Mauna Loa and both runabouts.’

‘Captain,’ Brex replied. ‘What if something should happen to someone on board, they would be infected.’

‘That’s why three ships are going. You need to hurry, I’ve heard on the Jumani News Service that more than a thousand people have died, and more are in what they are calling the final stages.’

Brex looked at his staff. ‘Fast gestation period’

‘Definitely genetically engineered,’ Stryker agreed.

‘Where is the best place to land on the surface?’ Brex asked as he climbed aboard the Flyer with his equipment.

‘The central square in the capital city,’ Astor replied. ‘The coordinates have been downloaded to each craft.’

‘Thank you, Captain. Stryker, take the Kanawha. Beaujolais, take the Monongahela.’

‘Aye sir,’ both men replied and led their small contingent of medical personnel to their respective craft.

Astor returned to the bridge and sat in the chair just as Brex’s voice came over the comm.

‘Mauna Loa to bridge, request permission to depart.’

‘Kanawha to bridge, request permission to depart.’

‘Monongahela to bridge, request permission to depart.’

‘Bridge to all vessels, you are cleared for immediate departure. Godspeed,’ Wright answered, as the executive officer and Chief of Flight Operations.

‘Acknowledged,’ Brex replied.

Moments later the Flyer, piloted by Lieutenant Reich, flew from the shuttlebay and headed for the surface. A minute later the Kanawha emerged from the shuttlebay and a minute after that the Monongahela followed suit. Astor watched the three support craft make their way to the surface and then contacted Ulit on the Annihilator to ask a very important question.

‘What is the infection rate?’ she asked.

‘From the information that is coming in from the surface, the infection rate is one hundred percent,’ Ulit answered. ‘No one has been spared.’

‘Has it spread outward from the capital city?’

‘Yes, forty kilometres in every direction, so far. All aircraft have been grounded but mass panic is setting in. Your people could be in danger.’

‘My people can take care of themselves, we have had far too much experience in this area in our history and have learned to adapt to each situation.’

‘Your people are indeed capable of incredible feats, I’ve heard what you did in the Abanaki system, and I must say, that I’m glad we are not your enemies, Captain.’

‘We are enemies with no one unless they give us cause to.’

Ulit raised his eyebrows in surprise. ‘But you have just had a war?’

Astor sighed. ‘We tried diplomacy but the Dominion were run a race called the Founders, who believed that Solids—people who can have many forms—represented a threat to them and they intended to wipe us out. They believed that the galaxy was for them and no one else.’

Ulit nodded in comprehension. ‘There are many races in the universe like that, Captain. You were unfortunate to come across such a powerful one. Even in this sector there are one or two races like that, with luck you will not come across them.’

 

 

Chapter Three

 

The Mauna Loa set down in the central square of the unimaginatively-titled capital city, Jumani City. There were hundreds of people in and near the square lying against pillars or writhing on the ground in extreme pain. Others were being turned away from buildings that had a very familiar caduceus-like symbol denoting it as a hospital. Brex was already in his Biohazard Suit and the others on board the Flyer were getting into theirs. He watched as the two runabouts landed to the left and right, also in the central square.

‘This looks bad,’ Brex said over an active comlink between the vessels. ‘I’ve never seen anything like this, not even during the war.’

‘I’ll take air samples and beam them back to the ship for the EMH to take a look at,’ Doctor Stryker told his boss.

‘It looks like we’ll have our work cut out for us,’ Brex added. ‘Good work, Derek. Let me know the moment you’ve got anything.

‘Aye sir.’

‘Look at each person you find, hopefully in all stages of the disease. Take all the readings you can,’ Brex ordered. ‘I don’t want to go back to the ship until we have something to build an antiserum with.’

‘Aye sir,’ the team answered.

Brex stepped into the airlock and then opened the hatch once it had cycled through. The others followed and they were soon inundated by Jumani people wanting help in their last moments. They looked around and the true horror of the situation started to sink in. Everybody in the immediate area was coughing, spluttering, writhing and moaning. All were dying and Brex almost choked.

‘Everybody split up,’ Brex ordered. ‘I’m going to the Supreme Commander and his staff, but I will still be taking all the readings I can. Link up with the Mauna Loa and transfer all the data to the Osiris when you get it, the EMH can do the sifting.’

‘Sir, I’ll go to the hospital and see if the doctors have anything on this thing,’ Stryker added.

Brex sighed. ‘I don’t need to know where you’re all going. Just go. Meet back up in two hours or at least use your combadge to call in.’

He stalked off in the direction of the Headquarters of the Jumani Militia and left the others to organise themselves. He had barely gone a few steps when he heard hurried footsteps behind him.

‘Sir, you’re not to go anywhere without a security escort,’ Lieutenant Reich said as he caught up to the Bolian.

‘I’m a doctor, not a security risk,’ Brex spat back.

‘Captain’s orders.’

Brex sighed again. ‘Fine, just don’t get in the way. And if I want you to help, you will, got it?’

‘Yes sir,’ Reich answered. ‘I’ve been briefed on the situation.’

Brex nodded and continued his brisk stalk to the Jumani Militia Headquarters. Turning back, briefly, he could see that every doctor and nurse were covered by a security officer. The nurses were in pairs, as they usually worked on special projects, and a security officer covered them too. The large doors opened and a man with a strong bearing and wearing what was obviously a high-ranking military uniform stepped out. What surprised him most though was the fact that this man, the leader of his people, was not ill. He did not seem to have any of the effects of the plague that was sweeping his world. Reich stood in the background, with his weapon at his side. Trew took no notice of him.

‘Supreme Commander?’ Brex asked.

‘Are you from the Osiris?’ the man asked.

‘Yes sir.’

‘Good, then you can examine me. I am General Trew, the Supreme Commander of the Jumani Militia. Perhaps we should talk in private.’

‘I’m not here to talk, General. I am here to find a cure for the plague that is killing your people. The most important question I have to ask, is why you’re not infected?’

‘I don’t know the answer to that. As far as I know I am the only person that is not, but that would mean that I am not Jumani.’

‘Not necessarily, General. In my experience it is possible that you may have an immunity to it for some reason.’

‘What reason?’

‘A childhood disease, perhaps?’

‘No, I had none of the usual childhood diseases that affect my people. I know some others that were not affected either.’

‘Where are they now?’

‘Spread across the planet in all manner of positions.’

Brex tapped his combadge. ‘If any of you come across people that aren’t infected I suggest you take blood samples and get the EMH to look at them immediately. It could be a clue.’

He then took a blood sample from the General and waved his medical tricorder over it. The plague was present but in much smaller amounts than would have been normal.

‘Thank you General, I will now look at those staff still present.’

‘And do what?’ Trew asked, on the defensive.

‘Take blood samples from them, and then analyse them using the powerful computer on the Osiris.’

‘And the computer will come up with a cure?’

‘It’s more complicated than that, General.’

‘Then hurry, my people are dying around me.’

‘I will do whatever I can, General. But I must get on.’

‘Dismissed, Doctor.’

Trew then turned away and went back to his private office. Brex walked back to where Reich was.

‘Doc?’

‘There is something very strange going on here,’ Brex answered. ‘Something is niggling at my mind but I’m not sure what. A familiarity with the symptoms and also the reason why the General and some others aren’t infected.’

‘There are more not infected?’

‘Yes, Lieutenant. We must hurry. I have a feeling that whoever did this will return to make sure that they did the job right.’

 

‘Captain, I’ve got something,’ Gonzales said just before she was going to beam down to the surface.

‘What is it?’ Astor asked, jumping from her seat and striding to the tactical station.

‘I don’t recognise the warp signature,’ she answered. ‘But it’s definitely not Jumani.’

‘Hail the Annihilator.’

‘Captain, do you have something?’ Ulit asked.

‘We have found a warp signature that is not Jumani,’ Astor answered.

‘Send it to me, I will see if it matches anything in our databases.’

Gonzales did so and he let out a string of curses. ‘It is the ship of the Xegnotin Sovereignty.’

‘The who?’ Gonzales asked, immediately on the defensive.

‘Nearly two millennia ago the Xegnotin occupied the majority of this sector but an extrasolar comet impacted their homeworld and they were nearly wiped out by a plague that the comet contained. They have lived nomadically since and believe that other races in this sector were responsible for their problems. Over the last few hundred years they have attacked colonies in the sector with viruses that were relatively easy to treat. But they have never done something on this kind of scale.’

‘Could it be a rogue group?’ Astor asked, thinking about the attack on one of  Bajor’s moons by the Cardassians during the Occupation.

‘They’re all rogue groups, Captain,’ Ulit answered. ‘They have a rule that they live by. The precept of biological superiority. Basically they believe that to become biologically superior they must eliminate all other sentient lifeforms.’

Astor’s mind couldn’t really comprehend such a dangerous mentality. ‘Is there anything that we can do?’

‘Kill them all,’ Ulit answered without hesitation.

‘That would make us as bad as them, Captain. There must be a diplomatic solution.’

‘As I’m sure you’re aware, diplomacy sometimes fails.’

‘Sir, the plasma decay is increasing. We may never find them again,’ Gonzales interrupted.

‘We have to stay in orbit, Brex is using the computer to help find a cure,’ Astor thought aloud. ‘Commander, prep a shuttlecraft and take Gonzales with you. Find the Xegnotin and try to get an antidote.’

‘Aye sir.’

‘You are being foolish, Captain. The Xegnotin will not listen to reason,’ Ulit advised her.

‘That is as it may be, but I will still try, for your sakes,’ Astor replied and made the cutting gesture to Gonzales.

Privately, Gonzales agreed with Ulit but she had the feeling that he was leaving something out. But there was no need to mention it because she was sure that Astor noticed it too.

‘Yes, Commander, I know he’s hiding something,’ she said to Wright. ‘But until we know what that is, we go on the fact that everyone is as innocent as everybody else.’

‘Aye sir.’

‘Gonzales—’

‘We’ll take the Heisenberg,’ the Betazoid replied. ‘It’s already been outfitted with the new technology.’

‘What new technology?’ Wright asked.

Gonzales smiled. ‘The Heisenberg has been fitted with an ablative hull generator and quantum microtorpedo launchers. Xeris was working on something else, but I’m not sure what it was.’

‘Ablative hull generator?’ Wright asked.

‘Courtesy of Voyager,’ Gonzales answered.

‘Ah yes,’ Astor replied. ‘The temporal visit by Admiral Janeway.’

‘I think I remember reading that report,’ Wright said.

‘Get going, both of you,’ Astor told them. ‘While Dr Brex is working on finding a cure, you have to track this ship down and ask them nicely for an antidote.’

‘Providing that they actually made one,’ Larson murmured from the helm console.

‘We must work on the basis that they did,’ Astor admonished him the helmsman.

Gonzales and Wright entered the turbolift.

 

In the Osiris’ sickbay Doctor Mikhail Kornilov was busy analysing the data streaming in from the surface, with the EMH looking over his shoulder. Blood samples were being analysed by the massive medical computer as air samples were coming in from the surface.

‘Is there anything I can do?’ the EMH asked. ‘I am unfamiliar with microbiology.’

Kornilov smiled. The learning-curve EMH Mark III was far superior from the arrogant Mark I and the gormless Mark II. ‘Let me know what the blood samples tell you about the disease.’

The EMH, that unlike his counterpart on the Saber-class SCE ship USS da Vinci, did not have a name. But the crew were making their choices known and the senior officers would pick the most common or the one they think most suited the EMH’s unique personality—another new design feature of the Mark III. He walked over to the primary diagnostic console and watched the data scroll across the screen. It took him a few moments to see what they were trying to tell him, after all he was only a third year intern with all the textual knowledge but not the real life knowledge that the Marks I and II had.

‘Doctor, there are genetic discrepancies between General Trew and some of the other people that the samples were taken from.’

Kornilov joined the EMH and whistled. ‘They almost look like two distinct species.’

‘Is this important?’

‘Quite possibly.’ Kornilov tapped his combadge. ‘Sickbay to Brex.’

‘Go ahead.’

‘The EMH, we really have to find a name for him, has found a genetic dissimilarity between the General and those that have been infected.’

‘Bloody hell,’ Brex screeched. ‘I knew I recognised something familiar. Tell me, Mikhail, does General Trew have a less-advanced brain structure than the others?’

‘Not really, the brain patterns of both species seem to be nearly identical. But the genetics are different, almost subspecies.’

‘Thank you, Mikhail. I need to check something.’

‘Sir?’

‘You know I am interested in the work of Doctor Phlox, the Denobulan doctor of the Enterprise NX-01, from the mid twenty-second century?’

‘Yes, Doctor.’

‘Well, Phlox encountered something similar. I want to know what happened on that situation. Because there, like here, it would appear that both species—or subspecies—evolved on the same planet, alongside each other.’

Brex was back on board the Mauna Loa, and pleased that the advanced biofilters made sure that the disease did not get cycled though the airlock. He got access to the massive LCARS database and did a search for the Denobulan doctor of the Enterprise. He skim read until he found the relevant mission report. The Valakians and the Menk had evolved on Valakis and the Valakians had contracted a genetic illness but the Menk had not, they were evolving and could not do so with the Valakians there.

Phlox had used Menk DNA to find a cure for the Valakians but advised Captain Archer to let them die, as it was the natural course of evolution for them. Archer hadn’t given them the cure but it had haunted him for many weeks. This situation, though similar, was different. The genetic differences were not as pronounced as they were then. It made Brex think of the Xindi, there were five distinct subspecies and all had similar DNA.

‘Brex to Astor.’

‘Go ahead, Doctor.’

‘The Jumani are actually two species, one is infected and the other is not, whoever did this didn’t know about the differences. I might be able to use the other species to create a cure. It all depends on whether the other species has an antibody. I’ll be checking that out now.’

‘Good work, Doctor. Keep me informed. Astor out.’

Brex exited the Flyer and saw a house about five hundred metres away with a child playing in the street quite happily, and showing no symptoms other than a cough. He walked over, with Reich in close proximity, and knelt beside the child. The child was lying on the ground clutching his stomach and Brex took out his tricorder. Before he could make a cursory examination a woman appeared from inside the house and snatched the child up.

‘Excuse me, ma’am,’ Brex said as politely as possible.

The woman caught sight of his blue skin and screamed but no one came over she glanced around nervously.

‘I’m here to help,’ Brex tried his best to stay calm. ‘You don’t seem to be infected.’

‘I’m not,’ she screeched at him. ‘And I don’t know why my child is. I’m the only one that will survive.’

Brex elected not to tell her that General Trew would also survive. ‘Let me take a blood sample from you. You may be the saviour of your people. I would like to take a sample of his blood too, if that’s okay.’

She looked shocked by that statement but held out an arm. Brex took a sample and placed it in a special pouch on the biohazard suit. She then obediently lifted the child up and Brex took a sample from him too. The woman strode inside clutching her child and Brex ran to the Mauna Loa. Once inside he contacted Kornilov again.

‘What have you got for me this time?’

‘I want you to analyse these samples and tell me what you find, quick as you can. It could be important,’ Brex said and sent the digital samples.

‘Aye sir, I’ve got the samples.’

 

 

Chapter Four

 

Brex waited impatiently for the results. Patience was not a virtue of his race but he had learned it over the years while in Starfleet. He’d grown up on Earth with children of many races and learned that some of them were even less patient than he. Vulcan children were known to be especially impatient (though they admitted not) with Human children and Brex had often come to the Humans’ aid.

‘Brex to Kornilov, what’s taking so long?’ He hadn’t quite mastered patience.

‘I was just about to call you, sir,’ Kornilov answered.

‘Well?’

‘The woman belongs to the same subspecies of Jumani, but the child is mixed.’

‘Both species?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘But the usual Jumani subspecies are the more dominant genes?’

‘That’s what it looks like, sir.’

‘Alright, what do the antibodies look like in the mother and child?’

‘The mother’s antibodies are minimal for the disease but the child has got oodles of them.’

‘Oodles?’ Brex asked. ‘Is that a technical term?’

‘Sorry, sir. There are thousands of antibodies in the child’s body. We’ll need a bigger sample from him.’

‘There may be another way,’ Brex thought aloud. ‘Other mixed children might also have high antibody counts. If we can get blood samples from all of them we might have a good chance of coming up with an antidote.’

‘Does the General know about the two species?’

‘No, but the doctors might.’

‘Are you sure the General doesn’t, sir. It might be that the others—in this case the healthy ones—are a lower caste than the others and the General isn’t acknowledging them,’ Kornilov said.

‘Good point. What’s the death toll so far?’

‘Fifteen thousand dead and another hundred million infected.’

‘It’s spreading quickly?’

‘Yes sir, two hundred kilometres in every direction from the capital city.’

‘We’ll need to come up with an antidote quickly and then find a way to manufacture enough of it for the entire planet.’

‘We can’t do that alone, sir.’

‘I know, we’ll have to get other planets manufacturing it as well, and quickly. Do what you can up there. I’m going to find other samples. And tell everyone else to do the same.’

‘Aye sir.’

‘Brex out.’

 

The Type-XII shuttlecraft was currently the most advanced in Starfleet, the sleekest fastest craft of its size and Commander Aaron Wright was sitting in the pilot’s chair hurtling through the cosmos at speeds exceeding warp nine, trying to track down the Xegnotin ship that seeded the plague on the Jumani homeworld. Lieutenant Commander Sheena Gonzales was making sure that all the shuttle’s tactical systems—both defensive and offensive—were operating at peak efficiency, just in case the Xegnotin didn’t like her superior’s diplomatic skills.

‘Plasma decay rate is increasing, sir. We’re losing them.’

Wright snorted and Gonzales recognised it as his incredulous snort. ‘We’re travelling at speeds close to warp ten and we can’t catch them, what have they got, transwarp drive?’

‘As far as we know,’ Gonzales hastened to reply, ‘only the Borg had transwarp technology and Captain Janeway put a stop to that for quite some time.’

‘Like a century,’ Wright added with a smile. ‘Well, they’ve certainly got something, what about the slipstream drive that Janeway discovered?’

‘No one in the Alpha Quadrant has been able to make it work,’ Gonzales answered. ‘Not that I’ve heard, anyway.’

‘Well, we’ll need to find them soon or this mission will be a total washout.’

As if on cue, Gonzales made the statement that they both wanted to hear. ‘I’m picking up a ship on long range sensors.’

‘Does it match the Xegnotin ship that you picked up on the Osiris?’

‘Sensors aren’t going to be brilliant at this distance, can we increase speed?’

‘We’re already at nine-point-nine-seven-five,’ Wright answered, ‘I’ll see what I can do.’

Thirty seconds later the Heisenberg threatened to tear itself apart as the shuttlecraft lurched suddenly.

‘It’s definitely the same ship, intercept in eleven minutes at current speed but we’ll be on their sensors in three.’

‘Warp nine-point-nine-eight-three,’ Wright told himself aloud.

‘Xeris will have a fit if you screw up his engines.’

‘I’m sure, but the Romulans are known to have tempers.’

Gonzales decided to try and get the truth from her superior as they were nowhere near the Osiris. ‘Why don’t you like him and what do most of the crew have against him?’

Wright turned to her. ‘He was stationed on the USS Galileo, an SCE ship, during the Dominion war. A Founder got aboard and sabotaged the ship. Xeris ran, he was the commanding officer of the SCE personnel on board, and they were all killed. No Starfleet officer runs from battle, he’s a coward.’

‘Is that it?’

‘At the end of the war he was transferred to another SCE ship, the USS Musgrave where he was stationed for a year and a half, during which time he sabotaged the ship himself for reasons that are unknown. He was court-martialled but nothing came of it, he was acquitted but the crew knew that it was him. They believed that he had friends in high places who got him off.’

‘Then he was transferred to the Osiris?’

‘Supposedly because we’d be too far out for help to arrive quickly and an SCE engineer would be a good idea.’

‘Has he not been useful?’

‘Yes he has,’ Wright answered. ‘But I still don’t trust him, and as chief of security you should keep an eye on him.’

Gonzales narrowed her eyes at her commanding officer. ‘Commander, he is a member of this crew and until such a time as he gives me proof that he should not be trusted, I will trust him. I find it incomprehensible that you do not.’

‘He’s a Romulan!’

‘And prejudice caused genocide on Earth a few centuries ago,’ Gonzales shot back. ‘I had hoped that humanity had left that thinking behind. Obviously I was wrong.’

Wright whirled on her. ‘I am not prejudiced against him, Commander, and I resent the implication. What I meant was that Romulans are known to be untrustworthy.’

‘Only those in the military. I have met several, non-military Romulans, who are as pleasant as you are.’

‘I’m sorry, Commander. I just don’t trust him.’

‘We’re approaching the Xegnotin ship, Commander,’ Gonzales said, pulling them both back to the mission at hand.

‘Good work,’ Wright replied, channelling his anger toward the Xegnotin. Hopefully they weren’t telepathic and wouldn’t notice the anger.

‘Intercept in thirty seconds.’

‘Hail them,’ Wright said as he cut the warp engines and slowed to impulse speeds. ‘The ship is on screen.’

‘No response.’

The Xegnotin starship looked like some kind of insect, but it was definitely an alien ship. Ulit had not been able to provide them with a likeness of the Xegnotin Prowler but this fit the bill as well as anything else.

‘How close are they?’ Wright asked.

‘Four hundred million kilometres,’ Gonzales answered.

‘Hail them again.’

Gonzales did so but waited just ten seconds for them to respond. ‘No response.’

Wright held back a smile. Starfleet tactical officers thought that if someone didn’t respond within five or ten seconds then they were hostile. But these aliens definitely were. He thought for a mere second or two and then entered into a course of action.

‘Open a channel.’

‘Channel open.’

‘This is Commander Wright of the Federation vessel Heisenberg. You are trespassing in Federation territory. Withdraw or you will be destroyed.’

‘Sir?’

‘What is it?’

‘Do we have the authority to destroy them?’

‘They’ve committed an act of aggression against an ally of the Federation,’ Wright answered.

Gonzales nodded. ‘They’re not responding,’ she said. ‘We’re getting something,’ she added.

‘A response?’ Wright asked. He slapped his hands to his ears when a high-pitched clicking and clacking sound came through the speakers. ‘What is that?’

‘A language,’ Gonzales replied harshly. ‘The universal translator is doing its job.’

‘Hail them again,’ he said when the noise died down.

‘The UT has almost—’

‘This is Geyt of the Xegnotin Sovereignty. You dare to approach one of our vessels?’

Wright sighed. ‘We believe that one of your vessels attacked a planetful of people and we were hoping that we might be able to ask why.’

‘What planet?’ Geyt asked.

‘He’s charging weapons,’ Gonzales spoke quietly.

‘The Jumani homeworld.’

‘This is Xegnotin territory, Commander. The Jumani are within our boundaries.’

‘The Federation expanded into this territory nearly eight years ago,’ Wright told the Xegnotin Captain. ‘But why did you attack the Jumani?’

‘This is our space,’ Geyt yelled. ‘We intend to take it back from those who nearly wiped us out many years ago. I am only following orders.’

‘Have you personally ever met the Jumani?’ Wright asked, thinking about Gonzales’ prejudice speech.

‘No.’

‘Then how do you know that the attack was from them?’

‘The comet that decimated our worlds originated from their system,’ Geyt replied. ‘All our scientific evidence confirms it.’

Wright sighed as he believed that he knew what had happened. ‘On what scientific basis did you make that assumption?’

‘Chemical components of the local asteroid fields.’

‘Are you aware of extrasolar comets?’

To Wright it looked as if the Xegnotin Captain was thinking but he couldn’t be sure, their species was more like the Tholians and the Federation had never really had a good relationship with them.

‘What are they?’

‘They are comets that travel on random paths through the galaxy. Occasionally they will pass through a system and if they encounter an asteroid field they will send those asteroids spinning out toward worlds. You probably encountered a rogue comet that had picked up debris from the asteroid field.’

‘This is a lie, there is no evidence to suggest anything of the kind.’

‘Where is your homeworld?’ Wright asked.

‘So you can eliminate our species like we have done theirs? I don’t think so.’

‘So you did attack the planet?’ Gonzales asked.

‘We have no quarrel with your Federation.’

‘Yes you do,’ Wright told him. ‘The Jumani are protected by us and you have tried to wipe them out. That is an act of war.’

‘You would do well not to antagonise me, Commander. This is a small Xegnotin Prowler. Our warships are many times bigger. We have lived nomadically for many years but we finally have a new homeworld and we are massing an army to eradicate all live in this sector – it is our precept of biological superiority.’

‘How can you be superior to life if no life exists?’

‘We leave the lower lifeforms intact, only sentient species are wiped out, and therefore we are superior to those lifeforms.’

The screen went blank and the Xegnotin ship changed. The legs were retracted into the main body of the ship, then it suddenly sped off at a speed that the Heisenberg couldn’t possibly track it.

‘Where did it go?’ Wright asked.

Gonzales looked blank. ‘I have no idea, but I don’t see it on sensors. It could have cloaked.’

‘It looked like it went to warp,’ Wright interjected.

‘Well, it’s gone. Whatever it did and there’s no plasma decay to track,’ Gonzales replied. ‘We’d better get back to the Osiris and inform the Captain of what we have found.’