Excalibur - Passing of the Sword - Part II
Story by DekaFox on SoFurry
Part two of a two-part introductory story to the F.S.S. Excalibur and her crew. Set in the chakat universe about twenty years after the majority of the existing stories, the former first officer of a ship lost to pirates has become the captain of a newly commissioned long-range cruiser. But before they head out into the unknown, they are sent on an anti-piracy patrol, where she has a run-in with her past...
Excalibur
Passing of the Sword
Part 2: The Quenching
"Captain's Log, May 27, 2353. We are now two weeks into our shakedown cruise and thus far everything has gone about as expected.”
“It seems as if word of our arrival preceded us, as pirate activity has fallen to an all-time low for the sector. We can only be in one place at any given time however, and there are some recent reports I find disturbing. Ship's are being found adrift, with any human or elder ‘morph crew dead, and the children and adult 'morph crew missing, in addition to the cargo. The weapons signatures that we have been able to detect are reminiscent of the pirate ship that my last ship fell to, but I refuse to assume that this is their work. I do not know which outcome I would prefer, and that almost scares me.”
“My crew meanwhile is solidifying rather nicely. Lieutenant Nexus is holding fairly well as acting Chief Engineer, and I believe there should be no problem confirming hir in that position once this initial deployment is complete. What shi lacks in experience shi is making up in hir willingness to listen to more experienced but lower ranked voices in the department.”
“Still, we have yet to meet any real challenges thus far. I'm fairly confidant the crew is ready for anything, but less sure of myself. I almost hope we do run into that pirate.”
“Then, perhaps, I really will be able to finally forgive myself."
The corridor was fairly empty this evening, but that suited M'rel just fine. It seemed like the longer things went without a hitch, the more she expected a Gra'tir around the next corner. What was the phrase Drew used? Oh yes, 'waiting for the other shoe to drop.' She still wasn't sure how that particular saying had developed-
"Look out!"
The shout snapped the Caitian out of her navel-gazing just in time to be bowled over by a cheetah-patterned chakat cub; the two of them going down in a ball of limbs and fur, and a very loud "Oof!"
Moments later, a slightly older cub ran up to join them, skidding to a halt just in time. This one was black-furred, spotted with orange stripes, a near inverse of the one who was now lying atop the captain of the ship they rode on.
It took a moment for it to register who they had just ran into, but as the younger cub slid to the floor, realization hit. "Ohgodohgodohgodpleasedon'ttellourparents," the elder cub squeaked out in a single breath, ears flat and eyes wide. "Shididn'tmeantowewerejustplayingandweweren'twatchingwhere-"
M'rel leaned herself up on an elbow, quieting the scared cub by reaching out to ruffle hir hair. "It'll be our secret," she said, trying to stifle a smile that kept trying to creep onto her lips, while the younger cub looked on curiously. "And whom do I have the honor of addressing?"
"Um, I'm Nightflash, uh, daughter of Sunriver and Blackjack, ma'am- er, sir. My sister is Sunspot. We really didn't mean to run into you, but we got curious…" shi trailed off, lowering hir eyes to the ground and trying to look contrite.
Helping Sunspot back to hir feet, M'rel just shook her head, then froze as an idea struck. "Now as Captain, my orders on this ship have to be obeyed. You two know this, right?"
"Yes'm," they both responded in unison. M'rel was finding it harder to keep a straight face as Nightflash tried to give her one of those mournful 'pity me' looks that the captain had used on her own mother as a girl. Sunspot just watched, clearly confused.
"Then I order you to go play… on the holodeck that is."
It took a couple seconds for it to sink in, then the captain found her legs hugged tight by black-furred little arms. "Oh thank you! I thought-"
"I was your age once too," M'rel said, letting the smile finally show. "Now shoo! And no running over other people on the way there!"
"Yes ma'am!" Nightflash tossed off an attempt at a salute, then grabbed hir sister by the arm and dashed off.
"Bye miss captain person," the younger one finally called as shi was led around the corner and out of sight.
M'rel just shook her head again in bemusement. Maybe-
Her combadge chirped, and as she tapped it to acknowledge the call, the corridor's lights changed to the dark gold of a yellow alert.
All mirth set aside, she strode down the hall towards the turbolift. "M'rel here, status report?"
On the bridge, everyone was intent on their stations as the vacant hulk grew bigger on the viewscreen. Pressing a stud on the arm of the command chair again, Commander Williams replied, "We've found an abandoned freighter. According to the registry code she was declared missing a week ago. No sign of any hostiles yet, but there's a hole in the bridge and we're not reading any atmosphere or power over there"
M'rel paused at the open doors of the turbolift, thoughts racing. "Keep me informed if that changes. Otherwise, have Lieutenant Commander Xangra and a security team meet me at Transporter Room Three with environment suits."
"Sir, if you're planning-"
M'rel cut the Commander off, a slight edge in her voice. "I'm going, Drew. I've seen the reports from the other attacks. I want to see this for myself."
There was a moment of silence, before a resigned "Yes sir," came from her combadge. Tapping it again to cut the connection, she stepped onto the turbolift, the doors shutting behind her.
ACT I
The doors slid open soundlessly on the darkened bridge, allowing several space-suited figures to float through, led by a veritable giant of a figure. Flashing her headlamp around the room, Xangra reported back "Clear," as other members of the boarding party went to check the stations and bodies strewn about.
A moment later, a smaller suited figure drifted in, the captain's symbol on the shoulder identifying its occupant as she took in the scene before her. Pushing off from the entryway, she drifted over to the Captain's chair, a body pinned into it by a large piece of shrapnel. "Can we get power up?"
"One second, sir," came the response from the radio, followed shortly by a dull glow as damaged screens and panels came online. As the light came up, it illuminated a small body in the corner, and M'rel felt her blood run cold.
Pushing off again, she drifted over to the body and turned it over to find a Caitian child who was probably no more than eight years old. The lack of wounds suggested he'd survived the hit and kept from getting sucked out, only to suffocate from loss of air when the power died.
"Captain?" Xangra asked in a concerned tone, and only then did M'rel realize she'd started a low growl.
Lowering the body gently to the deck, the Caitian captain rose back up, her grip denting the panel beside her as she forced herself to speak calmly. "I want all logs and footage covering the time of the attack downloaded to the Excalibur. After that, pack it up. We'll tow her back to the nearest port, then find the bastard who did this and string him up by his entrails." She paused a moment, as if rethinking her last words. "After a fair trial, of course."
Catching sight of the body, Xangra gave a slow nod. "Yes, sir." As M'rel made her way back out, the Lt Commander gestured to the only panel still fully intact. "You heard the skipper. Let's get the data, then clear out!"
As the video winked out on the conference room viewscreen, M'rel turned her seat back to regard her staff at the conference table. To her right Commander Williams seemed to be paying more attention to everyone else than the recording, but then he'd seen it a half hour ago already. To her left, now in immaculate Starfleet Tactical grey, Lt Commander Xangra was putting on her best impression of 'stoic Rakshani,' though undoubtedly she'd seen worse from what M'rel knew of her service record.
Further down the left side were her acting Chief Engineer, Lt Nexus, and her senior helmsman, Lt Swiftwind. Only Companions officially, there was already a betting pool on when that would change. Nexus looked definitely unsettled, but Swiftwind looked about as angry as M'rel had been on reviewing it. If there was anything guaranteed to set off any chakat, it was harm to any sort of child.
Opposite them was Lt. Commander Reinhart, the rabbit ‘morph showing a poker face that professional gamblers might envy. Given that her previous work had been under Starfleet Intel, for her this was probably just another entry in the long line of nasty business that she'd seen.
Somewhat conspicuous by hir absence was Dr Firewalker, but shi'd been detained completing the autopsies on the remaining bodies and placing them into cryostorage to be returned to their families. Their Voxxan science officer, Lt. Commander Kimbal Arisan, was also not in attendance, but as this was a military operation he'd declined to attend.
Taking a deep breath M'rel continued, "As you can see, we appear to be dealing with a Q-ship. Not the first time a pirate has used this approach, but most pirate's are either not aggressive or stupid enough to take out a crew. This one isn't just a pirate however. Xangra?"
Tapping a few commands on the console in front, the Rakshani brought up an image on the main screen of a busty wolf morph in a leather corset, firing a rifle at something offscreen. "This is our culprit. We self-styled pirate queen, who only refers to herself as Raven. Intel has finally managed to identify her as the adopted daughter of Wilhelm An'Tir, Proconsul to Drovon, the latest addition to the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. While he has yet to acknowledge that his daughter is this 'Raven,' neither has he denied it directly. Officially, she is a renegade, and has been confirmed to be trafficking in slaves as well as contraband and stolen cargos."
At that point, M'rel spoke up. "And on every vessel found thus far, there have been missing crew among the dead. Mostly young males and females and-" she paused a moment, taking a deep breath, and the other officers could hear claws digging into the table's plasteel. "And children. Our find is the first so far with any dead younger than adult age"
Sensing the need to change the subject, Andrew spoke up. "I notice Xangra said officially. And unofficially?"
Aina was the one to speak up this time, while M'rel tossed her XO a tight smile of thanks. "Unofficially, Starfleet believes she has been receiving support from her family, in the belief her activities will destabilize trade in the area. If all our freighters are too afraid to travel, then 'independant' merchants that they can control could pick up the slack." Giving M'rel an almost imperceptible glance, the rabbit added, "What makes us most sure of this is that her ship was badly damaged in a battle with the FSS Resolute, and from my analysis of disappearances in the regions, she was operating again as two months later. There was no sign of any activity for a few weeks in April however, which may indicate additional problems."
M'rel stiffened slightly at the mention of the Resolute, but by the time her head of Ops had finished speaking, the only sign of any agitation was her tail lashing back and forth behind her seat. "Now, we can only be in one place at any given time, and Starfleet does not have enough ship's in the region to provide escorts for every merchantman. I have sent a recommendation to Admiral Hollister at Starbase 3 to have the merchies travel in an escorted convoy where possible, but there are enough independent operators out this way that it will only reduce the problem. Which is where we come in. Lieutenant?"
The black-furred foxtaur near the end of the table ducked hir head, hir ears tilting back a bit. Tapping in a few commands gave Nexus the time to regain hir composure, and hir voice was strong as shi spoke. "Spacedrives have always been a bit of an interest to me, which was why I went into engineering. Now what makes Q-ship hard to identify is they usually have multiple cores like we do, but all tuned differently, which allows them to vary their warp signature. They have to weaken it as well, to prevent giving away that they are running a military drive. However, it seems their engineer has gotten sloppy."
"As you can see," shi said as the display changed to show four different sets of waves, the conglomerations of lines all visibly different to the officers' eyes, " We have here three confirmed sightings of Raven's ship, and to contrast them, the warp signature of the Bonna Venture, the ship we just recovered. All different, right? Now, watch."
Black-furred fingers flew across the embedded console, and lines began to vanish. Within half a minute, only one wave was left on all four diagrams, and any observer would be able to tell the first three were the same.
"My guess is that the tuner on whichever core this," Nexus paused to circle the three waves for emphasis, then continued, "was damaged in that battle the Lieutenant Commander mentioned, but their diagnostics haven't caught it because of the clutter in their readings from the other cores."
"Which means," M'rel finished, "we have a way of identifying it while it's still disguised. Shir Swiftwind, if you would?"
The snow leopard-patterned chakat had been leaned over whispering something to Lt Nexus after the foxtaur finished speaking, but at the mention of hir name, hir upper torso snapped upright. "Yes sir," shi responded, head down and ears folded back slightly in embarrassment at having been caught out, as shi brought up a star chart.
"We'll reach Midgard in a day, where we'll hand off our discovery to the locals." Swiftwind circled the system in question, then continued to draw as shi spoke. "After spending a day here, our previous plans would have sent us towards Branson. Instead, we'll swing through the colonies of Saggitar, Leonan, and Vesper, head down to Merak, then return by way of Ruut'chii."
M'rel spoke up, taking everyone's attention back from the chakat helmsman. "If she has any informants with any Starfleet connections, this should throw them off, and as a bonus it takes us by the systems most heavily hit by the loss of traffic. If we spend a day at each location, we should finish our loop by the time our assignment here finishes. With luck, we'll find our quarry laying another trap, and I'd like to give our replacement a much easier job than we have now. Understood?"
One by one, everyone around the table nodded. Rising from her seat, the Caitian captain nodded as well. "Then, dismissed, and may Virdoana have mercy on the pirates, because they will not find any here."
That night found Aina in front of her terminal, several monitors lit up with various mundane documents concerning promotions, schedules, and procedures that needed minor updates. Checking her personal chronometer, she rose from her seat to give a good stretch, then padded over to the armorplast 'window' showing the computer's simulation of their travel, untouched by relativity. Once they returned to sunlight speeds it would revert to transparency, but few personnel preferred to see the warp-altered space directly, so this feature had been implemented on all quarters with external viewports.
It also made for a convenient cover.
A tap on a button on her chronometer returned a soft beep that told her that her quarters were clear. "Comm override, Reinhart-Two-One. Authorization: Through the looking glass."
"Acknowledged," the computer responded.
A moment later, a male voice spoke, "Alice, this is Dormouse. Anything to report?"
"She's found a lead and has a plan that seems to have a decent chance of success. So far it seems like her previous failure will not prevent her from carrying it out, so it seems your pet psychologist was right about giving her the ship. I'll send a list of systems shortly, and if the target shows up at one of them, see if your agents can delay them enough for us to arrive."
"Understood, Alice. Will there be anything else?"
"Nothing else right now. For the Federation," Aina finished, resisting the urge to give a salute that her handler would not be able to see.
"For the Federation," the voice responded, before going quiet again.
After waiting a moment to make sure the transmission had ended, Aina trudged over to her bed and flopped down onto it with a sigh. Sitting back up after a moment, she reached over for the PADD on her end table, bringing it out of power-save. Once again, she found herself looking at the old drawing of a white rabbit with a pocketwatch, and shook her head slightly.
"Who the hell comes up with these codenames?"
Sullen red lighting gave the bridge the impression of being soaked in blood, an impression that more than fit as the holed freighter in the viewscreen grew smaller and smaller, then disappeared as the Bloody Talon leaped into warp speed.
"Was that wise?" the bear 'morph standing next to the captain's chair softly asked, fighting the urge to cringe pre-emptively. He'd seen what happened to those who questioned Raven before, and in fact, he'd gained his position due to the previous first officer being 'answered' right out the airlock. Still, he felt it needed to be asked.
Luckily, the normal bridge sounds masked it from the rest of the bridge, so all he got was a nasty glare. "They were only humans… not like we would have been able to sell them."
"But leaving the ship like that is just begging for Star-"
His mouth shut with an almost audible snap as he found a knife suddenly pressed against his throat. "I do what I want," Raven hissed into his ear as he stood there frozen in fear. "I do not fear Starfleet. If they want to sniff after the bones of my kills, so be it. Space is very large, and a ship is very small…" The lupine captain paused as she rose completely from her seat, her knife blade not moving a millimeter from her first officer's throat as she moved to press her body up against him. "And a body is even smaller," she whispered, a sultry tone entering her voice as she just barely nicked the skin under the bear's brown fur.
After a moment, she slowly withdrew herself and the knife, looking her first officer in the eyes as she licked the slight bit of his blood off the edge of the blade. "Remember that," she almost purred, then twirled the knife and sheathed it at her hip in one smooth move. In a louder voice she added, "Now take the conn; I'll be in my quarters if anything happens."
As she turned and strode into the turbolift, hips swaying, the grizzly ‘morph collapsed bonelessly into the chair, trying not to shake in relief as he rubbed at his throat. The bridge crew continued to act as if nothing had happened, and he didn't know if he felt grateful or ashamed at that. Maybe it was time to look for another ship.
"Change our transponder to the merchant ship ‘Golden Goose’ and set course for Vesper, Warp 3." The strength of his voice surprised him, but in this life you got to be very good at hiding weakness, or very dead. "Comms, notify the cargo handlers to stow any 'special cargo' in the deep holds for the next week unless the Lady requests some… companionship."
Within moments, the ponderous 'freighter' had come about for its new destination, the hull shimmering for a moment as holo emitters activated and markings changed to match its new identity. With their disguise firmly in place, they continued onward, unaware that there was one Starfleet ship that would still know of them, and their course would bring them right to it.
ACT II
"Captain's Log, June 4th, 2353. We are now one week into our two-week sweep of the border colonies and while we have not located our quarry yet, our search has paid unexpected dividend in the form of contraband meant to be delivered to the Core Worlds. I have sent the freighter the smugglers were using back to Chakona under a prize crew, and the prize money will at least help validate our mission here to any crew that had been less than enthusiastic about 'pirate patrol.'”
“We are due to reach Vesper soon, which is the closest our course will bring us to League space. I-"
The chime at her door interrupted M'rel's train of thought. "Computer, end recording," she said, a few quick commands deactivating the privacy screen before turning towards the door. "Enter."
The doors to her ready room slid open with a quiet swish to admit Lt Nexus, the black foxtaur carrying a PADD and looking a bit unhappy about something. "Is there something I can do for you, Lieutenant?" M'rel asked curiously.
Tapping on hir PADD a couple of times, the Stellar placed it on the Captain's desk and turned it so she could see what it displayed. "There's a tic I don't like in Hyper One's power profile. It's still within spec, barely, but I'd like to take it offline for some tests once we reach orbit. According to the shipyard logs, it was installed by the same jerkoffs who tried to slip us those shoddy EPS conduits. Er, pardon my language, Sir."
"Perfectly alright, Nexus," M'rel replied, half distracted by the contents of the PADD. Everything matched up with what shi had said, and an unstable warp core was a recipe for disaster. But there was something else about what shi'd said… "What else did this group of technicians install?"
"Nothing else critical, sir. My read of it was the yard was behind schedule on the engines, so they subcontracted a private company to complete the work. It should have been just those runs, the installation of the core itself, and the secondary computer bank for Hyper Two. I already went over that when I found One acting funny, and everything there checks out."
M'rel nodded and opened her mouth to reply, but the comms chime rang, cutting her off. Letting off a short sigh, she tapped the acknowledgment key on her table. "M'rel here."
"We're coming out of warp now, Captain. Nothing unusual on scanners so far," came the reply from her XO.
"Thanks, Drew. I'll be there shortly." Closing the channel, she gave Nexus an apologetic smile. "Today seems to be my day for getting interrupted. Go ahead and start the tests, but be ready to bring it back up within fifteen minutes' warning. Vesper may technically be Federation space, but that and two credits will get you a replicated steak."
"Will do, sir."
The two exited moments later, Nexus heading to the bridge turbolift while M'rel reclaimed her seat at the center of the bridge. "I have the Conn. Have we gotten our challenge yet?"
"Yes sir," Ensign Montgomery responded from the Communications panel in back. "I’ve already sent our response and Vesper System Control has given us our insertion path. The governor also sends his regards and requests an audience when we arrive."
"Pass the course to the helm, and let the governor know we'd be honored by his presence. Lieutenant Swiftwind, once the course is laid in, proceed at half-impulse. Ops, keep our passive sensors wide open and actives at a minimum, but let's get a read on the local merchant traffic. I expect it'll be about the same as the last two systems, but I don't want our Q-ship slipping away because we got sloppy."
A chorus of acknowledgements came in response, and the Excalibur turned and arrowed off towards the rust-colored planet in the distance.
"ShitshitshitSHIT."
"What is it Ramirez?" The grizzly bear 'morph rose from the command chair and strode over to the coyote at Sensors. "Surely it can't- Aw, hell, Starfleet," He finished as he saw the readout. "Do we have any information on that ship?"
"Some new cruiser model that was supposed to be out past Branson." Still swearing softly under his breath, Ramirez turned the secondary display to show the information on it. "Do we tell the Lady?"
The bear closed his eyes, recalling for a moment the feel of her knife against his neck, before shaking his head. "Not yet. She's still groundside, and we still look like a normal freighter. As long as we keep up appearances, we're scheduled to 'depart' in two days. We'll just have to lay low until then." Tapping the Starfleet icon crawling it's way across the system display, he added. "And have Henderson let the Lady know about this once she gets back. He's been getting a bit uppity lately, after all…"
"Entering orbit, engines in stationkeeping," Swiftwind announced as the cruiser slid into its designated position.
"Thank you, Lieutenant," M'rel acknowledged. "Comms, notify Lieutenant Nexus that shi can begin work, then contact Vesper Planetary and Governor Matthews, and make arrangements for a shuttle flight to pick him up for his visit. If they ask why we aren't using the transporters, tell them…" She paused a moment, thinking, before continuing, "suggest that they're offline for some routine maintenance. Once we have a time, notify myself, Lt Swiftwind, and the Exec." Seeing the chakat pilot's ears perk at hir name, M'rel rose from her seat. "Lieutenant, Commander, If you both would step into my Ready Room for a moment?"
The three entered the room, the two biped taking their respective seats at the desk while Swiftwind lowered hir rump to sit on the floor next to the commander, curling hir tail around hir legs. As the door slid shut, M'rel folded her hands on the desk, looking at each of them in turn.
"It seems awfully convenient that as soon as we sent our transponder codes, the governor was already requesting an appointment to speak with us. Given the colony's placement, there are a few possibilities I see as to why."
"You think he's working with the pirates?" Commander Williams asked, but his tone of voice made it more into a statement.
"That's one I haven't ruled out," M'rel acknowledged, "but there are a couple other possibilities. Option two is that he's actually scared that the attacks will reduce traffic to the system, and the last dossier on the planet said that Tourism made up half of their economy. With their proximity to the League, he may be considering if they should jump ship, and he could be looking for reassurances that we'll protect them, or alternatively reasons to leave."
"The other likely possibility," she continued, "is that there's just some political maneuvering going on and our arrival was just good timing for him. Either way, I have an idea of how to address most of these in one go, which is where you come in, Lieutenant."
That caught the chakats attention, which had begun to wander slightly as hir superiors had seemed to be getting into the political situation. "How so, sir?" shi asked, curious.
"I understand you have a… proclivity for fancy flying. Well, I'd like you to fly the shuttle picking up Governor Matthews, and give him the, er, 'scenic' route coming back. Not anything dangerous or rule-bending, but I think a nice close pass of the ship before landing would be helpful to his state of mind. Particularly if he gets a nice close look at one of the beam arrays." Perking her ears forward, she gave the two officers a thin smile. "Nothing official, you understand, just a suggestion."
As a huge grin threatened to break the chakat's composure, M'rel returned her attention to her XO. "Drew, I want you to put together the greeting party in the bay to officially welcome him aboard. I plan to meet him in Conference Room Three, and then we'll find out what he wants. Any questions?"
A quick head-shake from both, followed by a "No, sir!" from Swiftwind, answered the Captain's question and the three headed back onto the bridge. As Swiftwind resumed hir station and Williams headed for the turbolift, M'rel instead made her way to the Ops station, peering over Aina's shoulder.
"How's the traffic look?" The red-haired Caitian captain asked as her tail swayed in thought.
"In a word, busy." Aina tapped a few commands and brought up the information on the holo display between the helm and ops. "There's several freighters of various registries, a pair of Federation passenger liners, a Voxxan Imperium survey ship that just left orbit, and a Damocles ore hauler" As she spoke, the rabbit 'morph highlighted each group in a different color. "We have schedule data from System Command as well that show planned times of departure."
As she added light codes displaying that data, M'rel studied the arrangement, tilting one ear to the side as she thought things through. "The liners and ore hauler are too far from the profile of the ship we're looking for. These three on the other hand," she stated as she tapped each one in the display, "are close enough to potentially be our pirate running holo emitters. See if you can get a better read without tipping our hand."
"If you want, sir, I can swing the shuttle by them on my way up," Swiftwind spoke up. "You did mention the 'scenic' route, after all."
Trying not to smile at the pilot's own sly grin, M'rel nodded her head. "Do it. And keep me informed of what you find… I'd prefer to be the one doing the ambushing this time."
As the shuttle came in for a landing, a small greeting party awaited it. While not in dress uniform, Captain M'rel, Commander Williams, and the handful of enlisted Security personnel still had done their best to look sharp in their Starfleet blacks. They had a show to put on after all.
The door slid open with a quiet whoosh once the small craft had settled, a slightly pale portly gentleman pausing in the opening to get his bearings before stepping down and trudging towards the group.
M'rel stepped forward to greet him, offering her hand as Lt Swiftwind exited the shuttle behind the governor. "Captain M'rel of the starship Excalibur. Welcome aboard, Governor Matthews. I apologize again for not using the transporters, but this is still a fairly new ship and we had to take the systems down for temporary maintenance."
The middle-aged man looked at her hand for a moment as if it was a snake ready to bite him, before taking it gingerly in his grasp to give it a short shake. "Quite understandable, Captain. I do have to admit, the trip up was an… experience," he finished after a moment in a less than pleased tone.
Williams stepped forward, offering his hand as well, "Commander Andrew Williams, Excalibur's first officer." As the governor shook it with a bit less hesitation, the Commander added, "I'm afraid Lt Swiftwind sometimes can get a bit carried away when shi gets behind the controls of a shuttlecraft. Shi's one of our best, but shi usually only gets to fly the ship itself. I'll have a word with hir."
"Thank you," he responded, turning back to M'rel. "I would like a few words in private, if I may…?"
"Of course," the red-haired Caitian nodded. "Drew, why don't you go ahead and discuss the Lieutenant's trip up with hir, while I take the Governor here to Conference Room 3."
Commander Williams waited for the captain and their guest to enter the Turbolift before turning to Swiftwind. "Anything interesting?"
"Nothing unusual directly about any of the merchies, but one of them was running their engines a lot hotter than a merchie should." Digging into a pouch on hir belt, shi produced a datachip for the XO. "It's all on here."
"Thank you, Lieutenant," Williams said as he took it and tucked it away. "And the governor?"
"Nervous about something but I'll be damned if I could tell what."
The conference room lit up automatically as the pair entered. Matthews took a seat in a nearby chair, while M'rel took a seat opposite him, her location framing herself with the viewport behind her. "Now what can Starfleet do for you today, Mr Matthews?"
"I'm sure you're aware of the recent pirate attacks in the area?" He waited for her to give a small nod of acknowledgement before continuing. "Since these attacks started, traffic to our system has fallen by half! The Planetary Council was beginning to have doubts about if the Federation could properly protect us out here, but of course I told them to trust in Starfleet. I had been about to put in a request for more ships when you arrived."
"I assure you, Governor, Starfleet is working to bring these pirates to heel," M'rel cut in as he paused to take a breath. "We have a few leads we are following up on even now."
"You do?" While no empath, to her ears these were the first words this man had spoken that did not sound rehearsed. "I - I mean of course you do! That's exactly why I told the Council to wait on Starfleet, despite what that Ambassador from the League was telling them."
Now that caught her attention, and M'rel's tail stilled as she considered this new angle. Choosing her words carefully, she replied, "The Stellar Federation does not hold planets against their will. If your colony wishes to secede, that is your prerogative. However, the embargo with the League still stands as long as slavery is legal there."
"Trade and tourism is our lifeblood, Captain. I'm sure the Council understands the consequences as well as you or I, but the LAN is closer than the Core Worlds, and just as affluent. If Starfleet is unable to stop these pirates-"
"And we will, MISTER Matthews," M'rel cut him off, allowing a bit of the irritation she was beginning to feel to creep into her voice. "Was that all, or was there anything else you wish to discuss?"
The middle-aged magnate seemed taken aback for a moment. "I would like assurances that once these pirates are dealt with that Starfleet will station a greater presence here to deter future attacks."
"Starfleet will take that under advisement, Governor." Folding her hands, M'rel leaned back in her seat. "If that is all…?"
"At the moment, yes."
In response, M'rel tapped her combadge. "M'rel to Engineering. Are the transporters ready for use?"
"Anytime, Captain," Nexus's voice replied.
Rising, the Caitian captain strode around the table to the doors and fell into a parade rest next to them as they opened. "In that case, I'll have Security take you to Transporter Room 3 to return to Vesper. I would offer a tour, but I'm sure you have more important business planetside." Her tone made it plain it was a statement, not a question.
"Er, yes, thank you," Matthews replied as he climbed out of his chair. He looked as if he wanted to say more, but he followed M'rel into the hallway where a Rakshani guard waited.
"Please see Mr Matthews to Transporter Room 3."
Once the pair had turned the corner, M'rel stepped back into the darkened room and tapped her combadge. "M'rel to Williams. What did our prodigal pilot find?"
"The freighter under the Eridani system registry seems to be keeping their engines hot, but they're not scheduled to leave until Tuesday. Nothing else out of the ordinary though, so we don't have an excuse to dig deeper. How about the governor?"
"About what I was expecting, veiled threats to leave the Federation unless we give them some ships on station. It honestly wouldn't be a bad idea to station a couple tin cans out here to deter the League if nothing else, if Command can shake them loose." M'rel paused a moment, stroking her chin in thought. "Well, keep an eye on that merchie. If they so much as twitch before their scheduled departure window, hit them with a tractor, and we'll apologize later if we're wrong."
"Understood, sir. Anything else?"
"Not at the moment. If you need me, I'll be in my quarters."
As she ended the transmission, M'rel paused a moment to look out the armorplast windows at the planet below. "From here, everything looks so peaceful," she mused. Shaking off the melancholy feeling, she turned and left, the conference room doors closing behind her.
ACT III
"Personal log Supplemental, Lt Commander Aina Reinhart.”
“With not much to do but wait for our quarry to play their hand, the captain has granted us limited shore leave, with the understanding that we may have to return at a moment's notice. I personally think this to be ill-advised, but it fits the impression I got from reading her dossier. She seems to follow a fairly laid-back method of command, leaving the discipline mostly to her exec. I shall just have to trust that she will follow through like her psych profile indicates she should, when the fecal matter hits the rotary implement.”
“I still wonder where that phrase comes from.”
“I had intended to run a series of holodeck simulations tonight, but Lt Fei and Lt Reese have asked me to hit a few bars with them planetside. I would have declined, but I got the feeling Jennifer wanted a chaperone of sorts, and who better than the ship's resident 'ice queen'?”
“It's not that I don't enjoy some companionship, or an occasional romp in the bed, but when you've been on assignment as often as I have, letting your guard down does not come easy. Especially when you still have reasons to keep your distance."
Aina tried not to grimace as the dull beat of the bass synchronized with the throbbing of her head yet again. Usually she didn't mind most popular music types, but this sort always seemed to make her head feel like an entire cruiser had tried to land there. She made a mental note to ask shir Firewalker for some pain relievers when they got back to the ship, and took a small sip of… well, it was blue, and fizzed.
Across from her sat the mostly empty glasses of her shipmates, abandoned after a quick chug in favor of the dance floor. Turning towards the dance floor, Aina scanned the crowd - yup, there they were. Jennifer had lost her jacket somewhere, the plain grey tank top blending with her fur to give the impression that the wolf was topless as she wriggled against the dark brown otter whose hands were far enough up inside her top that she might as well have been. But where was Reese?
Looking over the crowd along the bar, Aina started to take a drink, but her intended sip became a gulp as she spotted someone she couldn't be seeing here, of all places! Forcing herself to swallow, she could feel her sinuses burning and eyes watering as the liquor burned its way down her throat, but there were much more important things at hand now.
Blinking the tears clear, she looked again more intently at that section of the bar. Silently, she cursed herself for not bringing her wristcomp, but she'd seen those features often enough in various reports while preparing for this assignment. It was definitely Raven, the "pirate queen" herself, wearing a halter that halted about mid-breast and a thong that left little to the imagination. A pair of golden rings encircled her wrists, no doubt hiding a wristcomp and communicator, and a diamond earring glinted in one pointed ear. Licking her lips slightly, the lapine Lieutenant Commander slipped her combadge out of her pocket and squeezed it slightly, enough to trigger the "quiet mode" she always had programmed into hers.
"Aina to Excalibur, I have eyes on the target. Have three security teams ready to go at my signal. Get everyone else back aboard ASAP except those within a one block radius." As it quietly chirped in acknowledgement, Aina found herself glad for once of the violent music drowning everything else out. It was time to get to work.
First to go was the Starfleet-issue flight jacket, quickly shoved under the table. Shame, since this one had been fairly comfortable, but she could always replicate a new one later. After a quick glance around, she slipped her hands inside her shirt and adjusted her bra to lift her breasts up a bit more, making her cleavage more visible in the plain grey tanktop she had worn under the jacket. Ideally, she would have preferred to slip off to the restroom to make larger changes to her wardrobe, but she couldn't risk losing sight of the lupine pirate.
The next few changes were easy enough to do. Loosening her belt a notch let her pants slide down a bit, revealing the hem of her black panties, but not giving it enough looseness to slide off her hips. Lastly, she snagged the abandoned purse of her dancing crewmate and used the makeup kit inside for the final touches, turning her from reserved Starfleet officer to down-on-her-luck bunny in search of a good lay. Not her best disguise, but a good agent has to work with what she’s got.
Sliding out of her seat, Aina made her way to the bar, giving her hips an extra sway with each step, then purposefully killing the effect by stumbling just before reaching it. Sliding onto the barstool, she turned to glare at any imagined or actual hecklers, but she noted to her hidden satisfaction that she had caught Raven's attention.
Ignoring the wolf's sidelong glance, she tapped on the bar to get the bartender's attention. "Get me sumfin' strong. Dun' care what, long as it pours."
As the bartender got to mixing her drink, she turned back to face the room, leaning on the bar in such a way as to show off her "assets." After a moment, her drink showed up next to her elbow, and she forced a seeming sigh of regret. So far, so good, as she could almost feel the lupine captain's eyes digging into her, trying to determine what she was. Or was that just Aina's imagination?
Taking the glass, the Intel officer took a gulp of whatever concoction had been given to her, and let out a gasp as she felt her eyes water up again. Damn, if that didn't have a kick to it like an Alderan mule! As she blinked away the tears, a warm female voice to her left spoke up, "Tryin' to make a show of things, luv?"
Turning her stool, she found that the dark-furred wolf had shifted a seat over, and seemed to be regarding her with some amusement. "Mebe, what's it to ya?" Aina asked, putting equal parts hope and dejection into her voice.
"You got spunk; I /like/ that," Raven almost seemed to purr, openly looking the rabbit 'morph over now. "Though that's not all I like…" She let her voice trail off suggestively as her eyes lingered on modest breast and clothed thigh.
"You an' half the world, sistah," Aina took another swig from her glass to give her a moment to think before continuing. "Problem is what they got to offer, ain't always what I want." Another drink gave her a moment to breathe, as she openly appraised Raven in return, obvious enough that she wouldn't be able to miss it. "Now I'm thinkin' you might be another story."
"That, I can assure you of, hon" the lupine pirate responded with a smile that sent shivers down Aina's back. "You see, I happen to be short an assistant at the moment. The last one…. displeased me, shall we say. It a position with several perks, for the right person." As the dark-furred wolf spoke, she adjusted her position on the chair to emphasize what she meant by 'perks', making it clear that she was wearing nothing under the halter. "If you're free, we can discuss this somewhere more private." Aina could almost swear her voice dropped an octave on the word 'private.' It was looking like she'd gambled correctly on the pirate's 'interests'- now to get Raven out to where they could capture her.
"There's some song that says 'Freedom just mean nothin' left to lose', an' I ain't never been more free." Slapping a credit chit on the bar, the disguised Starfleet rabbit slid off the stool. "My 'partment's not far from here, if'n you don' mind a mess."
"Oh, I don't mind messes in the least," Raven replied with a wink as she rose from her seat in one fluid motion, "But I'd prefer a slightly different location for our 'negotiations.'"
"Eh, why not," Aina responded as she followed the busty wolf 'queen' through the barroom, sliding her hands into her pockets. In a voice just loud enough that Raven should be able to hear, but soft enough that she'd assume she hadn't been meant to, the rabbit murmured, "Hope this bitch will be better than th' others were."
As they stepped outside into the cooling night air, Aina couldn't quite suppress a shiver as it dug into her fur. Raven on the other hand seemed unfazed, apart from the two bumps in her halter eliminating any doubt that she'd gone 'commando' tonight. "This way," the lupine half-whispered, waving Aina to follow her before starting down the street.
The two females walked for about a minute, neither saying anything despite the seeming companionship to the few passing travellers on the walkway. Aina had been beginning to wonder where they were going, but when she paused to ask, Raven struck!
The world seemed to drop into that familiar slow motion as Raven suddenly stepped backwards instead of forwards, her right arm snaking around the rabbit's neck. It took most of the Intel officer's willpower to keep reflexes from kicking in as her sudden surprise captor bodily dragged her into the alleyway they had been about to pass.
Aina widened her eyes, pretending to struggle a bit against the hold as a red-haired hand gave her clothed breast a rough squeeze. "It's your lucky day, girlie," Raven whispered into her ear, the wolf's voice cold but still no less lustful. "I'm going to take you to my private playpen, and if you please me good enough I may even let you live."
"B-but, I got-" she started to stutter out, but the grip on her neck tightened, cutting her off. For a brief moment, Aina considered letting herself be taken, to identify the ship, but if she did they might lose this chance to get Raven herself. Luckily, the way she was being held trapped her arms against her sides, and her hand in her pocket. As her vision began to fade around the edges, she squeezed the combadge tightly, the device emitting an audible chirp as it sent the signal to the ship.
"What the-" The sound startled Raven, causing her grip on the rabbit to loosen slightly. It wasn't much, but it was enough. Lifting her legs, Aina kicked back, using her weight and the force of the kick to break free, rolling away and falling into a ready stance as she bounced back onto her feet.
At the same moment, columns of light appeared at the end of the alleyway, resolving themselves into figures sporting familiar black-and-grey outfits, armed with beam rifles.
"Starfleet." Raven spat the word like a curse.
Aina spoke up, false accent dropped as the Security officers leveled their rifles. "Sarah 'Raven' An'Tir, you are under arrest for multiple counts of piracy, smuggling, and trafficking in slaves, as well as attempted rape."
"Attempted?" Her laugh was cold, more mocking than amused. "Girl, if you knew half the things I've done…" She shook her head in seeming disbelief. "And I'm insulted that you think this is enough to catch me."
"Flores, stun her." Aina ordered, but as she was speaking, Raven was already moving, diving behind a rusty green dumpster as bolts smacked into the ground behind her.
"Talon, emergency beam-out, code Golf-Tango-Foxtrot-Omega," came from behind the dumpster as Aina raced around, only to see the fading sparkle of a transporter.
"Well, damn." Affixing her combadge to her top, Aina tapped it to call the ship. "Aina to Excalibur. I need a trace on a transporter that was just used in my vicinity, stat."
M'rel looked up from the terminal on her desk as the lights dimmed to the familiar patina of a yellow alert, followed a moment later by the announcement she had given so many times herself.
"Action stations; Captain to the bridge."
Striding out of her Ready Room, the red-haired Caitian felt a moment of anxiety, but she firmly quashed it as she slid into the command chair. "Mr Williams, report."
"We picked up transporter activity from our suspect freighter a few moments ago. Lt Cmdr Reinhart had just informed us she was about to capture-"
"Captain," Ensign Montgomery cut in from the Comms station, "I just received word from the Lieutenant Commander that she needs a trace on a transporter."
M'rel and Andrew turned to look at each other a moment, the same unspoken curse running through their minds.
Andrew was the first to speak. "Get Aina and her team back on board, then raise shields. Rogers, go active and tell me what that freighters up to"
The dark-skinned man at the Ops console activated the holo-plot, feeding it with the information from the ship's Combat Information Center. A moment later, an image of the ship appeared on the main viewscreen flanked by more detailed data summaries. "I've got her on visual. She's trying to make a break for it."
"Red alert. Bring us around and send a hail," M'rel ordered, the lighting changing to combat settings as the turbolift doors opened behind her. "Tell them that they have not been cleared for departure, and as this is Stellar Federation territory we request they heave to for inspection."
"Glad you could make it," Xangra whispered with a smirk to Aina as she stepped out onto the bridge. The rabbit 'morph just shook her head and slid into one of the rear stations, quickly calling up the ship's EW suite on the panel in front of her.
"No response, Captain," Ensign Montgomery replied after a moment.
"They're jamming us," Lieutenant Rogers added a moment later as the icon on the holo display tried to split into two, despite the image on the screen staying single.
"On it," Aina replied from behind. "Looks like a simple band rotation so far," she commented as the display cleared. "Matt, stay at Ops, I'll cover ECCM from here."
"Ahead full impulse, get us in tractor range." M'rel tapped the comm on her chair arm. "Bridge to Engineering. Nexus, I need Hyper One up now. Raven's making a break for it."
"Five minutes," shi replied a moment later. "I can get you full power in two, but warp would be risky."
"Keep on it. Bridge out." Sitting back, M'rel watched the distance drop slowly, but steadily. "Time to intercept?"
At the request, another set of numbers appeared on the holo plot. "CIC gives it two minutes to effective weapons range, and three to tractor," Lt Rogers replied. "We'll be five hundred thousand klicks from the warp limit at that point."
"Noted," M'rel's ears cocked forward as she studied the plot. "Guns, target engines and weapons, but hold fire until three hundred thousand klicks. Helm, be ready for any sudden course changes. Ops, I want that tractor lock as soon as we're in range."
"Yes, sir!" came the reply in chorus, as the numbers ticked down.
Everyone on the bridge of the Bloody Talon seemed intent on their stations, leaving a silence that could be cut with a butter knife. In the center, Raven occupied the command chair, her outfit unchanged but for the pistols on her belt. She in fact seemed strangely calm, but for the twitching of her tail.
After a moment, the scantily clad black wolf rose from the command chair and turned to face the bridge as the planet continued to shrink in the viewscreen behind her. "Alright, now whose idea was it to NOT tell me that Starfleet was in the area?"
The entire bridge crew turned and pointed at each other. Raven's eyes narrowed and ears folded as she eyed who was pointing at who, then like a striking snake drew both pistols and shot both the coyote and grizzly that had been pointing at each other, the shots sounding like a single shot in their synchronization.
Just as calmly, she re-holstered the guns as the two bodies crumpled in their chairs, and resumed her own seat in the center. Pressing a stud, she spoke into the pickup so dryly she might have been ordering takeout. "Bridge to security. Two to clean-up, and send Johnston and Piers up to handle Sensors and Comms."
Not waiting for a response, she released the control and gestured to flight control. "Drop the fighters. If any survive, they can meet us at Strana, and get a 10000 cred bonus."
Almost as an afterthought, she added, "Oh and drop the holo emitter. No sense wasting power on it now."
The image of the ship on the viewscreen of the Excalibur shimmered slightly, then solidified, revealing a shape the M'rel remembered all too well, and for a moment, memories crashed over her. "Sir?" Drew asked, shaking her out of her moment of reminiscence, and only then did the Caitian captain notice she'd been softly growling, her claws digging into the padding on the command chair armrests.
"I'm fine," she replied quietly, forcing herself to relax. "Just a few bad memories." Then, louder, she added, "Time to weapons range?"
"Fifty seconds to- I have launches!" Rogers quickly tapped in a few commands. "Multiple contacts… CIC is calling it six fighters, runabout size."
"Comms, warn them off. If they attack, we will be forced to respond in kind. After that, send the Q-ship another warning. If they do not stop, we will use force."
As Ensign Montgomery bent towards his station, his words crossing millions of kilometers, Aina announced, "The fighters have launched dazzlers. Compensating now." The holo-plot fuzzed slightly as the missles they launched started emitting on every band they had the power to reach, but the seven red dots marking hostile contacts stayed strong.
The numbers continued to roll down as the two ships closed. "No response," Montgomery finally said.
"Well, we've warned them," M'rel stated for the record. "Per Starfleet regulations, we are now clear to engage. Xangra, tag the fighters as we pass, but try not to blow them up."
"Sir?" Xangra asked, doubt in her voice.
"Consider it a challenge," Williams answered, and Xangra responded with a hunter's grin.
"Yes, sir!"
The fighters angled in only to be answered by brilliant red beams from the emitter arrays along the length of the main hull. Still, the distance between the Q-ship and the cruiser continued to close, despite the swift little ships pecking at the larger ship's shields.
They could only dodge so much however, and first one, then two more of the little ship's turned into miniature fireballs, while another one angled away with one engine nacelle completely missing.
The remaining pair angled as if to bank away, then suddenly angled straight at the Starfleet cruiser and kicked up to maximum speed.
"We've got kamikazes!" Lt Rogers announced a moment before the first one slammed into the shield. The second one dove through the momentary gap in the shields and slammed into the transition between main hull and engineering, sending a shock through the ship as the inertial dampers compensated.
"Damage report!" Commander Williams called as the time to intercept suddenly jumped.
"Hyper Two took a hit," Nexus replied as shi dashed from one console to another. "We lost some EPS conduits. Nothing that we can't repair, but impulse power is limited. I'm trying to get Hyper One fully up now to compensate. Give me thirty seconds."
M'rel frowned as the lines on the plot readjusted, bringing the interception point closer than she'd like to the warp limit. "Thirty seconds is all you've got. Do it."
"They got a piece of her!" Someone cheered as the cruiser's closing speed began to slow. For a moment, the atmosphere on the pirate ship's bridge began to lighten.
Raven's eyes narrowed, and she opened her muzzle to say something, but closed it again without saying anything.
It did not last long however, and slowly, the numbers began to drop again.
Collapsing onto her lower belly in relief, Nexus reached out to key the intercom. "Engineering to bridge, you've got full power back."
"You're a miracle worker, Nexus." M'rel replied on her chair's intercom. Flipping it back off, she eyed the revised numbers, then turned to look back at Tactical. "Xangra?"
"We have weapons range," Xangra announced, her hands resting lightly on the weapons console. "Permission to fire?"
"Granted," M'rel replied, "Fire at will."
The pirates' bridge shook slightly as crimson beam reached across the void, licking at the shields of the Q-ship.
"How the hell do they have that kind of range!?" the feline helmsman asked incredulously as another beam lit up their shields.
"They're fucking Starfleet, that's how!" The Voxxan at Tactical replied. "Aft shields at 70% and falling."
"Redirect power from the forward shields," Raven ordered, her claws digging into the chair. "Return fire and start evasion pattern Harlock Three."
Golden beams answered red as the Q-ship began to fishtail across its own route. It wasn't much, but it was enough to cause the occasional red beam to shoot off into the void. Still, the distance continued to drop, faster than before.
"Shields at 92% and holding," Xangra reported as another beam slashed ineffectually across their forward shields. "Looks like their phasers are short range variants from the strength of the hits. They won't break our shields."
"Time to tractor range?" M'rel asked, eyeing the plot.
"Right about…. now," Rogers announced as a blue beam stabbed across the space between the ships, linking them into one immovable object.
"All beams fire, attack pattern Beta Six!" M'rel rose to her feet, tail lashing as she pointed to the ship on the viewscreen, it's shields flourishing higher and higher. "I want those shields down and engines disabled before they break the tractor!"
Suddenly Aina spoke up. "Rotate weapon frequency to five-four-nine in twenty seconds." Several heads turned to look at her and she shrugged. "They're using a canned shield modulation routine. I've seen it before."
"Do it," M'rel confirmed.
"Yes sir, Xangra looked down at the console as she made the necessary adjustments, all fire halting for a moment. The universe seemed to hold its breath as golden fire splashed against their shields, then-
"Firing."
Seven crimson beams shot out as one, stabbing through the Q-ship's shields as if they weren't there. Three tore through the nacelles and impulse engines, while the other four slashed along the cargo pods, slashing through the beam projectors and setting off a series of small explosions.
"Helm, full stop," came the order, and the two ships came to rest, the yellow line on the plot designating the warp limit a mere hundred thousand kilometers from their position. "Xangra, I want two Marine detachments over there an hour ago. Phasers on stun only. I want them alive, and they may have slaves onboard."
The Rakshani just grinned. "Yes, sir!"
EPILOGUE
"Captain's Log, supplemental. We have successfully cornered and captured the pirate ship Bloody Talon. The commander managed to escape in a runabout, but it will be a while before she becomes a problem again, and the contents of the ship's computers were quite… enlightening."
"You've stirred up quite the bee's nest out there, Captain," the image of Admiral Sakomizu said as M'rel folded her hands on her ready room desk. "The higher-ups in the League are denying any involvement, of course, but in this case I do think they're telling the truth, from the rumblings StarInt is getting. Several mid-level politicians near the border have been asked to step down, including the father of this 'Raven.' It's a shame you weren't able to catch her, but the data we got from this alone will take weeks to sift through."
"I have to admit it feels good to know we've finally removed her from the picture; at least for now. Handing the ship off to Governor Matthews for local defense should quiet him a bit about those destroyers until you can actually shake a few free."
The admiral raised an eyebrow at the latest comment. "So you still agree with his request for a stronger permanent anti-piracy presence out there?"
M'rel leaned back in her chair, her hands moving to interlace behind her head "He has a point. If we continue to expand out this way, our commerce is going to do nothing but grow, and the League would make a good bolthole for other prospective pirates. Unless any of them start getting fancy, a couple of tin cans ought to be enough to make them think twice."
"Fair point," Sakomizu acknowledged, raising a couple fingers to show she scored a 'hit.' "If showing the flag now means less civilians' lives lost, it's a fair trade. How goes the repairs?"
"We've been able to replicate what we didn't have on hand. The crew in Hyper Two mostly made it unscathed, but a couple ratings are still recuperating from plasma burns. Shir Firewalker's got everything in hand there, though." M'rel paused a moment as she recalled something. "Sir, I'd like to keep Lieutenant Nexus as my Chief Engineer. Shi's proven hirself as far as I'm concerned but shi doesn't have the seniority for a promotion yet."
"I've read your after-action report, M'rel, and we won't be taking Lieutenant Commander Nexus from you." M'rel's ears perked at the new rank and he gave a slight shrug. "Your first officer's report also made mention of how admirably shi handled her duties. It's up to hir now to prove we're making the right decision."
"Thank you, sir," M'rel replied, leaning towards the pickup. "With that settled, I assume you contacted me for something other than small talk?"
"That's correct," the admiral stated, lifting a PADD and reading from it. "As of 1900 hours Terran, the Federation Star Ship Excalibur is on detached duty with the Star Corps, to explore and survey the systems past the Tigris Reaches." Letting the PADD drop, Admiral Sakomizu looked directly into the pickup again. "What I said for your Chief Engineer goes for you too. Don't let us down, M'rel."
Fighting the lump in her throat, the Caitian captain nodded. "I won't, sir."
"I'll let you go then, Captain. Good luck, and godspeed."
The transmission ended, showing the shield of the Stellar Federation. Taking a deep breath, M'rel let it out slowly, feeling the full weight of her responsibility settle on her shoulders in a way it hadn't quite before. Now, she truly was going to be the crew's 'Mistress-after-Deity' in all the ways that mattered, and Mentarkan help her if she screwed up!
Rising from the chair, she strode out onto the bridge, projecting confidence she still wasn't sure she truly felt yet. Nodding to her exec as he moved to the standby chair, she slid into the command chair, threading her tail through the hole in back. "I have the Conn."
Tapping the armchair pickup, M'rel spoke into it, "Bridge to engineering. How's our repairs going, Nexus?"
"We just closed up the final conduit, sir Full warp is available at your command," replied Nexus from Hyper Two as a couple crewmen reviewed settings on the nearby displays.
"Thank you, Nexus. When you get a chance, stop by my Ready Room; I've got some information you might like. Bridge out." Looking up, M'rel fought the urge to smile as she noticed Lt. Swiftwind's ears cocked her way, despite hir attention seemingly being focused on hir console. "Ears forward, Mr Swiftwind."
As the spotted chakat ducked down in embarrassment, M'rel let the grin reach her muzzle. "Comms, request departure clearance from Vesper Control. Helm, plot a course… uh… thataway."
"Sir?" Swiftwind turned hir upper body back to look at the captain, the taur cocking hir head quizzically.
"Pick a star past Tigris that looks interesting. We're officially on exploration duties as of now."
"Yes sir," Swiftwind replied, shaking hir head in bemusement as shi called up the star charts for that area.
"We're cleared for departure, sir," Ensign Montgomery added from the Communications station.
M'rel nodded. "Lieutenant, take us out. Let's go be explorers."