Horse
& Hook
STAR
TREK: FOTHERAN & MALLORY
By Jason Cleaver and Derrick Ferguson: Edited Version © 2005-
2006
Based on STAR TREK created by Gene Roddenberry
CHAPTER
FIVE
In The
24th
Century…
Captain Gil Westrum stepped closer and placed a hand on Rutledge's
shoulder. "Just take it easy, Lou...” Rutledge
batted Westrum's comforting hand away. Shocked, Westrum
stepped back. He'd known Luciano Rutledge for thirty years,
ever since their Starfleet Academy days and while Rutledge had long ago
demonstrated an easily sparked temper Westrum had never seen him in
such a state. It was almost as if he'd worked himself up into
some kind of hysterical fury.
"I will most certainly not
take it easy! I demand to know why I wasn't included in this
operation!"
"That was my decision, Captain," Smith said. "It'll
take five weeks for the Liberator’s
repairs. The mission can't wait that long."
"Repairs will only take three weeks! I spoke to
Captain Peck of the Redoubtable
and he's agreed to loan me as much of his engineering staff as he can
spare while his ship is docked here. I've got repairs going
on round the clock! The
Liberator
will be space worthy in three weeks!"
Rochelle Burton said coldly, "I
certainly hope you don't think that you're taking a starship out of my
base with a rushed repair job, sir. The Liberator’s
scheduled for five weeks of repairs and that's what she'll
get. No more and no less.”
Rutledge's eyes were wild as he shouted, "But what about
Fotheran? He'll get away!"
Rochelle stood up slowly and her voice was full of controlled
power as she said slowly; "Captain Rutledge, you will compose yourself
and conduct yourself in the manner of a Starfleet officer or I will ask
you to leave and confine yourself to your quarters until you can
control yourself."
Rutledge's large hands opened and closed spastically as if
strangling an invisible neck. "You weren't the one he made a
fool out of... You don't understand... I know what's being said behind
my back... Fotheran's mine, don't you see? I've got to
capture him..."
Rochelle said in a calmer tone of voice, "Captain Rutledge you have my
personal assurance that nobody blames you for what happened.
Fotheran's a tricky customer who doesn't play by the rules.
In a fair fight you'd have him outclassed. Nobody could have
anticipated what he did and my report to Starfleet will emphasize that
clearly. Fotheran is no longer your concern.
We’ll take care of him and I’ll make sure that you
have a ringside seat at his trial.”
The anger suddenly seemed to drain out of Rutledge as his face lost its
congested look. He sagged slightly as the calming words of
Rochelle seemed to sink into his brain. He nodded slowly and
looked around the room. “I appear to have made
something of a fool of myself. My apologies,
Captains. And good hunting.” He turned to
Rochelle. “Perhaps it is best if I return to my
ship and relax in my quarters, Captain Burton. I beg your
pardon for disrupting your briefing.” Captain
Rutledge slowly walked out of the office, the room silent until the
door hissed shut behind him.
Longtree pushed back his unruly auburn
hair and sat back with a slight grin. "Well, that
certainly livened things up."
Smith was far from amused.
"That man should not be roaming around. In fact, he should be
relieved of command."
Silence filled the room until big, silver-haired Steven Judd
said, "It's a serious thing to relieve a captain of his command, Mr.
Smith. You've got four captains sitting in this room and I think I can
speak for us all when I say that there isn't one of us that doesn't
feel sympathy for Captain Rutledge."
“Then let me put it to a
professional. Counselor St. John, what's your opinion of
Captain Rutledge? Is he liable to do something irrational?"
JoAnn tapped a finger against her chin for a few seconds
before speaking slowly and carefully. "Certainly he's highly
agitated. But after what this man Fotheran did to his ship,
I’d be surprised if he was anything but. But
relieving him of his command is an extreme thing to do and I certainly
wouldn’t advise it without having more time with
him.”
Rochelle said, "I'll have no more talk
of relieving Captain Rutledge. I'll have Peck's people pulled
off the Liberator.
Rutledge isn’t going anywhere without his ship and without
the extra manpower, his repairs can't possibly be done in less than
five weeks."
Smith nodded. "Very well, Captain Burton, I'll
leave the matter in your hands.”
"Duly noted, Mr. Smith. Can we continue with the
briefing now?"
The door opened again and Smith
smiled. "We certainly can. Our Tikon advisor is
here. May I present Malarian Mi Marl, Justicer of The High
Lords of Hebigo."
Eve Mallory was not easily impressed. Not after
all the things she'd been through and the worlds she'd seen.
But she had to admit; Malarian Mi Marl made quite the imposing
figure. The High Lord stood at an even six foot six
inches. His simple garments consisted of a dark one-piece
bodysuit that was belted at the waist with what looked like some kind
of metallic fibers interwoven with oblong crystals. A fiery
red sash crossed his chest, intricately embroidered with his family
name and status. An ankle length heavy coat with a high fur
collar completed his garb. Like many High Lords, his skin was
slate gray and his platinum hair was held back from his face by a
headband of purest crystal. A tall silvery-gray staff was
held in one sinewy six-fingered fist.
Taylor Smith made introductions all
around and Marl nodded pleasantly to each and everyone. When
introductions were completed, the High Lord said in a surprisingly
warm, rich baritone, "I extend to all of you the thanks of the High
Lords and of all Hebigonese still loyal to their true hereditary
rulers. It was not easy for us to ask for help... but after
so many years of benevolent rule, we were ill prepared for war."
"What I still don't comprehend is why
with your telepathic/telekinetic abilities, you need Starfleet's
help?" Dianora spoke up. The Marine XO looked
impatient with all this talk.
"The High Lords are not warriors, Lieutenant. We
have not had to use our powers in that manner for thousands of
years. For example, I am a Justicer of my people.
In your culture, you might say that I am a judge or peacekeeping
official. I use my abilities to resolve disputes among my
people who are not telepathic. I intervene only when the
truth cannot be found in conventional manner."
Smith hastily said, "Justicer Marl has given his word not to use his
telepathy while on Federation vessels unless requested."
Marl nodded. "It is well known
that humans are fiercely protective of the privacy of their
minds. I find speech quite slow and laborious, but the
Hebigon are an ethical people and are eager to prove our goodwill to
those so willing to aid us."
JoAnn whispered to Eve, "Laying it on a
bit thick, don't you think?"
Eve nodded. Not that she had a suspicious nature,
but she also didn't believe in taking anything or anybody
for that matter, at face value. Speaking of which…
she flicked a glance at Stolath, sitting quietly beside
Smith. So far, he'd said very little except at first; Smith
was the one doing all the talking. Which made her wonder if
the Vulcan was the senior member of the team, letting the obviously
personable Smith brief and reassure everyone.
Captain Judd was speaking. "Now that Justicer Marl
is here, can we be told exactly what this artifact is that's so
important and why it's going to put the High Lords back in power?"
"Of
course." Malarian Mi Marl looked around the assemblage with
coal black eyes. "What I am about to tell you has been known
only to the High Lords. It is something that we have guarded
from other races of telepaths for centuries. In truth, if
anyone with telepathic abilities gained control of this artifact, the
consequences could be most horrifying for every single intelligent
species in the galaxy..."
Fotheran flung out his arms wide with a flourish and a
stirring, "TA-DAAA!".
Courtney Brass and Cooper Wilde looked at the ungainly,
bulbous Pakled starship sitting where the Platinum Hook
used to be.
Courtney frowned. "THAT’S
your brilliant idea to slip past the Starfleet ships and land on Danan
Prime? Use a Pakled ship? Denys, I'm not even sure
I can fly a Pakled ship!"
"Ah, but you won't have to." Fotheran held out a
padd. Courtney looked at the display while Wilde looked over
her shoulder. After a few minutes, Courtney looked up and
grinned.
"I take back everything I was thinking about you,
Denys,” Wilde said, his grin almost as bright as
Courtney's.
Fotheran explained, "I figured that the best way to slip in
and out was to construct a shell around the Hook.
The Bastard's techs cannibalized the hulls of four Pakled ships to
construct the shell around the Hook.
Starfleet doesn't deal with the Pakled all that much..., in fact,
they'd rather just leave 'em alone. If we run into any
Federation ships, I figure they'll just run a cursory sensor scan and
go about their business."
"What if they want visual contact?" Courtney wanted
to know.
"That's not a problem," Wilde said. "I can create a
holographic image of a Pakled that'll fool the eye. Denys,
can you fake speaking like a Pakled?"
"Me can certainly." Fotheran chuckled. "So, you
guys ready to give this a go? We can be at Danan Prime in
fifteen hours at warp three and then, it's the Rim Systems and a year
long vacation."
"I'm game," Courtney said. Wilde nodded his assent.
"And once we've gotten past this, there's a few things we've
got to clear up... right, Coop?" Fotheran turned away and
walked toward his disguised ship, leaving a puzzled Courtney to look
apprehensively at Wilde.
"What did he mean by that, Coop?"
"He knows, Courtney."
Courtney's eyes went wide and it was several minutes before
she could say anything. "Why did you tell him without me
being there?"
"He was the one who told me he knew! He said that
he would have had to be blind not to see what was going on!"
"What else did he say?"
"He said that the choice was yours. He said he
didn't own you or your feelings... In all fairness, he said
he wants to marry you." Wilde reached out to take her
hand. "The problem is… so do I..."
Courtney yanked her hand out of his. "This is all
my fault. I never should have let a flirtation get out of
hand. I never..."
Fotheran called from where he stood, "Hey, boys and
girls! You think maybe we can put the interpersonal drama on
hold until we've taken care of business?"
Courtney yelled back, "You'd think you'd put your damned
business aside long enough to find out what's going on with the woman
you claim to love!"
Fotheran sighed. "I will... after I make sure I put
a couple dozen star systems between me and Starfleet
Intelligence... Now
let's get focused, people and I mean right now!"
TO
BE CONTINUED…
Next
Chapter- Coming Soon...