Date: Sat, 15 Feb 1997 23:54:51 +0500 (EST) From: Lord Admiral Nelson Subject: USS OBERON: Pre-emptive Strike Stardate: 90215.2330 Scene: Captain Tremaine's Quarters A barely perceptible rippling sound disrupted the silence of the darkened cabin. Seconds later, a tall, thin vertical line appeared, hovering for an instant, before broadening into a 2-dimensional image of a man. A moment more, and the image became fully three-dimensional, and Colin MacArthur stepped into the room. "Computer, Lights," he requested sourly as he surveyed his surroundings. The Iconian transport device always gave him a horrible sense of nausea during its use. MacArthur wondered if it was because of some physiological difference in the Iconians, or if the device were simply a 'lemon'. No matter what the source of the problem, he looked forward to the day when Federation science would produce a remedy. MacArthur allowed his gaze to wander the room as he recovered from the transport. If he had interpreted the OBERON's recent communications correctly, neither Tremaine nor LuCypher were currently aboard. Still, it would be best to make sure. "Computer, recognize MacArthur, Colin--authorization code One-ebon-delta." "State current locations of officers Tremaine and LuCypher." |Excellent,| thought MacArthur. The codes and technology currently at his disposal allowed him access to the OBERON without alerting security. But none of his devices had proven effective against the ship's First Officer, and MacArthur had his doubts if his gadgetry could hold up against the full, focused efforts of Lexia Tremaine either. Best to take advantage of this situation to gather a little info before attempting once again to question the OBERON's Commanding Officer. With that in mind, Colin MacArthur sat down at Lexia's personal terminal and began accessing files..... -=-=-=- Scene: Betazed--Remnants of the "Cottage" at Shalimar. Commander Iona Zinoviev paused in her tricorder work to relax for a minute, her eyes scanning the now familiar ruins of the Ambassador's cottage as she took a break from her work. Thus far, they had found little in the way of additional information. The Betazed investigative team had been quite thorough, and there wasn't a whole lot more the OBERON could bring to the site that the planet's technological resources couldn't already provide. Betazed was, after all, a prominent member of the Federation. Iona stretched, relieving some of the strain to muscles fatigued by the hours of work. To her right, she saw Captain LuCypher crouched down by the remnants of a charred support, one hand on his tricorder, the other gently touching the crumbling post. As she watched, she could not help but suspect that Stae-faan was attending more to his own, unique perceptions than he was to anything the tricorder was telling him. The First Officer was still pretty much a puzzle to her, despite the length of time they had served together. The stories she had heard, especially the tale from Owen regarding their expedition to that "other earth" raised as many questions as they answered. There was something fundamentally "different" about LuCypher--a focus and inner calmness that gave him a stability and steadfastness Iona at times longed to possess. He was, she thought, like a man who had found a key to the secret workings of the universe. The kind of key that one had to find for oneself for it to have meaning and value. The perception made her a bit envious in a friendly sort of way. Somersby's approach broke her away from her contemplations regarding Stae-faan, and she directed her attention his way. "Anything new?" she asked, trying to keep a rising feeling of impatience from showing in her voice. The CWO shook his head. "We've pretty much confirmed the findings of the original investigative team. The explosive was trilithium based, with residuals suggesting a containment and triggering system associated most strongly with the Cardassian military." "There was mention in the preliminary mission briefing that Cardassia had made a request involving Betazed in the psychic rehabilitation of certain political prisoners," Iona mused. "Perhaps there are factions in the Cardassian military that are, shall we say, strongly opposed to such an agreement." "That's one possibility," Somersby concurred. "But there are other parties to be considered." "Such as..." "You might recall that Esthetica was involved in a conflict with the Cardassians. One of keys to that planet's success in fighting off Cardassia was their ability to capture important technology and materials from them and other aggressors." "And Esthetica has a delegation here with interests as well," Iona noted. "Still, we've really found out just about everything we can at this location. So why are we still here?" The Security specialist gave the Commander a sly grin. "I don't think it's so much what we can find as it is what those responsible _think_ we can find. The longer we stay, the more it may seem that we've uncovered additional information. I suspect Captain LuCypher is hoping to generate some unease in the guilty party, possibly even getting them to take an unwarranted action that could lead us to them." "Seems like a slim hope," said Iona. Somersby shrugged. "It really isn't costing us anything to try." Iona had to agree. "And who knows...maybe we really _will_ find something we've missed." Somersby nodded, his gesture concluding their conversation. Sighing, Iona returned to her work. -=-=-=-=- What had started out as a casual perusal of recent records had suddenly become much more than that for Colin MaCarthur. Things were happening on this ship--unanticipated things, that were leading his speculations down a very disturbing path. Already, he had initiated one of his search programs, reviewing logs and security recordings for evidence of a development he would rather not find. |There were just too many people on this vessel who knew,| MacArthur thought, frowning. Crown, and LuCypher for certain--possibly Christie. Hunter Thorpe was also a problem. Individually, any one of them could end up triggering the event. Combined in one place as they were, the probabilities increased dramatically. Currently, he was looking at the information regarding an unknown Star Fleet officer appearing on Betazed. Thus far, they had been unable to confirm his identity, a fact MacArthur found inexplicably disquieting. In a few seconds, though, he would have his answer. His special security codes had already given him access to the Betazed medical database. Indeed, the information on the mystery patient was already on its way to his terminal. |Almost certainly, it's nothing to worry about,| MacArthur assured himself. |Once I've confirmed that, I can| ---he gasped when the image appeared on the screen. It was James Lawrence. Thomas Lawrence's brother. A man who no longer existed in this reality. Hardly had he time to register this shock when the computer chimed, gaining his attention. "Computer, play record," Colin instructed. The screen promptly showed Captain Lexia Tremaine encountering a young boy in the corridor. > "Hello, Damon," she said, tousling his hair fondly. "How are you > doing?" > "Hello, Commodore." "Oh, dear God," MacArthur whispered. The tape continued to play. > "What did you call me?" > "Commodore. I hope it's okay. Stae-faan told me that a long time > ago on Stormhaven, they all called you that." "Computer, stop playback," MacArthur snapped. There was no denying it. The boy had spoken the single damning word as clear as day. He had called her Commodore.' Colin MacArthur hesitated an instant longer, reluctant still to give the orders he knew had to be carried out. But there was no other choice. Lexia Tremaine could _not_ be allowed to remember. To do so would be to open the door to Chaos. The universe could not endure another alteration of such magnitude. With a firm movement, the Federation agent withdrew a small pen-like device from his left boot and depressed the stud on its top. "This is Colin MacArthur to all teams. I am sending you information on the current location of all targets. Alpha team--you are responsible for Captain Tremaine, Beta team has Crown and Lawrence, Gamma team will deal with LuCypher. Delta team will join me on the OBERON to take care of Christie. All targets are to be terminated. Any number of additional casualties necessary to achieve the mission objective is acceptable. Eliminate all persons in immediate contact with these officers as well. I want _no_ loose ends. MacArthur out." He released the button and returned the device to his boot. |There was no other choice,| he told himself. The universe itself was at stake, and they couldn't take the chance of what could follow should Lexia Tremaine remember what once was. They had run the simulations--seen the projected results. To keep the Federation safe, Lexia Tremaine had to die--they _all_ had to die. -=-=-=- Iona was waving to Captain LuCypher to gain his attention. An unusual energy reading had just registered on her tricorder and she wanted to confirm its accuracy with his. Stae-faan was about 10 meters away, picking his way casually through the debris, when he suddenly burst into a sprint, his amethyst eyes flashing fire as he raced in her direction. "Get down!" he shouted, crashing into her and knocking her to the ground. "What?!" was all she could get out before she saw the brilliant flash of phaser fire slice through the place she had just been standing. -=-=-=- The strike team beamed into the room without warning, their special sensor-deflecting chameleon suits a stark contrast to the blue and white hospital garb of the medical personnel there. The Betazoid doctors had immediately attempted to scan the thoughts of those who had burst in upon them, barely registering their failure before the operatives opened fire, killing them and the patient they had been treating. Swiftly, the lead commando moved to confirm the identity of the dead. "Blast!" he shouted. "Wrong room! Wrong room!" Quickly he scanned for the comm-badges of Lawrence and Crown. "How did we miss?" one of the assassins snarled. "Medical equipment must be affecting the accuracy of the output," another offered. "Of all the stupid, idiotic--" "Save it. I've got them." The team leader pointed to the room across the corridor. "Let's go. And remember. No one gets out alive..." -=-=-=- The had barely started on the drinks when the room lights dimmed and brightened three times in quick succession. Lexia recognized the signal at once. "What was that?!" Tangerine Waverly asked, eyeing the fixtures. "That was a signal from house security," D'raan informed her. "It seems we have intruders on the premises." *Armed intruders,* Lexia sent to her father, the Ambassador. *And that signal means the situation is _serious_.* *Exactly, daughter,* D'raan concurred. *Which means we would do best to transport to a place of safety.* Lexia turned to Chairman Kola, and quickly shared her thoughts with him. "I think we would all feel a bit more comfortable if we were to remove ourselves to safety of the OBERON," she announced. "I whole-heartedly agree," the Chairman responded. Lexia tapped her comm-badge. "Tremaine to OBERON," she called. But she heard only silence as the OBERON failed to respond.... Respectfully Submitted, Captain Stae-faan LuCypher First Officer USS OBERON NCC 0111 Kurt Nelson jknelson@telerama.lm.com NRPG: Surprise! Seemed like just as good a time as any to stir the pot. If this doesn't get some fingers on the keyboard, I'll just have to give up. :) Hope I haven't stepped on any toes. Jeff/Matt: Unless Thomas and Adam beamed down to the hospital armed, you'll need to come up with some other clever and entertaining method for dealing with the 'guests'. Susan: OK, Echo. A bunch of 'bad guys' are shooting phaser rifles at Iona and company. Better think of something, cause it's your turn to write. :) Brian: I guess you have two places to cover. Is Owen saving the OBY? and what's D'raan's take on all this? Looking forward to your post on either situation. Judi: Heh, heh, heh. Adelle wants to kill Lexia. Lydia wants to kill Lexia. Now MacArthur is trying to kill Lexia. How's it feel to be wearing the bulls eye? Kinda reminds me of a certain XO I know. :) Greg/Jason: Jump in anyway you want, I guess, and we'll see where it goes. Frank: I feel so sorry for poor Sam. But look at it this way--at least he's not in the line of fire. :) NELSON'S LAW: Even if _nothing_ can go wrong---something will go wrong.