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OUR STAR TREK PBEM STORIES: REMEMBRANCES PAST


Title: Remembrances Past, Part Three
Location: Pandora's Box, CO's Stateroom
Flashback Setting (Emma): Takharesh X

Ensign Peel watched from her perch and listened via a micro comm device. ~Not looking good to make it back home, even I had some place like that,~ she thought peering out to see what was going on to make her next move.

A beggarly looking native of the planet entered her line of view walking and looking around at first as if he were interested in scavanging what he could from the ongoing civil war. After a few moments of that, he moved into position. Several minutes later, he fired taking out more of the Jullai officers from the Khantai faction. Silently, he entered a building on the left where a Starfleet special operations team was based.

Alone and at the communications center, the commanding officer for one of the special operations groups was trying to get his equipment to work with no success. He looked panicked and was sweating profusely. Without warning, he felt the cold deadly imprint of a weapon being firmly pressed hard into his warm neck.

"Good luck finding anything. It's all been destroyed," the Commander said flinching as the disrupter style weapon burrowed painfully into his neck.

"That's what I wanted to hear. Someone here not dirty. We've been set up. Now in a second I am going to remove my crakstow from between your 4th and 5th cervical vertebrae so we can talk face to face. If you try anything, same side or not, I'll blast you," the man warned.

"Fair enough," the prisoner said.

"Here are directions - Get them right the first time. There is no second time. Turn around - slowly. Hands up. I get mighty twitchy after being set up in an ambush," the man with the Jullain disrupter said.

The other man did as he was told and turned around slowly to look at his captor. "You are Mardakain, lowest caste of the Tunnai?" he replied with a mixture of shock and disdain.

"No, I am much lower than that. Human. Sent here, like you, by Starfleet in this -@&##&^$%% planet. I am not sure we are backing the best side right now," the robed figure said.

"We are not being paid to think. Just complete the mission," the special operations officer said looking warily at the alien smelling beggar in front of him claiming to be from Starfleet. He didn't believe he was human, yet much less from Starfleet, but wasn't going to push the point yet and waited to see how this all played out. He didn't ultimately care either where the beggar was from or what race he was. What mattered to him was finding an advantage. He would take it and kill this man to keep the war over the hostage he was supposed to free going. If Saldar knew the CDR Frye was much more than dirty and a traitor to Starfleet and the persons he was sent to the planet to protect, he would have shot him on the spot and have been done with it.

"Thinking's what's got me on the right end of the crakstow and you on the wrong side of it," Saldar countered. "Both our groups (Starfleet SpecOps and Intel) have lost too many. We can't complete the mission as it was assigned. For all we know our government has already changed sides and are clearing up their mistakes - us. Time to improvise. Time to combine forces and I am calling all the shots," the man with the weapon ordered.

"And you are..?" the prisoner asked, now finding the opportunity to question him more safely.

My real name we can skip. I am Intel Division Chief in this forsaken Sector. You may call me 'Saldar, the Beggar' or 'Lord of the Flies' if you prefer," the man in tattered and blood stained robes replied with a flourish.

"I am CDR Terrence Frye," the special operations officer replied, unsucessfully trying to hide the shock on his face. He thought the Sector Chief had evacuated long ago and that a sufficient number of his operatives had been killed in what was made to look like the war.

"Yeah, I know," Saldar replied unimpressed. My people are taking care of the problem out there for the moment, so I can get you and a few others out. We were hoping you were clean... I am not hundred percent sure," the Lord of Flies said.

"What can I do to convince you?" Frye asked.

"Tell me all you know about the situation and the hostage. There's a big leak somewhere and the political dam of this planet is about to burst," Saldar replied.

Commander Frye filled Saldar in on many of the details he was looking for, including that the young prince was still being held in the same location.

"What about the Daihrai Temple and the Inner Keep?" Alan asked.

"A weak point once you get past the guards, but it can't happen. Odds are 20-1 against us now and 12-1 around that particular perimeter," he said comfortably. There was no way anyone could get in. He had made sure of that.

"Ten to one, actually, over all. While you were here napping safely in your comfy bunker, letting your subordinates get wasted for you and being overrun by the Khantai faction, odds changed. They are no more than 10-1. I am kinda hoping 8-1," Saldar said wryly.

"Impossible," the Commander said.

"The impossible... that's what my people and I do best. You can thank me later and I will expect it," said watching the Commander's reaction carefully.

Frye was clearly surprised, but not fool enough to give his true allegiance away.

Satisfied for the moment with the info on the Keep and nothing else, Alan worked out a new plan in his head as he tried to figure out a way to get the young prince out.

The door opened a crack letting some darkness in and a heavy throaty alto voice.

"Sal, time to go," said Emma in alien tongue, Mahrduin. She was dressed to look like a native of the planet as well.

Saldar replied back in the native language, "He's coming with us. He might work out. Don't trust him entirely." Then in case CDR Frye had bothered to take the effort to learn the language, he signed to the woman out of view of the prisoner. "My bet is he is rotten to the core. We need info from him and possibly some help from his kind to get what is left of our people and allies out. Play it cool and careful and all angles. Make sure you the one really calling the shots. Lead him where you will. Do what is needed to get ours and the Alls (allies) out safely. I'm going to attempt to get the hostage. Plan L," he ordered, giving her something small in her hand.

Emma replied back in Mahrduin, "Understood." She made sure her answer worked for both what was spoken and what was signed. She tried to fake being neutral with the plan. She never liked Plan L. In fact, she hated it.

Shifting to unaccented Federation standard she barked to the prisoner, "You will listen to me and do everything I say. Is that clear?"

"Yes," Commander Frye said already working on way to manipulate things in his favor with the new person. She looked petite to him under all the robes and protective gear, but it was hard to tell for sure. Regardless, he thought she looked easy to take, convince and outsmart. Little did he suspect what a serious mistake that would be for him later when he showed his true colors to underestimate her.

"Good," she said sternly.

The woman's boss turned to her to say in Mahrduin. "Thanks." Then Saldar said one last thing in sign out of the man's view, "See you at the same time discussed previously and at about the same location. I am going to even some more of the odds and head off to next stop."

"Welcome. See you later," Emma said neutrally to Saldar.

Alan left leaving the woman alone with the prisoner.

Emma shifted her attention to the prisoner she was supposed to trick later into revealing what side he was really on and out of some more information. If she was lucky, she'd get a few crumbs they could use and maybe something bigger as a good double agent would depending on the circumstances give good intel as part of his deception to give himself some credibility. For now she'd establish a few rules along the direction he would expect before she deceived him. "March," she ordered.

Commander Terrence Frye stepped outside and walked for a few minutes in silence. Then there was a loud noise and the ground shook violently.

Frye struggled to keep balance. The woman easily kept hers and watched her prisoner/guest to make sure he would not try to escape or take her weapon.

"What was that?" he asked.

"A message," she replied. ~One man in. The odds just got better,~ she thought to herself.

"Move!" she barked and listened carefully in case there was more signal or a message to come.

Shereeah-reeah-reee-ahweehp! The mournful song of the native kherra bird sliced through the thick, battle-soaked air of the night.

~There it is. The code. Odds were cut three to one. Much better,~ Emma thought. She breathed a sigh of relief. They just might able to extract the hostage out if no one made a big mistake. That should be plenty enough odds for her team to escape and to send a few to the Inner Keep to help Alan rescue and take the prince to the cousin that asked the UFP for help with this. Maybe she and the others would make it out after all.

~Thanks Sparky,~ she thought, There was a reason why this was one of her favorite nicknames for him, having seen him level the odds before with pyrotechnics stealth and strategies. It made her smile for a moment remembering one of his favorite old clichés ~Many problems can be solved with the careful application of high explosives and latinum.~

~Well, time to start playing head games with the commander,~ she thought. "This planet and the people here stink," she said lying. "How long have you been here?"


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Character Biographies:

CO, Captain Nikolai Kamranov
CMO, Commander Vilotanzia Bounlutay
ACEO,Lieutenant Commander Piper Chayton
COMMO, Lieutenant Llewellyn Moreau
AIO, Lieutenant Peel
VLO, Sublieutenant Yunarra
AIO, Ensign Molly Ferweiler

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