Star Trek PBEM Sim / Star Trek RPG
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?"