Forwarded by the ASC-VSO Posted: Fri, 30 Jan 2004 23:38:18 -0600 In: alt.startrek.creative From: Seema seemag1@yahoo.com Title: Crossing the Line Author: Seema E-mail: seemag1@yahoo.com Series: MIS Part: NEW 2/3 Rating: PG Codes: Riley Frazier Archive: ASC and BLTS yes, everyone else please ask. Summary: The battle of Wolf 359 **** "Ah, Commander." The Roosevelt's captain, James Bonham, turned as Frazier entered the Bridge. "Good morning, Captain." Bonham pointed to the screen which showed a wide-angle view of the armada assembled. "Well, what do you think?" "It's impressive, Captain," Frazier said honestly. She took a look around the Bridge. There were still twenty minutes left before the changeover from gamma to alpha shift, so with the exception of the Captain and herself, the rest of the senior staff was not present. As Bonham approached her, Frazier could clearly see the lines at the corners of his eyes, the tightness in his jaw, and the stiffness of his posture. "What is the matter, Captain?" Frazier asked softly and immediately regretted her question. A battle was imminent and of course, the captain of the Roosevelt would be concerned. "The Roosevelt is a science vessel, Riley," Bonham said, keeping his voice purposely low. "You know as well as I do some of the people aboard this ship are not ready for the battle to come." He sighed. "We've spent the last few days practicing drills, refining battle plans, and anticipating every possible scenario, but I still can't help but think we're forgetting something." Before Frazier could respond, the doors to the Bridge slid open revealing Gerry and Logan. The shift change from gamma to alpha went smoothly. In every way, it was a day like any other. Frazier studied the readings on her console. Wolf 359, the fourth star closest to Earth, gave off gamma radiation and other wave particles that had the potential of interfering with navigational and sensor arrays. Quickly, Frazier enabled the proper filters. She ran a preliminary test to make sure the data came back within specifications with minimal variance. While her primary duty during the battle would be to keep an eye on astronomical data, she would also back up Gerry on tactical operational data to make sure nothing was missed. Occasionally Frazier looked up at the viewscreen, noting the starships slowly moving themselves into formation; it was no easy task and she certainly did not envy Admiral Hanson, who was commanding the fleet from his ship, the Liberty. In the background, the murmur of voices rose and fell, occasionally interrupted by communiqués – both visual and audio – from other ships, as well as the admiral. Frazier narrowed her eyes as she noted suspicious activity on the long range scanners. Her fingers flying quickly over the console, she amplified and clarified the signal. Sure enough, the blip revealed itself as a ship lacking a Federation warp signature trail. "Captain!" Bonham was at her side immediately. Frazier pointed to the reading; the warp signature exactly matched the trails picked up around Joret IV in the aftermath of the colony's disappearance. "The Borg," she said in a low voice. "It has to be." Bonham looked over at Gerry who nodded his confirmation. "ETA in twelve minutes," the lieutenant said. He shook his head. "I've never seen a ship move that fast before." Bonham's lips flattened into a straight line. "Inform the Admiral we have picked up the Borg on long range sensors and –-" he turned to Gerry "—- go to red alert." "Aye, sir," Gerry said. The klaxons blared in the background, the red lights flashing through the Bridge, making it hard to concentrate fully; this time it was no mistake, no drill. Frazier steeled herself, trying to calm her nerves. Perhaps, the Borg would turn away once they saw the overwhelming force the Federation had gathered to combat them. Frazier pushed away her fear in shame and surprise. She doubted her ancestor, Daniel Frazier, who had died at the Alamo, had even entertained such thoughts. She thought fleetingly of Colonel Travis telling his men to step over the line he'd drawn in the sand, to see who would choose to face certain death. The story was most probably the stuff legends -- and heroes -- were made of, but Riley appreciated it for what it meant. Starfleet -- and by extension, she -- had made a decision. The line had been crossed; there was no going back. "Ten minutes to intercept with the Borg vessel," Gerry announced. "Incoming transmission from Admiral Hanson to all hands," Frazier said crisply. "Audio and visual both." "Put it on the viewscreen," the Captain said. Frazier complied, aware of the sudden burst of energy among the crew as the visage of JP Hanson appeared on the viewscreen. "I'll keep this short as the enemy has been sighted," Hanson said briskly. "You have been well-trained and you know what to do. Good luck." Hanson's face faded from view as the white emblem of the Federation on its standard blue background appeared on the viewscreen. "Maintain an open comm link at all times, Commander," Bonham said. "Aye, sir," Frazier replied. The turbolift doors opened, revealing Commander Goode. "Glad you could join us, Commander," Bonham remarked with uncharacteristic sarcasm. "I got here as fast as I could," Goode said. She glanced warily around the Bridge. "Captain, we have a situation in Engineering." "A 'situation'?" Bonham sounded incredulous. Frazier noticed that all eyes were now turned towards the Commander. Resolutely, she focused her attention on the panel display in front of her. After a brief conversation with the Captain, Goode took her seat next to Bonham. Given the expression of nonchalance on the faces of the command team, Frazier supposed the 'situation' in Engineering wasn't quite as desperate as Goode had initially made it sound. "The Borg are on a course heading 2163.4 mark 9," Gerry reported. "They're close enough to get a visual now, Captain," Frazier said. "Maintain our position behind the Liberty," Bonham ordered. "And bring up the Borg vessel on viewscreen, Lieutenant." The Bridge officers remained completely silent as the visual of the Borg ship took over the screen. The cubical Borg ship possessed a rough exterior rather than smooth hull-plating, thus contributing to its foreboding appearance. This first glimpse confirmed the Borg were unlike anything Starfleet has encountered before. According to Frazier's scans, the Borg didn't even seem aware of the vast Starfleet armada gathered to stop its path. Her stomach lurched uncomfortably. "All systems online and powered at 100 percent," Goode said, her tone brisk and confident. "Nothing from the Borg cube," Gerry reported. "Nothing, Lieutenant?" Bonham's skepticism was obvious. "Surely they realize we're here?" "I think they do know, sir," Frazier said. She couldn't explain her comment with anything factual or scientific; it was a gut reaction, pure and simple. "If the Borg know we're here, why aren't they reacting?" Logan asked in frustration. Bonham eyed the officer speculatively. "Patience, Lieutenant, you'll get your wish for action soon enough." Frazier frowned. "Sir, what if they're trying to catch us off guard? Playing possum, so to speak?" "That's not likely, Commander," Bonham said. He stood in the middle of the Bridge, arms akimbo. "Considering we've got the cube surrounded and outnumbered." "Appearances can be deceiving," Frazier said without thinking. Bonham shot her an impatient look. "Are you going to tell me about General Sam Houston again, Commander?" She chose to overlook the curtness and exasperation evident in his voice. "No, sir, but there is a lot we don't know about the Borg. Their weapons are unknown to us, their culture, their language—-" she took a long look at the Borg cube "—- too many variables to call the outcome on this one, Captain." "And what are you basing that assessment on, Commander?" This comment came from Logan. "None of the scans give any indication the Borg possess any kind of super weapon and we do have a numerical tactical advantage over them." "I find their complete operational silence as well as their—" "Captain! The Borg are powering up their weapons!" Gerry yelled. Riley snapped her attention back to her console, the display confirming Gerry's words. "The Borg are firing!" "Shields up!" Goode called. "Powering torpedoes--" "The Borg are targeting the Liberty!" Frazier glanced down at her sensor readings just as Goode reported, "The Liberty has sustained two hits, but its shields are still holding–-" "Helm, prepare to take evasive maneuvers, delta pattern-–" The air crackled with tension as Bonham barked out commands and senior staff members relayed status reports. Frazier looked at the viewscreen, staring as the Borg cube continued to target the Liberty. After the sixth such strike, the Galaxy-class starship took a direct hit to the starboard bow. "The Liberty has sustained a direct hit to the port nacelle, sir," Goode said. "It's dropping back now. The Firebrand and Gage will escort it to the rearguard. The Melbourne is now in position, Captain." "Maintain current position, Lieutenant." "Aye sir," Logan said. Frazier scanned the other ships in the vicinity. Directly behind the Melbourne, the Bellerophon and Ahwahnee were slowly coming about, their weapons fully powered and their shields at maximum intensity. The Saratoga and the Tolstoy flanked the other three ships, leaving the Roosevelt as the rear guard. "Lorey to Bonham." The chief engineer's voice crackled over the comm system. "We have just detected an imbalance in the anti-matter flow. This problem should be easily corrected-—" "An imbalance? Commander, we haven't sustained a single hit. What the hell is going on down there?" Bonham paced the Bridge, his hands clasped behind his back. "We're working on it, sir," Lorey said. "Well, work faster!" Bonham snapped as the Roosevelt shook violently. Frazier slid off her chair, banging her knee roughly against the floor. Quickly, she scrambled back into her seat, reviewing the data flying across the console. Tapping a key, she summoned up an overview of the Borg cube's matrix. It appeared the main power generators were in the middle of the cube... "Status!" Bonham barked. "We sustained a direct hit to our aft shields," Goode reported. "Holding at 80 percent. Captain, we need to make our answer a good one!" "Captain," Frazier said urgently, "the heat readings imply the Borg generate their power here –-" she pointed to a spot on her console "—- perhaps if we target those systems..." "Understood," Bonham said sharply. "Lieutenant?" "Arming photon torpedoes now, Captain," Gerry said. "Target the location Commander Frazier indicated, Lieutenant. And on my mark, fire." Bonham moved closed to the helm. "Logan, bring us in range..." "Aye, sir." Bonham watched the screen carefully and then when the angle appeared close, he turned to Gerry. "Now, Lieutenant!" The targeted burst of firepower at the Borg seemed to bounce off uselessly off the Borg ship. Frazier shook her head in dismay. Perhaps she had miscalculated the Borg's shield harmonics. After a quick check of numbers though, Frazier knew she hadn't made a mistake. "Captain!" Goode was on her feet, pointing to the viewscreen. Frazier looked up in horror. The Borg cube was rapidly closing the gap between itself and the armada. The front half of the Melbourne exploded in a brilliance of orange and red. The Saratoga, Awahnee and the Chekov -– which had arrived from the port side -– launched a concentrated burst of fire power at the cube. "I don't understand," Frazier said as she continued to analyze the data she was receiving. "They seem to know exactly how to modulate their shields to deflect anything we throw at them. How is that possible?" "That's a good question, Commander," Bonham said grimly as he stared at the viewscreen. "Their ability to anticipate our next move and react to deflect it is, in a word, uncanny." As Logan guided the Roosevelt into position, Gerry fired off a barrage of torpedoes, joining the other ships in the assault on the single cube. Infuriatingly, the Borg vessel continued on its path, impervious to the torpedoes and phaser blasts launched at it. The viewscreen lit up once again and the crew gaped as a huge hulk of the Melbourne careened past. "Sir, the Awhanee has been destroyed," Goode said. The entire Bridge crew fell silent. Only the occasional beeping of a control system interrupted the incessant wail of the klaxons. "A message from Admiral Hanson, sir," Frazier said finally. Her voice sounded scratchy and far away, even to her own ears. "We are to replace the Awhanee in the formation." "You have your orders, Logan," Bonham said. The lights on the Bridge dimmed briefly. Engineering reported a decrease in power due to the previous hit the Roosevelt sustained. Commander Lorey reported he planned to reroute power from non-essential systems to the shields and weapons. As the ship shook again, Frazier's already injured knee rammed into her console, shooting pain through her leg. She gritted her teeth. "Borg closing in, sir," Gerry said tersely. The Borg cube emitted a sudden burst of fire. Frazier bit her lip as she watched the Saratoga take a direct hit to the starboard nacelle. Moments later, escape pods began to stream out of the ship. One or two of the pods were caught in the crossfire. The map grid in front of her showed the Kyushu and Liberator coming to the defense of the Saratoga. The Borg turned its attention to the Liberator and Kyushu, managing to destroy the Kyushu's shield integrity and take out its port nacelles in a few shots. The Liberator hurled more torpedoes while the Saratoga concentrated its phasers on the cube. As Frazier pulled together a status report on the Kyushu, she could see the ship was badly damaged. Like the Saratoga, the Kyushu began to launch escape pods. "The Saratoga isn't going to hold out much longer!" Gerry exclaimed. Frazier's reports confirmed Gerry's words; a second later, the Saratoga exploded. The Roosevelt rocked from the aftershocks while the already badly damaged Kyushu was left defenseless as it listed helplessly on its side. "The Kyushu has shut down all life support and environmental systems and directing all power to the engines," Goode said. In horror, Frazier watched the Kyushu gather speed. Plotting out the magnitude and angle of the Kyushu's trajectory, Frazier knew exactly what the Kyushu's captain intended. "Oh my God," she whispered. The Kyushu smashed into the cube, exploding into an orange-red ball of fire. Stunned, Frazier ran scans, which revealed very little damage inflicted to the cube; the Kyushu's sacrifice had merely slowed the Borg's progress for a few seconds. "Four ships down and not a scratch on the cube," Bonham said, his voice laced with a mixture of awe and respect, tempered with an intense sadness. Frazier swallowed hard, pushing fear away. The situation certainly did not look good for the Federation, but they still had the advantage of numbers. Despite her earlier words of warning, she so wanted to believe victory could still be theirs. -- Stephen Ratliff ASC Stories Only Forwarding In the Pattern Buffer at: http//trekiverse.crosswinds.net/feed/ Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASCL/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:ASCL-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. From ???@??? Sun Feb 01 00:53:09 2004 Status: U Return-Path: Received: from n18.grp.scd.yahoo.com ([66.218.66.73]) by vulture (EarthLink SMTP Server) with SMTP id 1aNavn34M3NZFl51 for ; Sat, 31 Jan 2004 21:50:49 -0800 (PST) X-eGroups-Return: sentto-1977044-13063-1075614619-stephenbratliff=earthlink.net@returns.groups.yahoo.