Forwarded by the ASC-VSO Posted: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 18:36:00 GMT In: alt.startrek.creative From: "Jay P Hailey" Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile Author: Jay P Hailey (JayPHailey@hotmail.com) Series: MISC - TNG OCs Codes: None Part: 42/342(?) Rating:[PG] Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where. Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters and Situations for me. Webpage HTTP://jayphailey.8m.com The Harmon: Episode 42 by Jay P. Hailey And Dennnis Washburn I rolled over and puked. Then the pain hit me and I curled into a ball. I think I whimpered, but I can't be sure. Hands were grabbing me and pulling me flat on the deck. Voices were saying things, but I hurt to badly to pay attention. Then my stomach heaved again. I was a mess. Things got a little vague and then I was in sickbay. Dr. Flynn was scanning me. For a moment I just looked. When I was the Harmon, I could have told you exactly what was wrong with her whole design and aesthetics. I couldn't see it, now, but I remembered what it felt like. We had to give these guys room! I rolled over and scrabbled for the floor. I was in a hospital gown. It was drafty and embarrassing, except that I didn't have time. "Hold it, Captain." Patricia moved over and held me, to keep me from leaving. "Patricia, please. I have to get to the bridge. It's important." "No. You've had your brain altered. I can't tell exactly what's going on with you, but I know it wasn't good." I felt the deck vibrate as the Harrier started to move. "Listen, I promise to come right back, but it's important! I can't tell you right now, but I'll come back. I promise!" "Don't you trust Li'ira?" "It's not that! She just doesn't know!" Dr. Flynn rolled her eyes and reached for my pants. "All right, but I'm coming along to keep an eye on you." "Fine. Glad to have you." It didn't hurt as much now and walking was only a slightly imperfect way to move myself. I got to the bridge to find Li'ira in control, and the Harrier fiercely evading the ball of light. I was struck by a blast of lust. Li'ira must have been scared out of her mind. Besides the immediate rush, I was struck by what an inappropriate and imperfect reaction that was. "Report." I meant to bark, but my head hurt and my voice was hoarse. Li'ira did a double take at me "Captain! You're back!" She grinned merrily. I knew how she must feel. Now she didn't have to lug the Harrier home on her back. "When you were attacked, the face disappeared. I reinstated evasive maneuvers. The Harmon has been shadowing us at a distance of 5373.1 kilometers. I was preparing to fire on them." "All stop." I said. "Stand down weapons." The Harrier came to a stop, the weapons were disarmed. "But, Captain..." Li'ira said. Now she back on the other side of it, where no one knew what the crazy captain was thinking. It was good see her reevaluating her opinions. She gave Patricia a significant look. The Doctor just shrugged and watched to see what I would do next. "Open a channel." "Channel open, Captain." Stephanie reported crisply. "This is Captain Hailey. We apologize for the unwarranted intrusion. We meant no harm. If there is ever a way for us to help you, please let us know. Until then, The Harrier will leave your territory immediately. I beg you to remember the Kurr Association. You englobed them in an energy bubble some time ago. They will soon die unless released-" The point of light streaked off. "Huh?" I said "The Harmon has moved off at a high warp speed, Captain." "How high?" "We lost them as they reached warp nine point nine nine eight, Sir." "Whoa." I sat back down in my command chair. My legs felt distant and I was a little woozy. Patricia had given me something and I was really beginning to feel it. "Mr. Spaat, best speed directly out of Harmon space." "Back into Kliges'chee space, Captain?" Li'ira said, unhappily. "You don't know what sort of harm we risked by coming here. Lives all over the galaxy could be threatened if the Harmon lose it." Li'ira looked at me confused and upset. "Lose it?" "They are hurting pretty badly." "Contact, Captain." Harksain Varupuchu reported. Stephanie started cursing under her breath as the information was transferred to her screen. "Tactical on screen." I said. The main view screen switched to its tactical mode and I saw what Stephanie was cursing about. Twenty-five ships had surrounded us and were now screaming down on us at full impulse acceleration. "Begin evasive!" I order. Spaat hit a button and the Harrier again ran her evasive program. "What are they?" I dreaded the answer, but felt that I knew already. The Kliges'chee's sensors must have been better than we thought. "Unknown type and configuration, Captain. I can't identify them." "On screen." The main screen again switched and I saw what was coming at us. It was a flattened ellipsoid. It wriggled through space. It looked for all the world like a space going manta ray. The thing that really caught my eye were the energy readings and the weapons/shields reading. Nothing. They had no shields, or weapons or energy that we could detect. "Ah, hell." I said "Can we go to warp?" Li'ira asked. "Negative." Spaat reported. "The aliens are too close to us and too close to each other. To go to warp now would ensure a collision." "Permission to re-arm the weapons, Captain?" Stephanie asked. She wanted to go down fighting, at least. "Denied. We have no idea what we're dealing with here. Hail them." "Aye, Sir. Hailing frequencies open." Stephanie sounded resigned. "This is the Federation starship Harrier. We are on a peaceful mission of exploration. Will you communicate with us?" We waited while the Harrier evaded, looking for an opening. The aliens had superior speed and maneuverability. We couldn't find a gap before they moved to close it. They swarmed closer and closer. The Harrier was running out of room and time. "Hail them again." "Aye, sir." The globe closed in further. It seemed as though all we could see were swooping manta rays. "Mr. Varupuchu, any ideas of what these are?" "No, Captain. We can detect no energy or weapons signatures. I can't even give you an idea of how they are propelling themselves. It does seem fairly obvious that they are herding us in." The aliens closed in. The Harrier had to curtail her evasive maneuvers or risk a collision. I knew that I should fire. The Harrier was almost completely trapped and out of options. The order to arm weapons and fire sat on the tip of my tongue. I couldn't bring myself to give the order. Our inability to scan anything except the basic existence of these creatures argued that they were some sort of technologically advanced ships. While that made me afraid, that wasn't the only factor in my decision. The simple fact was that I didn't know what they were doing. I didn't want to risk making them angry when they could be doing anything. Was it some sort of mating flight? I just didn't know. The aliens closed to within five hundred meters, and the stopped, joining to form a globe with the Harrier in the middle. There was a lurch. The aliens broke up their globe and swooped away, seeming to cavort in open space. The stars outside the Harrier were different. Two things were reported to me at about the same time. First, we were located in a sector about one hundred and eighty light years away from our previous location. We had been carried to the far side of Harmon space in an instant. Secondly, there were five Kliges'chee Type-B cruisers facing us. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.634 / Virus Database: 406 - Release Date: 3/18/2004 -- Stephen Ratliff ASC Awards Tech Support http://www.trekiverse.us/ASCAwards/commenting/ No Tribbles were harmed in the running of these Awards ASCL is a stories-only list, no discussion. Comments and feedback should be directed to alt.startrek .creative or directly to the author. 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: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ From ???@??? Wed Mar 24 00:25:05 2004 X-Persona: Status: U Return-Path: Received: from n32.grp.scd.yahoo.com ([66.218.66.100]) by skylark (EarthLink SMTP Server) with SMTP id 1b60OP4Kz3NZFjw1 for ; Tue, 23 Mar 2004 21:20:47 -0800 (PST) X-eGroups-Return: sentto-1977044-13320-1080105644-stephenbratliffasc=earthlink.net@returns.groups.yah