Path: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!newsswing.news.prodigy.com!prodigy.net!atl-c02.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!feed3.newsreader.com!newsreader.com!yellow.newsread.com!bad-news.newsread.com!news-toy.newsread.com!netaxs.com!newsread.com!POSTED.newshog.newsread.com!not-for-mail Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated Approved: ascem@earthlink.net Organization: Better Living Thru TrekSmut Sender: ascem@earthlink.net Message-ID: <1c4.2107c08d.2ee29385@aol.com> From: Istannor@Aol.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Mailing-List: list ASCEML@yahoogroups.com; contact ASCEML-owner@yahoogroups.com Subject: New: TOS : A Higher Duty: PG: 16/28 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 214 Date: Sat, 04 Dec 2004 05:55:12 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.198.142.218 X-Complaints-To: Abuse Role , We Care X-Trace: newshog.newsread.com 1102139712 209.198.142.218 (Sat, 04 Dec 2004 00:55:12 EST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 04 Dec 2004 00:55:12 EST Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated:85912 X-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Dec 2004 21:55:19 PST (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: A Higher Duty Author: Istannor Contact: Istannor@aol.com Series: TOS Rating: PG13 for violence Part: 16/28 Codes:TOS Summary: This is set during the second 5 year voyage of the Starship Chapter 16 The command crew of the USS Enterprise was seated around the table of the forward briefing room. All their attention was on the recovery of their missing Captain and the rest of the emissaries trapped on Cygni. Mr. Spock sat in the Captain's accustomed seat. He refused to let any sign of his discomfort show. They had too much to do. "Mr. Scott, I will need maximum weapons capabilities when we arrive at Cygni. The Federation has responded as expected. They will not trade for the hostages. Therefore, we have been given instructions from Star Fleet Command to do everything in our power to rescue the hostages. We can not expect any assistance from another Federation vessel until 14.6 standard hours after our arrival. We should expect to engage in battle as soon as we approach Cygni. Will that be a problem, considering the burden on the engines of the sustained warp eight?" "Mr. Spock," Mr. Scott said emphatically, only a trace of his burr could be heard, "my engines will give you that and all you can throw at it. We won't fail you." "Very well, Mr. Scott. Mr. Chekov, you have had time to review the plans for the compound and all the information that we have been given by the Cygnian government. Do you have any insights as to how we may gain the freedom of the hostages?" Chekov pushed a button and an holographic aerial view of the diplomatic compound sprang into view. "Mr. Spock, our main difficulty will be piercing the security shield that the Cygnians have around the compound. It is the latest Federation technology and currently there is no known method for breaching it. Therefore, we must surmise that they had someone inside the compound who compromised the shield for them to get in. I suggest that if it worked for them it might work for us." Spock motioned for Chekov to continue. "If we can get them to allow one of us in to inspect the hostages, Uhura and I have put together a high intensity emitter that will broadcast a combination, amplified, sound wave carrier signal, that will incapacitate everyone in the compound. Also, it will contain an electromagnetic blast that can disrupt any known machinery. There is a significant risk to some of the hostages though, with this plan." Chekov turned to Uhura who seamlessly flowed into the briefing. "I reviewed the auditory characteristics of all the known participating races for the conferences. Unfortunately, some of the hostages are extremely sensitive to sound and the amplitude of the broad-casted sound could possibly cause cerebral hemorrhage or death for some of them. I spoke with Dr. McCoy, and there is no way to predict accurately how many fatalities we might have." Spock sat and considered the plan silently for a moment. "We shall keep that as a secondary plan. It would seem that a high mortality rate among the delegates, at our hands, would only further serve to polarize the situation with the unaligned worlds. What other possibilities have we developed?" "Well..." "Speak, Lt. Uhura." "Mr. Spock, I had been working on this project after the Captain asked me to find a way to punch holes through atmospheric interference and ion storms among other things. He said he was really tired of losing contact with so many landing parties, so he asked my department to work on solving the problem. We decided that part of the problem was current Federation technology attempts to strengthen the carrier signal until they are able to achieve contact. So, the limiting issue was how much you could amplify a subspace signal. What we decided to do was use a different carrier entirely and then tag the signal to the carrier." "What carrier signal had you planned on using, Lieutenant?" "Controlled warp amplified signal bursts from a small warp generator. We have already tried it out in the lab with computer simulation, and it seems to work. It punches a hole through any interference we have tried it on to date, at least in simulated trials." Spock leaned forward. If he had been a human, his expression would have been described as eager. " I see, so we would punch a hole through the shield with this tool, but how large a hole can it make?" "Not large at all, approximately 25.5 cm, however this is...," "Large enough for a transporter beam to pierce." Spock finished the sentence for her. "Brilliant, Lt.Uhura, I commend you on your inventiveness. Make the necessary arrangements for this to occur. Mr. Chekov, you will command the assault team. Pick your team and arm them with body armor, phasers, and appropriate weapons for close encounters. I will entrust the rest of the details to you. Brief me when you have completed your plans. Dr. McCoy, I assume the sick bay is ready to handle casualties." McCoy just nodded, he hated this part of his job, waiting for the dead and the dying to roll in. "Now," continued Mr. Spock, "there is one last, but equally important issue. As of yet, we have had no contact with the Araidne. We can only surmise that it has been destroyed. Since, it is unlikely the two Orion ships noted in the Araidne's last message, should have been able to defeat a Constitution class starship, I must assume that another, as of yet, unidentified ship was involved. Therefore, we will be fighting the two Orion ships, which are now on the surface under the security shield, and another unknown ship that will be hidden around the Cygnian system. Since the Araidne did not broadcast a description of it, I must also deduce that it is a cloaked vessel. This means Klingons or Romulans. Mr. Sulu and Mr. Chekov, it will be your task to make certain that ship does not take us unawares." "Yes Sir," came the simultaneous answer. "Is there any further input or questions?" He looked around at the table of his command crew. Jim had assembled the finest crew in the fleet, and their looks of determination made him know t they had no intention of accepting any thing less than complete victory. He felt gratified that he served with such a crew. He allowed himself to think of Jim for the briefest of seconds. Worry gripped his bowels. He released his fear and turned to dismiss the meeting. Dr. McCoy lingered behind after all the rest of the staff had left ,and quietly walked over to where Spock sat reviewing Uhura's schematics for the sound generator. "Spock," McCoy sat on the table next to him, "have you felt any thing else?" "No, nothing." Spock bent his head and took a deep calming breath. "You're worried, and don't tell me any lies about how Vulcans don't worry. We've gone too far for that kinda crap. What's on that mind of yours that you aren't telling us?" "Doctor, I can not specify the exact source of my discomfort. When I have reviewed all the evidence leading up to the conference, I see a disturbing trend of facts, that lead to a conclusion of a conspiracy that involves at least one of the parties in attendance at the Conference, as well as someone in the Cygnian Government. One must exclude, at least for now, the Cygnian President, since he is also held as a hostage, but I am unable to identify the involved parties as of yet. Also, I have run several mock runs of the attack and takeover of the compound, to ascertain what would have been the greatest threat to their success. I had anticipated that we could look to that source for assistance." "What did you come up with?" "The Captain. On each and every scenario, he was the top or second highest risk to their success." "What does that mean to us, now; they did it anyway?" "It means, that if they ran any similar simulations, they would have arrived at the same conclusion. The logical choice would have been to erase the Captain from the equation." "You mean kill him." "That is precisely what I said, Doctor. I do not see any logical reason for Jim to still be alive, and I am forced to illogically hope the kidnappers, whoever they are, are motivated by something else than logic. If not, then Jim is already dead. I can not believe that, however. I am convinced I would know if he died." McCoy sighed and sent up urgent prayer. He said nothing. There was nothing to say. The two friends got up and walked out of the room together, each deep in thought. McCoy knew that if he lost Jim, he would never have another friend like him in life, no matter how long he lived. He prayed he would not have to start that lonely existence now. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ASCEM messages are copied to a mailing list. Most recent messages can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASCEML. NewMessage: