Topic: Die Hard the Hunter

[kadh2000]

Hi everybody,

Long time no see.  It's funny: one day I read the forum everyday and the next, I didn't.  A while ago I remembered and snuck in and read what I could.  Good stuff.  Then I decided I'd write a story to return with. 

I often mention Kadh's family and his father, at least when Kadh introduces himself.  "Kadh son of Qoheleth".  I only have a little bit left to tell of Kadh.  Most of his life's been written.  DHtH is centered around Qoheleth, his father.  Part 1 will be posted by Monday, depending on how fast and skillfully I edit it.

Kadh, who notes he didn't actually see anyone despite what the first sentence says.

[Commander La'ra]

Multiple choice answer:

A: Good to see you again!  Can't wait for your story.

B: Where the &$%$ have you been!

C: Both A & B.

 

[KOTH-KieranXC, Ret.]

Hmm... I choose C.



Looking forward to it, Kadh. 

[kadh2000]

Chapter 1: On His Imperial Majesty's Secret Service

Qoheleth watched the spacedock as it slowly turned, hoping to see more than a glimpse of the starship within the metal cage.  It was green; he could tell that much.  The color was no surprise: all Klingon starships were green. He remembered reading somewhere that one of the materials involved in creating a hull gave it that cast.  It was a good color for warships.

He ran a hand over the ridge of his head, lamenting its lack of hair. He quickly dropped it when he became aware that another warrior was standing beside him.

“This is your ship?” the stranger asked.  Qoheleth nodded.  “Mine as well,” the other said.  “The high command appointed me first officer.  I am Kamarr son of Karn.  It is a great honor the Emperor bestows on us: command of the first D6 battlecruiser.  Our enemies will fear its name.”

“D’ama,” said Qoheleth without turning to look at his first officer.  He had wanted Kelmeth.

“They’re naming it after those birds?  They’re quite a worthy hunt, I’ve heard.  They’re said to be very aggressive.”

Qoheleth nodded his agreement.  “They are.  I was with Mac Kroree on his last hunt.  One of the creatures swooped down on us unseen.  I ducked just in time to save my scalp if not my hair.  The commodore wasn’t so fortunate.  It carried him into the sky.  He was stabbing at its legs when I lost sight of him.  I tracked the bird down and killed it.

“Admiral Kel petitioned the Emperor to name the ship after him, but the Emperor felt that it would honor him more to have it named after a creature who could slay a commodore of the Klingon Empire.  I’ve heard the Kzinti are already calling it ‘Predator-class’ cruiser.  I wonder how long it will be before they have a counter.”

“It is certain the commodore will get a ship named after him at some point,” Kamarr answered.  “He was a skilled leader.”  He waited a moment before speaking again.  ‘I’ve taken a shuttlecraft.  We can use it to examine our ship more closely and see what she looks like.”

With Kamarr at the controls, the shuttlecraft rose up from Qo’onos toward the spacedock.  They were warned not to approach too closely so Kamarr steered them beneath the enclosed ship where they could study it from the bottom.  “That ship should not be called ‘she’, Kamarr commented.  “Just look at the size of its penis.  That’s a man if I ever saw one.”

“The engines make good-sized balls too,” joked Qoheleth.  Both men laughed “‘He’ it is.”  The two officers then began a more technical examination of the ship before they returned to the planet.


Qoheleth sat in his command chair, looking forward between his helmsman / navigator and his operations officer.  Behind him was the tactical officer and to one side he could see his science and communications officers, while the engineer was alone on the other.  Kamarr, he could feel, was standing beside the tactical station.  The IKV D’ama was waiting for permission to leave the spacedock.

The woman with the earbud finally reported, “We are clear to depart.  Spacedock reports mooring clamps have been released.”

The woman at operations confirmed they were released immediately thereafter.  Qoheleth had been somewhat amused when Kamarr had suggested that two bridge officers be women.  “That way, we can both have an officer.  Besides, neither is a command position.”  He had refused Kamarr’s other suggestion.  “We should piss on the bridge deck somewhere and also have sex with a couple of women before we set off.  A giant penis should smell of urine and sex.”

“Shall we also make sure it has an infection?”  Qoheleth had asked.  He found his first officer’s preoccupation with sex to be amusing, but not to the point of having his ship stink.  It would smell like stale sweat all too soon.  Kamarr had joined him in laughter and the subject never arose again.

“Helm, take him out of spacedock and into orbit.”  Qoheleth felt no need to personally pilot the ship in its first moments.  He would rather take direct command of the weapons during their first firing.   He barely paid attention as the ship moved into its own orbit around the homeworld.  While he was grateful to finally be underway, he did not relish the first mission of his command.  Testing the ship’s systems should be a job for engineers.  If they really wanted a test, they should have him attack something.

The turbolift doors swooshed open behind him and Qoheleth turned his command seat to see the new arrival.  A warrior, wearing lieutenant’s insignia had entered the bridge.  Qoheleth did not recognize him.  He glanced at Kamarr, but his first officer did not know the man either.  “I am K’trel, ESS,” the man simply stated.  Kamarr hissed in displeasure but Qoheleth hid his emotions.  The secret service officer could give a direct order to either of them, even though both technically outranked him.  “I have been sent by the Emperor,” K’trel continued, “to observe your first mission.  I bring new orders.”  He smiled.  “I’m sure you would rather do something interesting than fire at drones being pulled by a tug.”

Qoheleth decided to be friendly.  “Quite right,” he said and slapped his knee.  He rose from his chair and approached the ESS agent.  He slapped the man’s shoulder and left his hand in place afterwards.  “Tell us what orders your superiors have for me.”  While still maintaining the friendly gesture, he squeezed hard on the man’s shoulder, letting him know who would be in command.  To his credit, K’trel did not flinch or grimace.

“There is a research station in orbit around Gorios.  One of our ships was investigating a strange ship sighting.  We have had no contact since the ship entered the Gorios system.  Your ship is the most powerful vessel currently in the Klingon arsenal.  Your orders are to determine what happened to our agent, find the alien vessel, and determine its origin.”

“Helm,” Qoheleth ordered, “put us on a course for Gorios.  You may go to warp one as soon as we clear the system.”  He released K’trel and asked the man, “Have you any experience on the bridge of a starship?”  The ESS agent nodded and gave a very slight bow.  “Then you may remain.  See that you do not cause any trouble.”

It was a bold move, but he needed to establish his authority with his crew as soon as possible.  If K’trel called him out or defied the order, Qoheleth would have to kill him to preserve his career, if even that would do it.  He was relieved to hear a simple, “will comply,” from the ESS agent.


Despite having an actual destination, the first part of their journey remained the same as if they had remained in orbit around homeworld.  Qoheleth put his ship and crew through the more important of the tests they would have been running.  As expected, failures kept his engineers very busy. 

During the third shift, while Kamarr was on the bridge, Qoheleth entered the quarters of his science officer.   Kamarr had already made a play for her affections, one which she had accepted.  Qoheleth didn’t care, but it gave him a reason to sneak into her quarters.  If K’trel suspected a battle over the woman’s affections between the two senior officers, Qoheleth would be quite pleased with the results of his visit even without his ulterior motive.  “Sanell,” he greeted her once the door closed.  She was still in bed and looked both angry and groggy.  He frowned.  “Get up.  I have work for you.”  She moved warily from the bed to standing.  “Gorios.  Find out everything I need to know.”

“Will comply,” she mumbled. 

Qoheleth decided to let it go.  He turned to leave but could not resist jibing at her.  “Put some clothes on the next time your captain enters your quarters.”  There was more anger than grogginess in the glare she gave him then, but he correctly assumed she would not strike him as he left.

She looked even groggier on the bridge, but her report was waiting for him.  He called it up on his personal viewscreen and began to read.  Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Kamarr made his way to the science station.  “You do not look alert,” the first officer commented.

“The captain commanded me to do research for him last night,” she replied stiffly.

Kamarr shot a quick look at Qoheleth.  The captain let the corner of his lips curl slightly upwards.  “See to it that your research does not reduce your efficiency as a bridge officer in the future,” he told her and moved on.  Sleeping with the XO has its privileges, Qoheleth noted.  He was beginning to get the measure of his crew.  So far neither his science officer nor his XO impressed him much.

The report, at least, was adequate.  He would have liked more information, but he suspected that she had retrieved all that was possible.  He was surprised to learn that Gorios had only gas giants in orbit of its sun.  The interior planets had been completely gutted by the Old Kings.  All that had remained was a mining station.  When the Klingons had first discovered the station, that had repaired many of its functions but they too abandoned it after discovering it had no further uses.  There was no record of a science station in orbit of Gorios, or of one being built.  He suspected that whatever research was being done there, it was in the mining station. 

The rest of the report was filled with speculation as to the nature of the work being done there.  Qoheleth did not particularly care about scientific research.  While he appreciated its benefits, it was too dry a field and it bored him.  He skipped over that part of the report as well as the section dealing with possible scientists that might be working there.  At least the science officer had been thorough.  It was a shame, he thought, that her thoroughness was mostly revealed in the non-military portion of her discussion.  He would have rather seen speculation on the types of weapons aboard the station or the number of ships that might be orbiting it.  “K’trel,” he called out.

“Captain?” the ESS agent answered.

“What kind of defenses does this science station have?”

“Only the mining beams.  Very powerful, but difficult to aim quickly.  They might be dangerous in a fleet setting where it is hard to miss, but I doubt they would even be able to accurately fire on this vessel.”

Qoheleth agreed.  He had seen a mining platform in operation once.  “What about ships?”

“Only the one belonging to our agent. That was a frigate.”

“Was?” Qoheleth asked pointedly.

“Our assumption is the ship was lost.”

“We shall soon find out,” the captain commented idly.  He had found out what he wanted to know.  K’trel knew more than he was telling, of course.  Qoheleth suspected there would be ships there.  If fate blessed him, perhaps he would get to meet them in battle.  Then he would need to worry about the station’s mining beam.

Qoheleth was so bored by the time they reached Gorios that he would have pulled his hair out if any had remained on top of his head.  Systems testing and retesting, repairs and re-repairs had drained much of his energy.  He was lying on his bead, rubbing the headache out of his temples when the alarm claxon rang.  “Captain to bridge,” sounded his intercom immediately after. 

He rushed to the bridge to find most of the primary crew already there.  Kamarr stood and stepped away from the command chair.  “We have entered the outer Gorios system,” he reported.  “Long range sensors found no science station or ships.   There is a single gas giant in the system and we are heading for it to make a closer scan.”

Qoheleth glanced at K’trel but the ESS agent made no sign.  “Proceed,” he ordered, even though the action was already underway.  He sat down and waited.  It was a slow procedure.  It felt too slow.  He turned to see the science officer nervously flipping the same switch over and over again.  “Science officer, report,” he said crossly.

“Short range scanner not functioning, captain,” she said.

Qoheleth growled.  “Didn’t we test it already?”

“Yes captain,” she said, “It worked perfectly.” 

“All stop,” he ordered.  “Repair crew to bridge.  We will wait here until the scanners are functional.  I have no desire to be surprised by something we can’t see.” 

The bridge remained very quiet except for the sounds of working technicians until the repairs were completed.  Qoheleth was finally assured the scanners were functioning and ordered them to proceed with the mission.  It still seemed to take forever for the results.  “There is an active energy signature further into the system.  It appears there is power active in the mining station.”

K’trel snorted but Qoheleth ignored him.  “Bring us to the station.  Arm all weapons.  Raise the shields.”  The combat alert claxon sounded and then died.  “Fix that,” he groaned. 

“Three ships closing on our position,” the tactical officer suddenly shouted.  “They do not match any Klingon ship design.”

“Kzinti or pirates?” Kamarr speculated.  “Negative, sir.” 

“On screen,” Qoheleth ordered and the three small vessels came into view.  “Science,” he said, slipping into battle language.  “Identify.”  He recognized the ship design but was unwilling to believe it without confirmation.

“Configuration unknown,” she reported.

“Get that woman off of my bridge!” Qoheleth practically screened.  “It’s been less than twenty years.  Have you forgotten what a Carnivon hordeship looks like?”

She might have protested something, but Qoheleth ignored her.  He was vaguely aware of Kamarr manhandling her into the turboshaft.  The XO took over the tactical station and bumped that man down.  Qoheleth was anxious to test his new weapons.  “Fire disrupters at maximum range!”  He didn’t expect any damage to result; he was just pleased to have an additional seventy thousand kelicams of range.  The shields of the lead hordeship flared only slightly from the energy impact.  The three ships split up and began to try to flank him.

“Take the leader, reinforce rear and flank shields,” he commanded and the D’ama closed rapidly with the first ship.  Range dropped to fourteen before the Carnivon ship fired its phasers and turned away.  “Increase speed.  Close to overload range.”  The ship shuddered as the two flanking ships both fired their phasers at the battlecruiser. 

“Port shield at sixty percent, starboard at seventy,” Kamarr reported.  “In firing range on target.”

“Fire!”  Two pairs of disrupter bolts shot into the small Carnivon ship. 

“Enemy shields down,” Kamarr said jubilantly. 

“Mizia phasers.”  Qoheleth enjoyed the sight of three lances reaching out toward the enemy ship. 

“Enemy phasers destroyed.  Enemy disrupter and drone launcher destroyed.  Minor damage to enemy hull.”  Kamarr reported as the two ships shot past each other.

“Rear phasers!” Qoheleth shouted.   He didn’t need to wait for Kamarr’s report of what happened.  The Carnivon ship blew apart in a red and orange ball.  The other two ships, having made their single pass, jumped into warp and fled the scene.  “Damage report.”

“No damage captain,” said the woman at Ops.  The tactical officer, from the science station, reported “Carnivon ships identified as Horde-class scout ships.”  Three of them together might have damaged his ship, but there was no danger of it being destroyed… unless some critical system failed in the middle of combat. 

“Get a replacement science officer up here,” Kamarr told the communications officer.  “Ops, get those shields back up to full strength.”

“Will comply,” both officers answered. 
“Return to our previous course and scan the mining facility when ready.” Qoheleth ordered.  The D’ama turned back toward the large artificial structure. 

By the time they reached the facility, the bridge crew was at their proper stations.  “Energy source is powering a narrow-beam communications relay,” the science officer reported.  “Beam is aimed at a nebular mass in the next system.”  Qoheleth hated nebulae.  Nothing worked right under the best of circumstances.  With a new ship that sometimes didn’t work right on its own, it was the last place he wanted to go.

“Follow that beam.  What message is being relayed?”

“It’s encoded captain.  No known code.”

“It’s probably one of ours,” K’trel interjected.  “Let me see it.”  At a nod from Qoheleth, the communications officer handed K’trel his earbud.  “It is one of ours.  We don’t have the equipment to decrypt it on your ship.”

“Perhaps they do at the station.”  Qoheleth suggested.

The ESS agent blanched.  “They probably did.  No guarantees now.  I can say that it is a guidance signal of some type.  Our agent should be at the other end.”

“Of course,” Qoheleth agreed.  “Plot a course for the nebula.  Warp six.”

[kadh2000]

Seconds later, the D’ama dropped out of warp near the edge of the Gorios nebula.  Quick scans revealed that the transmission was aimed at a Klingon frigate motionless in the interior of the mass.  “I have them on hail,” reported the communications officer.

“This is Qoheleth, commanding the battlecruiser D’ama.  Report.”

“I am Commander Kalros of the frigate Dark Flame.  We were attacked by three Carnivon ships and forced into the nebula after our ship was heavily damaged.  We have been unable to re-initialize the impulse engines due to the influence of the nebula.  Our hull integrity is just above fifty percent.  Tow us out.”

“Tactical,” Qoheleth requested, “what kind of damage will this do to our hull?”

“None, captain.  Shields should barely hold for the length of time it will take to tow them out.”

“Barely,” Qoheleth grunted.  “Commander, what is the status of your weapons system?”

“All weapons fully functional.  We have also scanned a base station outside the nebula.”

Qoheleth continued to weigh the risks against the potential gain of another ship, even an F4.  “Transmit those scans.”

Commander Kalros turned to relay the order to one of his own crew.  “Unable to comply,” he reported.  “Our high speed antenna has been damaged by the nebula and is non-functional.”

Qoheleth hoped the man was lying.  He nodded.  “We will tow you out.  One thing, Commander.  How did you recognize the ships as Carnivon?”

Kalros frowned slightly.  "Our science officer identified them on scanners as they approached." 

Satisfied, Qoheleth nodded.  The D’ama edged into the nebula and Qoheleth was immediately surrounded by warning sirens and the voices of his crew reporting systems failures.  “Shield and tractor status?” he asked above the din.

“Shields have failed.  Tractor controls are functioning,” the tactical officer replied. 

“Continue.”  As lightning played about the hull, the battlecruiser moved into position alongside the frigate.  As soon as the tractor was locked securely on the smaller vessel, Qoheleth ordered his ship back into clear space. 

He waited on the edge of the nebula until the failed systems had been brought online.  The Dark Flame fell into formation trailing the D’ama and the two ships began following a course provided by Commander Kalros that would lead them to the base station.

“Perhaps this is your outpost in Gorios that we were sent to find?” Qoheleth asked K’trel.  The ESS agent nodded.  “It would have been helpful,” Qoheleth emphasized the last word as he spoke, “had you informed us earlier of this information.”  K’trel did not respond.

“Captain,” reported tactical, “enemy ships sighted.  The two surviving Carnivon hordeships have returned.”  It would be a one-sided battle, Qoheleth noted.  With a frigate beside him, Qoheleth doubted his vessel would take any damage before both scout ships had been destroyed.   The Carnivons approached, staying together in tight formation so that both ships could attack the same shield.  He opened fire with disrupters before the scouts were in weapons range, then fired again as they closed. 

As they made an initial pass across his bow, phaser fire from both Klingon ships gutted one of the Carnivon ships.  The wounded ship made for the D’ama, attempting to ram the battlecruiser before it was destroyed.  The tactical officer quickly grabbed it with the tractor beam and held it off until the ship collapsed from the damage it had sustained. 

The second scout attempted to stay on the flank of the Klingon ships to give itself a longer chance.  Qoheleth ordered the Dark Flame to flank the Carnivon ship in turn.  Caught between two superior foes the scout was quickly battered into pieces.  Qoheleth was satisfied with the results of the battle if not the quality of the opposition.  It had hardly been a test of his ship or his ability.  He did reflect that a D4 would have had a difficult time in the first battle.

It led him to wonder about the Carnivon’s tactics.  During the first battle, the enemy’s actions had been completely uncoordinated.  Had he surprised them?  No, he decided after replaying the battle in his mind, the first ship had sacrificed itself so the other two ships could escape.  This time they had come to fight, even though the battle was hopeless.  Honorable death perhaps or did they have another motive.  Sacrifice, perhaps, was a common theme for Carnivons.   He briefly regretted not knowing something of the wolf-like humanoids’ culture.  If there was a reason for the sacrifice, perhaps they were buying time for something.   The only thing Qoheleth could think of was the ESS base.  “Increase speed to Dark Flame’s maximum,” he ordered.

“Captain, there is another ship ahead,” his tactical officer said.  “Klingon configuration, unknown-ship type.”  Qoheleth turned to K’trel.

“It is an F5 frigate prototype,” the ESS agent answered the unspoken query.  “Designed to be the companion to the D6 as the F4 was to the D4.  Regular production is not scheduled to begin for several years.  The Emperor gave the prototype to the ESS.”

Qoheleth was on the verge of losing his temper, security agent or no.  “Is there anything else that I should know about?” he growled rhetorically, turning back to the tactical viewer without waiting for an answer.

“F5 is severely damaged,” the tactical officer continued.  “Heavy damage to weapon systems.  Warp engines relatively undamaged.  Some of the hull scarring is from drones.”

Qoheleth knew enough about Carnivon tactics to know they had never employed drones.  That meant the ship’s attackers were Klingon, Human, or Kzinti.  Or Pirates, he amended to himself at the last moment.  “Hail them.  Find out what attacked them.”  Qoheleth didn’t feel like talking to a whole shipload of ESS agents so he left the job to his communication’s officer. 

The woman apparently did not relish the task either, but began speaking to the other ship.  “They report being surprised by a Kzinti squadron and left adrift.  Damage to the intermix chamber of the warp drive left them stranded.  They report being out of materials to make further repairs.  They request we send over some supplies.  They further request that we escort them to their base.”

“Tell them their base can provide them with materials.  We will make sure they get there.”  The two DSF ships took up position before and aft of the F5.  Qoheleth muttered something about taking care of babies, just loud enough for everyone else to hear.  From the laughter, he judged that everyone except K’trel appreciated his sense of humor. 

[kadh2000]

As they neared the base, Qoheleth immediately realized that all was not well.  Six Kzinti ships were assaulting it.  With the F5 not armed for battle, he judged it would be a difficult fight.  The ESS captain apparently agreed with him.  “ESS frigate reports they have vital materials and personnel aboard the station.  We are to give covering fire while they dock and retrieve the material.” 

“Of course,” Qoheleth muttered.  “Prepare drone launchers in defensive mode.  Get a wild weasel shuttle ready.  Since we’re tied to the base anyway, one might be useful.”  Qoheleth hated fighting Kzinti, especially in a tight environment.  Speed was the best defense against drones.  Outnumbered and having to guard a base meant he would have to defend against the relatively slow missiles.  He did not look forward to the day when someone managed to improve the miniature engines that powered the drones.  Then the Kzinti would truly be dangerous.

“We’ll go for their largest ship,” he ordered. “Have Dark Flame stay on our wing for added drone defense.  Tell that ESS bastard that he had better hurry.”  He took a quick look at K’trel.  The ESS agent was not paying attention; he appeared to be speaking into a miniature communications device.  Maybe he’ll get killed in the battle, Qoheleth thought.

“Captain,” said K’trel suddenly, looking up.  “After the battle is over and the F5 leaves the station, you must capture it.  We need to bring it back to homeworld and study its cargo.”

Qoheleth would have loved to interrogate him on the spot, but four Kzinti ships abandoned the assault on the base and began moving toward his ships.  “Stay with the F5 until it docks,” he ordered.  “Don’t let any drones through.” 

The Kzinti apparently recognized the ship and targeted their weapons on it.  “Eight drones heading for ESS frigate,” tactical reported. 

“Tell Dark Flame to take two of them and target the nearer Kzinti frigate with disrupters.  We’ll aim for the same ship.”  Between the two ships they were able to prevent the drones from reaching the F5.  It left them vulnerable to the phasers of the attacking ships.  The Kzinti used their disrupters to fire at the F5.  Qoheleth blessed his superior shields as the D’ama came under attack.  The ship shuddered from the phaser hits but the shields were firmly in place.  Their return fire against the Kzinti frigate severely weakened its forward shield.  Another run and it would suffer.

The Kzinti ships shot past the three Klingon vessels and then turned to close on them from behind as they approached the base.  At Qoheleth’s orders, the Dark Flame moved into the forward escort position and the D’ama dropped back.  Eight more drones came at them and his ship would have to handle them all.  Fortunately, the large rear phaser suite made it possible for him to do so.  He was able to destroy seven of the drones while maintaining his offensive capability.  The last drone, he destroyed with a drone of his own.

Once the drones were taken care of and the Kzinti had again fired their disrupters on the ESS ship, the D’ama engaged in a high energy turn and pounced upon the Kzinti frigate.  Disrupters fired from medium range brought down the enemy shields and his phasers began to carve up its superstructure.  “Enemy ship’s drone capabilities reduced fifty percent, disrupter destroyed, and phaser capacity reduced by half,” tactical said, analyzing the damage done by the attack.  “It is pulling away from the battle.”

“Ignore it,” Qoheleth responded.  “Defend the base.  We’ll deal with the Kzinti dogs later.”  If we’re still alive, he finished to himself.  His ship appeared to be the most powerful combatant on the field, but he knew a pack of six dogs could bring down a targ.   Plus, if they started loading shuttles with drones, the situation would quickly get bad.

That appeared to be the cats’ next tactic.  The entire Kzinti squadron moved into formation on one side of the station and released a barrage of drones.  From one of the frigates, a shuttlecraft followed.  “How many weasels do they have left on the base?” Qoheleth asked.

“None.”  It was as bad as he had expected. 

Qoheleth spat out a rapid series of orders.  “Have Dark Flame fire disrupters at the shuttle.  Use your phasers on the drones launched by the frigates.  We’ll start with the big ships.  The base will be responsible for what gets through our tractors.  Tell them they won’t have long.”

The Kzinti shuttle exploded under the combined firepower of the Klingon ships.  They began firing at the slow-moving drones.  None reached the base, but it took all of their firepower to stop them and a second wave of drones was already underway.  With all of the Klingons attention spent on stopping the drones, there was nothing to prevent the Kzinti from using their other weapons against the base. 

Qoheleth realized the defensive tactics weren’t effective.  They would be able to stop the drones, but the phasers and disrupters being fired by the Kzinti were destroying the base.  If they went out and fought the Kzinti then the drones would destroy the base.  If the base were to be lost in either case, he was determined to take a few of the enemy with it.  “Dark Flame, continue base defense,” he ordered.  “Inform the base to hurry.”

At his command, the D’ama began moving toward the Kzinti ships.  As one, they turned toward the approaching D6.  Disrupter bolts crossed paths with the Klingon ship taking the worst of it.  Their newer, superior shields held under the attack, as did the shields of their Kzinti target.  The Kzinti ships began to fire phasers at the D’ama.  Qoheleth held his own fire until they were nearly upon their Kzinti target. 

“Forward shields have been penetrated,” reported the tactical officer.  “Port drone launcher destroyed.  Disrupter one destroyed.  Phaser bank one destroyed.”  There was other damage, but none concerned weapons systems so it remained unreported. 

Qoheleth ignored the damage and pressed in with the attack.  “Fire!  Starboard flanking turn.   Fire!”  He gave the orders that would fire as many weapons as possible into the forward shield of the Kzinti target. 

“Target heavily damaged.  Sensor degradation prevents specific data, but enemy ship is not crippled,” tactical reported. 

“Bring us away and then back on the left flank of the Kzinti fleet.  Keep our forward shields away from them no matter what.”  The D’ama began his approach and the Kzinti turned to face the Klingon battlecruiser.  Qoheleth’s tactics were good.  He was able to make two passes before all forward shields and many offensive systems were destroyed.  In turn he was able to force another Kzinti cruiser to retire.  No longer able to fire his disrupters at the enemy, Qoheleth was forced to retreat to the base.  “Inform the base they are out of time,” he ordered.  “Have Dark Flame escort the ESS frigate.” 

The Kzinti began firing on the base in earnest.  It appeared that their sole intent was the destruction of the station.  Qoheleth would have like to have known what was on the station that they Kzinti would come so far into Imperial space to destroy.  It risked war.  It invited war.  He did not see how war could be avoided now.  The thought filled him with anticipation. 

As the base’s superstructure began to collapse, the ESS frigate shot out of the wreck.    It appeared completely undamaged.  The Dark Flame adopted a pursuit course, as did the D’ama.  Qoheleth spun his chair to face K’trel.  The ESS agent again appeared to be listening to some unknown message.  “Lieutenant,” Qoheleth said, stressing the man’s rank, “we are too damaged to detain that frigate.  I shall send a message to have all ships in the fleet be ready to capture it should they encounter it.”

“That won’t be necessary, Captain,” K’trel replied.  “Thank you for the offer, but I don’t expect we shall every see one another again.”  The red glow of a transporter field surrounded the ESS agent and he vanished.  The F5 immediately jumped to warp.  Qoheleth momentarily considered pursuit, but only his own ship would be able to sustain high warp and he was sure the damage it had already absorbed would make any battle unbalanced in favor of the frigate.

“Return to that mining station,” he ordered.  “If any Kzinti pursue us there, we’ll have to abandon it.  If not, I want to see what else is there besides a communications device.  Transmit information on the Kzinti ships and that ESS frigate to Fleet HQ.”
“Will comply,” said helm, but “Unable to comply,” reported communications.  “Long range communications systems are offline.  Unable to restore.”  She cycled a switch several times without result.  “Exterior systems are undamaged and internal systems check out as normal.  Sabotage seems likely.”

Qoheleth cursed the ESS and continued to the mining station.  The D’ama began scanning the station.  “There’s too much interference from the materials used to construct the station,” science reported. 

“Send a security team over.” Qoheleth waited anxiously as the marines began to search the station.  “We’ve found the central control room,” they reported.  A moment later, a tense voice followed the standard reports with, “Station reactors have been set to overload.  It will self-destruct any minute.”

“Beam them back,” Qoheleth shouted.

“Unable to comply,” Ops reported.  “Interference from the station prevents transporter lock.”

“Boarding party, return to site of original transport,” Qoheleth ordered.  “We can’t get you from there.”  The marines began running.  They had escaped the central control area when transporter reported a successful lock and began to beam them back.  The station’s reactors reached their critical point and exploded.  Waves of energy, matter, and gases washed across the D’ama, unblocked by the destroyed forward shields.  The ship rocked from the shockwave, but suffered no new damage.  “Did we get them?” Qoheleth asked.

“Boarding party safely recovered,” Ops answered.

“It appears,” Qoheleth muttered, “that we aren’t going to learn anything here.”  He raised his voice so the others could hear. “Return to homeworld.  Report on our mission as soon as the sabotage has been repaired.  I want that ESS ship, but the Kzinti incursion can not be tolerated.  War is at hand.  It will be glorious.” 

Kamarr approached him quietly.  “One thing disturbs me, captain.  Carnivon ships.  I recall them being mortal enemies of the Kzinti.”

“I suspect they were ships the Kzinti captured during their wars with the Carnivons,” Qoheleth replied.  “They were probably hoping they would be the only ships we encountered and that we would report them as Carnivon.  That would be a puzzle for HQ, wouldn’t it?” he laughed.  Soberly he added, “and this ESS incident will scare the blood out of them.”


Kadhnote: this is the end of the first chapter.  I didn't want to leave you guys with too short of a beginning.    I'm also a little out of practice so it may be a bit rough.  Feel free to comment.

[Governor Ronjar]

i have begun reading, but alas, it is late here.

I shall finish tomorrow. But keep up the good work. I shall have a good comment when I return!

--thu guv!

[Andromeda]

WB

It's very you. 

Some comments...

1) Your comm officer starts as female, becomes male partway through it, and then returns to female by the end of it.

2) I like the exchange between captain and first officer on baptising their male ship and the captain's very wise way of getting out of it.

3) Good choice of breakpoints in a long story.

4) The bad guy got away.  Is that allowed?  I like the complete story formed by this first chapter. 

Overall, yeah, you're rusty.  It's a good story.  More emotion please. 

[kadh2000]

Sorry about the comm.  I thought I'd fixed all those.

[KOTH-KieranXC, Ret.]

I'm enjoying this so far. I'm also liking the fact that, as you said, we got more than a teaser beginning. Heck, like Andromeda said, you could have made this a story all on its own and I don't think anyone would have realized it was merely the first chapter of a longer story.

I'll be reading.

[Governor Ronjar]

Very SFB.

I'm not very familiar with it or your previous stories. I liked the storyline but had trouble getting into it. By no means am I an authority, but it needs more meat...description. Almost the entire story is told in the dialogue.

What I did like was the fighting and the directness of the commanding officers. "Get that woman off the bridge!" was my favorite line of the story. At least he didn't shoot her. By the way...what is the ESS. Did I miss an explanation or allusion to it? I'll give a quick scan for it before I log off...

Any way, Rommie says you're rusty. This is damn good work for some one shaking off rust, so you have my thumbs way up. Gimme more! More Trek is always welcome.

--thu guv!

[kadh2000]

Guv,

I write SFB for this board.  In SFB, the ESS is the Klingon secret police.  Bucking them is generally bad for one's health.

I wasn't aware there was too much dialog.  Anyone else feel that way?  Where my rust shows is in the lack of descriptive text.  I write very bare bones and it takes a couple of edits for the descriptive stuff to come out right.  Editing ability is what I lose quickest.

Kadh, who almost gave away a secret in his signoff.

[Governor Ronjar]

I don't know that I mean TOO MUCH dialogue...  But the bulk of the discription is contained IN the dialogue. There's very little of what a specific character, or all of them as a whole, are seeing or doing. I can't just point at your stuff and say 'This is bad, that right there.' There isn't anything 'bad' to it. Just...off.

The good side of it is that it made for a quick read because of it. So, take it as you like it.

-hopefully helpful...
--thu guv!

[Scottish Andy]

I had one thought while reading this, with one word in mind. It was a quote from the novel 'Rules of Engagement' by Peter Morwood (Diane Duane's hubby) and how that book related to 'The Final Reflection' by John M. Ford.

That word was "stark". That quote was, "They're not like this."

The situation had one of Kirk's crew is converting the Klingon space opera 'Battlecruiser Vengeance' to play on Fed equipment. Kirk noted that in this opera the Klingons snarled at one another in Battle Language, Thought Admirals moved ships like pieces on a klin zha board, subordinates plotted against superiors, etc etc. and (paraphrasing here) "nothing was allowed to interfere with the unremitting atmosphere of glory hunting".

Kirk thought that they weren't actually like that, and specifically thought of at least Kor.

That is, unfortunately the majority impression I get reading this, too. It's flat. There's no... personality... to it. The situation you describe is a great one and certainly held my interest, and there are some good moments and scenes, but it was almost as if it was being recited in a monotone.

You have the skeleton of a great story here, but it really needs some meat on its bones. I intend no offence, and your usual style is kinda stark anyway what with your main character being "kadh the Inpenetrable", but this goes way past that an into "bereft".

Just my "in for a pound"-sworth. Take it as you will. 

[kadh2000]

Andy et al,

The feedback is what I was looking for.  I've been trying to describe what I don't like about it so I can make the next part better.  After reading your response, I can say "It doesn't have any personality"

Edit: Rather than finish part 2, I'm going to redo part 1 first.  I want to get the style right before going on with the plot.  Of course, if version 1.1 isn't all that much better, I'll probably finish the story anyway.

[Commander Maxillius]

...but when? 

[Czar Mohab]

Kadh, my old friend, I've long missed your unique view of Klingon life and fighting style. This was a great read, worthy of a Blood Wine and a song. I'm really looking forward to the rest.

Until later, my friend,

Czar "don't let your rust get confused with my rust" Mohab, who must note that Vactan is a great rust inhibitor.

[kadh2000]

Back again.  Finally.  Decided it's easier to write if I actually hang out here.

Kadh, who hasn't actually written anything liately so the theory's kind of hard to test. 

[Commander La'ra]

Looking forward to the rewrite.

[Scottish Andy]

Good to see you back, Kadh!

Now we settle in for the wait for meat.