Aden

I entered the Admirals office not really knowing what to expect. I had served aboard the USS Harbinger 2 years ago. My record was untarnished. I didn't understand the orders to appear before Admiral Quinn to explain myself regarding the incident on the Harbinger. I couldn't figure out what the incident was. As I stood at attention before the Admiral my eyes quickly darted about his office. There were several other officers about the rooms’ interior not paying attention to anything going on with the Admiral. His walls were decorated with various art pieces and artifacts from his missions of exploration. His desk was well kept. Nothing was out of place, except me. A single bead of sweat rolled down my temple.

"Lieutenant Commander, Congratulations on your success with your research into Borg physiology. I am sure your findings will assist us in our war against the Borg.” Stated Quinn.

“Thank you, Sir. I hope that I can be part of the initial testing and…” I replied being cut off.

“No, you will not be part of the testing. I need you working the Klingon Front. You have heard about the Genetic Manipulations being tested by Dr. Singh I assume. It is imperative that you investigate his work. I need you to get all the information you can on what he is doing. Report back to me in six months.” Quinn stated returning to his desk. He sat there staring at me. He had not bothered to explain why I was told to come discuss a previous action.

“Admiral, is this on or off the record?” I asked.

“Most definitely OFF the record!” He relied as he motioned for me to leave.

I had some time to kill on ESD as I was waiting for my formal orders. I was unsure what the official orders would say. I wandered around the shipyard lost in thought. Being a Vulcan raised by humans, I tended to allow some of those traits to take over for me. I should be studying something or other. Or even perhaps meditating. Instead here I was in the shipyard staring at the inside of ESD and admiring the ships docked within. I saw several ships today. There was a new Galaxy class ship docked right by the shipyard. It was partially separated. It looked as though they were refitting the separation mechanisms. Fascinating I thought to my self. I turned abruptly as I felt someone approaching me. It was an ensign, in fact he was hand delivering my orders.

"Odd" I stated as he handed me the padd. "I would have thought these would be sent directly to my padd."

"I don't know sir, I was told to hand deliver this padd to you". He said turning and walking away.

I tapped the screen and it came to life. It was encrypted and protected. I left the Shipyard and found a quiet out of the way spot near the outer ring windows. Sitting down on a couch I examined the padd. The screen blinked a single word. 'Speak'

I hadn't seen this before on a padd. I assumed I would have to speak the code word and it would unlock. I did not know the code word. "Speak? Speak what?" I said allowed. The padd lit up and produced my orders. Apparently I merely had to speak and it unlocked.



After I read the message the padd smoked and was now useless. I looked at the time. It was currently 21:00 what was I going to do with the time I had? I went to my temporary quarters a level below and packed my gear. No sooner had I finished fastening the last container they were beamed away. I knelt on the floor and faded into a deep meditation.

I came out of meditation at exactly 0:15. Went to the dressing area and opened the water. After splashing my face with water and quickly grooming my hair I exited to the corridor. I waited for a moment at the turbo lift and pressed the call button. The doors opened with a swish and I stepped on. Exiting the lift I made my way to the transporter room. An ensign approached quickly and taking me by the elbow led me to a room away from the transporter room.

"You cannot use the main transporters" he said quietly. He tapped his badge speaking "The cargo is ready".

This is all very covert for such a normal mission I thought to myself. I was transported to the Los Angeles. I glanced around only to see that I was on the bridge of the ship. The lighting was dim. "Computer raise lighting 25%". The room lit up so that I could see the bridge crew manning their stations. Not one of them moved. I walked over to a console to log on and set my status.

"Sir, there will be no records of this mission". Stated a rather handsome young man.

"I am sorry, who are you?" I asked.

"I am Lt. Bastion, sir" he replied.

"Care to explain Lt? I asked

"Yes Sir, in your ready room" He responded.

I followed him into my ready room. Once the doors had closed he motioned for me to sit down. In compliance I sat at my desk with him standing opposite.

"This mission, this ship, your crew...none of it exists at this point. Only the Admiralty and a few other officers know what we are doing. We are to attempt to retrieve Dr. Singh and deliver him to Facility 4028. We are to retrieve all of his research as well. His research and equipment will remain aboard this ship. We will then dock at a facility located in the Briar Patch. You will remember this facility. After you expelled the Klingons we took over the base and converted to suit our needs as a secret science station. We now have the ability to hide this ship with in the interior of the station." he finished.

"Fascinating." I stated.

"We have six months to find Singh, imprison him and get settled in the station." Bastion stated. "Captain, I know you have not truly been briefed and have been mostly kept in the dark so far but I am here to change that. While we are en route to Singh's last known location I will bring you up to speed."

"I am in need of food and sleep, Bastion. Can you give me the nickel tour and show me to food and bed?" I asked.

"Of course Captain! I will do everything i can to make you comfortable in your new command. This way please." He stated.

We took a brief tour of the ship. Bastion showed me my quarters, general quarters, sick bay, engineering and then finally we arrived at the canteen. It was empty with the exception of a strange little fellow behind the counter.

The Los Angeles was a small ship and as such had a smaller canteen. I didn't care though as I was starving. The strange little fellow behind the counter turned out to be the chef. He'd been waiting for me to complete the ships tour in order to serve me personally. He quickly prepared a tray, of what I could not tell, and trounced, yes trounced over to the table that Bastion and I occupied. The doors of the canteen slid open and he rushed to set the tray down and again, trounced to the door to shoo out whoever wanted to enter. I looked at the food placed before us and it looked and smelled delicious. I immediately started to pile the various offerings onto my plate.

"Captain, this is Senells, spelled sNells. Sir, he is the ships chef. He doesn't speak but instead communicates with a series of audible sounds. The universal translator in all it's glory cannot even begin to fathom the language. He can however understand the common tongues and easily creates whatever edibles the crew desires. He is a wizard of the mess hall, sir." Bastion stated.

"Thank you sNells," I said nodding to the chef. The food was amazing and I ate my fill. Later sNells brought out a dessert that I had never heard of but guarantee that Deanna Troi would have murdered just to get one taste. Later I learned that the chef had actually prepared it for her once, many many years ago. After we had eaten and discussed our mission at length I decided I wanted to go to the bridge. It was nearly 4:00 am. I was not tired yet and was eager to get to know my new ship.

"Let's get to the bridge. I want to give the old boy a proper shake down." I said. Yes, I call all my ships Boys and depending on their age add Old or Young to the front of it. The Los Angeles was no exception. He was Old but sturdy. I had been an ensign aboard a ship very much like him fresh out of the academy. It wasn't a Rhode Island variant but was a decent ship. We stepped off the turbo lift and onto the deck of the bridge. The lights were very dim and I didn't see anyone. "Computer, raise lightning 75%". I stated to the air. The illuminated and there was one officer alone running the ship. "Where are the rest of the bridge crew?" I demanded.

"Sir, for this shift we only use the Lt. Commander here." Bastion stated motioning to the Lt. Commander seated in my chair. "Sir, Lt. Commander Byte."

The Lt Commander stood up, withdrew a cable attached to his skull closed the flap and walked over to salute and greet me.

"Pleased to meet you Captain" he stated offering his hand to me.

"Likewise Mr. Byte? is it?" I asked with a silly grin. "Why did I not meet you when I arrived?" I queried.

"I was in a recharge cycle sir. It is far more efficient to use me for the late shifts as it gives the crew a good rest period and it is nothing for me to command the ship on my own." He stated matter-of-factly.

"Well Mr. Byte, that is not how we run things on my ship. Assemble the entire crew in Cargo Bay 4 now! If anyone is late they will get hull scrubbing detail." I exclaimed

"But Sir..." Byte began

"Make it so!" I barked.

I started the clock transferred ships control and functions to Cargo Bay 4 and using my own site-to-site program transported to Cargo Bay 4 to await the crew. Byte signaled all hands to Cargo Bay 4. I could run the entire ship from any console on the Rhode Island and I did love a good snap inspection. Four minutes had passed. I transferred all Engineering functions to Cargo Bay 4, that should get the Engineers in a panic. Six minutes had passed I rerouted all inertial dampener power to the ships weapons causing the ship to shudder from time to time. Eight minutes passed and the cargo bay doors opened and crew began filing in and filling out ranks. Nine minutes had passed and the majority of the crew were standing at attention, a few stragglers sauntered in. Ten Minutes I locked the cargo bay doors. Any one not on this side of the doors was toast. I immediately cut power to life support outside of the cargo bay to a minimum. This meant anyone not here would soon be unconscious, not damaged, just unconscious.

The crew of the Los Angeles stood at attention and had been that way since the doors to the shuttle bay closed. I purposely held them at attention for 15 minutes after which I put them at ease, restored life support through out the ship and sent out a search party for any missing crewmen. There were only 3 missing and by the look of it they were headed this way. As they were brought in to the cargo bay I informed them of their new duties but not when they were to report to the outer hull to begin scrubbing. I wanted them to sweat a little. It turns out that the 3 crewman were in fact in the Gym at the time of the order and were late as they had to clean up and dress. I was planning to cut them some slack until one of the young officers requested 'an audience' with me in private. I granted him a few moments and we stepped outside the cargo bay.

"Sir, I apologize for our tardiness but cutting life support, sir, that was a foul trick." He stated.

"Yes, Yes it was. However it showed me a couple of things. 1) this crew is only as efficient as it's weakest crewman. 2) you are more concerned with your appearance than you are of your orders. This could be disastrous in a crisis. 3) There were 3 of you that were in the same place at the same time and all 3 of you failed to meet the orders." I bellowed. "Please go retrieve the other two and bring them out here.

As ordered he brought the other 2 tardy crewman out with him. All 3 were in fact Lieutenants and Bridge officers.

"Sir, I do have to add that the 3 of us acted together as a team, and that we work this way together, as a team." He said.

"I appreciate that" I commented, "since you are a team I think now is a good as time as any to give you your new orders." I tapped my combadge, "Byte and Bastion please join us." Bastion and Byte met us in the hallway outside of the cargo bay. "Bastion, inform me of the 3 Lieutenants current duty schedules.

Bastion began, "All three are currently assigned to bridge duty during A shift, sir"

"Not anymore" I interrupted. "They will now be on C shift indefinitely and when they are not sleeping they will be scrubbing the cargo bays."

"Sir?" Bastion began to query, "They are...."

"Not getting out of it!" I said calmly. "Get to work boys, your not sleeping so get in there and start scrubbing!"

I returned to the Cargo Bay and gave the crew the run down of our mission. In order to find Singh we needed to get to work. I had Bastion hand out the pre-drafted assignments and requested applications for A shift Bridge crew. I then dismissed them all to begin their day as it was now 0600. As the cargo bay emptied out I walked over to the cleaning crew.

"Come to my ready room at the end of your shift." I ordered.

The ragged trio entered my ready room as I was going over the various PADD's on my desk. Some were ship daily reports, others were requests. I was totally sick of PADD's at this point. My mood was normal, however, when the cleaning trio entered I turned more solemn and stern than any had ever seen. I motioned for them to sit down on the couch against the far wall. My inner calm was working overtime. I remembered a time back on Vulcan when I was in school. I was taking a test along with many others. There was a half human half Vulcan boy in the class that everyone picked on constantly. I actually liked him, he tried so hard to maintain the Vulcan part of himself and was always very good at maintaining control. On this day, during this test, he lost it. I think he actually exploded in a rage like I had never seen. Security came in and dragged him out and off to the medical facility. I finished my test shortly after and went to inquire about him. I had asked the instructor where security had taken him. His response was cold and unfeeling as was expected but his destination was the mental ward. They decreed he had to be locked up. I inquired if it was possible for me to visit him. It took time but I was granted access to him. I remember the run to the medical facility and arriving on the floor that had him locked away from the rest of civilization. I asked to see him and was shown to a room. There he was almost completely naked, shivering in the cold room that had no furnishings. I immediately wrapped my jacket around him and tried to comfort him. He reached for me as an infant reaching for his mother. I held him for hours while he sobbed. My hidden anger at his treatment was buried so far down inside that all I could do was sit there and hold him. I began to plot ways of getting him out of there immediately. Of course that never happened and is really a story all of it's own for another time. Needless to say we ended up lifetime friends. My anger at the trio in front of me had subsided upon reminiscing about my friend.

"So, how was your shift scrubbing the cargo bays?" I inquired.

The 'leader' stood up to address me. "Sir, I speak for all of us and apologize for our tardiness. There is no excuse and it will never happen again." He said. I could feel his sincerity.

"Good, I expect my bridge officers to be shining examples to the rest of the crew." I stated.

"Yes sir" they replied in unison.

"You are now C-Shift and must earn your way back to be included in A-Shift again. I trust you will all work hard and regain your status in time. You'd better get some food and rest as your shift starts in 4 hours. I will be working the shift with you this time. Dismissed." I ended the conversation by leaving my ready room with them following behind quickly.

I entered my quarters after having some dinner and walking though engineering. It seemed like a quiet time on the ship. I preferred to do my 'inspections' with no notice and was pleasantly surprised that all was ship shape, to use an old Earth phrase. I had about 20 minutes to clean up and redress for bridge duty.

I entered the Bridge at exactly 22:00, it was calm and quiet. The trio of officers manning their stations stood promptly at attention when they saw me.

"At ease gentlemen" I stated quietly with a slight motion of my hand. "Status Report"

"Sir we are on course for Regulus arriving in 3 hours. Ship Propulsion functioning at peak performance. Currently cruising at warp 4". Stated Lt Reed.

"Weapon systems currently offline for routine maintenance. Current torpedo load is maxed at 100 sir. Phasers will be back online in 45 minutes." Stated Lt. Rogers.

"Ships scanners and the main deflector is offline for routine maintenance. All other systems standing by, sir" stated Lt. Morell.

"Thank you continue course increase to warp 7, execute" I stated.

The ship surged forward, though it was not noticeable. I was concerned that so many systems were offline for routine maintenance but I let it go for now. While I was still generally unhappy with this particular trio I was happy to see that they were complying with my orders without hesitation and were actually prepared for their shift. I also noted that their uniforms were pristine.

"Mr. Morell, I want all scanners and the main deflector brought online now. Please make it happen. Mr. Rogers get all weapons back online as soon as possible, I don't like having our systems offline like this." I requested casually.

The two busied themselves communicating to their departments to get the systems brought back up. This ship shook violently and we dropped out of warp.

"Sir, helm control is not functioning." stated Reed.
"Raise Shields!" I shouted.
"Shields up sir" shouted rogers.
"Red Alert, and are deflectors and weapons back up yet?" I asked quietly. The ship rocked violently again.
"Deflector is online, scanning..." said Morell
"Weapons are offline sir." reported Rogers
"We are in trouble. Damage Report!" I said
"Shields holding, no hull breaches." stated Rogers
"Can we get something on screen so we can see what we are dealing with?" I asked.

The turbo lift doors opened and Bastion entered. "What's happening Capt?"

"Unknown, we are trying to get visual up now." as I said this the screen lit up with the site of a ship. "Nausicans! Incoming!" I shouted as a volley of torpedoes approached.

"Shields down to 70%. Rerouting power." stated Morell. Several other officers entered the bridge and took various stations.

"Helm?" I queried.

"Back online, sir moving to attack position." stated Reed just as we were caught in a tractor beam.

"Phasers?" I asked

"Phasers online and Torpedoes loaded sir!" Shouted Rogers.

"Attack pattern omega, fire at will Lt." I responded. The Los Angeles began moving and firing. "Target weapons and shields, execute"

The Nausican ship ceased firing...

"They're Hailing sir"

"Let them eat static, continue to fire. Disable their engines" I stated calmly.

Tactical continued to fire and the Nausican ship started to move away. With the next volley of phaser fire the ship began to drift.

"Status Report"

"Shields at 100%, Engines online and Warp drive is available. Weapons are hot sir."

"The Nausican ship has no shields or weapons. Their Propulsion systems are down. Sir, they are adrift."

"Lock on to the Bridge crew and beam them directly to Cargo Bay 4 and put up force fields. Let's give them a face to face. Bastion, Reed, Rogers, Morell you're with me." I got up and headed for the turbolift.

A great start to another excellent story! :woohoo: I will try to again to be patient....but it's difficult.... :cheer:

My career through the ranks at Starfleet is a very bland story. Needless to say once I hit the rank of Captain it was a slingshot trajectory to Vice Admiral. I spent a great deal of time fighting Nausicans, Klingons, Romulans and Remans. A very small amount of time fighting the Cardassians and Jem'Hadar. I spent most of my days between ESD and DS9. This particular part of my tale starts at DS9.

I was sitting at a table on the Promenade sipping coffee. This was a beverage I was introduced to on earth during my youth. I was particularity fond of strong coffee with a dairy product known as cream. It was heavier than milk but not as heavy as the cream you would use to make various other confections of Earthen History. I digress, I was enjoying my coffee and catching up on some duty logs I had neglected when across the way I spied him. I had no idea who he was but I knew he was Starfleet and slightly higher rank than I. It never fails I always wanted that which was out of reach.

"Sir?" I heard the voice speak

Half in daze I responded, "Yes what is it?" then I looked up to see Bastion standing before me. "What is it Bastion?"

"Sir the new ship is ready for inspection. When you are ready. Sir" Bastion explained excitedly.

"Get on board then and prepare the troops I will be along shortly." I replied

I got up from the table having finished my coffee and he was still there at the Kiosk. It appeared he was trading various items. I walked over to the Kiosk and began browsing the various items that were set out. I got a glance of his name plate on his uniform. I tapped my com "Brighton, ready to beam up" I stated within his hearing range. I vanished in a quick flash of light.

I stepped off the transporter pad and entered the corridor. Bastion knew me well enough to know that I did not like all the pomp and circumstance of announcing my arrival, so met me in the hallway. We walked in silence towards the science section. He knew I would start there and then work my way through engineering and finally tour the crew general quarters. I would receive shift reports in my ready room at 1800 hours and review them with the senior members of my bridge officers. I preferred complete silence when going through the routine inspections and would send my reports to the department chiefs 2 days following (that would give them time to fix anything before my report came out). I glanced around the three labs and moved on towards engineering. In the last Intrepid star ship I Captained they were in close proximity to one another. Bastion corrected me by guiding me to the nearest turbo lift. It seems in this ship Engineering was located a few decks down.

I entered engineering and marveled at the newest version of warp core installed into my ship. I glanced around the area as the Chief and his team stood at attention.

"Chief, you have a rattle somewhere, find it and fix it." I said as I walked out. "Bastion, if you don't mind show me to my quarters now." I stated

"Sir, your quarters are now on Deck 2 below the bridge. In fact Deck 2 is basically yours. If you don't like the configuration we set up please let me know I will correct it." he stated.

-to be continued, shortly-

I entered my quarters and found them to be quite sufficient. I replicated a coffee and sat down at my desk to begin pouring over the plethora of PADD's sitting on my desk. My combadge buzzed: "Sir, incoming transmission from DS9" stated the voice. "Put it through" I replied

"Captain, Kurland here. I don't suppose you have time to assist in a mission? I know you haven't had a proper shakedown but there is a problem in the Badlands. I wonder if you might assist Captain Fitzroy with the Cardassians there. Apparently they have staked out claims on several moons there and have Orbital weapons protecting them."

My jaw dropped. How could this be possible? I literally just stalked him on DS9 and now I am being thrown into a mission with him. I hadn't even the time to look up his Starfleet records.

"Captain?" queried Kurland. And again a few seconds later, "Captain, can you hear me?"

"Yes...sorry. I will contact Capt. Fitzroy shortly, Brighton out". I replied.

No sooner had I ended the com with Kurland (whom I secretly despised, yes a Vulcan can despise something) when a flash of light appeared and there before me was Capt. Fitzroy. As the transport beams abated I could see he was facing the wrong direction which gave me a moment to compose myself.

"Captain? What an interesting entrance." I stated as he turned around to face me.

"Well you know, some of us do like to make an entrance. Call me Rufus." He replied quietly crossing to the replicator.

"So I have just been informed we are going to the Badlands. This ship hasn't had a proper shake down but according to my crew it's ready to fly." I stated.

"What are your thoughts on the mission?" I queried. I stood up and approached Cpt. Fitzroy. "Didn't I just see you on the Promenade? You were looking at explosive devices, if I remember."

"Yes and your blatant beam up gave me an idea. Yes, I noticed you looking at me as you said, and I quote "Brighton, ready to beam up". I knew it was more than just the typical beam me up Scotty routine. I immediately told that twat Kurland I wanted you on the mission with me...besides your cute with all that straight blond hair and blue eyes. Too bad you can't get a good haircut."

I sat down on the couch staring at him. He had known I was 'stalking' him! I was quite beside myself.

"Let's see what this bucket of bolts can do. We depart in 3 hours" with that said he tapped his com badge and disappeared into a zillion lights.

As the transport beam lights faded, I was left sitting there staring out the window. Growing up around humans and by not following the Vulcan ways I was one of the more emotional of the species. I WAS Vulcan through and through but I was not afraid of my emotions and had learned to control fear and anger. I had no control over the other emotions at all. I had, in fact, been known to cry on occasion. This was not such an occasion. Instead I wanted to learn more about this Captain Fitzroy....Rufus. I replayed our very brief conversation to see if I had missed anything and I hadn't. He had said I was cute but had a bad haircut. Instinctively I reached up to head and 'straightened" it out. I had the typical Vulcan cut. I also had blond hair. This was due to a gene that dated way back in my lineage. At some point one of my ancestors was in fact a Romulan.

1 hour later - on the bridge

I sat in the Captains chair for the first time.

"Sir the Ruane is hailing" the comm officer said.

"On Screen"

"Ahh Captain, good. How are operations going?" asked Captain Fitzroy.

I looked up at the screen. "Good Captain, we are prepared to leave now." I replied, slightly flushed. I hoped no one noticed.

"Good lets plan on leaving DS9 as originally scheduled. You look a little flushed, is everything alright?" He asked.

"Fine. Belfast out!" I said and the screen went dark. He had made it fairly obvious to my bridge crew that while I was perfectly fine before he hailed I was now a little flushed! Great! just what I needed. "I'll be in my ready room!"

The doors slid closed behind me. I crossed the room to replicate a coffee and try to collect myself. The door chimed. This ought to be interesting. "This better be important, Come in" I barked.

Bastion entered the room with a big grin on his face (Another humanish Vulcan trait). I motioned him in so the doors would close. I sat down on the couch and looked out into the space beyond DS9. I picked up a PADD and started re-reading the ships specs. "What is it Commander and I use the term loosely?"

"Aden...are you ok?" Bastion asked taking a seat on the couch.

"I am fine. What is it that you want?" I asked.

"Aden, I have known you far longer than you care to admit. I know when something is wrong." He stated.

"Now is not the time Commander." I stated. "I am fine, the ship is ready to leave for the badlands for a mission with a Captain that..." I was cut off.

"With a Captain you apparently have fallen in love with, or at least extreme like" He finished.

"That will be all Ensign!" I barked and motioned for him to leave. "Love" I said quietly as he departed.

Bastion knew all too well that I would not demote him to Ensign. As he walked towards the bridge he turned and looked back at me with concern. After he left I went to my desk and picked up a PADD, it seems a Captain and his PADD’s are not soon parted. It just so happened to be Bastions tactical logs. I skimmed through them looking for anything out of the ordinary when my comm badge started to buzz.
“Brighton here.” I stated

“Ahh good…Captain, the Ruane is ready to depart lets head to the Badlands” said Captain…err…Rufus.

“Very good Captain. Bridge disconnect from DS9 and depart.” I ordered. “Take us to the Badlands warp 8.”

“So Aden, I thought a little dinner, perhaps some Romulan ale aboard the Ruane might let us get to know each other a little better.” Said Rufus.

“I have a better thought, you come over to the Belfast and we will dine here.” I stated. With a flash of light Rufus was standing before me. “Damnit I hate when you do that!” I said. I stood up and motioned him towards the door. We stepped on to the bridge and I saw Bastion smile a little as we walked over to stand in front of the view screen.

“Ruane, Ahead to the Badlands, Warp 10.” Rufus said turning to look at my reaction.

“Helm, advance to warp 13, execute.” I ordered. “Comm cut all communications with the Ruane. Comm silence until we get to the Badlands. Disable Captain Fitzroy’s comm badge for everything other than ship communications.” With that said I turned and walked to the Turbo Lift. I glanced at Fitzroy and shot him a quick wink. He was now captive aboard my ship.

Captive Captain
When we entered my quarters I was surprised to find that the table had been set up for a meal for two. There were several dishes to choose from some of my favorite dishes and apparently some of Rufus' as well. I had a surprised look on my face. I looked at Rufus: "Did you? Do this?" I asked.

"No." he replied.

"Well someone...Brighton to Bastion" I tapped my comm badge. Double time to my quarters!" I ordered.

"I smell a conspiracy." stated Rufus.

"I doubt it Fitz, I think I know who is the cause of this." The door chimed. "Enter!" The doors opened with a swish. "Bastion did you do this?"

"Captains, I can explain?" Bastion started.

"Do you remember when we first met? How did you like scrubbing cargo bays? I am thinking that it is time for you to have a refresher course!" I smiled when I said that.

"Sir, I...have been at your side for many years now. Never before today have I sensed what I sense in you now. Don't you think it's time you give someone a chance?" He asked.

"He's right Xavier." Stated Rufus.

"Bastion, get out. I'd better see those cargo bays sparkling by the time we get to the Badlands." I ordered. "As for you, Captain Fitzroy. Sit down!"

We ate slowly and discussed several of our adventures while in Starfleet. Rufus was a kind and gentle soul, but I also sensed a darker side to him. Little did I know I would see this side of him albeit briefly. We finished dinner and I prepared a traditional Vulcan tea. We took tea in the lounge area and spoke of the current mission at length. I entered the plan into the ships computer. We would be entering the badlands in about 4 hours. I tapped a few commands into the computer console in front of me restoring Fitzroy's comm badge. When I hit execute the computer responded with an error. "Captain Fitzroy's Comm Badge is functioning within normal parameters" stated the computer. Busted trying to restore it, "Aden, I fixed my badge hours ago." He stated dryly. I sat back and sipped my tea.

We both sat in silence staring out into space. The blue hue surrounding the ship barely allowed us visibility to the stars beyond the slipstream. "Rufus? What are we doing here?" I asked quietly.

"We are going to go blow shit up" he stated.

"No I mean, here, right now? What is this?" I asked "Are we on a date? A mission briefing? I am confused at this point." I stated.

"I think this is a mission briefing date" he replied.

We talked more at length about our backgrounds, he being a very young man of 29 and me and Octogenarian. He inquired further about my upbringing on Earth and why I had chosen the path I did. The ship suddenly dropped out of warp and came to a complete stop.

"Bridge, Report" I ordered.

"Propulsion offline, Shields are offline, Tactical systems offline." the comm officer stated.

The ship rocked and began to drift. Power began to fluctuate.

"Fitzroy to the Ruane" Rufus called into his comm badge.

"Ruane here sir." Replied his comm officer.

"Status?" ordered Rufus.

"Cruising at warp 15, on approach to the Badlands. ETA 1 hour sir!"

"Damnit! You are an hour ahead of us. We are stranded and under attack get back here!" ordered the Captain. "We'd better figure out what is going on and get this ship back together!" he cried out as we headed for the door.

The ship rocked violently again as we made our way to the bridge. The ship whirred back to life and straightened out. As we entered the bridge Bastion started spitting out the status of the ship. "All systems are back up Sir. I am not sure what hit yes but we are about to find out."

The shipped rocked again only not nearly as bad and the inertial dampeners went into overdrive. As we arc'd up and to the left a Cardassien Keldon Class ship came into view. It fired a volley of Photons.

"Return Fire!" I shouted. "Damage Report!"

"Hull breaches in sections 7-12 on decks 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Force fields weak but holding" another barrage of torpedoes smashed into the hull. The force fields dropped. Shields dropped. A barrage of phaser fire struck the ship. One of the nacelles was destroyed. Rufus took over tactical in a shower of sparks and plumes of smoke. "Reroute power to weapons" I ordered. Rufus released a spread of quantum torpedoes followed directing phaser fire to the Keldon's shields. 2 more ships appeared and began to fire as the first Keldon exploded.

Destruction and Doubt
The other Cardassian Keldon ships continued to pummel the Belfast. I had managed to send out a distress call before communications were obliterated. The Ruane was 15 minutes away and pushing itself to the limit. Fitzroy was trying his best to launch everything he could at the Cardassians and was continuing to fire phaser barrage after phaser barrage. I crossed over to the now vacant science station to check on the deflector. It was still online! I managed to increase power to the graviton generators and particle generators and released a gravity well in the vicinity of the two ships. It overpowered their engines and soon their shields dropped. They would be crushed in moments. They managed fire off another round of torpedoes, the aft section of the Belfast was shredded. We were done for. I called for abandon ship and the remaining crew made way for the escape pods. As the pods detached from the ship the Ruane warped in fired a few shots at the Cardassian ships taking them out and beamed an away team to my bridge. The station I was working on exploded I was thrown back across the bridge divider and landed just in front of the Captains chair. All went black.

updated: today 08/08/13

I opened my eyes it was dark. I could vaguely make out dim lighting across the room and a blurry figure sitting at a desk. I tried to sit up but realized I was restrained. The room shook fiercely. The figure behind the desk stood to walk over to me, again, the room shook violently. As my eyes began to clear I realized I was in sick bay and on a bio bed. I had no idea how long I was here or what the stardate was.

The lights flickered a few times then all seemed to be normal. The ships Doctor tapped the bio bed panel and the restraints were released. It suddenly dawned on me that I could not hear. The lights came up and the flashing red panels ceased.

"Sick bay to Bridge, Captain, Aden is awake but I don't think he can hear at the present time. I have been talking to him but received no response." The doctor spoke to the comm.

"I will be down presently. We are clear for the moment but I expect we'll see some action in a short while. See if you can figure out why he can't hear. Fitzroy out." Is what I would have heard if I could.

The doctor handed me a padd and picked up another nearby and began typing out text. He motioned for me to look at the padd when he was done. He understood that I could not hear and that he was going to take a look as he thinks he may have missed something. With that he picked up a medical tricorder and scanned my head in all directions. How he'd missed that I ever would find out. Nor did I care. He stuck a tiny instrument into both of my ears and repaired the damage he'd found. About this time Captain Fitzroy entered sick bay.


The doctor finished up and I could hear again. Rufus approached and it all came back to me. I realized the Belfast was lost and that I was on Captain Fitzroy's ship. I did-liked this ship very much. Oh it was a powerful tool for the federation but I preferred a different look to a starship. I didn't like the bony fingers that attached the nacelles to the saucer, but I digress...

I felt much better now and asked the doctor if I was fit for duty to which he waved his hand towards the door in -go away, you're bothering- fashion. Secretly I think he was annoyed at having missed a simple hearing issue. I left the sickbay with Rufus in silence. Once in the corridor I stopped him.

"My crew?" I asked quietly.

"7 souls lost, the rest are here on the Ruane, Captain." He responded.

I was relieved. He then went on to tell me about the final scans of the remains of the Belfast. Apparently someone had sabotaged the ship. To what extent was unknown. The ships computer core was being downloaded into the Ruane's main computer in order for analysis. I asked of the most recent attacks and Rufus waved his hand in the air and continued down the corridor. I walked over to the wall and tapped a panel looking for where I was assigned quarters and headed in the direction of the green flashing lights along the wall. I touched the panel of my quarters and entered. Numerous padd's were on the desk. I sat down and picked up the first padd, it was the report of the crew: recovered and lost. I scanned the names of the lost and began to compose the letters for the next of kin to send to Starfleet for approval. I stood and walked over the to window as I was dictating to the computer. As I stared out into space my mind began to wander. I thought of Rufus. I also thought of my family on Earth. I needed a break and apparently a new ship.

"Aden to the Bridge" I stated to the computer after pausing the recording.

"Yes Captain", responded the officer at the comm.

"What is our current destination?" I queried.

"Earth Space Dock." responded the comm officer.

updated 08/19/2013

ESD (Part 2 of Captive Captain)
We arrived at ESD. I had been having a go at some Romulan Ale that Rufus kept aboard. Sitting in the officers mess, pretty much drunk Rufus enters with a guest.

"Aden...this is Captain Kiska Keston, also known as the Doctor. I have asked him to come evaluate you as I don't believe you are fit for command." Stated Rufus quietly.

I turned to look at them both. Keston was a handsome Bajoran seemingly calm in nature as opposed to Rufus who while also very handsome was a bit more edgy. This could prove to be a very rough attraction. I noticed Keston scanning me, not even trying to hide it. I swiped at the medical tricorder as I stood up. I missed it of course. I straightened my uniform and strode out of the mess hall and headed towards my quarters. I was not about to be examined by anyone and was particularly displeased with 'Captain Fitzroy' for even suggesting such a thing. I was very unhappy with the loss of the Belfast and knew that my career was effectively in the toilet. I needed a break from Starfleet. I thought I would resign my commission and return to my birthplace. With London just a quick transport away I could maintain the family home and visit the big city, daily if I so chose. I entered my quarters and started looking for transport containers. The door chimed and I knew who it was, or so I thought. "Come" I shouted at the door. "Bastion?"

He walked across the room toward me and reached for my hand. With my full trust I reached out and accepted his hand. He pulled me close and at the same time administered a hypo knocking me unconscious.

I woke to the sound of clanging, like someone banging a spanner on a plasma conduit. It was dark and I could not see my surroundings very well at all. My hands were tied behind my back. The clanging noise was nearby. I managed to get to my feet and loose my hands. Someone wasn't a very good knot tier. There was an odd smell about. Kind of musky. I strained to find any type of pathway and stumbled over a body. I got closer to see if I could identify who it was then a light flickered and I saw him. It was Bastion. I quickly felt for a pulse. He was dead.


Meanwhile on the Ruane...
"Unauthorized transport in progress" the computer repeated over and over.

"Bridge!" Called out Capt. Fitzroy. "Status!"

"Captain, I found something..." Keston was interrupted by the comm officer.

"Transport Beam just took Captain Brighton and his First, Bastion" stated the comm officer.

"Trace it..." Rufus was cut off...

"Sir a ship just departed ESD at Warp. Bio scan was ineffective prior to warp out." stated the comm officer. "Transport signature coordinates indicate that Brighton and and Bastion were aboard."

"Find that ship, Fitzroy out." Rufus commanded and motioned the Doctor to follow him. They walked a short distance to the Captains quarters. It was modestly decorated with the essentials.

Keston explained that he had found traces of poison in Aden's scan. Not toxic but enough to cause some deterioration in portions of the Vulcan's brain and if they could find him in time they would be able to undo the damage caused. The Ruane departed in an attempt to catch up with the ship. The ship had been identified and the Ruane was dialed in to it's warp signature. They were behind but they would catch the ship.

I suddenly remembered what had happened on the Ruane. That Bastion, my long time friend had drugged me and here I was. The lights came on. I could now see that Bastion had disruptor burns and that had been how he died. I looked around and found an open doorway and went to it. The clanging had stopped and by the feel of vibrations of the ship we were at warp...