Return to Chapter 14
Star Trek Chapter 15
Justin had to clear out the junk that was being "stored" on the upper bunk in the ships sleeping compartment. The lower bunk, a full sized double, folded into the bulkhead to make a sofa. The upper folded too but he had been leaving it down and using it for storage. He found the ladder behind the mattress that he'd put on its side against the bulkhead in the bunk.
"I'm going to stay on the flight deck," he said as Carly went into the head with a newly printed toothbrush and comb. "I'm still worried that the Cardassian's might be tracking us."
He was in the galley across the short passageway when she stepped out-she was naked except for the bandaged medical hardware. She froze when she saw him, obviously she hadn't expected him to be there, then she smiled and said "good night."
It took a super human effort for Justin to avert his eyes. "Good night," he called as he turned toward the sink. When he left the galley with a cup of coffee she was covered up in the top bunk.
Justin spent the next half hour studying the displays from the passive sensors. The display, at high gain, looked like random spots of color wandering around the screen but, after a while, a pattern emerged. Sure enough, something was out there, behind him. If he changed course it would wander some but then pick up his trail again after five or ten minutes. They knew they were tracking something but didn't know what. After his third turn it sped up considerably.
"Shit," he muttered. He had a 40% fuel reserve to get back to Federation space on his planned course and he didn't know if there were any gas stations where he was going. Then a second blip appeared and moved to flank him. He had no choice, he had to turn away and speed up.
He maxed out at warp 2.6-he just couldn't put more energy into the warp field and keep the cloak up. He'd be able to make 3.16 without the cloak but knew the Cardassian destroyers (if that's what they were) were good for warp 5. Still, they probably couldn't see him for a weapons lock so it'd be cat-and- mouse until they lost interest. Hopefully that'd be before his fuel ran out.
The situation only got worse when a third cat appeared two hours later. Meanwhile, he was getting real tired of watching his matter-antimatter reactor sitting at redline while the warp core was only at a trot but he knew that if he dropped the cloak to make a run for it they'd be on him in minutes. Here he was-Stalemate.
Justin slept on and off at the command console until Carly came out five hours later.
"What's going on?" she asked.
Justin started awake, blinking his eyes. "See those three smudges in the static?" he said, pointing at the monitor. "I think those are Cardassian ships trailing us. They can't see us but, somehow, they have an idea we're here."
"Where are we going?"
He pulled up the star charts. "We're headed out toward Charlie Sector. Federation's never been out here but it's rumored to have a bunch of populated worlds and some sort of government-latest reports are of some sort of civil war between the worlds and a new empire of some sort."
"Sounds scary."
"Can't be scarier than the Cardassians."
"Guess so."
"Watch our friends for a minute," Justin said. "I need to use the head and get a cup of coffee."
When he returned five minutes later nothing had changed. Carly was sitting at the command console with her feet up on the front panel.
"You look pretty comfortable," he said as he slipped into the right seat.
"Nothing's changed."
"OK if I take a shower?"
"Sure."
"Call me if anything changes," Justin said and stood up and walked back towards the head.
Five minutes later Justin was drying off when Carly called. "Justin!?"
"Yeah?"
"Something's changed."
Her tone was alarming, he ran up to the bridge. As he slid into the left seat, Carly didn't comment on his not bringing his towel.
"Shit," he studied the forward scanners. "Another defense grid."
On the screen there was a regular pattern of objects, each transmitting coded patterns of subspace gravity waves.
"What is it?" Carly asked.
"An array of defense buoys. They have the same thing defending the frontier with Star Fleet." He adjusted some settings on his sensors. "They detect any ship trying to enter Cardassian space without permission."
Carly looked at the aft scanners-their friends were still there. "What do we do?"
Justin looked up at the girl, suddenly realizing he was naked in front of the ten- year-old.
"Nothing. With the cloak they didn't see me coming in so I assume they won't see me leaving."
The girl looked at him, then her eyes traveled down. She looked back up with a smile while her face began to redden.
For effect Justin looked down at himself, then back up at Carly. "They didn't catch me with my pants down before...at least." He smiled.
Carly giggled.
Justin turned back to the sensor screens. "If there's no deep scans or fire control locks we'll just cruise on through. Hopefully our friends (he nodded at the aft sensor screen) will give up the chase."
He thought about getting up and getting dressed but decided not to. Even though there didn't seem to be any immediate danger he should stay ready. Besides, it was a bit of a turn on to be naked in front of the girl.
For her part, Carly stayed in the right seat and watched. The tactical displays were nothing like the ones her father had shown her on a Federation Star Destroyer he'd taken her to, but to see a real situation was very interesting. She was tense and scared but also felt completely exhilarated.
(Years later she'd realize that it was at that moment that she decided that she'd grow up to be a Star Fleet officer.)
The buoys were in a grid with one every quarter of a parsec. While he'd certainly never come within the range of any weapon on the buoys, they would certainly link his position to the ships behind.
As Revenge approached 100,000 a.u. of the array, Justin slowed to Warp 1.5. The pursuing Cardassians gained on them for about five minutes but then slowed also. Seconds later intense search beams started washing over Revenge from both the pursuers and the buoys, but none seemed to ever really see him. They knew something was there but couldn't tell what.
"They're trying real hard to find us," Justin said as they both stared at the screen and listened to the intermittent scan alarms. "I'd think their only chance is if they can triangulate between the buoys and the ships-hopefully no one'll think of that.
For the next five minutes the scans continued, then Revenge passed through the array. Justin started to chuckle. "Looks like our bug friends don't want to follow."
"Huh? He pointed at the aft screen. "Look, those ships have stopped at the array. We're through."
Carly jumped up and threw her arms around Justin, kissing him on the cheek. Without thinking he pulled her down on his lap and returned the kiss-this time on the lips. Carly pulled back and looked at him with shock as she realized that she was sitting on a naked man's lap, kissing. Then she forced her features back to a business expression.
Turning to look at the sensor screens she said, "So, what now?"
Justin relaxed his arms but kept holding the ten-year-old. "Well, we'll continue on this way for a while until I can drop the cloak, it uses a lot of energy. Then we'll turn and run along Cardassian space until we can get around them and get back home.
"How long will that take?"
Justin looked at the girl. "A couple weeks."
"Oh," she said with a disappointed tone. She turned again and faced him, then put her arms over his shoulders, holding her hands in the air behind his neck. "I guess I've never thanked you for rescuing me," she said.
Justin leaned forward and planted a kiss on Carly's lips. "You just did."
Her eyes were wide but, after a moment she leaned forward and kissed him back but, this time, her kiss lingered. Then she pulled back she looked into his eyes. A strange feeling came over Justin-a feeling of closeness and bonding. Carly felt it too and realized that she'd only ever felt it with her father, only this time it was much weaker. She'd been told she couldn't initiate a mind meld but, somehow, she was feeling a part of Justin, and he was feeling a part of her.
She narrowed her eyes, wondering what she was feeling. She tipped her head, looking at him with interest as a tightness grew in her stomach and between her legs. For a moment she thought she'd peed a little in her pants.
She drew in a breath, then jumped up and ran off the command deck and into the galley, breathing hard. She pressed her claps hands into her crotch and shook her head, trying to clear it, trying to calm down.
Justin turned in his seat and watched the girl go, shaking his head and smiling. His cock was swollen but not hard-it was slightly moving with his pulse. 'Fuck,' he thought, 'that was strange.'
He thought for a moment, then got up and walked back in the ship but he went into the sleeping cabin. He knew Carly could see him across the passage if she chose to look, but he purposely kept his back turned as he pulled on shorts, a tee and then stepped into a set of coveralls. When he came out, she had moved back to the command deck.
"The ships have stopped following us," she said, pointing at the aft screen.
Justin looked carefully, then changed the display.
"What's that?"
"It shows their subspace signal strength. We can see their signals a lot farther out than they can pick up our returns....look, one of the ships is leaving."
Sure enough, one of the Cardassian destroyers turned and moved back, the other two followed.
"This is a passive display-I'm not transmitting any sensor signals. It tells me they're there but can't give me an accurate range. The system calculates that by the signal strength but that assumes we know the size of the signal we're looking at. They could turn down their system and actually be a lot closer," Justin explained. "Passive sensors let you know someone's there but you can't be certain where."
"Oh," Carly said. "But, don't you know where the defense grid is?"
"Yeah." Justin looked at her. "You catch on pretty quick."
She smiled.
Justin looked back at the screens. "Doesn't seem to be anyone around."
He reached up to the panel that had just been installed over the deflector grid controls. When he threw a switch the sound in the cabin changed-a background hum sank away, and the lights flickered. Instantly most of the static on the sensor screens disappeared and the defense buoys jumped into sharp contrast with the background.
"Wow, what'd you do?" Carly asked.
"Turned off the cloak."
"Oh, yeah-it would interfere with incoming signals."
"Yeah, makes you invisible but also makes you kind of blind." He paused. "Geez, you catch on quick."
Carly spent a few moments studying the screens. Without asking she shifted the image on the nav system to a long range chart. "So, what now?"
"Well, I want to put a few parsecs between us and the Cardassians before turning. Looks like we'll be getting close to the edge of the Perseus-Orion void. Not much out there. Then we'll run along to the edge of the Federation, doing an end around of the Cardassians." He paused. "Have to take a close look at my fuel state," he muttered.
Carly expanded the view. "Looks like we'll be going through Ferengi space."
"Yeah."
"Aren't they...kind of difficult?"
"I get along great with the Ferengi, they respect a free trader like me."
"My daddy doesn't like them."
"No," Justin said with a smile, "I wouldn't expect Vulcans would think much of the Ferengi."
Carly looked curiously at Justin. "Why?"
"Vulcan's like to think they judge things with perfect logic. Problem is, there are different kinds of logic. Your dad's logic is different from the Ferengi's, that's all."
"But you like the Ferengi?"
"I didn't say that-I just said I get along with them. We understand each other. But, don't worry, they'll be perfectly happy to let us through to the Federation once they're paid."
Carly turned back to the display. "Not much out here," she said.
Justin looked with her. "Well, there are quite a few systems, we just don't know much about them, no one's been out here before. But, hey, I'm kinda hungry. Let's get come chow, after we've eaten it ought to be about time to figure a new course and start exploring."
Carly smiled. "What do you have to eat?"
"Plenty. Besides, your dad downloaded a list of things he knows you like and had the stores loaded while I was on Enterprise."
She looked surprised. "You were on Enterprise?"
"It's a long story, I'll tell you over dinner."
Her expression was pensive.
Justin reached across and put his hand on her cheek. "He's kind of...distant...but, ya know, I think he loves you more than anything in the galaxy."
A tear ran down her cheek. "I know that." Then she slipped out of her seat and walked back toward the galley.
"Why don't you have a food replicator?" she asked as she watched him preparing another old Earth favorite-pizza.
"I hate replicated food-always tastes like card board. Also, it's always just the same. Take that corn dog you had earlier. If I had a replicator, and ordered another, it'd be completely identical to the earlier one. One of the joys of making your own food is that two things aren't ever completely alike. Anyway, you know replicated food is really not food, it's a protein-carb mash that the system textures and shapes, then adds color and flavoring."
"Oh," she said in a noncommittal tone that implied that she didn't think it mattered.
"I got so tired of replicated food when I was in Star Fleet-made meals such a bore."
"I thought you had cooks that could make you special meals. Daddy said he's had to teach them how to cook Vulcan food."
Justin tuned and looked at the girl. "That's officers honey. I was enlisted-they called us mechs. Better than being called a swabby but they treat you the same."
"Huh?"
"In the old Earth navies, before we had robots to do it, the men who had to clean and paint the ships were called 'swabbys'. They still need guys to do the grunt work, even on star ships. I was one of those."
"Oh, you were a crewman."
"Yeah-Gravitation Systems Technician Third Class Cooper. I spent three years on Enterprise. Lived in a bunk room with four others, just a little smaller than the bunkroom here. Once went fourteen months without getting off the ship. While Kirk and his officers were off 'exploring strange new worlds' I was standing twelve on-twelve off watches making sure the apples fell from the trees and didn't float across the room."
He spent the next forty minutes as he made and they ate a pepperoni and mushroom pizza telling Carly about his less than successful career in Star Fleet. He did his best to tone down his enmity for Kirk and especially for the CHENG, Commander Scott. When he got to the incident that got him kicked out (cussing at Scotty over the bitch box while an inspector from Star Fleet was in Engineering Control, then leaving his post to go the EC and bitch at Scotty in person) he admitted that he was out of line and being stupid.
"Well, after that, Kirk and I agreed that Star Fleet wasn't the place for me..."
"Did you know my dad?" she asked.
"Not really. He was the Science Officer-different department. Even though he was second in command I really didn't work for him. I worked for Scott-actually I worked for the Gravitation Officer-went through a few Ensigns-he worked for someone else who worked for Scott. Also, there was a Chief over me, it's all very complicated."
"Let's just say that there's a lot more to Star Fleet than you see from the news or in vids."
She chewed a piece of pizza. "Why'd they send you to get me instead of a Starship?"
Justin smiled. "Because if Star Fleet sent ships into Cardassian space there'd be war. Instead they sent me-if the Cardassian's had caught me I'd just be another smuggler."
"Logical."
"That's what your dad thought."
"So, daddy called you and asked you to come rescue me?"
"Well, not really..."
Justin wondered how he was going to sugar-coat the extortion that had gotten him there.
"You see, even though I'd left Star Fleet I still have a contract with them. When Kirk and your dad discovered I had the right ship for the mission, ya know, with a cloak and all, they reactivated my contract and sent me."
"You didn't want to do it?"
"I don't want to work for Star Fleet but, when they explained the mission, I was all in." After they'd eaten they went back to the command deck and Justin gave her some instruction on piloting a Ceti Epsolonian Class Two freighter. "Since we're in unexplored space, I think it'd be best of one of us was awake all the time-looking for any surprises coming our way. I'd like it if you knew a little about the ship so you could act before I got up here."
After that she followed him around while Justin did the daily inspection of the ship. Since he wasn't carrying any cargo, it went pretty quickly. He was actually quite impressed by how much the ten-year-old knew about the workings of a space ship and also at how well she caught on and understood the things he taught her.
She floated up the warp emitter nacelle conduits like a pro. "Hey, you've spent some time in 0G," he commented.
"Yeah, I love it!" she said.
"I'll have to take you into the cargo hold-it's empty right now"
Revenge was configured to carry most of its cargo in external load. It could carry up to six standard 5000 cubic meter containers. There was an internal bay that could hold an additional 1000 cubes. He smiled at the beauty of the girl as she did flips and spins while bouncing around inside the space-laughing the whole time. He also thought about the fun he'd had with a few other female visitors in the space.
When they arrived back on the Command Deck he started working on fuel equations. Carly watched over his shoulder and saw the bad news at the same time.
"Shit," Justin muttered.
"We don't have enough fuel," she said at the same time.
He looked over his shoulder. "You do catch on quick."
Carly slid into the right seat. "So, where do we get antimatter?"
Justin looked at the nav display. "Hopefully, one of these systems has a place to buy some. Otherwise we're going to have to risk crossing Cardassian space again."
"They'll be looking for us."
"Yeah," Justin said as he started looking up what little information was available in the nav logs on the local systems.
"How are you going to buy anything?"
"Kirk gave me a supply of unobtainium before I left. I'm also carrying a few grams of dilithum, should anyone out here be using warp drives. Pretty universal money."
They spent the next twenty minutes looking over the scant data available and made a plan. Their fuel supplies would allow them to enter an area with eight known inhabited systems that seemed to have spacefaring technologies. If they could get 10 grams of antimatter, and assuming they made minimal use of the cloak on the way back, they'd barely be able to reach Starbase 117 on the other side of the Ferengi space-but they couldn't go faster than warp 2.
"So, let's head for the first system," Justin said after they'd decided on the plan.
Carly looked at the display, then opened the log file. "Binary star system, type G and H. Fourteen planets but only one named-it's barely habitable, a desert planet with minimal indigenous life but seems to have been settled."
"Got a name?"
"Tatooine."
Chapter 16Table of Contents