<USS Avalon> "My Heart Leads Me Astray" Pt. 4
- From: "Brad Ruder" <GroundZero@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: avalon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 23:50:36 -0800
?My Heart Leads Me Astray? ? Part
Four
by Ensign Evan
BeneventeThe cockpit of the Class Nine
Assault Shuttle was cramped, Evan could feel himself succumbing to
the claustrophobia and almost pass out. As a child, he got himself
pinned between a shuttle and the wall of the bay that held it. He was
there for hours, unable to hit his communicator, and his mouth was
pressed so he couldn?t scream. Evan?s father was going to test fly
the shuttle and did the standard proximity check, and found
him.
?Computer, are we clear of the Xavier?s shields??
?Affirmative.?
?Computer, set course for Ockum III,
maximum warp.? At a maximum warp of only warp six, it would take Evan
about two hours to get there; thankfully, the Xavier tractored him at
warp and that allowed Evan to get there in half an hour.
The
Xavier put Evan out of the system and allowed him to go slowly at
impulse. Evan had to sneak in if he was going to do anything; his
communications were always open to the Xavier so they could track his
every move. He slowly entered the system and approached Ockum III.
Several Keldon and Galor class ships were in orbit, firing through
the atmosphere to the settlements below.
?Computer, lower
shields and power down all weapons.?
?Warning, Cardassian
ships detected. Cardassians are sworn enemies of the Federation.
Continue with system shut down?? The computer?s warnings were
reassuring, but they failed to let Evan accomplish what he wanted to
do.
?Affirmative.?
The shields lowered and he watched
the power bars to the phaser banks shift down into a light gray ?
inoperative ? mode. ?All tactical systems have been deactivated.?
?Computer, disengage all engines and thrusters besides the
maneuvering thrusters, and decrease power to those thrusters to 10%.?
?Acknowledged, all engines have been powered down.
Maneuvering thrusters are holding at 10% of their maximum
efficiency.? The computer?s voice, though dry and bland, was quickly
becoming Evan?s most intriguing friend that he could socialize with
him.
?Computer, decrease level of oxygen in the cockpit to
5% saturation.?
?Warning, such command could result in
compromised health and ability to function of the pilot. Decreasing
the oxygen levels is not recommended.? The friend was quickly
becoming a nuisance.
?Override.? Evan said as he tapped his
console, keeping his eyes locked on the attacking ships in orbit.
?Acknowledged.?
Evan tapped the console, and moving
on ten percent of the thruster power, moved into the sensor range of
the Cardassian ships. At such low power, the Cardassian ships would
only read his shuttle as standard spatial EM fluctuation. He coasted
towards the first Keldon-Class vessel. ?Computer, tell me when we are
inside the vessel?s shields.?
A couple of moments passed as
he sat as still as possible in the cockpit. The lights were dark, as
to avoid all visual contact with any ships. ?Shield proximity of the
Keldon-Class Cardassian has been breached, shuttle has remained
undetected.?
?Computer, how far am I from the vessel?s Warp
Core?? Evan said as he established synchronization with the vessel,
everything their vessel did, he did.
The computer?s dry voice
echoed throughout the cabin. ?The Warp Core is bearing 329.12 Mark
8. Distance, 250 meters.?
Evan tapped a console to his left,
loading a plasma charge. ?Computer, fire plasma charge to those
coordinates and have it attach to the hull of the ship, polarize the
surface to reflect all sensors.?
?Acknowledged, firing plasma
charge.? Evan watched as the plasma charge emerged from the torpedo
launcher and into view of the shuttle?s cockpit. The charge traveled
for the desired location. It attached to the Cardassian ship and Evan
piloted an about face. He fired the thrusters and moved out of the
shield?s range.
?Computer, detonate charge, and alter course.
Bearing 112.6 Mark 3.?
The charge ripped through the hull of
the Keldon-Class ship. The warp core began to breach and destroyed
the ship, and unfortunately there was no other ship nearby, so one
would have to suffice. Following the same procedure, Evan entered the
next Keldon?s shields and repeated the process. A beeping console
told him that the Cardassians were making ship-to-ship
communications. Intrigued, Evan tapped into their channel and
watched.
?This is Gul Matan, Keldon 351 was just destroyed.
The Captain contacted me and reported it was reading strange EM
readings from under their belly, and then it blew. Magnetize your
hull, if something can get through our shields than that?s our last
line of defense.?
That was all that Evan needed to hear,
?Computer, activate shields. Reset full engines and get us out of
here, set course for the USS Xavier.? The magnetizing of the hull
would detonate the plasma charge. He didn?t have shields up; he would
be completely obliterated and become just another particle of
nothingness in the dead of space. The Cardassian ships, now alerted
to Evan?s presence, moved to engage. The Keldon-Class ship,
fortunately, was completely destroyed. They locked several tractor
beams on the tiny assault shuttle.
?Warning, tractor beams
have locked onto this vessel.?
?No joke?? Evan stated
sarcastically to no one but himself, ?Computer, rotate the shield
frequencies.?
?Acknowledged,? there was a pause as the
computer quickly did as ordered, ?change not substantial.?
?Computer, target both vessel?s tractor emitters with phaser
and photon torpedoes. Fire.?
?Acknowledged,? another pause,
?no effect. Shields holding on tractor emitters.?
?Computer,
full power to the engines, full reverse.?
?Acknowledged,? the
pauses were increasing in time after every order, ?ineffective. The
power to the engines does not surpass the power of the tractor
beams.?
Evan tapped the console feverishly, he was afraid
he?d wear a hole in it, but the shaking of the ship snapped him back
to reality. ?Computer, send a distress signal to the USS Xavier. Then
transmit an emergency distress signal on all Federation and subspace
channels.?
?Acknowledged, transmitting distress signal.? As
promised, the USS Xavier came out of warp and fired, scrambling the
tractor signal and allowed Evan to get free. Not taking anything but
a breath, Evan opened fire on all the Keldons that he could find.
He barked out more orders, his hands dancing expertly across
the panel?s surface, ?Computer, open a channel to the Xavier.
Captain McGregor, this is Ensign Benevente, do you copy??
?We
hear you, Ensign, more ships are on the way, when they show, we are
leaving, we won?t stand a chance next to these Keldons.? McGregor?s
voice echoed through the speakers and into the cabin.
Evan
maneuvered his craft back towards a Keldon cruiser; he wanted to take
out some more. Two down and who knows how many more were left. Four
Keldons flew towards the Xavier, leaving Evan two others. He
activated the impulse engines and flew towards the two, but a plasma
torpedo impacted his starboard shield grid. Evan tried to maneuver
away from the next one, but another torpedo collapsed his port
shield.
?Computer, set a course of Deep Space 7, maximum??
Evan?s voice trailed off as he felt himself almost begin to float. He
saw, or didn?t see, the cockpit. His first impulse was that he was
going to be transported over to the nearest Cardassian Galor. And he
was.
Evan?s first sight was a Cardassian walking straight
towards him, and the first thing he saw was the gloves that he wore
on his hands. The huge Cardassian walked over to him and backhanded
him across the face, not drawing blood, but enough to jog Evan?s mind
into the present. Evan staggered to his feet and dived at him, but
two others stepped into the fray and beat him mercilessly.
?Insolent fool, you think you could deceive us?? The
Cardassian slapped Evan across the face again and forced him to his
knees. Taking no time at all, he kneed Evan in the face and Evan fell
onto his back, darkness started to shadow over him. ?I don?t think
so.? The Cardassian hoisted the young ensign to his feet and the
Cardassian injected some sort of liquid into Evan?s arm.
An
agonizing pain shot through Evan?s body. It traveled up and around
his head, leaving him with a horrible headache. It also went down
through Evan?s legs and it dropped him to the floor on his stomach,
and Evan was now fully alert as if he?d never been hit in the first
place. The Cardassian kicked him in the gut and Evan coughed
violently; Evan tasted blood. Now enraged, Evan stood to his feet.
The angry guard went to kick the rebellious Starfleet
officer, but Evan grabbed his foot and twisted. A sick crack echoed
as he crumpled to the floor in pain. Two others rushed towards Evan
to tackle him.
Evan tossed the first one harmlessly into a
pile of cargo containers; the other wrapped his arms around Evan?s
legs, but nothing that a punch to the face couldn?t take care of. The
next thing Evan realized was a figure pop up and shoot, he felt a
pain in his lower back and Evan crumpled onto the floor next to the
three Cardassians.
Evan had been shot.
*****
***** *****
?Wake up!? Evan?s consciousness stirred and
he felt a pain rip through his face. Evan opened his eyes, but only
barely because they were swollen horrifically. He could still hear
fighting outside as phaser fire impacted the hull. The ship rocked,
but his hands were tied up above him. Evan?s shirt was tattered and
torn. His pants were blood-soaked and Evan couldn?t feet his feet.
?Tell me the command codes and I?ll stop torturing you.?
?What?command codes?? Evan muttered as he got smacked across
the face again.
?You know what command codes, to that
Akira-class vessel that you were on before you took it upon yourself
to destroy two of our ships, now tell me!? The man gritted his teeth
and raised a fist again, but it didn?t register what ship he was
talking about.
The Xavier. They were still with him, and who
knows how more were out there now. ?I?don?t?know any?? Evan managed
to mumble as the Cardassian punched him in the gut, sending blood
from Evan?s mouth to the dirty floor below.
?Quit stalling!?
The spoonhead yelled as he grabbed a metallic object from a tray
behind him.
He raised it, and pointed it at Evan?s chest, now
bare from the shirt being ripped from his body after one of the many
thrashings. Evan struggled to move. A Cardassian behind him came in
and saw what he was doing. ?What are you doing??
He turned
around and nodded, slipping the device into his back pocket,
?Nothing, Gul.?
?If you were going to use the Molecular
Scrambler, by all means do.? He walked up to the Cardassian and
patted him on the shoulder, and then faced the man clinging to the
wall in pain and confusion, ?Have you told us what we need to know?
The sooner you tell us the sooner we can leave and start our pattern
search. We will have the command codes to all Federation vessels
within a month. Or, the people of Ockum III will shrivel and die. I
am sure that you have family of some sort down there. Right??
With courage, Benevente spit in his face and drew back
waiting to be struck.
The Gul grabbed his own Molecular
Scrambler and held it to Evan?s chest. ?On bare flesh this feels like
a phaser rifle on full power being shot at you, and you don?t die.
You?ll black out from the pain and the molecular deterioration will
eat away at your flesh until your own antibodies begin attacking your
own cells. Then, that serum that he gave you will accelerate the
process. You will be dead in hours, less probably.?
Evan
nodded, a smirk dancing its way across his torn facial features, ?And
then, your majesty, you will have to torture some other poor person
to get your codes, because there is no way in hell that I?m telling
you anything.?
He pressed the scrambler onto Evan?s chest and
the young ensign felt hot as the pulse began to burn. The Gul held it
there as Evan struggled against his chains, but to no avail. It
burned and, finally, the Gul removed the instrument. There was no
relief; the pain increased, after a few seconds it felt as if someone
had poured scalding hot water on an open sore. Evan struggled and
began to pass out. The Cardassian injected Evan again and his nerves
perked up, waking me up again and feeling the increasing force and
pain of the torture device.
Another Cardassian burst into the
room. ?Sir, six federation vessels just came into the system, they?re
moving to engage.?
?What classes??
The Cardassian
looked upset and worried, ?Three Intrepid and three Galaxy.?
?Battlestations!? The Cardassian yelled as he tossed the
instrument onto the counter and ran up the steps, disappearing
through the opening. The other Cardassian lowered Evan?s chains so
the prisoner could rest on the floor. He kicked Evan in the face and
then returned to his seat.
?Gul would be pleased if you told
me what I wanted to know, the codes, that is all I ask.?
Now
Evan was getting irate, ?You know what I ask, for you to take a
phaser do us all a favor ? kill yourself.?
He got up and
crossed the small distance to uppercut Evan, to add to that pain that
Evan was experiencing from the scrambler. It deteriorated; Evan?s
chest was now just black burnt skin. ?Tell me, now.?
An idea
burst through the pain Evan was experiencing and he knew what he had
to do. ?All right, I?ll give them to you.?
The Cardassian
stared at his monitor, and then smiled. ?We have six vessels left,
your people are putting up a heck of a fight; my idea would have been
to leave at the first sign of trouble, conserve causalities.?
Evan was almost amused, ?We aren?t cowards, and we aren?t
Cardassian, the two go hand-in-hand, don?t they??
The
Cardassian came up to Evan once more and bashed him across the face
again and returned to his chair, obviously he wasn?t as amused as
Evan was and didn?t care for a good laugh every now and then. ?Now
would be nice.?
The young ensign did a quick calculation in
his head; he saw ten Keldons and a Galor. He destroyed two Keldons,
so that left eight. If there were six left, then Starfleet had
destroyed two more since Evan had been captured. ?What ships are out
there, I need names.?
?The USS Montana??
?I know that
one, it is Celestial Theta 312 Gamma 6.?
He tapped it into
the console and nothing happened. ?Explain this, nothing has
happened.?
?Hey, moron, I just gave them your command codes.
It doubles the signals so you send them your command codes instead of
getting them. See you later.? Another smile managed to surface in
Evan?s mangled demeanor.
A blast erupted outside; the shields
had failed with Evan?s help. The blast knocked the Cardassian out and
another rocked the cabin, swinging hostage around the pole that he?d
been facing. Evan caught his balance and stood to his feet and looked
around. He heard a voice play over the speaker.
?Ensign
Benevente, this is Captain McGregor, do you need
assistance??
?Yes, how about a way off this god-forsaken
ship!? Evan yelled as he was able to pry his hands from the
restraints above him with the key that had slipped from the guard?s
pocket. He stumbled over and Evan grabbed the instrument, ?Beam me
straight to sickbay.?
***** ***** *****
The
fight raged on as the last Cardassians got the hint that there wasn?t
a chance that they would be winning the fight. They had done a great
deal of damage to the small planet of Ockum III, but it wasn?t
anything that could be fixed. Evan sat on a biobed for a very long
time and healed slowly. The doctor onboard the USS Montana, Dr.
Olivia Benning was great. She made sure that he was comfortable.
The USS Montana, and the other five Federation ships that
came to their aid stayed to aid in search-and-rescue missions to the
planet?s surface. The USS Xavier had to return to DS7 because of
damage that they sustained while taking on all ten ships at the
beginning of the battle.
Dr. Benning came in the room; ?There
are two types of resistance in the universe, mental and physical. You
seemed to have battled the physical part, but as far as I am
concerned you?re mentally stable.?
?Thanks, I guess. Do you
know who has and who hasn't been accounted for down on the
surface??
?I could find out if you want, anyone in particular
you want me to check for?? She gave me a confused look at why I would
be interested.
?Michelle Benevente.?
?Sister??
?Wife.?
?You?re married??
?Yeah, married one
day to be exact. I hope she?s OK.?
?I?m sure she is, she has
to be tough enough to marry you, not many people are as tough as you.
That scrambler device was painful, but easy to cure. You shouldn?t
have any type of permanent damage or scarring, you got real lucky.?
Dr. Benning said as she passed a tricorder over Evan?s bare, but
healing, chest again. She had applied a dermal regenerator, but asked
that his shirt stay off for air to be exposed to the new
skin.
A man came into her office and asked for something
called Cadmium-Grollide, and she immediately got it for him; she
walked out of sickbay to the medical storage room across the hall.
The man walked up to Evan, ?Hey, nice flying.?
?What?? Evan
looked at him inquisitively.
?The handy work with those
shadow maneuvers.?
?You saw that??
?Yeah, great flying
skills, we could use you.?
?We?? Evan asked; this new man was
mighty confusing.
The man looked around as if trying to avoid
rousing suspicion. He leaned forward a bit and leaned towards Evan?s
ear, ?The resistance against the Federation and
Cardassians.?
?The Maquis?? Evan tapped his bare chest, not
finding his combadge.
The man put his hand over Evan?s
mouth. ?Be quiet, don?t worry, we aren?t infiltrating the Federation,
we are monitoring the Cardassians, the Federation is just our free
ticket. I am Garen Muln, Captain of the Freedom.?
?Ensign
Evan Benevente, Acting Chief Engineer on the USS
Vesuvi.?
Doctor Benning entered the room and handed him his
five canisters that he had asked for, she also carried a PADD and
handed it to Evan. ?The Cadmium-Grollide for you, and the list of
people recovered; dead and alive for you.?
Evan searched
through the list and her name was listed under the ?missing? column,
his heart sank into his legs. ?They haven?t found her, she?s
missing.? Garen perked an eyebrow.
?How many are missing??
?Approximately six hundred or so, why?? Evan asked, perking
an eyebrow of his own.
?Doctor, I need another canister, if
that isn?t a problem.?
?No problem at all.? She walked from
the room once again.
Garen came up to Evan, leaning on his
shoulder. ?What did your wife look like?? His eyes gleamed with a
caring compassion, but there was something behind them that was
frightening to Evan. Almost evil.
?She?s about six foot, red
hair like the sun of this system.? Evan said recalling her beautiful
face and body.
?Was her father or mother somebody important??
?Yes, her dad was the magistrate?s personal advisor.?
?Damn, she was taken by Gul Surak.? Garen paced around the
surgical bay and then returned to Evan?s bedside.
Evan went
into a panic and his eyes searched the room, yearning for
understanding, ?What? Who? Where??
?Calm down, a girl on the
surface was leading a group to a shelter in an area of the city in
which Cardassian ground troops had been deployed. She was taken and
now she is with Gul Surak.?
?I, we have to get her back!?
?The Maquis can, but we need your help.?
?Whatever,
we have to do something.? Dr. Benning came in and handed Garen the
rest of the cartridges that he had asked for and he transported them
to the cargo bay. He helped Evan from bed and they walked down the
corridor, entered the turbolift and went to the shuttle bay. They got
onto a shuttle and were cleared to bring supplies to the surface.
?Are we going to the surface?? Evan asked as he carefully sat
down, still nursing his chest.
?No, Plymor II. There is a
Maquis base there, we will refuel and grab some people and go and get
Michelle.?
The duo cleared the docking bay and went to warp,
the Montana hailed the two and asked what the hell they were doing.
The two simply stated that they were intending only to help; the
Montana demanded to know what they were really doing and then set a
pursuit course. Being the excellent engineer, Evan masked their warp
signature and then sent his letter of resignation.
?Computer,
ready file Resignation Omega 1 to be sent to the USS Montana.?
?File ready.? The computer?s emotionless response echoed
throughout the cabin.
?Fill in the name, Ensign Evan
Benevente. Reason for leaving Starfleet: personal matters regarding
whereabouts of wife.? Evan stated.
?File complete, ready for
transmission.?
?Send to the USS Montana, level ten clearance
and direct to Captain McGregor. Subject should be Ensign Benvente?s
Resignation. Transmit.?
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