StarDestroyer.Net BBS

1.1 - Vixen and Large Ears

Karl Jameson stood staring at the beauty on the bed. She was exactly like he wanted her, sexy with a killer body shaped like an hourglass. She was slightly muscular, no doubt capable of lasting the whole night. She was ready, completely naked except for golden bracelets and an innocent smile.

The room was square, with a desk and a large bed. Karl was standing just inside the room. He yanked at the uncomfortable dangling strip of silk tied around his neck. Karl closed the door behind him. He paused for a moment, then he opened the door and slipped a sign which read "Do not disturb" onto the brass handle and closed he door shut. It was all part of the experience, and Karl didn't want someone walking into his fun. Everything seemed right, down to the lighting and the small bars of dispensable soap.

"Incredible", said Karl.

"You haven't seen incredible yet"

Karl's heart skipped as he heard the soft feminine words. He unbuttoned his dress shirt, revealling a fit and muscular body. Karl knew he wasn't perfect anymore -- his body had sagging pockets of fat that never seemed to go away no matter how much he worked out. That didn't bother him as much as it used to. Karl had accepted his age long ago.

Karl looked lustfully at his prize. She returned the look, and raised one finger daring him to approach. Karl had grown hard, harder than he had been in awhile looking at her. This was worth the wait.

Karl lept onto the bed, no longer able to keep his carnal urges in check. She too rushed forward at the same moment so that Karl landed on top of her, slamming her backwards into the red satin. They both tore at Karl's clothes, and Karl wasted no time getting into position to insert his member. She was wet, and moaning for Karl to take her.

Karl grunted and thrust himself forward. She arched backwards and gasped. She was tighter than he had expected. It took a supreme effort just to keep from releasing.

Then everything fizzled. "NOOOO!", Karl screamed, as the woman dematerialized in his arms. He fell face first on the black floor, plainly decorated with a yellow grid.

Karl stood up and shivered. "QUARK THAT GREEDY LITTLE FERENGI, I'm going to kill him! He'll lose his business license!" He took a deep breath and exhaled, his calm demeanor returning as his libido cooled.

"Arch." The overhead arch appeared. Karl pressed a button, and was greeted by the sharp smiling teeth and dominating ears.

"Are you trying to be like a woman? Where are your clothes?"

"QUARK! We had a deal! You leave me alone for a few hours and I give you extra Romulan piss!"

"Karl, Karl, Karl. Remember the Ferengi 253rd rule of acquisition. Never, never, never try and cheat someone unless you make sure you can get away with it."

"You little slime! I'm going to report you to the Ferengi business bureau! You're going to pay a fine so large you won't be able to work it off in ten years!"

"You are lucky I didn't already report YOU, Humen. I wasted a hundred bars of latinum on your synthehol, and..."

Karl slammed the communications console. Quark's picture disappeared. He had been taken. His age was starting to get to him. "If a deal is too good to be true, it usually is.", muttered Karl. It wasn't Quark who cheated him. It was the seedy Romulan merchant back at Sector 348. Karl knew he should have tried some. But he trusted his scanning equipment. It wouldn't be too surprising if he found out the Romulan merchant had somehow hacked into his scanning equipment, giving a false result. Strange that the merchant would cheat him out of such a small shipment. Now Karl was unlikely to go back to him, and the merchant had been Karl's supplier for several years now.

Something wasn't right.

*blink, curious look* Good start. Will be waiting to find out more…am confused about the shipment though. Am certain that you’ll explain it though. *clap*

1.2 Trap and Negotiation

Karl sat up. He shook his head. What happened? The last thing he remembered was heading towards the cargo bay to see the "Romulan Ale".

Karl blinked, and his vision returned. He was inside a small brig. Federation. "Okay, you win. Now I demand to be released. You can't prove anything. My cargo hold is full of... synthehol. Whatever that Ferengi slime said, he's lying." Karl paused. Nothing.

"I said, let me out. The Ferengi Ambassdor will hear of it if you mistreat me."

"Nobody is mistreating you.", said a disembodied feminine voice. It sounded older, harsh, and unforgiving.

"Oh yeah? Knocking me out? Locking me up? What the hell is that?"

"We needed to talk in private, Lieutenant."

Karl froze.

"I resigned my commission a long time ago. And my Federation citizenship. You have no right to hold me. I am a citizen of the Ferengi Alliance."

"We have every right to hold you. A Norkova class cargo vessel with Federation Ablative Armor? Klingon Disruptor Cannons? Cardassian Hull Reinforcements? What were you preparing for, a raid against a Federation colony?"

Karl clenched his jaw. "You know as well as I do about the Dominion. A few of my friends lost their lives. I wasn't about to go the same way."

"Some of your modifications predate the war, Lieutenant."

"I told you, I resigned my commission. I'm no longer a Starfleet officer. I also requested that my service record be purged. I'm also not one of your Federation sheep. Let me go or I'll file an official protest with the Ferengi when I'm out."

"The war has been over for two years Lieutenant. You didn't need the extra armadment on your vessel the day the Federation defeated the Dominion."

"You idiot. Pirates have attacked my ship at least half a dozen times."

"No doubt a result of the company you keep Lieutenant."

"I said, don't call me that. Where's the Captain? Does he know you're taunting me like this?"

"There is no Captain."

"Stop playing games with me crewman. Get me whoever is in charge."

"Very well. And it is Admiral."

The door to the brig opened. Karl almost forgot about the forcefield and walked forward. The shimmer nearly knocked Karl off his feet. "I said take this forcefield down, I'm not Federation, and you can't hold me..." Karl paused. Admiral? He looked at the figure standing at the door. It was an older human woman, dressed in the unmistakable garb of a Federation Admiral.

"What do you want?"

"We want you Lieutenant."

"For what? Don't tell me the Cardies killed so many cadets that you need a sixty-year-old. And the answer is no."

"The Federation has been experiencing a manpower shortage Lieutenant, but that is not what I am here to discuss."

"What part of no do you not understand?"

The older woman paused. "Very well. Karl Jameson, you are charged with thirty-four violations of Federation Law, including aiding a government engaged in hostilities with the Federation, possession of contraband, tresspassing, possession of classified information, possession of stolen Federation property... shall I go on?"

"If you had that much dirt on me, why didn't you get me earlier? And don't tell me you came all this way to arrest a small time merchant. I guess Federation Admirals don't have anything better to do than to harass honest working men."

"We have been watching you for a year now, and have enough evidence to convict even in front of a Ferengi judge." The forcefield fizzled, and the Admiral threw a datapad. Karl caught it, and scrolled down the text. They had him.

"What do you want?"

"As I already said, we want you Lieutenant."

"Why?"

"You are to go on special assignment. Due to the important nature of this investigation, you will be given powers equivalent to a Starfleet Security Comissioner. You will have the power to detain, interrogate, and punish the enemies of the Federation."

"Great. I get to warp into the Romulan Neutral Zone, flash my credentials, and get blown to bits."

"The enemy without is far less dangerous than the enemy within. As well you know Lieutenant."

"The enemy within?"

"Yes, it is why you resigned, is it not?"

"What the hell am I supposed to do? And what do I get in return?"

"The charges against you will be dropped. All of them. Details of your assignment will be sent, along with an aide."

"I work alone."

"You work with the aide, or you go to a Federation prison."

"I get the point. You want a merc to do the Federation's dirty work? Fine. No killing, and I get to keep my ship after."

"I don't think you understand Lieutenant. But you will."

The Admiral turned to leave.

"Wait Admiral. How do I find you?"

"I will contact you."

"What if I need to find you? What's your name Admiral?"

"You won't." She stopped midstride.

"I am Admiral Satie. Do not contact me."

The door closed behind Satie. Karl walked to a nearby comm terminal to activate his site-to-site transport program.

*claps* Now that's more like it!

Stie? The wacko from TNG's Drumhead?

Uh oh.

1.3 Pointed Ears and The Job

Karl checked over his instruments. Everything was working. He had spent the past few hours looking for anything out of the ordinary. Anything the Admiral could have planted on his ship. Explosives. Bugging devices. He went over every inch of his ship with a small handheld scanner. He couldn't find a trace of DNA, human or otherwise, that couldn't be accounted for. Evidently the Admiral had only scanned his ship. How did she find out about the Ablative Armor? The Disruptor Cannons? His upgrades were carefully disguised and never revealed except to those who would soon be dead.

A bright red LED flashed. It was time. Karl flicked a switch, lowering the scattering field. A short second later, the hum of a transporter started behind him. Karl rotated his seat to face the "aide" as Satie had called him. Karl calmly lifted the disruptor pistol and pointed it at the materializing head with his right hand, and flipped another switch with his left hand. A slight wooshing sound came from a vent at the back of the cabin.

"Lift your hands and place them on your head."

A loud clunk as a case being held fell to the floor. The latch snapped open, and bars of latinum fell out. And something he hadn't seen in a long time.

A Starfleet Uniform.

"I'm not wearing that."

"I have little power to force you to wear anything Commissioner, seeing as you are pointing a weapon at my head."

"A Vulcan with a sense of humor."

Karl put down his disruptor pistol. "Just so you know, this is my ship. If I'm dead, the ship blows up. You can't beam out without my say. And, if you decide to use your Vulcan tricks to screw with my mind, the ship blows up." He took a closer look at the Vulcan.

It wasn't a he. It was a she. She was about a head shorter than Karl. She was in the standard garb of the Federation. Karl had always found Vulcans to be quite alluring, and this one was no exception. Although her hips and breasts were slight, it was always the pointed ears and the short, cropped hair that turned him on. Karl was well aware of Vulcan martial arts though. However, the woman in front of him was probably no threat. If it had been a Vulcan male, it would be different. Nevertheless, it wasn't wise to underestimate her. After all, what was it that Master So'tar had taught him? "Do not get into a fight with a Vulcan unless you want to lose", murmered Karl.

"Sound advice. May I put my hands down now sir?"

"You can. Stop calling me sir."

"Yes sir. May I ask where you heard those words?"

"You may."

"Then I ask."

"You're pretty funny. How many years?"

"Excuse me?"

"How many years out of the Academy?"

"One."

"You must be pretty proud, working for an Admiral the first year out."

"I graduated at the head of my class."

"Your parents must be proud."

"I have no parents."

Karl blinked, and sensed a tense subject. He moved on.

"You know you can look at me."

"You are a superior officer."

"Er... Ensign, at ease."

She relaxed, and turned to face Karl. She looked into the cockpit.

"Your instruments are archaic and ancient."

"I prefer not to have consoles exploding in my face."

"Exploding?"

"You are pretty green, aren't you Ensign. I don't have time to give you a technical analysis. Why don't you sit down and tell me what the Admiral has in mind."

The Vulcan sat down, and Karl sat down to face her. They faced each other.

"What's your name?"

"I am Ensign S'tok."

"I asked for your name, not your rank."

"You didn't answer my question sir."

"About what?"

"About where you heard those words?"

"A long time ago, in a different life S'tok. Now, to business..."

S'tok clearly looked disappointed. Karl had expected a tough nosed Federation negotiator. He had done some small jobs with the Federation before, and had gotten several splitting headaches going through the legal wrangling and the red tape. She wasn't this.

"I heard the words from a Vulcan called So'tar."

"Illogical. He would never have trained a human."

"Why? Because humans are impulsive?"

"Yes."

"Emotional?"

"Yes."

"Illogical."

"Yes."

Karl had slowly leaned forward while speaking, and was now a few inches from S'tok's face.

"So, you think humans are worthless?"

"I did not say that."

"Does my breath stink?"

"Yes."

"Do you see humans as violent?"

"Yes."

"Do you see us as warmongers, killers, a disease, a plague, a..."

"Yes, Yes, YES, YES!", she screamed

Karl sat backward and smiled. "I'm glad it works." Tears were streaming down her face, and S'tok buried her head in her arms. "What... what did you do to me?"

"Its a powerful interrogation technique. A combination of a special agent induced into the bloodstream and quick questions produces an emotional outburst. We used it on Cardies in the war. I had no idea that Vulcans could be affected." Karl threw a hypospray into S'tok's lap.

S'tok hesitated. "Girl, if you don't use the antidote, you'll pass out in a couple of minutes." S'tok fingered the hypospray gingerly, then stabbed it into her arm. Karl saw S'tok's emotions fade from her face.

"Incredible. Even with the antidote, nobody recovers as quickly as you do."

"I am Vulcan. I have recieved special training throughout my life to control my emotions."

"Of course you have. The antidote doesn't kick in for a few minutes. That means for the next few minutes, you have to tell me the truth. Try and lie, and the pain will kick in."

"Sir, I would have told you the truth if you had not resorted to coercion."

"Did Satie send you to kill me?"

"No."

"Is she going to kill me?"

"No."

"Does she want me to kill anybody?"

"No."

"Are you going to kill me?"

"No."

"Are you going to pay me when I'm done my job?"

"Yes."

Karl let out a deep breath. He looked at S'tok. "So what is the job? And why did Satie saddle me with someone like you? I would have expected a grunt from Section 31."

"Section 31?"

"Never mind. Where is my assignment?"

S'tok reached into her uniform. Karl tensed. She pulled out a small datapad and held it out to Karl. Karl read it quickly.

"What the hell is this, some sort of sightseeing tour?"

"Those are our orders sir."

"I told you to stop calling me that. The cabin is in the back. You can rest. You're really not supposed to be walking you know."

"I am quite fine. If you studied under So'tar, you should know that Vulcans do not lie."

"They can exagerrate."

"If you had asked me without using your interrogation technique, I would have told you the truth. So would have any Vulcan."

"If you work around the kind of people I do, you learn to watch your back. Now sit down. Might as well get underway."

Karl flipped a few switches, and keyed in a few numbers. "Surprising that the Admiral would have us visit the Cardies first."

"We are going to Cardassia?"

"You didn't read the orders S'tok?"

"I prefer that you call me by my rank."

"Okay, Ensign. You didn't read the orders?"

"They were marked for your eyes only sir."

"Then, know this. We're in for one big merry-go-round through the Federation."

"Merry-go-round?"

"Forget it." Karl flipped another switch as the freighter went into warp.

"First stop -- Cardassia Prime."

Good-o. Nice chapter albeit slow.

1.4 Fire and Clarity

"Sir, wake up. They're coming.", whispered a voice.

It was dark. Hard to make anything out. The air was thick with mist. The only noise was a slight breeze rustling the dense vegetation.

It was Clark. He was cradling a phaser rifle, tinkering with its settings. Clark was an older man. He used to be a botanist. Now Clark was like him, fighting for his life on a forgotten planet for a forgotten cause.

"Karl, get up. They're coming.", whispered Clark.

Karl shook his head and reached out for his phaser rifle. He poked his head over the rock, just long enough to make out figures in the distance. One of the figures didn't look right. Too big.

"There's at least fifty of them."

"How did they get past the photon traps?"

"I don't know. They must have found a way to disable them."

Karl ejected the power pack out of his rifle, and shoved in a new one. He raised five fingers above the rock and made a fist.

"This doesn't make sense Karl."

"What?"

"The tricorder's telling me that they tripped the photon traps."

"There's a lot of dead Cardies then."

"No, they were tripped by some large metallic body."

Karl didn't have time to worry about what this meant. He could feel the ground shudder with their approach. The Cardassians were walking right into a deathtrap. His men were arranged in a semi-circle. The area was thick with photon traps, and as soon as they were close enough they would blow. His men were hidden. The Cardies wouldn't be able to get a single good shot. The area would turn into one giant Cardie meat grinder.

He could feel the ground shudder? What the hell?

A loud explosion rocked the foilage, raining dirt from the heavens. The sound of Federation phaser fire resonated, followed by the Cardassian reply. Karl poked his head over the rock. His rifle was modified like the rest of his unit, with a Klingon stock attached to the butt. This allowed him, like the rest of his unit, to brace the phaser rifle against his shoulder and look through the reticle. One Cardie ran through the mist. He was dead. A second Cardie tried to dive behind a tree. He was nailed. A couple more flanked around. One was shot through chest. One got away. Karl wasn't worried. He had trained his men well, and anybody trying to flank would get a harsh surprise. Karl's thought was justified as he heard nearby Federation phaser fire.

The shuddering grew closer. "Clark, what the hell is that?"

"No idea. Whatever it is, it got through the photon traps without a scratch. My tricorder's being jammed now."

Karl nailed another Cardie. And another. This was wrong. There were too many. His men should have pinned down the Cardassians a dozen meters ahead. Karl heard screams. They didn't sound Cardassian. The sound of Federation phasers was being overtaken by Cardassian ones.

"Clark, we're being overrun! We have to get out of here now!" Karl tapped his communicator badge. It fizzled rather than beeped. Of course. They would be jamming that too.

Five more Cardies. Karl fired at one. It fell down. Four bright orange Cardassian phasers streaked towards Karl. He barely ducked his head down in time.

The shuddering became a rumbling. Almost all the Federation phaser sounds were gone now, either silenced or overwhelmed by the rumbling. Karl didn't care. If he was going to die, he would die on his own terms. Karl pulled the tricorder out of his belt, tapped a few commands into it. Clark did the same. They both threw their tricorders above their heads. Dirt and leaves fell from the sky.

Karl poked his head out. There were four dead Cardie bodies on the ground. That didn't worry him though.

What did worry him was the source of the rumbling.

It was a hideous sight. A large moving machine the size of a small building rolled forward, the foilage no hinderance. It wasn't propelled by an anti-grav system, but with wheels. The front of the vehicle was shaped in a triangle. On the top of the vehicle, numerous weapons were arranged, manned by Cardassians. The Cardassians were destroying everything in their path with their phaser cannons, and what they couldn't destroy they were running over. A couple phaser blasts from the right and the left hit the monster. One of them hit a vulnerable spot, and a small explosion lighted the night. The other one hit the vehicle right on its armor plating. The armor glowed for a moment, and showed nothing more than a small burn mark.

Karl aimed at one of the monster's gunners. At the same instant, the gunner aimed his phaser cannon towards Karl. They were close enough to see each other. They both fired.

Karl heard two screams. One from the Cardassian, who fell from a top of the vehicle, snapping his neck. One beside him. Karl looked at where Clark was supposed to be.

Vaporized.

A beeping sound came from his communicator. Karl tapped it. "Get me out of here now!"

"Sir, wake up."

"Get me out of here now!" Karl jerked forward so suddenly that S'tok didn't have time to move. He headbutted her, and she stumbled backwards, dazed.

"Sir, we are nearing Cardassia Prime. I believe that they are hailing us."

"That's it? You woke me up for a... nevermind. I wasn't having a great time anyway."

"I thought that it would be more proper that the senior officer answer."

"Since when is it more proper for an officer to answer a measly approach and identify hail?"

"Cardassian traffic controllers are rather notorious, especially with the large volume of Federation vessels responsible for the reconstruction effort. If I had answered, docking might have been delayed. I thought that a Federation Commissioner..."

"You thought well S'tok."

Karl got out of bed. He was wearing nothing but boxers. A few moments later, he was sitting in the cockpit. He flipped a switch, and a screen popped up. A grey boned face greeted him, an unmistakable face, one that he could never forget.

The face of a Cardassian.

"What is your business on Cardassia Identify yourself!"

"This is the SS Jameson, requesting permission to dock."

"That answers the second part of my question. SS Jameson -- a Norkova class cargo vessel, registered to Karl Jameson. Are you Karl Jameson?"

"Yes."

"What is your purpose on Cardassia?"

"I'm under special assignment from the Federation. I require priority docking clearance."

"Of course you are. Go to these co-ordinates and await further instru..."

"I'm sending you the authorization now."

S'tok handed Karl the datapad. Karl plugged in the datapad. Letters and numbers started scrolling down the screen. The symbol of the Federation appeared.

"Uh... Commissioner Jameson?"

"That's me."

"My apologies. You can dock on these co-ordinates, near the capital. I will inform headquarters of your arrival."

"Make sure you do."

The Cardassian snorted, and his picture disappeared.

"You seemed tense."

"Around Cardies, I always am. Aren't you the least bit interested why we are here."

"Yes."

"Then why didn't you ask?"

"I assumed the mission was of utmost importance, and classified."

"You have as much as a right to know as me."

"Illogical. I do not."

"I'm going to tell you anyway. Do you know what Satie has in mind? No? Well I've figured it out already. I still have connections in Starfleet, and I had them dig up some dirt on your Admiral. Apparently, she was disgraced a few years back. Something big. She nearly had her rank stripped. But she stayed low. Now that the war is over, she's looking for someone to blame. Or rather, several people to blame. What for I have no idea. Why now I have no idea. All I know that the list ", Karl pointed at the datapad, " has the names of several important people. I'm supposed to interrogate them, and arrest them."

"Arrest them?"

"Yes, arrest them on charges of treason and negligence."

"That sounds rather severe."

"You're telling me. Looking for scapegoats for the Federation's losses during the Dominion war now, two years after the fact. I guess the Admiral was too busy compiling casualty reports."

"We will need to create a forcefield to detain the suspects. I suggest the cargo hold. It can be easily converted..."

"We're not arresting anybody."

"Sir?"

"We're not arresting anybody."

"You are disobeying orders?"

"I'm not in Starfleet anymore. Don't worry. The mission data tells us why to arrest someone. It doesn't tell us who to arrest. Here, take a look." Karl threw the datapad at S'tok. She caught it, and her eyes darted back and forth.

"Indeed."

"My thoughts exactly."

"What will we do?"

"Don't worry S'tok. We're going to do this, but my way."

"Your way?"

"My apologies. Our way."

"That is not what I meant."

"Of course it was. Sit down. We're going into... what the hell is it again..."

"Blue Alert."

"Yeah. Now sit, and strap on your seatbelt."

"Seatbelt?"

"You have a lot to learn S'tok." Karl pulled a strap out of his chair and drew it across his body. "I didn't bother upgrading the heat shielding. Its going to be a little rough going down..."

*claps laughing* Very good. S'tok is great.*nods* Keep writing Kid.*waits for more*

good. more now/