Subject: [FANFIC] Pirate's Endeavor
Date: 20 Jun 2002 23:16:20 -0700
From: mikewongisgod@hotmail.com (RayCav)
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.vs.starwars




Ray Bronsted had dreamed of traveling the stars ever since he was
barely able to read a data padd. It could be argued that he was
obsessed with them; his room was filled with various navigation charts
and constellation patterns, and he tried to collect as much data on
every known starship as possible, adding to his collection of
information as soon as a new class was launched from Utopia Planetia,
which he himself would observe in high orbit above his residence. It
was his life ambition to own his own starship, and explore each and
every single star he could see in the Martian sky.

Of course, that was well before he understood the Federation political
machine and its communist policies.

The closest that Ray ever got to owning his own starship, and indeed
almost every Federation citizen, was with a trip to a local transport
station, where he would be instantly teleported to what amounted to
the intergalactic version of a bus.

A well-used bus, nonetheless.

The U.S.S. Lowry was a tired old Yorkshire-class transport that had
obviously seen better days. On the outside it was as bright and shiny
as any other Federation ship, and its interior was kept in decent
condition, but it was obvious to Ray that the ship was a public mule.
He sat in the cafeteria alternating between staring at his food, and
out the viewport. The food wasn't bad aside from the usual replicator
"flubs" but Ray still felt something was lacking. It wasn't the food,
and it wasn't the ship either; it was something bigger. Society
itself. Something was seriously lacking in the whole scheme of life
itself. However, Ray soon gave himself a headache trying to conceive
of what that thing may be. After all, Federation society was perfect.
No poverty, no hunger, no strife, no war or violence for the
Federation citizen. No. All of that was "out there", outside the
protective borders of the Federation and outside the range of the
phaser banks of its mighty ships. Federation society was perfect and
impeccable, and thus it would be stupid for a citizen to throw it all
away.

So why was Ray in distraught over it?

This thought raced around in his mind as he chomped down on his fork.
All the while he sat staring at the viewport, when a Federation vessel
appeared almost out from nowhere. He immediately recognized it as a
slightly aging Korolev-class vessel. A good sized vessel, quite
powerful too, but seriously outclassed by contemporaries. He couldn't
help but wonder why it was out here, the Lowry being the only
Federation asset on this well-traveled and protected route.

He soon got his answer as an audio communication rang throughout the
ship.

"This is the pirate vessel Rampage. Prepare to lower your shields and
surrender your ship. Failure to comply will result in your
destruction."
Euphoria of panic consumed the passengers of the Lowry. People
immediately grabbed whatever meager possessions they could rescue
before scrambling to the shuttles and escape pods. The person sitting
across from Ray stumbled from his seat, flipping his food tray on
Ray's shirt.

"Damn, just got this thing cleaned," he said out loud. His thoughts on
his shirt however were interrupted by thoughts on the immediate
situation. He thought about quickly returning to his quarters to grab
what he can and head for the nearest escape pod, but a feeling soon
came over his person. He decided to stay.

A boarding party from the Rampage beamed over to the Lowry and
immediately began ransacking and pillaging the abandoned ship wildly.
The small away team was made up of three members; the team leader was
a human who started in the bridge and piled whatever he could into a
Burlap-like sack. His two subordinates, a Nosican and a Ferengi, began
in the cargo bay and passenger quarters respectively and began
collecting with equal fervor. Once their bags had been filled, they
simply ordered them transported back to the Rampage in exchange for
empty ones. Large items of significance, such as computers, were
transported on the spot. The small team would have a few hours at the
most before a Federation warship would be able to respond, so they
made sure to make the most of their time.

The Ferengi had just finished the lower passenger decks when he ran
into Ray. He instinctively held up a disruptor.

"Who are you?"

"Just a passenger who got left behind."

"Come with me. Consider yourself a prisoner!" Ray merely obliged
without any resistance.

The Ferengi took Ray to the bridge, where the human was still looting.

"Commander Jowson, I found a passenger in the lower decks. Do you
think we can make a ransom of him?"

Commander Jowson looked over Ray, and began to inquire him. "Do you
have any family or relatives that would be interested in getting you
back?"

"No, sir, I've left that all behind. Besides, I don't think you want
to ransom me off."

Commander Jowson seemed a bit puzzled and perhaps even offended. "Why
would we not want to ransom you off?"

Ray gave his reply slowly and audibly. "Because I want to join you."


Chapter 2


"Could you please tell me again how in the hell did you lose another
starship?" Captain Hotherly's anger was very audible in his voice.

"For the record, this was the first starship that was reported missing
under my watch." Replied the obviously still green Director of the
Surplus Depot Zed-15, in high orbit around Qualor II.

"May I remind you that most Directors of other surplus depots manage
not to lose a single starship during their entire careers? It's not a
very hard thing to do. Unless, of course, you're from this area of
space. Or so it may seem."

"Yes, well, uh, I can explain."

"You damn well better."

"You see, about the, what was missing again?"

Captain Hotherly's face was very visibly red. To Commander Surlack, it
seemed as if it would literally explode. "Let me pound it into your
very simple head. U.S.S. Sputnik. NCC-59629. Korolev-class. Over
four-hundred meters in length, massing in the millions of tons. A
starship like that is very hard to lose." All the while Hotherly was
pounding his index knuckle against the poor man's shallow scalp,
flowing with the beat of every uttered syllable. "Where is it?"

"I don't know."

Captain Hotherly looked over his padd. "When did you report the ship
missing?"

The cowardly man replied, "Just a few hours ago."

"Since when was it last seen?"

"According to my best records, half a month ago."

"So in other words, it could have went missing anywhere from then to
now! It could be halfway to the Delta Quadrant for all we know!"
Captain Hotherly turned to Commander Surlack. "I want this man out of
my sight. And tell Starfleet to put someone competent in charge here."

An Ensign raced to the captain. "Captain Hotherly, you must beam back
to the Endeavor immediately. Starfleet has an urgent message."

"Admiral Ross? What is the situation?" This time Captain Hotherly was
calm and comfortable in the captain's chair.

"There's a situation near the Andora sector. A passenger vessel has
been hijacked by unknown forces. We want you to intercept
immediately."

"Very well, all stations at red alert. Oh, and Admiral Ross, can you
get some damned patrol vessels here? These idiots need someone to help
baby-sit their starships for them."




Commander Jowson did not know how to make of the situation. He never
in his entire life ever heard of someone staying behind in a passenger
vessel for the explicit purpose of joining pirates.

Both the Ferengi and the Nosican were standing back, eyeing the new
recruit. The Ferengi was the first to speak, "Do you think we can
trust him?"

"Quiet down Gek. I'm pretty sure the boy's sincere."

The Nosican spoke next, "How do we know he's not from Starfleet, or
even a Section 31 spy?"

Ray spoke cautiously yet querying, " ‘Section 31'? Who in the hell are
they?"

The Nosican replied, "Don't try and fool me with your tricks. Do you
think I am some slow-witted alien barely able to speak your language?"

Commander Jowson quieted down the Nosican. "Settle down, Drango.
Settle down the both of you." He then turned back to Ray. "Can I trust
you?"

"I can not offer any guarantees other than my own word, but yes."

"Good enough for me. Welcome aboard the Rampage!" Commander Jowson
turned to his subordinates, and spoke with an affirmed and threatening
voice. "Any objections?" It was obvious that Jowson in truth expected
none. The two aliens merely nodded in agreement. He then turned back
to Ray.

"Regardless of who you really are, you need a lot to learn. What are
you skilled in?"

"Not much, I'm just a civilian. I have a lot of knowledge on starships
but not on actual starship operations."

"Specifications, weapons, stuff like that?"

"Yeah."

"'Bout time we actually had a competent tactical officer. Put him
there for now, we'll send him back to the Syndicate for training when
we return."

"The ‘Syndicate'? As in ‘Orion Syndicate'?"

"Yep! Welcome to the most ruthless gang of pirates the quadrant has
ever known!"

Ray took a moment to contemplate this. Just a few hours ago he had
been a common labourer amongst the ranks of the United Federation of
Planets. Now, his life was changed forever.

This chain of thought was broken by Gek. "Sir, the Ramage wants us to
return. A Federation ship is approaching!"

"Tell them four to beam up."

Before he knew it Ray was being engulfed in a shimmering blue stream
of matter as he was being teleported to the bridge of the Rampage.
Commander Jowson turned to the helmsman. "We have a new recruit, but
save the formalities for later. We need to get to business. What's the
situation?"

"We picked up a Galaxy-class starship at high warp, it will arrive
within five minutes."

Ray nearly screamed in horror. "A Galaxy-class starship! There's no
way we can defeat that much firepower!"

Commander Jowson grabbed his arm and quieted him down. "Don't worry,
we have a few tricks up our sleeve."


"Sir, we are picking up two starships in the vicinity. Both have a
Federation warp signature."

Captain Hotherly turned to Commander Surlack. "Why would there already
be a second Federation ship in the area? The Endeavor should be the
only one with enough speed to arrive by this time"

Commander Surlack explained. "Perhaps this vessel is the attacking
vessel. It could be the missing U.S.S. Sputnik."

"I don't want to take any chances. I want to drop out of warp right on
top of them!"

"Sir, the second warp signature. It disappeared!"

Minutes before this event, the Rampage had been at a complete stop in
relation to the deserted Lowry. Its silver hull was highlighted by a
nearby star, the sunlight making visible the markings that still
identified the vessel as U.S.S. Sputnik. Then, in a matter of seconds,
the entire starship seemingly waved out of existence. In the distance,
a flash of light transformed into the U.S.S. Endeavor, too late to
pick up the Rampage.

On the bridge of the Rampage, Ray was awe with amazement.

"How the hell did you guys get a cloaking device like that from the
Romulans?"

"We didn't get it from the Romulans. We built a copy of one. And it
would be a copy of a Klingon one, to be precise. We still need to get
out of here like hell. The piece of junk throws out neutrino emissions
like crazy and it will only be a minute or two until they pick us up
again."


"Sir, I'm picking up neutrino emissions, possibly from a Klingon…."

"A Klingon what, Lieutenant?"

"Well, whatever it was, it's gone now. I think I'm detecting a warp
trail though, but the neutrino emissions are making it difficult to
make out."

Captain Hotherly sat back in his chair. "Screw it."


Another Ferengi walked onto the bridge of the Rampage.

"What is this we have here?"

"Captain Rune, sir. This is Raymond Bronsted. He's a new recruit we
picked up on our last assignment."

The Ferengi Captain closely scrutinized the newcomer. "Interesting.
What's his specialty?"

"He's just a civilian, but he claims to have extensive knowledge of
starships from all the major powers. I've put him at tactical for
now."

Captain Rune thought for a few moments. "I think I'll have to agree
that this is the best place to put him. We'll have him do some
on-the-job training for a few weeks, and after that I'm sure he'll
make a fine edition."

Ray then turned to the Ferengi and asked him a few questions. "There's
still a lot I want to understand. What's this ‘Section 31' first of
all."

"All of your questions will be explained over time. But perhaps I
should tell you a bit about standard operations. We have but a small
armada in the Syndicate compared to Starfleet, and an even smaller
work force to man them. Most of our operations simply involve looting
whatever ships we can. We keep what we need and trade off what we
don't need for more of what we need. Sometimes, though, we do stuff a
little more daring. Right now, though, we could use more men. Know of
any other people who would be interested in joining?"

"Afraid not, sir."

"Ah well. Anyway, welcome to the team." The Ferengi put his hand on
Ray's back. "I have a feeling you're gonna be useful to us!"


Chapter 3

It had been well over a month since Ray joined the motley crew of the
Rampage. Shortly afterwards, the Rampage was due for a timely refit;
time that Ray used to his full advantage. Commander Jowson had taken a
particular liking to the "new guy," and has personally taught Ray much
about the intricacies of the ship. In the meantime, Ray spent much
time at his new post at tactical, running through various simulations
and honing on his skills. By the time the refit was nearly done, Ray
had already proven himself to be a very capable officer – at least in
theory.

The Orion Syndicate obviously couldn't just dock the Rampage up to any
starbase to conduct a refit; therefore, the Rampage was simply sitting
in open space. A stolen Cardassian freighter had been modified for
this explicit purpose, and its relatively massive network of
scaffolding was partially docked to the Rampage. Any and all refitting
had to be done with care and in open cold space. It was for this
reason that all modifications were therefore limited by their nature.
Even the former Starfleet registry had been left on.

Captain Rune sat comfortably in the command chair. The sight of a
Ferengi crouched in a Starfleet chair took a bit of getting used to by
anyone; Captain Rune was far too undersized for it. Nonetheless, the
almost slouching figure still gave a sense of inspiration, if only
because the apparent sloppiness gave a sort of proud "vagabond's feel"
to the entire situation.

The viewscreen before Captain Rune changed from a starry backdrop to
that of the bridge of the freighter. The Bolean captain appeared lone
and isolated, and only his head and upper torso were visible above a
console.

"Sir, all teams report upgrades and modifications complete. We're
ready to begin undocking procedures."

Captain Rune never cared for formalities. "Just make sure they don't
scratch the paint!"

The massive scaffold unclamped itself from the Rampage and retracted
back into the sides of the freighter. Time was always precious as a
pirate, and neither the freighter nor the Rampage wasted any of it in
hurrying on their separate ways. As soon as they were under way at
warp speed, the Captain prepared his crew for another assignment.

"As you all know, pirating isn't always about looting unarmed
transports. Sometimes it takes something far more daring! Commander
Jowson, if you may contine!"

Commander Jowson stood up from his chair. "I know that this is a
relatively new crew; one of us is even new to the Syndicate. However,
we've all known that this mission is inevitable. What's more, is that
it's inevitable that we'll be seeing more and more of these missions.
These missions are always difficult, but failure simply isn't an
option. If we expect to survive as pirates, we need to expect this
kind of work."

Commander Jowson then directed his attention to the viewer, which was
now busy displaying mission-relevant data. Commander Jowson pointed to
a large starmap with several space lanes. "This space lane right here
is being used by a Deneva class freighter carrying a load of
reactor-grade dilitium crystals. Dilituim crystals we can use. We
shouldn't encounter any opposition but the Deneva is a good fighter on
her own. Furthermore, the Rampage won't be able to accommodate such a
large cargo. Therefore…." Commander Jowson paused while the viewscreen
switched back to the starry background of empty space. With impeccable
timing, a burst of light soon appeared and manifested itself as
another Deneva-class freighter. The audio speakers came alive as the
new ship greeted its partner, "Rampage, this is Swifter. Our assault
teams are ready and able. We await your orders."

Commander Jowson continued, "The idea is to disable the enemy
freighter to allow the Swifter's assault teams to capture the vessel.
Most likely, the freighter will dump its cargo and try to flee, and
it's our job not to let this happen. Should we fail to do so, the
Swifter will simply pick up the freighter's cargo pod. Our secondary
mission is therefore to guard and escort the Swifter out of Federation
space. It would be nice to get another Deneva in our hands, but
capture should be considered a tertiary mission. Remember, those
crystals are vital."

Commander Jowson then returned to his post. Everybody went about their
business, rehearsing their parts in their own minds. The new crew had
proven to be efficient, even only if their only experience stemmed
from simulations and minor raids. Captain Rune and Commander Jowson
were both aware of this, and expected the entire operation to flow
smoothly. The captain of the Swifter was little different; his crewed
was equally disciplined and far more experienced. As far as both crews
were concerned, this was nothing more than a routine mission.

Both ships were only a few light-years away from their target when Ray
picked up a disturbing presence on the tactical sensors.

"Damn!"

Captain Rune and Commander Jowson both turned around inquisitively.
"What's wrong?"

"The Deneva. They have escorts!"

"Exactly what kind of escorts?"

"Two flanking Defiants led by a Freedom."

Another officer rang from the adjacent console. "In other words, the
type-that-will-kill-us kind of escorts!"

Commander Jowson attempted to bring discipline back. "Hold on! We're
not dead yet! Hell, the battle hasn't even begun!" He then brought up
the comm., "Swifter, you see enemy contacts?"

"Yeah, we picked them up too. They look tough. What are we going to
do?"

Commander Jowson thought about it. "We can drop right out of warp
right on top of them and pound one of them the best we could."

Someone cast his vote to knock out one of the Defiants first.

"Nah. The Freedom's the weaker of the three, and I'm betting it's
gonna coordinate any defensive effort. We can probably even knock it
out of the fight altogether if we get one good salvo off, and catch
them off guard. We can also use our cloaking device, and the neutrino
emissions may help in jamming their sensors. Swifter, you're gonna
have to provide distraction."

"We won't last long against them!"

"If things work out, you won't have to. Prepare to jump into warp if
you think you're in too much danger."

"Roger. Swifter out."


The Deneva-class freighter poked along at sublight speed, flanked by
its three armed escorts. A flash of blue light appeared far too fast
for anyone to react and both the Rampage and Swifter began pounding
the lone Freedom with a massive phaser and photon torpedo barrage. The
relatively weak shields of the escort vessel buckled under the
pressure and soon gave way. The phaser and photon barrage refused to
relent, however, and soon the Freedom was left a flaming wreck.

"Good start," said Commander Jowson, largely to himself. "Just two
more left."

The Defiants quickly broke off formation and charged to attack. Each
one went after a separate ship but the Rampage soon engaged its cloak.
With only one converted freighter left on the scope, both ships
converged on it.

On the bridge of the Swifter, explosions ran everywhere and consoles
were bursting. "Sir, we can't hold up to this punishment much longer!"

"Transfer power from weapons to shields. We need to hold out as long
as possible."

One of the Defiants aimed it pulse phasers at the freighter and began
pounding it mercilessly. However, it was disrupted by a phaser and
photon barrage that seemed to come out of nowhere. This barrage was
heavy enough to severely weaken the underside shields of the Defiant
and soon it broke off to engage its new target – which was nowhere to
be found. The second Defiant was now under a similar barrage. The
Rampage was firing every available weapon, giving the Defiant a good
run for its money. This fortunately bought the Swifter enough time to
safely get away and barely notice the enemy Deneva pull out at high
warp.

Commander Jowson yelled over the comm., "Get that freighter! We'll
handle things here!"

The Swifter gave a confirmatory reply and engaged its warp engines, in
pursuit of the fleeting freighter. With both vulnerable targets now
gone, the Rampage went back into hiding. A lucky pulse phaser hit had
ensured that they didn't hide for long.

"Sir, our cloak is offline!"

"I can see that, Lieutenant!" yelled Commander Jowson in response.

Meanwhile, Ray was overwhelmed at tactical. "I'm giving it my best,
but these ships are tough! They're shields are almost down but they're
giving us a fair pounding in return!"

A massive shower of plasma dripped from the ceiling as a massive shot
smashed into the Rampage.

"Sir! Shields down! Hull integrity holding at 96 percent!"

"Just give me one more good shot!" Yelled Ray as his attention was
fully absorbed into the targeting sensors.

A massive barraged shot forth from the Rampage; several phaser and
photon torpedo hits slammed themselves into the underside of one of
the Defiants. The crew of the stricken ship barely had enough time to
launch escape pods as their once mighty Federation escort was sent
adrift.

"Good job, Bronsted!" yelled Commander Jowson from his chair.

"It's ain't over yet! We still got one to go!" Another officer
reported in. "Hull down to 72 percent and dropping!"

"We're not gonna take much more!"

Suddenly, out of the blue, two Klingon Bird of Preys decloaked and
fired on the last Defiant. Its already weakened shields gave little
resistance and it soon joined its fallen comrades.

Captain Rune sat in his chair shocked. He hailed the two mysterious
ships. The viewscreen soon filled with an image soon familiar to him.

"Captain Ronebeck! What a surprise!"

"Always a pleasure to meet you, Rune" replied the captain of one of
the Bird of Preys.

Soon afterwards, two Deneva class starships exited warp speed.

"Swifter to Rampage, mission success."

"I see that you've made quite an acquisition on this assignment"
replied Captain Ronebeck. "Which is quite good. All the more for you
to hand over...."


Chapter 4

"Captain Ronebeck! What in the name of the Grand Negeis?!"

"Captain Rune! You were always a fool! And am I detecting a hint of
senility? Looks like age has finally caught up with you. Too bad your
crews have to pay the consequences for your stupidity."

"Are we forgetting our little agreement here, Captain Ronebeck?"

Captain Ronebeck replied with maniacal laughter. "‘Our' agreement?! I
remember an agreement being made, but I don't remember me abiding by
it!" Captain Rune could see her finger gingerly caress the fire
button.

Commander Jowson stepped in. "Captain Ronebuck, you don't want to do
this! We now outnumber you three to two. If you fire on us, you will
be destroyed."

Captain Ronebuck looked around herself in a sarcastic fashion. "I can
see your senility is also contagious, Rune! All I see is a tired old
Federation starship and two heavily damaged dilithium freighters! Tell
you what, give me five good reasons as to why I shouldn't leave you as
a hulk drifting through space forever, and I'll leave. We'll treat
this as if it never happened."

Commander Jowson gave a smooth reply. "I'll give you one good reason.
Destroy us, and the rest of the Syndicate, as well as our own forces,
will hunt you down like the damn dogs you are!"

Ray spoke quietly to Commander Jowson from his console. "Sir, ‘our'
forces?"

"Quiet now!" demanded Commander Jowson in a whisper.

Both of them snapped back to the situation unfolding in front of them,
as a dwarfish Ferengi attempted to negotiate with a cold-hearted
Cardassian mistress.

"You know this alliance will never last. As soon as it expires, we
will chase you back into the shadows of the Federation worlds!"

Captain Rune looked as if he was about to speak in reply, but the
viewscreen cut back to an image of Captain Ronebuck's Bird of Prey
before he was given a chance to finish. A few seconds of pause were
then broken by the sound of two ships rushing back into warp speed.

With the debacle over, normal operations resumed almost immediately.
However, a few strings still needed to be tied up. Once again, Ray
spoke from his console. "Sir, what was that about ‘our' forces?"

Commander Jowson almost seemed as if he was trying to repress his
anger. "Don't worry. You'll know when you're damn good and ready."

Unbeknownst to the both of them, they were overheard by Captain Rune.
"Commander Jowson, in the ready room? There's something we really need
to discuss!"

The doors behind Commander Jowson gave a slow hiss as Captain Rune
wriggled in his chair, trying to make his body feel comfortable. "I
swear on the Rules of Acquisition, I hate Hu-Man chairs!" He paused to
allow time for Commander Jowson to seat himself, then continued.
"Those damn Orions, they think they can bully us around like that! I
swear, this whole alliance is coming apart right at the seams at this
very moment?"

"What are we going to do? There's no way we can possibly defend
ourselves against such a force?"

"Looks like we may have to go back into the shadows, just like
Ronebuck said." Captain Rune gave a slight sigh. "I know we made our
own choices on this. But wouldn't it be nice if we could be the
aggressors for once? And not just on lightly armed freighters?"

"If you're suggesting we should've joined the Orions?"
"No, no! I'm not saying that!" Captain Rune's eyes were now fixed on
the viewport and its starry canvas. "But the more I look out there,
the more I have to wonder if our days out there are beginning to get
numbered."

Suddenly, the momentary silence was broken by the hissing of the doors
as they parted in the path of Gek.

"Sir! We're now in orbit around Cathix III. Mr. Yomazuki now awaits
us."

Commander Jowson looked back at Captain Rune. "It's time."


Ray Bronsted looked over the displays at his station. The position of
Tactical Officer required constant vigilance and training. He decided
that the current calm was the perfect opportunity to run more
simulations. If nothing else, the simulations would put his still
young, inexperienced, and eager mind at ease.

"Drango! Bronsted! Get over here!"

The two men raced over to the entrance of the ready room. Captain Rune
stood just in front of the doors. Despite his short stature, he
appeared impressive to his crew nonetheless.

"It's time to meet Mr. Chun."

"Who?" replied Ray.

"My boss. We report to him after a mission of this magnitude, and
periodically too."

"Anything else I should know about?"

"Just keep your questions to yourself. Everything will be answered
when you're ready." Ray was surprised to find Commander Jowson once
again speak with the same malevolent tone he used with his inquiries
during the confrontation.


The party of five found themselves in the dark, dingy streets and
alley ways of Cathix III. On the absolute fringe of Klingon space, the
planet was a safe-haven for the criminal element of the galaxy. As
they walked past the dark structures that lined the street, they could
see various activities long eliminated by the Federation. Some were as
devious as prostitution and street gambling. Some were far more
innocent; children playing out in the streets, various entertainers
performing tricks and feats, and even street vendors, trying to earn
an honest – and some not-so-honest – buck.

Captain Rune pointed to a narrow alley, wedged between two massive
steel behemoths. Piping and escape ladders dangled like serpents on
permanent guard, deterring unwanted trespassers. The narrow path was
split by a small stream of water, tainted by industrial chemicals but
still transparent.

"This way."

The five men defiantly walked into this alleyway, striding all the way
to the dead end. The alley ended in a box a few meters long and only a
meter or two wider. A small but heavy door hung on the end wall.
Surprisingly, there was a fair amount of light, and Ray could see
nearly perfectly, despite the dead of night; Ray could see the handle
on the door move, and jerk open with heavy movement. A middle aged man
of Asian decent, his hair only slightly graying, stepped out, flanked
by another human and a Bolean as escorts.

Captain Rune spoke from across the small enclosure, "Mr. Chun, our
latest report." Captain Rune handed Mr. Chun a large data padd. Mr.
Chun grabbed it with an air of authority, and began quickly scanning
it.

"Captain Rune, this is most impressive. I commend you for your
efforts."

"Mr. Chun, sir! We also have a new crewmember I would like for you to
meet. His name is Ray Bronsted, and he has proved to be one of the
most promising officers I have ever seen in my career!"

Mr. Chun replied in a heavy, cautious voice. "How can you be so sure
of that?"

Captain Rune merely pointed back to that padd. "The whole story is
included in the report."

Mr. Chun quickly read over Ray's report, giving a few hums as he read
along. "Interesting. Once again, you are to be commended, Captain!"

Captain Rune's face was engulfed in a massive smile.

"Just one more thing. If possible, I would like to see Ray for myself.
Personally.



Chapter 5

"Mr. Bronsted, are you a historian?"

Ray took a moment to think about what the man in front of him asked.
"Not particularly. Why?"

"I consider myself somewhat of a historian. I find that in my line of
work, having an intimate knowledge of history helps."

Mr. Chun continued. "There are many different types of historians. You
may find it most useful to become a naval historian. I, myself, have
found it absolutely necessary to be a crime historian."

Almost instinctively, Ray's interest was peaked. "What do you mean by
that, sir?"

Mr. Chun poured tea into a delicate eggshell China cup, laid it on its
saucer and gently slid it across the wooden table to Ray. "It's not
necessary to call me sir. Feel free to call me Mr. Chun...for now."

Ray pinched the cup's handle gingerly with his fingers. He took a sip
of tea, and then almost spit it out. As his tongue seared from the
intense heat, he attempted to figure out how to dispose of the tea
without offending Mr. Chun. Thinking of no other alternative, he
quickly swallowed it. As he felt the hot liquid crawl down his
esophagus, he took another, smaller sip. This time he found that such
an amount of liquid was far more tolerable. As he continued taking
these small, awkward sips, he began to listen to Mr. Chun.

"At the height of organized crime, during the twentieth century, on
Earth, there were many organized crime syndicates. The most prominent
included the Sicilian and Russian Mafias, the Japanese Yakuza, and the
Chinese Triads. Of these, the Triads were the most unique. During the
later half of the twentieth century, China became an oppressive
communist regime. Despite such conditions harsh to organized crime,
the Triads managed to thrive and expand into a dominant, international
force.

"Throughout history up to the last century, the organized crime
syndicates of Earth took to the stars and followed Mankind everywhere.
The Mafia, Yakuza, and Triads managed to assemble fleets large enough
to challenge their main rivals, the Orions. The late twenty-third
century saw particularly brutal combat between all four factions,
significantly weakening them. However, the Orions proved stronger, and
threatened to absorb the smaller syndicates."

"So the Mafia, Yakuza, and Triads were absorbed?"

"Not exactly. The smaller factions continued to fight and had managed
to hide on Federation worlds. However, by the middle of the
twenty-fourth century, a major change occurred within the Federation."

"What?"

"The Federation turned into an oppressive Communist regime."

The thought immediately struck Ray. However, he had little time to
contemplate as Mr. Chun continued.

"The smaller Earth-based factions survived mainly by bribing corrupt
Federation government officials and hiding in the shadows. However,
the new Communist regime promised a crack down on crime, and one by
one the great Earth syndicates fell, until only the Triads were left."

"What happened to the Triads?" asked Ray.

"You're looking at one of them" responded Mr. Chun, with a sly, cold
smile.

"So...Captain Rune and Commander Jowson, they're Triads too?"

"Everyone you have met so far is a Triad, including yourself. That is,
except for Captain Ronebeck. She is with the Orions."

"So what's the deal between the Triads and Orions?"

"I was actually getting to that. Because of the rich tradition of the
Triads for thriving in oppressive societies, we managed to make a home
for ourselves where others failed. However, we were still weakened by
years of rival wars and Federation law. It was then decided that we
would make a pact with the Orions, to consolidate our forces without
having to be absorbed. For years now, the Triads and Orions have
worked peacefully together in cooperation. However, there are some,
like Ms. Ronebeck, who would rather see the Triads be torn apart, and
the pieces incorporated into a vast Orion network."

Ray put the cup back on its saucer, now empty. "So, what are we going
to do?"

Mr. Chun took his elbows off the table, and a look of calm and solemn
occupied his face. "We are going to stage a preemptive strike. And I
want you to lead it."




Chapter 6

"The alliance between the Orions and the Triads has proven to be most
useful to us. However, there comes a time when we must completely
break off, and continue operations on our own. That time hasn't come
yet. But I would like to see some bruised reputations, particularly
with those who oppose the alliance on the other side."

"So, what do you want me to do?" Ray fumbled the saucer and cup in his
hands, being careful not to break them.

"We've disguised one of our own transports to appear as if it's been
configured by the Orions. Of course, only a well-trained eye would be
able to spot such; to a normal civilian, it would appear to be further
disguised as a Federation transport. I do realize this can get
confusing."

"Oh, not at all." Ray decided that it was best if he left the saucer
and cup alone, letting them rest on the table.

"Anyway, we've loaded the transport with antimatter warheads. I would
like for you to sneak the transport into an Orion hub. You'll have a
crew of course, but it will be a small crew. Only five other men."

"Who will they be?"

"My own men, hand-picked for this mission."

"And I assume we'll be provided with a means of escape as well?"

"If things go according to plan, you won't need any. We've located a
transport under Captain Ronebeck's command, identical to the one you
will be captaining. It's currently docked at the hub. Its
identification markings have been loaded onto your ship's computers,
so it should be easy to spot. Once you've located the transport, beam
the antimatter warheads aboard. The timers will be set for fifteen
minutes, which will give you just enough time to undock and go into
warp. The warheads will be enough to completely vaporize the ship and
cause severe damage to the hub, and the blame will go entirely to
Captain Ronebeck."

"When do I depart?"

"Immediately." Mr. Chun motioned for his escort to open the door. "My
men will take you to the ship."

Great, just great, thought Ray to himself. Just what he needed, a
kamikaze mission that involved baby-sitting a ticking time bomb. And
he somehow had a feeling that survival was only a tertiary objective.


Chapter 7

"This way, please." The Bolean motioned Ray to step up to the
transporter pad.

"This will take me up to the ship?"

"Yes" said the Bolean.

"Well, duh" muttered the human.

Ray stepped up, followed by both his escorts. All three were enveloped
in a shimmering blue light that took them to the bridge of the
transport.

As the shimmering wave effect dissipated, Ray could see three others
already at their stations - a Pak'led took up tactical, while a Gorn
stood at engineering. At the helm was a female Andoran. Ray found
himself naturally drawn to this last crew member, and found himself
approaching her ever so slowly. He rested his hands on her chair, and
a few moments later discovered that she had grabbed his wrist and
contorted it in most painful fashion.

As Ray yelped in pain, the Andoran spoke. "Don't you even look at me
like that again, or you'll loose more than your arm." She let go, and
Ray went to the captain's chair as he rubbed his arm.

"Well, umm, I think we all know what the mission is." Ray was still
unsure of what to do, and he was still pretty convinced that this was
a suicide mission. "Well, umm…Mr. Bolean, what's our status?"

The Bolean turned around with a raised eyebrow. "If you would like to
refer to me as Mr. Resk, be my guest."

"Ah, oh, yes, Mr. Resk, what's our status?"

"We're ready to depart. Our course is already locked in."

"Uh, yes, we should depart now. Helm, disengage and prepare to enter
warp…hmm, seven."

Ray could feel it in the air. It was a feeling of "I'm dead."