Chapter 14
Transporter Room 3
USS Redemption
Ba'el Sarine was filled with light.
Then the transporter effect faded and he found himself crouching over a glowing pad. Losing his balance, he tumbled back on his ass, staring in surprise at the young transporter operator who stood behind the controls. He was alive. Somehow, against all odds, he was alive. And if his guess was right he was on the Redemption.
The vision of his wife and son wavered for a moment longer in front of him then vanished. He closed his eyes, squeezing back the tears. They had no right to take that away from him. His first reaction was despair, followed swiftly by anger. It had been his time. He knew it had been his time and he had been ready for it.
He opened his eyes again when he heard the transporter operator tap his comm badge. He was surprised to see a young Vulcan officer stood behind the console. The Vulcan’s uniform was dirty and torn, his eyes bloodshot. "Transporter room 3 to bridge. We have him, Lieutenant."
"Well done, Ensign,” came the now familiar voice of Lieutenant Dax. “Please escort the Captain to the bridge."
"Aye, sir."
The Vulcan walked around his console and over to Ba'el. Leaning down, he offered his arm. Ba'el stared at it for a moment, feeling numb. Part of him wanted to swing for the man. Instead, he reached up and took the proffered forearm, pulling himself up. Once he was on his feet, he twisted off the helmet, letting it drop next to the transporter pad.
"If you'll follow me, sir."
Out in the corridors, men and women stumbled from one place to the next, caked in soot and blood. They looked like refugees stepped out of the past, reminding Ba'el of similar faces he had seen back on Earth just after the end of the Occupation. Though a few glanced at Ba'el and his escort as they passed, most wore the dazed and damaged expressions of the damned.
None of them were expecting this, Ba'el thought. He felt a surge of fury wash away his own feeling of despair. Dammit, we were supposed to be done with this kind of thing.
The corridor ended at a white door, Bridge written in the top corner with clear silver markings. The Vulcan ensign tapped the pad beside the door. Nothing happened. He tapped it again, harder this time, but it still remained stuck. Ba’el pushed the man aside and placed both his hands against the warm metal. The Vulcan realised what he was doing and added his own strength as Ba’el pushed back with his knees. With the groan of tortured metal, the door slid into the wall. Ba’el stepped through on to the bridge and stopped dead.
The bridge was a wreck. Hull plating had buckled in numerous places, revealing the conduits, wiring and tubes underneath. Smoke choked the room, the internal climate controls unable to handle the conditions. A handful of security officers stood around the walls and they saluted when they saw Ba’el. The Vulcan stepped past them, over to the railing, then looked back at Ba’el, waiting for him to join him.
Having studied the Redemption's specs on his way to Romulus, he knew that this deep indentation was known as the Pit. It was in even worse shape than the higher section. Two officers stood amongst the ruins, huddled together in a tight knot around the central captain’s chair. One of them, a male Trill whose eyes seemed to shine with haunted regret, looked up at him. He seemed confused for a moment, then his eyes cleared and he snapped to attention.
"Captain on the bridge."
The other officer – a strange being with hard, opalescent skin – turned in surprise, then saluted when she glimpsed Ba’el above them. Ba'el lifted both his hands. God, they're so young.
"At ease gentlemen. Report."
"The warp core breach destabilised the slipstream aperture, sir,” Lieutenant Dax said. “It’s collapsed back into subspace. Main power is still off line and the comm system seems to be down - we can't reach the engineering section."
"Where is Commander Kalara?"
Before Dax could respond, a broken voice spoke behind him. "I'm right here, Captain."
He turned to see a tall Klingon woman stood in the doorway. Her eyes were wild, almost feral. In her hand was a phase-pistol, trained on Ba'el.
He couldn't hold back a smile. Here we go. "Quite a welcome, Commander."
She stepped through the door, the phaser never wavering. "Captain Sarine, I'm placing you under arrest for inciting a Starfleet officer to mutiny."
He lifted his hands. "I think Command might have something to say about that, Commander. After all, they placed me in command of the Redemption.”
“Not until the official transference of power, Captain. Until then, I’m in command of this ship and I gave a direct order. You forced Lieutenant Dax to disobey that order. Starfleet Regulation 234, sub-section 9 clearly says…”
“I don’t care about your Starfleet regulations, Commander.” She shut up in surprise. “I am in command of this vessel and I made a decision.”
“One that cost those Klingons aboard that ship their lives.”
“Is that what’s bothering you, Commander? Would you be less affected if it had been a ship full of Romulans?”
Kalara snarled. “Do not dare imply that I would have acted any differently if…”
“Oh come on, Commander. Can you really tell me that if that had been a Romulan ship out there, you wouldn’t have ordered Lieutenant Dax to initiate that slipstream tunnel? Those poor Klingons just destroyed a Federation Starbase. Or don’t you care about that?”
“Shut up,” Kalara lifted the phaser higher. “You’re under arrest.” She turned to the Xindi-reptilian who stood beside the door. “Lieutenant Vareen, take Captain Sarine to…”
“Commander, you can’t do this.”
Lieutenant Dax and the female officer with the strange skin had joined them on the higher level. It was the Trill officer who had spoken.
“Do not tell me what I can or cannot do, Lieutenant. You’re in enough trouble as it is. Now, Lieutenant Vareen.”
The Xindi stepped towards Ba’el. At the same time, a phaser beam streaked past her, striking the railing next to Ba’el. Everyone moved at once, phasers dragged from holsters, fingers twitching above trigger stubs. Ba’el glanced past the security officer. Flight Commander Turner stood behind her, her phaser aimed squarely at Commander Kalara. She held her helmet under her arm. She smiled.
“In trouble again, sir?”
Ba’el did not smile back. There were as many phasers pointed at him and Turner as there were at Kalara and Vareen. “Good to see you, Commander.”
“Who is she?” Kalara snarled.
“She is the Redemption’s new Flight Commander. She’s with me.”
“I’d suggest that you drop your phaser, Commander. I’m not sure exactly what setting this is on and I would hate to make a mistake.”
“This is mutiny.”
“That’s what I was going to say,” Turner retorted.
Ba’el looked Kalara in the eyes. “Is this really what you want, Commander? To tear this crew apart in a running firefight through the corridors? If you’re willing to take it that far, you should know one thing.” His eyes bore into hers. “I’ll take it even further.”
He could see in her eyes that she was wavering. He pressed on. “Do you really want to see how far you can push me? Or are you going to drop your phaser and let Command decide who was right and who was wrong?”
The Klingon woman glanced around the bridge, seeming to take in the drawn weapons and hard eyes for the first time. Her hand shook slightly, then she let the phaser drop to the deck. Ba’el heard an audible sigh as everyone on the bridge suddenly let out their collective breaths. Hands relaxed, phasers dropped. Kalara’s head fell. Part of him wanted to go over to her – he got the feeling that she was suffering more than he was. But he kept his distance. He had to for what he was about to do.
“Lieutenant Vareen, Commander Turner, please place Commander Kalara under arrest.”
“What?” Kalara looked up, shock and pain mirrored in her eyes. “But…”
“Thank you for preserving the peace, Commander. But I can’t have you running around this ship.” He stepped close to her. “I can’t trust you.”
Turner was already at the Klingon woman’s side. Vareen hesitated, then she stepped forward as well. “The brig, Captain?”
He shook his head. “No. Place her under guard in her quarters until we get back to Command.”
Both officers did as they were told. Each took one of Kalara’s arms. The Klingon glared at him. “You won’t get away with this,” she spat back at him as she was led off. He nodded. You’re probably right.
Taking a deep breath, he turned. “I’m aware none of you know me. You probably don’t trust me. You may or may not agree with my decisions, but I am assuming command of this ship. Anyone who doesn’t accept that, you’re more than welcome to go back to your quarters and wait there until we return to Command.” He waited for a beat, looking each and every member of the bridge crew in the eyes. None of them moved. “Good. Now that that’s done, what do you say we get this ship back to the construction yards?”
He pushed past them and walked over to the steps that led down into the Pit. With every step, he felt the fluttering in his stomach increase. Last time he had felt this way, he had been about to invite Elera to dinner for the first time. They had been in the mess hall of the Kie’ranis, the rebel ship where they had both been serving. What’s the matter with me? Still, he couldn’t deny the feeling. He was nervous.
Stepping down into the Pit, he hesitated before walking over to the captain’s chair. He reached down and picked up the headset that hung halfway to the floor, turning it around in his hands. He felt the eyes of every man and woman on the bridge watching him, waiting to see what he would do.
This was his chance, he realized. If he wanted to, he could put the headset back on the chair, call Commander Kalara back and go home. He would be free. Free to go back to a life without meaning. Free to deny Elera and Torvol’s sacrifice. Free to allow this galaxy he had fought so hard for fall back into chaos. Today had given him a glimpse of what that could be. Not again, he vowed. Never again.
Taking a deep breath, he placed the headset on his forehead, allowing the viewfinder to drop over his eye.
Then he sat down in the captain’s chair, and began to issue orders.
End of Volume One – Redemption
Coming Soon: Volume Two – Aftermath!!