U.S.S. Pathfinder — NCC-1774

MD 2.0107

USS Albion – Cargo Bay 1

(continues the scene from USS Pathfinder: A bomb a day…)

“Why can he see the beams we can’t see?” one of the guards asked.

“Because my eyes recognize this visual spectrum.” Marin replied. “Though human, I was born on a colony, where our genetic code adjusted our eyes to our needs when the sunlight was blocked out due some nature twirks.

“With this ability we could hunt and we were able to survive.”

One of his tears hit the ground.

“Now it is giving me hell. Even through the closed lids I can see the beams.”

He began to tremble.

“Ensign, don’t move. This is an order!” Lieutenant Commander Byron said sternly.

Marin steadied himself. He took a deep breath.

“I will try.”

Meanwhile his tears ran down his face in a steady stream.

“Does anyone know how to deactivate the bomb?” Byron asked.

Before anyone could answer Byron noticed Marin trembling again.

“Ensign Marin, steady yourself.”

Marin didn’t react to his order. He continued to tremble.

“Marin, damn it. Answer!”

The Ensign didn’t say a word. His trembling body shook more.

“Marin, open your eyes. NOW!”

Again, there was no other reaction from the navigator than increased trembling.

Then, with a silent thump, his knees gave up and he fell to ground unconsciously.

Byron just stared at the young man lying on the deck. He tried to realized what that meant. If the bomb would recognize, that Marin moved. How long was it since the last detection beam? He had totally lost the track of it. Has there been a beam since the initial one?

The silence in the room grew unbearable.

“What can we do now, sir?” someone asked.

There was no answer. No answer than the one.

Then they heard a faint hum on the rear end of the cargo bay. A few moments later another hum followed a several meters away from the first hum.

*****

Thalia Cyn materialized crouched behind a group of cargo boxes. Her phaser drawn she checked her position. There was no imminent thread.

The room was silent. No one was talking. Thalia didn’t consider this a good sign. If there were no guards the crew should have talked and tried to pull an escape plan. So there must be guards around.

She heard the hum of the transporter as the first marine of her team was beamed into another covered position. Each marine had to be beamed to their cover separately. It took nearly five minutes until the five marines arrived.

Just when she was about to gave the order to move, she noticed a red beam racing over her head.

What the hell was going on here?

“Whoever just beamed in…” someone began to say and stopped speaking for a few moments.

“…don’t leave your cover. There is a bomb.”

*Great, just what I need.* she thought.

“Don’t leave your cover.” She said loudly to her marine group.

“I’m Commander Thalia Cyn of the Starship Pathfinder. Identify yourself.”

“Lieutenant Commander Byron, science chief of the Albion.”

Cyn picked up her communicator.

“Cyn to Pathfinder. We have a bomb reported in cargo bay 1. Can you detect it with the sensors?”

[Stand by.] the communications officer replied while she relayed the communication to the science officer in charge on the bridge.

“Commander, the bomb scans the bay with an invisible laser beam and searches with a red beam every now and then for changes in the bay. It will go off if it detects any. One of my men just went unconscious and dropped to the floor. Please HURRY!” Byron said with a voice getting more and more anxious.

[Commander, we detect a class 3 bomb. Is it motion activated?]

“Yes, it is. According to the captured crew a laser scans the surrounding and shoots a detection laser in random time frames. We already have changes in the surrounding. Beam it out fast!”

[Do you think we can beam it out?]

“That is why I called you. I cannot check the bomb for obvious reasons.” She shot back.

The channel was silent for a moment.

[Please stand by.]

Thalia heard the science officer conferring with the Captain. It was a hushed discussion. Too hushed for her to recognize any words.

“Hell, move people. We have a serious thread here.” She urged over the comm channel.

[Commander, this is Captain Hunter. We will beam out the bomb in a few seconds.]

“Aye, sir. Please inform the other away teams. Cyn out.” She closed the communicator.

“All hands, the bomb will be beamed out in a few seconds.” She said a bit louder.

*****

Byron was relieved to a certain degree that the bomb was being beamed out in a few moments. He could only hope that the red laser beam would not try to detect any of Marins movements.

It took awful long seconds that felt like an eternity. If he would have believed in a higher entity he would have started to pray.

Then the bomb shot a red laser beam right to where Ensign Marin had been standing. He took a deep breath. The laser beam moved slowly to the Ensigns last position as if it would savor the moment knowing that it would detect a movement. Inch by inch it moved forward. Just before it reached the area where the invisible beam had detected Marins body before, the hum of the transporter sounded. While the bomb dematerialized it exploded in the transporter beam.

A moment later then the ship shook from the explosion outside.

*****

Thalia Cyn lurked around her cover as did the marines with their weapons ready. Fortunately they really didn’t see any Orions anymore.

An officer in a blue uniform was already at the mans side on the ground.

Respectfully submitted
Kevin Richter

Playing

Commander Thalia Cyn
XO, USS Pathfinder

— NRPG —

Richard: Do you want to add a damaged transporter to your todo list?