Story:Star Trek: Infinite Voyages/Choices: Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Franklin Xavier walked purposefully into the transporter room the next morning. The petty officer at the transporter console glanced up at him as Xavier approached his station. “Good morning, Commander.”

“Good morning, Zeno. I'm a bit early.” Xavier rapped his fingertips on the top edge of the console. “It'll be two trips today. We've got a big group.”

They both turned as the doors slid open to admit six blue-uniformed crewmembers engrossed in deep conversation. The chatter died down as Lieutenant Gerard at the front of the group spotted Xavier. “Ah, Commander. I see you're early as well.”

“Of course.”

Gerard smiled wryly. “Right.”

Xavier raised an eyebrow, but the transporter room doors parted again before he could speak. Lyron strode inside, followed by three security officers. “Well, since we're all here now, we may as well proceed and get an early start. Lieutenants, I assume you will want to accompany me in the first group to beam down. Gerard, take two of your team and one of yours, Lyron. The others can follow in a moment.” Xavier stepped onto the transporter platform and took a position in the back.”

Gerard glanced back at his group. “Triara, Oreth, you're with me.” The Risian woman and Vulcan man followed Gerard up onto the platform. Lyron eyed them before turning and nodding to the Tellarite Ensign behind her. They joined the others.

“Energize,” said Xavier. They shimmered and faded out. Commander Xavier opened his eyes and was faced with an alien vista. Tall, jagged mountains loomed off to the east. They were in a valley that sloped down gently from rolling hills. The soil beneath their feet was tinted in shades of orange and brown and mineral deposits in the pebbles glinted in the sunlight. Xavier brushed a bit of dust off his sleeve and turned to Lieutenant Gerard. “Is this a suitable base camp location for you?”

Gerard shielded his eyes with his hand and gazed around. “Should be okay.” He shrugged a long, cylindrical case off his shoulder and opened it. He pulled a silver metallic bundle out of the case and carried a short distance away to a flatter part of the valley. Crewman Oreth scurried forward to grasp one edge of the flexible covering of the bundle and he and Gerard rolled it out onto the ground. Gerard knelt down and punched a few commands into a panel affixed to the outer edge of the material. He and Oreth stepped back as the structure expanded and began to take shape. The sides curved smoothly around the high roof of the shelter. The smooth, shimmery surface looked out of place among the dusty, rocky surroundings. Their colleagues Song and Sh'Riss carried cases of equipment inside while Triara and Katona unpacked larger cases outside. Gerard began to set up pattern enhancers in a triangular formation a short distance from the shelter.

Lyron was huddled with her security crew. “Let's get a perimeter set up. Naarvin, zh'Zareen, you scout over there to the north and east. Perez, you take the south.”

A few hours later, the team was still hard at work. They had moved off toward the mountains. Sh'Riss' tail twitched with interest as she knelt on the ground gathering samples. Song and Triara were nearby, observing the output of a tricorder. Katona balanced precariously against a large rock formation as she studied a PADD. Oreth and Gerard stood atop one of the hills, conversing and making notations on a handheld computer panel. Lyron, Naarvin, zh'Zareen, and Perez still held a perimeter. Xavier strolled along the edges of the foothills and glanced up at mountain peaks above.

The sound of phaser blasts rang out in the stillness of the foothills.

Xavier spun around. A number of black specks appeared over the tops of the hills. As they drew closer, the figures resolved into that of humanoids, perhaps a dozen at most. Masks obscured their faces and dark fabric cloaks swirled around them as they easily scaled even the steepest of the hills.

“Get back,” Xavier shouted to the science team. Gerard and Oreth clambered down from their perch and ran with the others back toward the camp. Lyron and her team surged forward and flanked Xavier. They took cover behind the rocky outcroppings that dotted the flatlands around the foothills. All five drew their weapons.

“This is Commander Franklin Xavier of the Federation starship Pioneer. We are on a peaceful scientific mission—”

A phaser beam connected with the ground no more than a meter ahead of his position. “Right,” he muttered. Xavier. He leaned forward and took his first shot.

Their pursuers stopped in the foothills and took cover there. They traded phaser fire for what felt like an eternity. A few of his shots and those of the security officers had connected with their targets. None of the aliens' shots had, though some of them had come much too close for comfort.

Xavier ducked back behind the rock and pressed his combadge. “Xavier to Lyron. Haria, I want you to take the others back to base camp and get back to the ship.” He could see Lyron's shocked scowl even from there.

“I cannot do that sir. As Chief Security Officer, I am not going to leave you alone here.”

“That's an order, Lieutenant! Protect the rest of the team and I'll cover you.” A phaser beam connected with the ground near their feet, barely ten centimeters from the edge of the stone outcropping they took cover behind. “Go now!”

Reluctantly, Lyron signaled her security officers and fell back. As they ran away from the fight and approached the valley, her eyes met Gerard's. He motioned to his science team, crouched behind him, and they joined Lyron's group in the dash back to camp. They darted between the pattern enhancers.

Lyron slapped her combadge. “Lyron to Pioneer. We need an emergency beamout now!” Almost instantly, everything around them began to fade away. Lyron could still hear phaser fire. She gazed back in the direction of Xavier and she saw a beam strike his arm. He tumbled back onto the ground. The noise stopped and a few of the aliens surged forward.

They materialized back in the transporter room. Lyron leapt off the platform and lunged toward the console. “Lock on to Xavier's signal! He's in trouble.”

The transporter operator nodded curtly. His fingers flew across the screen.

The doors from the hallway parted and Captain Quinton jogged inside. “What's happened? Commander?”

“He's still on the surface, sir. We're trying to get him back now.” Lyron let out a deep sigh. “There's somebody down there, Captain. We were ambushed by about eight to ten of them. They opened fire, caught us off guard.”

“Did you recognize them? What species?”

“I couldn't say. They had masks and heavy cloaks on. I could only give you a very general description.”

“I'll get that from you later. How did Commander Xavier get separated?”

“He and I and the security team were at the front with them. Things were getting very intense. He ordered me to fall back with the rest of the team.”

Quinton scowled at the transporter operator. “Why isn't he here yet?”

“I'm still trying to lock onto him, Captain. He's too far from the pattern enhancers and I'm getting a lot of interference. His signal is too patchy right now.”

Lyron leaned in toward Quinton. “Sir, right before we beamed up, I saw him take a hit. Only to the arm, but I saw him fall.”

Quinton inhaled sharply.

“I may have him now—wait.”

“What?”

“He just disappeared.”

“His lifesign?”

“No, if he had been killed, I would have seen a fade out, fluctuations. This just blinked out. I don't even see the signal from his combadge. I don't see a trace of any of it.”

“They had to have already been on the planet when we beamed down, but there were no unusual lifesigns. They must have tech that masks their own lifesigns, so maybe they used on Commander Xavier as well.”

“Perhaps. We have to assume he's been taken prisoner. Zeno, keep scanning for him. If you get the chance, take it and let me know if you see anything unusual.”

“Yes, sir.”

Quinton turned around to look at the others huddled in the back of the transporter room. “Gerard? Anyone injured?”

“No, just shaken.”

“Good. I want all of you in the briefing room.” Quinton tapped his combadge. “Senior staff to the briefing room. Yellow alert.”