“Confessions and
Confrontations”
Stardate 74209.2;
March 18, 2397
Episode 54
Written by Chris
Adamek
Chapter Thirty-Six
CAPTAIN’S LOG, STARDATE 74209.2: The war is over. With the arrival of Cardassian forces in the Ciden System, the
Elorg were finally overwhelmed, and their remaining vessels forced to retreat
back into the heart of their territory.
With our task force continually on the offensive, it will only be a
matter of time before the Elorg acknowledge defeat.
After finishing his log entry, Ryan
Landsberg sat for several moments and contemplated his words. They were
certainly sufficient, conveying the epic scope of the situation with
Landsberg’s almost poetic flare for words. He was pleased, nonetheless, but as his gaze wandered from his
log entry to Commander Matthew Harrison’s curious gaze, the Captain’s poetic
mood began to waver. “What?”
For a brief moment, Harrison struggled to
maintain his neutral demeanor—it seemed to Landsberg that his first officer
often kept his emotions at bay—but ultimately, neutrality won, and Harrison
turned his placid gaze upon Landsberg.
“Your entry is a bit dramatic, is it not?” he inquired. “For example, in all reality, the war is not
over.”
“Dramatic license,” said Landsberg quickly
in his own defense. “Besides, I’ve been
looking through some of Captain Christopher’s log entries; mine is tame when
compared to some of his.”
Harrison was quick to proffer his
agreement. “Yes, I have had the
opportunity to review many of his log entries.
They have a certain flair to them, to say the least. At times, a discursive flare.”
“But a flare nonetheless,” said Landsberg,
recounting some of the more longwinded ramblings Christopher had provided in
his logs.
And on that note, Harrison nodded his head
forgivingly. “I suppose I shall recant
my statement about being overdramatic, then.”
Landsberg grinned for perhaps the first time
in days. “Good,” he said
thoughtfully. “Now all I have to do is
find you a woman.” He paused for a
moment and then tapped a few commands into the computer terminal on his
desk. “Now, I’ve been looking at your
options over the past few days, and must admit, the Starlight has an
excellent supply of beautiful women.”
Harrison rolled his eyes. “With all due respect, while this is
certainly a generous offer on your behalf, it is entirely unnecessary for you
to… ‘find me a woman.’”
In an instant, Landsberg found strange
thoughts floating through his mind. He
paused for a brief moment, and then hesitantly asked, “A… man, perhaps?”
Harrison quickly tensed up, but to
Landsberg’s relief, his executive officer shook his head in denial. “No, of course not,” he said firmly. “I am simply not looking for a relationship
at the moment.”
“And I’m not getting you a relationship,”
said Landsberg, making certain that much was clear. “I’m getting you some action in the bedroom! It’s a defining quality of all good
commanding officers!”
A puzzled look swept across Harrison’s
face. “I don’t seem to recall hearing
of that at Starfleet Academy,” he noted, allowing a small amount of
sarcasm to seep into his otherwise stoic voice.
Landsberg chuckled. “Of course not,” he admitted. “It was so blatantly obvious that no
instructor dared to bring it up.”
Words began to form upon Harrison’s parting
lips, but the dull chirp of Landsberg’s communicator promptly cut them
off. The Captain elicited a faint sigh,
and then slapped his communicator.
“Captain,” came Lieutenant Bator’s
voice a moment later, “sensors indicate we have an Elorg vessel is on a
direct intercept course.”
Landsberg’s gaze quickly shifted to
Harrison. The war, it would seem, was not
over, much as the good Commander had noted earlier—but he was kind enough not
to gloat about it. “I’m on my way,”
Landsberg stated a moment later, slowly rising from the warmth of his chair.
He stood still for a few seconds, stretching
his firm muscles while Harrison vacated his chair. Once the commander was in motion, Landsberg swiftly matched
Harrison’s pace and followed his executive officer through the doors and onto
the bridge.
“The vessel is a small raider,” reported
Bator once the doors slid shut behind Landsberg. “It is traveling at warp 1.6, and is on a direct intercept
course.”
Having seen countless Elorg raiders used as
battering rams in recent weeks, this instance immediately brought concern to
Landsberg. “Yellow alert,” he called
out as he seated himself in the center seat.
“Are their shields or weapons active?”
Harrison inquired.
Bator checked the sensors. “No,” he said. “But they will enter weapons range in approximately fifty-five
seconds.”
“Any support vessels?” asked Landsberg.
“None,” replied Bator. “All other Elorg vessels in range are
holding position.”
It certainly didn’t seem like a
kamikaze run. And if it was, it was
certainly a very foolish one. Landsberg
was confident in the Starlight’s abilities to smite the little raider
with ease should they pose a threat—but some sixth sense told him that this was
not any more threatening than it appeared to be. Even so, if Landsberg was going to err, it would be on the side
of caution. “Raise shields,” he said softly.
“Shields up,” said Bator, just as the
computer began to elicit a series of faint bleeps. “They are hailing us.”
“On screen,” said Landsberg, his eyes
immediately darting to the image of the raider on the viewscreen. It lingered for a moment longer before
flitting away, replaced by a grainy, slightly distorted image of Captain
Allison Duford. Landsberg was
immediately curious. “Allison,” he
greeted warmly, “what an unexpected pleasure.”
Duford nodded cordially. “And we have much to talk about, Mr.
Landsberg. That is, if you don’t mind
having us aboard.”
“Of course not,” said Landsberg—the more
beautiful women on his ship, the better.
“Permission to come aboard is granted.”
“Then I’ll see you soon,” said
Duford. “Lollipop out.”
Landsberg and Harrison stepped into the
transporter room a few minutes later, the latter of the two hanging a meter or
so behind as they approached the kiosk near the center of the room. It was a large, rounded workstation with a
vast interface manned by the young Ensign Flora Sanders. Harrison regarded her as an intelligent,
efficient young woman, and as he watched her deft fingers dance over the
interface, he was confident her promotion to Lieutenant was on the horizon.
“Ensign,” said Captain Landsberg a moment
later, his hands resting on the edge of the sleek workstation, “are they ready
to beam over?”
Sanders’ eyes quickly flitted over the data
before her. “Yes,” she determined after
a moment.
Landsberg nodded, and swiftly came about to
face the transporter platform.
“Energize,” he said crisply.
Harrison’s eyes lingered on the transporter
control interface for a moment longer before he, too, came about to face the
platform. The large apse in the wall
was dark for only a moment before five pillars of shimmering azure light
illuminated the transporter pad. As the
light began to diminish, five humanoid figures stood in its wake. Harrison recognized only two of them:
Captain Allison Duford and Commander Erin Keller.
A profound look of confusion was plastered
to Keller’s face. Harrison could tell
that something was bothering her, but could not say for certain what it was—nor
was he about to shout across the room to find out. But as Duford and several of her subordinates filtered out of the
transporter room with Landsberg, already speaking of their grandiose adventure
on the Lollipop, Harrison saw that he suddenly had an opportunity to
speak to Keller.
“Where is Alan?” were the very first words
to fall from her lips as she stepped off the platform.
Somehow, Harrison should have anticipated
the question, considering the relationship Keller had with Alan Christopher
prior to the onset of full-blown war.
Thankfully, he had an answer for her.
“Come with me,” said Harrison evenly.