Puzzle Pieces

Posted on Sat Jan 3rd, 2015 @ 5:05pm by Major David Lorenz & Marine Captain Quentin Harrison

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Various

The colony on Denar IX was in it's decline. Thieves, con-artists, snake-oil salesmen, and other forms of low-level bottom-feeders populated the capital city of Belemith. Occasioanlly, a desperate slimeball was able to bribe their way off the planet on a mining ship run by Holbridge Enterprises, the main employer on the planet.

Hale Jarrik was a transport pilot who made his living flying goods back and forth for Holbridge Enterprises. He also made a healthy bit of side latinum smuggling luxuries in and out of places for the elite. It was a far cry from flying with the legendary Blacksheep Squadron during the First Cardassian War, but times had changed and you either adapted or crashed, and Hale had no intention of crashing.

The coms system beeped urgently. Hale checked the message and saw that it was heavily encrypted, so much so that his antennae twitched. ....should this ever come to light again, we will contact ya... the voice of Jackson Banning ran through his head. "Computer, decrypt message; authorization: Jarrik-one-one-seven-tango." he ordered, using the long-dormant code he had been given.

Assemble Starbase 900, all possible speed. Tracker three-one-seven-mike. Lorenz. The message was legit. Dear God, they found it!

"Jarrik to base; I will be taking some personal time. End and send." Hale went over to his closet and found his old uniform, one he swore he would never wear again.

FEDERATION PENAL COLONY


Time marched on at its snail's pace, which was no longer infuriating to the man called Vin. At over six feet tall, Vin was a towering hulk of a man who's body was littered with various tattoos. In his cell, he laid on his bunk, silently extracting numerical root figures in his head, keeping his mind alert. The former Intelligence Academy's instructor for encryption possessed the equivalent of three doctorates, yet hid his intelligence behind a demeanor of intense anger, a mask few were able to penetrate.

The cell door suddenly hissed open. Vin's eyes remained closed. "Nice to see you again, Hale," he sighed.


"Nice place. Who did you kill?" Hale asked, glancing around the cell

"It was a misunderstanding with some Orion and a woman in his employ. He wanted to keep her naked and screwing Nausicaans, I had a different view and tried to explain it to him."

Hale smiled. "We have to go to the Delta Quadrant. They found her."

Vin's eyes opened. "Did my beacon go off?"

"Yeah." Hale looked down the hallway. "Come on, the guards are gonna be back soon!"

Vin leaped to his feet. "Get us to a non-shielded area."

Hale simply tapped his wrist communicator. "Bring us up, Harbeck!"

Both men dematerialized instantly and reappeared in the lounge of an obvious luxury cruiser. Vin looked around briefly then smiled. "Lorenz."

"Yeah. We're headed for Starbase 900 in the Delta Quadrant. this here ship has a transwarp drive that will cut our transit time....

The holo-com snapped on. "Good to see you three. Where's Edler?"

"Dead." Vin growled.

"That's a shame," Lorenz frowned. "The pilot has orders to get you three to Starbase 900...on the surface. In reality you will be coming directly here. There's cold weather gear in the storage lockers along with food and clothes for you, Vin. The ship is in the blind, so make sure someone stays on scanners and avoid all other traffic. The Solaria Gateway crew knows you're coming and thinks you are a high-priority VIP flight. As always gentlemen, none of this ever happened...again." The holo-com snapped off.

SITE SIX

Dave leaned back in the chair. It's outta the bag, but we can contain it...

"YE SONOFABITCH!" Quentin roared, hauling Dave to his feet by his neck. "WE ARE AT EMCON AND YER BLATHERIN' TO SOME FOOL IN THE ALPHA! WHAT ARE YE PLAYIN' AT?"

"...Let...me....go...will...explain" Dave gasped, unable to breathe.

Quentin dropped him without warning, and Dave sprawled onto the deck. "You idiot! Why in the hell did you...?"

"Come off it! I heard ye yakkin! Who did ye contact?"

"Get off my ass, I have my orders!!" Dave shouted, summoning all of hsi courage to face the big Scot. "That body in the freezer is part of something huge, and when Captain Hawke and Jim get here, you will be told the story of a lifetime. I can tell you that we are on the brink of something that will alter history forever."

"You better pray that nobody else comes to this party!" Quentin seethed, the fell to the deck as he was stunned by a tech.

"Thanks, Wendell. Put him in the detention unit until Jim gets here." Dave said, rubbing his neck.

After Wendell hauled the unconscious Quentin away, Dave turned to the remaining techs. "Okay, I notified everybody. Let's being the revival sequence before the guests of honor get here."

The assembled men and women made their way to the freezer to remove the body, carrying it reverently to the infirmary. Once there, David took off the protective shroud to reveal a slender, blue-green-skinned alien with graceful limbs, an almost feline set of eyes and a full-lipped mouth. David took a vial of bright orange liquid and inserted the contents into a hypospray, then gave the body the dosage. The blue-green skin color changed to a deep red. The long-closed eyes opened. "Where am I?"

"Still on the ice world, ma'am," David said. "Someone found where we hid you, and what we tried to prevent is in motion. Most of those who helped you are on their way back, including Jackson."

"Jackson," she smiled. "I have missed him!"


___________________________________

Dave Lorenz
Not What He Looks Like

Quentin Harrison
Angry and Unconscious

Mystery Female Alien
Interested In Jackson Banning?"