Slipping Out Into The Fire
Posted on Sat Feb 27th, 2016 @ 8:51pm by James Holbridge
Mission: Further Challenges
COVERT INTELLIGENCE DUCKBLIND
CARDASSIA PRIME
Jim Holbridge rose from his bunk, feeling halfway human. He yawned and stretched, then rose to his feet and looked in a mirror. Deciding against a shave, he pulled on the Starfleet silver uniform he had been provided and walked out into the hallway. Maxim Kamarov, fresh in his Marine uniform walked up and greeted him. “Good news, tovarisch, we have confirmation of receipt of the message you sent last night and the reply is ‘Your mama dresses you funny and you have no underwear that fits!”’ Maxim furrowed his brow. “What does this mean?”
“It means we have the access we need to get started on the next phase of getting out of here. Where is the commanding officer?”
=/\=Commander Flanigan is in the operations center =/\= the computer answered.
“Let’s go.”
OPS CENTER
DUCKBLIND
Holbridge and Kamarov entered the room. Jim immediately sat down at a console and began typing in commands. Commander Flanigan saw this and hurried over to the console Jim was seated at. “Hello, sir, relax, I have access and I am piggy-backing my transmissions onto a commonly used freq.”
“I don’t care, you…” Flanigan stopped short as Kamarov showed him a padd. “I see, well, in that case carry on.”
Jim turned back to the screen and resumed typing. Kamarov came over and looked at the screen in amazement. “What is this?” he asked.
“Prototype weapon seized by Intel during the Dominion War. Li gave me access and I figured that we might need to incorporate some non-conventional weapons into our ship designs. The only problem with a weapon like this is the emitter arrays aren’t rated for such high output. But, Matt is a bright young lad and he can figure out the details. Computer, upload schematics to orbiting Federation vessel via established protocols.”
=/\= Upload completed. =/\=
Jim turned to face Commander flanigan. “How far away is your escape entrance?”
“There is a tunnel that runs for 3 kilometers and has an access point due west of here. what are you planning to do?”
Jim smiled his dangerous smile. “i’m gonna get captured by the Cardassians. Again!”
“This will make three times, sir!” Kamarov sighed.
“Yeah. Cool, ain’t it?”
ESCAPE TUNNEL ENTRANCE
Jim opened the entrance door and stepped out into the sunlight, phaser rifle at the ready. Kamarov followed, covering the rear. Jim cautiously advanced, studying the readings his combat eye shields received from his mini-tricorder. “We got a patrol of Cardies twenty-four meters dead ahead.” jim whispered into his ear mic. “Let’s put some distance between us and the duckblind before we start raising Hell.”
“Da Kamarov agreed quietly.
Jim quietly eased his way north-northwest, away from the duckblind and the patrol. He never checked to see if Maxim was following; in Team One, you either kept up or you were dead. Max had been the field support man for Team One since the beginning and was just as field capable as Sam Elliott, Matt Collins, or even Dave Lorenz.
After four klicks, Jim called a halt. Maxim caught up and Jim tossed him a water pouch from his pack. “Drink up. We are gonna start raising Hell pretty soon! Data from Specter shows there is nearly a company-sized unit near here, and our buddy Orion Paxx is with ‘em.”
“Do you think Paxx is dumb enough to think he caught us so easily?” Maxim asked, sipping his water.
“His file says he’s greedy, selfish, and a total prick. I don’t think he’s too bright.” Jim answered. “He’s not the one I am worried about.”
“Who has you vexed?”
“The deep, dark behind all of this bullshit. If this is a resurgence of Cardassia’s Obsidian Order it could mean big trouble for the Federation and her allies. We need to see who is pulling the strings and then get the info to 900 quickly!”
“What about Paxx and the reward?” Kamarov asked.
“He’s in the bag! Let’s move!”
Half an hour later Jim called another halt. “Twenty Cardies dead ahead. Light ‘em up!”
Jim and Maxim opened fire simultaneously, dropping three Cardassians in the first volley. The others quickly found cover and returned fire. “Move five meters south and let ‘em have it again!” Jim ordered as he tossed a grenade.
Maxim blasted away, but as fast as he dropped one Cardassian, another appeared. “Jim, now?”
“Now!” Holbridge suddenly tossed aside his rifle. “We surrender!”
“Come out with your hands up, humans!” Orion Paxx shouted.
Jim and Maxim stepped into the open, their arms raised. The surviving Cardassians quickly subdued and bound them up. Orion Paxx strutted up to Holbridge. “We meet again, human!” he said, slapping Holbridge across his mouth.
Holbridge replied with a savage kick to Paxx;s belly, doubling the Bajorran over. A Cardassian near Holbridge snickered, then clubbed Holbridge and Kamarov into unconsciousness.
Lt James Holbridge (SRI)
In Deep Shit
&
Maxim Kamarov
Also in Glubokoye Der'mo (Russian)
