Star Fleet Fiction Continued

Rescue On Roon

Grissom jumped at the sound of the Vulcan, who had arrived silently.

"My task in this phase is to interrogate the prisoners," he explained. "The others are members of the owning family. They were involved in the kidnapping, and their family is indeed involved in illegal trading with the Orions. Most of them, however, are simply passengers on the family business, taking a share of the profits but doing little work. One female knew a great deal about the Orions, and I have marked her for possible evacuation as a material witness. There are also considerable stocks of illegal materials in this complex, including some narcotics and some electronics that are beyond what this planet can make for itself. Do you know who this man is?"

"No," Grissom said, "maybe some kind of accountant. See what you can find out."

Stulak gently repositioned the small man so that he could conduct a mind meld. The process took a couple of minutes.

"This man is Ted N'Korl. He is, by training, an attorney specializing in taxes, but he is employed by this company to do all of the accounting for their illegal off-world trade. He is very unhappy in his job, feeling such trade to be immoral. He is virtually a prisoner in this complex; a device attached to his ankle will cause him great pain if triggered by an alarm field which he knows is within the elevator. This is to prevent him from leaving. He would be grateful for rescue and would be happy to testify against the family."

"I'll get the collar off of his ankle," Grissom said. "You see if you can wake him up. He'll be easier to move if he can do it for himself, and he can help us find the right records to take with us."

"Very well," Stulak answered, "I shall use the medical kit provided by Doctor Kildaire to revive him." Grissom had decided against including a doctor or medic in his team, expecting to complete the mission fast enough he would not need one.

"You might want to give him something to keep him calm," Grissom advised. "He was terrified when I found him. We need him functioning."

"Very well." The Vulcan moved to treat his patient.

"We got trouble, Commander," came the voice of Dellik in his earpiece. "I can hear a lot of pounding and some shooting going on upstairs. Somebody up there is trying to cut their way in here. I blocked the elevator door open, but the warning buzzer is going off and some recording is demanding that the door be closed."

"Is Yahnke still out?"

"Yes, sir."

"Where's Daneric-Tren?"

"My tricorder found him halfway up the air shaft. He's conscious and working on something, but he doesn't answer his radio. I was working on getting the panel removed from the hatch; it's got all the bolts in it. Kilrathie is moving some stuff that Stulak told him needs to go with us."

"Carry on," Grissom ordered. "I will be right there."

0005 hrs, Bridge, Light Cruiser
USS Tasmania, in orbit above Roon

"Situation?" the Captain demanded.

"I've transported three guards to other locations, knocked a couple out with water bombs, and several have responded to the false alarms I triggered," the sensor technician reported. "But there are at least six at the upper elevator lobby, using some pretty serious tools to try to get in - cutting torches, power saws, and firearms."

"Options?"

"I can kill the main power to the complex," the technician suggested. "That would at least shut down their heavy tools. Should buy a few minutes before they can get into the elevator shaft with the fire axes. That should also let me transport a few more of them somewhere else."

"Have you reestablished contact with the team?"

"Negative. When that alarm went off twenty minutes ago, some kind of field fired up, blocking my view down the elevator shaft, and some kind of heavy metal plate slammed shut over the ventilation shaft."

"Transporter Room One, this is the Captain."

"Sergeant Bourne here, sir."

"Stand up the landing force. The team is trapped, and I may have to have you get them out of there."

"We are ready, Captain," the sergeant reported, "twenty-four loaded up and ready to drop in two lifts."

"Stand by, Bourne," the Captain said, "and stun only. This is going to be bad enough as it is."

"Aye, aye, sir," the sergeant responded, "we won't leave any of our people behind."

"Technician," the Captain ordered, "buy Grissom as much time as you can, but let me know when the guards have broken into the elevator shaft."

"Power is off, and I broke the emergency fire hose valves, spraying water all over the place. And I just transported two more guards out of there."

***TO BE CONTINUED***