A high pitched whine in his right ear woke Marcus up. Before he opened his eyes he noted the damp and musty smell, the air was cold, the floor he laid on was cold and metallic. Opening his eyes there was just enough light in the room to make out shapes, the distance to the walls. It was a fairly small room, the light from a tiny diode in one upper corner. Slowly, painfully he sat up and made out the form of another person laying on its side across the floor.
“Mathew?” he called out hoarsely.
The form raised his head, the room so dark Marcus could not make out his eyes.
“Who are you?”
Straightening up, his back leaning against a wall. “Marcus Dinn.”
There was a long pause. “Marcus?” Mathew got up on one elbow. “What?…….How?”
“Veronica sent me to find you.” he answered struggling to his feet.
“Damn……….God I did not want her to get involved with this.”
Marcus was now slowly working his way around the room. Feeling the walls. “Do you know where we are?”
“No idea. “
“The attack on the games. Its your plan.”
“Was. Was my plan.” the words came out of the dark with a tone of remorse.
“Why the change of heart?”
Mathew sighed. “It sounded good, on paper. Then when the Xroton B was delivered and I saw all those canisters waiting to be loaded. It got to me. I could see thousands in the stadium choking, innocents dying.”
“Innocents. You mean everyone that was not Klingon.”
“I thought ….if we could generate enough anger at the Klingons, the population would force Branson to remove them.”
“Well.” Marcus said finding a locked Hatch door. “ You put a biolock on the gas emitters on the shuttle didn’t you?”
“Yes. I wanted absolute control of the mission. But they may have found a way around it.”
“No… I don’t think so.”
“Good. Good. Then I did stop it.”
“Don’t count on that.”
As if on cue the hatch door opened and Mr. Eisner with two guards stepped thru. Mathew got to his feet and stepped back. Eisner looked the pair up and down.
“Well Mathew? Are you going to help us or not?” Eisner asked.
“No. I told you. There has be another way.”
“Nope. I disagree. With the entire colony population up in arms, focused on the Klingons, Branson will have no choice but to evict the lot. Now…. times up.”
The two guards stepped around Eisner and grabbed Mathew. Pulling out his right arm, one pulled a phase scalpel.
“What?! What are you doing?” Mathew screamed.
“I need your hand.” Eisner grinned.
With both guards holding Mathew, Marcus knew this was his only chance. He bolted for Eisner watching as a hand phaser appeared. Dropping into a skid he knocked the legs out from under Eisner, bringing him to the floor. As they fell the green lance of the phaser crossed part of his leg, searing the cloth and flesh. The pain focused Marcus as he attacked Eisner with everything he had. They wrestled as he tried to rip the phaser from his hand. In the struggle it went off, a beam of energy shooting thru Eisners arm and into the skull of one of the guards holding Mathew.
With the sudden release of his right arm Mathew took advantage of the others guards surprise and spun backwards, pulling him down to the floor. As the pair dropped the scalpel came down across Mathews arm leaving a deep cauterized cut in the forearm. The pain forced a scream from his lungs as they hit the floor.
Marcus finally got the leverage he was searching for and forced the emitter end of the phaser toward Eisners face. With every ounce of strength he could muster he forced Eisner to press the trigger. Instantly Eisners face disappeared in a flash, Marcus closing his eyes to protect them from the heat. The body under him immediately went limp and Marcus ripped the phaser from the dead hand and spun on the floor to take aim.
Across the room Mathew and the remaining guard struggled, Mathews back was to Marcus, obstructing a clear shot. Before Marcus could get to his feet, Mathews body went limp, the glowing end of the scalpel protruding from the back of his neck. Now standing up and holding the phaser aimed at the last guard, Marcus did not hesitate. With his thumb he notched the power to maximum and blasted the man to the hell he was so desperate to create.
Kneeling over Mathew he turned him over, a black charred hole was thru his neck causing him to struggle for breath.
“I’m sorry….” he struggled to whisper. “Stop them if you can. Find another way.”
“Another way?”
“To rid us of the Klingon threat.” His body went limp as the last of his life drained away.
After laying the mans head back down on the floor Marcus stood and reviewed the carnage around him. He was filled with anger and frustration as he made for the hatch. It had become apparent he was not in a building at all, but on a ship. The floor was not level but inclined which made no since if the artifical gravity was working correctly. The lights flickered and he realized the passage ways were lit with a series of floating lights that were not attached to the bulkheads.
This ship had no power of its own! As he worked his way down the corridor cold fresh air blew in gusts from in front of him and turning a corner he saw sunlight shining thru an open outer hull hatch. Carefully he looked around the corner and confirmed he was indeed on an abandoned space craft far from the Cities. Below him sat a shuttlecraft with two more guards standing watch. Amazed at the unprofessionalizm of the two, they were both looking away from the craft, worring only about anyone coming toward them from the cities. He took careful aim and fired stun shots at each in rapid succession. But as the second man went down he fired his phaser rifle directly into the starboard nacelle of the shuttle causing it expode directly into their faces. Both men disappeared into a cloud of debris and gas.
“Well, I tried.” Marcus muttered.
It took several minutes for him to find a way to climb down from the ancient ship and make his way to the remains of the shuttle, carefully avoiding what was left of the two guards. He found the emergency power still operating and was able to configure the com unit to contact Oz on Governors station.
Cassandra appeared on the viewer looking somewhat aggravated.
“You look like hell. What happened to you?” she asked.
“Bit of trouble here. I need you to bring the ship down and pick me up. Can you lock on my signal?”
She keyed the console. “Got you. My god… you’re a thousand miles West of Omega Prime.”
“Get down here and I’ll fill you in. You need to hurry. Have the Klingons / Vulcans played yet?”
“No you have another hour and a half.”
“Then you really to hurry.”
**
Twenty minutes later Cassandra picked Marcus up like a hitchiker thumbing for a ride from a broken down car.
“Where to?” she asked as he settled in.
“Best speed to Dexter Industries.”
Off:
Marcus Dinn
Owner of Ricks and Oz
Phoenix Colony
Phoenix Federtion
Mathew Harringer
CEO Dexter Industries
Phoenix Colony
Phoenix Federation
