Strike Range

Chapter 3:  One of those weeks...

"Have you ever got the feeling that the entire universe was after your hide?"

Capt. Richson, 2386

CSS Long Shot, Deck 9 Aft lounge; January 3, 9:25 FT

    Akalia sighed, her work for this mission at last done.  The compound was secure, the people already evacuated, and she herself finally back aboard her own ship.  With the more peaceful task of loading up cargo underway, all she could do is wait, and hope.  Unfortunately, she had a different task to attend to now.  One that did not sit well with her at all.  

    She slowly paced the deck of her ship's main lounge, waiting for Andre to arrive.  In every one of the appointments she had set for him, he had shown up exactly on time, but even only a day into his tenure aboard as Marine chief, he still had a first time for everything.  This time, she didn't have the nerves to wait long after the deadline.  She looked at the shipboard clock, watching even the nano-seconds passing on it.

    She was nervous, her mood reflecting in the way she handled the seemingly incriminating notepad she had in hand.  The revelations of the past 48 hours were still settling into her mind, latching hold in her subconscious, and slowly strangling what little good had come out of the mission in the back rooms of her head.  Right up until her chief medical officer Dufray had given her the test results, there was a bit of her mind hoping she wouldn't have to push this newcomer away to protect him, a bit hoping that he could stay.

    Alas, he had spotted something.  A rare, almost impossible genetic fluke.  Of course, Dufray being his usual annoying, inqusitive self, remembered that he had seen something like it before, and had gone looking.  The coincidence would seem to defy belief to most people, but Dufray knew that coincidences didn't happen lightly around his captain, and had given her the results.

    Akalia sat back against the window rails, slightly bemoaning the regulation requiring all these tests.  If it hadn't been for those few requirements, she could have let Andre live in peace aboard.  It was things like them that made her really hate bureaucracy .  

    She looked back at the clock again, hoping he would be late enough that her scrambled nerves would have gotten her to leave.  It wasn't fair to him, but of all the challenges over the years that she had faced, this one was the most difficult.  She couldn't quite find the courage in herself to go to him, or to try again.  Fear was continuing to eat at her heart and will.  Fear of rejection, of disbelief, of so many other things.  She watched as the last seconds counted down until the appointed time.

    Unfortunately, Andre walked through the doors on the upper balcony, his new uniform sparkling on his body with crispness.  Akalia groaned inwardly, watching the clock and counting Andre exactly one second early.  As her Marine chief slowly walked to the center-point of the upper observation deck, she knew she had no choice but to disclose her secret, for better or worse.  "Chief!"

    Andre turned from his slow walk across the balcony deck, and looked over the rail at his captain below.  "Yes, M'am?"  He kept his still somewhat unruly black mop of hair out of his eyes with a free hand, leaning on the rail's red mid-room section.  He seemed so innocent, and eager, despite the horrors he had seen in the prison camp.  Akalia felt pity for his reality, preparing to shatter what he thought of his fates.

    "I'm coming up!"  Akalia looked around, making sure that there were no onlookers on the decks, and that the doors were sealed. Any public or private areas aboard were protected against monitoring, and only mission critical areas such as the major science labs, the bridge, engineering, and other such places were constantly being watched. She wanted privacy for the next few minutes.  It was bad enough her husband was on the run.  If anyone put her relationship with Andre into the picture, the Long Shot might well end up on the run from both the Ohansu Empire, and the Alliance.  

    With the room as empty as a graveyard on a blustery winter day in Canada, she slowly began climbing the portside stairway, her head hung in anticipation of the trouble about to occur.  Her every step was heavy, slowly getting heavier as she headed higher.  Her burden of knowledge was eating a hole in her heart, and likely straight through two decks under it.  She ached as she climbed the last steps, wondering why Dufray had to spot the sign, why she had to ever spot the familiarity.  She could have lived better thinking he had already lived a full and hearty life.

    Andre met her halfway across the upper balcony, carefully studying her.  To his credit, he tried to look like he was not, but Akalia could see his eyes carefully sizing her up, and all but screaming on every channel what his intentions were.  "I assume, captain, that you have some bad news to break to me?  That's the only thing I can think of to call me to the lounge currently.  Did one of my charges die, or something?"  

    His crisp new uniform reminded Akalia of so many beginnings, of the many tragic endings she had seen, and the ones, tragic and hopeful to come.  His blunt attitude and pointed focus showed her in every facet of her earlier years.  It was as if she looked into a mirror, that showed one of the other few outcomes of her life.  It was...  a rather pointed reminder of why she wanted to tell him the truth.

    "Yes, Chief.  Something came up in your genetic testing.  An anomaly found so few times that one could count it's appearance on one hand and still have fingers left over."  Akalia danced around her subject, never having had a point yet where she had to do this.  As a captain, she had many such duties, but this one, was a first in all her years.  "So, our Chief Medical Officer decided to check it against the rest of the crew, possibly trying to figure out what had him familiar with it. And came up with me."  She paused, and began to bake in the uncomfortable silence that followed in the room.

    "Yes, I know about my blood disorder. I know quite well.  Supposedly incredibly rare.  And, just about impossible to cure.  I would have died..."  Andre looked out the windows, watching Kalida slowly turn beneath the Long Shot.  In the far distance, the Metamor, and Cait lined up, the tiny sparks of ships moving between them as they hovered.  "I got lucky.  They said that there was an additional factor, one that let me survive after I had been put into stasis."

    He shook his head, still having doubts he would ever truly be free of it.  "Supposedly, it's one of those things that will affect someone, even in the deep sleep of stasis.  About 800 years it's been...  I suppose I'll last to see an even 800, instead of the 756 or so it is currently."  He shook his head, wondering how his defenses could have been breached so easily by the talk of olden days.  "Born in the 24th century, to..."

    "A hotshot starfleet captain; with an ego complex that could be seen in the next galaxy over; and an exiled caitin working starfleet to stay alive, the two of which secretly fell in love while saving the universe from the usual horde of evildoers, universe destroyers, etc."  Akalia leaned far over the rail, looking through to the engineering hull of the Long Shot. Her thoughts worried her.  "Yes, I know your past, Andre Richson.  I know your childhood like I know this ship.  We met once, long, long ago.  Longer than this ship's shot is."

    "Sure.  I've heard stranger from stranger people." Andre found Akalia's claim ridiculous, with good reason.  It was all he could do to keep from breaking out in mocking laughter.  "So tell me another one."  He refocused his stony exterior, making it plain he would find any story hard to believe.  

    His mocking undertones slowly turned to shock, as Akalia gave her story.  Her whole tragic tale was spun out, for the only audience she would dare tell it to.  It's vast length had her still telling it, over 2 hours later.  She knew that the doors were locked now, she had set a remote command to lock them in once they had started talking.  Her near unbelievable words slowly stripped Andre of his icy distancing, creeping into his mind.

    He tried to tell himself that her tale couldn't possibly be true, but the more he heard of it, the more his heart and mind agreed to the facts.  He tried to protest, to cut in and get out of the telling, but Akalia forced him back to listening.  Her threads slowly weaved to their climax, the horrid last days of the mighty Kep Salu's adventures, and the last gasp of the evils she had faced.  Then, her tale was cut short, the hanging silence making clear what happened at the end.  Her failure, and the partial loss of all things good.

    Andre shook his head, trying to clear the images left in it.  He had no choice but to believe it, as he knew so well.  "Alright, I get your picture.  I could almost believe that tale, but I want two final bits of proof.  First, I want this genetic test that supposedly proves our relation.  And second..."  He paused, unable to believe he was willing to push the matter as far as he would.  "Anyone can find the secret histories of events, the tales hidden behind the tales, if they know where to look.  Those are only the primers."  He turned back to Kalida, looking for a sign of his father's former lair, hidden once, long, long ago.  He tried to restore totally his slightly arrogant air of untroubled serenity.  "If you truly are who you say you are, my..."  He couldn't get himself to say it quite yet.  "Anyway, I have heard many tales of how the Vulpin can sculpt reality slightly, to make disguises for themselves, to change the way other people see them."

    Akalia nodded, having heard those tales as well, but not knowing what she had just agreed to.  Andre continued, "They supposedly take the form, in such a disguise, of what they would be if they were not born, or brought into the Vulpin race.  I don't know how exactly they do it, but if you are who, well, we'll both know then, won't we?"  Andre leaned back on one of the rails, his heart secretly pounding in anticipation, of either disappointment, or total success.  

    "Alright...  I'll see if I can."  Akalia handed the Pad with the genetic test over, for Andre to look over while she tried to figure out the next, and greater problem.  "I've always been near the top of a crew... I've never had cause to hide who I was, even back then."  She thought back to the one discussion on the subject that she had had with Melony. "So, I can only hope this works..."

    "Clock's ticking."  Andre looked over the report, and inwardly winced.  The doctor had come to all the right conclusions.  A Vulpin Akalia might be, but the DNA pointed in another direction.  "Fail captain, and I've got every reason to stay away.  Either mad with long grief, or just plain mad, I don't want to be on a ship with a fraud, much less one that can use my history against me."  Andre waited as Akalia struggled to get a handle with herself.

    "I'm working on it.  The rest of my race has had 800 years to figure this little trick out, and I've only have a few minutes.  There's a lot of pressure here!"  Akalia's voice was strained, rightly so, as she worked.  She dove into herself, as she would with her other abilities, looking for the particular bits Melony had pointed out to her.  She realized that it was one and the same with one of her others, and grabbed ahold of it.  "I think I got it..."  She threw herself on it, trying to work out her student's instructions.  A delicious irony, that.  The teacher being taught by the student...  A sudden lurch brought her back to the present, accompanied by a moment of disorientation.  

    Andre stood, shocked.  There could be no more doubt, no more lying through his teeth and denying the truth.  It simply was not possible, not even with all the fancy technology of the day.  No-one could possibly even remember her face, but one who had been there.  It was all he could do to stammer, beyond all words.

    It was strange, being back in her old skin.  Akalia looked down at herself, noting how good it was to be back the way she was in the glory days of old.  She found it oddly scary to find that her old self was now so strange to her.  She stretched, feeling her old strengths.  

    Akalia forced herself to relax, leaning against the loungeward rail.  "Now do you believe me?"  She had once been a Catan, and it felt at least a little bit good to be back to her old feline self.  She knew she needed to give Andre time to get over his shock, and to get back to a point where he could get a grip on the new situation.  She secretly checked herself while he stammered.  She felt the poofy tail-tip, her nice pointy claws (They had come in handy in so many bad dates...), and the tawny, almost armorish tangle of fur.  She snickered inwardly, never having bothered to really go through it in her old self.   It was definitely

 good to be a cat again.

    "M....  mom?"   Andre finally spit out what had been gumming up his mouth, beginning to tear up.  He had given up any pretense of being emotionally detached as Akalia nodded sagely in response.  Andre jumped into a hug, taking ahold once more of a lost mother-son relationship.  "Oh, I knew I'd spot that fuzz anywhere!"

    Akalia nearly screamed in surprise as her son's tackling hug knocked her to the ground, and took her breath away.  The jolt was enough to force away her tenuous link to maintain her cover, leaving her back as her normal self.  She panted for a moment, trying to call back her breath, as she tried to get Andre off her.  She finally worked enough breath into her lungs to rattle a protest.  "As much as this reunion is, it won't do to have my crew see us like this, or for you to squash me.  Vulpins tend to be quite squishible, you know..."  Her ring-tipped tail flicked at Andre's ankle.

    "Yeah, good point..."  He rolled to one side, letting his mother get a full breath in again.  He stayed on his back for a couple of seconds, smiling like a mad-man, and wondering why fate had brought them together again after so long.  "And a lot less rough and tough than you used to be.  I seem to remember you once throwing Dad through his own ready-room doors."  They both chuckled at the memory.

    "Hey, it wasn't my fault he had the audacity to pull my tail!"  They both ended up rolling in laughter.  That was a fond memory of happier times.  "Come on, we've got to get back to our feet before someone comes in here wondering what we're taking so long to do."   Akalia sat up, grabbing ahold of one of the rails to give herself better leverage.  She grabbed ahold of Andre's arm, giving him a helpful tug to his feet.

    "Yeah...  good times they were..."  Andre struck a pose, going for the mildly theatrical.  "What has happened to the merry times of yore, the days of bliss and dreaming for?"

    "Lost, then and now, days gone to memory, forevermore."  Akalia mournfully completed the cheery verse, popping the mood of the moment.  "If they were even as golden as we remember.  Those were desperate times, even among the beauty.  Enemies on all sides, even among the ship's crew."  Akalia turned to start walking towards the door, but stopped for a moment more.  "Perhaps, those days have returned, as our current times of trouble..."

    "Odd, how all the glitter goes away, when you put it like that.  Even though I was a toddler, then, I still think of it as good times, when I didn't have to watch my back at every turn."   Andre paused beside his mother.  "Perhaps I know why fate has called me to this spot, to this time.  I would never have had time to help then, but I have it now, and I'll fight to the bitter end."  Andre took a few more steps, wondering if his captain and mother would come.

    "I hope it never comes to that."  Akalia followed, keeping them moving slow so that they'd have time to talk.  "But, I also needed to talk to you about how this is going to work out."  They both knew exactly what was implied.  "It was hard enough with your father ordering me into harm's way.  He almost couldn't do it half the time.  I can't possibly try it with you."  Silence reigned for a moment.  "You're going to have to transfer to another ship."  Akalia kept her head cast down, not wanting to meet her son's eyes.

    Andre stopped, and turned back to his mother.  He measured his steps, coming up to her. He gently raised her chin, looking her in the eyes.  "You won't have to order me into harm's way.  Don't worry for my sake.  I can handle myself.  It will be hard, yes, but it can be done."  Andre smiled, putting his arm around his mother's shoulder.  "There is rarely coincidence.  Fate wants me here, like I've said.  And I won't argue with it.  Only fools try."  

    Akalia shook her head in worry for her son, picking her feet up again.  "You're so much like your father was, in the last days of the Great War.  He seemed to see fate's hand in everything, and he still ended up on the run."  She chuckled, in bittersweet mix.  "Yes, you are your father's son, even if you've hardly ever met him."  

    Andre nodded, the slow pace setting the tone.  "Hard to swallow, knowing that every night you hear tales of your lost father's exploits, and that you were never in them. I take it he's gotten himself in trouble again, and is on the run as he almost always has been?"  He sighed as the deck clanked under his boots.

    "Yep.  A highly wanted man."  Akalia stopped, and looked her son straight in the eye.  "Keep our relationship secret.  If knowladge of it fell into the wrong hands, we could likely be used as leverage against him, to force him into the open before he's ready to."

    Andre sighed, knowing that's exactly the kind of thing he would do.  "I suppose you've got a point.  But, no matter what you think, I'm staying put."

    "I had to try."  Akalia moved at a quicker pace to the doors.  "I know how to let go again son.  I had to do it once, and I could do it again if you wished to transfer to the Metamor or somesuch.  And I know that you can handle living without me.  You've been doing it for a while."  She kept her eyes on the floor, unwilling to look up again.  "I would hate my guts for a while, but I could do it.  It's in your blood to walk the difficult path, to go where angels will fear to tread."  She walked with her eyes closed for a bit, feeling the last memories of her golden age.

    "Then consider the whole thing behind us.  I'll remember to misplace my transfer request."  Andre gave his mother a playful slap on the back, just as the doors clanged open.  The two looked up, quickly pulling away, and putting their professional faces on for the newcomer.

    As it turned out, it was Melony, running in wildly, in a semi-panic.  "Captain, -wait, did I interrupt something?"  She looked between the two, who were quickly clearing their throats.

    "Er, no, not at all.  The captain and I were discussing a subject, and have already come to a resolution."  Andre tugged his uniform straight, re-establishing his brick wall look.  He whispered, low enough so that only Akalia, close by, could hear. "Finish this in your quarters, 18:00 FT."  He covered his tracks with a coughing fit.  "Ug, starship air can be bad for lungs that have spent a few years in dust."

    "Yes, chief.  You're dismissed."  Akalia began pacing to her protegee, watching her son head for the other exit of the room.  She had a itch to nag, one that had the name Melony.  "Lt., would you mind telling me why you're breaking into the rec deck when you should be over-seeing shuttle maintenance.  I would be most displeased if one  of my best shuttles broke down because you were trying to carouse up here."  Akalia honed in her iciest 'Captain Stare' in on her student, waiting for the answer.

    "Er, yeah, um..."  Melony withered slightly.  Akalia's stares were powerful things.  She twiddled her thumbs, knowing she was about to get run over.  "Well, I've been looking for you because there's a situation down in the engineering cargo bays.  Specific'ly, a riot."  Melony was quiet, but her voice conveyed the urgency.  That, and the fact she was cringing in preparation for a rebuke or hard knock.  "I think you'd most likely be required down there."

    "A situation?"  Andre looked back, not quite catching Melony's words.  "What kind of situation?"  He leaned over the far balcony, which edged the entire room.

    "I said a riot, from the sound of it!"  Melony shouted it, loud enough to hear on the deck below them.  

    "Oh, crap."  Andre and his captain looked at each other for a moment, then ran for the same door, near one of the main lifts.  

CSS Long Shot, Cargo Bay E1,  11:49 FT

    The cargo bay was ruled by chaos.  Security guards and marines in training alike were wading into the jostling crowd, trying to grab the instigators of the incident.  It wouldn't help too much in the long run, though, as the people had already reached a sort of critical mass, and were about ready to run rampant throughout the ship.  Of course, there was always the problem of trying to soothe 300 angry people in just one cargo bay that was designed for only cargo, or at most 20 people in a normal worst case scenario.  

    The people were... understandably annoyed.  And as Melony led her captain and the Marine chief along one of the 3 major catwalks along the room, things were rapidly getting worse.  Way worse.  Screaming began, some of the people beginning to not care, as long as they got to do whatever they wanted.

    "What in the name of everything that exists started this?"  Andre had to just about scream to make himself heard over the masses.  He looked down to see the crowd gathering, ready to break loose in a direction, and just plain ole' lynch someone, or something.  Andre had a good idea of what might have caused them to get angry, like being packed in like sardines, but he kept his mouth shut.  

    "How am I supposed to know?!  I was repairing one of the shuttles while it started!" Melony  had to hold her sensitive ears to her head to shut some of the noise out.  "I thought it was some of the new marines playing some crazy old last millineum sport or something at first!  When I went to get a part from the cargo bays, I found, well, this."  She was more than a little worried, and looked to Akalia for guidance.  

    The captain was stony faced, telling nothing of what she thought, and Melony decided she might as well go on.  "A few seconds after I arrived, some of the marine barged in, and carted me out of the way! It took me another hour to locate you guys, so it's not quite surprising that the departments didn't report in!"  She felt a hint of her voice going out from yelling so loud, but she kept up.  "What in the heck were you guys taking so long to talk about, anyway?!"

    "Older times!"  Akalia made a snap decision, as the crowd of refugees cheered at a marine getting forced out of the cargo bay.  "Besides, they've likely been busy!"  She ducked a shard of glass suddenly flying up, wincing as she saw a security office smack against one of the walls, clutching his head.  "We've got to isolate this before they get out!  I'd rather not use the intruder control system, but if we have no other choice, I'll go for it!"  

    Andre gave his mother a pointed look for a moment, before nodding.  He wasn't quite as willing as he was even an hour earlier to make the stonier decisions, but he would if he must.  "Maybe we can talk them out of it first, though!  Check for a local comm panel!  If they can see us facing them, the better our chances!"  He left out the rather grim 'of our surviving' off his advice.  Another bottle, likely smuggled aboard from the camp, shattered on the ceiling above the catwalk.  

    "Catwalk 1, portside!"  Melony pointed to a stack of crates against the wall, sidestepping a heavier object coming up from below.  She couldn't  make it out as it arced back down into the crowd on the other side of the walk, and realized the crowd had noticed them.  Her observation was borne out by a quick hail of projectiles from below against her location.  She ducked it, hiding behind a low line of crates against the side of the walk, which she had moved there earlier that day.  "Hurrying would be a great idea!  They definitely know we're up here!"

    Akalia nodded, breaking her cover, and running for the other side of the cargo bay.   She dodged the ever growing hailstorm of projectiles as she sprinted, jumping once or twice to vault over hastily abandoned equipment.  Right up until the riot, the cargo bay had been the site of intense shuffling by the engineering crews.  She stumbled for a second as an errant scanner someone had left on the main level was sent flying up to smack her in the side of the head.  

    It was all Andre could do to keep from growling as he whipped out his weapon, stunning the general area where it had come from.  He jumped to his feet, catching up with his mother, and positioning himself between her and the worse of the crowd.  "I've got you covered, move your poofy tail!"  He fired a few more shots as he tried to put cowboy diplomacy into action.  A few of the mobsters calmed down, frightened out of revolting, but a hardened few kept up their spirit.  That is, if you could call a intense desire to lynch someone spirit.

    Akalia dashed along the wall, taking the last few yard-spanning strides to the stack of crates.  She managed to shove them out of the way with a bit of help from Andre, and a few tricks of her own.  She fiddled with its controls for a few moments, setting it to broadcast to every cargo deck at maximum power, to forstall any further obnoxiousness.  She nodded to Andre and Melony, and mimed covering their ears.  "Gonna be loud." she mouthed, making it beyond doubt.

    Andre nodded, and cuddled with Melony, covering their heads for the blast to come.  Projectiles bounced off the wall, clanging and raising havoc, making the mob think they were being attacked from above, and exasperating the situation.  Akalia ducked into the nook between the moved crates and the wall, taking a deep breath.  Richson had always said that her bellows shook stars.

    "Listen up, you malcontent dirtbags!"  Akalia's voice seemed to rattle the entire ship, and definately popping a couple of bolts out of the bulkheads as her voice reverberated throughout the deck's ceiling speakers.  The mob was shocked into silence, or likely stunned.  "The Alliance saved your hides from a lifetime of undeserved forced labor, and eventual death at the hands of the Ohansu, and THIS is how you repay us?  We did it out of the goodness of our hearts, since we didn't even know you were alive when we started this crazy venture!"  Akalia peeked around her protective crate-stack, looking at the crowd.

    They had all shut up, looking up, and staring around after being so assaulted by sound as to just about follow anything Akalia said.  Some of them were even cowering in terror, surpised by Akalia's verbal ferocity.  

    "We came all this way, picked you all up from squallid conditions, and you riot!  Sure, we don't have the best facilities for you yet, but we were unprepared!"  Akalia stepped out boldly, prepared to deal from a position of power.  "You just got the ultimate lucky break, and here you are, trying to kill your saviors!  You should be ashamed of yourselves!"

    "We didn't ask to be saved, we didn't want to be saved!"  Some fool had opened his mouth without thinking, likely one of the ones who had started the riot in the firstplace.  But, it was a sentiment of all of them, as the crowd began to murmur once more, getting ready to break into a riotous frenzy again.  Security officers quickly moved in, but the damage had been done.   

    "Yeah!  Now that we're associated with you and your blasted Alliance, we'll be executed!  We could have lived, but thanks to you, we're all doomed!"  Another screamed forth, trying to match Akalia's volume.  "You fools can't stand up to them, they're too strong!"  Andre shut the fool up with a well-placed shot, shocking the near-mob into silence.

    "Shut up!  Shut up, and let the captain talk, you fools!"  Andre stood up, tired of the prattle.  "You cowards would walk to your death!  The Empire may be strong, but it is not invincible!"  A small minority in the back, likely some of Andre's rag-tag insurgents, cheered at his shout.

    "He's right!"  Akalia stood over the crowd of fools, making her tone like one an avenging angel would use.  "Who says you would stay alive in their service!?  The Ohansu would have likely executed you anyway, when they felt your usefulness was at an end!  And judging from the poor health of most of you, that likely would have been very soon!"  She paused, to let her words sink in.

    "Have you forgotten your past!?  It has been seen so many times before!  They promise you good care, and the instant you can no longer work, they execute you!  The Nazis, the Gradul, the Canis, it's always been that way!"  She had worked herself into a foaming at the mouth tirade, intent on getting the mob to join the Alliance in more than just paper numbers.  "Have you really sunk so low as to willing bow to these scum!?"

    The group in the back booed out ,"No!", giving the crowd a severe reality check.  They looked at each other, seeing a hint of the truth.  At the least, their pride was damaged by the scathing remark, almost left in tatters.

    "Were you really ready to live in slavery for the rest of your lives?! To work for just a few more miserable, pain-wracked days!?"  Akalia spit on the catwalk, angered beyond all belief as she looked at the nervous crowd.   Their lack of will, while understandable, disgusted her.  "You're even bigger fools than anyone imagined!  The Ohansu can be defeated!  The Alliance has hurt them badly!  We've routed one of their supposedly invincible

 battle-fleets!  They stood against us, and when we held firm, they broke like a bad porcelain dish!"

    A few in the crowd cheered slightly at that, but others were not convinced.  "If you are so powerful, then why are you still out here?   Why haven't you taken back Earth!?"  The angry person was smacked upside the head by one of his neighboors, who were converts of Akalia's speech.   The truth was impressive, but not overwhelming.

    "Because the Alliance is not quite ready!"  Akalia didn't like to admit it, but it was true.  Even with the awesome firepower of the fleet, nearly as much as all of the old starfleet with the city-ships, it still was insignificant next to the galaxy-spanning fleet of the Ohansu.  "We are fighting a guerrilla

 war for the moment!  In time, yes, we will be ready. A very short time!  We resist in every way we can, we strike whenever and wherever we can!  Carefully, yes; a bit cowardly, yes, we are that as well, with reason."  

    The crowd looked at each other conceitedly, a little worried that she had conceded a small point, but still smugly pleased with themselves.  Their pleasure did not last too much longer though.  Their shouts began to start up again, ready to duke it out in a battle of wills.

    "You may not like it, but we will fight, and win!"  Akalia's voice slammed the crowd down.  It was louder than many of the 'neo' rock concerts she had heard over the years, and often they had to be spectated on from 3 miles away. Likely, the crowd was not being silent from seeing her point of view, but from the fact that they were loosing their hearing.  "This is your fight now, too!  We are all in this together, and it is the height of stupidity to continue in this pointless tug-of-wills!"  She paused for a moment, letting her final say sink into the people.  After a few moments of blessed silence, she went on.  "Now, if any of you have legitimate,"   She drew out the word, making well sure the people knew exactly what she meant.  With all the cargo holds hearing her talk, things were being nipped in the bud, "complaints, voice them now or hold your tounge!"

    The crowd looked at each other long enough that Akalia was about to stalk off before they opened up their barrage.  "We need better beds!"  One of them managed to make himself known over the rest of the shouting.  "The sanitary conditions are worse than that gulag!" Another had found the courage to go above the rest, even though people around him looked cross-wise.  "A little privacy would be nice!  I've had 3 people on me for the past day!"  

    Andre leaned over the rail, holding off further shouting.  "Whoa, whoa!   We hear you!  We apologize for the rather sorry conditions, but we had to get you up here as soon as possible! We didn't know if a main Ohansu fleet was going to show up, so we didn't take any chances!"  Andre bowed, apologetic in truth.  He kept himself in full view of the crowd, trying to make himself heard.  "But, if you can remain in good behavior, you will be free to roam any non-restricted section of the ship, provided you don't interfer with ship's functions too much!"

    Akalia growled for a moment, keeping it low enough so she wouldn't be heard over the intercom, but kept her eyes on her son.  Somehow, he was making himself heard all across the cavernous room, without an intercom.  She kept her mouth shut for a bit longer, knowing he could clear up some of the problems.  She just hoped he wasn't about to do anything stupid.

    "That means you can visit the lounges, and get some good food topside!"  Andre knew how to appeal to these people.  He had been forced to put up with the gruel the Ohansu called rations longer than many of the other refugees, and he himself was in the mood for a long-deserved good meal, along with some fun.  The people cheered in a subdued manner, getting something they hadn't dreamed for, but not what they had wanted.  

    "Plus, your sanitary and privacy problems should be solved soon as well.  I know the engineers are complaining about you guys being down here as much as yourselves!" Andre knew he was likely to get in trouble with his next promise, but he intented to finish this up with no more violence.  "So, currently a crew of engineers is working on refitting the seldom-used Saucer cargo bays to accomodate you better than these drafty decks down here!"  Andre got a huge cheer from them, many of the crowd hoping for something like that.

    Akalia could only tremble slightly in a smoldering rage, as her nose and ear-linings slowly turned maroon.  Melony, in the meantime, had a good idea of who the chief of the engineering team was going to be.  Namely her.  Andre gulped as he heard the slow rumbling behind him, knowing he was going to be in the fry-pan come later that day.

    "Why the saucer bays?  The forward 4 engineering bays will do just fine.  They might get a bit crowded for a while, but it'll ease up when some of them are transferred to other ships, and to the new city-ship we were bothering to steal all this stuff for anyway!"  Akalia was not happy with the new development.  She had no intention of moving them up to the saucer section.  If she did, the next thing she knew, they'd all be jumping onto the bridge, regulation or not, and asking for judgement on this, judgement on that, and she'd end up throwing them all out an airlock.

    Andre put an aside in to Akalia for a moment, to give her one or two explanations.  "They'll be closer to the marines, and, they'll be away from the engines.  I'd rather get annoyed than have them milling about near the intermix."  He cleared his throat, speaking out loud again.  "Don't worry folks, the captain is just having a little fit."  Akalia intended to bend him over her knee for that one, along with a few other choice punishments. "You'll get moved, and away from the engines!  The privacy will still be a bit of an issue, but you'll be able to rest in better comfort, one way or another!"

    "You had better!"  The crowd had a new cause to riot to, and Akalia was not happy about it.

    "Fine!  I'l conceed the saucer cargo bays!"  Akalia was in no mood to put down another riot anymore, and intended to end the contest with as little strife as she could manage.  "The engineering crews will be on it by the time lunch comes in!"  Akalia got a withering look from Melony on that count.  The kid was not happy about further work.  Akalia intended to get as many of the refugees off her ship as possible though.  The Long Shot was a warship, not a passenger yacht.  "If any of you want less crowded accomodations, you should got to the Academy on the Metamor!"

    The crowd milled quietly, at last satisfied.  Their hope for a future was restored, even if it was only a fool's hope.  They all looked at each other, as if only seeing their companions for the first time.

    Melony turned to Andre as her captain shut down the comm system.  "You're not getting me to refit those cargo bays.  I've got enough work as is.  The fleet is scheduled for another run down to the planet in a few minutes, and I've got to be ready."  She gave the older Chief a look that would blow a planet apart, but he stayed cool.

    The three steamed out of the cargo bay, annoyed at each other's responses to the situation.  The captain was the most annoyed of all, and rather surprised that her officers had disagreed with her to the point of forcing her hand.  Meanwhile, the other two were slowing coming to a boil.

    "Not my department.  I did what I had to do to keep the peace.  Plus, I would have figured you would jump for joy at a chance to be rid of these refugees."  Andre had acid in his own voice, knowing that he was going to be getting grief for the next couple of days.

    "Sure, they've been hassles, and I've had trouble getting to parts once or twice, but I'm not going to over-burden myself on some fool's idea!"  Melony was getting annoyed in the extreme.  She had expected him to take responsibility for his idea and do it himself, even though she'd have to go back in a couple of weeks and fix it.

    "Fool?"  He was pissed, his tone fire.  Andre slapped Melony upside her muzzle, snapping to the moment.  He stopped for a moment, suprised he had actually done it.  At least until Melony slapped him back.  They dove at each other, starting up their own mini-riot in the corridor.  It could almost be called a fox-fight, with the two of them slapping each other silly on the floor, among just general making fools of themselves.

    Akalia grabbed Melony by the scruff of her mane, and kicked Andre off her.  "Enough, the both of you!  Since you both don't want the project, you can work on it together, and learn to get along, or so help me I'll-"  She cut herself off, about ready to go ahead and stuff each of them in a torpedo casing for a few hours.  "I blame both of you for this!"

    "What?"  Andre looked mortified, and Melony understandably pissed, but both of them shut up for a few moments.  Andre continued, hoping to lessen whatever punishment he was about to get.  "Look, relax.  I'll be making sure that they don't get anywhere near the bridge for you.  Plus, if they're happy, they cause less trouble."  Andre calmed himself, looking steady at his mother.

    "Besides, it's not like we've used those bays so far, and according to the ship's logs, you've only ever used them for refugees anyway."  Melony gave a smug look, which Akalia did not like one bit.  The kid was learning a bit too much, perhaps.  She was certainly looking way too deep into the ship's history for Akalia's sake, anyway.

    "Move it, either way.  Since Andre has connived us into doing this, we might as well hurry up about it."   She gave her son another metal-melting look.  "Get whatever you need, and whoever you need, and get to work.  I'd prefer that you left as many engineers at their posts as possible."

    "Got it."  Melony was a bit more verbal than Andre; who had merely nodded his head.  As the two walked out, Akalia grabbed her son by the arm.

    "Don't think you're going to get off easy.  We may be back together for less than a day, but I'm still going to hold you up to the family standards already. "  She looked closely into his eyes.  "You had better keep them out of my hair, or else."

    "Aye m'am, yes m'am, just doing my job m'am."  Andre chuckled slightly as they entered the hall, trying to lighten the mood.

    "One problem.  Wrong job."

CSS Long Shot; Captain's Quarters; 18:00 FT

    Andre beeped the doorbell again, waiting for a response.  He had the internal scanners running, and they said someone was inside, but why wouldn't his mother answer the door...  

    "Ug...  Figures that she'd do something like this.  She has reason though..." Andre paced, hoping that he wouldn't have to wait too long.  He pressed her doorbell several times more in rapid succession, getting a cross look on his face.  "Open up."  He started pressing it rapidly, the pinging making some of the passing refugees and crew look at him oddly.  "What in heck are you doing?!"  He finally held down the button, nearly overloading the chime with a solid ring.

    "Chief!"  Akalia's bark scared the living heck out of Andre, turning him around.  His captain stood in the corridor behind him.  "I was coming as fast as I could, I was held up.  You could have asked the computer where I was.  Plus, you have no reason to burn out my door-bell like that."  She put on an air of feeling hurt. Of course, she broke it a few seconds later with a grin a mile wide.  "Ah, I'm just joking, just let me over so I can unlock it."

    Andre just stood there, stunned.  "Wait, if you're out here, who's the one inside that I've been waiting on to open the door?" He jumped out of the way so that Akalia could open the lock.  They both were wide-eyed, grabbing weapons from their belts.  "Computer!  Lockdown the captain's quarters!  Activate anti-beaming shields in this section, and sound an intruder alert!"

    Akalia slammed her door open, to find...  an empty room.  Things were torn apart, as if someone had been looking.  Looking for something desperately needed, and important.  "Dagnabit.  Your blasted doorbell shrieking let him know we were coming."  Akalia moved into her room, moving through the ruckus of tossed things with a purpose.  "I just hope whoever it was wasn't after i-"  The door on one of her secret vaults was open, its content somewhat hidden under the foot of her bed, and the strewn covers for it.

    "Oh..."  Andre put every ounce of himself into keeping his frayed nerves intact.  His father's fabled staff was safe.  "Thank goodness.  They must have grabbed it, but then my ringing must have panicked them and they lost it.  I think..."  He stepped over the vault, moving to pick up the staff's compressed hilt.  His heart almost seemed to thunder in his chest as he moved, bending down to take it in hand.

    Akalia stepped between him and the staff, grabbing it up.  "Its likely best if it remains in the hands of those who know how to handle it."  She stuffed it's retracted form up the back of her uniform shirt, into the holster she had sown in.  "That little bauble has caused more heartache to the family than has need been.  I think it likely needs to stay in the hands of this old fogie."

    "If you say so..."  Andre had an odd glint in his eye, but he wisely decided to keep his mouth shut on further questioning into the subject.  He had heard the tales of what had been done during his long sleep with his staff.  Supposedly, it had even broken one of the mighty Citadels, though it seemed unlikely.  The truth was powerful enough without such exaggerations.

    Akalia finally jumped to her son, hugging him tight.  The two held each other for a moment, before Akalia let go.  "Oh, one thing I need to do."  She proceeded to all-out smack Andre across the face.  

    "What in the-  wait, nevermind.  It was over the refugee issue, right?"  Andre gingerly touched the side of his face as he sat down in his mother's small dining room/living room.  When Akalia nodded, he let his heart do the talking.  "I did what was right.  It was one of those moments that you can't just sit back for and wait to consult your superiors."  At his captain's slight frown, he simply shook his head, and continued.  He was pouring out his entire mind.  "I did what I could to preserve the peace aboard.  It had to be a snap decision.  They were wavering slightly, and could have burst back into full-scale rioting.  I'm sure you've seen all too often what happens when a riot breaks out aboard a ship."

    Akalia nodded at last.  "Yes.   I've heard men's screams, when they've realized that they just condemned themselves to a firey death."  She shook her head, leaning on her counter.  "It still does not excuse the fact that you acted without permission.  Talking to me would have taken only a second.  A starship captain a million lightyears away from fleet command is one thing, but you were standing less than 3 yards away." She absentmindedly pulled the one picture she had of herself, Andre, and Lanson together. "But, let's take care of that issue in the briefing on the issue later."

    "Agreed."  Andre leaned back into the chair, sighing ever so slightly.  "So, tell me some of the details you missed when you gave me that summary of the years.  It was long, but the years are long enough to force you to squeeze most of it down to little this happened, or that happened, yadda-yadda-yadda, saved the universe again."  The pair chuckled at the thought of at least one log entry that had been that.  Andre gave his mother an amused look as he waited for her to pull her thoughts together.

    "Perhaps you'd like an explaination of the earliest days of the conflict?  A telling of the years that brought me and your father together?"  Akalia grabbed a few memory chips that had been spilled by the luckless intruder, tossing them on her table.

    "It's always interesting to find out what madness brought one's parents together."  Andre and Akalia got a good laugh out of that one.

CSS Metamor; Main Bridge; January 5; 12:00 FT

    High noon, the time of duels, and epic combat.  The fleet had brought all it's crew aboard for an awaited day of celebrating their victory, of celebrating life.  Perhaps it might have gone down as a major holiday one day, but for a coming trouble.  

    The crew of the Metamor were busy, squirreling away their loot, ill-gotten gains, and general mayhem provided supplies.  The refugees of the fleet were sitting in the commons and parks of the city-ships, and the lounges of the smaller parts of the fleet, looking down on their one-time home, through windows and viewscreens.  Everything seemed to have gone smoothly, perhaps, too smoothly. Of course, not everyone was having a good time...

    "Admiral, the last of this latest landing of cargo is secure in the bays."  The aide provided Admiral Davison with the latest supply and cargo figures.  "We've got enough structural metal to lay the keel of the next city-ship, when we get back.  Provided we can bring it up to specifications;  the Ohansu seem to not care what grade of metal they use in their construction."  The aide stepped back, weaving around the Operations Station and it's occupant.  "That one building that Chief Andre pointed out has still not been penetrated.  We haven't been able to breach the small shield it's put up yet."

    "Expected.  We'll probably be leaving by the end of the week, so that I can keep that blasted council from taking me out of the loop."  Davison looked over the figures briefly, before tossing the pad back to the aide, over the head of his operations officer.  "At least we know a lot about the Ohansu we didn't, and finally proved that we're superior in ground operations."  At that the entire bridge crew chuckled slightly, agreeing with their leader.  

    "Oh, and the day's activities are continuing without any major riots.  It's odd really, how little crime there has been since we set out."  The aide compared a few pads, before starting to shuffle off.  He had done what he needed to do, and needed to compile other paperwork.

    "Shell-shock.  Give the people a year or so, and it'll return to normal.  They're still wondering how in the blazes they got into this mess."  Davison stood, slowly moving to the helm station, watching the skies.  "But, no matter what, we've done what we set out to do here, and gotten more than what we bargained for, on our side's advantage."  Davison watched the frigates darting about between their larger cousins.  "Keep the guns and the transwarp drive hot though."  He could feel a hammer blow coming, but from where...

    "Mind telling us why you're so worried?  The enemy can't possibly know we hold Kalida.  The defense forces never got a signal off.  If a ship does show up, it'll likely be a supply ship coming in to drop something off, and pick up raw material for transport out."  The tactical officer watched as Davison paced around the helm station, nervous about the ship's luck.

    "Complacency is what destroyed the federation.  I will not make that mistake myself.  I will not let the last bastions of freedom fall like it did."  He harrumphed at the thought.  "Better to be able to shoot an incoming ship down in a second, than let it get away.  Plus, there's always the chance a fleet might decide to drop in for a visit...."  Davison paused for a beat, intending to let his words sink in.  He was quickly walking back to his post.

    Fate, however, decided to fill in the gap for him.  In bold, italicized  letters in a font size bigger than the last flaming message of god.  They may not have been the standard ships of the Ohansu fleet, but they were the worst possible thing that could have gone wrong.  And they were far worse than that.  

    Davison vaulted on and off the top of the Operations station as the alarms suddenly rang, slamming into his seat.  He looked up into his portside status display screen, to see the ominously familiar broad arrowheads, their dangerous familiarity screaming across his mind.  He watched for a few nano-seconds as more of the infamous fleet slowly began dropping out of warp, and moving over the planatary horizon, ready to pick up on a long forgotten war.

    "Dear mother of god...  it's them!"  The admiral's terrified shout had the operators of every station wide-eyed and focused solely on him.  "Red alert!  I knew someone would come!  Coordinate with the other city-ships, get us somewhere, anywhere but here!"  He was frantic, knowing the power of the fleet as it approached weapons range, and knowing that they had been hiding for a long time, and must have new weapons to bear upon the Alliance.  

    The helmsman hit a button, activating a pre-set course, and relaying it throughout the fleet.   "Course set, engaging transwarp drive!"  The Metamor's mighty engines groaned as the ship plowed through space fast enough for it's impulse drive to leave plasma streamers in it's wake.  The Alliance fleet was gone in seconds as the new-comers approached.

    Davison had been right to escape.  The fleet was death's own, and everyone was about to find out the true nature of the dark forces...

TBC.....

(Dum-dummmm-dum-dom-da-dum; dom-da-dum....)