Thy Kingdom Come Part I: Fuel For Feeding The End

[Craven 0]

Oh God, this can't be happening.

 

Jack Craven had never been a man of strong faith. As a scientist all his life, it seemed illogical. But from the first day he'd set foot on the decks of the USS-Excalibur, faith it seemed, was now totally relevant.

 

Now, leaned up against the bulkhead in the tiny washroom of his cramped junior officer's quarters, feet curled up on the floor, faith was all he could think about. All the lights in his quarters were dimmed, and he saw nothing but the horrors that danced around his mind. Faint white figured painted his dreams, and visions of all his heroes looked down upon him in the dank dwellings of his imagination.

 

His uniform reeked of sweat and vomit - the pressure causing him to lose more than his appetite.

On the deck about a metre away from him lay a PADD he had thrown against the bulkhead minutes earlier, before retreating to the toilet for another bout of nausea. And for some reason, which had not even entered his mind in the disaster state it was presently in, the automatic sink faucet was continuing to flow - even though his hands were a half meter away, on the floor, covering his face.

 

I want you to report to Lieutenant Sheng-Ji Marish...

 

I want you to build a weapon....

 

Congratulations, you've been promoted to Chief Science Officer.....

 

Build a weapon....

 

Corizon's words rang through his ears like a thousand clock tower bells in the Earth cities of old. He remembered walking into his office to find the Dameon, Sheng-Ji...reading a screen full of schematics to the weapon. He remembered not really understanding how it operated, or what the weapon even did.

 

It goes boom...

 

Those were Sheng-Ji's words....Boom. How he wished he were still in his ignorant state. How he wished that all this weapon did was simply go....boom.

 

He stretched out his arms and grabbed the PADD off the floor, rapping it against his leg until it flickered to life, illuminating his face with its characteristic yellow-orange luminescent glow. On it scrolled a wealth of information - classified information - on the weapon.

 

Examining it with shaking hands, it was clear to him now why he had not understood the schematics earlier. When Craven first examined Sheng-Ji's schematics, he did so expecting them to be exactly that: basic Starfleet Weapon Design Schematics. However, any first year Cadet could tell that these were not classic Starfleet design. They weren't even reminiscent of any Federation Designs, yet the Starfleet emblem adorning the "Classified" Security Seal markings at the top ensured that indeed these schematics were of Starfleet origin. For what seemed like the one hundredth time that day, Craven reread the document.

 

=/\=Classified=/\=

Starfleet Intelligence

Security Code Confirmed

Craven, Jackson Apollo

21009539, Code Craven-Alpha-Zero-Nine

 

"MERLIN" advanced Subspace Delivery System Schematics: EYES ONLY.

 

Per Unit

100Kg Trilithium resin [Weapons Grade]

60Kg Deuterium [High Grade]

1 Standard Quantum Torpedo Housing [With attached Modifications]

Attached Quantum Torpedo In-housing [Read attached for assembly and gutting instructions]

3 Subspace Proximity Detonators

2 Modified Gravimetric Charges [see attachment for modifications]

1 Matter-Antimatter Apparatus Class III-Gamma [see attachment for modifications]

[The list goes on...]

Suddenly feeling another rush of nausea, Craven threw the PADD against the bulkhead and into the still filling sink as he scrambled for the toilet and lurched over as he felt the rush of blood to his head and the capillaries bursting below his eyelids, caused by the asphyxiation effect of vomiting.

Leaning back against the bulkhead he wiped his brow, before wiping off his mouth.

"Build me a weapon" he thought. A subspace weapon....an illegal weapon.

As he lay there cold and shaking, the PADD flickered out once more, the last words it would show before going dark, was the post-script at the end of the document:

 

....your orders Mister Craven, are to use your advanced knowledge of Cybernetics and Positronic Systems to develop a guidance system for this weapon, and complete its construction. I have full faith in your abilities

 

Your Friend

Admiral Nicholas Cromwell

Starfleet Command

The name at the bottom....Admiral Nicholas Cromwell...was the straw that broke the camel's back. This was the man whom Craven had confided in as his mentor while at Starfleet Academy...back when he was still Commander Nicholas Cromwell...he would never do this to him on purpose...would he? No, the Admiral couldn't have sent these orders unless they were done so prior to the seizure of the wormhole....

 

Did that mean they were sent before the Scorpiads attacked? Starfleet was planning on using him to develop an illegal weapon as a fall back? In-case something happened?

 

No...he wouldn't have....he told me he didn't even know I was on Excalibur until he talked with...

His eyes suddenly opened wide.

 

Until he talked with

 

Captain Corizon....

 

Oh God, this can't be happening.