Covert Mission 3 - Log 5

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate May 25, 2161)

 

The shield technology had been installed on the Columbia, and John and Shrav had been teaching the nuances of adjusting them to the chief engineer of the Columbia, Lieutenant Commander Jerry Omen. To Randall's pleasant surprise, Omen had picked up the technology faster than John had expected. Omen was actually able to show Captain Sherman a few things that he had picked up. Randall thought to himself, 'The shield technology is in good hands with this man.'

 

A few hours later, after everyone had gotten some sleep, Starfleet sent new orders to the starship; a fleet of Allied ships had encountered some Romulan vessels near Rigel X, and the Columbia was to go to their aid, along with the Excalibur, Constitution, and the Lexington. The captain assembled the crew in the cafeteria and gave them the news. He then put the ship on red alert, and ordered the helmsman to set a course for Rigel X.

 

The starships from Earth arrived at the planet in just a few hours, and short range scans indicated a battle taking place in nearby space. The ships set sail for the battle, and arrived a few moments later. The fighting intensified as the starships joined the fray. Columbia manuvered itself into the point position, and the Romulans received quite a shock as the disruptor beams from their warbirds bounced off the newly installed shields of the starship.

 

Seeing the Earth vessel equipped with shields, three Andorian vessels manuvered themselves closer to the Columbia. Striking a diamond formation, the four shielded ships made it easier for the other vessels to fire upon the warbirds, and suddenly the tide of battle changed. The Romulans began taking heavy damage as their shields absorbed so much punishment that they finally weakened and failed; the Allied ships then stepped up the attack.

 

But then, a single warbird peeled off from the others, and fired a torpedo at the diamond formation. The explosion was massive as the torpedo collided with an Andorian vessel, who instantly lost its shields and suffered a major hull breach on its port side. On board the Columbia, Sherman leaped from his captain's chair, and stared at the viewscreen in shock. "Lieutenant Edwards, what the hell was that?!" he roared. From her navigation station, Sara quickly ran a scan of space where the Andorian vessel was now incapacitated.

 

Her eyes widened as the report came in. "Captain, I don't know where or how they came up with it, but the Romulans used a quantum torpedo," she said, and every eye on the bridge snapped to her. Sherman looked at her in disbelief. "Did you say a quantum torpedo?" he asked softly, and Edwards nodded. "What the hell is that?" said the captain. Edwards said, "It's a new kind of energy that's only recently been discovered by Starfleet scientists, sir. I didn't know, and there was no one who did, that the Romulans knew anything about that."

 

The captain frowned. "Well, we're in for it now," he said, and just then a titantic explosion rocked the Columbia. People went flying across the bridge. The captain was hurled straight backward, and slid across the floor to collide with the console in the rear of the bridge. Sara was snapped straight back in her chair, and her head collided with the wall in back of her. She lay on the deck, unmoving.

 

Sherman struggled to his feet, and slowly made his way back to his chair. "Report," he said weakly, but no one answered. He looked around the bridge, seeing the crew in various states of disarray, then he spotted Edwards. With a sick feeling in his stomach, he made his way to her. He knelt down beside her, and put his fingers to the side of her neck.

 

There was no pulse.

 

The captain bowed his head, and suddenly the turbolift door opened. He looked up to see strange green-colored humanoid beings enter his bridge, and all were armed with weapons of some type. The one who seemed to be the leader spotted him and raised his weapon. He spoke into a silver tube hanging from his neck. "Do not move," he said. "You are our prisoner. Any attempt to resist us will result in your death. Stand up and move here," he indicated by moving his weapon. Sherman scowled at the being, but obeyed. The leader turned to the others with him and said something in a strange language. The other humanoids instantly left the bridge, striding back into the turbolift.

 

The leader again gestured with his weapon, and Sherman moved toward the turbolift as well. He suddenly spun and launched himself at the humanoid. They struggled for a few moments, bouncing off stations all over the bridge, then Sherman was knocked backward against the helm. As he struggled to stand, a green beam erupted from the weapon the Romulan was carrying, and the captain of the Columbia was vaporized on the spot. The leader frowned, mumbled, "Human fool," then spun and walked to the turbolift. He entered the car, and left the bridge.

 

 

*****************************************************

 

 

In engineering, things weren't much better. Crew lay everywhere with various sorts of injuries. John slowly picked himself up from where he had been flung against the wall just in time to the see the door open and a band of Romulans enter the room. They instantly leveled disruptors at him, and he froze on the spot. One came over to him and confiscated his phaser, stepping quickly back.

 

The Romulans kept their weapons trained on him until another one stepped into the room. He surveyed the scene, then looked at John. "Ah, a human that is not so damaged," he said. "Good. What is your name and rank?" John just stared at the Romulan, his eyes turning ice-blue. His captor scowled and delivered a backhand to Randall's face. John rolled with the blow and scowled at the Romulan, who lifted his eyebrows in surprise.

 

"Remarkable," he said. "You are resilient for a human. This is good. You will be our prisoner, and you will tell us about your technology." "And you will tell me about yours," spat Randall, and the Romulan was taken aback. "You are not afraid of me," he said in wonder. "I'm not afraid of any of you green-skinned bastards," John replied with venom in his voice. The Romulan regarded him thoughtfully for a few seconds, then said, "I think you have been among my kind before, hm?" John said nothing, glaring at him.

 

"Well, we shall soon see. I think you will resist us, and that will make it more of a challenge," said the Romulan. "One which I shall enjoy," and he smiled an oily smile, which infuriated the engineer from the Challenger. "Take him to the shuttlepod, I will join you shortly," ordered the Romulan. John was grabbed by two of the others, and taken from engineering. The Romulan walked around the room for a few moments, his eyes taking in everything. He ascended the catwalk and stood staring at the operations console for a few moments. He then nodded and descended from the catwalk, stepping over to the door. He exited engineering and made his way to the shuttlepod.

 

Of the crew of 85 which had been aboard the Columbia, only six survived, and they were all prisoners of the Romulans. John sat staring straight ahead as the Romulan shuttlepod made its way back to its mother ship. He knew what was coming, and prepared his mind for a long battle. No matter what, he could not give up any secrets, especially that he was from the future. His face was grim as the Romulan shuttlepod landed in the bay of the warbird.

 

END LOG