us without weapons fire, or survive an attack without shields… that’s not deviousness. That’s suicidal.”
“Then, with the backing of Starfleet, whose orders I’m following, I’m going to oblige him.”
“Sir,” and she stood, leaning on the conn chair as if she required the extra support. Then she turned and addressed Jellico rather than Kemper. “Admiral, if being able to think straight is a determining factor in appraising conduct, then you should be aware that Commodore Kemper and Captain Calhoun have their own history that may well be serving to direct the way that the Commodore is—”
“Belay that, Detwiler, and sit the hell down!” Kemper fairly shouted.
Her jaw twitched as if she wanted to say more, but she did as ordered.
It was too late. Recollection flooded through Jellico’s mind. “My God, of course. I’d forgotten all about that; it was a lifetime ago. Calhoun broke your jaw.”
“If you’re determined to reminisce about the old days when you were dean of the Academy, Admiral, then I assume you’ll remember that I took full responsibility for a subsequent altercation. The events of decades ago,” and he fired an angry look at Detwiler, “are not in any way having an impact on my actions now. And may I further remind you that the chain of command exists for a reason: to distance decisions from the sorts of emotions that you’re obviously displaying now and that you’re accusing me of allowing to impact my judgment. My orders are specific, and so is General Order Twelve. They are not communicating with us and we have to assume them to be hostile. And I’m going to do my duty, and if there is anyone on this bridge,” and he turned and glared at the whole of his command crew, “who wants to try and countermand that, then they can consider themselves relieved of duty! I do not get to question Starfleet officers, and neither does the Admiral, particularly when we’re fulfilling a mission that comes from the highest levels!”
“Sir,” said Hopkins, looking extremely uncomfortable, “permission to warn them that they’re about to be fired upon.”
Kemper turned and was ready to dismiss the notion out of hand. But then he saw the way that Detwiler was looking at him, and what killed him most was the disappointment that he saw in her eyes.
“Open a channel,” he said tersely. Hopkins immediately did so and Kemper strode toward the viewscreen as if that would enable the Excalibur to see him better. “Excalibur,” he said briskly. “This is Commodore Kemper of the Dauntless. You have been targeted and my orders are to destroy you on sight. You have sixty seconds from my mark to establish communications or we will carry out our orders. Mark.” He turned and said defiantly to Jellico, “I’ve given them their window of opportunity. If they don’t respond, or they so much as look funny in our direction, I’ll blow them to hell.”
U.S.S. Excalibur
Deaf and dumb although mercifully not blind, the Excalibur had no way of hearing Kemper’s warning or knowing that they were on a deadline.
That didn’t mean that they were unaware of their impending peril.
As the starship loomed on their screen, Tania Tobias said, “They’re going to start shooting.”
“How do you know?” said Burgoyne. “Other than that we’re the Excalibur, which means that everybody starts shooting at us sooner or later.”
“I know. I just… know,” she said.
“Of course you do,” and Burgoyne rolled hir eyes. “Because it wouldn’t be right to have a conn officer who wasn’t somehow strange.”
“Word is out throughout the entirety of Starfleet,” said Xy. “They’re probably as eager to shoot at us as anyone else.”
“I don’t want to tell you how to run your ship,” said Seven, “but you might want to consider a little less talking and a little more figuring out how to have them not start firing at us.”
“Soleta,” said the Doctor quickly. “Her vessel is fully operational. She could return to it and explain the situation—”
“Assuming she even has some sort of transportation recall device that would enable her to get back to her ship,” said Burgoyne, “she’s crawling around a Jeffries tube on deck fourteen.”
“We’re running out of time,” and Tania’s body was practically vibrating. “I know it… I know it…”
“Kebron! Do we have any communications capabilities at all!” asked Burgoyne.
“Nothing.” Kebron looked ready to put his fist through his board. “Not a thing.”
“We need some way to signal them,” said Burgoyne.
Kebron said, “We could all climb out onto the saucer section and form the word ‘help’