Face the Enemy

Posted on Sat Sep 19th, 2020 @ 10:02am by Lieutenant Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell

Mission: Welcome Aboard!
Location: USS Liberty
Timeline: Current

Face the Enemy
https://youtu.be/QPWyzR44Kvk

She picked up a tricorder and left engineering. Along the way she contacted security and made sure they were in place for when she arrived. She also asked if his ship was still in the bay to which they answered a solid yes ma’am. The turbo lift ride was short, but just long enough for her to recall certain details. Some made sense, others did not and answers for what confused her were few.

She nodded to the punctual security team as she entered the main bay. They followed her lead into the bay. The room was mostly clear of personnel where only a half hour earlier it had been busy with workers. They were good. Everything looked brand new.

Bonnie opened her tricorder and began scanning, she knew it was here somewhere. As she waved it here and there she began mapping the source of the distortion. It wasn’t coming from the walls, the floors or the ceiling. Ultimately she traced the source, her tricorder pinging and chirping, to a console that sat right next to a very familiar ship.

She looked up at the Orion Interceptor, her hatch still hanging open, a man inside with whom Bonnie had come to trust and possibly care for. The last twenty four hours had been a whirlwind of misfortune but he was there, a Yang to her Yin, an Asha to her Druj, a Heads to her Tails.

She scanned the console. The distortion was high. Upon visual inspection she traced an unfamiliar wire around to the back and into the access panel. There shoved carelessly into the panel was a small square box she suspected was doing three things. Causing a power drain on the warp core, siphoning the system backups and waiting for someone to conveniently retrieve it.

Bonnie motioned for the security team to step back, which they did. Then she ripped the box from the console housing, effectively disconnecting it. Suddenly the power throughout the ship returned to a normal working state. She tapped her comms badge, “Computer run diagnostic on the warp core for any abnormal power draws.”

Instantly the reply came, “There are no negative power drains on the warp core at this time.”

Bonnie tapped her badge again. “Lt. Durnell to the bridge, please check your systems. You should find the warp core is back online and fully operational.”

“Affirmative.” Came the simple response.

Problem solved, Bonnie quickly turned her attention to the bigger issue at hand. The man inside the box. She pointed at the ramp and the two security guards took point. They were well trained and ready for action having just had their asses handed to them by a group of pirates. It wasn’t their fault really, they were caught off guard and set up by people in power they trusted.

Bonnie tucked away the small phaser she was offered and made her way onto the ramp and up into the ship. She passed the rooms with the beds, the beads and the swings until she arrived at the small bridge. Entering she saw him sitting there, humming a little tune, his clothing returned to normal, his scent not so much. She cleared her throat to get his attention.

He didn’t even look her way before he spoke. “Welcome back. I figured it would take you longer than it did, you must be smarter than your file led me to believe.” He then turned to look at her, a twisted smile upon his face. “You must have so many questions.”

Her mind raced. He was right she had a number of questions, but the simple ones were the most important. “Why?”

“Ah, well you should already know the answer to that one. Opportunity. I did let it slip in Little Debbie that I needed this. Are you aware of how much latinum those upgrade plans can rake in?” His eyes glossed over for a moment. “A lot, that’s how much.”

She understood much of the rest except for who was involved. “Who?” she asked simply.

“Now I don’t want to go monologging our entire plan but let’s just say me and one other came up with the plan together. She had the inside tract and the access codes, even the personnel files and I had the know how to get things done.”

“You’re talking about Lucy. But Lucy is in our custody right now, did you plan to leave here without her?”

“Her being captured wasn’t a part of the plan, you can thank your friend Remal for that one. But I was willing to leave her behind, call her a casualty, on the way to fortune.”

‘The pirates?”

“A necessary distraction. The sabotage drained the core, the Orions caused the distraction, your nice Captain made the computer perform the backup and now you’ve hand delivered the information right to me all wrapped up in a tidy bow.”

“And Commander Huntley?”

“Ah, well, he suspected something early on. Probably the reason I was tossed in the brig at the base. Other than being stupid enough to give his codes to Lucy, he really had no clue.”

“And how do you plan to get past the encryption to read the backup?” She held out the box in her left hand. His eyes fell on it as though it were the golden prize he sought after a long hard day's work.

He smiled and looked her in the eyes. “I’m sorry my dear, but I am named after the famous outlaw Clyde afterall. If you haven’t figured the answer to that question by now, well… “ He trailed off as his right hand swung around, a disruptor in hand, two phaser blasts shot out from behind Bonnie striking Cody square in the chest.

Shock filled his face as he slumped over. Bonnie’s lip quivered and her eyes watered like she was about to cry. Being used for someone else’s nefarious scheme wasn’t on her list of things to do today. She stifled her tears, and stepped aside to allow the security team to haul Cody away.

She tapped her badge, “Lt. Durnell to Captain Kaylen, I’m heading for the conference room for our debrief now.” Then she closed the channel, looked around one last time at the Interceptor, sucked up her last remaining ounce of dignity and left the ship and the bay behind.

OFF