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Star Trek and all related names are registered trademarks of CBS and Paramount Pictures. This work of original fiction is written solely for non-profit purposes. Written by: Jon Van Pelt Edited by: Bart Vandezande Lieutenant Reed crawled through a narrow access tube as he held a phase pistol in his right hand, seemingly holding on to it for dear life. Beads of sweat covered his forehead. He had just managed to escape from his quarters without being detected and had reached the armory to get his hand on a phase pistol to protect himself. It had been only three hours ago when Enterprise was studying a nebula, unaware of the fact that three Orion raiders were lurking inside the nebula, ready to attack. Ship and crew didn’t stand much of a chance. The polarized hull plating fell off-line after being exposed to ten minutes of intense weapon’s fire. After that it didn’t take long before the Orions sent their shuttles, attaching themselves to Enterprise as leaches onto a dead body. Although Reed and his security team had put up a good fight against the Orion intruders, they were quickly outnumbered and outgunned. The ship’s corridors were littered with corpses of Enterprise’s crew. How many? Reed couldn’t say for sure. He counted a dozen bodies as the Orion pirates escorted him to his quarters where they thought they locked him up safe and secure. He guessed most likely half of the crew died during the attack. It could be less. Or maybe even more. Quite frankly at this moment: what did it matter? The only thing on his mind right now was to figure a way out of this mess. If he could reach a few other crewmembers, maybe even the captain - if he was still alive of course - they could start working on a plan to free themselves out of the clutches of these Orion bastards. Edison had quite the reputation when it came to dealing with Orion pirates. The man had even blown up his own ship once to keep it from falling into their green hands. He remembered Captain Edison had served under his father, admiral Stuart Reed, on board the U.S.S. Lexington when his father was still a captain. Having grown up on Vega Colony, located at the outer edges of human explored space, Edison had a reputation of being a tough bastard and difficult to work with. But apparently his father saw something in the frontier boy, a diamond in the rough as the saying went. His father always considered Edison to be his protégé and molded him into the perfect navy officer. There was no doubt in Reed’s mind that it was his father who had pushed the Admiralty for promoting Edison to CO of Enterprise. A career move no one saw coming, probably not even Edison himself. His father however could be very persuasive if it served his purpose. Always planning and scheming to strengthen his own position within Earth’s government. Edison was nothing but another pawn in his power play. Would the captain even realize that, he often wondered. Reed himself however, tired of being forced to follow in his father’s footsteps, longing to forge his own destiny without his father’s shadow looming over him, had decided years ago to resign his commission with Earth’s Stellar Navy. He soon joined the security agency at the UESPA which eventually landed him the position of armory officer on board Enterprise. His father never spoke to him again after his resignation with the navy. Not that it actually mattered much. A conversation with his father usually evolved into a discussion, finally ending in an argument. Did he even know that his son was on board Earth’s first warp five ship? Reed shook his head as he continued crawling through the access tubes. His father, the great admiral Stuart Reed, had eyes and ears everywhere. No doubt one of his minions had reported him on his son’s new posting. Deep inside, he had hoped his father would’ve contacted him before Enterprise left the drydock. If not to say their goodbyes, then at least to have one final argument between father and son. He had checked his messages daily, but nothing. Nada. How ironic was it that he Malcom, the prodigal son, would end up on board a ship together with Edison - the son his father wanted but never had. Up until now, the captain had never brought up the subject of admiral Reed. He had probably heard about their difficult relationship and decided not to push where it hurt. Perhaps if he’s invited to the captain’s table, they could talk about their shared history, Reed thought. Tackle the elephant in the room before it gets too big. After all, due to his relationship with his father, Edison came as close to a brother he never had. As the lieutenant took a left turn into another access tunnel: *** Where captain Edison, bare chested and arms tied up to the ceiling, is being interrogated by Sakarra - the young and dashing, but cold-blooded brute in charge of the Orion boarding party. As soon as Edison realized they’d lose control of Enterprise, he and Hernandez locked the computer core with an encryption code. And since he was the only one on board who had memorized the key to unlock it, it made him the prime target for the Orion pirates to test their latest torture techniques. Having been subjected to Sakarra’s electric pain stick for the past hour, Edison’s torso was covered in bruises caused by internal bleeding. So far however, except for curses and insults, Edison had not yet revealed the password - much to the frustration of Sakarra and his two guardsmen who watched the interrogation. “I must admit, captain, you are a worthy opponent. Most humans I’ve encountered wouldn’t last five minutes. I admire your endurance,” Sakarra brought his face closer to Edison’s “But you and I both know there can be only one outcome here today.” Unimpressed by Sakarra’s poor attempt at flattery, Edison spat him in the face: “And that’s me burning a hole through your chest with my phase pistol.” One of the two Orion guardsmen started laughing, apparently amused by the captain’s dark sense of humor. Sakarra’s eyes burned with anger as he wiped the spit of his face. He reached for the knife that dangled on his belt. As he took it out and slowly pushed its point against Edison’s throat, blood started to trickle down. And just as Edison closed his eyes, preparing himself for the afterlife that was soon to come, in a swift and elegant move Sakarra swung round and cut the throat of his guardsman who, only moments ago, was laughing at Edison’s comeback line. The smile on the guardsman’s face disappeared as he dropped down onto his knees. His eyes widened in disbelief as he put his hands on his throat in a futile attempt to stop the blood from spraying out of his artery. The life finally drawn out of him, the guardsman dropped dead onto the floor in a pool of green blood. As Sakarra took out a piece of cloth to wipe his knife clean, Edison mockingly noticed: “That’s one Orion less I have to kill. Guess I should thank you.” “I wouldn’t start thanking me just yet captain,” with a sinister smile Sakarra looked at his other henchman, “Let’s see if this ship’s first officer is as tough as her captain.” The other guardsman smiled and nodded as he turned around and exited the mess hall, on his way to commander Hernandez’ quarters. The thought of Sakarra torturing one of his crew to get him to talk, made Edison even more furious. Frustrated, he started pulling at the chains that kept him locked to the ceiling. Sakarra started laughing, pleased to have finally found a way to make Edison talk. “You ugly green bastard,” Edison shouted. “Spare me your insults captain. They are nothing but wasted energy”, as he placed his knife up against Edison’s throat, “Just tell me what I need to know. Let me have Enterprise.” As Sakarra turned round again and started walking towards one of the portholes, looking out into space: “I read your resumé captain. I have to admit I was quite impressed. Someone like you is destined for greater things than commandeering a vessel filled with scientists. Men like you and I are true bred leaders.” As he spun around, holding his knife up in the air: “I can offer you a world of riches you never thought possible. Join me now and I will reward you generously.” Edison looked down at his feet, seemingly contemplating Sakarra’s offer. In reality however he was trying to buy a bit more time as he noticed, a few meters further down the mess hall, the ventilation grill being lowered and then pulled up through the ceiling. Someone was carefully lowering him - or herself - down into the mess hall. This could be their only chance to turn the tables on the Orions. His heart pounded inside his chest. Suddenly, with a big thud, lieutenant Reed landed on both feet on the mess hall floor. Startled by the noise coming from behind him, Sakarra turned around. His eyes widened, shocked and horrified as he stared straight at the phase pistol pointed directly at him by the lieutenant.