STAR TREK THE ROMULAN WAR Volume III A novel by Stephen Fender Edited by Lynda Dietz Published by JRP Jolly Rogers Productions 2 Star Trek: The Romulan War, Volume 3 Copyright © 2016 Stephen A. Fender www.jollyrogersproductions.net Seattle, WA. First Edition: 2016 Published through Jolly Rogers Productions (JRP) ©, a subsidiary division of StephenFender.com All rights reserved. Contact: [email protected] Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Cover art provided by Thomas Raube (Euderion.DeviantArt.com) Star Trek © is a registered trademark of CBS and/or Paramount Studios. I’d like to personally thank CBS for not shutting my project down. This derivative work was created as a work of fandom, using purely fan-created material or expired material, and no official affiliation with CBS, Paramount, or their subsidiaries or any other known work of fandom is implied. This work may not be sold or resold and is intended for entertainment purposes only. The author and the fan contributors wish to personally thank CBS and Paramount for Star Trek in all its forms, and I hope that we’ve paid homage to it with respect. Star Trek: The Romulan War – Volume III 3 Acknowledgements I’d like to thank the following individuals who backed the Kickstarter campaign to get these books produced. Without each of them, this would never have been possible. Adam Lentz Kevin Gong Alan Massey Lambert Chow Alan Stevenson Larry J. Destefano Alexander J. Shepherd Lawrence Amrose Andrea Casamassima Lawrence Nelson Andrew Buse Lee Horrocks Andrew Clark Lee W. Benjamin Anthony Alan Fenton Leigh Hennig Badbadtiger Lenore Barbara Sach Lisa Lyons Barry Charles Luke Huitt Bartley J Finn Jr Marc Steinijans Benjamin Chee Mark Donnelly Benjamin Waters Mark Garland Blackmagicm66 Mark Newman Bob Griffing Mark Williams Brian Okeefe Marlon Blaine Guillory Brian Webber Martin Hirst Brittany Dudas Mary Jane Hetzlein Carl Chambers Mathijs Leenheer Carl Norman Matt Trinh Carolanne L Matthew Luxa Catalino Matthew Reynolds Chad Bowden Matthew Whiteacre Chand Svare Ghei Michael Charles Lewis Michael Blanchard Chris Hunt Michael Bradford Chris Pinkerton Michael Hoffmann Chris R Michael J Roche Christopher Brandon Michael J. Medeiros Christopher Broden Michael Thompson Christopher Sneeringer Mike Rabb Craftmom68 Mike Medina Craig Oliver Mitch Webb Crowe Nicholas S. Shanayda Dakotasurfer Nick Fajardo 4 Dan Balkwill Norman Jaffe Daniel Attard Pat H Daniel Hippensteel Patricia Jaderborg Daniel O'Connor Paul Cordeiro Darren Bavaro Paul J Fricault Darren Keith Paul Janssens Dave Moon Perrie Iles David Baker Pyth0n David Eberhard Raymond Utter David Gilmore Reinhard Tlustos David Peterson Rich Chang David Shuford Richard Gable De Baisch Richard Todd Dean B. Richard Turner Diana Paprotny Ricky Wright Don & Karen Albares Rob Beck Doug Eckhoff Robert Riddle Dragon's Den LLC Rodney J Kelly Dwayne Day Rom Walton Ellis Coombs Ron Walls Emanuel Levy Ronald D. Hearn Eric Welsby Samuel Frederick Erich Tauschmann Santos Ramirez Erik Lee Sarah Boots Erin Grooms Jason Genser Eron Wyngarde Scott Early Esteve T. Freitas Scott Maynard Eugene Alex Scott Newell Floyd Dorsey Scott-Lee Nichol Fred Chavez Steve firestine Fred Davis Simon Jaeckel Greg Rozier Sonia Koval Greg Thornton Sonja Thiede Guy Mclimore Steve Dixon Hans De Wolf Steve Hochberger Hugh Hog Steven Baker Heiko Wisper Ian H Weiger Steven Butler Ianquest Steven Lord Ivar Bardie Steven Pittman Jack Steven Rowley Jake Pelletier Steven Stone Star Trek: The Romulan War – Volume III 5 James Wood Steven Vicharelli Jamie Dent Sven Berglowe Jamie Manley Sven Proboszcz Jarrod Frahm Terri Jasiha Welch Terri Connor Jason Frisvold Tex Albritton Jeff Becker The Pink Phantom Jeff Doubleday Thijs Ter Horst Jeff Troutman Thomas Mooney Jeffrey Harlan Thomas Perry Jim Heivilin Tim Aukett Jim Henderson Tim Knight Jim Mcghee Tim Mushel Jim Mcleod Tom Boucher Jim Phillips Tom Diffley Jim Westbrook Tom Ericksen John Canales Tom Martin John Miles Tomas John Moss Trashman John O. Edgeworth Treehugger John P Trowby Brockman John Romano Tyler Thomas John Wenskovitch Tyson Dyck Jonathan Crew Ulf Lundberg Jonathan Redden Vernon Vincent Joshua M. Garrett Vincent Baggio Judith Waidlich Warren Rogers Karen WC Katie Keith Wil Vargas Kaze Will Stapleton Keavathediva William Ching Keera Takamiyashiro William Vasich Kevin Clucas Wofford 6 Special thanks to the following individuals for their contributions to this novel: Ronald Blocksom, Stephen Cooper, Bernard Guignard, Gary Keegan, Tarus Latacki, Gerald Ottenbreit Jr, Alec Peters, John Scherer, and Scott Vander Molen. Also thanks to Bernd Schneider, Masao Okazaki, Dan Carlson, Allen Rolfes, Brendon Goodyear, Jim Bob, the entire team of writers of Star Trek: The Role Playing Game (FASA), with special mention to John Ford, Guy McLimore, John Theisen, David Tepool, Greg Poehlein, the inspiring artwork of Dana Knutson and the other artists at FASA, and to Jordan Weisman and the production staff at FASA for bestowing in me countless fond memories . For those of you who I failed to mention, I’m eternally grateful for your contributions. Please except my humble apologies for not getting you in here. Star Trek: The Romulan War – Volume III 7 Chapter 1 Stardate 15901.30 January 2159 Seated on his useless throne of power, he looked out upon the scene before him, feeling for all the universe like a king watching as his empire burned around him. The bridge of the once-great starship Hamburg was in ruins, a third of the bridge crew dead or wounded, and the rest weary from the nearly two-hour confrontation they’d found themselves embroiled in. A thick cloud of acrid smoke hung above their heads, like a fog poised to descend and envelop the entire compartment with its choking haze. Monitors were blown out, consoles destroyed, and the normal Christmas-light patterns on the computers that typically signified a top-of-the-line starship were all but black and lifeless. Those in the ship still clinging to life were doing so tenaciously, and they were giving their all to make sure the Lincoln- class starship had fight left in her. But their numbers were dwindling with each blast from the swarming, accursed Romulan armada just beyond the laminated skin of the cruiser. If something wasn’t done quickly, there would be nothing of their fleet left, and the Calder system would fall as others had in the recent months. What had started as a routine sensor sweep had quickly escalated into an all-out battle for supremacy. The Calder system, on the spinward edge of Federation space, was thought to be a Romulan staging ground for an upcoming assault. Two squadrons of starships had been dispatched from Outpost 6 to investigate, and what they found was far more dangerous than a simple Romulan rendezvous point. Due to scrupulous Romulan sensor jamming, recently promoted Fleet Captain Thomas Ericksen and his crew didn’t detect the almost fifty Romulan warships until the Starfleet squadrons were 8 very nearly on top of them. By then it was too late. They would have to fight, or die. And death was now only a disruptor blast away. The Hamburg, along with her sister ships, had fared well in the beginning of the battle. Several Romulan cruisers had been bested by superior piloting, and a number of destroyers and frigates had likewise fallen victim. But the victory was short-lived as scores of more powerful Romulan swept-wing warbirds came in, their green energy discharges tearing into the Federation ships with abandon. Even now, as the Hamburg twisted and turned to keep from being hit, larger and more dangerous battle cruisers of a design never before seen were moving in. Vultures. Fleet Captain Ericksen turned to his trusted first officer, Commander Fred Davis, standing at the science console. The commander had little choice in the matter, as his chair had been blown free and smashed, the result of the environmental control disintegrating ten minutes before. Fate had placed an unfortunate ensign between the commander and his chair, and the young man’s body now lay crumpled on the deck beside Davis. Bloodied. Unmoving. Unbreathing. Dead. Just like the Hamburg is about to be. But there was little time to mourn the loss of one, nor the hundred or so others that were gone. Each casualty report had threatened to take away the captain’s sanity, and each time he fought it back with the same resolve his crew was giving at each of their stations. He would not give in to the temptation of believing himself a failure, thus opening the door to mistakes that would undoubtedly be made at a critical moment. Tom Ericksen was a fighter, and with the last ounce of strength in his body he would clench his fist a final time and strike back with every ounce of pent-up rage inside his tired, bruised body. No Romulan was going Star Trek: The Romulan War – Volume III 9 to walk away from this clean and unscathed if Ericksen had anything to say about it. “Status of the shields, Commander,” he asked doggedly. “Down to sixteen percent, Skipper. They’re not going to hold much longer.” “Engineering,” he asked, pressing the intercom button as he’d done so many times before, then reminded himself that the controls in his command chair had long since been fried. “Communications . Mr. Martin . .” Tom pivoted his chair its full rotation—about a quarter turn to starboard. Lieutenant Martin was huddled over his terminal, his black uniform jacket long since discarded, his gold tunic missing a sleeve. The wound on his arm had been healed by the emergency medical team that’d departed moments before, but would no doubt leave a scar if not sufficiently tended to.