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Extremely uneasy, Kat
took the perimeter sensors off standby and set them to full sector scan. One
keystroke brought up all monitors with a split-screen display allowing her view
of the total perimeter of the Groom Experimental Complex while she monitored the
constant datafeed. She then initiated the security fields around all station
defense hubs and essential operations. The personnel manning those stations ran
through their own checklist. Orders were transmitted activating all security
squads, off-duty and on.
Behind her, the hiss
of the command deck hatch sent another thread of tension down Katrion's spine,
mingled with a trickle of relief. Soon this will all be someone else's
headache, she thought, as she input the final sequence in the protocol,
sending out the ancillary black-box beacon. From now until it was deactivated,
the beacon would receive low-frequency data pulses mirroring those fed to the
station's black-box unit from the external sensors, double-documenting the
incident to aid Military Intelligence's Tactical Unit should things go
decidedly…not well.
The distinctive sound
of the commander's footsteps crossed the deck, incinerated any relief Kat had
felt. He stopped just behind her and to her right. Her throat muscles rippled
reflexively beneath her collar, but her expression remained impassive as she
glanced down at the console, where the schematic of the station was still
displayed.
What the heck was
going on? There should have been a
blip representing Trask coinciding with the primary C-deck.
There wasn't. Yet, in
the reflection off the dome, she could see him watching her, a hard glimmer in
his eye. His censure was a faint, bitter tang wafting from every pore.
"Private Alexander,
stand down!” Kat stepped back from the console and turned to face him."
"What…do you
think you're doing?” demanded Trask, both his tone and expression lethal.
Kat kept her
expression schooled and her eyes empty as she replied.
"The Alexi's
gone, sir. She launched, presumably moved beyond visual, and disappeared. Control
observed spatial anomaly, ran prescribed scans." Katrion reached for the
acrylisheet printout and held it out to him for confirmation. "Scans register
no residual vapor trail, indicating the drive unit was never engaged, yet the Alexi
does not appear on any of our systems. The vessel was unresponsive to query."
Trask glanced at the
report and then back up, “That's it?” His eyes crackling with disbelief on the
surface, but she caught a glimmer of something darker roiling just beneath.
"You called High Alert…without authorization…for that!"
"I initiated a
priority alert hail, Commander. There was no response, despite repeat
transmissions. I was unable to summon the Alexi…or yourself.
"Sir, station
security protocol requires…"
He slashed the air
with the blade of his hand. "Enough!
"You called High
Alert, without authorization, because you missed a bit of drive
vapor?! You anticipated an attack scenario because I didn't respond to a hail?"
His eyes flashed and he looked furious enough to send her out to scrub the hull
without an MMU. It was an extreme effort for Kat not to flinch. "Did you see an
external threat? Was there an explosion?" She shook her head, little more than
a sharp twitch. "Was there identifiable debris?"
She set her jaw and
met his gaze head-on. "As yet unconfirmed, sir, pending the report of the
Mustang wing deployed." Commander Trask drew in a sharp breath. His jaw
twitched and his eyes went very cold. Behind the heavy thud of her heart, she
was certain she heard a death rattle…the final moments of her already ailing
career ingloriously fading away.
As they stared each
other down, the emergency deck crew popped through the hatch.
"Sakmyster,"
Commander Trask called out to one of the new arrivals. "Kill that klaxon.
Initiate stand-down, and order that bloody wing back to station." The commander
kept his tone very controlled as he summarily relieved her of her post. "Deck
crew, dismissed."
A chorus of "Yessirs"
peppered the air as the crew, with the exception of Sakmyster, filed out the hatch.
What the heck was
going on? Kat remained at attention
as the crew left the C-deck. She kept her eyes forward and slightly out of
focus to elude Sak's sympathetic gaze. They'd actually gone through Basic
together, which only made this sting all the more. It was hard to keep silent
when she heard the clack of the keys as Sak stepped the station down to alert
status. As he keyed in the final sequence he turned to Trask for further
instruction.
"Dismissed."
Sakmyster looked
puzzled, but did not question the order. Kat caught her own breath coming out
in short, sharp huffs as he left. She forced herself to a more natural rhythm,
though her instincts screamed this is wrong!
With exaggerated care
Trask laid the report on the console before him. He looked from it to her.
"What were you doing
on duty tonight, Alexander?"
She wondered the same
thing herself, but it was not her place to question protocol with the officer
of the watch when summoned to duty. "Simmons is down in sickbay, sir. I was
instructed to cover his shift."
Trask looked ready to
savage both the hapless Simmons and herself. "And was this cleared with me?"
She kept her
expression neutral, though her nerves were bug-crawling beneath the surface of
her skin. Something bothered her…about his voice…about the situation. She just
couldn't place it, though. "I couldn't say, sir. The order came from Lt.
Commander Connor."
The commander's jaw
went visibly tight and his hands barely resisted clenching. She was truly in
his crosshairs now, though she could not imagine why. According to protocol,
calling High Alert had been justified, given the circumstances, and as for
being on the C-deck at all; she was following orders. She remained silent and
at attention, her eyes trained straight ahead. Even so, she noted Trask's gaze
flickered ever so slightly to the console displaying the data from the outer
quadrants. She watched without watching as his fingers moved over the keypad.
He called up the log of her shift.
Trask left the
console, coming to stand in front of her, close. "You are suspended from duty
pending a full investigation. You are to report to your quarters until
summoned. Acknowledged?"
Katrion wanted to
protest, but she'd already crossed too many lines. She wasn't worried. There
was no doubt an investigation would absolve her. But something was very wrong
here. She found herself wishing her unit were still around to back her up.
“I said,
acknowledged?” Trask's tone was one short step from erupting.
“Sir, yessir!”
“Dismissed!”
With a sharp salute
and steps of military precision, Kat executed an about face and left the
command deck.
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