The Armageddon Button

Posted on Apr 07, 2016 @ 1:53am by Captain Michael Turlogh Kane

Mission: Fortress: Earth

"THE ARMAGEDDON BUTTON"

(Continued from "No Good Deed")

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Captain's Log, supplemental - the Phoenix is continuing on her voyage back to Earth, but the fallout from the incident on Lavenza is still being dealt with on board...

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Location: USS Phoenix, en route to Earth
Stardate: [2.16]0407.0555
Scene: Bridge


Michael Turlogh Kane stood up as Aerdan Jos exited the turbolift and came down to the fore of the bridge. The Andorian was not looking any worse for wear aside from a dark blue bruise that ran up and down his right antenna. His white hair had been smoothed back into place, and his red-banded black uniform was crisp and neat.

"Welcome back to the bridge, Mister Jos," said Kane warmly.

"Thank you, Captain," said Aerdan. He put his hands behind his back and stood stiffly. "I love medicine, but I am glad to free of sickbay for a while. Doctor Foster has judged me fit to return to duty, so here I am."

"And I'm glad for a break," said Kane wryly. Then he frowned. "What's the situation with Thomas Varn?"

Aerdan shook his head, another Human gesture he'd picked up. "Doctor Foster released him from sickbay. As far as I know, Thomas Varn was resurrected by the Promethean Device. He is back among the living."

"Doctor Foster released him from sickbay?" Kane paused for a moment. "I wasn't notified. Did the doctor at least notify Security?"

Aerdan seemed to realise that he'd said too much. "Not to my knowledge, Captain."

A dark look passed over Kane's face. "You have the bridge, Mister Jos."

"Aye, sir." Aerdan sat down in the centre seat, watching his commander purposefully heading for the turbolift. He touched his bruised antenna gingerly. Yes, he was glad to be out of sickbay, especially if Captain Kane was headed down there with a head full of steam.

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Location: Starfleet Headquarters, Earth
Scene: Edgerton's office


Leonard Cagney put the latest readiness reports down on his master's great walnut desk and looked around. Richard Edgerton was not sitting in his office, engrossed by something on his desktop terminal. He was standing outside on his expansive balcony, looking out over the Presidio complex in the sunshine. Leonard cast an eye over the desk, seeing the scattered bones of a half-eaten lunch scattered amongst a dirty puddle of PADDs and an old paperback book of TS Eliot poetry.

The door outside was ajar, so Leonard cleared his throat before stepping outside. The sea breeze caught his hair and cooled his cheeks, and he closed his eyes for a moment, not wanting to look up into the blue sky and see the golden web of the planet-spanning Aegis shield ruining the view.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" said Edgerton softly, looking up at the roof he had put on the world.

Leonard felt nothing. He looked in the opposite direction, down. Several stories below, thousands of Starfleet personnel were doing their best to get on with their duties, and beyond them, the whole city of San Francisco, and further out the whole planet Earth carried on with its day while trying to avoid looking directly upward. Somewhere out in the sparkling waters of the San Francisco Bay south of Point Bonita, the Neo-Essentialist control bunker squatted underwater, built into the very crust of the planet that it threatened to destroy, dug in like a tick.

If Edgerton noticed that Leonard had not replied, he didn't mention it. The older man straightened his black tunic and turned to his assistant. "News?"

"The latest reports," said Leonard. "The Aegis shield is running at one hundred per cent capacity. There are now over one thousand civilian starships in orbit of the planet. And," he said tentatively, "the listening post in the Virgil system reports the passage of over one hundred starships at warp speed through the nearby interstellar space. It can only be the enemy fleet, which puts them - "

"Three or four days away," mused Edgerton. He smiled. "So, Leonard, the span of our lives are now measured out. A relief to know, is it not?"

"I don't think there's anything more we can do to prepare, Admiral."

"Time enough for a hundred more indecisions and revisions before tea," chuckled Edgerton. He fell into silence, and Leonard decided to say what was on his mind.

"Sir, when we were meeting Mister Truman the other day, you indicated that you were prepared to do the unthinkable if it came down to it."

"Yes?" said Edgerton absently.

Leonard leaned forward earnestly, using one hand to encompass the whole of Humanity below him. "The Earth is the cradle of Humanity, Admiral. There are forty billion of us living here. Women, children, civilians. Right now, there are fifty little girls from Johannesburg touring Starfleet Headquarters as part of a school project."

"Indeed?"

"Yes, Admiral. I saw them earlier. Despite the presence of the Aegis shield in the sky, they are still happy. They were playful and laughing and absolutely bursting with potential. Future doctors, engineers, teachers, Starfleet officers."

"What a pretty picture you paint, old friend," said Edgerton wistfully. "Fifty happy little girls. I can see them all smiling."

"Sir, the potential loss of life on the Earth's surface if the enemy triggers the Aegis shield are catastrophic. We could witness the death knell of our entire species."

Edgerton stopped at that. Leonard's heart leaped. He'd finally gotten through to his master. But when Edgerton's expression changed from surprise to a sly smile, Leonard felt his heart turn to ash.

"You're soft-hearted, Leonard. You dread the unknown. I understand that, and I understand that I may seem like a dangerous megalomaniac with his finger on the Armageddon button. But it's not like that." Edgerton turned away from Leonard and leaned forward onto the wall of the balcony. He deeply inhaled the sea air. "Are you familiar with the notions of parallel universes?"

"Yes, Admiral." Leonard watched his master's back intently.

"You can access them through certain dimensional portals, multiphasic phenomena and the like," said Edgerton. "There's one of them in particular that seems quite close to this one, both in likeness and in distance, if such a dimensional span can be measured accurately. People from our universe have crossed over to it several times in the past few centuries. It's so similar to ours it's like looking into a mirror. Have you read any briefings about it?"

"No, sir." For a moment, for a horrible moment, Leonard felt an impulse to step forward and push the Admiral over the balcony. He visualised Edgerton teetering on the edge of the abyss, starkly standing out against the blue sky and blue sea, arms thrashing around, seeking purchase or balance, to no avail. In his mind's eye, Leonard saw his hands reach out and shove hard. Edgerton pitched forward with a silent scream, plummeting down to the marble-topped concrete of the Starfleet Headquarters courtyard, impacting with a noiseless red thud that ended the threat to Humanity once and for all.

Leonard's heart surged. He could do it. He could b a hero, could save the Earth if he had to. All those little girls would grow up safely.

Leonard balled his fists, ready to act -

Edgerton turned around to face him, and the moment died away in the face of his withering stare.

"In this universe, the Human race did not join a United Federation of Planets," Edgerton was saying. "We united as a species some time in the twentieth century. When we made First Contact with the Vulcans, we conquered them. The Human race went on to conquer the Tellarites, the Andorians, the Orions, the Denobulans, and many more. In that universe, Humans rule a galactic empire that stretches all the way to Romulus and Qo'noS." He stepped forward. "That is what we are capable of as one people, Leonard. Do you realise how many Humans have died in the service of the Federation in the past two-and-a-half centuries? Millions. They died to protect a philosophy thrust upon us by aliens."

Edgerton frowned as the words came out of him like a waterfall. "Vulcans - pompous, effete. Andorians - aggressive, tribal. Tellarites - argumentative, pig-headed. None of them are worth the bones of one single Human being who died to protect them. No wonder this planet is the capital of the Federation - if it was not for Humanity, there would *be* no Federation. We are the glue that holds this whole mess together, and if there's one thing we have to do in order to live up to our potential as a species, Leonard, it's to get us the hell out of this god-damned spineless Federation. Humans are born to rule, not serve, and if we have to rule in hell, then so be it."

"Admiral - "

"Enough, Leonard. I will hear no more. Who do you think you are speaking to? Let me put it to you as plainly as I can." Edgerton's eyes gleamed in the sunshine. "We cannot compete with our own true natures. We have been stultifying ourselves for the past two hundred years, but now we stand before the best chance we've ever had to unleash our racial potential. You ask me if I will destroy Humanity to save it?" Edgerton gestured to the heaven-spanning web of the Aegis shield, then pointed down to where the fifty Johannesburg schoolchildren were walking around the Presidio, laughing and pointing without a care in the world.

"We are at war, Leonard. And I would kill a million little girls to win."

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Location: USS Phoenix, as before
Scene: Sickbay - deck 12, saucer section


Kane stepped through the sickbay doors and felt like he was intruding. Angrily, he quashed the feeling. This was different than going to Engineering or the marine barracks - they were both run by officers he implicitly trusted, who he knew would work hard without requiring supervision. In some ways, he did not entirely feel like those parts of the ship were under his command - rather, he often felt like they were attachments to the whole, who only followed his orders for their own reasons.

That was not the case with sickbay. The whole department had been tainted by Cade Foster's presence ever since he had come aboard, and Kane had finally had enough of it. He eyeballed Suvek and Ensign Glex as he crossed the floor.

Cade Foster was in his office, reading something on his desktop terminal, a cup of coffee within easy reach. When he saw Kane, he lifted his eyebrows in surprise. "Well, well, it's not often the captain comes down from his ivory tower. What can I do for you, Captain Kane?"

"Where is Thomas Varn?" grated Kane, darkly looming over the desk like a thundercloud.

Cade seemed to sense that something was wrong. He wiped his chest with his hands somewhat nervously. "He's in his quarters, sir," he said smoothly. "I released him from sickbay earlier. Shall I fetch him for you?"

"Why did you not notify the bridge that Varn had been released from your care, Doctor Foster?" asked Kane angrily, barely keeping his temper in check.

"Well," said Cade, looking left and right, "it didn't seem necessary?"

"Didn't seem necessary?" echoed Kane incredulously. "Doctor Foster, Thomas Varn died eight months ago. Whatever is wearing his face needs a complete medical examin - "

"I did all that," said Cade. He stood up. Now he and Kane were facing each other, but Cade had the advantage of a couple of inches in height. "Look, sir, I got all this from Lieutenant Dalziel already today. I ran a complete physical. He's Human, right down to the cellular mitochondria. He's not infected with any communicable diseases. He's not hurt, at least not physically, but that part's not my problem, is it? I have followed standard medical practice by examining and discharging my patient."

"Thomas Varn had a psychotic episode in the shuttle when it was taking off from Lavenza!" said Kane, jabbing a finger at Cade's chest. "He requires psychological evaluation and observation!"

"And can that not be done from his quarters?"

"The point is that you didn't tell anyone!" bellowed Kane suddenly, thumping his fists on Cade's desk. The cup of coffee jumped and fell onto the floor with a thump. A dull brown stain began to spread onto the carpet. "You do not release potentially violent people from your sickbay without notifying the bridge!"

Cade was shaking his head. "Like I told Lieutenant Dalziel, there was no need - "

"I'm not finished!" roared Kane. "If you didn't feel it was necessary to inform the ship's commanding officer, then you should have at least informed Lieutenant Barton!"

"Barton?" said Cade incredulously. "But he's - "

"He's the ship's Chief of Security! I ordered a Security detail be posted outside his quarters!" Kane's voice dropped from a shout to a furious whisper. "I've had enough of you, Doctor Foster. Your attitude is arrogant, your shipmates collectively despise you, and you thumb your nose at this ship's operating procedures." Kane put his hands behind his back. "We are about to enter a battle for the future of the Federation, so you may still have a part to play in the conflict ahead. But afterward, if we are all still here, I want you to know that I will be requesting that a new chief medical officer be assigned to the Phoenix." He paused. There, he'd said it.

Cade seemed flabbergasted. "You're transferring me?" he said in disbelief.

Kane nodded slowly. His voice was hard. "There may be a place for you aboard a front-line starship, Doctor Foster, but it is not this one."

Cade seemed about to say something, but thought better of it. He drew himself up to his full height and looked down at Kane. "I understand, Captain Kane. Will I be remaining as chief medical officer aboard the Phoenix in the meantime?"

Kane nodded again.

"In that case, Captain, I'd like to get back to work."

Kane tore his eyes away from Cade and moved back through sickbay, glancing at the amazed faces of the onlooking staff. When the doors hissed shut behind him, he felt an enormous sense of relief, a temporary salve against their looming arrival on Earth.

Of course, it didn't take long for word to spread around the ship.

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NRPG: Soap Opera Trek!


Jerome McKee
the Soul of Captain Michael Turlogh Kane
Commanding Officer
USS PHOENIX


"He speaks an infinite deal of nothing!"
- Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice," Act 1, Scene 1.117

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