The Screw Turns

Posted on Aug 27, 2016 @ 12:11am by Captain Michael Turlogh Kane

Mission: Fortress: Earth

"THE SCREW TURNS"

(Continued from "Blow Us All Away")

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Location: Space, near-Earth orbit
Stardate: [2.16]0826.2015
Scene: The Earth, the Aegis web, the orbiting Starfleet


[[Firebird, if you can hear me, you need to get to the northside bay lighthouse. That's where you know who's house is located, very wet. Everyone is safe and I'm making my way there with two companions. This message repeats, now.]]

That was the message that had been broadcast from somewhere in San Francisco up into the orbiting fleet, received and passed on until it found its way to where it needed to go. The half-dozen eavesdroppers in Edgerton's command bunker paid it no heed - the subspace algorithms that were monitoring military frequencies were tuned for key words and phrases, and did not immediately pick it up.

So it was that the USS Phoenix heard Selyara's voice give them what they had sought since the beginning of the Siege of Earth - the location of Admiral Richard Edgerton's command bunker.

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Captain's log, supplemental - Selyara's message has blown the siege of Earth wide open. News is spreading through the fleet that our ground team has pinpointed Edgerton's bolt-hole, and now the Phoenix is a flurry of activity...

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Location: USS Phoenix, near-Earth orbit
Scene: Bridge


Michael Turlogh Kane moved to the rear of the bridge, where Aerdan and Byte were working on scanning the area of San Francisco Bay that Edgerton's command bunker was supposedly located. His heart was afire - there was no way to know what the ground team had gone through in order to get this information, but it was both legitimate and welcome. Now, finally now, concrete plans could be made to proceed.

He thought of Selyara and hoped that she was as safe as she said she was. James Barton had obviously done the job he was dispatched to do - between them, they had given the orbiting fleet precious information that could end this too-long conflict. The screw was finally beginning to turn.

Byte was seated at one of the bridge science stations, and Kane joined Aerdan as they looked over the android's shoulder. The fleet's sensors had been bombarding the area around the Point Bonita lighthouse for almost an hour, using every conceivable set-up to gather as much data as possible. The topography, the chemical composition of the water, the geological strata - all of them were being studied.

"What have we got, Lieutenant?" asked Kane.

Byte called up a satellite survey map of the location. Point Bonita was a southward-facing headland on the north side of San Francisco Bay, about two miles due west of the famous Golden Gate Bridge. It was originally the site of a lighthouse, first constructed some six hundred years ago, and over time became a pleasure spot. The lighthouse itself was built on a rocky outcrop and connected to the mainland by a suspension bridge, but it had been closed for some time now.

The message that the ground team had transmitted to the fleet indicated that the command bunker was underwater, under the bay itself. Kane watched as Byte indicated the area that the sensors were concentrating on.

{{Our scans remain definitively inconclusive, sir. However, there are certain anomalies in the sensor data that indicate that underwater construction work has been accomplished in the indicated area.}}

Kane frowned. "Explain."

Byte glanced up at him. {{There is a level area on the seabed that does not conform to surrounding topographical patterns. Thermal patterns from the scanned area, although mitigated by the water, are higher than normal, indicating possible energy consumption beneath the seabed. Also, there are various actinides present in the seabed itself that are disrupting sensor scans - these actinides are artificial in origin.}} The android looked back at the screen. {{Taken all together, Captain, the evidence points to something being there.}}

Aerdan looked sidelong at Kane. "There is no reason to disbelieve the ground team's intelligence?"

Kane shook his head. "Selyara said it in a hasty code, but this is the area she indicated."

The Andorian set his jaw. "Then I think we should take it as a given. Whatever's breaking up our sensor sweeps has to be Edgerton's command bunker. We need to move on it, the sooner the better."

Kane folded his arms. "I'm meeting with Admiral Marxx and the Council later. The President has specifically requested that he be the one to give the order to go. No starship can initiate unilateral action."

Aerdan's antennae were slowly curling up and down, the way they did when he was thinking about something. He gestured a blue finger at the screen. "I admit that I was expecting a villain's lair of some kind, but an underwater bunker? Not very tactical, is it?"

{{It does appear to be something of a redoubt,}} said Byte thoughtfully. {{Perhaps Admiral Edgerton realised that, if events ever came to this pass, there would only be one way out for him. A facility embedded in the Earth's crust gives protection from a thaleron holocaust, and the difficulty accessing it will make it difficult for a strike team to penetrate it.}}

Kane frowned. "How are they accessing that base? We'd be detecting shuttlecraft moving underwater, correct?"

{{Yes, Captain. The Neo-Essentialists are likely restricted to transporters only. Given that the base is underground, they are probably using pre-selected transporter co-ordinates when they need to transport back there. This may indicate only a single transporter pad within the facility.}}

"How big is that base likely to be?" asked Aerdan.

{{Surface scarring is minimal, but that may simply be the result of oceanic erosion over the past number of months,}} explained Byte. {{It is unlikely that a large-scale facility could have been constructed. Two years may seem a long time, but the logistics of this operation would have kept its size relatively compact. We must also not forget that the Neo-Essentialists were concentrating on the construction of the Aegis shield grid at the time this underwater base was being constructed. I estimate that any underground facility would not be greater than between one-to-two thousand square feet in area.}}

Aerdan looked at Kane again. "If the phase cloak works, we can take the Red October down. Underwater operations would not pose a problem. We just need to figure out how to gain entry to that base."

"There has to be an airlock, or some way of gaining entry that we can't see," said Kane suddenly, fiercely. He leaned forward and stared hard at the telemetry. "Edgerton might be insane, but he'd never convince anyone to work for him in a place that had no escape route, there'd be too many questions."

"Unless they were all fanatics too," said Aerdan glumly. "Would the Red October be able to more deeply scan for an underground structure if she was down there?"

{{It is possible, Commander, but there is no way to predict the results of such a scan. There are many variables to consider.}} Byte looked up at the two of them. {{If it is the case that there is no way in or out of the Neo-Essentialist base except by transporter, then any strike team will be in great danger once they are inside. After all, there will be no escape.}}

Kane and Aerdan looked at each other. It was something that Kane had thought of before, but now that it was here, there was nothing to be done except shrug off the danger. It wouldn't be the first time he'd sent someone into harm's way in order to accomplish a mission - James Barton's atmospheric jump was the most recent proof of that - and it never got easier, not when you had to look at the faces of these people day in, day out.

In any case, it was always an unspoken thing that Aerdan was going to lead the strike team, just as he led the away team that penetrated the Neo-Essentialist genetic base on Lavenza II, and this time around, he (again) might not bring everyone back. That was part of life in the service, something that everyone tried to ameliorate as much as possible, but there was no getting over it here and now, not with several dozen thaleron satellites pointing their guns at the fleet.

In any case, nobody on the Phoenix - not Aerdan Jos, not Byte, not anybody - would have taken it back, nor would they turn back now.

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Location: USS Demeter, near-Earth orbit
Scene: Conference Room


A little later, Kane again found himself in what had become his home-away-from-home lately. As the great crusade to quash the Neo-Essentialists moved inexorably into its endgame, he seemed to be spending more and more time briefing his superiors on the latest situation. Truth be told, it was still somewhat difficult to think of Sardak, Marxx, Martine, and Towers as his superiors. They were the last surviving cadre of legitimately elected or appointed Federation officials, but it was crazy to think that they were anything remotely resembling a fully-functional government. It would all come later, he knew - nobody had any real idea of what to do right now, and Sardak was the best choice for the current unprecedented situation. Who could tell what shape the future Federation government would take? It certainly wouldn't be meeting on the USS Demeter, that was for sure.

It was just him and Marxx in the conference room right now. The giant Vegan was sitting at the table, alternating between studying the proposed phase cloak design and the map telemetry from the underwater Neo-Essentialist base, one PADD in each meaty hand, and his head slowly turned left and right between the two. Kane was standing at the viewport, staring out at all the layers of Earth- the orbiting fleet, the Aegis web, and the planet itself.

"What do you think?" he asked, to break the silence.

Marxx didn't take his eyes off the PADDs. "If your people manage to get this phase-cloak operational, you'll have advanced the technology by half a century. Your whole engineering crew will get the Zee-Magnees."

Kane smiled out into the vista. "Oh, they'll do it," he murmured. "They're the best in the fleet."

"You'll install it aboard your aquatic shuttle?"

"Yes. Orbital sensors are being disrupted by artificial actinides built in to the seabed. That's where Edgerton has his bunker."

"There's no way to gain access?"

"Not that we've found yet," said Kane, turning to face him. "The Red October is specially equipped for underwater operations. The hope is that she'll be able to get a better picture of the base up close, and beam in a strike team."

Marxx was nodding. "It's a sound plan. Once the base is penetrated, Edgerton may well trigger a planet-wide thaleron holocaust. How do we avoid that?"

Kane shook his head. "Speed? Blind luck?" He shrugged. "We can't take the chance, obviously. I'm having our scientists see if there is a way to break up the thaleron particles in orbit."

Marxx frowned. "Break them up? Sounds like science fiction to me."

Kane smiled grimly. "We've had experience with beta particles in the past year. The Amaterasu were just as dangerous as thaleron, although obviously not as planet-spanning. There must be a way to inhibit the passage of the thaleron radiation through space. If there is, we'll find it."

Marxx smiled. "I don't doubt it, Captain Kane."

The door to the conference room opened, admitting President Sardak, Secretary Martine, and Colonel Towers. They were obviously in deep discussion, and did not stop for greetings. The President put his own PADD down on the table and turned to face Kane and Marxx.

Marxx threw a nod at the PADD that had just been in Sardak's hand. "Mister President. You've read it, then?"

Sardak's face was as inscrutable as ever, but behind him Martine and Towers were smiling purposefully. "We have been discussing your proposals, and are positively disposed towards them," said the Vulcan.

"I'm glad to hear it," said Marxx, shooting a wry glance at Kane. That was probably the closest a Vulcan kolinahr student ever came to expressing pleasure.

"When can this phase cloak be ready?" asked Martine.

"As soon as possible," said Kane meaningfully. There was nothing else he could say.

Sardak put his hands inside the sleeves of his voluminous brown robe. "It is agreeable that we are close to a final confrontation with the Neo-Essentialist enemy. I do have one thought to voice - assuming a strike team manages to gain entry to Admiral Edgerton's underwater bunker, he may carry out his threat to unleash the thaleron satellites on Earth."

"We've been discussing that," replied the Vegan. "Preventing that from happening is our next objective."

"Is a fleet engagement against the Aegis network likely?" asked Towers.

Marxx nodded. "Yes, Colonel. If Edgerton attempts to unleash the thaleron upon the planet's surface, the fleet will engage and destroy the satellites."

"It will be too late once the thaleron is released," pointed out Martine.

"We're also working on it, Madam Secretary," said Kane. "A little more time is what we need. The pieces are being put into place."

Sardak seemed pleased, in as much as a Vulcan could appear to be anything. "Then I charge you both to return to your starships and carry on with your efforts."

Marxx stood up. "Yes, sir."

Kane followed him out of the room, feeling and revelling in the new sense of purpose.

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Location: USS Phoenix, near-Earth orbit
Scene: Main Engineering


Shortly after returning to the Phoenix, Kane made his way down to Engineering to check on the progress of Jake Crichton's design team. He tried not to invade the domains of his senior officers if he could help it, especially one as accomplished as Jake Crichton. The three-deck open-plan of Main Engineering was clogged with people, all of them running various simulations and scans.

Near the warp core, in an area set aside for the purpose, was the Century's cloaking device. Laid on its side atop a diagnostic table, the device resembled a transparent glass funnel, sealed at both ends and encased within a tritanium frame. A number of flashing ODN ports glinted red, indicating that the device was not connected to anything. A number of Jake Crichton's people, led by Lieutenant Rochemonte and Thomas Varn, were ganged around the device - they looked, Kane mused, like a swarm of ants around a tasty morsel of food.

The man himself was standing with Chaucer, looking over something on a PADD. When Jake saw him, he sent the Gorn on its way with a nod before turning to Kane. "Captain."

"The politicians are anxious for an update, Commander," said Kane.

"So am I," said Jake, beckoning Cindy Rochemonte to come over. "How are we doing, Lieutenant?"

"Good, sir," nodded Cindy. "We'll be ready to attempt installation on the Red October in a couple of hours."

"How confident are you that the cloak will work long enough to get through the Aegis shield?" asked Kane.

"The math and physics haven't been a problem," said Cindy. "Mister Varn took care of that. The practical application is down to us, and I think we've nailed it."

"That's good to hear," nodded Kane. He looked at Jake. "Be ready to go when called, Commander. We'll launch Red October as soon as - "

"Excuse me, Captain," said Cindy.

Kane and Jake both looked at her in surprise. "Yes, Lieutenant?" asked Kane.

"If a strike team is going to the surface to take on Edgerton, I want to be on the shuttle," Cindy said.

Kane paused for a moment. Part of him was irritated at the presumption of a junior officer to suggest strategy like this, but then he remembered that Cindy was French. He satisfied himself with a gentle shake of his head. "Nothing has been determined yet - "

"Captain, please," she said fiercely. "This has been planned for days - of course you know who's going to be on the shuttle. All I'm saying is that I want to be on it too."

Kane's voice hardened. "We'll have engineers aboard. We'll have the chief engineer."

"I've been leading the analytical team that has taken this cloaking device apart," insisted Cindy. "I'm the obvious choice for mission specialist. Captain, Richard Edgerton tore the heart out of every French person when he obliterated Paris. I want to directly help to take him down."

Kane felt mollified. Cindy was earnest and what she was saying made sense. He nodded in surrender, and looked at Jake. "Clear it with Commander Jos."

"Understood, Captain," said Jake.

"Thank you, Captain," said Cindy professionally. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll get back to work."

The trio broke up, splitting into different directions, each to their own work.

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NRPG: Turning the screw... get your characters aboard the Red October - we're almost ready to test the phase cloak!


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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