Heim sat patiently awaiting the arrival
of Captain Devore. Heim had beamed over to the Leviathan after the two ships
had met up to discuss what to do about the now abducted Ronin crew members.
Heim grew impatient and started rattling his fingers on his knee. The door hissed
open and Devore rushed in.
"Right Commander, let's get on with this shall we?"
"Yes sir" replied Heim getting off the ouch and moving to a seat on in front of Devores desk.
"What exactly happened to Captain Evans and your crew Commander?"
"Well, it was after the battle with the zeratul sir, when the leviathan went into warp... The Proletarian ship arrived and as you had left, the Captain decided to try and talk to them himself. However, we detected a massive energy build up like a transporter beam coming from the ship. Captain Evans, along with Lieutenant Benosk and Ensign McMillan were transported aboard they're ship. The Proletarins then went into warp and cloaked leaving us behind."
"So you have no idea where they are?"
"Actually sir, we do. Ensign McMillan managed to get a message out to us." Heim tapped some buttons on the PADD he had been holding and the message played...
[This is Ensign McMillan of the USS Ronin. Commander Heim, Captain Devore we have been abducted by the Proletarians, but myself Captain Evans and Lieutenant Benosk are all safe. We have found new allies amongst the crew of this vessel and we are currently attempting to disable the vessel. The remainder of this message contains a shield frequency that should allow you to approach us safely. Message ends.]
"That's all very well that they are safe, but how do we find a cloaked ship?"
"Along with the message, the ship is sending out tachyon pulses continually. It is acting as a beacon sir. At present the ship is 12 light years away and still headed for the anomaly."
"Well, we'd better get after them. Have the Ronin upload the frequency of the tachyon pulses to the Leviathan so that we can detect them too. Weren't those three the three that made first contact with the Proletarians?"
"They are indeed"
"I think it's a bit more than coincidence that those were the three chosen to be abducted. They must have been taken for a specific reason."
"Why do you think they took them sir?"
"I have no idea..." Devore leaned back in his chair and rubbed his head.
"Captain, do you have a problem with me?" asked Heim
"Excuse me Commander"
"Well, I'm half Betazoid and can tell when something's wrong, and right now, you don't think I'm capable of commanding the Ronin do you?"
"I read your service record Commander, you were a ships counsellor for twelve years!! You have had almost no combat experience, no tactical training and very limited command training, so you can't blame me for being a little bit sceptical."
"Captain, with all due respect I can handle the Ronin! I safely commanded the USS Aries out of danger from three Tracozian battle ships! In the Barien war, I managed to keep the Ronin in tact, and get her repaired and back in action before the end of the battle!"
"You have commanded ships for brief periods Commander, If anything happens to Captain Evans, then you will be in command of the Ronin like it or not, for a very long time. I need to know that you are capable of performing that task."
"I am up to it sir" Devore sighed and looked at Heim, He could see the determination in his eyes and decided that for now, he would let Heim go, there were more important issues at stake now like rescuing the Ronins missing crew.
"Commander, return to the Ronin. We need to get underway immediately if we are to catch that ship. The longer we wait, the more chance there is of them being discovered." Heim got up to leave but turned around suddenly...
"Captain, one more thing. We are more than likely going to have to fight the Proletarians. Maybe even hand to hand. I recommend you produce some of the neural dampeners that we have created for the Ronins crew and equip the Leviathan with it too."
"I'll get people to work on it right away Commander."
"Commander Barker should know everything about setting it up sir. Well, I'll head back to the Ronin and signal when we're ready"
"Ok Commander"
On the Proletarian ship....
"How long do you think your ships will take to get here?" Tre'val enquired
"It's hard to say, that's assuming they even got my message" McMillan answered
"In any case, we can't stay here much longer without risking being discovered" Ryan said
"But Captain, they try to contact these unconscious Proletarians or find us missing from our cell, we are going to be discovered anyway" added Benosk.
"Suggestions people...?"
The room was filled with blank faces "Anyone....?"