Captain Evans had been pacing around
his own office for over an hour. The thought of the existence of a Doomsday
device worried him more than he was willing to admit.
Now he needed answers to the questions that were running around in his head.
So here he stood outside the Admiral’s office.
After pacing the corridor for five minutes, he finally pushed the door chime.
After a moment, the doors opened and Jamie Piper stood inside the door.
"Come in Captain, I think the Admiral’s been expecting you.
Ryan walked into the room.
"I’ll see you later Captain." Jamie said as she walked out of
the door and down the corridor.
"Ryan, I wondered how long it would take you to come to me." The Admiral
remarked. "Please take a seat."
Captain Evans sat opposite the Admiral and took a deep breath before speaking.
"What in the world is a Doomsday device ?" Captain Evans enquired.
"That I can’t tell you just yet. All I can say is that I hope that
you never find out and that I never have to give the order to use it."
The Admiral replied. "Only a handful of Starfleet captain’s have ever
seen the devastation of such an explosion and only three Admiral’s know
of the existence of the device. I am the fourth and was only made fully aware
of the development of such a device before leaving for this mission. I never
thought that it would ever be developed, never mind deployed."
"Admiral, I understand you reluctance to tell us more, but if there’s
something that I need to know, something that can put this crew in danger then
I think at least I have a right to know." Ryan stated firmly.
"Captain, I am bound by an act of secrecy not to say anything more. The
device is at the moment totally harmless, not even a wrap core breach can set
it off. However once activated there will be no going back, no turning it off
again, once activated all we can do is get as far away from the explosion as
we can. It is a weapon of ultimate last resort and if we use it then all life
within a ten light year radius will be destroyed and warp travel within a hundred
light years of point zero will be impossible." The Admiral said, sighing.
"To ensure that the decision to activate the device is the right choice,
it requires the authorisation of five ranking officers. One must be a ranking
Admiral, one must be the Captain or First officer but cannot be both, one must
be the Chief Tactical officer and one must be the Chief Medical officer. That
leaves one other officer required and they must hold a rank of Lieutenant Commander
or higher. Given the inexperience of the crew that means Karissa I’m afraid,
she’s the only remaining member of the crew with the rank to give the authorisation."
Ryan thought for a moment before speaking.
"Admiral, if what you’ve just said is correct, then we’re asking
the senior crew to make a decision which they may not want to make." Ryan
remarked.
"I’m sorry Captain, in theory I shouldn’t have told any of you
about the device until you absolutely needed to know. I’ve been wrestling
with my conscience about what I should tell you. In the end it all comes down
to what’s the point when I tell you, we’re suppose to be a team, sent
here to fight an enemy who are intent on destroying all life in this universe
that isn’t their own." The Admiral replied.
"So are you going to tell me exactly what the Doomsday device is ?"
Ryan enquired.
"Not yet." The Admiral replied. "It’s probably safer that
you don’t know until we absolutely need to use it. Then I promise all of
you will be told exactly what the device is, so that you can make your decision
to use it honestly. If the five officers cannot agree to the use of the device,
then no one not even myself can activate the final sequence."
Ryan sat back in his chair and let out a sigh before rising from his seat and
heading for the door.
"I know it’s tough but we’ll get through this, hopefully without
resorting to the Doomsday device." The Admiral said as Ryan left his office.