EVA

Dylan manoeuvred the *Firefly* through the debris of the starship and shuttles they had found around the Starbase. Finally they got as close as they could to the signal beacon they had detected, the only local source of power.

“Beka are you ready ?” Jack asked over the comm. link.

[As ready as I’ll ever be.] Beka replied from the Starboard airlock. [Opening airlock now.]

There was a short alarm on the Command deck as the airlock was opened and closed and slowly Beka moved out into the debris field. Everyone watched her helmet camera on the viewscreen. She attached a rope to the side of the ship, turned on her helmet light and looked around for the beacon.

At first she couldn’t see it, but then as if coming out of a mist it appeared from behind a piece of hull plating. Hitting the jet pack, she pushed away from the ship and moved slowly through space until she reached the beacon. It wasn’t large, only half Beka’s height and it had obviously been launched just before the vessel it had come from was destroyed. Scorch marks were clearly visible on the casing and it was a miracle that it had not been totally destroyed.

Slowly Beka pulled herself back towards the airlock and finally brought the beacon inside.

[I’m back onboard.] Beka announced, to the relief of all the crew.

“Harper, go and check the beacon out.” Jack ordered. “I want to know what happened here.”

Ten minutes later, Harper and Beka were back on the command deck. They had easily accessed the beacon’s memory core and now the whole crew was about to witness what happened.

“OK Harper let’s see what happened.” Jack suggested.

The viewscreen changed to the recording.

[This is Commander Hoffman of the Federation vessel *Einstein*.] The image of a Starfleet officer, dressed in Gold not Red appeared on the screen. [We are attempting to escape the Starbase before anyone else is killed…. Oh my god, the Starbase is firing on the shuttles…..Helm, turn us around, we’ve got to give the shuttles enough time to get out of range of the Starbase’s weapons.]

The image changed to show the viewscreen of the *Einstein*. Everyone could clearly see the torpedoes and phaser fire coming from the Starbase, shortly followed by the explosions of several small shuttles.

[Arm all weapons, prepare to return fire.] Commander Hofman ordered. [Download all ship’s logs and prepare to launch a signal beacon.]

The crew appeared at first to hesitate, unsure about firing at the Starbase, but the images rocked as a volley of torpedoes hit the ships shields, sending the crew into action. The last images were of the *Einstien* firing back at the Starbase with everything it had.

[Launch Beacon.] Commander Hoffman ordered.

Those were the last words spoken and moments later, the ship was hit once more, leaving only static on the *Firefly*’s viewscreen.

“The station was firing on them.” t'Pek stated. “But why ?”

“How long was this all recorded ?” Jack asked.

“Twelve days ago.” Beka replied. “We counted twenty shuttles, some of which were never designed to travel out of system, plus three runabouts and the *Einstein*. At a guess I’d say whoever these people were and what ever they were running from, they took every available vessel and ran.”

“Did any of the vessel survive ?” Jack enquired.

“The debris field is extensive, but our preliminary scans of the area would suggest that all vessel were destroyed.” t’Pek reported. “It was a slaughter; whoever was firing on them didn’t want anyone getting away.”

“So what do we do now ?” Dylan asked. “Do we go on or turn back ?. Our passengers could have been on those vessels, they might already be dead.”

“Captain I’m picking up a signal on the sub-space band we’ve been monitoring.” t'Pek suddenly announced.

“It looks like we’re going in…...” Jack remarked. “….and I have an idea. Open a channel to the station.”

“You are joking aren’t you ?” Trance enquired. “You’re not going to give away our one advantage ?”

“t’Pek, will the station be able to pin-point our position ?” Jack asked.

“With all this radiation and debris, I doubt it.” t’Pek replied.

“Harper, are we ready to switch transponder codes.” Jack enquired.

“Switching now.” Harper replied, entering codes into the Engineering console. “Done.”

“Open a channel to the Starbase.” Jack ordered. “Decrease the signal strength, just in case.”

“Channel open.” Trance replied.

“This is the cargo vessel *Northern Star* to *Starbase G109*.” Jack announced. “We have received your distress signal and transmitted it on sub-space.”

The *Firefly* hadn’t sent the message on and had no intention of doing so, but if the station crew thought help was close at hand….

[*Northern Star*, this is Commander Drake, first officer onboard the station.] A crackly voice came back through the static. [We weren’t expecting you for another day, but I’m sure glad you’re here. A faction onboard has taken over parts of the station. We’ve managed to secure most of the Starbase, but we’re still not in control of the entire station. They took out our sub-space transmitter two weeks ago. The supply request which brought you here was one of the last transmissions we made. They’ve been making lightning attacks to keep us off guard, we just don’t have the manpower to be mount a major strike.]

“Is the main docking area under your control ?” Jack enquired. “We’d like to offer any assistance we can.”

[Negative.] Drake replied. [The traitors have secured that area for themselves, most likely because most of the systems are independent of the rest of the Starbase. You’ll have to dock at the Engineering airlock, it’s the only one you’ll be able to access safely.]

“We’ll be with you in about half an hour.” Jack confirmed. “*Northern Star* out.”

Trance closed the channel and looked at the Captain hard.

“You’re not suggesting that we actually help these people.” She asked. “They slaughtered hundreds.”

“No.” Jack replied simply. “But if they think we’re coming to their aid, they won’t fire on us will they. Plus we now know that our passengers have control of the main docking bay, which is where we’ll land. t’Pek, send the confirmation signal we got off the Padd our contact gave us on the same channel, we’re monitoring.”

“Done……..” t’Pek confirmed. “………Receiving a signal back…..We are expected.”

“Dylan set a course for the station, but move us well away from this debris field first.” Jack ordered. “Let’s make them think that we’ve not seen all this.”