Target Practice, Part 3

Posted on Fri 21st Jun, 2019 @ 6:58pm by Lieutenant Commander Dallas Briggs
Edited on on Sun 11th Aug, 2019 @ 12:36am

1,257 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: A Diplomatic Affair
Location: Breen Lab Asteroid
Timeline: Backstory

Previously ... Even though the Breen was alert and actively searching for the Human, he was surprised. He rounded the curve of the tunnel and was greeted by a disruptor across the back of the neck, cutting right through his suit. He fell to the floor dead.

And now the conclusion of the mission ....

Dallas looked at the disruptor for a moment, “Damn, I got to get me one of these.” He glanced at the tricorder before continuing on. He came upon some crude steps that were cut into the rock that went down. The lighting here began to flicker on and off making it harder to see and was already poor to begin with. Dallas took the steps down and noticed that his tricorder lost signal. “Must be the minerals in the asteroid are affecting the tricorder.” He said to himself.

He took a minute to remove his bulky suit. Without it he could move faster and more quietly. He was now dressed in an all black tactically cool jumpsuit with white stripes down the sides. He began to move down the tunnel faster and with grace like a great cat, a big, black cat. He heard noise up ahead so he slowed down to where he wasn’t making any noise as he moved. He could here two Breen arguing with each other, he assumed since he couldn’t tell what they were saying. He stopped and began to search through his backpack. He smiled when he found what he was looking for.

Dallas pulled the grenade from his backpack and took a quick peek around the corner and to his liking, there were two Breen standing there close together arguing. He took a second peek and tossed the grenade at them. The small tactical device tumbled a couple of times before coming to rest at the Breen’s feet.

Dallas leaped to the ground and covered his ears just in time for he device to explode. A deafening sound erupted with flame and shrapnel engulfing the two intended targets. Dallas felt the concussive force and heat from the small device, but was safely positioned around the corner. He stood and shook his head and wiped the dust off of his head and shoulders.

“Oh geeze, that was bad ass!” he exclaimed. He looked down and found his tricorder, fearing the worst, and picked it up. It was smashed. “Well, that’s that.” He found the disruptor, and it seemed to be okay, so he began to press on.

Coming to another solid looking door with a key pad, that was unlocked, he pulled on it and was met with a hail of disruptor fire. Sparks popped here and there all around him as he ducked back behind the door. He heard a mechanical gibberish as the Breen guard yelled at him. The weapons fire stopped and Dallas took a chance. He jumped inside the room and landed prone on his side before firing at the Breen. Simultaneously, the guard also fired, but he fired wildly, whereas Dallas hit his mark.

Dallas stood when the smoke cleared and looked at the monitors, the ones that were still working. His grenade had taken out the cameras for a couple of the monitors, but the important ones still worked. He noticed one showed a shuttle bay where he saw what appeared to be a Cardassian shuttle.

“Hah! There’s our ride home!” he exclaimed. He looked at the other monitors. “There’s the lab, but I don’t see Victoria, damn it. Where is she?” he said to himself.

Dallas found two more doors with numerical pads and disabled them. The first tunnel led to the shuttle bay and the Cardassian shuttle. He opened a panel inside the shuttle and pulled out a relay. “Well, this looks important, bet the shuttle can’t go anywhere without it.”

Leaving the shuttle, he went down the last tunnel, figuring that it would lead to the lab, and it did. There were three Cardassian scientists working there, oblivious to Dallas’ presence. “Where is she?” Dallas yelled out startling the scientists. “Where is the woman?” he demanded.

They all scrambled, one even went for a weapon and fired wildly. Dallas was in no mood for his antics and shot him. A massive hole appeared in his chest. The other two attacked Dallas grappling for his weapon. All three bumped into a table, then fell over it in a heap. They were each in a fight for their lives. Dallas was stronger than either of the Cardassians; however, there were two of them.

He wasn’t very good at the Martial Arts, not like Vicky. She was strong, extremely strong for her size, and she knew jujitsu and could kick anyone’s butt, including his. Man, he wished she were here. He thought about her, wondered where she was, if she were okay. A new burst of energy welled up inside of him, so he punched and he punched, and kept punching until he couldn’t punch any more ... until neither of the Cardassians moved.

He finally stopped, tired and his hand hurting. It was broken and he was covered with the blood of the Cardassians. He pushed their lifeless bodies away and slowly got up, unable to use his right arm and hand.

He looked around the lab, knowing it was the last room. He pulled the explosives out of his pack and began to arm them. It didn’t take very long to set them up even with one hand. Once he was done, he headed back to the Shuttle Bay.

Dallas put the piece back in the shuttle and powered up the small craft. His time at the Academy helped him learn Cardassian, so he knew the language of he shuttle. He activated the sensors and searched for human life signs.

“There she is! She seems to be okay, just stuck in some type of thick goo between layers of rock. Wait, what?!” he yelled out. “Human/Klingon, how can that be? Victoria's beautiful, but she doesn't have cranial ridges, and her back has no ridges either. It's smooth to the touch. I know, I’ve seen and kissed it many times. I’ve seen every inch of her, and have never seen any part of her that was Klingon. She never mentioned it.” Dallas shook his head and began to transport Vicky to the shuttle. “She definitely has some explaining to do...."

The body that landed in the shuttle was definitely Klingon, and it was definitely not Victoria Briggs. It was a woman, however, covered in a thin blue gel. An experiment? A victim? That would depend on whether she was still alive, but there was no time to worry about that, because Vicky was still missing.

Dallas looked back at the woman who materialized. Who was this woman and more importantly, where was Victoria? Dallas immediately pulled out the first aid kit from his pack and began scanning the woman's vitals to see if she was alive. She was stable for now, so Dallas went back to the sensors and to scan again. There were no more life signs on this asteroid so he began scanning the asteroids.

He found human life signs on the next closest asteroid, the one that had taken off the wing of the Valkyrie. She was there, and her life signs were stable. He got a transporter lock and, this time, transported his wife.

Stay tuned for the conclusion.

 

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