Chapter 9
Lieutenant Nox and Ensign Benna exited the Ship and hid behind some rocks making sure the coast was clear or this would be a really short Op. Each donned the usual extraction attire; a black cat suit with hood, so only their eyes were visible. Both wore a waist utility belt housing all their required Tech equipment along with a coil of rope each, worn over the head and right shoulder.
This wasn’t the first time the two Officers had worked together; for the past eight months they had trained together daily and went on a dozen Ops together under the guidance of Section Thirty One. Commodore Chi made sure they were a well trained team way before they were assigned to the Vigilant. Now they would prove their worth.
After making sure it was safe to proceed, Nox took the lead with Mark following behind watching their six. They approached the building quietly as Nox grabbed her keypad device placing it over the keypad beside the door; she started the device waiting for it to scan and apply the proper key sequence to unlock the door. A couple of minutes later she heard the door unlock as they carefully entered the building. Tapping her wrist Screen she brought up the map of the prison locating the cell that Doctor Chen was being held in. Sticking to the shadows the Team proceeded quietly and carefully only using hand signals for communication. After proceeding a few hundred meters Nox heard voices getting closer as she held up her fist and both of them stopped then pressed themselves tight against the wall in the shadows to remain unnoticed. Two Guards walked on by talking and not noticing the intruders; when it was safe they walked further towards their destination. They were almost to Doctor Chen when a Guard came around the corner and surprised Nox “Who the hell are you” he queried but prior to getting an answer Mark walked up behind him and placed a sleeping dart in his the neck; before the Guard even knew what hit him he was asleep on the floor. Nox and Mark quickly moved to the cell the Doctor was being held in “Doctor Chen” Nox called out quietly as the Doctor turned “We’re here to get you out of this hellhole” she explained then proceeded to use a small amount of explosives on the lock. Not enough to make much sound but effective enough to open the door. “Doctor stand back” Nox ordered as the explosive went off with a ‘poof’ sound followed by a small amount of smoke. The Doctor hustled out of the cell “Do exactly as we tell you and we’ll all get out of here safely” Mark stated. “Thank you and I will do as you wish” Chen whispered being glad to be getting out of there knowing he was due for execution by weeks end.
The group slowly and methodically made their way towards the exit as Nox glanced down at her wrist Screen, from time to time, following the path towards freedom. They were almost there when suddenly the door opened as three Guards entered; there were no shadows to hide in so Nox and Mark each grabbed a couple of throwing stars each getting ready for a fight. One of the Guards look up but before he could draw his weapon Mark dispatched one of the stars and removed him from the equation. Seeing the intruders the other two went for their weapons, Nox fired the first followed immediately by a second throwing star which neutralized the threat. Walking up to the door Mark slowly opened it and peeked outside; there were soldiers doing night maneuvers. Mark whispered to Nox “Now what; there’s no way we make it safely passed that lot and live to tell about it.” She thought for a moment, then did what protocol said was forbidden. Peeling back a pocket on her suit, tapping a hidden Comm and speaking in a low voice “Captain Lake, Nox here.” Hearing the call “Go ahead Lieutenant.” “We have Chen but are unable to get back to the Ship safely, can you lock onto the three of us and beam us back aboard” Nox inquired. “Standby” James replied then left his seat at Command and ran to the Transporter a short ways from the Bridge. Working the controls he didn’t like what he was seeing “Nox I can’t get a lock on you, the place must be shielded. You’ll have to get outside somehow so I can get a lock and you.” “Standby Captain” Nox replied as her and Mark were trying to come up with a plan “Captain I’m going to give you a countdown starting at five. When I reach one we’ll be outside but will be vulnerable; you’ll have to get a quick lock on us and get us out of here” Nox explained. James took a breath “Ok I’ll be ready when you hit one” as he knew he had to be quick about it if they were going to remain undetected. A few minutes later “Here we go Captain….five, four, three” they were almost at the door “two, one” as they all stepped outside. James quickly locked onto his team and moved the slide lever hoping to see his Team back aboard unharmed; there were some tense seconds but finally he had all three members of the party safely aboard “Well done you two” the Captain stated, then walked over to Mark in a low voice “Show the Doctor to the Brig, I’m not taking any chances with him.” “As you wish Captain” Mark replied as he and Nox escorted Chen to Deck 2.
As the Infiltration teamed arrived an alarm sounded in Main Engineering. Lieutenant Herek ran to one of the consoles wanting to know what the alarm was for. Quickly checking the Ship’s systems he found the problem “Computer how long before we loose cloak” he inquired. “There is a ninety five percent chance the Cloaking generator will cease to function within the next five minutes” came the response. Thinking for a moment “Computer can it be fixed” Daniel queried. “Negative the generator is faulty and needs to be replaced” the Computer informed Herek. Tapping his Comm “Captain Lake this is Herek, we have a problem Sir.” Hearing the call “What seems to be the problem Lieutenant” James asked. “Sir the cloaking generator is due to go offline within the next five minutes and the Computer says it can’t be fixed and has to be replaced. “This is not good news” was James’ first thought. “Mr T’Sol were about to loose our cloaking; how quickly can you get us off the surface and back into space” he asked. Making some quick calculations “I can do an emergency lift off and get this Ship back into space within three minutes without any damage to it whatsoever” he stated then paused “You may want the Crew to hang on to something.” “Do it Lieutenant” James ordered then tapping his Comm “Attention Crew we will be doing an emergency lift off so hold on to something; Mr Herek keep a close eye on the warp core.” “Aye Captain” was heard all around. “Science make sure we have a clear path, Tactical make sure we don’t pickup a tail as we leave” “Aye Captain” both replied.
T’Sol lifted the Ship off the surface and went to full impulse with the nose at a forty five degree angle. The Ship pulled a steady incline as the Crew were forced back into their seats. Minutes later James could see space out the front window “Helm warp eight if you please” James order.
“Aye Sir, warp eight it is” as the Vigilant went smoothly to warp. “Captain we have a clear path ahead of us” Racheal informed James. “Sir it doesn’t appear we are being followed, but I will keep checking. Captain we have now lost our ability to cloak” Maria stated. “Thank you Commander, Lieutenant. We’re away from the Planet so loosing the cloak shouldn’t be a concern. Helm great job by the way” James commented. “Thank you Captain; but logically that is what I have trained for” T’Sol replied which initiated a grin from the rest of the Bridge Crew. Now they would sit back and wait to arrive at DS7.
