The Wild Geese

Posted on Sun May 3rd, 2015 @ 11:23am by Captain Aidan Rackham & Commander Ashley Kennedy & Commander William Carver M.D. & Lieutenant Rianna DiMarco & Lieutenant Duncan Harper & Ensign Daisy Skie-Cloud

Mission: The Night Cries
Location: Booking Area, Pike City Police Department
Timeline: 2278.47: 1150hrs.

"I'm sorry Captain, they're unavailable." The Desk Sergeant protested as the furious Captain stood, palms flat on the desk in front of him.

"And I'm telling you you've released a murderer!" Rackham bellowed back across. "If we don't get out to that spaceport as soon as possible he's going to swan off the planet and that's going to be firmly on you, my friend!"

It had taken Captain Aidan Rackham a simple call to the taxi company which the alien they had booked as 'Karl' had called to find out that he was on his way to the spaceport at Pearce Junction. It was the perfect way to hide out, Rackham had thought. Hide in plain sight until the opportunity to get away arose.

Had he intended it that way? After all, if they hadn't impounded his car they would never have got a trace on him.

Now he had the ignominy of this jobsworth refusing them a site to site transport. Something about the thrusters from the shuttles and transports degrading the signals. Bloody antiquated technology. He thought.

"Lieutenant." Rackham looked over his shoulder at Harper. "Requisition one of those squad cars- we're going after this bastard."

Duncan nodded. "I guess I get toshow off my charm this time." He then proceeded to get them a Car. It was easier said than done.

[Main Bridge, USS Farragut]

Skie-Cloud was just finishing up her checks. As she was just about to place her station on stand-by mode. Com's chirped with an incoming signal. She open the channel and put it on the main view screen. She looked apologetic as Fleet logo came up. "Audio only."

"Farragut this is Rackham." The Captain's voice boomed through the communications system of the USS Farragut for the first time. Whereas previously his tone had been measured and calm, he now sounded fraught with alarm. "Get the logs of ships leaving from the Pearce Junction Spaceport and intercept them!"

Ash hadn't known Rackham long, but she'd never heard that tone from him. It shocked her into action and she rushed across the bridge from the weapons console to stand behind Skie-Cloud at comms.

"This is Kennedy, sir," she said, horrified that this was happening at this exact moment. Why now?. "Engines are temporarily offline while the Chief runs some improvements. I'll have them running again as quick as we can, but right now we can't move." She inwardly cringed - though her face remained passive - and kicked herself for allowing this to happen at all.

A long silence fractured any good feeling on the bridge. "Acknowledged." Came the response. "Get them back online. Now."

"Aye aye, sir. Farragut out." The XO strode across to the command chair and thumbed the direct comm link to engineering. "Kennedy to engine room. We need impulse engines back online now. Get them back as fast as you can, DiMarco."

The XO was answered with a frustrated sounding huff from the engineer. "You'll have it just as soon as parts stop falling off. What did you just do?" There was a brief moment of silence, then a relieved little whop from DiMarco. "Keep it up! That's beautiful guys! Ahem, ma'am: we're on it. If that fails, the propulsion team is prepared to get out and push."

"Take us to Yellow Alert," Ash continued as the bridge crew started to acquire that edge to their movements. Ash loved that. "Helm, get ready to intercept as soon as engines are back online. Science, I want you identifying and tagging every ship that comes up from that spaceport. Comms, send out a general warning message to all ships; tell them any vessel departing from Pearce Junction is to hold their present position until otherwise advised. Then follow-up directly with anybody who argues. Don't take no for an answer, get me?"

Ensign Skie-Cloud turned back to her station and went to work, making contact with Space Port Flight Control. She spoke in her soft pleasant voice and manner that had all the patience in the universe as she chatted up the Flight Controller getting a list of ships and shuttles that departed the planet. "Transferring requested info to the command chair station."

Then came Commander Kennedy's orders. She gave a startled jerk from how close Commander Kennedy was to her. "Yes Mistress! Should I relay this info to Commander Rackham?" Then without waiting for an answer, she was talking with Cestus Flight Control to hold all shuttles, ships till farther notice. Then sent out a message on broad band frequency that all ships, shuttles to hold position till cleared by the USS Farragut as she awaited Commander Kennedy's response to her question.

"Captain Rackham's busy, Ensign," Ash replied. "Keep me updated. I want to know if any of those ships refuses your orders."

Daisy nodded her head to acknowledge Commander Kennedy that she heard as she was busy. Suddenly, she slapped the console before her. "Lost contact with a Fleet contracted civilian ship, Blackrain. Ma'am." She spoke after a few seconds from slapping the console, glancing up from her console to address Commander Kennedy. She still made the effort to resume contact with Blackrain as the few other ships in orbit still held their position.

[On the Road, Cestus III]

Duncan looked around as he had to steer and pay attention. "This is not on the Academy training." The Security Chief commented as he was trying to adapt the road surface. "This isn't as easy as it looks you know?" He then put his foot down to build up the Speed they needed.

Carver bounced around in the back seat and grabbed the door arm rest for support. "I never said it was easy. All I asked was if you knew what you were doing." Another rough spot in the road caused him to bounce again, even with the safety restraints. "I don't want to have to treat us all for whip lash and concussions when we get out of here."

Rackham flipped his communicator again. Vane was further out, trying to tie up loose ends for the ship's launch- equipment and commissary supplies mainly- but he was maybe, just maybe, closer to Pearce Junction. "Ed- report. How close are you to Pearce Junction?"

His report put him slightly closer than them, but not close enough.g

[Pearce Junction Spaceport]

"Where's the Blackrain?!" Rackham shouted at the bemused desk clerk who was trying to punch two tickets for a customer.

The little Tellarite took a long, languid glance at his manifest sheets. He spoke with the same haste, a strangely human drawl. "That's a private charter, that is. She'll be out by the others."

He motioned over his shoulder as he took another look at the list. "Looks like she's due to launch in a couple'a minutes. Make sure you don't miss your flight."

The Tellarite went back to punching tickets and smiling an unsettling, dreamy smile.

Rackham immediately broke into a run. He could hear the other officers behind him trying to keep up as he sprinted across the landing pads, narrowly avoiding being burned alive by the manoeuvring thrusters of a returning ships which had been grounded by the Farragut.

They reached the Blackrain, a small, sleek craft with a hooked nose and a wild paint job just as it began to lift off the ground. By the time the Captain had managed to tear across the platform to the harbourmaster responsible for the ship's take off, it was already a hundred metres above them.

"You had orders not to let any ships go!" He screamed at the harbourmaster, his eyes bulging with rage. "You had orders to keep all ships grounded!"

The harbourmaster looked at him with derision. "The ship," he spoke so slowly that Rackham was overwhelmed with the desire to knock him out, "broke take off protocols, presumably to ensure that it could run whatever blockade you and your little Starfleet friends have set up."

The Captain of the Farragut watched as the Blackrain came about and headed in the opposite direction from his ship. By the time they brought the engines back online, the Blackrain would have jumped to warp speed and be long gone.

Lost him. He thought. He turned away from the harbourmaster and back toward the team which had followed him on what now seemed to have been a wild goose chase. Damn.

---

Captain Aidan Rackham
Commanding Officer

Commander Ashley Kennedy
Weapons Officer/First Officer

Commander William Carver
Chief Surgeon

Lieutenant Rianna DiMarco
Chief Engineer

Lieutenant Duncan Harper
Security Officer

Ensign Daisy Skie-Cloud
Communications Officer
USS Farragut