The Third Sacrament (Pt 3)

Posted on Tue Mar 4th, 2025 @ 1:20am by Lieutenant Gabrielle 'Gabi' Shimoda & Petty Officer 3rd Class Gavin Ralston
Edited on on Tue Mar 11th, 2025 @ 11:01pm

3,251 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Impending Midnight
Location: Galorndon Core Surface
Timeline: Four Days Ago

ON

On the blustery tundra of Galorndon Core, shards of hull and scattered equipment littered the ground like toys thrown from a cot. Torches and tools in hand, Gabi and Ral battled against icy gusts, following the rut D’Pan’s vessel had cut into the frozen rugged surface.

The pair stumbled through the darkness, the data on their tricorders so useless they’d been left in the shuttle. The wind created flurries of dust and fog as thick as pea soup, leaving the duo to feel their way toward the D'Pan's shuttle, blinding flashes of lightning only making matters worse.

Communication was impossible, the wind so deafening and visibility so low that even hand signals were like a foreign language.

The trail led to a predictable destination. Debris slowly taking more recognisable shape as they neared the craft. The rut narrowed until before them, a massive ring came into view. Towering over them, it was broken, tattered and sheared, tethered only to the crumpled body of the small craft with sinewy connections.

Carefully, the pair rounded the broken vessel. The rear of the vessel had been crushed, though the front had been blown out. Jagged metal lined the breach, as though a giant fist had punched its way out. They crept forward slowly, moving around to the front of the craft. The pair stood staring into a dark abyss inside the vessel, a lightning flash illuminating the torn interior enough to see what looked like a body amongst the wreckage. And two pairs of boots, stood nearby.

Gabi grabbed Ral, stopping him in his tracks. She drew her weapon and pushed Ral’s toolkit from his hand, imploring him to take up arms. Inside, hands groped and pulled at the lifeless Vulcan form.

Gabi’s grip on her weapon tightened, aiming it inside. Her torch followed the muzzle of her weapon. Two angular faces snapped backward, their beady eyes reflecting the torchlight.

“Romulans!” Gabi shouted to Ral. She barked an order into the cockpit. “Hold it!”

The Romulans ignored the command. The Romulan soldiers drew their pistols, glowing emerald beams of searing disruptor fire blazing through the air and soaring past them. Gabi and Ral fell back, returning fire and vaulting over a boulder for cover. They blindly shot their phaser pistols into the foggy wrecked cabin, trying their best to keep their muzzles above the ground to avoid hitting the man they were trying to save.

“We’re not going to get anywhere like this,” Gabi muttered as the weapons fire continued to be exchanged. “Cover me, Ral!”

Rounding the rock, she concentrated her fire on the broken shuttle interior. One of the Romulans emerged from the torn ship, his weapon snapping to bear on Shimoda. A sizzling disruptor beam soared toward her, exploding the rock behind her in the shower of jagged shrapnel. The Romulan went to fire again, thwarted by a phaser bolt from Ral. Gabi joined him, the pair ending the enemy soldier in a hail of fire.

Gabi advanced forward, weapon trained on the shuttle. Ral followed, his torch lighting up the interior. Inside, the Romulan pawed at the Vulcan body, desperate to free him. The pair held their fire as the soldier yanked at the body, until it budged. The Vulcan’s torso was ripped away, the rest of his body pinned under the wreckage, green blood and viscera spilling onto the shuttle floor as the Romulan fell onto his back. He shot a stunned look back at the pair. His hand went to his disruptor. That was motive enough for Ral and Shimoda to end him in a flash of phaser fire.

The pair dodged the dead Romulans and rushed into the decimated cabin. They went to the side of the long-haired Vulcan, kneeling beside his bisected body. Gabi moved his blood-soaked hair to examine the mangled face of the Vulcan.

She pursed her lips and locked eyes with Ral. “It’s him.” She stood, and wiped the blood from her hands onto her coat. Gabi tried her best to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach. “Get your tools and collect what you need. I’ll drag these Romulans back in prepare a charge to destroy the ship; best not to leave evidence. Then we’re getting out of here.”

Gabi went to the most distant Romulan’s body and dragged him back to the cockpit. Meanwhile, Ral dug around in computer consoles and circuitry to find what he needed.

Gabi scanned the wreckage before calling out, “Ral?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m curious, can you sense anyone else in our area.”

“Umm… no… I uh… I don’t think so.”

“Must be thankful for small mercies, I suppose.”

With the lead-weighted Romulans piled inside, Ral was close to gutting the wreck to tick off his technological wishlist. Gabi’s muscles ached from dragging the dead around like some sort of plague carter. She leant against a crumpled wall to rest, her hand going to her pocket, retrieving a textured silver disk. Running her thumb over its cool surface, she kept watch for any other adversaries as she pushed out a slow breath.

A grunt came from inside the wreckage, moments later Ral emerged with a mess of machinery being dragged behind him. “I… think… that’s everything,” He struggled, pulling himself free and standing up, “It’s a mess back there. Sheesh.”

“Are we ready to extract?”

“Yep… yeah…” Ral struggled, lifting the salvaged equipment into a cargo container. “Hey, uh, could you take my toolkits?”

“Sure.” Gabi thought she’d be helpful by placing the last of the tools back in Ral’s toolbox, though finding the right cutout for the right tool was a challenge. It reminded her of trying to force a square block into a circle hole when she was a child.

“How about I sort that out?” Ral smiled.

“Sure.” Gabi stood and moved away. She felt her pulse quicken again, the uncertainty was beginning to eat at her, and the journey back was going to be a challenge. She began to program and set the charge. Ral was packed. It was time to go.

|Shuttlecraft Prieto
|Subsequently

Gabi and Ral retraced their steps back to the craft. The tools and recovered materials were stowed and the duo were back in the cockpit. Gabi found herself clockwatching, waiting for the fifteen minute countdown on D’Pan’s vessel.

“We’re ready to go.” Ral said, firing up the ship’s systems.

“Gladly. Let’s get out of here.”

The vessel’s thrusters roared to life. The ship kicked up no dust lifting off the ground, the wind did enough of that. The small vessel headed for the sky, zooming upward, the clock counting down to zero. A searing flash ripped through the landscape, followed by a violent plume of fire and smoke. In an instant, D’Pan, his vessel, and those troublesome Romulans were embers on the wind.

“Mission accomplished.” Ral grinned. His hands continued to work the controls, getting the vessel oriented to jump to warp once they were at a safe distance from the planet. “I guess that went well.”

Gabi sat in reflective silence. She didn’t acknowledge the Petty Officer’s comments, instead, she prepared an after-action report detailing all the things they failed to achieve. Chief amongst this was not retrieving D’Pan, though eventually even she would have to acknowledge that his death was a foregone conclusion.

The ascent to the stars was painless, the ship barely rocked as it left the atmosphere of Galorndon Core. Sailing through the clouds and up into orbit even left Gabi content enough to decide the mission had concluded.

“Mister Ral, set a course for Starbase 72,” Gabi ordered. “I’m going to prepare my report for Starfleet Intelligence.”

“Sure.” Ral nodded.

Gabi began to tap into a PADD, beginning to walk through the tiny cockpit toward the door, dumping her mind onto the virtual page.

From behind, an alarm blared, smashing her focus.

“Oh… oh boy!” Ral cried. “Roms!”

“What?” Gabi demanded. She darted to the ops console, joining Ral. “What do you mean we’ve got Romulans?”

“A ship is pursuing from the surface,” He checked his readings, “A Romulan scout ship.”

“Lanora Class,” Gabi said, checking the readings for herself. “Lightly armed and armoured.”

“Good news if you’re on a starship, which I remind you, we’re not.”

“We’re more manoeuvrable, though. What weapons have we got?”

“A pop gun for shooting comets. Low yield. I’ve never used it.”

“Great.” Gabi muttered. She watched her console, the Romulan shuttle gaining on them at a rapid rate. “With that sensor-confusing hull coating burned away, it’s going to be a matter of moments before the Romulans have a good weapons lock.”

“I’ll burn it off intentionally next time!”

Gabi shot Ral a sardonic look. Then, her console screamed at her. “They’re locking weapons. Hold on to something!”

Pulses of glowing distruptor fire blared past. Warning shots. The shuttle’s systems were going haywire, predicting it had moments left before destruction. Another volley, closer this time, buffeted the small shuttle. The concussive effect rocked them about. Panels flew open, an auxiliary panel exploded behind them, showering the cockpit with sparks.

“What are they doing?” Ral cried, flying the small vessel as evasively as he could to dodge the incoming fire.

“Why don’t you tell ME, you’re a Betazoid!” Gabi scolded. “Do they want to kill us? What are you reading?”

“I don’t know!” Ral shot back. The ship jolted again, another salvo of Romulan fire scorching their hull.

“Are they trying to kill us?” She demanded.

“How should I know?!” Ral cried, wincing as another flash illuminated the cockpit. “I’m not even a Betazoid!”

“What!”

“My name’s not even Ral!”

“Are you serious?!" Gabi shouted. The outrage subsided for a moment. She had an idea. “Ral, or whatever your name is. I’ve got an idea. I’m going out back. Slow down on my mark.”

“What?”

“Just do it! We’re dead either way.”

Gabi clambered into the rear of the vessel. She flew into the cargo bay and grappled the cargo container of mines, pushing the heavy box into the corridor, swapping the container of D’Pan’s equipment in its place. Then she went for the old EV suit.

She climbed into the stiff rubbery outfit, praying it would hold against the vacuum of space. One tear, one leak and she’d be an exploded icicle. The ship continued to be jolted and buffeted by Romulan weapons fire, the lights flickering as the Romulan’s fought to line up their killshot. Between some erratic flying from Ral and the bangers being dropped by the Romulans, she was being thrown all over the place, off balance constantly as she sealed up the suit and yanked on the clunky helmet.

The visor fogged up as the suit’s systems powered on. She grabbed a one of those old Romulan rifles and cocked it, charging the old powercell, the weapon giving an ominous hum to indicate its readiness.

She tapped her commlink, “Ral, stand-by. Here goes nothing.”

She kicked open the crate of old mines, the explosives rattling in place as she ship lurched from side-to-side. She reached across, tapping commands into the panel that would allow her to open the airlock. Naturally, even this ancient shuttle had safeties that ensured that wasn’t going to happen.

Looking for a panel cover near the door, she spotted an access hatch and raised the disruptor. A shimmering beam blew the metal panel from the wall, revealing the grizzly innards of the dilapidated craft. Amongst the wires and circuitry was a lever. Its purpose was obvious.

She trudged up the deck as though she was wading through cold molasses, still being knocked from side to side as her pilot tried his best to keep them alive. Her gloved hand grabbed the lever and yanked it down, the override initiating a blaring klaxon that was loud as it was offensive.

=^=“Gabi, what the hell are you doing?”=^=

“Just trust me. Stand by.”

There was no response on the line. Instead, she mustered her strength to clamber back to the airlock control. A few clumsy taps and the airlock door opened. From behind, the contents of the corridor was blown from the rear of the shuttle. Explosives, toolboxes and a pair of old underpants went flying out the exit, slamming against the shuttle as Gabi inched toward the vessel’s exit, now open to the icy exterior of space.

From beyond the foggy visor she locked eyes with the Romulan pilot; wild-eyed and manic, behind gritted teeth he planned to destroy them.

"Now!"

Clinging to a handrail for dear life, the portal to the abyss of space centimetres away, she raised her disruptor rifle. In her view, a dozen red lights were diffused by the fog on the visor. Each one a mine and each point a of light providing another target. Priedo slowed, the scout ship neared. She aimed and fired.

A miss.

She fired again.

Another miss.

She could see the pilot laughing mockingly from behind his cockpit window. Gabi imagined how absurd he would’ve thought it to be that she was trying to take his ship out with a hand weapon. And yet, destruction was mere moments away.

Another shot. Bullseye.

An explosion knocked the enemy shuttle, flames licked the hull as a chain of blasts rippled across its hull. From behind the vivid explosive flashes, she could see the scout being knocked about, losing speed as the Priedo made distance between them.

As the smoke cleared, she watched as the Romulan vessel’s lights flickered and died, the ship oriented at a sickening angle as it drifted back toward the planet, the Starfleet operatives leaving their adversary for dead as they got away.

Gabi hit the control panel and the airlock snapped shut. Hissing gasses repressurised the room. Gabi collapsed to the deck struggling for breath, her body trembling.

The Betazoid imposter rushed to her side and removed the helmet and loosened the fastenings of the EV suit.

“We got him!” He grinned. “That was insane. And reckless. But mostly insane!”

“Yeah." Gabby gasped, giving exhausted nods. "What is your name, anyway?”

“My name?”

“You heard me.”

“Gavin.”

“Gavin?”

“Gavin Ralston.”

“I’ll be damned. Gavin Ralston the human,” Gabi struggled, gasping for breath as she rested her head upon the deck. “Let me rest, Gavin. I’ll… I’ll be fine here. Just get us back to base.”

“Sure. I’ll set a course.”

“And if you lie to me again, Ralston,” She muttered, grabbing his arm, “I’ll fucking kill you.”

|Starbase 72, Briefing Room
|Two Days Later

Hands clasped behind her back, Gabi was back in her stiff and starched uniform, with every detail meticulously in place. She watched a fleet of starships orbiting the space station; vessels of every type glided by gracefully, as though part of a grand ballet. To some, it was a military fleet. To her, it was poetry in motion.

The briefing room door hissed open. Gabi turned, watching an older gentleman stroll purposefully into wardroom, PADD in hand. He was a short, kind-looking man, a little soft around the middle. His rank pips and combadge caught the light in the room, gleaming against the grey-coloured uniform they both wore.

“Good morning, Lieutenant,” The older man said, warmth in his tone as he waited for her to come to the table. “I’m Deputy Director Perryman, Chief of Intelligence for this sector.”

“Good morning, sir,” Gabi nodded.

“You don’t have a refreshment. Could I offer you something?”

“Coffee, black.”

Perryman went to the replicator, placing their order. His pudgy form was bathed in a soft glow as two black coffees shimmered into existence. He placed her beverage on the conference table and gestured for her to take a seat.

“I read your report. A solid effort.”

“High praise.”

“Indeed.” Perryman took a seat opposite Shimoda and took a sip of his beverage. “A few… unexpected turns.”

“It was a dynamic mission.”

“You handled it well,” Perryman admitted. “How did you find working with Mister Ralston?”

“An interesting… asset.”

“High praise.” Perryman shot back, the suggestion of a smile appearing on his face. “He is certainly an interesting young man. Clever, resourceful, quite the conversationalist.”

“An accurate assessment.” Gabi replied coolly.

“One thing I found interesting,” Perryman started, flicking through the notes on his PADD, “You never mentioned his use of an alias.”

“I didn’t feel it was necessary to mention.”

“Interesting.” Perryman replied. “He was more critical in his self-assessment.”

Gabi reached for the mug, letting a sip take the place of a comment. “Has anything come to light from your research into D’Pan’s journey?”

Perryman took a beat at the change of subject. “We’ve analysed the data recorders of D’Pan’s craft, and looked into his personal database. It took some digging, but we discovered this.”

The Director flicked through some documents on his PADD, then slide the device across the table to Shimoda. She took it and read it. Looking over the barely decipherable handwritten text, the colourful pictures drawn in coloured pencil, the translucent stain where some juice had dried.

“A letter.”

“It seems that D’Pan had discovered his wife and daughter had relocated to Chaltok IV in Romulan space,” Perryman explained. “His diary revealed that he was planning to use his flight as a proof of concept."

"Perhaps that explains the presence of the Romulans, that they were there to capture his ship."

"Or were perhaps there to secure him and bring him to his family. We made some enquiries with an associate on Romulus, they didn't seem to have any knowledge of military involvement. There's some suggestion those gentlemen might've been privateers." Perryman sighed. "Nevertheless, it seemed like D'Pan saw this as an opportunity to prove himself. All those late nights, time spent away, it was all going to pay off.”

“Look what it cost him.” Gabi reflected.

Perryman nodded in sober agreeance, “I’m a father too. I can’t say I disagree with his motives. Ralston had suggested the two of you might take the time to take this information to his family.”

“I don’t feel that’s necessary.”

“Very well.” Perryman didn’t feel the need press further. Instead, he moved on to other business. “In that case, we have another job for you.”

“Oh?”

“Captain Wallace has been highly praising of your work with Starfleet Tactical. The lead ship of the fleet out there, the Missouri, requires an intelligence officer. You were recommended for the position, given your experience and expertise.”

“Director… I’m flattered, but I really should be getting back to Earth, I—”

“That fleet out there is going up against a threat we’ve never seen before,” Perryman stated. “They’re pulling the best of the best in on this one. I’d recommend you pack your bags, but from what I hear, that's already been taken care of. You’ll be reporting aboard at 0630 hours tomorrow morning.”

Gabi was in no position to argue. “Yes, sir.”

“Good.” Perryman stood and gave her a curt nod. “A pleasure.”

“A pleasure.”

“I’ll be watching, Lieutenant. Don’t disappoint.”

OFF

Posting by

Lieutenant Gabi Shimoda
Starfleet Intelligence Field Operative

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