JP - Carry on my wayward son - Part 6 of 8 - LtCmdr. Avander Promontory, LtCmdr. V'Len Kel, 2Lt. Ithri Sh'shelor, Lt. Jack Kessler, Ensign Radek
Amanda Nordstrom
((Itech’eman Facility - Location Unknown))
It had been a couple of days since Jack had spoken to Topok. He had not seen the Zet during that time which Jack hoped meant that he was out gathering information of the whereabouts of his parents.
As with most early mornings, Jack found himself outside in the morning sun practising a form of Earth martial arts. The graceful controlled movements not only aided him in hand to hand defence when needed but as he moved with each precise and controlled stance he focused on his sister Krystal and on Nesre. The Orion woman had captured his heart in a way he had never felt before. Between her and Krystal, Jack found every reason to want out of this luxury resort that for all purposes was a prison. Just one he’d never have imagined being kept in.
As he finished his meditation and workout, Jack’s ear caught the sound, as light as a whisper of an approach behind him. Pivoting quickly on his heel Jack thrust an arm out but met nothing but warm morning air. The approaching figure had stopped just outside of Jack’s reach.
Kessler: (smiling) You’re getting better.
The younger male stood just outside of Jack’s reach and smiled back, proud that he had been able to get this close without Jack hearing him. Radek: I used your own silence and mental thoughts as a distraction.
Radek, a VIP himself of the Zet, had found Jack a few days earlier. A Rekarian from the Alpha quadrant sharing heritage with the Vulcans and Romulans, had been taken when his ship was ambushed by the Zet. Unknown at the time of their meeting both were on the same two paths, escaping and locating the crew of the Caboto. Radek had been separated from the Caboto’s crew and moved around to several different VIP facilities since the ship's disappearance. An Ensign newly assigned to the Caboto and on his first mission had found himself a prisoner and being sold off to the highest bidder. Running into Jack Kessler, the son of his Captain aboard the Caboto had been a strange and wild coincidence. Or had it? Jack was not sure if coincidence was the right word, in fact he thought that Radek had been moved here to assist the Zet in getting information out of Jack. The Rekarian in the two days Jack had known him had seemed genuine in what he told Jack about the Caboto and the other two facilities he’d been in.
Kessler: (smiling at the younger man) Are you ready?
Radek: Yes. I have gone over everything multiple times and I am ready when you are Lieutenant.
Kessler: oO today is it then. Oo Ok, watch for my signal.
Radek nodded ever so slightly and turned to walk off, seemingly mingling with some of the other VIP’s in the courtyard. Jack watched the junior officer and hoped that their meeting was luck and not something the Zet had put together. One way or another, they would find out today.
Several hours had passed as Zet had come and gone, taking care of their respective VIPs. Even Radek’s administrator had paid him a visit but Topok had not been seen by Jack and he was now starting to worry that something was not right.
Chu’kul: VIP 81226-1 The voice cut through the air from Jack’s side and he turned to see a familiar looking Zet facing him but one he had not really have any interactions with previously. Kessler: (turning to face Chu’kul) Yes.
Chu’kul: Your Administrator, Topok asked that I deliver a message to you. He has some information for you but has been detained and will not be back here for about two weeks.
oO Two weeks? We can’t wait that long. Something’s going on. Oo The thought ran through Jack’s mind lightening fast and without addition thought he raised his right hand to his forehead and ran his fingers through his hair. Placing a facilial expression of disappointment on his face he waited to respond for a moment.
Kessler: I see, I guess I have to wait for the news then……
Jack was cut off by Radek crashing into Chu’kul. An odd looking oval shaped object was caught and tucked into Radek’s arms as he hit the ground with the Zet. Jack immediately reached out for Chu’kul, offering a hand up off the ground.
Chu’kul: (outraged by the incident as others ran over to see what had happened) YOU FOOL! Watch what you are doing.
Radek, picking himself up off the ground, dropped the large oval object to the ground and reached out to steady Chu’kul.
Radek: I am so sorry Administrator. I did not see you standing there. Please forgive me.
A group of VIPs and Zet Administrators were gathering around them and Chu’kul had to choke back his anger at getting thrown to the ground by this insignificant creature.
Chu’kul: You and that game need to find a less populated place to play.
Chu’kul waved his arms in the air, frustrated and somewhat humiliated at the incident. Turning he stomped away from the gathering group and away from Kessler and Radek.
Jack looked to Radek and keeping a straight face lifted the corner of one eyebrow as if to ask a question. Radek looking in the direct Chu’kul was walking gave the slightest head nod indicating the task had been accomplished. Now, was go time.
Jack and Radek kept their distance from each other over the next hour and when the mid-day chimes sounded, indicating the mid-day meal was being served Jack headed for the food tables. Gathering a few morsels on his serving tray Jack made his way over to a group of shade trees and sat down at a small table. Radek walked by, headed towards an entrance to the main building and kept moving as Jack watched from his seated position, essentially covering Radek’s back. Moments later Radek was at the side entry and pulled a small device from his pockets. A device he’s lifted off Chu’kul during their ‘accidental’ run in. Sticking the device into the coded reader slot a red icon chimed lightly and then turned Blue. The door slid open and and without looking back Radek stepped in.
Jack was up and moving towards the door at the moment Radek started in and without being seen or alerting the guards stepped into the doorway with Radek and allowed the entry to slide shut behind them.
Kessler: (whispering) Let’s get out of here.
Radek: Right with you Lieutenant.
Jack didn’t wait for any further conversation, he was off down the corridor and rounding corner after corner as fast as he could. Jack had studied the movements of the Zet in this area and knew that the midday meal drew almost all of the Administrators from this secured location. Without the coded key the VIPs had no way to get in here so why guard it? Jack smirked at the short sightedness of the Zet in that regards but also thanked them for being naive enough to think they had everything bottled up so tightly that no one could get in here.
Moments later the two men found themselves at a junction and Jack looked down at the floor.
Radek: I don’t see it, Lieutenant. I thought you said there is an access tunnel to the maintenance shaft?
Jack smiled an evil little grin and leaned down to the smooth black flooring. Reaching his hand up to Radek he eyed the code key the man was carrying. Radek handed it over without a word and watched as Jack tapped it to the floor. Another light chirp came from the code key and the floor, which had seemed to be seamless lifted slightly revealing a larger square hatch. Pocketing the key Jack grabbed the hatch and lifted, giving way to a ladder leading down into the maintenance shaft.
Kessler: (starting down into the shaft) It pays to pay attention Ensign. Let’s go.
As Kessler descended into the shaft Radek was fast on his heels and as he came down the ladder secured the hatch behind him. Jack then went back up the ladder and using the code key altered the locking code to the hatch. It was not a guarantee to stop the Zet but at least it would slow them down.
The two men moved through the maintenance shaft without incident and soon found themselves nearly a full kilometer from the facility and at an exit point. Jack had been here before and had been caught because he failed to realise that although the door itself was not set to set off any alarms, there were motion sensors outside that would alert the Zet to anything larger than a small animal approaching or leaving the entryway.
Kessler: On your hands and knees Ensign.
Radek: (surprisingly) What?
Kessler: We have to crawl out. I noted the Vutmor did not set off the sensors the last time I tried this. That means we crawl. The sensors are meant to detect someone walking.
Radek: Who would have thought we would crawl right out from under their noses.
Once again Radek followed suit with Jack and after the door was opened the two men started crawling as fast as they could on their hands and knees. Jack thought that from an aerial view the escape probably looked rather comical and he would love to have seen the looks on the Zet’s faces when they realised what had happened.
Twenty or thirty mins later Jack stood but kept to a crouched position.
Kessler: You good Ensign.
Radek: Yes sir.
Kessler: Now we run, due East. Ten clicks out should be the landing bays they brought us in to.
Radek: I was drugged during that trip. They left you awake?
Kessler: The sedative they used didn’t keep me out the whole time. (beat) Let’s go.
The day’s temperature was increasing and the full out run brought about a sweat that just rolled off both men as they traversed the forest terrain. Jack’s heartbeat heavy in his chest as he ran but Radek;s beat even harder. He was not the runner that Jack was and keeping up with the Lieutenant was more difficult than he had thought it would be, but he did and through sweat soaked brows he found himself finally laying on the ground at the forest edge overlooking the landing field.
Kessler: (breathing very heavy) Almost their Ensign.
The dull sounds of claxons could be heard in the far distance. The prison break had been discovered and Jack looked to Radek. Adrenaline started to surge again in his veins. They were close, too close to getting off this rock to get caught now.
Kessler: Move, move.
Grabbing at Radek’s arm and helping him up, Jack was off and running again. The escape foremost in his mind but in the back of his mind he kept an image of Krystal and Nesre to drive him, to push him harder than he thought he could go.
Reaching the landing bays Jack and Radek found only a handful of Zet in the large cavernous bay. Apparently all security had or was at the VIP facility itself. Again Jack smiled at the lack of foresight the Zet had about their prisoners.
Looking around the bay Jack saw something that made him smile. Someone had left him a gift and one that would be detrimental to the Zet in the political theater as well. Jack looked to Radek and then pointed to the vessel sitting to their left about thirty meters away.
Radek: No way, that has to be from the Caboto.
Kessler: That aeroshuttle is our ticket out of here.
With stealth the two men moved around the other craft in the hanger bay until they reached the Starfleet aeroshuttle and climbed aboard. Jack slid into the pilots seat while Radek slid into the co-pilots seat. Jack was amazed that the shuttle was still in standby mode and all systems seemed to be online. He shook his head at the irony of the escape and what he was bringing back to the Oumuamua as proof the Zet had the Caboto and crew.
Kessler: No flight check, fast start up and bug out. Get the shields ready to engage as soon as we are off the ground.
Radek: Aye sir.
Jack started ramping up the controls. Securing the boarding hatch, firing up the engines to full power, engaging the dampeners. The rest could wait, he thought as he lifted the aeroshuttle up and off the ground. Out the view port windows Zet were running towards the shuttle waiving weapons in the air and apparently shouting at the two occupants. Of course from inside the shuttle neither Jack nor Radek knew what was being shouted at them and with a smile reaching from ear to ear, Jack waved goodbye to the Zet and then pushed the acceleration of the shuttle to its max.
Ripping out of the hangar and immediately nosing the ship upwards Jack climbed the shuttle as fast as he could while Radek engaged the shields to prevent the Zet from transporting them off the shuttle and back to the facility.
As Jack maintained the flight controls Radek was watching the sensors and his smile at the escape rapidly withdrew.
Radek: Lieutenant, four fighter craft are coming up after us from the ground. Scans show them to be heavily armed.
Kessler: (maxing out the impulse engines) reinforce the aft shields. This might get a bit bumpy.
Radek: How bumpy?
Jack looked over to the Rekarian and smiled. A smile that Radek was not sure how to interpret.
Radek: That bumpy?
Kessler: Don’t worry, I’ve been shot at before and I am still here. I like our odds.
Jack of course was trying to keep the junior officer from really thinking about the flying weapons platforms that were coming up behind them rapidly.
Kessler: As soon as we reach space begin an emergency broadcast on all Starfleet channels.
Radek: On it.
The shuttle jerked hard as the first wave of weapons fire impacted the aft shields. The Zet were packing a punch and Jack needed to out fly these guys if they were to survive. The next round and the round after that lurched the shuttle again and again. Sparks from one of the aft consoles flew across the cabin and power was beginning to fall and the decision to put the power to the engines or shields was becoming harder and harder to make.
Kessler: Can you get any power from anywhere else? Those ships are faster and better armed that we are.
Radek: (hands dancing across the console) No, that’s everything including life support.
Jack looked to Radek and then hard rolled the shuttle to port trying to evade the incoming weapons fire. Kessler: Damn it, we’re not getting too far with these guys on our tails. Any bright ideas Ensign, we’re losing power rapidly.
Radek: That’s everything. Kessler: (looking over to Radek and jerking the shuttle in another evasive roll) Sorry, Radek, maybe we are not getting out of this one after all.
((Plausible Deniability, Location Known))
In the control room of the Plausible Deniability V’Len bit his lip. What was a Federation aeroshuttle doing on the surface and why was it leaving? Then it hit him. Intrepid class ships like the Caboto had aeroshuttles. He turned back to his console. A smile spread across his face.
Kel: We’re too late. ::happily:: Jack Kessler just rescued himself.
Promontory: Maybe. But it is worth our attention.
In the last year there had been enough evidence of Zet trafficking in Alpha Quadrant species that finding one piece of Federation technology wasn’t enough to narrow suspicious down much, unfortunately.
Sh’Shelor: We do not know he has rescued himself. We do know there is a Federation vehicle there. That could mean many things.
Behind them, Kel continued to tap on the console, adding his own eyes to the mix as they reviewed the scans for the facility. Ithri cast a glance toward him, before straightening.
Kel: Fair enough. ::working the sensors:: Given it’s a Federation aeroshuttle, I think we can assume at least one person from the Federation is aboard.
Promontory: Again. Probably. It could, in fact, be a trap.
Sh’Shelor: This is truth. They are not leaving, so they are not welcomed guests. It could also be to draw us in.
She had little experience with the Zet, but Ithri had read and learned about them to see the havoc and destruction the could cause. Sometimes, the Prime Directive did not make sense to her, but in that instance, she could see how things might have been better had the UDP elected to follow that tenet.
Kel: ::nodding toward Sh’Shelor:: Yeah. The Zet do seem keen on preventing their departure
Sh’Shelor: We must be particularly cautious.
Did the Zet know they were there? If the UDP knew people were looking for Jack, then they had to assume the Zet did too. Had the representatives really been trying to lure them into a trap? If so, why? What did they stand to gain from three more?
The sensors finally locked on to the lifeforms in the shuttle.
Kel: It’s a Human and a Vuclan. ::pausing:: Somebody’s trying to escape but they're going to need help.
Promontory: Then let’s not keep them waiting!
The new clarity of the sensors allowed them to better formulate not only an idea of what was going on, but how to help. If a human and a Vulcan were there and they had made it to they shuttle, then that actually put them in a more favourable position.
Sh’Shelor: Let us not let them wait.
The Deniability began to move forward, heading toward the planet as the aeroshuttle hurried up and away.
Promontory: =/\= Federation Shuttle, do you read? =/\=
The voice was that of Avander Promontory, the Oumuamua’s Intelligence officer and one of Jack’s friends. Excitement in his voice was not to be contained nor the expression on his face as he looked to Radek.
Kessler: =/\= Avander, is that you? =/\=
Promontory: =/\=We have to be sure, it could still be a trap. =/\=
Kel: =/\= Hey Jack ::beat:: How many Klingons were there on Valentine’s day? =/\=
Ithri cast a strange look at the Trilldorian. What sort of question was that?
V’Len was with him. Jack’s smile increased from ear to ear. Of course the valentine’s day question was a bit weird but then Jack realised they needed him to prove who he was.
Kessler: =/\= No Klingons, just a Trilldorian showing me his backside. =/\=
The visual of V’Len running away from him, down the corridor to beat Jack to Nesre Salo’s quarters was a vision he would not ever forget. The grin creeping up his face even now brought back a great memory and thoughts of his friendship with V’Len.
Kel: ::elated laughing:: =/\= You scoundrel! =/\=
Promontory: oO It’s really him! He’s alive! Oo
Avander hadn’t quite believed it until he actually heard Jack’s voice.
Jack’s excitement was dialled back as another weapons blast struck the aeroshuttles shields and this time bringing them down to a very weakened state.
Radek: Lieutenant, shields at 18% and warp drive is offline as well. We could use some help.
Kessler: =/\= Avander, where are you guys at? =/\=
Jack glanced quickly at the sensors but saw nothing other than the pursuing ships.
Promontory: =/\= Oh we’re here, we’re just hiding from the Zet. (beat) Friends of yours? =/\=
Kessler: =/\= Not friends. Could really use some help. =/\=
Kel: =/\= Change your heading to 25 mark 2.=/\= ::turning to Avander:: We should beam them aboard.
Promontory: =/\= They don’t look too happy you’re leaving. =/\=
Jack could see Radek was getting a little worried at the readings on his console. The aeroshuttle was not designed for the flying Jack was putting it through nor was it built to take the pounding these Zet were throwing at them.
Kessler: =/\= Let’s just say they are losing money on this deal. Any bright ideas? =/\=
Promontory: =/\= Rig your warp core to explode; let them think you died in the escape attempt. =/\=
Jack looked over to Radek and grinned.
Kessler: Well, at least we get to blow something up today. Radek: I like blowing stuff up.
Radek’s fingers danced across the console as Jack kept trying to evade weapons fire but the aeroshuttle was becoming more and more difficult to fly with its damage.
Kel: =/\= Get ready for transport. =/\=
Lieutenant
Jack Kessler
Zet
Prisoner
Itech'eman
Facility
T239901JK1
&
Ensign
Radek
Zet Prisoner
Itech'eman Facility
T239901JK1
&
Lt
Cmdr Avander Promontory
Director of Intelligence, Gamma Quadrant Flotilla
USS Octavia E Butler
O239910AP4
&
Lieutenant
Commander V’Len Kel
Chief Medical Officer
USS Ronin NCC-34523
T239811VK2
He/Him (character and player)
&
2Lt Ithri Sh'shelor
Marine Intelligence Officer
USS Octavia E Butler
M239008AD0
