An Away Team Moves
to Rescue Hernandez
“Say that again?”
Emmerson asked. “Hernandez was caught by the British agent?”
“That’s
right,” Lawson said.
“Report
back to the ship,” he ordered.
“Aye,
Captain,” Albert said.
Ten
minutes later, Lawson and Albert entered the Observation Lounge.
“What just happened?”
“Hernandez
went after the agent to grab the energy device off him,” Lawson
answered.
“I know
that, but how did she get captured?”
“We’re
not entirely sure,” Albert said.
The
captain sighed. “We’ll bring up the logs from the Toronto,”
he decided. He input some instructions into his PADD and the logs
came up on the wall monitor.
“Hernandez
to Toronto.”
“Lawson
here.”
“I
have the device, and I'm now outside, in a back ally.”
“We're
taking off now.”
“Thanks.”
“The
device is giving out interference. I can't get a lock on either of
them.”
“If
she threw it, could you get it in a tractor beam?”
“If
it's at a low factor. But wouldn't it be easier to land?”
“There
isn't enough room!”
“We
can't get a lock or land! But we can get it in a tractor beam if you
throw it.”
“Let's
do that.”
“Readying
the tractor beam.”
The
Captain glared at Lawson and Albert. “You then flew away with the
device back here!”
“With
it in our tractor beam, it was still interfering with the
transporter,” Albert explained.
The Captain sighed. “I suppose. But now we have to rescue her
without violating the Prime Directive. It's certainly a tall order.”
Hernandez glared at Bond as the car continued weaving it's way
through the western suburbs of London.
“You know how it is,” Bond said as he took a blindfold from one
of the other agents.
“As long as you are not the one holding my hands,” she said.
“I did what I needed to do for Queen and Country,” Bond said.
She considered spitting in his face, but decided against it. That was
not how a Starfleet Officer behaved, even when captured. She hoped
that Baffin would find her
soon. Bond then blindfolded her.
“Relax. You're in the hands of others now,” Bond said.
That wasn't reassuring.
Captain Emerson emerged onto the Bridge. “Report.”
“We've decoded the MI6 signals,
but there is hardly any indication of where she's being taken. After
Toronto took off,
there was interference in the atmosphere. We can't find Hernandez, or
the agents who took her,” Lieutenant Lu reported.
“And the combadge signal?”
“We can't find that either. It must be turned off,” T'Sal
interjected.
“Launch more probes. Run intense scans of London until you find
her!”
“She's one Human in a city of
millions of the same species. Even trying to find one born in the
24th
century...” Lu said.
“And the quantum signature won't be much help either,” T'Sal
added.
“How so?”
“Such a small amount of extradimensional matter can only be
detected close up. Within a few hundred meters,” T'Sal answered.
The captain sighed.
Daniela was certain that the blindfolding was more for disorentation,
rather than a need for secrecy. She was feeling that way shortly
after the blindfold was put on. The sounds of the engine and tyres,
along with the agents occasionally talking through their radios
didn't help either. She certainly had no idea where they were going.
After some time, the car came to a stop.
“We're here,” Bond said.
She remained silent as one of the other agents took her hand.
M was annoyed that Bond's mission to Oxford had gone awry. But he
knew it wasn't 007's fault. “I expect a report before Noon
tomorrow,” he told that particular agent over the phone.
“You will have it, sir.”
T'Sal looked at the latest scan of London. There was still nothing
unusual, although more differences to their version of London in that
era were being picked up. 'I'm not sure what we're looking for!' Then
there was the fact a storm was coming in. That was sure to cause
problems. 'Maybe if we use the storm as cover while we fly the ship
in near the Thames Estuary?' But would the Captain agree? Only one
way to find out. She quickly wrote up her proposal.
Q looked up as he heard Agent 007 enter his workshop. “You lost it,
007?” he asked.
“You know it wasn't my fault. But she had something else on her
when she was captured,” 007 said. He handed over a small device
that looked like some kind of badge. “I saw her use it as a
communication device.”
Q picked up on what he wasn't saying. “And you think it may have a
tracking function?”
“We still have no idea who she's working for,” Bond responded as
he took the device.
Q nodded, as he looked at the device close up.
Emerson read over T'Sal's proposal. “It's a good idea.”
“Thank you, sir.”
The senior officers soon met in the Observation Lounge. “We have a
plan,” the Captain said.
T'Sal stood up and turned on the screen. A map of London and it's
surrounds was shown. “We know that Hernandez is being held by MI6.
Rescuing her is going to be risky because we have no idea where in
the MI6 building she's being held. Then there is also the Prime
Directive. We need to find her combadge if it isn't still on her.”
She then pressed a command on her PADD and the screen zoomed out,
showing the storm front approaching London over the southwest of
England. “The storm will hit London in an hour and a half.” She
pressed another command. The original map was shown and an icon
representing the Baffin was shown. We'll fly in, and land in
the Thames Estuary. Then we'll use an aquashuttle to infiltrate the
river and approach the MI6 headquarters as close as possible.”
“That would seem to minimise the risk,” Lu said. “But wouldn't
we be seen entering the atmosphere?”
“That is a possibility,” T'Sal conceded, “But we have to take
the risk.”
An hour and a half later, the Baffin was ready to move. “We'll
be in low Earth orbit in one minute, sir.” Andersen reported.
“Engage,” Emerson ordered.
Baffin moved out from behind
the Moon.
“Approaching low orbital distance over the North Sea, sir,”
Andersen reported a minute later.
“Have we been detected?” Emerson asked.
“No way of determining that at the moment, sir,” T'Sal responded.
“Understood,” Emerson said. “Continue in, Blue Alert.”
“Setting landing coordinates; 51.5 degrees North, 0.75 degrees
East,” Andersen reported.
Baffin soon began atmospheric
entry.
The winds buffetted Baffin
as it entered the leading edge
of the storm as she approached the Thames Estuary. “Easy as it
goes, Andersen,” Emerson ordered as he noted his helmsperson
stressing.
“Aye,” Andersen responded.
Despite Andersen's concerns and worries, Baffin landed easily
and partially submerged, with the Engineering hull and the lowest
deck of the saucer completely submerged. “We're down,” the
helmsperson reported with relief.
Emerson turned to T'Sal. “Report to one of the Aquashuttles.”
Ten minutes later, the Harris launched from it's berth on the
underside of the Saucer Section. “We're on our way,” Ensign
Xander Hawkins reported.
“ETA to destination?” T'Sal asked.
“We'll be between the City and Southwark in fifteen minutes,
depending on traffic and river conditions.”
“What traffic?” Ensign Svetlana Rostova asked. “It's the middle
of the night.”
“There would still be some boats there,” Xander said.
It actually took them a little less than 20 minutes to get up past
Tower Bridge, owing to the low depth of the river at that point.
“We're going to have to surface,” Hawkins said as they approached
the Tower. There had been many points where they had scraped the
bottom, but had gone further.
“I have taken that into consideration,” T'Sal said.
“But we may be seen!” Rostova objected.
“By very few,” T'Sal reasoned. “Besides, there is fog.”
They surfaced and continued upstream.
