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.
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