Tiger- These are the Voyages

by David Smith

  The crew nodded and turned to their consoles, calibrating their instruments for a more specific search. As the ship swept over the same spot, O’Mara spotted an anomaly first. ‘Gravitic sensors show a tiny deflection in the region around the signal source. It is tiny, but given the nature of the planet, it’s most likely a result of underground caverns.’

  The Captain nodded. ‘Send a scout-robot down and put some seismographs on the surface.’

  O’Mara nodded and sent instructions to her team down on Deck 12. Even as she was doing that Dolplop added. ‘Analysis of sensor feedback indicates excessively strong return signals.’

  Dave wasn’t sure what he meant. ‘Is that a good thing or a bad thing?’

  O’Mara was quick on the uptake as always. ‘The return signal coming back to our sensors is always tiny compared to what they put out. If the scanned return is much more powerful than it should be . . . ‘

  ‘Someone down there is analysing our scans and deliberately sending back false data that overpowers the real data from the scan’ concluded ASBeau. ‘It’s a technique the boffins at the Fleet Design Bureau have been developing to help hide starships in high-risk situations. That’s cutting edge stuff.’

  The Captain knew the implication of this. ‘So someone is down there, but they really don’t want to be found.’

  Kanesh broke the silence. ‘Told you so.’

  Hollins ignored her. ‘So how do we contact them? They’ve been ignoring our standard greetings.’

  Kanesh shifted uncomfortably. ‘It’s probably best if I try.’

  She looked across to Shearer who nodded and linked her console mic to the external transmitters, broadcasting on all common frequencies. Kanesh looked hideously embarrassed as she tried to elicit a response from the mysterious facility below. ‘Um. Hello? Anyone there? This is Shruthi Kanesh. I’m looking for Jang Da-hye. If she’s down there, tell her . . . uh . . . Baby’s come home.’

  There were odd questioning looks and discreet shrugs around the Bridge, but Shruthi shut the comm-link down and sat back, waiting. To everyone’s surprise the wait was a short one.

  ‘Incumen signel!’ reported Shearer and threw an image up on the main view-screen.

  A small, smartly-presented Korean woman sat at a desk in what appeared to be a well-equipped control room. She was wearing an impressively neat, starched lab-coat bearing a logo that Hollins recognised as belonging to the Astrakhan Corporation, a huge interstellar conglomerate with a reputation for revealing very little about their dealings.

  Her hair and make-up were as perfect as her lab-coat, but a broad smile lit up her face and Hollins could see her eyes were sparkling.

  When she spoke, her excitement was obvious ‘Shruthi? Is that really you? I can’t believe you’ve finally come . . . ‘

  Someone whispered something to her off-camera, and a look of surprise and concern fleetingly crossed her face. She seemed to gather herself and as Shruthi tapped her console to open up a two-way visual link, her manner became much more guarded.

  She could obviously see the rest of the Bridge crew and carefully stated ‘Shruthi. It’s good to see you again. I see you’re in the Starfleet now. What’s brought you this far out?’

  Shruthi turned to face the screen. ‘We need help.’ She paused and corrected herself. ‘I need your help.’

  The Korean woman shifted in her seat and her mixed emotions were visible for all to see. Someone off-camera was talking to her, but after an almost imperceptible shake of her head she continued. ‘Perhaps it would be best if you came down to us. To discuss what you need. In person.’

  Hollins interjected. ‘That’s very kind of you . . . um.‘

  ‘Jang. Professor Jang Da-Hye. But Shruthi must come alone’ replied the Korean.

  It was Hollins’ turn to shift uncomfortably. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he knew he didn’t like it.

  Professor Jang could see his reluctance and explained. ‘This privately-funded facility is above board and properly registered with Federal Authorities, Captain. Due to the commercially sensitive nature of the work we undertake, I must insist that we minimise the number of visitors.’

  Dave was surprised at her bold statement. He looked at Ruiz, who understood his concern and began checking the veracity of her claim. He turned back to the screen. ‘As the Starfleet vessel assigned to this Sector, we are representatives of the Federal Government.’

  ‘I accept that Captain, but as we’re not in breach of any Federal laws, you don’t have any right of access to private property. That said, Shruthi would be welcome as my guest and I would be happy to hear what she has to say.’

  Hollins sat back. He knew she was right, but the challenge in her words made him even more certain something untoward was going on here. He decided to play the long game. ‘Very well, Professor. If you’d care to send us co-ordinates, I’ll ask Shruthi to beam down.’

  He closed the link before she could reply, just to let Jang know that he wasn’t leaving her in control of the situation, and told Kanesh to report to the Transporter room.

  As she left, he mulled the situation over. He didn’t want to jeopardise the chance of saving Chowdhury, but this was a direct challenge and he could feel it nagging away at him already. He couldn’t let it go. He needed to establish a few facts first. ‘Commander Ruiz, was she correct about this facility being above board?’

  His First Officer nodded. ‘As far as I can ascertain, yes. Astrakhan Corporation have purchased rights to install a medical research facility in this system, and technically it’s regulated by the Federal Medical Council.’

  ‘Technically?’

  Ruiz nodded. ‘The Federal Medical Council will have the right to inspect any and all data at any time to ensure the staff are complying with Federal law. However, the facility has been open for three years and there’s no record of any visits by the FMC aside from the initial opening. Oddly, there’s also no record of any research papers being published by anyone at this facility in that time. I’ve dug a little deeper and it seems Astrakhan have listed this as a general medical research facility. There’s no mention anywhere of what they do here, but I’ve found some bio’s of staff who’ve been assigned here. There’s a prevalence of micro-biologists, bio-chemists and geneticists.’

  None of this made Hollins any more comfortable. Without saying anything that would influence their thinking, he asked ‘So what do we reckon people?’

  To his surprise, O’Mara was the first to comment. ‘They’re up to no good.’

  ‘What makes you say that?’

  She turned around to face the rest of the Bridge crew. ‘We’re in the middle of nowhere. It must have cost a fortune to build any worthwhile facility this far out, and they’ll have to pay their staff big money to come here. Seriously. Scientists like their home comforts, and I bet there’s not a decent pub or a fancy restaurant within a dozen light-years of this pit.’

  Ruiz agreed. ‘You’d only build a facility out here if there was something here that’s not available elsewhere. Or if you didn’t want anyone snooping around. Either way, they’ve definitely got something to hide.’

  Hollins moved the question on. ‘Okay. They’re up to no good. What do we do about it?’

  Ruiz shook his head. Having spent a few years working for the Fleet’s Judge Advocate General he was far more informed of the legal position than anyone else. ‘Nothing much. She’s correct when she says we have no right of access. We could apply to the Federal Medical Council for them to grant us access on their behalf, but my understanding is that would be a long winded process that could be contested by the licensee.’

  ‘So we can’t get access legally’ stated Hollins pointedly.

  Crash had already been thinking along those lines. ‘It’s always risky beaming anyone into an underground facility, but we didn’t call back the scout-robot. It’s probably already planted seismographs, which should give us enough data that we can map out the facility and beam someone down safely
if we need to.’

  O’Mara had already been thinking about it too. ‘I’ve been looking at Shruthi’s biographic info and there are a lot of references to past acquaintances. I’ll look up previous known associates. I’m certain Professor Jang will feature large.’

  ASBeau always wanted to get involved in cloak-and-dagger style operations. ‘I’ll run through the sensor data and keep scanning the surface. I reckon we should be able to work out what sort of defences and sensors they have and spot weaknesses in their security.’

  Ensign Tony Onohua was manning the Engineering Station. ‘I could ask Lieutenant Sato and Petty Officer Park to see if they can hack into the facilities computer systems? I’m not sure they can do that remotely, but even if they can’t they might be able to find some useful information about what systems the facility has?’

  Hollins nodded. ‘Yeah. Do that. Ok people, off the record I’m committing us to finding out what’s going on here. Our absolute priority is to persuade Professor Jang to do whatever she can to keep Kareena Chowdhury alive, but that doesn’t mean we ignore breaches of Federal law. Keep it low-key, but find out what you can.’

  --------------------

  Kanesh materialised in a transporter room not dissimilar to the one she’d just left. A raised platform with six transport pads, an operator’s console in front of her with a door to one side.

  Minimal furniture and fixtures. Blank, bland walls and floors. Aimless, cheerless lighting from above . . . it felt very much like an industrial facility.

  Behind the console stood two figures, one of them achingly familiar. As the lights returned to normal, signalling the end of the transport process, one of the figures rushed out from behind the console and bounded onto the platform, grabbing Kanesh and hugging her hard. After a moment’s hesitation Shruthi returned the hug.

  ‘I’ve missed you so much, Shruthi!’ said Jang, her voice filled with emotion.

  ‘Not enough to visit me once during three years in prison though’ chided Kanesh.

  Jang stood back, tears welling in her eyes. ‘That’s not fair Shruthi. You know one of us had to carry on, and I’ve been stuck out here in this . . . ‘

  ‘”This” what??’ challenged a third voice.

  Shruthi looked up and for the first time took note of the other figure behind the transporter console. An older woman, short and squat, stern-looking with grey-hair and sharp, beady eyes. Unlike Jang she wore a sharp business suit, with large shoulder pads that made her appear broader still. Her whole demeanour was brusque and business-like.

  ‘Aren’t you going to introduce me Professor?’ chided the woman.

  Looking slightly chastened, Jang meekly said ‘Yes, of course. Please forgive me. Shruthi, this Dorien Vettriano, Vice President of the Astrakhan Corporation and Director of this facility. Madam President this is Shruthi Kanesh, an ex-colleague who . . . ‘

  ‘I know who she is’ snapped Vettriano, eyeing Shruthi distastefully.

  Gathering herself, Jang subconsciously moved between Shruthi and her Director and Shruthi could feel an over-bearing master-servant dynamic unfolding before her.

  ‘Then with all due respect Ma’am you’ll know that Shruthi gave up her freedom for three years in order to prevent senior personnel from Astrakhan from going to prison.’

  ‘That had nothing to do with me’ replied Vettriano haughtily. ‘If I’d been in charge back then the Corporation would never have got into that mess in the first place.’

  ‘We owe her’ suggested Jang quietly.

  ‘We owe her nothing!!’ hissed Vettriano stepping forward until she was within inches of Jang’s face. ‘You were both guilty of making mistakes through carelessness and my predecessors were too weak to put you in your place. I will not make the same mistake! Don’t think for one minute that you’ve heard the last of you little act of insubordination Jang: you should never have allowed her to come here in the first place!!’

  ‘You didn’t have a choice in the matter’ said Shruthi. ‘You’re licensed as a medical research and development facility, so if someone comes to you with a legitimate request for medical assistance you’re obliged to help: It’ll be one of the conditions of obtaining your licence in the first place.’

  Vettriano obviously knew this was true, but wasn’t about to let Jang off the hook. She brusquely addressed Jang, ignoring Kanesh as if she wasn’t in the room. ‘You know who pays your wages, Jang and you know what we expect. You should have done everything you could to get rid of her. Of them. We can’t do anything about it now, but my expectations haven’t changed. Find out what she wants, offer the bare minimum of assistance and make sure they’re out of here as soon as possible. You are not to discuss any of this facility’s operations. Do I make myself clear??’

  The older woman turned and left. Once she’d gone, Jang turned back to Shruthi. ‘Don’t mind her, she’s not so bad when you get to know her.’

  ‘You’re still a terrible liar, Da.’

  The Korean woman blushed and changed the subject. ‘I’ve missed you so much . . . ‘

  She tried to move in and hug Shruthi again, but Shruthi backed away a step, stopping her in her tracks.

  Jang looked surprised and hurt, but Shruthi wasn’t moved. ‘You abandoned me! You all did! I can understand the Astrakhan directors doing that, they were always bastards. But you, Da! Why did you side with them?’

  Jang looked heart-broken. ‘Because we were so close! If I’d confessed like you I’d have gone down too, and where would that have got us? We’d still have been split up; they’d never have put us in the same prison! And if I’d been in prison we’d never have . . . ‘

  She stopped, clearly unsure if she could trust Shruthi, but the tiny slip had given the game away.

  Shruthi backed away, shocked. ‘You succeeded, didn’t you?!’

  ‘I can’t say’ replied Jang, following her Directors instructions.

  ‘You don’t have to, Da, I can still read you like a book.’

  ‘Please don’t make me say anything, Shruthi’ pleased Jang. ‘You’ve seen what Vettriano is like. We played a joke once on some of the er . . . staff. Told them Vettriano was the Italian term for a White Rhino. It stuck as a nick-name because she’s so aggressive. She found out about it and has had it in for me ever since. I can’t say anything more.’

  She looked truly pitiful and tears welled in Shruthi’s eyes. She would always love her, even though they’d gone their separate ways. She hardened her heart. She was here for a reason, and Astrakhan owed her that much at least.

  Putting aside her long-dormant feelings she said ‘I’m part of the science team aboard USS Tiger now. Have been for over two years. One of our crew was injured by a predator. Its venom contains a property that’s destroying her DNA. The ship’s medical facilities aren’t up to the task. I need you to help her.’

  Jang wiped a tear off her cheek. ‘We’ll take a look, but I can’t promise anything.’

  Shruthi couldn’t accept that. ‘Da, you owe me. And I owe her.’

  Jang seemed to understand. ‘Very well. I’m sure we can help her. I’ll give you the co-ordinates of our main medical facility. Beam her down and I’ll make sure we do everything we can to save her.’

  ‘I’ll get our doctor to beam down with her . . . ‘

  ‘No!!’ snapped Jang. ‘You heard what the Director said.’

  ‘But the doctor can tell you what she’s found out about the venom so far and what treatment she’s tried.’

  Jang’s tone softened. ‘I’m sorry Shruthi, I can only let the injured person come down.’

  There was a pause before Jang added. ‘Why don’t you bring the records down and run through them with us? I’m sure the Director won’t object to that?’

  Shruthi looked at her ex sadly. She was still clinging on, so many years down the line. She knew she should refuse, but nodded instead.

  --------------------

  During her refit, many changes had been made aboard Tiger.

/>   A small change had been to re-purpose the Captain’s Ready Room on Deck 2 as a small Briefing Room where the senior officers could discuss issues in private. The infamous circular water bed had finally been removed and in its place sat a circular table with a number of comfortable swivel chairs around it.

  The lighting was still subdued, but there was now a large view-screen opposite the door and pictures on the wall of historic ships that had borne the name ‘Tiger’.

  In pride of place below the view-screen sat a beautiful scale model of a handsome 20th century British battle-cruiser, mounted on a plaque that bore that ship’s latin motto, ‘Quis Eripiet Dentes’.

  Dave had thought long and hard about a motto for their own ship, but had stuck with the traditional one from the ancient battle-cruiser. He supposed that the (perhaps more apt) suggestions from his senior officers such as ‘Quod esset bonum abierunt’ or ‘Semper in excrementum’ weren’t really suitable.

  They sat around the table and discussed the situation.

  ASBeau put a diagram on the view-screen. ‘We put the seismographs into a passive mode and they seem to have operated without drawing any attention. We’ve been massively impressed by their performance: we’ve got accurate details of the layout of the facility.’

  They all looked at the layout and were immediately struck by two things. Firstly, the facility was buried deep beneath the planet’s surface. Secondly, while most of the facility was stacked vertically, one floor on top of the next, one floor extend far further out horizontally, a large lobe to one side giving that floor a much greater area than any of the other floors.

  ASBeau described the findings. ‘The complex is arranged over ten distinct levels, with the lower-most seeming to be machinery spaces. I guess the reactor core that provides power is down there. Even the upper-most chambers of the complex are still twenty metres below surface level, which is handy if the radiation from the system’s variable star gets too high . . . ‘