Subject: FRONTIER: Trapped

SD 71008


>Angus came round and sat up, he took a moment to take in his 
>surroundings, once he had he was not at all impressed, "What's this, 
>ghosts from my past, come to teach me the error of my ways?"

>"Something like that," Keanu replied.

>Leana smirked, "This is not going to be your day Angus."

Angus showed no sign of fear or even nerves, "Why should that be?"

Keanu stepped forward. "I'm going to make you suffer," he said. "I'm 
going to make sure that you know what real pain is."

Angus laughed, "My dear Trill, pain is but an illusion of the senses, 
and suffering but an illusion of the mind."

Leana pointed the phaser at him, "Tell us your voice authorisation 
code Angus, believe me when I tell you, death is *not* an illusion."

There was a loud thud from the door, then Patrick's voice, muffled by 
the walls, "Cut through it, move!"  A small area at the edge of the 
door glowed red for a moment and then a flurry of sparks came through 
the gap.  The same happened at the other side of the door.

"Computer, local area voice time-lock, authorisation Murray alpha 
three blue,"  Angus said.

Ishara ran towards Angus, but not quickly enough to stop him issuing 
the command.  

"Great! So now we have his code but we can't do anything with it!" 
Leana exclaimed.

There was a series of loud bangs from the door and Keanu turned to 
look, he started when he realised how close they were to cutting 
through, "We'd better think of something quick, we don't have long!"

That short moment of confusion was all Angus needed to leap into the 
J-tube, Leana went to pursue him but stopped when Houston spoke,

"Leave him," she said. "I am going to transport us into 2-Backward."

Before anyone could ask why, the four were gripped in the transporter 
beam.  They materialised in the 2-Backward lounge.

Keanu turned to Houston, "Why 2-Backward?" he asked.

It was Leana who replied, "Only one entrance, lots of furniture to 
block it with and no J-tubes."

"Essentially correct." It was Houston talking now, "Because 2-Backward 
is not a vital location there is no Jeffries tube access and with 
only one door we can fortify ourselves here quite effectively."

Leana sealed the door as she had done in the transporter room and 
without hesitation they all began to pile the tables and chairs around
the door.  

"It might not make it much harder to get in, but at least it'll hinder
them a little when they do." said Ishara.

"Can we use Angus' code in here to activate the transporter?" Keanu 
asked hopefully.

"Negative," Houston reported. "The interdimensional transport program 
can only be operated in the transporter room."

Leana inspected the crude defence with some trepidation  "Well I hope 
our little barricade holds them long enough to think of a plan to get
out of here.  Because if they catch us, provided they don't kill us,
they won't give us the chance to escape again."

Keanu looked out of the huge rear facing window, "At least we've got a
room with a view anyway, " he paused, "Say, isn't that the same planet
that *our* Frontier is orbiting?"

"Probably, I noticed in the computer that the interdimensional 
transport program can only work if the source and target areas are 
occupying the same area of space," Houston informed him.

There was a banging noise from the door and they realised that the 
crew of the ship had located them and were trying to force their way 
into the room.

Leana irritably toyed with the settings on the phaser, "Great! So now 
we're back on square one.  They'll be through in a few minutes and we
can't transport out of this one." 

Keanu noticed a computer terminal on the wall next to the replicators,
"I think I can rig a security forcefield over the door from this 
terminal. Houston I'll need your help to lock them out, or they'll be 
able to drop the field as soon as I get it up."

Houston walked quickly to the terminal and began quickly arranging 
measures to prevent the crew of the ship from overriding the 
forcefield.  Moments later there was a crackle from the doorway and 
the forcefield sprang up.

"That should hold them off for as long as we need," Keanu said, 
feeling a touch of pride at his idea.

Leana relaxed visibly. "Anyone for a drink?" she asked.


THE OTHER FRONTIER

In the main viewer the Scharnhorst leapt into warp and disappeared 
with a small flash in the distance.  Ramsay wasn't feeling entirely at
ease with the situation they were now in, in order to ensure that the 
Scharnhorst got away safely he had agreed to head further into Kzinti
space as a decoy, to lure away any pursuit.

He sat back in his seat for a moment then said "Ishara set a course, 
heading one-eight-three mark two-five." 

"Course laid in sir."

He pointed at the main viewer, "Warp nine, engage."

The stars on the screen enlongated and flashed past the ship as it 
accelerated to warp speed.

Angus entered the bridge and took his post at the tactical console he 
made a few checks on the weapon systems and once he was sure 
everything was functioning to his satisfaction he relaxed and kept a 
close eye on the long-range sensors.

He noticed a blip on the very edge of the sensor's range, it appeared 
to have the same warp-signature as their own ship, it might only be a 
shadow but he decided not to take the chance, "Captain, I've got a 
reading on the long-range sensors, it may just be a ghost, it has our 
warp-signature, but I thought I'd report it just to be sure."

Ramsay nodded in acknowledgement, "Houston, can you confirm that 
reading?"

Houston punched a series of keys on her console, "There is a slight 
subspace interference affecting our sensor readings, I can confirm 
that it is only a sensor echo, I am attempting to compensate for the 
interference." She pressed a few more buttons.

Angus watched as the small blip disappeared from his screen. "The 
ghost has disappeared, all sensor readings are normal."

Patrick Simony stooped out of the turbolift, he walked to the tactical
console, he pointed to his chronometer, "You're off duty, I'm here to 
relieve you."

"I didn't even know you were out of sickbay, how d'you feel?"

"I woke up in sickbay ages ago with one hell of a headache, Sampter 
gave me something for the pain and I've been in my quarters ever 
since."

"As soon as we get a chance, once we get through this, how about a 
drink in 2-Backward?"

Patrick smiled, "I've got an open-ended date with McVyker once this is
over, but if you bring Leana we can make it a double-date."

"Agreed." Then Angus entered the lift and the doors closed.

The doors opened again on deck two and Angus walked along the corridor
to his room.  He stood opposite the door for a moment, mentally daring
it not to open, then he took a step forward.

The door slid obediently, Angus smiled and stepped inside.  He saw a 
silhouette against the window and he immediately recognised who it 
was. "Hi Leana," he said, "I didn't realise you'd be over this early 
or I would have gotten time off."

She smiled in the dark. "Lights," she said then she looked at Angus, 
"Is that your shift over then?" she asked.

He nodded then walked to the replicator, "Two glasses of champange." 
The glasses swirled into being and Angus took them both and laid them 
on his desk, "Computer, half-lights." The lights dimmed.

Leana sat at the table and picked up the slender glass in front of 
her, "I only wish I had something decent to wear, but I left all of my
clothes back at Epsilon, all I've got are these." she pulled at her 
jumpsuit to emphasize the point.

Angus didn't know if it was just a trick of the light but he could 
swear that the jumpsuit she was wearing was a little tighter than her 
others, he was probably just imagining it.

"Can you dance?" she asked.

He seemed to ponder the question for a moment, then answered, "A 
little, only a little.  Computer, play us a slow waltz, random 
selection."  The music that came over the speakers was reminiscent, 
almost wistful, and Angus felt a pang of sorrow as the music flowed 
through him.

He embraced Leana and the two danced, slowly, for what seemed like 
hours.  He felt Leana's body warm next to his own, and her breath warm
on his chest.  For what seemed like hours he knew nothing else, it 
seemed like he never had,  he heard the music wash over him and felt 
her in his arms.  He was oblivious to everything, except a small 
nagging doubt in his mind.  He decided to ignore it, this was too good
a night to interrupt.


                       Respectfully submitted;
                        
                        **********************          
                        *  Allan MacLennan   *
                        *                    *
                        * [Lt.] Angus Murray *
                        **********************

          "Put your faith in God and keep your powder dry."
                           Oliver Cromwell