startrek76

"Enterprise shuttle, this is Galactica Core Control. You are clear for immediate landing in shuttle bay Alpha. Please follow the deck officer's directions to the shuttle hangar area."

"Galactica, this is Enterprise shuttle Einstein, Roger, we are on your aft portside quarter, on final approach," Lieutenant LaForge said and mentally tweaked the input of his optivisor to include long wave infrared. In that wavelength, the Galactica's shuttle bay alpha glowed a bright, inviting yellow white, almost identical to sunlight.

"Geeze, LaForge," Lt. Yar, the Enterprise's chief of security and commander of this away mission, said as the shuttle craft matched velocity with the battlestar's landing platform. "It's kinda dark and spooky to be making a warp four approach toward an alien vessel isn't it. I can't see a thing."

"Never fear, LaForge is here!" Geordi said tapping his visor, "You forget I can see in the dark...ahh, there we are, they've turned on the lights."

As LaForge brought the shuttle ever closer to the deck of the battlestar, the landing bay lights came on, they were dim by "normal" standards, meant not to blind pilots who's eyes were dark adapted from staring out of Viper canopies at the inky blackness of interstellar space. A double row of progressive animated lights, red to starboard and green to port marked the main "active" runway of the flight deck.

Geordi brought the shuttle to dead stop relative to the deck of the battlestar some fifty meters inside the landing bay and hovered on countergrav pads. Far down the landing bay was a man with two light wands in his hands.

"That must be the deck officer the controller spoke of," Yar said.

Geordi let the shuttle drift forward to where the landing deck officer was. He indicated that they should bring the shuttle through a thirty meter wide by twelve meter high arch on the inboard side of the landing bay to a second, isolated parking ramp in front of dozens of hangars in which were parked both the Viper fighters that the Enterprise people had seen in
combat, and other box-like vessels which must have been the Galactica's version of a shuttlecraft. The deck officer indicated that Geordi should let the shuttle land where they were.

As the landing skids on the bottoms of the port and starboard warp nacelles touched the deck of the hangar, Geordi cut main power to the drives and the ever-present low thrumming of the shuttle's engines died away.





Athena had been chosen by Adama to meet and greet the alien guests who might or might not be descendants of the lost Thirteenth Tribe of Man. She was nervous, but excited at the same time, and very glad to have the Galactica's senior marine NCO and a phalanx of marines with her.

"There goes the main hatchway, Captain." sergeant major Orion of the Colonial Marines hissed in combat-speak. The sergeant major gave a quick hand signal, and the marines deployed along a double line between the shuttle and the main turbolift. Athena noted that they were in full battle dress as though going into combat, except that the leather and plastine accouterments were polished to paradefield level. They were also carring pulse rifles, the
heaviest small arms in the Colonial arsenal.





Lt. Yar, and security crewmen Everett and DePauli were the first out the shuttle hatch and on the deck of the alien ship.

"Heads up, El-tee," DePauli hissed. "Aggressors."

"Easy, Mr. DePauli. We don't know that yet, but keep your eyes and ears open. Phasers set to heavy stunn."

"Aye, sir." came the affirmative reply from both security crewmen.

LaForge and his eleven-member engineering away team were clumping down the shuttle's egress ramp, toting the components of a field transmat station. Tasha caught Geordi's arm and whispered: "Be aware that the 'honor guard' is armed to the teeth."

"Yeh, I can see that," Geordi said. "IR signature indicates some kind of potent pulse maser circuitry and its hot and ready for action. These pa'TOKs are ready to go to war."





Athena took a deep breath as the alien woman who was obviously in charge came forward. "The greetings of the Lords of Kobal," Athena said, intoning the ages old welcoming ritual. "Welcome to the Galactica, I am Captain Athena, I'll be your guide and liaison while you are here."

"I am Lieutenant Tasha Yar, the head of security for the Federation Starship Enterprise. I notice your 'honor guard' is well armed."

Athena blushed. "You will have to accept our apologies if this seems an over reaction," Athena started.

"Just a bit over the top," Geordi said.

"Oh, excuse me," Tasha said a touch of embarrassment in her voice. "Captain Athena, this is Lt. Commander Georgi LaForge, the leader of the engineering team that will erect the transmat station."

"Pleased to meet you Commander LaForge," Athena said. "As I said, if the marine detachment seems excessive; please remember that we have been at war with the Cylons for a thousand yarhens; and Cylons are masters of deception. Until that hatch opened and you exited your craft we could not be sure that this was NOT a Cylon trap. We've been badly fooled before this by things that seemed too good to be true."

Yar and LaForge exchanged glances, and then Lt. Yar said: "Understandable under the circumstances."

Athena had decided that she liked this Federation soldier, and this did not come easily for Athena, who had been tricked, lied to, and embarrassed on numerous occasions by those whom she had to come in contact with in her duties as Galactica's Chief of Communications and Detection. She turned to the Marine sergeant major.

"Sergeant major Orion, you may repost 3/4 of the phalanx to other duties - the remaining sextaurii will safe their weapons and sling arms."

The marine did not look happy about it, but gave the orders. The marines themselves went through the motions of transferring their pulse rifles from a lazy-at-ready position, to slung over their right shoulders in an almost catlike fluid motion, then the majority spun around on their heels and marched off with the sergeant major.

Athena turned back to the Federation detachment, "Now, where would be the best place to set up this 'gateway'?"

Tasha let a wide smile cross her normally 'business only' official personae. "I'm certain that your sergeant major would prefer a compartment that he can easily seal and isolate from the rest of the ship. The technical requirements are only a patch of deck five meters by three meters with at least a 2.8 meter vertical clearance for our equipment."

"That shouldn't be too difficult to find," Athena said and led the way toward the main connecting corridor to the central sections of the Battlestar.


TO BE CONTINUED