Mines, regardless of the age they were used in, were perfect for a
defending force and absolute evil for anyone without a map. Perfect
for the defending force as long as they were needed but when it came
time to clean them up, get rid of them, make them disappear, it was
usually the people who laid them that disappeared. Which left the
clearing to anyone who wanted to use the blocked space lanes or to
anyone who had to use the blocked space lanes. Clearing could be done
slowly and expensively or rapidly and violently, usually measured in
the cost of hapless ships and innocent lives.
Some techniques worked better than others in the slow arena. There
were technical methods but for every technical solution, some
perverted soul of an engineer usually worked out 50 ways to foul that
solution, such as with cloaks, self replicating, decoys, sub space
shifting, phase shifting, and so forth. The list was endless. A
corridor that may have been cleared the day before with blanket phaser
fire was quite possibly reoccupied with mines the next because they
were either not there when the phasers were fired or were there in
some sort of quasi way that didn't react to the energy discharges.
One unique technique was the method being applied by the Esprit, a new
construction modified Defiant class, though for the most part, it was
very non technical. Since mines that wouldn't show up on scanners were
manipulating the laws of physics, it took a mind, of sorts, that
understood all the ways that the physical worlds could take shape,
bend, be transformed, echo, ripple, and so forth......and how those
actions would affect, reflect, appear, be in other worlds.
Such was the multitasking, multifaceted mind of KTKT Lee. From the
first time she actually aligned her nervous system with a cloaking
device to understand it, build its clone, she had a way of seeing
things that could not be seen, knowing where they were, knowing all
what they were about, and in some cases, knowing and being able to do
their undoing.
An operation like that worked great with one device, could be done
with hundred devices, was plausible with a thousand devices, but when
there were hundreds of thousands, one needed a lot of help.
Hence the crew of the Esprit and its escort long range fighters, birds
of prey built along Federation architecture, of Nemesis and Mystic
provided such. Lee was mentally tied in with Esprit's sensors and what
her mind detected on the big picture was telepathically passed to one
team or another on the Esprit for analysis under the guidance of one
of her parallel processed minds, a fragmented personalty from long ago
that was now part of Lee's combat telepath's mental suite. The team, a
chorus of telepaths created and trained by her, would determine the
mine, its secrets, and produce an answer to be mentally, silently
passed to another squad for its disposal. Disposal usually was by the
weapons of either the Nemesis or the Mystic but some called for
stacked treatment by both and some even called for multi dose
solutions by all three ships. Inside and outside the ships, it was
quite silent but outside, the results were spectacular.
Not all operations on Esprit, however, were silent. Esprit Captain
Andretti had entered the Brigadier suite aboard his ship and awaited
to acknowledgement of his arrival. Behind her living wood desk, KTKT
Lee sat motionless, practically breathless, her eyes closed and in
deep meditation as she performed the mind clearing task. Her orderlies
of Micheas and Michelle were nowhere to be seen but that was not
surprising. While it was entirely necessary to ensure that the
analysis and disposal sections were rotated regularly, Lee's endurance
was infamously legendary; she could continue as such for days, her
mind active but her body in a state of hibernation. Before her, the
desk, made from a wood that patterned itself to the waves of her mind,
was smooth on the top but its legs were a combination of smooth and
turbulant seas, a representation of what had been done to the mine
field.....and what still was ahead.
"Yes, Captain, Andretti, what can I do for you?" The elder, tall, but
quite fit man stiffened at the nightingale voice behind him. He knew
it was to come but still, each time, that ability could startle him.
Before him was LT (mission Brigadier) KTKT Lee, beautiful blonde
slaughter of thousands, locked in deep concentration. Turning to what
was behind him, was.......
Kay Theresa Kelly Tiffaney Lee, standing in her favorite uniform, her
dress uniform of boots, a long maroon skirt with gold trim, a short
tight maroon jacket with a white blouse underneath and her brigadier
insignia on the high stiff collar. The long blonde hair was braided
and coiled in pig tails making her look very much like a valkyrie she
was occassionally associated with. This was a face of kindness, of
mercy, of trust and faith that he had come to know now as she was, not
the psychopathic killer of the past.
Captain Andretti wasted no time for he knew what he was seeing, as
real and solid as it was, was an astral projection. It was not a
hallucination, but it was an extension of Lee's mind and right now
especially, the Brigadier's concentration needed to be focused on the
mine field. "Long range sensors have detected a ship, probably
civilian, at the estimated edge of the field on a bearing of 145 mark
37. Our major ships are tied up with the task and it is unthinkable to
send out our defense fighters for IFF and possible escort. What are
your wishes in this matter, Ma'am?"
"Send out a hail/emergency call to any Federation vessels, only, to
assist that ship and keep it out of danger. Identify us as USS Esprit,
there is no need to disquise ourselves in a cloak, on a SFIA mission,
clearing an ancient mine field. That should be sufficient but do not
identify the mine field in either defender or opposer. Additionally,
broadcast an extreme caution quaratine message in the open that this
area is not to be entered, under Federation protocols. Again, identify
us as USS Esprit. Stress that any vessel that enters the area and
becomes contaminated will be cautherized.
"We cannot afford to break off our mission to perform any rescues with
those who do not obey warnings. I do not mean that we will actively
engage and destroy those who enter the area, however. My warning about
being cautherized is a threat that no one is to enter this area and if
they do and they hit a mine, then they are on their own."
"Yes, Ma'am, and understood." And with that, in a blink, KTKT Lee was
gone before Andretti had even turned to exit her command suite.
------------------------------------------------------------
NRPG:
This is just a seed story to get us moving again. It's not intended to
be a mission with Esprit (though it could go that way) but just a
small situation, a possibility to get people writing again. The ship
on the edge might be civilian, might not, etc..
-Traci
("You know, this thing gives me the creeps!"--Lt. Krieg about "The
Professor" (holographic, interactive program for the Captain as a
sounding board), (wtte), "SeaQuest")
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