Post 512: Upon the Housetops Part Two

Stardate: 71021.2030
Title: Upon the Housetops, Part Two
Author: =/\=Zanh Liis
Scene: Independence bridge
Time: Now
=========================
N'Dura launched the torpedo, and as soon as it made contact with its target, the facade of the moon disappeared and the true landscape of the planet beneath became visible.

"And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen." Zanh concluded. The Yensuli suddenly had more to answer for than they could ever hope to explain away.

"Sir, we're being hailed by Lt. Blane," Delgotta informed Zanh.

"Put him through."

[Captain?] Blane stammered, not even knowing where to begin now that he could once again communicate with the Indy.

As he had made his way toward the surface stealthily, the truth of the situation on the 'moon' had become quickly and readily apparent to him, as not only did the true readings of the planet's surface appear on his screens but also the Yensuli military vessel, the Alchemy, and about five hundred life form readings, the vast majority of which were female.

[There are hundreds of people down there, and the Alchemy,] he continued, [Orders?]

"Stand by, Mr. Blane," she kept the channel open to his shuttle and then turned to Delgotta. "Hail the Alchemy. Thomas, listen in with me."

"USS Alchemy, this is the Independence, please respond," Delgotta hailed.

[It's about time!] Lair Kellyn shouted, as she watched the self destruct sequence tick down to seventy seconds. [Captain, call off the Yensuli- they're threatening to take Alchemy and I've got about sixty seconds until this ship, Ensign Xhian and myself become a footnote to Starfleet history.]

"Abort self destruct, Alchemy. That's an order." Zanh responded.

[Gladly.] Kellyn input the command into the computer to override the sequence, and she sighed with relief. Maybe they would get out of this yet.

"Yensuli military vessel, this is Captain Zanh Liis of the USS Independence. Call off your attack on the Alchemy immediately or we will be forced to fire upon you."

Zanh tapped her badge. "Security, this is the Captain. Wake up our guests from Yensul and bring them to the bridge. NOW." She turned back to Delgotta "Get the Vedek up here too. He might be the only thing that keeps me from doing something I may regret in the morning. Or not."

"The Yensuli vessel is ignoring your hail, Captain." said Delgotta.

"Try again, Erma," she instructed. The channel beeped open once more and Liis' voice climbed in volume. "Yensuli vessel, if you want to avert a potential disaster here you need to keep a healthy distance between your ship, the Alchemy, its crew, and anyone else on the surface."

"They're responding, Captain."

"Main viewer."

[Captain Zanh, you have fired without provocation upon our moon.]

"Provocation is in the eye of the beholder, and that's no moon." Zanh replied. "Stand down."

"Captain, there are six more Yensuli ships approaching," N'Dura warned. "We're outgunned."

Zanh muttered an expletive under her breath. "Red alert, shields up!" The klaxons began to sound. "Yensuli vessel, remember, I have your Proconsul, and his two top advisors aboard my ship and if you fire on us, you fire on them. End transmission."

Zanh spun around. "Get a message to Lair Kellyn. Tell her and Xhian to abandon the Alchemy. I may have to blow it up myself." She sighed. "Can you get Salvek for me on the surface?"

"Having a hard time getting a communications lock on him, Captain. There's an awful lot of mineral in the interior of this planet, especially near his current location." Delgotta replied.

"Doctor Corbinsky, anything you can do to help with that?" Zanh asked.

Corbinsky nodded. "I'm on it."

"Mineral?" Zanh began to wonder aloud, "What kind of mineral?"

"It appears," Micah Samson began reading the scans before him, "that this planet has a large concentration of monocrystal cortenum."

"Oh my-" Zanh breathed, realizing that if the hundreds of people down on the planet with the Alchemy's crew were in fact the discarded women and female children of Yensul, that they had just won the lottery. That mineral made their little planet better than a goldmine, as far as Starfleet was concerned.

"Jackpot."

Maffe, Sarl and Proconsul Tegget, all appearing quite put out by the interruption of their night's rest, arrived on the bridge.

"What is the meaning of this, Zanh Liis?" Tegget protested. "This situation is unacceptable."

"You're telling me!" Zanh strode up to Tegget, and stood nose to nose with him. "Dismiss your ships and call off the one that is threatening the Alchemy down on the planet's surface," she demanded, indicating the half dozen Yensuli military vessels on the view screen.

She leaned closer and whispered in his ear. "Show's over, Tegget. We can all see the man behind the curtain now."
------------------------------------------
=/\= Zanh Liis
Acting Commanding Officer
USS Independence NCC-90791