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"Not So Easy"
[Previous post: "The Magnificent Ferengi"]
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Setting: USS PARADOX, Jefferies Tube
Stardate: 63073.2025

Something had changed and Adam had not liked it.  Not one bit.  The ship had somehow felt emptier, with far fewer people roaming the halls, so in theory things should have been easier, but the reality had been an entirely different thing.

Every key system of the ship had been placed under full time surveillance, the guards posted appearing uglier and meaner than the previous.  There had been no way for Ensign Russell to perform any further sabotage, at least nothing that would have truly mattered.  So reluctantly Adam had ventured through the ship using the Jefferies Tubes in the hopes of finding something to help his cause.

All of this of course while not getting caught.  When one of the panels inside the cramped crawlspace suddenly crashed onto the floor, Adam had been mortified.  He had been so careful to remain quiet, to not draw any attention to his presence.  Now he could hear a couple of goons talking about what they had heard and who between the them would go to investigate.

Adam contemplated the possibility of him taking the intruder to this ship by surprise, to use one of the pipes he had found to give the creature a new bump on its head, but the Ensign quickly dismissed that plan.  As successful as his surprise attack may be, it would leave no doubt in anyone's mind that there had been a saboteur onboard.

As much as he hated it, Adam had to admit that his work and efforts would be far more successful if his presence remained unknown for as long as possible.  So like the rat he had imagined himself to be on a few too many occasions while crawling through the Jefferies Tubes, the Ensign made a hasty retreat and hid silently in the nearest junction.

"This ship is nothing but a pile of floating junk," one alien said, having obviously discovered the fallen panel.  "Everything in here seems to be either broken, breaking or falling apart."

"Sumariss went to get extra engineering help," the other alien said, his voice not having sounded all that distant thanks to the echo through the crawl space.  "All we have to do is to make sure that the traitor we have with us doesn't get the chance to do more damage."

"That should be easy enough," the first laughed.  "She's been kept rather busy."

Adam's blood frozen in his veins.  He had initially believed that they had known of his presence, but the last words spoken by the goons pointed to something much more dangerous having happened.  If the traitor they had mentioned had been Anya, the entire ideal of keeping this ship from falling into unlawful hands had been place in jeopardy and worst the life of his own son had now been placed in direct danger.

As soon as he had thought the coast clear, Adam rushed back to the cargo bay to check on Shaun's condition.  This had not been the first time the young boy had been left alone, but the Ensign would have never been able to forgive himself if anything happened to him.  To lose his beloved wife had been hard enough, but to lose his child would be something that he would never be able to recuperate from.

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William Reeve (altrealityman@gmail.com)

Ensign Adam Russell
(in another reality)
former
Flight Control Officer
USS YORKSHIRE