The Fall Of the Sovereign

Posted on 22 Feb 2017 @ 9:15pm by

897 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: History
Timeline: Backpost to Consortium Uprising

Captain's Log, supplemental. The USS Sovereign has completed its mission to Gamma Tirias VI. We have catalogued six new possible sources of tetracorbium resin, which Starfleet Medical can now use as potential vaccine adjuvants for treatment of the Capellan plague. Added to the injury list, Commander McLaine, First Officer, has sustained a broken ankle while on the Away Team.

- - - - - - -

Captain Hiroyuki Mitsuro stepped out of the turbolift on Deck 7, and immediately headed for Sickbay. This routine mission had been a pleasant respite from the unrelenting action of the past few months, and he was grateful for it, if mildly annoyed at his Executive Officer for spoiling his perfect report by getting injured in a random accident.

The Sickbay doors opened, and Mitsuro walked through, the stern Japanese officer's features as stoic and expressionless as any Vulcan's. He was no longer a young man, and imperfect missions like this one did not look good on his service record. He frowned as he approached the biobed where Commander McLaine was waiting for treatment.

"Report, Commander," asked the Captain without preamble.

"Sorry, Captain," replied the First Officer, with a crooked smile. "I was just trying to collect a sample for the Botanical department, and the rock I was standing on just started rolling."

"True or false, Commander," barked the Captain. "A five-year-old has enough sense not to stand on a pile of unstable rocks."

Commander McLaine sighed. Mitsuro was not an easy man to work with. He was temperamental, stern, and never seemed to let off any steam. He was wound up so incredibly tightly, McLaine even suspected that the man slept in his uniform.

"True," he conceded, looking down at his broken ankle sheepishly.

"This kind of foolishness cannot be tolerated," thundered Mitsuro. He looked at Doctor th'Sholig, the Chief Medical Officer, and nodded once.

McLaine frowned. Mitsuro seemed to be making a very big deal out of a minor incident that could be solved in under an hour, and something didn't really add up. Yes, Mitsuro was a demanding captain, and serving under him was no picnic - there was a reason why McLaine was the Sovereign's third Executive Officer in eighteen months. But this was taking things a bit too far.

He opened his mouth to protest, but before he could speak, the Andorian medic stepped forward, and applied a hypospray to McLaine's neck.

"What the…" breathed McLaine.

His field of vision started to get blurry. He reached out a hand to steady himself on the biobed, and noticed large green boils forming on his skin.

Mitsuro kept his eyes firmly trained on him, his face impassive.

McLaine's breath caught in his throat. He could feel his larynx closing, his airway narrowing in response to some kind of reaction to whatever it was that th'Sholig had injected him with. Panic settled in his mind, and he reached for Mitsuro.

"I will have no pity on you," spat the Captain. "Pity is treason."

He tapped his data padd. "Captain's log, supplemental. It seems my previous entry was erroneous. It is my sad duty to report that Commander McLaine has succumbed to some kind of infection contracted on the planet surface. We have no choice but to declare the entire planet unsafe, and strike the sources of tetracorbium resin from the registry."

He gave a sinister smile as McLaine crumpled on the biobed, the readings on the monitor settling on a flatline.

Sickbay doors opened again, and Lieutenant Smithers, the ship's Chief of Security, walked in. He took in the situation, and merely stood at ease, his hands clasped behind his back, guarding the doors.

Mitsuro looked at the Security chief and nodded once. "Lieutenant Smithers," he said. "It seems Commander McLaine has died from an... infection, which was contracted on the planet. I hereby promote you to Lieutenant Commander, and assign you to the position of Executive Officer."

Smithers gave a short bow to his Captain. "Yes, Sir," he said, sparing a glance at the former First Officer. "Pity is treason."

Mitsuro turned his attention away from the carcass of his former First Officer, reached for the wall monitor, and opened a communications channel to Deep Space Eleven. Within seconds, Commodore Terlexa's face appeared on the monitor.

"Mitsuro-San," she greeted. "Status report."

"Operation complete," stated the Captain. "We now have complete control. The final obstacle has been cleared."

"Very good," replied Terlexa. "I've just received word from Captain Suresh of the Chimera that her situation has improved as well. They are departing Selam, and are pursuing the Callisto and the Maketu. The Perseus was last reported in your sector. You are to hunt her down and destroy her," she ordered.

"Very well, Commodore," replied Mitsuro.

Terlexa nodded once, and disappeared from the viewscreen. Mitsuro exchanged looks with his two senior officers, and left Sickbay. It was a shame, really, to have to eliminate McLaine this way. The man had been a competent officer. But Mitsuro knew that there was no possibility of convincing him that the Consortium was a viable alternative to Starfleet life, and that indeed, Starfleet itself was doomed to failure out here in the Gamma Quadrant. As such, he was a liability.

This was the extent to which he would reflect on the events. He pushed McLaine from his mind, and spared no further thought on the man.

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