Antares or Bust
| Star Traks: TOSsed | |
| Episode name | Antares or Bust |
|---|---|
| Season | 1 |
| Episode number | 2 |
| Writer(s) | Alan Decker |
| Year | 2268 |
| Stardate | Unknown |
| Chronology | |
| Previous in series | Back to the Well [TOS] |
| Next in series | Busted [TOS] |
| Previous in timeline | Back to the Well [TOS] |
| Next in timeline | Busted [TOS] |
The SS Clydesdale needs to go to Antares, but it needs a full cargo hold to make the trip worth it. Meanwhile, Dr. Janet Corbair finds that obtaining something as simple as a working tricorder is really difficult when you’re not in Starfleet.
Summary
While the SS Clydesdale is docked at Tellar Prime, Mike Harper struggles to find a cargo shipping job for his ship. He runs into Captain Carter Davenport of the SS Ottoman, who offers Mike a job running a necklace to Antares. Mike accepts, then goes to meet with Gravit, owner of his former employer, Gravit & Yurtz, to see if she has any cargo runs to Antares that need done. She does not, so Mike asks Bork to talk to his ex-fiancee, Annar, owner of Annar's Exports. Annar agrees to use the Clydesdale for a cargo run, something she wouldn't normally do because they work for her rival, Gravit & Yurtz, but, in exchange, they also have to take her nephew, Duv to Antares.
Meanwhile, Dr. Janet Corbair is determined to find a new part for the broken tricorder that Dr. John Smith left behind. She accompanies Ronnie Harper to a nightclub located in the Starfleet docks over the planet, where she propositions then drugs a Starfleet geologist before taking the part she needs out of his tricorder.
With the ship half-full with Annar's cargo, Mike is getting Duv settled on board when he is summoned to the bridge. Gravit has commed and has expedited a cargo run for him, but it will fill more than the remaining cargo space. Mike agrees, but the crew has to find room for the extra containers and not let either company know that the Clydesdale is doing a job for both of them at the same time.
They finally get underway, with Duv none the wiser, and, en route, Dr. Corbair installs the new part into her broken tricorder. As soon as she powers it on, it says it is contacting Starfleet Property Control to authenticate the tricorder's user license. Corbair quickly shuts it off.
At dinner that night, Duv starts an argument with Bork, whom he blames for ending things with his aunt and breaking her heart. Ronnie summons Mike to the bridge. When he arrives, he sees a Saladin-class Starfleet destroyer on the viewscreen. Ronnie tells Mike that they are demanding to come aboard.
The destroyer locks phasers on Clydesdale.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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Author's Comments
This one is really a world and character building story. I wanted to take a bit more time to cover what life is like for the Clydesdale crew as they try to get work and deal with their Tellarite employers. As such, there's not a whole lot of plot happening, but hopefully enough character moments to give readers a better sense of the crew personalities.
The other thing I really wanted to explore is that things Starfleet Officers take for granted aren't as easily accessible to everyone else. Dr. Corbair needs a tricorder and one of the readily available consumer-grade scanning products just won't do for her purposes. It would be like the difference between a microscope in a actual laboratory versus one you can buy for your kid.
As this was part one of two, there's not a whole lot more for me to say. More to come in the comments for Busted.