Racing against time
Posted on Fri Jul 24, 2020 @ 9:11pm by Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit & Commander Cullen Walker & Lieutenant Commander Miguel Torres & Lieutenant Commander James Holbridge & Major Victor Crowe & Lieutenant Penelope Naroot & Lieutenant Arashi Tanaka Mr. & Lieutenant Cassandra Kennings & Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Lieutenant AJ Taggart & Lieutenant JG Aergad Halvor & Lieutenant JG Camille Lévesque PhD & Lieutenant JG Ardal King & Lieutenant JG Sydney Friedman Jr & Senior Chief Petty Officer Samantha Summers
2,512 words; about a 13 minute read
Mission:
The Binary Suns
Location: USS Victory
[Bridge]
It had been relatively quiet on the Bridge up until about 3 minutes ago, when the Captain’s order had taken the ship to Res Alert. The bridge has been manned by the second shift staff due to the senior officers having been engaged in other duties with the away team and events on the world below. The turbolift doors parted with a soft hiss of sound, Captain Kennit exiting the lift before the doors were fully open. Seeing none of her senior staff had yet arrived to man their stations she let out a Klingon curse which would have made even her First Officer blush had he heard.
Approaching the sensor station, she said only one word. “Move.”
Kennit took the seat almost while Lt Marsh was still getting out of it, immediately initiating a sensor scan while at the same time accessing the Victory’s comm system. Kennit was looking for a way back to Earth, one most sane ship captains avoided at all costs.
Kennit was not one of them.
They had less than 48 hours to act and there was only one way to reach Earth in that short a time from where they were, deep in the Delta Quadrant: A Borg transwarp conduit.
Accessing the hub would be easy, once she identified the nearest hub to their location.
A moment later the doors opened and Nicole and Camille came out onto the bridge, Nicole letting Camille's hand go as she rushed over to her station. "Sickbay's prepping for casualties," she called out, sitting down.
Camille started toward her station but stopped when she saw the Captain sitting in her chair. She calmly walked over to Science II and made it workable. "Short, medium, and long range sensors ready, Capitaine," she reported. She wondered what this was about. Nicole only squeezed her hand in the turbolift but hadn't said anything.
The second turbolift opened and Penny rushed onto the bridge and ran straight for the helm. The crewman on duty, thankfully, looked back and saw her barreling towards him and moved aside, giving her room to vault over the seat and bring up her boards. "Ops ready," she said. "Engines online and warp speed at your command," she said, turning to the captain, expectantly.
“Very well, Lieutenant. Get us out of here. Make your heading to the coordinates I am sending you now. Get us there yesterday..” the Captain said, sternly.
"Yes, Ma'am. Course plotted, maximum warp." The ship suddenly swung around as they banked away from the system and towards their new destination, then shot forward as they leaped into warp. "On course," Penny said, then double-check her boards. "To....nowhere...."
“Maximum warp?” Kennit echoed in a disapproving voice. “I said I want us there yesterday and I meant it. Bring the slipstream drive online and get us moving..”
Penny tilted her head, then turned and lit up. "Yes, Ma'am!" she said, spinning back around and bringing the slipstream drive online. "Entering stream!" the ship shuddered slightly as it changed mediums, but then smoothed out. Despite the inertial dampeners, there was an almost imperceptible feeling of "fast" as they moved.
Once again, the turbo lift doors opened, and CPO Summers brisk walked to her station and logged in. "Station is open and operating, Captain.."
“Run a weapons check on all targeting and phaser systems. Make sure we won’t lose power due to Combat. Same for shields.. I want any issues identified now and corrected immediately..” The Captain ordered.
Summers' fingers flew over her board. "Captain, targeting and phaser systems are up and on line and accessible by the Helm; power is up at 99.998% and rising. Shields show at 100% when called for. "
Walker had been overseeing a few weapons re-quals. Occasionally we all had to prove we could use phasers, do CPR, and fly a shuttlecraft. He got the message that re-quals were postponed and to get to the bridge.
Halvor was assisting with requals to get them knocked out quicker, efficiency and all. Only a handful of people on the ship could do them and sign off on people had been on the range doing a requal. Himself, Taggert, Tanaka, King, and Walker he knew for sure could oversee them and sign off on people.
King had shut down his experiment to get his own requal done, but it was postponed as soon as he got there.
The three of them arrived on the turbolift together, Walker spoke, "There would not be enough room on that thing if you were feeling grey.
Miguel had made it to engineering and placed his bridge monitor on so he could hear any orders the Captain had to give. He noted that the warp core was ready to give them as much power as was needed for whatever they were about to get into.
INTELLIGENCE SPACES
Jim had finished his stroganoff and belched contentedly as he put the dirty dishes in the reclamator. As he made his way to the bathroom, the captain’s urgent summons came over the intercom. Jim was about to send an automated reply when another low-pitched alarm sounded in the room. This time, the door locks engaged and the computer voice turned rough. =/\=Incoming priority download from Memory Sigma. All Intelligence spaces are on lockdown until further notice.=/\=
Jim quickly pulled his trousers up and walked to the terminal. “Computer, activate holo-projector and broadcast to the bridge, please,”
=/\=Broadcasting=/\=
BRIDGE
USS VICTORY
A hologram of LCDR Holbridge appeared next to Captain Kennit. “Greetings captain. I was on my way to the bridge when we began receiving a priority transmission and data dump from Memory SIGMA here in the Delta Quadrant. Until it’s complete, I am locked in this room, but my hologram can stand in for me.”
The Captain’s scowl spoke volumes, though all she did was nod once in acknowledgment. “How long do you expect to be locked in..” she asked.
The hologram of Jim smiled. “Dunno yet, skipper. The download isn’t even halfway finished.” The smile vanished from Jim’s face. “What’s going on, skipper?”
Major Vic Crowe walked onto the bridge and nodded at the captain. “Marines are ready to stand to, captain.” Vic quickly shot Jim a "shut the hell up" look.
Kennit nodded, motioning with a wave of her hand for Crowe to take a station.
Doctor Friedman came onto the bridge as well, making her way around the rear of the bridge to an empty station near Doctor Anderson and sitting down. She looked at the doctor. "What should I do?"
"Keep an eye on the environmental systems and help me coordinate medical teams," Nicole said without looking up. "And stay out of everyone's way."
Sydney nodded and brought up the environmental systems. "All systems within normal parameters. Medical teams are reporting in and preparing for casualties on all decks," she said, then looked around and leaned over, whispering. "Are we going into battle?"
"I hope so," Nicole said, working quickly. "You won't like the alternative."
Arashi had been doing inventory of the ship's personal weapons when the red alert came down. He also made sure to place guards at sensitive areas of the ship. After assigning security teams to the areas of the ship that were important to the operation of the ship he headed to the bridge to prepare for whatever their mission. "Captain, all sensitive areas of the ship are secure and armories are full and ready to supply people if needed. All non-essential areas have been locked down and secured as well." Arashi reported.
AJ was in his office in the SRU Operations Bay when the Red Alert signal sounded and sprung from his chair. Swinging by a weapons locker, he removed a Type II Phaser, powered it on, and holstered it while not losing his step. Stepping into the nearest turbolift, he spoke up.
"Priority Override. Bridge."
The turbolift opened, and the Captain turned as Lt. Taggart stepped onto the bridge.
Moving to stand in the command deck on the bridge, the Captain spoke in a clear voice which carried across the entire bridge despite its size. “A short time ago, I received an encrypted message sent from Earth. There’s been a coup. A faction apparently within the Federation Council and Starfleet has seized power. The Federation President, several members of the Council and members of Starfleet Command have been arrested. They are scheduled for a public trial, charges I do not know. They will be executed following a guilty verdict. Thee are battles taking place throughout the Federation, including within the Sol system. We are now on route to a Borg trans warp conduit which will carry us to within a few hours of Earth utilizing our slipstream drive. We are going to get back, locate the President and other hostages and get them out of there, and to hell with anyone who gets in our way.”
Penny glanced at Nicole then at Camille, then turned back to her boards and tried coaxing a bit more speed.
Mon Dieu, Camille thought, suddenly having a hard time focussing on her station. But focus she must.
Miguel had heard the Captain's order to engage the slipstream drive. He began to deactivate any unnecessary use of the main deflector. Once it was at full power he monitored the creation of the quantum field which would allow the ship to penetrate the quantum barrier. As the ship entered slipstream Miguel monitored the quantum variances, making whatever adjustments needed to be made.
AJ walked over to the Captain's Chair and bent slightly. "Has anyone heard from the General, Captain?" he asked. In spite of everything that had transpired, AJ did have a connection to the man and felt that it might cause problems with their operations if he ended up getting shot in the square of the Palais De Concorde.
"I do not. What little information I have I've shared." she answered.
Walker looked at Taggert and Halvor, "It would be nice to have a few ways into where the President and hostages are and out again. Quiet, Loud, and Fuck it. Several of each plan, so we can mix and match if need be." Looking at the Captain, "Do we have an idea which of our old assets have been compromised?" He wanted to know if they were allowed to contact their old teams.
"No, the message I received didn't provide much in the way of explicit details. All I know, I've shared."
Holbridge's hologram spoke up. "The information I am reading says all Starfleet ships are to maintain strict radio silence and make way to their emergency docking areas, except the ships on patrol near the established Neutral Zones. Your idea is a good one, but if we try to contact anyone we have previously worked with we could be exposing ourselves to more intense scrutiny, and our trip would be over real quick."
Looking at the hologram, "I have faith in the Victory crew. Having ground assets would have just made things easier."
"What do you need security to do, Captain?" Arashi said. The teachers at the academy had said that there was a possibility that things like this, however remote, would happen however and he was feeling a bit out of place. Not everyone loved the peace and prosperity that the Federation had and still were striving for. He was going to do his best to fight for the ideals of the Federation even if it meant his death.
Vic moved over to the younger security chief and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Just keep the secured areas clear and lock down non-essential areas until this crisis is done!" Vic smiled reassuringly.
The holographic Jim spoke up. "I have a preliminary report from Paris, but it's eyes only for you, skipper." Jim extended his hand to Kennit's monitor and the data appeared. "There's a bunch of tactical analyses and psyche reports enclosed as well. Whoever did this is a cold, calculating sonofabitch."
Kennit looked at the data without speaking, reading quickly. “We need to know what we’re heading into. Can you access sensor Networks within the system, get an idea of what ships are in system and where they are..”
Jim nodded. "Just get me to a sensor relay and I can access real time information on the target. I can also look through the archives for data dumps from recent weeks referencing the target as well I'm gonna need a little time and assistance building a search algorithm to help look for things like coded messages, last-minute deployment orders, records of encrypted communiques, and other shady things.
"Depending on how they're defending their holding facility," Camille interjected, "I should be able to isolate life signs and possibly determine species. If we have any information on what countermeasures to expect, I'll do my best to make sure sensors are properly calibrated by the time we get there."
Crowe turned to face LeVesque. "We can assume that the prisoners will be in a maximum security area and will also have had their subcutaneous tracking devices removed. There are a few places like that on Earth; New Zealand Penal Colony, Lunar Supermax Facility, and let's not forget Siberia's underground detention wonderland."
"Are we sure they're still on Earth?" Sydney said. "Pluto's maximum security prison would be a good place to take over and hold someone as well."
“The information we have suggests as much, we will find out what we need to know as we get closer.” Kennit answered.
Jim nodded at the younger scientist. "I'd like you to join me in the Intelligence spaces as soon as practicable, Lieutenant Levesque. You too, Vic. I'm gonna need a hand going through the data from the sensor relays that we get."
"Bien sur," Camille acknowledged.
“It is my intention that every hostage will be safely recovered...all we need to know is who they have, who they plan to execute..so we know who not to kill. Everyone else in that facility is a target..”. the Captain answered.
Jim nodded. "I'll have the data for you in four hours, captain." The hologram of Jim vanished.
“I will hold you to that.” Kennit told him.
Looking at Halvor and Taggert, "Multiple plans for multiple facilities. No reaching out. Only what we have information wise on the ship."
Stepping over to Anderson, Halvor whispered, "I may need your help creating a device to cause an instant change." He didn't want to be the big grey man of stone, but that form was more durable and absorbed more energy from weapons fire.
"I'm not sure that's possible, let alone advisable," Nicole said, quietly. "Especially if it makes it difficult to revert you to your normal form. Let's see what arises," she said. She finished her checks and closed out her station, standing up and returning to Sickbay. If they were going into battle, she wanted to be ready for casualties.
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