USS Grotto

[Montague 0]

Imperceptible, the fatigue descended upon him, a wraith, its grey fog rolling into his mind as the onerous duty on the bridge cotinued, interminable it seemed, as he watched Lt. Murray examine every square centimeter of the recently refitted space. It always began like this, as his defenses dropped, he became increasingly aware of the forces acting upon his weakness, he could not prevail in this battle forever, the memories would rise unbidden from the recesses of his mind. Disjointed, from many viewpoints, straining his consciousness and his emotional control, already precarious. He closed his eyes for an instant,

 

The dreaded sound echoed deafeningly through the tiny space, red strobe lighting danced across his corner. The Communications officer repeated the age old mantra, “Red alert! All hands battle stations!” His parents were putting themselves into their form-fitting garments, moving quickly, ordering him to move, to get to the secure area nearest their quarters. The officers ran from the room, his father, the chief engineer, raced to Deck 7 while his mother followed at an equally impressive speed. The child knew what he was doing, he had done it before and logic dictated that it would happen again.

The child walked with great urgency to the forward section, where a highly shielded area awaited him.

 

Checking the primary systems, he glanced over at his wife, querying her, she responded with a few words, “Shield generator upgrades are engaged, and seem stable.” He consulted with his fellow engineers and then opened a commlink to the bridge, as to remain abreast of the changes that battle or other scenarios might bring. On the view screen rested a man, an opulently bedecked Romulan, clearly of high rank.

 

‘What are you doing in our space, Commander?’ Spat Captain Green.

“We are not aware of your claim to this sector, Federation Starship Grotto,” Sneered the impudent Romulan, “we intended to scan this region and those immediately surrounding it for… gaseous phenomena… but if you need to make things difficult, I assure you that we are more than a match for you.”

“You and I know that this sector is well charted by both our peoples, and why would the Empire decide to dispatch a Mogai-class warbird to simply investigate gaseous phenomena? Perhaps your science programs need a bit more funding if you cannot even turn a telescope in this direction.”

“Perhaps you are correct, but there is no substitute to having an actual starship investigating important areas such as this.”

“No substitute for having a spy in the Federation’s borders perhaps. Pursuant to Article 15 Section 7 of Interstellar law, I demand that you leave this area immediately or it will be construed as an act of war by the Federation!”

“The very same people who destroyed Romulan outposts at the Borders of the Neutral Zone?! How dare you quote ‘Interstellar Law’ when you destroy defenseless research outposts like those? Close the channel!”

The communications dropped, and the tactical officer reported with urgency that weapons were charging.

 

Turning back towards his engineering team, he said, “Prepare for damage control, scramble teams four and one to areas of the ship as the damage occurs. Dismissed.”

 

The Ship rocked, pounded relentlessly by disruptor shot, the helmsman was clearly executing the most effective evasive maneuvers at his disposal, the stars streaked across the transparent aluminum ports lining the walls as high power turns were made again and again. Through the deck plates above him, he could feel the reverberations of the main phaser banks discharging relentlessly. The flashing red lights cast everything into halting relief, adding to the urgency of the situation, the deck heaved under him, an alarm sounded.

 

“Decompression alert, Hull Breach deck 6 section 12. Alert. Hull breach in progress.” Sonrek looked up, “Engage emergency force fields, shunt all the power required, now, that is a vital section.” The section containing my son, he thought to himself. “Fields are inoperable, primary couplings have fused, all auxiliaries are reseting!” The ensign didn’t add the fact that the reset would take three minutes and that by then the entire section would be exposed to harsh vacuum. Looking at his wife he said, “I must go, damage control teams are occupied.” She understood, and moved to take his station, barking orders to the group scurrying about engineering.

My wife, he thought as he climbed up the Jefferies Tubes to the force field control for deck 6.

 

The air did not rush out all at once, it lingered, languidly being pulled out of the footlong gash in the hull that formed upon impact with a Romulan torpedo. The chile awoke first, to the sound of the atmosphere in the section being pulled out into the harsh cold vacuum of space. Glancing around, he found the door controls smashed, and he knew he was neither tall nor strong enough to actuate the manual release. He attempted to rouse the only person in the room who could help them, but he knew in his heart that it was futile.

 

Flames gushed from an exposed conduit as he tapped the release sequence for the door, and he watched as the air began to spiral out of the corridor uncontrollably. His son was there along with a pregnant woman, he was slumped over her, clearly collapsed in exhaustion, trying to rouse a woman who was now most certainly dead. He needed to work quickly, opening a panel on the wall, he engaged the field generator sequence and as the wall materialized, separating space and ship once more, he ran to his son, to find him breathing again. He confirmed his fears after a tricorder scan revealed the woman’s brain unresponsive. Cradling his son in his arms, he ran for the turbolift back to engineering.

 

Forms glided rapidly in front of him, a man’s voice yelled, “Shields at 11 percent!” He opened his eyes fully to take stock of the scene, the warp core was spewing jets of coolant, consoles were shattered, people strewn on the floor as if thrown there, as discarded rags left to bleach in the sun. Even as he looked, he saw his father, buried in the primary EPS junction repairing damaged nodes, and rerouting power. A few seconds later he yelled “Bridge, you’ve got phaser power!” Even as he did so the panel behind him exploded in a shower of sparks and flames, as the shockwave of an enemy ship’s warp core detonation reached them. Blinded momentarily, he felt a hand on his Katra points…

 

“My mind to your mind...”

 

His eyes open, the pupils dialated, standing, he turned to the Lieutenant still surveying the same plaque… A thought rebounded through his mind, the need for tea.

A single thought and his father’s soul.