Sleep, terror, and Confusion

[STSF_Scooter 0]

Audraya lay curled under her covers, the awards ceremony from Starfleet Academy on the hospital playing on the library computer interface, the Battle of Vulcan going through her mind. More specifically the fleet's destruction and the Entente's demise. As second officer of the dreadnought, her battlestation was the warship's emergency bridge, located deep in the saucer on deck 10…

 

-=-=-=-

 

"All ships, this is Commodore Wesley. Battlestations, I say again battlesta…" The viewscreen showed the massive Romulan mining ship Narada beginning her attack against the Federation fleet. The Truman suffered the brunt of the initial assault, exploding under the onslaught of advanced weaponry.

 

"Audraya," Captain Stoddart said, "man your battlestation. And good luck." He hit the intercom on his seat. "All hands, this is the captain. Battlestations, I say again battlestations. Set Condition One throughout the ship."

 

"Aye sir," she replied, and headed aft to the lift. Moments later, she entered the emergency bridge, in time for Lt. Perry to lock it down…and in time to come under fire.

 

The Entente shuddered under the assault, and the whine of the impulse engines could be heard from two decks above. "Commander," Lt Perry called, "multiple hull penetra…" He was cut off, as the console he was looking at exploded from feedback. The hull groaned, lights and consoles flickered until the dim emergency lights attempted to penetrate the darkness that emergency bridge was plunged into.

 

The air was filled with the sound of tearing metal as the dorsal failed structurally. "Report," Audraya called out.

 

"Ma'am," Ensign Sakai called out, "power's gone, propulsion's gone, gravity's gone, life support's gone, Mr. Perry's dead, Lt. Nelson as well." The lights flickered then failed. "Batteries are gone."

 

"No one move or talk any more than necessary," Audraya called out, as she floated near the command seat. "We're going to burn through a lot of oxygen before our rescue, so we'll need to conserve as much as possible."

 

-=-=-=-

 

Audraya woke with a start. While she was sleeping, someone had slipped in, and hung a new uniform on the closet door and placed a tablet on the bedside table, along with her dinner tray. As she blinked the sleep away, she noticed that the uniform was wrong. "Wait a minute," she muttered. "When did I get promoted to Commander?"