Overcome

[Cmdr Ba'alyo 0]

Things were starting to come together.

 

Although the vessel called Challenger had been rattled, its crew dazed or unconscious, most of the damage was being overcome.

 

The ship's power generators were functioning, although still being run at low levels out of caution. Impulse engines were at 30%, with warp power operating at a minimal 15% capability. There seemed to be enough power to run the ship; all of the subsystems looked workable. Emergency force fields were in place on several decks, where the external hull had been torn open by external explosion.

 

With the computer up and running again, those few who were awake had learned their names and positions, even if they seemed unfamiliar. They'd made contact with the unknown ship that was following them. Instead of enemies, they'd found other people dressed in the same uniform, similarly disoriented and wondering what was going on.

 

But it was starting to come back to them.

 

* * * * *

 

On Deck 10, Lieutenant Commander Ryan Leslie slammed shut an access door, sealing a bound and unconscious Orion inside the horizontal alcove labeled "Emergency Shelter". He'd been surprised to find the panels in these oddly-angled corridors concealed all sorts of goodies - temporary pressure suits, engineering tools, fire extinguishers, medical supply kits, and even disaster survival compartments. He and Lieutenant (j.g.) Hannah Reed had hefted their prisoner into one of these. Leslie wasn't worried about the Orion's comfort, since he'd obviously killed at least one Marine and stunned the other two women they'd been working with - Kimiko and Ana. He was surprised it had taken so many of them to overcome the muscle-bound brute, but pleased to find that the experience had unlocked memories of other security incidents - ones where he'd been younger and wearing a red shirt.

 

He was starting to remember.

 

* * * * *

 

Uninterrupted, Ensign Isaac Spencer had been digging through the data banks for more than an hour. He'd learned Challenger was a ship of the United Federation of Planets with over 750 officers and crew aboard. He'd stumbled on a record - a log - that said the ship was responding to a distress call from a Federation freighter being attacked by Orion pirates. They'd been chasing the pirates and overcome them near this asteroid field. According to the log, they had seized the Orion ship, captured its crew, and had been slowly bringing them aboard as prisoners. There was no record of another attack after that, but timestamps showed the damage happened a couple hours after that. Whatever it was, it had been a surprise.

 

Pleased with himself, he'd wandered back to report to Freeman or Savros, but couldn't find either one. That's when he heard the phasers - although he'd been too startled to wonder how he knew what they were. Unarmed, he dove under an engineering console, trying to keep quiet from the approaching shouts. With a sinking feeling, he wondered if the Orion prisoners had been freed by whatever struck the ship. If so, he considered, it might be their ship that was about to be overcome.

 

* * * * *

 

Dr. Alexei Juno carried the security officer over his shoulder as the lift stopped on Deck 7. Dr. Natalie Harris followed, knowing they could better care for Crewman Reinman in the sickbay that was supposedly on this level. Although they'd been initially uncertain about their respective medical skills, they'd managed to treat his ocular injuries on the bridge. More was starting to come back to them.

 

Freeman, armed with a phaser, had joined the doctors as an escort. There was no telling if there were more murderous Orions lurking on these decks. He'd been fighting off a feeling of deja vu for the last few minutes, as well as the image of the security officer that had been vaporized in front of him. But he found his thoughts more overcome by that warbling he'd heard on the bridge before the lift doors had closed. The sound of a proximity alert...

 

* * * * *

 

Commander Zen Ba'alyo didn't really know his own name, but he was starting to know his place. From the command level of the Orion ship, he'd been talking to the image of Captain Rolf Seiben. Although he didn't recognize the man, he wore the same uniform; there was a growing sense of familiarity about him.

 

They'd been fighting the green-skinned people on this ship since they first woke up. If so many of these Orions hadn't been restrained and similarly disoriented, they might have been easily overcome. But he and the others in the burgundy uniforms had been armed. None of them were fluent in the language on the signs and displays, but they'd managed to keep control. From the facts that were coming together, it seemed he and his group had invaded this ship, an idea he found distasteful.

 

Onscreen, the one called Seiben was looking down, some concern in his expression. "Are you getting that?" he asked. "It's... a proximity alert." The man looked mildly pleased with himself as he identified it.

 

Ba'alyo looked around at the other men in uniform, who started looking in turn at the incomprehensible consoles. There were so many blinking lights, they were overcome with information.

 

What else was going to happen to them?