An Explosive Ending

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate 11212.30)

 

The Challenger made her way to Starbase 103, limping along at full impulse speed. It had been a wild

ending to a harrowing chase of several A.U.s; the smugglers' ship had been a surprise to Challenger on

how fast it was. The crew would later learn that the ship was basically a huge engineering room with

the barest of bridge instruments to guide it; it was all run by computer. When the Challenger finally

caught up with the smaller ship, as was inevitable, the smugglers again caught the Federation starship

by surprise; inside a nebula, the smugglers' ship ejected its warp core as the last line of defense.

 

Taken by surprise, Challenger turned and attempted to get as far away as it could from the explosion

that was about to occur; but the huge starship didn't get far before it was rocked by a titanic blast. The

expanding shock wave from the exploding warp core caught Challenger almost fully on the starboard

side. The ship suffered multiple hull breaches, and caused major damage to the ship's interior. No one

was unaffected by the blast; there were multiple injuries ranging from minor to fatal.

 

In the following days, as the ship limped its way toward Starbase 103, the engineering and medical

crews were put to the test. Ship surgeon and chief medical officer Gretchen Hanson, who, luckily

had sustained only a minor injury, had her medical resources stretched to the limit as wave after

wave of injured crewpeople were brought to sickbay. Anyone and everyone who were not seriously

hurt, and who had the tiniest sliver of medical knowledge or first aid, was commandeered by her and

put to work helping the more seriously wounded and/or injured.

 

In engineering, the crew there was also pushed to its limits; the ship was very badly damaged, and

there was much work to be done during the trip to the starbase. Fortunately, Challenger's force fields

had held in place; the corridors had been mainly empty as everyone had been at battle stations during

the chase, so there was minimal loss of life as the hulls had ruptured from the blast of the shock

wave. The damage, however, was extensive, and the crew worked round the clock to keep the ship

intact as best they could for the journey.

 

In sickbay, John Randall, who had been knocked against the main console as the shock wave impacted

the ship, regained consciousness, and looked around, realizing quickly he had been taken to sickbay.

'Man, I just got out of here', he thought wryly as he looked around. He saw a lot of injured people, and

thought he was pretty fortunate; some of them had covers pulled over their heads, and he knew what

that meant. He sat up slowly in his biobed, and took stock of his injuries; surprisingly, he felt very little

pain. He put his hand to the side of his head, and felt a pretty good lump there; he also realized it was

the same side where he had been injured in his fight with the Klingon on Beta Octavius IV, and thought,

'Well, it could be worse. I could've cracked my skull open again'.

 

He turned his head slightly, and saw the first officer, Commander Erica Rinax, limping toward him. He

smiled as she reached his bed. "How are you doing, Lieutenant?" she asked as she arrived. "Actually,

not bad, sir," he replied. "I took a shot to my head, but someone must have injected me on the transport

here. I'm doing pretty good." "Good enough to go back on duty?" asked the first officer. John nodded.

"Yes, m'am, I think so." Rinax nodded. "Dr. Hanson told me to tell you, if you felt good enough, you are

released. Go fix our ship." Randall grinned at that. "I'll do my best, Commander." Rinax smiled and

nodded. "You are officially released, Lieutenant Randall." Then she softened her tone, and said, "And

I'm glad you're all right." She straightened back up. "Dismissed!" she barked, and winked. John smiled,

and said, "Aye, sir."

 

He got out of the bed, waiting for a moment as the room spun slightly, then made his way to the doors

of sickbay, which whooshed open, and he went out into a mostly intact corridor. Behind him, he did

not see Commander Rinax look after him with concern, then she turned her attention to helping other

patients. John made his way to the turbolift, which was still working, and entered. "Deck 8," he snapped,

and the lift took him there. He stepped out, and made his way along a corridor that had some damage

done to it, but it was still navigable. He arrived at his cabin, the doors slid open, and he stepped inside.

Amazingly, everything was pretty much intact, and he gave a huge mental sigh. He stripped off his

uniform, and went into the head to take a long, hot shower.

 

Some 20 minutes, he exited the head, feeling much better, and put on a clean uniform. He went over

to his computer terminal, and punched the 'comm button. "Randall to Freeman." The answer came

back almost immediately. "Freeman here, how you doing, Randall?" "I'm all right, Chief; where do

you want me?" "Have you been cleared for duty?" Freeman asked. "Yeah, I'm okay," replied Randall.

"Well, I guess you could take a team, and head to deck 9; it's pretty messy there from what I've been

told," said the chief of engineering. "Acknowledged, Chief," said John. "I'm on it. Randall out."

 

He left his cabin, and made his way along the corridor to the turbolift. "Deck 12," he said, and the

lift whisked him away. He arrived at his destination, and went along the corridor to engineering. He

strode inside, and looked around at the crew doing their jobs. Some turned as he approached, and

he waved them back to work. He reached the main console, and punched the 'comm button. "Randall

to Davis," he intoned, and the answer was immediate. "Davis here, good to hear your voice, John."

"Thanks, old friend, likewise," replied Randall. "Status report, please." "The chief has us on deck 9,

John; we're doing a little bit of everything here." "Ok, Steve, I'm coming up to lend you a hand." "That

would be appreciated, sir," came Davis' dry tone, and John involuntarily grinned. "I bet it would. Carry

on, ensign, I'll be there shortly. Randall out." "Acknowledged, John, Davis out."

 

John went to his locker, got his kit, and had the lift take him to deck 9. The next few days were

very similar as the engineering and medical crews worked on the ship and its crew. Finally, Challenger

arrived at Starbase 103. The ship eased into a drydock next to the base. People sitting in lounges

crowded against the viewports to see the ship, and there was many a gasp as the onlookers took in

the damage to the starship. The base medical and engineering crews were on standby, and as the

ship did its final docking, immediately went aboard the ship to begin repairs, and to replenish the

heavily taxed medical supplies. The more serious injuries were beamed over to the base sickbay.

After a few days, Challenger was repaired, the ship was restocked, and the captain received new

orders from Starfleet for their next mission.

 

John entered his cabin on the day the Challenger was scheduled to leave Starbase 103. After a full

shift of helping oversee the final repairs to the ship, and maybe more importantly, the warp engines,

he was dead tired. He pulled off his duty uniform, and went to the head to take a shower. About 25

minutes later, he exited the head, and came out into the main room of the cabin. He went to his desk,

and unwrapped a package that had been delivered to him while Challenger had been at the base. He

smiled as he took out a cube from his brother on Centaurus, and walked over to the player. He inserted

the cube, and grinned as the first game of the Centauran World Series of null-G ball came on. He paused

the player, went to his mini-fridge to grab a bottle of flavored water, and went to his couch to enjoy

the game.

 

Later, having watched the McIverton Druids take game one of the series, he was then very pleased

to see that his brother had recorded some family images for him. He watched until they ran out about

an hour later, then he turned off the player, and walked into his bedroom. He took off the civvie

clothes he had put on, put on his pajamas, and climbed into bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

 

 

 

 

END LOG

[Cmdr Rinax 0]

I think we'll nickname you Lumpy... or maybe bumpy... all those bumps you are gathering on your skull. You are actually seeing things now, you've had so many. Rinax winked at you? Doubtful! ::scoff::

 

((Great log John!))

[John Randall 0]

Thank you, Commander. It would really be helpful, though, if once in a while we could get the log of the sim

posted in order to write a more accurate personal log? Might be something to consider.

 

Respectfully,

Lieutenant John Randall