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John Randall

Success Under Fire

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate 11612.15)

 

The short range sensors of the Arizona were tracking incoming fire heading directly for the Challenger. John sat in disbelief on the bridge, not believing what he had just heard; Captain Amanda Russell had just been given an order to fire her torpedoes at Randall's ship.

 

Almost immediately thereafter, however, another voice came over the 'com. The commanding officer of the Starfleet armada said that negotiations had been performed between the Challenger and the fleet, and Challenger had been given 24 hours to try to help itself.

 

Russell answered back wanting to know who had given the order to fire her torpedoes, and the CO of the armada told her that had been a UFP commander; the United Federation of Planets had sent their own ships, and the commander had flatly rejected the negotiations between Starfleet and the Challenger.

 

Russell thanked the CO, and not three seconds later, Randall's communicator beeped. He pulled it out of its holster on his belt, flipped it open, and heard the voice of Anastasia come over the 'com. "John, can you hear me?" it said, and Randall replied, "Affirmative, Lieutenant, go ahead."

 

Ana said, "John, I think I've come up with a way to sterilize the inside of the ship using your technique. Is there a way we can fill our hand phasers with the same baryonic energy as we did with the ship phasers?" Randall's eyes widened, and he and Russell traded glances. "That's a hell of an idea, Ana," he replied, "and I don't see why not. You'll have to hook up a special cable to the phaser from the device to put the baryons into the phaser. Lieutenant Michaels can take care of that for you. It should work, Ana, that's a great idea."

 

"Thank you, John," came the reply from Challenger's chief science officer. "Maybe we'll have you back with us real soon." Randall smiled. "I look forward to it, Ana, and I've got quite a story to tell you when I come aboard. Randall out." He replaced his communicator, and looked over at Russell, shaking his head. "I would have never thought of that," he said admiringly.

 

Russell smiled at him. "Sounds like you two are friends," she replied, and John smiled again. "Yes, I have a lot of respect for her," he said. Meanwhile, while all that had been going on, the Challenger was trying, quite sluggishly, to maneuver itself out of the line of fire it was under. Radiation filled the space around the Challenger, however, just seconds later, as a couple of torpedoes exploded against the ship's shielding.

 

John winced at the impact, he knew the shields had been weakened by that blast, and knew more fire would be coming. He suddenly became very angry; just as the Challenger was about to extract itself from its plight, some gung-ho commander wanted his fifteen minutes of fame by trying to take down a Starfleet ship. He wheeled in his chair and pinned Russell with an ice-blue glare.

 

"Captain, we can't just sit here!" he cried, and instantly every eye on the bridge, including Russell's, were trained on him. "We have to DO something! We have to HELP her! This is no time to wait for orders! That's my ship being fired upon! We HAVE to DO something!"

 

Everyone on the bridge then looked at Russell, and the female captain was staring at Randall. After a few seconds, she slowly nodded, and told the communications officer, Lieutenant Alison Mays, to get her the CO of the Starfleet armada. Mays made contact, and Russell asked permission to go help the Challenger.

 

Before the CO could answer, Challenger suddenly spun in space, then took off to the right. A few seconds later, however, two vessels suddenly came into view, and they were in hot pursuit of the Starfleet vessel, firing as they went. The CO answered that the Arizona could indeed help the Challenger as it was the closest vessel, and Russell signified thanks. She began barking orders to her crew, and a few seconds later, the Constellation-class ship took off in pursuit of the UFP ships.

 

John sat at the engineer's station on the bridge, keeping an eye on the engine readouts. He would turn every few seconds to look at the viewscreen to see if they were gaining on the UFP ships. Russell had her crew at battle stations, and the Arizona streaked through space chasing the UFP ships.

 

A few moments later, a good-sized nebula filled the screen, and John smiled to himself as he knew where the Challenger had gone. The nebula would interfere with ship's instruments, and the UFP ships would have trouble locating the Starfleet vessel as long as it remained within the nebula. John was willing to bet that Starfleet Marine Hunter Matheson was at the helm of the Challenger, and he knew firsthand of the Marine's piloting skills.

 

The UFP ships ad slowed noticeably as they came upon the nebula, and that gave enough time for the Arizona to suddenly drop from warp behind them. Russell gave the order to target the nearest ship, and a few seconds later, the ship shuddered slightly as a bright red ball erupted from the Arizona, heading directly for the UFP ship.

 

Seconds later, there was a fireball in space as the first ship was blown apart by the Arizona's torpedo. John gave a silent whoop, then relaxed as Russell ordered a second torpedo be readied for the second UFP ship. That ship, however, had seen the blast, and was performing complex maneuvers, trying to put some distance between itself and the much larger Starfleet vessel.

 

Then the officer watching the sensor array of the Arizona suddenly spun in his chair. "Captain, the entire Starfleet armada has joined us, ma'am," he reported breathlessly, and suddenly the immediate space surrounding the Arizona was crammed with Starfleet vessels. The ships then cut away from each other, and John realized they were forming a barricade in front of the Challenger (or at least where the sensors said the Challenger was resting).

 

A voice came over the communications station a few seconds later. "Captain Russell, you have permission to engage the UFP ship," came the order of the Starfleet CO. "Good hunting." Russell glanced at Randall, who gave her a feral smile. "Thank you, Admiral," she replied. "Arizona out." She then looked around the bridge. "All right, let's do this," she gritted, and began giving orders.

 

John again watched the readouts from the engines as the Arizona tumbled through space in pursuit of the second UFP ship. The chase lasted around five minutes, then the weapons officer announced they were in torpedo range, and Russell gave the order to fire immediately. The ship shuddered slightly again as the torpedo left the bay, and seconds later, there was another brief fireball in space as the UFP ship was destroyed.

 

Russell sat back calmly in her captain's chair, and ordered the Arizona back to the barricade of Starfleet vessels. She glanced over to John, and he nodded respectfully at her. She gave him a brief smile, then returned her gaze to the viewscreen as they rejoined the barricade.

 

END LOG

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