Avengers Last Voyage

Ships Log, Stardate 9514.5. Captain Akeel Ahmad commanding. The USS Avenger is patrolling a remote sector of Federation space, which was disputed territory with the Klingon Empire before the Khitomer Accord five years ago. A number of colonies and research outposts have reported Orion raiders operating at this locale. Reinforcements should arrive by Stardate 9755 at the latest, in the meantime, we are here to investigate and bring the raids to a halt if possible.

"Captain, shields have failed" came the Chief Engineer's voice.

"Incoming" yelled Kevin Steele, at Navigation,

"All hands, brace for impact," Ahmad ordered on ship-wide channel, his calm and controlled voice so jarring amidst the chaos on the bridge.

The ship twisted and writhed like a wounded animal. Crewmembers were flung out of their seats and electrical fires broke out spontaneously. Darkness filled the bridge followed by the coughing and wheezing of people trapped in a smoke-filled environment

The whiplash of cabling left a nasty green welt on Ahmad's hand, as he raised it instinctively to protect his face. He stabbed at the intercom.

"Bridge to Engineering - Damage report"

Silence

Emergency lights came on, bathing the bridge in an eerie red light

"Bridge to Engineering, come in."

No reply, He turned to his First Officer Neil Meechan. "Take a team and get down there, see what's happened."

"Aye Sir." the tall man replied, heading to the turbolift. "Captain."

Ahmad turned to his Comms officer just as Neil called out, only to see the reason he did. The young blonde man at Comms lay slumped in his seat, his lifeless face burnt beyond recognition and his console was smashed beyond repair.

He stood up and gazed across the bridge. Tapping the intercom he called Sickbay - no reply.

***

A short time later the intrcom beeped.

"Meechan to bridge"

"Go ahead, Neil. How bad is it?"

"Bad. Half the ship's gone."

"What?"

"Half the ship's gone." Meechan repeated. "That last volley sheared off the port warp nacelle and opened up the port aft section of the main hull."

"The crew?"

There was a pause. "We've lost Wilson and thirteen others here... the engineering section took a major hit and was decompressed."

"He was a good man, Neil. They were good people, all of them."

"Aye, that they were, Sir."

"I take it the warp core's in one piece."

"By a major flukey miracle, yeah, but with only one warp engine we won't be going anywhere in a hurry!"

"What about the impulse drive?"

"It's working, for the moment, but without anyone to nursemaid them I dunno what we're gonna do."

"Head back up here. I want to see the rest of the ship."

"Aye Sir, Meechan out."

It was a grim day indeed. Captain Ahmad went to almost every deck and section of the stricken USS Avenger, to see for himself the extent of the damage in that firefight. The loss of Engineering was a major handicap. Every department had suffered some loss. Dr Mhairi Cole-Hamilton, the Chief Medial Officer was another casualty, resulting in a field promotion for Diane Sommerville - certainly not the way she would have wanted to be promoted.

All in all, the Avenger was complete mess. Without warp drive she was stranded in hostile space. Communication was also down so she couldn't call for help either. The only grim plus here was that the supplies, which would have lasted two years for a full crew, could now be stretched to almost six years.

"I have an idea, Neil. Assemble the crew in the mess hall."

"Aye Sir."

Shortly afterwards Ahmad stood before what was left of the crew, watching their expectant faces.

"My friends, we have faced quite an ordeal with great personal risk and great loss, yet here we stand, defiant in the face of oblivion."

He paused. Not the kind of words they were expecting from a Vulcan, still, this was an exceptional occasion.

"We all know the risks when we put that uniform on. We all knew the risks when we enrolled in Starfleet. By all rights we should not be standing here but here we are, against all odds, surviving certain death.

He looked the faces of the crew, his crew, looking to him for support. He continued: "Our only option now is to head back to the nearest Federation outpost."

"Without warpdrive and communications we are effectively blind and almost immobile, however we have full impulse and can manoeuvre the ship at least. My plan is simple. Head the ship towards Federation Space and go at full impulse. We will eventually get there."

Meechan glanced at him.

"With respect, sir, how long will that take?"

"According to my calculations, 69.5 standard years."

A murmuring rose up from the crew, but Meechan motioned them to silence.

Ahmad continued.

"As you will know, at speeds close to that of lightspeed, the time dilation effect will become prominent. We will age six years, whereas nearly seventy years will pass in the Federation. Yes, everyone we knew, will to all intents and purposes, have passed away by the time we reach home, but reach home we will. We have to adapt to this situation as best we can."

He pointed at the plaque, displayed on the wall. "Look at our motto: Fortune Favours The Bold. Its talking about us. We are the bold ones, taking this step and refusing to die. Now lets go home. Dismissed."

The crew broke up and headed in various directions, focusing on the tasks ahead. Ahmad headed for the bridge followed by Meechan.

"The only way we can get through this is if everyone can focus on the job at hand." Ahmad said as they entered the turbolift. "Bridge."

On entering the bridge, he took his place in the centre seat and Meechan headed over to the Science Console. "We're all ready, Sir."

Ahmad nodded and glanced at the Helm officer

Mr Steele, lets go home.

THE END