So, here's the next episode. The updating will be a bit irregular, especially when the school starts, because then I won't have much time to write. I'll do my best to write a few episodes in advance, but I can't promise anything. But coming back to the story, please enjoy and I would really appreciate a review. Pretty please?
EPISODE 4: STRANDED IN SPACE
Captain's log, stardate 91634.7
The Altair will be released from dry-dock within the next two days. I have sent Starfleet my list of senior officers and although a bit skeptically, it has been confirmed. Commander Elisa Flores is to be my first officer, M'Rew the chief tactical officer, Thel K'Phav will be serving as my chief engineer, T'Vrell as the chief science officer, Njahla Syhr as the chief of security and my chief medical officer will be Dgirexox.
Captain Lyzara dalis walked down the ship's corridor and was overseeing the final touches done to the Altair. The engineering team had worked for over a week and, among other things, had installed new shields to the ship. Suddenly she heard Elisa call her from behind.
"Captain! Ah, I was just looking for you, sir," she said.
"Well, I'm here. What is it?"
"There's one thing we haven't done yet, sir, and we can't leave the dock until that's done," Elisa stated with a knowing smile on her face. Lyzara seemed a bit puzzled of her statement for everything that needed to be done to leave dry-dock was to her knowledge already done or being done at the moment.
"What is it?" she asked and lifted her eyebrows a little. Elisa's face lit up and she said:
"We haven't chosen our uniforms yet. All crew is wearing the ones they got their hands on aka Sierra and Antares type uniforms, but you need to decide what is going to be the overall look of the crew."
"What's wrong with Sierra and Antares uniforms?" Lyzara was still a bit puzzled.
"Well, nothing's exactly wrong with them, it's just that they don't look very… stylish."
"So, what do you want the crew to wear then?" They continued their conversation as they entered the turbolift.
"I was thinking of something more elegant and tasteful," Elisa said looking thoughtful. Then she pulled out a PADD from behind her and gave it to Lyzara.
"I was thinking of this," said with a wide smile. Lyzara looked at the picture of a uniform. It consisted of short black boots, long black pants and a black shirt with a raised collar, white shoulders and a sleek metal strip on the lower edge of the shoulder pads.
"You do know that this is the Odyssey uniform," the Captain said.
"Yes, I do. And it looks so damn beautiful."
"Hey, watch your language. Odyssey uniform is for the officers that work special ops. We can't wear it."
"But it's just a uniform."
"No, Commander Flores. That's final. We'll be wearing Sierra type two uniforms, so would you please inform everyone."
"Yes, sir." Elisa said and stepped out of the turbolift as it stopped a few seconds later. Lyzara continued to the bridge. Sierra type two uniforms consisted of black boots, pants and a black shirt with career specific colors on the shoulders and sides.
"Captain, hail coming in from Starfleet," T'Vrell announced when the Captain had just entered the bridge.
"Put it on screen, lieutenant." The view screen turned on and Admiral Quinn could be seen in his office.
"Captain, I've received a report that there is a Bolian freighter that is overdue arriving Earth Spacedock. It may need assistance. Malcolm Sissel has more information than I do," he informed and the comm signal was rerouted to the shipyard.
"Greetings, Captain," Sissel said, "We haven't heard a communiqué from the S.S. Azura in more than twenty hours. Danna Brett is an experienced captain and the daughter of a former Starfleet officer. It's not like her to be out of contact. It would be a real help if you could find the Azura. I've already transmitted the ship's last known coordinates to your Conn officer. Good luck!" Lyzara nodded and terminated the communication.
"T'Vrell, hail the spacedock and request a permission to leave,"
"Immediately, Captain," she responded.
"Thel, are you ready down there?" Lyzara asked.
"All readings are normal; we're ready to get back out there."
"Spacedock has given us clearance to leave, sir. Tractor beams have been disabled," T'Vrell reported.
"Potter, take us out. Nice and slow," Lyzara ordered and the spacedock doors opened as the ship flew out into the open space.
"Take us out of orbit and engage warp four," she said and Earth got smaller and smaller behind them.
After they had been on their way towards the last known coordinates of the Azura for a half an hour, their sensors were finally starting to pick up something.
"Captain, I'm picking up a distress call," T'Vrell said.
"On screen."
"To any ships in range … this is Danna Brott of the transport S.S. Azura. Please help … warp core containment field down … radiation flooding ship … communications and life support failing. Cannot eject warp core … need evacuation and assistance. Please help us!"
"This is Captain Lyzara Dalis of the U.S.S. Altair. We're on our way," the Captain said.
"Potter, adjust our course."
They were closing in on the coordinates of the Azura and they could hear the distress call again. "Please help … being pursued by Orion raiders … crew injured … taking heavy fire … dropping out of warp near your coordinates … need immediate evacuation and assistance." A moment later a freighter dropped out of warp in an asteroid field being pursued by two Orion corvettes.
"Put us on an intercept course," Lyzara ordered and they quickly closed in on the enemies. The corvettes disengaged from the Azura as the Starfleet ship approached them. They diverged and tried to outflank the Altair, but asteroids made it hard to keep a target locks so they had to keep close to the Altair to maintain it. The Altair engaged evasive maneuvers, turned itself around and fired a volley of photon torpedoes at the Orion raiders. One of them lost control over the ship and crashed into the nearest asteroid, the other one was luckier, but a few directed phaser shots burned right through its hull.
"Captain, I'm detecting elevated radiation levels on the Azura. I've alerted the transporter chief of the situation. She can brief you before you beam over to the Azura," T'Vrell said when she had scanned the freighter.
"Vey well, Njahla, Thel, M'Rew and Dgirexox meet me in the transporter room. Elisa, you have the bridge." Lyzara said and entered the turbolift along with M'Rew and Njahla – Thel was in the engineering and Dgirexox in the sickbay. They picked up phasers from the weapons in the transporter room and were just about to step on the transporter pads, when R'raak, the transporter officer, informed:
"Captain, I'm concerned about the radiation on the Azura. She might have some damage to the warp core, but our sensors can't pick up enough to determine exactly what you'll find over there. I'm sure I can send you and the away team to the ship safely, but getting you back might be a problem until the Azura's critical damage is repaired. Be careful, sir"
"Try to keep a lock on us and prepare to transport survivors," Lyzara responded and they stepped onto the pad for transport.
"Sir, I'm picking up multiple lifesigns. Some of them are the Azura's captain and crew, but the rest are Orion!" Njahla reported once they had rematerialized onboard the Azura. They beamed into one of the freighter's corridors. The hallway was dimly lit by emergency lights and several bulkheads ran along the walls. The floor was covered with lattices.
"Stay alert!" Lyzara said and they made their way down the ship's corridors. They turned around several corners and didn't see a soul. When they turned around the next corner, some liquid plasma was leaking from the conduit above and hindered their progress.
"I think I can seal the leak," Thel said.
"Do it," the Captain told him and he went towards one of the consoles on the wall and reoriented the plasma flow.
"There, that should do it," he said a few seconds later as the plasma no longer leaked from the pipes. They continued down the hallway and almost walked into an Orion patrol around the next corner. They were mostly thugs with iron shoulder pads and hard leather suits with bare arms. The team hid behind some crates and attacked them from behind, disposing of the Orions quickly. There was also a group of Orion thugs in the next room, but the Starfleet officers were again able to get rid of them silently and quickly before they were able to raise the alarm. The team continued towards the engineering.
When they reached the engineering Thel immediately scanned the warp core. The engineering was large with a blue warp core in the middle that was beaming intensely. The ground was still covered with lattices and plasma coolant pipes ran on the walls. Several consoles were located around the core and on the walls; many of them had red warnings.
"Catastrophic failure of antimatter containment, warp core breach imminent. Captain, unless the breach is contained, the Azura will be destroyed," the chief engineer said. Lyzara was just about to answer, when Captain Brott joined them in engineering from another hallway. She was a Bolian with dull light blue skin and stripes in darker shades of blue running down her face.
"We hit an Orion ambush on our way to starbase K-7. We lost our weapons almost immediately and then we took a direct hit near engineering. Our warp core's magnetic antimatter containment field failed. My crew did everything they could, but the radiation took its toll. We had no choice but to drop our shields and use the power to try to stabilize the containment field. As soon as the shields were down, Orions boarded the ship," Captain Brott said and then fiercely added: "I'll never let those green pirates have the Azura! Please, take my crew to safety; I'll keep trying to stabilize the warp core. If I'm lucky, I'll buy you some time."
Lyzara nodded to the captain. Suddenly Thel said:
"Captain, my scans indicate that if power from life support is diverted to the containment, we could stabilize the warp core long enough to erect a force field, which should hold the antimatter long enough. It's risky, but unless we do something the warp core will explode."
"It's worth a shot," Lyzara agreed. Thel immediately started rerouting power and engaged the force field.
"Azura makes it through the next few minutes." He informed.
"Good, let's get the crew into safety," Lyzara said and they went down the hallway towards aft cargo bay for beam-out. A few Orions beamed in about twenty meters ahead from their location and opened fire. The team was able to take cover behind some cargo containers and they fired their phasers. Lyzara noticed from the corner of her eye how Dgirexox moved into the shadows and sneaked towards the Orions. She jumped at them and distracted them long enough for the team to end them. Finally they reached the cargo bay.
"Go to the transporter room, we'll be right behind you!" Lyzara said to the crewmembers of the Azura that had followed them.
"Away team to the Altair, Chief, are you ready to transport? The Azura's radiation levels are returning to normal, the survivors are on the transporter pad. We don't have much time! Get these people off this ship now!"
"We have them, sir," Chief answered, "Sensors detect more Orion ships on the way, Captain. We need you back on the bridge!"
"Roger, beam us out," the Captain said.
The moment Lyzara entered the bridge; three more Orion corvettes warped in. The Altair engaged evasive maneuvers and launched a wave of torpedoes towards the corvettes. The ships returned fire, but newly installed shields were holding and the Orions were being run over. Soon all three corvettes were destroyed and T'Vrell said:
"Scanning the Azura, sir. Radiation levels are normal and the force field around the warp core is holding. She's out of danger. Captain Brott is hailing us, sir. Putting it onscreen."
"Many thanks, Altair! If it hadn't been for you and your crew, I would have lost my ship and my life. I'm in your debt. I'm going to take the Azura to Earth Spacedock for repairs. If I see you at Club 47, the drinks are on me!"
"Now that the Azura is safely away, sir, we should take the survivors out of the system. Starfleet is sending a shuttle to retrieve them, and they can rejoin the Azura at Earth Spacedock," Elisa notified, "Ready to leave the system on your command, sir."
"Depart system." The Captain said and leaned back on her chair. Her first mission had been a success.
"You know what we should do?" Elisa asked M'Rew when their shift had ended and they were sitting in the ship's lounge. There were many tables and couches in calm blue tones in the room and large windows with a view at the stars as they flashed by when ship warped past them.
"No. What are you thinking?" he answered.
"I think we should all do something together when we're off duty."
"Like what?" Njahla joined the conversation.
"Like… play poker?" Elisa proposed.
"You want to gamble?" Thel asked as he joined them at the table and sat down next to Njahla.
"I think the Captain wouldn't like that," M'Rew claimed.
"Well, then something less gamble," Elisa wouldn't leave it.
"Like mountain climbing?" M'Rew proposed.
"M'Rew, you're probably the only one around here that goes mountain climbing on the holodeck voluntarily," Thel said as he sipped his greenish colored drink.
"It's fun!" M'Rew argued.
"And dangerous. We need something more like… like…," Elisa was intensely thinking.
"Like pool?" Dgirexox suggested and joined the merry fellowship.
"Yes! Excactly! Pool! We're going to play pool!" Elisa exclaimed.
"I think we even have a pool table around here somewhere," Thel went along.
"Eem… I don't want to break your bubble, but what's pool?" Njahla asked looking a little lost.
"Don't worry, we're gonna teach you," Elisa said decisively. Then she looked around and asked:
"Does anyone know where T'Vrell is?" Everybody shook their heads and Elisa continued:
"If we're going to do this together, we need her too."
"What about the Captain?" M'Rew pointed out.
"Yeah, of course, she too," Elisa nodded.
"Why don't we distribute tasks?" Dgirexox proposed, "I could find T'Vrell."
"I and M'Rew are going to find that pool table and set it up in the officers' lounge," Thel said.
"I think I will just get acquainted with the rules," Njahla concluded.
"You can help us with the table, we could always use another hand," Thel offered and Njahla nodded in agreement.
"And I'll just tell the captain that we're about to rearrange some furniture," Elisa stated, "Well then, let's get to it!"
"Computer, what is the location of Lieutenant T'Vrell?" Dgirexox asked.
"Lieutenant T'Vrell is in her quarters," the computer's voice answered. Dgirexox entered the turbolift and rode a few decks upward. Then she rang the bell on T'Vrell's door.
"Enter," she said. Dgirexox entered the room and saw T'Vrell sitting on the ground, legs crossed.
"Is there something you need?" she asked.
"We thought that it would be nice to get together after duty to play a game of pool."
"Oh, that wasn't entirely unpredictable; it is acceptable that the crew participate in recreational activities together. It helps to create a sense of camaraderie and improves relationships between the crew," she said calmly and continued, "For what reason have you come to see me?"
"You're one of the ship's senior officers and I thought that you would like to join us."
"A game of pool is a game of precision and tactics. Very well, I will join you."
"Great. We are to meet the others at the officers' lounge at 20-hundred hours."
"Did you inform the Captain of your plans?" T'Vrell inquired.
"Elisa is just telling her." Dgirexox said.
"One more thing, Dgirexox, do you already have balls?"
"Where did you last see that table?" M'Rew asked, when three of them were finished going through the ship's cargo holds.
"Somewhere around here. I don't remember exactly," Thel answered.
"Maybe it's somewhere in the lower decks?" Njahla asked.
"No, we don't store things there. It has to be in the cargo hold," Thel said convincingly.
"But we have searched everywhere," Njahla told him.
"She's right. If it was here, we would have found it already," M'Rew agreed.
"Where else could it be?" Thel inquired.
"What did you say it looked like?" Njahla asked.
"It's a big brown table with a green cover," M'Rew said tiredly and Njahla snapped her fingers.
"I think I know where it is!"
"Where?" both men asked.
"I saw it one day when I was walking around in the engineering section,"
"Why would it be in the engineering?" Thel seemed puzzled.
"Don't ask me, I didn't put it there, but I think it was used for storing some crates and tools," Njahla continued.
"Well, we've finally got a lead," M'Rew said and they started walking towards engineering.
"You want to do what?" Captain asked when Elisa had told her about their plan.
"I think it would be fun," Elias said. They were in captain's ready room and Lyzara was just finishing off with her last reports of the mission. The room was quite small with a desk directed towards the door, on which lay a computer and several PADDs, an aquarium on the wall and a window behind the captain. On the opposite of the aquarium stood a couch and a replicator in the corner by the door.
"Where will you get all the equipment from?"
"Thel said there was a pool table lying around and I'm sure we'll find balls and cues somewhere."
"And you'll set it up in the…"
"In the officers' lounge, yes. You are also invited to play, sir."
"I don't play pool, but I think it's a great idea. Good luck!" Lyzara said and Elisa could finally breathe easily. For a moment she had already thought that the Captain was going to ban their game.
"You're already here," Elisa said when she entered the officers' lounge.
"And we have the table and the cues," M'Rew said. They had set it up in the side of the room furthest from the large window, as that was where all the furniture had been arranged, and a light was directly above the table just like it needs to be.
"But sadly, we couldn't find any balls," Thel stated.
"Don't worry, we have them," Dgirexox announced as she and T'Vrell entered the room.
"I had a spare set that nobody was using," T'Vrell said. Everyone was a little surprised about her having spare pool balls around, but stranger things had happened.
"Do we actually have Captain's permission?" Njahla asked.
"Yeah, I talked to her. She won't be joining us, but she seemed quite thrilled about the idea," Elisa apprised.
"Well, we're all here and the ball problem is solved, so let's play pool!" M'Rew said.