Goddard reacted immediately upon Elmira passing out. "Rosie, I want that chip out of her now," he ordered. "Let me know when it's done. Thelma!"
"Yes, Commander."
Sucking in a breath as Thelma's sudden appearance, he said, "Help Rosie prep Elmira for surgery. I want a report as soon as that chip is out."
"Right away, sir."
"Miss Davenport, with me," he ordered, briskly exiting the Medlab. Once in the corridor, he called to the bridge. "Harlan? Bova? Radu? Scan the immediate sector as well as all neighboring ones for Spung activity. I expect a report by the time I get to the Command Post."
"Seth?" she queried softly. Her voice held a note of anxiety, genuinely concerned for the turn the day had taken.
"Everything is going to be fine," he said confidently, trying to soothe her nerves. Putting an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her close, dropped a small kiss into her hair, and guided them both towards the Command Post. "When we get through this, I owe you a nice dinner. How does food wheel surprise sound?"
"Charming," she said dryly, but a smile was threatening to pull at the corner of her mouth, giving away that she was not completely upset. She admired his confidence and hoped some of it would rub off on her in scenarios like this. Far from being the consistently screaming fainter when they first began their trek home, TJ still was the anxious, worried one (or as Seth preferred, "the voice of reason"). They balanced one another well while simultaneously challenging the other to be stronger, better, and more measured. It was his strength she drew on in dangerous moments, knowing he would be there to catch her when needed. Her tendency to err on the side of caution was what he drew on to make more measured decisions in order to guide them home safely.
"Perhaps you can share with me then how you got my password?" he teased.
"Perhaps," she said with a smirk. "Or perhaps you can just not be so transparent." Giving him a last cheeky grin, she breezed past him and entered the Command Post, the Commander right on her heels, and snapping right back to duty. An all too brief glance said they would continue their conversation later before turning the attention to the students.
"Gentlemen, report," Goddard ordered.
"Spung in sector 37, sir," Bova told him. "They are holding position for now, but who knows how long that will last."
"Keep monitoring Bova. Radu, start looking for ways that we can get around that sector, if possible. Harlan, be ready to jump to hyperspace if needed," Goddard ordered, trying to outwardly maintain an air of cool confidence, while being aware that he suddenly needed to juggle several dangerous scenarios. Seth knew what needed to be done- he had run a thousand operations like this one in his career, but with his students, the stakes were always higher. The only job he had in regards to them was to get them home. He had promised the Admiral as much. That included the children, TJ, even Suzee who had gotten herself confined. That fact was one he constantly repeated to himself each time they found themselves in a predicament such as the one they currently were navigating, and it did him well to constantly remind himself of that.
The next hour was tense as everyone was on high alert, keeping a close eye on the Spung as Radu did his best to guide them away from the killcruisers parked in Sector 37. TJ had excused herself a little while before to check on Rosie's progress in the Medlab, leaving him with the boys. The waiting is always the hardest part, Goddard thought to himself. He had shared a significant look before she departed, clearly conveying he wanted her to be careful and TJ expressing the same for him. Their ability to have entire conversations with just a glance was incredible to him and affirmed just how strong their bond was.
"Commander Goddard?" TJ called over the shipboard system. "Rosie just finished removing the chip. Quite successfully I might add. She is stitching Elmira up now."
"Excellent," Goddard said. One hurdle crossed. "Any sign of-"
"Sir, there is a Spung ship dropping from hyperspace," Bova warned. "Not a killcruiser. They look like scout ships… Uh-oh."
"Uh-oh?" Goddard asked warily.
"The killcruisers in Sector 37 have started moving though. Projected trajectory is in our direction," Bova continued.
"Terrific," Goddard said sarcastically.
"Thelma?" TJ asked in the Medlab. The android appeared next to the teacher, who was examining the chip, covered in blood in a dish, but blinking in some sort of pattern.
"Yes, Miss Davenport?"
"What is that chip doing?" Davenport asked warily.
"I am scanning now. Please allow me a moment to complete my analysis," Thelma said mechanically. TJ nervously starting wringing her hands as she waited for the report. "Analysis complete. The chip was seems to have been activated upon removal. It is currently sending signals out to the Spu-"
A strong jolt rocked the ship as TJ was knocked off her feet and landed painfully on her side. "What was that?" she asked in a panic as she nursed what she was sure would be a nasty bruise come tomorrow.
"Miss Davenport, are you alright?" Rosie asked worriedly, having fallen backwards herself. She quickly got to her feet, and moved to help her teacher, who waved her off.
"I'll be fine, dear," she told the Mercurian. "Take care of Elmira." The young Spung girl was thankfully still on the Medbed and under anesthetic. Rosie quickly finished stitching the wound as TJ carefully got to her feet, holding onto the table she had been standing next to prior to her fall. "Commander?" she called once she was upright. The ship lurched again, not as badly as the prior motion, but enough that she had to grab the table to keep from falling again.
When Seth didn't answer after a minute, TJ turned to Thelma. "What is happening?"
The android scanned for a moment before answering, "We are taking fire. Two Spung scout ships. Shield strength at eighty percent."
"Commander?" TJ called again, sounding more desperate this time. When she got no answer, she glanced around the room quickly. What would Seth do? She thought desperately. Seeing the chip on the table, she quickly made a decision. "Thelma, get me a cloth," she ordered.
The android paused, then pulled a handkerchief from her mouth, presenting it to Miss Davenport with an innocent look on her face. TJ pulled a face but accepted it. No time to be disgusted by it. Wrapping the chip in the material, she ran from the Medlab, stumbling briefly as the ship took another hit. "Miss Davenport, what are you doing?" Rosie yelled after her, but TJ was already gone.
Seth, give me strength, she prayed to herself, noting how she silently called to him in her time of need. If ever there was a time to pull a page from his playbook, this was it. Mustering all the courage she could, and trying to stave off the terror clawing its way to the surface, Davenport ran through the corridor clutching the scrap of fabric wrapped around the retrieval chip and hurried to the airlock. Opening the inner door, she threw it inside the passage, closed the door and opened the outer door, allowing time to allow the item to flush itself out before closing the outer airlock. Satisfied that it was gone, she stumbled back towards the Medlab, hitting a wall once more as the ship took yet another hit, whimpering in pain as she smacked the same spot on her side she had earlier. Breathing hard, she fought back waves of panic as she clutched the wall and tried to calm herself before continuing on. You can do this, she internally yelled at herself.
"Miss Davenport?" Commander Goddard's voice broke in through her attempt to calm herself.
"Commander, thank heavens! Where have you been?"
Seth deflected with a question of his own. "TJ, where are you? Rosie called and said you had suddenly left the Medlab and taken the chip with you. Then Bova reports the airlock opening while we're being shot at-" His voice had dropped, indicating he was trying to stay subtle but was clearly worried.
"I threw Elmira's chip out the airlock," she told him. "I know you say that space hates litter, but it needed to get off the ship and it was the fastest thing I could think of."
"What is it with you throwing stuff out the airlock?" he teased. More seriously be added, "But you're okay?"
"I'm fine." She lied, choosing to not let him know she had smashed her side twice already. It hurt. A lot. That last collision with the wall definitely did more than leave a bruise. However, the last thing she wanted was to add an additional concern on to what he was already dealing with. "Can we try to get away from the ships firing at us though?" she asked, trying but mostly failing to push her anxiety aside and not let slip how much pain she was truly in.
"Working on that," he told her, grunting as the ship withstood another direct hit.
"Before we're blown up?"
"Very cute. Get back to the Medlab," he ordered.
Out of the corner of her eye, Davenport saw Suzee sprinting towards the jumptubes, presumably to engineering. "What in the-? Suzee?"
The girl shot a defiant look to Miss Davenport, as though challenging the woman to stop her, then disappeared down the tube. "Bloody hell," TJ muttered.
"Miss Davenport?" she heard Seth call.
"Suzee is on her way to engineering," she said simply.
She heard the loud, frustrated growl come from him before barking, "Can't anyone around here follow an order?"
"Seriously doubt this is the time to contemplate that Commander," TJ chastised. She took a calming breath, gripped the wall to keep herself upright, and tried to think of what she needed to do. "I'm going down there too."
"What?" Goddard asked incredulously. "You-"
"Need to make sure Suzee doesn't do anything foolish. I am aware." Part of her was sure Seth did not want her anywhere near the engine room, but this wasn't the time to argue that point. She moved quickly at first, attempting to hurry her way to engineering, then upon her injury bothering her more, moved more slowly. Injured or not, TJ knew she needed to talk to the girl before things went from bad to worse. By sheer willpower and her own stubbornness, she kept moving, ignoring Seth's protesting from the Command Post.
It took a few minutes of stumbling but Davenport finally made her way to engineering, out of breath and clutching her side, but still moving. TJ took that as a positive but she had a strong feeling adrenaline was involved. "Suzee?" she called across the cavernous space.
Suzee stuck her head out from behind the hyperdrive controls, busily adjusting the components while glaring at Miss Davenport. "What do you want?" she spat out, annoyed the teacher came to bother her.
"To find out what you plan to do-"
"So you can stop me?" Suzee shot back. "In case you haven't noticed Miss Davenport, we are about one frag torpedo blast away from losing our shields and then we're dead in space. I need to try and repair the shields and be sure we can jump to hyperspace without being followed." Suzee ran to another console, hastily pulled some wires, immediately frowned at what seemed to be burned circuits, and looked pointedly to Miss Davenport. "Hold these," Suzee told her, pointing to the wires.
"Pardon-"
"If you're going to lecture me while I'm trying to save you all, then you may as well be useful to me. Hold these." Suzee held the wires out, which, after a few tentative steps, Davenport took.
Noting the way Davenport was walking, favoring one particular side, the girl's eyes widened slightly before turning her attention to the wires. "You're hurt," Suzee said as she fused new relays in place. It was a statement. "I'm surprised you haven't fainted because of it." Once the connections were made, she took the wires, put them back in the console and moved to the next console.
Davenport made a face but ignored the comment. "What was that you just-"
"Shield generator. We should be okay until we're ready to jump to hyperspace."
"Ready? I should think we are more than ready to-"
"I need a few minutes. I was nearly ready to…" Suzee trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence, but TJ already figured out where it was heading.
TJ leaned on the console she was standing over, hunched over from the pain. With a strained expression, and a great deal of effort, she managed to say, "You can't be serious? We are in the middle of an attack and you're trying to do this now? How does Catalina feel about this plan?"
"She has no reason to believe it won't work. This method is how I saved her- just without blowing up the ship- so I don't see why it won't work again." Suzee sounded more than overconfident- it was downright arrogant. "And not for nothing, I get that you and Commander Goddard are angry at me but do you think that will solve anything right now?"
"I am not cross with you," TJ insisted. "Disappointed because I feel you should have been honest-"
"And forthcoming, yeah," Suzee said as she rolled her eyes, simultaneously affixing a device to the hyperdrive. "Geez, do you and the Commander rehearse these lines with each other or do you really share a brain?"
"Suzee, please don't push me away. I only want to help. And you didn't answer my question. How does Catalina feel?"
"Bova, the shields should have some power back," Suzee called to the Command Post, ignoring Davenport. "Commander, ready for hyperjump in one minute."
"We may not have a minute," TJ heard Seth grind out. She was sure his teeth were gritted together by the way he was speaking.
"Miss Davenport, you need to go," Suzee directed.
"I will do no such thing," she said stubbornly. "My job is to protect my students and-"
"I'm not one of your students," Suzee insisted. More softly, she added. "You're hurt. By the way you're holding your side, it looks like you may have cracked a few ribs. Being in engineering when we jump to hyperspace is not the safest place. You should be in the Medlab
"If you think I will leave you alone- wait a minute. What will happen when we jump to hyperspace?" TJ racked her brain to try to connect dots and scanned the room, mentally connecting what each console's purpose was. She didn't spend a lot of time in the engine room, but being she taught hyperspace physics, TJ had chosen to learn each area of the space for a more practical understanding of what she was imparting to the students. It was by her scan she saw the device integrated with the hyperdrive. Realizing immediately the intention, TJ's eyes widened as she let out a forced whisper of, "Suzee… you can't." Tears sprang uncontrolled to her eyes, knowing exactly what her intent was.
"I have to carry out the plan to get home. All of us. Tell the Commander I'm sorry."
Before TJ could argue further, the girl quickly shoved her from the room, but not before saying, "Thank you, Miss Davenport. For everything." Then she sealed herself in the room.
"Suzee! Let me in this insta-" Before she complete the protest and force her way back into engineering, the entire ship violently lurched forward, launching TJ's already fragile body against the nearest corridor wall and causing her to slump to the floor, unconscious.
"Commander, hyperdrive engines are ready," Goddard heard Suzee say through the communication system.
Wasting no time, and noting the just arrived killcruiser was already firing up weapons, Goddard ordered Harlan to jump to hyperspace- and promptly was thrown across the bridge. Cursing loudly, he grabbed onto the nearest thing he could grab ahold us to pull himself to his feet, noting Harlan and Bova were also sprawled out. Even Radu was struggling to remain standing, unusual for the Andromedan. "Gentlemen, what the hell was that?" he inquired angrily.
"I don't know, sir," Harlan answered, seeming genuinely confused. "I initiated the hyperdrive and it just went crazy!"
"Suzee! What's going on down there?" No answer. "Suzee?" When he still got no response, Goddard cursed again and bellowed, "Thelma!"
"Yes, Commander." The android appeared beside him instantly, seemingly not phased by the chaos ensuing around them.
"What is going on with the hyperdrive?"
"There has been a significant modification to the system which has provided increased power to the protomix master core by a factor of 50, causing us to accelerate more quickly than anticipated." She paused for a moment, scanning once more before adding, "There is also some sort of anomaly in engineering."
Goddard's heart sank. "What sort of anomaly?" he asked worriedly.
"Unknown. It seems to be caused by an unknown device wired into our existing systems," Thelma reported. "And sir? Engineering has been sealed. No one can get in or out at this time."
Suzee's damned transdistatial device, he thought angrily. "Thelma, is anyone still inside?"
"I am reading one life sign in engineering."
Goddard felt sick. TJ was down there with her!, he thought in a panic. "Who?" he asked worriedly.
"Unknown," Thelma said. "There is too much interference from the power surge to get a clear reading."
"Miss Davenport?" Seth waited a moment, desperately trying to remain calm for the sake of the students. "Miss Davenport? TJ!" With each cry of her name, he became more worried, more panicked, and wasn't able to completely control his emotion.
"I'm sure she's okay," Harlan said quietly, in an effort to reassure him. It wasn't like the Commander to break, but he watched the man struggle with his emotions and immediately felt sorry for him. In an effort to comfort him, Harlan added, "Miss Davenport has become much tougher than she looks."
Goddard nodded as he tried to compose himself, but found he was having trouble controlling his now shaking hands. Tightly clasping his hands behind his back to hide them from the students, the Commander desperately tried to remember everything she had said regarding Suzee's plans. Focus, Seth! "Thelma, override the seal to engineering. I want to try to shut down the hyperdrive. Harlan, see what you can do up here. Radu, you're with me." Before anyone could protest, Seth entered the jumptubes, and promptly got spit back into the Command Post. He was less than pleased. He was a man desperate to find the woman he loved and this was a serious hindrance. "Jumptubes offline too?" he asked angrily.
Thelma nodded innocently.
Storming out the door, he growled, "Long way it is," and, like a man on a mission, quickly made his way through the maze of corridors.
"Sir?" Radu asked quietly after a few moments.
"Yes, Mr. Radu?" Seth asked he he continued the brisk pace.
"She's alive," the soft spoken Andromedan told him.
"I appreciate your vote of confidence Mr. Radu, but I would prefer to see for-" he trailed off when he saw her unconscious form lying stretched out on her side in the corridor. "No…" Tears sprang to his eyes. "No, no, no…" Panic seized him as he flashed back to his time serving in the war, remembering the men and women lost during battle, lifeless bodies strewn about the corridors before medical teams could get to them. Soldiers he wasn't able to protect, who would never get home to see their families. People he had failed. "God, no…" Tears fell traitorously from his eyes, as he ran to her, a man desperate and afraid. I will not fail her too!
Seth collapsed next to her, putting his fingers to her neck to check for breathing and exhaling a breath he didn't even know was being held once he realized TJ was alive. Catching Radu's eye, he nodded to affirm the young man was right in his assessment (he probably had heard her breathing),, then called to Rosie, informing her of a medical emergency and to prep the Medlab.
Radu, was working on the doors to engineering, attempting to muscle his way in while Seth shook on the ground, thankful she was alive but trembling as he couldn't discern the extent of her injuries. Holding her exposed hand in a vicelike grip, and rubbing circles on it with his thumb, he used his other hand to stroke her cheek, leaning over her body and tearily begging, pleading for her to wake up. He couldn't care less what Radu thought of his actions at this point. He needed TJ to be okay, to wake up and make a lighthearted dig at him for being too emotional, to shoot him that wry, flirtatious grin she reserved for when she teased him, to hold him and make reassurances she was all right.
Breathe, Seth, breathe, he ordered himself. He needed to pull himself together if Rosie were to have any chance to quickly help. Medical training 101 from the academy. Assess the scene. Anything out of place? No. Visually check the patient. He gently rolled her body onto its back and scanned her up and down, trying to not move her too much if anything was broken. Hand he was holding- seemed okay. Other arm- odd angle, did not look promising. Legs looked all right. Head- small line of dried blood at her scalp line. A definite lump at the same spot. Need to check for head trauma… not good. He couldn't get a look at her sides and wasn't about to rip her clothes off to find out, especially in front of a student. He needed to get her to the Medlab. Fast.
"Harlan? Any luck shutting down the hyperdrive?" Goddard called, knowing that he wouldn't have a hope of moving TJ until that was disengaged.
There was a pause before Harlan answered. "Um… in a minute, Commander." The boy sounded haunted by something, but Seth was more worried about TJ to inquire.
"Sooner rather than later," Goddard ordered, sounding testy. Glancing at TJ's broken form he added, "Miss Davenport is..." His voice cracked. "She needs to get to the Medlab. It's… it's bad." He revealed the last part in a whisper, tears silently running down his face.
Another pause, then a whispered, "Will she be-"
"Now, Mr. Band!" Goddard practically screamed. He was aware that what little control he tried to hold onto was nearly gone, no longer caring about anything except how to get his best friend, confidante, lover- his entire being- the medical help she so desperately needed.
"Yes, sir," Harlan responded, ignoring the outburst.
A moment later, the ship gave another lurch as it came out of hyperspace, the sudden deceleration causing Goddard to slide, as he grabbed hold of TJ to shield her body from colliding against anything. Once he was sure that there was no more danger to rolling around, he scooped the woman into his arms and cradled her close to his body. "Radu, I'm getting Miss Davenport to the Medlab," he told the Andromedan. "You get into engineering and find out what exactly Suzee has done. Thelma?"
"Yes, Commander?" Thelma asked immediately, appearing behind him.
"Help Radu get into engineering. Find Suzee, see what has been done and find out how we fix it. And tell her she's confined to quarters indefinitely. When I get my hands on her…" he trailed off, the last part of his statement stated in a threatening growl, before he reigned it in and focused more on taking care of TJ. Leaving that last bit unfinished, he turned and moved as quickly but carefully as he could to the Medlab. Hold on, TJ, he thought as he held her close to him. Hold on for me.