Two hours later, it was go-time and Elle still hadn't managed to change into pants. Oh well.
"Control has been transferred," Aidoann said, her voice tinny over the comm.
"Confirm, Aux bridge has control," Scotty said, tapping the display as it went live. He glanced around the small bridge. "Stations sound off."
"Helm, aye," Sulu said.
"Tactical, aye," Chekov said.
"Communications, green," Uhura chimed in.
Khiy copied green as well, and Elle gave Scotty a thumbs-up.
"All right then," Scotty said, and set to pacing around the room.
Elle twirled lazily in her chair as Sulu and Chekov brought the Enterprise Levaeri station as possible.
Scotty went over to the engineering console, hovered over it to look at the transporter readouts. "And that's the last batch over to the station," he said.
Half a second later, alarms all over the ship began to screech. Not whoop, screech. "Intruder alert!" Chekov hollered.
"Screens, man, screens!" Scotty yelled.
Sulu slammed his hands on the panels, bringing up the shields.
"Intruders on decks four, eight, nine, twelve-" Uhura reported.
Scotty swore. "Oop, little pitchers. Start sealing off the bulkheads, everything south of thirty."
"I had a tumblr," Elle grumbled, even as she moved to help Chekov secure the bulkheads throughout the ship.
"Where did they come from?" Sulu asked.
"Bloodwing," Scotty growled.
Khiy went white. "The commander would never!" he protested.
"Not the commander," Scotty replied.
"But we put Tafv in the brig!" Elle said, her heart hammmering.
"Situation report," Scotty ordered.
Uhura had one hand over her earpiece, frowning deeply. "Mostly confused, Mr. Scott. Fighting on eight and twelve. People are asking what's going on."
Scotty huffed. "Tell them - wait, no, Chekov, help Khiy, I want all the doors on this ship locked. Cut power if you have to."
Chekov jumped out of his chair and went over to help. "No good, sir. Several junctions are down."
"Argh. Shut the transporters down. The captain'll be using the Levaeri transporters to come back anyway, and we don't want the intruders botherin' them. If they want the Enterprise, they'll have to fight for every inch." He took a deep breath. "And override the doors, seal Engineering. They'll not have mah engines."
"Engineering hull is secure," Chekov reported.
"And transporters are down," Khiy said, a moment later.
"There's about forty crew tranpped in engineering now," Uhura reported.
"Hm. Call around the rest of the ship and figure out where everyone else is. What's our strength without the landing party?"
"Two hundred nine," Elle said.
Scotty grimaced. "And scattered like fluff to the winds. Ach. Now where would Tafv be headed?"
"Here, sir," Sulu said. "And without the Jefferies tubes or intruder control he'll have to fight his way through bulkheads and walls to get here."
"If he's coming here shouldn't we go to the real bridge and transfer control?" Elle asked.
Scotty gave her a quick grin. "Took the words right out of my mouth. Pull up a crawlspace schematic between here and the bridge. Uhura, while we're at it, rig up the boards for voiceprint authorization only. If it blows when nonauthorized persons try to use them, the better."
"Don't ask much, do you?" Uhura asked drily, but a second later her fingers were flying across her console.
"What about our friendly Rihannsu?" Elle asked. "Aidoann and the others?"
"Aidoann and Khiy, and Nniol, filed voiceprints with me," Uhura said distractedly.
"I can't believe they managed to get one over on us," Scotty grumbled. "And even knowing about Tafv..." He shook his head. "Well. Sulu, Chekov, finish that up, you two are going for a little walk."
"Armory's next door," Sulu murmured, getting a shadow of a grin on his face.
"Aye," Scotty said. "If Tafv's people are fighting their way here, what a shock to get here and find it empty, and full control transferred to the main bridge. So you two had best slip over to the armory and take everything you think you'll need, and a little extra for boobytrapping whatever corridors you come across. No use letting Tafv have it, and Uhura, Khiy, and I will need the rest of it."
Elle opened her mouth. "What about me?"
"You're going with Sulu and Chekov," Scotty said, and everyone turned to gape at him. "Well she certainly can't stay here," he said, giving the other senior officers a significant look. "And out of all of us, Elle's the only one who's memorized the crawlspaces."
"True," Sulu said. "Elle, come help us."
Scotty and Uhura strategized with Nurse Chapel about distinguishing humans from Romulans, and Elle got the privilege of entering the armory for the first time. "Chief Giotto's gonna be so mad he missed this," Elle said.
Sulu huffed a laugh. "Giotto's got his own problems."
They carried armful after armful of phasers, grenades, rifles, and sundry other weapons across to the armory.
"You know how to rig sonic grenades for a delayed explosion?" Scotty asked, as she and Sulu stacked the last of them.
"No?" Elle said.
"Pay attention then, lass."
They rigged a handful of them and Elle got the dubious honor of carrying them in a kit bag like a really demented, explosive purse. Besides that, Sulu gave her a belt full of phasers, more stun-grenades linked together like fairy lights, and an actual high-pressure water gun that would definitely take an eye out.
"I hate the fact that we're arming a fourteen-year-old," Uhura said grimly.
"Aye, lass."
"I won't shoot myself in the foot," Elle promised. "I got certified and everything."
"That's even worse," Uhura said, and gave her a hug, avoiding the stun grenades.
"All right," Scotty said, surveying them with a grim look. "Take the fastest and safest way to the bridge. Pick up as much help as you can on the way, there's pockets of people all over the ship, and you've got the advantage of knowing the ground."
"Six decks up," Elle said, and scowled down at her wrap dress which would in no way protect her from crawling along metal plating. "We can do this."
"Let me go with them," Khiy blurted, staring at Scott with a desparate expression on his face. "I'm not much good to you here, but I can help out there. And it's my honor that's been debased, we swore to be like brothers and sisters to you, and Tafv betrayed that - I can't let him leave the Commander here to die. Please."
"Go on then," Scotty said, after a long moment. "Uhura and I will hold this position till you four reach the bridge. Don't use the comms, they've probably hacked 'em."
Elle bit her lip. "But Scotty, what are you gonna do when we get back to the bridge and the bulkheads come up?"
Scotty gave her a look. "Don't you worry, my dear. We'll think of something. Now, go on. Don't do anything stupid." He waved them through the clear corridor. "And if you do - sell yourselves dearly."
Sulu gave a single nod, and the door closed, leaving the four of them in an empty corridor. "Come on." He gave Chekov a boost into the tween-decks crawlspace, and lifted Elle up to catch Chekov's hands.
Chekov pulled her into the crawlspace, and Sulu and Khiy jumped up after them. "Left," Chekov said, and they started crawling.