USS Lexington, S. P. Heller Commanding – Chapter 5
The door chimed. "Enter." Jessica McKenna walked into Steven's quarters, and sat down across the couch from him. "Computer, record Personal Log." There was a confirming beep. "These last few weeks have been some of the most exciting in years, but none of it has to do with the Lexington. We've been scanning systems and exploring Phased Space for nearly five months now, and it feels very routine. The crew is excited to be doing something that no one from the Federation has ever done before. It makes space exploration novel for them.
"Jessica is what keeps my own morale up. Without her ... Jessica soothes me. There's no other way to describe it." She moved herself over and rested her head on his lap. "Computer, end Personal Log."
"Tell me about Meira," she said. Steven swallowed and looked away. Jessica glanced up and tapped him on the knee. "Steven. I know how you feel about me. Tell me about her."
The door chimed again. Steven sighed in relief as Jessica moved a respectable distance away. "Enter."
It was Rob Walsh. He looked a little uncomfortable when he saw Jessica sitting there. "My shift just ended, I was wondering if you wanted a drink."
"Sure," he said, grateful for the interruption. Steven went over to the replicator and ordered the three's favorite drinks. He carried them over to the coffee table and set them down. "Have a seat, Rob." Robert sat in the chair across from the couch.
"Captain's Quarters are much nicer than mine," Rob observed, causing Steven to chuckle.
"On this ship, they are. Huntress, on the other hand...." They chatted for a bit about the 'old days' aboard USS Huntress. Jessica could not contribute, but she did ask questions. She was grateful to be hearing something of Steven's past.
"Then there was the time we were at Starbase for repairs, and we got into a fistfight with Suffolk's Captain and First Officer. The Captain was a vulcan, for crying out loud." Steven grinned at the memory. "I thought Meira was going to have a stroke when she saw you bloodied up. She may have been a doctor, but she could not take seeing you hurt." The Captain had the dignity to blush.
"How did Steven and Meira meet?" Jessica asked. She decided that Rob was going to be more forth telling than Steven was.
Rob glanced at his friend. "They met the night before the fight, at the same Starbase. I convinced her that Steven was asking about her, so she came over to talk to him. It was the first time Steven had ever seen her, but he was immediately stricken. You could see it in his eyes, the way he looked at her. I don't know any more than that, I spent the rest of the night with ... someone else. Can't remember who."
Steven laughed again. "Erika Heinz," he said. "She was the blonde you said you couldn't spend enough time with. One of Huntress's helmsmen."
"That's right." Steven rolled his eyes, and Jessica giggled. Steven's communicator beeped.
"Bridge to Captain Heller."
"Heller here."
"Captain, we've entered system P-142. There are several Deathbringer ships on long-range scans. I don't think they've seen us yet."
"I'm on my way." Steven looked meaningfully at Rob. Lt. Commander Robert Walsh left for the Bridge, leaving Jessica and Steven a moment alone before they, too, went to the Bridge.
Rob had arrived only a moment before Jessica and Steven, so he neglected the customary, "Captain on the Bridge." The Bridge was bathed in red lights; Rob had already called for Red Alert. Once Jessica relieved the crewman at her station, she announced: "Six Deathbringers at long range." The viewscreen changed from a forward view to a tactical view, in anticipation of Steven's wishes. Actual distances appeared in the form of a number beneath each ship.
Captain Heller tapped a console on the Captain's Chair. "Counselor Berti to the Bridge." He sat down, considering the situation. If they engaged, Lexington would have no chance of victory. On the other hand, maybe they had a chance of communicating, now that the Deathbringers knew Lady Lex's true capabilities – on the off-chance that the Deathbringers respected strength enough to sue for peace.
The door to the Bridge opened, and Steven turned to see Rikka walk in. She took her seat to his left. "There are six of them out there," Steven said. "After our last encounter, how do you think they'll react?"
Rikka looked lost in thought for a moment. "We have every reason to believe they'll behave exactly as they did before. Cloak with all their ships, see what we do, then attack if we present ourselves as a target. If we keep shields and weapons armed, they may leave us alone."
"Or attack in full strength," Rob countered.
"I don't think they want to fight against a ship as powerful as their own. They don't appear very sensitive to alien deaths, but I doubt they like to see their people die. It's possible that the conflict with the Deathbringers is a misunderstanding. I don't like to think that the humans of this quantum reality are so cold."
On the viewscreen, the Deathbringer Bats pulled into orbit around the fifth and last planet in the system. The Bats were the same size as the planets on the tactical view, but it was understood to be an exaggeration. "What can our sensors tell us about those ships without them noticing us?" Steven asked.
T'lan tapped at her console, working the long-range scanners. "Not much, Captain," she said. "Just that they're organic in nature."
"What do we know about their tactical abilities?"
Jessica leaned forward. "Their energy weapons are longer range than ours, but not significantly so. They also take about three times as long to charge, and can take out nearly all of our shields in one burst. Bats are also faster than Lexington at impulse speeds. Defensively, they're equivalent to a Galaxy-class starship, only their ships have no energy shields." Something at Jessica's consol beeped, and she looked it over. "Sir, explosions detected on the fifth planet."
The Bats were bombarding a civilization even as the Bridge crew spoke. Steven Heller had a choice before him. He could either let them kill countless innocents, or risk Lexington's crew in an attempt to save them. If it had been one Bat, the decision would have been easy. Maneuver Upsilon-Alpha was perfect against just one opponent. Six Bats. One Lady Lex. There was only one option, really.
"Mr. Beech, take us out of here." Nobody disputed his order. Rikka noted the pain in Steven's eyes when he gave it. What else could he do? T'lan supplied the coordinates for the next system. "Warp eight. Walsh has the Bridge." Steven left for his Ready Room, and Jessica followed. The door closed behind them both.
Steven sat down at his desk, burying his face in his hands. How many people had he failed today? He didn't know, couldn't even find out. "It's not your fault," Jessica said, a voice of reason amidst depressing thoughts. Steven swallowed and looked up.
"I'd like to be alone, Lieutenant." She ignored him, instead sitting on his desk. Jessica picked up a PADD and tapped some commands before handing it to Steven. "What's this?"
"Just look at it." He took it and looked at the information she had loaded on. There was a diagram of Lexington and a crew manifest. "This is where your first responsibility lies. Nowhere else. You're the captain of this ship, and you're a damned good one. Don't forget that."
It was the first time Steven had ever had to make such a decision. Between the lives of his crew and the lives of countless others. He hated it, but knew that Jessica was right. His people came first. Nobody could expect anything else of him. "Don't brood," she pleaded.
"Thank you," he said, quietly. "I'd like to be alone now." She nodded, convinced that he would do nothing self-deprecating. Jessica left the Ready Room.