Most of this has been written for... years now i guess. just trying to say fuck it and get writing again. not sure how long it will last.
"Is he going to wake up soon?" The voice speaking was familiar to Spencer, but he couldn't quite place from where. All he could really tell was that he was inexplicably tired and sore, and just wanted to stay asleep.
Of course, he couldn't quite place why he was asleep in the first place. Nor why he was sore. Upon further thought on the subject, memories slowly started to trickle into his mind of the past week or so. Wait, wasn't I on a mission?
"I gave him a double dose of that stim. That's what the scanner was recommending at least. Maybe a minute or two?" this second voice was unfamiliar to Spencer, the female's thick accent hard to understand in his half-awake state.
A moment later, it was like a flare was lit in his mind, immediately snapping fully awake as he remembered the explosion in the hallway. He tried to sit up and look for the injuries he sustained from the shrapnel, only for someone to be forcing him back down. That someone was the same Romulan captain that helped him when he was on the Gallant.
"Wh-What!? Kerina? What are you doing here!? Where am i? Wh-"
"Whoa there Captain, slow down, your safe for the moment." Kerina spoke very gently and calmly, her grip on his shoulder gentle and firm.
"Where the hell am I and where is my crew!?" he snapped that out, the image of Jennifer being gunned down in front of him flashing through his mind.
"You're on my ship. We couldn't think of anywhere we could take you with the Tal'Shiar on the station. And we only ran into you, though there was a lot of fighting around the station."
"Your ship!? I gotta get back there! I gotta ge-" Spencer's mind stopped for a moment as he fully processed what she had said. "Tal'Shiar!?"
"Yeah. That's who you were just fighting." She remained relatively calm as she responded, but she visibly tensed at the mentioning of them, her expression hardening to an almost unreadable state.
"The hell are they doing here?" The Tal'Shiar were modern day secret police, a special arm of the Romulan Imperial state under the Empress that used whatever tactics they felt needed to keep the Romulan people in line and deal damage to the Empire's enemies. One of the groups the Tal'Shiar considered an enemy of the empire was the Federation.
Kerina was a part of the Romulan New Republic, which the Empire completely disregarded and treated like they were no more than a loose band of insurrectionists bent on destroying the empire. By the research Spencer had done while the Spirit's construction was being finished, the New Republic started as several dozen colony worlds a couple of decades ago. Now, it was barely more than a flotilla of ships out in Romulan space. There were several Romulan colonies that Federation Intelligence believe to want to join the Republic, but given the number of colonies that met gruesome and inexplicable ends after siding with the republic, remained 'loyal' to the Empire. The Tal'Shiar were the most likely reason for that.
The worst part, in Spencer's opinion, was that no interstellar civilization, the federation included, currently recognized the New Republic as its own sovereign group. The Klingons, as far as Spencer knew, simply didn't care. And the Federation, already in open warfare with the Klingons, wouldn't officially acknowledge the New Republic for fear of causing an open conflict with the Romulan Empire. And despite the loss of their homeworld to a super nova, the Romulan Empire was still a significant military power, and not something the Federation wanted to get into a war with at the current time.
"That's what we're here to find out." Kerina was very quiet in her response, giving one of her other crew members a nervous glance before she continued. "Several weeks ago, the Republic intercepted Imperial transmission coming from Nimbus. They weren't able to crack the encryption on them, but we were able to track them here." She kept her voice audibly plain, every word being deliberately selected, something Spencer easily noticed.
She probably knows more than that, but its probably classified… he let out a small sigh as he dropped his head back onto the medical bed he was on, closing his eyes for a moment.
"Well, thanks for the save, again. I guess I owe you double now. Fuck." He cursed as he tried to think of some way to contact either the Spirit or his team. As much as he wanted to contact the Spirit, it would also be the equivalent of lighting a flare straight to the ship. And if they wanted to keep any tactical edge with the ship, that would be idiotic at best to do, if not fatal. Which left trying to contact his team. But the communication gear Harris was carrying was supposed to be turned off unless he authorized it's use.
"I'm sorry Armstrong, I would have tried to find your crew too if I knew they were on the station…" Kerina's voice dragged him from his thoughts, seeing the concern in her expression. Compared to the deliberate and tight lipped speech she had been using prior, her voice was now positively raw and genuine.
"It's not on you. How bad am i?"
"Well, you got hit by a lot of shrapnel, and have several first and second degree burns. Satra did her best to remove the fragments and suture your wounds, but she's an engineer, not a doctor. You can probably get up but the medical computer is recommending you keep activity to a minimum for a few days at least."
"Fuck."
"What are you doing out here anyway? You're still part of the federation right?" Kerina was quiet in her question, glancing at her compatriot in the room.
"Yeah. I'm actually a full fledged captain now. have my own ship. She's not in system though." Spencer shrugged, simply laying back on the cot.
"I thought you already had a ship?"
"Hmph, nah, I was just the acting captain back then… heck was technically a trainee still." He figured he should do his best to simply relax. He knew Matt and the others were very much so capable of taking care of themselves after all. And though he knew his current missing status would probably negatively effect them, for now, there wasn't a thing he could do about it.
It's hard to imagine it's been over six months already since then I was just a trainee…
"Wow, honestly, you didn't come off as one. You were ballsy, proactive, and maybe a tad reckless, but all in all, I did mistake you for a full on captain." She had a small smile on her face as she responded, leaning up against the bed.
"Heh, thanks." He spoke with a small smirk, focused on her eyes. Though, despite the ragged and baggy nature of her clothing, his eyes very much so wanted to wander and find what they could see of her.
"Anyway, you didn't really answer my question?" her smile didn't falter as she spoke, one of her eyebrows raising as her head tilted to that side.
"Oh… I… guess I didn't…" his smirk slipped off his face as he looked up at the rust brown ceiling, debating how to really respond to her.
I can't just tell her, can i? I mean… it's supposed to be a classified mission… his eyes flitted back to her with that thought, noticing her biting her lip as her friendly façade wavered. He had been expecting a disgusted glare from her with the dropped façade, but what he got was the woman's brow being drawn together slightly as she nervously shifted in place.
Ah fuck it… she's proven helpful so far, and it's not like I can do anything right now…
"We got an anonymous tip that someone was selling thalorian weapons out here. We were on the station to meet the tippee but… well, I guess you saw how that turned out…" he grimaced at her as he spoke, trying his best to hide his own nervousness. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever expect to be just blurting out secret information like that.
Kerina visibly paled before him, her eyes widening. It was almost imperceptible for Spencer, but the woman had gained a small quiver as well. "Are you sure that information is accurate?"
"Well, not one hundred percent… but sure enough to send a ship on a clandestine mission to find out."
"Fuck. I'd be willing to bet the Tal'Shiar are either the buyers or the sellers. It's just the sort of under handed thing they would go for. Either sell the weapons to someone they know will use them against their enemies, or simply do so themselves…" she closed her eyes as she leaned on the bunk, letting out a string of curses.
Spencer forced himself to sit up, the motion aggravating his gut injury and sending a flair of pain through him. He groaned from that flare, but ignored it as he swung his feet off the opposite side of the bed from Kerina.
"Armstrong?! What are you doing!? You need to rest!" her voice was rushed and panicked, several layers of concern laced into her panic.
"Well, we aren't finding out jack shit sitting around. Besides, what's my life compared to the lives of the thousands of folks that could be killed if we don't act." He slipped off the bed as he lobbed that statement over his shoulder. The instant his legs had weight on them, several hot spikes of pain ripped up through him, forcing a cry of pain out of him as he immediately crumpled to the floor.
"Armstrong!" Kerina rushed around the bed as she shouted, by his side in an instant. "I told you, you need to rest you moron! You're going to hurt yourself!" she helped him to his feet as she yelled at him, trying to force him back onto the bed.
"I'm fine. Just wasn't as ready as I thought." He said that as he resisted her urges to sit, smirking to her as he did his best to support his own weight. He felt like he was being peppered with shrapnel all over again, but he remained on his feet. "And it's Spencer. Or Spence. Armstrong is way too formal." He managed a small smirk as he shambled a couple of steps from the bed, each one being excruciating.
But I can't just stop. I may not be able to fight, but there has got to be something I can do to help find and destroy these weapons.
"Well, at least let me get you a wheelchair. I don't need you reopening wounds and bleeding everywhere." She forced him back to the bed and sat him down.
"I'm alright. I can move."
"No. I'm getting you a wheel chair. You can walk when Satra says you can walk. Got it?!" she snapped that out, her voice firm and commanding as she nearly jabbed his eye out with a finger. Despite her firm tone, her eyes were flicking between his, concern still showing on her face.
"Alright, fine. But what leads do you have on the Tal'shiar? I bet if we poke around them enough, they either know who has the weapons, or have the weapons themselves."
She let out a small sigh as she moved across the small medical bay, opening a storage closet. "Honestly, we barely even started our search when your firefight broke out. We have next to nothing to go on…"
"You have to have something."
"Well, one of my crew used to run jobs out here. There's a fellow down on the planet called 'The Law'. Old Vulcan, but he acts as the local sheriff. Or did a few years back. We're hoping he's still alive and that he has a better ear to the ground than we have. As I said though, we only just got here." She came out of the storage closet with a fold out wheelchair, being far lower tech than Spencer had been expecting.
"Sounds like we should go ahead and beam down there."
"No, it sounds like I should go ahead and beam down there. You are staying on the Hope until you heal. Don't worry, it should only take a few days, or that's what the computer says." She shrugged as she unfolded the chair before him, helping him shift from the bed to the chair as soon as she had it open.
"I don't like the idea of you going by yourself."
"I'm not that much of an idiot. Toven will be coming with me. I need someone to watch my back after all." She rolled her eyes as she responded, pushing the chair toward the door out.
"That's not what I meant."
"I know, you want to try and get leads for your mission, and you don't know if you can trust the random Romulan whom you now doubly owe your life to and are currently stuck in a wheelchair on her ship." Her voice took on a slight sing song like quality as she responded, the door out of the medical bay opening to let them out into the halls of the ship. "More importantly though, I'm going to try and find your crew first. As I don't know what happened to them, they could still be in trouble. If you don't mind, keep an eye on the ship for me, and be ready to take charge if things go a little sideways?"
Wait… is she seriously putting me in charge of her ship!? The hell?
"Uh, what do you mean?"
"Exactly what it sounded like. I'm leaving you in command of my ship. I trust you with the old girl."
"We've never met in person before, I'm not even the same species as you, and you're trusting me with your ship!? Are you insane!?" Spencer blurted that out, both shocked and oddly smitten with the thought she trusted him that much.
"No, I'm not insane. I know you are a capable leader just from our first encounter, if a little crazy." She let out a little chuckle as she continued to push him through the halls of the ship. "Besides, is there a reason not to trust you I don't know about?"
"Uh several… I'm a member of the Federation, this is the first we've me-"
She cut him off before he could continue. "I said a reason I don't know about."
"Well… no. Not that I can think of."
"Exactly." She responded as she wheeled him into a turbolift, spinning him to face the door before selecting a floor. As all of the controls were in Romulan, Spencer couldn't read any of them. Thankfully, because of the translator technology every Starfleet member was implanted with these days, he could at least understand what other races were saying.
"Well… in that case, what would you say if I took your ship to link up with mine at the edge of the system. Be nice to be wearing my own clothes. It's less than five minutes out by warp, and I don't want to light a signal flare to it by calling them." Spencer spoke almost as soon as he had the thought, realizing that it would be good for the Spirit to know what was going on.
"I'm okay with that. Just be ready to respond fast if I call, and promise me you won't leave me hanging." Her response was almost instantaneous, as if her answer didn't need even an ounce of thought.
"Alright, keep your comms handy and I'll let you know when your ship's back."
"Sounds like a plan to me." She spoke as the door to the turbolift opened. Kerina pushed him free of the elevator, down one more hallway and onto the bridge of the small vessel, the various stations around the room already manned and ready.
"Toven, go get our weapons from the armory and meet me at the transporter room. We're going to go find the rest of Captain Armstrong's crew if we can. Everyone else, prep the ship for a short warp jump. I'm leaving Armstrong in charge of the ship for now, he's going to take you to his ship so he can get in touch with them. What he says, goes, got it?" the bridge crew was an assortment of various romulans with a single remen, as young or younger than the captain herself. Most of them gave curious glances to their captain's orders, save a striking male with black hair, who moved without any hesitation.
"But… Kerina… he'-"
Kerina cut off a young female manning what Spencer guessed was the sensor suite. "I know, he's human. But we can trust him. So just do as he says. Satra, take the helm please." Her crew acknowledged as she pushed him up to the captains chair.
"Alright, ship's yours Armstrong. Don't scratch it please." She smirked to him.
"Good luck out there Kerina. And I promise, not a scratch!" Spencer returned her smirk, watching her leave the bridge before turning his attention to the unfamiliar controls before him.
Well, here goes!
Jessica trotted after Hawkins, simply trying to keep up with his firm strides. The hell is going on with him? He was acting so formal and stiff with that guy… But he also called me jess… He never calls me Jess…
"Hawk, what's going on?" her mouth trembled as much as her body was.
"We're hitting that generator, and getting off this station." Hawkins was short and curt, almost his norm. but there was something off in his tone. It was almost imperceptible, and likely was to someone who didn't interact with him as often as she did.
"Not that, Hawk, you never call me Jess! Heck, I yell at you all the time because you wo-"
"Shut your mouth." He snapped at her as he came to a stop, gently unclasping the helmet he was now wearing and holding it in front of him, keeping it at head level the whole time.
"The hell ar-"
"I said shut up Jess!" he snarled at her again, carefully holding the helmet in one hand as he pulled his pistol from it's holster. He pointed the weapon at the back of the slightly bulged helmet, his finger on the trigger. "Contact, rear!" he shouted at the same moment he fired, blasting a hole into the helmet.
Jessica was so startled by the sudden shout that she actually spun around, looking behind them to find the same empty hallways she was used to. Wha-Why!?
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you. We couldn't talk plainly as long as I had that thing on." He unplugged the cord on the back of the helmet before tossing it to the floor, sparks still popping off the electronics in the back of the helmet.
"What do you mean?"
"These guys use a battle net that automatically uploads recordings to the main hub, in this case, their ship."
"So what's going on!?" Jessica had to repeat her question from earlier, now curious as to why he cut her off.
"You said you could reroute power from the shields from engineering?"
"Yeah bu-"
"That's what we're doing. I may used to work with these guys but do not under any circumstances trust them. Do you understand Jess?" he looked her in the eye as he put his pistol away, rifle still in hand.
"O-Okay…" she stuttered slightly, shocked at his harsh and firm tone. Even his body language screamed with the same intensity.
"Good. Now move out." seemed to take flight down the hall, never moving faster than a walk, his weapon raised and at the ready. Jessica rushed to keep up with him, unable to not bite her lip. The minutes slowly dragged on, the hallways totally devoid of life. While there was plenty of garbage and debris in places, it seemed everyone had retreated into living quarters and shelters, despite no audible alarms ringing. Given the system, fights breaking out on the station was probably a common occurrence so word likely flew across the station. The emptiness left her all the more scared though, constantly checking over her shoulder for any sign of anything. All the while, Hawkins simply powered on, his weapon and eyes almost seeming as one entity as he scanned every new space they encountered, his muzzle trained on his focal point like a machine on autopilot. She couldn't help but sigh in relief as she saw the worn pained words for the engineering section, the door screeching open on it's rusty tracks. There were several shouts of panic inside, Hawkins already through the door and shouting commands at whomever was in there, grouping the techs up in a corner all before Jessica could even cross the threshold.
She neither said a word as she hunted down a power distribution console, flicking through the readouts. She ended up having to move to a different console before she could find them, her hands still shaking.
"Hawkins, status?!" the staticy voice burst off Hawkins' chest, a blocky speaker there.
"Still working on the shields. Ran into too much trouble on the way, had to divert to engineering. Transporter's secure sir?" he squeezed the speaker as he responded, the comms seeming absolutely primitive to her.
"Affirm. Moving your wounded now. Any signs of your captain?"
"That's a negative sir. But he's a tough one, he'll be able to manage on his own sir."
"You positive kid?"
"Wouldn't have said it if I wasn't sir."
While Hawkins was on the radio, Jess had managed to shunt the power away from the stations shields, setting a delay of fifteen minutes before it would resume normal operations. "Got it! fifteen minute window starting now!" she nodded to Hawkins, unable to stop herself from biting her lip again.
"Fifteen minute window, time now, shields are open sir." He keyed the comms again, nodding to her.
"Good copy, got locks on you two, stand by."
Only a few seconds passed before her skin felt like it was crawling, yellow light racing in dizzying circles around herself and Hawk before she was left totally blinded by it.