Warbird
Prologue: The Last Day of Romulus
It was early autumn in the Sen'lenark Highlands of southern ch'Rihan, the light of Eisn, the homestar, shining golden through leaves just beginning to turn orange and purple as summer faded, the morning mist rising from a small lake nestled among low rolling hills. The moon Elvreng sat low on the horizon to the west, and just above it the disc of the sister-world ch'Havran was faintly visible to someone with sharp eyes. A small flock of waterfowl drifted across the still surface of the lake, preparing to head north to warmer climes but not yet ready to begin. Somewhere in the hills a ter'ak yowled.
Zhem Galan stood on a small wooden boat dock that ran out from the shore into the lake, breathing deeply of the crisp morning air and taking in the view, knowing he might not see it again for a long time. He was home on leave from the Imperial Fleet Academy, where he was a third-year cadet, and would be heading out soon on a training cruise on an Imperial Rihannsu warbird. His life, for the immediate future, would be lived on spaceships and stations and planets far from ch'Rihan. It was the life he had chosen for himself, and he looked forward to it. But deep in his heart he knew that this place, only here in the entire galaxy, would be forever his home.
Beside him stood his friend Khoal tr'Valdran, looking bored. Khoal was a skinny youngster eight years Zhem's junior, and while he had shot up in height in the past few years while Zhem had been away at the Academy, he was still a child in Zhem's eyes. Khoal had, from a young age, always followed Zhem everywhere, and Zhem had felt it his duty to keep the kid out of trouble as much as he could.
"Are we going to do anything?" Khoal asked impatiently.
Zhem gave him an indulgent smile. "Sorry, just wanted to get a good look at this," he said. "How about we go get in some simulator time?"
The boy's eyes lit up at the prospect, and he turned and started leading the way up a trail through the woods. "Let's go!" he called, his voice full of enthusiasm.
Khoal led the way through the wooded hills that marked one border of the vast Valdran estate. They descended to the flatter fields along the river where client farmers grew the grains that went into the famed ales that had brought the Valdrans their vast wealth. Zhem waved at the farm workers, whose job he did not envy - he had done his share of labor in the fields when he was Khoal's age, and while now he could look back on it with a touch of nostalgia, at the time he had hated the back-breaking labor of it. It would likely have been his lot in life if Khoal's father hadn't used his influence to secure Zhem a spot at the Academy.
They ascended a hill towards the main buildings of the Valdran estate, aiming for a large outbuilding constructed of reinforced concrete. It looked like a warehouse or possibly a barn, but Zhem knew that it was actually a spacecraft hangar.
The huge hangar doors were open, and there was some activity around the ship inside. The Mhorazh was an old T'liss-class warbird, its in form an elongated flat semicircle flanked by tubular warp nacelles, an Imperial bloodwing painted on the somewhat battered hull. The warbird's construction had been financed by House Valdran two centuries ago, which had given the House the right to name its commander; that position had gone to Khoal's grandfather, who had commanded it for decades. Now it was decommissioned and returned to the House, an obsolete relic, but still useful for training. Zhem was a bit surprised to see that the rear cargo bay ramp was down, and two of the estate's security staff were loading crates onto it.
He waved at one of them, a powerfully-built older man who had once served as a security decurion in the fleet under Khoal's father. "Hello, Chiroc," he called. "What's going on?"
The gray-haired Rihannsu shrugged. "Admiral ordered these loaded aboard the ship," he said, in a tone that implied that he hadn't asked questions and neither should Zhem. "He's got old Averrek and his daughter working on the engines, too."
"Well, what the Admiral wants, the Admiral gets," Zhem said. "Is the bridge clear?"
"As far as I know," Chiroc answered. "Check with Averrek - no telling what systems he's mucking about with." He nodded respectfully at Khoal, saying "Jolan tru, young lord."
"Got it," Zhem said. "We'll stay out of your way."
They headed up the ramp, and exited the cargo bay into the old warbird's cramped engine room. Multiple control panels were powered up, and it appeared that the ship's singularity core was online, albeit in low-power mode. "Averrek?" Zhem called out.
"In here, sir," a voice answered from an access tube.
Zhem peeked into the tube and saw Averrek Xereth inside, along with his daughter Eviess. Both were Havrannsu, pale and wrinkly-skinned and bald. Averrek was middle-aged, a former engineering technician on Khoal's father's warbird; once he retired from the service, the Admiral had used his influence to get Averrek permission to settle on ch'Rhian, one of the few Havranha granted that right. Averrek was now the head mechanic for the estate. Eviess was three years older than Khoal, and Zhem had been told she was pretty by Havrannsu standards; she was certainly intelligent - she had a way with machines, and probably knew more than Zhem did about warbird propulsion systems.
"Everything all right in there, Averrek?"
"All is well, cadet," Averrek answered. "Just showing Eviess how to align the impulse coils on this old bird. She needs be ready - she's taking the entrance exam for the Fleet technical academy next year."
Zhem nodded. Averrek was probably knowledgeable enough to serve as a chief engineer on a warbird, but a Havranha could never serve as an officer on a Rihannsu ship - and the number of Havrannsu-crewed ships was strictly limited ever since the Shinzon incident. Eviess could probably hope to be a senior chief technician on an Imperial warbird someday, but an officer's commission was probably not in her future.
"How's it going, Eviess?" Zhem asked with a grin. "Will she fly?"
The girl waved a sonic spanner at him and grinned back. "We could have her in the air now, if you wanted. We overhauled the thrusters last week, and the impulse engines are operating at about seventy percent."
"I don't think we'll be needing impulse power today," Zhem said with a laugh, as the Havranha girl winked at him. "Averrek, we're going to be on the bridge running some simulations. Will that interfere with what you're doing?"
"It shouldn't, young sir. Just make sure to disengage the control interface so you don't cook us alive."
"Understood," Zhem said. "Have fun with the engines."
As they made their way forward through the old warbird's narrow corridors, Khoal nudged Zhem playfully. "She was flirting with you," he said, smirking.
"Who, Eviess?" Zhem shook his head. "No, I don't think so."
"I think so," Khoal said.
"Think whatever you like, trainee," Zhem said as they entered the cramped bridge. "Take the helm." Zhem sat down in the commander's chair and began flipping the switched necessary to disengage the bridge controls from the warbird's systems and put them into simulation mode.
"How come you always get to be the commander?" Khoal asked.
"Because I outrank you," Zhem answered. "Helm and engine controls are now in safe mode. Ready to begin simulation."
Khoal grumbled. "Some day I'll be the commander, and you'll be my first officer."
It was likely true; Khoal's father was an admiral and his mother was a senator, so he would have the connections necessary to be promoted to commander early in his career. Zhem's father was a brewer of ale and his mother was a schoolteacher, so he would have to work his way up through the ranks, and even with the patronage of someone like Khoal he would probably never rise above subcommander. That was simply the way things worked in the Imperial fleet.
"Maybe someday. But for now, subcadet, you're at the helm. Simulation starting," Zhem announced. "Flight training, level 2. Let's start with a takeoff under thruster power."
The viewscreen at the front of the bridge flickered to life, showing a generic Fleet spaceship hangar. Khoal pushed the thruster controls gently upwards, and the ship's simulated systems claimed it was rising off the ground. "Good," Zhem said. "Now forward one-quarter until we clear the hangar."
"Thrusters forward one-quarter," Khoal echoed. And then, "We have cleared the hangar doors."
"Good, trainee. Now set course zero mark five-zero, thrusters at three-quarters."
"Course zero mark five-zero, thrusters three-quarters," Khoal confirmed, and the simulated image on the main viewscreen showed them angling up into a clear sky.
Zhem nodded. "Take thrusters to full."
"Thrusters full. It would be faster if we used the impulse engines, though."
Zhem laughed. "Yes it would. And we'd also create a sonic boom that would shatter half the windows in the province, and we'd be hauled before a tribunal and busted down to technician fourth class. And we'd have to apologize to the provincial governor."
"The governor's not so bad," Khoal said.
"Just because she's your mother's friend doesn't mean she'd go easy on you, subcadet."
"Right. Anyway, we're entering the stratosphere."
"Good work. Take us up to standard orbit, then we'll come around and do a landing."
"Standard orbit, aye, commander," Khoal said. "And Eviess was too flirting with you."
"Not a chance," Zhem contradicted. It wasn't unheard of for their to be romantic relationsips between Rihannsu and Havrannsu; it wasn't even illegal, in the strictest sense - but it was strongly discouraged. And Khoal didn't know, and Zhem didn't plan on telling him, that Zhem had caught the young girl in just such a liaison a few days before. She'd been out back of the main livestock barn, kissing the daughter of one one of the field hands. That the other girl was Rihanha was dangerous enough, but the fact that they were both girls would bring the Tal Shiar down on them if word ever got out. Zhem had warned both girls about what they were doing, cautioning them to be much more discreet. It would mean deportation to ch'Havran at very least for Eviess and her father if the wrong people found out.
Suddenly a blue light appeared on Zhem's monitor panel, accompanied by a piercing beep. Zhem raised an eyebrow. "Incoming transmission? That's not part of the simula tion," he said, pressing the panel to respond. "Zhem here."
"Cadet, this is Admiral Terol," a voice answered. Zhem instinctively snapped to attention; Terol tr'Valdran was Khoal's father and Zhem's patron, besides being a senior admiral. "Where are you? Do you know where my son is?"
"Khoal is here with me, Admiral," Zhem responded. "We're on the bridge of the old Mhorazh."
"Good," the Admiral said; Zhem detected a note of urgency in his voice. "Cadet, I have orders for you, priority violet."
"Sir," Zhem answered. Violet was the highest level of priority in the fleet's color-coded system, a level never used except in wartime.
"I don't have time to explain. But there is a planetary emergency. I need you to get everyone in the household - everyone you can - on board the Mhorazh, and get them off ch'Rihan. Get them out of the system! You have - about two hours."
"Sir?" Zhem asked reflexively, and then said, "Yes, Admiral. As you command. And the Senator? She was called back to the capital yesterday."
"Don't worry about her. They'll get the Senate out. You get my people out! I'm counting on you, Cadet."
"Understood, Admiral," Zhem said, though he didn't really. But what the admiral wanted...
"End simulation," he barked. "Bridge to engineering. Averrek, are you there?"
"I'm here, young sir," the old engineer replied. "Is there a problem?"
"The Admiral has ordered us to get everyone in the household on board this ship, and get them out of the system, priority violet. I need you to bring all propulsion systems online. How long will that take?"
"Priority violet?" Averrek's voice was full of doubt. "I... Yes, cadet, understood. We can have the impulse engines online in about thirty minutes. The warp engines are going to take longer."
"You have two hours to get them ready," Zhem barked. "Bridge out."
Khoal was still sitting at the helm, his eyes wide with confusion. "What does this mean, Zhem?"
"I don't know," Zhem said. "But I'm going to need you to give me a status report on all systems. First, though, get me the house-wide comm channel."
"The house... Yes, Commander," the boy said, working his panel. "House Valdran comm channel live."
"This is Cadet Zhem Galan, speaking for the Admiral," he announced. "All House Valdran personnel, listen carefully. The Admiral has ordered all House personnel to come to the main hangar and board the Mhorazh immediately. Bring only what you can carry. You have thirty minutes before we depart. This is priority violet - highest priority. I do not have any explanation, but the Admiral has ordered this. Repeat, you have thirty minutes. Zhem out." He punched the comm channel closed. "Status report?"
"Um..." Khoal fumbled with the controls. "Thrusters online. Impulse engines on standby, estimate twenty-eight minutes to bring online. Warp engines - offline." Zhem nodded, and the young boy continued. "Main deflector online, shields ready, estimated shield efficiency seventy percent. Life support functional at eighty-two percent. Inertial dampeners sixty-three percent. Weapons offline. Cloaking device offline. Transporters online. Navigation online. Sensors on standby, estimate five minutes to bring online. Helm online. Communications online."
"Very good. Bring the sensor array online. Maybe we can find out what's going on."
The bridge doors opened, and Chiroc stood there, looking alarmed. "What's going on, Cadet? Is this some kind of drill?"
"I don't think so," Zhem told the security chief. "We need to get everyone from the estate onboard as soon as possible. Anyone who has fleet experience, send them up here or to engineering. The civilians - get them settled somewhere. I don't know what kind of shape the crew quarters are in, but we can stick them in there. Also we need food and medical supplies."
"Food and medical supplies are already on board," Chiroc told him. "That's what was in those crates the Admiral had us load."
The young man locked eyes with the older man for a moment, as they both suddenly realized that the Admiral must have had advance warning of - whatever was happening.
"Very good," Zhem said. "Start helping people get aboard. We're now at - time, helm?"
"Twenty-four minutes," Khoal said. "Sensors are now online."
Chiroc nodded in acknowledgment of Zhem's orders and turned to leave the bridge. Zhem went to the sensor station and brought the display online. "Let's see if we can find out what we're dealing with."
He ran through the sensor bands, searching for anomalies. Nearby space was full of ship traffic, more than usual, most of it displaying Rihannsu transponder codes, with a smattering of foreign freighter traffic mixed in. A wider sweep showed no hazards in normal space out to the edge of the system. He considered a subspace scan, but it likely wouldn't work this close to the planet's surface.
"Nothing on sensors that I can see. Khoal, keep monitoring systems. I need to check out the rest of the ship. Let me know if anything happens."
"Aye, Commander," Khoal said, catching the determination in Zhem's voice.
Zhem made his way through the ship towards engineering. Eviess was monitoring the impulse controls, and a couple of other House Valdran personnel with engineering experience had taken stations and were working on other systems. Averrek was nowhere to be seen. "Report," Zhem ordered Eviess.
"Impulse engines are in preheat mode, estimate eighteen minutes until fully online," Eviess told him. "My father is replacing a power relay in the port warp nacelle. I'll have him report when he's done."
Zhem nodded. "Good work. Is anyone working on life support? It's adequate, but I want it at maximum if possible."
"Nerrhae is on it. Zhem - what's going on, really?"
Before Zhem could answer her, every comm circuit on the ship abruptly went live. "Stand by for an announcement from the Praetor," a booming voice commanded, echoing through the ship.
"I think we're about to find out," Zhem said. He brought a viewscreen up, which displayed a spread-winged Imperial eagle.
Then the image changed, and the Praetor came into view. Zhem automatically snapped to attention.
"All citizens," the Praetor announced. "A massive subspace disturbance is heading in the direction of our homeworlds. Efforts are underway to deflect it, but in the event that these efforts are unsuccessful, we must take drastic action. I am calling for a planetary evacuation for both ch'Rihan and ch'Havran. Every spaceworthy vessel in the Eisn system is instructed to board as many people as possible and head away from the system at maximum warp. Time is limited. Take nothing but yourselves and your families. Long live the Empire!" A fanfare played, and the screen went dark.
Silence filled the ship, as people digested the Praetor's words; they had been unusually blunt for an official announcement, seemingly containing none of the usual obfuscations or evasions of responsibility for which Imperial Rihannsu political rhetoric was known. Finally Zhem looked around him and shouted, "You heard the Praetor! Let's move, people!"
That got people in the engine room moving, at least. He headed aft towards the cargo bay.
The ramp was still down, and people were rushing aboard. Chiroc was doing his best to keep order. "Well, that got them moving," the old security guard said. "Cadet, is it true?"
"Elements, how would I know? How many more?"
"About half the estate is aboard, the rest are coming."
Zhem nodded. "You know transporters, right?"
"I do, sir."
"Good. Any that we miss, we'll beam aboard after we take off."
"Understood, sir."
Zhem walked down the ramp, and started helping some of the more elderly household servants aboard. He spied his father jogging into the hangar, carrying a potted plant under each arm.
"Father, what are you doing?" he shouted.
"Ensuring our future," the older man said defensively. "These are kheh plants. I worked my entire life to breed this strain, and I am not leaving them behind."
Zhem rolled his eyes, exasperated. Of course his father would be thinking about brewing ale at a time like this! Kheh was an essential ingredient in blue ale, and his father was the most famed brewmaster in the province. "All right, find a place to stow them. And then help other people get on board!"
"Zhem," his father said. "Your mother..."
"Is at the school in town. I know. We'll pick her up, don't worry." Then Zhem forcibly shoved thoughts of his family out of his mind. He had too much else to worry about.
He went back up the ramp and headed towards the bridge. When he got there, Khoal was still at the helm, but the Admiral's personal secretary had taken over the comm station. "Report," he said.
"Impulse engines are coming online," Khoal reported. "And life support is up to eighty-eight percent and rising."
"Good news," he said. "Comms?"
"All external comm channels are jammed," the Admiral's secretary - Alhavra was her name, Zhem suddenly recalled - told him. "Overlapping signals, too many people all calling at once."
"Understood. So I take it we have no way to contact any Valdran personnel who were off the estate?"
"Correct, sir. I'm sorry."
"Well then, we'll just have to find them the hard way," Zhem said. He brought up internal communications and called Chiroc. "Chiroc, report."
"We have most of the estate onboard," Chiroc said. "A few more are straggling in. Others were in town."
"Understood. Stand by to close the ramp for departure."
"Cadet - my children..."
"Are in town at the school," Zhem said. "I know. I'm sure my mother has that situation under control. How many more people do you think we can fit on board?"
"Sir? At least a hundred, maybe more."
"Then it's settled. We'll head for the school after we take off from here."
"Sir! Thank you!"
"Commander," Khoal interrupted, "impulse engines just came on line."
"That's it, Chiroc! Raise the ramp, then get to the transporter room! Scan for Valdran comm signals and beam up any stragglers!"
"Yes, sir! Raising the ramp now."
"Bridge out."
"Cargo ramp reads as secure," Khoal said.
Zhem nodded. "Stand by for takeoff." He activated shipwide comms and annouced, "All hands, ready for takeoff. Set condition violet throughout the ship." He closed the channel and said, "Take her out, Khoal, nice and steady. Thrusters at one-quarter."
"Thrusters one-quarter, aye, Commander," Khoal repeated.
His takeoff was a little rougher than it had been in simulation, but they got out of the hangar without damaging the ship, which was all Zhem cared about. "Take us up to one thousand meters, and then head towards town, half thrusters."
"Half thrusters, aye, Commander. Where in town precisely?"
"When we get there, set us down in the courtyard of the school."
"Aye, Commander."
They glided low over the fields of the Valdran estate. Zhem focused the viewscreen on the ground, and saw half a dozen people running frantically, waving their arms at the warbird overhead. He hit the comms, and said, "Bridge to transporter room."
Chiroc's voice answered. "Aye, sir, I see them. Energizing now."
There was a green flash on the viewscreen and then the people were gone. "Transport complete," Chiroc's voice confirmed. "They are aboard."
"Good work. Bridge out."
Zhem felt the old warbird slowly gather speed, spreading its wings for the first time in a century. "Helm, report. How are we doing?"
"Controls are a bit sluggish, and the number seven thruster is misfiring, but I can compensate, Commander," Khoal said. He was focusing intensely on his controls. Zhem saw that the boy was fighting back panic, was grimly determined to not panic, and was succeeding beyond Zhem's expectations. Zhem ignored for the moment the promotion that Khoal had given him - he was, technically, in command of the Mhorazh, and as such the title was at least temporarily his by right, but he had no illusions about it lasting for long. Surely an experienced and qualified officer would show up at some point.
They passed over a stretch of forest, and then saw the outskirts of town. "There's the school," Zhem said. "Set us down in the courtyard."
"Setting us down, aye, Commander," Khoal said. He smoothly brought the ship to a stop in midair, and then less smoothly brought it down to the ground. Well, Zhem had flubbed his first landing too. He punched the comms up and said "Bridge to cargo bay. Lower the ramp." Then he got up and said, "Khoal, you have the bridge."
He ran through the corridors of the ship towards the rear; about halfway there he was joined by Chiroc, who was two steps ahead of him. They got to the cargo bay just as the ramp was lowering; Zhem jogged down onto the stones of the school courtyard.
He saw his mother, attempting to herd a group of frightened schoolchildren together, with the dubious help of some equally frightened teachers. Zhem ran towards her, waving his arms. "Get on board!" he shouted. "Get everyone on board! Up the ramp, all of you!"
"In a line, all of you!" Zhem's mother commanded, and for a wonder, the children obeyed. "Stay together! Forward, now!"
In surprisingly good order, the children marched up the ramp. One waved at Chiroc, and he waved back. He glanced over at Zhem and nodded. "Thank you, Commander," he said.
Zhem nodded back. "Close the ramp and get them secured. We're heading for space."
His mother grabbed his arm. "Zhem, what is this? These children - we need to get them to their parents..."
"There's no time and we have no more room on board," Zhem said in a tone that permitted no argument. "I have orders to get as many people as I can off-world, and that's what I'm doing."
He pulled his arm free of his mother's grasp and ran back to the bridge. "Helm, take us up. Course - straight up. Full impulse."
"Impulse?" Khoal repeated.
"You heard me," Zhem said. "Get us to space."
"Aye, Commander, Straight up, full impulse."
Zhem resisted the urge to focus the viewscreen aft, to see the destruction their abrupt departure would leave in its wake. Instead he looked forward. "Raise landing struts," he said.
"Raising landing struts," Khoal confirmed. And then, "Commander, starboard landing strut is not fully retracted."
"Ignore it for now. We'll be clear of the atmosphere in a few seconds."
Just then Zhem's mother came onto the bridge. He'd seen that expression on her face often enough, and was absolutely not in the mood to deal with it. "Zhem, what in the names of all the Elements is going on?" she demanded.
"You know as much as I do," Zhem snapped back. There were many things for which he had no time at the moment, and his mother treating him like a child was high on the list. "So why don't you get on that sensor console and scan for subspace disruptions? Let's find out what the Praetor was talking about."
She just stared at him for a moment, and Zhem stared back, not backing down. Finally she relented and went to the primary sensor console. She'd been a sensor tech in the Imperial fleet before Zhem was born, and Zhem was certain she still knew how to operate the boards.
"Scanning," she said. And then, quietly, "Oh."
"Report," Zhem said firmly.
"Sensors show... a massive subspace distortion. I've never seen anything like it. It's half a billion kilometers in diameter, and aimed right at the inner system. And it's propagating at warp three." The expression on her face was both awed and terrified.
"What will it do to the inner system?" Zhem asked.
"I don't know," she admitted. "With that much energy, it could easily destroy a planet. It could destroy the entire system. Honestly, I don't even know if Eisn will be able to hold together when it hits. It could very well nova."
"How long until impact?"
She turned back to the console and ran some quick calculations. "It will hit ch'Havran first... In about ten minutes. A minute after that, ch'Rihan. And then - if we don't get to warp, we'll be engulfed in twelve minutes."
Zhem nodded. "Understood. Let me know if anything changes. Helm, report status of warp engines."
Khoal shook his head. "Still offline, Commander."
Zhem cursed under his breath and hit the internal comms. "Bridge to engineering. Averrek, I need those warp engines."
"Averrek here. Sir, we're working on it, but we still need to align the dilithium matrix."
"How long?"
"Fifteen minutes."
"Averrek, we have eleven minutes. If we don't get to warp by then, we're all dead. I need those engines."
There was a long silence on the comm line, and then Averrek said softly, "Yes, Commander. You'll have your engines. Engineering out."
Zhem stared at the viewscreen for a moment, and then said, "Communications, anything new? News from the Admiral? Anything at all?"
Alhavra shook her head. "All local channels still jammed with overlapping messages. I'm receiving a few long-range messages. There's a ship inbound from Vulcan that says it's carrying help, but I don't think it will get here in time."
"How many ships have made it off of the homeworlds?"
Zhem's mother answered, "I'm reading several hundred thousand ships around both planets, but... Most of them appear to be insystem shuttles only, with no warp drives."
Those on ships without warp drives were dead. Zhem couldn't help them. No one could. "And the subspace wavefront? How long?"
"It's approaching ch'Havran now."
"On screen," Zhem commanded.
A mottled tan orb appeared on the viewscreen. It was a world, with two billion people living in cities beneath the surface. And it was about to die. And Zhem was helpless to do anything about it.
Then, as he watched, the space around the planet appeared to flex, distorting the starfield. The planet itself flattened into an oblate spheroid, holding together for an unlikely two seconds, rebounding to a prolate spheroid before disintegrating. Large chunks flew off of the surface and were torn to shreds as the spacial dimensions around them expanded and then contracted. In five seconds, the planet was gone.
The bridge was silent for a solid half minute, before Zhem said, "Put ch'Rihan onscreen."
It was a beautiful world, with green continents and blue-green seas and brilliant white clouds, with an abundance of wildlife and magnificent forests, with cities teeming with nine billion people.
And then it flew apart. In seconds, ch'Rihan was reduced to a cloud of rocks and debris and water vapor.
Zhem's mother moaned softly, while Alhavra broke down in tears. Khoal merely stared at the viewscreen, slack-jawed, so stunned by the destruction of his home world that he didn't even notice when the warp engine indicator on his console changed from violet to brilliant amber.
Zhem didn't say anything. He merely stood up, walked to the helm console, reached around Khoal, and activated the warp drive. The ship groaned, shook violently one time, and then stabilized as the warp field took shape and began flinging them at impossible speeds through space. He pushed the throttle up until the ship's speed reached warp four.
"Khoal," he said softly, "You have the bridge. Hold this course. I'm going to engineering."
He walked through a ship filled with people stunned into silence and despair. Some wept, some pleaded with the uncaring Elements, some merely sat with blank expressions on their faces. He reached engineering and found Eviess collapsed on the floor in front of the dilithium matrix chamber hatch, sobbing uncontrollably.
Zhem knelt beside her, gathered her into his arms, and held her.
"My father," she gasped between sobs. "He went into the chamber..."
"I know, Eviess," Zhem said. "I know."
Averrek had gone into the chamber to align the dilithium matrix. But there hadn't been time to purge it of radiation first. And when the matrix activated - well, there probably wasn't much left of him after that.
Zhem had known what would happen. He had known precisely what he was ordering Averrek to do. And he had given the order anyway, because it was the only way to save the ship and everyone on it.
And Averrek had known what the order meant as well, and had obeyed all the same. Because it was the only way to save his daughter.
"Eviess," Zhem said. Then, more firmly, "Eviess."
She looked up at him, tears streaming down her face.
"Eviess, I need you to take charge of engineering," Zhem said. "I need you to keep the engines online until we're clear of this thing. Until we get somewhere safe. Can you do that for me?"
She nodded slowly, and wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve. She slowly, cautiously, got back onto her feet. Then she went to the main warp control console and began monitoring the singularity core.
Zhem sighed, climbed to his feet, and left engineering. He felt only a great numbness as he made his way through the ship back to the bridge.
"Commander on the bridge," his mother called out as he entered.
"Report," he said softly, settling into the commander's chair.
"Comm traffic - is down to a more manageable level," Alhavra said, omitting the reason why it had fallen. "I am receiving instructions to rendezvous at Dimorus."
Zhem nodded. "Helm, set course for the Dimorus system, warp four."
"Aye, Commander. Course for Dimorus laid in. Warp four." Khoal's voice had no expression.
The viewscreen was now set to look straight ahead. Zhem resisted the temptation to order it focused to look aft. To look back at what was left of his home. At what could never again be his home. The warm, rolling green hills of the Sen'lenark Highlands no longer existed, except in his memory.
Ahead lay only the cold empty blackness of space, and a future full of privation and uncertainty.