Red 9

The ship was turning but it felt agonizingly slow to her. The beams were getting closer they were almost out of range. She thought they were home free for a second before it hit. The ship shuttered and bucked beneath them. The shields were still holding for now.

"Shields have dropped to forty percent captain" said Cho

Sam caught that worried look he quickly tried to conceal. She wondered what class level he was at because she knew even the first years had been shoved into the shuttles. Her gaze landed on a huge piece of debris that drifted past the view screen. She wondered briefly if any of those first years were even still alive.

"Shields are down to twenty percent sir" said Cho

The alien ship had been pounding them since it turned and it was going to break through their shields at any second. Sam's fingers flew across the panel and steered the ship so one of the larger debris pieces was between the ship and the alien ship. It would give them a brief respite but only until the other ship moved.

"Morningstar take us to 1.745, full impulse" said Terrell

Sam wanted to groan the man was forsaking safety for a shot at wounding the other ship

"Cho open fire the second we are clear" said Terrell

Sam sighed and did as she was told. She guessed today was as good as any on which to die. The other ship anticipated this move and opened fire one last time. Sam realized belatedly that the other ship whoever they were knew star fleet tactics. The ship rocked and then suddenly there was deafening silence. Her ears felt like they were under water or on a plane waiting for them to pop. Sam looked up from her panel and froze.

The view screen and the whole front half of the bridge were gone. She turned to see the captain hanging onto his chair. Where was Hershey? Sam looked for him and saw him sliding towards the hole. He looked unconscious and was making no effort to slow his slide towards certain death. Why wasn't the emergency shield kicking into place? The other ship was angling for the killing shot. Another of those volleys into the bridge would kill everyone here, including her.

On impulse Sam puled the lever that would angle the bow up and present the tougher belly of the ship to the enemy vessel. Hershey stopped sliding just as the emergency shields came on. Sam's ears still felt like they were filled with cotton. Cho swayed next to her and she felt somewhat light headed for some reason. Low oxygen her mind automatically identified. Sam reached across her panel to his and hit the emergency oxygen button. Masks fell from the ceiling and Sam quickly shoved hers over her nose and mouth. She took a deep gulping breath and pressed the second mask to Cho's face beside her. He blinked and then suddenly gripped the mask.

"thanks" said Cho

Though the sentiment was muffled by the mask. Sam quickly steered the ship behind some more debris. They were sitting ducks without those shields and the aliens knew that. Sam turned to find most of the crew was coming around.

She glanced at the captain, he wasn't moving and neither was Hershey. She mentally reviewed regulations to see who was supposed to be in charge if both the captain and first officer were incapacitated. She swore softly when she remembered it was whoever the helm officer was, which made it her. Oh crap she was in charge.

"T'lin get medical up here stat, Polanski check the captain and Mr. Hershey's vitals but don't move them" said Sam the Vulcan woman nodded and hit some buttons.

"they will be here shortly captain" said T'lin

Sam glanced in her direction apparently Sam wasn't the only one who memorized regulations.

"Captain we are getting reports of fires on decks seven through four" said Cho

Sam winced because that was where she had just angled the ship so it would get hit there.

"Tell them to get it out as best they can" said Sam

The turbo lift doors slid open, the medical personnel stopped and stared at the gaping hole in their ship. "Enough staring you two help the captain and Mr. Hershey" said Sam

The men blinked then swiftly moved forward. A few minutes later they were wheeling both Hershey and Terrell off the bridge on gurneys. Sam swallowed nervously great she was hoping at least one of them would wake up and take over. Everyone was staring at her now and Sam noted that all the positions that had been empty in her dream were still filled. Which meant she had changed it, they weren't going to die unless she really screwed up. She took a deep breath.

"T'lin mark this in the log, Ensign Samantha Morningstar acting helm officer is hereby elevated to the rank of lieutenant under star fleet code 6741. 6 covering battlefield promotions and is assuming command of the USS Reliant, until either the first officer or captain is able to resume command as pursuant Starfleet regulations 856.2 section 15" said Samantha

"So noted" said T'lin

"Cho status?" said Sam

"We have no shields, one of our engines is damaged but we still have impulse thrusters and all of our weapons" said Cho

It was obvious by the way he said weapons he expected her to throw themselves at the other ship and hope they destroyed it before it destroyed them. That idea was suicidal at best. It would be exactly what any other star fleet captain would do. Except the enemy knew that. So that means she can't do that because they would anticipate that, and most likely kill them. Sam looked out the hole and reviewed her options. There was a debris field all but circling the planet and just a bit of a ways off there was an asteroid cluster. Sam made her decision and laid in a course for that cluster.

"Captain?" said Cho

"Don't worry Mr. Cho we're not deserting them just making it look like we are" said Sam

Cho gave her a confused look but stopped questioning her. Sam positioned the ship behind the biggest asteroid she could find. Sam stared at the other ship for a few seconds then turned to Polanski

"Mr. Polanski what can you tell me about that ship?" said Sam

The science officer turned to his screen and typed on his panel.

"It appears to be a mining vessel or some sort of heavy transport, its make and origin are uncertain. It is however heavily armed more so than we are and its shields are still at maximum" said Polanski

He glanced at Cho and swallowed. Chagrinned Cho looked away.

"so in other words we are outgunned and have no clue who that vessel belongs to beyond the fact it is clearly hostile" said Sam

She turned and surveyed her crew, man that sounded weird even in her head. Her gaze landed on T'lin and suddenly she had an idea.

"T'lin do you know of any race that would be openly hostile to the Vulcan people?" said Sam

The others turned to look at the sole Vulcan in the room. T'lin seemed to take an awful long time giving an answer.

"My species is usually quite peaceful but I know we do have a history of hostilities with the Romulans" said T'lin

Sam nodded that made more sense than some random ship deciding to target Vulcan.

"Sir if it is the Romulan's they are quite familiar with both our tactics and Starfleet's" said T'lin

Sam understood what she was trying to say, she had caught on that they seemed to know their tactics too.

"Captain Permission to speak freely" said Cho

"Always Mr. Cho, go ahead" said Sam

He looked relieved for some reason.

"Ma'am we should attack them now when they are no longer concerned with us" said Cho

Sam nodded she had a feeling he was going to say something like that.

"That would be stupid didn't you hear me when I said their shields have full power?" said Polanski

He seemed to realize at the last moment that he had just argued with his fellow officer in front of his captain. Even if she was just the acting captain she could still have him thrown in the brig.

"Relax Mr. Polanski, Mr. Cho I have every intention of attacking that ship back just as soon as I can figure out how to do so without getting us blown out of the sky" said Sam

"I feel I must point out the error of that statement it is unlikely that we will explode should they hit us again. We are more likely to simply break apart as there is no oxygen in space to fuel combustion" said T'lin

Everyone gave her an incredulous look, Sam shook her head immediately dismissing her angry retort clearly T'lin was under a great deal of stress and had no idea how to react to it. Personally Sam didn't agree with the Vulcan habit of suppressing their emotions she felt that someday they were going to simply explode. The rest of the crew glared at T'lin.

"Okay thanks for the info, ideas?" said Sam

She was drawing a blank and they was out here on their own, she wasn't prepared for this none of them were.

"If we had another ship we could..." said Polanski

Sam frowned if they had another ship. Sam could just leave them to deal with this and limp this ship on home and get a new windshield.

"Well we don't have a..." said Cho

"Captain I'm being hailed" said T'lin

Sam started to say put it on the main screen but that would be some feat considering it was no longer there.

"Audio only T'lin" said Sam

T'lin glanced at the space the screen had once occupied and gave Sam a level look, Sam shrugged at her in return.

"Do you intend to hide?" said a new voice.

It was definitely male and mocking.

"Only if you continue to shoot at us, to whom am I speaking?" said Sam

T'lin was looking at something on her screen and wearing the Vulcan equivalent of a frown.

"You are a woman?" said the man

He sounded shocked and Sam smirked. Men who reacted that way usually underestimate a woman when they encounter one in a command position. It was something she could use against him all she had to do was get him to act on it.

"Yes, you sound shocked by that captain..?" said Sam

"Nero, do you have visual by any chance? I like to see who I am addressing, captain?" said Nero "Morningstar and regrettably no my ship no longer has visual communications but it does have a great view" said Sam

She had wandered away from her station and was now stopped squarely in front of the opening where the view screen had been. She was frighteningly aware that all that stood between her and certain death was a thin screen of energy. He laughed

"You have an interesting sense of humor captain Morningstar it is captain is it not?" said Nero

"It is now" said Sam

She didn't know why she gave him that little tidbit, maybe she was hoping he would underestimate her further if he knew she was inexperienced.

"Ah I see is that why you hide little captain, is it terror that has you fleeing me" said Nero

Sam turned back towards her crew and smirked at them. They all gave her confused looks. She laughed

"I suppose you'd rather I paint a huge red and white circle on my ship's side and then be gracious enough to hold still for you" said Sam

"It would be much a much swifter and more merciful end then waiting for your systems to fail" said Nero

Cho mouthed that they had just been scanned by the other ship. Sam was staring at the other ship searching it with her eyes for a weakness.

"Speaking of ships where did you get yours from its very beautiful" said Sam

It was in a sort of creepy vessel of death sort of way. He laughed again.

"Are you trying to ask me from whence I hail captain?" said Nero

"I believe I just did" said Sam

He chuckled again seemingly amused by her words.

"The Nerada's design is quite simplistic I am afraid. I would hardly call it a work of art, it is after all simply a mining vessel, and as to your rather pointed query I hail from Romulus. Does that sate your curiosity little captain or would you like to beam over and let me sate mine?" said Nero

The way he said that had Sam seriously wondering if the Romulan was making a pass at her.

"I am afraid I would have to decline that… invitation" said Sam

Cho waved at her to get her attention.

"Such a pity I so wished to see if human females are as fragile as they say" said Nero

Sam frowned she didn't like the way he said that, it sounded very double entendre. She chose to ignore the obvious lewdness of that comment. He did claim to be a miner after all.

"Why are you here Captain Nero?" said Sam

She leaned over Cho and looked at his screen. Sam nodded when she read the telltale signs that another of their ships was incoming. She guessed it was the enterprise and wondered what had took them so long.

"Oh please just Nero will be fine, there is no need to stand on formalities. Speaking of which I do not believe I caught your first name" said Nero

She smiled so he wanted to be on a first name basis did he, cheeky little bastard wasn't he? Still it might make him let his guard down some more, plus while he was distracted he wouldn't notice the enterprise until it was too late.

"It's Samantha if you really must know" said Sam

She signaled Cho to be ready at the weapons system. They would only get one chance at this. As soon as the enterprise came out of warp the Nerada would open fire on them. Cho nodded in understanding. Sam wished she had her notepad on her she needed to say a few things to her crew that she didn't want Nero to hear.

"Samantha what a lovely name it matches your lovely voice, oh how I wish I could see you" said Nero Sam could see where his bridge was and it had a front window like some of the other Starfleet vessels. The only difference was his was partially concealed. It was currently facing their direction at the moment which meant it wasn't facing the enterprise's exit vector.

"Well if you look out your front window you could probably see me" said Sam

She walked towards the view screen again and stood there looking out at the ship. She could see someone standing in the window area. She raised her hand and waved to him. They heard silence from the Nerada for a few seconds

"You are a tiny thing aren't you, you were right that is quite a view" said Nero

Sam frowned so she was a bit short, but tiny? Just how big were Romulan's anyways?

"Small packages sometimes contain big things" said Sam

He chuckled in response.

"You never answered me why are you here, I get that Romulan's haven't always been on the best terms but why are you doing this?" said Sam

"Ah I see you know something of my people enough to quote one of our proverbs, badly I might add, yet it is understanding you still seek" said Nero

Sam smiled

"Anger always has a reason, love not so much" said Sam

He laughed again and it was about that time the enterprise finally showed up. She heard one of his crew members talking softly to him

"They cut us off captain" said T'lin

Sam barely restrained the urge to swear, damn it she had him distracted. Stupid observant crew members.

"Cho arm our weapons and somebody look up Romulan mining vessels we need to find that things weakness" said Sam

"On it captain" said Polanski

"Captain they are firing on the enterprise" said Cho

"Take out those torpedoes Cho" said Sam

The man's hands moved across the board and two lines of light sped to intercept the Nerada's projectiles.

"I think I found it ma'am" said the andorian girl

"Very good ah..?" said Sam

"Cadet Neru, captain" said the Andorian girl

Sam leaned over and looked where she pointed. The information on the screen wasn't exact but could be very useful.

"Thank you Neru that is precisely what I was looking for" said Sam

She walked over to the helm and sat down. She strapped herself in and started up the ships engines. At the moment the Nerada was firing at the enterprise and ignoring them. Sam pulled back the lever and backed their ship away from the asteroid they were currently sitting on. She carefully maneuvered the ship around the asteroids and debris so they were coming up behind the Nerada. The enterprise wasn't moving and that is when Sam noticed a second problem.

"what is that hanging off the bottom of the ship?" said Sam

"It appears to be a drill, captain" said Neru

Why in the world would they drill into an inhabited planet? For some reason a scene from one of her favorite movies, Armageddon, flashed through her mind. The line about drilling down far enough caught in her mind.

"Cho open fire, make sure you hit that drill" said Sam

She had a seriously horrified thought that they were trying to blow up Vulcan. The Nerada had stopped firing on the enterprise and was now trying to hit them too. Except Sam had positioned their ship close enough to the backside of the Nerada, right between their gun placements. So no matter how they turned they could not hit them.

"Captain we're being hailed, it's on Starfleet frequency" said T'lin

For a Vulcan she sounded a bit emotional almost relieved sounding.

"Thank you whoever you are" said Pike

"Whoever I am, really Pike forget me already?" said Sam

"Samantha?" said Pike

"Yep, you guys okay?" said Sam

"Yes we're a bit banged up but still mostly functional, Samantha where is your captain?" said Pike "Sickbay" said Sam

"And your first officer?" said Pike

"The same, what took you guys so long?' said Sam

"So that would make you the captain, wait no, you're only an ensign aren't you?" said Pike

"Ah not anymore, its part battlefield promotion and placement, they're Romulan's. That ship is a mining vessel" said Sam

"I see thank you Samantha" said Pike

For a second Sam was worried he was going to send them home. The line suddenly went dead and Sam looked at T'lin

"Jammed, the Nerada is talking to them captain" said T'lin

Sam wasn't focusing on her however she was looking at the piece of the Nerada that was within spitting distance to the hole where their front windshield had been. Something was crawling along its surface. "What in the world?" said Sam

"Ma'am a shuttle just launched from the enterprise" said Neru