Chapter 6: Action!
Christ had been learning all he could about the USS Shake now for the past three weeks. It had been a comfortable trip so far on the USS Deuzige, a Galaxy class vessel. On their way to the Antaris shipyards the USS Deuzige stopped on a few locations to pick up crew.
The stops were in Quatal. Betazed, Deep Space 3, and Deep Space 5. He d also been getting the new crew to get to know each other. This was working pretty well. The simulations, dinners, and workouts they did together on his orders were becoming more of a soscial gathering every time.
Life on the Galaxy class is good when you re not on duty. One of the places Christ loved to be when he was studying PADDS was 10 forward. Here on this ship a nausican (of all races!) was running the bar. On one of such day s, about 5 weeks into the journey Falo came into the bar and walked up to Christ.
May I join you Captain? he asked as Christ noticed him. Ofcourse Falo, have a seat. He replied. The nausican came by and placed Falo s drink in front of him. He d been wondering how the nausican managed to remember everyone s favorite drink.
What s on your mind Falo Christ asked. He had noticed the ackward look in Falo s eyes, He already knew what Falo wanted to talk about. Well, sir, permission to speak freely? he asked. Ofcourse Falo, you want to talk about why you were passed by for the Captain s chair . Christ replied with a smile on his face.
A puzzled look came upon Falo s face, How did you know I wanted to talk about that? He asked. Elementary my dear Falo, Elementary! Christ replied. An even more puzzled look appeared on Falo s face. A belly lough burst from Christ as he saw the look. Hahahaa . Sorry, but the look on your face is very humorous.. Christ said after he d regained his composure.
Nah, to be honoust, I d be asking the same question, and our councellor notified me you d been unhappy during the briefing, and disappointed. I can put two and two together. Christ explained.
Falo looked at Christ, loughed and said Okay then, if you know what I want to know, tell me Why? Though Christ had been expecting this question he thought carefully about how to explain the reason as he saw it.
Remember the mission on which you were sent to destroy a tetracil white convoy in the Dominion War. The one where you encountered a new Jem Hadar interceptor? he asked Falo. Falo thought about it for a second, Then he remembered the one Christ had ment. Falo had been commended for his actions.
After the interceptor had wrecked havoc among the 3 intrepid class vessels in the federation strike, he d beamed aboard the interceptor, disabled the 6 man crew, and set the warpcore of the vessel into warpcore breach. After that, destroying the rest of the convoy was a piece of cake. Your actions, on that mission, though you received a recommendation for the bravoury and the lives you saved, is also probably why you r e still first officer. Christ stated.
After a moment of silence Christ decided to explain further. You saved the 3 starfleet vessels, yes. And Yes you destroyed the interceptor. Yes you destroyed the convoy and completed the mission. But did you ever stop to think you d be even more successful if you d taken the vessel you d captured and take it for Starfleet to examine? Christ said.
Would you have? Falo asked as a look of understanding came over his face. Yes I would and .
KABOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Red alert sirens started whining and red lights started flashing everywhere. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!? Falo yelled after he d picked himself up out of the corner. I DON T KNOW! FOLLOW ME TO THE BRIDGE! Christ yelled back trying to make himself heard over the sirens. Then the sirens stopped.
Running towards the bridge, Christ tapped his communicator. Captain Christ van Silfhout to Cpt. Justdied .. Silfhout to bridge come in No answer came back. As they got to the turbolift they had to wait until a damage repair crew got in first. We can get as far as deck 11, from there we ll have to take the jeffries tubes. Come on men, the whole bridge is gone, we ve got to seal the hole it left! one of the repair crew said to the others as the door swished closed. The two stood frozen for a second.
Come on, let s get to the Battle Bridge, maybe we can supplement the command crew in places they ve got casualties. Could you allso contact the others, and tell them to come to the battlebridge. Christ ordered Falo. He himself needed to find out what the hell happened.
Science, come in this is Capt. Van Silfhout . He said into the communicator. A scrachy sound acompanied the answer. This is Mi Mat idamha, Chief Engeneer. I don t think anyone from the bridge crew or of the nightshift is alive. The change of shifts was just taking place sir. I suspect you re the senior officer on this ship now. A voice stated.
Thank you Chief, Can you patch my communicator through to a shipwide channel? Christ asked. Yes sir, .done. You can now speak sir. The engeneer replied. Christ took a deap breath, and spoke the words again, he remembered saying so well, and the sadness that came with them..
This is Christ van Silfhout .. Capt. Van Silfhout. As it appears all seniour and junior bridge officers are now dead I am assuming command of this vessel. Please send in damage and casualty reports to the battle bridge. Don t try to worrie to much people. Whatever happened, it happened to the only Starfleet vessel that carries 2 complete bridge crews, so we ll be double as able to meat whatever challenge it is. Christ spoke. As he d finished he realised how idiotic the last centance had sounded.
Ok sir, your off the shipwide channel now. Sir, the command protocolls are now being rerouted to the battle bridge. You ll be able to transferr the command codes to yourself usingf the theta authorisation in seconds. Except for the bridge all ships sections and systems are working at optimal efficiency. If I were a tactical officer I d warn you for a boarding party attempting to . Captain, I ve got two boarding parties beaming in through our shields. One is in front of my doors now, and one is heading to the battle bridge. The engeneer said over the comm.
Captain, this is Nesnaj, I ve checked and as luck has it, 40 of my new security officers hiched a ride with the Deuzige as well. I ve allready ordered them to get ready. I ll send them to the engeneering and battlebridge area s. I ve allso been able to set up a security office in my quarters here, and patched internal sensors here. It appears our guests are Klingon and numbering only 20 in all.
A smile came across Christs face as he entered the battlebridge. Except for Odu Nesnaj all of his crew was there allready. Noone from the origional senior or junior bridge officers were there. Nesnaj, can you transfer security to the battle bridge and come here yourself as well? We re all missing you. Christ said through the comm.
Sir, the boarding parties are now both pinned down. The positions though would mean that an assault on them would defenately cost many lives on our part, and kill of the boarding parties mentioned. I mean, as they are Klingons. The voice of Ezri sounded. Christ looked at them as they looked to him. This would be his first command desiscion before this crew he suddenly realiserd.
Nesnaj, are you in control of the security lockouts for short range inship transprots? He asked. As I am currently in the turbolift sir I cannot, but I have transferred all authorisations to the tactical station on the bridge. The answer came. Christ went to the panel and punched in a few keys. Security, I m now beaming the boarding parties to the brigg and removing their weapons in transit. Go to the brigg and secure the prisoners. Christ ordered through his commbadge.
Sir, I ve got a decloacking Klingon Destroyer, powering up it s weapons, Ezri yelled from science. At that point Nesnaj came in and took his place at the tactical station.
Okay people, let s do this right. Christ said. At that point the councellor Lucyanna Troi came in as well. Perfect timing councellor, I was just about to call the attackers.
3 photon torpedoes were fired from the Klingon vessel sir! Nesnaj Called. Naj Treeg! Evasive manouvvers now! Christ yelled. Brace for impact!
At the same time he spoke the words the ship shook violently. Shields holding at 95% sir. Whatever they hit us with to knock out the bridge was no torpedoe however. Even wirhout shields, the damage would not have been as sergical as it is Nesnaj said.
Lecheim, open channel christ said. Channel open sir, no response though
Klingon vessel, this is Captain Christ van Silfhout of the USS Deuzige. Ceise and desist your attack on this vessel emediately or be destroyed. Your boarding parties are in custady. You have violated just about every treaty between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, and in acordance with the treaties you ve just violated so blatently I herby place you under arrest. Lower your shields, and power down the vessel now in preperation of our boarding parties! Christ spoke as fermly as he could.
Then he added in Klingon: Hiv sIbI mev. TIjwI ghom vIchen moH. NIqop. Q onoS nIqem. NIHup. As he finished he noticed everyone looking at him. The answer came swiftly. It came from Nesnaj however.
Incoming photon torpedoes. 4 of them. They are allso firing what seems like an oversised forced plasma cutter simular to the ones used to develop the USS Shakes forced plasma beams. Again the USS Deuzige shook violently. Lock Phasers on the new plasma cutter emittor on the Klingon and fire, lock all torpedoe tubes and fire as well Christ yelled.
Nesnaj, how many security officers can you spare to go on an away mission? he asked Odu. For a few seconds he thought and replied If I can use the officers of the Deuzige s origional crew I can muster up about 100 men and women for your away mission captain. Christ turned to Ezri.
How many people are aboard that vessel? Ezri smiled as she answered with a beginning understanding of what he was up to Only 46 left sir, they d sent 60 of their warriors in the boarding parties. The destroyers full complament is 956 hoever sir. Seems they are a skeleton crew.
right. Falo! Take as much security personall as Nesnaj can spare without compromising the security with the Klingons in the brigg. Take them in a few shuttles to the edge of their shields. I have noticed their shields go down to 9% as they fire their plasma cutter beam. This is not enough to beam through but with the shields set to 117% you can get through with the shuttles. From the shuttles you can then beam onto the Klingon destroyer from within their shields. Nesnaj, go with him, and lead the second shuttle. Take the vessel if possible, destroy it if not.
Naj Treeg, I ll reroute power to the rear shields as we pass right over the top. As soon as the torpedoes and phasers have fired pull up so our rear is exposed. This maneuver should coincide with the moment the shuttles reach their destination, near the destroyers s shields.
Christ looked around to see that Falo and Nesnaj had already left. Ezri had beaten him to it and rerouted the shield power already. In the time it took to get the shuttles launched the destroyer and the Deuzige were involved in a deadly dance.
The destroyer attempting to hit the Galaxy class with the plasma beam and their photon torpedoes, and the Galaxy twisting and turning to keep out of the beam and into a good position to launch the shuttles.
Then 4 shuttles suddenly shot out of the Deuzige s shuttle bays and emediately it turned and swooped down on the destroyer, It fired all torpedoes and phasers on it, hitting it s shields. The destroyer answered by firing it s plasma beam as expected, allowing the shuttles through it s shields.
The plasma beam hit the Deuzige with a vengeance though, cuttling of a huge slice of it s left nuycell and a big slice of the saucersection. Emerency force fields were all that kept the deuzige from flying apart.
The damage to the USS Deuzige was extensive as you can see!
On the battlebridge the damage was extensive. Part of the ceiling had come down but miraculously there were no injuries on the battlebridge, Though a relief, Christ soon realized that the battlebridge may be the only place where there were no casualties. If Falo and Nesnaj were to fail He shrugged of the thought as another one came in his brain.
EZRI! WHERE ARE YOU! EZRI! Christ yelled. From below a small pile of metal some movement could be heard, Then the pile moved. I am so damn lucky the building materials are so light! Ezri s voice could be heard. Then her face appeared from the pile. She stood up and smiled at Christ. Thanks for worrying! she said. Can you get me some info on the boarding parties? he asked, hoping to mask his real reasons for yelling out so uncontrolled when he saw Ezri s console empty.
Yes sir, I ll get right on it she answered as she went to her console. She wiped clear the controls and display and punched In some codes. As she was answering the comms officer broke the silence. Sir, Commander Itarac and Lt. Commander Odu report victory sir. The Klingon vessel is under our control and all Klingon survivors are in custady. He reported.
A great chear went up muffling the latter part of the report and only Christ seemed to hear it, Casualties are light sir, 7 dead, 8 injured. All original crew sir. It hit Christ like a ton of bricks, He had sent people to their deaths before but they were people that knew him, That were people who could decide for themselves if he was worth following to their deaths. These 7 never knew Christ, and Christ never knew them. Somehow that hit Christ harder, instead of less hard as one would expect.
He regained his composure as he noticed the crew staring at him for not cheiring, Falo, Nesnaj, secure the vessel. Mr. Idamha start repairs on essential systems at once. We need a report on ships status asap. Lerak, you ll beam aboard the destroyer as soon as it s safe and start putting a report together on it s status, We might hitch a ride on it. Mr. Lecheim inform Starfleet of our little adventure, and ask for instructions. Mrs. Ejtellurp start assisting the ships doctor in medical and when done, see what you can do for the injured klingons. They ll wanna die but that s no option. Christ spewed out the orders. I ll be I n my quarters. Staff meeting in 2 hours in the battle bridge ready room. He continued and sped off out of the battle bridge. He looked around and found he was alone. Then he fell to his knees and started shivering as he realized how close they d come to destruction with that last, provoked, plasma cutter beam hit. He wondered how many he d killed in that move.
Tough job eh? he heard a voice from behind him. He looked up to see councellor Lucyanna standing behind him. He got up to his feet and tried to regain a Captains composure. Don t worrie yourself with that around me captain. I know how you feel, and you cannot hide it from me. You and I have a connection somehow. I know what you feel as if your broadcasting it on all frequencies. As they walked through the rubble to Christ s quarters.
She looked at him with a smile as she felt he wanted to protest but realized it s futility. You did well. You saved the vessel, and all of our lives. I know it s tough, but if my guess is right youre gonna have to deal with feelings like this more often, It s a big vessel, with a lot of people we re going to. You re gonna make the desiscions for 100 s instead of a few dozen. This is just a pretaste of what can happen when you re commanding this vessel. But don t worrie, I ll keep a close eye on you. Lucyanna said and they both sat down. Very well. How d I do? Emotionally speaking. Christ asked,
You ve performed better than average in that situation. Falo wouldn t have made it though. I don t think he s up to the task. He s still to much preoccupied with missing the command chair. Lucyanna answered. You ve senced this when we were in battle with the Klingons? Christ asked her. No, he wasn t senced by me today, just yesterday during dinner. Lucyanna answered on a businesslike tone. Well, we had a talk about it before the attack began. I think he understands, and excepts it for now. He does have a complete hull section of his own. Christ told Lucyanna as the comm. Chime sounded. Excuse me councellor . Starfleet requires my attention. I ll talk to you at the briefing. Dismissed.
Christ turned and answered the high priority/security message.