A Long Way Home
"Slow to one half impulse and begin scanning" the officer said. "Bridge to Captain. Sir, we've reached the next set of co-ordinates and have commenced scanning. No sign of Dominion activity"
"Very well… Order Dorsetshire, Norfolk and Suffolk to begin scanning their own areas" the Captain ordered.
"Yes, Ma'am" his First Officer closed the link and passed on the orders. The Rodney slowed and began its sensor sweeps.
#
"Report!" Naomi ordered over the alarms going off on the Bridge.
"We have lost warp drive" Icheb said. "Terminus of the wormhole is in thirteen seconds. We will loose our warp field in ten seconds"
"Divert all power to the shields" Naomi said. "Do we still have impulse power?" she asked.
"Yes"
"Good. Activate impulse drive. All ahead full"
"You can not activate the impulse drive whilst at warp speed"
"I don't see that we have much of a choice. If we do it, and survive, we'll retard the slowdown from warp"
"Activating impulse drive. Impulse reading full ahead" Azan said.
"Look on the bright side" Naomi said, "If this goes pear shaped, then we'll all be the brightest thing in the universe" and Icheb wondered if his friend was being serious or not. "Brace for wash"
"That" Icheb said dryly as he held tightly to his console, "Goes without saying"
#
The Vorta was one of those that had long experience in battle with the Federation in the name of The Gods. He stood on the Bridge of the Battleship in charge of a large group of other warships.
"Sir" the senior Jem'Hadar spoke. "The Federation ships are no match for us. They are merely survey vessels with one small cruiser serving as a flagship"
"Have they detected us?" the Vorta asked.
"No"
"Then, in the name of The Gods, we attack!" and both Vorta and Jem'Hadar smiled at the prospect of fighting their enemy.
#
"Some people would hate scanning, but at least it makes a change from fighting" the Helm officer said, swinging the Rodney around to a new heading. "Personally, I rather enjoy the–"
"Commander, I am detecting a large number of vessels entering the system" the Tactical Officer said.
"It's okay. There is supposed to be a large allied fleet moving through this sector. What ships?"
"I read three Battleships, seven Cruiser types and numerous fighter sized ships. They appear to be…" the Tactical Officer gasped. "Red Alert! All hands, man your stations"
"What is it?" asked the Commander.
"Twelve Dominion vessels entering their weapons range… And all are cleared to engage"
"Shit… Get a message to the nearest Starbase and to all nearby ships. Tell them we are engaging the Dominion and that we require assistance"
"They are jamming subspace" the Operations officer said as other crew members began to arrive.
"Lock on phasers, load torpedo tubes and prepare to open fire" the Commander looked at the main screen that showed a battle that she had no chance of winning. "Open a channel to the leading vessel. Order them to come to a complete stop and to surrender their vessels"
"No reply"
"Order the survey vessels to get out as fast as possible" the Captain said, exiting the turbolift and heading for her seat.
"Can't contact them, Sir" said an officer. "All communications are being jammed"
"Damn… Lock on the main enemy warship and prepare to engage. Try to disable their jamming equipment"
#
"Re–" Naomi coughed as she crawled to a sitting position on the deck. "Report!" she cried – and wished she hadn't as she was wracked with coughing fits from a sore throat and the girl winced from bruises and a number of broken bones. She had no doubt about internal injuries. When nobody answered her, she looked around and placed herself near the Ops station. It was clear she had been picked up, slammed into the bridge ceiling, tossed down hard and then slammed around some more. Ignoring the searing pain that coursed like electricity though her body, Naomi got to her feet and tore debris off the console. The Bridge was filled with smoke and debris from overloaded and exploded consoles, small fires and a large section of the ceiling near to the dome. "Computer, vent the smoke on the bridge" she was surprised t hear fans struggle into life before they started to vent the smoke and poisonous fumes from the bridge. "Computer, position report"
"Position is 16452 by 33220"
"Are we clear of the nebula?"
"Affirmative. This ship is 2 miles outside the cloud boundary"
"Very well" Naomi struggled to work through the pain. "Damage report"
"Main drive systems are offline. Life support systems are critically damaged. Multiple hull breaches across all decks. Hull integrity is at 24%. Partial computer system loss. Shields are offline. Aft torpedo magazine has exploded. Aft torpedo launchers are offline. Forward torpedo magazine is unresponsive. Forward torpedo launchers are online. Forward phaser banks are online. Thrusters are online but severely weakened. Magnetic containment is at 15%. Sensor resolution has been reduced to 46%"
"Are my friends alive?"
"Please restate question"
"Scan the Bridge. How many people are alive?"
"Five" and some relief flooded into Naomi at the thought of not having just lost her friends.
"Status"
"They are coming round. Azan and Icheb have plasma burns which will require treatment"
"Can we manoeuvre?" asked Naomi.
"The Helm console has been disabled"
"Reroute Helm to Auxiliary Console"
"Acknowledged"
"Is the Automatic Helm online?"
"Yes"
"Plot us a course from our current position to the nearest Federation planet, colony or Starbase"
"Acknowledged"
"What happened?" Rebi groaned.
"Well we sort of made it" Naomi worked to safeguard what systems still working.
"Sort of?"
"We're going to need to break out the mallets to get the dints out" Naomi hissed through the pain that shot through her. Over the course of the next ten minutes they tried to pick themselves up and check the systems themselves.
"Naomi, sensors reveal a large concentration of vessels up ahead at the edge of reduced range" Mezoti said.
"Can you identify?" asked Naomi.
"Not at this range. Sensors are next to useless"
"Helm controls are offline" Azan tried working his console but gave it up as a lost hope – moving over to the aft consoles. "At full thruster power, it will take us about twenty seven hours to reach contact area"
"Naomi, if you can spare Rebi from the Bridge, I might be able to restore one half impulse power" Icheb said.
"How?"
"The impulse generators have been either damaged or disabled, but there is an emergency generator located on Deck 9 Section 8 Gamma" the Brunali remembered something that Tom Paris had once told him. "If we were to tie everything apart from shields, phasers and impulse to Voyager's batteries, it would reduce the strain caused by running those systems. Any excess would go towards recharging the batteries"
"That the best you can do?" asked Naomi. "What about the radiation?" she added.
"The generator is in a section where this is a hull breach, so it has been mainly vented out into space. However, we will observe radiation safety protocols at all times" and Icheb and Rebi left to go down the Jefferies tubes to carry out their work.
"Computer, load forward torpedo bays" Naomi ordered. "Then, cut power to the loading systems"
Acknowledged it replied. Naomi was going to look over Engineering when she paused and held Mezoti's gaze.
"Mez, I want you to start preparations for abandoning ship"
"WHAT?"
"I want to be ready to get clear if the worst comes to the worst" Naomi said. "Even if the ejection system goes off, we can at least live in the escape pod until somebody find us" she stated to her somewhat battered friend.
#
"REPORT!" the Captain yelled over the screaming alarms.
"Shields have failed. Forward phaser banks are offline. Forward torpedo tubes are jammed. We've got multiple hull breaches on decks 2 through 14. Emergency forcefields are not working" the Commander said.
"Helm, get us out of here, maximum warp"
"Warp drive offline"
"Sirs, I have another starship coming in"
"Dominion?" asked the Captain
"Federation Starfleet… Intrepid Class" came the reply from the Tactical Officer
"Identify"
"Her IFF beacon is offline. She's… Oh my god… I'm reading hull breaches on all decks and all sections. That thing is a wreck, Sir"
"We are being hailed – text only"
"What do they say?"
"They say for us to get out. They are going to give us covering fire until we can warp away" and the surviving Bridge crew watch as the unknown vessel closed the distance.
"Orders?" asked the First Officer. The Captain watched the ship for several more moments before shaking his head.
"Reverse course – bring us about" he ordered. "Send a message to that ship:- 'Good Luck and Good Hunting'. Bridge to Engineering, concentrate on aft shielding" then looked back at the Tactical Officer. "Train every sensor you can on that ship. Record every scrap of data. Whoever is flying that ship is either brave, stupid or both"
#
"They have complied" Azan said. Voyager had crept up to the battle site on minimal power without any problems or without being spotted until they sent a message to the other Starfleet vessel.
"Alright" said Naomi. "Icheb, target leading vessel. Prepare to open fire"
"Aye"
"Azan, new course! 211 mark 45 – one half impulse"
"Naomi, sensors reveal the leading ship is heavily armoured and will not be in danger from our weapons" Mezoti said.
"I know" Naomi said. Getting up from her chair, she put one hand on Azan's shoulder. "I relieve you" she said. "Icheb, link the firing controls to the Helm. Abandon ship"
"What?" Icheb's voice squeaked.
"We can only hope to serve as a distraction to the Dominion before we're destroyed. By that time, the other ship should have warped out and informed Starfleet" Naomi said. "I'll give you covering fire for as long as possible"
"You once told us that friendship meant you stayed" Rebi said.
"I'm going to ram them… We'll all be killed"
"Then" Mezoti said solemnly, "We shall die together" and Naomi burst into tears as her only female friend hugged her tightly.
"Icheb? Is there any way to increase power to the phasers?"
"We can take the safety devices off" he said, "But that will only give us three or four shots before burnout"
"Not enough to takeout the thing" Rebi said.
"It is if we fire all the shots in rapid succession and attack the aft shields" Azan said. "They have to be weaker to allow plasma to pass through – same as on any vessel. If not, then we'll close to point blank range and fire the torpedoes before we ram" he added with a shrug.
"Disengage the safeties" Naomi ordered. "Fire a single shot to see if their shields go down by any great margin" and Icheb nodded and worked his console hurriedly. The nearest Dominion vessel fired on them and Voyager rocked badly under the assault.
"Starboard nacelle has been hit. We're venting drive plasma" Rebi said.
"Lock it down" Naomi ordered.
"I can't" Rebi pounded his console in frustration. "Nacelle controls are fried…"
"Safety systems disengaged" Icheb reported. "Targeting aft section of Dominion Battleship… Firing" and a single beam shot out from the battered starship and impacted on the Battleship – impacting directly on the hull. "They've got no shields!" the Brunali exclaimed.
"Target their impulse drives"
"Already done"
"Then what are you waiting for?" Naomi grinned at him. "Fire on them" and two more beams lanced out and hit the Dominion vessel as Voyager took more hits to the already shattered frame. "Their impulse drive has been disabled"
"Icheb, I believe I have found their engineering section" Mezoti said. "I am passing the coordinates to you now"
"Got them" Icheb looked at his friend and Captain. "I have two shots left" he said. "I can target it, but then we would not be able to fire phasers again"
"Are they enough to break the hull for torpedoes?" asked Rebi.
"In theory" said Icheb, "But this ship contains many advanced hull armour designs in different places"
"Fighters closing to point blank range" Mezoti said. More and more alarms sounded over the devastated Bridge as systems demanded attention.
"Hull integrity down to 12%" Rebi called out sharply. "Life support is down" he added after a huge blast of fire that knocked everyone off their feet.
"Starboard impulse drive is gone" Azan said.
"Can you compensate?" Naomi asked.
"For now" he replied.
"Icheb, lock on and fire at will" and Icheb smiled with evil and pressed the controls and sent torpedoes after the phaser blasts which drilled right into the hull and exploded inside – causing huge amounts of damage. Huge hull segments bulged out before breaking into tiny pieces as the great ship tore itself apart. Small explosions ripped through the vessels
"I do not think it is wise to remain on this course" said Mezoti.
"She's not answering to Helm" Azan said. "Thrusters at full power are having little effect"
"Time to impact?"
"Ten seconds"
"Shields!" Naomi exclaimed. "Get the shields up"
"They knocked out our shields. I can't get them up – system is destroyed"
"Five seconds"
"Brace for impact!" and the group grabbed onto consoles or railings for dear life. Moments later, the leading edge of the saucer section hit the Battleship and kept on going – tearing through the hull like a hot knife through butter. The Battleship, already in the midst of internal explosions ripped apart in a huge fireball as fuel and magazines detonated and burst into flames. On Voyager, the Bridge seemed to be coming apart at the seems as the ceiling collapsed, wires and conduits tumbled to the floor and gas and steam vented from ruptured piping.
"Hull integrity is down to 4%" Rebi cried. "We're coming apart"
"Icheb, fire torpedoes" Naomi said. "We need to get out of here"
"One torpedo left" Icheb replied. "Firing" and there was an almighty, final, explosion as the torpedo detonated milliseconds after launching. The wounded starship tore free from the ruins of the Battleship and staggered away.
"Target destroyed" Mezoti said, hissing sharply as she spoke. From what she could guess, she was suffering from broken ribs, cuts and more broken bones. Judging by the state of the others, they had to have sustained at least the same amount of injuries. "Sensors are down" she winced. "I have only one sensor aft online. If I am reading this correctly, the entire fleet is destroyed or disabled"
"Azan, all stop" Naomi ordered. "Damage report"
"Everything is fucked good and proper" Rebi reported. "Life support is down and we're venting oxygen – we've got about three hours left. Also, plasma from the starboard nacelle is leaking into the air circulation systems. Automatic safeguards are not responding. Hull is so badly damaged that even somebody looking at us 400 light years away could finish us off"
"Impulse and warp drive are offline – not that it would do us much good" Azan said. "We're dead in the water" he added for complete understanding.
"No power, no life support, no engines… No way to contact Starfleet" Icheb listed everything wrong. Naomi leant back in the chair and ignored the pain that was over most of her body. The light headedness and the warm feeling around her feet indicated she was losing blood. If they had the Sickbay, they'd put her in a status pod. Status pod…? Escape pod!
"The escape pod!" she said suddenly. "It has an independent communication system – it has to. We get down there, sit inside and issue a distress call. Starfleet will hear it and send us a rescue party"
#
"… so we left" said the Captain.
"We contacted Starfleet Operations for information and position reports for all Intrepid class starships" Captain Sisko said. "However, they said that all vessels are accounted for. Intrepid is docked for repairs at Starbase 23, Bellerophon's on a patrol of the Fanfictional sector, Balboa is working up after a refit, D.J. Dickweed is part of Task Force 6.925 and Voyager appears to be missing - presumed destroyed. We're performing tests on the images you got in your sensor logs, but that may take some time"
"Ops to Captain Sisko"
"Go ahead" the bald, black man said.
"Captain, Starfleet just relayed a subspace distress call from an escape pod in the area of the Rodney's engagement" the businesslike tone of his second in command, Kira Nerys, came through the intercom.
"Do they know who it is?" asked Sisko.
"It was too garbled and sounded like children speaking"
"Then the Dominion must be getting desperate to try and trick us with calls from children" Sisko said, but noticed the Rodney's Captain going very pale. "Hold on, Colonel" and muted the link. "Something you want to say?" he asked.
"I used to work at Headquarters – assigned to Admiral Paris's staff on Project Watson. As I recall, Voyager was being manned by the daughter of one of the original crew and some children of the Delta Quadrant. If that is them, then we have got to go and save them"
"I couldn't have said anything else" Sisko agreed. "Colonel, have the Defiant prepared for departure. Contact the Ark Royal, Invincible and Illustrious and have them follow us"
"Captain?"
"I'll explain later. Sisko out. Sisko to Bashir, report to the Defiant"
"On my way"
"Captain, with permission, I would like to come with you" Rodney's Captain spoke with a glimmer of emotion. "I owe them my ship, my crew and my own life. If there is a chance of being able to save them, then I want to be there"
"You're welcome to join us" Sisko led the way out of the office he used and hurried to the Turbolift. Kira, Dax and O'Brian joined the two Captains. "Defiant" he said to the turbolift. "And hurry"
#
"Twelve hours of oxygen left" Icheb feebly hit the escape pod's console.
"Anything out there?" asked Naomi.
"Nothing but debris" said Mezoti. "Some lumps have whole compartments with good pressure… Hang on a minute" she tapped a few buttons and read the readouts. "Naomi, the engineering section on one of the Fighters appears to be nearly intact. If we can remotely link to the Flyer's transporter array, we can beam aboard and scavenge for any oxygen tanks"
"Is that possible?" asked Naomi sleepily.
"Beaming over is possible, yes, but we do not know if there is anything there. There might also be Jem'Hadar there as well inside the sealed compartments"
"Can't you tell?"
"Not with these sensors" and Naomi thought about it.
"Okay… Me, Icheb and the twins will go aboard" she said. "You stay here to operate the link"
"I would rather go with you" Mezoti said quickly.
"But you are broken inside" said Naomi. "And you can keep an eye on the sensors in case anybody comes looking around"
"It has been three weeks" said Azan. "I am not holding out much hope"
"Nor am I" said his twin. Icheb reached into a storage compartment and took out a number of phasers and rifles.
"We do not know what we may encounter in the wreckage" he said as he handed them out. "We should take precautions" he added. After linking up the pod's computers to the one in the Flyer, Naomi, Icheb, Azan and Rebi beamed aboard the sealed section of the Fighter.
#
"Range to the battle site?" Sisko asked.
"Fifteen hours" Dax reported.
"Mr Worf, any news from Starfleet Command?"
"Only that they confirm images suggest Voyager as being the only ship possible of being there" the Klingon replied.
"We need to go faster" said Sisko.
"Benjamin, we're running at maximum warp. Any faster and we'll blow up the core"
"Chief?"
"I'm running over the redline as it is, sir, and there isn't any more that we can do" the Irishman said.
"Very well… Maintain course and speed"
#
"More bodies here" said Azan. "I'd say that they all killed themselves"
"It is the same here" said Icheb over the com.
"Rebi reporting. Is anybody in any section aft of me?"
"No" said Naomi.
"Then something else is aboard with us"
"Where are you?" asked Naomi.
"Engine room" came the reply. "I was looking into doing something here and I saw and heard movement"
"Explain" said Icheb.
"A box fell over, I turned around and saw some sort of gold and pink mass becoming humanoid and hurrying away"
"Phaser rifles" Naomi ordered. "Wide area stun. Rebi, hold position until relieved. Icheb, Azan? Meet me in the engine room"
"What do you believe this thing is?" asked Icheb.
"A changeling" Naomi said. "Away team to Mezoti"
"Here"
"I want you to beam a couple of plasma grenades to the Engine Room of the wreck" Naomi ordered her friend. "We might have a Changeling aboard" she said.
# # # # #
"This is the last of the sections" Icheb said. He brought his phaser rifle up, not easily done in a suit, and aimed at the door – as did the others. They had spent two hours going through each section of the wreckage checking each compartment.
"Ready?" Naomi looked around and saw the three boys nodding in confirmation. "Three, two, one… FIRE!" and they blasted and melted the hatch into pieces. Azan and Rebi tossed in two small cyclindrical objects.
"Grenades!" Rebi shouted. They moved out the way of the opened hatch and then felt the rumble of the explosion and saw the fireball rushing out. The second it died, the four of them swung back round and fired into the space. Three of them four beams hit the bulkhead on the other side – the forth hit something before that.
Something that moved…
Acting fast, Azan, Icheb and Naomi joined Rebi in firing onto the object which screamed in pain before melting and turning humanoid – taking the vague appearance of a female.
"Solids" it hissed. "Let me go or I shall destroy you"
"I am Naomi Wildman, Captain, USS Voyager. I am placing you under arrest for crimes against sentient life" Naomi said. "You are also charged with being one of the persons behind the slaughter of thousands of innocent men, women and children on colony worlds and starships"
"Slaughter?" the Changeling laughed. "I merely had them put out of their miserable existences"
"You ordered the murders, and you will stand trial for them. You will come with us to Voyager where you will be placed in the Brig" the female changeling simply laughed and started to morph – only to be halted by four blasts from four phaser rifles. "Ain't life a bitch?" Naomi fired again and elicited a gasp of pain from the entity. "Naomi to Mezoti. Do we have power to the Brig?"
"Yes"
"Lock on to the area twelve feet away from me and beam it directly to the Brig – full shielding"
"Aye" and the changeling was taken away.
"What will you do with her?" asked Icheb. "She may turn into something that can create a way out of the Brig"
"On a dead ship?" Naomi snorted. "Rebi, what were you working on?" she asked.
"According to readouts of the consoles in the Engine Room, the damage to the ship was not as bad as first thought. Although the forward compartments were either destroyed or shattered and breached, the rear is in very good condition indeed. From what I could gather, most systems remain operational"
"Do you propose that we remain onboard here until Starfleet arrives?" asked his twin.
"Yes"
"Actually" said Icheb, "I have had a better idea. If all systems remain operational, we could put a tractor beam on Voyager and tow her towards the nearest Starbase"
"Like a tug" Naomi mused. "Can it be done?"
"Voyager took a terrible amount of punishment, but the space-frame was not broken. It was certainly cracked, but the main frames are unbroken. Given a couple of hours work, we could have it set up and be on our way"
"You mean…"
"Your mother and Captain Janeway would both say 'We are not finished yet'. More to the point Voyager is not finished. If what Rebi says is true, we can spend the time on tow to Earth fixing some of her systems"
"We owe it" said Azan, "To those that could not complete the journey" and Naomi felt hot, salty tears running down from her face.
"Lets… Lets get to work then" she sniffed. "Naomi to Mezoti. Beam us directly to Engineering"
# # # # #
"Contact! Sensor contact dead ahead. Range is two light years" Kira said.
"On screen" Sisko ordered. The main screen blinked on and showed what was being picked up on sensors. "Maximum magnification" he said, and the screen zoomed in to reveal hundreds of Dominion vessels of all sorts. He also spotted a number of Galor class vessels from the Cardassian Union, and all that added up to a huge problem.
"Red Alert! All hands stand to Battlestations. Transfer auxiliary power to forward shields" Rodney's Captain, a man named Keith Glimmer, gave the orders out of habit. Sisko had no issue with it as it merely saved him from saying it.
"Mr Worf, target leading destroyers – prepare to open fire" Sisko settled into his command chair. "Captain, would you care to take Aux Fire Control?" and Glimmer nodded and hurried to the starboard side – settling into the seat and scanning the console readouts.
"You do remember how to fire phasers?" Worf leant over and spoke quietly.
"Excuse me?"
"A joke, Captain. A joke told to me by an old friend of mine"
"Incoming message" said Dax. "They order a surrender"
"Tell them that we don't have the facilities to accept their surrender" Sisko said. "Defiant to all vessels – prepare to engage the enemy"
And So Then Did The Battle Did Begin…
#
"Tractor beam holding at 100% power" Icheb reported.
"We are at station keeping" Rebi said. "Impulse online. All speeds through Warp 9 at your command"
"Ready to enter course" Azan said.
"New course 030 mark 52" Naomi said. "Warp 5 engage!" and the broken aft section of the Fighter jumped to warp, dragging the shattered wreck of Voyager behind it.
"Estimate time to Sector 001 at 3 weeks" Azan said.
"Ready to beam us over?" asked Naomi. The plan was to regain basic control of Voyager's systems and then work at fixing the thrusters. Naomi was determined to make port under her own power.
"Ready" Mezoti said. She was still not healed, the others having only basic medical help available to them, so she was staying behind to operate the transporters and man the Engine Room of the Fighter. Once the four had sealed their suit helmets up and picked up tools, Naomi nodded at her friend who manipulated the controls. A few seconds later, and the four were standing on Voyager's decks again. Mezoti had placed them outside the half broken doors of Engineering.
"Naomi to Mezoti. Transport complete. We're entering Engineering now. We'll call you later. Naomi out" and she muted but did not close the channel.
"Our aim should be to restore battery power" Icheb said. "We may then be able to restore emergency lighting in the impulse reactor room"
"Agreed" Naomi said and pushed the doors fully off – falling to the ground in silence. Beyond lay the ruins of the heart of the ship – sitting in a dark and airless vacuum. "Here" Naomi shone her suit torch towards the decking and stepped over debris and round holes – ending up at a very small console. "Give me the generator" she ordered. Rebi held it as Naomi bent down, ripped a panel off and tossed it to one side. Taking a cable, she removed a small cover and plugged it in.
"Power transfer complete" said Azan. "I am attempting to bring emergency lighting on in here" and he pressed a few buttons. "Most systems are fried, Naomi Wildman. The main computer core has been heavily damage and the secondary processors are destroyed"
"Can you reroute?"
"I am attempting to do so now"
"Naomi, this console appears to be locked into the last screen it was displaying before power was lost" Icheb was a few consoles down. "If this reading is correct, sensors registered huge amounts of radiation in the impulse reactor units. The damage itself is not substantial, taking a mere fifteen minutes to complete according to estimates, but the person that goes in there will not survive that long"
"Do you know how to fix the damage?" Naomi asked.
"Yes"
"Then tell me how to do it" Naomi stood up and walked towards a dark shadowy area.
"Am I to understand you are going to perform something stupid?" asked Icheb.
"Yes" said Naomi. "You and the others have got so much knowledge… I am just a little girl. The ship is yours" and she made to move away when a hand touched her shoulder.
"I will go in your place, Naomi Wildman"
"This is mutiny"
"This is friendship"
"You really care about me, don't you?"
"We care greatly about you" said Rebi. "You are our friend"
"There may be another way to remove the radiation" Azan said.
"How?" Naomi thought that sacrificing herself would be the only option.
"We take small explosive charges from the armoury and place them at certain locations of the hull. Once detonated, the radiation, for the most part, should be vented out to space. Whatever it left will be taken care of by the suits. We all swore to get this ship back to the Federation and that is what we will do"
"Of course we sort of already are in federation space" Azan pointed out.
"Smart ass" Naomi sniffed. "Once we get the reactor running and some lighting restored, we should look at getting Sickbay useable so we can operate on Mezoti"
"The reactor may not be able to power the Sickbay equipment" Rebi cautioned. "However, if we took a number of portable power packs with us to Sickbay, then we'd be covered in terms of power supply"
"Icheb?"
"The theory is sound, but it is unproven"
"Well… Well we'll just have to work on the fly"
"I believe Ensign Kim would have said 'What else is new?'. There is a power pack storage room on that deck. I could inspect them and also gain entry to Sickbay and examine the medicines. With the radiation flooding the ship, it may have been contaminated. If that is the case, then we may lose Mezoti"
"Ain't going to happen" said Naomi, shaking her head. "Alright… Work out where to put the charges. Azan, isolate one of the consoles here and try a restart. See if you can get some computer control – even if it is just damage control boards"
"Aye"
"I will comply"
"Rebi, you come with me and see main EPS conduits are usable in any way. We're going to need to see if the things will hold up"
"A moment" Azan said, frowning in confusion and thought. "The Delta Flyer is powered up after a complete shutdown via the shuttlebay power supply"
"Right"
"What if we simply reversed that? The ship has been sitting there with little to do. It may be possible to reverse the flow of power and use the Delta Flyer to get some main power running. Should that be achieved, it would reduce our repair time for minimal repairs"
"Mezoti to away team"
"This is Icheb. Go ahead"
"The sensors on the Flyer are showing a large battle up ahead – directly on our course" and Naomi swore.
"How long until we reach the coordinates?"
"Three hours and fifteen minutes"
"Then we have three hours to get thrusters and at least one phaser bank working"
"Excuse for asking, but do you mean to partake in this battle?" asked Icheb.
"This is still my ship, Icheb. Moreover so, she is still a Starfleet vessel, legally under weigh and is still in commission. I intend to restore the ability to manoeuvre and engage the enemy per Starfleet General Orders"
"Aye, Aye, Captain"
"I don't care about what things are designed to do – just what they can do. Mezoti, slow down to full impulse. I don't want to get too close too early"
"Aye"
"Lets get to work"
#
Two hours later, the four members of the crew stood in the darkened cavern of Engineering. They had managed to get some of the deck level emergency lights up and running, but the ones in Engineering had all been fried when the main power grid went offline.
"Running checks now" said Azan. He and his twin had managed to isolate a few of the consoles had rerouted the pathways to run through the isoliner chip circuits and restarted 25% of the secondary processors. It gave them just gravity, some lighting, life support and they had ripped parts from all over the ship to enable them to restart the core. "Checks complete"
"Start the core"
"Starting" Icheb said. Naomi looked towards the giant warp core and it flickered into a dull blue and gold swirl before become more powerful and brighter. "The core has been restarted. I am reading 27% of rated power"
"That will do" Naomi said. "Do we have forcefields?"
"Yes"
"Then grab hold of something solid" Naomi waited until her friends had done so before pressing a button on her tricorder three times. The deck rumbled as the explosives detonated and blew fresh holes in the hull and in various corridors and sections.
"Its working" Azan said. "Radiation at 6000 Rads and dropping"
"I am deploying Elinor compound to help lower the radiation"
"Don't bother with the area around the Brig" Naomi said.
"The Changeling is there. It may be caused some harm"
"Oh dear…" Naomi rolled her eyes. "And what harm do you think it has done to all those people…? If I remember class correctly, the radiation levels will only make it uncomfortable. I am not going to actually kill it, Icheb"
"You aim to keep it in a state that prevents it from changing shape"
"Yes" Naomi said. "Also, if we encounter any Dominion vessels, they will think twice about firing on their precious Founder" and Icheb wondered, not for the first time, what sort of person Naomi would become if she came up with brilliant ideas like that. He regretted the fact they had all had to grow up too soon as he would have liked Naomi to have some sort of happy childhood.
"We will need to patch the starboard nacelle"
"We'll use what we have lying in scrap. It doesn't have to look pretty – just get the job done and hold" Naomi said. "Or we could shove Leola Root into the holes" she giggled.
"We could put some in a torpedo casing and fire it at the Dominion" suggested Azan.
"I believe that that would be classed as biogenic warfare" Mezoti said from the Fighter.
"Bugger" Naomi said. "Bring us to a full stop, Mez. We're going to need to do some EVA activity to patch the starboard nacelle. Rebi, how much drive plasma do we have?"
"150 Litres" he replied. "However, much if that has rendered inert because of radiation contamination"
"Can we run with the one good nacelle?"
"In theory, it is indeed possible. However" Icheb warned her, "It was not even tried on the shakedown cruise"
"But it is possible, correct?"
"Yes. However, it was always assumed the nacelle went down after a stable warp field had been established"
"What was the top speed in the studies?"
"Warp 2.3" Azan said.
"Better then nothing" Naomi shrugged in her suit.
"I suggest that we work on restoring emergency systems first" said Rebi. "We have a perfectly functional warp drive towing us… Our aim should be to restore the Structural Integrity Field and deflectors"
"You're right"
"Thank you"
"First of all… Lets get Sickbay sorted out. We need to perform an operation"
