By the midway through the fourth morning, Larssen knew
she might as well not turn up after lunch. If she managed
an injury, or an illness, she would get an incomplete and have
to wait for the next series to come up, somewhere within
reach of the Enterprise. On the other hand, if she kept
showing up she would get a fail and have to wait anyway.
It would be easier to be able to say that she had been
unable to finish the examinations, rather than admit that
she had failed.
~I'm Enterprise crew,~ she told herself, although it give her
only a shadow of the old comfort, surrounded as she was
by the sound of the other candidates tapping at their
terminals, their bright futures almost tangible in the
otherwise silent room. ~I'm Enterprise crew, and we don't
*take* the easy way out.~
~Unfortunately.~
So it was with a sense of shocked responsibility that she
heard the announcement blare through the speakers in the
fifth afternoon. ~My prayers,~ she thought in that surreal
instant, ~have been answered. God help me.~
All around her, heads snapped up at the interruption, the
unheard of interruption of command examinations.
"Attention, all Starfleet personnel. Attention, all
Starfleet personnel. You are ordered to report to general
quarters immediately. We are at yellow alert. This is not
a drill. Repeat, all Starfleet personnel report to general
quarters immediately. This is not a drill. Condition:
yellow alert."
Those candidates who were actually posted to this station
were already up and moving, and the supervisor made no
move to stop them - the supervisor was picking up hir
PADD and going *with* them, Larssen saw.
"Is the test cancelled?" someone asked, and the examiner
turned hir eyesheafs and gave what might well be a hiss of
exasperation.
"What do *you* think?" Brand said. He was on his feet
as well, although like the other off-base candidates he had
no duty station to report to. He bounced on the balls of his
feet, and turned to Larssen.
"Cory, what should we do? Should we contact the base
HQ and ask-"
"I think base HQ will have their hands full for the
moment." Larssen said, and Brand's face fell. He was
so eager to be out there, *doing* something, that he
seemed slightly brighter than normal, as if excitement
had a visible wavelength. "We stay here until the
corridors clear, and then go back to our quarters,
where they know where to find us. If we're needed,
someone will tell us."
"But-"
"But nothing, Brand." Larssen said calmly. "You don't
step outside this room until I give the order, is that clear?"
He glared at her. "We're not on the ship now." he pointed
out. "You haven't been my commander since we left the
Enterprise."
"In a situation of peril, when normal command structure is
by circumstances unavailable, officers shall -"
"Place themselves under command of the first available
higher ranking officer as seems appropriate, disregarding
such normal considerations as departmental, sectional and
service divisions, leave or sick-list status - unless the
officer is actually incapacitated - and nominal rank.
Emergency Powers Act, Starfleet section, subsection 119,
leave, retirement, sick-list, officers on. Yeah, I know."
Brand said. Larssen wasn't surprised he knew. It had been
a question yesterday. What surprised her was that *she*
knew, when she'd had to leave the answer blank the
previous morning. "Yellow Alert's 'peril', right?"
"I'd say so." Larssen said, and Brand gave her a sudden
sweet grin.
"Yeah, here to serve, they also serve who only stand and wait,
yeah, yeah. Can't blame a guy for trying." he said.
"And you sure are trying, Brand." Janice Rand said. She
looked around, and raised her voice. "Who ranks here?"
There was a pause, as people looked around and
compared their own ranks to the collar pins on those near
them.
"I'm a j-g." said a young man by the door. "Like you two.
There were some full lieutenants and a Lieutenant
Commander here, but they must have ships docked -
they're gone."
"Command experience?" Larssen asked, and the young
man stiffened.
"As much as you, I bet."
"I was hoping you'd have a good deal more." Larssen said
mildly, and he relaxed a little.
"Sorry. I'm Lim - John Lim. I haven't had my own
command before, but I've been a second on a lot of
landing parties."
"Larssen. Pleased to meet you, Mr Lim. Alright."
Larssen said. "N'o and I have done that as well, but not
too many times. Only once, for me, in fact. So I'd say
you're -"
"But Cory-" Brand said. "But - you *have* had command.
Sort of. When -"
"That doesn't count," Larssen started to say, but Lim was
looking at her with his mouth slightly open.
"You're *Cory* Larssen? Of the Enterprise?"
"Yes." Larssen said.
"I saw your name in the decoration gazette!" Lim said.
"Is it true you got the engines on-line single-handedly
while under fire with a hull breach?"
"No." Larssen said. "It's not even remotely true. But yes,
I was the ranking officer in a small repair team."
"Well, then, you should be the commanding officer here,
too! I mean, I've never done anything like *that*, just the
usual beam down and stand around paying attention while
the ranking officer deals with the natives, you know."
"Um, not quite." Larssen said, remembering her last
landing party and the total and comprehensive absence
of any natives, wildlife, or anything much whatsoever
apart from the worst weather she had ever seen in her
life. "I'll take your word for it." She looked at N'o,
head tilted in silent inquiry, and he made a small
gesture of assent. "Okay, everybody, listen up. I am
Lieutenant Corrina Larssen and as most appropriate
ranking officer here I am assuming command for the
duration of the emergency."
Assorted yeomen and ensigns looked at her hopefully.
There were only about 12 left, Larssen realised. "Is there
anybody left here who has a ship in dock or who has a
duty station on this base?"
Head shakes, tentacle flaps, other negative gestures.
"Is anybody here quartered outside Blue Section, deck 9?"
No-one was.
"Okay, good. Brand, check the corridor and see how
busy it is out there. The rest of you, tell off in pairs,
get to know your partner, that is the person you are now
responsible for until the alert is lifted. I expect all of
you to know where your partner is at any time, and I do not
expect any one of you to be out of sight of your partner
for more than three minutes at a time." They were all
nodding: they knew the drill.
"It's pretty empty, ma'am." Brand reported.
"Good." Larssen said. "Brand, with N'o. Ms Rand, with
me. Mr N'o, take the lead, Ms Rand and I will bring up
the rear. Straight to Blue Section."
"Yes'm." came the chorus, and Larssen blinked. She
wondered if they would have been as quick to follow her
orders if she had told them she was reasonably certain she
had been on her way to set an all-time, Starfleet wide
record for low scores in the command examinations. She
wondered if she should in fact tell them all, and step aside
for N'o or Lim. Either one of them was probably more
suited for the job.
But there had been that look in their eyes when she had
named herself. Corrina Larssen, holder of the Comet of
Valour, crew of the Enterprise. The yeomen and ensigns
now filing out the door in front of her might hesitate at an
order from a mere j-g off a different ship, might query it,
but they would never question Comet of Valour Corrina
Larssen.
That was faery gold that vanished into a handful of straw
at sunrise, but while it lasted it could buy the kind of
eager obedience that might conceivably be needed.
If they weren't called on.
If the alert was serious, and they were forgotten.
If the base came under attack.
"I've never heard of a Yellow Alert on a Starbase." Rand
murmured as they left the room together, pausing for
Larssen turn off the lights.
"Neither have I." Larssen said. "Look on it as a good
sign."
"A *good* sign?"
"When things go wrong on a Starbase," Larssen said,
"they either go wrong very slowly, with plenty of time to do
something about it if everybody keeps their heads."
"Or?"
"Or they go wrong very very fast indeed." Larssen said.
"Too fast, for example, to sound the alert."
"Oh." Rand said, and shivered. "I guess it is a good sign,
then."
"Let's look at it that way, shall we?"