Chapter 3
Nyota was sprawled on the floor in front of the bulkhead. She sat up. Her ears were ringing and her neck was sore. The emergency lights let off an eerie red glow. Nyota could never understand why emergency lights were not blue or white to help people see more clearly. Nyota looked over at the man who had been seated next to her. His head was facing the window in an unnatural manner and his body was facing her. She shuddered as she reached over to check his pulse.
"Sir, are you all right?" she asked.
It was obvious that he wasn't. If he wasn't dead, he was internally decapitated. His head was nearly twisted off his body. He did not respond. However, he did have a pulse and he was breathing. Nyota pulled off her peacoat and put it over him.
"I need help over here." She said.
Nyota turned around. Most of the other passengers were unconscious or dead. She took a deep breath, stood up, and walked around the bulkhead. The entire front end of the transport was compressed by the other transport. Both drivers were dead. There was no access to the door. She walked towards the back, stepping over a tangled mass of bodies. There was nothing she could do for these folks other than to get help, and she needed to get above ground for that.
Nyota managed to squeeze through a broken window and get off the transport. There were a few people walking on the rails headed back toward San Francisico.
"Wait, you are going the wrong way." She said.
"How do you know?" A man said.
"It is a thirty-five minute ride from San Francisco to the Sausalito station. I was reading for fifteen minutes. She did the math in her head.
"That means we traveled about six miles. There are only three miles or so from the Sausalito station." She said.
"There is a light back there." Another man pointed. "It is probably the end of the tunnel." He said.
Nyota shook her head, waved her hand and walked away. She had walked for fifteen minutes when she noticed the leaks dripping down the walls. She looked down at the ground and noticed the water pooling on the rails. It was moving in the direction of the transports, but that would be of little comfort if the tunnel flooded.
"Shoot!" Nyota said.
Nyota reached into her pack and looked at the padd. It had been an hour since she left work. Calculating the ride to the tunnel, the time on the transport after the crash, and the time spent walking, Nyota estimated that she was ten minutes from the station.
Nyota broke into a trot and continued. She was frightened and alone in a tunnel under the bay. She jogged for ten minutes longer until she saw the crowded platform. There were people, police, and firefighters milling about.
"Hey, there is a woman," someone cried, pointing at her.
The firefighters shouted, "Get off the rails."
Nyota looked around and saw the water coming toward her. She had no place to go. The platform was at least thirty yards away.
Nyota felt her lungs burning as they strained for more oxygen. Her sides seized in pain. She looked over her shoulders. The water was now ten yards behind her, and the platform twenty yards ahead. She wasn't going to make it, no matter how fast she ran.
Suddenly, a tall figure jumped down on the rails. He dashed toward her and tossed her over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. When he reached the platform, he tossed her up to the firefighters, who caught her. Then he leaped up onto the platform just as the water rushed by. The lights dimmed, and the eerie red lights glowed as the power shorted out.
"We have lost power." The fire captain said. She walked over and said, "How many were with you?"
"The transport was full, but most of the people were dead or unconscious. I saw at least a dozen people on the rails. I tried to get them to follow me, but they wanted to walk back to the other end of the tunnel." Nyota said haplessly.
"Damn fools," the captain said.
"The folks on the transports might survive, but the ones on the rails…" she shook her head.
"Why were there two transport on the same rail?" Nyota asked.
The fire captain shook her head. "We think folks were distracted by the eclipse and forgot to flag the outbound transport when it reached Sausalito."
"Do you need transportation home?" the firefighter asked.
Nyota looked for her wallet. "Oh, no," Nyota said.
"I put my peacoat over the guy sitting next to me. He was badly hurt." Nyota rolled her eyes.
"I will provide transportation. You are a student at the academy, are you not?" The tall man asked.
Nyota turned and looked into the eyes of the tall stranger who had helped her. He was wearing a blue beanie a blue Starfleet Academy sweatshirt and sweatpants. She cleared her throat and looked around. The police and firefighters were focused on pumping the water to reach the injured passengers.
"Are you weird?" she asked, giving him the side eye.
"On occasion, but I think perhaps it is because I have a different culture." He replied.
"Me too. I am from Kenya. My name is Nyota Uhura. I am not a cadet, not that I haven't tried." She replied.
"Have you?" he asked.
Nyota sighed. "This is my fourth application. I think it might be my last. I am thinking of heading back to Kenya. Maybe I can get into grad school. I have 4.5 GPA."
"Engineering?" he asked.
"At one point, then I switched to physics." She replied. "How did you know?"
"The sciences use a different grade scale." He replied.
"Ms. Uhura, I will provide you with transportation." He held out his arm and Nyota followed him up the stairs. He led her over to a sporty vehicle.
"Wait, if you have a car, why were you in the transport station?" Nyota asked.
"I heard that there had been an accident and thought I could be of assistance." He replied.
Nyota took a step back.
"If you don't trust me, I will provide your car fare." He said.
"Well, I would feel like a heel taking your money, but a girl can never be too safe," she said.
"I agree. I would like my mother or my cousins to do the same." He pulled out his wallet and handed her a silver credit chip.
Nyota's eyes widened as he dropped the chip onto her palm.
"Wow, I don't think I need this much, sir," Nyota swallowed hard.
"Ms. Uhura, you have lost your wallet. You will need food and incidentals while you are waiting to retrieve your credentials."
He hailed a car service and helped Nyota in.
"Thank you, I didn't get your name," Nyota said.
"You are welcome. My name is Grayson. Get home safe, " He said.
Nyota waved as the car drove off. The handsome stranger went back down to the station to help recover survivors and Nyota's peacoat.
