Stardate 69011.58
Posted on 20 Mar 2019 @ 1:08am by Lieutenant JG Matthew Plumeri
1,275 words; about a 6 minute read
[Previously]
Last time we saw the Fontalan Orbital bombardment of Nerviai IV…
Back aboard the Bentham, the Captain had lost contact with Engineering. They were taking fire now from the Fontalan fleet and they could no longer control their descent.
=A= Warning! Damage to warp core. Magnetic constrictor systems have failed. Warning! =A= the computer announced.
“Eject the core!” Clarke called.
From outside, the emergency ejection systems, thankfully, were still operational and they dumped the glowing warp core out into space. It sputtered and sparked, then exploded. Sending a shockwave that took out three of the closest ships that were engaged in orbital bombardment.
Captain Clarke, cut and bleeding, burned and with a broken arm now made the final call, “Abandon ship!”
Entering the upper atmosphere now, the Ambassador-class vessel left a smoking trail behind it. And one by one, escape pods holding her crew shot away from the hulking wreckage as it sped faster and faster towards the surface of Nerviai IV.
The bridge had been cut off when the turbolift shaft had ruptured and was venting atmosphere. It took all their strength for the bridge crew to make it to the last bridge lifeboat. As they pulled away from their starship, they felt grateful to be alive. They were sure that now they were safe. The Fontalan ships would rescue them.
And now the continuation…
[ON:]
Volo non fugia
~…oh god…oh god…oh god…hear my prayer…in your mercy…save me oh god!~, the thin and fragile voice said from inside the damaged lifeboat. Inside, the lights flickered on an off as they sparked and sent smoke into the air. The navigation and emergency panels presented only a jumble of images and incoherent data. Smoke…and fear filled the air. Faces, smeared with blood and tears, singed with terror each wore the expectant face of death.
Pursuing one of the few remaining USS Bentham lifeboats was a Fontalan single-man fighter; an Achillobator. Looking like a horned devil, black was its metal frame, two red-tipped phaser cannons glowing hot with hate and emblazoned in white the mark of Pamphato, the White Snake King; the fighter closed in on the helpless lifeboat.
The lifeboat spun slowly. Like a wounded bird falling from the sky. A black smoke trail as it vented some burning system. They had entered the upper atmosphere of Nerviai IV and the heat from the atmosphere was most difficult for the pursuing fighter. High above them, other lifeboats were being…eliminated.
~…my son…grow up to be a good man…be better than I was…oh god…this one thing I ask of you. Take care of my family!~ another voice belonged to a young man. Separated from his wife and child when the Bentham hit the artificial quantum filament. The young engineer opened his eyes from his silent prayer. He looked across from him to Ensign Hopper. She stared at the floor and then, looked up into his face. A single tear fell from her brown eyes. The lifeboat took another phaser hit and was buffeted which caused several persons to scream out. Moving to her side, Ensign Schantz put his arm around her. She grasped his hand and let out a mournful, desperate cry. “Why?!”
As the Fontalan pilot closed the distance and matched the spin rate, his finger hovered over the FIRE button. Closer and closer he got. The phaser cannons grew hot as their lethal discharge awaited unleashing. The side of the Achillobator class fighter, sleek and modern in its design, emblazoned with devilish delight finally was in sync. The weapons lock signal alarm sounded. The pilot grinned, “Got you!”
Then, by some divine and infinite mercy, the dedication plaque from the destroyed Federation ship, badly damaged and separated from the bridge wall mountings but clearly from the bridge, spins at an incredible rate. On it the words,
Ambassador Class – Starfleet Registry NCC-19201
40 Eridani A Starfleet Construction Yards, Universal Spacecraft Systems
Commmissioned Stardate 50250.5
United Federation of Planets
Starfleet Command, Sol sector
“Come, dream with me of worlds and peoples yet unknown!” – Sir John Bentham – Astronomer
It spins like a serrated saw blade and with tremendous force hits the engines of the Fontalan starfighter. Sending the attack craft off course and in a flash of light – it explodes into a thousand pieces! The lifeboat continues its mad descent towards the embattled surface of Nerviai IV. And, for the moment, call it Providence, Divine Favor or even just dumb luck, at least one lifeboat has made it to the surface.
It streaks across the sky two of the four emergency landing thrusters fire which slow the suicidal descent to just a murderous one. The lifeboat flies for miles and miles and a very level angle now, the heat inside is unbearable, it is like roasting in an oven. Until, finally, mercifully, the lifeboat lands in a muddy and grassy bog. It crashed into the soft mud, the layers of thick grass and the cooling waters and after sliding for a quarter mile, slowly stops and then tips to the side before finally coming to a rest.
A dozen birds and strange, terrible beasts run away from the craft. All is quiet. Then the hatch explodes and pops off sending the cover high into the air as the emergency explosive bolts blow the hatch off. Smoke rises from the cabin. Then, a hand reaches out of the lifeboat hatch and then the first person emerges. Then another, another and another. Ensigns Schantz and Hopper are among the Bentham survivors now on the surface of a planet that is in the process of being bombarded from orbit. There is not a moment to lose and they gather what they can.
Seven have survived. Meanwhile, high above them the battle rages on. Off in the distance, just barely visible on the horizon several vessels are approaching.
Far across the galaxy in the Latari System, Lieutenant JG Matthew Plumeri records:
“Science Officer’s Personal Log, stardate 69011.58. I don’t know why I’m in command of an away mission. I’m kicking myself for volunteering. I was in a staff meeting, the Captain asked for volunteers and I felt like it was my turn ‘at bat’ and so I raised my voice. I was sure Captain Saalm would say something like, “No, I’m serious. I need qualified volunteers. But, I guess, beggars can’t be choosers and I guess now she knows where the ‘bottom of the barrel’ is.
How in the hell am I supposed to run an away mission when I can’t tell the key people that what we’re really looking for is something so terrible, so awful that the Federation buried it so deep in the closet that now we’re finding Christmas presents!? A secret that is so severe that the ship stops everything to be sure to alert the Captain that we found ‘it’. I can’t even put in my log what ‘it’ is. Other than to tell you that ‘it’ has taken all other priorities off the table.
Well, how hard can this be? All we must do is find it and verify it. Come back home, no fuss; no muss. I can keep a secret that long can’t I? If I survive long enough to record another log? Then I think we’ll have our answer.
Computer, end personal log and save.”
[OFF:]
LTJG Matthew Plumeri
Science Officer Historian/Astrometrics
USS Galileo-A
NCC-80010
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