Retreat (Part 5 of 5)

Posted on 31 Aug 2019 @ 12:22pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Commander Luke Wyatt & Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin & Lieutenant Commander Ryan Alexander & Ensign Callin Mastrel & Lieutenant JG Sofie Ullswater
Edited on on 31 Aug 2019 @ 12:30pm

3,047 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 17 - Crystal of Life
Location: Latari System Outskirts, Task Group Staging Area
Timeline: MD 01, 0640 hrs

Previously, on Retreat (Part 4)...

Ryan turned to face Ullswater. “I am very serious and we don’t need control. We also don’t need accuracy…” Ryan started to say before he noticed a warning indication appear on his console. Ryan turn backed to face the helm and typed in a quick sequence. “The shuttle bay doors are opening. I can't stop it from here, there is a command lockout.” Ryan called out to the bridge.

And Now, the Conclusion...

[ON]


Deck 4 - Main Shuttlebay

Captain Saalm swiftly stepped to the aft entrance of shuttlecraft Livia, the second of Galileo's mid-range Type-6 support craft. She was still infuriated from her embarrassment on the bridge but now focused on doing what she knew she must to save what was left of her stranded friends and crew. Saalm had momentarily returned to her quarters to grab an expedition pack and several PADDs, then - over the course of sixty seconds - established discreet security lockouts on select internal sensor systems. Four years at the Academy as an Ops cadet and another two as a comms specialist meant she knew the Galileo inside out, and it did not take her long to activate an emergency shuttle launch sequence.

In Galileo's main shuttlebay, the overhead warning siren blared to indicate the opening of the external doors. The two sections slowly parted at the middle and their dome-shaped cover retracted to present the emptiness of Latari sector space. Livia was already spooled up thanks to one of the captain's remote command codes and the shuttle's nacelles glowed with blue warp energy. It would only be a matter of seconds before Saalm performed a manual launch.

Allyndra had headed toward the captain's quarters wondering for all that was by the Holy Twins what she had to say. She reached the quarters and pressed the chime. There was no response. She tried a few more times with the same result.

"Computer locate Captain Saalm."

=^= Unable to comply with request =^=

"What do you mean, where is the current location of the captain!" She said testily. She had asked Lake not to leave sickbay, and now a reluctant computer she was feeling the slow burn of anger. What the heck good was it to be a command officer and chief medical officer when it seemed no one took you seriously.

=^= Unable to comply with request =^= came the reply.

Allyndra decided to try a different track. "When was the captain last in her quarters?"

=^= Three minutes ago ship time =^=

Well that meant that she had been there not long ago but now was not there. She called sickbay and no one had seen her there either. It seemed odd that the computer would not work like someone had set the thing up but then again maybe just damaged. She felt frustrated and then an idea came to her.

"Computer, tell me where the highest current concentrations other than the captain's quarters are of Orion female pheromone." While Lirha took suppressants, they were just that suppressants and did not fully eliminate.

=^= Currently highest concentrations are in the shuttle bay =^= came the dutiful reply.

Allyndra wondered what by the Night's Promise was Lirha doing there. It could not be good she decided and literally ran toward the shuttle bay. Luckily she was fast on her feet and arrived to see a figure heading for the Livia already to launch with the main bay doors open.

"STOP!" she shouted running after the figure.

The captain was halfway inside the small cabin when the sudden voice startled her from behind. She stood up straight and quickly turned while swiftly de-shouldering her expedition pack to the floor, then reached for the hand phaser on her hip. In her mind she'd planned for the possibility of being discovered prior to launch but hadn't predicted for it to be the chief medical officer instead of a security team. Her hand rested warily on her Type-2 phaser while Lirha regarded Allyndra.

"You should not be here Allyndra. Please leave," she warned.

Allyndra shook her head, "Well might as well shoot me now then. I want to know what you are doing here. Give me something, anything and I might be able to concoct some sort of medical reason for you leaving the ship."

Saalm listened to Warraquim make her plea. "Commander Wyatt refused my orders to bring the ship back to the planet to rescue the Trial and our away teams," she simply explained. Lirha turned back to the cockpit and took a seat in the left pilot's seat to finish the final pre-flight checks. "So...I will do it myself. I know what the Tholians want and how to save our people," she added over her shoulder.

"Then why not share? At least I can tell Wyatt what is going on," Allyndra made no moves. She knew Lirha well enough to know that trying to stop her was not going to work. She had no doubt that she would probably be stunned and physically she was no match. No there was something going on here and Lirha seemed to have a good guide as to why a damaged ship would return and the Tholians not finish the business at hand. She had to have something that a small shuttle would not be just blasted to bits with either.

She then added, "I am not going to try to stop you. I do not believe you are committing suicide by just confronting at least three functional Tholian frigates with just a shuttle."

"I don't have time, doctor. I'm sorry," refused the green-skinned captain. Even as she looked down at her PADD, Lirha knew she had a tiny window of only a few seconds to launch and go to warp. She tapped a button and the aft hatch started to close and fold up. "Thank you...for your kindness," she added, her torso now turned to watch her winged friend for perhaps the final time.

Allyndra just shook her head for a moment. You could not argue with Orions once they got something in their mind. She was not sure which was more focused, earth rodents or Orions.

The rear shuttle door hissed closed and created an air-tight seal, then Livia slowly began to rise from the tarmac and thrust forward through the bay doors.

"Commander Wyatt, this is Allyndra. Captain Saalm is preparing to leave in the Livia."


Deck 1 - Bridge

Before the ships chief medical officer hailed the bridge Luke had guessed the unauthorised shuttle activity would be Lirha. 'Great, now what' he thought turning to the view screen. “Bring up the external camera showing the shuttle bay doors and ready the tractor beam" he ordered before tapping his comm badge. “Captain Saalm, please stand down and let's work through this problem properly." In his voice was genuine concern and sincerity.

"Shuttle launch in progress." Ryan said as he looked over his console. "I can't use the tractor beam. The controls have been disabled." Ryan said as tried to troubleshoot the problem.

Shuttlecraft Livia quickly exited the main shuttlebay and streaked out into space before accelerating away from Galileo and the task group. Inside the small cockpit, the distinctive sound of Wyatt's voice came over the comm. The captain sighed and shook her head - she wanted to be left alone but also knew Luke and the rest of her bridge officers deserved answers. Saalm's green fingers played across the nav console while she piloted the Type-6 manually, but she briefly took one hand off the controls to open a visual channel to Galileo.

A large image of Lirha at the shuttle's helm now displayed on the Nova-class' main viewscreen. Her green eyes were trained on her navigation instruments rather than the camera. "You know I won't do that, Luke." A long pause followed then she looked up to him at her small display in the shuttle. "You are my friend and you were right to challenge my orders. But you were also wrong. And I...was also wrong," she confessed.

"Galileo cannot return to battle without repairs but we must still save our people," the captain explained. "And I think I know what the Tholians want." There was another short pause while she changed the shuttle's heading to align for warp. "The Genesis files."

"Its suicide" he stated flatly. "Come back aboard and we can work this out and do this together. How can you even be certain that is what they want?" Luke asked hands down by his sides, the captain looked to have calmed down and was showing she knew what she was doing. "Let us help you," he added pleadingly.

Ryan had been observing and listening to the exchange when an idea occurred to him. He turned to look at Wyatt. "Lieutenant Commander Wyatt. I have an idea on how we can get to Lirha, but I need to be in the transporter room to do it, I don't know I have enough time to explain but I think I can get to her before she does anything more rash. I just need you to stall her for a minute or two." Ryan said.

The Commander simply nodded showing Ryan that whatever he had been thinking to go do it, "Lirha, what would the Tholians want with the Genesis files?" He asked hoping to stall her. Out of shot his hands moved along the console he was standing next to and a moment later a message beeped at Amaranai's console informing her to lock on to the shuttles engines if Ryan's idea doesn't work.

Ryan didn’t have time to respond, he could only grab a PADD and sprint to the turbo lift. “Computer deck 3.” Ryan said as he started to type a command sequence for the transporter. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to use the primary transporter, the Captain wanted off the ship and she would have set a command lockout like she did with the tractor beam. Given enough time there were starfleet protocol that could override her lockout, but they didn’t have time. Ryan knew he had maybe a minute or two before she left the shuttle bay.

Lirha continued piloting the shuttle but also shook her head in reply to Wyatt. "Something happened here, in this system. Both Federation colonies appear," her voice turned soft for a brief moment, "...destroyed. And now we've detected radiological signatures from the Genesis project." Saalm looked into the camera and gave Wyatt a cold glare. "Put the pieces together, Luke."

The moment the turbolift doors swished open Ryan continued to the Cargo Bay. “Come on Wyatt, I need a little more time.” He said as he reached the Cargo bay and started to type the sequence on to the transporter console. He knew that he couldn't fully configure the resolution of the phase transition coil before Lirha left the shuttle bay and activated the shuttles shields. But what he could do is force the shuttle to think it needed to activate an emergency medical transport to the shuttle from this transporter pad. Double checking to make sure the channel to the shuttle was still open and its limited computer core was still talking to the Galileo, Ryan typed in two quick commands before moving to the pad. “Computer, medical emergency, emergency transport to shuttle Livia.” Ryan said, hoping that Lirha hadn’t thought to block that command sequence.

Amaranai was watching the exchange happen between Luke and Lirha. She still couldn't believe that she had done nothing to either help Luke or Lirha in the process of that whole situation. Her head ached and she knew that the loss of blood could be affecting her decision-making efforts. She noticed an alert on her console and saw a message from Luke to target the shuttle's engines.

The engines? Was he crazy?

Amaranai was tempted to contradict the order but having virtually lost Lirha - possibly forever - she knew she should follow someone's orders. She prepped the phasers and began to target the shuttlecraft's engines.


Shuttlecraft Livia

With a shimmer, Ryan materialized in the back of the shuttle, and raised his arms. “Captain, its Ryan. I am here to help.”

The sound and bright shimmer of a transporter sequence from behind her startled the Orion captain. She'd prepared for every operational contingency in her escape plan and had disabled Galileo's personnel transporters. Yet, somehow, an uninvited guest beamed in.

With a quick-draw motion, Saalm reached to her hip, pulled her phaser, and snapped around in her seat to aim at the intruder while using the backrest as cover. Her thumb started to descend on the fire button but quickly stopped mere centimeters from depression when she recognized Alexander.

A process of confusion followed by revelation ensued when Lirha finally processed his words and the reason for his presence. "Ryan... How?" she wondered before furrowing her brow. "You can't be here. Go back now!"

“I can’t go back. You are my captain, I wont abandon you.” Ryan said as he raised his hands, keeping his face neutral. “You kept the shuttle computer synced to the Galileo computer core…” Ryan started before, shaking his head. “I can explain later, Lieutenant Commander Wyatt thinks I am here to stop you, I am here to help.” Ryan said stepping forward to take the co-pilot spot and ignoring the phaser, but still keeping back far enough to make it obvious that he wasn’t a threat. Ryan taped a few commands onto the shuttle console. “Captain, I am getting a weapons lock from the Galileo, we need to go now.”

Lirha warily regarded Ryan when he approached, but nothing about his posture or verbal inflections made him appear to be a threat. He seemed to be telling the truth, she deduced - however foolish his decision might have been. And one thing was most certainly certain, the Nova-class now indeed had a weapons lock on the tiny shuttle.

"Shield power full aft, charge the warp drive," she ordered, then reactivated the comm channel to Galileo.

"Luke, stand down," Saalm said to the acting Galileo captain. "You have to look after the crew now. They will depend on you. Tend to all your medical needs and conduct repairs as soon as possible. I will see you when I return...Saalm out," she solemnly closed the channel.

Ryan turned to look over to Lirha. "Warp is ready on your command Captain."


USS Galileo - Bridge

What the hell was going on? Amaranai had targeted the shuttle's engines as ordered but did she really want to fire? If Luke ordered it, would she be able to? She couldn't even escort the captain off the bridge when he ordered her to. Would she have the guts to fire on her?

Amararnai heard the order to stand down but she waited until Luke told her. He had taken control of the bridge, so it was his word to give, not hers - regardless of how she felt.

"Power down weapons, track the shuttle for as long as we can." The now acting captain let out a long sigh and tapped his comms badge, "All heads of departments report to the briefing room in one hour with sitreps." Luke turned to Ullswater and Callin "I would like you to be present with the initial plans for the weapons we discussed so work with Lieutenant Franklin, we'll be leaving as soon as were fighting fit so time is of the essence."

Amaranai sighed heavily and removed the targeting lock from the shuttle before powering down the phaser array. She heard Luke's request for Ullswater and Callin to work with her regarding a plan with the weapons. What was that about? She nodded and began scanning systems in preparation for a report that she might not even be allowed to give.

"We'll look into it sir." Ullswater acknowledged the order half heartedly. She had no real faith in Callin's plan for the torpedo or the idea of the trap in general but after confronting the Commander on it before she'd lost the will to push back - right now she just wanted to get off the bridge. Brushing a strand of hair she stood up from her seat and spoke to the other two officers "I'll meet you in the torpedo bay. Let me just run by Science to pick up anything we might need from there."

Callin was unusually quiet, still watched everyone with too-wide eyes as he struggled with the feelings from recent events. The fear and thrill of battle, the fear and betrayal from events with the Captain on the bridge, impending doom all around. Everyone seemed to do a real good job keeping it from effecting them, except maybe Sofie who probably felt much like he did right then, but Callin hadn't learned that trick yet.

"What?" He blinked at first Commander Wyatt and then at Sofie, had to think back over what was said. "Oh, uh, r-right. The EMP. I'll see you there. Uh..." A half-hearted slap of his damaged console turned it off with another shower of sparks that had him cringing on the way to the turbolift. They had bombs to build.

In space, shuttlecraft Livia's nacelles glowed bright then flashed, sending the small craft streaking into low warp away from the Starfleet convoy -- and straight towards the Tholians and crippled USS Trial.

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

LCDR Luke Wyatt
First Officer
USS Galileo-A

LT Amaranai Franklin
Deputy Security Officer
USS Galileo-A

ENS Ryan Alexander
Deputy Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

CMDR Allyndra Warraquim
CMO/2XO
USS Galileo-A

ENS Callin Mastrel
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

ENS Sofie Ullswater
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

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