Genesis Marker (Part 3 of 3)

Posted on 20 Nov 2019 @ 2:45pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant JG Matthew Plumeri & Ensign Mimi & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Azra Ghoc & Commander Teegan Jones & Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark & Petra Varelli Ph.D.
Edited on on 20 Nov 2019 @ 2:49pm

3,500 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Episode 17 - Crystal of Life
Location: Latari A III Orbit - Shuttlecraft Virginia
Timeline: MD 01, 0747 hours

Previously...

Azra accessed the downloaded data and set the computer to run a number of predictive analyses based on the strategies they'd suggested, as well as an idea Azra had. The computer modelling started, estimating two minutes to complete simulations. "The computer's predicting outcomes. It has just less than two minutes before we'll have results."

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

It was the longest two minutes of Mimi's career while she and the rest of the team waited - in hiding - for the shuttle's computer to complete its tactical analysis of the Tholian vessels. A series of loud chirps came from Stark's LCARS console and the Nekomi officer moved to stand over his shoulder while she reviewed the data and projections.

"That field around the Trial is some sort of energy damping technology. It looks like it's self-generating...possibly running on some sort of stabilized feedback loop between the nodes," she speculated to no one in particular. There was another silence while she kept reading and interpreting the sensor scan data. "I'm not an expert but the modulations show most of the field's energy focused inward. Probably to disable whatever's been caught inside and absorb any weapon fire from within. Like a shield. But the way it's configured, that would allow incoming weapons - from outside - to pass through."

"Cocky of them," Petra said. "Did they never think someone would come from outside and attack while they were webbing their prey?" She looked at the others. "So, we make a hole, get what crew we can and run? I'm sure one of you has a better idea." She was not a scientist, not a tactical officer.

Azra grimaced. Although the analysis of the net was complete, the statistical modelling of their options was grim. "The computer predicts that our best option has a roughly 7 percent chance of success." She took a deep breath. 7% was laughably low.

"According to the computer model, the best plan is to place ourselves in the transporter buffer and execute a micro-warp burst directly at the power-plant of the Tholian vessel. In the quarter second between exiting warp and the shuttle's impact, we'd be beamed aboard Trial." Azra outlined the plan. The only issue was that if the collision and uncontrolled matter-antimatter explosion didn't disable the Tholian net, they'd be stuck in the same predicament as their comrades.

"The second-best plan is projected at a 6.3 percent chance of success. We'd go inertial and hope that the transporter signal isn't blocked by the net and that we can then transport off some crew and warp away." Azra felt the stress level ratcheting even higher. She stuffed the uncontrolled anxiety that threatened to take over into a small box in her mind and sat on it. "Do we take a chance that gives us a backup avenue of escape, but is less likely to succeed, or go for broke?"

"Well," Mimi thought, "I think I can adapt our transporter signatures to the web's frequency..." She looked down and fidgeted nervously. Not very convincingly, especially, coming from the only commissioned officer in the team.

"Those odds are pretty slim," Petra said. "It's no shame to say no. Is there a way to increase the odds in our favor? Do we even know why the Tholians have the Trial?" She looked at the others. "What other data did we get?"

Mimi silently started to shake, her nervousness and anxiety peaking when she realized what was at stake coupled with her self-realization regarding her own lack of confidence. She fell back on her training in that moment, and remembered their original mission to obtain and return data regarding the Genesis signatures. Everything else they'd encountered was secondary to that primary objective, and by proceeding to rescue the Trial, they would unnecessarily risk failing their original mission.

"We..." Mimi paused, "have to go back to Galileo. We can't risk the mission and our discovery logs."

Although Azra's gut knotted at the idea of leaving Trial's crew behind, without even an attempt at rescue, it was the textbook issue. Given a greater chance of success there could be an argument, but even optimistically, Virginia and her crew didn't stand a chance.

"Where is Galileo, though?" Azra asked. There was no sign of their ship. Sensors didn't pick up a debris field large enough to account for the ship, but as far as Azra knew, her home and crew had disappeared forever.

"Check long-range sensors," the Nekomi suggested. "It looks like there was a battle here. Maybe Galileo retreated?" she hypothesized.

"I'm picking up the Galileo," Petra said, letting out a whoop excitement. "They're just outside the system. And...so's the rest of the convoy. Hopefully it's not too late to save the Trial crew."

She paused for a minute while she ran some calculations. "Scratch that. If we wait for the cavalry, we'll be too late. I say let's drift in so we're undetected, get up to that thing and then maybe, if we're close enough, we'll be able to find a big enough chink in the armor to get a transporter signal through." She looked at the others. "I mean, no guts, no glory, right? And we have the convoy to pull us out if we get stuck." Although secretly she wasn't sure if they'd be in time, but miracles happened, and she didn't think she wanted to spend the rest of her life wondering what if.

Mimi looked to Azra then back to Petra before taking a deep breath. "Let's do it. And if I get us killed...I'm sorry."

"Maybe we'll earn our way into Sto'vo'kor?" Petra joked. "Either way, I won't blame you," she assured Mimi.

Azra took a deep breath. She plotted a course with the computer's assistance. There was almost no hope that this would work, but Azra plotted the course anyway. She wished she'd had more time.

Virginia built momentum using a micro-warp and full-impulse before they left the moon's sensor shadow. Then all power inside the shuttle except passive sensors shut down. In a split second the only light coming into the shuttle was from a single console and the reflected sunlight off the tormented world below.

It took the Virginia nearly fifteen minutes with all of its passengers in strained silence to reach a range where passive scanners could pick up the kinds of data they wanted.

As they approached, Petra began to scan the web for weaknesses. She was also looking at its composition and any way they could penetrate it. If it was anything like shield harmonics, she hoped to find a frequency they could match to get a transporter lock.

At first there was nothing. But as she continued to scan, the computer began to pick out patterns and the patterns resolved themselves into harmonics. It was very much like threads that, when spun together, created an almost-impenetrable field. But that field, when broken down into threads, gave her the answer. "I think I have it," she announced. The computer took a couple of minutes, then matched it, even to the variations. "Stark, have a look."

"Looks like you're spot on..." Stark nodded with approval, impressed by the speed as he glanced over with a small smile. He was as tense and nervous as the others, but he had a pretty good poker face. "Here it is, Mimi..." he added as he tapped the console to send the frequency across to her.

The ensign received the data on her console then quickly ran the numbers through the transporter's targeting computer. She shifted the particle signatures accordingly to compensate for magnetic variation, then started looking for lifesigns through the scanner. Down on Deck 5 of the disabled Miranda-class starship, she noticed a cluster of biosignatures and tried to decipher them.

"I'm reading lifesigns on Deck 5, mid-ship. Lots of," Mimi paused, slightly confused by the readings, "...silicon-based signatures. I think they're Tholians." She took a breath then continued scanning. "...And three humanoids in the vicinity. Scattered lifesigns throughout the rest of the ship."

The ensign looked from her console to the other three present in the shuttle. "I can get a lock on two of the three. They're near the computer core but we won't have time for more than one transporter cycle before we're detected."

"Get the two," Petra suggested. "Maybe we can grab more on our way out." Not knowing who they were, two were better than one.

Mimi took a breath then initiated the plan. Her feline eyes glanced out through the cockpit of the small shuttlecraft to regard the nearby Tholian frigates and Miranda-class within the web. "Bring the transporters online, full power," she ordered. It wouldn't be long before they were detected now.

"On it..." Stark assured firmly, nodding even as he moved quickly to get it online. Two people. Just....two people, from a whole ship. It stabbed at him, but he steeled himself against it, forcing himself to keep focused on the task. "We're ready, Ensign..."

"Transporting," called back Mimi. She manually manipulated the pattern buffer sequence as any good officer would do, and slowly rose three of her fingers vertically on the console. A bright shimmer of transporter particles suddenly began to appear behind them in the aft cabin, but struggled to fully materialize.

Mimi quickly realized there was still too much interference from the Tholian web despite their best calculations. "Something's wrong, I can't stabilize their patterns," she called out with urgency.

Petra ran an algorithm through the computer. "The frequency is shifting. Let me see if I can compensate." She used a couple of formulae. A minute later, she had new numbers. "Try this." She sent the new frequency to Mimi. "Stark, can you boost power?"

Gabriel frowned as he started to pull power, not wanting to push it too far, but knowing they didn't have a choice. "Try now..." he said quickly, hoping it was enough.

"The Tholians have a target lock on us," Azra said, finger hovering over her pre-programmed escape course. "They'll intercept in a few seconds. I'm executing the escape command in 4...3....2..."

"Hold on, I'm still energizing!" Mimi said in a half-panic. Her fingers remained on the console's buffer pattern controls and she now simultaneously rose them all to their max levels. The two lifesigns shimmering in and out of phase in the rear of the shuttle now started to materialize into solid form.

"I got them!" the Nekomi said over her shoulder to Ghoc.

Teegan couldn't be more surprised. A moment before, she was facing her death, and now... She didn't even try to stop the tears. "Thank you." She looked at the others and managed a smile.

It was a rough transport, like being pulled through a keyhole, stretched and then reshaped back into your original form - but it was better than being dead. The two of them must have been quite a sight indeed. Commander Jones was badly injured and it was amazing that she still had so much fight in her despite her injuries. Matthew was cut and bruised and had been slammed against the bulkhead that every breath sent pain through his chest. His muscles were sore and he had a sick copper taste in his mouth. He was smeared with sweat, grime and dried blue-blood. His scalp was cut and he was bleeding from his mouth. Matthew materialized half and inch above the floor of the Virginia and when the transport cycle finished his knees hit the floor. He looked around the shuttle and saw Commander Jones, "Teegan!" He grasped her hand. He looked for Captain Tanakata. Looking at the shuttle crew, Ensign Mimi, Doctor Varelli, Chief Ghoc and PO1 Stark, Matt recognized them as the away team and that this was the Virginia shuttle. "I'm glad you all were in the neighborhood. You just saved our asses. Where's the Captain? Where the rest of the crew?" he asked.

Teegan squeezed his hand, that was all the effort she could muster.

Matt looked at her - the hand squeeze should have been enough to tell him but he refused to believe it - it couldn't be. He asked again, "Where's Captain Tanakata?" His voice stronger now, more urgent. He pursed his lips together and wiped blood from his nose. "There are more crew back there...dammit! We can't be the only ones!"

No one said a word. Matt looked at the external sensors and then out the closest viewport. The Trial listing to port at least thirty degrees, smoldering from her starboard nacelle lay motionless. Surrounding it was the bright webbing of the Tholians. Occasionally, there would be an explosion that would send a jet of fire out of the ships skin and vent it out into space. There were Tholian ships pursuing the Virginia as well and they were gaining! It was then that he understood the dangerous...crazy risk that the away team took just to rescue them. It was a hard, bitter pill to swallow. Anger flushed within him and he slammed a fist on the hull. The Trial had been beaten. Badly. And they were lucky to be alive.

Matt said, "He was right there...they would have killed us if he hadn't delayed them." He hung his head a moment and winced as pain lanced through his ribs. He asked, "Who's in command here? and where is Galileo?"

Azra suppressed a frustrated sigh. She held her breath, finger hovering over the console, waiting for the all clear. Even before Nekomi could finish her sentence Azra's finger was pressing the button. It was a split second too late. The shuttle's warp engines came online, powered up and attempted to accelerate away.

A sudden hard jolt rocked the small shuttle before it could accelerate, and a bright blue light penetrated the cockpit and illuminated Virginia's interior. The small craft jerked in an attempt to break free from the unknown force.

"We're stuck. The Tholian's have us locked in a tractor beam. We waited too long," Azra said. There wasn't recrimination in her tone, but she was resigning herself to the idea that she'd never make it home. Unless something miraculous happened, she probably wouldn't.

The Type-9 shuttle Virginia was fully engulfed by the approaching Tholian ship's tractor beam. The inertial damping field around the Starfleet support craft started to render all systems useless, and one by one they started to go offline in the shuttle.

On sheer instinct, Stark started to try and get some readings to get a grip on exactly what they were facing...but to no avail. He lifted his hands in the air in a motion of frustration. "We've lost sensors..."

"Auxiliary systems and transporters are offline," Petra added, feeling she was adding insult to injury.

"Navigation and engines are offline," Azra reported. She closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths trying to stifle the panic inside. She'd trained for intense situations. "I'm going to try to isolate auxiliary power. Maybe that'll give us a chance."

"Now it's time for the cavalry," Petra said, looking out the front viewport. "Anyone hear trumpets?"

The blue trapezoidal Tholian frigate now maneuvered in front of Virginia and slowed while it prepared to prosecute the away team. Then without warning, a bright orange phaser beam suddenly impacted the nose of the enemy ship directly where its tractor emitter was located. Three consecutive bursts pounded the frigate's hull, causing the Tholian tractor beam to briefly stutter before vanishing.

An urgent hail now came across the comm and projected inside of the shuttle's cabin. "...Virginia, this is Livia!" sounded Lirha's voice through the channel. "You're free from the tractor, get back to Galileo now!" There was a muffled pause while she and her co-pilot exchanged words. "We'll distract the Tholians long enough for you to get away. There's no time for questions."

Gabriel's dark eyes widened at hearing the voice; whoever he'd expected to be on the other end of the line, the Captain hadn't been it. "If the Captain's on that shuttle, we can't just leave her out here alone facing down the Tholians...." he said softly to Mimi.

Mimi's mind raced, unsure of what to do in the moment of panic. On one hand she'd been given a direct order by her captain, but on the other she couldn't morally abandon her...as Stark had just affirmed.

"I..."

"He's right," Petra said. "If we hit one spot with everything we've got, that should give us both a chance to get away." At least she hoped so. They only needed to get far enough away to be protected by the fleet ships.

Mimi looked back though the cockpit out into space where two additional Tholian frigates flanked the Miranda-class on each side. Slowly she started to shake her head with urgency. "There are two more ships of theirs out there...we can't keep risking the mission we were sent on." The surface analysis of the Genesis particles was of the utmost priority. "We've already bit off more than we can chew getting this far...and now the captain's giving us an order. We have to go back. Azra, go!" the ensign quickly decided.

Petra disliked the order, but she couldn't argue with it, not with two other ships out there. With a sigh, she went to check on the two they'd recovered.

Azra executed the course for Galileo she'd already set into the computer. The shuttle's viewscreen stayed fixed on the conflict now behind them, but they moved rapidly away from the area of conflict. "We should reach Galileo in about three minutes," Azra said. Although she didn't love having abandoned another vessel to get captured, but those had been the orders Captain Saalm had given. Not to mention that they allowed her to escape a nearly hopeless situation.

Virginia dropped out of warp merely a few hundred kilometers from Galileo. Automated systems guided the shuttlecraft into the bay, with Azra coordinating the return with shuttle control. As soon as the shuttle touched the deck, Azra opened the hatch. "Let's get that report logged and figure out how to get the captain back," suggested Galileo's bosun.

Petra nodded. "I'll file my report now. You can tell whoever is on the bridge what happened and get the captain back." She grabbed her bag and headed to science.

"Azra, Gabriel, get these two to sickbay and get them checked out." Mimi quickly left the shuttle and ran to the nearest turbolift to head to the bridge and report to whoever was in charge.

Matthew helped Teegan to her feet as he asked, "Get the Captain back? Where is Captain Saalm?"

Matt stepped out of the shuttle and refused aid, "I need to get to the damn bridge. The Tholians were able to get to the computer core. They have everything that we have. By now they are parsing the data and in a few hours they'll have cracked any secure encryption algorithms that were used on the data chips themselves. And now I hear that Captain Saalm is out there too? Nuh-uh...I'm going to the bridge!" Matt turned to Commander Jones, "I'll tell...whomever...is running the show now what happened. Go with them, go to sickbay. I still owe you that beer."

Teegan was in no condition to get herself anywhere. Now that the crisis was over, the Adrenalin that kept her going was gone. She nodded. He needed to go. Someone would come along and help her.

Once Plumeri was out of sight, she sank down to the deck.

As Mimi reached the turbolift she stepped inside and turned around in time to see Lt. Plumeri only a few paces behind, holding the lift till he entered the pair headed together towards the bridge.

"Thanks" he said as he entered the turbolift. The doors closed and the lift started is ascent. Matt took a deep breath. He looked over to Ensign Mimi, "Hey? Thanks for the ride. Sounds like the shit has hit the fan around here?"

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

Ensign Mimi
Operations Officer
USS Galileo-A

Petra Varelli
Forensic Anthropologist
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Sandoval]

Commander Teegan Jones
First Officer
USS Trial
[PNPC Sandoval]

CWO3 Azra Ghoc
Boatswain
USS Galileo-A

Lieutenant JG Matthew Plumeri
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

PO1 Gabriel Stark
Security Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

LTJG Matthew Plumeri
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

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