Archimedes Post and Players

Posted on Tue Dec 7th, 2010 @ 1:55pm by Captain Elsie Halliwell & Lieutenant Alessandro Reynaldi & Ensign Rodney Blake & Lieutenant Commander Eliza McAdams

2,243 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Lost Friends
Location: Bridge, USS Archimedes
Timeline: Previously on Star Trek: Ranger

ON:

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Bridge, Deck One
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The small but perfectly formed USS Archimedes pushed through the vacuum of space fluidly, in its cargo hold and behind two level ten forcefields, the unnamed archaic transporter component was anchored to its base, encased in a sealed titanium container. Archaeologist Teegan Mar had insisted on such securities and Captain Kerr was in no mood to argue further with her.

Five decks above it, Captain Kerr and his bridge crew sat unawares of the treasure and collateral they were transporting. Flying at Warp Six on a straight trajectory towards Deep Space Five everything seemed uneventful and quiet. But as the soft hum of the engines rumbled through the hull and the delicate and playful beeps sounded about the circular room they were in, a flashing icon began to interrupt the stillness on one of the back terminals.

“Sir,� Ensign Shamy called out, reading the sensor readings in slight disbelief. “I’m reading a fast-approaching warp signature on the edge of our sensor range.�

Kerr flicked his attention to his First Officer, Lieutenant Commander Bale, and locked his eyebrows in questioning disbelief.

"Captain, that vessel of unknown origin is on a collision course with us. Time to impact...nine seconds!" Bale said hurriedly.

The ripping of normal space would have echoed all about the Archimedes had they not been enveloped in an airless vacuum. Punching through their own subspace bubble, the unidentified vessel stopped just short of scraping hulls with the Nova class ship. Suddenly a blue and erratic bolt shot from the alien’s main deflector, rippling through the entire Archimedes’s exterior. Kerr stood up as the ship rocked and shuddered with the phasing blasts.

"Shields up!" shouted Bale, but it came a moment too late.

Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commander Bramar looked up from his console. "Captain. I don't know what's going on, but power is being drained from every system on this ship. Diverting remaining power to maintain life support."

"That energy beam is pulsing right through everything! Attempting to modulate shield frequency..." Bale said as they were all thrown violently to the deck. He could feel that there was a hull breech somewhere. The lights went out. Systems failed. "Engage emergency power." shouted Bale as he tried to stand up. His head was bleeding from the fall.

He tapped a few buttons only to find that almost nothing responded. The view screen was off. It was as if they were in a darkened smoke filled room with red lighting. And it was eerily quiet.

"Captain, I don't know how they did it. But they...they...have it. And we are...dead in the water." Bale said to Kerr.

Bale tapped his comm badge and it made a strange chirp. "Sir, communications are down, warp engines are offline, and we have no weapons and no shield power. I believe that we may have a hull breech." Bale said as he tapped several keys on the display next to him. "Suggest we try and launch a Class II Probe with a distress signal." the XO recommended.

“See to it,� he said, calling back.

"Aye, sir. Configuring now." Bale said as he tried to tap into the Science console. But it wasn't responding. "Captain, I'll need to head down to the Science Lab and manually configure it. None of the controls here are responding to much of anything." Bale said to the Captain. It was as if that energy pulse they had been hit with was some type of magical beam. It knocked out everything, may have ripped the hull open, and stole cargo...all within seconds. Was it a new weapon? And if so, who would use it on a Science ship?

Kerr looked about the bridge wildly, running through scenarios in his mind with the speed of lightening. Deciding to remain in command from the bridge himself, he shot a concerned and loaded look to his first officer, nodded and said, “Head on down there. Get that probe launched, Commander!� The weight in his voice sailed heavily through the thick air around them, and both officers understood the gravity of that now lay in-store for them… and the Archimedes/

"Aye, sir!" shouted Bale as he staggered towards the ladder access as he held his bleeding forehead.

Observation Deck, Deck Two
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One deck away on the observation deck that could usually be counted on to offer a chance for peaceful reflection, a shaken brunette gracefully picked herself up off the decking and touched a gentle fingertip to the swelling lump on her head before glancing around to determine the needs of those also sent to the floor unexpectedly by the brutal attack. Sonaata had taken to life on the small science vessel in a way she hadn't anticipated, finding very little hardship in being forced to conduct her official duties whilst in constant transit and likewise discovering that the occasional separation from her new, ready-made family was not quite so difficult to bear now that she had something to return to. Indeed, the most difficult decision the Elasian had been faced with recently was whether to join Rory in her keen explorations or remain, as she had ultimately decided, by Coltan's side. Life had found new meaning but that didn't mean to say it wasn't without its unpleasant side.

She frowned delicately.

"Don't rush," she cautioned softly, kneeling beside the young off-duty ensign attempting to roll her weight off her obviously broken arm. The observation deck hadn't been crowded and all of the eight personnel making use of the space were conscious at least but there was blood and there was fear on more than a few faces and Sonaata had learnt by now that it could be a lethal combination. Tapping her comm. badge, she intoned, [[Parr to Sickbay.]]


Bridge, Deck One
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Kerr grappled with his weight as he ungraciously heaved his frame back into the chair that was still fixed to the near centre of the bridge. The Chief Medical officer, and the majority of her staff had already, by this point, been dispatched to locations across the small Nova class vessel. But, as small as she was, her sickbay and medical crew were smaller, leaving just the EMH in the bay. As such, the communication from Sonaata was automatically deferred to Ops, ready to dispatch locum teams to necessary positions throughout the eight decks. On hearing her soft voice, an instant panic rumbled through the Trill like thunder.

[[Coltan here, Sonaata. What’s wrong?]]

Despite his position, his now relative age with the Symbiont nestled so fixedly inside his belly, and the chaos that resounded about his ears, the cutting sound of her voice ripped through his ears like a shard of glass.

The momentary pause, little more than a skipped heartbeat, was the only indication of the woman's surprise. Emergencies had been few and far between since she'd joined the ship as a permanent passenger but Sonaata had learnt, as much as part of her breeding as from experience, to take things in her stride with as little fuss as possible.

[[We have wounded on the Observation Deck,]] she reported, a subtle hint of relief in her voice. The situation was far from ideal but at least the sound of his voice confirmed his survival. She paused again, lifted her head and then patted the shoulder of the ensign lying stretched out in front of her before rising and lowering her voice as she turned to secure a little privacy. [[I also smell smoke.]]

Kerr quickly shot a look to Ops. “Despatch someone to the Observation Deck immediately!� He almost shouted it out of desperation. Then, speaking back into his combadge, he said, “Sonaata, people are coming to you now. How are... how are you?�

He knew that he shouldn’t primarily concern himself with such a singular thought, what with numerous members of his crew possibly injured across his little ship, but he couldn’t help the words as they fell from his mouth.

[[Perfectly intact]], came the reply, the choice of words betraying quiet affection whilst Sonaata's tone carried the finality of one bred, despite her personal preferences, to command. More than that, she was by choice accustomed to taking a lower priority whilst others were in need and her current situation was certainly filled with people far more injured than she was. [[I will let you know if our situation changes]], she added, a diplomatic way of reassuring him that she would be in contact if she needed him. [[If I can be of any use elsewhere once Ops. arrives,]] she concluded, addressing her formal function on board, [[I'll make myself available. Evanti aana.]]

The last quiet endearment, informal Elasian that the translator often faltered on, ensured momentary privacy as the composed diplomat also stepped outside her professional role into personal territory. Closing the channel, Sonaata took a moment to set her thoughts straight and then turned back towards the injured, reassurance filling her tone as she informed them that help was on the way.


Science Lab, Deck Four
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After using the tube access ladders, Bale finally reached the Science Lab. It was deserted. He quickly tried to configure a Class II probe to emit a proper distress call and subspace signal. It wasn't going to be easy. If only he had an extra set of hands, it would go much quicker. At this rate, it would be an hour before it was ready to launch.

Striding out of his own office, Chief Science Officer, Lieutenant Starr noticed the presence of Commander Bale but didn’t stop to indulge in the usual pleasantries his education and upbringing usually afforded the gentleman. “Commander,� he said, PaDD in hand walking over to a bank of flickering and distorted readouts, “I can’t access any of the sensor information. What’s going on?�

"I don't have time to explain it all right now, Lieutenant. The short of it is we are in deep trouble right now. Hull is probably compromised, we are without main power, no shields, no weapons, and someone has stolen our...valuable cargo." said Bale. "Communications are also out, both external and internal. We need to modify a class II probe to send out a distress call." said the XO. "I need your help." he said bluntly to Starr.

Starr silently and quickly turned on his heel, ever the visage of calm and calculation. Striding across the main bay fluidly, he spoke over his shoulder with an air of control that, to his subordinates, was comforting in any situation. “We have one in the other lab. The modifications shouldn’t take long to execute.�

Both officers now raced through to the adjoining lab and as they entered the small room the probe lay on its side, one of the only objects not flashing erratically. “It must have disconnected from the main power grid once it started to fluctuate,� said Starr, opening a small hatch on its top. Then he began to haplessly tap in commands with severity and determination.

“You’re lucky, Commander,� said Starr, not looking up to regard him. “Three days ago I had engineering install a small, independent transporter to this very probe in anticipation of firing it into dangers where its retrieval would be detrimental to the Archimedes due to her own transporter range. That way, I could activate the probe’s transporter to beam it to a safer and easier location to reclaim it.� He stopped working and then looked up to greet Bale. “But, it works both ways. We’ll be able to beam this off the ship without issue.�

"Even with the power loss that we've suffered?" asked Bale as he paused to look at Starr.

“It’s designed to work independently from the ship, sir,� said Starr, now returning to the controls.

Bale nodded his head, looked at Starr and stated, "That's the first good news I've heard all day." he said as he smiled. "We should have this baby out of here in about ten minutes then. Don't you think?"

Starr smiled, looked up at him and with a jovial raise of his enigmatic eyebrow said, “It’s ready now, Commander. I work fast.�

They both stepped back from the probe and Starr moved over to one of the wall mounted displays that was flickering on and off with an interrupted power source. He accessed a menu, mathematically worked out his own coordinates and then returned to the now dormant probe. As he input the commands, he regarded Bale and then reiterated the situation.

“The transport signal will be too weak for the intruders to detect and I’ve also delayed the transponder to emit the distress call five hours from now. Any sooner and we risk it being detected by the wrong recipients.� He stopped what he was doing and then squared up to the commander, facing him straight on. “They’ve boarded. Whatever’s going to happen to us and the ship won’t be served any further by us calling for help just yet.�

Bale nodded his head. "Agreed. OK, let's transport this probe so I can get back up to the Captain and report in." he said to Starr.

OFF:

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The Crew of the USS Archimedes.

 

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