Finding the QAR - Part 3 (Fairfax)

Posted on Thu Jan 27th, 2011 @ 1:57pm by Lieutenant Jimmy Cooper & Captain Elsie Halliwell & Lieutenant Cedric Shepherd

610 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Triad
Location: USS Fairfax
Timeline: Current

ON:

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Bridge, USS Fairfax


As Captain Northcutt sipped on his coffee, he wondered to himself why he hadn't insisted to the Admiral that he lead this mission. As he set the cup down, he quickly decided to put the thought out of his mind and to concentrate on the task at hand, finding a ship that didn't want to be found.

"Lieutenant, how are we proceeding on the search grid?" Northcutt asked the Operations Officer.

"Sir, we have finished our scans of sectors 3562, 3565, and 3566. 3563 is 43% scanned and 3564 is at 22%. We still have 37 more sectors to scan." she said to the Captain.

Northcutt took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "And how long is that expected to take?" the CO asked her.

She tapped a few buttons on her display. "Well, sir, outside the Nebula it shouldn't take us more than four or five hours. It's those 20 sectors inside the nebula that will take the longest." she said.

Northcutt nodded and thought for a moment. This was taking too long. They weren't out here. He wouldn't be out here. He would be...in there. In the Nebula.

"Lieutenant, inform the other ships that we have finished our scans outside the nebula and are proceeding inside of it where our communications will be suspect and our sensors will not work as well." Northcutt said to her. For a moment, the young Lieutenant looked confused.

Northcutt just smiled at her. "Just tell them, Lieutenant." he said. She seemed to instantly understand the Captain's intent.

She pressed the comm button. "Fairfax to Ranger and Archimedes, do you copy?" she asked.

"We are proceeding inside the nebula at this time. Note that we will have some communication and sensor difficulties." she said. "Do you copy?" she asked.

"This is USS Archimedes," said a voice with a Russian accent. "We read you. Good luck."

“We’ll see you both on the other side,†Halliwell added in a low, calculated voice. “Ranger out.â€

"Alright, Ensign," Northcutt said as he stood up from his chair and walked over towards the Helm. "Take us in. Slowly." the Captain said. He wanted to be ready in case the QAR was closer then they should be.

"Aye, sir." the Vulcan Ensign said as the Nebula Class ship began to slowly move into the massive brightly colored gas and dust cloud in front of them. "Steady as she goes." he said as he turned back around and sat back in the CO's chair.


[FOUR HOURS LATER]

"Sir, we are receiving an urgent message from the Ranger." the Operations Officer said.

"On screen, NOW!" shouted Northcutt.

The explosion on the bridge from the torpedo volley blinded Halliwell as she grappled to her seat to right her balance. “This is the Ranger to the Fleet,†she managed over the comm. “We’ve found them and are under attack. Please assist!†The communications channel fell silent as noisy static filled the air of the Fairfax’s bridge.

Northcutt immediately stood up. "Get us there, now!" he shouted. They were deep inside the nebula, and he knew that every second counted.

"Aye, sir." came the reply from the helm.

"Time to destination?" Northcutt asked impatiently

"Two minutes, twenty-four seconds, sir." came the reply. He hoped that would be soon enough.

[2 MINUTES LATER]

"Captain, the Ranger... and the Archimedes just came into range... Looks like the Ranger is struggling for power and the Archimedes is taking a beating!"

OFF:

To be continued…

 

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