The Forbidden Zone

Posted on Fri Mar 15th, 2013 @ 1:51pm by Lieutenant Jimmy Cooper & Captain Elsie Halliwell & Captain T'mpest Michaels & Lieutenant Commander Kadie Mora & Lieutenant Commander Dylan Blake & Captain Alexsa Kendrick & Lieutenant JG Marcus Augusta PHD

1,116 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Sowing the Seeds
Location: Starting out on the Bridge
Timeline: Mission Day 6: 0330 hours

ON:

The sleek, metallic form of the Ranger slipped quietly into the Forbidden Sector now just on its own inertia. Elsie had ordered that all engines be cut until they found their bearing and plotted their next move.

She was visibly tense, and the feeling that surrounded the bridge crew was palpable. What did they expect to find here and how had it affected the Dubai crew so deeply that the ship ended up ripped into tin-can shaped scraps of metal? She breathed slowly and controlled as the only sounds that could be heard on the bridge were the soft, regulated beepings of the consoles that encircled her.

She sighed, stood up and said, "Report."

"All systems operational," T'mpest said quietly. She added to herself "for now."

Having seen the fiery end of the Dubai and interacted with her rattled crew first hand Lieutenant Blake had been expecting something obvious out in the aptly named 'Forbidden Zone', something had that drawn the Dubai crew into oblivion. But there was nothing, nothing even of remote interest. It didn't make sense.

Still on edge, Jimmy scanned every anomaly, as well as the Ranger's systems, and was concerned that there was nothing... dangerous. There must be something he was missing, if only due to the headaches which tended to affect him more often.

"Lieutenant Cooper," she called out across to the science station. "Sensors?"

Startled, Jimmy seemed to become five inches longer as he turned. "N- Nothing out of the ordinary, Captain!"

Elsie turned back to the viewscreen and then stared out just beyond the blankness of stars out into the distance. She glared almost, as if searching what was beyond would hold the key to the questions she needed answering. Owning the moment, she said aloud, "What was Jenner and his crew so eager to keep from us?"

She turned back, gave T'mpest a confused look and then walked back to her seat, activating the central command display between her. Reading out what she could see, she said, "Sector Five-Two-Three." She turned to security and added, "Go to red-alert, Lieutenant. I don't want to take any chances."

Marc nodded agreement. Within moments the klaxons all over the ship began flashing red and emitting a low siren intermittently signaling that all hands should report to their duty stations. Shields and weapons automatically came online as per usual. The only difference for this red alert was that the armories, that would normally unlock automatically remained firmly closed to all but himself and other department heads.

She activated the science display and then turned her head to Jimmy again. Since his florid display in the cargo bay, she had decided to keep a closer eye on her chief officer than usual and so asked: "What do you have, Lieutenant?"

Jimmy worked his sensors as he spoke, "The star is of Type G. There are six planets.. two dwarves, a gas giant, and... Ah, the fourth star seems to be an M-type planet."

She mirrored what he said, reading with him what was now scrolling down her own monitor. "M-class?" she questioned as Jimmy mentioned it, her brain now kicking into action. "Life-signs?"

"Can't tell from this distance, Captain, let me just realign the sens..."

As Jimmy spoke, the lights began to flicker about the bridge; terminals chorusing into beeps of alert and alarm. "Engineering?" she called out, tapping her combadge in desperation. Before Mora could answer, a terminal behind her situated just below the MSD blew out, showering glittering, smouldering sparks out into the centre. Both her and T'mpest ducked and covered their heads with their hands.

"Engineering to bridge," Mora's voice urgently come through the speakers, "we're showing massive power build ups through the EPS feeds on decks 1, 2, 5, 7 and 12--get away from the consoles, now!"

Spooked, Jimmy hurled himself away from his console, and only just in time, because almost immediately the whole wall exploded outward. Jimmy felt the hot air of the plasma explosion singe the back of his shirt, and it took a number of seconds before he dared to look back. Lieutenant Rachet, a Junior who had been tasked with helping Jimmy in the science department, hadn't reacted in time, and instead had been blown over the railing like a rag doll, and now lay in the centre of the bridge, with severe burns. Though it would be a wonder if he'd survived the impact to begin with, Jimmy already saw Captain Halliwell, whom happened to be the closest person available, scan him with the emergency medical tricorder.

Elsie looked to the readout and shook her head in panic. "Sort this out!" she bellowed above the dying explosions.

Kadie swore under her breath before replying with a more professional "Damage control teams are on their way, captain." The animosity in her voice was still evident, even through the crackle of the com.

Marc had made his way down from security which had all but disintegrated and took charge of the engineering console to the far left of the bridge. He was uninjured but the loud noises had done his headache no good.

T'mpest checked first on Halliwell to make sure she was okay, then went to attend to the other injured. She tapped her combadge. "Sickbay to bridge, we have injuries."

Laura had narrowly avoided an overload herself on deck five. Sickbay was still being reconstructed after the explosion and half her team was already treating crew members. "Acknowledged," she called over the com as she grabbed a medkit and began jogging toward the nearest turbolift.

Elsie gave the nod to the helmsman and the cut-throat signal to all-stop the ship. She could feel the hum beneath her collapse into a stilled, eerie silence. She waited next to Rachet until a team of sickbay crew arrived to also tend to the wounded. When she was relieved, along with T'mpest, she stood and walked over to the Vulcan. "Get this ship back together, Commander," and she walked over to one of the displays at the back of the bridge that was still intact. Reading, she went on: "The blow-outs mainly delivered superficial damage. It won't take much to organise. I'll head down to Engineering and assess what we can do. Until then," she stopped and looked to T'mpest directly, "you have the bridge."

T'mpest nodded and began to organize the repair team which had just arrived on the bridge, leaving Mora to liaise with the others around the ship.

Marc gestured discreetly to two of his more trusted officers to accompany the CO. He couldn't go himself without arousing under attention and thus had to delegate.

OFF:

 

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