USS Penumbra Sim Narrative, SD 202205.13
The Penumbra was stopped in interstellar space several thousand kilometers from the original Spacial Anomaly (further than was intended). They had begun experiencing "minor inconveniences" in the computer systems due to picking up the Borg virus that had been on the Breen Battlecruiser, things like random flickering of lighting systems, "ghosts" on various monitor displays, etc.
To protect him from contamination, Patterson ordered MAX's chip ejected from its usual spot in the Reconnaissance Area. While some part of MAX would continue within the ship's main computer core, the primary part that made MAX a sentient life-form was kept on his backup chip "just in case". That chip was then plugged into Patterson's ArmPADD, giving it power and a way to interact, but MAX's abilities would, of course, be greatly reduced (and he can only talk to Patterson) until he could be returned to his "proper home".
Also, a strange telepathic cry from the Chief Medical Officer, LtCmdr. Dr. Shadow K'Trevala announced simply, ~I'm sorry. Goodbye.~ Several members of the crew were quickly making their way to Shadow's quarters to see what was going on. All feared the worst.
All in all, this Friday the Thirteenth was exceptionally unlucky for the Penumbra!
Cdre. Zak Taylor stood in the center of the Bridge, his brow furrowed in frustration. Having a Borg virus running through his ship's computer didn't make him very comfortable.
LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke was standing at the Tactical console. He was concerned at how his board had "detected" two ships on long-range sensors that then just disappeared. He'd been told it was just the Borg virus messing with the displays, but he wanted to be sure so was keeping an eye on things, using redundant displays.
Col. Travis Patterson returned to his seat from the Recon station, where he could quickly coordinate several stations from the arm panels of his chair. He looked over at SgtMaj. Derek Hines still working at Recon. "Hines, isolate the source of that Borg signal in our systems."
Hines nodded, fingers flying over various internal sensors. Then he said, "I've got Borg readings in Waste Management, Holodeck 1, Hydroponics replicators, Seven-Forward, ...," he trailed off with a slight shrug.
Zak scowled and turned to his remaining Science officer on the Bridge. "Carshel, we need to rush that antivirus thing, OK?"
The young officer gave a curt nod, too busy working to do anything else. At the front of the Bridge, the Chief of Operations, LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris, was doing what he could to help cut off the virus from critical systems.
LtCmdr. Jason Carter had been ordered by Zak to see what was wrong with Shadow. The Commodore had not seen Cmdr. Relok and LtCmdr. Katarina Hawke rush into the Turbolift but when Carter had told him, he'd glanced around the Bridge deciding who he could spare. The Helmsman was who he'd selected. But as he approached the Turbolift doors, they refused to open. "Uhmm," he said.
Tabby glanced over and sighed, "Aannnd now something else is wrong."
Den snapped out, "I didn't do it!"
Tabby rolled his eyes. "I'm looking into it."
Hines furrowed his brow and grunted, "Now I've got Borg readings in all Turbolifts on all decks."
Patterson turned to Carshel. "Anytime now, Lieutenant."
Carshel groaned. "Oh, come on! Fine. I'll just rip out wires then and force this virus out!" He started to open the console, then thought better of it and resumed his programming.
Zak cursed, "Damn that virus!" He whirled, "Carshel! We need that antivirus!"
Carshel whirled back. "I'm fracking working on it, damn it!"
A call came through Den's commbadge from one of his security officers, "Petty Officer Norman to Lieutenant Commander Hawke. I'm stuck in Turbolift 12 with no power or lights!"
Den tapped his commbadge and responded, "Evidently everyone is. Depending on if you're between decks, you may be able to use the manual door release and pry it open, slip out that way."
Zak turned back around and muttered, "We still need to do something with that damned Anomaly!" He paced a step or two, then turned to the Helm and said, "Filler, ease us a little closer, will you?"
"Aye, sir," Filler responded, "easing forward." He adjusted the maneuvering thrusters.
Suddenly, Carshel blurted out, "Ha! Found you! C'mere!" His fingers flew on his console a moment, then he announced, "I have it trapped, sir!"
Zak turned to the Science officer. "Excellent work, Lieutenant! Now zap the damn thing!"
Carshel grinned and said, "I'm zapping the ever-living crap out of the thing!"
Then Hines called out, "Commodore! I'm seeing an attempt to open Airlock 12-Beta, Cargo Bay 2!"
But before Zak could respond to Hines, the ship suddenly lurched forward, then rocked to one side! Surprised by the sudden motion, Patterson fell out of his chair. He quickly tapped the PADD-like device embedded in his forearm and activated his deployable body armor, helmet and all. "Filler?!?" he called out.
The Commodore stumbled and fell into the back of Tabby's seat at Operations and then falls to the floor behind it. "Damn it, Filler! I said easy!"
Den tried to grab the Tactical console but his fingers slipped and he fell to the deck, rolling through to thud lightly against the bulkhead.
Filler called out, "I didn't do it, sir! The impulse engines just ... kicked in! I ...," he trailed off pleadingly.
The comm system chirped with a call from Davies, "Patterson, the Cargo Bay Two Airlock just tried to kill me!"
Patterson responded tersely, " It's a Borg Virus. We just isolated it... but I'm afraid we have bigger problems now!"
The intercom chirped again and the voice of Cmdr. Relok came through, "Bridge, what's going on up there?" But they didn't get the chance to answer.
Carter spun from the Turbolift doors - that had finally decided to open for him - and lurched towards the Helm. "Filler!" he said, "Go to manual!"
Unperturbed, the computer announced calmly, "Borg virus isolated and identified. Initiating purge."
But it was too late. The Penumbra slipped past the threshold of the Spacial Anomaly and into the Shadow Dimension, and the enormous gravity well of the massive gas giant on the other side!
Carter watched the main viewer as they passed through the anomaly and the huge dark mass of the planet loomed before them. He practically ripped Filler from the Helm, "Filler, move!" The young Ensign quickly moved.
Zak climbed to his feet from where he'd fallen behind Tabby's chair. "Are we ... did we ...?" He saw the viewscreen and called, "Red Alert!" The klaxon wailed and the lights flashed red.
Den groaned, shaking his head, and climbed back to the Tactical console. The comms chirped again, "Khal'Gon to Bridge. Status?"
Patterson got to his feet as well, tapping his commbadge. "ALL HANDS TO EMERGENCY STATIONS IMMEDIATELY!"
Now at the Helm, Carter pulled on the manual flight sticks as hard as he could muster. "Tabby!" he called, "Collapse the nacelles!"
Tabby just nodded and grunted, activating the procedure to withdraw the four nacelles from their "flight" configuration to a "docking" or "storage" configuration. The process started and the nacelles began their slow descent.
Zak climbed into his chair and activated the restraints as the ship bucked and heaved against the immense gravity of the giant and Carter's maneuvering. "Carter, what's she doing?" he asked.
Patterson also got in his chair and buckled in. "Den," he called, "everything we've got to shields!"
Carter was straining at the sticks. "I've got no attitude control. Impulse engines won't disengage, and we've got no possibility of reversing course. We're entering an unstable orbit and descending fast, sir!"
About that time Relok and Kat stepped out of the Turbolift, stumbling slightly at the bucking of the ship. Relok quickly sat down and buckled in, then turned to Carshel, "What's going on?"
Kat stepped out and froze, her eyes widening as she saw the viewer and realized what was going on. She, Den, Carshel, and Carter were the only ones to have seen this side of the Anomaly. She glanced at her brother and from the look on his face she knew exactly what was happening. They were going down. She hurried to the Medical Auxiliary Station, worried about another visit from the Shadow Demon.
Unfortunately, Kat felt utterly useless unless someone was hurt. She nibbled her bottom lip, trying not to flash back to the few times she'd nearly crashed on a ship.
Den got the shields at full strength then said, "What about ... an explosive decompression of one of the cargo bays? Other than the one the Sergeant is in. Push us aside?"
Patterson glanced from Den to Carter. "Call it, Jason."
Zak also looked at Den. "If it helps Carter get a stable orbit, do it. Just make sure the bay is empty!"
Carter shook his head. "It might not be enough to keep us from going down on the planet ... but it may give me the attitude adjustment to land her intact."
Den quickly checked the bay statuses and announced, "Three and four on the starboard side are empty of personnel!"
During the nacelle retraction procedure, suddenly the Ventral Starboard Nacelle seized up and would not retract. Down in the belly of the ship, LtCmdr. Bevin MacArdry assembles a team to rush down and do a manual reset.
And then, T'Lin suddenly burst out of the other Turbolift onto the Bridge. She hurried to her own Science station but stopped, turning to look at the main viewer holding on to the chair against the shaking. She just stood there a moment and stared at it wondering what there was that Sciences could do about being pulled into a giant planet's atmosphere. Finally she sat down and buckled in.
Carshel glanced at his two senior officers, then grumbled, "I trapped the virus and killed it, but now we're about to run into a planet. Sums it up right?"
Zak didn't even turn his head. "Yeah, Carshel, that about sums it up. Carter, what do you need?"
The Computer reported, "WARNING: Angle of approach for atmospheric flight is too extreme. At current velocity, hull integrity failure will occur."
Carter grunted, leaning against the flight sticks. "Den ... decompress the ... cargo bays!"
Den nodded, "In three ... two ...," and then decompressed on two.
"Commodore," Carter called, "brace for impact!"
All around the Bridge everyone was strapped into a seat ... except for Den, who was merely standing at his station. He decided he'd just have to hold on to the console for dear life!
The Penumbra entered the upper atmosphere of the dark gas giant and immediately began streaming white-hot plasma along its belly! Carter, feeling the jettison of the cargo bays, began to slowly lift the angle of descent, but ... only a couple of degrees. Warning buzzers and lights were beginning to flash everywhere. He called out, "Computer, override all warnings and engage atmospheric stabilizers."
And then ... a massive explosion rocked the ship ... much more than the sudden decompression of a cargo bay. But, the force did alter the ship's trajectory, causing it to "skip" on the atmosphere.
T'Lin began praying in a low voice to the Great Mother for protection.
At the explosion, Carter nearly lost his grip on the flight sticks, and nearly fell from his chair! If not for his restraints he probably would have. "Denovan? What the hell was that?"
In spite of Carter's instruction to the computer to override warnings, warning klaxons began ringing all around the Bridge and down in Main Engineering.
At her station, braced and buckled in, Kat thought to herself, ~OK, why does crashing feel familiar lately?~ She glanced over at her brother.
Den glanced back, ~I've no idea~. He reviewed this board then looked up to Carter and reported, "It wasn't the bays, I don't think. Some kind of explosion ... massive! Shields are down to 23%. Trying to locate it."
Then, Tabby said, "Captain ... we ... we lost the ventral starboard nacelle." He paused then said, "It's ... it's gone!"
Zak stared at him. "We ... what?"
Den just nodded. "That would do it, and still damage the shields."
Patterson hit the comm button, "Bridge to Engineering. We're seeing total loss of the Starboard Ventral Nacelle ...," he trailed off, waiting for confirmation.
The voice of someone few were familiar with responded. "Commodore, Bevin and a team of engineers went to manually reset that nacelle." It was the chief of the Gamma Shift, Lt. Evie Owens, the Assistant Chief Engineer, doing her occasional Alpha Shift duty.
Zak replied, "They went to ... and we ... oh, no!" His eyes bored into the back of Tabby's head. Bevin was Tabby's wife.
Patterson looked at Zak, a bit startled. Then his gaze snapped to Tabby as well. The half-Klingon, half-Romulan stiffened slightly but made no immediate move.
Evie continued, "Get the medbay ready for triage, but ... I don't think they'll need it. I'll get on a list of casualties as soon as I can spare the manpower. We need to land somewhere ASAP to make emergency repairs."
Carter was still straining against the sticks, trying not to crash into a giant planet, or burn up on atmospheric re-entry. He glanced at his monitors and saw the artificial horizon display showed POSITIVE numbers. "We're climbing!" he announced.
On the viewer, the huge planet nearly filled the entire screen. And then, a tiny moon broached the horizon. Den called out, "Um ... moon. Moon!"
Carter grunted, "Yes, Den, I see the damn moon!"
Den worked on reinforcing shields in the area where the nacelle flew off, force-fields first, then defense shields. Kat glanced around at all the commotion, then noticed blood on Den's forehead. Grabbing her medkit she unbuckled and hurried over to him, careful not to disrupt what he was doing. She scanned him quickly to make sure there wasn't anything serious and then said, "Nothing serious. I can take care of it now, or wait until we're not tumbling out of control?"
Den shrugged. "I didn't even notice, actually. Go ahead now. You can check me out fully later."
Kat gave a nod and pulled out the dermal regenerator. Again, careful not to prevent her brother from working, she ran it over the cut on his forehead and had it taken care of it quickly. "If you feel any kind of dizziness or nausea you let me know immediately."
Den nodded and gave her a little smile. "Of course," he said.
Kat nodded back, closed up her hit, and headed back to her station, glancing around to see if anybody else was hurt. Nobody appeared so anyway.
Carter was still fighting the controls, making emergency adjustments now that they'd lost a nacelle. "C'mon baby," he mumbled, "don't fight me now."
Bucking and heaving and streaming sparks and plasma, the Penumbra managed to get out of the atmosphere ... barely! But they were still in a very unstable orbit. Zak called, "Carter! Can you get us an orbit on that moon?"
Relok interrupted, "I'm not sure an orbital trajectory is possible at this point, Commodore!"
Carter shook his head. "We've gotta do a full shut-down, sir. I've got warnings across the board. Sorry, sir, but ... we're landing on the moon."
"Landing?" Zak asked, "Missing a nacelle? What kind of landing gear you think we have left?"
"Sir," Relok said, "I don't think Mr. Carter was listing options. Sir."
Carter nodded, "Frankly, Commodore? A giant metal surfboard ... that's about it."
Patterson glanced at Hines, then Den, then to Zak. "Sir ... I think it's high time to order all non-essential personnel to the lifeboats."
Zak looked at his XO. "I don't think the lifeboats will survive that gravity well, Colonel. We'd just be sending them to die in the atmospheric re-entry!"
Den said, "The landing struts are internal at the moment. Maybe the entry burn didn't destroy them? If nothing else ... some of them might still work. I think we should at least get who we can on those, or at least on the saucer. Won't the secondary hull take the brunt? Make her 'ass heavy', so that hits first."
Hines suggested, "What about the drop-pods and MAAVs? Delta Flight? The shuttles?"
Carter shook his head. "Not enough time to get everyone to them. We're gonna be hitting that moon's surface in less than 10 minutes! Someone get the ventral stabilizers to maximum!"
Zak grimaced. "OK, let's save as many as we can. Lifeboats, Deltas, Shuttles. Load them as full as possible and prepare for emergency launch. After we stop, we'll see what's left."
Patterson nodded to Hawke and Hines. "Signal Abandon Ship."
A second later, an All Call blared through the ship's internal comm system: "ALL HANDS, ABANDON SHIP! REPEAT, ABANDON SHIP!"
Kat glanced to her brother as the announcement sounded and swallowed with a dry mouth. Den told her, "You should go, Kat. Please."
She chewed her bottom lip. She didn't want to leave without her brother, or her close friend, Hines. "You're ... going to be right behind me?" she asked.
"Sure," he lied. "I'll be right behind you. Just gotta secure some things here."
Kat continued chewing her lower lip. She knew Hines wouldn't answer her, he was too much like Patterson to assure her he'd be on one of the escape shuttles. She scowled at her brother. "Fine but you better be right behind me." But, she didn't move.
Tabby, who still hadn't said a word since he'd heard of the explosion that almost certainly killed his wife, Bevin, silently stood and moved to the safety gear box, collected gear and put it on, then sprinted for the Turbolift. He was gone before anyone could react.
Hines nodded, signed off from the Recon station and moved to the emergency transporter nearby. As he did he tapped his commbadge, "All Marines to drop stations. This will be a HARD DROP WITH CARGO!"
Den automatically launched a distress beacon broadcasting their emergency distress call. Zak noticed the action and recognized it for what it was. He turned to Patterson, "We're in the Shadow Dimension. Our distress beacon won't be picked up by anybody we know. Even if it is, it would be the Breen, right?"
Den answered, "Might as well have done it anyway, just in case, sir."
"No, you're right, Den," Zak said. "Proper procedure. Forgive me for being overly morbid."
Den just nodded at Zak to show that he understood.
Zak turned to his XO. "Colonel, see to the evacuations. I'll see you on the other side."
Patterson nodded and sealed his combat helmet, with the intimidating "Ghost" face holographically displayed on its visor. It hissed as it sealed and he activated the internal comm system, "AEGIS," he called the Artificial Intelligence aboard his modified fighter, the Cerberus, "Emergency beamout. Prepare to take on refugees." Seconds later he dematerialized from the Bridge.
Relok turned to Carshel and T'Lin, "The two of you are relieved. Report to your evacuation stations."
T'Lin calmly looked at Relok and said, "If death shall happen today, I will not run, nor hide from its grasp. I am going to die with my friends." She bolted for the starboard Turbolift, intending to find Shadow.
Carshel stood from his console and looked to where Kat still stood at her station, near his own, staring at her brother. Without hesitation he scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder, sprinting quickly across the Bridge into the other Turbolift.
Kat let out a startled squeal at being tossed over someone's shoulder, but didn't resist when she realized who it was. She simply raised her head and looked back to Den instead.
The first wave of lifepods streaked out of the ship. Luckily, they seemed to be falling towards the small moon instead of the huge giant. Looks like they were far enough now from the massive planet to be out of its intense gravity well.
Zak studied Carter at the Helm. The Chief of Flight Operations was not "essential Bridge staff" required to keep his post in times of evacuation. But before he could say anything Carter said, without turning around or changing his grip on the flight sticks, "Don't even try me, Commodore. I'm the only chance we have at keeping the ship partially intact at this point!"
Zak smiled a second and moved to the now abandoned Operations Console. "I'll give you all the power I can manage, Carter. Let's land this thing, shall we?"
A call came over the comms, it was Evie in Main Engineering, "Bridge, you have full thrusters, stabilizers, and shields. Carter, you better surf this damn ship like you're riding the best wave of your life!"
Carter snapped one hand up to his commbadge and then quickly returned it to the flight sticks. "Acknowledged. Thank you." He glanced to the Commodore. "On my mark, give me everything we've got in the forward ventral thrusters until they run dry."
Zak nodded, "You got it. Let's try to keep at least some of the hull intact."
Den said, "Ventral and Forward shields at maximum. I can fire a torpedo at our projected 'landing' site. If at the right time, it will cause a wave to cradle the ship a bit, as well as make the surface spot less like hitting a wall."
Zak didn't turn around, just said, "Den, as long as your timing doesn't put us in the flash fire! But, hey, it's you, right?"
The starboard Turbolift suddenly opened again and the huge half-Klingon, half-Nausicaan Marine, Khal'Gon stepped out. He stomped over to the Tactical station and announced, "Mr. Hawke ... I relieve you, sir. Go."
Den shook his head at him. "Essential staff, Master Sergeant."
Khal'Gon growled at him. "You have a family, I do not. And, today is a good day to die. I wasn't asking."
Den gave a small shrug. "Won't matter if none of us get out of this dimension." He turned his attention back to targeting for his torpedo, tapping buttons on his console. "I think I have it, so ...," he poised his finger over the fire button. "Set."
Den turned back to the half-Klingon towering over him, "Sorry, Sergeant, file a complaint later." He watched carefully for his timing and fired the torpedo at their projected impact point. It broke up the surface, even melted some of the rocks, and softened their first point of impact.
Khal'Gon just grinned and stepped back a bit, muttering a Klingon battle prayer.
About that time the four main runabout shuttles launched, heavy with evacuees. The eight tiny "Workerbee" construction pods also launched, each filled with personnel. Three cargo shuttles and even the Canteen of Sparkles, the cargo freighter owned by Misty Mane they'd picked up in the Gamma Quadrant, launched, followed by the Cerberus. Patterson called in, "Commodore, I'll track you as long as I can."
Zak tapped his commbadge, "Acknowledged, Travis. We're likely to be pretty well buried ... if we're not a scattered debris field!"
Patterson responded, "Godspeed, Zak. Jason. Denovan." He maneuvered off out of the trajectory of the plummeting Penumbra.
Carter gripped the sticks even tighter. "Zak?" he said. "Now!"
Staff Sergeant Will Davies was working in Cargo Bay Two, securing the area after the Hawke siblings had been using their Borg alcoves there to affect the Breen Battlecruiser and the Borg Cube they'd encountered.
Suddenly, the Computer announces, "Opening Airlock 12-Beta requires voice and code authorization of the current acting Cargomaster."
Alarmed at who might be there trying to open the airlock, Davies immediately lifted his rifle and called out, "Whoo! Whoa! Step away from the console!" He rounded a stack of containers ready to assault an enemy invader.
Only, there was no-one there. Fortunately, the computer responded, "Voiceprint recognized: Staff Sergeant Will Davies, Starfleet Marine Corps Pathfinder, USS Penumbra. Cancelling request to open Airlock 12-Beta."
Davies lowered his rifle and muttered, "And, of course, no one there. What is going on?" He tapped his commbadge, "Patterson, the Cargo Bay Two Airlock just tried to kill me!"
Suddenly, the ship lurched and rocked to one side. Davies steadied himself against a stack of containers and heard Patterson reply, "It's a Borg Virus. We just isolated it ... but I'm afraid we have bigger problems now!"
A klaxon sounded and lights flashed red as the Red Alert was activated. An All Call announced, "ALL HANDS TO EMERGENCY STATIONS IMMEDIATELY!"
Davies definitely wasn't staying in there for that to happen again. He hurried out into the corridor. Suddenly he heard a loud explosion that wasn't that far away! The ship rocked again, throwing Davies to the floor. He lurched back to his feet and started running, not sure exactly where he was headed, just away from there!
And then another All Call: "ALL HANDS, ABANDON SHIP! REPEAT, ABANDON SHIP!"
This was followed almost immediately by SgtMaj. Derek Hines ordering, "All Marines to drop stations. This will be a HARD DROP WITH CARGO!"
Davies didn't know what was going on, but orders were orders. He made double-time along corridors that bucked and rocked with every step.
On the Flight Deck was organized chaos. Personnel from around the ship had converged here to be evacuated. Marines were directing traffic even while loading into their Orbital Drop Vehicles. All eight of the Delta Flyers took on passengers and launched. All four of the Runabouts loaded up and launched. The three Cargo Runabouts took on passengers and launched. Even Patterson and the Cerberus took on passengers and launched. Even tiny Workerbees took people aboard and launched.
Misty Mane rushed into her cargo freighter, the Canteen of Sparkles. She'd heard the abandon ship order. There wasn't time for her to prepare her cargo ship for passengers, but she did get it launched. She knew that there would be dozens of lifepods floating around out there near a massive planet's deep gravity well. And her little freighter was the best one to round those up and get them to safety.
Cmdr. Relok and LtCmdr. Katarina Hawke were in a Turbolift hurrying from the Bridge to Shadow's quarters after receiving his telepathic farewell cry. Relok was looking stricken and Kat was worrying at her bottom lip unsure how to help Relok.
In another Turbolift heading from Cargo Bay 2 to Shadow's quarters, LtCmdr. T'Lin stood alone, solemnly trying to calm her racing mind. She kept thinking to herself, ~I should have felt it! I should have felt it!~
MSgt. Khal'Gon strode into the main Computer Core control center as part of Borg readiness procedures, his bat'leth strapped to his back, a daq'tagh on one thigh, and a Marine-issued WAR rifle in his hands.
In the Turbolift with Kat and Relok, Kat shifted nervously from one foot to the other, and then, suddenly, the Turbolift came to an abrupt stop. Relok glanced up, a strained expression on his face. "What's going on? Why'd we stop?" Kat opened the emergency access panel to see if she could find out why the lift stopped.
Relok still seemed somewhat dazed. He looked around and asked, "What deck are we on? What the heck deck is Shadow on?"
Kat grunted in frustration at the access panel. Everything was off. She answered Relok, "I don't know. I cannot seem to access anything. We're stuck, unless the manual override works."
In her lonely Turbolift, T'Lin stood staring at the doors after the lift stopped moving. ~Please,~ she thought, ~just open ... open!~ But the doors didn't open. She opened the access panel and tried the manual release but to no avail. Then, overwhelmed by her frustrations she started banging on the door and screaming! After a moment she stopped attacking the helpless door and just placed her head against it. With her empathic abilities she projected a wave of peace in Shadow's direction. She hoped at least it would bring him comfort in his last moments. She knew she wouldn't get to him in time to say goodbye.
In yet another Turbolift, Petty Officer Norman, one of the Security personnel, was also stuck. He tapped his commbadge and called his boss, "Petty Officer Norman to Lieutenant Commander Hawke. I'm stuck in Turbolift 12 with no power or lights!"
Den's voice came back to him, "Evidently everyone is. Depending on if you're between decks, you may be able to use the manual door release and pry it open, slip out that way."
But then, suddenly, the ship lurched, then rocked to one side. Kat put one hand on a wall of the lift and said, "What was that?"
Relok was jolted into the opposite wall. "What the heck?" He tapped his commbadge. "Bridge, what's going on up there?"
Kat made a face. "I don't know why, but I just had this strange feeling ... I'm not sure what though."
Suddenly, a klaxon wailed and the ceiling lights in the Turbolifts turned red as the Red Alert sounded. Almost at the same moment, power came back on. Relok sighed and said, "Redirect to Bridge." He turned to Kat, "Kat, it'll have to wait." He sent his thoughts, ~Shayana, we'll be there soon.~
Kat nodded at him, "Aye, sir."
In her lift, as soon as the thing started moving T'Lin instructed it to stop at the next deck and the doors slid open. She rushed out headed for the more reliable emergency ladders, still headed for Shadow.
In the Computer Core, Khal'Gon looked up as the Red Alert sounded. He tapped his commbadge, "Khal'Gon to Bridge. Status?"
His answer was a general All Hands call, "ALL HANDS TO EMERGENCY STATIONS IMMEDIATELY!"
Though it wasn't exactly his "emergency station", Khal'Gon immediately exited the Core and headed for the Bridge.
T'Lin was hurrying down a ladder when the Red Alert sounded. She managed to emerge on the deck where Shadow's quarters were located, then heard the All Call. She gave a curse and reversed course, heading back for the Bridge. She sent Shadow another emotional wave, this time of courage, begging him to just hold on.
The ship began to shake violently and then there was the sound of a massive explosion somewhere in the lower decks! The ship lurched again and another All Call sounded.
"ALL HANDS, ABANDON SHIP! REPEAT, ABANDON SHIP!"
In Main Engineering, the staff was bustling around trying to prevent the Borg virus from infecting critical systems, like the warp core itself, it's controls and coolant systems. LtCmdr. Bevin MacArdry-Tibris, the Chief Engineer was directing crews all around Main Engineering as well as the main Computer Core area.
Lt. Evie Owens, the twenty-nine year old Assistant Chief Engineer who usually handled Gamma Shift, was pulling her occasional turn on Alpha Shift and was rushing around disconnecting any non-essential system she could find: computers, radios, replicators, etc. She shouted out, "Unplug everything secondary! Protocol 7-39z, Borg Interference. Submit bug sweeps and start encryption programs on everything!"
She pointed at one of their newer staff, LtJG. Jackal Tsunada, "You!" she barked out, "Get me scans of the warp core. I want everything. Keep an eye on the temperature gauge too."
Jackal bristled, raising an eyebrow. "Um ... excuse me?" But, realizing the situation and the double solid gold pips of the superior officer, she gave a sigh and answered, "I'm on it."
Not hearing the soft sigh and statement, Evie barked back, "I said, scan the damn warp core for Borg technology!" Her abrasive attitude paired with her clear disregard toward manners didn't give a great impression. Evie was not known for her tactfulness. In fact, some were said she only showed two emotions: boredom and irritation.
Now it was Jackal's turn to get feisty. She snapped back, "I said I'm on it! Use your damned ears and show a little more respect. I'm not new to a ship, and I'm not new to dealing with brats either." Though she looked only thirty-ish due to the nanites in her blood, Jackal was in fact fifty years old and didn't take well to bossy youngsters like Evie.
Evie argued, "Do something to earn my respect! Until then, I don't give a damn about what you're new to or not."
Jackal growled, "Maybe change your tone and I'd give a damn about your orders then." She turned to do what she'd been ordered to anyway.
Evie muttered, "My tone won't matter if we're all assimilated." She started to walk away when suddenly, the ship lurched under nearly 3/4 impulse speed, then quickly rocked to one side.
Jackal grabbed the console and cursed, "Holy shit!"
A klaxon wailed and lights around the walls flashed red as the ship went to Red Alert. The voice of Col. Travis Patterson, the XO, came over the intercoms, "ALL HANDS TO EMERGENCY STATIONS IMMEDIATELY!"
Evie noticed the signal from the Bridge to retract the nacelles and quickly started the process. After a few seconds a warning light flashed. She called out, "The Ventral Starboard Nacelle isn't retracting! We have to manually fix it!"
Cursing in Gaelic, Bevin and several other Engineering officers and technicians hurried to the access corridors to the retraction controls to do a manual reset.
Jackal commented, "Okay, I know I don't know much, but ... that doesn't sound good."
Evie shouted out, "Jackal! Get me the toolbox, I have to close off this vent!" The ship was bucking and heaving now, knocking everyone around a bit. She banged her head against one of the pipes. "Oh! Son of a --- damn it!"
"Pfft!" Jackal snorted, trying to keep from laughing, then handed her the toolkit, "Um, sorry. Here. Are you okay?"
Again, the ship bucked and bounced. Those in Main Engineering were often attuned to their ship and most knew their ship was in some kind of atmospheric re-entry. Only, there hadn't been a planet within light-years moments ago!
Evie reached out and grabbed Jackal and pulled her to the wall, "Get down!"
"Ahh!" Jackal cried as a support strut broke loose from an upper bracket and fell, hitting the floor just where she'd been standing. "Okay, yeah, I get it. I'm paying full attention now!"
The ship rattled and bounced and Evie said, "Get under that shelf and hold on for dear life!" She wrapped one arm around Jackal and one arm around a large pipe and muttered, "I'm too damn young to die like this!"
Jackal rebuffed, "We're not gonna die!" She pulled off her belt and wrapped it around herself and the pipe and grabbed hold of Evie as the ship bounced along some thick atmosphere.
Suddenly, a massive explosion rocked the ship! Warning klaxons wailed all around Main Engineering. Realizing the situation, Jackal untied the belts that held her and Evie and they slipped out from under the shelf. Evie called out, "Everyone okay? Great, get your arses in gear! Everyone, grab your safety gear, now!"
Jackal started handing out safety gear and as she did she noticed one of the monitors. She muttered, "The ventral starboard nacelle ...."
The computer reported, "Hull Breach on subdeck 14-C, Nacelle Access. Emergency forcefields activated."
Patterson's voice came over the comms, "Bridge to Engineering. We're seeing total loss of the Starboard Ventral Nacelle ...," he trailed off, waiting for confirmation.
Evie access a comm station. "Commodore, Bevin and a team of engineers went to manually reset that nacelle."
She heard the Commodore's choked reply, "They went to ... and we ... oh no!"
Evie continued, "Get the medbay ready for triage, but ... I don't think they'll need it. I'll get on a list of casualties as soon as I can spare the manpower. We need to land somewhere ASAP to make emergency repairs." She turned to address the crew in Engineering that were gathering to collect safety gear to go see about the explosion. "Is anyone injured?" she asked.
Jackal checked herself over, with particular attention to the PADD-like device embedded in her forearm that regulated her nanites. She glanced around for anyone else injured just as Evie noticed one man with several cuts on one arm. She waved at him and commanded, "You, come here and let me bandage that arm."
The ship continued to buck and heave dramatically. The force-fields that sealed off the hull breaches blocked access to the area where the explosion occurred. Teams were beginning to come together to attempt some kind of repairs. Evie called, "Jackal, secure your line to that hook and get me as many tools as you can find, I'm gonna need them all."
"Yes, ma'am," Jackal said, not bothering to be belligerent anymore considering the circumstances.
Evie turned, pointing at another Engineering technician, "Mike, get the stabilizers on full blast." She turned to another, "Sara, ...,"
She was interrupted by an All Call blasting from the speakers, "ALL HANDS, ABANDON SHIP! REPEAT, ABANDON SHIP!"
Evie turned back to Sara and said, "Take the rest of them and get the hell outta here. Tell my parents I died doing the right thing." She turned and began singing softly as she did whatever she could to soften the landing. She accessed stabilizers and thrusters and put them to full strength, then tapped her commbadge. "Bridge, you have full thrusters, stabilizers, and shields. Carter, you better surf this damn ship like you're riding the best wave of your life!"
LtCmdr. Jason Carter, Chief of Flight Operations, was well known to the Engineering crew. He had an almost unique gift of visualizing warp fields and subspace. Evie heard his clipped reply, "Acknowledged. Thank you."
Up on the Bridge, LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris had left his post and now was running frantically through the corridor from the emergency ladders he'd descended, not trusting the Turbolifts considering the damage and the bucking of the ship. As he ran, he nearly flung people out of the way if they stepped in front of him. He muttered the whole time, "Not my Bevin! Dear God, not my beloved Bevin! You took my mother, don't take my lover too!"
And then, the Penumbra hit the moon's surface, still cruising at nearly half impulse speed, charred from the flight through the gas giant's atmosphere, and with a gaping hole in its belly where once was one of its four warp nacelles.
Upon impact the ship bounced, flying several meters into the air in the light gravity before coming back down on its belly where it continued to skip and hop before finally settling in for a grinding slide across the surface of the tiny planet.
The Cerberus, the Canteen of Sparkles, the eight Delta Flyers, all the Runabouts and Workerbees and Lifepods could only watch helplessly as the enormous ship dragged along the ground throwing tons of dirt and rock and ice into the near-vacuum above the surface as it skidded for a kilometer or more along the ground.
On the Bridge at the top of the skidding ship, LtCmdr. Jason Carter, Chief of Flight Operations, fell forward into the Helm console, smashing his head hard. But he snapped right back up, continuing to fight the ship to help brake it to a halt.
MstSgt. Khal'Gon had been standing just aft of the Tactical station. The nearly seven-and-a-half-foot tall half-Klingon was thrown forward, flying over the Tactical station and slamming into what was Patterson's chair, then tumbling off of that and rolling up with a thump underneath the Operations station chair where the Commodore was sitting. The impact with Patterson's chair broke the skin and he lay bruised, bleeding, and unconscious.
Cdre. Zak Taylor snapped forward on impact, bashing his ribcage against the edge of the Operations console, but quickly straightening to continue to provide as much power as they could to whatever shields they could generate.
LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke was tossed forward, thudding hard against the Tactical console just as Khal'gon flew over his head. He bounced off and fell to the floor behind it, then crawled forward and clawed his way back to a standing position holding on to the console for dear life. ~I love you.~ he thought to the console itself as he continued searching for any ridge or hard spot he could demolish before they ran into it.
Relok was sitting at the Primary Science Station, belted in. Upon impact, he was flung forward as well, banging his head on the console. The force of the impact knocked him unconscious, but the straps of his seat kept him from going anywhere. Only, he rattled in his seat like a rag doll while the ship skipped and slid along its trench.
In Main Engineering, Lt. Evie Owens was thrown into a bank of consoles with serious force, bouncing off and collapsing in a heap to the floor, out cold.
Seconds later, LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris arrived at the upper level of Main Engineering, Deck 7. He hurried over to a ladder to descend to the main level just as the ship hit the ground. The force of the impact jarred him off the ladder and he fell the dozen feet or so to crash into the same bank of consoles that Evie had been thrown into, and then tumble to the floor beside her, also unconscious.
LtJG. Jackal Tsunada was knocked off her feet and rolled reflexively under the central "pool table" desk, covering her head.
Up on Deck 6, LtCmdr. T'Lin was hurrying to the quarters of LtCmdr. Dr. Shadow K'Trevala, who had sent a cryptic telepathic message saying simply "Goodbye". When the ship hit the ground, the impact sent her flying into one of the forward walls, where she bounced and fell sprawling to the floor.
Carter grunted out, "Reverse ... thrusters!"
Zak pressed a few buttons and answered, "Thrusters to full!"
Skidding along the surface of the tiny moon, the Penumbra finally ... finally ... came to a steaming stop.