USS Penumbra Sim Narrative, SD 202206.17
The Penumbra had suffered a system malfunction due to the Borg virus implanted in the Breen Battlecruiser that the Penumbra had picked up when they were attempting to eradicate that virus from the Breen’s systems.
As a result, the Penumbra stumbled through the Spacial Anomaly to the Shadow Dimension and fell into the deep gravity well of an enormous planet there, hurtling along at half impulse speed right into the upper atmosphere.
After burning through the atmosphere, they finally got altitude after a major explosion in one of the retraction mechanisms of one of the nacelles, but that sent them plummeting into crashing on a tiny frozen moon.
Now, they had to make an effort to raise the Penumbra out of the trench it dug when it crashed. The plan was to use all the various Auxiliary Craft that had Tractor Beams to pull the Penumbra out of the trench and give it enough forward momentum to make escape velocity so they could get back through the Anomaly to their own universe!
Cdre. Zak Taylor sat in the Command Chair, even though he’d been “officially” removed from command by his Executive Officer, Col. Travis Patterson, due to the Commodore having several broken ribs and being under pain medication that made him a “little hazy”.
Patterson had actually left the Bridge and was flying his heavily modified Reconnaissance Fighter, the Cerberus, out in front of the Penumbra’s crash trench scanning for any metallic alloys they might make use of. He’d left LtCmdr. Jason Carter, the Chief of Flight Operations, in command, even though technically Cmdr. Relok, the Chief Science Officer out-ranked him. With Carter working with all the Auxiliary Craft to try to pull the Penumbra out of their trench, Patterson had told Carter, “Your circus. Your monkeys.”
In spite of being in command at the moment, Carter sat at the Helm so he could try to get the heavily-damaged ship off the tiny moon. He tapped his commbadge and called, “Delta Flight, once you're in positions, go ahead and establish the tractor beams. Minimum tension, we just want to confirm the right anchors.”
All eight Delta Flyers, as well as the seven Runabouts and four Workerbees, established their Tractor Beams and locked onto their designated positions to prepare for the lifting effort. At the Operations Console, LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris muttered, “Come on, come on, move this damn ship, Workerbees.”
Zak asked, “So, Tabby ... are you using all the Workerbees? I only count four out front. Don't we have 8 of them, too?”
Tabby didn’t turn to answer, just said, “Yeah, we have eight. I sent the others for ice collection.” Actually, the ones out front that the Commodore saw were the ones collecting ice. That process was intended to help create a “runway” for the ship by carving out a smooth surface. The other four were attached to Tractor Beams anchored along the two dorsal warp nacelles in the rear of the ship.
Relok had moved over to the Secondary Science Station, allowing his subordinate, Lt. Jackson Carshel, to use the Primary Station, since Carshel, with his genetically-enhanced “super brain” was coordinating with the ship’s Artificial Intelligence, MAX, all the various connecting points and differing Tractor Beam strengths of the dozen or so craft outside the ship. Relok instead was monitoring the data feed from the Cerberus’ scans for geological features they could make use of.
Beside him at the Tertiary Science Station, LtCmdr. T’Lin had finally returned to duty for the first time since discovering the body of their late Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shadow K’Trevala, shortly after the crash.
At the Tactical Console, LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke (himself working through a few cracked ribs of his own), snarked, “Are we there yet?”
The AI, MAX, manifested his holographic face at several monitors and pedestals around the Bridge and announced, “I have confirmed the anchors of all Delta Flyers. Based on specifications, they will be able to keep us stable, but ... there's still not enough to get the necessary lift to get us off the ground.”
Carter turned so he could see Carshel out of the corner of his eye. “If we shift two of our Runabouts forwards, do you think that'll give us the lift we need without compromising any drag?”
Relok advised, “Carshel, make sure to balance the forces. Lifting too hard in the front might cause an unanticipated shift aft.”
Carshel thought a moment, then answered Carter, “Not as long as they lift up, tilt their noses roughly 78 degrees upward. Carter, tell them to take it slow and move in, since that should mitigate any further damage.”
Realizing he’d assigned Carshel this task because of his abilities, Relok quietly added, “But ... you knew that already, didn't you?”
Carshel sent signals to the Flight, “Two bank right, two bank left. Two up front, the last one slightly lagging behind.” He re-positioned their seven Runabouts around the ship.
Carter monitored the shifting, then called the Flight Deck, where SgtMaj. Derek Hines was coordinating the re-stowing of the various Marine Vehicles used during the evacuation. “Hines, we’re locked in. Recall all the MAAVs and lock down for liftoff.”
Hines’ voice came back, “Copy that, Carter. Bringing the MAAVs back. Give us 3 minutes.”
Zak spun his chair slightly and said, “Hey, Den ... don't let all those Tractor Beams break our ship in half, okay? You said you had shields and structural integrity boosted, right?”
Den answered, “Yes, in the 70s. That’s as high as I can get it.”
With the seven Runabouts in place, plus 4 Workerbees and the 8 Delta Flyers, all with their Tractor Beams attached, it was time to tug and see if they could get the Penumbra out of her trench.
Col. Travis Patterson flew in his heavily modified Reconnaissance Fighter, the Cerberus, scanning out in front of the Penumbra’s crash trench for any metallic alloys they might make use of. He spoke to the on-board Artificial Intelligence, AEGIS, I don't need detailed compositions. Just focus on anything magnetic.”
SgtMaj. Derek Hines, the senior non-commissioned officer in charge of the Marine detachment, was on the Flight Deck, making sure everything not a flying craft that had been launched during the evacuation had been anchored down as best as possible in the damaged hangar bay and associated storage decks. The Marines had a number of Assault Vehicles and “Amphibious” Landers that had to be properly secured.
Even though they’d just brought them all back aboard, the Penumbra had mobilized its Auxiliary Craft once again: all eight Delta Flyers that constituted Delta Flight, all seven Runabouts (four “passenger” and three “cargo”), Patterson’s Cerberus, Misty Mane’s freighter called the Canteen of Sparkles, and all eight of the Workerbee pods. They were going to use everything that had a Tractor Beam to try to haul the Penumbra up out of its crash trench and get it moving forward so it could escape this frozen moon where they’d crashed.
LtCmdr. Jason Carter, Chief of Flight Operations, was on the Bridge at the Helm. Earlier, Patterson, the ship’s Executive Officer, who had already relieved Cdre. Zak Taylor from command due to the Commodore’s broken ribs (and pain medication as a result), had given command of the ship over to Carter saying, “Your circus. Your monkeys.” This was in regard to the plan to have all the Auxiliary Craft try to pull the Penumbra out of its trench. Carter tapped his commbadge and called, “Delta Flight, once you're in positions, go ahead and establish the tractor beams. Minimum tension, we just want to confirm the right anchors.”
The Delta Flyers, along with the other craft (all of which were operating under the “codename” of Delta Flight for this maneuver), activated Tractor Beams, a total of 19 beams (the Cerberus and a few of the Workerbees were on other tasks) scattered at various anchor points around the upper hull of the Penumbra.
After a moment, Carter called Hines, “We're locked in. Recall all the MAAVs and lock down for liftoff.”
Hines tapped his commbadge, “Copy that, Carter. Bringing the MAAVs back. Give us 3 minutes.”
Elsewhere on the Flight Deck, the civilian freighter captain, Misty Mane, who the Penumbra picked up on the border of Klingon-Nausicaan space and just sort-of kept as a “helper”, was restocking her ship, the Canteen of Sparkles, when she received a call from LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris, the Chief of Operations. “Misty, we need your ship to pick up scrap metal. You can do that right?”
Misty giggled and tapped her commbadge, “Well, duh! Of course I can! I’ll be right on it.” She closed the comm and patted the dusty, rusty hull of her freighter and said, “Come on, old girl.”
LtCmdr. Dr. Katarina Hawke continued to move around sickbay checking on the wounded, despite being wounded herself. She muttered to herself, “If I were still a drone I'd be healed by now.”
The Emergency Medical Hologram, Mark 3, had been activated shortly after the crash, when they learned their Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shadow K’Trevala, had died of a concealed brain tumor, and that their Assistant Chief, Kat, was unaccounted for. He also moved around Sickbay checking on the injured, and kept a close eye on Kat. He said, “If you were a Borg Drone, you wouldn't have had the resources available to you that you currently have, Doctor. The Borg have been known to simply disconnect damaged drones from the Collective.”
“That is true,” Kat answered, “but if I were still a drone, I don't think I would have been as badly injured.” She paused, then added, “But then I also would not have found my brother.” Her brother was LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke, their Chief of Security and Tactical Operations. She gave a sigh then said, “Besides, I prefer having my individuality returned.”
Sometime later, the ship seemed to shiver as the several Auxiliary Craft latched their Tractor Beams on and began trying to pull the Penumbra out of the trench it had dug when it crashed. A few moments later the ships had had their Tractor Beams calibrated and they began to pull in unison. Loud creaks and pops echoed throughout the ship in protest before finally, slowly, it began to lift out of its trench.
The new Acting Chief Engineer after the passing of their late chief, LtCmdr. Bevin MacArdry-Tibris, Lt. Evie Owens, was bustling around Main Engineering, fixing wires and conduits, concentrated on regaining ship functionality. She had earbuds in, her uniform jacket off, and was in extremely focused “work mode”.
Outside the ship, the various Auxiliary Craft established their Tractor Beams for the attempted lift. To those in Main Engineering who were attuned to the ship, they could feel the whole ship shiver as if in anticipation!
Evie looked over at her Acting Assistant Chief Engineer, the newly-arrived LtJG. Jackal Tsunada, mother of Lt. Jackson Carshel. “Jackal, once we restore the impulse engines, I want you to continue going around Main Engineering and fixing ... all of this.” She gestured around the whole of Main Engineering expansively. “I will need to begin outside repairs.”
Jackal smiled at the younger woman, beginning to actually grow quite fond of the quirky woman who at first had just seemed bossy and irritable, and gave a nod.
As Evie said this she realized something and reached to a nearby console to open a comm-line to the Bridge, “Carter, hey, if possible, can you have your Delta Flyers tell me the coordinates of large pieces of scrap metal? I'll need them to repair the outside hull if we're to be going anywhere anytime soon.”
Carter responded, “I don't think they can spare the extra power for scans. I'll relay it to the Cerberus. He's looking for magnetic alloys ahead of us.”
“Got it,” Evie answered, “thanks!”
The voice of Cdre. Zak Taylor came over the comm, “Ooh! What about Misty? Her Canteen can pick up scrap metal! She's a freight hauler after all!”
LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris responded, “I'll contact her,” and the comm signal closed.
A few minutes later all the various Auxiliary Craft with their Tractor Beams anchored to strategic points on the ship’s upper hull began to pull. Loud creaks, pops, and bangs echoed throughout the ship. Structural integrity readings quickly dropped from 70% to only 60%.
Evie slapped the comm panel again, “Hey what the heck are you guys doing up there? The hull's popping more than my knees do!”
Jackal burst out laughing, then covered her mouth and mumbled, “I’m sorry!”
The Commodore’s voice came back, “Just giving the old girl a little workout. Keep her together if you can!”
Evie responded, “Uhhh ... alright, we'll do our best. Tabby, take the power from everything non-vital and put it towards the shields, it's the only way this girl will survive.”
Tabby answered, “Understood, Evie, shutting power to non-essential in three ...,” he counted off the seconds and then transferred power as needed.
As the various Auxiliary Craft began pulling with their Tractor Beams, loud creaks, pops, and bangs echoed throughout the ship. Structural Integrity readings dropped from 70% to 60%! Den worked the Tactical Station shifting power from spot to spot as areas degraded until the power distribution settled and the Tractor Beams stabilized the forces.
Zak cursed, “Damn, I thought the crash was rough! Getting out of this ditch might be just as bad!”
From Engineering another call came from Evie, “Hey what the heck are you guys doing up there? The hull's popping more than my knees do!”
Zak tapped his commbadge, “Just giving the old girl a little workout. Keep her together if you can!”
Evie responded, “Uhhh ... alright, we'll do our best. Tabby, take the power from everything non-vital and put it towards the shields, it's the only way this girl will survive.”
Tabby answered, “Understood, Evie, shutting power to non-essential in three ...,” he counted off the seconds and then transferred power as needed.
Another call came over the comms, this one from Patterson, “Cerberus to Penumbra. You've got a moderate magnetic field being produced by iron ore beneath the surface. The field gets weak beyond 50 meters altitude. That gonna help any, Carter?”
Carter was clutching the flight sticks in preparation for the ship rising from its trench. He tapped his commbadge and responded to Patterson, “It's all we've got to work with. Thanks for the news. Carter out.” He turned to Tabby who sat just to his left, “Polarize the hull plating to oppose the magnetic field beneath us.”
“Aye,” Tabby acknowledged, the added, “be careful.”
Hearing Carter, Relok turned his chair so he could see Den and said, “Den, can we get any kind of energy from the phasers? We might be able to ‘charge’ that iron ore to increase its magnetism.”
“Probably,” Den answered, “I don’t see why not.” His fingers went to work on the Tactical console as he studied which phaser emitters were still accessible and just how much power he’d want to put into the shot.
Out in front of the Penumbra, on the Cerberus, AEGIS reported to Patterson, “There is a moderate concentration of ferrous material at 24 meters beneath the moon's surface. There is a mild magnetic field radiating off the surface, but the field is weak beyond an altitude of 50 meters.”
Patterson rubbed his chin. “It’s all we’ve got.” He opened a communications line to the Penumbra, “Cerberus to Penumbra. You've got a moderate magnetic field being produced by iron ore beneath the surface. The field gets weak beyond 50 meters altitude. That gonna help any, Carter?”
Carter’s voice came back, “It's all we've got to work with... Thanks for the news. Carter out.”
Ponderously, the massive ship began to shift, slowly rising from her frozen bed.
“Hey!” Zak sat up in his chair, “the horizon moved!”
“WE HAVE LIFTOFF!” Tabby exclaimed.
Zak turned to Carter, “Can we get any forward momentum?”
Carter began to slowly push the throttle forward, reporting as he did, “One percent thrust ... altitude, 5 meters ... 7 meters ... 10 meters!”
Carshel snickered and proclaimed, “It’s alive!”
Relok spoke up, “Den, can you target that iron?”
Den nodded, “Just now got it locked.”
“Steady!” Carter interjected, “we’re nowhere near safe. Tabby, give me the forward stabilizers on manual.”
With all the Auxiliary Craft pulling, the Penumbra slowly began to rise from her frozen bed. Evie slapped a comm panel again and called the Bridge, “Carter, you’ve got half impulse power. You’ll get the rest in ... maybe two minutes.”
Carter answered, “Acknowledged, Evie. You guys might want to strap in, it’s gonna get rough down there.”
Jackal was shoveling debris into trash bags when she heard Carter. She froze, looking up at Evie. “He said what?”
Evie groaned, “Oh, Jesus ... okay.” She turned to the various crew milling around Engineering working on clean-up and repairs. “Strap in!” she called, grabbing up her uniform jacket (with her commbadge on it) and shrugging back into it as she hurried over to a seat and fastening the restraints.
Jackal and the rest of the crew dropped what they were doing and rushed to secure locations to strap in. Evie accessed the console and worked some magic on it, then tapped her commbadge, “Carter, you’ve got full impulse in 10 seconds. The hull is holding ... so far.”
Jackal mumbled several choice swear words in her native Cherokee.
With the Penumbra finally slowly lifting, the Flight began pulling her forward. From the main forward phasers, LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke fired a low-power burst at the ore vein Patterson had found. Instantly the iron polarized and magnetized, much more so than expected. The ship lurched forward, but all of the Flight connected by Tractor Beams were suddenly jerked down and forward.
Carter called over the comm system, “Flight! You’re destabilizing! Stay in formation!”
The Workerbees took the worst of it. There were essentially one-man construction pods and just didn’t have the mass to resist the whole Penumbra tugging on them. The three Runabouts that were primarily personnel carriers also weren’t made for this kind of work. They struggled to recover their positions and to provide useful towing ability.
But the ship was accelerating along its makeshift runway of ice and magnetized iron ore, using its own maneuvering thrusters in addition to the tow lines from the various craft. But the smaller craft couldn’t keep up attached by Tractor Beams. The Workerbees and Runabout shuttles had to detach and fell behind, leaving only the three cargo shuttles and the eight Delta Flyers pulling the ship.
But the runway was drawing short. A towering spire of iron ore and rock was dead ahead just behind two kilometers. And the Penumbra was still flying level to the ground with very little altitude.
Finally, she began to pull up ... a little. Carter’s voice came over the comms, “Flight! Cut tractor beams!” They did so and the Penumbra dipped, dropping several meters but then “bouncing” off the polarized magnetization of the iron vein, hurtling forward along the rapidly diminishing runway.
Then the Penumbra rolled over, rotating to put its undamaged thrusters on the upper hull on the bottom side and began to climb up away from the moon with all the Auxiliary Craft following in its wake.
Den fired his low-level phaser burst at the iron ore vein and its magnetism suddenly went up an order of magnitude! The ship suddenly lurched forward, but ... all the craft with their Tractor Beams anchored to various placed on the ship were suddenly jerked down and forward!
Den scowled, “Um ... that worked fine for us, but it looked like it did the opposite to the ships.”
Relok noticed the readouts on the forces reflected in the various Tractor Beam anchor points. “Whoa!” he called, “Carshel! Did you see that? We might actually need to cut loose some of those Tractor Beams! The Workerbees might not be able to hold. And I'm not sure about the personnel carriers.”
Relok turned to Den and said, “I think it just caught them by surprise when the ship lurched. But ... like I said, we might need to reduce the number of attachment points now that the Penumbra is loose.”
Carter grunted, pushing the throttle forward a bit hard. “C’mon, baby, don’t fall on me!” He quickly tapped his commbadge with one hand before putting it back on the flight sticks and said, “Flight! You’re destabilizing! Stay in formation!”
Zak leaned forward in his seat in spite of the pain it put on his ribcage. “Carter, can she fly yet? We’ve got a runway, but ... it looks pretty short to me.”
MAX answered instead, “We have not yet reached enough thrust to sustain flight independently.”
Carter was focused on the main viewer. “Twenty-five percent thrust. Come on, come on ....”
Around the Bridge, people were strapping in, just in case. Carshel struggled because he had one arm and one leg in casts, but he managed to get his restraints fastened.
Evie called from Engineering, “Carter, you’ve got full impulse in 10 seconds. The hull is holding ... so far.”
Carter glanced at his readings and reported, “Forty-percent thrust. Speed ... one-third impulse.”
“Release!” Carshel called.
Den nodded, “Ready to cut the Tractors.”
The ship’s computer trilled a warning, “Warning: Collision alert. Distance to impact, 2 kilometers.”
Zak squirmed in his seat. “Got to get up, Carter, up!”
Carshel cursed, “Cut the Tractors, damnit!”
“Not yet!” Carter snapped.
MAX added, “We do not have enough room to reach optimal thrust.”
Carter fought the controls another few seconds then ordered, “Cut Tractor Beams!”
Den sent the signal and all of the Auxiliary Craft cut their beams.
With the Tractor Beams cut, the Penumbra suddenly dropped again, then "bounced" from the magnetic field polarity and slid forward.
Tabby asked, “Are we flying?” Then in a hushed voice asked, “Are we dead?” And finally grumbled, “I have no goddamned clue anymore!”
Zak was nearly beside himself, straining against the restraints of the Command Chair and the wrapping of his broken ribs. He called out, “Carter! Thrust, damnit! Forward and up! Sheesh, want me to do it?”
Carter grunted, then took a breath. He said, “Carshel, on my mark, reverse the hull polarity 100%.”
Carshel nodded, “Understood.”
“Den,” Carter continued, “transfer all power to the dorsal shields at the same time, rotating them from ventral to the starboard, then dorsal to match my roll ratio.”
Den’s fingers moved across his console, setting up the shield rotation. “Ready,” he announced.
“Tabby,” Carter continued once more, “full dorsal maneuvering thrust when I give the order.”
Tabby just nodded, readying the thrusters.
MAX muttered, “Fascinating. I did not imagine an inverted takeoff.”
Tabby grumbled, “Shut up, MAX.”
Carter flexed his hands, both his natural left hand and his prosthetic, android-like right hand, then gripped the flight sticks again tightly and took another deep breath. He studied the altimeter, then slammed the throttle to its maximum setting. “Now!” he called and began a starboard roll.
Zak began tilting his head, following the roll on the main viewer, and muttered, “Um ....”
“Got it!” called Carshel, reversing hull polarity.
Den quickly began the shield rotation, adjusting to match the roll of the ship.
Tabby transferred power to the maneuvering thrusters to provide Carter everything he could get.
The Penumbra rolled to an inverted position and began to climb. It slid along the magnetized "runway" and started pulling away from the surface of the tiny frozen moon! The auxiliary craft followed behind in its wake.
Relok called out, “MAX! Do we have escape velocity?”
Zak added, “More importantly, do we have enough runway?”
Tabby grumbled, “More importantly how do our systems stand?”
MAX reported, “We have achieved escape velocity, and speeds are still climbing. Three-quarters impulse ... point-eight ... point-eight-two ....”
And without warning, the Shadow Demon suddenly appeared in the center of the Bridge!
Back in Sickbay, suddenly, Kat gave a shiver. At nearly the same moment she heard in her head her brother’s voice, calling over their shared Borg interconnect. ~Our friend is back, Kat, on the Bridge.~
She answered, ~I know, I can feel him.~ She began wrapping up her rounds so she could head to the Bridge.
Then she heard another voice in her mind. This one was Cmdr. Relok, their Vulcan Chief of Sciences. ~Kat? Can you hear me? Let go of him. He thinks you are holding on to him! Let go!~
~I do not understand,~ she answered him, not even thinking about the fact that she had spoken to Relok telepathically. ~How am I holding on to him?~ She hurried out of Sickbay and caught the Turbolift. ~I am on my way up there.~
Relok persisted, ~Kat, let go. You can do it. Let the Demon go.~
Just before Kat reached the Bridge, the Penumbra, now hurtling at Warp 3, reached the Anomaly ... and simply slipped through. The small armada of Auxiliary Craft that was trailing the Penumbra also slipped through without incident.
Kat still spoke telepathically to Relok, ~I do not even know if I am actually holding on to him. How do you let go of something you’re not sure you’re holding onto?~ She finished her thought at the Turbolift slid open onto the Bridge. She swallowed nervously and stepped out, looking around for the Shadow Demon, but it wasn’t there anymore.
As the Shadow Demon materialized, Carshel grumbled, “No. Go frak yourself, demon. Not in the goddamned mood.” He struggled to stand on his broken leg, leaning on one of his crutches.
Den cut off his curse, “Son of a ... what do you want now?”
Relok jumped in his seat, and would have fallen to the floor if not for his restraints. He choked out, “You!”
Carter felt a sudden headache from the Demon’s sudden presence. He was also aware of Kat’s reaction down in Sickbay. He grunted, “Bad ... timing!” trying to maintain his focus on flying the damaged ship.
The Demon glared and spoke out loud, “Why have you not closed the portal? The delay is causing serious problems for my people!”
Carshel blurted out, “How about you frakking close it then!”
Den said, “If you hadn’t noticed, we kind of ran into some issues!”
Carshel continued ranting, “You know so much about it, while we don't know a goddamn thing, so how about you do it! We closed the last one!”
The Shadow Demon ignored Carshel, glancing around the Bridge, making a full circuit. Then he said, “She is not here. Where is the woman? She is the key.” He turned his gaze to Den. “Where is your other half?”
Den sent a mental call to his sister over their shared Borg link, ~Our friend is back, Kat, on the Bridge.~
Though no-one else could hear it, Kat responded to her brother, ~I know. I can feel him.~
Den said out loud, “She's headed up here.”
A call came over the comm-lines from Patterson, “Cerberus to Penumbra, what's going on over there?”
Tabby responded to him, “We ... uh ... we have a guest. Now I know what everyone was talking about.”
The Penumbra had completely rolled over, rotating to put its undamaged thrusters on the upper hull on the bottom in order to climb up away from the moon.
But then, the upside-down Penumbra climbing up from the moon’s surface began to dip, it’s ascension unstable. Patterson saw it from the Cerberus and was concerned. He opened the comm-line, “Cerberus to Penumbra, what's going on over there?”
It was LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris who responded, “We ... uh ... we have a guest. Now I know what everyone was talking about.”
Patterson didn’t quite understand what Tabby was talking about, but he could clearly see the Penumbra was having problems. He shook his head and muttered, “He's not gonna make it up like that. AEGIS, standby Tractor Beam.”
He targeted the main deflector dish on the front of the ship, the best anchor point for a single tow-line and activated the Beam. This stabilized the Penumbra, and they managed to get off the tiny planet and away from the enormous host planet and off into interplanetary space.
Relok unbuckled his restraints, stood, and approached the Shadow Demon. “I think I've figured out the reason we couldn't close the door.”
Carter was still struggling with the flight sticks piloting an inverted starship trying to escape from a frozen moon where they’d crashed not long ago. He grumbled, “Can everyone shut the hell up for 30 seconds?! Either we'll be alive and we can talk then, or we'll all be dead!”
Carshel, aside from the Hawke siblings, was the only other person to have seen the Shadow Demon in physical form like this, when it first appeared on the shuttle, Ahrele, and touched Kat’s face, freezing it. He knew intuitively that it had somehow connected to Kat even then, but wondered what the heck he could do about it now.
Relok continued advancing towards the Demon. “I think it was when you touched the woman. You bonded with her, mentally. It's you, friend, keeping the door open. You and her.”
Carshel eased forward a step and called to his superior. “Relok, focus on the station. Let me talk to it.” He didn’t want anyone else to get frozen by the thing!
Carter wasn’t having it, and he was still technically in command. “Belay that, Carshel. Return to your station.” It had been, and still was, Carshel’s job to coordinate the Tractor Beams that had lifted the ship and given it enough forward momentum to escape the moon. And they weren’t out of the woods yet.
Relok waved off Carshel. “No, I have to do this, Carshel. It was my mind-meld that bonded all of us.”
Carshel resisted, “I was the only one on that shuttle with Kat when it first appeared.”
The Shadow Demon turned to face Relok. It said, “Bonded? That is why I feel pain? It is hers? Yes, I see it now. She was weak and I was too forceful. But ... the portal must be closed, and soon!”
Zak intervened. “Look, Demon-guy, can you just get the hell off my ship for two minutes? We'll figure out the portal when we get there, okay?”
Now free of gravity wells, the Penumbra would be able to activate the two dorsal warp nacelles (they’d lost the starboard ventral in the explosion, so had to keep the port ventral tucked inside without its partner to balance the warp field).
Carter took a long, deep breath, then turned to Tabby sitting next to him. “Tabby, how’s the warp drive look?”
Tabby checked and reported, “Warp drive is good and stable, thankfully.”
He said simply, “Good, Tabby.” Without another word he activated the warp drive and the ship jumped to Warp 3, headed for the Anomaly.
Carter turned slightly to address Carshel, who still bristled, and said, “Lieutenant ... you will return to your station or you will leave the Bridge. The choice is yours. There are too many distractions for a life-or-death situation right now.”
Carshel slumped back into his seat, grumbling, “Not like I can leave, Carter, I have one goddamn leg to use, remember?” He patted the cast on his broken leg.
Carter glared at Carshel. “Right now? The only response I should've heard is ‘Yes, sir’.”
Tabby glanced at Carter and said in a conspiratorial whisper, “Go easy on the kid. Carter. He's concerned for everyone and Kat. He only wants to help. He knows there's nothing he can do.” Carter didn’t respond.
Relok continued speaking to the Demon, “Some of my people are touch-telepaths, like I believe you are. You must pull yourself back from her. Trust us, we will close the portal, after we get back to our side. If YOU will let go of her.”
The Demon seemed surprised. It answered, “If I will ‘let go’ of her? You think I am holding her?”
Into the tension on the Bridge between Carshel and Carter, and Relok and the Shadow Demon, MAX announced calmly, “We are approaching the Anomaly.”
Seconds later, hurtling along now at Warp 3, the Penumbra reached the Anomaly ... and simply slipped through! The Shadow Demon suddenly winked out of existence. Behind the Penumbra, the small armada of Auxiliary Craft sailed through the Anomaly as well and prepared to rendezvous with their wounded mothership.
As they all clustered outside the Anomaly, Patterson called, “Cerberus to Penumbra ... glad to see you guys on THIS side again! All vessels accounted for and ready for docking procedures.”
Though they couldn’t see the Demon any more, Relok knew they weren’t “rid” of him yet. He called to Kat in his mind, ~Kat? Can you hear me? Let go of him. He thinks you are holding on to him! Let go!~
She responded in kind, ~I do not understand. How am I holding on to him?~ There was a pause and then she told him, ~I am on my way up there.~
Suddenly MAX reported, “Distress beacon identified. It is our beacon, but it is not broadcasting the same general distress call from when we entered the Anomaly.” Without being told to do so he played the message over the Bridge speakers.
“USS Penumbra, if you can receive this message, Starfleet Command has received your message. Report to Dorvan V for repairs.”
“Dorvan?” Carshel muttered. It was his mother’s homeworld, in a manner of speaking. Technically she’d been born on the generational ship that brought her people there, but it was the first planet she’d ever known and where she’d grown up.
Now that they were safe in their own universe, Carter tried to release the grip he had on the flight sticks. His left hand, the natural one, released relatively easy except for some very slight cramping, but his right hand, the prosthetic one, refused to open. “Great,” he muttered.
Relok continued coaching Kat, ~Kat, let go. You can do it. Let the Demon go.~
Kat’s response came just before the Turbolift doors opened onto the Bridge, ~I do not even know if I am actually holding on to him. How do you let go of something you’re not sure you’re holding onto?~ She glanced around the bridge and swallowed nervously before stepping out.
Relok looked up as Kat arrived and continued their mental conversation vocally, “All you do is will it, Kat. Intention to release. Just ... imagine you open your hand and release your hold.”
Kat looked at Relok a moment, then gave a nod and tried to do just as he’d said. She closed her eyes and imagined her hand holding the Demon, and she just opened her hand, releasing him.
As Kat “relaxed” her grip, the Anomaly suddenly just ... snapped shut! Winked out as if it had never been there!
Carter glanced over to where Relok and Kat were talking about releasing the Demon. Having been part of their mind-meld, Carter had been following the whole conversation within their mutual heads. He muttered, “Wish that would work with MY hand right now.”
Tabby noticed his problem and said, “I got you, Carter. Bevin ... she ...,” his voice caught a moment remembering his departed wife, “she taught me a few things.” Their former Chief Engineer had been not only a fine engineer, but she was an expert in prosthetics. Her family had all been in the medical field and had been disappointed at her wanting to pursue engineering. For years, prosthetics had been her compromise until she moved more into starship propulsion. He unbuckled his restraints and moved over to Carter, pulling out Bevin’s old toolkit as he did.
As Tabby set to work, a little bit of “grease on the gears” and a couple of fine-tipped tools for the wiring, Carter flinched, “Ouch! Easy!”
“Sorry!” Tabby grinned even as he apologized. But he did slow down and work more carefully.
Zak also released his restraints, settling back into the Command Chair. His ribs were hurting a little, but all that adrenaline (and pain medicine) were keeping it from becoming too much. He mused, “Huh? Dorvan V? That's one of the worlds the Federation gave over to the Cardassians before the Dominion War, right? Why does it sound familiar?”
Carshel answered dryly, “Because Mom’s from there.”
Zak turned to him. “Mom? You mean Jackal? Oh! That's right! And ... hey, our new Medicine Man's from there too, right?”
Carshel nodded, “Yeah, they ... they’re cousins.” He lowered his voice. “I’ve ... never been to Dorvan.”
Zak nodded towards his Helmsman, and his Chief of Operations doing “minor surgery” on the Helmsman’s right hand. “Carter, best speed to Dorvan V. Whatever that is.”
Suddenly, Carter’s hand flew open, but ... he couldn’t close it anymore. “Well, I’m not stuck to the Helm anymore.” He stood and turned to Ens. Proxy Filler sitting at one of the Auxiliary Stations. “You have the Helm, Mr. Filler.” He glanced at the Commodore, then turned to Relok. “Commander Relok, I must report to Engineering for a prosthetic replacement. As you were made my second in command, I relieve command to you.”
Relok nodded in acknowledgement. “I have the conn, sir.”