A cry in the darkness - part 1

Posted on 27 Apr 2020 @ 12:09pm by Captain Jonathan Reynolds & Commander Amelia Fox & Lieutenant Mitchell Graham & Lieutenant Commander True Keading & Lieutenant JG Lilura Karakalakss & Lieutenant JG Rosaline Belikov & Ensign Gwen Leighton

Mission: Mission 4 - Race against the machine
Location: Main bridge
Timeline: MD1 0500
1463 words - 2.9 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Amelia was on bridge duty this morning for the early shift. She was currently the only senior officer present. She was sat in the Captains chair, currently thinking about Syvar and the precious cargo she was carrying. A few other officers were on duty at this time. A beeping brought her round from her reverie.

The young ensign at tactical reported. “Lieutenant Fox! We’re receiving a distress call. Distance 6 light years. It’s pretty garbled. Planet breaking apart... Something about a machine in orbit.... Antiproton beam.... that’s all I can make out. There is heavy subspace interference.”

At mention of a machine, Amelia’s heart sank. A planet killer! She stood and instantly started issuing orders. “Send a response. Tell them we are on our way. Helm lay in a course and go to maximum warp. Computer get all the senior staff up here now! Red Alert! All hands stand to battle stations! Bridge to engineering. We’re going to need every ounce of speed out of these engines.” Amelia knew that even at maximum warp, it could take up to 5 hours to reach the planet.

Engineering was quick to reply, =^= Bridge, Engineering, We're on it. As soon as I get us maxed, I'll get up to the bridge for the meeting. Ensign Jacoby, we nee...=^= By fortuitous timing, Lilura had gotten up early to get a head start on some officer reviews and thus, she was already in the main engine room in her office.

Jon awoke suddenly as the computer requested his immediate presence. Looking out the window he could tell they had accelerated a lot. And the red alert klaxon was blaring.

He groaned before sitting up. True’s arm that was over his chest fell away as he ordered "Lights." Some panic from the rest of the crew hit him immediately forcing him to reinforce his internal mental and emotional barriers.

"Love," he said slowly to the beautiful blond beside him. "I think we better hot tail it to the bridge."

"Right," True said over the sound of the alarm. She'd always hated that noise, it took her back to her time on the bridge of the Yorktown. She jumped from bed and threw on a uniform, pulling her hair up as she slipped on shoes and headed toward the bridge, following Jon.

Sitting asleep in her quarters with Zeva in her arms, Rose was woken up by the dull glow of the red alert signals. She has muted the klaxon so it would not disturb her daughters sleep. Giving a sigh, Rose gently placed Zeva down onto a pile of pillows, Rose quickly got dressed, then rushed her daughter down to infant care before heading to the bridge.

Mitchell had already been up for a while. He was having breakfast with Ensign D'Zheq from Astrometrics, discussing the latest Parreses Squares scores in the news. At the first cry of the alarm he headed quickly for the turbolift.


"Report number one," Jon said exiting the turbolift with speed immediately snapping into Captain mode.

Amelia rose out of the Command chair to address Reynolds. “Morning Captain. We received a distress call from a planet that was disintegrating. The transmission was badly garbled but there was mention of a machine in orbit and an antiproton beam which made me suspect a Planet Killer. I didn’t want to take any chances. We’re at warp 9.5. ETA 4 hours 15 minutes. Engineering is trying to coax some more speed out of the warp drive.”

The helm showed warp speed slowly increasing, 9.51, 9.53, 9.57, 9.59, 9.61... holding 9.61.

=^= Bridge, Engineering, Karakalakss here. That's the best we can do, and its only good for 4 hours before we have to drop to 9.3 to recover. On my way to the bridge. Karakalakss out.=^=

Amelia rechecked her pannel. "ETA now 3 hours 5 minutes."

Michael had just exited the shower when red alert sounded. He quickly got dressed and ran for the turbo-lift, arriving on the bridge. His face turned grim hearing the information being told to the Captain. "Blast." he murmured softly. "Hopefully we can make it in time. " he moved to take his place at comms.

An early riser to begin with, Aidan was already up when the red alert went off. He dashed back into the bedroom, gave Emme a quick kiss and hoped she would be able to sleep just a little longer despite the red alert. Examining himself a final time as he really didn't want to appear half dressed again, Aidan ran out the door. Within minutes, he arrived on the bridge. "What's going on?" he asked as he powered up his station.

Since the Captain's arrival, Amelia had been walking around the various bridge stations keeping a watchful eye. She approached Aidan. "We've received a distress call from a planet. Sounds like a Planet Killer is doing what it does best. we should get there in under 3 hours, if there's anything left by then..."

"I'll set scanners for maximum range and yield and I'll let you know if they find anything," Aidan said softly, grabbing the woman's arm. "If there are survivors, we'll find them," he promised.

Amelia offered a reassuring smiled and placed her hand on his for a moment. "I know you will." before reuming her vigil over the bridge.

"How is that possible? I thought all planet killers had been destroyed?" Perhaps she remembered wrong. True took her seat to the left of Jon.

The turbolift doors opened again and Lilura strode onto the bridge. She called out, "Engineering reporting as ordered, Sir." She went to her station to bring up a quad view of the panels her engineering staff were actively tweaking to keep their efficiency as high as possible as they overfed power to the warp nacelles at just below tolerance. They were truly going as fast as they could without modifying the warp feeds and coils, which couldn't be done in use. She kept an ear focused on Amelia waiting for the word to be given to go to the meeting room for a briefing.

Amelia approached the engineer and acknowledged her with a nod. A shudder passed through the deck and into Amelia's legs which she recognized as a primal shiver. It was a bad sign, she could tell they were pushing the engines hard. "Lieutenant, I hope you can keep the ship from blowing up long enough to get us to that planet. If this turns out to be a Planet killer, speed is of the essence at the moment."

Lilura opened her mouth to respond lightheartedly before the words 'Planet Killer' resonated within her. Stopping mid start of a word, Lilura blinked, then said in a questioning tone, "Planet killer? Cripes... uh... yes, Yes Sir. Engineering and I will keep the speed up best as possible, even if we have to get out and push." Lilura rechecked the panels, noting a variance and got on a private channel to the Warp Coil phase alignment team to chat with them about shifting some variances. The ships speed slowed down to warp 9.60, but at the same time, the shudders lessened to a slight rhythmic vibration occasionally.

“Unfortunately there’s a wide array alien weapons stockpiled on that planet and some of them are inactive planet killers. That’s why I’ve been so tied up talking to Starfleet. The brass are pretty alarmed as you can imagine, they were going to send another ship out to come catalog freeing us up to keep pressing on exploring. The USS Europa drew the straw,” Jon said. “But a distress call changes everything.”

True instantly stiffened. She knew Jon would pick it up and perhaps she'd mentioned her brother's ship before but she didn't expect to hear it come out of his mouth on the bridge.

“Sir, we don’t have the capability to deal with those planet killers. If they get activated, star systems for light years would be in danger” Rose commented

TBC

●●●● Captain Jonathan Reynolds
Captain
USS Andromeda


●● Lieutenant True Keading
Chief Counselor
USS Andromeda


●○ Lieutenant JG Lilura Siana Karakalakss
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
USS Andromeda

●● Lieutenant Amelia Fox
Executive Officer
USS Andromeda


● “ Ensign Michael Hawkins“
Chief Operations Officer
USS Andromeda

●○ Lieutenant JG Rosaline Belikov
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Andromeda

● Ensign Gwen Leighton
Apprentice Chief Security / Tactical Officer
USS Andromeda

●● Lieutenant Mitchell Graham
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Andromeda

●● Lieutenant Aidan Datari
Chief Science Officer/2nd Officer
USS Andromeda