Starship Down
By A.P. Stacey
CHAPTER 1
"Hull breaches on decks six, nine, twelve and fourteen, emergency force fields are offline." Announced the computer.
"Harry, evacuate those sections now!" Bellowed Janeway, her voice strained from trying to be heard above the din of console blowouts and hull ruptures. She looked around; absent-mindedly flicking a strand of hair from her vision, the bridge, HER Bridge, was looking like a scene from the Kobayashi Maru. In front of her Tom Paris slid along the helm station, his fingers frantically trying to evade the deadly barrages Voyager was experiencing. The science station was unmanned, as per normal in a battle situation, but, as Janeway noted, irrelevant because the station had blown its contents over the floor, Janeway made a mental note to have it repaired. If there was a bridge left for it to go in. Another blast struck Voyager and for a second Janeway swore she felt the heat of the shot permeate her body.
"Captain, they have begun targeting the bridge, shields around deck one will be compromised by another direct hit." Confirmed the ice cool Tuvok, seemingly oblivious to the carnage around him. Janeway sighed; in all the years of battle she had never lost her bridge, her sanctuary. Janeway was about to issue the order to leave the bridge when she felt herself thrown from her feet and into a bulkhead. With a horrendous scream the bulkhead exploded, throwing an unconscious Janeway and thirty feet of ODN line onto the floor of the bridge.
Chakotay leapt to his feet as the next shot had struck and was at the captain's side as she met the bulkhead in a less than friendly collision, he tapped his combadge.
"Medical emergency deck one." He barked into his combadge.
Nothing.
"Commander, all systems to the bridge have been severed. We are cut off from the rest of the ship." Said Harry Kim, a look of desperation on his face.
"Shields are down, deck one is now exposed." Replied Tuvok.
<"This is not happening, this is not happening!"> Chakotay's mind screamed.
"Emergency evacuation protocol fourteen alpha." He ordered.
"Attempting to initiate emergency transport, standby."
Chakotay waited uneasily for the tingle of a transporter beam, the captain in his arms, he knew any second the bridge would be hit. Seconds later the main view screen seemed to have a bright spot in the middle, very faint, hard to detect amongst the stars, but it was getting bigger, brighter, as though it was getting closer. The main view screen died as the area surrounding it was ripped apart, solid duranium hull supports were shredded as though paper as the bridge was torn apart, the vacuum created quickly pulled the captain's chair from it's mountings and dragged it out into space. The Tactical console and its accompanying handrail were close behind as it was ripped off and removed. The great white dome mounted on the bridge's ceiling cracked with a bone chilling scream, and began to shatter, soon the helm console began to creak, and although the screws held fast, the warp drive monitor and most of the control interface left in a flurry of electrical sparks. With a final withering groan, the emergency lighting died and the only light left on the bridge was provided courtesy of the stars shining through the remains of the roof.
"Shields are down Lieutenant." Stated Seven of Nine from her position at the auxiliary processing console in engineering. B'Elanna Torres turned to face the ex-drone with a look of liquid fire on her face and a skin colour to match.
"Really Seven? Well here's me sitting pretty not knowing that! I'm glad I know why our bridge was just destroyed! You ignorant Borg drone are you just trying to piss me off?"
Lately B'Elanna and Seven had been arguing less, although few noticed, but the last few weeks it seemed the two forgot it themselves.
"God Seven, you're always in my way, always undoing my work, screwing with my engines."
"Lieutenant I can assure you I do not have a sexual relationship with Voyager's propulsion systems." Replied Seven in a cool tone.
"That's not what I meant Seven! Why do you take everything at face value, I've had it up to here with your disregard for Starfleet and my own rules. All you do is enrage me you stupid, soulless piece of Borg machinery!"
B'Elanna regretted the words almost before she had spoken them.
A beeping interrupted the chief engineer's thoughts.
"Lieutenant, we've got power fluctuations in the port nacelle room, and every team is busy holding the ship in one piece."
"I'll get someone on it soon, Torres out." B'Elanna looked up to see Seven almost run from engineering, her slender legs taking her to the door in a few strides. As B'Elanna lowered her head in shame, her keen vision picked up what looked like water on the deck, no not water.
Tears
She had made Seven of nine cry, "I thought Borg don't cry." she said softly to herself. B'Elanna felt a pang of guilt; she had to speak to Seven, but to do that she'd have to get her alone somewhere. "Torres to Seven, can you get up to the nacelle tube and correct the power fluctuations?"
No response.
For a second, B'Elanna thought the comm. system had been damaged, but then something came from her combadge, faint, and strained.
"I...am on my w-way lieutenant s-s-even of n-n-nine out."
She never says 'Seven of Nine', shit, I've done it this time. I'll have to apologize soon, but B'Elanna's thoughts were distracted by another barrage of fire and soon the repairs took up all her thoughts, leaving Seven way behind in the list of priorities.
Seven stumbled into the turbo lift at the end of engineering, raising her arm she brushed the tears from her pale blue eyes with the fabric of her sky blue bio suit. She tried to calm herself and attempted to regain her 'Borg' composure, but the words came flooding back
"Soulless piece of Borg machinery."
"Perhaps Lieutenant Torres merely said those things in the 'heat of the moment'." Thought Seven hopefully. But a voice in the back of her mind, all to familiar, malevolent and hissing:
<"You are nothing more than a robot Seven. An automaton, devoid of emotions, you are hated by all because you are Borg. Seven of Nine tertiary adjunct of unimatrix zero one, you are nothing more than a lonely drone, and you will die a lonely drone."> Seven shakily reached for the turbo lift control, she had to reach the nacelle tube, and then she could cry.
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