EP2 ACT 4
HELUB SPACE PORT, SUB LEVEL 12
Christian's eyes widened as Narli entered the small engineering room followed by three people. Two humans and a young, grey-black clad male, tall, thin and unmistakably a Romulan soldier. He appeared gangly and nervous.
"Captain, these three individuals all have engineering experience," Narli stepped to one side to allow them to introduce themselves.
"Er, Cally Warnerburg - I was a midshipman aboard the USS Florence in my youth," the fifty something woman said. "I know that's a long time ago, but I've always kept myself abreast of engineering developments since."
Leonard looked imporingly at Christian.
"Jaz Lepraniem," the roly-poly second man said, "entrepreneur. Although I own a large and successful cargo fleet back home now, I used to work in the engine rooms of various old ships. You may have heard of my business, it's called-"
"Good," Christian said, interrupting.
"Captain, is it true the wormhole was destroyed?" Warnerburg asked.
"I'm afraid so," he turned to the Romulan. "And who might we have here?"
The Romulan gave Narli a look of fear - seemingly a reference to an earlier altercation. Christian noticed his disrupter holster was empty. "My name is Murak. I was engineer's third mate aboard my ship, the Pemkitonp."
"Third mate, eh?" Leonard wasn't sure how qualified that was. "Are you familiar with Federation technology?"
"I know some, yes," Murak offered, though Christian wasn't prepared to trust him. He pulled Leonard to one side.
"Don't let your guard down," the Captain warned, "we don't really know who any of these people are."
Leonard felt like saying 'thanks for the vote of confidence', but kept his mouth shut. He just hoped that there would be a certain cameraderie among engineers, though an old woman, a fat businessman and a Romulan wouldn't have been his first choice for support crew.
"Captain," Narli said, "the last people are coming aboard now. Lirik has requested your presence on the bridge."
Christian ran his hands through his floppy hair, causing instant feathering. "Has he, now?"
***
Narli and Christian entered the bridge as the last group made their way on board. Last to pass through the double doors were three Klingon warriors, each of whom carried a casualty in their strong arms, while in front of them, walking wounded were being herded along by O'Hara. She gave the Captain a look of contempt as he walked up to the main bridge area and she made her way forward. Lirik was seated at communications, intently listening to an earpiece. Jackson stood behind him. Christian noticed the Orion female was standing to the rear of the bridge at the oversized Science console, like a modern recreation of a Cathedral organ.
"I have communications partially back on line, Captain," the Yeoman said. Christian noticed a bolognaise of wiring had been pulled out from underneath the console. "I don't know what's happened to the main array, but I've managed to cross-wire the diagnostics into the deflectors - we won't be able to send, but we should be able to pick up sub-space chatter."
Christian only said; "You were given a direct order to assess the civilians, Yeoman. Your work is appreciated, I'm sure, but I suggest you now carry out those orders."
Lirik was about to lose control as Souveson sprang onto the bridge. "Commodore, I've sealed the airlock. Everyone is aboard."
"Good work, Ensign," Jackson replied.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing?!" Souveson cried.
"Whub-wib-weerzzzzz-" the audio system on the bridge interrupted any further dialogue. Lirik whirled around to look at the Science station.
Hedrik was now sitting in the bashed-up seat in front of the banks of controls being manhandled by Souveson. She felt the presence of Jackson and Christian as they approached her Pulling free, she said: "I've hacked into the computer core. It's a mess, but I think I've got partial computer interface."
"Er, who are you?" was all Jackson could think of asking.
"No-one special," Hedrik smiled and turned around - her face visibly surprised to see Christian's. It was an instant attraction that Christian felt in response.
"Actually, Sir," Souveson chipped in, "I arrested her for stealing from our supply stores just before the attack."
"You never arrested me!" Hedrik said, and Souveson blushed, realising the woman was correct.
"Well I caught you-" Souveson was cut off by the Orion's call, directed toward the ceiling.
"Computer!" Hedrik addressed the interface. "Stand by for immediate departure."
The computer over-chimed a response, and tried to say something but failed. Christian smiled; "Looks like you have a little way to go."
"Captain, you're not seriously suggesting letting her continue?" Souveson was shocked.
"Right now, Ensign," Jackson calmed her, "we need all the help we can get. We'll deal with the matter later." Jackson's years of training made her think about all of those administrative jobs to follow: Leonard being AWOL and causing a disturbance, Lirik's lost runabout, O'Hara being insubordinate, Christian's transfer of command, her own report on events. And then there was the missing persons list to compile - including those of all the Federation delegates and all the crews of all the ships in the Outer Zone. That would involve interviewing everyone onboard. For that matter, she had even seen a Romulan - she stopped her train of thought. Disastrous situation was more important, she reminded herself, and tried to pay attention to the activities around her.
Christian turned to Rebbik, who was watching in anticipation from the Helm. "You ready, Rebbik?"
"Um, I think we've got a problem," Rebbik said.
Jackson and Christian came up behind him. "There appear to be two docking clamps, one forward and one aft. I can't seem to disengage them."
Christian checked and re-checked the display, seeing for the first time the overall shape of the vessel - long, and sleek. Two flashing stripes flashed in urgency - one at either end of the ship. He entered commands, but there was nothing he could do about it.
"We'll have to disengage them manually," Lirik said from his lurking place.
Christian was about to chastise him again, but realised he was right. He looked Lirik in the eye and the man just nodded - it was a response to a question he hadn't even asked, but realised he was instinctively about to.
Jackson said; "Surely it's too dangerous to go out there? Can't we just pull ourselves free?"
"No," Christian said, "we may damage the ship irrepairably in the process.
"I volunteer, Captain," Ensign Souveson puffed out her chest.
"That won't be necessary, Ensign," Christian said.
"You can't go," Jackson half pleaded, half ordered, "your place is here."
Lirik turned to the young Ensign: "Ever disengaged an alien docking clamp manually?"
The Ensign shook her head. Hedrik had approached from behind: "But how will you get back aboard?"
Lirik hadn't considered that - so busy was he in trying to be brave, or, he wondered, in trying to prove himself to the Captain.
"We'll think of something," Christian smiled at her.
***
The airlock once more secured behind them, Lirik and Christian made their way along the gangway, crouching low. Peering through the windows, they could see no-one on the floor below.
As they descended in the elevator, Christian said; "I'll take the forward pylon, you deal with the one to the rear."
Lirik only nodded. He looked at the Captain, an attractive man, and considered how he had made his rank at such an early age and his stare made Christian uneasy.
"So, where did you become such an expert on disengaging docking clamps?" he asked awkwardly.
"Starfleet Intelligence," Lirik answered matter-of-factly - at last, an opportunity to bridge the gap between them, "they often used me because of my alien heritage." Lirik swept his arms up, as if revealing the now invisible energy to Christian. The Captain just scowled and looked away.
Having rendered O'Hara and Souveson's booby-trapped door harmless, the two officers walked out onto the hangar floor in awe. The ship above them now seemed vast. The other ships, mostly in shadowy light against the backdrop of the alien walls. The darkness of the recesses of the storage facility gave the feeling of being trapped in infinity itself.
Christian sprinted off toward the front of the vessel. It was almost 400 metres from their exit point, and he ran close to the wall, jumping over boxes and trailing conduits, looking all around him as he did. Lirik made a more covert approach to the rear of the ship, climbing onto storage boxes and making his way slowly along the shadowy wall, stopping every so often to check for movement from the other side of the hangar.
Although the lights were still on in the levels Souveson had monitored across the way, there were no people there. Lirik could see his destination, a pylon reaching up and through the forcefield that contained the habitable atmosphere underneath.
Heart in mouth, sweat pouring off him, Christian had made short work of the distance to the forward pylon. Here, he saw for the first time the prow of the Fantasy - an almost flat nose which eventually curved up into a point where it touched the tethering device. He had to climb several feet to reach the pylon's control panel and began to enter commands to try and override the power regulators. It was going to take a while.
Lirik, on the other hand, had other plans. Standing precariously above the control panel of his pilon, he brought his boot down as hard as he could, smashing into the panel. The controls overloaded and exploded dramatically.
"Shit!" As soon as he had done it, he wished he hadn't. If anything was to attract the attention of the K'Tani, it was that. But he noticed the ship levitate slightly, now free from the pylon's grip.
With the rear pilon off-line, Christian's panel was working overtime to compensate for the extra power it required to hold the Fantasy steady, making Christian's job impossible. In the end, Christian decided Lirik's stupid move had at least had the benefit of being speedy. He looked out over the hangar floor - still nothing. But he could see Lirik clambering down the aft pylon in the far distance.
Suddenly, there was a sound behind him - it was the faintest of noises, but it gave the soldiers away. As Christian dropped down, energy bursts coursing past him. Christian made a break for it, running back down the length of the ship toward Lirik's position, hoping they weren't employing a pincer movement.
Choosing his timing carefully, Christian jumped and twisted in the air, sliding down into a laying position, facing his attakers. Bringing his phaser up - set on full power, he waited for the soldiers to appear. Tentatively, they made their way over the pilon junction and Christian hesitated. These soldiers were not only short, they were varying small sizes - like children. As they fired at him again, he took aim and fired at the structure in their midst. The pylon exploded, scattering the small soldiers about the place.
Christian leapt to his feet and continued to run. Several seconds later, the firing began again, though he tried to convince himself it was a good deal less than before. He noticed the Fantasy was peeling away from the wall position. Saliva white hot in his throat, he bounded over the last few storage crates and came crashing down next to Lirik.
"Hi," the Yeoman smiled and fired back at the soldiers.
Christian caught his breath and looked up at the ship. It was clearly moving slowly away, but then something caught his eye.
"My God," he said.
Lirik briefly followed his gaze - an opening in the back of the ship, near to the bottom, a long and thin shaft of light, like a shuttle bay. Its shape stood out against the blackness of the surrounding hull. Christian joined Lirik, firing at the soldiers, now pinned down against the wall of the storage complex some forty metres away. Christian looked around and behind him, his eyes falling on what could only be a miracle.
"Come on!" he called as he jumped down and ran over to a mass of storage boxes and equipment strewn next to an inner wall.
Lirik glanced around and saw three Sky Bikes, sitting in a row. Setting his phaser to automated, random fire, he perched it atop of his hiding position and leapt down to join the Captain, overstraining his ankle. It didn't hinder him, but it hurt like buggery.
Then a thought occurred to him; "Er, Captain, we don't have any pressure suits. It's a vacuum above the shielding."
"It can't be more than thirty metres to the shuttle bay," Christian was uncovering the bikes, prepping one for immediate take-off, "if we go fast enough, we should make the crossing in less than a couple of seconds."
Lirik straddled a bike of his own, watching for K'Tani, and hit the ignition. "What if we miss? Or what if your charming friend decides to turn the ship suddenly? We could splatter ourselves against the hull, or worse, miss entirely and implode in the vacuum."
Christian revved his bike, activating the anti-grav. "Yeoman," he turned to face him, "risk is everything."
With that, he took off, keeping low and heading away from the ship to gain enough distance to both hold a straight course and gather enough speed to make the vacuum crossing as brief as possible.
Lirik followed suit. "Riight," he thought the Captain was bonkers, but given the situation, there was little choice if he didn't want to be left behind.
Like two small planes taxiing for take-off, the Captain and the Yeoman slowed and turned to put themselves in line with the Fantasy. The K'Tani were still amazingly being held off by the random phaser fire. Finally, they were away.
As Christian raced up toward the ship, gathering speed all the time, Lirik's Sky Bike gave a phut-phut sound and slowed to a full-stop, pausing in mid-air. Lirik pulled on the handle bars and made small jumping movements in his seat, but despite his efforts the bike wouldn't respond. He was a sitting duck.
Christian afforded the shortest of glances over his shoulder, and immediately realised Lirik wasn't behind him anymore. He made his decision with Starfleet instinctiveness, turning the bike in a sharp arc, just glancing the forcefield, and headed back toward the panicing Yeoman. As he did, figures appeared not twenty metres away. Christian noticed these child-like characters were wearing strange, jester-like uniforms, colourful and bizarrely individual.
Energy beams lashed out from their curious head-mounted weapons, and Christian didn't waste any more time looking. Approaching Lirik, he heard the Yeoman saying "Damn thing died on me." He didn't waste any time jumping aboard as the dying bike took two direct blows, sparks showering them. Its anti-grav failed, the bike dropped to the floor.
Christian was already accelerating, trying to ignore the tingling sensation of the Yeoman's environmental shield behind him. "Exhale your breath and hold it!" Christian ordered, weaving slightly to avoid shots being fired at them.
Christian wasn't sure, but as he put the bike back onto a straight line for the shuttle bay of the Fantasy now above and in front of them, he thought he heard a poppoing sound like light bulbs exploding in his ears. Sound then stopped as they passed into the vacuum and a crushing pressure began to build in his head and groin.
The brief seconds seemed to last a lot longer as Christian felt his blood surge, his skin split. Eyes closed, he was suddenly aware of light beyond, and hit the brakes, not sure which way was up. Then he felt heavy, and the crushing mass of the bike was bearing down on him. Opening his eyes, his disorientation saw only arms, legs and some kind of netting. 'Of course!', he thought - the emergency landing net, preventing impact into the shuttle walls.
Christian hauled himself clear of the tangled mass, and realised Lirik had been thrown clear onto the deck. As the Yeoman moved slightly, he looked up and saw the bike crashing to the floor. It made the Englishman dive to one side, looking up at the Captain who appeared as some kind of swashbuckler in rigging.
"Jolly well done, Captain," the Yeoman shouted, causing the Captain to laugh slightly. Through the rear, shuttle doors, Christian could see the ship was moving away, but not very fast.
***
On the bridge, Rebbik was frantically stabbing at the helm controls. "This just doesn't make any sense," he said. Jackson bit her lip behind him.
"Any luck getting the main viewscreen on line?" the Commodore asked.
Narli was sitting at communications, Souveson seemed busy at Tactical, strangely again in close proximity to Hedrik who sat quietly at the Science station.
"I'm sorry, Commander, I can't get anything on line," Narli said. Jackson looked over to Souveson who merely blushed and shrugged. She was clearly having as much joy.
The bridge consoles were winking on and off at regular intervals, and the groaning sound of the ship's movements put Jackson on edge. Suddenly, Hedrik shouted from the back of the bridge: "Done it!!" Jackson and the others looked at her as she rose and walked forward, toward the command chair. "Computer, activate Emergency Command Hologram!"
Almost instantly, Captain Picard materialised into the command chair, wearing the older style uniform. Standing and facing forward, he said "Please, state the nature of the command emergency." Even the voice was Picard.
Jackson, Rebbik, Narli and Souveson exchanged looks of disbelief. Hedrik explained. "This ship was a state-of-the-art, luxury passenger liner. Any ship of this type was heavily skewed toward the safety of its passengers and cargo and this is just one of many safety features."
"But, Picard?" Jackson mused, and the hologram looked at her.
Picard walked down the steps to join her. "Actually, although I have the appearance of Starfleet's flagship captain, I have the knowledge, tactical experience and memories of over 200 captains, both Starfleet and civilian. Now," Picard turned to look around the bridge, "is there a command emergency or not?"
Jackson spoke. "We are the survivors of an invasion attack by a military race called the K'Tani. We are very few Starfleet personnel and this ship is totally unfamiliar to us. We need to get off the moon as quickly as possible, but we're not sure how to fly her out."
"You are in command?" Picard regarded her uniform and Commodore rank pips.
"I am the senior most officer present, yes, but my background is not in starship command," Jackson felt embarrassed, but frankly if this hologram could help, she was all for it. "There are two more of our people outside the ship, can you beam them aboard?"
Picard cocked his head slightly, an action aping one of his own crew, Jackson thought. "Sensors are off-line. Communications - reconfigured. Transporter systems non-operational. Computer interface, limited." He looked at the viewscreen. "I can give you an image - forward view only. Other than that, you have only my experience at your command. Man your stations."
Jackson looked at the others and back to Picard, who realised this was not currently possible. As the viewscreen flickered on, Jackson said, "We're free! They did it."
Rebbik adjusted attitude and held them steady, just as O'Hara entered from the observation corridor. "Has anyone found the sick bay yet?" She stopped in her tracks when she saw Picard.
"Emergency Command Hologram, the entire ship's rigged for holographic interface" Jackson confirmed for her. "Ensign, can you locate sick bay?"
"Sick bay is on Deck 15," Picard interjected. "However, turbolifts and transporters are inoperative. And there is no access beyond Deck 9."
"Computer," O'Hara said, "Activate Emergency Medical Hologram."
The computer bleeped unceremoniously.
"All Medical files have been erased," Picard said.
"Great!" O'Hara was seething, "I'll sort it myself." And with that she disappeared back down the corridor.
"Helm," Picard continued as if the Nurse had not been there, "set a course bearing 276, thrusters only."
As Rebbik did so, the ship lurched and lights winked off then on. Picard's image shimmered.
"What's happening?" Jackson asked.
"I'm not sure," Picard replied, "my program seems to be degrading."
Hedrik frowned. "I'm on to it," she said as she flopped into the Science chair again.
Jackson felt useless. She remembered Narli. "Can you pick anything up?"
"Just this," he pointed to a small display on the communications console which was a swirling mass of colours and lights. "I've never seen anything like it."
Jackson looked at him, then at the viewscreen, watching as the ship slowly headed through the lifeless ships and began to turn a slow corner toward a vast set of doors.
***
"Oh my God," Lirik raised a hand to his mouth. On the opposite side of the shuttle bay, in what looked like a standby suite, the runabout Hudson sat calm and gleaming. Christian joined him. "It's my shuttle, the one that Lt Cmmdr Leonard borrowed yesterday. But how did it get in here?"
Christian turned in a full circle. Behind them, was what looked like a repair yard. To their right, the still open shuttle bay doors and their left, observation windows and exit doors. No sign of life, he thought.
"Let's get the doors closed," Christian suggested.
It was an easy operation, the doors sliding silently together with the faintest of shunts as the seals locked. Suddenly the lights went off. In the total darkness, Lirik shimmered slightly, a ghost like effect about his person.
"Captain!" he managed to warn as the lights came on again, and the two found themselves surrounded by a group of humanoids.
There were a few moments of silence before a young, attractive woman, plainly dressed and hair tied back in a long pony tail which ran down her back as far as her thighs stepped forward.
"Please, do not be alarmed," her voice had a vague lilt as she spoke her best English.
She could easily have been human herself, were it not for the two antennae that protruded from her temples and swept back into her silky hair.
"Who are you?" Christian asked.
"My name is Vostaline, and these are my brothers," she indicated the half dozen men encircling them.
"How did you get on board?" Lirik asked, fingering his sleeve in case he needed his Medusan energy to protect him.
"We have lived on board for some time," she said - hence the power, Christian thought.
"Do you have access to the rest of the ship?" Christian asked. "The Engine room specifically."
The woman stepped forward and Christian could almost smell the youth and vitality she exuded. "You are taking the ship as your own?"
"Actually, we're trying to save our necks from the K'Tani," Lirik said. "You do know what's going on out there, don't you?"
The young woman merely smiled and nodded. "We only have access to this rear section of the ship," she said, "the rest of it is cut off."
"You're referring to the passenger section," Christian confirmed.
"Yes," Vostaline began to lead them toward the exit, "but I will take you to the Engine room."
Entering the functional corridor beyond and stepping into a Jeffrey's tube, Lirik asked: "What race are you?"
The woman called down the ladder, matter-of-factly: "We are Vintenex, from the outskirts of Qovakia."
"What were you doing living on board such an isolated ship as this? And how did you get on board in the first place?" Lirik pressed.
"Please, we will answer all of your questions in good time," Vostaline called from above, "but for now be assured that we are not your enemy, and that we wish to be of help in getting away from here."
"You opened the shuttle doors, didn't you?" Christian asked.
"We could see you required an incentive to come back aboard," Vostaline said.
***
Lirik had to stop climbing part way up the Jeffreys tube. As the others continued, one of the men stopped with him while he caught his breath.
"I'm not quite as fit as I used to be," Lirik panted, putting his head between his knees. He looked around the empty corridor. A sign indicated they were only on Deck 17. "What's your name?"
The younger, peach-blonde man, full-bodied and slightly docile of movement responded with a broad smile. "Fraxon. I'm Vostaline's littlest brother."
'Little' wasn't a word Lirik would have used to describe any of the men. "How long have you lived aboard?" Lirik used his warmest, most disarming tone.
"About four years, give or take," he replied. "What about you, what's your name?"
"Tix," the Yeoman replied, "Tix Lirik. Pleased to meet you Fraxon."
The younger man bowed, then threw his arms around the Yeoman, causing him to gasp. Lirik's field collapsed with a pop, as Fraxon kissed Lirik on the neck, both sides. Lirik managed to push the bigger man away. "What the hell are you doing?" He could feel his Medusan energies bubbling - the air on his skin causing a cool sensation on his shield-less body.
"It is our way of greeting a friend," Fraxon said, almost hurt, "I'm sorry if I offended you."
"No, no, I'm not offended," Lirik swapped energy cells in his wrist control, and re-activated the shield, "you just surprised me, that's all. Do you feel okay?"
"I feel fine, but I sensed the energy within you," Fraxon said.
"No sickness? No headache or dizziness?" Lirik asked again. The man shook his head and smiled. "Good. Come on, we better catch up with the others."
Lirik couldn't help but feel a little thrilled - it was rare indeed to find a species unaffected by his Medusan energy, least of all a humanoid species. As quickly as he thought it, he dispelled the line of pondering fearing where it might lead.
***
Christian was rejoined by Lirik and the Vintenex youth in the huge engineering space later than the Captain had expected. He gave the Yeoman a curious look, but Lirik didn't respond, he was too busy drinking in their surroundings.
Unlike most engine rooms they had seen, this one had all the luxurious fixtures and fittings they had seen in the other parts of the ship. It even had some artwork on its walls - though presumably there had been more where now only shadows remained. The reaction assembly itself was encased in a golden lattice of supports, the large lifeless funnel dropping through holes in the floor and ceiling. The entire column was situated within a larger, surrounding box room that appeared as if it could be sealed, isolating the area from the rest of engineering. The port and starboard power transfer conduits and reaction chamber were slightly out of view, underneath the floor area with a ladder to access it.
On all four open sides of the box room were control desks, equally inactive. The main floor of the engine room had the usual displays on walls, as well as recesses containing executive control suites and doorways to offices and supply areas. At the forward-most point of the engineering deck, a gigantic bulkhead was firmly in place, presumably cutting off access to the passenger section of the ship beyond.
Suddenly, from Jeffreys tubes and the side rooms, more Vintenexians emerged.
"This is my father, Ganhedra of Ikira," Vostaline gestured, then gasping as if she had said the wrong thing.
"Greetings Captain, Yeoman," the old man looked strong and fit for his years, and was clad in similar plain clothing to the others. His antennae were scarred - perhaps a sign of age in their species. "As you can see, the warp engine is inactive. Your engineer appears to have things firmly under control, however," he walked them over to a minor monitor board, displaying the impulse systems - Leonard appeared to be bringing the drive systems to standby.
"You're familiar with these systems, can you help us?" Christian asked.
The old man shook his head. "We are experienced space travellers, it is true, but we do not have anything to compare with your technology. When my people, I mean, when we came aboard some years ago, we only sought a place to live in peace. We were only concerned in having air and heat, and the ship automatically gave these to us."
Lirik rapped on a side wall, charred and black with apparent phaser fire. "What happened here?"
Vostaline stepped forward. "The ship arrived here just before we came aboard," she said, "all we know is what we found here. Much of it had been stripped. There was evidence of fighting, and also of fires and flooding. Many items had been removed, and most of what remains is integrated into the ship itself."
Christian studied the power supply boards. "You seem to have been running off an unusually large amount of battery power for years. When it began to run out, it seems the emergency systems brought impulse engines back on line in order to recharge the energy cells. That's quite an amazing emergency engineering system."
"Captain, there's something you should see," Lirik was standing beside what looked like deflector controls. Christian and the others joined him. "It looks like Rebbik has maneouvred the Fantasy successfully away. We are currently stationary in front of a large wall - presumably the doors leading out of the complex. I've gained quite a bit of field communications experience, Sir," Lirik said. "I might be able to find a way to trigger the doors to open."
"Okay, let's get back to the bridge," Christian walked over to the Jeffreys tube, and heard Lirik groan behind him. He turned, looking the plump man up and down; "You, mister, are way out of shape."
As they made their way to the bridge, Ganhedra told them of how he and his group got aboard the ship. Held back at the airlock on Deck 1, they had discovered space suits and made their way aboard through an escape hatch underneath the vessel at the rear of the ship. As well as the bulkeads to the passenger section, there was another set between Decks 9 and 10. After much time and effort, they eventually broke through the weakest of the bulkheads, but it was their only access between the upper and lower parts of the command section of the Fantasy.
Lirik took only a moment to mention in a whisper to Christian that he thought it strange why they had concealed the bulkhead so successfully that Christian and Leonard must have passed over it less than an hour before.
Reaching the yacht's engineering section, Leonard elected to remain in the small control room, having had his group familiarise themselves with the equipment there. Christian explained the situation of the main engineering area and the warp drive and both men agreed it would be wiser to use impulse now, and address the rest of their engineering issues later on.
* * *
The Fantasy, long and sleek, was indeed poised only metres from the massive space doors. As yet, the team had been unable to work out a way of opening them. Jackson was concerned. The holographic Picard was becoming less stable, phasing away and back every few minutes.
"Without re-building the entire communications array," Narli said, "I doubt we can do anything."
"Not necessarily," Lirik called over from below.
"Captain!" Jackson and Souveson seemed the most pleased to see them. Lirik trotted up to join Narli, when Souveson suddenly drew her weapon, seeing Vostaline and Ganhedra behind them.
"Lower your weapon, Ensign," Christian said, "they're with us." Christian spotted Picard in the Captain's chair, almost oblivious to them.
"The command equivalent of an EMH program," Jackson rolled out again, "only it's degrading. There's little left of it now."
Lirik called over to the group. "If this were a Starfleet vessel, Sir, I'd request a science officer for help with this problem."
Christian beamed. "I'll go get her."
***
On the observation deck, Christian's face became serious again. Suddenly, the situation he saw before him brought back the enormity of what was happening here. Many standing, some sitting or lying on the floor, the worried talking and sobbing was still apparent. Hundreds of people in such a small space gave the room a stale, uncomfortable odour. O'Hara looked up at the American as he entered, then returned to her work. Christian noticed one of her patients now had a shawl covering his face.
"Professor Karnak!" Christian yelled. The sleek woman stepped forward and approached him. "Please assist Yeoman Lirik on the bridge." She nodded, stony-faced, and exited.
"Captain," the Tiburonian again, "what's happening?"
Christian addressed everyone present. "As you can see, we're just sorting out these bulkhead doors. As soon as they're open, we'll be on our way. We've managed to find a way below, but for the moment I'd like you all to remain here."
"Then I can get to sick bay?" O'Hara was suddenly hopeful.
"We encountered some friendly locals below. They informed us that sick bay was gutted," he said.
"I tried interfacing with the holographic controls - apparently there's only enough matter and energy to display non-physical people and instrumentation panels. There's simply nothing there to recreate the equipment or medicines I need to keep some of these people alive," O'Hara was almost desperate. "Besides, all medical files have been erased from the computer's memory."
Christian knelt down next to her. "You're doing good, Lieutenant."
"Really." O'Hara spat. She continued to rip clothing to make more bandages.
Christian decided to say no more, but return to the bridge. He squeezed O'Hara's shoulder and left - perhaps Vostaline or the others could help her. At the last instance, O'Hara turned and watched the Captain's butt disappear through the door.
***
"It's a multi-channel visual signal, comprised of a whole host of complex colour and light patterns," Lirik explained to Christian who looked at the small screen's display.
"Their way of communicating?" Jackson asked.
"Undoubtedly," Picard piped up from behind. The group turned to face his almost invisible form. "I've been analysing the signal, and searching for a way to help you - I think I may have found it."
Rebbik pushed forward. "Is this the ship speaking?"
"There's a sensor node, attached to a deflector, capable of transmitting a short burst of signal," Picard disappeared, then a breath later reappeared. "If you copy the signal you're receiving, and aim it in a tight beam at that doorway, on the Frequency Delta One One Nine of the pre-set hailing frequencies, it might just work."
The image faded further as Lirik's hands danced over the panel. He cursed as he made a mistake and re-set the hail, then transmitted. Slowly, gracefully, the doors began to part. Picard smiled. "I'm almost out of time," he said, "Captain, I wish you and your crew good luck and Godspeed."
"Wait!" Rebbik tried to grab the hologram, but his hand passed through it. "You must tell us how the ship came to be here!"
But the image just turned to him and closed its eyes, fading forever and leaving the command chair poinently vacant. Rebbik looked at the others to explain his outburst. "The ship may not have come to Qovakia through the wormhole. Perhaps there's another way back home?"
Christian fleetingly thought of the USS Voyager - Janeway and her crew, stranded in another distant part of the Galaxy. "Don't worry, we may be able to recover his program."
Rebbik nodded and returned to the Helm seat, bringing systems on line. Through the viewscreen, the vista of Helub's bleak but tranquil surface, rocks and small mountains reaching into the star-studded expanse above.
"I'm taking us out," Rebbik yelled, as the rest of the crew dispersed to get the best view of the main screen.
Angling the ship sharply up and to the right, the ship screetched and juddered, as if under fire. Jackson ran to the observation deck and pushed her way through to the windows to see what it was. Below, several panels along the hull were flaking off, and she wondered if the Fantasy was coming apart. But soon it stopped - and the ship continued to ascend from the storage facility.
As the ship turned to head away from Helub, the passengers were silent. They were all looking at the Starfleet and other vessels being tractored in the diastance high above the space port by the insect-like alien vessels. They were even more shocked when they saw the vast amount of destruction throughout the port.
Jackson smacked a hand over her mouth as tears came to her eyes. It hadn't been completely evident before, but now that she saw the devastation with her own eyes, the realisation of what it implied hit her. "Oh, my God," she prayed. The others around her were equally shocked and moved. Thankfully, the images only lasted less than a minute or two.
From the corridor, Christian had entered and was watching the reaction of the hundreds of people gathered here. As the Fantasy increased speed, accellerating out of the Vekarian system, rush of paternal feelings washed over him. He knew that as of this day, everyone on board would be looking to him.
* * *
EPISODE 3 "THE HIDDEN"