A Cry From The Dark - Part Six

Communications carried out the order swiftly. Aaen's station and that of the scanner officer flashed four times.

Aaen turned to the command platform. "Captain, the Odyssey is moving into position directly between our ship and the Roteran fleet. I'm also detecting transporter activity on the surface of the planet. The planet's population is gradually decreasing after transporter activity."

"Confirmed!" said the scanner officer.

"Tactical's gonna be busy in about fifteen seconds! The debris field is much bigger and denser than initial probe readings had indicated!" Aaen said.

"Tactical, use particle cannons to destroy the smaller rocks. Use torpedoes for the larger rocks." the first officer said. The tactical officer nodded. "Helm, come about, heading one-one-zero—put us directly between the rocks and the convoy and the planet."

"Yes, sir!"

The bassy hiss of the thrusters filled the bridge. The planet quickly drifted to the right side of the main view screen. The sun briefly lit the bridge as the debris field came into view seemingly hurtling at the planet. The asteroids' silhouette beamed across the bridge. 

"Captain, multiple asteroids in weapons range!" said the tactical officer. The tactical screen at the front of the bridge showed a large target lock indicator around a cratered mass.

The first officer looked at the captain. The captain was noticeably shaking in his seat. An alarm briefly echoed through the bridge as a red aura filled the bottom half of the main view screen, followed by a sharp beam of focused bright red lightning. The bridge was filled with a soft, seemingly angry whisper. The beam struck its target. The rock violently shattered on impact. 

"Direct hit! Target destroyed!" said the tactical officer.

"Smaller chunks of rock are disbursing around the ship. The smaller debris is moving away from the convoy!" Aaen said. 

"Good shooting!" said the first officer.

Three more alarms, three more directed bolts fired in sequence at different targets, resulting in similar brilliant explosions. 

Tactical's focus increased on his monitor with each bolt shot.

"Captain, estimate fifteen seconds until the main debris field reaches us!" said Aaen. "I'm reading a ton of targets bearing down on us, approaching at our ten to two o'clock direction!" said the scanner cadet. 

Aaen looked at the scanner's screen. "How many asteroids?" 

"Look!" the scanner officer pointed to his screen.

Five...ten...fifteen.......thirty....sixty....a hundred....here we go! Aaen thought. We need to assume a different position relative to the planet and the convoy to keep these rocks from pulverizing the convoy! 

Aaen watched as fifteen more bolts fired. The main view screen lit up with each asteroid explosion. Aaen briefly admired the brilliance of the torpedo detonations on the larger rocks, and larger rocks' instantaneous explosions. The ship rattled after a few closer detonations.

"Captain, I need a better firing angle!" the tactical officer said. 

Wide-Ayed, Aaen looked at the seeming field of clustered dots moving across the scanner screen. "Captain! I'm detecting hundreds of larger asteroids rapidly approaching the convoy!" Aaen looked over his left shoulder at the command platform. You need to make a decision! Aaen thought.

The captain looked at the first officer in terror. "I don't know what to do!" he whispered.

"I'll handle it." the first officer whispered back. Another bolt fired, a cloud of glitter skipped over the shields. 

            BANG–BANG–BOOM–THUD

            The bridge shook and rattled violently.

"Detecting multiple shield impacts on the fore, starboard, and dorsal shields!" said the tactical officer, displaying a fierce look. "TORPEDOES AWAY!"

"Captain, this is Tex! We need more power to the shields! These rocks are too big!" 

"Acknowledged! Auxiliary power to all shields!" the first officer turned right, to the bridge engineer. "How many people are left to transport?"

The bridge engineer looked at his screen wide-Ayed. "Fifty thousand! We've almost taken our maximum number."

"Captain, this just—" said the left communications officer, holding a paper document in his hand. The captain pointed at the first officer. He gave the paper to him then returned to his station.

The first officer read the document, then looked left slightly.

"Launch the Galileo!"

The captain looked at the first officer. "What?"

"Yes, sir!" came a reply from cadet sitting on the left wing of the bridge. 

"Spacefleet Command just send us orders to launch the Galileo." the first officer replied, surprised.

"Why?"

"The message is just that one line, 'You are hereby ordered to launch the USS Galileo, immediately. Signed, Star fleet Command.'"

From a crew member on the left wing of the bridge, "Shuttle bay doors opening, sir!"

"Here comes the brunt of the wave!" Aaen shouted. "INCOMING!"

"Fire torpedoes! Full spr–!"

A roaring, thundering echo seared through the hull. Residual energy from the impact violently rocked and rattled the hull, causing the ship to tilt sharply to port, and lower the bow. The sharp, abrupt change in position threw the left wing and half of the right wing to the floor amid violent turbulence.

The tactical officer gradually pulled himself back to his station over the course of several seconds. "Forward and dorsal shields down to thirty percent–down from eighty-four, sir!" he gasped, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he took his seat. He helped the cadet to his immediate right and left into their seats, and then focused on his screen.

Aaen retook his seat as he observed the rest of the bridge crew doing the same. 

"The debris field is getting a lot denser!" Aaen yelled. "The planet's entering the debris field! The planet's started to getting bombarded by asteroids!" 

"Torpedoes away! Full spread!" shouter the tactical officer.

Ten gleaming red darts shot in sequence into their programmed targets—impacting with precision, detonating on impact.

"I'm detecting direct hits on all targets!" Aaen said. "Between our fire, the Odyssey's, and the Roteran ships', our convoy should be safe for about ten seconds! The debris field is going to be at least three times thicker in about fifteen seconds, captain." We're gonna need all the firepower we can get, Aaen thought. 

"Confirmed!" said the scanner officer.

"How many more asteroids?" the first officer asked.

"Hundreds, likely thousands, sir!" Aaen replied. 

"Sir, we've taken as many of the people on the planet as we can!" said the bridge engineer.

"How many people are still on the planet?" the first officer asked.

The scanner officer entered a query and then started the scan with a command to his computer station. The screen had flashed four times before the cadet received a response. "Detecting 250,000 life forms on the planet surface."

"Oh jeez!" Aaen said, turning to the command platform. "One-quarter million people still left on the planet, sir!" Aaen found himself breathing heavy, turning to the main view screen.

The sensors cadet leaned toward Aaen. "Are we gonna make it, Aaen?" 

"—Maybe." Aaen looked at the scanner screen and then turned to the command platform. "Captain, I suggest we assume a slightly higher orbit around the planet!"

"Why?" the captain asked. 

The bridge rattled violently as rolling thunder echoed through the ship. The bridge lights flickered violently, and then slowly recovered. 

"Starboard shield down to fifteen percent!" the tactical officer said. "Another impact like that and the starboard shield will buckle! My screen's full of targets!" 

"Radiation levels rising!" said the science cadet. 

Aaen screen flashed. Wide-Ayed, Aaen turned to the command platform, "Captain, the shields are too weak to protect us from the radiation from the star completely."

"How do you know?"

"I agree with Aaen!" said the tactical officer. "Shields are down to twenty-five percent. I'm doing everything possible to disburse the asteroids! They number in the hundreds! The asteroids' velocity and angular trajectory relative to the convoy is making target lock almost impossible!"

            BANG

            The bridge rattled violently. Tactical turned his head. "Direct hit on forward shields! I'm firing all particle cannons we have at every angle, sir!" several two-second bolts fired in rapid succession. The main view screen followed each shot. The bridge briefly watched as multiple large rocks violently shattered on impact. Rocky debris scattered in every direction. 

"Gravity levels increasing on all decks!" said the bridge engineer. It's the black hole, Aaen thought. It's getting closer.

"Captain!" the short-range communications cadet turned to the command platform. "The Roterans report they have as many people as they have room for!" paraphrasing. 

"That was fast." the sensors cadet said. 

"Yeah," Aaen said. "Captain, we've got more incoming asteroids!" 

The captain looked at the main view screen with a frustrated look. 

"Docking bay doors opening!" said the science officer, sitting in the far corner of the bridge at the top of the staircase leading to the brig.

"Look!" the scanner cadet pointed to his screen, it showed a small federation icon moving away from the center of the screen to the eight-o'clock direction.

"Who is that?" Aaen said. 

"The Galileo." the icon disappeared from the screen. "They just jumped to translight. They somehow masked their translight signature. I've lost track of them. They're gone."

The intercom beeped. "Captain! this is Tex!"

"What?" the captain replied intently, hesitating to keep his sweaty grip on his armrests.

"Sir, look at the tactical screen! That black hole has messed up the orbits of both this planet and its moon! They're gonna hit each other any minute now, our ship and the convoy are in that moon's way! The sun in this solar system is also becoming unstable! The sun might go nova! We're too close! We need to calculate a course outta here!"

The first officer looked right. "Do it!"

"Captain, the Roterans are leaving the area at high impulse!" Aaen said. 

"What? On screen!" the Roterans ships' engines glowed brightly as they sped away. "Crap." the captain mumbled.

"Calculating a course to Earth, sir!" said the navigator, sitting two seats to Aaen's right. 

"Captain, sensor readings indicate we're sixty seconds from a collision from the planet!" Aaen said. "We're gonna get sandwiched, sir!" 

"Go to our fastest impulse speed!" said the captain.

"Yes, sir!" said the Helm Officer.

"Forty-five seconds to the planetary collision." said the Main Computer.

The bridge was filled with expressions of fear. Aaen remained focused on the readings on his screen for several seconds longer, and then looked forward at the tactical screen:

WARNING: PLANETARY IMPACT IN 30 SECONDS

The planet and its moon were represented by large circles, their respective projected paths and that of the convoy were highlighted by flashing red boxes and lines. Aaen's screen showed the same. A meter on the bottom of Aaen's screen indicated the star's temperature. Aaen watched the slider gradually move from the star's initial temperature on the left side of the screen to that of a nova in-progress. In five seconds, it had already moved one-fourth the distance. Aaen flagged the first officer to his station and pointed out the reading.

"Warning: Impulse engines overheating!" said the Main Computer.

The first officer looked at the helm.

"We're at destructive impulse, sir!"

"Warning: imminent danger of impulse engine implosion." said the Main Computer. 

"Captain, we're out of torpedoes!" said the tactical officer. "Cannons won't hold the rest of those asteroids off for long!" the bridge rattled violently. "Starboard shields are down! Forward shields are holding at fifteen percent!" 

"We need that course calculated, navigator!" said the first officer.

"first officer, things just got more interesting!" Aaen said.

"What do you mean?" the first officer looked at Aaen wide-Ayed.

Our position relative to the planet is changing without instructions from the Helm!"

"What?" the captain stood up then rushed to Aaen's station.

"We're being pulled into the black hole, along with the asteroids! Gravimetric hull pressure is increasing rapidly! We're a flat tin can in thirty seconds!" Aaen's screen flashed four times. "The planet and its moon will collide in less than thirty seconds!" 

"Captain, all particle banks just burned out! We are out of torpedoes! We have no functioning weapons!" said the tactical officer. The short range communications cadet turned to the command platform. "Captain, the convoy is full! We have all of the people from the planet!" 

"Let's get outta here!" Tex said. 

"Agreed! Short range, signal the convoy to break from the solar system immediately!"

"Yes, sir!" 

"Navigation?" the first officer said. 

"Course laid in!" 

The intercom beeped. "Captain, this is Tex! It's not enough! The impulse engines aren't strong enough to break us free of the planet's gravity!"

"Well, what should we do?" asked the first officer.The only thing you can do, Aaen thought, risk a translight jump in the solar system!

"We're gonna have to risk jumping directly to maximum translight, sir!"

"Ten seconds 'til planetary collision!" said Aaen. Aaen's screen flashed again–he found himself wide-Ayed, "INCOMING! Brace for–!"

A booming thunder filled the ship. The bridge rattled violently. The bridge screens flashed rapidly, repeatedly. The sound of bulkheads breaking and collapsing filled the ship as the ship veered hard to starboard. Aaen held onto his station with white knuckles, feeling artificial gravity pulling the ship to port. He looked to his right at the helm station–the yaw, pitch and roll gauges changed readings sporadically—Voyager was on a flat spin to starboard.

Turbulence shook the ship, becoming gradually more intense as the planet and the moon drew closer. 

"Multiple asteroid impacts on the starboard hull!" tactical gasped, struggling to hold onto his portion of the left-wing desk station. "Detecting. .hull breaches. .on decks eight through fifteen! Detecting atmospheric decompression on those decks!" 

"Captain, emergency force fields have been activated and are holding!" said the left damage control cadet.

"Attempting to stabilize the ship!" said the helm. The first officer looked at the captain. The captain nodded.

Aaen turned right, watching the helm attempt to carry out the order. The helm entered the same command into his station thrice and then turned his head. "Captain, manual thrusters are offline!"

"WHAT?" said the first officer, wide-Ayed.

Aaen looked at his station, reading the information aloud.

"Radiation levels rising to dangerous levels! The shields will only protect the ship from solar radiation for another sixty seconds! Planetary collision imminent!" he snapped to the command platform, "Nova in progress!"

The tactical screen showed an animation of the star growing increasingly bright, accompanied by a massive radiation surge causing the meter at the bottom of the screen to move rapidly to the opposite end of the spectrum–passing into yellow, and then gradually inching into the black zone.

"Radiation levels reaching lethal levels!" said the science cadet. 

"MAXIMUM TRANSLIGHT!" said the first officer. 

"Aye!" said helm.

"Five seconds to planetary collision!" Aaen said. "Four...three..."

Aaen watched as the tactical screen showed the planet and its moon, and their collision course relative to the Voyager. We're gonna get sandwiched! Aaen thought, leaning into his station. The screen displayed new sensor information. "The Odyssey's halfway out of the solar system, traveling at emergency impulse! They're reporting moderate and severe damage to most of their hull! No casualties! They report their engines are overheating as they try to break the intense gravity in the solar system!" 

Aaen soon found himself upright with the rest of the bridge crew. 

The hull started to vibrate violently. Aaen looked at his station and compared the readings on the screen with the scanner screen. Oh crap, Aaen thought. 

"We're still too close to the planet and its moon! The gravity from the black hole is holding us between them! We need to go to translight!" Tex said. "Captain, we need to use the translight drive, now! It's now or never if we wanna get outta here alive!" 

"Okay! Whatever! Do it!" 

"Yes, sir!" helm replied. 

"Speed increase: translight factor five." the Main Computer announced. 

The translight engines roar filled the bridge. The stars were broken white streaks of light in seconds, moving quickly across the screen. The image on the tactical screen changed to show the Voyager's position in the solar system. 

The main view screen showed the planet and its moon, now bright orange molten rocks in space, moving together slowly. The bridge vibration became more violent—a blinding white light lit the main view screen. The crew held onto their shared desk stations with white knuckles. 

"It's not fast enough!" Tex said. 

The sound of indistinguishable yelling and arguing echoed up the staircase. The first officer looked at the chief and deputy security and gestured for them to investigate. The chief and deputy security quickly retrieved their sidearms and rushed down the staircase. 

Seconds later, the sound of particle weapon fire echoed up the staircase. The first officer and both damage control cadets each turned to look at the top of the staircase. Each security officer had their sidearm in one hand, and the wrist of a heavily dazed individual in another. The chief of security held the wrist of one wearing old, ragged and torn clothing; the deputy held the wrist of one wearing shinier clothing. Both security officers took the individuals to the brig, and then quickly returned to the bridge. 

"Who are they?" the first officer asked. 

"People from the planet, sir. They were fighting and arguing over wealth." 

The first officer faced forward. The vibrations were becoming stronger. "Helm! Increase speed to translight six!" the order was carried out almost instantly. The translight engines roar became louder throughout the ship. 

"We need to go faster!" 

"Translight seven!" the first officer commanded abruptly.  

Aaen observed the bridge crew's attention was centered wide-Ayed on the main view screen. 

"The shock wave is still getting closer!" Tex said. 

Aaen looked at his screen. "Confirmed! Shockwave now at intensity level seven. . .level eight, and increasing speed! captain, if the shock wave impacts the hull, we'll be obliterated on contact!" 

The deck plating and the Main Computer stations started to gradually vibrate violently as the thundering roar of the translight engines stampeded throughout the ship.

The bridge was flooded by expressions of fear. A blinding flash of light lit the bridge for an instant; then the stars became streaks as the tactical screen showed one planet colliding with another. The main view screen showed two smoldering bowling balls rapidly moving towards each other.

Aaen was fixed on his station, "...two...one–!"

"Helm! MAXIMUM TRANSLIGHT!" said the first officer. 

"MAXIMUM TRANSLIGHT! Aye!" helm replied, slamming the controls into action. 

"Speed increase: maximum translight. Warning! Use of translight engines in a solar system is not recommended!" the Main Computer announced. 

The broken streaks of light across the screen became almost solid lines. Aaen felt pressed into his chair, and slowly tilting back.

"We can't maintain this speed for much longer with this much gravimetric stress pulling on the hull!" said the bridge engineer. 

"Helm! Hold your course!" yelled the first officer. "Sensors, put the view astern on screen!" 

"View astern! Aye, sir!" 

The shock wave was gradually filling the main view screen over the course of several seconds. 

Aaen's screen flashed. "It's working! We're just staying just ahead of the shock wave! The shock wave's still closing." 

"Gravimetric hull stress unchanged!" said the bridge engineer. 

Turbulence spiked with sounds of explosions echoing through the bridge. The bridge lights flickered sporadically, gradually dimming until the only light sources were the crew's sources of information. The bridge computer screens flashed randomly and violently. "Not today, Voyager! C'mon!" Aaen said loudly. The seeming command to the main view screen was drowned by the sounds of explosions and the increasingly loud roar of the stressed translight drive.

The bridge crew watched the main view screen and the tactical screen in wide-Ayed horror. This might be it! Aaen thought, watching as a fiery mouth neared engulfing the ship. His screen flashed. 

"Shock wave intensity is dropping!" Aaen yelled, smiling. "Now at five!. . .four!. . .two!" he smiled. The main view screen started turning black as the shock wave seemingly became smaller. 

Ten seconds later. . . Aaen looked at his screen and smiled. "WE'RE CLEAR!" 

The bridge crew cheered amid a flood of gasps of relief as the bridge filled with celebration. 

"Translight engines over heating!" the bridge engineer said, relaxed, looking at her screen as she smiled. "Gravimetric hull stress is dropping!" 

The first officer took a few deep breaths, and smiled, wiping perspiration from his forehead with his left forearm. "Helm! Slow to impulse. As a matter of fact, full stop." 

Aaen looked forward. Three seconds later, the nearly solid white streaks on the main view screen became almost still dots. 

"We escaped the nova's radiation wave by less than one-one hundredth of a mile. Radiation levels are normalizing." said the science cadet. 

"Begin cooling the translight engines." said the captain. 

"Aaen, where is the Odyssey and the rest of the convoy?" the first officer asked. 

"Scanning, sir," Aaen replied, looking at the scanner screen. "The Odyssey is approaching our position from two o'clock at half impulse. The convoy is on our starboard side, about a hundred thousand kilometers away." 

"What about the Yorktown crew?" the captain asked. 

"Looks like the escape pods managed to get far enough away before the sun in the solar system went nova. They were out of the way of the shock wave with plenty of time. I'm detecting fifty escape pods approaching the edge of the solar system at full impulse, sir." the scanner cadet replied. "Their transponders and distress beacons are active."

"What about the Roteran fleet?" the captain asked. 

"They're on the opposite side of the solar system to our current position. They're traveling out of the solar system at one-half impulse. Their current course will simply take them out of the solar system." 

The first officer looked at the captain. "We don't have any more room on this ship, nor the convoy. We might have to leave retrieving the people the Roterans rescued from the planet to the Federation diplomatic core." 

The captain nodded. "Science, what's the status of our oxygen generators and CO2 scrubbers?"

"Online, but both are working harder than recommended. We're at nearly two hundred over maximum crew capacity. Oxygen generators and CO2 scrubbers will automatically go offline in one hour. I strongly recommend we, the Odyssey, and the convoy get back to Star Base One as soon as possible." 

The first officer looked at the captain. "Sir?" 

The captain nodded. 

"Helm, set course for Star Base One. Long range communications, inform Spacefleet Command know of our present status, and that we are en route for docking."

"Yes, sir!" 

The first officer leaned forward, looking across the captain at the ambassador. "I'm sure those people will be alright." 

The ambassador looked at the main view screen, closed her eyes, and then gasped. 

"Captain, course set, captain. We can reach Star Base One in fifty-seven minutes at maximum translight." 

The first officer looked at the bridge engineer. "Can we maintain that speed for that long?" 

"Yeah, now that the gravimetric hull stress is gone. Translight engine temperature is normal."

"first officer, we only have forty-five minutes before we lose oxygen generators and CO2 scrubbers."

We're going to be sliding into home on this one, Aaen thought.

"Computer, alert condition green." said the first officer. The computer offered a short series of cheerful beeps, and then the lights changed color. "Damage control, dispatch damage control teams to affect hull repairs."

"Aye, sir." the duo started their work quickly. 

"I don't want to do this again." the captain mumbled to the first officer.

"Do what?"

"Be the captain." he gasped, wiping his face. "I wasn't trained for command. I didn't say anything before we left Earth because I thought it would be cool to be the captain. Being the captain was a lot harder than it seemed." he started hesitantly trembling for a few seconds. "We almost didn't make it outta there." 

The first officer looked at the captain. The captain nodded, his sweat-drenched face showed relief. 

"Helm, maximum translight. Engage." said the first officer.

*****

Steve Hale of Portland, OR told Jordan Foutin, 

"You are the next Tom Clancy. You really are a gifted writer."

Make sure to check out StormTeam's official website, Like and Follow the official StormTeam Simulations Facebook page, @StormteamS, and @JordanFoutin for the latest!

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AD ASTRA!

A Cry From The Dark - Part Five

The bridge cheered with raised fists as they enjoyed the view of the bright center of the solar system passing into the upper-left corner of the screen as a smaller dot appeared in the upper-right hand corner of the screen. The dot gradually became larger.

"I'm showing the Odyssey holding its course at our four o'clock. The convoy is maintaining its course at our six o'clock!" Aaen said. Aaen noticed his screen flashed four times. His smile disappeared, he quickly read the information on his screen, and then he turned to look over his left shoulder at the first officer. The first officer looked back at him. Aaen gestured for him to come to his station. Aaen pointed out the reading on his screen. The first officer's face soon lost expression.

"Oh, crap." he mumbled.

"What's wrong?" the captain asked, lowering his hands, panning between Aaen's screen and the first officer.

The first officer looked back at the captain with a worried look. "Bad just went to worse."

"Whaddo you mean?" the captain asked.

The first officer looked at Aaen. "Aaen?"

Aaen looked at the captain and breathed heavily as he said, "Sir, the USSC Yorktown's engines just stopped. They're adrift. According to sensors, they have taken a direct hit from a smaller rock to their port-side warp nacelle. Sensors didn't detect the rock. The rock was about the size of a type-two shuttle, moving at near-warp speed on a rogue trajectory. I'm detecting main power loss on the Yorktown. The Yorktown's escape pod bays are depressurizing."

They're abandoning ship. Their warp core must have been somehow irreparably damaged from the asteroid impact, Aaen reasoned, and knew the rest of the crew must have reasoned the same. They're probably losing antimatter containment. 

A subtle alarm echoed through the bridge. The printer activated, dispensing a document into the tray. The center communications officer picked up the document, quickly scanned it, and then rushed it to the captain with an alarmed look. "We just received this printed message from the Yorktown, sir."

"Captain! We are receiving an automated distress call from the Yorktown!" the captain rubbed the dripping sweat from his forehead. "The asteroid impact damaged their warp core. They can't stabilize the matter-antimatter reaction chamber. Their core is going to breach in three minutes. Their abandoning ship!"

The first officer looked at the left communications officer, "How big was the Yorktown?"

"They were going to take a hundred people, sir!"

The first officer dropped his head; his face indicated frustration.

"Sir, by my calculations, the convoy no longer has enough room to take the entire population—even with the Yorktown, we are in room deficit for over a thousand people!" said the left communications cadet.

The captain looked at the first officer, "What should we do?"

"I see only two options: one, we take only the people we have room for. . . or, we abandon the rescue eff—"

"Sir, there's another alternative!" Aaen blurted. The bridge focused on him like a spotlight.

The first officer looked at him wide-eyed, "What?"

"Sir, sensors show the Roterans near that rogue black hole. I'm detecting many D'Deridex class warbirds within sensor range of the black hole. Maybe they would be willing to lend us a few ships to take on the rest of the people."

"Are you—?"

"Sir, that planet won't withstand another pass through that debris field, and we don't have time to wait for backup or reinforcements from the rest of the fleet, which makes the Roterans a possible de-facto asset, as it were."

The Ambassador stood up then stepped forward to the edge of the command platform. "Captain, I agree with Aaen." she turned to face the captain. "Captain, with your permission, I can try talking to the Roterans. Maybe I can negotiate with them to the point of cooperating with us."

The captain sat down, his arms trembling. "Fine. Do it."

The Ambassador stepped down from the command platform and then rushed to the left communications officer. "Open a channel to the Roterans. Use a Roteran priority frequency. Hurry!"

The planet was the size of a baseball on the view screen. Their relative position to the solar system's sun and the planet was indicated on the tactical screen. Aaen looked the tactical screen. The debris field was mere minutes away, he estimated.

The left communication officer handed the Ambassador a small handset equipped with a speaker and microphone. She closed her eyes then took a deep breath before placing the speaker firmly against her left ear.

Five seconds later. . . "This is the Ambassador aboard the Federation starship USSC Voyager. We have contacted you to request your assistance with a matter of extreme urgency." she paused. "The third planet in the solar system is going to enter the debris field. Our fleet doesn't have enough ships to safely rescue the planet's population and then ferry them back to Federation space. We request you send a small fleet to assist in this rescue effort." . . . "Yes," she replied, covering the microphone as she turned to face the captain.

"Captain! The Roterans want to know what we will give them if they are willing to help us! What should I tell them?"

The first officer looked up at the captain—the captain he shrugged his shoulders. The first officer turned to the Ambassador. "Supplies."

She relayed the offer; she turned back.

"What kind of supplies?"

"Fuel, engineering equipment, food. . ."

Again she relayed the offer and then paused.

"They said they've got all of those things, and they don't want our food. They're threatening to hang up! What else do we have?"

The first officer looked at Aaen. He looked back with a straight face. "Ask them what they want."

"What do they want?"

She relayed the question, then dropped her head.

The Ambassador gasped, "Slaves."

"That's unacceptable!" the first officer snapped.

She relayed the response. She dropped her head, returning the handset. "They hung up."

"first officer!" Aaen said.

"What!"

Aaen gestured him to come to his station. He complied.

"I know this sounds outrageous considering who we're dealing with, but we can always try to negotiate for the safe return of the people the Roterans rescue after the rescue operation is finished. The Roterans may not want to negotiate, but they wouldn't have enough time to enslave them until after they've rescued them and only after the Roterans fleet is safely out of the solar system. Even after that, they are still days away from Romulus, which means we will have time to save the people they would rescue from captivity."

The first officer gasped.

"Sir. We are out of time."

"Call the Roterans back." the first officer said.

The Ambassador was handed the handset back, and the communication line was reestablished.

"This is the Ambassador of the USSC Voyager. We have reconsidered your offer in exchange for your assistance in helping us rescue the people on the third planet." Aaen noticed the Ambassador grin, and then the handset was replaced. "SIR!" she returned to her seat and looked at the captain. "The Roterans are sending five of their ships from their fleet assigned to study the black hole to help us rescue the people on the planet."

The bridge filled with gasps of stress relief. We might just get through this mission, Aaen thought.

"Helm, slow to one-quarter impulse. Use maneuvering thrusters to enter into a standard orbit." the first officer said.

"Yes, sir!"

"Captain! Detecting Roteran ships entering the area! Counting five, Doriden-class warbirds!" Aaen said.

"Yellow alert." the bridge lights changed color. "On screen!" the first officer said.

The main view screen showed images of show five green, aerodynamically-elongated ovals with seeming glaring glowing faces quickly filling the screen.

"The Roterans are moving into the area at high impulse! ETA: two minutes. Sensors show they're on course to take a position on the opposite side of the planet relative to our position."

"Heh! They don't want to be any closer to us as they have to." the first officer said with a subtle chuckle.

"The important thing is that everyone on the planet will be okay, now." the captain said.

"Sir!" Aaen said.

"What?" the first officer replied.

"Detecting the debris field! It's gonna be raining much larger and harder rocks than we initially anticipated in one minute, thirty seconds. I recommend we start transporting people aboard!" Aaen said.

"Right." said the first officer. "Long-range communications, send a message to Spacefleet Command. Tell them the Yorktown needs them to send a rescue—"

            BANG—BOOM

            The lights suddenly briefly flashed sharply and flickered as the deck plating rattled. The hulk rolled sharply to port for several seconds. The crew leaned in the opposite direction to stay upright.

"Report!" said the first officer.

"Direct hit to aft shields!" said the tactical officer.

"It's the brunt of the debris field!" Aaen said.

"I thought you said it was a minute and a half away!" said the first officer.

"The debris field is" BANG; the lights flickered sporadically, "three-times wider and longer than originally estimated and five times as dense!" Aaen said.

"That last rock was huge! I'm reading a twenty-two percent energy drain in the aft shields!" said tactical. "The rock shattered against the shields." One tough ship, Aaen thought. She is a galaxy class, after all. 

"And there are a lot more asteroids heading this way," Aaen turned to the first officer—"many of them are going to be a lot bigger, and much denser than that one was, according to new sensor data, sir."

The first officer looked at the communications stations. "Tell the convoy to break formation and start beaming up the people from the planet. Give the 'go-ahead' to the Odyssey to break formation and start relay-transporting the as much of the population to our convoy as possible."

The Cadet nodded.

"Sir!" said Aaen, pointing at the main view screen.

The captain, first officer, and Ambassador faced forward, they gazed at the image, watching as a dense, rocky mist soared at the convoy.

"RED ALERT!" the first officer said. "Tactical, standby particle cannons, arm photon torpedoes, load all launchers!" He looked right to the cadet at the end of the right wing row, "Transporter control: start beaming people from the planet up. Short-range communications: signal the Odyssey to engage and destroy asteroid targets at will!"

Aaen glanced to his left at the spiral staircase–the Fereni was walking up the staircase with the deputy following. The deputy had her sidearm trained on the Fereni. Aaen gave the Fereni an ugly look as the deputy followed the Fereni across the bridge to the far corner, and then down the far staircase. The deputy returned to her station five seconds later. She turned to the command platform. "Captain, the intruder is in the brig."

The captain nodded.

"Detecting three Roteran ships entering standard orbit of the planet. Detecting Roteran teleporters activating!" said the Cadet to Aaen's right.

"The debris field is getting closer! We're going to be surrounded by asteroids at least twice the size of Voyager, sir!" Aaen said.

"Tactical: your targets are the asteroids. Lock all weapons on targets—Fire-at-will!" the captain commanded. 

*****

Steve Hale of Portland, OR told Jordan Foutin, 

"You are the next Tom Clancy. You really are a gifted writer."

Make sure to check out StormTeam's official website, Like and Follow the official StormTeam Simulations Facebook page, @StormteamS, and @JordanFoutin for the latest! 

Thank you for your support! Enjoy your dive into the beginning of your EPIC GALACTIC ADVENTURE, and remember to leave a comment/review!

AD ASTRA!

A Cry From The Dark - Part Four

The captain's complexion turned albino.

"Captain, are you okay?" asked the first officer. The Captain sat in his chair, his torso and arms shaking as if he were suddenly overwhelmed by chills.

The first officer leaned toward him.

"I don't know what to do." the captain mumbled, covering the upper half of his face with one hand.

The first officer gasped as his screen flashed. He looked over his left shoulder. "Captain, I'm getting a systems report from the main computer: someone's trying to access the bridge command pathways going to the warp engines—deck eight, section ten."

Aaen's screen flashed. "Captain, we are now less than five minutes from our destination!" he turned to face the first officer. "I recommend slowing to sublight speeds for solar system entry." he faced forward.

"If we can't slow down . . ." the first officer muttered. "We've got to stop the intruder from tampering with those command access pathways."

"Just . . .do whatever to handle it." the captain said, rubbing his temples hard with his middle fingers.

"Yes, sir." he turned toward security. "Security, how many personnel do we have available?"

"Only ten, sir. They're all on duty patrolling the lower decks. We don't have any more to send to where the intruder is. Sir, we can get to the intruder more quickly and arrest it."

The first officer nodded, and then looked forward, "Does anyone want to volunteer to be a part of the security team?"

Aaen turned toward the command platform. "I volunteer, sir."

The first officer looked at the chief of security, then pointed to Aaen. "Give him a phaser." the chief of security nodded, retrieving his phaser rifle. 

Aaen stood up and then immediately started for the security stations. The first officer looked at Aaen as he walked in front of the command platform. "Take the intruder to the brig once you arrest it." Aaen looked at the first officer and nodded. 

The chief of security retrieved a second and smaller hand phaser from a small compartment to the left of his computer station. The phaser featured a slightly curved, rounded black grip and a flat silver stock. He carefully handed the weapon grip-first to Aaen. A type-two hand phaser. Perfect. Aaen thought, activating its dual blue glowing power cells by sliding the action over the power cells' compartment. The beam weapon made a short, raspy hissing sound as two rows of LED lights behind the power cell compartment instantly came to life for several seconds—the top row was a bright red, indicating a higher energy output setting, the bottom row was green, showing a standard or slightly higher setting. Aaen observed the green row lit only to one-quarter of maximum; the red row dimmed. Stun, the default standard setting; he admired, enough to knock an intruder on its back. The deputy retrieved her weapon and also retrieved one set of hand restraints from a second similar compartment near her station.

"Ready?" the first officer asked.

"Yes, sir." Aaen replied.

The first officer nodded their dismissal.

Aaen held his phaser precisely upright, whereas the two security guards tucked their particle rifles into the crook of their elbows as the chief of security took point. Aaen followed him, followed by the deputy down the staircase, across deck two, up the textured stairs, left, and then through a set of double-doors to enter the turbo lift. The twin doors closed behind them. Aaen stood in the back, the chief of security and deputy took positions at the front facing the sides of the doorway, angling their particle rifles forward towards the deck plating.

"Deck eight." the deputy said. 

The viewports flashed for ten seconds as the carriage sped through the maze of inner workings. The carriage gradually stopped. The doors swooshed open. The chief of security and deputy quickly stormed out, taking swift, precise aim high and low at the corners of the straight corridor ahead before focusing on the end of the corridor.

The corridor ended after fifty feet, ending at a two-way curved adjacent corridor lined with silver bulkhead plating and dark orange doors lined with purple labels.

The deputy gestured for the group to proceed left at the end of the corridor. 

The next corridor extended for nearly a hundred feet, Aaen knew. There were no other crew members in sight, nor within earshot. Not surprising, they were running on a skeleton crew, considering the nature of their mission. The trio passed several similar adjacent corridors. Security sharply panned each corridor as a precaution as they marched. After eighty feet, the intercom activated, "first officer to chief of security, we have less than two minutes until we reach that solar system. You have to stop the intruder quickly, or we're going to lose helm control of the ship!"

The high-pitched whine of laser-based gear echoed through the corridor. Security trained their rifles directly ahead as the group turned the corner. 

After marching ten feet, the trio stopped. Security trained their weapons on a short stubby alien with large round, pronounced ears and a baseball sand skin complexion dressed in a green jumpsuit. The panel's bulkhead cover was sitting loosely on the floor of the corridor behind the alien. A hand-sized device was attached to the back of the alien's jumpsuit on the back of the alien's hip. Aaen guessed it was a weapon. The alien was crouched next to a glowing panel, waving glowing mechanical instruments in front of the panel. 

"FREEZE!" yelled the chief of security. 

The alien snapped, displaying a look of surprise as it rolled to its right, reaching for the device on the back of its jumpsuit. The chief of security fired half-way. A bright, golf ball-sized bolt screamed out of the barrel. A square-foot area of the floor behind where the alien had rolled singed on impact. The alien took aim at the trio. Both Aaen and the deputy security officer snapped. Dang! No shot because of the bulkhead cover! Aaen thought, moving behind and to the right of the chief of security as Aaen reattempted to train his phaser on the alien, to no avail. 

The deputy security officer crouched and then trained her rifle on the alien—fired. A clean hit to the upper-left shoulder. The alien cringed as it dropped its weapon and crumpled on its left side.

Security kept their weapons trained on the alien as they marched towards it side-by-side. The chief of security stood to the side as the deputy took the alien by its upper arms and then rolled it on its front. She coupled the alien's hands behind it's back and then applied the wrist restraints. The deputy gripped the alien under its right arm and then slowly lifted it to its feet. The alien was dazed but was aware enough to stand.

Aaen briefly examined the alien's shoulder where the bolt had struck. There was a black hole in the fabric, and the surrounding area was singed. He nodded, "Good shot." 

The chief of security turned to examine the panel. "It doesn't look like the Fereni was able to do any permanent damage." he looked at the deputy. "I'll replace the panel cover. deputy, take the Fereni to sickbay, get it checked out, and then take it to the brig. I'll meet you both back on the bridge." 

Aaen and the deputy nodded. 

The intercom beeped. "first officer to chief of security."

"Go ahead." 

"Whatever you did worked, Adam reports restoration of helm control. We need all three of you back on the bridge, immediately." 

"Understood."

The chief of security replaced the bulkhead cover, and then he and Aaen returned to the bridge the same way the trio came. The lights were yellow. The bridge was abuzz with personnel rushing printed reports to their necessary and immediate recipients. Aaen returned to his station. The chief of security looked at the captain. "Sir, the intruder has been arrested and taken to sickbay. I have asked the deputy to take the intruder to the brig afterward." the captain remained silent. The first officer nodded acknowledgment, and implying permission to return to his station. 

The captain sat stagnate.

The first officer nodded. "Alert condition three!"

The bridge lights turned blue. 

Aaen looked at his flashing screen. "Now approaching destination solar system." a cluster of delta-shaped icons filled the left side of the screen. A straight white line extended from the cluster toward a curved brown dotted line. He looked closer at the screen. The line was an asteroid belt. He turned to the command platform. "Standby for entry into the solar system! Captain, I suggest slowing to sublight speeds and using manual navigation for safe passage through the asteroid belt."

The Captain looked at the first officer. "Can you do this, please?"

The first officer looked at the captain with lowered eyebrows. "You weren't trained for command, were you?" the captain subtly turned his head a few times, a bead of sweat dripped from his brow onto his arm. "Alright, I'll handle it—Helm!"

"Yes, sir!" Adam replied, making eye contact with the first officer.

"Slow to one-half impulse. Take us into the asteroid belt."

You forgot to tell him to standby maneuvering thrusters! Aaen thought.

"Aye!"

The bridge turned red, accompanied by an alarm warning.

"Aaen, what's going on?" the first officer asked.

Aaen leaned to his right, "Do a quick scan on the size of the asteroids, and their distance from each other."

The cadet was quick with the controls. Aaen examined the scan results, turning his head.

"The asteroid belt is pretty tight, sir! Adam's going to be busy in a few seconds!"

"Phasers!" yelled the first officer.

Aaen snapped. "Sir! I wouldn't recommend that! The asteroids are too big and too close together. It would take combined phaser-torpedo fire to thin the asteroids out. The remaining pieces might create a larger and more dangerous obstacle too big for the convoy's shielding to protect them!" 

"Agreed!" said tactical. 

"The asteroid field is very dense. If we destroy the larger rocks, we're creating more obstacles that we'll have to navigate around. Our present course is the safest flight path. If we navigate carefully, I think the convoy will be able to make it. I recommend slowing to one-quarter impulse for easier maneuvering." Aaen said. 

"Alright, slow to one-quarter impulse. Standby maneuvering thrusters!" 

The tactical display projected a diagram of the seeming asteroid obstacle course, the ship's current projected path of travel, and the recommended 'safe route.'

"Sir, the convoy's keeping up with us! They should be fine as long as we don't take too many tight turns!"

"Acknowledged! Shields up!" he faced the left side of the bridge, "Navigation! Come left, one-four-mark-six!"

"Aye! Thrusters are firing!"

"The convoy's matching our course and speed!" Aaen said. 

Anti-gravity compensated for the ship's thrusters having rolled the hulk thirty degrees on the x-axis. The main viewscreen showed a dense field of jagged rock drifting up and right.

Aaen's screen flashed. "Another cluster!" said Aaen. "Five seconds 'til collision!"

A thundering alarm echoed through the bridge.

"Hard right! Z-minus-fifty meters!" said the first officer. 

"Aye, sir!"

Aaen looked at the main viewscreen, watching as the asteroids drifted to the top of the screen then apparently over the ship.

"Large asteroid drifting into our flight path directly ahead! HOLD ON!" Aaen said. We're gonna hit! He thought, leaning forward and holding on to his desk station. 

"All hands, brace for impact!" yelled the first officer. 

A sizzling electric sound filled the bridge. The main viewscreen displayed a bright shining shimmer mixed with chain lightning as a large cratered mass filled the screen.

The deck plating vibrated, the station desks rumbled, and the overhead lights flickered erratically for several seconds. Aaen clenched his jaws and displayed a determined look. 

"Direct impact on forward shields!" yelled tactical. "Detecting shield impact, starboard side! Reading a thirty percent drain on the starboard shield!"

"Aaen?" asked the first officer.

Aaen turned his head. "That rock was about a hundred thousand metric tons! If the shields hadn't been up the bridge and most of the saucer section wouldn't have a ceiling right now! The rock's impact on our dorsal shield has shifted its trajectory away from the convoy!"

"Confirmed!" said tactical.

Aaen looked at the screen to his right, then compared the information on his screen to what he saw. "Another asteroid cluster! Detecting three asteroids! Collision in ten seconds!" Aaen turned to the first officer. "Sir! Some large asteroids have drifted into the convoy's path directly ahead at fifteen hundred meters. The path ahead has become too dense for safe passage. Our current position, course, and speed make the obstacle unavoidable. We're surrounded by asteroids. The forward shields will not withstand another direct impact at their present strength! I recommend strategic proximity detonation of a full spread photon torpedoes to disburse the asteroids directly ahead. The shock wave will disburse the immediate obstacle, the residual force from the asteroids should knock the remaining obstacles out of our flight path!"

"'Should'?"

"Our odds of survival are now less than five-to-one, as-is, sir. The asteroids directly ahead are each three-hundred-thousand metric tons. A full spread of photon torpedoes at half of maximum yield should remove the obstacle for the convoy, safely. The shields will hold against the shock wave."

The first officer displayed a look of surprise at Aaen's demonstration of prowess. Aaen's intuition told him that he and the first officer were thinking the same thing about the Voyager's assigned command structure . . .

"tactical, you heard 'im!"

"Aye, sir!" he sounded eager to finally use one of his tools, and he was quick and precise with the controls. "Torpedoes set for strategic proximity detonation from targets!" the tactical screen displayed the detonation point and the convoy's relative position. The image on the main viewscreen was quickly and gradually becoming larger.

"Five seconds 'til impact!" Aaen announced. The screen showed a large, dense cluster of mixed blunt and jagged rock seemingly bearing down on them.

The first officer looked at the main viewscreen. "FIRE!"

"Photon torpedoes away!" a second, brief alarm filled the bridge. The bridge watched as a trio of bright red glowing darts soared into the cluster.

"Collision in four!. .three!. ." Aaen said. A blinding, red-orange light filled the screen. A brilliant, chaotic shock wave quickly spread in every direction.

"Emergency power to forward shields!" said the first officer.

The bridge rattled as the main viewscreen filled with intense static and then beamed a blinding white light as the bridge vigorously shook. The crew shielded their eyes and turned their heads away from the main viewscreen while they struggled to hold on to their desk stations and read their station screens.

"Shockwave impact on forward shields!—Forward shields are holding!"

Aaen looked at his screen, "We're almost through the shockwave! It's dissipating!"

The main viewscreen started to clear. The bridge gradually calmed.

"It worked!" yelled the cadet to Aaen's right. Aaen looked to his right to find the cadet grinning. "The asteroids are disbursing! Detecting clear space ahead!"

"Confirmed!" Aaen said.

The asteroids disappeared from the screen seconds later.

Aaen took a deep breath, and then looked to the first officer. "Sir, we have entered solar system golf-tango-one-seven-four-zero!" 

*****

Steve Hale of Portland, OR told Jordan Foutin, 

"You are the next Tom Clancy. You really are a gifted writer."

Make sure to check out StormTeam's official website, Like and Follow the official StormTeam Simulations Facebook page, @StormteamS, and @JordanFoutin for the latest! 

Thank you for your support! Enjoy your dive into the beginning of your EPIC GALACTIC ADVENTURE, and remember to leave a comment/review!

AD ASTRA!