By Lt. Commander Lair
80211.16
Following All Too Easy
-=Bridge USS Alchemy=-
80211.16
Following All Too Easy
-=Bridge USS Alchemy=-
"We're heading into an area of intense gravimetric activity," February warned from the helm. "Everyone should be prepared to get bumped around a bit."
"Shields up." Blane tapped his badge "All hands, this is the bridge. We are heading toward turbulence. Be advised."
He turned to Dane Cristiane at the communications station. "Is the Sera sending us anything helpful in response to the data we've been transmitting?"
"Negative," Dane responded, scanning all channels. "They've gone silent."
"Here we go!" February warned. She tried to adjust course, but there was only so much she could do. Everyone was jostled around, but managed to keep their seats and stations.
"That wasn't so bad," Dalca remarked, as his hands released their hold on the tactical panel.
"That was just the beginning, " Micah Samson warned. "There was a minor energy discharge from the star, wait a minute, Commander Blane, this isn't right," He began to tap at his panel furiously. "These readings- the output of energy is increasing, in frequent intervals and at a rate that is just too inflated to be naturally occurring."
"You're saying that someone or something caused this intentionally?" Blane rose from the center chair and approached Samson.
"It has to be, Sir. There are no instances on record of a star's internal combustion rate altering so quickly and at such measured intervals of,"
"Hang on!" February suddenly raised her voice from the helm, and she veered the ship sharply to port and once again, everyone scrambled for something to hold on to.
"Something's wrong," Ensign Talbot informed Blane from the secondary tactical station. "I've lost the Gateway."
"Let me look," Dalca moved over and tried to reinitialize the link, but was unable. Blane fought his way through the bumping and lurching of the ship as February tried to straighten out their course, and attempted himself to reestablish the connection.
It was no use.
"Hail the Serendipity!" Blane called to Cristiane. "Tell them that we're going to have to,"
"Commander," February interrupted suddenly from her post. "I can't further course correct, Sir. I would advise that we have to reverse course completely before we're sucked in by one of these gravity shears and can't get free of the pull."
"Do what you have to, Bru." Blane approved.
"There's another thermodynamic spike occurring within Beta-626!" Samson cried. "This is off the charts!"
"Bru, get us out of here!" Blane commanded.
February fought the helm with all her might, but she couldn't get enough power to reverse their momentum. "I need more power to the engines and the maneuvering thrusters!" She called to Dengar who was at the engineering panel.
"I can't give you any more from here, Grace." He tapped his badge "Dengar to Engineering, we need all the power you can divert dumped into the engines and thrusters, now!"
[I'll give you all I've got.] Lair Kellyn replied, as she cast a glance at Avery Breaux and both began rerouting every spare watt of power they could find. [Stand by.]
"Stand by?" Grace stammered, "Is she kidding? We can't stand by!"
"Kellyn, I need that power now!" Blane shouted into his own badge as they heard a sickening noise, and the ship seemed to be moving forward despite February's best attempts to stop it.
[You'll have it. Tell Grace to prepare to initiate a trans-warp jump on my mark.]
"I thought the drive was still offline!" Blane objected.
[I haven't had time to put it through the safety tests yet, that's why I told you it was still offline. I'm going to the trans-warp control core myself. Breaux, keep rerouting everything you can to those engines!]
"We're running out of time," February warned. She fought off a fresh wave of the nausea that had been plaguing her for at least the past half hour. Blane watched as she closed her eyes a moment. She looked as if she was trying with all her might not to be sick.
"The turbulence getting to you?" He asked.
"No, I think it's the radiation," Bru mumbled. She shook her head. "I'm all right. But we really need to make that jump."
After a moment that seemed an eternity, they got the signal they were waiting for.
[NOW!] Lair called over the comm, and February initiated the command. In a flash, the Alchemy broke free from the star, and made an incomplete transwarp jump.
As the crew reoriented themselves, they found they were once again at a safe distance from Beta-626, only they were now on the opposite side of the massive star.
"Sensors are offline!" Samson declared.
"Shields are down to twenty-two percent," Talbot warned.
Before Blane could say anything, the booming voice of Avery Breaux addressed everyone on the bridge.
[Medical Emergency in Engineering! Code White! Repeat, Code White!]
Dr. Terasha, who had just finished fighting her way to the bridge to check again on the crew's radiation exposure turned on her heel and charged back into the lift. "Beam the patient to Sickbay!"
"Transporters are offline!" Micah called.
"I'll go with you." Dalca hurried into the lift and he and Terasha disappeared, headed for main engineering.
"Lt. Breaux?" TC barked into his badge, dreading the answer, no matter who it was who needed the Code White resuscitation.
[It's Commander Lair, Sir.]
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Lt. Commander Lair Kellyn
Chief Engineer
USS Serendipity/Alchemy
Lt. Commander Lair Kellyn
Chief Engineer
USS Serendipity/Alchemy