Post 52 - And So It Goes

Posted on Tue Aug 4th, 2020 @ 6:20pm by Captain Björn Kodak & Lieutenant Commander Kora Lenek & Lieutenant Commander Karim MD & Lieutenant Nico Oliveria & Lieutenant Timmoz & Lieutenant JG Tovan Astril & Ensign Ariennye t’Aenikh & Ensign Adira Isan

Mission: Episode 1 - The Metreon Paradox
Location: USS-Adelphi, Main Bridge
Timeline: Following Post 51

[Underspace Corridor]
[USS-Adelphi]
[Main Bridge]
[Following Post 51]

While Commander Kodak had been attending to his mysterious, non-committal errand, efforts to affect the Adelphi's escape from the partially collapsed Underspace corridor had continued as ordered. With the specially equipped shuttlecraft and probe now ready for deployment, the Chameloid had returned to the Bridge in preparation from launch. Striding from the turbolift, he came around the guard rail and nodded to Commander Lenek, who'd been in charge of the effort in his absence. Lowering himself into the chair she'd vacated, the Captain reached down to manipulate the controls on the right armrest, activating ship-wide communications.

"This is the Bridge, Commander Kodak speaking," he intoned, not calling himself 'Captain' though, in reality, he was in action if not by title. "As you are already aware, we attempted to use a subspace tunnel that serves as a shortcut between the Nacene Reach and our new headquarters as guests of the Turei in the Gradin Belt. Unfortunately, our path forward is collapsed -- compliments of the Borg attempting to tunnel through this corridor. At present, we're stuck in a kind of subspace coral reef -- a honeycomb of pockets far too small for the Adelphi to navigate through and prickly enough to keep us held tight-fast."

Sitting back in his chair slightly, Kodak's yellow-gold eyes roved the Bridge, one-by-one making and briefly holding eye contact with those anxious few who looked his way. The Commander imagined they looked to him for assurance that they would make it out of this misadventure alive, five having already given their lives belowdecks in Engineering. He hoped that the confidence in and strong timbre of his raspy, baritone voice would bolster their belief in his capabilities to do so.

"Unable to pull ourselves out and return the way we came," the Chameloid continued, "we have but one option. Even as we speak, Lieutenant Timmoz is preparing to launch a shuttlecraft into the corridor. From a safe distance, he will trigger a specifically tuned resonance pulse, which should," Kodak emphasized the word, "push the Adelphi back into normal space. In order to exit the corridor himself, Lieutenant Timmoz will then launch a specialized probe that will push his shuttlecraft back into normal space with us as well," Kodak explained. "From there, we will set a return course back to the Nacene Reach, where we hope to rendezvous with a Haakonian vessel that will return our guests to their home."

No mention of the Talaxians' escape just minutes before was made, knowing the Haakonians in the cargo bay several decks below were listening in -- Kodak would break that particular news to the Haakonians once the more pressing crisis passed. Until then, however, there was much to do. "In preparation for our escape attempt, all off-duty personnel should return to their quarters. On-duty staff should man their posts. Guests and Starfleet crew alike should expect some potential turbulence as we're thrown from the corridor. Brace yourselves for this maneuver. If you are injured in the attempt, Doctor Grey and her staff stand ready to assist once we've returned to normal space."

"I realize our first mission -- to find and assist a missing Ocampan vessel potentially in need -- did not go as planned," Kodak lamented. "Instead, we've found ourselves in the middle of political machinations we did not intend to take on. But I am proud," the sincerity in the Chameloid's voice was palpable, "of how we've comported ourselves and am confident that we'll escape as unscathed as possible." Whether he referred to the political situation, Underspace, or both, the Chameloid did not clarify. "Thank you all for your hard work, dedication, and patience during this very difficult situation. Until we return to normal space, stay safe. Bridge out."

Deactivating the ship-wide comms, the Commander turned to face Lenek on his right. "Well, it would seem time to get things started. Thank you for overseeing things up here while I was otherwise occupied, Commander. You did very well in getting everything prepped and squared away."

Lenek nodded to the Commander, "Of course. I was happy to have been able to assist. I will say that the crew is equally deserving of praise for being as efficient as they were in coming up with solutions."

Nodding, Kodak then turned to Karim at his left. "Doctor, thank you for joining us. I imagine you and your staff are going to have their hands full after all this. Given your upcoming Bridge Officer Test, I thought you might want to be on-hand to observe. Welcome, Counselor," he offered.

The doctor inclined his head to Kodak, although he remained standing, hands clasped behind his back as he observed the developments before them, attention largely fixated on the viewscreen. "Commander Kodak, your effusive leadership is an example to us all," he stated, Vulcan tone betraying nothing. "But my department is at your call, sir."

With another nod, Kodak finally turned to Isan, who was waiting in the wings of the Bridge in case of injuries during their escape flight. "Ensign, we appreciate your readiness. I hope you won't need to treat more than a few scapes and bruises after all this. Thank you in advance for coming to our rescue," he smiled at the young woman.

"Of course, sir. Medical is at the ready for any such issues if they arise." Adira replied with a grim smile.

Eyeing the young Trill kindly, Kodak acknowledged her, too, with a nod before rising from his chair and directing his orders to the Bridge at large. "Very well, let's get out of here. Red alert, Mr. Astril. Shields to full," he ordered the Tactical officer.

"Aye sir." Tov replied and tapped a command into his console. The lights throughout the ship dimmed to condition red, and the klaxon alerted everyone of the red alert. A couple other keystrokes confirmed the shield emitters status. "We are at red alert, shields holding at max."

As the slowly strobing red lights took hold of the Bridge, Kodak looked to Lieutenant Ooteen, the Benzite at Ops. "Divert auxiliary power to shields and our structural integrity field. Ensign Lethler, prepare for re-entry into normal space," he said to the Tellarite manning the helm. Once both officers nodded their assent, the Captain rose from his chair and moved to the rear of the Bridge, coming to stand near the young engineer manning the holographic console there.

"Lieutenant Oliveria, I know you've been through a lot in past couple of hours," Kodak began, the knowing look in his eyes communicating perhaps that he knew the pain of losing crew members all too well. "Thank you for being here, too. Are you and your team down in Engineering ready? Ensign t'Aenikh, how about yourself? Ready to science our way out of this?"

Nico managed to pull himself out of his internal turmoil and focused on the Captain's question, "Engineering is ready, sir. We are limited to warp four until we finish repairs on the damaged nacelle, but we have full power to all systems." As the Captain turned to the science officer, Nico looked forward to the helm console. The absence of Timmoz's dark curls worried the Human. Concerned for the safety of his Ashka, Nico checked the telemetry from the shuttle again.

Ens. t'Aenikh nodded sheepishly from her console, "Yes sir... Everything should be programmed correctly and ready to... um... science?"

"Excellent," came the Captain's good-humored reply. "Alright then, Mr. Timmoz," Kodak said to thin air as he moved to retake his seat, knowing the Orion was listening in from his shuttlecraft, "if you're ready down there, you have clearance to launch. We await your delicate touch," the Commander smirked, good humor flowing into his voice, "in extricating us from this damned reef. And," he added, "we greatly look forward to you rejoining us on the other side. Viel Glück, Lieutenant. Good luck," Kodak translated from his quasi-native German tongue, knowing the universal translator somehow knew not to render the use of intentional colloquialisms in other languages.

"Shuttlecraft is launching now... the probe is online and seems to be working... we'll see how being fired out of a shuttlecraft goes for it..." Presently the small shuttlecraft came onscreen. "Standby... just got an anomalous reading from the rift..." The tension held. "Strange... that was almost like a subspace tremor. I don't think we want to stay in here any longer." From his shuttle, Timmoz sent the newest telemetry to Oliveria and t'Aenikh. It did indeed demonstrate an odd, rippling instability that was passing the height of it's bell curve. "I'm ready here..." He paused, "If this doesn't work... there's a chest in my quarters. Have a look."

"Understood Lieutenant," Kodak nodded slowly, resisting the urge to turn back to look at Oliveria but understanding all the same what a hard moment this must be. "As a famous old Earth resort made popular, 'We'll leave the light on for you,' Mr. Timmoz. See you soon."

With that, the channel closed. The Bridge was eerily quiet, save the customary soft tones of beeping consoles. A heavy weight of apprehension and expectation settled over the command center as, on the viewscreen, Timmoz' shuttlecraft darted forward into the reef-like honeycombs of the collapsed Underspace tunnel. Reaching strategically selected coordinates, the craft slowed to a halt before using its maneuvering thrusters to adjust its angle to face the Adelphi.

"And so it goes," Kodak broke the silence, watching as the shuttlecraft's specialized emitter flared to life, streaming the glowing resonance pulse meant to free the ship.

For a few long moments, the pulse seemed to accomplish nothing more than a dancing light show, shimmering across the viewscreen as Underspace continued to loom ahead. But then a low, slow vibration began making its way through the deck plates beneath the crew's feet, rising to a bone-rattling clatter. The Adelphi -- caught in the reef like a fly in a web -- then began to move, the sympathetic vibration of the resonance pulse turning discordant, reeling and keeling through the air like the staccato buzzing of flies.

With one final flash of light, the Adelphi came completely free from the reef, repulsed by the shuttlecraft's pulse to the wall of the Underspace corridor. There the ship groaned loudly as it was smashed against the subspace tunnel's side before -- like a knife through paper -- the Adelphi shot through the wall and back out into normal space. It was not, however, a smooth transition.

As the overhead lights on the Bridge flickered, so too did the inertial dampeners and artificial gravity. Auxiliary power kicked in to bolster the systems but as the Adelphi was flung from the Underspace corridor, it spun and skipped in space like a stone skidding across the surface of a lake until -- finally -- the ship came to a slowing, controlled halt.

"Report," Kodak eased his grip on the arms of his chair. White knuckles gave way to the flowing peach of human-like flesh when not under torsional stress. As he listened for responses, the Chameloid kept an eye on the viewscreen, hoping to see Timmoz' shuttle skip free itself in the coming moments.

"We've re-entered normal space, Captain. Reading full stop," reported Lethler from the helm. The woman seemed a bit frazzled but did well to regroup herself. "That was...quite a ride, sir," she clucked softly, turning back to look towards the Captain and First Officer.

"Shields are depleted slightly, but not to dangerous levels. Scanning the vicinity for..." Tov paused, blanking for a moment as he tried to articulate something clever, then mentally shrugged. "...anything." He glanced at the engineer for a moment, then back to his console. Tov hadn't done a good job of bonding with the crew, but he'd be a fairly horrible security chief if he didn't have a finger on the pulse of the ship and know some of what was going on.

On the main screen, there was a decidedly odd flicker and a listing shuttlecraft hovered into view. One of its nacelles looked to be flickering. The comm chirped- the shuttle was hailing.

"On screen," came the Captain's order in response to the chirp.

Nico breathed a sigh of relief as the telemetry stream reestablished itself. He wasn't sure if Timmoz was unscathed, but at least he was alive. Adelphi had sustained only minor additional damage, and the Human deployed his teams to correct the issues. Although Tov answered the hail immediately, it seemed an eternity to Nico.

"Mr. Timmoz, it's exceptionally great to see you! Are you alright?" asked the Chameloid Commander. Worry lined his face as Kodak sat forward in his chair, hoping the listing nature of the shuttlecraft -- vs. its abject destruction -- meant it's occupant was none-the-worse-for-wear.

"Unscathed, Adelphi," Timmoz's voice said as it broke up and the Orion's image stuttered. "But the Houlihan didn't do so well. Warp coils in the port side are completely fused and there's plasma conduit damage in the main computer I'll send my logs to Ensign t'Aenikh once I dock. I'll have to do it manually. I don't trust the nav computer right now..."

"Want a tow, Lieutenant?" Kodak asked, his smirk reaching his eyes. Awaiting the Orion's reply, the Commander released the breath he'd been holding. He was quite relieved not to have lost their exceptionally skilled pilot in this little maneuver.

The Orion's eyes flitted up to the screen and he smirked. "Why not? I've scraped enough shuttles for this pay period..."

"Good thing we can replicate more paint," Kodak chuckled, turning to nod at Astril -- an indication to engage the tractor beam and bring the shuttle in. "Hang tight, Lieutenant. We'll have you back soon," his gaze returned to Timmoz on the viewscreen. "Kodak out." As the channel cut, the Chameloid looked over to Lenek. "Commander, once Mister Timmoz is back onboard, please get us back on course for the Nacene Reach. We'll have to travel the old fashioned way, but at least warping back over the next few days gives us some time to sort a few things out. Including," he sighed gently as he stood from his chair, "breaking the news of the Talaxians' escape to our Haakonian guests, which I'll do now. The Bridge is yours, Commander," he nodded before moving to slip into the turbolift.

As the doors closed behind him, Kodak stated his destination and then sagged a bit in private relief. To his thinking, they'd been drawn into an impossible political situation with the Talaxians and Haakonians, made worse by use of a devastating metreon weapon. And while the crew of the Adelphi had managed to effect the best solution they could for all involved, the resolution wasn't clean. It was muddy and complicated and, even if the Haakonians accepted that the Talaxians somehow stole a transport, the Order was not going to be happy. It was entirely possible that the Adelphi's missions moving forward might just by dogged by ongoing Haakonian oversight and interference efforts.

I'll take some watchful eyes over making an abject enemy any day, though, Kodak reflected, turning to face the turbolift's doors as they swished open. The cargo bay housing the Haakonian survivors was just ahead: it was time to break the news. "Here we go," he nodded, stepping through the large doors as they groaned open.

"Captain Va'trel," Kodak began, waving in greeting to the Haakonian commander. "We've much to discuss..."


*** A post by... ***

Commander Björn Kodak
Commanding Officer
USS-Adelphi

and

Lieutenant Commander Kora Lenek
Executive Officer
USS-Adelphi

and

Lieutenant Commander Karim MD
Head Counselor and First Contact Specialist
USS-Adelphi

and

Lieutenant Nico Oliveria
Chief Engineering Officer
USS-Adelphi

and

Lieutenant JG Timmoz
Chief Flight Controller
USS-Adelphi

and

Lieutenant JG Tov Astril
Chief Tactical and Security Officer
USS-Adelphi

and

Ensign Ariennye t'Aenikh
Chief Science Officer
USS-Adelphi

and

Ensign Adira Isan
Head Nurse
USS-Adelphi