= USS Chimera - Jefferies Tubes =
T'Vel kept climbing downward on the rungs with Rangi following above
her. Once again, as they had done five times before, they came to a
junction and T'Vel stopped to check the hatch... but, once again, it
was sealed and neither her code nor Rangi's code would unseal it. The
commander had even tried her code from when she was Chimera's XO in
hopes that it might work, but to no avail.
It was quite eerie in the half light with occasional muffled sounds
from outside and their footfalls within. Twice the ship took
particularly serious impacts. The first one had caused Rangi to cling
precariously to the ladder as T'vel had dropped a few feet to the
floor below.
"I am perfectly alright Commander." the Vulcan had replied when Rangi
called down to ask if she was hurt. Climbing down, Rangi had thanked
their lucky stars that they hadnt been starting a descent or T'Vel
might well have been disabled by the fall.
The ladders and tubes all looked the same and only a small reference
code above each hatch told them where they were inside the gigantic
ship.
"None of these codes are going to work." Rangi said as T'vel retraced her steps.
"Perhaps the next one," T'Vel said as she did with the others,
returning to the ladder. "If we had a maglock, we could be able to
unseal the hatch."
" I doubt it." Rangi replied. " That was E18 22 wasnt it?...thats
still within the Task Force area. Everything will be locked
down...maglocks wouldnt help us."
"Then we must continue downward," T'Vel said.
They climbed down again further, passing a deck number that read Deck
28 and came to another junction with an exit hatch.
"Right...lets try this one." Rangi said, crawling past T'Vel and
pressing in her code on the small panel above the doorway.
Nothing happened for a second or so then the little red light changed
to green. Rangi tried the handle and with alot of pressure it moved
slightly to the left. "It's 'stuck'... I think." she said through
gritted teeth and moved aside for her companion to try as well.
T'Vel tried the hatch and at last it budged, moving open. As she
looked out of the hatch, the deck was dark and seemed without any
power distribution. Climbing out, she helped Rangi out of the
Jefferies tube and to her feet.
Rangi thought it unlikely that a Romulan would be hiding in the
darkness on the off chance that someone would emerge from a hatch so
she risked switching on her torch and swung it in both directions. The
beam was eaten by the darkness so she brought it to bare on a
bulkhead which read 'Section A-12, Deck 28'.
" It's....that way." Rangi said, speaking very quietly and pointing
into the pitchblackness.
"We must find the children." she said.".... and release Spc Gordon.
He's far more use in active security than being locked in a room as a
bodyguard.....we'll take charge of them..after all, its out duty to
care for the weakest...and they are. If the nurses stations are still
manned we should be able to find out whats happened in the sickbays.
The nearest one is two sections from here."
"Agreed," T'Vel replied.
The officers continued onwards into the darkness, keeping against the
wall and making sure they didn't make any excess noise. As they went
on, T'Vel tried again tapping her commbadge to see if it would be
picked up by the comm system, but it was as dead as the lights.
They passed another junction, travelled the length of the corridor and
came to a crosspoint. Rangi shone her torch onto the deck reference
above their eye level on the wall.
"How much further, Commander?" T'Vel asked Rangi.
"We're two sections away. " Rangi replied. " Any luck with the comm system yet?"
"None, Commander," T'Vel answered as they carried on down the corridor.
Chimera was still under attack, that much was evident from the sounds
and shaking that continued far too often for comfort but it wasnt
until they reached a final junction that they saw signs of life.
The corridor at the far end was dimly lit and they exchanged a glance
when they turned the corner and saw it. Quickening their pace, they
hurried along until they came at last to the room that sheltered the
children. Rangi slapped her hand on the button.
"Commander Summers!" she said before anyone had time to ask who was
there and tapped in the code. Nothing happened. and Rangi looked at
T'Vel. " Not again" she said.
Undeterred, T'Vel took her phaser and aimed at the edges of the door,
literally cutting it off its hinges. When she was done she stood back
and waited, but nothing happened.
"Where are they?" Rangi asked, having expected some response from the
inhabitants, particularly Spc Gordon.
Rangi's words were scarcely cold when the ship shook violently, too
violently. They were thrown to the floor and T'Vel could feel the
gravity plating shuddering, hearing the sound of metal tearing apart.
The door fell forwards, revealing the frightened faces inside the
room.
Gordon was crouching forward ready to fire the phaser levelled at Rangi
"No!" she cried in horror but his reflexes were fast and the weapon
was lowered in an instant. Behind him cowered the figures of Mimi and
Laura, They too held phasers at the ready and from somewhere out of
sight came sound of a child crying. Gordon said simply " Commander"
and lowered his phaser further.
The blast seemed to have triggered emergency power conduits as lights
suddenly flickered and came on briefly. As T'Vel got up she tapped her
commbadge, "Lieutenant T'Vel to Sickbay."
There was nothing, no response, but the commbadge chirped, signalling
that it was connected to the comm system and that the fault was most
likely on Sickbay's side.
"Mummy?" came a quavering voice which Rangi could have recognised
anywhere and next moment Martin, with a tearful Rachel behind him,
appeared from their hiding place. Rangi released a sigh of relief to
see them alive and well.
"What's happened?" Laura asked but she addressed the question to T'Vel
aware of the reunion gouing on beside her.
"Romulan troops have boarded the ship," T'Vel explained quickly.
"All hands, abandon ship," was the next thing they heard, echoing
through the intercom system and their commbadges. It was followed by
an automated repeat from the computer announcing that all officers
proceed to the nearest escape pod.
Gordon moved to the door way, ready to defend their escape route. Mimi
took Rachel in her arms, reassuring the child over and over again that
it was alright.
"He'll stay with me." Rangi said to Laura who stepped forward to take
charge of Martin and she gave a brief nod of understanding
"This way," T'Vel indicated to the nearest escape pod. Next she tapped
her commbadge. "Commander Rodgers," she said, trying to get through to
the Chief Engineer. "This is Lieutenant T'Vel from Sickbay. Commander
Summers and I have the children and we are evacuating via escape pod.
Do not be concerned, Rachel is safe with us."
= End Log =
Commander Rangi Summers
Medical Advisor
1st Taskforce, SSF
-
1st Lieutenant T'Vel
Assistant Medical Officer
USS Chimera NX 96899-B
[NPC by Bren]
