[Galaxy] Fwd: [Yorktown] - 2159.01.13 - PL (Pt 1) - CO/CEO/CHO/CCO - Cmndr Morgan/Def Ca'daar/Ens J Taylor/Lt D Taylor

[Rachelle M.]

<On: Engineering>

David's eyes twitched fretfully toward the display panel not far from his
immediate left: beads of sweat forming with the effort of containing a
rampant fear held just beneath his falsely cool facade. In between points of
rechecking the Control Line Circuitry, David tensely studied the exhibited
information. An electronic representation of a Romulan Attack Vessel began
'blipping' its way closer to the depiction of the Earth Starship Yorktown,
and David felt the adrenaline in his veins push his 'Fight or Flight'
reflexes ever more sharply toward the 'Flight'-way of reaction...

>From the corner of his eye, David caught sight again of Defender Da'nak
Ca'daar: standing ready at the Temporary Navigations Console. It had seemed
a small eternity since David had given the 'thumbs up' signal to Da'nak:
signifying that the last of the Control Lines had been connected to his now
ready 'station'.

David gave a quick nod toward the Andorian: a nod of sincere respect...the
kind that David would give to another Engineering Crewmember after a job
well done.

'Perhaps he might be willing to help us later on...' David considered of
Da'nak's Engineering Skills (the Andorian had even found enough time to
jury-rig a smaller version of the Forward Viewer!): his eyes taking in
another quick look at the destruction surrounding him in the Engine Room.

As David fought his mind once again in holding back a sea swell of despair
(some of that repair work *would* require a drydock), his eyes briefly
caught sight of the Monitor again. In being reminded of the immediate
situation, David's eyes went back to that monitor. As his eyes once again
settled on processing the displayed information, his heart made a
leap...right into his now overly tight throat. 'Two Thousand Kilometers.'
David thought uneasily as he watched that approaching vessel slow its
self-assured approach toward Yorktown's Portside Docking Hatch...

His eyes darted back to Rece and Jennifer: still standing close to the
makeshift Communications Station. He knew that those two were keeping a
close eye on the incoming craft...perhaps more sharply than he. David barely
had enough time to give much consideration to his feelings on
*that*particular can of worms: having outsiders (even if those
*outsiders* consisted of the Captain of the Yorktown *and *his own wife) so
directly involved with the instances of his department.

Trying to draw his own attention back to the station before him, David felt
an irritating itch form between his shoulder blades. He knew that there
would be an order coming soon...an order that would set the Yorktown and its
crew to a path of success or death. It was just a question of *when* that
order would be coming...

Rece stared at the screen, never taking her eyes from the data that flashed
it. Fifteen hundred Kilometers, twelve hundred, nine hundred kilometers
scrolled across the screen. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest
as adrenalin kick in once again. They had to wait until just the right
moment, to take advantage of the Bird of Prey's decrease in exleration. They
would need the few extra seconds it they were to have time to reach the warp
thresshold.

The Romulan ship was getting closer. "They're at one hundred kilometers.
Hold steady." It was in those last few moments that they had to wait for
Commander Chulak to draw his ship nearer that Rece felt doubt and fear creep
into her mind. She took a deep breath to clear her mind and shoved back the
fear; now was not the time. Just as the other ship extented it docking port
Rece called out, "Now Da'nak Now!!!"

"Aye Captain." The Andorian punched at one of the buttons and jammed the
jury rigged throttle forward. He would have preferred to bring the engines
to power more slowly, testing the newly made connections, but with a Romulan
bird of prey about to grapple them certain cautions would have to be thrown
to the proverbial wind. With a noticeable rumble the Yorktown lurched
forward. Keeping her on course was going to take some work. With one of the
nacelles gone, the blue helmsman had to compensate with extra thrusters just
to keep her from spinning around in circles; and most of that compensation
had to be done manually. There had been no way to repair all of the computer
relays thoroughly enough. Silently Da'nak said a prayer as he kept his eyes
glued to the instruments. So far so good.

David felt the shudder of the deck plating beneath his feet: overly
emphasizing the fact that Yorktown's Main Impulse Drives had activated. He
braced himself with his hands held tightly to the Control Station: releasing
a held-in breath. 'At least *those *held...' David thought of the Impulse
Engines. Glancing over the gauges on the monitor, David's breath tried to
hold again. The previous problems associated with the last Warp Drive
attempt were still very much in play...and they still had *that* particular
threshold to cross.

"It'll take about thirty seconds before the coils have enough charge for
Warp Barrier Breach..." David called out to the room. There were already
mounting limitations for the Backup EPS Grid, and David had been forced to
make some Power restraint Cutbacks. This particular cutback wasn't exactly
what David would have preferred. But it was far more preferable to
overloading the Backup EPS Grid. Or Drive Plasma Accelerators. Or Control
Bypasses. Or...

Jennifer's eyes widened as she studied the sensor, "Captain, their firing
something at us." Watching the incoming threat, Jennifer began a quick
calculation, "Ma'am, I'm not sure that we're going to make it out of here
before it hits us. It'll be a close call, either way." Even she knew that if
that *thing* hit the Yorktown, it wouldn't be good at all.

Rece had a feeling that was going to happen. She looked at the flickering
screen and realized that Armoury had yet to do anything. Damn, they hadn't
got her message or if they had it hadn't been complete. She would just have
to hope that they might take some inititive.

Da'nak stood rigid at the controls, fighting the ship every step of the way.
"Instruments show twenty seconds to warp capacity." He called out flatly.
The blue helmsman jammed the control stick as far forward as it would go,
trying to buy them the few extra seconds they would need. He didn't dare
blink as he watched both the blip on the screen and the timer countdown on
warp power. Jennifer was right, this *was* going to be close.

"Ten seconds...." He felt a bead of sweat run down the side of his face, to
mingle with the blood and grease.

"Five...four... three... two...*One." *The blip caught up to the Yorktown as
Da'nak shot the series of switches to engage the warp drive. He wrapped his
leg around the station and held on with one hand as the massive shudder made
it's way through engineering. The helmsman kept his eyes glued to the small
screen as he struggled to keep the ship on course.

At first, the intense vibration sent David flying toward the Starboard side
of Engineering: practically recreating the initial attack that signified the
end of the Yorktown's Portside Nacelle. David (being more cautious this
time), held better to his Control Station and managed to not fly into the
wall. The now all-too-familiar jarring sensation was far from easy to hold
him upright for long, but (for the moment) he still held to a stand.

Rece slid across the floor, grabbing at what she could to stop herself.
Latching onto what at one time had been a ladder to the upper walkway, she
clung to it as the ship shifted and her body flopped in the other direction.

Jennifer felt herself heaved into the make-shift communications station. Her
rib cage slamming hard with a loud cracking sound. Her eyes bulged a bit,
and a blinding white light was all she could see. She tried to catch her
breath. She slid to the floor in a heap, wrapping her arm protectively
around her chest she felt her body slide into the wall. She didn't even have
to have a medic examine her to know that at least two of her ribs were
broken (if not more) and several were badly bruised.

Da'nak found himself thrown violently forward into the console, causing him
to lose control of the port thrusters and jamming the stick hard to one
side. He could feel the ship shifting as he struggled to right himself and
regain control. He was dimly aware of the warning lights flashing on the
panel in front of him.

Just as David thought he had the better of Inertial forces acting on his
body, he found himself completely wrong. A just-as-troublesome force
attacked him from the other side, and this time David *did* fly toward the
Portside of the Engine Room (as if the ship were caught in a very hard
turn). David lost his footing, and he fell to the deck hard. Finding that
the intense force had complete control over his body, he began
*sliding*toward a wall that was quickly becoming a floor.

"Severe Engine Imbalance..." called Michelle Yearly from somewhere in the
distance: her voice visibly shaken. "Warp Field highly unstable."

He kicked his feet out before him, and his legs absorbed the impact against
the wall. The resultant force created a grating shock to his knees, and he
winced again with pain (albeit, not as bad as his shoulder). To his stomach,
it seemed as if the ship were leaned practically full over to that one side:
as if the Portside of the ship had suddenly become the bottom, and the
Starboard side the top. His stomach churned with intense queasiness, and
David was afraid he was about to sick up all over himself...

But that was not the only problem presenting itself to David: To his mind,
time itself seemed to have been affected in strange ways. It was not simply
the mere passage of time that had been influenced (he actually had found
himself counting away seconds in a normal thought, and the counting seemed
all but right). But instead each movement made (rather by himself or things
or others around him) had been 'slowed down' to a greater degree. It was
almost as if each force or action were caught underneath the torrents of a
great pond, and that force was being hampered by a fluid resistance.

Rece blinked her eyes trying to clear her vision. She must have hit her head
again, she thought. even though it didn't hurt anymore then it had earlier.
Everything around her seemed to blur in its movements and leave only what
she could think of as ripples in it wake.

Finally catching her breath enough to force herself into a sitting position,
Jennifer pushed up and looked around with disbelief as she watched her
companions take part in what seemed to be a very methodical slow waltz. As
she started to get up she realized that her own body move in the same
fashion. Upon straightening she noticed that she still felt the pain of her
ribs, but the effects seemed to travel more slowly. As a matter of fact, she
didn't fully feel that pain until well after standing. Slowly, the other
aches and pains reached her brain, but it would not be until well after she
did whatever she did to earn those pains.

Da'nak focused as he watched the lights on his panel blinking slower. He
struggled against the inertial forces to right himself as the edges of his
vision began to blur and fray. He found his field of vision shrinking as his
hands moved slower in front of him. After what seemed like an eternity, the
helmsman managed to push the control stick back into place and throttle back
the thrusters, bringing things back into line.

After a time (David could not have honestly guessed how long - rather in the
passage of 'real' time nor this overstressed version), time began to 'iron'
itself out to normal. His movements began to catch up with his thoughts, and
the liquefied dance began to cease to the more normal chaotic bounds.

"Frak!" Da'nak said as his eyes once again locked onto his viewer. "I don't
know what it is I'm seeing here, but you're all going to want to take a look
at this!"

<tbc>

Cmdr Rece Morgan - CO
Defender Da'nak Ca'daar - CHO
Ens Jennifer Taylor - CCO
Lt David Taylor - CEO
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ESS Yorktown NX-05
The Fighting Lady


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"*Ordinarily he was insane, but he had lucid moments when he was merely
stupid*."
     - Heinrich Heine


_______________________________________________
yorktown-firstera.net mailing list
yorktown-firstera.net at lists.firstera.net
http://lists.firstera.net/listinfo.cgi/yorktown-firstera.net




-- 
RM

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in
the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
-Calvin & Hobbes
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.firstera.net/pipermail/galaxy-firstera.net/attachments/20090113/ab190801/attachment-0002.htm>