The Cursed Ship - Part 4

Posted on Mon Jan 19, 2015 @ 7:19am by Commander Amia Telamon M.D. & Captain Isha t'Vaurek & Commander Caden Aldrex & Civilian 'Key Holder' Yolanthe Ibalin

2,787 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Things Past
Location: USS Helios/Radiance of the Stars
Timeline: MD 03 - 0700

[ON]

***** MS Radiance of the Stars *****

Five figures materialized on the recreation deck near the stern of the ship. They had beamed directly aboard from the shuttles parked full-stop at a safe distance from the damaged cruise ship called Radiance of the Stars. She was a very large vessel, complete with luxurious staterooms, casinos, restaurants, and shopping areas for passengers to enjoy themselves.

Taking a quick look around, Aldrex could quickly see that the passengers were doing anything but enjoying themselves. Most were in a panic heading for the escape pod deck. Some had portable breathers over their faces to deal with the rapidly building smoke from some unseen fire aft. No one paid attention to the Starfleet officers who had just beamed aboard.

Aldrex gave orders to the away team. He had to raise his voice to be heard over the blaring ship's alarm and the noise of the crowd. "Bradshaw, Davis, get to the bridge and see what you can do to help up there! Welyn and Amia, you're with me!" He headed aft towards the engine spaces.

"Aye sir" Said James calmly as he headed for the nearest lift or if they were not working the nearest ladder up to the bridge. Davis accompanied him and pulled out his phaser as if he expected trouble.

It took a few minutes for James to reach the bridge of the ship or at lest what passed for a bridge. There was considerable damage to almost every station and the crew members who were moving around looked to be in shock.

"Who is in charge here?" Asked James as calmly as he could.

"That would be me kid who are you and what are you doing on my bridge." Asked a rather old man in what appeared to be the remains of a uniform.

"We are Starfleet. USS Helios responding to your emergency hail." Said James firmly he knew from dealing with freighter captains that if you did not want your authority questioned you had to stand firm when dealing with older people

"Alright but I am not sure what good you can do up here the problem is in the engineering section." Said the captain, flatly glad for any help he could actually get.

"Sir we might not be able to do much but we are damned sure going to try and save this ship and everyone on board her." Said James firmly. "Where is your operations station?" He asked

"last station on the right not sure if it is working thou we have been to busy to look at it much." Said the Captain

"Davis I know your going to hate me but right now get over to that ops station and see what you can do to get emergency power up and running this ship should have batteries as a backup see if they are charged and how long we have before they run out." Said James firmly

Davis glowered but he did as he was asked. He was Security not Ops but no matter how much he might not like this, someone had to do it and as there wasn't a lot of arresting he could do yet, he complied grumpily.

"Captain this is your ship sir, but I am going to recommend that you order all but essential crew to the boat deck it will be far easier to keep the batteries running to cover a small area then it would be to cover the entire ship." Said James calmly he sat down at the engineering station and started to work to try and get it back up and running all the while hoping that the captain would follow his suggestion.

The captain nodded and said to his first officer, "I think some of them are heading there anyway, but let's make it official. Make an announcement."

"Aye, captain."


***** USS Helios *****

Cadet Tralian Isen sat in the command chair, doing his best not to fidget uncomfortably. Until Mister Aldrex checked in he had nothing to do but sit and wait in this old, dead rust bucket, which seriously irked him. They had to do something. Isen hit the comm button on his armrest. "Isen to Caraway. How are we doing down there?"

"Engineering has things in hand," Mrin replied - as she did so she hooked one leg over the top if the access ladder and rested her toolkit on the platform. "I've gone down to the nacelle that was the last to give up. If we're lucky I can find something in it. Any hope on the rescue?"

"Haven't heard anything from them yet, although sensors show them stopped at the civilian ship's presumed position." Isen and the others on the bridge still couldn't figure out why a luxury cruise ship wouldn't appear on some sensors. It was one of the weirder unanswered questions of the day.

"Did they take all the shuttles or are there parts I can scavenge?"

Isen snorted. "Yeah, they took all two of our shuttles. Sorry." Not that Mister Aldrex would have let them scavenge parts anyway. Those shuttles were brand new, to be delivered to DS5 as attrition replacements. It just wouldn't do to deliver them in pieces. "Look, Mrin, can I get warp speed soon? We really should get over there."

Mrin literally bit her lip. It was the taste of blood that allowed her to return to the conversation.

"If they're new there'll be parts. I can stay here and sing to the nacelle or run a raid before they're back. I need an assistant and access. Think about it, Tralian."

Isen drummed his fingers on the armrest, thinking this was going to take a lot longer than the ten minutes she had promised. "Access is granted. I'm sending Munro down to assist you. Isen out."

"I'll get on to it!" she replied with an unbecoming smirk.


***** MS Radiance of the Stars, Engine Room *****

The ship's engineering staff had managed to put out the fires in the engine room, but coolant was leaking from a damaged valve, spewing a fine mist of the toxic substance into the already-contaminated air. Some of the crew had manged to get portable breathers from the emergency kits. Others, however, had been overcome quickly and lay on various parts of the deck. Some were already dead. Others were critically wounded.

Aldrex was first through the hatch followed by Amia and Welyn. The fog of coolant in the air instantly stung him. He placed a hand over his nose and mouth and coughed. "Breathers! Find some!" They had only seconds to spare before they, too, were overcome.

A Grazerite crewman appeared out of the murk holding a fire-fighting kit. He seemed shocked to see them. "Who are you?" He asked.

"We're Starfleet! USS Helios!" Aldrex replied between coughs.

"You're not much help to us if you're dead!" The Grazerite replied. He opened an access panel in a nearby bulkhead and pulled out three portable breathers. "Put these on!" He said, handing them over.

Aldrex put his breather over his face. "These two are doctors!" He motioned to the women with him. "How many wounded do you have in here?"

The Grazerite shook his head. "We still haven't sorted them out! If you help move them you can set up a triage area just outside!"

Aldrex nodded. "Alright, let's get started then. What happened here?" He found a wounded man with severe burns and picked him up in a fireman's carry. It was a difficult task and he suddenly felt out of shape.

"Deuterium storage tank exploded," the Grazerite answered. He also picked up a man and followed.

"Burns, Chemical Scalds and noxious inhalation." Welyn was pulling the relevent hyposprays from her medkit to her pockets as she walked. "Happy Joy." She pulled out the goggles too. Last thing she wanted was eyes to full of stinging tears to work. "I've got the catwalk." She headed for the ladder to the gangway that ran around the reactor core, one that was strewn with weakly coughing bodies.

Amia set up the Triage Area as requested but felt it was adding another stage and didn't like the delay to getting the patients to proper facilities. She assessed each incoming casualty and sent each serious case on an Emergency Medical Transport back to the Sickbay on the Helios.

=^= Welwyn, send all serious cases to Sickbay on the Helios where the facilities are more appropriate to their needs, then please see if you can treat as many of the less serious, quicker cases here while I get back to get started helping Cadet Nurse Martinez. =^= she instructed over the comm.

Turning to the Grazerite she asked:. "Where are THIS ship's doctors?" looking up only briefly and rolling her eyes when he shrugged. Amia ground her teeth and went back to shipping out the more serious cases as fast as she could, leaving the less injured for Welwyn to treat in situ.

It wasn't easy trying to get round and decide who was most serious fast enough to then get back and do something to help the worst cases before they suffered even worse consequences as a result of any delay but she worked like an experienced Head of Department and just shipped out anyone she was in doubt about then hurried back herself to start operating and *fire-fighting* in the Helios' Sickbay.

Many might have felt stressed and some might even have been overwhelmed in a situation like this but not Amia, this was a reminder of exactly who she was and what she did best. She remained too flat-out busy to stop for any breaks or down time until they arrived at DS5 and she didn't even have time to anticipate her upcoming role on the station itself but it didn't matter.

After so many weeks of "honeymoon" and this crazy "Cadet Project" that had transported herself and her new husband here, it felt SO good to be back in the adrenalin rush of *proper* emergency medicine and Sickbay management again that she breathed in deeply, feeling for the first time since she had left the USS Nimitz that she was still Lt Cmdr Amia Soren even if her married name and new location both redefined her outwardly.


***** USS Helios *****

Mrin and her rapidly assembled team swarmed over the locker pilfering any part they thought could be patched into the engines to get power back before the away team returned.

It would take what, eight hours for the core to reach temperature ... maybe they could accelerate that and cut it to five ... they'd kept it warm so it wasn't a truly cold start.

What about the nacelles? There was enough here to allow them to repair the port one ... forty fifty percent efficiency ... not ideal but enough to move ... warp three maybe ...

The Betazoid engineer wasn't aware that she was throwing her thoughts out to the team or that they were happily working on them as though she had given verbal orders.


***** MS Radiance of the Stars, Bridge *****

A Ferengi in business attire rushed up the ladder onto the bridge. "What's happening? Why are the passengers going to the boat deck? I wanted them in the casino! Give them drinks! Let them spend money! It'll calm them down! Who countermanded my orders?"

The captain nodded to the two cadets on his bridge. "Starfleet has arrived to render assistance. We are following their suggestion for the safety of the passengers."

The Ferengi looked the two Starfleet cadets up and down. They were both very calm and professional amidst all this chaos, but were also young. Very young. "Starfleet? They're just a couple of kids!"

At that moment Aldrex arrived. He nodded respectfully to the captain. "Sir, Lieutenant Commander Aldrex, USS Helios. The fire and coolant leak are contained below. The doctors from our ship have enlisted the aide of your crew to form a triage area on the recreation deck. At the moment we have eleven dead, sixty-eight wounded, and two unaccounted for."

The captain nodded sorrowfully. "Thank you, Commander. We owe you a great debt." He placed a gentle hand on Bradshaw's shoulder. "And these boys as well."

"We owe you nothing!" The Ferengi snapped. "We had this under control until you Starfleeters showed up."

Aldrex looked at him incredulously. "We were responding to your distress call."

The Ferengi's eyes widened. "I didn't send a distress call. Who sent a distress call?"

"I did," the Captain admitted. "Frankly, I didn't know if it had gone through. The first explosion took out our transmitter array. But I had to try."

"This is a private cruise," the Ferengi said, "for our private investors. Your career here is over, my friend."

Aldrex boiled over hearing that. "Hey! The Captain did the right thing. The crew of this ship has obviously not had much training in emergency procedures. They needed the help. Who are you anyway?"

The Ferengi squared his shoulders and answered, "I am DaiMon Praz, President and Chief Executive Officer of Praz Holdings, the owner of this vessel."

"Oh, you're the man in charge, eh? Well, DaiMon Praz, my report will show that the crew of this ship performed as well as they could under the circumstances, and that the owner was nothing more than a hindrance."

Praz swallowed a lump in his throat. "Report? Who are you going to report this to? This is a private cruise."

"You're in Federation space," Aldrex explained. "The Interstellar Transportation Safety Commission will have to be notified so they can open an investigation. I'll also have to report this to Starfleet and note it in our ship's log. You and everyone on this ship will no doubt be required to make a lengthy statement."

Praz put his hands together in supplication. "Please. Isn't there any way we can keep this between ourselves? I have several passengers who would prefer to remain anonymous." His tone was suddenly conciliatory.

"Right, a 'private cruise,'" Aldrex deadpanned. "Who are these passengers anyway?"

"People who are considering investing in my fledgling cruise line. Let's just say they're the kind of people who are VERY well off financially, and would prefer not to make statements of any kind." He moved closer to the Trill officer and lowered his voice. "Perhaps you and I can come to an understanding? What's your pleasure? Latinum? Women? I can get you both. I can get you whatever you need. Just say the word."

Aldrex closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. A private cruise. For mobsters and other assorted unsavory types. He understood now why this ship was hard to read on sensors. It probably had some stealth characteristics built into it. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not in the market for latinum or women. The Helios will be alongside shortly. We'll escort you to Deep Space Five."

That sent Praz into a near panic. "Deep Space Five? I can't take this ship to a Starfleet installation! Are you mad?"

Aldrex responded as patiently and diplomatically as he could. "DaiMon Praz, from our current position Deep Space Five is the closest port. That's where the Helios is headed and frankly it would be irresponsible of me to let you go anywhere else. You wouldn't make it. You'll just have to face whatever headache comes of this." Then to the captain he said, "We can count on you to follow, sir?"

The captain nodded. "We will stay with you all the way. Once we have main power back on line."

Praz slumped his shoulders and leaned against a bulkhead. This was more than just a headache for him. This was a personal disaster.

Aldrex nodded. "Bradshaw, Davis, you're with me. Let's see if we can get main power restored." He headed for the ladder, Davis close behind him.

"Um Captain when we get to DS5 if you should suddenly find yourself and members of your crew unemployed please stop in and see my father I will be giving him a full rundown on what happened and how you handled yourself in this situation. I am sure he will have a job for you that might be much more to your liking. The name you want to look for is Bradshaw tell him James sends his regards and best wishes." Said James calmly as he reached the ladder and started climbing down.

OFF


Cadet Mrin Caraway
Engineering NPC by Louise

Cadet Sharma Welyn MD
NPC by Notty

Cadet James Bradshaw
Helm/Engineering
NPC by David

Cadet Tralian Isen
Command Trainee
NPC Bert

Lt. Commander Cade Aldrex
XO

Cadet Davis
Security Trainee
NPC Jools

Lt Cmdr Amia Soren-Telamon
CMO

 

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