Savar and Keely materializes on the transporter pad. Savar feels slightly fatigued. He has small scratches and scrapes all over, as does Keely. She is still standing numbly, unbelieving, and not making the obvious connections.Savar and Keely materializes on the transporter pad. Savar feels slightly fatigued. He has small scratches and scrapes all over, as does Keely. She is still standing numbly, unbelieving, and not making the obvious connections.
Savar gently nudges Keely back into reality. “Keely, why don’t you go in the back and get changed and cleaned up? I’m going to set a course for the station.”
Keely numbly steps off the pad and walks into the back room, just sitting down at the conference table. Savar, meanwhile, walks over to the pilot’s chair, programs a course for the station, and gets clearance to leave. After he pilots the runabout out of the system at impulse, he engages the course at Warp 4.
Keely begins changing and cleaning up her minor cuts, then gives herself a hypospray for the nagging pain in her back. After changing into her uniform and braiding her hair, she walks into the pilot area and tells Savar he can go change. He tells her the course and speed are already set and they are underway. She nods back, thinking that was the fastest shower she’s ever taken. But she had to get rid of that Klingon uniform and the blood.
She finishes her hair as Savar leaves, pinning her hair in place with a clip. Savar walks into the back, taking a sonic shower and changing into his uniform.
Keely sits patiently in the pilot area, watching the stars. She has a sudden idea and sends a communication to A’Quira, telling her to watch her back. She made the connection between what she was told and Jepoth.
Savar walks into the main area, and over to the replicator. “Anything?” he asks Keely. “Um, a cappuccino would be nice.” Since we have no blood wine, she adds silently. He nods confirmation, brings her the drink, and orders a bowl of plomeek soup for himself. He sits in his chair and Keely curls up in hers.
“How do you feel? What’s it like now that it’s over?” Savar asks.
Keely turns her head to look at the Counselor. “How do I feel? I don’t know. The minute we stepped foot down there, I numbed myself to all feeling.” She moves her head back to the stars. “It’s easier to kill that way.” She runs her fingers around the lip of her cup.
“It is over now, right?”
Keely shrugs. “I don’t know. There are people who could decide to avenge his death, although I doubt it. Only time will tell.”
“How could they avenge his death? It was his choice to die this time. You didn’t kill him; he killed himself.”
Keely nods, smirking. “Klingons are illogical. It is best if we try not to understand them. They could, just for the sport of it. If I kept Jepoth hunting for eight years, why would they not want to?” She thinks of something. “Were you cut by any of the daggers of the guards or anything?” She turns to look at them.
“No more than you were,” Savar responds.
Keely takes out a hypospray. “I’d better give you this, just in case. They tend to place dangerous drugs on their daggers. Do you mind?”
“No. Thank you.” Keely nods, and injects Savar, then replaces it in the medkit. Savar walks to place his bowl in the recycler as Keely sits back down. Keely sits down, takes s drink, then looks down at her board.
“I’m detecting a distress call. I’m putting it through.” She looks back at Savar, hoping he’ll take the communication. The viewscreen activates, and a very static filled picture comes through. However, they can make out a human in command red with Lieutenant Commander’s pips. The audio is just as bad as the visual.
“This is... anda-class U.S.S. Focus. We have... several small scouts. Need medical assistance.”
“Try to lock onto that signal and clear it up. I’m opening a channel. Also, look for other Starfleet ships in the area.”
“I’m doing it right now. Try it now.” Most of the static disappears. “We’re the only ship close enough to help. The U.S.S. Virtual is two days away.”
Savar nods, then turns to the viewscreen. “U.S.S. Focus, this is the runabout Nexia out of Arcadia Station. Lieutenant Savar speaking. Repeat your situation.”
“Nexia, I am Lieutenant Commander Brent Johnson. We’ve been attacked by several small scout craft, most likely Romulan. They’ve disabled our engines and weapons, and our entire medical staff has been killed.”
Keely raises an eyebrow, wondering how that happened. “Commander Johnson, this runabout only contains Lieutenant Calahan and myself. We are both doctors. What is the situation, and we may be able to help.”
“Lieutenant, right now we’re not detecting the ships. They left at high warp about ten minutes ago. Any aid you can lend is appreciated. We were attacked as we were transporting runabouts to Outpost 475. Please, Savar, we need medical aid.”
Keely looks at Savar, waiting for his response, ready to go prepare medical supplies. “We will be there in five minutes at our highest warp. I hope that will be soon enough.”
“I hope so, too. Focus out.”
As soon as the viewscreen blinks off, Savar turns to Keely. “Set course. Let’s hope their Sickbay is still in working order.”
Keely nods, and the runabout is underway. She stands and begins to prepare medical supplies. Savar sits in his chair, and begins scanning. “I’m not showing any ships in the area, but ion trails and phaser residuals do indicate an intense battle. The Miranda class ship has been structurally altered to accommodate ten runabouts, but I’m only showing nine for some reason.” He punches up the comm again. “Focus, we are now entering range of your ship. Please allow us to dock in your bay.”
Keely comes back with two field medkits. “I’m going straight to Sickbay. You’ll start field triage, in case Sickbay isn’t available.”
The Focus’s extra-large bay doors open and the runabout is guided in by tractor beams. Keely and Savar feel transporter beams, then appear in the Sickbay of the Focus. Lieutenant Commander Johnson is there. “Thank god you’re here,” he exclaims as soon as they’re solid.
Keely raises her eyebrow, then thinks at Savar, ~Then again, maybe not.~
“Have all the wounded been moved to Sickbay?” Savar asks Johnson as Keely looks around.
Johnson nods yes. “The people in this room have had basic medical training. The less severe cases have already been treated, but we have several severe cases. We’re at your assistance.”
“Lieutenant, as the senior medical officer, you’re in charge,” Savar indicates to Keely.
Keely nods and turns to address Johnson. “Take me to the most severe case.” She turns to include Savar. “We’ll work from the bottom up.” Johnson nods agreement and moves over to several biobeds holding patients. They all wear Engineering uniforms and have severe plasma burns as well as internal damage. Keely takes a deep breath, pulling out a tricorder and scanning the first one. She looks around for tools, and picks up an osteogenic regenerator, working on a head wound. “She’ll need surgery, but she’ll live if I can stabilize her. She needs blood.”
As Keely continues work on the skull, Johnson volunteers to get the blood. “What type?”
“B negative,” Keely replies. As Johnson moves out, Savar and a group of the ragtag nurses begin treating the less severe cases, such as broken bones. They are almost run over by Johnson coming back with two units of blood. Keely takes them and sets them aside until the wound is healed. As soon as it is, she sets up the transfusion, and has Johnson watch the monitor. Johnson nods in agreement as Keely moves on and Savar’s group dismisses patients.
Keely scans the next patient, finding a concussion and massive internal bleeding. She sighs and prepares for minor surgery. It her thirty minutes before Keely has finished the surgery. Savar’s group had to deal with massive internal injures and a flailing patient during her surgery. Johnson is kept busy as well. She finally moves to the last one, a minor concussion again. The red hair makes Keely think of her sister, but she banishes that idea away. Leaving it alone worsened her internal damage, but she easily takes care of it.
Keely and Savar stop, finishing up almost at the same time. The only patients still in Sickbay are the ones resting on biobeds. Keely glances at the other two she performed surgery on, then seems satisfied. Johnson begins to thank them as a call from the Bridge is piped down to Sickbay. “Captain to the Bridge.”
The Captain motions for Keely and Savar to follow him as he walks out of the Sickbay. The entire ride through the corridors and up the turbolift is silent. When they arrive at the Bridge, Johnson steps out first, asking for a report. His tactical officer speaks up. “Sir, sensors are picking up three ships on an intercept course. Two match two ships that attacked us before. The third appears to be some sort of personnel carrier crossed with a cargo transport.”
The Engineering officer speaks up. “Sir?” As soon as they are looking at him, he continues. “Sir, we still have no engines. Still a half an hour before impulse is back and fifteen minutes beyond that until warp is active. Shields are at twenty five percent, and we have minimal weapons. One phaser bank and one torpedo launcher.”
Keely notices his grim look, as does Savar. Savar looks around, noticing the fear on the other officer’s faces. Although, officers may be stretching it, he thinks suddenly. Everyone else on this bridge holds a rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade or lower. Johnson is in charge as the Captain, apparently. Odd that a Lieutenant Commander would be a Captain. Johnson moves into action now, sitting in the command chair, ordering the ship to red alert. As alert klaxons go off, Johnson turns to the Arcadia officers.
Before he can speak, Savar hears a voice in his mind. ~Savar, I’m sensing nervousness and annoyance, and anger as well. I believe Johnson may have done something that the crew disapproves of. The emotions are directed at him. Also, it bothers me that there appears to be no senior staff aboard.~
Savar nods and Keely turns to Johnson, wishing she could pry into his mind and read it.
“Lieutenant Savar,” Johnson begins, “as you can see, you are a high ranking officer aboard my ship. In fact, second highest. You are being given a field promotion to Executive Officer.” He turns to look at Keely. “Doctor, I’m unsure what to do with you at the moment, although I would take a seat if I were you.”
“In that case, Commander, I’ll return to Sickbay, being the only trained doctor aboard.” Her voice drips with sarcasm. ~I’m going to look for the senior staff,~ she adds to Savar.
~Do so. That puzzles me as well. And the missing runabout,~ he answers as he moves to take the XO seat next to the Captain. He looks to the Tactical Officer. “What information can you give me for those ships?”
“Sir, if I had to guess, I’d say Klingon.”
“Have you tried hailing the ships?” Savar asks Johnson.
Johnson mumbles something, then hesitantly has a comm channel opened, audio only. The speakers buzz to life. “U.S.S. Focus, stand down. Surrender your ship.”
Keely finally allows the turbolift doors to shut, thinking this is a bad situation. Why not launch the runabouts to fight, she thinks suddenly.
Johnson replies to the comm. “Never. We’ll fight hand to hand if we have to.” He stands and cuts communications himself from the OPS station.
Savar raises an eyebrow.
Keely’s lift drops her off on the Sickbay deck, and she looks up to address the computer. “Computer, locate the Captain or any of the senior staff.”
The computer’s answer worries Keely. “The Captain is not aboard the vessel. The Executive Officer is not aboard the vessel. CONN Officer Lieutenant Commander Brent Johnson has assumed temporary command as the highest ranking officer aboard.”
“What about the Chief Medical Officer? The Chief Engineering Officer? The Chief Science Officer? The Chief Tactical Officer?”
“The four mentioned officers are not aboard the vessel.” Keely’s suspicions run high. This is wrong. There can’t be that many officers missing. And all low-ranking officers aboard the ship. The entire medical staff dead. Aren’t they?
“Computer... oof!” She is cut off as the ship lurches to the side. Weapons fire. Were she on the Bridge, she could see the phaser blasts striking the shields, hear the Tactical Officer report the shields are down to ten percent. “Computer, are there any medical staff aboard and alive?”
“Medical compliment aboard the vessel includes the Chief Medical Officer, the Medical Officer, and two nurses. The two nurses are listed as deceased. The Medical Officer is in a stasis pod in Medical Storage One.”
On the Bridge, the officers are shaken, but still okay. Johnson orders open fire, but nothing makes contact. The attacking scout ships open fire again, dropping the shields to five percent. Keely curses as the ship is shaken again, but manages to make it to Sickbay. She turns to a medic. “I want to move this male engineer to stasis, just to be safe. He needs life support systems.” The medic nods, and they move the crewman into medical storage, where she sees the MO in another stasis pod. When the medic leaves, she goes over to open the pod, but it’s locked by Johnson.
Johnson is giving orders at the moment, and not letting onto what’s really going on. “Lieutenant,” he begins, addressing Savar, “the Klingon bastards are going to try to board us. I want you to lead a contingent of Security officers to take care of any boarding parties. Make sure to shoot to kill. They may try to trick you, so don’t listen to them.” Savar nods, and moves to the turbolift, arriving at the Armory several seconds later. He takes a Type III rifle, and starts conferring with the Security officers.
The ship rocks again as the scout ships attack once more. The shields fall, and Johnson gives the same orders he gave Savar over the ship-wide. Keely hears it, and thinks to seal Sickbay, find Savar, and get them the hell out of here.
Savar’s group moves out. They approach a party of Klingons who tell them to stand down. The Security officers shoot without hesitation, and without orders from Savar. They continue moving on, and Savar follows them, wondering who’s really in charge.
Another party beams into the Bridge. Klingons, and two Starfleet officers. The Bridge crew shoots them all before they have a chance to move.
Keely looks around Sickbay at everyone scrambling. Forget them, she thinks. Just find Savar and get out of here. “Computer, where is Lieutenant Savar?”
“Lieutenant Saver is two sections over.” Keely grabs a weapon and runs.
Indeed, Savar’s group came upon a boarding party of Klingons coming towards Sickbay. The fight is more intense this time, as many of the Security officers fall before the Klingons are subdued. All of a sudden, three Starfleet officers step around the corner, falling the remaining Security officers, then training their weapons on Savar, ordering him to stand down. Savar looks at the collars of the officers and sees pips indicating a Captain and two Commanders. Savar drops his weapon, complying.
Keely runs around the corner, almost hitting Savar. The three officers raise their weapons again, ordering Keely to drop her Type II she found in Sickbay. She looks to Savar for an answer, and he nods for her to drop her weapon.
The Captain steps forward. “Who are you?”
“I am Lieutenant Savar Dickinson, Counselor, Arcadia Station.”
“I am Captain Tim Celica, commanding officer of the vessel you are defending. What are you doing aboard my ship?”
“Sir, we received a distress call from this ship requesting medical aid. The call came from Lieutenant Commander Johnson. Doctor Calahan and I intercepted, offering medical aid.”
“So you’re the ones in my parking spot, eh?” the Captain asks with a grin. “Doctor Calahan, did you say?”
Keely sighs, wondering why she has so many relatives in Starfleet. “Yes, sir. Doctor Keely Calahan.”
“Captain Calahan’s daughter. My goodness, how you’ve grown. I served with your father. My wife and I used to watch you and Haley sometimes. Another story for another time. Lieutenants, I’m afraid you became caught up in a mutiny. Lt. Cmdr. Johnson led it. They allowed me, the XO and CTO here, and the other department heads to escape on a runabout. I’m not sure what he was planning on doing. Our Klingon friends found us, and we moved to retake the vessel.”
~I used to scare him, too. Pulled a knife on his son once.~ Keely smiles as she recalls the memory.
“I’m afraid we still don’t have control of this vessel. Otherwise my CSO and my CEO would have reported to me by now. We need to take the Bridge. I need you two to help me. Apparently, Johnson still thinks you’re fighting for him. Therefore, I need you two to go to the Bridge and reclaim it. Are you up to it?”
Savar agrees, and the three officers move out, heading towards Engineering. Savar and Keely argue for a moment on how to retake the Bridge, and settle on just firing wide angle stun. They move to the turbolift, and ride it to the Bridge. As soon as the doors open, Savar steps out, firing. Everyone except for Johnson fall to the deck, stunned. Johnson stands, pulling his phaser.
Keely moves past Savar, runs, and flips over the railing. Johnson is caught off guard, and Keely kicks the phaser out of his hand. She pauses, and he regains his wits. Savar calls to the Captain, informing them the Bridge is under control.
Meanwhile, Keely continues with Johnson. “You bastard. You staged a mutiny, then brought us into it? What the hell were you thinking?”
Johnson begins to mumble incoherently. “What was that?” Keely asks.
“You bitch! You know nothing about what’s going on here.”
“What did you call me? I don’t think you have room to talk. All I need to know is that you betrayed Starfleet, your crew, and your Captain.”
“The Captain has betrayed Starfleet! You don’t know it because you’re as stupid as a horse!”
“That’s it. I’m tired of this.”
The turbolift opens, depositing the officers as Keely kicks Johnson in the stomach, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back. She stands up, pulling Johnson with her.
“Good work, Lt. Dickinson, Lt. Calahan.”
Keely looks at the Captain at the mention of her name. Johnson thinks she is unaware for a moment and tries to flip her over. She uses her knee to hit him in the side, then throws him into the viewscreen. That son-of-a-bitch just pissed off the wrong redhead, she thinks to herself. She makes a small noise of pain, then falls to the deck as the commanders move over and pick up Johnson. The Captain looks at Keely, and Savar moves to her side, scanning her with his tricorder. Her back is injured.
“She hurt her back on a recent away mission,” Savar explains. “I’m going to take her to Sickbay and treat her.” Keely tried to protest, but the Captain moves to a console, transporting the pair to Sickbay, cutting her off. Savar moves her to a biobed as the recently freed Medical officer comes over.
“She hurt her back,” Savar simply says.
The Medical officer nods, scanning her. “Ripped muscle tissue.” She injects her with a pain killer, noting that she’s breathing easier already. “The wound is not bad.” She runs a regenerator over her shoulder. “I’ve healed most of the damage, but you might want to wear a sling.”
Keely sits up, thanking the doctor. “How bad was it?”
“Did you get in a fight with a Klingon? Looked like a stab wound!” She laughs slightly as she goes to get a sling.
“That reminds me, what are we going to tell the Captain when we get back to the station?”
“About stopping at Qo’nos? I’m not sure yet.”
The conversation stops as the Medical officer returns with a sling. She helps Keely put it on, and they thank her. Savar’s commbadge beeps, requesting the two officer’s presence on the Bridge. They leave, taking the turbolift. When they stop out, they can see the officers have retaken their positions. The Captain motions them into his ready room.
“Lieutenant Savar Dickinson, Lieutenant Junior Grade Keely Calahan. Thank you for your help. I’ve contacted Starfleet and told them of what happened here. You both have been cleared of any involvement because of your actions to help me.” The two officers nod. “I assume you are heading back to Arcadia Station. If I were able, I would take you there myself. As it is, we need to take these runabouts and supplies to Outpost 475. Thank you again. You are free to leave, if there is nothing you would like to discuss.”
“I think we would appreciate heading on. We must return to the station,” Savar answers for the both of them.
“Very well.” The Captain taps his commbadge. “Bridge. Go ahead, Commander.”
Savar and Keely feel the grip of a transporter, then materialize on their runabout. Out of the port screen, they see the U.S.S. Focus bank, then enter warp space.
Savar and Keely settle into their chairs. “Keely, set a course for Arcadia Station. And let us hope the rest of the ride is uneventful.”
Keely nods in agreement, and the runabout gets underway.