AN1// This thread will be for this and future sidestories set during the Berserker war of the NQS series
Not Quite SHODAN (ST SI) . It take place just after this story:
Duality
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"Think we lost it?" Captain Richards asked as he looked to the side at my avatar. He was in his fifties, slightly greying short hair, his face clean shaven. He wasn't a big man but he had a presence around him.
Frowning I shook my head, "No. I doubt it. It may have lost the trail in the nebula but I'm doing warp four at best."
My own avatar was that of a blonde human woman with long hair pulled back into a braid. It looked like I was in my late teens with medium height and runner's physique.
Shifting a bit nervously I crossed my legs, resting my hand on the Klingon dagger riding on the right hip of my avatar. While functional and razor sharp, it was primary a cultural item. Like a Bajoran earring or a Klingon Baldric. Which is mostly why we were allowed to wear them on duty.
It signified to everyone that I was a Warship. In my case, a Defiant refit.
One that almost failed her primary mission. Keeping my crew safe.
Captain Daniel Richards nodded, "Damage report."
"Heavy damage to cloaking systems, inoperable. Shielding down on port side, port side warp pod is damaged limiting my speed. Weapons fully operational. No hull breeches, but I know my hull is heavily scorched, it feels thin in places where the sensors are destroyed. Until there is time for external inspections we won't know for sure."
"Can it be fixed?"
"Shields? Yeah. Waprdrive? Maybe, difficult to tell. Cloak? No." I admitted and then sighed, crossing my arms, "Sorry, Captain."
He looked at my avatar and shook his head, "It was a D'deridex warbird variant, Bunny. You got the convoy clear and distracted it, drawing it off so the evacuation could finish and you got us out of there. You did good."
Not good enough.
"Bring up the system map." Captain Richards ordered as he got up.
Using the bridges holographic projectors, I brought up a map of the unnamed system we were heading for. Two inner rocky planets, four gas giants, a pair of asteroid belts. No inhabitable planets or moons.
"Get us to the ring of the third planet. The radiation there should hide us from active scans unless they get too close." He said after a moment, pointing at the planet hanging in the air, "Let it pass us by and then we can try to get back to the closest base."
"I don't like the idea of leaving that monster wandering around here. We are only five lightyears from a busy convoy route."
"We don't have the firepower to take it out." He countered, "If you were fully intact, I would consider trying a ambush. Not like things are now. Besides, the convoy will have gotten word out by now."
I couldn't help but nod in agreement as I scanned space all around. Mostly empty, no sign of other ships. Berserker or other.
"I'm going back to engineering. You have the bridge."
"I have the bridge." I answered, reflecting how pointless that distinction was but regulation had not caught up yet with reality. I always had the bridge, I was the U.S.S. Fluffy Bunny after all, not just the second in command.
Lowering my emissions slightly to try to limit my warp trail, not something that was easy with damaged engines, I kept limping in system as I watched my crew work on keeping me together.
Lieutenant Volek was my chief engineer, the vulcan was deep in my port shield generator attempting to get it back online.
My maintenance drone offered him the tool he asked for, "You should go to medical." I told him through it.
"Once the shield is back online." He answered and pulled a damaged power coupling off, "It is not life threatening."
"You have second degree burns on most of your left arm!"
"Painful but not dangerous." He answered with a steady voice, "But what will be dangerous would be to have your port shields still be down if it finds us again."
"So let somebody else work in it."
"I know this system the best."
I just suppressed a sigh and handed him the next tool. I already knew I wouldn't be able to talk him out of it. Stupid stubborn Vulcan.
There was simply no way to talk the tall Vulcan out of it when he got like this. I could however do the second best thing.
"Doc?"
"Give it to me, ship." Veronica Hernandez said without even glancing up at the ceiling like most people as she kept running the bone regenerator across crewman Anderson's left arm, "There." she then added, "That should hold, but keep it in a sling for the next day. Bonded doesn't mean it can stand up to being twisted and under stress." she said before she poked him with the tool, "Break it again and I'll have to put it into a cast instead."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Good. Now, what was it, ship?"
"Lieutenant Volek have second degree plasma burns but is too busy to get to sickbay. Could you..."
The rather petite blonde doctor shook her head, "Not right now, I'm still dealing with broken limbs. If he can keep working, it's not a priority right now." she said and filled a hypospray, "Beam this to him, it will help combat infection and numb the pain and tell him to come in when he is done." and put it down to let me beam it out before she walked over to get to work on mixing cement to get Ensign K'K'Krtrrt's exoskeleton sealed.
"Okay."
"Anyone else too stubborn or busy to get their asses down here?"
"Nothing as serious. A couple of burns and a broken thumb treated by first aid kits." I reported, "All serious cases have already reported in to you."
"Good. Let everyone injured know to stop by when they can so I can check they didn't fuck something up. You would not believe the idiocy I have seen from Starfleet personnel."
AN2// Many thanks to Firethorn for betaing this section.