Star Trek: Oblivion

44 || Sacrifice

Another tremor tore through the walls of the ship. Sparks fell like rain from the crushed power cells on the roof. The rest of the ship's crew were fleeing around them their screams echoing off the dark walls. Scotty grabbed Chekov's shoulder.

"We cannae stay here a second longer!" He shouted over the noise. "We need to get off the ship!"

Chekov pulled away and turned back to the console. He worked frantically, his hands nearly flying over the control panels as he adjusted the settings. The device was still connected to the ship's computers, but the code kept switching it's sequence to different processors before it could be fully targeted and deleted, thereby shutting off the device.

"We can't leave yet! We must stop the sequence from replicating in other systems!" He told the chief engineer. "If there is even a minimal chance the code for the device survives it will continue to power the device and the entire star system will be destroyed! Billions could die!"

Scotty grabbed the young man's arms and tried to yank him away from the console. Chekov fought back, pushing the him away with unexpected force. Scotty stumbled back a few steps, looking at the young navigator.

"I have to do this!" Chekov told him, holding out his hand as a warning.

"Have you lost your mind?" Scotty shouted. "You can't stay here!"He shouted as as the walls around them gave another powerful tremor. The ship was quickly crumbling to pieces around them.

Chekov paused for a moment, his shoulders heaving with each breath. Scotty  could see it in his eyes. The kid knew exactly what was going to happen if he stayed.

"I have to." Chekov repeated in a much quieter voice.

He turned back to the control console. There was no amount of doubt in his voice. His shoulders were held back in determination, his eyes fixed solely on the task at hand. The kid knew his fate and was ready to accept it.

Scotty wasn't. "Not if I have something to say about it!" Scotty started forward, all but ready to toss him over his shoulder and haul him out of there.

"This is more important!" Chekov tried to tell him.

"Nothing is more important! We're talking about your life!" Scotty yelled, rushing at Chekov just as a cloud of dark purple surrounded him and he vanished.

Chekov completed the transportation sequence, the coordinates set to teleport the chief engineer into one of the launched escape pods. He couldn't be sure of anything with the ship's systems quickly failing, but he hoped it worked.

The young navigator suddenly found himself very much alone in the collapsing ship. His heart pounded in his chest. He was scared. No, terrified. But his job was far from over. He closed his eyes tightly, searching for something, anything to hold onto. There was nothing but the heavy weight of responsibility.

Taking a deep breath, Chekov continued to target the replicating activation sequence, implanting one of his own to drain the device's power. The metal floors shivered and buckled with each tremor of explosions. He was barely able to stay standing as the ship itself began to warp beneath him. He held tightly to the console to steady himself.

One of the display screens was cracking and sparks flew from several of the controls. The air pressure was dropping as the hull began to fracture under the strain.

Chekov finished deactivating the sequences, the device now set to release the energy at a specific time sequence, giving the Enterprise enough time to go to warp. He stepped away, wiping sweat from his brow and admiring his handiwork. He hadn't thought he would actually be able to pull it off.