"Personal log, stardate..."
Shriveb paused and looked around. Trying to find something with the date on it. Soon he spotted the date on his computer screen.
".. 53412. I have been assigned to this ship for about one month and two weeks. After the incident two weeks ago we have had pretty calm days. Now we are on route to a starbase to take supplies to be delivered to a mining colony, we should be arriving in a few hours."
He sighed as he took a brief pause between his sentences, his blue antennae were showing signs of his stress. He scratches his white locks as he thinks of a way to continue.
"I feel an odd unease, perhaps I should request a rest leave from Captain Raymonds... End log."
Shriveb sat back on his chair. He was in the newly issued uniform for the DINGHY. The Uniform was a unique design for this ship, the federation wanted to make it more interesting Shriveb guessed. The Uniform was pretty standard, the classic colors were still in use. The major difference was that the top part of the shirt, going over the shoulders with a jagged form, was black and the remainder of the top was colored. The pants were black as well, with a mandatory belt and classic black shoes. Shriveb actually liked the design, it had the colors more present and made him look redder than the previous uniforms. As his mind was adrift in something as simple as uniforms the comms sounded.
"Bridge to Commander Th'korres. Please report to the bridge"
Shriveb jolted up in his chair and pressed his badge.
"I'll be there"
Shriveb hastily walked out of his quarters and made his way onto the bridge. As he arrived on the wide bridge of the DINGHY he looked to see his friends on their stations. Etsan was stationed behind the Captain's chair on the Monitoring and weapons console looking down at his screen giggling as he went through funny Klingon jokes. Cloud was on a station near the elevator and close to Etsan where he was looking at readings from the sensors. Shriveb looked at his comrades whom he had become close friends with. Etsan was a tall muscular Klingon with short black hair that was parted from the right side some of it getting close to covering his ridges. He had no facial hair which was an odd condition he had. Cloud, on the other hand, was shorter, relative to Etsan and Shriveb himself, standing high and mighty at 176 cm. His dark brown hair swept deeply from left to right going slightly upward in the further end. He had thick-framed glasses, a choice in this time period. Shriveb walked up to the Captain's chair and looked to his side. The Captain, gray hair, and beard was looking straight ahead. His scars, though minor were visible.
"Commander Shriveb we are about to drop out of warp, please take stations"
After giving a 'Yes Sir' Shriveb walked over to one of the stations to monitor whatever he had to monitor. The Captain soon commanded to drop out of warp speed, the scene that followed wasn't pretty. The Starbase was under attack by two small ships. They were firing at the Starbase rapidly.
"All Hands on battle stations, engage red alert!"
The Captain swiftly commanded, the beeping sound of the alarm wailing in the ship. Shriveb looked back at the Captain waiting for his next command.
"Ready photon torpedoes and fire phasers at the Enemy ships"
Etsan took action on his battle station, Shriveb got up and ran to his side to assist him with weapon systems. They fired the phasers at the enemy ships. They turned away from the Starbase and started attacking the DINGHY. The ship took impact from the Phaser fire.
"Photon torpedoes ready Captain." Informed Etsan.
"Fire!" The Captian commanded.
The Torpedoes launched towards the enemy ships missing as the ships took incredibly fast motions.
"Follow those ships!"
The Helmsman hurried to track the enemy ships as they were trying to get away. As this ships got fast the DINGHY started getting closer, they fired Phasers every other minute before suddenly the two ships changed direction. Before the DINGHY could slow down it was hit by something. A Shockwave emitted throughout the ship and made the light go out for a second.
"Status report." Commanded the Captain.
"It Appears we have been led into some sort of Special anomaly" reported Cloud worryingly.
The Captain stood up and walked to the Helm looking enraged.
"Those were Anti Federation Renegades, I recognized those ships" The Captain yelled.
Just as he was looking angry another jolt of Electricity went through the helm and shocked him, knocking him back. He hit his head on the seat of his chair. Cloud ran over to his father and grabbed him up to see his pulse. He was alive but heavily Injured. Cloud pressed his badge.
"Bridge to Sickbay we need an emergency transport for the captain."
Then he gave a look of confidence to Shriveb and was beamed out of the Bridge. Shriveb was now in command of the ship and had a duty to do. He got over to the Captain's chair and slowly sat down. He was extremely worried about not being able to do this right but he tried to calm himself.
"Damage report"
"We have taken heavy damage in decks 3 and 7, The Engines are damaged. We have 10 crewmen with heavy injuries and 9 with minor injuries. And the Shields are at %87"
Shriveb sighed with relief, happy that there were no fatalities.
"Can we get out of here?"
"No Commander, the impulse isn't working either."
Shriveb looked around in worry. He turned to the Navigations officer, their second Klingon officer who was a female interestingly enough and walked over to her. He grabbed the back of her seat and looked up at the screen showing the outside.
"Ensign Yinnis, how far are we into the Anomaly?"
"Sir, we are approximately 1000km into the anomaly."
"Can we be tractor beamed away?"
As she was about to answer Shriveb, Etsan cut into the conversation.
"Commander Shriveb, the energy distortions would make it impossible."
"Really? It's that bad?" Shriveb looked concerned. He hadn't the time to think of how rude of an action it was to not allow ensign Yinnis to respond to him. He let go of the chair and walked over to Etsans station immediately.
"Yes commander, we are barely holding together. The Shield system is the only reason we haven't been crushed by the anomaly." Etsan informed Shriveb. He was keeping his calm much better than Shriveb, whose hands were shaking. Surprising as Etsan was known to be easy to aggression. Well, this was a high-stress situation rather than high aggression situation after all. Soon the comms sounded.
"Commander Th'korres you are requested in sickbay"
"I am on my way," Shriveb responded.
"The Bridge is yours Leuitenant Commander," Shriveb said nodding at Etsan as he walked away to the Elevator.
Shriveb was under heavy stress now, being left to command. He hoped that the captain would recover quickly as the captains often do. Going down the elevator he came out to the sickbay level. The Corridors were crowded with people running around. Shriveb quickly made his way into the Sickbay. Inside were several injured officers who were being treated by the Medical Crew. On the far end of the room stood Cloud and the Chief Medical Officer Mirro over a bench with the captain laying on it. Shriveb quickly ran up to them.
"How is he?" Shriveb asked.
Lieutenant Commander Mirro, placed down her device and turned to Shriveb. She was one of the other usual looking people on the ship, being a Vulcan with light brown hair, that goes down to almost her shoulders. She stepped closer to the captain.
"He will recover, but he will be unconscious for several hours."
In a sudden move, Cloud grabbed Shrivebs shoulders and got Shriveb to look Cloud in the eye.
"Shriveb. You are going to get us out of this mess, ok?"
Shriveb looked into Cloud's eyes, they were filled with fear. They looked as dark as the wast empty space and contracted like a star before it bursts into a supernova. His face was begging Shriveb to make him feel safer.
"We are going to get out of this Cloud. Don't worry."
Shriveb tried to and awkwardly did, pat Cloud's shoulder. The Comfort of Shrivebs hand on His shoulder calmed Cloud to a great degree. Cloud smiled at Shriveb with trusting eyes. Cloud stood at ready.
"What's next Commander?" Cloud asked with a dutiful tone.
"We'll need a way to repair the Impulse engines or stop the interference within the warp core," Shriveb said as he started walking away and out of the Sickbay.
"So we need to go to engineering?" questioned Cloud.
"Yes, there we can see the process and determine how much time we have," Shriveb said as he led Cloud and himself to the Elevator.
"Once I am down there I'll start working on data to see what exactly we are dealing with," Cloud explained himself.
"Obviously. Cloud, get your head out of the clouds." Shriveb said nervously trying to calm himself with a joke.
Cloud patted him on the back with a small laugh. As the two arrived in engineering they were faced with a scene that wasn't the slick and functioning engineering it usually was. The Engineers were running around trying to keep things stable as with cables everywhere. Among the chaos was a short man standing near the warp core both ordering others and trying to fix the core. Cloud looks at the short man with slight disdain. Shriveb doesn't notice Cloud's expression and walks over to the Chief Engineer.
"Chief Mercer, what is going on?" Shriveb asks trying to stay calm.
"Whats going on?" Chief Mercer says as his eye twitches behind his round glasses.
"WHAT ISNT GOING ON?" He yells at Shriveb as he pulls the commander down to his eye level. His eyes filled with the stress of all this work. His black hair all messy, his eyes as wide as they can be. He gritted his teeth at Shriveb before he saw Cloud and suddenly looked less stressed.
"Well look who it is, the big shot chemist slash physicist. I thought I told you to keep yourself out of my engine room Cloud."
"Adam, We don't have time to argue. We have a ship to save." Cloud said trying not to get angry at his old acquaintance.
The two stared into each other's eyes. They didn't hate each other completely but they sure didn't like each other. Shriveb looked at the two in awkward silence.
"Ok. Work? Save the ship? Please don't fight?" Shriveb said with haste.
"We'll work. As long as HE doesn't touch MY warp drive." Adam responded to Shriveb his eyes still fixated on Cloud.
"I'll start working on the scans Commander," Cloud said as he walked away to a computer.
Shriveb looked down at Adam. The Short Engineer gave a smug grin to Shriveb and returned to fixing the Warpcore. Shriveb walked out of engineering and went back to the Elevator going to make his way back to the bridge. Shriveb took a deep breath as he got into the Elevator. He was handling the situation well, but in truth, he was more panicky than ever. He had 200 people on board this ship that he had to save. The toll would be severe if he failed, not only would he let down everyone on the ship but also their families. As He arrived on Bridge he was surprised as Etsan was being very in control of the situation. One would wonder why he wasn't a part of command with his abilities. Shriveb didn't have time for that, he went up to Etsan to take command.
"Lieutenant Commander." He said to indicate he had returned to his post.
"Shriveb," Etsan said as he got off the captain's chair and walked back to his station. Shriveb sat down. That moment felt strange to him, being in the captain's chair and not next to it. He thought that seeing the bridge was easy from here, he wasn't wrong but there was a sense of duty-bound to this chair. When he sat on it he could feel the weight he had been feeling already get heavier. As he was contemplating his role the ship shook, he held onto the sides of the chair to brace himself.
"What was that!" Shriveb yelled in panic.
"It seems to have been an energy wave from the anomaly," Ensign Yinnis told Shriveb.
"Do we have a reading on what this anomaly is?" Shriveb asked trying to sound less panicky.
"It seems to be an unstable energy field, sir" The Ensign once again answered Shriveb.
Shriveb took a second to think his hand on his chin, thinking on what course of action to take. As he did so the comms sounded.
"Commander, I have a report on the anomaly," said Cloud from the comms.
"Let's hear it, Lieutenant," said Shriveb, feeling better with the sudden intervention.
"Yes sir, It appears we are in an energy field in midst of collapse. Our shields systems are preventing complete collapse, but the energies are getting to our engines. We need to find something to protect the Engines without dropping shields." Cloud reported through the comms. Shriveb sat back in the chair.
"How long would that take?" He asked hesitantly.
"Several hours at best, we are working our hardest sir," Cloud responded with worry in his voice also.
"Get to work, you have all the ships resources to use," Shriveb said as he closed the comms. He got up and looked back at Etsan. He was no worry in Etsan's eyes, unlike his which were like a swirling mess of worry and panic. Without a moment of hesitation, Shriveb got off of his chair.
"Lieutenant Commander Drartrongi, come with me to the ready room." He said with a bold yet fake confidence.
Etsan got out of his station with a nod and accompanied Shriveb into the ready room. As they entered and the door closed behind them, Shriveb walked up to the replicator. The Ready room wasn't as tidy as one would assume, books and papers were all over the place. They might be neatly everywhere but they were everywhere.
"One shot of Andorian ale" Shriveb ordered from the Replicator. Sure the replicated stuff isn't as good as the real but Shriveb really needed something to calm his nerves. He immediately took the shot and drank the blue alcohol down.
"Shriveb, you seem stressed. Whats wrong?" Etsan asked in worry, trying to reach to Shrivebs shoulder.
Shriveb suddenly turned around and looked at Etsan with panic. His eyes contracted like Cloud's eyes were. He was breathing heavy as he grabbed Etsan by the arms.
"How are you NOT stressed?" he asked his Chief Security officer with panic oozing from every word he spoke.
"Because we have Cloud working on it," Etsan said with a confident smile. He pulled himself away from the ever so stressed out Shriveb's hold and walked up to the replicator.
"He didn't sound stressed on the comms, probably cause he believes in himself to figure it out," Etsan said as he reached to replicator to put in an order.
"Hot chocolate, in a carriable container," Etsan ordered. The food soon materialized in front of him as the replicators did. He grabbed the container.
"What are you doing Etsan?" Shriveb asked as he was confused about why Etsan had just ordered this.
"Well after this we are going to Engineering, right?"
Shriveb took a second to himself. Etsan was right, Cloud was one of the top scientists in the fleet. He was one of the few that had several admirals who wanted him, backed up by one Admiral since he was a child. Shriveb should trust his crew better sure but the situation is still dire. Maybe after all this, he could get to understand how Etsan stays so calm. After finishing his train of thought Shriveb looked at Etsan with a confident smile.
"After what? We are going now," Shriveb said as he led the way out of the ready room.
The Two officers maid their way down to the 16th deck of the ship where engineering was, at least the warp core was there. They walked in and to Shrivebs surprise the place was somewhat tidier than before. Cloud was sitting on a console trying to do maths and Adam was there next to him both laughing at Cloud's slow mathematical skills and helping him. Shriveb came up to Cloud and looked at the screen.
"So what do we have Cloud?" He asked Cloud.
"Not much, we need something that can act as a non-conductor for the engine to work. We have nothing for that." Cloud responded scratching his head.
"Yeah, He has been cross-referencing every form of liquid he could use. None of them have the right chemical compound for it." Adam added to Cloud.
Shriveb looked at Cloud with distress in his eyes, he felt panic rising once again. Just as he was about to go down in panic Etsan interrupted.
"Hey, I got you some Hot Choco," Etsan said handing the container to Cloud.
"Thanks, Etsan... Wait a minute."
Cloud turned to the computer and started cross-referencing the Energies that were crushing them and their chemical components with the Beverage. After going at a moderately fast pace of calculations he got up with glee.
"Eureka! We did it," Cloud shouted as he went to hug Etsan.
Etsan used his hand to slightly push aside the hugging Cloud. Adam looked at Cloud with utter confusion to what the hell he just did.
"Did you find a liquid that will work?" Shriveb asked the cheerful Cloud.
"Hot Choco! Its got the perfect chemical compound for this!" Cloud said as he grabbed the container of hot choco.
"We just need to deploy it to the outer portions of the engine," He said as he walked over to the warp core.
"OH HELL NO!" Adam rushed over in front of Cloud blocking his path.
"That would be too hot for the engine, plus you are NOT putting hot choco in MY warp core," He said angrily.
"Yeah you are right, I forgot. We'll need cold chocolate milk for that," Cloud said as he sipped the hot choco.
Etsan looked at Shriveb, waiting for his input.
"Etsan, get the Drink. Adam, prepare the core for the new coolant input. Cloud, well done." Shriveb said taking his command very fast.
Etsan signed a 'Yes sir' at Shriveb before rushing out to get the drink they need. Shriveb looked at Cloud with a sense of security. The real thing that brought this together was Adam shouting and ranting in the background. Truly an Engineer who cares about the ship, but won't stop against the chain of command. Shriveb looked on as the crew was getting ready to save the ship. Perhaps they didn't need him. He really had done nothing to actually help them. But what he saw in the eyes of Cloud, Etsan, and even Adam was all he needed to not fall into the trap of his mind. They saw this being done under Shriveb's command. For them, it was his authority that got them this far, his command they got them to work this hard. The Three stood before Shriveb, waiting at ready for his command to pour the chocolate milk.
"Etsan, pour the milk!" he commanded. For such silly collection of words, the feeling was quite epic.
Etsan poured the milk into the coolant system. When he had it done Cloud and Adam went over to the computer to see how the interference was going.
"It's gone! The warp core is now active and available, sir," Cloud reported happily.
Shriveb smiled and waved Etsan to come with him. The Two officers made their way back onto the bridge as they also escorted Cloud to the sickbay. When they arrived on the bridge Shriveb sat down on the captain's chair. Smiling to himself with a sigh of relief.
"Get us out of this mess, warp 1" He commanded.
The ship quickly traveled out of the anomaly and Shriveb commanded a stop. They then made their way back to the Starbase, which was already recovering from its damages. Now the Adventures can continue, safely.