SEASON 2: EPISODE 02

Q, TIME AND AGAIN: Part Seven

  “Any luck, Lieutenant?”

  “None, sir,” said Letac.  “I can’t get the internal communication systems back online at all.”

  “If this happened like we think it did, how long until one of the cores goes?”

  Letac shrugged.  “I can’t get a clear reading but I wouldn’t give it more then twenty minutes.”

  Masters knew he had to do something now, before it was too late.  “Lieutenant Letac, prepare for emergency saucer separation.”

  “What!” cried Commander Core, voicing the surprise felt by every single person on the bridge.  “With internal communications down we can’t inform anyone.”

  “The Computer should send out the call if we’re lucky.  Plus all consoles will display the order and the countdown.”

  “But with the computer systems so erratic its possible people will never notice,” said Letac.

  “Just do as you are ordered, Lieutenant.”

  The Lieutenant looked mortified at the decision.  As her hand went to her console Masters could see it was physically shaking.  The Lieutenant pulled back her hand, dropped her head and shook it.

  “I…I can’t do it, sir.  I can’t condemn people to die.”

  Masters nodded.  He didn’t look or even feel angry at the lieutenant.  She was young and such a decision was tough.  To force her to do it would just make things worse.

  “Lieutenant Karak, prepare for saucer separation with a ten minute countdown.”

  Karak simply nodded and fulfilled the order.

  “Emergency saucer separation in T minus 10 minutes  and counting.”

  He glanced back at a shaken Letac.  “As a famous Vulcan said, ‘The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few’.”

  “Emergency saucer separation in T minus 10 minutes and counting,” said the Computer.

  “They’re separating the ship!  They’re leaving us behind!” cried Crewman Davis.

  He turned blocking the path of Ensign Muir in the tight confines of the Jefferies tubes.  “We have to get out!”  But it worked both ways with the Ensign blocking Davis from leaving.

  Celcho grabbed Davis and pulled him back around.  “We’re not leaving, Crewman.  There are other people who are going to be left in this section when the ship separates and it’s up to us to make sure they make.  Now let’s keep moving!”

  The Crewman calmed down somewhat and the three man team continued on their journey to get rid of the warp core.

  Celcho just hoped that when they got there that they would be able to do something.

  Throughout most of the ship there was no sign of the countdown, but it still continued unabated.  The crew members that were aware of the countdown hurriedly evacuated the engineering section, while others some aware others not remained behind.  Once the countdown hit zero the sections connecting the saucer to the engineering hull sealed themselves and the numerous locking mechanisms started to disengage and separate the two sections.  This could not be seen since it occurred under the forward part of the dual hull that travelled three-quarters of the way up the saucer section.  The first outward sign of what happened was when the saucer section started to move independently of the rest of the ship.

  On the bridge Masters watched the viewscreen as it displayed the back of the saucer section as it moved away from the rest of the ship.

  “Captain, I’m detecting a significant increase in power fluctuations from the warp cores on the engineering section,” reported Karak.  “The cores are close to total collapse.”

  Masters’ hopes sank.  He had always hoped that Lt. Commander Celcho would have somehow fixed the problem, but now it looked as if it was too late.

  “Increase impulse speed and put as much distance between us and the engineering section.  Can you get a transporter lock on any of the remaining crew?”

  “No,” said Letac.  “The system is still not responding.”

  “In that case, full shields aft.”

  “Did you feel that?” asked Davis.  “The saucer section just separated.”

  “Just keep an eye on that tricorder,” ordered Celcho.  “Ensign, try diverting around subjunction 34.  Did that work?”

  “No, I still can’t get around the safeties.  Who would have thought that the safeties would be trying to kill us!” joked Muir.

  They all laughed nervously.  Celcho started to feel sick in the stomach.  At first he thought it was just nerves getting to him, but then he realised the truth.

  “Davis, I think the radiation level just jumped.”

  Davis checked the tricorder again.  “You’re right.  I think the crack is…wait!  I think…”

  Those were the last words Davis would speak and the last Celcho and Muir would hear.  An invisible wall of radiation hit them, disrupting their bodies at a molecular level.  The walls then melted as the warp core exploded, disintegrating their bodies to atoms.

  The external view of the engineering section was no less spectacular.   The ventral side of the left catamaran hull blew out first as the warp core exploded.  The sides were next followed by the top side.  The explosion continued to expand and enveloped the other parallel hull.  There were secondary explosions the engineering hull ripped itself apart.  An invisible shockwave emanated from the explosion and smashed into the fleeing saucer section, throwing it around like a paper boat on a rough sea.

  On the bridge of the saucer section Captain Masters felt the weight of every one of the deaths in the engineering section.  He dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his eyes.

  “Damage report,” he ordered through his hands.

  “Aft shields are back up and barely holding.  The ventral phaser arrays are cooked.  We have damage to multiple of the aft decks and the shuttlebay is a mess.”

  “Continue on course for the 59th.  See if you can get repairs done to the communication system, otherwise its going to be a very long trip.”

  The sound of alarms caused Masters’ head to jolt upwards.  “What now?” he muttered.

  “Ship decloaking at our aft quarter,” said Karak with no hint of surprise.  “It is a Jem’Hadar strike cruiser.”

  “Her weapons are powering up!” reported Whitechapel.

  The ship rocked from weapons fire.

  “Fire back!” ordered Masters.

  “I can’t get a lock; the ship is hugging the blind spots in our weapons’ coverage.”

  “Reinforce the aft shields.”

  The ship rocked again and sparks showered down from exploding EPS units above the bridge.

  “The Jem’Hadar’s firing pattern indicates that they will strafe their way up to the bridge,” reported Karak.

  There was nothing Masters could do but watch.

  Karak’s prediction has right.  The strike cruiser’s phased polaron beams lanced out and sliced their way from the aft hull up towards the bridge.  The Swiftfire could do nothing to stop the strike cruiser or slow it down.  The strike cruiser finally hit the bridge.  Its weapons penetrated the Swiftfire’s armour covering the bridge and the beam vaporised its way through the entire bridge, killing everyone instantly.

  The once proud Starfleet vessel was a burning hulk.  The strike cruiser continued to pummel the helpless saucer section with its energy weapons without reprieve. The Jem’Hadar finally tired of this and in a final strike they fired a volley of torpedoes.  Then there was nothing but rubble