Captain's Log: Stardate 52096.5?
The Toronto has arrived at Starbase 343 and we currently in the middle of crew transfers. With our arrival back in our time, I have to do one last duty. Since the death of Admiral Harkness, I have taken command of the Toronto, and I need to appoint an Executive Officer. This should be easy, because Colonel Dubins is an excellent officer, but I'm not sure if he'll leave the Marines. I'm having a meeting with in him in less than 15 minutes to discuss his options.
Once we have completed repairs, the Toronto is to join Convoy 147-Baker, which is holding position 5.4 Light Years from the Starbase in the McKight Nebula. This should be an easy mission. End log.
Larson hit a button on her LCARS display to end the recording. She leaned back in her chair and enjoyed the silence. She stood, picked up a PADD from her desk and walked over to the couch. "Computer: Play some Our Lady Peace, volume at 55%." The computer acknowledged and began to play the music. She leaned back in the chair a looked over the PADD, which had Lieutenant Colonel Dubins service record.
Awarded Starfleet Medal of Valor 3 times.
Awarded Purple Heart 4 times
Awarded Flying Cross 1 time
"My God," Larson whispered. "This man is a bloody hero. He should be in command of the Toronto". She was shocked that an officer of this caliber wasn't a full Colonel by now. She continued to scroll down the page. "Holy shit," she muttered when she finished the text. She placed the PADD down, as the door chime sounded.
"Come," she ordered.
Lieutenant Colonel Dubins walked in; he wore the standard Marine uniform. Green Camouflage shirt and pants, black boots, and on his belt a phaser and an old style firearm.
"Captain, what can I do for you?" He stood at attention in front of her.
"At ease, Matt." She tried to get him to look more human. "Now, that I'm the Commanding Officer of the Toronto, I am going to need a new XO, and I'd like that person to be you." She said without emotion. A small smile went across Dubins face.
"If you accept, you'll be given the Rank of Commander in Starfleet, and you'd get my old office. It's not much, but I liked it." She said with a smile.
"Sir, I'd be honored to take the position, but, I only have one concern. Who will the Commanding Officer of the marines?"
"That's up to you, Colonel. Give me your recommendation, and he'll be promoted."
Dubins smiled again, "Sir, I will take the position, and I've to person for the job as Marine CO. Major Frank Hummel."
Larson looked at Dubins, the name sounded familiar to her, but she couldn't place a face. "Who?" She asked.
"He was transferred to the Toronto a few months ago, he led the Marines down on the planet we invaded."
"Oh," Larson remember him now, he was a hard ass. "Well, if he's your pick, I'll give him a few weeks to settle in, and if I don't like him, I'll pick someone else, deal?"
"Deal, sir." Dubins was still smiling; this was the first time Larson had seen him so happy.
"Well, Commander. I suggest you get into uniform."
"Aye, Captain."
He saluted and left the room. Larson smiled to her self.
ACT I
Captain Larson walked on to the bridge; sitting in the center seat was her helm officer, lieutenant Jenkins. "Captain on deck," she yelled as noticed the presence of her Commanding Officer. Larson gave a half smile and looked around at his, now her bridge; she had to correct her self. "At ease, lieutenant. I'll be in the Ready Room." She said as she headed towards the hall. Jenkins looked back as she entered, she knew that Melissa was still having a tough time with the death of Admiral Harkness. Kristina even admitted that the death of him had hurt her. If it weren't for the Admiral, Kristina wouldn't be one of the most important officers on the Toronto.
"Sir," her thought was interrupted by the ensign at ops. "Yes," she replied as she turned the chair to face him.
"An advisory from Starfleet Intel has come in. It's nothing that important, just reminding us that we are at war." Jenkins smiled at this.
"Oh, with all the battles we've had, I thought we were at peace. No need to disturb the captain." She said with a smile and turned her attention back to the left-hand LCARS display.
"That's a good joke, Lieutenant." Commander Dubins noted from the back of the bridge, by the turbo lift.
"Thanks, Commander." She said, standing.
"Oh, no need, I'm not on duty. I'm just going in to talk with the Captain." Jenkins smiled and sat back down, Dubins walked down the hall, and pressed the little button and walked in.
Jenkins was starting to get bored; she hated sitting in the big chair while they were at Starbase. She hit her COMM badge.
"Jenkins to Lefler," She said to the air.
"Go ahead, Lieutenant."
"Are we still on for the movie at 20:00?"
"You bet, your going to watch it. I even got real pop corn. Lefler out, CYA Kris."
Jenkins smiled.
"What movie?" Came the booming voice of the new Executive Officer of the Toronto. Jenkins spun in the seat, "I believe it is called 'Inherit the Wind'. Commander Lefler says it's a classic." Dubins smiled. "Never heard of it, well, enjoy."
Jenkins turned her attention back to the bridge. "Lieutenant Jenkins, report to my ready room," Jenkins smiled and got up. "You have the bridge, Ops." She headed down the hall to the ready room. When she reached the door, she pressed the buzzer. The doors slid open and she walked in.
* * *
Kristina Jenkins took her a seat opposite of Melissa, as she had requested.
"Lieutenant Jenkins, commander Dubins has convinced me to take some leave, with him. So for the next two or so weeks, we will both be on Earth. And this leaves me in an odd position. With Both the Colonel?err, I mean Commander and I on Earth, and since Commander March is also on leave, that means you are the highest ranking bridge officer on the ship. I really don't want this ship in the hands of the marines for two weeks." She smiled, "if I did that, they'd have everyone pissing napalm." They both laughed. "I know you're a young a officer, and I wanted to ask you first. Do you think your ready to take Command of the Toronto for the Convoy mission?"
This was the opportunity that Kristina was looking for. Ever since the mission where she led a flight of marine fighters, she'd wanted to be in command again. "Sir, I'd be honored to take command."
"Well, then that settles it. As of 1300 hours, you are in Command of the Toronto. Larson looked at the little clock on her desk, which her father had given her the last time they were together. "If this old clock is right, it will be 1300 in 10 seconds." A smile of anticipation grew on the young officer's face as she watched the second hand move closer to the top of the clock. In her head she counted down. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
"Computer: Voice recognition."
The computer responded in its usual cold female voice. "Captain Melissa Larson."
"Computer: Transfer Command Codes to Lieutenant Jenkins. Authorization Larson-Echo-Echo-Bravo-Mango-8-2-2-8-pi"
"Acknowledged. The USS Toronto is now under the Command of Lieutenant Jenkins."
Larson smiled at the young officer. "Well, Captain. Good luck on your mission. I hereby request permission to depart."
"I relieve you, Captain. Request Denied," Jenkins smiled. "Sorry, I've always wanted to say that. Request Approved. Have a good one, Melissa."
"Thanks, Kris."
They got up and left the room.
* * *
Melissa Larson walked into the bar on the Starbase. She looked around, and wasn't all that impressed. She preferred, 'Sky Dome', on the Toronto. But she agreed with her self that this watering hole would be enough for her to get drunk in. She walked up to the bar and sat at on a stool. The barkeep walked towards her. He has a big man, well over 6 feet tall, and at least 260 pounds. "What can I get you, mate?" He asked, in his Australian accent.
"Whisky," she said looking around the bar.
"Coming right up." He said as he went back to a Replicator.
"Hold on, I want a WHISKY, not some of that Shiite fake stuff."
"Okay," he smiled and walked over to the other end of the bar and took out a bottle.
"Thanks," she said as handed her a shot glass full of the liquid. Melissa grabbed the glass and quickly swallowed the drink and slammed the glass on the bar. The Australian quickly re-filled, and she drank it again.
"Should I leave the bottle?" He said looking at her.
"Ya, could you?"
"Sure, but?" a barfly cut him off.
"Yo, Alan, the big ass ship is leaving, and it's going to fly right past your fucking window!"
"Your shitting me," he turned his attention towards to barfly.
"You better hurry, it's coming past in less than a minute." The drunk ran back to the window, tripping over a chair.
Alan smiled and turned back to Larson, who looked like a Civilian. "Well, you gotta see this ship. ITS HUGE, I heard it was around 2 kilometers long. I think it's called the Toronto, but I'm not sure."
Larson who was already feeling affects of the whisky smiled and walked over to the window to watch.
She still had the bottle in her hand and continued to drink. The massive ship flew past the window; every one in the bar was amazed by the sheer size of her. Melissa looked around and yelled, "Good luck Kristina, go kick the shit out of the Dominion!"
Alan walked beside her, "you know someone on that ship?"
"Yeah, of course I do. That's my ship."
"Oh," Alan didn't believe her, "really, you're a Star Fleet officer? And am I to believe that your rank would be in fact what? Lieutenant, or maybe even Lieutenant Commander? Or are you a full Commander and the Executive Officer?" He'd seen many drunks in his lifetime as a bartender. He'd always loved making fun of them.
"Well, in fact, till around 2 weeks ago, I was the executive officer. " She said as she took another gulp of the whisky. "But Admiral Harkness died and took command. So, that's my ship. You're looking at Captain Melissa Larson." She stumbled over to a seat.
Alan decided to probe deeper. "Oh really. Captain, do you have an proof of your command?"
"Yeah, I assume this bar is on the same network as the computers on the Starbase?"
"Yes."
"Computer: Who am I."
"Please restate the question" the computer responded.
"Computer: Voice recognition."
"Voice recognized. Captain Melissa Larson. Commanding Officer, USS TORONTO."
Alan's jaw nearly hit the table.
"Holy shit! I'm so sorry Captain. Allow me, this bottle is on the house.
"Thank you," she took another drink.
* * *
Commander Dubins walked along the hall of the Starbase; he came across a bar and walked through the doors. To his dismay, he saw Captain Larson drunk. He stopped at the door; after all, you don't get to see your captain drunk all the time. He chuckled to him self, till he saw a very drunken barfly come up to her. "Hi Captain, have I ever told you about my fantasy?"
"No," she responded.
"Well, it involves a Starfleet captain," he placed his hand on her thigh.
"Oh, I like that."
Dubins over heard and decided to put an end to this.
He walked over, still in uniform. A Phaser on his belt and the old gun; he took the gun out of it's holster and walked up beside his captain.
"Excuse me," he said to the man.
"Go away, Starfleet."
"I don't think so, cause see this?" He pointed to the gun; "this is my gun, in case you don't know. It shoots projectiles and not phased energy like my phaser. And I don't have a choice of stun or kill.
"So?" He was too drunk to get the point.
"Well, this is my good friend, and well, to be frank, she is piss drunk, and I don't think she would go for a guy like you if she were sober. I'll give you 3 choices. Choice 1, you leave, 2, I shoot your man hood, and the last choice I kick the living shit out of you, and you can explain to security why your blood will be all over this room."
"Well, jack ass. She seems to like it now. So go jerk off with your gun or something."
Dubins rolled his eyes. "Ok, I should warn you I am a Marine."
He grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled him away from the table. He dropped him on the ground and kicked him in his side. He gasped for breath as Dubins picked him up by his hair. Even though the barfly was in a lot of pain, he tried to fight back. He went to punch Matt, but he ducked out of the way and gave him a chop to his armpit. The barfly screamed in pain. Dubins pushed him away and gave him a hard kick to the stomach; the man flew across the room and landed on a table, shattering the glass and the lights underneath it. Dubins walked back to the captain. "You okay, Melissa?" He said helping her up.
"Yes, Matthew." She fell into his arms.
"We better get to your quarters."
"And who is going to pay for this?" Alan yelled from the window. "Let's see," Dubins smiled. "Make that bastard pay." Dubins led his captain out the door.
ACT II
The bridge of the freighter rocked as its shields were hit with another Poloron burst from the Dominion fighter. The Captain sat in the center seat of the old vessel. The freighter Lewis was like his one true love. "Bring us around, heading 233 mark 121, full impulse. Lock phasers and photon torpedoes on the ship that is chasing us. Ask the Toronto to get her ass over here NOW!" The Captain yelled; he was a man of 50 years of working in space. This was his ship, and his crew. His first officer worked hard to get a decent lock on the ship that was trying to kill them. "Target locked!" he yelled.
"FIRE!" The captain ordered.
The small freighter rolled to port and let a volley of 4 photon torpedoes fly, as she fired the torpedoes her two phaser banks opened up on the Dominion vessel. As the 6 weapons hit the shields of the Dominion fighter, she slowed down and finally came to a stop. Even though she was crippled she was not dead, from her main torpedo bay, a volley of 5 torpedoes rushed towards the freighter. They hit the shields, crippling the small vessel. The shields bucked and collapsed as one of the torpedoes struck the hull, ripping a gaping hole in it. But the Dominion vessel's victory was short lived. As soon as the freighter began to list to port, the USS TORONTO opened fire. In less than 5 seconds, 10 quantum torpedoes hit their shields and its hull. All the remained of the vessel was a little debris field.
* * *
Larson smiled from the Command chair as she looked at what as left the Dominion vessel. "Report," she ordered.
"Shields at 71%," "Sickbay reports 53 injuries, 5 deaths." Shit. She thought. "Engineering reports that the warp core is operating at 86%, no major damage to the ship. Only a few EPS conduits blown out." "Marine fighters have checked in. Only missing 4 ships."
Captain Larson looked around at the bridge; she now knew why captains loved command so much. "What about the Convoy?"
The Ops officer looked at the reading on his display. "Sir, the freighters and Lewis have lost main power, and she had to eject her core. I'm not reading any life signs. The rest of merchant fleet reports only minor damage. But the USS Terra Nova, Akira, and Malienche have been seriously damaged. They are requesting permission to leave the convoy and head for Starbase."
Larson stopped smiling. If those ships left, there would only be 2 other Federation Warships to protect the fleet, a tempting target for the Dominion. "What ship is in the best shape?"
"The USS Akira, she only has minor structural damage. Her weapon systems are at 53% and her shields are at about 35%. She has Warp and Impulse, but her core took a bit of damage. It will take them a while to get to full strength."
"Okay, tell the Malienche and Terra Nova that they can leave, but tell the Akira to dock at bay 3."
"Aye, sir."
"Stand down, from Red Alert. Inform to convoy that we are ready to get underway. Helm: plot a course to Ordello system. Warp factor 5.6"
"Course plotting," an eager young ensign replied.
"Engage."
* * *
"Captain, captain." The young second officer shook violently at his commanding officer's arm. "Shit," he muttered under his breath as he pulled away from the corpse. Michael Jonan looked around the bridge of his ship.
"Michael, what are we going to do?" A single voice cried out in panic.
"Well, what do we have and what don't we have?" He asked in a cool, calm, collected voice. On the exterior, he looked like he was in control, but on the inside, he was starting to panic.
"We have lost main power, engineering had to eject the warp core. Life support is running at 25%, the computer is down. We have power to the turbolifts. Internal communication is down, and only have internal sensors. Other than that, we're fucked."
Jonan looked around to see who was alive and who wasn't. The helm officer, Jonathon Davis - also his best friend - was standing looking over a computer readout. The first officer's body was scattered around the bridge, same with the engineering officer. Then there was T'Pel, the Vulcan science officer. Then there was Stephanie Herman, a nurse on the bridge and Michelle Topp an engineering officer who was on the bridge to repair an EPS conduit.
"Who else is alive on the ship?" Asked the new commanding officer of the Freighter Lewis.
The helm officer replied. "I'm reading faint life signs around the ship. In total, there are 15 survivors."
"T'Pel, are the life pods still working?"
"No, Captain."
"Oh, shit, this is just great."
"Sir, but there is a shuttle in the aft bay. It can hold 10 people."
"Oh. Do we have internal communication?"
"No,"
Jonan walked around the bridge. He had a tough decision to make. "Let's head down to the shuttle bay. If we can, we should try to contact the other people."
"But, Michael, there are 15 people on the ship, and that shuttle can hold 10, 11 at most."
"Let's head down, we'll deal with that wall, when we get to it."
The bridge crew all headed for the door off the bridge behind their new captain. They all wished to get off this ship alive. But Jonan had a feeling that some of them wouldn't.
* * *
Melissa Larson rolled over and looked at the ceiling. She rubbed her eyes, as the hang over took over. "Oh, Christ," she moaned. Larson slowly pulled her body up, and she took a look around the room. "Oh, fuck." She said as she looked at the unfamiliar room. Even with the hang over, she turned her head to look around the room. No one asleep beside me, that's a plus. She then smelled bacon cooking in the kitchen. "Oh, fuck," she said aloud again. Her mind was quickly put to ease when she looked down, and saw that she was fully clothed. "Well, there are a lot of advancements in the 24th century, but you still need to be naked for sex." She joked to her self. The very hung over Captain stood up, and tried to walk to the door. As soon as she got up, the room started to spin. "God damn," she said to her self as she caught on to the wall for support. Larson used the wall to help her to the door, and walked out into the living room of the apartment. She couldn't take it anymore, and collapsed on the floor. Ouch she thought as her body hit the hard floor. Just then, Commander Dubins walked out of the kitchen. "Captain!" he exclaimed as he saw her sprawled on the floor. "Are you okay?"
"How do I look, Matt?" She snapped back.
"C'mon, let me get you up." He walked over, put his hands into hers, and pulled up. "Thanks," she moaned as she rubbed her uniform.
"Here, let me get you to the couch," he took her hand and guided her to the couch. Which had a pillow at the end and a ruffled blanket on it. "Let me get you some coffee, Melissa. Would you like any breakfast? I got bacon, eggs and sausage cooking."
"Bacon? I thought you were Jewish, Matt."
"I am," he answered from the kitchen, "and I believe you are as well, but I'm not kosher. Are you?"
"No, I haven't even been to synagogue since my nephews barmitizva, and that was 8 years ago. I don't remember much Hebrew except for schmuck, shifzta, shmultz." Dubins started to laugh. "I don't even remember that much. Except there are many goys on the Toronto, eh."
"Yeah, I suppose so." They shared a laugh, but unfortunately, it didn't agree with Larson. "Oh, shit," she said as she began to vomit.
"You gotta love hangovers," Dubins said to him self as he turned the eggs over. "Mike isn't going to like this."
Act III
Captain Jonan guided his crew - what was left of it, at least - towards the shuttle bay of the crippled ship. Along the passageways, bodies of their crewmates were scattered. It was not a very pleasant sight. "How far away, are we?" Asked Topp. "Not too far, we're on deck 4 right now, the shuttle bay is on 6. Turbolift 4 is right around this corner. And hopefully, it will take us all the this time." Davis tried to joke. The group turned the corner and saw a crewmember, badly injured sitting against the wall. "Lieutenant Jonan," he said with a lot of pain. "It's okay, crewmen, we'll get you to some help. Steph," he called back to the nurse. She walked to his limp body and felt it around. "I can feel 5 broken ribs, both legs are broken." "Oh Christ," the young man yelled, "I can't see anything." He screamed. "It's okay, Crewmen, you're going to be fine." Jonan tried to comfort him. "Lieutenant, can you hold me hand." He pleaded. "I am," Just then the crewmen's body tensed up. "Momma, is that you?" He called out; finally his body gave way. His eyes went wide with terror and finally just closed. His head fell to the right.
"He's gone, sir." Stephanie Herman reported.
Deep inside his gut, Jonan had a feeling that he wasn't the last member of this crew to die today.
"Let's get to the shuttle bay." He said standing up. "I assume we all want to leave this ship?"
The crewmember's filed past the body, all looking down. Michelle wiped away a tear as she headed for the Turbolift.
* * *
"RED ALERT!" Captain Jenkins yelled at the top of her lungs as she looked at the view screen. "I'm reading 5 Jem'Hadar Fighters, 2 Cardassian Glore Class 6 Destroyers." Lieutenant Pressman called from Ops.
"Sergeant, lock phasers and quantum torpedoes on the lead ship. Helm, keep us with the convoy."
Jenkins moved her hand to the right hand console. "Toronto to fleet. Defensive pattern Echo. USS Quest and USS Arrow you are free to attack what you want. Other Federation Warships, only attack ships that come within 4500 kilometers of your section. Jenkins out."
"Here they come," Pressman yelled. The deck shook as the shields of the massive warship were hit with Poloron beams. "Return fire, weps."
The small Jem'Hadar craft dodged under the massive battleship Toronto in an attempt to elude weapons fire. But she wasn't fast enough, three phaser beams hit the ship directly on its aft quarter, two quantum torpedoes stuck its port nacelle brace. Ripping it from the ship. The ship listed to port as warp plasma leaked from its wounded nacelle. The ship was dead in space, and the Toronto knew it. Three more quantum torpedoes were fired and they stuck the crippled enemy. That was all she could take. The third torpedo hit the warp core of the tiny Jem'Hadar fighter and she went up in a bright flash. All that remained was a debris field.
The USS Akira dodged a Poloron beam from a Jem'Hadar fighter, the big Akira class vessel moved towards the fighter. She fired a volley of phasers, which just bounced off the shields of the small ship. She then fired 7 quantum torpedoes from her rapid-fire torpedo launched. The small Jem'Hadar ship could not withstand such an onslaught. Its shields gave way after the third torpedo hit, and the rest stuck the hull, ripping a gaping hole into the side. The ship was torn apart by the quantum torpedoes. It turned into 8 big pieces of debris, all floating within 100 KM of each other, till the warp core imploded. Then all that remained was another debris field.
The deck rocked again as the Jem'Hadar continued their attack. The view screen showed 2 Jem'Hadar fighters and a Cardassian destroyer strafing the USS Akira, "She can't take much more of that," Jenkins said under her breath. She looked quickly over at Pressman at Ops. "How far away are we?"
"Close enough to attack, but too far away to help out and still protect the convoy." He responded with a concerned voice.
Jenkins turned towards the new Marine Commanding Officer. "Major Hummel. Deploy the fighters." She ordered.
"Aye, aye captain."
From the forward Hanger of the Toronto, an attack wing of Halifax class fighters flew out in perfect formation. Less than a second after the first four left the shelter of the hanger and the next four. The whole deployment took less than 20 seconds for 50 fighters. The fighters flew in a perfect wedge formation, at its widest, 1000 meters across. They flew towards the medium sized warship. The Jem'Hadar and Cardassians were having a field day with the Akira, and did not notice the flight of fighters coming in towards them. Once they entered firing rage, every single fighter fired a volley of Photon Torpedoes. 200 torpedoes flew towards their targets. All of them hit, one Jem'Hadar ship exploded, the rest just shuddered the turned their attention towards the small fighters. The fighters broke up into 3 groups. Each group was assigned a target, and they flew in towards them. Firing their pulse phaser cannons. The Dominion ships were out numbered and out gunned but that did not stop them. They were even fiercer. Firing volley after volley of torpedoes. Destroying 14 fighters, but the onslaught did not desist, they just kept on coming into the thick of the fire, finally, all groups had crippled their ships, and pulled back, and let the USS Akira them off. A wide spread of quantum torpedoes made short work of the Dominion Warships. The convoy had survived yet another attack from the Dominion, and had only lost 7 freighters out of 250. Lieutenant Jenkins was proud of her first mission, and it was almost over. Less than a day left till they reached Ordello sector and the cover from the Eighth fleet. Then 3 days at most till they reach the Hubble System.
* * *
"Feeling any better?" Mathew asked in a concerned tone.
"A lot better, thanks." Larson replied with a smile as she walked out of the bedroom. "What time is it?" she asked looking around the skuzzy apartment. "It is 15:23." "Three-Thirty?!" She yelled. "How long was I asleep?"
"A couple hours, sir."
"Jesus, my flight leaves in an hour. FUCK!" She ran back into the bedroom, and ran out. "Matt, where is my stuff?" "What stuff?" "Oh, I left it the hotel room, crap." She ran out the door. Dubins right after her.
* * *
Melissa ran into the hotel room, grabbed her bag and ran back out the door. As she ran she took out her ticket. Gate 23-A she said to her self. She ran around the halls like a crazy person, looking for the turbo lift. She finally stopped to catch her breath. Commander Dubins caught up to her, finally. "Computer: What time is it?"
"14:03," the cold female voice responded.
"Christ. Computer: Emergency Beaming Procedure. Two to beam to Gate 23-A. Authorization: Larson - Pi - Pi - Echo - Gamma" The two dematerialized in a blue energy field.
Captain Larson and Commander Dubins re-materialized outside the airlock for the ship bound to Earth.
"Last call for shuttle 0-0-4 non-stop to Earth Toronto Station. First Class: Cabins one through twenty-five please come to the airlock." The PA system announced.
"Well, that's us, Matt." She said looking up at him. Matt looked down at her, and smiled. The stared at each other for a couple seconds, then Matt moved in and kissed her. "Last call for First Class: Cabins one-through twenty-five" Melissa pulled back and looked back at Matt, "We can continue this on the shuttle." She walked towards the ticket agent and showed him her pass. "Thank you, Captain Larson, and Commander Dubins." He smiled and showed them into the airlock.
ACT IV
Lieutenant Elizabeth Armstrong got off the Turbo lift and walked towards the tall doors of Sky Dome. The doors parted as she came close to them, and walked through. When she got in she looked around.
"Liz, over here," called Lieutenant Jenkins.
Liz walked over, she was only 5'2 and 105 pounds, her bleached hair made her look a bit older than her 20. This was a first for Liz; she had just been promoted and transferred to the Toronto from the USS Katana. It was quite a change for her from going from a ship of around 150 to a ship of over 5000.
She walked over to the table where Kristina had called her. "Hey, Kirs," She said as she approached the table.
"Hey, Liz. Welcome to the Toronto, take a seat." She motioned to the chair she was standing behind.
"Thanks," Liz said as she took the chair. She looked around the table; sitting with Kristina were two other women, they both looked like they were around thirty, one wore gold and was a Lieutenant Commander, the other wore blue and was also a Lieutenant Commander. The blue commander also had a big engagement ring.
"Lieutenant Elizabeth Armstrong, may I introduce Commanders Robin Lefler, chief engineer, and Doctor Michelle England." Liz looked at them.
"Hello, sirs." She said with a soft smile.
"Don't stand to ceremony. We're all off duty." Robin said smiling at Liz. "Liz and I were at the academy together. We were roommates." Kristina said with a smile.
"Yup, if you guys want any gossip on your beloved Lieutenant Jenkins, just come to me." She joked; the table shared a laugh.
"Be careful Liz, remember, I'm in Command of the Toronto right now." She said with a sly smile.
"Yes sir," Armstrong saluted, jokingly. A waiter walked up to table. "Is they're anything I can get you, sirs?" He looked around the table of female officers.
Jenkins was the first to speak. "I'll have an Long Island Iced tea." He turned to Michelle, "A mud slide." Lefler ordered next. "A gin and tonic." Liz looked at the waiter and ordered her usual, "a rye and coke." The waiter punched everything into the PADD and walked away.
"You still drinking that rye and coke shit?" Jenkins asked, jokingly.
"Yeah, but of course. It's the best drink in the galaxy." She said laughing. "Nah, just give me a good old gin and tonic." Lefler retorted. "No, you gotta try the mud slide, it kicks ass!" She said a little too loudly, even though she had only had a couple drinks before coming to the Sky Dome. The waiter returned with the drinks and placed them on the table.
"To the alcohol, may it keep us away from the hell the Federation calls the war!" Jenkins said lifting her glass into the air. "To the alcohol," the rest of the table responded all drinking their drinks. They all shot them back and slammed them on the table - except for Liz; she noticed what they did and followed with her rye and coke -.
"Guys, if you like doing shots, I gotta a bottle of 15 year Old Irish Whisky in my quarters, shall I go get it sir?" Liz said with a half smile.
"Go, go, go, Lieutenant, if you return with the whisky, you'll be promoted!" Jenkins was drunk, and stood up, when she gave permission.
* * *
The crew of the ill-fated freighter Lewis - what was left of it, that is - emerged in the main shuttle Bay of the small ship. Being led by their young new captain. They walked up to the shuttlecraft and looked in awe of their savor.
"Okay," Jonan was the first to speak, "this shuttlecraft can hold 11 at most, and there are 14 of us. Any suggestions?"
The Vulcan spoke up, "I suggest we decide who is on the shuttle by way of a lottery, it is the most logical way of deciding." She said in her stern voice.
"Agreed." Jonan looked around the bay. All he saw was a bucket and some tools. He walked over to the tool kit and looked inside. All there was, was 13 hyposcanners. He looked around the bay again, and found a med. kit. He walked over and popped it open. Inside were 3 hypo-sprays and some other equipment. He was in luck. The hyposcanners and hypo-sprays had the same ship handle, perfect for a lottery. He made his way back to the tool kit and took out 11 hyposcanners and placed them in the bucket, next he took the hypo-sprays and put them in.
"Okay, people. This is how it's going to work. Who ever gets a hyposcanner," he lifted it in the air, "is the person who is on the shuttle, if you get a hypo-spray, you stay behind. When you reach in, you close your eyes and keep them closed till I tell you to open them, and grab what you touch first. Got it?"
The crew nodded in unison. "Okay, let get started. Jacobs," A young man walked up, he only looked like he was 15. He put his hand in and picked up a hypo-spray, but he didn't know. He walked behind the captain and stood there clutching his ticket to death. "Topp," Michelle walked up, and drew a hyposcanner, and walked off. "Davis," his best friend got to the bucket, "Good luck, bud." Jonan said with in a somber voice. "Same to you, my old friend," he reached in and grabbed a hypo-spray. Jonan could barely contain his sadness. Davis walked to stand beside Michelle, he knew he was dead, since he spent time in medicine and knew what a hypo-spray felt like. "Herman," Stephanie walked up, and placed her hand in the bucket, and took out a hyposcanner, and walked beside Davis. "T'Pel," he called. She came up and picked up a hyposcanner, and walked beside the rest of the crew. "James," a young man walked up, and picked up a hypo-spray. Jonan was about to open his mouth, but the computer cut him off. "Warning there is less than 5 minutes of life support left on this ship. Evacuate now!" The male voice announced.
"The rest of you, dig in and go in line." The rest of the crew came up and grabbed the remaining hyposcanners and went into line. Jonan reached in and grabbed the last one.
"Okay, everyone, open your eyes, now." He said sadly.
Everyone in the room opened their eyes and looked down at what they had picked. Jonan looked at his best friend, who looked back and gave a half smile. "I think you'd better get going, Mike. See you out there," he said trying to repress his sadness. "Everyone on who drew a hyposcanner, get in." Michael ordered.
All of them ran except for James, Davis and Jacobs. Jonan walked up to each of the men. First to James, "I'm sorry, young man. I wish it could have been different." "Thank you sir," he said crying. Jonan moved to Jacobs, "You're a very brave man, and for that I wish you didn't have to show it this way." He shook his hand vigorously, and smiled. Michael turned to his best friend, "Jon, I don't know what to say to you.". Davis looked back, "You don't have to say anything, I've known you since you were 4 years old, and there isn't a day, when I haven't valued our friendship. Good luck, Michael, hopefully you'll get laid soon." He said laughing. "Yeah, thanks man. I'm going to miss you."
"2 minutes till life support is gone," the computer announced to the crew. "You'd better get in there, before you die too."
"Yeah." He shook his friends hand, but that wasn't enough, he grabbed him and gave him a big bear hug. "Cya."
Davis finally threw Jonan off and kicked him in the ass so he would get on the ship. As Jonan ran in, Stephanie Herman ran out. "Jon, I just want to tell you something. I love you." She ran up and kissed him on the lips. "I love you too. NOW GET ON THE SHUTTLE!"
She ran back into the shuttle, as the doors closed. The small craft lifted off the floor and moved out of the bay. Davis turned to the rest of the people in the room. "Well, boys. It's been nice knowing you. We have probably 5 minutes of life left. I'll give you a choice. Would you rather, have those five minutes, or be killed now. I can set that phaser on wide and we'll be dead in less than a second will. I don't care either way."
"The other 2 looked at each other and decided. Lets have the last 5 minutes, sir." They smiled, as tears ran down their face.
"Okay?." The computer cut him off.
"Life support failing. 2 minutes of life left."
Act V
The USS Toronto led the convoy into the solar system, right on time, too. The massive ship entered orbit of the fourth planet.
On the bridge, acting Captain Jenkins leaned back in the command chair. "Well done everyone. Permission to disembark." She ordered the air.
"Sir," Lieutenant Pressman called form Ops, "Admiral Richards and Captain Larson are asking to de-brief you in his office in 10 minutes."
"Thank you, notify them that I'll be there ASAP."
She stood and looked around. "Great job people. Pressman, you have the bridge."
* * *
Kristina Jenkins sat beside Melissa Larson in front of the admiral. "Lieutenant, let me start off by saying, terrific job on this convoy."
"Thank you sir."
"Now, from your report, it says you only lost 9 merchant ships, well done. But it says here, that the Merchant Vessel Lewis was lost with all hands. A shuttle from that vessel docked at Starbase 343 two days ago. Crammed full of people. All with injuries, all of them will make a full recovery."
* * *
Michael Jonan awoke from his sleep to see a beautiful woman standing above him. She was wearing a star fleet uniform.
"Where am I? And who are you?" He asked, in a shaky voice.
"You are at Starbase 343, in Sick Bay. I'm Lieutenant Susan Shapiro. You came in with 10 other people; you were on the Merchant Vessel Lewis. You were having a bad dream, so I woke you, to see if there was anything wrong."
"How many survivors were there from the Lewis?"
"11, why?"
"Damn, it wasn't a dream after all. That nightmare was real."
He rolled over and went back to sleep.
This story (at least the freighter part) is based on the Tragically Hip Song: Nautical Disaster. If you want it, just contact the me at The Promenade. I'll be happy to send you an mp3 version of the song thanks for reading