When Things Go Elliptical Part III

Posted on Mon Oct 9, 2017 @ 3:06am by Captain Madelina Weisz & Commodore Michael Aravan & Lieutenant Commander Arrda & Lieutenant Commander Alex Rho & Ensign Athyle sh'Paveress & Lieutenant JG Gefel

Mission: Strange Matter
Location: Saucer Section
Timeline: MD 29 || 0930 Hours

Maddy stood on the bridge with her hands clasped behind her back. The separation was now complete, and now it was time to get the civilians the hell out of dodge, which meant orders needed to be handed out. "Lieutenant Rho... you are officially my Acting XO," she said, moving toward the center chair, but opted to remain standing. "Lieutenant Mallory, I want shields up. Helm, get our impulse engines online, and get us the hell out of here. Ensign sh'Paveress... run sensor scans."

Douglas was already moving as she finished giving the order. He did not want to take any chances with both a graviton ellipse and a dark matter asteroid out there. For that reason, mere seconds after she finished giving orders, he called from his Security station, "Shields up and at optimum, Commander." He continued to monitor shield strength, polarity, frequency, etc. even while he listened to what happened around him and for more orders.

Secretly, he was glad to be on the part of the ship that housed the civilians. If things went off the rails, he would be able to ensure his wife's safety. Not that Danielle couldn't take care of herself; she most certainly could! But he felt more at ease knowing that he could be there with and for her if needed rather than being on the other half of the ship wondering if she was all right and praying. Oh, he would still pray, but being closer was somehow... better.

"Understood, Commander," said Alex. He made his way over to where she had been prior to the saucer separation.

Lieutenant Gefel looked over at the Commander from the Engineering station. "Impulse engines are online and ready, Commander," the Bolian said.

The Helmsman, a human female Ensign snapped a crisp "Aye, Commander!" as she entered in a set of coordinates into the helm and began to plot a course away from the graviton ellipse and stardrive section of the ship.

Ensign sh'Paveress did exactly as instructed, running a full sensor sweep of the surrounding area. "Commander!" she called out, turning to look at the red-haired woman. "The course of the ellipse has altered. It's coming straight for us."

"It's doing what?" the XO asked, not wanting to believe what she was hearing. So much for getting the civilians safe. The very thing they were trying to get away from was now following them, but why? "Evasive maneuvers. Set course for Belkan's Drift. If we're lucky, the asteroid field will slow it down."

The Science officer looked up. "Incoming message from the Commodore, Commander," the young Vulcan female said.

"Put it through," the Commander ordered.

"Commander Weisz, the graviton ellipse is changing course for the saucer section. We're working on the dark matter asteroid, but the effects are minimal and they seem to be attracted to the ellipse, too. Evade until we can catch up to you," Michael's face came up on the main viewer.

"We are well aware of our present predicament, Commodore," Maddy stated as they made their way toward Belkan's Drift. "We're going to attempt to slow it down inside the asteroid field."

Douglas set himself and shifted his controls just a hair for more efficient access to certain ones. Going into an asteroid belt was tricky at the best of times, but now they were trying to lose a spatial anomaly in one. Shields were going to be a constant maintenance concern, and he might have to utilize the weapons to help them get through the field -- he did not doubt the capabilities of the helm officer, but asteroid belts were always a bit touch-and-go.

The helmsman began to guide the saucer section towards the massive asteroid field at impulse and focused entirely on the sensors, her finger making minute adjustments almost as fast as the computer could make course suggestions. "Entering the asteroid field in thirty seconds, Commander."

Not fast enough as far as Maddy was concerned. "Ensign sh'Paveress... how long until the ellipse reaches us?"

The shen checked her readouts before answering. "Three hundred thousand kilometers and closing," she reported. "Just a couple of minutes, ma'am."

Maddy finally sat down in the center chair and pinched the bridge of her nose. Why the hell did the ellipse change course to come after them? What did the saucer section have that the other section didn't? The virus, and the... she went pale. "Continue on our present course, and see to it that we stay in one piece. Lieutenant Mallory prepare to fire on any asteroid that looks like it's getting too close," the redhead ordered. "Ensign sh'Paveress... prepare to beam the probe directly into space on my order."

Douglas acknowledged the command, fingers sliding over his holographic display. "Weapons ready." he told the commander. He did wonder what she considered 'too close' but decided to use his best judgment. If she did not like what he was doing, she would tell him, he was sure. So he watched the readings on the asteroids around them as they went.

"Aye, aye," said the Andorian shen, quickly manipulating the controls. Normally, she wouldn't have the authorization to override secure areas, but the bridge station allowed her to do so much more. "Lock established," she reported. "Cargo transporter standing by."

The Ensign at the helm turned the saucer section on its side as it slid between two massive asteroids and entered the field proper. Now she relied on the computer heavily for course adjustments. "Have onto your inertial dampeners everyone. We're about to go on Mister Toad's Wild Ride!"

Ensign sh'Paveress looked up at the helmsman and blinked. They were about to enter an asteroid field, not a wild ride. She rolled her eyes and sighed. Humans and their euphemisms...

Maddy gripped the arms of her chair and gritted her teeth. "Ensign sh'Paveress... beam the probe into space," she said, hoping like hell that was what the damn thing wanted in the first place.

"Energizing!" Athyle called back, beaming the probe as far as she could off of the port bow. If they were right, there'd be a noticeable change of direction.

"The ellipse has changed path and is heading for the probe, Commander," the helm responded as she worked on navigating her way through the asteroid field.

One crisis averted, but now there was the asteroid field to deal with. "Get us out of here," Maddy ordered. "Lieutenant Mallory, a little help, please."

Douglas frowned, fingers flying over the holographic display. As the Triumphant's saucer section turned to retreat from the asteroid field, he noted one asteroid getting a bit too cozy with the edge of the saucer. A quick phaser burst discouraged it... into several smaller fragments which scattered. The turn completed, the ship began to move, but another asteroid had shifted -- these belts were always in motion -- and was now blocking their path. A heavier burst of phaser fire eliminated that one altogether.

With the channel still open to the Commodore, Maddy spoke. "Commodore... we have just beamed the probe into space. The ellipse has altered its course toward it."

"If it's what had to be done, it's what had to be done," Michael said on screen. "I hope that Medical and Science were able to learn something from it."

"That remains to be seen, but considering what could have happened had the probe not been beamed out, I'd say the right call was made," the Commander said, breathing a little easier. What was going to happen next? All she could do was wait like everyone else.

"Prepare to rejoin the stardrive section," Michael said.

"Acknowledged, Commodore. We'll see you soon," the redhead said, before looking toward helm once more. "Get us lined up to rejoin the stardrive section."

"Course laid in, Commander," the young woman at the helm said as she began to maneuver out of the asteroid field while keeping an eye on the sensors for the ellipse and dark matter asteroid.

As they continued their forward -- or was it backward given that they were retracing their original path? -- progress, Douglas continued to remove asteroid after asteroid, clearing the path ahead of the ship and making it easier for the helm officer to fly them straight out of it and back to the stardrive section.

After a couple close calls with a few asteroids, they cleared the field unscathed. As risky as her decision was, it was better than being swallowed up by the ellipse, and if there were going to be repercussions, she'd take them on herself entirely. "Commodore, as soon as you're ready, we can begin rejoining the two sections."

"We're on the way, Commander," Michael responded.

Ensign sh'Paveress looked up from her console. "All systems report green, Commodore," she announced. "Power levels are normalizing, and the docking latches fully check out for reconnection."

There was nothing to be added from Security, so Douglas simply secured his station and waited for the re-connection to commence.

The Commander breathed a sigh of relief. "Great job everyone," she called out. Soon, the ship would be back together, then she could turn things back over to the proper CO.

Douglas had to admit, that was something he liked about both Aravan and Weisz; they commended their crew's good behavior. Some commanding officers (and Execs for that matter) only said something when someone did something wrong. It was good to balance that with compliments once in a while too. Even Teleth Norr did that; it encouraged the behavior you wanted by making your people feel appreciated. He nodded to her with a look of gratitude but said nothing. Nothing needed to be said.