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Scotty figured the best way to circumvent major problems during the critical time frame was to set up damage control groups throughout the ship; a sort of engineering triage. He put an experienced person in charge of five-person teams. Each team was assigned to a section of the ship or a major system. They would act independently of Scotty, but report damages and actions taken directly to him.
Meanwhile, he would stay in the engineering section with the cloaking system. He had pinpointed the exact moment of failure for Sulu and was standing by with a new power coupling and related equipment and tools.
Along with Scotty were six of the best engineering ensigns that he could find. When the time came, they would spring into action. If all went well, they would be exposed to the Romulans for only fifteen seconds or so.
But that's what worried the Master of Starfleet Yards. If the Enterprise was exposed to the weapons of a half dozen ships, she would take the pounding with ease. But half of the Romulan fleet was another matter. Only seconds of concentrated firepower could add up to a lot of damage.
Montgomery Scott looked around the engineering section again. Six pairs of very eager eyes stared back. A few of the new ensigns were smiling, some even looked relaxed.
Shifting his gaze to the chrono on the bulkhead above his office door, Scotty noted, just about six minutes to go.
McCoy stepped from the sonic shower of his cabin and quickly slipped into a clean uniform. The warmth of the shower had relaxed him considerably so much so, he stayed longer than he had intended. However, duty dictated and practicality suggested that a good cleaning was a prerequisite to what could potentially be a busy day in sickbay.
His original intention was to extract Kirk from the bridge prior to the comm point, but now he would have to interrupt the proceedings to remove him. Maybe it would be better this way. Everyone would be so busy, that they might not even notice what he was doing.
The chief surgeon hastened his steps to the turbolift and waited. Then he waited even more. Suddenly, it hit him; Scotty had shut down all non-essential services. Only turboshaft 'C' was active, to save power.
Turning around, the Doctor hurried off towards the 'C' shaft as fast as his tired legs could go. Along the way he did not see a single person. Everyone was at their duty post or on a special assignment. Even without anyone to get in his way, he wasn't doing very well.
It was then Leonard McCoy knew he was going to be late, he hoped not too late.
On the bridge, Kirk and Koord stood on either side of Sulu's command chair,
"Update on comm point, sir," Uhura said quietly. "Silent stalker failure in five minutes... mark! Comm point in five minutes, twenty seconds... mark. That will be my last update, sir,"
"Understood, Nyota, thanks!" Sulu knew she would be absorbed in searching for signal with little time for anything else. M'Ress was equally absorbed in sorting out Romulan signals. Anything that was of interest to the ship would be relayed instantly to the ship's C.O.
Sulu looked at Kirk, "Got any ideas about our predicament?"
James Kirk shrugged, "My line of thinking is still the same, either a diversion or a screen of some type." He turned and looked at the main viewer. "Somehow we need to either scramble their sensors or divert their attention."
Stiles turned to look at Kirk, "Something small like a supernova?" He smiled at the weak attempt at humor, but no one joined in.
Chekov queried, "Vhat about the equivalent?"
Sulu jumped on it, "Like what, Pavel?"
"Like a Romulan engine," explained Kelowitz. The security specialist was standing next to Chekov and both officers were smiling like a solution was at hand.
DeSalle blanched, "Our orders were not to fire on Romulan ships. If we do so, we could very well find ourselves on Rura Penthe for a life time stay."
"Point well taken," Sulu sounded a bit disappointed. "Tactical plot on main viewer."
The screen was full of ship markers, all were moving in various directions.
Koord smiled at Sulu, "If you're thinking of a target, may I suggest the K-5's? They are inherently unstable. When I was stationed here, the Roms often complained of the problem. Even a minor hit on the intermix chamber caused spectacular results."
Garrovick was not sure. "If you do detonate the engine, won't it kill the crew?"
"No!" Bailey was checking the readout on the science station. "The intermix chamber will provide a very beneficial reaction. It will emit a radiation burst large enough to scramble most sensors in the area for about five to seven seconds. However the K-5 won't be damaged as the blast will be directed outwards. They'll lose their engines, period."
"That still leaves us open to fire for some time," Leslie offered. He was only thinking out loud but he had spoken for several others who had similar thoughts.
"It depends on where those extra seconds are," Sulu said. Like a bolt, an idea hit him. "We wait until the last possible --" His voice got quiet and, then he explained. "No, I can't fire on a Romulan ship. Even if we don't kill any Romulans, I gave my word to the Admiral of the Fleet."
Excited, Kirk offered, "Hikaru, if you want, I can get you off the hook. Let me take the center seat. I can give the order after 'forcing' you to relinquish command... therefore, your promise is unbroken."
Looking at the ship's chrono, Sulu nodded, "We need the advantage to have a chance! Chekov, target the nearest Warbird to our starboard!"
Kirk, Koord and Chekov instantly nodded their approval jointly.
Koord was smiling, "May I know your plan, Admiral?"
"I'll wait to create our diversion until the last possible moment. I give them fifteen seconds total to shoot. Say five to seven seconds to spot us and get over the initial shock. Five more to target us and get a weapon's lock. Then another three to five for the weapon to actually hit. Sound about right, Pavel?"
"Yes, sir!" Chekov was obviously pleased. "May I suggest two photon torpedoes to bring their shields down, then a precise phaser hit on the mix chamber?"
"Sounds good," Sulu said. "How about the timing, can we have the engine detonate at the ten second mark? That should be just as they try for a weapons lock."
Chekov was already busy with the preparations. "Aye, sir, ten seconds."
Kirk was impressed and said so, "Outstanding planning, Admiral."
Hikaru looked at the recently freed hostage. With just the slightest hint of emotion, he spoke to his mentor. "I had a great teacher. Let's just hope Spock is early and the Romulans are late!" He then lowered his voice to a whisper and spoke to Kirk. "Now would be a good time to relieve me, sir."
Surprised, Kirk complied, "Oh, er, yes, of course." He regained his composure and spoke with a hint of mock regret. "Due to your sudden 'illness,' Hikaru Sulu, and by authorization under Starfleet Order 104 Section B, I hereby relieve you and personally assume the position of commanding officer."
Obediently, Sulu stepped away from the chair and Kirk jumped up the half step and plopped into the large command chair. "Just like old times," he said to himself. He had no way of knowing it then, but this was to be the last time he would ever sit in the center seat of a starship.
Before anyone had a chance to congratulate the 'new captain,' time caught up with the Enterprise.
"Bridge, this is engineering, we'll be visible in ten seconds." Scotty didn't bother with embellishments or a countdown.
The last few seconds went by quietly. The crew was already on red alert with most of their actions preplanned.
Stiles turned to Kirk and stated the news without emotion. "We're visible, sir."
"Chekov, have you started?" Kirk's voice was tense, understandable, considering the circumstances.
"Aye, sir." Again, no additional conversation was offered as Chekov was totally absorbed in his work.
"Fire when ready, Mister." Kirk decided to make it official in case there was an official inquiry. "That's an order."
The Russian's finger flew across the controls preprogrammed for the precise weapons use that was necessary. Two fiery balls jumped from the Enterprise and streaked towards the old Romulan Warbird. The two energy bolts impacted just a wink of an eye apart. Both flared against the shields of the Romulan ship and the results were perfect.
"Romulan shields two and four down, shield number three weak," exclaimed Stiles.
At that moment, the twin forward phasers lanced out against the Romulan engine's intermix chamber. The result was just as Koord had promised, spectacular!
The view was punctuated by a quick announcement from Bailey. "Captain, the palace shield dropped during the weapons discharge!"
Kirk looked at Sulu, "Connected?"
Sulu shrugged and turned to Uhura. "Have you picked up the transponder signals yet?"
She didn't respond. Her head tilted to one side, she pressed the earpiece hard against her ear and made one more adjustment on the comm board. Finally she jumped and yelled out. "I've got them! Transporter link activated; I'm boosting the signal reception to maximum gain."
The bridge crew let out a loud cheer, but the celebration was cut by a weapons' impact against the Enterprise hull.
"What was that?" Kirk had to shout the inquiry to be hard over the noise.
"Disrupter energy weapon, sir," Bailey answered. "It came from the direction of the ship with the destroyed engine."
"Viewer starboard," Kirk was on his feet and the view was not pleasant.
Bailey was busy at the science station. "Weapon fire came from the Romulan dreadnaught." Then he added, "They fired right through their own damaged ship, but the distance and timing shows they fired before we did!"
"Bastards!" Koord spat, "They killed their own people just to get us!"
"Here comes another one; plasma energy!' declared Stiles.
This time the energy of the weapon would not be reduced by another ship's presence. The crippled Romulan had already been destroyed. The Enterprise was a sitting duck.
"Can we do something about that, Chekov?" Sulu sounded nervous.
"Phasers locked on, I vill try to detonate at one thousand kilometers!"
The Enterprise jumped just a bit as the main phasers fired in unison. The beams met at the one thousand kilometer mark and did the trick.
Unfortunately, by now every ship in close proximity was taking shots at the Enterprise and it was beginning to effect most of the major systems.
All Kirk could do was wonder what was taking so long with the transporter.
With the first weapon's impact, the transporter lit up like a supernova, showering Kyle with sparks and heat. Shielding his eyes from the glare and the sparks, he looked with horror at the sight. The automatic transport circuit could be initiated at any moment and the transporter was a mess. Automatically, he removed the access panel below the transporter console and surveyed the damage. To do a proper repair job would take an hour or more. Unfortunately, he didn't have the time. Fighting the urge to do a by-the-book repair, he hurried to do a make-shift fix that would allow his friends to be recovered from Romulus. Time was of the essence.
On Romulus, the situation had not improved a bit. Spock and Saavik, separated by an older Romulan bureaucrat, were trying to act innocent. Spock had determined the officer in charge was part of a special security force assigned directly to the preator and not Tal Shiar as he had thought.
Now out of work and probably soon to be executed for his poor job performance, he was trying to save his own hide by revealing the assassin.
The questioning had been rather hurried and illogical as far as Spock was concerned.
Still, the Centurion was not exactly stupid and was waiting confirmation of the various reports and discussions. One confirmation came in the form of a scanning device. Spock was concerned as Saavik was scanned first.
His concern was well placed as she 'flunked' with a flourish. The Centurion now shoved the other two suspects to one side and eyed Spock and Saavik with contempt.
Before the Romulan could speak, Spock did. "Sir, no doubt you have discovered my associate's secret. Please do not be alarmed. It is a family dishonor, but she serves me well and I would not like to lose such a well-trained slave, half-breed or not."
Saavik was initially shocked, but recovered and flew into Spock with fists and arms flaying wildly.
The centurion and his group of soldiers laughed at the scene.
Just to make it truly authentic, Saavik used some genuinely base curses during her altercation with Spock. "Son of a thousand fathers and coward son of a cowardly family."
Spock defended himself adequately and remarked dryly, "No matter how much training they receive, it is still difficult to take them into the pubic, is it not?"
Continuing his laughter, the centurion began to lead his group away when the palace lights blinked. Then the public address system announced that the shield was down and that an alien ship was in orbit over the home world.
The word 'alien' clicked in the centurion's mind and he turned towards Spock and Saavik, drawing his burn phaser.
Suddenly, Spock felt the familiar tingle of the transporter effect. Saavik ceased the mock battle and turned towards the centurion.
In the process of attempting to draw a more accurate bead and to confront the suspects, the Romulan stepped towards them. Instead of eliminating the suspects, he found himself suddenly caught up in a wide scan transporter beam from the Enterprise.
Kyle had been nervous prior to receiving Uhura's signal. After all, it had been a while since he had actually stood at the controls of a transporter and his recent repairs didn't make him feel any more confident.
Chekov had laughed at Kyle's reluctance, "Don't worry Reggie, it's like riding a bicycle, you never forget how."
Sure enough, he seemed to feel comfortable after only a brief time, but still a bit apprehensive about the responsibility involved. He tried to pass the time by concentrating solely on the controls when the relay to transport activated.
He manipulated the controls and watched as the scanner picked out the life forms within the signals immediate radius.
Good, Spock and Saavik weren't too far apart. But there were many Romulans nearby. He wasn't sure how much time he had, so he acted quickly. He adjusted for a wide scan but not so wide that he would pick up any stray Romulans. Then he lowered the shields with the tie-in and, with a deftness that came from experience, Kyle initiated transport. At that same moment, he saw a Romulan move into his transport radius. Even worse though, was the impact of a high energy weapon against the exposed hull of the Enterprise.
Soon the bridge would need the shields up and, finished or not with the transport, Sulu would have no choice. In order to save the ship and crew, he would have to restore shields and leave. Kyle squinted at the readouts and adjusted for the energy surge from the weapons discharge. He checked his work, looking up for just a moment, he noticed three figures forming and then a warning went off on the board; weapons discharge in transit!
All of his training and experience clicked into action and he quickly activated the proper circuits to neutralize the weapon and place its user in suspension.
Slowly, the recognizable forms of Spock and Saavik materialized and stabilized. Saavik seemed a bit dazed from the effect of the process, no doubt due to the energy surge from the plasma weapon. Before speaking, Kyle reactivated the transporter circuits and returned the Romulan, then reestablished the ship's shields using Scotty's link-up just in time. The ship was rocked by multiple weapons hits, in rapid succession.
Tabbing the intercom the Englishman shouted, "Bridge, I have them, let's get out of here!" Then he turned to Spock and Saavik. "Good to see you both."
Spock nodded once, "Good to see you as well, Commander." Spock and Saavik stepped off the transporter pad rapidly and approached Kyle. "Situation, Commander?"
"Our cloaking device was sabotaged by Kef and Dar. We are visible but Mister Scott has commenced repairs."
"Thank you, Commander, for a commendable job." Spock turned and headed out of the transporter room with Saavik following close behind.
After they left, Kyle shut down the transporter system and sat down, exhausted. His repairs had worked. He had finished in time. The emergency repairs were good enough. He hadn't been fussy and erring on the side of caution as he had been called before. He looked at the transporter and returned to work. This time he would do a proper job and heaved a heavy sigh. "I think I'd rather ride a bicycle!"
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© 2024 Brad McDonald / U.S.S. Kitty Hawk
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