The Return

Posted on Fri 17th Jan, 2020 @ 10:37pm by Commander Jasmine Collins-Keller

1,519 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Resolution
Location: Space Between SB109 and Nāmaka
Timeline: MD 3, 1045

Henry continued looking over his systems readings and was happy about what he saw. Although still uncomfortable about the implications of what the AI software could do, he had to admit that he was impressed. He rubbed his eyes and stood up from the navigation console. He then made his way to where everyone else was in the briefing area.

"So, did you find any hidden civilizations on the big blue ball?" He asked knowing what that answer would be.

McCabe glanced at his boss, but she just smiled at him, so he said, "Well, maybe not this time, but there were definitely some interesting findings to analyze, and we may yet come back with a better idea of what to look for." His eyes sparkled at the thought. "I'm not discouraged at all, and not giving up the idea that there's something there."

Riko laughed, "Spoken like a true scientist!" She winked at Anthony, and turned to Henry. "What about you? Did you and Hari find reason to red flag the new equipment?"

Hari laughed, "How diplomatic you are, Commander. Perhaps you should try your hand as ambassador to my people."

McCord just shook her head at him. Diplomacy was the least of her skills!

Henry opened his mouth to speak, but before a sound could make its way out of his mouth, the Bushido shook violently, throwing Henry to the ground, but not before he struck his head on the corner of the table. Henry felt suddenly nauseous and tried to make sense of why the ship was shaking and why he felt something warm coming from the top of his head. He knew something wasn't quite right, but he could not think properly at the moment.

Riko sprawled forward, catching herself on her hands and knees. "What in the world?" she exclaimed, before noticing that Henry was white as a sheet and blood was seeping from a slice across his forehead and dripping down the side of his face. "Henry, hang on. I'll get the first aid kit. Relax, don't get up. You're bleeding." As she crawled across the floor, continually being shaken on the small ship's roller coaster ride, she looked toward the others to see how they were faring.

"Commander, you take care of Perry, and I'll check the other two," Hari Seldon said, also not getting to his feet. "It looks like anything that was loose has been tossed to the floor, so look out for flying objects!"

She just nodded, and pulled herself up on the railing near the closet with medical supplies. She wasn't a medic, but she did have first aid training at least.

"On it!" Hari stated as he picked himself up off the floor and made his way over to the other scientists. "Lieutenant McCabe, are you okay?"

Tony leaned back against the bulkhead, eyes closed and his head spinning. "Yeah, I think so. I just need a minute. How's my boss?"

"Next on my list to check," Seldon responded, standing up and moving from one hand-hold to another. "Looks like she might have been knocked out." He knelt next to the Chief of Science, taking her pulse.

Stunned by the blow to her head, Jasmine started to come around slowly. She blinked her eyes as she tried to focus on the person kneeling next to her. "I-I think I'm okay." Her hand slowly moved to the side of her head just above her right ear. There was a small amount of blood, but also a large bump. She'd been hit by something hard.

"If they're okay, are you able to pilot this thing, or figure out why it's behaving like a carnival ride?" she called to Seldon as she grabbed the box with bandages, hypospray and medicated wipes.

Hari made his way over to the Bushido's helm control and tried to make sense of what was going on. "Riko! How is Henry? I could really use him up here. Looks like we have been thrown into warp. Warp 7 to be exact. I am locked out of navigation controls."

McCord finished taping the small bandage over Henry's cut. "He'll live. Give him another minute or two, and I think he'll be with you."

Settling her hands in her lap, she looked at her friend anxiously. "I'm sorry we don't have a dermal regenerator on board. That's an oversight we'll remedy before going out again. Are you tracking okay now?" The ship gave another nosedive and came back up.

"For the most part, I think I am here. Just help me up." Henry asked his best friend as he continued to try to understand what happened. "Hari, give me a sitrep as quickly as possible." As Henry's senses slowly began to come back, he began to sense how dire their situation was.

"I can't get into navigational controls, and we're speeding out of control. Warp 7 plus a bit, currently." The ship lurched again. "And there's a glitch in the stabilizers, too, which is why we keep getting knocked around," Seldon said, as Commander Perry slowly made his way over to the control panel.

"I think we all need to strap in," Riko said, keeping an eye on Henry and a hand on the bulkhead. "Otherwise, there may be more injuries with each swerve and dip of the yacht."

"I'll help my boss," McCabe called. "All of you are needed for controlling the ship, and we'll be fine back here in the galley."

With McCabe's help, Jasmine was strapped into her seat and holding an icepack to her head.

"This is not how I expected the trip to end," Anthony smiled at his boss. "At least, I only see one of you now."

"There's not much I can do," Riko said, strapping into the yacht's science station, "but what I can do, I will."

Now at the navigation controls, Henry stood with Hari trying to make sense of everything. "Hari is right. We are stuck at warp 7. I can't tell where we are going because navigation controls are locked. Computer! Henry called out. "Emergency override. Perry alpha-theta Romeo 1316-7274."

=^= Unable to comply. =^=

Henry looked over Riko with concern all over his face. "This isn't good."

"You better strap in, both of you. I think we're in for a bumpy ride!" McCord responded. "I can't access much on the science console, either. Could this have anything to do with the work Starfleet asked you to test?"

Henry ignored Riko's comment to strap in. Instead, he dropped to the floor and opened the panels under the navigation console. "Yeah, It has to be the AI systems. Riko, I am going to need you and Hari both on this console. We have to stabilize the inertial dampeners or the ship is going to shake to pieces."

"Hari, toss me that tool kit to your right," Henry barked as he finished removing the panels underneath the navigation console.

Riko moved around to a different console, but still strapped in. It would do no one any good for her to land in a pile on the floor. "Ready for whatever you need."

Seldon fumbled his first reach, and then caught the drop and handed the tool kit to the engineer. "What can I do to help?" he asked.

Henry took the kit from Hari and finished removing the panel. "O.K. Hari, the first thing I want you to do is to see if can figure out where we're going. Riko, I'm going to need your help getting the inertial dampeners back online to end this roller coaster ride, then we're going to get control of the ship."

"Okay, let me see if I can get the science station at least partly functioning, unless you ... or wait, what about using the gravitron generator?" McCord asked, quickly moving again and once more strapping in, next to the generator this time. The men could take chances and, really, they couldn't do their jobs while fastened in a chair, but she could, and she would be tied down. She pulled the top from the station and did a quick check of connections, finding everything seemed okay.

"It's supposed to be almost identical to the inertial dampener controls. When she tapped the on square, the display came up instantly, and Riko breathed a sigh of relief. "Give me two minutes, and I think I'll have something for you."

"Thanks Riko," Henry said as he finished analyzing the AI interface system. "It looks like AI system has permanently fused with the navigation system somehow. Hari, I could use your eyes here to tell me what you see."

Riko tapped at the interface for the inertial dampener, and switched its controls to the nav function. Then it was a relatively simple matter to program a smoother ride for the yacht. With one final dip and dive, the small ship settled into an even ride. "There you go, Commander. And I don't think you put any of the AI gel chips in this system, so that should hold. I'm going to check on the scientists, and I'll be right back."

 

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