Panko Breadcrumbs (Part 9 of 10)

Posted on 22 Oct 2016 @ 3:25am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant JG Natalya Kirilova & Lieutenant JG Lenaris Marika & Lieutenant JG K’yerak Nikolaev & Ensign Splendora Nightingale & Chief Petty Officer Torgeir Naes & Petty Officer 1st Class Aurora Aries & Petty Officer 1st Class Eviess & Chief Petty Officer Crispin Snow & Yasmin Khoroushi
Edited on on 22 Oct 2016 @ 3:30am

2,862 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 12 - Recluse
Location: USS Galileo/Paulson Nebula
Timeline: MD 03 - 0045 hrs

Previously, on Panko Breadcrumbs (Part 8)...

Yasmin had managed to wedge herself into a corner of the shuttle, her hip bumping gently against the larger officer's shoulder. Noah's friend called him Moose, and she hadn't heard him correct that - well, she hadn't heard him say much of anything, and what he did say wasn't readily intelligible to her. All she had gathered so far was that he had been the one to find her in the quarters she shared with Noah and had rescued her. Had he been injured doing that, or had he already been hurt, she didn't know. He was dozing right now and she didn't want to wake him.

That intended kindness was thrown out the window - so to say - in the next second as an explosion sent the ship careening sharply and bucking in response. Yasmin swallowed a scream of terror, and felt an arm wrap around her shoulders, holding her steady and offering something of a buffer as all hell broke loose.

Snow steadied her, and then wedged Terje further into his postion as the ship span and the gravity and inertial dampers creaked, leaving them slightly floating. "Does this ship have escape pods?" Snow asked in a dead pan fashion, "We might need to use them."

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Elsewhere on Deck 3...

Eviess worked with the medics to load people from the room they were in into he life boats. Explosions rocked the ship, Screams filled the air. She had to get them...she had to get them all!

Fear and panic ate at her but a to do list started forming in her head. It was her defense mechanism. It kept her breathing and sane.

As the pods filled she had a medic enter and launch.

Suddenly a familiar face come into view. Splendora! "Splendora!"

Splendora had left the pregnant woman with Ryan on the bridge and had made her way to deck three. She saw Eviess and ran over. "Let's get out of here!"

Eviess shook her head. "No! There are three more people in the med room. Let's get them."

Both women jumped as a crash was heard in the very room they had just talked about. They ran as fast as they could. A beam had fallen across the entrance leaving just a little hole that someone could squeeze through.

Splendora pulled her tricorder. "Two dead one alive."

Eviess' brain kicked in to over drive. She looked at Splendora, "You're thin enough to make it through the hole. Get that crewman!"

Splendora didn't have to be told twice. She scampered through under the beam. The fire suppression systems were offline. She coughed and sputtered as she slinked her way to the life signs. "Just a bit more...I'm almost there." She spoke to her self. Fear and panic slamming through her chest.

A few heart slamming minutes after she reached the woman. She pulled with all her might. As they approached the entrance the beam shifted closing the hole. "Eviess!"

Back at the entrance Eviess looked around for help. Her eyes locked on a Vulcan science officer. "Nikolaev! I need your help!" She'd done his medical just a few days ago. "Help me lift this beam!"

"No problem." K'yerak said as he ran to Eviess, it was times like this he was happy his physical strength took from his Vulcan side. The beam was quickly pushed aside with effort from K'yerak. "How may I be of further assistance?" He asked.

Eviess stood with her mouth open for just a few seconds before her brain snapped back into work mode. She leaned down and checked the young woman. "She's got some broken ribs, burns, but otherwise okay. Let's get her into an escape pod."

She looked at Splendora and K'yerak. "Can you two manage? I need to make one more sweep."

"I shall get her to one." K'yerak said, he made note of where exactly the closest escape pod was but also made note of where Eviess was heading to make sure everyone would be safe.

The ship was rocked again sending Eviess flying across the corridor and straight into a downed beam. With a sickening thud and a scream she dropped to the floor dazed.

K'yerak placed the injured woman in the escape podd and buckled her in when he heard the scream. "Eviess?" He yelled down the corridor, the smoke filled the Corridor, when he headed down the corridor it took him a few precious moments to find Eviess. He crouched down "Eviess, grab on to me, it's time to leave." He said as he hoisted her up. "Is it too late to ask for another transfer?" He said jokingly.

Splendora had hopped in after the injured woman when Eviess had screamed. She watched K'yerak run down the hall. She stood ready to help when she saw the two coming back.

Eviess who was still dazed managed to grab K'yerak. She held on as he pulled her out of the smoke and toward the pod. She saw Splendora standing there. She looked over at K'yerak. "I," before she could finish a crash from behind them sounded. The ship again shook violently. She knew she was hurt. "Leave me." She said. "Save yourself."

K'yerak made a facial gesture that could best be described as anger. "I am not one to follow strict logic, however, I believe I will ignore your suggestion." He replied as he contorted his body in various ways to dodge debris as well as smoke. "Also, this is how I get favors from fellow crew mates, I save their lives." He said jokingly.

Eviess smiled slightly. She let him lead her to the pod. Splendora helped strap her in and made sure K'yerak was strapped in. She stepped out of the pod and closed the door. She saw Eviess protesting but Splendora was gone.

Eviess had been yelling bloody murder while she was trying to get herself unstrapped. She watched Splendora disappear. She looked over at K'yerak. "We can't leave her here she..." Then it dawned on her. "She's going to try and get to her quarters....she's going to try and save that damned bird!"


Deck 4

The turbolift hadn't gotten Natalya and Marika very far, nowhere close to engineering in time for the warp core ejection and detonation. They were crawling through Jefferies tubes when the call came to abandon ship. There were no escape pods on deck four.

"We'll have to get back up to deck three to the escape pods." Natalya said, trying not to sound frantic. "But I don't know if we'll make it in time. There's also the Waverider... the access hatch should be just down there. But it might be damaged or already gone." Natalya looked to Marika, not wanting to make the choice for both of them. "Which way?" There probably wouldn't be enough time to explore both options.

The Bajoran nodded and without hesitation caught Natalya's arm and started towards the Waverider. "Then let's get moving. I'd hate to disappoint the prophets by dying before my time." Her mind raced to figure out a plan B in case the Waverider was a no go. Her instincts rarely pushed her in the wrong direction, but it was always good to be prepared. "Besides, you and I still have too many things to talk about." Wasn't that as good a reason as any?

Natalya tried to smile and look hopeful, but under the circumstances it was a little forced. She didn't even know if any of the other engineers were still alive, and there was no time to find out.

"Let's go then!" She said hurriedly, leading the way down the Jeffrues tube. The Waverider had to still be there... it had to!


Elsewhere on Deck 4...

Crispin Snow dodged down the corridor. There was a gash along his arm when a wall console had exploded next to him. He could feel the blood trickling down his arm under his uniform. On the port side of the ship, he could hear the exchange of phaser fire. He'd been up late and reading when the attack came. Terje had dashed off. He wondered if the big moose was still alive. He dashed down to Deck four to help prop up the power supply to the emergency integrity shield, and he'd done all he could do with half the EPS system missing. He had to get to the escape pods, then he had a gut wrenching thought.

Yasmin.

His colleagues little sister. Had she got out? Noah was on the bridge. Was he even still alive? He quickly began to check the labs and rooms. Where were her quarters? would she be looking for an escape pod?

At the initial call, Terje's only thought had been to get to the Armory - a plan that was panned out to naught as he found himself face to face with boarding Klingons. It had been a narrow thing to evade them, and he hadn't necessarily walked away untouched, but he was walking.

"Help ..." The voice was barely audible among the chaos as Terje made his uneven trek down the corridor, ducking fallen debris and all the while checking for any sign of life. Now, as he came to a partially open door, he stuck his head inside what had once been a fairly decent set of quarters. No longer, it seemed. The fourth deck had taken considerable damage, and much of it seemed to have hit the residential area.

"Is someone in here?" Leaning his shoulder against the door, Terje shoved it further open to give him egress. He hissed as his leg protested the act, the hastily wrapped wound already staining the cloth he'd tied around it. He paused, listening, and thought he heard something from within one of the sleeping rooms. "I'm a Security officer," he called out, carefully picking his way over the debris. "A friend. Are you hurt?" Stepping to the further chamber, he saw movement and continued forward. A girl lay in the shattered remains of what might have been a desk at one time. Blood smeared her face, originating from a cut just below the hair-line, and he noticed other cuts along her slim arms - shattered glass as she had apparently tried to protect her head.

"No fear," he murmured, crouching down without a thought to his own injuries and easing her out of the wreckage. "I need to get you somewhere safe, though." There was a slight resistance, then the girl went slack as Terje scooped her into his arms and rose once again. The added weight was almost too much for his leg, the limb threatening to send him back to the ground but Terje refused to give in. It wasn't just him needing out, now.

Making his way back out into the corridor, Terje tried to determine which would be the best shot to take. His decision made itself as a figure appeared down one of the corridors. Breathing out a sigh of relief, he headed off at an uneven lope. "Snow!"

"Moose!" Crispin saw his roommate with relief that the man was still alive. "have you seen Yasmin Khoroushi?"

Had he ... Feeling the ship start canting to the left - or maybe that was just him - Terje staggered against a bulkhead, striving to keep from battering the girl in his arms any further. "Who?" A pained curse broke off any further response as he could feel his traitor leg beginning to buckle under the weight. "Nev' mind. She's hurt - need ..." The ship was shuddering. "Escape pods."

Seeing the enormous Scandinavian begin to fold at the knees, Snow went to catch the girl he was carrying, and staggered himself the much heavier man lent into him as he passed the unconscious Yasmin over. "I've got her. The pods are on Deck 3. I don't think we'll make it. We should try for the Waverider."

"Takk," Terje gasped, catching himself against the wall as Crispin took the girl's weight on himself. His hand went to the hastily-bandaged wound and felt the blood that soaked his pant leg from beneath the knotted cloth. "Waverider, then." It seemed an impossibility in itself, as his comrade would not manage to carry the girl far in his state.

Fortunately - perhaps - for both, Yasmin chose that moment to stir, dragging herself from the edge of consciousness to find that she was no longer in her quarters. The arms holding her were not her brother's, and she started. "Wha ..."

With relief that she was awake, Crispin set her down between himself and Terje, "We're all going to head for Vincenzo. Its just round the corner."

Still groggy from the last hit to the head, Yasmin took a moment to grasp her situation. She recognized the smaller man - had seen him with her brother in the past - but she didn't recognize the other. "Where's Noah?"

Terje blinked, shaking his head. "Ah ... not here. He is on duty." Crispin had mentioned the assistant lead of his department had a sister - this must be she. "He will want to know you are safe, though." Resting a gentle hand on her shoulder, he smiled somewhat grimly. "Up - we don't have much time."

It was clear she was still shaken, but to the girl's credit - she really was little more than a girl, Terje marveled - she pushed herself upright, even going so far as to press herself against the larger man's 'good' side to offer what support she could.

Together they staggered along, supporting each other against the lurching of the ship as the power failed around them as they half limped, half ran to the access hatch where the Waverider was berthed.

Where is Noah? The question had not been answered, but as the klaxons sounded around them, Yasmin couldn't expect one yet. Instead, she focused on moving forward - on the large arm that easily spanned her shoulders - the grasp striving to support even as she offered what little she had in return. Finally, a last turn brought them to the ruined bay and the thankfully still-waiting shuttle.

The now-powered Waverider was rumbling in its docking mounts, which had loosened a bit due to the damage to the ship. It was not a comforting sound, with metal grinding on metal and breathable atmosphere escaping through minuscule ruptures in the docking seal with hissing screams.

"Quickly!" Aurora yelled out as she heard a new group of crew approach. Two officers had already boarded, two women, a gold- and a teal-shirt. Aurora didn't know their names but the pair seemed to be more than familiar with each other. After this group she didn't intend to wait any longer. She'd already been seconds away from shutting the hatch.

Snow nodded to the Chief of Engineering and the young scientist with her, then turned to help Yasmin in.

"Thank you," she murmured, taking his hand for balance as she hopped up into the ship, turning back to see her other rescuer sway slightly, catching himself with a desperate hand against the side of the shuttle.

"Need a hand Moose?" Snow reached out to the security officer, not sure if he'd manage the large step up to the Waverider by himself. Terje's leg was a wreck and he wasn't sure how the younger man was still standing.

"Vær så snill," Terje gasped, accepting the arm that reached to steady him; between that and his own grip, he managed to balance on his bad leg long enough to step up onto the ledge and propel himself inside - promptly falling onto the deck plating with a pained gasp.

Yasmin squealed in alarm, scooting back to give room as the man - with Crispin's help - pulled his legs inside the shuttle.

Snow heaved Terje away front he hatch and slapped the close button. "Allright, lets go!" he shouted to the pilot. Suddenly the whole ship shook as Galileo began to come apart around it. "Now would be good."

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Commander Langdale Wiggins
First Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Natalya Kirilova
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Junior Grade Lenaris Marika
Archaeologist/Anthropologist
USS Galileo

Ensign Ryan Alexander
Operations Officer
USS Galileo

CWO3 Greg Mitchell
Security Officer
USS Galileo

CPO Torgier Naess
Security Officer
USS Galileo

Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical and Second Officer
USS Galileo

PO2 T'Lin
Biochemistry expert
PNPC Warraquim
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Junior Grade Eelim Galan
Security Officer
USS Galileo
(PNPC MacKenzie)

Petty Officer Eviess
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

LT Cmdr Luke Wyatt
Chief Strategic Operations officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Junior Grade Amaranai Franklin
Assistant Chief Security and Tactical
USS Galileo

Ensign Miraj Derani
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo
&
CPO2 Crispin Snow
Operations Officer

and other Galileans...

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