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Star Trek Adventurer	By : Tcr Category: +S through Z > Star Trek: Online Views: 2690 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Chapter 23: A Fighting Chance to Live
The moans of the wounded echoed in the Adventurer’s Sickbay. There was too many, several of them lying on the ground, those not requiring immediate medical attention had been given a hypospray shot and sent back to their quarters for the moment. Even in the corridor outside Sickbay, they had started lining up the wounded against the wall.
“How bad is it?” Taka asked from her biobed. Though she was hardly the worst patient in Sickbay, Doctor T’Pril had not released her yet; the Vulcan had stated something about how the Acting Executive Officer could not simply walk about after the trauma she’d experienced. She’d witnessed countless others come and go; Hell, even M’Akl had been released and she’d been subjected to toxic fumes in Engineering.
“You, or the ship?” Adventurer’s Head Nurse, Chief Petty Officer Shannon Richter, asked in reply. Though Taka could tell it was an attempt to lighten the mood, she only frowned at it.
She couldn’t feel the mood lightened any more than she could during the battle. People were dead and dying all around her. Not three beds away, Captain Korolevna was lying in a medically induced coma because of the injuries sustained during the battle, how could she find any humour in that?
“The ship, what’s the damage like?”
“Am I supposed to know that, Ensign?” Richter asked. She moved off, stepping over to Erra in the next bed. “I’m a nurse, not an engineer.” She hummed and hawed at the tricorder and the readings from the biobed. “Erra’s lucky. If she’d been on the planet when this had happened, she’d be dead.”
Because hearing that’s exactly what I wanted, Taka thought to herself. It wasn’t bad enough that, for the second time, Erra had nearly been killed because of her decisions, not Richter was rubbing salt into the wound with an unnecessary force. Her antennae dropped against her skull and laid backwards; regret, sorrow, and guilt all wrapped into the simplistic movement. She glanced around her.
The crew of the Adventurer had consisted mostly of Midshipmen and Crewmen on their training cruises. Though they had all expected to see some combat - that much had essentially been confirmed when it had been announced they’d be heading into the Delta Quadrant - these kids had come from the Academy. Much like most teens, they had believed the ship, that Starfleet was all but invincible.
How many of them had been lost? How many of the friends made at the Academy had been ultimately slaughtered by the uncaring bastards who’d attacked them? Lives cut short before they could reach the zenith of their careers. She pushed the thoughts from her head. They needed to mourn, that was for sure, but this was neither the time, nor the place.
And with Commander Watson dead and Captain Korolevna in a medically induced coma, she was next in line on the Bridge.
Well, maybe not, she ceded. Technically it would be Commander McMaster or any of the other officers. But she hadn’t seen McMaster or Palmer or any others above her since before the battle started. She had to assume it fell to her; that was what they taught at Command School at the Academy.
The voice of her Command School instructor, Captain Nog, came back to her unbidden, Commanding a starship doesn’t always give you fair warning before thrusting you into the hot seat. Several of the great Captains throughout history were, so to speak, unprepared for it. Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Captain Riker, Captain Dax, just to name a few in recent years. Indeed, many were thrown in during a time of crisis, and that, my good Cadets, are what we are here to prepare you for.
“How long’s she going to be stuck here for?”
“Considering she was still recovering from wounds sustained on the planet, I’d say probably a couple days, though she may be out of here tomorrow,” Richter replied. She glanced over at Taka. “I’d say that’s a good thing, since I doubt we’re going anywhere for a few days.”
“And me?”
A flat monotone voice answered in place of Richter, “You, Ensign zh’An, will require a complete psychological evaluation before you can return to-”
“Doctor, I know you mean well, but my place is on the Bridge, I’m needed there, especially with Captain Korolevna here,” Taka cut T’Pril off.
“It is precisely because you are the only exec she has that I’m recommending psychological evaluation,” T’Pril stated bluntly. “You have experienced a highly traumatic event. This experiences will likely have great influence on your actions and emotional state.”
“Doctor, you and I agree on something. It will influence my actions,” she swept her legs off the side of the bed and stared at Vulcan Chief Medical Officer. “I'm heading back to Bridge. I will schedule an appointment with Doctor Krahn as soon as possible.
She nearly shuddered at the idea of being psychoanalyzed by a Tellarite. The gruff and often rude natures of the them was the antithesis of a good counselor. There were some things people shouldn't do; Andorians shouldn't be card players; Klingons shouldn't be diplomats; Cardassians shouldn't be friendly; and Tellarites shouldn't be counselors.
Most certainly not aboard a deep space explorer.
A nurse left the operating suite and Taka glanced over in its direction. All form of stability and strength disappeared at what she saw. “Doctor?” Her beloved Tanis lay on the bed in there, still in her uniform. Taka shook her head in disbelief. “No, no, no.” She stumbled towards the bed before feeling T’Pril’s hand on her arm, stopping her momentum.
Taka glared back at the Vulcan physician. Her Andorian heritage told her she could take the other woman in hand-to-hand or, at the very least, have it a stalemate. Both of them were evenly matched in their strength. But she wasn’t stupid; she was in no condition mentally and emotionally to do anything to stop the Chief Medical Officer.
“We have to remove the symbiont,” T’Pril said. The cold, matter-of-fact tone of her words caused Taka’s glare to light with fiery hatred. If it wasn’t for the fact that it was simply Vulcan nature to be as stoic as she was, Taka would have contemplated suggesting she melt her cold tone. “There are several other Trills aboard the Adventurer; the Lanul symbiont must be implanted within 72 hours or it will die, too.”
“I know!” Taka snapped. Her hands formed to fists, her antennae waved angrily, and closed her eyes and pursed her lips, turning away from T’Pril. She scolded herself even as she felt a tear form in the corner of her eye. It descended down her cheek before she turned back to face T’Pril. “I want two vials of her blood, Doctor.”
T’Pril raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “I wasn’t aware Andorians still honoured the Wall of Heroes.”
“We do,” Taka said softly. “And I intend to make the leader of these bastards pay for every death he’s accountable for.” She let her words hang in the air before she left Sickbay and let the doors close behind her.
T’Pril was right, Taka admitted. Perhaps she should stay off the Bridge, take a few days away and mourn Tanis properly, let the grief flow through her as anyone would. Let her anger dissipate, though she knew it would take several weeks before that might happen; she was having vivid thoughts on how to disembowel one of those bastards using nothing more than a rusted piece of metal. Maybe I should talk to Doctor Krahn, open up to him and let him help me through this.
But she couldn’t.
Not now, not when the Adventurer needed her most. Commander Watson was dead, Lieutenant Palmer was dead, Lieutenant Commander McMaster was dead, Captain Korolevna was lying back there in a coma; she needed to do something. She was the Acting First Officer. She had to look out for this crew now.
“Look, Taka, you’re barely out of the Academy, haven’t even graduated, what the Hell do you think you can do about this situation?” she muttered to herself. “There are other officers who could do this better than you.”
She looked at one of the wall displays and her reflection within. “Adventurer needs every available hand to repair the damage! I need to be on the Bridge, I need to be where I’m needed most, where Captain Korolevna trusted me to be.” She needed to feel useful. Now more than ever before.
“Taka,” the familiar voice of Adventurer’s Ambassador Attache said from behind her. Taka turned as Renha continued, “I just heard. I’m so sorry. You have my deepest and most heartfelt sympathies.” Renha recoiled and bowed her head sadly. “Your anger and hate, it’s consuming you, Taka. I’m not sure finding the party responsible will help you in that regard.”
Taka glared, then shook her head. It wouldn’t have taken a telepath to figure out how she was feeling, nor would she have to find a fortune-teller to give her the future Renha was predicting. Even if she did somehow find the one responsible for the death of her beloved, she knew the anger and hate that raged through her would continue.
It’s my fault she’s dead! Taka snapped at herself. If you’d been more careful, Taka, she wouldn’t have had to protect you!
“Taka,” Straala’s voice broke into her thoughts.
Taka blinked. She stared into the Bridge from the turbolift. She wanted to ask how she got there, but she knew it didn’t matter. Nor did she want them questioning her command when she needed them focused on returning the Adventurer to working order. She stepped from the turbolift with Renha following close behind her.
A quick glance around the Bridge told her everything she needed to know. Most of the consoles were empty, with the exception of Tactical, Science, and Helm; the others were blank, powerless. She slid into the command chair.
“Report.”
“We lost a lot of officers,” Jena stated.
“Of our complement of fifty officers when we left Spacedock, twenty remain,” Straala added. “Those twenty officers are our classmates, with two exceptions: Doctor T’Pril and Captain Korolevna. All senior officers are unaccounted for or deceased.”
Taka pinched her nose. “And our friends out there?”
“I’m assuming you’re referring to the Palatine, Aeneid, and Deimos,” Straala stated. “We received orders to return to Delta Command forty minutes ago.”
“We all prepared to go, until engine failure,” Jena stated. “By the time we realized it, it was too late, the other three were gone.”
“So we’re here, alone, in enemy territory,” Taka pinched her nose tighter. “Great.” She looked at Renha. “Ambassador T’Rela? Commander Remora?”
“Unknown,” Jena stated.
“Weapons?”
“Cannons offline, but we do have phasers and one forward torpedo bay,” the man at Tactical stated. Taka turned her chair around to face him. “We may blow out emitters on the starboard side if we use them too much.”
Taka felt like throwing her hands up in surrender. “Does anyone have any good news?” Silence greeted her. She shook her head before rising from her chair. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She stepped over to the ready room doors.
As they closed, she could hear Straala at Helm mention something about the Andorians being more emotional than humans. Right now, Taka would agree with that statement 100 percent. She was more emotional than any of the humans on the Adventurer.
“Benedict?” Taka asked gingerly. The ready room was a disaster. The phaser blast that had ripped into the Adventurer’s hull had sent everything spilling throughout.
The Captain’s usually neat and organized desk of PADDs had been scattered across the ground, one of the visitor’s chairs toppled over, and the three starship models from her wall had been thrown across the room. Taka knelt down and picked up the Challenger-class Atlantis and the Akira-class Thunderchild, stepping over to the wall and placing them back on display before gathering the Ambassador-class Athena from the floor and doing the same. She sucked her bottom lip before turning back to the Captain’s desk.
“Benedict?” Taka called again. There was a quiet yelp from under the desk. Taka stepped around, finding the German Shepherd hiding under it, fearfully staring up at her. She knelt down, petting the poor dog in an effort to calm him. “Looks like we’re both without our other halves right now.” Her eyes dropped before Benedict pushed his head up under her chin. She continued petting him, a smile playing across her lips.
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Star Trek Adventurer