Captain Santiago stood on the bridge of his now vulnerable ship. He himself now felt very vulnerable. His first officer Commander Ariele stood by him, and though the captain maintained his cool, Ariele could easily tell that he was extremely agitated and nervous. People around me are dying, he thought to himself, my Chief Medical Officer, my Chief of Engineering, and now my Chief of Security…are all dead. As captain, he was responsible for each and every one of those lives – and potentially many more. I need to get back control of my ship, he thought.
The captain turned to the lieutenant that replaced the Chief of Security and stood at his station. “What’s our status, Lieutenant?”
“We’ve got added security and medical teams heading to engineering to secure the area. The force field around the warp core is holding, and the core is stable, for now. Most of the computer controls in engineering are in ruin…computer functions must be manually input from the bridge.”
The officer that sat at the engineering station turned. “Warp drive is out…Impulse engines and maneuvering thrusters only.”
“It doesn’t look like there is any more activity down there. But if any more of those things transport over here…”
“Maintain your cool, Lieutenant…” Commander Ariele told him.
The captain rubbed his brow in frustration, hiding his distress as news about his ship continued to get worse.
“…We’re getting medical emergencies from all over the ship…” the lieutenant added.
“Get everyone in need of medical attention to sickbay and secure the area. We don’t want any more of our physicians and nurses in vulnerable areas,” Ariele said.
The bridge doors from behind opened and someone barely made it through. It was Dr. Centress’ medical assistant, who stood with his skin blackened from the explosions. He was the only one who had survived the incursion in engineering. “Captain…” he weakly cried.
“Doctor…are you alright? What happened down there?” the captain asked.
“I don’t know…these humanoids…like none I’ve ever seen before,” he said. He gasped for air as he spoke. “…They almost took out the whole ship…”
“Try to keep calm, Doctor,” the captain said. “We all need to work together to take down this enemy. I need suggestions.” He looked around the bridge.
“There is still that large Annecta colony in Cargo Bay Four,” the lieutenant said. “I think it is serving as a kind of central control for all of the other species that are running amok on the ship.”
“I want it taken out,” Santiago ordered.
“Dr. Centress was working on a smaller version of the warhead that we were going to use against the main colony on the planet. It operates simimlarly and can disperse the toxin throughout the alien network. He was going to use it as a test before we employed the primary weapon on the planet surface.”
Santiago made a move towards the turbolift doors. “Where is this weapon?”
Without warning, Commander Ariele stepped in front of him; she even held out an arm to stop him from getting inside the turbolift. “Your place is on the bridge, Captain. I’m going,” she said.
Santiago shot a look at her, as if she was crazy.
“You don’t have a choice,” she said promptly. “You’re running out of officers. We can’t lose you, too.”
Santiago nodded, reluctantly. It soon occurred to him that she was the last senior officer, other than himself, who was still alive on his ship. If he had lost her…
“I’m taking three more junior security officers with me,” she said. She also looked straight at the medical assistant, who gave a look like he didn’t want to go anywhere. He had been through enough in engineering. “I’m sorry, Doctor, but I need you, too.” He nodded feebly.
“Commander,” Santiago said aloud.
“Yes, Captain?” she asked, prepping her phaser rifle as she moved towards the turbolift doors.
“Come back in one piece. I mean it.”
She exhaled. “Let’s go.”
