PNPC Charlie McQueen: Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginning's End (NT, backstory PT 1)
Kayla Drex
((The Athena, 239604.22))
Lenore: Charlotte, did you finish cleaning your room like I asked?
Charlie: ::rolling her eyes:: Yes, mom. oO Ugh, I’m not a child. I’m almost TWELVE Oo
Lenore: So if I go in there, everything will be -
Edwin: =/\= Ladies, we’ve got a situation. I need you both up front. =/\=
:: The mother-daughter interchange broke off at Edwin’s hail. The tiny vessel had been deep in the Wilds for essentially Charlie’s whole life. Her parents, Edwin and Lenore McQueen were idealists with thoughts of setting up a new, independent life for their little family. The original plan was to find a quiet new Federation colony on the edges of Federation space, but due to money issues, they’d been forced to venture further and further into Cardassian territory to find trade opportunities.
:: The advantages of an expanded range was not without costs or risks though. In addition to the Cardassian presence in the sector, there were more than a few hostile groups flying around looking to take advantage on such a small and under-manned vessel. The result was the McQueen family had become experts at evasion. Edwin had been an Engineer back on Earth, and had developed a way to match the resonance of the Athena’s hull to those of virtually any environment dense enough to visually obscure the ship. That meant they could easily hide within an asteroid field or debris drift with engines running at a minimum until the present threat had passed.
:: From the very beginning, Edwin and Lenore had taught Charlotte (or Charlie, as she insisted on being called, to the chagrin of her mother) using practical applications. Charlie had learned her shapes and colors by identifying conduit components. Her toddler’s voice could be heard in the early days saying things like, “The lellow circle is a powa invertaw.” Nearly a decade later, the pre-teen had the skill and instincts of most seasoned starship engineers.::
Lenore: What’s going on, Ed?
:: Lenore’s dark Betazoid eyes flicked from her husband’s worried face to the viewscreen to the sensor readout on the console at the co-pilot’s station. ::
Edwin: Aggregate cruiser. Bearing down on us hard. I don’t know if they’ve spotted us yet or not, but we don’t have time to hide, and they completely out-gun us.
:: There was no threat bigger out here that they’d face than the Aggregate. In some ways more terrifying than the Borg, the Aggregate was the stuff of Charlie’s nightmares. ::
Lenore: Can we shut down and drift? Maybe they’ll pass by, thinking we’re junked.
Edwin: I can’t think of a better idea. Shutting down all propulsion and secondary systems.
:: The ship started drifting. The image on the screen spun slowly, as Edwin had initiated a slow tumble maneuver to make their flight path look more random. Charlie hated tumbling. It made her tummy feel weird, and now with the artificial gravity turned down to 33%, she had to focus to keep her lunch down.
:: The Aggregate ship came into view. Charlie looked to her mother for reassurance. The woman had a look of intense concentration on her face as the patchwork ship continued on its course in their direction. They held their collective breath as the dark shaped slowed, inspecting the “drifting” vessel. Charlie nearly screamed when the cruiser turned and slowed to match the speed of the Athena. ::
Lenore: Strap in!
:: She’d sensed the Aggregate’s intentions through their twisted jumble of shared thought. It wasn’t a thing she liked experiencing - too chaotic, she’d once told Charlie in a moment of confidence. The upside was she was able to use her piloting skills in harmony with the slight advance notice this insight brought. Now, she punched in the first coordinates that came to mind: Lightside Station. As a salvaged disruptor blast grazed the starboard hull of the smaller vessel, Lenore banked hard to port. A split second later, and that blast would have crippled the Athena. ::
Edwin: Shields? ::Normally he was the one issuing orders, but they all knew Lenore was better under this kind of pressure.::
Lenore: No time. We’re running. Do I have full warp power yet?
Edwin: 60%. That blast was enough to wing us.
Lenore: It’ll have to be enough. Hold on.
:: It obviously wasn’t necessary to hold onto anything. The inertial dampeners were never taken offline, just in case they had to make a quick getaway … like now. Alarm klaxons blared as the stars began streaming past. Charlie looked at her own console. Fires. Three of them on the starboard lower decks. ::
Charlie: Dad, we’ve got fires downstairs. Suppressant systems aren’t responding. You want me to take care of them?
:: The McQueens were not like other families. Charlie had been brought up to carry her own weight on the ship, and had proven herself capable, resourceful, and adaptable. ::
Edwin: Yes please.
Lenore: Be careful, baby.
Charlie: I will be.
:: She spun out of her chair and headed out of the cockpit toward the ladder that led to the lower levels. Holding loosely to the sides of it with her hands and the insides of her feet, she slid down with the practiced ease and grace won over the last several years. She landed with a soft thump at the base of the ladder, opened a panel nearby and removed the manual fire suppression system. The three fires that had sprung up were small but spoke of a larger problem: the disruptor blast had disabled not just 40% of their propulsion systems, but also other seemingly unconnected systems. Wherever they were going, Charlie thought as she put out the last fire, there had better be a good parts supplier. The Athena was going to need a full maintenance check.
:: Charlie rejoined her parents just as they slowed to impulse for their approach to … wherever they’d gone. She saw a large, bland-looking planet looming ahead and groaned. ::
Charlie: Please tell me we’re not setting down on a sand planet. It looks so boring.
Lenore: First of all, I don’t appreciate your tone, young lady. Secondly, no. We’re not setting down on the planet. There’s a large space station on the far side. You remember Lightside Station, don’t you?
Charlie: ::drawing a blank:: No. I’m guessing it’s on the lightside of the planet though?
Edwin: Smart Alec. ::he stood and ruffled her hair as he passed to the back of the cockpit:: Yes. Most people refer to Lightside Station as “The Spike.” You’ll see why in just a second.
:: She watched the viewscreen, knowing exactly what was coming. As the imposingly-huge structure came into view, she let fly a fresh wave of sarcasm.::
Charlie: Yep. Shaped like a spike. Who’d have seen that one coming? ::raising her hand:: Me. I saw it coming. I did! I did! What do I win?
:: The Athena docked shortly after, and the three decided to get some food from one of the several restaurants in the station. Charlie wanted to go to a place that had fun music playing inside that sounded like a couple trumpets, a guitar, and a violin playing a tune that would make anyone get up and dance. To her dismay however, they ended up at a small cafe modeled after a French cafe from Earth. The food was fine she supposed, but the restaurant lacked … fun. During the meal, she told her parents about the shorts in the ship’s systems she’d discovered while putting out the fires.
:: As they walked back to the docking port, Lenore suggested Charlie pick up the components required to affect the repairs, since she’d seen the damage first-hand. Charlie eagerly seized on this rare opportunity for autonomy and ran off to the mechanical district.
:: She was whistling softly to herself as she swung the sack of components by her side. All-in-all, it had been a decent day. She rounded the last corner before the docking port just then. The components scattered across the floor as the handles of the bag slipped from her suddenly slack fingers. The scene before her was one she’d never have been able to predict or prepare for. Medical and security professionals were milling around near the sealed-off port leading to the Athena. Charlie heard just one sentence.::
Medic: It looked like the fire suppression systems had been disabled by some kind of nano-tech - both people on-board were killed in the fire.
:: Charlie ran. She didn’t want to see - she couldn’t see that. She ran until her lungs felt like they were going to explode, then collapsed against a wall and sobbed uncontrollably for what felt like an eternity. ::
TBC
~ Charlie McQueen ~
Simmed by:
Lieutenant Kayla Drex
Chief Science Officer
USS Eagle, NCC-74659
Image Collective
Writer ID: E239510KD0
Science is life, art is soul, love is home