Lieutenant Junior Grade Ben Garcia - Near Home (Tag: Pandorn / Turner / Ashoka CO / Lovar / Quen)

[Ben Garcia]

((Bridge - Deck 1 - USS Thor – Federation Space, Under 20 minutes from Duronis II.))

 

:: A bassy bleep bleated twice across the bridge, demanding attention. ::

 

Turner: What was that?

 

Garcia: Phase variance has drifted out of alignment to 0.19. Now 0.20. :: Ben winced slightly. :: One of the Slip Stream Controls Sensors (SSCS) is glitching.

 

Pandorn: It is also borking our sensors. Readings are skewing quite a bit.

 

Turner: :: Looking at him strangely. :: oO Glitching? Oo  Can you hold it together long enough to get us to the Laudean corridor? If not, stop the QSD and engage the fastest normal speed we can achieve until we get there.

 

Garcia: If it’s the one sensor. :: Ben pulled a frown as if mulling it over. :: Potentially, yes Ma’am.

 

Krindo's fingers danced along his console, compensating for the wonky readings as best he could. Isolating an accurate prediction as to the Thor’s position once they exited the slipstream was tricky. Krindo grimaced as the readings came through. It wasn't good.

 

Pandorn: What sensors I can read indicate that stopping the QSD now will put us about 2 LY short of the Federation border. And the Romulans will most certainly be looking for us by now.

 

Ben nodded his eyebrows at that – it was a valid point. They were fleeing the Romulans now.

 

Turner: Okay, do we have enough velocity from the QSD to carry us forward as far as we can go before starting normal speed?

 

Garcia:  Most of the velocity would be lost to facilitate a smooth exit from the slip stream. :: Pausing. :: We could patch it up on the fly. :: Ben cleared his throat. :: Ghost the faulty Slip Stream Control Sensor. You know. :: Ben tilted his head knowingly. :: We sorta extrapolate what the sensor reading might be from the remaining functioning sensors.

 

Pandorn: All we would need is to get to within 1 LY before popping standard warp drive. The closer the better though.

 

Turner: Response?

 

Garcia: Yes. Well – no, not that risky. :: Ben paused half a beat. :: The safety protocols are still on – the Thor will shut down QSD before we throw the phase variance out of the tolerance threshold. :: Ben continued, answering with what he thought they’d want to know next. :: The ride will be uneven … rough if the safties kick in. :: Ben exhaled sharply. :: Like knee jittering rough.

 

Pandorn: Like skidding on an icy road. We may lose attitude in transition.

 

Turner: Response?

 

For a second time, the bassy bleep bleated twice across the bridge.

 

Computer: =/\= Caution. Slip Stream phase variance misalignment increasing. Caution. =/\=

 

Turner: Response?

 

Garcia: :: Confidently, with a nod of the head.  :: On it.

 

Turner: Response?

 

Pandorn: :: Taps on ship wide comms. :: =/\= All hands, brace for sudden QSD disengage. Brace for severe deceleration. =/\=

 

Turner: Response?

 

Garcia: QSD disengaging … :: Ben braced himself with his right arm as his left hand hovered over the terminal. Then, Ben’s hand dropped as he called out to the Bridge. :: Brace!

 

The blue of the QSD lighting changed to that of red alert, automatic when the QSD was suddenly shut down by Ben. The Thor shuddered, stuttered and shimmied as the energy of travelling via slipstream argued with the structural integrity field and inertia of the Thor. 

 

Garcia: Structural integrity under pressure. :: Mater of factly. :: Dipping under 90%. :: Ben hunched over the Helm as he tried to stabilise the situation. :: Routing additional power to structural integrity.

 

Turner: Response?

 

Panodrn: Yep. Aft sensors are picking up the ghost signal and 2 Scimitar class birds, maximum range. They are turning to follow the ghost signal. It won't take long for them to figure it out. We are coasting at just under Warp 9.2.

 

The viewscreen that was showing a blue tunnel now showed the familiar view of normal warp travel through space but a bit faster. Like the grains of sand passing through the neck of an hour glass, the moment of the slip stream fell from the Thor. The Thor was coasting casually towards complete deceleration. The First Officer was coordinating Tactical. The news of three Scimitars eagling in on the Thor added an extra complication to their situation. With the Thor losing momentum fast the Scimitars were quickly beginning to make up ground.

 

Pandorn: Scimitars almost in disruptor range. I'm charging aft phasers and loading quantum torpedoes in the aft tubes. Hope they don't mind we put up some fight...

 

Turner: Response?

 

Garcia: Understood. Standby for warp power. :: Ben took a sharp breath through his teeth. :: Hold onto something.

 

Ben truncated the warm up procedure enabling the Thor to spin up her warp engine while still on the QSD de-acceleration. The play in forces strained the structural integrity forcefield and for six or seven seconds the Thor shuddered intermittently. Even with the warp drive kicking in it didn’t do much to slow the advance of the following Romulans. Suddenly, the Scimitars veered off as a new signal popped up on sensors. The familiar ping of the border beacons of Federation space sounded loudly on the bridge. With them, two sensor blips of Federation ship were closing in from the opposite direction.

 

Pandorn: :: Almost shouting out a cheer. :: We're home. The Scimitars are in retreat. :: Looks at the sensors. :: I guess they didn't want to play with the Ashoka and Bronwyn that are now on an intercept course with us.

 

A light whistle of relief traced is way over Ben’s lips as the adrenaline began to dissipate.

 

Garcia: :: With a smiling nod. :: Nowhere like home, sir.

 

Turner: Response?

 

Ashoka: =/\=Response=/\=

 

Turner: Response?

 

Garcia: With a bit of a shifty? :: Ben looked deep into the star system through the viewscreen as if picking out Tilhan from the innumerable orbs rolling around space. :: Standard orbit in sixteen minutes.

 

Turner/Pandorn: Response?

 

The comms cut through the conversation.

 

Brodie: =/\= Brodie to bridge, everything alright up there? =/\=

Bridge: ???

Brodie: =/\= That’s great news…by the sounds of things Quen and Lovar have had some positive feedback on their treatment. =/\=

Lovar/Quen: ???

Brodie: =/\= I’ll get in touch with Engineering, see what we can rig up. =/\=

 

Tag and TBC!

 

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Lieutenant Junior Grade Ben Garcia

HCO Officer

Embassy Duronis II - USS Thor NCC-82607

Author ID number: G239102MR0