Lt. JG Ollie Bergmen - Responsibility of Command

[CPT Arianus]

(( Holodeck 3, Deck 222, DS 224 ))

Lieutenant Bergmen and Ensign Imril walked down the damaged corridor, following the trail left by Ensign Cole. The signs of her passage served as breadcrumbs for them to follow, and with each step, Bergmen grew hopeful that they would catch up with her soon. As long as they could pick up on the clues of her presence, it meant she was still alive. A minute or two before the dim emergency lights of the corridor revealed the outlines of a silhouette. Standing silhouette.

Bergmen quickly closed the remaining distance and, in a flash of blue alert, she returned the smile he had on his face.

Bergmen: =/\= Report, Ensign Cole. Is our route to Engineering clear? =/\=

Cole: =/\= Fires are out, just cleared the path. =/\= ::gesturing towards the unobstructed hole::

Ollie glanced at the rip in her suit when he heard Imril's voice over his comms.

Imril: =/\= Thank you, Ensign. =/\=

The Lieutenant approached her as she stepped back to make space for Imril, gripping her above the elbow to access the side pocket on her forearm. With a single pull, he unzipped the velcro and flipped up the reinforced pocket panel, from which he removed the suit patch kit. He looked her in the eye, wanted to show her the kit... But saw the rad readings on his HUD display that she surely saw on hers. Even though the Engineering was shielded, even the emergency doors were down, they were already exposed in mere minutes to radiation levels three times higher than the maximum recommended annual dose. He and Imril would have suffered from serious radiation sickness if they had evacuated immediately. She…

Bergmen: =/\= You should have patched that tear as soon as it happened, Ensign… =/\=

He wanted to scold her, but a pity in his voice completely softened the harshness of his words, making them sound like he blamed himself instead. As he knelt at her feet and applied the patch, he felt ridiculous. She knew just as well as he did that it was a placebo for their situation. That patch was adding her hours, maybe a day. In other words, another ten seconds of consciousness once they will directly expose themselves to the core.

Cole: =/\= Lieutenant, every one of us knows the risk. Especially those in Security, we position ourselves to not just be a weapon to be used, but also a Shield. That is the mission. =/\=

The lieutenant looked up and met her gaze. He nodded slightly to show he understood; no further words were needed. A few seconds later, he quietly finished fixing the patch.

Imril: =/\= The plasma’s almost vented. Heat’s not our problem now. Rads are. =/\=

Ollie stood up, took a few steps, and patted the ensign on the shoulder. He nodded silently with a solemn expression.

oO They now understood that. Oo

The time to start being honest with them has come.

Bergmen: =/\= We need to go, now. The closer we get to Engineering, the higher the radiation levels are becoming. There's something wrong with those readings, Mr. Imril. The only explanation I can think of is that the interlock chamber is overheating, which suggests that at least somehow active core… =/\=

Cole: Response

Imril: =/\= I…hav…troub…hear…u. Comms…fail… =/\=

Ollie turned his head toward Imril as what he began to hear was just garbled. He tapped the side of his helmet to indicate he hadn't heard correctly, and his expression mirrored his unasked question. Imril tapped their chest and shook their head, confirming the lieutenant's concerns. Comms began to be disrupted and affected by all the radiation.

Cole: Response

The lieutenant pointed to a half-broken touchscreen covered in cracks on the wall and stepped closer to type the message.

// /_- COMMS OFF DUE2RADIATION.
    _‘ IF NEEDED, TAP SHOULDER &
    ⥘᷿  PRESS HELMETS TO HEAR. OK?

Ollie gazed at Cole and Imril and nodded, face drawn in contemplation, if they would understand. It was time to go, continue in their doomed journey towards the Main Engineering. Imril led the way, tricorder in his hand, as if those readings could protect them. Provide a little reassurance and comfort. Maybe he needed it, or perhaps he wanted to soothe them and reassure them that everything would be alright, and that this wasn't a one-way trip. The corridor definitely didn't evoke that feeling; with its charred walls, fallen cables, and the sharp edges of rubble lying in their path, a path they needed to overcome.

And then there were bodies. Red. Gold. Blue and teal. Death was indiscriminate; it simply took everyone. Most of them died having no chance, caught in the rubble, secondary explosions, buried deep… killed instantly, or close to that meaning. But the closer they got to the Main Engineering, the more the causes of death were changing. When they met the first body in a suit similar to theirs, the lieutenant stopped and knelt, laid his hand on its shoulder. There was no blood, no fire marks, no visible wounds… no reason.

Bergmen: =/\= ::whispers:: Maxwell… =/\=

A second later, Ollie stood up from the body and brushed off the stares of his officers. Just signalled dead and go and continued forward. There was no need for an explanation, neither now nor when they found other casualties later. But the team found their way to the end of the tunnel ahead of them. The emergency compartment blast doors were huge, and hard to miss. They were in their destination - the Main Engineering entrance.

Bergmen turned to Ensign Cole before stepping forward to meet her, pressing his helmet against hers.

Bergmen: =/\= Ensign, you cannot go with us. Hold the keep, count the time. Ten minutes and then go for us inside to retreat. We will not hold out longer than that ten, but we need to focus on work. Understood? =/\=

Cole: Response

Lieutenant nodded and tapped the ensign’s shoulder. Without saying another word, he turned and walked toward Imril. Just before reaching the blast door, he turned left and opened the cover of the repair locker, from which he took out two engineering suitcases and gazed at Imril.

Bergmen: =/\= We need to open those blast doors. Do you know how? =/\=

Imril: =/\= Man…door…lease. T…way. =/\=

Ensign pointed to a labeled niche on his side, then to similar markings on the wall on the lieutenant’s side. Ollie nodded in understanding and moved toward the spot where he hoped to find the release handle. Before removing the cover, he sent one of the suitcases flying across the floor to Imril. Then, in a single movement, he removed the cover, grabbed the handle, and looked at Imril.

Imril: =/\= If…synch…ze…ll go fast…on…mark..ree…tw…On…Go! =/\=


(( Flashback – Hallway next to hatch entrance to Upper Engineering, Deck 18, USS Vancouver ))

((( Fourteen years ago, T+1 hour 20 minutes after warp core failure )))

Ollie watched the flashing red light above the hatch as if mesmerized. But that couldn't have been further from the truth. Each flash lasted three seconds. ::Flash:: Another three seconds passed after the previous pair entered Upper Engineering ::Flash:: Another three seconds brought him and his buddy closer to the moment they would need to go through the hatch to restore the coolant lines to the warp core while the crew on the Main Engineering deck cooled it down.

Someone knocked on the hatch, and the boatswain opened it. He barely had time to catch the body that fell out from behind the hatch. Boatswain placed the body on the floor and assisted the second crewman out from behind the hatch into the hallway. The second crewman staggered a few steps forward, then collapsed to his knees, tearing his helmet off his head, and began to vomit.

Boatswain: Nurse!

As the medics lifted the lifeless body around him, Crewman Bergmen leaned against the wall, his face marked with horror. His gaze met that of his buddy. The firefighting EP suits recovered from the Damage Control locker room were supposed to protect them. They had told them they would protect them…

Boatswain: Bergmen! Kowatz! You in!

Ollie's hands shook as he tried to put on his helmet and seal it to his suit. Kowatz did not follow his example.

Kowatz: No. No! I can’t!

The Petty Officer began to back away, dropping his helmet and nearly tripping over his own feet. The Boatswain quickly approached him, but the Petty Officer attempted to shove him aside, to fight him, and after a moment, he managed to break free of the Boatswain and ran into the corridor behind them. Boatswain picked up the helmet without hesitation and put it on, then looked at Ollie. That look met a terrified face: a crewman on the verge of a breakdown, just like his colleague.

Boatswain: =/\= Bergmen! You and me, in! =/\=

Ollie nodded, hesitantly, but then took a step forward…

(( End of Flashback ))


(( Holodeck 3, Deck 222, DS 224 ))
((( Present )))

Ollie watched the ensign's hand as they counted down from three. When the signal reached zero, the lieutenant turned the wheel of the emergency blast door release and observed the door slowly creating a gap they could slip through. Once the gap was enough, Bergmen nodded to Imril. It was time to go.

The lieutenant ducked under the blast door and joined Imril at the entrance, grabbing his shoulder as they advanced deeper into the Man Engineering deck.

Cole: Response

The objective was clear: reach the console that controlled the core ejection and complete the mission.

But fate had other plans. Instead of an easy way out of the simulation, they were met with a display that shattered their hopes.

// Warp Core Ejection System Failure. Evacuate the ship.

Bergmen: =/\= [Expletive redacted] =/\=

Even though the comms interference made the lieutenant’s words quite incomprehensible, let alone translatable by the UT, the clenched fist slamming against the console controls, along with additional gestures, communicated his message effectively. Ollie turned to Imril, grabbed them by the back of the head, and pulled his helmet closer to theirs.

Bergmen: =/\= Can we manually remove the crystals from the active intermix chamber? Because it's that or welding the core cooling system anew. ::pause:: If you have another idea?… =/\=

Imril: Response

Cole/Meris?*: Response

Ollie nodded slightly and turned toward the warp core, panicking. He needed to think. He had to come up with a plan, evaluate the risks, make a decision... He had already lost Cole, and... No, he couldn't go through that again. He couldn't...

His gaze was fixed on the warp core and the looming outline in front of him next to the core.

Bergmen: =/\= ::shaken in voice:: DC 15-A Actual, who is on the Engineering deck? Report. =/\=

Imril/Cole/Meris*: Response

TAG/TBC

* plus anyone from Team 2 if entered into the Main Engineering deck already
–
Lieutenant JG Ollie Bergmen
Operations Officer
U.S.S. Artemis-A
A240009JC1