Ensign Falt - Rule 9
Tom Cholewa
OOC: Forgive the IC reference to my current OOC situation, I couldn’t resist.
(Allahayer, Speeding toward Turnaround Asteroid))
Falt: =/\= Confirmed, bearing 49 mark 76. Distance 8 kilometers and closing. Current course has it within 50 meters of the Allahayer in 12 seconds. =/\=
Tomas gulped, that was too close for comfort. The Captain clearly agreed as she pitched the Allahayer into a hard evasive maneuver.
Oddas: =/\= Initiating evasive maneuver, increasing speed to 100%, increasing the angle of apogee around the asteroid. =/\=
The Captain pushed the engines to maximum. Tomas had to strain his neck muscles just to move his head enough to see his consoles.
Falt: =/\= They're compensating, distance 5 kilometers =/\=
Quinn: =/\= Coho to Juneau, Alert Alert Alert, prepare shuttles Shark and Bear for launch. Incursion into the Captain’s Testing zone. Potential collision imminent with test vehicle.=/\=
The new Chief of Operations sounded calm but concerned.
Deveaux: =/\= Responses =/\=
Sival: =/\= Captain, my sensors indicate a drop in cabin pressure. Recommend switching to EV life support at your earliest convenience. =/\=
The HUD of his EV suit showed it was fully operational. The acceleration was brutal now, Tomas had never experienced anything like it.
Oddas: ::straining:: =/\= Understood, EV suits are operating. =/\=
Any: =/\= Response =/\=
Falt: =/\= Distance 2 kilometers =/\=
As Tomas prepared himself for the possible impact he looked up and caught sight of the ship careering toward them, it had a familiar design.
oO Are they, Ferengi... Oo
Less than a second later Stelek confirmed his observation.
Stelek: =/\= USS Coho to Unknown Ferengi vehicle, you are in restricted space and interfering in maneuvers, veer away immediately. =/\=
Qinn: =/\= No answer from the Ferengi vessel. Repeating the hail on all frequencies in the clear. Instructing the Juneau to launch rescue vessels=/\=
From somewhere the Captain found even more acceleration. Despite the situation Tomas was in awe of the vessel the Captain had constructed.
Any: =/\= Response =/\=
He counted down the last few seconds in his head to the potential impact. At the very last second the Captain veered the Allahayer hard to port. For a moment Tomas thought they had avoided the impact.
Oddas: =/\= Emergency! Emergency! This is the Allahayer! Collision! Collision! Collision! The Feringi vessel has =/\= ::grunt:: =/\= ... glancing blow! I am attempting to stabilize the lateral spin. =/\=
The vessel shook as she took a glancing hit to the port side before beginning to spin rapidly. The bulkhead holding the engineering console next to Tomas buckled on impact, pinning his left hand between it and the side of his chair. These was a hot pain in his thumb which Tomas tried to ignore for moment. The EV suit would have offered some protection and he had other things to deal with.
Qinn: =/\= Mayday Mayday Mayday, USS Coho to all vessels and stations, collision reported between test craft and unidentified Ferengi vessel. Ferengi vessel venting drive plasma, approach at your own risk. Test Platform spinning and in danger, USS Coho, Bear, and Shark proceeding to incident at maximum impulse Mayday Mayday Mayday =/\=
Tito: =/\= Juneau to Coho, Tito here. I am sending a medical team in the Halibut. We are hurrying the Juneau but it will take at least twenty minutes to power it up. What else can we do? =/\=
If the Coho replied on the open channel with the Allahayer Tomas didn’t here it. There was a brief pause.
Qinn: =/\= Transporters are struggling to lock onto your signals Captain, you need to reduce your spin by at least 30%.=/\=
Any: =/\= Response =/\=
Tomas focused. He was a science officer and knew enough physics to realise they had to shut the engines down to take energy out of the spin.
Falt: =/\= ::pained:: My engineering console is out, I have no way to shut down the engines from here. =/\=
Oddas: =/\= We are in a lateral spin, I am attempting an emergency shutdown of the engines, but the imbalance --- =/\=
Any: =/\= Response =/\=
Tomas heard electronic tones of refusal as the Captain attempted to shut down the engines herself. The impact had clearly done significant damage.
Oddas: =/\= Mister Falt, can you reach the life support control panel to your left? =/\=
Falt: =/\= I’ll try sir, can I access engine control from there? =/\=
Oddas: =/\= No, but if you can overload the control, it might cause a feedback and trick the processor into resetting the engine, which in this case will reset to off. =/\=
Tomas strained, the hot pain in his thumb exploding at the effort.
Falt: =/\= ::pained:: I can’t reach it sir, my hand is pinned. =/\=
Tomas stopped straining, shut his eyes and tried to catch his breath.
Stelek: =/\= Will we be able to capture the Allahayer with a tractor beam? =/\=
Qinn: =/\= My concern is, unless they get the spin under control, the forces will overload the SIF and rip the ship in half.=/\=
Deveaux: =/\= Response =/\=
Falt: =/\= ::pained:: Agreed, I’m already looking at a buckled bulkhead. We need to reduce momentum considerably before we try that =/\=
Any: =/\= Response =/\=
Qinn: =/\= Deveaux, if we used microbursts of the tractor beam, could we help slow the spin without overstressing the hull?=/\=
Deveaux: =/\= Response =/\=
That was a good idea but Tomas didn’t like it. Too many variables and too much to go wrong. He had to free his hand and try to shut the engines down.
He looked around for something to use as a lever before remembering his boot knife. He always carried a knife with him when possible, it was a habit he had picked up in his teens camping with his father. He could still clearly remember his father’s words, “Tomas. Always remember, your knife is you life.” He reached down with his right hand and pulled it out of it’s sheath. It had a Duritanium alloy blade so would easily be strong enough. Turning the cutting edge away from himself he worked the knife into the gap where his thumb was jammed. He took a deep breath and heaved toward him.
Nothing.
Any: =/\=Response=/\=
He heaved again, there was still no movement from the bulkhead or his chair. He could feel sweat beading on his brow. He was only half listening to the rest of the converdation.
oO Come on Tomas Oo
Qinn: =/\=We can rebuild the ship, Sir, we need to get you out of there. We have more options for stopping the ship if you aren’t on it.=/\=
He changed tactic and pushed his whole weight into the knife. With the added g-force from the spin it was just enough, he felt the gap widen slightly. He didn't know if the gap would be sufficient but he had a duty to get his Captain safely back to the ship, she had a crew that needed her. He took a deep breath and pushed as hard as he could a final time.
oO Now or never Tomas Oo
He stifled a yelp as he yanked his left arm as hard as he could. The pain blossomed as his hand came free. He reached out to the life support console, his thumb hanging limp in the EV suit glove.
Falt: =/\= ::pained:: I’m free, overloading life support now. =/\=
With his working fingers he disengaged the safeties and initiated the overload. A second later the ship lurched again as the engine reset and shut down. He grunted as the sudden change in movement jolted his hand.
Oddas: =/\= Response =/\=
Any: =/\= Response =/\=
Tomas carefully put his knife back in the sheath, before focusing on the HUD of his EV suit. Despite damage to the internal lining it indicated the external fabric had not been compromised. It also told him he an elevated heart rate and was experiencing a loss in blood pressure. He reached out and applied direct pressure to his wound.
Falt: =/\= ::Breathing heavily:: Nothing Doctor Indobri can’t fix, I will be one handed for the rest of the fight though sir =/\=
Oddas: =/\= Response =/\=
He felt the rate of spin begin to stall slightly. He was confident the Captain would be able to reduce it far enough for the tractor beam or transporter to be effective.
He felt dizzy and found himself smiling at the irony. He tried to focus, there was still one other variable to consider.
Falt: =/\= ::pained:: Ensign Falt to Juneau. Confirmed visual on a Ferengi shuttlepod. It’s unlikely it got out here on it’s own… =/\=
Any: =/\= Response =/\=
TAG/TBC
Ensign Tomas Falt
Science Officer
USS Juneau, NX-99801
J239807TF2
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