Ensign John Kendrick - Running Out Of Time

[Jon Van Pelt]

((Present, Bridge, Deck 1, USS Khitomer, low orbit of Alpha Trionus II))

John moved to the Ops station, hands brushing over the LCARS surface, tapping into the comms relay as he opened a direct line to the surface.

Stros: Captain, phaser arrays are charged and torpedo magazines are loaded. Shields charged to Eighty-Eight percent. Once transporter operations have settled, we will have full shields within a couple of minutes.

Shayne/Bridge: Response

Kendrick: =/\= Lieutenant Torado, this is Khitomer. You've got fifteen minutes to wrap it up. Time to bring everyone home. =/\=

Torado: =/\= Sorry, wrong number. =/\=

He blinked, caught off-guard for just a second - and then couldn’t help the small, tired smirk that pulled at the edge of his mouth.

Kendrick: =/\= Glad to hear your sense of humor’s still intact Lieutenant, but the clock is ticking. =/\=

Torado: =/\= Alright. Fifteen minutes. You want us to bring you something? Carton of milk, maybe? Are we out of eggs? =/\=

Kendrick: =/\= Negative. But if you find decent coffee over there, you’ll be a hero by the time you beam back. =/\=

His fingers danced over the console again, rerouting transporter priority to pad six, verifying that the medical teams were standing by. There was still a lot to do.

But somehow, standing here - even in exhaustion - it felt like something had clicked back into place.

Stros: =/\= Do not bother with the coffee. I feel Captain Janeway found better substitutes in the Delta Quadrant than whatever that facility uses for its coffee. ::Smirking:: But I do believe there is a case of Romulan Ale hidden within one of the holding areas. =/\= ::Glancing towards Shayne:: For disposal purposes, of course.

John looked up from his console, scanning the Bridge until his gaze settled on the centre aft station. A quick check of the Bridge layout confirmed it was manned by an officer named Stros. Judging by the man’s sharply angled eyebrows and his casual reference to the blue beverage Romulans referred to as ale - which was an affront to real ales from Earth - he concluded that the man was either Romulan, or a Vulcan who hadn’t had a decent bowl haircut in months.

He paused the open comm line between the ship and surface, keeping it live in the background in case an emergency call broke through.

Shayne/Hobart/Bridge: Response

As the Captain and XO discussed their current situation, he noticed a female officer approaching him from the corner of his eye.

B’Ella: Ensign B’Ella.

As the officer introduced herself, John looked up, his hands still resting on the console. The red hue of the Bridge’s alert status highlighted the Klingon’s long red hair - a fierce colour for a warrior.

Kendrick: Ensign John Kendrick. Operations.

B’Ella: ::nodding:: Well met.

Kendrick: Likewise, Ensign.

B’Ella: I’m not here to step on any toes. That wouldn’t be the honorable thing to do. This is your station, I’m here to assist. What I can I do to help you?

John nodded, welcoming the extra pair of hands.

Kendrick: Maintain priority command channels and lock down evacuation traffic. If we lose a surface relay or detect interference, I want to know the moment it happens.

Even before B’Ella acknowledged the order, John’s attention snapped toward the tactical station.

Stros: We’ve lost another two defense platforms within the vicinity of the first round. We might not have that fifteen minutes.

That changed things. John’s pulse kicked up a notch.

Shayne/Hobart/Bridge: response

Kendrick: Understood.

He pivoted toward B’Ella, lowering his tone just enough to avoid cutting across the rest of the Bridge chatter.

Kendrick: Contact Lieutenant Torado. Inform her the window may be closing. She needs to prepare for an emergency beam-out, now.

B’Ella: response

John turned his attention back to his console, fingers already reconfiguring internal systems to prioritize transporter power allocation. He needed to ensure that if the order came, there wouldn’t be any lag.

Stros: Targeting sensors are trained in that direction. As soon as something shows up, we will have a firing solution. ::beat:: Preferably before they do.

John looked up at the command platform, toward Captain Shayne and Commander Hobart.

Kendrick: Captain, Commander - if it comes down to it, we’ll need a brief window to pull our teams out. ::looks at Stros:: Three, maybe four seconds max, during which we’ll need to lower our shields. I’ll have the pattern buffers primed, but we’ll need clearance to execute.

Shayne / Hobart / B’Ella / Stros / Bridge: response

TAG/TBC

——— ● ———

Ensign John Kendrick 

Operations Officer

USS Khitomer (NCC-62400)

J239801JK3