Re: Star Trek: Shepard, Aborted Feburary Challenge I would have put a cutesy smilie at the tag end of that last message but I only get a cursor in "quick reply" mode and can't even function with the "go advanced" tab. Sorry.
Aborted febuary challenge...let me know if anyone wants me to finish up this short story... [FONT=Verdana]With a bang several docking clamps released around the airlock, allowing a scant few cubic meters of atmosphere to hiss rapidly thorough the gap between the ships outer hatch and the flexible umbilical-like access way still attached to the maintenance shuttle. The shuttle pivoted around before the tunnel even finished retracting and briefly engaged it’s chemical thrusters before darting off at impulse, leaving the larger vessel dark and still.[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]Still, but not alone. Surrounding the formerly clean lines of the recently decommissioned Starfleet Oberth class starship were tens, no hundreds, of obsolete vessels. Mostly waiting for strip and scrap, the heavily damaged ex-USS vessels waited in something less glamorous than the limbo of the nearby mothball section. While the mothball ships waited in neat formation with atmosphere and temperature regulators maintaining internal integrity until the day they might or might not be called back to serve, the cold and dead hulks in the S&S area shared no such possibility.[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]It was a bitter consolation indeed that the one thing the S&S ships shared over the mothball fleet was a certainty of destiny. The mothballed ships might linger for years or decades, some even longer, before a final decision was made to terminate their status as a potential fleet resource. Some, the lucky few, might even be reactivated. The S&S ships held no such hope, they would all eventually be stripped of any re-usable parts and the remaining hulls sectioned for recycling. The only question for them was when.[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]As if slowly bleeding to death, the ship began venting atmosphere from several computer-controlled valves. Carefully calibrated to evacuate the atmosphere slowly and evenly to avoid not only causing the vessel to move from her station excessively, but also to limit flex damage to internal components, the process could take days.[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]:thumbsup:Anyway, I think you can tell who the new guy is in this story. Let me know if you want me to finish it.[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]I'll get back to the Shepard sage with all the unresolved issues. Sorry fo for the delay, and the patience..or if not patience, the interest to wait.[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]Dulak[/FONT]
In just that little bit of story, I was intrigued. To see the 'death' of a starship is something I haven't come across before.
Hey, was that patience crack aimed at me? Ah, well, if it was I may have deserved it. So...get back to work, boyo! (Just kidding.)
and if someone could please tell me how to paste a section without the irritating font detail marks showing up every paragraph..poof, out of nowhere..I'd appreciate it. It will make the next story section actually readable.. Dulak
Dulak, what I've noticed is that it seems to be coming up with changes in font size. At least, that's what the examples I've seen indicate. Try a copy/paste with your font all the same and all the same size and see if it doesn't fix it. If it doesn't, PM me with an example and I'll see if I can figure it out.
Re: Star Trek: Shepard; Recovery, Chapter 9 OK, Hi guys, just attempting to get back into writing on this once again... I hate to leave my characters hanging like this...Quite frankly, I've gotten attached to them. I've been taking care of lots of real life issues and working on my "John Smith, World Jumper" series, but couldn't help but want to get back to writing some Trek. For anyone who hasn't read my story, due to it being old and unfinished, now would be a good time to give it a start as I plan on regular updates from now on. Dulak
Welcome back, Dulak! I just read your story so far, and MAN, am I intrigued! Primitive Borg...and DULAK! I don't believe we've ever met, but I am a fellow Cardassian afficionado, and I would sure love to quiz you about this guy.
You're story is still fresh in my mind. It's a great story...and we haven't even got the the Shepard, yet!
Glad you're picking this story back up! You had a great start - now I'm interested in where you take it from here.
Welcome back, Dulak! Glad you're continuing the story and I look forward to seeing where you're going to take it.
Just started reading and have been drawn in by the missing ship that needs to be recovered and all sorts of mysteries that surround. So hope to catch by the time you start posting again.
Star Trek: Shepard, Recovery First off, I would like to apologize for the delay in continuing this story. It won’t go out of my head, even while I’m busy with everyday life and working on other writing projects. The good news is that I’m now a paid author (yes you may chuckle). I tried re-posting the original story up until this point so people could catch up without reading all the comments, this is the first new part in embarrassingly almost two years. Thanks for being patient, Dulak Chapter 10 USS Persepheron Engineering Just prior to losing power on the bridge Master Chief Rexar Arthrun looked at the readout panel and studied the scrolling data with a scowl. The look on Chief Marconi’s face was no less dour. Petty Officer Thompson looked on as if he felt left out of something. “What is it Master Chief? I’m not sure I understand why you ran a level 2 on the contact sensor array, it’s the deflector we’re supposed to be fixing. The Andorian Engineer looked back at the much younger crewman and nodded, “It’s all part of the puzzle, in effect…” Shouting from the tractor beam power control module Richelieu interrupted urgently, “I’ve got a prob…” and was cut off himself by an explosion that sent him flying backwards away from the control panel and left him crumpled on the deck. Thompson rushed to check on the Bolian, but both Rexar and Marconi darted to the control panel. By the time the two reached it, a light was blinking indicating the start of the automatic diagnostic which ran in case of catastrophic overload. Although Rexar had never worked an emergency situation with Marconi before, they fell into a complimentary style enhanced by years of practical experience and engineering casualty drills between them. As Rexar frantically attempted to override the diagnostic from the control panel, the annoying buzzing of the temporarily disabled panel told Marconi what to do more quickly than any exchange of words. Not waiting for the mag-clamp to disengage as he pulled open a side access panel, Marconi simply tore the metal cover off and discarded it. Then he reached inside and bypassed a relay causing a shower of sparks. He blinked and looked away, but continued working by feel. A more melodious beep sounded from the control panel, indicating that his jury-rig had worked, at least partially. Rexar renewed his efforts to bypass the diagnostics and get the tractor beams back online, but suddenly the ship lurched so severely that both Marconi and Rexar stumbled a step away from the console. Before either could resume working the ship went completely dark. As if feeling the need to state the obvious, Thompson’s nervous voice carried through the now quiet engineering space, “That’s not good.” Rexar countered, his voice controlled and level “Gentlemen, I suggest we get power restored.” USS Persepheron Transporter Room Despite Lt. Townsend’s reassurances that the Borg with them was not a threat, Crewmen Parker kept her archaic firearm trained on it even as she called for Dr. O’Connell. Tara knelt over the prone Cardassian and began a quick examination. Luckily, he had a pulse, and was breathing. Tara hoped it was a normal pulse for a Cardassian, but other than holding his head stable and seeing that he was not bleeding anywhere, there was little else she could do until the doctor arrived. Lt. Townsend looked at the “Rexar” drone standing passively beside her and was about to ask it a question when the ship lurched and went dark. Only the dim light from her forgotten tricorder readout gave any illumination. It was enough light to see Parker raise her machine gun to firing position on her shoulder. “Wait,” the cry left her lips to no avail as the Thompson burped a stream of lead in a series of blinding flashes. USS Persepheron Bridge No sooner had the ship lost power then Chief Prak ran from the bridge, shouting back to Commander Ridgeway as he went, “Do what you can from here, I’m going to engineering.” The Tellarite knew his ship well and didn’t need light to find his way, although it slowed him somewhat. He found it immediately disturbing that the emergency lighting had not snapped on as it should have, but didn’t waste time speculating if it was yet another maintenance area that had fallen through the cracks of stretched-to-the-limit resources or due to the Borg. He would sort that out in engineering. On the bridge Crewman Davis managed to fumble through an emergency kit and snap on a chem-light. The green glow barely filled the space, but allowed those remaining on the bridge to at least see one another. “What do we do now?” asked Lt. T’Noor from the sensor console, her fingers never ceasing to endeavor to bring the panel back to life. Ridgeway grasped the overhead bar, letting it take some of his weight briefly. “We wait for power to come back. I have a hunch that we might have to do something quickly when we have control restored.” In reality, Ridgeway was a bit lost, he saw and heard Davis attempting to get any other station on the comm panel, but also saw that the crewman was having no success. They were not only blind and deaf on the bridge, they were helpless. Still, Ridgway couldn’t bring himself to desert the ships control center like Prak had, so he waited. USS Sutherland Ready Room “I don’t care if he’s dealing with something Ensign, get me Admiral Selak NOW! I’m pretty sure I have more information than he does about what he’s dealing with, so put him on.” Captain Shelby was as close to fuming mad as she had been in a long time. The Ensign from starbase 214 was obviously the self-important type of administrative assistant that Shelby despised. She would never understand what made people think they could push others around because of who they worked for. The station wasn’t even on alert, and the Ensign seemed more than a little amused at the incongruence of being called by a nearly naked female identifying herself as the Captain of a starship. The ensign seemed on the verge of another flippant remark when an alert klaxon sounded from panel speaker, followed by the telltale flashing red light behind the ensign. At least someone on the station was paying attention. Shelby was about to order the ensign to put her through again when the view screen set into the table of her ready room desk shifted to the Starbase 214 Starfleet logo. Shelby blinked twice in disbelief. “I’ve been put on hold.”
Re: Star Trek: Shepard, Recovery I have to admit, I had to go back and scan over the last segment you posted to refresh my memory. But it all came back to me quickly. It's great to see you continue this, it's a terrific story and it continues to be an exciting read. I love that you managed to get the Sutherland involved here as well. Now I wanna know what happens next. Where'd the power go? What happend to the Borg and will Shelby ever be put through to someobdy in charge? Do me a favor. Don't keep us waiting another two years to find out.
Re: Star Trek: Shepard, Recovery I can't wait to see more!!!! And it's always great to see you, Dulak!