ST: Gibraltar - Gravity
- Thread starter Gibraltar
- Start date
Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse. Will Sandy and Ashok get to the Harrier before it's too late...
Six months on... I think it's time to pick the pen back up, so to speak.
Agreed! That's the kind of talk I like to hear!
(And the fact that I'm still just as interested to read the next chapter of this story as I was six months ago says a lot about its quality.
)
I look forward to it!
Six months on... I think it's time to pick the pen back up, so to speak.
We want words, not deeds! Or something to that effect.
Yes, please, sir.
As I mentioned to you elsewhere (to paraphrase a certain Romulan Commander), matters more urgent caused my absence ... from my beloved TBBS FanFic; but I'm back.
I've got a LOT of catching up to do, and this will be a nice place to start.
Looks like I've got a LOT of work ahead of me sorting out who's written what and in what order I should begin reading. Guess I'd better get busy.
As I mentioned to you elsewhere (to paraphrase a certain Romulan Commander), matters more urgent caused my absence ... from my beloved TBBS FanFic; but I'm back.
I've got a LOT of catching up to do, and this will be a nice place to start.
Looks like I've got a LOT of work ahead of me sorting out who's written what and in what order I should begin reading. Guess I'd better get busy.
Oooh, extra incentive to finish the previous stories!!!
So good to know you're going to be back posting, but at least your "absence" has given me the time to catch up with your awesome Gibraltar stories.
So good to know you're going to be back posting, but at least your "absence" has given me the time to catch up with your awesome Gibraltar stories.
He's really good. And don't you just love Sandhurst?
Shuttle Kon-Tiki
Kon-Tiki lanced through the first, tenuous layers of Acheron's outer atmosphere in pursuit of her quarry, the plummeting form of the Border Service scout Harrier.
"Take over the controls," Sandhurst ordered brusquely as he surrendered control of the shuttle to the Bolian engineer. He reconfigured his station and utilized it to erect a forcefield just behind the cockpit cabin. "I'm jettisoning our cargo to make room for the scout's crew," he informed Ashok as he breached the aft hatch, causing a brief howling windstorm that sucked the cargo containers into the void as Sandhurst released their magnetic clamps.
"Sensor interference is increasing with atmospheric density, sir," Ashok reported grimly. As if on cue, the shuttle bucked wildly for a moment until the lieutenant was able to regain attitude control. "It's only going to get worse from here," Ashok added unnecessarily.
"Then we'd best be quick about this, eh?" Sandhurst replied as he tweaked sensor resolution to maintain contact with the falling ship below them.
Inky black clouds whipped past at unbelievable speed, only visible for brief seconds when back-lit by flashes of lightening from farther below in the gas giant's stratified atmosphere.
"You're routing power away from the shields?" Ashok blanched, his voice thick with incredulity.
"Can't beam through shields," Sandhurst uttered with focused intensity. "I'm using the power to supplement the structural integrity field."
Something reddish and spherical flashed past so quickly Ashok thought he might have imagined it. "Did you see that, Captain?"
Sandhurst spared a glance at the sensors. "Transient energy signature, maybe some kind of exotic ball lightening. Nothing we need to worry about right now."
"Ten-point-six kilometers and closing," Ashok noted somberly as the shuttle's hull groaned in protest at the gravitational forces and atmospheric pressure conspiring against it. "Harrier's hull won't be able to withstand much more with their own SIF offline, sir."
"Right," Sandhurst replied succinctly. "I'm modulating the annular confinement beam and jacketing the matter stream with tachyons to compensate for atmospheric variances and electro-magnetic interference." The captain looked up to stare out the forward viewport as he drew his thumb up the abbreviated transport initiator column, "Engaging..."
"Positive lock on five life signs," Ashok reported. "We've got them."
"Don't materialize them yet," Sandhurst ordered. "We need to determine if any of them has critical injuries. Shunt them into the pattern buffer first and engage a level-two diagnostic cycle, then re-route the backup power from the SIF back into the shields."
"Scott-Protocol?" the Bolian inquired as he carried out the captain's instructions. "Shields restored." The juddering course of the shuttle instantly stabilized as the creaking of the hull subsided.
"Exactly," Sandhurst confirmed.
Without warning, there was a brilliant flash from below them that dwarfed the previous lightening they'd witnessed on their frantic descent. "Hard about!" Sandhurst shouted. "That was Harrier's anti-matter stores going up. Get us out of here!"
A furious wave of over-pressurized gases roared up from beneath the shuttle as the small vessel struggled for altitude against the pull of the gas giant's potent gravity well.
"This... is going to hurt," Ashok noted dryly.
"Oh yeah," Sandhurst muttered in quiet accord.
*****
Kon-Tiki lanced through the first, tenuous layers of Acheron's outer atmosphere in pursuit of her quarry, the plummeting form of the Border Service scout Harrier.
"Take over the controls," Sandhurst ordered brusquely as he surrendered control of the shuttle to the Bolian engineer. He reconfigured his station and utilized it to erect a forcefield just behind the cockpit cabin. "I'm jettisoning our cargo to make room for the scout's crew," he informed Ashok as he breached the aft hatch, causing a brief howling windstorm that sucked the cargo containers into the void as Sandhurst released their magnetic clamps.
"Sensor interference is increasing with atmospheric density, sir," Ashok reported grimly. As if on cue, the shuttle bucked wildly for a moment until the lieutenant was able to regain attitude control. "It's only going to get worse from here," Ashok added unnecessarily.
"Then we'd best be quick about this, eh?" Sandhurst replied as he tweaked sensor resolution to maintain contact with the falling ship below them.
Inky black clouds whipped past at unbelievable speed, only visible for brief seconds when back-lit by flashes of lightening from farther below in the gas giant's stratified atmosphere.
"You're routing power away from the shields?" Ashok blanched, his voice thick with incredulity.
"Can't beam through shields," Sandhurst uttered with focused intensity. "I'm using the power to supplement the structural integrity field."
Something reddish and spherical flashed past so quickly Ashok thought he might have imagined it. "Did you see that, Captain?"
Sandhurst spared a glance at the sensors. "Transient energy signature, maybe some kind of exotic ball lightening. Nothing we need to worry about right now."
"Ten-point-six kilometers and closing," Ashok noted somberly as the shuttle's hull groaned in protest at the gravitational forces and atmospheric pressure conspiring against it. "Harrier's hull won't be able to withstand much more with their own SIF offline, sir."
"Right," Sandhurst replied succinctly. "I'm modulating the annular confinement beam and jacketing the matter stream with tachyons to compensate for atmospheric variances and electro-magnetic interference." The captain looked up to stare out the forward viewport as he drew his thumb up the abbreviated transport initiator column, "Engaging..."
"Positive lock on five life signs," Ashok reported. "We've got them."
"Don't materialize them yet," Sandhurst ordered. "We need to determine if any of them has critical injuries. Shunt them into the pattern buffer first and engage a level-two diagnostic cycle, then re-route the backup power from the SIF back into the shields."
"Scott-Protocol?" the Bolian inquired as he carried out the captain's instructions. "Shields restored." The juddering course of the shuttle instantly stabilized as the creaking of the hull subsided.
"Exactly," Sandhurst confirmed.
Without warning, there was a brilliant flash from below them that dwarfed the previous lightening they'd witnessed on their frantic descent. "Hard about!" Sandhurst shouted. "That was Harrier's anti-matter stores going up. Get us out of here!"
A furious wave of over-pressurized gases roared up from beneath the shuttle as the small vessel struggled for altitude against the pull of the gas giant's potent gravity well.
"This... is going to hurt," Ashok noted dryly.
"Oh yeah," Sandhurst muttered in quiet accord.
*****
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Oh wow. Great little rescue set up here. Ashok having to juggle a few balls as Sandhurst tries to pull a miracle out if his hat - straining the shields and pulling off a gutsy move. Bold but well executed with a smart mind at the helm it all just had to work out ...
... oh wait ... great big explosion heading their way! So not exactly out of the woods. As ever with a Gibraltar story, it never goes the way it should have, and never as expected.
... oh wait ... great big explosion heading their way! So not exactly out of the woods. As ever with a Gibraltar story, it never goes the way it should have, and never as expected.
Eeek! 
The tension! What's going to happen to Ashok and Sandhurst?
(If you make us wait six months to find out I'm going to cry. Just saying.)
Seriously, a great installment and I love the little engineering details you throw in here. I know it's not easy to write two engineers. Major compliments to you for making it natural and compelling.
The tension! What's going to happen to Ashok and Sandhurst? (If you make us wait six months to find out I'm going to cry. Just saying.)
Seriously, a great installment and I love the little engineering details you throw in here. I know it's not easy to write two engineers. Major compliments to you for making it natural and compelling.
WOW...what a nail-biter!
You know, this explosion COULD be a blessing in disguise if they're able to take advantage of it to get an additional push WITHOUT it plunging them into the atmosphere further...
So glad to see you back at this!
You know, this explosion COULD be a blessing in disguise if they're able to take advantage of it to get an additional push WITHOUT it plunging them into the atmosphere further...
So glad to see you back at this!
I hope this was just a little taste of what else is in store for us.
A nice, tense little scene but we hunger for more. What is happening on this rough world, what mysteries wil be uncovered and how will this labor dispute unfold? So many questions and many more.
A nice, tense little scene but we hunger for more. What is happening on this rough world, what mysteries wil be uncovered and how will this labor dispute unfold? So many questions and many more.
Gotta love Ashok's gift for understatement: "This. . . is going to hurt." 
And kudos to Captain Sandhurst for some brilliant off-the-cuff tactics to snare the crew of the Harrier without having them bleed all over the deck.
Nicely done, sir! Now please - back to your keyboard. My doctor tells me stress is not good for me.
And kudos to Captain Sandhurst for some brilliant off-the-cuff tactics to snare the crew of the Harrier without having them bleed all over the deck. Nicely done, sir! Now please - back to your keyboard. My doctor tells me stress is not good for me.
You might want to keep writing...
You can't let us hanging there like that! Very interesting and multi-layered story so far. I'm hoping for new chapters soon.
Ashok and Sandhurst--the ultimate "buddy" scene! It's good to see this story and you, back, Gibraltar.
It's good to see this story and you, back, Gibraltar.
*****
The bridge was silent as a tomb as Gibraltar raced to the scene of Harrier's uncontrolled descent into Acheron's turbulent atmosphere.
Juneau clutched at the armrests of the command chair as she tried desperately to evoke some kind of command presence for the benefit of the crew. In truth, she wanted nothing more than to shrink into herself in the face of this abrupt and unexpected turn of events. The captain's seat suddenly seemed a dozen sizes too large for her. She had anticipated finding Sandhurst and the Kon-Tiki holding position above where Harrier had gone down, awaiting the starship's more powerful sensors and superior resources. It had never occurred to Juneau that the captain would pursue the stricken scout ship into the wicked maelstrom that comprised Acheron's skies.
"Kuenre," she said in an anxious tone, "give me something."
Shanthi eyed his sensor returns with deliberation. "Nothing so far, Lieutenant."
Juneau turned to look at the specialist manning her usual post at Operations. "Anything more from Hades' Apex?"
"No, sir." The crewman threw her an apologetic glance over his shoulder. "They're still scrambling rescue craft, but the first of them won't arrive on station for another fourteen minutes."
She turned back to inspect the view screen with a growing sense of dread. What if Kon-Tiki was lost, and she were now truly in command? Juneau repressed a shudder at the mordant thought. No, not possible, she reasoned. We couldn't lose the captain so soon after the XO. The fates wouldn't be that cruel.
"Wait..." Shanthi's announcement caused nearly every head on the bridge to swivel in his direction. "I'm picking up a disruption in the upper D-band of the planet's molecular hydrogen layer." He frowned as he refined his sensor resolution.
"What kind of disruption?" Juneau pressed unnecessarily.
"An explosion," Shanthi replied heavily. "A big one. I'd estimate it's in the forty-megaton range."
Juneau popped up out of the command chair and raced to Shanthi's side, heedless of how her blatant apprehension might look to the others. "Weapons fire?" she prompted.
"No, I don't think so." Shanthi turned to another display, calling up a quickly scrolling set of schematics that Juneau recognized as belonging to the Aerie-class scout vessels. "A photonic detonation would have a noticeably different signature and nowhere near that big a yield." The blueprints paused on a view of the small ship's engineering systems, with a particular storage capsule highlighted in flashing magenta. A heavy sigh escaped Shanthi's lips before he could think to stifle it. "That'd be just about right for Harrier's anti-matter pods, though." He turned to face Juneau with an earnest look etched into his dark features.
It appeared as if all the color had drained from Juneau's face at once, giving her a sickly pallor that caused the smattering of freckles across her cheeks to stand out even more prominently. "No sign of Kon-Tiki," she practically whispered, the utterance more statement than question.
"No," Shanthi responded without bothering to reference his display again. "Not yet." A warbling enunciator sounded at his station, drawing his attention back to the board. "Picking up a rising pressure differential approximately ten kilometers below the surface and rising quickly." Shanthi slaved the main viewer to his station, centering the image on a roiling section of Acheron's murky upper atmosphere.
"What's causing it?" Juneau queried.
"The explosion," Shanthi explained in an ominous tone. "It would have set off a chain reaction in the surrounding hydrogen. We could be looking at a gigaton-level event, Lieutenant."
In response, Juneau turned to gape at the view screen as an enormous blister of condensed gasses breached the surface of Acheron's outermost cloud layer. This turgid dome suddenly erupted in a blazing mushroom cloud that blasted thousands of kilometers into space, the brilliance of the conflagration enhanced by the dark, brooding background of Acheron's skies.
More than one person on the bridge muttered awed curses at the horrible beauty of the spectacle. It took the mesmerized Operations specialist a moment to recognize the persistent chime at his board as an incoming hail. He frowned at his display and toggled the channel open without thinking to notify Juneau.
"...by for emergency transfer of transporter patterns stored in our buffer," Sandhurst's voice blared unexpectedly throughout the bridge, causing multiple personnel to flinch simultaneously. "We'll need the five survivors beamed directly to Sickbay." There was a prolonged pause before Sandhurst asked, "Gibraltar, do you copy?"
Juneau stood blinking uncomprehendingly for a long moment as she tried to process this new development. Shanthi's elbow nudging her in the ribs finally shattered her confused reverie. "Uh... yes... yes, sir. We read you, Captain." She shook her head as if to clear it before gesturing pointedly to the Ops station and whispering, "Where is that coming from?"
The ensign at the tactical stationed offered, "Picking up shuttle Kon-Tiki exiting Acheron's magnetosphere, Lieutenant. Their speed and trajectory suggests they broke the surface just ahead of that explosion."
Juneau turned to inspect Shanthi with an expression of utter incredulity. "How?" was the only word she could reference after a moment's deliberation.
The science officer gave her an expansive shrug as he shook his head in disbelief.
*****
A similarly perplexed expression graced Sandhurst's face as he stared at his control interface aboard the shuttle. He cleared his throat thoughtfully before observing, "Please don't think that I'm not perfectly delighted to still be drawing breath, Mister Ashok, but how the hell are we still alive?"
He had been so busy reconfiguring the transporter systems for the emergency beam-out of Harrier's crew that the massive detonation of the scout's anti-matter supply had caught him almost completely off guard. Before he could begin to confront this latest emergency he had found the shuttle riding the crest of the expanding gas front at several times the speed of sound.
Ashok replied sheepishly in his basso rumble, "I attenuated the shields to form a sort of aerofoil that allowed us to ride the wave of compressed gasses ahead of the explosion, Captain."
Sandhurst stared at the Bolian, clearly stunned. "That's insane. That's... brilliant."
Ashok inclined his head in acknowledgment of the Sandhurst's backhanded compliment. "Thank you, sir. It would appear that despite my father's disapproval of my spending so much free time as a teenager shield-gliding the thermo-plumes on the Arax moon, the experience came to something after all."
In lieu of awaiting a reply, Ashok tapped at his controls to send the shuttle on an intercept course with Gibraltar as he stood smoothly from the pilot's seat and moved to the replicator station. "Can I get you a beverage, sir?"
"No," Sandhurst sighed heavily with delayed relief as he eased his head back against the seat's headrest. "A new pair of underwear would be nice, but nothing to drink."
*****
The bridge was silent as a tomb as Gibraltar raced to the scene of Harrier's uncontrolled descent into Acheron's turbulent atmosphere.
Juneau clutched at the armrests of the command chair as she tried desperately to evoke some kind of command presence for the benefit of the crew. In truth, she wanted nothing more than to shrink into herself in the face of this abrupt and unexpected turn of events. The captain's seat suddenly seemed a dozen sizes too large for her. She had anticipated finding Sandhurst and the Kon-Tiki holding position above where Harrier had gone down, awaiting the starship's more powerful sensors and superior resources. It had never occurred to Juneau that the captain would pursue the stricken scout ship into the wicked maelstrom that comprised Acheron's skies.
"Kuenre," she said in an anxious tone, "give me something."
Shanthi eyed his sensor returns with deliberation. "Nothing so far, Lieutenant."
Juneau turned to look at the specialist manning her usual post at Operations. "Anything more from Hades' Apex?"
"No, sir." The crewman threw her an apologetic glance over his shoulder. "They're still scrambling rescue craft, but the first of them won't arrive on station for another fourteen minutes."
She turned back to inspect the view screen with a growing sense of dread. What if Kon-Tiki was lost, and she were now truly in command? Juneau repressed a shudder at the mordant thought. No, not possible, she reasoned. We couldn't lose the captain so soon after the XO. The fates wouldn't be that cruel.
"Wait..." Shanthi's announcement caused nearly every head on the bridge to swivel in his direction. "I'm picking up a disruption in the upper D-band of the planet's molecular hydrogen layer." He frowned as he refined his sensor resolution.
"What kind of disruption?" Juneau pressed unnecessarily.
"An explosion," Shanthi replied heavily. "A big one. I'd estimate it's in the forty-megaton range."
Juneau popped up out of the command chair and raced to Shanthi's side, heedless of how her blatant apprehension might look to the others. "Weapons fire?" she prompted.
"No, I don't think so." Shanthi turned to another display, calling up a quickly scrolling set of schematics that Juneau recognized as belonging to the Aerie-class scout vessels. "A photonic detonation would have a noticeably different signature and nowhere near that big a yield." The blueprints paused on a view of the small ship's engineering systems, with a particular storage capsule highlighted in flashing magenta. A heavy sigh escaped Shanthi's lips before he could think to stifle it. "That'd be just about right for Harrier's anti-matter pods, though." He turned to face Juneau with an earnest look etched into his dark features.
It appeared as if all the color had drained from Juneau's face at once, giving her a sickly pallor that caused the smattering of freckles across her cheeks to stand out even more prominently. "No sign of Kon-Tiki," she practically whispered, the utterance more statement than question.
"No," Shanthi responded without bothering to reference his display again. "Not yet." A warbling enunciator sounded at his station, drawing his attention back to the board. "Picking up a rising pressure differential approximately ten kilometers below the surface and rising quickly." Shanthi slaved the main viewer to his station, centering the image on a roiling section of Acheron's murky upper atmosphere.
"What's causing it?" Juneau queried.
"The explosion," Shanthi explained in an ominous tone. "It would have set off a chain reaction in the surrounding hydrogen. We could be looking at a gigaton-level event, Lieutenant."
In response, Juneau turned to gape at the view screen as an enormous blister of condensed gasses breached the surface of Acheron's outermost cloud layer. This turgid dome suddenly erupted in a blazing mushroom cloud that blasted thousands of kilometers into space, the brilliance of the conflagration enhanced by the dark, brooding background of Acheron's skies.
More than one person on the bridge muttered awed curses at the horrible beauty of the spectacle. It took the mesmerized Operations specialist a moment to recognize the persistent chime at his board as an incoming hail. He frowned at his display and toggled the channel open without thinking to notify Juneau.
"...by for emergency transfer of transporter patterns stored in our buffer," Sandhurst's voice blared unexpectedly throughout the bridge, causing multiple personnel to flinch simultaneously. "We'll need the five survivors beamed directly to Sickbay." There was a prolonged pause before Sandhurst asked, "Gibraltar, do you copy?"
Juneau stood blinking uncomprehendingly for a long moment as she tried to process this new development. Shanthi's elbow nudging her in the ribs finally shattered her confused reverie. "Uh... yes... yes, sir. We read you, Captain." She shook her head as if to clear it before gesturing pointedly to the Ops station and whispering, "Where is that coming from?"
The ensign at the tactical stationed offered, "Picking up shuttle Kon-Tiki exiting Acheron's magnetosphere, Lieutenant. Their speed and trajectory suggests they broke the surface just ahead of that explosion."
Juneau turned to inspect Shanthi with an expression of utter incredulity. "How?" was the only word she could reference after a moment's deliberation.
The science officer gave her an expansive shrug as he shook his head in disbelief.
*****
A similarly perplexed expression graced Sandhurst's face as he stared at his control interface aboard the shuttle. He cleared his throat thoughtfully before observing, "Please don't think that I'm not perfectly delighted to still be drawing breath, Mister Ashok, but how the hell are we still alive?"
He had been so busy reconfiguring the transporter systems for the emergency beam-out of Harrier's crew that the massive detonation of the scout's anti-matter supply had caught him almost completely off guard. Before he could begin to confront this latest emergency he had found the shuttle riding the crest of the expanding gas front at several times the speed of sound.
Ashok replied sheepishly in his basso rumble, "I attenuated the shields to form a sort of aerofoil that allowed us to ride the wave of compressed gasses ahead of the explosion, Captain."
Sandhurst stared at the Bolian, clearly stunned. "That's insane. That's... brilliant."
Ashok inclined his head in acknowledgment of the Sandhurst's backhanded compliment. "Thank you, sir. It would appear that despite my father's disapproval of my spending so much free time as a teenager shield-gliding the thermo-plumes on the Arax moon, the experience came to something after all."
In lieu of awaiting a reply, Ashok tapped at his controls to send the shuttle on an intercept course with Gibraltar as he stood smoothly from the pilot's seat and moved to the replicator station. "Can I get you a beverage, sir?"
"No," Sandhurst sighed heavily with delayed relief as he eased his head back against the seat's headrest. "A new pair of underwear would be nice, but nothing to drink."
*****
