Originally posted on fanfiction.net - Link.
Note: This story takes place during the episode "Moist Vessel".
--------------------------------------
Saturated Starship
“Unauthorized terraformation.”
“Whoa! No kidding!” Rutherford stumbled down the corridor as he desperately attempted to avoid being impaled by the sudden growth of rapidly growing rock spars. “Wait, is there even such a thing as authorized terraformation onboard a starship?”
“Come on! Everybody out!” Nurse Westlake shouted up ahead as he oversaw the evacuation of Sickbay. “Doc, let’s go!”
“No! I’m not leaving! You can’t make me!” T’Ana was heard yelling defiantly.
“There’s no time for this, Doc! We have got to go…ahhhhhh!” Westlake yelped as a massive wall of ice abruptly rose from the floor and cut off his section of the corridor.
“Uh oh!” Rutherford frantically ran up and dashed into Sickbay. “Doctor T’Ana! Are you okay?”
“Aggghhh! Save me!” T’Ana shrieked standing alone on top of a biobed with her eyes wide in terror.
“Don’t worry, I will!” Rutherford declared looking around the nearly intact and empty Sickbay. “Uh, what exactly am I saving you from?”
“The water!” T’Ana pointed at several breaches in the surrounding bulkheads. “Yahhhhhh! Keep it away from me!”
“Are you kidding?” Rutherford blinked. “Doc, those little water spouts are nothing. There are more jets and sprays of cold fluids flying through the air at the bar on Mariachi night.”
“Those are bad too! But not as bad as water!” T’Ana yelped. “Agggh! It’s completely covered the floor!”
“Na, the carpet is just a little soggy,” Rutherford said walking over to her. “Listen, if you’re that scared, I can carry you out of here and…”
“No! Stay away from me!” T’Ana screamed shielding away. “Don’t take me near the water!”
“Don’t worry, Doc. There’s nothing to be afraid of…accckkk!” Rutherford yelped as T’Ana suddenly leapt on him.
“WAGGGHHH! KEEP IT AWAY! KEEP THE EVIL WATER AWAY!” T’Ana shrieked climbing on top of Rutherford while inadvertently throttling him.
“Can’t…breathe…” Rutherford gasped as he desperately attempted to pry T’Ana off his head. “Ow, watch the implant!” He finally managed to get her somewhat settled on his shoulders. “There, that’s better. Don’t worry, Doc. I’ll get you away from all the bad, evil water…”
CRAAACCCKKK!
A jagged crystal formation suddenly rose up and completely blocked the doors to Sickbay. “On second thought…” Rutherford blinked.
“Aggghhh! No! We’re trapped! We’re gonna drown!” T’Ana wailed.
“No we won’t,” Rutherford assured her consulting his implant. “At the rate the water is flowing in we won’t be in danger of drowning for at least a few hours.”
PA-LOOOOOOSSSHHH!
The multiple breaches in the bulkheads suddenly expanded causing the steady streams of incoming water to swiftly turn into torrents. “Er, make that a few minutes,” Rutherford gulped.
“YAAAHHH! THE WATER! NO! WAAAUUUGGGHHH!” T’Ana wailed in panic.
“Rutherford to Transporter Room. Two for emergency beam out!” Rutherford slapped his combadge. “Rutherford to Bridge. Rutherford to anybody!” He repeatedly tapped his combadge. “Oh great. Internal communications are down!”
“NO! DON’T PUT ME DOWN!” T’Ana shrieked grabbing on to him like a life preserver. “I WANNA LIVE! LIVE I TELL YOU!”
“Ugh! Doc…my throat…accckkk!” Rutherford gasped as the water level rose above his knees.
SPLASH! SPLASH!
“Huh?” Rutherford blinked as two, torpedo-shaped bodies suddenly shot into Sickbay through one of the large bulkhead breaches. “What the heck was that?”
“Oh great, we are in Sickbay,” The sleek, pointed gray face of Crewperson Paikea popped out of the water and took in her surroundings. “I told you we should have taken a left at the last corridor.”
“It was blocked off and covered with roots and vines,” Ensign Matao appeared next to her. “We would have needed to stop and cut our way through it with phasers.”
“Better to lose a few minutes on the correct route than get caught in a dead-end on the wrong one,” Paikea pointed out.
“How was I supposed to know that bulkhead would suddenly collapse and suck us into the undertow?” Matao defended. “I am a scientist, not a precog!”
“Uh, excuse me?” Rutherford addressed the two bottlenose dolphins who had fallen into the room. “A little help here?”
“AGGGHHH! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!” T’Ana shrieked pounding her fists on the ceiling.
“Doctor? Ensign?” Paikea and Matao finally noticed them. “Are you two alright?”
“For the moment,” Rutherford gulped as the water level reached his waist. “But not for much longer!”
“GAAAHHH! THE WATER! THE WATER!” T’Ana screamed aquaphobically. “WAHHH, IT TOUCHED MY BOOT!”
“Look, we have to shut down the tractor beam and stop more terraforming fluid from reaching the Cerritos,” Matao said. “Before we lost internal communications Commander Ransom reported bridge controls were not responding so Lieutenant Yuna ordered all Cetacean Ops personnel to pair off and try to reach Auxiliary Control.”
“Everyone except herself and Dulae,” Paikea added. “They are too big to safely navigate through the ship’s corridors under these conditions.”
“Can’t someone just transport to Auxiliary Control?” Rutherford asked.
“Transporters are down too,” Matao informed him. “We had to go the long way.”
“And now we are stuck here,” Paikea glanced around the flooded Sickbay. “There does not seem to be any way out.”
“Yes there is!” Rutherford realized pointing at a submerged section of bulkhead. “The Jefferies tubes!”
“Of course!” Paikea clicked. “Great idea, sir!”
“Are you sure?” Matao eyed the entrance to the maintenance crawlway warily. “It will be a pretty tight fit.”
“I don’t think we have a choice,” Rutherford pointed out as the water level neared his shoulders.
“You are right,” Matao nodded as everyone moved toward the hatch. “Ensign, you go with Paikea. Doctor, you are with me.”
“NO! I WON’T GO! I CAN’T GO!” T’Ana shrieked in utter terror. “NOT IN THE WATER! I’LL DROWN! I’LL DIE! I’LL GET WET!”
“You will be fine,” Paikea tried to assure her. “Matao will be with you the whole time. We will open hatches as we go so you will only remain completely underwater every few seconds…”
“AAAGGGHHHHHH! NO! NO! NO!” T’Ana screamed and thrashed about in complete panic.
“Yaaahhhhhh!” Rutherford yelped while trying not to get mauled. “Calm down, Doc! Uh, think of something soothing! Like work! The warp core! Diagnostic readings! Wave patterns!”
“GAAAHHHHHH! WAVES! TIDES! WATER! NOOOOOOOOO!” T’Ana wailed.
Suddenly, the ceiling above their heads erupted into a colorful array of strange, exotic flowers. One of them quickly grew and bloomed right in T’Ana’s face. “YAAAHHHHHH! GET IT AWAY FROM ME! GET IT…” She abruptly paused and took a deep breath. “Ooo, that’s good…”
“Huh?” Rutherford blinked as T’Ana stopped thrashing about. “Uh, you okay, Doc?”
“Oh yeah,” T’Ana purred breaking into a dreamy smile. “Everything’s just fine, baby!”
“What the?” Paikea blinked as T’Ana began to giggle. “Did the Doctor’s brain just burn out?”
“I hope not,” Rutherford gulped. “That’s one kind of computer I don’t know how to fix.”
“Hmmm, interesting,” Matao consulted the tricorder attached to his Taylor rig using a customized holographic interface. “Several of these alien plants are secreting a concentrated organic compound possessing various odoriferous properties. It is interacting with the doctor’s Caitian physiology in a similar way nepetalactone affects many species of native Earth felids.”
“Meaning?” Paikea asked.
“Apparently Doctor T’Ana is under the influence of highly concentrated alien catnip,” Matao explained. “Or whatever the Caitian equivalent is.”
“Aw, look at all the pretty colors,” T’Ana blinked and playfully pawed at the air. “Oooo, rainbows. Lalalalala!”
“O-kay, I was not expecting that,” Rutherford blinked. “Can we please leave now?”
“Right,” Matao nodded. “Grab a fin and breathe deep!”
“Ouch,” Paikea winced as T’Ana lazily dug her claws into Matao’s flesh. “Doesn’t that hurt?”
“No, the punctures are just superficial,” Matao checked to make sure Rutherford was securely grasping on to Paikea before diving and opening the hatch to the Jefferies tube. “Hold on!”
WHOOOOOOSSSHHH!
“Aaahhhhhh!” Rutherford yelled as the water pressure shot the team of dolphins and humanoids through the Jefferies tubes like bats out of heck.
“Watch out!” Matao quickly opened the next hatch.
“Look at me! I’m flying! Wheeeeee!” T’Ana bubbled happily.
“Left!” Paikea called out.
“Yaaahhh!” Rutherford gurgled as they zoomed around a tight turn.
“Right!” Paikea skillfully avoided caroming into the bulkheads.
“Air pocket!” Matao alerted everyone to take a breath.
“Hahaha…gahhh!” T’Ana gagged swallowing some water.
“Down!” Paikea dove through a vertical tube.
This is insane! Rutherford screamed in his head while feeling like he was flying through a crazed, overgrown waterslide. But it is so cool!
Plooossshhh!
“We are here!” Matao announced zipping through the final hatchway. “Auxiliary Control.”
“And it does not seem to have been affected by the terraforming fluid,” Paikea noted exiting after him. “At least not yet.”
“Ooo, what a ride,” T’Ana smiled floating on her back. “Look! I can make bubbles!”
“That’s nice, Doc,” Matao and Rutherford moved to the control panels as Paikea resealed the hatch. “Okay, the tractor beam has been disengaged.”
“And about time too,” Rutherford studied the readings. “We nearly blew out every emitter circuit on the ship. And I thought the tractor beam fluctuations were wild before…uh oh,” He blinked at a certain set of data. “We have another problem.”
“What now?” Paikea swam over to them.
“The Merced’s unexpected maneuvers caused a sudden towing imbalance resulting in instabilities in both ship’s translational momentums,” Rutherford reported. “The Cerritos’ engines weren’t able to full compensate for it.”
“Meaning?” Matao pressed.
“The generation ship is now moving at a greater velocity relative to the Cerritos,” Rutherford gulped. “In less than a minute it’s going to ram right into us!”
“What?” Paikea squeaked.
“Wheee!” T’Ana happily skipped around the semi-flooded room. “Flowers and sparkly, fluffy baby tribbles for everyone!”
“We need to move out of the way of the generation ship,” Matao moved towards the auxiliary helm controls.
“Can’t. All engines and thrusters are offline,” Rutherford reported.
“Can the Merced provide any assistance?” Matao asked.
“I think so. Their tractor beam is still engaged…oh man! It just cut off!” Rutherford yelped. “The terraforming fluid must have finally engulfed their emitters.”
“What about decompressing one of the shuttlebays?” Paikea suggested. “The atmospheric ejection would provide significant thrust.”
“The ship is not oriented correctly,” Matao shook his head. “Even if it was, we would require either more time or an additional source of repulsive force.”
“That’s it!” Rutherford exclaimed. “We can convert the tractor beam into a repulsor beam and use it to push us away from the generation ship!”
“Is that even possible?” Paikea asked skeptically.
“Oh sure. They did it on the Enterprise once,” Rutherford rapidly worked the control panel. “Now what was the sequence again? Disengage the main lead, split off at the force activator…”
“Balloons! Balloons! Wheeeeee!” T’Ana giggled splashing about and making bubbles.
“Impact in twenty seconds,” Matao warned. “Nineteen…eighteen…”
“Reverse power leads fields and back through the force activator,” Rutherford finished the configurations with a grin. “Engaging repulsor beam against the generation ship!”
RUMBLE!
“It is working,” Matao monitored the ship’s progress. “The Cerritos is matching the generation ship’s relative velocity. Vectors are aligning…there! The Cerritos’ relative velocity is now greater than that of the generation ship. Collision no longer imminent!”
“Great work, sir!” Paikea clicked.
“Aw, thanks,” Rutherford smiled modestly. “Disengaging repulsor beam…ahhh!”
“Look out!” Matao warned as a mass of alien plant life began terraforming Auxiliary Control.
“Yikes!” Paikea barely avoided being impaled by a giant ice spike.
“Ooo, such pretty flowers,” T’Ana cooed riding a blossom-covered branch above the water. “And they smell soooooo good. Mmmm!”
“Aaahhhhhh! Not again!” Rutherford yelped shielding himself with his arms.
HISSSSSSSSS!
“Huh?” Matao blinked as the room was suddenly flooded with a cloud of parizene gas. It engulfed the encroaching alien terraformations and immediately reverted them all to large splotches of unreactive goo. “What is going on?”
“Someone must have found a way to reverse the terraforming effects,” Paikea realized checking a display. “All ship systems are returning to normal operations.”
“I am Queen of the Butterflies!” T’Ana pawed at the air while laughing maniacally. “Pew! Pew! Pew!”
“Most of them anyway,” Paikea corrected.
“What about the hull?” Matao looked concerned. “The terraforming fluid must have dissolved or damaged significant sections of it.”
“Ship’s structural integrity is holding and emergency forcefields are in place,” Rutherford reported. “Looks like the terraforming fluid mostly saturated the ship’s structure instead of replacing it. Spars of rock, crystals, plants and ice grew on surfaces instead of within them.”
“Well that is convenient,” Paikea noted. “Otherwise the most of the crew would have been sucked out into space by now.”
“Strange that none of the extra water reverted back to terraforming fluid,” Rutherford stared at the flooded Auxiliary Control Room. The water level was about level with his thighs. “All the other forms of alien ecosystem did.”
“Possibly because of water’s polar, inorganic nature,” Matao suggested. “We can vent any extra water out the ship’s airlocks.”
“No need to rush,” Paikea smiled. “I like the ship like this. We should flood sections of it with water more often.”
“Uh, I don’t know if I’d go that far,” Rutherford coughed.
“Butterfly in the sky! I can go twice as high!” T’Ana giggled.
“Why is Doctor T’Ana still under the affects from being exposed to the alien plants?” Rutherford asked.
“The organic aromatic compounds were already in her system,” Matao gave the dolphin equivalent of a shrug. “We will just have to wait for the doctor to get over the euphoric effects on her own.”
“It may only take a few minutes,” Paikea suggested. “Or a few hours. Or a few days…”
“Hey, cutie! Dance with me!” T’Ana giggled grabbing Rutherford.
“Ahhh! Doc! Let go!” Rutherford yelped as T’Ana swept him off his feet. “Ow! Get off my foot! Gahhh! No dipping! No dipping!”
“Hmmm, we should really acquire a sample of that alien plant life from the generation ship,” Matao smiled watching the two humanoids waltz around the flooded room. “It will be useful the next time Doctor T’Ana needs to lighten up.”
“Right after I made a copy of Auxiliary Control’s internal visual log,” Paikea grinned working a control panel. “This will make a great addition to the next ship’s talent night!”
--------------------------------------
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek: Lower Decks or the theme song for Reading Rainbow.
Note: This story takes place during the episode "Moist Vessel".
--------------------------------------
Saturated Starship
“Unauthorized terraformation.”
“Whoa! No kidding!” Rutherford stumbled down the corridor as he desperately attempted to avoid being impaled by the sudden growth of rapidly growing rock spars. “Wait, is there even such a thing as authorized terraformation onboard a starship?”
“Come on! Everybody out!” Nurse Westlake shouted up ahead as he oversaw the evacuation of Sickbay. “Doc, let’s go!”
“No! I’m not leaving! You can’t make me!” T’Ana was heard yelling defiantly.
“There’s no time for this, Doc! We have got to go…ahhhhhh!” Westlake yelped as a massive wall of ice abruptly rose from the floor and cut off his section of the corridor.
“Uh oh!” Rutherford frantically ran up and dashed into Sickbay. “Doctor T’Ana! Are you okay?”
“Aggghhh! Save me!” T’Ana shrieked standing alone on top of a biobed with her eyes wide in terror.
“Don’t worry, I will!” Rutherford declared looking around the nearly intact and empty Sickbay. “Uh, what exactly am I saving you from?”
“The water!” T’Ana pointed at several breaches in the surrounding bulkheads. “Yahhhhhh! Keep it away from me!”
“Are you kidding?” Rutherford blinked. “Doc, those little water spouts are nothing. There are more jets and sprays of cold fluids flying through the air at the bar on Mariachi night.”
“Those are bad too! But not as bad as water!” T’Ana yelped. “Agggh! It’s completely covered the floor!”
“Na, the carpet is just a little soggy,” Rutherford said walking over to her. “Listen, if you’re that scared, I can carry you out of here and…”
“No! Stay away from me!” T’Ana screamed shielding away. “Don’t take me near the water!”
“Don’t worry, Doc. There’s nothing to be afraid of…accckkk!” Rutherford yelped as T’Ana suddenly leapt on him.
“WAGGGHHH! KEEP IT AWAY! KEEP THE EVIL WATER AWAY!” T’Ana shrieked climbing on top of Rutherford while inadvertently throttling him.
“Can’t…breathe…” Rutherford gasped as he desperately attempted to pry T’Ana off his head. “Ow, watch the implant!” He finally managed to get her somewhat settled on his shoulders. “There, that’s better. Don’t worry, Doc. I’ll get you away from all the bad, evil water…”
CRAAACCCKKK!
A jagged crystal formation suddenly rose up and completely blocked the doors to Sickbay. “On second thought…” Rutherford blinked.
“Aggghhh! No! We’re trapped! We’re gonna drown!” T’Ana wailed.
“No we won’t,” Rutherford assured her consulting his implant. “At the rate the water is flowing in we won’t be in danger of drowning for at least a few hours.”
PA-LOOOOOOSSSHHH!
The multiple breaches in the bulkheads suddenly expanded causing the steady streams of incoming water to swiftly turn into torrents. “Er, make that a few minutes,” Rutherford gulped.
“YAAAHHH! THE WATER! NO! WAAAUUUGGGHHH!” T’Ana wailed in panic.
“Rutherford to Transporter Room. Two for emergency beam out!” Rutherford slapped his combadge. “Rutherford to Bridge. Rutherford to anybody!” He repeatedly tapped his combadge. “Oh great. Internal communications are down!”
“NO! DON’T PUT ME DOWN!” T’Ana shrieked grabbing on to him like a life preserver. “I WANNA LIVE! LIVE I TELL YOU!”
“Ugh! Doc…my throat…accckkk!” Rutherford gasped as the water level rose above his knees.
SPLASH! SPLASH!
“Huh?” Rutherford blinked as two, torpedo-shaped bodies suddenly shot into Sickbay through one of the large bulkhead breaches. “What the heck was that?”
“Oh great, we are in Sickbay,” The sleek, pointed gray face of Crewperson Paikea popped out of the water and took in her surroundings. “I told you we should have taken a left at the last corridor.”
“It was blocked off and covered with roots and vines,” Ensign Matao appeared next to her. “We would have needed to stop and cut our way through it with phasers.”
“Better to lose a few minutes on the correct route than get caught in a dead-end on the wrong one,” Paikea pointed out.
“How was I supposed to know that bulkhead would suddenly collapse and suck us into the undertow?” Matao defended. “I am a scientist, not a precog!”
“Uh, excuse me?” Rutherford addressed the two bottlenose dolphins who had fallen into the room. “A little help here?”
“AGGGHHH! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!” T’Ana shrieked pounding her fists on the ceiling.
“Doctor? Ensign?” Paikea and Matao finally noticed them. “Are you two alright?”
“For the moment,” Rutherford gulped as the water level reached his waist. “But not for much longer!”
“GAAAHHH! THE WATER! THE WATER!” T’Ana screamed aquaphobically. “WAHHH, IT TOUCHED MY BOOT!”
“Look, we have to shut down the tractor beam and stop more terraforming fluid from reaching the Cerritos,” Matao said. “Before we lost internal communications Commander Ransom reported bridge controls were not responding so Lieutenant Yuna ordered all Cetacean Ops personnel to pair off and try to reach Auxiliary Control.”
“Everyone except herself and Dulae,” Paikea added. “They are too big to safely navigate through the ship’s corridors under these conditions.”
“Can’t someone just transport to Auxiliary Control?” Rutherford asked.
“Transporters are down too,” Matao informed him. “We had to go the long way.”
“And now we are stuck here,” Paikea glanced around the flooded Sickbay. “There does not seem to be any way out.”
“Yes there is!” Rutherford realized pointing at a submerged section of bulkhead. “The Jefferies tubes!”
“Of course!” Paikea clicked. “Great idea, sir!”
“Are you sure?” Matao eyed the entrance to the maintenance crawlway warily. “It will be a pretty tight fit.”
“I don’t think we have a choice,” Rutherford pointed out as the water level neared his shoulders.
“You are right,” Matao nodded as everyone moved toward the hatch. “Ensign, you go with Paikea. Doctor, you are with me.”
“NO! I WON’T GO! I CAN’T GO!” T’Ana shrieked in utter terror. “NOT IN THE WATER! I’LL DROWN! I’LL DIE! I’LL GET WET!”
“You will be fine,” Paikea tried to assure her. “Matao will be with you the whole time. We will open hatches as we go so you will only remain completely underwater every few seconds…”
“AAAGGGHHHHHH! NO! NO! NO!” T’Ana screamed and thrashed about in complete panic.
“Yaaahhhhhh!” Rutherford yelped while trying not to get mauled. “Calm down, Doc! Uh, think of something soothing! Like work! The warp core! Diagnostic readings! Wave patterns!”
“GAAAHHHHHH! WAVES! TIDES! WATER! NOOOOOOOOO!” T’Ana wailed.
Suddenly, the ceiling above their heads erupted into a colorful array of strange, exotic flowers. One of them quickly grew and bloomed right in T’Ana’s face. “YAAAHHHHHH! GET IT AWAY FROM ME! GET IT…” She abruptly paused and took a deep breath. “Ooo, that’s good…”
“Huh?” Rutherford blinked as T’Ana stopped thrashing about. “Uh, you okay, Doc?”
“Oh yeah,” T’Ana purred breaking into a dreamy smile. “Everything’s just fine, baby!”
“What the?” Paikea blinked as T’Ana began to giggle. “Did the Doctor’s brain just burn out?”
“I hope not,” Rutherford gulped. “That’s one kind of computer I don’t know how to fix.”
“Hmmm, interesting,” Matao consulted the tricorder attached to his Taylor rig using a customized holographic interface. “Several of these alien plants are secreting a concentrated organic compound possessing various odoriferous properties. It is interacting with the doctor’s Caitian physiology in a similar way nepetalactone affects many species of native Earth felids.”
“Meaning?” Paikea asked.
“Apparently Doctor T’Ana is under the influence of highly concentrated alien catnip,” Matao explained. “Or whatever the Caitian equivalent is.”
“Aw, look at all the pretty colors,” T’Ana blinked and playfully pawed at the air. “Oooo, rainbows. Lalalalala!”
“O-kay, I was not expecting that,” Rutherford blinked. “Can we please leave now?”
“Right,” Matao nodded. “Grab a fin and breathe deep!”
“Ouch,” Paikea winced as T’Ana lazily dug her claws into Matao’s flesh. “Doesn’t that hurt?”
“No, the punctures are just superficial,” Matao checked to make sure Rutherford was securely grasping on to Paikea before diving and opening the hatch to the Jefferies tube. “Hold on!”
WHOOOOOOSSSHHH!
“Aaahhhhhh!” Rutherford yelled as the water pressure shot the team of dolphins and humanoids through the Jefferies tubes like bats out of heck.
“Watch out!” Matao quickly opened the next hatch.
“Look at me! I’m flying! Wheeeeee!” T’Ana bubbled happily.
“Left!” Paikea called out.
“Yaaahhh!” Rutherford gurgled as they zoomed around a tight turn.
“Right!” Paikea skillfully avoided caroming into the bulkheads.
“Air pocket!” Matao alerted everyone to take a breath.
“Hahaha…gahhh!” T’Ana gagged swallowing some water.
“Down!” Paikea dove through a vertical tube.
This is insane! Rutherford screamed in his head while feeling like he was flying through a crazed, overgrown waterslide. But it is so cool!
Plooossshhh!
“We are here!” Matao announced zipping through the final hatchway. “Auxiliary Control.”
“And it does not seem to have been affected by the terraforming fluid,” Paikea noted exiting after him. “At least not yet.”
“Ooo, what a ride,” T’Ana smiled floating on her back. “Look! I can make bubbles!”
“That’s nice, Doc,” Matao and Rutherford moved to the control panels as Paikea resealed the hatch. “Okay, the tractor beam has been disengaged.”
“And about time too,” Rutherford studied the readings. “We nearly blew out every emitter circuit on the ship. And I thought the tractor beam fluctuations were wild before…uh oh,” He blinked at a certain set of data. “We have another problem.”
“What now?” Paikea swam over to them.
“The Merced’s unexpected maneuvers caused a sudden towing imbalance resulting in instabilities in both ship’s translational momentums,” Rutherford reported. “The Cerritos’ engines weren’t able to full compensate for it.”
“Meaning?” Matao pressed.
“The generation ship is now moving at a greater velocity relative to the Cerritos,” Rutherford gulped. “In less than a minute it’s going to ram right into us!”
“What?” Paikea squeaked.
“Wheee!” T’Ana happily skipped around the semi-flooded room. “Flowers and sparkly, fluffy baby tribbles for everyone!”
“We need to move out of the way of the generation ship,” Matao moved towards the auxiliary helm controls.
“Can’t. All engines and thrusters are offline,” Rutherford reported.
“Can the Merced provide any assistance?” Matao asked.
“I think so. Their tractor beam is still engaged…oh man! It just cut off!” Rutherford yelped. “The terraforming fluid must have finally engulfed their emitters.”
“What about decompressing one of the shuttlebays?” Paikea suggested. “The atmospheric ejection would provide significant thrust.”
“The ship is not oriented correctly,” Matao shook his head. “Even if it was, we would require either more time or an additional source of repulsive force.”
“That’s it!” Rutherford exclaimed. “We can convert the tractor beam into a repulsor beam and use it to push us away from the generation ship!”
“Is that even possible?” Paikea asked skeptically.
“Oh sure. They did it on the Enterprise once,” Rutherford rapidly worked the control panel. “Now what was the sequence again? Disengage the main lead, split off at the force activator…”
“Balloons! Balloons! Wheeeeee!” T’Ana giggled splashing about and making bubbles.
“Impact in twenty seconds,” Matao warned. “Nineteen…eighteen…”
“Reverse power leads fields and back through the force activator,” Rutherford finished the configurations with a grin. “Engaging repulsor beam against the generation ship!”
RUMBLE!
“It is working,” Matao monitored the ship’s progress. “The Cerritos is matching the generation ship’s relative velocity. Vectors are aligning…there! The Cerritos’ relative velocity is now greater than that of the generation ship. Collision no longer imminent!”
“Great work, sir!” Paikea clicked.
“Aw, thanks,” Rutherford smiled modestly. “Disengaging repulsor beam…ahhh!”
“Look out!” Matao warned as a mass of alien plant life began terraforming Auxiliary Control.
“Yikes!” Paikea barely avoided being impaled by a giant ice spike.
“Ooo, such pretty flowers,” T’Ana cooed riding a blossom-covered branch above the water. “And they smell soooooo good. Mmmm!”
“Aaahhhhhh! Not again!” Rutherford yelped shielding himself with his arms.
HISSSSSSSSS!
“Huh?” Matao blinked as the room was suddenly flooded with a cloud of parizene gas. It engulfed the encroaching alien terraformations and immediately reverted them all to large splotches of unreactive goo. “What is going on?”
“Someone must have found a way to reverse the terraforming effects,” Paikea realized checking a display. “All ship systems are returning to normal operations.”
“I am Queen of the Butterflies!” T’Ana pawed at the air while laughing maniacally. “Pew! Pew! Pew!”
“Most of them anyway,” Paikea corrected.
“What about the hull?” Matao looked concerned. “The terraforming fluid must have dissolved or damaged significant sections of it.”
“Ship’s structural integrity is holding and emergency forcefields are in place,” Rutherford reported. “Looks like the terraforming fluid mostly saturated the ship’s structure instead of replacing it. Spars of rock, crystals, plants and ice grew on surfaces instead of within them.”
“Well that is convenient,” Paikea noted. “Otherwise the most of the crew would have been sucked out into space by now.”
“Strange that none of the extra water reverted back to terraforming fluid,” Rutherford stared at the flooded Auxiliary Control Room. The water level was about level with his thighs. “All the other forms of alien ecosystem did.”
“Possibly because of water’s polar, inorganic nature,” Matao suggested. “We can vent any extra water out the ship’s airlocks.”
“No need to rush,” Paikea smiled. “I like the ship like this. We should flood sections of it with water more often.”
“Uh, I don’t know if I’d go that far,” Rutherford coughed.
“Butterfly in the sky! I can go twice as high!” T’Ana giggled.
“Why is Doctor T’Ana still under the affects from being exposed to the alien plants?” Rutherford asked.
“The organic aromatic compounds were already in her system,” Matao gave the dolphin equivalent of a shrug. “We will just have to wait for the doctor to get over the euphoric effects on her own.”
“It may only take a few minutes,” Paikea suggested. “Or a few hours. Or a few days…”
“Hey, cutie! Dance with me!” T’Ana giggled grabbing Rutherford.
“Ahhh! Doc! Let go!” Rutherford yelped as T’Ana swept him off his feet. “Ow! Get off my foot! Gahhh! No dipping! No dipping!”
“Hmmm, we should really acquire a sample of that alien plant life from the generation ship,” Matao smiled watching the two humanoids waltz around the flooded room. “It will be useful the next time Doctor T’Ana needs to lighten up.”
“Right after I made a copy of Auxiliary Control’s internal visual log,” Paikea grinned working a control panel. “This will make a great addition to the next ship’s talent night!”
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Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek: Lower Decks or the theme song for Reading Rainbow.
