Chapter 13
Bridge
USS Redemption
''Damage report!"
Jasto struggled to stay in his seat, one hand gripping the chair while with the other he tried to pull up the necessary information on his readout. Another explosion rocked the ship, whipping his head back.
"Hull breaches on decks eleven through fifteen,” he shouted over the sound of screaming metal. “Engineering reports that the impulse engines have suffered severe damage to their primary relays. We've lost forward shields and..."
Dax felt the deck buckle beneath him, as if some unseen hand had grabbed the ship and shaken it, hard. A relay running under the deck exploded, venting smoke and flames into the air. All the lights on the bridge flickered out, and the holographic illusion of space vanished completely from the walls.
The heat seared his throat, making him cough. The UPS grid suddenly came to life and the emergency power systems sprang to life. Through the gloom, Dax saw Commander Kalara pick herself up from the deck, hair waving wildly around her face, blood on her lips. She reached up a hand and savagely wiped it away.
Another shock ran through the ship. "Evasive manoeuvres," Kalara ordered. There was no response.
Dax glanced over at Williams only to see her bloodied body lying prostrate on the deck. Just next to the fire caused by the burst power relay.
Oh no. He tried to get to his feet and help her. He was half out of his seat when he felt a strong hand on his shoulder and found himself forced back down.
"I'll take care of her," Commander Kalara said. "I need you to fly the ship."
Dax hesitated for a moment, and then he nodded, turning back to his holographic console. Thank the Pools of New Trill, the holographic command and control consoles all had their own power sources, which would keep them running despite the failure of the primary relays. He accessed the helm system, transferring control of the thrusters to his position.
As he did, he heard a voice whispering in the back of his mind. You left her to die. You did. You did the same as me. You're going to be punished.
Haebron's giggle sent shivers down Dax's spine. Not now, he prayed. Please, not now.
XXX
Kalara grabbed a medical kit from a wall console on her way to Lieutenant Williams’ side. With her headset on, she saw the starfield swerve suddenly as the ship narrowly avoiding a volley of torpedoes. How many damned torpedoes does that thing have?!
She reached her helmsman's side, stopping a few steps away and running a tricorder over her injuries. When the computer confirmed that there was no internal bleeding, she grabbed the girl's ankles and dragged her out of danger. Then she pulled a hypo from the kit, charging it full of bymexazine.
As she injected the stimulant into Williams' body, the ship slewed suddenly to port, then shuddered. Another explosion erupted, this time from above the Pit, and she heard a scream. The stench of burning flesh became almost overpowering.
“Report!”
“We’re dead in the water, Captain,” Dax said. “Main power is off line, we’ve lost helm control and weapons. But… I think we hit her, ma’am, with our last volley. She’s adrift.”
So are we. Kalara changed the settings on her viewfinder, revealing the Klingon cruiser spinning slowly through space behind them. She tapped her comm badge.
"Kalara to Lieutenant-Commander Ianto."
"Engineering here, Commander." She heard men yelling something about a fire behind him.
"I need main power back on line now, Ianto. We’re both drifting here, so the first one to get weapons or propulsion back on line is going to have the advantage."
"I'm doing everything I can, Commander."
"I know you are. Do more. Kalara out."
“Captain!” Dax’s voice rose over the sound of sirens that filled the bridge. “We’ve got incoming. Two, make that three ships arriving from the far side of the system on an intercept course. They’re…” He looked up, a grin on his face. “It’s Starfleet, ma’am.”
Kalara called up the information on her viewfinder. Three Starfleet attack ships, led by a Defiance­-class frigate, were headed for Redemption at full impulse speed.
“They’re hailing us.”
“Put them through, Lieutenant.”
A tall, striking Romulan woman appeared in Kalara’s viewfinder. She smiled. “This is Captain Tal’ydia of the Opalius. Sorry to be late, Captain, but as the humans like to say, better late than never.”
“I’m just happy to see you, Captain.”
“Yes, I can imagine you are. The other Klingon ships have been taken care of. From what I can see, you’re both dead in space. It looks like you took quite a…”
“Captain!”
Kalara looked over at L’wynd. “The Klingon cruiser seems to have regained helm and thruster control. They’ve engaged their impulse drive and they’re… They’ve set a collision course.”
Shit! “Did you hear that Captain?”
Tal’ydia was already looking away to someone on her own bridge. When she looked back at Kalara, she did not look happy. “According to our best estimates, the Klingon ship will impact with yours fifteen seconds before we reach you.”
Kalara took a moment to digest the information. “I understand. Would you excuse me for a moment, Captain?”
The Romulan nodded her head. Kalara cut the communication and turned to Dax. “Hail K’mpak.”
Moments later, the scarred general appeared on the viewfinder. He snarled. “You betrayed me, kapamai.” Kalara frowned. Kapamai was an old Klingon word. It meant spy. Had the fool lost his mind? “But you wished me to destroy that glorious ship of yours and that is what I’m going to do.”
“K’mpak, listen to me…”
“No! I will not listen to a traitor.”
“He cut the communication,” Dax said as K’mpak vanished. “They’re increasing speed.”
“Kalara to Ianto. If you’re going to bring back full power, now is the time to do it.”
“I’m sorry, Commander. There’s nothing I can do.”
Kalara would not allow herself to give in to despair. She forced herself to her feet and walked over to Dax, Q’sar and L’wynd. “Suggestions?”
All three of them refused to meet her eyes. “Gentlemen, this is our last chance. Unless we can come up with something in the next few moments, this ship and everyone on board is going to die.”
Silence. She was about to make one last attempt, when she saw Dax frown at his readout. “What is it, Lieutenant?”
“We’re being hailed again, Captain. It… The person says he is Captain Ba’el Sarine and he knows how to save the ship!”
Hornet-Class Starfighter
On approach to USS Redemption
Ba’el made sure that his suit was pumping enough oxygen into his helmet before shutting down life-support, throwing all of the power he could into the impulse drive. “Repeat, this is Captain Ba’el Sarine,” he shouted into the comm system, “and if you want to save that god-damned ship you’d better listen to me.”
In front of him, he could see the Klingon cruiser moving closer and closer, faster and faster, towards Redemption. His sensors had already confirmed the obvious – the Federation ships that had just arrived wouldn’t get there in time.
“Captain Sarine, this is Commander Kalara.”
“Finally,” Ba’el shouted. “It’s about time.”
“Lieutenant Dax says you know how to save the ship.”
“You have to engage the slipstream drive.”
“What?!” A male voice cut in. Ba’el guessed it was Lieutenant Dax. “That’s insane.”
“Captain, forgive me, but you must be kidding.”
“I wish people would stop saying that. Listen, if you engage your slipstream drive, it will create a quantum singularity right in front of your bow. Directly…”
“In the path of the Klingon ship,” Lieutenant Dax finished. “Cap- I mean Commander, he might be on to something.”
“No,” he heard Kalara say. “It is too dangerous. Not only would we be destroying General K’mpak’s ship, we would likely be destroying the Redemption as well.”
“I know it’s a risk, Commander, but it’s the only chance you have. It might just buy you the time you need for the other ships to reach you.”
“Or it might create a singularity that would engulf this whole system. We have no idea how the slipstream aperture might react under these conditions and…”
“Listen, we don’t have time to argue,” Ba’el snapped. “I am Captain of the Redemption and I’m telling you to engage your slipstream drive.”
“No!” This Kalara woman was really starting to piss him off.
“Are you refusing a direct order, Commander?”
“I don’t recognise your authority to give it, Captain.”
Fine, if that’s the way you want to play this… “Lieutenant Dax, this is your captain speaking. I know we’ve never met, but I’m sure you’ve been informed that Starfleet has placed me in command of the Redemption. I am ordering you to engage the slipstream drive.”
“Captain, I…”
“Lieutenant, that is a direct order.”
Kalara spoke over him. “Lieutenant, I am in command of the Redemption until Captain Sarine has been confirmed as captain through due process. And I am ordering you not to engage the drive.”
And the Klingon ship drew closer.
Bridge
USS Redemption
Jasto stared at the oncoming Klingon ship and tried desperately to think of another way. Haebron had begun to scream in his head, relegating Captain Sarine and Commander Kalara’s words to distant background noise. The Klingon ship grew larger and larger in his viewfinder. He could just see Astrid Williams’ broken body out of the corner of his eye, like a ghost come to haunt him.
“Listen, we don’t have time to argue,” Captain Sarine was saying. “I am Captain of the Redemption and I’m telling you to engage your slipstream drive.”
Jasto reacted on instinct, pulling up the command control for the slipstream drive and prepared to activate it. His hand was about to press the activation command when Kalara grabbed his arm.
“No!”
“Are you refusing a direct order, Commander?”
Jasto turned his face and saw her sneer. “I don’t recognise your authority to give it, Captain.”
“Lieutenant Dax, this is your captain speaking. I know we’ve never met, but I’m sure you know that Starfleet has placed me in command of the Redemption. I am ordering you to engage the slipstream drive.”
Even with over a dozen lifetimes of experience, the memories of leaders, healers, rebels, killers and counsellors to draw upon, he had no idea what to do. “Captain, I…”
“Lieutenant, this is a direct order.”
“Lieutenant, I am in command of the Redemption until Captain Sarine has been confirmed as captain through due process. And I am ordering you not to engage the drive.”
Jasto stared at his readout, the sound of Captain Sarine and Commander Kalara’s arguing fading away. It all came down to a choice – his choice. He could let the Klingon ship kill them, or he could take a chance. In his mind’s eye, he was Ezri Dax as she activated the self-destruct and guided the USS Titan towards the Dominion Battlecruiser that had just obliterated Trill. He was Lerin as he allowed Doctor Caemin to remove the symbiont before strapping a bomb to his chest and walking into the Vorta High Command on Khitomer. He was Jadzia, and Curzon, and Haebron, and Karina and all of them. They all spoke to him through Dax, telling him what he had to do, what it took to be a Dax.
Shaking off Kalara’s grip, he activated the drive.
Hornet-class Starfighter
On approach to USS Redemption
“Do you hear me, Lieutenant, activate the damned drive!”
As Ba’el’s words faded, blue light appeared suddenly from the bottom of the ship. The deflector array manipulated the quantum field on the sub-atomic level and projected it out towards the oncoming Klingon cruiser. Ba’el watched the light pierce the space in front of the ship and then it began to spin. From his vantage point, it looked like a rapidly revolving ball of white light, growing exponentially as it opened out like a swirling flower. The light turned blue, then crystallised into the aperture of a tunnel through subspace.
The Klingon cruiser struck the aperture from behind. The gravitational forces seized it like a giant seizing a rattle, shaking and shattering it. Ba’el could only stare as the cruiser broke up into a thousand pieces. Ripped apart.
You did it. He felt hollow. Empty. You did it again.
Bridge
USS Redemption
Dax stared in horror as the subspace tunnel tore the Klingon cruiser apart. Although this was the ship that had destroyed Starbase 2, had inflicted so much damage and killed so many of his fellow officers, never mind all of the civilians who had been serving aboard the station, the way that they had died was not something he would wish on anybody.
Beside him, he saw Kalara move. He looked up at her as she lifted her hand to strike him. They both stared at one another, caught in that moment like insects in amber. Finally, her hand fell back down without making impact. The look in her eyes, though, was enough. The hatred and disgust he saw there was unlike anything he had seen even in fifteen lifetimes.
Suddenly, her comm badge beeped. “Ianto to Kalara.”
“What is it Ianto?”
“The slipstream drive is out of control, Commander. Without main power, the safeguards have failed. That aperture is going to keep on growing unless we do something.”
“Are you saying we have to eject the core?”
“No, Commander. I’m saying that without main power, we can’t. Unless we find another solution, that aperture is going to destroy the ship and then it’s going to engulf this entire system.”
'Nerves of Neutronium'? LOL
Hope you enjoy it. And now for a little announcement...
)
Still, I'm very touched that you thought that this was that good. 
) You certainly aren't averse to kicking over the table, are you? Nicely done.
