Rachel Liu found it uncomfortable sitting in the command arena. She felt exposed and out in the open. The centre of the Bridge had two seats; one for the Captain and the other for the First Officer so she had opted for the former. They were on a mission to locate and rescue Commander Kellogg, so she didn’t want to take Laura’s seat and give the impression that she was expecting the worst. Liu had to hope that Kellogg was alright—she was missing, nothing more.
Oranis glanced over her shoulder. “Lieutenant Commander, we are approaching the fifth planet.”
Liu nodded at the pilot and slowly rose. “Take us out of warp. One half impulse, then move into a high orbit.” The Betazoid turned back to her controls and Liu looked up at Tactical. “Lieutenant, scan for ships in the area.” She turned to her customary station on the opposite side of the Bridge, currently manned by Lieutenant JG Lessing. “Noah, begin sweeps of the planet.”
“Commander, I’ve got four small ships in orbit around the southern hemisphere,” stated Burke. “I’m showing between twenty and thirty lifesigns on each, as well as multiple weapon ports.”
She stepped closer to the Security Chief. “What kind of weaponry?”
“I’m not entirely sure, sir. Possibly some kind of plasma-based disruptors. Our shields should hold against them, though I couldn’t say for how long.”
“What are they doing?”
“It looks like they’re just scanning us for now. No sign of them charging weapons or powering any other systems.”
“Commander,” Lessing called out from the science console, “I’m picking up a settlement on the southern hemisphere. Approximately three hundred humanoids, identical to the crew of those ships. No signs of any humans, or of Commander Kellogg’s combadge.”
“Approaching high orbit,” Oranis announced.
An alert signalled from tactical. “The ships are powering their engines and moving towards us.”
“Mr Zrey, hail them.”
“Aye sir,” the Bolian replied and quickly inputted the commands. After several seconds he looked back at her. “They are responding.”
“On screen.”
The viewscreen switched from the image of the four hook-like ships with the desert planet behind them, to the dark and shadowy interior with a single man filling the screen. His skin was darkly tanned and leathery, his hair was dry and spiked, with some beading through it, whilst there was a heavy bony ridge running down the middle of his forehead and several days worth of stubble on his chin.
“I am Lieutenant Commander Rachel Liu, of the Federation starship Equinox. We mean you no harm. We are here looking for a member of our crew, who we believe may have been transported to this planet from the nearby space station.”
“This is Second Maje Darza of the Kazon Nakarin. You have violated our territory. Surrender your vessel.”
Liu’s heart pounded in her chest as the man’s wild eyes bore into her. She forced herself not to shy away from him; there was no telling how aggressive these Kazon Nakarin were. Her mind was a blank. She was a scientist; diplomacy and tactical combat were far from her area of expertise—they were respectively Captain Sokell and Commander Kellogg’s specialities. But now the crew were relying on her to step up to the plate.
“Second Maje, we merely wish to scan for our missing officer. After that we will depart this system. We have no quarrel with you.”
“Surrender or we will destroy you.”
She had a moment’s pause then looked down at Zrey. “End transmission,” she told the Bolian. She then looked up at tactical and called out, her voice wavering, “Red alert! All hands to battlestations.”
The lighting dimmed, the alert panels flashed and the klaxons sounded as the muscles in her shoulders and neck tensed and her stomach churned. She moved closer to Lessing. “Anything?”
He looked over at her and shook his head. “I’ve run a thorough scan of the surface, but not found anything so I’m starting on subterranean sweeps, down to five miles. So far there aren’t any signs of subterranean caves or structures.”
“How long will you need?”
“Six minutes, maybe seven.”
She turned back to the viewscreen and the four ugly ships, moving into an attack formation. “Oranis, I need you to buy us seven minutes whilst we scan the surface. Evasive manoeuvres are at your discretion. Burke, tactical status.”
“Shields are at maximum. Phasers charged. Both forward launchers loaded and ready,” he checked a readout on his monitor. “All decks report ready.”
Liu moved back to the Captain’s vacant chair and eased into it. “Attack pattern Sierra-Two, target weapons only. Hold your fire until they shoot first.”
“Aye sir,” Burke and Oranis replied in unison.
On the viewer, the four ships loomed closer as the Equinox moved in to fight. Liu gripped the armrests of the chair tightly, making her knuckles turn white. Suddenly, there was a flash from the lead ship and twin disruptor beams slammed into their shields. The deck lurched hard under the assault; everyone on the Bridge gripped their consoles. Fortunately there were no explosions or alarms.
“Shields at ninety-four percent,” stated Burke.
“Return fire!”
A quick succession of ruby red phaser beams lanced out from the Equinox’s dorsal arrays, each one finding its target. But as they fired, so too did the four Kazon Nakarin ships. Each blow hit them hard, shaking the small surveyor and buffeting the crew within.
Liu watched the viewscreen as the image suddenly shifted, the hostile ships disappearing to port. She glanced at the conn, where Oranis was quickly imputing a series of commands and moving the ship clear of the main assault. But the Kazon Nakarin quickly reacquired their target and the deck shook again.
“Shields down to seventy-seven percent,” Zrey announced his voice tense. The deck pitched hard to port, quickly followed by an alert from ops. “A plasma conduit has ruptured on deck five. Rerouting power flow to compensate.”
“Status of the Kazon ships.”
“Two ships—including the lead vessel—have minor shield damage, one has taken moderate shield damage, but the fourth is unharmed,” Burked called out. “Commander, I’d say that we’re seriously outgunned.”
“Noah?”
“I need another four minutes, Commander.”
Liu turned back to the forward monitor, just as the Equinox buckled under the combined fire of three ships. A couple of alarms sounded from different consoles.
“Hull breach, deck three!” a startled Zrey called out.
“They’ve hit an impulse manifold, we’re losing power to the engines,” stated Ensign Gilmore from the engineering station.
“Can you bypass?”
“Attempting to now, Commander. Standby.”
“Oranis, switch to thrusters. Do the best you can,” she glanced at Burke. “Lock torpedoes.”
“Locked on.”
“Fire.”
Burke tapped the control. Liu watched as two photon torpedoes shot out from the launchers at the front of the saucer and arched towards the Kazon ships, impacting on two separate targets in a blaze of fierce energy. One of the ships that had been hit pulled back and moved further away, whilst the second was set adrift.
“Direct hits. One ship has lost main power, the other has taken damage—it looks like their weapons array was hit!” Zrey stated, sounding triumphant.
Liu had to admit she shared his sentiments; two against one was substantially better odds. But before she could congratulate Burke on his work, the Equinox pitched to starboard as the two remaining ship intensified their fire and an alert sounded from the science console.
Gripping onto the chair, Liu looked up at Lessing, feeling hopeful that he had found something. “Report.”
“Three other Kazon ships are leaving the atmosphere, sir! Weapons range in thirty-five seconds.”
“Any sign of the Commander?”
“Not so far, but I still need more time.”
“Commander,” Burke interrupted, “we can’t take on five ships with depleted shields.”
“Ready another volley of torpedoes, Lieutenant.”
“We’ve only got eighteen left, and no way to replace them once they’re gone,” he informed her. “I recommend we withdraw.”
Liu felt torn, between what she wanted and what she knew she should do. But they were so close. Laura was down there somewhere. Liu couldn’t give up on her—she never would. The Equinox was hammered again, causing one of the vacant consoles to erupt in a shower of sparks.
Burke looked away from her and back to his console, just long enough to report, “Shields at forty-nine percent.”
“I can’t bypass impulse power, failure in thirty seconds,” stated Gilmore.
Liu looked from Burke to Lessing to Gilmore, then closed her eyes for a second, before glancing at Oranis. “Conn, plot a course back to the station—”
“Commander, the two ships are moving in to cut off our escape route.”
“Ensign, evasives. Is there anything close by we could use for cover?”
“The second planet is a Class-J gas giant, dense concentrations of methane, ammonia, hydrogen, phosphorous and xerathine. There is also a small Mutara-Class nebula outside the system,” stated Lessing. “I’d recommend the nebula, it’s obscuring our sensors.”
“Three ships in weapons range in nine seconds,” said Zrey.
“Adayna, set your course for the nebula. Maximum warp.”
It took the Betazoid only a couple of seconds to enter the command. “Course and speed set.”
“Engage!”
In a heartbeat the Equinox leapt into warp, leaving the planet and the five active warships behind. Before she could contemplate the fact that they had left Laura behind, were facing off against a powerful and very aggressive alien race on the other side of the galaxy, an alert sounded from ops.
“The Kazon Nakarin ships are in pursuit, warp eight and increasing.”
“Time to the nebula?”
“Fifty-four seconds,” Oranis replied.
“They’ll be on us in twenty,” Zrey added.
“All power to aft shields and structural integrity. Bridge to Engineering.”
“Garibaldi, go ahead.”
“Lucian, we need more power to the engines.”
“I’ll give it all we’ve got. Engineering out.”
Liu racked her brain to think of something more she could do. But with their defences and engines being seen to, there was nothing more that could be done but wait and see what happened—and hope that they didn’t take too much damage before they reached the nebula.
“Warp power increased by eleven percent. I can get us up to eight-point-four,” Oranis announced.
“Do it.”
“Intercept in eleven seconds,” stated Zrey. “Nebula in thirty-seven.”
A few moments passed then there was an urgent chirp from tactical. She glanced up at Burke. Studying the display he called back, “They are loading torpedoes. Plasma-based it looks like.” Seconds later there was a proximity alert. “Incoming.”
The Equinox jerked and jolted almost a half dozen times. Liu gripped the armrests and gritted her teeth against each direct hit. They were only twenty seconds away from safety. Their shields just needed to hold out a little longer.
Amidst the torpedo barrage, Burke kept track of their shield status, which dropped steadily from their reinforced fifty-seven percent. He had just reached thirty-two percent when there was a particularly brutal impact and the ship buckled hard. An instant later, there was the high pitched whine of an energy build up coming from in front of her. But before Liu or anyone else could make a move, there was a sudden roar and blinding flash of sparks erupted from the conn.
She managed to throw her hands up and shield her face from the fiery onslaught, but Ensign Adayna Oranis wasn’t so fortunate. By the time Liu looked back at the forward consoles, the young Betazoid was sprawled on the deck, her face, neck and chest covered in fatal burns. Zrey, who’d been sitting next to her, had been blown back by the explosion but had been shielded from the worst of it by Oranis’ body. He was gingerly getting to his feet, clutching his right arm as he got back to his post. Liu couldn’t take her eyes off of the once bright, promising young officer.
“Dorsal shields have collapsed,” Burke roared over the constant din and rattling of torpedo impacts.
“Hull breach on deck two, section eleven. We have multiple overloads and power failures throughout the saucer,” Gilmore added, her voice hoarse.
Liu tore her eyes away from the latest body and looked up towards mission ops. “Chief Plaq’or, reroute helm controls. Keep us on course. Time to the nebula?”
“Nine seconds,” Lessing called out.
“Standby to drop out of warp. Scan for the densest region and set a course, best possible speed.”
“Aye sir,” the relief flight controller replied.
As they neared the nebula the ship lulled forward as they dropped to impulse—the inertial dampeners must’ve taken damage at some point. The swirling mass of gas and dust filled the viewscreen in hues of purple and pink, with the occasional flash from energy discharges. Mutara-Class nebulas were notoriously hard to chart and navigate, due to the problems they caused with the majority of shipboard systems, most stayed away from them. They did however make excellent hiding places, which was just what the Equinox needed into order to tend to its wounds.
Three more torpedoes slammed into what little shields they had left, before they vanished into the depths of the nebula and were obscured from the Kazon’s targeting sensors. An uneasy silence descended on the Bridge as the crew waited with baited breath, seeing what their attackers might do next. A full five minutes passed before Liu slowly stood up.
“Chief, evasive course corrections. Keep us hidden, but make sure we’re not on a straight line from our entry point.”
“Acknowledged.”
“I want a full damage assessment and casualty report, all decks.”
Quickly, the crew set to work compiling all the necessary data and reports. Rachel Liu moved down to where Ensign Oranis lay, tucked her arms under the petite woman’s shoulders and behind her knees, then hefted up her slim body and headed towards the turbolift. Zrey, whose arm was burnt by the explosion, watched her intently as she saw to the youngest officer aboard (Oranis would have been twenty-two next month). Slowly, everyone on the Bridge became aware of her, then, as one, they all got to their feet as a mark of respect.
Liu entered the turbolift and ordered it down to deck three, then onto Sickbay and into the morgue. It was only after she had laid the conn officer’s body to rest in the drawer that she allowed the tears to flow, not just for Oranis or Sokell and the others who had died, but for Laura Kellogg, the woman she loved, who she had forsaken on a barren planet at the hands of savages, who was counting on Liu to rescue her.
She leaned against the bank of drawers for support, before her knees gave out and she slid to the deck, where she silently wept.
* * * * *
Oranis glanced over her shoulder. “Lieutenant Commander, we are approaching the fifth planet.”
Liu nodded at the pilot and slowly rose. “Take us out of warp. One half impulse, then move into a high orbit.” The Betazoid turned back to her controls and Liu looked up at Tactical. “Lieutenant, scan for ships in the area.” She turned to her customary station on the opposite side of the Bridge, currently manned by Lieutenant JG Lessing. “Noah, begin sweeps of the planet.”
“Commander, I’ve got four small ships in orbit around the southern hemisphere,” stated Burke. “I’m showing between twenty and thirty lifesigns on each, as well as multiple weapon ports.”
She stepped closer to the Security Chief. “What kind of weaponry?”
“I’m not entirely sure, sir. Possibly some kind of plasma-based disruptors. Our shields should hold against them, though I couldn’t say for how long.”
“What are they doing?”
“It looks like they’re just scanning us for now. No sign of them charging weapons or powering any other systems.”
“Commander,” Lessing called out from the science console, “I’m picking up a settlement on the southern hemisphere. Approximately three hundred humanoids, identical to the crew of those ships. No signs of any humans, or of Commander Kellogg’s combadge.”
“Approaching high orbit,” Oranis announced.
An alert signalled from tactical. “The ships are powering their engines and moving towards us.”
“Mr Zrey, hail them.”
“Aye sir,” the Bolian replied and quickly inputted the commands. After several seconds he looked back at her. “They are responding.”
“On screen.”
The viewscreen switched from the image of the four hook-like ships with the desert planet behind them, to the dark and shadowy interior with a single man filling the screen. His skin was darkly tanned and leathery, his hair was dry and spiked, with some beading through it, whilst there was a heavy bony ridge running down the middle of his forehead and several days worth of stubble on his chin.
“I am Lieutenant Commander Rachel Liu, of the Federation starship Equinox. We mean you no harm. We are here looking for a member of our crew, who we believe may have been transported to this planet from the nearby space station.”
“This is Second Maje Darza of the Kazon Nakarin. You have violated our territory. Surrender your vessel.”
Liu’s heart pounded in her chest as the man’s wild eyes bore into her. She forced herself not to shy away from him; there was no telling how aggressive these Kazon Nakarin were. Her mind was a blank. She was a scientist; diplomacy and tactical combat were far from her area of expertise—they were respectively Captain Sokell and Commander Kellogg’s specialities. But now the crew were relying on her to step up to the plate.
“Second Maje, we merely wish to scan for our missing officer. After that we will depart this system. We have no quarrel with you.”
“Surrender or we will destroy you.”
She had a moment’s pause then looked down at Zrey. “End transmission,” she told the Bolian. She then looked up at tactical and called out, her voice wavering, “Red alert! All hands to battlestations.”
The lighting dimmed, the alert panels flashed and the klaxons sounded as the muscles in her shoulders and neck tensed and her stomach churned. She moved closer to Lessing. “Anything?”
He looked over at her and shook his head. “I’ve run a thorough scan of the surface, but not found anything so I’m starting on subterranean sweeps, down to five miles. So far there aren’t any signs of subterranean caves or structures.”
“How long will you need?”
“Six minutes, maybe seven.”
She turned back to the viewscreen and the four ugly ships, moving into an attack formation. “Oranis, I need you to buy us seven minutes whilst we scan the surface. Evasive manoeuvres are at your discretion. Burke, tactical status.”
“Shields are at maximum. Phasers charged. Both forward launchers loaded and ready,” he checked a readout on his monitor. “All decks report ready.”
Liu moved back to the Captain’s vacant chair and eased into it. “Attack pattern Sierra-Two, target weapons only. Hold your fire until they shoot first.”
“Aye sir,” Burke and Oranis replied in unison.
On the viewer, the four ships loomed closer as the Equinox moved in to fight. Liu gripped the armrests of the chair tightly, making her knuckles turn white. Suddenly, there was a flash from the lead ship and twin disruptor beams slammed into their shields. The deck lurched hard under the assault; everyone on the Bridge gripped their consoles. Fortunately there were no explosions or alarms.
“Shields at ninety-four percent,” stated Burke.
“Return fire!”
A quick succession of ruby red phaser beams lanced out from the Equinox’s dorsal arrays, each one finding its target. But as they fired, so too did the four Kazon Nakarin ships. Each blow hit them hard, shaking the small surveyor and buffeting the crew within.
Liu watched the viewscreen as the image suddenly shifted, the hostile ships disappearing to port. She glanced at the conn, where Oranis was quickly imputing a series of commands and moving the ship clear of the main assault. But the Kazon Nakarin quickly reacquired their target and the deck shook again.
“Shields down to seventy-seven percent,” Zrey announced his voice tense. The deck pitched hard to port, quickly followed by an alert from ops. “A plasma conduit has ruptured on deck five. Rerouting power flow to compensate.”
“Status of the Kazon ships.”
“Two ships—including the lead vessel—have minor shield damage, one has taken moderate shield damage, but the fourth is unharmed,” Burked called out. “Commander, I’d say that we’re seriously outgunned.”
“Noah?”
“I need another four minutes, Commander.”
Liu turned back to the forward monitor, just as the Equinox buckled under the combined fire of three ships. A couple of alarms sounded from different consoles.
“Hull breach, deck three!” a startled Zrey called out.
“They’ve hit an impulse manifold, we’re losing power to the engines,” stated Ensign Gilmore from the engineering station.
“Can you bypass?”
“Attempting to now, Commander. Standby.”
“Oranis, switch to thrusters. Do the best you can,” she glanced at Burke. “Lock torpedoes.”
“Locked on.”
“Fire.”
Burke tapped the control. Liu watched as two photon torpedoes shot out from the launchers at the front of the saucer and arched towards the Kazon ships, impacting on two separate targets in a blaze of fierce energy. One of the ships that had been hit pulled back and moved further away, whilst the second was set adrift.
“Direct hits. One ship has lost main power, the other has taken damage—it looks like their weapons array was hit!” Zrey stated, sounding triumphant.
Liu had to admit she shared his sentiments; two against one was substantially better odds. But before she could congratulate Burke on his work, the Equinox pitched to starboard as the two remaining ship intensified their fire and an alert sounded from the science console.
Gripping onto the chair, Liu looked up at Lessing, feeling hopeful that he had found something. “Report.”
“Three other Kazon ships are leaving the atmosphere, sir! Weapons range in thirty-five seconds.”
“Any sign of the Commander?”
“Not so far, but I still need more time.”
“Commander,” Burke interrupted, “we can’t take on five ships with depleted shields.”
“Ready another volley of torpedoes, Lieutenant.”
“We’ve only got eighteen left, and no way to replace them once they’re gone,” he informed her. “I recommend we withdraw.”
Liu felt torn, between what she wanted and what she knew she should do. But they were so close. Laura was down there somewhere. Liu couldn’t give up on her—she never would. The Equinox was hammered again, causing one of the vacant consoles to erupt in a shower of sparks.
Burke looked away from her and back to his console, just long enough to report, “Shields at forty-nine percent.”
“I can’t bypass impulse power, failure in thirty seconds,” stated Gilmore.
Liu looked from Burke to Lessing to Gilmore, then closed her eyes for a second, before glancing at Oranis. “Conn, plot a course back to the station—”
“Commander, the two ships are moving in to cut off our escape route.”
“Ensign, evasives. Is there anything close by we could use for cover?”
“The second planet is a Class-J gas giant, dense concentrations of methane, ammonia, hydrogen, phosphorous and xerathine. There is also a small Mutara-Class nebula outside the system,” stated Lessing. “I’d recommend the nebula, it’s obscuring our sensors.”
“Three ships in weapons range in nine seconds,” said Zrey.
“Adayna, set your course for the nebula. Maximum warp.”
It took the Betazoid only a couple of seconds to enter the command. “Course and speed set.”
“Engage!”
In a heartbeat the Equinox leapt into warp, leaving the planet and the five active warships behind. Before she could contemplate the fact that they had left Laura behind, were facing off against a powerful and very aggressive alien race on the other side of the galaxy, an alert sounded from ops.
“The Kazon Nakarin ships are in pursuit, warp eight and increasing.”
“Time to the nebula?”
“Fifty-four seconds,” Oranis replied.
“They’ll be on us in twenty,” Zrey added.
“All power to aft shields and structural integrity. Bridge to Engineering.”
“Garibaldi, go ahead.”
“Lucian, we need more power to the engines.”
“I’ll give it all we’ve got. Engineering out.”
Liu racked her brain to think of something more she could do. But with their defences and engines being seen to, there was nothing more that could be done but wait and see what happened—and hope that they didn’t take too much damage before they reached the nebula.
“Warp power increased by eleven percent. I can get us up to eight-point-four,” Oranis announced.
“Do it.”
“Intercept in eleven seconds,” stated Zrey. “Nebula in thirty-seven.”
A few moments passed then there was an urgent chirp from tactical. She glanced up at Burke. Studying the display he called back, “They are loading torpedoes. Plasma-based it looks like.” Seconds later there was a proximity alert. “Incoming.”
The Equinox jerked and jolted almost a half dozen times. Liu gripped the armrests and gritted her teeth against each direct hit. They were only twenty seconds away from safety. Their shields just needed to hold out a little longer.
Amidst the torpedo barrage, Burke kept track of their shield status, which dropped steadily from their reinforced fifty-seven percent. He had just reached thirty-two percent when there was a particularly brutal impact and the ship buckled hard. An instant later, there was the high pitched whine of an energy build up coming from in front of her. But before Liu or anyone else could make a move, there was a sudden roar and blinding flash of sparks erupted from the conn.
She managed to throw her hands up and shield her face from the fiery onslaught, but Ensign Adayna Oranis wasn’t so fortunate. By the time Liu looked back at the forward consoles, the young Betazoid was sprawled on the deck, her face, neck and chest covered in fatal burns. Zrey, who’d been sitting next to her, had been blown back by the explosion but had been shielded from the worst of it by Oranis’ body. He was gingerly getting to his feet, clutching his right arm as he got back to his post. Liu couldn’t take her eyes off of the once bright, promising young officer.
“Dorsal shields have collapsed,” Burke roared over the constant din and rattling of torpedo impacts.
“Hull breach on deck two, section eleven. We have multiple overloads and power failures throughout the saucer,” Gilmore added, her voice hoarse.
Liu tore her eyes away from the latest body and looked up towards mission ops. “Chief Plaq’or, reroute helm controls. Keep us on course. Time to the nebula?”
“Nine seconds,” Lessing called out.
“Standby to drop out of warp. Scan for the densest region and set a course, best possible speed.”
“Aye sir,” the relief flight controller replied.
As they neared the nebula the ship lulled forward as they dropped to impulse—the inertial dampeners must’ve taken damage at some point. The swirling mass of gas and dust filled the viewscreen in hues of purple and pink, with the occasional flash from energy discharges. Mutara-Class nebulas were notoriously hard to chart and navigate, due to the problems they caused with the majority of shipboard systems, most stayed away from them. They did however make excellent hiding places, which was just what the Equinox needed into order to tend to its wounds.
Three more torpedoes slammed into what little shields they had left, before they vanished into the depths of the nebula and were obscured from the Kazon’s targeting sensors. An uneasy silence descended on the Bridge as the crew waited with baited breath, seeing what their attackers might do next. A full five minutes passed before Liu slowly stood up.
“Chief, evasive course corrections. Keep us hidden, but make sure we’re not on a straight line from our entry point.”
“Acknowledged.”
“I want a full damage assessment and casualty report, all decks.”
Quickly, the crew set to work compiling all the necessary data and reports. Rachel Liu moved down to where Ensign Oranis lay, tucked her arms under the petite woman’s shoulders and behind her knees, then hefted up her slim body and headed towards the turbolift. Zrey, whose arm was burnt by the explosion, watched her intently as she saw to the youngest officer aboard (Oranis would have been twenty-two next month). Slowly, everyone on the Bridge became aware of her, then, as one, they all got to their feet as a mark of respect.
Liu entered the turbolift and ordered it down to deck three, then onto Sickbay and into the morgue. It was only after she had laid the conn officer’s body to rest in the drawer that she allowed the tears to flow, not just for Oranis or Sokell and the others who had died, but for Laura Kellogg, the woman she loved, who she had forsaken on a barren planet at the hands of savages, who was counting on Liu to rescue her.
She leaned against the bank of drawers for support, before her knees gave out and she slid to the deck, where she silently wept.
* * * * *
