Taken At The Flood
(Author’s Note: This is my first attempt at original fanfic. All the others that I have written which, honestly, aren’t that much were part of challenges, or were based off of the canon characters. Here’s hoping!
This is the first part of a story that introduces a character I’d like to write a series about, and takes place about the same time as the DS9 episode Once More Unto The Breach.)
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Sometimes I really hate having joined Starfleet.
That thought seemed to run through Elizabeth Choi’s mind more and more these days. Sitting by herself in the U.S.S Heisenberg’s crew lounge staring out the viewports, she mused to herself why that could be.
“Well, let’s see. For starters, it could be the fact that all I ever wanted to do was explore,” she muttered aloud. Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Choi. Anthropology and Communications student, science officer, and, because of the god-forsaken war, assigned to a covert listening post located in the middle of nowhere or, as official star charts called it, the Epsilon Mynos system. ”Observe and analyze the transmissions and messages,” you were told. “Too far inside the Federation for attack” they said. Well, Betazed sure proved Command wrong, and now this… Holding her glass of diet cola up, Elizabeth stared through the shining brown of the drink. The space outside the ship suddenly looked glimmering and polluted, like dark bronze smog. Those final hours at the Starfleet outpost on Epsilon Mynos VIII…
”Outpost Commander’s log, supplemental. The Heisenberg is supposed to be on its way, but based on the last message we got it could be 4 hours until it gets here. Quick summary so far, in case you haven’t or couldn’t follow: Outpost 346 was discovered by a small Dominion-Cardassian scout ship. We managed to destroy it using what little defenses were available, but a distress call went out. The scout ship managed to strafe the surface of the small planetoid, causing surface damage and playing merry hell with the tectonic plates. Every so often, we get hit with aftershocks. Since we’ve been revealed, I gave orders to arm all of the post personnel – all 8 of them, not counting me. A distress signal was sent out, and discontinued once we were contacted by the Heisenberg. The information stored in the computer core is being downloaded to three different memory storage units. Sensors and long-range communicators indicate that a Jem-Hadar fighter is en route, ETA 1 hour, with the crew a mix between Cardassians and Jem-Hadar. Joy. We’ll continue with our attempts to secure the information and stay alive until the arrival of the rescue ship. End log.”
Grimacing as she straightened up, having spent the past half hour prior to recording the log entry trying to find sensors that were still working and give them as much of a heads-up as possible, Elizabeth blew hair out of her face ineffectively. With a mental sigh, she closed the panel and walked through the small hallway towards the operations center of the outpost. Midway there another aftershock hit, and she almost collided with the wall. Getting her bearings, she bit back curses and tried to look through the fine shower of dust that always accompanied the aftershock, and resumed walking just as her commbadge chirped. ”Terrell to Choi.” It was the engineering officer assigned to the outpost, Lieutenant J.G. David Terrell. ”Commander, myself and Ensign T’Shal have managed to boost the sensors. There’s not too much we can do about the aftershocks, since the structural integrity fields need more work than can be given at the moment, especially with the number of crew and lack of tools that we currently have.” Thinking for a bit, Elizabeth tapped the commbadge. “Acknowledged, Lieutenant. Get yourself secured, and inform the rest of the crew to do the same. Choi out.” Arriving at the operations center, she saw that it was just her for the moment. Seating herself at one of the consoles (as with most outposts that size, there was no specific console for ay function) she tapped into the sensor net. So far, the space around Epsilon Mynos VIII and the rest of the system was clear.
So far.
Glancing at the timer that had been set up to count down how long until both the Jem-Hadar fighter and the Heisenberg arrived (45 minutes, 34 seconds and 2 hours, 35 minutes, 14 seconds, respectively), she allowed herself a chance to do some brief reminiscing. Born December 7th, 2342, on Alpha Centauri. Pretty boring on “AC”, so, first chance she got, she left, never looking back. Attended Starfleet Academy, specializing in Anthropology and Communications (she always had loved the color blue). Graduated 2364, and was assigned as one of 17 science staff members to the U.S.S Hawking, a refitted Ambassador-class starship with expanded exploratory capabilities. That was probably the best part of my service in Starfleet – all those research missions and first contacts. Young, eager to learn, ambitious… She was shaken out of her stroll through memory lane by another aftershock. One minute she was in the chair, the next she was on the floor on her rear, wincing as the pain shot up from her tailbone. Struggling to her feet once again, she glanced at the timer. 10 minutes and 2 hours left. Working the console, Elizabeth managed to raise the security officer assigned to the listening post, Lieutenant Sethleas th'Crasta. “Lieutenant, we’ve got 10 minutes before the Dominion ship is expected to arrive. How are we doing in regards to defenses?”
”Well, Commander, considering we’re not too far underground on a very barren planet currently experiencing tectonic activity in an isolated star system with an enemy ship close, and reinforcements farther away…”
“Understood. Any good news to report?”
”We managed to get the weapons systems somewhat back online. We can get…10 shots off before the thing overheats and shuts down. I adjusted it so that, if worst comes to worst, you can deactivate the safeties and let it go off. The transport inhibitors are still functioning, but that last aftershock took them off the main power. We’ve got maybe 30 minutes until they go offline. The kelbonite and victurium deposits here on the planet are spread too thin to be completely effective.”
Elizabeth was about to continue, before the outpost was shaken again. Except this time it wasn’t an aftershock. A quick look at the sensors confirmed it. “Lieutenant, lock onto the enemy ship and fire!” Switching channels, she contacted the computer specialist, Ensign T’Shal. “How’s the data transfer coming?”
”As well as could be expected, Commander. We are approximately 96.87% complete. We will need another 4 minutes to complete the download and transfer.”
“Expedite the process if you can. Non-essential data can be left behind. We’ve still got about an hour and a half or so before the cavalry arrives. Choi out.”
Two consoles behind her chose that moment to explode, and it was only the fact that she ducked out of the way, and that the chair at her console blocked her from shrapnel, that she avoided any serious injuries. Scrambling back in, she slapped at the console. “Anyone, respond!”
th’Crasta’s voice came in weakly. ”Commander, we managed to seriously damage…the Jem-Hadar ship…but…they got several good shots in before being forced to crash-land. They managed to take out 2 of the 4 weapons banks we have, counting the one I’m in. The power feedback took out the console, and I’ve got shrapnel in my leg.” And, she knew, he probably had internal injuries as well. ”Commander…the crew area of the outpost was breached and destroyed.” A chill slid down Elizabeth’s back. All of the other 5 outpost personnel who weren’t essential to defense or safeguarding the information, were waiting in that area, the closest one to the primary airlocks and the environmental suits.
And now they were dead. And th’Crasta would be too, especially if he didn’t get medical attention. Focus, Liz. Focus. There was no way she could get to him quickly enough, especially if the aftershocks and orbital strikes had caused the walkways and passages to cave in. Propelled by adrenaline and nervous energy, she got the console to show the location of the surviving outpost personnel. Terrell was 3 meters away. Good enough. “Terrell, get to th’Crasta and stabilize him. All remaining personnel, activate sensor veils.” Without waiting for a response, Elizabeth got to work making the outpost look far more damaged and unoccupied. Switching to emergency lighting, activating the red alert klaxons and lights, and diverting more power to the blown-out consoles (providing live circuits and sparks), combined with the sensor veils would (she hoped) make it look as if there were no survivors. She had just finished her handiwork when there was a sputtering, clinking sound.
The life-support systems had gone offline, and the transport inhibitors. Now they really were on emergency power.
Securing everything, Elizabeth sent one last message. “Okay everyone, this will be the last communication from any of us for a while. Keep your sensor veils on, hide as best as you can, and make sure that, if you spotted by an enemy combatant, you’re the last thing they see. Choi out.”
Turning, she heard the unmistakable sound of a transporter beam, and 4 Jem-Hadar materialized in the center of the operations center.
Raising her phaser, she began to fire.
. I had wanted something to increase the tension, and this seemed plausible. In an attempt to justify, even if it is a stretch, I would say that this planetoid is analogous to Cochrane's planetoid in The Companion.
