Cargo Bay Rescue

Posted on 05 Jun 2024 @ 12:11am by Commodore (Brevet) Harvey Geisler & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale
Edited on on 07 Jul 2024 @ 4:04am

3,144 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Shattered Unity
Location: Starbase Unity (wreckage)
Timeline: June 19, 2390 || 0415 hours

Camila sat in the cockpit of the Kwando, looking at the wreckage of Starbase Unity after she had dropped out of warp. The destruction on the surface of the asteroid looked like a scene straight out of a horror holo, but it was real. She received an incoming transmission from the Black Hawk to dock, then another order to begin Search and Rescue operations on the starbase immediately.

She turned the runabout and headed for the station while she ran an active scan of the debris in hopes of finding escape pode or a survivor that had somehow managed to escape death in a suit. As the scan ran, she linked it to her tricorder and went to don one of the silver EVA suits. There was no easy way to get into the station and the scan revealed a large amount of survivors in one of the cargo bays that hadn't been destroyed.

Camila locked her helmet in place and stepped onto the transporter platform after checking her Type II phaser and Tactical belt around her slim waist, then activated the transporter. A moment later, she was outside on the asteroid near the cargo bay, her magnetic boots sealing themselves to the wrecked plating that was still present. She pulled her tricorder loose from the belt and began a scan for combadge frequencies and locked onto one she hoped belonged to a living person.

"This is Lieutenant Commander Di Pasquale of the USS Black Hawk," she said. "We are here to rescue you. Please tell me of the state of the cargo bay on the east side."

There was silence for a moment, which was ultimately broken by a cough. "Black Hawk?" Another cough echoed in the comm. "It's pretty bad down here. Power's failing. Cargo door's jammed partially open. Forcefield's holding, but I don't think it will much longer."

"Just stay calm, I'm coming," Camila said as she deactivated her magnetic boots and gave a short burst of her suit thrusters, caught ahold of a twisted piece of metal and activated her boots again as she came back down closer to where the door was. She checked her tricorder and looked for the nearest EPS conduit to the door was and hoped for an access hatch and some luck.

Her luck proved fruitful as an access hatch was easy enough to find. The area surrounding it was intact, even though there was obvious scarring from something that had exploded nearly.

She took a moment to examine it with her tricorder and traced the route. She frowned as she tried to remember some basic Engineering from her time at the Academy, then removed the hatch carefully. She checked the tricorder again and wished that she had the full ship's computer at her resources, but moved to flip a relay to transfer more power to the forcefield.

Once that was done, Camila hoped at any rate, she checked the tricorder once more and tapped her combadge. "That should help with the forcefield. Give me a few minutes." She looked up at the Kwando and knew there was no way she could get everyone aboard it, so she tapped her combadge again. "Di Pasquale to Black Hawk."

A moment later, after what could have been considered an eternity, a familiar voice came through the badge's speaker. "Geisler here," it said, the tone filled with both concern and relief. "Go ahead."

"I have a large number of survivors trapped in a cargo bay down here. I need a SAR team with a couple shuttles if they can be spared. The power is failing and the door is only held by a forcefield. I need generators and transportation now, SIr."

"We're on the other side of the perimeter," replied the Captain. "I can spare two shuttles, but it'll take fifteen minutes to get there. But the Valcour just arrived, and they're two minutes away from your position. I'll have them send their aeroshuttle and whatever they can provide."

"Acknowledged," she said as she started to slowly make her way over to a hole torn into the side of the station. Being outside would do her no good and she cautiously made her way past twisted metal, floating wires and a few bodies that she didn't want to look at too closely., She switched frequencies again to the personnel trapped in the cargo bay still.

"How many are you and how many wounded?" She asked as she worked her way through the debris.

"It's... it's dark in here. Maybe sixty? Or fifty. Not too sure." The voice paused for a moment and then continued, "At least a dozen wounded. Some not too bad. We've got two that are barely hanging on."

The number nearly staggered her. She was one person on her own with a runabout and the nearest help minutes away. She carefully checked her tricorder again and made her way to a corridor that led to the front end of the cargo bay and tapped her combadge again. "Are there any working transporters in there?" She asked, a vague memory from the Academy surfacing about a famous Engineer trapped in a buffer for eighty years.

Silence came over the comm for a moment. A reply soon came, "The transporter works, but there's not enough power for it and the forcefield. You don't happen to have a spare generator around do you?"

"No, but I have spare power," Camila said after a moment. She switched frequencies and tapped her combadge again. "Di Pasquale to Kwando. Lock into the cargo bay with a tractor beam and begin transferring power on my mark."

The familiar whirring and beeping of the computer could be heard through the combadge. "Autopilot engaged. The runabout will be within suitable tractor range in thirty seconds."

She made her way back to the access hatch and knelt down, and after making use of her tricorder to get the transfer ready, she mentally crossed her fingers. "Begin transfer now."

On cue, the Kwando activated its tractor beam. It took a moment to secure its hold on the cargo bay. "Initiating power transfer."

The ombre haired woman, bound in the silver EVA suit, gave a sigh of relief before she made the adjustment and tapped her combadge again, switching frequencies. "Di Pasquale to Unity survivors. I'm patching power through to my runabout. The Valcour is on the way. I can beam two of you at a time to my runabout. Get the two most injured onto the transporter pad."

"Standby," came the officer's reply over the comm. It would be a minute before an affirmation was given over the comm that the wounded were ready for transport. "Any chance you have a medic on your runabout? One of our wounded has lost a lot of blood."

"Negative," Camila said. She had also used most of the supplies in the medkit she had had on the runabout when she was delivering the probes. She had the Kwando beam her back and stepped off of the transporter pad and went to the replicator to create some medicines and bandages, as well as asked the computer for medicines to stabilize blood loss. "Prepare for transport," she said over the combadge and locked onto the ones on the transporter pad in the cargo bay and energized.

Two columns of blue light appeared on the transporter pad. When they faded away, a Bolian with a multitude of lacerations was left laying there, along with a Saurian who was applying pressure to an abdominal wound with bandages fashioned from his jacket sleeves. He looked up, took immediate note of his cramped surroundings. "This isn't a sickbay," she muttered.

"No, and I'm not a doctor," Camila said as she scooped the replicated supplies off the replicator tray and headed over to him and the Bolian. She grabbed an ampule of blood clotting agent for alien species and injected him, then grabbed fresh bandages to hand to the Saurian and prepared another hypospray for pain. "What happened here?" She asked as she worked.

The Saurian sighed. On any other day, he might have made a joke, somehow tying in the obvious event with the station being attacked. "We were in the corridor during the initial onslaught. The primary EPS grid exploded, and Petty Officer Marin here was shredded by the hatch cover, or at least what was left of it."

She changed a bandage that was soaked in the Bolian's blood and ran the tricorder over him before she grabbed a autosuture from the medkit that she had replicated and began to suture the wounds. Medical would do a better job, but she was trying to ensure the Ensign didn't bleed out on the transporter pad. "Did you hear any reports of who did the attack?" She also wondered if they were coming back.

"No idea," replied the Saurian, once again sighing. She continued to apply pressure to keep the larger wounds to keep the Bolian's blue blood contained. "I take it you weren't here then when they came to strike?"

"No," Camila said. "I don't know what happened or who did it." She continued to work on the Bolian, hoping that he wouldn't die. "I didn't see too much other than pure destruction when I brought my runabout out of warp. I was supposed to meet the Black Hawk here after we found the Gaittithe dead in space and pirates looting it."

The Saurian blinked. "There's been more attacks? What the hell is Starfleet going to do about all of this?" In her surprise, she let up on the pressure she'd been applying. Additional blood began to gush as the computer gave a familiar alert. The Kwando was picking up a transmission, which the computer automatically routed to the speakers.

"Kwando, this is Shuttlecraft Hermes. We're here to assist."

"Thank you, Hermes" Camila responded as she worked on the Bolian. "I can use all the help I can get. There's survivors trapped in the cargo bay below and I'm feeding them power. I have a extremely wounded Bolian here if you have any medical personnel."

"We do," said the voice from the Hermes. "Beam the Bolian over here, and I'll see about a cargo shuttle for the other survivors."

'Acknowledged," she said as an idea formed. "I'm going to beam him over now and get some transporter enhancers set up." She stepped back to the console and gave a nod to the Saurian, then beamed them over. She turned from there and yanked open the compartment with emergency equipment and pulled out four pattern enhancers, then stepped to the console and locked onto the spot in the cargo bay that wasn't occupied. "Di Pasquele to Unity survivors. I am beaming in now," she informed them as she set the transporter for a few second delay and stepped back on it with her arms full.

Moments later, her surroundings had been replaced with that of a dimly lit cargo bay. As indicated earlier, there were several dozen crewmembers in the bay, most of them huddled together in the middle of the room. A couple yellow-shouldered engineers were working on the transporter pad, which seemed to not want to come to life. A few of those in the huddle showed signs of trauma and wounds, though none seemed to be in critical condition.

A Bajoran woman looked up from her work at the transporter pad and saw the new arrival. "Did the Bolian make it?" she asked Di Pasquale.

"He's on the Hermes being taken care of," Camila said as she moved to the corners of the cargo bay quickly and placed the pattern enhancers in place. "There's a cargo shuttle in route now. Everyone get in the middle."

There were no protests to be found among the survivors. Two of the crewmembers helped make the area in the middle of the enhancers usable by clearing out some of the debris and cargo containers. But there were more crew than what would fit within the maximum allotted space. Based on the number of personnel, it was clear that it was going to take more than one trip for a lone cargo shuttle.

"Di Pasquale to Hermes, is there any more shuttles available? We still have more survivors down here."

"The Valcour only has one cargo shuttle," replied the shuttle pilot over the comm. Though the security chief could not hear it, the pilot silently wondered why everyone thought Intrepid-class ships had an endless supply of shuttles. "But the Valcour is approaching. We should have everyone offloaded and back to pick up within five minutes. Are you ready to energize?"

"We are," Camila said as she motioned for everyone to get in the middle of the enhancers. "Energize!" she yelled as she saw the forcefield at the door flicker and knew the power drain from the Kwando wasn't enough for all the people they were transporting and the forcefield.

Those within the pattern enhancers disappeared just as the containment field flickered again. The interruptions were now enough to start pulling remaining survivors and barrels towards the entrance. A nearby engineer jumped up and ran towards the control panel, his worried shouts confirming everyone's worse fears.

"The power transfer is failing. We've got maybe two minutes left on the forcefield."

She looked around desperately for a headcount and tapped her combadge again. "Kwando, beam up as many survivors as you can hold. Leave me for last!" She ordered it.

Almost instantly, four officers were surrounded by the transporter beam. "This is Shuttlecraft Archimedes from the Valcour," said a female voice. "We can take eight passengers."

Camila did a quick head count. "There's fourteen left. Take the eight." She hesitated for a moment. "Can we keep them in the transporter buffer for even a few minutes? That forcefield is failing fast."

The Archimedes answered as two more personnel disappeared, "Our buffer can only hold three patterns. Does your runabout have any more room?"

The forcefield flickered again, this time losing coherence for about half a second. It was enough to pull anything not bolted down a few feet towards the exit. In that same moment, the partially open door shifted from all of the pressure changes, slightly reducing the amount of open area.

"Kwando, store as many patterns in the buffer as is safe and divert all remaining energy to maintaining it," Camila ordered. "That's all I have until another ship shows up." She didn't have a way off the station now and accepted it.

Four new columns of light surrounded the next evacuation wave, and when they faded, eight were left behind. "Maybe we can anchor ourselves to something," said one of the remaining crewmembers. "Like a ladder, or anything bolted down. We only need thirty seconds or so."

Camila looked at the eight remaining and at the door. She opened her tactical belt pouches and fumbled several items out with her gloved hands, including a spool of monofilament climbing rope. "Here!" She quickly tied one end of it off around a access hatch handle and passed it to the next person. "Tie it around yourself a few times and pass it to the next person. Quickly!"

The first one up, the engineering technician, did so quickly before tossing the rope to a female petty officer. She tried to start tying, but the pressure caused her to fumble a little bit. Meanwhile, two new columns of light appeared, reducing the number to six.

"Move your ass!" Camila shouted as she watched the woman fumbling the rope. "Turn around and wrap it around your waist and give it to the next person now!"

The woman moved her ass indeed, albeit voluntarily as she disappeared into a column of light. The rope clattered to the floor, allowing an Tellarite ensign to pick it up and quickly tie it around his waist.

"Achimedes here. We're full up," announced the voice over the comm. "Scans show you've got twenty seconds of power left, and about fifteen before your runabout can pick up the next two."

Camila gave a sigh of relief. "I think we can hold out," she responded. "There's five of us left."

Another Bajoran secured herself to the rope and handed it to the last person in the line, a Zakdorn lieutenant. Just as he finished securing the line, an alarm sounded in the room. Power reserves were past the red line, and forcefield failure was imminent.

There was little time to react as the forcefield simply gave way. Two of the remaining five, the Tellarite and the second Bajoran, disappeared almost immediately, leaving the Zakdorn to fly faster than expected towards the door. The rope held, almost snapping the officer as the anchor held him and the first Bajoran.

Camila grabbed the rope in her gloved hands and held on with all of her strength. "The forcefield is down!" she called out. "Hold on!"

And hold on the last two survivors did. As the air continued to rage out of the cargo bay, and the additional air from the exposed corridor, the Zakdorn disappeared into a column of light. The Kwando was full now, and it had to now had to beam one at a time in order to properly store the patterns in the buffer.

She pulled a mask off of her utility belt that had a small container of oxygen on it and thrust it at the last survivor. "Small breaths!" She shouted over the noise.

The Bajoran did his best to heed her order, a task that became easier as the decompression gusts settled and vacuum overtook the cargo bay. He had just started to nod his thanks and appreciation to the Lieutenant Commander, but he was soon overtaken by a transporter beam.

When the light faded, Lieutenant Commander Di Pasquale was the only one left standing in the cargo bay.

She looked around and sighed. It was only her left and with her EVA suit protecting her from the vacuum,. all she had to do was wait. She positioned herself in the center of the transport enhancers and waited for the paralysis that swept over her each time a transporter beam locked onto her and then she was gone back to the Kwando, leaving only the silent vacuum behind on Unity.

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