Finding my home

Posted on 03 Aug 2024 @ 10:59pm by Lieutenant Ranul Frex & Lieutenant Commander Kennedy Monroe M.D. & Commodore Harvey Geisler & Ensign Peris

3,100 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Shattered Unity
Location: Shuttlecraft/USS Black Hawk
Timeline: June 19, 2390 || 0515 hours

[ON:]

The shuttlecraft that Ranul and the other survivors of Starbase Unity were floating around in open space around the wreckage of what used to be Starbase Unity itself. When the Starbase blew up, it knocked around several of the escape pods and shuttlecraft with the various survivors. Some enough to knock the passengers out and to knock out their various systems.

Ranul was starting to come around when he heard several low, broken up beeps coming from one of the consoles in the front section of the shuttle. Slowly getting up and checking himself out, Ranul realized that he had a wound on the top of his head that was bleeding slightly. Ranul made a mental note to take care of that wound later and to check out the other ones that might have been there.

Walking over to the console after regaining his footing, Ranul noticed that most of the consoles were still offline and that the cause of the beeping was due to the fact that the shuttle's life support was starting to fail. The survivors had made it this far without succumbing to their wounds or the attack, so Ranul wanted to make sure that they didn't die in a shuttle either.

Ranul checked the systems and noticed that there was a ship on sensors. There was too much damage to the main sensor array to see who exactly it was, but he noticed that there wasn't anything too damaged with the comms system. So, Ranul sent out a message begging for help.

***

Peris frowned, visible to no one else thanks to her cramped cockpit. "Nest, Bravo Six. Sector Alpha Eight is clear." Through her canopy, she could see into the viewport into the listing lifepod. Behind the window, there was a light shining on a human female whose face was covered in blood. The Deltan's sensors confirmed that the pod contained not a single lifesign. "I have one pod, no lifesigns. Will tractor home to put souls to rest."

"Bravo Six, Nest. Acknowledged."

"It's a damn shame," said Tiger, the Caitian pilot of Bravo Five who was also known as Ensign K'Tal. "Barely escaping the horrors of a sneak attack only to bleed out while awaiting rescue."

"Tell me about it," replied Peris. Normally, she didn't contribute to radio chatter, but it seemed today was making a lot of people do things out of character. She pulled back on the stick, gently nudging her bird away from the pod in order to get a proper tractor lock. Just as she was about to trigger, her comm system lit up. "Tiger, you seeing this?"

"Yeah, I'm getting that call too, Cueball. Looks like we missed someone. I'm showing it... two klicks away."

Peris snagged the lifepod with the tractor and turned into the direction of the distress call. She also tapped a button to lock onto the new signal and turn it into a two-way comm. "Shuttlecraft, this is Ensign Peris of the 325th attached to USS Black Hawk. We have received your distress call and are en route. What's your status?"

***

Ranul was onboard the shuttle and had the message repeating on loop for what felt like an eternity. He felt a bit of dread seep into the outer parts of his emotions, but kept it from coming to the surface. That's when Ranul heard the computer beeping and trying to allow a message to come through, but it was having trouble locking on for a moment before Ranul heard, "Shut..ra..t...Ensign Per....Black Hawk....distre....en route...your status?"

Ranul hoped over to the console and tapped a few commands to try and clear up his comm channel before he replied, "This is Lieutenant Frex and we're in distress! We need immediate tow or evacuation to the Black Hawk as quickly as possible. I've got some survivors of Starbase Unity."

***

"This i... nt Frex a... distress." Much of the transmission was garbled and distorted, but there was enough to confirm that there was still life in this sector. "Tiger, Cueball. I've got the source zero'd at zero-seven-two mark three-four-two."

"Confirmed, Cueball," replied Bravo Five. "Distance one klick away."

"Pick up visual scanning," Peris replied, not trusting her sensors at the moment. There were a lot of debris in the area, but the sensors should have seen a shuttlecraft. She slowly pushed her craft in the direction of the transmission while her eyes slowly inspected the area in front of her. It took her a bit, but she finally spotted portions of a nacelle obscured by a large hull fragment. "I have the target," she called out to Tiger over the comm before switching frequencies. Peris positioned her fighter so she could have a visual into the cockpit. "Shuttlecraft, this is Ensign Peris of the USS Black Hawk. Can you hear me now?"

Hearing someone come across the comms a bit better and seeing someone's distorted face come across the screen of the comms, Ranul walked over and punched in a few commands to clear up the image to help respond to their saviors. Once the channel was cleared up, Ranul replied, "Yeah, we can hear you. We've got some injured over here. Do you guys think you can beam us over or can give us a tow back to the ship?"

"Transport is a no-go right now," Peris confirmed as she looked through her canopy. Though she could make out some light through the interior of the shuttle, it seemed that there was enough carbon scoring to obscure most of the usable viewing space. "My wingman can give you a tow. The ride will be a little bumpy though. Will that be a problem for anyone you have on board there?"

Leaning down and checking on the couple of people on the shuttle with him, Ranul noticed that they were okay and were in good enough shape to get towed back to the ship. Coming back to the comms panel, Ranul replied, "Well, it looks like we should be able to withstand the trip with a few bumps. Just know that the shuttle's SI field isn't the best right now, so try not to hit every bump along the way. As long as it's not too bumpy, I can try and make sure we make it back in as few pieces as possible."

"We'll do our best, shuttlecraft," Peris replied. "In the meantime, brace yourself. We'll add you to our comms so you can make adjustments as we fly." She tapped a couple of buttons on her console and said, "All right, Tiger, the shuttle's ready for a tow."

"Tiger Tow, ready to go," joked the Caitian with a growl. The fighter moved into position and fired its tractor at the shuttlecraft, which seemed to take hold perfectly. "Ready over here, Cueball. Lead the way."

"Everyone hold tight," Peris ordered, carefully turning her bird around towards the Black Hawk. "Destination is USS Black Hawk. ETA, ten minutes."

"Thanks guys. I'll keep an eye on us, but just let me know when we get a bit closer to the Black Hawk. So, we can make a plan on getting us into the shuttlebay. That'll be the next fun part," Ranul replied with a wry little chuckle. He wanted to make sure that everything went perfectly.

* * *

Ten minutes seemed to pass like an eternity. Though the Black Hawk had placed herself somewhere within the graveyard, it seemed more debris had gravitated towards the ship. This had caused the fighter pilots to add a couple of minutes onto their trip in order to adjust their approach accordingly. But soon, the fighters brought their cargo through the flight deck doors, and set both the lifeboat and shuttlecraft on a vacant section.

The flight deck itself was abuzz with activity. Shuttles were still launching and arriving, continuing to bring wounded and survivors on board. A triage center had been set up where all personnel were being checked, and severe cases sent straight to sickbay.

Ranul walked down the ramp towards the deck of the ship. It felt nice to be on a ship that was exploding all around him and to hopefully get a nice shower in after being checked out by the medical personnel. Ranul wanted to be one of the last ones to be checked out because while he had a nasty little gash on his head, nothing compared to what he was seeing all around him from the various shuttlecraft and lifeboats that were recovered from the Starbase.

Ranul saw someone that was finishing up with another patient and he walked over to them and asked, "Hey, I've got some people that were pretty banged up over here. Do you think someone could possibly come and check on them soon? I know it's a bit first come, first serve probably. But, I'd like for them to be checked out because they were knocked unconscious after the explosion."

The nurse who turned to greet him was tall, blonde, and carried the pips of a Lieutenant Junior Grade. Veronica ," Ronnie" Baker's blue eyes were bright and her expression suggested compassion even as the rest of her exuded calm. There was no doubt she had command of the triage process here and would follow protocol to the letter, but she wasn't so robotic or jaded that had little patience for meeting people where they were. "Everyone will be seen to promptly, sir, I assure you."

In fact, a medical team was already advancing on the rest of the shuttle's passengers behind the two of them. Taking two beats to make sure the team didn't need her, she soon returned her attention to the polite man before her. Experienced eyes noticed he was bleeding from the head and she was soon scanning him with a tricorder that was suddenly in her hand like a second appenage. "Let's get you seen to. What's your name?" The question was as much clinical as was practical. Baker wanted to make sure he was completely oriented but she also had to keep a list of all the survivors in her charge.

Ranul had turned to watch as the medical teams were taking the other survivors off of the shuttle and he got a bit lost in thought for a few moments. When he heard someone talking to him, Ranul looked back at the Lieutenant and asked, "What...what did you just ask me? I'm sorry, but I got a little bit distracted and into my own thoughts for a moment. I don't know if that's due to me hitting my head or if it's due to just surviving a massive explosion from a Starbase...or both. I'm....going to take a seat really quick."

Ranul took a seat at one of the empty chairs that was open nearby. He put his hands on his head and realized rather quickly that the adrenaline was starting to wear off and Ranul could feel every part of his body that was beaten and battered from the explosion and the rocking off the shuttle throughout the transfer. "My name is Ranul Frex. I'm supposed to be the Chief Engineer of the USS Black Hawk. I was waiting for my transfer over because they had gone out on an exploration or something and I was waiting on Starbase Unity. Hopefully, I'm doing okay Lieutenant."

"We're going to make sure of that," Veronica replied. Kneeling down, she was already concerned about the possibility of a head injury given the distraction she witnessed, but when the engineer mentioned he had hit his head, it only confirmed her reason for concern. She also recognized trauma induced speech when she saw it. Now that her patient had some semblance of safety the adrenaline was wearing off, he was starting to process all he'd been through.

Ranul could hear pounding from his heartbeat in his ears, which he knew wasn't a good sign. He looked up at the medical officer taking care of him and said, "Hey, I know this isn't supposed to be happening. But, I'm hearing my heartbeat in my ears and I think it might be due to the adrenaline wearing off. Also, can you maybe check on my symbiant? I'm currently joined with the Frex symbiant and I don't want him hurt or anything."

Veronica nodded in acknowledgrment of his request, but kept quiet until she completed her scans. "From these readings, your symbiont appears fine, but I'm sending you to Sickbay for a more in-depth neural scan just to be on the safe side. They'll also be able to take a closer look at your symbiont just to cover all the bases, as that's not an area of expertise of mine and I don't want to steer you wrong. As for your heartbeat in your ears, try taking some slow deep breaths for me and let's see if that takes the edge off?"

"Mind pointing me in the right direction? I'm still not 100% up to par with the general layout of the ship quite yet. So, if you could tell me what deck Sickbay is on, that would be lovely. Also, thank you for all of your help!" Ranul replied with a small chuckle and a smile forming across his face as he asked for directions. He was a bit embarrassed for asking, since he was supposed to be the Chief Engineer onboard and they were supposed to know it from stern to bow.

"No problem," Veronica replied. "Sickbay is on Deck 13, and this," she added, reaching for a PADD and taking a moment to program the way, "will help you. I'll keep an eye on your life signs as you make your way there. We're a bit swamped here or I'd give you an escort, but don't hesistate to reach out if you need anything. Just ask the computer for Nurse Veronica if you start to feel worse on the way or get lost. I'm happy to help. Welcome aboard!"

Ranul nodded towards Veronica and said, "Thank you! Hopefully, it can get better for everyone from here!" Ranul nodded once more and headed out of the shuttlebay and towards the nearest turbolift to take Ranul to Deck 13. Once he got onto Deck 13, Ranul went up to the nearest comm panel to give him the directions towards the rest of the way into Sickbay.

The computer guided him towards Sickbay and Ranul walked inside. He found the nearest medical personnel and asked, "I think I'm supposed to ask for Nurse Veronica? Or maybe it was Nurse Veronica that sent me down here and told me to find someone. I had a little bump to my head, so I think I just need to be checked out further."

The nurse Rahul stopped was about to send the new arrival in the direction of the triage nurse and go on her way, but hearing of his head injury and confusion over whom he spoke with,, she knew better than to wait for the triage nurse to make the call that she could make already. Of course, his confusion could be chalked up to the chaos and trauma around him, but she knew better than to assume. "I'm Kelly. Follow me and we'll get you checked out."

She only spared brief glance to make sure he was following behind before she led him to a biobed that was just being vacated by someone headed to surgery. After initiating a quick sterilization sequence for the bed, she gestured for her patient to have a seat. She didn't waste any time gathering her equipment or initiating the neural scan, but managed to ask, "How exactly did you hurt your head?"

Ranul just hopped up onto the bed and as he watched the medical personnel work their magic with the biobed, he replied, "Well, that's a bit of a long story. But, it kinda involves being thrown around in a shuttle, unfortunately. I was onboard Starbase Unity when it went up in flames. Kinda hit my head on the shuttle's consoles and don't remember much after that until I woke up a bit later to guide the shuttle into the bay."

Kelly wordlessly directed Ranul to lie down as the neural scanner encircled his head with a touch of a button. Kelly was efficient, but not uncaring. "That must have been terrifying. I'm so sorry you and so many had to go through that. O'm glad you're in one piece and were sent here just in case. Head injuries are not anything to mess with." As if on cue, the scan completed and Kelly took a look at the results. "I'm showing a moderate concussion, but thankfully, no severe damage to the tissue. You're going to have one hell of a headache and perhaps some nausea, but I can give you ssomething for those symptoms and something to speed up the healing process. Please seek additional medical attention immediately if you notice any changes in vision, severe dizziness, memory loss, trouble concentrating or changes in motor skills or personality, ok?"

This time the nurse waited to ensure his understanding and compliance before reaching for the appropriate hypos.

"Thank you. I'm sure that I'll be back to new with all the stuff you'll give me," Ranul replied, waiting for the medicine that Kelly was about to give him. He had several blows to the head before, but this experience was something that Ranul didn't wish upon anyone. Ranul would be glad to have his head back on straight.

Kelly offered a wan smile and reached for the aforementioned hyposprays. The environment was chaotic but she wasn't so all business she couldn't recognize someone trying to be uplifting despite the circumstances. The medicine entered his bloodstream with a satisfying hiss to the nurse's ears. "There you go. You should be feeling a bit better now, but we'll still remotely monitor your vitals from here, and if you havve any challenges, I want you to come right back."

"Thank you very much! I think that I should be good. But, if anything happens, I'll give you a call!" Ranul said with a smile matching Kelly's smile. Ranul hopped back to his feet and headed out of Sickbay to hopefully, finally meet the Commodore.

[OFF:]

Lieutenant Ranul Frex
Chief Engineering Officer

&

Commodore Harvey Geiser
Commanding Officer

&

Lieutenant Commander Kennedy Monore, MD
Chief Medical Officer

&

Ensign Peris
Flight Intelligent Specalist

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