Tough Call

Posted on Sun Jul 27th, 2014 @ 2:20pm by Lieutenant Commander Horatio Hawke & Captain Tim Williams & Lieutenant Commander Ciaran McIntyre

Episode: Orphans
Location: USS Highlander - Bridge Hologram (within Holodeck One)
Timeline: MD29 0930hrs (Whilst ship is in orbit of Dreyas Colony)

As the hologrid vanished around Horatio, it was replaced by the bridge of the Highlander. The stations around him were familiar, but the officers manning them were not. There was a lieutenant each at sciences and tactical, and two ensigns at operations and helm. The two command chairs were empty, but the console between them was raised and active.

"Lieutenant McIntyre's shuttle is approaching the protostellar nebula," the ensign at operations reported.

"Estimated five minutes until expansion phase," the sciences lieutenant added.

McIntyre's voice crackled over the communications system. "I've got two precocious young officers here telling me that we're already getting some promising readings from the centre of the nebula."

At the sound of his friend's voice over the comm, Hawke felt an inkling about where this was heading. He put that aside and took a seat in the command chair, leaning in to the console to quickly scan the mission brief. It seemed fairly straight forward: Observe the expansion phase of the protostellar nebula and report on findings. Easy, right?

He didn't like the sound of those gravimetric distortions, though. Granted, he didn't fully understand them, either, but he knew they had an adverse effect on sensor readings and transport capability and that he really did not like.

In a calm voice, he turned to the science officer, "Keep a sharp eye on them, Lieutenant," he said. "I want to know straight away if there are any issues."

The science officer nodded, her posture relaxed but alert. "Aye aye, Captain."

"What you getting?" Mac asked one of the science officers aboard the shuttle, his tone conveying his complete lack of interest.

"Some pretty interesting readings, Sir!" The young Bolian reported with glee. "Have a look at this screen, you can clearly see the micro expansions beginning in the nebula."

"Oh, yeah." McIntyre replied, trying as hard as he could to see something, anything in the screen. He got nothing. "That is interesting."

The shuttle gently rocked back and forth as they passed through a distortion. "Report, Bronwyn."

The second science officer turned to the Lieutenant just in time to see him knocked to the floor on his behind by another, stronger distortion.

"Are you okay, Lieutenant?" She asked, rushing to help him back to his feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Mac replied, his pride bruised. He moved back to the helm and took the shuttle off auto pilot. "Is it just me or are those distortions getting stronger?"

Back on the bridge, Hawke noticed the shuttle being tossed around on the viewscreen. "Report?" he asked. It was still early, but he didn't like where this was going.

The science officer studied her console for a moment before answering Hawke's query. "The nebula's gravimetric distortions are starting to intensify," she said. "The first expansion phase should be imminent."

The comm on the bridge began fizzling and cracking as McIntyre's voice began to break up. "Shuttle seven to Highlander. Highlander, come in. Can you hear us?"

Hawke stood up and turned Ops, "See if you can clean that up," he said before subtly raising his voice to speak over the comm to the shuttle crew. "Shuttle Seven, we hear you but there's some interference. We're trying to clean it up. What's happening over there?"

"We're getting some pretty whacked out readings, Highlander." McIntyre reported as helpfully as ever. "Boffin team Alpha tell me that we're approaching the first phase of ex-"

The comm cut out.

On the shuttle, the expansion of the nebula was causing the systems to go haywire and Mac struggled to keep the little ship steady. "Get the Highlander back."

"I'm doing my best, Sir!"

"I hope you're getting some pretty bloody astonishing readings!" Mac cursed to no-one in particular.

Back on the Highlander, Hawke was on his feet, his hands clenched tight behind his back as the comm went dead. "Get them back!" he ordered, a hint of anxiety creeping into his voice. He looked over to the science officer and asked, "What's going on over there, Lieutenant?"

"The gravimetric distortions emanating from the nebula are increasing exponentially," the lieutenant responded, tapping at the controls on her screen. "This is like nothing we've ever seen before. The expansion phase shouldn't be putting out this level of distortion yet."

Shouldn't was not a word Horatio wanted to hear. It meant they didn't know what was going on and that meant the shuttle and its crew were in danger. "Get them out of there," he ordered. "Get the comm back online and tell them to haul arse out of there!"

On the shuttle, the situation was frantic. "It's expanding too fast, Lieutenant!" The young science officer responded, trying not to let panic enter his voice. "If we don't get out of here it's going to swallow us up."

"Do we have engines?!" Another member of the team called out, the panic obvious.

"We're dead in the water!" McIntyre shouted. "Get me the Highlander back!"

The Highlander was getting the same data as the shuttle and the science officer reached the same conclusion. Hawke turned to Tactical and said, "Lock a tractor beam on the shuttle. Pull them out."

The gold collared lieutenant shook his head and gritted his teeth, "I can't get a lock, sir," he said. "The distortions are playing hell with the integrity of the graviton beam. It's dissipating before I can lock on to them."

Over at Ops, the ensign called out with a level of excitement in her voice that betrayed her youth, "Sir!" she squeaked. "I've got the shuttle back on comm."

Hawke turned back to the viewscreen, even though the signal was audio only, and called out, "Shuttle Seven, this is Highlander. Mac, what's going on over there?"

The comm crackled and hissed before the faint voice of the Highlander's Chief Tactical Officer finally came over the system. "Your guess is as good as mine, Hawke! It looks like the distortions are expanding at an accelerated rate- they're theorising that it could have something to do with the disruption from the shuttle's engines!"

Grimacing in frustration, Hawke shook his head, seeing where this was going. "We need options, Mac. We can't pull you out with a tractor beam because the distortions are playing hell with our beam. What do your guys say about using that shuttle's deflector array? Maybe use it as a repulsor?" He was grasping at straws, but he had to try and come up with something.

After a tense, silent moment, the comm crackled once again. "My guys hate that idea, Hawke!" McIntyre's voice carried a note of resignation. "They agree that it could work... if it doesn't tear us to shreds first."

Suddenly, the deck rumbled under Hawke’s feet with growing intensity. He shot a look over to the science officer and said, “Report?”

“Captain, the gravimetric distortions have overtaken us!” she replied in an increasingly alarmed voice. As if to emphasise her point, the lights on the bridge dimmed a few degrees and alarms started sounding from most consoles.

“I’ve lost impulse control!”

“Shields are weakening, Captain!”

“I’ve got six – no, seven, power surges in the forward saucer section on decks six, seven and eight!”

“Sir, we have to get out of here,” the Tactical Officer said. “If we stay where we are, the gravimetric distortions will destroy the ship.”

Hawke had to admit to himself that he didn’t know what to do. No engines, no manoeuvrability, failing shields and an expanding gravimetric distortion that would crush the Highlander like a tin can.

“I need options,” he said in a deceptively calm voice. He looked over to the science officer. “If we can’t move ourselves, how can we get out of here?”

“Your suggestion of a repulsor might work,” the lieutenant said, tilting her head slightly as she considered the situation. “But just like with the shuttle, there is a high risk of catastrophic effects to the ship.”

Hawke nodded, “Tearing us to shreds.”

“Precisely,” she said. “We need an outside force to influence the ship in either a push or pull fashion. There’s nothing behind us to pull us out, so we need something to push us out of the distortion.” She swallowed gravely and looked up at the viewscreen and the stricken shuttlecraft it displayed. “A sizable explosion directly ahead of us would do the trick.”

He felt a cold horror wash over him from head to toe as he realised the science officer’s meaning; there was only one thing a head of them that could provide an explosion like that. “You can’t be serious?” Hawke said to her after a moment.

“Captain,” interrupted the Tactical Officer. “If we don’t act soon, we won’t be able to escape the nebula. I cannot see any other way, sir.”

Hawke’s mind was grasping at straws, but he knew he couldn’t delay any further. He was weighing the lives of everybody on the ship with those on the shuttle. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. His stomach twisted as he made the decision; a decision that would save one hundred and fifty, but doom three others to their deaths. Including his friend.

“Mac,” he said to the comm as he returned to the command chair. The comm had remained open during the entire conversation. “Did you hear any of that?”

The comm was dead silent for a moment. No static, no chatter, no noises at all. "Affirmative. Message received and understood."

"I'm sorry, my friend, it's the only way," Hawke said, reminding himself that this was only a simulation. Even so, it was tough to get the next order out. "Shuttle Seven," he said. "This is the Highlander. Initiate your self-destruct sequence."

The comm line dropped out in a flurry of hissing as the gravimetric distortions began to envelope the Highlander's viewscreen. Suddenly the comm buzzed back into life. "-isation McIntyre, Gamma-Tetra-Four-Three. Five second countdown. Activate."

There was a momentary pause before the sound of the Computer's voice on the runabout came through like a spectre. "Self destruct sequence initiated. Detonation in Five... Four... Three... Two... One."

For a split second, there was nothing. No sound, no visual. Time seemed to slow down in that moment as the bridge crew of the Highlander looked at each other and back to Hawke. Suddenly they were thrown backwards by the force of the runabout's explosion.

The force of the explosion sent the ship hurtling out of the distortion and the nebula. Systems came back online as the helmsman worked to stabilise their momentum. "Report?" Hawke called, looking over to science.

"We're free of the nebula, sir."

As soon as the science officer finished her sentence, she froze in place and shimmered out of existence. Half a second later, the bridge dematerialised and Horatio found himself back in the holodeck. He looked around and saw Captain Williams standing by the arch.

Tim stood calmly, his arms at his side and watched Hawke's face for a moment, trying to see if he could determine what was going on beneath its surface. Obviously the point of this final test had been to have the man order someone under his command - and a friend at that - to his death, and only a Vulcan would have been unaffected by being forced to make that decision. "How did you find it?" he said after a moment or two.

Horatio stood for a moment, collecting his thoughts and reflecting back on what had just transpired. He ran his hand through his hair and shook his head, "That was a tough one, sir," he said. Most of the testing to this point had been around saving lives, conducting ship operations and combat. This one was unlike any of the others. "Having Mac, uh, Lieutenant McIntyre in there really took it ... well, to a different level. I hope I did alright, sir."

"You explored every option, but you didn't hesitate to do what you needed in order to save the ship and its crew," Tim replied. "Those decisions can be - are - very hard, but it is a situation every commanding officer has to be prepared for. And you proved that you are..." Tim's face broke from its solemnity as he cracked into a grin. "Lieutenant Commander Hawke."

The grin pulled across Horatio's face and his eyes lit up. He tried to remain stony-faced and professional, but failed dismally. Instead, he almost laughed with relief as the captain's words fully sunk in. He walked up and shook Tim's hand with a beaming smile and said, "Thank you, Captain," before adding, "I won't let you down."