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"Shit, Kara!" Sahar swore behind her. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Were you even awake during Combat Maneuvers at the Academy?" Kara shot back. As she did, the Orions overshot them, and appeared on the now-functional viewscreen.
"Remind me to thank you for that later," Sahar apologized. "Black, fire."
But he already had. The launchers above and below them hummed and the photon torpedoes streaked towards the Orion ships. Most missed their targets, but a pair struck one of Orions, impacting one of the wings. The first knocked the shields on the small ship down while the second blew a hole in the wing. The ship jerked hard to the side from the impact and the wing broke from the rest of the hull, but it began to come about with the other ship.
"Black!" Sahar shouted, and he followed the torpedoes up with phasers against the damaged ship. Again most missed, but one hit the center of the ship. There was an explosion, and the ships engines flickered to a halt. "Finish him off!" Sahar cried.
"I can't, we used everything on the first volley! Phasers are still recharging and torpedoes loading."
"The other ship is coming about!" Kara yelled. On the screen the other Bird of Prey had come about and was bearing down on them.
"I'm getting some unusual readings from that ship," Casana said. "Incoming torpedo!" A powerful explosion rocked the ship, and several consoles overloaded, sending shards of the screens flying through the air. The screen filled with an orange flash, and when it faded the view was cluttered with debris.
"Massive damage to the saucer section," Suvak reported, calm as ever. "Superstructure has been compromised. Containment fields are in place, but they will not hold."
"Show me," Sahar ordered. An image of the ship's saucer section appeared, revealing a gaping hole in the ship, through which stars could be seen. "Holy shit," she muttered, dumbstruck by the sight of a gaping hole in what had been her home for more than a decade.
"We're losing thrusters!" Kara screamed, and the lights flickered and failed. After a moment, emergency lights came on, but the consoles had mostly gone dark.
"Main power is offline," Suvak said. "We are defenseless." The room was silent, save for the sound of alarms and feet moving around outside. Shouts back and forth from the corridor, muffled by the walls, could just be heard over the noise. But the room's five occupants were in their own world, staring back and forth at each other.
The moment was broken by a flash on Casana's console, one the few which still had power. The Trill turned and examined the console. "Neutrino surge directly above us! A ship is decloaking!"
"More Orions?" Sahar asked desperately.
"Maybe. No! It's Romulan!"
"On screen!"
Above the Athena, a Romulan battlecruiser decloaked, and unleashed a flurry of torpedoes and disruptor fire on the Orion ships. Neither stood a chance, and under the storm of fire from the Romulans they were both destroyed. Sahar sat stunned in her seat, unable to comprehend what had just occurred. She simply stared at the viewscreen as the Romulan ship moved slowly away from them, gently turning to come face to face with the Athena. Something in her mind clicked, and she realized that Casana was speaking to her.
"Uh, Harry?"
"Don't... um..." Sahar mumbled. "Don't call me that."
"Their hailing us," she said.
"Onscreen," Sahar said dumbly as she stood. The screen flickered, and a Romulan officer appeared.
"Federation vessel, I am Commander Alaria of the RIS Imperious," she said matter-of-factly. "We apologize for violating the Neutral Zone. Do you require assistance?"
"Why did you...?" Sahar began, but trailed off.
"The Romulan Star Empire has no tolerance for piracy," Alaria sneered. "Do you require our assistance or not?"
"Yes, we do," was all Sahar could say.
"Very well. We shall begin coordinating with your Chief Engineer immediately," she said, and closed the channel.
"Did we just get saved by Romulans?" Kara asked in disbelief.
Sahar didn't hear her. She simply fell to her hands and knees and stared at the deck. Her stomach turned as the reality of what had just happened dawned on her, and she vomited. With a deep breath, she sat back on her legs and gazed down at her uniform. The clasp on the jacket had fallen open, exposing the white fabric of the lining. As she watched, small drops of blood fell from her face, staining the material bright red.
"It's okay, love."
The words snapped Sahar out of her daze. Kara's arms wrapped around her, and she helped Sahar to her feet. "Suvak," Sahar said weakly, "contact Engineering and retask Damage Control to life support and the Bridge."
"Yes, Captain."
"Jeff, get back to the Armory and help the Chief put together security teams to keep an eye on the Romulans."
"Aye, boss."
"I'll try to contact Starfleet," Casana said before Sahar could give the order.
"I'm taking you to Sickbay," Kara said, leading Sahar out of the room. But Sahar stopped at the door and looked back at Suvak.
"What's the time?"
"0929, sir."
******
Deck 2, Jeffries Tube Junction Room, 1002 hours
"Well?" Sahar asked as she looked up the Jeffries Tube towards the ensign a deck above her.
"Still working on it, sir," he called back over the sound of the laser torch.
"How long, Ensign?" she scowled, though he couldn't see it.
"Just another couple of minutes, sir. I can see the Bridge access hatch on the other side of the blockage," he answered. "Watch out, sir." Sahar stepped back from the ladder and a twisted, scorched piece of metal crashed to the deck in front of her. "Just one more cut, then we're in," he informed her, poking his head down into the shaft.
"Pick up the pace!" she yelled, growing impatient. "Internal sensors and transporters are still down, so we need to cut our way in to help any wounded."
"Aye, sir," the young Ensign said nervously. He was a first year officer, fresh from the Academy, and had only been on the ship for a few months. Under normal circumstances, Sahar would never have pressed him like this. But these were hardly normal circumstances.
"Well?" she heard Casana say as she crawled down the Jeffries Tube.
"Just another minute or two," she frowned, still looking up the ladder. "Still need to make another cu-"
"Got it!" the Ensign cried, and Sahar rushed up the ladder, followed by Casana and a pair of medics. They passed the sweat-drenched Ensign at the top of the ladder and crawled on down the tube towards the Bridge. The top of the crawl-space had collapsed, and Sahar's uniform caught on a sharp piece of twisted metal, ripping the material. Sahar ignored it, and forced open the hatch.
She crawled out of the hatch and was greeted on the other side by a scene of near total destruction. Virtually all of the consoles had been destroyed, and the room was littered with debris. Only a handful of lights still functioned, flickering valiantly against the darkness. In the center of the room, Commander Osuna sat in the Captain's chair. Aside from her, the room was deserted. As medics and engineers emerged from the hatch behind Sahar, she silently stood.
"We're crippled, sir," Sahar reported as Osuna hobbled across the room to her.
"I gathered that, Lieutenant," she said. As a medic approached her, she swatted him away. "The hell are you doing? The Captain is wounded!" she barked at him, pointing towards a door behind her. "I assume you took command?"
"Aye, sir. A couple of Orions attacked and disabled us. We tried to escape, but they were too fast. We're only alive because a Romulan battlecruiser happened by."
"Romulans don't 'happen by'," Osuna scoffed.
"The Romulan Commander said they were sent to hunt down the Orions. Apparently the Romulan's take a dim view of piracy."
"And the Orions?" Osuna asked as one of the medics began to examine her, but she waved him off.
"Romulans blew the fuck out of 'em, sir," Sahar said, looking over Osuna's shoulder as members of the Damage Control team began to set up lights in the room. She could see shapes and shadows, but couldn't make out much in the darkness. "I was in the Armory when we were attacked. When we couldn't contact the Bridge, I took command."
"Well done Lieutenant. I'll take over from here though, if you don't mind. Casualties?"
"Not sure yet, sir," Sahar replied, looking away shamefully. "Current count is 57 dead, 70 wounded, and more than 200 still missing. Internal sensors, communications, and transporters are still down." Osuna just nodded, and moved towards the Jeffries Tube before Sahar stopped her. "Sir, what happened up here?"
"Commander Sull and the Helmsmen were killed in the opening volley, and we lost power. Fuller is unconscious, but everyone else is okay. They took shelter in the ready room."
Sahar was dumbfounded. "How?" she mumbled back, almost in disbelief.
"Lieutenant," Osuna whispered, putting a hand on Sahar's shoulder, "look up."
Sahar's head tilted back to look at the ceiling, but all she saw were stars. "Holy fuck," she mumbled.
"No kidding," Osuna sighed as one of the medics ushered her towards the Jeffries tube. "I'm going to the Battle Bridge. You're acting Chief of Security, Lieutenant."
"Aye, sir," Sahar responded dumbly as Osuna disappeared through the access hatch. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Casana scanning the bulkheads with her tricorder, a concerned look on her face, but she paid it no attention.
******
Deck 5, 1400 hours
"Very well. I will inform Ms. Alvarez that you are authorized to access the life support systems on this deck," Suvak said, nodding to the Romulan engineer she was talking to.
"Thank you, Lieutenant," he said, and moved past her down the corridor. As he disappeared into an access hatch, Sahar emerged from around a corner, escorting the Romulan Commander.
"Suvak, can I speak to you for a moment?"
"Of course, Lieutenant," she replied. "What can I do for you?"
"The Commander wanted to speak with you, if you have a moment." Suvak arched an eyebrow. "Can you?"
"Diplomatic protocol does not become you, Lieutenant," the Vulcan observed.
"Yeah, I know," Sahar sighed. "Well, can you spare a moment?"
"Very well," she relented, turning to their guest.
"I am Commander Alaria of the Romulan Star Empire," the Romulan announced with a considerable hint of superiority. "I command the RIS Imperious."
"Yes, I was aware of that," Suvak said impatiently, looking down at her PADD.
"I see," Alaria frowned. "Very well, I will get to the point. We have been ordered back to Romulan space. Evidently, our presence here is making Starfleet... nervous. In the interest of peace, the Senate has given us 24 hours before we must depart."
"In what way does this concern us?" Suvak said. As she looked up from her PADD, she noticed a bit of dirty-blonde hair duck around the corner behind Sahar and Alaria.
"This concerns you because the repairs to your ship will not be even close to complete by then," Alaria sneered.
"Very astute," Suvak replied, glancing back down the corridor. Behind her, a long stretch of the corridor had been blown away. While the structural supports remained intact, the majority of the hull in a 50 meter wide cylinder had been completely destroyed, leaving a gaping hole in the saucer section. What remained was twisted metal, and all that protected them from the vacuum of space was an emergency containment field.
"What I mean is, you will not be ready to safely travel to the nearest repair facility within that time period," Alaria said angrily. Behind her, a glint of light caught Suvak's eye. Her keen eyes spotted a small hand mirror, stuck around the corner just far enough to allow someone to peek around. "If repairs are to be completed in that time frame, we need to be allowed more access to your ship."
"Very well," Suvak relented. "You will be allowed access to backup EPS relays and the Life Support systems."
"I am not sure that will be enough."
"It will have to be. Now, if you will excuse me, I have work to do," Suvak said.
"Hey, Suvak, is she still following us?" Sahar whispered, leaning in towards Suvak.
"Lieutenant Shen?"
"Yeah."
Suvak looked over Sahar's shoulder and again saw Casana duck her head back around the corner. "Yes."
"Is it just me, or is she getting crazier?"
"I have noticed that her... quirks have become more prominent in the last few weeks."
"Osuna to Tehrani," blared the Betazoid's voice over the comm. Sahar went to the nearest panel, keeping an eye on Alaria.
"Tehrani here."
"Lieutenant, report to the Battle Bridge. It's about the captain." Her voice was shaking, and Sahar knew immediately what had happened.
They'd lost him.
******
The remains of Deck 7, Officer's Quarters, 1800 hours
The room was trashed. An EPS conduit in the floor had ruptured during the attack, and vented electro-plasma into the room for a split second before emergency force fields came up. In that split second, the superheated plasma burned through the floor and vented up into the room, where it started several small fires. The computer had responded by venting the compartments atmosphere and sealing the plasma leak. Though the whole process had completed in less than a second, it was long enough to leave a mark on the room.
The carpeting was mostly gone, melted away as the plasma spread over the floor, leaving singed and warped metal as the flooring. A large, circular hole was burned out of the floor, and above it the plasma had done enough damage to cause part of the roof to collapse, including a large support girder that had crushed the bed. All of the standard lights had blown out, and the room was lit by emergency lighting alone. An ODN conduit had ruptured in one of the walls, and now the severed cable sparked on the floor.
The sight of it overwhelmed Sahar as she looked in through the doorway. She leaned back and looked down the hall. About 10 meters away, the corridor had been torn away as part of the gaping hull in the saucer section. She mutely turned back to her quarters and stepped inside, completely expressionless. The door tried to close behind her, but jammed half open, leaving a sliver of light in the mostly dark room.
As she walked, something cracked under her feet. Sahar stepped back and bent over to examine it. It was a PADD, whose cracked screen still showed the text of the last message received:
TO: Sahar Tehrani, Lieutenant
FROM: Walter Lowe, Captain, USS Athena
SUBJ: Commendation and Recommendation of Promotion
As she looked at the words of the screen, Sahar's blood boiled. Her fingers squeezed around the broken device until the knuckles turned white. She stood and hurled it across the room with all her strength. The damaged metal case broke against the wall, but Sahar had already turned away by the time it hit.
She entered the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror, her rage continuing to build. Gripping the sink, she fought hopelessly to maintain control. Finally, she exploded. She released the sink and struck mirror with all of her considerable power. As her fist made contact, she bellowed a deep, vicious scream, full of rage and hatred, her body quivering with unbridled fury. The mirror shattered and pain shot through her hand and wrist with a sickening crunch. Sahar ignored it, and turned her attention to the sonic shower. Her fist lashed out again against the transparent aluminum, but failed the damage it.
Sahar screamed again and slammed her foot into the clear metal. Twice more she struck the door of the shower, unable to damage it. Finally, throwing all of her weight and rage into the blow, she kicked out again and the door gave way. The hinges failed, and the door was hurled back against the opposite wall of the shower.
Sahar stood panting, her burning blood coursing through her veins, and stared silently at door. In an instant, anger turned to pain, and the searing agony from her hand washed over her. It came in waves, each stronger than the next, and her knees gave way. Sahar collapsed, and slid back against the wall, clutching her wrist. The pain overwhelmed her, making her lightheaded and nauseous as she sat against the wall. Tears began to flow from her eyes and she slumped over, lying on the floor as she cried and pleaded with the universe.
This was how, a few minutes later, Kara found her.
At first, she could barely hear the sobbing as she stuck her head through the door. "Sahar?" she called into the darkness, but heard only whimpering in response. She forced the door open and stepped into the shadows, shocked by the destruction. Kara followed the sound carefully through the dark, giving her eyes time to adjust.
"You in there, love?" she called, but again heard no response. She slowly made her way into the bathroom, and recoiled in horror when she saw Sahar. "Baby? Are you hurt?" she cried and rushed to Sahar's side. Kara tried to pull Sahar into her arms, but as soon as they touched Sahar became hysterical.
"No!" she wailed, and shuffled away from Kara into a corner.
"Love, sweetie, what happened?" Kara begged, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Please, no!" Sahar continued, ignoring her. "Please, I'm sorry! I was wrong, I'm sorry, please, I take it back!" she screamed, clawing at her face with her working hand. Kara panicked and lunged at her, grasping both wrists. As soon as she took hold of Sahar's right, she felt and heard the sick scraping of broken bone sliding together, and Sahar shrieked in agony.
"Oh, God, I'm sorry," Kara cried. Sahar did respond, but buried her face in Kara's neck, screaming into the dark.
"I killed him! God, I killed him! I'm so sorry, please!" she howled, curling up in Kara's arms and weeping.
"What? Who?" Kara asked, still confused.
"The Captain!" Sahar whimpered, her strength beginning to fail again. "I diverted the repairs! I gave the order! I left them to die!"
"Shh," Kara cried softly, trying to comfort her. "It's not your fault, baby."
"I gave the order," Sahar whispered. "I take it back. I take it back..." Her voice trailed off as Kara slowly rocked her back and forth, trying to get her to calm down.
"You saved us, love. You saved us all," she whispered. "You saved me."
******
Deck 4, Turbolift, 2350 hours
Black stared suspiciously at Alaria as they waited for the turbolift. He knew full well what would have happened if the Romulans hadn't arrived when they did, but that didn't mean he trusted them. But what was more concerning was Casana, who happened to be working on the life support systems a few meters away. He kept one eye on each of them, Casana glaring at Alaria and Alaria looking the other way. Finally, the turbolift doors opened.
"Ma'am," Black said, gesturing for Alaria to enter the turbolift. Without turning to look at Casana, she walked confidently through the door. As he turned to follow her, though, he was pushed aside.
"Sorry Jeff. Catch the next one," Casana said as she slipped by him into the turbolift. Black moved to follow her, but the door shut in his face.
Before she could turn around, Casana slammed into Alaria's back, hurling her against the wall. The Trill immediately grabbed Alaria by the shoulder and pulled. Casana stuck her hip and leg behind and below Alaria's as she pulled, dragging the Romulan off her feet. As her target fell backwards, Casana slipped the sidearm from its holster.
"What are..." Alaria began to say, but stopped when she looked up to see the emitter of her own disruptor pointed at her face.
"I thought there was a Romulan saying: never turn your back on a Trill?" Casana said calmly as she entered a series of commands into the turbolift panel. They dropped half a deck and stopped. "Or is it a Breen? I can never remember."
